Book Of Mormon

When Eliza started Sunbeams she started taking her Book Of Mormon with her to church faithfully every Sunday.. as you would expect there is some wear and tear on this sacred book and as a result of  4 year old trying to mock Mommy when she was highlighting her scriptures we ended with this

She thought I was "coloring" in them so she decided to make hers pretty one day

Seeing her scriptures all tore up really REALLY bothered me. We decided that she needs to learn the importance of the scriptures and how to keep them nice and not tear them up. In hopes of achieving this I headed over to Deseret Book and Picked up a new one for 5 bucks. This is my incentive.. having a fresh start. I found a tutorial on Pinterest Here and just adjusted it to the size of the new Pocket Book Of Mormon which I think are the perfect size for little ones.

 I should have too a picture of it before I covered it but I didn't think about it. Sorry.

New Book Of Mormon.. I let her pick out the main cover sheet.

The Pocket size now is half the size it use to be and comes in blue not maroon .

I like being able to write on the Cover and not the actual book itself.

 

So there you go a personalized Book Of Mormon. Hopefully she will keep it nice and respect it.

EMECEC Olympics

Eliza had Olympic day at her school. All of the classrooms made their own banners and it was like the school got morphed. It was pretty neat. Eliza said her most favorite activities were the Racing, Ring tossing, and these huge air ball/bag thing they through in the air. 

Elaine's One Year Check Up

We had Elaine's one year check up today she weighed in at 18lbs 10oz and is 31inches in length.
She has two bottom teeth and the top left one coming in.
She can say Mama, Dada, and Liza. She also makes the same half sounds as "hi" and "what" eveytime in response to you. Soon enough she will be rambling away.
She is cruising but still a little unsure about walking.
Her absolute favorite thing right now is balls! They keep her entertained for hours and hours!

Elaine Turned One

It was a Saturday night and the all too familiar ache in my back had taken place... I knew what that meant... Something that wasn't expected for a whole 7 more weeks. I went to sleep that night without discussing the thoughts that were running through my mind because I was afraid of alarming anyone.. and in a round about way it seemed if I spoke of it I would jinx myself. Well the next morning came and went and the pain was still there nagging away and starting to tear into my hips and upper thighs. I took a long... very long HOT bath trying to soothe it all away. At about 4pm I walked outside took a deep sigh and said come on Matt lets go check into labor and delivery... Matt though a bit confused said okay.. lets go. As we were pulling away from the house he mentioned to me about bringing the hospital bag and I was very adamant about not bringing it. I think at this point I was just lying to myself. We arrived at labor and delivery not to long later and I was already dilated to a 3 1/2cm and labor was in full swing. Because of my heart condition SVT(supra-ventricular tachycardia) I knew there was little if anything they could do to stop my labor. After the numerous consults came and went, I received a blessing and sudden it felt right. Right? you ask? How could a baby being born 7 weeks early be the right time? Well let me tell you. The week before I went into labor My husband lost his job... By that Friday he was offered a position working at US AIRWAYS and we new that his start date would be any day now. Which he wouldn't have been able to take time off as a new employee so for us the timing was right. Once I hit my second semester I had known she was going to come early... did I expect 7 weeks? Nope.. But oddly I did expect she would be premature maybe 4-4 1/2 weeks. I try to stay in tune with my body as much as I can and I believe when a woman is pregnant she is carrying one of the most purest beings on earth thus making the spirit promptings just that much stronger and recognizable. When the hospital told me they were giving me the steroids to me to help speed up her lungs growth I looked over at Matt and told him we weren't going to make the window. Less than 48 hours later our little Elaine Macie was born. 

Day One

Day 365

She was 6lbs 3.5 Oz and 20 inches long. I knew she was going to be the smallest baby I have ever had and if I wanted to ever experience a natural birth this would be my opportunity because all the other times my doctors say no :) Plus I didn't know what what going to happen and I wanted to be alert with a clear mind so I could remember every little detail about this beautiful baby. Elaine was wiped down and swaddled and handed off to me. We go one picture in before she was snatched back out of my arms. She stopped breathing and had to be rushed off to the NICU. They like one parent to come along so Matt was away with Elaine and I was still in the delivery room "trying" to finish up. Well evidently my placenta loved me a little too much then I would have liked and decided to not leave me. I was rushed off into surgery because of the amount of blood I was losing just as Matt walked back into the room. The last thing Matt heard for the next 30 mins was your wife has to go to surgery we'll be right back.... the last thing I heard was. You had such a beautiful birth especially without any pain meds.. now you have to get sedated and out I went. The next couple hours was all a blur I had Elaine at 6:00 am and it was 11:00pm before I got to see her again. I was having to be monitored every 15 mins from the blood loss. My doctor was debating on giving me a transfusion. I finally was able to make it up to the NICU to see my precious little angel. After explaining myself to the nurse as to why I was not up there yet(they had no idea I had complications) she informed me that Elaine had died twice within the first 12 hours of her life and she was now on life support. I didn't know what to feel.. I mean you hear these stories and read these stories and you always think "well if that happen to me"... well it did... it was happening to me. This was real life and without even thinking I looked the nurse straight in the face and asked "Is she going to die.. please... be honest?" I don't think I wanted to hear an answer and I already knew she wasn't going to give me one or at least the one I would like. She looked back at me and after a long pause then sigh her eyes filled with tears and replied "At this point we don't know.. all I can tell you is we have to get her stable but she is having a lot of complications." Then she booked it out of the little room to her safe haven where this crazy mom couldn't ask questions anymore. I sent a text Matt to tell him that she was on life support.. then I sat there... for hours just staring at little delicate Elaine not speaking a word and listening to the beeping monitors. It was about 1am when the nurse came back in and told me.. maybe you should go rest since you are nursing so your milk comes in good. I nodded and silently went back to my room two floors down. That night at the hospital was the most lonely experience I have ever had. I just had one of the most wonderful blessings happen... I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl.. but where was she? She wasn't with me. I wasn't able to hold her and I was only allowed to touch her for a few seconds at a time. So I sat in my lonely dark hospital room staring out my window at an stucco wall. Every 15mins someone came in to take my stats and randomly I had more papers to sign. The next morning when Matt returned to the hospital we up the two floor to go visit Elaine and Matt gave her a blessing. I bear witness to you that the power of priesthood is an amazing thing. Every four hours like clock work Elaine hit a milestone she needed to come home. 6 Days later we were able to bring this little beauty home to her soon to be crazy life and over loving sisters who already adored her. Eliza and Leah both slept with a picture of her that I laminated with them clear until she was about 6 months old! I am thankful the the true gospel being restored here on earth and all of the many blessings that come along with it. I am thankful for a husband who is an honorable priesthood holder and is sensitive to the spirit. I know that it is only because of the priesthood we have Elaine here with us today. Over this last year our family witnessed many miracles and I am immeasurably thankful for it. 

Today we celebrated by taking the girls to the visit the zoo(it was Elaine's first time) and then having dinner with my brother and his family and cake. Elaine was simply mesmerized by all of the animals and it is always fun to see the girls explore new things! I cant believe how much all of our girls have grown over this last year!

Eliza & Leah 2/22/2011

Eliza & Leah 2/22/2012

Elaine's Troll Cake Before

Elaine's Troll Cake After

Elaine's Birthday Dress

I made Elaine's birthday dress using THIS tutorial... only instead of making the tank for the top I attached it to a onesie and designed the onesie. I am so stoked about how it turned out! I especially love how it is all one piece but looks like a shirt and skirt. It took me less than an hour and half from start to finish! 

Full View                                          

I am going to hand stitch around the number because
when I do it on the Machine it is too sloppy for my liking.

Loved the way the bow turned out on it.
 I made it so we can detach it for washing !

Can't believe my tiny little baby has grown so much in the last year! She is going to be the cutest little babe at the zoo tomorrow! We got her a little white hat to go along with her outfit and protect her little skin! Now to see if she will keep it on :)

Knocked Knees

When Leah was born she had what looked like a gimp foot.  It was twisted completely backwards and flipped up but over her first couple days it straightened out.  

Over the first year it was always sensitive and she hated people touching it. When she started cruising we noticed she would favor that leg and walk "peg" legged as I called it or drug it behind her. When she finally started walking at 14 1/2 months you could tell she didn't like to put any pressure on it. Well we finally got in to see a Orthopedic specialist today. He did a couple test on her and came to the conclusion that her left hip has more of a turn radius and is turned in more than her other and because she is knocked knee you can just notice it more.

 He said she will eventually grow out of it. I was glad to hear that it is just something that she can overcome on her own.

Bang... Bang... Whoops

For two years we have been trying to get my mom to come out with us on our little explorations and she always declined until today! We finally got her to go with us. We went out into the desert and shot some guns. 

All loaded and ready to go

Me and Ma

Ready.. Aim.. Fire.. She was a little hesitant at first since it has been years since she last shot a gun.

But once she got started she was on a roll!

I decided to give my moms gun a try and for some reason the trigger got stuck and without thinking I turned it over into my hand and BAM it when off luckily I still have my fingers even though my arm was aching for a good while. I tried so hard to not show any emotion so my mom wouldn't freak out. I didn't want the day to end that way. So we showed her all the places we go exploring on our way home.

We saw a road runner.. you have to look close to spot it.

and we saw some wild horses... when all was said and done my  mom simply stated "This was exciting" I hope she continues to come out with us on our little trips. It is fun having her along and seeing the joy on her face!

Snow Fun

I have always thought since we started having kids that Valentine's Day should be celebrated as a family event not a couple(that's what anniversaries are for). Well this year we got lucky with the holiday falling on a Tuesday since Eliza doesn't have school on Wednesdays. We decided to take an overnight trip up up to Flagstaff to play in the snow. This was the first time since Eliza was little that we have been up to the snow. The little ones lasted about two hours before it got "too coldy" but those two hours were filled with fun!

First thing Eliza did was Run out of the car and make a snow angel

 Sledding.. Leah was the first to go down, Eliza had to be convinced to do it, Matt almost took us all out on his way down and I slid.. not sled down the hill but we wont talk about that. HAHA

I put Elaine on the sled just to see what she would no and she decided to crawl around like a little bear in the snow!

Then we had a snow ball fight and Eliza got a good shot on Daddy's back.

Some of My Favorites!

  

On our way home we decided to take the 89A route from Flagstaff to Sedona and here is only SOME of the beautiful sites we saw along the way. We also stopped along the way at some little Native American stands and bought some crafts.

            

...

Happy Valentine's Day

From  The Players

Rhyming Words

Since Christmas Eliza has been asking me to teach her how to sew something and today she got a homework assignment. The assignment said to pick out two words that rhyme and find objects, pictures or draw them. One on each side of a folded paper.It also stated "BE CREATIVE!!" So I decided to take it as an opportunity to teach Eliza how to use the foot petal on the sewing machine. While Eliza used the petal I guided the fabric. It was fun until she almost sewed my finger :) thank goodness we were already finished! HaHa I think it might take a couple more years and then we will get that learning machine I've been talking about getting her!

 Eliza picked the Words

Skirt and Shirt

We used just an outline of a shirt and had her cut it out because she needs to practice cutting and we used the left over material from one of the pillow cases I used for her night gowns. All she had to do for the skirt was sew the side(one straight line) and  then the gathering rows. She loved pulling the thread and pinching the fabric.