Goodbye, Albie

I wasn't sure that I was ever going to write this post because I knew that it would conjure up many of the raw feelings still associated with this event in our family's life, but I know it needs to be done. It's part of our history.

As many of you know, we have struggled for 2 years with Liam's severe allergies. He's allergic to dogs, sesame, oak, and a variety of other things. After our initial appointment with his allergist we have tried washing Albus with hypoallergenic shampoo, vacuuming with a HEPA filter vacuum, using HEPA filter heater filters, etc. For a while, it all seemed to be going ok. But, it was very difficult for our sweet doggy, Albus. He wasn't allowed on our beds or furniture or to cuddle on our blankets. This was a huge lifestyle change for him. Plus, Liam wasn't allowed to play with him in the same way that he used to.

Over the last year, Liam has been sick more and more often. We've tried everything. Unfortunately, we came to the difficult decision that our little Albus had to find a new home. It wasn't fair to Albus because we were harder on him and couldn't love on him like we used to. And it isn't fair to Liam that we don't give his allergies every shot to resolve. We put of the decision for many months, but after much thought and prayer, decided to call the people we adopted him from as a puppy.

When we adopted Albus 5 years ago, we signed a contract that if we were unable to care for him, we would bring him back to their home in Fallon and they would find a perfect fit for him. Fortunately, these wonderful people welcomed him back into their home and assured us that they will find a perfect home for him. They think he will be going to a nice, older couple that can give him lots of time, energy and love.

The day we took him back to Fallon was one of the hardest days we have had in a long time. Wes and I don't remember a time where we've cried so much. Liam was sad, but we simply explained to him that he's such wonderful doggy, we have to share him with another family now and that he has to go to their new, wonderful home. We can't be selfish and have to share our sweet little guy. He was our first baby and we still love him dearly, but we know, without a doubt, that this is the right choice for our sweet doggy. Originally I was just going to have Wes take him because I couldn't face the situation with all of my crazy pregnancy hormones, but I went and I'm so glad that I did. It was so reassuring to see Darrell and Molly and their other inside dogs welcome him in and love him and assure us that he'll be lovingly cared for. Thankfully, GG was able to take care of Liam so that he wouldn't see us so sad.

We know that his new owner will have many happy years with Albus. He is a very, sweet, loyal, and loving doggy that will be a constant loving companion for his new owners.

Our last little family photo. We're all a mess, but again, this is part of our history.
Wes assures me that since he was ours first, he'll be ours again in eternity. :)

UNR Alum Easter Egg Hunt

A week before Easter UNR Alumni put on a great little Easter Egg hunt for the kids. The kids had a great time with the hunt, bounce house, balloon toys, and face painting! They even go to see the Easter Bunny. :D
Waiting for the race!

Cutest little Easter Bunny ever!
Liam was most excited about his balloon swords!
He chose the ice cream cone himself for his face paint.
He also had fun taking Maddy and Izzy for rides in the wagon. What a gentleman!

Nursing School Baby!

My good friend Michelle found out she and her husband were expecting their first baby while we were in nursing school. We were so excited for her! It's amazing how fast it's gone, well for me anyway, because we were all getting together at her baby showers in the month of March! Here is Melanie, Michelle and I are her family shower she had. Apparently we all coordinated. ;)
I had planned a little nursing school get together shower for the first part of April. Luke was due on April 21. What do you know, but the little guy decided to make his grand appearance before his due date, but also before his last shower! I knew I'd be cutting it close, but first babies are usually late, aren't they?

Here is a group of us from school. From L to R, Danelle (awesome Level I clinical partner!), Shawna (who had a baby in nursing school, LEVEL II, and made it. Amazing lady!), Dara (made gorgeous knitted goodies for Luke!), me, Michelle, Luke, Melissa (she is rockin' it in ICU), and Alyssa (who shared some pretty funny stories from her nights on oncology). It was sooo much fun to get together with everyone and share stories and share nursing jokes and that only nurses get. ;) Or maybe jokes that will make others throw up.
For little Luke, I decided to try a new type of can to make. I thought it'd be fun to match his room and make a can for little keepsakes from the hospital or his babyhood, or whatever she wanted to use it for. I had a lot of fun making it and was so happy with how it turned out!

Congrats, again, Ben and Michelle. You are wonderful parents and Luke is such a lucky guy to be in your family. Did I mention he's a little angel? He slept for the whole shower and was only a week old! And he's adorable. :D

Faith is like a Little Seed

On the first day of Spring, we decided to have a spring themed FHE with the Finlays. I was hoping that by doing so it would force spring to make an appearance, but judging by the 100mph winds and insane cold and snow last week, we're not quite to that point yet. However, we had fun trying.

Wes and I had fun making our spring themed cake--complete with garden worms!
We then had a lesson from the scriptures, Alma 32 in the Book of Mormon, one of my favorite chapters, about nourishing the seed of faith so it grows. We then decorated our flower pots. The kids had a lot of fun personalizing them. (although, it doesn't look like Ethan did, judging by his face. ;))
We then planted all different sunflower seeds in our pots. I love sunflower seeds because they are so super easy to grow and do so quickly, so I knew it would be fun for the kids to see results.
The kids with their personalized pots, all planted and ready for water!
Since the project our seeds have been watered and given sunlight and grown to be at least 6 inches tall. It's been a great lesson for the kids and all have enjoyed watching their plants grow!
And we really have the best husbands, who went at midnight to Wal-Mart to make sure Erica and I got the collector's edition of New Moon. :) They are trying to act like us girls here:
Thanks for a very fun night, guys!

Washington Trip!

When I first got hired into my new job, the doctors let me know of a week in March that they'd both be gone and we'd have a skeleton crew in the office. Because of this, it was a great time to take a vacation! We hadn't been able to go to Washington the entire last year because of school, etc, so we headed to Washington. Because Liam is now over the age limit and requires a full plane ticket, we decided to drive. We left at about 5:30 am and Liam was excited as can be! The drive there went extremely well. Not until about hour 7 or 8 did we get the DVD player out. He didn't even know it was an option and we wanted him to calm down for a nap, so he thought he was getting quite the treat! Doesn't he look cute all snuggled up in the car?

We arrived in Washington Saturday afternoon. We had Liam wear a shirt that said "I am the BIG brother" to tell Wes's parents our news. It took about 10 minutes, but finally Judy got it and they were very excited! On Sunday we went to church with them and then Wes and I headed to Portland. Wes's parents graciously offered to let us take a couple days and have some alone time. We decided to make it an early celebration of our 5th anniversary coming up and we stayed at the Heathman Hotel, the same Hotel we spent our wedding night at. It was true treat and we enjoyed every moment of it!

Monday morning, we headed to Powell's books, which is an amazing, never ending bookstore with both new and used books. It takes up an entire block! They even had the entire American Girl book collection, which made me happy. :D
We then went to Anthropologie, which I had been looking forward to since December. I had gotten a gift card for graduation and was excited to use it. Wes actually was my personal shopper and found me some great stuff! I had to take a photo of their beautiful window display. I was commenting on it and Wes took a closer look, to discover that the flowers were made from recycled, spray painted plastic bottles. Cool, huh?
The ONE thing Wes was dying to do was the Jabenero Fritter challenge at Salvador Molly's. What is this, you ask? Well, Wes's absolute favorite show and Idol is Adam from Man vs. Food. He saw this challenge on the show and knew he had to try it. The challenge is that you have to eat 5 jabenero fritters and all the sauce in one sitting and if you accomplish it, you get your photo on the wall. You even have to sign a consent form because it could be 'hazardous to your health due to extreme heat.'
Can you tell he's excited?!
He said the challenge was actually a lot easier than expected. He finished it super fast and licked the plate dry!

He assured me that I should try one. He said they were tasty, which was totally true.
Tasty, but WAY TOO HOT for me. I normally don't post ridiculous pictures like this of myself, but you had to see my reaction to the pepper. Really, it did taste good, just was too hot.
They did give us a yummy coconut drink with lime to cool our tongues. That was a life saver. Wes under the famous sign and photo wall:
Wes's photo next to Adam's from Man vs. Food.
Challenge #1 down. He has big plans for more... Wes thought this picture was so funny from the hotel. When we got back there we both jumped into our comfy clothes, which couldn't have been more opposite. Me in my sweatpants, sweatshirt and socks and Wes in his shorts, t-shirt and bare feet. ;)
Just had to take a picture of our beautiful room! The bed was heavenly!
This is the life, I'm telling you!
The next day, unfortunately, I woke up with a horrible cold virus that turned into a raging ear infection and about three weeks in bed, but we won't go there. ;) We met up with Bill, Judy and Liam at the zoo! Liam had a great time and really enjoyed the animals!
Grandma gave him some binoculars and he was using them here. So funny.
Making some music with daddy!
Driving on an African safari! Can you spot the cheetah?
He decided that he liked being in the snake habitat.
Wes and I took photos in front of this sign on our first date, so he made Liam and me pose.
My best friend/self proclaimed twin, Jana, lives in WA as well, so we got to have a fun night of dinner and video games together. We had a great time even though I wasn't feeling well. We really wished we lived closer together!
We had to model our awesome rain boots!
I didn't take as many photos as I normally do, possibly due to the cold and the morning sickness, but we had a wonderful time. I didn't even get a photo of Liam with his grandma and grandpa, what the heck!? Judy took me to fabric depot and I got some great material. The drive home was long, but Wes was a trooper and drove the entire way. When we got into Reno, we went straight to the midwife to get antibiotics for my ear ache. No wonder babies cry so much when they get them, they hurt!

Again, we had a wonderful time and can't wait until we can do it again.

Our Reader

Toward the end of February, Liam's sight word abilities and word sounding out abilities took off! He started reading everything. We decided to have him practice and learn to read "A Mud Pie for Mother" before we went to Washington so that he could read it for Grandma. He learned to read it in just a couple of tries and Grandma was so thrilled to hear him read it to her. After that, he decided to read anything and everything. One night, he brought in his box of "BOB" books and read us three of them start to finish without any help, sounding out the words in his head. We were shocked that he basically taught himself to read. Since then, he's been reading non stop! I want to get him reading "A Mud Pie for Mother" on video and post it, but for now these will do. The other morning, while I was getting ready for work and Liam school, I found him sitting on the top of the stairs reading the books to himself. How cute is that?!




There is my shameless mommy-brag post for the day!

Chance of Snow

At least that is what the forecast said sometime mid-February (yes, I'm that behind...). My parents were in town for a show that the guys went to and they stayed Saturday night at our house. We woke up to church being cancelled and this:
A foot or more of snow!

Therefore, what better way to celebrate and head down to Titi's house (they have a great hill across the street from their house) and do some serious sledding?! This kids were seriously excited! Beyond excited I should say!
Even Mr. Peyton was allowed in on the fun. At least he got a use out of his snow suit!
The kids lasted about a minute pulling the sled and hiking up the hill. The snow was too deep for them. So we hauled them up the hill!

Peyton really loved the snow. :)

Getting ready for the first run!
Izzy and Liam went by themselves and totally crashed at the end. They were all giggles though! They thought it was hilarious!
What a man! He carried the tykes back up the hill so they could sled again!
If you can't tell, that's Nana and Liam hitting the jump!
Family shot!


Papa even caught some air! As our little hill got more packed, we had some jumps and some speed, at which point the kids had more fun throwing snow and Papa anyway.
My lens started fogging up, but this picture turned out pretty cool!
Peyton actually fell asleep outside. In the snow. hehe. We brought him in and didn't want to disturb his snow-induced slumber.


Enjoying some yummy post-snow tomato soup!