tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41266373269072703722024-03-05T03:38:23.541-08:00Kari and SteveThis is our blog. All about our adventures and daily life.Kari and Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15996147640036139038noreply@blogger.comBlogger117125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4126637326907270372.post-69365344659125762362014-02-19T02:03:00.000-08:002014-02-19T02:11:01.370-08:00I had a baby!To say I've been neglectful of this blog is quite an understatement. It's been nearly year, well really just over nine months. :) We went to Malta (which I still really want to blog about), we didn't die on the trip, our boys had an awesome time at their grammy and grampy's house, and we brought home a souvenir in my uterus.<br />
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She was born on January 25, 2014. Weighed 7 lbs 9 oz, and was 20 inches long. We named her Luciana Marie, a little nod towards where she came from. I've loved the name Lucy since I was pregnant with Simon but Lucy has become quite popular in the past 5 years and we don't like to do popular names, but I still really loved the name. For a while we thought we'd name her Lucia, I really loved Lucia Maria, but Steve was worried it sounded too much like a disease (thank you medical professional for making our baby's name into something like gonorrhea or diarrhea), and he really loved the name Luciana. It's a nod to where we got her: the place of her conception (possibly in Sicily, but definitely in Sicily or Malta), and to her heritage, Steve's family comes from Sicily. Marie is in honor of two things. One is a family friend and previous landlord named Marie who is just the most incredible woman and who took such good of her father, and amazing, attentive, loving, daughter. The other is a nod to Steve's moms family who is very, very, Catholic (so Catholic that more than one of her sisters has the middle name Marie as well as several aunts). I love the name. We do mostly call her Luci. Well among other things, for a baby that is only three and a half weeks old, she has racked up quite the collection of nicknames already. Luci, Luci lu, Lu-lu, Ve-luci-raptor, Luci girl, and Luci-fer (don't judge, this started while she was still in utero and I was having Braxton Hick's contractions regularly every night for weeks and she just wouldn't come!).<br />
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What I really wanted to post about though is the labor and delivery, the birth of my little girl. Before I forget it all, and there are so many things I know I've forgotten already, things I don't remember or know because of the pain, the adrenaline, because I had so much going on with my body I don't really remember it happening. So I'm going to do my best, and ask Steve to help me fill in the details since he was more mentally aware than I was. I was just very aware of the pain of it all. Just a warning: THIS POST IS RIDICULOUSLY LONG AND YOU PROBABLY WONT BE INTERESTED IN HOW DETAILED IT IS, but it's something I wanted and needed to record and want to be able to share.<br />
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So before I begin completely a little background information. With Simon I had a c-section. The recovery for a c-section really sucks. It's horrible. I didn't want to have another c-section. With Desi I thought I was very lucky to have a doctor that was supportive of a VBAC (Vaginal Birth after cesarean). She lied to us, and failed to even put in my charts that I was going to try to VBAC,we showed up at the hospital the night before I was scheduled for a c-section and I was in labor, luckily after the nurse taking care of me talked to the dr on call from the practice, he decided to let us try. The story about that birth is here: http://kariandsteve.blogspot.com/2011/10/i-had-baby-three-and-half-weeks-ago.html and a bit more here: http://karimom.blogspot.com/2011/09/spoiler-alert-this-blog-contains-info.html I just realized that I never wrote a post telling the story of his birth. I was able to have a successful VBAC!<br />
My due date was officially Sunday, January 26th. (I really, really, wanted to have another VBAC. The recovery after having Desi was so incredibly easy it was really unfair. I tore a little bit, but not a lot, and the dr did an awesome job putting me back together, I even went hiking a couple days after he was born. I didn't want to have a c-section after finding out the ease of a vaginal recovery delivery.) Things were going really well all through the pregnancy. I switched to a new dr at a new practice. He was supportive and encouraging of a VBAC from the start and Steve and I both really like and trust this new dr. At one appointment I asked him if he would want to schedule me for a c-section "just in case" baby didn't come by the due date, he said nope, and that he'd let me go a week overdue with no worries because that is what ACOG recommends and he follows all their rules. I was feeling good about things. About a month before I was due he started doing vaginal checks at my appointments to check my cervix and all that stuff. Around this time he suggested scheduling an induction in case baby hadn't come by the due date. I started to get really nervous, I did NOT want an induction because it often leads to other interventions that often end up leading to a c-section. He wanted to schedule it for the 24th or 25th. It was the weekend before my due date, but for scheduling reasons, he was on call that weekend and would be able to be present for my entire labor. Red flags were going off for me, these were things that I had read about online where people say if your dr says these things they aren't actually supportive of a VBAC, the good ol' bait and switch. It turns out though that my dr actually was supportive of VBAC. My dr is one that wants to be able to take care of his patients though, not leaving them to be taken care of by whatever dr is on call from the practice, and not all the other drs are as supportive of VBAC as he is and might have tried to c-section me out of convenience. After much research, studying, and finding positive VBAC induction stories online I came to terms with the idea of an induction. I was still nervous, but feeling much more comfortable, and I really wanted my dr to be the one taking care of me. If I decided to wait he was off work Monday and Tuesday, and wasn't on call the rest of the following week either, so things weren't looking good for him to be able to attend to me in labor if I went to labor after my due date. Luckily, I didn't have to worry about it too much.<br />
Sorry, that background was really long, but kind of necessary for me at least. So for three weeks before my due date I started having Braxton Hick's contractions every night pretty regularly, I'd go to bed wondering if labor would start that night. It never did, and it was really frustrating. It started to take it's toll on me mentally. I got really sick of people asking me if I was still pregnant, where was the baby, why was I still pregnant. I wasn't even overdue yet! And I wanted her to be here, trust me, I was really uncomfortable and sick of being pregnant, and so anxious from those dang contractions every night. I started doing what I could to get labor started, looking up old wives tales, trying almost everything: evening primrose oil, raspberry leaf tea, pumping, walking stairs, etc. As my due date approached I got more and more nervous and anxious that she wasn't going to come before my due date, that I'd have to be induced, and that I'd have another c-section. I started to lose hope.<br />
On the Friday the 24th Steve and I went to my dr one last time before my scheduled induction to see if things were progressing at all, and to have another chance to talk things over with him because I was so nervous. He was very kind and said if I didn't want to go through with the induction we didn't have to, but we decided to do it anyways. I was dilated 2 maybe 3, and 50% effaced, the three previous weeks I was dilated 1 maybe 2, so I didn't really take the dilation to mean anything, but it made me feel comfortable with the induction because I had a favorable Bishop's score (which basically means favorable cervix and very likely to have a successful vaginal delivery if induced). So we went ahead and agreed with the induction scheduled for the next day. Friday night/Saturday morning Steve ended up calling in to work so he'd be home and we could get things ready with kids and get to the hospital in time. Luckily he did this, because that night Desi woke up in the middle of the night with croup and Steve had to take him to the ER. They left about 2 am and got home around 5 am. At about 5:30 am Saturday morning I started having contractions! I managed to stay in bed and sleep between them until about 10 when I couldn't handle laying down through them any more. I timed them for a little bit but didn't really want to talk about them or tell Steve, they were about 10 mins apart, and starting to get uncomfortable, but after all the false labor I really didn't want to get my hopes. I tried to ignore it and didn't talk about them. I went downstairs and my dad asked if I was having any contractions, I said yeah, but not a whole going on, just like the previous few days where I'd been having false labor off an on pretty regularly. My parents, Steve, the boys and I all went for a walk and went looking for geocaches. We were out walking for a good part of the day, the whole time I was having contractions pretty regularly but was internalizing them and not wanting to tell anyone else. About every fourth contraction was getting painful enough that I'd have to stop walking and just stand still and focus through it. On the walk home from the park and geocaches Steve wanted me to time them so I did and they were 2 minutes apart. He was shocked because I was handling them so well. We decided we should probably start getting ready to go the hospital. We got home, Steve showered, I leaned on doorways and stopped moving for most contractions. I couldn't even go pee without a contraction starting and me being in pain and feeling like I couldn't sit on the toilet. I told my mom they hurt so bad that I couldn't sit down but I needed to pee, so I ended up getting in the shower and labored in there for a little while before I had to get out so we could go to the hospital. I really didn't want to get out of the shower, but I had to, because I needed to leave so we didn't have that baby at home. Steve's mom came over and got Desi (he had croup and was contagious and spent a couple days over there so he wouldn't get Luci sick when she got home), my dad stayed home with Simon, and my mom came with us/drove us to the hospital because I wanted her to be there and help because she had been so good helping with both of my other deliveries. At this time two of Steve's sisters dropped by not realizing what was going on and gave me a little present before we went to the hospital- they gave me cute slippers and matching pjs so I'd have something new and cute and comfy to wear while I was at the hospital.<br />
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We left shortly after 6 pm and got to the hospital at about 6:30, lots of nurses were heading in and we realized we were getting there right at shift change. Also, my contractions had slowed down a lot during the drive to the hospital, so we decided to walk around the hospital and get my contractions going more regularly again and wait until after shift change to head up. At 7 pm we headed up Labor and Delivery and got checked in. I had to sign some papers even though I had preregistered. Having a woman in labor sign papers is a bad idea, I managed my name okay, but put the date as September 26, 2013. I was totally confused and Steve and my mom were like what the heck, September, what are you thinking. I tried to explain that I was thinking that day because earlier we had been talking about how Desi had been born on September 26th and maybe Luci would be born on January 26th and they'd both have bdays on the 26th. It somehow made sense to me at the time, even though it had nothing to do with the date. The nurse told me to just sign my name and she'd fill out the rest of the papers for me. After that they got me into my room, I don't remember which number, maybe 214, that sounds familiar, but Steve does remember that he didn't like the room because even though it was one of the huge suites, it had been dedicated to a woman who died giving birth.<br />
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Around 7:15 our nurse Mila came in. We actually had two nurses, Mila was being trained, and the other nurse was moving their other patient from L&D to Postpartum. I was actually comforted by the fact that we had two nurses, not because we had two per se, but because we had one that was training which made me think they didn't think I was so high-risk with doing the VBAC that they wanted someone more experienced taking care of me. Also, they put me in the suite which is the room furthest from the OR, also comforting to me, because when we did the tour they told me I'd probably be in the room closest to the OR just in case. The nurses were a little disorganized. They drew blood from both arms, blew one of my veins, and got an IV started and also started me on fluids. They also got the Continuous Fetal Monitoring on as well as a blood pressure cuff, and pulse oximeter. There were cords and tubes everywhere and coming out of my gown all over the place. The nurse kept wanting me to get into bed, but I couldn't manage my pain through the contractions at all if I was sitting down and really needed to be standing. I labored by the bed for a long time and they even brought out a birthing ball for me to labor on.<br />
Around 8 they finally checked me. I was really nervous for them to check me, I was terrified I'd only be dilated to a 4, if that much and that would mean I'd come to the hospital too early and should have labored at home for longer. I was dilated to a 7 (with a lip, which means almost all the way effaced except for on one side)! At this point contractions were pretty intense and painful, I also needed to poop, so I was able to unhook from the monitors and go into the bathroom and try to poop. It wasn't really successful so I went back out and got hooked back up and labored by the bed. I was starting to get tired of standing but it was the only way that I could effectively manage the pain of my contractions. At one point I coughed and accidentally peed at the same time, except I wasn't sure if I had peed or my water had broke so we called the nurse in and they thought maybe it was just pee but marked it as my water breaking. After a while I went back into the bathroom to try again. I was pooping some, and also having incredibly intense contractions. I was moaning through them to help me stay focused, and between contractions would sit on the toilet, but would have to stand up and arch my back backwards through each one. They started to hurt really bad and I was whimpering through them. Steve came into the bathroom and got in my face (which I needed) and helped me breathe through my contractions. They were hurting bad and I kept telling Steve they hurt, I needed to poop more, and I wanted an epidural because I couldn't handle the pain anymore. He told me I could do it, to just hold on a little more, this was what I wanted and that I would be so happy if I didn't get the epidural, that I could do it and make it and I could handle it. He was awesome. I asked him to look up how to handle back pain, basically just being in the shower- not gonna happen. He started rubbing my lower back/butt for me because that's where it hurt and the rubbing helped. Around this point I was not only feeling the urge to poop but also to push, with every contraction I felt like I needed to push and I couldn't not do it. The nurses wanted me back into the bed and out of the bathroom. I told them I wanted an epidural so they got things going for getting the anesthesiologist up there.<br />
I think around 9:30 the anesthesiologist showed up with her little cart of goodies. Because my contractions were so intense and I was feeling the urge to poop and to push she said I needed to be checked again because she thought it sounded like I was pretty much done and probably fully dilated and ready to push. She was right, they checked me and I was a 10, fully dilated! She told me because I was fully dilated she couldn't give me an epidural, it wouldn't go into effect by the time I needed it. She also couldn't give me anything else because it would affect the baby and probably wouldn't have time to do anything for my pain. So I wasn't going to be getting drugs after all! And it was time to push! At some point my dr arrived, they had barely notified him that I was even at the hospital. Things had moved so fast that my nurse didn't have everything ready that they needed for the delivery. I asked if they had a mirror, and they did, so they brought that out and set it up so I could see. I actually really liked being able to see because it made me realize how effective my pushes were and helped me feel more powerful. While I was laboring on the table Steve and my mom both continued to massage my lower back/butt which was awesome, weird for them, but it was the only thing that helped and it felt so good, and at push time they both held my legs. I started to push and at this point the dr and the nurses could see the baby's head, except it didn't look right, and they realized that my water had not actually broken yet and the baby was still in the sac. So they broke my water because they didn't want it breaking while I was pushing and get mess all over them, and then I kept pushing. I learned pretty quick what ladies talk about with childbirth and the"ring of fire". I had heard of it, but not experienced it with the hour+ of pushing before Simon's c-section, and I must have been to numb from my epidural with Desi to feel it. Sorry to be graphic, but it really does burn. I felt like my vagina had flames coming out of it! I was talking about how much it burned and how bad it hurt and my dr told me to shut up. I really love that man. He told me I was wasting energy by talking and that I just needed to be quiet and take that energy and put it into pushing. He wanted me to push with all I had on the next contraction and I did, I pushed through the burning and probably was yelling that it burned, and Luci's head came out. I pushed through the next contraction and she was out! I pushed in all around 15 minutes, through about 5 contractions.<br />
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I got to hold Luci right away, and then Steve held her while I delivered the placenta and got stitched up.When Luciana was born I couldn't stop grinning, I was so happy, so proud of myself, and so in love. I couldn't believe that I did it, that I had a 100% natural childbirth, with no medication of any sorts, and no hospital interventions. It was the birth I had wanted with my other deliveries but hadn't managed to do. I tore pretty good, I remember asking my dr how bad I tore and he said, "It's nothing to brag about." The stitching up part hurt a lot, they had to use a ton of local anesthetic, and it took forever. Then they hooked me up to Pitocin to help my uterus contract and also help it expel anything that was still left. I was on the Pitocin for at least 6 hours and it sucked. It hurt as bad as my labor contractions but I didn't have the reward of a baby at the end of it.<br />
Having a natural birth is such a different experience. There is so much more pain and hurt, but it really was worth it. If I could go back and gotten an epidural sooner like I so badly wanted to, I wouldn't. I really feel like the delivery went so quickly once I started pushing because I could actually feel it this time. With Simon pushing was ineffective because he was positioned poorly and stuck, with Desi I was just so numb from the epidural that I couldn't tell where or how to push, the dr basically just pulled him out once he crowned, but with Luci I could feel everything and the burn, oww the burn, but it was worth it, and call me crazy, but I wouldn't take away the ability to feel that and experience that if I could. I am so happy with how this delivery went. I had so much anxiety and fear beforehand, mostly just worries about getting induced, and luckily I didn't have to deal with that at all. I am so grateful I was able to have this experience and with such great support from my doctor, my husband, and my mom.<br />
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This labor was really quite different for me. I wanted it to be more private, I didn't want the pressure of knowing everyone was sitting in the waiting room watching the clock, wanting me to hurry up and have the baby, and me feeling bad because things were taking so long and knowing everyone was out there waiting. I was a lot more private through a lot of the labor too, not really private I guess since I was with my family almost the whole time, but more like secretive with it. I just really didn't want pressure of time restraints. I didn't want anyone to know I was in labor, having contractions, going to the hospital, dilated, starting to push. With my other 2 I wanted the whole world to know every step of the way, not so this time, I didn't want anyone to know except those of us that were there. Even now, since Luci has been born I haven't really talked much to anyone about it, about her birth. I've been kind of reclusive and not very social (but not depressed, no worries there), not really sure why, but I haven't been ready yet to talk about it even though everything went even better than I expected or thought it could.Kari and Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15996147640036139038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4126637326907270372.post-86299113758829073322013-04-15T23:45:00.002-07:002013-04-15T23:45:53.716-07:00Updates on us (started out as part of the other post from today, but it was a little long, so I split it up)<br />
In other news, Desi is a little over 18 months now. He is 15% for weight, 45% for height, 75% for head. Guess all the food he is eating is going to straight to his brain, because I just saw the paper from his 6 month checkup while I was digging through the closet trying to find those power converters and he was 50% across the board for everything. He is sure a crazy little kid. Doesn't speak much English yet, but has his own language and he talks a ton. He loves rough and tumble play, loves tackling, flying through the air, tickling, and zerbets/raspberries/flubbers whatever you want to call them. He adores his older brother and loves to copy him, and he loves water. He can and often does spend an hour in the bath. He is almost weaned, and will be completely weaned by this coming Friday or Saturday (maybe sooner, he nursed Friday morning, and then not again until Monday morning even though he still wants to a lot more often than that). Desi also has the cutest smile and laugh I have ever seen, he thinks he is soo funny and runs a round the house screaming and laughing quite often. He is also the king of mischief (he has learned how to get a cup and get water from the fridge door) and tantrums!<br />
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Simon is as sweet ever, is the best story teller I have ever heard (kid or not), has an unhealthy love for video games (especially the lego games- lord of the rings, star wars, indiana jones, pirates of the carribean, but only has the full star wars games the rest are all demos), gets outeaten by his little brother, adores our neighbor Brentt who is 12, and thinks he is much older than 4 (I swear the boy acts like a teenager). He gets frustrated playing with kids that are younger than him (especially if they name call or hit), is very social and is comfortable asking people for help, talking to kids at the park, and even asking store employees where to find things. We recently quickly put an end to a bad habit he learned of lying, and if he goes 30 days without lying he gets a bunny... I think he has not lied since we started that, and I think we are on day 8. He is a pretty calm boy, loves books, legos, and forts, and playing the above mentioned lego games in real life, whether make-believe or with his Legos. He also loves baths, preschool with his Vovo, and being my helper (he will help me cook, water plants, clean, wash dishes, vacuum, etc.) and he also likes to things on his own, and has an incredibly attention span and stay focused on one thing for hours if he wants. Steve and I have tried really hard to foster his independence and teach him that he is capable of doing things on his own, and it is really paying off. Right now he is in the bathtub and just got the shampoo so he can wash his hair by himself, he doesn't want me to help. He also can get himself breakfast, and get drinks for himself, which has been especially nice especially with breastfeeding Desi because he nurses/nursed almost nonstop for about 2 hours in the morning when he wakes up, which makes it difficult to get Simon breakfast in a timely manner. He really is something else, and because of Simon I have unrealistically high expectations of other kids behavior because what I thought was normal behavior because it's what he did, really isn't normal.<br />
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I recently came across a website called The Orange Rhino, and because of it had a realization that I really need to stop yelling. I don't yell a whole ton, but still a lot more than I would like to, and any amount of yelling is not okay, and my boys deserve better than that. In theory I am going to try to go a whole year without yelling, but I'm just taking it one day at a time, and just trying to make it through each day. I have messed up a few times and totally lost it, but I'm trying, I'm making a very conscious effort, and I feel like I'm doing a good job. Having kids has made me realize that I'm not nearly as patient as I once thought I was, and I realize more and more that I'm a lot more like my dad than I thought. (I knew we had lots of things in common- as far as interests- especially outdoors and photography, but I have a lot of his personality traits too). I am really enjoying being a mom, feel like I have a good thing going, love our house, have finally got to decorate a few things that I've been dying to do since we moved in (mirror and table in the entryway), and have big plans for the family room (plans Steve played a huge part in coming with- such as painting the brick colored cave yellow which I initially fought, but am now all for), and feel like I have a good grasp of cleaning and keeping up with most of the housework (laundry will forever elude me, and dishes I'm always a little behind) but I vacuum almost every day (stupid dog hair)!<br />
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(Not a lot of pictures of me, and most of the ones of me or decorating were on Steve's phone that died)</div>
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I have a hard time updating for Steve- I feel like he should be able to edit or tell me to add things he wants, so I'll be brief. Steve works a ton and is still working nights and probably will work nights until he becomes a nurse practitioner. He is almost always tired, and converts to a "normal people" scheduler on his days off so he can spend time with us. He works hard to provide for us and in return I work hard to provide for him. His job is incredibly stressful so I try to make his days off good for him. He loves going hiking, especially now that the weather is warming up, and loves having friends over on his days off for dinner, good company, and video games. He is an incredible man, and puts up with a lot, and I'm grateful to have him in my life forever.<br />
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Kari and Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15996147640036139038noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4126637326907270372.post-80429683063515246322013-04-15T23:16:00.000-07:002013-04-15T23:16:53.356-07:00Because when you feel like updating your facebook status 50 times in one day, you should probably blog instead.That has totally been me today. I don't know if it's the new phone that makes me want to do it, I'm pretty sure that isn't it. I think it is really the fact that we are leaving on a trip soon. That I'm going to be away from my boys for 2.5 weeks. That my husband and I are both starting to freak out a little bit that we are going to die while on said trip. Because I'm pretty sure we are both thinking about if we should be cancelling the trip, but neither of us wants to say those words. Because we've been waiting to go on this trip for 6 years. Because I don't want to cancel it because I am stubborn, and I feel like it is our elusive cursed trip that we will never go on, and we are gonna go dang it, we're going! And this is probably the only time that will work for us to go on this trip until our kids are grown and out of the house. Because it's our honeymoon, finally!<br />
But regardless, I've had a lot on my mind.<br />
I'm very overwhelmed by the thought of getting the boys packed to go to my parents house. I'm overwhelmed by getting myself packed- still can't find those power converters that I'm pretty sure my dad gave me years ago, and I can't find my money belt either. But I do have outfits picked out and coordinated and hanging in my closet, complete with accessories and everything, even the shoes are hanging out below the clothes. I've been buying the little stuff I need-toiletries, etc. I've been tossing things into a suitcase that I'm going to need or bring. I've been making lists. Lots of lists: what to bring, what to do buy, what to pack for me, what I need to send with the boys to my moms house. Mostly just need diapers, wipes, shampoo, conditioner, and detergent. But I'm sure I'm going to forget things. I still should buy a snorkeling mask, but I've waited so long, I can try to look at reviews and hope I find a mask that's good, but I'm going to have to get it at a store here in town, and what if I get to Malta, put the mask on and find out it leaks? That's sure gonna suck. I'm an overpacker, and its hard for me to just pack what will fit in a backpack that is carry-on size. (we are probably bringing an empty suitcase for souvenirs though, but I don't want to carry around a loaded down suitcase while we are being tourists) Just some major nerves going on right now, and Steve is working all week, so I can't even just vent/ramble all my concerns to him. (hence this post) Just super nervous, for the trip, for my boys, for leaving them. The longest I have been away from Desi is about 6 hours. Never even overnight, and I'm going to be away for 2.5 weeks, I think <b><u>I'm</u></b> having some separation anxiety!<br />Another big thing on my mind is do we meet my mom halfway to drop off the boys, or do we drive them up all the way, get Desi settled in, spend the night, and then leave to drive back here the next day? I've been going back and forth repeatedly, meet half way, go all the way there... Desi had a doctors appointment today and I asked the Dr her opinion. She thinks it would be better for us to take him all the way and introduce him to a new place and new people (he's met my parents several times, but is also only a year and a half old, so he doesn't really have a good memory yet). So that is what we are going to do. I think. I just feel nervous about everything, am I making the right decision? Are my boys going to have a hard time? Really Simon will be fine, is Desi going to have a hard time? Are they going to feel abandoned? Are they going to hate me when we come back because we left them for so long? This is a long time to leave kids, should we have brought them with us instead? So many questions, so many things to doubt my judgment and Steve's judgment. Are we being good parents? I've always believed it's good for parents to go on trips without their kids, and we went to Belize without Simon I never felt like this. Why is this trip so different? I really worry we are making the wrong choice and that something tragic is going to happen, either to us, or to our kids.<br />
I'm kind of scared to be on a plane for such a long time. What the heck am I going to do for 12 hours? I'm pretty sure I'm going to just be crying for a few of those hours. I've cried the last few nights putting my boys to bed. I've wanted to do nothing but hold them and cuddle them non-stop. I feel like I'm going to burst into tears any second. Before we go I'm going to record myself singing the boys songs at bedtime, and maybe reading a couple of stories too, but I haven't been able to do it yet because emotionally I can't do it without crying. I want them to have something while we are gone though to help them feel some semblance of a normal routine like we have here at home. But I'm still scared we are going to die- why do I have this fear? is premonition or paranoia? I really want to record the songs for the boys, but there is a part of me that says, oh my goodness, what if you die, and that is all your boys have left of you? just you singing the songs to them to put them to bed? I'm going to write them letters too, just in case. If I can bring myself to do it. I just can't imagine my life without them, and I can't imagine their lives without me and Steve. I'm crying as I type this, I wish I could calm my fears, and my mind, and my heart. If you are reading this before May 7, and especially before April 21, please pray for us. Pray that we will know if we are making the right decision, and if this will be a good thing, or even just a not bad thing. We are having a will made on Wednesday, planning for the worst. Things have discussed with family members, things that most of the family knows anyways, but putting it on paper, so it can be official.<br />
I still feel like this whole trip is surreal, it's the trip that will never happen despite how badly we want to go, despite having plane tickets, and living arrangements. I hadn't started packing yet last time, I was about to start looking for my swimsuit (it was in January and I had just moved) but I hadn't started to pack yet, when we got the news that the financial aid had been dispersed, all our money gone, but we still had tickets, and we had just gotten married, why not go for a honeymoon instead? Nope, no honeymoon, no trip. Prayers are answered, trips are canceled, airlines are striking, and tickets are completely refunded. But this time, I want to go so badly, we've been planning it for months, we have our reservations, our hotels, flights, things to do planned out. I started to try to learn Italian for the Sicily portion, but just wasn't feeling it, there's still been this part of me that doubts if we will actually make it this time, if we'll actually go. I haven't even really looked up what to do, what to see, I mean I have a little bit, but not that much. And I should be looking up tons of information, but I haven't.<br />So anyways, this is the big thing weighing on me. Have you left your kids for a long period of time? Or even a short one? Did you feel incredibly guilty? How did you cope with it? Did you cope or was it just horrible? Were you able to accept the fact that your kids are with people who love them and are having a really fun time? Were you freaking out that something would happen either to you or your kids while you are away from each other? How did you deal? Any advice, thoughts, opinions, or words of comfort would be very much appreciated. Even if you think we are stupid for going on this trip, I'm sure whatever you have to say, I've already thought, but I still want to hear it, especially the positive stuff. Thanks for sticking with me through my emotional post!Kari and Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15996147640036139038noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4126637326907270372.post-49922842542050948092013-02-01T01:26:00.000-08:002013-02-01T01:26:24.388-08:00We got a dog!On January 9th our boys got to go to pre-school for the first time. Our 4 year-old and the just over 1 year-old. My mother-in-law (Steve's mom) decided she wants to preschool with her grandsons every week and this was the first one. I kind of like it because it gives me a break for a couple of hours each week without having to feel guilty about asking someone to babysit. I always feel bad when we get babysitters, it seems like no one ever really wants to do it, but just does it to be nice and because we ask. But anyways, pre-school. Occasionally it even happens on a day where Steve and I can go on a date during it. Since he works nights he typically sleeps during the day, but sometimes his days off fall on a day where we can go on a date during pre-school.<br />
This particular day we went on a date! We went to see Steve's old lady friend that he visits, Rachel, and had lunch with her. Steve bugged me all morning about wanting to go to the pound (just to look) in the morning, but it just didn't feel right to me, and I didn't think we would really have time if we wanted to pick up food and get to Rachel's in time. (We didn't have time, barely made it to Rachel's on time without a stop at the pound to look at dogs). After lunch with Rachel and hearing her stories about traveling around the world, her apartment she had all to herself on the coast near San Francisco, places she wished she could go to again but sad that they will never be the same because they got overdeveloped, and just enjoying her, we headed back to reality to pick up the boys.<br />
As always, Simon didn't want to leave Vovo's house. He loves his Vovo, everyone loves his Vovo, so we stayed until Zane left to go with his dad and then we left too. At this point I felt like it would be an okay time to go look at dogs, I just wasn't feeling it earlier in the day, and it's a good thing I didn't either, or we wouldn't have found the most perfect doggie dog in the whole world. (Slight overstatement but not by much, he really is perfect for us.) We got to the pound (shelter), asked if they had any dogs that would be good with kids, they had like four dogs in the whole pound that might be good with kids, and went on to describe one to us that they had just gotten in an hour before. He was black, with white/gray markings almost like a mane, passed all the "tests" they do with the dogs to check for training, aggression, command response, etc. They told us where to find him, which number kennel he was in, and so we went looking. We could figure out how to get to the group of dogs before his number, and the ones after him, but we couldn't figure out how to get to him without going outside. And it's cold outside, it is January after all, and we had both kiddos with us.<br />
Well we braved the cold and wind and went outside and there was "Kodiak" and another dog just down from him that I liked a lot too but was very fearful of Steve and was probably abused by a man, I was very sad because I liked the other dog a lot, it turned out alright though. Steve went and found someone to get the dog so we could go into a visiting room and visit with him. He was perfect! Didn't jump, did well on the leash, wanted to play ball, liked the kids, didn't bark or growl, wasn't scared of either of us, just overall a good dog. Steve and I were both feeling very nervous about it. We weren't really intending on getting a dog quite yet, we were just going to look and didn't think there would be anything good anyways, we went back and forth a lot with the, "What do you think?" "I don't know, he's a good dog, I like him. What do you think." "I don't know, are we ready for a dog yet?" "I don't know, he seems pretty perfect though." "Yeah, he is really good, I didn't think we would find anything like this, he's just what we want." "He is really perfect, but I don't know, we weren't going to get a dog today." "What do you think?" etc, etc.<br />
Well we decided to go for it. The worker took the dog back to his kennel, Steve went off to fill out paper work, and I took the boys around looking at cats because Simon likes cats and really wants a cat. Finally Steve finishes filling out all the papers, signs for it, they talk to us a little about the adoption, how to care for him post-surgery, kenneling, etc. Finally, we are done, and they bring the dog out, our dog, the new member to our family. Simon got to ring a bell saying we adopted. Everyone in the office area cheered. I almost cried. When they brought him out my heart swelled like I didn't know was possible with an animal. After all, he's just an animal that I had met only half an hour before. But it felt so right, so complete, like he was meant to be with us. We changed his name to Mobius or Moby for short. We don't know what his name was before, he wasn't surrendered, the county picked him up, and no one ever claimed him. He had only been there for an hour before we met him. Just one hour spent in the pound. If we had gone earlier in the day, or even an hour earlier, when we were supposed to leave Vovo's house instead of letting Simon play for a little longer, we wouldn't have found him.<br />
It's amazing how quickly an animal can become part of your family. I understand dog people now. I understand why people spend lots of money on "pets." I totally get why people want their dog in their family picture. It all makes sense now. It's one of those things you just don't realize until it happens to you. Moby is part of our family now. He protects us, and our home. Simon and Desi love him. Simon wants Moby to sleep with him every night, and we let him. It's so cute. He'll let him out in the morning, he has offered to help me pick up poop, he wants to hold the leash when we are at the park, he likes to play with him, and pet him. They are best friends already. The day after we got him I had the sad realization that in about 10 years we are going to have to say goodbye to this dog. Simon will be about 14, and will remember having this dog by his side almost his whole life, Desi won't have any memories without Moby, and then at some point, he will die, and our boys will learn about death in an all to personal way when they lose their best friend. My heart breaks already with the thought of something that is still a decade away. I love this dog and I never realized how special an animal can be. He loves us all, and he loves us unconditionally. He takes care of us, he protects us, he keeps our home safe while Steve is at work. I hope that we can do the same for him.<br />
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<br />Kari and Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15996147640036139038noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4126637326907270372.post-31827010145013885792012-12-14T00:03:00.002-08:002012-12-14T00:03:30.971-08:00Avon Advent Christmas Calendar<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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If you are here searching for the Avon Advent Christmas Calendar, welcome! I was just looking over my blog stats, and I am getting a ton of traffic from my post 4 years when I first bought my very own 1987 Avon Advent Calendar. I grew up with one of those to count down to Christmas every year, and somehow our mouse even survived all those years, 4 kids, and countless moves (my dad was in the Army)! My husband also grew up with one (sadly their mouse did not survive), and so after we were married we bought our very own. Then, my mom decided she didn't want hers anymore, so she gave it to us, and I gave the one we had bought to my little sister-in-law. Turns out those things must be in high demand right now! Looks like they are going on ebay for $30 for ones with no mouse up to $100 for ones with the mouse! I always loved ours growing up and am glad that I get to carry on this tradition with my own family. It is currently the 14th of December (by the time I publish this post) and so far I have moved the mouse every day! It's always been a contest to see who would wake up and move the mouse first each day, and I know that with another sister-in-law who also has one, it has been the same way in her house. Even before she had kids, it was a contest with her husband to see who would move the mouse first. (Although rumor has it that he would go to bed after she did and move it the night before so it would already be moved when she woke up in the morning- Cheater!) I'm afraid my blog may not be the most exciting thing to see, but we enjoy being able to document the happenings of our family, and if you stick around and check back in after the new year, I'm going to be starting a new blog where I do a sketch every day and once a week will post the weeks worth of sketches on my blog! Should be interesting to see what kinds of things I come up with to draw and share with the world. Stay posted!Kari and Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15996147640036139038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4126637326907270372.post-27950412667231085142012-12-13T23:36:00.001-08:002012-12-13T23:36:34.639-08:00Quick UpdateI have been wanting to publish a new post on here for a while, but haven't really known what to put or say. I also spend most of my internet time on my Kindle Fire, and honestly, I am horrible at typing on a touchscreen and could never do a full post on that thing. But I was just online paying some bills, the boys are in bed, Steve is at work, and I am sitting here at the computer enjoying the glow of the lights on the Christmas tree and listening to Simon read stories to himself in bed. I can't believe the last time I posted was in May! So much has happened since then, and sometimes it feels not much as all. The most exciting thing is that we bought a house! We bought our first house at the end of July right around the time of my golden birthday! (For the many people who don't seem to know what a Golden Birthday is, it's when you turn the age of the date of your birthday, so this year I turned 27 on July 27th, I've been waiting my whole life for this to happen!)<br />
Having a house has been wonderful. We live in a culdesac, have some great neighbors, a small fully fenced backyard, grass instead of concrete, parks close by, even a picturesque oak tree in the front yard. I feel like all that is missing is the picket fence and the tire swing hanging from the tree, and an American flag hanging up. Our next door neighbors have quickly become family friends, and we enjoyed many days this summer just hanging out on the front lawn watching the kids running around and playing and eating girl scout cookies. The kids are girl 10 and boy 13, but they love Simon and Desi (who doesn't!) and they are amazing kids, and play really well with my boys. They also mow our front lawn! Like I said, awesome neighbors and I feel so blessed to have them. <br />
Having a new (for us) house has been fun. I've realized that decorating ones own home is much harder than decorating a furniture store or home decor store. We've only decorated the front room (mostly) so far, and have no clue what to do with our family room. Plus decorating can be expensive, and the cheap projects I have seen on pinterest typically require a lot of time, and my boys keep me on my toes.<br />I feel like I have gotten a good handle on being a mom lately, which has been nice. I have been staying pretty much on top of keeping the house picked up and just organized the boys toy room again. I know there are some things I will always be behing on (laundry) but that's okay, we wear clean clothes, sometimes they are a little wrinkly, and I stay on top of washing Desi's diapers, so life is good. I am still breastfeeding Desmond. He turned 1 in September. We are also still doing the cloth diapers, and still love them. Simon just turned 4 and he is such an amazing boy. He will get up in the morning, sneak downstairs and get himself breakfast and turn on cartoons. Even when I try to listen for him he sneaks down. Desi is a wild child and I have realized is really just a very normal kid, I got kind of spoiled by Simon because he is such a calm sweet boy, I had no idea until Desi what most kids acted like, I thought they were all supposed to act like Simon did! <br />
We have stayed pretty busy since May with buying the house, painting and moving, Steve working nights, Club Tahoe, swimming at the lake, football season and going to all the Wolfpack games, a trip to Idaho to see one of my sisters and her family and my parents, having all of them come here the week before, went to Elko for Thanksgiving, and have had lots of birthdays and parties. My birthday party, housewarming/jewelry party, first football game of the year party, Steve and Renee's birthday party, Desi-boo's first birthday (cowboy themed for our Buckaroo), Halloween party, Simon's birthday party (superhero themed)... A lot of parties! We love having people over and hosting dinners, parties, and just company in general. It's a lot of fun and a lot of work, but we enjoy it. <br />So, just a little bit of catch-up about what we have been up to. We also just bought a camcorder, so I look forward to posting some videos of the boys on here soon too. I ought to go now though, Christmas is coming and we are making wooden blocks for the boys, and since it's a Christmas present and a surprise I can only work on it while they are asleep, so I am off to sand blocks now! Here's a few pictures for fun though! Enjoy!<br />
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4th of July </div>
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Bathtime </div>
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Desmond's first birthday</div>
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Dad and sister walking down the Boardwalk in Virginia City after a nightime ghost tour</div>
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Desmond at the pumpkin patch</div>
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Simon at the pumpkin patch</div>
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Simon riding a horse at Apple Hill</div>
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Simon at Apple Hill</div>
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The boys with their Halloween loot</div>
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New house with changing leaves on the tree</div>
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Boo!</div>
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Kari and Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15996147640036139038noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4126637326907270372.post-22114268539095966332012-05-19T01:01:00.002-07:002012-05-19T01:03:10.945-07:00Simon sleepingSimon falls asleep in the strangest places. Seriously. Places like the bathroom sink, a kitchen chair (not sitting up), the stairs, inside a yoga mat, standing up leaning on the sofa. Strange places. In my quest to post pictures of him in all these places I looked through all the pictures from the past year and a half. My Simon-son is so cute! I ended up with a picture folder in my computer with 74 pictures of him asleep in various places. Granted, some are multiple angles of the same thing, but still, I managed to take 74 pictures of him, just sleeping, in the past year and a half! Here are a few of my favorites...<br />
P.S.- I am very, very, very grateful for his ability to fall asleep in various places and positions and not having to sleep only in his bed at certain times. It has definitely made some of our trips a lot more easy and flexible, and given us some funny memories to look back on.<br />
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at Glacier National Park 08/16/2010</div>
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our sofa 08/05/2011 San Francisco after getting Ben and Jerry's 06/19/2011</div>
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yoga mat on the stairs 08/26/2011</div>
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bathroom sink 09/13/2011</div>
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standing up! 03/18/2011</div>
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Great Grandma's floor Christmas 2011</div>
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Baby brother's swing 02/17/2012</div>
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with dad's iPhone 12/18/2011</div>
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kitchen chair 03/15/2012</div>
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in the stroller 05/10/2012</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMGRSJWVOurOhBK20TkBQmsi8bCagmNXMZNCYsbJm8hmSUiZHg6HP0U_qPrQIuzRgFsLKc8bjwTOfe5pztgaXZv-EsChfzelerToTvnGB5bCZQODNaUx_AvBJSPtkBzGvssxn0MqS9gXA/s1600/DSCF5585.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMGRSJWVOurOhBK20TkBQmsi8bCagmNXMZNCYsbJm8hmSUiZHg6HP0U_qPrQIuzRgFsLKc8bjwTOfe5pztgaXZv-EsChfzelerToTvnGB5bCZQODNaUx_AvBJSPtkBzGvssxn0MqS9gXA/s320/DSCF5585.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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close-up, love those long lashes!</div>
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Like I said there were 74 to choose from, narrowing them down was hard, there were a few classic in the carseat after a long day ones, some other stroller ones, more at the kitchen table, on the sofa, on dad's lap, on the stairs, etc. One of these days I'll make a facebook album for those who really want to see them all.</div>Kari and Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15996147640036139038noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4126637326907270372.post-269760224630852542012-03-23T15:26:00.005-07:002012-05-19T01:04:38.924-07:00We are still alive!<div>
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Wow, I haven't posted since the beginning of December. I would like to say we have been super busy, and we definitely were for the end of last year. <img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724858418450892546" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSsNSyUoe1i7JI5FP3vRPb2bzUdHxaukRPtT3oQ421FotoyhndcYvLGxH6DAhKTJil6cUKMCRAUWQxGbeGAgEU98zBXO9sVdPTZqHs1fyJUQB75yjZX1_QFxdO4vVBfguvLpKDr3YUITI/s320/073.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 240px;" /></div>
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<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724858022051647234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhauplTr5Donc9OQqfPZfJJVTldOy27orwzLhQ8M5vLeBtvKMiKDSJstR9aizNyE2gTpjlxMBIUfGXG8MW-Cs8UXSLqUD4O20Hjp_daca_7UPqscgXfdNt2y2hZc0rRw0FmhNPCyD3qdCU/s320/164.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></div>
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Somehow it seems like we are always busy when we really don't do a whole lot. I feel like I am always trying to get into the groove of things, and should probably accept the fact that things are always changing and so our family dynamics are always going to be changing. Every time we get into a nice routine something always happens and changes things. Our latest changes, Desi is rolling both ways now, and is all over the place. I don't know if he is having a growth spurt or what but I feel like he is always nursing and sleeping.<br />
Other things our family (or mostly just me) is up to:<br />
-Making "green" home cleaners. I now use vinegar and baking soda for everything. I have one cleaner that is vinegar, baking soda, borax, and water, and another one that is vinegar with orange peels in it so that it smells yummy and fresh.<br />
(insert picture of our cleaners in spray bottles with borax, baking soda from Costco, and vinegar in background)<br />
-Using cloth diapers. I have several different brands that we are using and I love it- more about that in my posts on my Karimom blog. My next step with that is to start using cloth wipes too. I have a bunch that I have cut out already (and 4 more burp rags I have ready to cut up) I just need to hem or serge around the edges so they will be ready and make a solution for them and buy the ingredients for the solution.</div>
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<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724858823948392898" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTv0CFvLVbniykTazXSHNw9NTBv9BZ36GAa6tN7-9bb-PTk6UOCry3yB7nYh1iRu5hO7bDTF3xPV5tmIINRtIgrE-vEvfzJjzPjcxeim2qvDleoD0KYnnRcoDHCJ1v_s_vL5FpT5XpVaA/s320/DSCF5496.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /><br />
(insert picture of cute diapers)<br />
(insert picture of some of my cut out wipes and the blankets I need to cut up)<br />
-Being inspired by pinterest and having intentions of making some freezer meals (cook and prep ingredients beforehand so we all have to do on busy or hectic nights is heat and eat) and using my crockpot more, and making freezer crockpot meals. I just bought some great stuff grocery shopping this week to start on this but I sadly missed a great day of Wednesday only produce deals because I was just too tired to make it to the store with the boys.<br />
-Staying up way way too late on Steve's days off playing video games. We are currently playing Lord of the Rings: War in the North and it is really, really fun. If you like LOTR it is really cool because you get to see another side of the story and see what other things were happening in Middle Earth besides the goings-on of the Fellowship, and we run into various members and get to meet all of them during the game. We have been renting it for two weeks and will probably just need to buy this one when the price for it used drops a little.<br />
-Donating breastmilk. (If you haven't noticed I may be becoming just a little bit hippie/earthy/weird or whatever you want to call it) Desi doesn't really take a bottle on the days he goes to daycare (Vovo's house) when I work, so we were getting a lot of extra milk in the freezer that I knew we weren't ever going to use up so I looked into donating to a milk bank. There aren't any around but I found a group on facebook for Nevada called Human Milk for Human Babies, and they have pages for every state. I met up with a lady that lives somewhere in Northern Nevada and have been donating milk to her for her adopted baby that can't have formula because it makes her sick. I have been trying to pump every morning and sometimes in the evening as well as my breaks at work on days Desi goes to his Vovo's house to get a little extra milk to help out this family. When she came by last to pick up milk she left us this cute little Lovey for Desi. It's a little crocheted bunny, and is so adorable!<br />
(insert picture of bunny lovey from Kat)<br />
-Working at Graples. I am currently just working one day a week. Like I mentioned before Desi still isn't taking a bottle, so I am bringing him to work with me. On days that we get inventory I still send him to Vovo's house because it is kind of hard to open up boxes and do a lot of bending and moving things when you have an almost 20 lb baby in a front carrier. I am very lucky to have bosses who will let me bring my baby with me to work. Sadly I only get to set up the store, and don't actually get to work right now on the days we are open. I wish I could work Thursdays still but I just can't go to work and leave Desi with someone when he won't really eat. It is so frustrating too because he will eat rice cereal for me, but not for other people. He is very much a mama's boy and if he can see me, he wants me to be the one holding him.<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724860327937814050" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNo9MvtgvLKjz2tynvg7uzSLPOBUgn9z5f0ByEZ0M99OhlF8tqZ1pUWdmCT3ACedG13dJGrAY1sGq0E6wEHid_18NmU0BNYTDodMTnQjEVQyVmQl9D_cYw1WXceDCgibdzVLq-xbCU3zs/s320/077.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 240px;" /><br />
-Working on not holding Desi so much. I am very much a believer in attachment parenting so this one is difficult for me. I love holding Desi and playing with him, but I also have another child who needs some undivided attention, a husband who needs my attention for the 20 minutes a day we have to spend together on the days he works, as well as a house to run. So logistically speaking, I can't hold him all the time. I would also like to be able to make it through one shower without him crying and maybe even him being happy with whatever he is doing while I am in the shower. We are slowly getting better at this. He is normally pretty happy in the Bumbo while I am cooking especially if I give him some form of food or a spoon to chew on, and he will sometimes last about 30 minutes playing on the floor which I normally spend playing with Simon.<br />
<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724856687731221026" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghX-MAkNvOLhD2PwE73WxuTKYG4X1SIMfKoE8pQRnXEzZe6z7z6HGAZJ7IRIMEzdMueU4IO6a7z2v1oRXrgeakMCDqH5QaHBnbw6BaBbLHTc08Z2n3TmdTJm7um4Y8LD6DlTHnmZbVnS8/s320/DSCF5451.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 240px;" /><br />
-Getting organized. I have been watching a lot of hoarders and sometimes it frightens me, and I get scared that will be us one day. Really our main problem is laundry, I can just never keep up with it. Well, laundry and that fact that we are a family of four living in a tiny two-bedroom place. I can't wait til we can get a house (hopefully at the end of this year) and actually have space for us and all of our belongings. I currently don't really enjoy having people over just because it is so cramped in our tiny place and this is really sad because I love entertaining and having friends over for dinner, and whatnot, but we just don't have the space for it right now and I feel it is kind of uncomfortable for other people when they do come over. I don't want my house to be uncomfortable, I want to be nice and relaxing and enjoyable for people and them to want to just hang out and linger. Another getting organized project I have been gradually working on is going through my magazines, cutting out recipes and putting them into my recipe binder, not just sticking them on the shelf, and cutting out pictures and ideas from magazines that I like and making a binder of ideas for different things. 5 pages from a magazine is alot better than having stacks and stacks of magazines hanging around.<br />
(insert picture of recipe binder, pages from magazines, magazines)<br />
-Dreaming for the future and vacations (we want to get a truck and travel trailer maybe in a year or so, I also want a really nice DSLR camera). We also have a National Parks pass for the next year that we intend on using lots and lots this year. Places we have gone this year- Death Valley. Places we want to go- National Parks in Hawaii, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Redwoods. We are going to wait until after Desi turns one and then hopefully go on another trip with no boys to somewhere out of the country!<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724857587253926722" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3kuZh4Ad9ceTJHClK9uSqQKrqp3Ra4IdpT4Re8sg-i60_-BCBQ5S56P66tiPDbI6slgPG6nCDC5LZfBiIEJ0baQ6G_tJ1wM6amfDgxhWgV6Sz_K8UuVjgmK_74RueQoxLYRPo8EWYAU8/s320/285.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /><br />
-Paying off student loans.<br />
-Saving for a house downpayment.<br />
Well I feel like that is a pretty good look at what we have going on right now. I currently can't figure out how to get my pictures off of my memory card and on to the computer. Normally the prompt comes up automatically when I put the card but it isn't doing it and I can't figure out how to do it without the automatic prompt. So hopefully I can figure that out soon and put up the pictures I want with this post. So check back again for the pictures that you already know the descriptions for!</div>
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</div>Kari and Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15996147640036139038noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4126637326907270372.post-2151638648341676822011-12-05T00:17:00.000-08:002011-12-05T01:08:32.987-08:00Dr. Appointment and lifeBoth of the boys had a checkup last week. The Boys. I have two boys and it's so fun to say the boys. But anyways, they both got to see the pediatrician. Simon passed the quiz from the doctor. It involved:<br />Question: "What is your name?" Answer: "Stephen Simon Buccambuso" close enough...<br />Q: "How old are you?" A: "I'm three years old!" He then turned to me and said, "I'm three years old mom!"<br />Q: "This ones the most important, are you a boy or girl?" Me internally panicking before he answers, please get this one right, please get this one right. A: "I'm a boy." Oh thank goodness!<br /><br /><div align="left">Simon is 35 inches -5th % for height. 29 lbs- 25th % for weight (this one surprised me, he is so small I was sure his weight would be a much lower percentile than that.) I guess they don't do head circumference anymore, but it still seems a little large for his body. Everything looked good. The dr said she could only understand 50-75% of what he says and at this point people outside the family should understand at least 75% of what he says, I think his speech is normally pretty clear, but he was talking about random bizarre crap while we were there, so I think he confused the pediatrician and that was probably part of her opinion. I'm talking strange like telling her we were going to go to the museum and shoot the animals. Awesome.</div><br /><div align="left">Desmond. 12 lbs 8 oz 75th % for weight 23 1/2 inches 75th % for height. Head circumference was 50th %. He is a big boy my little Desi Buck. Gained more than 4 lbs in the past two months. He is such a sweet baby. He is already good at tummy time. Smiles a ton when you talk to him, I can't get over his smiles. </div><br /><div align="left">Only tough spots right now are he hates the carseat and being in the car, and he doesn't take a bottle yet, he doesn't get it. So I am currently not working on Thursdays and am going to try to bring him to work on Wednesday, we will see if it works and I can still get a lot done. If not, I don't know what I will have to do, maybe take some time off for a while until we can get him to take a bottle and keep working with him in the meantime. I don't want to quit my job, I love it and my coworkers and Simon loves going to spend two days at his Vovo's house playing with his cousins.</div><br /><div align="left">Anyways, I feel like we don't do a whole lot, but I also feel like we are always super busy. We try to go to the Discovery Museum every week with my friend Erin and her daughter, was working 2 days a week, football games (last home game was Saturday, we had season tickets and it was a blast), and holidays. November was the kickoff of nonstop celebrations for our family. We had Simon's birthday, Pie Day, Zane's birthday, then Thanksgiving, and Thanksgiving #2, Tree decorating tonight, Tree decorating tomorrow night and Grandma and Grandpa's, then coming up Relief Society Christmas party, Chorale concert, friends Christmas party, dinner with Erin and family, Ward Christmas party, Family Christmas Eve party, Midnight Mass maybe?, then Christmas day festivities: presents at our house, Steve's parent's house, then to church with Grandparents, then to their house for the rest of the day. Then New Year's and January 1st we are going to be blessing Desi at church, and hopefully my family is coming up for that. Whew just typing the already scheduled things for the rest of the year makes me tired, not to mention everyday life with a three year old and two month old has to fit in there somewhere. Did I mention I only have Steve's Christmas shopping halfway done, the boys almost done- need some stocking stuffers, and none of the rest of the family done yet... I better get busy!<br /></div><br /><div align="left">And just for fun a few of my favorite pictures from a photo shoot Mel did for us shortly after Desi was born, there are several more I like a lot but I just picked these because I only feel like doing one set of downloads. My sis Les and her kiddos came to stay, after Desi was born, for a few days . They are adorable.</div><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5682562135373782162" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyVnuSVJ3HZRJO7c6RjhmhjqpkouZwy9whTT0ELDYZDDtAvnHUM1sMKt334afhuBlDza5YgNsAenRBbtNDsCweUm50vWqSpxfM-WbupQLDJ5Q3PxHDz7LkSyPeGAQvzIiWIRZxC9onaMI/s320/IMG_3337.jpg" /><br />This one is my very favorite. Steve looks so happy and the lighting and everything are just awesome.<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeUEqRtMCllOcAHrV57MYacq8DCFIQJiiwcB58ZF4iZsJKIRk18GB0fiPIOYsJlZk2rsBOGglieE_7UsNmrLm8jyB37ZvJ9xUbjDiVFeNwabSwa-9OsXbP_bR9CBuIH8jFrwCBkFvbTZY/s1600/IMG_3026.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5682562114180655010" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeUEqRtMCllOcAHrV57MYacq8DCFIQJiiwcB58ZF4iZsJKIRk18GB0fiPIOYsJlZk2rsBOGglieE_7UsNmrLm8jyB37ZvJ9xUbjDiVFeNwabSwa-9OsXbP_bR9CBuIH8jFrwCBkFvbTZY/s320/IMG_3026.jpg" /></a> "Macaroni!"<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ41102hzFcT3jmO_Q-fDT_OSan4Lp2xFgRZp-GjsjHP98KfNOgBsPM3P2ZMTSMRzuTAKcYWQwk6EWDcnWlbHDfRmRXchU5U7uHvJKkkPnljFBXmnQEjBmm9pP4ry0ciA84Cx9d3-12ng/s1600/IMG_3061.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 225px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5682562116072923298" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ41102hzFcT3jmO_Q-fDT_OSan4Lp2xFgRZp-GjsjHP98KfNOgBsPM3P2ZMTSMRzuTAKcYWQwk6EWDcnWlbHDfRmRXchU5U7uHvJKkkPnljFBXmnQEjBmm9pP4ry0ciA84Cx9d3-12ng/s320/IMG_3061.jpg" /></a> Love!<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1hm_05UJVdb-cjBuJCTgWfYo2irQiRgzQ9RarJQA4t_65d7_niQ6UF0ofN9EH3dv_j59sDpKiGf0ZmTUAtYzIff7cARZcPSJwP-J3QlisTZKeN1UYLAZLdHIkicr4hUB7P0J3W323pYQ/s1600/IMG_3128-3.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5682562128468739938" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1hm_05UJVdb-cjBuJCTgWfYo2irQiRgzQ9RarJQA4t_65d7_niQ6UF0ofN9EH3dv_j59sDpKiGf0ZmTUAtYzIff7cARZcPSJwP-J3QlisTZKeN1UYLAZLdHIkicr4hUB7P0J3W323pYQ/s320/IMG_3128-3.jpg" /></a> </div></div>Kari and Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15996147640036139038noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4126637326907270372.post-34358419909274279292011-10-19T16:19:00.000-07:002011-10-19T16:40:37.806-07:00I had a baby! (Three and a half weeks ago!)<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK8-A2n8LMPMaGeeP9IT3x_3HcnmsS-taW_0uvso4ogO5JjMAVI4vevpX5xnKkbSscIqkjwbMS6a0a0rTAUTvTjhqPPvW7QvxfQS9nX47ITmU6CTipKS05m1_jSlk13aS_qeodPka7LF8/s1600/desmond.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5665349749026678482" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK8-A2n8LMPMaGeeP9IT3x_3HcnmsS-taW_0uvso4ogO5JjMAVI4vevpX5xnKkbSscIqkjwbMS6a0a0rTAUTvTjhqPPvW7QvxfQS9nX47ITmU6CTipKS05m1_jSlk13aS_qeodPka7LF8/s320/desmond.jpg" /></a>Desmond David Buccambuso<br />8 lbs 4 oz<br />19 3/4 inches long<br />September 26th, 2011<br />3:53 a.m. </div><br /><div>I was planning on typing up the story right now but I am typing one-handed with my laptop perched on my right knee, a sleeping babe in my left arm, and an almost-three year old clinging to my right arm while having a melt down. I think he might have just fallen asleep... Yep he fell asleep, still clinging to my arm with his face shoved into the sofa.<br /></div><br /><div>The most important part of my birth story- I DID IT! I had my VBAC, and had amazing support from my husband and all my family that crazily hung out in the waiting room til 4 in the morning just so they could all meet Desi after he was born. And my awesome amazing SIL Mel documented the whole thing with her camera. Here are a couple pictures that she took. (and she took the top one too)</div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5665349748246123234" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7SfzURRVgDLH0E7sXih6VANsnTHL6njSTEvpVq4BbdKFKtizbkXxK5klUuWEUKroDbAXUR34r5N6fKaH-BVAb9uFNRb3xbVq4IB_lQzmA_YZ6e7C74S5KnnvNPfi3u-TjIavBd7dZanc/s320/simon+and+desi.jpg" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 253px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5665349746203553570" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUa_YGNkzlJTsUhM72fKsZ6cupxF0-sY8uko207Gr3ezyXFkLgAU533nwUBZkmtaGE2yo1lwg0KENxaZSjDoYWV1lAptVRXJyOIyxA_NAvXGssLo-ZJOk2QTBERcls9-n1MWBzfhY0XmE/s320/meeting+desi.jpg" /><br /><br /><div>and just for kicks, one my dad took of Mel taking a picture. and yes, she is standing on my bed!</div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-LftD79mjTdKw9GXp2BPUGPECS50R1dRK9t98GOU9XBZZJ8YOKgHcR-Q-wnv5ysMCx_0i4mlT9CpffSrOpINGQAZ3MZDb_GqlBCpe-EHQif2HxaEE5eRmpCxe0TsWsyh8Kz4XTGxoAN0/s1600/mel+photographer.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5665351909346902770" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-LftD79mjTdKw9GXp2BPUGPECS50R1dRK9t98GOU9XBZZJ8YOKgHcR-Q-wnv5ysMCx_0i4mlT9CpffSrOpINGQAZ3MZDb_GqlBCpe-EHQif2HxaEE5eRmpCxe0TsWsyh8Kz4XTGxoAN0/s320/mel+photographer.jpg" /></a>Kari and Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15996147640036139038noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4126637326907270372.post-22319780186328028812011-09-09T21:29:00.000-07:002011-09-15T00:36:29.156-07:00Best Husband EverI have the best husband ever! It's true. A couple of weeks ago he turned 30. We had a party to celebrate. There was hot dogs, all the toppings, root beer, and homemade lemonade. It was pretty good. He got spoiled, but that's okay because he deserved it. <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5652485040184444770" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguLWUiaPPrkDh22ef3f1GdWw-eAnZF1Duz-5LznalRNeH4V4FvwcumrsT7ytfOsJCUOwlQp_0Pl8gUWzGkOqi03hn64R-OUnEWMtRFsEeoRDEAS-iPT9j3Btp2MJ-46xO8ylvHJvitOSg/s320/008.JPG" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5652485035595929090" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYWzEix7_gY2E5jAZXwINbYiLN3xhtzv_BlwU-GZsIb_9ughOSlKMuj08zLTDJnZBnHO_F1W-gFCJe6HEE4-zmUjVJTMPyGWzT6y3sZPC9kbT9MDYZQJpE0H9k5Uawfs2h2U4ua9ONJUc/s320/010.JPG" /><br /><br />Then he came home to this wonderful sentiment from his sis and bro-in-law (they had to miss the party because their little one had been puking his guts out all day, no fun at all.)<br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5652485032448713410" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeRh3GefEhLQJZXHLXDYzDjGXFmjlnDX_ZACBH3Y153ZSLUgKBnpdxYBgvNrNtxIkXD2wxQcyO_gdxlv9zwVTMBDZk9PoIVi2dTElNcheo4rBljSb9GGl4TVHnp6iYQkJyZU5exo3snP8/s320/036.JPG" /><br />The best part about his birthday might have been that it was his first day off of a much needed week and a half vacation. We decided to travel the world during his vacation and with me 36 weeks pregnant at the time! So we tried a few restaurants in town that we hadn't been to, or hadn't been to for a while. We had grand plans of going to several different countries but only made it to Ethiopia (Zagol) and Spain (Fuego). Fuego could possibly be my new favorite place to eat. My favs were the asparagus straws and their hot chocolate and churros. Spanish hot chocolate is amazing. We had to eat it with a spoon, it was basically melted chocolate in a cup. I want to go there every night for dessert nowadays. Steve loved it so much he took his mom there the next day for a special treat. It is seriously heaven.<br /><br /><br />The majority of the vacation was spent at home having lots of fun as a family. Simon got spoiled because he had a parent home with him who had energy to take him to do fun stuff. We got some of our house ready for the baby, but not all of it, our room still looks like our washing machine threw up all over the place, but at least its all clean!<br /><br /><br />We also went camping. Steve and I were at Winco grocery shopping and they had coconut covered marshmallows, I told Steve we could only buy them if he promised to take me camping. So in order to fulfill his promise, he took us up to Lassen Volcanic National Park. We spent two nights there, went on a little 3 mile hike, and just kind of bummed around and drove around the area. We didn't want to do anything too strenuous as Steve didn't want me to go into labor so we didn't hike as much as we would have liked, but it was still a fun little trip. My husband is awesome, and took good care of us while we were camping. He did all the cooking and the clean-up, played with Simon so I could take a nap, and even did all the driving even though he hates driving. Like I said, best husband ever! I love my husband and am so grateful to be married to such a fun, kind, amazing, hilarious man.<br /><br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5650595202756813618" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF0W7aNMUoi1O3GDORdDiUlmUwAGjY-HV94wXpq7AsApuz0eI3mXZq38kt_n7qpHiCKUKS98-KeApSVaMpM4mtIZzFhfYPatA-ucBjKViduRdDBvF2rs5fI01lpXaXwr9-aG6iN_ILIb0/s320/101.JPG" /><br /><br />Steve and Simon on a self-guided trail about the devastation in the area from the most recent volcanic explosion.<br /><br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5650595208279274786" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkiZG-9wvipsh_chgJBa4bJjSwQ1kfAuq4LpPwQTZW-0v4KmQDtsZqNi7b9cXhArHmtqe-ewDj44KAhSvALMmJVZdWZ23Mb7vbAVFFeEl8EnDorhSE8AAhzVa90ikt_XNWxr4WcNid92s/s320/086.JPG" /><br /><br />Me, our campsite, and my one match fire<br /><br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5650595199734999074" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSPeuGUGJ1FPTZgzU4bXUu14NDekZSZUiptFdNyBGj4-kdthyphenhyphenqBT4yL9afoz7a3qB5MHVxoaduNDda-gIJjarvsfutjTf_kdugEuqWA3nB4RhpwHs3VtArgINqPjcq89p2DLEFGTg4s7Y/s320/056.JPG" /><br /><br />Simon and I at Bumpass Hell- this was our 3 mile hike, but it seemed longer than that to me.<br /><br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 85px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5650594273079744050" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaLdQasMW5vghTj9o30ckXwUO-i8jTBZv4Ivj7B-HazbA8A0fNo-Dqe7YHbBRXhVxG9HmLOqr9AAwxsb9FavEKTPfWwhl0nNAjcGiiYGuqR5-J9yYPqw_RmBMnYy0Z6Q7XJFX3Rutdu4A/s320/048.JPG" /> me on a pile of rocks, and the mountains. Click on this one to see it bigger- Steve is such a good photographer!<br /><br /><br /><br /><div>Two more little brags, he got himself all sleep deprived to help his little sis move last weekend, and he also got sleep deprived to go with all his sisters and us to the water park the other day, it was a blast. I didn't go on a single slide, and didn't do much looking back on it, but I had a good time. Mel and Jared were talking about buying season passes next year, and if they do I think we will too. And last night at work he (thankfully) had a slow night and read an entire book about things to do as labor coach, he is going to be the best coach ever, and I am so grateful to have such a supportive partner in labor and in life who is willing to do tons of preparation and studying to try and have the kind of birth experience that we would like to have with this baby. (Which is especially impressive because he hates labor and delivery thanks to nursing school, and an experience he had during school when a woman and her baby almost died during childbirth.) So on that happy note, goodnight!</div>Kari and Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15996147640036139038noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4126637326907270372.post-59497941975254446362011-08-31T16:19:00.000-07:002011-08-31T16:20:40.606-07:00DisappointmentI had a doctors appointment today. And for the rest of the day was feeling pretty sad. Today was the day my dr wanted to schedule a c-section "just in case" the baby didn't come by it's due date. Turns out he won't even get until his due date, because it's scheduled for September 23rd. My due date is September 24th, a Saturday. I asked if we could schedule it for the following Wednesday because Steve will get three days off and I wanted to stack them with his normal days off so he would get to be home for 5 days if the c-section was to happen. My dr didn't want to do that because she doesn't like when women trying for a VBAC go past their due date. So she suggested the Wednesday before my due date, seriously, not even going to let me go to my due date before she tries to take him out!?
<br />Needless to say, I am pretty pissed. This whole time she has been leading us on giving us all this false hope that we were going to be able to do a VBAC and now it looks like we can try to do a VBAC as long as the baby comes early. What happened to the days when I was pregnant with Simon and your due date was plus or minus two weeks, and a baby wasn't considered overdue until 2 weeks late? What will it hurt to go 4 days past my due date before we try to take the baby by c-section?
<br />I never thought I would be someone who is praying for her baby to be born early, but I am, and if any of you reading want to pray for us, I would appreciate it. Having this baby naturally is so important to me, and to our family. I really hope this baby isn't stubborn and wants to come out early. In the meantime I am researching ways to induce labor naturally, and ripen the cervix, etc.
<br />Kari and Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15996147640036139038noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4126637326907270372.post-55902805732412226592011-08-30T20:18:00.000-07:002012-05-19T01:05:45.583-07:00Child PhotographerSimon has had a huge interest in taking picture with our camera lately. I have been letting him because I think it is fun for him, and interesting for me to see what he finds through the lens that he feels is worthy of documenting. I mean come on, who doesn't want to know what a 2 yr old is fascinated with? One of his favorite things is his feet, and also the camera strap and lens because they tend to fall into view because of the way he holds the camera. Here are a few of my favorites he has taken the past couple of weeks.
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P.S.- I have a facebook album of pictures he has taken.
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Sad fact: When sorting through these I couldn't always tell which ones he took and which ones I took. Does that mean he is just really good or am I that bad with our camera?</div>
<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643883506531003234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizqfVoWgp9EaUj1wrjGa11Q6byBjDx5avQxqc6Z0S9L_sobPMr76mV5FiPKsZ1hzv8ve1il7YJ2aGiJB7toqUpqwftmGXg_f1ytf5rXycojjg6FoY-Z1kihN6Y8i16ow5GsH2t3ffC3k8/s320/034.JPG" style="display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" />
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<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5646839290860928930" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu3gXAIg1h8mV53_JoV3TfAs-mbZkvqTQOZGNAo6D5BgEkZFCTlMekZ7cG0AHy03eyKO6MHunRomMfhuTW9GmEMqIS-T2tZStuH0pAJ7Lq8qnI_ns7s5lPf9Bg0tuOlJ4H-A7fvYhxoS4/s320/050.JPG" style="display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" />
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<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5646839287637763058" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOaoijWBSEz9cOIhmHA_Hn0BvwjymxQksmZNLgE0GxFzY9VwBXIa9e7d_4jESk9OIMpsL6x2g5R5bk2XwyorKqKu6nvv0kTakTTDGSjSBc4RSkj5Owc9PA0lrV3zvMJlZjQnN2PRZX7sY/s320/081.JPG" style="display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" />These last 4 were all taken by Simon with his "new" camera this past weekend at Lassen Volcanic National Park. I think that is seriously the best picture I have ever seen of Steve, better than any I have ever tried to get.
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<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5646840982520948018" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMiv-bta-0AyVAOuNSoUalln29KIU2iIU3IweUCDNpGxE7zfqYzdeHLRYfwFrazOuKrjvMvoZqARDuJqrz74jjp3LNrIdsv3_Lq5PuEFp3PLMNoLAvWGYJYMpEfUPWXmQ8eYzJ4e7Q0OA/s320/012.JPG" style="display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5646840975803268146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6iQq8A1leJ330msT6MLSOVVFqS7CbBvjx09Kf_M-omRNQF4BS7JrWp_AUNn1hAIsXQgdGNegPTP6SG17OpnFONmUE_wgaY9xvM98uR8FPWQQB2Yk-byJNiZPOfdfkEwgn_A_Kt1kyZtE/s320/008.JPG" style="display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5646840987314719618" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4XBaztmQxw5ZuyNjjBEfT3usDjStamw_0UcZqF60XUTqrfUvZZuyE3jCOoxaKhVpzudrYManmDPVOn4r6w3aceaATCf0UoB55OXc4qBJumd9EVy8iLsDeKCNiYiBf8Gtermw74v29S08/s320/014.JPG" style="display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5646840985944460194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL8DUu6ieemqnpGeVVDgaQxSu4W9GS4BV1U9a7ORNiyNbNdDyclUtS-tDx78QXhcRz6-E5zGFa4sa-LfxWSnSrqzBslrYEGnS4-m5AssnY2BQzJzY_9dMotUVnsIYowjJvhk1NNWvKucU/s320/015.JPG" style="display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" />Kari and Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15996147640036139038noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4126637326907270372.post-75142558857721908252011-08-18T23:32:00.001-07:002011-08-19T00:23:58.648-07:00two boysTonight Steve and I got to babysit our little nephew Phineas. <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5642459979187474786" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNyG8mFlfiKoSljO41rxJ15d6aXFE44UJ82zPtGktpgsQd-8grcFX2JV7dqdTGDbcRa-d3PLKQ-lfHEipacKerpuyYkGoElGm-r6X-VaDo_ZnHFvz7vdo5ZFT8wsopNNpjtRuCogn78QI/s320/053.JPG" />It was a lot of fun and I have to say that having kids two different ages is a lot easier than having two kids the same age. This makes me hopeful for my impending future. Phin turned 1 in March and Simon will be turning 3 in November. Simon did pretty good sharing with his cousin, and even tolerated being sat on and squished by him, even though Phin is almost as big as Simon (and over a year younger), Simon just laid there and let him and wasn't even mean and didn't push him off or anything.
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<br /><div>As we were walking to the Food Co-op I realized we looked like a crazy baby making couple, two little boys and a third one on the way, and they all were aged so that they technically could have been ours! I couldn't imagine having my third kid on the way! So as much as I love Phin, and as good as he was for us, I am so glad I am only about to have baby #2 and not baby #3. And I am pretty sure his mom and dad are crazy about him and wouldn't want to give him up anyways. </div>
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<br /><div>Today I took a really long lunch and went out for Awful Awful's (Awfully Big and Awfully Good hamburgers with a pound of fries) with Steve, Simon, Mel, Jared, Phin, and Cindy to celebrate "the last day of Steve's youth." By the time I finish typing this my husband will be turning 30! He thinks he is getting old, but I don't think so. (Probably easier for me to say because I just turned 26, and on a tangent realized I never posted about my awesome party with family up at Tahoe, so I will post about that and my FIL's 50th bday soon) Happy Birthday Steve (you will get your own post too) </div>
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<br /><div>But anyways back to babysitting. We walked to the Co-op and bought yummy little organic suckers (for the boys and me) and ate them on the way home, and the boys loved them and so did I, and Steve got a yummy fancy Root Beer. </div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5642459990589954898" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIH480j8nAjiChQolEQkP8ImYPynmopQ2a_1i3przQhwIfwAp6fKw5uEf8xJmHwRzmGijuxL42jgqdr3rkq0Qiy7FUN4BTg62S6FPdwuSMuCELrZohkXryljBuT5FmULMqFHGE5FfysWQ/s320/022.JPG" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5642460362993158498" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR26KKyVcCQOu3dN3Rpn48dmLS9bKaX4NKhu_sSMIWpYlqE3z3eI2JXQA6to02rMB9gnXJ6ZHRz5OwxZVeoQzYukIHXyY7GdfspnNtKWO3a_g66FRWNTwen3JeSArC1L8OlD2nQ_Qzhmo/s320/021.JPG" />
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<br /><div>Notice in both of the previous pictures the boys have their suckers in their mouths, and they didn't remove them until they were completely gone and even then it was hard to get the sticks away. Mel and Jared- I am kind of sorry I gave Phin a sucker- but it was organic, and Aunt's and Uncle's can spoil their nephew right? ...Right? Anyways- two boys- FUN, two boys at different stages- even more FUN. Good thing too, I am excited and a little less fearful for my future now.</div>
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<br /><div>It was a fantastic evening and I can't wait to do it again, hopefully very soon- hint hint Mel and Jared- go on another date and let me watch your son!<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5642459981934738002" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUG6iVBaGk2pb17s4_KnRFbgBzA9O52DBGHjjVfhUTFkF11Yv4I7gOytyNvLLvw9zwg3FjDPgJN2_qp848LjsLQINhw4h8TB6HCrWqjd1KSrXe3bD-0mNmYUMna5R4Zc1HwcQo28SCNuo/s320/052.JPG" /></div>P.S.-I took several pictures and Simon took tons tonight with the camera but they all turned out blurry like a few that I posted anyways. What do you expect with two toddlers- it's nearly impossible to get them to stay still long enough for a picture, so we got some fun, blurry, action shots! and a lot of blurry pictures of random stuff that Simon took.
<br />Kari and Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15996147640036139038noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4126637326907270372.post-64689106964669933402011-08-16T00:27:00.001-07:002013-02-01T01:28:11.092-08:00commentsIs it bad that I am always a little sad when no one comments on my posts even though I am really bad at commenting on other people's posts? My favorite post so far, the letter to the baby had 0 comments. Normally the only to people to comment regularly are my sis who has a broken wrist and my mom, so I really shouldn't be that bummed right, only 2 less than normal... but I am a little bummed, I feel like I have done better with blogging, at least for the past week, let's see if I keep it up. And if there are any lurkers out there, feel free to comment, although I don't half the time, so I totally understand if you don't want to, or don't have time by the time you are done reading. But you really should, because it will make me feel better!
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Here- Enjoy some pictures I took on a walk downtown the other night. With it being hot during the day and me being pregnant, our outdoor excursions seem to happen at night when Steve can accompany us and carry Simon if he gets tired.
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<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5641354783238235346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPHI9_DxA2BIEe2UiKVZX2PpP-pYykC_U_Z5JY5aTmRlY-Mn2I0iUm5cFf-o7R9lBFVhXhetHznoimmg7zhO0w9BtaRVvBFXM6GwtcAyMBQYSbpReeV8WfFrSQ3aGT6vv_3fovEDJBJI8/s320/023.JPG" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5641355578850857442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9V-x8zks7OSaB3oAx8qj4hKuApd0youdzWuDhjJ7yY5Au-EkbQe7vvvBW5aAfekq-CM9pN7-Hjjjqb3FzW8ECu-1tZeJMvCTnVo4wvX4SLldKT1rUdgOOqhln9JP7NZZ8S2PF86wCDwY/s320/029.JPG" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5641355568166196578" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl41r5VEbPHZgVBCc1nsbMVcrZiqtILu0shC-_ijCsM-Zsxla4rKAWQNf4L29du5-evvchmNW2fWogVn24scmzUjdrvSpBCqShNJv_EV-WEuHNcdQncu56fbamCfe0DR1Lp1GoWXiJfFQ/s320/027.JPG" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 240px;" /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5641356762128058578" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIjRKUUXFY5mJd3hewYW8WnTtKy36gXgYCAA6OWwRwFTatTXqbJprK6en6kyqwageTu3GO0ICCvsZPwAmF2Ann9q-r3aGHVpqgyMPJWD-TcIzudIGNPnFhiB1IC154HXqFia8NONnpZ2s/s320/030.JPG" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 240px;" /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5641356770068962594" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir5k-w75EBp7BUM7d01wBeDHEjHC6pWXocerHI0TC9MkbKSJ_qPNVB9Gilaeled_XKbM-4CQ2b3r2_3o-uxKgVowl_BG6IAQHUAfPWWLNivCse5f4eAIJGHLKT-f2r9gen1JwXx8Vqd-4/s320/040.JPG" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" />
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and this last picture wasn't taken the same time as the others, it was just one day when Simon decided to take a nap on the sofa after burying himself under a bunch of pillows.
Kari and Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15996147640036139038noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4126637326907270372.post-58454207356602205692011-08-08T15:47:00.000-07:002012-05-19T01:09:45.603-07:00CleaningSteve and I have been talking for a while about making a chore chart (really more of a division of labor chart) so we finally sat down last week and split up chores and officially who does what. It is nice to have it written down on paper what each of us is primarily responsible for. It's been difficult for me getting into a groove with keeping up with the house. Me becoming a mostly stay-at-home mom coincided with becoming pregnant, so it's hard to know what things are going to be like when I am not pregnant and also have a second kid. I hope I can keep everything balanced and be as good of a mom and homemaker as I want to be.
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It is seriously amazing how quickly your house can go from dirty to clean and back again. Our house was a wreck yesterday and my amazing husband was off last night so he was awake and not only did his "chores" but even helped with some of mine, and our house looks fabulous right now! I just gotta keep it that way because we are having our friend Courtney over for dinner tonight, and it's much nicer being in a clean house.
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And he let me sleep in until 11 today and got Simon breakfast and played and read with him for a while. (In my defense I was up until 2 watching a movie with Steve, so I really didn't sleep in <em>that</em> late.) Then, when I woke up we went to eat at the <a href="http://goldnsilverreno.com/">Gold 'n Silver Inn</a> and had breakfast/lunch. I love my husband and feel so fortunate to have such a great man in my life. I am currently watching Teen Mom (can you believe I admitted that!) and it makes me grateful for a great husband, son, relationship, and the <a href="http://lds.org/?lang=eng">Gospel of Jesus Christ </a>and belief in <a href="http://lds.org/search?lang=eng&query=eternal+families">eternal </a><a href="http://mormon.org/family/">families</a> in my life. <img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5638624828878279474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJBTIxWZDsf65Asb6rg3afbiDlS1UZ14KulXV8yhnFFQ8svnGmFgviypr68nYzvVIEvakYscIVBWfGafM4F7JvT2JE4QjosDhjwkw0qXEfsHVZKekOQqo1uDgs9xqqKF-YxSaR8S1zQQ0/s320/045.JPG" style="display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" />This post was just supposed to be about cleaning so here is a fun little picture. (I am trying to post more frequently and smaller and with pictures.) Simon was helping me vacuum earlier because he found a spot that needed to be vacuumed so he got it out and plugged it in and turned it on so I let him help me vacuum after I vacuumed everything up (the vacuum was actually on and in use in this picture).Kari and Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15996147640036139038noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4126637326907270372.post-85029995132586821022011-08-05T12:23:00.001-07:002012-05-19T01:15:04.958-07:00Dear BabyDear Baby,<br />
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Please stay inside of me 'til close to my due date, but not past my due date. If you don't come by September 24th, the doctors are going to take you out, and I don't want that to happen. I would like you to come out all on your own in an amazing non-medicated, natural birth kind of way. September 16th would be a good day. That is your Grampy's birthday, and even though we don't know what we are going to name you yet, we think your middle name is going to be David after your Grampy. If you came on his birthday that would be awesome, and I think it would make everybody happy. My doctor told me today that she will start encouraging you to come out at 37 weeks. That is in just 4 weeks! (But you do have until Sept. 24 to choose to make your debut on your own.) I can hardly believe you will be here soon, but I am so excited to meet you and I know you have lots of family members that are excited to meet you too.<br />
Love,<br />
Mom<br />
<br />
P.S.-Please have a slightly smaller head than your older brother, that will make things much easier for both of us during labor and delivery.<br />
<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5637456957349299746" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIAn10CsJt4NcVoezM9iA9IKbaJXTli3lhKfIdIahtkRphm_t7PD4INzMZwgQac52ixktEZ1Lg9MZRZ_usZUMt0Tg71I2thzEb-RBlKlghr83nnn6qR5KgEwNHiKeQ3ed4kj3q2KTONjs/s320/IMG_8069.jpg" style="display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 214px;" />Kari and Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15996147640036139038noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4126637326907270372.post-54905865128303184422011-08-02T13:15:00.000-07:002011-08-02T13:16:20.913-07:00PostI realized today I am lame. I haven't updated in a really long time. When I do post there are too many words and not enough pictures. A lot of stuff has happened since May. May? Seriously, I haven't posted since May? (shakes head at my self) So sad.<br /><br />This evening Steve and I went to <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">Walmart</span>. There was a nice summer storm, lightning, and wind, and lots of clouds, during sunset, and a rainbow. It was beautiful. I wish I'd had my camera with me and could have taken pictures. I love storms.<br /><br />Since May Simon and I went home to Illinois for two weeks, then we came home for a week, and then we went to Utah for almost a week to see my friend Arielle. Steve didn't get go come with us on any of the trips because he couldn't get time off work. He gets 5 paid weeks off a year, but it's nearly impossible to get the time off because he is at the bottom of the ladder and has no seniority. Now we are home, and I don't want to go anywhere else for a long time. I just want to sit around the house and be a lazy bum. Lazy pregnant bum. Who decides to get pregnant in January anyways? Honestly last trimester during July, August, and September... not smart. Here, look at some pictures I like from the last couple months. It took me a long time to narrow these down. Enjoy!<br /><br />P.S.- My favorite blog is by my Sis-in-law Mel. If you don't read her blog, you should. She writes incredibly well, has good pictures, and updates frequently, her blog is awesome and entertaining!<br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5636330288274025458" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6TtLXkQSANImTMHDW3PJ-7f-4MP6iA-akLCNFIGp_iXy8ELJv6SwtYPegq-68CdfvwembLhJUUUQ0X6V1WY_6TBke8uLnRCskqcjnjG6mPhAFwF_C6cXSTXJZDukrdA-s5oQ6Vzj_3aA/s320/014.JPG" /><br /><br /><p>Simon and I went to So. IL for 2 weeks because my cousin got married. All of my sisters were there. I havent seen of them for 2 years so it was good to see my family. We did some sightseeing in St. Louis, went up in the arch and went to Grants farm where President Grant once lived.<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5636333777473029362" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi79ELkKeAl99RiK4TD_njQ6KaIj_DUNHru91WUkHD2gyK8cFA0xkEHN5dwhqO3RXPMr-oT4VyFOGl7JE5HoBTB9jsQcIzlvdUdHAgCba0kty0nBUJ98iHfq0x7IWRhUL0GTMmikzZ4Dxo/s320/026.JPG" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5636334063262309282" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYynilT6G_rCL7FRuSMbm1hzTXv7NKJON_SokLu3PMNz_G80uWAJQt77Y2vsLRTI8BTB35k9gCDwUGDCDVWAMXXWaKt6pnPjJj7P5sw7e2KeIKQBIW2mS5Ah6plbqqYGSKcLIMdimV0yA/s320/028.JPG" />After being "home" for two weeks and hanging out and going to Garden of the Gods and Dixon Springs and my cousins wedding and spending time with family Simon and I went back home to Reno. We flew in on the 4th of July, Steve picked us up at the airport we ran home, dropped off stuff and picked up Zane and beach stuff and headed up to Lake Tahoe.<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5636334883580054338" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjduitmJ4o1dZ9U4Zn1lz90J3oheh7qcGqVKxZVPBSTglLLVpNMB31FMx4QpI6K5VivgOTGwG0kH4aEh0tQAcB0rX7amFg_bOr15ZtStm_rGtaMZMKp6pSThxHDzs2gusWIdEJPiU2E1LU/s320/099.JPG" />After the lake we headed home, got the boys all cleaned up- you would not believe how much sand was in their hair!- and then headed to a park in Sparks to watch fireworks with Steve's sisters, and Endri and Dorina. His parents weren't there because they were on their way to Hawaii!<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5636335361687649442" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTI6V12CH8caWDq-2oAE0B8Gi1NfrxJSvjLADDZQ1aIohEQT_Za9rDSP71MvBTl6aXZmbK6OISC4L1EHIxakifBCd1i1m1ol8fPgj68s2x4qczH8WS-jyGgYfWG16X7mWJ8MTbLOk3ayU/s320/137.JPG" /></p>Mel bought glowstick swords and necklaces for everyone to play with. The boys loved it! (and Dorina too) We had a blast snacking, playing, and watching the fireworks!<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5636336319234293906" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja6Dx84EygnTCvoEV-q9INMrHteiTdyRJ-UGSDNdAiyFmYtSIiX71k56JxTJ4KgDULY9LKP5ITFpenp84FjlEoW0UMLc-zVyCKLNOZJy0cVjbE1wLJz44drjoVrCz60bCmyX-KttHCVqk/s320/149.JPG" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5636335751517294034" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3aihnetT8Ux-IJ5tHiEEu82c29b8txM0VKE4EwbgtumOOU4puTgJcdMjkJvP-VfhcHl24LaH-gbd8zfNxp6fUHg16VdbIFxqVl6qmnuaiQBNB3v68gjK_gFXVWPL1l65VQUD8qJTteJU/s320/138.JPG" /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p>Simon and I were back in Reno for about a week, just long enough to do laundry and repack our bags and then we took off to Salt Lake City to go see my friend Arielle for 5 days. We stopped in Elko on the way there and back to see our friends Zach and Kristin and their newest baby Oliver. We had lots of fun on this trip.</p><br /><br /><p><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5636337085030271922" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj04G3YonmIMG-EhWOqVuSF0Gupl1_t3vn5Lr8qv2y0fQqq3pyzaaR2dxCcJ21SonosajBXkku4A034zYfsxyL9BBmUtbeFhhy6B15_d1Cf7srnwib72AnkFn0iwd3VFbMfe4AhJGndevg/s320/025.JPG" />With Arielle we went to the zoo, aquarium, and aviary, ate Thai food twice, saw Harry Potter, experienced a real bomb threat at the movie theater, and had dinner with her family who feels like family to me. Also got introduced to my new favorite salad, <a href="http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/margarita-shrimp-salad/detail.aspx">Margarita Shrimp Salad</a> from Allrecipes.com. If you happen to make it, do it the way Nikkie687 did in the comments, that's the way Arielle made it, and it was incredible! I even requested it for my bday dinner.<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5636337407219988946" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyEMn8ktl0APKk_wxO56K2-LoUhewLaFbfCsWUYOjxdy15R2-WuCRWX2RJNM07ghu6IxAPyzYGhAX5Ws4lrtbaVHexqd8rmbXNbefewswBRGKHTM7UmyG_BXMpPyo6gh6d88XqBUj079U/s320/042.JPG" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5636337667908745090" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr6enZkJf7-h5H1_-LDAz0PVLDCS2joBeZ2uqL-amvF18V9roubj_P4Ic0UhXUZKP9ryVyTb803XE43lJroRdl3dDf1CkA6YwOitOHh_Nu_8JjJZ9gUMl4zz_AMw2waLbW83RzyTS6AfE/s320/052.JPG" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5636338258016937762" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJiZ_eCLNVDFH_EXdm45ivsZSCPGUvw07hoiKfpuQzcEX8iqshNsdvWVZmH4AcJHO6Zbtf971md9gU2KAPVYePGzUioSa1IIhDzgw36gDDpWzofxwTLurE0IPanYn_HCd2yjFn4OEhogg/s320/056.JPG" /></p>Kari and Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15996147640036139038noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4126637326907270372.post-64613118537052607162011-05-15T16:19:00.000-07:002012-05-19T01:12:09.393-07:00Ultrasound results and my feelings on it<div>
I am sure most of you know about this by now, because I am pretty my readership is mostly family, and if you aren't family, we are probably friends on <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">facebook</span>, but we had our ultrasound last week. It was actually supposed to be on May 4<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">th</span> but my ob/<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">gyn</span> office called me that morning because their tech called in "injured" and they had to reschedule their appointments. The next opening they had in their office was 4 weeks later! 4 weeks, they seriously wanted me to wait a whole '<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">nother</span> month to find out what that little baby is, I think not! So they got me a referral to Imaging at Renown Hospital for the following Wednesday at 8:15 in the morning with an appointment <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">arrival</span> time of 7:45! I am so not a morning person and I couldn't take Simon to the appointment so had to get him to Cindy's before that. Thank goodness I have good family, Mel and Jared came and got Simon on their way to drop off <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Phin</span>, and took him too, so luckily I didn't have to get up even earlier and drop him off in Spanish Springs before my appointment.<br />
<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5607603878227017330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU90DDY7naXf9JHcZUif2TTxhXkhyphenhyphenEckxfKQObvAH-hVYp599wqR_wi2QGJ-hwyUjnnCjGwVi16CUjD-9DrGB_hBVvyLV9cBCiJnU1jGqB4UuXDnUFEOilUaJ6fi_Wmz0AZ65_D0hG_Ww/s320/1335.JPG" style="display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 240px;" /><br />
So ultrasound day, I get to appointment a few minutes late (of course, we are late to everything) and they are doing remodelling on the floor where my appointment was, so where I had to go to check in wasn't even on the same floor as the ultrasound itself. Steve was supposed to get off at 8, and rushed over to my appointment, and because of the remodelling had to go on a bit of a wild goose chase to find someone who could take him to where I was, he got there a few minutes after the tech had already started checking things out.<br />
The baby cooperated pretty well for the appointment. Part way through it flipped over though and had it's back facing out, so I commented that it would make it harder to tell what the sex was, then the tech told us he knew already, as soon as he started he did a quick scan over my whole uterus and saw right away what the sex was. He also said he wasn't going to tell us unless he was 100% sure of what it was, if it wasn't definite he didn't want to show us and then be wrong. He was a funny guy though, he joked how bad did we want to know the sex and how much cash we had on us to find out, then proceeded to show us our little boy! Very much a boy, parts were very prominent and definite, no mistaking what they were. The tech did lots of measuring and scanning, making sure things were symmetrical and where they should be, we got to see all 4 chambers of the heart working like they should, cute tiny little toes and hand waving around, it was really cool.<br />
But when he told us boy, Steve and I were both kinda like "huh, really, a boy?" We were both <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">pretty</span> sure it was going to be a girl or at least maybe we were convinced because we wanted one so bad, and so did all of our family, we all thought it was going to be a girl, so boy came as a shock and is taking me some time to adjust to, but I am almost there now. Another boy will be a lot of fun, I love my Simon and they can be buddies and share a room, and no teenage girl drama right? Right? I'll be okay with another boy. I just don't get to go out and buy all those cute girl clothes, no pink and purple, and flowers and ribbons and bows, no cute dresses and tutus. But I guess that also means I don't have to learn to do girl hair and fight with her about combing her hair and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">girly</span> attitude. I also don't get to spend tons of money to buy all the stuff I had planned for her room, we have a lot of cute stuff at my work that I kept saying, I'm going to buy that for my daughters room, it was going to be cute. Shabby chic owls, and birds, and outdoorsy animal kinds of stuff. Birdcages and antiqued furniture, and a bit <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Victorian</span> feeling, oh Lucy's room was going to be so cute! I will survive, it was just a little sad at first, but I am already almost over it. Almost.<br />
<br />
<br />
P.S.- new post below, my super duper yummy awesome fiber-filled waffles.</div>Kari and Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15996147640036139038noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4126637326907270372.post-11772217276163770482011-05-15T15:48:00.000-07:002012-05-19T01:07:07.538-07:00Kari's Awesome Waffles RecipeLately, I have been trying to eat healthy and try new recipes and all that kind of stuff. And with Steve's new iPhone and the crashing of our computers, I have gotten to put new apps on his phone. One of my favorites is Spark recipes (which has a website too), and it is mostly healthy recipes. I used two recipes that I liked to make my own recipe and then made some other adjustments too. The ones I used were <a href="http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=57214">Grandma's Awful Waffles</a> and <a href="http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=325695">Honey Flaxseed Whole Wheat Applesauce Waffles</a>. I liked the base of the Grandma ones, but I also liked the idea of adding in Flaxseed meal for some extra fiber, and applesauce instead of using butter or oil. And then I added some personal things like extra cinnamon and vanilla! The first time I made it I only measured some things, and then afterwards decided to write a recipe for it, so the next time I made them I followed my recipe amounts exactly to make sure it tasted alright and that my guesses for amounts were okay. Such as the first time after my first waffle I decided it needed sugar, so I just threw in a handful of sugar, not really a good measurement for telling other people how to make it. Anyways, we love it, they are very filling, and they are going to my standard waffle recipe, they aren't boring like other waffles. Here is my recipe.<br />
<br />
Kari's Awesome Waffles<br />
Yield 7 waffles (7 being both sides of the waffle iron, or 14 square ones if you want to count it that way)<br />
<br />
2 cups whole wheat flour (or any combo of flour you have, last time I ran out of whole wheat and had to use white)<br />
3 tsp baking powder<br />
1/8 cup granulated sugar<br />
1/2 tsp salt<br />
2 tsp ground cinnamon<br />
1/4 cup flaxseed meal<br />
2 eggs<br />
1 3/4 cup milk<br />
3/4 cup applesauce<br />
2 tbsp vanilla extract<br />
1 cup blueberries<br />
1 cup chopped walnuts<br />
<br />
Mix all dry ingredients (except nuts), make a well in the middle for wet ones to go into. In seperate bowl beat eggs, add milk. Pour into well in dry ingredients and mix well. Stir until smooth, also add the applesauce now. Stir in blueberries and walnuts. Use with waffle iron or as pancakes.<br />
<br />
When I made these I used the Del Monte fruit Naturals blueberries that are in little plastic containers in juice in the salad section at the grocery store. I saved the juice from them and used it with mapleine to make fruit syrup. Just use the juice to replace the water in the recipe and follow the direction on the box for the quick method. It was really yummy though I was scared to taste it at first because it smelled like cough syrup!<br />
Another note- it may sound like a lot of cinnamon and vanilla, but we love both of these in our family, and the cinnamon gives it some great flavor, if you are scared to use that much, then don't, you are the one eating, it needs to be to your liking too!Kari and Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15996147640036139038noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4126637326907270372.post-63436779699869023682011-04-04T11:17:00.001-07:002012-05-19T01:08:38.669-07:00Getting bigger every day<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUtiFgqZ4jUtwyozjlRBlwfSa4Sa5QD1o_eDDmIcWnHuGO57529ICIKfo_CjIyovJrwAFdMGGkpnbXogHNKoC8GPyv2wpuRMSRlroCKE-w39qMT7qpD7nxMtickftAV2gc2wQV8bsGXPE/s1600/ultrasound+001.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591800450507397666" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUtiFgqZ4jUtwyozjlRBlwfSa4Sa5QD1o_eDDmIcWnHuGO57529ICIKfo_CjIyovJrwAFdMGGkpnbXogHNKoC8GPyv2wpuRMSRlroCKE-w39qMT7qpD7nxMtickftAV2gc2wQV8bsGXPE/s320/ultrasound+001.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 133px;" /></a>So for some strange reason, I have been really putting off blogging or posting about this on <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">facebook</span>. Why? I'm not really sure, but for some reason I am just being really weird about announcing to people that I am pregnant. We went to the doctor today and got to hear the heartbeat. I had another appointment a month ago and they did an ultrasound and we got to see the little baby in there waving it's arms around, it was so cool. I think maybe it still hasn't sunk in for me. I mean its obvious, I am very much showing, I throw up every morning if I wake up before 10, I've seen an ultrasound and now heard the heartbeat, so why I have been so weird/scared to tell people?<br />
<br />
Maybe it's because it was so easy for us. We decided we were going to start trying in Belize, and in Belize it happened! Maybe it's because I know a lot of people who have had miscarriages lately and so part of me thinks, it was so easy, it must be too good to be true, look at all these other people I know who are struggling to get pregnant, it's almost not fair. Maybe it's because I know like a billion other people who are pregnant right now and I feel like I am just another girl who got pregnant. Basically every girl at my old work is pregnant or had gotten pregnant this year. It seems like every day on <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">facebook</span> someone else I know is announcing that they are pregnant, and I don't want to steal <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">anyone's</span> thunder and be like oh me too, I'm pregnant too, "look at me, look at me." (Bonus if you know what movie that quote is from) I really am excited about this pregnancy, don't get me wrong, I am just being weird about it.<br />
<br />
I really want a girl, we will find out in a month! My ultrasound is scheduled for May 4<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">th</span>, so stay posted then and hopefully we will be able to find out what the sex is at the ultrasound. I already have all kinds of cute ideas for little Lucy's room, or Lucia as Steve wants her to be, but I will call her Lucy. Man I really want a girl. Either way though, boy or girl, the room is going to involve cute owls and a tree on the wall. The girls room will be a little more shabby chic antique looking and the boys room will be bright colors, but both with owls, birds, foxes, deer, just kind of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">foresty</span>, I am so excited. We are hoping we will have a house by then. Oh did I forget to mention, my due date is September 24<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">th</span>, or should I say the baby's due date, though I guess I am "due" to go into labor around then. With Simon I had to have an emergency c-section, with this one I am going to try to do a vaginal birth after Cesarean, or <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">VBAC</span>. So hooray for being super huge pregnant through all of the summer, I can't wait! (little sarcasm there) At least I am only working part-time so I plan on taking Simon to the lake a lot this summer and plopping my by then very pregnant self into the very cold waters of Lake Tahoe. So yeah, I'm pregnant!Kari and Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15996147640036139038noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4126637326907270372.post-83289230249395259292011-02-28T21:26:00.001-08:002011-03-07T00:35:31.767-08:00Mini cheesecakes- Oreo Cookies 'N Cream<span style="font-family:verdana;">So I decided I wanted to make cheesecake and found </span><a href="http://www.handletheheat.com/2010/02/cookies-cream-cheesecake-cupcakes.html"><span style="font-family:verdana;">this post </span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">of a recipe from Martha Stewart. But I didn't have sour cream, so I searched for other cupcake cheesecakes, and found </span><a href="http://realmomkitchen.com/2058/mini-cheesecakes/"><span style="font-family:verdana;">these terrific </span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">recipes for </span><a href="http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1613,151167-225206,00.html"><span style="font-family:verdana;">mini cupcakes</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">.<br />But they weren't quite what I wanted, so I combined them and made my own recipe. This is what I came up with:<br /><br />Kari's Oreo Cookies N' Cream Mini Cheesecakes<br /><br />Ingredients:<br /><br />2 8 oz packages of cream cheese room temperature (I actually used <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">Neufchatel</span> because it is 1/3 the fat and tastes just as good)<br />1/2 cup sugar<br />2 eggs<br />1 tsp vanilla<br />1 tbsp lemon juice<br />12 <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">oreos</span> smashed up (I put them in a sandwich bag and beat them with a Lincoln Log)<br />1/2 cup? chocolate chips (I didn't actually measure, I just dumped the rest of the ones from my almost bag into the bowl<br />18 whole <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">oreos</span> for cheesecake bottoms<br /><br /><br />1. Using hand mixer on medium-high speed mix cream cheese and sugar<br />2. Add eggs, vanilla and lemon juice- mix some more.<br />3. Stir in crushed <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">oreos</span> and chocolate chips. (The recipes all specified stirring them in by hand, but honestly, I used my mixer and it turned out fine, just don't tell the recipe people<br /></span><a href="http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1613,151167-225206,00.html"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5578997298233555922" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB15kik8oRj5U5s6vX7uNTxoG4QjR20GmwQgD2WMBRh77R7CfvWFjlNNPqFlgA5eWswEmUgpDcUEcOP2exlR9QZ7ltAUQdrc0IEhs9CATH0QaDWKKBAM5LEyKp9odm3O79zwOiME_HC-g/s320/001.JPG" /></span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />4.*This is the point when I preheat the oven to 275 degrees because I am a little slow, if you are amazing fast you can do it at the beginning, but I am so slow it preheats and then I am normally still mixing for like 10 minutes after it's hot!<br />5. Put cupcake liners in muffin pan.<br />6. Place a whole <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">oreo</span> (filling and all) into the cupcake liner, center if possible.<br />7. Add cream cheese mixture on top of the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error">oreos</span>- I used an ice cream scoop and it worked perfectly, no drips even, and one scoop was the perfect size to fill each cupcake! Go ahead and fill them almost to the top, the cheesecake actually settles a little while cooking, so it's not going to overflow if you go to the top.<br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgu35XQD4U7G8zNBUGJA4cNYg3F047QZFJudkC6Vr15YUsX_KBlpUtsyGV8jk-_nTh20lkts9weckxB58EpYhcrILyOg8nVe8N6zSrYWe0P0EkLDgy8Kv8E3rT2Ti6WCfg8pTqyT_KybM/s1600/002.JPG"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5578997304905668866" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgu35XQD4U7G8zNBUGJA4cNYg3F047QZFJudkC6Vr15YUsX_KBlpUtsyGV8jk-_nTh20lkts9weckxB58EpYhcrILyOg8nVe8N6zSrYWe0P0EkLDgy8Kv8E3rT2Ti6WCfg8pTqyT_KybM/s320/002.JPG" /></span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />8.Put your pan in the oven, wait about 20 minutes until the filling has set and is no longer jiggly, then remove.<br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDIQLWVHxyXXWzV27sjBZepWZ16M4uEk072LiX_8HmCN0OOe2wyL2ENHaQGpaTyxZYaQO1035SpohssV13qq7pbh1OrZJSHzM6UNjy3KkZ3xhl6TlWKzEICcBf-rqgZi9vnHklpQ3prHM/s1600/006.JPG"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5578997315755115826" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDIQLWVHxyXXWzV27sjBZepWZ16M4uEk072LiX_8HmCN0OOe2wyL2ENHaQGpaTyxZYaQO1035SpohssV13qq7pbh1OrZJSHzM6UNjy3KkZ3xhl6TlWKzEICcBf-rqgZi9vnHklpQ3prHM/s320/006.JPG" /></span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />9. Put in fridge for 3-4 hours trust me on this one- you want them to be chilled before you eat them or they DO NOT taste as good!<br />10. ENJOY!<br /><br />If you look at that last picture you can see the row in the middle is a lighter color- those were my first batch in the oven that I cooked on 275 for 22 minutes- Different recipes gave different times- the browner ones were done on 375, unfortunately I just found out I burnt the bottoms of these ones, so you could go for the middle and take the advice of the recipe that said 325 for 20 minutes. I just tasted the first batch ones- the pasty whites at 275, and they taste delicious and the middle is a little more moist and gooey- this one is just a matter of preference but I will stick with the 275 when I make them again, <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">that</span> Martha really knows what she is talking about!<br /><br />One of the recipes also suggested keeping the cheesecakes in the pan while they cooled and then keep them in there to chill, I took mine out so I could use my pan again- I think the main benefits to keeping them in the pan is so they hold their shape slightly better and so you can cover them if you want- important if you need to clean your fridge- but if your fridge is funky-smell free, then covering them shouldn't be necessary. </span>Kari and Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15996147640036139038noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4126637326907270372.post-36218454451746582902011-02-25T18:08:00.000-08:002012-05-19T01:13:53.779-07:00Video GamesMe and Steve both have a problem. We are video game addicts. Last night I stayed up with him until 4 a.m. playing video games. What is wrong with me? He has to stay up all night to stay on his same schedule on his days off because he work nights. It was really fun to keep him company, and the game we were playing was really fun- Borderlands- but man am I tired today! Steve was so nice, when Simon woke up this morning he was still up and he let me sleep in until noon and he hung out with Simon. What a nice break! <br />
I have the best husband. We have so much fun together, he is my best friend! I wasn't sure how much I would like his new schedule, but I am liking it pretty well. It is nice because we will lay down in bed together for an hour or two so he can take a quick nap before he goes into work, but we end up just laying in bed talking the whole time. I feel like we talk a lot more now. I think before we would text all day long, but since we are on opposite schedules we can't text each other all the time anymore. I really enjoy our "pillow talk" every night.<br />
I just put more pictures from Belize up on facebook- one of these days I should blog about that trip before I forget about everything.Kari and Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15996147640036139038noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4126637326907270372.post-62740349443425898452011-02-14T15:23:00.000-08:002012-05-19T01:16:11.346-07:00Happy Valentine's DayToday I am feeling very un-Valentiney. It may be because I am sick with an upper respiratory infection and ear infection. It may be because I haven't had a chance to go shopping for a present for my Valentine (been potty training Simon since Friday and I am a procrastinator so that is when I would have started shopping). It may be because I only saw my Valentine for about 20 minutes today- but he did bring me really pretty roses! It may be because I am not even wearing pink or red. It may be because I didn't decorate my house for Valentine's Day- not a single heart hanging anywhere. <br />
So with that last statement typed, I just decided I will have to cut out some hearts and stuff and hang them up. Me and my Valentine are going to celebrate on Wednesday, so I figure I have a good two days to get really decorated and buy him a present- but I already know what I want to get him and have for a while, so that counts for something right!?<br />
Although I am feeling un-Valentiney, I am very grateful for my husband today. I am so grateful that was able to marry such an amazing man, and then be sealed to him for time and eternity. He is stuck with me forever and I wouldn't have it any other way! In the year we were married before we were sealed I was always so scared that something would happen and one of us would tragically die before we were sealed, I must say that once we went to the temple, I was so relieved. Not to say it wouldn't really suck if one of us died, but now I have the comfort and knowledge that if that did happen, we would only be seperated for a little while and then we would be together forever after this life. What a comfort to be sealed in the House of the Lord. <br />
I am grateful to be married to such an amazing man. He has sacrificed a lot for our family and has had to deal with a lot of stress from school and working and internships, and having a kid before we were planning on it, and all kinds of other stuff, but through it all and all the stress, he has always been good to me, and to our son, and for that I am grateful. <br />
Last night as we were laying in bed for an hour before Steve had to leave for work we got a text message from a friend whose spouse had left them. It was so sad. Almost all of the couples that were at our wedding are now divorced, including some of our LDS friends. And this latest one is a dear friend who was sealed in the temple. It is so sad for me to see people not take that covenant seriously. How can you promise to love someone and be with them forever, and then after a year of marriage leave them. Does marriage mean anything to people anymore? Do people not realize what they are signing up for or something? Are their expectations not realistic? I am also grateful that one of the classes I took at BYU was Preparation for Marriage, it may seem cheesy, but that class was one of the best I ever took. It makes you realize what to expect from yourself, your spouse, and the whole institution of marriage. It was fantastic. <br />
So Happy Valentine's Day everyone and Happy Valentine's to my husband (even though I am going to pretend Valentine's Day isn't until Wednesday for him so I feel like a better wife). I did buy him a really cute gift bag already to put his present in, it has a robot on it holding a heart- so cute!<br />
P.S.- I was going to put a couple of cute pictures of Steve and I in here too, but my computer is having some issues accessing my libraries right now. :(Kari and Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15996147640036139038noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4126637326907270372.post-77113052756843582202011-01-21T15:49:00.000-08:002012-05-19T01:17:49.943-07:00Happy New YearHappy New Year! I know I am a little late on this, but New Year's Eve was spent sleeping in the San Francisco Airport. (We did get to see some fireworks though!)And as many of you know, the next two weeks were spent in Belize having an awesome time! (Pictures going on facebook as I type- but only the first batch so far.) So I must say I am looking forward to this year more than any year I have recently. I really feel like things are finally coming together for Steve and I as individuals and as a family. We have a lot of really big things going on this year and this month already! I am just so excited for all of these changes and looking forward to all that the year has in store. <br />
Some of the main things I am excited for this year (in no particular order)<br />
1. We finally went on a trip outside of the country!<br />
2. Steve is a nurse and started at the VA (technically he still has to take the NCLEX)<br />
3. I no longer work at Ashley Furniture.<br />
4. I get to be a stay-at-home mom!<br />
5. I am starting a part-time job at a new store called Graples Home Decor.<br />
6. We are trying to expand the size of our family.<br />
7. We have the potential to start looking for a house later this year.<br />
8. Steve will be home every night for dinner and home from work in time to have breakfast with us!<br />
9. We get to go "home" this summer for my cousins wedding and take Simon to the property.<br />
10. I get to stay home with Simon. I know I said that already, but I am looking forwward to spending so much time with my super sweet Simon-son!<br />
That's all for now, gotta go run some errands.Kari and Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15996147640036139038noreply@blogger.com2