Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

I sent one e-mail.  Did one blog post.  And one facebook post.  And was pleasantly surprised (mildly shocked) at the amount of things we collected for the homeless shelter.  It's humbling and comforting to realize how many generous people I personally know.  People in my neighborhood, friends, family, Mike's co-workers, people in my parents and siblings neighborhoods--you really pulled through.  Thank you isn't adequate for how grateful we personally are for this kind of response.  We did good.  Real good.

It's crazy how many things can go wrong and get in the way of trying to do good.  Satan is a bugger.  But this time, we prevailed.  And despite some of the logistical problems, we eventually got everything delivered.  It took 2 seprate days, 4 car loads, loading a huge trailer, unloading the huge trailer because everything was too heavy, renting a Uhaul, loading the Uhaul, and delivering the rest of the goods on a different day in a snowstorm.

When we took the Uhaul load up, they barely had room to put everything.  Mike just had to throw bags up on top of big piles to fit it all in.

It's encouraging to know what a difference an e-mail can make.  That's all it took.  One request and suddenly we had truck loads of stuff.

So Thank you.  Sincerely.  Thank you.

This is what my porch looked like every time I came home from errands.

My front room was taken over by bags and bags.  My parents also had an entire room in their house filled with stuff.

Here's to doing good!!

Happy Birthday Little C!!!

We made it!!!  One whole year.  Hardest year of our lives (me, Carter, and Mike), but we survived.  

It's painful how much I love this kid.  And painful how much he loves me sometimes.  :)

It's fun to add a boy to our collection.  Once we can cure his allergy to life, we'll be ready to party!!

Love you little man.  More than I ever thought was possible to love another person.

Happy Birthday!!

Jaida's Birthday.

Let the ridiculous blogging catch up begin.

Jaida turned 6 this year.  SIX.  I have been a mom for SIX YEARS.  It's has been the fastest and the longest six years of my life.  The hardest and the best.  The most fun and the most not fun.  The ups and downs of parenting are, well, dramatic.  And the ups can be so very up and the downs can be so very down.
The day after Jaida's rather elaborate tea party, we celebrated her life.  As a family.  Because birthday's are a family day.  And we partied.
It started with breakfast in bed.  Eggs and Toast (and a whole lotta salt cause salt is gooooood)!

Then some presents.

And a bike for a girl who loves to ride bikes more than just about anything.

A random picnic in the garage with some of her neighborhood friends.  This happened spontaneously while we were getting ready for the main attraction of the day.

Then it was off to Cowabunga Bay.  Jaida was in heaven just going around the lazy river.  Over.  And over. And over. And over.  We went down exactly TWO slides.  And the water in the slides was free.zing.  So I didn't try very hard to talk her into more.  She was content with the lazy river.

While I was taking Jaida down one of her two rides on the slides, Mya fell asleep.  In the water.  Laying on Mike's leg.  Asleep.  Sound asleep.  That can't be safe.

So we pulled her out of the water and Carter and I spent the last two hours playing in the stroller while Mya was passed out.  And Jaida and Mike went around the lazy river.  Over. And over. And over.

Happy Birthday again Jaida.  The world is a better place with you in it.  Of that I am sure!

Homeless! Please help.

No, I'm not homeless.  But The Road Home homeless shelter needs HELP this season collecting much needed items.  Many of you know I have a brother who struggles with making good/smart choices and has been a recipient of help from the Road Home several times during his adult life.  Our family holds a special place in our hearts for the people who work and volunteer at the Road Home and the VOA in Salt Lake City for literally keeping my brother alive multiple times.  I have seen first hand how much even a small donation can help the life of someone who is in need.  I bought my brother a pair of socks once and his eyes welled up with tears like I had given him the best gift anyone could possibly give.  Socks.  It was heart breaking.

So to pay it forward, I am doing a "things in need" drive for the homeless shelter.  And they pretty much need everything.  So I am collecting, well, everything.  Right now their most "urgent" needs are:  socks, clothes, coats and jackets, hats and gloves, underwear (ALL SIZES), handwarmers, bath size towels, pillows, blankets, and diapers.  This stuff does NOT need to be new (well, the diapers do obviously).  Trust me, they'll take anything.  The Road Home has a family shelter as well so there are kids of all ages.  We need adult size stuff and kid size (including infants).  

So please, please, please go through your closets, your husbands closets, your kids closets and collect anything you no longer need.  Clothes, shoes, socks, coats, whatever.

And if you have any of the other needed items or would like to go buy some (either new or at the DI) that would be awesome too.  

Or, you can also donate money which I will use to buy some of the stuff they need.  (I promise I won't keep it and put it in our boat fund... ;)  ).  

You can drop your stuff off at my house 1501 E. 400 N. and if I'm not home just leave it on the porch.  I need to have all the items byMonday, December 13th.  Our family will be taking them all to the Road Home next week.  If you can't get them to me, e-mail me and I'll come pick them up.

Please forward this to anyone you can who would be willing to donate.  It's an easy way to help without having to spend much time or money and I promise you it makes a tremendous difference in those people's lives.  

I fear some people may have stereo-types about the kind of people who end up in the homeless shelter and whether or not they "deserve" help.  Many of them are certainly there because of bad life choices.  But many of them are there because life dealt them a crappy hand.  And everyone needs help at some point.  And regardless of why they are there, they are still someone's husband, wife, father, mother, son, daughter, sister, or brother.  And though I was never able to personally thank the people who helped my brother when we no longer could, I will be eternally grateful to them for having compassion regardless of what he had done, how he appeared, or how he acted.  Because he is MY brother.  And he's a very good person.  And he deserves love and good fortune just as much as the rest of us.  

Stepping off the soap box now.  :)  Thanks for listening.

Here is a link to a more thorough list of the things in need.  http://centralpt.com/upload/505/12064_Autumn-WinterNeedsList.pdf   Please take a minute to look at the list to see if you have any of the other needed items around your house.  And keep in mind that the Road Home temporarily shelters people, but more importantly tries to help them get back on their feet and helps them to begin being self-sufficient again.  So some of their needs are more long-term than just a temporary band-aid.  Their motto is "to help people step out of homelessness and back into our community".  

I know everyone is really busy this time of year, but hopefully this is something you can do in a relatively short amount of time but still have a huge impact. 

If you have any questions, let me know.

Thank you in advance for any help you can give.  I sincerely appreciate it!

Babies and Sleeping.

It's funny the responses I get from people when they learn I never let my babies cry themselves to sleep.  Never.  I didn't do it with Jaida.  Or Mya.  Or Carter (well, Carter has cried himself to sleep, but I was holding him at the time).  Because it doesn't sit well with me.  I don't care if other people do it.  I personally just don't want to (and truth be told don't feel like I should).  And I have been ridiculed, and teased, and called "crazy" and all sorts of other things.
And occasionally I have questioned my methods.  And wondered if I'm doing my children a dis-service by not "teaching" them to fall asleep on their own.
It has become a more prominent topic in my life as Carter still struggles with sleep at night.  For the past year I have been woken up about every 2 hours.  Sometimes more frequently.  And to be 100% honest, I'm never angry at him about it.  It's certainly frustrating, and of course I'd like to get 10 hours of sleep at night, but I chose to have a baby.  And this particular baby just doesn't sleep well.
I don't find many people who agree with me on this one.  "Let him cry.  It will take 3 nights."
And my first thought is "at what cost?"  along with a lot of other thoughts I have but won't post.  :)

And then I ran across another post on this blog and I literally started to cry.  Because finally, finally I found someone who thinks the way I think.  And I'm not totally crazy all by myself.

"Judging from the letters I receive, sleep seems to top the list of difficulties you face as mothers.  Sometimes it's easy to equate your overall success and failure as a mother, with how well your children go to bed.  There are hundreds of books written on the subject.  I've read some of them.  But I think that really, I just gave up fighting it.  The more I read about brain development in the first year, the less comfortable I felt letting babies scream it out.  So I didn't.  I walked, rocked, used binkies, bottles, car rides,etc.  When I was worn out, my husband stepped in.  Many times when we'd had a particularly rough night with a baby, we'd find that they had a fever in the morning and probably had been achy and miserable during the night.  I was glad we hadn't left them to cry.  After the first year, I had tender feelings for them.  I had a relationship.  I didn't feel comfortable letting them cry then either.  Sometimes I let them sleep with me.  It just wasn't a big deal.  By the time they were three or four, they seemed to go to bed better unless they had a late nap.  You see, my policy was just to be sensitive to their feelings...about sleep and about everything else.  They were people.  I just tried to treat them well.  I wanted them to feel secure, safe and loved.  It isn't, perhaps, the neatest, tidiest way, but it's a way that I look back on with satisfaction.  I believe that unique bonds are formed in the long, hard nights.  Motherhood requires continual sacrifice and then sometimes even new levels of sacrifice.  

 

This has been a long answer to a short question.  So...I would move through the stages of your baby's life with flexibility.  Don't get frustrated.  Just meet her needs from day to day and enjoy each new stage of development.  Accept that they are part of life and that she's growing as she should, and find tender ways of helping her learn to sleep as she changes."

Bless you Jane.  Bless you.

(Please note this is NOT intended to stir up a debate on whether or not to let your children cry themselves to sleep.  This post is for ME and anyone else out there who feels pressured into doing certain things just because it feels like that's the way everyone else is doing it.  When really we should do what we feel best and hopefully God will make up the difference.  Hopefully.  ;)  ).  

To every thing there is a season....

I'll admit my scripture study is lacking (or non-existent) at best.  But a scripture continually runs through my head throughout the day lately...
"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven..."  (Ecclesiastes 3)

I follow a blog of a woman I've never met, but who has profoundly changed (or re-affirmed in some cases) my vision of parenting, motherhood, and priorities.  Tonight I came upon this and found it worth sharing:

"...sometimes we fill our lives with hobbies or pursuits that produce more immediate rewards.  If we aren't careful, we start to resent our children and see them as obstructions to the things that bring us real pleasure.  The key is to discover pleasure in our children--to make them central, to genuinely value them during the relatively short time that they are in our home.  

 The day will come that you will be free to spend whole days any way you want-- you can travel, go to school, or go in your room and shut the door  But today, you are a mother." 




Thank you Jane.  I needed that today.

Testing something.

I left Carter with my parents while I went to get my hair cut and colored.  I was gone for almost 2 hours.  He cried for "95% of the time" (as my dad said) and then fell asleep on my mom's shoulder right before I got back.  The screaming was worth it for this picture (my mom may disagree--she's the one that had to listen to it).  Little Booger.

PS Blogger's.  If you haven't updated your blog lately, you should.  Because now you can make your pictures BIG and even better, you can upload multiple photos at one.  Finally.
This post was to test if the picture really was bigger.  And to document the fact that I can't leave Carter with people (without feeling horribly guilty).  Lame.

Today I spent forever sorting through my pictures of the past 5 months.  A daunting task.  And more importantly, I backed them all up on an external hard-drive (seriously people if you aren't doing this you'll regret it one day.  It's easy.  Do it).  And now.  Now I will catch up on the blog.  Before Christmas.  And next year, I will actually blog in REAL TIME.  Like when things happen, I'll blog them when they happen and not four months later.  It's my number one goal for 2011.  I know, I shoot for the moon.  :)

And in other news, I am officially done Christmas shopping for my 3 children.  And I possibly went a little over budget because there are just way too many awesome things to buy for my kids.  So I booked another photography session to pay for it.  Kinda dig owning my own business.
I gave the girls Christmas pajamas and slippers to wear during December.  I wish I would have video'd the squeals when they opened the boxes.  Christmas morning is going to be so. much. fun.

Reckless walker.

He's on his way to being a track star. Cause walking is no fun. He just wants to run. Carter took his first step a few weeks ago at about 10 1/2 months. He has successfully walked across one room (about 15 steps). But usually he falls after 2 or 3 because he won't hold fingers and he wants to go fast. So he face-plants. Often. But doesn't cry (at least for that reason--he's still doing plenty of crying). It's pretty entertaining.

On a side-note, a woman stopped me at Target today and said "That is the cutest baby I have ever seen." And then she just stood there and stared at him. And gushed. And it was moderately awkward because I didn't know how long it was appropriate to let her stare at him. And then it just became weird. And then slightly creepy as thoughts of kidnapping ran through my head. I thanked her and moved on her way. She kept staring.

Yes, he's adorable. But it's now time for him to become a team player. And sleep through the night (he's still waking up 6-7 times a night). And let his mom pay attention to someone other than him. :)

Another side-note. I'm finally starting to notice the difference between having girls and now a boy. Up until now, a baby is just a baby. But now it's starting to be different. He falls hard and often. But rarely cries about it. The girls wailed anytime they fell. He's aggressive and loves to bang on things and make as much noise as possible. And if I'm anywhere near the ground he tries to tackle me and wrestle. Little boys are so. much. fun!!

Love ya Carter.

Grateful.

Today I will remember all that I have. And remember that life is tricky. And fragile. And that I am one lucky girl.

Happy Thanksgiving.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKE!!!

Happy Birthday to the coolest dad, husband, man on earth!

Neglected.

I will catch up on this blog. I will. Soon. 4 more photography sessions to edit and then THIS blog becomes priority. And I have new plans. New goals. A blog makeover. A new direction perhaps. We'll see. The wheels are always turning, but sometimes some ideas never make it all the way through.

Crazy stuff going on around here.

Fun stuff.

Not so fun stuff.

Stressful stuff.

Amazing stuff.

Kid stuff.

Parent stuff.

Tragic stuff.

I'll leave you with a picture of "the shop". My sister's family business that was started in a garage and grew into a flourishing small business. A business 4 out of my 5 siblings have all been employed by. Something we've all been a part of for 20ish years. A home away from home for many members of Danny's family. And the unthinkable happened. It caught fire. And burned to the ground. Words can't describe how awful it was. And is. Surreal doesn't even do it justice. Our family doesn't cry easily (at least in front of other people) but many tears were shed that day as we sat in our cars and huddled in the wind as we watched it burn. Fire is so destructive. And leaves virtually nothing. One minute it's all there, and the next....it's all gone. And you literally have to start all over. And so they will. And are. And I know it will make them better in the long run. But in the short run, it's going to suck. Suck bad.

I'll do a full post after I'm allowed IN the building to document more. When I was there, the building was still on fire 12 hours later. And despite my efforts to get closer, the firemen wouldn't let me. Like it was unsafe or something. :) The building was only FULL of flammable material and things that could easily explode. So I threw on the monster zoom lens and documented what I could from a distance. You can see more pictures now in an album on my facebook account. Or I'll post more later.

Happy Birthday Miss Mya!!!

Happy 4th Birthday Mya. What on earth would we do without you?!

For those who have wondered what he'd look like...

Life's rough when you're cuttin' teeth.

I got bit for the first time while nursing. I hope it never happens again. My eyes still water when I think about it. Jaida and Mya didn't get teeth until they were over a year. Carter's got a biter. It broke through when he was 9 months and 3 weeks old. Just for the record.

Happy Wednesday!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Words can't explain how much I adore my parents. For so many reasons I can't even begin to list.

But tonight, I love them for this.

Two trees died in my parents front yard. So my dad cut them down himself. These were big trees. But he's my dad and he can do anything. So he strategically cut. And tied a rope to the trees. And hooked the rope to the back of the riding lawn mower. And talked the neighbor into helping. And then videoed the entire event. Like, set up a tripod and the point and shoot (from a distance) and made a video of the falling of the trees. It's actually pretty funny to watch because the riding lawn mower was completely useless (and thus the helping neighbor). Thankfully his strategic cutting was all that was needed. Except for the destroyed lamp post, things went rather smoothly.

And instead of digging out the tree stumps, he decided to make a bench.

I teased him a bit. For a bench in the flower beds. Because who would sit on it? Or was it just for decoration?

His response: "Mom and I will sit on it and watch the moon." I laughed out loud. First because I was willing to bet money my mom and dad would never come out and sit on it, and Second because they're both asleep before the moon comes out. :)

So my dad finished the bench. And he was very precise about the whole thing. And patient. And did it just right (just like he does everything).

And then.

He took these pictures. And I love my mom because she went along with the whole thing.

Dad, I apologize for laughing. Enjoy moon gazing.

Love you to the moon and back.

Buckle Up.

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if I had everything together. If I got my kids ready for school on time, had the house clean, had my 1 month dinner menu planned out, didn't run out of all kinds of food, got more than 2 consecutive hours of sleep at a time, got the laundry folded AND put away in the same day, exercised, ate healthy, didn't need Diet Coke to keep my eyes peeled open, and learned how to say "no" to some things.

I wonder.

And will keep wondering.

Because right now, I have nothing together.

A week in review.

--We went to a cabin in Idaho over the weekend with some friends. I can't put in words how much we needed it. It's amazing what spending time with some of your favorite people can do for your spirit. More on this later. Fun pictures to come.

--The drive home from the cabin was slightly nightmarish. The girls were tired. Tired equals completely irrational and very teary. Carter decided he wanted what should have been a 4 hour drive to be a 5 1/2 hour drive. We fed him dum dums (our version of a binky) and licorice. And even then, he screamed. Oh how he screamed. Temper temper.

--Monday morning. Went in to wake Mya up for school. The smell hit me first. And then I flipped on the light. And the only explanation I have for what I saw was "vomit explosion". I'm not sure how kids do it, but it's like they're a fire hose, and when they puke, they spray it everywhere. On the bedspread, sheets, pillowcases, pillows, wall, carpet, hair. Every. where.

While I was attempting clean up, Carter pooped through his diaper and up his back. And then Jaida started to cry about going to school (a now daily battle we fight with her). Instead of crying myself, I started to laugh. Loudly. Which only made my girls cry harder. Which then made me laugh louder. It was awesome.

--Monday night. Carter woke up about every 45 minutes. On top of some ridiculous stomach issues (I've never met a kid with more gas than him), he's breaking 4 teeth at the same time. Ouch and ouch.

--Tuesday morning. Jaida wakes up crying. Not totally unusual but she said she couldn't hear. Um. What? Off to Grandpa's for an assessment (what would I do without my own personal physician). Diagnosis--ear infection. Pile it on baby. She's already on an antibiotic anyway (for the mysterious coughing issue we're still trying to figure out--yes, she's still coughing all night and now all day).

--Today. It's crazy hair day. But we didn't have hair spray paint. Dad saves the day and runs to Walgreens to get some. We spray Jaida's hair. And then she cries because she wants it out. No dice little lady. It's staying in. Mya wanted crazy hair too. So I sent her to preschool with pink and purple pig tails.

--I've already done the heimlich maneuver twice on Carter today. Once for a wad of toilet paper he had eaten off the role, and the other for a bead (damn those beads we find all over the house). I've lost count how many times I've had to dislodge something from that kids throat. It's impossible to kid proof a house when you have other kids. Thankfully he's a pretty tough baby.

--This week. I have five photo shoots. That may not sound like a lot, but for comparison, I try to only do one per week because it's all I can handle with my full-time job (being a mom). Five. Not to mention I have 3 photo shoots and wedding I still need to edit.

Buckle up. It's going to be a crazy crazy few weeks. And I'm already mellllllllllllting.

Lots of blogging to do that may have to wait until November.

I'll leave you with one of my new favorite photos.

Staking claim.

Just in case someone tries to claim it as their own. She tags it with her name. Funny because I found this on the table and was about to shove it in my pocket. And then I saw it. And I laughed out loud. Because I couldn't take a dollar with Jaida's name on it. It's clearly hers. :) Smart girl.

Diagnosis.

Asthma. Thank you Dr. Google.

Took Jaida to the doctor and we have a plan. Let's pray it works magic tonight. We all need sleep.

Really? Again?

I'm sitting here listening to Jaida cough upstairs. And cough and cough and cough. She's not sick. She just coughs. Only at night. For hours at a time. And at some point, she'll probably throw up from coughing so hard.

We have no idea why. It's frustrating, really. But I'm writing it down so we know when it happened and for how long. Cause doctors ask you things like that.

So. It's been about 2 weeks now. Two weeks of coughing. EVERY NIGHT. For hours.

Because who really needs sleep anyway.

It's only at night. She's fine during the day. She coughs a little here and there, but no coughing fits.

We seem to recall this happening last year. We try to block stuff out so I don't really remember details. But I remember calling the nurse and she gave me lame answers. Keep her elevated (check), give her cough medicine (check), use a humidifier (check), blah, blah, blah.

This time, we've tried everything. EVERYTHING. Cough medicines, allergy medicines, vicks vapor rub on her feet (it works with colds), cough strips, cough drops, propped up, on her side, on her stomach, humidifier, fan, prayer.....and still, she coughs. Every night.

So we've resorted to our good friend google. And he tells me she might have asthma. Asthma?? I'm calling the nurse tomorrow. And though she will try to deflect me, and tell me to "keep her propped up" we have to get this resolved.

Because it turns out, I need sleep. I desperately need sleep. And so does poor Jaida.

And yes, my dad and brother are doctors. Maybe I should ask them. But my dad's answer might be to give her Ibuprofen four times a day with food. :) Because usually that cures anything.

The birthday party.

Miss Jaida was turning 6. And she insisted we have a tea party. I'll admit I tried to talk her out of it. But that's what she wanted. Since one of my latest life goals is to "make an effort" I decided her birthday party was a good place to start. And so, we made an effort. A pretty big effort. And got a lot of very cute decorations from a friend (who is one of the most creative people on the planet and came up with this idea), and we made tissue paper balls, and we planned, and decorated, and invited 16 little girls. Yep, I'm crazy.

Mike came home to help. And was the official lemonade server (cause we don't drink tea). They ate, then watched a slideshow of pictures of Jaida, and then we took photos of each girl on Photo Booth on my mac and they decorated frames to put them in.

The whole time we were decorating for the party (which took forever) Jaida kept saying "It's so beautiful mom. Thank you so much." So the effort was worth it.