Guess Who's Back.

I honestly thought it would be so much easier to keep up with my blogging than it has been! Work just kicks my butt!  At least the rest of my family got to enjoy a winter break. We tried to potty train E during that period of time off, but it was less than successful. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't an absolute disaster. He did go potty lots of times in his little toilet, but the little buggar would sit on that thing for 1/2 an hour and as soon as we felt like we'd tortured the kid long enough, we let him up and usually he'd just pee all over the floor. And then instead of enthusiasm about potty-training, it became hate for potty-training. So, instead of force him to pee in the potty, we're letting the idea simmer for a while. I think the source of his resistance comes from how high maintenance it is to pee in a toilet. :) Who would have thought that?

A started school again and he surprises me every day. Daddy M told me that A wants to take a shower every day now. Why? Because some of the kids in his class stank and he doesn't want to be one of those kids. Honestly didn't think a 4 year old was that self aware.

The boys also bore their testimonies in church this last Sunday. I'm sad I didn't get to be there for it, but from what I hear, they did great. A needed a little reminder of what he wanted to say and then once E saw his brother do it, he was all for it! No help whatsoever.

Daddy M is thriving in school! He's doing so well and I love it. I'm just excited that we have another semester behind us! So if this goes the way we plan, he'll be done with his University schooling in 2 years and then we'll be on to getting his doctorate!

I'm still working. Lots and lots of working. And more working. It's a little stressful. Sometimes I don't really feel like my personality is suited for office politics and annoying people. But I'm doing the best I can. Maybe one day I'll just be my own boss and then I won't have to worry about getting fired, because-- I'll be the boss. :) Or I'll just be a dynamite stay at home mom some day. It could happen!

Sorry about no photos. I'll make Daddy M take more pictures while I'm at work.

We're still here!

I guess I can give an update on here. Heck why not! I miss not having the time to write posts. I am not sure what I've updated you all on. So forgive me for repeating myself if I do.

Daddy M is just finishing his semester of school! I'm so proud of him and the goals he's achieving. He got all As and only 1 B+ this semester! WHOO! I finally feel like we're well on our way to getting DONE with school. Even though that's still 6-8 years away. Now we just need to get me into school so I'm not finishing when I turn 40.

A just finished school. He's on winter break now. He is truly enjoying pre-school. We're thinking about applying to BYU's Kindergarden program as well. We've been talking to some other parents and they've told us that public kindergarden is a joke. I'm beginning to feel like public school, period, is just a joke... I just wish I had the confidence/desire to home school my kids, or the know-how really.

E has been his usual self. He's a little ornery still. He's very fun. He's getting better at talking. And he's ready to potty train! Daddy M found out a way to make him want to potty train. It was an accident really, but I'm glad he did it. While on Thanksgiving vacation Daddy M was changing his diaper and told him to get "his baby diaper." E freaked out. He started crying that he's a "big boy! and he can't wear baby diapers." So now we've really been milking that until we're ready to potty train him. ie after Daddy M is done with his finals and actually has the time to give attention to training him and now that he is on break, it's been go time for us! He's poo'd maybe twice in the toilet and pees in it all the time. I think he really loves the attention he gets every time we see pee in his little toilet. I hate potty training, but seeing his big, cheesy, accomplished grin seems to make it worth it. It's really a family affair. His big brother even gets into it! A will run around the house cheering for his little brother and announcing it to us like E's just won a gold medal.

As for me. I'm still working two jobs. I love my job at the hospital. I am currently training to do c-sections. I'm a scrub in the OR. It's pretty exciting and terrifying all at the same time. I've never done anything like this before. I've never been previously trained, so it's kind of stressful for me. But overall, the docs have been nice enough, which was my main concern. I'm learning what the instruments' names are, what their nicknames are, and what hand symbols to watch for from the doc. I'm almost done with training and then I'll be on my own!

Christmas is close! It's tomorrow! I can't believe this year has gone by so quickly. I'll have to put our Christmas card on here....ok, honestly, I probably won't have the time. My apologies if I didn't get one to you. I still love you--unless I don't know you or like you, then get off my blog. You're creeping me out.

:) 

Quesy stomach's beware. But really- it's not that bad.

This is my little brother's leg. I talked about him a bit in the post just before this one. He has more of those incisions all over his leg. Pretty neat huh? Or gross. Whatever floats your boat. I'll be adding more awesomely gruesome pictures once I get them uploaded! But for now. This is what you get to see.

This is what strep A does to you people! Strep-freakin-A! And this isn't even the worst of it! My dad almost lost his arm. Little brother- who's not so little really- is anxious to get out of the dang hospital. Who wouldn't be after a few weeks of family only isolation. There's only so much of one's family that one can handle. haha

A little bit about us this time of year

My apologies for the lack of posts on here. Considering that I'm the only one that posts and my workweek is on average 70 hours, it's hard to find time to get on here. You can feel consoled in the fact that not posting on here means that I'm with my kids, or passed out asleep! 

Before I update about my immediate family, here's a little news about my little brother. He was admitted to the hospital about a week or two ago. At first he had a swollen knee, fever of 105, and was vomiting. His b/p went down, wouldn't come back up, so he was turfed to the PICU. Long story short. He has the same thing my dad had a year ago. . . Strep A. (It ate my dad's arm basically.) He's had 4-5 surgeries since on his leg, thigh, and ankle. His skin was so inflamed, the surgeons couldn't close his incisions. Tomorrow, he has his last surgery to close up the rest of his incisions and then he should be able to go home the next day! It's been tough for him to be in the hospital. He missed his homecoming dance, the homecoming game that he was supposed to play in, and he missed the one game they have against their rival high school. We just feel so blessed that he didn't have to lose all his skin on his leg and have grafts like my dad. We're also so grateful that the infection did not spread further up into groin. Let's hope he'll get to go home tomorrow!

On to my oldest little man!

A  boy is in school now. He's been for about a month. He loves it! His teacher says he's always happy and so helpful to the other students. I am so proud of him and who he is becoming. He has some pretty weird, crazy, and irrational parents and he still seems to be turning out alright. A's thing to do right now is sing impromptu songs about anything and everything that he sees. We love his songs. I hope that he continues to feel confident about himself, it's fantastic!

And my youngest little man!

E boy is growing so fast! He's a spitfire of energy. He's a tad bit more rough than his brother is. But maybe that's just his age. I can't remember if A was this rough at E's age, until he learned to not be, or if he's always been more laid back. We've been half-heartedly trying to potty train E. And he is just not at all interested. Joy. There's just nothing like changing a poopy diaper from an almost 3 year old. E's thing to do right now tell us "I don' love you," when he's angry with Daddy or I. Good times! I didn't know this kind of attitude began at this age! Can't wait to see what my little bundle has in store for me!

Daddy M has been keeping busy busy! He's going to school full-time and studying full-time too it would seem. Something I think we'll all be glad to be done with some day. Right now we're both just glad to be getting done! 

And I am working two full-time jobs at the moment. I just got hired on at the hospital and even though I was hired on as PRN. They train you for 3-months full-time. So, I have been pulling quite a few hours. My ultimate goal is to be full-time at the hospital and part-time at the care center. I am hoping that opportunity will come up sooner rather than later. 

For now our family feels like we're being pulling in 7 different directions, but we love being busy! Especially when it's for our future! Keep us in your prayers, we need all the help we can get. If not to finish early, at least not to kill each other on the journey there. :)

My kids at weddings

Sad news. It looks like I've finally filled up my quota of picture space on here. So until I rectify this annoying issue. There won't be pictures. Which hopefully won't last long, because I like pictures! Luckily, what I wanted to share this time didn't have any pictures to go with it anyway.

Aunt C just got married this last Thursday and it was a beautiful wedding. I love going to other couples' weddings and sealings. It reminds me of my own sealing and how special it was. For those of you wondering what a sealing is, it's a bond that as Latter Day Saints, we believe goes beyond this life. We believe that when we are married, that we are sealed to each other for time and all eternity and we get to do this in the temple. Of course, if you have more questions, please find your local LDS missionaries and I know they will love to explain it further to you! LDS.org is also useful for questions!

We had a very long day with the family and loved every minute of it. My kids of course were little studs. Everyone was raving about how cute they were and of course since they're my children, they just ate all the attention up!

After the sealing, the pictures, the little break in between and the luncheon, we finally made it to the reception! A couple things happened here that I won't and don't want to forget:

• As Aunt C and new Uncle J began their first dance of the night as the new married couple, my kids decided to get a bit of attention. E began by dancing along with them at the corner of the dance floor so no one really saw him. He wasn't exactly dancing properly to Beauty and the Beast- he was really breaking it down. As soon as he got tired, he flopped on the ground like a starfish and started to roll himself out closer to Aunt C and Uncle J. By this time people are beginning to notice the 2 year old splayed out on the floor at the happy couples feet. Luckily no one seemed too annoyed except of course Es brother. Are you even surprised? haha. A took his brotherly duties very seriously and went out to retrieve his starfish brother off the floor. A bent down, grabbed Es arm- E didn't move a muscle- and A proceeded to drag his little brother off the floor. I could hear people everywhere laughing at the spectacle my kids were making. Way to ruin the moment guys! You two are just lucky that C and J are good sports and didn't get ticked off at you! I mean, in reality, there's no way you could be mad. It was just too cute!
• Second thing I won't forget was E breaking it down after the slow dances were done and everyone was allowed to dance. He ran his two year old bum out there and started hopping around, throwing his arms everywhere and kicking his feet as fast as he could. The people who actually wanted to dance were so thrilled with their little dance partner that a circle actually formed around him and everyone clapped as he got his groove on! E was so encouraged by this that he maintained his awesomeness for the entire song. A was not to be beat though, he found the circle too and decided to break dance for us. I am not even kidding when I say break dance. He must have seen someone from other wedding busting some moves and he tried to copy them. He was better than me! .... which really isn't saying much.... but still! 

These were the things I won't forget about my kids, I know I also won't forget how beautiful Aunt C looked. There's just something about being a bride that makes you glow and she absolutely had that glow. She was stunning in her wedding dress, she was stunning in her luncheon dress- because I mean seriously, who wants to eat in their wedding dress and chance getting it dirty. Uncle J looked pretty happy too; these two were meant for each other and I don't say things like that lightly. 

It was a beautiful day, full of beautiful happy people, and it was wonderfully perfect! We'll just forget that my feet were crying by the end of the night, because genius here didn't bring flats and had to wear high heels from 9am-9pm. 

p.s. You'll have to forgive me for the crappy writing. It's 1am, I can't sleep and my writing skills are sub par this late or early in the day, whichever way you look at it. Oh yeah- one last thing! I can't forget that I had lots of compliments on how nice I looked too! I love getting compliments since believe it or not, I actually do have a fragile ego. 

It's Going Around

I finally have something to share! Unfortunately it's kind of sad news. A has been sick since last Thursday. We finally took him to the doctor's this morning and found out that both of his ears are infected. That was a shocker since he hasn't been complaining at all about his ear! He has a fever of 100 still. I'm just glad that it's not 103 like it was a few days ago!

There's been a lot of sleeping, crying, cool baths, medicine, pediasure, pedialyte, coughing and loooong nights for everyone.

Pediasure Goatee!

E has felt a bit left out since A has been sick. He's made up for this in extra teasing of his brother who can't defend himself properly.

 E stalking his prey.... a.k.a his sick brother.

Going for the kill!

A was clearly not impressed with this.

 So E and Mommy decided to go out and play for a while so A could rest. We decided to go to Kangaroo Zoo!

First, E had to get his sexy on.

 And then we went to have some fun!

 Jumping!

 Running!

 Yelling at the camera like a celebrity yells at the paparazzi!

 Scaling Mount Everest!

 And sliding down her at rocket speed!

 And then of course, pretending to be a half a caterpillar!

Needless to say, once we got home it was time to sleep. . . Or maybe not. 

Slowing down does not exist yet in Es vocabulary. At least we gave the sick boy some time to rest. Hopefully he'll be better soon. It's not fun to have your kid get sick, especially when they cough in your face and then try to kiss you with slobbery little lips. 

Stubborn!

Please! Anyone!! Tell me how to deal with a 3 1/2 year old who thinks he is the boss! HelP me! I cannot stand watching him try to take matters into his own hands any longer! It's making me crazy! Within the last 5 minutes I've had to send A to his room for taking cereal from his little brother and telling him he's, "Not allowed to eat this, E. You hafta eat your dinner!" And then after his first incarceration and a few minutes of freedom, he decides to take some garbage from his brother because he's, "Not allowed to play with trash! Put it in the garbage." Where he once again puts the item above his head and runs around with it, so his brother can follow behind him screaming in protest. AND he doesn't even put this trash in the GARBAGE himself. Bah!

It's soooo annoying. What a simple concept. Don't tell your brother what to do, quite bossing him around and your life will be easier. The weight of trying to be mommy will be lifted off your 3 1/2 year old shoulders and you can go back to being a kid. I'll stop putting you in timeout and I'll stop imprisoning you in your room.... oh, and I'll stop stealing your toys as punishment as well.

Seriously, does anyone out there have tactics that work with a bossy know it all child? No, I don't want to know about books I can read. Lets be honest here, I'll have the good intention to read it, but between all the kiddy fights I have to stop and my own things getting in the way, I'll not read a book.

E versus the butt cream. Part II

Do you remember this?? yeah? Well... it happened again. I'm not sure what E's obsession is with butt cream, but he just can't seem to get enough of it!

I mean, really?! REALLY????     Uuuuuuughhh! 

Do any of you have ANY idea how long it takes for this stuff to get out of their hair! I'd rather he had lice! Or bubble gum in his hair over this stuff!

I made a video that I can't put on here (not by choice. It just won't let me), but he has the cutest most mournful 'sorry' face you've EVER seen! On a positive note, for all of you hair gel obsessed out there. This is by far, the most fantastical stuff you could use to keep your hair in literally any position you wished. Your head will look white, it will take days and days of showering to get it out and you'll smell like a baby's bum! BUT hehe, that might be worth it to you.

 I couldn't decide if Daddy M was going to put me in the picture or not. So I just smiled and leaned away. :)

 A wanted to get in on some of the fun. He'll never pass up a moment to smile for the camera.

 They're lucky they're so cute sometimes! Because if anyone else did this. I would not be thrilled in the least. I mean, I wasn't in this situation, but it made it a lot less horrible when I had E's cute little sad face looking up at me. Just check out the first picture and tell me how you can be angry with that.

 Goodnight everyone! I hope your evening was a lot less cream filled than ours was... unless it's edible cream.... like from a donut!

*Get your mind out of the gutter!*

They are smarter than we think they are

A few days ago, I had the spectacular chance to actually get out of the house! I know, it's a miracle. The boys and I went to. . . wait for it. . . the Karl's Junior play place! It's right by our house and whaddaya know, it's free!! Being the great person that I am though, I did buy some fries to pay for their services. I learned something new that day about E.

He's devious in ways I did not even know. He's come to new levels of deviousness! He's the master at teasing and quite frankly, with the parent's he has, I'm not all that surprised.

We came in to the restaurant. Ordered some fries and a milkshake and proceeded to the play place. I have this creeping feeling that half you mothers reading this are grimacing at the fact that I even let my kids play on such a dirty thing. BUT I really don't care. I played on them as a child. I loved it. I was happy. I do not have any negative life altering moments that regard play places. And I don't see the point of sheltering my kids from germs to protect them, call me evil, but I feel like building their immune system and having fun while doing it, is a productive day! oh yeah.... if you're grossed out by the fact that I let them play in a play place, you might not want to read on, because its gets nastier.

A ran in and started to play first! E was more interested in the food that had just been delivered to us. He sat and ate with me for a little while until he saw his brother playing with some new friends he made and decided he wanted to join. E is just a bit too small to actually climb up the play set "stairs" that they have, so he had a bit of help from me. I had chosen the best seat in the area- or the only seats really. It gave me the perfect view of my kids while they were up there playing. After about 20 minutes of play time, I look up to see E sitting contentedly above my head drinking something. . . Shocked I stood up and like a good mother I looked up and yelled at him. "E! Put that down!! What are you doing!? Put it down, that's yucky! Gross!" He looks down at me with the curious expression on his face, pulls the straw out of his mouth and then slowly raises it back up while staring me down. "E! Right now! Put it down! Gross!!" He stops again, looks at 'his' drink and then back at me, tilting his head slightly to the side he replies in his high pitched innocent tone, "No. Nooooo, " while slowly shaking his head back and forth.

I tried to keep my composure, but it was just too funny! I had to look down and then try to act serious again. I looked up at him again, trying my best to look stern, and again told him, "Put it down." Before I even started to say the words I was laughing. *Not a good idea if you're really trying to get your child to stop drinking some mysterious liquid in someone else's cup and you really don't want to climb up to retrieve him.*

Encouraged by my stifled laughter, E repeats his little "No. Nooo." charade for me again and starts guzzling--through a straw-- the rest of the drink. By now I am so grossed out and aware that he knows I am not going to climb up there to get him, that I just sit down and watch him drink the rest of it while he stares at me in evil two year old triumph. And of course to rub it in a little, he takes the lid off the drink and eats the ice chips! WHICH I am fairly certain some slipped out of his hands a few times before they made it to his mouth.

I am going to blame this personality trait on his Dad. Because I was an obedient child and would never have done something so heinous! That was my sister, M.

"Your Blackberry or Your Wife"

This is something I am fairly certain that every family has to deal with in our world, er, America today; technology. It's is literally everywhere! Unless of course you live in the backwoods of Oregon in a shanty hut and use candles for light. Ironically, I am using my technology to remind some of you that we need to take a breather. We need to step back and get away from all of our gadgets. I found an article this morning that I found intriguing. Especially this part.

10 Signs Your Devices Are Hurting Your Relationships: 1. You can't get through a meal without emailing, texting or talking on the phone. 2. You look at more than one screen at a time, checking email while watching television, for example.  *I do that... usually a little game while I watch a show* 3. You regularly email or text, other than for something urgent, while your partner or another family member is with you. 4. You sleep with your phone near you, and you check your email or texts while in bed. 5. You log onto your computer while in bed. *guilty yet again.* 6. You have had an argument with a loved one about your use of technology. *oh boy...* 7. You text or email while driving. I don't do this, it's against the law... 8. You no longer go outside for fun. 9. You never turn off your phone. 10. When you spend time with your family -- a meal, a drive, hanging out -- each person is looking at a different screen. well it looks like I need to make some technology changes. What about you? And now, onto the more fun part of blog posts. The pictures!

Sorry, I don't have cooler pictures. We're not up to much around here. We all have cabin fever and are going a bit crazy. I really do hate the snow sometimes. I don't mind it in small doses. Or maybe I wouldn't mind it, if it didn't make me feel trapped in my own home- that could also be because of the one car that we have and my NON desire to WALK to get to places. Either way, life is going on. A is in primary now, which is SO exciting! For those of you completely confused by what primary is: it's a church program for children 3-12. Each Sunday A will now go to primary, while poor E stays in nursery (18mo-3) class. Actually, I'm not feeling all that bad for E, seeing as he gets to play for two hours during church! 


Daddy M has started school, he's taking one class this semester while I am home, studying for my CNA state exams! And then it's job hunting for me. I am so thrilled to be working again, but some days I am struck with this panicked feeling of worry about doing my job right, worrying about the hours, and worrying about how my mood might change by working again. I need to stop over thinking things! 


Now, you, whoever you are. Turn off your computer, your TV, give me your iPod, and go read a book!

My New Love

I never believed in love at first sight....

until I met you.

You came in a box. Covered in Styrofoam. Tucked under my Christmas Tree. It was destiny!

*AAAAHHHHAAA aaaAAAHHH* (angelic singing)

Maybe it was that glowing white porcelain mixer. Or your shimmering chrome bowl figure. Or maybe it was just meant to be. All I know is, I was hooked. 

 We are clearly made for each other. A match made in kitchen heaven! We are Ren and Stimpy, Bert and Ernie, Hot milk and Chocolate, Peanut butter and Jelly! No one can separate us!

We took our first journey together and made something beautiful.

 Fluffy, sexy, brownie mix!

I can tell already that we'll be friends forever. Hug, hug. Kiss, kiss. Big huge, big kiss, little kiss.

My Vacation in Pictures!

 Plus of course, a few extras! Most of you have seen at least some of our Christmas pictures. But it would be against my nature not to share them with everyone who reads this blog!

The day before I went to Oregon, it snowed about 14 inches outside. 

 Ava still played in the snow with her frisbees. :)

The Children's Museum!

Happy not wordy blog post! Happy New Year and Happy life to everyone! It's good to be alive!