Our Growing Family

Where does time go!!!

2009-06-20T19:06:00.000-07:00

Here I am talking about trying to do better and look at all the time that has passed. I can't believe it! I even thought of lots of really nice posts. I have pictures from a visit to grandma and grandpa (Harding's) house, pictures from the zoo and Abby's one year pics. GGRRR how do I get so far behind. Scratch that, just tried to open the pics my mom sent me and they aren't pics, they are shortcuts, so no go there.

So I will tell you about what is going on since the other ones are not yet loaded onto the computer. Abby is doing wonderful. She runs everywhere now. She is still small, 50% on height and 5% yes five on weight. The doctor says it's perfectly fine and she's healthy and well. She walks with her left foot turned out, so he sent to a specialist up at Primary Children's to make sure it wasn't a big deal. Yeah, it wasn't, they said bring her back if she is still walking that way when she is 5. She is a joy most of the time. She is learning to talk. Words she has down for sure are:
Daddy - used for me and Lee and people in general - though if Lee answers her calls in the middle of the night she is NOT happy!!
Hi - with a wave
Bye - with a wave
Baba - that's actually for a toy sheep and the other cut outs from that book not the bottle oddly enough.
What's that(this)- It's not always perfectly clear, but there's not doubt that is what she's saying
Toto - for the toy Totero - not sure I spelled that right
Doggie - She's just learning this one, so it's not very good yet
She will also shake her finger at you for no, though she doesn't say it. She does it when she wants to say no and when you say no to her. It's rather cute. I don't recall doing this to her, but she had to pick it up somewhere....

She still loves to dance. She really like the musical cards and dancing to them. She also dances to some of her toys that are musical. She dance to car music and TV music...basically if it has a good beat she will dance to it. She is learning how to go up and down stairs and freaking mom out in the process. Down, of course, is the hard part. She still doesn't always think about sitting down or going backwards, but she is getter there.

Okay, that's enough for now. I will try and get the pics to the computer tomorrow so you can see how cute she is!!

Trying to do better posting...

2009-05-11T13:38:00.000-07:00

Yes, Amber. After much thought and sorrow, I did find a rescue organization that I felt comfortable turning the dogs over to. It was really hard the day I took them and dropped them off. But they did not think they would have any problems placing them. They were papered, and I turned the papers over to them, current on their shots, spayed or neutered, and had microchips. Given all of that and the fact that they were actually semi-trained (sometime they have selective hearing) they didn't think it would be difficult to place them at all. I turned them over at the start April I believe.

Mother's day. This was my first real Mother's DAY!! Okay, last year I was about ready to pop, and Lee did get me a card from Abby then too. It was a calm day, nothing spectacular, just nice and relaxing. This week is also our second anniversary and Abby's first birthday. A full week to say the least. Just to make things fun, Lee's work decided he need to go to Vegas this week....woohoo. So he left this morning (Monday) and will be back Wednesday night. He will miss our anniversay, but be back for Abby's birthday.

For Abby's birthday we are taking her and both sets of grandparents to the Zoo. It ought to be an interesting day. Hopefully she will have a ball looking at all of the animals and not be to tired or overwelmed by it all. She is walking all over the place and just having a ball. I need to get a little video of her walking up here. I am sure we will get a few this weekend at the zoo and then you can see everyone. I am hoping that it all goes well and I am going to make cupcakes for her to make a mess with.

Most of the transplants to the garden took. The smaller celery plants died, but I still have some more starts fir those. I just need them to grow a bit more I guess, and I lost some herbs that didn't transplant well, so I will plant seeds out for those and see how they do.

Well Abby's up, got to go.

Abby is walking!!

2009-05-04T11:37:00.000-07:00

Sorry it has been awhile, again. I really need to get better at this! But is has been a busy month with either Lee or myself traveling three of the four weeks in April. Since things have calmed down I thought I would tell the great news! Abby took her first steps on the 22nd of April. I am amazed at how fast she can figure things out. The first steps were a six or seven step run then fall from the couch to her playing mat. She was so pleased with herself too, she just hugged and giggled with the stuffed animal she fell on. After that it really didn't talk long for her to get going. Now, not even two weeks later, she is walking all over the place. Now her steps are slow, deliberate, and very controlled. She still falls frequently, but giver her another two weeks and I bet that will no longer be an issue. Sunday she was walking up and down the halls like a champ, though not as fast as some of the older toddlers.

I did go and see my sister and her kids for a week. It was fun to catch up with big sis, (though she is considerably smaller then me, dang this weight that likes to stay!) and see her kids. It amazes me at how big they are! Amber is 15, can you believe that! Jeremy is 12 and Zack now 9. I did bring my camera, but forgot to take it with me when we picked up the kids from their dad's and took them to the amusement park, sorry. I will try to get pics from Alethea soon. It was the first year Zack (9) was tall enough to right the BIG rides, and boy, the look on his face when we got off the first one was priceless!!! My brother Pat (the 6 foot something little brother) also flew out from Vernal UT to spend the weekend with us at the amusement park. It was a nice trip and I wish Alethea and kids all the best at this hard time for them.

Lee's trips where work related and the second one was to San Francisco, someplace he had not been before. He had a good time hosting a booth instead of running the conference, so it was different and fun for him. He's down to Vegas, again, for three days next week, which he's not really looking forward too. It's just for meetings and he's missing our anniversary so we are a bit bummed about that. He will be here for mother's day and Abby's b'day on the 14th, so all things considered he squeezed it in the best he could. That Saturday, the 16th I believe, we are taking Abby and the grandparents to the Zoo for Abby's 1st B'day!! I am hoping it is fun and that it all goes well. She really likes going to the pet store, so hopefully she will like seeing all the animals at the zoo.

The garden is coming along well. I will be moving all the starts out to the garden this week. Greatefully only a few have died at Abby's courious hands. She's really proud about picking them and holding them up for me to see. It doesn't look like there will be another frost, or so I hope, so after looking at the forecast I am talking the plunge and getting all the other things put in. Once I get the patio cleaned up and things planted I will get some pics of it on here for you guys to see.

Well I best get somethings done besides typing while Abby is still asleep.

Loves,
Suzan

Holland

2009-03-12T18:55:00.000-07:00

Okay, you can stone me. I was really bad at taking pictures on this trip. But here is what I have.

These are a city whose names I don't know how to spell. I have more but I have maxed out this post and will have to do a second with some of the stain glass windows.

These start the Pottery ones in Delft. We did get a shoe just like the one shown here. I could not believe how expensive this stuff is. You can see the prices on many of them, they are in Euros, and one Euro was about $1.50 at the time I was there. So yeah that little shoe cost me like $25-$30!! I don't know how anyone could really eat off of these things!

This above shows how the pottery goes through the process of being make, kinda cool huh.

The clip above is of a worker hand painting the Delft pottery. The clip below is the song being played at the church. Sorry it's sideways, but we walked into the square right when it started playing and me, being in picture mode, just kept things sideways...you can't rotate a video like you can a picture. Lesson learned. You will need the sound on to get the best out of this one.

Even more Alaska

2009-03-12T13:31:00.000-07:00

Okay, I probably put way to many pictures in this post, but just look through them quickly. This is the garden in Juno and I was just amazed at how beautiful it was. There was this huge land slide back in the day so there were all these trees lying around, so the guy who made this place turned them upside down and used the tree roots as baskets for arrangements. Belive it or not, I have more pictures then this, but I think you get the idea.

These are what I was talking about. Those are upside down treet with arrangements on the top.

This tree in the photo above has some kind of parasite that makes it grow lots of extra limbs, fuuny looking huh!

That thing that looks like a whale tail is actually a tree stump from the old land slide.

This is the view from the top of the trial. They take you up and down on golf carts.

If you look hard to can see an eagles nest near the top of the tree. Look where all of a sudden the tree seems to get really thick, that is the nest.

A close up of one of those upside down tree planters.

Okay that is all I am going to put in of the gardens, pretty huh!

More Alaska

2009-03-12T13:02:00.001-07:00

Remembr that eagle mentioned on the other eagle post that winters with the rescue place. Well this is that eagle. She lives at the top of the tram, the view as you ride up the tram is great, as you can see and you go up through the rain forest.

These are the views from the tram as you go up. This place is water and then instant mountains. I didn't know before I went, but Juno is land locked. You can not drive to it. You must come by boat or plane. Funny huh!

You can see a little of the cruise ships docking here.

This is a better one of the cruise ships. The whole downtown area was basically created for all the tourists. One thing I guess Senior Citizens can't get enough of are Jewerly and Furs. Every other shop is one or the other. I could not believe it, especially when you look at the prices!

These are the last ones from the hatchery.

More Alaska Pics

2009-03-12T12:36:00.000-07:00

Okay I guess it is only going to let me put five pics up at once. These and probably the next post too, come from the hatchery. You will pics of the Salmon and all the other fishy stuff at the gift store/educational area. There's alot going on in Alaska that really keeps all the world's critters happily chuggin' along.

Abby Today

2009-03-11T17:27:00.000-07:00

I know I still have some catching up to do. I have a few more Alaska pics that are really nice, Holland, and Christmas. However I thought I would show you were Abby is today and let you all know today's milestone. Abby cut her top right big tooth today! It's been threatening for a while, but I heard her tapping it against her two bottom teeth, (which she cut in early December,) and I looked and sure enough it finally made it! I am sure the other three on the top are soon to follow. So for a little while she will have four up top and two down low. I don't see any others working there way up so it may take a few more months for any new ones to show up. I took a few pics and a two little videos for you today. So here is Abby today!!

And two videos one is of Abby crawling and the other of her pushing her grocery cart walker. She can move pretty quick when she wants to, but she was trying to figure out what mother was doing with the camera.

I am still amazed at how fast she has picked up this walking thing! She wasn't moving very quickly in this clip, but she can move it when she wants to. Plus, she is starting to let go of things and stand unassisted for a few seconds. Ummm... I simply expected her to take a little longer to go from pulling herself up to this! It hasn't even been two weeks! AAAHHH By this rate she will be walking before she is a year old.

Oh and isn't she cute!!

Philip the Falcon

2009-03-11T11:37:00.000-07:00

This is Philip the Falcon. He was born with a birth defect, his feathers do not grow right, so he can't fly. Abby was really wondering what was up with this noisy bird.

And here is the other part.

The Eagles

2009-03-11T08:12:00.000-07:00

This a friend of my aunt's place, she rescues the Bald Eagles and they grow up here and are then released into the wild. It was amazing to see these birds up close and to watch them in the wild. I could sit at my aunt's table and look out her glass wall of windows and watch these birds. My aunt says they often wake her up with their calls to each other. I think she may be a tad spoiled by where she lives. She'd probably agree with me and say that it why she lives there.

Old saved posts!

2009-03-11T08:09:00.000-07:00

Okay I just published some older posts I had saved and one of them was pumped to off of the main page! It has two videos on it, one of which is the whales!!! So click on older posts to see Abby talking a little and some Orca whales.

Bear Time

2009-03-11T00:10:00.000-07:00

We will see if this actually works. This is a black bear Abby and I saw when we were on a trail in the same area as the Glacier. The ranger said it was probably 2 -3 years old. It didn't seem to mind all the people up in the trail walk, which by the way is up on a little walk way with a fence and rangers, so we were safe. I was surprised it was so small, black bears are generally smaller then brown. I generally see specials on all the brown or grizzly bears when I see specials on Alaska. I was just thrilled to see a bear in person! Abby will just have to go again when she complains about not remembering it!

Mom has time again!

2009-03-10T23:47:00.000-07:00

Now on the mom side of things. I am finally getting this schedule thing down and am finally getting things done. Abby and Daddy spent last Saturday together and turned mom lose on the house! I was able to get all off Abby's nine month old clothes into a bin and all the 12 month stuff into the dresser. This girl has more clothes then she know what to do with! She could go a month without wearing the same thing, I love hand me downs!

Mom also managed to get a hair cut. Nothing fancy, just walked in and had them chop 6" off. I was starting to sit on it, and that is where I draw the line. Now it comes to just above the small of my back.... so basically no one can tell.

I am starting my weight loss plan this week. I want to lose 30-40 lbs by fall. That's only 5 lbs a month and should be fine as long as I stay on the ball. I will keep you up to date. Remind me if I don't. The whole reason I am doing it, is just so I can get back down before getting prego again, kinda funny if you think about it.

Oh! Had a huge wind storm come by last week and rip off some shingles. Hum I guess there was money blowing in the wind. $600+!!! GGRRR!!! But I will be grateful that I have the money for the repairs. There were many, many houses in the subdivision effected, so at least I am not alone.

Sping keeps visiting, and leaving, but in all of this I did also manage to get the backyard almost cleaned up. I have great plans for the yard .....

Which leads to my most current bothersome comtemplation .... the dogs. I have spent over $2,000.00 on them in last year and I just don't know if I have it in me to keep them any longer. I love them don't get me wrong... but I can't do another $1,500.00 vet bill! Fogo had to have surgey on a cist on his elbow twice! Hopefully it will not return. Plus, I feel bad that I don't spend the time I used to with them. Nor, do they get out for walks like they need anymore. Also, a neighbor complained about the howling (Fogo howls at the trains, and they are many) so we have to bring them into the garage at night. It solves the noise problem, but not the long term one. I have three dogs, the city allows two. One call into the city and I have 24 hours to get rid of one of them. Not to mention that I have no back yard to speak of. We can't cook out back, let Abby play out back, nor have a garden. All things I could do if they were not there. I know the best thing may be to let them go, but it just seems so mean. It may mean their death and I don't know if I could do that to them. I think I may call my vet tomorrow and talk with her. I know she knows some rescue people and may be able to help me get them placed. I just can't see the situation for them staying here getting any better any time soon. They were once my "children," but know I have a real family. Not that they are not part of it, just that they are not getting what they need and deserve and if I can help them get that I will. I know I have given Fogo many more years on his life then he would have had... I feel really good about that, and I have really enjoyed them.

What's going on today....

2009-03-10T23:39:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'll get back to catching you up on pics soon. The uploads are slow and I just want to type. So here I go!

MY BABY IS GROWING UP WAY TOO FAST!!!

Let me tell you why.
1. I can't believe how little she looks in these pics and they are only 3 months ago!!! Well some of them anyway!

2. She now sleep in her own bed, and is even occasionally sleeping through the night (we are talking 12 hours!)

3. She is taking naps is her own bed! Granted a better schedule would be nice, we are still working on that.

4. She is wanting to feed herself! Mom still has to help with the mushy stuff. But she is all about finger foods!

5. In less then the last two weeks she has started to pull herself up to standing, then walking along things, and today she pushed her walker and walked with it!! So I went and picked her up a shopping cart pusher thingy and she can do it!! She is even starting to let go of things and try standing unassisted!! It is soooo scarry to watch and I can't believe she had progressed so quickly in this! I was excited a month ago when she started crawling! I'm going to get gray hairs worrying she is going to bonk her head!

It looks like there is no stopping the Abby!

Alaska 1 - Meet the players

2009-03-10T23:27:00.000-07:00

Okay this is my wonderful aunt and cousin, and a bundled up baby Abby. My aunt was wonderful about letting Abby and I crash at her house, which was in the middle of a big remodel, and use her car to go and play around Juno. We were waiting for the whale watching boat to come pick us up in this photo.

This is Abby's mode of transpertation during the trip....the Moby! She loved getting to see everything and was plenty warm zipped up inside my jacket! We are infront of a glacier if you can't tell....but this post is not about that. Oh yeah, that's me too.

My 6 Month Pics

2009-03-10T23:20:00.000-07:00

These were done in November, just in time for Abby's six month 1/2 b'day. I had to fight the Christmas rush to get them! They went out with the Christmas cards, so chances are most people have seen them. ENJOY, isn't she a cutie!

Okay I'm over being mad at the blog

2009-03-10T23:16:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'll get back with it as far as posting goes. Sorry for the vacation from posting, but I was so frustrated with the blog system that I pretty much gave up. I have tons of pics and videos from Alaska and since, but alas, this blasted system will not upload them....so I will try again and see what happens. What else can you do at midnight, when your husband is in Vegas on a business trip and your baby is asleep and for some reason you can't be asleep too.

The Juno Glacier

2008-10-02T07:54:00.000-07:00

These are some great shots!! I can not belive how much like a river glaciers look. It was just mind boggling to see something so vast and so still. You really except it to be a moving flow of water, and it is moving, but at a crawl.

ALASKA!! - This has the whales!!

2008-10-01T07:46:00.000-07:00

Okay, above is my aunt and cousin, you can hear me talking if you have sound. The one below is the whales I believe. It has been months since I have been trying to get things to work, so I hope this is the right video. If it is, then you will see a pod of Orca aka "killer" whales.

Getting back into things

2008-09-17T08:20:00.000-07:00

Wow, I can't believe I have left everyone hanging for a whole month! I really had no idea it had been that long. Given how busy I was getting ready for this trip I guess I can understand. Well I have too much from this trip to put in one post. So in my first post I will trow in all kinds of pics from the camera that have nothing to do with Alaska.

Okay this one is of baby Abby when she was between 2-3 weeks old. You will get to watch her grow a few months in this post....arn't you excited... just for kickers, pay attention to the hair! I can't believe how short it is in this first pic!

This is Abby's first bath in Daddy's sink. Kathie and I had quite the time trying to figure out how to do all that without letting her slip and fall, but it all worked out and we had a clean Abby. She loves bath time, hasn't cried once.

Okay, this picture is dark, I am talking, and Abby is crying...that pretty much discribes her blessing day. She screamed through the whole day. That is my dad and my grandpa there with us. It's a four generation picture, even if it isn't the best one out there!!! That was the fist weekend in June...just FYI.

This is a very confused looking Abby...what is that thing mom... at least she is waving. Just a cuse picture, she was being cute and moving around, so believe it or not his is the best picture in the series. I really should have turned off the vibrator on the chair she is in. Oh well, live and learn. This would be late June or early July.

Okay this one is in late July and it was a family outing. This picture is in Vivian Park, right next to where the Heber Creeper stops/starts. We were playing a card came. It was a wonderful family day. We started out at Brial Veil falls and ate lunch there and then walked up to Vivian Park and played (card) games there for a while. Then we walked back to Brial Veil and went out to dinner. It was a 'day-cation'. Since that was all I was up for. It was a great day! And Abby's first full day out of the house. She did wonderful.

This is early August. Abby is hanging out in her crib, intently watching and listening to the Panda wind chims above her crib. She loves those!

Daddy and Abby hanging out. Arn't they cute. I think this is the first day she wore her lady bug pajamas and I thought they were cute so I took a picture.

Daddy and Abby in the Moby, her favorite way of hanging out...literally I guess. She loves to be in the middle of the action in this and smiles when she see us putting it on.

Aaahhh Football season arrives - Mid August I believe. This is draft day, for Lee's fantasy football league and we hosted the draft at our house.

As you can see Lee's favorite team is the Vikings, yes they are currently 0-2, but you can't always make them win (they really need a quarterback), and his favorite player is Randy Moss. No I did not make this really cool cake. The husband and wife team that head the league are taking a cake decorating class and they made this cake. The name for the league, kinda funny huh.

WARNING CUTENESS ALERT!!! The following picure may be to cute for it's own good.

It's she cute adorable!! This was my first attempt at actually putting her hair up! She is wearing a lady bug in her hair and her 'cute as a bug' outfit. Snazzy huh! This is late August.

Okay last picure. This one is from when we were in Alaska. She is having a ball playing with er worm in the play pen. She is wearing her 'Leader of the Pack' outfit, so I had to take a picture. See all the hair. Okay here is one more a close up. Compare this one with the first one and see what I mean about the hair!!!

Mothers Who Know

2008-08-12T09:06:00.000-07:00

Okay, I was just visiting a friends post and she and a friend were talking about this talk. I didn't remember the details of it, so I went back and read it again. It was so good, I thought I would post it here. Here is the link to it.
http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=dba62bce258f5110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&hideNav=1

I like the whole thing, but here is a quote I really like.

Mothers Who Know Do Less

Mothers who know do less. They permit less of what will not bear good fruit eternally. They allow less media in their homes, less distraction, less activity that draws their children away from their home. Mothers who know are willing to live on less and consume less of the world’s goods in order to spend more time with their children—more time eating together, more time working together, more time reading together, more time talking, laughing, singing, and exemplifying. These mothers choose carefully and do not try to choose it all. Their goal is to prepare a rising generation of children who will take the gospel of Jesus Christ into the entire world. Their goal is to prepare future fathers and mothers who will be builders of the Lord’s kingdom for the next 50 years. That is influence; that is power.

One one more quote

Mothers who know desire to bear children. Whereas in many cultures in the world children are “becoming less valued,”2 in the culture of the gospel we still believe in having children. Prophets, seers, and revelators who were sustained at this conference have declared that “God’s commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force.”3 President Ezra Taft Benson taught that young couples should not postpone having children and that “in the eternal perspective, children—not possessions, not position, not prestige—are our greatest jewels.”4
Faithful daughters of God desire children. In the scriptures we read of Eve (see Moses 4:26), Sarah (see Genesis 17:16), Rebekah (see Genesis 24:60), and Mary (see 1 Nephi 11:13–20), who were foreordained to be mothers before children were born to them. Some women are not given the responsibility of bearing children in mortality, but just as Hannah of the Old Testament prayed fervently for her child (see 1 Samuel 1:11), the value women place on motherhood in this life and the attributes of motherhood they attain here will rise with them in the Resurrection (see D&C 130:18). Women who desire and work toward that blessing in this life are promised they will receive it for all eternity, and eternity is much, much longer than mortality. There is eternal influence and power in motherhood.

Okay I could really quote the whole thing, please click over and read it. It will be worth your time!

I AM GOING TO ALASKA!!!!!!

2008-08-12T08:47:00.000-07:00

My husband is the best! We were making all the travel plans and arrangements for me to go with him to Europe and all that, and he found a way to do it and have a voucher left over. (The only way we can afford for me to go on these trip are frequent flyer miles and plane vouchers from Lee taking bumps on his flights.) So he said why don't you just go to Alaska to visit your aunt while I am on my Hong Kong/Singapore trip. I thought that was a wonderful idea. So I called my aunt and she was more then willing, so the flight is booked and Abby and I are going to Alaska on the 3rd-10th of September!!!! I am so excited. My aunt started babbling things off that I can do, go whale watching and flying up to see the glaciers and something about a tram. I am sooooooooooooooooooooo excited. More excited then the Europe trip oddly enough. Probably because I've always wanted to do this. So we are going to have a very busy next few months to say the least. And it will be nice to get one trip under my belt with Abby before the long flight 'across the pond.'

Other then that things are moving along. So that's it for today.

WHAT!!! You're kidding right?

2008-08-09T09:01:00.001-07:00

Well it looks like I will not be going to Education Week. The specifically forbid any child under the age of 14. I called and asked about and yep ... I would not be allowed in the classes with Abby. Considering this is BYU we are talking about I find this very odd, but since there is nothing I can do about it I guess I am not going.

I thought I would give you an update on Abby's growth. She has gained better control of her hands and has started reaching an grabbing things intentionally. From her stuffed animals to dangling toy on the car seat. She has also moved to the more tradition 3-4 hr feeding schedule. So mom was up at 1 am and 5 am for feedings. She does go right back to sleep though, so that is nice. She is trying to take naps, but seems to sleep lighter and wake easier from them. She is about 11 lbs by the home scale and into the 3-6 month clothes. She is also very squirmy and has mastered turning onto her side. She HATES tummy time, so it doesn't last very long, but hopefully that will get better. She holds her head up without any trouble now and can sit up for short periods of time. She loves to ride shotgun (facing out) in the Moby Carrier. Like this.

It is so cute when Lee wears her and I need to get a picture of it. She is still as talkative as ever, following her father's example. Well we are off to find shoes for mom and dad.

Loves.

Planning!!!

2008-08-08T06:51:00.001-07:00

Well it has been decided.... Abby and I are going with Lee to Europe and Orlando this October. We have sent in the paper work to get Abby her passport. Her passport picture is soooo cute, but alas, I have no scanner at home with which to scan it ... sorry. We are expecting that back the first week of September. Lee is making the plan reservations this week and I am starting to ponder ways of doing long plane flights with an ifant, but at least I will have Lee with me.

We are looking at things to do while out and about and Lee found a program where you can swim with the Dophins. This is the package we are looking at https://www.discoverycove.com/vi_dcpackages_pricing.aspx
I have to give my aunt a call and see if she is interested in going with me. Lee will be working, so he will not be able to go, bummer for him, and they don't let anyone under six in the pool with the Dolphins. So Abby will just have to watch. The day is expensive, but includes everything, click on the all-inclusive link to see what I mean.

I also need to research where we will be staying in Haag, (I think that is how it is spelled). I need to figure out what the weather will be like and what I will need to bring to keep the family happy.

I am also going to look into Education Week at BYU. Now that I don't work, I might actually be able to go!! Speaking of which I am going to go do that right now.

Loves.

Family Visits and Travelings

2008-07-31T09:57:00.000-07:00

Wow, sorry it has been so long! It's been busy here, well relatively speaking.

Lee spent the first part of last week in Vegas .... again ... it's his forth time this year. He really doesn't like Las Vegas any more. Then my sister and niece came in for a visit from North Carolina. It was so much fun to see them and they just loved getting to play with and entertain baby Abby. My parents also came in for the weekend to see them. Lee then had to take off early Sunday morning for Mexico City. We all went to church and afterwards, Patrick came in from Vernal. So it was a real family affair. After dinner and a Monopoly game everyone left for Vernal, and Alethea and Amber headed up to Wyoming to visit the other two boys. She will have seen all of us!! What a trip for her.

Meanwhile, Lee flew from Mexico City to Washington DC Wednesday for a conference on Thursday and tomorrow he will be home!!! WOOOHOO!!

I had pack meeting last night and it was really fun for the boys. I filled nearly 500 water balloons!! And they had a ball popping them all. Then we had snow cones. I was pleased with how it went and it seemed that the boys had a good time.

Now I really need to figure out how to get all the "projects" I have in mind done. Being a mother is a very time consuming thing and I have a feeling it is just going to get worse in this regard, not better. So the time has come to improvise, adapt, and overcome.

Sorry no pics, Lee has the camera and I haven't collected any from family yet.

More Photos

2008-06-24T11:06:00.000-07:00

These are of my house and Abby's room. Kathie was a great help getting all this up while she was here with me. THANK YOU!!!

Okay I just stole these pics that Kathie took while she was here visiting from her blog, so that you could all enjoy them too. These are of Abby, aren't they CUTE!! Kathie is very good with her camera, she keeps bugging me to get better.

Okay, let me go hunting and see what other photos I can find, stay tuned.

Getting to know everyone

2008-06-24T10:19:00.000-07:00

This is our first attempt at a blog so we will see how this goes. This was created to keep friends and family up to date on the happenings of our little but growing family. Mom hopes she can do a good job of keeping up with all the activities and daily exploits of life.

Most family will want to keep up Abby as she grows and growing she is. She, now at six weeks this Wednesday, is sleeping through the night. She has been for a few weeks. She sleeps from about 10-5 or 11-6 depending on when I can get her to sleep. She is starting to be much more interactive, meaning she will hold your eyes and 'talk' to you. She is smiling and cooing and it's been great to see that become more and more normal these last few days. She is tracking really well with the bells, not as well with just visual objects.

She is also lulling us into a false sense of security with going to church. We went to all 3 hours for the first time two Sundays ago and she slept through it all except the last 10 mins. of Relief Society. Then this Sunday she was sleeping or happy in her car seat all through Sacrament meeting, I feed her the first part of Sunday School, and she was sleeping or happily awake through the rest of church. Somehow I don't think this is going to last, but I will enjoy it while I can.

The cloth diapering has been much easier then I thought it would be. I am still amazed that the dirty diapers don't smell! I know it will only last a short period of time, but I will enjoy it while I can.

As far as dad and I we are doing great. Dad is really excited that his friend who moved to New Jeresy is in town this week visiting so we have a really busy week this week. Tonight mom and Abby get to go watch dad play a pick up game of soccer with his friends and have snow cones afterward.

Mom goes in for her six week check up this week, and suspects all will be well. Now she just needs to figure out how to fit in some time for exercising so she can lose the rest of the Abby weight.

Here are some pics of us.