It's the most wonderful time of the year!

All that work for this...

Mary aka Alyssa and Joseph aka Wyatt on their way to Bethlehem

The angel on high aka Maycee and the wise shephard aka Emma

Two of the three wise men

Santa made it!

We have been more than blessed this year and are so thankful for all that we have.  I have an amazing family!!!

Tis the season

Merry Christmas y'all!  I have been so excited for Christmas this year!  I'm not sure why but I think it might have something to do with the fact that I no longer am so stressed out with school and I can acutally feel excited for something other than the end of the semester!!!  I mailed out christmas cards this year ( well technically, they'll be in the mail tomorrow) but for those I don't have addresses for here is what you missed out on.

 

We had the Hyde family christmas party last night, and the kids had so much fun.  Brad's aunt (or his dad's cousin, or something like that) was in charge this year and she got a clown to come perform for the kids while they waited for the man of the evening to show and it was a huge success.  They all loved Soda Pop and Emma now wants her to come do her birthday party.  She was very good and had all the kids, except for Wyatt, thoroughly entertained.  Wyatt was not into the clown, except when she started making balloon animals but he didn't care much for the magic tricks she was doing. Santa did not disappoint this year and the kids all loved what he brought them.

 

 

Wyatt got a pair of work gloves that Santa found at Home Depot that were just his size and a set of wrenches ( everyone couldn't believe that a 3 year old was in heaven with that gift, he has yet to take the gloves off or set the wrenches down and has slept with them every night).  Olivia got a stuffed dog animal. And she wasn't quite sure about the Jolly old man this year.  She has been sick all weekend though and didn't want to have much to do with anyone except mom.  But she has become quite fond of dolls and stuffed animals.  Emma and Maycee each got a set of 20 pairs of new earrings.

 

All in all it was a good night and the kids had fun. 

til next time...

 

A little behind

So I have not been so hot about keeping this blog up to date-so...Here is the picture of the kids from Halloween this year.

 

 

 

Emma and Maycee are Monster High monsters, Wyatt is a pirate and Olivia is a witch.  They went trick or treating around the neighborhood with Brad as I had to work til 7:30 that night.  They had a blast!

 

 

slackin'

Okay I know I am terrible and keeping this blog up to date.  I don't even know when the last time was that I posted anything so if I repeat something, forgive me

I am working at Lakeview Hospital still in the Behavioral medicine unit. I am also going to school for my Bachelors degree at Western Governors University right now.  Its an online program and hasn't been too bad.  I should be done with it by next September at the latest. And then I am mommy to 4 kiddos and wife to 1.  Life is pretty much insane.  I never thought about it, it was just something I did, but the other day, one of the other nurses I was talking to turned to me and said that there was never a time in the last 10 years that I haven't been insanely busy.  And there really hasn't been, I don't get days where I can just sit on the couch and do nothing, and not have anything or anyone waiting for me.  But I don't mind most days, its what I chose for my life and I really wouldn't have it any other way.

The first term of the school year is already up for Emma and Maycee. They both have raving reports from their teachers-little smarty pants!  Emma is excelling in everything she does.  And Maycee is right up there too.  Maycee doesn't enjoy it like Em does but she is doing well nonetheless.  Its fabulous to watch your children succeed and do so well and it is the hardest to watch them struggle and make their own choices, for good or bad, and then live with the consequences.  I wish I could put them in a bubble, but then I don't really because I want them to have the best experiences in life and learn and grow, and they wouldn't know the great without knowing the bad.

Wyatt is my BOY!  He is such a crazy little boy, but he's not so little.  He is insanely busy and moves from one activity to the next in less than a minute most days.  I cannot even begin to keep up with him.  He is so independent and wants to do everything himself. I love his cute freckled face to death! He is loving preschool and Miss Tammy.  His speech is getting better and more words are recognizable now to more than just me.  I still have to translate for many people but it is improving.

Olivia is 10 months old.  I can't believe that she is almost one already.  She is such a happy baby and definitely a terrific ending to our family.  She is always smiling and she has a wonderful baby laugh.  We all love her to death.

Brad is working and will hopefully be done with the job he's on soon.  He went hunting with his brother and dad a few weeks ago and is slowly working on rebuilding his fishing boat.  He works so hard and I love him more than ever!

That about sums it all up...I'll get some pictures on here soon...

What a girl!

Olivia is 8 months old now.  I can't believe how big she is getting-sitting up by herself and all sorts of noises.  She has to compete with Brother Wyatt so she can get pretty loud sometimes.  She is such a great baby-we ended on a fabulous note!

Same stuff, different day!

I may be crazy...I decided that I really wanted to get my BSN.  So I have started a program online from Western Governors University.  I am excited to get this done but I'm not so sure how excited my family is.  Its completely online so I can do it on all those fabulous night shifts I work so hopefully it won't take too much away from family time.  I finished the orientation and start my classes September 1.  I am pretty sure I can finish it in about 8-9 months so it really isn't that bad and then I am pretty sure I am done for a while. But this will hopefully make me a little more competitive in the job market.

The girls and Wyatt just got back from Island park for the weekend with my parents and they had a fabulous time.  Thanks mom & dad!  I wish I could have gone but the new vehicle would have cost a lot more money to drive up there than we have right now so my parents took the kiddos with them and I stayed home with Olivia and Brad.  It was super quiet around our place this last weekend, kinda weird.

And there is only 2 more weeks of summer left and the kids all start back into school.  Mom is VERY excited and the kids are kind of excited.  They are finishing up swim lessons and trying to stuff in as much play time as they can.

Life is pretty much the norm around here, same stuff, different day!

Hearts

I went to the cardiologist and it left something to be desired.  The guy was a real jerk and had a God complex like most cardio docs do, but he was a doosy.  Anyway, he basically told me that my EKG showed left ventricular hypertrophy but that because I was under 35 I wasn't meeting the criteria to diagnose it.  Anyway, I totally didn't understand it either so I am going to go see another doc and have him assess it and see what he thinks, if I need to see another specialist about it or be concerned about it.  So the story continues...

In other news, Brad took the kids fishing this morning...at 4:45 am!!  Wyatt was suppose to go but he informed his dad that he wanted to sleep in his bed when he was woken up at 4:30, don't blame the kid, he's only 3.  That's pretty early for anyone in my opinion.  But the girls are troopers and got up to go with their Dad fishing.  I hope they are having a good time!

Stuff

There has been some stuff happening lately at our little house...first the fun stuff.  My mom called and ask if I would like to see Wicked and who says  no to that?  So she bought two tickets for me and my sister in law because both of us had never seen it before and my parents and my sister saw it in London.  So JoDee and I went to Wicked.  I wasn't totally sure what to expect other than everyone I have ever talked to says its wonderful, and...it lived up to the expectation.  It was a very fun evening and I really enjoyed the night out with JoDee, she's pretty good

company.

Now for the not so fun stuff...Last weekend at work I passed out again.  I have been doing this every so often for quite a while now, probably about 6-7 years, and every time I have been to the emergency department they tell me its a vagal response and that I'll be fine, no tests, nothing.  Well this time the ED doc decided to run a EKG and found some abnormalities with my heart - Left Ventricular Hypertrophy.  Basically my heart is growing stiff and can't pump the blood like its suppose to.  Could be caused from a few different things, High blood pressure is the most common.  But it can also be caused from problems with the aorta and anything that can cause the heart to have to work harder to pump the blood.  Anyway, left unfixed or not controlled properly and you will have heart failure, not such a great thing.  So I was referred to a cardiologist to get it checked out and see just how bad it is and what needs to happen from here.  My appointment is Monday so we will see...

Kinda has me a little freaked out, but I have "prepared myself for the worst, and am hoping for the best"

Livvy baby

Olivia is six months now- crazy how time flies!! She is still our petite little girl. She's up to 15 pounds and 26 inches- she's got some height. But she's pretty skinny. We love her to death and we're so glad she came to our family. Her breathing is still yucky and it'll be interesting to see how the winter goes because any respiratory problems are double issues with her. Everyone else is enjoying the warm summer months. It's just a bit crazy around here

My little Man

I got Wyatts picture done for his third birthday

I can't believe how big he's gotten. 

He cracks me up everyday-love him to death!

Wyatt-3 years old

Bubba is 3!!!

Mr. Wyatt turned three last week!  I can't believe that my boy is already three.  He is such a handsome thing, but not so little anymore.  He is kinda short and pretty stocky, just imagine a miny wrestler...maybe someday...we'll have to see

We had family birthday dinner for him on the friday before his birthday cuz I had to work on his birthday and it was also Fathers Day that day.  Wyatt wanted donalds for dinner (McDonalds) so we made the grown up version, chicken skewers with an assortment of dips and fruit with dips and potato wedges with yummy creamy cheese sauce-it turned out to be rather delicious.  I made his cake and we decorated it with cars and "dirt" it turned out pretty good too.  I was rather quite surprised that I actually pulled it off.  Working like I have been has burned me out pretty good and it takes me all my days off just to recover so not much happens in the way of keeping house or doing much of anything else.  Someday I will have a job with normal waking human hours.

Wyatts most favorite-a sword and shield-he sleeps with them at the bottom of his bed everynight

Happy Birthday Dude!

Life

Well we are into the swing of things at the Hyde house.  I am working full time, or pretty close to it, Brad is working and the girls are almost done with another year of school and Wyatt is a crazy 2 year old boy and Olivia is still our petite little girl.  Livvy has turned out to be a pretty easy baby as long as we keep her meds in her.  It is amazing what happens to the sweet smiley baby when the meds wear off if we forget, so needless to say, we don't forget very often!

Emma and Maycee are so excited to be out of school for summer and are counting down the days.  They can't wait to go to the lake and the pool everyday(so they say...we will be spending a bit of time at each, but not sure its going to be everyday like they think!)

Wyatt is crazy!!!   Seriously I can't even begin to keep up with him.  He is talking more but there are many things that he just doesn't pronounce very well so you really have to pay attention to the context and situation to get what he is saying.  He still gets pretty frustrated but I've taught him the phrase, "show me" and so he says that when we can't get it and he will "show us" what it is he is trying to get or do.  He is the cutest thing ever with his freckles and platinum blonde hair, poor kids going to fry this summer!  Ya'll invest in coppertone cuz we'll be buying a ton and their stock should go up!!

Olivia weighed 12 pounds at her 4 month check up, which is still right where she's always been.  We've got her on a microlipid(fat) that is added to her higher calorie bottles and she still is just burning more than she can take in.  Her breathing is about the same, haven't noticed a change there yet.  She still struggles to breathe but it doesn't seem to bother her quite so much so either she's just gotten used to it or something. She loves loves the cradle swing and that is really the only place she sleeps really well.  So she spends her days there napping and then we try the crib for nighttime but she usually ends up back in the swing by morning.  Seriously that is the best $100 purchase I have ever made in my life.

Brad is working with Okland still.  He is on the Chemistry building addition at the U.  It is so nice to have his job in Salt Lake.  Close to home.  He started with Okland in the summer of 1999 right after he graduated and has been with them ever since minus about 9 months in 2001 and another 9 months or so in 2006.  So it will be 13 years this next month, and that's how long since we first met and we will celebrate 10 years of marriage in August too-its a little crazy to think about.

I am really liking my job at the hospital.  I love nursing, it is a good fit.  I am ok working where I'm at for now, but it is definitely short term and just a stepping stone to where I want to really be.  I am going to start my BSN in the fall through Western Governors University.  It is completly online program and it will help me be able to be more competitive in the job search and help me get to where I really want to be.  I am wanting to go into oncology nursing eventually so I need lots of extra educational certifications  and such so I am starting to work on them.  So hopefully in a year or so I can start looking around for oncology nursing positions.

Brad is also looking to getting his pilots license.  This is something he has wanted to do for a very long time but wasn't ever sure he could pass the medical exam because of his eyes so he never pursued it.  But I decided that he needed to be doing something that he wants to do so I researched it and I'm pretty sure with what I found out from the FAA  that he can pass the medical exam and be licensed so he is going to flight school in the fall as well.  I know he will really enjoy it and it will make him happy.  And he has another project that he is going to be starting on as well.  His dad has an old boat that is need of some major TLC so Brad is taking it and redoing it all and the girls are beyond excited that we will have a boat.  It will be fun for the summers for sure!

So we are busy to say the least, but I like it that way...

Yearly Pictures

I got some cute pictures of my girls for their birthdays and just because...

Olivia- 3 months old

Emma- 9 years old

Maycee - 7 years old

Happy Birthday Emma

Emma Leigh turned 9 this year!  I can't believe I have a 9 year old!  She is growing up to be such a beautiful young lady.  We are so proud to be her parents and she is one smart lady!  She is so responsible and I can call on her to help anytime and she always has a smile on her face-she is my sanity and I don't know what I'd do without her!  Love you tons girl!!!

Livvy Update

For those of you that care here is an update on how Miss Olivia is doing.  She was officially diagnosed with laryngomalacia by the ENT back in February (I think anyway, time is kinda running together).  Her labored breathing was making it pretty hard for her to eat and and breath and sleep, so she was working so hard to breath that she is burning more calories than she is able to take in.  So we talked to Occupational Therapists at Primary's and got some ideas on how to feed her to make her eat better, different holds and such.  We've talked to Dietary at Primary's and got some goals about what she should be taking in calorie wise.  She is only getting about 330 calories a day and should be getting almost 600 to gain what she needs to keep gaining weight like she should.  So we are looking at adjusting her formula concentration and added a fat supplement to her bottles.  And if she will continue to take in the same amount of fluid with the higher concentrated calories she should gain the weight, but there is the challenge-getting her to drink that same fluid,higher concentrated-babies tend not to like it concentrated like that.  We have also added another medication for her reflux in the hopes that if she is super comfortable in that regard she will continue to eat more.

If all of this doesn't work in the next couple of weeks then its a nasogastric tube and feedings at night for Olivia.  It's a good thing her mommy is a freakin kick a** nurse ;)  But we really don't want to have to do that cuz it can bring on all its own problems.  So we are hopeful that we can see some L-B's come on this skinny little girl of ours!

Spencer Family pictures

We had pictures taken a couple weeks ago and they turned out pretty good.  I have a dang good lookin family

Brad Hyde Family

Jay Spencer Family

A girl from my parents old ward took them and she did a fabulous job!

Spencer Grandkids

We had Spencer Family pictures a few weeks ago but the kiddos were done with taking pictures so we never got a picture of the grandkids.  So we got together this week and took one for my mom--they are just the cutest kids ever!

Birthday parties

The girls have wanted a birthday party this year and I told them they could have one.  Their birthdays are so close together and they have many of the same friends that I asked them if it would be ok if they had their party together.  They really do get treated a lot like twins but when they are so close in age and have a lot of the same friends it happens I guess.  So they each got to invite 5 friends and they made jewlery boxes and watch dolphin tales with the projector screen on the wall.  I bought movie candy and made popcorn and then they each got a "swag bag" with a necklace and lip gloss and sunglasses.  Everyone seemed to have a good time and they have fun friends.

New living room

Brad is awesome and remodeled our front room.  I love it and it really needed updating-it's beautiful!  Good job Brad!

We tore out the old green carpet and replaced it with hardwood flooring and new carpet up the stairs and hall and tore out the wall that came up the stairs and replaced the banister and painted all the walls.  Added new light fixtures and it looks so much better!

Blessed and a birthday

Today was Olivia's blessing in Sacrament meeting and then we all came back to the construction zone, better known as our house for brunch to celebrate Maycee's birthday-which is on Wednesday, she'll be 7 years old.  My baby will be two months old tomorrow and she has finally turned into the fun, beautiful baby girl that I knew was in there, just had to make her more comfortable so we could experience her fun personality and not the screaming baby in pain!  She is doing so much better and has started to basically sleep through the night!!!  This mama is so excited for that, especially since I start work next week.

Maycee drew me a picture and that is what she wanted on her cake-a mermaid

Movin Along

So life is movin along...  I took NCLEX on Tuesday, valentines day and PASSED!!!!  I am now officially a registered nurse!  Kind of exciting!  Now on to the job hunt so I can pay my bills...blah!  But such is life.  I am hoping that I can find something fairly quickly but from the words coming from other recent graduates it is slim pickins out there and new grads are pretty lucky to even get an interview let alone the job offer.  So we will see how it goes!

Olivia is 6 weeks now and she has been switched to soy formula-the mamas milk just wasn't cuttin it-too many tummy problems.  While it is helping a bit, she also has tracheomalacia like Wyatt had so she has to work extra hard to breath and eat and its a struggle everytime.  For those who don't know tracheomalacia is a condition that some babies develop where the trachea is soft instead of hard like it is suppose to be and so it collapses when they breath and causes them to work harder to get stuff-air and food-down their throat.  They do eventually grow out of it and it eventually hardens up like its suppose to but until then we battle and try to find ways to get her more comfortable.  The fact that I am not an avid breastfeeder and willing to give up my dairy is tough too cuz she would do a little better if she could nurse but we've talked with an occupational therapist and got some ideas on bottle feeding we're going to try out. Other than that she's doing fabulous, starting to coo and smile, love that, makes all this other yucky stuff I have to deal with totally worth it!

Everyone else is great too-just movin along!

A little update

So I was told I needed to update...

Things are INSANE at our house.  I have four kids...nuff said!  I have decided that I really had no idea what I was getting myself into when I decided I wanted "just one more".  I forget so easily how hard my newborn babies tend to be (except for Emma-she was THE PERFECT BABY)  But the rest of them tend to have tummies that don't cooperate and they like to be held all...the...time.  But Brad and I do make cute babies so they tend to make up for their uncooperativeness in the cuteness department.

Emma and Maycee are awesome and are half way through the school year yet again-time flies!  They both received rave reviews from their teachers again at parent teacher conferences and are little smarty pants, but we already knew that!  They are little social butterflies and come home everyday telling me all about the "new friends" they make at recess, ect...

Wyatt is ALL BOY!  And he is two--really bad combination!  He came into my room the other morning and Olivia was asleep on my bed.  He stuck his hands on his hips and in a matter of fact voice informed me that he does not like her and she can not have his bed, and then he walked out.  It was the funniest thing ever!  So needless to say we went and bought a "big boy" bed and made the transition.  Liv was getting tired of the bassinet anyway so it needed to happen sooner than later.  He got to pick out sheets and a pillow for his bed and has been pretty easy thus far in transitioning sleeping in a twin bed rather than the crib.  He hasn't even tried to get out of bed which I was very afraid of.  Maybe he's heard his dad threaten his sisters in the next room!

Olivia is one month old now! (actually 5 weeks if you want to be exact).  She is a pretty good baby, just has some bad tummy issues and doesn't like to be in pain, I don't blame her!  So before we say screw the breast milk I went and found this supposedly miracle worker called colic calm and we've tried that and it seems to help a little.  She definitely burps easier with it and she's happy once all the air gets out of her tummy.  I'm pretty sure she's got tracheomalacia like Wyatt did too and they swallow so much air trying to breath-it stinks.

Brad is just working and trying to get our fence replaced from the wind storm and he's gearing up for the living room remodel/upgrade-I get new wood flooring and paint and new carpet on the stairs and in the hall--so excited!!  And I am trying to keep my eyes open through out the days, and nights-it gets interesting.  I take my state board exam for my nursing license on Tuesday-so as long as I pass it is on to the job hunt-which doesn't actually look too good so I am praying something just opens up and it all works out.

K there's us for the last month-till next time...

One week old

 Olivia has been here for one week now-here are some pics...

I think she might look a bit more like Emma.  At first we thought she was definitely a Hyde but this picture looks an awfully lot like one of Em.

Emma-a few days old

Maycee-a few days old

I don't know-she's a good combination for sure!

Last but not least...

Introducing....

Olivia Ann Hyde

Born January 5, 2012

weighed 7lbs 14 oz

20 inches long

Labor went so fast-it was fabulous!

We love her to pieces already.  She is such a great baby-sleeps a good 4 hour stretch at a time!

Wyatt is adjusting rather well-although we have noticed a hightened activity level, whether that be from lack of sleep and being too tired to keep up with him or just his way of gaining some attention now that he's not the "baby" who knows but he is even more full of energy than he was before-if you can imagine that!

The girls love her to death and can't wait to teach her the ropes of girlhood!

And I know Brad is so excited to pay for another prom dress, girl supplies and wedding ;)

But he has fallen in love with her too nevertheless.

We are so glad and excited to have her here-our family definitely feels complete!