Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Happy Halloween

We had an eventful day. I don't know who comes away more tired: the parents or the kids. I will stick with parents. When I got home from work at noon, we immediately ran around to get the finishing touches on the costumes and to finally get some candy. We went to Grandpa M's work and went Trick or Treating. They had pictures taken there. I will post it later when I get it. D1 had a great time. She loves Grandpa and loves to visit him at work. She got the courage up and went into the spook alley. She only flinched once when she walked through the plastic bags that were cut up and hit her on the way through.
We went to the ward Trunk-or-Treat at the church house. It was a lot of fun. Everyone got a kick out of our theme "The Wizard of Oz". It was a lot of fun. Enjoy the pictures.

Monday, October 29, 2007

Dyson and Breast Cancer Awareness

This is awesome!! Dyson is donating a pink vacuum to win. Each pink vacuum that is purchased, Dyson will donate $40 to the cause. Here is a link if you would like to enter to win. I pray that everyone will be safe from this awful disease.

http://thedomesticdiva.org/blog/2007/10/21/contest-dyson-pink-vaccuum/

My Sweet Husband

I know that everyone thinks their husbands are great, as they should. But, I think my husband is the greatest!! I love him so much and I am so grateful that we are together forever.
He just changed jobs and is loving his new job. I have a hard time with change and have not been the happiest wife around (pregnancy, sickness and now big change). He still loves me and is working SO hard to get through the training fast. He has been getting home around 5 pm at night, which is VERY different for us. For 6 1/2 years, he would go into work at 6:45 am and if we were lucky be home by 9:00 pm. Needless to say, I am very used to getting my girls ready in the morning and putting them to bed. The girls could go 3-4 days without seeing him. I would usually keep them up late so that they could see each other. So, for him to get home at 5:00 pm, we are a little out of our element. Last week, he got home at 3:00 pm and I watched him just wander around the house. He seems so lost. He usually comes home, eats dinner and goes to bed. He didn't know what to do with himself.
He is awesome. He has taken it upon him to come home, eat dinner at the table with all of us (which we all enjoy) play with the girls, do something around the house to help and then he bathes the girls and gets them to bed for me. It is heaven!! He is so willing to help. The girls just adore him and usually cry if he even leaves the room.
The reason for this post is because he is the most serviced oriented person I know. He is always trying to help. I know that he will be doing more now that he is getting off earlier. He always tells me how he will stop and help someone with a flat tire. On Saturday, he told me that when he was in Idaho Falls, he came across a goat who had his head stuck through a fence. I think I would have just said, look at that silly goat and kept on driving. Nope, he stopped and help free the goat. The owner came up with wire cutter to cut the fence and was shocked to see that he had freed the goat himself. I thought it was nice but strange.
Yesterday, we went out to see his parent's new home in EM. On the way to the freeway, we noticed an elderly gentleman had fallen out of his motorized chair. DH will usually ask if he can stop (I am terrified of what we may stop to), but he just flipped the van around as fast as he could to help this gentleman. I was so impressed and touched that he didn't even need to question himself about wanting to help. It made me realize that I have someone very special in my life. I love him and I am so glad that he is mine. I won't keep going because it may get too mushy. I hope that all of you have someone great in your lives as well.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Personalities (Part 2)

I have been sick and in bed for 4 straight days. I called in a sub, which means I must have been deathly ill. I try to not call in subs because I am always needing my sick days for maternity leave and sick children. So, you know it's bad when there is a substitute teacher in Mrs. J's class.
Back to personalities....
When we got pregnant with D2, we were ecstatic. We didn't know if D1 would be are only one and it only took us 15 months to get pregnant this time. We were excited to add a new little one to our family. James was sure that it was a boy. We were so excited to find out what we were having. The day of our ultrasound came and as we were walking in we found out that our house was on fire. We had waited a long time to find out, so we put the fire in the back of our mind's (as well as you can do that) and found out it was another girl. I was happy to have a little sister for D1. It was also nice to have them born in the same season because I was able to have clothes for them. Little did I know at the time that we would lose a lot of D1's babies clothes in the fire.
I spent the last part of my pregnancy at my in-laws. It was so nice to be there. James works long hours and it was nice to have the company. It was also nice to have the help with Hannah.
A month before D2 arrived, we moved back into our home. It was a race to get everything unpacked and buy anything that we needed for the baby.
I was scheduled for a repeat C-section on June 20th. My sister and her kids were coming on the 16th to spend the week. I went to my mom's work that Friday afternoon and thought something didn't feel right. I had promised my niece, N2, that we would take her to Hogle Zoo for her birthday and I didn't want to go back on that promise. So the next morning, after trying to convince myself all night that my water was not broke, we went to the zoo. I remember sitting in the bird show really thinking that I should probably go to the hospital. We had called earlier and they told me to come in, but we had to go to the zoo first.
When we got to the hospital they told me that my water had broke and that we were going to have this baby in less than two hours. My water breaks at the top and slowly leaks. This is why I am never certain if it is really broken. I was the one that everyone referred to as the zoo lady. They couldn't believe that I would go to the zoo when I thought my water was broke.
D2 was born at 11:49 pm weighing 8 lbs. 4 ozs and was 20 inches long. I didn't have her in two hours but 8 hours. I was bumped 4 times for emergencies. It was harder to wait that 8 hours than it was the 15 hours with D1.
D2 was beautiful. She had a ton of black hair and looked a bit like Hannah to me. Once I saw a baby picture of D1, I knew she would have her own look.
She was a good baby and nursed right away. What a change from D1!! When we took her home, she stopped nursing, but began again on her blessing day. I guess blessing days are the days my children remember how to nurse. Who knows?? D2 was sleeping through the night at 6 weeks. She was a great baby. We didn't have insurance on her (a whole other story) until March. I knew I needed to nurse her for at least 8 months in order to help us. D1 began getting her ear infections right after I quit nursing her. She weaned herself right at 8 months. Just after getting insurance on her, she had her first ear infection. It is the only one she has had (knock on wood).
D2 was different from D1 with being held. D1 was very wiggly so she spent a lot of time on the floor and loved it. D2 wanted to be held quite a bit, which was hard for me.
D2 also had a hard time being with strangers. She cried alot and only wanted to be held by mom and dad. She was a great baby and didn't cry much until she wasn't around mom. I thought I would love having a snuggly baby that wanted me. It got very hard and I realized that D1 being so independent was much nicer.
D2 doesn't smile much. She is not a cheeser like D1. It takes a lot to get her to smile. She gives the perfect dirty look, I've decided. She gives crusties all the time. She is terrified of strangers and absolutely hates the doctor. I can't blame her after her ER experience of almost cutting the tip of her finger off. D1 will let the doctors listen to her heart, look in her ears...no problem. D2 screams the whole time.
D2 throws the biggest tantrums I have ever seen. As a matter of fact the other night she threw a 15 on a scale of 1-10. She is the only child that I know needs a time out in her crib around 5:00 everynight. She enjoys her times out and I think she really needs it. She also throws a proper tantrum. She will throw herself on the floor and kick and scream. She started these when she was just little. We entered the terrible twos long ago.
It took about a month for her to warm up to my sister and she was living here. She is more reserved and shy. Such a complete opposite from D1.
Now that she is walking (or more like running) I have seen a personality change. She is much happier with life now that she can run around with the kids.
We know that D2 was meant to be in our family and is bringing different aspects of raising a child into our lives. She is a joy and has a great personality. Some of you may be thinking otherwise, but she really does have one once she allows you to see it.
She is very sweet and loves to give us kisses. Every though she has a more standoffish personality, she is our little sweety. We love her so much and just smile when she waddles in and babbles at you. We look forward to what she has to offer.

So there you have it. My two girls with complete opposite personalities. I will post some of the pics from our last photo shoot. It captured their personalities to a T.
We are wondering what this new little one will bring????????





Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Sayonara!!

My brother, his wife, their son and daugher boarded a plane this morning at 7:30 am headed for Japan. Scott is a Marine and has been stationed in Japan for 3 years. We can't believe they will be gone for that long. We went out to Texas Roadhouse last night to say our goodbyes. Corban and Hannah love to play with each other. They are so cute together, and cute little Kennedy is so sweet and smiley. She is a mini Scott and we love to see her smile.

My brother re-enlisted a few months ago which took their cute little family from Camp Pendleton to Japan. My brother has made some great accomplishments in the Marine Corps. He recently was advanced to Staff Sargeant. Now, I am not a scholar in the Marines, but I guess it is almost impossible to obtain in the first 5 years. His recruitor told him that he couldn't get. He got it!!! What an accomplishment!! We are so proud of him. If he is accepted into Officers school, they will return a little earlier. I am sure he will obtain that also if he has set his mind for it.


When we said our goodbyes last night, it was like he was going on a mission all over again. He said that the difference this time is he got to chose his companion. Thank heavens for modern technology that allows us to see them and talk to them on the computer. Skype will keep us in contact. We also have a family website that will keep us up to date on them.


We love you guys and will miss you.



Sayonara.

Monday, October 15, 2007

Personalities

I was looking on our walls this afternoon stopped at this photo of my two girls. Now, most may wonder why in the world I would place this photo on my walls. The answer: it is their personalities to a T. I thought I would take the time to write a little about my two girls.

You are told that your kids will come with different personalities, but I didn't quite know what to expect. When we found out we were pregnant with D1 we were ecstatic, but still on the cautious side. It took us 2 1/2 yrs. the first pregnancy which ended in a loss, and then another 2 years to get beautiful Hannah. When my brother brought her around to let me look at her, it wasn't love at first site. This bothered me for some time, but soon it dissapeared and I was completely in love with her. I think the stress of the labor and the whole being a new mom kept me from just enjoying our sweet little one.

D1 hated life for the first 2 weeks. She screamed and screamed and screamed. I remember sitting out on our front porch and my dear husband coming out and asking if I was okay. I remember saying to him, "I can't do this". He just gave me a kiss and said it would be okay. At her 2 week mark, I remember saying to Hannah, "If you want anymore brothers or sisters, you better behave." I couldn't believe it, but she just stopped. No crying, nothing until we put her in her car seat. My mom can attest to that by getting a ticket because she was just trying to get home with a baby screaming uncontrollably.

D1 also had a really hard time nursing. I felt like a failure, but continued to feed her my milk with a bottle. The day she was blessed, I tried one last time to nurse her. It was truly amazing and she began to nurse. So, you see we had our hard times at first with D1. Now to her personality. She has always been a very happy, smiling, social child. She would go to anyone and everyone. She loved people. Everyone would always comment on how cute she was because she would smile and say something really cute to them.

D1 had trouble with her ears and throat. At 6 months old, she had to have tubes place in her ears. She had a raging ear infection for 4 months and after 5 antibiotics, nothing was helping. My mom came with me (James had to work) and I was so worried about her. I wasn't too worried about the surgery, but more about her having a panic attack when they took her back. The time came and she gladly went into the arms of the anesthesiologist. I was amazed. I remember my mom asking if I was going to cry. I didn't cry at all because of how well she did. Fast forward a year and a half later. We went in for a cold and we didn't see our regular pediatrician. She looked at her throat and said, "Have you seen these tonsils?" Both DH and I had large tonsils and had to get them out. We had noticed her tonsils and had questioned our ped about it. Hannah choked on EVERYTHING. I remember pulling off of Bangerter Highway on my way to work one day because she was choking on a fruit snack. It scared the life out of me. Anyway, the pediatrician started asking questions about her. Does she sleep through the night? NO Does she eat very much? NO Does she choke on her food? YES Does she stop breathing at night? Um, don't know the answer to that one but want to say NO. She continues on and looks at D1's chart. She has always been in the 5% for weight. She is tiny. This was a big factor. She recommended us to an ENT and the surgery was scheduled. I madeDH take off this day because it was a little more than just tubes. Once again, I worried about how she would react. While getting her ready, the nurse came in and took her vitals. She laughed and giggled and played with her. The nurse decided they weren't going to give her the medicine that makes the kids groggy because she was acting so well. Once again, we were sitting waiting for the anesthesiologist to come and get her and wondered about her reaction. This time they let us come through the doors and walk down the hall with her. We handed her off and she gave us a big smile and waved goodbye. She has always let the doctors and nurses look into her ears and listen to her heart quietly and contently. What a kid!!



D1 bounced back from the fire as well. We moved in with DH's parents and she loved every minute of it. She loved having Papa there with her.

D1 is now 3 and is giving us a run for our money. She is still very smiley and still says hello to everyone. My saying is, "whoever said terrible twos, obviously didn't have a 3 yr. old. She is still very sweet too. I haven't been feeling too well this last couple of weeks and she will come and hug and kiss me and say that she is sorry that I am sick. The other night when morning sickness got the worse of me, she came into the bathroom and asked if I was alright. She didn't come completely in, but stood outside and hoped that I was okay.


We love little D1 and know that she was meant to be in our family. We don't know what we would have done without her.

This has become a little longer than I thought. So I will leave D2's personality for another post. She just woke up from her nap and is wanting my attention.

So....to be continued.

PS: I wish that I had more baby pictures of D1, but we lost quite a few of them in the fire. They were on CD's, but they won't work. Sad times.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Trying this again

So, I am trying this again. A few of you have encouraged me to mess around with this blog and get it going. So here it goes. We are doing very well. We have 2 wonderful children (most of the time) and one on the way. I have been very tired and very sick. It has been my hardest pregnancy yet. But as we all know, this to will pass.
I just looked at my pictures on the computer and I really don't have any updated photos. I need to get with it. I have been in a scrapbooking funk and this leads to no photos being taken. I will do better, as I have jumped back on the wagon and getting D1's bday photos done. This will be a great place for me to post my layouts. So, stand by and hope that my creativity gets rolling again.