Dance Class

These pictures are from last May but I just barely got them from her dance teacher.  We decided to take a break from dance last fall because Leila wasn't really wanting to do it and since I was pregnant and Paul was out of town I just didn't have the energy to make sure she got to dance class.   I think she is just the cutest little dancer and I'm really excited she is taking dance again this spring.  She loves dancing with her friends Alyssa and Daisy and her teacher Ms. Lori is so great and just loves these little girls. 

2 months

I'm a little bit behind on Asher since he's almost three months old and I'm barely writing about two months but at least it's getting done.  

•  He weighs 12lbs 12 oz (50th percentile), 23 inches long (75th percentile) and his head is in the 50th percentile.  He's a healthy little guy and growing like a weed!
• He has a great smile that just makes me so happy and he loves when we talk to him.
•  Asher is still in wearing 0-3 month clothing and is in size 1 diapers
• He likes to eat about every three hours, he nurses pretty well but is really wiggly and is arms and legs are constantly moving.  He refuses to take a bottle but thats not a big deal because I haven't needed to leave him. 
• Asher likes to be held a lot and is not very happy when I lay him down.  He also hates his carseat and pretty much screams any time we go any where in the car.
• He likes to be swaddled or laying on his stomach
• Asher is a great sleeper at night.  I usually feed him between 8 and 9 and then he sleeps all night and wakes up to eat between 6 and 7.  I can't complain about him being fussy during the day when he sleeps all night. 
• He loves the bath when he actually gets them.  We are so busy that he probably only gets a bath about twice a week.
• He found his hands and works so hard to get them to his mouth. 
• I love the chub he is starting to get on his legs and his squishy cheeks
• We love this little guy, he makes us so happy!

Good Friends

I know this post might be pretty sappy and I'll probably cry while writing it but I want to make sure I document this part of our life and the important people in it.  When we moved to Henderson almost 4 years ago I wasn't sure I was going to make it.  I was really missing Utah and all of our friends and family.  I had a really hard time at first and some really rough months, I pretty much hated it here and was always counting down until my next trip to Utah.  And then I met some amazing friends.  I have the most wonderful friends who are the wives of the other med students, they have been so supportive and understanding  and we just get each other because we understand each others situations.  I also have by far the best ward!  I couldn't have asked to be placed in a better place.  I love Henderson now and love all my friends (it's going to be really hard to leave).  I have learned and grown so much in the last couple of years. I have learned to serve and have learned to let others serve me.  This med school road is hard and there have been times I couldn't do it all on my own, but that is when my great friends have stepped in and helped me survive.  We were really lucky to have the Hadlock family right around the corner from us.  What a blessing they were in our lives.  We love their family and we are so thankful to have such great, lifelong friends.  About 3 weeks ago they moved back to Rylee's hometown in Arizona where they had a great job opportunity and a chance to be close to family.  We miss them like crazy but know they are so happy and where they are suppose to be.  Around a month ago Rylee made a comment about this past year and how it was interesting that they ended up spending another year in Henderson after Reece graduated school.  Everything seemed to fall into place for them to stay but she said she's not sure what the reason was for them to be here an extra year.  I was thinking about it and I'm pretty sure they were here for me and my family.  This past year was rough, I was pregnant, we had some rough stages with Leila and Paul was gone on away rotations for 5 months.  I'm pretty sure Heavenly Father knew I would need a lot of extra support and the Hadlocks were an answer to many prayers.  Every time I turned around they were serving me.  I can't even count the number of meals or dinner invites they offered or all the times they helped with my kids.  There were many, many acts of service offered by them and our family was truly blessed.  There is definitely a void in our lives without them but we are so happy they are living their dream! 

Their last day in Henderson was a lot of fun.   We spent all day at the park and playing in the neighborhood.  Rylee accidentally locked herself out of her house so we got to spend all day with them.  Her are just a couple pictures a snapped of the kids. 

Christmas!

On Christmas morning I got up at 6 and got showered so I would be ready and not rushed to get to church.  We woke the kids up at 6:30, they were totally crashed out and took us a minute to get them up.  But once they realized Santa had come they were wide awake.

Leila and Greydon checking out what was in their stockings

 Classic Greydon, he turned the stocking upside down and dumped everything out

Greydon asked Santa for pretty much anything and everything so Santa used his discretion and brought Greydon a balance bike and a Cars helmet.  He was pretty excited about his presents

Leila was pretty happy with her Razor scooter (it was all she was asking for)

Greydon got a bunch of trains and and train tracks from Connie, I think it might have been his favorite present.  We were really spoiled this year by Connie, she went above and beyond and got us a much desired Vitamix.  I love the blender and use it at least twice a day. 

Asher got this adorable pillow pet.  He was such a sleepy head and slept through all the present opening

Greydon is obsessed with scooters and had to take Leila's for a spin, he had just gotten out of the tub and saw an opportunity to steal it while Leila was still in the bath.

All dressed and ready to to go to church.  We actually had plenty of time to open presents, have breakfast and get to church.  I loved Christmas on Sunday and being able to go to church, it was a nice reminder of why we actually celebrate Christmas.  It gave us a chance to feel the spirit and not be so focused on the presents. 

After church we went to my parents house.  They were just getting ready to go to church so they let the grand kids open 1 present before they left.  They each got a Cars 2 shake car and they were a huge hit.   

While the kids played with the cars Paul and I relaxed on the couch.  I actually fell asleep but my nap didn't last long because pretty soon my parents and siblings were back home. 

My parents really spoiled us this year!  Greydon got a Cars 2 race track and Leila got a princess tent.  And Paul and I got a Samsung Galaxy tablet!  After all their wonderful presents to us the present we got them just didn't seem all that great so hopefully one day will be able to do more. 

We relaxed the rest of the afternoon at my parents house, had a yummy Christmas dinner of Prime Rib and worked on a puzzle.  That evening we went to Paul's dad's house to exchange gifts.  The kids were again spoiled and received a ton of gifts and clothes.  Paul's dad is an amazing cook and actually made us a cookbook of all of his favorite recipes and gave us our traditional tin of cookies (his dad use to work with Mrs. Fields and has all of her cookies recipes, not just the ones that are on the Internet but the actually recipes from her personal files).  We had a wonderful Christmas and definitely received way more than we deserve.  We are thankful to wonderful family members that help make Christmas wonderful for us and our kids especially since our budget has been pretty tight for the last couple of years.  We were worn out by the end of Christmas day, it was fun but really exhausting to make it to three different houses. 

On Monday we packed up which took several hours (three kids, two adults and Christmas presents is a ton of stuff).  The kids played with Mylee and Mari and then we went to my parents house to say goodbye.  We headed home around 7 pm and we were actually able to fit all of our stuff in our car for the first time, usually my parents have to bring some of our gifts down to us in January.  Luckily this time our kids slept the whole way home and then went straight to bed when we arrived. 

Asher loves his Daddy and always give him the biggest smiles

He also loved all the attention he was getting from his cousins and sister

We were packed in tight! Not an inch of space to spare, Paul and his mom did an excellent job packing the car. 

The week before Christmas!

Paul had an ER rotation in Boulder City this month.  He was able to pretty much pick his schedule and only had to do 15 shifts.  So we decided he would work until the 20th and then have the week  off so we could go to Utah for Christmas.  We were pretty much packed and ready to go when Paul got home from work on Tuesday, the kids were really good on the drive and just slept the whole way.  We got to Utah around 12:30 am and thought the kids would just transfer right to bed.  Boy were we wrong they were so excited to see there Grandma and just be in Utah that they wanted nothing to do with their beds plus they had just slept for 6 hours so they were nice and refreshed.  In the end we didn't get to bed until 4 am, but then Asher was up at 6 am to eat and then the other kids were up by 8 am, needless to say we were exhausted. 
Wednesday- We kind of just hung out in the morning and then went to my parents house to visit.  Wednesday evening we met up with our high school friends at Seth and Jenn's house for our annual Christmas party.  It was pretty low key, we had dinner and just hung out and visited.  The children destroyed Cohen's bedroom, at one point they all came downstairs and asked us to come see what they did.  When we got upstairs they had unloaded all off Cohen's toys on to his bed, and I'm not kidding when I tell you that every single one of the toys and books were on the bed.  It took quite awhile to get it all cleaned up.  I love these friends and love how relaxing it is to hang out with each other.  I definitely miss the days of being together two or three nights a week.
Thursday-My mom and I went shopping to find Asher a blessing outfit and pick up a few other things we needed and then Paul and I went shopping to finish up some Christmas shopping and the kids played with their cousins Mylee and Mari and then it was off to the Buchanan Family Christmas party.  It was at my parent's house with my mom's side of the family.  We had a yummy dinner and then our traditional white elephant exchange.  We love seeing all the funny gifts and every one's reactions to the gifts.  The white elephant is always fun at this party because everyone participates and comes up with some pretty awesome gifts. 

Friday-I got together with my girlfriends from high school.  We hung out at Ashely's house, had lunch and let the kids play.  After lunch Paul and I went shopping to find two last gifts, it took forever because everyone in Utah was out shopping and traffic was horrible.  While we were shopping the kids decorated cookies at my parent's house and played with Logan and Brynnlee.  Later that night we went to dinner at Paul's dad's home.  It was delicious like always!

Saturday-  My SIL works at Lifetime Fitness so she got us a trial pass.  Paul went and played racquetball with his brother and I went and ran.  The kids got to play in the awesome childcare center.  If I had money and lived close to one of these gyms I would totally be a member.  The gym was so nice and the childcare was awesome.  I loved being able to run (1st time since having Asher) and was pretty proud of myself for running 2 miles straight. We relaxed the rest of the afternoon before heading to the Madsen Family Christmas party.  The party was held at Joe Beecrofts house and we enjoyed yummy appetizers, soup, rolls and dessert.  We sang Christmas songs, shared Christmas memories, the kids got there traditional Christmas Eve pajamas and all the adult got there traditional box of chocolates.  Paul's grandma use to make chocolates but now Paul's mom carries on the tradition.  She spends many many hours over the course of a couple months making chocolates.  She is so talented, the chocolates turn out amazing and always look so pretty.  We are lucky because we always get to sample many before we actually get our box.  My favorites are the cherry chocolates, white chocolate toffee, coconut chocolates and carmels. After the party Leila and Greydon put our cookies for Santa and Leila wrote Santa a letter.  I was amazed at how quickly they went to bed they were excited but understood that Santa wouldn't come until they were asleep. 

Waiting for Marilyn to hand out pajamas

 Opening new pajamas

Greydon was pretty excited to get Thomas the Train pajamas and requests to wear them pretty much every night

Leila with her cousins, they just love each other!

 Leila writing her letter to Santa

 The letter said, Dear Santa, Thanks for the gifts. Enjoy these cookies.  From, Leila and Grey

 I couldn't get a decent picture of both of them together and then they just started being goofy

Asher was ready for Santa to come, he went right to sleep!