Brady has successfully completed his 1st quarter of chiropractic school and has now started his 2nd. YAY!!! I am so happy that Brady has finally started chiropractic school and we can now start the countdown. :) I know that it is going to be hard at times for the both of us, but it is going to be so worth it! One of the things that I am excited about is that after every quarter we get a 2 week break! Since Brady finished his 1st quarter right before Christmas, we got a 2 week vacation. For our vacation we went to my parents' house in Idaho for Christmas. We had such a good time!!
All of my brothers and their families came too. Even my brother Blair and his family, who now live in Iowa, flew in! It was so much fun to be able to have the entire family together and get to play with all the babies! :) I got to meet my new niece Rudi and my new nephew Jett. They were so little and adorable! I just couldn't believe that Alayna use to be that little!
This year Brady got to experience being Santa Clause! On Christmas Eve Brady and my dad went out to deliver presents to my parents neighbors and one of them asked Brady if he would come over Christmas morning as Santa Clause. Of course Brady said he would. On Christmas morning Alayna saw Brady dressed up as Santa and just stared at him and put her arms up like she wanted him to pick her up. Brady picked her up and started saying things like "Ho Ho Ho! Merry Christmas!" She just stared at him and smiled. I think that Brady's voice is what gave it away because when Brady started to walk out the door to go to the neighbor's house Alayna started running after him crying and saying "Dada." Hahaha! She is so smart!
When Brady got home we opened presents. We were definitely spoiled by our families this year. :) My favorite present I got this year was definitely my mom's wedding ring! My mom gave me her wedding ring that she hasn't worn in like 21 years and Brady and I got it sized to fit my finger. I am so excited because I haven't worn a wedding ring for a while now because I lost mine. I am also excited because this is a real wedding ring! Before Brady and I got married we decided that we weren't going to spend the money on a real wedding ring until we were older. I also think my new ring is awesome because I know that my Dad picked it out years ago. I also got lots of other great gifts too. :)
Alayna of course had a BLAST opening up all her presents! It took quite a while to finish opening up everything because Alayna just wanted to play with whatever toy she had already opened. Later that day we had a nice dinner and then just spent the day enjoying each other's company. We had a great Christmas day. The day after Christmas my two other brothers got here and then we were ready to have even more fun!
During this vacation we went and saw the movie "Les Miss" and "The Hobbit." I definitely liked "The Hobbit" more. I just don't really like musicals (don't judge me). We also went to the church so that the boys could play basketball while us moms made sure our kids didn't get ran over. Haha. One more thing we did was go sledding in my parents pasture. We tie the sled to the back of the four-wheeler and drive around! So much fun!! My brothers and I have so many memories doing this. :)
We also had a really good New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. On New Year's Eve we stayed up till midnight (of course!). We ate a yummy dinner, played games, and watched a movie. The next day we had another yummy New Year's dinner. We also went out into my parents pasture and shot clay pigeons. This was not as fun for me as it was for the boys. The first shotgun they gave me to shoot was the 12 gage, which is the most powerful one! It kicked me so hard that it almost knocked me down! Of course everyone thought that was funny. Later that day me, Brady, and Blair went to see "The Hobbit". When we got back from the movie, I held out my arms for Alayna to come run up to me and give me a hug. Instead she ran right past me and my open arms and went straight up to Blair and held her arms up for him to pick her up! Little stinker! At least I know she loves her uncle. haha
Alayna especially had a blast being there with everyone! She just loves being the center of attention and when there are that many people around she always has someone's attention and she loves it! I just love it that you can totally tell that she really loves her aunts and uncles. I think Brian is her dancing uncle because he introduced her to this "gangman style" dance. After that whenever Brian was over Alayna would have to run up to him and start to dance. Haha. Alayna also really loved her new baby cousins and loved to give them kisses. It was really cute to watch her love her baby cousins and give them kiss after kiss until I had to force her to stop. Haha. She really got to practice being "soft" this Christmas break.
Something that I learned about Alayna that I didn't know about her was what a sweet tooth she has!! This crazy girl is only one year old and she is already starting to sneak sweets! I don't know how many times I caught her climbing on the table with a mouth full of candy and both hands full as well. It was really funny because it kinda became a game to her. She would come up to me and show me she had candy in her mouth and more in her hand and once she knew that I had seen her, she would turn and book it down the house running away from me with a big chocolaty smile. Hahaha. Watching Alayna have so much fun was probably my favorite part of the whole vacation. We had such a great Christmas break and I was a little sad to come back to the dark and rainy Oregon.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Friday, November 9, 2012
Halloween
This year for Halloween was probably my most favorite Halloween of my life. The reason is because now I get to dress up and take my own little cutie trick-or-treating! Last year Alayna was too little to take out trick-or-treating and even if we did it would have been lame because she wouldn't have even cared. This year though I could tell she was excited and was having so much fun! I thought I was done trick-or-treating when I was in Jr. High but now I get to start going again! I am just so excited that I am now a mommy with a cute little girl that gets so happy over things like trick-or-treating! I just can't wait to see her so happy over Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, and all the other holidays that makes us happy!
For Halloween we went to Brady's sister's house and had soo much fun just being with each other.
For Halloween we went to Brady's sister's house and had soo much fun just being with each other.
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Getting ready to go trick-or-treating with her cousins Brecken and Caden    |
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Our pumpkins! Alayna is so happy we are letting her stand on the table. Haha |
My 1st Airplane Ride
Alayna and I both got to fly in an airplane for our first time ever!! A while ago my mom found a good deal on some plane tickets and asked me if I wanted to fly home for a week in October. Um, yes please!! I was actually really nervous about it for a few reasons. 1- I was going to be going on my first airplane ride with nobody but my baby! 2- How was I going to keep my hyper active baby to sit still on the plane for a whole hour?! (That is really quite amazing that I can get to Idaho in an hour!) 3- What if I get on the wrong plane?! 4- What if our plane crashes?! (We just recently watched an episode of "Greys Anatomy" and their plane crashed on their way to Boise! That's where we were flying to so that made me a little worried! Haha)
Everything actually went really really well! Brady helped me up to security in the Portland airport and then I just asked nice people for help after that. Once we got on the plane there was not very many people there so Alayna and I sat at the very back and had a whole row to ourselves! Hallelujah! Once the plane started to get going I got so excited! I felt like I was in a nascar race when the plane was getting ready to take off and then when it did it was just so awesome because we were going so high! We were flying through all the clouds and then everything was so tiny when I looked down! Even Alayna got excited and kept looking out the window!
Alayna was actually really good on the plane because she still had a fever and even slept a little. (The plane ride back to Oregon wasn't as easy because she wasn't sick and cuddly anymore but at least we lucked out again and had the whole row of seats to ourselves!) Once our plane landed Alayna and I just followed all the other passengers until I saw my mom waiting for us. I just couldn't believe that just an hour ago I was all the way in Portland and now I was in Boise! Now we had to endure a 5 to 6 hour car ride to get all the way to my home in Parker.
Alayna and I stayed in Idaho for a week and loved every minute of it! It was just a really relaxing fun week and I was so glad we were able to come out and spend time with my family. :)
Everything actually went really really well! Brady helped me up to security in the Portland airport and then I just asked nice people for help after that. Once we got on the plane there was not very many people there so Alayna and I sat at the very back and had a whole row to ourselves! Hallelujah! Once the plane started to get going I got so excited! I felt like I was in a nascar race when the plane was getting ready to take off and then when it did it was just so awesome because we were going so high! We were flying through all the clouds and then everything was so tiny when I looked down! Even Alayna got excited and kept looking out the window!
Alayna was actually really good on the plane because she still had a fever and even slept a little. (The plane ride back to Oregon wasn't as easy because she wasn't sick and cuddly anymore but at least we lucked out again and had the whole row of seats to ourselves!) Once our plane landed Alayna and I just followed all the other passengers until I saw my mom waiting for us. I just couldn't believe that just an hour ago I was all the way in Portland and now I was in Boise! Now we had to endure a 5 to 6 hour car ride to get all the way to my home in Parker.
Alayna and I stayed in Idaho for a week and loved every minute of it! It was just a really relaxing fun week and I was so glad we were able to come out and spend time with my family. :)
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Worst Night Of My Life
A little over a month ago Brady and I had the worst night of our lives! Not exaggerating. And of course it has everything to do with our sweet little Alayna.
Alayna had been acting really fussy for several hours and so I decided I was going to put her to bed a little early that night. Before I put her down for bed I felt her head and I thought it felt a little warm but I wasn't sure so I had Brady feel her head and he thought she felt just fine. So I put her to bed. She didn't even cry much like she usually does before falling asleep so I just thought that she must have been exhausted. For the next few hours she kept waking up and would cry really soft. I thought she was just fine because she will often wake up crying and then just go back to sleep. Well finally at like 12:30 a.m. I woke up wide awake to a really soft sounding whimper. I had a feeling that something was wrong and I quickly jumped out of bed to check on our sweet little girl. It was my worst nightmare. I screamed for Brady and just stared at what I thought was our dying baby girl. Alayna was just lying there face down in her vomit. She wasn't really crying or breathing very much. The only noise she could make was just a very quiet whimper. As I stood there just staring at her in shock Brady told me to pick her up. When I picked her up she was completely limp. I laid her back down on the floor and just looked at her as I cried hysterically. Her eyes were rolled back and I thought she was looking into heaven or something and preparing to meet her Heavenly Father. I finally snapped out of it and realized that now Brady was the one staring in shock. I yelled at him to call 911 and he immediately did that while I prayed. The lady on the phone with Brady told him to try putting Alayna on her back since I had kept her on her stomach. She was already barely breathing so when we put her on her back she stopped breathing completely! I only left her on her back a few seconds before I put her back on her stomach and she started breathing slowly again.
It only took a few minutes before the ambulance showed up. I was so happy to see them! I rode in the ambulance with Alayna while Brady drove to the hospital in our car. The whole way there I never stopped praying or crying. I just didn't know what to do with myself! While we were on our way to the hospital Alayna was still completely out of it and her eyes were still just looking up at the ceiling when she started saying "Mama Mama". I grabbed her little hand and kept trying to get her to look at me but she never was able to focus on me. Finally after the 20 - 30 min. drive to the hospital they got some (more like a lot) of medicine down her and she started to focus more and actually looked at me! After that she continually got better and went to sleep on my chest. Brady's parents showed up shortly after we got there and Brady and his dad gave her a blessing. After that she just kept getting better and better. Before we were able to take her back home, they were able to tell us what was wrong with her. The doctor said that she was probably having a seizure when we found her and that her seizure was caused because of her temperature getting too high. They were also able to tell us that she had a fever because she had a urinary tract infection. Her 2nd one in less than 3 months!
After we got her home, I gave her a bath (she still had vomit in her hair) and put her back to bed for a couple hours. For the next few days I had to constantly have medicine in her to keep her temperature down as well as antibiotics twice a day for ten days. Also since this is her 2nd urinary tract infection we have already had to take her in for a few tests. And she is still not done with all the tests she has to now go through. So far all the tests she has had have come out normal. Since then we have quit buying her the cheapest diapers in Wal-Mart and are now buying her the most expensive ones, even if they are more than double the price! We also no longer let her play in the bathtub. We get her in and clean, and then right back out. Also, I have not yet been able to relax since. Even though it has been over a month since her near death experience, I still take her temperature a few times a day, even if I know that she is just fine. And for the past few weeks she has been going through this "I don't need any sleep" phase. She wakes up every single night and doesn't go back to sleep for a few hours!
I really do love our little girl with all my heart but man! She has been kind of a hard baby! She has already been to the ER 5 times! Or is it 6?! It's always because she gets really high fevers and we have no warning! Once she gets a temperature it just shoots up so high so fast that we don't even know anything is wrong until we are on our way to the hospital. And now she is like an insomniac child! Don't one year olds need like 12 hours of sleep a day?! I am also really frustrated because I thought that breast fed babies dont get sick as much? Well Alayna is almost 16 months and still being breast fed all the time! Anyways, I just hope that when we have our next baby someday, that he/she will be a lot easier.
Alayna had been acting really fussy for several hours and so I decided I was going to put her to bed a little early that night. Before I put her down for bed I felt her head and I thought it felt a little warm but I wasn't sure so I had Brady feel her head and he thought she felt just fine. So I put her to bed. She didn't even cry much like she usually does before falling asleep so I just thought that she must have been exhausted. For the next few hours she kept waking up and would cry really soft. I thought she was just fine because she will often wake up crying and then just go back to sleep. Well finally at like 12:30 a.m. I woke up wide awake to a really soft sounding whimper. I had a feeling that something was wrong and I quickly jumped out of bed to check on our sweet little girl. It was my worst nightmare. I screamed for Brady and just stared at what I thought was our dying baby girl. Alayna was just lying there face down in her vomit. She wasn't really crying or breathing very much. The only noise she could make was just a very quiet whimper. As I stood there just staring at her in shock Brady told me to pick her up. When I picked her up she was completely limp. I laid her back down on the floor and just looked at her as I cried hysterically. Her eyes were rolled back and I thought she was looking into heaven or something and preparing to meet her Heavenly Father. I finally snapped out of it and realized that now Brady was the one staring in shock. I yelled at him to call 911 and he immediately did that while I prayed. The lady on the phone with Brady told him to try putting Alayna on her back since I had kept her on her stomach. She was already barely breathing so when we put her on her back she stopped breathing completely! I only left her on her back a few seconds before I put her back on her stomach and she started breathing slowly again.
It only took a few minutes before the ambulance showed up. I was so happy to see them! I rode in the ambulance with Alayna while Brady drove to the hospital in our car. The whole way there I never stopped praying or crying. I just didn't know what to do with myself! While we were on our way to the hospital Alayna was still completely out of it and her eyes were still just looking up at the ceiling when she started saying "Mama Mama". I grabbed her little hand and kept trying to get her to look at me but she never was able to focus on me. Finally after the 20 - 30 min. drive to the hospital they got some (more like a lot) of medicine down her and she started to focus more and actually looked at me! After that she continually got better and went to sleep on my chest. Brady's parents showed up shortly after we got there and Brady and his dad gave her a blessing. After that she just kept getting better and better. Before we were able to take her back home, they were able to tell us what was wrong with her. The doctor said that she was probably having a seizure when we found her and that her seizure was caused because of her temperature getting too high. They were also able to tell us that she had a fever because she had a urinary tract infection. Her 2nd one in less than 3 months!
After we got her home, I gave her a bath (she still had vomit in her hair) and put her back to bed for a couple hours. For the next few days I had to constantly have medicine in her to keep her temperature down as well as antibiotics twice a day for ten days. Also since this is her 2nd urinary tract infection we have already had to take her in for a few tests. And she is still not done with all the tests she has to now go through. So far all the tests she has had have come out normal. Since then we have quit buying her the cheapest diapers in Wal-Mart and are now buying her the most expensive ones, even if they are more than double the price! We also no longer let her play in the bathtub. We get her in and clean, and then right back out. Also, I have not yet been able to relax since. Even though it has been over a month since her near death experience, I still take her temperature a few times a day, even if I know that she is just fine. And for the past few weeks she has been going through this "I don't need any sleep" phase. She wakes up every single night and doesn't go back to sleep for a few hours!
I really do love our little girl with all my heart but man! She has been kind of a hard baby! She has already been to the ER 5 times! Or is it 6?! It's always because she gets really high fevers and we have no warning! Once she gets a temperature it just shoots up so high so fast that we don't even know anything is wrong until we are on our way to the hospital. And now she is like an insomniac child! Don't one year olds need like 12 hours of sleep a day?! I am also really frustrated because I thought that breast fed babies dont get sick as much? Well Alayna is almost 16 months and still being breast fed all the time! Anyways, I just hope that when we have our next baby someday, that he/she will be a lot easier.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Summer Trip to Idaho
This summer we got to go to Idaho to see my family. Brady got to stay for a week and Alayna and I stayed for two and a half weeks. We had so much fun and got to do lots and lots of fun stuff!!
We got to go horseback riding...
We went to Bear World...
We took Alayna and Brock to the splash park in Rexburg... Alayna also went on her first merry-go-round but she didn't like that very much.
We went to our neighbor's farm to pet their goats...
We were also there for Pioneer Days! Yay!! That is one of my most favorite holidays ever and it is not celebrated in Oregon. :( The 24th of July is a BIG deal in my home town. We went to our towns play, went to the parade, and also went to the rodeo. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of these.
We had a HUGE bon fire in my parents pasture. While the fire was calming down so that we could get closer to it, we rode the four-wheeler and the boys played catch...
My little brother Brian and his wife Emily got sealed in the Idaho Falls temple! I was so happy that I was there for that and I also was able to be there for Emily to take out her endowments. It was such a good day!
We had so much fun being in Idaho and we can't wait to go back to visit again in October!
We got to go horseback riding...
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| Brady, Kate, and I on our horses |
We went to Bear World...
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Alayna was more excited about sitting in the front seat than seeing Bears. Haha     |
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| They had so much fun!! |
We went to our neighbor's farm to pet their goats...
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| She gets a little too excited to pet animals... |
We had a HUGE bon fire in my parents pasture. While the fire was calming down so that we could get closer to it, we rode the four-wheeler and the boys played catch...
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Alayna loved riding the four-wheeler! |
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So happy for them!   |
We had so much fun being in Idaho and we can't wait to go back to visit again in October!
Friday, September 28, 2012
Alayna's 1st Birthday and Rhodehouse Reunion
Alayna turned ONE years old on July 13th, 2012! The day before Alayna's birthday we drove through the night to go visit my family in Idaho. We were having a little family reunion with all my brothers and their families in Island Park where we stayed a couple days in a trabin (it's a mix between a trailer house and a cabin). The first day we got to the Trabin was on Alayna's 1st birthday! We just had a good day visiting with family. That evening we ate Alayna's birthday cake that my mom made her, and opened Alayna's presents. We have a little ONE year old now! Crazy!
That weekend was a little rainy but we still had a ton of fun four-wheeling, playing games, playing basketball, playing tether ball, eating food, and even boating! I even got to learn how to wake board! I got up on my 2nd try. :) We had so much fun there! After our fun weekend we went back to my parents house to finish our vacation.
Here are some pictures of the birthday girl...
Our sweet little baby girl is growing up so fast!!!
That weekend was a little rainy but we still had a ton of fun four-wheeling, playing games, playing basketball, playing tether ball, eating food, and even boating! I even got to learn how to wake board! I got up on my 2nd try. :) We had so much fun there! After our fun weekend we went back to my parents house to finish our vacation.
Here are some pictures of the birthday girl...
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| Alayna and her Birthday cake |
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She didn't like everyone singing "Happy Birthday" to her.  |
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Here is our little family at the Rhodehouse family reunion  |
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Labor Day
Brady didn't have to go to work on Labor Day so we decided we were going to do something fun so we went to the beach! This was Alayna's first time ever seeing the ocean and going to the beach. Saying that she loved it could be an understatement! She never stopped moving the whole time! She just wanted to run run run!
After the beach we went back to Brady's parents' house and hung out with the family. It didn't take long before Alayna was asleep and she slept the whole way there!
We had a great day!
Alayna LOVES puppies!!
After the beach we went back to Brady's parents' house and hung out with the family. It didn't take long before Alayna was asleep and she slept the whole way there!
We had a great day!
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| Alayna doesn't like swings yet. Haha |
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