Quick Christmas Re-cap

I'm so done with Christmas, but I wanted to at least post something about it before January.
We stayed here in Utah this year and had a very nice Christmas.
We had a nice Christmas Eve here at our house with just us. We at some soup (Brundage family tradition - well, it used to be!), made some cookies for Santa, read Luke 2 and attempted to have the kids act it out, but Henry REFUSED to play Joseph and he kept saying "I'm not Joseph, I'm Henry," and then everyone got to bed nice and early.
Christmas morning we had a fun time opening presents and playing with toys and games. Then in the afternoon we went down to Elk Ridge to spend time with Adam's family. We talked and ate yummy homeade pizza (Clark family tradition).
It was a very nice day and we were so very blessed.
So that's that - now let's get on to January!

Amazing Spinach

Did you all know that in 3 cups of spinach there is only 20 calories? Isn't that amazing? Well, at least that is what it said on the bag. But I find that fascinating.
That makes yummy spinach salads all the more scrumptious!
Just a little thought...

Thank you, Aunt Brooke!

Henry's best friend is his blanket. Seriously - he takes the thing EVERYWHERE. It was literally coming apart all over our house. While we were in California for Thanksgiving, Aunt Brooke was so nice to fix Henry's blanket (Aunt Brooke made it for him in the beginning). She put a whole new back on it and it's as good as new. We really appreciate this new life given to the all blessed blanket!

Interesting day at church

Today was a very exciting day because it was Ella's first day of nursery. I have been COUNTING down the days until today because for months it has been very difficult to keep her happy AND listen to the lessons in Sunday school and Relief Society.
So we take both Henry and Ella to nursery, but before we get too far, one of the nursery leaders asks us to stay and help because they're short-handed. Although we were SO very excited to enjoy our lessons ALL BY OURSELVES we decided to stay and help (well, Adam stayed for just Sunday school because he taught the lesson in Elder's Quorum).
We stayed in with the younger half of the nursery kids and that was sure interesting! We've never been in nursery before and my goodness! Lots of kids and lots of stuff going on. I now sing praises to the nursery workers and leaders - they sure have a huge ordeal going on there. There were probably about 20 kids where we were and they said that there were a lot missing. Not to mention that there are about 3 or 4 other classes with the older kids!
So then just before the end of church, I was out in the hall with a very sad little boy who cried a little less when we were in the hall. Then all of a sudden one of the teachers runs out of a room and says "Henry just threw up!" I hand off the kid I was holding and I go in there and sure enough, throw up EVERYWHERE. And poor little Jonie - she was sitting so quietly and patiently on the floor with throw up all over her dress. It was stinky and yucky - and I was the mom! The poor people who weren't his mom...
He must have a bug because he's thrown up a few times since we've been home.
And listen to this - Jonie (the little girl he threw up on) brought a can of chicken noodle soup and a card that read: To Henry, love, Jonie. Feel Better! Jonie says "It's okay you threw up on my dress. I can have my mom wash it."
So cute! Thanks Jonie, Jessica, and Josh! That was really thoughtful.
So yeah - that was our fun day at church. :) Usually it isn't so eventful...

Gas, gas, gas

Yesterday, I filled up my WHOLE gas tank in my van (it was on empty) for only $23!! WOW! I bought the gas at costco for only $1.48/gallon. That makes me VERY happy! This summer it was almost $50 to fill up that same tank.

Funny gas story:
Last Saturday we stopped in Barstow to fill up and just off of the freeway we pulled into a 76 station. We stopped at the pump, but then we realized that gas was $2.53. We thought that maybe we could find something a little better so we pulled away. Just around the corner we found an AM PM and the gas was only $1.75!!! Isn't that crazy? I can see it being maybe a .10 difference, but it was almost a whole dollar! That saved us about $10 on the whole bill. We were pretty shocked. Adam must have been inspired to go look for something different!

Ella's Seizure

Some of you already know this story, but I thought I'd post it for the rest of you.
We came back from California Saturday and Sunday and we stayed in Mesquite Saturday night. Ella was working on a fever on our drive on Saturday. Before she went to bed we gave her some Tylenol, but she woke up at about midnight just burning up. I gave her some ibuprofen, but her fever just wouldn't break. We don't have a whole lot of experience with fevers - we've probably only had 2 since Henry was born - and so we didn't really know what to do. We put cold wash cloths on her and had her in our bed with us, but we left her jammies on her (which were really warm jammies - not a good idea). Just before 3 am she flopped over onto me and was sleeping. At about 3, she let out a big yell and started into a seizure. We both jumped up and Adam said to put her onto her side. We weren't exactly sure what was happening, but we did know that it was a seizure. Adam grabbed more wet wash cloths and put them on her head and I held her on her side. I was so worried she would stop breathing and I kept listening to make sure her heart was still beating. We really just didn't know what to expect. Adam called 911 and told them we had a 1 year old in the middle of a seizure. He left the room to wait for the paramedics and I just kept telling her to stay with me and that mommy loved her. I really had no idea what to expect. Once her body calmed down and her eyes relaxed back to their normal position, I took her jammies off and she was SO hot under them (they were just holding the heat in). She just layed there very still for a long time. Sometimes she cried a little. The paramedics came and said that her temp was 102.9 (which wasn't bad at all) and tested to make sure that she was getting enough oxygen. Her seizure was probably only about 1-2 minutes, which isn't dangerous. They said over 5 minutes is when it can be a problem. They told us that fever-induced seizures are really common and that they have no lasting effects. But they also encouraged us to go to the hospital to have them help us get her fever down and to check her out. Oh - and they also said that seizures take a lot out of you and so that is why she was just laying there so still - that her body was just exhausted.
So I took her to the hospital and they gave her both tylenol and ibuprofen at the same time. By the time we left her fever was down. And apparently if your child has had this kind of seizure they are more prone to have them again if their temperature rises too quickly. So now we have to be on alert with Ella and fevers!
I can't tell you how grateful we are that she is safe, but I also can't tell you how extremely frightening that situation was. I NEVER want to see one of my kids in that state ever again for my whole life. It has left a horrible memory in our minds.
We sure do love our little Ella Bella, though. She is such a joy and she keeps us on our feet!

Mischievious 3 year old!

This morning Henry decided to play with our food coloring while I was in the shower! When I came downstairs he was sitting in the living room with his hands covered in color and I asked him what it was and his reply was "the bird feeder." It took me a little while to figure out what he was talking about, but I guess he called it that because when we make Hummingbird food, we add red food coloring. It came out of the tile, but not out of the grout. And everything came off his hands and his clothes, except for the red. We're still working on getting the red out! Does anyone have any ideas for cleaning the grout?




Below is the red leftovers! Crazy, isn't it?

Fall Leaves!

On Friday Henry and I had a blast playing in some fallen leaves while Ella was "trying" to nap. It was surprisingly really fun - I never did stuff like this when I was growing up because we didn't have a lot of leaves during this season. It's a fun activity to do!

Ella Likes Tubs

Ella loves to get into any kind of basket or tub. But she always needs help getting out and sometimes she needs help getting in. She's spend half her day in tubs if she could. She's such a nut, I tell you!

First Tiny Snow Fall

We had a little bit of snow this past week (just a wee little). Although it didn't last long (it was gone by the end of the morning), the kids sure did enjoy it!

Ghosttown

Has anyone seen Ghosttown? We saw it at the dollar movie on Friday night and we really liked it. It seems like movies aren't as good as they used to be and so we're always surprised to find one that we really enjoy. Try this link to see the trailer for the movie.
A word of caution about the movie, though, if you haven't seen it (the movie, not the trailer) - it has some bad language in it. Why do they have to do that? It's just so unnecessary!

Beautiful Fall Colors

The trees have be SO fantastic this last week. Today I had the camera in the car and so I couldn't help pull over and take a picture of this GORGEOUS tree that caught my eye. Isn't it so beautiful?

Thursday's Hero

Today we went to BYU to see Adam's brother, Ammon, be honored as "Thursday's Hero."
My understanding of what Thursday's hero is someone who the BYU football team chooses who they feel represents a good attitude and character in the midst of adversity. Someone correct me if I'm wrong... :)
We all went with Ammon to tour the football office and facilities and then we went out to the field where football practice was going on and Ammon got to be in the middle of all of the football players and they talked to him and gave him gifts and it was great! I think that it's even going to be on the news. It was a lot of fun.

This is one of the players presenting Ammon with a big Y flag that they were all going to sign before the afternoon was over.


Ammon chatting it up with head coach Bronco Mendenhall.


Ammon chatting with quarterback Max Hall and...some other guy.


All of us on the practice field.


And one of my favorites - Henry with quarterback Max Hall.

Way to go, Ammon - that was so cool! Thanks for letting us come share that with you.

Confession

I bought some new pants a few weeks ago and I couldn't decide between the smaller size and the bigger size. I wore them around the house for a while trying to decide (I had purchased the smaller size) when I spilled food on them. So that was my decision. But now that I have completely committed to them I now know that I should have exchanged them for the larger size. I feel complete buyer's remorse and I hate the feeling! They are just a little too snug to be flattering and I just feel sick about it.
Does anyone else do this or is it just me?

Vanessa

Hey everyone - this is a little publicity for my friend, Vanessa's, blog (mostly for the ladies). You can find the link for it at the bottom of my friend and family list on the side of my blog page.
Vanessa is probably the most talented person...ever. And on her blog she does a lot of tutorials on how to do the things she does. Plus, it's just fun to see all of her creations.
And then it's also nice to see what her family is up to. She has 4 children and a husband who is serving in Iraq (for only 5 more months - yeah!). She is one amazing chica.
If you read this, Vaness, I hope this doesn't embarrass you - just know that I love you! I figured you didn't have a big enough following for your blog (ha ha)...

Lost sippy cup

So, we've had a sippy cup go missing I think around Tuesday, maybe, and it had milk in it! It's so sad. I'm sure it's around here somewhere! And I'm pretty much come to terms with the fact that I will just have to throw it away when I find it. The idea of cleaning it out does not appeal. This sort of thing is frustrating to me! I like order and this is very much out of order...

Funny...no...ridiculous story

So we went to the Gap today (Henry, Ella and I). We were in the men's sale section and there was this huge row of shirts - well, there were 2 rows - one on top and one on the bottom. I was engrossed in my searching and I sort of heard Henry say "this one is perfect for me." A moment later I look over to him and he is almost completely undressed (everything was off but the diaper, which was about to come off). I guess he was going to try on the shirt that was perfect for him or something. This is where the ridiculous part comes in. I go to put his clothes back on and his shirt was no where to be found. I searched and searched and SEARCHED through those blasted shirts and his shirt was GONE. I kept shaking them around in hopes that it would fall to the bottom, but it was not there.
We had some other shopping to do in the store and so we went around for a while and every once in a while I would come back to that spot and shake the clothes around and look under and over the shirts and still - NO SHIRT! I even asked a bunch of the sales associates, but they didn't know anything about it. So the whole time we were at Gap, Henry was wearing jeans, flip flops and no shirt. I wonder what people must have though of me!
Finally at the end I said a prayer (per Adam's request) and that time I was blessed to find his shirt under the other shirts. I guess it finally fell through.
Isn't that just the most bizzare thing? It was so ridiculous, I tell you!

For the love of Bounce and Chuck

I've decided that 2 of my favorite things are Bounce and Chuck.
Bounce, meaning Bounce Dryer Sheets (outdoor fresh scent), smell SO BLASTED GOOD! I bought some at the store yesterday and ever since I have felt like one of those febreeze commercials where the people can't stop smelling it. It sure does smell great. And I love to go into my laundry room because the whole thing smells like it. It's just so fantastic.
Has anyone ever watched Chuck? Last year was it's first season and I really liked it. Although, it ended with the writing strike and so it's been off for about 9 months. The second season just started this week and I've decided that I REALLY like it a lot. I think it's my favorite show. It's on at a bad time (monday night at 7) and so I usually just watch the episodes online at nbc.com and it's great because you get to watch it with no commercial interruption. :) I sound like a commercial myself! Plus, you can watch it when you have the time (for instance, I just watch Monday's episode last night). Anyways, if you haven't seen it yet, check it out!

Happy Birthday Henry!

Today is Henry's 3rd Birthday! What a big boy!
We are so grateful to have Henry in our family. He has been such a joy these last 3 years. Henry is a really good boy with a lot of spirit and he is a great big brother. Here are a few pictures of his life so far:





Happy Birthday, Buddy! We love you so much!

New Hair Cut

So I got a little crazy and got a pixie hair cut last night. Well, I've been planning it for about a week or 2, trying to gather opinions, etc.
But you know what? I think I love it. I just showered and styled it for the first time and it was probably THE BEST experience of my life. It was so easy! And my hair has never been easy. For the most part it was already in place before I did anything and that is just NOT like my hair.
It's actually pretty fun.
Pictures are now here for your viewing pleasure (hopefully pleasure).

3 blessings

I know I'm post happy lately, but I just can't help it.
I wanted to tell you about 3 blessings from today.
Blessing #1: I went to the doctor to get a refill on my allergy therapy stuff that I've been taking (some of you remember my story about it a while back) and they said that my body is no longer allergic to any of those things and I am done (after almost a year of taking it). Yeah! I'm not sure what that all means, but now I can (someday) get pregnant with a POSSIBLE hope to not be AS sick as before, since one of the things I was allergic to was progesterone. Supposedly...? We'll see, I guess! It was well worth the shot.
Blessing #2: I bought wipes at Costco today and when I was checking out the checker scanned a $3 off coupon for the wipes for me. I thought that was so nice of her.
Blessing #3: Adam has been given a new responsibility at work. They asked him to be over training the new sales team members. I guess he's in charge of designing the program and implementing it and he'll get to do some of the training, which he loves. He said that he's done a few trainings already today. This is a great change because Adam loves doing this and he is so good at it. Way to go, baba!

Cute Ella

This is a dress that Ella's Aunt Brooke made for Ella's cousin, Maggie. We've borrowed a lot of Maggie's clothes and Ella finally fits this dress and it's so cute on her!

Old friends

Our good friends, the Warrens, surprised us on Saturday night. They called and said they were in town and wanted to come see us yesterday. They came over for about an hour in the morning before church. It was so fun to see them! Emily is on the left and Laura is on the right. And the picture below is a picture of me and Emily about 15 years ago! The Warrens lived in San Luis Obispo for a few years when I was about junior high age. I babysat for them and I LOVED them. They moved away and we've been good friends ever since. I used to visit them all the time and we've just kept in touch. It's fun to watch the kids all grow up and it was so much fun to see them yesterday.

Yummy quesadillas

This is probably my favorite quesadilla. It has refried beans, cheese, tomatoes, avocados, salt pepper and onion powder. Mmmm...I wish I had one right now!

Loving the outside and the water

Henry and Ella love to play outside and they love to play with water. These 2 pictures are of them water the garden this last week.
The baby pool in the front yard came about because Henry started splashing in a puddle that was in the street in front of our house. I didn't want his clothes all wet and so I his swim suit on. Then as he started LAYING in the water I decided it was time to borrow our neighbors little pool.
They had a ball in that little pool. Ella was a sleep the first round, but she happily joined in second round.

Note the absolute fullness of Henry's diaper! It soaked that water right up!