It's a Sharp Life . . .

YAY for 11 o'clock church!

2010-01-03T07:49:00.000-08:00

This is my favorite time for church. Not too early, not too late. Ironically, I have had 9 o'clock church the last two times I've suffered with morning sickness! Mornings never bode well for me--combine that with getting 3 children up, making sure they're properly dressed, all while trying to hold down my breakfast--yes, 9 o'clock definitely had it's problems.

Today is our first Sunday back to 11 o'clock. So maybe this week we will make it on time?

New Years Eve

2010-01-03T00:06:00.000-08:00

This New Years was a bit of a quiet one. We usually have friends over or go out with friends, but this year, it was just Chris, me and the kids. We took them to Denny's for dinner (their favorite) then came home for the rest of the evening. Chris played checkers against Jewel and Nathan for a while, then Jewel taught him how to play chess. Now that was interesting! As the hugely pregnant lady, I just stayed on the couch and watched. But at midnight, Chris insisted that they all needed to bang pots and pans to welcome in the new year. Here they're just getting ready to storm out into the cold and wake the neighborhood.

Here, they're clammoring the pans with all their might--

Jewel obviously has a do or die attitude

about this very important job!

Then, finally, a job well done for all of them!

The most exciting day we've had all week

2010-01-02T21:49:00.000-08:00

But that's not really saying anything, lol! Chris has had a 4 day weekend twice now, and I've found the holiday vacation is making us way too lazy! I was actually glad to get up early this morning. We went to the baptism for the son of one of our very good friends. There were quite a lot of people there and we ended up sitting in the very back. We left Jordan with my mom and just took Jewel and Nathan, so it actually was more reverent than usual for me--except that Chris kept poking Jewel and Nathan when I wasn't looking. I finally pointed out a 2 year old that was being more reverent than him, and he had to agree.

After the baptism we had lunch at their house (lasagna and the best garlic bread ever, YUM!) and it was fun to see a lot of friends we usually don't--just because everyone gets so busy! Chris took all three kids sledding after that (I had a lovely nap) and Jordan told me they went on two mountains. Chris and I both signed up for Skype (let me know if you're on there!) installed a webcam on his new laptop, then had a video conference call. That was interesting. I've never done that before, and of course Chris was making the most of the webcam, making scary faces into it. I'm including one that I was able to capture, totally cracked me up.

The baby is moving right now, she's quite the active little thing. Unfortunately, her awake time is at night, so I can see where this is going to lead . . .

It's been waaaay too long . . .

2010-01-02T02:06:00.000-08:00

. . . and I'm up way too late! But with this pregnancy, nothing I does gets me to sleep peacefully at night. My belly is very big now, and moving from side to side is a big deal, I have to hold my belly and move it along!

For those of you who don't know, we're expecting baby #4 at the end of February! It's a GIRL!! Jewel has been beside herself with excitement over finally having a sister (although she loves her brothers dearly!) Nathan merely said, "I knew it was a girl!" And he did. The morning I found out I was pregnant--and still reeling fro, the shock--I had only told Chris. I was walking down the hall and Nathan came up behind me. He said, "Mom, when are we going to have our baby girl?" My mouth just dropped open and I didn't know what to say! I gathered my wits enough to say "I . . . don't know, I guess we'll just have to see." It satisfied his 5 year old self, but I was blown away. Later in the pregnangy, he told me a couple of times that he had talked to the baby, and it was a girl. So . . . there you have it, folks! Out of the mouth of babes.

I had been absolutely CERTAIN that Jordan was a girl, and truly shocked when it was proven QUITE well that he wasn't! Chris and I have joked that knowing Jordan, our independent, stubborn, crazy boy, he probably shoved his way in front of his sister at the last minute. It will be interesting to see if she has anything to say to him about this when she arrives!

We had a wonderful Christmas, but I am honestly glad that the Christmas vacation is almost over! School starts for Jewel and Nathan on Monday, and my first class is on Wednesday. With how tired I've been feeling lately, I've worried slightly about school, but I always enjoy it sooo much! So I guess we will make it though this semester the same way we did with the others!

School, school, and more school!

2008-08-26T23:55:00.000-07:00

Wow, I can't believe it's been so long since I've written on here! After finals I was content to do practically nothing for a couple of weeks, then school started again! Jewel started the day before me and loves it so much she commented on how she wished she could just live there! I have school every day from 1--3pm. It's my CNA class. The teacher is actually a nurse that was with me when I delivered Jewel, I had known her through my CNM's office (certified nurse midwife) and she stayed 2 hours after her shift to be with me. When I heard the name of the teacher, Linda, I was like hmm, what are the odds??? I haven't seen her since then, but always remembered her fondly. Then I walk in and there she is! It's a lot of fun but somewhat exhausting to be there every day!

Chris almost has the basement finished! He re-did the shower and floor in the bathroom down there, and put in cabinets and shelves. The carpet should hopefully be going in on Monday. Nathan is anxiously waiting to go to preschool he starts next Tuesday. Jordan is getting into anything and everything--literally. He has learned how to open almost every door in the house and can get onto the counter--I caught him standing up on it and reaching into the cup cupboard! He is way too fast for me!

I'll keep up on this better!

Jordan in the ER

2008-07-25T09:14:00.000-07:00

And you think I'm finally going to write about the ER visit I eluded to a couple of weeks ago? I will, but he was in there again on Tuesday. My poor baby.

The first visit was because Nathan got into the Spray N' Wash, and thinking it was water, squirted poor Jordan in the face and eyes. I missed it while I was doing laundry, and when I saw Nathan playing with it, I took it right away, and while Jordan's hair was slightly damp in places, his face was fine. He also acted fine for hours, then started crying and wouldn't stop. I also noticed he wouldn't open his eyes! I called poison control first, and they agreed I should take him in (I'd tried rinsing his eyes out earlier, but it didn't seem to help.) It took forever, but I finally got in there (Jordan was running around the waiting room the whole time) and they squirted some stuff in there to check the eyes--the doctor said he could see a slight infection, but that it would be gone by morning. And it was!

On Tuesday, Chris came home early, a little after 5. I was cleaning the boys' room, and he went downstairs to work on the bathroom we're remodeling. Jordan, Jewel, Nathan and my nephew, Lucas, we're all watching Sesame Street. I came into the living room on my way downstairs to put some blankets away, and I saw Jordan--he looked perfectly fine. I came back about about 2 minutes later, and I heard Jordan making a strange groaning sound, repeatedly. Jewel was patting his hand and I asked what was wrong with him. "I don't know," she told me. I bent down beside him and noticed his chin was pressed hard against his chest. I lifted his chin and noticed he was drooling--a lot! I tried talking to him, but he was unresponsive, and kept making that noise--then I saw his eyes were rolling in the back of his head. I called for Chris, and he came running upstairs. We rushed to the ER with him--my friend, Steph, who thankfully lives just across the street and had just gotten home from shopping came over to stay with the other children until she could get a hold of my mother to come. There was a nurse outside when Chris peeled into the parking lot, and she ushered us right in. They hooked up Jordan to machines, asking all sorts of questions, drew his blood, took a chest x-ray--he was really struggling to breathe. The doctor suggested he had had a seizure. Chris and I were so frightened for our sweet baby. They took him to get a CAT scan, and he was still very unresponsive. He finally opened his eyes when the put him in there, and again when they took him out. When we brought him back into the ER, he finally got to see Chris and me standing there, and while he didn't really respond, we could tell by his eyes that he recognized us. He fell asleep for about half an hour and when he woke up, he smiled when he saw us, and couldn't stop smiling. It was wonderful. He had a high fever and fell back to sleep, bu we were able to take him home a couple of hours later. He seemed perfectly fine, was running around at my mother's house, playing with cars, and even managed to snitch cake off the table--he was back to being quicker than us, and we were so glad!
The doctor (who was the one who delivered Nathan, so we know him very well, thankfully,) is still a little unsure as to why Jordan had a seizure at all. His fever was high after we brought him in, and all of the tests came back normal. He's thinking it still could have been associated with the fever. Jordan's been fine ever since.
Of course I'm still in school, just finishing up the summer session, I have finals next week, and I had to stay up for hours the night of Jordan's seizure to write my term paper (I was just thankful he was okay!) so I've been totally crazy, but still--I love it!

I can't help it, I'm excited . . .

2008-07-07T22:38:00.000-07:00

About school! Can you believe it? I'm really, truly enjoying it. I went to psychology class today, and I always feel like I learn so much. My professor is great, and makes everything so interesting. I am behind on my Medical Terminology though, and I need to get to it!

I already have my classes planned out for the next two semesters. This fall, it's CNA (certified Nurses Assistant.) It's only 2 hours a day, and my sister will be here with the boys--Jewel will be in school. The clinicals I'll have to do the last few weeks, once a week, will seriously be at 4 in the morning, and til about 7:30, so my kids won't even be awake! In the spring, I think I will be doing the math class (The horror!) and taking the EMT course. My friend Amy, who has been an EMT for years, encouraged me to do it, and I must confess, I'm very excited! I'd do it this fall, but CNA is already a pretty big class to handle.

Now, if I could just finish editing my book already . . . (insert rolling eye smiley here__)

Happy Independence Day!

2008-07-04T16:19:00.000-07:00

I hope all of you are having a happy 4th! We're at home resting now, but everyone was up bright and early to get ready for the parade this morning. Jewel was part of a young cheerleading group, and had to be ready and lined up by 9! (Sorry the pictures aren't very clear, I forgot to charge my battery!) Nathan and Jordan had a blast chasing after candy in the parade. Jordan, and my nephew, Lucas, who's a few months older, kept trying to run off down the street. One time they managed to move so quickly and unexpectedly that they got quite far before Chris corraled both of them! It was hilarious to see him running after Lucas, with Jordan already under one arm.

Nathan loved seeing all the old cars and fancy cars in the parade, and begged Chris to bring him over to the one side of the park to see them. I watched him and he was very serious and interested as he looked at them. :-)

We spent quite a while at the park, the kids got their faces painted by my good friend, Sonja. Then we wandered around before sitting down and watching some singers and dancers. We had lunch there--I really, really wanted some ribbon fries, and started to wait in line. I was there for 15 minutes, and didn't move at all! I decided it wasn't worth it and left. I got some other things and went back to Chris and the kids. We were there for another 15 minutes or so, and decided to walk around again. The lady that had been in front of me in line was still there, and had only moved a couple of feet! Yeah, it was crazy!

We've been home ever since.

I absolutely love the 4th of July, I look forward to it all year. I love seeing my kids grow up and enjoy it with us. :-)

LAGOON!

2008-06-30T07:58:00.000-07:00

So I finally made my yearly trip to Lagoon! For those of you who don't know it's a theme park up in Salt Lake City with the craziest rides! I absolutely love it, I get to play all day long! (Here's the website if you want to look at it: www.lagoonpark.com yes I've ridden all those rides!) I went with my mother and sisters, and Chris' cousin, Amber, who is an absolute doll. We had a lot of fun, but it was sooo hot! The lines weren't too bad, but yeah, we did get tired of waiting so much! We stayed in a nice hotel that night so we wouldn't have to drive all the way home that night (it's 3 hours away.) We got home yesterday morning just in time for me to go to church and teach my young women's class. I did a lesson on faith, and crumbled chocolate cookie crumbs into a plant to make it look like dirt. Then I asked one of them to taste it for me. She wouldn't for a couple of minutes then finally relented. I was doing a lesson on faith, and I had to see if she'd have enough faith to trust me, though her eyes were clearly telling her that it was dirt! It was a lot of fun.

Class and a test today, I'd better get ready! I'll be back later with some stuff . . .

Psychology--state of mind?

2008-06-25T15:06:00.000-07:00

I actually like my psychology class--I do. But today, I just couldn't stay awake! We were studying the senses (sight, hearing, touch, etc.) and I literally fell asleep trying to read the chapter before class. I drug myself out the door and over to the college in time to get a bag of peanut M&M's, in hopes that that would wake me up. I didn't fall asleep in class, but I wanted to! Jordan has been getting up during the night and fussing quite a bit. I suspect teething, but he's also been very clingy to me since his ER visit Saturday night (more on that later.) I understand that and I'll hold him and even let him sleep with me, but it doesn't make for a very restful night. I had to be to the orthodontist at 9AM this morning for them to torture my teeth. I tried to read my psychology book there and was also falling asleep! So while I'm finding the subject of psychology very interesting, today it just wasn't interesting enough to keep me awake!

Girl Scouts

2008-06-24T11:37:00.001-07:00

Jewel is a girl scout! She's been attending every week this summer, and was doing it during the school year too. It's a small troop, and the girls of all ages are together. It's so much fun for her. I know both of the leaders very well, and I like them a lot. Today she says they were studying careers, and sold punch on the corner of the block. She told me, "There weren't very many customers."

So what are we doing?

2008-06-24T00:18:00.000-07:00

As in, Chris and I? Between chasing Jordan, answering Jewel's mountain of questions (or trying to) and trying to convince Nathan he doesn't need to acquire every car ever made? Quite a bit, actually. Chris has been working, of course, and when he's home, he's been remodeling the basement. Or building, actually. There wasn't a lot to remodel! He did have to tear off the paneling that existed on the walls down there, (sooo gross) and re-wired the electrical, put up new walls, mudded and painted it. I'm so grateful that not only does he know how to do all of this, he actually likes it! He put in a new window and door as well. We're waiting on the carpet to be delivered, and then he will put tile down there as well--he's making sort of a mini-bar, with a little fridge for some soda, and a microwave for the snacks (we got a new one to go over the stove when we moved here, so the one downstairs will be the one we got when we were married--why not, right?) Here is a picture of the walls, and one of the cabinets he built. You can't tell, but the walls are a very light green, so pretty! I expect all of you to come observe things as soon as they're finished! :-D Chris is also the Elder's Quorum secretary.

As for me . . . I've actually returned to school! I haven't been since I was pregnant with Nathan. I've thought about it a lot since then, but it was never the right time. Now, it most definitely is. I am getting my pre-requisites done for the nursing program. I am so very excited about this, and know this is what I should be doing. Despite the complications that registering for school sometimes brings (ah! the paperwork!) everything has fallen into place so perfectly. One of the classes, Medical Terminology, is online, so I can do it while the kids are in bed. The other, Psychology, is a 2 hour class twice a week. The teacher is amazing, and I love the class. It's incredibly interesting, and it feels so good to be working my neurons again, lol. I still clean the library at night, and I did finish my book, although the editing now needs to be finished. I'm in the Young Women's presidency, and I love the girls there. We have some wonderful times, and they teach me a lot.

Okay, it's almost 2 am, time for bed.

Okay, some pics . . .

2008-06-23T23:38:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'm still really trying to figure all this out, so if it looks crazy, please forgive me!

Nathan had his birthday on June 2nd, and I just can't believe he's 4 already! I remember thinking the ten days I spent in the hospital before he was born would never end, and here we are years later! He is such an adorable little boy, and we call him our little sugar bean. He is the only one of our children that doesn't look exactly like Chris! lol he very much resembles my brothers. He comes up with so many interesting and funny little things that completely crack me up. He loves Lightning McQueen and Cars. The thing I notice him doing most lately is commenting to me, "Mom, I love my new car." "Mom, I love having a balloon." "Mom, I like to go to the park." (right after we've left said park.) He is very aware of the little things that bring him extra joy, and he makes sure to express it often.

Jewel's birthday was Sunday, the 22nd, so we had her friends over for a party on Saturday. It was, of course, Hannah Montana. All 11 of the friends she persuaded me to invite (Believe me, that was a sacrifice for her--her original list was about 20 girls!) came to the party, and she was thrilled. She is an excellent reader, and loves to write. I got her a journal for her birthday and she has spent a lot of time with it. She has been asking questions and contemplating so many things. We went to the Manti pageant just over a week ago, and as we watched, I pointed to one of the characters and said, "Look, Jewel, it's George Washington." Her eyes got wide, and she asked, "The real one?!" I laughed and reminded her that the "real one" had been dead for a very long time. She remembered, then asked if G.W. would be resurrected. I told her yes, but not for a very long time. She contemplated that for a moment, then asked, "You mean like, next year?"

Then there's Jordan. Oh my gosh, Jordan! LOL! This child is Chris through and through. He is such an adventurous little soul, and a complete monkey. He has no fear, and as a result, I'm constantly rescuing him from the top of a ladder at the park, the counter, the top bunk bed, even when he doesn't think he needs rescuing! He is so very busy, and into everything at all times. He's a very big boy too--Nathan has always been on the smaller side, and was still wearing size 2T clothes until the last few months--but Jordan has been wearing the 2T himself since right about when Nathan grew out of them! He's still only 16 months old! He's a strong little thing--ask anyone who's tried to wrestle him into a diaper!

Why not jump on the blogging train?

2008-06-23T23:12:00.000-07:00

It seems as though everyone is blogging these days, and I'm still way behind. Not that I don't have excuses. There's kids, husband, extended family, school, church and more. But I honestly feel behind in letting people know how we're doing, and all the new things my crazy kids (and husband!) come up with. So while procrastination seems to be my greatest talent, and I can't guarantee this will always be completely up to date, I will certainly try. Oh and if you would, leave me an occasional comment, so I know I'm not just talking to cyber-space. :-)