Keepin' up with the Turners

It has been over two months! I'm so behind. So I'm gonna do one big, gigantic update and then another one with pictures of all the fun that's been going on recently. 

We've been crazy busy this past month; I feel like one thing after another has been taking up our time and energy. It's been great and exhausting at that same time. Here's what's been going on:

Ellie started preschool at the end of August and goes two times a week. I'm doing joy school with five other moms and I couldn't love it more. They are great women with great kids so it has been a the best experience for Ellie (and myself). I taught in October and it was a real treat with these kiddos. They're fun, energetic, and sweet. 

First day of preschool.

They do all sorts of fun things (like make a gingerbread man, can't you tell that's what it is on the right?). Ellie loves her teachers (as do I), which I'm grateful for. 

Gwen, Patten, Liam, Ellie, and Noah (Everett is also in the class, but he didn't want to take a picture) at a barn learning about animals. We (as in Noah and I) fed the donkey! 

This was the week I taught; we did a tour through WinCo. It was seriously the best with free snacks throughout and pizza at the end; I highly recommend it to anyone. Obviously, they were very engaged.

 And this was from our halloween party last week! So fun. 

Ellie, Gwen, Noah, Everett, Liam, and Patten.

Ballerina, Indian, Baker, Jake the pirate, Ninja, and Michelangelo.

And I have to post this video that Dianna got of the kids singing. It is the best. 

Here are the lyrics to the song: 

My eyes see the trees, my ears hear the bees, my nose smells the peas, my tongue tastes the cheese, my hands play the keys, my skins feels the breeze. All the earth is mine because I see it! All the earth is mine because I hear it! All the earth is mine because I smell it! And all the earth can be yours too.

Pretty cute, huh? These kids are the best. 

So besides school, we've just been enjoying our time outside. Either at the park with friends or else in our front yard riding bicycles. Ellie has grown into such a sweet girl with a big heart. She loves tootsie rolls, birthdays (and all things pertaining therein), summertime (which she thinks is coming soon), and all things disney. She did amazing in the primary program a few weeks ago.  She was so nervous to speak on the microphone in front of so many people, but we worked with her and she was able to do it! Her part was "Reading the scripture with my family makes me happy." 

She's got a small obsession with asking for things for her birthday. I don't know why she does it, but she'll ask for anything that tickles her fancy. The most bizarre thing she asked for was when she was watching me get a TB test and asked if she could have one for her birthday.

She's getting so good on this thing. She's got bruised and scabbed knees to prove it.

Caleb is as cute as they come. My blue-eyed blondie is crazy, fun, and wild; everything a boy should be. He loves playing outside with his sister, getting messy, and snuggling with his momma. Him and Ellie often fight over my lap and it drives me a little crazy, but I like that they like me; that's a good thing, right? He says so many words I can't count them, so he's great at communicating with me what he needs. He has been in nursery for two months and is looooving it. He has a great nursery leader, whom I love to pieces and trust entirely with him. She also happens to be one of the mom's that I teach joy school with (you're the best Dianna). He can and will do anything that Ellie is doing, so we have to be mindful of that.

At the end of October he had a minor surgical procedure done for a hydrocele repair (he has already been to the hospital as many times as me! Twice, when giving birth). If you look that up, you may be traumatized with the pictures, so I'll just explain it. One testicle was bigger than the other (and only just barely) due to some fluid build up. That's it. Super simple. The danger was that it could herniate, so we scheduled an out-patient surgery, and took him home the same day. They closed the connection so no more fluid could get in and that was that. He has one centimeter scar right below his pant line. When I went to see him right after the surgery, he was a crazy kid. He was disoriented from waking up from the anesthesia and was as cranky as they come. He ended up pulling out his IV (before his pain meds could infuse properly) and took off all his monitors include the O2 saturation probe on his toe. He wouldn't have any of it. It was hard to see and a little funny at the same time because I couldn't help thinking "that's my boy, tough as nails." 

This is the only picture from that day. Tristan snuck this one of us right before the surgery.

When we finally got him some oral pain medication that worked, he relaxed and instantly became the funniest kid. He was obviously a little loopy (they gave him a low-dose, kid-safe, liquid Norco), he wasn't in pain anymore, so I was happy. We gave him regular tylenol for the next two days and after that it was like he never even had surgery. When he took a shower (my kids like showers) the next day, he pulled off his steri-stip; I wasn't surprised in the least. I mean, he pulled out his own IV. Love that little boy so much.

These two kiddos sure all turning out to be great kids. 

I'm so grateful for them and their differing, but fun, spirit-filled personalities.

Markie: I found out at the end of September that I got a job at a Skilled Nursing Facility (or a "sniff" in nursing terms). It was exciting and nerve-racking all at the same time (as these things go). I was super nervous that I didn't have my skills and knowledge readily available in my mind. And I was excited because it's my first nursing job and it's something I love to do. I was not at all nervous about leaving my kids (though that doesn't mean I wanted to) because I left them in good hands with my in-laws. They had no problem kissing me good-bye because they were gonna have a blast with Nana and Papa. It's part-time, so I work one or two shifts a week otherwise I think the kids and I would have had a harder time adjusting. In October, I trained and so I had to work a lot that month to get me acclimated to my surroundings. I was extremely tired having not worked in almost 4 years. But Tristan helped keep the house in order and we were able to make it through with an untraumatized husband or child. Now I work Mondays and some Saturdays. I'm home by 3:30pm and able to spend the evening with the kids and Tristan (and I'm not as tired!). 

I am so grateful to have gotten the perfect job for me and my family. It has amazing hours and a director of Nursing who is always willing to work with my schedule. At the job interview, I informed him that I never wanted to worry about work when I was at home; I told him that if my kids were sick, I didn't want to feel guilty for having to call in or get a shift covered at the last minute. He said he understood and then offered me the job on the spot. That sounds pretty amazing, but really it's because I knew one of the nurses that was working there and her good word got me the job. That and the fact that they're always looking for RNs. They mainly have LVNs working there, but need RNs because we're able to do a few things that they can't (like IV medications and blood draws). So I felt really cool when one of the nurses asked me to go remove a PICC line and another to start an IV antibiotic. So for the most part I'm distributing medications to about 20 something patients, but occasionally I get to do something really cool and nurse-y. SNFs aren't for everyone and generally they have a hard time keeping RNs because they move to more acute settings (like hospitals), but this job is perfect for me and my situation and I absolutely love it. 

Other than work and kids keeping me busy, I often occupy my time reading a good book. So all this has translated into my being way behind in blogging.

Tristan has been busy being the best husband and dad on the planet. He's supportive of me and my goals and is amazing at taking care of the kids (obviously). I also play volleyball on some Thursdays AND have a fun girl's night once a month that I go to, and hands down Tristan is the best person ever for always supporting me. He even finished this...    

 (before, during, and after)

...and made me the happiest wife ever!

We had been thinking about buying a new table because four chairs wasn't cutting it if we were having the missionaries or other people over. So we got this for free and Tristan made it look like the $800+ one I was wanting. Props to my handsome man for also being goal-oriented to finish projects like these (he's also done a book shelf and dresser for us). Who doesn't love a good makeover?

Tristan has also been enjoying work (as much as work can be enjoyed). A few months back he flew on the Intel Jet to Mather to spend the day eating free food and playing "team-building" games. He said one game they all were enveloped in plastic filled bubbles and played soccer where they could ram into each other without serious repercussions. Sounds pretty fun to me. But most days, he works hard and tries his best to be the an employee that Intel would want (which he does amazingly at, in my opinion).

Seminary has been great. It was a little bit of an adjustment at first for me, rather than him. He has to spend time in the evening preparing so I had to adjust to that, but it has been really, such a blessing for us. He enjoys his class and what he's teaching (Doctrine and Covenants). He team teaches with another person from our ward so it works perfectly for them and for us, who are both young dads.

So that's pretty much what's been going on with our family! It's been a great fall so far and I expect it to get even better! Scroll below to see the adventures that have been going on.