Our Poor Little Rylee-Bug~

On Sunday, February 20th, our sweet little Rylee hurt herself pretty bad and we ended up in the emergency room. It was so sad! (Here is the whole story. You may want to grab some popcorn for this one. It is a bit long, I must say.)

Dax was sleeping and Brett had went over to his parents house to help his dad with an engine. I was making some stuff for Dax's upcoming birthday party and Rylee was in the living room, just across the bar from me, practicing her leg-up back walkover. For her pass she has to do 4, leg-up back walkovers in a row. So she started practicing and did three of them in a row, perfectly! Then she ran out of room, so came back to try again. I was looking up and watching her, and when she threw herself back, she must have second guessed something she had done because she sort of twisted to her right side, which made her land with her weight on her right arm. (Yes the arm she does everything with). I heard a really loud "crunch". Right away I said, "ooh, Rylee, did you pop your finger or something?" And I looked at her and she was holding her wrist. Not crying, just making a whimpering noise. I ran over to look at her wrist because I knew I heard a crunch and when I saw her holding her arm, I immediately had a bad feeling. I cannot even begin to describe how I felt next. I looked at her arm and it looked like a bent rubber snake. All the way up her forearm was "s" shaped. I started to freak out! I started yelling, "oh my heck, you broke your arm." I think I repeated this over and over as I ran through the house. I kept telling her to just stay where she was and not to move. I grabbed my phone and frantically called Brett as I was grabbing Dax from his crib and loading him in the car. Then I came back and loaded Rylee into the car. I got about 3 blocks when Brett called and asked me to wait for him. I did not want to waste any more time and told him to meet us at Barrett's and get in there. When we picked him up, he got in the car and said, "Oh honey I am so sorry, are you okay?" Rylee said, "I broke my arm." Still not crying! She kept saying, "ohhh, ohhh, it hurts like 100." I could barely even speak without crying. Seeing your kids hurt and not being able to take the pain away from them is really hard.

I had called the hospital on our way over because I wanted to get her right in and not worry about admitting and everything. Right when we got there, the doctor walked in. It was Dr. Nay, and he did such an awesome job. Rylee loved him and so did me and Brett. They took two xrays right away and realized it was broke all the way through both the radius and the ulna. The brake was also diagonally rather than straight across. As she was being wheeled from the xray room and back to her room, grandma Judi and papa Rick came walking in. She was really excited to see them there.

Dr. Nay knew as soon as he saw it that he would need to set it back into place. So he had a nurse come in and give Rylee an IV. That was the worse part. I know how bad they hurt from having babies and I will say that out of everything I went through when having two kids, the only thing I dreaded was the IV.

At this point Rylee still had not cried. When they poked her with the needle, she must have still been trying to be so strong because she still didn't really cry, but she said "ouch" with a sad voice and a tear ran from each eye. I felt so bad, I just kept wishing I could take her place. I hate seeing her like this. After that the nurse and doctor got everything ready, which included having the xray tech bring the xray machine to her room and get it ready to take an xray the second Dr. Nay had it set and wrapped. If it did not set right he would have to take this hard half cast back off and start over. They put the medicine in her IV and shortly after she was out. Sound asleep!

At this point Dr. Nay asked me and Brett if we are okay with being in the room while he sets her arm (which consists of him straightening and braking it back into place). Immediately I said I will have to go out. I knew I would not be able to handle it and would have passed out. I stood right outside the door and even through that big wooden door I heard, "crunch-crunch". After he set it, he put on something that is hard like a hard cast but just goes about 3/4 of the way around the arm, leaving a slit so it can expand with the swelling of the arm. Then it is wrapped with an ace compression bandage. Because of where her break was at, he did not want her to be able to bend her fingers or her elbow. The cast goes from the tips of her fingers to her elbow and then she was placed in a sling. The doctor told us that she must always keep her arm at a 90 degree angle and tkae it easy while she has this cast on and especially during the first 2-3 days.

She slowly started to wake up and she was quite funny when she woke up. I asked if she had a good nap and she said, "Yes, I like naps." Then she told us that she had been sleeping for hours, when really it was about 15 minutes. She kept saying how nice her nap was. Then she saw her sling with Charlie Brown and Snoopy on it and said, "Oh thank you, I like this." When papa came in he said, oh wow, Charlie Brown, I like him and Rylee said, I knew you would! It was cute.

We were so thankful that Rick and Judi were both there because while we were both able to sit there and comfort Rylee, they were walking around keeping Dax entertained. It made a huge difference and was so much help. They had her lay around for about 30 minutes after she had woke up and then sent us on our way.

When we got home we made her a nice comfortable spot on the couch and put in a movie of her choice. Soon after we got home there was a knock at the door. It was Cody & Amy Boyce bringing Rylee some treats and a juice. It really made her happy. About an hour later there was another knock at the door. It was Aunt Shanda, and cousins: Teyara, Rylan, Jayde, Jayslin, and Trayton. They had all made her individual cards specially from them and brought a huge bag of candy and a bug juice. She was so excited and happy as we read each card to her. Shortly after, Dylan and Aunt Andrea came to the door with ice cream bars for her. Rylee loves ice cream. A little later grandma Shauna came with a balloon for Rylee and a few little activities to keep her entertained. There was a Mrs. Potato Head and a coloring page. She was really happy. So many people came and I know it made her happy because when Andrea knocked, Rylee said, "I bet it is someone else to make me feel better."

The next day Andrea and Teyara brought over some flowers and balloons from all of them. They were so pretty and it made Rylee really happy. She also got some flowers, balloons, and a little stuffed lamb from Brett and I. The next day grandma Judi brought some treats and then she got a card in the mail from grandma and grandpa Schaugaard which really cheered her up.

Between all the sweet treats, the phone calls, and the texts, everyone has been so sweet and concerned about our little Rylee and we really appreciate it. We have such great friends and family.

The first night was a little rough, especially for me I think. I had her sleep with me and I was so worried about her straightening out her arm that everytime she moved I would jump up to check on her. Each night has gotten better and better.

She constantly realizes how hard it is only having one hand and especially only one left hand, but she actually does very well with her left hand. She wrote her name the very first night and I took a picture of it. It was surprisingly good for being her first try. She also drew a flower and wrote I {heart} U and she did awesome.

We went to her follow up doctor appointment on February 23rd and they first took some xrays to make sure it has stayed where he set it, which it has, so that was great news. She was hoping to get her hard cast today, but I knew that wasn't going to happen. Dr. Nay said that it was looking good, but was still very swollen and scheduled us to come and get her permanent hard cast on Monday, February 28th. He did say that her cast will have to go past her elbow, which is really sad, but whatever will help her heal correctly.

So far everything is good and we are counting down to the day she gets her permanent cast and no sling. The hardest part has been baths, changing clothes and Rylee getting so bored and wanting to still jump around and play with her brother. I will update again soon with her new cast once she has it.
We have been so extremely proud of our little Rylee. She has been so brave and so strong through the entire thing. It makes me realize how much of a stronger person I am because of Rylee. We {heart} you little Rylee-bug!
Thanks again to everyone that has been so sweet and so concerned about Rylee, we are so grateful to have such great people in our lives. xoxo.

Happy Valentine's

I LOVE Valentine's Day! I am not completely sure what it is about it, but I love it. I love showing extra love to my family, I love helping Rylee make her cute treats for her class, I love seeing red & pink everywhere, I love that I have an excuse to give extra kisses and hugs to my kids and my loving husband...I absolutely {heart} everything about this day!

This year we decided to celebrate it as a family. It was such a nice day Saturday, so we decided to take the kids to the park. There was still some puddles around from the snow melting and of course Dax found every single one of them. I tried my hardest to keep him out of them, but he still left the park with wet shoes, socks and pants. After that we went to have a late lunch/early dinner together. When we got home, Dax, Rylee, and myself all layed down to take a nap. Rylee wanted to nap because she wanted Valentine's to come faster.

When we woke up, grandma Dean and Tom showed up with a valentine treat for both kids. After they left, we decided to give the kids the stuff from us and from grandma Judi & Papa Rick. They were so excited! From grandma Judi & papa Rick they got valentine jammies and some candy. From us, Rylee got a jewelry box, a cute diamond necklace that looks like a key with a heart on it, "I Love You" book, a cute caterpillar stuffed animal that sings, and lots of candy. Dax got a tractor toy, a diesel toy, a big stuffed animal dog and candy. Then we gave them a movie together. They were both really excited and looked so cute in their new jammies.

Today Rylee had her class party at school. She couldn't wait to take her treat bags to class and hand out to each one of her classmates. She looked so cute after we got her ready for school that we decided to go outside and snap a few quick pictures of her. At class, they got to decorate their own miniature cake. She had a fun day!

Like I said before, I LOVE this day! I love my cute little family. I love Rylee & Dax to pieces....more than words could ever say! I love my sweet husband Brett. He is the reason I am who I am today. He is a great daddy to our kids and such a great husband too. We have been together for 14 years and 5 months (as of yesterday). We have been married for 7 years and 5 months (as of yesterday), and I look forward to many more years with my cute family. I am thankful for all the love I have in my life....from my husband, my kids, all of my family, and my friends.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Happy {HEART} Day!

I {HEART} Valentine's Day!

I {HEART} my cute little family....and even though I let them know this each and every day, I absolutely LOVE getting to show them even more on Valentine's Day with all the cute little "I Love You" gifts they have out there!

I had an idea to take some pictures with the kids and letters. The kids were not at all into my picture taking that day, but we got a few. I absolutely LOVE the ones I took of them together.

I hope everyone has a Happy {HEART} Day!

~22 months....continued~

Since I posted Dax's 22 month update, I have thought of quite a few things I forgot to mention. Rather than going in and updating my previous post, I figured I would just create a new one.

I had a few pictures that I snapped over the last month that I thought was really cute. It seems like lately Rylee and Dax play so good, but they also seem to fight a lot more too. I never thought an almost 2 year old and a 5 year old could fight so much. But when they are getting along, its great! They have so much fun together and will sit in their rooms and play together or chase each other around the house. They love each other so much and are so cute together. Rylee is such a sweet big sister when she wants to be.

Whenever she sits at the computer to play her game, Dax has to come over and sit on her lap so he doesn't miss anything. And even though you can tell its tough for Rylee to play with him on her lap, she doesn't seem to mind one bit.

They love to play like they are camping out in Dax's play tent, or use it to hide in or play cats and dogs in. I snuck in and got a few pictures of them the other night while they were in playing like they were sleeping in the tent.

Over the last month Dax has become extremely independent. He will not let you feed him at all anymore. If you ty to feed him he just gets really mad and upset and will not eat. Then if you sit him at the table and let him feed himself, he is as happy as can be. One day Rylee had a can of pringles out and he wanted some, so she gave him a chip and he got so mad and started crying and screaming. I thought he wanted her chip instead, so to stop the loud screaming I asked her to just give her chip to him and get herself a new one. So, she did, and he screamed more. Finally, I thought maybe he wants the can. So I handed the can toward him and all he wanted was to reach in and get his own chip. Grandma Judi learned this the hard way when she kept trying to feed him spaghettio's the other day and I kept telling her that he probably won't eat it that way because he is so independent. She tried and he got mad, she tried again and he yelled, and the third time he just started crying and came in to tell me. It was pretty funny. Then I tried putting a dish towel around his neck like a bib and he was not happy about that either. I have learned that he wants to do it all on his own and does not want to be treated like a baby at all.

As much of a big boy as he tries to be, I am happy to say that he still loves to give hugs, kisses, and to cuddle. That makes me very happy. He is such a little lover boy.

He loves laying in our bed or Rylee's bed to watch movies and tries to get us to let him sleep in them at night for bed, but I am not ready to take him out of his crib just yet. He just seems too young and I cannot imagine that naptime would be so easy if he was in a bed that he could easily climb out of. So for now, we will stick with the crib. (Maybe in another 6 months or so.)

He has a big box of all kinds of trucks, cars, four wheelers, bikes, and diesels to play with and he loves them. All day long I am picking up cars. He drives them all over the house and wants us to all join in. He makes the perfect "vroom" noises for each vehicle too. I love it. He is such a cutie!

Some of my favorite things to hear him say is "I Love You", "uh-oh spaghettio's" and the cutest ever is when he says "Schaugaard". It is so funny because we were all just talking and I said something to Rylee about spelling our last name and when I said Schaugaard, Dax started saying "Stou-dard" "Stou-dard", over and over. It was the cutest thing ever and to this day I think he loves to say it because any time he hears us say it, he has to repeat it a few times.

Another milestone I must mention is that he finally dares to take a shower. He has always been so terrified of showers. When Rylee was a baby we would take her in the shower sometimes and she loved it. We tried with Dax and he was terrified. Every once in a while we would try again and he would scream in terror, so we had to get him out. He just barely got to where he is not scared of them and loves them.

He LOVES to dance and boy can this kid dance. He has got some rhythm too. He gets all low and gets all into it. He pulls this serious, rockstar facial expression. I cannot really explain it, but he looks like a rockstar, it is hilarious. And while pulling this face he is getting down and dancing. It makes me and Brett laugh every time. Rylee loves to dance too. So of course any time we have music going at the house, we have two cute kids dancing around to the beat.

Dax is still very shy when we go places where there is a lot of people, even if its people he knows. He is not a fan of huge groups of people I guess. It takes a good 45 minutes just to warm up enough so that me or Brett can even put him down. My nephew Jayden was amazed at how shy he is at big gatherings versus how he is at home when Jayden has come over. It is like night and day. It is definitely the big crowd thing that he doesn't like though because even when I go to watch Rylee dance and there is just a few "strangers" there, he will get down and try to play ball or trucks with the other people there with no problem.

He has this big Tonka truck that he got for Christmas and one day I went to check on him and he was sitting in it just playing with his toys. Brett decided to push him around in it and now he loves to go for rides in the Tonka. He had Brett, Dylan and me all pushing him around that day.

I could go on and on. He has such a cute personality and is such a sweet little boy. Although I do have to mention that he is still a daddy's boy. He loves me and wants me, but if daddy is around he usually chooses daddy over mommy. Some days I am lucky enough to be the favorite and I love those days. Maybe its because he is home all day with me and by the time Brett comes home from work he is needing some daddy time. It is pretty funny though because for some reason he seems to think that only Brett can touch the remote. If we are all watching t.v. and I pick up the remote at all, he will come and take it from me and take it right over to Brett. Same with Brett's phone. He knows which phone is Brett's and if I touch it, he will take it from me and take it to Brett also.

He is one silly little boy and we love him to pieces!

29 and Holding!!!

I have officially turned 29 years old. That means only one year left until the big 3-0! I don't know why but thirty just sounds so old to me. I don't feel that old. And I guess that is what really matters, right? I have always said that I am only as old as I feel and act, so I would have to say that I am forever in my upper 20's. I guess as long as I feel great, then being so close to thirty really shouldn't bother me. So, here is to my last year in my twenties!!!

I had a really great birthday. For lunch, my sisters (Andrea, Shanda, & Brinne) and my mom took me and my kids to lunch at El Mexicano. They are so sweet; I love them all. I just love getting to go spend time with all of them, whether its for my birthday or one of theirs. Later that night Brett's parents took the kids and Brett and I went to have a nice enjoyable dinner at Steve's Steakhouse where I also had the best piece of cheesecake ever. Afterward we went and saw the movie "Little Fockers". It was funny, but none of them will beat the first one, "Meet the Parents." That was and still is my favorite one. Then we picked up the kids and went home and relaxed together. I had a really fun time with him.

I got some really great gifts on my birthday. I got 3 pairs of pajamas and some yoga pants from Victoria's Secret, a really cute black long sleeve shirt, a super cute hand-made magnet board, some sweet birthday cards, money, and from my sweet, loving, and wonderful husband, I got a new Nikon D3000 SLR camera, which I was extremely excited about. I have been wanting a digital SLR camera for a very long time now.

My day turned out great thanks to everyone! I don't have any pictures from my birthday, but here is a picture of my new magnet board.

~22 months~

I cannot believe that my baby is almost 2 years old. Where did the time go? We just love him so much and have enjoyed the entire 22 months with him. He is the funniest little boy ever! Rylee adores him and he adores her. He loves to play with her, it is so cute. He says more and more words. He has always been really good to repeat just about any word I say, but he is repeating more and learning how to ask for things by name rather than just taking me to them. He easily can say 50-100 words. He loves to help me pick up so I will hand him something and tell him to take it to his toybox, or Rylee's toybox, or the dirty clothes hamper and he takes everything and puts them where I say. He LOVES pickles still and pretty much any kind of fruit. I cannot cut up an apple without him eating half of it. His favorite foods definitely have to be anything Italian. He likes things with spaghetti or marinara type sauces; such as, Spaghetti, Ravioli, Pizza, Parmesan Chicken, and spaghetti-o's. I always know that any time I make Spaghetti or my Italian Bake, he will eat really good those nights. He loves milk and wants his cup refilled all day long. It is amazing he even has room for food as much as he enjoys his milk. Some of his favorite cartoons are Yo Gabba Gabba and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Some characters he also likes is Spiderman, Spongebob, and Buzz and Woody. At 22 months he weighs 28.5 lbs. and is 35 inches tall.

Before we know it, we will be celebrating his 2nd birthday!!!

I took some 22 month pictures of Dax with my new camera. It was a great way for me to try out my new camera and also get some practice with photoshop.

~It's a New Year~

It's 2011 now and I am looking forward to whatever it may have in store, as long as it is spent with my wonderful family then I am HAPPY! I look forward to all the fun activities we get to do each year together from birthday parties, visits to the lake, the dunes, camping, traveling, playing at the park, and even just sitting inside eating popcorn and watching movies. I love my LIFE and am thankful for each person in it.

Almost every year my new year resolution is to lose weight and get into shape for the coming summer. This year is not a whole lot different, but instead of just wanting to lose these winter pounds I packed on, I also want to start eating right, exercising, and drinking more water. That is a big one since I am horrible at drinking water. I know our bodies need it, and it makes our skin look better and younger and less dry, but I still struggle at doing it. Well I am determined, starting TODAY, to drink more water, eat healthier and stay active. 

Another goal of mine this year is to be a better mommy and wife. Really just a better person in general. Now I know if my husband read this he would probably say something like, "Babe you already do the best job you can as a mommy and a wife," but I want to do more. I want to make sure that I enjoy the little things with my kids more often, have even more patience with them, get to laugh at all the silly things they say and do even if I am stressed about something else, I want to stop and take the time to play around and be silly and not just with my kids but with Brett too. I want to take the time to enjoy the little moments with Brett, even if its just getting to watch an hour of tv together before he goes to bed or cuddling in bed on the weekends and watching a movie. I just want to stop and enjoy each moment and each person I get to spend it with.

I am looking forward to a great 2011.....