Our baby girl

I am a bad mother. I'm working on it. I missed Elena's 15 month check up. I thought about it and just decided I would call later and then I forgot. I know, I know. Well, I decided to make her appointment for this past Wednesday. Luckily when the time rolled around for the appointment we were all sick including Elena so I thought it would be nice that the doctor would be checking her just in case she had an ear infection or anything. Plus, I really needed Jesus' help since I was just getting really sick. Elena weighed in at 20 pounds and I dont remember what height but she is a little taller than average so the doctor says she will be long and thin. She will be 18 months next Sunday and she will be starting in nursery which is bitter sweet to me. She is talking so much now, she can say mommy(for a while there she was calling me Monny, and sometimes she still does), daddy, baby, doggy, kitty, juice, no (mostly all the time), papa, she calls grandma mama. She has a word for her blankies but I honestly have no idea what she is saying. Sometimes she just rambles on and waves her hands around like she is making a speech and we all listen. She loves her babies and is a very good mommy. I watch her cover them up with blankets and wash them off with wipes. She loves to get in the bathtub and gets mad when its time to get out. She is very much a mamas girl right now and wants to be held most of the day. Its getting pretty hard on my arms. She loves to go outside and I cant wait for it to warm up so I can set her loose in the backyard. She loves Patrick but he isnt very nice to her right now so she gets mad at him and tells him to GO! She melts my heart and I love her like crazy. I am working on weaning her from breastfeeding but its hard on both of us. I will go slowly so maybe it wont break my heart as much when she is done.

In Memory of Shannon

A few years ago, before Shannon passed away, I told her that I would walk with her at Great Strides. I wanted to help raise money to find a cure for Cystic Fibrosis. When the time rolled around to walk, I got the flu and I wasnt able to join her. I was so mad at myself. Well this year I have registered a team and would like as many people as I can to join us as we walk in memory of Shannon. If you know of any businesses that would be willing to donate or you would like to donate or walk with us please go here http://www.cff.org/Great_Strides/dsp_DonationPage.cfm?walkid=6744&idUser=235247 Our goal is $1500 to donate to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation to find a cure. We will be walking on March 20th. Please join us.

Our water drama

So when Jesús and David started digging in our front yard to find the broken part of the water main, they discovered that the whole thing had to be replaced. Holes started springing up all the way to the house. Luckily we had Marc Hansen, his brother, and his dad there fixing some of Old House's problems. They helped dig the hole, cut through the brick on the house to get to the pipes, tear out the old pipes, get new ones and replace the whole thing. Unfortunately this all happened last Saturday when it was raining and very cold. I felt so bad. Roby Hunt showed up later to help as well as he was on his way back from the temple. I couldnt believe we had all those guys working on the house in the cold and the dark. I made cookies for them but it didnt seem like enough. I didnt get to thank them all, so THANK YOU!!!!!! We were so grateful we could shower the next morning for church. One thing that I discovered came in handy was our water storage. We didnt have water for a few hours and I needed to wash hands and make dinner which was difficult without water. I was able to use our water storage when we needed it and I'm so glad we had it. It just shows you, you never know when disaster will strike!

Check out our backyard changes

Enjoying the sun

We had a week of rain and wind and ugly. The kids were getting stir crazy and I'm mot very good at coming up with things for them to do. I should work on it so I dont crazy. Well when we finally had a few days of sun, we made the most of them.

Patrick is getting really good at riding his bike. He also loves to dig in the dirt. I am finally over the fact that little kids will get dirty.

Elena loves to run around and kick the balls and do what her brother does.

Jill Galyan did Elena's hair one day while we were at her house. I decided to try and do it every day. Aren't those pigtails precious??