Days go by....

This winter is finally passing. Today was cold and their is still bits of snow remaining, but we are seeing more sunlight that hangs in the sky for longer hours, more green grass, and more wind. Spring is coming! My girls have changed so much over the last several months and I know I need to keep a better record of our life. I hope to be a little better at blogging this year and tracking our beautiful messy life.

Quick update on where everyone is at. Justin is continuing to teach at TVCC. It is going really well, better than we even thought. He really enjoys the variety his days bring and being able to manage his own time. He is busy as the program is in the beginning stages, but he is a hardworker and does well. He just returned from a trip to Chicago to receive training on some trainers the program ordered. It was a great training and he was able to enjoy some Chicago style pizza while there. He gets to drive a little hatch back yellow ford focus. You definitely can't miss him! We are grateful that his parents passed on a fuel economy car to us. He is teaching a class in Caldwell this semester and it definitely helps with the gas bill each month. :)

I continue to work hard at being a wife and homemaker. I love to read a good book when I have time and am planning to paint our free dining room table that so desperately needs some help. I have also been working on being more intentional in doing pre school type activities with Natalie. It has been a lot of fun to put my inner teaching nerd to work researching pedagogy for young children. I also enjoy working with the Activity Day girls and teaching that age group at church. Some days seem long, but time is flying by when I look back.

Natalie is nearly four and a sweet, kind little girl. She is working hard to learn all the letters of the alphabet and their sounds so she can earn a trip to the movie theater. She continues to love to play and especially with her cousins! She really loves to learn. This week we learned about Presidents of the United States for Presidents day and she thought that was fascinating. She also loves to hear stories of Jesus and is enjoying going through the scripture DVD's she got for Christmas. Her favorite food is probably chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese (these are a treat and not everyday occurrence) She also loves making up pretend words to make her peers laugh and enjoys a good brownie. She is learning to make good choices, listen and be a kind sister to Jenna. She does a good job most of the time. She also gets to give her first talk in Primary this week.

 This girl loved Santa! She kept cutting in line at our ward Christmas party. She couldn't restrain her excitement and still doesn't understand lines very well. Thankfully people were kind and let her go.

 We have radiant heat in our house and Prince Charming found his way into one of our heaters. He didn't fair so well. I am just glad I found him when I did. 

Jenna is now running, saying  "nooooo!", loves to cook or be wherever you are in the kitchen, climbs on everything, thinks she is hilarious most of the time, is very willing to get her boots and coat on to go places, really likes animals and babies. She is 19 months and talks a lot, but is continually figuring out how to say more words. She really enjoys going to nursery, but is always exhausted by the end because it is her nap time. She loves to play with Natalie when they are getting along and enjoys spinning in circles until she falls down. Her favorite songs right now are Wheels on the Bus and the Hokey Pokey. Her favorite books are, "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie," "Chilly Millie Moo," and one about a Duck in a Jeep. She has really picked up a passion for reading over the last 3 months.

 Decorating Gingerbread houses, she really just ate it and all the candy she could get.

 This is a little girl we watch for a couple hours a week. These two have such a good time together.

To survive this winter we have visited a lot of people, watched a fair amount of movies, colored, played with playdoh, go to story time every Tuesday and started a play group. It has been a wonderful winter, even though it has had it's challenges. We have lived in Nyssa for a year now and everyday I am grateful we were blessed with the opportunity to make a change and move back to the country. We have definitely had our challenges, but it is so nice to be closer to all of our family and have space for the girls to run and explore.

Justin and Ruth Blazzard

Hair

A couple of weeks ago it was time to get my hair cut. For a long time (like years) I have wanted to cut my hair short. Not bob, like pixie. I have always loved these hair cuts on others and wondered if I could pull it off. If it didn't workout though, I did not want to be stuck looking like a boy for an unknown amount of time. Lately though, my hair was driving me CRAZY! It took forever to blow dry, has weird curl kinks in it from having children and was so heavy and thick. I needed a change.

I shared with Justin my thought on short hair and he said, Do It! I still wasn't convinced. I told my sister when dropping my kids off my thoughts and showed her some pictures of styles I liked. She said, DO IT! I again was still not sure. I went to my hair dresser who has had short hair and everything in between. She told me I should totally DO IT! I asked her several questions and raised my concerns about it. She reassured me on all accounts. I decided it was time to Carpe Diem! I DID IT, and I LOVE IT.

It has been amazing to be done with my hair within 5-10 minutes. I also really like how it looks with my face. For now, I will be keeping it this way. 
 

Justin and Ruth Blazzard

Lately

I always read other people's blogs admiring all that they write. Then when I find a small slot of time to update ours, my mind is always blank! How does this happen? I will start with today.

 Recreating is not one of my strong suits in life, and that serves me as a strength and weakness. This weekend I suggested to Justin that we do something as a family since he had a 3 day weekend. We decided bowling might be worth a try since both girls could participate.

After Jenna's nap we headed to the bowling alley in Ontario. Natalie was unsure what to think prior to going as she has never done it before. We had a great time. Both of the girls bowled. Jenna pushed her ball of the ramp by using one finger to touch it (we helped her of course). Natalie started getting the hang of it loved when it was her turn.

I am happy to say I beat Justin. :) We went bowling as one of our first dates and I think I was so twitterpated with him at that time I score like a 30! I am still embarrassed by it. We realized after leaving we haven't been bowling in about 5 years.I could see it becoming a family tradition though, especially for this time of year when the weather isn't great.

I have really enjoyed having a piano in our home and being able to have music for Family Home Evening. We have been trying to be consistent at having Family Home Evening every Monday night after the council we received from General Conference. Some nights it has gone great, other nights have been challenging as the girls are crazy and I am cranky. We will keep persevering though! The girls soak everything up right now like a sponge and I know it helps keep the Spirit in our home.

This girl always keeps us on our toes! Whether it be from learning she is allergic to dog saliva to climbing on anything and everything she can and then hanging her toes over the edge waiting for you to acknowledge her. The poor girl got licked by a dog at the hayride my parents hosted before Halloween. We didn't realize it because we were in the dark having a bonfire. When we got home her eye was nearly swollen shut and looked really hot! This picture was the next morning. I felt awful! Justin assured me she would be ok as he has struggled his whole life with allergies.

 It has amazed me while living in this new home, that no matter the weather it seems there is always some new beauty to behold. We have been working on tearing all the dead stuff out, but these purple mums were in the middle of it all. My grandma had an amazing knack at always surrounding herself with beauty!

 On the hayride with cousins. They were all over the moon about the fun and being together!

 Natalie got her Christmas dress from Grandma a couple of weeks ago. It is beautiful and honestly I am nervous for her to wear it because I don't want it to get ruined. She felt so special to get the dress and insisted on having it by her while she slept that night. 

She keeps telling us she is going to be a "little princess" for Christmas! I told her it was beautiful enough to wear to a ball.

 Selfie after a morning workout for a challenge group I was part of. This month I decided to cancel my Beach Body on Demand subscription to save a little money. That means I have been researching and making up my own. It has been hard, which makes it good! Working out is such a blessing to me each day.

 At the outstanding pumpkin patch in Ontario! We loved getting to spend a couple hours there playing.

 Playing outside in the shop.

Yet again climbing to explore her world and show off to mom. This is life right now, sometimes it drives me crazy but I try really hard to be grateful for it because I know it will be gone to soon.

Justin and Ruth Blazzard

My Fall

 One picture of the hundreds of jars I have canned this Fall. It has been a fun work project as it is rewarding to see my storage shelves fill up.

 It has definitely been a challenge doing it with the kiddos. Natalie has been a good sport. Here she is eating a piece of buttered toast (her favorite snack) in a box the peaches came in.

 Jenna loved sneaking into the laundry room and finding  a bucket of pears on the ground that she could help herself too. She thought she was living life like a "Boss" when she could carry a pear around eating it.

 A little sign I want for my kitchen! It was from 1940's during World Ward II when food was being rationed. I went to a Preparedness Fair recently and found this poster board fascinating to read about. The amount allotted to people during the Great Depression and World War. Life may get interesting if we ever have to go back to rationed food. Anyways, canning has been a blessing for my family. Our garden even though it had a ton of weeds in it produced well allowing for a lot of Spaghetti sauce and green beans. I was also blessed to get free apples for apple pie filling and apple sauce! The Lord is blessing us.

Justin and Ruth Blazzard

What a Week

Last week was one for the books. It began Monday. While watching the baby girl I watch on Mondays' and Tuesday for a couple of hours, I heard Jenna letting off a hurt cry in the kitchen. I went in to investigate where I found Jenna face down under the table. I hastily accused Natalie of pushing her, but she was insistent that she did not. We will never know, but Jenna ended up with evidence of a very hard fall on her front noggin.

Tuesday we went to have lunch with my Grandma after story time. Jenna did not want to sit in my lap and eat so went off to play with what toys she could find while the rest of us did. She found a mini metal shopping cart and carried it over towards where we were. I believe she set it down to push it behind my chair, but it caught on the carpet and she tripped and fell into it. The moment her face appeared from the tumble I knew there would be stitches. We headed to the pediatricians office for her first stitches that were full of crying.Crying from the experience, and from not having a nap yet.

                                           Before                                                                                                       

                                                                                                           After

 I had given Jenna her pacifier to take a nap, even after being advised not to because of her lip. That is her one comfort item and I wanted her to be able to sleep after the traumatic incident. When she woke up I was almost certain a stitch was missing. Justin came home to check it out and he too thought the bottom was. He took her back to the doctor's that early evening. Thankfully all the stitches were in place, a top string had come off the stitch that would dissolve, but all was well.

 Natalie found her Christmas wish- a Power Wheels Cinderella Barbie Carriage, too bad it is $400....

Then for the scariest moment that week. Jenna has what is called "Holding Breath Spells." When she gets mad or hurt she will suck in air to scream, but sometimes never lets it out and then her body passes out to get her to breathe again. It lasts 5-15 seconds and while scary the first time we saw it, she is ok. I have seen her do this a handful of times since July and know what we are dealing with. 

For the last 4 weeks she hasn't had any episodes like this, for which we are grateful. Mostly they happen when she is over tired. 

Thursday night she was upset when Justin brought her out to show me a trick she was doing after bath. Instead of repeating her cute behavior, she just cried for me. Justin told her "No, you are going to go get dressed." For some reason this thoroughly upset her and she went into holding her breath. 

Only this time it lasted a long time and she didn't seem to be coming out of it. When she did start breathing again she went into a seizure. Her eyes would not track, she was non-responsive and her limbs were stiff with a slight tremor. This lasted for minutes and was very scary. We called 911 and tried to just keep her comfortable.

When she woke up she seemed cold, so I got her dressed and then she fell right asleep in my arms.

 I didn't understand what was going on at the time. When the EMT's arrived they referred to it as such and it clicked. 

 When they arrived she was awake, very tired and very pale. 

They took her vitals and she checked out ok, but we were told we needed to take her to the E.R. tonight.

We did, but they didn't do or tell us anything that we needed there.

 The next day we followed up with her pediatrician. She listened to me recount what had happened. She said it definitely sounded like a seizure to her. 

No known cause. It could happen again, it could never happen again. 

There is no way to prove it or prevent it.

Right now, medically she does not need further testing.

If it happens again she will need to have a EEG done by a Pediatric Neurologist.

If we wanted to, we could have one done right now just for our own peace of mind.

I pray it never happens again.

 This is her at the Pediatricians office waiting for something. 

She did great with her neurological exam that day. 

I am hoping that everything was due to over exhaustion and stress on the body. 

Since Thursday we have been very careful about her getting naps and to bed at a good time.

This girl is very particular and needs her schedule.

 So there you have it, between Tuesday and Friday last week we went to the doctor 3 times, called 911 and had a visit at the Emergency Room. Not a week I want to repeat. We are grateful for family and friends who were willing to help with whatever and have checked up on us. 

Little J, someday we will be past these days and will maybe even laugh about them, but for right now you keep life interesting.

Justin and Ruth Blazzard