Super Seventeen!

I know!! Can you believe it?! Our son is 17!!! We had a little family party to celebrate last weekend.  Pizza, Presents, Air Hockey, Cake and Ice Cream, then a little football. What more could you ask for?!

A new hoodie from Mark, Amber and Kenzie

An iPad Mini from Mom, Dad, Taylee, Nana, and Poppi

Lots of Gift Cards and Cash from Grandma and Grandpa, Shelly and the boys, and Scott &Kira

And his very own Krackle Candy dish from Grandma. His favorite treat at Grandma's house for years!!

I just love this picture. A wrapping paper fight broke out, and Hunter took advantage of a golden opportunity when Skyler was distracted. Check out the look in his eye! So funny!

Kenzie!

The Grandmas. :0)

Our Third Annual Air Hockey Tournament!!  First Round Poppi and Taylee vs Grandma and Kenzie!

Didn't realize we were Team Zebra until I saw this photo!

Skyler and Monica vs Me and Nana (ie Team Zebra!)

Grandpa and Hunter in the semi-finals vs Kent and Cody

Grand Champions!!! Kent and Cody!

It's Cake Time! Notice the Orange and Blue cake? Yeah, this was supposed to be a Birthday party combined with a Broncos playoff party. Boo!

Family Time

 The upside to our ill-fated trip to Denver was some good old-fashioned family time. My mom got to enjoy the some "heavy cheering" with the family while the rest of us froze our patooties off at the game. Our post-game dinner date was significantly delayed after the loooongest game ever, and definitely started off on a rough note. Luckily the love and enjoyment of being together quickly took over and we had a great dinner. Our waiter even treated the whole table to a round of horrible blue shots to drown our sorrows. Blegh! They were worse than the Broncos loss!
Sunday we headed to Great Grandpa's house and spent the day relaxing and playing together. Ryan even taught me how to make Great Grandma's homemade mac and cheese!! I can't wait to try it on my own soon. The kids had a blast playing together. It still takes Taylee a while to warm up to her cousins because she is sooo painfully shy, but once she is over the hump, there is fun to be had!! I think it's silly that she talks about her cousins and begs to see them all the time, then acts like she is afraid of them when they get together. Silly goose.  Fortunately, as the littlest, they are more than happy to baby her and coax her out of her shell. I hope she grows up to be as close with her cousins as I am with mine. Skyler even enjoys playing with the kids a little. He has always been so good with his younger cousins.  Too bad we can't be with our family a bit more often. But I think we do a pretty good job, given the distance. Sure love my family!!  

Great Grandpa

Nana, in the kitchen. As usual.

My love

My Littlest Love

Garrett

The kids. Kaydence, Aden, Skyler, Taylee, and Xavier

Me and my brothers. Err, I mean cousins. :0)

Me, Aunt Ginger and Mom with Great Grandpa. Just missing Aunt Tota. :(

The Win that Wasn't . . .

 It started with so much promise. . . Well, sorta. Maybe the two day blizzard leading up to our trip, the delayed flight, and the 1 am arrival at our hotel weren't exactly good omens, but come on. We figured it was time for our luck to turn around.  And plus, the Broncos were on an 11 game win-streak. That was sure fun!! 

The game started well enough, with us running our opening punt back for a touchdown. We were sure we were headed for a blowout!! Well, not so much. The game was close throughout, and tied 5 separate times. Wow. It was a fun game!! We were sure we had won at the end of the fourth quarter, going up by a touchdown with one minute left. Sadly, we totally dropped the ball (figuratively speaking), and let the Ravens score a touchdown with 30 seconds left in the game. Boo. Overtime. In the coldest postseason game in Denver history. 14 degrees at kickoff, -6 by the end. Ouch! We were fortunately well prepared with several layers, gloves and boots, hand and foot warmers. Still, it was freaking cold. So cold!!  When they announced the "end of the fifth quarter," I almost cried. Double stinkin' overtime. Oy! Well, at least we only made it a few minutes into double overtime, before Peyton threw an interception, the Ravens kicked a field goal, and we were done. No more football for us this year. So sad.

Guess our Super Bowl run will have to wait til next year. Can't wait!!!

The drinks would freeze before you could finish them. My dad wasted a whole Bloody Mary, because it froze solid.  Brrrrr!!!

It was pretty cold by this point. Can you tell?!

 

Christmas 2012

 I finally got my photo issues worked out, so now it's time for a Christmas post HEAVY in photos! Because really, isn't that the best way to tell our story . . . 

Christmas Eve at Grandma's with the cousins (minus Kenzie :( )  Skyler, Taylee, Cody, and Hunter

Christmas jammies by the tree

Our little ballerina showing off the Christmas loot

Pure Christmas Joy

It's hard to catch a photo of Kent, as he spends most of his time like this. Videotaping.

Is that Demarius Thomas?!! Nah, just Skyler. . .

Nana, with her favorite gift every year. Books! (Mine too :)

Too bad Mile High Magic wasn't in effect at our Playoff game in January.

Air Jordan's!!

My new Scentsy! Cause Taylee broke the last one. And the one before that. Urgh. And little miss, playing with her dollhouse!

New jeans from Grandma and Grandpa Judson!

And cute shirts for Taylee . . .

And mommy!

Ooops. Can't forget daddy's new wardrobe!

Poppi's new weather station. Super cool. And right up his alley.

Now it's official, Kent's basement IS the "Man Cave"

 Our day was great! We started bright and early with Taylee at 7 am (actually not too early by her standard!!) Skyler was more than willing to get up at 7 too!  Taylee is a little slow to open, as she still relishes each and every gift, so we had to hurry to get to Grandma Judson's before noon. Skyler has double family syndrome and LOTS of people to see on Christmas, so he had to be to his mom's by 1:00. :(  We had Christmas Eve Dinner leftovers at Grandma's, and a nice visit. We were up to my mom and dad's by 3, for more presents, and Christmas dinner. 

Taylee was spoiled with a dollhouse and a "dream" (dreamLite) from Santa, puzzles, play-doh, books, and new bath toys from mommy and daddy. At Grandma's she got a new baby doll, jammies, and new clothes. Nana topped it all off with clothes, clothes, and more clothes, a scooter, and a tent with a tunnel! Super cool! 

Skyler is getting older and more independent, so he got great gifts like clothes &jackets, shoes, cologne, a new golf club, and lots of gift cards. McDonald's, Pizza Factory, iTunes, Maverik Gas Cards . . . Lucky kid!

Kent and I were spoiled as ever with lots of new clothes. Kent got a new drill and his fab new Man Cave sign, along with a couple DVD's, and some new shoes. My loot included my new Scentsy, a new water bottle, new Dansko's, a portable hard drive, and  some amazing new Dansko Boots.

We are one lucky group family, surrounded by love and family. Merry Christmas!!!

The Unpost

I just have to say . . . I have lots of posts that I want to post! I am very bugged, because my blogger is not allowing me to upload pictures, which I have A LOT of. I would hate to do my posts without my pictures, cuz what fun is that?! Is anybody else having trouble uploading pictures into their blog? Help!!
P.S. I am techno-tarded!

Man vs Car

I'm a nurse. I can do CPR.  I have done CPR many times. I feel pretty good about this. Errr, I did feel pretty good about this, until last week.
While driving to Taylee's Dr's appt (see previous post), Kent and I were first responder's to an auto-pedestrian accident. We were driving along behind a little 2 seater sports car, headed for a red light. As we approached the intersection, the light turned green. The sports car released his brakes, and immediately began to accelerate. We suddenly saw a man running across the intersection, directly into the path of the sports car. We watched in horror as the car (who later said he was going approx 35 mph), hit the pedestrian. The man was thrown up on the windshield, which smashed into thousands of pieces, then thrown out in front of the car, flipping through the air several times. It was like watching a clip on You Tube, or America's Funniest Home Videos, but it wasn't funny. At all.
Kent stopped the car and turned on the hazards. I was dialing 911, and I remember yelling to Kent "I don't want to do CPR!!" See, despite my experience as a nurse, I am terrified of doing CPR on an adult. An adult with adult germs, and no mask to give breaths. Eeek. At work even when my baby is coding, I have oxygen, with a mask, usually a secure airway, and lots and lots of support. Respiratory Therapy, fellow Nurses, Dr.'s, etc. And meds when needed to re-start the heart. It's a whole lot different doing CPR on a patient in the middle of the street, with no oxygen, no mask, no medications, and most importantly, no support.
We ran to the man, and mercifully, found he was breathing, and semi-conscious. His leg was obviously broken and displaced, and he had blood coming from his nose, head, and ears. He was moaning but unable to communicate with us in his delusional state. He kept trying to roll over, and we were trying to make him stay still to avoid further injury to himself. I was able to monitor his pulse while waiting for the EMTs to arrive. Kent, fortunately realized he should probably go back to the car and care for Taylee. Yes, once again, it's clear that we are fabulous parents. We left her in the running car while we ran to the aid of the pedestrian. I terrify myself with the possibilities of someone driving off with her in the car, kidnapping her, or rear-ending the car with her inside. What were we thinking?! Good thing Kent brought his brain along! I was somehow 100% focused on "my" patient.
It felt like only 2 minutes before a cop arrived, and quickly afterward the ambulance. I have a whole new respect for EMT's. They were professional, quick, and compassionate. Crazy that their job, which is so much the same as mine, is so very different. I like that while my job is intense at times, it is a controlled intensity. I think I would be terrified to work as an EMT! They are thrust into dangerous situations with very little info to go on, treating patients with unknown injuries. Scary! Way to go EMS workers! 
Within a few minutes, the EMT's were loading the patient into the ambulance, and he was beginning to regain consciousness. I have been unable to get much info about his condition, since the accident, so I have to believe he was okay. It's been a challenge, being a citizen, thrust into a situation like this, but with no opportunity to get any info regarding the outcome. Kent seems okay with it, but I feel a lack of "closure" from the incident. I know, cliche, huh? So, a week later, I am choosing to believe he is now home, with family to care for him, and recovering completely to live a full life!

Parenting FAIL!

I am a terrible mother. This has been debatable from the beginning of my career in motherhood, but only last week became clear to us all. 
Twice in the past year or so, Taylee has had mild injuries to her left arm. The first time, she was playing with Skyler, and he was vigorously shaking her hand. She immediately had significant pain, and began holding her arm next to her body. This happened at nine at night, while I was at work. Kent gave her Tylenol and put her to bed. She whimpered several times during the night, but was good as new in the morning. Because Kent had dislocated his elbow as a child, and Skyler dislocated his elbow as a child, we figured Taylee was prone to the same type of injury. Last summer Kent was pulling Taylee up off the floor by her arms, and she suffered the same type of injury, crying out, and clutching her arm. Once again she had a rough night, but woke up good as new in the morning. So, last Wednesday, we were disappointed to find ourselves in the same boat. We were swinging by her arms while walking through the mall. (Bad, BAD, I know!) Lo and behold, Kent felt a pop, she started to cry, and we knew it had happened again. This was the first instance that this happened mid-day rather than just before bedtime. We took her home for a nap, and were sad when she woke up still complaining about her arm. We decided to give it a little time and see how she was feeling in the morning. The next morning, she wasn't complaining about her arm hurting anymore. Yay! But she also wasn't moving it at all.  She just let it hang at her side. We felt really unsure about what to do, but figured that if it were dislocated, she would be having a significant amount of pain. Oops. This continued through the entire day Thursday. By Friday, she was a pretty proficient one armed little miss. She didn't complain that it hurt, unless you tried to get her shirt on and off, but she still wouldn't move the darn thing. She would even allow us to bend her arm, and when we palpated her arm, she said it didn't hurt. We still felt unsure about what to do, but I figured if she continued to refuse to use the arm, we better take her in. For some reason, there were no pediatrician's in the office all day, so they made us an appt for 7:15 that evening at KidsCare.
Just getting to this appt was quite the adventure (I'll write about that later), but we eventually made it and only waited 80 minutes to see the dr. Urrrgggh! The dr heard the story, took a look at her arm, and told me she was pretty certain it was dislocated. Seriously?! We thought we were just taking her in to reassure ourselves, and the dr would tell us she strained her elbow and needed a few days to rest it. Bad parents. Bad!! She had me hold Taylee on my lap, and prepared me for Taylee to scream and freak out. She straightened Taylee's arm, tugged straight out, bent it at the elbow, and popped it back into place. Taylee didn't flinch.  We were really surprised, and frankly Kent and I thought the doc was wrong, and it had never really been dislocated. But, to our surprise, within 5 minutes, Taylee was using her arm again, good as new. We were obviously thrilled her elbow was fixed, but certainly not impressed with our parenting skills! Boy, what a learning experience.
I am now proud to know how to put an elbow into socket, a skill I hope NEVER to put into practice!

Santa 12.12

 

We made another attempt at visiting Santa this year. It went a little better than last year. Taylee actually spoke to Santa. Probably out of fear that if she didn't talk to him, he wouldn't bring her "anysing!!" Her list this year . . . A dollhouse, a dream (as seen on TV, the dreamlite!), and a pink bucket (to wash her hair with in the bathtub, as opposed to the old tupperware container we currently use). Santa had a tough time finding a pink bucket, having to travel to the limits of the north pole, but he was succesful on all counts! Way to go Santa! Merry Christmas!

No matter what, I can't center this dang picture!

(More!) Tayleeisms

I know I just posted a bunch of funny Taylee speak, but here I am with another installment. She just cracks me up and I can't keep it to myself! Enjoy . . .

Taylee has been completely enamored by the Christmas lights this season. Earlier this week we took a little drive to a neighborhood near our own, but unfamiliar to her. She was so excited to see all the lights. Her comment - "Wow, I've never been to this world before!"

One of Taylee's favorite play activities is taking care of the "sick babies" like mommy does at work. She gets out her doctor kit, gives them shots, looks in their ears, nose, and mouth, and listens to their heart with her stethoscope. Her kiddie stethoscope has a little button that you push to hear heart sounds. (Very realistic, huh?!) Well, she has a pretty nasty cold right now, so I decided to get out my (real) stethoscope and listen to her lungs. At first, she was impressed, but that quickly turned to disdain. With disgust, she said "What's going on here, mommy?! Where's the button?!"

Sadly, Taylee has developed the same sweet tooth her mommy has. :( She wants sugary snacks all day, every day.  Recently, the snack of choice was M&M's. After refusing to let her eat M&M's she said "why you won't let me eat eveysing eveyday?!" I felt a little sad that she feels to neglected, but a little proud that I have some limits.

Potty training was a fabulous thing for us. Except that she now uses potty times to her advantage. We make frequent stop at gas stations, grocery stores, etc for potty breaks. Gross, huh? I think she likes checking out new places???  Unfortunately, she doesn't take direction well, and won't potty when directed to before we leave. But, what do you do? Refuse to take her and end up with a big mess? No thanks. So, we are stuck. In the car last week, she really  needed to go. "Please hurry mommy!  Hurry like a motorcycle!!"

Sadly, I let Taylee watch a fair amount of TV (especially while I am trying to work out!). In my defense, I do try to make sure it's educational . . . most of the time. I am still trying to figure out how they consider Backyardigans educational. Super cute, yes, but educational, not so much. Anyhow, she has learned some really useful stuff. Like how to direct me when I drive to go on green, and stop on red. Super helpful, right? And a couple weeks ago during a short foggy spell she walked outside and said "Oh my! How is this possible? It's foggy fog, just like on Dora! How is that even possible?!?!" So fun, watching kids discover all the things we think are just humdrum.

Little Miss Attitude stood with her hand on her hips and told me "why I have to stand here eveyday waiting for you?! Seriously Mommy." Where does she get this stuff. Not me, certainly!

Taylee is mommy's little helper. She came down to the cold storage to help me get the cans to make chilli.  I gave her a can of beans to carry upstairs. She was so proud of herself. "Look how tough I'm am!" Then, after a beat, "mommy, could you carry this?" We better toughen this girl up! Good thing she is soo cute!

Tis the Season

We braved the BUSY streets of Salt Lake City last Saturday to enjoy some Christmas festivities. We started at City Creek, where we wandered, shopped, viewed, and found smokin' deals at 77 Kids. It was crazy busy and my poor mom spent the whole evening on high alert for a gunman in the mall. So sad, the world we live in now.  After a bit, we hopped on Trax and zipped over to the Gateway for their Olympic lights display. It is synchronized to music, which Taylee LOVED! She busted a move on the dance floor! Err... the sidewalk.

My mom and I snuck in a few minutes to buy some books at Barnes and Noble. We are kindred spirits when it comes to books. We could spend hours wandering through the book store.

  We Traxed it back over to City Creek just in time for dinner at Cheesecake Factory (overpriced, but delicious!). Can you believe the wait was 2-3 hours when we arrived at 5:00??? It's good, but it ain't that good. We finished up the evening with a stroll around Temple Square to see the lights. As poppi told us (repeatedly :), we honored 142 years of tradition. 

The best part of the night? We got to meet up with my dear old friend Jamie and her little clan for a few minutes! The worst part of the night? Sitting in traffic for 45 minutes in downtown SLC at 10:00 pm. WTH?!

Excuse the poor quality photos from my phone. It takes terrible photos, but I forgot my camera.

Kent, trying to stay warm, and dry, as Taylee made him run through the fountains at the Gateway repeatedly! What a good daddy!

Trying to get a good photo of little stinkbutt. This was attempt # 1.

 

This was attempt # 2. The third was even worse. I gave up.

 

Bustin' a move!




Taylee checking out the lights at Temple Square through the special "snowflake" glasses Jamie gave her. Except she couldn't line them up over her eyes. Silly Goose!