Who needs an appendix anyway...

Friday evening we went to dinner with Mom and Scott's family, I felt a little sick after, but I thought it was just because I was full. That night I woke up feeling awful, I thought maybe it was the flu since Cecily had it earlier in the week. Saturday morning the pain was so bad I couldn't go to Cecily's Gymnastics recital. I cried over the sharp pains in my tummy. I still thought it was the flu since I also felt nauseous. I asked Kreg to give me a blessing before he left for the recital. He told me to go to the ER but I insisted I was fine and it was just the flu, I thought if I threw up I would feel better. So they left and I threw up but it did nothing but make it worse. I toughed it out till 5 pm and then finally looked online at appendicitis symptoms, sure enough I had about 90% of the symptoms. I told kreg we needed to go to the ER. We sent the kids to the neighbors and went to the hospital just down the street. I was in so much pain and so desperate for relief I couldn't really talk or think about anything. They gave me Morphine which helped so much, I was nervous to have it since I had such horrible side affects from it when I had my C section with Cora, but thankfully I just felt relief. The nurses and DRs did all the blood work and CT scans to confirm the appendix needed to come out. I honestly could not wait for surgery. I had my appendix out around 9 pm Saturday night. The DR said there was a lot of fluid in my stomach as well so he thinks I had an ovarian cyst that burst. When I woke up from surgery I immediately felt better! I stayed the night and went home Sunday morning. I am doing much better now, just resting a lot in bed and taking short walks. The CO2 gas they filled my stomach with during surgery is what is causing the pain now, it goes up into my shoulders and neck. It makes it hard to breath or do much of anything but I am hopeful it will be much better in the next couple of days.
 It all happened so fast and as intense as it was I am already starting to forget it! Which I am so thankful for. It was by far the worse pain I had ever felt. Now it just feels like deja vu recovering from yet another surgery. I just did this a few months ago. I am so grateful for my Mom for coming back from Ogden just a couple of hours after getting home and for my amazing Kreg for taking care of me, the kids, and the house while I am sick! He is amazing and so helpful! I have great friends too that have brought over dinner, treats, and flowers as well as helping take care of my kids! I feel so blessed through it all and am grateful for experiences that help me to learn and become stronger and learn from others love and generosity!

Lake Day

 Oli got a hold of the melted gummy worms which turned into a big blob he tried to eat the whole bag till it got a little sandy and I took it away. That boy and his treats!

We had a fun day at the lake a couple of weekends ago, we had a good time swimming, going on the wave runner and Kreg's raft and playing in the sand. Even if it was a little windy. We had all the kids pose on the wave runner (except Cora of course)

More pictures from the Zoo with the Harris'

Melts my heart!

Oli couldn't take his Eyes off of Cora!

Sweet Rhonda and Sweet Cora

Cora is 4 months

 Our Cora Kathleen got to meet Cora Harris finally!! The Harris family came to Utah and we got to go to the zoo with Rhonda and the girls and meet baby boy Harris via Rhonda's cute tummy! Rho also did a photo shoot of the kids and I. We are so happy we got to spend time with them, we miss them so much! Oliver told Cora Harris he wanted to marry her, she got really shy and just ignored the gesture (Rhonda and I would be so happy if they really got married! Oli will need a major growth spurt though, Cora has him beat by quite a few inches right now). Oli and Cora are such good buddies! They had so much fun playing and being silly together, Cecily and Ruby picked up right where they left off and had lots of fun playing and being together. Rho and I had a great time talking and watching our cute kids interact. I am sad we don't live down the street from each other but sooo happy the Harris' come to UT often so we can see them, and we will soon be making a trip to So Cal to visit them!

 Our little Cora wasn't in the mood for pictures, she is all smiles until you whip out the camera. Ruby and Cora loved our little Cora!

 Cora at 4 months is still the best baby! I really never thought a baby like her existed. She never cries, is always happy unless you don't get her food fast enough. She falls asleep anywhere/anytime. Like the photo above, she was just laying on the floor playing and the next thing I see, she is dead asleep. She will even fall asleep sitting up right on my lap its so funny. The other two kids had to be rocked and jostled to fall asleep ever.

 She really was so smiley and then she saw the camera....

 and then she started to arch her back in protest to the photo shoot.

Cora:
Weighs: 12.1 LBS 25th percentile (8 ounces heavier than CC at this age and 1 LBS lighter than Oli)
Height 23" 5th percentile (One inch shorter than both CC and oli at this age)
Wearing both 0-3 and 3-6 month clothing, size 2 diapers
Sleeps 8-10 hrs at night, 30-60 min naps during the day at home, if we are out and about she will sleep for much longer for naps.
Eats 3-4 ounces of formula every 3 hours during the day
Talks lots
Loves to suck on her hand and anything she can grab
Rolling from tummy to back
Loves reaching for things and playing with toys
Loves her exersaucer
Drools a lot!
Laughs when she is startled and when Kreg is silly with her
Still likes her binky, but not totally dependent on it.
Loves swimming and baths
Loves being outside
Still loves the front pack carrier, as well as sitting in the stroller outside of her carseat.
Loves watching Oli and CC be silly

Kindergarten Graduate

 The morning before Graduation Cecily and Oliver's friends Lucy and Maxwell Nelson came to play, I wanted to take some photos of CC and they all wanted to be in it. We have had such a fun time getting to know the Nelson family and playing with these two cute kids each week at our play dates! Lucy is just a few months younger than CC so she isn't in the same grade, Oliver and Maxwell are 10 days apart (Max is older), Oliver loves that they are the same size since all his other friends his age are so much bigger!

 My Graduate looks so grown up! I cried on this day, but not on the first day of Kinder. I will miss her so much when she is gone all day in the fall!

 Cecily and some of her best Gal Pals from school! Lainey (far left) and Avea (far Right) are her really good friends from church! I love that she has so many friends her age that live close by!

 Mrs. Bond prepping the class for the program.

 Cecily spent most of her time posing for the camera when she was supposed to be listening to the instructions!

 Oli had fun playing with Anton (Avea's Little Brother) and Avery (Lainey's Little sister) as well as Rachel Avea and Anton's mom. I also love that Oli has so many friends his age and they just happen to be all of Cecily's friends' siblings!

 Cora was happy in her seat, she has started this new thing where if you are sitting by her but not paying attention to her she will yell at you! Anton thought it was funny, but kept trying to shush her!

 At the end of the program Mrs. Bond passed out portfolios and Graduation Caps.

 Cecily posed by her School sign, We are excited about her opportunity to go to a Charter School next year, but also a little sad she won't be going to school with her friends and school won't be across the street from our house anymore. she Yelled "I GRADUATED, I DID IT!!!"

 Cecily and her fabulous teacher Mrs. Bond! We love her so much and are so grateful to have had such a great Teacher for our Cecily!

 Mrs. Bond and Mrs. Peters the principle.

 Cecily did so great performing all of the songs in the program, I had multiple parents come up to me afterward telling me CC is such a ham and a great performer. One Mom even gave me info for a children's theater which we are looking into!
We are so proud of Cecily and all her hard work! She learned how to read and is awesome at math! Her final Report Card was straight 4's in Reading and writing/language arts and all 4's and one 3 for math! Cecily is a perfectionist and gets a little nervous to try new things because she worries she won't do it right on the first time (we have always known this about her, her 3 yr old preschool teacher even pointed this out about her) it made for a challenging homework time most days only because she would psych herself out each time, but once she got going she would always say "this homework is easy peasey, lemon squeasy!" It was a bit of a patience trier for me each day having to convince her she could do it but it most always ended on a positive note. I'm sure it will be one of our challenges going forward but I am so proud of her for making a good effort at being brave and confident and most of all working Hard!
Mrs. Bond would always tell us she could always count on Cecily to be on task and treat others kindly. We are so proud of her for being a good friend and being respectful to her teachers and those around her! Cecily told myself and Mrs. Bond her favorite thing she learned in Kinder is "writing exclamation points" This totally sums her up! She is always so happy and living life to its fullest. Gram said Cecily's whole life is an exclamation point! I sure hope she can always keep that mentality and love for life!

Cecily's Class Zoo Trip

 Cecily's Kindergarten class went on a field trip to the Zoo and so Oli, Cora, Aunt Paige, and I tagged along! Oliver loved hanging out with the big kids and copied everything they did! Cecily had fun with her friends Jack and Miles, they are twins and so cute! At least that's what all the girls in the kindergarten class tell me. Their Mom told me that they hand picked Cecily to be in their group. Cecily "flirted" with one of them more than the other ( I forget which one now) She would say "you are funnier than your brother", and just follow him more intently, but she has never told me she "likes" either one before. I am certain because there is another boy in the class named James that she is smitten with. He is tall been 6 since early in the year and really cute! She says she" never talks to him or plays with him, just looks at him because he's cute!"  Anyway back to the zoo trip...

 Can you tell she is all about fancy poses and fun hand gestures? ha not sure where she gets this stuff!?

 Oliver the snake charmer?

 Oli struggled keeping up and getting into position for the pictures before the big kids were on to the next thing.

 Oli was so bugged that I had Paige ride next to him on the Carousel, I wanted her to stay close to him since there are no seat belts and I didn't want him flying off. He wouldn't smile for any picture, this is the best one I got. But look how cute Paige looks!

 Paige pointed out to me that I dressed to go with the zoo theme, totally didn't think of that, but I'll own it! Cora is 4 Months!

Love my 3 littles! Oliver has been soooo wild and silly/crazy the past couple of weeks, he is testing us for sure! He has one speed "super fast" and really never runs out of energy. He is in a phase where he doesn't listen or tries to argue, thankfully Cecily balances it out with her impeccable rule following. Oli sure does make us laugh and keeps us on our toes! He is also potty training this week and doing super well with going Pee! Pooping is a bit more of a challenge but we will get there!

A New Do

 We have been going back and forth about cutting Cecily's hair, she has wanted it short but I've been to sad to take the plunge. I knew it would make her look older and I haven't been ready for that. Can you blame me? We got home from our trip from ST. George and got right down to business. She was so excited to cut it!

 I braided it first so we could donate the hair.

Just as I thought, she looks older but so darling! She is obsessed with her new hair! She is always looking at it in the mirror and talking about it!