September 25, 2011

That time of year!

It's that time of year when all of our holiday/fall/Halloween stuff come out.  This past week Andrew was a little under the weather so I kept him home from preschool.  While he was home, we cleaned, rearranged and put up our Halloween decor.  Is it alittle early?  I would say YES, but Andrew was so gosh darn excited that I couldn't refuse his excitement so it is up in the Snyder home.  They are loving it too! He even decorated his room with Halloween lights around the window so at night when they go to bed they plug them in.  Kind of fun for them.  They have always done that and they love it!
If only the weather would cool down a bit.  It has still be close to 90 degrees every day.  Still having to use the AC during the day.  I am ready to open my windows and let the fresh, cool air back in.  We are ready for the leaves to change colors, for the fireplace to come on and all the other fun holiday things that start to happen this time of year.
Ellie did terrible today at church.  I walked the halls for 2 hours straight.  While I would try to sneek in Relief Society to hear the bishop speak to all the women, Ellie would start to cry all over again so it was back out into the halls to roam with all the other dads with their small children.  Its amazing most of us still go to church.  Seems like all our time is spent trying to keep one happy, while we are helping the others not fight.  It is lovely with a fussy baby on top of that.  It works out really well and we look like a work of art at church each Sunday.  But we keep going because hopefully it will sink into our children the importance of Sunday worship.  Fingers crossed.
I am sitting here typing listening to my babe scream in her swing and also listening to Owen, who is now refusing to take naps asking to get out of his room.  I just want to sleep! It's a good Sunday.

September 20, 2011

In the moment

Yesterday we had our appointment with the Pediatric Urologist.  Couldn't believe we had to wait over an hour to be seen for only 15 minutes.  Come to find out all looks good. The doctor said that everything was "mild" which pretty much means good.  There is nothing that needs to be done besides monitoring her every 3-6 months with ultrasounds to see how her left kidney is doing.  So good news! Bad news, is that we can't use that as our excuse as to why she cries and fusses.  Maybe it is the fact that we have been extremely blessed with a fussy little girl.  She is probably  just giving us a sneek peek at what life is going to be like with a girl in our home. Getting ready to brase myself.  This could get ugly :)!
I have been going through the motion right now of extreme emotions.  I feel tired pretty much 24/7 and most of my days are spent just trying to get Ellie to sleep and stay asleep.  And then when she is finally asleep, it is keeping Owen away from her.  He really likes to sneek in and pinch her or wake her up.  When I am washing dishes, folding laundry or cleaning the house and then I hear this blood curdling cry, I run for the room only to see it open and that is when I will find Owen in bed with her or trying to pull her out of her swing.  Oh my goodness!!! Life with 4 children is really tiring.  How did you guys do it?
So this is what I know.....

 Look at what exists in your life right now.  Look at the events that had to be
 orchestrated to get you to exactly where you are, doing exactly what you
 are doing, with exactly who you are with, learning exactly what you
 are learning and experiencing exactly what you are experiencing.

Look at all of this and know that it was meant just for you.
If it feels like you are in a place, that you would rather not
be at this time, just know that you are in the middle... on the
way from here to there... that you will get through it... that it
will last exactly as long as it is supposed to last, and teach you
exactly what you are meant to learn. And later, you will see how
this time was one of your very greatest teachers.

If you are in a place that feels miraculous and wonderful..
full of beauty and peace.. be sure to marvel in it. Breathe it in, know that
everything brought you to now... that there's always a reason that will
take your breathe away.

Everything matters. Every decision matters, every experience matters,
every relationship matters, every interaction matters, every lesson matters,
Every piece creates a whole that is the life you are living at this moment.

What a miracle.



September 14, 2011

Could it be?

Could it be a smile? Yesterday I was dressing Ellie and she was dozing in and out of sleep.  It is hard to tell if she was actually trying to smile at me while I was making these ridiculous faces at her just trying to see if she could smile at me.  What do you think? It is hard to tell but I will take it as a smile.  She melts my heart every time.  She is getting better everyday.  I love that sweet chubby face!!! I could kiss it all day long.

 Of course she didn't stay asleep for too long, but it was sweet nonetheless to watch her be so peaceful. I love, love, love this babe of mine!


September 10, 2011

My children

While Lance was gone last weekend we got some updated pictures. They did fairly well considering we were tired, without a dad, a mom with a ruptured ear drum and a really fussy baby.  So here is what we got.... I thought they turned out pretty cute.  It is nice to have updated pictures.  Most of the pictures around my home are really outdated.  Here are my 4 little loves.......









September 9, 2011

andrew's first day of preschool

Since Andrew's birthday is in December, he missed the deadline for Kindergarden this year.  That isn't a bad thing in our case.  Andrew is incredibly intelligent but he still needs a little work before the real deal begins.
This year Lance and I enrolled him in Amber Allen's preschool group.  We had to pay alittle more for it but so far he is LOVIN it! There are only 5 other kids in his group but they are really good kids and Ms. Amber is FABULOUS!!! She was in our previous ward and we had heard nothing but good, positive feedback from everyone who went there so we decided to give it a try and so far so good.
He goes Tuesday, Wed. and Thursdsays from 9 -noon and we have another good friend who happens to have a son, whom Andrew loves, who also goes so we have a good little carpooling schedule going on, so all in all, we are happy with our decision.
Andrew is so loveable.  He loves to learn things, but he is not that much into learning things like the letters in his name, or numbers.  He is still pretty much clueless on that. I am not worried, we will get there, eventually.  That is where Ms. Amber comes into picture. I feel like I can only do so much. I need more help and she is just that.
On Wednsedays she cooks with them, and Andrew loved that.  He also loves snack time and play time.  Who wouldn't love a school like that?
So here's to a great school year for both of my boys.  I couldn't be happier with our decisions.  Happy kids= a happy mom!

September 5, 2011

My ear drum ruptured

I have never had an ear infection before.  Now I understand just what everyone says when they really hurt.  I have been battling a really sore ear for the past week and a half now and I finally gave in today because the pain was so bad. I can't chew, talk or swallow, it hurts so bad.  So because today is Labor Day everyone is pretty much closed. So I had to go into St. Lukes Hospital's Urgent Care to have it looked at.
Dr. said that my left ear drum had ruptured and my ear was also fighting another bacterial infection that is eating away my skin on the inside. I was literally cry pretty  much all afternoon.  It hurts that bad.  So now we are on a lot of medications to see if we can get to to feel better.  We will also see if I will have 100% hearing back in that ear. I guess it is possible to have some hearing loss. I will cross my fingers that that doesn't happen. I can't really even hear out of it right now anyways.  It would really stink to be deaf in one ear. On top of that my temperature is almost a 102 and that would explain why I am always freezing.
Now it is to bed.  I am really tired and my ear really, really, really hurts. Hears to a really fun Labor Day. So sorry Lance!

Healing

This past weekend was one of the toughest for me since Ellie was born.  I am not sure what has happened or changed in me but juggling 4 children has been the hardest thing I have EVER done.  I am not saying that some days are hard.  I am telling you, everyday is hard.  We have been having some issues with Ellie and she still continues to cry alot.  We have been in and out of the doctors, and hospitals for x-rays, ultrasounds and everything else under the sun.  We still don't have answers and may never get them, so for now we just spend our days trying to get her to stay asleep and help her to be happy.
This past weekend Lance went to Georgia for the BSU vs. Georgia football game.  He got to stay with his brother Lee and his wife Jacyln for the weekend since they moved there over a year ago.  Lance's parents also were there with him so it was a nice relaxing weekend for all of them.  I am so glad that Lance got to get out and away. 
As for the rest of us, well we survived. The boys did ok, Ellie, not so good.  Thanks to my parents who let us come and play at their house almost every day was really helpful. Thanks mom and dad!
We finally got a new t.v and Lance has wanted Apple TV for a long time so we did it. We got it set up and we also got NetFlix. That is incredible by the way. I will never have to put in a DVD again hopefully.  It has been nice to sit and watch every now and then.
Last night was the roughest in the Snyder household.  Ellie screamed pretty  much from 5 p.m. until 10 p.m. with intense crying.  I was almost ready to rush her into the ER because I didn't know what was going on.  I called our good friend Matt to come and give her a blessing.  Let me tell you alittle bit about our friend Matt.  He and his wife are incredible people.  I work alongside them and they bought our last home we built.  He is our Chiropractor.  He has helped me and my family alot.  I called him because I didn't know who else to call.  So he and our other good friend Doug who lives down the street from us, came over to give Ellie a blessing. She finally calmed down and she actually slept for awhile.  Bro. Hales checked out her tailbone and gave her a little exam from head to toe and then noticed that the plates in her head were overlapping.  So there is something else we are going to work on.
I have been having severe pain in my left ear.  I have never had an ear ache before and I think that is what this is. So last night he adjusted me as well to see if he could open up the ear canal and see if it would heal itself. So far, we are still in pain but has become more manageable today. They also gave me a blessing.  I am so thankful for good friends who are worthy and ready to respond when the call is made.  I felt very blessed to have them and their wives come and help us out last night.
We all slept alittle better.  Ellie was the usual every 3 1/2 hours.  Lance got home around midnight.  I am so glad that he is home.  I am also so glad that he had a weekend away to regroup.  Seems like we all need that every now and then.
While I am typing this Lance has my 3 boys out on an adventure and Ellie is in her swing screaming bloody murder.  What else is there for me to do? It seems like no matter what I do, it won't console her so she will have to sit and let me be by myself for a few minutes.  Then we will start all over again. Walking 100 miles around in circles in our home just trying to get to her to sleep and then once you lay her down it starts all over again. Oh the joys of motherhood.
I hope we heal soon!