USS DAVIS

And it's a ...

2012-01-03T14:40:00.004-05:00

Yay!

So I Guess I Only Post When Big Things Happen In Our Lives

2011-12-16T19:53:00.000-05:00

...but that's much better than nothing, right?

We're having a baby! And we're so excited, you would think it was our first! :)

I'm due with #4 in May and if little one lets us we will find out the gender next week. Fingers crossed! (But nothing else, baby!)

Jeffy wants a sister named Sarah. Katey wants a brother. Jeff wants another boy. I want another little blondie to be a twin with Bekah. :)

Yay for babies!

Christmas!

2011-12-11T19:12:00.001-05:00

Thanksgiving!

2011-11-27T11:35:00.006-05:00

The Good:

My parents and 4 youngest siblings (Melodie, 16; Loralee, 14; Zach, 12; Jeremy, 10) were able to come spend a whole week with us!
We went to the beach twice. The kids (older and younger) loved it and actually got totally immersed. They were used to low 30's so 81 was heaven!
My family (especially Mom) kept our house so clean! They did all the dishes the whole week! I got to enjoy cooking without worrying about the clean-up.
Jeffy and Katey had unlimited play pals for a week! And Bekah's never gotten so much attention either! :)
And guess who cooked the Thanksgiving meal too? Good grief, it was my Mom! I made the rolls and she made everything else! She was insistent, but I don't know why! She worked way too hard for being a guest. What a lucky hostess I was. :)
Mom and Dad took us on a double date one night. That was so much fun!
They also watched the kids multiple times so Jeff and I could go out alone. They were so nice to us.

The Bad:

Jeff had worked hard to arrange for us all to take a tour of his submarine, but on the day of our visit, we were unable to go down into the boat because the ladder had been pulled out. Oh well!
Jeffy and Katey were so sad when the left! It was barely a consolation that we'll get to see them at Christmas.

The Ugly:

Loralee got sick on Wednesday night and emptied her stomach all over the table. Poor girl!

The Exciting:

We had a small house fire! Looking back, we're almost to the point where it's funny, but then it was pretty scary! A table lamp in our bedroom had been knocked over and covered with some clothes without anyone knowing. A pillow, many clothing items and blankets were smoldering and have holes burnt in them. Pages of a book were just starting to catch when we found the fire! Thanks for quick acting on Jeff/Dad's part, it didn't escalate into a full fire, but it was way too close! That was on Tuesday and our bedroom still smells like smoke. Scary!
The morning after Thanksgiving, we heard a whole bunch of sirens on base and figured something bad must have happened. But they kept getting closer and next thing we knew, a parade was on our street! Riding atop a fire truck were Santa and Mrs. Claus, the Grinch, an elf, and a Christmas tree! The kids loved it!

It was such a wonderful Thanksgiving. I can't think of how it could have been more fun or enjoyable. We loved playing host and were so grateful they made the long trip to come see us! Here are some of the pictures my dad took with his fancy schmancy new camera. Hopefully I can get a few more from the later days too. They're kind of in a weird order, so sorry!

We didn't intend for everyone to get so wet. Bit by bit, the clothes started to come off!

My little sand baby.

The little ones loved the pools left by the tide. And that the big kids would play with them.

So much fun!

Katey down to her very soggy diaper.

Jeremy, Katelyn, and Loralee on our Sunday outing to St Mary's Waterfront Park.

My four youngest siblings: Loralee, Jeremy, Melodie, Zach.

The beach was windy! (This is obviously before anyone got wet!)

Testing the water.

Bekah loves riding on my shoulders. And pulling my hair.

She looks like a Who in this one. :)

Ironman is back!

All smiles from my Katey!

Mom (Grandma) and the girls at the Waterfront Park!

All of us except Dad. Fun visit!

Counting to Five!

2011-08-29T12:51:00.002-04:00

I saw this idea on a friend's blog and thought I'd use it too. :)

1 little boy! I'm glad he was born first. He came to us Jan 9, 2008. He is such a sweet older brother and is going to take good care of his sisters.

2 little girls! Katelyn was born Sept 3, 2009 (happy 2 years soon!) and Rebekah was born Dec 27, 2010. Daddy's two little girls have a special place in his heart. Especially Katey, since she's old enough to really interact with him. He just can't resist those big brown eyes. :)

3 military moves! We moved from Utah to Charleston, South Carolina after Jeff finished Boot Camp in April 2009. Then from Charleston to Saratoga Springs, New York in April 2010. And most recently from Saratoga Springs to Saint Marys, Georgia. But we moved a good many times before joining the military too.

4 cars! Yes, we have bought 4 cars since we've been married. A little black Nissan days before we got married in 2006. A Chevy Silverado in 2007. A Dodge Caravan in 2009. And a Kia Sedona in 2011. Right now we have the Caravan, the Sedona, and Jane, Jeff's sentimental sports car his dad gave back to him. (We may collect cars like other people collect trading cards, but we have no car debt, so it's ok. :))

5 years of marriage. Which also includes: 9 different homes in 8 different states, 2 deployments, 1.5 college degrees, 32 months pregnant and/or breastfeeding, and many other adventures.

It's been a fun, albeit sometimes challenging, ride and there is no one I would rather be on this journey with than Jeff. I love him.

Happy Anniversary to us!

(I'm going to post pictures later when I have more time. :))

Go to facebook

2011-07-14T13:49:00.003-04:00

Hey y'all.

You may have noticed I haven't posted in months. And that's probably going to be the trend. I don't have much interest in blogginy anymore. I've been keeping a regular journal, so there isn't a very big need for me to write here. If you want to see pictures of the kids (which is the only reason I blogged in the first place), head on over to facebook. If you're not my friend on facebook and want to see, friend me! And if you're not on facebook, leave a comment here with your email address and I'll send you a link to some new pictures. :)

The Peach State

2011-04-10T21:11:00.006-04:00

(photo from here)

Guess who finally got orders!

Our family will be spending the next four years in Kings Bay, Georgia! We will be stationed at the Submarine Base there, where Jeff will serve on the USS Rhode Island. Exciting!

We're planning on making a family trip out west to Utah to see family sometime during the move and I'm excited! We have lots of planning to do, and I am really excited to settle down somewhere for a little while.

And I'm also excited for NO SNOW! :)

Siblings

2011-03-25T20:24:00.000-04:00

Money Baby

2011-03-24T14:34:00.004-04:00

If you want a giggle, head over to Jeff's facebook page. We got out the cash to buy our car and it's in 20s. It was a pretty big stack, and we just had to take some pictures. Bekah was our model. :) Hence, our money baby.

Bekah Talking

2011-03-21T09:06:00.002-04:00

This one is for the grandmas. :)

Rebekah's Baby Blessing Pictures

2011-03-20T13:24:00.006-04:00

Here are a few pictures of Bekah's blessing. These were the best few, but I uploaded all the ones of the kids into a picasa album. Click on the link below if you're interested in seeing them all.

I'll post some with us (Jeff and I) later. :)

https://picasaweb.google.com/Jeff.Bethany.Davis/RebekahSBlessingDayMar202011?authkey=Gv1sRgCLiIxbXmheXN5wE&feat=directlink

I was getting her dressed, and she just looked so darn cute in just the bow, socks, and shoes that I had to snap a picture! And it's a great smile too.

My little blondie. :)

Yay! So happy! (and pretty)

Trying to get some shots of the whole gown, but she was done with pictures by this point! Can you tell how beautiful this lace is? My amazing mother-in-law made this gown for Rebekah, and got the lace in Amish country. What a great keepsake for Bekah, eh?

And the shoe picture. Cute!

While everyone looked cute and I had a pseudo backdrop set up, I took a few more pictures of the kids. Here's Jeffy's male model pose. :)

Katey was saying "cheese" over and over again, and I had to try to take the picture at the right time. :)

The best one of all three. Bekah may be crying, but at least she's upright!

Bekah's 2 Month Stats ... and other stuff

2011-03-17T14:39:00.005-04:00

Rebekah had her 2 month check up today, a little late.

I took all three kids. Whew. I really don't enjoy that. I brought the portable dvd player and CARS, which they hadn't seen in a few months, and hoped for the best. It went ok. For most of the time, Jeffy and Katey sat together in a chair and watched it, but there were lots of distractions just asking to be noticed-- a Dora sticker stuck on the floor, a window, a door, other chairs, a baby, a doctor.... Let's just say I was glad when it was all over!

Bekah did great. Here are her stats:

Height: 23 1/4 "

Weight: 12.6 lbs

Head: 16 1/2 "

For both height and weight she's in the 90-95% percentile, which made me glad. With both Jeffy and Katelyn, I supplemented with formula, but Bekah is all breastmilk, and I'm never sure if she's eating enough. But I guess she is. Yay!

She is the cutest thing. She's smiling all the time now, and they're real smiles, not just gas. She has the cutest little voice and makes the cutest little sounds! My favorite time with her is after she's just eaten and is full and happy. She just sits on my lap, looking at me and talking with her little coos and smiles. It makes me so happy! I love her. If I'm having a hard day, all I need are some Bekah smiles and everything is better. She's been holding her head up on her own for a while now and her legs are strong enough to stand with help too. She was sleeping about 7 hours straight at night, but hasn't the last few nights. She is still as blonde as ever, even though some of the hair on top has rubbed off. I love that little blondie. :)

And now for some pictures. Jeffy broke our real camera, and I got a dinky little temporary one so these pictures aren't very good, but at least they're something!

In Jeffy's speech therapy's waiting room.

With the awesome Harry Potter dragon Nana and Papa got him for his b-day.

Back in the waiting room.

Smiles in the swing!

Peeking around at the mall playground.

Kisses from Daddy!

Ridin' on a Saratoga racehorse!

Jeffy too.

I think it's cute when they play together. :)

We tried to go play at the playground yesterday. Whoops. It's hard to play on a playground when there's still a foot of snow on the ground.

Cute little grumpy face in the swing.

Jeffy took this. :)

Cute little snuggly bear.

I love her smiles.

Hee hee

2011-03-01T19:23:00.001-05:00

Yes, I am aware that I have a Christmas picture as the blog header of my St. Patrick's Day blog. :)

One of my good friends is getting married this weekend and all the kids are going to be dressed up and I hope to get some nice pictures of the three of them then. And then I'll have a new header picture! :)

Keeping Up With the Joneses ... and the Smiths ... and the Browns ...

2011-02-14T17:06:00.002-05:00

We're coming up on a time of big changes for our family. Soon we will be moving to a new state, and will stay there for four years, maybe six! The longest we've been in one place since we've been married is 11 months, so four years is a long time! I'm really excited to really settle into a place and put down some semblance of roots.

We're thinking about buying a house. And we're thinking about getting a new van. The majority of Jeff and my conversations these days is about these things-- what we want, what we need, what we can afford, etc. In both cases, I want nicer ones than Jeff does.

I was thinking about this and I had to admit to myself that I want more than we can afford. I've gotten caught up in wanting what other people have. Family X has a really nice van. I want one. Family Y has a really nice house. I want one. And the list goes on. There are lots of people in similar circumstances as we are that have nicer things than we do. And I've latched onto the idea that we could have them too.

But I need to pull in the reigns. It's just not practical to get a nice new van and a nice new house. Just because someone else has something doesn't mean I need it or have to have it, or should have it. Sometimes it's hard to see people who have the things you want but don't have. I just need to keep reminding myself that nicer things will come later. Now is not the time for nicer things for us. There are higher priorities. So the dream will have to wait a little bit longer. It's not a bad thing, just something I have to get used to.

Someday, someday....

Missing

2011-02-08T10:32:00.003-05:00

I've been having some interesting feelings lately. I'll have all three kids around me, then I'll think to myself "where's ..." but no name comes. I'm looking for someone who doesn't exist yet! It's that someone-is-missing-from-our-family feeling. Does anyone else get those?

I know there's another little person waiting to come down to our family. And I think there's just one more. So I'm excited to get them here and have our little family complete! But don't worry, I know I have a little baby already right now, and my sister and I have a pact not to get pregnant this year, so little baby will just have to wait a little while longer. But, sweet baby, I know you're there and waiting, and your time will be here soon!

Back On Track!

2011-02-07T10:11:00.005-05:00

Now that Rebekah is 6 weeks old, I am back on the weight-loss journey I started last April. Yay! I'm so excited!

Please feel free to check out my blog and join my support team! People were so kind and encouraging when I started, I hope they'll come back out and help me this time around too.

insidebeautyout.blogspot.com

Thanks!!

Birthday Girl!

2011-01-29T21:04:00.002-05:00

Last Saturday was my birthday! I started this post then, but it's not being written until Feb 4th, so yeah. I had a great day. I went out by myself! Jeff stayed home with all three kids for over four hours! I got a haircut, a pedicure, did some shopping, and took myself to lunch. It was AWESOME!! I had been looking forward to it for a long time, and I felt so happy afterwards!

But first the day started with breakfast in bed. Jeff likes to do special breakfasts for my birthday. This year breakfast was cheesecake! Good grief! He bought a sampler, and put three pieces on a plate for breakfast. Good thing I was surrounded by hungry little people!

Then I got ready and headed out for my day of pampering. I'm always a little leary of getting my hair cut. It's so easy for someone to mess it up. But it's been needing some help and I feel my hair cutting abilities can only take me so far. I went to the salon in JC Penney. I was actually surprised at how many other people went there too. And the girl did a good job. Today I styled it with a flat iron, and I think I would like the whole thing to be about 1 inch shorter, but that's not a big deal. It was pretty reasonably priced and I enjoyed the time to myself.

I also got a pedicure! I was really excited for that too. I have gotten one before as a reward for all my working moving. It definitely is a splurge. :) The guy accidentally cut my toe, but other than that it was nice. But I have to try so hard not to laugh my head off when they use the pumice stone on the sole of my foot! It tickles so much! They had lots of magazines to read. I don't read those ... well, ever. Some I enjoyed; some shocked me with how trashy they were! But I enjoyed it, as well, and love how pretty and soft and smooth my feet are. No more catching on everything! I hate that. I need to learn how to give myself a pedicure.

Then I tried to do some clothes shopping. Bad idea. Clothes shopping is not a fun activity when you're fat!! I determined not to even try again till I've lost considerable weight.

I was feeling pretty discouraged and frustrated, and almost didn't want to do anything else, but I knew I would regret it if I didn't get a nice lunch (ironic, I know-- the fat girl gets depressed because nothing fits her, so she goes out to eat). I went to Ruby Tuesday and LOVED it! I love their salad bar. Yum. And I got a root beer. Also yum. And I loved the lunch! I got chicken florentine (yum!) with the most heavenly white cheddar mashed potatoes (YUM!). It made me feel a lot better. I had nice hair, cute toes (albeit hidden in my boots!), and the waitress was really nice. She got a giant tip.

After, I went to Walmart for a few groceries and treated myself to some nice hair products. I figure, my hair actually looks good now, so I should try to keep it that way! I came home to happy kids and enjoyed the rest of the day with my family. Then I made Jeff watch a chick flick with me that evening. :) It was a great birthday.

And no one had checked the mail for a few days, so it was fun to check on Monday and get four birthday cards in the mail! It was like my birthday day all over again! I seriously love my birthday. Always have. It's the one day that I don't have to share with anyone else. It's all about me. That may sound selfish, but as a mom, wife, and even just as a woman, so much of my time and thoughts are devoted to everyone else, it's nice to have a day that focused on me, guilt-free. :)

So thanks to everyone for your birthday wishes, whether through phone, email, facebook, or treating me to a great day to myself. (Love you, Jeff!)

A Few Pictures of Rebekah

2011-01-19T12:10:00.003-05:00

Still can't get over this blonde hair! :)

We Get Really Bored Sometimes

2011-01-17T09:17:00.002-05:00

"How to Entertain Yourself in the Winter" by Katelyn Davis

2011-01-15T16:43:00.002-05:00

Natural Childbirth: What a Ride!

2011-01-02T13:26:00.004-05:00

[Warning! This is a story about natural childbirth. Feel free to skip if you're not interested!]

I have always wanted to have a natural childbirth. It just seemed so empowering and amazing. My first two pregnancies didn't go that way, but with this one, I was determined to do everything in my power to have the birth I wanted. And it seemed like everything was coming together in my favor: I found a practice of midwives very supportive of a natural VBAC, a hospital who let you do your own thing without needless interventions, and a negative strep B! (which was the biggest blessing of all). If ever there was a time to go natural, this was it!

The best part about being negative for strep B is that I could labor at home as long as I wanted, without having to rush to the hospital for antibiotics. So that was the plan. When regular contractions were happening, I would call to let my midwives know, but continue to labor at home.

I had been contracting on and off for a few days, but the night of Dec 26th, they picked up, and I had a feeling this was going to be it. Jeff was working the midnight shift at work (7:00 pm to 7:00 am) and was completing a really important assignment that night. He told me he would finish that up at around 4:00 am. I went to bed with contractions, and fell asleep, assuming they would stop if it wasn't real labor, and would wake me up eventually if it was!

At 2:00 am, the contractions woke me up. They were regular at 4 minutes apart, and picking up a little in intensity. I knew sleep at that point wasn't going to happen. I made it a goal to hang on by myself until after Jeff would be done with his work thing. 4:00 came and went, and I kept pushing back the time I would call him. On one side, I didn't want the hassle of calling and hoping that they'd be able to find him and all that drama. I think that's pretty much why I didn't call.

At 6:30, the contractions were every 3-4 minutes and were getting very strong. I knew that baby was going to come today! Jeffy and Katelyn had gotten up at 6:00, so they were up with me. Let me tell you, it's kind of hard to concentrate on relaxing with two very active kids running around! :) I played a little baseball with Jeffy, where I'd pitch him the ball and he'd hit it every couple of times, and tried really hard not to bite their heads off when contractions hit.

Jeff was supposed to be home at around 7:30, so I was just trying to hold on till then. I still needed to pack a few things for me and for the kids, but it was all I could do to try to get through each contraction. Once Jeff got home, I would have some help.

Of course, he had to stay late. He got home at about 8:30 and I was trying not to lose it. The contractions were still 3-4 minutes apart, and getting stronger and stronger. Jeff corralled the kids and got them out of my way so I could relax and get this done. At 9:00 I called the midwives to let them know I was in labor. They suggested I go ahead and come in to the hospital, since the roads were bad due to lots of snow the night before. So we got off the phone and started to get ready to leave. The bags were packed, everything loaded in the car, and at 10:00 we were ready to go. We called the babysitter to let her know we were on our way, but there was no answer. We waited a little longer and tried again, but with no luck. And again. I started to get really nervous, because I knew baby wasn't far away from coming, and what on earth were we going to do if our babysitter fell through?!! Finally, a little before 11:00, Jeff drove over to her house to see if she was there. I guess she and her phone were on different levels of the house. Whew.

We dropped the kids off, stopped back at home for something for Jeff, stopped back at the babysitters to drop off Jeffy's potty, then we were finally on our way at 11:15. At this point, the contractions were really bad and I was having a really hard time relaxing. Jeff tried to talk me through them, and after each contraction, I told him what had helped and what hadn't. About halfway through our hour-long drive to the hospital, we figured out what worked for me and Jeff did a great job helping me to stay relaxed. When a contraction was coming, I would tap on the cup holder and Jeff would start talking me down. When I started to lose control, my breathng would speed up and and I'd make a hyperventilating sound, and Jeff knew to help me regain control, especially over my breathing.

The closer we got, the lower I could feel her moving. I really hoped that when we got to the hospital, I would be far along, but at the same time, I really didn't want to hope too much, and then be disappointed by being at a 3 or something. We finally pulled into the hospital and were going to do one more contraction in the car before going in, but when it started, I knew we were running out of time, so I yelled "we have to get inside NOW!" So he helped me out of the car, and we walked in. Ouch. It's hard to walk when you're in full-blown labor like that! I was just concentrating on getting one foot up and down at a time, and trying to remember to breathe. I subconsciously noticed people looking at me, and wondered what I looked like.

We got to the maternity wing, and they offered me a wheelchair. I declined-- I was in a walking groove and didn't want to upset it. Looking back, it was kind of dumb to offer it to me there; I would have been in it for all of a 20-second trip. We made it into a room, where I painfully changed into a gown and belly band. The contractions I had while changing HURT. It took every bit of my strength not to lose control, but I knew that wasn't going to last long either. The end was coming! :)

After what seemed like an eternity, the nurse came in, and told Jeff he had to go register upstairs. Dumb. I had done the pre-registration thing, but he still had to leave me and go finish up. The contraction that hit me on his way out was the beginning of the end. I lost all control I had had. I just started writhing and calling "help, help, help" and Jeff came running back in. I yelled at him "not you!" because I just wanted him to finish and get back to me.

I was alone in that room having the worst pain of my life, and I thought I was going to have this baby by myself, that she was going to come and no one would be there to help me! Not a good feeling. The nurse came in and checked me and said I still had a little bit of cervix left, but she didn't want to cause me more pain by determining exactly where I was. Contractions were coming hard and very close together. After she checked me, a really bad one hit, and I grabbed on to this pole thing next to my bed and just started screaming. No more control here! I just said over and over and "I can't do it! I can't do it!" and my nurse was great and kept telling me that I was strong and that I can do it. After another contraction like that, she checked me again, and said that the cervix was gone and I was ready to have this baby!

She told me to try my hardest not to bear down when the contractions came. Um, yeah right. At this point, I wasn't in charge anymore. My body was doing what it wanted to do, regardless of what I wanted it to do! I had been in the hospital for about 10 minutes at this point. I hadn't answered their questions, I hadn't signed anything, and my midwife hadn't even been paged yet. But after that check, the nurse started to get things rolling. I did my best not to push when those awful contractions hit and kept coming. Instead I just screamed and held onto that pole for dear life. They couldn't find my midwife, so an on-call OB stepped in. The room was filled with people getting things ready. But Jeff wasn't back yet. I was scared he was going to miss it!

With one contraction, I felt this huge gush and started screaming/panting to hopefully alert someone that something was going on! I thought baby was coming or something, and at first, they thought my water had broken, but the doctor checked and it was still in tact, so I guess it was urine or something. The doctor said the basically the water sack was all that was keeping my baby in. Finally they were ready and I was allowed to push. And push I did.

With the pushing came a little relief because I was finally able to direct my pain at something. The pain was still intensely there and I had a hard time not screaming my bloody head off. (I'd heard lots of stories about women involuntarily screaming during childbirth, and thought that sounded a little silly, but now I understand. I screamed and screamed and it was not a conscious decision! There was nothing I could do about it! I remember the doctor kept telling me to stop screaming and direct my energy at pushing. :)) I think Jeff made it back in after the first push. I was so relieved he was there. He was set up to hold one of my legs and I kept pushing. My water broke. She was coming. Sometimes I would have a minute or so inbetween contractions. Jeff later told me that during the breaks, I was like my regular self, but during contractions, something else took over and it was like I wasn't there anymore. I kept saying things like "I don't want to do this anymore!" and "I quit!" and things like that, but for some reason, no one listened to me and I had to keep going!

At one point, I asked if she was coming, if it was working, and they told me that she was coming, but I felt that everything was so hopelessly beyond my control and the horrible pain was never going to end, that I said "you're all lying!" I wonder what other kinds of weird things people say in childbirth...

Anyways, those horrible, gut-wrenching, surely-I-am-going-to-die-from-this-pain contractions kept coming and I pushed with everything I had, and after only about 6 contractions or so, she was born! I had been in the hospital for a little more than half an hour. (Later when I looked in the mirror, I was shocked. That pushing really did me in-- I had broken blood vessels all over my face, neck, and shoulders. I looked like a completely different person.)

She was here!!! My first reaction was utter and complete relief. It was over. I did it. And I didn't have to do it anymore. When my water broke, there had been some meconium, so they wanted to check her out before they gave her to me. So I got to hear her little cry from her bassinet. Jeff called out and told me that she had a full head of light blonde hair! She was fine, no meconium had gotten into her lungs and she was letting her presence be known! Now it was her turn to scream. :)

I didn't get to hold her, though, for about 45 minutes while I got stitched up. I guess sometimes when things go that fast, you don't have a chance to stretch, so you tear. I tore pretty badly, and got some major stitches. That was almost as bad as the birth! "Okay, we're going to give you a shot, this will hurt. Okay, we're going to stitch you up right here, this will hurt...." Good grief. Oh, and by the way, my midwife didn't make it in time for the delivery, but she made it in time to stitch me up! Lucky lady.

Finally I got to hold her. She was so beautiful, and it was true-- she was a towhead! How did a baby of mine end up with such light blonde hair? :) She was perfect and very alert from the lack of drugs. We just looked at each other and got acquainted. It was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life, and I don't know whether or not I'll do it again, but it was worth it then. I felt like I had given her a gift that only I could give. She wasn't hopped up on medications that would take hours to wear off. She was just... herself. That may sound weird, but it's how I felt.

I believe that women have the right to choose what kind of birth they want, whether it's natural, medicated, or whatever. I was so grateful that I was given the opportunity to birth how I wanted to and that I had such a supportive team behind me. I'm grateful that things worked out the way they did and that I got such a beautiful baby out of it. Rebekah is very precious to me and I can't think of a better start to our relationship.

(I'm too lazy to go back and edit, so I hope everything is spelled correctly and makes sense! But oh well if it doesn't, I guess. :))

Rebekah Elaine Davis!

2010-12-30T13:39:00.004-05:00

She's here!

Rebekah Elaine Davis was born on December 27, 2010 at 12:55 pm, weighing 7 pounds 7 ounces, and measuring 19 inches long.

It was a whirlwind of a delivery, but we'll save that story for a later post. For now, everyone is doing well, and we're all thrilled to have Bekah in our family!!

Davis Family Christmas 2010

2010-12-25T18:53:00.018-05:00

I wish blogger had a quick uploader like facebook. :) I may have been uploading pictures for the last hour or so....

We had a fun Christmas. Our original plan was to postpone and celebrate next week when Jeff's off work, but I got tired of waiting. :) We did the Christmas Eve stuff before Jeff left for work, and did the Christmas morning stuff after he got home at 9 am.

For Christmas Eve, we had an indoor picnic of homemade pizza, breadsticks, and cinnamon sticks with Jeff's traditional punch. We also had chocolate chip cookies and made sure to save some for Santa. I think it may become a tradition! Christmas Eve Dinner in my home growing up was always a nice holiday dinner of ham, potatoes, etc., but I definitely wasn't feeling up to that this year, and I liked how low-key it was. Maybe we'll do a big dinner on Christmas Day. We'll see.

Anyways, we had dinner and then did a small nativity pageant with Jeffy and Katelyn. That was a lot of fun. Kate wanted to hold baby Jesus the whole time and got rather upset when Jeffy held him for a moment. They actually did pretty well with keeping their costumes on. Jeffy even ate with his on. Cute. Later, Jeffy took the blanket that had been wrapped around baby Jesus, and draped it over his own shoulders and called himself Jesus. :)

We then had the kids open their new pjs. They weren't Christmas-themed because I couldn't find any when I went out, but they were nice and soft and still cute. Thanks, Nana and Papa, for the pjs! Jeffy actually loved his so much he willingly put them back on after going potty! Usually it's a struggle to get his clothes back on, but not with these pjs!

Then the kids watched a quick Christmas movie and went to bed, and Santa went to work.

Christmas Morning! Jeff wasn't going to get home from work until about 8am, and I planned to put up a gate to keep the kids from getting into the front room. I should have thought a little longer, and put the gate up where the kids couldn't see the front room. They got up a little before 7:00, and walked right up to the gate, where they could see the toys. Whoops. Jeffy could see the t-ball set Santa brought for him, and did not like that he couldn't get to it. I turned on a movie for them in their room and hopped in the shower. As I was getting out I heard a crash, and found Jeffy had actually broken his way through the gate to get to the goodies! Well, I wanted to wait until Jeff got home for them to play with the presents, so I gathered up the Santa presents (which are unwrapped) and put them in my bedroom, amidst much weeping and wailing. :) Once Jeff got home, he took them back into their room while I set everything up again, then he let them loose. Now that they knew what was waiting for them, they ran as fast as they could to get to the presents! That was fun to watch.

We had a fun morning of finding our stockings, opening presents, and eating junk food. I love Christmas. Each year the kids get older and it gets more and more fun. :) And next year we'll have three!!

And now the pictures.

Merry Christmas from Jeffy and Katelyn!

2010-12-25T13:27:00.002-05:00

Hope your holiday brings peace and joy!

Christmas Crafts

2010-12-19T19:24:00.006-05:00

I may have been a little ambitious this year with my Christmas crafting. I was bored in September and decided to make all our extended family presents and a few of Jeffy's and Katelyn's too. That equals 4 parents, 11 siblings and their 4 spouses, 3 nieces, and 1 nephew, plus a few for our 2 kids. Whew. The good news: I just may have accomplished it. The bad news: I didn't get any pictures due to a MIA camera. How depressing is that? I asked my family to take pictures of their opened gifts so I can put them in my inventory for ideas later. I hope that happens. We'll see!

And today I got bored and decided to make Christmas ornaments for Katelyn and Jeffy. What's wrong with me? It's like I can't stop. I browsed the internet for ideas and didn't find any I liked. So I made this up, and it actually turned out ok. I think I'm going to add little gold bells on the ends. It definitely needs a finishing touch, and maybe that would do it. I want to have an ornament for the kids every year, listing the year and the place we lived that Christmas. This is the first year I've made them instead of buying them, and I think that this may become part of the tradition. It was fun.

For next year I decided not to make any, excepting maybe one for each of our kids. But Jeff said I said the same thing after last year, so I guess we'll see how I'm feeling come fall! :) Maybe I'll compromise and just make the nieces and nephews presents. Theirs are the most fun anyways. :)

My Grandma, Florence Elaine Roundy Chapman

2010-12-18T19:51:00.004-05:00

Last Wednesday, my dear grandma passed away. Today was her funeral in Missouri. I was so sad I wasn't able to go. A little over a month ago, she was admitted to the hospital for complications with diabetes and heart failure. It was clear at that time that she wouldn't be with us much longer. Although her health had been declining for a long time, this news still came as a shock to me and I had a hard time. I called and was able to talk to my grandpa for a little while, which was great. But Grandma wasn't in a situation to talk. My mom was able to go out there and help them get her released from the hospital and set up with hospice care at home. I'm glad she got that chance to say goodbye. Grandma didn't want to see a lot of visitors or spend her time chatting with people. She was tired and "ready to go home" and get a relief from the pain.

My grandma was an amazing woman. If I were to make all my decisions based on what grandma would do, I would lead a pretty stellar life. I should probably do that. I wrote her this goodbye letter a few weeks before she died. It was hard for me to articulate what I felt.

Dear Grandma,

I just wanted to write a quick note and tell you how much I love you and what a wonderful example you have been to me. Growing up, I had grandparents that I knew and loved and that I knew loved me. I didn't realize how special this was until I was grown up and didn't know very many people who had that. I have always been very proud of my heritage. I come from good, hard-working people who make great sacrifices for truth, goodness, and family. I can't think of anyone who embodies these traits more than you. You have always been a rock of strength and goodness to me. I'm not a very outgoing person, and you have been the example of quiet strength that I aspire to. At first I felt anxious about the hole you would leave in our family, and if we would be as strong without you, but then I realized that there is a piece of you in every single one of us, and that gives us your strength. I feel more confident as a mother and wife when I remember I am your granddaughter. I feel more confident that my children can weather the storms of life when I remember they have your genes. Thank you for instilling in me the desire to do good and be strong no matter what.

I love you very much, and will live my life so that I can be with you again.

Love,
Bethany

I want to keep a copy of it here so that I remember it.

Someone mentioned to me today that she and our little girl coming soon may be having conversations right now before little one comes to us, and that this little girl may just have a special guardian angel looking out for her. I like that idea. We plan on giving this little girl my grandma's middle name--Elaine. I hope baby girl will feel something of a connection with her, even though they never got a chance to meet in this life.

I love you Grandma. I'm grateful for the life you led, and the example you have been to me. Until we meet again, all my love,

Bethany

Post!

2010-12-17T07:34:00.005-05:00

It's sad when there are posts from Sept still visible on the blog from lack of posting. But good news! The camera has been found, so I guess I have a reason to post again. :)

Mainly this post is going to be a bunch of pictures. I'm glad we found the camera with Christmas and baby's birth fast approaching! Wouldn't want to miss either of those things.

As far as an update, we're doing well. The kids seem to catch a cold every other week, and we all got hit with a nasty stomach bug the week before last. Such is winter, I guess! I am 11 days away from my due date! I'm really having a hard time believing it's here already! But we're almost ready for her to come and I'm getting really excited! I'm feeling ok, as long as I don't overdo it. Last night, I did too much cleaning and had to go to bed early, unable to do anything else. Lesson learned.

We've had some fun holiday acitvities. Our ward Christmas party was last Saturday and we all had fun. It was "A Night in Bethlehem" where everyone dressed up and well, spent the evening in Bethlehem! Everyone was given coins with which to buy their food. Jeffy loved that part. He had a great time putting the coins in baskets, and when 4 coins made it home with him, he carried them around for days, and even slept with them clenched in his little fists. :)

The week before was the Relief Society Christmas Dinner, which I enjoyed immensely. I got the leave the kids at home for the first RS activity in this ward ever! It was awesome. There was a lovely dinner (which I did not have to prepare, serve, or clean up!!) and a nice program. I had been looking forward to it for weeks, and had a great time. Can you tell people in our ward work hard to make things nice for us? I am so grateful to all of them.

But this week, we've become hermits. Going out takes a lot out of me, so until baby comes, we're homebodies, excepting church, doctor appointments, and speech therapy. Jeff has even taken over all the shopping, which is a huge burden lifted off of me. I'm grateful that he helps me so much.

Well, I think that's it for this post. Hopefully I can get back into the habit of posting regularly. We'll definitely have lots to post about in the upcoming weeks!

**********************************************************

Snow day! Jeffy just had to bring this Halloween bag out with him. :)

Happy as long as there's no snow on him.

She's just happy to be outside!

Even when she goes splat!

Oreo time! I admit I love giving them messy food. :)

Jeffy showing off the Christmas tree with a goofy smile.

No fireplace? No problem!

Tree and presents!

Jeffy loves the tree.

Playing outside before the snow came!

She's started squealing whenever she's happy about something. It's cute.

Where is Katelyn?

Toys!

Jeffy telling me to "stop" taking pictures.

Playing in the snow, or at least being out in it.

2010-12-16T17:13:00.001-05:00

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

My Kids Have Watched This About A Million Times Today & Giggled Hysterically Every Time :)

2010-12-16T17:01:00.002-05:00

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Welcome Teddy Pieper!

2010-12-02T15:54:00.004-05:00

My sister had a baby!

Theodore Matthew Pieper was born yesterday at 10:00 am in Utah. The cute little guy was 8 lbs 13 oz, with lots of hair! Mommy and baby are doing well. I am so happy for Kimi, Matt, and big sister Daisy!!!

Can't wait till it's my turn. :)

I Won! I Won!

2010-10-27T17:24:00.005-04:00

I know I haven't been very good at blogging lately. I just don't feel like I have anything to say. Also, the camera is missing, so I have no pictures to upload. That's the real tragedy. If we can't find the camera by Halloween, I'm b uying a disposable one. Can't miss Halloween pictures!

But I do have something to say today! I won! I entered a giveaway at the cinnamon sticks boutique for a beautiful bracelet and I won! I'm so excited! Canela makes such beautiful jewelry and I'm often inspired by her designs and anecdotes. Isn't this pretty?

Now I just have to think of something to get engraved on it! I wish we were done having kids so I could get all their names on there. I'll have to get something when they're all here. Canela recommends sayings, verses, etc., and I just don't know! Who has a suggestion for me? :)

I Am A Culinary Master!

2010-10-06T14:46:00.003-04:00

Ok, not really. But, I did do something in the kitchen that I've never done before-- improvise! ;)

Usually I stick to the recipe. I don't feel confident enough in my knowledge of food/spices to just throw things together and hope it will turn out yummy. But today I was brave! (Am I saying that a lot lately?)

It's been raining her a LOT lately. Just going to and coming home from Jeffy's speech lesson, we got soaked, even with an umbrella. The air is cool and crisp and beautiful leaves are everywhere. It's definitely fall and I LOVE it!! On the way home, I really got a craving for chili. And not the gross canned chili--the homemade good stuff.

My sister-in-law, Elizabeth, once made this amazing homemade chili that is now my standard for yummy. I haven't had chili as good as hers since then, and have been meaning to ask her for the recipe. But I haven't yet, so I googled chili recipes. They all called for tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato juice, tomato paste, or all of the above, and the only tomato thing I had was a 6 oz can of paste. They also called for lots of other things I don't have, so I got discouraged.

But then I thought that chili is basically beans and meat, and I had both of those, so why not try? Our chili consisted of ground beef, chili beans, carrots, onions, corn, cheddar cheese, the tomato paste, water, and a bunch of spices I don't remember. It wasn't nearly as good as Elizabeth's, but it was really good. And I made it from scratch and made it up myself, so it was REALLY GOOD. :)

I'm proud of myself. I like to cook, but am not especially good at it. This makes me think that maybe with a lot of practice I can become really good at it. That would be fun.

We had it for lunch, we'll be having it for dinner, and Jeff will be eating it for his lunch tomorrow too. Hope he's okay with that. :)

Today I Was Brave

2010-09-21T18:41:00.002-04:00

Have you ever been seriously overweight? If not, you have no idea how terrifying it can be to go to a gym! Surrounded by scantily-clad, well-toned, glistening skinny people will definitely bring out your insecurities. :)

But today I was brave. I have desperately been needing something to do to get out of the house and away from the munchkins for a bit. I was looking through the YMCA catalog and found a "Mommies-to-Be" class that meets twice a week. I thought "hey, I can do that. It's low-impact, and everyone in there should have a big belly too." So tonight we went! I took the kids to babysitting, and I went to my mommy class.

As we were getting ready to go, I was more nervous than my first day of school. New things and places are kind of scary. But I had decided to go, and I wasn't going to let my fear of the unknown keep me from getting out there. Luckily, I had some good resources that told me what to do ahead of time so I had a general idea.

To get to the babysitting room, I had to walk through the main gym area where all the machines and weights are. I felt super self-conscious. Lots of trim guys and gals going to town on those machines. I tried not to look anyone in the eye. It probably didn't help that the only workout clothes I have are from before I got fat, so they're pretty tight. :)

I dropped the kids off and ran into a friend who happens to be an instructor there, and she showed me where my class was. I was glad to see her. I got to the room and it was empty, and I thought "uh-oh." I wandered around for a minute and when I came back, there was an instructor there. I guess the class actually starts 15 minutes later than I thought.

The class was in one of those rooms with mirrors so you get to see more of yourself than you would want. I ended up in the front of the room and, again, felt very self-conscious as everyone could see my gigantic rear end. We did some stretching and toning, then walked the track together.

Eventually my nervousness wore off and I began to feel more comfortable. I actually met another Navy wife! Her husband is in the same program as Jeff, so we had a lot in common. I hope she's there next time.

Overall, it went well. I felt more confident walking through the gym after the class, since I was kind of sweaty and felt "yeah, I worked out, just like you." If that makes any sense at all. The kids did great at babysitting and seemed to have a lot of fun. The only bad things was that Katelyn must have pooped towards the end and no one noticed so she came home with a poopy diaper on. Oh well. Better luck next time!

And I am very proud of myself. I did something scary and intimidating and did it well! I'm really glad I went and am looking forward to the next class on Thursday!

Life

2010-09-21T09:32:00.003-04:00

I think Jeffy is potty trained! Here's what my little man can do:

- stays dry at night!!

- always goes both in his little potty at home

- stays dry on outings and lets me know if he needs to go potty

- uses big potties in public bathrooms

- stays dry during naptimes

- goes just a few times a day instead of a little bit every few minutes

- cleans up after himself

And, if I can just say so, he looks so cute and grown up in his little briefs! :) I'm so proud of him. It took about 2 1/2 weeks. I'm so grateful that it went well. My mom was an invaluable source for me. She potty trained 9 kids, so she knows what to do!

Things I learned:

- Age isn't important, the kids' readiness is. I thought when he turned two that we would try, but it was clear that wasn't going to work. We needed to wait until he was ready. After a couple months of speech therapy, he was able to communicate his needs and wants much more effectively and knew all the potty words, so he was much more ready. I think that's part of why it went so fast!

- Get lots of easy/frozen food so you don't have to cook. Inevitably, when I went into the kitchen to make food was when Jeffy would sneak off and poop in the corner. :) I learned to stay by him almost every minute of the day.

- Schedule to start when you have the least number of obligations. I started on a Thursday, since I wouldn't need to go anywhere till Monday. That was good. I think it would have been too overwhelming for him to try to learn the at-home procedures and the out-of-the-house procedures too quickly.

- Ask for help/advice! There were times I had absolutely no idea what to do, so I asked people. I asked my mom, I asked on facebook, and I got some great help.

- Along that line, trust your gut. You, as the parent, know your kid better than anyone else, so ask for advice, then do what you think is best!

I'm so glad it's over and we all lived through it! :)

And onto the other members of the family:

Katelyn is super cute right now. She loves to do this thing where she backs into you and if she can sit on you, she will, but if she can't she'll just lean her head against you. It's so sweet.

Jeff's almost done with Prototype! He's finished all he can do without doing the watches, and he has to wait a while until the plant is available for him to do so. So he pretty much goes to work and studies. He has done so well and we're all really proud of him. Orders should be coming soon, so we'll know what the next few years of our lives will hold soon! That's exciting and nerve wracking at the same time!

I'm doing well. I'm starting a mommies-to-be class at the Y tonight, and I'm excited!

That's it from the Davises. Peace out.

This Is My 200th Post!

2010-09-16T15:23:00.002-04:00

Happiness is --

These three.

Yay For My Big Girl!

2010-09-14T09:48:00.002-04:00

Katelyn's 12-Month Stats:

Height: 31 1/4 inches -- over 100th percentile. Yay!

Weight: 23.4 lbs -- 90th percentile

Head: 18 1/4 inches -- 85th percentile

My goal for the last month was to fatten her up because she seemed so skinny. It worked! She gained almost three pounds, and went up in percentile too. And she's tall! I'm glad about that. She checked out perfectly. What a great little girl! :)

I don't feel like I can call her my baby anymore though. She's all grown up!

Potty Training

2010-09-09T09:30:00.011-04:00

I'm working on a gigantic post about our anniversary /birthday /vacation times, but for now, it's potty training day!

Things are going pretty well and I'm feeling optimistic. Is it weird that I was actually excited to get this show on the road?

[Edit: 10:30 am] Wow! After the initial success of 2 bm's in the potty, I didn't want to get my hopes up that it would go as smoothly as it seemed, but Jeffy is the best potty-trainer ever!!

I forgot that apple juice tends to give him the runs, and inadvertently bought a whole bunch to make him need to pee. After 2 pee accidents on the floor, he went in the potty (yay!) and now has a little bit of diarrhea. Whoops. But it's not a bad thing this time.

Right now, Jeffy is doing a little squirt in the potty, taking the bowl and dumping it into the big potty, flushing it, and rinsing the bowl out in the bathtub-- BY HIMSELF. Then he comes back, puts the potty back together and repeats. HOORAY! And he's even wiping himself. He is doing so great! And he only got candy the first 3 or so times. I think he's too proud of himself and interested in the process to want candy.

I hope I haven't jinxed myself, but this is AMAZING!

[Edit: 12:00 pm] The apple juice has given him a rash. So much for good intentions! I think the diarrhea has stopped, but he's still uncomfortable. Besides the one time this morning, he will not pee in the potty! He goes poo just fine, but won't pee. Hmmm.

Naps are in an hour, so we'll see how it goes after that!

[Edit: Friday night] It was a long day! After waking up from his nap yesterday, Jeffy didn't want anything to do with the potty. He went to bed with regular briefs on and woke up this morning a little wet, but not sopping. Today we went from Jeffy hating the potty and kicking it instead of going in it, to spending 1 minute sitting on it for a piece of candy, to peeing in it again! Yay! I think two or three times he started there, but most of the time, he started peeing somewhere else, and I directed him to go over to the potty, where he finished. It's better than where he was this morning! He went to bed tonight in regular briefs again, so who knows what morning will find. :)

[Edit: 10:00 am Saturday morning] Jeffy woke up dry! I got him up as soon as I heard him awake, felt that he was dry, and helped him get off his pjs and underwear. He went and sat down on the potty by himself and went pee pee while I was getting him a treat for being dry! I was so pleased to come back and find the potty full of pee! :) No accidents so far today, but even if they happen, I think we're making really great progress. A dry night? Can't ask for much more than that. :)

[Edit: 11:30 am Sat] HOORAY! Another poo in the potty! He hasn't gone poo since Thursday morning, so I was getting a little worried. But he told me he needed to go, so I told him to go to the potty and he did! And he took it to the big potty and flushed it down all by himself! Yay!!

Trip Home!

2010-09-06T10:24:00.012-04:00

Jeff had a four-day weekend on our anniversary, so we took the opportunity to go down to Virginia to visit my family. We also celebrated Katelyn's birthday while we were there. So fun! We tried to go to the "Restoring Honor" rally, but didn't make it farther than the Vienna Metro Stop. So many people everywhere! We were glad to see it was a success. We went to a great french restaurant for our anniversary dinner and had a great time. I meant to bring my camera, but forgot. :( We all had a lot of fun with my family and I took almost 300 pictures. Here are a few of my favorites. They're in a very random order, sorry. :)

Katelyn's Birthday (and birth story)

2010-09-04T21:30:00.005-04:00

Katelyn's had a birthday!! Here is her birth story, for any curious readers, but mostly for me. :)

Katelyn was due on September 5th, 2009. I felt she would come right around then, so I didn't let myself get too antsy as month nine wore on. The night of Sept 1st I started having some regular contractions, so Jeff and I took off on a long night walk, to time the contractions and see if this was the real thing. We packed a sleepy Jeffy in the stroller and off we went. We walked for more than two hours and I actually had a really good time. It was nice to spend some one-on-one time with Jeff and since it was dark, it wasn't too hot. Contractions kept coming, so we called our doctor who said to go ahead to the hospital. But by the time we were all packed and ready to go, the contractions stopped. I guess she wanted one more cozy night. We went to bed a little disappointed.

The next night (Sept 2nd) I woke up to contractions again at about 11:30 pm. They were coming about 3-5 minutes apart and some of them lasted a whole minute. They kept coming and I had a really hard time staying comfortable, so I woke up Jeff and we got in the car to go to the hospital. Since this was the same point I had been at when I called the doctor the night before, I assumed they would just tell me to go on in, so I didn't bother to call. Whoops.

The ride to the hospital was UNCOMFORTABLE! :) It was only a 15 minute drive, but I felt every bump, every turn very intensely. Yuck. I think it was about 2:00 am Sept 3rd at this point. Jeff dropped me off at the Emergency Entrance, and I walked in, hoping to see signs that would point me where to go, since we hadn't taken a tour or anything. Some security guard called for me to stop from the back, asking if I was lost, (I was going in a direction ER patients aren't supposed to go) but when I turned around and she saw my gigantic belly, she laughed and said that no, I was in the right place, and directed me to the maternity wing.

I got there, and got a little chiding from the nurses about not calling my doctor. Oh well. She was already there anyways. I got checked in, answered a million and one questions and waited to be checked so I could see how far I was. Jeff and Jeffy were with me now. We brought Jeffy along because we didn't want to dump him on a babysitter if I were to be sent home. A nurse checked and said I was at a 2/3. Now this was disappointing, since I felt those contractions had to be hard enough to really make some progress! She said they would give me something to help me sleep and check me in the morning to see whether they would admit me or send me home. Jeff and Jeffy went back home and we all went to sleep.

I remember slowly waking up to the contractions a few hours later. I was so tired, I held completely still during each contractions, just too tired to move. I did that for a while, and eventually the nurse came in to check me. I was at a 7! Yay! They admitted me.

I called Jeff who dropped Jeffy off at Amber's (thank you!) and came to join me. As soon as the nurse found out I was at a 7, she called for things to get moving. I had tested positive for Strep B, which meant I needed to have antibiotics in my system for four hours before giving birth. Since I was already a seven, they needed to hurry up and get that IV in. As she was fussing around me, she kept telling me how amazing it was that I was already at a 7 and that I must be relaxed. She was right. I had figured out that holding completely still and relaxing my body felt much better and helped my labor to progress much better than writhing around.

I was feeling pretty confident and wanted to keep going without an epidural, but my doctor came in and asked me to get once, since I was doing a VBAC and in case things went bad, that would already be done and an emergency c-section could go faster. I agreed. This was about 7/8 am.

We tried to take things slowly to let the antibiotics have enough time in my system and once I got the epidural, I couldn't really feel anything anyways, so it was fine. At 11:00 am I was ready to start pushing. This is where the real work began. Jeffy was born via c-section, so this was like a first birth--it took a long time. :)

I pushed and I pushed and I got very tired. My contractions kind of slowed down at this point, and sometimes there would be minutes in between them. I took those minutes as an opportunity to try to relax.

I remember being a little bit worried. Was this going to work? Was it not and I would need a c-section? I asked the doctor if she thought this was going to work, and she said yes, and that I was making progress. That was the answer I was hoping for. With her reassurance, and because of sheer exhaustion, I just did my job and pushed and let everyone else worry about the outcome. I even reached down once and felt her head right there. That was a little weird. :)

Fast forward two and a half hours. The doctor tells the nurse to go get a bunch of people to come in and help. Once they're there, she tells me that if I push really hard on the next contraction, her head should be out! That was good motivation. The room was very full--about 8 extra people were in there. I think doc was worried that her head would come but her shoulders would get stuck. I pushed with all my might and a mighty "hurray!" rang though the room as Katelyn came out all at once! In that way, it was fun to have so many people in there-- I got a booming cheer when she was born!

For a split second, I couldn't really tell what had happened. I knew some of her was out, but I didn't realize she was all the way here until they lifted her up and there she was! Yay! I actually cried. I was so happy and grateful and in love with this little one. She was placed on my chest immediately, skin-to-skin, and we got to know each other. I thought she was the most gorgeous baby girl I had ever seen. People came in and out and did their thing, but Jeff, Katelyn, and I were in a world all our own. It was heaven.

She was 7 lbs 9 oz and 19 inches long, born 1:35 pm on September 3, 2009.

I couldn't have asked for a sweeter, more beautiful baby. My birth experience this time around was so different from the first. I came away feeling confident, happy, relieved, tired, and so, so grateful that the VBAC had been successful. Katelyn has held a special place in my heart since that moment and I hope every coming year will be just as wonderful as her first!

Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

Tender Mercy

2010-08-24T19:00:00.002-04:00

You know, sometimes the things we need may seem small and trivial, but when we're blessed with them, they really are tender mercies.

We've been out of hot water for a little while. Maybe small and trivial in the long run, but possible mountains of work to get it fixed. Today I said a very earnest prayer that it would come back on by itself and not need any help from the maintenance people.

I just checked and it's back! A huge smile lit up my face as I felt the hot water on my hands. I felt this was Heavenly Father's direct way of telling me He does love me and is looking out for me.

I'm so glad it's back. No hot water makes for a discouraged hubby.

Thanks, Heavenly Father.

Looking Back....

2010-08-23T11:09:00.003-04:00

Now that the heat of battle is over, I can look back with a little more clarity. :)

I've learned a few things. Our current "terrible two" situation is rough but it's not that horrible. What makes it unbearable is not getting a break. With Jeff working crazy hours and still being new in this area and therefore not having many friends, I don't have many opportunities to get away by myself these days. But I've learned that it is really important to find ways to recharge, even if I have to go outside my comfort zone and ask someone for help. That's really hard for me, but that day of the camel back post is evidence of how important it is.

Jeffy's in the throes of the terrible twos or whatever, but all he really needs is attention and love. That won't guarantee that he won't act out, but in the end, him knowing he's loved is the only thing that matters. I know that now and I knew it then, but my well was dry-- I had nothing left to give. Now that I've gotten a little break, I can come back and give him the things he needs. I'm capable of remembering what works with the little guy and can do it without losing my mind!

Today he and I made cookies together for the first time. He had a blast rolling the cookies into balls and we giggled together when we snuck little bites into our mouths. :) I had a great time too.

Thanks everyone for your kind words. I really needed to hear what you said, and it made my load lighter. Thank you.

I Feel Better Today

2010-08-21T19:37:00.001-04:00

That's all.

This Camel's Back is Broken

2010-08-20T11:55:00.002-04:00

You know that camel whose back was broken by that last straw?

I feel like that camel. That one last straw finally did me in and I'm broken. Except I have to keep going ... with a broken back.

"The work of a mother is hard." That's the first line in the video at the end of this post. This video's been floating around facebook for a few weeks, but I didn't watch it till today. As soon as Elder Holland said those first words, the tears started. But not for the first time today, mind you.

It is hard. It's been really, really hard. And I feel like it shouldn't be this hard. Good grief-- I'm home with two little people all day. I shouldn't feel this emotionally, physically, mentally drained. But I guess it is this hard.

I really have reached my breaking point. But that doesn't matter. I have to keep going.

Today Jeffy has dumped flour all over the carpet, smeared toothpaste all over the walls, smashed a dozen eggs on the carpet, given me a fat lip, and bit/scratched/hit/kicked/punched Katelyn more than any human being should ever have to endure.

And this has been happening everyday for 2 weeks. The worst part is the hurting. He does it on purpose. I have tried so hard to be patient, loving, and to do the things that I thought would help me be a better mom. Maybe all those things helped and I can't see it yet, but the constancy of Jeffy's horrible behavior hasn't improved at all.

I'm so worn down little things seem insurmountable. Dumping a box of lasagna noodles on the floor isn't that big a deal, but at this point it seems like the end of the world.

I've cried so many times the last few days.

I'm at the point where I know that if I don't get some kind of rejuvenating break soon I'm going to have a break-down. I can feel it coming.

Jeff is taking Jeffy to some safari zoo thing tomorrow and I really hope that can bring me some relief from the seemingly never-ending trials that have been my life recently. And next weekend we're going to visit my parents and I hope my mom can give me some much-needed advice as to how to survive (and thrive) through this.

I'm not alone in this, right?

Motherhood:-An-Eternal-Partnership

Goodbye Netflix

2010-08-16T12:45:00.002-04:00

A few nights ago I was saying my evening prayer and I asked Heavenly Father to help me figure out how to be a better mom. (careful what you ask for! :)) Almost immediately I got the distinct direction to cancel netflix. I knew that this would be a beneficial thing for my family, but I also knew it would be hard!

When the kids are going crazy or I'm trying to get something done, I put on a netflix show for them. I figured it was better than tv because there are no nasty commercials, and I have exact choice about what they watch. But lately it's been on a lot during the day. So having it gone will definitely get me to interact and "be there" with my kids more. A very good thing.

But I love netflix! When Jeff's working his crazy hours and I dread going to bed by myself again, I watch a movie. And when I need a laugh, I watch an episode of 30 Rock! :) I was surprised at how hard this was to do. Cancelling netflix is easy, but getting myself to do it was a chore! It's been a few days and I just barely canceled it now. Better late than never, I guess. I kept trying to rationalize it-- "maybe I can get a limited plan so we can't go overboard! maybe I can just get enough will power to leave it off!" etc, etc, etc.

But I knew what Heavenly Father told me-- to cancel it completely. So I did. I'm glad that I did, but also a little nervous about the next time the kids are going crazy.

Wish me luck!

Breakfast Picnic

2010-08-12T10:02:00.003-04:00

This morning we went on a breakfast picnic! We grabbed some McDonalds on the way out and went to the sprinkler park (sans sprinklers). We enjoyed a yummy breakfast and played on the swings and playground. Here are some pictures. For some reason, it wouldn't let me rearrange them, so they're backwards. Oh well.

On the way home. Dirty little bums = good time. :)

Jeffy giving Katelyn a kiss.

Playing in the dirt!

Breakfast everywhere!

Jeffy was a little nervous about this.

Katelyn

Jeffy giving Daddy a kiss. What a sweetheart.

Daddy and Katelyn

Swings!!

Big smile!

Higher, higher!

Fun times.

Mommy wouldn't get on, so she took pictures.

This was funny. Katelyn dropped her biscuit and a squirrel ran up and stole it. Jeffy didn't like that one bit! He chased that squirrel, trying to get that biscuit back! I was kind of surprised that he wasn't afraid of it. Unfortunately, the little squirrel got away. :)

This is the kids on the swings. They both love swings.

Profile of A Baby: Katelyn at 11 Months

2010-08-09T14:23:00.003-04:00

This isn't the greatest picture of her, but I had fun editing it today, so it's posted. :)

Katelyn is a doll. She's almost 22 pounds and about 30 inches tall. She has beautiful brown eyes and finally enough hair to hold a bow! She loves to smile and laugh and imitate words to us. She can say "mama," "dada," and lots of other babbles. If you tell her to say "bye bye" she'll wave her little hands at you.

This little one is an eater! She may not look it, but lately she's been eating more than Jeffy! She loves big people food and won't eat that nasty baby food ever again. She never did really like that stuff. She's really good at chewing (7 teeth already probably help with that) and she's only choked a few times. I can give her whole things to eat, and she'll just take bites off them like a big person. She especially loves popsicles. Mmmm. I think she likes holding the stick. It's really fun to watch her eat, especially since she just started using a fork too.

Whenever we leave our apartment and go into the hall she starts "talking" to hear her echo. She goes "bah bah bah" louder and louder until she's almost yelling. The echo really fascinates her. It's pretty cute, but early in the morning, I worry that she's waking up the neighbors.

She's always interested in whatever Jeffy is playing with. And sometimes he'll share and sometimes he won't. And if he won't, she definitely has something to say about it. She'll throw back her head and howl. But she's also known to give a round of applause to someone who does omething she appreciates. It's fun to get a standing ovation from Katelyn.

Lately she's been doing what my mother-in-law calls the snoofy face, where she crinkles up her nose and huffs and puffs with a big smile on her face. Jeffy used to do that too. It's funny.

One of my favorite things that she does is play dress up. She loves to take whatever article of clothing or fabric she can find and drape it either over her head or across her shoulders. She looks so cute in her dress ups! For a long time, she had a favorite large bead necklace that she wore constantly. She would put it on herself and take it off herself, but if anyone else tried to take it off, she wouldn't have it. I love that my little girl is such a girl. :)

And as recent posts will attest, she is walking! It's her new favorite hobby! As of right now, she will just take off from whatever she's standing against and go as far as she can, until she's distracted by something on the floor, or she loses her balance, usually about 12 steps. And she walks with her arms straight up in the air, then plops down as soon as she's reached her destination. She giggles and laughs the whole way, and just loves being able to walk! She even does a little side step sometimes which really makes me giggle. :)

It's amazing how your heart expands to love multiple children so deeply. I never had to worry about whether I would be able to love another child as much as my first. From the moment she was born, she filled a place in my heart that hadn't even existed before. It's like it was created just to love her, which I do, so much. She is my little love.

Look Who's Walking!

2010-08-09T10:56:00.003-04:00

Picnik!

2010-08-08T22:20:00.004-04:00

A few weeks I was introduced to picnik.com. Great find! It's a photo editing site, similar to photoshop, but most of it is free! I saw what other people had created on the site, but hadn't gotten around to trying it for myself.

Today I did! I followed some tutorials step for step to get the hang of things, then I went crazy. I even upgraded to their premium subscription, which is still substantially less than photoshop. And look what I made: this is a picture of me today. No makeup, hair back, taking care of sick kids. I love how perfect I can make my skin look.

Sorry, I wish I could make them bigger. Anyways, take a close look at my face. That's where the magic is. :) I also edited out some junk in the background. I hope you can see the difference. (Click on the picture to get a closer look.)

Probably not for everyday pictures, but it sure was fun to play around with!!

Profile of a Little Boy: Jeffy At 31 Months

2010-08-05T11:55:00.005-04:00

He is such a little man. He weighs 36 pounds and is about 37/38 inches tall. He's got a full mouth of teeth, and thick hair which gets long very fast if I don't cut it often. He has the same bright blue eyes he was born with. At times he seems like such a big kid, then I see him around other kids and I realize how much growing he still has left to do.

He gives me real kisses these days and I love it. Whenever I say "give mama a kiss," he runs over, puckers up, and gives me a kiss. And he's never stingy. He'll give me as many kisses as I want! So sweet.

His vocabulary is increasing a ton right now. Every day he learns new words. It's so fun to work with him and see his progress. He's been going to Speech Therapy with Ms. Becky twice a week, and I think it's been helping a lot. He really likes playtime with her. Last week he had so much fun with some plastic fruits and veggies, that we went to WalMart on the way home and got a pack just for him. He carries the apple and the pear all around the house with him. Those are his definite favorites.

And as anyone who's been around him during the last few weeks will attest, his absolute most favorite phrase in the whole world right now is "what's that?" He will ask it nonstop until I answer him. Doesn't matter if he knows what it is or not, he'll ask. Sometimes he'll ask, then without pausing for breath, he'll tell me what it is. Sometimes he'll get mad if I can't tell what he's asking about and tell him the wrong thing. And sometimes it can be embarrassing when he points to an overweight lady in the grocery store and says "what's that? big mama." Still makes me giggle a bit though.

He still loves any kind of ball and he plays catch with Daddy or me every day. Sometimes it's with a baseball, sometimes with a football, and sometimes with a small plastic ball. And catch has a few different versions too. Of course there's the standard throw back and forth one. Then sometimes it's more like playing with a puppy-- I throw the ball, Jeffy runs and gets it and brings it back to me, then I throw it again. Yesterday we played this for like 45 minutes. :) Then there's also the one where he throws the ball to me, then runs over and I hand it to him, then he runs back to his spot and throws it to me, then comes, and get it, and goes back to his spot, then throws it to me again.... He also likes to play basketball and soccer. He just loves any kind of sport that involves a ball. And Daddy loves this too.

He's scared of a few things--water in large quantities, bugs, when the trees are moving and he can't figure out why, and any part of a movie that looks or sounds scary, etc. He does this little face and gesture combo when something scares him, where he makes a scared face, brings his hands up to his face, and does this little "ehh" sound. Sounds weird when I write it out, but I can't think of any better way to describe it. And just like with his "what's that?," he'll keep doing it until you answer him. Example: we were reading a story a few days ago, and on the page is a pirate ship with a couple skull flags on it. He pointed to each skull, did his "ehh" scared face, and wouldn't stop until I said "is that scary?" He'd say yes, then move on to the skull, repeating the process till all the skulls were accounted for and I had acknowledged that each of them was in fact scary.

He does the same thing when he gets hurt. If he bumps his head on something or falls down, he looks at me, rubs whatever part of him is hurt and says "what's that" until I ask if he's ok. He says yes, then runs off to play. But if I try to ignore him, he'll either just keep doing it, or move right into my face to make sure he has my attention. Silly little man. :)

I was just thinking today about how much fun both kids are right now, and I wanted to make a mental picture to remember forever. He will always be my first-born, the little one who gave me the opportunity to learn what it feels like to have a mother's love in my heart. He is so special to me and I'm so grateful for everyday I get to spend with him. If he weren't asleep right now, I'd have him give me a big kiss!!

Part Two: The Rest

2010-07-31T21:01:00.006-04:00

I really procrastinated finishing our camping story. The house and van and camping stuff aren't all put back together yet, and I guess it just reminds me of that. Bleh.

Anyways, we got there, set everything up, and tried to have dinner. Usually Jeff is amazing at building and maintaining fires, but everything was so wet he had a really hard time getting one going. We had an easy dinner of hot dogs, etc., but we never made it to the s'mores. We thought we had plenty of time for those later.

Well, long story short--

The night wasn't too bad. Katelyn had to cry herself to sleep, but did well after that. Jeffy ended up sleeping on the floor, since he rolls around like a maniac, but he had plenty of blankets, so he was ok too.

In the morning, we could not get a fire started, so my hard work in getting awesome breakfasts prepared went to waste. We were going to have either breakfast sandwiches or breakfast burritos heated over the fire. Nope, we had cold cereal. Oh well.

We lazed around for a bit, then had some fun. We went to the Sacred Grove, which was the whole point of going. Jeff had some alone time there which he really enjoyed. After that we went to a mom-n-pop burger joint that we had found on our honeymoon. It was fun to go back, but this time around we realized how expensive it actually was. Still fun, though.

Then we went swimming at the campground. That was fun too. It was an overcast day, so not too hot, and the water was kind of cold. Kate still had a great time and loved it, but Jeffy didn't. He clung to either me or Jeff like his life depended on it. We got some ice cream then headed back to our site.

That afternoon it rained and rained and rained. We stayed in the tent and watched movies. When it was finally over, we looked outside and saw that a giant mud puddle had taken over our site. I don't know if I was overly hormonal or what, but that was too much for me. I envisioned the mess that Jeffy would make with that mud, the food we wouldn't get to eat because of the rain, and how much work camping was going to be from this point out. I just kind of sat in a camp chair with a totally dejected look on my face.

Jeff asked if I wanted to just go home. I did, but I felt bad saying so. It was only Saturday and we had paid to stay till Monday. I felt bad about the wasted money. I said "kind of." This was Jeff's shining moment. He didn't make me feel bad about wanting to go home at all. We called it quits and threw everything into the van and headed home. It was a 4-hour drive, and we got started at around 8:00 pm. We were just that desperate to get home. Jeff drove the whole way while Jeffy, Katelyn, and I slept. What a trooper. As soon as we were inside our own home, we all felt much better.

I have very mixed feelings when I think back on this trip. In some ways it was a success, because we did what we went there to do. And I think Heavenly Father wanted us to do it too, since we had so much help getting there. But after we had accomplished that, it was like he backed off and let the elements take over. So in some ways it was a bust too. I don't know, my biggest feeling about the whole thing was just relief when it was over.

Anyways, we got our camping fix for the next little (or maybe long) while. We decided next time we get the urge to go camping, we're just going to put up our camp chairs around the grill and make hot dogs and s'mores in our backyard. Then sleep in our own beds. The best of both worlds, wouldn't you say?

Our Camping Adventure Part One: Surviving the Trip

2010-07-26T07:39:00.006-04:00

Jeff had a four-day weekend so we planned to go camping. Yay for plans! I worked hard all week, preparing food, going shopping, cleaning, etc., and we were all excited to get on our way.

We planned to leave Friday morning. The kids and I sat in the car for what felt like forever, waiting for the last few things to be packed. The car was on, so it was idling, and this turned out to be a very bad thing. Before we could hit the road, we had to stop at the Post Office and the gas station. Of course the Post Office took a long time. We sat and waited in the car again. Then a light came on in the car that looked like a thermometer. I don't know much about cars, but I do know that when a light comes on, it's bad. I immediately turned the car off.

We drove down the street to the gas station. When we were ready to go, that light came on again, and Jeff turned the car off. I guess that particular light means the car is overheating. (BAD). We popped the hood and checked it out, and saw it was out of coolant. It said to make sure you put the right kind in, but since we had no idea what the right kind was, Jeff ran in and got a gallon of water and poured some of it in instead.

The light didn't come back on, but we watched the heating needle go up and down, and Jeff tried to drive gently. After a little while, we discovered that no air blowing on us made a hug difference and the temperature gauge stayed steady the rest of the trip. (Turns out Jeff should actually listen to my suggestions once in a while! :)) We drove for about 3 1/2 hours without incident, just making sure to put water in the cooling system every hour or so.

Then we were 2.5 miles away from our final destination and kaput, the engine died. I didn't realize this was what happened-- it sounded like something just fell off. But no, the engine was dead, and we were coasting. We got the car onto a side road, and got out. Jeff looked in the hood, but didn't see anything obviously wrong. I got the kids and some camp chairs out, and prepared myself for a long afternoon. We were very lucky though, since for the whole trip, it had been raining cats and dogs, but while we were stranded, it didn't rain at all. Thank goodness.

Jeffy had fun running around in puddles and Katelyn and I sat in my chair and supervised. Jeff fiddled around with it for a little while, then decided we needed help. (duh.) Across and down the street there was what looked like a towing company or something, so Jeff headed over there to see if someone could give us a jump. A nice man named Sean came over and again, we were really lucky. He was actually a car mechanic.

Jumping didn't help anything, but Sean looked around and saw that the belt had come off and gotten tangled in itself. He went back to get some tools. About half an hour later, everything was fixed (except the coolant thing) and we were ready to get back on the road. I was so grateful for Sean's help. How lucky to break down right by a mechanic's shop! We tried to give him some money, but he wouldn't take it. Nice guy.

Later Jeff told me that Sean said he had never in his career seen a belt do that. Good thing he could help us, as I'm sure there was no way we could have fixed it by ourselves. And we were lucky that they were there. Sean said usually no one was around the office, since they would be out towing people. If we had to break down, that was the right time and the right place. :)

And we finally made it to the campsite! I was so relieved-- there were many moments when I didn't think we were going to make it. We checked in, and drove to our sight. There we saw a bunch of trees and . . . mud. Everywhere. Originally, the site was dirt, but so much rain turned it into a giant mud puddle. Have you ever tried to camp with two small kids in a giant mud puddle? Life becomes all kinds of exciting.

Stay posted for Part Two: Camping in the Mud

Kitchen Check-in

2010-07-16T12:59:00.005-04:00

Wondering how I've been doing with my project? Let me sum it up in one sentence:

Today is Friday and my entire house has been clean for 6 days.

If I could insert a sound clip of the Hallelujah Chorus to play right here, I totally would. Yes, it's true. Every room in my house (kitchen included, storage closet excluded :)) is clean and has been for almost a week!

Last week I went a little crazy and found myself in the middle of an organizing frenzy. I went through all the clothes and put them in bins according to gender and size. I rearranged the whole house and probably overdid it moving furniture, but it's so much better now. I organized the toys and put everything that comes in a set into a ziploc bag, so they can only be played with one set at a time. I organized our bedroom and got everything in order there. And then I did the kitchen.

And you probably won't be surprised to know that I put the kitchen off till dead last, just because I dreaded it so much. But when there wasn't really anything else to do, I had to tackle it. And with the help and encouragement of the hubby, we got it done. But, the part I'm most proud of is that I've kept it up. I've been doing dishes every day (YUCK!) and really working hard to maintain it. I am feeling so good!

And I'm feeling more freedom. The kids and I have been out and about doing fun things much more since the house is clean. I don't feel like I have to stay home and clean. I also feel like I can invite people over to our house and be more social, but the best part is that I feel generally happier and more capable as a mom.

It's been great and I'm determined to keep it up. I guess having a very small home is nice in one way!

So the house is clean. Visitors welcome anytime!

As long as you don't look in the garage. ;)

Weekend Extravaganza

2010-07-07T13:30:00.002-04:00

We had a great weekend. I love the 4th of July. If we ever have a house and a backyard, we're going to host awesome 4th of July parties!! I can't wait.

Until then, there are lots of other activities to keep us busy.

This is what we did last weekend:

Went to a bbq with a bunch of other families from our ward. We ate good food, Jeffy ate a lot of sand, and we all went home tired and happy.
Went to Pizza Hut for some yummy dinner and to a ma-n-pop outdoor ice cream place for dessert. I love watching Jeffy eat ice cream cones!
Bought a tent, camping chairs, air mattress, and CARS sleeping bag. Haven't gotten to go camping yet, but they were fun to buy!
Set up our new ginormous tent in our family room and had a "camp out" complete with hot dogs, corn on the cob, and potato salad. Glad we now know how to set it up and also glad that Jeffy didn't tear a hole in it while playing.
Actually went to a firework show for the first time since we've been together and got to use our new chairs. So fun! Jeffy freaked out and wouldn't let go of Daddy, and Katelyn held onto me pretty tightly too, but overall a great success!
Went to a playdate with some friends who have a wading pool. It was too cold for Jeffy's taste, so he just threw the toys off the deck, but Katelyn loved the water! We may have to get some kind of little pool.

Is that it? I think so... at least the major things. We also lamented the fact that we no longer have a working camera. So many picture opportunities lost. Gotta replace that soon!

Hope your weekend was just as fun!

I Love America, Yes I Do!

2010-07-04T16:40:00.005-04:00

Today I played the piano in Relief Society. The planned songs were the "Star Spangled Banner" and "My Country Tis of Thee." I'd never played these songs before, so I practiced quite a bit this week. It was wonderful to have that patriotic music playing so frequently in our house this week. I love the lyrics to both those songs, but the third verse of the National Anthem is the one that sticks with me the most:

Oh, thus be it ever, when free men shall stand

Between their loved homes and the war's desolation.

Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n rescued land

Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserved us a nation!

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just!

And this be our motto: "In God is Our Trust!

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

There's something stirring about this song. It makes people sing their hearts out. We had about 10-12 women in Relief Society today, and when they sang, it sounded like a full choir. It was beautiful.

I love America. I'm proud to live here and to have a proud heritage of hard-working, good people.

God Bless the USA!

Yay Me!

2010-06-30T19:12:00.001-04:00

I just want to point out how many times I've blogged this month! More than many other months combined. I'm proud of myself, since this means more events from our lives have been recorded.

As London Tipton would say, "Yay Me!"

Fire Alarm Mania

2010-06-29T08:08:00.003-04:00

Last night was rough.

First, we went to bed much later than we should have. Especially poor Jeff, who leaves for work at 5am.

Then Katelyn woke up a few times. Where did my good little sleeper go?

Then our power turned off, and came back to different parts of the house at different times. When it came back on to where Jeff and I were sleeping, it made the fire alarm go into test mode. I woke up kind of groggy and remembered that this had happened once before and I hoped it would turn off on its own like it had last time.

Then the power came back on to the kids' rooms, and made the fire alarms right above their heads go berzerk, which absolutely terrorized the babies. That wasn't a fun situation to wake up to.

BBBRIIIINNNGGG!!

Me: Jeff, the fire alarms in the kids' rooms are going off!

Jeff: snore

Me: How do we turn them off?!

Jeff: idunnosnore

Poor Jeffy was screaming his head off, so I went and got him first. I put him on the floor and he kept pointing at the alarm, screaming. I took him to the family room and put him on the couch, then went to get Katelyn, who was less terrified, but only marginally.

As soon as I got them to the family room, the alarms stopped. I don't know why they did that, but I plan to call housing today and figure it out!

Katelyn got calmed down pretty quickly and went back to bed, but Jeffy wouldn't even go back in his room, so I brought him into bed with us. Bad idea, but I didn't know what else to do.

He doesn't sleep with us very often, so he was pretty excited. He kept asking "what's that? what's that?" not caring if I answered or not. I couldn't get him to whisper, so he was kind of loud. He had a hard time falling asleep and kept me awake too. I think Jeff got some sleep, but it wasn't very good sleep.

About three hours later, (I'd gotten a few pockets of 15 minutes of sleep) Jeff gets up to get ready for work, and I put Jeffy back into his own bed.

I slept from 4:00 to 7:00 and that was the best sleep I got all night.

I hope this doesn't happen again!

Sleeping Beauty

2010-06-26T17:29:00.002-04:00

Katelyn was down for a nap, and Jeffy was watching a movie, so I decided to lie down and see if I could get a nap myself.

I woke up here and there if Jeffy was being too quiet, but for the most part, it was a very pleasant nap!

The best part was when Jeffy finished his movie, and came and snuggled right up next to me and fell asleep, with his little arm over my tummy. So sweet.

I love little moments like these.

Summer Finally!

2010-06-25T14:26:00.002-04:00

Today we finally did our first summerish activity. Yay! After a sick first trimester, then sick babies, we are back to being able to go on outings.

Yesterday on our way home from errands we found a sprinkler park! I was so excited!! So today, we tried it out. It was great! There were sprinklers, sandboxes, playgrounds and merry-go-rounds, and plenty of dirt, sticks, and rocks for Jeffy. :) Jeffy warmed up to it eventually and had a great time playing in the water and "talking" to other kids. Katelyn even liked it too. She wasn't as adventurous as Jeffy, but she liked sticking her hands in the water, and crawling around on the grass. We stayed there for quite a while. And the best part is it's free! There was a really nice sprinkler park in SC, but I didn't like paying $1 per person every time we went. Free is much better!

After we dried off, we went out to ice cream and this little mom 'n pop outdoor place. Jeffy ate a giant swirl cone all by himself and loved it! He got very angry when I tried to help him clean up before he was done. After we enjoyed our ice cream and washed up (there was a hose we put to good use!) we swang (swung? swinged?) on a big wooden swing for a full half hour before heading home. It was nice and relaxing.

I plan to make this a weekly outing at least, we had such fun. Sometime we'll have to take Daddy with us!

Baby Girl Games

2010-06-23T08:09:00.005-04:00

It's been a rough couple of days. Katelyn caught a cough from Jeffy, and usually her colds will just last a day or two, but this time it's worse. Poor little thing. I think she's teething too. Bad combination.

But she still does super cute things that give me a minute's reprieve and help me get through the hard times. Lately, she's been doing this thing where she grabs an item of clothes and drapes it over her head like a scarf, then looks up at me and smiles. I don't know if she's playing hide-and-seek or dress-up, but either way, it's so cute! She'll do it for like 15 minutes straight and loves the smiles and claps we give her.

She woke up much happier today, so hopefully that's a good sign that the worst is over. I can't wait till my happy baby girl is back, being adorable all the time. :)

Getting into my ribbon. :)

Project Organize My House

2010-06-17T13:37:00.009-04:00

If any of you have ever been to my house unannounced, you know it's not very clean. Sigh. I hereby admit to being a horrible house cleaner/organizer (is that called a housekeeper?). I really am bad. If someone gives me a few hours notice that they're coming over, I spend those next few hours feverishly getting my house to "adequate" status, hoping they'll think they just caught me on a rough day. Pitiful, I know. I have heard it called the CHAOS syndrome. CHAOS = Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome. Sounds just about right.

Anyways, since my weight-loss project has been put on hold, I decided it's time to tackle a new project.

This is my ultimate goal:

Have and maintain a completely clean and organized house by the end of 2010.

Sounds like a pretty hefty goal for someone so admittedly slobbish, huh? But I have six months to do it and I am feeling very confident. My mom once told me as people we tend to overestimate what we can do in a day, and underestimate what we can do in a year. I think she's right. I'm using that idea and Alma 37:6 as my mantra: "by small and simple things are great things brought to pass."

The first thing I did was write down everything I could think of that would be a part of my ultimate goal. Everything. It was a long list. Then I organized those into categories, and assigned each category a place in my priority list. First came the kitchen.

Man, I hate the kitchen. This has been a common utterance in my grown up life. And probably earlier too. I really hate it and everything associated with it. As one example, I wear heavy-duty gloves every time I do the dishes.

And now, let me tell you about my current kitchen situation.

It'y tiny. As in most of my kitchen tools are in boxes in the storage closet. As in you can reach every cabinet within one step from the exact middle. As in it has to have a mini-trash can under the sink because that's the only place for it. It's literally a closet. Except it's a bad closet, because it doesn't have doors. And it's the first thing visible to others when I open the front door. It really is the WORST CASE SCENARIO!

Ok, I'm sure you get the picture.

But, I decided that the kitchen is the most important thing to get under control and will make the biggest difference in my family's happiness and productivity.

So I made a plan for the kitchen. It's called "July: Month of the Kitchen." Catchy, eh? :)

This plan will obviously start in July while I do some other stuff for the remaining days of June.

I'm going to write out my whole plan here. Feel free to skip it if you want. Or even better, read it and offer me suggestions. Posting on the blog accomplishes a few things: 1) Another copy of it if my original is lost or destroyed. 2) Accountability! 3) Feedback, suggestions, and ideas. I hope so, at least.

And now, (drum roll here), THE PLAN:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

July: Month of the Kitchen

By the end of the month I will:

clean up completely after every meal, including dishes, counters, leftovers, table, sink, and sweep
label groceries with purchase date and put away as soon they're brought in
maintain list of food in house and leftovers in fridge
have cupboards organized and labeled
have 1 month's worth of meal plans (breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks) compiled, with recipes printed on cards and organized into weekly packets
organize heavy duty cleaning needs
grocery shop the same day each week
pack daily lunches for Jeff

Cleaning Plan:

Daily: dishes, counters, sink, sweep, leftovers in fridge and added to list

Weekly: mop, dump out old food

Monthly: oven, fridge, wipe down cabinets and walls, make food storage list

As Needed: trash out

Kitchen Maintenance Goals:

Plan 2 weeks meals at a time
Have one regular weekly shopping day
Maintain food lists
Keep current on cleaning plan
Do everything mentioned above

Weekly Goals

Week One:

Keep floor clear (yes, this is hard for me)
Clear table off after every meal
Throw away trash after every meal
Get dishes caught up

(See what I mean about small and simple? The above goals are totally do-able, but will still make a big difference overall. I'm feelin' good!)

Week Two:

Wash dishes after every meal
Organize cupboards and make labels
Gather recipes and make packets
Plan how to make food lists and make them
Buy calendar for fridge door

Week Three:

Clean out fridge and freezer
Clean oven
Make meal plan for next 2 weeks (including Jeff's lunches)
Go shopping, label groceries with date, put away immediately, mark on list

Week Four:

Completely clean after every meal
Last bit of catch-up cleaning
Maintain food lists
Shop on regular day
Mark on calendar for next month's cleaning days
Assess and make needed changes

And now one of my favorite parts, a motivational note to myself. (And yes, this is actually written down on my plan.)

This is a great plan! Stick to it everyday, ask for help from Heavenly Father, and expect Him to bless you. Doing this consistently through June will help you become a more organized person, will bless your life and the lives of your family, will bring you much happiness and satisfaction, and will get you one step closer to Godliness. YOU CAN DO IT!

And now one final scripture: Ether 12:27 "for if they humble themselves before me and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."

I am determined that with hard work from me and help from Heavenly Father, I can beat this once and for all and make home cleanliness and organization a strength instead of a weakness. I am excited to get to work! Wish me luck!

If you made it all the way through, I'd love to know what you think and if you have any suggestions for me. Thanks so much!

CODE GREEN

2010-06-15T12:53:00.005-04:00

The state of New York requires lead tests. I don't know the details of who, when, etc., but so far 2 of us have been tested.

A few weeks ago at Katelyn's 9-month well-baby, she got the mandatory prick. Her test came back high, so they wanted us to go to the hospital and get real blood drawn for a more accurate test. Understandably, I've been putting it off. I HATE when my babies have to be stuck with needles, especially since normal hospital people seem to suck at doing babies (in contrast to those at a childrens hospital).

But I couldn't procrastinate any further, so off we went to the hospital this morning. They looked at both her arms and said they couldn't find any good veins. The familiar dread set in. Yeah, I knew how this was going to go. Oh well. They tried to find a vein in her left arm. I held her while she screamed and writhed in pain. (By the way, Jeffy was doing sympathy screams from the stroller. Poor little guy was worried about his sister. :))

They couldn't get it, so they stopped. Then one of the technicians noticed that her arm was all red and a few bumps were appearing. Her other arm was red as well as one of her legs. I wasn't especially concerned. You hold a baby down tight, and the places you're holding her are going to get red. That's just how it is. But the technician was weirded out by the bumps, so she called her supervisor, who went and asked someone else what to do. A few minutes later she came back to tell me that she was calling it a code green, like I knew what a code green was.

Apparently a code green means the emergency room team is called in to evaluate. A few minutes later, a flood of people came in, expecting an emergency. The redness and bumps had mostly disappeared, so they just kind of looked at her, looked at each other in confusion, and left. So the code green was over. It was all kind of weird.

After they left, the technician asked if I was comfortable with continuing with the test. Um, yeah, Get this over with and get us out of here! She still couldn't find a vein. Ugh.

Thankfully, she called over another technician, who made me feel immediately more at ease. She asked Katelyn's name and started talking to her about what a good baby she was, how pretty her eyes were, etc., and she calmed down and just looked right at her. I could tell this technician was much better (at least more experienced). She found a vein and got it all done without too much screaming from Katelyn. I was so grateful she had been called in. Who knows how many tries it would have taken the other lady.

So that was our adventure for the day. We came away with two pricked arms, no allergies noted, and about 7 stickers, all of which ended up on Jeffy's shirt.

Not ideal, but it always could be worse. :)

Just for kicks. Katelyn being patient with Jeffy's foot. They're cute.

Much Better Sunday!

2010-06-13T19:56:00.001-04:00

Thanks to all your suggestions, church went a MILLION times better this week!

I bought some snacks that are to be only for Sundays and they were a big hit. I held out as long as I could, then asked Jeffy to sit on the bench and fold his arms, and when he did, he got a snack. That was pretty much how the whole meeting went. He stayed in that position for varying amounts of time, but would always come back for a snack. I also got him a new cup for Sundays only, but I don’t think he liked it. Either that or he didn’t like that it only held water. I brought books and a few small that I know he likes and those helped too. I didn’t have to take him out of the meeting the whole time! Hallelujah!

Granted, Jeff was there and able to help, but I could have done it on my own. Katelyn was more trouble this time than Jeffy. She was fussy and needed to be taken out (which Jeff did), but Jeffy didn’t try to follow him or throw a fit when he left either. And I made sure not to sit close to the family with crazy treats so Jeffy wouldn’t get jealous.

All in all, I’d say it was a very successful Sunday!

Thank you again, everyone, for helping me figure this out. Your help is VERY appreciated!

(Don’t forget to scroll down to see some majorly cute baby pictures! :))

Katelyn's Long-Awaited Baby Pictures

2010-06-13T19:17:00.008-04:00

Isn't she gorgeous? I'm so proud. :)

Mommy and Daddy's hands.

Blank stare....

It's much more important to water the baby than the flower.

So cute.

I have teeth!

Precious.

Looks shocked at something. Hmm, she was looking at me.

Beautiful baby girl.

One of my favorites. I'm coming to get you!

Success!

2010-06-10T13:49:00.002-04:00

Today I was brave. I took the kids grocery shopping (that's not the brave part), and this time I had Jeffy walk beside me instead of sitting in the cart.

Usually I have Katelyn sit up in the little seat so she can be strapped in, and Jeffy sits in the main part of the cart, squashed in with the food. I knew I needed to buy a lot today, so Jeffy walked beside me. I was afraid that he would run away or throw himself on the ground or something even worse, but I was very pleasantly surprised!

He stayed right by me most of the time, holding on to the side of the cart. He would let go and run a little ways ahead of me, but then when I asked him to come back, he did! He always came right back to his special spot. I was so proud! I'm not usually the one who has well-behaved children in public, so I felt very spoiled. And Katelyn was good too!

I got lots of comments on how cute they were (I don't get a many comments like that when the monster comes out!) and I was just beaming. Yes, thank you, my children are adorable. Yes, thank you, they are well-behaved. Yes, thank you, I am the most amazing mother in the whole world. Hee hee.

This, and a few recent purchases have made me feel more confident about church on Sunday. And Jeff should be there too, so here's hoping for a better week! :)

What's a post without a picture? This was in South Carolina. :)

"Baby, baby!"

2010-06-10T06:22:00.005-04:00

Yesterday I watched a little boy while his mommy had a baby. He's really cute, and for the most part, the day went really well. He went to bed at about 8:00, and his grandma came to pick him up at 9:45. Jeffy was still awake when she got here, and after I got our little guest buckled into his carseat and grandma took him away, he flipped out. He kept saying "baby! baby!" and crying, trying to get out the door. I think he thought I just gave away Katelyn. It took a little while to calm him down, but eventually he went to bed.

This morning he was very excited to find Katelyn alive and well, and has been very nice to her. It's sweet to know he loves her. :)

Not the best picture of her, but you get the idea. :)

Finally!

2010-06-07T18:35:00.002-04:00

I updated the pictures on the sidebar. Now Katelyn exists. Yay!

It only took me 9 months. :)

I'll Be Honest,

2010-06-06T15:21:00.003-04:00

Church is really difficult.

Part of the problem is that I don't know how to control Jeffy, another part is that I'm usually alone, and there are probably other parts too.

Sacrament Meeting is a killer. Jeffy will not sit still, and if he sees some kid eating a treat, he goes berzerk because he's not getting any. It's really hard to try to control him, when I have to hold Katelyn. I can't put her down on the bench because she'll roll off, and I can't put her on the floor, because she'll crawl away. So making Jeffy be reverent is impossible.

I really need help. I don't know how to teach him the correct way to behave. Help!!

We're still new in our ward, so I don't really have any friends to help me. Today, though, a very nice lady helped me survive. She was sitting two rows ahead of us, and took Katelyn for a while so I could tame the beast. Then when the kids behind us started eating fruit snacks, and Jeffy started screaming, I took him out to the hall, then I heard Katelyn start screaming. Moments later, some other sister brought Katelyn out too. The nice lady dug around in my diaper bag and made a bottle for her and brought it to us. I was so grateful for her help, and tried really hard not to send mean vibes to the lady behind us who just looked disdainfully at Jeffy while her angels munched away on treats.

Then I spent the next two hours in nursery. I don't mind working in there, I just miss the association with the Relief Society. How am I supposed to make friends if I'm stuck in there? But it wasn't a calling, just substituting, so hopefully it won't be permanent.

With Sundays like this being the norm, it's hard to want to go to church. I skipped a lot in Charleston, because the task just seemed too daunting. But when we moved here, I decided that I was going to go to all three hours of church every single Sunday I was able. Some days I am able to not think about what it's going to be like, but on other Sundays, it takes every ounce of my will power to get us there.

Does anyone share in this struggle? Any words of advice or comfort?

I Think

2010-06-02T21:49:00.001-04:00

This new background looks summer-ish, don't you?

Katelyn's 9 Month Stats

2010-06-02T15:15:00.003-04:00

Height: 28 1/2 in 80th percentile

Weight: 19.2 lbs 60th percentile

Head: 17 3/4 cm 80th percentile

Height and head are up a little bit from the 50th she was at for a long time. They said she's nicely proportioned. I agree. :)

Our Comings and Goings of Late

2010-05-31T19:51:00.004-04:00

I haven't updated much this month, but in my own defense, it's been a very busy one.

Shortly after Mother's Day, I packed up the kids and flew to Utah. The kids did better than expected during the 3.5 hour drive to the airport and 5 hour flight. We got to Salt Lake around 6:00 pm, where my sister picked us up and we headed to Provo for a "Darling Daughters Retreat" with my four grown-up sisters and my mom. I have three sisters living in Provo right now, and one sister who came down from Idaho, and my mom flew out from Virginia. It was so fun to see them all without the chaos of a wedding or something! We ate great food, had fun activities, and really enjoyed one another's company. I loved seeing my niece, Daisy! She is 7 weeks older than Katelyn, so with the three of them, it was a house full of babies! The weekend went way too fast, and I wish it could have been longer. I hope next time that I can do it without my kids! That sounds nice and relaxing.

My mother-in-law came to Provo to pick us up and cart us to their house for the next week. We played with the bunnies and dogs, relaxed, and had fun. The only downside was that we had picked up a cold in Provo, so we weren't feeling the best, but it wasn't too bad. Usually colds get into Jeffy's lungs and he requires medical attention, but not this time, so yay! We took a small trip up to Idaho, to see Jeff's oldest sister and her family. I got to meet another niece, Lily, for the first time. So cute!! It was great to have the four cousins together! Clara will be three in June, Jeffy is 2 1/2, Katelyn is 9 months, and Lily is 7 months. They were so cute together! I wish we lived nearer to all our cousins. We then stopped in Logan, UT on our way back to visit another of Jeff's sisters, and it was great to see her too!

It was a really fun, but quite exhausting trip! We flew home Saturday night on a redeye. The kids slept for a lot of it, which was great, but Jeffy kept rolling off his seat, which he did not like one bit! Everyone was pretty cranky for the long drive home, and slept most of that day! But it was great to see everyone and I hope we get to again before too long!

We've had a fun Memorial Day weekend. We thought about going camping, but it was too late--we couldn't find an open campsite anywhere. We'll have to do that later. So we had an at-home campout. On Friday night, we roasted hot dogs over the grill and ate them along with baked beans and corn on the cob on a blanket in the family room. We then roasted s'mores over the grill too. Yum. Jeffy was funny. He pulled his s'more apart, and ate the chocolate and discarded the rest. Pretty big mess, but lots of fun! We watched a movie and had treats after that.

Saturday we went out to eat a lot, and took some naps. Also good! :) Church was on Sunday, then today we went to the Albany Stake Memorial Day BBQ! It was really fun. They had a lot of good food and some fun activities. They had a bunch of races, which were really fun to watch. The first one was a 25-yard dash for the nursery-age kids. There were probably about 10-12 kids, and it was funny to see how different the kids acted. The girl who won the race must have practiced! As soon as they yelled go she took off as fast as she could go, and ran right through the ribbon, and all way down to the end of the field. She was still running when all the rest of the kids had finished. She was cute! Jeffy participated, and kind of just ambled along with the rest of the toddlers, but was very happy to receive a lollipop at the end! I thought maybe if I offered him candy at the finish line, it would encourage him, but I guess he was too distracted for it to work. Cute little guy.

We hung out with some friends, and while I was pushing Katelyn and a friend's baby in the swings while she went to the bathroom, Jeffy escaped the playground and went to join the adult softball game! I couldn't leave the babies in the swings, so I just tried to watch him and make sure no one ran off with him. Luckily, a nice lady kind of took him under her wing and watched out for him. She even had him throw the ball when it came to him! He really enjoyed that. And big Jeff had a good time playing Ultimate Frisbee. It was HOT in the sun, but we had a good time, and came exhausted.

So that's what we've been up to lately. I wish I had pictures to post, but we ran over our camera on a not-so-fun trip to NYC last month. Oh well. I guess we need to get a new one.

Happy Memorial Day and thanks to everyone who has served or is serving our country right now. God bless the USA!

Mother's Day Surprise!

2010-05-09T07:52:00.001-04:00

I love Mother's Day. It reminds me of the wonderful examples of feminine kindness and love I've been blessed with, and it makes me me a little more tender and loving to my own babies.

I reflect back on their births-- the joy of having our precious little one here at last! The overwhelming desire to do my best to help them become strong, independent, good people. And the feeling that my heart was literally growing to accommodate all this new love. I love being a mom, and I love being Jeffy and Katelyn's mom especially. Those two little people mean everything to me.

Superman pjs!

Getting close to crawling!

Crazy hair!

Yummy carrots!

Two cute little babies.

But, surprise, our family's not done growing yet! We're adding another precious little baby to our family. This one really was a surprise, but I'm happy to report that we're excited to have another brother or sister to add to our beautiful family. I'm due the end of December, so plans are very much up in the air, but that's pales in comparison to the feeling of happiness we have at our upcoming arrival!

So Happy Mother's Day to all! All women who have touched another's life, lifted a burden, borne sorrows, or lifted a spirit, we celebrate you today.

Hope your day is restful and full of love!

LOCKED OUT!!

2010-05-02T19:28:00.003-04:00

Yesterday we got locked out. Not all of us, though. Some got locked in.

I took Jeffy and Katelyn out to run errands, with the double intent of getting things done and letting Daddy have some quiet time to catch up on some sleep. On the way home, both kids fell asleep. I hoped that I could just put them both in their beds and they would keep sleeping, so I had to bring them in one at a time.

I grabbed Katelyn in her carseat and the diaper bag and headed up to our apartment. I was a little surprised when the door was locked, but I unlocked it, and put everything down in the family room. The door doesn't close all the way on its own, which I planned to take advantage of when I brought Jeffy up. It's hard to open a door when you're holding a sleeping 35-pound kid! So I went down to get him, but when we got up to the door, I realized I had closed the door, and locked Katelyn and the keys inside.

No big deal-- Jeff was home, right? That's what I thought, but then my heart sank when I remembered an event from earlier that morning. Jeff had just bought new earplugs to use while he slept during the day. Oh no.

I rang and rang and rang the doorbell, hoping he would hear. Nothing.

I banged on the door, so hard it hurt. Nothing.

I went outside and threw rocks at his window. Nothing.

After 20 minutes of no luck, I started to get really nervous.

Katelyn was still asleep, thank goodness. I figured as long as she was asleep, I didn't need to panic. I didn't have any credit cards to try to undo the lock with, but I went back to the car and found a baby spoon, and I tried to get it with that. There's a big gap between the door and the wall, so I hoped I could get it. I couldn't. I banged and banged and banged on that door. I'm sure everyone else in our building could hear us, but Jeff didn't. After another 20 minutes, I knew I needed help.

I knocked on our neighbors' door and used their phone to call housing. It was the weekend, so there wasn't anyone immediately available to help, so the receptionist person had to call the maintenance people, who called me back. I guess they had to come in from their home or something, because they told me it would be 25-30 minutes before they got there. Katelyn was still asleep, so I agreed and ask them to please hurry.

About one minute after I returned the phone to my neighbor, Katelyn woke up. She got scared, probably because she was strapped in her carseat in the middle of an empty room, and no one was around her. She started getting really upset and crying harder and harder. I started to panic. If there was a window I could have broken, I would have, but I was out of luck.

In a last-ditch attempt to get in before calling 911, I banged and banged and banged and rang that blasted doorbell, but all it did was make Katelyn more upset. I was about to knock on my neghbors' door and call the fire department, when a couple came into my building. I asked them if they were any good at breaking and entering. Yeah, they looked at me like I was a mental case. I explained what was going on, and they sympathized with me. The girl took out a credit card and tried to get in. The boy asked if my deck door was unlocked. I said it was, and he said he would try to scale our wall, climb onto our deck and get in that way.

I prayed for it to work. Katelyn was screaming her head off by now and I was desperate to get in. After a minute or so, we heard the deck open and this kind stranger let me into my house! I proclaimed him my lifesaver and said thank you about a million times. I rushed over to Katelyn; poor girl was a mess. Her face was all red, she had tears streaming down her cheeks, and she looked terrified! I felt so bad for her, I couldn't put her down the rest of the day!

So Jeffy and I were locked out and Katelyn was locked in for about an hour. After we all calmed down, I went into the back room to see if Jeff was actually there and alive. He was.

He hadn't heard a thing.

April Showers!

2010-04-13T19:27:00.002-04:00

So a very talented blog designer is having a give-away and I really want to win! Her name is April and she's located at AprilShowersBlogDesign.com. I've seen many blogs designed by her and I love them! I've also added a button of hers on the sidebar of this blog, so scroll down and see how cute her designs are!

Here's hoping that I win a get a blog makeover!

Out On The Town

2010-04-10T16:26:00.003-04:00

Today we looked for something age-appropriate to do with Jeffy. We found lots of indoor soft play areas, but they all cost money and we found out there was one oat the mall for free, so we went to the mall! There was a big fountain in the middle and we all had a lot of fun tossing in pennies. Well, Jeffy didn't really toss them, he just kind of scooted them off the rail. But he had a lot of fun anyways. :)

The play area was a lot of fun too. It was horse-themed, just like everything else in this town. :) I didn't get any pictures of that, since the fountain picture took my last spot on the camera. I'm sure we'll go back.

That's about it from us today!

Inside Beauty Out

2010-04-07T15:49:00.001-04:00

Hello world. I have started a new blog. It's about me on my path to become the new me. Or maybe the old me. Probably a mix between the two.

Anyways, it's time for me to fix my life and get my body healthy again. I've started this blog as a way for me record my progress and hopefully find some support in the blogging universe.

I'm really putting myself out there--recording real weights and BMIs. I'm kind of nervous about that. It's very scary to share bits of yourself like that when you're not all that enthusiastic about what they contain. Please support me and tell me that I can do it, and that you're not ashamed to be my friend when you find out how much I weigh.

(and the very insecure little girl in me hopes that you will never, ever reveal this information to any boy, ever. boys are not invited to this club.)

Thanks. I know I can do this.

The new blog is InsideBeautyOut.blogspot.com. Go check it out for some interesting reading.

Saratoga Springs

2010-04-03T12:04:00.005-04:00

Along with putting Easter on hold (see below), our exploration around Saratoga Springs has also been postponed. So instead, I took some pictures of the town from our car as we were driving home from breakfast. A few of them turned out good enough to post, so here ya go!

Easter . . . Almost.

2010-04-03T08:48:00.007-04:00

Holidays never seem to work out the way I want them to. We had a fun start with the kids getting their Easter baskets, but then we went out to breakfast, and on the way home, Jeffy threw up everywhere. He threw up last night too, but I had hoped that it was just a one-time deal. No such luck. So since anything in his tummy seems to make him barf, I think we're going to have to hold off on the Easter Egg Hunt until he can eat food again.

Oh well. I tried.

Here are some pictures before the nastiness.

New York, New York

2010-04-02T16:11:00.003-04:00

Wow, it's already April! The couple of weeks since my last post have flown by. I guess that's what happens when you're super busy. But, the busyness isn't quite over. We're here, but we're not moved in. Almost everything is still in the garage. I think a lot of it is going to stay there, but there are definitely some things that need to be unpacked soon. The only problem is that our home and our garage are not attached, and not even super close, so I don't feel comfortable going out there and leaving the kids inside, so that leaves most of it on Jeff, or for me to do when he's home. But we'll get there eventually.

So far I'm still ambivalent about New York. I got here Sunday afternoon, and yesterday (Thursday) was the first time I saw even a glimmer of sunshine! I'm sure it won't stay like that (hear the optimism there?!!) but I hope the suns comes out and stays out soon. It makes a big difference in my attitude.

It's still winter-ish here, but once spring does come, I think it will be very pretty. It definitely looks like it has a lot of potential to be green. I think once we're all settled in, we'll be happy here. But we'll probably only be here for 8 months, anyway. Ah, the joys of military life. :)

This weekend we're going to go out and explore Saratoga Springs and I'll post pictures so you all will want to come visit!! :)

WE DID IT!

2010-03-19T16:41:00.007-04:00

That's the first thing Jeff said when we woke up this morning. Yay! After a . . . rough start finding all uniforms pieces, we got to Graduation on time and had fun!

All the sailors standing at parade rest in their section. We went to go find Daddy and embarrass him by taking pictures. I stood Jeffy there too, even though he didn't know why. We got lots of smiles.

Jeffy made a friend and ran around with him. They had a great time until the other kid's mom had enough. :)

This is the building Jeff has spent the majority of his life in for the last 11 months. No unauthorized persons allowed. ;)

This is Daddy's section marching up to get their graduation certificates.

We caught up with them and Jeffy didn't want to let go of Daddy's hand. While we were standing there, Katelyn started babbling "da da da da da da." It was such a cute moment. Our kids love their daddy!

Quick family picture before he marches on.

Kate in her hideout.

Jeffy with his bribe cookies.

Almost there!

Daddy's name being called. Yay Jeff!

Jeff said this guy told him to pose like he would be on the cover of a magazine. Good job, Jeff! They let us get right up to the podium to take pictures. I was grateful that my friend Bridgette watched J&K so I could get a good one of Jeff!

This one is so Jeffy. Cute little goofball!

Katelyn was tired. :)

We are a happy family! Yay for Daddy. We love you!

Memories of South Carolina

2010-03-18T13:08:00.004-04:00

1. Getting lost in the dark, trying to find my way to our new home in a very dimly-lit part of town, and Jeff having to walk to the corner to help me.

2. Meeting my first giant cockroach, and all his friends. Yuck.

3. Going to the wrong ward for 3 months, then finding out where we were supposed to be, right in time to escape a calling to the nursery. Bwa ha ha.

4. The horrible, horrible parking at the OB.

5. Katelyn's birth.

6. Taking a boat ride around Cypress Gardens, keeping an eye out for alligators.

7. Making a backdrop for Christmas pictures out of a sheet and paper snowflakes, then trying to get one good picture without Katelyn falling over or Jeffy running away.

8. Being told I'm a "local hero" for being a Navy wife.

9. Finishing Jeffy's Fred Flintstone costume about 5 minutes before we left for the Trunk-or-Treat.

10. Going crazy making bows and buying clothes as soon as we found out Katelyn would be a girl.

11. Poor Jeffy getting his legs, then arms bit to pieces by vicious bugs.

12. The too-frequent smell of port-a-potties outside.

13. Taking the kids to Cici's pizza, and Jeffy having weird diaper malfunctions and peeing all over the floor.

14. Finding my Christmas present early.

15. Playgroup with friends and their cute kids.

16. Jeffy running laps around the sprinklers at Wannamaker Park.

17. Shoving my eight-month-pregnant body, a squirmy Jeffy and a stuffed diaper bag into the tiny seat of a foot pedal boat.

18. Having fun, but being miserable at Navy Short Stay Beach at 37 weeks along.

19. Having both mine and Jeff's mom come to visit after Katelyn's birth.

20. Jeffy wiping frosting all over his new Christmas outfit five minutes before leaving for church, then having a breakdown while talking about it in my Relief Society lesson.

21. Getting three birthday cakes, having a night out at the movies with Jeff, and coming home to a clean kitchen for my 26th birthday.

22. Our one trip to the pool on the 4th of July, where Jeffy almost drowned twice.

23. Our trip from hell trying to get to Virginia for Christmas. It took three days, where it just should taken 8 hours.

24. Putting up lights and decorations and listening to Christmas music, even though it didn't feel like Christmas at 75 degrees outside.

25. Buying our van and getting South Carolina plates.

26. Filling up dozens of 2-liter soda bottles to have a supply for our Emergency Hurricane
Readiness Kit.

27. Listening for the mailman everyday.

28. Jeff's Birthday BBQ with friends, fun, food, Guitar Hero, and lots of cookies.

29. Running a chocolate chip cookie bakery out of my kitchen.

30. Papa John's horrible customer service multiple times in a row and vowing never to order from them again.

31. Our Papa Murphy's phase following #30.

32. Jeffy flipping out at Music Time in Nursery.

33. Katelyn's first smile, rolling over, and baby food.

34. Hanging out in the back of the Chinese Restaurant with family, mom, and 1-week-old baby.

35. Jeffy having cotton candy for the first time at the Freedom Fest.

36. Picnics at Marrington Plantation.

37. Jeff perfecting his homemade popcorn recipe.

38. Jeff guessing his Christmas present, being unable to hide his disappointment, then actually loving it after trying it.

39. Walking around the neighborhood for hours on end trying to induce labor.

40. Discovering netflix instant streaming.

41. Catching a nasty spider in a glass, then running away to the mall play place because I was too grossed out and scared to do anything else.

42. Jeffy taking his birthday present basketball everywhere with him, even bed.

43. Making Katelyn's coming home dress.

44. Going to McDonalds' many more times than we should have.

45. Baking my first homemade bread.

46. Getting totally lost on our first trip to church.

47. Jeffy throwing his birthday cake/container, and totally smashing it.

48. Going to the House of Bounce with Amber and kids.

49. Jeff getting a grill for Father's Day and perfecting his steak-grilling abilities.

50. Taking Jeffy to the doctor to get a sponge pulled out of his nose that had been there for two weeks.

Man, I loved making this list! We've had a lot of good times here, along with some hard times, and times that tested us. But, overall, we've enjoyed our time here and the adventures we've had. Here's to just as many adventures in our next state--good old New York!

Information Overload!

2010-03-11T18:58:00.004-05:00

So it's time for an update, I guess. It feels like everyday is just like the one before, but then when I stop to think about it, I realize that there are changes, even if they happen gradually.

Jeff:
Power School has about 6 more days. He has one final tomorrow, then his Final Comprehensive Exam next Tuesday. He has really worked his tail off for the last six months and I couldn't be more proud of him. Graduating from Power School is a big deal. Many don't make it and are kicked out. Jeff has not only made it, he is graduating with honors. Way to go, stud.

He's also in the middle of some school/officer stuff right now. He wants to go officer. The Navy has a great program called STA 21 (pronounced "stay"). It stands for Seaman to Admiral in 21 years. Seaman is the lowest enlisted rank, and admiral is one of the highest officer ranks. Every year, so many sailors are accepted into the program to become officers. They attend one of the participating universities in a specific major and go to school full-time until they have completed a bachelors degree. The Navy pays them their usual salary and up to x amount tuition and expenses. From there, they attend officer training and are commissioned to be officers. It's a great program and Jeff is applying this year. The due date is in July, but there's a lot to be done. He has to be accepted into universities to be accepted into the program, so he has to begin that process. And there are many interviews and essays, so he has a big task ahead of him.

If that doesn't work, his other option is to finish his schooling on his own and apply for OCS. This wouldn't take especially long either. There are a few universities who accept all the Navy nuclear training as credits. Those combined with his credits from BYU-Idaho, leave him with only 2 or so classes required before a degree in nuclear technology is done. He thought he was going to have all summer to complete these classes, but since we're moving and he'll be starting prototype in June, I'm not sure how that will work out.

Jeffy:
He has started speech therapy at a great place called Coastal Therapy Services. He works with a great therapist named Elizabeth. She is very good with him. And she's good at including me in the session--she points out what she's doing so that I can reinforce it at home. He has an hour-long session every Monday, where the first 50 minutes are Elizabeth and Jeffy playing and working on words together, then the last 10 minutes are spent in an indoor gym that he loves. This will be the thing I really miss when we move. I doubt we'll be able to find such a great place again. Oh well. Here's hoping!

He has his first major ear infection right now. He had been pulling at his ear for a few days, and once he developed a fever, I took him in. Sure enough, infection! I admit I was surprised. He made it to 26 months without one. . . I figured we were in the clear. But once he got on antibiotics and some motrin, he's been back to his happy, destructive self. Yesterday, after I gave him his dose of antibiotic, he knocked over the bottle and it went all over the floor. Sigh. So we had to go get some more today. I can't wait till we can go outside and have him release some of his energy!

Katelyn:
Kate can now roll over both directions and is getting close to sitting up on her own! And she is a talker! She's always making some kind of noise, usually a babble or a growl. I was talking on the phone with my mother-in-law while holding Katelyn, and mom said that her growls sounded just like the sounds Jeff's sister, Elizabeth, used to make as a baby! Cute, cute. She is a very smiley baby and right now loves to chomp, chomp, chomp on whatever she can find! She just started baby foods, and peas is all she's had so far. It took some getting used to, but now I think she enjoys having her tummy full of something a little more substantial.

She also has her first ear infection right now. She didn't make it quite as far as Jeffy did. And I think it probably could have been avoided. At her 4-month check-up, the dr. couldn't see past the wax in her ear and didn't seem to want to take the time to get the wax out, so she sent us away with ear drops, and orders to come back in in two weeks for an ear check. At that visit, they couldn't see in either, and didn't try to get the wax out again. I should have insisted they do so. At her 6-month appointment, they finally pulled the wax out and she had a big infection. Who knows how long it's been there. Grrr. Oh well. She's on antibiotics now too. Giving the dose to her is horrible! I dread medicine time! I have to lay her down on my bed, straddle her and pin her arms to her sides with my legs, use my left hand to hold her head still, then squirt a little in the back of her cheek, then blow in her face to make her swallow it! Ugh. Not fun for either of us. And the medicine is bright pink and doesn't seem to come out of fabric very well. So yeah, I'm not a fan of ear infections!

Me:
Well, I have some new hobbies I've been meaning to try, and maybe once we're all settled into our new home, I'll have a chance to actually do them. With some birthday money, I got an electric sander and a staple gun, and am going to try my hand at refinishing furniture. I am the queen of finding side-of-the-road treasures, and I want to make them actually cute. I have lots of plans in my head. We'll see how the execution of those plans work out. I'm very hopeful!

My thyroid issue is slowly getting under control. This past week one of my main complaints has vanished--I'm not freezing cold all the time! Yippee! Being warm is a great feeling! And I don't keep the thermostat at 76 degrees anymore! So I am starting to feel better. I am waiting for the results of my most recent test, to get my TSH numbers after having started treatment, and to test for hashimotos.

I'm excited for our move to New York. I've been looking up fun things to do and see there, and I think we're going to have a great time. And Jeff has promised to take me to Broadway too. Can you believe I haven't seen a professional show in almost four years? It's a tragedy. But, it will soon be rectified! We are planning to leave here Sat, the 20th and spend a few days with my parents in Virginia on our way. We'll get to NY probably Tuesday and settle in. Jeff doesn't start Prototype till June, so we're going to tour the area a little before it get too hot and Daddy has to go back to work!

So there you have it. An update about us. Wish me luck with packing and cleaning. I can't wait for this part to be over! :)

Katelyn's Six-Month Stats

2010-03-09T14:04:00.002-05:00

Height: 26 1/4 inches -- 50-75%
Weight: 17 lbs 7 oz -- 75-90%
Head: dont remember exact, but 90%.

Katelyn is keeping with our family tradition of big heads. :)

New York, Here We Come!

2010-03-03T21:00:00.004-05:00

So, we found out this evening that we are moving to New York! We'll be in Ballston Spa, a small town by Saratoga Springs. Jeff graduates Power School here on March 19th and we have to be in NY by April 2nd. Time to get packing!

I'm excited! (and a little stressed!)

Thanks!

2010-03-01T14:45:00.003-05:00

I'm feeling better today. Thanks for helping. It's comforting to know that I'm not alone, and that to have moments like that is normal. The trick is to not let them become habits.

I Love Valentine's Day Stories

2010-02-14T19:05:00.005-05:00

I hope that everyone who had a good V-Day will blog about it! I love hearing stories of sweethearts doing nice things for each other. I'm glad we have a day set aside to make sure we express our love to the people who matter most to us.

Here's my story! Amazingly, I had a great Valentine's Day, even though the kids have been sick and today I got pretty sick too. It was tons better than last year, when I spent it alone, thinking of Jeff, who was trying to survive his first few days of Boot Camp. Before he left, he gave me beautiful wooden roses that would last forever, but it just wasn't the same as being together.

This year, I was amazed at how thoughtful he was. On Saturday I got sick and felt pretty yucky all day long. Jeff got breakfast. He made lunch (a delicious appetizer platter!) and even made dinner. He changed poopy diapers and watched both sick kiddos so I could take a nap. The next day he surprised me with a box of truffles. And it was a big surprise because when we were dating, in a moment of temporary insanity, I told him I didn't especially prefer chocolates as a gift. That has since been cleared up. :) After he gave me the original box, he went and got something else and came back with his hands behind his back and said "Valentine's Day chocolates should not be homogenous." I knew that meant more were on the way! He gave me a bag of white chocolate (YUM!!) and peanut butter truffles. Yay! I am set, chocolate-wise for a while! And I decided to take the wrappers from all the truffles and mod podge the box they came in. Hey, the wrappers were pretty, and I love boxes.

I tried to take my turn and give him a day of rest and his favorite food yesterday, but since I was still pretty sick, I didn't make it too far in my plan. I made heart shaped pancakes for breakfast, which were fun. But I didn't get to make his favorite dinner. We're trying for that again tonight (it's Monday now).

This morning, though, he surprised me with another breakfast, since the one he had originally wanted to get Saturday morning couldn't be had since businesses were closed due to the snow storm. (giggle) But the kindest thing he has done for me was this morning.

Both kids have been having a really hard time sleeping due to congestion and just overall yuckiness. Katelyn woke up at midnight, super clogged. I tried to suck her nose out, but the gunk was so deep, that I just couldn't get it. I tried pose after pose, but she could never get comfortable enough to sleep for more than a few minutes. At about 5:00 (yes, I had been up since 12!) Jeff realized I wasn't in bed, and came out and offered to watch Katelyn so I could go back to bed. This is a really big sacrifice for Jeff, because he's putting in crazy long hours at work, and is running behind on sleep already. That really made me feel loved. I got two blissful hours of sleep, then got up and sent him back to bed.

I am married to a wonderful man, who places others before himself, takes good care of his family, and makes me feel like I am the most important, beautiful, talented, intelligent woman in the whole world. I sure love him.

What's your Valentine's story this year?

Katelyn's First Ambulance Ride

2010-02-12T14:40:00.003-05:00

Ugh. What a day. Jeffy was sick yesterday--fever and cough--but I didn't expect that it would get too bad or that Katelyn would get it. Jeffy's been sick multiple times since Kate's birth, and I've managed to keep her from getting it. Not this time.

This morning at about 1:40, I hear Katelyn start to cough and choke and sputter. (Thank goodness for super mommy hearing--Iheard her through closed doors and walls!) I shot out of bed and went and got her. She was burning up. I took her to the family room and gave her some tylenol. A few minutes later, she started gagging and choking again, like her body was reacting to an up-chuck response, but without . Some bright yellow gooey stuff came out all over her pjs. I thought maybe it was just the medicine had upset her stomach, but the medicine was pink. I knew this wasn't good. I got on the phone with our clinic's nurse triage line, and did a quick google search on yellow gooey puke. I learned that it was probably bile, which isn't necessarily a big deal, but when it happens in infants, it can be. FINALLY the nurse called me back after an hour, and after asking me a series of stupid questions, recommended I take her to the ER. Duh. I was going to give them 10 more minutes to call me back, then I was just going to go.

This was now a little after 3:00 am. I woke up Jeff to make sure that he understood that I was leaving and he was in charge of Jeffy's care. I headed over to the hospital, where the check-in nurse told me she served in the military for 20 years and next time to just come and not bother to call. Ok by me! We got Kate checked in, and the doctor came in to see her. I told him what had been going on, and he got this really confused look on his face. I thought "great, he has no idea what's going on or what to do." I showed him the yellow all over Katelyn's pjs and he thought that maybe the green of her pjs had changed the color of the spit up. I said, no, it was that color when it came out. He left, and I wondered what the morning was going to hold for us.

He came back in and said he wanted to transfer me to the Medical University of South Carolina, where there is a Childrens Hospital. I liked that idea, because the staff at a children's place is much better trained in dealing with babies than staff at regular ERs. The doc said yellow bilious vomit can be a sign that something is wrong with the intestines and if something proved wrong with Katelyn, that she would need surgery. Aahh! Heart-stopping moment for me there.

They were calling an ambulance to come get us, and meanwhile, they tried to give Katelyn an IV. This is exactly what I'm talking about. Stupid ER nurses were rough with her, had a hard time getting the IV set up and I just wanted to scream at them to leave my baby alone and get the heck out of the room! There is no worse feeling than watching your baby as she's poked again and again, screaming her head off, and every now and then calms down enough to look at you with a look of betrayal. "How can you let them hurt me like this?" Oh, it just breaks my heart. I had a feeling they were going to have to redo the IV at the Childrens Hospital anyway. (I was right.)

Katelyn was strapped to her carseat which was strapped to a bed, and we went in the ambulance for the half hour ride to MUSC. Thankfully, Katelyn slept the whole way there. I was so grateful. Poor little one was so exhausted from being poked and prodded and I was glad she was able to get a little sleep. It was now about 4:30 am.

The nice thing about being transferred is that the new hospital is expecting you and you don't have to wait to get checked in. I liked that part, and I was glad to be in the hands of people who would be more gentle and efficient with Katelyn.

She got her vital signs checked, then we went and got an ultrasound of her tummy. They were looking for which means that the intestine is funneling in on itself. She was pretty calm for this and they were able to get some clear pictures. Everything looked ok, and we went back to our room to await the next step. At 8:00 we went to get x-rays of her. They laid her down, gave her some weird drink and took x-ray pictures as it went through her system. This was looking for abnormal twists in the intestines that could cause an obstruction. This looked good too. No surgery! Thank goodness. So she was diagnosed with gastroenteritis--flu of the intestines. We were given the ok to come home.

Oh, kind of funny side note. As we getting ready to check out, a lady comes in and says they're conducting a study on the rotavirus vaccine, and wonder if they can have a stool sample of Katelyn's for the study. I was like, "you want her poop?" and they did, so I said ok. Then they gave me a $25 gift card to Walmart for participating in the study. So I gave them a dirty diaper and they gave me a gift card. I'll take that trade anytime! :)

Anways, back to the story. Unfortunately, Jeff had to drag a sick Jeffy out of the house to come get us, since we hadn't driven there. It had been dark when we got there, so I was of no help to him getting there. He got there in about 45 minutes, and it took us a lot longer than that to get home. We got totally lost. It was my first introduction to downtown Charleston, and under better circumstances, I would have enjoyed it very much. Thankfully, both Jeffy and Kate fell asleep on our crazy ride home.

So we got home, and I thought the worst was over. Then Jeffy started throwing up, which he hadn't done yet. This is the first time I have had both kids at their worst on the same day. Usually it's one or two days apart. Ugh. It's been a long day.

Jeff missed work today, which means he'll have to play catch up. Things are pretty intense at work right now and I feel bad that he's now behind. I was supposed to teach the Relief Society lesson on Sunday and was really excited, but now I need to stay home to take care of all my sickies. Tonight was the ward talent show, but that's been cancelled because we're getting snow. (Snow?! In South Carolina?! What is going on?!!) So we'll get to go to that when its' rescheduled at least.

So it's been a hard day for everyone, but mostly I just feel bad for my two sick babies. I think there might be something else going on with Jeffy too, so maybe we'll end up back in the hospital. I hope not, but it never hurts to be prepared for the worst.

Happy Valentine's Day! All you guys who are going out to celebrate, send a happy thought my way in hopes that we'll still have a good day, though stuck at home. :)

Even with the hard days like this, I wouldn't trade my current life for anything. Welcome to mommyhood.

Druggie!

2010-02-06T10:28:00.002-05:00

So it turns out my hair loss wasn't just post-partum. My blood tests came back to reveal that my thyroid has basically shut down, and is not producing the hormones it should. Which explains the hair loss, weight gain, extreme fatigue, depression, muscle aches, joint pains, brittle finger nails, and always feeling cold. Who knew those were all related?

So here I am, gearing up to watch my diet and take hormone replacement pills for the rest of my life. It may not seem life much to the outsider, but to me, it's very different. I always saw myself as a very healthy person whose only malady was imperfect eyesight. And I always saw the necessity of taking pills everyday a sign of old age! Well, not like elderly old age, just grown up old age, I guess. And now that I've joined their ranks, I guess I'm really an adult.

So I'm off to take my synthroid and avoid foods that interfere with the absorption of iodine. Yay for being a grown up.

Birthday Cakes

2010-02-04T09:39:00.003-05:00

I thought I wasn't going to have a birthday cake this year. I ended up with three! Jeff hasn't been feeling very well, and since Jeffy and Katelyn aren't capable of making one, I figured I was on my own. So I bought a small white one for myself the morning of my birthday. Jeff came home for lunch that day and we had some then. Well, maybe just I had some.

Then while we were out, my great visiting teacher brought over a german chocolate cake! Yum!! It was so good. Jeff usually doesn't like german chocolate, but even he loved this one. It was a great surprise!

Then the day after (I guess Jeff had been planning to celebrate that day, but forgot to tell me :)) I got to go on a craft spending spree with my birthday money, and Jeff watched the kids. I came home to another cake! Jeff experimented and made a Mint Brownie Cake. The cake itself was made of Andes Mint brownies, with a cream cheese frosting made minty by crushed mint Oreos, topped with Andes Mint drizzle and halved mint oreos.. It was yummy! But the best part was the effort by my sweetheart. He put a lot of work into it and very emphatically told me never to buy myself a birthday cake again. Hee hee.

AVATAR: 3-D

2010-01-30T15:31:00.003-05:00

Jeff and I went to Avatar last night in celebration of my birthday. My awesome friend, Bridgette, watched the kids for us (that's a separate, amazing story on its own!!) and we had a great time. We bought our tickets online, so didn't have to worry about that. We got to the theater 1/2 hour early, like they recommended, and were glad we did. The show was sold out and every seat was full! But, we got great seats. We stopped at Walgreens on our way out and stocked my purse full of treats and got soda and popcorn there. Hey, we only go to the movies 2xs a year, so may as well go all out, right? :) The glasses weren't too bad and we had a lot of fun together.

Now for my movie review. I was impressed with the quality of effects--everything looked very real, avatars included. I really liked the main guy, Jake, and the main lady avatar, though I can't remember her name. I liked their performances and just them in general.

I thought the story was fine--the quintessential big bad boys try to take over the small, naive natives for monetary gain. Nothing new, but a nice classic.

I didn't love it and I'm not going to go join any fan club. I just hate violence. And I especially hate evil people. They really piss me off. I found the individual sacrifices of the story a little redeeming. I was glad that there were still a few good people who would sacrifice themselves to try to protect innocence.

It was a fun evening and the best part was just being out with my sweetheart, holding hands. These days, they're usually too full of kids! :)

Happy Birthday to Me!

2010-01-29T05:23:00.002-05:00

Numerically, I'm starting to feel old. And it feels a little weird.

I'm starting to understand why old people say they don't feel old. Soon I'll be right there with them.

For now, I'm grateful for the 26 great years I've had and am looking forward to many, many more!

Cheers!

My Jeffy Doodlebug

2010-01-27T19:39:00.005-05:00

Jeffy is growing into such a handsome little boy! He no longer is my little baby, but he forever will be my firstborn, the first little one who gave me the experience of a mother's love.

My little boy loves to laugh! He loves to play--especially anything physical. He got a basketball hoop for his birthday a few weeks ago and he LOVES it. He immediately put the ball through the hoop and now is good enough to even throw a basket! He carries the ball with him everywhere, even to bed. A few days ago he caught a ball for the first time and Daddy was ecstatic. Now catch is his favorite game.

I love how he looks for my approval and praise. He gets downright giddy when I praise him for doing something well. It is so cute! When he wants my attention and I'm distracted by something else, he comes up and puts his face right next to mine and turns my head towards him.

He is the best older brother I ever could have wished for. He loves to entertain Katelyn and tries to help feed her, although I have to watch for things that shouldn't go in her mouth. He tickles her and laughs with her, and will even share his basketball with her. It seems like they've known each other for a long time. I think they're going to be close friends.

Jeffy is so sweet and I love him dearly. I love how he gives me hugs and lets me kiss his cheek. I love how he talks in his own language and acts like I understand. I love how much he adores his daddy and even tries to walk around in his combat boots. I love his sweet little spirit. I can't wait to watch as he grows into the good, kind-hearted, strong man I know he is going to be. I'm already proud of him.

My Sweet Katelyn

2010-01-25T13:34:00.005-05:00

How I love this sweet little baby girl. She and I have a special bond. I can't wait for her to grow up so we can be best friends. :)

She loves me. She constantly looks around to make sure I'm visible, then when she finds me, she smiles. I love her smile.

She loves Jeffy too! She very attentively watches him run around and giggles when he does something silly. He gives her hugs and kisses and she loves it.

I love that she has dark hair and dark eyes. Her eyes are the most beautiful blend of brown, green, hazel, and even a little violet. I think she is gorgeous.

She is so sweet-tempered. All she wants is to be loved and when she gets that, she's the happiest baby in the world.

Watching my two sweet babies love each other makes all the hard days more than worth it.

I love my sweet little Katelyn.

Statistics

2010-01-22T12:41:00.004-05:00

Jeffy's Two Years Old Statistics
Height: 35 3/4 inches - 75-90 %
Weight: 32 lbs 8 oz - 75-90 %
Head Circumference: 52.5 cm - off the charts (like 150% or something)

Katelyn's Four Months Old Statistics
Height: 25 inches - 50-75 %
Weight: 15 lbs 9 oz - 75 - 90 %
Head Circumference: 42.5 cm - 75-90%

Conclusion: Jeffy has a ginormous head. No surprise there. Katelyn has gotten bigger. She was born at exactly 50% and stayed at that percentile for a while, and now is a little heftier.

Shots weren't too bad. Katelyn did great; she cried only for a moment or so. Jeffy had to get a few too and he did ok as well. It sure was a long appointment though-- 2 kids at once!

Worries

2010-01-13T20:57:00.002-05:00

My hair is falling out . . . fast. I made an appointment with my regular doctor to get bloodwork done, but they couldn't fit me in until the 25th. After the amount of hair I lost in the shower tonight, I don't think that's soon enough. I'll be totally bald by then.

I think I'm going to call and try to get in as soon as possible.

I'm worried.

Anyone have a similar experience/advice?

I don't want to go bald.

{whimper}

Happy Birthday Little Man!

2010-01-09T14:24:00.004-05:00

Jeffy is two years old today! I can't believe it. This year has just flown by. To celebrate, went to the mall's playplace and had a lunch of Chick-fil-A and Spiderman ice cream! Jeffy had a great time at the playground--it was just the right size for him and full of lots of kids his age! I think he really enjoyed it. We're going to have a small party for him on Thursday evening. More pictures then! :)

Ready, Get Set, Go!

He loves smiling at the other kids.

Climbing on the mushroom thing.

"I love playgrounds!"

Too much fun!

He looks so big and manly in this one!

Yummy fry!

Extra yummy Sprite!

Extra, extra yummy ice cream!

Oh, and sweet little Kate was there too. :)

Just Some Pictures

2010-01-08T08:13:00.003-05:00

Just chillaxin' with her bottle.

Making faces.

Fingers + rice cereal = YUM!

First rice cereal!

Jeffy playing with his two favorite toys--silverware and mommy's things.

Sleeping daddy and Kate.

Christmas dress! (Thanks Nonna!)

YES! I don't know what he was so happy about. :)

Mommy's fingers are just as good!

Movie night!

I love my kids.