Go Halos!

We FINALLY made it to the Angel game! We were all set to go last summer on Daddy's birthday, but instead we had to skip it because of Mommy's surgery. So it was our night!
The first pitch to the Angels was a homerun that landed just a section over from where we were sitting. There was so much cheering and fireworks, we took it all in.
Leah loved all the songs that would sound over the speakers occasionally, including "we will rock you."
It was so fun soaking up all the sights, sounds and smells. There were a lot of kids there, it was a nice family environment.
Of course, I'd love to say that the kids were totally into the game, but they weren't. Especially with all the vendors selling good snacks and toys! Once all our treats were gone and we just couldn't sit still in our seats any longer, we decided to leave. But we made it to the 7th inning stretch.
It was getting cold too!
Hopefully we'll be able to attend another game this summer!
Let's Go Angels!

Poor Daddy

It's been a long, painful wait for this procedure. But it's finally DONE!
Daddy's been through yucky fungus toes to doctor's appointments, pills, lots of pain, one failed surgery attempt, more doctors visits, more pills, much more pain, until one doctor finally did the procedure.
He had to have general anesthesia because he had had a reaction to the other that was injected into his toe the first time.
We're all just so glad it's over and are hoping for a quick recovery.
Daddy says he can't wait to wear shoes without pain, keep his socks clean, and even says he's going to start jogging.

In the meantime, we get these cool shoes:






I think they look kinda DASHY!

Yes, he even has to sleep with them on.
He is only allowed on his feet for 5 minutes every hour.
When he's laying down he must keep his feet elevated.
He's also not allowed to sit with his feet dangling. Not sure he'll ever have that issue.

So far so good. He doesn't seem to be in a lot of pain and he's not even loopy from the surgery.

Get better soon Daddy! We promise to TRY and let you get plenty of rest!

P.S. We can't wait to see your pretty toes once they're all healed up! Just in time for flipflop summer weather!

The Little Princess

...with many dresses.

Leah loves dresses. Everyday she wants to wear a dress.



I don't know where she gets it from, but I KNOW it is not from Mommy! Back when M0mmy was younger, you wore a dress for church. Period. I never wanted to wear a dress anywhere else! Then I went on a mission. I HAD to wear a dress everyday. But I did it for good reason and was able to forget about myself and blue jeans for 18 months and stay busy, so that helped. Upon my return, however, I was cured of ever wanting to wear a dress or skirt daily again!



We've tried sorting her dresses into 3 catergories: Church, Everyday, and DressUp.
Yeah, that lasted all of 2 hours. Now she wants to wear whatever dress whenever and wherever she wants. Of course, we do draw the line somewhere. Hopefully she won't be dressed as Sleeping Beauty one Sunday at church...but I make no promises.



And how about one more?



This the newest addition to her dressy wardrobe. It also has a story to go with it.
It is actually a reward for (ta da...)
Potty Training!
(Dillan went to Chuck E Cheese when he potty trained. Yeah, the dress was a much better idea)



We are all so proud of her!

The Tale of the Snow White Dress

I told Leah that if she "went" on the potty, then I would get her the coveted Cinderella dress that we had seen at the store. She was all for it.
So last Tuesday, we put undies on and went for it.
Accidents 4, Potty 0.
It was a rough day for all of us. The last time this had happened, we went back to diapers, she was begging and I wasn't about to argue.
This time I was determined that I wouldn't put the diapers back on. She cried, begged for a diaper, but stuck with me and kept moving forward with undies.
The next day I had read about putting undies under a pull-up. The undies get wet, but the mess stays put. So we tried it. I watched her like a hawk. Every minute asking her if she had to go.
2 more accidents. She didn't even care! She was using the pull-up as a diaper. I wanted to quit. I didn't know what to do!
We sat on the potty a lot and sang songs.
Finally, probably on Thursday, we found a rhythm. First thing when she woke up, I set her on the potty. She did it! A few hours later I sat her down again. Bing! Later we had to run over to Target. Scary. BadaBoom! She went at Target!
It was clicking!
I was so overjoyed! Probably more than she was.

So for the next few days, it was working. She occasionally verbalized the fact that she had to go, and the rest of the time I told her we were going. You could tell she had figured out how to hold it. I told her if she had 0 accidents during the weekend, we would get the Cinderella dress on Monday. Well, during the weekend we frequented a different Target in the area. She went there too. We wandered down the Princess aisle, but there was no Cinderella dress. Only Belle and Princess and the Frog. So then she changed her mind and wanted the Belle dress. I wasn't all that impressed with the Belle dress. It looked like half a dress.
Then we watched Snow White at home. Then she wanted a Snow White dress.
Quelle surprise!
I figured we'd be safe with Cinderella.

So today, Monday, we set out on our search. I started at the Disney Store. I thought it was a sure thing. Yeah, they had dresses. EXPENSIVE dresses! Cinderella's dress? $39.50. REALLY? Sorry, not a chance. I tried to talk her into a pretty princess nightgown, but she knew what she wanted. I asked the girl at the store if they ever have Snow White dresses. She said you only ever see those around Halloween. Perfect.
Then we headed over to the dreaded WalMart. I was relieved they didn't even have Cinderella. So one more Target. It was my last stop. We were both ready to be done searching.
Walking toward the princess aisle, I knew that WHATEVER dress they had, I was going to talk her into it and she was going to be happy.
On top of that, she's 3 for 3 at the 3 different Target stores in the area! Score!

When I looked on the wall where the dresses were, I was elated. I nearly hit the floor, about to get on my knees to thank the Lord for the dresses that we saw. A beautiful sparkly Snow White dress hung on its own amid so many others. It was perfect. It was the first one Leah saw too. Oh happy day! AND it was tagged with a "Price Cut!" Could I be any happier???



Way to go Potty Princess! You deserve it!

Soccer season

Dillan is playing spring soccer, and loving every minute!
He has become more aggressive and throws a few elbows into the mix every so often. He's scored a goal in both games already played. He also has the best coach in the world...me. I don't know how I got sucked into it, but I'm doing it for him and that's all that matters. I don't know that I will EVER do it again. He definitely does better when it's not Mommy telling him what to do. I promised that I would coach Leah, because I strongly feel that female coaches are a must with girls, if she even wants to play. But Dillan needs someone else. Chris helps out when he can, Dillan and the rest of the boys really respond to him.



But, we're 2 weeks down and only 8 left! Yes, I know, it sounds like someone needs a big ATTITUDE adjustment!



Check out our fancy banner Dillan's Papa and Grandma very generously created!
It got A LOT of attention at the park, and A LOT of praise! It's awesome!
Not a big surprise, because they are pretty much professionals by now with all the banners they've made!
The parents and kids (from our team and others) all loved it!
We can't thank you enough for all your hard work!

My bracelet

It turned out exactly as I wanted. It was a long process, and I'm to the point now where I don't absolutely HAVE to have the bracelet, like I felt about a month ago, but I'm still glad I got it.
It took a lot of patience from the maker of the bracelet, lots of emails, suggestions, trial and error, back and forth back and forth. But she wanted to make sure that it was exactly what I wanted and that it was perfect. I have never met her, but I know she is a patient and kind person who deeply cares about others' feelings. Even the feelings of strangers.


the front

It is a little on the "fancy" side, you know, for my standards. I don't know that I'd wear it around the house with my sweats on or while scrubbing bathtubs. I did wear it for the first time today. At church. I worry about a charm falling off, so I'm 100% aware of it while it's on. That ended up being a little hard at times. My mind would register the bracelet and then remind me that I wasn't pregnant anymore and didn't have a baby. In fact, last week was my due date from my first miscarriage back in September. I guess I still have to wait for time to help with the healing process. I miss being pregnant. We've been doing a lot of spring cleaning/moving-one-day-soon-hopefully cleaning and I had Chris put my maternity clothes back into the storage bin.

We've talked about trying to have another baby, and yes I probably will try, but I really don't want to go through this again, and I worry that I will. I worry a lot. But I still have hope! It's been a year of various trials and new learning experiences, and I just hope everyday that I am growing and becoming better. At the very least, I know I will survive. Everything that has happened and everything that will, I just have to remember that Heavenly Father will strengthen me and that Christ will take all my burdens upon Himself so they may be light.

But, I have my bracelet. It's exactly what I want to remember my baby boy!


the back

Easter

I can't believe how busy Easter weekend became, and even without Primary to worry about!
We colored some eggs late Friday night with Daddy. We only did a few, but the kids were very excited about it! We had many colors to choose from, so chose our favorites. The egg kit came with EggWraps, plastic slips you melt down around the egg. I had never used them before, but we enjoyed using a hairdryer to wrap up our eggs.
After Leah went to bed, Daddy and Dillan stayed up and Daddy showed Dillan what he used to do with the eggs after they were finished. Egg wars. Something else I had never done. He taught him how to spin the egg just right so it "fought" with an opponents egg until one cracked and couldn't be used anymore. Dillan loved it. Eggs were cracking like crazy. The next morning before I got out of bed, I heard Dillan teaching Leah how to do Egg wars. Soon enough, all our eggs were completely cracked and not much fun to play with. That's why we only did a few.

I may use a separate post later to talk about Conference. Seriously, in the history of General Conferences has there ever been a weekend full of messages you just didn't need to hear at that moment or season of your life and so weren't totally uplifted and edified and rededicated to
self-improvement in so many ways? Not so much.

The Easter Bunny brought sandtoys, swimsuits, water shooters, a rubber snake, some princesses, hot wheels, and candy. Dillan wanted jelly beans. Not the bunny's favorite, but oh well. He was at least willing to share the chocolate.


Thank You Easter Bunny!


Playing


Searching

Then we got together with "the big family" as Dillan calls them and had a huge egg hunt and meal. And more candy. Lots of cousins and candy and fun. Pure fun.


Turn em loose!


Did you find enough?


The little girls sitting pretty