February Fun

So February was a crazy month! I'm sure January was too, but I'm not good enough at blogging to keep it up to date like I should. I usually hate February, last year it seemed like the boys were sick the whole month. The weather is usually horrible, I feel trapped indoors…. This month I was getting excited for Valentines Day and Thatcher and I decided to do some decorating. . .  we got as far as our front door with home made signs and cut out hearts. . . amazingly crafty, I know! He got to hand out fun little valentines to his friends at school that he was so exited about.

 We had some friends come over to help make Valentine cookies. The boys had so much fun playing and decorating the cookies

… well mostly playing.

                

 The cookies still turned out delicious and festive.

 We were feeling pretty lucky around the 12^th of the month that no one in our family had been sick yet. We had a trip planned for St. George on the 13^th for Presidents weekend, but that day Luke got really sick and had a hard time breathing so we ended up at Primary Children's instead.

We were really lucky to get in right away. He immediately got hooked up to oxygen and was given breathing treatments every two hours. He was also hooked up to an EKG machine, pulse ox, blood pressure…. It was really sad to watch him laying there kind of helpless to do anything.

     They ended up admitting him and we spent three days in the hospital with him.

I think the hardest part was trying to keep him in the bed the whole time. He was attached to so many things he wasn't able to really get up and walk around. We took turns sleeping in the bed with him 24/7.

Primary's is such an amazing hospital. They have a lot of things to try and keep the kids entertained. We had a huge movie selection to choose from, toys, books, food… I think he would have actually enjoyed being there under different circumstances.

His nurses were incredible, I really felt like they cared about him. One of them brought him this awesome truck that he got to take home with him.

Being there really made us appreciate the health that our kids have. It's such an amazing hospital, but not one we like spending time at. I really feel for those families that have to spend weeks or months or more up there with a sick child.

 Here he is in the cute (by cute I mean scary) hospital p.j.'s they gave him to sleep in

We felt really blessed that Luke was able to improve as much as he did, it was so great to see him with all of his energy back on that last day. He was back to being his happy self and we felt confident he would continue to improve once we got him home in his own bed.

Mat and I had a memorable valentines to say the least. We got to spend it together eating ice cream from the hospital café and watching Nick and Nora's infinite playlist while little Lukey slept by our side.

 

2008 in retrospect

2008 was a good year, but I'm looking forward to 2009!

Here are 10 things I learned in 2008

1. Don't look for houses to buy until yours is sold! It's hard to fall in love with a house and then realize you might actually be stuck in yours longer than you think because the market is horrible!

2. Having two little boys can be super crazy but they make life amazing! No matter how much they fight (well Thatch fights with Luke and Luke just stares at him with a hurt look) they always give each other hugs and kisses and say the cutest little I love you's.

3. Turning 30 wasn't as scary as I thought it would be! I need to own up to being older and live life to the fullest!

4. When you have two debilitating surgeries within 4 months it is apparently inevitable that you will gain 15-20 lbs. from lack of movement!!

5. I have the best, most understanding, loving, husband in the world....oh, and funny too! Ok, I didn't just learn that in 2008, I have always known that, but it is still true!

6. 4 year old's still have tantrums like 3 year old's...really?

7. Having good family is so important, and I love my family so much! They have also helped us out a lot this year.

8. Blogging while good in theory, is not easy for me to keep up to date. So check back in another month and I might have gotten back to it!

9. A nice relaxing trip to Mexico IS all its cracked up to be!

10. Some t.v. shows are good for you. I love the Biggest Loser and am totally motivated by it, I have even been known to cry while watching it....only once or twice!

And going along with #8, I am just now getting to posting some Christmas pics. Luke met Santa for the first time at a family party and did not like the big fat man! He screamed and cried until we took him off his lap... he did however stop just long enough to capture the moment!

He was a little happier at this family party because there was no santa!

Christmas morning getting ready to see what Santa brought

This was the first year we decided to stay home on Christmas in order to let the boys play and relax, and we had grandparents come to our house. It was great! Here are Nana and Papa Allred visiting.


We did meet family over at sister Jen's house for dinner....so here we are getting ready to leave, with the aftermath still in the background!

After a long fun day.... giving hugs goodnight.
We went to Zoo lights this year and had so much fun! They had many more lights than I had expected and we still got to see a lot of animals...highly recommended!

This snake was Thatcher's favorite part.

They were all bundled up in the stroller and I think they were having so much fun they didn't even think about the cold.

And yes, these last few pictures are from Thanksgiving, but they were on the same batch of pictures as the Christmas ones and Thatcher wanted me to post these cute turkeys that we made for everyones place setting. 26 of them!

My little Thatcher...so wise and grown up...Today on the drive home we were stopped at a red light when Thatcher said to me "mom, do you know what kinds of things you can't do at a stop light? You can't go to the bathroom at a stop light, you can't feed your dog at a stop light....you can't put a leash on your dog at a stop light...and you can't put up a sign at a stop light."

Thank you ever so much Thatcher, now I will always be safe at a stop light!!

On the same ride home.... "mom, I'm kind of embarassed about the song 'Jingle Bells'. I said, I don't know if embarassed is the right word... he then said, "ok, then confused?"

He says the funniest things! He is too smart for his own good sometimes, but I learn a lot from this boy and I love him so much! He definitely keeps life interesting!

November Highlights

I can't believe it's almost December....November flew by! Here are some highlights from this month...

The beginning of November always starts out with a week up at Snowbird. Our family (extended as well) has condos up there the same week so it becomes a family reunion of sorts. This year we were trapped up there for a couple of days due to a huge snowstorm. It was fun to be up there watching the snowfall and knowing we didn't have to be anywhere for days. Here are some pictures that captured the momentous event.

This was in the moring off the balcony of our condo.

This picture was taken later in the day, those lumps to the right are cars... not a hint of them showing from beneath all that snow. They had a news crew come up to interview some of the guests who were trying to dig themselves out.

This picture was taken from our other balcony. The snow kept falling... I think it ended up being taller than Thatcher.

We also had a suprise party for Mat's 30th Birthday up at Snowbird. It was over a week before his actual birthday, so I think he was definitely surprised. It turned out really well, better than I expected! I didn't do a very good job at capturing the event, but here are a few pictures that I did take...

Dan, why do you look so happy in this picture??

Thank you to all of our friends who made the drive up to wish Mat a happy birthday! We have awesome friends, it was so fun to see everyone.

Halloween fun

Thatcher was a couple of different things for Halloween this year. He dressed up for his school party and wanted to be Dash...

There are only 3 boys in his class and seven girls, he has adopted the expression of always being "girl trapped"

We went to a party at my sisters house where Mat and I dressed up as uh... Rockers? I don't actually know what we were, Mat just wanted to look like he was Bad A-- for a couple of hours!

Mat got there a little before me and my family didn't even recognize him...

We tried to find sleeves for me but they were sold out everywhere...apparently a lot of people wanted that this year

Halloween night Thatch wanted to go as Speed Racer.... Luke of course is Speeds pet monkey

One big happy Speed Racer Family