A glutton for punishment

Remember when we introduced you to our kitty Jack and said that we were thinking of getting him a playmate? Well, we took the plunge and got a second kitten. This one is about 7 weeks old so he is about half the size of Jack. We got him from a lady in our neighborhood.


He is also a really good kitten. He just cuddled in our laps and slept for the first two days. It took us almost a week to come up with his name. We got a suggestion to think of Disney character names so that's what we did. We named him Oliver from the movie "Oliver and Company".

I told him I was going to take his picture for all my friends and family to see. He thought he would be funny and made a face for the picture. I think he's been hanging out with CJ too long.

When we first brought Oliver home Jack was not a happy camper. He hissed and growled and attacked every time he saw him. I was not expecting that since Jack came from a home with multiple cats and he just seemed lonely. I know, I was stupid to think that Jack would be thrilled to share his new home. At first Oliver didn't care about Jack's attacks but after two days of them he started to hiss and fight back. I got on the internet to find out what to do when you bring home a new cat so that there is no fighting. It turns out that I did everything wrong. Oops. I felt really bad that I had just kind of thrown them together. It did take about 3 days for them to start tolerating each other. They would still growl but they were at least playing and not fighting. The very next day they were like best buds. Now you wouldn't even know that they didn't like each other in the beginning. The kids aren't as thrilled to change the litter box now as they were in the beginning but they are still doing it. The hardest part about having cats is that Megan won't leave them alone. She thinks they are really cool toys and she doesn't pick them up so gently. Hopefully the newness will ware off and we won't constantly have to tell her to put the kitty down.

I hate the swine flu!

Because of the fear of the swine flu the hospitals have changed their visitor policies. They are not allowing anyone under the age of 14 to visit at all, you can only have two visitors at a time and they can only stay for 2 hours. The maternity ward is the most guarded place in the hospital right now because of the newborns extremely high risk so there will be absolutely no exceptions to the rules. I can understand the reason they are restricting the visiting policy. I certainly don't want me or the baby to get the flu at the hospital because someone I don't even know (or someone I do know) brought in the germs and didn't take precautions to keep them from spreading. What it means though is that the girls will not be able to be at the hospital before, during, or after the birth of their brother. They will not get to meet him or hold him until he is 2 days old. We will not be able to take family pictures in the room just after the birth. That's a tradition for us and I am having a hard time dealing with the fact that it won't happen this time. It's not like we'll be able to do this over again after the threat of the flu is over. I wish they would allow healthy siblings of healthy newborns to visit just once for 2 hours. They could have them cover their clothes with the yellow gown, their mouths with a mask, and sanitize their hands before entering the maternity ward and again when entering and leaving the room. I know that there are many families that would not follow those rules and it would be impossible for the staff to enforce that kind of visiting policy but I can't stand the fact that my girls won't be able to be with me at any point in this journey. The regular flu infects and kills more people than the swine flu does but they have never been this extremely protective against the regular flu. With that said, I know there is nothing I can do about it and at least I have time to adjust to the situation and didn't get surprised with it on delivery day. I can see the positive in it and know that the rules are there for our protection, I just needed to vent about it and get it off my chest.

It's potty time.

I've been putting off potty training for a while now because I like to wait until the kids are older and pretty much potty train themselves. I would much rather change a dirty diaper than dirty underwear. Megan however, has been showing lots of signs that she is ready to start learning so we got her a potty seat and she loves to sit on it (with and without a diaper on.) She hasn't gone in it yet but we're just trying to get her used to it right now. It's been so many years since I've had to do this that I've forgotten just how time consuming it is. I feel like I'm obsessed with the potty. I'm just concerned that she will learn to go on the potty and then resort back to diapers when the baby is born and we'll have to go through the process all over again. I guess only time will tell.

First Haircut

Megan's hair is finally growing. It is still baby fine but it is touching her shoulders now. I have been putting her bangs in pony tails or putting them up in barrettes to keep them out of her eyes while they are growing out but she tends to rip the rubber bands and barrettes out so her bangs were constantly in her eyes. I couldn't stand it anymore. I remember how cute Lizzie was at this age with her bangs so I thought I would give Megan some bangs. I know that once you give them bangs it's very hard to go back but in Megan's case I thought it would be the lesser of two evils.

She sat very still for me while I cut them which is unusual for her.

I bet she is so much happier now that she can see. What do you think?

I was right. She looks so stinkin cute with her bangs. Now that I'm not trying to put her bangs in the pony tails her pony tails seem to be longer, plus she doesn't try to rip them out anymore. I also think it makes her look just a little older. I didn't take off much hair for her first official hair cut but it was enough to make a big difference.

Day at the beach

We still haven't explored very much of our new area yet. When we met Gavin and Jane for the going away party she asked us to meet her at Salem Park. It wasn't very far from our house and we decided we love it so much it is our new favorite park. There is a toddler play area and a play area for bigger kids that toddlers can still play on. A big grass hill for the kids to roll down. A bridge that spans over the pond that we didn't even get a chance to go on yet, and our favorite part, a sandy beach area where the kids can go swimming. I wish we would have known about the beach area because the weather was perfect for swimming and the girls wanted to swim so badly. I did let them pull their pant legs up and go into the water as far as they could without getting their clothes wet. It reminded me of some of the lake beaches my family used to visit when I was younger (but on a much smaller scale) so I wanted to go swimming too for old times sake. Megan loved the water but because she is so short she wasn't able to play without getting soaked. We had so much fun. This was the first outing with our new camera so I took tons of pix. Here are some of my favorites.

Megan on the bigger playground. She had so much fun.

Rebecca and Dakota on the fishing pier. Before we left their were some older boys running and doing flips off the pier. It reminded me of my brothers and the tricks they would try when we were younger.

Megan giving her Daddy some loves.

They were able to go farther out, I made them come in so I could take the picture.

A family photo.


Here is my first video. The microphone in the camera doesn't pick up very well if you are more than 2 feet from it so it is hard to hear the girls but you can hear me too well. Anyway, here are the girls rolling down the hill (posting video is fun but takes forever.)

Gavin's last day

As all of you know I began babysitting to bring in extra money. I started watching a little boy named Gavin when he was 5 months old and Megan was 6 months old. Gavin was a very easy, laid back baby. His mom Jane worked the swing shift and I watched him from 2pm to 11pm or midnight. It was the easiest job I'd ever had. Things changed when both babies started walking. It wasn't the easiest job anymore. Before it was like having two easy babies, now it was like having twin toddlers. It was very tiring some days but people raise twins all the time so I wasn't too worried about it. The hardest part about watching Gavin is the hours he's here (okay, he has a very annoying whine too.) It was beginning to wear me down but I kept going. After I became pregnant though things changed. I get tired so much easier now so it is very hard to keep up with "twins". Plus I want to be able to take some time off before the baby comes to get ready for him and time off after he is born so that I can really enjoy him. There are other reasons too but the point is I think it was time to stop babysitting.

Jane has found another babysitter so yesterday was Gavin's last day with us. Before he stopped coming here she wanted to get together and have a going away party. It was so sweet. We went to a park and she brought cake and ice cream for us to enjoy. We then let the kids play together and took pictures so that we could both put them in memory books.

It will be bitter-sweet now that he is no longer coming. But it was good to have a boy around for so long because I am so nervous about raising a boy and Gavin gave me some good practice. We hope to get Megan and Gavin together for play dates now and then because they are such good friends and we don't want to loose that.

New Camera

We have been wanting to buy a new camera for the last two years but kept putting it off because I couldn't justify the cost of a new camera when there was even a little life left in our ancient camera. We were hoping to make it to tax time before having to buy a new camera but that just didn't happen. Our camera died completely during our last trip to Arizona. I did my usual days of research on the internet looking up tons of cameras and their reviews. I found one that I thought would be good and was happy to see that it was on sale so we took the plunge and bought the camera. I didn't use it much at first because our old camera was so bad I just got out of the habit of taking pictures. When I did finally get it out and play with it I couldn't put it down. This camera is awesome!! It's not top of the line by any means but what it can do compared to the ancient camera we had is night and day. I kick myself for not getting it sooner because we missed some great pic opportunities in the last year. All I can say is that I love it and I am totally happy with our new toy. What it means for you is more pics and if I can figure it out, some video too. My pics seem to be mostly of Megan but that is because the other girls don't like their pictures taken as much and Megan loves it so I will work on getting more pictures of all the girls. Here are some fun pics from the new camera.

Megan posing for the new camera.

Megan has learned the secret fun of eating olives.

Megan is "cooking" with daddy.

Rebecca singing to the music of High School Musical.

Dakota was trying to teach herself how to ride a bike. She came in disappointed because it didn't go well. She threw her helmet down and went in her room forgetting to lock the front door. The babies know when the door isn't locked. Megan saw the opportunity. She quietly put on the helmet (backwards, lol) and tried to sneak outside. Gavin gave it away though because he thought she was going to leave him behind.

Megan got out her recorder and practiced it while Elizabeth was practicing her clarinet.

A sneak peak at Megan's Halloween costume. Jane gave Megan the monkey costume that Gavin wore last year.

Dakota striking a pose for me while I played with the settings on the new camera.

My willing subject for the new camera.

Labor Day Part 2

After the Grand Canyon we continued our journey home. we wanted to stop in Kanab for dinner so we didn't stop in Page. It's about 90 mile from Page, AZ to Kanab, UT. That stretch of road is about as lonely as you can get. A tiny town here and there, some rocks to look at, but not much else. We don't even get cell phone reception there because it is so remote. Exactly at the half way mark I went to pass a slower vehicle pulling a boat and just as I passed him I knew we were in trouble. I lost all acceleration to the car and the engine started sputtering. I'm sure the other car was frustrated as he had to pass me right back up and wondered why I had passed him in the first place. I pulled over and tried to figure out what was wrong with the car. It wasn't anything we were going to be able to take care of out in the middle of no where. I tried the cell phone knowing it wouldn't work but was desperately hoping for a miracle. It of course was useless. The nearest town was about 20 miles behind us so walking to it was out of the question. Trying to get someone to stop was pointless too because with out a cell phone there was nothing they could do either. I just sat there looking around at the completely empty desert and wondered what in the world we were going to do. CJ looked at me and said why don't you go ask the people in that house if they have a phone. I thought he must be hallucinating because we were in the literal middle of nowhere. There were no houses here! Turns out that behind me there was one house on top of a hill hidden next to a cliff. Right then I knew that the Lord had blessed us to be able to break down in the one and only spot where we could ask for help. If we hadn't broken down at that very spot we would never have seen that house and we truly would have been helpless.

After hunting for the road that actually led to the house on top of the big hill I went to the door praying that the residents were home and that this wasn't some kind of vacation home. The people in the house were home and they helped us call the towing company to get us the rest of the way to Kanab. It was 40 miles into the city (80 miles round trip for the tow truck) so this was the longest tow ride we have ever been on. I was so glad that the truck was large enough to fit my whole family because I didn't know what we were going to do if we had to leave some of us behind. The tow truck driver wasn't all that friendly so the ride was a bit awkward. I think he was upset that he was called on such a long tow on a holiday. The worst part was when he got close enough to the city for cell service and he started texting while driving my family 80 mph. I was glad when that ride was over. The real surprise was when the repair shop gave us a loaner car so we could find a hotel. We were prepared to walk but this was a wonderful blessing, especially for the kids.

In the end, not only did we get to have diner in Kanab but we got to stay the night there too. CJ and I missed work and the girls missed school on Tuesday but other than that we made it back home with no other trouble. I am still glad we went to the ranch because I really missed my family and knew it would be a long time before I could see them again, but I don't think we'll be taking any other long car trips any time soon.

BTW it ended up being the fuel pump that needed to be replaced. Remember to change your fuel filter regularly (every 10,000 miles or so) to avoid this problem, especially if the car has over 100,000 miles on it. This is the second car we have bought in the last three years we have had to replace the fuel pump in because the filter was never replaced. You'd think we would have learned our lesson the first time.

Labor Day Part 1

For Labor Day week end we weren't sure what we were going to do. We wanted to get together with some friends and do a pick-nick or something. On Monday my mom called and asked if we would go to Arizona for the week end. Not all the way to Phoenix, but to the "Some Day Ranch" that our family owns about 15 miles south of the Grand Canyon. Our family goes to the ranch every year for an annual Labor Day camp out. I have been wanting to go back to the ranch for a long time (I haven't been there since we moved) but wasn't sure that this was the right time. After much thought we decided that we would go. I had three days to prepare for this trip. It was going to be an 8 hour drive to get there on Friday, we would enjoy family on Saturday and Sunday, and then take another 8 hour drive to get home on Monday. I felt that if the car would make it then it sounded like fun.

We stopped at a little rock shop somewhere between Panquich and Kanab, Utah. We let the girls each pick out a rock to have as a souvenir. We added an hour to the trip because it took everyone so long to pick out their rock but it was a lot of fun and I'm glad we stopped. The girls traveled really well. Megan didn't start fussing until we were about 3 hours away but it was her nap time so once she fell asleep she was fine. We decided to take a route to the ranch that was a little faster coming from the north than it would have been if we went all the way down to Flagstaff and then back up to the ranch. This route took us right in to the Grand Canyon. I lived in Arizona for 12 years and visited the ranch just south of the Grand Canyon many times but had never actually been to it. This was a first for me as well as the rest of the family. We were so close to the edge that I felt as if we could have fallen in if I made one wrong move. It was amazing. We didn't have time to stop and look but thought we would visit it on the way home.

We had a wonderful time with our family. My brother and his family have 4-wheelers and we got to ride them around the ranch. I had never been on one before so I was very nervous. I had so much fun. I was constantly worried about tipping over but other than that I loved the thrill. The girls got to ride a child size one as well as ride on the big ones with an adult. They loved it too. CJ can't wait to buy one for us. We played games, went on walks, and just sat around and visited. I was so glad that we went. I do miss my family so much.

On the way home we did stop at a few viewing spots for the Grand Canyon. It is breath taking but the camera never tells the real story. You just have to be there to really get it's majesty.


On the other side of the wall they are sitting on is the drop off. It made me nervous having them sit so close. My legs went wobbly and I had a hard time taking the picture. I was so glad when they came away from the wall.

Same thing with this fence. I was always afraid that if they leaned on the fence it would break and they would all be gone. I am terrified of heights and this is pretty high up.

This was an area with no fence, no brick wall, nothing to keep you from falling off the edge but your common sense. Dakota wanted to prove it to herself that she was brave enough to go down the step and be just 3 feet away from the edge. I'm telling you that I believe she is brave because I could never have done it.

Our new friend.

We wanted to get a pet when we moved in to the new house but weren't sure what kind of pet or even when to get the pet. We didn't want to have a dog that needed to go outside and get all muddy because there is no grass so we didn't want a dog until the back yard was done and the fence was in. I can't change a littler box while I'm pregnant and I didn't think the kids would be willing to change it for more than a few weeks so we didn't want a cat until the baby was a little older. That meant waiting at least until spring for a pet. That was fine by me because the longer we go without a pet the newer and cleaner the house stays. Little did I know that fate had something else in mind. Two days after we move in I went outside in the back to water the tree. I thought I heard a kitten crying. There is a pile of concrete behind our house that I thought a cat may have had a litter in so I went to see if I could catch a peek at these new kittens. The sound of the kitten was not coming from the pile though so I went to see if I could find it in the field behind our house and I kept going until I heard the cry really well. The weeds were all dry and tangled together so I couldn't see the ground but I knew that the kitten must be close by. I bent down to loosen the weeds to see what I could see and was shocked to find one small kitten stuck in the weeds about three inches from where I stood. I very nearly stepped right on it. I freed the kitten from the weeds so I could get a better look and was again shocked to see that it was a brand new kitten. She couldn't have been more than two or three days old. Once I picked her up she stopped crying so I listened for a long time to see if I could hear anymore kittens because I really wanted to get her back to her mother. There were no other cries and I saw no cat. I took the kitten home to protect her just until I could find her mother. I took her to the vet who gave me some milk to feed her. I told the girls not to get attached because we probably wouldn't keep her. The vet said that she would need to eat every two hours and that just seemed like too much work when I still needed to unpack an entire house. I spent that day and night feeding this tiny little kitten every two hours. She was so sweet and by morning I was attached. I decided to go ahead and keep her because she was my baby. She even knew my voice and my scent. I was loving my new baby and didn't want to leave her even for a moment.

Her eyes are shut tight.

So tiny.

Two days later I went back up to Orem to have our yard sale and left my baby with my Mom. It was probably the worst day to have a yard sale. First there were major wind gusts that kept blowing everything away, then came the freezing temperatures (in August), and then we got pounded by rain and had to throw everything back into the house as quick as we could. We gave up on the yard sale and went home. I couldn't wait to see my baby again anyway. What I wasn't prepared for was to see her in my mother's arms gasping for each breath. I took one look at her and knew that she was dying. My heart sank and I grabbed her as fast as I could. I could tell that the end was so close and there was nothing I could do. I just took her in my room so that I could say goodbye in private (and bawl my eyes out). Before she died I let each of the girls say goodbye too. It was a very hard day in our house. I still don't know what happened. She was doing so good and then my sweet little angel was gone. I didn't think the pain of loosing my baby would ever go away. I had to hold back the tears for many days, but as they say, time heals all wounds.

The other day we were at Wal-Mart and out front there was a box of free kittens. CJ talked me into taking a look at them. They were about three months old. I held one and thought he was cute but wasn't sure I was ready for another kitten. It took quite a while but we decided that after seeing how excited the girls were with the first kitten and how much they really needed a pet we would go ahead and take the kitten home.

It took two days to decide on a name for him. We ended up just having everyone put a name in a hat and then drawing the name since we couldn't decide. We named him Jack-O-Lantern, Jack for short. He is a really good kitten.

What I can't believe is that we are already considering getting another cat. Jack seems to miss having another cat around (he came from a home with tons of cats) so we might get another one for him to play with. For now, we are just enjoying the one we have.

Dance Class

Before we moved the girls were invited to join a dance class given by one of our neighbors. She used to do a lot of dancing and wanted to start teaching dance to the kids in the neighborhood so she invited a few of the girls over to her house once a week for a few months teaching them different dance techniques and then taught them a few dances. She had a dance recital for them so that the parents could see their hard work. She had made two costumes for each of the girls to wear for the recital. It was so much fun and the girls did such a great job. I was impressed with the dances that she taught them in such a short time and the recital was so formal it was wonderful. I am really sad that they won't be able to be in the next dance recital.

Under 100 days

I can't believe that our new little baby will be here in less than 100 days. Time is really going too fast. He gets bigger everyday. I think he will be about 30lb by the time he is born. My belly just sticks out there like I'm already 8 months. So far so good with the pregnancy though so I can't complain. I tell Megan that I have a baby in my tummy. She now believes there is a baby in her tummy as well. She grabbed her tummy one day and acted like she was in pain. I asked her what was wrong and she said "baby, kick". It was so funny. When I have her talk to the baby in my tummy she wants me to talk to the baby in her tummy too. I love it. We are still working on a name. It has been the hardest baby to name so far and is starting to cause some tension between us. I don't want to be rushed into a name and he just wants one asap. I have been praying that we will find the name that is meant for our only son but so far I haven't heard it. If you have suggestions we'll take them.

Lift A Teacher.org

My brother and my mother have started a new organization recently that I think is a wonderful idea. They started a non-profit organization called Lift A Teacher. He can tell it so much better than I can but I will try. They have made some excellent quality, heavy duty cards that kids can personalize and send to their teachers, coaches, school librarians, etc. to let them know how great they are, or to say thank you, or what ever they want. All the kids do is go to the web site LiftaTeacher.org and select a card they like and then personalize it. The organization will then print the high quality card and mail directly to the teacher for the students. This is a simple way to make sure their teacher knows how much your child appreciates them during teacher appreciation week, on their birthday, for the holidays, at the end of the year, or for what ever reason. You get the idea. The cards are only $2, and like I said they are really nice, quality cards so they will last for years. They even have it set up so that the school can register with the organization and earn money for every card that is sent to their school. It's a fund raiser similar to the "Boxtops", and "Campbell's soup label" fund raisers. The school gets extra cash with no overhead. It can earn the school money year round. There is also a place on the website that you can enter a teacher in a contest so they can win monthly prizes. They are able to send the cards to any school in the US so please, please, please pass the word to everyone you know, no matter where they live. Visit the website and look around. If you have any questions you can let me know. For those of you here in Utah, I have a set of the cards that I can show you if you'd like to see the high quality that they are.

I am only one person with my one little blog, but if all my blog friends told others about Lift A Teacher on their blogs and asked their blog friends to do the same we could really get the word out to so many people.

I know I'm prejudiced because this is my family, but I also think that what they are doing is so special and unique that I would promote it anyway. Sending a card to a teacher to let them know how great they are is an easy way to lift their spirits. It's also great for me because I am not crafty and I don't always have money or remember to get the teacher a gift from the store. This is an easy (and much cheaper) way for my kids to actually get the gift so that it really is personal and not something I did and had them put their name to.

Lift A Teacher is also on Facebook. If you are on Facebook I urge you to join their group and invite everyone you know to join their group too. They already have over 100 members from all over the country. It's really catching on. There was a company in Arizona that heard about what they are doing and thought it was such a wonderful idea that they are sending out their own people to schools to promote the cards. I am so proud of this organization and I would love to see it grow like wild fire.

Thank you so much for all your help.

Bugs

So when you build your house in the middle of a field you're gonna get bugs. It was really cool at first because we would see a ton of grasshoppers. I know that grasshoppers are not necessarily a good thing but what I liked about them was that they were different colors. Some were black, some light or dark brown, some a light green, and some (my favorites) were a bright vivid green. I have never seen so many different colors of grasshoppers. The other bugs I like that we get so many of are praying mantis bugs. Again they come in the same colors as the grasshoppers. If we're not careful the praying mantis come in the house when we open the door at night. I even had one hiss at me when I tried to put him back outside. Unfortunately we also get spiders, earwigs, big black stink bugs, and many hornets too. We had at least three hornet's nests on our house when we moved in. We decided to have a pest control service spray our property because we didn't want the influx of bad bugs from the field to make their new home inside ours and we especially wanted the hornet's nests gone. We see all kinds of bugs dead on the porch or driveway that were not able to make it in to the house. Unfortunately, my favorite praying mantis bugs seem to be the biggest victims of the poison. I wish there were some way to kill the hornets and spiders without killing the praying mantis too. I sure hope we made the right choice.

I'm Back : )

It has been so long since I have been able to blog. I can't believe how long it's been. It's so funny, when I didn't have the Internet I would see things happen or take pictures of things so that when I got the Internet back I would be able to blog about it. That's all I could think about was the blog. lol Well, I am having trouble getting pictures off both my phone and my now broken camera so I don't know when or if I will be able to post them. Plus because I didn't write the things I wanted to post about down I think I have forgotten most of them. Anyway, I guess I can just start from where I am and put the other posts in when I remember them.

We found out after we moved in that not only do we not get cable but we don't even get local channels. We have the digital converter box but because of our street's proximity to the mountains the signals for the local channels bounce away from us (they call it the black hole here) and we are not able to pick up anything but one Spanish channel. I knew it would be hard without cable but I didn't think we would be completely without TV. I didn't realize how much our lives revolved around it, even if it was on just for noise. We knew that we needed the Internet for reasons I think all of you can sympathize with so we hunkered down and found a solution that was still more than we were paying but not as much as we thought we'd have to. It comes through a satellite they placed on our house so we had no problems getting it in our new neighborhood. I am very happy to have it back. We did decide however that we could not afford satellite for our TV as well so we have resigned to the fact that we don't have TV anymore. I was actually relieved because I have been wanting to unplug the TV for so long but knew that CJ wouldn't let me, now he has no choice and the TV is gone. That doesn't mean that it stays off however. Because they are still getting used to the idea that they can't just plop in front of it whenever they want they still have the desire like an addiction to have it on and doing something so they either play DVDs a lot or play video games. I hope one day the withdrawl from the TV can be complete and we can focus more on the gospel and each other rather than what noise comes from that box. I look at this as a blessing and pray that it lasts. (I will admit that I do miss watching the news though. That is where I'm having my withdrawls.) Anyway, I will post more later, I just wanted to let you all know that we are back.