Good Friends

Well there are definitely advantages to living back in Washington. And one huge one is that I've been able to see some old friends from high school. I've been friends with Ashlee and Jill since the 5th grade, and to still be friends with them is great! Brad and I were able to go out to dinner with Ashlee and her boyfriend Jeff. We had such a good time that we didn't want the night to end. Grandma and Grandpa were watching the kids, and we didn't end up leaving the restaurant until 9:15 - holy crap!!! But it was a lot of fun and hopefully we'll be seeing more of them in the very near future! The only bad thing was that we didn't take any pictures - AGAIN!! Ash - we need pics!!

I also got to go out to lunch with my friend Jill yesterday, and we had such a good time talking - it was like time hadn't passed. I'm sad that her and her family are going back to Idaho very soon, but am happy that she still has family here. So that when she comes back into town, hopefully we'll be able to go on a "date" again :) Also, she gave me the name of a very good hairdresser and I can't wait to try her out. I've already made an appointment, so I'm excited. It's a very hard thing trusting someone else to do your hair, so finding someone good is awesome.

It was so good to see both of them, and I can't wait until we can meet up again. Take care you two!!

Madison's 1st Birthday

Well yesterday was Madison's 1st Birthday. We had a little family party with cupcakes and ice cream. She wasn't too into the cupcake and ice cream, but was definitely into ripping the paper off of her presents. She made out like a bandit, but it was good. She needed some toys of her own, and now she has a lot more to play with. She ended up getting clothes (of course), a little riding horse, a piano, a shape cookie jar, a little animal train, a alphabet caterpillar, and some little drums. Pretty cute stuff!

I can't believe my little baby isn't a little baby any more. It doesn't feel like it's already been a year since she was born. It's crazy to think that just a year ago, she was a tiny little baby. We brought her home the next day, and the sleepless nights began. Now she is almost running, can carry stuff while walking, is starting to babble a lot more, has 4 teeth, and loves to play with Josh.

So here are some pictures from her birthday. My little girl is one year old!

Ripping open one of her many presents.

Her favorite toy, the little riding pony.

Her cookie shape sorter.

Singing Happy Birthday.

Her first look at her very own cupcake!

Digging in to the frosting. She didn't like it too much, but she will!

Christmas Pictures

Here are some Christmas pictures of both of the kids. Josh loved all of his presents and was extremely excited to be opening them as you can see!

Josh loved his trains, and he got a lot of them! This was over at my mom's house.

This is my niece Sidnei and Brad over at my mom's.

Josh opening presents on Christmas morning.

He loved his Thomas the train jammies.

He loves this Bounce Back Racer.

Maddie with her little CD player.

Maddie loves her little stroller and baby!

This was the big ticket item for Josh. His brand new train table. It lights up, makes sounds, and has a whole bunch of stuff to go with it.

He also got some Transformer jammies!

Christmas

Well we had a great Christmas here as usual. We spent Christmas Eve over at my mom's house - we did the whole dinner and open presents thing there. And it snowed on Christmas Eve!! I love it when it snows on Christmas. It was so pretty to be driving in the snow and looking at all of the Christmas lights. It was really nice to spend some time with my mom and to see my sister and niece as well.

Then Christmas morning was spent opening the presents from Brad's parents, our presents for each other, breakfast and a big Christmas dinner. Brad's mom cooked two turkey breasts, a ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, corn, green beans, rolls, and 3 different pies! And Brad's sister came over too with her daughter. So we opened presents from them as well. The kids made out like bandits again this year - but Josh was totally into the whole Santa thing, and it was so cute! One of Brad's uncle called Josh and pretended to be Santa. Josh told him to be careful of the fire (they have a wood fireplace upstairs) and that he (Josh) would get some water and the firetrucks to put out the fire so Santa could come down the chimney.

Josh got a train table from us for Christmas, and he absolutely loves it. So there will (and already have been) many hours of play with that. Maddie got a little stroller from Brad's mom, a baby, a little chair, and other girl toys. She hasn't really had any toys of her own, they've all been handed down from Josh - so now she's set. Plus her birthday is tomorrow, so she'll be getting even more toys! I got Brad a Seahawks jersey and sweatshirts (he was hoping for tickets, but maybe next year). And Brad got me some new shoes, a radio to play my iPod on, and a gift card to American Eagle! Whohoo!!!

It was a really good Christmas, and it's been so nice to be around family - especially at this time of year. We feel very thankful to have sold our house, have a place to stay until we find another house, and to be closer to family.

House hunting begins tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes and then it's Maddie's 1st Birthday! I'm really excited about that and am going to try to get her cupcakes made today, so it won't be a rush tomorrow. I will be posting some pictures maybe tomorrow or Sunday, so they'll be up soon.

We Sold Our House

Well it's time to let everyone in on the good news! We sold our house!!!! Ahhh, what a great feeling. We are so happy that part of the process is over with. We got our full asking price and made some money off of it - so that is great. We got the offer the 30th of November and have been working with the new buyers on getting the appraisal done, the inspection completed, a million pieces of paper sent back and forth and finally today, it closed. I can't believe it sold so fast, so if anyone is looking for a realtor in Utah - let me know and I will give you his name and number. We put it on the market on November 10th, had at least 10 showings, got the offer on November 30th and closed December 19th. Wow - so basically 6 weeks on the market. It's awesome.

Now comes the daunting task of finding a new house. But we've been doing our research online and have a few houses picked out - so we might be going to look at them this weekend. We just got pre-approved today, so that's another task we can cross off our list. Now hopefully the rest will just fall into place. But at least our house is sold now, so that's great. So new beginnings lay ahead for us, and I'm just very thankful for everything that has happened to us whether it was good or bad. 2008 has been a big year for us, but a good one for sure.

Baby It's Cccold Outside

Oh this cold weather! It has been so cold here in Washington, I don't remember it being THIS cold. The last couple of days the temperature has been in the single digits, if not below zero with the wind chill factor. It has also been snowing here the last couple of days and it's a pain in the butt to drive around here due to several factors! People here don't know how to drive in the snow, they don't pave or sand the roads around here, and I have to park the Tahoe outside. My baby - outside!! Oh the humanity. We have leather seats, so my bum gets pretty cold - but thank the powers that be for auto-start cars!!! I love it. I just wish I didn't have to use it so much.

On a more serious note - Josh just had an ECHO done on his heart today. Ugh, it's just been a huge ordeal with him having cavities, switching dentists, doctors, and trying to get the insurance stuff all worked out. But the bottom line is that his new pediatrician heard an extra beat - so instead of his heart going bump, bump it goes bump - bumpbump. Which the doctor said is one of his valves not closing completely. So he can't give Josh a green light to have his dental procedure done on Monday until they know exactly what's going on with his heart. So he had the ECHO done today, the have to send it off to a pediatric cardiologist in Spokane to read it, and then hopefully they will call us back. If he gets the all clear - he will go in Monday morning at 9 to have his teeth fixed under general anesthesia. The dentist's office said it would take about an hour to get everything done, they he'd be in recovery and then when they deem he is awake enough - we'll be able to take him home. Thankfully Brad has already taken that day off, so it will be nice for me and Josh to have him there.

It's just been a rough go of everything from the $1000-2000 estimate for the procedure, $600 estimate for the anesthesiologists time and who knows how much for the ECHO. So, Merry Christmas to us. But it needs to be done. Just when you think you're getting ahead.

Maddie's Walking Debut

Even though she's been walking for over a month and a half now, I finally got it on my camera. Hopefully I can get it to post here. Enjoy.

Random Happenings

Well we're still here. Brad got back from his orientation on Friday night. Josh asked about him every day and every night, so it was good that Brad was here this weekend. His company asked him to work Friday night and Saturday, and then on Sunday he got a call from dispatch wanting him to come in to work. So there is no shortage of overtime here, which is good and bad. He will probably be working a lot of overtime this week and into the weekend. Which it's probably a good thing that we're in Tri-Cities and that I have help, but sometimes it doesn't feel like that.

Josh has 3 cavities that need to be fixed. We tried to get them fixed before we left, but we couldn't get an appointment. So we're having them fixed here, and he'll have to go under general anesthesia. Which is really scary for me. They said the procedure would take about 45 minutes. I'm pretty scared about the whole thing, but I know that he'll be fine. I'm just waiting to hear back from the insurance and will find out for information later.

Other than that, nothing much is happening. Our days are pretty boring. Josh started a new preschool last week, and will be going Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:10 to 10:05. And let me just say - I thought 9 in the morning was hard, but 8! Eight is really difficult.

It doesn't really feel like Christmas is right around the corner yet. I'm trying to figure out who I need to send Christmas cards to and get those out. But no decorating our house this year. I'm going to miss our Christmas decorations! No lights on the house, no real tree. Oh well, there is always next year. We decided to buy Josh a train table this year. He is still really into trains, so I know he'll love it. And then there is Maddie's birthday. We'll probably just have a small family party over at Brad's parents house. Nothing big, but there will definitely be cake!

Well sorry for the disoriented thoughts and rambling. Not much to report, I'm just trying to get through one day at a time.

No Time

Well we are just going through the motions at this point. It's really hard not having your own stuff, let alone house. I have to use my in-laws' computer, which to put nicely is a piece of crap. At least they don't have dial-up - but it is still really slow. So the days of writing on my blog every day or so are over. It's a pain to get on here, so I just don't.

Brad is in Oregon until Friday for orientation. It's really hard not having him here, but we're dealing. I went to go check out a school for Josh yesterday and I'm really disheartened. I thought they would have something better for him, but I'm trying not to get too down about it. I'll just keep looking. There is not really much to do here yet since we don't have a house. So if anyone is bored and wants to chat - feel free to call.

On a lighter note, I've got some video of Maddie walking - now the problem is getting it off of my camera and onto a computer to post it! She turned 11 months on Thanksgiving. She is walking almost all of the time now. She only crawls to get to something to help her stand up. She is still struggling to get those darn 2 teeth on the top in. They are really close, but are being stubborn. I think she's finally starting to feel better from being sick, so that's good.

Josh is adjusting okay. He loves being around daddy and grandpa - but since both of them have to work, it makes it a little bit harder. He got spoiled over Thanksgiving - being able to spend 4 days with both of them. I think he's just getting restless here. There is not that much room to move around in, and he doesn't have all of his toys, there are a lot of stairs, and no DirecTV! I took that for granted. Now I never know what is on TV, what time it is and we can't record anything. We have to go back to looking at a TV guide. Boo hoo for me, I know.

Well that's all for now. Please again, send good house selling vibes our way!

We Made It

Well we made it to Washington. Brad got our moving truck on Tuesday and we loaded our entire 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, and some stuff in the basement house into a 24 foot truck. Our entire lives were in that truck. We couldn't have done it without the help of a couple of Brad's friends and a neighbor, John. It was so much work, moving is always so much work! Brad was able to get 4 of the guys that he used to work with to come over and help us load all of our stuff. And a guy a couple of houses down came over to help as well, so 5 guys total and Brad made 6. Six guys, and we needed them!! And I honestly don't know what we would have done without them! They were so much help, and owe them a lot.

We started loading the truck at 11am and didn't get to bed that night until midnight. After loading the truck, Brad's mom and I started the cleaning process. We cleaned the bathrooms, swept and mopped all of the floors, vacuumed, cleaned out the insides of every single cabinet, and shampooed the carpets in the family room, Josh's room, and the hallway. So our house is now pretty damn clean if you ask me! It will be nice for someone to come and look at. Then on Wednesday, I had wanted to be on the road by 8, but with all of the little last minute stuff, we didn't end up leaving until 9:30. So it's a 9-10 hour drive and it's just a long drive period, let alone driving a huge truck - poor Brad. We really wish now that we had gotten movers!! So for future reference, you might think you can do it yourself - but trust me, get movers. They might be expensive, but they are worth it!!! Maddie did great in the car, she got fussy a few times - but considering everything she's going through right now, she did awesome! And Josh did even better. He rode in the big truck with Brad the entire trip and did great! He loved riding in the big rig with daddy and didn't complain once. Right before we got to Pendleton, it started to get pretty foggy. And it starts getting dark here around 4:30, so I had to drive through really thick fog (maybe a one car visibility) for about an hour or so. At one point we were only going 35mph! It was really bad. But we made it through. Got into town about 7pm, Washington time. So it was another long day for everyone.

But we are here now. Yesterday was spent unloading the truck, and figuring out what we needed and what was going into the storage unit. There is still so much to do, but I am just too exhausted to do it. Brad is now taking the truck back and we got a couple of things in place at his parents' house. Moving is just hard period, but with me being sick, Josh and Maddie both being sick, Maddie teething - it just makes it that much harder.

It's only been 2 days, but please everyone just send good house selling vibes our way! We need some good karma in that department. We are very lucky that Deb and Dennis are letting us basically take over their house, but that's just it - it's their house. It's hard being homeless and not having a specific place for all of our stuff. But we'll get through this part and hopefully we'll have a house of our own in a couple of months! I might be complaining about this in a couple more posts, so just bare with me.

Packing Sucks

Errr, where do I begin? Well today was really busy, and me being sick isn't helping matters any. I had a really bad coughing fit last night, so it was pretty dang rough! I ended up going over to the neighbors for some honey (thanks, Julia!). But I did sleep better, so that's good. Today though, is a different story. Today it's my nose with it being stuffy and a lot of sneezing, and still more coughing.

But I did get my hair done today, my last with my current hair dresser. I had to get one more appointment in before we left. So that was nice. Probably my last drive down to Salt Lake as well. And, I have a spa appointment on Monday. I've had these gift cards that I haven't used, so I figured with as much stress as I'm going through, I might as well put those cards to good use! So that will be really nice, and I'm really looking forward to it.

Today we did get a lot of stuff done, which is awesome. Brad and I went through most of the basement and threw away a lot of stuff. Packed up more stuff in the basement, and decided which stuff to donate. Brad will take a trailer full of stuff to the dump on Monday, and we've already dropped off the donated stuff, so the basement looks pretty good. Most of it was in storage bins anyways, but we did accomplish a good bit. We also packed up the coat closet, Brad packed up his bookshelf, I packed up the cabinet above the refrigerator, underneath our bed, our nightstands, Brad's dresser, and some of our closet. Tomorrow will be packing up the kitchen (what we can anyways), some of the bathroom stuff, and going through the basement again. Most of it doesn't really need to be packed, just loaded onto the truck. We get our moving truck on Tuesday and leave as early as possible on Wednesday. It's just crazy to think about it.

On good news, we've had a lot of showings for our house. We had a showing last Thursday, Friday and Saturday. One on Tuesday, two last night and a re-showing today. So I know that's a good sign that we're in the right price range and that people are interested in our house. Just send good vibes our way!

And I have to say thank you to everyone that has offered their help! Thank you so much, I appreciate all of it.

Overwhelmed

Well the crying sagas continue. I cry at night because I feel like I actually have a minute to myself to think about everything that has happened and everything that is going to change. I knew this (us moving) was going to happen fast, but I didn't expect it to happen this fast. I feel like I'm being pulled in 50 different directions, and I can't keep my brain on straight long enough to do anything!

I was able to get a few things accomplished yesterday. I called the newspaper to cancel our service, called the phone and TV company to cancel that, called on a couple of storage units for our stuff when we move, called the city to find out what we needed to do about our garbage cans and water, and talked with Josh's teacher about the transition. It sounds like a lot, but considering everything else that I have to do, my to-do list is much longer than my "done" list.
Now all I have to do is pack up my entire house, get our house sold, and make a 10 hour drive to move in with my in-laws. All of that on top of feeling like I might be getting sick again and now Josh is sick with a really bad cough. I know, I know - I'm just brimming with positive energy.

I am looking forward to living closer to family and maybe actually having a life and going on a date or two with my husband. It's just a hard thing, moving that is. We've made a life for ourselves here, and it's scary. Change is scary. We've been praying a lot lately, just to make sure this is the right move for our family. And we believe it is, I guess I just feel overwhelmed because of the packing. You never really know how much stuff you have until you have to pack it all up! But we will be fine, we will survive. I guess I'm just dreading the drive too - but we'll just take it one day at a time. That's all we can do.

New Adventures

Well it's time to for me to come to terms with things. We put our house on the market as of Monday night. It's a pretty scary thing to do. I have so many memories in this house, we made it our home, and we have a lot of good friends that we've come to know and love. Josh has lived here since he was 7 months old, and Maddie - well, her whole life. It's only been three years that we've lived here, and even though I always complain about not living closer to family - this is our home.

As with everything, moving closer to family has it's advantages and disadvantages. Brad keeps joking that maybe we'll actually have a life when we move - mainly because we might have a couple of people available to watch our kids.

So to back up a little - Brad has been applying for jobs in Washington for a little while now. We didn't want to say anything to anyone because we didn't want to jinx ourselves - but he has a job in Washington which starts next month. We knew getting into this that if it happened, it would happen fast. So he got a job offer on Monday, and it just happened to coincide with us putting the house up for sale. So we'll probably live with Brad's parents until our house sells, and then buy a house in the area that we'll be living in.

It's exciting and scary all at the same time. I'm really excited to live closer to family, to move back to Washington - because in all reality that's where "home" is to us. This, Utah, has never really felt like home. And we knew eventually that we were going to be moving back to the Northwest, we just didn't know when. Also, we didn't know when another opportunity to move back would come, so we couldn't pass this one up. But scary at the same time, as in - now I have to pack up all of our crap, get Josh readjusted into a new school, move period, and just adjusting to a smaller city - possibly living out in the country, etc. I had my first (and definitely not last) breakdown last night. My biggest worry is the kids and Josh's school. But they are still very young, so if we want to move - now is probably the time.

There is so much to think about, so much to do, I'm already feeling overwhelmed - but I'd rather get as much done now as possible. I have so much going on in my head that it's hard to think straight, let alone write it all down. So wish us good luck and if you know anyone that wants to buy a house in Utah...

Maddie Took Her 1st Steps

Well the title says it all. Maddie has taken her first steps, prompted by mom and dad of course - but she did it. She is still pretty unsteady, but she loves to walk. She gets so giddy going back and forth from mommy to daddy. Her little face just lights up. She is definitely getting braver and instead of walking with the help of the couch, she now tries to walk from the couch to her toys. She still prefers to crawl almost every where, but she did take her first steps. It's so cute when kids first start to walk. Maddie arches her back with her arms high in the air and fists clenched. She mainly falls backward and sits on her butt, but she's done it. Too cute. Now I really need to get this on video and post it! That's the hard part.

My Big, Little Girl

Well my little girl is growing up and getting closer and closer to toddler hood! Maddie has been standing up more and more on her own. She loves pushing stuff around now - it is her favorite pastime. Her other favorite activity to do now is walk holding onto someone's hands, which is a real killer on mommy and daddy's back. We did buy her a little walker (I know, I can hear some gasps), but so far she is too short to take full advantage of it. Only one little foot touches the ground, so she can only move backwards. But she would rather be out of it and push it around, which makes me want Christmas to come that much sooner (grandma and grandpa bought her a little shopping cart to push around). My little girl loves to stand up and dance when Josh dances, it's the cutest thing - now if I could only get that on video. So now we wait, wait for those first few steps. I can wait, trust me. I am not quite up for chasing two kids around. But it is exciting that she's almost walking. And she's only 10 months. It seems like she's done everything sooner than Josh, but I know that's because she's trying to keep up with him!

VOTE!!!

If you haven't voted already, then please vote. Every vote counts. I know it sounds cliche, but it really does. I just voted after I dropped Josh off at school, and it felt very empowering. I felt like I make a difference and that I am taking control of my future. It felt great. So go vote!

Dentist Appointment

I know, really catchy title, right? Well, Josh had a dentist appointment yesterday. We've been going every 6 months since he was 2, but we've never had an experience like the one we had yesterday. Now that Josh is able to understand more and communicate more, I had been talking about the dentist and what they do at the dentist's office for a couple of day prior to his appointment. And of course, I did a little bribing - you'll get a toy after the dentist looks at your teeth type of thing (probably not the best thing to say, but considering that he has screamed at his last 3 appointments, I just wanted to get through this one).

So we're in the waiting room, and the dental hygienist calls Josh's name. Josh proudly steps forward and follows the hygienist. They wanted to do x-rays, which I seriously doubted were going to happen (keep in mind - screaming, kicking, crying at the last THREE appointments). But Josh climbed right up in the chair, let the guy put the apron over him, and did all the xrays needed. I thought to myself - wow, this is going really well, but wait until we get to the cleaning part. So, we get to the chair where Josh needs to be and again, climbs right in - sits down and lays back. This is the first time that he has ever done that - we've had a hard enough time with the dentist even counting his teeth.

The hygienist was awesome!!! He explained everything to Josh, let him touch all of the instruments, and walked him step by step through everything he was doing or was about to do. I swear, they need more male nurses, hygienists, preschool teachers, etc. Men understand men better. This guy knew just how to explain everything to Josh and what to say. Josh is a boy's boy. He loves his trucks, trains, cars, etc - so getting to do things hands on is really important to him. And I didn't even have to tell the hygienist this - he just did it. Josh sat through the cleaning, flossing, fluoride treatment, did the thing that sucks out all of the spit, and let the dentist look inside his mouth. And all of this without any troubles, no crying, and no complaints. It was great! The only bad part was that Josh has 2 cavities, boo! Bad mommy and daddy. We need to do a better job of brushing his teeth after he does it. So we have 2 more appointments next month. They said that they're going to try to do a little bit each time, so hence the two appointments.

So thank you Tyler, the friendly hygienist. We appreciate you. And I'm so proud of Josh and he knows he did a good job too. Extra kisses, hugs, and high-fives were given yesterday (not that we don't do that everyday, just extra). He is growing up right before my eyes, and it's days like yesterday that make me happy and sad all at the same time. Now he keeps asking if he can go back to the dentist. Hopefully he'll still feel the same way in a month.

Daylight Savings

I just have to write a quick post on this, but Daylight Savings day really sucks when you have kids. Especially if those kids love their routines - it's only an hour, but it kind of does screw things up for us. Yesterday seemed like it was going to last forever, and today hasn't been much better. Yes, I do enjoy the extra hour of sleep I get - but the kids' schedules are all off. We've been trying to do a little extra time with their naps and for bedtime, to slowly get them used to the new time schedule. Josh is doing better than Maddie. Oh well, by the end of the week they'll be all caught up.

Halloween

I've finally gotten around to posting about Halloween and putting up some pictures. I was super tired and busy yesterday, so only one post got done. But we had a great Halloween. Josh did really well and was super excited to go. For a while he had been saying that he wanted to be a fireman, and the day that we went to go look at costumes - he changed his mind at the last minute and said that he wanted to be Buzz Lightyear! But it all worked out ok. I had these grand plans of cutting out cardboard wings (his costume hadn't come with any), painting them, etc. But that just didn't work out, not enough time. Next year I'm going to be prepared! Ha. Maddie was a little clown. Julia (our neighbor) let us borrow it, and it worked out perfect. We traded costumes (I gave her the one Josh wore at her sons age - a monkey), and it couldn't have worked out any better. Maddie looks so stinkin' cute.

We went over to the neighbors houses first, and Josh at first thought we were going in to play. Because he took the candy at Julia's house, and wanted to walk right in after that. But we said that he could get more treats, and that seemed to satisfy him. We had been talking about Halloween since Grandma and Grandpa were here, so he knew what to say. This was our second year trick-or-treating, but the first to where Josh could actually say the words. He did a really good job with saying trick-or-treat, then saying thank you, and even a couple Happy Halloweens every now and then. He had to be coached a little to get up to the doors, and then if the people didn't answer the door right away - he said immediately, "they're gone, they're not home" and would get about half way down the steps when the person would open the door. We had to come home to empty out his bag once and go pee. Then daddy and Maddie stayed home and I took him around one more block. It started to get dark, and the houses were getting a little scarier, so we headed home.

We made Halloween cookies earlier in the week.

Lithotripsy

Well Brad's kidney stone never passed. He ended up having a lithotripsy on Friday morning. Which meant I packed up both kids and him to drive to the surgical center about 30 minutes away, drive back - get a little bit of stuff taken care of, and then it was back to pick him up. They said that he had to be there an hour early, the procedure would take about an hour, and then he'd be in recovery for about an hour and a half. His appointment was for 9:45, so he was there at 8:45, and then they called me right as I'm getting out of the shower at 10:50! I was thinking that I had until at least noon. So here I am dripping wet, answering the phone, and I had just put Maddie down for a nap about thirty minutes before that.

I already had it set up that our neighbor would watch Josh and I would take Maddie to pick Brad up. I just didn't know what to expect and how he would react to being under general anesthesia - because everybody has a different reaction. Our neighbor was taking her kids to a little Halloween thing, which we had worked out ahead of time, and since I thought I had plenty of time - I knew they would be back in time to watch Josh. Well, as with all things that happen in life, I had to change course. The Halloween thing started at 11 - so I knew that they had just left, so I tried to call a couple of other people to watch Josh, but to no avail - it just didn't work out (thank you Julia for offering to help, I appreciate it!!!). So the only other thing I could do was get dressed really quick, put my hair up, wake Maddie up and take both kids with me to go and get Brad. Luckily he was very alert, could walk, and there weren't too many instructions on what we needed to do afterward. Josh was really good, but a little scared when we went back to the recovery room.

Brad is doing well. He had a pretty good sized welt on his back, followed by a red ring, he was feeling good at first and then started to get pretty sore. He took a couple of pain pills, and sucked it up to go trick-or-treating with us. I felt really bad for him, but he didn't want to miss going out with us. And of course, he'd never really let on about how much pain he was really in. Today is much better and to put it nicely - his stone is definitely broken up into pieces.

Kidney Stones

I keep telling myself to breathe, but I don't think it's helping. It has been a long and busy month. With taking care of both kids, taking care of a sick hubbie and kids, Brad leaving for the weekend, and people coming to visit us - and add on the day to day grind of cleaning, cooking, changing diapers, feeding, etc. it's a little hard to breathe right now.

Now add into the mix - kidney stones. Brad went to the doctor (our family doctor) right before he left - so almost 3 weeks ago now. He had an xray done and was diagnosed with having a kidney stone. We've been waiting for it to pass, and nothing. He had a CT scan done last Monday to verify that he had a stone, where it was, and how big it was. They saw the kidney stone - it being 3mm and it was found high in his ureter. Then he had an appointment with a urologist today. He was only in pain when he went to see the doctor, but the pain started again - so it was a good thing he kept his appointment today. The doctor (the urologist) told him the CT scans were a week old (LONG story about that) and that he needed to know where the stone was today - so he had to have another xray. After all of this pain, the stone has not moved.

So this week Brad will go in to have the lithotripsy done. Not sure if he is going to be in a lot of pain or not. The nurse at the urologist's office said that he's going to feel like he's been beaten up, but should be back to normal in a few days. Kind of wishing we were living closer to family right about now. His mom said that if I needed her to come out, she would. But I would feel bad if I asked her to come out and Brad was just fine - especially since they were just here this last weekend. But then again, knowing my luck - Brad will be in a lot of pain and my MIL won't be here to help. Still unsure of what I should do, but maybe something will come to me tonight. I can't wait for this month to be over with. I'm tired, just down right tired.

Pictures

My other post was too long, so I thought I'd do a separate one just for pictures - so here they are. I forgot to post any when Ashlee was here, when we went to the pumpkin patch (reading Melissa's blog reminded me), there are some misc. pictures, and ones of when Brad's parents were here. So enjoy.

Here is Josh riding in the cow on the tractor ride.

My son, fearless!
Maddie - having a good time as always.

New haircut, cute ponytail.

Our new couch. Ahh, leather.

Josh cozying up to Grandpa already!

I love this picture! Too cute.

Maddie and Grandma

Josh and Grandpa (best buds)

Lots of Stuff

Well a lot of stuff has happened in the last week. I hardly remember where I left off on my last post. So, I'll start with this...I had my candle party on Wednesday, and let's just say it didn't go too well. I feel bad for Anita (the candle lady) because she goes through all the trouble of setting up a date and time, showing up for the party and then hardly anyone comes. I invited 16 people and only 4 showed up. So I've decided that I'm not going to go through all of that work and just buy my candles when I want to buy them. No more parties. I say that every year, but then people start asking me when I'm having a party again - and this is the way it always goes. But thank you to the people that did make it, I appreciate it. But, no more parties.

In other news, Brad's parents were here this weekend. It was so nice to have family around, and to actually be around people that care about you and your kids! We had a great, fun-filled weekend, and I'm already wishing that they could come back. So it was a very nice weekend. They ended up getting here earlier on Friday than we had originally thought - but it was nice to visit with them a little before Brad got home from work.

On Saturday we went to the Dinosaur Park and Josh loved it even more this time than last. He kept saying, "look at THIS one, look at THAT one." I was a little nervous when we first got there because they had everything done up for Halloween, so I thought Josh might have gotten a little scared, but no. They had cobwebs, pumpkins, plastic bones, and body parts everywhere - so you could see how I was nervous. I mean, he is getting older, and starting to ask about more stuff. A couple of the dinosaurs had body parts in their mouths and Josh kept asking "what's this?" Of course, Grandpa answered by saying that it was chicken. And I guess that was enough for Josh, he just changed the subject and we moved on.

Sunday was spent hanging around the house and Brad's dad had a recipe for ribs - so we made that for our big dinner. It was delish!!! Then Deb and I headed off to the fabric store to look around. She saw some big sale ads, so off we went. I found some fabric for Brad that I'm going to use to make a blanket for him. This will be my big sewing adventure, so I'm a little nervous that it won't turn out - but I'm going to try. Deb walked me through how to do everything on the sly because I'm making this for him for Christmas. So hopefully he has no idea! Deb also got the sewing machine back on track and everything in tip top shape - so it will be good and ready for my sewing guinea pig. So to all of you out there that know how to sew, wish me luck!

Update

Well there is absolutely nothing wrong with me, except that I have a thyroid nodule. I called to double check on my lab work and my thyroid levels were completely normal, not too much or too little. So there is no explanation for my moodiness - Brad said it's just the "new" me. I probably just need more me time and a little bit less mommy time. So it's really good news!! I'm happy. I don't really like being on medication to begin with, so less of it is fine with me.

So thank you everyone for your support. I always worry for nothing, but I'm glad that my doctor followed up with it. Better to be safe than sorry. I always seem to make things bigger than they are - ugh, I sound like my mother. Ha! So thank you Melissa, Jen, and Heidi - I appreciate everything. No worries on our front for me (we're still waiting on Brad's CT results for his kidney stone). Hopefully everything is good with us. Sorry, I'm trying not to worry. My mom keeps telling me that I've been a worrier my whole life.

Doctor's Appointment

I had a doctor's appointment today. It was just my yearly exam, nothing too exciting. I've been having a few (female) problems, so this was the perfect opportunity to talk about those things. Not to get into too much detail - the doctor asked me some questions about female issues (that's putting it nicely) and one thing lead to another and he talked with me about my thyroid and the possibility of it being low (hypothyroidism). (If you want the full story, I will gladly tell you - but for virgin ears, I won't write anything here, and plus it's a lot easier to say than to type it all out). So anyways...we talked about my thyroid. Back when I was in nursing school, I had a check-up and the nurse practitioner found a few thyroid nodules. And I can't remember now, but I must have had blood work done then, and a follow-up with an ultrasound came shortly after. They didn't find anything on the ultrasound and I wasn't put on any medication due to hyper- or hypothyroidism. So evidently it must not have been a big deal or anything.

Well long story short, I have another nodule. It's not a huge nodule, as I had no idea that it was even there, but it's there - the doctor could definitely feel one. They took some blood to run a few tests, and I guess we'll wait until then to see if there is anything to this stinkin' nodule thing. I'm just a little concerned that I DO have another nodule. But also a little relieved because if my thyroid isn't functioning correctly - that would explain how I've been acting the last few months. I've been having troubles sleeping (which isn't a new), troubles concentrating and lately it seems like I'm just not enjoying life altogether. It would definitely explain a lot. And if nothing is wrong - I don't have hypothyroidism, then I guess I will just chalk all of this up to mommy brain.

But I've been down in the dumps, I always seem tired, my periods seem like they keep getting worse, and my skin is really dry (I can't keep enough lotion on it). But then again - the down in the dumps, tiredness, and periods could all just be from having 2 young kids and having a baby 10 months ago. Dry skin could be that we don't have a water softener. So who knows? I just need to wait for the results and go from there. And it's not a huge deal if my thyroid isn't functioning correctly - it's an easy fix. I'm just a little worried about the nodule. But most nodules are noncancerous and are pretty common, so I will just wait to worry.

Busy Week Ahead

This week, I guess like any other this month, is going to be a really busy week. Today was our only chance to go to Costco - so it was the big Costco day. I also made a dinner for another mom in the MOMS club. Tomorrow I have a doctor's appointment after I take Josh to school. Brad might be working an all-nighter, so we're going to drive to Anita's to pick up a candle. I'm having a candle party on Wednesday night, so Wednesday (and probably part of tomorrow) will be spent picking up the house, running last minute trips to the grocery store for food, and making food for the party. Thursday will be spent picking up the house from my candle party and cleaning up the basement for when Brad's parents get here. Friday will be a little more cleaning and waiting for Brad's parents. Then, we'll have another busy weekend going and doing fun stuff and probably carving pumpkins. And then, Monday we'll have a chance to relax and take a break. Luckily, we don't have anything going on next week - so that should be nice. Oh, I'm trying to prepare myself and catch my breath, but I know I'll be out of gas by the end of this week. I need another spa day! Ha!!

Weekend Adventures

So one of my good friends from elementary school, Ashlee, came down from Seattle for a visit this weekend and it was sheer fun! I haven't had fun like that in a really long time, so I was due. I picked her up at the airport late Thursday night - so she didn't get to see the kids and I had been trying to tell Josh that Ashlee was coming to visit. Well he must have thought that I meant she was coming to visit just him, because Ash-wee (as he calls her) became his new best buddy! It was Ash-wee this, Ash-wee that. He had to hold Ash-wees hand, and wanted her to sit next to him. It was pretty stinkin' cute!

Friday during the day was spent at the pumpkin patch, where we got the biggest pumpkins we could carry (with two kids in tow, mind you). Josh had a blast playing in the bounce house, looking at all of the animals (pigs, cows, goats, chickens), and going to get a punkin (according to Josh). And even though he had an accident in the pumpkin patch, as we are just getting off of the tractor (long story) - we still had a lot of fun. Then that night, it was just a girls night out. We went to Tepanyaki's - which is a sushi bar, and I had never been to one before - so this was really a treat! It was a lot of fun and we actually tried sake! It was ok, but I've wanted to try that forever and now I can finally say that I have. I definitely want to go back!!

Saturday we went over to Park City to shop, and boy did we shop! It was so much fun to get out of the house and have it just be us girls (we took Madison with us, so she got the full shopping experience - and I think she liked it). We went into Park City to shop around, ate lunch, and then headed over to the outlet mall to do some more shopping. We got stuck in OshKosh (of course), Guess, and J Crew for a while. Then Maddie started to get a little fussy (which was the first time of the day), so we decided we should probably head back. We got home around 5 and Josh and Brad had dinner ready and waiting for us.

Ashlee left today, and everyone was sad to see her go. Josh started crying when she got out of the car at the airport, so I know he'll be talking about this for quite some time. So hopefully in the near future she will get to come back and we'll have even more fun! I had completely forgotten what is was like to spend time with a friend and be somewhat "normal" and not constantly a mommy! Ah, good times.

Thank Yous

It was a tough week last week and this weekend, but we got through it and there are a few people to thank for it. As most of you know Josh has been sick and is still feeling under the weather, but luckily Madison nor I got sick (thanks for the prayers). Madison has been a little crabby, but that could be attributed to anything really - teething, just being tired, or she might have had a slight case of what Josh had, but nothing major. So I need to first thank everyone who called and/or emailed to check in on us and see how we were doing.

Second, thank you Julia for bringing us cake and me dinner on Sunday night. That was the day it had snowed and I didn't think we should drive any where just to get out of the house. So thank you Julia - I really appreciate what you did for us. She also was kind enough to bring some lollipops for Josh and some apple juice, which were a complete lifesaver! She also came over to chat for a little while (sorry I talked your ear off Julia!), which I needed because after not talking to adults for two days face to face - it was a needed change.

Thank you very much to Brock and Arin (I don't think they read this blog, but they need to be mentioned). We bought a new couch yesterday (a sectional) and the company wasn't going to be able to deliver it until Saturday, and then we called customer service and they said they could get it here by Thursday. But even then, Thursday - almost an entire week without a couch. So Brad called up Brock, who has a truck and a trailer and they met up in Salt Lake (which he lives down in Lehi) and Brock and Arin (his wife) drove all the way up here and helped us unload the trailer, put together the couch, and then drove all the way home. And they have a newborn - one week old newborn to be exact! Plus, Brock just got a cast off of his arm due to a broken wrist. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Also a quick mention to my mom and Deb (MIL) who called me on Saturday and Sunday to make sure that I was doing ok. Thanks again to everyone who called or emailed, or left comments on this blog. I appreciate everyone for their thoughts and words of comfort. And thanks to those of you out there that were thinking of us.

Since we don't have any family in the area, we have to rely on a lot of great friends and I feel very blessed to know these people. So THANK YOU!!!

Snow Day

Well, it snowed today. The news had been saying all day yesterday that it was going to snow, and I guess honestly I didn't believe them. It just rained yesterday, and it wasn't snowing when I went to bed. But when I woke up this morning, I looked outside hoping that it had snowed and it did. I do love the snow and I love seeing Josh play in the snow, but again, this just wasn't the perfect weekend to have it happen.

1. We weren't prepared for the snow. I don't have anything for Josh to wear. We never did buy him any snow pants last year, I can't find any of his stocking caps, and he doesn't have any warm boots to wear. Plus Maddie doesn't have anything to keep her (as Heidi said) cozy! And who isn't prepared for snow before Halloween? Of all things, I guess I'm just not a prepared person (SARcastic!).

2. Josh is still sick, so even though I really want to take him outside - it's probably not the best idea. Which I know there will a lot more opportunities for him to be outside when it's snowing, so I'm not too bummed.

3. I'm worried that Brad's flight might get delayed and if it's not - I worry about him making the drive from Salt Lake to our house. It's not too long of a drive, but it can be when it's been snowing and the roads are icy. Plus, it will be dark out.

4. We haven't taken the wheels and tires that we have on the Tahoe off. The ones that we have on there right now, aren't really made for snow. Which Brad was going to take care of that last weekend, but if anyone reads this you'll know that he was sick. So I kind of feel like I'm stuck at home, which really isn't true - but it still feels that way. I mean, if we really needed to go somewhere we could, but not just to get out of the house. Boo.

5. Our dog doesn't have a dog house yet. Poor doggie. I opened the door to the garage, but he refuses to go in there. So he's braving it out in the cold. Poor guy! Brad was also going to do that last weekend - but here we are. And these are in no particular order.

So yes, I do love the snow, just not right now. I think I'm still a little snowed out after last year. We got so much snow - it's the most snow I've ever seen. Brad was shoveling the driveway a few times a day at one point. Plus, having that much snow right after having a baby is not a good combination. It's pretty weird to see our Halloween decorations outside with the snow.

Well here are some pictures of the snow in our yard.

No Furniture

So we had our futon and couch for sale, and what happens to things that are for sale? Well - they sold. We sold the futon on Friday night and the couch sold yesterday afternoon. It's awesome that we sold that stuff because we have been wanting to buy a new couch, but needed to get rid of those items first. But it really sucks because Brad has been gone this weekend. No really, it sucks! Big time!! Of all weekends to have things happen, it seems like everything is happening THIS weekend.

Josh is still sick, and keeps complaining that his tummy hurts. He still says his leg hurts and wants me to carry him every where. Which, isn't a big deal when you have just one kid or both parents home. It's been a little challenging taking care of both kids when one of them is sick. But I should just say now, I am thankful that both of them are not sick!

Josh being sick on the futon. Poor guy completely passed out.

So with Josh being sick and wanting to rest and lay around, it's really inconvenient not to have any furniture and not to be able to go look at furniture. So it's a pretty sad state at our house. We have no where to sit. So, I brought out Maddie's rocking chair and ottoman and brought in a camping chair from the garage (which is what I've been sitting in). I know I'm going to laugh about this some day, but not right now. Not when we don't have a couch. I can't wait until Brad gets home. When the people came to pick up the couch, Josh was really sad and kept repeating - "My couch, my couch".

This was just too cute not to post. Julia let us borrow this adorable outfit! I love it!! Thanks.

In honor of daddy being at the Seahawks game today. Go Hawks!!

Madison Says Mama and Claps

Brad's 30th

Well yesterday was Brad's 30th birthday. It was really, REALLY uneventful for him. I had been so preoccupied with cleaning and washing everything, that I completely forgot to wish him a happy birthday until after he had gotten home. We weren't even able to get him a card, a card! I had planned on doing that when Josh was at school, but since he didn't go to school and I couldn't leave the house - it just didn't happen. I love birthdays. I love my birthday, I love going to birthday parties - so I've been really down on myself that I didn't do anything but say Happy Birthday. Brad is not too big on birthdays, so it wasn't a big deal to him - but I still feel bad. Poor Brad. Happy Birthday honey!

I'm so sad that he wasn't able to have a better birthday. I had thought about planning a surprise party for him, but I'm really glad that I didn't. Especially the way things stand right now. Josh is still sick and is now saying that his leg hurts (oh please no - I don't think I can handle another fracture and him in his boot again). It feels like everything comes in 3s, so I just pray that this is the end of everything. So it's off to wash more laundry and disinfect everything else.

The Bug Strikes Again - And Wins

Well I'm still taking care of a sick family member, but alas it's not Brad. Now Josh is sick. I feel bad for the guy, he's never really thrown up before. I mean, he's thrown up - but not like this. He spit up a little as a baby, and then maybe once or twice of real throwing up. Poor guy doesn't know what to do with himself. We've been up since about three this morning, so needless to say I'm a little tired. We changed his sheets the first time, thinking that it might be a one time thing. But no. We were wrong. Changed his jammies and bedding again, but decided we should bring him in bed with us. By this time it was 5 or so, so Brad just decided to get up for the day. Josh slept on and off with me, only getting up to throw up.

So he hasn't slept, I haven't slept, Brad hasn't slept. The only one that has slept is Maddie, and she only woke up once early this morning when we started the washer. She only needed the bink and then it was back to sleep. She didn't even wake up for the day until after 8, which is really unusual for her. Which I hope is not a sign of things to come.

My morning has been spent washing bedding (our and Josh's), washing dirty jammies, disinfecting anything I can think of, cleaning toys, and airing out rooms. I just pray that Maddie and I don't get sick. That would really not be good! Hopefully we're out of the woods, but you never know. So please send prayers (I'm not kidding) our way that we don't get this bug.

Carpet Shampooer

Well we finally gave in and bought a carpet shampooer! I didn't really want to spend the money to get one, but it's cheaper than replacing our carpet - so we finally have one of our own. Brad put it together last night, not too hard to do so. But the thing came with many, many steps on how to operate it. So I've been reading about it all day today. And it's a sad thing, but I can't wait to use it! It even has some attachments on it, so I could possibly clean the couch, futon, and maybe our kitchen chairs. Yay, more work for me - but I guess I want to do it.

Our carpets need a really good cleaning, and we had been borrowing Brad's parents' shampooer (I just like saying shamPOOer) - but since they haven't been down here this year, we haven't been able to that. Our carpets are getting really dirty from all of the sippy cup messes, Josh having (well, me too to be honest) his shoes all over the place, food, etc. So they need a deep clean. I don't want to have to replace this carpet, so we're going to try to keep it nice and keep it clean. Easier said than done with 2 young kids, but we're going to try.

And I will not bore you with a picture of the one we got. I'm resisting taking a picture of my new baby. How sad is that?

Tidbits of Our Fam

Well there has been a little bit of stuff going on at our house, I just either had the time to post, or haven't felt motivated to do so. So here is a quick little update for everyone.

• Madison had her 9 month appointment on Tuesday. It went well, I hardly had any questions. She is still really small (well, not underweight, just small) - she weighed in at 16 lbs, 6 oz and was at the 10% for her weight. And I can't remember the exact number for her height - but they said she was in the 55th percentile for her height. Which is good, she jumped from the 10% to the 55% in 3 months. So good progress there. The doctor said that he's not worried about her weight, and really I'm not either - because I know she's a good eater. She constantly eating, so no worries here. She did get her flu shot and had to have her finger pricked for the hemoglobin test - well actually her toe. And we found out that she hates band-aids. Every time she looked at any of her band-aids, she started to cry right away - it must have been little reminder that she had gotten a shot. Oh, it was so sad. So she took those off herself immediately, and the one on her toe was holding pressure. So we made a huge mess in the doctor's office - blood was all over me and the floor, and her and my hands. Oh, what a day! She is a little anemic, so we have to do this iron drops. But the doctor said that we'll just recheck everything at her one year.
• Let's see - since Brad passed his test they have had him being the foreman for a crew all last week. Which is really stressful, because if anything happens, it is his fault. So he had been pretty stressed, which made for a long week.
• I was able to get away from the family, which I really needed a break. I went to a Pampered Chef party on Friday night, and it was really fun! I didn't stay too long, but it was just enough to recharge my batteries a little bit. (And little did I know, I was going to need every ounce of strength and patience that I had.)
• Brad got really sick on Friday night and into Saturday. He was throwing up and everything else, so he was stuck in bed ALL day. Which I did feel bad for him, because being sick like that is no fun. But on the other hand, if it had been me being sick - I would have had to do almost everything that I normally do anyways. Moms don't really get a break, or get to be sick. We just have to keep going. So, to put it nicely, I was a little mad. I didn't want the kids getting sick or me sick - especially since Brad will be out of town this coming weekend. So if we all get sick, I pretty much out of luck to have anyone help me. Plus, I was supposed to get my hair done. And normally it wouldn't be a big deal to reschedule - but we are busy every weekend this month, and a couple into November. I was really looking forward to getting it done, for some time just to myself - and a woman getting her hair done is a big thing. Oh well, maybe I'm just being too selfish.
• Plus on Saturday, I was making another meal for a mom in our mom's club - and I think sometimes I just spread myself too thin. But I didn't know, and couldn't plan, that Brad was going to get sick - we think it's something that he ate, by the way.
• I also had to run to the store with both kids in the pouring rain. And Josh was terrible in the store. He hadn't been listening all morning, and when we went by the balloons, he completely freaked out because he wanted one. And I stuck my ground and I wasn't going to give in and get one for him, because he didn't deserve one. I don't want to teach my kids that if they throw a fit, I'll give in and say here, just have it. So we're in the check out aisle, and he is still throwing an all out tantrum. I'm doing my best not to pay him any attention. But I'm talking kicking, screaming, hitting me, throwing himself on the floor - tantrum! Ugh. It was all I could do to muster up a smile for the cashier and say thank you. When we got home, he was in a timeout for quite some time!
• Sunday we didn't do much, but Brad was feeling a lot better - so it was just a family day staying at home.

Hopefully this week won't be so fun filled (ha, ha - sarcastic tone). It's Brad's birthday on Wednesday, so we have that. But we're really not busy besides that. So maybe this week will be a little more calm. Let's hope so, because I just can't handle any thing else.

Sticky Note Craziness

This is really crazy! It's cool, but also kind of scary at the same time.


EepyBird's Sticky Note experiment from Eepybird on Vimeo.

Chuck E. Cheese's

So yesterday we went to Chuck E. Cheese's with our neighbor, Julia, and her kids. There is one that just opened up by our house and we thought we'd check it out. No driving down to Salt Lake! :) And let me just tell you, we had a blast! A Blast! Everyone. I haven't been to a Chuck E. Cheese's since I was little and then as I got older and after having kids I heard about those nasty ball pits that have really gross stuff in them. So I was a little leary to go, but Julia assured me that there were no ball pits in the new ones - so, phew!

We got there a little after 10am, so there was hardly anyone in the place. So that was really nice. And the set up just makes sense and works awesome for younger kids. I had a coupon (love coupons) for 100 tokens for $10. Not bad. Abbi and Josh each got 50 tokens each and that lasted us almost 2 1/2 hours! The kids had so much fun just running around and playing the little games. Josh was so excited about a helicopter game, there was a big jeep that he could ride on, and he loved the bouncy ball game. And this was before he even knew he won tickets. He was really excited about that part. And it's nice too because, well for one it's brand new - so everything is super clean; the set up of the place - I just love; and they have ticket counting machines, so you don't have to do it yourself. I know, like I've said before, the little things get me going! So at the end of our time, we cashed in the tickets (250 mind you) and Josh got a little frog, a big bouncy ball (like a 4-square, that's right I said 4-square, ball), and a lollipop. Just little things, but I think it's a good deal for 10 bucks. So here are a few pics from our day. Fun, fun, fun! We can't wait to go back. Thanks Julia!

Here is Josh riding the big horse! He loved it!

Josh playing with the big bouncy ball game. Abbi was really lucky on this game!

Josh on the safari jeep and then below, taking Abbi out for a spin. I love that they're both dressed in yellow! Too cute!

Brad Passed His Test

Happy, happy. Joy, joy. Brad passed his journeyman lineman test! I'm still in so much shock that I couldn't even keep my head on straight yesterday to write anything. This just opens up so many more possibilities for us - it's unreal. I am so happy. He took his test yesterday and I (well, we) had been on pins and needles the entire night. I know he didn't sleep very well, and I woke up when he did and couldn't get back to sleep. So the day dragged on and I was a nervous wreck - I couldn't eat anything, I felt sick to my stomach, etc. And when my phone rang at 11:30, I was really nervous. I almost didn't answer. But I'm glad that I did.

I'm so proud of him and he is such a good husband and father to our kids. He did an awesome job by passing this test. So now he is a journeyman lineman instead of an apprentice. He apprenticeship is finally complete. There will be no more training on Sundays and no more feeling like he has to work. It's awesome. It's a completely freeing feeling. He even gets a pay raise - which always helps! We went out to dinner last night to celebrate. It's wonderful! So here, here to Brad.

Maddie is 9 Months

Time flies so fast when you have kids. I mean, the day by day grind gets old and some days feel like they're never going to end. And I mean never - minutes are like hours! But then there are other days that seem to just fly by. And as my kids get older and older, time feels like it just keeps going by even faster than it did before. So yesterday was one of those days. Maddie was 9 months old yesterday and I can't believe it. She's definitely not a little baby any more and is becoming and acting more and more like a toddler every day. So far she's done almost everything sooner than Josh. Here is a little breakdown of everything:

• rolling over: Josh - 3 1/2 months, Maddie - 3 months
• sitting up: Josh - 7 months, Maddie - 8 months
• crawling: Josh - 8 months, Maddie - 7 months
• teeth: Josh - 10 months, Maddie - 7 1/2 months
• standing up: Josh - 10 months, Maddie - 8 months
• walking: Josh - 13 months, Maddie - we'll see??

So here are a few pictures of my big girl. Her hair is getting longer and she's starting to crawl just as fast as Josh did. Hope everyone enjoys the pics.

Here she is enjoying her favorite past time - eating.

Having fun with bubbles.

My little princess.

One of the few pictures of me and the kids.

Our Next President

So after watching this presidential debate, I must say that I'm more likely than ever to vote. I know, it's awful that I haven't registered to vote yet - but I haven't really paid much attention to what was going to happen to our country or what kind of president would impact my life. I was only 25 during the last election, had only been married for a year, and had just started my career. I didn't really know what I cared about, what was important to me, and what all of that meant. That was, until I had kids. Now that I have kids, I feel that I view the world in an entirely different way. I feel that I know who I am a little bit more and that I know what important to me and my life.

I want to know that our next president is going to make this world a better place for my children and for me. I know now how important it is to register to vote, because (and I know this is going to sound cliche) every vote counts. Now this is just my opinion - but if you want this country to be run the same way that it has the last 8 (count them, eight) years, then vote for McCain. But if you're looking for change and in a good way, then vote for Obama. All I kept hearing during the debate was how McCain thinks Obama is so inexperienced and that he (McCain) has the experience that the country needs. Experience isn't everything! And yes, we know he is a POW, we know, we know, we know. That's another thing that we hear about all of the time from him. What about those issues?

Please vote. Vote for change. We need a democrat as president!

The Newest Happenings

Well I haven't posted any pictures of the kids lately, so I thought I'd do that on this post. The newest happenings in our lives are that Josh is doing really well in school. His teachers keep saying that he is listening very well to directions and does everything that they ask - oh, I wish that would happen at home, but at least he's good at school. He has done many art projects and loves going "over the bridge and down the slide" in the playground. He is learning so many new things, I know it was the right decision to put him in preschool this year. He loves going, and asks about school all weekend long!

Here's Josh laying on the futon. He was being so silly that day!

Here Josh is showing me is "morocykil" shirt. That's the best way I know how to pronounce it like he does. He was very proud of this picture today.

Here he is showing me his mad face. He is going through another one of his "I hate to have my picture taken" phases. When I showed him this picture after I'd taken it, he said to me "Josh is sad" - oh my heart!

Maddie just keeps standing. Up and down, up and down. Crawling everywhere and getting into all of her brothers toys and stuff she's not supposed to. She just wore some little shoes for the first time the other day, and if I do say so myself - so pretty stinkin' cute! I had to put some shoes on her because she won't leave her socks on. She's constantly taking them off, and with the weather turning a little colder - it's my only option. And this kid loves to eat - awe, one good eater - oops, I just jinxed myself. No, but she loves to eat. She'll eat anything and I mean - anything. She tries to eat rocks if she's outside! So far there is nothing that I've found that she won't eat. She's eaten avocados, pasta, carrots, zucchini, oranges, little meat sticks, tortillas, peas, olives, I mean - a lot of stuff. So hopefully this eating trend continues. It's hard to have a picky eater.

She's still not used to the shoes, but they'll have to do for now.

The Zoo

Well we finally made it back to the zoo today. We've been wanting go since it has gotten a little cooler out (and I mean, a little). The last time we went was when our friends Corbin & Amy came to visit and it was like 100 degrees outside. But today was the perfect day to go. There were some clouds, but some sun as well, and it was cool enough where we could walk around and not get hot. It gets hot really fast when you're pushing a baby around in a stroller.

Josh loves going to the zoo, and the only animal that he wants to see are the Lions - even though they don't have lions at this zoo. But we got up close and personal with the tiger and I guess that was good enough for Josh. He also loves the monkeys, elephants, and rhinos. Those are just a few of his favorites. He kept saying to the animals "get out of there" and then he wanted to "get in there". My child is like a wild animal at times :) Maddie loved tagging along - even though she doesn't really look at any of the animals. She's just as content as can be being pushed around in the stroller watching Josh.

But there are two things that I'm really bummed about. One is that I forgot our camera yet again! I asked Brad if we could buy one of those disposable ones, but that idea was nixed! Boo. I wish that I had some pictures of Josh at the zoo because he looks so cute watching all of the animals. This is the second time I've forgotten it, and I'm really bummed! And the second is, is that I really love going to the zoo. I love the whole experience of it - getting the food, staying for hours, buying at least one little thing at the gift shop. But it's totally different for Brad. He doesn't mind going to the zoo, but he could do without all of that other stuff. So maybe if I get brave, I'll take the kids myself before it's gets too cold out - or maybe we'll go when his parents are here (that's a whole story in itself, so I'll post sometime later about that). But we'll see. That's just how I am I guess, I want the full experience! I'm like that with the fair, zoos, baseball games, etc. So hopefully we'll be able to make it back one more time before it gets too cold - even though we're crazy busy in October! If not, there's always next year.

Love the Rain

Ahhh, it's raining today (well a little rain anyways). I love this weather. Not every day, but I like it from time to time. Moving from the Oregon area to Utah has been pretty hard to adjust to. I'm not used it (it's only been 4 years now - ha) being really hot in the summer and really cold in winter months. It's nice to actually live in an area that has a spring and a fall. My ideal weather would be 65-70 degrees, just enough to wear jeans and a t-shirt!

What is nice here are the thunderstorms. I love hearing the thunder, and have never heard thunder as loud and as long, as it is here. When we lived in Oregon, we lived near the coast - so it rained all of the time. I'm not joking. All the time. I used to joke with Brad that they didn't really ever need to do a weather report, because it was always rain. Rain in the morning, rain in the evening. Rain. Rain is nice and it makes trees and plants really, really green - but it gets a little depressing after a while. I really do miss the green trees. But you take what you can get. Just missing the rain.

Helping Others

First off, I'm not writing this post as a way of saying - oh, look at me and tell me what a great job I did. I'm not doing that. I'm writing this because of how good it made me feel and I want to share that with everyone I know. I joined a MOMs (meeting other mothers) group a while ago - before Maddie was born, and they have what is called the Sunshine club - thanks to Heidi :) This is where people bring food or whatever else the person needs if they have a baby, or someone close to them dies, etc. When I had Madison, Heidi was the one who arranged for people to bring me food (for an entire week no less), even though I hadn't done anything with the MOMs club for quite some time. Which I don't think I ever really thanked her - so THANK YOU Heidi!

Well, off the subject again. So there is a mom that is on bedrest and she needed some Sunshine. It was my turn to bring her dinner last night and even though it was a little hectic trying to get her the dinner, it was well worth it. It was such a great feeling to help someone else out, to give back in a way. I remember when all of those sweet, sweet souls brought our family dinner after Brad's mom left and I was so appreciative. It was nice to be able to do that for someone else, and I know how much she appreciated it because I was the same way. It just feels great to do some good in this crazy world (I know, it's cliche) - but I know I want to do more.

I've signed up to do some mailings for kids with autism - and I really hope it's not a scam, for the kids' sake. I haven't gotten anything in the mail yet - but all I have to do is supply the stamps, put together the paperwork, and set up some donations (hint, hint). So hopefully this all works out. But I'm craving more. Right now it's a little harder to do stuff for the community, but once Maddie gets a little older, I know that I'm going to be doing more. I want to do more. There are so many kids that need help out there, it's a little overwhelming, but they need help. So if anyone knows of any charities or things I can do to help out, please let me know.

STILL Cleaning

Well we're STILL cleaning up the baby powder. I did a thorough vaccum yesterday, cleaned up what I could from Josh's dresser, bed, and the wipe container. But little did I know, that was just the beginning. I had forgotten that there was a pile of clothes on the floor, which he had completely covered - so I just threw them in his hamper so as to not further the spread of the baby powder. The only problem was that I forgot all of that stuff was in there and that I needed to wash it.

So of course he was really stuffy last night and ended up coming into our room so we could air out his. Let's just say it was a really long night! But it was kind of nice to snuggle up all three of us in bed. Cute, but no sleep. Okay, off track. So Brad and I get up this morning to tackle his room and the vacuum cleaner since it was jam packed with baby power.

We go into Josh's room - it still stinks (and I only say stinks because I've been smelling this for 2 days now), his ceiling fan is completely covered - it's on the lights, on the covers to the lights, on all of the blades. It's all over his curtains, all over his sheets (I know, duh), still in 2 huge spots on his carpet, plus all of his clothes. So needless to say, I did a lot of laundry today - bedding (which I hate), curtains, clothes. I cleaned out the vacuum cleaner, which has never been cleaner than the day we bought it - I had to remove the hoses, rinse those out, rinse out the container that collects the dust, and remove the filter. Oh, what a hassle. It's not as funny today.

Josh is still a little stuffy and all of us have been sneezing because there is so much dang powder floating through the house. But we'll survive. The baby powder bottle is empty, and we've removed the lotion from his room - so hopefully we won't have any more incidents. For the next couple of days, anyways.