Well my latest update is a new picture of the family.  Oh my how we have changed and grown.  Thanks to Angalee, of Wink*Flash photography for helping us look good.

Oh my it has been too long.  So many things have happened since I last thought to post.  Arianna celebrated her 7th birthday, the years are just flying by.  She is still doing wonderful, her health has been great.  She did however just recently break her left tib and fib, we are not sure how, she does have low bone density.  The cast will come off on the 21st, counting down the days!  School will start again soon, but not soon enough for her, she is bored with mommy.

So here is my big girl, in her new wheelchair with a matching pink cast. Not to happy about it!

Big news.  Our friends from Uruguay are traveling here to Utah for some medical care they can't get for the son there.  Thiago also has Trisomy 13.  There is only one other case of  T13 in the country, and they just don't put much hope in these kids surviving so they don't help them.  I just can't wait to meet them face to face, the online friendship is just not enough anymore!

I know there is so much more to share, but the kids need my attention now.  At least I got a little update!

How proud I am!

Yesterday my wonderful and sweet Kenna donated 8 inches of her hair.  A local salon gave you a free cut and Disney gave you tickets to the Dare to Dream Ice show.  We happened to arrive just before a news crew and the taped Kenna's cut.  Here is the news spot.

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?sid=24187893&nid=148&title=disney-prompts-slc-residents-to-donate-hair-to-children-with-hair-loss&fm=home_page&s_cid=queue-2#ooid=lreWlsOTrMQ0sljkIn_duDEgB10LazR2

We also received a special invite to meet and greet the Disney cast prior to the ice show, this is only for those that donated hair.  We will have such a fun girls night out!

Warning for my friends that use suction.

I have had issues with our suction, and without this friend and her investigation skills I would not have know where to turn, please read this post.

I am so glad I have a mommy support network to rely on!

9 months and growing

Well my little boy is growing up fast.  He is now 9 months old.  He keeps me very busy. He is crawling everywhere, has been for 3 months now. He loves to help pull the clean laundry out of the baskets , chase the dog, and play in the dogs water dish. He is such a joy to have.  But he is also the reason I don't post much anymore, little time for myself as it is. 
The girls are keeping me very busy too.  Arianna loves her new school, she has a great new aide, Anna, who speaks to her in Spanish, Arna loves it and laughs!  She gets to swim every Friday, loves the water!
Kenna is loving the 3rd grade, she is a smart kid and does well in all her subjects.  I will try to keep up better, but they may not happen with all the holiday busy stuff going on.

'Family'

This is the Three Amigos, Ashton 13 (FT18), Arianna 6 (FT13), and Aaron 2 (FT18). Dr John Carey, and of course  the mommies of these amazing miracles. 

Last night was the annual Utah SOFT bbq.  We spent time talking and enjoying these kiddos.  We also talked about the sweet angels that came ans touched all our lives so briefly.  I love my SOFT family, love that we can help each other find love and healing.  Sad that this only happens once a year.

photo courtesy of the Peterson family.

Enough already

This mommy has shingles.  I really could do without one more health issue on my plate.  I just hope and pray that Ossie does not get sick with chicken pox because of my virus.  I am on an antiviral med and a topical cream to help heal the lesions on my back, but there is not much I can do for the pain, just try to keep pushing through my day.
Keep this little family in your prayers please!

Things have been interesting around  here, never a dull moment with my three kids, and us adults too.  I caught strep and didn't know it, I just felt a little run down and needed to rest, which is not uncommon with a young baby in the house, but my sister in law commented that I never go lay down when we have a family gathering, i am the social secretary and must make sure everyone is taken care of, but that night i wasn't myself.  it took me two days and a my sweet cousin from VA, who was visiting a t the time, to have a pos strep test for me to think maybe I better get checked out.  Well yes I was sick, and Matt got it, and Then Arianna came down with it.  Arianna also contracted a stomach bug that had fluids coming out from everywhere,  poor kid.  It was a very rough week.  We have all since been on antibiotics and seem to be better.  Arianna had lost so much weight with the bug that her doc changed her formula, it has a higher cal and fat count per ML so that we can get more goods into her without adding more volume, we are still trying to get to a full feed however, it is thicker and her tummy is still adjusting to it, in the mean time she is continuing to wretch and vomit on it, I hope that it ends soon.

Ossie has been a little trouper through all of this, not demanding to much more from mommy, but not liking that I have to do so much for Arianna.  He has learned to sit unsupported, which is great, he is refluxing less now.  He rolls like a champ, even rolled right off the bed!  He is trying to get up on his knees, no I am not ready for another crawler.  He is six months old today!!!!  can't believe how fast the time has gone by.

Kenna has been in school for three weeks now, and she is loving the third grade.  She will turn 9 in a month, that time has gone by too fast too.

These are some new family pics!  Love my family!

Happy Birthday

My best and greatest birthday present turned 6 today.  I am so proud to be her mother.  She has made so much progress in just this last year.  She is an amazing miracle and blesses the lives of everyone that meets her.  I pray that we get many more birthdays together!  Never thought we would get to the 1st one, so happy that you have proved all the doctors wrong!  Love you so much my precious angel!

Months in pics

My oxygen twins.  Ossie got sick with RSV and spent 4 days in the hospital, he came home on oxygen.  No biggie, whats one more tube in this house.

Arianna likes to get in trouble.  Found the potted plant and dove right in.

Thought that the bassinet was a good place to climb into.

Ossie and his Daddy.

Getting bigger.

Last day of school, on the bus!

Biggest news!  Arianna does not have to be on her oxygen in the day time, only while sleeping!!

And this one is just to make you smile!  my boy is four months old!!

Welcome Ossie!

Yep we have a new baby!!

Ossie Ray Snell was born on February 10, 2012 @ 11:56 a.m. Weighing in at 8lbs and 12oz, and 22 inches long. It was a fast but hard labor, only 3 hours.

We are completely in love with this little man. He is a good eater and has already started to gain weight quickly. He loves to be cuddled, and I hate to put him down or give him to Daddy.

He also is getting better each night at sleeping longer.

This new journey is so much fun. I can't wait to see what this little man brings to our lives!

Just in case you check in to see if we have a baby, the answer is NO. This little guy is stubborn and does not want to come out. I will be going into see my doc tomorrow and we will be discussing inducing me sometime this week. I am almost to 40 weeks and continue to get bigger everyday, it is time to be done and hold this babe in my arms.

Arna is home sick with the gooey boogers and I have to suck her out often. I also have a bit of a cold, just a cough and headache, but it is enough to drive me insane. Every time I cough I pee.

I hope my next post will include pics of the boy or at least an idea when we will see him.

Good eating today

So since it is a slightly snowy day outside my door I am making soup today, please join me this is a yummy one and it is a double duty recipe.

Chicken Tortilla Soup/Burrito Filling

What you'll need

Crock-pot
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
3/4 cup of your fav salsa
1 cup frozen corn
1 small can enchilada sauce. we like elPato, it is called a hot sauce in a yellow can(not too hot)
1 can chicken broth
2-3 chicken breast
flour tortillas for burritos

place chicken in crock first and cover with the rest of the ingredients. If you want soup add the stock, if you want burritos don't. Cook on low for 4-6 hours. Remove chicken and shred, return to crock and stir it all up. Serve with sour cream and cheese.

Enjoy! this is by far the best and easiest soup/burrito to make.

Recipe of the Week

So in the spirit of giving to others, and helping all moms out there with dinner ideas, I am going to find, try, and post a new recipe each week.

Today,

Italian Chicken and Rice

What you will need: crock pot

2 chicken breast
1 packet Good Seasons Dry Italian Dressing.
1/4 cup water
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1 8oz package Cream Cheese
1 package frozen mixed vegetables (corn, peas, carrots, and green beans)
Rice (could also use egg noodles)

How to put it together:

Place chicken in crock, mix dressing and 1/4 water and cover chicken with mixture. Cook on low for 6 hours, high about 3-4 hours. Remove chicken and chop into chunks, return to crock. Add vegetables, soup and room temperature cream cheese, mix well and cover to cook 30 minutes longer. Cook as much rice to feed your size family.

Plate up rice and add chicken to the top of the rice.

I hope you enjoy this as much as my family has!

Next week: Dessert!

This and That

So time continues to pass me by, I am now 37 weeks and 3 days and ready for this baby to get out. At my last doc visit I was dilated to a 2 and 60 effaced. I spent the week getting all my things in order just in case. I spent the weekend have contractions that were more of a discomfort than anything, and they were not very regular. I tried all my know tricks to help them along, taking walks and doing laundry(going up and down stairs), but to no avail, he is stubbornly staying in. It seems anytime I lay down for a rest/nap my contractions stop completely, so exhausting, I can't stay moving all the time. I was very sure I was getting ready to have him, cause I have cleaned like crazy, and folded all the laundry. That whole nesting thing is just silly, I think it is just that you stop and look around and see that you haven't done anything for awhile and it gets to you so you start cleaning everything within an inch of its life. Don't get me wrong, it is nice to see everything in its place and the inch of dust gone from your dresser.
I will see my doc again tomorrow, and I am hoping that all the teasing contractions over the weekend did some good.

One of the biggest reason I wanted this kid out this weekend is that the 24th is my brother-in-laws birthday and the 25th is my sister-in-law and her daughters birthday. Not that sharing a birthday with an Uncle or Aunt would be so bad, but a cousin is a bit more difficult, think how hard it would be to have parties and such.

But enough of my whining. As for the rest of the family life has been good. Kenna stopped sucking her finger back in November and has not had a cold all winter long, she was even a brave girl and got the flu shot not the mist. Arianna has only had minor sniffles and stayed out of school a few extra days before the Christmas break. A week before Christmas my dad had a minor stroke that kept him in the hospital for 12 days, they did let him out for Christmas day and he spent it at our house. He is recovering well, his brain is still all there, he is just weak on his right side and it doesn't always respond to what his brain tells it to do. they also found that he has central apnea and now he has c-pap to sleep with. The took a good look at his heart and found the blockage that caused the stroke and put a stint in, his color looks better than it has in years. I only wish that his general doc had listened to him months ago when he told him it felt as if there was an elephant on his chest, maybe he would have seen cardio and had his blockage fixed and the stroke would never had happened. Today he is going in to have shock treatment on his heart to try and fix the arrhythmia that was caused by the stroke, hoping it will give him more strength and he will be less tried all the time.

What a busy and tiring past month this has been. PLEASE pray with me that baby boy will come out very soon and very quickly. I am done!

Pics of our boy!!!

All is going well. Ossie is growing big and fast, he has a very large head, courtesy of his daddy. I am now 31 weeks and I am counting down, can't wait to meet this little man.

Monday in photos

Hiking in Zions.

Arianna loves to be in the backpack.

Arianna and her nurse Jodi on Halloween. Arna as Miss Peacock

Kenna as Tigger Lilly

Our family on Kenna's Baptisim day

Kenna and her sister missionaries

Kenna and her Papa Rod, he baptizied her.

Where does the time go?

I sit here a see that it has been two months since I posted, shame on me. I guess I really haven't had my heart into blogging much.

Since my last post we have celebrated Kenna's 8th birthday. We took a short trip to Zion's NP for some r&r and fun with her. We went to see The Little Mermaid at Tuachan. And really just had a good time being a family. Arianna is back in school and loving it, they are doing swim therapy this year, but she has yet to go because she got a cold. She is still fighting the snot, but doing good otherwise. And the biggest news of all, we are having an BOY!!!! Kenna is so very excited, that's what she wanted. I had a feeling early on that it was a boy, just felt so different from the way I did with my girls. He is very active and growing very fast. We still have not found a good name for him, hard to find a good boy name that goes with Snell that has not already been taken. So for now we call him Ossie.

Kenna is very excited for Halloween this year, she is Tiger Lilly from Peter Pan, and Arna is a Peacock. We have been to a few Halloween parties already and their costumes are a hit. My mom made Kenna's and I found Arnas at Gymboree(on sale).

Next up is Kenna's Baptism on the 5th. She is so very excited, and so are we. She is such a wonderful example to her family. She loves going to church and makes sure mom is awake and ready on time.

My next post, which will be soon will have pics of the girls and their costumes, a pic of the boy, and maybe my profile. Thanks for keeping tabs on us even though I slack.

Random Things

Since I really don't find the energy to do much these days, lots of things have been neglected, such as this blog, the laundry, the dishes and well just about everything in the house. I do however manage to bathe, clothe and feed the kids, me on the other hand I really don't like much of anything to eat, I still struggle to get food to the baby in my belly but I keep trying.

So Kenna has been in the second grade for 4 weeks now and is really enjoying it. She has one really good friend in her class, makes her feel better. She is doing well with spelling and math, and loves art time. It really brings me back to the days when i didn't know how to read and spell, and math was a struggle, I hope I can be a good teacher to her.

Arianna will start school on the 29th, she wishes it was now, she is bored and done with summer. She needs her own time to learn and play away from home. I remember when I first put her on the bus two years ago and thought how will I get through the day with out taking care of her? How will she be without mommy there to watch over her? Now I know better. Although it is still hard to say goodbye on the first day, I know that she is in good hands and that she loves to be there. I know I can not provide everything for her everyday and I am glad there is a school that can do all that she needs.

We had our 14 week baby check last week and I am measuring at 15 weeks. Very interesting. Either my dates are off or this is a really happy and big baby. I can alreay feel little thumps and flutters. Can't wait until the end of September to find out if it is a boy or girl.

We also went camping over the weekend, Kenna had so much fun riding on her four wheeler, she even took me for a spin. On our way to our camping destination we stopped in Heber to have some dinner at Arby's. While there a gentleman walked up to our table and put his hand out to Matt and said, 'It would make me very happy to buy your dinner tonight. You have such a special family.' and gave Matt money. I of course started to cry, being that I am pregers I do that. We all said thank you and the man left. I asked Matt yesterday how much the man gave us, and he told me $50. I could not believe the heart of this man. Someone we don't know and would never meet again. All I can figure is that he must have been touched in a very personal way by someone with special needs. I will be forever grateful for his example to my family, to the gift of love he shared. I will someday pass it forward.

Big News!!!

So we have been to the doctor, and all is looking good. So I think it is time to share. We are expecting a new baby in Feb!! I can't tell you all how excited and scared I am for this new adventure. It has been 7 years since i had to care for a normal baby, don't know if I can still do it. Arna is truly easy when it come to so many things, I just hook her up and the food goes in while I go and do everything I have to get done. She is happy to just hang out and play with her toys, she doesn't like to be cuddled. I just don't know what this baby will bring.

Kenna is hoping for a brother, she thinks that would be cool. I also think it would be great to have a little copy of Matt running around.

I have been terribly sick with this baby, always nauseous, and so very tired. I don't remember it being like this with my others. but I am also a few years older too!

Life is good and always keeping us on our toes!