A Baby With Style

Natalya has wanted to paint her sister's toe nails since she was a week old. Well we finally did it. And I must say, they are the cutest little pink nails I have ever seen. As long as I was painting hers, I painted all of ours (except Branson's, of course).

It took some serious skill to paint the toes of a 14 month old. I had to pin her in her high chair, distract her with a treat, and dab her teeny nails with lightning speed. But I arose triumphant! And I think she liked them.

More Cotton Balls...

I was talking to my friend Meagan today and we agreed that we are growing and learning as mothers everyday. Sometime we do or say things that we're not totally proud of - and we learn from our mistakes and try to be better next time. In a way, we sound a lot like children!

Just yesterday I said somthing that I taught the kids not to say. Natalya told me that I needed a cotton ball jar so that she could take away a cotton ball for my naughty behavior. Meagan and I got to thinking... maybe WE should make ourselves a, "Cotton Ball Jar for Good Behavior." That way our children can learn to better appreciate our good works and reward us for the many ways we serve them. They can also help us to remember when we've lost sight of the patient, loving way we should conduct ourselves. When the kids fill their cotton ball jar, they get to choose a one-on-one date with the parent of their choice. But when I fill my cotton ball jar, I will choose a family activity that we can do together on a Saturday!

I hope that our kids learn to recognize not just mine but others' efforts to be kind and are quick to give compliments. I also hope that I will remember to practice what I preach! I already made myself a cotton ball jar. The kids were excited at the idea - in fact, they've already given me a cotton ball for my excellent sharing. :)

Trick or Treat!

We had such a busy Halloween this year! It felt like 3 days of Halloween. We had a school party, Brian's office trick-or-treating, a birthday costume party, our ward trunk-or-treat, and two other costume parties that we had to miss! Needless to say, our kids got a lot of use out of their costumes.

I got the kids' costumes several weeks in advance so they could play in them and enjoy the anticipation of the impending Halloween. This year Natalya had her heart set on being Fancy Nancy, the main character in the Fancy Nancy book series. She made such a fantastic Fancy Nancy! When I took Branson costume shopping, we found a firefighter uniform and fell in love. He started running around in circles saying, "Whoo-woo!!" like a fire truck siren. Sold. Branson would be a firefighter this year. So what would compliment a handsome fireman better than a cute fire dog?! I found a dalmation costume from Old Navy and it was perfect! All three of them loved their costumes and wore them about a bazillion times during October.

The best part of trick-or-treating was watching Irelynn get the hang of it! It didn't take her long - she caught on all too quickly. In fact, I think she made off with almost more candy than her big brother and sister! She's hilarious.

Brian's office invited all the firm's kids to trick-or-treat at the secretaries' stations. This was a perfect way to kick off Halloween. The kids had a great time and I think the secretaries did too - the Reeve children are VERY entertaining.





So when Irelynn discovers that people are handing out free candy in little buckets, our trip to Daddy's office got interesting.


Instead of choosing one piece of candy and moving on to the next station, Irelynn decides to make off with the whole bucket and charge down the hall without looking back! While we were left buckled over with laughter, Irelynn was halfway home with her loot. She's a crackup!

Branson was by far the most handsome firefighter I've ever seen.

Fancy Nancy is such a cute series. We own the first three hardback books and we have checked out most of the others from the library.

Natalya has perfect hair - and demeanor - to be Fancy Nancy.


This is her dress. Very fancy indeed!


I think she has the sunglass tilt down pat.

We visited with Grandma for a few minutes before trick-or-treating. The kids not only loved wearing their costumes, but acting their part too!

We had a very Happy Halloween. Branson keeps asking me if we can do Halloween over again. I hated to break it to him - but we're going to have to wait until next year...

One-On-One Dates

In our house our children earn cotton balls for good behavior. Once their cotton ball jar is full, they get to go on a one-on-one date with a parent of their choice. Branson recently filled his cotton ball jar and chose to take Mommy on a bowling date! It was one of the sweetest things I've ever seen. Branson was beyond excited. He was counting down the minutes before we left the house and had his shoes on waay ahead of time. I couldn't help but get teary-eyed on multiple occasions because of how seriously adorable he was! Here's the play-by-play:

I took this picture over my shoulder as I was driving. His face says everything.


When we got there, Branson wanted us to park on level 3 of the parking garage - because he's 3 years old. He thought that was so cool.


The ball was so hard for him to lift. But he wanted to do it all by himself. :)


He would take a minute to get situated. Sometimes he even put his fingers in the right holes (not that that mattered much - he pushed it down the alley anyway) but it was cute.

It sometimes took for-ev-er for the ball to get from point A to point B. But he waited so patienly. The anticipation was killer.


His squeals were ear-piercing! It seemed like half of the bowling arena would stop and smile at him - or join in the celebration with us of his meagar 1 or 2 pin victory.


A few people even asked if we wanted our picture taken together. I was so proud of our son. His personality was infectous. One can't help but be happy when around him.

The only tears he shed began when I told him that it was time to go home. He told me, "But Mommy, I want to live here for ever and ever!" Needless to say, Branson has been working extra hard since then to refill his cotton ball jar so that we can enjoy another bowling date together!

Never a Dull Moment

For the last couple of weeks Natalya has had a little cough. I wasn't overly alarmed considering how bad our allergies have been lately. But Wednesday morning she woke up not feeling well. She seemed lethargic. I thought she just needed to get up and move around so we got ready for school. It wasn't until I picked her up a few hours later that I noticed that she was truly not well. For almost three hours she didn't move from the couch - totally out of character for her. During that time, her cough worsened, she began to fever, she lost color in her face, and her breathing became extremely shallow. She seemed as though she were panting - taking a little breath in between each syllable of every sentence she spoke. Finally her eyes rolled into the back of her head and I noticed her chest refracting as she tried to breathe. It looked so unnatural.

That's when I really began to panic. Her health deteriorated so quickly! I rushed her (along with out other children) to the doctor. He put the pulse oximeter on her (a medical device that measures the oxygen saturation of a patient's blood) and her saturation level was only 91. Normal is 98-100. The doctor said that anyone under 95 should be hospitalized. It took only a minute for him to write the orders and call the hospital. His initial reaction was that she was probably suffering from pneumonia.

It was hard not to get emotional. My sweet 5 year old was running around seemingly normal just a few hours earlier. She quickly turned into a pale-faced, frail little girl who was struggling to breathe and unwilling to walk or talk.

Once she was admitted to the hospital her saturation level bordered 90. Brian and my dad gave her a blessing and in it they blessed her that she would make a full recovery and be comforted during her treatment. I knew she would be ok.

They immediately performed a number of tests including RSV, influenza A and B (which also covered the swine flu), chest X-rays, blood labs, etc. Everything came back negative - except that in her blood work her white blood cell count was high (meaning infection) and she was dehydrated. Though the chest X-ray came back "unremarkable" according to the radiologist, the doctor maintained that she was most likely suffering from pneumonia. He said that since she was dehydrated, her lung alveoli were so constricted that the pneumonia probably did not show up in her X-ray.

Regardless of whatever this mystery illness turned out to be, they treated her for everything. She was on steroids to open her airways, two different antibiotics to fight the infection, breathing treatments with a respiratory therapist every two hours, and an IV with fluids.

Natalya's condition would improve significantly one hour then she would regress the next. During the night was the most difficult - her pulse ox dropped to a steady 86 until they put her on oxygen that brought her back up to 90.

When she was doing well, they encouraged her to get up and move around. Above she's pictured on a tricycle! She loved being able to unhook herself from all the monitors and ride around the PICU. They would follow her "exercise" with a breathing treatment and pound on her back to help knock some of the junk out of her lungs.

This is her room. She loved staying in room number 555 (because she's 5 years old).


A cart came around with arts and crafts for the PICU children. Natalya was thrilled to paint a flower pot picture frame. Being able to color, paint, or watch movies helped her to forget how uncomfortable she felt at times.


What really made her happy was when Pammie, Natalya's kindergarten buddy, came to visit and bring her some classwork. She perked right up when she awoke to little Pammie sitting on the edge of her bed. And Pammie brought her some My Little Pony fruit snacks, Little People, and a picture she drew of the two of them. What a little sweetie!


We took them on a short ride around the PICU. We had to go slow because Natalya's IV had to follow her everywhere.

Natalya started a sticker collection. When she was dehydrated, we promised her a new sticker every time we got her to drink something. That was the only way we could get a lethargic little kid to sit up and drink. Hey - it worked.

Natalya wanted to decorate her walls with her artwork.

She named her nebulizer mask that resembles a dinosaur, "Purple Heart."

Last night Natalya slept well. She didn't require oxygen at all and her pulse ox stayed around 91/92 all night long. Even though she's not totally well, she has improved so much that she doesn't require aid from the hospital anymore. The doctor discharged her this morning! Natalya was so excited. But she was most excited to just get her IV taken out. I brought her home this morning after being hospitalized since Wednesday afternoon.

I was impressed with how good she was for the doctors and nurses. We're continuing with her treatment at home (antibiotics, steroids, nebulizer treatments) and we'll follow up with the doctor again on Monday. Just having her home is causing her to improve already.

What a little trooper! I am so proud of you, Natalya!

Super Cute

A girl on the move!
Irelynn so enjoys dragging toys around the house. It's super cute to see her peek over her shoulder as she watches the toy that she's got behind her. Sometimes she drags a toy mop or broom - sometimes she drags her ride-on airplane like pictured below...




I Love kids in PJ's.
They are such hams.

I love it when babies "go upsidedown" like this. Irelynn does it all the time! Little diaper-bottoms are just so cute!

When Irelynn grabbed the back of Branson's pajamas and began walking around with him, Branson responded with, "Chugga-chugga-choo choo!" It didn't take long for Natalya to join in the fun - and they all chugga-chuggad together around the house.


This picture makes us laugh. Irelynn has learned from Natalya and Branson that it's funny to run around the house screaming. Now whenever she's excited she runs around aimlessly while yelling, "Aaahhhh!" I think I can see her tonsils.

Friendship Girlies

I love living in an area where there are many good friends and neighbors nearby. And luckily, some of Natalya's friends from church, Olivia and Pammie, ended up in her kindergarten class this year! These three girlies are so cute together. I was telling our next door neighbor (Yara) about the girls and because she's so sweet, she offered to make them friendship bracelets.

So I picked up Natalya, Pammie, and Olivia after kindergarten one day to return to our home for lunch and bracelet-making with Yara. They turned out fantastic! And best of all, the girls were in heaven - they thouroughly enjoyed every minute. They first each chose their favorite beads and Yara helped them create a pattern.

Olivia's was teal and black with silver stars. Pammie's was green and blue with silver flowers. Natalya's was purple and pink with silver butterflies.

Now almost every time they see each other, they join their fists together and mention being "friendship girls".

Yay for Kindergarden!

Off she goes!

It took only seconds for Natalya to wiggle out of her booster seat and run into the Kindergarten playground. She had counted down the days until school began - and wanted to go to bed extra early the night before so that she could wake up faster! Natalya is the first kindergarten class of Henry & Evelyn Bozarth Elementary, a brand new school in our community. There are 4 kindergarten classes (nearly 100 kindergartners altogether) in a school of almost 800 students! We knew her teacher, Ms. Lee, before school began because our daughters took a dance class together. She is an outstanding teacher and does an excellent job with Natalya's class of 29 kids.

This is the kindergarten playground. The school is currently in the process of adding a canopy over the play equipment. They are also going to add murals on the blacktop.





Natalya's first day was a family affair! I was glad I wore big sunglasses, because it was hard not to get emotional when watching your oldest child become so independent and ready to move on to the next stage of her life. She was ready - I wasn't.


Ms. Lee asked the children to get their backpacks and stand in a straight line. Then she looked at them and said, "Tell your parents that you'll be fine - and that it's all going to be OK. Now wave good bye!"

That was it. She was gone. And I was left feeling proud of her, proud of myself, and a little sad to think that her baby years were over.

I love motherhood. I love every stage of my children's lives. I don't ever want to find myself wishing their lives away - but enjoying their current station and celebrating every step they take.

So Much to Blog, So Little Time...

In a perfect world we would all have plenty of time to do whatever it is that we want (like blog), cameras would never break after being left outside for 3 days, and internet would never get bogged down. But since we live in this wonderful yet imperfect world, there are always excuses for not keeping our little family journal current.

With that said, I think we're due to update our blog.

Where to begin... JUNE
Nearly every morning when the weather is exeptionally hot outside, my kids wake up and go running in the sprinklers. Here they are enjoying a beautiful morning in June.






On a few occasions, I have bathed them all together. With three kids in the tub the bathroom can get quite wet and noisy!

Because it rarely rains in Las Vegas, the kids celebrate even the slightest drizzle. They come up with so many fun activities when it's wet outside. Their favorite thing to do is make mud puddles in low parts of our grass and slide down their slide that magically turns into a waterslide when it rains.



I captured a sweet moment my dad was having with Irelynn - they were razzing (kindof like blowing spit bubbles) to one another. My dad is so good with kids.



JULY

Irelynn is fiesty. She's always getting into trouble - while wearing a smile. Dish soap, Old English, Cascade, Clorox wipes... I should think about locks for my cupboard doors.

She's a big help with the laundry, too.

She also likes to put things in the trash: remote controls, pajamas, flip-flops, toys, sippy cups, and dirty diapers. (At least she got one right.) And she's proficient at emptying the trash. Once she picked out a paper plate that had maple syrup on it. It drizzled all over her shirt, shorts, carpet, and kitchen floor. She was so proud. :)

Natalya and Branson SO enjoy playing on their computers. They take them everywhere - and when they get bored of one, they trade. Here, Natalya is playing Branson's computer and Branson has the Barbie computer.



COUSINS
Brian's sister, Angie, and her familiy just moved back to the United States from Germany. We went nearly three years without seeing them. So when we got word that they were going to make a stop in Utah (at Nana's house) before settling in Oregon, we packed our bags and got out of town in a matter of hours!
Angie has four little girls: Kaytee, Toree, Ashlee, and Brynnlee.


We went swimming with the kids at a local recreation center - it was awesome! I wish we had a place like this close to home.




Just the girls. Branson was done taking pictures.



Toree and Natalya - cute cousins!



Cousins with their great grandma, "GG".



Pop stars on microphones.

While in Utah, we missed my dad's 75th birthday! So we celebrated with him the day after we got home. We shared a delicious dinner and strawberry shortcake. Happy Birthday, Daddy!

AUGUST
A sad day at the Reeve house.

I finally trashed the world's best pair of sandals. They have been my companions for the last 13 years. They were so comfortable that even when they started falling apart I prefered to wear them over other choices. When they were literally "hanging by a thread" my friend Heather deemed them unwearable. So we documented the moment I had to toss them in the trash. Since then I have found a suitable replacement - however, not nearly as comfortable as my old favorites.

Irelynn likes to climb into boxes. One can't help but tote her around when she looks so cute just sitting there.

I finally finished painting our bedroom. It's a blue/gray color and I'm going to decorate the rest of the room with silver, white, and charcoal. I still need to finish buying our bedding - paisley printed European (square) pillows, and a white bed skirt. It's a work in progress...



Hiking in Red Rock - again!

08.18.08

Irelynn's 1st Birthday!! I can't believe that Irelynn is already a year old. Her first year has flown by so quickly. She seems to be on a fast track - crawling at 6 months old, walking at 9 months, running at a year... And of all my children, I wanted time to slow down the most with her. Unfortunately she seems to be growing up the fastest!

We celebrated a wonderful first birthday with her. We invited my parents over for dinner - Irelynn's favorite foods - which consisted of macaroni and cheese, watermelon, grapes, and milk.

I made her a classic white cake with strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries in between the layers. I covered it with flowers to accompany her butterfly theme.



I found super cute blue butterfly wings for her to wear when she blew out her candle.



Like most 1 year old babies, Irelynn enjoyed the wrapping almost more than her gifts!

A few days after her actual birthday, we had a small party for Irelynn. We invited just a few neighbors and friends who had babies close to the same age as Irelynn.

I made her two chocolate butterfly cakes and one white flower cake.

I love this pictures of the babies! They were all born within a couple of months of each other. Chloe, Karlee, Irelynn, and Prentice.

We know a few other babies their age, but they were busy the day of her party. How fun it would be to have a picture of all the babies in a one row!

I love my family so much! We share such busy lives - we truly have to make the most of even the smallest moments together.

Well, life keeps rolling on. Hopefully I will be able to keep up with all of life's demands - including a simple journal entry every once in a while.