JASON: February was Jason’s month for
teaching Young Men’s & the topic was the Plan of Salvation. He really put a
lot into it & many nights stayed up past midnight preparing his lessons. Jason
also had fun on an overnight trip with the young men to Ruby Inn, near
Panguitch. They had fun hanging out and going cross-country skiing in the
morning.
HEIDI:
Heidi finished the Biggest Loser program
at the end of the month. She didn’t win the money, but she lost about 15
pounds, so all is well! She intends to continue to eat real foods &
exercise. A lot of the month was spent preparing our home for Link’s baby
blessing the first Sunday in March – she cleaned windows, baseboards, organized
closets and cupboards, etc. It was nice to have our home so clean & organized.
She was sick for the last part of the
month – congestion, sore throat, sore ears, She’s feeling much better now,
though. She is reading a book called
Walk Two Moons & has really enjoyed it. When they were in St. George, she
went on a 6 mile run in a t-shirt and it felt great. Looking forward to warmer
weather! She also had fun getting her craft on at the end of the month &
made a St. Patrick’s wreath for the door and some shamrocks and a banner for
the fireplace.
McKINLEY:
-At the beginning of the month, McKinley had the opportunity
to give a talk in primary. She talked about the plan of salvation and how we
each have trials. She talked about how Nephi had trials and she talked about
Link and the trials he went through. That same day, she was able to sing “I’m
trying to be like Jesus” in Relief Society with some girls from her primary
class – Kiersten, Olivia, and Brenna. Everyone said that she did a great job!
-McKinley really had a great time at tumbling. Now she’s
deciding if she really wants to do gymnastics or try something else – like girl
scouts.
-For our book to read at night, McKinley picked “The Little
Princess.” Mom & McKinley have had a wonderful time reading it together.
We’re almost done!
-One day mom was frustrated & said “McKinley – why are
you being so disobedient? You were so helpful this morning!” McKinley said “Well, I used it all up!”
-Link was jabbering & McKinley said excitedly “Mom! Link
said his first word! He said ooooooh – like oooooooh, I like your dress!”
-When we went to St. George for Link’s appointment, McKinley
complained that her ear was hurting. We gave her ibprofin & that seemed to
help, but she woke up about midnight saying it was hurting really bad & was
up till about 2am just sobbing & saying “it still hurts!” We took her to
the doctor the next day & she did have a bad ear infection in one ear and
almost one in the other ear as well. It was still hurting her for the next few
days & she took ibprofin a few times. She missed a couple days of school,
but is now feeling lots better.
-McKinley earned a date this month & decided to go roller
skating with her dad. They had a great time & stayed out late getting ice
cream & going to Walmart to buy soil & seeds. They bought carrots and
flower seeds & they have been growing really great!
-She was SO excited to have all her family here from both
sides for Link’s blessing. She could be heard to say multiple times a day “Mom…
I’m just SO excited to for Link’s blessing to have everyone here! I just CAN’T
wait mom. I just CAN’T!” She did do a countdown chain to help with her
excitement.
-McKinley still struggles with the desire to go to school.
Most every day she complains about not wanting to go. After a lot of discussion
from mom & dad, we decided to sign her up for North Elementary next year,
where they are doing the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and
Math) program. It’s definitely going to be a sacrifice on our part because she
won’t be able to be bussed, but we might be able to do some carpooling & we
feel like it will help her desire to go to school & be challenged.
-McKinley also struggles with fear at night –and for some
reason she has a hard time talking to her dad about it. She will come into our
room at night & only want to talk to mom. She fears that with all the
windows, someone will be looking in and she is scared of “bad guys.” Mom has
tried to comfort her and even read her scriptures about fear, but she continues
to be afraid. One of the only thing that helps her is when Ireland lets her
cuddle with her.
IRELAND:
-Ireland is just absolutely obsessed with her baby brother.
She really is. We are still constantly trying to help her understand that even
babies need some “personal space” once in a while. In most of her prayers, she
prays that Link’s pancreas and leg will get better, and when Camri was playing
with Link, Ireland said “be careful of his pancreas, Camri!” She did a paper at
school that listed the things that she loved & she said she loved her baby,
her mom and her dad and her dogs, but mostly she loved her baby. And she has
said a few times “Mom – we have a REAL baby, right? He’s a REAL baby!”
-Ireland did GREAT at tumbling & at the end was REALLY
close to doing a cartwheel all by herself!
-Ireland earned a date, too, and wanted to go roller skating
like McKinley. She went with mom & they had a great time. She fell down a
lot, but she was one determined girl & kept getting back up. She did great!
Then mom & Ireland went to Dairy Queen for dessert!
-We went to the library & mom told Ireland she was just
taking Kezia to the bathroom & would be right back (she was reading a
book). Well, apparently, Ireland didn’t hear mom & panicked when she
couldn’t find her. She went wondering around, crying & just broke down when
mom finally found her. Mom will do better next time with making sure Ireland is
listening.
-We had playgroup at our house one day in February &
there were a few babies. Ireland went up to one of the moms & said “Do you
wish your baby had as big of cheeks as ours does?”
-Ireland is so hilarious when she’s watching McKinley play
the Wii. Mom videoed it the other day. She never plays it, but she loves to
cheer on McKinley & will be jumping up and down & shouting “Watch out!
Go the other way! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! I can NOT watch!”
-One day at lunch, Ireland asked “When is Heavenly Father’s
birthday?”
-After President’s Day weekend & we went to St. George,
Ireland started to feel yucky. She had a temperature of 102 & when we
looked at her throat, it was incredibly swollen & yucky. We went to the
doctors & sure enough the strep test came back positive almost the second
she started it. We decided to go ahead & get the penicillin shot. Ireland
was so brave & only cried for a second. Then she walked around for the rest
of the day, pulling down her pants & showing everyone the band-aid on her
bum from her shot J She missed a couple
days of school, but is feeling much better.
-We just really appreciate how great Ireland is at getting
ready. She usually gets ready so fast & willingly for school in the
mornings & she is usually the first to come when she is called. She is
usually really good at playing with her siblings, too.
-Ireland still is so cute with her I LOVE YOU notes &
stick pictures. And she REALLY wants us to see them every day, so she tapes
them to our wall for us.
-Ireland earned FIFTY penny points (“yes mom”s) and decided
she wanted to use them to go on the merry-go-round at Walmart. She had a lot of
fun J
KEZIA
-One day, Kezia shouted from the bathroom “Look mom! It’s a J
for Jason in the toilet!”
-At Walmart, Kezia said she had to go potty, so we headed to
the bathroom, but Kezia got there before us & we couldn’t find her. She
wasn’t in the girls bathroom, so mom called into the men’s bathroom & sure
enough, there she was!
-Kezia has had a hard time staying in her bed at night. She
comes into mom & dad’s room at random times of the night – usually at least
a couple times a week. One night, about 4am, she came in and said “There’s a
HUGE whale in my bathroom!” She was really scared & mom had to take her to
the bathroom & show her that there wasn’t a whale. She picked up a killer
whale toy from the tub & said “it was this one! It was HUGE!” Another time
she said she dreamt that she fell off the back deck L
-Kezia is getting really good at taking off all her clothes
AND getting dressed completely by herself, too!
-She is still working on figuring out how to buckle herself
into her new carseat, but she’s getting close!
-Kezia still LOVES playing with her My Little Ponies. Mom
won’t hear from her for over an hour & she’ll find her upstairs, just
happily playing with her ponies. The second Ireland comes home, it’s “C’mon
Ireland! Let’s play ponies!” and they are so cute when they play.
-We had some time, so Kezia got to ride on the merry-go-round
at Walmart. She had so much fun!
-She still is working on using a big girl voice instead of
going straight to a scream or whiney voice.
-Everything seems to be a contest to Kezi to see who can win
first. She will run to her bedroom & try to be the first to get her jammies
on. And at the table, she will shove the food in her mouth & say with a
full mouth “look mom! I win!”
LINK:
-Link continues to grow and do so well! According to the
Pediatric Endocrinologist, unless he gets super-super sick, he shouldn’t have
to take ANY more steroids! Yay! She also explained some of symptoms of
diabetes, but we are still hoping that we won’t have to deal with that & it
probably wouldn’t happen till he was around 10.
-Sometimes when Link is fussing, it SURE sounds like mama!
-Link is really getting to be a pro at his jungle gym. He can
make the sounds go & grab & hold them. He’s getting great at the bumbo,
too, and will just hang out while mom cooks. We also bought him an exersaucer
this month & he is loving it! He can really play with the little toys &
hang out! We also tried the jumper this month & he likes it. He hasn’t
quite figured out the jumping part yet, but he loves to just hang out. He still
struggles with tummy time, though. He can lift his head quite a bit, but he
gets really mad after only a few minutes.
-Link loves to hold his hands together and suck on his
fingers. He’s also gotten good at grabbing hair J
-He still is eating every 2-3 hours and naps every hour and a
half to 2 hours. He doesn’t have a BM for a few days and then wow!! He explodes
and ruins whatever outfit he is wearing!
-He does pretty good in the car, but on the way back from St.
George, he was really overtired & screamed for about 30 minutes L
-He does love his binki!
-Link still sleeps okay at night, waking up a couple times,
but there were a few nights that he was up about every hour & that was a
bit rough!
-He is getting good at rolling to his side – we think he’ll
make it all the way over pretty soon!
-He is really smiling a lot and laughing a lot J He loves his baths, too!
-Link’s birthmark has really gotten dark! It’s on his left
leg & at birth, it was barely visible, but it’s REALLY dark now.
-Link was congested a lot of the month & had a really
hard time breathing while he was eating L
-Link’s right eye continues to be clogged & goopy L
I think the Lord has been trying to talk to me lately - to get a message through... and I think this is the message he's been trying to send:
