My little note writer

Maddie writes several notes a day and leaves them around the house. She is so cute.
I woke up one morning and found the first note next to my pillow. The second note was given to Andy after she lost her stories for not listening. It means "I am mad at Dad."

One day I found a note taped to he door that said, " No boys like Garen, Princess Maddie's shop." She is to funny and it is neat to see her writing skills mature and see what new words she is learning to write.

Their Back!

Maddie and Garen got back today at 12:30. It felt so good to give them hugs and have them back in the house again. It was way to quiet around here.

They had a wonderful time with their grandma and grandpa! They got to make cookies, build tents, play with their cousin and aunt, visit the great grandparents, go to lunch, go to the mall and play in the arcade, and play in the few feet of snow they have in Clarkston. After all that fun they had, I'm glad they were still excited to see me. Andy even came home for lunch so he could see the kids.

Here's a couple pictures Jann took while she had the kids-

Check out all that snow!-

visiting with great grandma Margaret-

making cookies with grandma-

playing in a tent-

playing with cousin Levi-

And today at the doctor, Sophie weighed in at 9lbs 3oz. and was 20.75 inches long.

So she's grown in that last 2 weeks compared to her birth weight of 8lbs. 8oz that dropped to 7lbs. 12oz. And her short length at birth of 18 inches.

Two Weeks old

Sophie is 2 weeks old today! I just looked at the time and it is even the exact time she was born-4:35PM. I take her to the doctor tomorrow to find out her weight and height.

Andy's parents took Maddie and Garen back to Clarkston with them on Friday morning and they come back tomorrow.

Sophie and I have had some good one-on-one time the last couple days. I am missing Maddie and Garen very much, but it has been nice to just focus on Sophie. I've been able to take a couple naps and I got Christmas all cleaned up. I put all the kids' new toys and clothes away and they are still put away-crazy! I can't wait to give them a big hug and play with them again tomorrow.

I love just staring at Sophie all day. I love the funny faces she pulls in her sleep and her sweet stare when she's awake. She is so much fun!

Sophie's waving hi to everyone-

Christmas Day

Christmas morning I was up at 6:30 feeding the baby, when I heard Maddie open her door and run down the stairs. I followed her and met her on the stairs on her way back up. She was tripping up the stairs, looked at me, and yells "Santa Came, I have a dollhouse, and there's a train set!!!" She was so excited! The excitement woke Garen up, and he came downstairs and saw Thomas the train and didn't really care to much about anything else all day long besides that train.
It was a wonderful Christmas and it was fun having Grandpa Boyd and Grandma Jann with us to celebrate. They gave Maddie a wow wee alive baby lion which she loves, and they gave Garen a hot wheels race track, which is pretty much the only other toy he would play with besides his train track.
All three kids got lots of cute clothes and so many other wonderful toys and fun things.
The day was so relaxing. We just spent the day playing Maddie's 5 new board games and playing trains and with the doll house.
We had a wonderful turkey, ham, mashed potatoes dinner and the kids went to bed pretty early. After the kids were in bed, the adults played scene it.

Do you like Sophie's shirt?-

Opening stockings-

Garen wearing his Thomas outfit from Grandma Sue and holding one of his trains from Santa-

Showing us his airplane-

Maddie checking out her new dollhouse-

Little Christmas Sophie with her eyebrows together wondering what is going on-

Before the kids came down-

A new shot gun. Just what a crazy 2 year old needs-

This is what Garen did the whole day-

Grandpa Boyd and Sophie having a nap-

Garen racing his cars-

Christmas Eve

On Christmas eve Andy got home about 6pm and we had a nice dinner with his parents. After dinner the kids made gingerbread houses. Garen was more interested in eating all the candy.

yep, still eating candy-

Maddie working diligently on her house-

The finished projects

Maddie's house she made all by herself-

Garen's house-

Andy's house-

Later we talked about the birth and life of Christ and watched a little video. Then we read the night before Christmas and the kids were off to bed. They were asleep by 9:30, then Santa's work began.

Sophie Update

It's been a couple of long days. Sophie has been on the Bili light all weekend and we found out yesterday that her Jaundice level went up to 18.5. I had to stop breastfeeding for 24 hours and use formula to try and help her get rid of the Jaundice.
Sounds easy enough, but she refused to take the bottle from me, she screamed and spit out the formula. Maddie and Garen wanted my attention, I was exhausted from zero sleep at night and zero naps, and I couldn't get Sophie to calm down long enough for me to pump!
I finally broke down and made Andy come home from work. Of course, Sophie took the bottle from Andy much better and Maddie and Garen got to play with their dad for awhile.

So onto the good news, we got Sophie's bilirubon tested again today (her poor heels have been poked way to many times) and it was all the way down to 9.5. I got the go ahead this afternoon to nurse again and to take her off the lights-yeah! I wanted so badly to have everyone healthy and normal on Christmas; I got my wish.
I don't know how parents deal with serious problems with their newborns! I could barely handle the last few days of worrying and trying to make things better for Sophie.

Maddie really enjoyed the bottle feedings. She's wanted to feed the baby from the beginning and was disappointed when she learned Sophie wouldn't be drinking a bottle. Maddie wanted to be the one to feed her the bottle at every feeding-she's not happy that I'm the only one that can feed her again.

My neighbors and friends have been so amazing the last few days. With Andy working 10-12 hour days and not having any family here since Thursday, it's been nice to have the help of friends. We have had amazing meals every night, lots of people have dropped in with presents and goodies, and one friend took Maddie and Garen to play for 3 hours this afternoon! What great people live here in Rock Springs!

I am so excited for Christmas! I got my 75 Christmas cards sent out yesterday and I finished wrapping the last of the presents tonight. Andy's parents are coming tomorrow to spend Christmas with us-Maddie can't wait till they get here! And I can't wait to see my kids wake up Christmas morning to see what Santa brought. And I can't wait to spend the whole day playing with them and their new toys, and Andy will be home all day long for once!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!

Making progress

Guess who is starting to like his baby sister!? Garen held Sophie for the first time this morning. I think he sees how much Maddie loves holding her and he thought he should give her a try. He's come a long way from running away from the sight of her to wanting to hold her and sit by her all the time.




And of course Maddie thinks she should hold her 24/7.
Do you love Maddie's hair and PJ's?-she is now on Christmas break and thinks she should be able to wear her PJ's all day and not have me touch her hair. Yesterday she woke up changed into a different pair of PJ's, then by lunch time she had her 3rd pair of PJ's on, and ended with one last change before bed. Silly girl.

Jaundice

We took Sophie into the doctor for a check up yesterday and it turns out her Jaundice level is really high. They want it to be below 9 and hers is 18. So we have a belilight vest we must keep her on 24 hours. Today her level had gone down to 16, and hopefully it will be way down by Monday. So on top of the normal demands of a newborn I have to keep the light on her and try and get her to eat every hour. But through it all she is being such a good baby. She's easy to soothe and she is so fun to watch.


Maddie has taken over the care of Garen. She loves acting like his mom when I am in the middle of feeding the baby.
While my parents were here, Maddie and Garen were both sleeping in Garen's room. After they woke up in the morning I went in the room to find all of Garen's bedding off his bed and next to Maddie's sleeping bag. I asked Maddie about it and she said Garen was afraid of a shadow in his room so she had him sleep next to her. Despite all of Maddie's and Garen's fighting they really love each other and help each other!



Maddie also had her school Christmas party today. I was sad that I missed it. I've been to all her other school activities, but with Andy at work and a new baby, it just didn't work out this time. But she was super excited to show me all the things she made and all the presents she got in her stocking from her classmates.


The hardest adjustment for me so far is being able to find time to put the baby down by herself and sit and do something with Maddie and Garen. I feel the need to take care and be close to Sophie all the time, but I have to remember that it is Maddie and Garen that will remember our time together right now, not Sophie. So tonight while Sophie sat on her light, the kids and I played with play dough.

Garen is really warming up to Sophie. He still doesn't want to hold her, but he talks about her all the time and loves to point out her little nose, ears, mouth, etc. The day we brought her home, Garen looked at her and said, "that's not a puppy, that's a baby." I guess he was expecting a puppy or something. But, Garen has been incredibly good the last few days. He plays quietly by himself for hours with his blocks, puzzles, and cars. It is so nice!

And friends in the ward have been bringing dinner in each night, which is so nice for me. The food has been great and I love not having to worry about dinner yet.

I can't believe Christmas is like 5 days away! Where has the year gone? I am so excited for Christmas though, it is my favorite holiday and I just love watching the kids excitement and spending the day with them playing with their new things. And we have a special bonus this year having Sophie here for Christmas.

Last night we gave Sophie her first sponge bath. She hated it!

a little sleeping smile-

Here's a little video of Sophie. I know she isn't doing much, but it's cute anyway.