Here are a few random pictures Grandma took. This is Joe and my little brother Scott in Joe's office and here is Bekah, so grown up!

Home Sweet Home

It is so nice to have Grace home again. She is doing much better, and really enjoying quality time with Grandma. in case you are wondering... yes those are purple socks on her hands. They keep her warm and her face scratch free. :)

An update I wish we didn't have....

Last week Joe was home for spring break. We enjoyed it by getting the worst head colds of our lives. Body aches, chills, fever, cough, congestion, severe headache's... you name it and we were feeling it. We did the best we could to keep it from five week old Grace but our germs were everywhere. We noticed Grace was really fussy on Friday morning and then very sleepy on Friday afternoon, but we did not think much of it, babies are fussy and sleepy a lot. Saturday morning around 3 am I noticed Grace had a slight fever. We took her temperature and it was 99.8. She continued to be very sleepy but was still waking to eat every three hours. By Saturday afternoon she was not waking herself up at all, and even when I woke her to eat she was not nursing well. On Saturday evening it had been six hours since Grace had eaten well. I tried to wake her up and couldn't get her to open her eyes. She felt very warm. I finally got her to open one eye and tried to nurse her. She would not open her mouth, or keep her eyes open. We took her temperature and it was 101.1. I started to panic and called our doctor who told us to go to the ER immediately. After my initial freak out Joe gave her a blessing and we had a family prayer, ( thank goodness for a calm husband with the priesthood). I then headed to the ER with Joe promising to meet me there as soon as he got a hold of his parents to watch the kids.

On arriving at the ER and telling the front desk our situation we were immediately taken back and they began testing. The doctor told me it was very dangerous for such a young baby to have a high fever and that they needed to test for everything to be safe. They took her temperature, ( now 102) and stripped her to her diaper to cool her off. It was one of the saddest moments of my life to watch them giver her tiny hand an IV, prick her heals to take blood, take a urine sample, a chest X-ray, and lastly, but by far the worst, a spinal tap. Grace did not cry much, only whimpered, which made it even harder. They then admitted her to the NICU to monitor her, wait on the results and to pump her full of three different types of antibiotic.

I stayed with her and slept on a small cot right next to her in the isolation room. It was hard to hold and feed her with all the cords they hooked on her. They came in every hour to take her vitals and temperature, and then took blood every three hours. I am so thankful to say that after 24 hours her fever began to go down and after 48 hours it was gone. Her tests all came back normal and we just returned home on Tuesday afternoon. My mom arrived on Sunday afternoon and has been a huge help emotionally and physically as well as my sister Jani. I am so thankful our little Gracie is home and safe. I definatly take it for granted that we have such healthy children. That small experience really makes me feel for parents who deal with medical problems with there children, they are incredible people!!

Here are a bunch of pictures taken in the small isolation room. Most are taken on the end of day two when Grace was feeling better. When we were in the worst of it pictures were the last thing on my mind. The lovely woman in the pictures is my amazing mother. It was my mom's first time meeting Grace. They bonded right away.

We had beautiful Easter weather. The kids went right outside to play with new sidewalk chalk, (and FYI it also works on fences, grass, and snow)
















Grace loves when Daddy is home in the day because there is a good chance she will get to take a nap in her favorite spot.

The kids sorting through the goods. Jace is sorting his candy into category's...that is definitely my son.

Grace celebrated her first Easter with a new rabbit friend and several peaceful naps. I love how babies smile just before they are about to drift off. That's exactly how I feel when it's time to sleep.

We love the Easter bunny! He always leaves a trail of where he has hopped around. This year he hopped up the stairs to the kids room to see if they were asleep. ;)

What's Easter without coloring eggs... I highly recommend newspaper underneath. :) Grace was in the kitchen in her bouncy chair watching the action... this picture is a little funny but defiantly shows how alert she is.

Happy Easter


We had a wonderful Easter weekend. Joe took the kids to a community Easter egg hunt, they had a fun time racing to find eggs and treats.

and then there were four...

I cannot believe we are up to four kids... and beautiful ones, if I do say so myself. :)

WRESTLING

The boys have recently joined a wrestling team and are loving it. It is the first sport they have been able to do and it is a blast to watch. This last weekend they had there first tournament. Jace did very well winning two out of his three matches. Hyrum wrestled hard and was excited when he received his consolation medal at the end. They had a weigh in the night before and were both in the same weight devision, ( that is the # written on there arms). It has been fun for Joe to help during the practices and for the boys to be able to practice with each other at home.

Big Sister

Rebekah is an absolute dream big sister. She is my right hand girl and helps me with anything and everything baby. She loves to sit by me and talk to " baby Grace". She is the first to throw away the diaper, get a burp cloth, sing a song, bring the phone or just sit and talk to me about all things mommy. I love having these two little girls next to each other. Bekah has nothing but love and concern for sister, I am one lucky mama.

Sweet Gracie


The bow up... and the bow down. She was completely asleep and content, almost like the bow acted as a sleep eye covering. We love this little one.

Gracie loves her big brothers! Jace was holding her the other day and she just stared up at him for the longest time.

This other pic is just before leaving the hospital.



She is perfect.

Daddy loves her! Even though this is number four, we had forgotten how much we love our newborns!!! There is nothing like holding a brand new little one. They are so sleepy and snuggly. One thing we do remember is how fast they grow up. We just want to soak up every moment with this little one. Not that we have favorites... because we don't.... but who doesn't love the one that isn't mouthy or throwing a tantrum or crying about what we are having for dinner? Its a nice break to look away from all the chaos to the peacefully sleeping baby.

Jace has had a little bit of a cough so we had him wear a mask. He is so concerned about her getting his cough that even now at home he wants to wear it to protect her.