Pukey and Brace

Okay so we went to the dr. yesterday and found out that joe only really compressed one of his vertebrae and wont need any surgery -just a brace to help him heal. He isn't allowed to lift anything heavier than 5 lbs for the next 3 months. Now that the initial stiffness from the fall has worn off-he is moving around a little bit more-but still taking things really slow-he will get to go back to work in two weeks.So far so good. I was able to go to enrichment last night-they had babysitting-so i finally got some time for me in this week-even with brooke attached. Plus Brooke went to bed at 10:30 so I actually got to bed before 11!!!! After much needed rest I am feeling more energized. Which is good-because whitney had her 2nd snow day today with no school-and she and amber are constantly in need of mediator mommy. I bought this boppy with this slipcover case to go with it andit is really helping me out. And since Brooke has been suffering from a little acid reflux it's helping her out too. At 7 1/2 weeks Brooke now weighs 13 1/2 lbs. People seriously don't believe me when I tell them how old she is. But here are some recent photos of the cutie..I like the second one because you can see that her eyes are still blue and she is doing the famous pout that Whitney and cousin Violet both do as well.

Twosie Tag.
Two names you go by: Arin, aronius pk
Two things you're wearing right now: dance pants, comfy socks
Two things you'd want or have in a relationship: Communication Laughter
Two of your favorite things to do: Read and dance
Two things you want very badly right now: no whiny kids, a house to live in
Two things you did last night: Enrichment, confiscated a five year old's dollhouse
Two things you ate yesterday: tacos, cereal
Two things you did today: retrieved pain medicine for hubby, fed and dressed baby
Two longest car rides: Salt Lake to Phoenix, SaltLake to Moscow Idaho
Two favorite Holidays: Halloween and Thanksgiving
Two favorite beverages: water and mug rootbeer
Two things about me: I am very patient, I like to be competitive-in a good fair way
Two jobs I've had in my life: dance instructor and secretary
Two places I've lived: Rexburg and Moscow Id
Two of my favorite foods: banana cream pie shake from DQ and onion rings
Two places I'd rather be right now: Our previous residence, or on vacation to Hawaii
I now get to tag 2 people to do my twosies tag. I tag Nicole and Angie

Hoooray!!!!! and OUCH :- (

So we had two major occurances happen this week. First Amber is now potty trained-I am so excited. I don't even have to remind her unless when we are out of the house and I'm nervous she won't tell me she has to go. She still wears pull ups at night-mostly because I don't want to be constantly washing her bedding in case she has an accident. So I am jumping for joy . Now the second event was a little more on the sober side. Joe fell down on the ice last wednesday and compressed two of the vertebrae in his back. He goes to see a spinal surgeon tomorrow for a consult to tell him what his limitations will/should be and what can be done. So I have pretty much done everything and I now know how exhausting twins would have been had we had them. Right now I have four children and the biggest one is almost more demanding than the smallest. But I don't mind since I love them all so much and Joe gets to see that I don't sit around all day watching soap operas and eating bon bons.

Seven years ago we looked like this....

Seven years ago in January, Joe and I went on our first date...so I thought I would put down in pictures what happened since then.....

Dance at Ricks College April 2001

We got engaged May 2001

Our engagement Picture June 2001

We got married Aug 17th 2001

Whitney was born June 2002

Amber was born August 2004

Halloween 2004

Bought our first house Fall 2005

Started this blog
Spring 2006

A few of my favorite Pictures

Just a couple of the pictures of my two oldest girls...

So here is precious again-sleeping-which she is doing not too much of lately. She does sleep -just little cat naps here and there. Not much has happened since my last post but i though a few people might want to see how big brooke is getting plus there is afunny one of her hair that i think immitates a certain late night host..any guesses?? anyway enjoy

Christmas

I can't believe its' been nearly two weeks since I last posted-well i guess having a baby and visiting family for the holidays will do that. We are all doing well and have been having a terrific holiday season thus far..new years is still around the corner. We spent Christmas with my folks and the kids got to act out the nativity-it was so sweet. Ofcourse Whitney had to be Mary-Amber really didn't care for the whole thing but she found a way to quietly pop her head into the scenes as if she belonged in each one and Brooke played the part of baby Jesus (even though she's a girl.) Christmas morning was as expected with kids overwhelmed by presents and wanting to play with all of them at once. We played family games and enjoyed each others company. My favorite moment was when my grandmother shared her testimony of the gospel with the family over christmas dinner. Thankyou to Mom for doing such a terrific job hosting our family for Christmas and keeping sane through it all. May we be lucky to share more Christmas memories in the future.

All Five of us

So here is a picture of the whole family- Mom thought she had taken one with her camera but we later found out she didn't-so thanks again to my sis-in-law jess-for sending this one to us so we could share it. I wonder when we will ever get a family picture of us with Amber cooperating.

So far so Good

Just to give everyone an update on Brooke-she is doing great-she has proven to be an excellent baby-nurses well and sleeps a few hours at a time at night-which has been nice for me. Though some is because she takes a whole hour to nurse. I just hope she continues to be an easy baby-at 2 weeks is when my babies are the crankiest. We have really enjoyed joe-since he got to spend the last two days playing hookie from work to be with us. He has been a tremendous help and its fun for him to see what occurs at home on a daily basis.

Meet "Brooke Naomi"

I went into labor early Friday morning about 1:00 a.m. and delivered Brooke at 11:15am. She was 9 lb 9 oz and 20 1/2 inches long. She looks like both amber and whitney and i can't really say what color her hair is-mom says it's red like amber's but it looks to have some blonde in it too-so we will see what happens in the next few months-if it falls out and grows back in a different color or what. Anyway I didn't have to be induced-but they did have to break my water because it wouldn't go on its own. But that's okay i had my epidural by then and so i didn't feel any pain-but I tell you what they gave me just enough so that i could move my legs and I totally felt to push-only for 30 minutes and out she came. Brooke and I are home now and we are both doing fine-and are being mugged by all family members present, including grandma and grandpa-speaking of which-happy birthday dad-you now get to share you birthday with Brooke. Here are some cute pictures of the new baby and our new family.

Still Preggos-she must be very comfortable or very patient.

Well it's wednesday and still nothing-had dr. appt yesterday and he wants to induce me on saturday-so at least we will have a baby by then-unless i chicken out at the last minute. I am just getting to the point where i am in pain all of the time and each day goes by it gets worse-at least the baby is in a good position to be born anytime-I am dialated to a loose 2 and my cervix is really ripe-something it has never been in the past-i have a feeling when I go in labor-it will be fast with this one. I am still hoping she comes on her own-I like the surprise of it all-not knowing when it's going to happen until wham it just hits you and your in the hospital delivering. So here's again wishing that she will come sooner than saturday-. (Grandma lucked out-yesterday was her b-day-Joe's dad's was Monday) So she had so many chances to be born on one of her grandparents' birthday-maybe she still will-my dads' birthday is Friday-two days!!

Still have my attached basketball

Well here I am again-still anxiously waiting-before i wasn't sure if i was ready for our new addition but now I can't wait. I guess I was a little nervous about how things will change once we have another baby in the house and how it will affect our everyday lives-things like- hopefully getting her fed and bundled up every morning in time to catch whitney's bus and to pick her up. And packing all three carseats in the backseat of our camry-and how that's really going to work out. Not to mention waking up throughout the night to crying and praying she isn't a collicky baby -especially since we are in an apt again. But I am now optimistic that whatever happens will happen and most things wont be in my control and I just hope that she is alot like amber was as a baby-so easy. These are all just my last minute thoughts and I am trying to enjoy life in the present as it is and am spending some one on one time with the two i already have. Whitney is surprising me everyday-she can read a lot of words and tries to spell them out on paper by herself-although she does beg for help sometimes. Amber is not potty trained yet-but she is talking a whole lot more-at least we can actually understand more of it. I still can't figure out if she's going to be left or right handed-she keeps switching-but I still think she favors her left when coloring. Well I am rambling again so off I got to get some rest.