Madi's missing tooth!

So people have commented that they saw Madi's missing tooth but there was not a post. Madi lost her first upper tooth about a week and a half ago. This is tooth number 3. Go Madi!

Easter Sunday

We had a wonderful Easter weekend. Saturday we went to a community Easter egg hunt. We got there just as they were starting. Madi and Gavin enjoyed it and the fun little prizes inside the egg. Madi was a little too excited because she took off without me. Gavin didn't get so many eggs because I was chasing Madi through the massive crowd.

Can you see that face? He is so happy about his find.

Madi looks like she is giving a little wink but it is a rare sunlight sighting!!! We had sunshine on Saturday. It was wonderful to be outside and enjoy the wonderful weather.

The Easter Bunny did visit our house. Each of the kids got a book, a stuffed animal and some candy.
Here are my little ones all dressed up for church. I love Easter dress clothes. Joe wouldn't let me get the cute pink tie for G to match. He is still super cute. We had to rush out the door so the pictures are... great. They look so happy to be getting their picture taken.

Annika not loving being in that big fufu dress!!! I have waited so long to have two daughters with matchy matchy dresses. I know corny but the age gap is too big. I won't be able to get away with it much longer. Madi is getting more independent on her clothing choices.

Happy Easter

Books by Madilynn

One of Madi's favorite things to do is draw pictures and make books.

Head, shoulders, knees and toes!!

Annika's ears

My sweet baby's ears. We went to the audiologist for Annika's hearing test. The first two at the hospital were inconclusive. Well, needless to say it is still something that they need to monitor. She still has congestion in her ears from the birth. I guess it is fairly common for the congestion to be there still for down syndrome children. If it continues we will look into tubes for her ears. It is not something that we need to worry about now though. However, we have made yet another audiology appointment. They want to monitor it. The positive is that they have a really cool waiting room and the procedure is harmless!!

Gavin's 1st dentist appointment

Monday the 17th Madi, Gavin and I had a dentist appointment. They both did so great. I was actually kind of shocked with little G. He was quiet, sat in his chair, and had his teeth cleaned and checked with no problem!!! I thought he would be all over the place!!His teeth look great. No cavities. Same goes for mom and Madilynn. Yeah, they have great teeth. They were both so excited for their new toothbrushes.

ER

Joe and I spent the morning in the Good Samaritan ER. He has an infection on his forehead!! Go figure. He was quite miserable. If you know Joe you know that he doesn't complain much when he is hurt. He has a high pain threshold. So I knew we had to go see a doctor. Anyway, the ER was long and boring and quite uneventful. The doctor cleaned it up and gave him some antibiotics and some hard core pain meds and sent us on our way. It looks pretty bad so I will spare you the awful pictures. All 5 of us have seen some sort of doctor in the last week. No more, says the wife and mommy who hasn't slept!!!

Girls Night Out

Some friends from my last ward decided to have a little night out. We all served together in the Young Women organization. Two of us have moved in the last month and we wanted to get together again. It was so fun to laugh and have a grown up conversation. Wow, little things make me happy. I have to say that I truly love these women. I look up to them with all of their amazing talents. They are all unique and wonderful. I will miss seeing them on a regular basis. I hope that no matter how our paths in life will change that we will be able to stay in touch.



Krissy Hegsted, Christa Johnson, Melissa Leuck, Jennifer Halverson, and Me.

My favorite people.

Gavin for dinner.

Have you ever wondered what goes through your childs head at any given moment. I was making dinner the other night and Gavin decided to get a pan out of the cupboard and get in it!! He thought it was so cool!!

Makayla 's visit to Washington

A fun visit with our cousin Makayla.

The Urvinas visit the real CTU!

If you don't watch the ever so popular TV drama "24" you won't understand how excited we were to go to the real CTU. Although the CTU we visited was the shape of Noah's Ark. It was filled with a bunch of swings and toys instead of security guards and high tech equipment, however, We enjoyed it anyway. We went to the Children's Therapy Unit for Annika's first visit with the occupational therapist. She did amazing, of course! She is doing rather well. She is kicking and grasping and trying to hold up her little noggin the best she can. We were very encouraged by this visit. We will be taking her in for routine evaluations and to learn some techniques to help her with her muscle tone. We are glad to know that she is so determined to strengthen her body. We won't have to take her in as often as weekly until she is about 6-8 months. Hooray!!! Way to go Annika.


A little tummy time for Annika!!

Annika's Dress

Watch out for those puffy sleeves!!!


This dress is a famlily blessing gown. It has been worn by Sarah Lynn, Kelsi Lynn, Madilynn Catheryn, and Annika Desirae. On the slip we have had their names and birthdates embroidered on the slip. It is a fun tradition. Val and Keri need to catch up. I have already got two babies names on that dress!!! Go Urvinas!!!
My sister Tanae made the cute headband.

Pictures of the blessing day

Four generations, Joe, Great-Grandma Willis, Annika, and Grandma Urvina



Cousins on the Urvina side. Kelsi, Andrew, Joshua, Benjamin, Sarah, Annika, Tara, Madilynn, and Gavin



Adrienne, Annika, and Grandma Simmons



Adrienne, Murranda (Ade's sister), Grandma Simmons, Annika and Makayla (cousin)

Utah Down Syndrome Foundation

Here is a fun link with our sweet little Annika. http://www.udsf.org/ourkids/ Just scroll down to new arrivals. I know we don't live in Utah but this is a fun site with great resources. I am hoping to make some more contact for Washington Down Syndrome resources but I have been a busy mommy this last month. As many of you know we moved to Bonney Lake on the 23rd of Feb. We blessed Annika in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on Feb. 24th. And Madi started a new school in a new school district on Feb. 27th. All this on top of many doctor visits for Miss Annika. And Madi and Gavin are getting over a cold. Hopefully! I will post pictures of the blessing soon.

Annika's Blessing Day

February 23, 2008 at the 176th Street Building, Puyallup, WA
Joe, Papa Urvina, Jeff VanderHoeven, Dave Button, Bishop John Cross, Gary Halverson, Jerry Bryan, Josh Carlson, Nate Arnold, and Darwin Reed stood in a circle in our chapel and gave our Annika a name and a blessing for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It was a really great day. Grandma Simmons, Murranda, Makayla made it from my side of the family. Joe's Grandma Willis, and two sisters and their families were there. We had an interesting day. We moved the day before and everything was in boxes. We were ready to leave in good time and Joe's car battery was dead. Which is totally insane. We have had that car for 6 years, no problems whatsoever and that particular morning the car had a dead battery. We jumped the car to meet the VanderHoevens at our old place for the luncheon. What a sweet sister-in-law to completely do the luncheon. We had an empty house with exceptions of a few chairs and toys. We sat on the floor visited and let the children go crazy running around with no consequences!! We also had our camera ready to go and left it on the counter, ready to go!!! These pictures are courtesy of Grandma Urvina. It was an amazing day full of emotion. Joe and I both realized what a special little spirit we were blessed with. I don't think we know the full extent of how our family has been blessed. We know that we are excited to take this journey with Annika in our lives.