Still here, after all these years

Is anybody out there? I'm still here. Well, here in the cyber world. My last post was almost 6 years ago. I can't believe "they" let me keep my blog without any updates for almost 6 years. Crazy. I guess I could do a snapshot update on our life. We moved back to Utah in December of 2011. My little T-Man was 2 1/2 and had actually broken his elbow a few weeks before we moved, and he got his cast off the day before we packed up the moving van. Talk about timing. In January 2012, my husband started classes at UVU. He attended UVU Winter and Spring Semester in 2012. I started working again in January 2012 and have been at the same job since that time. Daniel transferred to BYU and started courses there in January 2013. He is earning his Bachelor of Science in Landscape Management. And, time warp, he's almost done. He will be applying for graduation this April and will hopefully "walk" in August. He will still have 2 classes to take this fall semester, but that should be totally manageable. He's gearing up to work hard this summer trying to build his landscape business, and that will hopefully carry us through most of the fall. We'll see where we go from there. My oldest son is almost 13. 13!!!! I am trying not to be all emotional about my little boy growing up so quickly! He's in 7th grade and doing pretty well there. He's made a few good friends and I am thrilled about that. His birthday is on Easter this year, so I am trying to figure out how to make his 13th birthday/Easter Sunday special for him. I am open to ideas (if anybody still ever checks in on this old blog). My "baby" is 6 and in 1st grade. He has the most wonderful teacher this year who has inspired him to WANT to read and do his best in school. He loves all sports, though his first love is football. But he plays anything he can. He has enjoyed playing soccer and basketball during recess most recently. He played his first season of flag football last fall and he loved it. I loved it too, actually. This football lover is thrilled that I have another football lover in the house. I work full time at a software company that makes your phone books possible. Yep. Phone books are still a thriving business. And my company makes the products that phone book companies use to make their phone books. It is a small company. And I have fantastic coworkers. And I love that I can schedule my work around my family's schedule. It makes it much easier on me to work outside the home. We are looking forward to spring. We love planning and planting our garden and taking walks out in the nice weather. I love to run in the spring, when the trees start to blossom and the weather is temperate. We are loving living in Utah and enjoying 4 seasons, beautiful mountains and real trees (not those shallow-rooted things they have in AZ), and we hope to live out the rest of our days in Utah. I hope to keep up this blog more often to keep the cyber world updated on our goings-on. Maybe it will end up just being a more regular journal for my family. We'll see.

Scenes from a Happy Birthday

The Family Birthday Party....
We enjoyed Homemade Pizza - YUM! See? The Birthday Boy loved the pizza:




Played with cousins:



The Birthday Boy enjoyed his very own cupcake (a little too much of it, actually...can you say 3 am tummy ache?)

hmmmm...what do I do with this?


Here, Mommy will show you what to do!




Like this?



Getting the hang of eating a WHOLE cupcake!







PRESENT TIME!
The favorite present was the bucket of pop together beads. The bucket was actually the highlight for Little Man, but I didn't get a picture of that :(

Of course, there was MORE than one gift, but silly mommy didn't get a picture of all the loot. But, he got several books, new shoes and the beads from Mom and Dad. Bubby gave his little brother a football. Our good friends gave Little Man a new pool float that has a sunshade (YAY!), a toy phone from his aunt, and two new teddy bears from Haba. Oh, and Haba is crocheting a blanket, too!

We also went out for a birthday dinner at Chili's on his ACTUAL birthday:

Lovin' Dad's Strawberry Lemonade:



Clap for me dad, it's my birthday! Yay for my birthday!


Awwww...birthday kisses from dad!


Hurray! I LOVE my birthday! It's FuN to be ONE!


(Do you see what that bib says? "Chicks Dig Me". Yep, they do!)

Happy Birthday, Little Man! We are SO happy that you came to our family. Here's some of your accomplishments in your first year of life:
1. You have grown 8 teeth with hardly a complaint. Such a sweet boy!
2. You have been sleeping through the night for many months. Thank you!
3. You have mastered crawling (which you did at 8 months), and have been cruising the furniture for quite some time now.
4. You have figured out how to stand yourself up in the middle of the room.
5. You have taken your first steps, and are getting more sturdy each day.
6. You make me laugh EVERY DAY - several times each day, in fact!
7. You have discovered that YOU ARE FUNNY! You PURPOSELY make me laugh!
8. You are such a good eater. You eat just about anything we put in front of you. BROCCOLI, CARROTS, GREEN BEANS, you get the idea!
9. You take GREAT NAPS!
10. You are SO cute with your big brother. You laugh at almost ANYTHING he does. It melts my heart!
11. You make the cutest vocalizations!
12. I love that you clap for yourself when you are practicing walking.
13. I love that you can blow bubbles in the water. Such a big boy!
14. I love that you are so brave in the pool - no clinging for you! You kick and splash and have a blast!
15. I love that you are so snuggly. Your kisses and cuddles melt my heart!
I love you, Little Man! Happy 1st birthday. I look forward to our adventures together this coming year!

And the Winner Is.....

The school Bubby attends does a drawing for students who have had perfect attendance all year. Only 2 students's names are drawn. They draw one name from the upper grades, and one name for the lower grades. Well, I got the call from the school principal last night while we were having dinner and she told me that my little Bubby's name was one of the 2 names drawn for the Perfect Attendance prize. I was SO EXCITED. And THEN she tells me me to keep it from Bubby so he can be surprised when she announced it during morning announcement the next day (which is now today). THAT WAS A HARD SECRET TO KEEP! But, I did it. Thankfully my mom was willing to tend the Little Man while I went to the school this morning to take pictures of his cute surprised face and such. His teacher didn't even know he was gonna win. She was surprised to see me walk into the classroom with my camera until a moment later when the principal announced my Bubby's name as the winner of the drawing. Here's a few pictures of the announcement moment:





The first is Bubby's expression upon hearing his name announced.
The second is his teacher's surprised look upon hearing Bubby's name called.
The third is on our way to the front office to pick up the prize.

What's that you say? WHAT IS THE PRIZE? Oh, did I seem to leave you hanging? Oh, alright. I'll let the pictures tell the story of just WHAT BUBBY WON:






First, he got a helmet, then he got A BIKE! YEAH! Bubby was one of only TWO students whose names were drawn from the WHOLE SCHOOL of students with Perfect Attendance, and the prize is a BIKE! and a racer red helmet (safety first!). It's a COOL bike! Don't believe me? Wanna see MORE pictures? Well, alright, here ya go:






Isn't he so cute the way he poses with his brand new bike? Cool kid with his cool bike. What is he most excited about? The bike has a KICK STAND! hahahaha he cracks me up! This super bike has 20# tires and pegs on the back wheel.
I'm so excited for my sweet little buddy. This is a perfect end to a roller coaster of a year. I'm glad we get to end the ride of this school year on a HIGH! Congratulations, Bubby! You TOTALLY earned it! Thanks for being so good about getting ready every morning so you could get to school ON TIME. Way to go!

Some Pictures for You

I'm being brave today. I just hope brave does not turn into "sorry", and that nobody creepy views this blog with the hopes of snagging pictures of a cute baby and doing weird things with those pics. Okay, do I sound paranoid enough? I shouldn't be, since I think there are a grand total of about 3 people who even view my blog, and I know your intentions are legit! Anyway, I thought I would post so pics of my chillins for ya to enjoy. Most of these are from Easter. The first one is Little Man at my mom's grand Easter party. He hit the motherload with all those empty Easter eggs! Heaven!
The next is Bubby at the family Easter shindig, hunting eggs.
And Bubby climbing the walls to get an egg.
Then there's Little Man with his little egg at our house that morning.
The last is my favorite. A tender moment shared by brothers. My little loves!

On-A-Roll

This is my Bubby. Isn't he the cutest little chef you have ever laid eyes on? Let me tell you a little about Bubby.
It's been kind of a tough year for my sweet little blonde angel. Moving has really turned his world upside down. And we moved 3 times in the past year. So, that being said, his educational journey over the past year has been a roller coaster. Lots of emotional upsets and disappointments. Thankfully, this school year has brought us the most amazing teacher. She loves my little boy, and has been willing to work with Bubby to help him overcome his struggles.
And since we have moved into our new home, I think we have been turning a corner. I think my sweet boy is FINALLY feeling settled and secure. As a result, he has been able to get a handle on his emotional outbursts.
And he has been working REALLY hard at home and at school. Ove the past few months, homework has not been the nightmare it previously was. I wasn't sure if the changes I have been seeing at home have been taking place at school. So, I sent Bubby's teacher an e-mail and asked. And you know what? She has chosen him for this quarter's "On-A-Roll" student for her class. Every quarter, the teachers in each grade can choose one or two students from their class who has shown improvement from previous quarters, is working hard, and is generally worthy of the honor. I am so excited for my little guy! I am thrilled that his teacher is recognizing his improved attitude and efforts. I hope it is a good boost for him. And that life just gets nicer for him.
I love my little Bubby so much. He is such a happy boy. So I am so glad that he is getting back to his happy self! WAY TO GO, BUBBY!

Birthday Sister

Happy Birthday to my Sister Kari. I love that my Bubby and I got to call you and sing Happy Birthday to you while you were getting ready for school. I love that I get to see you more often while I'm living here in AZ too. And mostly, I love YOU! Happy Birthday, KJ!

Anniversary

Today is the first anniversary of my LAST day as a Harvest Hills resident. Many emotions being felt. Mostly, I am grateful to have lived among the best neighbors in existence. I love you people.

Birthday Shout Out

Happy Birthday to my dear friend Suzanne. I love Suzanne. She is one of my old roommates from my Provo days, and we have some FUN memories! Can you believe we have known each other for 14 years? What! Where does the time go! Well, wherever it went, I am glad miss Suzanne has been a part of my life for these past 14 years! Love you!

Happy Birthday to my little buddy Bjorn today. Mr. B is 4 years old today. I had the pleasure, even the honor, of tending little B for the first year of his life. My Bubby and Bjorn think they are cousins! And they miss each other (since Bjorn lives in Utah and we have lived in AZ for the past year). And we can't WAIT to make a trip to Utah to visit all our family and friends. Anyway, we LOVE Bjorn, and we hope you have a super duper 4th birthday!

Happy 1st Birthday to my cousin's grandaughter Lilianna, aka Lily Bug. I haven't met this dolly in person, since she lives in Colorado and we haven't made a trip to visit all my cousins there. But, from convos with her proud and adoring Grandma Amy Jo, miss Lily Bug is VERY smart. And early talker AND walker! I guess that's what happens when a child is raised by a village of adoring grown-ups! Anyway, happy 1st birthday Lily Bug!

TAGGED!

I hope this works! And BTW - this is the FIRST photo I have placed on this here blog of mine. I hope it's SAFE! But, since it's a picture of my Hubster, I think we'll be alright.

So anyway, I got PHOTO TAGGED by my dear friend (and former neighbor) Jenny. After she posted a picture of some other dear friends taken during a surprise baby shower Jenny threw from me last April just before my family and I moved to the great Southwest. And here are the rules:
1.) Go to the first Folder in your photos
2.) Choose the first File in that folder
3.) Take the 10th picture from that file and post it on your blog
4.) Share the story of that picture
5.) Tag at least 5 other people

SO, this is a picture of D when we went camping last Labor Day. It was cold and rainy the entire time. So much for camping in AZ! But thankfully, we were able to use a camper for that trip. It was an adventure!

Okay, I tag Janie (if you can get pictures to upload!), Liz, and well, I don't think anyone else even reads this blog! So, if you read it - you're tagged too!

SEVEN!!!!

This past Saturday, my little Bubby went and turned 7. What?!!? How did that happen? Where does the time go? Well, since he was born at 8:20 on the morning of March 27, 2003, at 8:20 in the morning on March 27, 2010, D and I sang happy birthday to the boy who made us parents. We sang all the birthday songs we know. Then, we sat and told him the story of the day he was born. It was a very sacred moment for us to relive. We told him all about that first day, and who came to see him. And how we couldn't decide on a name, so we wrote all the possibilities on the white board in our room and as people came to visit, they would give us their opinion. And that night, we took him for a walk around the maternity ward and discussed the names we liked most. We went to bed that night with a prayer in our hearts, and when we awoke the following morning, we both had the same name in our minds. And that is how he got his name!

After reminiscing, we made breakfast. I made a special pancake for Bubby shaped like a 7. He loved it! After Little Man woke up from his morning nap, we loaded up and went to a city event that had blow up toys and performances, and a 16 foot albino python. We all got a Snowie, Bubby jumped in a bouncehouse, petted the python, made a penant at an art station, and then we left for a 7 year old's paradise for lunch - McDonald's. With a play land. Not my choice, but it wasn't my birthday! Then we went to Haba's house to play with the cousins that were there. After a few hours of play, we picked up pizza and a movie, went home, put Little Man to bed, and enjoyed our pizza and and a movie with our 7 year old. He loved it!

The day after his birthday, we had a family reunion (of sorts) with all the family that was in town for my niece's wedding, and I had made 2 cakes. One that was not fancy. One that I decorated to look like a cell phone (Bubby LOVES LOVES LOVES phones). With the piece that I cut off to shape the cell phone, I made a number 7, which ended up being Bubby's cake to blow out candles (since he had a cold, I gave him his own cake so his germs would not be spread all over the cake others would be digging into!). The whole family got to sing to him. Boy did he feel special!

Okay, so here are 7 things I LOVE about Bubby:
1. My little Bubby is so tenderhearted.
2. He has a great imagination. He can entertain himself for HOURS playing by himself.
3. I love my little snuggle bug.
4. Bubby is an amazing big brother. He loves to carry his baby brother around. And he helps his dad with Little Man's bedtime routine every night.
5. He loves to help. In the kitchen, in the yard, with the cleaning. Everything but making his bed :)
6. My bubby gives great hugs and says "I love you" at least a dozen times a day.
7. Bubby made me a mommy. I couldn't ask for a better child to be my firstborn.

I love you Bubby! Thanks for coming to our family!

Spring Break and a Wedding

So, we stayed home for spring break. I know, not much fun. But, I tried to do SOMETHING sorta fun/outta the ordinary with Bubby just about every day. So, here goes:
Day 1 (Monday): I babysat a darling 6 month old all day. But, during the babies' naps, Bubby and I built a fort in the family room using 2 blankets, 2 towels, 1 couch, 3 kitchen chairs, a giant teddy bear (as a weight on a chair), a diaper bag and an infant carrier. Then Bubby moved some trucks in, and he and I played trucks in the fort for about 25 minutes until one of the babies woke up. Since we don't re-arrange the furniture often in order to build forts, this was a special treat and Bubby enjoyed. Simple pleasures!
Day 2 (Tuesday): During Little Man's morning nap, I sat outside on a law chair and watched Bubby ride his bike with the neighbor girl. Then, after Little Man woke up, we ate lunch, then headed to the park to play. Got hot and sweaty and came home. But, we came home a different way than we walked to the park, thus we had a little adventure learning our neighborhood a little better!
Day 3 (Wednesday): Bubby got to take a bubble bath in the middle of the day. This was fun because 1.) He doesn't get baths anymore. He has been taking a shower every morning before school for almost 2 years now and 2.) He hasn't had a BUBBLE bath for a very long time. He thought this was lots of fun. Oh, and the Little Man stood on the outside of the tub and laughed and laughed and Bubby in his bubbles. The shoe was on the other foot, as it were, since every night Bubby is on the outside of the tub entertaining Little Man during HIS bedtime bath. It was pretty cute!
Day 4 (Thursday): This day was a dud, since Little Man woke up with goopy eyes, a running faucet in place of his nose, and a low grade fever. AND I babysat for 4 hours in the morning. Having a sick baby makes the creative juices dry up! Thankfully, Bubby was happy to watch some movies that day. AND when D got home, he saved the day by offering a swim in the FRIGID swimming pool. Bubby loved it!
Day 5 (Friday): I don't remember what we did during the day, but in the afternoon we met up with D and the grocery store and purchased foods fit for a campout, and then we went home and had a back yard campout! Since we don't have any living plants in the backyard - it is a fenced pool, and gravel everywhere else - D dug a hole in the gravel, built a fire, and we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. And, he and Bubby pitched a tent to camp in the backyard. Alas, I did not join the tent party, since Little Man was sleeping in his crib in the house (We do NOT sleep outdoors in a tent with a sick baby, no no!), and SOMEONE needed to sleep in the house in case the baby were to wake up in the night! So, while D and Bubby hung out in the tent, I had a pamper mommy time. I took a bubble bath, gave myself a pedi, and read a book. All the while listening to my little Bubby outside coughing his guts out and wondering when D would pull the plug on sleeping outside and bring that boy in! After my bath and pedi, I went to bed and watched a chick flick. As my movie was ending (about 11:30 pm), in walked D and Bubby, having not slept at all yet and deciding the coughing was not going to stop while out in the cold. It was still a fun night, though!

And that was spring break.

The next week - just the past Friday (March 26), my beautiful niece got married. It was so much fun. D worked in the kitchen most of the time (he's just at home in the kitchen). And since some of my Colorado cousins had come for the wedding, I got all sorts of visiting in. And Bubby worked at the wedding, too! He and some of his cousins took on the role of clearing tables! They had cookie sheets and the lids to some storage bins (not sure where those came from) and went around for at least an hour clearing dishes. Bubby even got tipped a dollar from one guest! So cute! At one point, he came out of the kitchen with an empty tray, and as he past me he said, "Hi mom. I'm doing a good job!" Oh my heart just melted! Later when the dancing started, his dad had to convince him the dishes were all cleared and he could dance. And dance he did. In fact, most of the adults didn't dance because all the little kids were so fun to watch as THEY danced! So fun! Thanks for getting married, Wendy! It was so fun to get together with family!

Tender Mercy at 2 O'Clock

Two o'clock this morning, that's when my Little Man and I were privy to a little miracle, or tender mercy, call it what you may. My sweet baby boy fell victim to his first long-termish cold last Thursday. AND it's still going. At least the fever hasn't returned since Saturday. Now we are on to wicked coughing fits (which Bubby has been experiencing for over a week as well). Last night was the worst coughing fit yet.

I awoke at 1:20 am (THIS morning) after being aware of Little Man coughing for quite some time. I decided it was time to intervene. Since pretty much all infant cold medicines have been pulled, I haven't dosed him up with anything for the congestion, just put a humidifier in his room. But I digress. I decided to get a baby bottle, and a little Vicks Vapo-Rub, and headed into the baby's room. My poor little man was bent over his legs coughing and moaning. Sweet thing. I rubbed the Vick's on his chest, got him out of bed and started feeding him a bottle. Once he downed 6 ounces, he coughed so hard he spit up a bit. Then, he was restless. I rocked. I stood and swayed. I grabbed a blanket and snuggled it around him and tried to soothe. He remained restless. Not fussy. Just couldn't get back to sleep. SO, after about 30-40 minutes of failed attempts to get my sweet Little Man back to sleep, I finally whispered to him, "My sweet boy, you MUST go to sleep so your body can get well. You can either fall asleep while I rock you, or I can put you back in your bed and you can fuss it out in your bed. But you really need to go to sleep." I said this to a 10 month old (I know, I know). And you know what? He turned his head, took a deep breath and relaxed! Then, the tender mercy:

As I rocked my sweet baby boy, who was trying his hardest to relax into a sleepful state, I said a silent prayer. Here's the gist of it:
I addressed my Heavenly Father, and I bore my testimony to Him that I KNEW he had the power to heal my child, and that He had the power to calm my little boy's cough and help him to rest so that he could be well. Then, I asked with all the faith that I have for Heavenly Father to exercise that power and PLEASE touch my child with His healing hand and calm his cough and help him rest so that his little body can heal and be whole. I finished my prayer, tucked my baby back into his bed, and went to my room. He coughed two quick coughs, and his cough was calmed FOR THE REST OF THE NIGHT! He slept restfully until 7 am, at which time he woke up HAPPY! He still has a runny nose, and coughs a bit, but our Heavenly Father heeded this mother's desperate plea to help her baby.

God is good. He loves us. And he indeed shows His tender mercies to his children.

Still Alive, Just...in a New House!

So, I caught some flack from my good friend Sara the other day for not updating my blog since Christmas. Well, I posted some pictures on Facebook. But apparently, that's not enough. Sheesh! (Just playing, Sar! You know - handing back a little flack...grin!).

So, since Christmas...
D's parents came to visit the week before New Years. We had a wonderful time hanging out, meeting pool fence contractors at the new house (okay, that was not a wonderful time, but it's something we did!), eating at Joe's Farm Grill - YUM!, playing with my boys, and doing a little shopping. Thank you for coming to visit us! OH - and of course, no visit with Grammie and Grandpa would be complete without a few presents! Both my little guys LOVE theirs! And we grown-ups are still trying to decide how to SPEND ours!

The week after New Years, we closed on our new house. Got a pool fence installed, painted our house - thanks to my brother for donating the paint, to my dad for countless hours of cutting in the ceiling, to my nephew for helping me paint Bubby's room, and my sister for helping us paint into the wee hours of the morning, and a HUGE thanks to my husband for painting ALL DAY that Saturday - then we started moving in (this process took 3 1/2 days before we finally SLEPT at our new house a week and a half after we signed papers). Boxes are unpacked, and we even have some pictures hung. AND I've hosted a Pampered Chef Show. Go us!

Bubby got a Perfect Attendance award for the second quarter in a row. Really, that's MY award, since I am the "taskmaster" every morning and make sure he gets to school everyday ON TIME! So, go me again! Also, Bubby is a VERY GOOD big brother. He loves to make Little Man laugh, loves to help his dad give his baby brother a bath, and has taken to picking up his baby brother and carting him around the house. I just love how he plays with his brother. Warms my little heart right up!

The Little Man now has 5 teethe - the two middle toppers, the two middle bottoms, and the one just on the left of the top middle. And he's working on the bottom one on that side AND the top right. They just keep comin'! AND he started crawling about a month ago. Now he crawls all over the house and is becoming quite the little explorer! AND he's close to pulling himself up to standing. AND he thinks Bubby is the funniest person on the planet! He has a very cute giggle, and is developing a sense of humor. When I go in to get him from his nap, He'll pick up his blankets and play hide and seek with them, and just smile really big! He will do this for at least ten minutes before I get done with the game and just take him out!

As we were moving into our house, the HOA D was in charge of ended their contract with the company he works for. That HOA was only 15 minutes from our new house. He has been driving in to the office ( a 45 minute to 1 hour drive, depending on traffic). Bummer. But, the company gave him a company truck to drive, since he is not only going into the office, but also has been driving all over the valley checking out some of the other jobsites to make sure they are running as efficiently as possible. So, he goes in pretty early - leaving the house at 6. But, he is usually home between 4 and 5, so he's still getting home at a decent time. Which I LOVE!

Over President's Day/Valentine's weekend, my good friend Liz and her girls came over. I made a fun Valentine's dinner, complete with heart shaped Chicken Roll-ups with pink gravy, Strawberry Lemonade to drink, Red table cloth, heart confetti on the table, and a little valentine gift for each of the kids on their plate. For dessert? Pink Heart shaped cupcakes, of course! Liz and the girls spent the night, and the next day (President's Day) we loaded up all the kids and drove down to the Tucson area and hiked around Catalina State Park. It was lots of fun! On the way there, we cranked up some tunes and sang at the top of our lungs - and the kids sang at the top of their lungs, too! Thanks for the fun weekend, Liz!

The day after President's Day was D's birthday. We went to Texas Roadhouse for his birthday dinner. YUM! Happy Birthday, Babe! Love you!

Well, that pretty much catches us up! More pictures will be posted on FB soon. I don't have internet at my house yet, so I use my mom's whenever I'm at her house. Thus, this post! So, thanks for your patience.

All I Want for Christmas...

is some front teeth....for my children. And, I'm gettin' them!
Bubby's two front top teeth are growing in nicely.
And Little Man's first tooth (on the bottom) broke through sometime last night. I'm guessing it was between 3:30 and 4:30 this am, when I went in for his nightly "snack" and he WOULD NOT go back to sleep after the usual 20 minute snack. And I went back into him 5 minutes after putting him back in his crib because he was screaming (usually, IF he is "awake" after the 20 minutes together, I can put him back in his crib and he will quietly put himself back to sleep). 15 more minutes of nursing, and I put him in his crib again. He fussed for a few moments before getting quiet again. So, I think that pesky tooth must have pushed through during that hour. Anyhow, I rubbed my CLEAN finger over his gums this morning and sure enough, there was a sharp little bugger there!

So, each of my little boys gets new front teeth for Christmas! Hooray for us!

Oh, and the Little Man is this close to crawling! He gets up on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth until he shoots himself forward (and sometimes backwards!). He does a combination of the lurching and some rolling side to side to get where he wants to go. He's pretty funny to watch!

And one more funny little thing about my Little Man. On Sunday, during the Sunday School lesson, he decided HE had something to say on the subject, VERY LOUDLY! An older (not so jovial) gentleman asked a person making a comment to PLEASE SPEAK UP because he couldn't hear them (and his look our direction indicated his afterthought of "over that loud baby, whose parents aren't taking him out of here"). D and I just laughed, and whispered "Louder, baby" to the Little Man. Because, let's be honest, he probably knows more about ALL THINGS Spiritual than the rest of us, seeing as he was more recently in the presence of our Heavenly Father than the rest of us in that room! D and I just laughed. And later, we agreed that had we been in Sunday School in our HH ward, there would have been LAUGHTER over his vocalization, rather than irritation. Oh well. We got a good laugh out of his "comments" anyway!

Dear Nosy Primary Teacher, Butt Out!

SO when I went to pick up Bubby from Primary today, his teacher (who is, how can I put this nicely?....aged)instigated the most irritating conversation. Here's how it went:

Teacher: Have you considered medicating him?

Me (Incredulous, and stern, but not mean): NO, I have NOT considered medicating him, NOR WILL I consider medicating him.

Teacher: Well, he just had so much energy today and seems to have difficulty keeping his bottom in his chair. And you know, not EVERY child gets called up to do something during sharing time and he had a difficult time dealing with not be called on.

Me: I know he has a lot of energy. He is 6. And if you consider all the changes in his life, he's had a lot to deal with and I am aware of the difficulty he is having with these transitions. He has moved from a home and a life that he loved, is living with his grandparents, and has a new baby brother. That's a lot for a person to deal with all at once, much less a 6 year old. We are actually looking into finding a counselor to help him deal with all that. It's been tough. But we are dealing with it. I have no intention of medicating him because at this point I have no reason to believe medication would help him.

Teacher: Well, I recommended medication to another family I knew who had a 4th grader who had the same behavioral issues, and they sought a professional's advice and let the child be involved in making the decision whether to use medication. Now, I'm not sure what the outcome was, but they took my advice and sought professional assistance.

Me: Well, good for them. My husband and I are doing what we feel is best for our son. I have no intention of seeking medication for him at this point. Perhaps when we are settled in our own home, and life has settled into a routine and is not so up in the air all the time, if he is still having difficulty coping with some things in life, I may pursue an evaluation. However, at this point, I feel very good about our current efforts to help him to be happy. We have to go.

At this point, I ended the conversation and walked out of the room. I mean really...she thinks I should medicate my NORMAL 6 year old, so life can be easier FOR HER once a week?!!? It's a good thing I was still feeling good from an amazing Relief Society lesson, because it may have been a HEATED discussion. As it was, I handled the situation with honesty and sternness, but NOT with anger. The Mama Bear anger didn't start to settle until I got home and told my husband and my mom about it (did I mention that this primary teacher is also my mom's VT and spent half of her last visit, just last week, bossing around my niece and nephew who were at our house while she was here? I didn't? well, she is and she did).
So, I have taken to my blog to vent. Thank you, Cyber-Blog-World, for lending me your, uh, eyes(?). I feel much better now!

Easy to Please

SO tonight, D asks Bubby what he wants for Christmas. Here's how the conversation went.
D: So, what do you want for Christmas.

Bubby: I want what you got me.

D: What did we get you?

Bubby: Oh, I don't know what it's called.

Me: What did we get you?

Bubby: You know. What you got me when you went shopping.

Me: You want whatever we bought you when we went Christmas shopping the other day?

Bubby: Yeah. I want whatever you bought for me.

Me: So, you only want two presents?

Bubby: I get TWO presents? (big smile on his face). Wow, thanks! I'm so excited~

Me: Bubby, I love you so much! You are so easy to please!

post script:
seriously, can you think of ANYONE who is THAT easy to please?

Post post script:
he's getting more than 2 presents. really.

12 Years, Inspiration, a Wish and an Apology

This weekend D and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary. 12 years since we entered the doors of the Jordan River Utah Temple and made covenants that sealed us for eternity. Man, I LOVE the sound of that! I get to be with my best friend FOREVER! And he is amazing. In light of it being our 12th anniversary, here are 12 things I LOVE about D:
1. I love that D is kind and thoughtful and selfless.
2. I love that D make dinner more than I do! And man alive he is a GREAT cook!
3. I love that D is a really sweet daddy. Our boys ADORE him, and he adores them right back. He is DEFINITELY the fun parent around here!
4. I love that D works so hard and goes the extra mile, even if the people he works for may not notice or appreciate it. He just has such an honest, put in 110% work ethic!
5. I love that D is always trying to learn more about everything. Right now he has 2 books from the library on how to design web pages and use the internet to build a business. Because he wants to create a business with an online customer base, and wants to increase his knowledge of the internet so he can do it right.
6. I love that D loves to play. He talks of having more money than we "need" so that he can play with his family; vacations, a cabin, a camper, four wheelers - all things he wants so he can spend leisure time with his family.
7. I love that our family is important to D.
8. I love that D likes to talk to me, and that I don't have to do all the talking! I love that he WANTS to tell me about his day and what is happening at work, even if some of the things he talks about go over my head and are a little boring, I love listening to him talk about what is pertinent in his day, because he is willing to share that with me!
9. I love that D LISTENS to me. He tells me about his day, and I get to tell him about my day, which coincidentally involves our children and the people who are important in our lives. And he offers commentary and suggestions (when they are needed), which lets me know he has actually listened.
10. I love that D loves things to be beautiful. He made our yard in Utah so beautiful, and has made the yard in our current home pretty, even though it is a rental and he is NOT "invested" in this home whatsoever. He loves to come home and see a lovely environment around him.
11. I love that D is funny. He makes me laugh every day. And some days are just crappy, and on those days my sense of humor is lacking. But D somehow manages to make me laugh!
12. I LOVE THAT D LOVES ME! I know that is totally self-absorbed, but oh well. I LOVE HIM AND HE LOVES ME! Is there anything more comforting than that knowledge? I think not.

As a show of his love, D honored me yesterday by spending the day with our family, spending the day with my very dear friend, who is an inspiration to me. My friend Liz has spent the past year or so training for and raising money to participate in the Breast Cancer 3 day. Let me do that better justice. She has worked her TAIL OFF helping her 6 team mates raise money (each teammate must raise $2400), even though her portion was raised by early spring this year. She helped with fundraiser after fundraiser all summer long. AND she walked miles and miles and had blister after blister on her feet, and continued with her training walks, all to prepare for walking 60 miles in 3 days this past weekend. And she walked. She walked over half of the 60 miles. A knee injury prevented some of the walking. And then she met up with her teammates and she finished the last miles of the walk on Sunday amidst a firestorm in her life. My family and I hung out with her 3 darling girls waiting in the stadium for her triumphant completion of all that work. It was inspirational to be in that stadium with thousands of family members, friends, and coworkers who were there to show their support of those brave men and women who raised the money and walked the walk in the name of ENDING BREAST CANCER. And you know what? The Phoenix 3 day alone raised 4.1 million dollars for the Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. And in the words of the 3 day theme, "Everyone Deserves a Lifetime".

So, while we were busy with my friend's family, I went and forgot to call me sweet niece Alyssa to wish her a VERY HAPPY 10th Birthday. So, here I WISH YOU HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ALYSSA! I apologize for not calling you yesterday. I hope you had a great birthday. We miss you, cutie pie! And we love you!

THE BEST SUNDAY....

is Primary Program Sunday. My Favorite Sunday of the year! So, this past Sunday we got to go to TWO Primary Programs - Bubby's, and my 4 year old nephew. Here are the highlights from each:

Bubby's Program:
* Bubby knew the words to at least half the songs this year (this is an improvement from past years, when he knew maybe one or two), and he sang them!
* Bubby spoke his part VERY CLEARLY. I understood every word he said! Awesome.
* Bubby got chastised by his teacher for something, and he was not very happy with her (as evidenced by the scowl on his face). BUT, when it came time to sing the next song (which he knew very well), he tried SO HARD to keep frowning while also singing the song. It was really funny, because it's pretty hard to frown when you are singing a church song that you sing a lot when you are HAPPY. Maybe I'm a mean mom, but it was funny to watch!

Now, from the Sunbeams:
"Jesus taught us some TINGS we can do to be like Him. HEWE AW some TINGS he taught us to do:"
- Be Wevewent
- Be a good Fwend
- (whispered): be baptised (Loudly): LIKE HE WAS!!!

My favorite part:
Little boy (about 7 years old), who sang with CONVICTION and VIBRATO, and could be heard singing over the rest of the primary. The best part - he sang ON KEY, and would hold out some of the notes USING HIS VIBRATO. I was loving it! I mentioned to my mom that he HAD to belong to a family of singers and/or performers (I know there are some of those in our ward). So, I watched who he went to after the meeting was over....sure enough, he belongs to a gal whose family of 10 sibling are ALL talented singers. I grew up with them. This little boy's grandmother was the vocalist for Mary's Lullaby for the Mesa Temple Easter Pageant. NO BIG SURPRISE HE CAME FROM ROBERTS STOCK! It was GREAT!

My Nephew's ward:

Question: Our body is a temple. How can we take care of our temples?
Answers:
* Wash my hair
* Brush my teeth
* (My nephew's answer, as he passes by the microphone without stopping): Help my family (like a drive by answer!)
* haha - "Obey My parents" (the child who said this really was laughing as he said it, as if to say, "yea, right!" It was hilarious!)

I Love to See the Temple:
If you recall from an earlier post, Bubby and I had a very sacred experience with this song when it was sang at my sister's ward's Primary Program. Well, this one is just as sweet:
During the first verse of the song, Bubby whispered the ENTIRE FIRST VERSE of lyrics into my ear (like he was telling me a secret). My heart melted that he liked this song so much that he wanted to whisper it to me while still listening to the primary sing it. For the second verse, two of the boys in Primary (I'm guessing they were 10 or 11 years old) played a guitar duet - instrumental only. I had chills.
The chills continued when a few songs later, a choir of boys only(again, aged 10 or 11) sang "We Thank thee O God for a Prophet". And with such conviction. I tell you what, the spirit was amazing. Children plus music about family and the savior and the gospel equals THE BEST SUNDAY OF THE YEAR!

ROLLIN', ROLLIN', ROLLIN'!!

The Little Man has figured out how to roll from his back to his tummy. It started late yesterday afternoon while he was "crying it out" in his crib. (Don't worry - it's not like it was an epic, hours long situation. The crying only lasted about 10 minutes). I went in to check on him when he got quiet, and found him fast asleep on his tummy. I rolled him onto his side, since his face was FACE DOWN (not turned to the side). He has since rolled from tummy to back 5-6 times today. The only problem is - HE DOESN"T REALLY LIKE BEING ON HIS TUMMY! Funny boy! So, now he's just got to figure out how to get himself back onto his back. I'll let ya know when that happens!

Bye, Bye, Baby

Last Wednesday night, October 21, my husband and father noticed the family dog, Baby (a black, mostly pomeranian), hobbling and looking very frail. She could hardly walk. My dad noticed she had hardly eaten or drank any water for a few days. she looked depressed. It was very disconcerting.
Thursday morning, after I returned home from taking Bubby to school, I found my dad cleaning up a little pile of bile vomit Baby had left on the floor just outside our bathroom. He said he was up most of the night with her vomiting. And this was about the 4th pile in a half hour. While he was cleaning, Baby went into Bubby's room to hide between his dresser and nightstand (in a corner, as if she were putting herself in time out for leaving a "mess" on the floor). It was disheartening. She is an old pup - 14 years and 7 months. She started this life in ill health, as a puppy unable to eat or drink much and dying from starvation and dehydration. In those days, I kept her alive by taking her to the vet every other day for a week for hydration IV fluids, and giving her a pill (she had Parvo). She was depressed then. And on Thursday, when my mom picked her up from her hiding spot in Bubby's room, she looked depressed. Her face looked sad. She was a very sick puppy.
Dad took her to the vet. After being convinced, my mom went with him. There was a very real possiblity that old age had taken it's toll, and the humane thing to do would be to put her down, gently, with what remained of of her dignity. I asked them to call if they decided to put Baby out of her misery.
I got that call within a half hour. She was old. The vet said from the odor from her breath, her kidneys were shutting down. Hundreds of dollars could be spent doing multiple tests in order to find out if her condition was "treatable", which treatments may extend her life anywhere from one week to a few months. My parents decided the kind thing to do for their beloved canine companion would be to put her to sleep. They called to let me know this was their decision.
My mom said it was very gentle and humane. The vet put a catheter/IV in Baby's leg. She first gave her a "drowsy maker". She lay on her little bed my parents had taken with them, between my parents. They pet her and she was very calm. Then, the vet put the heartstopper drug into the IV, said, "Let me just help her to close her eyes" as she put her hand over Baby's little face and closed her eyes, and then put her stethoscope on Baby's chest and said,"She's gone". My mom said it was very peaceful, and the vet was very kind and gentle. And it was very quick - maybe 10 seconds after the drug was administered. Such a humane way to end misery.
So, I bid you farewell, Baby. You were a good dog. You were a sweet, gentle pet. We all loved you. Have fun in dog heaven, where you can run around without pain and be with your brothers and sisters who went there before you.