Heaven on Earth

Bedtime

2009-12-15T19:45:00.001-07:00

Tonight as we were putting the girls to bed Sarah asked if Hailey could lay down in bed with her. So I tucked Hailey into bed with Sarah and thought it was so cute that I took a few pictures:

Then Daddy decided to jump in:

Sarah and Hailey love each other so much. It's amazing how soon that love has manifested itself. They both light up whenever they see eachother and Sarah loves making Hailey laugh. Sarah is also very loving and nurturing to Hailey and helps calm her down by singing to her and telling her that "it's ok" whenever she is upset. I hope they stay close forever.

New Moon

2009-11-20T23:07:00.001-07:00

Kevin surprised me tonight by taking me out to dinner and to see New Moon (thanks babe you are the best!). The show was sold out and was packed with 12-14 year olds, most of them girls (of course). Everytime one of the leading male actors appeared on screen all the girls made cat-calls and swooned. Jacob got a much bigger reaction than Edward, it was pretty funny.

I had mixed feelings on seeing this movie because Twilight was such a let down but I have to say that I loved New Moon. I am a big fan of the Twilight books and was very disappointed with the first movie, I thought it was a joke. But with the new director on New Moon everything is so much better. The acting, hair and makeup, special effects, cinematography, everything about this movie was great. The storyline followed the book really closely, near the end it was a little different but not to the point where it bothered me. My favorite part about the movie was the wolves. I thought they did an excellent job with the CGI and they made them look awesome. I can't wait until the next movie comes out.

Happy Anniversary Jewls!

2009-09-15T10:36:00.004-06:00

Ok so it is my turn to post on our blog. Today Julie and I have been married for nine years. Holy Cow! Can you believe that? Time has passed so quickly. We were married and sealed in the Bountiful Temple. I remember a family picture that was being taken by Julie’s grandma after the ceremony in which just before taking the picture she says, “Everybody say SEX!” It was funny cuz everyone knew what was going to happen that night. BTW if you are in Salt Lake City and need a place to get away from the noise, look up the Armstrong Mansion (go for the December room – it smells just like Christmas). Now we have two wonderful daughters and are living in the city that was on top of our list for places to live.

Well for Julie today I want to tell her nine reasons why I love her. Now, being the great husband that I am, I have a list that could go on for hours but I would not want to bore you or her with such a list so I have only picked out one for each year that we have been married.
Julie:

You are just as HOT and SEXY as you were the day we first kissed on the practice field at Ricks College.
I have never had a closer friend in my life that I can talk to, cry, argue, makeup, and laugh with.
You are a great mother and teacher for Sarah and Hailey. They will both grow up to have the same Light of Christ that you radiate.
You still laugh at my jokes even when they are not that funny. (Definitely important for my ego)
You always work to be a better person intellectually, spiritually, and physically. This also helps me to want to be a better person. I appreciate the struggle and hard work to make it happen.
You make my lunch for me. This reason is mainly for my pride. I love being able to tell people at work that my wife made my lunch for me.
You keep our home a home. I don’t know that I thank you enough for doing the dishes, washing the laundry, folding the clothes, cleaning and vacuuming the house, squashing the scary spiders with big pointy teeth, mowing the lawn, taking out the trash…Boy I really look lazy don’t I? THANK YOU!
You love the outdoors. This is a huge plus! Our trip to Yellowstone (don’t worry she will post about it soon) was awesome! It couldn’t have been so cool without you to enjoy it with. The hiking, fishing, bird watching, etc are all things I love doing with you and I am glad that you enjoy them as much as I do.
You know how to make a husband feel proud to be married to the best woman in the world

Now this is not a cumulative list as I mentioned above but this is a list of the things that have most recently been on my mind. I love you immensely and I hope that you have a wonderful day.

Yours Forever,

Kevin

New Hair

2009-08-30T22:40:00.006-06:00

My hair color has always been a funny thing. Growing up I was naturally a blond. As I got older it gradually got darker and darker but I still saw myself as a blond. After I had Sarah my hair had turned really dark and I started doing blond highlights which I loved. Last week I decided to go back to my original hair color. Highlighting my hair was getting to be too time consuming and expensive especially now with two kids. I went a little darker than my natural color and at first I wasn't too sure about it. Now I am really happy with how it came out and Kevin loved it so much he took a few pictures.

An added bonus!

Sarah and Hailey

2009-08-30T22:25:00.007-06:00

HAILEY AT ONE MONTH OLD

HAILEY AT TWO MONTHS OLD

HAILEY AT THREE MONTHS OLD

Rocky Mountain National Park

2009-08-30T21:14:00.023-06:00

Right after the 4th of July we went to Rocky Mountain National Park. It was so beautiful and there were wild flowers all over the park. The day we went it was a little chilly but we had a good time. Sarah had so much fun exploring the meadows and seeing the mountains and wild life. On the drive up she kept saying, "Look mommy there's the mountains!" I loved hearing her get so excited about them. Hailey slept most of the time of course. We saw some amazing sights that reminded us why we love living in Colorado.

Sarah walking through a field of flowers backed by Aspen trees.

Taking time to smell the flowers.

Sarah loved this little stream that she and Daddy found.

Sarah at a lookout on our way over the continental divide.
It was very cold and windy. She was a trooper!

"Look ma, no hands!"

The beautiful Rockies. I love living in Colorado!!

Sarah ready to get out of the cold wind.

A marmot that was out on the overlook.

Here is a mother duck swimming with all her little babies.

If you look closely you can see the ducklings walking in front of their mother.

The little ducklings swam so fast when they were in open water.

Our Summer in Review

2009-08-30T17:21:00.018-06:00

So many things happened this Summer that I wanted to blog about but didn't get a chance to. I thought I would give a few highlights.

At the beginning of the summer we got Sarah a little wading pool and Sarah was so excited that the first time we filled it up with water she jumped right in with her diaper and clothes on. Her diaper swelled up to about five times it normal size. I had no idea diapers could hold that much water! It was so dang funny we were laughing about it for days.

The diaper was so heavy it fell down over her bum!

Sarah has always been fascinated with bugs. Her favorite bugs are rolly-pollies and she would spend hours outside looking for them and collecting them in her hand. Then later in the summer she discovered worms. One day she asked me if she could look for worms so I emptied her pool and put a few shovel fulls of dirt in it for her to sift through and look for them. Well it didn't take her long to find some. She had to show me and thought they were the coolest thing. She kept saying they tickled her.

"Look mom, worms. See?"

My dad and his wife Rebecca got us this double jogging stroller for Hailey's birth and I absolutely love it. It is so nice to take the girls out on a walk and the girls love the change of scenery. When I took this picture the screws for the foot plate had not come yet so it's not on in the pictures.

And of course it wouldn't be Summer without watermelon! Sarah loves watermelon and could probably eat a whole one if we let her.

Over all we had a great Summer. I tried to take Sarah to our community pool as much as possible after just having a baby. She taught herself how to swim with the help of floaties and can now swim in the big pool with them on. She would swim for hours at a time and loved every minute of it. She is definitely like me, we both love the water!

Arapahoe County Fair

2009-07-27T14:43:00.007-06:00

On Saturday Kevin surprised us by taking us to the Arapahoe County Fair. We got there about 12:30pm and left around 6:00pm. First we saw a stunt dog show which wasn't that great. Then we went through the petting zoo and tried to get Sarah to milk a cow. She wouldn't but Kevin did. After that we went into the livestock area and saw all the animals. Then Kevin took Sarah on a bunch of the rides. Sarah had such a good time on the rides with Daddy. I was a little nervous because she freaked out over the horse ride in the grocery store a few months ago but she loved the rides at the fair. She even went on the Ferris Wheel with Daddy and loved that as well. Of course we had to eat some of the food while we were there. We had snow cones, kettle corn, frozen lemonade, smothered burritos and tacos. It was a wonderful surprise and a perfect day. Thanks for such a great day sweetheart!

Petting the pigs

Daddy milking the cow

Look Mommy, sheep!

Sarah holding a baby chick

This seriously was the biggest rooster I have ever seen!

Pippi the Clown

Sarah and Daddy on the Super Slide!

Sarah's first ride by herself!

Going on the Circus Train

Sarah loving the Ferris Wheel

More Potty Training News

2009-07-20T14:31:00.002-06:00

Overall potty training is going well. Sarah is so excited to be wearing big girl panties and using the big potty like Mommy and Daddy. Friday was accident free. Saturday and Sunday she had a poop accident and so far today we have had a poop and pee accident. I was so proud of Sarah yesterday at church. We were about half way through Sacrament meeting when I asked her if she had to go potty. She said yes and I looked over at Kevin. He asked me if she would use the church potties because at home we use the cushy ring that fits over the regular seat. I told him I didn't know and off Sarah and I went to the restroom.

At first she didn't want to go into any of the stalls so I told her to pick one out. She did and of course it was one of the smallest ones. So I made my way in the stall with her. I got her up on the potty and asked her if she wanted me to hold her up there. She said she didn't and she was able to balance herself on the seat. Then I knelt down on the floor in front of her because she likes me at eye level when she uses the potty. It was extremely uncomfortable and felt pretty humiliating but I kept reminding myself that I was doing it for Sarah. She went right away and didn't have any problems. When she was finished she told me she wanted to go out of the stall before I flushed the toilet. She is afraid of the loud noise the public toilets make. It's funny because I hate that noise as well and still get kind of freaked out about it. I have never been able to figure out why. Anyways, Sarah didn't go potty again until we got home after church so she did great.

Today Sarah is starting to go pee by herself. This morning I asked her if she needed to go potty and she said yes. I was right in the middle of something so I told her to go ahead and get on the potty and I would be right in. By the time I got in there she had already went. Then about an hour ago she was playing in her play room and I was in the kitchen. All of a sudden she ran past me in the kitchen. I didn't think anything of it because she runs around the house all the time but then I heard her going potty in the bathroom. I peeked in on her with a big grin on my face and said to her, "you used the potty all by yourself and I didn't even have to remind you!" She was so excited and I told her how proud I was of her. We have gotten to the point that I don't have to give her stickers or blow out the candle. Just the excitement of using the potty is enough for her. I am so proud of how fast she is understanding the feeling of having to go to the bathroom and responding to it. We just need to work on the poop area.

It's funny, I have always heard women complain about the many hardships of motherhood and one of them has always been dealing with poop. I have never had a problem with it...until now. Can I just say how gross it is to clean up after a poop accident? I try very hard to hide my true feelings when I am in the process of cleaning one up because I don't want Sarah to feel bad for having an accident. She is just learning. But it is a challenge not to grimace or comment over it.

There is still work to be done but I really feel like Sarah is doing a great job with this whole process. I'm glad I don't have to buy diapers for her anymore. One child in diapers is expensive enough.

Potty Training Update

2009-07-16T20:12:00.002-06:00

After Sarah woke up from her nap she was resisting going to the potty but she finally made it and was able to go. Then she went two more times before she went to bed. She only had three accidents today and they were all early this morning. Over all I feel like it was a pretty successful day. It was definitely discouraging at times but she got better as the day went on and each success made her want to keep it up. She has a chart that she is putting all her stickers on so she can see how many times she went potty. She loves looking at it and counting the stickers. I am hopeful that tomorrow will be even better than today. I guess we'll see.

Potty Training

2009-07-16T14:32:00.002-06:00

So I have decided that it is time to start potty training Sarah. She is old enough and it is very expensive having two kids in diapers. About a year ago she was really interested and excited about the potty and I tried to start training her and even got her to go on the potty a few times. But then I found out I was pregnant and I had horrible "morning sickness". Potty training went out the window at that point because I was so sick and it lasted the entire pregnancy.

Sarah will be 2 1/2 at the end of this month so it's time to get her trained. I know she can use the potty and occasionally will but it's not consistent and she loves her diapers. After reading a few books I decided the best way to do this for Sarah would be to buy a ton of underwear and just have her wear them all day long. Periodically I will take her to the potty and have her try to go. I expect many accidents but I think going cold turkey will be best for her. I will still use a pull-up at night for a while.

Today is our first day of potty training. So far it has been a long day. When we woke up this morning I explained to Sarah that we were done with diapers and she was going to wear big girl underwear and use the potty like mommy and daddy and all her friends who are potty trained. Of course the underwear I bought was Disney princess and Tinkerbell so she was excited to wear them. Not too long after I put her in them she had an accident. I did not lecture her and calmly took her to the bathroom cleaned her up and put dry underwear on her. Right after breakfast she sat on the potty for a while and went poop! I was so excited for her and made a big deal out of it. I gave her a sticker and then lit a candle, sang a potty song (something I just made up) and had her blow out the candle. She loves stickers and thought it was so fun to blow out the candle.

After that we went downstairs to watch a movie. I continued to take her to the potty every 30 minutes and she got tired of it very quickly. She didn't want to use the potty and started holding her pee. I tried to encourage her but didn't force her so I kept trying and after an hour was able to get her to at least sit on the potty. She had a few more accidents and finally after lunch she went pee on the potty. I made a huge deal out of it and got all excited and sang the potty song. Sarah got up and danced and tried to sing along with me. She was so proud of herself and so was I. I gave her another sticker and lit the candle for her to blow out again. Right now she is taking a nap and I put her in a pull-up for it. I explained what it was for and I also told her that as soon as she woke up from her nap we would sit on the potty again. After I shut her door she started singing the potty song to herself. It was so cute!

I got really discouraged this morning and started to wonder why I was doing this but we are starting to make some exciting progress so I feel much better about it. We'll see how the rest of this evening goes.

Hailey's Blessing

2009-07-05T15:22:00.006-06:00

Today was a very special day for our family. Kevin gave Hailey a beautiful and wonderful blessing. Hailey looked so beautiful in her blessing dress and she was such an angel through the whole thing. Kevin's dad, Ray said Hailey looked up at Kevin almost the entire time during the blessing.

Kevin's parents came out from Kansas and my brother Brian his wife Ann and her mother Carol were able to be there for it as well. We sure missed family that was not able to make it but circumstances just didn't make it possible.

What a wonderful gift it is to have the opportuntiy to bless our children when they are born. I am so grateful to Kevin and his worthiness to hold the priesthood. We are so grateful for Hailey and the love she brings into our home. Her smiles brighten the room and bring us so much joy.

4th of July

2009-07-04T22:51:00.003-06:00

We had a great holiday today. First we went to a church breakfast bright and early that served pancakes, eggs, sausage, biscuits and gravy and lots of fruit...yummy! After everyone was done eating we had a short flag ceremony and said the Pledge of Allegiance followed by singing The Star Spangled Banner. I loved saying the Pledge of Allegiance since it has been so long since I have recited it. It really encompasses the spirit of our country and what we stand for. I wish I had more opportunites to say it.

After that we went home and had some lunch then put the girls down for a nap. While they were napping Kevin and I played cards with his parents who are visiting. One of our favorite games to play is Pinnacle. They taught us the game about a year ago and we love to play it with them whenever they are in town.

When naps were done we went to a fabulous Italian buffet restaurant called Cinzetti's. There are only two locations in the country, one here in the Denver area and one in the Kansas City area. The food is amazing and they have so much to choose from. It's a great place to eat when you have a lot of people in your party.

Finally we went to a fireworks show just south of here. We tried to attend that same show last year but about a minute into the show the surrounding field caught fire and after three minutes they stopped the show. We were so bummed because it was Sarah's first show and she was loving it. This year we have had a lot more rain and we decided to give it another try. It was fantastic and one of the best shows we have seen. We pretty much had front row seats and there was a nice breeze so the smoke was being carried away before it had a chance to affect people. Sarah sat on my lap during the show and I covered her ears while we watched. She loved every minute of it and kept cheering and making remarks like "oh that was a pretty good one". It was so cute. I loved being able to see the fireworks through a child's eye. It makes everything so much more magical. The show got done just before 10pm and as soon as we were in the car heading home Sarah fell asleep. Of course we had Hailey with us as well and she just slept the whole time.

We had a wonderful holiday and enjoyed being together to celebrate our country and the freedoms we enjoy. We are truly blessed to live in this country and have the opportunities we do. I hope we never take that for granted and always remember how blessed we are. More importantly I pray that our children and grandchildren will be able to enjoy the same freedoms we have been able to enjoy.

Our Little Angel

2009-06-03T13:25:00.004-06:00

We are proud to introduce our daughter

Hailey Michelle

May 8, 2009, 11:53am

6 lbs. 2 oz.

18.5 inches long

She surprised us and decided to come three weeks early. You can read about the delivery here. Enjoy the pictures.

Moments after delivery

Getting Checked Out

Warm and Snuggly in Daddy's Arms

We are so happy she is finally here. These past few weeks have been very stressful due to a lot of sickness in our home. You can read about it here. I think we are finally over it though and are working on getting into a routine. We love having this precious baby in our home and the loving spirit she has brought with her. And of course Sarah LOVES being a big sister!

"Ready or Not Here I Come"

2009-06-03T13:20:00.009-06:00

We went to bed peacefully on Thursday, May 7th. I was 37 weeks pregnant and was not due until May 29th. I was sound asleep until about 1am when I woke up having pretty painful contractions. I had been having contractions for a few weeks before this but they were never very painful. I laid there for an hour to see if they would go away but they didn't so finally at 2am I woke up Kevin and told him I was having contractions and we needed to start timing them. They were coming about 5 minutes apart and were lasting 30 seconds or so. We called my doctor and told her what was going on. She told me to go to the hospital if I felt like I needed to. After we got off the phone with her I had Kevin give me a blessing and we both felt that we needed to go in. The only problem was that we didn't have our hospital bag packed yet. With all the nesting I have been doing over the past few months I was leaving the hospital bag and Hailey's room until last. Of course I thought I had a few more weeks to get those things done but Hailey had other plans.

So there we were completely numb and in shock about me actually being in labor at 37 weeks and we were trying to keep our heads together enough to think about what we needed to bring to the hospital. On top of that I was also working through contractions that were getting more painful. We did a lot of laughing a lot of panicking and a lot of silent praying as we gathered what we needed. (After we got back from the hospital after delivering Hailey I was unpacking our bags and in my things I had packed my Calvin Klein Obsession perfume. I don't know what I was thinking when I packed that, obviously I wasn't.)

We called a neighbor of ours who had told us she would take Sarah whenever I went into labor. By this time it was 3am and luckily we were able to get a hold of our neighbor. She said to bring Sarah on over. So we grabbed our bags and carried Sarah down to the car. I explained to her that Mommy was going to the hospital to have the baby and that I was going to be there for a few days but she could come and see me while I was there. I also told her she was going to our friends house to stay with them for a little bit. She was so great about the whole thing. So we dropped her off without any problems and off we went to the hospital.

We got there about 3:30am and they hooked me up to the monitors right away. They watched my contractions for a bit and then checked me to see how dilated I was. The nurse that checked had a hard time finding my cervix and she eventually had to push down on the top of my uterus from the outside to get to it. The whole process was extremely painful and when she pulled her hand out I felt a big gush of fluid...my water broke. I really feel that the only reason it broke was because the nurse was being so rough. Anyways, I was at a 3 and 90% effaced.

I told the nurse I would like to labor on my own for a while and then when I needed it I wanted an epidural. Instead of staying in bed through the labor I got up and went in the jacuzzi tub for a bit. After I was done with that it was about 6:30am and my contractions were no different than when we arrived at the hospital. Kevin then informed me that he forgot to grab clean garments and he wanted to go home to get some and take a shower. Since I wasn't progressing at all I was ok with him leaving for a bit. After he left the nurse told me my midwife wanted me to start walking the halls to get things moving along. I didn't want to walk without Kevin so I rested in bed for a bit. Then things started happening fast. My contractions doubled in intensity and they got so bad I was screaming and crying. Kevin got back about 7:00am and told me the nurse had told him she wanted me to start walking the halls. I looked at him and told him there was no way I could even stand because they were so bad.

Just then a new nurse came in the room. She had just come on for her shift and she introduced herself. She said she had been listening to everything that was going on and she called my midwife to tell her I wasn't going to do the walking and I needed an epidural now. I was still crying from the pain and I thanked her. I ended up waiting about 10 minutes for the anesthesiologist to show up. By this point the contractions were coming every few minutes and were still extremely painful. I kept hyperventilating and the nurse had to work hard to get me to slow my breathing. Luckily I only had to work through three or four contractions while the doctor was inserting the epidural. After it was in I was in heaven. Kevin and I were able to get some rest and watch the monitors to see the progress and watch the baby's heartbeat.

After a while we noticed with every contraction the baby's heartbeat would drop below what was normal. The nurse came in and said she had been watching the heartbeat as well and told us that she suspected the cord was wrapped around the baby's neck. I was pretty worried when she said this but then she informed us she wasn't worried. It happens in about 40% of deliveries and it's usually not a big deal. She told us she would let us know if she did get worried and she had me wear an oxygen mask for the baby's benefit.

Shortly after that my midwife showed up. It was about 10:00am. She had been watching the monitors from her office and decided it was time for her to be with us. She checked my progress and I was dilated up to a five and 100% effaced. I had been at a five for a while so they gave me pitocin to speed things up a bit. At about 11:30am I started feeling like I needed to push so I told my midwife. She and the nurse calmly broke the bed down and got all the instruments ready. We kept the room lights off and just had the natural light coming in from the window. The atmosphere was very relaxed and calm. The nurse reminded me how to push properly and the pushing began. The nurse kept the count while Kevin held my hand and calmly encouraged me. I had the baby's head out in two pushes. As soon as her head was out the midwife affirmed the cord was wrapped once around the baby's neck and she quickly unwrapped it. I gave a third and final push and she was out. It was 11:53am.

They immediately put the baby up on my chest and Kevin and I just looked at her in awe. As soon as I saw her I knew her name should be Hailey. She was very calm and just looked back at us.

Shortly After Birth

The Proud Daddy

My birthing experience with Hailey was so much more enjoyable and easier. I have been seeing the same midwife for five years but when I delivered Sarah the hospital was not allowing midwives to deliver so I had the on-call doctor from the same practice. With him I had to wait almost an hour to push because he was with another patient and the delivery felt much more rushed and impersonal. With my midwife it was a very calm and relaxed atmosphere and she took her time making sure the baby was positioned right so I didn't tear. She was also there a couple hours before I was ready to puch so she could personally monitor the situation.

Sarah came to the hospital later that evening and was so excited to see Hailey. I asked her if she knew who the baby was and she said, "my sister." She got right up on the bed and gave Hailey a big hug and a kiss.

Holding Baby Hailey

We have a tradition in our family of always getting a Dairy Queen ice cream cake on your birthday. When Sarah was born Kevin got one for her "birth day" and served it to all the nurses. He did the same with Hailey.

We went home from the hospital on Sunday. It was so special to bring this little baby home on Mother's Day. I am so thankful we have this new little spirit in our presence. It's amazing how much she has changed our family already. When I stop and think about how recently she was with our Heavenly Father it makes me realize what a precious gift children are and how blessed I am to be a mother. Bringing a new little life into this world is such an amazing experience and I am grateful for the privilege.

Terrible Tuesdays

2009-06-03T13:15:00.006-06:00

As you read earlier we were able to bring Hailey home on Monther's Day. We spent Monday adjusting to life with her home and even ran to the grocery store for some badly needed supplies. Tuesday morning Kevin's parents arrived to help us out for the first two weeks. Everything was going fine until Tuesday night, May 12 when Sarah started throwing up. She threw up all night and had a fever of about 102. Wednesday morning she was looking a little better and we were able to get some saltine crackers and Gatorade into her. For a while we thought she was over the worst of it until she woke up from her nap in the afternoon. Her fever was over 104 and she was still throwing up. By this time she had also developed a dry cough and I kept telling myself "she has the flu". She also had not had a wet diaper in 24 hours so Kevin's dad and I took her to the doctor late that afternoon. I told the doctor all her symptoms and she looked Sarah over. At that point the doctor was not too concerned about dehydration because Sarah was crying big tears and her mouth was moist. But she did look at me and said she thought Sarah might have the flu. I told her that's what I thought it was and she asked if she could test Sarah for both the flu and strep throat. I told her to go ahead. 15 minutes later her flu test came back positive. Sarah had type A flu. They couldn't tell us whether it was Swine flu or not but she did have the flu. So the doctor wrote out a few antiviral prescriptions for Sarah and advised all adults in the house to get on Tamiflu which would help prevent us from getting the flu and lessen symptoms if we did get it. I looked at the doctor and asked her what would happen if Hailey got it. She said it would be really bad because there isn't much they could do for her except take her to the hospital, hook her up to ivs and do a lot of blood work on her.

As soon as we left the doctor's office I called Kevin and had him call my OB to get me on Tamiflu. Kevin also called our Bishop who is a doctor to have him call in Tamiflu prescriptions for Kevin and his parents. In the mean time Kevin's dad and I went to the nearest Walgreens to get Sarah's prescription filled and pick up mine which had been called in at that point. With the scare of the Swine flu lately our Walgreens was out of the Tamilfu. By this point I was in tears and told the pharmacist that I had a five day old baby and my two year old had the flu and I really needed the medication. She checked in her system and found another Walgreens not too far away that had plenty of the medication we needed. So I fought rush hour traffic on the freeway trying to get to this other Walgreens and waited for about 20 minutes for it to be filled. We finally got back home about 5:30 in the evening. All of us sat down together and talked about how we were going to minimize exposure to Hailey. We decided to have Dad and Kevin take care of Sarah and Mom and I take care of Hailey. We wouldn't have them in the same room together and if any of us touched Sarah we would change clothes before handling Hailey again.

We got Sarah ready for bed and gave her her medicine at about 7:30pm and put her to bed. At 8:30 she woke up throwing up in her bed. I freaked out at this point because here we had the medicine to make her better but her body was rejecting everything. Her fever was really high again as well so I got a bunch of towels wet with cold water and had to sponge her off to cool her down. Kevin called the on-call pediatrician at Sarah's pediatric office and told him everything that had been going on. We were hoping he could prescribe a suppository to stop the vomiting so we could get the medicine in her that we needed to. The doctor told Kevin we needed to take her to Children's Hospital about 15 minutes from our house. I was balling uncontrollably at this point because I was so afraid for Sarah. I wanted so bad to hold her and comfort her but couldn't because I had to take care of Hailey and couldn't spread the germs.

Kevin and his dad took Sarah to the hospital and I went to town cleaning the house because I couldn't sit and do nothing. So I spent two house using Pine Sol to disinfect the house and cleaned it top to bottom. About midnight Kevin finally called to give me an update. When they got to the hospital they had Sarah wear one of those medical face masks to contain the germs. They had to wait a while until a room was available but they finally got into one. The doctors put an iv into her and gave her two bags of saline to rehydrate her. They also gave her some Tylenol for her fever and medication to stop the vomiting. Kevin said Sarah was very brave when they put the needle into her hand and all the doctors and nurses were amazing with her. They gave her a big Tinkerbell blanket, three books and stickers all to take home with her. I was able to talk to Sarah over the phone and as soon as she heard my voice she started crying because she wanted to see me so bad. I told her the doctors were going to make her better and how much I loved her. I also told her she would be able to come home soon. She fell asleep right after we got off the phone and was still asleep when Kevin and Dad got home with her at 3:30am.

Sarah greatly improved after that. We were able to start giving her the medication and she pretty much slept for three days making up for all the sleep she lost the previous few days. By the following Monday she was pretty much back to normal and we were able to interact with her again. I had taken Hailey to the doctor for her 10 day checkup that morning and he told me Sarah would be fine to be around Hailey again. Children's Hospital called and told us Sarah did not have the Swine flu but a strain that was worse. We were so greatful that Sarah was feeling better. So things were starting to get back to some sense of normality...or so we thought.

The next day, Tuesday the 19th Kevin came down with the flu. He had come home from work early that day because he was so tired and couldn't concentrate. He took a nap when he got home and when he woke up he had a fever of 102 and felt really nauseous. We were all stunned because we thought if anyone else was going to get sick it would have happened already. Well, I now had to take care of Sarah, Hailey and Kevin. Luckily Kevin's parents were still in town and helped out with the girls. Kevin just stayed in our room for a few days so it was easier to contain the sickness and keep it away from Hailey. I couldn't sleep in our bed though so I ended up sleeping in the recliner in Hailey's room for two nights. Because Kevin had been on Tamiflu it never got as bad as Sarah had it. He had a fever, body aches, some nausea (he never threw up) and was extremely tired. Well he was sick for a few days and went back to work that Friday. Kevin's parents left that same morning as well. All weekend Kevin and I focused on finding our "normal" routine as a family of four. Things were going well until I came down with the flu on Tuesday the 26th.

Once again Kevin had to take off work to stay home and take care of the girls while I stayed in our room and pretty much took care of myself. I ended up getting the flu a little worse than Kevin did but not as bad as Sarah. By Friday I was pretty much back to normal again. We are hoping that we are totally done with the flu in our house now.

I think the hardest part about all of this is the emotional toll it took on Sarah. It's been really confusing for her because first Mommy went away to have the baby and I wasn't home for three days, then we brought Hailey home and most of my time was spent taking care of her, then Sarah got sick and I couldn't touch her, after that Daddy got sick so Sarah couldn't be around him and finally I got sick and once again Sarah couldn't be around me. She has also had to adjust to having Hailey around and our attention turned to her a lot of the time. Luckily Sarah has not been acting out with Hailey. She loves her so much and is always trying to look at her, hold her and touch her. She gives her hugs and kisses all the time and it's actually a challenge to keep her away from Hailey sometimes. We have caught her in her crib with Hailey a few times now and once we caught Sarah trying to pick up Hailey by herself.

Anyways, things are much better now and we are once again trying to find our new normal. I still feel like things are out of control because this is a big adjustment having a second child to take care of but I just need to give it some time and I know it will settle down.

4 Hours Later...

2009-05-09T20:46:00.004-06:00

Read previous post first. She posted at 9:10 pm that the baby had not come yet. 4 hours and 10 minutes later she wakes me up and says I'm having contractions. 10 hours and 33 minutes later (11:53am for those trying to do the math) we are holding Hailey Michelle Held in our arms. She weighed 6 lbs 2 oz, was 18.5 inches long and 3 weeks early. Sarah fits that profile almost exactly. The only thing that was different between Sarah and Hailey was half an inch! Sarah was 19 inches long. Both mom and baby are doing great. Sorry I don't have pictures. They are on the camera still at the hospital. I will get them up as soon as I can. This makes for a perfect Mother's Day. Mom and baby get to come home on Sunday. A great big thanks to all those who have come to visit, helped with Sarah, and who have already volunteered for help. You are the best!
BTW - Julie says that I have to tell everyone that I (Kevin) wrote this and not her. It seems obvious but you never know. (Evil Ha Ha Ha)

Baby Update

2009-05-07T21:10:00.003-06:00

Hi everyone. I just wanted to post a quick note and let you all know the baby has not come yet. I am being induced on May 23 so I have about two weeks left! I can't wait. Of course right now everything is difficult and uncomfortable. Sleep is a thing of the past so I am tired and run down all the time but I'm trying to hang in there.

Sarah has been testing her boundaries lately and that doesn't help things. I'm trying different tactics with her and some of them seem to work some don't. I keep telling her the baby will be here soon and she responds with, "baby sister". So she understands this new baby is her sister but I'm not sure she really gets that a little baby will soon come to permanently live with us. I know she will be a big help though. The past few weeks she has really started playing with her baby doll again. She rocks her, sings to her, puts her down for naps, feeds her and pats her when she's "crying". She also likes to give her baby hugs and kisses and tells her she loves her. I tell Sarah she is such a good mommy and that makes her happy.

As far as the nesting goes, there are still many things I would like to get done before the baby comes but I just don't have the energy to get it all done. Oh well, I'm willing to live with that.

Kevin and I are still trying to pick out a name. We have one in mind but we just can't commit to it until we see her. I'll try and get a preggo picture of me posted in the next week or so. I know those are always fun to see.

Memories

2009-04-26T22:39:00.003-06:00

I mentioned in my post last week about forgetting how little Sarah was when she was born so I looked back at her baby pictures. Here are some that give you a perspective on just how little she was. These were taken a few days after we came home from the hospital.

Nap time with Daddy.

Rooting on Daddy's nose.

Here's Pinky (her favorite bear) when he was brand new. He is only about 8 inches tall.

"Nesting" Part 2

2009-04-26T22:28:00.003-06:00

So the nesting is still in full swing. I took a break for a few days after my crazy cleaning spree on last week but yesterday it started all over again. I woke up and decided I needed to clean all the baseboards and door frames in my house. It took me well over an hour to do. I even cleaned on the top of the door frames where no one can see just because I knew it was dirty. Kevin has been very supportive through this whole thing. Whenever I get in one of these moods he asks what he can do to help. Of course in my mind no one can ever get things as clean as I can so I smile and say he doesn't need to do anything. He never says it out loud but I know he thinks I'm going crazy.

"Nesting"

2009-04-19T22:04:00.004-06:00

I have five weeks left before I deliver and the nesting instinct is in full force. The drive for everything to be clean before the baby comes is almost obsessive and has taken over my life. Everywhere I look things are not clean enough for me. This past week not only have I done an extra thorough job on all my regular cleaning chores but I also spent most of Monday scrubbing the kitchen cabinets inside and out. Tuesday I pulled out all my baby clothes and washed and dried them. Wednesday I folded all the baby clothes and put them away. As I was folding them I was taken back at how small the clothes were. Sarah was only 6lbs 2oz when she was born and we had to buy a bunch of preemie clothes for her to wear because she was swimming in the newborn size clothes. I don't think we will need the preemie clothes with this baby but you never know. Anyways, it really made me stop and think about how fast you forget things as your children grow up. Especially when they are newborns. This is also a blessing because you forget how hard it is when they are first born. All the sleepless nights, the feedings on end and everything you give up. Of course it is all worth it and more but it's nice to forget the painful details, that way we want to have more kids later on.

So back to the nesting thing. I also went out and bought newborn diapers...how cute are they! I still have so much cleaning to do before this baby comes and I am trying to take it slow but that's very hard for me to do when it is such a driving force. My next cleaning project will be to clean all the door frames in the house (I just know there is lots of dust sitting on top of them) and scrub the baby's room top to bottom. I hope this drive slows down as I get things done but I'm sure it will never be as clean as I want it to be.

I am definitely ready, at least physically, for this baby to come. Things are getting so much more uncomfortable especially sleep. I usually stay awake until 11 or so at night because it's just getting so difficult. I can't see my feet anymore which is a sad thing for me because I love to paint my toenails. I think I will have to get a pedicure soon so my toes will look pretty during the delivery...not that I will care about that when the time comes but maybe it will make me feel better afterwards...ha ha! Also, this baby thinks she still has all the room in the world to move around when she doesn't. She still turns sideways sometimes which gets quite painful and even when she is head down she likes to dig into my pelvis and stick her butt out...ouch!

Despite all this complaining I am really excited for this new little one to come into our lives. I know she will be a great blessing to our family and will bring so much joy to us. I also know Sarah is going to be the best big sister. She talks about the baby all the time and loves to hug and kiss my tummy and tell the baby she loves her. We are still working on a name and have one in mind that I think we are going to go with but just can't make the final commitment to it yet. I think we will make the decision when we actually see the baby. We'll let you know!

Spaghetti O's

2009-04-19T21:48:00.003-06:00

A few weeks ago I introduced Sarah to Spaghetti O's. Normally she uses a spoon or fork to eat but she couldn't get the Spaghetti O's to her mouth fast enough so she started shoveling with her hands.

I think you get the point...they were a big hit!!!

Giving up Naps

2009-04-19T21:31:00.004-06:00

Sarah decided to give up naps about six weeks ago. I fought tooth and nail with her over taking them but finally had to accept that she was going to give them up no matter what. This was a hard thing for me to accept because I am nearing the end of my pregnancy and desperately need the rest in the afternoons. The first week of giving up naps was hard for Sarah as well. She kept falling asleep at the dinner table. The first time she did this it freaked me out a little because she had never done it before and it was like watching a drunk try to eat. I watched as her eyes got really heavy and glossy. She kept trying to eat dinner but couldn't quite get the food to her mouth. Then she tried to take a drink and completely missed the mark. Finally she just passed out...at 5:30pm. I walked her upstairs, put her pajamas on and tucked her in bed. She stayed asleep through the whole process.

She has adjusted now and does not fall asleep at the dinner table. We put her down for bed at 7:00pm and the whole process is so much smoother. She stays in her bed and goes to sleep without a hitch. Thankfully I have adjusted as well and manage to make it through the day without that afternoon nap.

Kiting with Uncle Brian

2009-04-19T21:00:00.006-06:00

My brother, Brian lives about 20 minutes from us. One of his hobbies is flying kites...the serious ones. Anyways, Sarah adores Uncle Brian and always mentions his kites when we talk about him. A few weeks ago he came over for a visit and we went kite flying while he was over.

Sarah with "U.B."

Setting up the kite with U.B. and Daddy

Look how big the kite is compared to Sarah!

Watching the action

Trying to control the kite...it gets pretty strong at times!

We love it when U.B. comes over. Thanks for the fun!

Geocaching

2009-04-19T20:03:00.009-06:00

One of our favorite pastimes is Geocaching. What is Geocaching you ask? Basically it's "treasure hunting" with a GPS. Here is the official site which has a great explanation on their home page. The traditional cache is usually some sort of camouflaged container that has a log to sign saying you found it and little toys that you can take if you put something in to replace it. The caches are found in playgrounds, neighborhoods, national parks, anywhere people feel like placing them.

Anyways Kevin and I have been doing this for about five years now and we were hooked right away. It really gets you out and about and you see so many cool places that you never would have seen otherwise. We took Sarah on her first cache experience when she was about four months old. After that we took a long break from geocaching and just started it back up again a few months ago. Again we took Sarah and she had a blast! Of course she was actually old enough to enjoy it.

Sarah finding the cache. It was a camouflaged ammo box.

Daddy opening the cache.

Sarah checking out the loot while Daddy signs the log book.

Sarah finding another cache, this one was in the hallow trunk of a fallen tree.

We had a great time geocaching together and have gone many times since with Sarah. She loves it and gets so excited when we ask her if she wants to go geocaching.

Valentine's Day

2009-04-03T20:19:00.004-06:00

Kevin really came through for Valentine's Day this year. He surprised me by taking me to the opera. It was a first time for both of us and we really enjoyed it. We saw a French opera called The Pearl Fishers. It's a love triangle story about two men who have sworn never to love a particular woman who had come between their friendship in the past. One of them goes back on his word and falls in love with the woman.

Because the opera was sung all in French I was afraid I wouldn't be able to follow it. But on the back of the seat in front of you there are subtitles that you can read and follow what the actors are singing about. The actors put so much emotion into what they are singing about that you can really feel what is going on in the scenes. There were a couple times where I cried because that emotion was so strong. We loved going to the opera and would definitely go back in the future. It was a Valentine's Day I won't forget.

Sarah's Birthday

2009-04-02T20:29:00.010-06:00

I know this was a while ago but I figure it's better late than never. We celebrated Sarah's 2nd birthday on January 31. We kept it pretty low-key and took her to the park that day. It was unusually warm so we decided to take advantage of the opportunity to go outside.

On the way home we passed to local fire station and Kevin pulled in to see if the firefighters would let Sarah look at their fire truck. They were so cool about it and even had her try on a hard hat and jacket. She was swimming in them. Kevin climbed up in the cab with her and she was pretty overwhelmed at how big it was. Sarah had a good time seeing everything and she points out the firetruck any time we drive by.

I can't believe how fast she has grown. In fact sometimes I forget she is only two because she is so capable. Here are some of the things she can do:

Count to 20
Recognizes all the letters of the alphabet, knows most of their sounds and can say about 1/3 of the alphabet in order.
Knows her colors and shapes including octogon which she pointed out to me the other day.
She has really begun to use her imagination and pretends her favorite bear, Pinky, is talking to her. She makes him walk around the house and shows him things we see on car rides.
She has started to sing. Her favorite songs are Rock-a-bye Baby, Sunbeam, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and Popcorn Popping just to name a few. It's so fun to hear her walk around the house and sing these songs. I know someday we are going to hear her singing her heart out while she's on the potty.
She loves reading books and is always wanting me to read to her. It's fun to have that special time with her. If she had it her way she would have me read to her at least an hour every day.
Loves to help out around the house especially when I am in the kitchen.
Gives hugs and kisses all the time and says I love you frequently throughout the day.

Sarah is such a sweetheart and we are so blessed to have her for a daughter. Although it's fun to see her learning new things it's still hard to see her grow up. I wish I could keep her a little girl forever.

It's a....

2009-02-01T22:10:00.004-07:00

GIRL!!! I had my ultrasound on the 15th and we found out we are having another girl! We are so excited for her to come. Kevin was hoping for another girl, he would be in heaven if we had all girls. I was leaning towards a girl because I wanted Sarah to have a sister that would be close to her in age. I am best friends with my sister and I wanted that for Sarah. So we both got our wish. Of course there are lots of other benefits to having another girl as well. Like the fact that we won't have to buy anything to get ready for her and when baby #3 comes along it will be easier for the girls to share a room.

Right now we don't have a name picked out for her. It took us months to come up with Sarah's name so this is a very slow process for us.

The ultrasound went very well. Everything looks good with the baby. The ultrasound technician was impressed with how active she was. This video shows her from the belly down and you can see her kick boxing...boy did I feel it too!

Profile

My doctor is concerned about the location of the placenta. It is only 12mm away from my cervix. They like it to be at least 20mm away so there is concern about placenta previa. I will have another ultrasound done around 30 weeks to see if it is further away by then. If it's still too close when it comes time to deliver I will have to have a c-section. Let's hope for the best.

I am at 24 weeks right now and things are going well. This baby is definitely getting bigger and much more active. Sometimes she wakes me up at night with all her movement. Unfortunately I still have morning sickness. I am taking Zofran once a day but if I forget to take it I throw up the next day.

We keep telling Sarah that she is going to have a sister and she acts excited but I'm not sure how much she understands. She does know that mommy has a baby in her belly and she has even felt her kick a few times. Sarah loves to pat, hug and kiss my belly and wants to rub it all the time. I know she is going to be the best big sister and will be such a help to me as well. We are all so excited for this little one to come in May.

Christmas 2008

2009-02-01T21:05:00.012-07:00

I know this is late but I need to get caught up on posts. We had a wonderful Christmas at home this year. It was just the three of us and very relaxing. Sarah got to sit on Santa's lap for the first time at our ward Christmas party. She was so excited when he came in the room and had no problem sitting on his lap.

Kevin didn't have much time off as he is saving it for when the baby comes but we did have a four day weekend with him. Sarah and I made sugar cookies a few days before Christmas. She loved helping in the process and loved eating the dough even more.

On Christmas morning we went downstairs and Sarah was so excited to see all the presents under the tree. She got to play Santa this year and passed out the presents. Of course that meant she had to wear the Santa hat.

Sarah was not shy at all about opening presents. Here she is sporting a little attitude while I try to dismount Pooh from his packaging.

Here is Sarah with all her presents. We got her a baby doll thinking that it would be good for her to have a baby of her own to take care of after I deliver. We are hoping this warms her up to the basics of having a baby around.

The main gift I got Kevin was a safe for his hand gun. Sarah was all too willing to help Daddy open it.

Kevin was very good to me this year and spoiled me with this among other things:

It's a Pentax K200D and can I just tell you how much I love it?!!! Our old digital camera was ok but it couldn't keep up with our very active daughter and sadly I have had to delete a lot of pictures because of that. Now we have a camera that rocks!!! There is a lot to learn but so far I have had a lot of fun with it and the pictures are amazing.

We really enjoyed our quiet Christmas this year. It was nice to start some traditions of our own. My favorite part was watching the magic of Christmas through Sarah's eyes. It made it all so much more meaningful and I loved every minute of it.

Silly Sarah

2009-01-06T13:22:00.008-07:00

I just wanted to share a couple funny stories about Sarah. We pray with her every night when we put her to bed. She likes to say the prayer so we coach her through it. The other night Kevin was helping her and he said, "we are thankful for the Plan of Salvation". Sarah then repeated and said, "thank you for pants of salvation". I started busting up as quietly as I could and it was all Kevin could do to hold it together long enough to get to the end of the prayer. I think every time I hear the Plan of Salvation I will always remember this story.

Another funny incident happened to me last week. Sarah was standing on our bed as I was getting ready. She looked over at my nightstand, pointed to it and said, "Jesus". I looked over to see what she was pointing at. There were only three things on the nightstand; a lamp, some receipts and a can of hand salve from Burt's Bees (this stuff is great to use right before you go to bed...it keeps my hands from cracking in the winter). Here is what the lid looks like:

I started laughing and picked up the can. I held it out for her and she pointed to the man on the cover and again said, "Jesus". With a smile on my face I explained to her that it was not Jesus and that the man's name was Burt. This immediately confused her because she watches Sesame Street every day and she knew that this was definitely not Burt. So I told her it was not the same Burt from Sesame Street but that this man's name was Burt's Bees (I didn't know how else to explain it to her). She still calls him Jesus every once in a while. I guess Burt's Bees is in the business of saving as well only he just saves my hands from cracking in the winter, not my soul. Oh well, at least Sarah can recognize Jesus even if she does get it wrong sometimes.

Peanuts in High Places

2009-01-04T19:33:00.005-07:00

This actually happened about four weeks ago but I wanted to write about it because it's funny...sort of. Anyways, one morning I was eating trail mix (it was the only thing that sounded good to me at the time) and Sarah came up and asked me if she could have a peanut. She has had them before and loves them so I handed her some and she ran off to the other room. About five minutes later I hear this sneezing, coughing noise and she came running up to me with teary eyes, pointed to her nose and said, "peanut, peanut." I asked her if she stuck the peanut up her nose and she said yes. I tipped her head back and looked up her nose, sure enough it was stuck up her right nostril and I could see it sitting right there. I went and got a kleenex and tried to have her blow it out but she couldn't blow hard enough. So then I decided to go get the tweasers. The previous week she had folded up one of those stickers they put on oranges and stuck it up her nose. I pulled it out no problem with tweasers so I figured I could do the same with the peanut...wrong! I laid her on the couch and she was wimpering because she didn't want me to touch her nose. I explained to her what I was going to do and she was ok with it. I held her head with one hand and tried to pull it out with the other. She started squirming and I ended up shoving it further up her nose to where I could no longer see it and it made her nose bloody. Luckily I wasn't freaked out, it's not like kids die from peanuts being stuck up their nose but I knew something needed to be done. I called her pediatrician and spoke with a nurse and she told me to go ahead and bring her in.

By this point there was blood dripping out of Sarah's nose onto her upper lip, not a lot but I wanted to clean it up before we went to the doctors. She wouldn't even let me touch her so I put her in the car and on the way to the appointment I explained that we were going to see her doctor so he could pull the peanut out of her nose. All the way there she kept saying, "peanut, nose, doctor." We got into the exam room and the doctor explained to me they pull things out of kids noses all the time. He said it was better for me to bring her in than hope it would come out on its own because if it's left up there for too long it can cause an infection. He took his little light tool and explained to Sarah that he was going to look up her nose. He let her touch it before he looked and she seemed to be ok with it. I held her on my lap as he looked and Sarah did not like this. She started crying again but luckily the doctor could see the peanut. He left the room to get a couple of nurses and some instruments. When they came back in he explained to me that the nurses were going to hold Sarah down on the table while he pulled the peanut out and I was to stay right next to her to talk her through it. He made it clear that he didn't want me to hold her down at all because it was not my job to be the enforcer which made me happy because I didn't want her to see me as one of the "bad guys". So I went to lay her down on the table and she would not let go of me. They had to pry her arms and legs from around me so I could set her down. Then one nurse sort of laid across the lower part of her body and one held her arms and torso. I stood right over her so she could see me and the doctor sat next to her head on the other side. He held her head, stuck the instrument (which was a long, thin metal hook) up her nose, hooked it around the peanut and pulled it out. Sarah screamed the whole time and I tried to tell her they were helping her and I was right there. The whole thing took about 30 seconds and Sarah stopped crying as soon as the peanut was out. When the doctor looked at it he was floored that she managed to get it up her nose in the first place because it was so big, and it was only half a peanut! Sarah was happy as a clam and I thanked the doctors and nurses and we left. All the rest of the day she kept pointing to her nose saying, "nose, peanut, doctor, help."

I had hoped this experience would deter her from sticking things up her nose in the future but as soon as we got home I made a quesadilla for lunch and she tried to stick part of it up her nose. She did the same with dinner and breakfast the next morning. She tried sticking various objects up her nose over the next week and then one day she just stopped trying and hasn't done it since. Every once in a while she will just come up to me and say, "peanut, nose, doctor." I guess it did leave an impression after all.

I've been tagged!

2008-12-05T14:38:00.007-07:00

Ok, so I was tagged back in October but have been so sick with this pregnancy that I didn't have the energy to tackle this until now. Sorry Katie but I'll try and make it worth the wait. So here are the rules:

1. Meeting new people is hard for me. I am an introvert and have a difficult time opening up to people I don't know. I often get passed off as being stuck-up because I am so quiet at first. People who know me are always surprised when I tell them this is a challenge for me but it's true.

2. I used to play World of Warcraft online. My husband and I played it for two years and we cancelled our subscriptions just this past July because it sucked away so much of our time. I have a level 70 human Mage, a level 30 human Warlock and a level 15 blood elf Mage. It was fun playing the game and sometimes I miss it but my life really is better without it. Games are addicting and sometimes they can ruin your life. We had two people in our guild who were each married to other people and they ended up almost having an affair with eachother. It was sad and one of the reasons we cancelled our accounts, it's not worth it.

3. I am domestically challenged. What does that mean? Well, I have no decorating sense and I do not enjoy cooking. Don't misunderstand me, I can cook and am often complimented on it but I do not enjoy it. As far as my decorating sense I have none. It's just not something I have ever developed. But I am working on it and have recently come across some fabulous blogs to help me in this area: Just a Girl, Nesting Place, My Insanity (also a personal friend of mine) This Young House. There are many out there but these are just a few of my favorites.

4. I love board and card games. I enjoy the interaction with others and think it's a great way to bring a family together (unless you're one of those competitive families in which case it's probably better to avoid them). My favorite game is Settlers of Catan. My husband and I try to play this with friends whenever possible (it takes more than two players). The hard part is finding another couple who plays this as well. Fortunately we have been able to find others throughout our moves.

5. I was the first person on my dad's side of the family to ever receive a Bachelor's Degree. I did not know this until the day of my graduation. My aunt who does a lot of family history told me what a milestone that was for me and my family. I felt very humbled when she told me. Neither of my parents have a college education and our family always struggled financially growing up but I had no idea that no one in my dad's family has ever received one. Receiving an education was important for me and I worked my butt off to receive my degree. Kevin was a year ahead of me in college so in order for me to graduate by the time he did I had to complete four years of college in three years. It was difficult and there were many times when I thought I couldn't do it, especially when I was carrying 18+ credits at a time but I did it and manged to graduate Magna Cume Laude as well. Kevin has since received his Masters degree and we will definitely teach our children the importance of a college education.

6. I love camping. Being in the outdoors is therapy for me and camping in Yellowstone National Park tops my list. Kevin and I went to school at Ricks/BYU-I and we lived an hour and a half away from the park. We had a yearly pass and used to go all the time. It's amazing to see all the thermal features the park has to offer, not to mention the wildlife. The best though is when you get off the main road and explore the trails and other features that are less well-known. One of our favorite things to do there is swim in the Firehole River. The hotsprings feed into the river and the water is like bath water, very warm and relaxing.

7. The first time Kevin asked if he could kiss me I turned him down. It wasn't that I didn't want to...far from it actually but we had just had smooties from Jamba Juice and mine had strawberries in it. Of course the seeds from the strawberries were stuck in my teeth and I didn't want to make a bad impression on him for our first kiss so I told him no. At first he didn't know what to say he just kind of laughed then he asked me if I was serious and I explained my reasoning to him. He laughed even harder. I stuck to my guns for the rest of the night, even when he dropped me off. Of course the next time we went out I made sure that my teeth were brushed and I was prepared for our first kiss. Let me just say it was worth the wait! I found out later that Kevin lost a bet because I said no the first time. He had a bet with a friend who was also dating a girl that he would get the first kiss before his friend did. He would have won if I had said yes.

Ok so I tag:
Rachel
Michelle
Brooke
Miriam
Meggin
Kim
Lori

Thanksgiving

2008-12-05T14:07:00.007-07:00

We had a quiet Thanksgiving dinner at home. Kevin and I decided we wanted to do our own thing with Sarah this year to get some traditions going. I still cooked all the typical Thanksgiving dishes but it was on a much smaller scale than in years past. Sarah helped me make most of it. She loves to help whenever we cook and drags over a chair so she can see what's going on up on the counter. She got a big kick out of watching me prepare the turkey. We kept asking her what a turkey says and she would get this huge grin on her face and say, "goggle, goggle." It was hilarious.

After dinner we went over to my brother, Brian's house and played Rock Band with his wife Ann and a friend of ours. Sarah rocked out the whole time. She kept jumping around to the music and loved seeing daddy play the guitar. Uncle Brian played the drums and she got right up on his lap and played along with him.

I sang The Eye of the Tiger and got 100% on it, woot! Then I played the drums once...even on beginner it was hard, way too much going on for me.

Our friend Hank sang one of the last songs and he got real close to Sarah and sang right to her. At first she didn't know what to do and backed up a bit. Then she got right back in his face and sang into the microphone with him as lound as she could. We were all laughing.

It was a great day and definitely a memorable Thanksgiving.

Announcement

2008-11-25T23:18:00.003-07:00

Ok, so I am officially announcing that I am pregnant with baby #2. I am 14 weeks right now and I'm due May 29th. I have been VERY sick and it got so bad that my doctor wanted to put me on a home iv to keep me hydrated but my insurance co. wanted me to pay $2,500 first. So I said forget that. Anyways the sickness is finally letting up a little but it's not gone yet. When I was pregnant with Sarah I was sick through week 17 so I guess I still have a few more weeks to go.

I don't have any feeling on whether it's a girl or a boy. Kevin is dying for another girl. He would be in heaven if we had all girls. I'm torn between the two. It would be nice to have a boy because then I would have at least one of each. But on the other hand I really want Sarah to have a sister. I guess we'll see!

"Blessing"

2008-11-13T20:50:00.002-07:00

On Tuesday night we were driving home from Montana and Sarah came down with a fever about an hour before we got home. I got in the back seat with her and gave her some Motrin. After she took it she looked at me and said "blessing, blessing". I asked her if she wanted Daddy to give her a blessing and she said "yeah". Kevin and I looked at each other in amazement. He has given her plenty of blessings and she has seen him give me blessings but we didn't think she understood what they were for. Of course when we got home Kevin gave her one.

The next morning she had a temp. of 103.1 so I took her to the doctor. It turns out she has an ear infection which we had no idea was there. I got her prescription filled and gave her the medicine right away along with more Motrin for the fever. We went home and Sarah took a nap. After she had been asleep for an hour I felt prompted to take her temperature (we have one of those ear thermometers which makes it easy). Her temp. was 104.6! I double checked to make sure it read correctly and it came back with the same temp. Of course her little body was just on fire so I called the doctor to see if I needed to take her to the ER. The nurse told me to put her in a cool bath for 15 minutes. She also said that Sarah would get the shakes from it because it would be such a shock to her system. So I filled the tub with luke-warm water and got her out of bed. Sarah moaned a little but was as limp as a rag doll. Once I got her into the tub she became more alert and started wimpering and crying telling me she was cold and begging me to take her out. I had to leave her in for 15 minutes to cool her off so it was a very difficult bath to give her. I wanted to cry the whole time.

After I took her out and got her dressed she was still shivering so I hugged her close and put a blanket around her. As I was holding her she cried "blessing, blessing, blessing". That sent me into tears because Kevin was at work and I was amazed again at her understanding of what blessings are for. I explained to her that Daddy was at work so he couldn't giver her one but I asked her if she wanted Mommy to say a prayer and she said yes. So I sat down with her and prayed. She sat perfectly still the whole time and I could tell she felt better after we said the prayer.

The bath brought her temp. down to 100.7. I called the nurse again to update her on Sarah's status and she had me alternate giving her Tylenol and Motrin for 24 hrs. to keep the fever under control. She then told me if her fever spiked again to give her another bath. She said the ER would not be able to do much more than that. So I was grateful that she saved us time and money in avoiding a trip to the ER and today Sarah is much better. The antibiotics are finally kicking in and her fever is almost gone.

This has been an amazing experience for me. Of course it was scary when her temp was so high but Heavenly Father protected her and helped me through the situation. And Kevin and I were given the opportunity to see that Sarah is learning by our example even though she is not even two years old yet. That realization is both exciting and scary to me (what kind of bad habits is she learning from me?) But more importantly I am seeing that our efforts in teaching her the gospel are paying off just by living it. Actions speak louder than words.

Halloween

2008-11-03T20:28:00.005-07:00

We had a great Halloween this year. First we had a trunk-or-treat at church on 10/20. I dressed Sarah in her Minnie Mouse costume and she kept taking her ears off. So I put bows in her hair instead.

On Halloween night I decided to give the ears a try and look how cute they turned out!

We had a great time trick-or-treating around our neighborhood with a bunch of friends. People loved to see the big group of little kids coming to their door. Sarah had a hard time saying "trick-or-treat" so she just said "treat" to people. She caught on real fast that if she said "treat" she would get candy. About 8:30 she fell asleep on Kevin's shoulder so we took her home to put her to bed and she barely woke up when I changed her into pajamas.

Kansas and the Wichita Zoo

2008-10-14T20:04:00.004-06:00

We went to visit Kevin's family in Wichita, Kansas two weekends ago. His brother, Brian was deployed to Iraq on Oct. 6th and we wanted to see him before he left. The first day we went to the Wichita Zoo. The next day we ran errands and went out to dinner that night with the whole family then we came home Sunday. It was so nice to see Brian before he left. He is a Military Police and will be in charge of guarding the prisoners just outside of Baghdad. Our prayers are with him. Here are some zoo pictures:

Our Little Guitar Hero

2008-10-14T19:59:00.003-06:00

We borrowed Guitar Hero III for the Wii from a friend of ours and Kevin is hooked. Sarah saw him wearing the guitar and she wanted to try it on. What do you think?

"Pocky"

2008-10-14T19:34:00.002-06:00

A few weeks ago I took Sarah to the botanical gardens here and they had pumpkins for sale. When Sarah saw them she was so excited. She ran over to them and started hugging and kissing them. I told her they were called pumpkins and she said "pocky". So now all pumpkins are known as pocky.

I let Sarah pick out a pumpkin and she chose one that is just her size. She wanted to hold it in the car all the way home and now she carries that pumpkin all around the house. She gives it pats and hugs and kisses it too. It is the cutest thing. Whenever she wants to hold it she says, "hold pocky, hold pocky".

Back Seat Driver

2008-09-28T22:19:00.002-06:00

Thursday I was backing out my driveway and almost got hit by some woman who decided to flip a u-turn right by my driveway. When I pulled up behind her at the stop sign she just sat there even though there were no cars coming. I was just about to honk my horn at her when she rolled down her window and waved me past. The problem was that she was sitting right in the middle of the road so I had to drive right next to the side walk on the wrong side of the road to get around her. Needless to say I was pretty ticked by this point and as I passed her I called her a stupid cow (my windows were rolled up, I was just venting outloud). All of a sudden from the back seat Sarah said, "Moooooo, Mooooooo, Mooooooo!" I was so upset over the situation that it took me a second to understand why she was mooing. Finally it hit me, I had just called this woman a stupid cow and Sarah picked up on the cow reference so she started mooing. I busted up laughing and almost peed my pants. It was so funny! I will definitely have to start watching my actions when I drive.

Gymnastics

2008-09-22T21:30:00.004-06:00

A few weeks ago I signed Sarah up for a gymnastics class for toddlers. We go every Monday and last Monday was our first class. It runs for six weeks. It's really like glorified play time but Sarah loves it. We start out with circle time where the kids do fun little stretches and sing a few interactive songs. Then we have free time for half an hour where the kids get to run around on all the gymnastics equipment. They have the parallel bars, uneven bars, the rings, balance beams, a mini trampoline and big squishy mats all over the place. But Sarah's favorite area is the pit of foam blocks. They have a slide set up that drops you into the blocks. Sarah also like me to toss her in. After free play we pull out the parachute and do various activities with the kids. I am so glad I signed Sarah up for this and I know she is too. It is so great for her to run around and just be a kid and it gives us some special time together.

This is only half the equipment there

Big Girl Bed

2008-09-22T21:18:00.003-06:00

Last Sunday, Sept. 14th, we moved Sarah from her toddler bed to a twin size bed. She loves it! It is so fun having her in a bed because I can do so many more things with her. We kneel down beside her bed to say prayers, I lay down with her to read books and I sit on the edge of her bed while I sing to her. It's also nice to cuddle with her on it.

Her first night in bed went really well. She usually sleeps with her pink bear. About 10 minutes after we had put her down we kept hearing her meowing over and over. After a while it was quiet and she had fallen asleep. When Kevin got up at 5:30 the next morning to get ready for work he peeked in on her and she was asleep with her stuffed kitty and Pinky was in the corner with the rest of her stuffed animals. An hour later at 6:30am I peeked in on her and this is what I found:

In that one hour she had gotten up out of bed, walked over to the corner, put the kitty back, picked up her brown bear and crawled back up onto her bed where she fell asleep on her knees. She stayed asleep like that for an hour and then decided to come out of her room. Funny girl!

The Children's Museum

2008-09-16T02:37:00.006-06:00

Last week Sarah and I had a mother/daughter date to the Children's Museum here in Denver. It was the first time I had ever been there and we had so much fun. They have all kinds of attractions that are for geared for different ages. Sarah's favorite area was the treehouse and village. We spent half of our time here exploring everything. There is a big open area that looks like a meadow with a few gazebos to sit down in. A magnetic spiderweb on the wall had alphabet magnets and there was a cute little bridge that Sarah had fun walking and crawling over. Then you wander back into the treehouse. You could climb different areas of the tree and there was even a built in slide in it. After that you come to a little pond with a boat where you can go fishing with magnetic fish and a magnet fishing pole. In the back of this exhibit you come to the village that has a cabin, general goods store, a mill and a garden where kids can plant and pull up stuffed cloth vegetables.

After we left that area we went to the arts area where Sarah got to finger paint. Of course it was very messy and we got some paint on her clothes but it all came out in the wash. From there we moved on to the dance floor where they have costumes and props you can dance with on the dance floor. Sarah loves to dance and really got into the groove. She ran around and danced with ribbons and these cool nylon scarves.

After we were done there we went to the "locker room" where Sarah was able to play in some lockers and shoot some hoops on a little mini basketball court. Then we went outside and played on the playground for a little while. Among the typical playground equipment there were these cool rock sculptures for kids to climb on. After we left the museum we went across the street to this yummy mexican restaurant and had some lunch. We were worn out by then and headed for home but we had a great time together.

Happy Anniversary!

2008-09-15T15:29:00.003-06:00

Today Kevin and I are celebrating our 8th anniversary. When I went downstairs this morning I found flowers and two cards sitting on the table. I don't know how Kevin got the flowers there because it was 7:00am and the vase had condensation on it from being refrigerated. He left for work a half hour earlier and he didn't get up any earlier than he normally does. Anyways, so far it's been a good day. I have spent a lot of time thinking about the day we got married. We were married in the Bountiful, UT temple. We went on our honeymoon to Breckenridge, CO for three days. We spent the time relaxing, window shopping, eating and riding horses. It's fun thinking about how new everything was those first few weeks of marriage. A lot of people say the first year is the hardest and Kevin and I kept waiting for that to come, but our first year was wonderful and it has only gotten better since then.

I feel so blessed to have a husband like Kevin. He treats me like a queen. I never have to ask him to help with housework or making dinner. He is the best daddy to Sarah. She adores him and has him wrapped around her little finger. He is a good provider for our little family and I appreciate so much how hard he works for me and Sarah. Kevin also works very hard around our house fixing things and keeping up with the yard work. He is always so patient with me and always tells me how much he loves me and that I am beautiful even when I have bed head and morning breath. I love the smile he always has on his face and brightens up the room whenever he walks in. He loves to make me laugh which helps me from being too serious, especially when I'm stressed out. He values and respects the priesthood he carries and always keeps himself worthy to hold it. He also works hard to magnify his calling as Elder's Quorum President and puts in many hours of service behind the scenes to the members of the quorum.

The love that we have for one another is so strong and it only gets stronger every day. I love being in love with Kevin and I know that these 8 years will turn into 50 years someday. Happy Anniversary to my sweetheart!

Labor Day Weekend

2008-09-12T12:13:00.015-06:00

We had a great weekend. Kevin planned some fun activities for Saturday and wouldn't tell us what we were doing so we were completely surprised. We left the house around 10am and drove down to Colorado City which is about two hours south of here. Out east of there we went to a caslte called Bishop's Castle. It's this castle this man is building all by himself. Apparently his dad started building it 20+ years ago and now he trying to complete it all by himself. It's actually a pretty cool place but at the same time it's a little scary too. He is building this castle without any permits and is taking all the stone from state forests. He doesn't believe in the government and justifies his actions by saying he lives in a free country and can do whatever he wants. So he is a bit of a nut job, but the castle is still pretty cool. It is completely free and always open to the public. There are signs all over the place absolving Bishop of any liability.

There are staircases and turrets all over that you can walk on. I've been on the walkways and they don't feel that safe.

Kevin took Sarah up to the top of one of the towers.

This chair was out in the front of the castle. It's hard to tell from the picture but it's about five feet tall!

Sarah waving hi.

You can buy a pane of stained glass and put a dedication on it. There were windows like this one all throughout the castle.

The detail on the ironwork is incredible.

Standing on one of those "unsafe" walkways. It just feels unsafe because the flooring on the walkway is a wire mesh rather than a solid surface.

After we left the castle we continued driving east until we got to the Sangre de Cristo mountain range then we turned north and followed the mountain range up to Cripple Creek. On the way there we passed a bunch of horse back riders out on a three day trail ride. They stopped and let Sarah pet the horses. They were a group of people out raising money for a local pregnancy shelter. Sarah loved it and kept neighing as she petted the horse.

When we got to Cripple Creek we went to the Molly Kathleen Gold Mine. We had to put on hard hats and jackets then they put us in the verticle lifts they use for the miners. It was so cool. The lifts were like enclosed cages and were pulled up and down the shaft with a belt drive. The mine is 1,000 feet underground and we got to the bottom of it in 1 minute 42 second. Our guide said that the Empire State Building is 1,000 feet high so we were pretty impressed with how short it took us to get to the bottom of the mine. They had mining equipment from the early days and our guide demonstrated how it worked. It was fascinating learning how they used to do mining and how far it has come since then.

This was an old rail car they are converting into a diner.

Sarah having fun with the hard-hat.

After we left the mine we drove 20 minutes up the road to Mueller State Park. It was dinner time and Kevin brought hot dogs and smores to roast. We set up our camping chairs and enjoyed being in the outdoors while we ate our dinner and dessert. Sarah loved being outside in the mountains.

After we ate we went home and got there around 10pm. It was a long day but it sure was fun. We did so much and we didn't have to travel very far for it. I love Colorado!

On Sunday we slept in to recover from the day before. That evening we were invited over to a friends house to hang out and have dessert. Monday we did a ton of yard and house work then in the evening we had a barbecue at our house and invited a bunch of people over. The kids had fun playing in the backyard and the adults had fun eating and talking. It was a great weekend and nice break.

Summer Review - August

2008-09-07T18:54:00.003-06:00

In August all of my siblings and their spouses got together out here in Colorado. My sister, Wendy and her husband Brad stayed with us along with my brother, Greg his wife Jo Ann and their three boys, Matthew, Justin, Jacob. My other brother, Brian and his wife Ann live 20 minutes from my house. It was so fun having us all together. The kids were especially cute. The last time my nephews saw Sarah she was only 4 or 5 months old so they were able to interact with her a lot more this visit. All of the boys were so good with Sarah and she latched on to them as well, especially Justin. While everyone was here we went to the Wildlife Experience which is kind of like an animal museum but it's geared towards kids and is really interactive. The kids spent as much time as possible outside (which wasn't much because it rained all weekend) and took turns getting airplane rides from Uncle Brian. We had a great time with everyone here and so did the kids!

Summer Review - July

2008-08-28T20:23:00.007-06:00

We took Sarah to her first fireworks show on the 4th. We were nervous because we weren't sure how she would do with the noise but she loved it...all 3 minutes and 30 seconds of the show. Yep the show only lasted 3 minutes and 30 seconds. One of the first fireworks of the show started about 6 or 7 small fires in the field right by the audience. They continued to launch more fireworks as the flames got bigger. Finally the flames got big enough that 911 was called. Within a few minutes fire trucks and police were all over the place. We didn't want to get stuck in traffic so we left in a hurry. Needless to say we were very disappointed. Sarah absolutely loved the fireworks. She was sitting on Kevin's lap during the show and he had a blanket over the two of them. After every firework Sarah would bring her hands out from underneath the blanket to clap then she would tuck them back under. It was so cute. She laughed and squealed until they stopped the show then she wanted more.

I managed to get Sarah’s hair into real pig-tails for the first time in July. Here are some pictures:

Later in the month Kevin’s parents came out for a visit. We took Sarah bowling with them and she loved it. We had the bumpers up for her and they brought out a ramp that Sarah could push the ball from. She caught on really quick. She knew which ball was hers and she would stand by the ball return waiting for her ball to come back after every turn. She did surprisingly well considering she couldn't really aim the ball.

We also went on a tour of a local candy factory as well. It was called Hammonds and they are famous for making ribbon candy. It’s amazing to see how the candy is actually made. They start with a 75 pound roll of candy that is made right there, then they heat it to make it pliable and stretch it down to the right size and feed it through a crimper which gives it the ribbon shape. At the end of the tour we got to sample chocolate caramel covered marshmallow bars. They were yummy!

At the end of the month we took a trip to eastern Montana to visit Kevin's sister Heather and her husband David. While we were there we went 4-wheeling. I have never really been on a 4-wheeler before and I was a little nervous to ride it at first but after a few minutes on it I didn’t want to get off. It was so fun! I can see why so many people have them. Sarah enjoyed it as well. We took turns taking her on little rides here and there. Her favorite ride was with Aunt Heather. We also floated down the Yellowstone River. I didn’t get any pictures of it but we had a good time. Kevin was the “captain” of our boat and he missed the exiting boat ramp by about 30 yards. So we had to walk it back a little ways but it wasn’t bad. We also took Sarah to the park while we were there and they had this huge slide that slid all the way down a steep hill. It was hot so we sent Sarah down on a towel so it wouldn't burn her. She also enjoyed swinging on the swings which are her favorite. But Sarah’s favorite part of the trip was the kiddie pool Aunt Heather and Uncle David had in their back yard. Every evening we would fill it up for her and she would splash around and play ring-around-the-rosy in it. Kevin enjoyed lounging in the hammock and occasionally Sarah would join him. I had so many pictures from the trip I decided to put them into a slide show. Enjoy!

Summer Review - June

2008-08-28T20:09:00.002-06:00

The month started out great. Sarah and I spent a lot of time swimming at the pool and soaking up the sun. Then on June 14th my last living Grandpa died at the age of 90. He was an amazing man and disciple of Christ. He loved everyone and always made you feel welcome. As my Grandma put it, "He never made you feel broken". He had a very witty sense of humor and was a great story teller. Here is my favorite picture of him:

I made it out to his funeral in Salt Lake. It was wonderful to hear all the stories and memories everyone had of him. I learned things about him I never knew before. He is one of my heroes. I love and miss you Grandpa!

My dad came up for a visit in June as well. He took some time off of work and rode his Gold Wing (that’s a motorcycle for those of you who don’t know) from his home in San Diego up through Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and up into Canada to Banff National Park then back down again. He stayed with us while he was in Colorado and took a number of day trips from our house up to the mountains. On his way back down from Canada my step-mom, Rebecca flew in to Denver and stayed with us a few days as well. It was wonderful having them around and they loved playing with Sarah. It was so cute to see both of them run around and chase her. They are awesome grandparents and Sarah loved their visit. We miss you Grammy and Grampy!

Back in the Saddle Again

2008-08-26T22:50:00.004-06:00

I know many of you have been chomping at the bit waiting for me to post an update. I have to apologize to those of you who faithfully check my blog. This summer has been a difficult one for me and in response I retreated from life. Sorry to let you all down but I am ready to jump back in!

At first I wasn't going to go into details about things we did this summer but after looking at the pictures I have taken I decided there are just too many cute pictures that I want to post. So stay tuned for updates on my summer (I promise I will have them out by the weekend!)

Mother's Day

2008-05-16T18:51:00.006-06:00

I had a wonderful Mother's Day. Kevin got up early with Sarah and let me sleep in a bit. I woke up to Sarah coming in the room carrying Stephenie Meyer's new book, The Host. It had two cards in it, one from Kevin and one from Sarah. Then we went downstairs and had a wonderful breakfast Kevin had prepared. We spent the remainder of the day going to church and relaxing around the house.

Now, I would have been happy with just the book Kevin had bought for me but he had something bigger in store. My biggest gift from Kevin was a trip to the salon to get my hair done. I have not been to a salon in nine years and it has been that long since I have even trimmed my hair. With my curly hair I just have not trusted it to others. My appointment was today and I went to a friend of mine. She did an amazing job. I got a weave to lighten my hair up a bit and I had about three inches trimmed off with some layers added as well. I aboslutely LOVE my hair now. It feels so healthy and soft and I love that I can wear it straight. Kevin loves it as well. It was money well spent. Thanks honey for such a wonderful Mother's Day!

Bath Fun!

2008-05-14T10:54:00.003-06:00

The other day I was giving Sarah a bath and all of a sudden she lunged forward to grab one of her toys and ended up on her belly. She had never turned onto her belly before in the tub so she sat there for a minute making sure she was ok then she looked up at me, gave me a big grin and started kicking her legs. I kept telling her she was "swimming". Now whenever I give her a bath I tell her, "go swimming" and she flips over onto her belly and starts kicking and splashing. I think we are going to have a blast this summer in the pool together! Enjoy the pictures :)

I've Got a New Attitude!

2008-05-09T12:31:00.005-06:00

A few weeks ago some of my girlfriends and I were sitting around talking about hair and my friend, Wylie, got the bright idea (it really was a good idea) to straighten my hair with a flat iron. Now, I have straightened my hair before but that was like 15 years ago. I used to straighten it with a round brush and blow dryer which took forever, about two hours, and the end result was still pretty frizzy. Ever since the flat irons came out I have wondered how they would work on my hair but was not willing to spend a lot of money to try it out. So when Wylie suggested we try it with my hair I got really excited. I ran home and took a shower then went back over to Wylie's. A few of my other friends were there as well. We turned on the movie Hairspray, which I had never seen before and the girls went to town on my hair. Wylie was standing on one side of me with her flat iron, and my friend Kim was on the other side with her flat iron. In half an hour my hair was done and this is what it looked like:

Holy cow! I love it. I went to church the next day and most people did not recognize me. Because of my new doo I am going to do something for Mother's Day that I have not done in NINE years...go get my hair done at a salon! I don't trust others with my hair so I never go to a salon but I am ready for some hi-lights and at least a trim...I don't know if I'm ready for a full-on cut yet but we'll see. A friend of mine works for a salon and I am going to see her next Friday. I'll post pictures again when it's all done. Yea for straight hair!

Let's Go Fly A Kite

2008-05-09T12:14:00.002-06:00

My brother, Brian who lives here in the Denver area as well, loves to go kite flying. He has a few multi-line kites that he flies. All of them are various sizes. I don't know if they are considered stunt kites, but they are definitely not the $5 specials you get from the grocery store. These are serious kites. They are so big and strong that they drag him across the grass and sometimes he even catches air! Anyways, a few weeks ago Sarah and I met him at a park to watch him fly his kites and I took some pictures. It was hard to get both him and the kite in the same picture but I did get some of the kites on the ground. Later in the afternoon Kevin showed up and flew one himself but I wasn't smart enough to get pictures of him, sorry babe.

You Belong in the Zoo...

2008-05-03T19:46:00.004-06:00

We took Sarah to the zoo for the first time on April 19th. She had so much fun looking at all the animals and seeing all the people. She was only interested in the animals that moved so if they were sleeping she didn't really care about them. Some of her favorites exhibits were the mongoose's. They were moving all over the place and going in and out of their holes. She stood there and just laughed and pointed as she got excited. She also liked the giraffe's. There was one that was trying to eat some leaves out of the tree and it had it's neck stretched way up high and kept sticking it's tongue out to reach the leaves. Sarah's favorite animals at the zoo were all the birds. Any bird she saw she would say, "Quack, quack". Even the birds that were wandering freely around the park, she would run up to them, stop about a foot away from them, point and say quack, quack.

At the Denver Zoo there is also a carousel and train you can ride so we took Sarah on both of them. It was at the end of the day so she was pretty tired but she did have a good time. She kept waving and blowing kisses to all the people as we went by on the train. It was so cute. We are so excited that Sarah is old enough to enjoy places like this. We look forward to many more outings with her. Enjoy the pictures!

Good News!

2008-04-04T10:38:00.005-06:00

(Before you read this post scroll down and read the first one from April 4th called "Kevin's Graduation". It will make more sense.) So the past few weeks have been crazy for us. As you know Kevin graduated with his masters on March 22nd. That same week we had Kevin's parents come out for a visit to attend graduation and Kevin got three calls for job interviews. He interviewed with all of them last week. He had one every day from Tuesday through Friday. Two of the positions were located here in the Denver area and one was at BYU-Idaho. The school flew him up there on Thursday night, he interviewed on Friday for half a day and he flew home on Saturday. Poor Kevin was arranging all of these interviews around appointments with clients and trying to do it without his current job knowing about it. It was tough for him but everyday the timing seemed to work out.

We had a feeling that we were going to have to choose between the three jobs and that was what ended up happening. All three jobs made him an offer. There were good and bad things about each job and we love Idaho as much as we love it here in Colorado so the decision was hard to make. It took a lot of researching benefits, pay, time off, etc. and after a lot of praying we have decided to take one of the positions here in the Denver area. It is working for the Department of Labor in the mining division (as in coal, copper, etc.). He is a Senior System Administrator, which basically means he helps run the computer network.

Most of the time he will work in the office but there will be a little bit of travel involved as well. Basically whenever there is a mine accident anywhere in the U.S. and communications go down, Kevin will be flown out to that site to set up a temporary communication station using satellites. This will give them access to the internet and other communication means. He only has to stay on site until permanent communications are restored. Last year there were about 8 accidents where employees were deployed so it doesn't happen very often. Kevin would take turns with another co-worker going out to the accident sites so he won't have to go to every one.

Anyways, the benefits are amazing and the pay increase will allow us to get into a house within the next year. Kevin will start the new position on April 14th. We feel so blessed and know that Heavenly Father has prepared this position for us. We have been praying for something like this to come along for a year now and it is finally happening. It is incredible to us that this has all happened at the same time he received his masters and we know that this is not a coincidence. Needless to say we are very excited for this opportunity. I am so proud of Kevin and am so thankful for the good provider he is for our family. It is such a blessing to be able to stay home with Sarah.

Curly Q

2008-04-04T10:31:00.002-06:00

Just over a month ago Sarah's hair finally started to get longer. As it's gotten longer some curl has started to show up in her hair. The longer it gets the more it curls. It's adorable! People keep asking me where I got her hair cut and when I tell them it's curling from growing out they can't believe it. It really curls on the days that I give her a bath. All I have to do is use a pick and it flips up and curls! Here are some pictures I took right after bathtime, take a look:

Easter

2008-04-04T10:03:00.003-06:00

This Easter was so much fun. First off there Sarah had a georgeous Easter dress. Amazingly I found it at Wal-Mart for $15 which is pretty good for the dress I got her. I also bought her a little sweater to go over it because it's still pretty chilly here. When we got Sarah dressed she strutted around the house and kept shaking her hips around to watch the dress move. It was so cute! I got some great pictures of her.

Now that Sarah is walking we did an egg hunt for her. I bought her a basket that is just her size along with some plastic eggs. There isn't a whole lot of candy she can eat so I filled the eggs with fruit snacks (her favorite). We then hid the eggs around the yard. Of course we kept them in plain sight so Sarah could see them. Kevin took her around for the first part of the hunt. He pointed out the first egg and she kind-of looked at him. Then he went over and put it in her basket for her. By the second or third egg she understood that she needed to look for more but she wanted to hold them all rather than put them in her basket. At one point she got up to three eggs in her hands at once. Finally she understood that they needed to go into her basket. After it was over I sat down with her and showed her how to open the eggs. She caught on fast once she realized there were fruit snacks inside them. We had such a good time. Here are more pictures:

Kevin's Graduation!

2008-04-04T07:32:00.005-06:00

Kevin finally graduated with his masters degree on March 22nd. He received a masters in Computer Science with an emphasis in Systems Security. The ceremony was short and sweet, about an hour long. Instead of playing Pomp and Circumstance they had two bagpipes and a drummer leading the procession into and out of the ballroom. It was really cool. Here's a few more pictures.

Gnarly old Scottish dudes!

Sarah was fascinated with Kevin's tassle. He kept tickling her face with it. She could not get enough.

This was the hood they put on him when they gave him his diploma. The gold represents the degree of Computer Science.

Kevin's parents who came from Kansas

Kevin worked so hard for this degree. He was able to receive it in less than a year and a half. Kevin I am so proud of you. Thank you for all you do for our family. You are the best! Sarah and I love you!

Pig-tails!

2008-03-12T15:44:00.005-06:00

Sarah's hair is finally starting to get longer. It hangs down in her eyes all the time. I have cute headbands and barrettes that I put in her hair but she always pulls them out. The other day I decided to try pig-tails. I was so happy to find that it worked! She looks like she has two little antennas on top of her head but I thought is was cute. She didn't bother with them until she took a nap. When I went in to get her after she woke up she had taken both of them out and I had to find where she stashed the hair-ties. At least now I can do something different with her hair and just in time for summer too!

Ode to Pinky

2008-03-12T15:35:00.003-06:00

This is Sarah's bear, Pinky. She has slept with him (I'm not sure why we have decided that he is a boy but he is) every night since she was six months old. Recently she discovered that she can shred things with her front teeth. Unfortunately Pinky is getting the brunt of it. Every time I get her out of the crib I see little Pinky particles on the floor next to it. The worst part as evident by the picture is his nose. There used to be a little triangle of black felt among all that thread but she shredded that as well. This is all that's left of his nose.

We love Pinky. He is Sarah's comfort and when she wants him she says, "inky, inky". I'm afraid that he will not last much longer. Hopefully we will be able to find a suitable replacement when the time comes. In the mean time we are hoping that is still far into the future.

Which Austen Heroine are You?

2008-03-01T15:01:00.003-07:00

Like many of you I love Jane Austen. I saw this link on a friend's blog and decided to take the quiz. Here is who I am like:

Take the Quiz here!

Take it yourself and find out who you are!

Two Peas in a Pod

2008-02-16T22:37:00.006-07:00

Every night Kevin reads a story to Sarah before she goes to bed. The other night Kevin was wearing a fleece vest and as I got ready to put Sarah on his lap he unzipped the vest so he could snuggle closer with her. This was the end result:

Sarah definitely has Daddy wrapped around her finger!

She's Walking!

2008-02-16T22:09:00.004-07:00

Sarah started walking last week! For a month now she has been walking while holding on to one of our fingers. She just wasn't brave enough to let go. Then last week I was walking around the house with her and she saw some toys so she let go of my hand and off she went. Now she walks almost all the time. She still uses the furniture and walls to stand up but once she's standing off she goes. Sarah is so proud of herself and has the biggest grin on her face whenever she walks. It's so amazing to see the joy all of us get from her accomplishments. I am so excited for this spring and summer when we will be able to do so much more with her new mobility.

Valentine's Day

2008-02-16T21:42:00.003-07:00

Kevin and I had a very romantic Valentine's Day at home. First, Kevin had roses delivered to me at home. I must say they were some of the most beautiful roses I had ever seen. After Sarah went to bed at 6pm we set up a card table in our room and decorated it with a velvet tablecloth and some candles that Kevin had bought. We got all dressed up for each other and Kevin got take-out from Red Robin. We ate in our room by candle light and listened to soft romantic music. For dessert Kevin bought a mini chocolate cake from one of the top bakery's here in Denver. It was so nice to just be by ourselves in our room and not have to worry about anything else. We were able to just focus on eachother. It really was one of the best Valentine's Day we have celebrated.

Daddy's Ties and Mommy's Socks

2008-02-16T21:25:00.001-07:00

Lately Sarah has been entertaining herself with our clothes. One thing she loves to do is go into our closet and pull down all of Kevin's ties. Once she has them all down she throws them all over the floor. It's cute to see her buried in his ties.

Another past time of hers is opening my sock drawer and climbing in and out of it over and over. She thinks it's so fun to just sit in it then climb back out and do it over again. I must say she is a cutie sitting there.

It's so fun to see her get so much entertainment out of simple things.

The Croup

2008-02-08T19:34:00.000-07:00

Well, Sarah has the croup for the first time. She had a runny nose on Monday and I thought it was teething stuff going on. By the time Wednesday rolled around she had a fever and dry cough. I took her to the doctor (my doctor had the day off so I saw another doctor in the same practice) and they suspected the flu so they took a culture. I had to hold her down while they stuck a big long swab up her nose, it broke my heart. The test came back negative and was told it was a virus they could do nothing about. Yesterday she was the same for most of the day until she woke up from her afternoon nap. She went downhill quickly in the afternoon. She was constantly out of breath and her cough sounded like a barking seal. It was so much tighter that it had been earlier in the day. She winced everytime she coughed and I could tell it really hurt. She also had a high fever again. I called the doctor and they had me come back in. Luckily this time I was able to see our regular doctor. She had a temperature of 103.2 and had lost 1/2 a pound from the day before because she won't eat and she is hardly drinking anything. They hooked her up to a monitor that measures the oxygen level in her blood. Her numbers were good so she was getting enough oxygen. Then they listened to her lungs and they are clear, thank goodness. The doctor was able to hear her breathing and coughing and finally he said that she had the croup. She has it pretty bad. He gave me some steroids to help reduce the swelling in her throat and make breathing easier. Then he told me all about the croup and gave me a handout describing what it is and how to treat it. Unfortunately it is a virus so there's nothing we can do to make it go away faster but there are things we can do to help her breathing.

So far we have been managing pretty well. Her cough lessens and worsens many times throughout the day. A couple times today I got the bathroom all steamy and we sat in there for 5-10 mintues to help her breathing. It did help. She also cried off and on throughout the day because her throat hurts so bad. I kept up with Motrin to help ease the discomfort and keep her fever down. It will take 3-4 days for the fever to go away and about a week for the cough to disappear. So we are staying home until she is better. It is so hard to see her so sick. It breaks my heart but she is strong and is handling it pretty well all things considered.

Sarah's First Birthday!

2008-02-08T19:19:00.000-07:00

On January 31, Sarah turned one year old! I can't believe how time has flown by. She no longer looks like a baby and is all toddler. First we held a small family party for her on her birthday. I made cupcakes and we gave her a rocking horse for her present. It's so cute, it sings a song and talks and winnies. When it sings or talks its mouth moves along with the sound. When we first gave it to Sarah she gigled and laughed at it for 20 minutes. She would wiggle her hips and dance any time it made noise and she kept kissing and hugging it. She hasn't got the actual rocking motion down yet but that will come in time. She still loves it anyway. Her bedtime is usually 6pm (that's always been her choice) and we kept her up until 8pm that night. By the time we got to the cupcakes she had no interest in them and just wanted to go to bed. The next day I tried again and she loved the cupcake that time.

Last Saturday, February 2, we had a big party with all her friends. Kevin made balloon animals for all the kids (he and his mom taught themselves how while Kevin was in high school) and I made a pretty professional looking cake. I bought a star cake pan and a bunch of Wilton's frosting tips and bags. Two weeks before the big party I made a trial cake and practiced decorating it. By the time I made the cake for the party I had some idea of what I was doing. Sarah loved having all her friends there and we had such a good time visiting with everyone.

Back From the Dead

2008-02-08T18:45:00.000-07:00

Ok, so here I am again. Sorry about all the time that has passed since I last posted. We got caught up in the holidays and lately I have been consumed with sorting and organizing our home. One of my New Year resolutions is to go through all our stuff that's in storage and hasen't been open in forever and get rid of everything we don't need. It's taking a lot longer than I think. Sometimes I come across boxes full of junk that I have no idea why we hung onto for so long and other times I come across stuff from my childhood and I get wrapped up in going through the memories. I've got a lot done but I still have a long way to go. It feels so good to finally purge our home of unwanted and unnecessary items.

Our Christmas was great. We spent two weeks at Kevin's parent's home in Wichita, Kansas. It was so fun to watch Sarah look at all the presents. When it came time for her to open the presents she was more interested in the wrapping and boxes of course. Her big present that we got her was a walker from Fisher Price that is shaped like a car. Sarah loves it and it has really helped her in learning to walk. Speaking of which she is very close to walking on her own. For a few weeks now she walks everywhere with us as long as she is holding on to one of our fingers. Last week she got brave and has started to let go and take 10-15 steps on her own before she sits down.

Kevin got me an 8gig Zune mp3 player. I LOVE having it. I can watch movies on it if I want to but I mainly use it for my music and audio books. It is so nice to listen to while I am cleaning the house or running errands (yes I am one of those annoying people who listens to it while I drive). But I do keep the volume down so I can pay attention to traffic.

I tried to get Kevin a meaningful gift this year and I think I accomplished that. For his 18th birthday he was given a beautiful print of the space shuttle preparing to launch. It was not framed and has been rolled up in a tube for 13 years. I took it to Michael's and had it framed really nice for him. He loved it so much that he got emotional when he saw it. Mission accomplished.

Anyways, I will try to do better at posting regularly. I know how much I enjoy reading all your blogs and I'm sure some of you have been frustrated with my lack of posting.

Happy Holidays!

2007-12-20T14:31:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to post a quick note to everyone. I know that I haven't updated the blog in quite a while, sorry about that. It has been crazy busy around here. Kevin and I are getting ready to go out of town for the holidays and won't be back until after the New Year. I'll post again when we get back and I'll share all about Sarah's first Christmas. In the mean time we love you all and miss you so much. Have a wonderful Christmas and a happy New Year!

Talking and Teething

2007-11-28T20:38:00.001-07:00

Sarah had a big day last Friday, November 23. She woke up happy like she normally does and I took her downstair to feed her. I could tell she was hungry but we got to the third or fourth bite of oatmeal and she started crying and fussing. She would turn her head away from the food and didn't want to eat. So I decided to feel her gums to see if she had a tooth coming through and she did! It is on the bottom in the front on her right side (left if you're looking at her). Here she is at 9 1/2 months old and she finally got her first tooth. I was so excited I started jumping up and down and couldn't wait to tell everyone. After I calmed down I gave her some teething tablets to help with the pain.

Later that morning Kevin was sitting with Sarah on the couch. We have some friends staying with us for a while and they have a cat. As the cat walked by in front of Sarah she pointed at it and said, "dity" (kitty). Kevin and I looked at each other because we weren't sure we heard right. Then she said it again, "dity". Again we both were so excited. She said her first word as well as getting her first tooth. We kept her going for a while, us saying "kitty" and she would answer "dity".

In the evening we had put up our Christmas tree and I was holding Sarah and showing her the tree. I pointed to the tree and said, "tree". Then she answered with "gee". Holy cow! Her second word and in the same day. Again we kept repeating the word back and forth.

And finally at dinner time Sarah was sitting in her high chair and she dropped some food. I said "uh-oh" and she said "uh-uh". I said it again and she answered back. So not only did she have her first tooth come in but she said her first three words as well. We have had a really good time with her talking and she is trying oh so hard to say more words. Of course she practices the three she knows all the time and uses them in the correct context as well. It's so fun to watch Sarah learn and grow. Her next big step will be walking.

Candy, Candy, Candy!

2007-11-03T10:46:00.000-06:00

We had a wonderful Halloween and really enjoyed taking Sarah around in her costume for her first Halloween. Kevin and I dressed up as vampires and Sarah was a lady bug. As we took her around all the neighbors thought she was so cute. Most of the time Sarah was very serious and pensive just taking everything in. I think she was trying to figure out why everyone was dressed so weird. When we got home she had so much fun going through all her candy. Then she passed out and didn't even wake up when we put her on her changing table to get her pajamas on. Here are some pictures. The first one is from our Trunk-or-Treat at church. She is sitting with her friends Ben and Owen. Owen was really cute with Sarah and put his arm around her as we were getting ready to take their picture. He even gave her a hug. The rest of the pictures are from Halloween night. Trick-or-treat!

The T.P. Queen

2007-10-15T18:41:00.000-06:00

Sarah discovered the roll of toilet paper in the bathroom the other day. She had the best time unraveling it. I let it go on for a bit until she started eating it. When I took it out of her mouth she started to cry. Here is the story in pictures:

Taste of Homes

2007-10-15T08:27:00.000-06:00

For the past few months I have been getting together with friends for something called Taste of Homes. It's a girls night out that happens once a month. Each month we have a different theme for the food like salads, soups, BBQ just to name a few. You make the dish and bring the recipe printed out with enough copies for everyone. Then we get together to eat and visit. If you like the food then you have the recipe available to take home. We take turns hosting the event. If you are hosting then you do not have to make any food. This month was my turn to host and I spent a lot of time putting up Halloween decorations to make the night more fun. Here are some pictures of the decorations:

I was a mad woman for three weeks making a lot of these decorations and putting them up. My Taste of Homes was a success and it got everyone in the mood for Halloween. Over the months I have been able to collect a number of amazing recipes that are now becoming staples in our home. I have set up a Recipe blog that I will use to post a number of these recipes for you to enjoy. The links are to the right, underneath our family picture. I have tasted all of them and they are delicious. I have also put a banana boat recipe out there for all of you who have never had them before. Enjoy!

Banana Boats

2007-10-11T06:58:00.000-06:00

The other day I was reading my cousin, Rachel's blog and a while ago she did a post on a trip her famiy took up the canyon. They had banana boats while they were there and I mentioned to Kevin that I have never had banana boats before. He promplty informed me that I was missing out and I had to try them. He turned the oven on and made a banana boat for me to try. We took it outside and ate it together on the lawn. Of course as soon as Sarah saw that we were eating something she came crawling up in our laps trying desperately to get a taste of the action. We gave some to her and she kept begging for more. Here is the end result:

Begging for more

Hey Sarah, she likes it

I think banana boats are going to become a staple food for future camping trips.

And the Winner Is...

2007-09-28T12:53:00.000-06:00

Everyone always says that Sarah looks more like Kevin than me. At first I could see that, but now that she is getting bigger I can see more of myself in her. My friend Katie tried this look-a-like meter with her kids. It scans your pictures and determines which parent your child looks more like. So I decided to try this with Sarah and see what the outcome would be. See for yourself:

Let the record show that she looks more like me (it's about time)!

Our Growing Girl

2007-09-22T11:13:00.000-06:00

Sarah will be eight months old next week. She has changed so much in the past month. On Labor Day she went from doing the army crawl (which she had done for six weeks) to crawling on hands and knees. She also started pulling herself up to a standing position that same weekend. When she is holding on to the couch she will walk the length of it. I don't think it will be too long before she starts walking. Just last week she started baby talking. She is always saying da-da-da, ma-ma-ma or any silly consonant combination she can come up with. She loves to talk to anything she has in her hand or is looking at. It's fascinating to me to watch her explore all that her little body can do.

Kevin and I feel so blessed to have Sarah in our home. Heavenly Father has given us a very special little girl that more than made up for all that we went through to get her here. I can't imagine our life without her and it feels as though she has been with us forever.

Check out this cute video I took of her this morning!

Happy Anniversary

2007-09-22T10:47:00.001-06:00

Kevin and I just had our 7th wedding anniversary last Saturday the 15th. To celebrate we went to the temple and then out to a nice lunch. Unfortunately, Kevin threw his back out earlier that morning so getting through the temple was difficult for him and we had to cut our afternoon short so we could get him home to lie down. We ended up renting a couple movies and relaxing together that evening.

It's hard to believe that seven years have gone by. I feel like I have been with Kevin my whole life (I mean that in the best way possible). I remember the day we got married and how much I was in love with him. I didn't think it was possible to love him more. But today my love for him is stronger than ever. I think that is the best thing about the passage of time. All that time passing and all that we have been through together has only made our love for each other stronger. I am looking forward to our future anniversaries (20th, 40th, 50th) when I look back and realize I love him even more than I do now.

Welcome to Our World

2007-09-19T13:28:00.000-06:00

Well, we have now joined the blogging community. I have been hesitant to start a blog because it's hard enough for me just to keep up with emails but have decided this is such a great way to keep in touch with friends and family. I am excited to share our milestones with all of you. Check back often for the fun!