Good news, an unplanned trip to the ER and Halloween

It has been an eventful couple of weeks around our house. We have had our ups and downs but have been blessed tremendously. To start off we'd like to share our good news and wonderful blessing that we have received. Many of you know we have been searching for employment for Shem since before he graduated from BSU. We were blessed to have his employment at BSU as a research assistant being carried on through the summer. He was suppose to be done when he graduated but his boss asked him to stay on to finish up a few projects. That was such a blessing for us. Shem could still work and look for full time employment. Well things have been getting quite stressful and worrisome around here with no employment. But I am happy to report that Shem was offered an internship and started this past Monday! His brother had been interning but was offered a full time position and recommended Shem and so we went through the interview process and here we are. A paid internship. We are so grateful for this opportunity. We feel very blessed and grateful to have been offered this opportunity. We are also grateful for Shem's brother in recommending him and putting in a good word for him. We are thankful for him and his family and the blessing they were in helping us find employment! And having a source of income couldn't have come at a better time. 3 weeks ago we were watching my 2 nephews and they were playing a game of Uno with Shem at our kitchen table while I had my visiting teachers over. All of a sudden there was this loud crash and I looked over at the table because it sounded like something had fallen on it. Well from what I could see everything look normal. Then Shem held up his arm and said look. Well I didn't have my glasses on and from what I could tell he got a little scratch. Then I heard one of my visiting teachers says "That's a huge gash!" So I got up and looked closer and yes indeed it was a huge gash! I almost fainted from looking at it. So I ran to get some shoes on and my Shem was telling me he needed a towel. So I came back in to the kitchen to get him a towel and he was standing over the sink to let the blood drip in there when all of a sudden he passed out. Thank goodness myself and one of my visiting teachers were right there. We caught him and were able to lay him down the kitchen floor. And then I went into panic mode. For those of you who don't know, Shem had a blood disorder when he was little and his blood did not clot. He hasn't had any problems in years but you know you never know when it will come back. So needless to say panic mode hit me pretty hard. I got my phone and called 911 because there was no way were going to get him into my car. Luckily after I called he woke up. So we wrapped the towel around his wound and  I rushed him down to the ER which is just a quarter of a mile away. My visiting teachers stayed with my 2 nephews and Shaylee and even cleaned up pretty much all of the mess. Shem ended up needing x-rays just to make sure there was no glass hiding anywhere. The doctor said that he was very lucky he did not cut a joint or an artery. So we spent the next 90 minutes in the ER waiting on x-rays and getting Shem stitched up. It was a 5 cm gash that took 10 stitches to close up. And the cut is just below his elbow and so the stitches had to stay in longer then they thought since every time he bent his elbow it would stretch the wound. But I am happy to report that the stitches are all out! I think they might have taken them out a little early still but what do I know. I am not a health professional. He is going to have a really nasty scare but I am just thankful that is all. We were very blessed to only have needed stitches. I know that it could have been much much worse.

On a lighter note...we got to celebrate Shaylee's first Halloween! We dressed her up and took down to my dads office and then we went over to my parents house. Whenever anyone would ask what she was going to be for Halloween and I told them a chicken they would laugh! Hey it was a free costume and a broke unemployed family it was wonderful! I think she looked adorable in it. I am excited for next year when Shaylee has a little bit better of an understanding as to what is going. But we still had fun with her. We are looking forward to her first Thanksgiving next week and I am SUPER excited for her first Christmas. I LOVE Christmas and it is going to be fun to have a little baby around this year. I went to my sister house today to make her mitten and although I haven't seen the final product, from what I did see it is way cute! I am super excited about it!

Shaylee also got to go on her first horse ride! Shem said that she did very well. Didn't act nervous at all. Her mom sure was while I watched them! That is a big animal for my tiny little girl. But she did great. She does get a little nervous when we are standing by her so I guess she does have a little bit of her mom in her!

Enjoy the pictures. I will put out there that there is a picture of Shem's arm so don't blame me about not warning you!

I love my pig tails!

Shaylee's silly face pumpkin.

Our pumpkins!

Horse ride with daddy!

What did my parents dress me in?!

I am one cute chick!

Happy Halloween!

The wound...

So happy to be 8 months old!

This is what Shaylee's hair looked like after we took her "Pebbles" ponytail out. Can you say Lyle Lovett?!

Happenings

I thought I'd better post a little update. I don't know where the time has gone but summer is over and my little baby is already 7 months! All those sleepless nights at the beginning I never thought we'd ever get here but we finally did! I am happy to report that Shaylee is sleeping about 11-12 hours at night! YEA!!! It is so nice to be able to get a full nights sleep uninterrupted. Our little girl is just growing up so fast. At her 6 month check up last month she weighed 13 lbs 8 oz. (10th percentile) and was 25 inches tall (13th percentile) and her head measured in at 17.1 inches (82nd percentile). She is moving all over the place! She is scooting all over the place. She will occasionally crawl on all 4s on the carpet but she mainly just does it in the kitchen. I don't know if she doesn't like the feel of the carpet when she crawls on all on 4s but I would think that would be better than dragging your legs across it. We have to make sure she has pants on so that she doesn't get carpet burn! She is pulling herself to stand. She uses everything! She is such a strong little girl. Her new favorite thing to do is to pull her up using the TV entertainment center and play with the TV. We have to keep a very close on her and get after her for that. We don't want to become a habit but it is hard keeping her away. She still enjoys all of her food except for carrots. We introduced avocado and she did not like it at first but now she really likes it. I also started making my own baby food and I love it! Shem thinks I am a nerd because of how excited I was when I started. It is so easy and so much cheaper. I got a Baby Bullet from a baby shower and I have definitely put it to good use.

We are still on the job hunt for Shem. We are praying that something will come soon. He keeps looking and applying to jobs daily and we keep praying that something will come soon. We have been blessed to have kept Shem's job from when he was going to school as a research assistant. His boss was generous enough to keep on us and with a pay raise. That will be ending this week though. But we are so thankful for the blessing of employment for this long. As for me I am loving being at home with Shaylee. Shem and I were talking last night and we just couldn't imagine our lives without her. I officially felt like a parent after we had that conversation! We love listening to her little noises and seeing her silly faces! When Shem does get a job it will be very hard for him to be away from her all day. But he will just have to adjust! I am very blessed to be home with her and to watch her learn and development. She is a very lovable little girl and we are blessed to be her parents.

We were able to go on a little family trip this summer. My parents went up to Sun Valley for a couple days to their time-share and invited us along. It was fun to be able to go on a little trip and get away. This was Shaylee's first trip away and she did awesome. She slept great in the pack-n-play and slept for most of the way up and back home. She does not enjoy being her carseat for extended amounts of time but she did pretty good.

We had family pictures done on both sides this summer so I added pictures of both. The Purnell reunion that we were in charge of went off pretty well I think. I am just thankful it is over and that we are not in-charge again until 2020! It was hard having a little baby and being in charge. Especially since Shem's sister that was in charge with us also had a little baby. Shaylee didn't get to see her parents much but she sure had a lot of Aunts/Uncles/cousins and a Grandma and Grandpa who got to spoil her lots. It will be nice to not have any little babies next time we will be in-charge. Because we definitely will be done having kids by then! Here are some pictures from the summer. Sorry there are a lot. It is just so hard to only pick a couple!

Our little family

The Wagoner Family

The Purnell Family

Her cool new toy!

She loves standing up!

7 months old!

Walking around Sun Valley

Look how tiny she looks in the giant chair!

All of us in the giant chair

Sitting on the tractor waiting to go have breakfast

The giant moose with roller blades

Getting ready to watch the first BSU game

BFF's Shaylee and Katlyn

She is just like her daddy.

Look what I can do mom!

First time eating in a high chair. She is wearing the bib her mommy wore when she was a baby.

She fell asleep like this! Using her bumper pad as a pillow!

4 Months!

Shaylee had her 4 month check up last week and I am happy to report that she is a healthy happy baby girl! She now weighs 11 lbs. 9 oz. (4th percentile), is 23 5/8" tall (14th percentile) and her head is measuring in at 16.5" (83rd percentile). She is a skinny little thing and is just starting to nicely fit her 0-3 month clothes! Although they are starting to get a little short on her. She got more shots and this time Shem was with us at her appointment so he got to have the fun of seeing her get her shots. She did better this time then she did last time. Didn't cry as long and was acting almost like herself by mid afternoon. Last time it took a couple of days. We also got the ok to start her on solids. She will be open to letting us put the spoon in her mouth but as soon as she tastes it she spits it out. So it is a work in progress. We hope by next month that she will be use to it and eating a little more. With her weight so low so hope that she can get a little more to eat with some solids. She rolled over for the first time on June 10th! Shem was at a church meeting unfortunately. She is really getting the hang of it now! We are still working on rolling from her belly to her back. She has always hated tummy time so she starts to cry and we think that she forgets that she can roll back over. Now that she is rolling over we are not swaddling her. I was not looking forward to this day. Every time we tried to put her down for her nap not swaddled she would not fall asleep. Luckily it is going pretty well! She is still adjusting but I think she really enjoys the freedom of being able to move all around her crib. Some of the positions we find her in makes us laugh! And she is starting to sleep longer at night. We put her to bed about 10 and then up again around 4:30. She does wake up a few times in there but we either just let her cry it out or give her back her pacifier and she'll go back to sleep for a little while. Cutting out one of those middle of the night feedings has definitely been nice for me. She loves to talk and is starting to laugh more. Her smile brightens up our day and we love her so much! We are getting ready for her first swimming experience in a couple of weeks. My Uncle is coming over with his boat next weekend and we are going boating! Well Shem is and Shaylee will just play in the water with him. We got her a swimming suit and are excited to see what she thinks of the water.

We are still searching for a job for Shem. He has had a couple of interviews and we hope and pray that we will soon be offered a position. We are blessed that he still has his research position that he had when he was a student but that job will end on July 31st. So his days are spent working and searching for work. Nothing new really with me. We are in charge of Shem's family reunion this year along with his sister and so when Shaylee is sleeping I take advantage and try to get things planned for that. I love being home with Shaylee. It is so fun to be able to spend time with her and to help her learn new things and develop. Babies are such miracles and we are so thankful for our little miracle. We feel very blessed to have her and that she is healthy and learning and growing. Here are some pictures of our growing little girl. Enjoy!

4 Months old!

 Daddy helping me to eat my toes!

Ready to go swimming!

She loves this new toy Aunt Lyndsay is letting her borrow!

Grandpa Purnell came for a visit!

Sitting up so well in her Bumbo.

1st nap not being swaddled...finally fell asleep!

1st bite of rice cereal.

What are you feeding me?!

Swinging with mommy.

Really enjoying her freedom!

Happy Canada Day!

Our little half Canadian!

2 months old

Nothing really new and exciting going on in our lives. Shem is in his last week of school before finals start next week and then it is graduation on the 12th!! We are super excited. Well I am super excited. Shem says he has too much to do to think about graduation. I am so very proud of him for the wonderful accomplishment in his life. He has worked very hard and has had many sleepless nights and it has all paid off! Now to just find a job...

Shaylee is growing so fast! Hard to believe that she is 10 weeks old. She had her 2 month check up last week and that was a hard one! It is so hard to watch when they shots but she was very brave and only screamed for a few minutes. She now weighs 9 lbs 12 oz and is 22.5 inches (although I measured 23 inches the day before). We had our first experience of "oh what a cute boy" a few weeks ago when we went out to dinner and her daddy was not very happy with our waitress! I don't know how you can call a baby in all pink a boy but oh well. My mom and I made her some bows to stick in her hair to help distinguish the fact that she is a girl. She is starting to grab things and is putting her hand in her mouth if her pacifier is not currently in there. She does loves her pacifier! She thinks she needs it to go to sleep and when it comes out she is not happy. We are trying to help her learn that she can fall asleep on her own so it makes for a lot of crying at nap time. Unfortunately she has inherited my stubborn determined-ness and after 15 minutes of crying she is still at it. We hope that we can make that adjustment soon as she is going to her crib in 2 weeks and mommy and daddy will not be right there to hear her cry and put the pacifier back in her mouth as quickly as she'd like! She is also have trouble with her naps during the day. She will sleep anywhere from 30 - 60 minutes and be in a deep sleep but just wake up and start crying. This has been going on for a while now. Does anyone have any suggestions on that?? Here are some pictures of Shaylee's blessing day and her 1st Easter and some other random pictures. Enjoy!!

The beautiful blessing dress my mom made for Shaylee.

Family picture

Look at that hair! Elvis has not left the building!

2 months old already?!