Team Keck

London Bridges and an update

2015-02-27T02:44:00.000-08:00

Lately I have been in a bit of a funk. It started when I came across a guy I had gone to college with. We took all the same classes, majored in the same thing and graduated together. I saw where he was working and how much he was making and it made me sick to think I had given all that up. "I could totally be doing that" I thought to myself, and allowed myself to get pretty bummed about it. But then I took a good hard look at my life. What I am doing is important. I am kissing boo boos and making snacks. I am playing dress up and cars, and ring around the rosies. I am reading"A Busy Spider" countless times, painting tiny toes and braiding hair. I am raising kids and even though I'm not getting paid for it, it is the most important thing I could be doing right not and I consider myself pretty blessed.

These kiddos just can't seem to resist growing up no matter how much I try to persuade them to stop doing so! They are learning and growing each day! I am so in love with each of their huge personalities!

Aiden Age 4
Aiden is enjoying Preschool and has been learning SO MUCH!! His speech has improved since September and I know it's due to being around other kids and his amazing teachers. He is doing so well in learning how to write. He can write his own name and enjoys figuring out what each word starts with and then asking me how to spell the rest of it. He cannot wait to "be big" and play basketball like his cousin Karson. He cannot stop talking about how much fun he had at Disneyland and prays daily for each and every ride he went on. He is enjoying reading the Book of Mormon with mom and Chapter Books like "My Father's Dragon" and "The Magic Tree House" series. His favorite color is pink and he loves to ride his bike (without training wheels) jump on the tramp and basically do anything active. He recently went to his first movie in the theatre "Big Hero 6" and was amazed at how many seats there were!

Hadley Age 2 1/2
Hadley is my little mommy. She can constantly be found with some sort of "baby" either feeding it, changing it's bum or putting it to sleep. And at any time of day you can find a baby "sleeping" in each bed in the house. While Aiden and lyla are so much alike and love to play outside, Hadley is her own little person and would much rather stay inside and play in her kitchen. She a typical dramatic girl and if she gets mad she runs to her room with her hands covering her face which always makes me giggle. She also loves the color pink, anything Minnie Mouse or Ariel related, and has just started saying prayers on her own. She is our little finder and if you ask her where anything is, she will most likely be able to tell you! She loves to cuddle with mom and make cookies with dad.

Lyla Age 16 Months

Lyla is the boss. She believes herself to be 6 year old and wants the world to know it. If I do or give something to the older kids, she has to take part of it. She has such a a strong personality I could seriously just sit and watch her all day and be completely entertained. She is adventurous, loves to climb up everything, and if she wants something she will figure out a way to get it! She LOVES to DANCE and sing, adores anything Frozen related and singing "Let It Go" will almost always stop any tantrum she is throwing. If she gets too frustrated she throws herself on the floor, face down, palms up and just sits there until she's ready to play again, it's her form of a tantrum. She is starting to talk and her voice is just about the most adorable thing every! I make it a daily goal to get her to say "WHOA" for me because it's quite possible my favorite thing EVER!

DANCE PARTY

2015-02-26T02:01:00.000-08:00

Feeling extra lucky to call these little humans (and big man)

ALL MINE!

No matter how crappy of a day it's been

there's nothing a good kitchen dance party can't cure!

So throw your cares aside, turn up those tunes

and shake your booty with those who love enough

not to care how silly you might look!

Aiden's Savings

2015-02-25T01:53:00.000-08:00

We gave Aiden a piggy bank two years ago where he would put loose change that he found

and then on a rainy day we'd get out some money and go to the dollar store and pick out a toy.

In an attempt to start teaching him about money and saving s

I got out all of his coins the other day and we went over what each one was

and talked about saving your money.

We then started counting how much he had

during the process I asked him what he wanted to save for

without hesitation he relied

"AN I-PAD"

he's got $11.83

he is well on his way. . .

DISNEYLAND!

2015-02-24T01:47:00.000-08:00

To say I was excited for this trip would be a HUGE understatement.

I have been DYING to go to Disneyland my ENTIRE life!

(Ok I did go when I was about 18 months old but seeing as how there are

NO memories of it I feel like that disqualifies it as actually going.)

I'm not kidding you when I say I'd tear up with excitement

just watching those Disneyland Ads on TV!

So when my parents announced a family trip to the "happiest place on earth"

I'm not exaggerating when I say I was easily the most enthusiastic person in the room!

I was most excited for the character experiences

and Aiden and Hadley are the perfect age for it!

They LOVE Mickey Mouse and all his friends

so Toon Town was a huge hit,

and have just gotten into the Princesses.

which we did not even have to wait in line for!

There is not difference between reality and make-believe in their

preciously innocent minds

so each and every experience was just so unbelievable sweet.

Minnie (pictured above) was there right when we walked in the door

which was PERFECT and really got the kids in the Disney spirit for the rest of the day!

Our Mickey experience was so magical it brought tears to my eyes.

We met him at his house, where we could have a private room with him

before entering the room Hadley made sure her ears were on straight

and her dress was properly fluffed

(as if she was preparing for her first date-I kid you not)

Then as soon as we walked in

our shy little-does not even let strangers look at her-little girl

ran and gave him a tight, arms wrapped tightly around his neck, kind of hug

and kept kissing his nose.

It was ridiculously cute!

Ariel was waiting for us as we got off the Dumbo ride

Hadley wiggled out of my arms to run to greet her

Aiden embraced her like an old friend

stating "We've been looking for you!"

To which she replied

"I've been looking for you too, I'm glad we found each other!"

It was perfect and we've been watching nothing but

The Little Mermaid

every since, I think someone might have their first crush!

Both kids did unexpectedly well with the rides.

Hadley was an inch too short to ride most of the bigger rides

but didn't seem to mind until the end of the last day

when she didn't get to ride on the swings

YIKES!

But other than that she was pretty good about opting to head for the more kid friendly rides

with the Buzz Lightyear and Little Mermaid rides being her favorite.

At first we could get Aiden to go on everything.

The 3d Space ride, thunder Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean

He was completely fine

Then we made the mistake of taking him on the Pinochio ride

which is one of those "sit in a cart and ride thought scenes of the movie" kind of rides.

BIG MISTAKE

I forgot how incredibly creepy that movie is!

After that, getting him to go on any ride that was inside a building was a bit more difficult

but not impossible.

His favorite rides were Autopia- because he got to drive the car

and a rocket one that you could control the rocket going up and down.

Being with all the cousins was such a blast

and it all worked out so perfectly.

We would go one some rides all together

but mostly we broke into groups of

the older kids that wanted to go on rides like

Tower of Terror 10 times in a row

and the younger kids that wanted to meet the characters

So everyone got to do what they wanted

and everyone was happy!

It was all SO PERFECT!!

I'm already starting to pinch pennies to go back,

hoping next time to be able to take Lyla along with us!

Thanks again Mom and Dad

for the dream come true!

I couldn't have pictured it more perfect

well maybe without an ER run (wink!)

Another Mommy Moment

2014-10-21T11:34:00.002-07:00

Yesterday was one of THOSE days. One of those days where you start to rethink your decision to have and raise children. One of those days where you believe your children’s whole purpose in life is to see how far they can push you before you literally burst into flames from your blood boiling with rage. And one of those days where you lock yourself in the closet and consume an entire bag of chocolate chips in one gigantic gulp without even breaking a sweat. Please tell me you’ve had one of those days!!

We had been out of town for a couple days and anytime we break from the routine the consequences can be unpleasant when we return to normal life. I was not expecting the catastrophic measures my children would take while detoxing from our fun weekend vacation.

The day started with fight after fight originating from my first offspring who woke up in a fowl mood. It continued all morning and then when I asked him to go get dressed for the day it turned into a full fledged tantrum like I had just asked him to burn all of his favorite toys! I calmly put him in his room for a time out where he proceeded to kick the door out of frustration. This is nothing new, and he had already weakened the door but it wasn’t long until I heard a big cracking noise and then the banging immediately stopped. I opened the door already knowing what I’d find and I was right. There in the door was a huge hole with a not so sorry looking Aiden sitting next to it. After trying to talk to him about how kicking holes in doors was probably not the best thing to do to which he continuously replied “it’s my door, I can kick my door”. Cue blood starting to boil. I knew I couldn’t put him in time out in his room any more for the moment because he would just continue to kick and make the hole bigger so I put him in the backyard and shut the door. I’m so glad my neighbors are all gone during the day because I’m fairly certain CPS would’ve been called on me from the wailing that followed this action.

Meanwhile, Lyla, who is a nervous poo-er, meaning she hadn’t pooped the entire time we were out of town, was pretty clogged up. She spent the morning screaming in pain and clutching onto me as she tried to push those little buggars out. She would literally be pushing for 30 min to get one little pebble out and after it came out she would fall asleep from exhaustion until the next one was ready. This happened 4 different times in the morning before they became softer and by the end of the day the poor girl had pooped 9 times!

Between dealing with a screaming Aiden and in between pushing coaching and changing stinky bums I’m sure Hadley felt left out and decided the only way she was going to get any attention at all was to run around the house creating mess after mess. First it was a bottle of lotion all over the bathroom, then it was an entire container of animal crackers all over the kitchen. Then she got ahold of my phone and erased a bunch of pictures from our weekend.

While all of this was happening I believe four people from the ward called for various things and each time I would lock myself in the closet and pray they couldn’t hear the war zone that was going on just outside the door as I agreed to Visiting Teaching and feeding the missionaries while also thinking that I might actually explode in frustration.
And while I wish I could say I handled it all with grace and dignity, I must admit I SO DID NOT! There was much more yelling than should probably be mentioned and I might have eaten my feeling causing me to gain ten pounds in one day but I just kept thinking to myself, it’s better to be a fat mom than an abusive one right?!?

We finally made it to nap time and after we all got a few more hours of some much needed sleep we were all a little more pleasant .By the end of the day all three kids were still alive so I considered myself a success and decided it was too bad of a day not to share with all of you in hope that if you too are having a rotten day just know you are not alone my friend! Just buckle down with any chocolate you’ve got laying around and know that this too shall pass!

A time to live, a time to learn

2014-09-18T20:04:00.000-07:00

I took a little time off from blog land for awhile. I'll be honest, it was mostly because I wanted to believe that if I didn't document life during our biggest trial yet then years from now it would all have vanished from my memory. But I would probably be so, SO wrong. And in a way I don't want to forget it.

The stress was almost unbearable. Branden would be home for periods of time, which was nice because I loved his company and the kids loved playing with their dad but then at the same time I would be thinking in the back of my mind how much money we just lost because we didn't work that day.

We were very blessed to find little jobs here and there that kept us afloat. And although I was grateful for each one, they all required Branden to be gone for weeks at a time. So I would just get used to him being home all the time and then BAM, he'd be gone for two weeks! It was rough for this very strictly scheduled momma! But I am so very proud and grateful for my hard working man that never gave up and did anything it took to provide for us this summer.

There came a point about three weeks ago that I was really feeling down. I mean I was have a big fat pitty party and I was angry. I had gone to the temple that morning hoping that it would cheer me up and it did briefly but on the drive home I became very mad. Mad because I was doing everything right. I was going to church, paying my tithing, going visiting teaching, having Family Home Evening, attending the temple. But yet it still didn't seem to be enough. I had a dark cloud over me for about a day and I was honestly about ready to throw in the towel.

I went to church that Sunday with a very "woe is me" attitude. That day all the lessons and talks were about trials. About how every single person in the scriptures had faced hard, unbearable, unimaginable trials. And each one held on to the one thing that couldn't be taken away, their testimonies that God was aware of them and that he loved them. They were each being obedient and God sent them the trial to help mold them into the people they were supposed to become. He knew they were good and he wasn't punishing them but giving them the opportunity to grow and develop into an even stronger version of themselves.

After that I had a different attitude about it all. It was still hard, but instead of being sad I decided that every time I started to feel sorry for myself I would immediately think about a blessing I had in my life. No we couldn't buy the new mini van that we'd been saving up for this summer but we do have two great working cars that are all paid off so we have no car payment to stress over.

It helped me realize that even without a job we had a pretty freaking awesome summer, partly because we got to have Branden home a lot more which meant lots of (free) activities outside the home!!

prepare for a picture overload-consider this my catching up for the summer : )

We played in our backyard A LOT! we nicknamed it the Keck water park. we played water baseball, had MANY water fights, taught the kids a ton of games on the tramp and really anything else we could think of.

We got to hang out with our cousins both in Idaho Falls and they even came and visited us!!

Our kids LOVE having their older cousins around!

Spent a lot of days at the park where these two girls learned the joys of going down the slide and I grew a very big, very REAL hatred for swings.

We went hiking at City of Rocks quite a bit. The kid LOVED exploring and climbing the rocks. We really would only make it about a half mile and that would take us FOREVER but we'd pack a lunch and have a picnic and everyone would leave happy and tired.

Branden and I got to see Tim McGraw in concert and I might have cried a little when he finally came on stage. I have had a crush on the man since I was in 2nd grade (no joke) and this was a dream come true. HE WAS AMAZING!

another highlight was the huge slip n slide we went to out in Oakley. It was FREEZING that day, thank you Idaho for your ridiculously cold august, but we still had a blast!

Got in a Lot of snuggles with this one whether she liked it or not and watched her almost double in size.

Aiden learned how to ride his bike without training wheels. He now rides all over the place, on grass, up and down curbs, the child has no fears.

I can look back o this summer one of two ways. I could focus on the fact that we were jobless, stressed and constantly worrying about the future. OR I can choose to focus on all the great memories we were able to have together as a family while strengthening our relationships with each other and the Lord.

By the way, Branden started working this week. And so have I, from home, on something SUPER exciting and fun that I will talk more about later!!

A PIrate's Life for Me!

2014-07-19T19:57:00.000-07:00

There once was a pirate captain named Aiden

who invited some other captains over for an awesome birthday party!

Upon arrival, all the little pirates discovered a treasure map

from an old pirate captain leading them through all sorts of tasks

to get to his Golden Treasure!

Task#1: dress like a pirate. . .

nailed it!

They then found another clue telling them to help this poor shipmate

put on his eye patch. . .

After helping the shipmate (or covering his entire face in red patches)

They discovered they were under attack from a neighboring pirate

To survive they had to pelt the pirate and his ship with cannon balls. . .

(I made sponge bombs for the cannon balls

and the pirate was weighted so when they hit him he would pop right back up-

probably the funnest part of the party!)

They must've not survived the attack because next they had to walk the plank

(beware of alligators)

Then they decided to attack the alligator. . .

These pirates were hard core!

Then it was time for cake and presents

because pirates get hungry too!

The cake turned out PERFECT

I almost didn't want to cut into it!

One of the presents held the last clue that lead them to the "Golden Treasure"

( bubbles, necklaces, gold coins and gold and silver candy bars!)

It was chaotic, crazy, loud, wet, wild

and SO MUCH FUN!!

This little captain was one happy pirate!

He melted my heart afterwards when he gave me a big hug

and told me his party was "perfect and so so fun"

which made all the planning totally worth it!

I can't believe he'll be four on monday!!

Now excuse me while I go stuff my face with birthday cake

and cry myself to sleep over how fast time flies!

Color Run

2014-07-14T20:48:00.004-07:00

Two of my new year's resolutions this year were to

1. Get outside my comfort zone more

and

2. loose all the baby weight

So I thought running in some races would help with both since running has always been equivalent to chinese torture in my book.

As for helping me loose weight. . . well not quite yet (thank you beloved c-section for ripping any and all traces of core muscle and making it basically non existent- but it's still a work in progress )

Back to the race, I wanted it to be fun, seeing as the last race I ran was on new years of 2011, in Salt Lake City, I froze my tooshy off and my sisters, who SWORE they would stay with me, decided beating the clock was more important and left me to freeze all alone on that dark snowy path (cue sad violin music). So I choose a color run and I chose to do it in Rexburg so it would be a little jog down memory lane-literally.

I know a 5K is like a light warm-up for some of you,

as for me, I treat them like half marathons!

I'm serious about this eternal loathing of running folks!

I did not get the running gene like my two marathon running sisters,

and although I LOVE supporting and cheering them on at the end of each of their races

I have NEVER had the urge to follow in these particular footsteps.

Race day came, I ran, and I conquered!

I survived and came across the finish line

wonderfully covered in a rainbow of sweaty chalk dust

and a smile on my face.

I might have ran at the pace of a decrepit snail

and had the motivation cheers of Erin saying

"I can walk this fast (huge sigh) can't you go any faster!?"

every five minutes

But I finished and had a great time.

But my euphoria was short

because nothing makes you feel more awkwardly ancient

than a college town after-party

where everyone is cheering, dancing and throwing chalk around

to the dumbest song in the world

"selfie".

And while a part of you wants to join in and forget the rest of the world

the other part is reminding you that you are a old, chubby mother of three

who stayed up much too late (like all the way to 10:45) the night before

and you need to get home in time to enjoy naptime!

But I did let loose for a good five minutes

before passing out in the car!

So here's to you, younger, crazier, self

look how far you've come!

(cue awkward thumbs up picture)

The Breaking Point

2014-06-29T20:07:00.000-07:00

So I wish that I could tell you that the last post was the end of our sting of bad luck.
But I would be lying.
I left out the ending because I thought that it needed it's very own post.
It was the turning point for me.
The last straw in the crap-fest of a weekend,
and it involved flames-like literal flames.
But let's start from the beginning-of that day that is.

We woke up to the trifecta of bodily fluids.
Hadley had thrown up all over her bed,
Aiden had peed his bed
and Lyla had pooped all over her bed!!

I still wasn't feeling very well so you can imagine how delighted I was. . .
I wasn't. . like at all. . .
in fact all day I was pretty much a grumbly grouch;
angry at the world and everything and everyone in it.
To put it nicely, it was not one of my finer moments.

Branden finally told me to go take a bath
"it will make you feel better"
he said kindly, what he really meant was
"please go take care of the monster that has taken over and come back my sweet wife"

I started the water, put the bubbles in and then decided I was going to light some candles.
I threw on my robe, put my hair in a pony tail and went to grab one.
I lit it as I was walking back into the bathroom
and remember thinking
"hmm. . this candle kinda smells funny"
I then looked into the mirror and saw what looked like a scene from a movie,
I WAS ON FIRE!!
I'm not talking a small little spark on my sleeve,
I'm talking I was set ABLAZE!
My whole robe was covered in flames!

I quickly threw off the robe, stomped out the flames
stood there looking at the smoldering pile on the floor
and then just climbed into the tub like I hadn't just been engulfed in flames.

Ten minutes later I heard Branden outside the door
asking what that funny smell was.
I matter-of-factly stated "oh I set myself on fire"
to which I hear him reply "oh-ok"
then there was a moment of silence before we both busted up laughing.

That was the breaking point for us
Up until then We had been enduring life
sad and depressed and letting everything get to us.
It was making us irritable with each other and the kids
and our house was tense.

After we started laughing it was like
someone had let all the air out of our bad mood balloon.

Since then it has been a lot better.
We are still looking for a job,
and it can get extremely frustrating at times
but we have tried to focus on all that we still have,
all of our blessings
like the fact that I was smart enough to put my hair in a pony tail
or else it would've all burned off!
Or our amazing ward that has taken us into their arms and helped us feel loved.
and a kind and loving Heavenly Father that has a sense of humor.

No Good, Very Bad Day

2014-06-23T20:19:00.000-07:00

I know it's been awhile since my last post
and I could spend the time to catch up
but that seems a bit overwhelming at the moment
besides I have far more important things to inform you about.

Like my anniversary weekend.
That's right folks, in mid June Braden and I celebrated 5 years of wedded bliss.
Honestly it seems longer!

A LOT has happened in that five years!
I mean we've lived in four different homes
had three children
found Aiden's brain tumor
and a whole lot of other random things
that all together make up those five years.

And although we had planned for a perfectly romantic anniversary celebration
It was honestly ANYTHING but.
I'm only writing it down because if I don't,
years from now I don't think even I will believe that so much crap could happen in a 48 hour period.
So here goes. . . . and I have added our new family pictures to try to keep this post form being too much of a downer so if you're one that just scrolls through for the pictures enjoy!

So let's start with two days before our anniversary when Branden comes home to tell me
he was laid off from his job.
Yes let's let that shocking news out of the bag
As of right now we are jobless
Yes it SUCKS,
Yes it was VERY unexpected,
Yes we are currently looking for ANYTHING so if you have any leads send them our way!
But let's move on because frankly it's still a very sore subject.

As you can expect, that news put a damper on the whole anniversary mood
but we had already planned the weekend
and since we wanted to go to the temple to get some guidance
and the Twin temple was closed we headed to Idaho Falls.
The morning we were leaving I told Branden I had a weird feeling,
but shrugged it off.

We got about to blackfoot before Hadley became a fountain of vomit.
I'm talking all over the car!
So that was fun but we cleaned it up, rolled down the windows and trekked on.

My sister was gracious enough to watch the kids so Branden and I could go to the temple
and the rest of that evening went on without any event.
The next night we had planned our anniversary date and had booked a hotel for one night.
We had enough time to go to dinner and had just gotten back to the hotel
when we got an urgent text form our babysitter (Erin)
that said Lyla had crawled off the bed and had a dent in her head!
We rushed her to Urgent Care who looked at her and said we needed to go to the ER.
5 hours and a CT scan later she is fine,
the dent is just cartilage and will hopefully be gone in a few months!
Talk about a romantic night!
Nothing says 5 years of marriage like the florescent lights and sterile smell of an ER exam room
--Oh-la-la!

The next morning we brought the kids back over to the hotel to swim and ended up having fun.
On the way home from the hotel we ran over something that sounded like a big rock
that neither Branden nor I saw.
Come to find out it was a SCREWDRIVER!
An entire screwdriver was in our tire
making it so we had to buy two new tires
because I guess buying just one new tire will throw off the alignment.

We got it fixed and headed on up to Rexburg where we had family pictures scheduled.
We planned on getting dressed and ready for pictures in a gas station because we didn't know if anyone was going to throw up on the way up there.
We ended up having to go to several different gas stations because
I guess they all plan to clean their restrooms at the same time.

Family pictures were fun and turned out perfect.
My old roommate Alyssa Hepworth took them
and did a great job and it was so fun I almost forgot about all the crap that had happened to us. . .
almost.

On the way home I started feeling a little nauseous
and we ended the weekend with Branden, Aiden and I all with the flu!
Everyone else only had it for 24 hours
but I was lucky enough to have it for three days
which I chalk up to the fact that I had basically given up on life.

So there you have it.
Our no good very bad weekend.

We are still in a state of shock over the job lose
but are very actively searching.
We love our home and friends here in Burley
but realize that there aren't a whole lot of opportunities here and are prepared to move.

So I guess it's onto the next adventure for us!
Wish us luck!

Lyla 6 months old

2014-04-07T09:11:00.000-07:00

We've made it a whole half of a year with this little ray of sunshine in our lives!

And she gets more and more fun each and every day.

This girl is without a doubt the most loved in the family

only because both her siblings absolutely ADORE her.

They fight constantly with each other all day long about everything

but when it comes to Lyla,

they both give her toys,

and hugs,

and kisses,

and want to hold her hand,

and Aiden is constantly telling her how pretty she is

(probably because he knows she looks just like him).

She can roll over now but doesn't do it very often.

She loves to stand (with help of course)

She has discovered her hands and feet

which is just the most adorable thing!

She has started eating fruits and veggies

and is doing pretty well at actually keeping most of it in her mouth.

She is a very curious child,

always wide eyed and looking around when we go some place new

and it's just amazing to watch her discover this cray world we live in.

For the past week we've been trying to fix a little sleeping problem we have with Hadley,

and we've had to let Hadley cry it out in her room a couple times a night

so Lyla couldn't sleep in her crib or else she'd wake up too

and miraculously Lyla is the only child that sleep through the night around here

so we didn't want to mess that up.

We figured she'd just sleep in the swing

but she wasn't having it

and when we put her in the pack n' play she was just too curious about what we were doing to fall asleep.

So out of desperation we put some pillows and blankets in the closet and

"Harry Potter"ed her and she fell right asleep!

Yes we felt like awful parents, but she seemed to like it!

We just love our little Lyla

and wait to see what's in store for the next month.

Our lives with Hypothalamic Harmatoma (HH)

2014-03-18T15:55:00.000-07:00

I realized the other day that I haven't really discussed Aiden tumor since we went to Arizona last year. I have had a lot of people curious about how Aiden is doing and what having this tumor means, so I thought now would be a good time to give an update on our lives with Aiden's Hypothalamic Harmatoma!

We went to Barrow's Children Hospital last April to meet with a team of doctors who specialize in dealing with Aiden's specific type of tumor. These doctors are the best, or so we were told, and people come from all over the world to be treated by them! We met with them, learned a lot of information and were sent home knowing a lot more about our situation. Their opinion was that although the medicine we had Aiden on was suppressing Aiden's gelastic seizures, it wouldn't last long and that we needed to get him into surgery within the next year.

So there we were, with a 7 month old, a surprise baby on the way, needing to find a house and now planning for a brain surgery! The future seemed bleak and I was sure we'd end up living in a cardboard box somewhere under an overpass.

We decided to take a few months to really think and pray about it. After a few months passed, Branden and I both felt uneasy about Arizona. We were confused, they were amazing doctors and nothing they said or did offended us in any way but we still felt drawn back to primary children's in SLC. So I contacted our doctor, who had worked with Aiden since he was a month old, to ask him his thoughts.

He told us that they just had a new neurosurgeon transfer there form Baylor who was a resident to the main doctor in Houston who came up with the new surgery that they use on Aiden's tumor call Laser Ablation. This is a new technique where, instead of cutting open the head they insert a scope with a laser and basically burn the tumor out. Our doctor said this new surgeon would be happy to work with Aiden but that we needed to wait for the hospital to get the equipment needed for the surgery.

That right there should tell you how new this surgery is! They don't have a lot of research done on it, they know it gets rid of the tumor at first but they have NO long term information on it. Not only that but it also meant that Aiden would be a guinea pig. They flat out told us that there was us and one other patient that were waiting for the equipment to arrive.

Branden and I started discussing Arizona again because, really, who wants their child to be a guinea pig to a brain surgery? But again we both felt that Primary Children's was the right choice. So we traveled down to Salt Lake to meet this new surgeon and discuss his plans for Aiden.

This was a week before Christmas and it had been 10 months since Aiden's last seizure. The medicine was still working great and we were seeing no side effects from it. Still, we were fully prepared to schedule a surgery for Aiden in the spring and get this darn thing out of him!

The meeting turned everything around. Both our neurologist and surgeon suggested waiting until the seizures came back. They said that the surgery was a means of getting rid of the seizures and if the medicine was doing that, there was no point to risk all the side effects of the surgery. Plus, with it being such a new surgery, that would give the medicine world a chance to work out some final kinks before it is preformed on our son.

They assured us that without the seizures, the tumor really isn't hurting him, lots of people have brain tumors and don't even realize it because they aren't doing anything (that's reassuring. . . ). They suggested that we monitor him closely to make sure he's learning and meeting his milestones and that the second that things start going down hill there is a whole team of doctors that will jump into action.

While this still left me with a lot of question and worries, after praying about it, Branden and I decided that for now we will wait.

That doesn't mean I have stopped worrying or wondering. It hasn't stopped the twinge of fear I get every time I hear Aiden laughing in the other room or stop me from running over and peaking around the corner to see if he's really laughing or having a seizure. It doesn't stop me from going on the Hope of HH website and reading all the stories about other kids with HH and it doesn't stop me from crying myself to sleep at least once a month worrying about all the "what ifs" that might lie in our future.

Because, you see, Aiden's case is unlike every other case of HH I have read about. And even the doctors are baffled by Aiden. Most kids with HH had severe ADHD, they have behavior problems, they have rage fits, they cannot connect with other kids. They have over 100 seizures a day and the lives of their families are drastically altered to work around HH. (at least that's what I've gathered from the things I have read).

Aiden is a normal kid! He can sit still when he needs to, in fact his primary teacher tells me he's the only sunbeam who will sit still during primary (which because of the above information was more of a compliment than she will ever know and almost brought me to tears). He loves other kids and calls everyone his "friends". H loves playing with people and always makes sure everyone is included. He loves his sisters.s. He has a hilarious sense of humor and loves to laugh. Like I said before, it's been over a year since his last seizure. He knows his colors, shapes, and ABCs. HE loves to learn new things, we're currently learning about fruits and veggies. He is behind in speech but he's made a lot of progress in the past year so we aren't too worried.

Honestly, we forget sometimes that he even has a tumor because he is so normal!

From what I have read, the effects of this tumor get worse with age, that sometime along the line it will stunt their learning and could force them into puberty early. The other day I read about a little girl with HH who had only had the gelastic seizures until one day her parents went in to her room and she was having a grand mal seizure and ended up dying on her way to the hospital. This instantly sent me into hysterics, had me downing every Dr. Pepper in sight and wanting to immediately call and schedule the surgery until I finally got down on my knees, and as soon as I started to pour out my heart, I was instantly comforted. No I don't have all the answers, I don't know how this tumor will effect us in the future, if or when we will end up having the surgery or if Aiden will lead a completely normal life.

But for now I have an amazing little 3 year old, who is in love with life and I am choosing to focus on my todays instead of constantly worrying about my tomorrows and have faith that it is all going to work out the way God has planned.

Luck of the Irish

2014-03-17T14:29:00.002-07:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Thanks to Branden's mom

who sent us some awesome packages last week

we were all ready to celebrate this random holiday in style.

Aiden and Hadley are really into dressing up lately

so the fun hats and necklaces really got them excited!

and I have to admit, seeing those big green hats

on their tiny heads has kept a smile on my face all day!

I took the easy route and just had lucky charms for breakfast

since my kids are SUPER pickey about food

and I wasn't about to make green pancakes

only to throw them away because they "looked yucky".

Aiden was all excited about taking pictures

of his fun outfit.

While Hadley proceeded to throw a fit because she wanted to be the one behind the camera

and would only smile for a selfie where she could see her own face in the phone. . .

She's such a girl!

Other than that we have about 50mph winds outside which is throwing around our backyard toys

and has kept us inside where the power is going on and off which has kept us from watching our beloved "Frozen" and thrown off our entire schedule.

Yes we do watch Frozen every single day

and yes I could quote the entire movie to you on the spot!

We have gotten around to doing this fun little shamrock craft

and now I will go back to trying to figure out how people lived without power and

regular working internet!

5 months

2014-03-17T14:13:00.000-07:00

poor baby had bronchitis when I took this picture!

Our little Lyla is not going to be so little for very much longer!
She is already wearing some of her 9 month clothes and going to be a tall girl just like her mama!
She is the best sleeper in the house as of right now
and I cannot begin to tell you how much we love her for that!
her hair is coming in more and it's looking like she's going to be our blondie!
She is so smiley, and will smile at just about anyone who smiles at her.
Aiden and Daddy can really get her laughing,
She sleeps in her crib now
although, I still miss her every once in a awhile and sneak he into my room every now and then.
She has rolled over once
and has started eating oatmeal, although she doesn't really enjoy it!
She has about 4 rolls on each scrumptious leg
and every time I look at her I wonder how something so perfect could from me!

a Little Bit Louder Now

2014-03-03T15:32:00.000-08:00

I have been blessed with some very happy babies

but I think it's safe to say that Lyla is the happiest most laid back of them all!

This girl has been sleeping through the night for the past month now--

let me just pause so you can soak that in

because around here, she's the ONLY one that does!

She is also a talkative little woman!

She just chats away for most of the day

but her loudest time comes every week at church

during sacrament meeting!

Here's an example of one of her moments

This girl has some stories to tell!

I can't wait until I can actually understand them!

the adventures of babysitting

2014-03-02T15:27:00.001-08:00

The other night Branden and I had the opportunity to watch our neighbors kids for a couple of hours.

We honestly love having these kids over. They have a son Aiden's age and the two of them can laugh and play for hours with hardly fights (which if you know three year olds is a small miracle). They also have a little girl a couple months older than Hadley. Usually these two get pretty feisty with each other. You know, girls being girls, one of them usually walks away from their time together with a scratch or two. The thought of sharing anything is just out of the question!

Well this time the two girls were inseparable. Running around holding hands, giggling, sharing everything down to their crackers with each other. It was so fun to watch them interact and play with each other.

Yes this is the start of a beautiful relationship!

Do you want to build a snowman?

2014-02-11T12:36:00.000-08:00

We finally had a good snow storm here

that lasted for a couple days.

and the kids and I LOVED it!

The kids loved playing in it

and I love watching them play in it

from the warmth of my house

while I drank hot chocolate!

Mothering at it's finest.

Hadley just walked around

exploring this new white stuff

and would usually only last for ten minutes before coming in with mom.

But Aiden would've been out there all day and night

if I didn't force him to come in.

Friday night both Aiden and Branden stayed out and played in it

way past dark and built a tiny little snowman.

The next morning I woke up to Aiden standing by my bed

fully dressed in his snow stuff

asking me to zip up his coat so he could go play with his snowman.

It was 7am.

The kid was in heaven.

They had a snowball fight,

made snow angels,

tackled each other in the snow

and just had some good hearty male bonding time

which always warms my heart.

I know that even though I can teach him a lot

I know there are some things

that he just needs his dad for

and I'm so grateful that Branden makes such a huge effort

to build his relationship with Aiden as well.

They ended up making a bigger snowman

which Aiden named "Happy-the snowman".

But alas, the next day it was sunny,

and warm,

and Aiden sadly watched his beloved Happy

slowly melt away.

We then had to have a very heart wrenching conversation

about how snow melts,

and then we ended the day with

Aiden praying that the snow would come back.

I assured him that since we live in Idaho

the chances of us having more snow

are extremely high!

I just hope it comes soon

an not, say, in the month of June!

Lyla Jane 4 months old

2014-02-11T12:09:00.001-08:00

This little ball of goodness is 4 months old

and she just keeps getting more and ore fun!

Seriously you guys I think I have a problem,

when Aiden was born I made it exactly one night

before I kicked hi out of our room and into his own.

Because of our apartment, we were forced to have Hadley in our room

for four months

but as soon as we moved and I could

I had no problem putting her in her own room.

We have always said we'd put Lyla into the "big girl" room

at four months

well the deadline came and went and I just chose to ignore it

until Branden brought it up.

He finally did last night so we waited until Hadley fell asleep

and then took Lyla in there.

and I basically fell apart!

I couldn't sleep

I kept looking over to where she usually slept in our room

and when I didn't see her my heart would hurt!

finally Hadley woke up and I juped up to take care of her

then I woke Lyla up and brought her back into our room

where we both slept the rest of the night.

What is the deal!!!

It's safe to say I have an attachment problem!

I really can't get enough of her!

She is such a good baby!

Just hangs out and smiles at everyone.

She loves to smile and laugh and daddy whenever he talks about work

and has a special bond with both siblings

who both adore her!

The first thing Hadley does when she wakes up is goes to say hello to Lyla

and Aiden is always so sweet to her!

She likes to be sitting up

so the bumbo chair has been her best friend!

She is just such a joy to have in the family

and we have all loved getting to watch her grow each day!

So Happy Together

2014-02-02T14:04:00.002-08:00

As Hadley has gotten older

and more aware of things

she is letting Aiden push her around a lot less

which, at first, caused a lot of contention between the two of them.

Honestly there were days that I thought they'd never get along

because literally every five minutes one or both of them was screaming

and I had to break up more fights then I can count!

There was hair pulling, scratching, hitting, punching, slamming each other in doors

you name it, and it was probably happening on a little people level over here!

But lately, they have FINALLY discovered that if they play nice with each other

mom's in a better mood, there's much less yelling,

and they actually can have a ton of fun together

and this realization has made my life so much easier!

About a week ago, I peaked around the corner into Hadley's room

because they were being so quiet and that usual means trouble,

but what I found was Hadley sitting quietly on the bed

while Aiden worked for about five minutes to put socks on her feet.

After he got them on she jumped off and gave him a big bear hug

to which he replied "oh Hadley, you're beautiful!"

And then my heart exploded!

One morning this week I was fixing breakfast

and I looked into the living room

and Aiden has brought down two kid chairs from the toy room

and him and hadley were sitting in them

with a blanket over both their laps

just looking out the window

and talking about the serious issues of the world

like what they wanted for breakfast

and the fact that Hadley probably shouldn't poop in the tub anymore,

like she had done the previous night.

And today at church, Aiden was playing quietly on the bench

and a little boy in front of us was throwing cereal at him.

Aiden kept telling him to stop

but the boy didn't

so Hadley grabbed her board book she was playing with

and ran up and hit the other boy in the head!

(way to stick up for your own Miss Bell)

And of course they both are obsessed with Lyla!

So while they don't get a long 100% of the time,

there are still punches thrown

and tackels, and lots of screaming,

there ARE brief moments of peace

that I try to keep in the front of my mind

so that even in the midst of the all the ear piercing screams

I remember that we do actually all love each other

and we can get along!

And those little moments make it all worth it!

veggies

2014-01-23T12:21:00.002-08:00

It's always a struggle to get my kids to eat their vegetables.

I blame it partly on the fact that Branden hardly ever eats veggies

but also, what kid really loves veggies?

Up until about two weeks ago, Hadley would pretty much eat anything

but now she's hit the picky toddler stage

and it has turned everything around.

I could usually force them to eat green beans

and sometimes corn and cucumbers

but that was only on the good days.

Well, I was determined to find SOME way to get more veggies in them

and this week I finally found a way!

Smoooooothies!!

I made them smoothies

packed with spinich, cucumbers, avacados, blueberries, peaches and a banana

and THEY LOVE IT!!

They actually ask for it in the morning

and Aiden loves helping me put everything in the blender

and pushing the button to mix it all up!

It's been so fun,

they love it

and I know that it's healthy so I don't feel as guilty when I feed them

mac and cheese for dinner!

our library adventure- another motherhood moment

2014-01-10T12:35:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I wonder if my children secretly get together

and plan what actions each one of them will take

on our next outing together

because everything happens just so perfectly

you'd think I was secretly being taped by some kind of

"awful mothering moments" show!

I really don't know what gets into me

but every once in awhile I get brave

and decided to take all three kids into public with me.

This last time was to story time at the library.

I got there a little early so I could check out some book before hand

and everything was going great

until the actual "story time" started.

First, Aiden kept asking to play with my phone

to which I said no because the whole point of going

was for him to listen to some stories.

So, of course, he started screaming at me,

then Hadley walked right over to shelf

and pulled every single book off of it!

When I rushed over to try to stop her

Lyla, who can't stand for me to be out of her sight,

started SCREAMING!

Keep in mind Aiden's still screaming

and as soon as I pull Hadley away from the destroyed shelf

she also starts to scream.

Now all three of my kids are screaming

while every other kid and mother just stares on in amazement

most likely wondering why a mother with three young kids

has even attempted to enter into society.

As you can imagine, I quickly grabbed the two girls

and with Aiden following behind,

still whimpering,

we made our grand exit from story time,

where we will not be returning to for quite some time.

we then went home

where each child quickly went back to normal

enjoying their toys and snacks

as if they didn't just act like

complete and total monsters 5 minutes beforehand.

It's a good thing we all have a great time together at home

because we will not be leaving it again for awhile!

(sigh) Life can be so fun-am I right?

The Holiday Season

2014-01-08T19:06:00.000-08:00

So I know I've been a huge slacker on the blog front lately,

ever since Hadley decided to be on the move

things have gotten a LOT more chaotic around here

and I find my free time cut in half

since I spend most of the day following her around picking up messes

or making sure she stays out of trouble.

I also know the holidays were awhile ago

and everyone is probably "SO OVER" Christmas

but we had such a fun month that I had to get it documented on here!

First we have our annual front of the tree pictures

with the girls wearing matching outfits from Grandma Keck!

(I'm a little obsessed with matching the girls- can you tell?!)

Me and the older two did a bunch of fun little holiday crafts

we made a lot of little ornaments to decorate the bottom of our tree

where little hands could play with them all they wanted,

but my favorite craft was our Santa beards!

those things had the kids giggling and laughing all afternoon,

I've never heard such silly "ho ho ho"'s followed by such sweet belly laughter before!

We spent one morning decorating cookies with Aiden's girlfriend Alivia.

Hadley showed us what she thought about the whole idea by chowing down on two masterpieces

while Aiden and Liv put about a mountain of sprinkles on each cookie

then went around licking each and every one.

We took one night and drove about 30 minutes to Rock Creek

where they put up a bunch of lights

and you can walk around and feed a real camel!

It was freezing cold but Aiden was really excited about feeding the "cow"

and the fact that Santa was there passing out candy canes!

This was the first year that Aiden really understood and was excited for Santa

and it was SO FUN!

All December he's ask if Santa was going to bring him cars

and he'd list off whose stocking was whose and then tell me we "had to wait for santa k?"

come to find out his understanding was that after santa came we could all finally put on those huge socks hanging from the window!

Don't worry he figured it out.

And one time he was being naughty so I sent him to his room.

About five minutes later I could hear him just sobbing

so I went in and after he had calmed down enough to get out some words he looked at me

with big crocodile tears and asked

"Santa still come bring cars?"

it was absolutely heart wrenching to see the sadness on his face

when he thought he'd been too naughty

and he was actually pretty good the rest of the season!

Then it was time for Christmas!!!!

The kids were so excited they all woke up early

like 4am early!

Hadley had woken up and I hurried in to try to put her back to sleep

but as I changed her diaper I heard Aiden yell from the next room

with the excitement only a three year old can muster up

"DID SANTA COME!!!!"

It was so cute I couldn't help it and we all went to wake up our Grinch of a Dad

who told them they could only open their stockings

and had to wait until 6 to open presents.

The time finally came and I must say,

being a parent at Christmas time

is SOOOO much more fun than being the kid!

the excitement, the squeals, the laughs

it was all almost too much for my heart to handle!

Aiden was thrilled about getting a hot wheels track

and a spiderman backpack,

Hadley got a baby doll, that came equipped with a stroller and car seat

and it has quickly become like another child around here.

She swings in the swing, gets fed bottles, gets her diapers changed

Hadley is such a good little mommy!

And Lyla who of course didn't really care much for the festivities

got new bows, a baby book, and a lovey that will keep her company

when she moves into the big girl room!

After opening presents we drove to Idaho Falls

where we spent the rest of the day playing with the aunts, uncles, and cousins that were there

and Skyping with all the family that was all around the world!

It was a great holiday season

and we were sad to have it end,

but none more disappointed than Aiden,

who is still asking if Santa will come back and bring him more cars.

So Long 2013!!

2014-01-07T12:15:00.000-08:00

2013

Oh goodness,

how glad we are to have this year over with!

By the middle of February

We had found Aiden's tumor,

found out Lyla was on the way

and I had lost my wedding ring!

On top of that we had just moved to the thriving metropolis of Burley

where, besides my VERY BUSY sister, I knew no one

and, other than going to Walmart

there was absolutely nothing to do!

I really didn't think I'd make it until Christmas

and I distinctly remember telling Branden that I wish I could just go to sleep

and wake up when the year was over!

After wallowing for awhile in my own self pitty

I decided to get up and dust myself off,

there was nothing I could do to change any of it

and I was determined to be happy again!'

So with the help of these two

and of course Branden

things started getting better.

We found our house,

that we LOVE,

and made some friends,

Hadley went from being a tiny baby

to a sassy 16 year old in a toddler body

with the legs of a gisele

that can bend in ways only olympic gymnasts can fathom.

seriously it amazes me the things she can do with them

but then again I can't even touch my toes!

Aiden has become quite the little man

he's starting to talk a lot more,

still loves his cars

is always full of an enormous amount of energy

and I cannot believe he became a sunbeam on Sunday!

Lyla joined our family

and has brought with her such a sweet little spirit!

I'm so excited to watch her grow this next year!

We went from this cute little family of four,

to this bigger, louder, even BETTER family of five!

we grew a lot in the past year,

and not just in numbers

and even though it was rough

we made it through together!

I can't wait to see what 2014 has in store

(hopefully no more babies!)

3 months old -Lyla

2014-01-07T12:02:00.000-08:00

Our little Lyla is now 3 whopping months old!!

She loves to "talk" and "coo"

This last sunday in relief society she decided would be an AWESOME time

to debut these talents to everyone and was so loud I almost took her out!

She also chooses church as the best times to have massive blowouts

but don't all babies?

She is slowly growing out of the her beloved swing,

she about doubled in size this past month,

and I love every single chunky leg roll!

In the past month she has met her great grandparents on the keck side

and Aunt Elizabeth at Christmas.

She is still such a people person

and just loves being a part of the party wherever it is.

She is such a little doll

and I love watching her grow and learn more each day!

What I've learned in my first 3 months as a mother of 3.

2013-12-20T20:08:00.001-08:00

The weeks since Lyla was born have taught me so much,

and even though the days have seemed incredibly long

the weeks have seemed so short

and I still can't believe I have three kids!!

I have learned a lot about being a parent,

and I find it hilarious that with each addition to the family

comes a whole new set of "norms".

Most of them, although NOT comical in the moment,

crack me up at night when I think back on my day as I drift off to sleep.

Here are just a few of the things I have learned about myself and my three little minions!

1. Aiden has been a climber since he was 9 months old, I had gotten used to having one, but now Hadley has become one too! I have come to expect to never find either one of them on the floor when I walk into a room. I've found Aiden standing on the side of the crib with his hands on the ceiling, Hadley standing in the middle of the kitchen table, both of them on the counters, on changing tables and anything and everything else they can think of. I'm honestly amazed we haven't had any broken limbs (knock on wood)!

2. On the rare chance that all three are taking a nap in the middle of the day, I can and will turn into a she-devil at anything or anyone who dares to disturb the silence, be it the UPS man, the neighbor dog or anyone calling me on the phone. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

3. I would rather cut off one of my hands than take all three children into public with me! I save all trips to the store for the middle of the night and have had the HUGE blessing of great friends who tell me when they're going to the store in case I need them to pick something up for me! It's been a lifesaver.

4. Dr. Pepper is a great and powerful tool that helps me stay a sane person between the hours of 3-6. When Aiden and Hadley are screaming at each other and Lyla doesn't want to be put down, one swig of that sweet sauce helps me put a smile on my face for at least another ten minutes!

5. My house will quite possibly never be clean again for at least the next five years. and trying to keep it clean, I'm pretty positive, is the exact definition of INSANITY! As long as the wash gets done every week I consider myself a success.

6. Although I cannot tell you what's been happening on the news, what the new greatest hits are, what new movies are coming out or what the new fashion trends will be ( what sweats aren't in right now?) I can sing every song from every Barney or Tinkerbell EVERY MADE and I will have two very excited backup singers along with me!

7. Nothing makes you realize just how out numbered you are quite like the hour of sacrament meeting, when the kid your holding starts fussing and you run out into the hall only to be greeted by your husband holding another one of your children and you quickly realize you've left one in there to fend for themselves!

8. Sleep is commodity. and getting anything more than three consecutive hours a night is now considered the holy grail!

9. We try to fit all of our adult life into the hours between when our kids go to bed and when we go to bed. "they're all in bed, quick turn on something other than a catoon, how was work now that we can talk without someone crying in our ear, and break out the ice cream. . ah crap it's time for bed!"

10. In order to be able to feed Lyla a bottle I must also make sure that the other two have both something to drink and a snack, then we all cram onto the same chair and enjoy 5 minutes of silence until they start fighting again.

11. No matter how hard I try to contain it all in the kitchen, I am daily finding random items of food stuck in even more random parts of the house, some of it I don't even remember having in the house and am left wondering "where the heck did this even come from!?"

12. My personal bubble is something that only exists in my dreams. I am constantly being leaned on, pulled, pushed, tugged on, sat on, used as a kleenex, an object to tackle, and (my personal favorite) a comforter who gets the most hugs of anyone in the family.

13. If, by some chance Branden is even 5 minutes late past when he says he'll be home it somehow feels like AN ETERNITY. When you count down the hours all day to when he SHOULD be home 5 extra minutes just about sends me into the fetal position pulling out my hair.

14. Its totally fine and perfectly normal ( at least that's what I tell myself) to put all three screaming children in their rooms and give myself ten minutes to recoup and, oddly enough, even with all the screaming in the background, it helps calm me down and give me that extra boost when the Dr. Pepper just isn't enough.

15. How amazing it it that your heart can actually love so many people so much it just about bursts every single day, and although they all push you almost to your breaking point on a regular basis you would still bend over backwards to make each one of them happy!

Life has never been so crazy, chaotic, or LOUD but I can honestly say I have never been so happy! It is such a fun and frustrating job being a mother but nothing has been so rewarding and I am thankful for (almost) every single day that I get to stay home with them!-I'll let you know if that feeling changes once Lyla starts to be on the move :)