"There's a Place for Us...

... somewhere a place for us" West Side Story anyone? Well, everyone, we have finally found a place to call our home! It's in Murray, Utah. Instead of the West Side though, we will be residing in the East Side. Who knows, maybe that's reason enough to change my blog name to the East Side Story. Hm.. that's not bad. Anyway, we will soon be residing at Parkgate Apartments. (I tried to put a picture up, but I couldn't do it. You can google it if you want to see!) We'll be in a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment. Okay, can I just say that I'm WAY excited to have a seperate bathroom from that of our children and anyone who comes over? Way excited. Fortunately, we were able to get an apartment on the first floor! Maybe this post has enough music in it, but I believe that I can hear the Hallelujah Chorus...
We are ecstatic and scared and nervous and anxious and sad and happy and so many other feelings are going through us right now! This is the first step that we've taken to make it FOR SURE that we'll be there. So, we'll be moving in our place of residence on September 27th. We still have to go through the application process, but as of right now, we DO have a place on hold for us.
Now, getting a job... another story for another time.

Safety Glasses

Hmm... Lily won't keep hairbows in her hair but...

She'll keep Will's toy Safety Glasses on.

A Hall of Famer

Matt met Jeff Fisher yesterday! Jeff Fisher is the coach for the Tennessee Titans. Through Precision Signworks, Matt was able to get a place at a table in O'Charley's with Jeff Fisher and the spokesperson for the Titans as well. - I don't remember his name. I'll have to tell you when Matt gets home. But, it was for a radio show that Jeff Fisher does every week. Matt got a football signed by him and a Titans calendar signed. He was pretty darn excited about it and is bragging to all his brothers out in Utah that he met a hall of famer. Matt also has said that both Jeff Fisher and the other gentleman were very nice. Oh, and I'm sure he would want me to tell you all that Matt got a hug from a Titans cheerleader and met the girl on Oprah's Big Give from Tennessee. What can I say? I think he had a blast and will probably be so proud that he met these people. It'll definitely be an experience that he won't forget.

Side note: Matt was sweet enough to surprise me with some flowers, because he wanted to bring me a treat. BUT, the biggest treat was that Matt got me a poster with all the cheerleaders on it and was signed by the one that gave him a hug. She made it out to me. Oh Matt...

Edited: The other gentleman that they ate with was Mike Keith. Matt said he was very friendly and down to earth.

Determination...

Do you think Lily is happy without her Wee Walker??

Here is Lily walking. I didn't want to put like 5 minutes worth of footage up, so it's just a little glimpse into seeing her walk. This is a big thing for Lily and for Matt and me. I can't believe the determination that little ones have to do things. She just gets right back up after falling down. She's amazing. Enjoy the video!

Cause for Celebration!!

Welp, we went to the doctor on Tuesday for Lily's leg and she's no longer in her "Wee Walker"!! WOOHOO! Now, not that this information isn't the cause for celebration, but yesterday she started to walk! Take that darn boot off and she starts walking. I knew that we weren't too far from it before Lily broke her leg, I think the boot put a damper on things for her though. I don't have any pictures or anything, but I'll have some up I'm sure. Lily is very particular about walking. She's not one to make it a show. Lily has always been very shy, so that point doesn't shock me. She has to make sure that she's confident enough to do it, so it's not all the time, but she'll get there. I can't even tell you guys how proud I am of her!! GO LILY!!

Spoof

Family Update

Well, I have had a few inquiries as to how my children are doing. -Which is perfectly normal since I poured my heart out on the line about it!- So, I thought that I would just have a quick family update for those of you who aren't living so close.
William is doing great. He only wore his neck brace for a few days, of and on. He would come to me and tell me when his neck was hurting, which is amazing. Will hated wearing that thing, but he would let me put it on him. Throughout the day, when his neck got better, he would just take it off himself and carry it around. I thought it was pretty weird that he had a little attachment to a neck brace. When it wasn't velcroed together, my mom made the comment that it looked like a giant maxi-pad. And it did. So, there was my son carrying a large pad. Moving on.
Lily is doing... okay. Her doctor's appointment is next Tuesday with the specialist. We are praying VERY hard that this boot will be taken off. I'm pretty sure it will be, but because I'm not the specialist, I'm not going to say or assume that it is. Anyway, Lily is getting really tired of having that boot on. It's a pretty stressful situation. She fights me when I put it on her. I'm not sure what I was expecting though. I knew from the beginning that she didn't like it. Other than the fiasco with her boot, Lily is doing fine.
Matt and I are doing great. We're getting a little stressed out about a few things. We are preparing to move to Utah! I think that this is the first time that I have ever announced it on here. But, we are! We're very sad, but very excited. It's a love/hate relationship with this move as we're leaving the majority of my side of the family, but we'll be in the encircling arms of Matt's side of the family and also my sister Carrie's family. We're aiming for the end of September and we're hoping that all things fall into place for us. We're looking for jobs and a place to live soon and I'll update you all more when we get the specifics in order.
So, there you have it! That is the Tennessee Townsend update. Tune in next time for some more updating...

Move Over Tiger... Bobcat's in Town

...Bobcat Townsend, that is. We had to come up with some animal name for William. Bobcat Townsend made us laugh really hard, so we teasingly call him that. Will has been doing this A LOT lately. He sets his ball, the same specific white ball, on a piece of torn paper (his tee), takes a couple of practice swings and then hits the ball! And, he's getting better with every hit! I'm so glad that I finally got it on film. Usually, when he knows that I'm taping him, he stops what he's doing and watches whatever I'm filming. This is so funny to us, so I'm hoping that you all get a kick out of it too.

Lily: Re-booted

Here are some funny pictures of Lily. I put fabric paint on her walking boot. I tried to put flowers on the top strap and, well, they turned out to be stars. It works. These pictures are great because I got the camera out to take a picture of Lily's boot and then she just started smiling and making faces. I couldn't help but put these up, naptime hair and all.

I KNOW!

This will be hilarious to me until he starts using it against me, I'm sure.

Breaking Dawn

Some of you may have noticed that the countdown for Breaking Dawn has been removed from our blog. It's because it has finally come out! It came out last Saturday. I finished the book on Monday and I was thinking that I wanted to write another "Candace's Critic Corner" featuring the novel, but there is so much information in the book to digest.

For those of you who don't know, this is the fourth installment of the Twilight Saga. It's an amazing love story between a human girl and a boy who is a vampire. It is written from the girl's (Bella's) perspective. I know what you're all thinking. I'm not one for vampire movies or novels. This series, however, is completely different. It's written by Stephenie Meyer, who is LDS and is probably one of the most creative writers. She has taken how the whole world conceives vampires and twisted it and made it her own. Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and now Breaking Dawn have the love story and they have action and suspense intertwined. All in all, I would recommend these books to anyone who is looking for a good, clean, love story.

Back to Breaking Dawn. I don't want to ruin it for those who are still reading or want to read it in the future. I can't even say one thing that happens without ruining it. So, I will just say that I loved it. It has the love story and a little more. It's the perfect ending to this Saga.

Comments

I realized, with the help of Carrie, that I set my blog so that I couldn't receive comments. I love comments. So, here is a post to make up for all of the lost comments that were waiting to be commented. Your comments are appreciated. Comment.

When it Rains, it Pours

The title of this blog entry seems to be my life motto. Well, for the past few weeks anyway. I have gone to the doctor with Lily every week for the past month. Once for her well check-up and four times for her leg. It's been really stressful, but I'm so grateful that we were able to renew Lily's insurance in time for this to come up.
Yesterday, however, was a little different. I had to take William to the doctor yesterday for his neck. The night before last, he wasn't holding his head up right. It was either hanging forward or back. Nothing had changed the next morning and I freaked out and Matt came home to help me handle everything that was on my shoulders. I'm surprised that he did, but I can't even tell you how much of a basket case I was. With it being a neck injury, I was so nervous. My mind went to the worst case scenario. Not to mention that I already have a child that is broken! It was just so much of an overload for me. I really appreciated Matt's strength and understanding of where I was at mentally. Here is a picture of William in his neck brace. What happened? I can show you in less words than I can tell you. Scroll down.
Remember this picture that I posted in my photo gallery post? It's not exactly what happened, but it did involve Matt playing with William. Matt tossed Will onto the couch and I'm guessing that he landed wrong on his neck. After 4 hours of waiting and a x-ray later, we found out the diagnosis.
Will has whiplash. He's recovering beautifully, but as for the time being, I have a daughter in a walking boot, and a son in a neck brace. If you guys don't see us out in public, you know why.

Boot Strap Lil-y

Hey everyone! I should have posted this a little sooner, but I wanted to make sure that I had my facts straight and also I wanted the pictures of Lily on here.

Last week, Lily had a fall. She was cruising between our couch and an ottoman. I think she might have caught her leg on the ottoman - I'm not really sure how it happened - but Lily just kinda fell over and started to cry. Now, with William as a brother, Lily is a tough cookie. She has put up with a lot. This cry was probably the hardest and saddest cry I have ever heard from her. I just had a feeling something was up. I gave her some Tylenol and put her to bed. The next day, her leg was bothering her. I took her into the pediatrician's office. After her examination, we had to go get x-rays done. That was so hard to endure. Lily didn't understand what was going on. But, we pulled through it. I took the results back to Lily's doctor and he told us that the radiologist's report said that everything came out negative. As Dr. Davis looked over the x-ray, he thought he noticed a little line on her bone and said that he had a feeling that he needed to send me to a specialist.
I was set up with a Dr. Lohse (sounds like Loesch) the next Tuesday. Being six days away, I was a little upset that we couldn't do anything for her. Lily wasn't crawling, wasn't putting any kind of pressure on her leg. I just had a feeling that something was wrong. We waited patiently until the appointment came up. Dr. Lohse examined her and took x-rays. Thanks to Dr. Davis' gut instinct, we were able to find that Lily does indeed have a fracture on her left leg right above her ankle. She is now in a "Wee Walker" that is too big for her, but apparently it's the smallest that is made. It's pitiful. She has to wear it for 2-3 weeks practically all the time. We had a hard few days with her trying to adjust to it. I can't even imagine. She's so amazing! Lily has endured so much the past couple of weeks, and I have no idea what kind of pain she's going through and I know she doesn't understand.
Isn't it amazing that through times like these, we are able to have a glimpse at Heavenly Father's love? I can see blessings that Heavenly Father has given us to take care of her, like competent doctors and the insurance to pay for a lot. Or even the overwhelming feeling that she needed help. I can also see the point of view of having a child in pain and wanting to give anything to trade places. I can't even begin to express how much this experience has taught me.
All in all though, Lily is doing okay now. She's getting around quite well and we'll be decorating her walking boot so it's not so ugly.

P.S. Matthew, being the Pirates of the Caribbean fan that he is, came up with her nick name. Boot Strap Lil.