J’s Favorites

Here are J’s favorite things these days.

Cookies

RM

Coloring

He also loves to bite off the end of the marker. Why? I have no idea.

January 9, 2011

January 9, 2011

Dear Family and Friends,

The story of this week is pretty similar to the last several weeks. Sick kids and showing the house. RM has started to make a lot of improvement, but J had some lingering symptoms. We just kept hoping things would get better. We had showings almost every day this week too. I am getting more efficient at getting the house ready.

Thursday J developed a high fever. Given all that he has had in the last two weeks I decided that he should be seen. Luckily I was able to get an appointment during a showing when I had to be out of the house anyway. Unfortunately the appointment was at an office that was further away. I called the school and had them tell B-man to go to their house after school. They live in our neighborhood and apparently he did a great job of walking to their house by himself. He is getting so grown up! The appointment at the doctor’s went well. They did several tests to try and figure out what he has going on with him. They also gave him a nebulizer treatment. He screamed and writhed the entire time. He was a very sweaty feverish mess by the time he dislocated the tubing from the machine and the rest of the medicine dumped out. I was so relieved it was over! After some debate the doctor sent me to get a chest x-ray. I then hurried home and picked up B-man. Then we all drove over to the radiology place and waited. Thankfully M was able to meet us there. I then took B-man and RM home so that we could work on homework etc. Turns out the x-ray was negative for any obvious pneumonia, but they will be treating him as if he has it. That night I went to book club. We discussed “The Room.”

Friday was a slow day at home. I shot around with some friends in the morning. M was home and was able to help me take J and RM in for their “Well Baby” check-ups. It was so nice to have an extra set of hands. That night after dinner M and B-man went to a little party at our Bishop’s house. It was designed to let people get to know each other.

Saturday morning I went to play in a stake basketball game. B-man came to cheer me on. I am really out of shape, but the game was still fun. After the game we rushed home so that I could get cleaned up before a meeting with a realtor. We received an offer on our house and he wanted to meet to discuss the terms etc… The meeting went well, and the rest of the day was wonderfully relaxing. We played games and just enjoyed being together. We were happy to see that J’s fever had finally broken and he seemed to be feeling a little better. We were also waiting to hear if our counter offer had been accepted. That night we watched some episodes of “Lost” and got news that we had another counter offer to consider. We countered again, and then went to bed.

Sunday mornings are much busier now that we have 9:00 church. M has very early meetings, so he is gone when the rest of us get up. We got up and going. M got home just in time to help straighten up the house while I finished getting myself ready. Sacrament meeting had excellent talks on Fast offerings and setting goals. Then we took J to nursery. He walked right in happily, but after a diaper change by me he wasn’t too excited to stay in nursery without me. When we arrived home, we noticed that there were strange cars in front of our house. We realized that someone was in our house right then! We were glad that we had taken the time to get it mostly ready. After spying on them, and watching them leave we went home. I enjoyed a nice afternoon nap, and the boys had a good time reading and such. We received news from our realtor that the people that came through our house without notice were probably going to put in an offer. That was very exciting. We love multiple offers. B-man invited a neighborhood friend over for dinner. B-man was excited to have him, and he was super polite and ate all the food even though it was a strange meal. After dinner we video chatted with M’ parents and then got the boys ready for bed. M then left for a meeting with a Stake Presidency member.

We love you all, and hope you are doing well. Hopefully our house will be sold soon!

The C Crew

1st Grade

I am pretty sure that B-man's teacher will ALWAYS remember him. Here's why...

1. L-I-C-E

Enough said on that one.

2. Stomach flu.

B-man lost his lunch in her classroom. He told me she said it was alright because the "janitor has a special cleaner to clean it right up."

3.The Cell Phone incident

B-man snuck my phone in his backpack yesterday. M called me and it rang in class... They sent him to the office because they thought it was some sort of emergency... Nope, just a sneaky six year old. When I questioned him on the matter he said that J gave him the phone, and he's "always wanted a cell phone."

His poor teacher.

January 2, 2011

January 2, 2011

Dear Family and Friends,

Happy New Year!! I can hardly believe that it is 2011. Seriously where does the time go? This week has been a pretty slow one. Full of very sick kids and lots of showings on the house. Monday was the worst for sure. I had just taken RM to an urgent care the day before, and they said things were fine. But all day Monday he had these coughing fits. He would just cough, and cough, and cough, and then fall asleep all coughed out. It was very sad, and more and more troubling as the day went on. B-man did get to play at a friend’s house, which helped him feel like he was having fun. After FHE M and I continued to be really concerned about RM. He and J both had very mild fevers, which I was monitoring very closely. Fevers in tiny babies are not a good thing. Finally before going to bed M gave RM a blessing.

The night went slightly better, and in the morning his coughing seemed much better. We decided to take him into our doctor. I got the earliest appointment I could and was so grateful that M was able to watch the other kids for me. After several tests, and a coughing fit (that I was glad the doctor heard) we were sent to get a chest x-ray. The doctor said that he definitely had RSV, probably pertussis, and wanted to rule out pneumonia. I was so sad, but was so happy to have some things to get this little guy feeling better. Later on that day we found out that the chest x-ray was clear, so there was no pneumonia. After a very lengthy stay we finally made it home. M headed off to work, and we stayed close to home. Eventually we had to get out so that we could get his medicine.

Wednesday I took RM in to get checked on and make sure he hadn’t worsened. Thankfully he really was improving. He is on a nebulizer and an antibiotic and things seem to be helping. Wednesday and Thursday were slow days. We tried to take care of J and RM so that they could get over their illnesses. We were all on the mend this week. I felt bad for B-man. His break from school has had less playing in it than we would have thought, but we just couldn’t go anywhere or have anyone over with our germs.

Friday M didn’t have to work. In the morning I sent him and B-man to a community pool that is in a neighboring city so they could have some fun. M didn’t swim because his suit is in storage (whoops) but B-man was so happy to play in their indoor pool. It is a great place with a lazy river and a big water slide. After their morning fun they came home and we had to leave for a while so people could go through our house. That night we had a family party for New Years. We ate pizza, had a WII tournament, and we let B-man use those poppers. J was not a fan and started to cry. We then put the boys to bed at their same bed time. I don’t think B-man minded one bit. Then we decided to go to bed early too. We’ve had a lot less sleep lately with all the sick kids. J had a hard night though, so we ended up being awake at midnight because he had been crying. Oh well.

Saturday morning we made pancakes in Star Wars shapes. It was a big hit. The rest of the day was very lazy and relaxing. We had a group come through the house, ran some errands, etc. RM has decided to start smiling. I know he must be feeling a little better to show off his gums. That night I went to go work out at the gym. I was amazed at how empty it was until I was informed that it was closing in fifteen minutes. Just enough time for me to get in a little work out.

Today was our first Sunday with 9:00 church. We were all very excited, but sadly I had to stay home with the sick boys so that we don’t pass our germs along. After church M went home teaching, and then we had dinner. We finished off the evening with a video chat with M’ parents.

We love you all! We hope that you had a great New Years.

The C Crew

December 26, 2010

December 26, 2010

Dear Family and Friends,

Merry Christmas! I am so sad that Christmas is already over. It went too quickly this year. We tried to pack in a lot of Christmas cheer this week. I hope B-man feels like we were successful. Monday B-man was still in school. I spent the day making bread and I also managed a trip to the grocery store. A friend and I are going to start trading babysitting while we go to the grocery stores. Hopefully it will work out well. That night for FHE we delivered things to some of M’ home teaching families.

Tuesday was another baking day. I did more bread and cookies. I made a big mess in the process and of course someone called to come see the house. Luckily I had enough time. We got everything done and out of the house in time. We spent the evening at Costco. The realtor was supposed to call when they were done, but never did. So the boys got to bed a little late.

This is what the boys did while I was baking…

Wednesday was B-man’s last day of school. He had a great day at school and was excited to be on “Winter Break.” Thursday we had two showings of the house. We are really surprised to be having people coming through this week. It wasn’t what we were expecting. Shortly after the showings M got home. It was so fun to have him home early for the fun.

Friday was Christmas Eve. We took the boys to do some shopping for each other. M helped J, and I helped B-man. We then came home and took turns wrapping. B-man was really excited to help wrap. J loves having the tree and presents under the tree. Of course that means that all of the ornaments have been making a slow migration up the tree to where he can’t reach, and only one present was a victim of his early opening. We had another showing that day, (I was mostly annoyed by that) and then that evening we had a tasty dinner and some fun activities. We read the several scripture accounts of the birth of Christ, and the boys were able to open two packages. One was pajamas (which they loved) and the other was some great pears for the tree. J REALLY liked opening up a present. The boys went to bed easily. I did a bunch of cooking after the kids were in bed to make it easier on Saturday. Poor RM had a hard night. All of us have colds, and he was having a hard time sleeping well.

Christmas was a fantastic day. We take things really slow and stretch it out as much as possible. Plus we had the bonus of being able to listen in on two missionary phone calls, and lots of video chats with our family. We let the boys see what Santa brought at about 7:30. They were thrilled. We then took a break to eat breakfast, play with the new toys, chat with family, eat orange rolls, etc… We were in no rush. J took a nap. After J’s nap we then opened up the gifts under the tree. Mostly J and B-man opened up every present. It was so exciting for both of them. We ended the evening with a video chat with my family as they were chatting with one of my brothers on his mission. It was a great day full of family and love. (Even if we were all under the weather.)

Early Sunday morning RM woke up very distressed. M and I were both a little distressed too. He sounded awful, and we were worried that he wasn’t breathing very well. I went downstairs with him to look up some advice on the internet. By the time I was done RM had calmed down and was breathing more easily. I then went back upstairs and we both went to bed. He did a little better the rest of the night, but Sunday morning I wanted to make sure he was okay so we went to an urgent care very close to our house. The doctor’s office was very crowded with lots of coughing people. I hated being there, and of course by that time RM was acting like he just had a cold. Why does that happen? I really hate it. I am not one to go to the doctor at the first sneeze, but it is hard to explain what is so concerning when the baby isn’t doing it at the time the doctor sees them. Oh well. I was planning on staying home from church, but had to meet with a bishopric member at the last minute before church. We all drove in two cars, met with the bishopric member and then I took J and RM home. I am being released from my calling in the Young Women. I am really sad about it. After Sacrament meeting M came home and then I drove to the church so that I could teach the Beehives. (Also a last minute discovery.) When I arrived at the church I discovered that I had left my lesson stuff at home. I immediately turned around and went home to get it. Luckily I live close and had enough time. After church B-man and I came home immediately. The rest of the day was very relaxing. We had leftovers for dinner, and were able to listen in through video chat when my youngest brother called from Argentina on his mission. We were able to speak with all of the missionaries in our family! It was great. While we were chatting with them RM started doing his funny breathing again. We were on the video chat suctioning out his mouth and nose. It was a little distracting to us, but it did help him a little. We are hoping that we all get better very early in the week.

We love you all!

The C Crew

Christmas Eve

We are pretty excited for Christmas around here. Maybe a little too excited. Last night (December 23rd...) B-man came into our room THREE times. On one occasion he mentioned to M on his way back to bed that he had heard a "clickety-clack." Turns out it was just his clock. But at least he knows what to listen for tonight...

Merry Christmas!

December 19, 2010

December 19, 2010

Dear Family and Friends,

This week has been a little slower, but still very fast and full. Monday was bitterly cold. For FHE we went to get our Christmas tree. The only problem was that because it was so cold I stayed in the car with J and RM while M and B-man chose the tree. Really B-man chose the tree, and he loves it which is really important. I kept telling myself not to ruin it for him by commenting on how small the tree is. It was too late to decorate it that night by the time we got it in and ate dinner.

Tuesday after school B-man insisted on decorating the tree. So we did. Of course J started taking off the ornaments about as quickly as we were putting them on. He broke one ornament while we were taking a break to work on dinner and even cut his hand on the crystal. Luckily it wasn’t too deep. We were all a little nervous about what would happen the rest of the week. The bottom of the tree is pretty bare where he can reach.

Wednesday I finally made it out to the grocery store. Just as I got to the store and had on item in my cart the realtor called and said that a couple that had been through our house previously wanted to come back. The only problem was that they only gave me about forty minutes notice, and of course I had assumed that no one would be coming when I left the house. I rushed home and put J in the high chair with cheerios while I ran (no exaggeration) through the house. I even managed to put a dust ruffle on a bed that I had taken off to wash. I am not sure how I got the mattress off and then back on again by myself, but somehow I did. Of course they came five minutes early, so I was still there. I quickly gathered the boys and headed to the bus stop to get B-man before heading back to the store to finish my shopping.

Thursday we got several inches of snow. B-man even got out of school two hours early because of it. Snow is always fun here. That afternoon we went to look at a house. It had some really good things, but also some big costs involved. I LOVE looking at houses. I don’t think I would ever get sick of it.

Friday after school we got some Thai food and had dinner with some friends. It was a good way to be out of the house and keep it clean.

Saturday morning I was up early to go play basketball. When we got to the church we discovered that the gym was set up for a ward Christmas party. So I headed back home. At least it got me up and going. The rest of the day was fairly normal. M left to get the car wash, and of course right when he left we got a call that someone wanted to come see the house. So once again I rushed through getting things ready. (I was so happy that J was sleeping this time.) M got home just as we needed to be out. We packed up and then headed to Costco. That is always a good place to kill some time.

Sunday was a good day. M had meetings in the morning and then came home. We made sure to leave the house in perfect condition in case someone called while we were at church. But of course no calls… After church we went to a friend’s house for dinner. We had a delicious dinner and then a fun little gift exchange for the kids and adults. The adults’ was a white elephant, and it is always hilarious. After staying too long we had to get home so that B-man could get enough sleep for school. It seems just wrong that he is still in school.

We love you all!

The C Crew