St. George!

It was time again for our 2nd annual St. George family vacation... weekend... trip... dance competition! It was a very busy weekend, but so much fun. It was quite a balancing act to watch 10 dances in 2 days. Of course they can't all be back to back because they are all in different divisions. We watched 3 solos (all either 1st or 2nd place). We watched the Quartz team dance 4 dances (all 1st or 2nd place). Ashlyn danced in 2 dances (1st and 2nd place) PLUS both teams, as well as the hip-hoppers, competed in a hip-hop dance and place BEST OVERALL! It was very fun and exciting... AND in between it all we went back and forth to the hotel and different places for family time so Daddy, Kailey and Canyon wouldn't be stuck at the dance competition! PHEW!!!
That being said here are the pictures & videos, with the exception of the hip-hop dance because my camera died LITERALLY as they were stepping out onto the stage. Oh well, the next competition is in 2 weeks, so I have threatened Ashlyn that they all have to dance as well as they did in St. George!
1st place dance...


Their kick line was MUCH better than the first time!!

2nd place dance...


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CJ wanted to try the eyelashes... you decide who looks better (sorry Ceej. I know you hate it when I do this to you, but you make such great memories for our kids!)

Our Little Kailey

I guess I could call this Why I love Being a Mother part 3... in no particular order.
I've said before that we have been blessed with very sweet children. Kailey is no exception. In fact I think Kailey could be our most emotional child. She is always concerned about others, and worries herself almost into sickness (nah, couldn't be a Larson thing).Kailey has had some big events in her life recently as well as her big sister and little brother!

Most significant....

SHE LOST HER FIRST TOOTH

AND her second.....

These moments were NOT without a little stress and trauma. Obviously tooth #1 came out with a little stress (namely pliers... but we won't go into that... I CERTAINLY was NOT around when that happened!!), here is a little more of the event...

 

#2 was a little easier. 

After WEEKS of being lose we told her she could get a cat/cougar too (like Ashlyn and Canyon) IF she let Daddy pull it out on that day... which she did so... we would like to introduce you to Sophie...

(yes Sophie is wearing a dress)

Kailey has also become obsessed with this...

She is officially a chess player and plays whenever somebody will challenge her. She has also started teaching Canyon, just so she can always be guaranteed an opponent I think.

But she did let him win.... once!

Just to make him happy

And finally,
There was a letter that was attached to her latest report card. It basically explained that her teacher used grade numbers 1-4 instead of letter grades. She explained that the number "1" didn't mean the child got an "F", but instead meant that they needed more assistance and need additional help on that particular subject... and on to a 4 where the student "could consistently meet the standard without any intervention whatsoever." We had a parent teacher conference a few weeks back, so I had an idea that Kailey was doing well in the first grade. What I didn't know..... was that she got ALL 4's ON HER REPORT CARD!!! How awesome is that?!?!

She makes us very proud!She is a very, very sweet girl. And she is always trying to make people happy. Especially her parents. Kailey... Hopey.... Lou... Squishy... Loulabelle... Hopey-Lou... K.K.... whatever we call you... WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!!

She has now started piano lessons... which she has become obsessed with... surprise, surprise (notice a pattern here? She seems to become obsessed with just about anything she tries). We couldn't be more excited!!! We are SO EAGER for a potential musically inclined person in our home!

Ashlyn

If you've kept updated you knew this was coming! If not you'll just have to go back a couple of posts and see why I love being a mom!!

First of all, a few long awaited updates... but I will keep words brief..

She got her cast off!

She gave us all a very special Valentines (if you click on the pictures you can see them bigger)

She had her first dance competition of the year! She was A-MAZING (but that's no surprise!)

 

February 2010 Dance Competition! Click here to watch! 

Nice lashes huh!!!

 

Having fun at Del Taco with the group!

Ashlyns most fabulous instructor Quinsee!! We LOVE Quinsee!!!

She is quite the amazing performer! (she is the one on the left)

AND she finally had her surgery.

Waiting...

 alll ready!...

 (Daddy is so comforting! 

He was going to go get her prescriptions filled but she told him he couldn't leave)

Details:

3/3/10 Ashlyn was scheduled to have tubes in her ears, a procedure to her nose, a tonsillectomy, and an adenoid-ectomy (that means getting tonsils and adenoids out (: ) to help with her hearing.
A hearing test showed that she had almost no hearing in one of her ears from years of chronic congestion.
We got her to the hospital and all was well. After her surgery the doctor came and let us know that the surgery was a success, he drained a SIGNIFICANT amount of fluid from BOTH of her ears probably because her adenoids were SO LARGE that they were covering her eustation tubes (tubes going into the ears) and blocking her sinus cavity. This could contribute to both her chronic congestion and her hearing loss. We knew she was getting her tonsils out too, but this was secondary, just to try to eliminate any possible issues down the road... HOWEVER... he said when he started taking her tonsils out they looked as if she had chronic infections... SHE HAS NEVER BEEN TREATED FOR AN INFECTION... EVER... never strep throat... nothing. Poor girl. So essentially she has probably NEVER felt good (on top of not being able to hear). He also said her tonsils were basically falling apart ): ... and I felt like a horrible parent, again, for never knowing! So the tonsils were a little more difficult to get out than we'd hoped.. but, all in all it was a success.
She is now home and actually feeling pretty darn good, all things considered.

We noticed in the hospital her hearing was getting better already... even with gauze in her ears!When we got in the car to come home we tested the volume on the radio. Her normal listening volume was 15-20... so we started at 0 and went to 10... TEN... before she said it was too loud! Then as we started diving away she was startled by the sound of the auto door locks! Probably a sound she hasn't picked up on. THEN, her first morning she woke up in a panic! I was really worried and asked her what was wrong! She said "What's that sound???!!!!" I listened and listened and finally figured out it was the heater vent. A sound she obviously has NEVER heard. She has also told me that she thought I had a crackly voice but it was actually "soft and smooth" and that Daddy's was "deeper and louder" than she always thought it was.

She is in for some life changes I think. Great ones! One of the things we are anxious for is for her to dance. She may have been dancing primarily off counts, so we cant imagine how FABULOUS she is going to be when she can actually keep up with the music!

Thank you for all your thoughts, prayers and love!!! We have such a great support system!!!

My Sweet Boy

Canyon's surgery went pretty well. We are now a week into recovery and its still a bit rocky... but we're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel! The doctor is amazing, and wonderful, and we are so grateful that he will be Ashlyn's doctor as well. He is very caring and is never in a hurry to answer your very last questions. The hospital staff was great as well. He had a nurse come in with a box full of stuff that he would see while he was in there, so that made things not so strange for him. He was even given the blanket he has in the picture. There is a group of ladies that make these blankets for the children who have to go into the hospital. A wonderful idea, I'm sure these women are greatly blessed!!!! It was a great comfort to our little man.

This one I couldn't pass up. He was getting his clothes all folded up after getting dressed for surgery... Hello Thomas, so glad you could join us!

This is Canyon and Snug... his best friend throughout the whole ordeal. His second biggest comfort... next to me (and Daddy too of course). To the untrained eye Snug MIGHT look like a kitty cat.. but no. Snug is a baby cougar. (If you click on the picture you can see it bigger... honestly the cutest little kitty... er, baby cougar, ever.) The girls gave Snug to Canyon in the morning before he went to the hospital.... and Canyon named him shortly after.

So a few details of our week...
One of the roughest times was coming out of anesthesia. He was angry and thrashing around trying to pull out his IV. There was no calming him down. I had to crawl into bed with him to hold him down and CJ was trying to force feed him some slushy. The nurse said that as soon as he would eat some she could take the IV out, but she didn't want to until she knew he would be getting fluids. Ya, that lasted about one minute. She took the IV out to try to calm him down, and within a few minutes it worked... and he got most of the slushy down. So after about an hour we got to go home. AND... he doesn't remember a thing! I guess that's good though.
Then entire way home, and for about another hour or so he was pretty much a zombie, so I figured he would sleep the entire day! NOPE! NUH-UH! He was awake and full force. Actually wanting snacks. We were very hopeful that this was going to be his recovery process... not quite so lucky. The next day he slowed down a bit and each day has been a little different. We've had several days of not much sleep, and only a couple of naps. But I CAN say he is SUCH a trooper. He doesn't like the pain med so he wont take it... and when he does we can only imagine how much pain he's in. He is very quiet, so we also know when he is feeling OK because he starts yammering on about anything and everything. We appreciate those moments though, and know that these times are when he's feeling his best.

Canyon loves his quilt (it's almost finished... it isn't tied yet). Even as miserable as he was he didn't forget to tell me thank you. I am a very blessed Mommy (and yes, Snug is tucked right in there with him). 

He was actually with me when I was buying the back for it. He picked out the deer fabric himself. It was very favorite at the store. He was calling it a blanket even then, but was so surprised to see it as a REAL blanket.

We have been SO proud of him through all of this. There have been some tears but he has been a really tough little man. Stronger than me sometimes I think. We love you Canyon River!

What it means to be a mother...

I know there aren't many times I think to post something deep or really probably even that memorable but a couple of things struck me the past few days and I have some thoughts that I would like to share, but more importantly they are thoughts I would like to remember.

I want to start with the fact that I LOVE being a mother. More than anything I love being a mother!! I don't take it for granted, and I don't take lightly the part my wonderful husband has in this whole beautiful puzzle we call life. I LOVE BEING A MOTHER. My children are the world to me.
This isn't a new idea I have stumbled upon. From the time I was a little girl I wanted to be a wife and mother, and I KNOW how blessed I am to be able to take upon the role. I can't say I have been "contemplating" this a whole lot the last week or so, but life, and the beautiful plan Heavenly Father has set forth for me is taking place. Every minute.
This last week we found out that Canyon has to have his tonsils and adenoids removed. Our poor little precious man who had such a thunderous entry into this world has to have a little surgery. By Larson standards (meaning our family of 5) this shouldn't be such a big deal, but it is. To me. As a mother. I love my man, and lets face it, the 2 of us have been through A LOT together. Our lives have been spared and there is work for us to do here on earth... but he is 4, and the thought of him going through something like this has been a little (right...little... I say that lightly) taxing on me. We also found out that Ashlyn has to have tubes put into her ears and the chronic congestion she has had for the last several years has played a huge part in this. Being so congested for so long has caused physical damage to her ear drums. Humbling as parents. What could we have done better? What could we have done more? But its all a process, a process in learning... to become better parents... a better mother... better people. All of us.

For the sake of this post I am going to focus on Canyon (and I am sure in another week when we have a scheduled date for Ashlyn there will be another post but... for now...).
Canyon is going in on Wednesday... and as I have said before, its a little taxing. I have submersed myself this weekend on making a quilt for him.
It may not be something he will ever really care about, but I have done it so that someday he might be able to look back and say "my mom loved me. Whenever I was going through something big in my life she was there, and she made sure I felt loved and important. When I was 4 and had to have my tonsils out, she made me this quilt. It isn't a perfect quilt. There are lots of mistakes and errors, just like mom made mistakes and errors, but I know she had a perfect love for me. She showed me that. And I love my mom."

I LOVE BEING A MOM. I love my children with all my heart and soul and I am SO GRATEFUL to have been given this opportunity. I know there are many who might never know what its like to be a parent in this life. One of my cousins is looking forward to being a mother for the first time and I hope she can read this and be inspired, somehow. She has inspired me and helped me to remember this... God didn't choose anyone else to raise these children. He chose us. And for that I am forever grateful.