To do:

Sew up the hole in Abby's dress
Sew up hem on Abby's pants

What I did:
Sewed the hole
Sewed up the hem
Sewed up my finger!

Ewwww.

I guess I was getting too fast and a little careless. As I was zig zagging, the tip of my index finger wanted in on the action! After I gasped and jumped up I took a look and yes, I was bleeding from the the pad of my finger AND from a hole in my finger nail! But eh, it's over and really no big deal. Luckily no thread went through--that would have been freaky.

the Wee Walker boot

Sigh.

Ok. Here's the story.

Friday: Eliza takes a weird (but not dramatic) fall, I think she tripped up on something on the floor. I'm thinking she hurt her face as she landed, but it was her FOOT that was hurt. There was no swelling or bruising, but she wouldn't walk on it. We kept our eye on it.

Saturday: Eliza still won't walk on her normal-appearing foot. But she's happy and doing well. We were at a friend's house, who is a pathologist. He felt around a little on her foot and she wasn't bothered at all by it. He suggested, as we felt by then, that if she wasn't improving by Sunday night we'd take her to the doc. Monday.

Sunday: Happy and perky but staying off that foot. By today Eliza has learned how to crawl around and not have to wait for us to carry her. She's not bothered by her foot touching/bumping anything. But still won't put pressure on it.

Monday: We saw the doctor. He touched up and down her foot--not a flinch. He took x-rays of foot and entire leg. Nothing. He said that some fractures in kids can be very small and hard to see. He emphasized that there's always a reason if a child isn't using a limb. We make an appointment with orthopedics at the children's hospital for Wednesday.

Monday night: I decided that maybe Eliza wasn't walking on her foot out of fear of it hurting, since she showed NO signs of pain recently. With a little bribery I got her to at least try to walk on her foot. And she did. She was cautious, but expressed no pain. She was walking, happily, that night with a little limp.

Tuesday: The limp has faded, she's walking almost normal.

Wednesday: It's hard to detect a limp today, but it can look like Eliza is walking on the outside of her foot sometimes. Still not 100% normal, but close. The specialist took a look at the x-rays and also saw nothing. She suggested Eliza wear the "wee walker boot" for a couple weeks just in case there was a tiny stress fracture. This would protect her foot. We'll go back for follow-up x-rays where we will see if there is any new bone growth, which would indicate there was a fracture.

Today: She's wearing the boot and doing fine. And, I'm crafting abbreviated stories for curious friends and passers-by.

Meet Baba

This is Abby with our cute neighbor, Baba. As it turns out, Baba's Mom needed some help with childcare as she didn't get into full-day kindergarten. I have typically not jumped at the chance to watch other kids full-time (ok, I have jumped AWAY from it), but I really felt like this was my chance to help a friend in need. And lots of details were in our favor, like it's just from 8:30-12:30 when they get on the bus. Also, Baba is really sweet, low-key, and easy going. Meaning, she's not going to destroy the flow at our house. She, Abby, and Eliza get along great. It's actually been going really smoothly--we've kept on doing our normal family activities. I'm pleased.

Yesterday was picture day, so the girls were all dressed up. Eliza wanted to be like the big kids, so she picked this dress out. Here they are waiting for the bus.

Braids

I just loved these braids that are barely there in the pigtails. Had to take and share the picture.

30!

30 just came

celebrate, we did
at last I feel old enough

to have 3 kids!

I went out Saturday night with 3 of my girlfriends--we had dinner and saw a "comedy sportz" show. We laughed our heads off. But I think I laughed harder at the funny gag gifts that they brought (thanks to Daniel's prompting). It was a great night out. Sunday, the acutal birthday, the kids gave me those cute mugs they had designed/drawn and Daniel gave me this pretty necklace! It's 7 tiny silver ball chains all fastened together. We enjoyed the day together and I got spoiled with hubby-made dinner and his amazing cake! Not to mention cool decorations to play with, inspired by the kids. It's great to be 30!

FIRST DAY!

First day of Kindergarten and we couldn't be happier! What an adventure!

five little sausages

I think this video might be a "you had to be there" but I'll try you anyway.

Eliza was singing this song: "Five little sausages sizzling in a pan, when all of the sudden, one went BAM!" Her eyes and expressions were painfully cute. I could see just how the teacher in nursery was singing it for the kids. Well, to explain the video, for a while Eliza kept starting the song over after the first phrase. It was starting to drive Andrew crazy because he joined the fun late and hadn't heard it through yet. So here you get to see Eliza do the song, start over, torture Andrew, and go in for the big finish. The kids had ME laughing! You?

football man

If I had to choose a sport for my own child, it'd never be football. BUT, since this is the first sport Andrew has shown interest in actually playing (on a team), we decided to give it a go! Flag football...but they still touch each other!

Movie night

We wanted to send summer out in style, so we invited neighbor kids young and younger to watch Spy Kids 3D at our place. We had so much fun planning and putting it together. Between frightningly bright twizzlers, a 3D picture that didn't look so great (but did the kids notice or care? heck no!), lots of popcorn, our own 3D glasses, and repositioned furniture, it was a night to remember!

the RANCH: family

Ahhh, the family! We saw so much! Please do not be offended if you are not pictured, or I will have just made a lot of enemies.

Here are the kids posing before cousins camp...that's Bethany there at the end trying to be with the big kids. Notice how Eliza and Ashley's hands are clasped. Awww.

Here we added Kate's (Daniel's cousin) kids into the mix, or a couple at least. They were all keenly watching Aunt Heidi and her adorable Sunday night singing time.

Who can resist a picture with Grandma when you match so perfectly!? Acutally, when Abby noticed her shirt matched Grandma's, she rushed up and changed her pants to perfect the dual ensembles!

Saturday afternoon/evening Debra put on a great reunion around the bonfire. Family from John's side and from hers flooded the ranch--it was amazing! We got to see lots of relatives whose names I will not remember next week. (sorry!) Here we are with Daniel's maternal grandparents, Byron and Ardeen Hovik. (Whose names I will remember next week.)

the RANCH: chillin' with nature

If you hike a little, take a board bridge or two, you come to a fantastic little private beach along the Provo River. It's complete with rocks for building dams, sticks for making houses or stick gardens, and a raft that leaks air--just right for a few pint-sized people to enjoy.


Abby building

Eliza and cousin Ashley

Andrew and Parker Back at the ranch...no...literally, at the bonfire the boys found a garter snake. I was surprised that Andrew had a go at holding it!

And I just love the over-sized sweatshirt.

the RANCH: the river

I think the kids' favorite activity this trip was making their river...here it is in video...along with a quick "tour" of the ranch. Warning: I'm walking around and unsteady with the camera. if you get motion sickness and want to watch, please accept my apologies and carry a barf bag.