Kid-isms

Random things my kids have said and done recently that I find amusing:

Gwen: "When I'm old, and five, and in Kindergarten, then I'm going to marry Noah in the temple."
When you ask Emily if she wants something she yells "OKAY". A few months ago she used to go "uh -huh" with the huh part very high pitched. Every once in a while she'll say "e-yaw" instead of "okay" and it sounds very Swedish.
Jonathan made fish tacos from scratch the other night. We've never had fish as far as I can remember with the kids before and it smelled very fishy while he was cooking it. Gwen stated: "I hate fish so much that it's making throw up." At dinner we put it in front of her and she began to eat it with gusto explaining that "it tastes just like chicken. . . but I still hate ALL other fish."
If you ask Emily if she's two and hold up two fingers she'll yell "No!" at you and then grab your fingers.
The other day Emily ate a worm, grass, licked the car, and ate a dog biscuit. She wouldn't even touch dinner that night. I guess she was full.
Gwen loves school and all her little friends there. She has two teachers: Ms. Kay and Ms. Heather whom Gwen calls "Ms. Feather" and will argue with me about that really being her name.
A few weeks ago we went and saw the Disney movie, Tangled, about Rapunzel. Gwen explained to me that Rapunzel's last name is Tangled because that's what the movie's called. She was also terrified of getting her hair cut because she thought it would turn brown and lose all of it's magical powers.

Emily is 2

Emily turned 2 on February 20th. She did it with attitude, much like she does everything these days. Emily is more "2" than Gwen ever was. She's been "2" since she had that first temper tantrum at 8 months old as she crawled around on the floor following me around to make sure that I didn't miss any of it.

Her birthday was on a Sunday and all of my family was out of town for the President's Day extended weekend holiday. We just had a little family party at home. I had been at work the night before so I was tuckered out and came home and slept in the morning until church at 11:00. I went to help out with the girls during Sacrament meeting because they can be a handful. A few weeks ago I went and splurged on some quiet toys only to be used at church. It's really helped to keep them occupied and quiet at church. After sacrament meeting, we tried to drop her off at nursery - a usually delightfully easy process, which includes her dancing down the hall to the classroom, blowing us kisses, and shoving us out the doorway. It was quite different this time, she made it to the doorway and noticed that I was leaving and had a fit. Not a little fit that would quiet down either. Jonathan drove me home so that I could nap until they got home from church, and when he got back to the church the nursery leader was standing there holding a tantruming Emily. She got bored at Sunday school with Jonathan and must have realized that I wasn't coming back. By the time the nursery was having singing time she was ready to join them.

The rest of her birthday evening went really well. We watched movies and played. We had ice cream and pie - which she didn't like. Then as we were watching The Amazing Race and getting the girls settled for bed, my worked called begging me to come in and help them as they had 2 nurses not show up for work. I had to zoom off to the rescue.

Tomorrow is finally Emily's birthday party with her cousins. I've been looking forward to it all month, as it was supposed to be two weeks ago. Unfortunately, I forgot that I was scheduled to work tomorrow night so the activities might be cut a little short. It's been terribly busy at work these days. That's really a good thing because a few months ago it was hard to get enough shifts to get my hours covered. I'm sure it will get like that again in the coming months. Late winter and early spring are busy times for hospitals, what with all the flu and colds going around. I've been working 5 shifts a week lately and it's starting to take a toll on the kiddos. I'm really looking forward to summer when things slow down a little and I can spend more time with my lovies.

Princess Teeth

Today was another first for our family - first cavities for one of the kiddos. Last month when we all went to our routine check-up our family dentist told us that Gwen had a big cavity in her molar. It was big, too because even I could see it when she opened her mouth. She has a hard time at the dentist because of the loud noises so they didn't spend a lot of time checking the rest of her teeth. We tried to have them fill the cavity a week later and after 45 minutes it was apparent that Gwen was not going to be cooperative - she wouldn't even open her mouth. They recommended a pediatric dentist. Last week we went to one near our house and they were great. They did a full set of x-rays and found two more huge cavities in another molar on the other side. Since it had been such a trial to get her to even open up her mouth at the other dentist we decided that some sedation would be appropriate for her.

This morning we got to the dentist at 9:00. Gwen was whining about being hungry since she couldn't have breakfast, just in case the sedation made her vomit. They gave her demerol/phenergan/and choral hydrate to make her sleepy, which cost me $95 out of pocket. I had to hold her like a baby and force it into her mouth with a syringe. After that, she went into their play room and 20 minutes later, literally stumbled out and bumped into a wall giggling. I scooped her into my lap and had her play there. A few minutes later, she started singing "Old McDonald" at the top of her lungs. It was funny to see her whacked out on drugs. They had me carry her into the back and wrapped her in a big soft blanket and gave her some nitrous oxide which had her in dream land in a few minutes. She barely moved the entire time they fixed her cavities and it was super quick. After they where done, they took the gas off and she woke up and asked to go get a toy from the store like I had promised her.

She sat in the cart at the store and was still a bit loopy as she chose a little toy for herself and a Dora the Explorer book for Emily since she gets her cast put on tomorrow. She was super excited to show her daddy and Emily her new "silver princess teeth". She slept from the moment we got home at lunch time until I woke her up at 5:00 for dinner. The best part is that she thought the dentist was really fun and not scary at all. Guess the $95 was worth it.

Catching a Break

Well, Emily won the prestigious award of being the first grandchild on the Buckholts' side with a broken bone. Last night when I was getting ready for work she was busy going through all my drawers in my bedroom. Before I realized it, she had pulled out all the drawers in our 6 drawer high very heavy dresser and it began to tip over on top of her. I lunged for her and grabbed her arms to pull her out of the way but the whole weight of it landed on her right leg. It was terrifying to sit there and try to calm her as I realized that it could have been so much worse if I hadn't been there to pull her mostly out of the way.

She didn't get away unscathed though. As the rest of the night went on it became more and more apparent that her leg wasn't okay. I kept hoping that it was sprained or bruised. It wasn't too tender when I touched it or swollen or misshapen or anything like that. She even went to bed without a fuss. The only thing was that if she tried to put any weight on that right leg she would crumple and cry. Well, as I said, I had to run off to work and try to focus on my patients while every fiber of me wanted to be home holding Emily. I made it through the night and in the morning called to check on her with one last hope that Jonathan would report that she was happily skipping about her room with no pain. That was not the case as I listened to her sleepy voice on the other end of the phone cry out in pain as she tried to just kneel on that leg. I told my work I might not be there for my shift that night and took off home to comfort her and take her in to the doctor.

We went to the Granger Medical Clinic which felt so strange because I really wanted to take her to see the doctors that I worked with at the KidsCare. Unfortunately, my insurance does not feel the same way and will not pay for their superior care. Really, GMC was fine, it just didn't feel like home. Emily screamed through the entire exam, x-ray, and splinting but was fine in between when I got to just hold her and love her.

After the doctor's, Jonathan and I decided that it would probably be wise for me to go into work because we're going to have to pay our entire deductible for this accident (at least we're getting it out of the way early this year). I headed over to Grandma's to sleep for the afternoon. Grandma and Gwen spent the day cleaning her house and running errands, which she loved and wouldn't stop talking about - thank you Grandma! Emily got to spend the day scooting around the living room at home getting one-on-one care from her Daddy.

We're going to get through this first big family milestone without too many hitches I think. Thanks to everyone who has expressed love and concern and who has been thinking and praying for Emily. We'll post pics when she gets her cast on Monday.

Christmas Pics

Gwen got Princess and the Frog dolls for Christmas, Emily got Snow White and her Prince. Getting them similar gifts was a brilliant idea if I do say so myself.

Emily checking me out with her binoculars (not a present) but the stroller and baby Snow White were her gift from Santa this year. She LOVES Snow White.

Santa brought Gwen an easel for Christmas. Gwen spends hours painting, drawing, and writing on it with chalk and dry erase markers.

It's not made for real people, Emily. Luckily, it's fairly sturdy for a $5 toy. We took it over to Grandma's house later that night and all the 2-year-olds fought over it all night.

Jonathan found these cute metal slug bugs and asked Santa to bring them to the girls. He loves pointing them out when we're driving and now Gwen can spot them before us sometimes.

Cookie Grandma sent these cute matching outfits. I need to dress them alike more often because it's so cute.

Mason, my 8-year-old nephew who refuses to smile in pictures, got a wooden snake for Christmas. Emily was a bit creeped out by it.

Our first Christmas with Max. I was watching our videos of last year's Christmas and we were all excited about having Max in our family. It's so great to have him here.

Andrew taking a bite out of Grandpa's Yard of Beef.

Emily got a Sesame Street doctor kit from my sister Laura's family. We have a system for buying presents for one family so we don't all have to get gifts for everyone. With 4 sisters and a bunch of kids that can get expensive.

Gwen got a wooden magnet "paper doll" ballerina. It's just perfect to play with in church.

After opening presents the kids put on a Nativity for everyone. Gwen was the Inn Keeper and Emily was a Shepard. Gwen thought it was a beautiful dress for dancing in.

Kim and Mason were the stars of course - Mary and Joseph.

It was a little hard to keep them all focused, especially the little ones, but it was fun to watch them.

Sam and Jami were sparkly angels and Jonathan helped Sam read some scriptures.

Emily tried to steal the show by running around the tree shouting "Tank 'em" which is how she says thank you. It's the "Thank" from thank you and the "em" from you're welcome.

I love that our kids are all such good friends and have fun times with each other.

It's Christmas Eve!

It's here and it's official - it's Christmas Eve! I'm at work tonight and it's a (knock-on-wood) slow night here in the ICU. I feel like I somewhat earned this more relaxing night since I ran my tail off last night here. I'm amazed at how excited I am for Christmas this year. I can't wait to wake up tomorrow morning with the girls and watch them open their presents. I can't believe how amazing it is to be their mother. Does it ever just hit you like that? Like, you're sitting there watching your little ones argue over a toy and you realize, hey, I'm a MOM and these are my CHILDREN. When did I get so grown up? Or so lucky? I have always loved children. Having my own children has been the very best thing that has ever happened to me. They are my favorite Christmas gifts.

Holiday Fun

Emily. We stayed at the Festival of Trees until we hit nap time and we hit it hard.

Gwen and Noah got manicures. Gwen got blue fingernails and Noah got "monster green".

Here they are copying the kids on stage. Gwen would watch the dancers and try to do exactly what they were doing then Emily would copy Gwen.

Gwen could watch the dancers forever. Just don't ask her to sit, she has to participate.

Emily loved watching the dancers this year. Last year she was barely walking, this year she was dancing along with the music.

Emily loved this seal on the floor at the Festival of Trees. She wouldn't leave it. She danced on it and jumped on it.

Gwen spent three days watching the Barbie movie about the Nutcracker. She loved it and was so excited that there were nutcrackers at the Festival. She really liked these big ones and told us that she was going to cast a spell on him and make him smaller so she could dance with him.

Emily all bundled up for our celebration of lights in downtown. It was cold but beautiful.

Emily wanted to climb in the reflecting pool. I think she misses her swimming pool.

Gwen with the floating "Jesus Family" in tha background.

I can't believe that it's only December 8th and we've already had so much fun this holiday season. Thanks in no part to my new job where I've been able to work an extra shift each week. Those extra hours mean that I'm making about a third more than what I was at my old job. Today I paid off our credit card and for the first time I'm not worried about the cost of Christmas. This job is MUCH harder than my old job so I feel like I more than earn those extra bucks. I've also learned that anything can change in an instant so I'm not getting too comfortable just trying to be smart with the money still, like paying off debt and saving for a down payment on our next house.

It does feel really nice to be able to do these super fun things together without the worry. We took the train downtown on December 1st for the first night of Hannukkah and had dinner together and saw all the lights at Temple Square. We also went with Laura, Noah, and Max to the Festival of Trees. That's one of our very favorite Christmas activities. I love seeing all the pretty trees and watching the dancers and singers. Gwen sat on Santa's lap and asked for cardboard boxes. That came out of the blue. We had been talking about using all the boxes from the Christmas presents and painting them and turning them into houses for her princesses. That must have stuck in her brain because that's what she wants for Christmas. Cute kid. Emily refused to sit on Santa's lap but did like the candy cane that she got from him. She also likes pointing out Santa and saying "ho, ho, ho." Jonathan and I got a sitter and went with some of my family to see the latest Harry Potter at the IMax for my dad's birthday. We only see like one or two movies a year, so that was fun. Tomorrow Jonathan and the girls are going to the Dicken's Festival in the early afternoon while I sleep because I have to work all night tonight. On Friday, Gwen and I are going with Heidi, Sam, Jami, and Grandma to a Christmas ballet, just us girls. Later this month we're taking Gwen to see a Voice Male concert at Abravanel Hall. I'm loving this December.