I’m finding it hard to find the time to get things done these days, but for a moment Ellie is sleeping and the girls are playing together. I’ll be lucky to get a couple lines typed before they are asking for something. Oh, what do you know, here they are.
We had a great Halloween around here. Matt was on call but he was able to escape for a couple hours to join us at the ward party. Jasmine and Belle, our two princesses this year were beautiful! I’m glad I kept their costumes hidden until the Halloween party because here it is a week later and they wear them everyday. The girls did some good trick-or-treating for Matt and I. They occasionally ask for their candy but most of it goes to Matt and I. The kids go to bed and we raid the candy bags. Pathetic huh?
Kyla has begun to question the world as well as everything we ever say. We can hardly talk to her without her asking “Why?” She is relentless with her questions. While Kyla is busy waiting for acceptable answers, Kenna is busy coming up with her own original “knock knock” jokes. They are extremely random and make no sense at all but they keep us all laughing. Kenna has also been learning about rhyming at preschool. She is getting the hang of it due to all her practice. She can come up with a word (if you want to call it a real word) that rhymes with anything and everything.
Due to some colder weather Matt took a trip to the attic to get the winter clothes down. The girls were really excited to get out their boots, scarfs, hats and gloves. It took McKenna seconds to dress in full winter attire. Days later the weather warmed up again. It didn’t detract from Kenna’s excitement for snow. She still gets all dressed in snow pants and all and pulls the sled up the grassy hill and attempts to slide down. Kyla likes to join her for a ride down the hill but she is dresses in sleaveless summer dresses. Both kids are a little off for weather in the 60′s.
We are doing great around here. Still a little sleep deprived but well worth it. Especially now that we are getting some awesome smiles from Ellie. She is a sweetheart!
Jen

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Amazing how time flies when a new baby comes home! Ellie is already a month old and I haven’t blogged about her yet. She is the sweetest little girl and fits in our family like she’s always been here. The girls adore her almost as much as Matt and I do. Between all of us, Ellie hardly gets a moment to herself to look at the world around her.
The girls have adjusted pretty well to having another little sister. Kenna occasionally complains that I don’t play with her anymore because Ellie is always eating. It is true, but what do you expect, its hard work to have cheeks like Ellie’s. Kyla wants to be held more than ever, and funny how it is always at a time when I’m helping the baby. All in all though, the adjustment has been much smoother than I ever expected.
Ellie is a very content and pleasant baby. (Much easier than our other 2 have been.) She has been giving us lots of smiles recently. Its hard to tell if its gas or because she is really happy to see us. Whatever the reason, those little smiles are endearing. As small as she is, Ellie is growing fast. At her 2 week appointment she was up to 9.4lbs. Now a couple weeks later, she is probably up to 10lbs. She really has been nothing but a joy in our home. Of course I am tired and can’t seem to remember anything, or leave the house without forgetting something, but I love it all.
Kenna is enjoying many activities these days. School, gym and dance keep her busy. Kyla still just hangs with me. She is getting anxious to start some activities of her own. For now though, she is my diaper and wipe girl. She can run to get diapers faster than any kid I know!
Well, the little one is calling. I’ll blog again soon. That is if I don’t forget. I can’t remember much these days!
Jen

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Ellie Grace, born at 1 am on September 17. She was our biggest baby, weighing in at 8 lbs. 2 oz. and measuring 20 and 3/4 inches. I think she carries it all in her cheeks. Both Mom and Baby are doing great and we are excited to get them back home. More news and pics to come.

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I guess Kyla wanted to get an up close look at where her daddy works everyday, because that is just what she got. The past couple days Kyla has had a slight cold, but nothing to slow her down at all. Friday morning she woke up sounding a little horse and wheezy. Nothing that concerned me too much at first but throughout the day the wheezing wasn’t sounding any better. I wasn’t sure if it was something to be concerned about, especially since she had been running around and playing like normal all morning. I called Matt to see what he thought and he suggested I take her into the doctor. Not an easy thing to do being that I was babysitting 2 other kids for the day. I went ahead and got her an appt. for 4:00 that afternoon with her pediatrician. Kyla, like usual, fell asleep on the floor around 1:00. Her wheezing was sounding worse and I was starting to get a little nervous. She woke up after an hour or so and at this point I paniced. She seemed to not be able to inhale a breath and then barked out a cough to exhale. Her own eyes looked scared and that was all I needed to run to Kristin’s house to ask for yet another favor of a dear friend. Of course she rushed over to watch all the kids and Kyla and I were off. I called Matt on the way and he met us at the ER. It’s nice to have a doctor with you who knows how to get you right in. By now Kyla had a slight fever, still was wheezing pretty badly and her cough was even more croupy. The doctors ordered x-rays, and some breathing treatments. After a little while she wasn’t sounding any better so they placed an IV so they could get some blood work and give her some steroids. It took a few of us holding the poor kid down so the nurse could place the IV. I don’t know why they can’t ever get those darn things in on the first try! Still not enough improvement to send her home so they admitted her for the night. I ran home to get Kenna and pick up an “Old McDonalds happy meal” for Kyla. Kenna was worried sick and sat in the back seat with tears running down her cheeks as we drove to the hospital. She so badly wanted Kyla to come home for the night and insisted that we tell the doctors to let her go home. Kyla was thrilled to see Kenna and even happier to eat a happy meal. The steroids must have given her appetite a boost because she polished hers off and shared some of Kenna’s. We all hung out until they finally got Kyla up into her room on the pediatric floor. When it was time for Kenna and Dad to go Kyla lost it. She wanted to go home so bad! She was OK once they were gone and the nurse brought Kyla in a little hospital gown to sleep in and some little booty slippers for her feet. She loved them. It didn’t take long for her to fall asleep. Later that night Matt came to take on the overnight shift with Kyla. My big ole belly clearly wasn’t going to fit in the hospital bed next to Kyla, at least not very well. She did pretty well through the night and by morning her lungs were sounding much better. It was 1:00 before we finally got to go and by then Kyla could think of no better place to be than home.
Its a good thing Kyla’s little scare didn’t send me into labor. Only one of us can be admitted at a time. Besides, after this, I think I could hold off having another one just a little longer!
Jen

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I failed to mention our Utah trip in my last blog. Our trip was great and just reconfirmed that McKenna is a total cowgirl and Kyla is not. I have seen a lot of happy moments with Kenna but none as happy as when she is out on the farm. The girl loves the animals, the work, & doesn’t mind the smell. It is all great in her book. Kyla on the other hand didn’t seem quite as comfortable as big sis. Kyla was scared of the horses, the flies were a constant nuisance. Not even the lake was fun because she had to wear a life jacket. I’m hoping some of her unhappiness was due to her being sick for part of our trip. Kyla was much more in her element once we got to Provo. Apparently a nice swimming pool and Chucky Cheese is more Kyla’s style.
Back at home the girls are swimming as much as ever. Kyla is getting more and more comfortable with her wings. She loves to float on her back and get her hair wet. Occasionally she’ll even jump off the side. Kenna is learning to dive off the side of the pool. 3 out of 4 times its a belly flop but that one time in between is a great little dive.
With Kenna we’ve been working on the sounds of the ABC’s. We’ve almost made it through the whole alphabet. She’s got an impressive ABC book that we’ve been making that documents her hard work.
Kyla is counting and somehow learned to count to 13. I can’t take credit for this one. I think its more due to Kenna but regardless its impressive.
Kyla still loves to be run and even better is to be chased. Her new trick to get Kenna to chase her is by saying “You can’t get me.” Kenna is quick to prove her wrong but still she gets to run and is happy. Kyla has also been observing very carefully. A smart second child she is turning out to be in so many ways. If Kenna gets in trouble she’ll ask, “What did Kenna do?” Then without any hesitation she replies, “I’m not doing that.” Sly little gal eh?
Talk to ya later folks.
Jen

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