A perfect heart

Maisy chewing on a little heart man during her "echo"

 We went to Denver on Wednesday for a cardiology appointment.I think this was our second one since surgery. Maisy weighed in at 13 lbs.12oz. and was 26 inches long. Dr. Christensen says that she has a perfect heart. There was a small hole remaining after surgery that they weren't really worried about and expected to close. It did. It felt so great to hear about her perfect heart :).

We'll have another cardiology appointment in 6 months and then yearly for a few years. By the time she's a teen and probably for the rest of her life it will be about  every 5 years.

Maisy is one busy baby these days. She got her second tooth and is pulling herself up on all kinds of things. She's become a really solid sitter in the last little while, but I hesitate to call her that  because she likes to move a lot and doesn't stay sitting for long. She also goes back and forth between sitting and crawling. I think that we'll have to lower her crib down once we're home from Utah. Can't wait to see our families :)

My sweet boy

Justin left to Montana for the weekend. He and Gracie are taking a special father/daughter trip and I am at home getting ready to leave for Utah on Monday. I'm also preparing my Sunday lesson as we speak.

Gunner and I have been having a lot of fun and he has had fun discovering Maisy as a new playmate. I've loved hearing Gracie and Gunner talk on the phone. They miss each other so much. I'm hoping that they'll be extra sweet and kind to each other for days...or weeks...(I'd even take hours), as a result of their separation.

I had to return something to Tj Max and took Maisy and Gunner. I've really not taken the kids shopping much since I've had Maisy. I loved hearing Gunner's comments in the dressing room and decided that his input is always welcome and appreciated. These were some of his comments
"that looks cute"
"I like your jeans"
 "You look like a princess"
"My want to try that on"

He is also fun at the grocery store. He was like rapid fire machine gun down the candy aisle saying over and over "that looks nummy, that looks nummy, that looks nummy." On another aisle he said in the same repeated fashion "that looks cool, that looks cool, that looks cool".

Father's Day Cookies

Our ward makes cookies every year for father's day. I'm supposed to bring a couple dozen to add to the grand total.  I can't decide if I go with tested and true or try something new and delicious. jHa ha- that is something about my personality that makes Justin sooo nervous. He thinks I'm crazy when I try a new recipe for company. 

A few months ago I made some peanut butter sandwich cookies that I LOVED. So when I saw this recipe for lemon I was really excited- because Justin LOVES lemon anything. Plus, it has ice cream in the cookie dough. Can you go wrong? Maybe I'll make the actual cookies tomorrow to leave some crisis time in case they aren't as good as they look :)

What's your favorite cookie? Mine is my mom's walnut toffee bars (they are outstanding).

Tea-Time Lemon Sandwich Cookies

(Copied and pasted from the pillsbury website)

Enjoy these lemon flavored sandwich cookies – a perfect tea-time dessert.

Prep Time: 1 Hr 25 Min

Total Time: 2 Hr 25 Min

Makes: 4 dozen cookies

User Rating:

INGREDIENTS:

Cookies

1

cup butter, softened

3/4

cup vanilla ice cream, softened

1 1/2

teaspoons grated lemon peel

2

cups all purpose or unbleached flour

1/4

cup sugar

Filling

3/4

cup powdered sugar

1/4

cup butter, softened

1

teaspoon grated lemon peel

1

to 3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1

to 2 drops yellow food color, if desired

DIRECTIONS:

• In large bowl, combine 1 cup butter, ice cream and 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon peel; blend well. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off. Add flour; mix well. Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate 1 hour for easier handling.
• Heat oven to 375°F. On lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut with floured 1/2-inch round cookie cutter. Coat both sides of cut-out cookies with sugar; place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets. With fork, prick each cookie 2 to 4 times.
• Bake at 375°F. for 7 to 8 minutes or until slightly puffed but not brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets. Cool 10 minutes or until completely cooled.
• In small bowl, combine powdered sugar, 1/4 cup butter, 1 teaspoon lemon peel and enough lemon juice for desired spreading consistency; beat at medium speed until smooth. Add food color; mix until well blended. Spread scant 1/2 teaspoon filling between 2 cooled cookies.

We don't have it all together

But together, we have it all

Justin and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary on Friday. Can you believe it has been that long? A lot can happen in 6 years! So here we are, 3 kids, 3 degrees, and 13 moves later. Best decision I've ever made, hands down, was to marry Justin. We're still in love :) The kids were actually all sick on the big day, so we laid low, sent the kids to bed early and watched a movie we had never seen. We bought special ice cream and some treats and decided to wait another week to go and celebrate.

 I almost wore a coral shirt to commemorate our anniversary. I love coral and had it all over at my wedding. The shirt was actually a new one I picked up at TJ Max and I asked Gracie what she thought. 

Gracie:Mom, what color is that?

Me: It's Coral

Gracie: Well, it looks a little too "Corally"

I wasn't totally sold on it and decided she was right. Yes, I follow the fashion opinions of my 4 year old. It's all who you know, right? That's okay, I still have my limits. Why, just today I refused to fix Gracie's hair in a small braid on one side with the rest down on one side and one pigtail on the other... she wasn't happy. What would you have done?

See that tooth poking out on the bottom?

7 months old- can you believe it???

I've found myself holding this baby a lot this week. Not just holding her like always, but with a special gratitude. So many things had to go right for me to be holding this special blessing in my arms. We are so blessed. I don't worry much anymore but I find myself still a little overprotective. 

The other day, a neighbor I had just barely met asked if she could hold Maisy. I hesitated and then realized that I didn't need to be so careful. The neighbor handed her back anyway the second that the conversation turned to surgery and what Maisy has been through.

 Maisy is becoming a sturdy little thing. Gracie held her for the first time standing up the other day and they were both tickled. Maisy is starting to feel like "one of the kids" rather than just "the baby". She can sit up and play and is crawling. About the crawling, she is definitely on her hands and knees and moving across the room, but the only problem is that it is backwards :(. The poor girl is getting so frustrated. I think she'll be so much happier once she can cruise across the room. I think she is going to be a real mover. Maisy has been SOOO squirmy in my arms lately. I have to make sure that I'm really paying attention so I don't drop her because her movements are usually very sudden.

A few weeks ago, I went to the doctor for Maisy's well child check-up. The surgeons and cardiologists had told us about a possible side effect of surgery that might manifest itself at 6-8 weeks post surgery. The symptoms were going to be unexplained fussiness and a low-grade fever. A few days preceding the appointment we had seen just a little bit of that and so I was ready to ask the doctor all about that. Imagine my surprise when I discovered Maisy's first tooth right at the appointment before the doctor came in. This is the earliest any of my kids have gotten a tooth. It's cute.

Maisy has also mastered this tricky position.

"I can't handle it!!! I just want to go forward"

Movin' and a Shakin'

This little girl is on the verge of crawling. She is scooting around and will often roll from one end of the room to the other. I also keep finding her asleep on her belly. I feel like she doesn't like her back anymore.

These bath pictures are a little older now (Almost a month ago. which means one month after surgery). Maisy loves the bath. She is still healing great and we are now putting some vitamin E on her scar. Does anyone swear by anything for scars? Our other advice was just to keep it out of the sun.

The Big Six-Oh

 My dad turned 60 this last Tuesday and we had a big party on memorial day. There was a lot of good food and even more great company. We had fun visiting with everyone and the only sad part was that it didn't last longer.

Carrie and Maisy

Maisy with Great Grandma A*

We love our cousins and love any chance we get to spend time together. (thanks to Carrie for the picture of my dad and the one of these three cute kids).

Mini popsicles at the park.

The queen with her stick horse

Kim helped Gracie get all decked out after seeing this story on KSL. It makes me laugh every time. Did you know that Kim and Carrie were both Pine Valley Princesses in their day? Hopefully one day I can live the queening dream vicariously through my girls :)

Should've Been a Cowboy

While in St. George, Justin went on a cattle drive to get the cows out on the Arizona Strip. This is a yearly event that Justin loves to be a part of. We usually meet them in Pine Valley when they bring the cows home, but this time we joined them at the herd houses for root beer floats after the long journey. Have I mentioned how much I love that Justin is a cowboy?

Gunner LOVES cows

See what I mean?

Margaret Ann meets Margaret Ann

 

Did you remember that Maisy's real name is Margaret Ann? With all of the craziness when she was born, I don't know if I ever explained the significance.

Justin's grandma is Margaret Ann

My mom is Ruth Ann

Justin's mom is Carol Ann

My name is Margaret.

Both of the names Margaret and Ann are scattered all through our families and we also liked Maisy, which is a nickname for Margaret (most popular in the British Isles).

Well, Maisy finally got to meet her great-grandma, Margaret Ann . It was so fun to visit with Justin's grandparents. We did a few puzzles, robbed them of their teddy grahams, and caught each other up on all the latest. We miss them.

Maisy with Great Grandpa- she was so happy 

Jumpin' Jacks

 We sneaked off to Utah for a week. It was a fast trip with a  lot of time spent on the road but we got to see both of our families. I'll do a few separate posts, but we went to Jumpin' jacks in St. George. Justin's sister Carrie was there with her kids and several other family members (justin's cousins and aunt came) to meet us. We had a blast and it was so great to see everyone.

Gracie and Maddie

Holly and Maisy

I think the kids rode this about 10 times. They loved it.

I almost left this picture out, but it was so typical of Gunner running from one thing to another. he had SO MUCH FUN. We all did.

Long time no blogging

Gracie and Gunner in the pool with the giant blow-up cow from uncle Jeff.

Did you miss us? We've been having so much fun that we have been our usual bloggy selves. We are loving the freedom to go and do. May held a lot of fun for us- swimming, playing in the backyard, going to the library, braving stores, going to church as a family,  and the end of school for Justin. here are some pictures to document the fun.

Gracie asked if she looked like  a rock-star doing this pose. She's wearing Gunner's suit.

More rock-star action

The big sis feeding the little sis. Gracie is such great help.

Gunner stole this out of the garbage to finish it off.

Pine Valley green beans- yum