Attitude of Gratitude and TOFW

1) I am grateful that Brettley is growing so well and has had no problems coming off of his caffeine. He is 7lbs 12oz as of today and the pediatrician said he's doing very well. We are so blessed to have him.

2) I am grateful that starting next week we are going to be eating even healthier. We have some really yummy sounding recipes that we'll be using and I'm looking forward to trying them all.

3) I am grateful that the snow is melting and soon the kids won't have to be bundled in everything and its dog just to play in the backyard. It's nice to be able to open some windows and get some fresh air in the house without freezing:)

Also, I bought my tickets for Time Out For Women in Calgary. I'm very excited to go with my in-law family (John has 4 sisters and no brothers). It should be lots of fun. I'm so lucky to have John who is willing to take care of all 3 boys (Brett will not even be 3 months yet) so that I can go do an overnight trip to Calgary and have some time away.

Brett's Big Weekend

We had a more eventful weekend than most of them. On Friday, Caleb and Ty decided to jump on the drawer from the bottom of Ty's dresser and bust it into pieces. The whole drawer is broken and definitely not repairable. One of Caleb's under the bed drawers is close to busted as well, so I decided that I had to bite the bullet and buy them a new dresser. So I asked my mum if she could pick it up the next day since they were going to IKEA anyway.

On Saturday, Brettley moved into his own room and his crib. I got the parts to put the dresser together for the boys and in the process of making it I managed to bust a decorative piece right in half. However, I didn't want to pay for yet another dresser, so John used some carpenter's glue and screwed something in to both sides of the break and it's holding good. On the note of moving Brettley into his crib, I know that there are some parents out there who prefer to have their kid room in with them for a long time. We aren't those parents, at all. Our room is OUR place. Brett has been in with us the longest and that was only because of how young he was. He adjusted very well to the switch. We feel "to each their own" when it comes to rooming in, this is just how we do things in our house.

Come to think of it, we're "to each their own" about a LOT of issues that tend to be seen as controversial: rooming in, nursing vs bottling, immunizations, circumcision, etc. We don't get nasty if someone does things differently than we do because we realize that each person is different and in different circumstances. Chances are that we know very little about the circumstances of each person.

Yesterday we got to take Brett to church for the first time. I was so nice to finally be able to show him to people. He handled it so well, except for spitting up on someone (oops!). Well, that's about all, but it was a lot more interesting than most of our weekends. Hope you all had a great weekend as well.

Quick Attitude of Gratitude

I'll try and type this out quickly because Brettley has decided that he's pretty sure he's hungry.

1) I am grateful that the last dose of Brett's caffeine was yesterday and I don't have to remember to give him medication within an hour of 10am every day now. I like medication that's a bit more forgiving if you forget for a couple of hours.

2) I am grateful that Caleb loves his new shirts from Old Navy. He's got one of Phineas from Phineas & Ferb and one with Darth Vader on it. He wants a Stargate shirt as well, but the cheapest one that I've been able to find is $22.50 and I just can't justify spending that on a T-shirt for a 5 year old right now.

3) I am grateful that I got to go visiting teaching on Tuesday. I love my companion and the sister that we went to visit, they are both so awesome. Plus, I finally got another person to agree with me that the Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban film was horrible and a huge disappointment. My VT companion is a fellow HP geek:)

Things I Love

I don't have much that's going on that I overly want to talk about (it's just an early start to postpartum depression) so instead I'm going to name a few things that I love this spring.






































































































So what things are you loving this spring?

It's That Day Again & Are You Wearing Green?

1) I am grateful for the motivation I've had to stick to counting my calories and doing my exercising. I've lost over 30 lbs since the day before Brett was born. Sounds like so much, but I still have quite a way to go to reach my end goal. However, I take it 10 lbs at a time and earn a Booster Juice for every time that I lose that much. It seems a lot more manageable that way. I love how healthy I feel when I exercise.

2) I am grateful for www.foodstoragemadeeasy.net and my Relief Society's food storage group. They have me excited about getting my food storage going (I must be Mormon for saying that). I'm serious, though. I started my water storage yesterday as well as figuring out what I need for my initial 3 month storage. If you're looking for something to help you get motivated to do your food and home storage or something to help make it look a lot less daunting, definitely check out Food Storage Made Easy.

3) I am grateful that I am able to start figuring out my own routine again. My visitors are gone and John is back to work, so it's just the three boys and I during week days. It's been an interesting few days trying to get back into the swing of things, but I'm definitely getting it. From what I hear, this is the hardest switch to make (2 kids to 3 kids), but it's the last time we get to experience any of this stuff, so we're appreciating it a lot more (yes, we are totally, completely, 100% done having kids).

So I guess that's about it for today. Happy St Patrick's Day and have an awesome weekend.

Stuff And Things

Today is my first day alone with all 3 boys. John was here the first week that Brettley came home and my mother-in-law was with us last week. It should prove to be an interesting day. It will be nice to start figuring out our own routine, though. Yesterday I got to go to church, which was great. I've missed so much church in the past few months, it's really sad. However, this weekend is Stake Conference, which we aren't going to because there's WAY too many germs at those meetings. The Sunday after that Brettley and I will still miss, but John, Caleb and Ty will go. The first Sunday in April is General Conference, which we'll watch at home on the computer and then the Sunday after that I should be able to bring Brettley to church:)

The 2 older boys spent the weekend at my mum's place. It was good and they enjoyed it, but Caleb told me several times that he was sad because he misses church. I guess this might be a time where we have to make a tough decision and say that he can't go if he's not going to church.

On Saturday I went to our Stake's Relief Society Social. It was great. We had a yummy lunch on China plates and there was a fashion show of fashions since the RS was organize. I'm so glad that I went.

Anyway, not too much else is really new here. Hope you all had a great weekend:)

Attitude of Gratitude Day

I normally do this a lot earlier in the day, but I've been out for Brett's first pediatrician appointment and running errands with John.

1) I am grateful that Brett is doing so well. He is 6lbs0.5oz as of this morning and is starting to wake up more than just to eat. He is so cute and we love him so much.

2) I am grateful that we got such a great tax return this year and were able to buy a new computer with part of it because this one is almost 4 years old and definitely ready to be replaced.

3)I am VERY grateful that John took me to go and see the temple the other night and that we're going out for a date tomorrow night. I love being on temple grounds, I feel so at peace there and it was very welcome because I had a wicked case of cabin fever before that. Tomorrow night we're going to the Olive Garden for my 1 night where I'm allowed to cheat on my calories. It won't happen again for a very long time. I am so looking forward to some Zuppa Toscana soup and some other very yummy food.

With that, I hope you have an absolutely wonderful weekend. I know I will (2 older kids going to spend 2 nights at Grandma & Grandpa's, date night and getting to go to church probably).

Not Too Much That's New

Wow! It's Monday! John was home for most of last week, so my days are all kind of mixed up. Brettley had a great first few days at home and is so happy and content (when he's not hungry). He is doing very well and gets to go see his pediatrician for the first time on Thursday. John's mom is here this week to help out a bit, so I'm not alone with all of the boys yet. Not too much else is really new here, though. We're getting our tax return back this week and I've got a VERY bad case of cabin fever, but that's about it.

I hope you had a great weekend:)

Brettley Pictures

Attitude of Gratitude Day

I still don't have my latest pictures on the computer, but I figured that I should get this up on here before I completely forget about it.

1) I am so incredibly grateful that Brettley is so healthy and was able to come home with us yesterday. I'm thankful that the caffeine did its job and also that he did so well on his first night home. He is such a special little boy and I am SO grateful for him. It's so funny that for the last month or so before he was born I was in tears almost every day because I wasn't going to have a girl of my own in this life. As soon as he was born, that all disappeared and all I cared about was that he was healthy and he is so cute. I love him so much.

2) I am grateful that John was able to take off the rest of the week to be with us, plus an extra day for Brettley's first pediatrician appointment next week. Ty's a little more 'hands on' than I was thinking/hoping he'd be, so it's nice to have someone to help with Ty when I'm trying to feed Brett.

3) I am grateful that I'm still losing weight. I have been counting my calories every day (except I messed up one day when I was at the hospital and my food choices were greatly limited). I've also been exercising most days, which I have fallen in love with. Seriously, I really look forward to exercising every day. It makes me feel so great inside to be doing something about all of this weight. I have about 10 more pounds to go to hit my pre-pregnancy weight and then it will be getting rid of the medication weight I gained in the fall of 2009. I am very much on track with my plan to accomplish this and it feels wonderful.

So there you have this week's edition of Nikki's Attitude of Gratitude. I will try really hard to get some pictures up on here tomorrow, but I make no promises as I have a bunch of other stuff I'm trying to get done as well. So just in case I don't, then I hope you have an awesome weekend:)

HOME!!!

I've been horrible with my blog, and I apologize for that. There's lots of Brettley updates that I should have been putting up that I didn't. I have been spending my days deep cleaning and sanitizing my house and spending my evenings in the NICU, not to mention a few overnights at the hospital. That is no more. We had the extreme privilege and blessing of taking Brettley home from the hospital this afternoon. I find it funny that as soon as the head nurse turned off his monitor it was like a whole bunch of stress just melted away. I wouldn't have something ding at me every time he did anything slightly out of the 'normal' range, such as his heart rate going a bit higher when he's fussing for food. He is so amazing and we are so happy to have him at home with us.

I won't spend too much time on here because I'm exhausted, I need to get laundry put away and a whole bunch of other stuff. But I'll put some pictures up tomorrow with the Attitude of Gratitude. Have a great night:)

Pass

Brettley passed his car seat test which means he should be coming home from the hospital today:) Will know for sure after the doctor does his rounds this morning.

Back On The Caff

Brettley didn't comfortably pass his first car seat test and we all agreed (us, the nurses and the doctor) that he needed to go back on the caffeine. He started that again yesterday morning and has been doing far better since he was put back on it. He will be doing another car seat test overnight tonight and if he passes this one then he will be home tomorrow. Please keep Brett in your prayers that the caffeine will do its job and he will get to come home.

Other news about Brett is that I spent Saturday and Sunday nights in the hospital so that I could get more used to his schedule and how he likes to do things. It was a really good experience and I'm really glad that I did it. As of last night he weighs 2325 grams, which is 5lbs2oz. We are very happy to have not only surpassed his birth weight but to also be over the 5 lbs mark now.

Not too much else is new, other than that. My life is kind of on hold with any sort of plans until we know what Brett's doing.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.