Stomachache

I really hate it when my kids have an upset stomach- especially Sara.  Ever since she was little she has been telling us her stomach hurts.  Sometimes worse than other times, but it usually always hurts.  When she was little we tried taking her off dairy and she even had her "special" milk for years, but nothing changed.   I have taken her to the doctor countless times and they pretty much tell me there is nothing they can do. 

We have tried prevacid for reflux- no change.  


We had blood tests done for celiac disease about a year ago- negative.  


A few months ago she had an x-ray and nothing was out of the ordinary.  


Finally today I took her in yet again because her stomach has been hurting really bad over the weekend.  Of course there is nothing the doctor can do for her, but he did send a referral down to Primary Children's in Salt Lake to the G.I. department.  The soonest we can get an appointment is Tuesday March 15th.  If she needs a scope or colonoscopy we have to schedule another appointment.  I'm done with this and I'm pretty sure she is too.  While I'm not happy about having to drive all the way to Salt Lake (probably twice) I am very excited to hopefully find out once and for all if there is anything wrong.  Good times!

Zoning out

Here is Sophie zoning out watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, holding Minnie and sitting on her Mickey Mouse Clubhouse couch.  Every morning she does this after breakfast.

My beautiful wall

One of my early Christmas presents to myself was the vinyl for my wall.  Ben helped me apply the vinyl and he re-hung the pictures after.  I love how it turned out!  LOVE!  Now I just need updated pictures of the kids- good thing we have appointments this weekend :-)

(Click on the picture to see it bigger)

Pretties

Sometimes Sophia will go play in her room all by herself.  One night after her bath she stayed in her room to play and when she came out she had lots of pretties on, so I had to get a picture.

Coloring, puzzles and flat ball

 Sophia has recently discovered her love of coloring and drawing.  All pencils, pens, markers and crayons are now under lock and key.  If you look closely she colored on my table before I got a coloring book for her.  I'm sure it won't be long before I have an original Sophia on my wall.

 When Sophia started going to nursery one of her favorite activities was puzzles, so I got her a couple for Christmas.  She loves putting all the pieces in and dumping them out so she can do it again.  I love it when she dumps the pieces out on the couch or the carpet, but when she dumps them out on the coffee table...........while we are trying to read scriptures..............IT'S SUPER LOUD!

 Flat ball is so much fun for her right now.  She pushes it flat and it surprises her and makes her laugh every time it pops open.  So fun to watch!

Making dinner

 Making dinner is hard for me most nights because Sophia usually wakes up from her nap between 4:30 and 5:00pm.  When I get her up she does really well if I have time to snuggle with her for a few minutes.  Most of the time I am trying to make dinner so I send Sara or Brandon in to get her up.  As soon as she sees me she wants me to hold her and if I can't she throws a fit.

 One night she happily got some toys out of her diaper bag and started playing on the floor by me.  It was so cute that I had to stop and get some pictures.  If I'm not distracted by her being upset I'm distracted by her being good.

Sophia playing the DS

 When Sara or Brandon leaves their DS laying around Sophia will usually find it and want to play.  We usually just let her scribble and she LOVES it!

Playing with Daddy

 Daddy will do anything to be with Sophie.  One of the games they like to play is where's Sophie?  Ben turns very quickly from side to side saying "Where's Sophie?" and Sophie laughs and laughs.

Sophie also LOVES it when Daddy flips her.

Baby stroller

Sophia loves being pushed in her baby stroller.  She is getting so big now that she barely fits!  I love how she holds up her feet and arms like she's going really fast.

Daddy's cereal bowl

If Sophia is up early enough in the morning Ben gives her his cereal bowl when he is done with it, so she can drink the last little bit of milk from it.  She sits by him in anticipation and he loves it!

Cars, Helicopters and Fun- Oh my!

 Sophia loves playing with her cars.  She takes them out of the container one at a time, says their name and lines them up.

After the cars are all lined up she puts them back in the container and starts over again.

Sometimes she's nice enough to let Sara play with her.

Sara and Sophia watching Brandon fly his helicopter

Brandon really likes flying his helicopter he got for Christmas from Grandma Esau.

 Ben likes flying his helicopter too, but mostly he likes bugging us with it by seeing how close he can get to our heads.

Sophia ducking daddy's helicopter.

 Sara and Brandon were throwing their rice bags back and forth and Sophia wanted to play too, but the kids just ignored her.

When Sophie finally got a rice bag she would put it on her head and then shake it off.

Cinnamon, chocolate chip pancakes

Older kids may have bigger problems and be more of a headache sometimes, but there are big benefits!  I woke up one morning and Sara was making pancakes all on her own.  She followed the directions on the back of the bag and made cinnamon, chocolate chip pancakes.  They were so good!  When she was done she cleaned everything up like I taught her and it looked like she had never been there.  Perfection!
She LOVES being in the kitchen and can make a lot of things on her own.  She is so talented!

Snow fun

 The kids were still home from school on Christmas break and we got a bit of snow.  I had to get out and shovel it, so I had all the kids come out with me and play.  Sara and Brandon each took a turn pulling Sophie on the sled.  She loved it of course.

 Sara and Sophie sledding down the "hill" in our front yard.

Sophia going down the "hill" on her own

Brandon sledding down the "hill".

Sophia "helping" me shovel the driveway

 Sophia really likes being outside and she stayed out with me the whole time I was shoveling.  In fact she threw a fit when we went inside.

Shoveling the driveway

Sophia's red face right before we went inside to get some hot cocoa.

Sophia loves my laptop

 Whenever I sit down with my computer Sophia runs over and want to see "baby".  She loves looking at all the pictures and watching videos of herself.  I taught her which button to push to change pictures and she always has to do it herself.

Sophia's new baby

 Aunt Tonya sent Sophia this baby for Christmas and she totally loves it!  She carries it around and always brings her to me so I can wrap her up in her blanket.  It came with this potty seat, but Sophie thinks it's for her.

 Kisses.

 Hugs.

 She puts her to sleep and covers her with blankets.  Lots of blankets.

She even put one of her bracelets on her baby.