Wednesday, February 25, 2009

9 months

I'm starting to slack in my duties. Here it is Feb 25th, 4 days past your actual 9 month mark, and I am now just posting your updates. Hmmm! I wonder if it is because you have been a grumpy little monkey because you are sick, and won't let me do anything around the house. Yep! I bet that's it. Don't worry. I won't hold it against you. I would however like to make it through one day without being slimed by boogers, sneezes, coughs, and anything else that makes its way back up into your mouth. Maybe tomorrow!



Despite feeling miserable this last week, you have become the most fun little man. Laughing ,giggling, jabbering, and bringing an abundance of joy to your family. You even let me snap this picture of you in between cough spasms, and managed to pull out a smile.



Physical strengths:


  • You now charge like a bullet when crawling. It is fun to watch you pull that head down and with utter determination take off across the room. You do happen to be very quick, which means, I end up swiping your mouth to pull out whatever item it was that perked your interest for the charge in the first place.

  • You will wave hello and goodbye. It takes some prompting, but you're very proud upon accomplishing the task.

  • You now enjoy clapping. We will yell random hollers of Hooray! just to see you do it.

  • Because of your increasing leg and arm strength, you get yourself into the most precarious situations. You pull yourself up on everything. I have found you stuck under our island stools, screaming for help having made it half way up the staircase, wondering how to get down from the bowflex, trapped in the closet after figuring out how to slide open and shut the doors, and performing an amazing balancing act with one foot on the edge of the laundry basket and two hands holding firmly to the corner of the TV Stand ( your empty bottle was on top, I presume that's what you were headed for).

  • But by far your most favorite things to do with this new mobility is help me unload the dishwasher. or at least that's how I look at it. Why else you would want to stand in a dishwasher and pull out bowls. ( Photo evidence below )


Step1: begin to crawl onto the open door of the dishwasher



Step 2: look all innocent and cute so mom doesn't ask you to get off



Step 3: Pull yourself up using the top rack and begin to unload.



The unloading doesn't stop with the dishwasher. An equally favorite adventure is to pull open the dresser draws and unload their contents. No wonder I always feel like I'm folding laundry.




Favorite Foods:


  • You have become less dependent upon store bought baby food. In fact you quite prefer having small bits of whatever we are eating as a family. Rice, peas, corn,baked potato and carrots top the list.

  • You also enjoy any kind of self dissolving cracker, but the Keebler saltines makes your taste buds dance the most.

  • We have introduced some cheese and yogurt to your diet. Cottage cheese was a huge hit.

  • Yesterday we discovered you are very fond of pancakes.

Favorite Books:



  • Moo Baa La La La- has been the chart topper for 8 weeks now

  • My first sight words and ABC's took a close second

Favorite songs:



  • lately you have taken a shine to the primary songs. "Families can be together forever", and "I lived in heaven", lull you right to sleep.

  • The wheels on the bus - has made a come back, because now you are trying to do the actions.

Basic measurements:

  • length: not sure, we haven't measured
  • Weight: 19 lbs 2 oz, you have actually lost weight, it must be all that crawling around



Sunday, February 22, 2009

Nancy needs...

A lot of my friends have been tagging me this past week, with all sorts of fun games and info lists. many have been kept logged into the facebook world, but Annetta tagged me with one that ended up being so true that I had to share it here.

The trick is to type "Nancy needs" into google search ( of course use your own name) and then write down the first ten responses that appear. I have to admit that I had no idea I needed so many things. And apparently I am a Diva. This is what my google search came up with.

Nancy needs... to learn what the moon is ( I better register for school right away)

Nancy needs... Jail Time ( let's hope this never comes to pass )

Nancy needs... her own personal Boeing 757 kept on standby with 16 dedicated Air Force personnel to cater to her every whim. ( wow! let's do it baby )

Nancy needs... Prayer ( so true, so true)

Nancy needs... A vacation ( don't we all )

Nancy needs... to ask Palin's advise on cleaning ( Now obviously they are referring to Sarah Palin, but the funny thing is, Palin is actually my maiden name, so I guess I'll just ask my mom)

Nancy needs...help! ( how did they know, mental, physical, emotional, I need it all )

Nancy needs... a new job ( actually I could do without this one, staying at home with the kids is just fine by me.)

Nancy needs... professional profile on LinkedIn ( sure why not)

Nancy needs... to be punished on Yahoo ( wait a minute, that's not necessary, I don't even know who you are ).

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

We are the Champion, my friends!


Creativity + Ingenuity + Hard Work = A Champion.

Let me set the scene for you:

Wednesday, January 28th- I receive a call from the school. Alyssa's eczema on the back of her legs is acting up. It is making it difficult for her to walk. She is in a lot of pain and would like to come home. I out of concern for my daughter of course agree. I pack up the other two kidaroos, zip off to school, and Alyssa is safely at home by 12:00.

* Afternoon classes missed- Content, music, and reading stations

Wednesday, February 4th- Alyssa is in a panic. She had her Content class again today and was told that there was an assignment given the week before. She shows me the assignment. Alyssa must build a gravity pulled simple machine. No pre-made or box sets are allowed to be used. The machine must be built out of materials from around the house. Additional, she must write a One page report on the project. Included in the report: Summary of how she built her machine, what worked, what didn't work, what would she change if she could do it again, what are some things she did that could give her an advantage when racing the machine, and What she learned from creating her own machine. All these things not only need to be written in report form, but memorized, because she has to give a speech on the subject when showing her machine to the class. Due Date: Thursday, February 5th. hello!


We set right to work, pulling out anything we can find that could be used to build a derby car like, simple machine. The final materials used include an empty baby snack container, tinker toy sticks and wood discs, yellow spray paint, hot glue, feathers, googly eyes, paper nose, yellow masking tape, magnetic tape, screws and washers, and of course an electric drill.

We drilled holes in the bottom of the food container, spray painted the container and lid, slid the tinker toy sticks through the holes and attached the wood discs as wheels. Next the feathers were glued to the back of the machine. Alyssa took the lid off and stuck magnetic tap to the inside of the lid. She then magnetized the metal washers and screw to the tape and snapped the lid back on. yellow masking tape firmly attached the lid to the container. The machine was now front heavy which would assist in the gravity pull. Just for fun, her machine was given a face. Alyssa proudly called her machine Turbo Tweety, and it really looked like tweety bird zooming down our pre-test ramp.


Thursday, February 5th- With report and Turbo Tweety in hand, Alyssa arrives at school. Her presentation goes well, and the machines are set aside until they can be raced the following Monday.

Monday, February 10th- The day of the Simple Machine Derby. The races are done in Heats. Turbo Tweety Wins all her heats. The Quarter Finals, and Semi-Finals are a breeze. Now it is the Final. Turbo Tweety and her apponent are placed at the top of the ramp. The marker is pulled and the race is on. Turbo Tweety's feathers flutter proudly in the wind. After 3 intense seconds, Tweety rolls across the finish line in Second Place. Okay so she didn't win, but for Alyssa this was a huge victory. She is thrilled that she beat out all but one of her classmates, when she only had one day to build her machine, and they had an entire week. Her Machine, along with the winners, will be on display in the school library for the next month. We knew you could do it Tweety!



Saturday, February 7, 2009

A Burning within

Today I was extremely blessed to be able to attend another baptism. Misty and Lilly Lewis, investigators in the Quatama Ward, were baptized at 1:00 this afternoon.

These were the Second and third baptism for the Quatama Ward in the last two weeks. We are truly blessed to have an active investigator pool in the ward. I have been serving as a ward missionary for nearly two years now. It is a calling that I have loved, learned from, been inspired by, and at times has brought frustration, heartache, and disappointment. I will admit that it is not easy trying to juggle, three kids, a husband that works until 8:00 pm, teaching investigators with the missionaries several times a week, plus teaching new member discussions with my fantastic companion to 4 different women on a weekly basis. My free time has been non-existent. And yet, I have been deeply blessed.

When you look into the eyes of a newly baptized member of the church, your heart just burns. They radiate, joy, and hope. Who wouldn't want to be around that several times a week. The Elders in our Ward, Elder Wray and Elder Wood are two extraordinary young men. They serve in Faith. They carry with them strength, obedience, and down right determination. Elder Wood returns home on Thursday, and he will be missed.

I need to express gratitude to my Heavenly Father, for entrusting with me these new, bright souls to the church, and allowing me to be taught by the spirit and to teach with the spirit. My testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ has been strengthened and edified. I can now say, that I have served a full time mission for the church. That is how it feels. And I will continue to serve, in whatever capacity my Father needs me.

Friday, February 6, 2009

The lists

What I WANT to do today
  • Take a nap
  • Read a book
  • finish decorating my wall
  • shop for a new outfit
  • Go out for lunch
  • Have someone give me a massage

What I NEED to do today

  • Laundry
  • Volunteer at the school
  • Finish talk on Holy Ghost for Misty and Lilly's baptism
  • Convince my husband that a severely sprained ankle means he won't be playing basketball tomorrow morning.
  • Buy baby food
  • Do the dreaded grocery shopping
  • Get some gas in the van

We'll see which list actually gets accomplished!!!

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

A Grumbly rhyme

Let me tell you a story , not new or old
Of a mom and three kids, and their perilous woes

It all began late yesterday afternoon
When the mom was struck hard with a headache of doom

One grumpy baby’s continuous cries
Reached up through the rafters and pierced through the skies

It was not his fault, he has a cold
And can not breathe through that darn stuffy nose

The eldest of three tried her best to help out
But was stressed by due projects and started to pout

To create a gravity machine is hard you see
When you only have one day, instead of a week

Mom was no help, she was drained of super powers
And dad wouldn’t be home for another 4 hours

The middle child sniffled, grumbled and coughed
His new prize was broken and his homework was lost

He wanted to watch T.V but the remote was not found
And so instead he just shouted and pounded the ground

The hours ticked by with all still a fuming
More fights broke out because of assuming

The next thing you know it is 50 minutes past eight
And dad is now more then extremely late.

He decided to play basketball, but no call did he make
And so mom was stuck home suffering through her headache.

The night was no better with babes up every hour
While dad kept on snoring, moms attitude did sour

And so today when children coughed, but were fine in their throat
No sympathy here, find your shoes and a coat.

Hubby wake up, it is quarter past eight
Have a shower, get to work, and don’t you dare come home late.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Horror house

Now that Camden is a crawling maniac. It has become disturbingly apparent that my house is not baby proof. We have had older kids wandering around here for years and have forgotten what it was like to have a crawler.

Camden can find the tiniest dot of lint on an otherwise spotless floor. No cord, cupboard, drawer or closet is off limits. My house is an accident waiting to happen.

Cupboards that don't close all the way, and open very easily

A rats nest of cords lingering in the computer room. We have never had an actual desk. We have always used an old kitchen table. It doesn't hide much.


perilous, sharp, and heavy exercise equipment, out in the open.


This would be why Alyssa and Peyton created a baby fort of sorts. They made a baby safe zone in the computer room.



Now their rousing rounds of board games can go undisturbed



Or so they thought, until Camden figured out how to escape from his fort




So much for that idea.
But seriously, it is time to do some major baby proofing. Organizing a home is a never ending job. I certainly don't want to wait until the child is choking, falling, poisoned, electrocuted, or broken to make a change around this place.