Sad Day....

As most of you were as well, we were very sad this evening to find out about the passing of our beloved prophet Gordon B. Hinckley. I wasn't expecting the text message that I received from a friend telling me the news. The ironic thing, is that I had just gotten done planning out this weeks family home evening that was going to be all about prophets and how they bless our lives. We were going to color pictures of President Hinckley.

While this news was hard for me, I knew that it would be even harder for Carson. He had an experience with President Hinckley, that very few get to have in there lives. When he was as senior high school, he was in a choir that was directed by a member of the Tabernacle Choir. When it came time for the Tabernacle Choir's Christmas party, Carson's teacher volunteered his students to be the ushers at the dinner (as they all had tuxedos and nice dresses). Well, part way through the party, a large imposing black man with a wire coming out of his ear approached Carson and asked him to follow him. Of course, Carson immediately thought that he was in trouble. He was lead into the kitchen and there he saw President and Sister Hinckley. It turns out this gentleman worked security for the Prophet. At that time, Carson was asked to escort President and Sister Hinckley to their table with the assistance a another female student from Carson's class. Before they left to go to the table, Carson asked President Hinckley for a hug and he happily obliged. They walked through a long line up of people who were all waiting to shake his hand and then they ended up at his table. It was at that time that Carson decided to serve a mission. He realized too, what an amazing man President Hinckley is and that he truly does and did serve the Lord as the Living Prophet. As he walked away from this sweet man, he also recognized how strongly the spirit was with him. Carson literally felt his body drain of energy as he walked away. He took a few steps back and felt strong again and as he walked away for the final time, he felt the same energy drain. He truly had been in the presence of the Prophet of God.

While this news was sad and shocking, I can't help but think of how happy he is now, to be with his sweet wife again. He missed her so much. Siobhan was in the beginning of stages of learning about prophets and always made sure that when we said prayers at night, we remembered to 'please bless president Hinkee.'

Cast on, Cast off

Here is Siobhan's little leg in her cast. Poor girl. It was very hard for us to see our little girl go through all of that, especially right before Christmas! We always had to put a sock over it to keep her little toes warm and then she had that sill boot to help her walk. I wish that you all could have seen her with the cast, because it really didn't slow her down too much. By the end, you wouldn't have even known that it was there when you saw her chasing the dog and jumping around. By the end of the whole experience, she actually didn't want to have taken off. She sure had fun telling people about falling down the stairs and getting a broken leg and then getting a cast on. And then telling people how mommy was so sad. (Try feeling very guilty!) And she loved getting 'pretties' on her three exposed toes, just like Mommy (toe nail polish which she spilled on my kitchen floor). What a cutie!

These are some cute pictures that we took of Siobhan at the doctors office when we went in to have the cast removed. She sure is cute and such a trooper! I'm so proud of her.

As I mentioned, Siobhan did not want the cast to come off. It was as if it had become a part of her! It kind of had though...as evidenced by the smell! Everytime we mentioned going to the doctor to get the cast off, she would say, 'no, cast on!' We told her though that after she got her cast off, she could take a regular bath (i.e. in the actual tub, not Audrey baby tub with her leg hanging over the edge and no plastic bag), but that wasn't good enough. So we upped the anty and told her that we would go swimming. She's very excited about that and reminds me everyday. We would have gone last Friday, but daddy had a fever. So we got her all excited to get the cast off and then they busted out the saw, and that was end of it. The nurse explained to us how it wouldn't cut her skin, but of course, she didn't understand that and this was the result...

The poor girl was terrified and was literally shaking in my arms! I wanted to cry! She was so sad that she wouldn't even let the doctor come near her. But he said that from how well she was walking in the cast, he could tell that she was fine! He was a very good doctor and really knew his stuff so it wasn't hard to trust his judgement.

We sure have a strong girl and we are so excited that she can get back to being the little goof ball that we love so much! She's very excited that she can go back to dance class again, we can go swimming her little heart's contentand wear two shoes!

Our Little Girl is Growing Up!

(Written on Friday January 11, 2008)

She went pee pee on the big toilet! That's right folks, Siobhan went potty tonight. Of course it wasn't the first time per-se, as she has gone on her little potty seat a few times, but this time it was on the bit potty. We've been working on it for a while (well, about 10 days) because she saw her friend Madison go potty on the big toilet and Siobhan wanted to be just like her. But she had yet to do anything on it. She would just hold it in and every now and then she would sit on it. We would sing songs and talk and make faces while she sat there or I would sit her on it and she would immediately get down. Well, tonight I told her it was her last chance before I put her in a diaper and jammies and she said, 'no, sit on potty first.' Then all of a sudden we heard the tell tale trickle. We practically had a party right there in the bathroom. Everytime she heard it, she would yell, 'She She in potty!' and start clapping (She she is pee pee in Portuguese). So she got to put a sticker on her chart, Nemo sticker to be exact, and then make a special phone calle to grandma and grandpa in Utah. She was so excited to tell them. I know it's just the begining and there will be more accidents, but I'm so excited for our little girl!

(skip ahead to tonight)....Potty Training is still going well, although I can tell that this isn't going to be an easy process. I never really thought that it would, but, you hope for the best. Siobhan has made two successful trips out to run errands with mom with no diaper so we're very proud of that. We did find out the hard way though, that her little bum does not fit on the potty at Wal Mart...a fact that I'm very glad about because, well, yuck!

We made a big deal when we went out and got her stickers (Elmo, Nemo, Princesses, tinkerbell, and mickey mouse) and surprisingly, her favorite ones are Nemo. Not sure why as she's only seent he movie probably three times, but at least she's brodening her horizons and realizing that there is life byond Elmo!

'Like I always say, there's no "I" in team. There's a "me" though, if you jumble it up.'-Dr Gregory House

Why I'm so lucky!

I have to say, that I am the luckiest girl in the world! I know everyone says it, but I really do have the best husband. I've been feeling particularly nostalgic as we just celebrated our 3rd anniversary on Monday. I can't believe that it's already been three years...and I can't believe that it's only been three years. A lot has happened to our little family since it started on Jan. 7th 2005. (CAUTION: SAPPINESS AHEAD....IF THAT BOTHERS YOU, STOP READING NOW)

So, back to why I'm so lucky....You know when you're little and make 'the list' of everyting that you wanted in our spouse? Are there many people in the world who can say 100% that they got what they wanted? Maybe there are and I just don't know it.

We weren't sure how we were going to celebrate our anniversary this year. We've never really done anything super special in the past (1st year....Hard Rock (fun), 2nd year...work holiday party (lame)). We threw around a lot of ideas and Carson had even started to plan a trip to Vegas...everything short of making plane reservations. But we realized that it probably wouldn't be condusive to a family trying to save money. So Carson surprised me with reservations to The Melting Pot (still expensive, but we had a coupon). Anyway, it was the most amazing evening. The restaurant in Littleton is one of a handful of Melting Pots that are in a historic building. It's actually in an old public library that's rumored to be haunted. They sat us in a really neat table that was secluded enough that we had privacy but we could still people watch a little bit. They knew that it was our anniversary and they had a card waiting for us that all of the staff and servers signed for us. The server we had a was amazing and the food, as always, was to die for! We could not have asked for a better evening. We were in a romantic restaurant with no kids for a few hours. Does it get much better than that? I wish that we had remembered to take pictures!

I know I'm about to get sappy, but I have to brag a little bit about how wonderful my husband is. He is the best father I've ever seen. He loves his little girls more that anything and loves spending time with them (putting them to bed, giving them baths, playing with them...). It's so heartwarming to see him with them. He makes sure that all our needs are met and that we're all taken care of. Lots of husbands do that I know, but I'm so grateful that I have a husband who does, because I know it's still hard to come by. I never feel like my opinion isn't needed or validated when it comes to caring for our family. And most of all, I have never felt like I have lost myself in being a mom and wife. Carson takes time to care for the girls while I'm dancing and teaching thus filling my soul. It's wonderful to be able to say that after almost four years of knowing him and three years of being married to him that I still have a crush on him.