John here, therefore my entry may be documented splotchy chunks.. Aub does write well!!
CANCUN MEXICO, Mark, Heidi and mom showed up early Monday morning.. We said goodbye to our kids and Mark drove us to the airport.. We wished Mark, "good luck" and ran to the hills...or the terminal.. Larry and everyone was there.. we checked in pretty quick and went through security and whatever steps you have to take to go INTERNATIONAL. We ate some Burger King breakfast and stuff. On the trip we had Aubreys Parents, Larry and Cindy. We had her older sister Kristy and husband Brad, and two of there kids, Parker (8) and Karlee (5). Randy went solo... A fun party of 9. We prayed for our boys and those watching our boys. The plane ride was direct to Cancun Mexico. I listened to an audiobook by Terry Goodkind, the 5th in a series and Aubrrey has been reading moms WWII books... she's on the 4th book (or finished it on the way home from Mexico). When we got to Mexico, it was windy and overcast.. We hopped on a bus and was driven to our hotel.. Oasis Cancun, was the name of the hotel.. We walked in and it was loud... very loud... Everyone there was wearing their bathing suits.. apparently they don't make 1 piece swimming suits for girls anymore.. It was crazy !!! Everyone was getting drunk and swearing!!!. Shouts of "body shots" rambled through the air. Randy, if he were in the right mind, could've been in heaven, but he is a good kid and just hung out with the family and just watched the girlies in the bikinis... It wasn't like you could just look the other way b/c they were everywere. Anyway we were in a line for about an hour and then our "FUNJET" planners pulled us out of the line and got us our rooms etc... It was a six story Hotel that was a big line and the floors were all open to each other. It was loud!!!! We were hungry, but the all inclusive resteraunts weren't open so Larry, Randy and I went into one of the bars to get some hamburgers and drinks... We had to wait in a long line and then when we made it to the front of the line to find out that they had just run out of food.. so we waited another 20 minutes and got the next round of food!!.
We hit the beach that night and jumped in.. we built a sandcastle and just played in the water.... we went to bed around 11 that night.. We were awoken at about 3 in the morning by all the SPRING BREAKERS returning from their drunken nights at the discoteques.. I couldn't fall back asleep....
( we are off to see a movie now, so we'll just wrap this up later)
Saturday, October 8, 2011
March 19, 2008
I keep trying to insert some pictures of our little family, but can't get it to work, with the exception of the one below. I'm not sure what is happening, but the bottom half of all the pictures is cut off. Very annoying. I'll try again another day.
Does anybody see the cute picture? No? That's because I'm a dork and just accidentally erased it. Grr!
I'll just use this entry to do an update about my mom since I was asked about her recently.
So, her diseased has progressed rapidly to her lungs and heart. She did chemotherapy for 6 months until developing an allergic reaction to it. After her last chemo session she went in for all sorts of testing again. That's when they learned that the chemo wasn't really helping and her lungs were getting worse. So, they started her on an experimental drug that is very new. I don't think it's designed specifically for her disease, but should help many pulmonary diseases. She hasn't been on this drug long enough to see results. The only good thing about this drug is that because it's still so new they don't carry it in local pharmacies so they have to ship it to her house. One less trip to the pharmacy!
The doctor encouraged her to begin exercising everyday to try and build up her lung muscles. She was excited to get an elliptical machine for Christmas. When I asked how her exercising was going she said it was great and then described her daily workout. She could only exercise for 1 minute a day. That's right folks. 1 minute per day was her allotted amount of exercise. Each week she could increase it by one minute. I think she's up to 6 or 7 minutes a day. I was surprised to hear her say one minute and I think that's when I realized just how bad things were for her. It makes me sad for her, though sometimes I wish I had a valid excuse for not exercising!
About a month ago my mom did more testing for her lungs. Her terrible results forced them to put her on an oxygen tank. She only has to have the oxygen at night or if she's exerting a lot of energy (hiking, etc.). She has a large, ugly machine sitting next to her dresser. Janell probably remembers those days of having cords dangling across the room.
The latest test my mom did was a sleeping test at the hospital. She had to stay the night hooked up to all sorts of different monitors. She was afraid that she wouldn't sleep very well there, but came home and told my dad that it was one of the best night's sleep she had had in a while. Well, this morning she went in for her results. The tests showed that she has severe apnea. In a one hour period she stopped breathing 32 times. 32 times in 60 minutes? How is she still alive? She joked that that was such a good night's rest and wondered what a regular night would show. So now she has to go back to the hospital for the same sleep test only this time she'll be on a CPAP machine to see if it helps. If so she'll have one of those next to her dresser too. If not, who knows?
Such a crazy life. Please pray for her that they can find a way to help her so that she can live a normal life. She stays so strong through all the tests, machines, and bad news but I know it is taking a toll on her. She's amazing to stay so strong!
Does anybody see the cute picture? No? That's because I'm a dork and just accidentally erased it. Grr!
I'll just use this entry to do an update about my mom since I was asked about her recently.
So, her diseased has progressed rapidly to her lungs and heart. She did chemotherapy for 6 months until developing an allergic reaction to it. After her last chemo session she went in for all sorts of testing again. That's when they learned that the chemo wasn't really helping and her lungs were getting worse. So, they started her on an experimental drug that is very new. I don't think it's designed specifically for her disease, but should help many pulmonary diseases. She hasn't been on this drug long enough to see results. The only good thing about this drug is that because it's still so new they don't carry it in local pharmacies so they have to ship it to her house. One less trip to the pharmacy!
The doctor encouraged her to begin exercising everyday to try and build up her lung muscles. She was excited to get an elliptical machine for Christmas. When I asked how her exercising was going she said it was great and then described her daily workout. She could only exercise for 1 minute a day. That's right folks. 1 minute per day was her allotted amount of exercise. Each week she could increase it by one minute. I think she's up to 6 or 7 minutes a day. I was surprised to hear her say one minute and I think that's when I realized just how bad things were for her. It makes me sad for her, though sometimes I wish I had a valid excuse for not exercising!
About a month ago my mom did more testing for her lungs. Her terrible results forced them to put her on an oxygen tank. She only has to have the oxygen at night or if she's exerting a lot of energy (hiking, etc.). She has a large, ugly machine sitting next to her dresser. Janell probably remembers those days of having cords dangling across the room.
The latest test my mom did was a sleeping test at the hospital. She had to stay the night hooked up to all sorts of different monitors. She was afraid that she wouldn't sleep very well there, but came home and told my dad that it was one of the best night's sleep she had had in a while. Well, this morning she went in for her results. The tests showed that she has severe apnea. In a one hour period she stopped breathing 32 times. 32 times in 60 minutes? How is she still alive? She joked that that was such a good night's rest and wondered what a regular night would show. So now she has to go back to the hospital for the same sleep test only this time she'll be on a CPAP machine to see if it helps. If so she'll have one of those next to her dresser too. If not, who knows?
Such a crazy life. Please pray for her that they can find a way to help her so that she can live a normal life. She stays so strong through all the tests, machines, and bad news but I know it is taking a toll on her. She's amazing to stay so strong!
March 18, 2008
It's already Tuesday. My days are busy and going too quickly.
Yesterday I took Lincoln to the doctor for his 9-month check up. It was 3 weeks past 9-months but that was fine. He was weighed and measured and NOT found wanting. He was tall for his age and a chunky monkey, weighing in at 22 pounds. His weight percentile was about 60%. When that boy is undressed you can see the rolls of fat on his cute little legs. I love it! The doctor asked his routine questions about what Lincoln is doing at this age. I was glad that I could tell him that he was crawling. I let him play on the floor with a toy and he stood himself up and let go for a few seconds. The doctor said, "Well, that just answered my next few questions. It looks like he is doing great." Then we talked about fun things like summer and vacations, etc. I really like Dr. Duffy and love that he knows us. It's fun.
After the doctor visit we ran some errands (cash from the bank was a priority). I let Oliver play outside for an hour or 2 and he loved it. It was cold, but he runs so much that I don't think it even phased him.
Today I had a PBS reading class in the morning. They hold this class at the church and anybody is invited. There were 4 of us from our ward (Chantel Copland, me, Becca Freston, Becka Sorensen) plus 4 from other wards in the stake. The lady teaching was cute and fun and talked about some interesting things. I was able to contribute to the 'lesson' (very informal) because of my teaching experiences and she said she was glad to have my comments. I came home with 3 books that Oliver and Lincoln both love. While there Oliver played in the nursery, Lincoln slept. I was so glad I went. It really reminded me of some great things to do with the boys and gave me new ideas! I'll be sure to be there next month! Plus, I can get another free book in the mail by doing an activity with Oliver and then emailing somebody about it!
The rest of the day has been spent making magnets for our Young Women. They are pictures of Christ behind a flat glass marble. They turned out great. I didn't invent the idea, but had to figure out how to make them by myself so I was pleased with how quickly they came together. Now I am going to print a message to go with them (something that includes the scripture John 3:16) and then put them in an easter egg with some grass. They'll be cute little Easter gifts!
I also spent some time today typing up schedules, etc and copying Passports and insurance information. It's been busy, but I feel great that I've accomplished something (as small as it may be).
I want to write about Lincoln because I think he is so darn cute. He has always been a pretty happy baby (though he is going through a stranger danger phase currently). Now that he can crawl and explore he is even happier. He is so content to crawl around, stand, walk, crawl, play, follow Oliver, etc. It's so exciting to watch. Plus, he is learning cute little things. He loves to wave and now does it all the time when he hears "Bye Bye" or "Hi!". He loves to clap is hands, especially when I do Pat-a-Cake. At the end of pat-a-cake he puts his hands in the air and coos! Too darn cute! He is so much fun!
Yesterday John spent some time burning our home videos on to DVDs. So, what did we do? Watch them all! I had so much fun watching my 2 little kids. They are so cute (I know I am biased, but they have such cute little faces!). It was amazing to see how different they were from just 6 months ago. I expected that from Lincoln but Oliver's differences surprised me. He looks so much older now and talks so much more. It's amazing how quickly they grow and change. It made me a little sad and made me miss by little babies.
Yesterday I took Lincoln to the doctor for his 9-month check up. It was 3 weeks past 9-months but that was fine. He was weighed and measured and NOT found wanting. He was tall for his age and a chunky monkey, weighing in at 22 pounds. His weight percentile was about 60%. When that boy is undressed you can see the rolls of fat on his cute little legs. I love it! The doctor asked his routine questions about what Lincoln is doing at this age. I was glad that I could tell him that he was crawling. I let him play on the floor with a toy and he stood himself up and let go for a few seconds. The doctor said, "Well, that just answered my next few questions. It looks like he is doing great." Then we talked about fun things like summer and vacations, etc. I really like Dr. Duffy and love that he knows us. It's fun.
After the doctor visit we ran some errands (cash from the bank was a priority). I let Oliver play outside for an hour or 2 and he loved it. It was cold, but he runs so much that I don't think it even phased him.
Today I had a PBS reading class in the morning. They hold this class at the church and anybody is invited. There were 4 of us from our ward (Chantel Copland, me, Becca Freston, Becka Sorensen) plus 4 from other wards in the stake. The lady teaching was cute and fun and talked about some interesting things. I was able to contribute to the 'lesson' (very informal) because of my teaching experiences and she said she was glad to have my comments. I came home with 3 books that Oliver and Lincoln both love. While there Oliver played in the nursery, Lincoln slept. I was so glad I went. It really reminded me of some great things to do with the boys and gave me new ideas! I'll be sure to be there next month! Plus, I can get another free book in the mail by doing an activity with Oliver and then emailing somebody about it!
The rest of the day has been spent making magnets for our Young Women. They are pictures of Christ behind a flat glass marble. They turned out great. I didn't invent the idea, but had to figure out how to make them by myself so I was pleased with how quickly they came together. Now I am going to print a message to go with them (something that includes the scripture John 3:16) and then put them in an easter egg with some grass. They'll be cute little Easter gifts!
I also spent some time today typing up schedules, etc and copying Passports and insurance information. It's been busy, but I feel great that I've accomplished something (as small as it may be).
I want to write about Lincoln because I think he is so darn cute. He has always been a pretty happy baby (though he is going through a stranger danger phase currently). Now that he can crawl and explore he is even happier. He is so content to crawl around, stand, walk, crawl, play, follow Oliver, etc. It's so exciting to watch. Plus, he is learning cute little things. He loves to wave and now does it all the time when he hears "Bye Bye" or "Hi!". He loves to clap is hands, especially when I do Pat-a-Cake. At the end of pat-a-cake he puts his hands in the air and coos! Too darn cute! He is so much fun!
Yesterday John spent some time burning our home videos on to DVDs. So, what did we do? Watch them all! I had so much fun watching my 2 little kids. They are so cute (I know I am biased, but they have such cute little faces!). It was amazing to see how different they were from just 6 months ago. I expected that from Lincoln but Oliver's differences surprised me. He looks so much older now and talks so much more. It's amazing how quickly they grow and change. It made me a little sad and made me miss by little babies.
March 16, 2008
| Saturday we had quite a fiesta! We arrived at my parent's house at 4:30 and were surprised to see the decorations. My parents obviously had fun at Zurcher's. There was a pinata hanging in the sunroom, tables decorated with Mexican table cloths, leas and maracas. They had lanterns hanging in the doorways and Mexican plates and cups. We all donned our costumes and started playing the Mexican music! It was a toss up between my dad and Grandma Hansen as to which costume won (I'll have to upload the pics). My dad was dressed as a matador with his black fishing pants, white funeral shirt and his cape draped over his shoulder. I laughed and laughed, but totally loved it. My grandma wore this red slinky red off the shoulder dress with gold decorations sewn to it, big necklaces and a flower behind her ear. (I'm sure my grandma would appreciate me adding that she wore a shirt under her off-the shoulder dress--totally appropriate). It was so cute! Grandpa even dressed up. My parents provided everybody with a sombrero though most of the kids wouldn't wear one. We ate tacos for dinner and watched the Jazz game then played the Wii. The kids had a blast breaking open the pinata that was filled with little toys, gold dollars, and candy. Oliver thoroughly enjoyed hitting the pinata even after it was emptied. He didn't really care about the candy and card less about the money (he picked one coin up, looked at it, and then tossed it back to the ground). We ended at 10:00 as we discussed last minute details for the trip and then we came home. It was a great party! Today we enjoyed our sacrament meeting with talks on the Atonement. Our Sunday school lesson was great with a lot of thoughts shared from class members though directed by MK. I took Lincoln to YW with me and the girls were all giddy about it. Heidi ended up teaching the whole group of young women because 2 advisors were out sick. She did a great job and was good at steering through the odd comments by some of the girls. After church we all took a nap, ate dinner, borrowed a suitcase from the folk's (without permission. hope that's okay) and now we're home playing. Lincoln is getting really good at crawling. He's all over the place finding all the small toys and papers that I didn't know about. He stuffs them in his mouth and gets angry when we pry his mouth open to take them out. He's so much happier now that he can move about and explore (he was a happy baby before, just more so now). |
March 15, 2008
| The time is flying by. This week I've been busy trying to plan and organize for our Cancun trip. Everything is so much more work when you have to plan in 2 little kids. I'm grateful to those who are willing to babysit (Angela, Mark & Heidi, Mom). We are excited for our trip and leave the day after Easter so we don't have much time left! I finally found a swimsuit last night. I've been looking and looking everywhere and really struggling. I wanted a tankini but just could not find a cute one that was my size (they are mix and match now a days so I could never find both a top and a bottom in a small--lame). So, last night I went to every store in the mall searching and was so disapointed. I went into Dillard's as a last resort (afraid of the price) and found that they had several new suits! I tried on 3 and like all three of them, but loved one of them. It was very expensive, but this was the last store that I could think of to shop in. John loved the suit so he didn't care about the price. Now I am feeling a little guilty, but relieved at the same time! Other things this week: lunch with a friend, play group, John played basketball with Mark, raquetball with a friend, played outside in the rain, shopped, etc. Today we are going up to my parent's house for a Cancun party. They are doing Mexican games, dances, and dinner and we are bringing up Mexican music. Costumes are required. I have a hat, blanket and some sort of scarf that I got in Mexico City (the scarf was a gift from my host family). I am excited. I think the purpose of the party is to go over last-minute details (departure, hotel phone number, money, etc). I am getting really excited. I have 3 lists on the kitchen counter of things to pack, prepare, purchase, do before the trip. Each time I go into the kitchen I seem to add something to the list. Most of it has to do with cleaning the house, laundry, planning food for the boys, writing schedules and things down for the boys. This coming week I will begin to cross things off my list. Friday I am planning on coloring easter eggs with Oliver. I am excited to do it and think Oliver will have fun. This will be the first time that I will color eggs since I've been married! Saturday we have an Easter tradition with my family. We all gather at Grandma's house and then drive into the mountains for a fire, lunch, hot dogs, etc. Then we go back to grandma's house (Grandma Hansen) for an easter egg hunt. I used to love hunting for eggs, but am too old for that now (so sad) so I usually hide them. After this egg hunt we go to my parent's house for the easter egg hunt that my mom does. It's always a lot of fun, but will keep me away from my house and my lists. I think a Sunday Easter dinner at the folk's will be great! I thought it was a tradition already so I was already planning on it so I'm glad Matt wrote it in his journal so I can plan on it! Good times ahead! |
March 12, 2008
| John came home from work a little early today. He was determined to do some work on the house. Of course I let him! He hung some sheetrock on the laundry room and then hung a cabinet on the wall for laundry soap,etc. It all looks so nice now! I'm grateful that John has become a real handyman around the house. He's awesome. I went to Young Womens tonight. We met at 6:15 and then left for a tour of the Church History Museum downtown. It was a lot of fun and the tour was great. Karlene Bauer from the ward serves a part-time mission at the museum so she came with us to give us our tour. I was impressed by many things that I saw. I love this calling for many reasons. One reason is that I get to do things like this that are great for our girls, but great for the leaders too! John is playing basketball right now and the boys are sleeping. I don't have a book to read because I just finished Vienna Prelude and haven't made it to the library for the next book in the series. Maybe I should just go to sleep now to catch up from my late night last night. |
March 11, 2008
| We haven't had many (or any?) changes in our lives lately so I can't think of much to write. (Now watch. After saying that this will be the longest entry ever). Daylight savings is so weird to me. I really wish we would join Arizona and other states and stop doing it all together. Luckily, my boys adjusted quite quickly and haven't had much of a problem. It took Oliver about 40 minutes to fall asleep last night and everything else has been normal. Thank goodness! Our weekend was great. We didn't do anything in particular that was great, but just spending time together is so nice! We always have fun at FHE so that was great too! I went over with my family really early to set up tables, etc and ended up staying for a long time talking with Steph and Heidi, helping with soup (I chopped, nothing too helpful) and just let Oliver play. He sure does love to go to all of his grandparent's houses (he has 4 sets of grandparents including mine). Today the weather was just gorgeous so we spent several hours outside. For about 2 hours Lincoln played with a ball in the yard (occasionally Ollie or I played with him too) and Oliver spent the 2 hours playing in the sandbox and with his toys. I worked hard to clean up the yard. I threw away a bunch of random things (broken mops, broken toys, etc.). Mostly I cleared the yard of most of the pine tree debris that didn't get cleaned up in the winter (go figure). I hope the grass starts to turn green soon and grow so John can mow it and clean up the pine needles. We all had so much fun outside that we ate our lunch out there too. Oliver asked for me to take them on a walk in the Burley so I did. We walked down Serpentine and made a loop in Opal Circle and came back up. Oliver wanted to go longer so we went all the way up Serpentine too. I would have turned around when we reached the big hill but Oliver convinced me to 'go up the mountain' simply by saying "Please!" I was tired when we got home because of the hill, the Burley is awkward (I can't find the handle so I push it hunched over) and the boys are heavy together (and alone). We played clear from one nap (Lincoln's) to the next nap for both boys. I loved it for several reasons: 1) it was warm 2) both boys were so happy, 3) the house didn't get messed up, 4) lunch was outside and 5) the sandbox is still a favorite for Oliver (after all John's work I'd hate to see it go unused). I was excited to go to hear the first discussion by the missionaries with a girl in my Mia Maid class, but after 30 minutes Abby hadn't showed up so we all left. I came home in time for John to shower and go to EQ. Now I am waiting for all my friends to show up for our book club about Uglies! Ya! It's now midnight and here I sit unable to sleep. My friends just barely left from book club (well, at 11:45 the last 5 left). I had so much fun! I really truly love the girls (ladies?) in this ward. I feel so connected to them, a part of the group it is so much fun. I always compare this ward to the last ward because there is such a huge difference in the quality of people. I look at my friends here and am grateful that things worked out the way they did (even when I really did not want to live in this house). Anyway, so book group was a huge success. I served cookies and fruit/fruit dip and most was eaten. I had a list of several questions to use for our discussing and had a great response to them all (but one, there was an odd silence so I moved to the next). After the book was discussed and analyzed we all just sat and talked and talked and talked. I loved it! My problem is now that it's midnight my brain is still going so I can't seem to fall asleep. I tried for 15 minutes, but could tell that my brain wasn't going to rest anytime soon. A good suggestion by MK was to include the names of those in attendance at the book club. So, here they are: me, Heidi Doyle, Missy Burton, Missy Crandall, Meghan Hilton, Chantel Copland, Cary Wall, Becka Freston, Becca Sorensen, Elaine Brinkerhoff, Jeanie Wade and a couple more that I can't remember at the moment. |
March 7, 2008
My boys keep waking up earlier and earlier in the morning. This morning Linc woke up at 6:00. Luckily I was able to feed him and he went back to sleep and is still sleeping at 7:30. So, after I fed Lincoln I went downstairs to exercise. Oliver came down at 6:30 wide awake and ready to play. Oh brother! I had him lay on the couch and he stayed put for 15 minutes before he wanted to get up and play. I'm not sure why they're waking up early, but I think this is Oliver's way of telling me that he is over naps. He's been hinting at it for awhile by occasionally not taking a nap (he just climbs out of bed). What a bummer! I love nap time (and need it desperately). I'm sure I'll figure something out (I always do, I don't have a choice)!
March 5, 2008
I'm not sure that I have much to report, I just couldn't let too many days pass without adding my info. John still spends at least an hour and a half at the gym with Mark. They both seem to enjoy it and John is really enjoying his reshaped body (and still reshaping). He is disapointed with his weight loss (a little over 15 pounds), but is fitting into much smaller clothes so he must be doing something right. I recently borrowed a workout video from Mary and enjoying the change from my regular videos. Someday I hope to join a gym so I can keep up the hard work and lose the boredom. I did schedule a morning walking time with a couple friends. We're still waiting for the weather to get warmer before we begin.
Yesterday I went to Enrichment. It was our birthday celebration and a former Mrs. Utah spoke to us about improving ourselves. She compared everybody to an equilateral triangle (though she was incorrect when saying it was the same as an isosceles triangle) and how we need to all improve ourselves on all 3 main areas of the triangle: physical, spiritual, intellectual. I have been working on improving my physical and decided now I will work on my spiritual side by spending more time in the scriptures. John and I read them together at night (most nights) but I don't spend much time on my own. That all changed today and hopefully by writing this down I will continue to search the scriptures on my own more often. Anyway, back to the Enrichment activity. The theme was 'dress for success' and the committee went to town on the dress theme. They divided the gym in half by hanging a dozen or so modest dresses along a string. The centerpieces were little barbie doll dresses (modest if you can believe that) put over vases. It was very cute and very pink. Dinner was served and I sat at a table full of friends, Heidi included. I stayed long past the end of the event doing what I seem to do best, talking! It was great.
Today my boys have been a bit grumpy. They both woke up early so I'm sure that's to blame. We got bored at our house and I didn't want to go far or for long so we went and invaded the folk's house and played with their toys and visited. It was a nice break though Oliver didn't want to return home. He eventually did and took a nap shortly after, so did Lincoln.
I am reading a book called, Vienna Prelude that I borrowed from MK. I've only read a hundred pages, but am loving it! It's a historical fiction dating in the late 1930s during the rise of Hitler. So far so good! There are several other books in the series so I may be consumed for a long time!
Yesterday I went to Enrichment. It was our birthday celebration and a former Mrs. Utah spoke to us about improving ourselves. She compared everybody to an equilateral triangle (though she was incorrect when saying it was the same as an isosceles triangle) and how we need to all improve ourselves on all 3 main areas of the triangle: physical, spiritual, intellectual. I have been working on improving my physical and decided now I will work on my spiritual side by spending more time in the scriptures. John and I read them together at night (most nights) but I don't spend much time on my own. That all changed today and hopefully by writing this down I will continue to search the scriptures on my own more often. Anyway, back to the Enrichment activity. The theme was 'dress for success' and the committee went to town on the dress theme. They divided the gym in half by hanging a dozen or so modest dresses along a string. The centerpieces were little barbie doll dresses (modest if you can believe that) put over vases. It was very cute and very pink. Dinner was served and I sat at a table full of friends, Heidi included. I stayed long past the end of the event doing what I seem to do best, talking! It was great.
Today my boys have been a bit grumpy. They both woke up early so I'm sure that's to blame. We got bored at our house and I didn't want to go far or for long so we went and invaded the folk's house and played with their toys and visited. It was a nice break though Oliver didn't want to return home. He eventually did and took a nap shortly after, so did Lincoln.
I am reading a book called, Vienna Prelude that I borrowed from MK. I've only read a hundred pages, but am loving it! It's a historical fiction dating in the late 1930s during the rise of Hitler. So far so good! There are several other books in the series so I may be consumed for a long time!
March 2, 2008
| Great weekend here at the Doyle residence in spite of the snow. Saturday was our free day so we ate junk, junk, and more junk. I do try to control myself, but I'm pretty sure John doesn't. He ate a few cinnamon rolls along with all the other junk. I went to a baby shower for a friend in the ward yesterday. I had a great time visiting for over an hour with all my friends. I really like the people in this ward. After the shower John and I took the boys up to Mantua for my Grandma Hansen's birthday party. We had a lot of fun eating sandwiches and brownies, watching basketball and talking and laughing. 13 grandkids were present (including spouses) and 12 great grandkids were present. It was a huge birthday bash filled with lots of fun. I was glad we braved the storm to go up there. We spent a couple hours at my parent's house afterwards. While in Mantua Lincoln learned a new trick! He learned to CRAWL!!! I was so proud of him. He crawls backwards quite well now and only crawls forward a couple steps at a time, but is slowly improving. It's fun to watch and cute to see his little body moving around. Sunday was nice. I taught the joint Young Women lesson on preparing for an eternal family. There were a lot of questions and discussions about heaven, the 3 kingdoms, temple marriages, etc. I had a lot of participation and I think it went over quite well. I was pleased. I'm also pleased that I don't have to teach again for a couple months! I was really nervous. The rest of the Sabbath day was spent napping, playing animals, coloring, and eating dinner (spaghetti and meatballs). I just watched the last episode of Heroes from Season one and am fixing to watch the last episode of Lost. I love my shows! |
Sunday, October 2, 2011
February 29, 2008
John didn't work on Thursday (I'm not sure why.) so we had a great day together. We did a little shopping at the mall. I needed to return 2 things and ended up buying 3 more things for the same price! Oliver and Lincoln played in Dino Towne and John splurged and bought a strawberry banana smoothie. Later that night Mark and Heidi and Andrea Adams came over to babysit the boys. John took me to see 'Vantage Point' at Jordan Commons! It was a tense show and we both really liked it! While we were away M&H and the Adams enjoyed some episodes of Heroes in our basement!
Friday: I'm still loving this beautiful weather! It's been so sunny and warm and it just makes me happy. Today I met up with some friends at the zoo. I had my 2 boys and then Chantel had her 2 kiddos and Becca had her 2 boys. We had a great time. The animals were all so active. It was amazing. We saw the elephants during their lunchtime and Oliver was so excited to see them moving around and eating. Some of our other favorites were the zebras, giraffes, monkeys and the tiger. The zebras are always standing around when I see them, but today they were running, bucking, playing with each other, etc. So fun to see. The giraffes were more active than normal too and were running around playing. We even saw one giraffe bend his neck to the side like in one of Oliver's favorite books. My favorite animal today was definitely the tiger. I think it was Oliver's favorite too. The tiger was up front by the window pacing around. Occasionally he would stop to stare at us and then he'd run around then continue his pacing. He was just inches from our faces and it was really amazing! I do love the zoo! I'm not sure if Lincoln even noticed the animals, but he loved watching the kids run around. We ended our 3 hour zoo experience with a ride on the train! Oliver yelled "All aboard!" several times and got excited when we passed the buffaloes and he commented, "Buffalo shrug shoulders". (from a book). Becca and Chantel were laughing at Oliver's comments the whole time.
The rest of the day has been sleeping, cleaning, playing in the backyard, weeding the front flower beds and eating dinner. Tonight was leftover night so Ollie and I had tacos, Linc ate green beans and John had chili. Yummy!
Now the boys are in bed (Oliver asked to sleep on his floor so I though we'd try it out, so far I haven't heard a peep). John is setting up the TV for our night of Heroes. We've been renting the first season and loving them! Mark & Heidi are watching them too! The four of us are catching up on the TV shows we have heard are great (Heroes, Prison Break...)
Friday: I'm still loving this beautiful weather! It's been so sunny and warm and it just makes me happy. Today I met up with some friends at the zoo. I had my 2 boys and then Chantel had her 2 kiddos and Becca had her 2 boys. We had a great time. The animals were all so active. It was amazing. We saw the elephants during their lunchtime and Oliver was so excited to see them moving around and eating. Some of our other favorites were the zebras, giraffes, monkeys and the tiger. The zebras are always standing around when I see them, but today they were running, bucking, playing with each other, etc. So fun to see. The giraffes were more active than normal too and were running around playing. We even saw one giraffe bend his neck to the side like in one of Oliver's favorite books. My favorite animal today was definitely the tiger. I think it was Oliver's favorite too. The tiger was up front by the window pacing around. Occasionally he would stop to stare at us and then he'd run around then continue his pacing. He was just inches from our faces and it was really amazing! I do love the zoo! I'm not sure if Lincoln even noticed the animals, but he loved watching the kids run around. We ended our 3 hour zoo experience with a ride on the train! Oliver yelled "All aboard!" several times and got excited when we passed the buffaloes and he commented, "Buffalo shrug shoulders". (from a book). Becca and Chantel were laughing at Oliver's comments the whole time.
The rest of the day has been sleeping, cleaning, playing in the backyard, weeding the front flower beds and eating dinner. Tonight was leftover night so Ollie and I had tacos, Linc ate green beans and John had chili. Yummy!
Now the boys are in bed (Oliver asked to sleep on his floor so I though we'd try it out, so far I haven't heard a peep). John is setting up the TV for our night of Heroes. We've been renting the first season and loving them! Mark & Heidi are watching them too! The four of us are catching up on the TV shows we have heard are great (Heroes, Prison Break...)
February 27, 2008
The weather has been so beautiful the last 2 days! I absolutely love it! We've been spending a lot of time in the backyard. Oliver still loves the sandbox! Ya! He also loves to kick the ball around or run around the yard. He likes to play in the 'mountains' (unmelted snow banks) with his animals and just explore the yard! It's been fun to watch him. Lincoln hasn't spent as much time outside because of his cold and the fact that we usually play outside while he's napping. Today he spent an hour out there and was fascinated by everything. I sat him in the Little Tikes covered car and Oliver pushed him around the yard while I followed with the camcorder. He loved to sit and stand in the car, hold the steering wheel and walk in circles inside of it. So cute! He also enjoyed the sandbox for about 3 minutes until he ate a large handful of sand. He didn't seem to mind the sand, but I rushed him in the kitchen to wash it out. Yuck!
John is still working out at the gym with Mark everyday (except today because it's basketball night). It keeps him away from home for an extra 2 hours which is hard on me, but good for John because he is actually enjoying his workouts with Mark. He usually doesn't like the gym. He is looking great and getting into shape. He's lost about 15 pounds, but still has a lot to go! I have lost my 5 pounds and feeling great! I'm still exercising faithfully each morning and getting into shape. I recently cleaned out my closet because I had a lot of clothes that were too big! That was a great feeling.
Linc is still sick with his cold, Oliver is getting it and John and I are staying strong!
Tonight we had Young Women joint with the ym and we played Rock Band! It was a lot of fun and we had a huge turnout! I really like this calling! I finally got the dates for our Girl's camp. We are going the last week of July. When did we decide to go on a family outing? I hope it's not this same time. Ang, are you still working on that? Want me to do anything?
John is still working out at the gym with Mark everyday (except today because it's basketball night). It keeps him away from home for an extra 2 hours which is hard on me, but good for John because he is actually enjoying his workouts with Mark. He usually doesn't like the gym. He is looking great and getting into shape. He's lost about 15 pounds, but still has a lot to go! I have lost my 5 pounds and feeling great! I'm still exercising faithfully each morning and getting into shape. I recently cleaned out my closet because I had a lot of clothes that were too big! That was a great feeling.
Linc is still sick with his cold, Oliver is getting it and John and I are staying strong!
Tonight we had Young Women joint with the ym and we played Rock Band! It was a lot of fun and we had a huge turnout! I really like this calling! I finally got the dates for our Girl's camp. We are going the last week of July. When did we decide to go on a family outing? I hope it's not this same time. Ang, are you still working on that? Want me to do anything?
February 25, 2008
Lincoln just managed to erase my entry that I was still typing. Oops!
Well, both Linc and Oliver got a good night's rest last night which means so did I! I woke up without any sign of an illness! Phew! Oliver woke up happy and healthy too. Then there's Lincoln. The poor little guy is still sick. His rash is clearing up which is great, but everything else is basically the same. He sounds terrible with his runny/stuffy nose congestion and his loud barking cough. Could this be the croup again? He still is eating or drinking very little so I know his tummy is still hurting him. He's a very good sick baby though. He's been happy to play and do his usual things just needing a little extra love which I am more than happy to give! Oliver's been particularly helpful this morning with the love too! He pats Linc's head a lot saying things like "It's okay Lincoln." He also has been helping me feed him his bottle or juice by either holding the bottle or holding my arm that's holding the bottle (his favorite way of helping me do anything: cook, clean, draw, etc...he just holds my arm!)
I've been trying to catch up on my household chores this morning. I've done a lot of laundry, dishes, picked up the house, etc. None of it is all the way finished, but at least it's a start! I also got dinner on the stove so it'll be ready on time! Later today I am going back to the spa for an hour-long Swedish massage followed by a pedicure! This was my best Christmas present ever! I love John!
Well, both Linc and Oliver got a good night's rest last night which means so did I! I woke up without any sign of an illness! Phew! Oliver woke up happy and healthy too. Then there's Lincoln. The poor little guy is still sick. His rash is clearing up which is great, but everything else is basically the same. He sounds terrible with his runny/stuffy nose congestion and his loud barking cough. Could this be the croup again? He still is eating or drinking very little so I know his tummy is still hurting him. He's a very good sick baby though. He's been happy to play and do his usual things just needing a little extra love which I am more than happy to give! Oliver's been particularly helpful this morning with the love too! He pats Linc's head a lot saying things like "It's okay Lincoln." He also has been helping me feed him his bottle or juice by either holding the bottle or holding my arm that's holding the bottle (his favorite way of helping me do anything: cook, clean, draw, etc...he just holds my arm!)
I've been trying to catch up on my household chores this morning. I've done a lot of laundry, dishes, picked up the house, etc. None of it is all the way finished, but at least it's a start! I also got dinner on the stove so it'll be ready on time! Later today I am going back to the spa for an hour-long Swedish massage followed by a pedicure! This was my best Christmas present ever! I love John!
February 24, 2008
Just what I needed--I woke up this morning with the same stomach virus that the boys both have. Lincoln is the sickest of the 4 of us because he has a terrible cold including a raspy voice, harsh wet cough, and a runny nose. Plus he has a stomach bug so he's not eating much, throwing up (once all over the hardwood floor, walls, couch, shelves, etc. and he has the runs (TMI?). Oliver is the next sickest with a runny nose and the stomach bug (same as Lincoln). He threw up 3 times in one night causing me to change his jammies 3 times and his bedding twice. It was gross, but his room was dark so I couldn't see it very well. I am the 3rd sickest with no cold just a stomach bug that is getting much better by tonight! John is the 4th sickest with bad gas. Just kidding! He's not sick at all, just sick of taking care of the rest of us!
I am grateful that I am feeling much better tonight. I didn't go to church and just slept most of the morning away, plus I took a good nap in the afternoon. Oliver is getting much better and has got his appetite back, so that's a good sign. Poor little Lincoln is still sick, but I can see definite improvements. If there was just a cure for the common cold he would be in much better shape. He still isn't eating much, but just ate half a bottle so that's a little better. I've been trying to give him Pedialite, but he has had less than 1 ounce all day.
John went to a priesthood meeting tonight with D2 and has just returned home. I'm ready for bed now (it's 8:10)!
I am grateful that I am feeling much better tonight. I didn't go to church and just slept most of the morning away, plus I took a good nap in the afternoon. Oliver is getting much better and has got his appetite back, so that's a good sign. Poor little Lincoln is still sick, but I can see definite improvements. If there was just a cure for the common cold he would be in much better shape. He still isn't eating much, but just ate half a bottle so that's a little better. I've been trying to give him Pedialite, but he has had less than 1 ounce all day.
John went to a priesthood meeting tonight with D2 and has just returned home. I'm ready for bed now (it's 8:10)!
February 23, 2008
The past 2 days have been quite miserable here at our house. I have changed far too many stinky diapers with both boys screaming while I change them because they both have terrible rashes. I have cleaned up throw up at least 5 different times (3 in the middle of the night), I have given 2 baths a day to each boy because they keep puking on themselves. I haven't gotten much sleep because the boys are so sick. This has not been fun and I hope it passes quickly!
February 21, 2008
Yesterday we went to a wedding reception. It was sort-of strange for us because the guy that got married works with John, but they aren't really good friends, just the occasional "Hi!" in passing, etc. So, we were invited to the reception and ring ceremony. It was a sit-down dinner reception. We went and enjoyed our meal, sat by a few co-workers and then left. It was a nice, free date if nothing else! Steph was awesome to come over and babysit. Apparently Oliver played great the whole evening and Lincoln cried a good portion of the evening. He certainly is a Mama's boy (which I kind of like)!
Today John didn't work because he was awake all night therefore extremely tired at 6:00 this morning. He slept until 9:00 and then helped me give the boys a bath. Then while Lincoln napped I took Oliver to the store for some craft items for my next craft projects. Then we went to Cary Wall's house for playgroup. The kids played while the moms all discussed the school system, the pros and cons of preschool, etc. I contributed a lot to the conversation because I know a lot about schools, etc. It was fun! The rest of the day we have spent as a family shopping for John's new basketball shorts (Mark doesn't like going to the gym with the homeless guy when John wears his paint-covered, mis-matched clothes--and for good reason). We ate lunch at Blimpie and even got Oliver to eat his sandwich with meat! We came home and decided to go across the street to check out the new fireplace. I can't believe how beautiful it has turned out. It is so nice and elegant and a perfect match for their style! I really love it and am impressed with Brent's work.
Here are a few of my favorite phrases from Oliver: "Guess what? Blahbarama..." "Hold on tight! It's gonna be a bumpy ride!" I said to him this morning, "You guys are so cute!" He responded with, "Then take a picture!" "I'm so happy" "Nice catch!" I said to him the other day, "Can I see your bird?" His response, "It's not a bird it's a egret!" And it was! He also says funny adult-like things, "Uh huh." "Umm..." (said while thinking). "Woops!" "Oh my goodness!" "Oh brother!" Can you tell a few of those are my phrases that he's heard a lot! It's just so funny to hear these things coming out of a little kid. Today I was trying to teach him to say that he is 2 when people ask him how old his is (he's asked all the time). After trying to teach him for a couple minutes I asked him if he was 2. He replies, "No. I'm a boy!"
Today John didn't work because he was awake all night therefore extremely tired at 6:00 this morning. He slept until 9:00 and then helped me give the boys a bath. Then while Lincoln napped I took Oliver to the store for some craft items for my next craft projects. Then we went to Cary Wall's house for playgroup. The kids played while the moms all discussed the school system, the pros and cons of preschool, etc. I contributed a lot to the conversation because I know a lot about schools, etc. It was fun! The rest of the day we have spent as a family shopping for John's new basketball shorts (Mark doesn't like going to the gym with the homeless guy when John wears his paint-covered, mis-matched clothes--and for good reason). We ate lunch at Blimpie and even got Oliver to eat his sandwich with meat! We came home and decided to go across the street to check out the new fireplace. I can't believe how beautiful it has turned out. It is so nice and elegant and a perfect match for their style! I really love it and am impressed with Brent's work.
Here are a few of my favorite phrases from Oliver: "Guess what? Blahbarama..." "Hold on tight! It's gonna be a bumpy ride!" I said to him this morning, "You guys are so cute!" He responded with, "Then take a picture!" "I'm so happy" "Nice catch!" I said to him the other day, "Can I see your bird?" His response, "It's not a bird it's a egret!" And it was! He also says funny adult-like things, "Uh huh." "Umm..." (said while thinking). "Woops!" "Oh my goodness!" "Oh brother!" Can you tell a few of those are my phrases that he's heard a lot! It's just so funny to hear these things coming out of a little kid. Today I was trying to teach him to say that he is 2 when people ask him how old his is (he's asked all the time). After trying to teach him for a couple minutes I asked him if he was 2. He replies, "No. I'm a boy!"
February 19, 2008
Good times here on Serpentine Way!
Sunday John didn't have his meetings in the morning so we were all able to get ready for church without any stress (doing it by myself is a little hectic). Our church meetings were great and then it was over. John took the boys home while I stayed for BYC. Our meeting was a lot of fun, Bishop Bradshaw is great! We discussed upcoming activities, girl's camp (Jolene Bradshaw is our camp director) and got approval for our fundraiser that Heidi and I are in charge of. We are going to teach the girls how to make corsages and then sell them to the men in the ward to purchase for their wives to wear on Mother's Day. I think it will be a lot of work, but fun too! I'm excited to learn how to do a little flower arranging. Heidi will be our teacher, but I learned that Jolene Bradshaw is great at flower arranging, too so hopefully she'll be on hand! After our meeting I realized that I didn't have a car to drive home so I walked. Part of the walk was with Danny from the YM and the rest was by myself in super high heels. Fred Jensen stopped and gave me a ride from Sego on! He's a nice guy and we had a fun conversation. The last thing he said to me before getting out of the car was him telling me to ask John if "he's a retard". That's because John hadn't shoveled all of our driveway yet.
Sunday afternoon my parents came down for a fun visit and then took Oliver up to Mantua to stay the night. Oliver was so excited that he wouldn't take a nap all day, just anticipating Papa & Cindy! Parker and Karlee came with them which made it more fun. Parker complained of being bored less than 5 minutes of being at our house. He's going through a bored stage in life right now. With Oliver gone we had an easy evening. We had fun celebrating Luke's birthday, talking with family and eating the most delicious brownies I've ever eaten (seriously!) In fact, I've been craving brownies ever since.
Monday we did not get to sleep in. We got up and did our usual Monday things, except that John was home. So, after Lincoln went down for a nap I exercise at home and John went to the gym (with Mark? I think they played raquetball for a couple hours). Later in the day we did some serious shopping at the mall. I got a few new things! John got a couple new things. The boys got nothing.
After shopping we went to Mantua for a couple hours, visited, played, ate, and brought Oliver back home. I was happy to see him again and have him back at home.
Tuesday felt like Monday all day, only a really good Monday. I'm not sure if it was the beautiful warm weather that put me in such a good mood, but we were all happy and content all day long. Oliver played outside in the morning for a few minutes (because our reading class was cancelled) and then he took an early nap (fell asleep while I was exercising and he was watching a movie). After lunch we spent a couple hours outside in the warm sun. Oliver took out 2 little animals and had fun 'burying' them in the snow (they were never fully buried, except once and we never did find that animal. He also enjoyed finding sticks (called them alligators) and throwing them into the water in the gutter. I read several articles from the Ensign while playing with him (linc was napping). I made dinner early (by accident) and then John left for the gym with Mark and I took the boys shopping for an hour and a half. We had a great time shopping (at Old Navy) and both boys were cute and entertaining the whole time. I purchased several things and was pleased as punch when I came home! John got home about the same time as us so we all sat down to eat our dinner together. Now we are just hanging out, playing, etc.
Lincoln has been learning so much lately that I want to write it all down. First, his communication is getting so good. He says several 'words' now including: dada, mama (only a couple times), baba, and other nonsensical babbling phrases (rara, dee dee, lala, etc). He is understanding a lot of things too. I can say, "Where's Lincoln?" and he immediately plays Peek a Boo. I tell him to bobble his head and his head starts bobbling side to side. I ask him if he wants a baba (bottle) and he about goes crazy until I make it (then he doesn't drink much of it). I tell him to bounce and his knees start bouncing so much he almost has his feet off the ground. He is getting really good at moving around on his tummy, though not crawling. He has started pulling himself up to standing all the time at new places (the couch, the side of Ollie's bed, and his usual spots). He is cruising along the furniture more and more, getting comfortable on his feet. He can sit himself back up from his tummy. He is waving all the time when he hears 'bye bye' or when somebody else waves to him. He fake coughs. He loves to use his pointer finger to touch small things (buttons, light switches, food) and occasionally points to the things he wants. There is probably more, but that's all I can think of right now. He is so much fun and constantly makes me smile or laugh and he is learning so fast! I'm so glad to be his mommy!
Oliver still amazes me with the things he can do and say. I don't think there is much he can't say. He pronounces words accurately and clearly and says long sentences and has long conversations with me (that he initiates). Today I was downstairs folding clothes and he went upstairs to finish his yogurt. I could hear a strange noise and was ready to get up to see what it was and then I heard Ollie yell, "Momma, get the phone! Get the phone!" Sure enough, the strange noise was my phone vibrating off the counter. Oliver is starting to get more independent these days too. He goes to nursery all by himself and stays the whole time! I check on him a few times and he's always playing, having fun. He will play by himself (which isn't new), but he'll do it in a room by himself. He goes downstairs by himself to get toys and often stays to play. Today I heard him wake up from his nap so I went in to get him and he said, "Go Away!" So I did and he played in his crib for several minutes before climbing out and coming to get me! So cute and fun!
Sunday John didn't have his meetings in the morning so we were all able to get ready for church without any stress (doing it by myself is a little hectic). Our church meetings were great and then it was over. John took the boys home while I stayed for BYC. Our meeting was a lot of fun, Bishop Bradshaw is great! We discussed upcoming activities, girl's camp (Jolene Bradshaw is our camp director) and got approval for our fundraiser that Heidi and I are in charge of. We are going to teach the girls how to make corsages and then sell them to the men in the ward to purchase for their wives to wear on Mother's Day. I think it will be a lot of work, but fun too! I'm excited to learn how to do a little flower arranging. Heidi will be our teacher, but I learned that Jolene Bradshaw is great at flower arranging, too so hopefully she'll be on hand! After our meeting I realized that I didn't have a car to drive home so I walked. Part of the walk was with Danny from the YM and the rest was by myself in super high heels. Fred Jensen stopped and gave me a ride from Sego on! He's a nice guy and we had a fun conversation. The last thing he said to me before getting out of the car was him telling me to ask John if "he's a retard". That's because John hadn't shoveled all of our driveway yet.
Sunday afternoon my parents came down for a fun visit and then took Oliver up to Mantua to stay the night. Oliver was so excited that he wouldn't take a nap all day, just anticipating Papa & Cindy! Parker and Karlee came with them which made it more fun. Parker complained of being bored less than 5 minutes of being at our house. He's going through a bored stage in life right now. With Oliver gone we had an easy evening. We had fun celebrating Luke's birthday, talking with family and eating the most delicious brownies I've ever eaten (seriously!) In fact, I've been craving brownies ever since.
Monday we did not get to sleep in. We got up and did our usual Monday things, except that John was home. So, after Lincoln went down for a nap I exercise at home and John went to the gym (with Mark? I think they played raquetball for a couple hours). Later in the day we did some serious shopping at the mall. I got a few new things! John got a couple new things. The boys got nothing.
After shopping we went to Mantua for a couple hours, visited, played, ate, and brought Oliver back home. I was happy to see him again and have him back at home.
Tuesday felt like Monday all day, only a really good Monday. I'm not sure if it was the beautiful warm weather that put me in such a good mood, but we were all happy and content all day long. Oliver played outside in the morning for a few minutes (because our reading class was cancelled) and then he took an early nap (fell asleep while I was exercising and he was watching a movie). After lunch we spent a couple hours outside in the warm sun. Oliver took out 2 little animals and had fun 'burying' them in the snow (they were never fully buried, except once and we never did find that animal. He also enjoyed finding sticks (called them alligators) and throwing them into the water in the gutter. I read several articles from the Ensign while playing with him (linc was napping). I made dinner early (by accident) and then John left for the gym with Mark and I took the boys shopping for an hour and a half. We had a great time shopping (at Old Navy) and both boys were cute and entertaining the whole time. I purchased several things and was pleased as punch when I came home! John got home about the same time as us so we all sat down to eat our dinner together. Now we are just hanging out, playing, etc.
Lincoln has been learning so much lately that I want to write it all down. First, his communication is getting so good. He says several 'words' now including: dada, mama (only a couple times), baba, and other nonsensical babbling phrases (rara, dee dee, lala, etc). He is understanding a lot of things too. I can say, "Where's Lincoln?" and he immediately plays Peek a Boo. I tell him to bobble his head and his head starts bobbling side to side. I ask him if he wants a baba (bottle) and he about goes crazy until I make it (then he doesn't drink much of it). I tell him to bounce and his knees start bouncing so much he almost has his feet off the ground. He is getting really good at moving around on his tummy, though not crawling. He has started pulling himself up to standing all the time at new places (the couch, the side of Ollie's bed, and his usual spots). He is cruising along the furniture more and more, getting comfortable on his feet. He can sit himself back up from his tummy. He is waving all the time when he hears 'bye bye' or when somebody else waves to him. He fake coughs. He loves to use his pointer finger to touch small things (buttons, light switches, food) and occasionally points to the things he wants. There is probably more, but that's all I can think of right now. He is so much fun and constantly makes me smile or laugh and he is learning so fast! I'm so glad to be his mommy!
Oliver still amazes me with the things he can do and say. I don't think there is much he can't say. He pronounces words accurately and clearly and says long sentences and has long conversations with me (that he initiates). Today I was downstairs folding clothes and he went upstairs to finish his yogurt. I could hear a strange noise and was ready to get up to see what it was and then I heard Ollie yell, "Momma, get the phone! Get the phone!" Sure enough, the strange noise was my phone vibrating off the counter. Oliver is starting to get more independent these days too. He goes to nursery all by himself and stays the whole time! I check on him a few times and he's always playing, having fun. He will play by himself (which isn't new), but he'll do it in a room by himself. He goes downstairs by himself to get toys and often stays to play. Today I heard him wake up from his nap so I went in to get him and he said, "Go Away!" So I did and he played in his crib for several minutes before climbing out and coming to get me! So cute and fun!
February 16, 2008
The weekends are so great! I love having John home during the day. This morning I let John sleep in because he rarely gets to sleep in any more because he either works or goes to the gym on Saturdays and has meetings in the mornings on Sundays. So, he slept in while I ate my bowl of oatmeal with the boys, sharing bites of mine with both boys. By 9:30 Lincoln was ready for his first nap so I let Oliver watch a movie in my room while I worked out in the basement to my 2 new DVDs. I got a great ab video and a Dancing with the Stars video. The abs video is great and the other one is okay. I enjoyed learning the Jive/Lindy and felt great an hour later. While I was home exercising John was 'doing his exercising' at the gym (that's how Oliver says it). The rest of the day was spent napping (all 4 of us at the same time and in different rooms), eating lunch at our new Cafe Rio and eating junk food. At 6:30 Mark came over for pizza and stayed for a long time talking and watching the Elmo's Potty movie with Oliver while laughing at the potty lingo (words used: wee wee, woo woo, dukie, tinkle, urinating, etc.). Mom came over at 7:30 after the boys were in bed and watched her shows on the DVR while John and I went to the Stake Valentines Dance. Bishop Bradshaw and his band performed while we got our groove on with several ward members. Good times!
John doesn't work on Monday! Yipee!
John doesn't work on Monday! Yipee!
February 15, 2008
Did everybody have a great Valentine's Day? I sure did! The morning started out very normal with breakfast, exercise, Lincoln's nap, etc. I decided to make chili for dinner because John loves chili. I had it in the crockpot before lunch! After lunch I gave the boys their baths for an hour (they LOVE the water!). MK came over to babysit the boys at 4:15 (John showed up almost at the same time so her walk over in curlers was unnecessary, sorry!) At 4:20 I left for an appointment for a facial! Wahoo! This was my first facial and I absolutely loved it. It was at a very high-end spa and everything about it was great. I was first taken to my private room where we discussed my regimen, etc. Then I was taken to a little booth where they turn on special lights to look at my skin. Yikes! Under the light I had deep purple circles under my eyes and brown speckled spots all over. I learned the purple is dehydration, the brown is sun spots. I thought it was terrible, but I learned that my skin was very healthy after all (sun spots are normal?) Then I was taken back to my room where I was to get completely undressed (for a facial?). I then layed in a very comfortable heated bed for the next hour while my face was washed, massaged, exfoliated, wrapped in hot towels, steamed, etc. It was amazing! I left feeling like a whole new person! I learned that my annoyingly shiny forehead is a healthy glow (aw man! nothing I can do about it) and I need to use better moisturizer at night.
After my star treatment at the spa I came home to a clean house, the kids were fed and a bunch of valentine balloons were floating in the kitchen. The boys loved the balloons (still do today) and I loved the gift in the little pink bag. John got me a very cute pair of capri pajama bottoms that I put on immediately! They are really cute and comfortable. I wore them to watch Heroes in the basement with John! What a great day!
After my star treatment at the spa I came home to a clean house, the kids were fed and a bunch of valentine balloons were floating in the kitchen. The boys loved the balloons (still do today) and I loved the gift in the little pink bag. John got me a very cute pair of capri pajama bottoms that I put on immediately! They are really cute and comfortable. I wore them to watch Heroes in the basement with John! What a great day!
February 12, 2008
It's been a fun Tuesday! I woke up with John this morning so I could workout and shower before the boys woke up. It felt great getting it out of the way and I was totally ready by the time the boys were up. We had our typical breakfast of oatmeal with sides of turkey bacon (me) and bananas (Linc & Ollie) and milk (just Oliver). At 10:30 we got in the car and drove to South Salt Lake to visit my friends at Lincoln Elem. My good friend Gayle has been asking me to come out and see her, the rest of the faculty, and little Ahado--one of my African students. We arrived within 20 minutes and were welcomed with great big hugs from the secretaries. They were all excited to see us (mostly the boys). Linc and Ollie enjoyed the attention and loved watching the fish in the office. We made our way to the faculty room and found more friends excited to see us (it's great to be loved!). We visited, passed Lincoln around and Oliver sorted paper clips and counted them (much to the delight of the teachers). As I walked down the hallway I was stopped by several other people before making it to my old classroom to see Gayle. We hugged and visited and she carried Lincoln around. We ended up in the library where Oliver found some great animal magazines to look at and Lincoln was entertained by Karen the librarian. We had so much fun visiting!
After a couple hours we walked out to the car and Oliver saw a tractor parked in the back of the parking lot. We weren't in a hurry so I took him to get a close up look at it. He was in awe, until he heard some loud dogs barking in a backyard. He barked at them and 'played' with them (difficult with a fence) and then I decided to feed the boys so we had a little picnic in the parking lot. The weather was so nice that I ended up taking them on a 30 minute walk around the neighborhood. By the time we got home over 3 hours had passed and it was nap time!
I worked on some things for Young Womens and cooked a beef stew (delicious). Later I went over to work with Heidi on our Young Womens stuff (preparations for New Beginnings tomorrow). Now John is at an EQ meeting while I am waiting for his return so I can go to book club!
After a couple hours we walked out to the car and Oliver saw a tractor parked in the back of the parking lot. We weren't in a hurry so I took him to get a close up look at it. He was in awe, until he heard some loud dogs barking in a backyard. He barked at them and 'played' with them (difficult with a fence) and then I decided to feed the boys so we had a little picnic in the parking lot. The weather was so nice that I ended up taking them on a 30 minute walk around the neighborhood. By the time we got home over 3 hours had passed and it was nap time!
I worked on some things for Young Womens and cooked a beef stew (delicious). Later I went over to work with Heidi on our Young Womens stuff (preparations for New Beginnings tomorrow). Now John is at an EQ meeting while I am waiting for his return so I can go to book club!
February 11, 2008
Sunday we had some great lessons at church. Our sacrament speakers were Patriarch Eddington and his wife. They spoke about how the prophets have affected their lives. I was impressed with Bro. Eddington's memory and thought they did a sweet job. Dennis taught a great lesson in Sunday School. This was the 3rd (or 4th?) week in a row that John and I have both been able to attend Sunday School because Oliver has miraculously decided he actually likes nursery! Yippee! After church I had a board meeting so John took the boys home. Later we enjoyed our FHE at the Doyle home! Dinner was great even though we ate a modified version of it in an attempt to eat heathy (brought our own bread and fat-free cheese and had some salad that I made intentionally to be healthy).
Monday was great. I cleaned almost the entire house including sweeping and mopping the hardwood floors by hand. I did 6 loads of laundry (why so much this week I wonder?) and planned a menu for the next 3 weeks and bought the groceries for it. What a day!
Tomorrow I am hoping to go back to Lincoln Elem. to visit my friend Gayle and see a few other friends that are still there. Plus one of my African students has moved back and asks to see me everyday! Cute!
February 8, 2008
Friday! Ya!
Lincoln has been doing some new things lately. He is pulling up and cruising, but mostly in his crib. Last night he and Ollie were taking a bath and Lincoln decided that it would be appropriate to stand up in the bath tub. I did NOT think it appropriate, but he stood up every time I sat him back down. Silly boy! Today has been a day of new sounds and peek-a-boo! He was saying 'nana' a lot today and then I watched him experiment with his tongue as he made the 'r' sound and the 'l' sound and then repeated them in his babble talking. My favorite thing he's been doing is playing peek-a-boo. It's so cute! I just sit him down on the floor and give him a towel/burp cloth/blankie and he loves to play with it. Now I give him one and say 'Where's Lincoln?" and he quickly brings the towel up to cover his face and then immediately brings it down while smiling and saying "aaa boo!" Adorable! He did it all day long today and even showed John when he got home from work!
Oliver has had a car day today. He has played with his cars everywhere: on the kitchen table, in the front window, at Costco (he carried them around in a grocery bag), downstairs, etc. He loves to line them up and name their colors (correct only about 30% of the time) or he turns them upside down and makes them go 'nigh night. He drives them around and crashes them and stacks them on top of each other. It's fun to see him playing and creating and experimenting. Yesterday was an animal day where he played with his little plastic animals all day long doing similar things as with the cars. He's also been playing a couple games. He loves 'Ring a round the Rosies' and asks for me to sing it all day long (he sings some of it, but rather slowly) and he loves 'Once there was a Snowman' too (especially in the bathtub?!?)
My kids are so much fun! They're also very demanding of my time.
Yesterday I worked out twice to help me not feel so guilty about eating out at lunch. That means that my body was stiff and sore today. I did not let that stop me from working out though! I did a nice hour-long workout and am still a little sore, but I'm glad I have been staying so healthy. While the boys took their afternoon naps (oliver's only nap) I went out front with a shovel (borrowed from the neighbors across the street--without permission!) and a metal stake. For the past week we have had people getting stuck in our driveway or bottoming out when they pull in or out. That's because we have a build-up of snow on both sides of the gutter, creating a much deeper gutter that is filled with slushy water. I hoped that it was warm enough to just shovel up, but instead it was still frozen solid so I had to hammer at it with the metal stake and then shovel a little out, repeated several times. I only cleared about a 2 foot section in the hour I was out there (though made a dent in several other places) so I gave up and hope that John can try it tomorrow.
Lincoln has been doing some new things lately. He is pulling up and cruising, but mostly in his crib. Last night he and Ollie were taking a bath and Lincoln decided that it would be appropriate to stand up in the bath tub. I did NOT think it appropriate, but he stood up every time I sat him back down. Silly boy! Today has been a day of new sounds and peek-a-boo! He was saying 'nana' a lot today and then I watched him experiment with his tongue as he made the 'r' sound and the 'l' sound and then repeated them in his babble talking. My favorite thing he's been doing is playing peek-a-boo. It's so cute! I just sit him down on the floor and give him a towel/burp cloth/blankie and he loves to play with it. Now I give him one and say 'Where's Lincoln?" and he quickly brings the towel up to cover his face and then immediately brings it down while smiling and saying "aaa boo!" Adorable! He did it all day long today and even showed John when he got home from work!
Oliver has had a car day today. He has played with his cars everywhere: on the kitchen table, in the front window, at Costco (he carried them around in a grocery bag), downstairs, etc. He loves to line them up and name their colors (correct only about 30% of the time) or he turns them upside down and makes them go 'nigh night. He drives them around and crashes them and stacks them on top of each other. It's fun to see him playing and creating and experimenting. Yesterday was an animal day where he played with his little plastic animals all day long doing similar things as with the cars. He's also been playing a couple games. He loves 'Ring a round the Rosies' and asks for me to sing it all day long (he sings some of it, but rather slowly) and he loves 'Once there was a Snowman' too (especially in the bathtub?!?)
My kids are so much fun! They're also very demanding of my time.
Yesterday I worked out twice to help me not feel so guilty about eating out at lunch. That means that my body was stiff and sore today. I did not let that stop me from working out though! I did a nice hour-long workout and am still a little sore, but I'm glad I have been staying so healthy. While the boys took their afternoon naps (oliver's only nap) I went out front with a shovel (borrowed from the neighbors across the street--without permission!) and a metal stake. For the past week we have had people getting stuck in our driveway or bottoming out when they pull in or out. That's because we have a build-up of snow on both sides of the gutter, creating a much deeper gutter that is filled with slushy water. I hoped that it was warm enough to just shovel up, but instead it was still frozen solid so I had to hammer at it with the metal stake and then shovel a little out, repeated several times. I only cleared about a 2 foot section in the hour I was out there (though made a dent in several other places) so I gave up and hope that John can try it tomorrow.
February 7, 2008
I went to lunch today with my friend, Chantel. I took my 2 little boys and she took her two kids (one is 11 months, the other is 5). With only 2 adults and 4 little kids it was a little crazy, but a lot of fun! We were seated clear in the back with only 2 tables close enough to hear the craziness. The floor was a mess by the time we left (with Oliver dropping food & the 2 babies dropping everything). I did my best to clean it up, but felt bad when I walked away and looked back. It was a little embarrassing! We had a really good time chatting and eating. It's nice to get out with friends on occasion! Now the boys are going to sleep for a couple hours (hopefully) while I do another workout (to help make up for lunch, though I did order heathy, just too much!) then I will do some cleaning and reading! I just finished reading my 4th book in less than 2 weeks. I am getting so tired though because I keep staying up way past my bedtime (way past midnight on a few occasions). I do love to read! I still have the 4th book of the Uglies series to read. I had to stop the series for a couple days to read The W esting Game for book club. It was a good book, similar to Clue! 'Bye Bye Alligator!" (that's what Ollie would say if he were still awake!)
February 6, 2008
No entries to view today, how boring!
Super Bowl Sunday was pretty fun. We drove to my parent's house for some playing/visiting time and then walked through the narrow street to my grandparent's house. I was surprised by the amount of snow in Mantua. It always exciting to stand in the street and be surrounded by towering snowpiles several feet over my head. I think they have about 4 feet of snow on the ground, but the streets are so narrow that when they are plowed, the snowbanks are enormous. It felt a little like being a little kid in a big, big world. Fun! The game was good. I watched very little of it, but John watched most of it. The food was great and I stuffed myself with enchiladas, brownies, chicken wings dipped in amazing blue cheese dressing (my aunt's claim to fame), chips & salsa, peanut butter cookies, etc. It was a a good night!
Monday was busy with cleaning, doing laundry, babysitting Levi (only for a couple hours) and running errands. We had Family Home Evening after dinner. It's fun to teach Oliver and sings songs as a family. I told him the story of Joseph Smith praying in the garden and being visited by Heavenly Father and Jesus! We have a little picture book version of the Book of Mormon and Oliver enjoyed seeing the pictures. We sang several songs complete with actions and then it was over and almost time for bed.
Tuesday was busy with making invitations for the YW New Beginnigs. I had a hard time printing them (ours doesn't work, Kinko's couldn't get it right and the parent's didn't print them quite right either). I was disapointed in the printing, but the actual invitation turned out great! I really do love them! Making the invites took a long time so I worked on them any spare moment I had during the day. I was pleased when they were all finished. Tuesday night I went to Enrichment. We met at the church and then drove to South Salt Lake to go to the Christmas Box House. It's a homeless shelter for children. There were about 30 women (including our Laurels) and only about 10 kids. Many of the women helped clean the playroom, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself playing games with some of the kids and reading them stories. They were cute little kids. One little boy (a very smal 5th grader) was crazy and had a foul-mouth, but opened up to us by the end of the evening. It was a great experience!
Yesterday I finished book number 3 in the Uglies series. I carry the books all over the house with me reading a page or 2 whenever I get a chance. They are great books! I just barely started #4, Extras, but stopped before I got interested in it because I need to read The Westing Game for book club on Tuesday. I've read it before (a few years ago) so hopefully I will remember it as I go!
Lincoln is starting to do things lately. He moves in circles when he's on his tummy and pulls himself up to standing in his crib (about the only place he can hold onto something). He loves to stand in his crib and hold the railing and jump with a big grin on his face. He's so funny and happy! I love it!
Oliver continues to amaze me with his speaking. I don't think there is anything he can't say. He wakes up in the morning saying, "Good morning Mommy!" and says excuse me and other cute, polite things. Now, if I could just figure out a way to stop him from being so aggressive then things would be easier for me!
Super Bowl Sunday was pretty fun. We drove to my parent's house for some playing/visiting time and then walked through the narrow street to my grandparent's house. I was surprised by the amount of snow in Mantua. It always exciting to stand in the street and be surrounded by towering snowpiles several feet over my head. I think they have about 4 feet of snow on the ground, but the streets are so narrow that when they are plowed, the snowbanks are enormous. It felt a little like being a little kid in a big, big world. Fun! The game was good. I watched very little of it, but John watched most of it. The food was great and I stuffed myself with enchiladas, brownies, chicken wings dipped in amazing blue cheese dressing (my aunt's claim to fame), chips & salsa, peanut butter cookies, etc. It was a a good night!
Monday was busy with cleaning, doing laundry, babysitting Levi (only for a couple hours) and running errands. We had Family Home Evening after dinner. It's fun to teach Oliver and sings songs as a family. I told him the story of Joseph Smith praying in the garden and being visited by Heavenly Father and Jesus! We have a little picture book version of the Book of Mormon and Oliver enjoyed seeing the pictures. We sang several songs complete with actions and then it was over and almost time for bed.
Tuesday was busy with making invitations for the YW New Beginnigs. I had a hard time printing them (ours doesn't work, Kinko's couldn't get it right and the parent's didn't print them quite right either). I was disapointed in the printing, but the actual invitation turned out great! I really do love them! Making the invites took a long time so I worked on them any spare moment I had during the day. I was pleased when they were all finished. Tuesday night I went to Enrichment. We met at the church and then drove to South Salt Lake to go to the Christmas Box House. It's a homeless shelter for children. There were about 30 women (including our Laurels) and only about 10 kids. Many of the women helped clean the playroom, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself playing games with some of the kids and reading them stories. They were cute little kids. One little boy (a very smal 5th grader) was crazy and had a foul-mouth, but opened up to us by the end of the evening. It was a great experience!
Yesterday I finished book number 3 in the Uglies series. I carry the books all over the house with me reading a page or 2 whenever I get a chance. They are great books! I just barely started #4, Extras, but stopped before I got interested in it because I need to read The Westing Game for book club on Tuesday. I've read it before (a few years ago) so hopefully I will remember it as I go!
Lincoln is starting to do things lately. He moves in circles when he's on his tummy and pulls himself up to standing in his crib (about the only place he can hold onto something). He loves to stand in his crib and hold the railing and jump with a big grin on his face. He's so funny and happy! I love it!
Oliver continues to amaze me with his speaking. I don't think there is anything he can't say. He wakes up in the morning saying, "Good morning Mommy!" and says excuse me and other cute, polite things. Now, if I could just figure out a way to stop him from being so aggressive then things would be easier for me!
February 2, 2008
Go Giants! Go! Just kidding! Tomorrow is the Super Bowl and I think the Giants are playing, not really sure, and I have no idea who the other team is. Having said that, I am excited to go to a Super Bowl party tomorrow. My Grandma Hansen is hosting the party and all my family (immediate plus aunts, uncles, and cousins) will be in attendance. The evening should be fun and exciting and the food should be even more fun and more exciting! Yummy!
Yesterday, Friday, was a laid back day. In the evening John and Mark went to the gym for 'an hour', returning 2 hours later! Boys! While they were gone I got dinner for the 4 of us and just hung out with the boys. After the munchkins went to bed John and I watched Chuck and Larry. John laughed throughout the movie and I laughed a couple times. It was weird and definitely not on my favorite list (or anywhere close to it), but it only cost a dollar to rent so I can't complain too much.
Today, Saturday, has been fun. John got up early and went to the gym with Mark again. They had a date to play raquetball for an hour, returning 2 hours later (are you sensing a pattern here?) John came home full of stories about the business he and Mark want to start up. I'm not entirely sure what the business would be, at least I don't understand it enough to explain it, but I do know that it includes millions of dollars in loans so that they could buy other people's home loans to service them and then turn around and sell them to another company. I'm still lost at the million dollar part (try 5 million dollars, eesh!)
Later in the day we went to the mall. I bought a new pair of sandals and a pair of cute shorts! I'm really excited for summer and getting myself prepared clothing-wise for Cancun next month! I even tried on a few swimsuits the other day, but want to go back and get John's opinion. After our mall trip the boys took naps while John and I read books (by read I mean John layed on the couch, eyes closed and listened to a book on the iPod! Does that count as reading?). I am reading the 3rd book in the Uglies series and loving it! I read the first 2 in one week (and I complain about not having enough time in the day, priorities!). I know Kev read them and Steph and Ashley, anybody else? They're really good books, great story line, plot, etc. They're written for Junior Highish aged kids so they are fast, easy reads! The author of this series also wrote The Midnighters trilogy which John and I both loved! That's my plug for the day!
Tonight we used a gift card and took the boys to dinner at TGIFriday. It was pretty good food, the fried green beans were fabulous dipped in some horseradish type dip. (Oliver would have said that they were, "Dewishus!") Now we're home, the kids smell yummy after their baths and they are fast asleep. John is preparing his EQ lesson for tomorrow (he chose the topic, 'sustaining a new prophet' for obvious reasons--I thought it was a great idea).
Good times are in store for tomorrow!
Yesterday, Friday, was a laid back day. In the evening John and Mark went to the gym for 'an hour', returning 2 hours later! Boys! While they were gone I got dinner for the 4 of us and just hung out with the boys. After the munchkins went to bed John and I watched Chuck and Larry. John laughed throughout the movie and I laughed a couple times. It was weird and definitely not on my favorite list (or anywhere close to it), but it only cost a dollar to rent so I can't complain too much.
Today, Saturday, has been fun. John got up early and went to the gym with Mark again. They had a date to play raquetball for an hour, returning 2 hours later (are you sensing a pattern here?) John came home full of stories about the business he and Mark want to start up. I'm not entirely sure what the business would be, at least I don't understand it enough to explain it, but I do know that it includes millions of dollars in loans so that they could buy other people's home loans to service them and then turn around and sell them to another company. I'm still lost at the million dollar part (try 5 million dollars, eesh!)
Later in the day we went to the mall. I bought a new pair of sandals and a pair of cute shorts! I'm really excited for summer and getting myself prepared clothing-wise for Cancun next month! I even tried on a few swimsuits the other day, but want to go back and get John's opinion. After our mall trip the boys took naps while John and I read books (by read I mean John layed on the couch, eyes closed and listened to a book on the iPod! Does that count as reading?). I am reading the 3rd book in the Uglies series and loving it! I read the first 2 in one week (and I complain about not having enough time in the day, priorities!). I know Kev read them and Steph and Ashley, anybody else? They're really good books, great story line, plot, etc. They're written for Junior Highish aged kids so they are fast, easy reads! The author of this series also wrote The Midnighters trilogy which John and I both loved! That's my plug for the day!
Tonight we used a gift card and took the boys to dinner at TGIFriday. It was pretty good food, the fried green beans were fabulous dipped in some horseradish type dip. (Oliver would have said that they were, "Dewishus!") Now we're home, the kids smell yummy after their baths and they are fast asleep. John is preparing his EQ lesson for tomorrow (he chose the topic, 'sustaining a new prophet' for obvious reasons--I thought it was a great idea).
Good times are in store for tomorrow!
January 31, 2008
Yesterday I babysat Lily and Noah again. It was my last time for awhile (until the spring). The kids all played really well and fun together. It was a good day. At 6:00 I went to young womens. We took the girls & the young men ice skating and had a blast. I wasn't prepared in time so I forgot to change my ankle socks to tall socks. I really regretted not changing them because the skates rubbed my ankle bones raw (and my legs where the skates ended). I haven't ice skated in years (over 10 years) but it only took my one skate around the rink to feel comfortable again. I never learned to stop because I was a chicken and afraid of falling, but I can skate pretty well frontwards and backwards (slowly). I helped several girls around the rink that were too afraid to let go of my arm or the side. Silly teenagers. After 2 hours of skating, talking, etc. we went back home. It was a fun day!
Today I gave the boys a bath before taking them to my friend, Cary's, house for play group. It was a small group of moms and kids so we mothers talked a lot and had fun. The rest of the day has been nice and peaceful. I cooked a yummy dinner and then John went to his basketball game. They won! John said that he and Mark were awesome on the court making all their free throws and a few 3-pointers. I'm glad that John likes basketball so much and has so much fun!
Tomorrow is Friday! Ya!
Today I gave the boys a bath before taking them to my friend, Cary's, house for play group. It was a small group of moms and kids so we mothers talked a lot and had fun. The rest of the day has been nice and peaceful. I cooked a yummy dinner and then John went to his basketball game. They won! John said that he and Mark were awesome on the court making all their free throws and a few 3-pointers. I'm glad that John likes basketball so much and has so much fun!
Tomorrow is Friday! Ya!
January 29, 008
Oliver loves The Lion King. It all started about a month ago when he watched the movie at my parent's house. He watched it on my parent's bed with most of his cousins and my dad. Since watching the movie he is always asking, "Watch Lion King with Papa?" Then on Sunday he found a Lion King book about Simba and Nala. He loved it so much that the nursery leader let him borrow it for the week. I have read it to him several times each day. I practically have it memorized. Then on Sunday night we borrowed the movie from Kim & Andy. Ollie's only watched it once since, but he just loves it! He sits and stares at the TV. I ask him questions and he tells me all about the animals that he sees. It's pretty cute, but I'm sure it will be hard to part with the book at church next week or the movie whenever that happens.
Lincoln is taking steps more and more while holding on to the couch or the railing of his crib. He likes to 'walk' from the couch to my shoulder (when I am sitting against the couch) and then to my knee. It's pretty cute! If this boy doesn't start crawling soon I'm starting to hope he'll start walking soon instead because he is getting super heavy. I'll wish that he couldn't move once he does so we'll see. Today he also learned how to turn on the musical toy hanging in his crib (a birthday present to Oliver from Grandma Doyle). He loves the toy and loves to see it move! He's a cute boy!
Today I didn't babysit and I almost got bored, but not quite. I played with the boys, went to the store for milk and hairspray and read a bunch of books to the boys. I was happy when they took their afternoon naps at the same time and for so long because that gave me a chance to read my book, Uglies, that I borrowed from Steph. It's a great book so far. After a long time of reading I got dinner prepared. It was a pot of soup. I love 'one pot wonders' because the clean-up is so easy! Oliver refused to eat it (as usual) and Lincoln loved it and begged for more! Most days he only eats baby jarred foods for one meal. The other meal is usually what we are eating (or at least a variation of it). I have introduced him to meats and he loves them all. He still hasn't eaten dairy products, but I think that's not supposed to happen until 9 months, so we'll wait a while for that!
Tomorrow I babysit and then I have Young Womens. We are going ice skating and leaving at 6:15. Oh, that reminds me that I have to go call my girls to remind them about tomorrow!
Lincoln is taking steps more and more while holding on to the couch or the railing of his crib. He likes to 'walk' from the couch to my shoulder (when I am sitting against the couch) and then to my knee. It's pretty cute! If this boy doesn't start crawling soon I'm starting to hope he'll start walking soon instead because he is getting super heavy. I'll wish that he couldn't move once he does so we'll see. Today he also learned how to turn on the musical toy hanging in his crib (a birthday present to Oliver from Grandma Doyle). He loves the toy and loves to see it move! He's a cute boy!
Today I didn't babysit and I almost got bored, but not quite. I played with the boys, went to the store for milk and hairspray and read a bunch of books to the boys. I was happy when they took their afternoon naps at the same time and for so long because that gave me a chance to read my book, Uglies, that I borrowed from Steph. It's a great book so far. After a long time of reading I got dinner prepared. It was a pot of soup. I love 'one pot wonders' because the clean-up is so easy! Oliver refused to eat it (as usual) and Lincoln loved it and begged for more! Most days he only eats baby jarred foods for one meal. The other meal is usually what we are eating (or at least a variation of it). I have introduced him to meats and he loves them all. He still hasn't eaten dairy products, but I think that's not supposed to happen until 9 months, so we'll wait a while for that!
Tomorrow I babysit and then I have Young Womens. We are going ice skating and leaving at 6:15. Oh, that reminds me that I have to go call my girls to remind them about tomorrow!
January 28, 2008
We had a nice weekend. I'm not entirely sure what we did all weekend, but I remember that it was nice. Saturday was our free day so that always makes me happy. By the end of the day John and I were both saying how all week we dream of great things to eat and then end up not eating all that bad after all. Good this be the start of good habits? Saturday evening we took the boys out to dinner. They were both great at the restaurant (Applebee's) eating their food. Oliver had mac n cheese and I had a cheese pasta dish. Lincoln ate some of my food and some of John's potatoes. He sure does love to eat off of our plates.
Sunday started early for us. John had his meetings so I got up and got the boys ready and then myself. We were ready and at church a couple minutes early! The heater was broken so we stayed in our coats the whole time! Oliver went to the nursery on his own and stayed the entire time! I was so grateful and his leaders said that he did great the whole time! Ya! After church my folks stopped by and then I had a 2 hour meeting and then we went to sing Happy Birthday to Oaks. The whole drive out to Herriman Oliver sang songs (happy birthday to oakley, twinkle twinkle, itsy bitsy spider, etc) He also enjoyed pointing out the scenery (flags, trees, trucks, mountains, lights). Lincoln go bored after 20 minutes so I sat by him and held his hand. I loved being with the family, hearing steph's dating stories, hearing Oliver tell Oakley that he should share his presents and borrowing Lion King (Oliver's new favorite).
Monday I babysat again and the day went very smoothly. Oliver plays great with Lily and pretty good with Noah. They had fun running around, playing with the baby animals, playing in the tent, eating food and helped me clean up the toys a couple times. Lincoln took 2 naps during the day and I was amazed he could sleep through all the commotion.
I was shocked by the sudden snowstorm today (I knew it was coming sooner or later, but when I looked out the window the sun was shining and then 2 minutes later it was a blizzard). I hear that we are supposed to get several more storms this week. I would love for spring to be here already, but if we have to still have cold winter weather I'm glad that we have snow too. It doesn't seem so dreary when there is snow on the ground!
Tonight John went to the gym and then shoveled the driveway with the help of a neighbor on a four-wheeler! I gave the boys a bath (after spaghetti, Lincoln was a mess) and now they are fast asleep!
Sunday started early for us. John had his meetings so I got up and got the boys ready and then myself. We were ready and at church a couple minutes early! The heater was broken so we stayed in our coats the whole time! Oliver went to the nursery on his own and stayed the entire time! I was so grateful and his leaders said that he did great the whole time! Ya! After church my folks stopped by and then I had a 2 hour meeting and then we went to sing Happy Birthday to Oaks. The whole drive out to Herriman Oliver sang songs (happy birthday to oakley, twinkle twinkle, itsy bitsy spider, etc) He also enjoyed pointing out the scenery (flags, trees, trucks, mountains, lights). Lincoln go bored after 20 minutes so I sat by him and held his hand. I loved being with the family, hearing steph's dating stories, hearing Oliver tell Oakley that he should share his presents and borrowing Lion King (Oliver's new favorite).
Monday I babysat again and the day went very smoothly. Oliver plays great with Lily and pretty good with Noah. They had fun running around, playing with the baby animals, playing in the tent, eating food and helped me clean up the toys a couple times. Lincoln took 2 naps during the day and I was amazed he could sleep through all the commotion.
I was shocked by the sudden snowstorm today (I knew it was coming sooner or later, but when I looked out the window the sun was shining and then 2 minutes later it was a blizzard). I hear that we are supposed to get several more storms this week. I would love for spring to be here already, but if we have to still have cold winter weather I'm glad that we have snow too. It doesn't seem so dreary when there is snow on the ground!
Tonight John went to the gym and then shoveled the driveway with the help of a neighbor on a four-wheeler! I gave the boys a bath (after spaghetti, Lincoln was a mess) and now they are fast asleep!
January 24, 2008
My little Lincoln turned 8 months old yesterday. The time goes by so quickly, especially on your 2nd. I can't believe how old he is. He has been so much fun and so cute, it's been a great 8 months. What is he doing by now? Well, he's still not crawling. There was a day last week that I was sure he would crawl by the end of the day, but that hasn't gone anywhere (or should I say he hasn't gone anywhere). He can get on all fours and rock so it might happen soon. For now I'm enjoying that he still can't move around. Yesterday I watched him walk around the ottoman. He is capable of cruising, but doesn't do it much. The same with pulling up to standing. He can do it, but doesn't do it often. That's probably all my fault because I give in and do things for him. Oops! The last week he has started getting good at balancing. Today he stood for a few seconds without holding on. Cute! He is talking a lot, still saying things like "dadada, agoo, yaya", etc. No 'mama' yet. Lincoln loves to watch other kids play, especially his big brother. He is fascinated by Ollie (honestly, so am I). Lincoln loves to eat table food, especially if it comes from my plate. He still eats his jarred foods really well so I give him that because it's easier, but he loves it when I give him bites of my food (potatoes, veggies, chicken, sliced ham, rice). He feeds himself really well, picking up 3 or 4 pieces of food and putting them all in his mouth at once. He is getting good at the pincer grasp using only 1 finger and thumb to pick up his food and feed himself. He can drink out of a cup by himself and drinks out of a sippy cup by himself too. He still makes us laugh by doing his bobble head dance. He bobbles his head randomly or with music and he just looks at you and smiles while doing it! Linc loves to clap his hands or bang toys together. He laughs and laughs when I tickle him, but when he's had enough tickling he lets you know! Right now he is laying on his tummy in his bed just watching me. He's a happy, easy to please little guy! I love him so much!
Today has been a little more hectic than yesterday. I got a late start (John woke me up but I fell back to sleep) so I didn't get to exercise this morning and the boys weren't dressed or fed when Lily and Noah arrived. The kids then refused food and wanted to play. At 10:00 friends from playgroup showed up and the house became a disaster in a matter of seconds. At one point I went in the playroom to see Lily and Noah both climbing on the wire shelves in the closet. They were standing on the bottom shelf that is now bowed and bent. Aw man! Come on! After the friends left I got a call about the window in my car. The stupid thing is costing us $500. Are you kidding me? Why on earth could it cost that much? What a pain, a very frustrating pain. Especially considering the fact that we are planning on selling it and could have sold it a month ago before this became a problem.
Well, Oliver just decided he didn't want to nap and climbed out of bed. Gotta go!
I have been exercising and eating healthy very faithfully for a couple months now (minus a week during the holidays). I am so excited to finally be seeing and feeling the results! I am getting stronger and more flexible again which feels great! Plus, I am wearing a pair of pants that I bought too small because I had hopes that they would fit soon! Well, not only do they fit, but they fit loosely! Wahoo! It's about time too! I'm going to keep working hard so that I am in better shape before Cancun, but I really enjoy working out and eating healthy so I hope to continue beyond our trip. John has been working hard at his exercising and healthy eating too! Tonight he went and played ward basketball for an hour. He was excited that they won, but sad (mad?) that he fouled out somewhere in the 3rd quarter. John is seeing the results of his BFL much faster than I am because he has lost 8 pounds this month! I'm so proud of him!
Chuck is on tonight. It's a great show that we started watching earlier this year and were excited to see that it was back on again (it ended rather abruptly). So, that's what we're doing tonight.
Today has been a little more hectic than yesterday. I got a late start (John woke me up but I fell back to sleep) so I didn't get to exercise this morning and the boys weren't dressed or fed when Lily and Noah arrived. The kids then refused food and wanted to play. At 10:00 friends from playgroup showed up and the house became a disaster in a matter of seconds. At one point I went in the playroom to see Lily and Noah both climbing on the wire shelves in the closet. They were standing on the bottom shelf that is now bowed and bent. Aw man! Come on! After the friends left I got a call about the window in my car. The stupid thing is costing us $500. Are you kidding me? Why on earth could it cost that much? What a pain, a very frustrating pain. Especially considering the fact that we are planning on selling it and could have sold it a month ago before this became a problem.
Well, Oliver just decided he didn't want to nap and climbed out of bed. Gotta go!
I have been exercising and eating healthy very faithfully for a couple months now (minus a week during the holidays). I am so excited to finally be seeing and feeling the results! I am getting stronger and more flexible again which feels great! Plus, I am wearing a pair of pants that I bought too small because I had hopes that they would fit soon! Well, not only do they fit, but they fit loosely! Wahoo! It's about time too! I'm going to keep working hard so that I am in better shape before Cancun, but I really enjoy working out and eating healthy so I hope to continue beyond our trip. John has been working hard at his exercising and healthy eating too! Tonight he went and played ward basketball for an hour. He was excited that they won, but sad (mad?) that he fouled out somewhere in the 3rd quarter. John is seeing the results of his BFL much faster than I am because he has lost 8 pounds this month! I'm so proud of him!
Chuck is on tonight. It's a great show that we started watching earlier this year and were excited to see that it was back on again (it ended rather abruptly). So, that's what we're doing tonight.
January 23, 2008
I survived my day of babysitting! I was surprised by how smoothly the day actually went! It started at 6:15 for me. I woke up early to exercise and shower before Lily and Noah were dropped off. I even had time to eat my breakfast (oatmeal & turkey bacon) while catching up on some news. My boys slept until 8:00. After they were up, dressed and fed Jeanie dropped her kids off. The first 30 minutes were rough. Lily & Noah went through all the toys in the play room and left them sitting randomly throughout the basement. Noah kept playing with Oliver's favorite toys (trains, trucks) so Oliver would get mad and take them from him. I was seriously worried about the rest of the day. However, a miracle happened and both boys started getting along rather quickly. I guess Oliver just needed to adjust to having friends over to play with him and his toys. Lily gave a motherly talk to Noah about sharing his toys and from then on the day went without a hitch. They played really well together, ate the same food, and ran around the house chasing each other. They loved Oliver's tent in his room and played in that for a long time. The day went by quickly and then Jeanie came to pick them up!
As soon as they left I drove down the street to pick up a girl for basketball practice. I had arranged for another leader to go to the church today, but couldn't find a ride for Melissa. So, on the way home I rolled my window down to talk to Jeanie as she passed me on Serpentine. I heard a clunk and a thud as the window fell. It got off its track or something and is now stuck in the door. It was a short, but chilly drive home. As soon as John came home I made him take it in to get it fixed. I hope it doesn't take long or cost much!
Tonight I have mutual at the church while the rest of the ward is attending pack meeting at the church. They are doing a cake auction so John will take the boys to that. As soon as I come home John will head back to the church for a night of basketball practice!
Tomorrow I am babysitting again. I am praying that it goes as smoothly as today. Four kids kept me busy on a fairly easy day so I'd hate to see what 4 kids is like on a hard day!
As soon as they left I drove down the street to pick up a girl for basketball practice. I had arranged for another leader to go to the church today, but couldn't find a ride for Melissa. So, on the way home I rolled my window down to talk to Jeanie as she passed me on Serpentine. I heard a clunk and a thud as the window fell. It got off its track or something and is now stuck in the door. It was a short, but chilly drive home. As soon as John came home I made him take it in to get it fixed. I hope it doesn't take long or cost much!
Tonight I have mutual at the church while the rest of the ward is attending pack meeting at the church. They are doing a cake auction so John will take the boys to that. As soon as I come home John will head back to the church for a night of basketball practice!
Tomorrow I am babysitting again. I am praying that it goes as smoothly as today. Four kids kept me busy on a fairly easy day so I'd hate to see what 4 kids is like on a hard day!
January 22, 2008
We had a great weekend! I had been looking forward to Saturday all week. We didn't have anything planned, and that's just what I wanted. I wanted to spend some time together as a family doing whatever we felt like. Too bad it didn't turn out quite like that.
Friday night I got a call from the YW pres saying that we were supposed to clean the church saturday morning. Bummer. So, I went to the church at 8:30. There were 3 other leaders and 1 guy from ym. We cleaned until 10:00 and then called it good! I came home in time for John to go to a ward member's house to help him load his truck for moving. John was gone for 2 hours before returning home. I was happy he was home at noon. Too bad he only stopped by to pick up his wallet. I guess the family was very unprepared with their move and had hardly anything packed. Plus, they had the world's smallest little trailer for loading. John ended up paying for a rental truck so that he didn't have to spend the entire day moving the family. Two hours later (2:30) he returned home exhausted and sweaty. He had worked hard (along with Mark and a few other elders from the ward). I don't really remember how we spent the rest of the day, I just remember being disapointed that things kept coming up. Chitzen Itza. It's a good thing we had Monday to replace our busy Saturday!
Sunday morning John let me sleep in until 8:00. With 9:00 church it wasn't a good day to sleep in. After I woke up I had to rush to get the boys ready, myself ready, get dinner in the crockpot, and pack the diaper bag. John helped throughout the morning so we made it to church on time. I have very exciting news to report about church. I took Oliver to the nursery (lately John has been doing it) and he immediately got clingy. I sat on a chair, disapointed and then the husband of one of the nursery leaders saw Oliver's clinginess and started to play with Oliver. He played monster trucks with him which allowed me an opportunity to leave. I wondered how long it would last and was surprised and pleased that he stayed clear until the 5-minute bell rang at the end of church! What a good boy! I made it a point to thank Billy Stone for playing with Ollie and he offered to do it everyday until Oliver felt more comfortable! Ya!
After church I had BYC. I learned that that stands for Bishop Youth Council. We had fun talking and planning and I learned some interesting things about a couple of my girls. The meeting was long and I was starving because my morning was too rushed for breakfast. As soon as I came home I grabbed a bite to eat, my crockpot dinner and then we drove up to my folk's house. We just went up for fun, nothing planned except for my meal. We had fun playing and talking and eating. Rock Band is always a hit. Oliver and Cooper and Karlee spent time running around in dance costumes and wearing necklaces. Lincoln had an accident. I sat him on the couch so I could find something in the diaper bag. Before I knew it he had fallen off of the couch, face first and landed on a pile of big Legos. His face his one Lego hard and has left it's mark (or should I say marks?) He has a bruise, several little cuts, and a swollen line where I imagine he scraped along the lego. Poor kiddo! I felt terrible and was harassed several times before the night was over for neglecting my child (mostly from John).
Monday was a great day. It was exactly what I wanted Saturday to be. We spent some great time together as a family, playing in the play room, running around etc. We didn't go out in the snow as a family because I didn't want to be cold and wet or have cold, wet clothes everywhere. John managed to shovel the driveway with a lot of help from his dad and Mark. Later in the day we went to dinner (ate salads) and did some grocery shopping at Costco and Macey's. Macey's was expensive, but their produce sure is great! I probably won't do much shopping there again because it was just too expensive. We got home late and tried to watch a movie after putting the boys to bed, but I fell asleep.
Today is Tuesday and it has been as normal as possible, except that I have gotten the date wrong twice and have thought of it as Monday most of the day. I used my new (now broken) mop to mop the bathrooms and kitchen. I folded some laundry. I exercised. I read some stories to the boys and played a lot of trucks and trains. I just finished cooking dinner (fajitas) and then need to make 20 phone calls to the girls in our YW about basketball tomorrow!
Tomorrow I am babysitting Jeanies 2 oldest kids for the day (and again on Thursday). Wish me luck!
Friday night I got a call from the YW pres saying that we were supposed to clean the church saturday morning. Bummer. So, I went to the church at 8:30. There were 3 other leaders and 1 guy from ym. We cleaned until 10:00 and then called it good! I came home in time for John to go to a ward member's house to help him load his truck for moving. John was gone for 2 hours before returning home. I was happy he was home at noon. Too bad he only stopped by to pick up his wallet. I guess the family was very unprepared with their move and had hardly anything packed. Plus, they had the world's smallest little trailer for loading. John ended up paying for a rental truck so that he didn't have to spend the entire day moving the family. Two hours later (2:30) he returned home exhausted and sweaty. He had worked hard (along with Mark and a few other elders from the ward). I don't really remember how we spent the rest of the day, I just remember being disapointed that things kept coming up. Chitzen Itza. It's a good thing we had Monday to replace our busy Saturday!
Sunday morning John let me sleep in until 8:00. With 9:00 church it wasn't a good day to sleep in. After I woke up I had to rush to get the boys ready, myself ready, get dinner in the crockpot, and pack the diaper bag. John helped throughout the morning so we made it to church on time. I have very exciting news to report about church. I took Oliver to the nursery (lately John has been doing it) and he immediately got clingy. I sat on a chair, disapointed and then the husband of one of the nursery leaders saw Oliver's clinginess and started to play with Oliver. He played monster trucks with him which allowed me an opportunity to leave. I wondered how long it would last and was surprised and pleased that he stayed clear until the 5-minute bell rang at the end of church! What a good boy! I made it a point to thank Billy Stone for playing with Ollie and he offered to do it everyday until Oliver felt more comfortable! Ya!
After church I had BYC. I learned that that stands for Bishop Youth Council. We had fun talking and planning and I learned some interesting things about a couple of my girls. The meeting was long and I was starving because my morning was too rushed for breakfast. As soon as I came home I grabbed a bite to eat, my crockpot dinner and then we drove up to my folk's house. We just went up for fun, nothing planned except for my meal. We had fun playing and talking and eating. Rock Band is always a hit. Oliver and Cooper and Karlee spent time running around in dance costumes and wearing necklaces. Lincoln had an accident. I sat him on the couch so I could find something in the diaper bag. Before I knew it he had fallen off of the couch, face first and landed on a pile of big Legos. His face his one Lego hard and has left it's mark (or should I say marks?) He has a bruise, several little cuts, and a swollen line where I imagine he scraped along the lego. Poor kiddo! I felt terrible and was harassed several times before the night was over for neglecting my child (mostly from John).
Monday was a great day. It was exactly what I wanted Saturday to be. We spent some great time together as a family, playing in the play room, running around etc. We didn't go out in the snow as a family because I didn't want to be cold and wet or have cold, wet clothes everywhere. John managed to shovel the driveway with a lot of help from his dad and Mark. Later in the day we went to dinner (ate salads) and did some grocery shopping at Costco and Macey's. Macey's was expensive, but their produce sure is great! I probably won't do much shopping there again because it was just too expensive. We got home late and tried to watch a movie after putting the boys to bed, but I fell asleep.
Today is Tuesday and it has been as normal as possible, except that I have gotten the date wrong twice and have thought of it as Monday most of the day. I used my new (now broken) mop to mop the bathrooms and kitchen. I folded some laundry. I exercised. I read some stories to the boys and played a lot of trucks and trains. I just finished cooking dinner (fajitas) and then need to make 20 phone calls to the girls in our YW about basketball tomorrow!
Tomorrow I am babysitting Jeanies 2 oldest kids for the day (and again on Thursday). Wish me luck!
January 17, 2008
I've felt so busy lately. I'm not really sure why.
Tuesday nights John is gone for his EQ meetings. This week he felt like they accomplished a lot and visited with some families. He really likes this calling and the bishopric is always thanking him/us for his missionary work, etc. I'm pleased he is doing so great at it!
Tuesday I took the boys to the mall. I didn't shop, but wanted to take the boys to Dino Towne so they could run around and play. Oliver had a blast! He ran around, went up and down the slides, jumped off of things, made some buddies, and climbed up things. Lincoln had almost as much fun watching Oliver and the other kids do the same thing. Tuesday evening I made almost 20 phone calls to remind all the girls about basketball. I spoke to almost every girl and all were excited with a few exceptions.
Wednesday I went to the church at 4:00 for basketball practice. The only girls that went were the 2 that I took. Bummer. Plus, we had some conflicts with a bishop from a different ward who wants the building when I am supposed to have it. After nearly an hour of Oliver running around the gym and the two girls practicing dribbling and shooting we left. Did I mention that one of the 2 girls that showed up recently had foot surgery and has a cast, unable to play. She knelt on the floor and made many baskets. Too bad she can't play. I didn't go to the game on Thursday, but I'm assuming we forfeited.
After practice I went home and prepared dinner, cleaned and then got ready for mutual. We met at the church and then divided into our classes for class activities. My mia maids came back to the folk's house for our activity. We could have come to my house but the boys are going to bed when we would be arriving so I figured it would just be easier to go to Heidi's house! We made and ate crepes and then talked and planned our activities for the next couple months. Heidi had a list of some fun activities and the girls seemed excited about most. The girls didn't really think of much on their own, they were too busy socializing. After we took everybody home I went back to the church for a very long presidency meeting where we planned our upcoming activity (suddenly forgot the name of it). I felt bad that John missed his basketball practice. He always plays on Wednesday nights at the church, but he couldn't this week because of my meeting. What a long day!
Thursday I took the boys over to play group. Oliver loved it because Mitchell has a lot of trains. Lincoln had fun chewing on Oliver's sweatshirt and watching the kids run around. I love talking so I just sat and chatted with the 5 other girls until it was time to clean up. John came home from work and left shortly thereafter for his basketball game. John came home pleased that he got to play the whole game and that they won! Wahoo! He came home from his game, showered and then left for some hometeaching. He teaches a very interesting family that have issues with the law. He always comes home with some interesting story or another! Their youngest daughter is in Young Womens and she told John that I am blonde. Hmm...what exactly does that mean?
Thursday night Brent & Jeanie Wade along with Steph and Aaron came over for a night of Rock Band (as reported by Steph). We had a great time playing, singing, visiting, etc. I didn't play as much as last time, giving others a chance to play. I'm very impressed with Brent's skills at karaoke (matching the singers' voices so well--even the raspy, high-pitched ones). Aaron is awesome at the guitar, playing the hardest level and getting 95%. He's a great match for Steph! I pretended like I was great at the drums, but was out of practice and didn't do as great as last time. Bummer. We stayed up late playing and talking!
Friday morning I decided to take Oliver to get his hair cut. Kristy always does it, but lately she's had a hard time because Oliver doesn't sit still and always wants to play with his cousins that are running around. I think she'll be relieved that I finally took him somewhere else (at least I hope she is). I told the girl to cut the back/sides short but leave the top a little long. Well, after trimming the back and sides she grabbed a chunk of hair up top and took off over an inch. It's short, but adorable! He's so cute!
Tonight I went to dinner with some friends from college that I see once (or twice) a year. Virginia is in town from Connecticut and Rachel was up from Cedar City. They came to pick me up and meet my boys (other times we've always met at a restaurant). They were excited to see my kids and talked about them all night! We drove to the Spaghetti Factory and met up with Emily. We ate delicious food and talked for 3 hours. It was a blast. I took my camera for some group shots and totally forgot to take any. The conversations were so great that it just slipped my mind.
Now it's after nine, but we're still hoping to watch a movie (or maybe a couple episodes of Prison Break!)
Tuesday nights John is gone for his EQ meetings. This week he felt like they accomplished a lot and visited with some families. He really likes this calling and the bishopric is always thanking him/us for his missionary work, etc. I'm pleased he is doing so great at it!
Tuesday I took the boys to the mall. I didn't shop, but wanted to take the boys to Dino Towne so they could run around and play. Oliver had a blast! He ran around, went up and down the slides, jumped off of things, made some buddies, and climbed up things. Lincoln had almost as much fun watching Oliver and the other kids do the same thing. Tuesday evening I made almost 20 phone calls to remind all the girls about basketball. I spoke to almost every girl and all were excited with a few exceptions.
Wednesday I went to the church at 4:00 for basketball practice. The only girls that went were the 2 that I took. Bummer. Plus, we had some conflicts with a bishop from a different ward who wants the building when I am supposed to have it. After nearly an hour of Oliver running around the gym and the two girls practicing dribbling and shooting we left. Did I mention that one of the 2 girls that showed up recently had foot surgery and has a cast, unable to play. She knelt on the floor and made many baskets. Too bad she can't play. I didn't go to the game on Thursday, but I'm assuming we forfeited.
After practice I went home and prepared dinner, cleaned and then got ready for mutual. We met at the church and then divided into our classes for class activities. My mia maids came back to the folk's house for our activity. We could have come to my house but the boys are going to bed when we would be arriving so I figured it would just be easier to go to Heidi's house! We made and ate crepes and then talked and planned our activities for the next couple months. Heidi had a list of some fun activities and the girls seemed excited about most. The girls didn't really think of much on their own, they were too busy socializing. After we took everybody home I went back to the church for a very long presidency meeting where we planned our upcoming activity (suddenly forgot the name of it). I felt bad that John missed his basketball practice. He always plays on Wednesday nights at the church, but he couldn't this week because of my meeting. What a long day!
Thursday I took the boys over to play group. Oliver loved it because Mitchell has a lot of trains. Lincoln had fun chewing on Oliver's sweatshirt and watching the kids run around. I love talking so I just sat and chatted with the 5 other girls until it was time to clean up. John came home from work and left shortly thereafter for his basketball game. John came home pleased that he got to play the whole game and that they won! Wahoo! He came home from his game, showered and then left for some hometeaching. He teaches a very interesting family that have issues with the law. He always comes home with some interesting story or another! Their youngest daughter is in Young Womens and she told John that I am blonde. Hmm...what exactly does that mean?
Thursday night Brent & Jeanie Wade along with Steph and Aaron came over for a night of Rock Band (as reported by Steph). We had a great time playing, singing, visiting, etc. I didn't play as much as last time, giving others a chance to play. I'm very impressed with Brent's skills at karaoke (matching the singers' voices so well--even the raspy, high-pitched ones). Aaron is awesome at the guitar, playing the hardest level and getting 95%. He's a great match for Steph! I pretended like I was great at the drums, but was out of practice and didn't do as great as last time. Bummer. We stayed up late playing and talking!
Friday morning I decided to take Oliver to get his hair cut. Kristy always does it, but lately she's had a hard time because Oliver doesn't sit still and always wants to play with his cousins that are running around. I think she'll be relieved that I finally took him somewhere else (at least I hope she is). I told the girl to cut the back/sides short but leave the top a little long. Well, after trimming the back and sides she grabbed a chunk of hair up top and took off over an inch. It's short, but adorable! He's so cute!
Tonight I went to dinner with some friends from college that I see once (or twice) a year. Virginia is in town from Connecticut and Rachel was up from Cedar City. They came to pick me up and meet my boys (other times we've always met at a restaurant). They were excited to see my kids and talked about them all night! We drove to the Spaghetti Factory and met up with Emily. We ate delicious food and talked for 3 hours. It was a blast. I took my camera for some group shots and totally forgot to take any. The conversations were so great that it just slipped my mind.
Now it's after nine, but we're still hoping to watch a movie (or maybe a couple episodes of Prison Break!)
January 14, 2008
Wow! It's been a long time since I've written an entry! That's mainly because nothing new has been happening. My days are basically the same with eating, naps, fitting in exercise time, playing, reading books, running an errand or 2 on occasion. I keep myself at home a lot because it's easier that way and I'm not out shopping so it's better on our new budget. I used to feel so cooped up in the house all day, but lately it's not a big deal. I keep busy and have fun with the boys. A couple days last week I did some grocery shopping while leaving the 3 boys home to play.
Diet: John and I are still working hard to get into shape. We eat very healthy and exercise each day. John plays basketball twice a week so that make is fun and easy for him to get some serious exercise. The other days he goes to the gym or for a cardio workout he uses MK's elliptical (close and convenient). I exercise at home. I've built up a small collection of workout videos that I rotate through. I have 2 new pilates videos that I really love. Plus, I'm learning a little yoga. I have a hard time finding time to exercise because neither boy likes me to do it for longer than 20-25 minutes. I usually wait until they nap in the afternoon (which means that I don't get dressed until then, sometimes).
John's birthday was on Friday. We were grateful for D2 & MK to come babysit while we went to dinner at Costa Vida (shared a salad) and a movie. We saw National Treasurer 2. It was fun and entertaining for the most part. We also had lemon cake! Yummy! Oliver helped me make it and eat it!
Mark & Hedi have got us watching Prison Break Season1. We had all heard great things about the show from friends and family so when Mark & Heidi started renting them we decided to borrow them and see what we thought. We love the show! So we try and watch a couple episodes each evening that we don't have EQ visits, Home teaching, or YW.
Young Women's is fun for me. Wednesday was my first experience with them. I was surprised by how many of the girls seemed like tough, skateboarding girls, they were cute , with cute personalities and it was fun! Sunday Heidi taught the Mia Maids class while I joined in. We had 4 girls that talked non-stop. I learned immediately that my job in the class will be to get them to focus on Heidi's great lessons (keep them from straying from the topic).
Oliver: still won't attend nursery, loves to build with legos, likes wearing pajamas all day, is learning to share with Lincoln, woke up sick last night and threw up, is currently wearing a lego bucket on his head.
Lincoln: loves to bobble his head to music or when I ask him to, loves to stand, doesn't seem close to crawling, is interested in everything Oliver is doing, sat for 15 minutes inside the lego bucket and is currently playing with the extra computer mouse.
John: has a new name. Oliver is so used to saying Mama all day that when he sees John he starts to call him Mama, changes it to Daddy half way through and has been calling him Moddy for the past couple days. I'm sure glad he didn't reverse the syllables to call him Dammy!
Aubrey: would love to see some benefits of her diet/exercising, needs to sweep and mop and is about to go upstairs to feed the boys!
Diet: John and I are still working hard to get into shape. We eat very healthy and exercise each day. John plays basketball twice a week so that make is fun and easy for him to get some serious exercise. The other days he goes to the gym or for a cardio workout he uses MK's elliptical (close and convenient). I exercise at home. I've built up a small collection of workout videos that I rotate through. I have 2 new pilates videos that I really love. Plus, I'm learning a little yoga. I have a hard time finding time to exercise because neither boy likes me to do it for longer than 20-25 minutes. I usually wait until they nap in the afternoon (which means that I don't get dressed until then, sometimes).
John's birthday was on Friday. We were grateful for D2 & MK to come babysit while we went to dinner at Costa Vida (shared a salad) and a movie. We saw National Treasurer 2. It was fun and entertaining for the most part. We also had lemon cake! Yummy! Oliver helped me make it and eat it!
Mark & Hedi have got us watching Prison Break Season1. We had all heard great things about the show from friends and family so when Mark & Heidi started renting them we decided to borrow them and see what we thought. We love the show! So we try and watch a couple episodes each evening that we don't have EQ visits, Home teaching, or YW.
Young Women's is fun for me. Wednesday was my first experience with them. I was surprised by how many of the girls seemed like tough, skateboarding girls, they were cute , with cute personalities and it was fun! Sunday Heidi taught the Mia Maids class while I joined in. We had 4 girls that talked non-stop. I learned immediately that my job in the class will be to get them to focus on Heidi's great lessons (keep them from straying from the topic).
Oliver: still won't attend nursery, loves to build with legos, likes wearing pajamas all day, is learning to share with Lincoln, woke up sick last night and threw up, is currently wearing a lego bucket on his head.
Lincoln: loves to bobble his head to music or when I ask him to, loves to stand, doesn't seem close to crawling, is interested in everything Oliver is doing, sat for 15 minutes inside the lego bucket and is currently playing with the extra computer mouse.
John: has a new name. Oliver is so used to saying Mama all day that when he sees John he starts to call him Mama, changes it to Daddy half way through and has been calling him Moddy for the past couple days. I'm sure glad he didn't reverse the syllables to call him Dammy!
Aubrey: would love to see some benefits of her diet/exercising, needs to sweep and mop and is about to go upstairs to feed the boys!
January 8, 2008
Like Kev & Janell, our diets have started strong too. I was doing great in November & part of December, but the temptations were too great during Christmas and I caved, for a week. So, it feels good to be eating healthy food again and exercising. John is working out at the gym in the evenings. It's hard to juggle his gym time when he works early and then 2 nights a week we have meetings. It's all a fine balance!
Our weekend was good and not so good. Saturday we went up for Parker's baptism. I spoke and felt like I did a pretty good job, though I was shocked by how nervous I was. I was far more nervous for a little baptism talk than a Sacrament meeting talk. Odd. I had many comments afterwards, many of which were probably because it was so obvious that I was nervous (my neck got splotchy red). John baptized Parker and everything went smoothly, but I felt bad that my dad missed the baptism because he had taken Oliver out in the hallway during my talk and then couldn't convince him to come back in. After all were dressed they confirmed the 3 8-year olds. John did a really good job. Afterwards we went for pizza at my parent's house and ended up staying several hours playing the Wii.
In the middle of the night (saturday night) I woke to terrible pain from my head down through my shoulders and into my back. Gulp. It was a migraine and because I had been asleep I missed the first signs, therefore missing the chance of getting any type of relief. I spent about 4 hours awake moaning on the couching or bent over the toilet. It was miserable. By about 8:00 I was feeling some relief and able to sleep, but there was not a chance that I would make it to church, nor would John without my help getting the boys ready. So, I slept a large portion of the day while John played 'Mom'. I was happy to learn that I was officially released from scouts. We also missed the baby blessing in South Weber.
Monday was nice. The boys are cute and fun and I spend my time trying to juggle mealtimes, naps, & errands. There are not a lot of times when I can leave the house for long periods of time. So, we went to Costco in the morning and Walmart in the afternoon. Our kitchen is now stocked with a couple weeks worth of healthy foods!
Lincoln has been doing some new things lately. First, he is talking like crazy saying things like, "Dada!" and "Yaha!" It's very cute to hear and see, with his 2 little teeth poking up. He's also learning to cruise and walk while holding our hands. I was surprised to see him walking around the house while holding John's hands. It was so cute. He loves to stand and whines when I don't help him stand. Right now he wants to go play with Oliver. I'm going to go bathe them. Linc has been bathing in the big tub with Oliver, instead of sitting in the little tub inside the big tub. He loved it and Oliver was super cute and gentle with him. I love having 2 little boys.
Oliver is still learning to say more words and phrases. He's our little parrot, repeating everything he hears. I counted a bunch of his sentences yesterday, the amount of words in each sentence, and was surprised that he was saying many sentences that were 7 words long. Too bad his voice is so loud, that during quiet times (church, baptism) everybody in the building can hear him.
My life is simple, but I love it!
We have a dancer on our hands! The past few days/week John and I have noticed Lincoln bobbing his little head around. He does it while lying down, sitting up, or standing. It's really cute! Tonight we had the iPod playing in the kitchen and almost every song that came on little Lincoln's head would start bobbing back and forth. It is so funny to watch. I was able to get a lot of it on the video camera! John and I could not stop giggling. He's got some good rythym!
I don't know if I have mentioned this about Oliver or not, but he does some funny things at my parent's house. My mom has a toy box full of, well, toys (duh!). In it are a couple little dancer skirts for Karlee to wear. Well, they are not just for Karlee anymore. Oliver loves them (one in particular). So, if you were to randomly show up at my parent's house you would most likely see Oliver running around with a cute little pink and yellow striped skirt on with several strands of beads, and often times a scarf around his shoulders. He does it all on his own and loves to wear them! Plus, he really loves babies. So, last weekend when we were up there Oliver was running around all day in his little 'girly' outfit while playing with a baby that he kept giving hugs and kisses to, feeding her, and wrapping her in layers of Lincoln's blankets. It's hilarious to watch, but I almost think it pains John to see his little boy being so un-boyish.
Kids are great!
Our weekend was good and not so good. Saturday we went up for Parker's baptism. I spoke and felt like I did a pretty good job, though I was shocked by how nervous I was. I was far more nervous for a little baptism talk than a Sacrament meeting talk. Odd. I had many comments afterwards, many of which were probably because it was so obvious that I was nervous (my neck got splotchy red). John baptized Parker and everything went smoothly, but I felt bad that my dad missed the baptism because he had taken Oliver out in the hallway during my talk and then couldn't convince him to come back in. After all were dressed they confirmed the 3 8-year olds. John did a really good job. Afterwards we went for pizza at my parent's house and ended up staying several hours playing the Wii.
In the middle of the night (saturday night) I woke to terrible pain from my head down through my shoulders and into my back. Gulp. It was a migraine and because I had been asleep I missed the first signs, therefore missing the chance of getting any type of relief. I spent about 4 hours awake moaning on the couching or bent over the toilet. It was miserable. By about 8:00 I was feeling some relief and able to sleep, but there was not a chance that I would make it to church, nor would John without my help getting the boys ready. So, I slept a large portion of the day while John played 'Mom'. I was happy to learn that I was officially released from scouts. We also missed the baby blessing in South Weber.
Monday was nice. The boys are cute and fun and I spend my time trying to juggle mealtimes, naps, & errands. There are not a lot of times when I can leave the house for long periods of time. So, we went to Costco in the morning and Walmart in the afternoon. Our kitchen is now stocked with a couple weeks worth of healthy foods!
Lincoln has been doing some new things lately. First, he is talking like crazy saying things like, "Dada!" and "Yaha!" It's very cute to hear and see, with his 2 little teeth poking up. He's also learning to cruise and walk while holding our hands. I was surprised to see him walking around the house while holding John's hands. It was so cute. He loves to stand and whines when I don't help him stand. Right now he wants to go play with Oliver. I'm going to go bathe them. Linc has been bathing in the big tub with Oliver, instead of sitting in the little tub inside the big tub. He loved it and Oliver was super cute and gentle with him. I love having 2 little boys.
Oliver is still learning to say more words and phrases. He's our little parrot, repeating everything he hears. I counted a bunch of his sentences yesterday, the amount of words in each sentence, and was surprised that he was saying many sentences that were 7 words long. Too bad his voice is so loud, that during quiet times (church, baptism) everybody in the building can hear him.
My life is simple, but I love it!
We have a dancer on our hands! The past few days/week John and I have noticed Lincoln bobbing his little head around. He does it while lying down, sitting up, or standing. It's really cute! Tonight we had the iPod playing in the kitchen and almost every song that came on little Lincoln's head would start bobbing back and forth. It is so funny to watch. I was able to get a lot of it on the video camera! John and I could not stop giggling. He's got some good rythym!
I don't know if I have mentioned this about Oliver or not, but he does some funny things at my parent's house. My mom has a toy box full of, well, toys (duh!). In it are a couple little dancer skirts for Karlee to wear. Well, they are not just for Karlee anymore. Oliver loves them (one in particular). So, if you were to randomly show up at my parent's house you would most likely see Oliver running around with a cute little pink and yellow striped skirt on with several strands of beads, and often times a scarf around his shoulders. He does it all on his own and loves to wear them! Plus, he really loves babies. So, last weekend when we were up there Oliver was running around all day in his little 'girly' outfit while playing with a baby that he kept giving hugs and kisses to, feeding her, and wrapping her in layers of Lincoln's blankets. It's hilarious to watch, but I almost think it pains John to see his little boy being so un-boyish.
Kids are great!
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