Savanna-5 Weeks

It's hard to believe this little sweetheart is 5 weeks old.  She's still a little peanut but she's starting to fill out a little more.  I LOVE it when we get to be around her because the way she calms Brandt down is like magic.  It is one of the most special things I've ever seen.  Even on days when he is super wild (notice the marker drawn face that happened before we went down to my mom's today) all he has to do is be around Savanna and he becomes an angel of a child.

Coach Pitch 2014

Brandt and I love playing baseball-especially in the evening when our backyard is perfectly shaded.  He was so excited to play coach pitch this year even though he was a little too young-he was looking forward to not having to hit it off the tee. Bryce and I ended up being the coaches and my friend Jessica Ward helped me a ton at practices.  We had a fun group of kids but we also had our work cut out for us because a few of them were way too young for coach pitch and a couple of them had never played at all before.  Buddy would get so excited for practices but he had huge meltdowns at every one of them-like hitting and throwing things at teammates (and especially at me) when things didn't go as he expected and running away and hiding and crying. :( Games went better for the most part, but he still really struggled and spent some of the games refusing to play part of the time. His favorite position to play was catch-I think partially because of watching Mitch play but mostly because he basically knew what would happen and what he was expected to do with each missed pitch.  He definitely does better when he isn't trying to guess what's going to happen next.  He was a really great catcher-he rarely missed a ball and between every pitch he had his routine down to brush off the plate after he threw the ball back to the pitcher or while waiting for the next batter to come to the plate.  Of course, some of the other boys also wanted to try that position so I had to try to move him around some. My struggle comes with knowing that he has all of the talent and ability to play really well and knowing whether I should push him to participate or give up on it.  He WANTS to play and he is so good when he can keep his nerves and excitement under control.  For now we will continue to encourage him to participate so that we can also help teach him how to work through his social anxieties and changes in routine and hopefully have some fun along the way.

I'm learning that when my mom says things like "you need to go get your camera before you come pick up the kids" and  "you'll just have to wait and see what they did" it means buddy has been into big mischief-the kind that left some kind of mark on something or someone and my mom knows that I'm likely going to want to blog about it someday.

For the past week or so Brandt has mentioned here and there that he'd like a hair cut like his dad-difficult to do since he's bald on top.  We told him we would buzz it so it could be like the rest of Bryce's hair.  Apparently we weren't quick enough in getting it done.  He found my dad's razor and took care of it himself this afternoon. 

Brandt LOVED his new style and was proud of himself for handling it on his own.  He was not a happy camper when his dad made him finish buzzing it, but after it was all said and done he decided he liked it and wasn't mad at Bryce for long.

Fourth of July 2014

In the days leading up to today, I had hoped to get Brandt in for an appointment with Shaun to brush up on his fireworks phobia so he could hopefully enjoy them again this year.  Unfortunately, our Blue Cross insurance is denying coverage right now so we are limiting appointments as much as possible because it is all out of pocket at this point.  We did a few small fireworks last night to kind of "break him in" and he hated them!  He did kind of ok with the sparklers, but then when it came to the ones that were a bit bigger and made any noise, he freaked out and went into the house.

This morning we had breakfast with my parents and then headed to Paris to get ready for the parade.  Bryce and the kids watched with Quinn and Maleri, and I walked with Dr. Cambpell and some of my co-workers.  This year marks 20 years since he started his practice. This evening we met at Doug and Shellie's for dinner and then we headed into Montpelier for the fireworks.  Brandt hated them at first and was really struggling, but he ended up snuggling down between Bryce and me on the blanket and we survived it.  I'm sad that he didn't really enjoy them, but I guess it's a good reminder that he does have real "stuff" and we need to keep doing our best as a family to help him work through it and function to the best of his ability.

Consequences

Brandt has become quite handy with the phone-calling and texting.  He is constantly calling and texting people, especially grandma and the Hilliers, but he has now added moms of his friends to that list. Unfortunately he usually sneaks off to do it so we never know exactly who he's talking to or what he's saying. One time not too long ago I caught him texting a member of the bishopric during sacrament meeting! We try to always keep our phones with us, but he's a pretty skilled little pick-pocketer. This morning I told the kids that if we could get some stuff done then we could play in the sprinkler and set up the slip'n'slide.  Buddy asked if he could have friends over and I said we could maybe see if that would work.  He put his clothes away as fast as I could fold them and didn't even argue about picking up some of his other stuff.  I went outside to do something quick and pretty soon he came out and said, "mom, Tavis and Krya's mom said she would bring them over in 10 minutes." Apparently I had dropped my phone out of my pocket or something.  Sure enough, here they came a bit later.  He had arranged the whole thing.  So, I had a bit of a choice to make-not allow them to stay because he hadn't asked permission to call or let them stay and play and deal with consequences at a later time.  Since I didn't want the day to be ruined for all of us, I chose the latter.  It may seem like I let him get away with something, and I guess I did for a little part of the day-but the consequences later on weren't something that he was pleased with.  Who knows if that was the right choice on my part, but it seemed to work out ok and I think he still got the point that he had done something wrong.  If we all suffered consequences immediately upon making mistakes or intentionally disobeying, we likely wouldn't learn as much.  Some bad choices in this life have instantaneous effects while others take years to take their toll on us and our families.  We need to learn self-control and continuous obedience in order to avoid the negative consequences.  Likewise, some of the greatest blessings in this life (and the next) take time and continuous effort to obtain, but if we can work at it a little every day I think we'll be much happier with the outcome.

Grandpa's Newest Sweetheart

My dad loves all the grandkids, but I think he has an extra soft spot for the granddaughters.  I have a feeling that Savanna may be the one who will hold the dearest place in his heart because of all the circumstances with getting her here.

Beach, Blessings, and Birthdays

We had a fun and eventful day with Bryce's family today.  Jeff and Diana are here so we all went down to the beach (Bryce was working, though...) and then we had a birthday party for the twins in Liberty that night-complete with pinatas.  Between the two parties Bryce and I went with my dad and Jim Hillier up the canyon to bring cows down.  Kevin and Riley Wells came to help. It was going well until Bryce and I ran into a downed wire fence while heading down a steep, rocky hill. Bryce's horse Gunner isn't used to being in the mountains and had already been spooked quite a bit and it didn't help when he got cut in the wire.  Bryce came back to try to help me get Buck over it and it ended up being a bit of a wreck.  I was trying to lead him over it and Bryce was helping me hold the wires down.  Suddenly the wire slipped out from under Bryce's boot and caught Buck's back leg.  Buck fell forward stepping on my left shin (I thought it was broken for sure!) and then I fell as well.  I tried to roll and turn onto my belly covering my head as I went down and I felt Buck come down onto my back and felt and caught a glimpse of his legs as they brushed the sides of my shoulders and head as he fell.  It was the most surreal moment as I waited to be crushed under him, but it didn't happen.  It felt like some sort of cocoon was surrounding me and protecting me even though I could feel his weight on me.  Bryce was freaking out because he thought for sure I would be dead and Kevin and Riley, who were watching from the opposite hill, thought the same thing.  Of course later Kevin joked and said that he and Riley had already been "calling for" my possessions.  It was a huge surprise to us all when I stood up and was able to lead my horse off the hill.  My only injuries other than being sore in general are an ugly sore and goose egg on my shin and a bit of a wrenched pelvis.  BUT I'm walking and talking and breathing still and that is nothing short of a MIRACLE!  Brandt says it's because when he prayed before we left he asked for our safety.  I have no doubt that that helped immensely.  As a friend also pointed out, we are promised protection when we wear our temple garments and keep our covenants and I have had the strong feeling that that is why I am still alive and not severely injured.  Everyone who has seen me since the accident says, "wow, you are so lucky!" but I know that luck had nothing to do with it!  I am so BLESSED!!