Getting Caught Up- A Bunch of Posts in One

This is an easy way to get caught up in one post all of the things I have wanted to write about over the past few weeks but haven’t had the time (and Pierre likes the shorter posts too).

1. Sorry Randy!
I am sure I will owe Randy Rice Crispy Treats for life for taking out the window seat, moving the electrical and patching the drywall. I don’t owe him for the labor, but because he tweaked his wrist while doing it. I have been told that his Dr. said he would have been better off if he broke it. Oh great! Oh- and he may need surgery on it. Did I mention that Randy is a major golfer?
-Sorry Randy, anytime you want Rice crispy Treats just let me know.

2. Aunt Tracy
My sister is not into babies. I guess we are alike when it comes to newborns. I like them more when they don’t feel so breakable, I have learned to overcome that fear, Tracy not so much. I am sure as Cameron gets bigger she will be a great Aunt, even if she looks miserable holding him here.

3. Cameron’s 2 week appt
All is well. He lost only 2 oz, that is very good and he is over his Biliruben issue and is no longer yellow. He is 20.5 inch long and in the 50% for height, 25% for weight and 75% for head, I think that means he is going to be smart!

4. Epidural Bill
OK, seriously! The bill arrived and I think I paid my part when the Dr. screwed up and put it in the wrong place, but I guess they don’t see it that way. I have an added “Emergency Anesthesia” charge on my bill. Jerk.

5. Round-about Idiots!
PEOPLE… a round-about is NOT a Four Way Stop! It has yield signs NOT stop signs. If you are stopped and if I yield and then move into the roundabout and keep going you do not get to honk your little horn at me.

6. Fight Night
When Tracy moved in earlier in the year we started having Fight Night at my house. No I don’t mean the arguing type of fights but UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) fights, it is a US-based mixed martial arts cage fight broken out by weight classes. It started out with just Tracy, Randy, Alexis and I, then my mom started watching with us and sometimes we would invite other friends to come over. We usually have something good to eat and make a fun night of it. It has always fallen on a weekend when Donovan had the kids until recently. I am not sure what Courtney thinks of it, Brittany liked it but was a bit confused by it, and Kyle just loved it! It was fun to see Kyle try to beat up Randy and then stomp off like a little bully. At the last fight Brittany asked what are they putting on the fighters face prior to the fight. We told her Vaseline. She sat quietly for a bit then turned to me and asked, “…aren’t they afraid that they will catch on fire?” Tracy had this blank look and we both replied at the same time “Not Gasoline, VASELINE!” It was funny.


7. Dinner at Greg’s
Greg’s is a “restaurant” at UVU where the Culinary Arts students prepare the meals. It is normally a 4 course meal and if you go with a fun group it can be VERY fun. I went with my mom (my date for most things these days), Tracy, Randy and Amber (a former student). We had some good laughs. The soup left a lasting taste on our mouths… please refer to Tracy’s Blog for details on that, and pictures: http://shameonyou21.blogspot.com/2008/11/so-like-yum.html
You can do need to make reservations to go, they fill up quick, check out the menu by visiting their site: http://www.uvsc.edu/techcom/ca/greg/menu.html

8. BYU Game
BYU lost to Utah, enough said.

9. IKEA Pride
I don’t care what you say; there is something cool about putting together your own furniture and having it look good that gives you a sense of pride and accomplishment! I love my new nightstand and light.

10. Love Fern
Donovan brought home a plant several years ago from work. It has been a nice healthy looking plant till I got pregnant and didn’t want to climb up to water it anymore. It is now dying, and we jokingly call it the “Love Fern” (from the movie How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days). I really need to get up there and throw it away. At least once a week Alexis and I say to each other “You killed our Love Fern!”

11. Church Talks
Courtney gave her first talk in sacrament this past week. It was on Gratitude and she did great! I have such a hard time talking in front of people and I know it is not easy, but Court spoke clearly, and kept her eyes on her paper and made it look like no big deal. I am so proud of her.

… And you shall receive.

November is a month to think about gratitude. It is the month that we celebrate Thanksgiving; to be thankful for all we have been given. So it is only appropriate that I take a minute to be thankful for all I have.

More than anything I am thankful for my children, thankful that they are happy, healthy strong individuals who have changed my life for the better.

I am thankful for my mom, dad, sister and extended family; you will never be alone if you have family. I believe no matter how different you are as long as you love and respect each other it is an unbreakable bond.

I am thankful for my job that provides me insurance and income for the things we need as well as the things we want, my home that provides me and my children a place of security, our Tahoe that provides us transportation that the whole family can fit in, even if that means the big girls are in the back seat now.

These are just a few things that I am thankful for I could go on for days, but this list could not be complete with out mentioning that I am very thankful for the friends and neighbors that I have. Along with my family they have been such a support over the past year and especially these past few weeks. I am thankful for those that have kept my family and me in their prayers, those that have brought over meals, for the neighbors that have had play dates with Kyle, for those that have called and checked in on us. Your love and generosity has been so appreciated. Thank you.

In addition to the love we have received, I was honestly shocked at the response I got to “The List.” I guess it is true, Ask, and you shall receive. Within hours of that post I had things marked off! Here is a quick rundown:
Leaves raked (and it looks good!), fire alarms have new batteries, Kyle has had many play dates, I have a phone # for the person who can install the carpet in the boys room, the sprinkler has been taken care of, the paint chip has been delivered and we have talked about painting the boys room, the window box seat is out and base board has been installed, the Halloween bins are back in the shed, the paddle boats are drained and covered (extremely well!), the wood around the shed has been claimed, the bathrooms were cleaned and Cameron has been held and loved!

WOW!! I don’t even know how to tell you all how thankful I am for helping me with these things!!!

November 4th 2008

(Yes I know I am slow at getting this posted, cut me some slack it has been a long week, ok almost two...)

November 4th, 2008, what a historic day! Let me start with…I don’t care who you voted for; I don’t care what your feelings are about who won, if you don’t like the person at least respect the position. You’re in a free nation with more rights than anywhere in the world, so the least you can do is respect the President of the United States, regardless of who that person is.

President Elect Barack Obama will be our nation’s first African-American president.

Obama ran his campaign with the slogan “CHANGE We can believe in.” On Tuesday evening after the electoral votes determined Barack Obama won the race for president he said the following to a crowd of approximately a quarter-million people in Grant Park in Chicago and to the nation.

“If there is anyone out there who doubts that America is a place where anything is possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer,” he went on to say “It’s been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America,”.

I do believe that we are in for a lot of changes in our nation, and around the world.

November 4th is a day that I will always remember, not just because of this election but because it was a day that created a lot of CHANGE in my family.

Cameron Lee, Cameron because it was the one name I liked more than the others and Lee after my dad, was born at 5:28pm.

I know everyone has been waiting for pictures, but I have asked a dear friend to write up what happened that day so I could post it and she has been busy and I don’t have it yet. Why don’t I just write up what happened, well to be honest I am missing a big chunk of time. Due to some complications when I think about that afternoon I have smooshed about 3 1/2 hours into about 15 minutes. The rest is fuzzy and I am so thankful that I had two great friends there at my side during this time.
My “plan” was to kick Melanie and Juliet out of the delivery room when it came time to have my little baby. I wanted that moment to be mine. I had a lot of personal reasons for not having Donovan in the room, they all came down to the fact that I knew he would be nice to me. I knew I could not separate the fact that in my heart I wanted my family to be complete, I was afraid that I would get my hopes up and would have to deal with the pain of separation all over again instead of appreciating the moment of bringing into this world a new baby.

My “plan” quickly changed when I experienced some complications with my Epidural. I panicked when I felt my heart starting to beat heavily in my chest and I started to have difficulty breathing, so did my anesthesiologist from what I understand. (Let’s hope Juliet has this in her write up, because I didn’t get to actually see what happened.) I started to cry, then Melanie started and I just remember Juliet standing next to me talking me through it, telling me everything was going to be ok. She has since told me that I was being prepped for a c-section because my blood pressure was not stable and it had put the baby into distress. Luckily with in an hour and a half everything calmed down, and Cameron came into this world with only two pushes.

Donovan, Kyle and the girls arrived shortly after he was born.

Klye was not sure what to think of this new baby.

He was 7lbs 13 oz and 19 inches long and I am so glad he is here and healthy.

Ok I admit it, I think ALL NEWBORNS ARE UGLY... even my own.

Just ask!

Asking for help has ALWAYS been one of my biggest problems. I am not sure why but I have always had that “I can do it myself, and if not I will hire someone who can!” attitude. I feel that if it is something that I want done, like having my yard look nice and mowed for example, then I can pay someone to do it. If it was something I NEED, than I evaluate how much do I really NEED it, and usually decide that I can do with out.
Here in lies my issue. I have had so many people, friends, neighbors, and family all ask if there is anything they can do for me. They all want to help me out in some way and I just have a blank look, I am fine. I don’t need anything. I can still clean my house, make meals, go shopping… I am good. My basics are covered, and yet they keep asking like no one believes me. Seriously, I am ok right now. I know they are worried that I am doing too much and I even heard a comment recently that I am depriving others of the blessings that they would receive if I let them provide me service. Really?
So I have thought LONG and HARD about this and here is a list of the things that I can use help with, some NEED to be done others I just WANT done. Feel free to share the list:

1. Rake the leaves in my yard and haul them away. Please do a good job I am picky.
2. The fire alarm batteries need to be changed. I have one that is chirping at least once a day. It bugs me. I have the batteries already.
3. A few play dates with Kyle while I am off work so I can take a nap with the baby.
4. Lay a piece of carpet in the boy’s room. The window bench has been removed, I just need the carpet cut to put in the hole. Oh and if you can get a piece of carpet pad to go under that would be nice. I have the matching carpet.
5. While I am in the hospital or home I need someone to take my Tahoe to the dealership to have the front differential replaced. I have the money to cover it, just not the time to schedule it and take it in.
6. The Tahoe also needs an Oil, Lube and Filter. I normally take it to Grease Monkey; again this is more a time issue than money issue.
7. The sprinkler next to my new tree needs to be extended and buried.
8. The edging around the new tree needs to be fixed.
9. I need someone to verify that my sprinkler line is free from water so it won’t freeze this winter.
10. The boy’s room needs to be painted; I believe I have multiple requests for this one already.
11. The Halloween bins in my garage need to be put out into my shed.
12. The paddle boats need to be drained and covered with a tarp. I have the tarp.
13. For the person looking for extra blessings, the junk around my shed: wood, old pond form, other “stuff” needs to be cleaned up and hauled off to the dump.
14. For that person who wants double extra blessings, the railroad ties need to come out and the dirt leveled for grass next spring. This one can wait till spring, but I will take offers now.
15. A personal shopper to do returns. I have several items from Target, Wal-Mart and an on line site that need to be returned that I keep setting aside and forgetting about.
16. Bathrooms... I hate cleaning bathrooms, and I just can’t bend over, anyone who wants to tackle that feel free. It will kill me to let someone else do it, but if it provides someone with blessings, who am I to say no?
17. The only other thing I can think of is, if you are in good health, and have clean hands, feel free to come hold the baby and watch Kyle while I take a nap.

This is why when people ask if there is anything that they can do I look at them with a blank look. Realistically I don’t expect more than one or two of any of this to actually be done by anyone but me (or the person I hire). So don’t feel guilty that you have not taken on this challenge. But I am going to bet that once this gets out, people stop asking what they can do for me!

Halloween Night

Halloween was great! I felt great and it was a beautiful day! The weather held out, just a few sprinkles, but overall nice and not cold at all. I stayed outside most of the night handing out candy till just after 9pm.
Once again the Young Family across the street went all out, with the entire front yard as a cemetery. I did a little at the front door, I am just not able to bend over and set up as much as I wanted to (just wait till next year!!!). The flying ghosts lasted longer than ever and only had one crash. It shattered the light bulbs inside them, but I quickly ran in and grabbed my 72 hour kit glow sticks to do a quick fix (no really I ran.)
The only bummer, I have to wait a whole year until the next Halloween. I guess I can start planning on what we will dress up as next year.

Was that a Gang Sign Violation?

I had a great night with Alexis at the Utah Jazz game last night. It was the season opener and there was a lot of hype about the new “Lights Out” pre-game show, ok, it was actually really cool. I guess the E-Center is one of the last areas to upgrade their lights to have this technology. They also upgraded their sound system. So the opening show had a lot of fireworks, streamers, loud music and fans screaming while waving their free glow stick.

The game stayed tight, always my favorite kind of game, as long as you win! Carlos Boozer had 25 points and 14 rebounds and Andrei Kirilenko added 16 points. My personal favorite Kyle Korver had 11 points; he is my favorite merely because I think he is cute. The Jazz ended up winning the first game of the season against the Denver Nuggets 98-94.

Alexis and I had our share of game night food, BBQ Chicken Pizza, Mammoth Nachos, a Carmel Caribou ice cream in a waffle cone, and a large Coke to wash it all down (remember I am eating for two).

I had fun teaching Alexis the very little I know about basketball and it’s official rules. The best comment she made all night was when a violation call was made in the last minute of the game and she did'nt hear it correctly… “Was that a Gang Sign Violation?” I tried to not laugh to hard, I am days away from having a baby and it just plain hurts to laugh that hard… “no Lue, that was a Goal Tending Violation.”

I had to get my Kyle a #26 Kyle Korver jersey. He is so stinking cute in it! He tried it on this morning and did not want to take off his b-ball shirt to go to school. So he got to wear it while I got ready for work. I wish I would have listed to Alexis and got a size bigger, oh well, he looks like a little stud.

Oh, by the way I paid the price of going to the game a week before I am due, I was up at 4 am with what I am going to guess were contractions, and I couldn’t sleep through them, so I got up and cleaned my kitchen… is that considered nesting?

A Forest Fairy Halloween and more

I did it, I kept our little family tradition going, we had our family pictures taken for Halloween. I think they turned out cute. The girl who took our pictures at Kiddie Kandids sounded like a horse on drugs when she laughed, I think that made Kyle look at her weird when her intention was to make him smile. Other there than that it was fun.

Here is our "101 Ways to Make Baby Food" picture from 2006

This is last year, 2007, I let everyone do what they wanted, I guess it turned out OK.