Happy 4th Birthday to my eternal sunshine, Ryleigh Mae!

"So Ry where do you want to go for your birthday dinner?? We can go anywhere you want!"


"I want CHINESE!"


"You want Chinese?!? Really???"

"YEAH like Ni hao Kai-lan!"

So off to Golden Canyon we go.

I absolutely love the mind of my four year old. McDonalds? Peter Piper? Not for my Ryleigh.
It was so much fun though! She said 'Ni hoa!' to the waitress and she of course fell in love with Ry.

oh by the way the kid can use chopsticks! Where does she learn this stuff??

It was a day full of silly bands, REAL ballet shoes, and Pillow Pets for Mae Mae and Bumble Bee. I of course had to get one for my Brytie too. If you have kids or siblings that are this close in birthdays than you know why. You can't get one without the other ;-)

Happy 4th Birthday my sweet girl. Your special spirit means everything to me.

"I get the lady bug one because Bryton is the Bumble bee!!"

So I finished Mockingjay...

I LOVED Hunger Games. Catching Fire was even better. Mockingjay....kinda disappointing...

The ending was soooo rushed. So much death; even for this series. Chapters and chapters of loss and grieving.

I finished the book in 2 nights so obviously it wasn't a bad book by any means. I love the characters already and Suzanne Collins writing style.

I guess maybe I was looking for a little more romance/triumph.

On to my next venture! Any good books you'd reccommend???

My day job :)

Id like to introduce my day job. Well Im not actually sure if I can call it a job; because that implies work and a slight irratation with having to do it. And I definitely do not mind doing this job. Since Mal goes to MCC which is across the street, and I don't leave the house with us having one car, I have the PRIVELEDGE of watching the little Craig Nikolaus boys 3 times a week for a few hours. We have so much fun! First off little Carter entertains my girls so they stay out of my hair and I get to play with the baby! Its so much fun having a newborn (when you only have to take care of it for a few hours; not your whole life!) Okay Im joking...sort of. :)

My third favorite job is being Auntie Brit!(or mommyyyy as Carter sometimes calls me)

ps. My most favorite job is being Mrs. Ben Nikolaus and my second is being Mommy to my little angel girls, in case you were wondering ;)

Now for some pics of playtime!

Please ignore the painting clothes...the famous black basketball shorts with My Teenage Muntant Ninja Turtle shirt!



Yes....Carty is wearing Bryties purple fairy wings. Only a truly secure man could pull that off.

Happy Birthday Bryton!!!!

I really am astounded at how fast this yaer has been. I can't believe my baby is 2. Ben says I can't keep calling her a baby; she is clearly a toddler. But I can't help it. You mommas know how it is. She will always be my sassy little baby.

"God gives unto men trials that they might be humble..."

Perhaps it may not seem like a trial to some people, but for me and my fam. It definitely has been.


For those of you who don't know, our little Brytie has been diagnosed with Pyloric Stenosis. Its really not as scary as it sounds. In Laman's terms its a narrowing of the valve between the stomach and intestine. When Brytie gets upset, eats to much, gets scared, coughs to hard, gets hiccups...(pretty much anything besides at a resting state) this narrowing causes Bryton to projectile vomit the entire contents of her stomach. Her little episodes occur at least twice a day but up to 5-6 times. The acid from her stomach will eventually start to eat away the lining of her esophagus and the enamel on her teeth. So she has to take antacids everyday to help with that.

The doctors keep telling me that she will eventually grow out of it; though not any of them can tell me at what age it may start to slow down or WHEN she might "grow out of it." I really don't know how she is gaining weight and growing as much as she vomits.

The good news is Bryton has gotten so used to it, it really doesn't effect her anymore. She will be running around and start coughing, throw up, then wipe her face and keep running.

The bad news..well pretty much everything else besides the above.


Anyway.....

I am now to what caused me to write this post.

Today Bry started to gag and I knew it was coming, so I scoop her up and run her to the bathroom. She ended up soaking the front of my shirt but got most of the rest of it in the toilet. Did I mention that I had JUST showered and straightened my hair and got ready for Mal and I to go shopping??? Yeah. So with some murmuring and frustrations mumbled under my breath I started to clean it up. Then Mal says, "Man. I don't know how you deal with that. I would go crazy cleaning up throw up so much."
My response, "ya..story of my life sis."

So tonight I took the girls into their room, read them a story, sang some lullabys, said our prayers and kissed them goodnight. Brytie asked Ryleigh if she could sleep in her bed with her and of course Ryleigh said yes. I tuck them in and give them both a kiss and shut the door.

After I leave the room Brytie starts crying a bit (per usual) and I hear Ryleigh start trying to calm her down. Then she says, "Brytie...if you're going to cry can you go sleep in your bed. I don't want you to throw up on me again..."

I started laughing so hard my eyes started to water...then I broke down into real tears. I felt like such a BAD MOM! I was so caught up in the way these episodes effect me that I didn't realize what Ryleigh has been going through. I didn't realize how crappy it must be to have to live in a room that constantly smells like vomit, to share a backseat with a carseat that constantly smells like vomit, to play in a playroom that constantly smells like vomit, and to be near Brytie so much that sometimes she gets vomited on.

My little soldier Ryleigh has not once complained once. NOT ONCE. And while most of the time I try to take it in stride, sometimes I get overwhelmed and act like a big BABY when Im cleaning up the vomit for the MILLIONTH time that day.

So then I go back into the girls room and give them both big bear hugs.
I ask, "Ry does it make you feel sad or angry when Brytie throws up on you or
your things?"
Ry looks at me puzzled and says, "why would that make me mad Mommy? I love
Brytie."
I say, "I know you love her sweetheart, and you are such a big girl. You are so
tough that you don't get upset at Brytie for throwing up on ur toys."
Ry smiles and says, "Mommy its not her fault she throws up...she doesn't mean to
do it. And I don't want her to be sad when she's sick so I just help her
clean it up and give her a hug."

As you can imagine this conversation made me cry even more. Such sweet inocence and pure love can only come from a child. It may sound corny but Ry really taught me a lesson tonight. Love unconditionally. Forgive people their weaknesses.

And would you believe it I actually was reading the scriptures tonight and came upon a great verse for this post.

Moroni 8:10 "...yea, teach parents that they must repent and be baptized, and humble themselves as their little children, and they shall all be saved with their little children."

I love my little sweet angels and it humbles me to know God trusts me with these precious gifts.

Happiness= Peace, Love, and Crayons.

xoxox
Britt