Props to Avery

Avery got some $ for her a birthday a few weeks ago, so I told her I would take her to Target to pick out a new toy. She was so excited to go to the store and wanted to hold the $ in the car. When we got there, she counted it and she had $6 all together. She knows exactly where the toys are at Target so she walked quickly over to the aisles with all the girl toys. To my surprise however, she said, "I want to buy something for Hayden." I told her that it was very nice of her to offer to buy something for her sister, but she might not have enough money to buy a toy for herself and for Hayden. She insisted though and told me, "Hayden wants a new dollie." The princess dolls were actually on sale for $6, so Hayden picked a new Ariel doll and Avery proudly and lovingly handed it to her.


That was definitely one of those tender, melt-your-mom's-heart moments. I was so proud of Avery that she made that decision with absolutely no prodding from me. I gave her a big hug and told her that I was so proud of her and that Jesus was proud of her too for doing something nice for her sister. I told her I would give her some extra money to pick something out for herself too. So after walking up and down the aisles, she finally settled on a teeball and bat set and both girls left Target with their new toys.

On 2 Legs Again

Well, this is quite late, but Hayden started taking steps on her own about a week and a half ago. I was eating lunch one day and she said, "Mommy, look at me." She was standing up in the kitchen without holding on to the table and she was so proud of herself. She slowly started letting go of things and taking more and more steps. She is still limping a little and not stable all the time, but she is doing so much better.She had just finished eating lunch and spilled on herself - hence the spots on her shirt.She has to put her hands down sometimes to get her balance back, but she gets back up pretty quickly.

Happy Hayden walking :)

Avery is 5

Avery's birthday was last week (Mar. 3) and she is now 5 years old and growing every day! It seems like most of my posts lately have been all about Hayden, so this one is all about Avery. Here are some pictures of Avery on all of her birthdays.

Avery was born on March 3, 2004 in Mesa, AZ. She was 3 weeks early (much to our surprise) and weighed 7 lbs. 1 oz. (The picture below is not a birthday picture, but one of my favorite baby pictures of Avery so I thought I would put it on here too.)Avery's 1st birthday - and first ice cream cake. It was cold, but she dug in anyway :) She is an ice cream lover like her mom.Avery's 2nd birthday - this was the same day we blessed her baby sister Hayden. Avery's 3rd birthday - blowing out candles at Grandma's house.
Avery's 4th birthday - she had a princess party with all of her friends.And now Avery is 5!!

We had preschool at our house on Avery's birthday, so all the kids got to sing to her and have cake and ice cream. My mom came to help with Hayden & Kiley while I did preschool. (My mom's birthday is the day before Avery's and mine is 3 days after Avery's, so we all have birthdays in the same week.) Our theme for preschool was Day & Night so I put a star on the cake. Yes, that is a star cookie cutter - I didn't have anything else that was shaped like a star.After preschool, my mom took me and Avery out to lunch and shopping for our birthdays. It was really fun!

Avery got a new swimsuit w/ matching towel and flip-flops and a new outfit from Old Navy. She still wanted me to wrap them up even though she picked them out. The more presents to open the merrier, right?We got Avery the Disney Princess and Cars games for her Leapster. She loves both of them, and they keep her busy during quiet time (a.k.a. nap-time for the other girls and break time for mom :)Brandon also took Avery to the store to pick out a new Wii game. She picked a skiing game called We Ski, which she loves playing. She is our little Wii pro now. Avery also got a new dress that her Grandma Dorothy (Brandon's mom) made for her and a Littlest Pet Shop board game. Her aunts/uncles got her some Play-Doh, and a Dora fairy. Avery had a really fun birthday and she is so excited to be 5 now. I can't believe how fast the last five years have gone. Everyone tells you it will go by fast when you have babies, but I never realized it until all of a sudden I have a 5-year-old and two other kids. Am I really that old?? (I am 27 now by the way, but I still feel like I should be a teenager :)

A Little Fun Outside

Well, after being sick all week and being stuck at home yet again, we all needed some fresh air today, so I took the girls outside to play with their Play-Doh. Avery made me some spaghetti and fruit for lunch with her Play-Doh kitchen set.

Hayden made a dolphin and some other animals with the cutout shapes. And, of course she couldn't put down her toy horse while she was making the other animals.

It was so nice to be outside today. The weather was beatiful and the girls (especially Hayden) enjoyed being out of the house. I tried to get Hayden to sing a song for me, but she was done playing so she went inside. You will be able to see how she gets around in this video. Even though she can't walk yet, she has found ways to get around and is doing really well. She is making progress each day and is getting more and more brave with each new thing she can do.

Our Week

Well, this week hasn't been quite what I was hoping for. Brandon went out of town on Monday night to do some training in Flagstaff, so we decided to go out to dinner before he left. We haven't been anywhere as a family since Christmas, so we were all looking forward to going. Right before we got in the car to leave though, Hayden threw up on Brandon's lap, thus our plans changed for the night. I went to a drive-thru for dinner and Brandon left after we ate. About an hour after he left, I started feeling the sore throat/congestion stuff coming and from then it has spread to all of us. Brandon got home from Flagstaff last night and we were eating dinner together and all five of us were coughing at the table - it was pretty funny.

On the bright side, Hayden has been much more mobile over the last few days. She is not standing or walking on her own yet, but she is finding ways to get around the house and can even crawl up and down the stairs by herself. She can take a few steps if I hold her up and can stand up while holding onto the couch. I have been trying to let her figure out how to get something by herself so she is not so dependent on me or someone else to help her. She scoots on her bum a lot and sometimes crawls, but eventually she will figure out a way to get from one room to the next and when she does, she looks at me with this proud smile and is so happy that she did it by herself. It's a little hard to watch her struggling sometimes, but I know I have to let her do it so she can build up the strength in her legs again and the confidence in herself. Her right leg is really weak and shaky when she puts pressure on it, so she will most likely limp on it for a while after she does start walking, but it will get better over time. I am hoping she will be able to take some steps on her own by next week. It's so funny to see her crawling on the floor next to Kiley, who is also crawling all over the place now. Despite being sick, Hayden is so much happier now and is really enjoying her new freedom.

I have to admit that I was selfishly hoping to be able to get out of the house this week. It has been 2 months since I have taken the girls anywhere (other than preschool for Avery) and I was hoping we would be able to go to the park or the store or somewhere. But, if we had to get sick, I am glad it was at least without Hayden's cast :) Avery's b-day is on Tuesday and we have preschool at our house next week, so I will post some pictures soon, and hopefully we will all be feeling better by then.

Goodbye Purple Cast!!!

Friday was the big day - Hayden finally got her cast off!! I took this picture of her on Thursday, her last day in this huge purple thing. She spent most of her time on this bean bag chair with her blanket and toys watching movies. She was pretty content there most of the time, but she is much happier now that she can actually move and sit up on her own!

I was a little nervous about the saw they were going to use to cut her cast off, but it was just a little handheld thing that the doctor used. Hayden was scared of it of course, but Brandon and I were there to hold her hands and it only took about five minutes to get it off. The nurses asked us if we wanted to keep it and I said, "No way." The pictures and memories we have will suffice. I would have been happy to throw it out the window myself, but I'm sure some people like to keep those things. I was happy to see it get dumped though :)

Right after they took the cast and wrappings off, Hayden started shaking and she kept saying, "Coldee, coldee, coldee," (meaning she was cold.) She had goosebumps all over her body and she was shivering. Her cast had kept her pretty well insulated over the last 8 weeks, so as soon as her skin was exposed again, she got cold pretty fast. We were able to put some clothes on her after they took x-rays though, so she warmed up again quickly. The x-rays looked really good and when the doctor took measurements on the bones, he said she was within normal range and the bone will continue to get stronger over time.

The first thing we did when we got home was give Hayden a much-needed BATH. Two months is a long time to go without a real bath, especially for a 3-year-old:) When she first got in the tub, she was a little wobbly since she hadn't sat up on her own for so long. She kept falling back on her hands, but I let her figure it out and eventually she stabilized herself.

Once she sat up on her own, she kept pointing to things saying, "Look, Mommy." She was so intrigued by all her bath toys and the water and everything. She was so happy and excited - it was like her first bath all over again.This is the leg she broke (her right leg) and it is much thinner than it was before all this happened. I'm sure it will take a while to get her soft, chunky Hayden legs back.
After her bath, she sat on the couch and naturally bent her right leg the way it was in the cast. It still hurts her to move it too much because the joints and muscles are so stiff.

Hayden pointing to her leg that was broken and so happy to not be in her cast anymore :)

Finally eating at the table in a normal chair instead of her stroller!Hayden hasn't put any pressure on her feet yet since she got the cast off. She keeps getting her toes close to the floor like she's going to stand, but then brings her feet back up. I think in addition to her muscles and joints being stiff, she is just scared to try to stand or walk yet. The doctor said it would probably take about a week for her to walk again. We tried to help her stand today, but she still won't put her feet down on the ground. It may take some coercing if she doesn't try it after a few more days, but we'll see how it goes.

We are just so happy that she is out of her cast now! Although she smiled with the cast on and found ways to be happy, she is so much more happy now and is enjoying the freedom to move around more and sit much more comfortably. It is so much easier to carry her around and hold her and change her diaper now - all things I took for granted before. We are also grateful that it healed so well and that she will soon be back to her normal self. Thank you again to all of you for your love and support. We have such wonderful friends, family, and ward members who have helped us so much over the last few months - we could not have done it without you all :)

Thank you!

Countdown to Cast-off

Well, I can hardly believe it, but Hayden gets her cast off in 3 days!! This Friday is the big day and we are all so excited. It has actually gone by pretty fast for us surprisingly. The first few weeks were definitely the hardest, and it has been a challenge trying to get places at times, but for the most part it has gone pretty well. Hayden has done remarkably well and we are very grateful that she has adjusted well to this lifestyle. It is going to be interesting to see how she does when the cast comes off. The doctor said she will most likely sit on the couch for a few days at first, but she will gradually build up the strength in her legs and should be able to walk again without needing any physical therapy. I will update her progress soon, and in the meantime we will continue the countdown...