That was Awesome!

Yes I did take my girls to see Taylor Swift last night (on a school night!) They had a blast, and it was awesome. They are so spoiled! They have seen Hannah Montana and now Taylor Swift in concert. Maya has even seen The Wiggles. I don't think I saw a concert until I was a teenager! The girls were really excited that I was able to get tickets considering the concert was sold-out. We left Gavin with my mom and Brian and I took the girls to the concert at the Energy Solutions Arena. I have to say that for how young she is, Taylor Swift has a really good head on her shoulders. She is very talented, but still has her feet grounded.
I hope she always stays that way. It is nice to see someone as famous as her be humbled by the fame instead of expect it like some other famous people. She even went out into the crowd several times. She hugged people, signed autographs, and shook hands. I don't think I have ever been to a concert where the performer does that. The concert definitely exceeded my expectations.
We all sang and danced to the songs.
It was fun to see the girls get so excited and sing all the words to the songs. They would yell, "Hey I know this song!" and then "This is awesome!" Kaitlyn is hilarious when she sings "Picture to Burn." This video doesn't even begin to do it justice! Tell us how you really feel Kaity! Watch out for her boys!
Taylor dressed up in her big gown for "Love Story" and took it off to reveal a white dress just like on the Music Awards. The girls were totally stoked! It is one of their favorite songs, and they love when we changes clothes. It was a huge and fun evening. Taylor Swift really out did herself and deserves all the recognition. Well worth the money! We were all exhausted and deaf by the end though! Here we are at the end of the concert deaf and delirious!
Needless to say, the girls slept in their clothes last night and looked like death warmed over this morning for school!

Bitter Sweet

My somewhat dreaded day has come. Dylan would be one today along with Gavin. I have been dreading this moment mostly because I feel like if Gavin is no longer a baby, then in some way we have moved on without Dylan. Don't get me wrong, it is a good thing that we have moved forward with our lives, it is just a hard obstacle to cross. I am sure there will be many as the years go on. I am surprisingly doing ok though.
We went to the cemetary this morning with balloons to send off to Dylan. Each person got to write on their balloon a message to Dylan. The kids enjoyed watching the balloons fly up for miles and miles.
It is special that their birthday will always be by memorial day because there are lots of beautiful flowers all over the cemetary.
It was a very nice morning.
Then we had a little party for Gavin. Can I just say that he is such a darling baby?! He brings the light right back into our home if ever we are sad, or mad, or whatever. That kid just makes me want to smile. He really is our rainbow after the storm. He loved his cake and opening presents. We did a little video of his first year. Some of the pictures and videos will be familiar.
All in all it has been a good day. I was stressed about it, but it turned out ok.

Good and Bad I think

The good news is that Maya made the swim team. We are really happy for her, and she is way excited. She worked really hard to get a spot on the team and we are very proud of her. The bad thing is that she has practice every morning starting June 1st from 8:00-9:00! So much for sleeping in this summer! We have to get going each morning. I hope that it goes ok. That seems like a lot of work for a 5-year-old. She's excited now, but will she be all summer? I just don't know. Hopefully it is an enjoyable experience.

Stressed out more than the kids?

How is it that when your children perform or try out for things, you are much more stressed out about it than them? Maya is trying out for the swim team at the Legacy Center, and it is nerve-racking for me. I don't want her to be disappointed. Brian didn't even want her to try-out because he was afraid of what would happen if she doesn't make it. I don't want to teach our children to be afraid of failure. You are never to young to learn that if you don't succeed the first time, you can always try again. Still, I am worried for her. She is in swim camp right now for the swim team. They will let us know at the end of camp if she made it or not. If she doesn't make it, then she has about a week and a half before try-outs to try again. AHHHHH! I want her to make it, but if she doesn't I will probably cry too if she is sad! I don't know how my mom did this stuff! I will let you know how it goes!

When the threats come back to bite you in the butt!

Whenever the girls are misbehaving or just being crazy, Brian also threatens to sell them to the circus. He's always saying,"the circus called and they are looking for children." So the other day we were driving home, and Maya starts making a phone ringing sound and says, "hey dad! The circus just called and they are looking for grown-ups!" I thought for sure I would wet my pants I was laughing so hard. Brian was laughing too and said that she had him there. Then Kaity and Maya proceed to talk about all the things they could do if there were no parents! Kaity says she can sleep and play, and sleep and play. Then watch movies all the time and have popcorn. Then Maya says, "we can't make popcorn!" So they think of other things to eat, but then realize they can't go shopping on their own to replace what they eat. Then Kaity say, "Crap! we do need grown-ups!" I guess I am good for something! After all, they would starve if I didn't go shopping!

Walk of Rememberance

This morning we went to a Walk of Rememberance at the Thanksgiving Point Gardens. It is put on by IHC for those that have lost their babies/children. It was beautiful there and a very nice tribute. The girls enjoyed seeing the waterfalls and all of the wonderful flowers.
It's funny because I never would have even known that something like this was taking place at another time in my life. We live our lives and have no clue how much people are hurting or going through an impossibly hard time. We have met so many wonderful people who have lost their children in one way or another. It is so sad that there are so many of them out there. So many people always want these people to have "gotten over it already." I just want to say that this isn't something you just get over. What happens is that you learn to live/survive with the pain. I hope that you all will be good listeners and supporters to people that you know that have experienced the loss of a loved one. We have had awesome support and it means a lot. It is nice to have a chance to remember those loved ones now and again.

Emergency Averted

So Kaity is lucky today that we haven't killed her. Last night she decided to stick something up her nose again! It is one of those sticky hands that you throw against the wall. She came in our room after we had already put her to bed and told us that something was up her nose. Of course instantly I am angry and ready to kill that child. SERIOUSLY?!! Are you kidding me?!!! She tells me what it is and Brian tries to see if he can see it. With a flashlight we can see the end of it, but we can't reach it with tweezers. So, luckily her ENT (that we used last time) has an after hours urgent call number. We tell her that the tweezers didn't work and she gives us another suggestion. She tells us to plug the other nostril then basically give her mouth to mouth (blow really hard into her mouth). I am trying not to laugh so that I can do it, and totally assuming that it is not going to work. The first time nothing happened. Then I blew harder, and wouldn't you know it, it came flying out! I was seriously amazed that that worked! I guess when you are a pediatric ENT you know all the tricks of the trade! And apparently when you have a SPECIAL child you also learn all the tricks!! She may be one of the smartest kids I know, but when it comes to common sense, Look out! In the end, at least we didn't have to go to the emergency room, so she gets to live for another day!

Home Cookin

I have been trying to make some more things from scratch lately to try and save money. I have finally mastered making amazing whole wheat bread with no white flour. The fam totally loves it. A few weeks ago, Maya had to take a sack lunch to school because they went on a field trip. (she normally doesn't need lunch because kindergarten in Utah is only a few hours a day) I just packed what she normally eats for lunch with a PB&J sandwich on my bread. When she got home I asked her what the other kids brought for lunch. Word for word she said, "They all brought lots of junk and their sandwiches were on bread from the store!" It was pretty funny. She was really proud of herself that she had such a "healthy" lunch.

Yesterday I made a fresh batch of bread and some Lion House Rolls (many of you know how AMAZING these rolls are) and Gavin wouldn't even eat the roll because he wanted some of the wheat bread! Poor Brian, he loves white bread more than anything, but his family has turned against him! If you need an amazing recipe for all whole wheat bread, I have a few!