Fourth of July

Our Fourth was a little more low key this year as both girls were sick from Hand, Foot and Mouth. We spent the morning at home and working around the yard. That afternoon we enjoyed the Vale 4th of July Parade and then a small BBQ with my sister's family who also had a sick child. By the end of the day we were exhausted and ready for a week without sick kids.

 This girl only wears skirts during the summer time. 

The 4th of July Eve I showed her the flag shirt she would get to wear the next day. 

When she woke up she insisted on putting on a pair of blue jeans. 

We were surprised. I guess denim and the flag just go together.

 This girl loves fruit, especially when she can hold it herself and sit in a chair by herself. 

She wants to be big!

Justin and Ruth Blazzard

That one Hot day we went and had lunch at a Hot Park in the afternoon and sweated our arm pits out walking around the pond and playing on the hot slide. We needed more ice. I guess we still had smiles on our faces.

Justin and Ruth Blazzard

Summer Stuff

 

 Pictures from a picture booth at a fun graduation party we attended. 

                                                                                                 

 Fun in our kiddie pool with the first heat wave of the summer. I wonder if this is where both the girls UTI came from. No more pool at our house. 

 This family is our neighbors and Natalie loves playing with them. We love having them as neighbors. We will be sad when they move.

 Excited about her life jacket and goggles for swimming this summer. 

We were able to try them out for family home evening one night. 

 Aunt Elizabeth made this awesome flower crown for Jenna while I took Natalie to the doctor.

 Trying out making pizza on a tortilla shell. It was delicious and used up most of the leftovers in my fridge.

 Silly girl stole my dishwashing gloves to play princess?

 We went for a walk on the dirt road in the heat of the afternoon a couple of weeks ago. I was thinking on that walk how grateful I am to be living where we are now. I snapped this picture of Jenna cooling off in the shade on the lawn that her great- great grandparents owned years ago. 

I am grateful for the sacrifice of previous generations so we can have what we have today.

I hope I am living a life that will make the world better for the coming generations.

 Sister Stroller Time. I even pumped up a flat tire on the stroller myself that day. I was very proud of  myself. Don't laugh at me. :)

 Visiting with a friend from high school. Our kids are the same age and everyone was obsessed with Baby J. Her daughter wanted to hold her so Natalie had to hold their baby.

 Jenna entertaining herself in the middle of the night on the first night of her fevering and sickness. 

She pushed the stroller around the living room until she wore herself out. This was probably at 3 a.m.

 Natalie is learning to take selfies. Oh boy.

 Our summer has been low key so far. Justin has been working a lot. We have been trying to stay out of the heat and just enjoy being together. We haven't even been that great about going to the library this summer because of busy schedules and sickness. Hopefully we are past the sickness and can have a few more adventures this summer.

Justin and Ruth Blazzard

What a Week!

Prior to this week I was thinking how you never know what a week will bring. Most weeks are full of expected highs and lows and the weekend is always a bright spot. Some weeks are terrific and full of excitement, and some have a life altering event waiting for you. This week wasn't necessarily life altering, but it certainly went differently than I had expected.

Sunday evening Jenna woke up from a nap with a fever. I didn't think much of it as she is in the teething stage and is little. Small children get fevers fairly often, without reason and are usually short lived. I gave her some tylenol and we went to the birthday party for a niece.

That night was a bear with a feverish Jenna and little sleep. I cancelled my workout class and still hold onto the hope that things would get better. Monday night was bad again, but I held out hope for Tuesday. There was no improvement with a very high fever of 104.5 on Tuesday morning. That afternoon when Jenna started having a hard time keeping things down I decided a visit to the Pediatrician may be necessary.

I called the office at 3:30 p.m. and was grateful they still had an open appointment that day.  I quickly dropped Natalie off at my moms. Justin met me at the office. When we got back to the exam room I noticed she was starting to develop little spots on her hands and feet.

I pointed these out to the Physician, but because she did not have spots in her mouth she said it probably wasn't hand foot and mouth. Instead she ran a strep culture and did a urine analysis. For the next two hours Jenna was evaluated and then waited on to give a urine sample. During that time we spilled our sippy cup everywhere, Jenna puked all over me, and she screamed her head off. I was so grateful Justin had come with me to help out.

Eventually we decided to just catheterize her to get the sample. It showed signs of infection, so we were given a prescription for a Urinary Tract Infection and sent on our way. Saying that if the fevers did not stop by Friday to come back in. We were tired and relieved to have an answer.

I had been working for the past 6 weeks on organizing a Day Camp for our Activity Day Girls. I had originally lined up babysitters for the girls, but now that was not going to work out and I didn't even know if I could go at all. Justin is amazing and offered to stay home with the girls. That night again was a terror as Jenna started vomiting and having a hard time keeping anything down. We finally got a little bit of sleep in. I headed to the church that morning, hoping all would be well now that we had antibiotics. I got the activity going and everything was moving smoothly. I called Justin at 10 to see how things were going and he said not good. She again had a fever of 104 and was puking again.

I told the other leaders at the activity I had to go. I called the doctor and got a prescription of Zofran to help with the vomiting. I learned that babies could have Zofran from when Natalie was little and had a horrible 10 day stomach flu. When I got home Justin said that more spots had showed up. Later that afternoon I found one in her mouth. This poor girl did have a UTI and Hand Foot and Mouth. We saw a lot of improvement by Wednesday evening. Again her fever spiked Thursday morning. Days have been good for her, but late evenings and mornings the fever will reappear. We finally took her back to the doctor Friday, at their request.

We both agreed that if this was a case of just UTI or just Hand Foot and Mouth we would expect the fevers to be gone, but because it is both, we just need to watch and wait. As long as she is showing improvement things are going well. Today there was slight fever and she was happy upon waking. I am so grateful to see her crawling around and screeching again.

She will still be healing from her little blisters for a while, but hopefully the UTI will be gone. It is such a blessing that she was slow to get sores in her mouth, because otherwise the physician would not have caught the UTI. We have also been so grateful for the many kinds words from friends and family and the meals that have been brought to us. We are also grateful for health.

It has been a long, sleep deprived, interesting week, but I think we have all learned and been shown once again that we can do hard things, and that the Lord is always with us in our struggles. Here's to hoping next week is better!

Justin and Ruth Blazzard

11 Months Old

This little lady turned 11 months old this month. I will lament like every other mother out there, where has the time gone? When I really look back and see how much has happened and how she has changed, I can say that it has definitely been almost a year. Just looking at her smiling little face everyday, that makes me say, where has that tiny babe gone? 

She is a determined little girl. Very curious about things and doesn't take no or leave that alone for an answer. She is a lover of balls and delights in finding one anywhere we go. She is very good at making the "B" sound to let you know she has spotted one. She actually is very communicative and tells you about what she is experiencing and what makes her excited, or upset. 

Getting her to eat solids has been up and down. Some days she chows down on most anything, others she refuses no matter what you entice her with. I think teething maybe plays into it? 

We are slowly working on weaning her off the bottle and this will probably go past her first birthday.

Her favorite thing right now that she will nearly always eat is blueberries. 

She can stand on her own, but really doesn't have much interest in it. She is a mighty crawler and becoming more interested in climbing. Mom is still her favorite, but she loves when Dada gets home each day. She also loves being wherever Natalie is.

Things she likes:

The swing

Unrolling the toilet paper roll

Being held and carried around

Dogs and our cat Tom

Crawling in a room and closing the door, then crying until you come and find her

Balls

Teasing and wrestling with Natalie

Books, especially when you read to her

Very interested in biting..... she is getting better, but you have to watch her.

On this particular day at the park she insisted on sitting sideways in the swing.... silly girl!

She is teaching me more about patience and endurance each day. We all love her and she has made our family better with her presence. She has the best smile each morning.

Justin and Ruth Blazzard

Little Things This Week

Monday night we finally set up this tent for the first time. We bought it nearly two years ago..... Why did it take that long you ask. Having babies and having a husband that works a ton of hours and not having a yard would be the answer. It went up easily and Natalie was excited to sit in it. Jenna, not so much, but she was really tired. We used it as our acitivty portion of FHE. The lesson was on Lehi. :)

I keep saying I want to rip out these cactus that are in several areas of our yard. I mean who likes prickly things. They have redeemed themselves with these beautiful cheery blooms I have noticed this week. 

Here is a copy of a workout I drew up for a workout group at the church. I teach Monday's class and am really grateful for the opportunity. Fitness is one of my passions and it has been fun to share it with some great ladies. Working out together is always more fun than working out alone.

 

My grandma's yard, that is now our yard is so calming and carries great beauty in the large and diverse plants. This is the peony bush that has bloomed early this year. It reminds me of my grandma. I love how huge the blossoms are on it. Aren't flowers just one of the best creations?

Jenna's got a cold at the latter part of the week. We had a couple rough days from that. I think she will be ok, as she is very happy now, but still makes some very raspy noises and is congested. 

Natalie will only wear 'Frozen' attire for anything she is doing. It is cute and at times frustrating. I ordered her some Frozen crocs because her Frozen flip flops were not working out. She told me she needed sparkly shoes. Justin's job is going well and busy. It has it's challenges, but overall it is a big blessing to him and us that he can be home every night. 

I am busy with the girls, teaching Valiant 10-11 girls, helping with Activity Days, teaching workout class and keeping up the house, yard and family functions. I have been ever so grateful lately for the talks from General Conference. It is such a blessing to listen or read talks from God's chosen servants on the earth. It has been a comfort with all that is going on in the world today. Hopefully I can be better about posting more. Have a wonderful Sabbath.

Spring Days

 Spring is in full bloom here and what a beautiful time of year! This particular day Natalie had been asking to go for a walk all day, but it was quite windy most of the day. I finally decided to brave the weather after naps, as my girls get a little stir crazy during this time. My dad was doing field work close by and so we stopped and Natalie went a pass with him. He thought we were crazy for being out on a walk with the fierce wind, but I thought it was ok. Natalie had refused to wear a big coat, just a lighter sweater for the walk. She started getting cold on the way back and wanted me to carry her. My dad saw this from a distance and quickly drove the tractor over to save Natalie and drive her to the house. I think we would have made it just fine (it wasn't that far) but I am grateful for a caring kind father who is willing to help.

 This is our cat Tom. He was a bonus deal with moving into the house. His two favorite things to do are lying around and be petted. However he gets a little feisty when you start petting him and will often bat at you or sink his claws into your legs. For the most part he is good though. This was the first time I found him in our flower pot, but the sun was beating down and I think it felt good to him. The girls love their Tom cat and he loves to taunt them.

 J is getting around pretty well these days. Natalie kept pushing on the door to go out, as I had asked her to please wait for me. Jenna was trying to make an escape if Natalie could. They both love being outside and it is very nice for us to have a yard this year to play in.

 Jenna loving on Daddy. She was laughing pretty hard about this.

 J always gets up earlier than Natalie. This particular morning she got to have a green smoothy with Mama. She really loved it and kept squeaking for more. It made me a  little happy as neither Justin nor  Natalie care for them.

 Natalie and I after a workout. I have been doing the Black Fire workouts on Daily Burn. I love it and it really makes me work.Natalie loves to be by me while I work out and she often quotes some of the trainers sayings like, "Let's get strong people!" She also loves to get my small set of weights and box for her.

 Grandma and Grandpa Blazzard gave this to Natalie for her 3rd birthday and she wore it for the first time this week. She loved it! She was glowing the whole day and didn't want to take it off. She even wore it the next day. Thankfully the third day she was ok to see it get washed. 

I loved seeing her bounce around in the skirt.

 White Elephant Gift anyone? Found these expired beauties while cleaning out a cupboard for my Grandma. I had to laugh.

 I was sitting on the edge of this chair feeding Jenna, Natalie wanted to be in the action and squeezed behind me to make sure she was close. I love little moments like this. Especially when we have many moments of 3 year old fit throwing these days. I thought 2 year old fits were bad, boy is 3 even more interesting. I know we will get through it, and there are great things about this age to, but some days are challenging!

 J is cutting a top tooth right now. The gum has been swollen for several days. I hope it comes through soon. She was being pretty cute with this teething ring. She would bite down on it and then start flapping her arms until it fell out. 

J understands and communicates a lot with her squeals, laughs, and eyes. 

She is working on pulling herself up and loves to avoid sleep time by crawling around her bed and try out the rails for standing aids. It drives me crazy, but she is always very pleased with herself when I come in there. 

 

Natalie is learning to dress herself right now and make her bed.

She loves getting to see her cousins very frequently and is amazing at memorizing books and songs. 

She can also get many shoes on by herself. 

She is very sweet when happy and is picking up on emotions. A couple different times when I have not been in the best of moods she will ask, "Mom are you ok?" 

She likes me to be happy. :)

Life is never dull here, repetitive, yes, but these girls are learning and doing so well.

The Lord has blessed us in so many ways and we are grateful. 

Justin and Ruth Blazzard