Playing nursemaid

C and I went to play nursemaid to G the other night. C was trying to show G how to smile.
I did my part by reading to G and P.

G is really in very high spirits. She has a PET scan on Thursday to see if the cancer is any flesh or organs (besides being in the leg bone). Once those results are in, then a treatment will be finalized but will include both chemo and radiation. G has a long road ahead of her....please continue to pray for her and my whole family.

MT Wedding

The wedding we went to on Saturday was very beautiful. The center pieces at the reception were Lego pieces, so my cousins made the bride and groom a message and placed it at the head table. In case you can't read it, it says "Drew loves Kerri"The bride and groom!

C was the center of attention and got passed around to almost every relative there. Here she is laughing at one of M's friends' husband!!

The first dance. What a beautiful couple.

D and I danced too. I started getting really cranky near the end of the dance (partly due to my busy morning at the waterpark and short nap), so M&D took me back to the hotel thinking I was ready for bed. Turns out I just wanted to leave the loud music and go swimming, because as soon as I got in the hotel room I grabbed my swimsuit and begged to go swimming.

M took me for a little while and then got C & I ready for bed so they could go to the "after-party"---ice cream and fellowship at a friend's house!!! Both C and I fell asleep in the car on the way to the house and slept while M&D finished conversing with friends and relatives in a quieter atmosphere.

Waterpark

This past weekend we made a quick trip up to MT for a wedding. 8 hours in the car! C and I did really really well. I even remembered to tell M when I needed to stop and use the restroom. When we got to Billings on Friday, M&D took me to the mall to let me run off some of my energy. Then I got to swim in the hotel pool while I waited for my cousins to arrive.

Saturday morning we went to a very fun waterpark. It had a whole area just for little kids. Lots of tunnels, two slides and a huge bucket of water that kept tipping over (notice it in the very top center of this picture). I had a blast. All the way home Sunday I kept asking for "more waterslide."

C didn't get to play in the water, but she seemed to have just has much fun watching everything going on. She was very well behaved. Here she is hanging out with Aunt R. There was also a wave pool that I went in. It simulated a beach with rolling waves.


Ready to go!

Uncle B, D and I all hanging out waiting for the wave to start in the wave pool.

D is taking me down the yellow slide. It was just a little too big for me to go by myself. The red slide was just my size, as long as M or D were at the bottom to help me out.

There were big slides that I wasn't allowed to go on. M&D went a few times and told me it was fun. There was also a hot tub and a basketball pool where you could shoot hoops in the water. Here are my cousins in the lily pad pool. This place had something for everyone!!

Fun with Aunt M.

Last weekend we had planned to go visit Aunt M when she was in CO for skiing. However that weekend did not go as planned at all. Friday night we tried to head over the mountain to spend the night at the YMCA and then snowshoe & sled Saturday. However, there was an avalanche that closed the highway for 12 hours. While M was in a parking lot trying to decide whether to go all the way back home or just back to Denver and a hotel, she hit a parked car!

We ended up going back to Denver and found a hotel with a working indoor pool on our fourth try (those pictures are on the previous post). Luckily M threw our swimsuits in at the last minute thinking maybe there would be time to use the SMR pool. Anyhow, M got sick in the middle of the night so even though the road opened by 8 am Saturday morning we went home! D got sick when we got home. It was a pretty rough afternoon. I couldn't understand why both M&D were lying on the couch and not playing with me. M says that everytime she tried to stand up she felt like she was going to black out. Some sort of flu, dizziness, fever thing. Luckily by Sunday M felt better. Which was a good thing, because Aunt M called up Sunday morning wondering if she could come spend the day with us. One friend was able to get out of WP just before the road closed and the other got really sick and so was going to go home early, so Aunt M didn't have anyone else to ski with and figured we could take her to the airport.

Even though the weekend didn't go as planned, it ended up being very fun having Aunt M come for a few hours! Admiring C.


It was a great day even if it wasn't planned!!

First swim!!

Ok, so this is really the third time C was in a swimming pool, but the first time the location did not allow recording devices and M forgot to bring the camera the second time!!
I always enjoy a good swim!
This was our unexpected hotel stay due to a road closure. At least I got to swim and that made it worthwhile!!

First Day of Preschool

Yesterdat was my first day of preschool. I was very excited to be able to use my new backpack. Also I get to ride with M to work and go to the Y school!!However, M couldn't convince me that I needed to wear jeans and a t-shirt on my first day of preschool. At least these pjs were clean!!!
Lots of snow still at Bennett preschool.

When M left I was busy painting my first masterpiece. I made many masterpieces yesterday. I guess you could say I am an artist in training.

There were lots of other fun things to do also. I made lots of new friends and learned new things. Starting next week I will go 4 days a week.

However, the sad news is that today M had to pick me up early because I threw up. M isn't sure if it was just nerves (but I was excited for school and seemed fine this morning), or a quick 24 hour bug. Since coming home I have been a little better, but am content to just sit and watch TV. Ususally I am much more energtic than that. Hopefully I feel better soon.

Prayers for Gramma

Please pray for my G. Friday morning P took her to the emergency room, for what she thought was a broken leg. The doctors found a mass on her upper thigh. After a more thorough MRI, it was found that there was a tumor on her left femur, two more just above the kneecap and one more on her back. She has surgery Monday afternoon to put metal plates into her leg to stablize the bone. The doctors are working under the assumption that it is breast cancer moved into the bone. So the first 1/2 hour of the surgery will be the biopsy. IF it is bone cancer and NOT breast cancer, then she will need a full knee/femur bone replacement.

G was supposed to start watching me and C on Monday when M goes back to work. So now, M&D have put us into a daycare and I might go to preschool more than the scheduled 2 days M already signed me up for.

Please pray for G's health, but also for M&D. M is having a really hard time with the thought of going back to work and me &C being in daycare.

Family weekend

This past weekend, we took a family outing to the Y. M wanted to get away while she was still on leave. It snowed pretty much the whole time we were there. M&D took me sledding in the morning and then after nap we went to the swimming pool. Even C went in the water and loved it. D's friend were supposed to come up and join us but his son got sick so they weren't able to join us. However, G&P were right next door at the Elder's retreat so we visited them a few times.

Here's D, C and I right before bed Saturday night.It was a nice weekend with just family!

Family togetherness

Sunday was Uncle S and Aunt S's last day in CO. So after church we had a going away cake for them and took lots of pictures. Here's one of D and his brothers and P.All the cousins....an even 10.
Getting ready for the cold weather up in MN!!!!!

My best friend L and my sister C. M knows I will really miss L not living up the street from us anymore. I think I am still too young to completely understand, so M is sad for me.

Just L and C.

L and I. We really are the best of friends. Everytime I see him I run up and give him hugs. We are more like siblings than cousins. I enjoyed him living only 4 houses away for one year. We played together quite frequently. Going back to G's house once M goes back to work won't be the same either without L there in the afternoons to play with. That's part of the reason that I get to go to preschool 2 days a week at M's work. So I can have lots of friends to play with.

Playing dress up

M and I braided our hair the other day. Don't we look cute? Here you can see one of my braided pigtails.

At G&P's house on Sunday, my cousins played dress up with me.

Going exploring.....what a strange creature I see in my binoculars....could it be Papa??

2 months old

C is two months old already. Isn't she just the cutest sleeping beauty ever? She moved to her own crib also.

Here is me loving up on C.

Reading

I love to read!! Sometimes M reads to me and C.... and sometimes I read just to C.
Aren't I a good reader??! And a good big sister??

Happenings

The Women of the Rockies surprised M at their January meeting with a "Welcome Baby Shower." I even got a couple presents...books! It was a nice suprise for us.Proud P holding C. I think her expression means, "who is this crazy guy!!!"
C. all bundled up for one of our afternoon walks. M tries to get me out at least once a day. For her own sanity and for me to work off a little energy. Of course, C is always drug along--usually riding on M's chest in the baby carrier.

Seven weeks old and I still love her. Aren't we a cute set of girls??

We had D's whole family over for the Super Bowl on Sunday. It was fun to have all my cousins over (probably the last time for a really long time, since Cousin L is moving to MN in 2 weeks). Anyhow, I was a little upset because a few of my cousins locked me out of my room while they prepared a surprise for me. It was a fun surprise---the put all my letters out and added puzzle pieces with appropriate starting letter, to try to help me learn my alaphabet. Notice I am sitting on the letter B--for Brileigh.

I know 4 letters really well--B, C, D & M---for Brileigh, Carrie, Daddy and Mommy--and I occasionally will pull them out of my puzzle and show M.

We used the area as a dance floor shortly afterwards!!

I'm still practicing my singing. Here is my renedition of "Jesus Loves Me."

So you can see, we are keeping M very busy on her time off. She can't believe she only has 2 weeks left. How time flies!!!

Diaper explosion

I am so glad I am out of diapers (I bet M is too!!!). Here's what M had to deal with this morning with C. I'm sure every mother out there knows what I'm talking about!! What a mess!!

All the way up to the neck---some of that was when M took the onesie off over her head.

Needless to say, C was taken directly to the bath (in this case the bathroom sink!!) to get all cleaned up. Just lounging away, enjoying the water and her reflection!!

Sledding fun

Saturday was a beautiful winter day. Almost 50 degrees with leftover snow from Christmas still on the ground. Since M was cleared of all her lifting restrictions from her surgery she was ready to take me sledding. Here I am at the top of the hill. I am all ready to sled!!!

Chucky Cheese

Last week, my cousin celebrated his birthday at Chucky Cheese's. I had lots of fun riding on the cars, trains and climbing through the tunnels.Here's a cute one of my and two of my cousins.
Even Barney showed up!!!