The Bragonje Boys

2018-12-03T11:39:00.000-08:00

Oh, why have i not written in my blog for so long? I know, it's because as soon as I sit down in this chair to write I few lines I get attacked by two little monsters who want to play with the mouse and pound the keyboard. They use to not be so bad about my computer time. I've noticed too that if I'm sitting on the ground I'm instantly clobbered. So now where to start. The two boys got flu shots yesterday. I knew it was going to be bad when I stepped out of the elevator and there were kids in the hall crying that their legs were sore. And inside the doctors office I've never heard so much crying. Ammon got over the pain pretty quick, but Joshua wouldn't let it go. He was worried about the hole that would be in his leg forever. Poor little guys. Unfortunately I wish we would have gotten the shots a week ago before we went on a quick trip down to Las Vegas to see Shauna. The normally 6 hour ride back in the car goes pretty quick but when you have two boys throwing up all the way home it becomes the 'never ending car ride'. My mom was really nice about it all, especially since we were driving in her car. Luckily that little stomach bug has left the family. Vegas was fun, quick, and relaxing. Mom let Shauna and I go on a 'sister date'. It was kinds of nice to get in some good girl time. We learned a new card game named, Citadales, very fun. And we recovered Shuana's kitchen chairs went to the park, etc. It wasn't until the car ride home that we realized the boys were sick. Shauna's kids are sooooo cute. I love being their Aunt. Since then we've enjoyed being back in our home and getting ready for Halloween. Even Josh is taking very seriously is role as a lion this Halloween. David asked Josh the other day why is toenails were so long and Josh said it was because he was trying to be a Lion. Alright, I'm sure there will be a new post soon with Halloween pics. See ya.

Jan-Feb 2016

2016-02-15T12:49:00.000-08:00

Lots of sledding happening around here. Ella came over to play on a Saturday and they had such a great time sledding! Ella said that it was her first time and when they came inside she quickly asked for some hot chocolate :) and I was happy to oblige.

The following week, she came home with Lincoln on the bus and hit the slopes again (well, the small hill across our street). Our neighbor, Taft Walker, who is also in their first grade class joined them.

Sunday night dessert night at our house. Here Noelle is getting squinted with the other women in our family.

And then we started playing around with a face swapping app.

She loves her bath time but is outgrowing the sink!

We thought she looked so cute while sleeping on the couch.

Scouting is such a big part of our lives since Dave has been the Scoutmaster for several years. As an 11 year old, Josh has already started earning merit badges and it is so fun to see them go on campouts and be involved in scouting together.

Two months old

A typical school morning around here. Today Lincoln was working on spelling words, Ammon was finishing some Valentines, James was dressed and ready for preschool, Noelle was being a sweetheart, I was making lunches and Josh was next to me eating breakfast.

For the past few weeks we have been building and sorting all of our legos. I call it, "The Great Lego Resurrection of 2016". As soon as I said that Ammon said, "No, Mom. In the resurrection we will all be perfect and some of these sets are missing a piece." :) Dave was making me laugh. He was in-between sunday meetings and just really wanted to work on his Lego ship. It actually turned out to be a really fun family activity for the past few weeks. We have all sat together helping each other, sometimes listening to conference talks or singing primary songs. James would make up his own primary songs that were so funny (When Jesus came to earth...he taught us to be kind and good...and came to play with us...and I saw the tears in his eyes...). Some nights we would stay up later then normal because we just couldn't stop looking for pieces.

He was mad I was taking pictures of him :)

This was the first day of the lego dump out.

He wakes up with some great bed head.

Josh's Lego League competition.

I was folding laundry one night and Ammon wanted to be close by my while he was reading. It doesn't look very comfy but it sure was sweet of him :)

Valentines dinner at the Maxwells in Heber.

I came home late one night from a friends house and I went and took pictures of everybody sleeping. The flash was waking up James and Noelle.

This is how Ammon likes to sleep, with five pillows, Bob, four other stuffed animals and too many blankets. He nestles down in the middle of it all and can't even move

I bought her some new headbands...and I'm really not a big fan...and I don't think I'm tying them right anyway. I'm killing this mom thing :)

His "Baking Helmet"

Noelle's Brothers

2016-02-15T10:31:00.001-08:00

Her nicknames: Baby Noelle, Noellie, Missy, Little Miss, Little Girl, Little Angel, Little Girlfriend, Bebe Noelle, Happy Meal (Ammon coined that one)

They are all so obsessed with her.

James- He is so worried because he thinks that Josh will get to marry Noelle first and he really wants to marry her. We talk about this, ALOT :) He wanted me to take these pictures with her. One of the favorite things of his life is throwing away her diapers. We were in the once and he asked me if there were any diapers at home. I finally realized that he was talking about dirty diapers and I told him that there was one in my room and in a responsible voice he said, "Okay". He takes his, self appointed, diaper throwing responsibility very seriously.

Lincoln- The other night we were letting Noelle cry herself to sleep and it was really hard on all of us. James, Lincoln and I were all home and we each said a prayer that she would be able to calm herself down. After awhile, she was still crying, and Lincoln looked at me and said, "Can you please pick her up?" They hate it when she cries because they feel bad that she is sad. When she finally stopped crying I say James kneel down and say "thank you" in a prayer to Heavenly Father.

Ammon- Ammon constantly walks up to Noelle and says, "Bebe Noelle!". He is always trying to give her kisses. He was sitting next to her on the way home from carpool and I hear him say, "Mom, she loves my candy!" I told him to take it away from her right away and he did not want to because she liked it so much. I had to explain to him why we couldn't give her sugar.

Josh- One Saturday afternoon, I had to bring the Holt girls home really fast. I knew I would just be a few minutes and didn't want to pack up all of the kids and so I asked Josh if he could just watch Noelle, who was laying on my bed and was happy. When I got home, I came to check on them and he was sitting in the chair looking exhausted. I asked him what was the matter and he said that he changed her diaper. I asked why, knowing that she was clean, and he said that she was getting fussy so he figured he better change her diaper to make her happy. He really wanted me to take these pictures of him and Noelle, even though she was pretty fussy.

I love my little lady. We spend lots of time walking around the house, since she likes to be held by somebody who is standing up. I cherish these days and although life often gets to busy I am happy to slow down and hold her.

David- He is so proud of his little girl and does his best to take good care of her. I'm a little surprised to see how much he enjoys seeing her in cute little outfits.

Tummy Time :( We don't do this as much as we are supposed to because she does not like it at all and it's hard to see her so unhappy.

Noelle

2016-01-17T15:41:00.000-08:00

She is here!

Our little Noelle was born on Monday, December 7th, 2015. At 10:59 a.m., she was 7lbs. 12 oz, and 20 inches. She is an absolute angel and I feel like she can do no wrong. We all are head over heels for her. The boys feel so bad when she cries and they try to do whatever they can to make her happy.

Sometime between 37-38 of pregnancy, Noelle decided to turn to a Frank Breech position. We schedule an induction date a few days before my due date and the doctor planned on doing an External Cephalic Version, which is a procedure preformed by pushing on the outside of my belly in an effort to turn the baby out of the breech position. We were all very hopefully that she would turn and were surprised when she didn't!! The doctor, Doctor Sean Haskett, tried 3-4 times and she would turn and then pop right back to the breech position. The ECV, hurt!! I had an epidural at the time, in preparation for an emergency C-section, and all the pressure from trying to turn her hurt so bad! The were monitoring Noelle during the ECV and she has starting to become distressed so it was decided that I would get into the operating room and they would take her out. We were really disappointed that I had to have a C-section. Even the doctors and the nurses were disappointed, but we had no other option and I was grateful that I was in the hands of excellent doctors. I was surprised how quick they got me into the operating room and Noelle was born after about 30 minutes. Dave became sick about as soon as they cut into me and before long could hardly hold up his head and his face became white. They wheeled him out of the OR. The nurse was kind enough to grab my camera and take a few pictures.

Day 1

(she often would pop her legs up, pictures left, since she was in a similar position in utero)

Her brothers can not get enough of her! They are always in her face and giving her kisses and wanting to hold her. James loves to through away her diapers. They are always asking me if they can hold her and I often find myself saying, "No, she is almost asleep. " Or, "No, I just got her happy." But what is really happening is that I want to hold her and not share with anybody! I'm so mean.

I was a little worried about having a baby during the busiest month of the year, but it turned out to be the biggest blessing. It made all of us, especially with needing to also recover from surgery, slow down and enjoy being at home and not worry about doing anything but the bare necessities. She is our little Christmas Angel.

Welcome home little angel. We love you so, so much!!!

More July

2015-08-09T16:25:00.001-07:00

We got to have Sarah, Violet and Henry Bragonje stay with us for a week! It was so fun to see the kids and visit with Sarah. They are incredibly easy guests to have come. I loved watching my boys play with Henry :)

All of our men where gone at scout camps and High Adventure week with the YM so us women had to keep each other company! This night we all had Thai take out at my house and then we sat outside on the grass while the kids played...

...and while Heather (Taylor) bonded with her new dog.

I painted the new babies room twice, while David and Josh were at Scout Camp. It just wasn't turning out right and in the end it still wasn't quite what I had imaged, but for now I am done. James was so excited to help me and wanted to paint everything in the room pink (crib, furniture and all).

Last night without the husbands and we watched a movie outside in the Taylor's backyard, with friends:

Clean up was a little tricky in the dark :)

The boys were home!!!!! I was so excited!!

Lincoln can absolutely not wait for school to start with his new teacher, Mrs. Hulme!!

Dinner and a church game at Marmie's on a Sunday night, with Brian Mattson:

2015-08-05T15:47:00.000-07:00

We have spent some quality days at, Highland Glenn Pond.

1st Grade Reading Assessment, with his grandma!!

Helping Marmie set up her classroom.

Marmie gave them some little tasks to do to make them feel included and excited about starting 1st Grade.

They played in the stinky, yucky mud. I love the progression on these pictures. (Jacob Halverson)

David has saved us $$$$ by working on our cars himself. It always takes him way longer then expected and this fix especially messy. Luckily he had a little "helper" to offer him some moral support.

Eating snacks

Sharing snacks

Time for a water break

July 2015

2015-07-26T14:15:00.003-07:00

yikes, where do you start when you haven't blogged for two years?! That's right, you don't try and catch up and instead just jump into whats been going on lately.

Pioneer Day: Our evening activities included a picnic/games/and fireworks at the park with the Taylors, Coxs, Williamses, and Robertses. The water fight was supposed to be between the kids and the dads!!

So many hours of this summer have been dedicated to trading and playing pokemon (friend, Jacob Parson)

And playing in the sand (Christian Halverson, Matty Taualii, Brogan Conroy)

I got a new camera lens today!! (50mm)

We got to have Mathew for a weekend before Josh, Mathew and David were off to scout camp. We were ready for church early.

They all had their scriptures except for Ammon who had a Mad Libs book :)

Hannah Reese was walking by during our picture taking. James loves to play with her!!

We spent a beautiful FHE, with the Maxwells and Marmie, at Canyon Glenn Park up Provo Canyon.

One of my beautiful nieces, Alicia Maxwell, who just turned 12.

Everybodies favorite unlce, Gary!

This is what Sunday morning looks like at our home. Since it has been summer the kids have been playing in the cool basement instead of the hot upstairs. They usually play great together!

2013-11-24T21:58:00.000-08:00

Love our neighborhood and Camping (March)

2013-11-24T21:57:00.002-08:00

Here are some super silly boys playing in the dirt :)

And I walked out my front door and had to turn around and grab my camera to capture the moment. Good neighbors visiting, kids playing happily, these are pretty huge blessing and I am so thankful that they are a part of every day life.

A little friendly game of football

it looks like Lincoln and James' team is celebrating

Oh, these boys love their camping! And I know they love their dad who is so sweet to always want to take them.

Notice they all have good backpacks, proper shoes, hats, special socks, even the clothes they wear are picked out with care. Dave loves outfitting them with all the right stuff to make their hiking trip enjoyable.

They took my car and drove up the mountain for awhile and then hiked to were they set up camp.

you can see the car heading up the dirt trail at the end of our street

Last Sunday at the Maxwell's

2013-11-24T21:40:00.001-08:00

It was a sad, sad day when the Maxwell's moved from Cedar Hills :( After getting three sisters and our parents to move to Cedar Hills the Maxwell felt it was time for them to move on. We've had so many fun family dinner's, parties, holiday celebrations, etc., at their home and we were all sad to gather for one last family Sunday dinner. Here is a typical Sunday at the Maxwell's.

Food Prep, lot's to do!

taking care of kids while waiting for dinner

sitting around the table for a long time

cousin love

taking care of babies

she wanted me to take this picture

Uncle/Niece bonding time

cheesing for the camera

'hunting chickens'

Lincoln loved chasing the chickens around but even when he got close enough to easily catch a chicken he just wouldn't do it. I think they scared him a little :)

trying to gather for a family picture

got one!

but we were missing Dad. He was sick in the hospital still awaiting his transplant. We often went up to visit him as we did this night.

This picture was taking about a week or two after the above visit. He was just barely out of his big surgery and this was the first time we were able to see him. He was so heavily sedated but when he heard my mom's voice he was struggling to find her hand wanted to have her next to him. He gave a big thumb's up and the emotion come over his face as if he wanted to cry and cheer all at the same time. "We did it!" He seemed to want to say. So many prayers were answered as he lay there with his new liver. There was still so much discomfort and recovery ahead of him at this point but this was a major victory to make it this far!

Easter Activities

2013-09-21T21:09:00.002-07:00

This year we had a lot of Easter activities! We always try and do all the fun Easter traditions before the actual Easter Sunday so that on Sunday we are able to relax and talk about and feel the spirit of what Easter is really about.

We made sure to dye our eggs

On Saturday night we had a family egg hunt. Lincoln gets the head start:

Had a egg hunt with the girls on Friday night while we were babysitting them.

On Saturday morning we went to the city's egg hunt. Here is Lincoln with his buddies Thomas and Tillman Matsumori.

We even did a glow in the dark egg hunt for the neighborhood kids this year.

Rockets

2013-09-21T20:12:00.000-07:00

The boys all got rockets for Christmas. It took them awhile to get them all built and painted and ready to fly. We grabbed some neighborhood friends (Jack Perkins and Owen Johnson) and drove down to Lone Peak High School to launch them off.

It was cold! Do you see the steam coming off the cold ground from the heat of the rocket?

The race to catch it:

Ammon actually pulls this excited face often when we are doing something fun. Cute.

Lincoln gets a turn, too!

Happy 10 Year Anniversary

2013-03-23T20:24:00.003-07:00

Happy 10 years of marriage to us!! A usually anniversary celebration for us typically consists of a temple trip to do sealings together and dinner out (often with the kids). It's always wonderful but every year we really wish we could get away and celebrate, without the kids. We just never want to spend all the money that requires and inconvenience somebody with watching all of our wonderful kids. Well. This time we did! We decided to ask my sisters to watch the kids and they all did. We were gone for two nights and two days and it we tried to cram in all the fun things we always want to do together but don't because we always have our great kids around us. We ate at the nicest restaurants we could find, we spent a day skiing together at snowbird (first time we've every done that together and have always wanted to), we enjoyed a night at the symphony which we both really loved, and stayed in the nicest hotel around and shopped. We basically tried to spoil ourselves because we knew we probably might not do something like this for another 10 years.

Our hotel

The Grand America

It was beautiful

Since our hotel was right downtown we always just walked to find a restaurant or to go shopping or even to the symphony. We kept stopping to read all the plaques that the Historical Society had placed that gave the history of all the old downtown buildings. It was so cool to read the stories of the old buildings and what life was like in the city 100 years ago. The picture above is of Dave in a little museum of the old SLC Social Hall.

I'm so glad we got to have this weekend together. It was weird to not have anybody else to take care of and not worry about getting home to get kids into bed. I loved being with him. I love taking with him and joking with him. He is such a good, good man and I feel so blessed to be sealed to him forever.

2013-03-23T18:43:00.002-07:00

Just had to grab my camera for this one. James was happily drinking one bottle when he stumbled upon an old bottle that he quickly snuggled up to his face while finishing his other bottle. He really loves his bottles!

Well what else are you supposed to do with that nice project you made at preschool? Soon after he got home he ripped off the eyes from his project and stuck them on his face of course.

Just documenting the mess and happiness :)

I know it's blurry but it was still a great night. We always go out to dinner for each others birthdays and it is always a great time.

Josh was helping Lincoln finish his dinner. They were actually being bribed with cookies for dessert. We actually got a ton of work out of them that night while the cookies were baking and cooling. I think it was less work for me to make the cookies then it would have been for me to get them to finish their dinners, get pajamas on, clean up the kitchen, pick up stuff around the house, etc. It was a cute night.

2013-03-11T23:33:00.001-07:00

Spending time with Lincoln, in a fort, eating lunch.

A Valentines tradition in Dave's family was to get their own box of a favorite cereal on Valentine's Day. It is a really cute, exciting (and easy) tradition to carry on.

An Update

2013-03-11T23:29:00.001-07:00

I love the idea of having a family blog and journaling the cute things that happen every day...I'm just really bad at it. I always want to edit the pictures or think of fun things to say but the pressure of all that is actually what prevents me from ever blogging. But I love these days that I have. I love my young family and my wild boys. I want to remember what a happy life we have from day to day. So that is why I'm making another attempt. The pictures won't be perfect and the commentary will probably be boring and unedited but I hope I will show what our daily life is like. Here is to another attempt!!

Joshua didn't eat candy for ONE WHOLE YEAR!!! He literally has more willpower then David and I, combined. We couldn't remember which day he started but we knew it was before Valentines Day (because he kept all the candy he didn't eat that year in a bag). Here he is, after Valentines Day of this year with his first piece of candy in a year. We were so proud of him. We were so proud of him when he had the desire to make the goal in the first place. We were so proud of him when he made it through the first month! It is still strange for me to see him eat candy because I have seen him pass it up for so long.
We decided to pay him for all the candy he saved through the year (we kind of didn't want him to eat it all at once and we are always trying to think of ways that they can earn money). We gave him $50. He quickly and happily paid his $5 in tithing first. He owed David $10 that we had him pitch in for a new desk he wanted for his room. He wanted to put $20 into a mission fund that we decide we would start matching what ever amount he starts putting into that account. And so he had about $15 left over to buy toys.

We finally made it to the store, on a 'date', so he could stare at all the toys for as long as he wanted and spend his money. He was so cute and tried to get the most bang for his buck. Once he got home he realized that the toy he picked out was not very exciting at all. He felt really bad that he had worked so hard to earn all that money and he had nothing really to show for it. When I tucked him in that night he began to cry and cry, which is unusual for him, about how he wished he bought what he had planned on buying and what he really wanted and how long it would take him to earn all that money again. I just held him and tried to calm him. Part of me knew it was a good lesson but part of me wanted to go out and fix it all and have him wake up to the toy he had worked so hard for. Dave was wiser and talked me out of it which was a good thing. Josh woke up happy. Sad that he had $0 again, but back to his happy self. He ended up do jobs and earning money pretty quickly and got the toy of his dreams not long after. Good lesson learned by Josh.

This is just my sweet little baby that I love so much. He is playing with Cheerios and putting them into his Cheerio book.

We went to visit Nanny and I kept making James walk over to Nanny and give her a hug. So sweet.

My 'little squishy' is 1

2012-10-24T13:25:00.002-07:00

Well, since I did promise that I'd get back to blogging (one year ago!) I thought i better keep my word and post something :) And all I'm thinking about today is my sweet baby James!!! He is one today and I just love him so much to the point that I think I'm obsessed. After having Josh I was worried about being able to love additional children as much as we loved him...but I never should have worried. There is just unlimited love pouring out for all these little boys. He is so fun right now. All he wants to do is explore and explore and explore. If he finds something new to play with that he has never seen he will sit so intently and just play and play with it trying to figure out how it works and what you can do with it. He jams up and down the stairs and does really well. I'm still too nervous to let him do it on his own since he sometimes stops midway and tries to stand up. He loves his mom and knows that she will always hold him but also always gets super excited when he sees his dad get home. Josh and Ammon really like to play with him but Lincoln still just pretty much likes to him him and be too rough with him. He is a picky eater but loves to eat. He only takes two half hour naps a day but sleeps at night from about 7:00-7:00.
His brothers are all excited for his birthday. A few days ago I asked them what we should make James for his birthday dinner and Josh excitedly said, "maybe honeydew" . I had forgotten that James was chowing down on honeydew awhile ago and that we were laughing about how much he liked it. Last night Ammon said that James should watch his baby sign language movies all day today, as if that was James dream day (he doesn't really even watch TV). Josh and Ammon made James birthday presents, my parents brought over a new stroller for him and I think we put the money David's parents send him into his college account. It's a pretty simple day but it's fun to see each of us excited to celebrate our little baby we love so much. Little James you are so loved and I enjoy you every day! Happy Birthday!

2012-08-22T18:35:00.001-07:00

Our Newest Little Angel

2011-11-26T15:08:00.000-08:00

Diana is so sweet I offered to take some pictures of James when he was just 10 days old. I jumped on her offer since I hadn't even thought much about getting his pictures taken and it's something I love to do.

(me trying to keep him warm)

Sweet Baby James

2011-11-14T13:40:00.000-08:00

He is almost one week old! I have been loving hold him all day and relaxing. I had an especially complicated delivery and really need to take it easy which means I get lots of couch time snuggling the cutest little James I've ever seen. Last Monday I went in for my 36 week appointment and between my blood pressure that suddenly started to take off and the too much protein my body was dumping I was put on partial bed rest and tested to make sure the baby was safe. It was official, I had pre-eclampsia for the forth time! Dang it. I had a feeling that the following week at my 37 week appointment that if my symptoms were worse then the doctor would want to induce the baby before I got really sick. On Monday morning I went into my 9:00 appointment more anxious then ever. I couldn't sleep the night before and kept dreaming of James when I did sleep. I dropped Lincoln off at Diana's and told her I was so nervous! I knew something was coming although it was so early. Needless to say that at my appointment my symptoms had worsened and the Doctor did not want to wait any longer. I was told to check into the hospital one hour later at 10:30 to be induced. Ahhhhhhhhh. It was happening and although I had the feeling it might I was not prepared. I had packed a new outfit for James and a blanket or two and grabbed my makeup bag and that was all I had. But I wasn't too worried about that. I called Dave immediately who didn't believe me. Okay, eventually he did and he left work right away to come down. I went to Diana's and spased out a little bit partly in excitement and partly really nervous about the pain I'd be going through in a couple of hours. I called around to Suzanne and Shauna and made plans for my boys for the that day and night. I went to pick up Ammon at school and drop off Josh's lunch. It was fun to tell Josh and Ammon. Josh's eyes just got big and he said, "Already?". Ammon jumped around in excitement. I could tell that neither of them really knew what to expect. And then of course I dropped by my mom's class to give the news. She knew it might happen that day too and she just gave me a big hug and and wished me luck.
So back to Diana's to drop Ammon off with her and I was off to the hospital!

Dave beat me to the hospital and we checked in. My Dad also came then to be able to give me a blessing that I had asked for to help calm my nerves and pray that all goes well. I checked in and my blood pressure was down at a much safer level! We debated for about 30 minutes if we should call off the whole thing. After much debate and knowing the doctor didn't want to back down we decided to continue to follow his advice. So around 12:00 they started me on Magnesium (to keep my BP low) yuck! I felt terrible within 5 minutes. And antibiotics since I had Strep B. I had to be on the antibiotic for 4 hours before I delivered so around 1:30 the doctor came to break my water thinking that it would still be awhile until delivery. One hour later I was in heavy labor and wanting to push. The nurses were surprised and weren't even planning on checking me for awhile. I asked them to check me and I was at 9cm. and wanting to push. They were all shocked this was happening so fast and got the doctor over ASAP. They had also discovered that James had is arm straight above his head ready to come out first. Not good! I was in so much pain and already pushing when this was being discussed and the doctor got in there and was calm about everything. It hadn't been quite 4 hours since I was given the antibiotic but there was just no stopping things. I was so worried about more pain with the hand problem but there was nothing I could do. Just a little longer and he was out. The doctor told me that he just held the baby's hand down while his head and then body slid out. I asked what would have happened if the hand didn't stay down and he said it would have been an emergency C-section. What a blessing! I was in so much pain and to try and prep for a C-section while he was already in the birthing canal would have been even worse torture! I'm so thankful to have had such a calm experienced doctor who handled in beautifully (Dr. Brent Lind, who also delivered Josh). I got stitched up and laughed about how the nurses all kept commenting about how huge the placenta was? the biggest they had ever seen?...it turns out it was just full of a lot of blood. In fact I was still bleeding a lot. And didn't know then that I would keep bleeding a lot for the next couple of hours.
I could not get warm and kept asking for more and more warm blankets. After holding James for about 20 minutes I let them take him into the nursery and I just wanted to curl up in a ball and sleep. They had to get me down to the recovery room and all I could do was slump over in my wheelchair with my head on my knees. I think they knew I was in danger of passing out by then and they were trying to keep blood running to my head by keeping it down. I got into my new room and curled up again with a ton of warm blankets and just wanted to sleep I was feeling so bad.

My family was showing up about now to see James so Dave wheeled him out to the lobby for everyone to see. I was sad to miss everyone but didn't feel much for conversation at the moment. My new nurses came in and tried to get me up and I passed out on them. From then until about 4:00 in the morning it was a bit frantic in the room. I was only out for about a minute which is good but I was getting worse and worse. They put me on more meds. more IV's and had to order two units of blood to transfuse me with. I was so out of strength I couldn't push myself around in my bed or hardly talk. I asked Dave for another blessing since I felt like me need for a blessing was completely different then why I had asked for a blessing earlier that day. My wonderful Dad came to the hospital again and he and Dave again gave me a priesthood blessing and I felt 100x better about the blood transfusion I was about to receive and I also received a tremendous amount of peace about all those who were caring for me. I knew they were being guided and prompted and making the best decisions.
I was so anxious to be feeling better. I kept asking how long it would take after I received the transfusion to start feeling better. It took a couple of hours but I could tell that there was life coming back into me. By about 5:00am I finally was able to fall asleep since there weren't a lot of people in my room anymore and things were getting better. I was starving for breakfast in the morning since the last thing I had really eaten was a small breakfast the morning before. When it came I was so excited to eat but still didn't have enough muscle control to hardly lift my fork to my mouth. A little while later they brought in my sweet little baby which lifted my spirits. I felt like I had hardly been able to think of him since he was born.

That day was full of resting and holding my sweet new little baby. They took me off Magnesium and I could feel myself improving by the hour. I was discharged from the hospital on time and came home to my family that I was missing a lot.

My recovery since then has been good but slow. The other morning I was getting myself ready for my first outing, just to Diana's house to take pictures of baby James, and by the time I was ready to walk out the door I could hardly support myself standing up. My body and muscles were so tired and oxygen deprived from the that I just had to sit down and rest. I can do just about anything I just have to do it slowly and take breaks. I'm so glad to be home and feel like life is starting to return back to normal. I had a wonderful three days with my mom who filled my freezer with dinners and treats while taking care of my kids. Dave has been a great nurse and wares himself out taking care of all of my work and the kids and the house and his job. The boys all love James! They always want to hold him and they love having another brother. Life is so good and I feel so blessed and I haven't to admit it has been nice to have an excuse to sit around and hold my little newborn all day long.

2011-10-29T16:22:00.000-07:00

Although my last post was in May I was still trying to catch up from last December, about one year ago. So I have basically left the year of 2011 undocumented on this blog, that makes me sad. I love reading through old blog posts and feel like I need to document the fun memories we have together as a family. Soooo, I'm starting again. I'll do a few catch up posts and then on to update what is going on now. This is all our new sweet little babies fault. He is too sweet and we have felt so blessed lately that I don't want to forget it all.
Here's to catching up!

Lincoln 'n Cars

2011-05-29T19:36:00.000-07:00

Lincoln, I'm trying to get a cute picture of you playing with your cars

Temle Square 2010

2011-05-29T19:33:00.000-07:00

The whole Utah clan made it for our annual Temple Square trip

So much to see

Our traditional family picture

The Holt's can always use all the extra hands they can get these days. They were such good sports to come!

It's fun to walk around when you are holding the hand of a cute little boy like this

Cousins at the JSB

Cute pic

Hot Chocolate

2011-05-29T19:25:00.000-07:00

It's a Hot Chocolate afternoon. Even Lincoln has to have the mint :)

An Extraordinary Family

2011-05-29T19:21:00.000-07:00

It's not too rare around here to find a Lion, a Basketball playing Zoro, and a masked girl in black quietly eating their afternoon snack.