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!