New Callings

Well it's a shame we didn't take the townhome when we had a chance, 2 chances actually. I guess shame is the wrong word because I am always willing to serve the Lord no matter when, where or how hectic my life is, but I'm kind of wondering why now when it pretty much seems to be impossible to accomplish the task He has asked of me. With Bobby working full time this summer, and going to school, and his calling as Elders Quorum Pres., and just trying to keep my head above water raising 2 kids, I have NO idea how not only me, but my family, will make it out alive-and sane. Maybe I should back up.

About a month ago the waiting list we were on to move into one of the townhomes (do you remember the post I made back in Dec. about getting offered to move into one, but having to turn it down because they wanted us to move in the first week of Jan. but I was due Dec. 31 so couldn't?) well our name came up on the list again and there was one ready for us to move in right away so we walked through it, liked it, wanted to move in, and turned it down. Crazy!!! It's what we'd been waiting for since July of last year, but for some reason it just didn't feel right. We were both really frustrated and weren't sure what we were going to do so after talking about it for a couple days we decided that we really needed more space right now than something "nice" so instead decided to put our name on another waiting list for a 3 bedroom apartment a couple blocks away. Ahhhh! Can we just move already?! Anyways, so about a week after we had turned down the townhome (for the 2nd time) the Stake Pres. asked to meet with us and called Bobby to serve as Elders Quorum Pres. and we kicked ourselves for not taking the townhome (putting us in a different ward) when we had the chance. Then about 2 weeks after that the Bishop asked me to serve as Relief Society Pres. and I called the office and asked if that townhome was still available but they said it was too late. Just kidding...but I thought about it. :)

No, I really am looking forward to being able to serve the sisters in our Relief Society. I LOVE our ward and the sisters are so amazing, and talented, and supportive and I'm thankful for this opportunity to get to know them better. But at the same time I am SO overwhelmed (really an understatement), nervous, feeling immensely inadequate, and unsure of myself. I can't even think about it for too long without needing to take an asprin. From where I stand now I just don't see how it is going to be possible for me to balance all of the things we have going on right now and still give 100% of myself in every area. The only thing I know right now, for sure, is that when we are obedient to the Lord's will we are blessed and He will provide the way for us to accomplish that thing that He has asked us to do. That is THE ONLY reason I said yes to this calling because I know this is not something I can do without His help and guidance. I know from past personal experiences that when we follow His will for us and put our trust in Him 100%, we are blessed. He makes up the difference and gives us the strength we need to succeed if, and when, we take the first step forward in faith. Moving to Logan last year was the most recent example of this (I'm sure many of you remember those...frustrating blog posts from last summer) and I am SO grateful our family made that change in our lives when it is the last thing in the world that we wanted to do and we didn't understand why this is where the Lord wanted us to be. I know that this is where we are supposed to be, and we have been undeservingly blessed for following that counsel from our Heavenly Father. I hope and pray that this new challenge will likewise make our family stronger and bring us closer together even though at this time it's hard to see how that is going to be possible. Any extra prayers tossed our way would be greatly appreciated!

***If your testimony was a little shaken by this news just remember it's the church that's perfect not the people!! Ha Ha! :)

Treasure Box

Ever since I made this treasure box for my visiting teachee:

...and wouldn't let Tyler touch it, he's been begging me for one. Everyday he would say, "mommy make you treasure today?" So I finally felt bad enough that I kept putting it off and stayed up till 2:00 AM one night making him one. But it was SOOO worth it, when I saw his face. He loves it and was so excited! I didn't think to take pictures right when I gave it to him to get that "just got the best gift ever" face, but you get the picture.


What could be the source of surprise on this face you ask?


A little bling bling in the bottom-actually he was more excited about the map than the piece by piece strategic layering of little jewels on the bottom. Surprisingly he hasn't tried to pick any off yet...


Yep, he was pretty happy about it.


And just some other random pictures f.y.e.

Kylee in the exersaucer

.
Tyler at the same age as Kylee is now-oh how I miss my beautiful kitchen. Actually, the whole apartment for that matter!!


Enjoying fruit popsicles on the back porch


Tyler you just look gorgeous in my shirt!


Have a good weekend everyone!!

4 mo. and 2 Years

So I know Kylee's closer to 5 mo. now than 4 mo., but I feel like I've been running about 2 weeks behind in life altogether right now, so better late than never!

Kylee Stats:
Weight: 10lbs. 15 oz. (10%)
Height: 24 1/4 inch (50%)
*Her appt. was 2 weeks before she was 4 mo. so she would have been a little over 11 lbs. at 4 mo.

(taken today)

Tyler stats-4 mo.
Weight: 12 lbs. 6oz. (10%)
Height: 24 inch. (50%)


Well basically speaking she's healthy, but she dropped the great weight gain she had been having the first several months (went from the 25% in weight at 2 mo. to the 10%) so the doctor said that for some reason she wasn't gaining as much as she should be. I reminded him that she was lactose intolerant and so I had eliminated dairy from my diet right around when she turned 2 mo., and he said that was most likely why her weight gain has slowed so much. Since I'm not getting any of the "good" fats, neither is she so she is not gaining weight properly. He said that I either needed to completely switch her over to formula or, if I still really wanted to breastfeed (which I do), than I needed to put 1 teaspoon of formula into a bottle of breastmilk for every feeding. This would mean that I need to pump before every feeding just so she could get 1 teaspoon of formula- I don't think so. So instead I've decided just to give her 1 bottle of formula (about 6 oz.) every day and nurse her the other times. It's my comprise. Kylee gets some good fat, she still gets some breastmilk and I don't have to pump.



What Kylee's doing at 4 mo.-
She is such a happy baby now that I'm not eating dairy, which makes me feel really bad that I was so frustrated with her the first couple months she was born-it was ALL my fault! She sleeps anywhere from 8-10 hours a night and has a morning, afternoon and evening nap although all vary anywhere from 45 min. to 2 hours depending on the day. (This is still really hard for me to deal with since Tyler was such a perfectly scheduled baby-2 1/2 hour naps every 2 hours on the dot till he was 9 mo. old! And was sleeping 12 hours a night by 6 mo.) She rolled over for the first time the day after she turned 4 mo. and hasn't done it since! She is FASCINATED by her hands, which is really fun for me because Tyler never cared about his. She loves to smile, and smiles the easiest with daddy, but it is SO hard to get her to laugh, so if you get one out of her it feels like a real accomplishment. (This was EXACTLY how Tyler was) Over the past couple weeks she's started to get really good at grabbing at toys that are in front of her and she will reach for anything you put close to her hands. She loves to play in the exersaucer which has been great for me because when she doesn't want to be laying flat on her back or stomach, she has somewhere to sit upright other than my arms. She would watch Tyler all day long if he would satisfy that desire, but he's not too interested in keeping her entertained. I'll say, "Tyler, look at her smiling at you!" and he'll look at her, give her a courtesy smile and go back to whatever it was he was doing. But she really is fascinated by him and the second he walks into her view she doesn't take her eyes off of him. She wakes up SO happy in the morning and I love to hear her little voice cooing in her bassinett next to my bed-what a fantastic way to be woken up! She takes a pacifier, but prefers her fingers. She sucks on as many as can fit in her mouth at once, usually gagging herself in the process, and chews on her thumb. Doesn't suck, just chews. It's wierd. She has the sweetest cry in the whole world and only screams when she is seriously angry because she has given you the cute cries for several minuets and didn't get your attention. She's more cuddly than Tyler was and would let me rock her to sleep everytime she went to sleep if I'd do it (Tyler wouldn't fall asleep unless he was lying in his bed alone) but I don't want to start any bad habits so I don't (but sometimes I hold her a little longer than necessary just because I love it!). She is my sweet baby girl and I can't believe how fast she's growing up! I could kiss her all day, and usually do! I love you Kylee girl!!!





*******Ohhh, and a sidenote, I'm only 2.2 lbs. away from my goal weight of 123. YEA!!!

Tyler stats-2 years old
Weight: 25 lbs. (15%)
Height: 33 1/4 (10%)
Proportion of Weight to Height: 25%


(taken 3 mo. ago right at 2 yrs. old) I chose this picture because it pretty much perfectly shows what his attitude is 90% of the time. Ha ha, I see trouble in the teenage years...

They had their checkups on the same day and the doctor was really great with both of them. We spent quite a bit of time talking about Kylee, but he was really impressed with how active Tyler was and wrote "Very Entertaining" on his card. Isn't that the truth! Oh Tyler, most days I don't know whether to laugh or cry, but am trying to get better at not taking everything so seriously and realizing it's okay that I'm not always perfect, so now we have a lot more laughter than we do tears. You make me the happiest mother in the world and I love how sensitive and caring you are. Every time you're outside you pick me flowers and when you've been out with daddy running errands and come home, you run into my arms and hug me like you haven't seen me in years. When you see me in the morning you SO excitedly say, "Gooooood morning Mommy!!!" and give me a big kiss. You love to sing and dance and every toy you play with comes to life and makes some sort of car or airplane noise-no matter what it is. And although you've decided not to take naps very often anymore, you're still good about going into your room and having a quiet time which I really appreciate. Before you go to bed at night you have to ask me a question and it's the same question every night. You say, "mommy, I have question." and I say, "okay, what's your question?" and you say, "Is the sky blue?" and I say, "Yes, Tyler the sky is blue. Good question." I love your goofy, quirky, sweet, dramatic, and cheerful personality. You light up our life and our home and I wouldn't be the same person without you! I love you Tyler!

Happy Birthday Alena!!

My sister Alena turned 14 yesterday (may 10) and in true Tyler style, he has a little birthday message for her. Happy Birthday Alena, we LOVE you!!!!!!!!!!!!



I asked Tyler if there was anything else he wanted to tell Alena and he said, "Lena pretty princess."


He took the words right out of my mouth. Alena, you have always been my little princess and I love you for it! Love, Queen Ang. ;)

Take me out to the ball game!

Video dedicated to Alena as she is the one who taught him the song and all the sweet actions...


Tyler you're so nice to share your toys. Obviously Kylee is very appreciative.


Well usually the window sill in Tyler's room looks something to this effect:


But when I walked in to get him from his nap today, it looked like this:


Where would all those animals be? Stacked up on his pillow. Hmmm, what else did he do during his "nap"?


Listened to music...


and read lots of books.


The wierd thing is, he was taking a "nap" for 2 hours and I didn't hear a peep! What a sneak!

Moovin' and Groovin'

These pictures deserved a slideshow all on their own! Bobby took Tyler out to run some errands and when they came back Kylee and I had the music up and were dancing around the house. Tyler and Bobby pretty much took over, but it's okay because I could watch this kid dance all day!

It turned into a REALLY fun night of dancing, laughing and craziness! I love my family!

How we ended April

Here's what's been going on in the Bricker house the last couple weeks of April...

There once was a fairy princess...

I was in heaven taking these pictures with my mom and sister, and Kylee seemed to be pretty in her element. We didn't pose any part of these pictures (okay we rolled her over on her stomach because she couldn't roll yet, but that's it) as soon as we laid her down she crossed her little ankles all by herself-what a lady-and would turn her head from side to side depending on where the camera was-I was cracking up! I love you baby girl!

Bows, Bows and more bows

One afternoon while we were in st. george my sister and I spent a couple hours making hair bows for Kylee. (having a girl is SOOOO much fun!!!) Those of you who know my mom know that she is a big time scrapbooker, and more recently a phenomonal card maker (you can see her blog here), so she has a room full of scrapbook paraphanalia. Paper, flowers, buttons, embellishments, ribbon, etc. so Alisa and I were in heaven. My mom was the sweetest and told us we could use anything and as much of it as we wanted so we went to town and made some pretty cute bows (if I do say so myself). I don't know when or where Kylee will ever where all of these-we made 22 in all- so if you're having a girl you might just be recieving one of these whether you want one or not. Ha ha!

Nothing is glued together yet in this picture so if something looks off-centered or like it's falling off that's why. The ribbon behind the flower/bow is what's going on the clip. The top row will just have solid black ribbon and the second row solid white. Thanks again Alisa for all your help, I had lots of fun doing this with you! And of course to mom for giving us unlimited resources to play with-love you both!

*If you click to make it bigger you can see the detail a little better...