Christmas celebrations!

We had such a good, busy Christmas holiday that I am both happy and sad to have it over with. I love the Christmas season and the excitement that it brings. I remember counting down the days until Christmas as a child, and even now I find myself anticipating the big day with the same excitement as I did back then. It just seems to keep getting better as my kids get older. Now they get to share the excitement with me.

We got to host our family Christmas Eve party at our house this year, and we all had a really good time. It was a little crazy at times with all the kids. Every year it seems to just get noisier. We even got a surprise call from my brother who's in Argentina. I just hope it didn't make him too homesick to hear all the celebrations going on without him.

The kids getting rides from Grandpa.

All the kids in their new jammies!

I was too anxious to wait for my kids to wake up on their own so I had to get them up at about 7:30. Jared wanted to wait until later, especially since we were up in the night cleaning throw-up out of the carpet. Ashten had some sort of a bug. The kids were so fun to open presents with. Treyson busted through his and was ready to play, while Ashten opened a few and then she would stop to "take a break". I guess next year Santa will have to bring less. Jared's parents came over to see the kids and their presents before we headed over to my parent's house for breakfast and more presents. We spent the day at my parent's visiting and playing a lot of Wii. It was a really fun day and the kids did really well handling all the excitement.

Ashten got her barbies from Santa.

Treyson on his new bike.

Traxton "enjoying" his new stuff.

The rest of our weekend was spent with more family during a reunion with my grandma's family from back east and at my cousins wedding. We had tons of fun, but it is also really nice to have it over with. My kids need a couple of days to recover and get back to our schedule, and so do I.

Snow and birthday all in one!

Treyson was one lucky boy this year. He woke up to a yard full of snow. That is just not something that happens very often when you live here. Jared took the kids out as soon as he was able and not only built a snowman, but an entire snow family. It was our family. I couldn't believe how well the kids did. I pretty much walked outside to snap some pictures and then went back inside my heated house, but the kids stayed out for so long and didn't complain about the cold at all. I realized that if it is going to continue to snow, I will need to purchase some water proof gear for my kids. Their clothe gloves and jeans, just don't cut it.
After building a snowman, Treyson went on a lunch date with Aunt Dally and grandma. He was so excited to go and thought he was super special. When Jared came home from work we took the kids to jumping jacks and then to dinner. It was a super fun day and I think Treyson really enjoyed himself. He is such a good boy with such a soft heart. He loves his little brother and is very protective of his big sister. If she gets in trouble, he usually cries more than she does. We love him so much and are so thankful he was sent to our home. Happy late birthday bud.

Trip to the North Pole!

I have been really out of this blogging thing lately; mainly due to the fact that our computer is still out of commission. So much has happened, but I'm going to have to skip most of them. Last weekend we went up to Salt Lake for Jared to attend meetings at the Bee keepers Convention (yes they actually have a convention for that) and also to celebrate Christmas with his family. While we were up there we went up to Heber City to go on the Heber Creeper's Polar Express ride. We went with all Jared's family and the kids had such a fun time together. They had little elves serve chocolate milk and cookies before santa climbed aboard and gave all the kids bells. Ashten has had a lifetime fear of santa, so she didn't even want to get on the train when I told her he would be there. She was really nervous, but she did really well and didn't even cry-which is a big deal where santa is concerned. Afterwards she even talked about how nice he was. I'm really hoping that we are over the fear now. The whole weekend was so much fun and it was great to spend time with all the family.

Getting ready to board the train

All the cousins on Jared's side.

Most Thankful For...

On this wonderful Thanksgiving day I have so much to be thankful for, but I am the most thankful for my family. I know everyone feels that same way, but I think mine is the best. I couldn't imagine my days without them. Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Love this Boy!

We have a new toy at our house and Traxton loves it. He will sit up in the little bumbo for quite a while looking at things going on around him. I actually wanted to wait and buy him one for Christmas, but I am too cheap and didn't want to spend almost forty dollars on something I will only use with this little guy. Thanks to my wonderful friend, Chelsea, I didn't have to. The only problem is now trying to keep my older kids out of it.

Parenting Stress

First off our computer is giving us problems so I can't download my halloween pictures. You will just have to wait for them until we get it fixed. Hopefully it will be soon.
Secondly, I am really struggling right now with knowing the right way to handle a situation going on with Ashten. We have a couple of neighbor girls who are Ashten's age and they play together pretty good for the most part. Lately the little girls have been so mean to Ashten and I don't know what to do. I actually watched them both reach out at the same time and push her the other day. I almost died. You probably could have seen smoke coming out of my head. I will admit that I am not one of those mothers who can just say "play nicely" and look the other way. I wish I could be a little more like that. I basically yelled at them and told them never to touch her again. I try to convince Ashten to stay away from them, but she just wants to play and be included even if they are being so mean to her. It makes me so sad just thinking about it. When I told Jared about them pushing her, he was more upset than I was. He told her that if anyone ever pushes her again to push them back. He also told Treyson to do the same. I am torn between not wanting to teach my kids to be aggresive and not wanting them to be bullied. Jared said he will not have one of his kids be a victim and I agree, but I also don't know that just pushing them back will always be the answer. Especially with all of the violence you see between kids at school. Just the other day I saw a internet video of two girls fighting. I don't want that to be my daughter in a few years, but I also think that if she wasn't so sweet she wouldn't get bullied around. Today she was playing with one of the girls and she crashed on her bike and was crying. I looked out the window to see the neighbor girl stick out her tongue at Ashten as she rode past. Who does that? She is only four. I have been trying to find other things for Ashten to do so that she won't want to play with them, but whenever she sees either girl outside, she wants to go play. I try to tell her not to because they won't be nice, but she always wants to. I don't think it is fair to punish Ashten and not let her go out to play because they are so mean, but seeing how they treat her makes me so sad and mad. I really don't know what to do and would love some ideas on how to handle mean girls. Please help!!!

Latest Happenings!

It has been way too long since the last post. I am the enrichment leader in my ward and yesterday was our super activity, so I have been pretty busy with that. Blogging hasn't been the only thing that seemed to go undone. I felt like I needed to introduce myself to my kids this morning. They have been shuffled around all week. Jared has been awesome with picking up the slack with the kids and house. Thank you so much.

I need to post about so many things that I don't know where to start.

*Traxton turned four months old yesterday. He weighed 13 lb 1 oz on his Dr visit and was 23 inches long. He rolled over from his belly to back the other day, but has only done it a few time since. He hates to be on his belly, so I haven't made him very much. He seems to be getting big way too fast. He has started jabbering a lot more and loves to tell us "stories". He also loves to smile, which always makes me smile. *Treyson has turned into quite the big brother. He loves being by Traxton and wants him to sleep in his bed with him. He is always so loving and soft around him. I can't wait to see how the two of them will interact when Traxton gets a little older. *Ashten had to go to the dentist this week to have her "sugar bug" fixed. My mom works at the dentist so it has always been such a fun place to go. Ashten has had her teeth cleaned a few times, but this time she had a filling put in and I'm not sure if her attitude about "grandma's work" will ever be the same. They gave her the gas to help her relax and she did so well. Towards the end she started getting wiggly, but I was really impressed with how she handled it. The gas made her really giggly, so it was funny to watch. After it was all over and done, Ashten was really frustrated with her face not waking up. She apparently scratched her chin to wake it up so hard that now she has a huge scrape. It looks so bad that everyone asks her what happened. I can't believe we have to say that she was trying to get her face to wake back up. I just hope it doesn't scar too bad. Well that is it. Now everyone can get off my case about posting. :) Enjoy.

Home Grown Pumpkins!

Ashten told her Grandpa Taylor that he needed to grow some pumpkins in his garden for her. He is so cute with his little grandkids that he did just that. We went over to his garden in Santa Clara last week and got as many pumpkins as we could carry. They aren't very big, but are perfect to be displayed around my scarecrow. The kids had a blast picking out their pumpkins. Thanks grandpa Taylor.

"Whenever I hear the song of a bird."

Traxton's hearing aids came in yesterday so he has his "new ears". Seeing him with his hearing aids is bitter sweet. It kind of makes me sad to think of the trials he will be forced to face, but I am also so excited for him to finally be able to hear. As soon as they put the aids on, his eyes got so big. It was almost like he was hearing the world for the first time. He has been so much more alert and has responded to things that he never did before. We had his MRI last Friday and it showed that he has enlarged vestibular aqueducts or EVA. It is something that developed wrong in the inner ear and cannot be corrected. There has been cases where they tried to surgical fix this condition, but it just made the hearing worse. EVA can also make the hearing worse over time and even cause deafness. We will just continue to pray that his hearing will stay the same. I just love the fact that my baby can finally hear me clearly.

Two out of Three!

I finally took Ashten in for her four year old pictures. I waited until now just so I could do Traxton's three month at the same time. Every mom knows that the fewer trips to the photo studio, the better. I was so excited to get cute ones with both kids. Treyson was a little upset that it wasn't his turn, but I am making him wait until his next birthday. I can't believe how big Traxton looks. It's something about looking at him through a picture instead of in person that makes me realize how fast he is growing up. Where has the time gone?

Riding in the rain!

Ashten was determined to not let our little rain storm the other day stop her from riding her bike. I was quite impressed that she could ride and hold her umbrella at the same time.

Picnic in Pine Valley

Last weekend we decided to head up to Pine Valley for the day. We wanted to escape from the heat and have a little picnic. It was such a fun time. The kids had a blast playing in the water, even though it was so cold that it froze their feet, and Jared and I loved how cool it felt. Traxton did what he usually does when we go on outings...sleep. He has actually spent a lot of time in the little sling this summer and I am so glad that he likes it so much.

2 month check-up!

Traxton had his two month dr. visit yesterday and he weighed in at 11 lbs 5 oz and was 22 3/4 inches long. He has gotten pretty big, which is great. We also found out that he has thrush. Of Course!!! I guess that it is pretty common and not a big deal, but my other kids never got it. Traxton has given us a lot of new experiences. As for his ears... We repeated the ABR a couple of days ago and it showed that they are the same as they were before. That is not good news, since all or at least most of the fluid has drained out. With less fluid in the ears, he should have at least improved with his hearing and he hasn't. After talking to Dr. Marsden yesterday, our plan of action is to go see a pediatric ENT at Primary Children's. He has an appointment in two weeks, so hopefully then we will find out more. They may have to do more tests to find out exactly how severe the hearing loss is. The guidelines say to have hearing aids on before six months old to prevent developmental delays. I do feel a lot better with things than I did last week. At least now I feel like we are being proactive and are working to find out what is wrong and what can be done. I really don't feel as devastated about the likely possibility of hearing aids as I did months ago. I truly believe Heavenly Father knew that I would need some time to accept it, so that is why we have had to wait. I also have fallen in love with my little man and hearing aids or not, I will still love him. I feel a lot of comfort and peace with thoughts of the future for Traxton and I know it has been because all of the prayers from friends and family. Thank you so much for the love and concern. I will try to keep everyone posted with the updates after seeing the specialist.

Saturday Projects!

We didn't have anything major planned to do today, which is always something rare, so Jared and the kids headed outside to wash the trucks. Ashten and Treyson love to wash the vehicles and their bikes at the same time. I'm not sure if they do anything besides just get all wet, but they sure enjoy themselves.

Frustrations!

Today we took Traxton back in for his follow up visit with the ENT. The fluid has drained out and his ears looked clear. We then had to go back over to the audiologist's office to have his hearing tested again. Well, he failed on both sides once again. They don't really know why he is still failing if the fluid has cleared out. We are scheduled to have another auditory brainstem response test done. This was the test that took about an hour and tested different wavelengths entering the ear canal. So basically we don't know anything more than we did when he left the hospital EIGHT weeks ago. I am more frustrated than anything. The audiologist talked about maybe having to just wait until he is about six months old to retest things. Something about the ear canal is flexible in infants and gives a false negative result in determining if there is fluid behind the middle ear. He thinks that maybe there is still fluid that is causing the problems. Honestly, I think that he was just telling me things to get me out of his office. So now we have to make sure our baby is sleep deprived and do the test once again. He actually told me that he wanted to repeat the test for documentation. What does that even mean? I am to the point where I just want to know if my baby has hearing loss or not. I will deal with whatever we are dealt, but I am sick of the waiting.

Back to school and more!

Today was Ashten's first day back to pre-school and she has been so excited to go back. It has been a long summer away from school. She was so excited that she actually had to pick her clothes out before she went to bed last night. I hope she has as good of a time as she did last year. Treyson wishes that he was going to school too. He even had me take a school picture of him. I really enjoy the time Treyson and I have together when Ashten is gone and I think he does too. Traxton has been growing like crazy. I can't believe he is eight weeks old already. Where has the time gone? He is such a good little boy and we love him so much. He will go all night without eating. He just wakes up a couple of times, but when we put his binky back into his mouth he goes right back to sleep. Hopefully it won't be long before he won't wake up in the night at all.

Happy Birthday Ashten!

Today is Ashten's 4th birthday and she is so excited. She has the day all filled up with things that she wants to do. She is such a good little girl who helps me so much. She loves her little brothers and always wants to be around them. We love you and hope you have a happy birthday.

Traxton's Special Day!

Today was Traxton's blessing day and I am so relieved to have it over with. I don't know why I do it to myself, but it is always so stressful trying to get my house and yard organized to host a luncheon for all our family. It went really well and I think everyone had a good time, but I still am glad that it's over. Traxton was super fussy this morning so I was nervous that he would cry during the blessing, but he calmed down and didn't make a sound. I am so grateful for the help that Jared gave me all week with preparing for the big day and for our family for each being willing to help with the food. Thank you all. Now I can relax and focus on other things-like reading my book!!!

Long Weekend!

Over the holiday weekend we had the opportunity to go camping in Panguitch. My little sister had rodeos up there and since my mom and dad own property up there as well, we thought it would be fun to take our trailer and go for a couple of days. It was so nice to escape from the heat and support my little sister at the same time. We had a really good time and Dally did awesome. She won second place in the breakaway roping and won a nice buckle. The kids had fun too. Ashten and Treyson loved picking flowers in the field where we stayed. Jared was actually a little worried with how much Treyson enjoyed picking flowers. Traxton just hung out and liked not sweating to death everytime we went outside. I wish I had a home in Panguitch but only for the summer. I couldn't handle the snow.

Our little "Chunk"

I am so excited to post that Traxton has gained weight in the past week. I took him back into the doctor's office the other day to weigh him again and now he weighs 8lb 2 oz. I was so excited that I couldn't stop smiling. I also felt so relieved to know that there wasn't something wrong with him which was inhibiting him from gaining weight. I think a big part of his weight gain has been because I started pumping and feeding him from a bottle so that we could keep track of how much he eats. It totally sucks to have to pump so much, but I like knowing how much he is eating.

I have a lot of people ask me about his ears and if I think that he is hearing anything yet. I cannot tell you how grateful I am for every one's concern. I'm still not exactly sure if I think he can hear yet. Some days he will totally respond to my voice and even open his eyes when I start talking to him, but other times when there is a loud noise he won't do anything. I do feel like he is responding better than he did at first so maybe it is the fluid that has caused the problem and it is slowly draining out. The doctors just keep telling me that we won't know anything for sure until more time has gone by. It is frustrating to hear that, but at least lately I feel like it is getting better. We will just keep praying that it will correct itself on its own.

Two weeks old!

We went to get Traxton's 2 wk pictures taken at Kiddie Kandids yesterday and I was pretty happy with the results. He actually wasn't very happy with the photographer when she tried to "pose" him. I didn't think we were going to get anything good but the girl did really well and got some without him crying. We also went to the doctor the other day for his two week visit. Our little man isn't cooperating very well. He actually weighs less now than he did when he was born. 7 lb 11 oz. I have to take him back in next week to see if he has grown any. If he hasn't gained any weight I will have to start supplementing. This kid is causing me more stress than my other two combined. It's a good thing I already love him.

Family Reunion Fun

Every 4th of July weekend we head out to the Arizona Strip for the Bundy Reunion. This year was especially a lot of fun. The kids are getting to an age where they can really play and enjoy themselves. Between all of the cousins to play with and the activities going on, there was always something to keep them busy. Ashten loved playing with her little cousins and Treyson spent a lot of time playing trucks in the rock pile with the boys. I'm not even sure that Traxton even knew that we left home. He did a lot of sleeping. I was really worried about how he would do during the night. I didn't want him to wake up the entire camp, but he even did really well during the nights. It is a lot different going to the Bundy reunion as a mom than it was while I was growing up. I guess the days of running carefree and rolling in the dirt will now be passed on to my kids. Even as a mom with three kids I enjoyed myself. It was nice to put the kids to bed and stay up with family talking, laughing, and eating peach cobbler. I just wish it was as relaxing to come home and clean up the mess.