It's A ....

BOY!!!!!

I was expecting to hear girl again so it's thrown me for a loop. We are excited and now the name game can begin.

What is it?

We should be finding out if we're having a girl or boy on Monday if the baby is cooperative. I'm in the "high risk" category for pregnancies now because of my age and on Monday I get the Level 2 ultrasound to make sure everything is okay. Better machines than in your normal Dr's offices which means better detail. So take a guess on our poll at the right.

Abby's Christmas Piano Recital

Abby has a new piano teacher this year, another HS Senior. She comes to our home for lessons and I absolutely love that part! This Christmas her teacher set up a recital at a nearby nursing home. A week before the recital Abby picked her music - Jingle Bells. It was the hardest music she has yet to play to date. We offered to take part of the left hand out to make it easier but she insisted in keeping the song as it was. She worked so hard and we are so proud of her with sticking with it.

Christmas Piano Recital 2010 from sassy momma on Vimeo.

Meeting Santa

Every year Todd's office gets bleacher seats to the Holiday Parade that happens every December. We've gone for the past 6 years and always have a great time. This year we had beautiful weather and I was smart enough to pick up donut holes before the parade so we could munch on them while we waited.

Olivia ate about a dozen donut holes on her own.

Watching the balloons, floats, and many bands.

Don't they look so excited!

After the parade we always have a great brunch at a nearby hotel and Santa comes at the end to visit the kids. Todd pays close attention to when Santa is about to arrive, so for the past 3 years we've always been first in line (he hates waiting). This is the first year that Kaitlyn did not freak out and cry with Santa - she's all smiles. Olivia on the other hand, well, it just seems as if we need to have a crier every year. She was fine seeing him out in the hall when holding onto dad's hand but once it was sitting on the lap, she wanted nothing to do with it. This picture will still get framed and put out with all the other crying Santa pictures.

Who's Boss?

Conversation with Abby this evening while trying the get the house clean and make dinner:

Abby: "You're always telling me what to do."

Mom: "That's because it's my job."

Abby: "You're not the boss of me, Santa and Jesus are!"

Randomness

11/30

Our Elf on the Shelf has returned and Abby is SO into it. Everyday she wants to make a gift for our elf, Jack. As soon as she wakes up she has to find him. As soon as she gets home from school, she has to talk to him. It's so cute and I wish this magic would last forever but I know I only have a year or two left with her. Notice the boots and gingerbread boy.

12/8

Abby got her cast off a week ago and was put into a boot. So glad to be done with the wheelchair. It's been a long, slow process getting her to walk on her boot. She's using crutches to help her at school but I think by Monday she'll be free of any help besides the boot. She has to wear the boot for a month - 24/7 - even when she sleeps and let me tell you, that boot already stinks!

12/10

Olivia has not been sleeping well this week and ends up in our bed most nights. Last night I slept on her floor for 3 hours hoping it would help. An hour after I left she was back in our bed. I took her to the Dr. today to see if she had an ear infection. Not an ear infection, another ruptured ear drum. Poor kid has been hurting for awhile.

Kaitlyn noticed Olivia didn't have any money in her piggy bank so she went and got some money out of hers to make sure Olivia had some too. I love it when the kids are so thoughtful and kind to each other.

I'm already feeling overwhelmed for this month - anyone else feeling that way too? I feel I've been the Grinch at home the last few days. Kids have been fighting and moody. I've been moody. I've been trying to get a lot of things done for a Primary service activity and ice-cream party that's tomorrow. I have tons of shopping still to do (poor Todd will get nothing on Christmas same with cousins). I bought myself my own present when I got a speeding ticket a couple weeks ago. I haven't had one in years and I about choked on the cost. I have to go back to the town where I got it to claim I'll do defensive driving so that will help on the cost. And I'm just so tired on top of it. Luckily Kaitlyn will watch a show in the afternoon so I can get a 30 minute power nap in. One project and day at a time...

12/12

Thank heavens for wonderful husbands. I was able to take a 3 hour nap today. I've had a headache for a couple days today and Todd just let me sleep and helped pick up the slack. He made hot chocolate for the girls and they had a little dessert party this afternoon.

Kaitlyn has broken out in a rash all over her body. It's Fifth's Disease. It's been going around in the ward. She's past the contagious part but it's not safe for pregnant women to get it so here's hoping I don't get it!

Thanksgiving and Sea World

This past Thanksgiving went by with not too much happening at the beginning of the week. A few playdates and just hanging out. Thursday afternoon we stuffed ourselves silly with a great turkey lunch. My parents and sister joined us in the feasting. As soon as our kitchen was cleaned up, the Yosts headed out of town. Todd suggested earlier in the week that we should do Sea World. We have not taken the kids yet and decided now was a good of time as any.

Sea World is not very crowded the day after Thanksgiving. The crowds weren't bad at all. We saw all the shows we wanted too and everything we could in the park within 6 hours. I even ran into a college roommate and her family at the Shamu show. It had been 10 tens and it was fun to see that she had 3 girls too. We survived with Todd pushing Abby's wheelchair and I pushed the other two in the double stroller.

Shamu at the entrance

My favorite part, feeding and petting the dolphins

Azul the beluga whale. One of the only pictures I'm in.

Ready for the 4-D Polar Express Experience

Olivia loved all the characters in the park. She'd stay near them as long as possible.

Would just walk right up to them and start hugging them and giggling.

Cute sisters. Olivia is off doing her own thing as usual.

Saturday we started the morning off right with Shipley Donuts. Mmmmmm. Nothing like sugar to get you going. Visiting the Alamo was next on the agenda. Todd had never seen it and Abby will study it later this year.

It was pretty crowded here and hard to get around inside with a stroller and wheelchair. So we didn't last too long. Abby's favorite part was where they have a marker in the ground to show were the men crossed to say they were going to stay and fight.

KaBoom! Olivia checking out a cannon.

We explored the Riverwalk and decided it was time to head home. It was a nice little excursion and glad we did it. It was a great change of pace for the girls and us.

Where's Waldo?

There are 2 people in this picture. Can you spot them both?

I'll give you a hint, June 11, 2011.

Soccer

Our Soccer Princess

Hanging out with the team before a game.

Made a goal right after this kick.

Sticks her tongue out just like Grandpa P.

(Gpa - click on it to see it bigger)

Team Photo

The soccer season ended a little while ago - luckily Abby's broken leg only interfered with two games this season. This year, Abby's team played on a larger field, gained 2 new players, played for a longer period and started playing positions. Abby's two strong positions were defender and striker. It was a great season and looking forward to Spring soccer.

Trophy shot with the coach. We love Coach Patty!

Disco Dancing

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Who knew we were so talented?

Random Thoughts as I Procrastinate Cleaning...

1. Got to eat at Costa Vida twice in 3 days! Yum! Saturday I went shopping for bunk beds for the girls and to get a new vacuum, while I was out I had to get myself some lunch. It's nice going to go shopping on your own. Todd worked from home on Monday and after presidency meeting a couple of us made the drive over to Costa Vida to get lunch. Todd took care of Olivia and Kaitlyn so I could go alone. It was so nice!

And you know you're old when you are excited about a new appliance. This new vacuum better last me a good 20+ years.

2. Kaitlyn has gone on a dinner strike. No matter what I make, even if it's one of her favorites, as soon as I set it on the table she says "YUCK!" and will only eat the sides. I have to make sure I have a couple sides so she at least eats something.

This morning Kaitlyn woke me up at 3 AM to tell me she was hungry and wanted breakfast. Unfortunately for her, she had at least 4 more hours to wait. I was nice enough to let her climb into bed with me. However, at 4 AM Olivia cried out for Mom and ended up in our bed too. I was sandwiched in between both girls and did not sleep well.

3. Olivia does not like napping in her crib she prefers taking naps in Kaitlyn's toddler bed. Last week Olivia threw such a fit when I put her in her crib for a nap, she flung herself over and took a nose dive to the ground. Scared me to death. Now she has a nice carpet burn on and under her nose. Got to get some new beds for Abby and Kaitlyn quickly! New beds for everyone for Christmas.

4. Abby had her first grade performance tonight and it was so fun to see them sing their Thanksgiving songs. Her name was flashed on the TV screen as being a WOW writer. I need to find out more about what that means.

Book Reviews

Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South: I heard about this book from a friend and was surprised that I had not heard of this book before. The book explores the difference between South and North England. Our main character, Margaret, moves to an industrial town after her minister father leaves the church of England on a matter of conscience. Margaret is a very strong, smart, and beautiful girl. Margaret is shocked at the differences between the industrial North to the more wealthy South. She has a difficult time fitting in with the different culture of the North. A tradesman, Mr. Thorton, is rough and does not have the manners of the South, often finds himself on the opposite view point of Margaret. They have a love/hate relationship throughout the book. There is quite of bit of pride and prejudice on both Margaret's and Mr. Thorton's sides that they finally do overcome.

The beginning is a little slow and some of the language she uses for some of the commoners took a little while to get used to. Overall it was a wonderful read and I loved it. The more I think about the book, the more I like it. 5 out of 5 (If you would have asked me when I first finished I would have given it a 4 but over a little time, I've liked it more.)

Donna Cross- Pope Joan: Set in the 9th century, Joan is a very bright and intelligent girl. But since she is a girl opportunities are not given to her like boys. She is privately tutored along with her brother for awhile. And several years later, runs away from home to go to school. As she grows older, she disguises herself as her dead brother and rises up through the church hierarchy to finally become the Pope.

I was fascinated by the character Joan, she was very courageous and intelligent and I liked that about her. This book is fiction because it is debated whether or not she really existed. The author did have a lot of historical events in the novel and pointed out what she did change for the flow of the story. Great read I give it 4 out of 5.

The Uglies Trilogy by Scott Westerfeld: In a future world everyone undergoes an operation at the age of 16 to become a pretty. However, there are side effects with the operations, you become a "bubble head." Tally, our main character, can't wait until it's her turn for the operation. A little before she turns 16, she makes a new friend Shay who tells her all about the Smoke. A place were uglies run away to so they don't have to have the operation. When Shay does manage to run away, the city enlists Tally's help to find the Smoke. In order for Tally to get her Pretty operation she must help the city. When Tally does find the Smoke, she no longer wants to turn them into the city after she learns the truth about what happens to you during the operation.

I really enjoyed reading Uglies, thought it was fast moving and fun. Pretties was good and I wanted to see how it all ended and so I read Specials. It was okay. By the time I read Specials, I was a little tired of Tally and all the things that continually happened to her. I had really lost interest. If you could just read the first book that would be great but they all leave you on a cliffhanger so you really need to read all three to have any real closure.

Uglies I give 4 out of 5, Pretties 3 out of 5, and Specials 2 out of 5. Overall for the trilogy - 3. Teenagers might enjoy this far more than I did.

Bones Update

This week has been very busy with going to various doctor appointments. Olivia had a double ear infection that caused her ear drum to burst so I had a follow up with her and then we had 3 different appointments with Abby. Thank heavens for good insurance.

On the advice of our pediatrician we took Abby to a Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon to get a second opinion on wether or not there is something wrong with Abby - 4 breaks in 2 years! We actually went to two different pediatric orth. drs. this week on Wed. and Thurs. to see what they said. None of them were worried and said that the radiation in a bone density test would be quite a bit for something that they don't think she has. Her blood levels looked good and they just said she's unlucky. And unlucky she is.

I brought her back to school after her Dr. appt. on Friday. An hour later I get a call from the school nurse saying that she got stung by a wasp that was in the classroom. Of all the kids, why did it have to be Abby!? The nurse said there was a softball sized bump on her back and that she was keeping her in the office for observation for a little while before deciding to send her home or go back to class. Good thing Abby felt a little better, she went back to class. She's missed so much school already.

Friday was finally cast day. We just stayed with the practice we've been with for all the breaks and did get her casted. Abby wanted a silver cast but they didn't carry it so she was going for orange and I talked her out of it. I thought florescent pink was better than florescent orange. (It will look great in family pictures in 2 weeks!) She was happy with the cast but she is still scared to try crutches since she fell with them on Sunday. Little by little I'm sure we'll get her to use them. I'm already tired of lugging the wheelchair in and out of the car. However, Abby loves it and can get around really well in it.

I felt like this week I had a newborn again because at night, just about every 4 hours, Abby would cry out in pain and want more pain medicine. It's getting better but she's been taking the pain meds on a regular basis where with the arms, she only had to take it for 2 days and then she said she was fine. Day by day, that's all we can do.

Halloween

Friday afternoon Todd's office had their annual trick-or-treating. I took the girls and Abby was in quite the somber mood. She did enjoy herself, but not as much as if she was able to run around. Olivia just opened the candy as it was given to her and left covered in slobbery goodness down her shirt. Kaitlyn was yelling "yee-haw" or as she really said it "ne -haw" down the halls.

From the office party we ran over to our "ward's" trunk-or-treat. Boy did the girls load up on candy! It was a fun evening and perfect for our little group. They didn't have to walk far and didn't tire as easily.

On Monday, Kaitlyn decided that she wanted to go as Jessie. The costume was very hard to find, they were sold out everywhere- we went to many stores. We did luck out (and at half price too!) and she was thrilled when we later met up with Buzz Lightyear at the trunk-or-treat. Unfortunately, Woody did not want his picture taken.

Sunday we finally carved our pumpkins and the girls helped hand out candy. We did let them go to a few houses but it was so crazy with kids running everywhere, it was safer for Abby to just pass out the candy. The girls wanted to go back home after 6 houses. It was perfect.

Helping carve her kitty cat pumpkin

Kaitlyn told us what she wanted, we looked at a few pictures and this was what she picked- something scary! She was very happy with the results.

"helping" Dad

Olivia our Minnie Mouse - midriff showing, wanted to wear rain boots, and took off her ears and wouldn't put them back on after pictures.

Belle in her chariot

Don't mess with cowgirl Jessie!

3 Silly Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

One fell off and broke her leg:

Glass- I think this is what Abby is made of. We have another broken bone, her right leg. Last night while I was getting frosting ready so we could decorate cupcakes, the girls were playing on my bed having a pillow fight. I called them into the kitchen a few times to come but no answer. They couldn't hear me over their cheerful screaming and playing. I felt that I should go get them but didn't. I waited another minute or so, called them again, still no answer. Then I heard it, blood curling screaming. Abby had fallen off the bed (pushed by Kaitlyn in their pillow fight) and hurt her leg. Immediately looking at it you could see and big bump and she wouldn't let me touch it. I quickly called my mom and had her rush over so I could take Abby to the ER.

Abby cried as I carried her into the office and screamed as they x-rayed her leg. Sure enough she has a spiral break in her tibia. The Dr. at the children ER we were at was thinking she was going to need surgery that night because there was a floating bone. I then had to take her to the hospital, the needed to re-x-ray her leg (they didn't get high enough at the last place) and then we waited and waited and waited. Finally at 11:30 we were discharged to go home - 5 hours after this all started - with no other news except to call the orthopedic surgeon in the morning. The whole point of us going to the hospital from the children's ER was so that the orthopedic surgeon could come in and look at her and he didn't. Abby was very upset too when they had to cut her pants off to get the split on. It was a rough night and I think it was around 4 am when Abby finally feel asleep she was in so much pain.

Today at the Dr's we did have some good news, she does not need surgery. The surgeon said we're going to wait a week for the swelling to go down to cast her leg and that should be good enough. I'm so glad we didn't have to put her under and put a screw in her leg. The Dr. gave us some crutches and I thought it was pretty funny seeing how Abby couldn't stand to be moved and we'd use a wheelchair at the hospital and Dr's office. We ended up renting a wheelchair for a few days until some of the pain eases and we can try crutches. Abby likes driving around the house and it's good to get her up off the couch. She's handling it well but broken legs are a pain - arms are easier to deal with. I feel absolutely sick to my stomach that something like this has happened and crossing my fingers that this is the last time anything breaks on her. (I'm wanting to get a bone density test done). She is quite the trooper and here's hoping for a speedy recovery!

Abby and her new wheels

Random Thoughts

My friend Lisa has Friday Random thoughts on her blog and I like reading some of the little things going on that are too small to really blog about but fun to look back on when you want to remember those little things. So you might start seeing some random thoughts pop up here and there on the blog. The first one is a little longer than I thought it was going to be.

Letter Detective:

Kaitlyn is loving pre-school and is growing so much in the last 2 months. She got to play letter detective and find all the B's in our house. I love the get-up that is sent home.

Sock Hop:

Every year, Abby's school does a Sock hop with cake walk and little carnival type games. The day of the activity she mentions to me that she really wants to wear a poodle skirt because that's what most of the girls do. Luckily my mom saves everything and I had my old poodle skirt from when I was in 4th or 5th grade. With a little safety pinning and rolling we made it work.

Kaitlyn won some glasses in one of the games and kept saying how cool she was with them on.

Olivia loves to eat. She had a couple scoops of ice-cream and just wanted more and more. She is obsessed right now with Baby Einstein movies, turning lights on and off, puzzles and legos.

Sand in her shoes:

Kaitlyn came home from school and said she had sand in her shoes from playing in the sandbox. I had no idea how much until she dumped it all over the floor. This was pile #1. There was another pile a little smaller that I found later. I'm just wondering how she could have been wearing her shoes for a couple hours with all that sand and wood chips in it?

Insurance:

On Tuesday when I woke Olivia up from her nap, I noticed all this orange and yellow gunk coming out of her ear. After getting Abby from school we rushed over to Acute Kids to find out if there was anything wrong. Sure enough, Olivia's eardrum had burst in her right ear and the left was just ready to go. I felt horrible! For the past few weeks the only time Olivia was fussy was around midnight. Todd and I just thought it was a phase she was going through. Had no idea it was a double ear infection. There were no other signs. Once she got on meds that night, she's been sleeping soundly. When we got home I asked her where her owie was and she put her finger in her ear! D'oh!

Here's one of the medicines we needed to get, drops in her ears. The Dr. said it was very expensive and asked if we had good insurance. It's a good thing we do because this little bottle here would have cost $150!

BYU football

Cousin Benson, Abby, and Kaitlyn

We took the girls the their first BYU football game. It was a sad game to take them to but they still enjoyed themselves. They were faithful fans cheering them on still at the end. The final score was 31 to 3.

Cade, Laurie, and Benson