A Crazy week ended with a Birthday Celebration!!

Since this past week I have been in and out of the hospital and doctors office it was hard to plan a birthday party for Aubrey. We wanted to do something special but didn't want to plan something that we couldn't follow through with. So Thursday night while Andy's mom was still here we took Aubrey to Toys R Us so she could spend her birthday money (from my parents and Grandpa and Grandma Grayson). She loved looking at all the possible presents but settled on a Princess dress-up kit. Afterwords we took her to Sonic for an Ice Cream Cone.
On Saturday morning we made a quick stop at the requested McDonald's and then headed to Crown Center for the LEGO exhibit. It was awesome!!! Aubrey spends multiple hours a day playing with lego's so she really loved looking at everything and building her own lego masterpiece!Ainsley wanted to do whatever Aubrey was doing!Very Cool! Of course, Caleb had a million questions.After the lego exhibit we went to the candy store where Aubrey picked out all Pink Starbursts and then we headed outside for some water/sand fun! Caleb loves his new hair cut!! I was sad to see all of his beautiful hair gone but he sure does look handsome!After our fun at Crown Center we had a small party for Aubrey with Andy's parents. After the kids ate pizza Aubrey opened her presents!!All the presents were a big hit and Aubrey was kind enough to let Ainsley help open them!CAKE TIME!PINYATA TIME!!! Everyone got a chance to hit the pinyata 2 times! Ainsley was a quick learner!!! After everyone got 2 turns it was Andy's turn!
We had a fun quiet day and we are so excited that Aubrey is 5! Time sure has pasted quickly!!

A special thanks:
A special thanks to my mother in-law Marlene who came up and stayed with us. I do not know what I would have done.
Thank you to Gretchen for taking Caleb for the afternoon!
Thanks to my parents and Steff. It was nice to see you for the day!
Thank you to Andy...you really have been patient and done well to work while holding down the fort!

News:
We enrolled Aubrey in Kindergarten yesterday!!! She got to meet the new Principal! Very exciting!! She is going to be in Kindergarten!!! THIS IS CRAZY!!!
Also, I am off of bed rest (says the doctor but if you ask Andy he says no)! The baby is growing big and seems to have no desire to come any time soon. Hopefully, I will not go passed my due date but I am really excited to have a chubby healthy baby!!!

BECOMING A MOTHER!!

When a child is born,
so is a Mother.

Sweet child of mine,
you will always hold a SPECIAL place in my heart.

For with your BIRTH
you gave me the most honored gift....

The gift of being a Mother for the
very FIRST time.

Happy 5th Birthday Aubrey Jean. With every year you get older we've grown, learn, and teach each other together. I love you for everything that you have become: beautiful, strong, caring, and a wonderful big sister. I love everything that you help me strive to be and everything that you have helped me become. Your youth, innocence, and love for life helps me grow as a Mother. I am so lucky to have you in my life. As a Mother, that is still learning, I am so thankful to have you right beside me. YOUR 5!!! Happy Birthday Aubrey Jean!!

A weekend for the books...
(warning lots of boring writing at the end so feel free to skip it)

On Friday morning Paul/Marlene came up to watch the kids while I went to a doctors appointment. The kids were beyond excited to spend time with their grandparents.Aubrey was so excited that Grandpa let her sneak a piece of Andy's cheese cake . Shhh! It is suppose to be a secret!

Grandma pushed Aubrey and Ainsley around in a mini wagon. We do have a regular size wagon but why would they want to sit comfortably in that when they can squeeze and cram into a small one?!

Grandma pushed them on the swings in our "jungle like" backyard. It was about 2 weeks pass due for a mowing.
And of course Caleb has to play ambulance. He would ride around a little bit and then gently fall and Grandpa would rush over pretending to be an ambulance. He says when he grows up he wants to be a fire truck driver. Not a fireman just the driver. He said all he needs is the keys!
Paul/Marlene are so great to come up and help. After my emotional doctors appointment: low grade fever, the flu, high blood pressure, major swelling, and orders for bed rest Andy took a half day and with his mom's help loaded up Aubrey/Caleb to take them to Andy's baby shower! Paul stayed at home with Ainsley for some one on one time which included Madagascar and a turtle train!!
Andy's baby shower was a lot of fun. His co-workers did a great job putting everything together and it was lots of fun to have his patients participate! Caleb loved the cake, sugar x4, and all the attention! Aubrey loved the cake and 4 pieces later she was ready for some balloons!

A special thanks to Paul. He is such a great Grandpa to the kids and he even cleaned out part of the freezer!
A special thanks to Marlene for her patience and understanding. She is a wonderful Grandma and Mother in-law. Also, thank you for mowing the back yard.

The rest of Friday went great. We took the kids to the squirrel trail. The weather was perfect with no humidity! Saturday morning we woke up early and headed out the door to run errands with plans to take the kids to DIANA ROSE. But as we were pulling into Target something went wrong. I was talking to Andy about Utah and then all of a sudden I had a hard time thinking of the right words (I couldn't remember the name for the city of Sandy, UT and called it Sanflee...), I was a bit slow, the right side of my body was numb, and my vision became blurry. 5 minutes later I seemed to be back to normal (a little slow in thought, but for the most part back to normal). After begging Andy not to take me to SMMC (hospital). He pulled back into the parking space and we headed into Target. 5 minutes later I was numb on my right side from head to toe and couldn't respond or talk. Andy said that he was worried that I was having a TIA (small stroke) It only lasted 5 minutes but that was long enough for Andy to call it a day. I told him I was fine and would feel better after I took a nap. Upon waking up from my nap I was still slow in thought/speech/response. After multiple tears and thinking Andy was not being compassionate I called my dad (hoping his hatred for doctors would put him on my side). Unfortunately, he was on Andy's side saying "Well, Sara Jean. This is your dad here, but I do not know how to be compassionate about something like this. Get yourself to the doctor.
So, scared, I headed up to SMMC with high blood pressure, the OB doctor thought it was a small stroke due to a migraine (which I did not have, and from a medication I have never had a side effect from) and then I was sent up for an MRI. After 45 minutes in the tube the neurologist kindly said it was a TIA from high blood pressure just like Andy originally thought.
HAVE YOU EVER HAD CONTRACTIONS IN THE MRI MACHINE??? Brutal!!!!!
Well, after spending the night in the hospital getting my blood pressure checked EVER 30 minutes and having my blood drawn first thing this morning I was released with a "If and when it happends again please come in right away so we can monitor your blood pressure at the time of the TIA!" Nice...the good new is that the baby is good and wasn't effected at all! The baby's heart rate and movement is good. I am 37 weeks and 1 day! Since I have never carried a baby this long before we are very excited and have high hopes for a chub!!! Now, how to keep my blood pressure down?? hum.
p.s.
Congrats to Syd on your couch and new single appartment in Sandy!
Congrats to SYD/STEFF on graduating from BYU-I this Thursday!!
Congrats to Kristen on graduation!!
Congrats to Seth/Karalee on your first house!!! Home owners in Pheonix, how exciting!!
Happy Birthday Mom! I love you and do not know what I would do without you!
Happy Birthday Aunt Bonnie!!

Ribs, Dishwasher, and BYU

Here are a few random pictures of the last week. After spending a morning outside playing on the swing set (yes, in his underwear)he was covered in chigger bits and hungry. Andy let him try his leftover ribs. He loved them and was distracted enough for me to put medicine on his bug bites without hassle!

A week late on delivery we finally got our new dishwasher. It was a bitter sweet moment because Andy spent hours trying to install the free one our neighbors gave us. After a week of beyond dirty dishes we had to face facts and buy one. The kids were very excited!! (Yes, Caleb is wearing a "too big for him" BYU t-shirt inside out....the other side was dirty from the day before and it was a compromise from just underwear)

The dishwasher installers son was happy to let the kids observe and said he didn't mind if Caleb asked questions and helped. Pretty sure he regretted that decision an hour and over 50 questions later.After Ainsley spent the entire night crying I was dreading the morning. I figure that she would be cranky and in a crying mood. But thankfully it was nothing that Elmo, 2 identical looking blankets, a small bowl of Frosted Mini Wheats, and a BYU hat couldn't solve.Anything BYU seems to be the "must wear" item lately. After hiding Calebs "too big for him" t-shirt Ainsley dug up Caleb's "too small for him" BYU hat. GOTTA SUPPORT THE TEAM!!

News on the home front:
A big congrats to SETH and KARALEE! Your home owners!!
1. Excitingly, I am still pregnant. I will be 37 weeks tomorrow and have never carried this long! We have high hopes for a chubby baby! Not so exciting is how sick I have been. Andy says I have been this sick every time but it seems hard to believe!

2. We think we have a name but we are not sure....
3. Home construction has been put on hold. Mainly because my patience for the constuction workers is NONE especially after discovering that I have to repaint Aubrey's room (I just painted it the end of May) because the constuction guys tore up the wall/drywall all around the door. So for the safety of everyone involved all construction is just going to have to wait. We did put ceiling fans in every room and installed all the new lights in kitchen ourselves. We look forward to our "soon to be" new roof.
4. Also, good news. The kids are ready for the baby to come! They have assigned eachother jobs. For example:
Caleb "I will hold, feed, and brush the babies hair. He is a boy and I am his brother!"
Aubrey "The baby is a boy Caleb! He will not have hair. Silly. I will change his diaper!"
(Caleb was more then willing to let Aubrey volenteer for that one but he is insistant that the baby will have lots of hair.)
Ainsley "Baby. Kiss."
I figure this is a good sign and I am excited to see their reactions when the baby is actually here.

The best of the best
4th of JULY
TRADITIONS!!!

Our job this year was getting the fillers for the pinata. Last year mini chocolate candy bars that stained clothes and mini whistles were not a good idea. Can you imagine 7 children under 9 with whistles. LOUD!!! So, this year I took a different approach. Nothing loud and nothing that would melt. The kids waited anxiously for the pinata to be hung, the sun finally came out, and Aubrey posed for a picture. Since Ainsley was the youngest one participating she got to go first. We should have had a demonstration because with the stick in one hand she used her other free hand to hit the pinata!
It only took 2 go arounds for 10 year old Livvy to break the pinata. Caleb cared nothing for the candy and searched calmly for a punching balloon in his desired color! When all was said and done he had one balloon and NO candy!

The slip n' slide. This is year #2 we have purchased a slip n' slide. Last years was quickly popped from trying to fill it up to fast! Andy saw a commercial for a cool slip n' slide with a surf board and HAD to have it. Of course, after 3 adults tried to figure out the surf board part (they even watched the demo dvd it came with) it appeared to be false advertisement!The kids didn't care either way so they gave it a try! All the kids were a little hesitant to actually slide so Andy and Dave gave it a go!They slip n' slided like no other!!! I wish we had it on video!

Thank goodness Dave got a swim suit for is birthday. Between Dave and Andy there were lots of laughs. They tried all different speeds, twists, and turns.

The kids were pretty excited after that!!

The mini rain shower and over cast sky didn't seem to bother anyone and the neighbor hood children even joined in the fun. All in all it was a blast!! I do not think Andy was prepared for how soar he was going to be the next day and days following along with the scrapes on his chest! So fun!!
Although, I do not have pictures of the actual front yard fireworks Dave and Andy took it pretty serious this year. Since you cant buy bottle rockets in Kansas Dave picked some up and since Dave forgot sparklers Andy got those. All in all $100 worth of fireworks (the tradition, MUST DO fireworks and the new "really cool" fireworks) was a great show and prefect for the kids, not to mention the competition between us and the neighbors. I believe it was pretty even until Dave's BLING BLING fireworks went off! It was awesome!
We had a lot of fun with family and wish the rest of the Griner gang could of been there! A BIG thanks to Clair for the awesome pictures and Paul too!

AWESOME NEWS:
Congrats to my little sister STEFFANEY on her mission call!! Belgium, French Speaking! How awesome is that!! I wish I could be there next Saturday with the rest of the family to go through the temple with you. How fun, exciting, and a great new adventure!!!
Congrats to my little sister Syd on her very first job offer and acceptance. Your like a real grown up now!

BAD NEWS:
We have UNdecided on a name. You know, if we were having a girl this wouldn't be a problem. So frustrating.
Caleb says "I love Clark, it is Clark."
Aubrey says "NO, its Carter."
Ainsley says "Baby. Elmo!"
And to Ainsley's Elmo answer Aubrey says, "What a beautiful name!"
Andy is all over the board with: Colton, Lucas, Hyrum, Brody, and Ju'ly.
Tell me Ju'ly isn't better then BLEEKER. Come on!!! Sigh!!

4th of July

The 4th of July this year was a little tricky but we ended up having a blast. We headed to Winsdor (our usual tradition). In the 6 years we have been married we have been to Windsor for all 6! I was not going to let contractions, swelling, and high blood pressure get in the way of the funnest Summer event!!!
It was an overcast day with sprinkles on and off but the kids didn't care. They loved being reunited with their cousins. We arrived to the park late so we missed all the children activities but the kids didn't seem to mind and loved playing on the play ground with Faith!The teeter toter was a Griner favorite!

Caleb's feet couldn't touch the ground so he needed assistance!

Of course Ainsley didn't want to be left out! After hunting down and holding a turtle left over from the turtle race she joined the rest of the kids on the teeter toter!

Back at the house we had a big late lunch followed by birthday celebrations. Happy Birthday Marlene and Dave! Marlene was nice enough to let Caleb help blow out the candles!

Ainsley loved her eye patch that she got from the pinata. She wore it for almost an hour!

This was the first year the kids have gone to a firework show! Aubrey went when she was a baby and we haven't done it since. It was "so magical" and "wow!"

Caleb (of course) had to try out the porta potty before viewing the firework show. Yuck!! Then he sat in complete silence watching!

Olivia, Paul, Aubrey, Caleb, and Ainsley loved the "Griner Tradition" popcorn while watching the 15 minute firework show. Even Ainsely liked them!! All in all it was probably one of the best 4th of July's ever! Hopefully, I will have more pictures soon of the pinata and slip n' slide.

News:
1. I am still pregnant...on bed rest but I did make it through the 4th! I have a doctors appointment on Thursday so we will see how that goes.
2. We did finally agree on a name and No it is not Bleeker...although Andy's Aunt July "JUST LOVED" that name when I ran it past her and sorry dad but it is not baby Delton!

Good News:
1. Ainsley went to the bathroom like a "Big Girl"...I was laying in bed today and I heard Aubrey say, "Ainsley has to go to the bathroom. I will help her. She really has to go!"
I said, "NO, she is not potty trained. She is wearing a diaper. Please don't. Get out of the bathroom!"
Aubrey said, "But she said MOM!"
...a couple of seconds past and I was about to get out of bed to survey the damage done when Caleb and Aubrey ran in the room yelling, "She did it MOM! She is a big girl!"
When I went in the bathroom Ainsley was still sitting on the toilet clapping!
So, CONGRATS to Ainsley and Aubrey you are such a great big sister!
2. My little sister Steffaney should be getting her mission call any day now! I am so excited and hope I was right on her destination! Any day now!!!

GOOD BYE JUNE!!
WE LOVE JULY!!!

I cant believe how quickly this year is passing. June is over, thank goodness!! Between the electrician, framers, and dry wall guy I have learned a lot, both good and bad! We put together shelves, shoved an air hockey table into the basement along with 2 arcade games, put together and installed 3 light fixtures and 2 ceiling fans, and sold a bunch of furniture on Craigslist. In between all of that craziness the kids have really grown up a lot!!!

1. With the announcement that Aubrey will be starting Kindergarten in the fall she has become extremely excited and "grown up." She is a great big sister and is always helping Ainsley. She is still in full princess mode and is always wearing a princess dress. She tells everyone, "My birthday is coming up! July 23rd!"
2. Caleb's obsession with a "pet" is getting a bit out of control. I find his carrying around dead bugs and rolly pollies. He takes his roll as "care giver" very seriously and becomes emotional when he is asked to put the bugs back outside.
3. Ainsley loves to show off. Dancing and twirling around. She has to do everything by herself and has to have/do the same things Aubrey and Caleb do! Transferring her to her "big girl" bed in Aubrey's room has been a disaster! She is so cute at times but so cranky! Her hair is getting long and shaggy...at times it looks a little scary!!
STORY... Last night the kids were playing outside on their swing set. They hadn't been outside in a while because it has been so hot with lots of bugs. They had been out their about 3o minutes when Aubrey came inside and said, "Ainsley let Caleb hold the baby bunny!" At first we dismissed it saying "Oh, okay Aubrey." But she kept saying, "SEE. Come SEE!"
We hurried outside and found 2 baby bunnys. Caleb was carrying one around and Ainsley had dibbs on the other one.

The bunnies had made a little nest under the swing set! Both bunnies ended up escaping and we rushed the kids inside for a major wash down. Caleb was (of course) devistated that HIS bunnies were gone.

As for other news...we still have no name for the baby.
Congrats to Steffaney on getting her mission papers mailed off!!!