Chris + Brooklyn

 Last month we were talking to the kids about The Passover in our Come Follow Me family home evening lesson. We talked about how The Passover was celebrated to help the Children of Israel remember the Savior. Then we had the kids write down ways that they could remember the Savior in our lives, and we put them on the doorposts in the place of the blood from the original Passover. It was seriously so sweet. 

I LOVE it when these flowers in our yard are blooming <3

The kids put notes up on their wyze cams sometimes :D. They are trying to make it so I read them when I'm trying to look at them. They're pretty funny ha ha.

Since Reesie's 4th birthday, she has started to smile like this with her teeth apart and sometimes her tongue pushed out :D She's so cute and funny.

Mia did SO well at her last dance competition. Her team won tons of awards including 2nd best performance overall in her category, 1st place for her Calabria dance, and a judges choice award with comments that their showmanship was so fun to watch :)

On Mother's Day, Chris made me these delicious and adorable buttermilk pancakes for breakfast

I'm SO very grateful to be their mom

Heartbreakingly, Rhett broke his leg soon after this picture was taken. Breanne's baby, Grace, was blessed on Mother's Day, and after the blessing we were all gathered at Corbin's dad's house. Rhett was rough-housing on the tramp with his cousins. They were playing some kind of play fighting game. Rhett got ninja kicked in the leg, and his leg got broken. So so sadly, when I heard him crying, and came to see what was going on, I told him that I was sure it hurt, but he would be ok. He said he couldn't walk, and I said let's just try. And I made him walk on it :C. After a while, we were carrying him around, and I was still thinking he was fine. When we got home, he still said he couldn't walk, and I told him to just try. He took a step on it and crumbled to the ground crying. Through his tears, he said, "Why am I crying? I don't know why I'm crying." 

Totally heartbroken that I hadn't thought it was that serious, I scooped him up and we cried together for a little while. We went to Chris' Grandma Smith's house later and carried him around the whole rest of the day. It was pretty obvious by this time that something was really wrong with his leg, but we weren't sure if it was broken or not.

 When we were putting him to bed that night, it was really hurting him, so I was giving him ibuprofen and trying to ice and elevate. I was outside his room and one point, and he didn't know I was there. I heard him saying, "Oh I'm ok. I can do this. I can. Do. It!" as he struggled to move his leg a little bit. 

After Chris and I left his room, I started to feel SO terrible about not thinking it was more serious earlier. I was crying and telling Chris how awful I felt, and that I had had my worst moment as a mom on Mother's day. I went back down to his room, still crying and gave him a big long hug and told him I was so sorry I didn't believe it was that bad at first. He hugged me and said, "It's ok mom. It's not your fault you didn't believe me." That interchange is a perfect example of how that little boy is as a person. He has the sweetest, most loving and forgiving heart I've ever known. He's so often willing to make excuses for and advocate for the very people who have hurt him. He is so wonderful and Christ-like. I love that little boy so much. 

The next afternoon Rhett had a Dr. appointment. I took these pictures of him. These pictures are from the morning before he went to the Dr.

I took these ones right before Chris walked out the door with him to take him to the Dr.

An X-ray revealed that he had fractured his Tibia and had a greenstick fracture of his Fibula. He was put in a cast and told zero weight bearing on that leg for 3 weeks. 

Mia was at school when all of this was happening, and when I went to pick her up from school, she ran to the car and as soon as she was in she said, "Is Rhett ok? I ran all the way here! I was worried about him all day and wondering if he was ok!" <3 I told her his leg was broken and she immediately came home and read to him and tried to take care of him.

I made Rhett his special request for dinner: Indian Butter Chicken with Naan bread.

Rhett got some new legos and coloring books and toys to help him pass the time from his Grandma Kimmy and Aunt Courtney

We scrambled to find him a wheelchair so he could have some freedom back. After a few days, we found him one on KSL. He was so thrilled!

Heartbreakingly, later that same day, he had buckled himself in his wheelchair and was at the top of the stairs talking to the girls who were downstairs. I was in Tessa's room putting her to bed when Mia ran in yelling that Rhett had fallen down the stairs. I ran out to find Rhett face down at the bottom of the stairs with his limbs every which way and the wheelchair on top of him, still buckled in. I ran a grabbed him and brought him upstairs. I was holding him and asking if his leg hurt and how we was doing. He said his leg didn't really hurt, but his arm hurt. I was filled with dread, thinking he must have broken his arm, but then he hit his arm with the other hand and told me, "It doesn't hurt that bad. It's not broken." :)

I'm so proud of my little Rhett stud. He did not let his broken leg get him down. Those first few days when I was carrying him everywhere, he was constantly telling me, "Thank you so much for taking care of me mom and taking me to the bathroom. I couldn't do this without you." <3 <3! He has the sweetest most grateful heart. He was also always saying things like, "I'm so grateful I only broke one leg and not two or my head!" 

Within a day or so of getting his cast on and being told zero weight bearing, I found him climbing in my closet or on my cabinets very high. I told his he should not be doing that, and he said, "It's ok mom, I do this all the time when you're not looking." This kid may give me a heart attack.

As soon as he got his wheelchair, he was off! He was literally riding circles around my kitchen and main level, doing constant wheelies, riding his wheelchair outside to swing on the swings (which really freaked me out the first time I saw him doing it) and taking himself to the bathroom all by himself. I'm so proud of his ability to not let his injury get him down emotionally or physically. He wanted to be independent and rarely asked me for help. He is incredible. 

 My poor little boy is a little stud and so amazing, but he also had a lot of pain. I tried hard to keep his pain under control. For the first few weeks, I alternated between tylenol and ibuprofen every two hours, waking him up during the night or his pain and swelling would get so badly out of control.

After getting his wheelchair, he wanted to go back to school. Chris was worried and hesitant, but I wanted him to be able to participate and not miss out on more than he had to, so we ended up sending him back to school the next day. He was so happy to be back! The next day at school they had a "Fun Run" Fundraiser. I was able to come watch both Rhett and Mia. My darling little boy kept up so well and when kids or teachers tried to help him and push his wheelchair for him, he would tell them he could do it :)

Mia's darling dance pictures

Our family at one of Dylan Hawkes' baseball games

Some hilarious action shots of me taking Tessa down the slide

My little champ

"Being cowboys" :)

Some pictures Reesie took and me and Tessa <3

Reesie's pictures of me

On Memorial Day we went to visit some graves with my family

Tessa:

"I'm sorry honey." 

"Luboo." (love you)

Reese:

"Stop that you young man!" (While I was tickling her)

 

(After ruining Mia's room) "I was trying to make a gross recipe for bad guys."

 

In the middle of the night, Reesie woke up crying. When I went down and asked her what was wrong, she said, "I had a nightmare that you married another person. Are you real like gonna do that?"

Me: "No! I would never do that."

Reesie: "I thought it was real. Can you have daddy come give me a hug and a kiss?"

Me: "Daddy is asleep baby."

Reesie: "Ok you can go back to your bed."

(After Tessa pooped in the tub) "I do not believe you!"

Mia:

Mia was telling us about something one of her friends had told her. Chris said, "Lily doesn't know Jack." 

Mia: "Whose Jack?"