Farewell to 2012

2012....what a year!  Kaylee turned 4, we found out we were expecting another baby and our baby wasn't even one yet!  I turned 31 in March with Alivia celebrating her 1st Birthday just shortly after.  I retired from Bells on Temple Square and we found out we were having a boy!!!  We welcomed Uncle Chris home from his mission in Brazil and celebrated Carson turning 7!   We spent a lot of time swimming at 7 peaks and enjoyed tball on hot summer days!  Carson started 2nd grade, and Kaylee her last year of preschool!  Preston was born on September 28th and in November, Dad turned 35 and completed his 7th year at the base working.  These are just the highlights of the year and I could go on and on about what we did, but then again, that is what our blog books are for!  So I will just fill you in on what we have been up to since Christmas.  On Thursday, the 27th, I went in for Ear surgery to repair a hole in my ear drum, for the 2nd time.  I had to be there at 11 and scheduled for surgery at noon, but they were running behind didn't go into surgery until 1:30.   When I woke up and looked at the clock it was 6:18.  Wow...that was a long time.  After allowing me to wake up a little bit more from the anesthesia, Nick explained to me why it took so long.  My 2 hour surgery turned into 3 1/2.  My Anvil bone I guess was having skin grow on it from the ear infection I had a few months ago.  The skin was causing the bone not to vibrate and affecting my hearing.  The only way for them to fix the problem is to remove the bone and put in a prostheses.  So not only did they fix the hole with a tymptanoplasty but also fixed the anvil bone.  So it took a lot longer and was a bit more invasive than originally planned.  It took me quite awhile to realize what they had done....partly because of the drugs I was on and just the fact of what they had done to my ear was a little overwhelming.  I hope to learn more about what Dr. Skedros did to my ear when I go in on Wednesday for a post op appt.  Nick said that Dr. Skedros is optimistic  that I will get most of my hearing back and said it was a good thing that we did the surgery and caught the anvil bone issue early or I could have lost my whole ear  and hearing if not treated.  We made it home shortly after 7 that night and I went right to bed.  My mom had come and stayed with the kids during the day, so that was great.  On Friday, Ted and Karen where headed home from a wedding in Boise and offered to take Carson and Kaylee home with them for the weekend, which was fantastic!  My recovery has been a bit harder and longer than I expected and it was nice having the house a bit quieter so I could rest and Nick could get more done.  He got the Christmas trees taken down and for that I will be ever so grateful! I have spent the past 4 days laying in bed thinking that I will start feeling better any time now, but I feel worse if anything than I did 4 days ago.  The pain is getting harder to manage and I feel like the pain meds are just making me loopy and tired.  When they did this surgery, they had to cut my ear away from my head since they couldn't do it through just the ear whole, so my ear is swollen, the side of my face is swollen, and the pain is a lot.  I look like crap, my hear is a disaster since I can't wash or do my hair, and to top it off....of course I had to have two huge zits appear on my chin the day of surgery.  I don't know what hurt more...the surgery or my zits!  I just feel like I am a mess.  Just when I started feeling normal and somewhat back in shape from having Preston, I have this ear stuff to deal with. I am hoping though, that this is the extent of it and with the prostheses the doctor used, that it will solve my hearing issues and I won't have to have any more surgeries or other ear procedures done for awhile!  So basically, the past 4 or 5 days have been the most boring and painful of the whole year.  So maybe tomorrow will mark the beginning of a fantastic year!  I am looking forward to so many things this year.  I am excited for Kaylee to turn 5 and to start Kindergarten in the fall.  I am excited for Carson to turn 8 and get baptized.  We are excited to do a lot of camping and get some good use of our new trailer this year.  I am setting a goal of running another half marathon and do a few triathlons this summer.   By the end of 2013, Preston should be walking and Alivia will be talking (and hopefully potty trained!).  2013 should be a fun year for our family and I can't wait blog all about it!  So stay tuned!

Three Months

Can you believe it....this handsome little guy is Three Months Old today.  Yes, Three.   He has been such a joy to have in our family!  He started sleeping through the night a few weeks ago and is a pretty chill baby.  He does have some fussy moments, but as long as he is getting attention, he is happy.  He doesn't take a binky, but likes to chew on his fists when he is just laying on the floor. He loves to smile and has even sounded like he has giggled a few times.  He likes to kick his legs and has learned to grab onto things with his hands.  He is also really good about being laid down awake in his crib and going to sleep on his own.  We sure love Preston and feel so blessed to have him in our family!

Christmas...again!

We got to do another version of Christmas yesterday!  After eating another Monkey Bread for breakfast, Gma Karen and Papa came up from Holden to spend the day with us.  We gave them their presents, which was a seat warmer and a framed family tree picture that we had made for them.  Uncle Ryan was also in town to pick up Taylor and Chase from the airport, so we got to spend the day with them too!  After Ryan's kids got here, they opened up their presents from everyone and we all headed up to the Classic Fun Center in Layton to party!

We had so much fun skating, and the kids got to use their scooters and we borrowed a neighbors wiggle car for Livy.  She loved it!  She spent the whole time on that thing!  Carson loved using his new Y-Fliker scooter.  They also played on the bounce houses and we also got a game of laser tag in too!  We enjoyed some yummy pizza for dinner.  It was such a fun time!

There was hardly anyone there which made it even more fun.  The roads were horrible though and going home was a bit scary, but we made it safely home.  Ryan and his kids were able to stay the night with us, while Ted and Karen headed towards Boise for a wedding.  It was great to be able to have basically another fun Christmas day with family!

Christmas Day!

The rest of our Christmas day was very relaxing and enjoyable!  The kids headed out to play in the fresh snow before it was even lunchtime.  They wanted to try out their new snow gear!  Here are a few pictures I took of them getting ready to play.  It was so bright outside, I used my 50 lense and shot these in manual, and I love how they turned out!  I also took a few pictures of Preston since he is 3 months old now (See future post).  

After playing in the snow we all got cleaned up and spent the rest of the day just playing with the new toys.  Kaylee did some painting using her new art apron.  The kids also tried out the new playdoh set.  I put a ham in the crockpot for dinner, and Kaylee helped me cut up carrots.  Gma & Gpa Brower and Chris came around 5:30 and had dinner with us, which was super yummy!

 After dinner, we watched the DVD I had made of our Thanksgiving weekend.  We also played Carson's new Scrabble game.  Then we had Gma & Gpa open their gifts.  Ris, Tiff, Chris, and I went in together and bought them a Heater Buddy.  We also got Gpa a new BYU Jacket and Mom a candle set.  We gave Uncle Chris his own bag of Granola that he likes!!

It was such a wonderful Christmas and I couldn't have asked for anything more than seeing my kids happy and spending time with family!