So Blessed

I'm definitely a little slow at posting, but tis the season of busy...right? So with some precious nap time minutes I'm posting about our amazing trip to Utah over Thanksgiving. On the 16th of November (our 9th anniversary) we finalized our adoption of Leilah! We got to the court house around 9 and met up with my parents, Hayden's parents, my sister Rachelle and her cute little guy, our lawyer and caseworker. The judge was amazing! He was so happy for us and just so wonderful. We answered a few questions and got to express our feelings about Leilah and adopting her; needless to say there were some tears :) I got to go first and just said how much I loved Leilah and how we already feel like she's 100% ours and we're just ready to make if official :) Then Hayden went and man the water works came on for me! He was so sweet in expressing his love for her and what a blessing and miracle she is :)

Then on Sunday the 21st Leilah received a name and a blessing. It was so wonderful to have so many people present and to see all of the priesthood in our families supporting and taking part in the blessing :) I think there were 13 men in the circle. It's hard to express in words how special that blessing was... the spirit was so strong. Leilah is such a sweet girl and it was a sweet blessing. I'm so grateful for a husband that honors his priesthood and has the spirit with him.


Then Hallelujah, on November 24th we were able to go to Mount Timpanogos Temple to seal Leilah to our family! We stayed at the Kimball's house the night before to avoid any traffic stress :) Then got up and ready. Hallie was SO excited! When we got there my parents and Jacob and Kimberly were already there, THANK GOODNESS! My mom went to the children's area with the girls and was a life saver helping with Hallie. Hals is such a mama's girl and has some separation anxiety so to have my mom there to help her through was so amazing! We had to go do some paper work and then get ready for the sealing. After we were dressed in white our sweet temple helper let us spend some time alone in the Celestial Room. That's when the water works started for me... I just thought about how our little family was going to have the opportunity to be together forever and was so overcome with love and gratitude. I can't express very well what the temple means to me; just love and hope and joy... Then we were taken to the sealing room where so many of our family and friends were waiting :) It was SO wonderful to see everyone and all the support and love around us. Our sealer came in shortly and explained that there was a last minute switch on sealers because our designated sealer wasn't feeling well. I am sure that was part of Heavenly Father's plan for us that day. Our sealer was amazing and the spirit filled the room as he spoke, testifying of the truth of his words about sealings and our special way of multiplying and replenishing in our family ;) There were so many insights he gave; it will be something I remember forever. In fact they called down for the temple workers to bring the girls in two different times and the communication got lost so he had a lot of time to talk while we waiting thinking they were coming... and I'm SO glad! :) Finally though they brought in our two sweet angels, dressed in their gorgeous white dresses (thanks mom and cherie for the hours and hours and hours and days of work!) I can't even write this with out getting teary! It was SO amazing to have my family in the temple all in white together. Then to have the sealer use the power of God to seal our little girl to us as if she had been born from us... words can not express the love and peace and joy I felt at that moment and still today. I am so incredibly blessed. I know that Heavenly Father has a plan for me and my family and this is it and I am so incredibly grateful!

Then after everyone said congratulations and left the room we got to hold our girls and look in the mirrors in the room, looking at our eternal family :) It was a special experience I'll remember forever. While we were in the room I also asked Hallie how she felt, she said she felt good. I asked why she felt good and she said the spirit was touching her heart. I persisted and asked what that felt like..she hesitated then looked at me with her perfect innocence and said, "love."

Later she was so adorable again and said, "Now we get to keep Leilah forever and ever and ever!"
So blessed.


(sorry for the small pics! It's all I have for now, but don't worry there will be many later ;) )

Halloween and So Forth

Ya, I'm a little slow posting these, they are just TOO CUTE to leave out :) So Hallie has been planning on being Cinderella for months and with the sealing coming up I decided this was a perfect opportunity to do a practice dress before I make her temple dress. Little did I know that the dress instructions were next to impossible to follow and the fabric that was "so perfect" was just the right kind to make sewing 100x's harder... But with a little pixie dust and a LOT of help from my amazing sewing mom and sister (which included a trip to AZ THANK YOU THANK YOU!!) we got it done. All that was left was my fairy godmother costume (started and finished day of the party) and Leilah's costume (thankfully purchased). Leilah was the pumpkin and Hallie was convinced with a wave of my wand she would turn into a beautiful carriage and whisk her away to the ball. So of course all night she was bibbity bobbitying Leilah trying to get her carriage!
At the trunk or treat

promise she didn't actually eat that, but doesn't she have the perfect "Oops, I got caught" face!)


This is Hals trying not to smile...lol

Leilah also just turned 6 months old! Here are a few pics of that day. We went to the Desert Botanical Garden; hooray for November and being able to be outside! It was beautiful!







Chihuly had an exhibit called "Desert Towers" I love his work so it was fun to see it at the garden :)



Hallie is very into "performances" lately and is currently/constantly wearing her old ballet costume and putting on shows for us. The best was she decided she was a "rose fairy princess" and needed to pick flowers... adorable!



On the way to the flowers she hummed, twirled and danced. This is a short clip of on the way back :)

Blogging via Photos

So it's been awhile... and truthfully the only reason I'm blogging now is that I am putting off the millions of things I need to do while the girls nap...at the same time... ah, that sentence somehow makes me sigh with relief and reach for a piece of chocolate.... ok back to the project at hand. It's about time for an update, and what better than a photo update right? So here goes :)

Leilah has had a..... rough month or so and at the climax of a truly sad day I need a onesie... Hallie the ever helper ran and got this one...

Priceless right? Especially since it was her first time wearing it. Hallie had some insight I would say.

We also just celebrated Hayden's birthday (love ya babe!) We when swimming :)


Hayden had to study a bit so we made his birthday dinner the next day, Sunday... I've been expanding my horizons so we had filet mignon with melted goat cheese and a balsamic syrup.. Delicious! How ever the steak was still mooing... Hayden said he didn't mind. And of course we had to add cheetos to the mix.

Leilah turned 5 months old too!

Right now Leilah loves to grab onto things, hold things, and suck on EVERYTHING!


Hallie is becoming SOOO independent! She is growing up SO fast! Right now she is very into dressing herself... it's pretty much adorable and fills my camera all the time. Here's one of my favorite dress yourself moments. Notice the long sleeve cordaroy dress, too too small halloween costume "jacket" and the easter basket purse as a finishing touch. And did I mention it was 98 degrees that day?

Hallie also recently (yesterday) got her first hair cut (i couldn't bring myself to cut it once it started to grow!) I promise they did actually cut it....
Outside Little Chops
Starting the cut...

Calmed down due to bribery with skittles and barbie movie

After cut with wet hair

After cut with her adorable natural curls

So that was an adventure, probably not to be repeated any time soon....
Life is good :) Hayden is in school and loving it, we are just missing seeing him. I'm being a busy mom and we're so happy it's cool enough to enjoy walks, parks, and just being outside ;) So here is just a bit of random cuteness.

Arizona

We made it to Arizona! And it's hot. The first day was 113 so the last few days around 103-105 have been relatively livable... Our apartment seems nice and it's pretty close to the school. I already miss everyone like crazy! My mom was here up until yesterday and that helped me stay in denial for a little while longer. But dropping her off at the airport seemed to wake me up to the fact that I'm here.. I'll be here for awhile because.... I actually live here... I feel so out of place driving in the metropolis. Who knew that so many people and stores could function so close together. I know what you're thinking; Glendale? metropolis? Well changing from Springville Utah, yup it is :) There are some benefits though, millions of restaurants, a mall, target and walmart close by, and random stores to explore. I'm trying to stay positive, I AM actually excited about Hayden starting school and moving forward with our lives, but that doesn't stop me from tearing up and having a giant spoon of peanut butter as I write this blog and think of my friends and family reading it far far away in Utah... :)

Our Newest Miracle!

HOORAY!!!! Little Leilah made her appearance into this world May 5th at 1:07 pm! She was 4 weeks early but weighed 6 lbs even and was 19 inches long, which is great for being so early! She didn't have enough stored up sugar so she needed to be in the Special Care unit for a few days with an IV and lots of wires and buttons which was incredibly stressful. (All those moms that go through that for weeks and months I am in awe of you!) But she's a good little eater so she is home and healthy now :) Everything with the adoption went smoothly and our gratitude to our birthparents is beyond words; they truly are the most loving and selfless people in the world, we love them so much!

We are completely in love with little Leilah and take every opportunity to give her tons of hugs and kisses! Hallie is doing great too :) Yesterday we were in the living room when she said, "Daddy I need to go potty, you stay here and guard Leilah."

So here is our sweet little girl :)


Hayden may not love this picture, but I do :) He's a good daddy :) :)




Mother's Day with the best gifts in the world!!!



So we did have another little stressful moment.. We got a call right before we were going in to do the placement with the birthparents that Hallie fell and hit her head and might need to go to the ER. We didn't want her to have a horrible scar so we call a friend that's an amazing plastic surgeon and he scheduled us for the next day. We went into the ER then the OR and Hallie got several stitches under the skin and 13 on top. Crazy day that's for sure, but now it's over and we're all doing great ;)

It's time

So we've realized it's time to make our blog private... So if you are interested in still viewing our blog send your email address to me at :

cheyennepoulson@gmail.com

We're going private next Sunday so let us know as soon as possible ;)

What a day..

So today was Hallie's surgery day. After 2 ENT visits, several conversations with our amazing pediatrician, and 2 sleep studies I finally was convinced it was ok to put my baby under and get her tonsils and adnoids (still not really sure what those are..) removed. She's been gasping at night and I guess her oxygen level dropped to 73% while she slept, NOT a good thing. I've been so nervous for the past couple of weeks while we waited then last night Hayden gave her a blessing and I felt better... that is until we got into the hospital at 6:30 this morning. The nerves kicked in and I apparently was like a mama bear protecting her young. Hayden works in the OR and has wonderful friends there who took extra time and care with us. I however apparently had daggers for any health care person who may possibly give my child any sort of pain... (Sorry friends :) )

Hallie was the bravest little girl in the world. They pricked her finger and she sat still. They squeezed out the blood and she sat still. We walked into the room and chatted, yup she was fine. But as soon as she need to change out of her beloved piggy jammies all Hades broke loose. Luckily they let her keep them on and bi-pass the hospital ones.

The next broken heart was when they had to take her to surgery.. I dreaded that from the get go. She doesn't go to nursery she doesn't go to grandparents very well still so you can imagine... Luckily Hayden got to take her back, yes she still screamed for me with out-streched arms and crocodile tears. I smiled and said I would see her soon, they turned the corner and I broke down. I can't even type this from remembering, I think I'm the biggest wimp in the world, but WOW that was hard. I'm just SOOOO grateful Hayden got to take her. When he got back to the room he said she was fine after she turned the corner so that helped me calm down. I guess he got to hold her and give her the oxygen mask with the anesthesia medicine in it until she fell asleep. The anesthesiologist commented on how she seemed to have a hard time breathing and Hayden said that was the problem, she gasped and couldn't breath at night. The anesthesiologist said he had to give her "positive pressure" to basically force some air down the tube in her throat to help her get the oxygen she needed.

The surgery took about 15 -20 minutes. Hayden snuck out to check on some things and our friend texted to say that Hallie was out of surgery. I was kinda freaking out because I didn't know where Hayden was! Then a scrub nurse friend that was in the surgery came in to show me Hallie's tonsils.... they were HUGE, about the size of a black walnut!! She said that Hallie's tonsils were a good size for an adult! Thank goodness we got them out! It was so nice to know we did the right thing, especially since she was fine. The nurse also said she saw Hayden, he was with Hallie in recovery. A couple of minutes later he carried her into the room, tear stained and disoriented. She kept complaining of hurting and having ouchie's. That was the worst. We had to give her medicine and of course my tears were a-flowin. I simply can't handle Hallie having any kind of pain. I had no idea that the IV was so painful too, she REALLY hated having it in. We finally got to go home though and she calmed down a little.

So our day has consisted of convincing her to take a drink ever couple of minutes, crying through medicine, mickey mouse clubhouse and princess movies, and a million popsicles. She's also been a complete mama's girl and doesn't ever want me to leave the room. I get to just hold her and giver her kisses, I'm kinda loving that part. :) I just like knowing I can comfort her when she needs it. Hayden's been awesome; running around getting popsicles and different blankets and animals that she wants. He's truly so amazing and we're so lucky he's ours :) We're all pretty worn out, but I'm so happy we did the surgery.

Cute/Sad stuff - "Mommy why was I sick?" ie why did you take me to the doctor, I felt fine!
"I'm full of movies" -yes that was several hours of the day
Tight Tight hug - "mommy, I love you.... SO much!"
"Mommy I need a snuggle." Then she pulled me over on to her and held on for dear life. (she laid down the whole day minus 10 minutes of thinking she was better after the medicine kicked in and then she crashed)
"that medicine makes me tired and a little bit sad. And then I feel better and it makes me all worn out."
"mommy when you were a little girl did you take medicine like that kind?" ME - "ya, sweetie" Hallie - "was it ok or was it pretty yucky... mine is pretty yucky."

She's gotten a lot better as the day has gone on and is thankfully asleep now...I have to keep checking on that fact though because the usual snores and gasps are no longer!!! She's so QUIET! Yup to add to the wimpy I'm sleeping on the floor next to her tonight. Her pain medication will run out around 4 am and I need to be there..

We also planned on taking a picture with her doctors and the room and a picture of the tonsils to make a scrapbook page of it all..., but we were way too stressed and anxious and didn't even think about the camera. Oh well.

Also thanks to everyone for your prayers and concern, she's one lucky girl to have ya'll. We had completely forgotten to eat all day and had amazing friends bring a delicious dinner (thanks Nat!)

Beautiful Girl

So for starters I'm pretty spoiled rotten to be surrounded by a family of amazing photographers. I have the kind of pictures for every little and big event that scrapbookers dream of :) One of these amazing photographers is my sister in law Cat (check out her website here) We did Hallie's newborn pictures with her and now do ones each year around her birthday. So here are some of our favorites from Hallie's 3 year old shoot!

We love our beautiful, happy, sweet, and full of fun little girl!

Happy Birthday Hallie!

I can hardly believe my little baby is 3! She's growing up, somehow I didn't think that would happen... at least not quite so soon:) She is so sweet, incredibly smart, loving, and beautiful. She is my little cutie pie and I love her to pieces!

Hallie is completely into ballet so we had her parties centered around ballet and ballerina's; Hallie was the best ballerina of all, of course!
We gave her the purple tutu she's been talking about for weeks yesterday before her friend party. Of course it was instantly on and has barely been off since :) At the party we colored a ballerina page, played pin the tutu on the ballerina, danced, had a ballet slipper pinata, ring around the rosies (she LOVES ring a round) and of course mini cakes that looked like tutus, and ice cream. The best was that all the little girls wore tutus and had little princess crowns. We added some fairy wings as party favors and the ensemble was complete! Hayden and I stayed up late the night before decorating and making the cakes, so I decided to make my own tutu for the party as well. :) When Hallie found out I had a tutu like hers she was so excited and wanted me to wear it ALL day..lol what could I do right? It helped that I kinda liked being a ballerina with all the girls...


Later that night the Poulson's came over for more of the same and an additional treasure hunt that a ballerina princess hid in our house :) She loved every second! And I must say what great sports everyone was doing ring around the rosies and wearing their princess/king crowns! ;) Tia made an amazing tutu cake with a black leotard that Hallie just loved! When Hayden was cutting it she said, "Daddy why are you cutting my tutu?" She is my little helper with all things pertaining to the kitchen, so naturally we got her a little kitchen set. Several family members added to the fun with homemade aprons, a chef hat, a cake decorating set, and a tea party set! She is in baking heaven! (she of course added the tiara/"crown" herself" ;)

Isn't she an angel!
I relied on Kent for most of the pictures that night, so there will be more to come..;)

Today we woke her up to Happy Birthday and a million hugs and kisses! I think she was surprised it was "still" her birthday. We had to explain that yesterday was like a practice and today was her real birthday..lol It didn't take too much explaining, as soon as she realized there would be more presents she was content. We gave her the kitchen in the morning to give her more time to play with it while we were both home and could sit and enjoy watching her have fun :)

I decided to do lasagna for dinner because it's her favorite so between church and lasagna I attempted a cake as well... It was supposed to be all ruffly and adorable... well it was my first attempt at a "decorative" cake so that's my excuse :) Hallie seemed to like it so I'm satisfied :)
All of my family that's near came and celebrated with us and we had a fabulous night! Here's a bit of the birthday song the video came in half way through with my family's additional ending :)


We ended the night with more playing, hugs, kisses and her birth story. I love telling her all about how loved she has always been and she is the most adorable attentive listener, with little giddy shakes of excitement when she sees how excited we were through the story. I can't say enough what a blessing and what a sweet little girl she is :) We feel so incredibly blessed to have our little Hallie girl and wish there were words that could capture how special and amazing she is and how much we love her. I hope you had an incredible 3rd birthday sweetie pie and we love you!!!!!!!!!