For Christmas my parents got to come out and visit for a week, which was fun to see them. While they were here my parents, little brother and his family and my family drove up to Rexburg to visit my older brother and his family. It was fun to be around family and hang out and catch up. We had a pretty good Christmas.
Now for the surprise.... For most of you who know me well enough to know my children, my oldest two as babies were really rather mellow and easy going. With Speedy he is the exact opposite, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised because his entrance into the world was very revealing of the type of baby/toddler he has been. He gave me a little less than 2 hours after the first contraction to realize this was the real thing and get to the hospital before he was born. Since then he has been rather content when awake. But eats like there is no tomorrow, acts like he hasn't eaten in days each time he sees food. Didn't sleep well for the first way too long of his life. Is into EVERYTHING. Onto EVERYTHING. And is all boy and then some. He is a handful and is enthusiastic about life. I didn't go into his pregnancy thinking it would be my last, but he has me wondering if I have the capability to mother any more, definitely not at this moment I have my work cut out for me. So this is what he surprised us with.
Yep that's right he broke his arm. You may ask, how does a 16 month old break his arm? The bathroom door was left open and he climbed onto the bathroom counter and the hubby walked in just to see him fall off. He's still as active as normal and doesn't let it slow him down.
So all of us with the start of the new year make goals for ourselves. I thought what better way to be accountable for them and have a better chance at achieving them is to post them here so all of you know about them. I'm only going to list a few of them here. 1) Continue working on my goal of last year to become more healthy and reach a healthy weight. I'm going to continue to use Spark People to track my fitness and become more active in other areas of the site. Go check out my blog over there and if you are looking for something to become more healthy check it out it's great and it's FREE. If you join make sure you add me as a friend my user name is EB_HAPPY1 2) Be a more patient mother 3) Be more affectionate with my husband in public 4) Work on my spirituality What are some of your goals?
Well as some of you know I've been trying to get more healthy. I've been working pretty hard and decided a while back that I would reward myself with a haircut when I got to a certain weight. I got REALLY close (a tenth of a pound away) and my husband decided to reward me anyway for working so hard and being patient. I decided to make a girls day out of it and took Baluga with me, she was excited to get her haircut as long as she didn't get it cut like a boy. So here we are minutes before walking out the door with our somewhat long hair.
She had me go first so she could see what to expect. She did a good job, while she waited for me to get my haircut, since it took awhile. She was so good for being just three. It finally got to be her turn, and this is her getting her hair washed.
Can you say spoiled, going to salon and only being 3, I think she looks like she is liking it too much!
Here she is getting her hair combed before the cut and our friend Amy, who cut our hair. She is married to one of the hubby's work partners, so it was nice to talk to someone who really knows what it is like.
Getting ready for the first cut.
Here is Baluga getting her hair done after it was all cut.
So here is the final product. Between the two of us we got about 18 inches cut off. I think it turned out pretty cute, and I'm glad to get rid of the hair.
Before Speedy was born we knew that there was going to be something special between him and his siblings, because of blessings that our older two children got before he was born. With Speedy and Stir Fry some of those special things are quiet easy to see. Like tonight for example, which is why I'm blogging. We were getting the kids ready for bed and Speedy was getting his drink of water after brushing his teeth and wanted to keep his cup. Well it was time for them to go to bed, everyone was ready. So Speedy went to bed upset and was crying, like there was no end in sight. Then out of no where he stopped and if you listened closely at their door you could hear Stir Fry talking to him. This is a somewhat regular occurrence. If Speedy is crying at bedtime Stir Fry will talk to him or sing to him and it seems to just calm him down like nothing else will. It's times like these that make me grateful for my children for Heavenly Father and glimpses he gives me on how he see my children and how precious they really are.
My sister-in-law is thinking about starting a recipe blog and wants several contributors. I'm going to be joining in on the fun. If any of you guys are interested let me know.
With it being Thanksgiving, I thought I would do a post of some of the things I am thankful for... I am thankful for a wonderful husband who loves and cares for me, who applauds my successes, complements me, supports me when needed, is a good father, honors his priesthood, works hard to support us, I am thankful he can do what he loves and own his own business. I am thankful for Stir Fry who has been a very sensitive kid from the beginning, he looks out for others, is outgoing, and friendly, he makes friends easier, influences other for the good, and is a great helper. I am thankful for Baluga who is my little girl and I am glad she is mine, she always makes us laugh, she is loving, strong willed, loves to be with me, a good helper, is content with just observing and learning, and she makes me happy. I am thankful for Speedy who loves his brother and sister and loves to play with them, enjoys food, being with us, getting into things, sitting on my lap, reading books, and being with everbody. I am thankful for parents who have always loved and supported me, who have taught me about my Heavenly Father and Jesus and their love for me, who have taught me by example, and always call and check up on me. I am thankful for my oldest brother who I became good friends with in high school, who has a wonderful family, and loves to learn. I am thankful for my little brother who I have gotten to know better with him being down here going to school and living with us for a while, I glad we can live near each other now and he has a great family that we get a long with. I am thankful for my baby brother who has become my good friend with him living with us for several month, for giving me a wonderful birthday present and helping me become more healthy, for calling me up just to talk and that we will get to see him. I am grateful that my family has a relationship with our Father in Heaven and are great examples to me. I am thankful for friends who help keep me sane and are a great support to me and my family. I am thankful for a house that we love and is ours and is where my family will grow. I am thankful for the wonderful area in which we live and for great neighbors and a good ward. Most of all I am thankful for my Father in Heaven, my testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, for a living Prophet, for the knowledge I have that we can receive personal revelation for our own life, for priesthood blessings, and scriptures, and for the opportunity I have to be with my family together forever through the sealing powers found in the temple. Of course there are many other things I am thankful, but no one wants to read that long. So what are you thankful for?
Do you ever go through phases of loving to eat certain things. Well I do. My phase at the moment granola. I've been going to this hard core cardio kickboxing class at the gym (btw thanks Blake!), and my teacher has been talking about getting enough fiber and this high fiber granola she eats daily as a snack. So I finally got her recipe and made it, it's pretty good, different but good, one that I would rather snack on. I've also made a recipe I make now in then that doesn't have oil and a little more healthy for you and more like traditional granola, one that I like to eat in the morning with milk. So with my love of granola I thought I would share with you my recipes.
High Fiber Granola 2 - 3 c. 6 Grain 1 c. 9 Grain 1 c. Amaranth 2 Tbs. Cinnamon 1 1/2 tsp. Almond Extract 1 can Fat Free Sweetened Condensed Milk 1 c. Grape Nuts 1 c. Pecans 1 - 1 1/2 c. Pecans/Almonds 1/2 - 1 c. Crainsins 1 c. Coconut Mix together put on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 8 to 16 minutes, depending on how dry you like it. (if you live in UT you can buy the grains and Amaranth at Good Earth really cheap, if not find a health food store, and the fat free sweetened condense milk you can find at Walmart)
Low Fat Granola 1 c. Brown Sugar 1 c. Water 4 tsp. Vanilla 1 tsp. Salt 7 c. Rolled Oats 3 - 4 c. other (coconut, almonds, pecans, sunflower seeds, ect.) Put brown sugar and water in a pot and put on stove over medium heat to melt sugar, but don't boil. Add vanila and salt to the sugar water. Pour over the oats and 3 - 4 c. of other ingredients. Mix well. Put on 2 cookie sheets and bake at 275 for 1 hour stirring a couple times during baking, or put on 1 cookie sheet and bake 90 minutes stirring every 30 minutes.
So Speedy has finally decided to start walking. This is more for the grandparents than any one. I have to apologize though since I've never done the video clips online I didn't know I needed to have my camera the other direction. So just turn your head and watch. And when you are done scroll down and see the other blog post I just did.
So this is a big post with a lot of pictures, so have fun! Baluga and Speedy got sick a while back with a cough and congestion. I finally caught it and during that time Speedy decided to throw up for a couple days. He still has the runny nose and cough, which always seems to stick around forever and he's teething so that doesn't help either. So the other day as I was trying to get the kids ready in the morning he sneezed and this is what I turned around too.
The other day we went out to our friends house for a spur of the moment photo shot with our friend Jessica and her kids. These are some of the pictures we ended up with.
And then there are a few of my favorite baby girl, who's not so little anymore, and me.
I know it's been a while since I've posted so often. 2 posts in about 24 hours. I haven't posted this frequently since I started this blog. Well we had something "exciting" happen this morning, and I'm sure grandmas are going to want to see pictures. Baluga and Stir Fry were in the bath tub this morning/afternoon getting ready for church. They were clean and ready to get out, but since they are water babies they stay in and play until we kick them out. It was freezing this morning, so I was laying under my covers while they were in playing in the bath tub in our room. The hubby was in talking to me and all of the sudden we heard a thud and a cry. The hubby went in to see what happened and Baluga fell in the bath tub, aparently they were standing up playing in the bath tub. I stayed in bed until I heard ah oh blood! Never a good sign when it comes to bath tubs. I'm pretty sure one of my brothers fell into the bath tub and cut himself open. Baluga cut herself under her chin! We immediately got her out to look at the damage. The hubby said well if it was Stir Fry I wouldn't worry about it, but with it being Baluga and being his daughter he wasn't sure what to do. It is a pretty short cut and not too deep, one of those where you're not sure if it is enough to get stitches or not. So what do you do? With it being Sunday we couldn't just go to the doctor and have him check her out. If I'm going to take her to a place open on Sunday or the hospital I want to make sure it's necessary. So I called one of my good friends and neighbors, Jessica, to see if her hubby Drew was available for us to use his expertise. While we don't know any doctors or pediatrician personally to call, our friend Drew is the Athletic Trainer for UVU so he's the closest thing we got and is pretty intelligent when it comes to injuries since it is what he does for a job. So he came over and looked at it and brought his bag of things. He said if we were concerned about scaring we could take her in to get a stitch but he wasn't even 100% sure they would stitch it because isn't was short and not too deep, but if it was his kid he would just put butterfly tape on it. So she just laid on my lap and let him clean it and put herself back together. She did a wonderful job and so did he. So thank you Drew and thanks Jess for letting us take your husband away for a little bit before church and not be able to help as much in getting the kids ready. So here are a couple pictures, one with the bloody band aid over the butterfly tape, and then one after we took the band aid off to replace it. So we didn't pull the camera out after she cut herself open to show you what it looked like before. So this is all you are going to get.
Before I get started on updates on our lives, I owe a big thank you to the hubby for the brand new look of my blog. He created it and I think he did a wonderful job. So thank you love! The beginning of September Baluga started preschool. Some ladies in my area are doing a little co-op. We all live within blocks of each other and the girls are all just months apart. They are having a great time together. We each take a week (two times a week), so we have one week at our place then four weeks off. It works out pretty nice. Baluga loves that she get to go to school like Stir Fry.
Excited for the first day of school
All the little girls
A little over a week ago Stirling had to go through a pretty horrible experience. At his last dentist check-up, we found out through his x-rays his mouth isn't big enough for his teeth coming in. Which led us to taking our 5 year old to an orthodontist! I thought that was pretty young, but after talking to my mom (who works at an orthodontist office) she has seen them that young. He is only 5 and already has his 7 year old molars in on the bottom. The top ones had started coming in, but from the x-rays you could see that the 7 year old molars were stuck from coming in, because they were growing into the roots of the 2 year old molars. So they needed to pull his 2 year old molars out on top in order for his other ones to come in. A few weeks before the extractions of his molars he had to go in for a filling and then to have his last bottom front tooth pulled because it was in the way of a permanent tooth underneath. That was a pretty traumatic experience for him and me, so I told the hubby he had to go to the next visit when the molars got taken out. He got a blessing the night before. He was very nervous and scared. Even after knowing what was going to happened he got himself in the car, put his seatbelt on, walked himself into the dentist office, walked back to the room and sat in the chair, which is all the hubby said he could ask for, with him knowing what was going to happen. After that things didn't go so well. They put laughing gas on him to calm him. The dentist came back to numb him and he was holding his dad's hand. He started yelling to stop, and eventually let go of the hubby's hand and grabbed the needle out of the dentist's hand. After that the hubby had to hold one arm down and his body, while some one else did the same to the other side and someone else held his legs. I couldn't have been there! He came home crying which led me to cry. I felt so bad for him! As you can tell from the pictures of his teeth below you can see that part of the roots are missing because his other molars were growing into them.
This boy never ceases to amaze us. He came home and I made him lay down for a while. Not more than an hour and half later his little neighbor friend came to see if he could play. I'm sure he would have been up and about sooner if I would've let him or if his friend came sooner. He wanted to ride his scooter and do his normal activities but I wouldn't let him. I didn't think that was something he should be doing so soon after, after all I just wanted him to lay down and take it easy. So this is what Stir Fry looked like less than 5 hours after having this done.
We decided to go out for a little photo shoot to test the colors of a location, and he did well. You couldn't tell by the way he was acting or this picture that he had some major dental work hours before. This child's faith is so strong and pure, I think that helped with his QUICK healing. He KNEW Heavenly Father was going to help him feel better, there was no question. I don't doubt that because of his faith in his blessing and our Father in Heaven he was up and back to normal in no time. I wish I could be more like that. For an update on Speedy. He is into EVERYTHING! He likes to empty all the drawers he can get into in the kitchen. He is deciding whether he wants to walk or not. He'll take 4-5 steps every once in a while then fall of just sit down and crawl. So I think it will be a matter of a couple weeks and he'll be walking around. There are more pictures to share and other things, but we'll save that for another post, because if you have made it this far, congratulations!
All of us that were old enough, probably remember where we were 7 years ago today when we heard for the first time what had happened in our country. Where were you? Me? I was a college student at BYU. I was up and in a made dash to get to work at the Payroll Office by 8 AM, so I didn't have time to watch any news that morning. I got to work and started working like normal. Helping people who were picking up their paychecks, answering phones, filing things. We had the radio on and were listening, which didn't happen all that often (a couple times month). That's when I first heard, over the radio. I was in SHOCK, disbelief. Trying to keep my emotions together and I did farely well. It wasn't until I got home from work and school in the evening when my husband and I turned on the TV that I lost it! When I just heard it, it was hard for me to visualize it, the horror of it all, so that helped for me to keep my emotions under control. It was COMPLETELY different to see what had happened. I can't believe it was 7 year ago. Anytime I think of it the emotions are still just as strong as first time I saw the footage. I am so grateful for the men and women who have stepped up to protect our families. Many have lost their lives and we'll forever be in debt to them! I'm so proud to call myself an American and how the people of this country have acted and their willing to serve in different areas. So today and everday I am grateful to you, for you lives and service. It's because of you I'm proud to be an American! So yet again, where were you 7 years ago today? And what are you grateful for?
Well Wednesday was Stir Fry's, my oldest child, first day of Kindergarten. I can't believe how big his getting and how fast time is going. I walked him down to school the first day, because parents were asked to come for the first little bit to help the kids do tasks they will be doing every day and other things like finding their desk, their cubby, their hook for their backpack, make a birthday candle for the birthday charts. It was fun to see his classroom and his classmates. There were a few kids falling apart, like one of his best friends who lives across the street, who is extremely shy. And there were a few parents who were having a hard time keeping it together. I stayed under control, because I didn't think to much into what was happening, otherwise I'm sure I would have. My little boy is not so little any more. He needs me less and less. He's always been my social kid, from the very beginning when he was a baby. He loves people and being with others, so I hope that he'll be a good friend to many. He is so eager to learn. Good luck my little Stir Fry and the many years to come. May you always be so excited about learning and life. I love you!
Ready to leave on the way to the first day of Kindergarten
By his classroom, standing by the boat with all the kids names
Sitting at his table with all his new classmates
Sitting at his table working on his first project decorating a visor
Friends he's walking/riding to school with (we are lucky there are so many kinergarteners in our ward, and these guys all just live doors away from each other)
So if you have a little girl and looking for new ideas of how to do her hair, I found this site through my sister-in-law. http://girlydos.blogspot.com/ go check it out. She is having a give away for some hair stuff. Who doesn't like free stuff right? Any way feel free to enter. If you do make sure you let her know you heard about it from me. I hope you try some of her fun hair styles.
Well I'm not quite sure where to start. I guess Happy Birthday baby boy is a good starter. Before you were even born you gave a few scares, so hopefully you are done with that and it's not a preview of what your life is going to be. Shortly after we moved into our new house I started bleeding which ended up being nothing to worry about but still scared us. Then I got really sick and lost 10 pounds in one week, just weeks before you joined us. Then when you decided to come, you didn't give us much warning and time to go to the hospital. You made your arrival only 2 hours after my first contraction. You struggled with jaundice and had to be almost constantly hook up to something your first week at home with us. But you were so loved and brother and sister were so glad to have you here and love you. You have been a very content and happy baby, although a terrible sleeper, which has worn me out and questioned my mothering abilities and my ability to have or want more kids, but I hope you can forgive me for my imperfections. Because I do love you tons and you make me so happy. I love watching your brother and sister interact with you and see how much they love and protect you (most of the times). Don't ever forget how much we love you and no matter what you do or how exhausted you make me, we'll always love you and be proud to have you as part of our family. Remember your older brother is there to protect you, and you big sister will always be your special friend. Thanks for joining our family! Thanks for making me stronger and increasing the love and joy in my heart. I'm so glad to have you as my son. I love you and Happy Birthday!
A couple weeks ago we went on a walk and I've been meaning to post about it for a while. We went for a short walk and then were going to go home and watch a movie for some family time. So we told our kids they couldn't play with kids that were coming over. When we were a few blocks away from home we notice a "swarm" of dragonflies maybe 30 or so just flying in front of house, they were going crazy but fun to watch. Well when we got back to our house we were getting ready to go inside and realized we had a "swarm" of at least 20 in front of our house. So instead of going inside we let the kids stay out and try to catch them. They had a blast. The hubby did some research and found that in Japan they catch large dragonflies with a piece of hair and small rocks tied to either end and throw it in the air. So we tried several different materials that are similar to hair and tried to catch them. We eventually got some of the neighbor kids to join us, because they saw us outside after we told them our kids couldn't play and saw us looking crazy in our driveway jumping around. From across the street they couldn't tell what we were doing because they couldn't see the dragonflies. For whatever reason they were only in front of our house, but everyone enjoyed them and trying to catch. It's always fun to enjoy the simple pleasures of life.
And so it begins.... It's my favorite time of year every two years. The Olympics have begin. There is something about them that brings us together as humanity and gives us hope. There are so many stories of hope, courage, determination, struggle, success, and so many other words that are endless. I love the Olympics! I always find myself crying, over stories or triumph, defeat, or just being proud to be an American. I had my first of many cries yesterday afternoon. We went camping this weekend for a ward camp out and did some more b-day celebrating for B with family, so we weren't able to catch any Olympic time until yesterday afternoon and last night. So what caused this first cry?.... A story of a little boy not even competing. They were showing scenes from opening ceremonies the night before. There was a little 9 year old boy walking out with China in the front. Why you might ask? Well that's where the tears come. Months ago when China had their huge earthquake, this little boy was at school. The school crumbled to the ground with him in it, reason enough to cry, sure. But wait there is more. He came out of the rubble and started going back to bring his fellow class mates out of the rubble and save their lives. When he was asked why he did it, he answered that his job for the week was the hall monitor and he was responsible for them! With the world like it is, it makes me worry about the future but when you hear stories like this, it gives you hope that things might just be ok. Another story last night, was from men's beach volleyball. It was Latvia vs. USA. The last time they met, USA CRUSHED them. In a best of three match, USA won in 32 minutes, with the first game ending in the score of 21 to 6. To prepare for this Olympics the Latvia team found the best 6 volleyball players in the country, since there weren't any other beach volleyball players in their country. They practiced for months 8 hours a day 6 on 2. What happened last night, they beat USA in 2 games! Way to go, I think they deserve it. There is nothing like watching the Olympics. I love it! I look forward to watching a lot more, and I have a feeling it will be over before I know it, and I'll be waiting another 2 years for another one to come around. And I side note I think my kids have caught the bug! Woohoo! Stir Fry after we got home from camping we all had lunch and then nap and quiet time. Instead of watching a movie or a cartoon he chose to watch the Olympics. He saw the rowing and said he wanted to do that when he gets big, too bad we live in Utah and not back home in Seattle (maybe someday). And then Baluga after Michael Phelps won his first gold metal and got a new world record, she started chanting go Michael, go Michael, go Michael. I hope that all of you can catch the bug and enjoy it as much as we will. After posting this I thought of something I wanted to add, so here is my second plug for the Olympics. After the Olympics end something happens that I wish would be broad casted just like the regular Olympics. When all the athletes head home with their metals and memories a whole new group of athletes arrive to start the Paralympics (don't confuse this with the Special Olympics which is great too). The Paralympics are amazing!!!! Getting a degree in Recreation and taking an accessible recreation class I learned about this. I wish this would get TV time. With as amazing as the regular Olympic are, these are multiplied. You have athletes with lots of different disabilities with extraordinary abilities competing for their country. The hubby and I were lucky enough to get tickets to the Men's Sledge Hockey Gold Metal game when the winter Olympics were in SLC in 2002. We lucked out that USA happen to be competing for the Gold in this game, since when you had to buy tickets you had no idea who would make it that far. It was inspiring and amazing. We showed up early and had the perfects seats, up close and by the USA. These were men who were paralyzed or had leg amputations sliding around with aggression and passion playing their hearts out. I can't say it enough it was AMAZING! The USA ended up winning which made it that much better. It was one of the best experiences in my life. I love it. I wish more people know about this and the unsung heroes that win real metals just like the ones who get TV time. I love the stories I love determination I love everything about it!
Today is my baby girl's birthday, although she's not much of a baby any more. She turned 3 today! We've been so blessed to have her in our lives. She's been our comic relief (more so as of recently since she now likes to tell what she thinks are jokes). The one who can always make us smile. It's been nice to have a girl in the house with me (both my husband and I come from houses that are male dominant so I was hoping for at least a girl and luck out by getting one on the second try). She enjoys the finer things, like make-up, finger polish, soaking her feet and things like that. But she is pretty well balanced and can hang with the boys and hold her own. She is our adrenaline junkie. She is more adventurous than her older brother. We are in a parent and me swim class and I have to keep on reminding her she can't just push away from me and go where she wants because she can't touch the bottom. I hope she always is adventurous and doesn't fear trying new things. But at the same time I hope she stays close to the Lord and chooses the right kind of adventure. I just love her so much and can't get enough of her, especially lately where she is becoming more independent and eager to learn and really becoming her own person. So to my Baluga baby Happy Birthday! Mommy loves you!
As a stay at home mother of three, I need some way to stay sane and sometimes vent about my frustrations. After reading a friends blog daily, I hesitantly decided to create my own. I don't feel I have anything important or fascinating to say. But I'm not doing this for other people, I'm doing it for me, in the hopes that it can help keep me sane
I'm a stay at home mom to three great kids, 6,4, and 2 (two boys and one girl). I've been married to wonderful husband since 2001. We are enjoying our life in Utah but would love to make the Pacific Northwest our home someday.
