What a busy month!

I have so many posts to share, I don't know where to begin. February is my family's busiest month. Casey hates it. He calls December to February the money pit because we go from our anniversary on December 18 to Christmas to Phoebe's birthday to Lila's birthday to Valentines Day to my birthday and finally ,on February 24th, to Cade's birthday. (He really loves all of the celebration!)

Valentines Day was fun this year thanks to our 'Valentines crew'! Somehow, nothing says romance like Greg and Heidi, Lance and Aimee, and Mike and Jen Stapley. This is our 3rd year running with them on our Valentines Day celebration. It started 3 years ago with a hot air balloon ride and we had so much fun that it just stuck. This year we went to see Defending the Caveman at the Mesa Arts Center. HILARIOUS! And so true. They have a standing show in Vegas if you want to go see it. Just be prepared to cover your ears every now and then.

Phoebe also had another dance convention. If you are a fan of So You Think You Can Dance you would recognize a couple of her instructors. I don't know about dance company though. I'm starting to really think that it's just not for Phoebe. She's really uncomfortable with the convention atmosphere. This might be her last year unless she begs when she's older. I just want her to have fun dancing.

On February 18, I turned 29. YES! I still have a whole year left in my twenties! I'm not old yet! Really, though, I don't feel like I'm getting old. I'm actually having more fun with each new year so if this is what it's like to get older, bring it on.

Sara threw my family birthday party at her house. Thanks, Sar. Casey took me shopping in Scottsdale and to eat lunch at the Pink Taco, (yes, famous for the name, not the food,) and My ward friends took me to dinner at Oreganos. Yum! I also did breakfast with the sister-in-laws. It was a wonderful, week-end long birthday!

And, rounding off the month, we had Cade's 8th birthday party! I usually prefer having the kid's birthday parties somewhere far away from my home, but since it was Cade's 8th, I wanted to give him exactly what he wanted. And of all things, he wanted a Star Wars party, at our house. So that's what he got. I found some great ideas online for making light sabers and Jedi cloaks. Once adorned, the boys just went to town. Cade had a lot of fun and now I get to just concentrate on his baptism. Wow! How eight years flies by.

I'm so proud of Cade. He is one of those kids that just glides through day to day life. School is easy for him, friends are easy for him. He' super witty and has a sense of humor far beyond his years. I can't recount all of the bits of wisdom that I have taken from him, but, here's my favorite;

"Mom, are you sad because your mom died last night?"

"Yes,"

"Well, she had lots of pets growing up didn't she?"

"Yes,"

"Then I'm sure she's so happy that she is with them again, now."

Happy Birthday, Sara.

Today we celebrated my one and only sister's birthday at my house with stuffed quesadillas and chocolate ice cream cake. Yum!

I love my sister so much for the sense of calm and humility that she brings into my family. She is everything that I wish I was more of, kind, patient, giving, Beautiful!

I wish you the best for year number 34! You deserve it.

The caboose is 1!

I am a mother of four and because I will always be a mother of four, I sometimes refer to Lila as our caboose. Now that she has turned 1 year old, I have such a feeling that our life as a family is really taking off.

The story of Lila's arrival into this world is very special to me for a couple of different reasons. Just over a year ago, I was very pregnant and Phoebe was turning 5 years old. It was right after her birthday party that my mom began to feel really sick and went in to the doctor. The doctor wasn't very worried, but, shortly after that, she became jaundiced which led her straight to the hospital. It was that trip to the emergency room that turned our lives upside down. She had a "growth" on her pancreas. It's funny the careful words that doctors sometimes use.

I don't know when it really began to sink in that my mom had cancer. All I remember thinking at the time was that my mom would be able to fight her way through it and that I needed her with me when I had my baby. My mom had been with me from epidural to post delivery with Cade, Phoebe and Sofia. How could I deliver a baby without my mom's hand? I couldn't. At two weeks early, I went into my doctor's office and asked him to do all he could to make me have this baby before my mom had to go back into the hospital for major surgery to remove her tumor.

I had Lila that afternoon with my mom right by my side. A few days later my mom went in for surgery and never really recovered.

As a 28 year old mother of four, I have often had people react with shock at how early I started having babies and how many I had! (I'm sure many of you can relate.) And I, myself have wondered from time to time what our hurry was. It was while I was thinking about just that the other day, in my car, when I had one of those 'lightbulb moments'. My Father in Heaven knew what I was going to go through. He knew exactly what trial and pain that was to befall our family and he blessed me with the opportunity to have my mom be with me until I had all of my babies here on Earth. I will always be so grateful for that.

Lila truely was the last great miracle that my mom was able to witness before she passed away and Lila truely is a miracle.

Lila was born with a cleft palette. Thankfully, her cleft was fairly mild. It took a couple of initial weeks of stress and frustration, but, she eventually was able to eat as any other baby, (with the help of a special bottle). Then, at eight months old, Casey and I reluctantly handed our baby over to an amazing Doctor at Phoenix Children's Hospital to have the cleft repaired. She is now fully recovered with not a scar to show. What a perfect miracle this baby has been from her first second in my arms.

We love you, Lila. You are the most content and happy baby that I have ever known and you have truely completed our family in a way that only you could. Thank you.