Tuesday

This morning I woke up to two little faces, inches from my own, staring at me in the dark. Not ready to wake up (only having slept 7 of the past 48 hours) I asked them if they wanted to join me in bed and watch Diego on my phone. They both agreed but Kirsten wanted to go downstairs and find Rapunzel first. She turned to Audrey and asked so politely "Audrey come with Kirsten please so Kirsten no scared?" And then I kid you not they walk hand in hand downstairs to find Rapunzel. These two girls are so sweet and I am so blessed to be their mother.
Kirk is still in the hospital at Paris. The missionaries did find him Monday and were able to give him a blessing. He was so glad to see someone who spoke English (they were both from US). They were helpful and went and bought him a electrical adapter so he could use his laptop. The missionaries were impressed that he was able to track them down, to which he replied that it was all his wife. But credit really goes to a kind bishop and a helpful mission president. It really is great to be a member of the church!
Kirk woke up this morning and showered and got dressed in normal clothes so that when the doctor came in he could see Kirk was ready to go home. But the doctor said that he had to stay until tomorrow. Apparently his appendix did actually rupture so they needed to keep him at least 3 days so they can test his blood and make sure all the toxins and poisons are out of his body. Again we are so blessed he is ok and was able to make it to the hospital before he took a turn for the worst.
So he spent another day in the French hospital. He really feels great, he is walking around and is even off his pain medication. His only complaint (besides boredom) is the food, because he is not given anything but a biscuit for breakfast and then porridge for lunch and dinner. He said the food is really awful and he is starving! Although a few people in the hospital speak English, it is still hard for Kirk to communicate with his nurses and doctors because the English is very broken. So he sits alone all day and night without anyone to talk to and nothing to do since he finished the work he had and doesn't have access to wifi. There is no phone in his room, only one phone for the surgery ward. So it is incredibly hard to get ahold of him because often it is in use by other patients or staff. I have only been able to talk to him 3 of the 8 times I have called. We are blessed to be able to communicate at all, but it is so hard for me to know he is sitting there all alone doing nothing and I can't call, text, or email him.
We are incredibly grateful for all of the prayers offered in our behalf. We appreciate all the kind words and phone calls from our family and friends. We are so very blessed. If he passes the blood test in the morning the hospital should release him and hopefully he will be able to catch a flight home. And then, finally finally finally he will be home and I can see to it that he is well taken care of, fed anything but porridge, and is never lonely or bored. This will make a fantastic story to tell someday but I am anxious for it to all be over and him home. It is difficult to have to him so far away. Hopefully we have good news tomorrow, until then...

Building castles out of couch cushions

Is there anything more fun than playing with couch cushions? The girls have made it a nightly thing lately and it reminds me so much of my childhood. Playing with cushions with my siblings was one of my favorite pasttimes.

Crazy Week

To say this has been a crazy week would be the understatement of the year. For about two months we have known that Kirk would be flying to Rome for two weeks for work. Exciting! Rome! I wish I could go on all his exciting trips with him, but money, kids, and lack of passport always leaves me home.
Last Monday Kirk texted me asking how upset I would be if he ended up going to Milwaukee for three days, leaving Tuesday. A trip on such short notice right before a two week long trip was not exciting news, but sometimes you do what you have to do. The person who was planning to go on the trip had had a death in their family. Even though Kirk tried to find someone else to go he was the one who stepped up to the plate and went so the other guy could be with his family. Although it wasn't fun to have him gone three extra days it is nice to know he is such a good man.
He arrived home late Thursday night and we spent all day Friday enjoying family time before he had to leave again. He didn't open his laptop or answer a phone call all day, it was so wonderful to have him all ours. He flew out Saturday afternoon. From Vegas to LA, from LA to Paris, from Paris to Rome...finally 16 hours later. We talked to him in LA and he was happy and excited to get a lot of work done on his 10 1/2 hour flight to Paris.
I knew I would be hearing from him around about 10 am, enough time for him to get to his hotel room and call from Skype on his laptop, since his phone doesn't work in Europe. At 10:10 my phone rang during Stake Conference. I silenced it and figured it was Kirk and I would call him after church. He left a voicemail that I listened to a few minutes later. He never made it to Rome. He was at a hospital in Paris. He would be going into surgery shortly for an appendectomy. He fought to make one phone call and wasn't sure when I hear from him again.
I grabbed the girls and rushed out of Stake Conference, tears streaming down my face. Luckily a good friend (Aileen) was in the hallway and was able to comfort me. Another friend (Layne) happened to walk out into the hallway and be there for me. My awesome friends went and got their husbands to give me a blessing of comfort and peace. Layne came home with the girls and I and just stayed with us while I unsuccessfully tried to call my mom, Kirks mom, and Kirks boss. Eventually I was able to get ahold of everyone and then the hunt to find Kirk was on.
He didnt say what hospital he was at so I had no way of getting a hold of him. I called delta and the US Embassy in France with no luck. It was already midnight in Paris and no one would be able to help me until the morning. A few more calls and digging around had me talking to Air France who didn't have any special notes about Kirk on the plane and couldn't tell me anything. Since this was the only person who I had spoken with that had a French accent I asked them if they knew the closest hospital to the airport. After waiting on hold for 40 minutes while those amazing Air France employees called multiple hospitals in Paris I finally had a hospital name and number.
After three transfers at the hospital I finally found someone who spoke English and even then it still took 20 minutes to communicate to her Kirks name and birth date. FINALLY after 6 hours I was connected to Kirk. Ahhhhhhh his voice never sounded so good.
He said about 3 hours into the 10 hour flight, after dinner, he started having really bad stomach pain. He thought it was his ulcer because he has been so stressed. The pain was so bad he laid on the airplane floor for 7 hours withering in pain. When he finally arrived in France he went to the airport medical center because he was worried about getting on the next flight in so much pain. The door told him he had appendicitis and needed to go to the hospital. He printed out a paper saying "take me to the hospital" and had Kirk get in a cab, giving the driver the paper.
I suppose surgery went well. He was able to talk and felt so much better once he was at the hospital with pain medication. We won't know until he talks with the doctor when he will be able to fly home but hopefully it will be soon. I feel so badly for him being in a foreign country, not knowing the language or anyone there. But I am so grateful he is alive and doing ok. I can't imagine how awful it would have been to have his appendicts burst over the atlantic ocean.
Our bishop called to check on us this evening. He is going to call the mission office and have someone go give Kirk a blessing. It puts a smile on my face to know he will have a blessing and have someone with him for a moment so he won't have to be so alone. It really is so wonderful to be long to the church.
So tonight I am grateful for answered prayers, modern medicine, french hospitals, kind Air France employees, friends, a great boss, international calling, worried parents, loving family, and for the tender mercies of the Lord that remind me how aware he is of each of us.
Lesson learned: even if you don't know where in Paris you are your wife will hunt you down and find you. That is the definition of true love!

Personality

This picture was taken last night as the girls and I were leaving the house to go pick up Kirk from the airport. The girls had been playing dress up when I asked them to get their pajamas on so we could leave. As they gathered their blankets and turned to leave the house I cracked up laughing. On their own accord and fitting to their true personalities, Kirsten is a butterfly and Audrey a monkey!

Reminiscing

Last week my aunt emailed me a couple pictures of our family taken at Garrett's wedding that she had recently found. Garrett got married three weeks after Audrey was born. Two and a half years ago. We look young, is it possible to age this much in two years? Audrey is so tiny! It reminds me how wonderful it is to be the mother to a brand new baby. The little stretches and yawns, the snuggling up and sleeping against my chest. I miss my little babies, but I sure love the little people they have become!
And although I took terrible in the picture of me with Camille and my mom I love it anyway. I don't have many pictures with my mom and sisters and it just makes me happy. I love that we were visiting and having fun together before this picture was taken.

Little Friends

My friend Layne was selected for jury duty so we've been watching her kids a couple days a week. Audrey has LOVED having Adam here to conspire with and make heaps of messes. Audrey also takes it upon herself to care for Ellie, holding her every chance she can. I have really loved snuggling with Ellie, there's nothing more fun than snugly babies. Anyway, we caught Audrey and Adam kissing again (and then made them do it again so I could take a picture).

A night with Audrey

We had family in town this morning and had a slow start on our day, I didn't shower until 1:30. So the girls took it upon themselves to get themselves ready for the day. After 15 minutes of dressing and finding the perfect accessories the girls were adamant about leaving the house. There is no where better to go dressed up as a princess than Walmart, so grocery shopping we went.
We arrived home about 3:30 and the girls were down for naps by 4, later than usual but no biggie, or so we thought. At 6:30 I attempted to wake Kirsten (who is sleeping on the couch) by talking loudly about blueberries (her favorite treat). Guess who perks up? Audrey, that girl sure doesn't miss a thing. From upstairs she starts yelling that she wants a blueberry. Kirsten never woke up, so we didn't leave the house as planned. Instead Audrey and I snuggled up and watched Little Mermaid (she was super frightened at the shark part and loved Ariel and Eric dancing when he showed her around the kingdom). Then Audrey danced around the room showing Kirk and I how to jump and land hard on our bums. At this point it had been 4 1/2 hours since she had gone to the bathroom and as her parents we were slightly concerned for our carpet. We were relieved when she declared it potty time and ran off to the bathroom. But imagine our surprise when 2 seconds later she returned with panties in hand saying "no potty yet". Then she calmly sat on the floor and put her panties back on. Uhhhhh, ok?! Dancing, twirling, jumping and plopping on the ground continues while Kirk and I wonder in amazement at her refusal to let an fluid out of her body. Finally ten minutes later she officially surrenders and gave in to her bladder bulging belly. The three of us then take 45 minutes worth of pictures. Audrey must have noticed my I unappealing ponytail hair because she ran and got her Dora comb and then proceeded to comb my hair, stopping every few minutes to fluff it and say "eauiful." We finally con her into going back to bed and after the routine when Kirk starts to leave the room Audrey whimpers out a "Kirsten!" Kirk promptly scooped up the (still) sleeping Kirsten and now everyone is happy.
Sometimes good nights just plop down from heaven and leave smiles on our faces.

My Little Helpers

The girls have been super helpful in the kitchen lately. Every time I head into the kitchen my little shadows aren't far behind. They pour, stir, turn on the mixer, roll out dough, and watch me cook on the stove. It's fun to have them in the kitchen participating so much. Hopefully our little chefs will start cooking for us soon :)

Potty Trained

It's true, our house is full of people who wear underwear. No more "did she poop" or "where are the wipes" or "go get a diaper please" or "did you put diapers in the bag?" And most importantly we just got $40 richer a month! Six months ago I did a crazy thing and decided to potty train both girls, by myself while Kirk was out of town. They both caught on really well and Kirsten was fully trained when we made her wear panties 24/7. Sure she had a couple accidents but she caught on quick and has had only two accidents since. I was not brave enough to pull them same thing on Audrey, so she kept wearing diapers at night. In the following 5 months we made five trips to Utah so I would potty train then put her back in diapers because I didn't want to deal with it while traveling. This confused the poor girls so even though she was ready she wasn't quite fully trained yet.
Well Thursday Kirk and I decided it was time. We got rid of the few diapers in the house and made her wear underwear. She didn't go down without a fight having 4 accidents in one hour (how is that even possible right? Leave it to Audrey she finds a way). The frustration was boiling over our rooftop, but we persevered. She caught on that underwear doesn't do much when you pee your pants and mom isn't very happy when you pee in the cart at Walmart (YES we apparently are those people!). And I am happy to report that in the past 60ish hours we have only had one accident including bedtime and naps! We were ecstatic when she woke up dry yesterday and took her out for ice cream. Hurray for the Howcrofts (we can finally all pee in the toilet!)

Sunbeam!

Today was Kirsten's first day in sunbeams! Four weeks ago when I picked her up from nursery the leader mentioned it was her last week in nursery. My draw literally dropped, I was totally taken back. Wait, what?! My baby girl is all grown up and going to primary?! Because of Christmas being on a Sunday and no nursery held she was headed straight for primary. I refused to acknowledge the facts and pushed the thoughts of her going to primary back like a bad dream. Ever since being released as a sunbeam teacher I have been incredibly bummed that I don't get to be Kirsten's teacher, I was really looking forward to it. Letting her go to primary without me in there was just, illogically, really hard for me to do. So it worked out well that the girls were sick last week when Kirsten was suppose to start primary. It gave mom a little breather time so no one (and I mean me) cried today when she became a full blown kid. She was ecstatic to go and really enjoyed it. When asked she totally preferred primary to nursery. Which just means she is in good hands even if they aren't mine. :)