Goodbye March

March did not treat us well. The stomach bug passed to me and Kallie and it lasted FOREVER with Kallie. She threw up for three days. Luckily her diarrhea was manageable and never spilled out of her diaper but oh, it was bad. 

The second the stomach flu left Mckinley she got a cough and it still hasn't completely gone away. I got it as well and am soooooo sick of waking up in the morning and having a super sore throat. It has been so miserable. When it passed to Tyler of course he ended up with a few croupy nights that sucked for us and him. Then Kallie just got it Saturday night and we were literally up with her the entire night. And by we I mean mostly Brandon. He stayed up with her till 4:30 a.m. He brought our rocking chair outside on the back patio and just sat with her out in the cold air for like an hour and a half. At 4:30 I took over and I was with her while she was awake till I think about 6 when she finally fell asleep again. So completely miserable. We for sure would have taken her to the ER that night if we didn't have so much experience with Croup. Luckily she was okay the next night so at least we are all getting some sleep now but we are all coughing a little still during the day.

Her first smile after throwing up for three days. I think she still threw up again later after this. Boo.

Mckinley was so excited for St. Patrick's Day (of course) so she went to school with a pocket full of cough drops and really enjoyed her school party. Her teacher does so much fun stuff with them. She is so lucky to be able to go to Robin's preschool and especially that it's next door!

We had a few good days here and there in between all this sickness and were able to do a few things outside but I feel like we were definitely home-bound for most of March. Kallie pushing a baby and Tyler pushing his trucks.

The kids' favorite thing to do this month has been to take the spray bottles outside and to spray anything they can. It entertains them forever and is pretty awesome.

Since I never post pictures of us anymore!

This picture of Kallie is just too cute not to share.

Mckinley sharing her jelly beans after school. She is the sweetest thing ever and if she ever gets a treat she always wants to share it with her siblings. I think we ate them all and she said oh no! We didn't save one for Dad.

Mckinley has been putting 100 piece puzzles together almost completely on her own.

I am so happy the kids were well enough for their first Easter egg hunt of the year. We always love going to the ward party up by Brandon's parents' house. We have gone to it ever since we were in that ward and it is one of my favorite traditions.

The kids had so much fun finding Easter eggs.

They told everyone to stop at 12 eggs and Mckinley must have been counting in her head as she picked them up because all of a sudden she announced "I'm done! I have 12!" She is so cute.

The kids had a blast coming home and seeing what treats they got in their eggs.

I never would have guessed that night would be Kallie's crazy Croup night. At least we got to enjoy a normal day first. Brandon keeps telling me that one day we will all be better but I have a hard time seeing the light at the end of the tunnel when we are all sick. Hopefully we are all well enough to go on a cabin trip my mom has planned for next week. We are so excited for Easter this week and to watch General Conference at home this weekend. As much of it as our kids will allow us to watch anyway (which isn't much).

March

The twins trying to hide from nap time...

Tyler ate a sandwich or two for the first time in his life. It is still a struggle but at least he didn't force himself to throw up like in the past.

Ha ha, this picture is just awesome. These kids love to strip down and hang out in their diapers.

My cute cute boy.

Mckinley worked so hard to memorize her address, birthday, and my cell phone number. I can't believe how much she is learning in school. I love it!

Tyler is always jumping around on and over and under couches and pillows and anything he can. He is all boy and I love it.

Poor Mckinley got a 24 hour stomach bug. She spent the entire day yesterday on the couch. She threw up during the night and it got everywhere! After that I brought her into bed with us and taught her to throw up into this bowl. So there were no more messes to clean up after the first one. But the poor thing threw up the entire morning. She couldn't keep anything down. It broke my heart.

She seriously didn't move from the couch the whole day.

Brandon took Tyler on a "special date" (grocery shopping and to Wendy's) last night and he had a blast!

Mckinley got to go to part of school today and this is where she is right now, asleep on the couch. Being sick yesterday wore her out!

Mckinley LIVES for holidays. She was so excited about Easter the second Valentine's Day was over. But she is learning that there is another holiday first, St. Patrick's Day, so of course we had to decorate for it. She is so much fun and makes our lives so much better. Love love love these kids!

February Pics

A random breakfast in bed from Brandon. I have the most amazing husband ever.

February was so warm! We had a few really fun park days.

I love this picture of Tyler. He crashed on the couch wearing his super hero mask.

One night we went and had a fun time at the Orem Library. It was the first time we had ever been there.

More park days.

Trying to teach Tyler and Kallie how to get along. :)

Riding in style at Target.

Playing at Bryant's house while he is on yet another vacation.

I bought a curling wand and had so much fun curling Mckinley's hair.

She has the most gorgeous locks!

We go to the Bean Museum a lot. Mckinley got to touch a real snake.

Homemade pizza Brandon made today while the girls and I were at church. He stayed home with Tyler who has a cold.

February has really been the most amazing month ever. We have had such a great time together as a family and have had so much fun.

Valentine's Day

We had such an amazing Valentine's Day this year. First, Brandon and I went on a date on Thursday night to celebrate. Kristen and Dayne babysat our kids for us. We went to dinner at the Olive Garden and then we went and saw Mocking Jay at Water Gardens. It was such a great date night.

Friday Brandon sent me a delivery. It was such an awesome surprise!! He even snuck home while I was at the park with the kids to have it arranged all nicely on the counter instead of sitting on the front porch.

Saturday we made Valentine's Day a family day. We decorated the breakfast table and had gifts and balloons out for our kids. We made a really yummy breakfast and then spent the day together as a family. We went to our townhome to check out the new floor we had installed that week, then went to Wendy's for lunch and off to Costco. Home for naps and then that evening we went out again. I think we went grocery shopping. I can't remember. But we had a really fun day together as a family.

January

January is not my favorite month of the year. Other than the fact that Brandon was born in January, there isn't much I love about it. It's full of cold days and sick kids. We really haven't taken very many pictures this month and have been home with sick kids most of the month.

New Years Day we went swimming at the Provo Rec Center with all of Brandon's family. It was so much fun. 

Brandon's birthday was on a Sunday this year which always bites. We did go out to dinner at Carrabba's the night before.

I had to include this picture of Kallie because she is just so stinking cute. The twins are talking so much now, and especially Kallie. It is so awesome.

I finally gave in and went and played with the kids in the snow one day. I really don't like playing in the snow and we don't have the proper gear but they were happy with this tiny snowman and a little slide I made them in the snow.

We went to Cold Stone a few days after Brandon's birthday. Brandon chose cotton candy ice cream with strawberries mixed in and it was actually amazing.

Tyler loves to play with my hair and loves to rub it in my face and over my eyes. Love this kid!

We brought our old Queen bed up for the kids to sleep in. They love it! They don't all actually sleep in it together, they were just really excited the first night and were playing in it. We are hoping Mckinley and Kallie can sleep in it together and then Tyler has a single bed in his room. So far the twins still sleep in their cribs a lot at night though. Usually in beds for naps.

Kallie dumped out all the puzzles. Twice. She sure can be a stinker!

I caught Mckinley writing her name upside down on her homework. She has some pretty crazy skills! She also does swirl letters. It's so cute. I don't know where she comes up with this stuff. It is so fun to see all she is learning in preschool.

Mckinley LIVES for birthdays and holidays. She has all of her birthdays planned out all the way through till she turns 14. She is so excited for Valentine's Day and is always wanting to decorate for it. We go through a lot of tape around here!