The Fifth Wheelers

Changes

2012-01-27T15:46:00.001-07:00

A few months ago I took the safety gate down from around the bottom of the ladder to the loft. Baby B didn't show much interest in climbing and J is an amazing climber, so I wasn't too worried. Yesterday I heard someone shaking the gate/door to the loft- and I was surprised to see my baby happily standing on the top rung of the ladder, giggling and shaking away at the gate. I did not go to find the camera, I bolted up that ladder in .12 seconds flat and I opened the gate and let the poor little silly baby in. He played happily for quite a long time, eventually wanting to come back down. I spent much of the rest of the day with an eye on that little guy, climbing the ladder after him, fearing that he would get the urge to jump (why do I fear that, J never jumped). When Ken got home little B showed off his new skill for Daddy- and I made sure Daddy got a picture.

I haven't been able to run in 3 weeks. It has made me sad :( see, just like that sad face ): The past few days I have been kind of down, and while over the past year or so when I've been down I could look forward to being able to go run, feel like I had accomplished something and feel good (for some reason sweating makes me feel good) now, I can't run!!!! Stupid Runners Knee- Stop Hurting- I have rested you! I have let you REST! Anyway, I decided I wanted a change and what's easy to change- HAIR, so I got Bangs. I don't remember the last time I had long hair with bangs- it could have been 20 years ago- I may have to look at yearbooks.

So now I get to figure out how to "Train" my bangs. Hopefully I still like them on Monday.

Kate's Big Trip

2012-01-25T12:35:00.001-07:00

So I attended my first Premier Designs Rally. It was in Ontario California. Alecia and I were going to drive down (because flights into Ontario cost $350+ and gas would cost $240- or $120 each) But a week or so before Ken's coworker let us know about a Sale that Jet Blue was running. We were able to get round trip tickets into Long Beach for $119.60! But Long Beach is 45 miles away from Ontario- so we rented an economy car......What, they were out of economy cars......check out our ride! A Cherry Red Mustang!

Alecia and I had w fabulous 2 days at Rally, we were inspired to set some pretty big goals for ourselves. We danced, We sang, We hoped to win prizes (we didn't win, guess other people needed those prizes more) and we learned that people don't know how to use cameras with zoom anymore, (AND that Kate has a wicked awesome picture face! Seriously, I am glad no one slapped me on my back!)

Then we drove our Sweet Mustang back to Long Beach and flew home. The Flight home was just as much fun as the Rally, we met lots of fun people and talked and talked and talked, and apparently we talked loud because as we were waiting for the Shuttle a couple said "So you two sell Jewelry?" and so of course we talked with them too!

I climbed into bed at Midnight, still super excited and happy with my Rally Experience. More on that later. I have to do my chores now.

Strangers with Knives- the Continuing Saga

2012-01-25T12:21:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday we took our little B to Primary Children's Hospital to have his second surgery. He had tubes put in and his adenoids taken out last April. This trip he underwent a MAGPI Hypospadias Repair, similar to the surgery his older brother had in January of 2009. J's surgery taught me to get really anxious whenever anyone goes near my children with knives.......so, on Thursday, even though B had done fine during and after his first surgery, I was ANXIOUS. I was probably the only one, I mean check this kid out- does he look scared? No!

We checked in, and changed clothes.....

and played.....

and cuddled.....

and got tired....

Little B was eventually declared well enough for surgery by a PA, but since he had croup in the middle of December, about 4 weeks prior to the surgery, we were told that the Anesthesiologist would have the final call as to whether or not they would proceed with the surgery. There were some huge delays in the OR that day and so we waited almost 2 more hours before talking to the Anesthesiologist.

During our wait, B put on a fashion show.....

.... and Learned to Drive.....

Eventually we did meet with the Anesthesiologist who explained that, even though the outward symptoms of croup are gone, the throat is often still inflamed and adding intubation to an inflamed throat is not a good thing. Intubation is a common practice during pediatric surgery because for some odd reason kids get so relaxed they forget to breath. They would attempt Surgery without intubation and the anesthesiology would monitor his breathing very very closely.

The Surgery went very well. Our little B is quite the trooper. They let me go back into the first post anesthesia area and as I entered I heard my baby screaming "MAAAAAAMA! MAAAAAMA!" a very kind male nurse was attempting to calm him down, but B wanted nothing to do with him. I grabbed my baby and within seconds he had stopped screaming. This was very special to me, because- I must admit- B loves Ken, he loves me too, but I am his second choice if Ken is around. So the fact that he was calling for me, and that he calmed so quickly made my heart melt that much more. About 30 minutes later they brought Ken into the Post Anesthesia area and as soon as he saw his Daddy, B reached out for him. (So you see, I am still second choice, but I'm okay with that). Our little Trooper B recovered very quickly, he was drinking (and keeping it down) way before they expected him too, and he was moving and shaking and dancing and playing....well, maybe not dancing.....but they released him much earlier than expected. This was a complete, 180 degree, different experience from what we had with J. J couldn't keep his oxygen up, he threw up every time we attempted to get him to drink. We were there for a few extra hours. Because of J, Ken and I bring extra clothes. Extra clothes are evidently not needed with B.

Here's our happy little camper as he was released from the hospital.

A passing doctor saw us taking that picture and asked if we wanted one of the entire entourage. Of course we did!

And that is the continuing Saga of Strangers with Knives. Now- if we can make it through today and tomorrow without any "Bleeding" incidents, I think I may be able to get over my surgical anxiety.

Christmas!

2012-01-25T11:48:00.002-07:00

Well, We woke up, ate a nummy nummy breakfast (Peach French Toast, just thinking about it makes me want more!) got dressed in our finest and went to Church! It was a wonderful meeting, I LOVE Christmas! But since I wanted Christmas to be about Christ and not about the presents I decided that I would put the tree- and thus the gifts-downstairs this year.

When we got home, I changed my clothes and we went downstairs to find THIS!

I tried to get a shot of J coming around the corner and seeing the Christmas Tree and presents.....but he was moving way to fast. I love it, even though it's blurry. When I look at this picture I see the future Elder Wheeler.

Here's my Happy Ken, my ecstatic J and a very tired B, before we opened presents.

This is what a year's worth of running gave me for Christmas! I like this picture.

Here's what Ken and the boys gave me for Christmas (well one of many things) to keep me safe while I run.

Here is my Happy B, candy and a new toy- what more could a boy ask for?

A NEW KITCHEN!!!! COMPLETE WITH FOOD AND COOKWARE!!!!! That's what.

He may look small but he is a fabulous chef.

And what about J, What was under his blanket? (some presents were too big to wrap) Well, the Island of Sodor of course, what else would be under J's blanket?

It was a fabulous Christmas!

More end of year randomness

2012-01-25T11:09:00.002-07:00

Jared discovered his father's secret chair....unfortunately it is missing a piece and won't stay inflated....so sad! (yet I keep forgetting to throw it away.)

sometimes these boys just HAVE to be on my lap.

Someone destroyed some Styrofoam....that stuff is hard to clean up.

"And here's a picture of my feet"

"And my brother's foot"

"Oh, and Mom figured out I have the camera....I'll take a picture of her too"

once there was....a Snowlump?

2012-01-25T10:54:00.000-07:00

So Utah has the Greatest Snow on EARTH.....or so we're told.

I've never skied before, but I figure it must be good skiing snow....because it's not necessarily the best snow for Snowman making.

Here's J and the Snow pile that he and Ken made yesterday- J could care less that the snow wouldn't pack, he was just happy that there was enough snow to play in, and that he finally got to use the snowman decorating kit we got at Target (for 50 cents!!!!).

Playing Catch Up

2012-01-25T10:44:00.001-07:00

Well, you may have noticed, I've been a teeny bit of a slacker when it's come to blogging. To make up for this mistake, I will now present you with some of my favorite moments from the first few weeks of January (I need to find the Christmas pictures. So Christmas will have to wait, for now)

He's my Helper- he sometimes sits on the door of the dishwasher (he gets shewed off quickly - and I only took pictures this one time) and he knows EXACTLY where the silverware goes!

He gets rewarded with Chocolate Chip Cookies too.

I went out of town for a couple of days and when I returned there was photographic proof that our children had been fed!

There was also proof that our youngest, is in fact........A Vampire! A very cute one at that.

We had a little visitor- She is Practically Perfect in every way! So sweet, talking in complete sentences "This is a Toilet!" (or was it potty...can't remember, but I was amazed at how verbal little girls are) And she also does silly little things that keep her from being taken right back to heaven- like putting potty's on her head (don't worry- it's clean)

Wearing Underwear hats and talking on Shoe phones.

Her cousin J couldn't help but follow her example.

Here's something I talked about on facebook- If you don't know where your long stay lipstick is.....just wait until "Quiet Time" and your almost 4 year old will quietly play with it. ALSO, I learned how to get long lasting lipstick off very easily- Eye Makeup Remover!

And here is where they were all being Monkeys and Jumping on the bed. It was 10 good minutes of fun, and I didn't even have to call the doctor when it was over.

"Hosanna, Hosanna! Oh let us gladly sing...."

2011-12-23T13:21:00.000-07:00

I was sitting at my computer, trying my best to wax poetic and create something beautiful for a Christmas gift, when I hear a little voice singing. "O zana, O Za-ana, let us gadly sing" it took me a few seconds to realize what I was hearing and seeing.

What I was seeing was my little J standing next to his nativity. He had lined up all the little people (including the farmer and the pig from his little people farm) and he was leading them in song. He was singing a song that he learned for the children's choir he sang in last Sunday. "Hosanna, Hosanna! Oh let us gladly sing. How blessed that our Lord was born, let earth receive her King"

I believe in Christ. I know he lived, that he was born, in lowliness and that eventually he died for you and for me. I know that he rose again, on the third day and that He Lives. I like to think that I was part of a choir of angels heralding his birth, and as I watched my baby boy sing praises to his King, I got the feeling that he was definitely there singing his little heart out.

Craft Time!

2011-12-12T14:38:00.000-07:00

I have a friend and former neighbor named Angee, she is very creative. So creative in fact that she was invited by a local TV show to share a craft idea. This is what she did-

http://dressesandmesses.wordpress.com/2011/12/09/footprint-snowman-spotlight/

I thought is was easy enough that I could do it, and this morning I felt like J and I needed to get crafty! I realized that I had everything we needed to do our very own version of this craft, and so we got to it. I even let J do quite a bit of the work. He was SO HAPPY, it made me happy. (I watched Angee make these on the TV, and then I just did it from memory, I am really pleased with our final product!)

We used 12 x 12 card-stock- because that's what we had on hand. and I let J paint the entire paper blue, he used a sponge and he did an amazing job.

Then we painted a white hill (and with the help of a little glue- because we waited a little too long) we put some glitter on to make the snow POP!

I think this next part was J's favorite. We painted feet...............

And then we stepped on the painted paper.

I decided we would do this craft every year or so. This year I would decorate and as the boys get older they would start to decorate their snowmen on their own (when they can be trusted with sharpies.....not sure how many years that will take). So we made 2 foot print snowmen creations today. I am thinking I will give this one to my Mommy.

And you guessed it, This one will go to Daddy's office, and then I will keep it for future decorating purposes. Do you like how the Baby Snowman has a San Francisco Giants fleece hat on? I do! Sometimes I AMAZE myself!

And truthfully this was so easy and fun that we might make some more tomorrow. J told me that he would like to make some Penguins too, we just might try it. It's way too much fun to get our craft on.....well, now I really need to clean and exercise and get dressed....., I just wanted to share, we had a fun day today.

Everybody Loves a Hayride!

2011-12-12T14:35:00.001-07:00

One nice thing about being one of the Youngest Grandchildren is that you "Inherit" old toys. J got this tractor from his Grandma T's house earlier this year. He loves it, and he has created a new Christmas Hayride tradition for his nativity sets.

The Snowman Nativity gets to do the driving. I know because I asked if one of the Little People characters could drive. I was told no, Only Snowman Mary drives. I'm glad that the Snowman Angel is there, because this set up really doesn't look too safe.

The Little People get to ride in the trailer, they all had tons of fun!

Baby Style

2011-12-09T13:49:00.001-07:00

Someone has his Mother's sense of style!

My running outfit of choice lately has included knee high penguin socks. So really it should not have been a surprise to discover that B enjoys fun knee high socks as well. The odd thing about B and his socks is this, if he is wearing pants he doesn't want to wear socks, but if he can manage to wiggle out of his pants, he is perfectly happy to keep his stylish socks on all day long. Thus today's outfit- I guess I should go figure out where he shed his pants.

Quiet Riot

2011-11-30T14:57:00.001-07:00

The older brother was in his room by the time I took these pictures, but rest assured, he was very much involved in this mess.

So today, I was enjoying a few minutes of sitting down on the couch. Everyone had been fed, chores had been done, no one was screaming "Mine! Baby!" and no one was crying. It was perfect. I even said "Quiet time starts in 3 minutes" and no one complained...that should have been my 2nd warning. My first warning should have been the fact that no one was screaming and no one was crying and I was in the front room and the boys were in the kitchen......having a quiet riot.

I mentioned yesterday how much Baby B likes flour!

Both boys were quickly put in their rooms for nap time/quiet time. And I decided that I probably should clean up. It felt like about 5 pounds of flour. I love my boys, I love my boys, I love my boys, I love my boys.......

After sweeping the floor about 5 times, I decided to do something for me- continue decorating. I put up the Alpine trees and got out the Snowcouple. I also put snowberry in the secentsy warmer....I am feeling much better now.

I think I will now go watch "The Biggest Loser"

What happened to November?

2011-11-29T11:37:00.001-07:00

Well, it went by in a flash! My ankle has started healing- I can run again but there are times that it still swells a little. All is well though. More on that later. Here are some of the pictorial highlights of the month.

Little B discovered a love for flour- no gluten allergies here, just a great desire to stuff his mouth with handfuls of flour. He is so happy, when he is able to find time alone with the flour bucket, that I just can't be mad at him. Seriously, look at that smile.

I gave my boys haircuts in November- J's hair was getting pretty long. It had been a good 3 months or so since his last haircut.

While I was cutting his hair he started to cry "No, NO cut my hair, me want to be Handsome!", after some reassuring that he would still be handsome he settled down and got a pretty good haircut. I still have problems trimming around the ears, I cut too short.(can't see that here).Someday I am going to be pretty amazing at trimming around the ears, maybe when J is ready to leave for college.

Then there was Ken- the clippers started acting funny while I was cutting Ken's hair- and about half way through they DIED! I sent the half trimmed Ken door to door in our neighborhood looking for working trimmers, after a few minutes he came back. Only problem- I usually use a #1 on his hair- which was half cut, and the new clippers only had guards # 2 and 4. So we decided that Ken would get a pure no guard shave. (though not a Bic close shave). After finishing up Ken's hair we put Baby B on Ken's lap. This was his first official Haircut. I trimmed the baby mullet a month or two ago, but his hair took so long to grow in I was a little sad to actually cut it. I give Jared an allover shave with guard #8 and then I take a #4 to the back and sides. I was planning the same for B but when the only options became #4 and #2- that would still work......

Well, I did the all over shave, I thought to myself, "Wow, his hair is so light it disappears when it is cut this short, and then I went to change the guard and discovered that I had used the shortest guard all over his head! My baby- my baby was the perfect specimen of......of a Jar Head! We decided that since it was the day after Veterans Day, his new haircut was very appropriate.

What a sweet boy he is. I've heard many times that the difference between a bad haircut and a good haircut is about 2 weeks. Well, this must have been a really bad haircut, because it's been more than 2 weeks and it's still just a little odd. Someday my baby will have hair again. Someday.

We had a really fun Veterans Day, We went to visit our very own Veteran. Grandpa Turner! My Dad was a Chaplin in the Navy and I am very proud to have been raised as a "Navy Brat", but I am much more proud of my Dad. We went with my Mother and my sister Laurie and her 4 children to visit Dad at the Junior High School where he works as a counselor. We had lunch and then he took us on a tour of the school. It was lots of fun.

I started running again- 2 weeks after spraining my ankle I was given the Okay to run a mile, then 2, then 3. I was ready to run in the Utah Human Race 10k on Thanksgiving, I was WAS ready but about 6 hours before I was supposed to leave to run the race I started having HORRIBLE flu symptoms. I stayed home from the race. By afternoon (and thanksgiving dinner) I was feeling ready to eat. I lost 5 pounds on Thanksgiving day- not typical. Don't worry, I'm pretty sure I've gained most of it back. I ran my very own 10k on Saturday, I was still not feeling the best but I did okay time wise.

Ken did our Black Friday shopping, and he did a great job too!

And that- in a nutshell- was November

Christmastime is HERE!

2011-11-29T11:34:00.001-07:00

We are feeling the spirit of Christmas around here! Joy is in the air. Yesterday Ken supported me while I put up Christmas lights! YAY!

J (in complete snow gear- for warmth) helped too- here is a picture of him making sidewalk angels. He is ready for snow!

After I finished with the lights and we had dinner and a very fun family home evening- the boys put on some of their new "black Friday" pajamas- we are proud to have two of the newest Space Ranger Cadets in our family. They are TOO CUTE!

And lastly- today J and I set up the Christmas tree. I decided just to put on the star and the red bead garland for now- we will decorate it the week before Christmas. While I was putting the garland on J came up and started singing a song about hugging the Christmas Tree. From his prospective his Mommy was hugging the tree and he thought it was fabulous- what was I really doing? Passing the garland from one hand to the other around the back of the tree. After we were done decorating I went to get the camera, as I came back in the room J sang out "Me LOVE the Christmas Tree!"

I love this time of year.

The Halloween Half Marathon

2011-11-09T15:19:00.001-07:00

On Saturday October 29th I ran my 2nd Half Marathon. It was the Provo Halloween Half, costumes were encouraged and so Ken round me some $1 cat ears and I painted my face- those two things combined with my black running clothes made me a wonderful black cat.

My sister Laurie also ran, she was a skeleton. I finished my first half marathon in 2 hours 35 minutes or so, I finished this one in 2 hours 14 minutes! YEAH! Yes, the first 4 miles were ext ream downhill grades, and the rest of it was pretty much downhill as well, but I was told my my doctor on Monday that a 21 minute improvement shows that I was better trained and in better shape- the downhill helped, but not that much. The picture above is of Laurie and me before the race, below you will see me after the race. my nose and whiskers stayed on really well- how? I used water proof Mascara.

I tried very hard to stretch sufficiently but I was pretty sore on Sunday. Monday, Halloween, I was still quite sore but I was getting better. I was excited about how well I had done and I signed up for another half marathon in June and a 10k on Thanksgiving. I was all dressed up in my Halloween Half shirt and I was wearing my medal- I figured Halloween was a day you could wear medals and not have anyone look at you funny. I was on my way downstairs to see if the baby had woken up from his nap, hoping that he was so that I could take the boys to Ken's office and show off their costumed cuteness. I was taken by surprise when I reached the landing at the bottom of the stairs and I heard a POP and felt a horrible, horrible pain. I think I remember looking down and seeing my ankle turned at an odd angle. I do remember that I really felt like I needed to call 911, it hurt THAT BAD! J was on the potty, of course, and he came running when he heard me screaming. I talked him into putting underpants and pants back on, then he brought me the phone and eventually he went to get a neighbor for me. I was able to move myself around and lay on the landing with my leg elevated on the stairs. My neighbor checked on baby B, who had slept through all my screaming, and she brought me pillows and frozen green-beans, to ice my ankle. Ken got home and took me to the insta-care where they took X-Rays and told me that I hadn't broken my ankle, but had sprained it.

Like a true addict I asked the doctor if I was going to be able to run again- especially since I had just registered for a race on Thanksgiving. I was told that I needed to stay off the ankle for 3 days, then I could walk if there was no pain, and then 2 weeks after the injury occurred I could start running again. I was really worried that something was really wrong, I was doing what I was told to do, I was using crutches and elevating my ankle and icing it and keeping it wrapped, yet it was still swelling, weird swelling. I broke down at bedtime on Wednesday, Poor Ken. Thursday was the day that I was supposed to be able to walk, and I just didn't see that happening. But it did! I could walk, with no pain! And so I kind of over did it. So I tried to make sure I still took it easy on Friday and Saturday and Sunday.

On Monday I had my annual physical with our Family Practice Doctor. I am the healthiest I have EVER BEEN, my cholesterol is perfect, in face all my lab tests were great. My blood pressure and heart and lungs were great. I am doing great with my weight loss and I have a firm final goal for my weight- set with my doctor. AND he said that I had torn a ligament (he said which one but I don't remember) and that I shouldn't be worried about it, it will heal. I asked how long it would take to heal and he said about 4 weeks and I said "so does that mean I can't run my race on Thanksgiving?" He smiled. Did I tell you he is a runner- he ran in the Half Marathon I did in August. He told me that I could start jogging next Monday if I promised to take it slow and stop if it hurt and as long as I wasn't suffering too much pain I could run the 10k on Thanksgiving. I have ankle strengthening exercises I have to do. But I am feeling much better today than I was a week ago.

So that is the story of the My Halloween Half and my SCARY Halloween Sprain.

October (as I remember it)

2011-11-09T14:32:00.000-07:00

October is a wonderful month, this year it was full of summer temperatures and fall colors. We went out to a pumpkin patch in Erda, with Steve, Melissa and Cousin A, and we had Tons of Fun!

Yep, We're Cute- believe me, even J is cute, distracted, but cute.

Little B really liked the straw, really. (this is how I remember it after all)

J's Preschool went on a field trip to Corn Belly's. J enjoyed driving a tractor....

and Jumping on the GIANT PILLOW, seriously it was HUGE!

and B enjoyed being carried around in the sling.

I tried to get crafty- and also discovered that I can ALMOST take a self portrait- I was trying to set the timer- to my surprise I took a picture.

There- that's better- I got this shirt a couple of years ago, and this year I added some fabric flowers...what do you think?

I discovered that B LOVES to read, in fact I find him quietly studying books and magazines quite often.

I also discovered that B loves to wear hats- and is darn cute in them too.

Halloween got closer and costumes were mulled over.

They are handsome little devils

Yep- that was October. It was a good month. November's flying by.

Thankful!

2011-11-09T14:12:00.000-07:00

So we made some Turkeys- and I just realized I put them up in the window a little backwards- I shall fix that- I have a little sign that says "Thankful for...." and then we have Daddy Turkey, Mommy Turkey, J Turkey, B Turkey and Cousin Q's Turkey which was our inspiration.

Q's Turkey is the one there on the far left- he has an eye patch, an ammo belt with plenty of grenades and a gun! Love that Turkey.

Here's a close up.

I'm thankful for so many things, but Q's turkey makes me happy that I am the Mom of Little Boys!

All Hallows Eve (eve, eve)

2011-10-28T12:22:00.000-06:00

Tonight is our neighborhood Trunk or Treat and Chili Cook Off. Tomorrow I am running in the Provo Halloween Half Marathon. I don't think I will be eating much Chili- rather I will be having some spaghetti before we head over to the party.

Last year after Halloween we bought an Elmo Costume- sure that J would jump at the chance to be Elmo. We were wrong- about two things, the costume is 3t-4t and J is actually a little too big for it AND J wants to be a dinosaur. Good thing some friends gave us a dinosaur costume this past summer. I buckled down and searched for the costume this morning and I FOUND IT! J is over the moon, he is most proud of his tail.

I had the hardest time figuring out a costume for B. Yesterday I asked some friends if they had any Ideas and one of them loaned us this little costume/jacket, B is going to be my Lion King! So if you see me standing outside my house (or on the street corner or on top of a mountain) hoisting this cute little boy aloft- make sure to chime "Simmmmmbaaaaaaa" right along with me. There is absolutely no way you can't love this kid! he is just way too amazing.

So, I haven't blogged in a while, part of the problem is that I haven't had any time! AMAZING! And the next part of the problem is that I have pictures to share and stories to tell and I want to share them chronologically, BUT that is just a little overwhelming, so I decided to start from today and every once and a while I will go back in time and share some fun from the past month or two. Wish me good luck!

Kate Update

2011-09-23T12:20:00.000-06:00

Fall is HERE! I made a Pumpkin! J is really proud of me, he said I should make 3- three is his favorite number.

So, I've had lots on my mind recently, and it ALL went away when I sat down to write this post! WOW. So....let me think....I can only think of one main update about me- so I will share that.

I have made some changes in my daily schedule this past week. I think it worked pretty well, but it is going to take some time to get used to- i.e. I hope I can talk myself into going to bed on time so that I am not so tired.

I decided that I wanted to make sure I had my priorities straight. The most important part of my day, in my opinion, is taking care of my boys, spending time with them, teaching them and LOVING them. But I felt like I wasn't doing so well at that. Between cleaning, exercising and being social (on the network) there just wasn't a ton of time to color and read and play with blocks. At our stake conference this last weekend one of the speakers told of her sisters experience with changing around her daily priorities. She was like me and wanted to make more time in her day- and what was the biggest time sucker? The Internet of course. If she was like me then she would probably go to the computer to check one thing, then check something else, then remember something she wanted to look up, and so on and so forth. So her Sister kept her computer turned off, she kept a list of the things she needed to look at and search for on the web and for an hour a day- during nap-time or something like that- she would do her searches.

I wrote that idea down, and on Sunday afternoon I thought about the things I wanted to accomplish everyday. I wanted to spend good quality time with my boys, get my cleaning done, I wanted to exercise and I wanted to have a specific time I would work my business. I realized that I was going to have to wake up early to do the cleaning and exercising, and that would free up the time during the boys waking hours for me to spend specifically with them.

So I have tried to wake up at 5:20, when Ken wakes up. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday I exercise first thing in the morning for an hour. Then I clean the room I've picked for that day. They boys will probably wake up during that cleaning hour. Then Breakfast, 30 minutes of computer time, Preschool, reading with B, Nap-time for B and Premier Designs time for me. J comes back from Preschool and we have lunch then coloring, puzzles, games, then Nap-time for J and B and 30 more minutes of computer time for me (sometimes the computer comes out earlier, when I have a specific purpose- like writing a blog post, or while I am working on Premier Designs stuff) I have found that I am quite tired by nap time and I often fall asleep myself. Then Ken comes home and I make dinner and we enjoy family time. Tuesdays and Thursdays are a little different because I don't have enough time to run before Ken leaves in the morning- so I clean starting at 5:20 and then the boys and I go running at 7 or so, sadly I had to wake B up to do this, but it worked really well. I have even managed to get dressed by 9 AM on most days! (psst, that getting dressed by 9 thing, pretty amazing feat if you ask me!)

I can say that Monday- Thursday this week worked pretty well. I couldn't get up this morning though. I was just too tired. Probably because instead of going to bed at 10 PM like my schedule told me too, I got to bed between 10:30 and 11. I know I need 7 1/2 hours of sleep at night and I am going to have to force myself to bed so that I don't have to force myself out of bed when I am too sleepy.

I am sure it is going to take a few weeks to really get into the grove and figure out what works best, I might need to change my cleaning schedule around, for example, J woke up really early on Tuesday, when I was cleaning the living room, which happens to be right outside his bedroom door- I'm thinking of switching and cleaning the basement family room on Tuesday and the Living Room on Wednesday, in the hopes that J will sleep at least until 7. A mom can hope!

Well, B is up from his first nap, and it is time for lunch then building towers with blocks! YES!

Too Busy

2011-09-21T12:02:00.000-06:00

Earlier this week J was helping Ken take out the trash and the recycling. They took the long walk up to the recycling dumpster and then came back for the regular trash. Ken couldn't get J to come inside the house. In fact J laid down on the front grass at this point. Ken told him he needed to come inside and help him gather up all the trash from the different rooms. J said "Me Too Busy", now that's my kind of busy.

What a boy- busy watching the clouds go by- that is exactly the kind of childhood I want him to remember. We love this boy!

Bear Lake

2011-09-21T11:27:00.001-06:00

When J was about 3 months old he and I went to Bear Lake with 15 or so members of my family. We rented a really nice cabin. J didn't care how nice it was, he only cared that there were 9 kids there and it was LOUD and he hated it. I spent a lot of time in the bed room or outside where it wasn't so loud. Fast forward 3 years and we all went up to Bear Lake again. This time Ken came with us. There are a few more kids in the family now- It was just as loud but this time J loved it, B thought it was pretty fun too. Here are some snapshot moments form our trip.

B enjoying some home made pizza for lunch, I am 99% sure that this is the oldest highchair he will ever sit it.

The most beautiful pizza I have ever made. It was a vegetable and chicken pizza. ( I made and froze the crusts at home a week or two before the trip, then we just topped them, cooked them and ENJOYED them)

We drove up to Paris! That's right I've been to Paris! Paris Idaho! A few miles outside of Paris (20 min driving 15 mph on really rocky bumpy roads) there is something called an Ice Cave. Basically it is a cave/giant chasm in the ground that is positioned just right- snow falls into the chasm during the winter and then sun never reaches parts of the cave/hole during the spring, summer and fall, so there is constantly a little mound of snowy ice. When we got there J immediately too off running, in the wrong direction- can you blame him, I mean his cool cousins were out there standing on the edge of a big chasm, it had to be safe right? They would never do anything dangerous!

We collected J and found the actual cave entrance. It was very cold in there, you could see your breath. I am glad I brought the sling for B, he was pretty glad too. I didn't do any spelunking, I just stayed on the path and didn't go too far into the cave. Can you see the ghost in the picture? I have watched enough ghost hunter shows to know that that little round blob in the picture is a ghost! FUN!

As soon as we got into the cave and found the ice, J immediately ran onto the little mini glacier.

good thing we have the ability to zoom the camera- here is J- having WAY to much fun standing on the ice, he is also way too cute not to share the picture.

J actually slipped on the ice not too long after we took those first pictures, Ken had to go save him. But J, being a typical 3 year old, got over it pretty fast and continued to have fun exploring.

It was pretty cold in there and when I saw one of my nephews walk into the cave with a blanket, I didn't waste a moment and asked for it. B was happy to have it. I really should have thought to bring a hat!

I eventually left the cave. J on the other hand made Ken follow him around and take pictures of him standing next too or on every rock possible.

Yep, the Ice Cave was pretty fun and FREE!

Sliding on dirty snow ice can really make your bum dirty!

We are very smart people and since we had a fully equipped cabin we figured we would save some money and so a lot of eating in. But on the night we arrived (which was a Thursday) we decided that we would go out for dinner, after-all, there are LOTS of little hamburger places and we could get SHAKES- Raspberry Shakes to be exact. Well, Ken and I drove through Evanston on our way to Bear Lake- which meant that we drove through Garden City before we got to the Cabin, and we discovered that, even though it was only 6pm, there were only 3 restaurants open! No Hamburger places! A Mexican Restaurant, A Pizza Shop and a Steakhouse. Ha! Well the Pizza Place served shakes so we went there, even though we were going to have pizza again on Friday and Saturday.

We noticed, while driving through Garden City again on Friday as we were headed to Paris, that the place I lovingly refer to as "the shake shop" was open. (I just googled it- it's called "Quick n' Tasty") so after we finished up at the cave we drove as fast as legally possible back to the shake shop and enjoyed WAY TOO MANY SHAKES. B proved himself to be the perfect little bird- he discovered that if you look cute, open your mouth and grunt a little, EVERYONE will put spoons full of ice cream into your mouth.

J's favorite part of the cabin- The Sand Box!

We had lots of fun. It was loud, and they boys slept in our room- which isn't all that relaxing- but I have an idea for the next time we rent the cabin- All the kids sleep in the basement! We put them down there after dinner and lock the door- then we unlock the door in the morning! It's the perfect plan really. We had a great time.

Firsts

2011-09-21T10:22:00.001-06:00

A first for me, growing spaghetti squash. I planted it months ago and I put some bamboo posts next to it thinking, "Maybe it will climb?" Well it didn't climb up the posts, but it did climb up my window. See my two cute little spaghetti squashes, they don't know how to do anything but GROW! I need to Google and see how to tell when they are ready to pick!

Now a first for my J- Preschool! J has been excited to go to school since I told him about it a few weeks ago. His initial reaction was "Me ride the School BUS!" and after a few attempts to let him know that preschoolers typically don't get to ride the school bus I decided to make him a school bus (thanks Miss Leanne for the idea). So the week before school started J and I went to the craft store and got some yellow poster-board, then we returned home and I crafted this beautiful bus!

And J drove his bus to orientation, and then he drove it again on the first day of school. He didn't have to drive far, the Little Thinkers Preschool is across the street and 8 doors down from us.

The boys and I were out running the morning of the first day of school and two school buses passed us. J yelled out to the first one "I love you School Bus! I see you later!"

Here he is, my sweet little J and his teacher, Miss Leanne. I am amazed at how much fun he is having, how much more confident he seems (especially since he was already an amazingly confident little boy) and how much he is learning each day.

J is at preschool right now, today was his day to bring the letter bag- his letter was B and we went around the house finding things that started with B. He is sharing some toys a Bear, his Baby Bird, and a Ball. He also chose a Book a can of Black Beans (alliteration, I was quite proud of that one) and a picture of his Baby Brother B. There were even a couple of other things he found this morning that we added to the bag. Since Monday we have been talking about all the B things around us, it is so cute to hear him say "Bag, Buh Buh Buh BAG!" or "Building, Buh Buh Buh Building!" I really love how he practices the sound.

Thanks Grandma Turner for helping out so J can go to Preschool, we love it!

A Date for Mommy and J

2011-09-07T14:37:00.000-06:00

Last Friday J and I had a Date. This is the second Mommy J date we have had in a couple of weeks and J seems to LOVE them, and to tell you the truth, I love them too. This time we went to the Movies!

It was J's 2nd time at a movie theater- we took him to a movie when he was about 18 months old, basically because we were on vacation and all the kids were going....but he was NOT READY for theaters. This time he did great! We saw Winnie the Pooh at the dollar theater. Ken and I figured if the movie didn't work out (i.e. J freaked out) we had only wasted two dollars. But like I said, he did great, He even gave our tickets to the ticket taker guy.

I told J that he could pick where we sat, he ran to the front row and sat right down.......we then had a conversation about how the front row looks appealing but it is really not all that fun once the movie starts......after which, J decided that he wanted to sit on the second to last row.

During the premovie show and the previews J danced in the aisle. He got DOWN! When he needs to dance there truly is no stopping him, and I think it was a good thing, it got lots of energy out. He was able to sit in his seat and watch about 75% of the movie, the other 25% was spent laying on the floor, moving from his seat to the one next to it and back, and begging me for more candy. I guess it was also good that the movie was only about an hour long.

So, we spent $2 at the movies and then we went to Baskin Robbins and got Ice Cream for FREE! Well not really for free, last Christmas my Manager and Director at the hospital gave me $20 in Star Bucks- which are giant fake money that is good for use at Intermountain Healthcare Cafeterias or Salt Lake area Baskin Robbins- Rock On!

I let J choose his own flavor. He wanted something green. After sampling a few green flavors, and he chose Daiquiri Ice, which I remember liking as a child BUT I really didn't like it that day when I tried it. I had Lemon Sorbet- which was quite refreshing.

My J is quite silly. He wanted only a sugar cone, but then he wanted to eat his ice cream with the little tiny taster spoon.

You have to admit, he was very cute while using his little tiny spoon.

Once all the ice cream was gone he chowed down on the sugar cone, and who wouldn't, I mean, it's made from SUGAR right?

Ride'em Cowboy!

2011-09-01T13:43:00.000-06:00

We went to Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point this week. We didn't get a Membership this year and so we haven't gone and done ANYTHING FUN! That is until August and it's famed 2 Buck Tuesdays! I hadn't planned very well it got to be the last Monday of the Month and I was planning on taking the boys over to the Farm the next day. Luckily Cousin Anna and her Mom Melissa were also planning the same thing- so we had friends- even more luckily- we had friends with a camera.

J has been talking about the "Merry Go Round" at Thanksgiving Point for a few weeks. He has a good memory, it has been way more than a year since we've been to Farm Country- but I guess the opportunity to ride live horses is something that a three year old boy just can't forget.

Here is what J looked like the very first time I let him ride the horses at Farm Country. This the end of May 2009- so he would have been 14 months old. (On a funny little side note- Baby B is wearing this same outfit today- WEIRD!)

And here is what my sweet little J looked like on Tuesday- 2 years and 2 months later, he is 3 years and 4 months old and he rode that little horse like a PRO!

I think we might need to get a membership next year.

Secret Identities- part 2.

2011-08-26T15:30:00.000-06:00

For the past hour or two I've been called by a new name. Super Hero Mommy! And I've been calling this guy, Super Hero J. We are cleaning and we made lunch and sitting on potties and stuff, pretty much just going about our regular day to do list, but we are wearing capes, and every once and a while Super Hero J says "Supper Hero Mommy! We Fly!" and then we run around the front room and the kitchen and our capes trail behind us and it is tons of fun. It is fun to be a Super Hero Mommy.

So now lets delve a little deeper into Kate- Who is she? Well, I can tell you a little, because she happens to be me. I can tell you that over the past few years I have been trying to make a big change, a change in my health and habits.

It was probably a decade ago that the first medical professional told me I should lose weight. Not just because I was overweight, but because I was overweight with a family history of medical issues which were affected, aggravated or possibly even brought on by being overweight. I agreed and I signed up to be able to use the employee fitness room at the hospital where I was working, as part of that I had a fitness evaluation done, I remember I weighed 190 pounds and I had about 35% body fat. I was AMAZED! A few of my coworkers signed up at the same time as me and we all met in the morning before work and walked a few miles, 2 or 3 times a week. It worked. I got down to about 175 pounds and I was happy with my progress. I managed to maintain a weight around 170-180 for a few years. In those years I got married, and I stopped going to the gym before work, or after work and I got back up to 190 and then eventually found myself at 202. It was at this point that my doctor not only told me that I should lose some weight,( I was bemoaning the fact that I wanted to have a baby but couldn't seem to get pregnant.) but he also gave me a little magazine called "Weigh to Health" that gave tips on how to go about losing weight and getting healthier.

And that is where I was a few years ago. Ken bought me a Treadmill for Valentines day that year- because that is what I wanted. And I once again started to walk a few miles every other day or so, then I started to run a little, eventually I was able to run 3.1 miles. I lost about 25 pounds. I ran my first 5k and and we got pregnant! I gained 60 pounds during that pregnancy, and after it was all over I found myself once again staring at a scale that seemed to be stuck between 190 and 202. I would lose, but then I would gain. I knew there had to be something more I could do. I changed our diet a little, more vegetables, less meat. It helped, but I still was kind of stuck. I started running again and had some success, I got down to 183 pounds and then I found out I was pregnant!

By 26 weeks I had gained 40+ pounds, well on my way to gaining 60 pounds again. Then I found out that I failed my second Glucose test. I had Gestational Diabetes. I had to change, for the good of myself and my baby. I was told that if I didn't lose weight after this baby was born I would have a 90% chance of having diabetes withing the next 5 years. And you know what, that was enough for me. I don't know how it all worked, but I am pretty sure God's hand has been mixed up in my adventures over the past year. He gave me the opportunity to change my diet while I was pregnant- an opportunity to learn new things about food and about myself and what I could do if I had a good reason to do it. I also believe he changed my body somehow. I am able to do things now that I had previously tried and couldn't do. It took me 6 months of trying to be able to run 3 miles without stopping. After B was born, and I could run again, it took me about 2 months to get back to 3 miles, and then I went out one day and ran 6! Just like that, no problems, I was even pushing a jogging stroller, and not only did I run it, but I enjoyed it. It was MIRACULOUS! How in the world? There was no reason in the world, it was a blessing, I like to think that God gave me my little baby B as a way to bring about a miraculous change in my body. Someday I am going to ask him about how all that works, for now I am just grateful.

Here is the part where I talk about Identities! Just in case you were worried that I would never get to the point. So i am sitting here in my new pants and if I look down at my legs, I really don't see much of a difference. I see my legs, my belly, they look pretty much the same to me. I do see subtle changes in my face, I see more muscle definition in my legs and arms, even a little in my abs which is kind of cool. But I don't look in the mirror and see a stranger, I see me. I am still the same person, just because I've lost 25% of myself doesn't change me for the better or for the worse. I am Kate- I am a precious Daughter of God, I am a beloved daughter of Al and Billie, I am the silly wife of Ken and the frazzled mother of J and B. I had the opportunity to spend time with a friend who has been struggling with some horrible things that happened to her while she was young. She, like many people, sought to control her life in anyway possible and eventually she developed an eating disorder. She then struggled with the eating disorder, got better and recently relapsed into the old habits. I was allowed to be part of her life while she was doing her best to change those habits. I tried to let her know how much I loved her, how very much of worth she was and that I fully supported her. I hope she still knows that I believe those things and that I still pray for her. We once talked about being comfortable with who we are and I got to thinking that she and I might be having similar experiences, both struggling to be healthy, knowing that there was a good chance that once we got to "Healthy" we might not recognize ourselves. I am starting to realize that I do recognize myself, because I was not my weight, my body is part of me, but it is not all of me. I think this is something very important to remember, as we look at ourselves and as we look at others. We are very complex creatures, God wouldn't have made us any other way, we are not one dimensional begins, we are more like the most intricately cut gems you could ever imagine, with millions of facets. Each facet could represent a different part of our life, a lesson learned, a trial endured. We are brilliant in our beauty, if we allow ourselves to be polished and shaped by God.

So that's my secret identity, I'm Gorgeous, just the way God made me. It has nothing to do with how I look physically from moment to moment, day to day or year to year. But is has everything to do with knowing myself, knowing who I am and why I do things. I am still the same person I was 16 years ago when I asked God if he was really there, and if he really cared about me. He answered my prayer then, and he has allowed me to get to know myself little by little since then, any changes I make to my physical appearance don't seem to change ME. I am grateful for that. I hope I can help my children, and all my other loved ones, come to know WHO they are as well. So that someday, when we are all together again with God we won't be surprised to see ourselves as he sees us, because we will be comfortable with who we are, we are His Children.

Well, thanks for reading, thanks for supporting and loving me. I have to go finish my chores now!

Fun with Baby B!

2011-08-26T09:32:00.000-06:00

My baby is growing up, there are times that I look at him and he doesn't look like a baby anymore, he looks like a little man, but he is mostly baby still.

My little B has been teething! He got his first tooth 2 months ago and it was a lonely tooth for a while, in the past 4 weeks he has gotten 4 more teeth and they are still coming. He hasn't been the happiest little boy at night (why is it that teething is worse at night?) but he is still one of the most perfectly sweet and cute little boys in existence, even if he is a little cranky. If you look close you can see his big and little teeth, the two top teeth are GIGANTIC and the 3 bottom teeth are very little and kind of crooked!

I decided I wanted to get some video of B, he has been shaking his head from side to side in a "No" type pattern, he gets a big smile on his face when he does it, I think he is thinking to himself "Whoooa, everything looks funny!". So I was trying to get that on video and I also got his first and so far only sign- More. Like most babies his More is very different from the actual sign, but he and I know what it means, and that's what counts. This Video and the pictures above were all taken during breakfast this morning.

To Fast!

2011-08-22T11:44:00.000-06:00

These pictures were too cute not to post. Here is my Baby B, all grown up and looking like a man. They grow to fast! I am 99% sure that B is teething (he has been teething for months, they are coming REALLY SLOW) He must be getting all his teeth at once, and he really doesn't like it. But he puts on a good happy face! He got his first tooth at 11 months, in the past two weeks or so he has added 3 more. Last night I got to hold my B in the middle of the night (right aroudn the time the Baby Orajel wore off), there is not much sweeter than a sweet baby letting you know that you are their favorite form of comfort.

B is obsessed with the Sacrament! At church he copies what is done as the Sacrament is prepared and passed to the church congregation. Yesterday after lunch J saw a loaf of bread on the counter and quickly grabbed it, proclaiming happily "Oh, My Sacrament Bread!" Then he gathered up a few of his leftover lunch items and went in the front room. A few minutes later he called to me, telling me he needed me. He was kneeling next to the piano bench. I took this picture and he stood up. When I sat down, he told me that he was ready for the sacrament, and he knelt down and said a prayer, then he gave me some of what he had prepared, he did a very good job tearing a piece of bread into small pieced, but he also had multicolored gold fish crackers and chunks of cheddar cheese. You use what is available, I guess.

This morning he played sacrament again, this time there were no gold fish and no cheese, but there was a cup of water. I love these boys of mine. I am so glad that I get to be with them and teach them and watch them grow. I hope they don't out grow me!

The South Valley Half Marathon

2011-08-22T11:29:00.000-06:00

On Saturday I ran my first half marathon. I knew it started in a canyon and ended roughly 13 miles away from the canyon AND I hoped it was mostly downhill. Well, the first 3 miles were down hill then the next two miles were pretty flat...but then there were 3 miles of up hill running...I must admit I walked a little more through this part than I had anticipated, basically because I had not anticipated 3 miles of hills. All in all though I think I did pretty good for my very first half marathon. I finished in 2 hours 34 minutes (according to my watch) and when I crossed the finish-line these cute little guys were waiting for me! Ken too! Baby B almost jumped out of his stroller he was so excited to see me, which made me very happy.

Look, I'm moving so fast that I'm blurry! Blurry and Tired!

My Sister Laurie and her husband Brent also ran the race, I was glad to have them there, even though we all ran at our own pace, I knew that I had friends out on the course.

When I sat down in January and decided that I wanted to run a half marathon it seemed like a huge goal, and it was. I am very pleased that I was able to complete it, I worked hard, I paced my training and tried my best to avoid injury. It wasn't easy, in fact while I was running (or walking) up those hills I decided that my decision to run another half marathon in 3 weeks was not a very good one. Maybe in a couple of years, when my body is more used the the punishment, and maybe if one of the half's is an easy one. Laurie told me that she would consider the South Valley Half Marathon to be a Medium Hard course, and you know what, I did it, and I am happy and now I am going to take it easy for a couple of weeks and let my body recover. Then maybe I will run another one later in the fall.

I have a 10k scheduled for October 8th- and I am hoping to run in the Human Race again on Thanksgiving- maybe I will do the 10k there as well (I like to burn a good amount of calories on Thanksgiving :) ).

I will tell you this, I am pretty darn sure that I will not be moving on to Marathons. At least for now, I am only Half Crazy.

My Little Linebacker

2011-08-15T15:28:00.000-06:00

Cuteness Personified!

Last Friday the whole family went with little B to his 12 month well child check. It was fun. We were told that B is pretty much a perfect specimen of a 12 month old AND that he had the cutest laugh that the doctor had heard all day. Here are his stats-

Weight- 26 pounds 12 oz = 92nd percentile (J was 23 pounds 2 oz 54th percentile)

Height- 31 3/4 inches = 94th percentile (J was 32 inches! 96th percentile)

Head- 18 3/4 inches = 82nd percentile

Right around the time that J turned 1 I heard that pediatricians were not necessarily having children drink whole milk, well, J's doctor had him drink whole milk for the whole year. Not B, he has sufficient stores of baby chub, and he is going straight to 1% (that is, just as soon as he finishes the whole milk we bought him before we knew the doctor was okay with him drinking the same milk as the rest of the family).

I took this picture yesterday night, Ken was taking care of business! Holding both the boys while they drank their pre-bed milk AND talking shop with the President of the local Special Needs Mutual.

Some things about B, He smiles ALL THE TIME (well 95% of the time). He worships his brother (once again, 95% of the time). He has only fallen down the stairs once! He crawls super fast and tries to eat everything he can get his hands on. He can easily pull himself up next to things like couches, tables, walls and pianos. And if he is standing next to a piano, he will start to play it. He is also starting to cruise- just a little.

More? Sure! B loves fruit! Lately he has been devouring plums, or bananas, he got his hands on a strawberry today and made quick work of it. He loves black beans and all kinds of vegetables. He prefers solid foods to milk and is more easily pacified by a bowl of oatmeal and apple sauce or some beans and tomatoes than by a sippy cup of milk. In this way he is VERY different from his brother.

J was addicted to milk, he seriously could down 30 or more ounces a day, B might drink 16- which according to the doctor is on the low side of average, he told us not to worry too much about that- because like we said earlier- B has some pretty good baby chub storage going on. J was also not the most patient baby, especially when it came to sleeping and or being awake in his crib. If he was awake in there he was complaining. B is pretty close to the opposite, I often have to check on him to see if he is still sleeping or if he is awake, and much of the time when I check after a couple hours of him napping, he is sitting or laying in his bed, just waiting quietly for someone to come get him. He is a sweet boy.

We love our little B, my sweet little bear. I can't imagine what life would be like without him, but I also feel like this first year of his life flew by much faster than J's first year did. I guess it is because J had all my attention and B has had to share it.

Running Away from Home

2011-08-11T20:36:00.000-06:00

Since January, I've been training for a Half Marathon. Prior to setting that goal I never imagined myself running 13.1 miles. But it seemed like the right thing to do and I knew that if I set smaller goals, a 5k and a 10k, and if I found a training schedule followed it, I would be able to do it. Well my first Half Marathon is on August 20th, and I am ready! I can do it! I know I can. Today I had my final long training run, I ran 12 miles. I was a little scared, because I got sick and I've been kind of lethargic and my knee hurt while I was running 11 miles last week. But I've done everything I know how to do, I stretched and tried my best to use my cross training days to strengthen my knees, I made sure to make spaghetti for dinner last night, and I told my Heavenly Father all about my desire to run and my fear of not being able to, because of injury or illness.

We have super nice neighbors and there have been several who have helped me out during the last 8 months, watching the boys for me while I ran 5 or more miles (they can be fun companions for 2, 3 or 4 miles but they get bored and whinny after that) and today was no exception when it came to helpful neighbors. At 7:45 a kind 13 year old neighbor (J's favorite babysitter) came over to watch the boys and I ran away from home.

I usually walk down to the corner and then start running, with a vague idea of where I want to go.Today I took a path that I've taken before, but it felt different today, it felt new. I ran through my usual neighborhoods but about a quarter of the way through my run I found my way onto the Jordan River Parkway. It was a delightful experience, but I think the thing that made it great was the fact that I wasn't alone. To the casual observer, I was alone, but what they didn't realize was that I was talking to God. I was still a little nervous about the distance, about my knees, I wondered if I was pushing myself too far, too fast. And even tough I had told Heavenly Father all about last night as I went to bed and this morning as I woke up, he was very much willing to let me keep talking to him. Soon my pleas of "Please, just let me run, please bless my joints, bless that they won't hurt" turned into praises of "I feel so great! Thank You so much for letting me do this!" It was pretty amazing. I totally have the best running partner ever!

So yes, I was running away from home, 6 miles away from home to be exact, I really felt at home the whole time. At 6 miles I turned around and headed back along the same path, each step taking me closer to my sweet babies, each step bringing me closer to my Heavenly Father. That is how it felt. I liked it. I think it helped me understand why it is important to pray always, to always have a prayer in our hearts, to always keep that line of communication open. I mean, I didn't receive any great personal revelation, nothing life changing, just a sweet peace and the sure knowledge that my pleas were heard and my prayers were answered.

Just thought I would share. Thanks for listening.

Sometimes it's good to be a Loser

2011-08-08T11:04:00.000-06:00

Last week I got to meet Deni Hill, she was the at home winner of the Biggest Loser last season. His daughter, the one who got married while she was on the show, lives in my sister Laurie's neighborhood. The ladies from the local Relief Society got together for a meeting where Deni was speaking, and Laurie invited me to come. Thanks Laurie!

So what did Deni tell us. Nothing much new. She said that it is all about calories in verses calories out, how much you eat verses how much you burn, if you burn enough you will lose, in order for her to lose the 125 pounds she had to work out for 4 hours or more per day. She said that in order to maintain, she still has to do 2 hours per day most days.

While she was on the ranch she said that she read the "Word of Wisdom" every day and she truly has come to realize that the guidance given in that section of the Doctrine and Covenants (section 89) isn't something outdated and meant for people who lived in a time before refrigeration, it is truly for us today, she encouraged everyone to read it and make it our own. Everyone can apply the principles of good health to their lives, and everyone may do it a little differently, but as long as we are truly doing our best we will be blessed.

I agree. I know that I have made changes, and I hope to stay healthy for the rest of my life. Deni and (almost) everyone else on the Biggest Loser have always been good examples to me, if they can do it, I can do it. It was nice to be able to meet her and hear how the Gospel of Jesus Christ had it's place in her weight loss journey.

One of these things is not like the others......

2011-08-08T10:42:00.000-06:00

That's right, SOMEONE in our family wasn't born in March! And that person, my little baby B turned ONE last week. On his birthday we wrapped up a few of his presents, I caught B and J in my room a little later in the day, J was unwrapping a present. I asked "Are you unwrapping your brother's birthday presents?" J quickly answered "No, I showing baby how open presents!"

Eventually B was allowed to open his own presents, and what were his favorites?

The SIPPY CUPS! Who knew?

On Sundays we usually have a big family dinner at my parents house, and on birthday weeks we also have cake, ice cream and presents. I like birthdays and I am enjoying making birthday cakes for kids. For Baby B I decided to make a Panda Cake- similar to the lion cake for J, only with Oreo ears and eyes, I crushed up Oreo's to use around the side and to make the nose and mouth (because I couldn't find black frosting at the store- weird)

Baby B got to watch as I made his cake.

I think it turned out pretty cute, especially if you consider that I had no instructions.

On of my nieces got really sick, so family dinner and thus the birthday party was cancelled, but we made due. Cousin A and her parents Steve and Melissa came over to our house, we had a couple of presents and then ate our Panda Cake! B was pretty excited.

See, he squealed!

We gave him his very own piece ( I didn't want to make a separate cake for to destroy- I'm still kind of tired and lazy form being sick) He went to town and devoured his cake, frosting first.

Here he is, worshiping his cake.

Seriously, could he be cuter?

Lots of cake made it into his mouth, but lots of cake was also rubbed all over his body. He made the very best of his very first cake experience. He even had some in the hair on the back of his head.

So we will call this Practice, and maybe next Sunday my sister Carrie will make him another cake and he can show off his new found cake eating skills for the rest of the family.

Happy Birthday to my sweet Baby B, I love you so much. His doctors appointment is coming up this Friday, so stay tuned for Stats and other fun facts about B.

Trains! Light Rail that is....

2011-08-08T10:23:00.000-06:00

Last Wednesday I took J and B into West Jordan and we rode the newest Trax line in the county, the Mid Jordan line, with Grandma Turner and Cousin CJ and Q. It was lots of fun, we had Lunch at the end of the line, we discovered that some of the train exits are not good for strollers, while others have special ramps... unfortunately we discovered this the hard way, no one was injured during our discovery process.

I am always amazed how excited I tend to look in pictures. I wonder if there is a "How to look casual in Pictures" class that I should take. Don't you love B's foot?

Here is my J, enjoying the view.

J, CJ, and Q. CJ wasn't too sure that he felt safe sitting with the two older boys.

I think Q took this picture for us.

When we got to the end of the line we also discovered Where the Sidewalk Ends! Grandma made the discovery actually. Since I have always loved the book I figured I would get a picture of the actual location. J, having never read the book, didn't understand the need for excitement.

At the West Jordan City Center stop we visited with some Firemen. J likes Firemen, and Yes, he did ask "where Fireman Sam?"

We had fun on the Mid Jordan line, and it only cost us a can of food to ride!

Oakley Dokley!

2011-08-08T10:10:00.000-06:00

The last weekend in July we took a short trip up to Oakley Idaho to visit our friends Ben and Kristen!

When I started to pack the car J decided that he needed to help. This is a picture of the second time I found his "Cars" in my car. Well to be truthful, we took Ken's car....It is pretty much the same as mine, only it is white and doesn't have huge crack in the windshield.

I decided that since I was moving car seats around, and since B would turn 1 within a week of our trip AND because B is bigger than several 2 year old's we know, I would let B sit forward facing! He wholeheartedly approved of my decision!

We arrived safely in Oakley on Thursday night, and on Friday we went sightseeing. First we went to Oakley Reservoir While there we attempted to skip rocks....

....and Ken attempted to skip babies. (no babies were harmed, but there were plenty of baby giggles)

Next we went to the "City of Rocks" . I've been interested in the City of Rocks for years, not because I knew what it was, but because there were signs for it along I-84 and it was an interesting name. Now I know what it is! Apparently, according to what I found when I googled "City of Rocks" this is a location along the Oregon Trail. It has huge Granite Rock Formations- some of them Millions of years old others more like 2.5 BILLION YEARS OLD! I decided that I would like to come back to the City of Rocks and spend more time, maybe even camp for a couple of days. As it was we took a very very short hike.

See, here is J climbing around on a huge chunk of granite!

And here is a picture of B and Me!

And Ken and Ben! They were college roommates years ago, I think they look like they could still be in College. And check out that terrain- I really think I could hike around in there for hours and have lots of fun.

B enjoyed his hike too, why wouldn't he, he got to be right by his mommies heart, and he was shaded the whole time!

There was one thing I really wanted to see in the City of Rocks, one of the "Registration Rocks" apparently Pioneers along the Oregon Trail took to writing their names in axle grease on some of the rocks when they came through this area. Ben and Kristen found this rock for us to look at. See John Galliher at the bottom, he wrote his name in 1880!

By this point, baby B was kind of tired of being in the car. That is, until I handed him a BOOK! This kid loves books, he really acts like he is reading, opens the book, looks for a while, turns the page, looks.... I love it.

Our next stop was Lake Cleveland- it is a beautiful lake near the top of a mountain. We had a picnic lunch there, I don't know if J just wanted to be alone, but about half way through lunch he took his food under the table. He is a cute, silly boy, I am glad he is mine.

This picture is here for two reasons, the first- because Ken and B are so cute, the second- because you can see the scenery- it seriously was an amazingly beautiful location.

Two of Ben and Kristen's older boys noticed that there were some patches of snow, Ben found a way to get to one of them.....

...and they brought back a snowball....a dirty snowball that all the kids got to hold. Did I mention it was the 29th of July?

And what do you do with a dirty snowball that 5 or 6 people have just handled? Well you put it in the shade and then lick it.....several times....well, at least that is what you do if you are little J.

And here are our guests at our final stop of the day, the top of Mount Harrison. From here you could see their house, which I think is pretty awesome. Thanks Ben, Kristen and kids for letting us come visit and taking us sightseeing!

At some point during our sightseeing adventure we asked J if he was enjoying our trip to Oakley, he said "Oakley Dokley!" and I told Ken "That's the name of the Blog Post!" and look- it is!

A random bit of kid cuteness...what do you do if your foot gets stuck between some crib slats while you are sleeping? Well you just cross your other leg over the stuck leg and continue to sleep of course. If only I could sleep like a baby! I am amazed at some of the positions they can get themselves into.....and still sleep.

Can you see the hives? For lunch on Saturday we had bow tie carbonara. It was delicious. I even cut up some pieces and B enjoyed them very much. In fact he enjoyed them so much that I was going to give him more, I tossed a few more bow tie pasta pieces onto the tray of the highchair and before I could cut them into smaller pieces he picked them up and rubbed them all over his face.......yeah, I don't know what rubbing food on your face feels like but B seemed to enjoy it, that is until he broke out in hives, then he didn't like it too much. Never fear- he was washed and given benadryl

So after lunch we packed up the car and headed home. Little J liked traveling so much that he packed up a duffel bag with all his stuffed animals and then climbed into it himself.....I was tempted to send him to Abu Dhabi, but I didn't. I decided to keep him. He is a pretty fun kid after-all, and I wold miss him.

And, a little side note about my health.....On the first night of our trip, as we were going to bed I started to get a sore throat. Friday morning I still had it, but I drank lots of orange juice and took some pain killers and made it through the day just fine, by that night (Friday) I had a fever...so I took some more fever reducing pain killers and tried to sleep well. Saturday morning I ran 8 miles (I was hoping it would help to break the fever, and it kind of did for a while) and by the time we got home that evening I felt like Death, or at least what I think it would feel like to be Death. I took my temp- it was about 102. (it was 101.7, then went up to 102.3). I went to bed early and slept late, the next day I went to the doctor and was diagnosed with Strep. After 24 hours of Antibiotics I felt pretty good, tired but the pine cone in my throat was gone. I had about 36 hours of not feeling sick and KABOOM! the whole family got a cold! Lucky Us!

How we make the big bucks!

2011-08-08T08:54:00.000-06:00

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

My Heart Smiled

2011-07-25T09:39:00.000-06:00

So, I've got this three year old, I love him very much, I've had him since he was a baby. Our relationship has evolved over the years. In the beginning he needed my help all the time, he couldn't even eat by himself. Today I hear "I do it myself" much more than I hear anything else. I like this, he is growing up, he is becoming a man, at least he thinks he is a man.

I wanted to share one thing I don't like about three year old behavior, and a couple of things I LOVE.

What I don't like, selfishness. My little J loves "Friends", he talks about them all the time, wants to play with them, but then when he does play with friends if they even LOOK at his toys he freaks out. He has been known to sit in front of our house, on one of his little push cars while holding onto the other one. Heaven FORBID he share his second car and have some fun with friends! Only HE can touch his cars. My favorite part of this selfishness is that he is perfectly willing to use other peoples toys. For example,on the 4th of July he discovered a big wheel outside a neighbors house, so of course he started to use it, that's what anyone would do when they saw a really cool vehicle sitting all by itself, right? Right! So for 5 or 10 min he rode this big wheel up and down the sidewalk, UNTIL our cute little 2 year old neighbor started to ride on one of HIS toys. He was off that borrowed big wheel in the blink of an eye, and unfortunately his next act was to push our neighbor off of his toy, pull the toy back to our house and start his protective stance, i.e. sitting on one toy while keeping a hand or leg on the other. Just sitting, not playing, just living in fear that someone will try to play with HIS toys!

Now, why don't I like this, for one thing pushing and fighting accompanies this selfish behavior. I don't shove him, and I try not to fight with him, so where did he learn this behavior and why is he displaying so openly?
We practice sharing several times a day, thanks to Baby B, who is now mobile and likes to touch toys. J does not want baby B to be anywhere near ANY toys, including B's own toys. So several times a day I talk about sharing, and unfortunately, after talking and modeling good behavior, I sometimes take toys away from J (right after I see him take something from his brother), then I ask "do you like that" and he says no....I am pretty sure this is not the best way to teach sharing. So, Selfishness, I don't like it.

What do I like. Imagination! J has got a wonderful imagination, and he uses it all the time. This makes my life very fun. Sometimes he dresses in costume but most of the time it's all in his mind.

I was feeding the baby one morning when J started to talk to me in a low voice, the lowest voice a little 3 year old could use. "Me Daddy" he said "Me Working" and then he did some work, he fixed things that I didn't even know where broken. He puts out fires around the house all the time, I am so glad he is here, because I didn't even know there were fires burning! The other day he asked to watch a "Wallace and Gromet" movie. He wanted to watch "The Wrong Trousers". After it was over J spent an hour or more imagining himself in Wallace's trousers, every time he would start walking he would make mechanical/robotic sounds as he walked with stiff legs.

Last Friday (when I started writing this post) J did something that made my heart smile. When he came out of his room he was holding "Griff" his Hippo toy. J informed me that Griff was a baby and that he needed to feed his baby. He put Griff into the highchair and gave him some Cheerios, he even talked to him, "Dows yummy Chewyo's? Yes, dows yummy!". But my favorite part was when I heard him say, as sweetly, tenderly and truthfully as a 3 year old could ever say anything "Baby, I love you, I love you so much" I can not even express how happy I was to hear him say that while he pretended to be a Daddy. I felt like Ken and I must be doing okay as parents if our little J was such a loving parent to his pretend baby.

And finally, despite the moments of selfishness, my little 3 year old J loves his baby brother B. And B worships J. Now that B can crawl he will find J wherever he is in the house, he wants to do whatever J is doing, and for the most part J treats him pretty well. I do say "Please Don't......" a lot, but I think that is pretty typical. Please don't put your feet on your brothers....face or head.....Please don't feed your brother.... cheese... dirt... leaves.... Please don't sit on your brother. You know the typical things. Yesterday morning the boys took a bath together, it was a joyous occasion.

Now an update about B, he has his first tooth (not sure if I shared that) and he is crawling around like mad! But on Friday he did this for the first time-

Since the morning after he started crawling he has been crawling over to things, like the couch or boxes, or the side of the tub, and he has been trying to figure out how to push himself up to a standing position. Well on Friday he came over to the dishwasher and figured out how to stand. He was so amazingly proud of himself. He stood there for about 5 minutes and then got frustrated because he couldn't figure out how to get back down. So I helped him down and he immediately got back up. A little while later he followed J into the bathroom where he stood up next to the tub. It is now an addiction, if he is awake and near something he tries to use it to stand, I can see the wheels turning in his mind, he is trying to figure out how to cruise. He will be 1 year old in about a week and a half, he is bound and determined to be big like his brother.

I've got a pretty great life.

A Super Swing with some Super People

2011-07-14T17:30:00.001-06:00

Have you ever been on a Super Swing? I have. I happen to know the secret location of one, here's a hint, Uncle Weldon designed it. That's all I am going to say. If you can divine it's location from that hint then you might be able to take a swing too! Uncle Weldon wanted to recreate the feeling of singing in the barn (I totally knew the name of the contraption when I was swinging, now all I can think of is Hay, and Barns and Lifts....sorry) anyway, this is quite the swing. See, I'm having fun!

Looking skinny too!

Ken took a turn, this picture shows pretty much the entire swing, the frame is pretty huge then there is a pretty long log suspended by ropes and chains, Weldon used a chain to swing one end of the log back and forth, the swing is suspended from the other end of the log and it can whip you around, pretty far, pretty fast. We both enjoyed it, but by the end of my ride I was feeling a little motion sick. You never took the same path twice. I would say, if you ever get the chance to Swing on a Super Swing, do it!

Here's Ken again, looking like Superman.

See how long that log/arm is!

Here he is, the creator of the super swing, Uncle Weldon, working hard.

We even let J have a turn, he was pretty excited and so were all the women, there was a lot of loud speaking, not yelling, just loud speaking "Not So High" "Not So Fast" You know, all those things we women say.

Even though the picture is blurry, you can tell he was having the time of his life!

Ken got back on the swing so that J could go a little higher and a little faster, J had the biggest smile! He loved it.

After the swinging was over, J took some pictures, he is becoming quite the little artist. This one is a little blurry yes, but I think it tells a good story.

Here's Grandma Wheeler, I told Ken I thought this could have been a professionally taken picture, great shot for a 3 year old, don't you think?

Aunt Donna's portrait also turned out fabulous! What do you think? Do they look like Sisters? I think so.

And the little artist couldn't have a photo shoot without taking a self portrait.

So that was last Friday, Dinner, Super Swing, Fun with Family that we love.

Ordinary Miracles

2011-07-14T16:54:00.000-06:00

So, if you read about the Freedom Run you will read about how I asked Heavenly Father to help me get to the race on time, and he did, and to me it felt like a miracle. Two days after the race I had my Training Show and started my career as a Premier Designs Jewelry Lady. I was both nervous and calm, it was an odd combination. But after it was all I felt like I had witnessed even more miracles, and as I said my prayers that night I remember thinking that God knew it was all going to work out well, that's why he blessed me with calmness. I still feel quite blessed. I like it. But anyway, back to my adventures as a Jewelry Lady.

My Mother graciously allowed me to host my show at her home. I have a friend in my neighborhood who will be hosting a show for me this summer and I didn't want to have too many shows, too close together on the same street. I invited quite a few people to my first show, but I really didn't have any firm RSVP's, this is why I was nervous. It wouldn't be much of a training experience if I was talking to an empty room. But something Miraculous happened, 10 people came! I've never had 10 people at the shows I hosted at my house. I think it was a pretty good show.

I decided that I wanted to have some signage, and so I contacted my friend Paige Spaulding to see if her printing company could help me out. CPS Graphix did a great job for me, you can find them here- www.cpsgraphix.com . The signs work miracles too, as we were setting up and putting the jewelry out, someone knocked on the door- My Mom's neighbor, she said she LOVES jewelry and came in to take a look. She came back for the party. Later in the evening another neighbor came by, because she saw the signs. Those signs pretty much paid for themselves that night. My J loves them too, as you can see in this picture.

So it has been a week since my training show and I have had another chance to play Jewelry Lady, thanks to my friend Jolene! I am learning lessons, someday I might be pretty good at this. I hope Jolene is pleased with her hostess benefits, getting a guiltless shopping spree can be pretty fun, in my opinion.

I have been having lots of fun learning how to wear my jewelry, how to combine different necklaces, how to wear 5 or more items at once! Last night at Jolene's home show, I got a pretty big compliment, I had come up with what I thought was a pretty cute combo of two necklaces and a slide, and one of the guests came up to me, handed me a couple other pieces of jewelry and said "I want to get these, and I want those necklaces you are wearing too!" (yes, she was excited about them!) It wasn't until I got home that I realized what a compliment that truly was. So I may not be perfect, but I am doing pretty good. I can do hard things, and I can like it.

So, if you want to help me in my quest to be a Great Jewelry Lady, host a show for me! Seriously, you will be greatly rewarded.

2011 Freedom Run- a very important lesson

2011-07-14T16:03:00.000-06:00

No pictures from the freedom run, I didn't bring the camera and even though I smiled and waved at the official photographers, they only seemed to take pictures of me when I was not looking really good. Seriously, I smiled, I waved!

So here is my story, and what I learned. I signed up for this 10k knowing that I actually needed to run 8 miles that day, so my plan was to run a little before the race, stretch, run the race, snack on a banana and have some water then finish the 8 miles. That was my plan. I have participated in 2 previous freedom runs, a 1 mile fun run in 2004 and a 5k in 2007, both times I was late. I was not going to be late this time because I was going to have my warm up run before the race. So I woke up at 5:20, I left on time at 6, the race started at 7. I was on the freeway about 2 freeway exits from home when I realized I didn't have my running watch, I decided it was VERY important for me to have that watch so I came home and got it. I didn't bring a house key, because anything I brought I had to run with, so I pounded on the door for a little while, sleepy Ken saved me, and by 6:30 I was back on the road, begging Heavenly Father to help me get to the race on time. And he did. I thought I knew where to park, but the road was closed so I just kind of followed traffic in the general direction of the race, eventually finding myself in the visitor's parking lot east of the Wilkinson Student Center. I was pretty sure that I was only a block away from the park so I started to run. I wasn't alone. There were probably 30 or more people all running towards the park, I could hear the national anthem being sung so I knew I hadn't missed the start. I ran about a quarter of a mile and lined up in the 10 minute mile section of the 10k start. Then I tried to stretch a little. Two minutes later I was running up a hill, then around a corner and down a hill, then I found myself on a parade route and I had a thigh cramp. I've never had a thigh cramp before, I didn't know quite how to fix it. I felt really drained, I wasn't keeping my normal pace, I hadn't even gone two miles and I was wondering why in the world I was running 6-8 miles the day after fasting! At the second water station I stopped and used the table to help me stretch a little, my thigh felt better and I kept going, still slower, but still going.

They severely underestimated the amount of cups they would need at the water stations, by the 3rd station at mile 4, they were letting people drink out of a hose. I walked a little up the last two hills but I made it through to the end of the race. I finished in 1 hour 12 min, about 11:40 min miles. My training pace was 10:30 on average so it wasn't my best time, BUT I also didn't train on hills, I think I hate hills. Anyway, I finished up my 8 miles by running around the BYU campus. When I finished I was very tired.

So what did I learn? If you are going to ask your body to work hard (i.e.run really far, early in the morning, on a humid day...) then you should probably eat the day before. Yep. I ran 9 miles a week after the Freedom Run, the day before my 9 mile run we had spaghetti for dinner. My pace through 6 miles was 10:30! I slowed down a bit on the last 3 miles, finishing the 9 miles with an average pace of 10:58. I think I learned a good lesson from the 2011 Freedom Run. I hope I remember it for a long time.

The Fruits of our Labor

2011-07-14T15:06:00.000-06:00

I was sitting at my kitchen table this morning and I saw something WONDERFUL! Strawberries!

(Okay, so I really saw the strawberries last week, but I did write that sentence and take these pictures last week too. We had kind of a busy week last week........as you may have already seen)

So the strawberries didn't look ready to pick, and I left them to ripen, I am amazed that I haven't been out there every day checking on their progress. I think we will pick them as a family. Maybe tonight, who knows!

Look, I made peas! They tasted god, I picked them immediately after getting photographic proof.

My "4th of July" tomato plant, that promised fruit by the 4th of July must be using a different calendar than I am. Because this was a few days after the 4th and....I guess there is fruit but I was kind of expecting red fruit. I am still excited for tomatoes! YEAH!

I got two kinds of squash, Yellow and Spaghetti, I don't remember which plant this is, but as you can see, it's flowering! I hope to eat some squash soon too. I love squash!

So, there you go, the fruits of our labor, This quite possibly could be our best garden yet....now.... if I could just remember to weed.

How Cute Are They?!?!

2011-06-27T08:17:00.000-06:00

My Sister, Abby, took some pictures of my little family. She did an AMAZING JOB!

I have never felt very photogenic, but I sure think my boys are, they must get it from their father. Here's my little Baby B, 10 months and 3 weeks old, wearing an 18 month size outfit that fits just right! He is a tall boy.

I call this next one "Love Thy Brother"

And I love this one too, my J is getting so BIG!

My little dirty faced boy- He even has some treasures in his nose! And he is Gorgeous!

Ken and B! B was getting a little fussy, Ken fixed that.

Lately J has been giving us kisses on our noses- he loves it, and it makes for a cute picture.

Lately if Ken tells J that he loves him, J says "No, You love Baby, Mommy love me!" It's true I do love J, I am glad he knows it. We always tell him that Mommy loves him and Daddy loves him and Brother loves him too! We all Love each other! Sometimes J agrees, sometimes he stands his ground, "No, Mommy Love Me!"

Fingers in the mouth, kind of cute.

Right now, this next one is the picture I thinking of getting printed, though the one above is growing on me....

My Man and his Boys!

I just love this one- they boys were getting wiggly and wouldn't look at the camera- or even in the same direction, my sister asked our brother in law to take the dogs to a different part of the lawn, since the boys were watching the dogs, instead our smart brother, lifted one of the dogs up into the air, the boys went CRAZY!

I love Ken Wheeler, SO MUCH!

Thanks Abby for taking these pictures. They, and You, are Amazing!

Baby B Vs. the Flour Bucket (and the Sippy Cup too)

2011-06-23T10:03:00.000-06:00

Can you guess who won? B was hanging out with me in the kitchen, I left to take something to the computer desk and when I came back I found that the almost empty flour bucket had been over turned, and someone had been eating the flour! I cleaned up the flour and then got the camera, when he heard the camera turn on, Baby B raised his arms in Triumph!

Baby B has also been working on holding his own bottle and using a sippy cup. If he is sitting straight up he can't do it. I don't know if it is an arm strength issue, I really have no idea what it is BUT I do know that if B is in his chair, slightly reclined he can do ANYTHING! For example, drink (watered down) Apple Juice.

He LOVED it!

Kate's New Adventure

2011-06-22T09:59:00.000-06:00

I am going to be Utah County's FIRST Premier Designs Jeweler!

I hosted two pretty successful parties over the past couple of years, after my second party the Jeweler (Alecia, who happens to be my cousin) asked me if I was interested in becoming a jeweler myself, she thought I would be good at it. I was very easy for me to tell her I wasn't interested, because I am not a salesman.

So a year has gone by I was ready to host another party (meaning I was ready to get some more AWESOME hostess benefits-i.e.free jewelry LOVE IT!) and I contacted Alecia and we set the date, and then a couple of days later she emailed me and asked if I had thought about being a Jeweler again. I almost shot an email right back saying that "wasn't my thing, I just liked the free jewelry" but I didn't. We were chatting again a few days later and she reminded me that I had never answered her question, and I tried to say that I wasn't interested, but I couldn't. I felt like I was being stopped mid sentence and I couldn't finish. Instead I said that I needed to think about it some more, and talk to Ken. The talk with Ken never really happened other than me telling Ken that Alecia was going to come over to tell me more about working for/with Premier Designs.

And so it happened that Alecia came over and told me how it all works and the benefits of being a Jeweler for Premier Designs. Ken was there. And he and I both thought the same thing. This is something that I should do. We prayed about it and still felt the same way, and so I signed up. I am excited and a little scared, but more an anticipation kind of scared than a fear of clowns kind of scared.

Some of the things I have learned about Premier Designs that I love-

The founders of the company wanted to create an opportunity for stay at home mothers, single parents, or individuals serving full time in Christian Ministries to be able to earn money and help support themselves and their families.
The first of the four things they list as their company philosophy is "We believe God created every person with value." The first of the four items listed as their company purpose is "To enrich every life we touch" and the first of the companies objectives is"God demands fairness in every business deal. He sets the standard and we desire to honor Him" I was really impressed by those things.
I have always enjoyed hosting the parties, I like the jewelry, and loved the hostess benefits. But I also just felt good about myself, I thought it was because I had new jewelry to wear but I think it might have something to do with the way Premier Designs does business "Building this business on Biblical principles has made this business strong as well as enabled us to enrich lives. These principles keep us focused on the things that really matter — serving, caring, hard work, hope and truth. We are determined that our growth should never outpace our ability to serve. Nothing is more important than service — it defined our beginning, has defined our growth, and it will define our future," declares Premier Designs Co-founder Andy Horner. "I'm talking about a total life commitment to being a servant. This means that when one of our Jewelers walks into a home, she must focus on more than selling jewelry. She must see each of the individuals at the Home Show as an infinitely valuable person made in the image of God. She must care about those people and seek to build them up. Even if the retail sales are disappointing, a Home Show is considered a success if the Jeweler gives of herself — expecting nothing in return — and enriches the lives of each person there by caring, listening, encouraging, and helping each participant understand that they are 'somebody.' This is the heart of how Premier Designs defines success." I found that on the Premier Designs Website. I think it explains a little why I always felt so good about my parties- even when only 2 or 3 people showed up. I had hosted other types of direct sales parties- My Tupperware party would be a good example- and when not many people showed I always felt like I had failed in some way, it wasn't the best of experiences, but with my jewelry parties it was just different. I felt valued. I think I am a caring person, I can listen and encourage and help to lift people when they need it. I LOVE that service is actually the focus of this company. It makes me feel really good about working with them.

So I am starting to make plans, set up home shows/jewelry parties. I have a goal to have 6-9 shows in my first 6 weeks (July 6th to August 16th). I am hoping to talk some good friends into being hostess for those shows. I know it would be fun, and I hope that they would feel as good as I felt after my parties. I really have a desire to love and serve and uplift as I build my little business. So, if I send you an email, or give you a call, and beg for your help, please know that I put a lot of thought and prayer into my list of potential hostesses. And if you want to preempt my call/email and you just really really really want to host a Home Show- Let Me Know! (and don't worry if you live outside of Utah County- I am totally willing to travel-within reason ;) )

Baby B Explains it All

2011-06-21T15:50:00.000-06:00

Hello All! It's me, Baby B. I thought I would share some stories with you today. This weekend we went out of town, all the way to Midway! It's just 21.44 miles from where we live- as the crow flies- but since we are not crows we had to drive 35 miles around the mountain that separates us from Midway.

I was pretty happy in Midway, but hey, I am pretty happy everywhere right? Midway was beautiful, we got there on Saturday and came home on Monday, which I think was not long enough! I wanted to go on a hike, maybe check out those cool craters that seemed to be EVERYWHERE, as it was we didn't leave our condo much, but our view was quite pretty and we had some pretty fun adventures.

The first thing we did once we got settled in, was go swimming. My brother J was SO EXCITED to go swimming that I thought it must be something amazing! I watched J jump to Mommy a few times and then Mommy put me into a plastic, air filled, TORTURE DEVICE! I immediately started to complain, it just didn't seem safe to me, sure, it had two circle shape things and a seat with a back rest and it floated quite well, BUT I didn't like it. Pretty soon Mommy gave up and let Daddy catch J. Mommy and I went and sat next to a big tub full of really warm water. Mommy put her feet in the water but she wouldn't let me get it. Who knows, I think I would have liked it. It was fun watching J and flirting with all the other ladies and babies and everyone really. I like flirting. J also had a new toy, Mommy called it a Noodle. J even kicked his feet a little while he used the noodle to help him float in the water. Mommy said J is gong to take swimming lessons soon, if Mommy can remember to sign him up that is.

Here is a picture of our Condo. Mommy thought it was really cute, very Swiss. We were right next door to the Zermatt Resort and Spa, it was also Swiss inspired- as were most of the other resorts.....I felt very at home here, so did Mom, after all, we are part Swiss, and we really like Swiss Cheese and stuff like that. Mom really wants to go to Swiss days sometime, but that is another story, so on to my next adventure.

When Mom and Dad decided to go to Midway they were still living under the false hope that J and I would be able to share a room at night, so they booked a 2 bedroom condo for us to stay in. Mommy decided to try making the second bathroom into a special little nursery just for me! My pack and play fit very well into the bathroom, but Mommy forgot to bring my extra soft convoluted mattress pad....this proved to be a problem. You see, I like comfort. I will put up with the uncomfortable and hard pack and play thing for a couple of hours, but not all night. At 2 AM on Sunday Morning I turned on my "I am NOT Happy and I will wake up the Neighbors" siren. It worked. Mommy came and saved me. She brought me into her room and told me that since she and Daddy had a King sized bed there at the Condo, there would definitely be room for little old me. Mommy and Daddy decided it would be safest for me to be in the middle of he bed. They were right, I do move around A LOT, and I do intentionally try to fall off beds and stuff. So anyway, what Mommy and Daddy didn't realize was that I am a complete and total BED HOG! It is true, like I said, I like comfort and when I find a comfortable mattress I make it mine. In this case I decided that the most comfortable part of the bed was indeed in the middle but not length wise down the middle, I wiggled until I found the perfect spot, which was width wise, Mommy and Daddy had sufficient room on either side of me, as long as they laid on their sides. Sometimes they crowded me, so I would kick Mom or headbutt Dad until they gave me the appropriate space. Mommy didn't like this, she took an extra blanket and folded it 4 or 5 times until it fit perfectly into my little pack and play, then she banished me back to the bathroom. The blanket provided sufficient softness for me to sleep, so I tried not to complain about losing my King Sized Bed. I heard Mommy complain about how she had passed on her "Princess and the Pea" gene to me....I don't think that is a problem, as long as I have a comfortable mattress, and there are no peas under it. Little J also escaped his room (no toddler proof door knob covers) and came into visit Mom and Dad at about 3. Mom and Dad didn't sleep too well.

Speaking of Peas! Look what Mommy let me eat, she didn't puree them or anything! That means I am big. I got about 75% of them in my mouth on the first try too. I was excited about that until those peas interrupted my sleep on Sunday night. Daddy saved me this time, he changed my diaper (peas really don't like me) and held me until I was calm again. I have a nice Daddy. I hope he had a good Father's Day because he is my Favorite Father EVER!

So, on Monday morning we packed up all our stuff and came home. We did get to stop at Arctic Circle for some shakes, Mommy let me have some of her shake because I am such a good boy. Someday I want to be as good as J because he got to have his own cone. It was a fun trip, I wouldn't mind going back there someday, anyone want to go to Swiss Days? I am guessing there will be Yodeling!

A Big Splash

2011-06-20T12:07:00.032-06:00

Last summer I heard that Highland had a splash park, being large with child at the time I was very willing to spend time at splash parks. It was hot, I could wade through water if i wanted. J could have lots of fun. I even scheduled a play date, it was for either August 5th or 6th......who knew I would have a Baby on August 4th! No one, and I totally forgot about the splash park, until last week when my friend Annaca reminded me. So on Friday the boys and I suited up and headed over to Highland.

I was a little worried, because on the Highland City website they said that the splash park was not open when the temperature was below 75. Well it has been hot this week, right up until yesterday afternoon. When we got the the park there was no water, just a bunch of kids in suits running around and jumping on rocks. J was perfectly willing to jump on rocks. Then about 15 min after we got there water erupted from everywhere!

B enjoyed this little perch (for about 90 seconds)

J enjoyed running around this splash pad, but he would not venture into it when the water was shooting.

The splash park had a large waterfall (just for show it was pretty well blocked off though I did have to stop J from climbing down into it at one point) the water from the waterfall flows under a bridge and through a little lagoon, where J spent most of his time. In the lagoon there are lots of rocks that spurt water. J had a blast AND he didn't make anyone cry! YES!

Baby B, once again, spent most of his time in the igloo. I love that tent, quite possibly the best Ikea purchase I have ever made.

We had so much fun that I decided we would go every Friday, if possible. And next time, we're bringing lunch. Also for next time, I am not going to leave my camera at the splash park. I didn't realize the camera was missing until after we were home and both the boys were napping- basically when I wanted to blog about how much fun we had had. After Ken got home I drove back over there, parked in the same spot, walked the same path, couldn't find our camera.......then for some strange reason I looked up- and there it was hanging from a small branch on the tree closest to our parking spot. I am grateful for honest people! I was so worried, not about the camera but about the pictures that we hadn't moved to the computer yet. Ken took care of that as soon as I got home. So that is the end of our Splash Park adventure, for today that is.

Temple Picnics

2011-06-18T12:02:00.079-06:00

The boys and I started something new this week, we are going go to a temple each month and have a picnic. On Wednesday we went to the Draper Utah LDS Temple. As soon as we drove into the parking lot at the temple, J started calling out, "Moroni! Moroni! Mommy there's Moroni!" And I wondered who taught him about the statue of Moroni on top of the Temples. I vaguely remember pointing it out once, but really only once. He has a great memory. The next thing J noticed was the groundskeepers, or more importantly their equipment. He stalked this "Digger" with the ease and skill of a jungle cat. We will see later if he was successful in catching his prey.

Then there was Baby B, It was pretty sunny and since the Draper Temple is only a couple years old I knew they wouldn't have much shade there, so we brought our Ikea igloo tent, it was perfect for B. He rolled around and cooed and was generally CUTE. When we have picnics B gets to eat bread, I toss it in the tent and he rolls over to it, it's a pretty fun game.

So, yes, J eventually caught the digger. Truth be told the groundskeepers went in for lunch and they parked the digger about 15 feet from us. J was in heaven. He is sitting on my lap right now and he keeps saying "Me likes dee digger".

Baby B is on the verge of crawling, he is at the point where he can go in reverse but hasn't figured out how to put himself into drive. I put the tent next to a little tree and B kept backing up and backing up into the a corner of the tent. Eventually I realized that he was actually moving the tent. He had wrapped the tent around the tree, about 5 to 6 inches. He was quite pleased with himself.

Later that day Baby B did something new- he got into a sitting position all on his own. He has been sitting up on his own for quite a while now, he will sit FOREVER and play, but if he fell over he couldn't get back up. On Tuesday we had some friends over and B rolled himself into the middle of the room, then with great gusto he showed of his new trick, twice, both times he did it a different way. Since then he has been rolling or backing up, wherever he wanted, sitting up, playing for a while, then rolling somewhere else. He is pretty proud of his new ability.....but back to the final Temple picture. I couldn't get both of the boys to look at the camera and smile at the same time. This one was the cutest. I learned for next time not to put the boys in the shade (1 minute in the sun for pictures won't hurt them).

All in all we had a wonderful time at the temple. J and I had a pretty nice conversation about the temple and why it is a special place, how it is the house of the Lord and that Mommy and Daddy got married in a Temple and they get to go to the temple sometimes. The Groundskeepers told me that there are lots of people who come up there and eat lunch and look at the Temple, so now I don't feel so funny about picnicking at the Temple. I hope our boys enjoy our new tradition. More pictures of our Temple Picnics will come every month

Favorites

2011-06-17T18:36:00.000-06:00

These pictures are from last Sunday.

The baby was just too cute NOT to take a picture. He sure loves his Daddy.

And J figured out that he could pretty much take care of himself, as long as he had the cooler to push around the kitchen. Yep, too cute to not take a picture, though the cooler was eventually confiscated.

Just your typical Sunday afternoon around here.

Pies!

2011-06-12T14:11:00.000-06:00

We had a neighborhood picnic this weekend, and I signed up to bring a pie for the Pie Contest. I didn't just want to make an apple pie, anyone can make an apple pie. I know anyone can because I can, in fact that is the only kind of pie I have ever made. I wanted to make something Fabulous, maybe something with a single crust. So I looked online for a while and found a few recipes I wanted to try. One was a Mock Pecan and the other was a Peanut Butter and Chocolate pie. I couldn't decide which one to make for the picnic, so I made both. Ken had Friday off of work this week, so that he could participate in Youth Conference/Day Camp for the Special Need Mutual, he was going to be home until around 10 AM and he agreed to watch the boys while I made pie crusts....well it turned out that he watched the boys while I made the whole pies.

I love Pie Crust. LOVE IT!

Never having made a single crust pie before, I was a little uncertain about how to make the crust nice looking- you know, how to crimp the edges and stuff. The Peanut Butter pie needed a pre-baked crust. I made the crust, put it in the pan then cut and crimped the edges. I made 2 mistakes with this crust- first, I cut the crust so that the crimped edges were above the top of the pie dish, second, I didn't crimp very hard. I discovered after it was baked that the crimped edges had come apart and fallen over the side of the pie dish......oops. It wasn't the prettiest pie crust I had ever made, but it did taste good.

Next, I melted some chocolate and stirred in a couple tablespoons of heavy whipping cream, when it was all well combined I spread it into the pie crust and put it in the refrigerator to cool, it needed to be firm before I could pour the peanut butter layer on.

For the Peanut Butter layer, I mixed 1/2 cup peanut butter together with one 5 oz package of instant vanilla pudding powder. Once that was combined I turned on the heat and let it melt and then I mixed in some milk. This next part was the most annoying- I had to stir it constantly over LOW heat until it boiled. IT TOOK FOREVER! .

Then once it boiled I took it off the heat and let it cool for 15 minutes, then I poured it over the chocolate and put the pie back in the fridge to cool completely. This pie tasted good! It also held together really well. I saw one man take a slice, he was using a fork and the piece came out perfectly- then before he got it too his plate he dropped the piece of pie! He caught it with his hand, any other pie would have fallen apart or smashed...this one just kind of giggled and he put it onto his plate and walked away....very nice.

Having learned my lesson from the first pie crust I made two very necessary changes- I trimmed the crust much shorter and I crimped the edges with much more force. I have decided that this crust is the prettiest pie crust I have ever made.

Now, this is a Mock Pecan pie. This is a pie perfect for those who enjoy the sweet goodness of pecan pie but who don't enjoy or can't eat pecans. I happen to be married to just such a person, and he was excited for the sweet sugary goodness of this pie! I must say it was pretty simple to make Eggs, Brown Sugar, White Sugar, Vanilla and melted butter all beaten together, then fold in some rolled oats and coconut, pour it into the the pie crust and bake it for 30 min. Edges covered, of course.

It was a very good looking pie, it had a crusty top and I had no idea what the inside was like.....it was at this point that I said to myself "What were you thinking?! You made two pies for a pie contest and you have no idea if they are even good!"

Well, they were good, and it turns out that there was no pie contest! The would be judges were also manning the 4 BBQ grills that were cooking the hamburgers and hot dogs for all the picnickers. They greatly underestimated the amount of people who were going to show up for the picnic and or how long it would take to cook all that meat and before they could judge the pies....the pies had pretty much all been eaten. Oh well, maybe next year. I do know this, I made two pretty yummy pies. I am definitely going to try the Mock Pecan again, it was a little runny, I want to figure out how to get it to set properly....because I too like that sugary filling.

Parkin' It

2011-06-10T14:58:00.000-06:00

So today has been a weird day. Ken was home in the morning, then at about 10 he left to go to the Special Needs Mutual Youth Conference, he is going to be gone until about 9 tonight. It is beautiful outside and I want to spend lots of time out there. We have been to the big park, that is about a block and a half away from our house, a few times this week. The park is getting really fun because J is very able and willing to play by himself. So today I thought I wanted to try something new. I knew that B would enjoy time in the tent- because I took it to the big park earlier this week- but I wanted some shade too and I am too big for the tent. So I set up my market umbrella..... Look how happy B is!

See that gate- that's my gate. We were close enough to the house (and our wireless) that I was able to take my laptop out there.

And here is another view- see how close we are to the neighborhood playground! We are going to be out here a lot this summer, we are ALL going to enjoy it. J had fun for an hour- then it was nap time. A side effect of playing at the park, J sleeps pretty darn good at nap time AND bedtime. And yes, we are going back to the park after dinner. (hehehehehehe, do you think he will figure out my evil plan?)

There were not a lot of kids at the park today, two 15 month old girls came to play, but they didn't really want to play with J. At one point J denied use of the Baby Swing to one of the little girls, his brother was going to come swing....so I took B over to the swing so as to not turn J into a liar. So, this is what happened...

"I'm not to sure about this, are you sure this is safe?!?!"

"I feel a little funny in my tummy! I like it!"

"Weeeeeeeeeeee!"

B's has been in a swing like this 3 times now, the first few times he lasted about a minute before he was crying and begging to get out. This time he really liked it. J pushed him for a while and then I took over, he had fun in the swing for at least 10 minutes. I think he might be addicted. J is learning how to swing on the big swings. He still wants to sit in the baby swings (I believe this is the real reason he denied access to the swing to the little girl) but since he weighs 35 pounds, I am not very inclined to help him get in and out of the baby swings. This picture really doesn't show how well he did, in fact he kind of looks like he is in pain, but believe me, he enjoyed the big swing and I believe that he will soon not even ask for me to put him in the baby swing.

So if you're in the neighborhood and want to spend some time at the park, let us know! We will bring out the tent, umbrella and blanket! We will all have a good old time at the park.

Other stuff we've been doing

2011-06-08T11:28:00.000-06:00

Last weekend I ran a 5k, the Blood Run and no it was not a race for Vampires, it was a race to support the Utah Hemophilia Foundation. It was near my parents house AND it started at 7 AM, because Ken was busy that morning and because I didn't want to wake the boys up at 5 AM so that I could get them to my Parent's house with time for me to make it to the race early enough to get my # and run the race, I decided to sleep over with the boys at Grandma and Grandpas, It was fun. Before we left Daddy alone at home, we treated him to dinner at Emmett's and Ethel's here in Lehi.

B is getting to be a big boy, but he seemed so little in the high chair. Happy, but little.

I later realized that B was little because he was pretty much laying down in the chair.

This is rare- this boy seems to have cleaned his plate! I cleaned my plate too, that may or may not have been a good thing- calorie wise.

Some other things we've been doing- B is still enjoying all kinds of foods, here he is with some more sauce-less spaghetti- he really likes noodles.

And J continues to pick out his own clothes. He is also talking more and more, it is amazing the things this kid says and sings. He has a great memory too, he reminds me of things all the time (so now I have to stop making promises that I don't intend to keep, because he remembers), AND, he has a great imagination too. We have lots of conversations about Fires and Firemen and Fire Trucks and Smoke, Just about everything in our house has been on fire recently- according to J.

I also love the baby down in the bottom of this picture- sometimes that kid busts a gut laughing. I love my boys!

Bring it on Summer!

2011-06-08T10:46:00.000-06:00

Show us what you've got! (and PLEASE no more snow....okay?)

So back in early February I learned how to make cute little door wreaths out of coat hangers and strips of fabric. I originally made a heart shaped one for Valentines, then I made a round one with pastel fabric for spring. I wanted to figure out how to make more interesting shapes. I mean, hearts are good but you can only use a heart for a small part of the year. Circles are nice but wouldn't it be fun to have a Shamrock? Or a Star? Well I figured it out- too late for the shamrock but I will definitely make one for next year. Instead of using a hanger I used some bendable plastic coated wire that I found in the Wal-Mart Home Improvement section.

Here is my Summer Time/ Fourth of July Star! I thought Red, White and Blue in a flag type pattern would be cute. I think I was right!

I put it on the door around Memorial Day, in the hopes that it would help the weather figure out that it was Memorial Day and the kids would be out of school for summer soon. I think it has helped.

Yesterday we had a Picnic. That is the kind of thing you do in the Summer, right? I think this may have been our very first family picnic and it was lots of fun. We found a park with a pretty huge play structure and J played while the rest of us ate. I made some oven baked chicken and potato spears. I gave Ken two options, Oven Baked Chicken or Teriyaki Chicken Wraps, Ken thought I had said both options were wraps and he picked Oven Baked Chicken Wraps- it was a very tasty mistake. I cut the chicken into strips, breaded and baked it, then we ate it wrapped in tortilla's with lettuce and tomatoes. It was very good, we will have it again. The potato spears were pretty good too, I cut about 5 potatoes into 8ths, then put them in a bowl with a Tbls of Olive Oil, a 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese and some garlic powder, salt and pepper, mixed to coat the potatoes well and I baked them at the same time as the chicken. Yummy and pretty good for a small picnic.

We were able to get J away from the playground long enough to eat 4 French fries

Baby B enjoyed the French fries as well

In fact, B enjoyed the picnic so much that he gave the experience "Two Fists Up!" It is like two thumbs up, only better!

Ken and I both agreed that we should go on more picnics, I am thinking one a week, at least during the summer. It was lots of fun.

You Too?

2011-05-27T14:43:00.002-06:00

I've been a little sleep deprived this week, and it is my own fault. I can not blame it on small children. I have only myself to blame, well, really I blame myself and U2. Ken and I went to the U2 concert in Salt Lake on Tuesday. I love music, I love shows and concerts, I loved attending this concert with Ken. I lost 1.4 pounds last week, I am giving partial credit to the concert- I danced, danced, danced. I had a blast. I am pretty sure Ken did too, he didn't dance too much, but I didn't expect him too, it was his first real concert experience after all. We didn't bring a camera, so I can't show you the awesomeness of it all, but believe me, it was AWESOME.

I have now seen U2 in concert twice. Once in 2001 (when they were 39-41 years old) and now 2011 (when they are 49-51). I am thinking that every 10 years they should come play a concert, wherever I happen to live, and I will happily attend. I will dance and sing right along with them when I am 44 and they are 60, and when I am 54 and they are 70, I know they will ROCK for as long as they possibly can, Bono is proof, he called himself RoboBono- since he has a new back!

Man, it was a good concert, I hope I get to see them again someday.

I do it Myself...

2011-05-27T10:14:00.001-06:00

Last Sunday J picked out his own clothes, he chose gray pants and a blue polo shirt that matched, I was very proud. Then he chose a tie......not what I would have picked, but hey, the kid is picking out his own clothes, so I helped him put on the tie.

Then he chose some blue, green, red and yellow plaid-ish socks.
What a sweet boy he is! And Yes, I let him go to church just like this, I even forgot to brush his hair, so this is exactly what he looked like when we arrived. About half way through Sacrament Meeting he decided to take of his tie, it was about this time that I realized I hadn't brushed his hair and I kind of pushed his hair around with my fingers for a while until it looked like it might have been combed, once, maybe. My baby is growing up so fast.

When the cousins come to town.....

2011-05-27T10:12:00.001-06:00

When cousins come to town...... we show off all our tricks- Baby B has been practicing this one, secretly, for a while now. I now have to admit that I recently found the baby face down on the floor, while still buckled into this chair- I blamed J for pushing his brother over....oops, looks like he figured out how to push himself over. He (Baby B) is pretty happy with himself.

When the cousins come to town.....we have Big Dinners! Ken likes to take pictures of us eating, I decided I would post one- Adults are outnumbered by children quite often when the Cousins come to town. Do you like my Bib-I figured, Spaghetti + White Shirt= Kate needs a Bib/Apron.
When the cousins come to town......we copy their hair styles. We had the Tim and Liz Wheeler family here this week with their children, two girls, S and W and one boy Sp. This morning J was watching W get her hair done, she wanted piggy tails, and so did J, so I gave him some.
Aren't those the cutest little piggy tails you have ever seen on J?

J also gave into some positive peer pressure, as far as potty training goes, with all these kids around who DON'T wear diapers, J actually asked to go potty several times, and DID and he also wore underpants for a while- something he hasn't wanted to do in weeks. YEAH!

We hope the our cousins come back and visit again.

When Mom's not looking....

2011-05-20T12:44:00.001-06:00

Last night we had Chicken Parmesan, with spaghetti and marinara sauce. It was good. While we were all at the table J donated a couple of noodles to his brother, I was okay with this, there was no sauce there would be no mess and the baby could try eating noodles. He like them. After dinner, Baby B stayed in his highchair while I started on the dishes, as I was clearing the table I discovered that J had given B even more of his meal after I had my back turned....

Baby B has been cleared for almost all foods and I must admit he really seems to like spaghetti, his skin and highchair tray were a bit stained, but he was very happy.
So I am thinking B will start trying more and more of our regular table food. By the time he is a year old, he will be a total pro.

Secret Identities

2011-05-20T12:43:00.001-06:00

I put baby B down in front of the mirror this morning while I got his brother changed and ready for the day. I have been introducing him to his mirror friend for a couple of months now, but this was the first time they were ever left alone together. They had a great conversation. I think they like each other.

Then there is J, he secretly wants to wear diapers FOREVER. I tell you, I am ready for him to be potty trained. He acts like he is ready and he even humors me sometimes, but most of the time he just tells me when he needs to be changed. He even climbs up onto the changing table and waits. He looks pretty GQ, while waiting too, I think. Arms behind his head, ankle resting against his knee.....

Then there is me. On Sunday J announced "Daddy, You Fireman!" Ken asked if he, Daddy, was also a Super Hero. "No, Daddy Fireman" I asked if I was a Super Hero and to my surprise J said that I was. I also discovered that I could fly. Who Knew!

So while we were on our trip in Idaho, Ken and I made some goals to help us get our basement more organized and this week we worked on the things we have stored in our guest room. I found my Croatian Flag, I decided I wanted to find a way to use it, so I brought it upstairs. The next morning J found the folded flag. He picked it up and turned to me and said "Mama, what dis?" then the flag unfurled and J gasped and said "You a Super Hero! Dis yo Super Hero Tape!" Later in the day he wanted me to wear my "Tape"-p.s. J dressed himself that day- and I had just finished my workout. I must admit, it is a pretty great cape. Though I don't plan to use it as a cape, I am thinking maybe I will fly it out front on days special to Croatia.... Lijepa Hrvatska! I am also thinking we need a French flag and of course an American one too! But back to my Super Hero Status.

So, if my super power is being a great Mom, then what should my Secret Identity be?

Spring Sprang!

2011-05-20T12:40:00.001-06:00

They did it, the flowers on the trees started to bloom! If only it wasn't raining 75% of the time. Last weekend I did take a moment to visit with the flowers. I think they were pleased. These are some pretty pink flowered trees down the street from my house.

J is getting pretty good at singing songs, one of his favorites (or my favorites really) is Popcorn Popping- So I tried to point out that Popcorn was popping EVERYWHERE! It is true, they are not Apricot trees, but these little white flowered trees are all over in our neighborhood. So if you hear J scream POPCORN as we drive past, it's probably because he sees a tree.

And here are my Lilac's, I love how they smell. Lilac's make me happy, I hope to have them near me wherever I live.

So there you have it, Spring has Sprung. Digital Proof. I also planted our garden last week. Tomatoes, Peppers, Onions, Sugar Peas, Strawberries, Spaghetti Squash and Crookneck Squash. I am hoping for a good harvest this year.

I also put some marigolds in amongst my veggies, it just seemed like a good thing to do.

9 Months!

2011-05-10T10:13:00.002-06:00

Baby B is 9 months old now! He is quite the character and we love him lots and lots and lots!

He weighs 24 pounds and 1 ounce- which is the 92nd Percentile.

He is 30 inches tall, which puts him in the 93rd Percentile.

Here are some of the things Baby B likes to do.

He likes to sit! And sit and sit and sit! He likes to play with and taste anything he can get his hands on. His brother J does not appreciate the fact that B likes to play with toys, J still thinks he is the only one who should touch the toys.

He likes to eat- and is learning how to feed himself! He loves Finger-foods, but he is kind of a little glutton and tries to get as much food into his hands as possible, then only a few pieces of the food actually get into his mouth. So for now I try to only give him 2 or 3 bits of food, all spaced far apart on his tray.

Here is a picture of his first time eating non-pureed mixed vegetables. It is also when I figured out that I can't just plop down a bunch of food. I pick up a lot of veggies off the floor that day, but B had tons of fun, so it was worth it.

Our Little B still likes to be swaddled and have his head covered when he sleeps, I think this is his quirkiest quirk. I do my best to make sure his nose and mouth are not covered, but he has been known to get his hand free, reach up and pull the blanket down farther over his face.

And Finally- B's favorite thing to do is play with his brother. I love hearing the big belly laughs that J can magically produce from his little brother. J also knows how to get his brother to cry, I am working on getting him to understand that Mom like to hears laughing much better than crying. J and B rough house- I never expected this, BUT, B likes it when J sits on top of him (most of the time) and B loves to sit on top of J- though I have to help to get that to work.

The Turner Girls

2011-05-10T09:52:00.003-06:00

On a Sunday afternoon a few weeks ago, my father wandered around his house and quietly talked to each on of his daughters. Looking over his shoulder to make sure our mother wasn't nearby he asked "Would you come to our Church on Mothers Day?". We all said yes and we were all sworn to secrecy. My little sister Wendy came up with a great idea- we would all get there 15 minutes early and create a little daughter "nest" for my Mom, so she would be surrounded by her progeny. Well, we are not very good at arriving early, so rather than Mom walking in and seeing all of us, most of us walked in one by one after she was already there. But I am pretty sure she still knew how much we love her. Even Grandma Turner came!

Here we are, Me, Jenette, Carrie, Laurie, Grandma T, Mom, Abby and Wendy. Aren't we pretty?! It was a great Mothers Day!

Ken and I attended part of the Sunday meetings for our local congregation before heading up to my parents. We were all prepared, we had our lunch packed with ice packs, we had food for the boys and we even had extra play clothes for after church. We didn't anticipate J's diaper giving out- completely- on the 17 mile drive from our church to my parent's church. But it did. Never fear, it is okay for a kid to wear jeans to church sometimes, it is more important that we were there than us looking perfect right? So I grabbed the jeans for J out of the diaper bag and he and I headed off for a quick change of clothes.......it wasn't to long before I realized that instead of being 3T pants I was holding 18 Month pants.

Good thing J is skinny, he fit perfectly- width wise- into those 18 month jeans, lengthwise it was a different story. But he was still pretty cute. He even went to the Nursery class at Grandma's church and made a Mothers Day gift! It is a flower (or grass) in a cup. It is growing! I am so excited to see exactly what it is.

The Worth of Souls

2011-05-09T10:10:00.002-06:00

I have heard and read, and I believe, that "The worth of souls is great in the sight of God"(Doctrine and Covenants 18:10), but sometimes I forget that I am one of those souls, and just as bad, at times, I forget that other souls are just as precious as mine. I have a feeling that this is a very human problem, not just a Kate problem.

I have noticed over the past few years of my life that I am not the only one who struggles. I am not the only one with issues, emotional or physical, real or imagined. I have a wonderful family, we are weird. There are things about my family that most people would consider "skeletons" and they would hide them away in their deepest darkest closet. But I have discovered that every family is weird, there is No Normal! Or maybe Weird is Normal. Either way, every family has its very own set of problems, its very own skeletons. It is how we deal with our weirdness, our differences, that makes us who we are.

Some of us put on a happy face and do our best to make the world believe that we were raised by perfect people who taught us to lead perfect lives and we are now raising perfect children. Putting up that kind of facade can't be fun, in fact I am willing to bet that it is completely depressing. Others of us think that our weirdness, our mistakes or our sins, or even worse the mistakes or sins of the people we love, make us unlovable and unworthy. I think this is actually quite common but it too is a false belief, and sadly it keeps many of us from progressing and becoming the amazing people that God intended us to be. I think at times of my life I have fallen into this second category. I don't feel that way much anymore..... much.....

I've been thinking about this today. This last weekend was kind of hard, emotionally, and this morning I was wondering why. Why? Self Talk! Here is a peak into my mind.

I have been doing great with my weight-loss, I have been eating well and yet I haven't been denying myself the yummy things in life. I have been learning great life lessons and I believe I look GREAT! I had to go buy some new clothes and I am now in a size of clothes that I have never worn. I was feeling great, feeling beautiful, feeling quite stylish. That is I felt good about myself until I saw a friend who is currently at her goal weight and looks amazing, she had to have been wearing clothes that were half the size of the clothes I was wearing. Suddenly I felt FAT! WHAT? The switch flipped so amazingly fast that it scared me. I was stunned. Fat? Well No, I am not overweight anymore, I am average weight. Stupid negative self talk.

I am running and I am doing great- for me- I am running faster than I ever have and I am running farther than I ever believed possible. My average speed is about 10:45 seconds per mile, I figure that is around 5.5 miles per hour. I am currently working on increasing my speed and I am thinking that by my half marathon in September I will be running at 10 min per mile or 6 miles per hour. So why is it that when I talk to people who currently run 6mph, or faster, I feel so slow? It's self talk. I wouldn't let a stranger talk to my children this way, why do I let myself talk to myself this way?

Now, one of my skeletons that I have ABSOLUTELY NO PROBLEM talking about is the fact that I have been to counseling. I am an anxious person, I am prone to depression and anxiety but I am a smart person (with smart Parents) and when I was in my late teens and early twenties, I sought help, I went to counseling. I believe I am a better person for it. I am not a broken person because of it, rather I am less likely to break. I learned a lot about myself. I learned that I lie to myself. I learned that I don't have to believe or agree with the silly little things I tell myself. I also learned that there is no reason to compare myself to anyone other than myself. So lets take a step back and look at my two examples.

I feel great about myself, I believe that I am healthier today than I have ever been (in my adult life). I think I look great, sometimes I see some part of my body or catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror and I do a double take. Is that really me? I have nothing to thank for my success but hard work and prayer- yes I do believe that prayer has a lot to do with my success in this endeavor. If I compare myself against myself, then there is no other way to feel than successful and amazing. I am proud of my friend, she has worked hard, she looks great. I am proud of myself too, because I am doing great too. If I compare my running against my own track record- I am setting new personal bests every week or two. I am doing things I never would have believed were possible. I am setting goals for myself that years ago would have seemed insane, but now, they seem reasonable, they are appropriate and achievable goals. When I look at it that way, I am AMAZED! I feel great.

I thank God for making me weird, for giving me problems and stumbling blocks. I thank Him for making me imperfect. It is because of my imperfections that I have come to know Him better, it is because of my mistakes and my sins that I have come to truly understand the importance of my Savior, Jesus Christ, in my life. It is because of my failings that I have come to understand just how much my soul is worth to my Savior and my Heavenly Father. I am of worth to them, and because I am of worth to them it is worth it for me to love myself, it is worth it to me to love all the other imperfect people in my life.

Yesterday was Mothers Day. I have a wonderful Mother. She is the right mother for me, she is perfectly imperfect. I have been reading her journals, and I have discovered that we are very similar. I love knowing that I am like her. I love reading that her house didn't get cleaned and that she had so many things to do and sometimes there just was not enough time. I love reading that sometimes she slept in and went to bed early. I love reading those things, and so much more, because I have those same feelings about myself and my life sometimes. I am not alone, in fact I am in great company.

So I guess what I am really saying is, if you are ever feeling down, feeling like someone is better than you, remember that the worth of souls is great in the sight of God, and that means you! You are of great worth. No matter how weird you are, you are worth it.

Budding Artist....

2011-05-06T12:13:00.002-06:00

J got a hold of the camera today, his first picture was of his brother

Then he changed his focus and started taking self portraits. He put the camera on the piano and was desperately trying to set the timer....he couldn't figure out how to do it. But his many attempts produced some pretty cute pictures.

So without adieu, Little Buddy J's latest exhibition.

"Blue Eyes and a Smile"

Can you see how hard he is thinking? Someday he is going to figure out that timer.

"I can't see you"

For this one he thought he had done it, and he was running and saying "Get Ready" what he had done was change the flash to Red Eye Reduction. Pretty Smart Kid.

"Oh Yeah, I'm Cool"

"This is my Bright Shiny Finger!"

The End

Stay Puft

2011-05-05T08:59:00.002-06:00

Someone gave the baby Marshmallows yesterday. He liked it.

Hint, that Marshmallow dealer, he is about 40 inches tall....

"Mom! Have you tried these? They are AMAZING!"

Oh, I failed to mention that it happened twice. It seemed like anytime I left the baby alone in the same room as the dealer I would return to find this........ Baby B is addicted. I am pretty sure that if he was given the chance, B would love to be the newest Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

So, if you ever find yourself down a dark alley with this guy.......

Don't be scared.....

Just give him a Marshmallow.

I'm a Winner!

2011-05-03T12:00:00.000-06:00

So, if you run a race and come in first then you win.....right? What if you are the only runner in the race? I say you are still a winner and as such, I am a Winner too! This last Saturday, the last day of April, I completed a goal, I ran a 10k. I had decided to run the "Earth Day 10k" that South Jordan puts on each year on Earth Day, but then I heard about the "Hope For Sarah 5k" and I decided that I would run that race instead. The race was a fundraiser for Sarah O'Gwin, a friend and neighbor. I like the earth and everything, but I like Sarah better, I think she is a good cause. So I asked if I could run the 5k course twice, and when the day and time finally came, I did!

We had lots of friends and neighbors there and I asked one of them, Scarlet, if she could push the boys while she walked. I love my boys but I wasn't sure what the course would be like and I wanted to give myself the best chance possible of finishing the 10k, I didn't want to suddenly find myself staring at a huge hill, running and pushing my 80 pounds of baby-love and stroller in front of me. I think it was a good decision. In the end the boys actually did their own 10k. Scarlet pushed them while she walked the 5k, then I saw some other friends, Susan and Karen, who came late, and I asked if they could watch the boys while I stretched a little. They said they were going to go walk the course and they took the boys with them. Check out these cute little racers, they were great sports! Seriously? How cute are they!?!?

So here is how my race went, what I discovered about myself as well as how my Women's Conference inspiration trickled over into my race.

I got a great gift from my sisters for my Birthday- it is a Garmin Forerunner 205 runners training watch. It tracks 3 very important things for me, my elapsed time, my pace and my distance. I have been happily using it for about 5 weeks now and I don't know what I will do when it dies or if I ever lose it......it is a powerful tool for me. Anyway, I pressed start as the race started and I took off. When you are in a pack of people you just start to run. I overheard someone say "Why is everyone running so fast?" and I looked down at my watch and it told me my pace was 8:30 per mile. Yeah, I average 10:45 per mile, so I dialed it down a notch, I wanted to make sure I could run the whole race. I started to realize that when I got near other runners, either because I was passing them, or they were passing me, my speed increased. I train pretty much alone, so this was kind of surprising to me. I tried hard to keep my pace consistent and I eventually found my rhythm and happily settled in for the race, the 1 mile mark came pretty fast and so did the water stations.

The race was an out and back course and the water was at mile 1 and 2. The water station was manned by a troop of Boy Scouts. (The course was also pretty flat- thank goodness- I was still glad not to have to push the boys and be able to just run.) As I past the water at the Second mile I thought to myself that I would be grateful for the water at mile 5. My plan was simple and it worked quite well. I ran the 5k, and when I got to the finish line I turned around and started the course again. I got to wave at the boys as I ran past them during my Fourth mile, eventually I ran past all the people who had been walking the 5k and I was suddenly alone. I found my self on a slight incline, the only way I knew that it was an incline was because my pace had slowed down and I was having to push myself, it had been this way on my first time through the course and I knew that eventually I would turn around and have the benefit of a gradual decline. As it was I knew that the water station was not far ahead and I decided that instead of running past and grabbing a cup of water I would stop, maybe chat with the Boy Scouts, hydrate and then continue on. When I was about 100 feet from the water station, the Troop drove past me, my plan was foiled, there would be no water and no rest stop. I kept running. It was a perfect blessing, a tender mercy.

As I ran, alone, through the fruit trees of the McMullin Orchards, a thought kept pushing its way to the front of my mind. "Keep Running, Keep Going" I had thought to stop, but there was no reason to stop, there was no water. "Keep Running" I thought about Women's Conference, about the necessity of action. I thought about why I was running. I set the goal to run a 10k because I need to make major changes in my life, I need to be healthier, I need to lose weight, I NEED to do everything I can to get OFF the fast-track to type 2 diabetes. I made the choice, I chose to run, I chose to set goals for myself, a 10k in April and a Half Marathon in September. I put in the time, I trained, I prayed and begged God to protect my knees, to teach me what I needed to do to stay healthy enough to complete my goals. I have felt his guidance as I searched for ways to stretch properly and as I discovered cross training workouts that would strengthen my knees and help me in other important ways (i.e. arm strengthening weight routines that help me easily handle my 24 pound 9 month old). I saw a need, I took action, I told God what I was going to do, I asked him to help me and then I went about to do it. So as I ran, as I heard the "Keep Running, Keep Going" I began to cry, happy little tears. I knew I was exactly where I needed to be, running alone on that country road. God knew exactly where I was and he was cheering me on.

I finished my race, I ran the entire 6.2 miles. I didn't stop. I crossed the finish line at 67 minutes and 25 seconds. Not bad for a first 10k, and pretty much right in line with my training pace.

I sought out my friend Sarah after it was all over. I told her about my experience running the race, how for the first part I was with everyone, but then for the majority of the second half I was alone. I thought about her. Sarah has Cancer. She is also a wife and mother of two young children. Sarah is running a race of her own, and I am pretty sure that she sometimes feels like she is running it alone. Sarah once asked her Doctors how long she should expect to live, and she was told that as far as they knew, she was currently the longest living patient with her type of cancer. She is running her race, and right now, she is winning. I told her about Women's Conference and the idea that we need to act, we need to move forward and trust in the Lord that if we are going the wrong way he will stop us. I told her about my feelings while running alone, about they joy of the thoughts "Keep Running, Keep Going". I told her about how I had planned to stop, but that my plan had been foiled and how I realized it was a wonderful thing. I told her that I believed with all my heart that we have to just keep moving, as long as God lets us live, as long as God allows us to fight for our lives here on the earth, we must put our faith in him and recognize the trust he has placed in us, and keep moving forward, keep running our race. When the time comes that he stops us, when the time comes that he changes our course, when the time comes that we leave this earthly race, we will be prepared, we will Trust HIM.

I am grateful for Sarah, I am grateful for her family and friends who put this race together. I am grateful for my solitary run through the fruit trees. I finished that race, I completed that goal. But I am still running, I am still moving forward, I have more goals to focus on and I hope that every step I take adds a day, full of joy with my family, to my life. If that is not what God intends for me in the grand scheme of things, then so be it, but for now I am right where I need to be. I will keep going.

This is what we looked like after our 10k's. See the mountains? It snowed the night before the race. It was kind of cold. But it was worth it.

P.S. In the 4 months since I set my goal to run this race and started to train for it, I have lost 20 pounds. Exactly what I was hoping would happen. My next goal is a half marathon on the 3rd Saturday in September. My 3rd goal is to reach my goal weight by November. And though I have never put it in writing, I think my next goal will be to maintain (+/- 5 pounds) my goal weight for another 9 months- after which I hope to get pregnant so that would mean my next goal after that would be to have the healthiest pregnancy I possibly can. I like goals.

So there you go, that is how I won a 10k! YEAH! I'm a Winner!

Random Acts of Kateness

2011-05-02T10:00:00.001-06:00

I am sure some of you wonder "What is it like to be Kate?" Well, it is not all Fun and Games, not all Sunshine and Roses....well, wait, it really seems to be most of those things recently. I have lead a very blessed life over the past week and I figured I would share with you some of the fun that is (or was, since it was last week) Kate Wheeler.

On Monday I made Jam! ME! Well, J helped too, I hear "I help you" a lot from J and I figured he could help me make jam, he was interested in smashing strawberries for about 90 seconds and then he moved on to other stuff and eventually he moved on to nap time, and it was during nap time that I boiled the pectin and sugar and finished making the jam. Freezer Jam is AMAZING! I get all the joy of making jam without having to understand the canning process. In fact, it was so easy that I made more jam on Friday night! It looks good, doesn't it. ....mmmmmm..... Strawberry Jam.

We had visitors this week. The Scott and Kim Wheeler family came to town, all 8 of them! We welcomed them to our home and let them hunker down in our basement. They had lots of fun visiting with random friends and family members, and on Wednesday we had a meal here at our house and we added to the numbers and fun by having Steve and Melissa over as well. I like cooking, I like trying new things. And on Wednesday we, Kim, Melissa and I, made Teriyaki Chicken (with brown rice or Chinese noodles and LOTS of fresh vegetables and pineapple) and Hot and Sour Soup. I LOVE hot and sour soup, and I usually just buy a mix for it, but the mix is slightly expensive (for me) and so I haven't had any recently. I now know that it is pretty simple to make and it was really yummy too. See how excited I am to eat it! mmmmm, it was a good meal with wonderful people.

On Thursday and Friday I got to go to Women's Conference at BYU. This is my 3rd year attending and I LOVE IT! Seriously, if you haven't ever gone, plan now to go next year. It is the last weekend in April and it is a fabulous experience. Ken has made it a priority for me to go, I love that! (Thanks Ken) He even took Thursday off work and watched to boys, in payment for his services I got him a very very very nice new BYU Sweatshirt. Lucky Guy.

The past 2 years I have been blessed to go with my Sister in Law Tiff and her Mother and Sisters. I hope to one day talk my Mother and Sisters into coming with me. I know they would love it as much as I do. I came away this year with a couple of very strong impressions. It is interesting to me how I can pick classes to attend that have very different topics yet come away from those classes with almost identical inspirations. This year what I learned was that I need to act- I need to move forward. I need to understand that Heavenly Father has a lot of Trust in me, and so he expects me to make decisions and move forward and not constantly ask him and sit and wait until I KNOW that he wants me to do something. I need to study it out, pray about it, then ACT! If I am going down the wrong path, I can trust that the Lord with stop me. I heard that message over and over again. I believe it is true, I believe I am learning how to be pretty good at it too. This wasn't like a slap across the back of the head, saying "Kate, you really need to do this" it was more, "Kate, you know this, keep going, you are doing great, I am here with you, keep going!"

I have more to say about this, but I will save it for my next post- the one about the 10k- you know you want to read about that one!

Big Boys

2011-05-01T15:18:00.003-06:00

A week ago, Saturday, I let J dye some eggs. He was in heaven, and his hands were blue.

I didn't help him too much, I made the dye and I put the eggs in, initially, so they wouldn't splash too much and J took over from there. He rolled the eggs around in the dye so that they would be colored evenly. And then he surprised me by moving the eggs around to different colors. His eggs turned out quit well.

We had a full day that day, after coloring eggs we went to a 1st birthday party for cousin A. Then we ran over to an Easter egg hunt. J is getting good at all things candy related, and egg hunts are very much candy related. He needed absolutely no help to know what to do. On the way home from the Easter egg hunt he gorged himself on the candy. Before we arrived home he had thrown his baseball basket to the floor of the car and he didn't ask for candy for quite a while after that. Too much of a good thing can make you sick.

We had a Wonderful Easter Sunday. I, being the only girl in the family, got a new Easter dress. It was white and so I spiced it up a bit by making a green ribbon belt with a big pink flower, I also got a cute new green necklace to match. Here is proof that we all looked really cute. But Easter isn't about looking cute, is it?

No, Easter is about our Savior Jesus Christ! It is a day for us all to remember and celebrate that Christ the Lord is Risen from the Dead. I love my Savior. I am grateful for all he has done for me and all that his gospel brings into my life. I can not express just how much I love him, how much love I feel from him. I celebrate Easter one day a year, but I hope that I remember him and honor him every day.

And, in parting, let me share this last picture. This is how I found J after a nap one day. He isn't in his bed, he had placed all his books and stuffed animals into the crib, then climbed into the crib and slept there himself. My Big J is sometimes jealous of my Baby B. I think this is normal. I am trying my best to make sure that both of my boys understand just how much I love each one of them individually.

Oh, and he also put on a tie, all by himself. Who knew that nap time was a formal occasion?!

Strangers with Knives

2011-05-01T13:07:00.004-06:00

A week and a half ago we took Baby B up to Primary Children's Medical Center for his first surgery. He was the Perfect Patient! We were in and out in under 4 hours (closer to 3, If I am remembering right) and all in all it was a pretty good experience, even though I did have to hand my precious baby over to strangers with knives.

So, here's the rundown. We arrived at the hospital and checked in at Same Day Surgery at 7:30 AM. This is because Baby B is little and they didn't want to make him fast for too long. It was interesting to me to see who was there at 7:30, B was the first Baby on the schedule, but there were 4 or 5 other children there prior to him, all of whom seemed to be physically or mentally impaired in some way, it made me happy to know that the hospital considered not only age, but other factors as well, when they schedule surgeries. After waiting for a little while B was Weighed and Measured- would it surprise you to know that we have a healthy, big and tall boy? We were given some hospital jammies to put on him, which he enjoyed.

I call this "Preparing to be Superman", he looks like he can fly, doesn't he?

"Mom, I need to do my crunches!" He kept doing crunches during his pre-surgical physical, the Nurse Practitioner was quite impressed.

I got to dress J in his hospital jammies before his surgery 2 years ago, so Ken got to dress B. He did a good job, don't you think?

So, B was declared healthy enough for surgery, and after a little more waiting he was taken away from us and we went to sit in the parents waiting room. Dr. Hill, the ENT, told us that he would put the tubes in first, then he would take a look at B's adenoids and if they were abnormally large- as he suspected they would be- he would take them out. He believed the whole process would take 30 minutes. He was right. Within 30 minutes he was consulting with us in the waiting room, and we were told that Yes, the adenoids had been taken out. Not much more than 15 minutes later I was ushered into the Post Anesthesia Care Unit where I sat for 5 or 10 minutes with B while he came out from under the anesthesia. He did very well. Compared to my experience with J at this point, B did 1Million times better. He was able to keep his Oxygen levels stable and was sent to Post Op quite Quickly.

We had to stay in Post Op for about an hour, because B had been given Lortab and they wanted to make sure he didn't react badly to it. He was given some clear liquids to drink and he kept them down. In comparison- J threw up 2 or 3 times and we had to keep waiting and trying again. Ken and I came prepared to be vomited on- we had extra clothes for us packed out in the car just in case. B was kind, what a good boy he is. And so after the appropriate amount of time B was released from the hospital and we headed home (via Aunt Deb's house and a party which we attended there while B napped)

Does this look like a boy who has just had surgery? Well, he did!

Thanks to Aunt Deb and Grandma Turner for taking care of J while we were at the hospital. And a special thanks to everyone for all your prayers and support. As I said a little earlier, it is very hard to hand your baby over to strangers with knives, but I feel like I was blessed with comfort and a feeling that everything would work out. And it has.

It's Spring!

2011-04-14T09:03:00.002-06:00

Some people like to spring clean.....I am still trying to be good at regular cleaning. :)

I admit, I am a bad housekeeper. I have never been very happy and or good about cleaning. I have had my moments, we would never be chosen to be on an episode of hoarders or anything. But I know I need to be better at the small little daily tasks, because if I can keep control of the daily stuff the bigger stuff (like Spring Cleaning) will be easier, right?

While we were on vacation Ken and I did some planning and goal setting. One of my goals was to set up a Chore Chart and follow it! On our way home we stayed with the Nelsons, (thanks Nelsons) and Kristen showed me her Chore Chart. It had Once Weekly things and Every Day things, I liked that concept and last Monday I made "the Wheeler Family Chore Chart" (that's a pretty great name, don't you think?)

I deep clean one main area of the house each day, Kitchen, Living Room, Family Room, Bed Rooms, Guest Room and Craft Area, and Bathrooms. Plus on Monday and Wednesday I do a couple loads of Laundry. Each day I make sure that the dishes are washed and put away, the Counters and Kitchen Table are cleared and wiped after dinner and J helps to put all the toys away before bed. So far it has worked quite nicely.

It feels very, very, very nice to wake up to a reasonably clean house in the morning. I also have hope that if someone just "Stopped By" I would not be embarrassed out of my mind, but would be comfortable enough to invite them in to visit for a while. Feel free to check up on me once and a while, keep me on my toes.

Today I am cleaning bedrooms. Bedrooms (and Bathrooms) are the bane of my cleaning existence, mostly because I tend to hide things in my room that don't have a home..... so when cleaning my room I have to make lots of decisions about where things ought to go. I am sure I am not alone in this. BUT I also know that when my room is clean and organized I sleep much better, so there is a trade off, I guess. Well, I better stop procrastinating and get down to business. Wish me luck!

Back to the Cutness

2011-04-12T15:39:00.003-06:00

Okay, so while I was packing for our trip J found me and told me that the baby was hiding! He then showed me this........can you see the baby?

There he is, thoroughly and whole heartedly enjoying playing with his brother.

Now to the Trip Cuteness, I didn't realize until just now that we didn't take a ton of pictures- WEIRD, I already showed you two really cute pictures and now you get to see the other kind of odd ones. We first went to Caldwell, Idaho, where we stayed with Tony and Emily (wheeler) Bradshaw. They have two very fun children and our boys had a blast! Here are J and M, they practiced wrestling with this giant blue mouse, that is what you would do with a giant blue mouse right?

And cousin L loved baby B, here she is making him laugh.

While we were in Caldwell we saw Tangled at the Drive-In Theater. It was fun!

A few days later we headed over to Meridian, Idaho, and stayed with the John and Tiff Wheeler family. Tiff helped her older daughter make a costume to wear while telling her school class about Pocahontas, J and little E had to get in on the feathered head wear action.

Yep, that is pretty much all the pictures. I guess I need to take another vacation so that I can try to remember to take more pictures.

More than just a Ride in the Chair

2011-04-11T15:29:00.003-06:00

I know it may come as a surprise to some people, but Ken and I go to the dentist. In fact we have a wonderful dentist that we have been seeing for almost 6 years now, well it is really the hygienists Karlee that we spend the most time with. When J was about a year old I wondered when kids need to see a dentist and so I called the office and they told me that they like to see kids when they are 3- even if it just for a ride in the chair. Our little J has made no complaints about his teeth and so we didn't have any reason to bring him in earlier.......and amazingly enough, he turned 3! And today, J had his very first dental cleaning.

Here he is playing in the kids area- this is where he has spent time during my teeth cleanings over the past couple of years. I had talked to him all morning about how HE was going to the dentist and he didn't seem scared at all.

When it was his turn, he climbed up into the dentist chair and Karlee started to tell him all about what they were going to do, starting with how she was going to wear gloves....."Do you want to touch my gloves?" He was kind of shy, so very uncharacteristic, eventually he got a little more comfortable, touched just about every dental instrument possible, and even held as still as he possibly could for some x-rays.
He had a full exam and cleaning, which was surprising to both the dentist and our hygienist. I guess most 3 year olds aren't willing to do much more than ride up and down in the chair. Not J, he bites down on the tooth brush when I brush his teeth, but for Karlee, he opened wide and did everything she asked- including not swallowing the fluoride!
And the Verdict- No Cavities and Beautiful Little Teeth! He is an amazingly cute kid, don't you think?

While he waited for the dentist to come see him he watched "How to train your Dragon" which was playing on a TV attached to the ceiling. He also wore his sunglasses while the bright exam light was on (thanks Angie for giving us that tip- the office did have little sunglasses ready for him but he preferred his own).
And after it was all over he got to pick a prize. He chose a blue snake.
Hopefully we will have many more cavity free visits. My first little baby is not a baby anymore.

6 years!

2011-04-11T09:12:00.004-06:00

That's right, 6 years ago two very good looking people got married....oh wait, that's us! Amazing!

In celebration of our Anniversary we spent a couple of (KID FREE) days in McCall Idaho last week. The lake was frozen and there was A LOT MORE SNOW than I envisioned in my head while we were planning the trip, but all in all it was a wonderful trip and though it was cold (we only had hooded sweatshirts), it was beautiful.

We spent an afternoon checking out the shops in McCall, our favorite was the Candy Shop. I had run 4.5 miles that morning and so I felt I deserved and needed a couple of treats, I had some yummy "Grasshopper Bark" and "Almond Butter Bark"....mmmmmmmmm.... Ken had some fudge. I love Ken and this picture shows one of the things I love about him. I saw the fudge and immediately said to myself "I am not going leave here with a 1/2 pound of fudge". Ken saw the fudge and asked the Candy Maker if you had to buy a 1/2 pound of fudge, she said no, so he ordered a couple of slivers. Caution, fudge looks larger in picture than it was in real life. Huckleberry Fudge......mmmmm.....

We had dinner at a place called Lardo's Grill and Saloon. I don't know that I have eaten at a saloon before, it was interesting......and funny. We were going all out and we were going to get fun specialty drinks, if you ask a waiter in Utah what Specialty Drinks they offer you will most likely be told all about the non-alcoholic drinks they offer. Our waitress at Lardo's just stared at us....then Ken said "Like a smoothie or sometime?" and she said "We have kiddie drinks? They are kind of like Smoothies" So we got some, I got a Cookie Monster! It was YUMMY, small but yummy, and they came in little commemorative cups- at least we took them home. I asked if we could take them home and the waitress once again was slightly taken aback but then said we could. I am guessing they don't get too many adults who order the Cookie Monster for themselves.

We also had breakfast at The Pancake House. We didn't have Pancakes but we did share a cinnamon roll that was bigger than both of our heads combined! We didn't have the camera, but believe me it was HUGE! And Yummy!

I love my Ken. I Hope (and plan and plot) to love him forever and ever and ever.

Their Back!

2011-04-08T21:30:00.003-06:00

You know you've missed them, those pesky little Wheeler Boys. We've been gone, on a fun trip to Idaho, where we had lots of fun and visited with lots of people we love. I will tell you more about our trip another time, but for now, here are some cute pictures of the boys.

J-first he builds things, then he showers love on the things he builds (he will be such a good parent some day) Here he is hugging his tower.

Baby B, he just loves life. He has yet to build anything but a reputation. A reputation for being the cutest and happiest Baby EVER! He takes joy in the simplest things, like holding a block.

So, now you will just have to wait anxiously for another post about the boys. Hint, the next one is going to be about their parents. Don't worry, it will be a good one too.

Why Now?

2011-04-02T21:40:00.002-06:00

I have been thinking lately about my health and my ability to do physical things. I think I may be in the best shape I have ever been. It is a nice feeling, it's invigorating. I am running and I enjoy it, I look forward to it. I am following a 10k training program right now that has me running 3 times a week and doing cross/strength training another 3 times per week. I have started using hand weights and I find that oddly enjoyable as well. If you had told me 17 years ago that I would not only be able to do these things, but that I would like it, I am pretty sure I would have smiled at you and in my head tried to figure out how to get away from you because you were CRAZY!

17 years ago I was a Junior in High School, I hadn't done any thing physical in PE for over 2 years, because my freshman year I discovered that if you were the Manager of a sports team it counted as a PE credit and you never had to run! I thought I was a genius and anyway running made me sick. I would hyperventilate, I had even thrown up at the feet of the track coach after finishing a 1/2 mile run. I also tended to sprain my ankles easily. Physical Education was not for me.

As the years went on I did start to walk. I am a very good walker. I can walk fast. Walking is good exercise. Eventually I did start to run and to my surprise I did like it, but I ran at my own pace and for the first few years that pace was kind of slow, about 4.3 miles per hour. I was passed by someone who was walking during a 5k once. I didn't mind. I knew I was doing my best and I enjoyed it.

Baby B did something amazing for me. He changed me. If it hadn't been for baby B I might never have gotten gestational diabetes and it is the diabetes scare that gave me the kind of push I needed to get it in gear and really get healthy. After baby B I can run faster and farther than ever, I don't know how he did it but I am pretty sure it is all because of him. I am currently running at a pace between 10:30 and 10:45 per mile, (I figure that is around 5.5-5.7 miles per hour?) and I have run over 6 miles and felt great. It feels like a miracle to me. I don't understand how it happened, why I feel like I have made such an amazing leap, it really must just be Baby B.

So I have been thinking about all these things and wondering, why now? Why could I not do these things when I was young? You are supposed to be in the best shape when you are young right? So why do I feel like I am in the best shape now. Why is it so easy now? I do not believe that life is just a series of coincidences, I don't believe that life is just one big chain reaction. I know that my life has its own definite plan, I am interested in discovering why this is part of my plan.

I am quite happy with it, I am not complaining. I feel very blessed that I have the ability to run, that I was given the opportunity to have a nutritionist during my pregnancy and that I have been able to change the way I (and my family) eat and that I am seeing some very good results from my efforts. I have just been thinking, wondering. I am interested in knowing how this will all work out. Maybe in the end I will just be healthy. Maybe I will be healthy and I will be able to help other people find a similar joy that I have found. For now, I just feel blessed.

Bean Museum

2011-03-29T08:28:00.003-06:00

This weekend we took a trip to the Bean Museum at BYU. I have never been down there, so when the opportunity came to spend some time there with the John and Tiff Wheeler family, I took it!

Once inside J discovered the joy of running around inside a museum, he also discovered that he can control elevators. At one point while enjoying the basement of the museum he learned that they actually have LIVE animals there. We got to see an Iguana take a bath!

"I just don't understand why this Moose keeps following me around..........and why does he keeps asking me for a muffin?"
What a nice lion we found, he was so kind and gentle, until he tried to eat my baby!
I think that J's favorite animal is a Lion, so even though this one tried to eat Baby B, we let J meet him and take a picture with him too. J didn't understand that the ropes around the animals meant "Don't go inside or touch the animals" We had the privilege of grabbing him, as he tried to get a little to close, several times.
J also put on his own little show during the reptile show that we watched while we were there. He is a big boy now and big boys don't sit on Mom's lap- without screaming- so he used his freedom to wander up the the front of the show and touch all the props while the presenter was looking the other way. He has no fear.

All in all it was a pretty fun trip to the Museum.

You've had a Birthday!

2011-03-23T09:57:00.002-06:00

So J had a Birthday, and if you've known us for a while, you know that Ken and I have birthdays too- and they just happen to surround J's! So here is some information about the other little birthday boy and girl.

Ken!

Favorite Food- Pizza

Favorite Shape- Pizza

Favorite Color- Yellow Pizza Cake

Okay, Okay, so I don't really know what Ken's favorite color and shape are. I guess I need to talk to Ken more. I do know that I love Ken, that he is an amazing Father and Wonderful Husband. I do know that he works hard to support us and he wants us all to be happy. Ken Loves Movies, Enjoys relaxing while watching TV. He got a wonderful present from the Giants this last year, as they rewarded his decades of support with a world series win. He has two adorable and adoring sons. Ken has been on our Stake High Council for 4 1/2 years and he really enjoys serving our stake and even part of our region in many different capacities. He is also loved by the people he serves with, when I meet people who know Ken from his church service they always tell me how much they appreciate all that he does and what a great guy they think he is. I always respond with a "WHAT? Ken? Really?" Just kidding. I thank them for their kind words and I thank God for giving me such a wonderful man to love.

For his birthday Ken got Croc's!

Kate!

Favorite Food- Too Many to Mention.

We will say, Chocolate with a close 2nd of Roasted Vegetables.

Favorite Shape- Hearts, maybe Flowers too.

Favorite Color- Right now, Pink.

I, Kate, really enjoy my life. I love being Mommy, I love being me. I am getting healthier and I am really learning to like exercise. I also like to read, and I especially like to read while sitting in a nice hot bath. I love my boys, they are 90% Angel. I love my Ken too. I had special visitors on my birthday, Jeff and Gina! (I also, apparently, need to take classes on how not to make funny faces while smiling in pictures)

For my Birthday/Anniversary this year Ken got me a Laptop (he got an AMAZING deal on it from the company he works for) and my Sisters got me a running watch- it too is AMAZING! It tells me how fast I am running, which is super fast!

Happy Birthday to Us!

Apples to Oranges

2011-03-23T08:04:00.003-06:00

I just read something that annoyed me, I am going to tell you about it because I don't think J would understand. What has riled me up? A comment on Facebook, a comment about babies from someone who I don't even know and shall never know. Someone took their 1 year old into the doctor and while there their child was weighed and measured- this happens all the time. This child weighed 20 pounds at a year and the mother was told that her child was in the 15th percentile. The Mother questioned this on Facebook- is 20 pounds really the 15th percentile? Most of her friends told her that her child was similar to their children, but one person said this "Most of those babies are obese. Your baby is just perfect. Had obesity not taken over America your little guy would be average." I don't agree. I think this person wanted to be a good friend, she wanted to make her friend feel better- but are all of those babies above the 15th Percentile OBESE? NO! I am trying not to be offended. Here are my thoughts.

Babies are all different- there is a reason why they weigh and measure babies every few months, it is so that we can see if they are growing at a good constant rate. If your baby is in the 85th percentile when they are 4 months old and then the 15th when they are 6 months old that is a good sign to a doctor that there might be a problem. If your baby grows at a consistent rate, no mater how big or small they are, that is a good sign that everything is working well. There is NO PERFECT weight for a baby.

Let's talk about my boys. J is in the 80th Percentile for both height and weight- he has had consistent growth for the past 3 years. It makes perfect sense to me that, being taller than 80 out of 100 other 3 year olds, he would also weigh more than 80 out of 100 other 3 year olds. B is almost 8 months old, last week he weighed 23 pounds and is probably 29 inches long. At 6 months old he was around the 95th percentile for height and weight, and looking at the charts he is still right around the 95th percentile. So he is taller and heavier than 95 out of 100 other 8 month olds. Does that make him Obese? No! It means that he is right in line with his family- He comes from a family of TALL people. He is pretty much an exact clone of his Grandpa Turner and his cousin T too. I am not going to sit him down on the floor next to babies, who come from families filled with people who never got taller than 5'5" and never weighed more than 115 pounds, and proclaim that my baby is normal and their baby must be a midget and I wouldn't assume that my baby had a glandular problem and was going to become a giant. They are different, but they are normal, they are both perfect.

Now lets talk about people who are older than 3 years old. I agree that America has a weight problem, I think part of that problem is that we don't want to believe that we are overweight, if we look like most everyone else around us then we must be normal right and normal is okay. I convinced myself that I was normal, then one day I looked at a BMI sheet, I knew I was overweight but what I didn't know is that I was just a few pounds away from being Obese. I was right on the line that separated "Normal" Overweight and Obese. That scared me but it wasn't enough to make me really change my habits. It took gestational diabetes and more than a couple medical professional telling me that if I didn't change I would have type 2 diabetes within 5 years. 5 YEARS! That gave me enough fear, or shame or whatever it was, it gave me enough of a reason to start tipping the scale the other way. Now I am am teetering on the line between Overweight and Average and I plan to get far enough away from that line that I will never have to worry about it again.

What amazes me now is how much push back I get from people. I have had several experiences where I tell someone my goal weight and they tell me that I will be "Too Skinny" and when I say that my goal is actually pretty close to the middle of Average they don't believe me. I even had one person ask me to prove it, so I showed them a weight chart, and they saw that they, like me at the time, were pretty close to obese and they got really quiet. I whole heartedly agree that America has a problem, we need to change, we need to be healthier. I'm trying to be healthier. I am doing it too.

I have learned that it is very important for me to compare myself to others who are similar to me. So yes, If we went around my neighborhood and put us all into percentiles I would probably be an 80th or 90th percentile person too, because I am 5'9" and I am taller than 80 or 90 out of 100 other women in the neighborhood. But that alone does not make me fat, that alone does not make me obese. Lets compare Apples to Apples, not Apples to Oranges. We put kids into percentiles so that we can compare their current stats to their previous stats, so we can compare our Apple to our Apple.

Okay, I've vented. I feel much better now. Thanks for the chat. Talk to you later.

3 Years Old!

2011-03-21T18:03:00.003-06:00

Here it is, the Yellow Lion Cake! It was much anticipated. We saw an amazingly cute lion cake that a very talented friend made for her little boy a couple of weeks ago, and since then J has been talking about his Yellow Lion Cake. At least once a day he would remind me that I needed to make a Yellow Lion Cake and then with great joy he would add "I help You!" and run into the kitchen. Well, On Sunday, he finally got his wish.

And this is what he looked like when he first saw it. See how happy he is! As I type he is sitting on my lap, and he is asking me to make a yellow lion cake. Considering that he only ate the frosting, I really could frost a plate for him and he would be happy, maybe I will make him another yellow lion cake, who knows?
The moment came, we sang Happy Birthday and J blew out his candle ( I was too lazy to put on more and I really didn't know where to stick them, one of my nieces told me that she was confused by the single candle, she thought J was 3 but now she realized that he was only 1)

Today we went to see the doctor, J is in the 82nd percentile for weight @ 35 pounds and the 81st for height at 38.75 inches tall. He is pretty much your average little boy. He talks all the time, I told the doctor that I felt like I only understood about 50% of what J says, he told me two things- 1- I am probably underestimating that percentage and as the day has progressed and I have paid VERY close attention to my little conversations with J I think I did underestimate it. The 2nd thing the doctor told me was that I should consider having J tested by the school district, even if am understanding 75% or more of what he says (75% is the goal for 3 years old) If they think he could use some extra help they might be willing to subsidize some preschool- and hey, can't beat that. So we will check into that.

Here are some of J's favorite things.

Favorite Color- Yeyo! (although, just now he said Lion Cake was his favorite color)

Favorite Shape- Ocagon! (don't ask where he learned about Octagons, I still have no idea, he does know they have 8 sides though- Super Smart!)

Favorite Animal- Baby Doggie (his My Pal Scout toy)

Favorite Song- Happy Know (if your happy and you know it), Lead me Guide me (I am a child of God) is a close second

Favorite Thing to Say- "I help You!"

Favorite Movie- Buzz! you may know it as "Toy Story"

J is an Amazing Boy, I love him so much, it is really really hard for me to believe that my little baby has grown up so much. He is such a good boy, he has his moments, but all in all he is an amazingly sweet and loving son and brother. I am so glad he is mine.

Baby B Vs. the ENT

2011-03-18T15:23:00.002-06:00

Today J got to go play with my Aunt Deb and my Grandma while Baby B and I went to visit the ENT.

Now, I have to take you back in time, just a couple of days. We have been blessed to have some guests in town, we are sharing them with other people who love them, and on Wednesday night we provided what we hope was a restful night in our guest room. Baby B likes to think the guest room is his room and as such his little portable crib had to be relocated- to the Mom and Dads room. For all we knew Baby B was an okay sleeper. We don't go to him when he cries at night anymore, and truthfully I don't really hear him cry much anymore either, so Ken and I were kind of surprised when B seemed to be waking up much more than we had expected. Were we really loud sleepers, were we waking him up? He seemed really congested to me, it seemed hard for him to breath, so I tried to suction his nose out. Nothing really came out. Eventually he fell back asleep and for the rest of the day he was my happy little baby, this guy here- you've seen him before! Happy Baby B!

So I worried that B had a cold and that he would get an ear infection and make our visit to the ENT today not such a great visit. Well I was wrong. The ENT was nice, he looked in our little guys ears and told me that there was fluid but no active infection. He explained that he could, if we wanted, put tubes in B's ears which would allow for the fluid to drain. He continued to tell me that B the fluid buildup was most likely chronic and so if we didn't do tubes he would continue to get ear infections easily. I already knew we wanted to take the tubes option. But then the Dr continued to explain what he thought we might need to do, above and beyond tubes. (Now, this next part is pretty much what the conversation with the ENT went like- the words may not be exact- I didn't have a digital recorder with me or anything)

"Is this little guy a mouth breather?"

"Well.....yeah, why?"

"Well, He has not even tried to breath through his nose the entire time I've been examining him."

"I think that is probably because he has some nasal congestion"

"Actually his nasal passages were clear"

"Oh......" Major look of confusion

The Doctor then talked to me about Adenoids. It seems that enlarged adenoids push up into the nose making it hard to breath and they push up the ear canal as well making a perfect place for fluid to get trapped. If tubes alone don't seem to help kids with enlarged adenoids the Doctors tend to go back in and do tubes AND and adenoidectomy. The doctor said he actually would skip the tubes alone and go straight to the tubes and adenoidectomy...............insert stunned Kate hear. Maybe I shouldn't have told Ken that it was just a consult with a surgeon and that he didn't need to be there. UGH. I wish I could go back in time. ("for reals this time!") ;)

So the Doctor told me what to look for when Baby B sleeps and lucky for us we have guests in the guest room again tonight, so Baby B will be in our room- Ripe for the Watching! If Ken and I decide that we see what the doctor believes we will see- basically baby sleep apnea- we can call and add an adenoidectomy to the surgery that I scheduled today. Then we get to scramble and get B tested for Von Willebrands a little earlier than I had expected too.

So, if you wouldn't mind, keep us in your prayers tonight. I just want to make sure we make the right choice. I don't want to let someone cut my baby if I don't need to, but I also don't want to make my baby suffer and struggle to breath any longer than I absolutely have to. I will definitely be asking God for guidance tonight, He understands how I feel.

Stretched

2011-03-17T11:30:00.002-06:00

My boys suffer from what I like to call "Turner Short Leg Syndrome" They will be tall men, but they will have short legs and super long torsos. This is not bad, I hear it is great for swimming and I think swimming would be a great sport for my boys as they are much less likely to get tackled and bleed internally while swimming....I think....but that is another story. So, anyway, My boys have short legs and it has been very easy for me to let them wear pants that are technically one size too small, because their little legs fit those pants. I have been dreading the day when these cute little overalls would have to go into the bin of small clothes, I was prepared for the day that Baby B's torso would grow out of them. But to my surprise, when I put them on this morning, it wasn't the baby's torso that had stretched......

It was his legs. He was wearing Capri's. I hear Men wear Capri's now, totally normal, right?.
So some how, when I wasn't looking, my baby stretched. I moved my little 7 month old into 12 month tops and outfits about a month ago, but I held onto some of my favorite 9 month pants. Luckily there are boys born every day, one of them will enjoy those pants too.

Bountifully Blessed

2011-03-12T19:38:00.004-07:00

I have been participating with the Bountiful Baskets Food Co-op since just before Baby B was born. A friend of mine told me about it and said that she was able to cut 50% off her food budget one month because of all the food she was getting from Bountiful Baskets. I was curious, so I tried it and sure enough, you do get LOTS of produce a very small cost. It is $15.00 per basket, there is a $1.5 charge per order- so if you get one basket it is $16.50 total but if you get 4 baskets it is $61.50. I was very, very, very lucky to be asked to be a Volunteer Site Coordinator for a Bountiful Basket Site in our town, (and because of that- and the 3+ hours that I put in "Coordinating"), I get a free basket. Blessing! Here is what my basket looked like today.

For Fruit, 2 Pineapples, 1 pound Strawberries, 1 container of Blackberries, 7 Bananas, 6 Apples and a Cantaloupe. For Veggies Asparagus, Green Leaf Lettuce, 6 Roma Tomatoes, Neon Green Cauliflower, Garlic and about a pound of Green Beans.

I am thinking of making some Fruit Salsa! YUM!

If you are interested in knowing more or if you would like to see if there is a Bountiful Baskets location near you, here is their website- bountifulbaskets.org . Happy Eating!

Moments in Bad Motherhood

2011-03-10T09:40:00.002-07:00

It has been getting warmer and J has been enjoying some freedom in our back yard. He has figured out how to get out there all on his own, it is a relatively safe place so I have not been stopping him from making frequent and sometimes lengthy trips out there. He hasn't yet figured out how to let himself back in the house and so I try to listen for a little knock, or a muffled "Mama". Yesterday I heard a pretty loud cry and so I hurried to the back door......and this is what I found.

Can you blame me that I didn't let him in right away. But rather that I ran as fast as I could and got my camera. I think most mothers would have taken several pictures, wouldn't they? Yes, this was one of my moments of bad motherhood. I love my son, I do, but I think that moments like these need to be remembered. I look forward to the day when I can show his new wife just how curious he was. When you are a curious little (almost)3 year old, you can get yourself into some interesting positions. In this case, he got himself stuck inside a tomato cage. After I finished taking pictures, I freed him from his cage. It took 3 or 4 minutes to do, he had wormed his way in there and was wedged pretty tightly. I understood exactly why he was near tears.

The pictures still make me laugh. I think I should make a book about these moments. Someday I will present it to his little boys........oh the fun they will have, emulating their father.

Tuesday, As much fun as any other day......

2011-03-08T13:16:00.002-07:00

So, we have been having a pretty good day around here. I can't stop taking pictures, so I figured I would share them with you. Here is J eating part of his breakfast. He calls it Honeydew, but he calls all melons honeydew. I had a cup of cantaloupe with my breakfast.......

....J had the rest of the the melon. Notice the baby in this picture. I think he is thinking about how someday, he will get to eat copious amounts of melon too.
After breakfast J played some sesame street, I did the dishes and baby B had some tummy time. He is actually starting to like tummy time. He rolls from back to belly, and then from belly to back when he wants. He plays with toys and he also practices proper sky diving body positioning. It's pretty cute, he pulls his legs off the ground and lifts his hands up off the ground and titters happily on his belly. He also smiles a lot if you lay down on the floor and play with him.
The Babies morning nap was long enough for me to run 3 miles! It was very nice. I didn't get to stretch until after nap time though, which wasn't too horrible because it meant that I had this sweet little face to stare at as I stretched.
If I turned the other way I could look at this guy.
Then after I was all done stretching J and his friend "Baby Doggy" showed me how downward facing dog is really done.
So that has been our morning. It has been pretty great. Now everyone has been fed lunch, Baby B is down for his second nap, J is in the tub (he asked to take a bath and since my plan is to take one myself when he goes down for his nap in 30 min, I couldn't deny him), and I am thinking I just might be able to finish cleaning the house before Ken gets home. Yeah, It's been a pretty great day.

Happy Day!

2011-02-28T16:07:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Grandma Wheeler!

We Love You!

I did it MY WAY!

2011-02-28T07:54:00.003-07:00

I think "My Way" may be Baby B's theme song. He is similar to his brother, I mean he is a boy......he has eczema.....he has eyes. He is similar in the fact that he gets ear infections and he will also have a urological surgery BUT he has do things just a little differently from J. Here is how he is different.

Ear infections, J had a few ear infections in the 2 years of his life, he would wake up in the middle of the night or from a nap SCREAMING and we would realize that he had a SCORCHING fever. It didn't take long for us to recognize that when these two things happened, J had an ear infection. But baby B is different. He whines and fusses and wants to be held, if you don't hold him in time he will Scream bloody murder but with proper attention he will eventually calm down. He gets a low grade fever 99.6, maybe 100.1. Then his right eardrum bursts and gross stuff comes out, this all happens within a couple of hours. SUPER FAST! This happened the first week of January, then 6 weeks later, then 13 days after that. Poor Kid. I spent 2 hours waiting at the Kids Care yesterday for the doctor to tell me what I already knew, that his right eardrum had burst, this time he got antibiotics AND antibiotic ear drops. I was told to take him in to see his pediatrician in 10-15 days, but I am going to call the pediatrician and ask if I should take B to an ENT in 10-15 days instead. (I have a feeling baby B inherited his tendency towards burst eardrums from me, and because of that I would just like to say, I LOVE YOU MOMMY! Thank you for loving me and taking care of me when I was so little.) I feel so bad for my Baby B and I want to hold him and make him feel better all the time.

Now- and Update about how Baby B is different from J Surgically! I know you have all be waiting with baited breath to find out how our trip to the Urologist went. Well, Dr Cartwright remembered us. He actually walked in with both Baby B and J's charts and after the Hello's and other pleasantries he said "So you are the family that caused all the excitement a couple of years ago" and I said Yes. It was a very quick very nice visit with the doctor. He took a look at Baby B and explained to me that B has Megameatus which is the least severe type of hypospadias. (I then quipped that I am getting better at making little boy parts, the doctor chuckled and told me "Yes, Yes you are!") He said that we will most likely want to have it fixed and that it could be fixed surgically. He explained that the Meatus is the name of the opening of the Urethra, I didn't know that. Then he told me something I did know, Mega means Big. The main problem with Megameatus is this, think of a garden hose, when you turn on the water a nice stream comes out of the end of your garden hose, BUT if you put your thumb over the end of the hose and turn the opening from a circle to more of a wide slit suddenly you have a fan like spray......this spray is most likely what will happen when Baby B urinates. SO, for their Mother's sanity, most boys with Megameatus have surgery prior to being potty trained. Ta Da! I think I explained that pretty well! I questioned whether the fact that he has been circumcised would be a problem and Dr. Cartwright assured me that he could easily reform the meatus without the need for extra tissue- Hooray! He also told me that the circumcision was a little uneven and he would correct that too. I hadn't noticed anything but I am not a urologist. Then Dr. Cartwright asked me if I planned on having Baby B tested for Von Willebrand's and I said no....I mean Yes, of course, I assured him that we would have that taken care of long before the surgery so that we could take the appropriate action to prevent the type of "Excitement" we all experienced with J. The Doctor appreciated that.

So, Baby B will most likely get tubes in his ears this year, and then have the Urological surgery next January. I feel pretty comfortable with this, we didn't expect it so we didn't prepare for it financially, but everything will work out.

Primary Children's Medical Center

2011-02-25T09:41:00.005-07:00

See these sweet babies?

Both of them have been to Primary Children's. J has been seen by Dermatologists, Urologists and Hematologists. He has been a surgical patient and spent a couple of days in the Rapid Treatment Unit there at the hospital. Baby B just had his first visit at the Urology office at the hospital, next January he will have his surgery and because we know of the possibility of him having a blood disorder just like his brother, prior to that surgery we will take him to the Hematology department to have him tested.

(This is J in the Rapid Treatment Unit)

This Hospital is amazing. They give loving care to their patients and wonderful support to the parents and loved ones of their patients. They treat everyone who needs treatment for childhood ailments, and they do it without regard for the patients ability to pay. Last year they gave over $14,000,000.00 in free care. One of the reasons they can do this is because of the Radiothon and Telethon that raise money each year. Last year's radiothon raised a little less than $450,000, lets make this years even better.

Here is an example of the care we received - after J's surgery his oxygen levels dropped. It SCARED me. It was late, we were not rushed out the door and told our baby would be fine. The nurses paid special attention to not only our little boy but also to us, the frightened parents. We did get to go home a couple hours later than expected, but WE knew our baby was okay and WE had been cared for.

Think about the people and children you love, I am betting that one of more of them has received care from Primary Children's Hospital or another wonderful children's hospital. If you can, give your support, if you can't give, encourage others to give. Share the love and the care.

Donations can be made by calling 801-575-5437 or 1-800-762-7262. The Telethon ends today Feb 25th at 6 pm mountain time.

The Winter Blah's

2011-02-22T09:51:00.003-07:00

It happens several times a year, not just during winter time. I call it the Blah's. It is those wonderful times of the year that I really really really don't like to clean. We have been suffering through the Blah's for about a week and a half. I have been trying, half hearted, to work up the desire to clean, but as of yet I have not done it.

I am trying again today. I put the baby down on a blanket in the kitchen, he could use some tummy time. I did the dishes. It took longer than the baby would have liked so after I got the dishwasher chugging away I picked up the baby and sat down with him for a few minutes before nap time. J had been doing his best to undo all my work. While I loaded the dishwasher, he was unloading the clean utensils. It could have been worse I thought so I let him keep playing.

As I sat with the baby, J was in the kitchen, I should have noticed that the clinking of utensils had stopped. Then J came around the corner and presented me with this "Cake".

Yes, a wonderful cake, made from globs of shortening, served up on a Frisbee. I thanked him for his cake and took it from him. Then I quickly swaddled the baby and put him in the crib for a nap. As I brought the first cake into the kitchen I found J making a second one, this time on a blue Frisbee. YEAH! My boy loves to cook!

Now I have to get back to cleaning, I know I will appreciate the beautiful cleanliness once it is done. But for now, I am struggling through the Blah's.

Breakity- Rockity-Run!

2011-02-21T10:10:00.002-07:00

This morning we got up bright and early and participated in the Breakity-Rockity-Run, then we ate Green Eggs and Ham. It was fun, Cold, but fun.

Ken had to work, so the boys came down with me and enjoyed a 3.1 mile ride in the stroller while I ran. It is the first time I have run outside since Thanksgiving and I was a little slower than my pace on the treadmill, but I am still pretty proud. I ran the entire 5k, I think that they told me my time was 40 Min and 30 something seconds.
I can't believe that we didn't get any pictures of all of us before or after the run, but here is what we looked like right after we got home.

I really enjoy running, who would have ever thought I would say that, not me! But I do. My next race will be on April 30th. The Hope for Sara 5k which I am going to run twice so that I can get my 10k in (it is my goal to run a 10k in April and I think this race has the best purpose). Come run with me, I am pretty sure I will be pushing the boys during this race as well, but I still have high hopes to increase my speed, by the end of April it should be warm enough to train outside. I have this theory that the first few times you run outside after training on a treadmill, you run a little slower because the ground doesn't force you to keep running at a certain speed like a treadmill does.