Snow

My kids are currently playing in the snow in their jammies. We woke up to a skiff on the ground and they have been so excited just waiting and waiting that it really didn't make any sense to tell them 'no'. Last time it snowed a skiff was on a Sunday too and by the time we got home from church it was all melted. Nora was devastated. So, in jammies, no breakfast yet, there they are building a snowman and making snow angels. 

No more bandages

Lexie has no more bandages! Just this slight compression glove. They thought it looked really good but are concerned about how tight the muscle is below her thumb, that fleshy part. She's really holding in her thumb and if I don't massage and stretch it, her hand could heal with her thumb tucked in a little. We don't have to go back now for another checkup until after Christmas. 

So yesterday I started the massaging. I asked about using the homemade lotion I made during the summer. The PT thought that was fine. I've still never mentioned I use essential oils, though. I'm still not quite brave enough to just bring it up myself and there hasn't been an opportunity either. I decided to use a drop of Deep Blue yesterday with the lotion, thinking about her tight muscle. She protests a little. I got in two good messaging/stretching sessions yesterday. Each were about 15 minutes. I also used Immortelle blend last night, thinking about creating some elasticity in her skin. 

This morning I used both oils and got in a 30 minute session! Meanwhile, she's had a fever since yesterday morning. So right now Lexie is asleep on my chest. 

P.S. There are two other kids in this family and I don't favor Lexie, haha, there's just been a lot going on with her!

Lexie's Birthday

Getting these pictures back today made me realize that I never posted about Lexie's birthday.

Here's the mock photo shoot I created while she was eating cake for the first time.

How cute, right?!

And here's her 1 year photo shoot.

Update

We had our weekly checkup this morning at the burn center. They said her hand is healing well. Bandages will still be changed twice a day and keep doing what I'm doing. The only finger that needs to still be wrapped is her pinky on her right hand. The focus now in our burn journey needs to be on stretching the left palm. The skin is starting to heal and we can see that her hand is already wanting to heal a little more closed and then the scarring will make it even worse. I need to aim for 5 mins of stretching about times a day. The more, the better. That sounds simple, but it's a little hard because she cries and resists and how do you get a 1yr old to sit still for a full 5 minutes when you're causing them slight pain. The physical therapist worked with us a lot more today than before and she gave me some good tips. And it's just going to take some trial and error too. Her recovery almost fully depends on how well I take care of her. I'm willing, I just hope I do it good enough. It feels like a lot of pressure right now. 

Corey is in his last week of the semester! Which means the last week of Masters degree #1! He is having an official interview at Lifestar to discuss future employment, or lack thereof, on the 10th. We are hoping for the best, but know that whatever happens will be in our best interest and the Lord's will. 

Last Day of November

It's been a hard and busy last few days so I'm very behind. Instead of going back thinking What happened *this* day that I am grateful for, I'm going to list 6 things I am definitely grateful for that did not get mentioned during the month for the last 6 days that I have missed.

#1
I am very grateful for the power of the priesthood here on earth. I have received multiple blessings that have been so special to me. They were truly words from God that my soul needed to hear.

#2
I am grateful for our trials. They give us an opportunity to lean on God. They are reminders that we need Him in our lives always. I continually need this reminder because I have a weakness of wanting to be independent and I do not call on Him as often as I know I should for help in my daily life.

#3
I am grateful for my parents for allowing us to live with them right now. While at times, it's just about the hardest thing I might have ever done, it's also a blessing to have them be willing and welcoming to us. My children love them and want to be around them.

#4
I'm grateful for my in-laws. I truly don't look at them like that because I love them as if they were my own. They have been so kind and welcoming to me. I love my sisters, they are the only sisters I know!

#5
I'm grateful for the stipend check we received from LifeStar which will get us through the year.

#6
I am infinitely grateful, and forever indebted to, my Savior Jesus Christ. Without Him, eternal life is not possible. Along with that, I'm grateful to know we have a Heavenly Father and a Heavenly Mother. Our Heavenly Father loves us perfectly. He loves us 100% all day every day no matter what. He could not love you more tomorrow if you were the best person and he could not love you less tomorrow if you were the worst person. And because of this love, and Christ's atonement, we can overcome our weaknesses, sins, trials, heartaches, pain, whatever Satan uses to try to throw us off. We can let Christ into our hearts, feel of His love, and then share it with others.


And now, here's some pictures I've taken over the last few days.

Here's the set us to change Lexie's bandages. It would be impossible to do it by myself and it would be near impossible without having everything cut and ready to go. I just felt like documenting this part of it as well.

Grandma Perry stayed here Wednesday and Thursday nights. Nora was pretty excited and I'm sure my kids wore Grandma Perry out just because they were so loud and energetic. Nora asked Grandma if she would color with her. She said, "Well, ok, I guess, if you want me to." She kept saying that she wasn't good at coloring and she hasn't done this is a long time and people wouldn't be able to tell if a child did this picture or an adult. But how cute is this?! Great-grandma and great-granddaughter coloring together.

In case you were wondering, Nathan has all the instructions you need on how to cook a turkey. In his own words, "Firrst cill the turkey. Next pol the feathers out. Then cook the turkey for a 100 mins. then eat it. by Nathan."

Nora had a Thanksgiving feast at her preschool. The kids signed up to bring different items - lunchmeat turkey, dried cranberries, popcorn - and they made these cute pilgrim hats and the necklace Nora is wearing. She kept that necklace on until all of the macaroni broke off.

This was Lexie's hand as of Thursday morning. Today it looked even a little bit better. I've been trying not to get frustrated and the 'slowness' of her healing. I just want it to get better so we can move on with our lives! But it is improving and I am very grateful for that!

These are Nora's favorite friends. She was having a Thanksgiving party with them on Thursday morning and was feeding them. Of course she wanted to take a picture.

I asked Nora how she wanted me to do her today and she said, "Warm." Hahaha :) That means either the straightener or the curling iron. Warm.

Gratitude day 24

Today I am grateful for 2 things.

Thing 1

I am so grateful for the sweet reminder of how special and important our job as parents are. Our good friends, Brandt and Val, just got a baby through adoption. I stopped by to see them and their new baby. It's so special. They have waited a long time for this. I am so happy for them. It made me really want to love on my kids and give them an extra hug. The little things are important. How many times a day do I hug my kids? How many times a day do I kiss their cheeks? How many times a day do I tell them how much I love them? These are the little things that are important. 

Thing 2

Parker's email today had a little thing for my mom to read at Thanksgiving about what he's thankful for.

"Well, here we are. Another Thanksgiving Day. How the time flies! It
feels just like yesterday that I was sitting there with all of you!
Okay, maybe not yesterday, but it doesn't feel like my last
Thanksgiving with family was two years ago! First of all, I am
thankful for this time of year —a time for us to pause for a moment
and to reflect all of our many God given blessings. I am thankful for
the blessings which I receive each and everyday. I am thankful for a
loving Heavenly Father who truly is mindful of all things. I am
grateful for His hand in my life and in the lives of all His children.
I am grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I feel especially
grateful for an opportunity to serve and love the great people of
Arizona. They are amazing! I am grateful for the investigators and
members that I have worked with and the investigators and members that
I am working with currently. It's truly amazing to see how people can
and do come from the lowest of all human condition—spiritually dead—
to the best of all human conditions—a strong and everlasting
relationship with God. It is incredibly humbling to see them put all
that they have on the alter of sacrifice to follow Christ.

I am grateful for the Plan of Salvation. I am grateful that I know and
continue to learn what I need to do to live with Heavenly Father
again. I am grateful for the Atonement and that we can be forgiven and
small mistakes that we make and especially the big mistakes. Without
it, we could not live with our family forever. We could know true
happiness. I am grateful that the Savior showed us the way and that as
follow His example we are happy. I am grateful for the experiences
that I have had, both the good and the bad. Those experiences are
important and help us be more like Heavenly Father if handled
correctly.

I am grateful for my father and mother. They are two amazing people.
Their hearts are pure and I am grateful for the example that they set
for me. They work so hard to provide and to teach and most importantly
to love. I'm sure it was pretty hard for them to love me sometimes. I
am grateful that they persevered no matter how hard it was. I am
grateful for my sister and her husband Corey. They are two amazing
individuals as well. I am grateful that they always made sure that I
was doing the right thing. I am grateful that they always made me feel
important to them even when I know that they were busy with their own
lives and family. I am grateful for the examples of hard work. They
work tirelessly to be good parents and to do what they need to do to
provide for their little family. I hope, one day I can hopefully
emulate their examples of parenthood. I am grateful for my
grandparents. I could go on and on for hours about how amazing my
grandparents are—especially Grandma Anderson and Grandma Perry. They
have lost themselves in service their entire lives. Both of them.
Charity, christlike love, is one of the greatest things that we can
develop in our lives and we would do well to learn from their charity
to all of us, their family. I am grateful for my little nieces and
nephew. I haven't met Lexie yet, but I will someday soon. They are
hands down the best little kids I have ever met. Their examples of
simple faith inspire each week when I hear a story that my mom emails
me.

I hope that you all have a great Thanksgiving and Holiday season and I
pray that we can all remember the important things in life and we can
always choose to follow the savior! I love you all so much!
-Elder Anderson"

I am grateful for his example of hard work and dedication. I am grateful for his example of enduring through hardships. I am grateful for his example of sacrifice. 

And on a slight sidenote, he doesn't hardly sound like the same brother of mine that left! :D

Also, checkout the Christmas tree Nathan made of his own free will and choice, his idea, all the work was just him. I was quite impressed. 

Gratitude day 23

I decided not to take Lexie to church today because it's right during her nap. She's been taking really long morning naps and I think it's really important for her. So I went to the other ward's sacrament meeting at 9:00 just by myself and left after the sacrament. I sat quietly, sang all the songs, and pondered with no distractions or interruptions. It was good for my heart. I felt it. I'm grateful I was able to take the sacrament today. Even though I only got 30 minutes of church in, I felt the spirit. I was reminded of the love our Savior has for us and how we should continually strive to do the same for others.

Gratitude day 21 and 22

I will be honest. I've had a hard time thinking of something I am grateful for everyday. I know I have many blessings, but I really have a hard time focusing on that sometimes.

Day 21: I am grateful Corey has been able to learn so much from his internship. He has met some incredible people, helped a few out, gotten some great advice, grown so much. He truly doesn't want to work anywhere else. I hope it works out like that.

Day 22: I am grateful for the satisfying feeling of cleaning something that hasn't been cleaned in awhile.


In other news, I took a picture of Lexie's hand this morning.

This is what her hand looked like on Wednesday. 

And these are the bandages I get to change twice a day. It's quite a process, and she cries almost the whole time. I can't do it by myself, I have to have her sit on someone's lap and then I try to get it done as quick as I can. I get everything cut and ready, lids off, all laid out, and it still takes a little bit.

She's still such a cutie. 

Gratitude day 20

I posted this on a Facebook group I'm in for our doTERRA team. I can't even say how grateful I am for this...

Our family recently had a semi traumatic and very stressful (for mom) experience. That story will come in another post, another day. But I did want to share a little-ish thing that is really quite amazing in my mind. I am still nursing my barely 12 month old, and because of the stress I was feeling from this traumatic experience, my milk supply almost completely dried up. Saturday was ok, Sunday was low, Monday was very low, Tuesday was practically gone. I could tell and was using fennel but it wasn't doing anything. The timing of drying up when the comfort was needed now more than ever was devastating to me. I also used the mood matrix several times, knowing that I had a lot of anxiety and stress and trapped emotions that I was having a hard time releasing. Every time I tried to nurse, it just made both me and my daughter very upset. Wednesday morning, I had a compete meltdown after attempting to nurse again and not having a single drop. All those tears shed were those trapped emotions and stress leaving my body. I miraculously had a friend going to Orem that day and she very willingly picked up a Will Call order for me with some Basil and a few other oils I needed. I started applying Basil as well as Myrrh and Clary Sage. And the miracle...I was able to nurse my daughter that night. A full feeding! I have continued to apply basil and fennel after each nursing and have not only brought my supply back, but have been able to increase it from 2/day to 4 times today. I feel like the extra calories and comfort and bonding are something that she needs right now. I know this is a long post, but to summarize, I went from no milk supply to nursing 4 times a day in only 2 days because of essential oils. (p.s. I was also trying to eat balanced, and I drank lots of water, and I prayed a lot  .)

Gratitude day 19

Today I am grateful for my visiting teacher. She came over this morning and I bawled my eyes out to her. She is now making dinner for us tonight and watching Nathan and Nora while Lexie and I go to the burn center and she is teaching RS for me on Sunday. She is an angel on earth. 

Gratitude day 18

Update: this was Lexie's hand when I changed the bandage tonight. We had a wound check today at the pediatrician's. We are going to the burn center at the U tomorrow. When there are burns over knuckles, they want to make sure there is minimal scaring, etc or the joints won't function the same. The pediatrician said they will cut off all the dead skin. The ER doctor said the best bandage for a burn is your own skin. So I'm not sure what to expect when I go tomorrow. I'm a little nervous.

I'm thankful today was a better day than yesterday. I did cry tonight after the kids went to bed, but that's only once and yesterday it was twice plus a headache plus lots of tension. Nora should have had a nap today and she didn't which means that she was extra whiny and emotional by the evening. Which just really tests my patience. I didn't jump at her though, which is something I've really been working on, I'm just really really ready for them to go to bed. And then I cried a little.

I'm also grateful for the scriptures. I haven't been truly studying them the last few days, but I have been doing more lately than I have in years. Which does feel really good. The texting group with my sisters-in-law has been such a blessing. I really enjoy reading everyone's spiritual thoughts. Its been very uplifting and I feel like it's brought us closer as well.