First day of school

 Alyssa started 8th Grade at Carson Junior High.  

She's such a smart little thing and was excited to be at a different school than Aaron

Speaking of Aaron, he's in 9th grade at Westwood High School.

This is hard for the Mama who's a Mesa High Jackrabbit through and through.

I'm learning to wear Blue and Orange, but I still bleed Purple and Gold!

I didn't get his first morning picture because he was off bright and early for 

Marching Band Practice.  He's on the Drumline and so far this year they've put him in "The Pit"

So, he's playing xylophone and other fun things!

 Tato started his first day of Kindergarten at Franklin West.

He was so nervous and scared of "the unknown" as he put it.

His teacher, Mrs. Jankunis is super awesome and he really likes her.

 This was on the way to school.  He's happy!  YAY!

Here he is at his desk on that great day!  

I'm so happy that he's in just 1/2 day Kindergarten.

I was nervous to send him to Franklin because he's such a Free Spirit, but he's thriving!

I have Olivia at home with me in the mornings.  It's SO QUIET!!!

Wheelchair Clinic... and a happy girl!

 Olivia had wheelchair clinic last week and she loved it!  She tried the blue one in the corner first and had a hard time maneuvering around.  They brought in this other one and she started cruising ALL over the place.

She's so excited to be getting her chair in a few months. 

She has a mobile stander and I'll post pictures later for that, 

she's speedy and loves running into people (we're going to have to break that!)

Sick Day!

 Today was an interesting day.

Olivia woke up with a fever and runny nose.  Oh, yeah, she was cranky, too!

We cancelled everything we had to do today: PT and piano help for the Jr. High.

I tried to keep her happy until I realized that I have a cold too.  

I just get achy and sweaty, so I hope it'll end soon.

 After Tato came home from Kindergarten, he helped keep her happy.

He spread cereal all over the front yard and had her watch for birds.

They are so cute together.

Where I've been.

My life has been a little crazy lately.

 Curt's contract ended on Decemeber 30th and so we are back looking for a job for him.  They told him on the 20th that it would be ending.  I'm not fond of Wells Fargo at the moment.

Christmas was an adventure.  We had a very hard last 6 months.  Between Curt's job that ended in June and the one that ended this month, we've been living  minus $500 a month.  Needless to say, it's been a struggle.  We are ever hopeful that he's going to find a steady income sometime.  I guess I should say "prayerful".  That's more accurate.  Faith is a great helper.

We had for Christmas this year, financial help from a sibling, parent, and extra awesome anonymous elves.  We used most of it to pay rent, our car payment and get a basketball hoop for the backyard!  We also bought Just Dance 3 and Star Wards Unleashed 2.  Hayden got a bike that I found on Craigslist.  The previous owner of said bike included a smaller bike... we gave it to Wyatt, my nephew.

I had surgery on December 15th that started a 5 year clinical trial.  It's called the Recharge study.  Essentially, I have a pacemaker for my stomach.  It's attached to my Vagus nerves and so I'm supposed to feel full faster and 1/3 of the patients receive an inactive one.  We won't find out for a year if it's active; after that, if I don't have an active one, I can have another surgery to put one in.  They also include in the study nutritional counseling, fitness counseling, and anything else that I need (This is why I joined it!).  I'm doing pretty well and I'm happily on my weigh down the scale!  I've never noticed some of the bad habits that I've picked up food-wise and now that they're being pointed out, it's nice to be able to stop them! 

Olivia's doing fantastic.  She's an awesome crawler and we are hoping to get leg braces on her in the next few months, get her into a stander to help strengthen her legs and muscles... and possibly into a walker by her 2nd birthday!!!!  She's learned a bunch of new words and in the morning, she yells "UP! Momma!  UP! GET UP!"  It's a great way to wake up; I'll take it over crying anyday.  She's not "turtelling" anymore.  She recently learned to roll over, which has taken a while to learn.  She's a speed demon on her knees and get's out the door if you leave it open.  She's still the cutest little thing though, she hasn't gained a pound in 9 months.  She weighs 18  lbs. and is 18 months old.  We're working with her to get some extra calories and are hoping that the Dr can get the insurance to cover Pediacare.  We have a goal to have her gain 3 lbs by February. 
She still has UTIs about 1 every other month, but she hasn't been hospitalized since April and we are every grateful for this.

I gotta go and get to bed.  ♥s to all!

Today while the Sun Shines.

Today, While the Sun Shines,  work with a will
Today, all your duties with patience fulfill
Today, while the birds sing, harbor no care;
Call life a good gift; call the world fair.

The last line says, "Prepare for tomorrow by working today."

This has always been a morning hymn to me; another hymn that I love is There is Sunshine in My Soul Today.

(Being a native to the valley, I don't appreciate sunshine as much as friends who don't live here.  I wait for summer to be over and I love the few months that I don't have to stress about my A/C bill!
I wish for rain, I pray for rain, and I cherish the rain.  I love that it makes the ground soft.  I love that it helps plants grow.  I am in awe of thunder and lightning, I am grateful when the newscasters say it's going to rain and it does. I'm happiest when the sky is overcast and gloomy; I'm like Eeyore.)

HOWEVER...

I think the reason that these songs are my favorites is because it's talking about the soul.  I find that when I sing these songs, I feel loved.  I feel calmed and reassured that the Savior is closer than we know.  I'm happy because they make me feel like the work that I am doing in my home is not futile nor is it worthless.  These hymns make me feel like smiling and more willing to serve others around me.  I was told in my blessing that I need to start the day with a song,  and I find that these two are particularly dear to my heart. 

I usually end my day with a song also.  The top 3 for that are Abide with Me - the long one, The Army of Helaman, and I Need the Every Hour.  There are other hymns that I sing, but Abide with Me really is the best one to end the day with.  It makes me fall asleep as I remember that regardless of how the day went, I am not alone; that He is always aware of me and my needs.

Be Still My Soul will always be the song that I link to my dear little one Olivia.  It's amazing how much this song calms my soul when I think about Olivia's future.  I know that the Lord is in charge and I'm grateful for the little things.  I'm blessed to have a child who teaches me to slow down!

I didn't notice before!

I have a Nook Color and I have been very frustrated that the Pandora Stations don't project very loudly.

Since I can't do anything without playing music, especially chores; life has been very frustrating  

UNTIL...

I noticed an old pair of computer speakers in Curt's computer closet while putting 

away a stray computer-mouse.

I plugged them in and VOILA! 

I have music!   

LOUD, glorious music! 

Can you see my GINORMOUS smile?!??!?!?!????

October is SB Awareness Month.

 October is Spina Bifida Awareness Month.

So, I thought I'd share some thoughts about Olivia!

She's super happy... most of the time.
If you zoom in on this pic, you can see the one front top tooth 
and the top fang that came in
as well as her cute 2 bottom teeth!
She's also tiny for her age (a first in our familly).
She wears big 9 mo. size or normal 12 mo. size!

 She will let you know when she's mad at you.

There's a scream that goes with the pointing.

You're okay NOT ever hearing it.

Think "Angry Howler Monkey".

 This is how she normally sits on the floor.

We're working on her fixing her own legs to put them out in front of her.

She sometimes sits with them both to one side; very lady-like.

 She's a fanatic about her nail polish.

We use polish bottles for her daily therapy.

She's learning to army crawl!

(If you zoom on this pic, you can see some of her scar.)

 She's happiest around her Daddy and her siblings.

Her first phrase was, "Hi Daddy".

Yep, she's a Daddy's girl.

I wouldn't change anything about this awesome Baby-girl!

Well... I could do without the Angry Monkey yell, but we'll deal with that later.