So behind

I'm behind on everything - pictures, updates, witty things I thought of to blog about. Sigh. We will be sending out our Shutterfly pictures tomorrow or Monday, so if you don't already receive those from us and would like to, let me know. That will show you what's been going on around here. The kids are really growing up and we've captured some cute things they've been up to. So, seriously, you'll want to see these pictures!

What else is new?

Roy - Just got done with winter quarter. The class he TA'd had a final this morning. He finished grading the papers this afternoon and now he just has to enter the grades on Monday and then he doesn't have anything going on till next Monday! Woo hoo! We thought about going to Blythe, but there's a lot going on here and making a trip is probably too much right now. I'm bummed, but oh well. Anyway, I was taking about Roy...umm...oh yeah, he's going to be teaching a class spring quarter.

Ashley - I've been busy with church stuff. I'm on the Enrichment Committee and the Activities Committee and both groups have been busy. We had a big Easter picnic today. It was a huge success (right, you guys?) and a ton of fun. And for Enrichment, I was in charge of a swap meet last week that was a lot of work. There was a TON of stuff and now I have to find a way to get it all to Deseret Industries. It took quite a few hours just to bag/box it up and put in the stage in the cultural hall. Whew. And then coming up this week we are having a big "quarterly" Enrichment that I'll be helping out with. It's good to stay busy though.

Rae - Just finished her first ballet class. It was only four classes long and she missed one class when she was sick. She had fun with it, but she said she didn't want to sign up for more. Which is okay with me - that's 30 bucks we save! :)
She is starting speech therapy in a few weeks. It's through the school district and I really really like the teacher that will be working with her. I'm really excited about the whole thing - especially that we'll be able to understand her better! I took her to Supercuts a few weeks ago and got her hair cut kind of short. It's cute and it's a lot easier to do.

Blaise - Man oh man, this boy is starting to talk so much! He mimics most of the words we say, and is pretty good at telling us what he wants. He's so cute! He's sleeping well, eating well, playing well. (Doesn't always nap so well though. Well, if you can get him to go to sleep, he'll stay asleep - but it's hard to get him to settle down!)

I'm starting to not be able to form sentences! I think it's bedtime! I'll post stuff about Easter tomorrow!

Oh Yeah...

One more: "Tales From the Crib" is doing one of their "freebies". Go and make a comment and you are entered into their drawing.

Yum

Just saw this on Slickdeals - sign up for this Black Angus Prime Club and get a free dessert. You also get a free dinner for your birthday. Too bad mine is not till Dec!

Bryce-a-roni

So my baby brother isn't a baby anymore. He's 18, just had his Eagle court of honor and just got accepted into college! Way to go Bryce! Next week he'll sell his last pig for 4-H - good luck with that! And a year from now he'll probably be off on his mission! Maybe I'll try to have another baby before he leaves so he doesn't have too many new nieces and nephews to catch up on when he gets home!

You're an awesome guy Bryce - keep up the good work!

Ashley:

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The West   Your accent is the lowest common denominator of American speech. Unless you're a SoCal surfer, no one thinks you have an accent. And really, you may not even be from the West at all, you could easily be from Florida or one of those big Southern cities like Dallas or Atlanta.
The Midland
Boston
North Central
The Northeast
Philadelphia
The Inland North
The South
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Roy:

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Inland North   You may think you speak "Standard English straight out of the dictionary" but when you step away from the Great Lakes you get asked annoying questions like "Are you from Wisconsin?" or "Are you from Chicago?" Chances are you call carbonated drinks "pop."
The Midland
The Northeast
Philadelphia
The South
The West
Boston
North Central
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Ducks and naps

We have a couple of nesting mother ducks right outside of our apartment (kinda like last year). Yesterday Blaise decided to charge one of them, and by the time I got to him, she had made him regret his insolence:


As for today, this is what happens at 6 PM when Blaise hasn't taken a nap:

P.S.: We are really behind on sending pictures out. It's on the to-do list.

Arizona

I suppose it should be mentioned, for those who don't know, that I visited ASU Polytechnic last Monday through Wednesday. It was great, except that I had severe vomiting on Monday night and Tuesday morning. I think the hiring committee members were understanding, though. (Also, I never actually threw up in front of them, which is a plus.)

On a lighter note

Take this quiz...it's fun. I don't if there are that many people that read my blog that haven't already seen this on my sister's blog but I wanted to post it anyway.

I hate being sick!

I can handle it okay when the kids are sick, but when I'm sick too - that's when it is just unbearable!! I'll break down the barf fest for you:

Thursday 11:30pm Rae pukes in bed. Poor thing tried to wipe it off with a tissue. Got her cleaned up and got in bed with her to try to catch anymore puke that might be coming. She drank a bunch of water and then promptly threw that up. Cleaned her up again and put her back to bed. She slept really well after that. Roy had used some questionable jelly on her PB&J sandwich earlier in the day, and joked that if she threw up we would know the jelly was bad. So we figured that was why she was puking. In the morning she seemed fine and ate a ton of breakfast too quickly. She threw up again. Then she really seemed fine, so we went about our day, playing at the playground (sorry everyone that she played with!!) and everything. Later in the afternoon she was complaining that she didn't feel very good and we all took naps. (I still thought she wasn't very sick, just really tired from being up the night before) That night she and Blaise had a bit of diarrhea.

Saturday we were all okay. Then Saturday evening Blaise threw up twice. In the morning he seemed fine and we were all getting ready for church and he threw up again. And then Rae started complaining that she didn't feel well. So we all stayed home from church. At noon it hit me (it probably would have hit me sooner, but I was fasting and as soon as I ended my fast and ate something it all came out!) I had the runs all afternoon and then when I tried to get up to get some fresh air I threw up. I stayed in bed the rest of the day. Not a very peaceful Sabbath.

And today? We are all a little slow and feeling yucky. Rae has been complaining all day about stomach pain, and just now she headed to the bathroom with the runs. I think that made her feel a lot better. She just had a Pedialyte popsicle and she's a lot perkier now. I have a ton to do but no energy to do it. Roy is gone proctoring a midterm and as soon as he gets home we are taking him to the airport. He's going to ASU and will be home Wed evening. The house is a mess and I just want to sleep all day. I know everything will be fine. I know I can get the house cleaned up tonight or tomorrow, and I know life is still pretty good. Luckily Roy hasn't been sick (so far - I did make sure he packed some anti-diarrhea medicine just in case) so he was able to take care of us and prepare for his interview (probably not as well as he would have liked). Hopefully we'll be back to normal by the time he gets home! Wish us luck!

Let's see....

What's new? I went to the dentist today. It had been almost 6 years since my last visit...yikes, huh? But I didn't have any cavities! Seriously, don't even bother brushing, because cavities are a fluke that happen to some people and not others. :) I'm the world's biggest candy junkie and I usually only brush my teeth once a day (but don't be grossed out when you see me next time, because I'm starting to brush them twice a day!!) I do need to work on flossing though, because my gums are pretty sensitive and the dentist said I need to be careful or I'll get a gum disease.

She also said I need to get my wisdom teeth removed. I've been trying to read about this a bit because I'm not entirely sure that I do. I mean, I'm going to get a second opinion and find out why they really need removed. The dentist I went to didn't give me a reason. I didn't exactly ask for one (my mind hadn't fully wrapped itself around the whole idea until later in the day) but I thought that if there was some specific reason, she would have told me. They made me an appt with the oral surgeon for two weeks from now and I'm most likely going to cancel it. For one, I don't have time to go to the dentist again. Two, Roy doesn't have time to take care of me. Three, that doesn't give me enough time to see another dentist beforehand. My friend said that one dentist told her she needed them removed and that she need 9 fillings, and then she went to her childhood dentist and he said that wasn't true. That happened to another friend of mine too. What's the deal with that? I wish I could go to MY childhood dentist - he was the best!

One problem is that I want to get pregnant sometime soon, so what if during my pregnancy my wisdom teeth suddenly start acting up? Do you think there is a good chance of that happening? They've been in for several years, so what are the chances of them acting up now? Ugh, all the questions I should have asked the dentist!! I am the worst about not asking enough questions.

I didn't mean for this entire post to be about my wisdom teeth! Any advice/criticism is welcome!

Advice

I got a waffle iron the other day, and now I need a good recipe for waffles. I looked some up online and tried one, but I wasn't too impressed with it and I don't want to waste my time trying recipe after recipe. What I want is a whole wheat recipe with substitutions like applesauce instead of oil. Anyone happen to have one like that? And I want them to turn out nice and crispy on the outside. Do you have to beat the egg whites and fold them in to get them to turn out like that? Any advice would be so appreciated!

Another thing I need some advice about: I want to start working out with workout videos. The only time that I can workout is at night or while the kids are around and lately I just don't feel like going out when it's dark and cold at night. Anyone have any "favorites". More importantly, do you have any I could borrow and try out? I might go to the library sometime and see if they have any.

Thanks in advance!

Happy Birthday Katie!

Today is (one of) my big sister's birthday! Hope you have a great day and get to relax a bit. Sorry I stole the pic off your blog, but this was the only picture I had of you:



This picture is Katie preparing to pose for her own self portrait. Apparently putting your mouth like that before you smile makes for a good picture. She would know - she's the best picture poser in the world.

Catching up

On Friday we drove up Interstate 80 and hit the first place to play in the snow. There are a bunch of state run snow parks up the 80. We decided Friday morning to do it, so we were prepared, but we didn't have a sled or anything. We figured Rae would be too scared to sled. But there wasn't much else to do. The snow was really hard and we could hardly build a snowman, and Rae couldn't do a snow angel :( And Blaise hated it. But at least Rae got to see some snow and she loved to eat it. Here are a few pictures:



Rae and her snowman



Blaise showing his disgust for the snow.




"Seriously you guys, I want to leave!"



"Yay, we are leaving!"

Got behind again

When I get behind on blogging I never feel like trying to catch up. Especially since I feel like I'm just trying to keep caught up on every other aspect of my life. Ugh.

A few "updates":

Blaise is finally starting to get better. I don't think I ever mentioned this, but it turned out that he did not have pinkeye. I'm pretty sure he had a sinus infection, maybe even an ear infection. But it was so off and on that I never knew if I should call the doctor. And, if I did go to the doctor and they told me it was an infection, I was going to let it run its course without antibiotics anyway, so what's the point? Hindsight - I probably should have gone to the doctor for peace of mind. But now he has no more fevers, no eye goop, not as much nose goop and he coughs less. Actually, coughing is his only symptom really. He has this horrible cough at night...but it's improving, so I'm not worried. He's sleeping well despite the cough. I think that once he feels completely better he'll be a great sleeper. Oh yeah, and he got his two top molars and now he's working on his bottom molars. Poor little guy.

Rae is growing up so much. Everyday she says something that I want to blog about! Today we were in the car and we were discussing something and she said "okay mom, if you say so". We've been reading the Book of Mormon every night and she's starting to recall stories from it. Unfortunately though, she now talks about swords cutting people and being able to stand in fire and not get burned. She likes to try to be a little mother to Blaise, but he will have nothing to do with it.

As for me, umm, I'm just trying to survive everything. :) I'm managing Roy's traveling - but just barely. I'm still doing Weight Watchers, and I FINALLY hit my 10 pound mark! Hopefully I'll be more disciplined this month and lose more consistently.

So, my visiting teachers came while I was writing this and I lost my train of thought. That's all for now I guess. :)

Valdosta

For Valentine's Day last week, I spent the day in Valdosta, Georgia. I didn't have time to take any pictures, but the one above gives a pretty good example of what the nicer parts of the city look like (lots of Spanish moss and azaleas). I hear there are also a lot of alligators in Valdosta; one professor told me that an eight-footer had recently gotten into the pond on his property. Speaking of which, the cost of living there is amazing(ly low).

I'd like to avoid giving too many details, but I really enjoyed the university. The pictures on this webpage show very accurately what the campus looks like.

Happy Birthday Lindsey!

I know you are having a crappy day so far...hope it gets better! I'll try to give you a call tonight. If I lived nearby I'd babysit for you!!



Ahh...remember what it was like to be young :)

Utah schools

Got back from my (long) trip to BYU on Saturday. Spent an evening with the Utah Jeppsons. On Saturday morning I had some extra time, so I went to the SLC temple and also took some pictures of "the U" that I couldn't the first time.


We now have UofU and BYU magnets on the 'fridge, right next to each other. It's a beautiful thing.

Real quick

I finally uploaded the pictures from my personal camera, and found this one of my mom opening her GPS that all of her kids got her for Christmas. Thought I'd share it so my siblings that weren't there could see her reaction.

BIG BOY!

So, Roy left today and I decided to take matters into my own hands and make some changes around here! :) I posted our crib on craigslist: "Free if you come and disassemble it". I got a phone call within 10 minutes and within 30 minutes after that the crib was gone! Yay! I then proceeded to assemble the toddler bed we bought a couple of weeks ago. I managed to do a pretty good job without killing the "helpful" children! Here's a picture of Blaise sleeping blissfully in it.



Now, you'll remember that I have weaned him now, so at night we usually get him to sleep by rocking him in the dark. But, tonight I told him to climb into bed and go to sleep, and he did! He fussed a little and messed around a little, but he stayed lying down the whole time and fell asleep within 10 minutes! I'm truly shocked. And then he didn't even stir when I put Rae to bed a few minutes later. What a peaceful night to end a not-so-peaceful day. Oh, did I mention that the kids have pinkeye? It'll be fun to do eye drops every 3 hours without any help! Just 68 more hours to go without Roy! Sigh.

Our trip

So, as Roy mentioned, we went down to Yorba Linda for his mom's 60th (!) birthday party. We arrived late Thursday night and went straight to the hotel that his mom had so generously provided for us. :) Friday morning the kids and I went to Dennys for breakfast so Roy could get some more sleep. Then we all went to Target to pick up little things we had forgotten. After Baerbel (Roy's mom), Dale (her husband) and Sonja (Roy's sister) got done getting their nails done we all went to the Santa Ana Zoo. It's a great little zoo, and the weather was amazing. Then we went out to lunch and dropped Roy and Blaise off at the hotel for a nap (just for Blaise) and hung out at Sonja's house.

Saturday morning we all went to Dennys for breakfast again. Barb and Dale took off to get some glamor shots done. We just chilled and dinked around all morning. Roy took the kids to the park in the afternoon and then we all got ready for the party. We went to Claim Jumper for dinner (YUM!) and then back to Sonja's house for cake and ice cream. It was fun. And Barb was all dolled up for her pictures!

Sunday we went to Sacrament mtg and then hung out at Sonja's house all afternoon. Rae had a blast with her cousin Catrina, and Blaise loved the cats they have and all the toys. It was a lot of fun. We left around 3:30 and the kids were asleep by 4:00! Rae slept the ENTIRE trip and Blaise slept till 6 and then was back asleep by 7 and slept the rest of the way. It was a great trip home. We are glad to be back, but sad that Roy is leaving us tomorrow :(

Rae started a "mommy and me" preschool today. She liked it a lot. I get to host next week. She's going to the doctor in a few minutes to check on a possible bladder infection or UTI or something. I'll update later about that.

Blaise is an AMAZING sleeper now that he is weaned. He is a much heavier sleeper and he slept 8 hours straight last night!!!! WOOOOOO HOOOO! Then I got him back to sleep in his crib at 3:30 and he slept till 4:30 and then I just brought him to bed with me. He didn't get up till 7 this morning, and he still took a 1 1/2 hour nap this afternoon. And this is all while teething! I'm loving it and just enjoying it while it lasts!

Anyway, I better get going to the doctor. I'll post some pics from our trip tonight.