Dance recital

Alexandra and Grace had their spring dance recital on the 20th and both did such a great job. Alexa had a solo number, two class numbers, and danced in the grand finale. She is a beautiful dancer and it's so fun to see her talent emerging. Grace danced two numbers with her class and was absolutely adorable! Her teacher is so good about choreographing the dances around her abilities while allowing her to interact with the other girls.

At the end of the program each dancer receives a small trophy, then the teacher awards a great big trophy to the best dancer in each age group. Not just each class, but each age group...and Alexa won it! For the second time in three years, so she was pretty excited.

Happy Birthday Grace!

Grace is 5 years old! It's always so hard for me to see my little girls grow up, and for some reason it's more difficult for me when Grace has a birthday. She was so excited to have a birthday and turn 5, and she's very excited to start kindergarten this fall (I'm glad someone is). She is such a sweet, tender-hearted little girl and tries so hard to make everyone happy. We had a birthday bbq for her, and after cake and ice cream she fell off her bench and smacked the back of her head on the concrete. We all heard an awful "crunch" and thought she may have been hurt very badly, but thankfully she was ok. I took her in the house for some loving and she just cried, "did I do anything wrong? I'm sorry!" Really? I don't think this girl has deliberately done anything wrong in her entire little life.

Cameron and Lorianne Forever

My "little Louie-anne" married her dream man, Cameron Stelter, on May 14th. She was the most beautiful blushing bride and the day was absolutely perfect! (Except for an ill-fitting bridesmaid dress). Whenever one of my sisters gets married or moves away I feel like they're not only leaving my mom and dad, but they're leaving me too! (Since we live next door to my parents). It's hard for me to see them go, but at the same time I am so happy for them. Adelle absolutely would not look at the camera (typical Adelle)...
...so they put her in the middle and she still wouldn't lift her head!

My Handsome Grad

It finally happened! After more than two years Phillip finally graduated with his Master's Degree in School Counseling. He has worked so hard for this degree and passed a grueling national exam, and I am so proud of him! Now to secure a job for next school year....

Update

Yes, I admit it. I am a blog slacker. But hey, in the words of Phillip's dad, "at least I update the honker!" :0) This last month has been an absolute whirlwind so I'll be brief and focus on the highlights:

March 26. ADELLE TURNED TWO!! It makes me so sad when my babies grow up! She is the cutest little thing and definitely plays the part of a two year old. Her vocabulary is expanding everyday and she speaks way too well for her twenty-four little months. She is a fiesty, fiery little thing and I just LOVE it! She takes such good care of her sisters and always makes sure to share her treats with them. I just love her so much and love everyday that I get to be her mommy.

March 31. Grace had a third eye muscle surgery and came through it very well. It always breaks a little piece of my heart when they wheel her away in her little wagon and I always say the most pleading prayers that Heavenly Father will watch over her. Hopefully this will be the last surgery for a very long time.
April 4. EASTER. I just love Easter. I don't know why, maybe it's because I have little girls, but I love dressing everyone up and having a party with my family. The girls all had so much fun searching for eggs and eating way too much candy. I think they eat more junk on this one day each year than I let them during the rest of the year combined! Yea, they went to bed with tummy aches. Adelle was so cute when the egg hunt started because she'd find an egg and say, "here See-see ('Gracie')" and put it in Grace's basket. Then she found out there was chocolate in those eggs and there was no more sharing! April 8. I finally gave in and got my little Adelle's ears pierced. She looks like such a big girl now! She was so brave during the whole thing and I was so proud of her! She shed a few well-deserved tears during the actual piercing, but feels so pretty and loves her new earrings.

April 21. Grace got a new set of wheels! It's time for her to have a mode of "transportation" other than her walker for long distances so we received a brand new wheelchair from Shriner's Hospital (and our insurance company, of course). We call it "Mermaid Green" and she absoolutely LOVES it! And the timing couldn't be better since she isn't able to wear braces and walk for awhile. (She is being fit for new braces because her current ones have given her some major lesions on her ankles)

We've also been working long, hard, and sometimes painful hours building an awesome swingset for the girls. I'll post more about that later when it's all done.

And baby makes...four!?

Four girls! That's what Phillip and I will have when our new little daughter is born this summer. Wow, four daughters. We went into the ultrasound without any hopes or expectations other than a healthy baby, so another girl is a nice suprise. Quite honestly, it was actually something of a relief. I've been collecting little girl things for almost seven years so a girl is very economical! Not to mention the fact that I have three pink rooms! Don't get me wrong, a boy would be just as wonderful, but we are very happy.

And don't anyone think about saying, "oh, poor Phil needs a son", or "now there won't be anyone to carry on Phil's name", or "you need to keep trying for a boy", or "I'm sorry!". Yes, those are (unfortunately) some very real comments we've had from some in the small circle of people who actually knew we're expecting. For the record, Phillip is ecstatic to have another daughter and doesn't feel the least bit disappointed in not having a son. I think it takes a very special father to raise all daughters and I'm so lucky to be married to one!

By the way, my dad (who also has four daughters) said he's proud to say that he will now have four daughters and four granddaughters. Kind of cool!

Eczema

So our sweet little Adelle has a bad case of eczema on much of her body and I'm so sad. Her dr gave us a prescription for a steroid cream to use during her breakouts, along with a daily full-body Aquaphor massage. I have no problem with the Aquaphor, but hesitate using a steroid cream on my baby! I know it works really well, but I don't want to do it! Does anyone out there have any more natural remedies that have worked on their children? I have an essential oil recipe for massage oil I'm going to try on her, but am also looking for anything else that's been successful for other children.

Anchor your furniture!!!!!

Today one of my worst fears came true. Growing up in Southern California and experiencing earthquakes has always made me a little cautious with furniture and I worry about my girls pulling things down on themselves. I keep telling myself that I need to anchor my heavy furniture to the walls but of course get distracted and forget. Tonight I had a bloody reminder of how important it is to do this.

Phillip and I were cleaning our basement and rearranging furniture when Alexa asked if she could use some yarn to knit a scarf for me. (How sweet is that!) I sat on a couch and watched as the cupboard I keep my yarn in came crashing down on her. It was one of those things where I'm yelling, "Move!" and trying to run to her and everything was happening in slow motion, but all too fast. Next thing I know she has blood streaming down her hair and the back of her sweater, and blood is covering my hands. Um, scary!! Once we got the bleeding under control and the blood cleaned up it wasn't too traumatic, but she did end up with two staples closing the wound. Poor baby was so brave throughout the whole thing, but I can't help and feel extremely guilty for neglecting to make my house safer. I am very grateful, however, because I know this situation could have been much, much worse.

On a humorous note, after it happened she asked me, "Are my brains coming out!?". Then before bed tonight she was pressing on her temple and asked if she lost some of her brains because her head felt soft there.

This is her journal entry for tonight:And her stapled wound:

Dress-up and Movie nights

I just thought these pictures were way too adorable not too post!

Meet Rohnan!!

Phillip and I have completely lost our minds and adopted a yellow labrador retriever. Crazy!! We've been thinking about getting a puppy for awhile and have been looking around on the internet, then came across this big guy on KSL and fell in love with him. When we saw him and learned more about him we decided an adult dog (he's about five years old) would be much easier than a puppy. So, we met his family and they decided to let us have him! Hooray! I was so nervous all evening, waiting for their call, hoping they would choose us, and acted like a silly little girl when they did. We were really excited because purebred labs are really pricey, but this family gave him to us for free. They already have an older lab and a little girl and decided two dogs was just too much, but still loved him very much. It was so sad when the family dropped him off and the wife left crying. We are very grateful they chose us to be Rohnan's new family, and our girls are absolutely ecstatic!!! Besides, he may be Phillip's only boy!

A Princess Weekend

I just found this post that I accidentally saved as a draft. Oops! This all happened mid-November:

A few weeks ago Grace and I were invited to attend a "Tea Party" at Shriner's Hospital with Cinderella and her Fairy Godmother. Oh my gosh, what a dream for Grace! She dressed up in her Cinderella ballgown, had her hair done up pretty, and even had the lipstick. There were about 24 other girls there with their mothers and the girls were able to make a crown, eat lots of yummy food, and meet a princess. I am so happy that Shriner's has activities like this for their patients. Grace definitely felt like a princess herself that afternoon.The next afternoon Phillip and I took the girls to see Disney Princesses on Ice and had so much fun! Phillip is such a good dad to endure two hours of watching princesses ice skate (although, some of them were awfully pretty!).

Little Dancers

Alexandra and Grace had their Christmas recital on December 18. They each did such a wonderful job and both had me in tears. Alexa did her own solo number in addition to the two with her class and did so well! She looked like a little princess up there. Grace has improved a lot since last season and even did a little turn in her walker. So cute!!!

Oh, my sweet little Adelley-do

I don't think words are necessary to describe these pictures. Let me just say that this little one definitely keeps me on my toes!! I love her so much!!(Yes, those are panties)

It's official!

I am officially a licensed massage therapist! Hooray! I passed the national exam last month, received my national certification a few weeks ago, and received my state license last week. Lorianne and I also walked at graduation last Friday and I had the honor of speaking. Scary! I was really nervous but also very honored that I would be nominated, and then chosen to speak. I feel like all my hard work and time away from my girls has finally paid off. And I'm so happy that I was able to go through this experience with my sister. She definitely made it easier to get up and go on those freezing cold mornings, or when my girls would cry because they missed mommy. I love you, Lorianne!