Big Girl Bed!

I know I posted about Lydia making the move into her big girl bed and I wanted to post the final pics of her room...for posterity purposes! Anyways it has been a pretty seamless transition. We have had one night where Chris had to lay in there until she fell asleep but she took way too late of a nap and was in sort of a funk. But nap times and bed times have been totally fine. It is always funny to me though when I put her down with nothing in her bed and when she wakes up I find all sorts of toys and books. It is so funny to me how much she really loves her freedom. I have also woken up to her a few mornings causing mischief. One morning I found her in the bathroom flushing tons of toilet paper. Another morning she took her little stool around to all the lights in the house and turned them all on (this was at 6:00 am) and another morning she let Che' out of his room, anyways she loves her big girl bed and I love it too. Now reading to her each night is a ritual and has become a very bright part of my day! Anyways here are the pics of the new room!

Her little forest mural...she loves the owls!

I was obsessed with the "Brooke" collection at pottery barn but it was way too expensive, so I was so excited when "Target" came out with their knock off!

I think Lydia's room fits her...a little wild! (ha ha ha!)

What can I say, I think she likes all the new space!

When you gotta go...

Well I didn't really want to push the whole toilet training thing until Lydia was showing signs that she was ready. About a month ago she decided that she wanted to flush the toilet, which was a big step considering that before she was sort of afraid of that. Then she started saying "I go potty" so we got her a little toilet seat attachment and a stool to get up. Well on several occasions I have caught her she has taken all of her clothes off, got the seat out and set it up and put her stool over by the toilet. I have to put her on the toilet myself about 4 times a day, and she get's so stinking excited about it...I love it! She doesn't ever actually go but she sits and goes through the motions and loves washing her hands at the end. It is so funny to see your kids grow up and so amazing when they decide something for themselves. I figure that it will happen naturally, and when she is ready!

Cravings

Oh boy I'm CrAvInG...

Oranges

Strawberries

Cheddar ruffles

Walnuts

Cherry Kool-Aid

Sweet Pickles

BUTTER

(I think this one has just been intensified since I always crave butter!)

Cinnamon-Sugar Toast

Corn Chex

Shredded BBQ Sandwhiches

Cheese, Cheese and more cheese

SALAD

(with cheese, walnuts, strawberies and a few of the other cravings as well!)

Sour Candy

Green Apple Dum Dum's

Turkey wraps (from Costco)

I even ate Lydia's left over burger from "Burger King"

(My first burger since I was 12)

To say the least I think that this baby has some pretty particular tastes! I don't ever remember having quite the cravings with Lydia. I seriously could eat oranges for a week and don't think it would come close to filling that one!

What did you/do you crave while prego?

My "best friends" wedding!

So Chris and I and Lydia had the chance this weekend to go to St. George for my best friends wedding. First of all Amanda is seriously the most amazing person that I have ever met and known. She is such a great friend and I really don't think that I really truly appreciate what her friendship really means to me. She is the kind of friend that would decorate my room before drill competitions in high school, even though I went to Hillcrest and she went to Brighton. She is the kind of friend that have never forgotten my birthday since I was 12...no joke. And she is the kind of friend that has sent me a mother's day card for the past two years. Who are we kidding friends like this don't exist and I'm not nearly that thoughtful.

Anyways as soon as we got the invitation to her wedding I was so excited. #1 that Amanda had finally found someone who appreciated and loved Amanda like she deserved. And #2 that the wedding was in St. George. First of all you have to know that for a living Mandz is an event planner so I knew going in that this was going to be a wedding I would never forget and seriously it was even better than I ever imagined. I wished I could re-do my entire wedding and have her plan it, that's how great it was.

Anyways here were a few of the highlights!

-Friday Fiesta:

-Amazing authentic mexican food

-Seeing Amanda's Mom, Fiance' Danny and Danny's dad and grandpa in authentic mexican pancho's (it was awesome!)

-She had a welcome gift for everyone attending the wedding...which included amazing chips and salsa and a cookie from great harvest that was to die for.

-Chris and I having no where to stay and luckily the Budget inn and suites had a cancellation, so we got hooked up with a "sweet" suite for very inexpensive.

-Taking Lydia to Fiesta fun...$0 Yeah!

-Saturday pre-wedding day:

-Getting "The Egg and I" for breakfast

-Heading to the outlet's...didn't really find anything but the weather was good.

-Going to the Sand Hollow aquatic center...Lydia loved all the water slides and the heated pool.

-Saturday Wedding go time:

-Getting to the ceremony as it is starting. Danny was walking down the aisle and literally told me it was "OK" and that I should "Run!" ha ha ha...Chris had to sneak in later it was out door and very difficult to sneak since you had to walk across the golf coarse.

-Seeing Todd walk Amanda down the aisle...so sweet.

-Hearing their vows, they were amazing. They couldn't take their eyes off of each other it was so sweet.

-After the ceremony hors durves (sp) Chris is still talking about the coconut shrimp.

-The amazing decorations and details of the wedding. It was at "The Ledges" of St.George. So every guest got golf tee's with "Danny loves Amanda" printed on them, there were even golf balls with the logo. She also had a kids table with coloring books, candy and even barrel of monkeys. Also the kids got chicken strips and fries instead of the gourmet food...oh my every detail was though of!

-The toast...Chris and I had to use Lydia's martinelli's since they just assumed we were over 21 and drank (ha ha ha!) But They all had me in tears especially Amanda! Love, Love, Love that girl.

-Her dress.... can I just say AMAZING! I will have to steal pictures from someone soon so people can see this dress she looked like a star seriously!

Anyways it was such an amazing wedding and so fun to see my best friend in love with her best friend! Anyways Danny and Amanda we love you guys so much and we felt so blessed to be apart of you wedding!

What do you mean your moving?

Well I'm sure that some of you have heard me talk about (as I usually put it) "my back door neighbor...Jill!" My dad calls her the cookie girl. The first time my dad met her was when we were getting ready to move in and she brought over cookies, my dad thought that was so nice. Well two weeks ago we were so sad to hear the news that Jared got a job offer in Dallas and that they would be moving out in two weeks. Needless to say I was absolutely heart broken. When Chris called to break the news to me I was literally crying. It isn't very often that you have a neighbor that becomes such a close friend. Jill and I about6 months ago started running in the mornings together. At first I appreciated having someone to get me out of bed and off of my butt, but soon it turned into so much more. It was so nice to have the opportunity to talk to someone and vent amongst other things. To compare kids, and bounce ideas off of each other. I started to look forward to our 6:45 am runs just to have my "therapy session" with Jill (ha ha ha!) It was also so fun to get to know their darling family. Her two boys Parker and Tage are seriously the cutest kids ever, you may remember me putting dibs on Tage for Lydia when she get's older. They have been the best neighbors, always watching out for us, and just as sweet as can be. I am so excited for the adventure that lies ahead, and I can only hope that we are able to stay in touch. For now I'm sad to see them go and to loose my friend/running buddy/therapist. Bowcutts good luck...we will definitely miss you more then you will ever know!

All things GEEEENNNN!

Well who are we kidding when you have a kid holiday's take on a whole new meaning. This year we were invited by our good friends the Visser's over for a "St. Patty's Day" celebration to remember. It involved a lot of green decorations, green food and a leprechaun hunt that will not soon be forgotten. It was so much fun seeing all the kids faces light up as they were on the hunt. Thanks Stacie it was a great night and the food was delicious!

My not so happy little leprechaun, she wanted to see the picture before I even took it...such a hard life (ha ha ha!)

Lydia loved all the "geen" every where, that is all I heard all day was "GGGGGEEEENNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!"

Stacie decorated her house so cute...I'm glad I have her cause who are we kidding I'm not that creative (ha ha ha!)

The little girlies in green. Between Jeni, Stacie and I there are 6 girls and 2 boys...poor Trae and Crew are a little outnumbered!

Green Alfredo chicken pasta

Stacie's amazing over the rainbow Jell-o...isn't that incredible it was like eating art (ha ha ha!)

The other green foods!

The kids loved all the green foods

Then it was time to decorate their pot to collect gold in case a Leprechaun came by.

The kids on the hunt for the leprechaun, he took them to the T.V. room, the Piano, the bathroom, the basement the backyard and finally he showed them where his...

pot of gold was hidden!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Cousin time!

Well Lydia has spent a lot of time with her cousins over the past couple of weeks and to say that she has been in heaven would definitely be an under-statement. She wakes up every morning and asks where Bode and Raini are...I think she has really needed some company! We have loved having Bode and Raini over and have had a blast...

We played in the tent, went to McDonalds and even made Forts with Uncle Chris.

The kids yelling "HI" to Che...Lydia and Raini had matching P.J's (soo cute!)

Lydia loves her cousins!

Bath time, or more like bubble time...I have never seen so many bubbles in my life!

Chris made them all put bubbles on their head (ha ha ha!)

We even went to the aquarium. It was Chris' first time, and I think overall he and they had a great time!

Thanks for coming and playing Bode and Raini, please come again soon, then maybe Lydia will stop asking where you guys are (ha ha ha!)

Sleeping where?

For those of you who know Lydia well, you know that she is a great sleeper, but only in a bed. Well yesterday Lydia jumped out of her crib, and we decided it was time to move her into her big girl bed. We decided later than we should have that we would set it up and in the process I guess Lydia decided she was tuckered out. Well it got quiet and the next thing we knew that little girlie was asleep on the mattress in the family room. For as long as I have known Lydia (her whole life to be exact) she has never fallen asleep just anywhere, it was so cute to see and made me want to cry too because she is growing up!

She slept last night and is napping right now in her bed and she has done fabulous. She hasn't tried to get out of bed one single time, and I'm hoping it stays that way. I will post pics of the final product of the big girl bed soon, I think it is pretty cute (but then again I am biased!)

When no one is looking!

Lydia thinks it is so fun to rub diaper cream or lotion all over her face...I think it is pretty funny myself!

Stop and smell the roses!

We have had a lot of thing going on in our lives over the past few weeks, some of them have really made me realize that I need to just "Stop and smell the roses" for lack of a better saying.

I feel like sometimes my life is truly on auto-pilot and that includes my complaints about things in my life. Well I have a beautiful family, an amazing husband who loves me, a darling daughter who makes me smile every day, and I have the gospel. I know it may sound corny but what else matters?

I have spent a lot of time complaining about "this and that" and I'm just done. I'm a mom I'm always going to be busy, and tired and dirty but I'm grateful that I can walk and play with my daughter. I am never going to be able to control everything that happens to me in my life, but I can control how I react to the things that come my way. And my house is never going to be perfectly clean, the laundry totally done and I'm never going to look as good as I did when I got married...it is OK! I'm just so blessed to have the things I do, and the people in my life to share it with.

I hope that I remember this moment, this "Ah, Ha" this "Hit ya in the face" this "life is gonna pass you by" moment for a lot longer than I did last time, and I hope I can really make some changes in my life that will help me to see the positive things that are in my life!

So for everyone that has heard my complaining about how picked on, or how horrible the things that are going on in our lives are lately... just tell me to "STOP!" I won't be offended, I promise! Remind me of all the great things I have in my life and remind me that complaining isn't going to change anything, that is my job!

Update #2...the road to recovery!

We as a family would like to start by thanking everyone for all the love an support that has been given to Clint and Patrice.

As we said on our last post Clint went into surgery Saturday morning to repair the fracture on his Tibia. The doctors originally believed that the repair would require plates and several screws. They were surprised that they only needed a few screws to repair the break. Even though it only took a few screws Clint won't be able to put any pressure on his leg for two months. He will be in a full leg brace the entire two months, and will have to use a wheel chair until his shoulder is better healed up. On that note as far as the doctors can tell his shoulder injury is believed to be a severe separation. Luckily his leg and shoulder injury are on his left side. This is a blessing to know that he will eventually be able to throw a football, and play tennis again. I don't know if we mentioned anything about it last time, but since he came into the hospital they noticed some irregularities with his heart beat. The doctor even asked Patrice if Clint had a pace maker. They have met with a cardiologist and done all kinds of tests, but nothing has been determined yet. They will go back in next week so Clint can receive more tests, as well as get the staples out of his head and the stitches out of his leg. Also his back continues to be a concern, and is causing him the most pain at this time. There is no plan for surgery and the doctors believe that it should eventually heal on its own.

The best news is that late this afternoon Clint's doctors cleared him to go HOME!!! Hopefully it is not premature. Even though he is home Clint is still in a lot of pain, he will be spending most of his time in bed getting rested and recovered. Once he feels well enough to get out of bed he will have mobility issues. He will be dealing with a full leg cast, in a wheel chair and a bum shoulder in a house with nine stairs to every exterior door. Clint knows it will be a long road to recovery, but he is surprisingly optimistic, occasionally even cracking a joke.

Patrice has been so amazing though this whole situation. She was finally able to get a good night's rest after seeing Clint's progress Saturday. Today she is back to her up-beat and positive self. All she can say is "I'm so glad he is still alive." She was also able to see her OBGYN, who reassured her that the baby is doing fine and that she has nothing to worry about there.

Again we would like to express our deep gratitude to those people who have so selflessly stepped up to help them in this time of need. From watching kids, to cleaning their house, to donating money, every little thing is so appreciated. We also recognize the hand of the Lord during this crisis. All the prayers and fasting have been answered, and his recovery up until this point has been nothing less than miraculous.

Clint's Update

As most of you know Clint (our brother-in-law) was involved in a car accident. As a family we want to give an update on Clint's condition. We will make an effort to make additional blog posts to keep everyone informed of Clint's situation.

Wednesday morning Patrice was running late and wasn't going to make it on time to pick up Bode from Pre-school. Clint works close to the Pre-school so Patrice called him to see if he could swing by and pick him up. Shortly after Patrice received a call from Bode's pre-school teacher to see if anyone was on their way. Patrice was instantly alarmed and drove to Bode's pre-school going the route that Clint would've taken. She came upon a tragic accident only to discover that the mangled truck was Clint's. Clint's truck collided with a cement truck at a very notorious intersection. As she pulled up the paramedics were loading Clint on a stretcher and putting him into the "Life Flight" He was then flown to the Ogden Regional hospital. Once Clint arrived at the hospital the paramedics and doctors realized that his head trauma was so serious that he needed to be put into a drug induced coma. Due to the coma they also had to insert a breathing tube as well as many other tubes. This was a precaution that helps to slow the swelling and bleeding in the brain.

From the time he entered the hospital until Thursday we received very little news. We fasted and prayed that the bleeding and the swelling would subside. The doctors informed us that he had sustained other injuries in the accident, but as a precaution they chose not to treat them until he was stabilized. Thursday afternoon our prayers were answered, the neurologist informed us that there had been no additional swelling and the bleeding had stopped and would heal on its own. Late Thursday we were also encouraged to see Clint would squeeze hands and blink to communicate.

This morning brought more good news, the breathing tube came out and slowly he began talking. Also another CT scan was done and the neurologist predicted that he would have a full mental recovery. He was also then able to communicate to the doctors that he was in a great deal of pain. At this point the doctors were finally able to address the other injuries sustained in the accident. They determined that he has broken his back (fracturing three vertebrae), as well as vertically fracturing his tibia (shin bone), along with some kind of injury to his shoulder that has yet to be determined. Tomorrow morning Clint will go into surgery to receive plates and screws to repair the damage on the fractured tibia.

Many have asked what they could do and how they could help. So we decided tonight to set up an account in Clint’s name to help offset some of their expenses. As you may or may not know Patrice is expecting their 3rd child this July 2010. Like many young couples in this stage of life money is tight and this accident has been a major concern financially for Patrice and Clint. A donation of any amount would help ease their burden that they are baring at this time. We are grateful to know at this point that his mind should recover fully. Patrice has already expressed the feelings of comfort she has felt from your support and many prayers offered in their behalf. If you would like to help and make a donation you may do so by one of the following ways:

Go by any America First Credit Union and tell them you want to donate to Clint Pedersen, acct. # 9040270.

Or if you have an America First C.U. account, you can make a direct transfer from your account to his Clint Pedersen acct. #9040270.

Or you can mail a donation to: Clint Pedersen, Acct. #9040270America First Credit UnionP.O. Box 9199Ogden, UT 84409

Thank you again for all the concerns, prayers and support.
With much love the Pedersen and Knudsen Families

http://www.clintandpatrice.blogspot.com/