Five Years of Wedded Bliss

I wish I had more pictures on the computer, but since we lost our hard drive, all our pictures are either gone or on CDs in the closet, so this one will have to suffice.

Last Friday, Braden and I celebrated our 5th anniversary. It's supposed to be a big one, so we tried to come up with something great to do that wouldn't cost much. We decided to do sealings at the temple, go out to dinner, spend the weekend at his parent's house with the girls while his parents were out of town, and go to a pumpkin festival near their home. Originally, we wanted to go to my aunt's cabin and have my MIL watch the girls. But the cabin was in use that weekend, and my MIL was out of town, so we had to settle with a family celebration. You can read more about how the weekend really turned out below, but here are some highlights: Taryn, Keara, and Braden all got swine flu (or at least just influenza) so we didn't go to the temple. Avery threw up all over me while we were out to eat. And the pumpkin festival I had chosen ended up costing way too much for not much fun so we didn't do it, only to find out that just around the corner was another festival for WAY cheaper with much more to do. Bummer!

Besides all that, we had a great time and it was so good to be there in all our glory and reflect on the last 5 years. Here's some of what we've done/been through/experienced in 5 years:

*three beautiful daughters
*I have had 2 jobs and Braden has had 7 or 8
*lived in 5 different homes in two different states
*started, opened, ran, and closed a business
*held dozens of callings
*had 3 cars (two of which we still have)
*had 5 pets (all fish, three of which lasted 12 hours total)
*grown 2 gardens, producing very little
*traveled to 6 states
*made incredible friends we hate to part with

The list will grow every year, I know. But truly, when I reflect on the last 5 years, they have flown by and yet SO much has happened in our lives. Yes, we had our 3 girls with us on our anniversary celebration, but I thought, really, that is what we are celebrating. Our marriage, our lives, our family. Five years ago, we became a family and we've grown and added on, and that is worth celebrating. Too bad no one felt very good to really celebrate, but I celebrated it in my heart.

I also reflected on how much Braden's and my relationship has changed over the last 6 years since we met. It moved from the flirtatious and totally exciting, to the "in love" euphoric state, to the newly wed state, to the challenging state, to this wonderful state we are now in that I can hardly describe. It's not the same as it was when we got married, but it is so much more meaningful, fulfilling, enriching, and powerful than it ever was.

And I'm grateful for that. I'm so grateful to have a best friend to miss every single day and to look forward to seeing every single day. I know I've written about Braden before (and at about this time last year), but here it is again. Things you may not know about Braden:

*He is SO patient. Whether or not he feels it inside, he rarely loses his patience on the outside. Taryn certainly pushes the limit more than anyone, but he still shows such patience with her. He is patient with my personality--when I take on way too much and then get lost in it all, neglecting so many other more important things.
*He is so supportive. I have a gagillion ideas and things I want to do and he supports me in all of them. He believes in my abilities and encourages me when I want to be encouraged.
*He is pleasant all the time. This man has never lost his temper. He never gets upset with me. He has never been in a truly bad mood, no matter how lousy he feels or how little sleep he has gotten.
*He shares my passion for good food and creating in the kitchen! I love that because he is all for improving our kitchen supply and would more readily spend money on that than on other things (not that we do, but when we have, that's what we've done). He has come up with some of the greatest recipes we use. Like his pineapple mango julius. It is to die for!!!
*He is an incredibly dedicated worker in his job. He is a wonderful employee and masters anything he needs to do quickly and better than his coworkers. He has always loved and appreciated by his managers because of how well he works.
*He accepts critiques with relative humility. No one likes being told their faults and weaknesses, but Braden does very well at hearing them and changing them. He is goal oriented and can accomplish pretty much anything he really sets his mind to.
*He always says sorry first...which says little for me since that means I don't say it fast enough. Not like he often has anything to be sorry for, but when we've had those moments, I am always humbled by his humility.
*He helps! A lot! He has his "chores" that are all his, like the lawn, garden, cars, weeds, and bugs (thank goodness!) but he also unloads the dishes when he notices they are clean, folds the laundry when I have other things to do, makes breakfast on the weekends for the girls so I can sleep, loves to do the grocery shopping, organizes the pantry and closets, does our budgeting and keeps track of all our finances (though I pay all the bills), takes care of the girls whenever I am not here (and even when I am), and tidies up the house.
*He's just fun to be with. Even when we don't do anything at all besides sit down on the couch and watch TV, it is SO good to just be with him!

I love you, Braden!!

Avery Girl is...Growing Too Fast!

Have I mentioned how much I love this baby!! She is so wonderful and I crave holding her all day long. I just rarely get to right now.

Anyway, she is growing so fast. She's still tiny, but to those of us who see her every day, she is so big. She's smiling lots, but I haven't gotten any pictures yet. She loves Keara and just smiles and smiles for her.

Going off dairy, though extremely difficult for me, has proven to do wonders for this baby. Her rash cleared up completely, her diaper sores finally healed, and the gassiness dissipated. We were so happy to see that, though it means a long dairy-free road ahead.

I had a revelation today, however, that the road may still be bumpy. Last weekend, while we were at Braden's parents' house, I had soy milk in my cereal for the first time. I had it Friday morning and Saturday morning. I haven't had it since. Friday night, when we were out to dinner, Avery projectile vomited (you know, like a gallon of milk shooting out of her mouth) all over me. Wonderful. Then, Saturday night, when we were driving home, she started screaming in agony because of a gas bubble. So we pulled over to help get the bubble out, but nothing would come. So I started feeding her to try to loosen things up in there. She wasn't interested in eating (obviously) but it did the trick to release the pressure. Unfortunately, that meant projectile vomiting again all over me...and the car. Wonderful. Since then, she has woken up screaming in the night because of gas and I can't get her to burp. The last few days she has been grumpy all day with gas and just cries in agony or wakes up from her naps screaming. During feedings, she is just hurting. Poor girl!

So, today, I put two and two together and realized this baby is probably also allergic to soy and is suffering while it leaves my body. Hopefully within the next couple days, she will go back to happy and comfortable. But for now, she is miserable. I guess we're going to try rice milk.

We Discovered Something Fun!!

I often feel like there is nothing to do here in AZ, especially when its hot outside. We had often heard that the AJ library was a lot of fun, but we had never gone. Well, I decided to change that and took the girls there a couple weeks ago. It was SO awesome!! They have this huge room for the kids, complete with a castle, a reading room, puzzles, a puppet show, flannel boards, play kitchen, and all sorts of other fun things to do. It was better than a museum, though I felt we needed to be relatively quiet. We weren't able to stay very long, but I hope to take the girls back soon when we can just have fun.

Welcome to the Infirmary...Anyone Wanna Come Play?

Last Wednesday, Taryn went to bed a little warm. The next morning, she woke up warmer still, but not enough to have me concerned. I took the girls to this little Kids Club music thing at the mall where they get to ride the carousel for free afterwards. Keara had been looking forward to it all week, so we HAD to go. Taryn's nose started running and her eyes were red and puffy. She looked miserable and each passing minute made her look even worse. She started sneezing and coughing and her fever shot up. By the time we were in line for the carousel, she looked like death had rolled in. Our sweet Taryn, full of fantastic energy, even laid down on the floor of the food court while we were waiting for our turn because she just couldn't hold up her own body anymore. Poor girl.

I took her temperature and she had a fever of 102. I watched her for the rest of the afternoon and gave her motrin, but the fever wouldn't go down. She fluctuated between 102-103 all day. Keara started coughing that morning also and by the afternoon, she also had a fever. We were planning on going on a date that night and then heading up to Braden's parents home while they were on vacation so we could celebrate our anniversary. Instead, we cancelled the date and just packed up the car and headed up north as soon as Braden got out of work.

Both girls got progressively worse throughout the evening to the point that Taryn could do nothing but either cry, sleep, or lay on the couch. She was far worse than Keara who really only had the fever and a cough and was noticeably grumpy. We decided to take Taryn to the doctor at 11 pm just to make sure she was fine with her fever not having broken all day.

Of course, when we got there, she started perking up and was able to eat, sit by herself, and talk...for the first time that day. Her temp dropped a bit and they sent us home with instructions to load her up with Tylenol and Motrin and keep the fluids in her. So we did. But even yesterday, she still had the fever, the congestion, and the cough. There are minutes in the day that she just can't handle life and just cries because she's miserable. Today is better, but she's not 100% by any means.

Keara still has a really rough cough. It's particularly bad in the evening and at night. It doesn't keep her awake, but it does make it hard for her to fall asleep at the beginning. Her fever is gone and never got as high as Taryn's.

Then, on Friday night, right before we headed out to dinner, Braden started with the fever and chills. Here it is almost a week later and he is still miserable. He missed half a day on Monday and then stayed home Tuesday and Wednesday, but went back today...still miserable. Poor guy! He has chills and fever, the cough, congestion, headaches, body aches, and is so tired.

Avery and I have thus far avoided it. Thank goodness! So I've been able to keep everyone else running, but to be honest, I've done a lousy job of playing nurse. I've been too busy with projects and other things to really give them the care and time they need. Sorry guys! I dont' know why I'm feeling so much pressure to get so much done right now. Self-inflicted pressure too.

So...what is it!? It's the full fledged flu virus. What remains to be seen is whether it is simply influenza or H1N1. It doesn't really matter, since they are so similar and equally as dangerous, but its for sure one of them. Doctors are no longer testing for it unless you are high risk, so there's no way to know for sure. But I'll tell you one thing...it is miserable. And it lasts for a long time. Sorry if we passed it on to you! You're most contagious before you shown symptoms so its really hard to NOT pass it around.

I've never been one to call the doctor's office with questions, but I have to admit, I worry about Taryn. For some reason, she scares me as far as her health is concerned. Not like she's ever been really sick before or has some immune system problem, but she concerns me none the less. So, for the first time in my life, I have called our pediatrician with questions! Not like they can really give me any answers, but I do notice I'm more worried.

What do you think? Is it all hype and no show? Or is there really something to worry about?

Computer Woes No More

Q: What do you get when your computer's power supply goes out?

A: A fried computer.

That's apparently what happened to our computer. So, a word to the wise, don't keep your tower in a place where it can't get proper ventilation.

Here's what we believe happened: Our power supply fan broke, whether from lack of circulation, age, or whatever. But it stopped working. Because of this, the other functions on our computer had to work HARDER in order to function properly. The added strain fried our hard drive. It also fried our memory cards, and possibly our video card.

So, we replace the hard drive and the power supply for $200 and found the computer still didn't work. Rather than replace the memory cards and video card too only to find something else was also fried, we decided to buy a new computer. We searched around and didn't find anything cheap enough. Luckily, I stumbled across Dell's "outlet" where they sell refurbished, scratch and dent, and returned computers for a really good discount. So we bought one and now have it up and running.

Now to see if we can get anything off our other hard drive...

It's Autumn and That Means...APPLES!

Caramel apples, to be precise. Since we moved here, I have made and sold caramel apples to friends, family, neighbors, and strangers. And it is time for them again!

You have GOT to try these apples. The caramel I make is 100% homemade...no unwrapping caramels and melting them. Who do you think I am? I have never tasted such delicious caramel. Add peanuts and I'm in heaven.

This year, I am offering plain, peanut, and M&M (unless you've ordered in the past and want past toppings...let me know which you want and I'll let you know if I can do it).

Pricing: $2.50 each or buy 10 and get 2 free (so a dozen for $25)

Packaging: Apples can be individually packaged for $2 extra per dozen. Otherwise, they will be delivered packaged as an order, rather than individually.
Delivery: I will deliver to Queen Creek at no cost within 4 days of ordering or can deliver by a specific date if you have a party or specific event to use them at. Or, I can deliver outside of QC with a minimal charge, depending on how far I have to go.

You can email me (bradenandcheri@gmail.com) or comment with your order. Let me know when you want them by!

**If your kids want to sell apples to family, friends, neighbors, etc. I will pay them a commission based on sales. Let me know if you are interested. Its a great way for them to earn a little extra Christmas money!**

Happy autumn!

All About Avery!

The last 6 weeks have FLOWN by and Avery has changed so much. She has grown more than Keara or Taryn had in weeks, leaving the hospital at 6 lbs 9 oz and weighing in yesterday at 9 lbs 4 oz. Here's a progression of her changing over the last few weeks. I love this baby!!

(keeping with the *now* tradition of a picture in a pot...)

If you noticed in the picture of her in the stripped pants on the couch, she had developed baby zits AND a rash with thousands of bumps all over her head and neck. When I took her for her 4 week appointment, the doctor asked about it. He said it looked like atopic dermatitis...not good words to hear because it meant allergies.

Well, a week ago I noticed blood in Avery's diaper. It continued over the weekend and I called the pediatrician on Monday. He said 90% of the time, it is caused by a milk allergy. When we looked at the other symptoms (the rash on her head, green mucousy poop, excessive gas, plus the blood) as well as Taryn having allergies, he was convinced that it is a milk allergy. So in order to verify, I need to go off ALL dairy for 2-3 weeks to see if it helps her symptoms. Its been tough this week, but she seems to be doing much better. The rash is better, though not perfect, there is no more blood in her diapers, and her "stool" is more yellow again.

Thankfully, because of Taryn's allergies, it is easy to make dairy free meals. However, I am usually not the one left out from eating what I make. So I made chicken enchiladas the other day for Braden and Keara and made dairy free (meaning no cheese, sauce, etc) one for me and T. When I put the dairy free one on the table, Keara and Taryn both looked at it suspiciously and asked "What is that?" Then I brought out the one smothered in cheese and both of them got SO excited. Here's T's reaction...

Nope, sorry T. The boring one is for you too...Anyway, so I'm off all dairy for at least 3 weeks and possibly a year if she is allergic to milk. I want to nurse her as long as possible, so I have to get used to soy, no ice cream, no cheese, no pizza...thankfully Oreos don't have milk in them...but I can't dip them either.

So, I was inspired by a friend a while ago...Avery's hair has been thinning so much and leaving dark clumps in unattractive places. So we decided to shave her head tonight. Don't get mad at me!!

Here's a before...

Here's the hair we took off...not much, but enough to do the trick...

And after. Still just as beautiful but not so splotchy. I love this girl!!

She has the greatest personality. She is so calm and so content. I love it. She loves to cuddle and loves me! She is definitely more of a mommy's girl than the other two were. She is fantastic!

Growing and Making

Our garden died, except the watermelon plant and the tomato plant. Even the jalepenos started to grow again after the heat started to go away. But the watermelon plant grew out of control. You can't see them well, but there are 3 watermelons growing in the lower right corner. We had a total of 6 grow, but only harvested 2. The first one wasn't ripe enough. But the second...

was! It was pretty good too. But we don't really like watermelon, especially if they have seeds, as these do. So, we ate a bit and gave half away.

I also made these bibs and baby shoes for a baby shower. I made a pair for Avery since her feet are so long but skinny, so no newborn shoes fit. I really love them for her. I hope the gal I gave them to likes them.

I also made these biscuit donuts. I love them! Not good for you, but super easy and really really yummy.

My neighbor's daughter is having a birthday party next month, so I took the opportunity to try making a tutu. I think it turned out really cute! Or maybe its just the model...

What the big girls have been up to...

While there have been rough times trying to figure out the needs of Keara and Taryn and what I'm missing with them, there have also been so many wonderful days, moments, and memories. It's been fun seeing them grow up a lot in the last 6 weeks (can you believe it's been that long already!). Yes, it's still warm enough to run in the sprinklers...this was last week. Thank goodness, though, for no more days over 100 degrees!

Keara started sleeping at the door every night. One day, Taryn figured out how to get out of her bed (she hasn't been able to because of the railing). So she joined Keara on the floor. It was very difficult to get into the room to put them back in bed...I love seeing Taryn becoming such a big girl. Speaking of, I can't tell you how much she is talking. It's amazing!!! She's hilarious, though the phrase I hear way too much right now is "No! I don't want to!"

Keara loves Avery so much and still begs to hold her every day. She loves choosing her clothes and helping change her diaper. She's very good at burping her too, always succeeding at getting the difficult ones to come.

I'm a little concerned, however, at how bold and confident she is getting. No matter how many times we tell her to not stand up with Avery, she just can't resist the temptation. I was nervous, but knew she would be so careful that I felt comfortable enough to grab the camera... I love this picture...Taryn's imagination is really growing. She is a crack up!!!

These girls are really such great friends...when they aren't fighting. I love moments like these.

Keara is SO good. Here she is reading stories to both her sisters. I love it!

Big shoes to fill...

I love having 3 girls! I can't tell you enough. The other day, I was at an appointment and the girls were getting restless after an hour in a small room right around lunch time. I asked this gal who I was working with if she had any kids. She said she didn't and said that she never wanted any and that her job (where she is surrounded by kids every day) convinced her daily that her decision to never have kids is right. I wish I had borne a stronger testimony to her of how amazing it is to be a parent. But all I could really get out was "You have no idea what joys you are missing." Yes, it is challenging. Yes, I want to pull my hair out some times. Yes, I sometimes have the song "Little Girls" from Annie running thru my head. Yes, I sometimes beg the girls to leave me alone. Yes, sometimes I wonder if Taryn will EVER grow out of her craziness. But the other moments, the other amazing blessings of being with these girls truly outweigh the hard times. At the end of the day when I see them sleeping peacefully in their beds and in the morning when they so happily come bounding into my room, I feel my heart swell with gratitude for them. I love them all so much.

Blessing Day

Braden gave Avery a beautiful blessing on the 13th of September. It was tender and beautiful and made me cry. I loved the part about her being a calming spirit in our home. She truly is!!

I had professional pictures taken of Avery in her blessing dress, but I haven't gotten them back yet, so all I have are these two.

I'm Back! (at least for the night) Let's start with...

My mom's visit! She came to our house on the night of the 6th of September and stayed until the morning of the 15th. I cannot say enough about how awesome it was to have her here. I do not know anyone like her and hope to be half the mother, grandmother, wife, and woman she is. From sun up to sun down (literally), she was working 100% for me. If the girls got up before I did, she dressed them, fed them, and took them on a walk, letting me wake up with Avery and get myself ready. She cleaned my fridge, cleaned the house, did the dishes, and entertained the girls, giving them the attention they really needed. I love you mom!!!

We started out her visit with a trip to the Tempe Towne Lake splash pad for the last day of the season. It was a fun way to spend Labor Day.

The girls love books and loved having Grandma read book after book after book after book to them. And grandma even let Taryn jump all over her as she tried to read.

Grandma bought a bottle of bubbles for the girls and Keara just couldn't wait for a helper, so she opened one and dropped it all over the floor. Though I was frustrated, I realized it was the perfect opportunity to try out an activity I saw on my cousin's blog. It's called the foamerator. You cut the bottom off a water bottle, wet a piece of a towel and attach it to the bottom with a rubberband, and dip the towel in dish soap (or bubble soap). Then blow and you get foam! It was awesome!!!
We miss you mom! I love your never ending positive, uplifting, edifying, and inspiring personality and outlook on life! Thank you!

Give Me Another One...

Give me another line from this movie...

"Feed the birds and what do you have? Fat birds."

Computer update: still not working, hence no blog posting. But there is SO SO SO much to blog about. Its driving me crazy.