5 Things

5 Things that made me laugh this week.

1. Mordecai and Emily playing chase...Well, more like watching Mordecai scooting as fast as he can trying to catch Emily.
2. Watching Emily dive into the snow...she was literally diving into the snow.
3. Emily getting stuck in the snow.
4. Ripping out the brick on our fireplace only to find out there was mold under it. I had to laugh to keep me from being angry or frustrated.
5. Emily and Mordecai splashing in the bath, and Mike getting wet and frustrated.

5 Things I was doing 10 years ago.

1. Going to High School.
2. Getting ready for my first official date (Rick Pace)
3. Learning to Drive.
4. Taking flute lessons (Mr. Pond)
5. Doing stuff I shouldn't of done.

5 Things on my to do list

1. Clean my kitchen.
2. Vacuum my house.
3. Return library books.
4. Dinner.
5. Fix up & Decorate my house.

5 Favorite Snacks

1. French Fries.
2. Fruit/ Fruit Leather.
3. Chips/Crackers.
4. Candy.
5. Anything I am in the mood for.

5 Things I would do with a Million Dollars

1. Pay off our house, and maybe make it a bit bigger to have a more functional main level.
2. Put money away for kids college, marriage, or mission funds.
3. Tithing.
4. Give some to family, if needed.
5. Save!!!

5 People I tag to answer these

1. Chestin Hamblin
2. Wanda Husted
3. Hannah Bainbridge
4. Kim Rogers
5. Valerie Witte

Baby Thoughts

Let me begin this blog by saying I am very grateful for all that I have been given. That said let me begin. Within the last 6 months I have received news that there are or will be 10 babies born from March to November of this year, all from family or close friends. Now, around the time that my babies reach their first birthday I start to want another one, well kind of sorta this time. I am happy with my two, and know that I am very blessed to have them and I would be fine just having what I have already, but there is still the feeling of "I'm not done being pregnant." I enjoy pregnancy for the most part, to me I just feel special, and it is magical to feel the baby move... BUT! at the end I get tired of being big and not able to wear my skinny clothes and just ready to be done. Well when Joey called last night I started thinking that I was ready for another one, and I was left to wonder why it is that the whole time I nurse we can't get pregnant, we have never done anything to prevent. Well last night I was reading a couple of blogs and I came across this quote.

"The Saints should always remember that God sees not as man sees; that he does not willingly affect his children, and that if He requires them to endure present privation and trial, it is that they may escape greater tribulations which would otherwise inevitably overtake them. If he deprives them of any present blessing, it is that He may bestow upon them greater and more glorious ones by-and-by." Elder George Q. Cannon (1827-1901) "That simple reminder accomplishes an incredible task- it helps me to feel grateful for my trials and gives me hope for the blessing that will come when I have shown the Lord that I trust in Him and have endured my trials well."

After reading that I had this thought come back to me when I was thinking about past conversations with my mom. We were talking about the struggle I thought it was to get pregnant with Mordecai and after he was born and all the kidney problems I had had being pregnant with him. Well my Mom all wise said, "The Lord knew what problems you were going to have being pregnant so he blessed you with Mordecai when he knew you and Mike, and Emily were best equipped to handle it." The minute she said that I was like "yeah right, he blessed us with that right in the middle of moving and closing on our old home." Well hind sight is 20/20 right? Now I know I was blessed because I wouldn't of learned the lessons I did by those struggles, I wouldn't have this bond with Mike that formed by him worrying and taking care of me, I know I wouldn't have this strong emotional, but different connection that I have with Mordecai that formed while I was going through all my struggles to keep him safe and able to arrive safely. There are tons more blessings that I don't even know or have time to write about. BUT!!! I know the Lord has blessed me.

Now that I am finally ready to have another one I hope it doesn't take so long to get pregnant again, and I hope that I will have a complication free one also.

Goofy Kids

Well I have nothing exciting to blog about, except that Mike came home around noon because we finally got some snow here. We got about 13-14 inches of snow, and it is supposed to continue through the night so Mike might stay home from work tomorrow depending on the roads. I was hoping to have him work on the house, but instead he helped with sick kids, they have colds AGAIN!!!, and then he watched some March Madness.

These pictures were taken with my cell phone so that is why they are grainy. The first is of Mordecai putting food on his head. Last week I was at Lexy's house and the kids were eating lunch. Mordecai was just sitting in Hannah's high chair eating while we were cleaning and chatting. I look over at him and he is putting his lasagna on his head trying to get it to stay. Lexy has a better picture with the food actually on his head so I need to grab it from her. I think he was doing this because lately when they get baths Mike has been sticking the foam letters they have on his head and back.

Next is Emily. She is so excited to have belts!! Yes, I said belts. It goes back to her always bending over and we get a face full of crack. She is tall for 3T jeans, but they fit her perfectly in the waist, so we put her in 4T. Well those are to long and too big in the waist, and we even bought her some adjustable waist pants and we still see the plumber coming out. So one night Mike said she needed a belt, so yesterday at Target we got her a 2 pack. She was so excited to wear them she put them on over her pajamas, and even today she was wearing a sweat outfit and the belt as well.

Congratulations Joey & Carlie, they are expecting a baby in November!!!!

Paint, Paint and more Paint

Today has been so fun, but exhausting all at the same time. It started with yesterday. I decided that since I had done all the cleaning for Thursday's dinner party I was going to sand and paint the stairs going down to the basement. So after Mike left for work I did just that, I sanded them and then the kids and I went to ACE Hardware to buy paint. While we were there I picked up some paint for the walls too. When we got home the kids and I ate lunch then Mordecai went down for a nap. While he was napping Emily and I painted the stairs. We did one coat and then let them dry. When Mike got home we took a look at them and he said that we probably should do another coat. So this morning I did the second coat. The stairs look so much better now, especially since they aren't the ugly blue/grey that Colorado loves to use so much, and that they don't have chips of paint gone or pieces of wood splintering up. In case you are wondering I painted the a milk chocolate brown, called 'High Mesa'.

After I painted the stairs this morning the kids and I got ready for the day while Mike was at his last basketball game for Church ball. Then when he got home we headed out for Hannah Ludwig's birthday party at 'Pump It Up'. Emily and Mordecai had a blast. There was a big circular bouncer, a gigantic slide, boxing ring, and a BIG obstacle course that mad you feel like you were on 'Gladiators'. I think the hit was the slide, at least for our family. After we played for a while we went to another room for pizza, veggies, fruit, and cupcakes.

When we got home Mike and I pulled out the paint and started sanding, caulking, and painting the window casing in the breakfast nook. Hopefully we will have of the windows knocked out before we have family here in May. So many things to do, and so little time.

Emily's Eye Appointment

On Tuesday Emily had an eye appointment with Dr. Nichols. Mike and I were a little nervous about what the verdict with her eye and the patching were going to be since she seemed to be struggling with watching where she was going. We were so excited to hear Dr. Nichols say that there wasn't a preference for one eye over the other. Last time we were there, in December, she favored her right eye about 90% of the time over her left. He also told us that the depth of both eyes is the same. He did notice however that she tends to look over the top of her glasses quite a bit. He didn't know if it was because they needed to be adjusted to fit her face a little better of if her prescription has changed, but for now he said we would keep her in them and in 4 months we will go back and dilate her eyes. We also only have to patch her eye 2-3 hours a day instead of 6 hours a day which is totally better. He said we could stop patching all together but he doesn't think the eye is strong enough and he would hate to have her re-lapse and then we would be back at 6 hour patchings.

Tonight we had Preston, a co-worker of Mike's over for dinner. His wife Lori and their two boys came over too. Colin is 4 and Spencer is 4 months. Emily just loved playing with Colin. She giggled and teased, we caught a glimpse of what she will be like in the future when the interest changes. We had Hawaiian Haystacks and this yummy dessert called Layered Strawberry Cheesecake Bowl. Mike liked it and so did Emily and I.

I got my blog book for the 2008 year. I am excited that it was easy to journal that year and have a record for myself and kids.

Funny Emily

Funny things that Emily has said lately. Yesterday while we were at the doctors office Dr. Miller asked me about the kids potty business, so he said, "How is their pee?" Emily knowing we don't use that word in our house she told him, "We don't say that word. We use stinky, or urine, or bowel movement." Dr. Miller laughed and then said, "What? It is just a letter in the alphabet."

Also last night along with dinner we had broccoli. Emily ate a ton of it as usual. She wanted more after it was all gone and tried to drink the water from the bowl like she does with cereal. I poured into a cup thinking once she tried it she would be grossed out. WRONG!! Emily drank it and asked for more. She is a weirdo.

Well Child Visits

Today I took the kids in for their well child visits. Dr. Miller checked Mordecai first since Emily nominated him to be first. Thankfully his ear infections are gone and everything else abouthim was healthy.

He weighed 22 lbs 7 oz - 45 %
and was 31 inches long - 90%

All bets are that he is going to be just like Daddy, tall and skinny. Dr. Miller asked about words and while I was telling him his 4 maybe 5 words Mordecai had to demonstrate his uh-oh's. Again we were told that he will probably follow Emily in his verbal skills, GREAT, now I will never have a quiet moment to myself. Ha Ha. Mordecai also slept thru the night again so Mike and I are finally getting some sleep.

Now for Emily's. They weighed her on the big kids scale and measured her length on the wall instead of laying down. She maintains her average curve and looks like she will take more after her moms side than Dads, sorry honey.

She weighed 32 lbs - 70 %
and was 37 1/2 inches long - 60 %

Dr. Miller then tested her knowledge of letters and asked her if she knew the ABC song. She said yes and then he asked her if she could count. She counted to 22 and he was shocked, then he asked her what this letter was, pointing to a 'Q' on the wall and she said, "Q, Q says qwu" he was so impressed he asked her a couple of more letters and then looked at me and said, "Wow, these are things that 4 year olds turning 5 barely know." We are continuing to realize how bright and intelligent she is and are shocked sometimes on the things she knows.

Both kids have some eczema problems so we were given a prescription for them and we will see how they work. After Mordecai quit crying from his 3vaccines we went to Costco to do some grocery shopping. Man diapers are expensive!!! I am so glad we only have one in them. Mike should be home soon, so I need to go start dinner.

Mister Mordecai

Born 3/13/08 at 8:31 am. 8 lbs. 9 oz. 21 1/4 inches long.

Well Mordecai is a year old so I thought I would post some pictures of his first year. We went to Red Robin, surprise surprise, for dinner and had the waiters and waitress' sing to him. He got this real goofy grin on his face cause he wasn't sure what was happening. After dinner we stopped at American Furniture Warehouse to look at this chair and table for our family room. After that we hit red box for some movies and then home. Mordecai slept thru the night again, FINALLY!!

This morning we went to Mike's basketball game for the ward, and then we did some stuff on the house. Mike hung the ceiling fan/light in the guest bedroom and I ripped out the bookshelf by the fireplace. Yeah, things are finally moving along...slowly, but moving.

Funnies

Lately Emily has been telling Mike when he leaves for work that she hopes he drives safe so that he wont get killed. Also when we ask her to do something she says, "Sure I will cause I Obey the Lords Commandments." We just hope she will always feel that way.

Bumps & Bruises

Going back to Sunday night. So Mike, Mordecai, Emily and I were all in her room getting the kids ready for bed when Emily asks Mike to chase her. Well he pretended to chase her and when she ran out of her room he stopped to play with Mordecai. Emily turned around and noticed he wasn't behind her so she can back in and asked again. This time Mike did and when she came back running towards him she was goofing off and hit her head on the side of the the door casing to her room. Immediately Mike grabbed her and when we looked at her head we saw this huge goose egg. Mike went downstairs to get an ice pack and I grabbed her some Tylenol. Her head looked better Monday, but worse yesterday and today. I have tried to take some pictures of it to document, but the pictures just do not do it justice. We are so lucky it didn't split or bust open.

Monday we woke up to some snow and while I was making the bed and as Mike was getting ready to jump in the shower Emily comes bursting into our room yelling, "Hey! Get up it snowed outside. I saw it out my window." She was so excited since we have had a really dry winter this year, like 70 degrees in February which is supposed to be the snowiest month in Colorado. So as we are headed downstairs for breakfast she proceeds to tell us that she is going to go out and shovel the walks and that she needs her snow pants on. I tell her that when Dad goes out to shovel she can go with him. Well Daddy burst her bubble cause there wasn't enough snow to shovel, so after crying he told her she could go play out back while we cleaned up after breakfast. She was so excited. She put on her snow pants, snow coat, hat, and gloves. She had a great time playing and kicking in it. After a while she knocked on the door and informed me that she needed a scarf. I got her one of mine and Mike wrapped it around her. I have no idea where she learned about those since I never wear one...in fact I am wondering why I even have one. Well once she came in she wouldn't take the scarf off so I just had to take some pictures.

Also on Monday Mike had a doctors appointment. *Stop here if you don't want to know anymore about the visit. I am writing this since this is my journal* Mike has been suffering from some bleeding off and on and itching off and on from his bottom. He found out that he had 4 internal hemorrhoids. They banded 2 of them and hopefully those will die and fall off in 2 weeks and then in 3 weeks he goes back and has the other 2 remaining banded. Then hopefully he will be all better.

Today was play group at our house and we had a pretty good turn out. Then the kids and I took Valerie Witte and family some dinner since they have a new little one. After dinner we had home teachers and now I am doing this since the kids are in bed and Mike is painting the guest room ceiling.

Weekend Success

I finally finished my tab curtains yesterday for our family room. It only took me a week, and Mike says that they look professional which makes me feel great. He is such a great husband and supportive. I just love him. Anyway all we need to do know is hang the blinds when they finally arrive which should be any day now.

Yesterday we also went and looked at the living room furniture we will be getting. http://www.furniturerow.com/product_single.php?prod_id=2248&group_id=338&main_img=dev/core/uploaded/avalonbuckskingplg.jpg We decided that we want the couch and two chairs, but after measuring we probably will only get one chair since if we have the two chairs they will be longer than the couch itself. Who knows though, if anyone has any ideas for placement let me know. We wont be buying them until the woodwork and painting is done in there, so hopefully in a month or two. After furniture shopping we came home so Mordecai could have his nap, and Mike and Emily washed cars while I installed our door bell. Things are slowly coming along, and it feels GREAT!!!

Before baths last night Mordecai got his first haircut. We decided that he needed one cause the hair around is callick (sp) was really long, and in some other places too. He was okay at first and then it was a struggle cause he kept trying to look at it.

He slept better last night. We decided to let him cry it out unless he was screaming like he was in pain. So he cried for about an hour and then went back to sleep until a quarter to 3 and then I nursed him. I should of just let him cry it out again, but I was so tired. Weaning is going well, I think. He doesn't seem to have a problem with not nursing so he should be fairly easy.

Congratulations to Katrina and Neal, and Nathan and Valerie Witte on their new babies. Seeing and hearing about them almost make me want to have another one. We will See though.

Eye Patchin

After a horrible 7 nights of sleep Mike and I decided to take Mordecai back to Dr. Miller's office. Our hope was to hear that everything was gone and that we could just let Mordecai scream it out at night. We are so glad we went back in. Monday morning at 11:00 we found out that his ear infections got worse and they put him on Augmentin because the Amoxicillan just wasn't cutting it. We were told that it would probably get worse before it gets better, errr!

Before picking Mike up from work the kids and I hit JoAnn's to buy some more thread for my curtains I am making for the family room. When we got there the kids saw these animal puppets that make noise, so I got them. After Mordecai's doctor visit Emily kept talking about how her frog was sick and needed medicine. This is what I found...









I think it was pretty funny that she patched the same eye she has patched. In case you are wondering what she used, she used the sticker from the doctors office visit. We hope to get some sleep soon. Pray for our little man.

Party Sucess

Emily's party was a blast. B.C. came through with the bounce houses again!!! All the kids loved them and they enjoyed the food too. Friday night we were supposed to get some snow, but luckily that didn't happen so the only thing we had to deal with was the wind. Lexy helped me Friday afternoon to make Emily's birthday cupcakes, and so all I had to do Saturday morning was make broccoli salad and relax.

I need to write about this picture. So since Christmas Emily has been asking Grandpa Bainbridge for a guitar. He never got it for her, so we did and she loves it. This is the kids rockin out.

Saturday afternoon after everyone left we watched Hannah for a while so Lexy could attend a Womens Conference a support a investigator that was asked to teach a class...weird huh? Well about 3:30 Emily started saying she was cold and I just knew she was getting sick. She fell asleep around 4:15 on the couch and slept through a blessing given to herby Mike and our home teacher, thanks Nate, and didn't wake up until 8:30 the next morning. I was downstairs with Mordecai trying to call a replacement for my subing job I was asked when I heard, "Mom, I justthrew up in your bed, and itis all over." I went upstairs to help her and she was just starting to cry and say sorry cause she felt so bad. I told her that it was okay, andthat we would give her a bath. Needless to say Mike came home from church and we had a sick day at home.