Yikes!

So, we've had a pretty eventful last couple of days around her... Yesterday Kimberly woke up with spots all over her, almost like the start of chicken pox or something. But she had just gotten the "Chicken Pox Vaccine" 2 weeks earlier, so I figured that that couldn't be it. Right? Or could it possibly be some sort of reaction to the vaccine? But 2 weeks later? I just wasn't sure. But they didn't seem to be bothering her at the moment, so I gave her a bath & just tried to keep an eye on it. By 3:00, the "spots" seemed to be spreading, so I called & talked to a nurse to see if this could possibly be a side-effect from the vaccine, but she didn't think so & said not to worry about it unless it seemed to be bothering her. But by 6:00 that night, they had turned into even bigger splotches & now looked like this...

AND, she now seemed to notice them & was scratching all over (as much as a 1-year-old can), but of course, all doctor's offices were now closed for the night & we'd have to wait it out throught the LONG night to figure out what was wrong with her.

The next morning she woke up terribly miserable & crabby and NOW her rash looked like THIS...
(*How do kids still manage to smile for a picture, even when they feel terrible?!?)

NOW it was turning into one great big rashy area, instead of individual spots as much, so my original conclusion of chicken pox was long gone, but I was still clueless! There is nothing so frustrating at not knowing what is wrong with your child & what you can do to help them... So we called the doctor's office as early as we could & made an appointment, hoping for answers & a solution more than just to "wait it out". By the time we got to the doctor's office, only a mere 24 hours since I'd first noticed these spots, she now had them covering almost her entire stomach, under her armpits, along her diaper line, behind her ears, on the back of her neck & even on her eyelids, which seemed to be starting to swell up. I hadn't started using any new laundry detergent, we hadn't given her any new foods in the last few days that I could think of, she wasn't on any new medications at the moment... What was wrong with my little girl?

FINALLY though, we seemed to be getting answers: She had a really bad case of HIVES! I'm not sure why, but that thought had never crossed my mind, especially since I'd been so worried about this being a reaction to her chicken pox vaccine. But the big question that's still on our minds is, What are her hives from? The doctor gave us several possibilities (like a food allergy, or from getting too hot or too cold, or it could just be your body's way of dealing with a sickness ONE TIME & it'll never happen again-- WHO KNOWS?), but of course we'll never know for sure unless maybe it happens again, which we're hoping it doesn't.

After we got home, we gave her an antihistamine & a steroid from the doctor (which he gave her because her hives were SO bad!) & she fell asleep within an hour for a 4-hour nap! After she woke up, she looked remarkably better & seemed to be feeling better as well. So for now, it looks like she's on the mend, although I think she's got a couple of days before her complection will be perfectly baby-smooth again. But WOW, thank goodness for doctors & medicines & prayers & 4-hour-naps! We're so glad to have our smiling Kimberly back with us again!

Don't Dance So Fast

I heard this poem at a Relief Society activity a couple weeks ago where a lady came & talked to us who was having a hard time finding the joy in everyday motherhood a few years ago... That is, until she accidentally ran over her 3-year-old son, resulting in his death. Needless to say, this poem hit home for many of us young moms in the audience, hoping beyond hope that this could be a lesson we wouldn't have to learn the hard way...

Have you ever watched kids
On a merry-go-round
Or listened to the rain
Lapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly’s erratic flight
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
You better slow down
Don’t dance so fast
Time is short
The music won’t last.

Do you run through each day on the fly?
When you ask, “How are you?”
Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done,
Do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?
You’d better slow down
Don’t dance so fast
Time is short
The music won’t last.

Ever told your child,
We’ll do it tomorrow,
And in your hast, not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
‘Cause you never had time
To call and say “hi”?
You’d better slow down
Don’t dance so fast
Time is short
The music won’t last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day
It is like an unopened gift...
Thrown away...
Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over.

St. Patrick's Day

This year we had quite an eventful St. Patrick's Day week... A couple of days before, we invited over Skyler's friend Megan & had a little "St. Patrick's Day Party". I'm not a big party-thrower, but the idea kind-of came to me one day as we were driving in the car, so I decided to go with it! Skyler & Megan both had a blast & Skyler was SO excited to be inviting someone over to HIS party...

First we played a "Hide the Shamrock" Game & then they ate a GREEN little lunch.

(Skyler LOVED helping me figure these out!)

I was impressed how many green foods we could come up with that weren't veggies!

Then, after the kids played for awhile, we went outside & followed some mysterious green Leprechaun footprints that led into our shed, where the kids were delighted to find a stash of green cookies that the Leprechaun had hidden! Our little "party" was pretty simple, but pretty fun! Maybe we'll even attempt to do one again NEXT year!

And THEN, we went to "Storytime" at the Library the day before St. Patrick's Day, where they of course talked all about Leprechauns... Specifically how to catch Leprechauns & about how tricky they are. So, of course, Skyler was anxious to set up our OWN Leprechaun trap that night, hoping to catch a Leprechaun & ask him where his gold was buried. Skyler wasn't sure that we had the right trap-building materials like in the Library book story, but Laron & him came up with this...

I was anxious all night for Skyler to wake up, after having learned all about Leprechauns the day before & how they make big messes & try and trick you out of telling you where their gold is... And so, after some quick last minute work, Skyler woke up to this:

He came into our room bright & early, with his shoulders hunched & his head hanging down, saying rather disappointedly, "Mom, I thought I caught the Leprechaun, but I didn't", he said with a shake of his head. But then his face brightened up with a mixture between horror & excitement, "But that Leprechaun made a terrible, horrible, super-duper mess in my room!" Of course, Laron & I expressed our amazement & condolences.

Then Skyler looked around OUR room & noticed clothes laying all around on the floor by Laron's side of the bed... "Dad!" Skyler exclaimed, "The Leprechaun made a mess in YOUR room too!" Then Laron had to explain that HE actually had made that mess, not the Leprechaun. Skyler got a funny expression on his face & said, "Dad, then YOU'RE kind-of like a Leprechaun!"

After Kimberly woke up, they both took a closer look at the mess the Leprechaun left behind...Kimberly was VERY worried about her diapers that were scattered all over...

Then Skyler noticed the note that the Leprechaun had left him under his "trap." After that he was determined to find where the Leprechaun had hidden his gold (especially after he realized that the Leprechaun had taken his money that we'd left as bait under the trap!).  So he went searching all over his room, and finally found a bag of GOLD candy hidden in one of his drawers... Boy was he excited! "Ha Ha!," he said, "I tricked him! I found his gold!"

And then, in the fridge that morning, we found a fun green pudding treat left for us from the Leprechaun. Skyler was in shock... "Maybe Leprechauns aren't mean," he said, "Maybe they're nice... I thought they were mean!" I was glad I had taken the time the night before to do this one last finishing touch, because I think Skyler was starting to get a little worried about what kind of terrible creature a Leprechaun must be (or the "Leopard" as he sometimes called it).

And then, once I thought the St. Patrick's Day fun was over, Skyler found a bag of GOLD screws under his bed, so he spent the rest of the morning looking all over the house for any more gold-treasures that the Leprechaun might have left behind... I think Skyler was almost MORE excited about finding the screws then the candy as he exclaimed, "Oh yeah! Now I can build stuff with Dad!" He was a little disappointed when I explained to him that they were actually screws to put together the diaper-changing table under his bed & that the Leprechaun must have just thought they were gold-treasure on accident.

So, all in all, we had a pretty eventful St. Patrick's Day. The day was full of questions from an inquisitive & excited Skyler all about Leprechauns. By 11:00, Laron commented to me, "We're going to be talking about Leprechauns ALL day long, aren't we?!" I just gave him a grin as I thought to myself how much funner kids make the holidays. I've tried to cook green food or something for Laron in the past on St. Patrick's Day (if I remember), but nothing could compare to the "St. Patrick's Day Party" & Leprechaun-catching fun we've had this week with Skyler!

An Amazing Weekend

So this past weekend was pretty amazing, for two different reasons. First of all, my brother Tim got his mission call to Conception, Chile a week or two ago & so took his endowments out this weekend at the Manti Temple (he's going to school down there). It was fun to be with family, to go through the temple with my little brother, & to go through a session in Manti (I'd never been there before).

BUT, I have to say that the part that sticks out in my mind the MOST about the weekend (besides being in the car ALL DAY!), happened afterwards... You see, my parents had boughten us all some lunch & then we met at Tim's apartment there in Ephraim afterwards. There wasn't too many of us that actually made the long trip down there, but as soon as lunch was over, my Grandparents were anxious to get on their way home (probably because of the terrible snow storms we had to drive through!). So while most of the family was loading up into cars outside, Laron & I, our kids & my two little brothers were left inside with my Uncle Keith, who was still finishing up his lunch in the kitchen.

Well, without giving too many details, things happened fast from there... I kind-of walked into the kitchen as my Uncle seemed to be throwing up in the sink, so I bee-lined it out of there quick, not wanting my sensitive pregnant stomach to be the next one throwing up, & realizing that most people want a little privacy at a time like that. But after a few more moments, we quickly realized that he was NOT throwing up, but was CHOCKING! Panicking, I quickly called for Laron, & luckily, he wasn't quite as overwhelmed & scared & shocked as me to know just what to do. He rushed right over & started doing the Heimlich Maneuver on him, & after what seemed to be an eternity, the food was dislodged & my Uncle was breathing again. As I was standing there at the kitchen door, shaking from the realization at what had just happened, & overhearing my Uncle mutter a quick, "Thank-you Laron," I realized just how proud I was to be married to an amazing guy like Laron at that moment.

I mean, I've thought time & time again about what a great guy Laron is & how lucky I am to have him as a husband, but never until I witnessed him saving my Uncle's life did I realize just how deeply & profoundly I loved & admired him. I guess I can't quite explain it, but I just wanted to publicly echo my Uncle's comment... "Thank-you Laron." Thank-you for sharing my life with me, for giving life to our children & for saving lives wherever you go with your zest, love & charity for others. Just like my Uncle, I'll never be able to thank-you enough...

Starting the Year off Right!

A couple of weeks ago, after all the chaos of the holiday season had subsided, we finally took a day off to just play in the snow with our little family! Once we were all bundled up good & warm, we all quite enjoyed ourselves, even Kimberly...

Kimberly LOVED eating the snow!

Once she figured out it was edible, we couldn't stop her after that!

Ready, Aim, Fire!

Making snow-angels

Now we're all just wondering why we never took the time to do this earlier in the season... It was the easiest & cheapest fun we've had all winter!

Best Buds

It's been fun over the last couple of months to see a true friendship develop between Skyler & Kimberly.

They make each other laugh & me laugh everyday.

I'm sure glad they've got each other!

Going for a drive & Tickling

Playing in the bath, WITH & WITHOUT water! 

Picking Pumpkins & Jumping in the Leaves

Playing with Daddy & Playing under the bed

(there's some kind of magical excitement under there!)

Sharing a sucker & Posing for pictures

(it was even Skyler's idea to take this picture!)

Well, life around here is sure never dull with 2 kids running around! And I'm sure it'll only get MORE exciting once this 3rd one comes along... Either way, I can't imagine my life without my kids, & I'm sure they couldn't imagine it without each other.

We sure love you guys!

It's A GIRL!!!

Yep, we went to the BEST appointment of all the pregnancy appointments today & found out that we're having another GIRL!!! When we first saw it was a girl, we told Skyler he was getting another sister, and he seemed to understand & be happy about it. But after about a minute or so, when the reality of what that meant sunk in, he exclaimed, "Oh man! But I really needed a brother!" Even the Ultrasound Technician laughed...

After we had the ultrasound, I went to my regular appointment while Laron waited out in the lobby with the kids. Once we were all through & back in the car on our way home, Skyler panicked & said, "But wait! We forgot to take our baby home with us!" And we thought we'd made that point SO clear...

Well anyway, we're super excited for Kimberly to have a little sister just 18 months younger than her (almost like me & my sister), & hope that they will grow up being the best of friends. So for now, we're sorry Skyler that you didn't get your brother that you were hoping for, but we already know that you'll make a great big brother, so we're not too worried!

Christmas 2010

Christmas was fun this year, especially because it was our first year celebrating Christmas in our own house! And we live a little closer to Grandmas & Grandpas, which means we had less DRIVING AROUND on Christmas, which always helps to make the holiday a little more enjoyable!

Skyler's first Gingerbread house!

Grandma Pace came over Christmas Eve & had a nice dinner with us & even acted out the Christmas story with us. Then she stayed the night & we awoke to this Christmas morning...

Skyler woke up bright & early like we'd expected, but didn't come immediately to our room like normal... Instead I could hear him tip-toeing out to the Living Room & taking in the scene of presents before him. Then he made his way into the entrance of our bedroom where he announced, "Mom, I slept for 4 hours!" (because of a comment Grandma made the night before that he needed to go to sleep early so he could get 8 hours of sleep before Christmas...) & then he said, "Do you want to come look at the presents Santa brought us?!" So we went to go look at all the presents, this time with the light turned on for the full affect. Boy was Skyler excited! But then suddenly, he became worried... "But Mom, we don't have a chimney. How did Santa bring us all these presents?" I tried to explain that Santa is magic & that he can bring you your presents, even if you don't have a chimney, when Skyler finally came up witht he solution, "Oh, maybe he brought them in the window." "Maybe," I smiled.

And then, like a very mean parent, I explained that he needed to come lay back in bed with us for another 30 minutes because we'd been up with a very sick Kimberly all night & had only slept for about 2 hours by that point! So after cooking a nice Christmas breakfast for Grandma, we were finally on to the present-opening...

Skyler's favorite present he got Christmas morning was a wooden train set! It was the very first present he opened (of course, he went for the BIGGEST box first!) & he was determined to open it up right then & play with it. Actually, he wanted to sit & play with every new present he got, which was fun at first & made the present-opening last a lot longer, but by the end we were kind-of rushing because it was time to go to Grandma & Papa's...

Even though Kimberly still wasn't feeling so well that morning, she sure seemed at home in the arms of Grandma!  Look at her cute Christmas outfit though!

Here Skyler is doing his "string"... Every year my family starts a ball of yarn at each family member's stocking & sends the string all throughout the house until you reach your present at the end. So here Skyler is unwinding his string from around a kitchen chair & following it to find his present...

When we first got to my parent's house my dad had this conversation with Skyler:

-Grandpa: "So are you ready for Christmas?"
-Skyler: "We already had Christmas."
-Grandpa: "Well, are you ready to open some presents?"
-Skyler: "We already opened some presents."

I guess we never explained to him that Christmas & presents were only just beginning...

So after Kimberly had a 3-hour nap at my parents house (VERY unusual for her), we headed down to Provo to celebrate Christmas with Laron's mom & family. There we exchanged presents, acted out the Christmas story again, & had a nice dinner. And then the next day we headed up to Evanston, Wyoming to spend the day with Laron's dad (sorry, no pictures!).

So overall, I have to say that we had a really nice Christmas holiday... It would have been better if Kimberly hadn't been so sick, but I guess we take what we get.

Here's the kids with their spoils from the weekend:

Skyler says his favorite presents were candy, his train set, & the Star Wars action figures from Grandma Erickson (just like what he plays with my brothers anytime we visit!).

Kimberly's favorites were the stuffed animals,
although my favorites that she got were the clothes! So cute!


So, as Skyler says,
"Merry Christmas to all & all!"

Kimberly's 1st Birthday!

Kimberly's 1st birthday was on the 9th of December...

It's kind-of crazy thinking that last year at this time

we were just having a baby!

Kimberly sure has a personality all her own...

I tried doing her hair in pigtails on her birthday for the 1st time,

and they sure seemed to fit her!

She had fun opening presents,
although Skyler was pretty helpful too!

Me & my girl!

She wasn't quite sure about blowing out a candle...

But she TOTALLY got into eating her cupcake!

She ate it by the handfuls & didn't stopuntil the crumbs were too small to pick up.

She liked playing around with everyone the best... And she loved the attention from Grandma & Papa,

like always!

Here's a little more of her attitute showing through!

She sure was spoiled by Grandmas & Grandpas...

And we sure don't know what we'd do without her!

We love you Kimberly!

Happy Birthday!