We are still here

Wow, it's been over a year since I've written on here. Many of you have been after me to put more stuff on here and, really, I've been trying to find the time. If you could see my house you would know why I feel guilty for taking the time to blog when I should be cleaning up. Seriously, it's a mess. I try to at least keep the living room and kitchen clean. That way if you come over you'll hopefully only see those two rooms and think that maybe I'm keeping up on the rest of the house. Ha! You'd be fooled. At least my kids are fed, clean and happy, right?

We've had a lot of change this last year. Hazel turned 1. (I know she's getting ready to turn 2 soon) Gideon started going to Primary (more on that later) and Hazel started going to nursery. She's doing a great job and she loves her teacher, Sister Hale. She runs to her every week with her arms wide open and jumps into Sister Hale's waiting arms. It's really cute to see and I'm glad that she's having a good experience and that her teachers love her. Gideon likes his primary teacher, Sister Nightengale and talks about her during the week. She's great with the kids and has so much patience with Gideon. He has a strong will and doesn't always like to sit still. This past week we had General Conference and Sister Nightengale sent her kids a card in the mail letting them know that she wouldn't see them this past Sunday but that they should watch conference and come prepared the next week for a great Easter lesson from their other teacher, Sister Baxter. I think it's great that she thinks about the kids during the week and makes them a priority.

Our other big event this past year was the addition of Simon to our family. He caused us a lot of stress during the pregnancy and definitely kept it interesting. We're lucky that Grandma Diana could come out and stay with us on short notice in December and stay with us until Simon came. My blood pressure just kept going higher and higher and we had a lot of visits to the hospital to monitor him and myself and make sure we were both doing OK. Our goal was to get to 39 weeks but it just wasn't going to happen. I got admitted to the hospital at about 36 weeks for monitored bed rest. It was hard being away from Gideon and Hazel for those extra 5 days but it's good we were there since my pressures were a little crazy. It never turned into preeclampsia like it did with Gideon but my BP was much higher with Simon. These boys cause me problems from the beginning. We had Simon on January 24 at 37 weeks. He weighed 7lbs 6 oz and was 20 1/2". Good size for 37 weeks. He's doing well now and has jumped from 25th percentile to 75 in just a month. He's just about 13lbs and was 23" at his 2 month visit. He's started to coo and smile and lot and still eats ALL the time. He's not a great sleeper and will take a few short naps during the day and will sleep well at night if he's right next to me. If I move him away from me in the bed he wiggles until he's right next to me again. He's a funny kids with a strong will just like Gideon. I think we're going to be in trouble as he gets older.

Nathan and I are doing well. Nathan was called as the ward clerk so that's keeping him fairly busy. I'm playing piano in primary and love it. It's my dream calling and I love being in there with Gideon. We're all busy preparing for the temple open house coming up in a few weeks. Nathan and I get to work a shift on the 17; Nathan will be helping with parking and I'll be leading tours. In Spanish. That Nathan signed me up for cause I served a Spanish speaking mission. Ten years ago. And haven't spoken since. It's going to be interesting for those on my tours, I guess. Hopefully the gift of tongues comes back. :)

Here are a few pictures. I'll add more later with a few videos. 

 Our one snow fall.

 Making cookies with Nama

Gingerbread house fun.