Sunday, January 22, 2012
Friday, March 11, 2011
I'm back in the saddle again!
Hello Blog World! Yes that's right I know you, all, missed me (however many "You" may be if any by now...). So here's our update:
Roarke is out of the hospital but sometimes it doesn't seem that way to him with all the doctors (cardiologists, GI docs, nutritionists, home nurses, pediatricians, just to name a few) and tests they have run and/or they are planning on running. It's been kind of exhausting and the only way I stay in touch most of the time with the outside world is through the iPod touch (which if any of you have tried mobile blogging yet, it's kind of a nightmare, or at least I have a hard time dealing with the limited set-up). But he has gained almost 3 pounds in 3 weeks and the GI docs are not too into the feeding tube and we are working to slowly get rid of it. He is only using it while he sleeps but his appetite is atrocious and so we are slowing down the amount of time he gets fed through the tube and how much he gets at that time as well. He is kind of hyped up on the sugar from the Pediasure (in his tube) and has been a bit of a handful! Other than all of that he is doing well and following his big sister around everywhere, and now even Ada says she wants a brother next so Roarke can play with him too!
Ada is doing as well as can be expected with all that's been going on. She was nearly potty trained a few months ago and then this all started and we almost had to start from scratch again. But she really wants to go to school when we move and we told her she HAS to be potty trained by then...so prayers are welcome for that too!
Josh is working hard and applied for an FMLA leave from Wal-Mart which he can take whenever he needs to and they can apply his massive amounts of sick time available for that so we don't have to lose out on pay! He may be getting a "weekend" aka two consecutive days off which should be nice for the next month and a half or so of work left before he leaves for Basic.
I am doing reasonably well and trying not to stress out too much, which I apparently do even in my sleep as I woke up this morning feeling much like the first few days of training for the heptathlon in college (the running and jumping parts were easy but learning how to throw things with my spindly arms...yeah it hurt). So thank goodness for Therma-Care!!
And in other news, thank goodness for the fact that we bought our car with a warranty as the front differential had to be replaced and it took 4 days, a rental and over $2,000! Luckily, almost everything was covered so we only had to pay $200 plus pay for the rental up front (it was a ford focus so after driving around our huge Expedition, it was awful!!) and we just had to wait a few weeks to be re-imbursed. But we are giving serious thought to a minivan...there I said it, a MINIVAN. My mom had one of these for almost my whole life and I am not a fan. But we should no longer need the ability to go 4X4 anymore as we don't live in Rexburg as minivans there spelled disaster as they were always the first to be the cars stuck off the side of the road in a snow bank or a ditch. Now however, with gas prices getting more and more scary...we are thinking minivan so stay posted.
So, hope you all have been doing well during my hiatus and hope that the impending Spring season is as welcome to you as it is to us! Thank you so much for your support and help these past few weeks/months. You really don't know how much you really did just by a quick phone call or FaceBook post!! Especially to those who watched Ada or brought stuff by for us. You're all AWESOME!!
Roarke is out of the hospital but sometimes it doesn't seem that way to him with all the doctors (cardiologists, GI docs, nutritionists, home nurses, pediatricians, just to name a few) and tests they have run and/or they are planning on running. It's been kind of exhausting and the only way I stay in touch most of the time with the outside world is through the iPod touch (which if any of you have tried mobile blogging yet, it's kind of a nightmare, or at least I have a hard time dealing with the limited set-up). But he has gained almost 3 pounds in 3 weeks and the GI docs are not too into the feeding tube and we are working to slowly get rid of it. He is only using it while he sleeps but his appetite is atrocious and so we are slowing down the amount of time he gets fed through the tube and how much he gets at that time as well. He is kind of hyped up on the sugar from the Pediasure (in his tube) and has been a bit of a handful! Other than all of that he is doing well and following his big sister around everywhere, and now even Ada says she wants a brother next so Roarke can play with him too!
Ada is doing as well as can be expected with all that's been going on. She was nearly potty trained a few months ago and then this all started and we almost had to start from scratch again. But she really wants to go to school when we move and we told her she HAS to be potty trained by then...so prayers are welcome for that too!
Josh is working hard and applied for an FMLA leave from Wal-Mart which he can take whenever he needs to and they can apply his massive amounts of sick time available for that so we don't have to lose out on pay! He may be getting a "weekend" aka two consecutive days off which should be nice for the next month and a half or so of work left before he leaves for Basic.
I am doing reasonably well and trying not to stress out too much, which I apparently do even in my sleep as I woke up this morning feeling much like the first few days of training for the heptathlon in college (the running and jumping parts were easy but learning how to throw things with my spindly arms...yeah it hurt). So thank goodness for Therma-Care!!
And in other news, thank goodness for the fact that we bought our car with a warranty as the front differential had to be replaced and it took 4 days, a rental and over $2,000! Luckily, almost everything was covered so we only had to pay $200 plus pay for the rental up front (it was a ford focus so after driving around our huge Expedition, it was awful!!) and we just had to wait a few weeks to be re-imbursed. But we are giving serious thought to a minivan...there I said it, a MINIVAN. My mom had one of these for almost my whole life and I am not a fan. But we should no longer need the ability to go 4X4 anymore as we don't live in Rexburg as minivans there spelled disaster as they were always the first to be the cars stuck off the side of the road in a snow bank or a ditch. Now however, with gas prices getting more and more scary...we are thinking minivan so stay posted.
So, hope you all have been doing well during my hiatus and hope that the impending Spring season is as welcome to you as it is to us! Thank you so much for your support and help these past few weeks/months. You really don't know how much you really did just by a quick phone call or FaceBook post!! Especially to those who watched Ada or brought stuff by for us. You're all AWESOME!!
Sunday, January 23, 2011
pictures proving preposterous
All alliteration aside, taking pictures to post is getting a bit difficult. We almost always forget the camera and just take pictures with our phones. Granted, the pictures taken are never as clear, the camera just never seems to make it with us as we are tyring to de-clutter our lives and lessen the amount of "stuff" we take with us when we go out. And a lot of the pictures we have been taking lately are of us at the Please Touch Museum (where we try to go once a week), to which I will not subject you as they will be of the same place; Our kids will just have different clothes on mostly...
So if you want to see our pictures, we might just start uploading the majority of those to Facebook as we can do that from the phones...and if I do manage to take pictures with the good old fashioned camera, we will upload them here.
But as I am depriving you of any cool and awesome pictures, here is at least a run down of the excitement we have been having:
1) Ada finally got her hair cut!! She had such a little amount of hair for so long, and then it was so thin and fine we just decided to let it grow for a while. Then the ends were looking a bit ragged so we decided to get her "mane" trimmed. I thought about having my hair stylist-to-be sister Devin cut it (but I think she was a little daunted as she has never cut kids hair before and didn't like the idea of having a child who might move suddenly and then have me be upset by a bad haircut) but I thought it might be cute and fun for Ada and I to have a Mama-Daughter outing. So I looked and looked and finally found a super, almost completely over the top place nearby in North Wales.
Here's the website if you want to check it out : www.sweetandsassy.com
Ada LOVED it and they let me know a few things I was not aware applied to childrens' hair:
1) They (all kids, yes even boys) need conditioner at LEAST once a week. Ada needs it 2-3x per week and RJs' hair feels so much better after just once a week.
2) It's winter and the kids get baths before bed. Now, I always blow my hair at least almost all dry before I go to bed, and so I do the same for Ada. But it needs some sort of protection before scorching it with a blow dryer (I knew I needed this but for some reason I thought kids hair was more resilient!!)
Point of story: She loved it, no tears and she can't wait to go back. And they cut of maybe 1/2''. Just a trim but it looks more shapely. Oh! And she could watch any TV show she wanted. It was a toss up between Handy Manny and Scooby-Do. She chose Scooby and Josh is afraid we will have to end up naming our family dog Scooby too (of which neither of us is very fond...)
2) Snow-not as much as some other family members, but enough to make everyone nearby drive like nuts (the slow and aggravating ones who drive in the middle of the road and a good 20 miles under the limit). They like the snow OK but after a little while want to come back in and color, read, or do yoga (yeah my kids love it!!)
3) I am going to start doing Hot Yoga. Just found out about it and I start this week. To say that I am excited would be a very mild understatement. A fast intense yoga in a hot room (102-104 degrees) where you sweat a ton?!! Sign me UP!! Oh yeah, I did. Josh also got me a yoga mat and strap from Wal-Mart and painstakingly decided on which color I would like better; it was very cute. I have a cool purple one and he even let me get a Heat Gear Under Armour workout shirt as I plan on sweating a lot (side note: I like to sweat when I workout and have not been able to really since I stopped my collegiate running. My regular body temp runs a bit below average at about 96.5 so it takes A LOT to make me sweat). Anyway, had to give a shout out to the Hubs, he loves and takes good care of me!!
Anyway, hope that my ramblings make up for the lack of pics of the chitlins' and hope you are all having a great time too!!
So if you want to see our pictures, we might just start uploading the majority of those to Facebook as we can do that from the phones...and if I do manage to take pictures with the good old fashioned camera, we will upload them here.
But as I am depriving you of any cool and awesome pictures, here is at least a run down of the excitement we have been having:
1) Ada finally got her hair cut!! She had such a little amount of hair for so long, and then it was so thin and fine we just decided to let it grow for a while. Then the ends were looking a bit ragged so we decided to get her "mane" trimmed. I thought about having my hair stylist-to-be sister Devin cut it (but I think she was a little daunted as she has never cut kids hair before and didn't like the idea of having a child who might move suddenly and then have me be upset by a bad haircut) but I thought it might be cute and fun for Ada and I to have a Mama-Daughter outing. So I looked and looked and finally found a super, almost completely over the top place nearby in North Wales.
Here's the website if you want to check it out : www.sweetandsassy.com
Ada LOVED it and they let me know a few things I was not aware applied to childrens' hair:
1) They (all kids, yes even boys) need conditioner at LEAST once a week. Ada needs it 2-3x per week and RJs' hair feels so much better after just once a week.
2) It's winter and the kids get baths before bed. Now, I always blow my hair at least almost all dry before I go to bed, and so I do the same for Ada. But it needs some sort of protection before scorching it with a blow dryer (I knew I needed this but for some reason I thought kids hair was more resilient!!)
Point of story: She loved it, no tears and she can't wait to go back. And they cut of maybe 1/2''. Just a trim but it looks more shapely. Oh! And she could watch any TV show she wanted. It was a toss up between Handy Manny and Scooby-Do. She chose Scooby and Josh is afraid we will have to end up naming our family dog Scooby too (of which neither of us is very fond...)
2) Snow-not as much as some other family members, but enough to make everyone nearby drive like nuts (the slow and aggravating ones who drive in the middle of the road and a good 20 miles under the limit). They like the snow OK but after a little while want to come back in and color, read, or do yoga (yeah my kids love it!!)
3) I am going to start doing Hot Yoga. Just found out about it and I start this week. To say that I am excited would be a very mild understatement. A fast intense yoga in a hot room (102-104 degrees) where you sweat a ton?!! Sign me UP!! Oh yeah, I did. Josh also got me a yoga mat and strap from Wal-Mart and painstakingly decided on which color I would like better; it was very cute. I have a cool purple one and he even let me get a Heat Gear Under Armour workout shirt as I plan on sweating a lot (side note: I like to sweat when I workout and have not been able to really since I stopped my collegiate running. My regular body temp runs a bit below average at about 96.5 so it takes A LOT to make me sweat). Anyway, had to give a shout out to the Hubs, he loves and takes good care of me!!
Anyway, hope that my ramblings make up for the lack of pics of the chitlins' and hope you are all having a great time too!!
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Getting ready for Santa
Getting ready for Santa and it was awesome having our kids be just a bit older and really being into Santa. We almost forgot to put out cookies and milk for Santa and a carrot for the reindeer! The kids loved their gifts, so thanks to everyone! This is only a small portion of the pictures taken so more to come later...
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Fun at the Crayola Factory
Hello! When my grandmother was just here we went to visit the Crayola Factory in Easton, PA. My grandmother used to live there with her father back in the 40's and my mom lived there with her mom and sisters when she was a kid too, so just driving around the town was very nostalgic for them. But since we had the kids in tow and we wanted to make more out of a long drive, we went to the Crayola factory in the same town. I really think it is more for kids who are older and can use scissors and glue and also not be tempted to put everything in their mouths (RJ). Nevertheless, we all had fun an blessedly it wasn't busy at all and we learned about a lot of Crayola Products we didn't know of previously (like did you know they have modeling clay/play dough like stuff called Model Magic which is awesome and ten times better than Pay dough will ever be??!) 
Sorry about the picture quality but these were taken with my phone as I forgot my camera
Meemaw and Grand-Grammy
Coloring on the floors
Coloring on the walls with a lighted marker
Surfers
Motion sensing whatdoyacallit
All of us in it
Coloring on the plexiglass walls
running along and coloring
color explosion markers and paper
Just getting in and going to the small tutorial about how they make crayons. And Meemaw answered a question right and she got a box of 4 crayons...woo-hoo!
and this is just an old pic I got off of my phone and i love it. This is something he used to do often and we spent a long time trying to teach him to keep his shirt on; although the colder weather might have something to do with it too!
Monday, December 20, 2010
It's snowing inside!!
We have been as festive as possible this year and last night we started making it "snow" in the house. We found some really great online snowflake templates and these are just some of the ones we made last night. But my mom wants the whole downstairs to be covered in falling "snow" so we may need to make a LOT more!! Good thing they're so cheap!
Can you tell what they are? That's right, Snowmen holding hands! How awesome?!
Snow is falling all around...
Just finished this one for my niece. Hope she likes it as I think it's awesome!
Letters to Santa. This year we actually made out our letters to Santa and we found out that if you deliver them into a special mailbox in Macys' they will donate money for every letter delivered there. Hope you can see what RJ wrote; tried to play around with the picture and fix it but this is as good as it gets without photoshop! He asked for cars and a Buzz Lightyear.
This is Adas' letter. She didn't like me helping her write it as she has to do everything herself, but we got through it. Isn't it humbling? All she keeps asking for is chapstick and a toy (although after going to Ashers' chocolate store up near Harleysville, she has now added chocolate pretzels!)
She has been wanting a tutu for months! But I couldn't quite justify spending $10 on one but when we just recently stopped in to Old Navy she brought me this one. I hate/love the face she makes when she wants something, and so I looked at the tag: $14.50??! No way! So I told her we couldn't get it and she needed to put it back and instead of melting down or crying, she sadly said, "Ok Mama." She put it back and as I was passing them by, I noticed some had discounted tags on them. I looked at the other side of the tag of the tutu Ada gave me and it was $4!! She was so happy to get one I had a hard time keeping her from wearing it over her jeans. This past Sunday, she INSISTED on wearing it and even though it was the Sunday before Christmas, I let her. She wore it all day long.
Ok so Skye can knit just about anything you can imagine and this is what she has made for my nephew Bobby. We tried it on RJ to see how it fit him to make sure she had made it the right side (approximately anyway, RJ is much skinnier than anyone in our family, even though Bobby is almost 4 months younger than he is!) He wouldn't take it off after that; we had to wait a while before coming up with a viable excuse to him to take it off.
making more cookies. Josh has been asking me to make him these for a few weeks now.
playing with the trash. What is it with kids and boxes?!
At the Please Touch Museum. RJ loves: goats/sheep, cows, dogs and geese. So when he saw the goat on the carousel, he just about lost it!
And Miss Ada had to be on the cat
He Moo-ed at this cow for a few minutes as it was Moo-ing back!
See? Told you!
Going down the Rabbit Hole. The bottom floor is mostly themed for Alice and Wonderland.
Playing in the water
He had to have a duck!
Meemaws' birthday party! She wanted a Carmel Pear Cake for her birthday and I think it turned out really well!
He LOVES pizza!
Everyone loves an Ada kiss
Loving the decor. Sorry Skye but this pic was too awesome not to post!
She was surprised as her birthday was on Dec 12th and this party happened on the Thursday before as Will and Skye wanted to be there.
A bunch of friends over for cookie decorating/making. With so many kids and moms (we tend to talk a lot) we barely made any cookies! This picture is so funny! Ada and RJ wanted to see the cookies in the oven so they brought chairs over. Suddenly, every kid had the same idea and they were all anxiously awaiting the cookies!!
Two weeks ago, I was in charge of the treat so I made this! It's double layered too!
Can you tell what they are? That's right, Snowmen holding hands! How awesome?!
Snow is falling all around...
Just finished this one for my niece. Hope she likes it as I think it's awesome!
Letters to Santa. This year we actually made out our letters to Santa and we found out that if you deliver them into a special mailbox in Macys' they will donate money for every letter delivered there. Hope you can see what RJ wrote; tried to play around with the picture and fix it but this is as good as it gets without photoshop! He asked for cars and a Buzz Lightyear. 
This is Adas' letter. She didn't like me helping her write it as she has to do everything herself, but we got through it. Isn't it humbling? All she keeps asking for is chapstick and a toy (although after going to Ashers' chocolate store up near Harleysville, she has now added chocolate pretzels!)
She has been wanting a tutu for months! But I couldn't quite justify spending $10 on one but when we just recently stopped in to Old Navy she brought me this one. I hate/love the face she makes when she wants something, and so I looked at the tag: $14.50??! No way! So I told her we couldn't get it and she needed to put it back and instead of melting down or crying, she sadly said, "Ok Mama." She put it back and as I was passing them by, I noticed some had discounted tags on them. I looked at the other side of the tag of the tutu Ada gave me and it was $4!! She was so happy to get one I had a hard time keeping her from wearing it over her jeans. This past Sunday, she INSISTED on wearing it and even though it was the Sunday before Christmas, I let her. She wore it all day long.
Ok so Skye can knit just about anything you can imagine and this is what she has made for my nephew Bobby. We tried it on RJ to see how it fit him to make sure she had made it the right side (approximately anyway, RJ is much skinnier than anyone in our family, even though Bobby is almost 4 months younger than he is!) He wouldn't take it off after that; we had to wait a while before coming up with a viable excuse to him to take it off.
making more cookies. Josh has been asking me to make him these for a few weeks now.
playing with the trash. What is it with kids and boxes?!
At the Please Touch Museum. RJ loves: goats/sheep, cows, dogs and geese. So when he saw the goat on the carousel, he just about lost it!
And Miss Ada had to be on the cat
He Moo-ed at this cow for a few minutes as it was Moo-ing back!
See? Told you!
Going down the Rabbit Hole. The bottom floor is mostly themed for Alice and Wonderland.
Playing in the water
He had to have a duck!
Meemaws' birthday party! She wanted a Carmel Pear Cake for her birthday and I think it turned out really well!
He LOVES pizza!
Everyone loves an Ada kiss
Loving the decor. Sorry Skye but this pic was too awesome not to post!
She was surprised as her birthday was on Dec 12th and this party happened on the Thursday before as Will and Skye wanted to be there.
A bunch of friends over for cookie decorating/making. With so many kids and moms (we tend to talk a lot) we barely made any cookies! This picture is so funny! Ada and RJ wanted to see the cookies in the oven so they brought chairs over. Suddenly, every kid had the same idea and they were all anxiously awaiting the cookies!!
Two weeks ago, I was in charge of the treat so I made this! It's double layered too!
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