Anyone Else Out There Who Hates Idaho Winters?

I really don't like Idaho winters...let me tell you why.

Today's been pretty crazy. Kyla woke up WAY too early to start out with and wouldn't go back to sleep so that was the first problem. Because the little one woke up early, she was cranky all morning. We had an appointment for her year checkup at the doctor this morning along with shots so we had to make sure we had enough time to eat, get ready, and all the other morning stuff that needed to get done. Since she was so fussy we just put her down for a little nap and then woke her up when it was time to go to the doc. While we were walking out to the car, I was being extremely careful like usual because our apartment complexes parking lot is covered with ice. It was snowing this morning too so snow was on top of the ice. Anyway, as I opened the car door to put Kyla in I slipped on the ice and fell really hard on my right knee and elbow (still holding Kyla)! Kyla luckily didn't get hurt at all but just had a pant leg filled with cold snow. I on the other hand was shocked and surprised from the fall that my body was shaking, and I felt like I was going to pass out. Now don't get me wrong, I have slipped on the ice probably about 5 times before this time, but this was by far the worse. I put Kyla in her carseat, and got in the drivers seat and felt very faint. I called Hyrum (I'm so glad he was still home and not in class!) and trying not to cry through the pain told him I had slipped on the ice and need help. So he drove us to the doc for Kyla's appointment and I kept feeling worse. Hyrum and Kyla went in to the doctor and I stayed in the car and lied down so I wouldn't be dead when they came back. (Not that I would be, but it was more dramatic to write.)

After a little while I went into the appointment and was feeling better, although still in a lot of pain. It felt good to walk around on it though. We finally came home, I took some pain killers and put a hot pad on it. My knee and elbow are both pretty swollen so there will probably be some nasty bruises. I'm just glad I didn't brake anything or do anything worse than that. It's feeling a lot better already and I feel so blessed that I was the one that got hurt and not Kyla. I'm glad that I didn't drop her and I'm glad my "Motherly Instinct" or whatever it is, helped me protect her and keep her safe. So that's my story.

Just a quick note about her checkup. Everything is well! She hasn't really gained much more weight from her 9 month check up up until now. She's only 17.6 lbs so has only gained 6 oz since she was 9 months which was a worry with the doctor before but this time, with a new doctor, he didn't seemed all that worried about it knowing our background. He just said she'll take after our genes (I only weighed about 18 or 19 lbs at a year). He said that she's developing well and is about average or above average in everything else. She's 29in so her height isn't a problem either. Although she's in the 1%tile for her weight, her height is in the 25th %tile so she's very petite but very healthy and absolutely adorable of course! She did fine with shots too. The nurse gave her a sucker afterwards so that made everything all better! Now that this is a book, you've probably stopped reading, but that's alright. This is part of my journal and I tend to write in detail about everything so I don't forget--Thanks for reading!

Creating a New Schedule

Hyrum started school on Wednesday of last week and along with a new semester comes a new schedule. We have just started to put Kyla on a new schedule (mainly because we really want her to sleep ALL the way through the night and because we only have one car so she has to sleep after I take Hyrum to class). It has gone really well so far. We've been waking her up at 7 am and while she plays, Hyrum and I exercise, get ready and do a couple other things. I put her down for her first nap at 10 am (there was no crying today!) and then she wakes up at noon. I feed her lunch and then we play for a few hours. Her next nap is at 3:30, she sleeps for an hour, eats, plays and then bedtime at 8:00pm. So far it's been working out well so hopefully it'll keep going!

I've been starting to wean her now too and she's kind of weaning herself a little bit also which helps A LOT! We're down to 3 nursing periods a day and 1 at night which is a huge improvement from even a couple weeks ago. We've put her on a feeding schedule too which I think is helping with the weaning process. I only nurse her every 5 hours, or a titch longer if she can make it. It's great. Anyway, I really enjoy the new schedules we've set up for ourselves. Next step for Kyla is sleeping through the night!! (Well, we are really hoping anyway!) Wish us luck and any advice on weaning or sleeping through the night would be appreciated! Thanks :)

Kyla's 1st Birthday!

On January 1st, 2007 ONE year ago our sweet little Kyla Brielle was born into our family. To celebrate her first birthday this year we had 2 celebrations. Since we went to Washington to see my family for Christmas, we decided to celebrate once with them in December before we came home and once in Rexburg with Hyrum's family on her actual b-day. She was so fun to watch as she smashed cake in her hair and face. She loved every minute of everything. Her first party in Washington we did cake first, then presents. In Rexburg, Kyla played with balloons, then we did presents, then cake, and then she played in bubbles! We rented a bubble machine so she could play in them. She loves bubbles! Here is a slideshow of all the fun at both parties! Enjoy! (If you want to check out more pictures go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/denneyfamily/collections/).



Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. We have felt so blessed to be surrounded by family on this special holiday season. We got to spend time with my family this year and on our way up to Washington, we drove to Boise where we stopped by to see my grandparents. It was wonderful to spend some time with them as well. We then flew out from Boise to Seattle where we met my parents and spent a week with them. Steve's (my step-dad) daughter Jamena and family came to visit for a day and it was great to see them too. Jamena's son, Grady who is only 5 months older than Kyla was also there and they had fun playing together.
We got so many wonderful gifts from people. I got a sewing machine and a kitchen aid mixer (the kitchen aid is also part of my birthday present too :)), movies and Jordin Sparks' CD!! Hyrum got a Wii game, a microphone stand to record his music, a webcam and lots of other fun things. Not that Christmas is about receiving gifts, but we really are grateful for family and friends we have thought about us and have blessed our lives. It truly has been wonderful to think of the Ultimate gift of Christmas which is Jesus Christ our Savior, his birth, atonement, his sacrifice, resurrection and his love. I know that Jesus Christ loves me and I am grateful that he has provided a way for all of us to return home to live with him and our Father in Heaven again.

Kyla and Grady playing a beautiful duet!

Here is one of the toys Grammy and Grampa gave to Kyla! She sure enjoyed opening presents. We tried to get the toy out of the box so she could play with it and she got really mad because we were taking too long! It was pretty funny.

Here's our family Christmas day picture!

I met my grandma on my step-dad's side for the first time. We went to visit her at the nursing home on Christmas Day. She was pretty happy!
Kyla playing with Great Grandma Brown!

My parents have a cat named Shiloh and Kyla LOVED playing with her. She would get really excited every time the cat came up to her. It was great!

One really cool thing that Kyla's Grandma Denney does to all her grandkids is give them the 12 days of Christmas. So everyday for 12 days, she got to open one present! Kyla loved it and it gave her a ton of practice for opening the presents on Christmas day! :)

Because we went to be with my family for Christmas this year, we had our own little Christmas before we left.
This was one of Kyla's presents she got from Hyrum and I. She LOVES Barney so we got her a DVD. She definitely has enjoyed it.

This is my mom and step-dad on Christmas day before opening presents! They're so cute!

Kyla got a new princess chair for Christmas from Grammy and Grampa! She loves to sit in it. Notice the dress she's wearing: that's the very first thing I've ever sewn (not including a quilt I made for Kyla)...the first Christmas dress I've ever made! It's kind of a hard picture to see everything but the top is black velvet with a bow around the waist and then red silk with black lacey sequince stuff sticking out the bottom of the red silk. It's very pretty and I'm very happy with how it turned out.

Next up: Kyla's Birthday Party!!

Snowball Fight and Christmas Tree Decorating!

This is GREAT! Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Snowball fit with Mitt Romney and George Washington!!
Click Here

Decorating a Christmas Tree
Click Here

Scary Santa!

We took Kyla to see Santa a couple weeks ago at Wal-Mart. As you can tell, she wasn't sure what to think of the guy. :) I wouldn't blame her though. After being around clean shaven, non-fictional characters her whole life, suddenly being handed to a strange thing with a white hairy face and glasses over the eyes can be more than intimidating! I would cry too!
I was actually kind of surprised she cried because she's really quite fond of characters, beards, and new people but apparently with Santa it was a whole different story! Plus it probably didn't help too much that she was ready for a nap. I don't think she's scared of him anymore now though because she can say "Santa" now (or "danda" in her exact words) and point him out of a crowd. Maybe I'll take her again before Christmas ends and see what she really thinks. :) Merry Christmas everyone!!

Confessions

Alright so I have an addiction and obsession. I am a true American Idol fan and it starts in less than 4 weeks!! I am so excited. So if you ask to do anything with me on Tues or Wed nights, forget it because I'll be at home watching American Idol! :) I was so excited that Jordin Sparks won last year and her CD just came out. I haven't been able to get it yet (lack of money of course) but if anyone has it, I'd love to borrow it from you to hear what she's accomplished this last year. Thanks! :)

I'm also proud to announce that Kyla took 10 steps all by herself yesterday! Yay for her! She'll be walking consistently by Christmas for sure.