Jake and Brooke

I'm trying, I really am.

2012-01-09T19:17:00.002-07:00

This blog has gotten sad. I just don't have TIME. That and my children love my laptop.

I also want to apologize to all of you that have blogs that I used to read. I might get to read them again some day. I promise it isn't because I don't still love all of you.

So, Congratulations to those who have had babies or other good events. Hang in there to those who have had bad/sad experiences, and I will keep trying...

Aubrie is 1

2011-12-15T13:21:00.004-07:00

Everybody says they don't know where the time went, and with just James I never really believed it. Now with two kids, it is so true. I feel like I missed it with all the things there is to do.

I love my Aubrie, and despite her difficult start when she didn't know how to sleep, she is a very happy, fun little girl.

She got all kinds of fun presents,
most of which James enjoys as much or more than she does.

Yes, he has ridden on the little car,
ironic that he had one at her size
and wouldn't ride it.
He would only use it as a walker.

So here is the traditional photo.
She is supposed to be a big mess, right?
She daintily ate the sprinkles off her cupcake.

She is just starting to walk.
She took her first "on purpose" steps on Thanksgiving.
She loves food, but will only eat real food; she is not in the least interested in baby food.
She is the opposite of her brother in just about every way possible.
And I love her!

Halloween

2011-11-16T19:18:00.003-07:00

Yeah, I finally got around to Halloween. The desktop is never on any more and it's where the photos are stored.

James was a Lightning McQueen race car driver.
I don't know what is up with the crown.

Aubrie was a pumpkin
(the costume was free)
She is much more interested in the grass
than in the photograph.

This one is a bit better of her.
She doesn't love the hat.

Lake Powell

2011-09-16T14:24:00.002-06:00

Rainbow Bridge
When we got there, James said, "But it's brown, not rainbow colored."

James has been terrified of water up until now,
s0 I am very glad that he swam this time.

Aubrie loved the water. She loved to splash.
Unfortunately, she also liked to lick the water off of her hands.

I think she is cute.

My Aubrie

2011-07-29T11:24:00.003-06:00

My babies don't stay babies long...

Aubrie has been sitting since about April.

She is quite the crawler. She can move. She loves to chase the cats.

She LOVES to stand. She wants to do it all the time.
Even when she falls, she isn't mad because she fell but because
she isn't standing any more.

Funny story.
Gerber has a website where you can make a menu
for you baby. You are supposed to pick their developmental stage, so I went with crawler because she can do everything it said. Then it tells you to put in a name and birthday. Well, I did that and it told me I must have made a mistake because baby's at her age are not usually at that developmental stage!

Everyone who told me he would out grow it at 4 lied.

2011-06-21T21:17:00.002-06:00

I have never had problems with my temper. In fact when I was younger it was something I thought I had going for me, but I swear that child will be the death of me! Today I was hit, kicked, scratched (enough that you can see blood), and took a toy cell phone to the chin (still hurts) because I said we needed to go to the store. I don't know what to do with him! We do timeouts, he thinks they are funny, he moves his chair over to the wall so that he can pick paint off the wall. And when I finally get him to stay in timeout, it fixes the problem- only temporarily. He has had the computer taken away permanently, until he earns it back. I know he is a good kid. I just don't know what else to do.

Today I asked him why he was doing what he was doing. He told me that "Bad James thinks it is funny." What do I do with that? So I said, "Can you see that it isn't funny?" He said, "Yeah, but I'm not Bad James anymore." I asked how we keep bad James away. He said to tickle him. What?

Any other ideas?

Haven't had time to blog much

2011-06-06T15:59:00.004-06:00

James and I have been sick again. I have spent too much time sleeping or kind of staring into space. Hopefully we are on the up and up now.

Other stuff we have been up to:

The cat has more jealousy issues than James.
She doesn't do this quite as much now that Aubrie
grabs fur.

Aubrie can hold herself up
against things, as long as she
doesn't decide to do it no-handed.

She has also started solids.
She prefers them and gets very
excited when she knows there are
solids coming. She also likes to
do it herself.

(I got a new table for our Anniversary,
you can just see it in the background.)

She also has two little teeth
on the bottom, and she is working
on at least two on the top.

I love Easter

2011-04-26T10:08:00.002-06:00

I think I like Easter better than Christmas. We have a lot of fun traditions, that I will post about when there is not a baby in my lap, but I wanted to post the cute photos of my kids on Easter Sunday.

Aubrie in her Easter dress.

James wouldn't take off his sunglasses.

james b-day

2011-04-01T12:14:00.003-06:00

Opening some gifts:

James is really into Toy Story right now:

We had his party at the Classic Family Fun Center:

There is a basketball hoop in this bouncy house thing, so he loved it.

That is a big slide!

My son loves playing at the adult sized basketball games.

He also got an outdoor full sized hoop.
I have played basketball every day since his party-
yes, it has rained, snowed and been below freezing.
Anybody want to play basketball?

The kids

2011-03-24T16:39:00.001-06:00

Aubrie: we survived colic. We survived RSV. Now on to teething.

James: he turned 4 on Sunday. We are having the party on Saturday at the Family Fun Center, so more details on that later.

I will eventually post photos, but they are on the other computer.

that is just how my life is right now

2011-03-10T18:47:00.002-07:00

James likes to help me vacuum. If you give him the hose he will do the whole house. So today I sent him into the downstairs bathroom where the cat liter boxes are. It is always a mess in there. He was busy, and I thought something was actually getting done. BONUS! So I went upstairs to grab Aubrie then back down to make sure he had not sucked up the bathroom rug or anything. He was vacuuming kitty liter alright- out of the kitty liter boxes! The vacuum canister was full and one of the boxes had significantly less liter in it. *sigh* So instead of helping it just made more work for me. Such is life.

Update

2011-02-22T14:15:00.002-07:00

We have all been sick. And not just some simple cold.
Aubrie had RSV. We were very lucky, and she didn't
have to be hospitalized or anything.
I have had a cough for more than three weeks now,
but of course I got the worst of it because of the
lack of sleep.

Before that (during for me actually)
she was blessed.

My grandma made the blanket.

My mom made the pretty dress.
If we had waited much longer,
it might not have fit.

It isn't that she couldn't hold up
her head before, she just didn't
see the point. But now she
likes the pattern on this quilt
so she will participate.
It also helps that I put her arms
under her instead of flat beside her.

This is what she would rather do.
She will seriously push off with her
legs until she is standing. She just can't
do it for long.
And if you hold her hands (like Jake is),
she tries to take steps.

It looks like we have another early walker on our hands.

of labor and things.

2011-01-25T14:15:00.006-07:00

I keep meaning to get around to sharing some birth stories. I just don't know if she will stay asleep that long. Do you think she will?

I will add some photos throughout so you don't get bored.

Jake had a final to give on the 9th. Aubrie was nice and waited for him to give it. My aunt had a Christmas party on the 10th, which we decided not to attend since it was in Heber. Then the ward Christmas party was on the 11th, and Jake was supposed to help. So, the night of the 11th, everything was done, so she decided not to wait any longer.

(This is what she does for tummy time.
She just sucks on her fist.
I don't know why photo is upside down.)

I woke up feeling sick to my stomach but didn't think
much of it because I had felt that way in the night
for the last couple of nights. I figured there just
wasn't enough room for food any more.
I went to the bathroom three times.
On the last time I figured out that something
else was going on.

(smiles)

Checking into the hospital took forever.
(Hello, I am in LABOR over here!)
First the girl had to start up her computer.
I mean, I know it was like 2 o'clock in the morning,
but why was her computer off?
Then the girl that took me back was weird.
She asked me if I had ever been to the hospital before.
I was trying to figure out if she meant for the tour,
or like for surgery or something, when she said,
"For false labor." what kind of question is that?
So I said, "No, I only come in for the real thing."

(again, I don't know why
it is upside down)

Then they asked like a bazillion questions about
my health- I swear they wanted to know the last
time I sneezed!

They decided I was really in labor after that (I don't
know for sure how they determined that, it
could have been the uncontrollable shaking of my
legs.)
I warned them about how fast I had James, so they
sent for the epidural. That was a strange experience.
I had one with James without anything weird.
First, they made Jake sit down. I guess some guy
in California passed out and died during his wife's epidural.
I don't know what she did wrong, but she started feeding the
tube thingy and my right hip started to burn. It was the
worst feeling ever. I started to cry and told her to stop.
I figured I would rather have labor pains! She stopped and tried again.
My hip was on fire! She had to pull it out and start over.
The next time it worked.
Jake and I got some rest after that.
I was progressing, but my water wouldn't break.
So, the doc came in and broke it.
My doctor had taken the weekend off, she doubted
my body's ability to go into labor by itself.

The on call doctor said that she had had
a bowel movement, so they would have to
have the Respiratory people on hand when
she was born. They put a catheter into my uterus
to try to flush out as much of it as possible (that was
weird).

I started to feel pressure, which I never felt
with James because that epidural wasn't as
good, and I was too numb, they had to tell
me when to push, and I couldn't feel how to.

They stuck my legs in the stirrups, and I felt her
shift down. The Respiratory people weren't there
yet, so the doctor said, "don't push."
I informed him that I wasn't doing anything.
"I know." the doctor said.
Aubrie wanted to deliver herself, apparently.
I hardly did anything after that.
She slid again and the doctor worked her out with
me barely pushing at all.

It was very different than with James.

(first time we went to church. I had
forgotten how unfun church is with
a newborn).

Something interesting. I went into labor
with James around 2 in the afternoon and
had him around 9 PM.
I went into labor with Aubrie at about 2 AM
and had her around 9 in the morning.

Merry Christmas

2011-01-06T13:11:00.004-07:00

Yeah, I know I am slow.
I had a baby for goodness sakes.

Imagine this as a cute Christmas card
that came in your mail. That
was the idea...

And here is just a bonus cute photo
of Aubrie.

So when does having two kids get easier?
And I probably don't want to know if it
doesn't, so don't tell me.

Aubrie has a bit of colic.
I don't think she likes formula,
but there's not much I can do about that.
It makes for long nights and longer mornings.
She seems to have the hardest time in
the morning and insists on being held
nonstop.

I am just proud that James has made it to
Preschool on time both days so far.

Aubrie Ann

2010-12-18T14:17:00.002-07:00

Aubrie was born December 12th @ 9:28 AM.
She waited for Jake to give his final and to help @
the ward Christmas party.

She was 6 pounds 6 ounces
18 inches long.
(I have small babies)

Here she is holding her own bottle.

I can't breastfeed because of my anti-seizure medication.
Nobody told me how painful waiting for milk to dry up
could be.

News and Views

2010-11-16T12:57:00.002-07:00

First, I have been almost afraid to share this in case it jinxes it, but I think James is finally potty-trained!!!!! I cannot contain my excitement! Now I won't have two kids in diapers (she said hopefully). Why it worked all of the sudden, I have no freaking idea. Just one day he started using the potty and never looked back. He hasn't had any accidents. Last week was a little rough because he kept waking up in the middle of the night, and then like an hour later he would decide that he needed to go potty, but I think another part of the problem was Daylight Savings, and another part of the problem was that he wouldn't eat- which I think was related to Daylight Savings also.

Next, here is the photo for all of you who care...

Have I mentioned that I am very sick of being pregnant?

Then last: I have decided I hate most of the terms people use instead of pregnant.
We were at Chuck E. Cheese, celebrating James' potty-training accomplishment, and there was a lady there in a t-shirt that said, "I'm not fat, I'm knocked up." REALLY? When people use the term "knocked up," I think of some stupid 16-year-old in the backseat of her boyfriend's car. Then there is the term "expecting." Expecting what exactly? I expect Netflix in the mail... Of course we have "with child." Sorry, the only time I have ever said someone was "with child," I was referring to Mary the mother of Jesus. I don't even want to visit preggers, it just plain offends me, not sure why. My mother kept saying I was PG. The heck? I am not a movie, nor do I live in Pleasant Grove.

so, there you have it.

October Grab Bag

2010-11-04T13:46:00.004-06:00

I haven't been very good about posting. I haven't had the greatest luck with cameras lately, and frankly, I have little time or energy for it. So this is what you get for October.

I don't really care for "belly shots."
I have enough self esteem problems when
I am pregnant, so enjoy it. There may not be
many more.
This was October 14th.

Jake's work went to a pumpkin patch.
Jake couldn't join us since he was teaching, so
we took Jake's mom.
All James liked was this
giant slide.

This one shows just how tall it was.
I half thought he would chicken out
when he got to the top, but instead we
couldn't get him to stop.

We did eventually talk him into
trying the smaller ones since they
only had rope ladders to climb up
them, and it was taking him forever
to climb the big one.

They also had this sandbox
only instead of sand, it had
corn kernels.

James wanted to be a cat
for Halloween. I thought, good,
lots easier than a basketball player
like last year. WRONG!
Who thought it would be hard to find
a cat costume?

So this is a tiger costume
that Jake's mom made for Jake's brother
when he was little.
It passed though.
James spend a bunch of time
crawling around and meowing.

Yet another thing you shouldn't say to a pregnant woman

2010-10-25T14:47:00.002-06:00

The conversation went something like this:

Anonymous member of my ward: "Hi, how are you doing?"
Me: "I am all right I guess."
AMofW: "How long do you have again?"
Me: "Until December."
AMofW: "Really, is that all?"

Is that all? This pregnancy has been totally miserable. I haven't been able to breathe for about seven months. I can't sleep. All of my joints hurt. I can barely walk because my hips are so bad. I have a love hate relationship with food (except ice cream and cold cereal). And I get to do it all for about 8 more weeks, but yeah, that's all.

Do things disappear at your house too?

2010-09-23T14:04:00.002-06:00

Since we had James, things vanish off of the face of the earth. It is weird.

James has this Leap Frog toy that is magnetic, and so is on our fridge. It has a front half and a back half of a vehicle and you can combine them in different ways. It says the sounds that the vehicles make and sings songs about whether you put them together right or not. The front half of the fire engine disappeared one day. This one is very frustrating to me because I was standing right there, and then when I turned around it was gone. James kept insisting it was behind the piano, but it isn't. I thought it would turn up, I mean, it didn't go into a black hole, did it? Well, it has been missing for like a year with no sign of it.

James had a car key that didn't go to anything. I got it in the mail as one of those promotions, "Come to our dealership and see if the key fits the car and win." I gave it to him to play with. It got misplaced a couple of times, so I put a key chain on it, thinking it would help us keep track of it. Well, now it is gone...

The latest tragedy is one of Jake's old cell phones. James carried the thing with him everywhere. He would even take it to church, and he would tell us he was "on call." Jake is on call at work every seven weeks or so. I can't find the blasted thing anywhere! And two weeks ago he cried all the way to church and into part of Sacrament because he was on call and didn't have his phone.

Dear black hole, please stop stealing things from our house! And could you please relinquish the toys you have already stolen. Thank you.

Dinosaurs and School

2010-09-14T12:54:00.003-06:00

We went to Thanksgiving Point.
They have $2 Tuesdays in August.
I thought James would want to go
to the Barn and see the animals, but
he surprised me and said he wanted to
see the dinosaurs.
He has NEVER shown any interest in
dinosaurs.

He wasn't really interested in them.
Here he liked the waterfall BEHIND the
dinosaur.

He did really like the Erosion Table.
He liked to bury the dinosaurs, then wash
them, then do it all over again.
I think he could have spent days there.

It was very busy, but it was all
okay with me since it was only $2 instead of
like $10.

I broke my camera at Lake Powell.
So, when the first day of school came around,
I was frantically searching for
a functional camera. And even James' kid camera
was not working. So this was taken AFTER school,
I put new batteries in his camera while he was there
and was finally able to get a photo.
(If you look close, he has marker on his nose
from coloring).

James loves preschool! I picked him
up the first day and he asked "Do I get to
go again next day?" (that's how he says tomorrow).
I have also been enjoying preschool time.
I can actually accomplish something once and a while,
though, honestly I spend too much time of it relaxing
or napping. Hey! I am pregnant and tired!

lagoon

2010-08-20T19:30:00.004-06:00

I have been slacking in the blogging department. We haven't really been doing anything, and I am pregnant. I also seem to have an endless list of things that I just never quite get around to: need to get James to a dentist, the cats to the vet, need to pick a more local pediatrician for unborn baby... There, I got the excuses out of the way.

We bought season passes to Lagoon this year, which was actually kind of silly, since I can ride, I think, the train and that is about it. Of course we did it for James, any way.

These are from June, but we have been several times:

I don't get the fascination with baby boats, but kids love them.
Maybe it is the annoying bell...

James LOVES the cars.
He and I went on a slow day, and
he just went on the cars over and over
and over.

He likes the helicopters, but
he doesn't think that they should
go up and down.
He pushes the bar as far forward
as it will go, so that it stays down.

The train is by far his favorite.

It's a....

2010-07-22T11:05:00.002-06:00

BABY!
ha. ha.
For those who haven't already read it on Facebook, we are having a girl. Now we just have to convince James that we are NOT naming her Molly.

Names I am actually thinking about:
Aubrie (this is the top runner right now).
Morgan
Sydney (I liked this name BEFORE Alias)
Cassidy
Also open to suggestions, though I have a lot of rules...
1. It can't start with a J. We have enough of those in the family.
2. It can't be on the top ten list of popular names for 2010.
3. I can't have an immediate family member with the name.
4. It has to be a real name... (I realize this is open to interpretation).
5. It can't be the name of an 80 year old woman only.

Ultrasound pictures to come, as soon as Jake gets around to scanning them.

So

2010-07-05T11:13:00.002-06:00

We find out if the baby is a boy or a girl on July 20th. James has already decided it is a girl. He has named her Molly- don't worry, it is not even a choice for names. If you ask him what we should name it if it is a boy, he either says, "Molly." or "Nothing." So, things could get interesting if it is a boy, especially since Jake and I don't really have any boy names either. I keep teasing Jake that I am going to name it Vaughn (from Michael Vaughn in Alias), but I am only half serious. Now Jake just says we will talk about what to name it after we know the gender.

Some details. I am due on December 16th. The Chinese gender predictor thingy says it is a girl. I have been pretty sick this time around. It has been different than it was with James, but I know that doesn't mean much. Anybody, know any of the wives tales concerning these things?

What do you guys think? Is it going to be a girl or a boy? And if it is a boy, name suggestions?

News

2010-06-16T10:21:00.004-06:00

I have thought and thought about how to do this. I just couldn't really come up with anything. I have never been good at these types of things. When I got engaged, I think I only told my family, and let everybody else figure it out when they saw my engagement ring. But since most of you don't see me on a regular basis, I am not sure how you could figure this one out. So, I will provide the visuals. Besides, I am starting to get that look- "have you put on a lot of weight or...?"

Jake always says he can't make anything
out on these things. So, I will help.
Head to the right.

This one didn't scan as well.
Head to left, can see eyes and mouth.
Little feet are kicking forward.

Is it a bad sign when at 12 weeks, the doctor says,
"Oh, it is good to have active babies."?
The problem: they turn into active toddlers!

Thomas Day

2010-06-02T19:08:00.004-06:00

Thomas the Tank Engine made his way to
the Heber Valley Railroad for Memorial
Day Weekend. So we took James on
Thursday.

For some reason James
wouldn't smile normal
for any of the pictures.
This is the best of him with
Thomas.

And this is the best of these
too.

They had all sorts of activities.
Train tables to play with, which is
always a favorite (even though we
have one at home).

(Don't buy the innocent look).

Miniature golf, which for some reason
James plays just like bowling, only into
a hole instead of at pins.

Then, finally the train ride.
I thought it was a little slow
and uneventful. James LOVED
it!

We even went over the road so he
got to see a railroad crossing sign and
a signal, which sometimes I think
he likes better than the trains themselves.

April Review

2010-05-17T13:44:00.002-06:00

Yes, I know I am a total slacker...

So, like everyone else, we had Easter.

James liked Easter. In fact,
just a couple weeks ago, he
asked me if it was Easter yet.
I asked him why he liked Easter so
much, and he said, "Because when
I wake up in the morning, there are
eggs for me."

He especially likes that there
is candy in them.

We also got to go to the park
a couple of times, which is good
because it has been pretty much
too cold to go in May.

Stupid Utah spring.

He won't go outside without
his sunglasses.

So, there is our April, more
or less.

The Birthday Party

2010-04-06T14:22:00.005-06:00

I know, I am slow. But here it is.

Close ups on the cake.

It is actually just from Smith's
which is pretty amazing.

The numbers, smokestack, wheels and such
are plastic (I have them if anyone feels brave enough
to try making it). The bottom is sheet cake,
and the other is a squarish cake.
Black frosting is dangerous stuff though. It colors everything.

So, I was just thinking. James has never actually eaten
his cake on his birthday. His first birthday he had the
stomach flu, so he had to wait a couple of days.
On his second birthday, he was too busy playing
basketball, and on this birthday, he was too busy
with his trains and all of his guests.

All James wanted for his birthday
was a magnetic Thomas to go on
his track. Mostly what he got was
clothes. I was excited. He wasn't.
Every time he opened something
he would say, "Do you think this
is a Thomas?" He ended up getting
two Thomas trains and two Percy
trains, of different sizes. He calls
them big Thomas and Percy
and baby Thomas and Percy.

He also got a train table which I
thought was going to be wonderful
because I thought it might contain
the train mess...

It didn't.

This is my favorite picture.
Halfway through his party,
he decided he needed a break.
He asked for apple juice, and I
thought he would find a lap to sit in while
he drank it. Instead he disappeared alone
to the living room where he
sat and drank it. Too much excitement,
I guess.

The birthday: James

2010-03-29T19:26:00.005-06:00

I am late, I know. It always seems to take me forever to get the photos in the computer.
I hope this isn't picture overload, but I have never done one of those from birth to current things, so I thought I would give it a try...

Sleeping in the hospital:

Trying to walk at about
4 months:

At a little over a year with the
ever present basketballs:

At two, with more basketballs:

Just before his 3rd birthday:
(I know it is cliche, but where does
the time go?)

I will get to his party soon,
but I couldn't resist the picture of
the coolest birthday cake, EVER,
found by my brother and Brittany:

Confessions

2010-03-23T19:00:00.002-06:00

So, the story behind the last post...

Earlier I admitted my current obsession with Alias. It is a good show, but the other reason I like it is Michael Vaughn. I was somewhat worried that there was something wrong with me. I haven't had a crush on a fictional character since I was young and stupid. I wanted to know if it happened to regular people, or just the hopeless romantic/writer types.

Now the crush thing. I'm not like in love with him. He is even only mildly cute (played by Michael Vartan who was in Never Been Kissed), but I guess it is more that I am in love with him on behalf of Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner). They can't be together because if people see them together, it might end up getting them killed (I don't want to give too much away in case people decide they want to watch it), but you can tell how much he is in love with her. I was trying to figure out what it is about him that I like so that I could throw it into my own book. Which is why I asked why you liked the character you had a crush on.

Tiffany, I also had a crush on Gilbert Blythe. My sister and I used to watch Anne of Green Gables on PBS until all hours. I always hated the episode when she almost ends up with that annoying older guy because you want to scream "No! Gilbert is in love with you, you stupid girl!"

So, then I started to think I only had a thing for guys who are hopelessly in love with a girl that doesn't love him or he can't be with. I don't even know what that says about me Psychologically. But then reading what some of you wrote, and over thinking it all (hey, over thinking things is one of the things I do best). I figured out what it is. First, he can look at Sydney with more feeling and emotion than it is possible for words to even say. Secondly, he can read Sydney effortlessly. She lives as a spy. She lies to everyone, for their safety, but she can never tell them anything real about herself. She is good at not showing her emotions on her face (not as good as her dad, but still good), but all she has to do is walk in the room, and he knows. He knows what she is feeling, sometimes maybe more than she does. And it isn't just because she can be herself with him because sometimes she doesn't want him to know what is going on, but he knows when something is wrong.

There is some rambling for you, huh?

So, I laughed pretty hard when Jake said Sydney Bristow. Does that mean we are compatible or something? ;)

A short quiz

2010-03-19T10:18:00.004-06:00

I posted this on Facebook too, so you don't have to reply to both...

Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character, if so who and why?

And if you all put Edward Cullin I expect a whole essay as to why because I will need convincing!!!

I promise this isn't some weird Psychology experiment. This is part curiosity, part to help with my writing.

Thanks for your input.

Haven't posted in a while

2010-03-14T20:24:00.002-06:00

Just wanted to make sure everybody knows we are still alive and kicking. We will have a real post sometime next week because James' birthday is next Saturday. I can't believe he will be three!

Some stuff that has been rolling around in my head:

Why does it not matter how many things I do in a day, there are always a million more? I think I am drowning in chores!!!

I do not know how to pick a preschool for James. Or maybe I am too late and they are all already full for fall, even though it is only March! Then I think maybe I shouldn't put him in yet since he will only be three... I just don't know.

We started renting ALIAS from Netflix. I am totally addicted to this show! I almost dont know what to do with myself when we are between discs. (We are currently between discs, HELP!)

I just finished reading Catching Fire, the second book to the Hunger Games. I really enjoyed both books, but I don't want to wait until Fall for the next one. I am also wondering if she will take the easy way out with the "love triangle."

I have not been writing as much as I should... could have something to do with my addiction to ALIAS. I am also doubting my abilities as a writer again.

Pretty slow around here... and thinking too much

2010-02-11T13:04:00.004-07:00

I have not had a lot of time to blog. I am trying really hard to reach my goal of writing a book this year, and I won't lie, it has been hit of miss. Some nights I can't seem to stop to go to sleep and other nights nothing seems to come. It doesn't help that the other night I was hit with inspiration for yet another story that I have no idea where it will go, and I had to stop working on the regular one to get that one on paper.

Anyway, James and I have been sick all week. And frankly, I am sick of it. I want out of this house!

I have also been thinking a lot about pregnancy and babies and all of that. Mostly because a lot of my small audience is pregnant, just had a baby, just lost a baby...
I am wondering at what point I just need to accept that with only one ovary, I am going to have to have help, if I am even able to have another one. Then some days I don't know if I want another one (these are infrequent and usually when James has done a lot of screaming). James and I were just looking through his scrapbooks. I can't believe how small he was, and how much fun it was to watch him discover his world. It didn't help my train of thought. Part of my problem, of course, is that I just don't want to talk to the doctor. I am pretty sure that they will want me to do self-injections, and frankly, if that is my option, maybe I should look into adoption...

Christmas and Rock Band

2010-01-13T10:48:00.007-07:00

There is nothing like trying to post with a kid on your knee, a cat on your shoulders and annoying children's videos on the other computer screen...

The only thing James would tell anyone he wanted was a pop goes the weasel toy. He loves that song. I tried to find the Elmo toy from Nursery that played the song, but they don't make it any more. The "George" in the box seemed to work though.

Opening a big one. James had to play with every present before he would open another one. It took us three hours to get through his gifts on Christmas morning.

The soccer goal from my brother was an instant hit. He wouldn't open any other presents and just told me to do it.

Another hit was the train sets and the James train (from Thomas) that goes by itself.

My niece and nephew got Rock Band for the Wii for Christmas.
We had a jam session and James decided he needed to join in.
That is my brother on the drums, Jake on the guitar and James singing "Jingle Bells" to "American Woman."

Close up on the lead singer.

Not to brag but I got a hundred percent on "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey on difficult on vocals. That day was the first time I had ever played. It was fun. We won't talk about my lack of guitar and drum skills. We all know I am only a singer. :)

Random Sampler

2010-01-06T19:24:00.003-07:00

First, James decided to give up naps for Christmas. Was I that bad this year? I would have preferred the coal. I wouldn't mind so much except for the tantrum that occurs every night between 4 and 5 caused by it.

That is my excuse for not posting much any more. If I want to even write half a book this year, I cannot spend all of my time posting, of course, I should be writing now...

Here are some random pictures with captions:

This is how James spent Thanksgiving.
He decided that my mom's shower in her
new house was the biggest hoop ever.
Luckily his cousins were willing to
stand in it and throw the balls back.

Just a cute pose of James from Thanksgiving.

We decided to ride Frontrunner and Trax
down to see the lights at Temple Square.
Too bad everybody else had the same idea
on the same night. I have never seen a train
so crowded, except in Japan where there is
actually an employee who shoves people onto
the trains.

James and I waiting for Trax.

Jake and James in front of some lights
at Temple Square.

The Salt Lake Temple.

I might get around to Christmas pictures eventually.

I did it!

2009-12-28T20:25:00.002-07:00

I read 51 books in 2009!
So, this goal started because of a group on Shelfari and something stupid said "People Don't Read Anymore." Somebody started a group on Shelfari to prove him wrong. And the challenge in the group was to read 50 books in a year. I tried last year and made it to 46. So I tried again this year. Here are the 51 books I read:
1.Bright Flows the River
2.The Book Thief- excellent, everyone should read it!
3.The Girl in Hyacinth Blue
4.Hero's Song
5.The Life of Pi
6.Fire Arrow
7.The Door in the Hedge
8.A Single Shard
9.A Wizard of Earthsea
10.The Tombs of Atuan
11.The Farthest Shore
12.The City of Ember
13.Eldest
14.The Falls
15.The Blue Sword
16.Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
17.The Diary of Mattie Spenser
18.Three Cups of Tea
19.The Hundred Dresses
20.Hearts in Hiding
21.The Alchemist
22.I Hated Heaven
23.The Diamond Throne
24.The Eye of the World
25.Skinnybones
26.The Great Hunt
27.The Dragon Reborn
28.Memory Keeper's Daughter
29.The Heart of a Woman
30.The Westing Game
31.Wayside School is Falling Down
32.Sideways Stories from Wayside School
33.The Shadow Rising
34.The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and six more
35.The Fires of Heaven
36.Wicked (some long title about the Wicked Witch of the West)
37.The Book of a Thousand Days
38.The Summer of the Swans
39.Lord of Chaos
40.Shark Beneath the Reef
41.The Chocolate Touch
42.The Poisonwood Bible
43.On My Honor
44.Sarah, Plain and Tall
45.The Nutcracker
46.The Crown of Swords
47.The Velvateen Rabbit
48.A Christmas Carol
49.Silent Night
50.All Through the Night
51.Christmas Jars
The goal for 2010: Write and submit a book to a publisher. Wish me luck!

Christmas Wishes

2009-12-21T13:02:00.003-07:00

James would like to wish everyone
a White Christmas!

Mostly because he REALLY
likes to shovel snow!

I love the use of the tiny shovel!

And I want to wish you
PEACE ON EARTH!

I will have to catch up on past events after Christmas!

Why are the dates in German?

2009-12-21T13:01:00.001-07:00

sigh

2009-12-07T14:02:00.002-07:00

I know I am slacking on the posting world, but we have been sick off and on since the first week of November. It is getting really old.

I don't know that I will have time to post any time soon either. My mom is having hip surgery tomorrow. My dad has to go out of town on Thursday for work, so I am going to be Mom's caretaker being that I am the only one of my family that stays home.

Not to mention James's naps are very hit or miss right now.

So there it is.

All Hallow's Eve

2009-11-05T20:12:00.003-07:00

So, I had every intention of getting the pics up fast. I even had them in the computer on the 1st. Then Daylight Savings Time Ending caught up to us. Then James and I got sick... So here I am now.

It took us all month to convince James that the way you got candy was to dress up. He was not interested in it AT ALL. He even watched Halloween episodes of all of his favorite cartoons, but he did not want to dress up. I finally decided he might be convinced if he dressed as what he is all the time any way...
A BASKETBALL PLAYER:

I know, I know, it is a football jersey.
Jersey's are really expensive for a two-year-old
that won't fit in it next year.
So we found a slightly cheaper BYU jersey
and that is what we went with.

The first candy bar he got,
he had to eat. After that, he
did not care much about
Trick or Treating one way
or the other.

He did think that the lighted pumpkins
were REALLY cool, even if he was
not interested when we carved them.

How does that thing work?

Now isn't everybody glad I don't have more time?
If I did I would have to do some ranting about Stephanie Meyer and New Moon since it is coming out soon and because Tiffany has me thinking about the series since she posted about them on her blog.

Reviews

2009-10-14T13:23:00.003-06:00

So, some people were wondering what kind of movies I like. I will give my opinion of some of the ones we have watched lately.

Mostly we have watched a lot of Doctor Who. These are mainly for Jake. I think I have liked maybe three episodes.

Just saw Emma. I know everyone is in shock because all females have seen all Jane Austen videos a thousand times, right? Well, it was the first time I have seen it. I liked it better than that other one with Mr. Darcy in it. Oh, now I know I have insulted the fans!

Before that was the Majestic. It was just ok. I did not think it was very likely, and it was a little slow.

Serenity: I liked this movie. It is kind of weird, but it is worth the whole movie to watch the girl fight. She is awesome!

Seven Pounds: I actually really liked this movie even if I was a little lost in the beginning. I won't say anything else for those who have not seen it.

Bride Wars: It was ok, a little predictable but cute.

Elizabethtown: To be honest I rented this because Orlando Bloom was in it, but it turned out to be one of the best movies I have seen in a while. (careful, it does have some bad language).

Under the Tuscan Sun: It was ok. Too much sex, but I liked how she went looking for herself.

October Sky: Cute show, based on a true story I think. Astronomy for Jake.

So those are the most recent.

The Proposal is the next on my list to watch.

As for book comments. I have not liked the last three bestsellers I have read. I have been disgusted with the amount of sex in all of them.

Wicked:I really don't like Wicked, but I am trying to suffer through it (don't know why...) . It is very crude and mostly I have been totally lost since the first page. I feel like the author expected me to know the history, politics and religion of Oz without actually giving me any of the history. And well, I have not been to Oz.

Before that was Memory Keeper's Daughter: I liked the premise and overall it was not a bad book, but apparently the solution to such things is to have a lot of affairs (at least on the wife's part).

Then I read a bunch of other stuff, but the other big name one I did not like was Time Traveler's Wife: Nobody in this book had any morals whatsoever. And it still really bothers me that the first time they meet she is six and he is totally naked. I think she could have done sooo much more with this very original premise.

I am going back to Fantasy and Young Adult novels!!!

Some random stuff and some requested help for the readers

2009-09-28T14:18:00.004-06:00

*I saw the weirdest thing on TV. I guess there is some lady who is pregnant with two babies that are not twins. One is actually two weeks younger. The thing is, they will both be born on the same day because it isn't like you can tell the other one to hold on for a while. So then, does that make them twins? Because aren't twins defined as two children born on the same day?*

*Apparently we have a mouse in our laundry room. I guess it is time to let the cats in there.*

*I am trying to read 50 books a year. Last year I think I made it to 48, with only a little cheating of adding things like The Eye Book. I was right on track until this month. September was a mess. For starters I went to Lake Powell. Then it doesn't help that I have been reading the Wheel of Time series where the books are 500+ pages (I think they should count as at least 2). Then I started Wicked, and I really don't know that I will finish it. I got about halfway through because it was all I had to read on my way home from Lake Powell. So here I am with September almost over and I have not read even one book this month. Unless you count The Very Hungry Caterpillar which I have read probably 30 times.*

*I am thinking of updated my list of the top 10 books of all time. I think I need to add The Book Thief. Okay, I know I need to add that one, but who to kick off? I am also debating adding something by Shannon Hale, but I don't know that I could pick which one. Maybe River Secrets.*

*I am looking for some movie suggestions. I have Netflix, and it is looking kind of bare right now. I know there are always movies that I think "I want to see that." But I don't right them down or anything so as soon as their commercials are off the TV, I forget their names. So, if everyone would post the best movie, or perhaps the only recent movie they have seen and maybe something about plot or why they liked it, it would be appreciated.*

*Nobody check the grammar too closely in this post. I don't feel like rereading it.*

Some Lake Powell

2009-09-18T13:51:00.005-06:00

James and I went with part of my family to Lake Powell August 31st- Labor Day.
I am a little slow getting pictures on the computer, but here are some highlights.

The House Boat

James is still James
anywhere, so there was a
lot of basketball.

He did try driving the boat
but it was not nearly as fun
as basketball.

The getup. He did not care
much for the life jacket.

By the second to the last day
he decided the sand was pretty fun.
Too bad it took so long
to figure it out.

This is as close as he got
to getting in the lake though.
We used this bucket
to rinse the sand off of
our feet. He thought
it was fun.

Once again I have almost no
pictures of myself, so I posted
this one even though it is not
exactly flattering.
My sister always
brings glow sticks for the kids
for around the fire.

Solutions to the cat question

2009-08-19T18:42:00.003-06:00

So, I take it most people don't get where the kitties get their names. Here are the answers people. My husband is an Astronomer. Castor is the second brightest star in the constellation Gemini and one of the brightest stars in the nighttime sky. Pollux is an orange giant star approximately 34 light-years away in the constellation of Gemini and it is the brightest star in Gemini.

And Tiberius, sadly, is from James T. Kirk, it is what the T stands for. Aren't you glad I didn't let him go with Tiberius?

Kitties

2009-07-29T13:18:00.003-06:00

Jake finally gave in and let me get two kittens. I love cats and have pretty much always had them except when we lived at BYU and could not have them. I kept hearing it was easier to have two because they take out their aggression on each other and are nicer to people. So when we found two that I could not pick between that ended up being sisters, we got them both. They spent the first few days cowering behind the toilet in the basement, but now they are coming around. Pollux (the white one) even tolerates James now, most of the time.

Isn't this how it goes.
You buy a cute kitty bed
and they sleep in it for like a week
and then aren't interested in it at all.

This is Castor:

James picked out their toys,
so of course we went with balls.

This is Pollux:

Please tell me that someone gets their names.
Everyone seems to just give me a stupid look
when I tell them their names.

Jake wanted to name one Tiberious. I said no.

Vernal

2009-07-17T14:07:00.005-06:00

So Jake and I went on a belated Anniversary trip to Vernal because we had never been to Dinosaur Monument and all of that. Well, nobody warned us that the Quarry is closed. The foundation fell apart and they lost their funding due to 9/11 and so they have not been able to rebuild. Due to the stimulus package they should be rebuilding starting next year...

So these are the only dinosaur bones we saw.
A leg bone:

Part of a spine:

We saw a lot of Petroglyphs though:

"Boo!!"

A Goat or something:

Find the lizards:

Overall, it turned into a good trip. Sometimes it is nice just to get away. If anyone is planning on going that way I suggest waiting until the Quarry is rebuilt.

Various fun part two- Lagoon

2009-06-30T13:39:00.002-06:00

For those not in Utah, it has rained and rained and rained,
despite that, we ventured to Lagoon.
We weren't stupid enough to pay full price.
I can't believe the price now- $41.95!!!
When I worked there it was $21.95.
I know that was like ten years ago,
but I still think that is more than inflation.

Gotta ride Baby Boats!

We had two good hours before
it started to pour...
Unfortunately, James had just discovered
the helicopters. He rode them two more times
before we could get him off of them to get out
of the rain.

Various fun part one- zoo

2009-06-22T13:57:00.003-06:00

I am not going to lie.
I think most children have no idea that there are animals at the zoo.

James does enjoy the giant water ball, however.

My attempt at artsy photography.

He also enjoys the train.

I took a lot of pictures of him climbing on the lions.
He really enjoyed that. I think this is the best photo.

James's new hobby

2009-06-16T13:19:00.004-06:00

I admit I have been slacking in the blogging department. I finally got the pictures downloaded to the computer, so now I have to play catch up. I thought I would start with some photos of James. He has decided it is fun to stand on his head...

It can be difficult to actually get pictures of
because sometimes it doesn't last very long.

Funny story, he actually got stuck upside down
at my mother's in her recliner.
He had managed to recline the chair just enough that he
couldn't push himself back with his legs.

Sometimes he can do it for a while.
We need to get him in gymnastics.

Of fertility and surgery

2009-05-06T14:08:00.004-06:00

So, I have returned from my brief hiatus, with a message to the world.

Jake and I have been married for almost ten years, and James is two. If you do the math, that means we were married a while before we had kids. People in BYU used to meet us and ask two standard questions, "How long have you been married?" Followed by "How many kids do you have?" Now, I know it was just a standard question, but sometimes I felt like smacking them. I took to looking around, as if I had misplaced my five children. Jake took to telling people they were at camp, no matter the season. After we had our joke, and "confessed" to not having any, we received a response. Usually it was just,"Oh," but sometimes I would get this look like I had two heads or like something was wrong with me. I mean, obviously if I have been married five years and have not single-handedly multiplied and replenished the earth, I must be some sort of sinner, right?

Now some of you may know of my fight with fertility, and some of you might not. It took me three years to have James from the time we decided to have him and when I actually held him in my arms. In those three years I suffered a miscarriage and just plain fought to get pregnant again. For those who have had a miscarriage, you relate, all you need is a constant reminder that you lost your child. I told Jake at one point that I was going to hit the next person who asked me, "how many kids do you have?"

I finally had James. He was, is, and always will be my miracle because by that time I had long since given up on the whole darn thing. And I thought the annoying questions would stop. I could finally and proudly announce that we had a beautiful boy...

We moved into our new ward. And again, I know no harm is meant by any of it, but now the questions are, "So you just have the one then?" or "Is he your only one?" Again, I feel like saying, "Oh, my gosh! We left the other three at home!" It also doesn't help that everyone in this ward seems to have between three and six children. In fact, several people have actually made stupid comments to me about about the increased fertility of this area, or that "twins run on your street." OK. I actually made a comment one time, something like, "boy I hope so because I could sure use the help in that area." That shut the guy up. It doesn't help that I could not have had another child by now, no matter how much I wanted one and no matter what I could do about it. It is really hard to get pregnant when you have only ovulated twice in almost three years. That would have been some amazing timing on my part!!!

I had surgery on Thurday. They thought I had a cyst, but it turns out that it was actually my ovary that was the size of a necturine. So they took it out (sorry, timeout, funny story: I actually had to sign a form that said that if they ended up taking both of my ovaries I would be sterile. Really? It turns out there really are people THAT stupid. I am afraid to know where they work...). Any way, so I had trouble getting pregnant before. Now I am down one ovary reducing my odds even furter...

Moral of the story: Just don't!!!!!! Don't comment on the amount of children anyone has, or about anything that will or may be taken as a comment about their fertility. Don't look at people who don't have twelve kids in thirteen years like they are sinners or like they have two heads!! Just don't!!!! Leave people and their fertility alone, unless they are confiding in you, then listen and don't share the information with others. Fertility is a VERY painful subject for some. So next time you are thinking of making even an off-handed comment about someone's number of children, do us all a favor and shut your mouth.

On a related subject. If I tell people I just had surgery, why is the immediate response, "oh, what did you have done?" Like I want to explain to complete strangers that I am now down an ovary. If I wanted you to know, I would say, "I just had surgery on___(fill in body part here)___. Otherwise, maybe there is a reason I didn't announce to the world what I had done. I have considered telling people it was plastic surgery on my nose, just to see the look on their faces, since nobody in their right mind would choose my nose... I will list an appropriate response, "Oh, how are you feeling? Can I do anything for you?"

Now if only I could get the whole world to read this post...

Easter

2009-04-27T12:51:00.003-06:00

I am slow but here are some photos from Easter...

Hey! There's an egg on my hoop!

There's candy in there.
Open it!

Love the soccer balls!

Play-Dough

The church outfit.

James turns 2

2009-04-02T13:05:00.004-06:00

Yeah, I know, I am slow. His birthday was March 20th and the party was March 21st. Here are some pictures any way. We had to wake him up from his nap for the party, hence the great hairstyle.

At first he was still waking up
and he wasn't sure what to do
with the packages.

Then he started to get the hang of it.

I think this picture is so cute.

He got two bubble mowers.
I think everyone is ready for Spring.

After this package,
the party kind of fell apart.
James is obsessed with basketball.

He wouldn't even stop playing
to taste his cake, and he loves
chocolate!

Now pretty much ALL
we do is play basketball.
It is starting to get a little old
for Mommy.

The House

2009-03-30T12:59:00.005-06:00

Not much posting out there today. So here is one of my own. Lots of you wanted to see what my house looks like, so here are some pictures. I did the rooms that were clean. You'll have to imagine the rest. Also, I didn't do any of the outside so nobody can stalk me or anything.

Living Room:

Another view of the Living Room:
(I have always wanted a library,
this might be the closest I get).

Kitchen:

Family Room:
(complete with the TV we got
with the house)

I was going to post a cute video of James
Here:
But apparently videos do not wish to cooperate.

thoughts...

2009-03-23T12:38:00.002-06:00

First let's clear this up. I did not end up having surgery on Wednesday. Late Tuesday afternoon, my insurance finally decided that they were not going to cover the doctor, and nobody could tell me how much he was going to charge for the thing. Now we are playing a waiting game. Jake changed jobs back in January, and we have been on his old job's insurance. The new insurance starts on April 1st and I have to find all new doctors (except my primary care doctor, thank goodness!). So, I can't get in to a new doctor and have surgery by then, so I either have to find a doctor that takes both insurances or wait.

Meanwhile, I can't figure out which drug it is that I am allergic too, either that or it is both. I don't want to play any more...

Other than that, I have been doing pretty well since the drug I hate and that makes it so I can't think, is the one I am currently not on. Unfortunately, my tongue started itching again this morning, so it might be the wrong one. Who knows!!!

Thanks again to everybody for their positive thoughts and prayers in my direction. Hopefully the next post will be more fun, since we had a birthday party for James on Saturday. I can't believe he is two already.

The curse continues...

2009-03-17T12:47:00.002-06:00

So, I finally found out today that they are most likely going to cover the doctor doing my surgery. Yeah, the surgery is tomorrow and still nobody seems to know for sure. See, here is the situation. My primary care physician is not technically on the in network list with my provider, but the clinic where he works is. So as long as he is billed under the clinic, he is covered. Well, he referred me to an OBGYN within that same clinic. Well, the surgery is not performed in the clinic, but in a hospital (amazing, I know), and it took me hours to find a hospital covered under my insurance. But apparently when the OBGYN steps outside the clinic he is technically no longer billable under that clinic (I guess he becomes Batman or something on his way to the hospital).

Then yesterday, they call to register me for my surgery. I never understood the preregistration any way. They ask you a bunch of questions that they ask you again when you are registering in the hospital. Any way, the girl calls and says, "Hi I'm so and so from the blah blah hospital calling to preregister you for your proceedure on Friday." "Whoa, what? Friday? My surgery is on Wednesday." Pause. "That's right, today is the 16th, so Wednesday." Man, it better be on Wednesday because that is when I am showing up.

Last night I am minding my own business and watching Big Bang Theory (which if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it, but maybe it is just because I knew guys just like them), and my tongue starts to feel weird. It keeps getting weirder and then flat out starts to itch, like I have been licking sage brush (which I am allergic too). I start thinking to myself, "oh, no not again." So apparently I am allergic to one of the medications I am on.

Then to top off the list of good news (please people this is sarcasm, I know there was some confusion earlier), I just got an email saying I did not make it into the next round in the writing contest.

STOP THE WORLD, I WANT TO GET OFF!!!!

Question and answer

2009-03-13T10:19:00.003-06:00

Thanks to everyone for their comments on my health care nightmare. I appreciate all those who say they will think of me or pray for me. There were a lot of questions asked. I will try my best to answer them.

First about the seizures. I have had one other episode (their word, not mine). It was almost exactly five years ago. I think in my gut that they are related to my blood sugar levels but depending on the doctor, I am having a hard time convincing them of it. My neurologist seems to think it is impossible, though the neurologist I had five years ago didn't seem to think it was that radical. My primary care physician seems to think it is possible to the point that he gave me a blood sugar tester. Now if only I could get up the courage to stab myself.

As for the cyst. They actually think it is the same cyst that I had in November and they are worried about it because it is abnormally shaped. They also want to go in and see if I have endometriosis. My primary care physician ordered the CT scans to make sure we weren't missing anything, especially since I hurt on the left and the cyst is on the right.

So I hope that answers all the questions. If not, post them here. :)

The final installment (see below for the first two)

2009-03-12T14:12:00.005-06:00

Ok, so Wednesday (yesterday) I had an appointment for a CT scan at 7:15 and then an appointment with an OBGYN at 11:20. I get a call Tuesday night that they have to reschedule my CT. Now, the meds I am on make me irritable, to put it mildly. So I pretty much told this girl there was no way on earth she was going to reschedule on me. I mean, I had to spend the night at my mom's and my sister had to take James, and the OBGYN wanted the results of the test. She tells me the reason it has to be rescheduled is because they have not received authoriztion from my doctor. I don't see how that is possible since it is my doctor's nurse who made the appointment in the first place. She tells me to contact the doc's office. I do, and the nurse promises me that she faxed the info to Humana, our health insurance. I spend the next half hour on the phone with Humana in which they promise me that it will be processed before my 7:15 appointment (I am going to be honest, I don't know if it has been processed even now). I get back with the hospital and tell her this so she doesn't cancel my appointment. She warns me that I might have to pay for the CT if they don't get the authorization. Lovely. Now, Lakeview has this annoying policy that you have to pay for your portion of the bill before the test is performed (funny, that wasn't a problem when they did the CT, MRI and EEG when I was admitted into the ER). So, I am told that my portion is $940, and I should bring that to the test. WHAT?! Who has $940 sitting around to just bring with them to the hospital, and where did that number come from any way? How can they guess at how much my insurance is going to pay? I tell her no way. She says the best she can do then is if I make a $300 deposit, she can bill me $100 a month after that. Fine, whatever, hopefully by then my insurance company will be processing it and they will see that I shouldn't owe more than the $300 any way (or possibly less). I call Humana and ask about all of this. They say that if it is the hospitals practice to bill that way, there isn't anything they can do. I try to argue that surely we have met our deductible by now with two ERs, an EEG, a MRI, a CT and two specialists. He tells me I am $200 and something short. This is ridiculous!

Wednesday morning I get to wake up at 5:45 in the morning so that I can start drinking my radioactive milkshake that tastes like citrus flavored chalk. I comment to my mom that it seems silly that I am drinking the shake because I don't see how it will get to my ovary, but I don't think much of it. It was disgusting by the way.

We beat the tech who did the test to the hospital. He showed up with his running shoes in one hand. And by this point I am starting to feel violently ill. This continued throughout the day as I rid my body of the radioactive milkshake, turns out it isn't the halflife of the stuff I should have been worried about, but rather its expulsion. I get through the test, including the iodine through the IV, and I think all is well.

We go to the OBGYN where he informs us that they did the wrong test. WHAT?!!! I am having visions of going on a killing spree. I WILL NOT DO THAT AGAIN!! I mean, they still can't decide if they are going to pay for it, and now I get a second one! Someone is going to die for this! Any way, he does the exam and says the cyst, on my right side (which I am still really confused about because it is my back on the left that hurts, but that is a whole other post) is ugly and he is going to have to take it out and check stuff out while he is in there. He might have to take the ovary oh and I might have endometriosis too. Go schedule the surgery.

I am not going to lie, by this point I am almost in tears and spitting mad. The OBGYN's office is in the same building (right across from each other actually) from my primary care physician's office. My mom says she will schedule the surgery and I go directly to my doctor's receptionist. The conversation goes something like this:
"I need to see either Dr ____ or his nurse. NOW!!!!"
"They're both with patients right now."
"I DON'T CARE."
"Um, I can schedule you an appointment."
"LOOK, I was just given the wrong test and I want to know what is going on. GO AND GET ONE OF THEM, NOW."
Girl disappears for a while. She is gone a long time and I think I have scared her off.
My doctor's nurse appears at the door and leads me back. She turns the computer screen to me and points at the test. "This is what I ordered a CT of the pelvis and abdomen."
"I believe you, but they are saying only my abdomen was scanned."
Let me note here that I have the BEST primary care physician in the world. He is a really caring and great guy and I knew that it was not him or his nurse that were at fault, but I didn't know what to do.

This part gets really long, so I will try to condense. I have blood drawn while we wait for the doc to clear out his patients and he comes in and talks to us for like forever (again, he is a great guy, I wasn't even on his schedule). He does a brief exam on me. He tells me he is going to make Lakeview pay for the CT but that I really need to get the surgery scheduled.

I go out to schedule the surgery, and it is another nightmare. I can't seem to find a hospital that the OBGYN is connected to that takes my insurance. We finally get everything worked out and go home. I think we were there like three hours or something.

I get a call from my primary care's nurse. She tells me I am going to be getting a call from the director of radiology at the hospital and he will be scheduling a free CT of my pelvis for me. She has spent a half hour on the phone chewing them out. I don't want a free CT scan of my pelvis, and I tell her I don't see the point of it since I am just having surgery any way. She talks to the doc and he says he still wants it. I can't believe I am going to have to do it all again!

The director of radiology calls and says that they did my pelvis too. They just didn't fax the whole report the first time. They faxed it a second time when they realized it. Oh my gosh! The stupidity!!!! At least I don't have to have another CT scan. But I am not going to lie, I am quite worried about having surgery. Can this bad luck continue?

Do you remember the cartoons where there was a little black rain cloud hovering over just one of the characters? I feel like that right now.

the continuing adventures of health care (this is post number 2, see below for number 1)

2009-03-12T13:32:00.004-06:00

So, in the midst of the drug filled week, my sister and mother have to pack my house because I only have a left arm that is of any use. While my mother is packing the bathroom, it occurs to me that I should have had a period by now. I had a cyst back in November, so I am just sure that it is back. Crap. So in the midst of everything else, I have to deal with that too. I call my primary care physician and he tells me to get another ultrasound. And I discover that he has not received any of the reports from the ER, hospitals or anywhere else. As of yesterday, he still had not. Nice.

So, I had an ultrasound and sure enough something is there. So I had to make yet another appointment with yet another doctor, an OBGYN this time. I can't contain my excitement. (that last statement is supposed to be sarcasm, just so nobody else gets confused :)) My primary care physician also decides I should have a CT scan of my pelvis (you know, where a cyst would be) and my abdomen, just to make sure we aren't missing anything.

Meanwhile, I go to the neurologist and she decides to switch my medication because there is a different one that she claims has less side effects than the one that I got in the ER (side note here, they moved me from Lakeview to the U of U so that I could get the drug that has all the lovely side effects by IV). But she is worried about just pulling me off the one because the one she wants me on has to be built up slowly. So, I start taking two medications. Like I wasn't crazy before!!!

Tuesday I have the second appointment at the orthopedic surgeon's to make sure the bone that broke off when I dislocated my shoulder has not migrated (his word). I get there and check in and the receptionist tells me I owe $100. Um, I don't think so. "We have you down as uninsured." Funny, I gave you my insurance last time and only paid the $30 co-pay. I had to give her all of the information yet again, and go see the billing office. the billing office charges me the $30 co-pay. They had all of my information from the first time- What? "Oh, and wait, isn't this a follow up visit?" "Yes." "Then you don't owe the $30 co-pay either." Honestly, what is with this place! They take me back and have me change into a gown again. I request one without staples and the guy just gives me a stupid look. Well, good news here at least, the bone has not migrated and I can stop using the stupid sling. Yeah!!!

I leave this one on a positive note. There is one more installment. The day from HELL!

My adventures in health care.

2009-03-12T11:44:00.004-06:00

This post will probably have to be in a couple of parts. It is a very long story, and I am cutting much of it out. Mostly I want to share all the stupidity I have encountered over the last month.

In a way, I have no idea where to begin this post. I guess I will do the good news first. We bought a house and we got moved in and we are mostly settled. All is well on that front.

Other than that, I have seen more doctors in the last month than I think I have seen in the rest of my life. I had a seizure early on President's Day morning, and I managed to dislocate my right shoulder in the process (part of why I haven't gotten around to posting in a while). I don't remember more than glimpses of Monday- they had to sedate me to put my shoulder back in, and I tend to lose time when I have a seizure, so most of what I know about Monday is what other people have told me.

My first clear memory is waking up on Tuesday morning. I was very confused. I had to think really hard about where I was and how I got there. I was also starving. I did not know that I had eaten only half of a grilled cheese sandwich the day before. I was in two different hospitals, and nobody thought about getting me anything to eat. My sister is the one who brought me the sandwich.

So, at that point they wrap up my shoulder, put me in a wheelchair and take me to the door. Jake goes to bring the car around. The guy pushing my wheelchair takes me to a big window and says that Jake will pull up right out there, and leaves. I see our car come around the corner and wonder how in the world I am going to get out the door. I was way too dizzy to walk, and could not wheel the wheelchair with only my left hand. I looked around for help and noticed a security guard booth or some sort where three guys are goofing off. I called something about could somebody be so kind as to help me to my car. The one calls back that he can't leave his post. One of them finally took pity on me and helped me to the car. Wonderful.

I only vaguely remember most of that week.

The first doctor I could get an appointment with was the orthopedic surgeon. I get there and give them all my insurance info. and pay my copay (this is important to the story later). Then they take me back and have me change into a gown so they can take x-rays of my shoulder (side note: if the x-ray can see through my skin and their gown, why can't it see through my clothes?) I get back there and one guy arranges my arm, then the girl behind the glass wall takes the x-ray. "You've had surgery on your shoulder." She says after looking at the picture on the screen. "No, I have not. I am here to see if I need surgery." I am already confused enough on the drugs they have put me on. I don't need her help! "Well, there are staples in your shoulder." She says. I am thinking to myself that surely someone would have mentioned it to me if I had had surgery. "I really don't think that I have." So, the guy who arranged my arm comes around and starts messing with the hospital gown. It has staples in it. "They're in the gown." He tells her. Now I am sorry, but this is just about the stupidest thing I can think of in the whole world. Why in the world would there be staples in a hospital gown, especially one they use for x-rays? For a split second I had this image of kids in kindergarten with their bus numbers pinned to their shirts to make sure they get on the right buses. And the stupidity only gets worse...

So Much Going On

2009-02-02T14:19:00.004-07:00

First, my dad had a heart attack on January 24th. They went in a cleaned out his artery, and he wanted to go home that very day. Of course, you would have to know my dad. He doesn't "rest" well. I spent the day there on Tuesday in case anybody needed anything (they didn't). Watching Dad was rather like watching the lions at the zoo. He wandered around his apartment a lot, like he was confined. Other than that I have been leaving the mothering up to my sister. She seems to want to do it more, and she doesn't have a toddler in tow. Dad is doing well, though he is tired a lot. He sees his doctor again today, so we will see.

Second, we made an offer on a different house. I am pretty excited about this one and hope we can work out all the details soon. I would love to be in a home so we can have James's birthday party in March at our very own place.

Third, I entered a writing contest today. The Grand Prize is a publishing contract with Penguin and a $25,000 advance. I would love to win! I have my doubts about that, but it sounds like they occasionally sign other people from the contest and I would take that! Stay tuned because there will be a point (assuming I get through to that round) that people who belong to Amazon.com will get the opportunity to vote on books. I am hoping all of my loyal (and not so loyal) readers will help me out by voting for me.

A Brief Update

2009-01-15T13:28:00.004-07:00

I keep thinking I should post SOMETHING! I just don't really have much to say.

I have been sick since New Year's Day. I am so tired of being sick! My ear has fluid in it, so I can't really hear anything, and it is making me crazy! Before that both Jake and James were sick. Is the winter over yet? Our computer crashed for the final time right before Christmas. I had to have a new one since I work from home, but Jake hasn't transferred stuff off the old one to the new one yet, so I am missing a bunch of stuff.

The thing I have been thinking about most lately though is my cousin, Pam. She died on Saturday at only 38 years old. She left behind four children and one step child. I do not mourn for her, she had cancer and was suffering pretty badly at the end. I believe she is in a much better place and no longer in pain. It is for her poor children. See, her first husband wasn't the nicest of guys. He cheated on her and most likely gave her the cervical cancer. He has never treated their children like I think a father should, and, frankly, didn't deserve my cousin or the children. Her second husband, on the other hand, loved her through cancer and took on those children. He is a great guy. The problem is that her first husband won't let the second husband adopt the children. In fact, we are pretty sure that the first husband is going to fight for the kids and being that he is their biological father, he is probably going to win. It just isn't right!

Some Festive James Photos

2008-12-10T12:54:00.003-07:00

There just isn't much room in our apartment for decorations.
Here is our attempt at a tree.

James saying "Cheese,"
for the photo.

Sporting some antlers we made at
the Festival of the Trees.

My aunt has a party where Santa comes.

It is what spurred the Santa debate.

Checking out his loot.

My Santa Dilema (I probably wouldn't let the kids read this one ;))

2008-12-06T10:31:00.003-07:00

First a little background. I want to start by saying that I always believed in magic. That is not the problem. My problem is quite the opposite actually. I believe too much, too hard. I believe with my heart and soul. I always thought I could grow up and be anything because that is what everyone was always telling me. I believed I was only limited by my own mind, my own imagination. And the problem is not that my imagination was limited, again, quite the opposite. I got through life by daydreaming. I think that is why I am a writer, really.

Next, a reason conversation with my mother explains a lot of it. She said that I was the most difficult of her children when it came to presents from Santa because I would not tell anyone what I wanted. Now as an adult I explained it to her. If Santa knew when I was asleep or awake, if he was magic enough to know when I was naughty, it should be easy for the guy to know what I REALLY wanted for Christmas. Why did I have to tell him or anybody else? I believed in his magic so much that I knew he must know what I really wanted. The problem of course is that Santa isn't real, and as hard as my parents tried, some times they missed what I REALLY wanted. It is a problem I still have today, sometimes the things or the people I believe in fall short of what I believe them to be. Sometimes I am disappointed by life, love, magic, all of it. Also, I was heartbroken when I found out it wasn't real, any of it: the Easter Bunny, Santa, the Tooth Fairy, magic, Neverland, whatever. It was all a lie. Oh, and you can't really be anything you want to be when you grow up either. You are limited by your money, your location, your talent, who you know, what you know, the economy - not just your imagination. Dreams don't always come true.

Then, my mother in this same conversation told me that she thinks it might be when my older brother started to question religion- you know, when he found out all of the above was a lie, then why not religion too? How could you believe anything you were taught, especially if you can't see it, hear it, touch it for yourself.

So now, I have a son. I want him to believe in God and love and the things that are real. I don't want to kill his spirit or his imagination. I also don't want him to think that his parents taught him falsehoods. Oh, and he is going to have enough social problems (he's my kid and I was about as nerdy as they come) so I don't want him to be the weirdo at school who tells all the kids that Santa was really a guy named St. Nick who gave presents to kids years and years ago but he never went down anybody's chimney.

So how do I resolve this? Thoughts?

DRAMA

2008-12-02T13:28:00.002-07:00

So, this post was supposed to be about the house that we accepted an offer on yesterday....

Instead, while the Real Estate Agent was sitting on our couch, Jake was getting laid off. So much for that idea, I guess.

If anybody has got a good job, send it our way!

Sorry to get everybody all excited.

2008-11-12T16:26:00.002-07:00

I got the rejection email today:
Dear Brooke,

Thank you for submitting your work, Soul Mates. After careful consideration, we have decided not to publish your manuscript at this time. Please be aware that we offer to publish less than ten percent of the manuscripts we review, and although we did not offer to publish your manuscript, we encourage you in your endeavors to get it published. We think you are a talented writer; your manuscript passed through many reviewers who concluded that your writing needs a little polishing but has great potential. We hope that you will continue to pursue getting this published because we think you could be successful and we wish you the best along the way.

Again, thank you for sending us your manuscript. Please feel free to submit any other suitable manuscripts you might have in the future.

Some things I don't understand:
We encourage you to get it published- just not with us ?
We think you can be successful- just not with us ?

So there is that. Don't worry, I am not giving up. It is just discouraging, you know.

PS. Melanie the second one is done. Not that it does anybody any good, huh?

Some thoughts

2008-11-06T13:27:00.002-07:00

First: I am sick of hearing about the elections. All elections are historic. Frankly, I am just glad the whole darn thing is over. I don't even care who won. I don't think there is such a thing as an uncorrupted politician. So just shut up about the whole thing already!

Now, on to other things. We have been house hunting. I am sick of living in an apartment and want somewhere to live. With that said, I hate house shopping. I am not a shopper. I would rather be shot then spend days at the mall. When I do shop, I shop like a man. I know what I want, I go to said store and purchase said item. THE END. This is impossible with house shopping, as with finding black pants. I am sick of it! I just want to find the house I want and buy it.

For those of you following my writing career:
I mentioned some time back that I was sending my book to a publisher. The allowed amount of time at that publisher for a response is three months. That time is up tomorrow. But I got this email last week:
Dear Brooke,

Thanks you for submitting your work, "Soul Mates." We try to keep our review process under three months and in most cases we are able to do that. However, with your book, we have had an out-of-town reviewer going over your book and are a little behind schedule. We wanted to make you aware that we do have your manuscript, it has been reviewed, is currently under review, and we hope to have an answer for you in the next two weeks.

I don't want to get my hopes up. But if they were going to flat out reject it, wouldn't they have just rejected it? Any thoughts?

The Halloween Pics

2008-11-01T14:01:00.006-06:00

There just has to be Halloween pictures, right?

James was a leopard/kitty.
You can't go wrong when the costume is free,
that's my motto.

James knows what a kitty says too.

Wow! Videos take a long time to upload!

On a Spiritual Note

2008-10-28T13:24:00.003-06:00

I don't usually go Spiritual, but this poem was in our ward bulletin/program on Sunday and it really struck me.

"Fearing the battle was over
And I'd already lost the war,
I was tried of trying and failing
I just couldn't fight anymore.

So, dragging my battle-scarred body,
I crawled to the foot of the cross.
And I sobbed, 'Oh please, Father forgive me.
But I tried... I tried... and still lost.'

Then the air grew silent around me.
I heard His voice just as clear as the dawn:
'Oh, My child, though you are tired and weary,
You can't stop, you have to go on.'

At the foot of the Cross, where I met Him
At the foot of the Cross, where He died,
I felt love as I knelt in His presence
I felt hope, as I looked in His eyes.

Then He gathered me lovingly to Him,
As around us God's light clearly shone.
And together we walked through my lifetime
To heal every wound I had known.

I found bits of my dreams, long forgotten,
And pieces of my life on the floor.
But I watched as He tenderly blessed them,
And my life was worth living once more.

I knew then why I had been losing.
I knew why I had not grown.
At the foot of the Cross came the answer:
I'd been fighting the battle alone.

At the foot of the Cross, where I met Him,
At the foot of the Cross, where He died,
Then I knew I could face any challenge
Together-- just my Lord and I."

by Marcia Krugh Leaser

Help from the masses

2008-10-07T10:22:00.003-06:00

I need a new book to read. I would like a GOOD love story. It does not have to be just a love story. It can be a fantasy with a good love story in it. But it has to be a Great love story. I was disappointed in the Choice by Nicholas Sparks and it was supposed to fill my need for a good love story. Usually I really like his. So please post in the comments a good love story you have read lately, or maybe your favorite love story. THANKS!

I should add some rules:
1. It can't be written by Stephanie Meyer- if any of you post anything written by her I will be tempted to come and find you!
2. It should be relatively clean. I don't read steamy romance novels.
3. It has to be good (see rule number 1).

Tagged!

2008-10-03T13:09:00.003-06:00

Rules:
1. Link to the person that tagged you, and post the rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself.
3. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blog.
4. Let each person know that they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

I am not sure I know how to do links. I will have to work on that. Otherwise here goes nothing.

Bonnie tagged me. (hey! I think I got it!)

1. I love wolves! To the point that when I was little, I wanted to be a zoologist and go and live with wolves in Alaska. That dream kind of died when I realized that bearing and raising children in the Alaskan wilderness would be pretty rough. As a note here, I almost have to register to vote and vote against McCain and Palin because she shoots wolves from airplanes for fun. I was going to post the link to that story, but I don't seem to have it any more.

2. I collect stuffed rabbits/bunnies. Kind of weird because of my love for wolves. It started when I was young and my mom used to give me a rabbit every year for Easter.

3. I have a partially photographic memory. That is how I passed my AP History test. If I could remember how the page looked that the information was on, then I could come up with the facts.

4. I am apparently not very weird or interesting because this is becoming very difficult. :)

5. I can turn my tongue over. Apparently it is genetic. I got it from my dad. James can do it too.

6. My senior year in high school, I was in three choirs including a bell choir.

7. I just finished writing my fourth book, though, I would never let anyone read the first two.

That is as good as it gets people.

Now who to tag...
Lisa, Sheri, Liz, Nikki, Jean, Vicky, and my cousin Dena, who I don't think knows that I found her.

Is it REALLY too much to ask?

2008-09-30T10:04:00.002-06:00

I have lived in an apartment, or something with at least a shared wall for the last 9 and 1/2 years. We have had some great neighbors, and we have had some interesting neighbors. But never have neighbors made me want a home as much as the neighbors we have now.
The neighbors next to us, well, the wife really likes to scream at her kids. James does not care for this, and frankly, neither do I. They are also too lazy to take their garbage to the dumpster, so I am often greeted by the smell of nasty diapers upon arriving at my apartment.
But nothing beats the neighbors upstairs. For starters, they keep really weird hours. The whole first month we lived here, I couldn't figure out why I kept waking up at 4:00 in the morning for seemingly no reason, until one morning I noticed the sound of running water and realized that someone upstairs was showering at 4:00 AM. Now, I consider myself reasonable, so I gave them the benefit of the doubt. People can't always help the hours they work or what not. But then they started doing their laundry at 1:30 or so in the morning. Really? Because while watching infomercials at 1:00 AM you suddenly realize that you have no clean pants for the morning? So, then we run into said neighbor in the parking lot one day. He asks if he is loud. I am thinking to myself, "boy is that an understatement." Jake is a little more polite out loud to the guy but does mention it would be nice if he didn't do laundry in the middle of the night. Problem solved, right? I mean, if you are going to go out of your way to ask if you are loud and you are asked to not do laundry in the middle of the night, you would stop, wouldn't you?
So last night, something wakes me up at 1:30. I am thinking to myself that it is pretty weird because Jake is in Baltimore. I was wondering what woke me up when I hear water running, as if it is filling a washing machine- NO! Sure enough, ten minutes later when it changes to the wash cycle, James starts crying. I think we finally got back to sleep some time after 3:00.

I WANT A HOUSE!

Lake Powell

2008-09-15T14:27:00.003-06:00

Every year my family goes to Lake Powell.
This year we parked the houseboat in Gunsight Canyon.

It was nice to have Jake with us this year.
Last year he was in Pasadena instead.

I really love this hat.
I think it was my niece's (Kaitlyn) first.

It wasn't until the last day that James
decided that sand was pretty fun
and he actually played in it.

My sister bought this inflatable Jet Ski
for my nephew (Ryan) to play on.

My dad kind of made James ride on it.

Our trips are pirate themed.
We have pirate flags
and one year we all made pirate t-shirts.

My dad started making pirate treasure maps
(complete with treasures) for the kids.

James got a treasure this year too.

It doesn't rain...

2008-09-13T12:31:00.003-06:00

On Monday I started a batch of laundry at about 9:00 AM, then settled in to watch Little Einsteins with James (it is his favorite show right now, he calls it "pat pat"). After Little Einsteins, James wanted to go outside and play with sidewalk chalk, so I picked him up and headed to his room to get him dressed, only to realize that our washing machine was pouring water everywhere. I opened the lid to stop it and went straight to the rental office. Well, the water had saturated the carpet in the hall. It also ran into both bedrooms, the living room and into the kitchen and there was about a half inch of water in James's bathroom. So, our carpet had to be pulled up, the pads all cut out and removed, everything dried, the carpet relaid and then cleaned. And a lot of our furniture had to be moved. The place was a mess. Of course, Jake was in Dallas. James and I spent the week at my mom's condo.

Then last night I was up half the night with an upset stomach.

I need to post pics from Lake Powell, but not now. I think I am going back to sleep.

Farm Country

2008-09-04T13:22:00.005-06:00

Jake had some time off since he had been traveling so much. So, on August 19th, we took James to Thanksgiving Point to Farm Country for $2 Tuesday. We actually ran into Jenni Carmen from the BYU 148th Ward too. We really miss the old ward.

Here is Dad and son in front of the big plastic cow.

Here is James in front of a real cow.

It was sunny and
I actually got him to wear his hat!

Posing with Dad again.

On the wagon ride.

I had to include the picture of the goat
because it was the only animal
James cared about at all.
When he touched the goats nose,
it made him do a cute little dance.
He wouldn't even get close to anything else.

After Thanksgiving Point,
James was dropped off at my mom's
so that Jake and I could go see the X-files
I want to believe.

Here is James watering my mom's
tomatoes on her deck.
I think he waters his toes more
than he does the plants.

Child-induced ADD and other thoughts on life

2008-08-18T13:23:00.003-06:00

I have decided to coin a new term: child induced ADD (or maybe Toddler-induced ADD). Even when James is napping, I can't seem to do anything for more than a half hour. Then I am like, I need to go do something else. It is terribly annoying and makes it difficult to complete anything. I have never had this problem before, and, frankly, I don't like it.

James has always slept well his whole life. My mom often tells me that I don't really know what it is like to have a baby because he slept through the night at about four months. All of that changed about a month ago. All the books kept warning me that at about 12 months the world is too interesting to sleep. I waited for it and waited for it. It finally happened, and I am tired. He now thinks it is fun to wake up a half hour to an hour earlier than he used to, but he doesn't want to got to sleep any earlier. He also plays in his crib for quite a while before falling asleep at nap time. *sigh* It is good that I love him.

On another note, I sent the book off again, to a local publisher this time. So wish me luck!

More Summer Fun

2008-08-01T13:12:00.003-06:00

Here's Lagoon then:

Here he is ready for the sun.
This outfit lasted five seconds,
just long enough for the photo.

On Baby Boats:

He liked the Merry-Go-Round.
We went on it several times.

Driving with Ryan.
Do you love his scowl?
He started doing that, not necessarily when he is mad,
he'll just scowl at random.

Ah, more water fountains.
He really loves these things.

And here he is wetter than
I wanted him to get.

Summer Fun

2008-07-29T13:34:00.003-06:00

With Jake gone, James and I have been trying to have some fun. Luckily, Jake did get to go to Lagoon with us.

We went up Millcreek Canyon for some lunch and some wandering around.
This is James in the hiker backpack,
playing peek-a-boo with my brother, Shane.

James thought the river was really cool.
He kept pulling rocks up off the riverbed.
He got in so far that he got his shorts wet.

The child who climbed in the river
would not get in the swimming pool
the next day.

This is at Discovery Gateway.

I think I am done with that place though.
It cost $8.50 a piece even though we went at 4:00.
I didn't know that it closed at 6:00.
Then they wanted to charge us a dollar for parking validations,
are you kidding me!

I will have to blog Lagoon and the zoo later.

The Prologue

2008-07-29T08:58:00.002-06:00

Here is the Prologue to my book. If you are still interested in reading the rest, post your email address...

(oh, I guess I should warn you that it is a young adult fantasy with romantic undertones :) )

Soul Mates

Prologue

The weather had been questionable since dawn. Verena watched the gathering clouds from the bed that had been pulled near to the glass doors leading to the garden. She could almost feel the tension building in the air. She did not understand why it would not rain, why the clouds would not release their burden. She was not sure the sky could get any darker.

Verena could feel the building tension inside her too. She was only too familiar with the feelings associated with her approaching labor. Verena was already the mother of five boys. There was little about this pregnancy that was similar to the others, though. This one had made her weak, weaker than she thought she could be. She had not left that bed for months.

A pain struck her, starting in her abdomen, but she felt it everywhere. Simultaneously, lightning parted the blackened sky. The thunder rumbled as the pain exited her toes.

“Missy,” she hissed, gripping the edge of the bed, “where is Andrew?”

“I am sure he is not far, ma’am, I think he went with one of the boys. Do you want me to find him?”

Another pain cut through her, echoed by the growing thunder. She doubled over with it, biting hard on her bottom lip.

“Ma’am?” Missy touched Verena’s arm. Verena did not notice.

The rain started to fall outside, bursting from the clouds. The lightning sliced the clouds, again and again, growing closer.

Verena shuddered with the pain. She knew something was wrong.

“Master Andrew!” Missy ran from the room. “Master Andrew!”

Missy returned with Andrew in tow. Verena raised her eyes to her husband.

“The surgeons, now, girl!” Andrew’s usual calm was shattered.

Lightning sliced the sky, and with it another pain coursed through her. This one burst in her, causing colors to dance in her vision. The thunder sounded almost atop of the lightning strike, echoing through the castle.

“Andrew,” she thought she shouted it.

Then the room was filled with people, surgeons and midwives, and maids, and the boys.

Verena was only aware of the noise, the people’s voices just blending with the thunder.

The pain interrupted everything.

Verena could not think.

Everything seemed too loud.

“Missy, get the boys out of here.” Andrew lifted Dickens to the young maid.

“Andrew!” she did shout it this time. She folded in half, shaking uncontrollably.

The surgeons were all working to position her, trying their best to make her comfortable, but failing at it. One of the maids mopped the sweat from her brow.

“We have to get the baby here,” one of the surgeons called over the thunder.

She felt Andrew grip her hand. “You can do this.”

“She needs to breathe,” one of the midwives said.

The labor progressed, and the storm raged.

Another shudder took her, only this one came from the earth. It knocked Andrew into the bed. One of the maids was thrown to the ground. There were screams from other rooms in the castle. The lightning flashed, momentarily illuminating the commotion.

“I can see the head.”

The earth moved again, more violently. There was a distant crashing sound and more screaming. A piece of the ceiling fell. It grew darker as several of the candles went out.

“Focus, Verena,” Andrew said, never taking his eyes from his wife.

Tears squeezed from her eyes.

The baby came and Verena felt all of her energy drain out with it. She did not even hear them say it was a girl. The baby was taken by one of the midwives who began cleaning her.

The earth gave a final quake. It was the strongest one yet. A loud rumble and then a deafening crash somewhere quite nearby accompanied it. Another of the maids lost her footing. There was more commotion from within the castle.

Andrew reached over to wipe a tear from his wife’s cheek. Her skin was cold.

I need to vent

2008-07-23T13:53:00.003-06:00

Please feel free to skip this post. It isn't what my regular reader would expect.

So, I wrote a book. Many people would consider this an amazing accomplishment in and of itself. I guess I should be satisfied with the fact that I wrote it. But it sits in my computer, and calls to me. I couldn't just be satisfied with one book either. So, I am writing a sequel. You see, writing to me is not an option, it is a necessity. Some people need chocolate, some people need to run (and frankly, they are sick), whatever, I need to write. If I go long periods of time without writing, I get very restless and I start to annoy myself.

Any way, I also read- A LOT- probably an unhealthy amount. I have read a lot of good books and I have read some ok books, but lately it seems like they will publish almost anything. I know, I know, a lot of people LOVE the Twilight series, but I think she isn't that great of a writer. (I say she has good ideas, but someone else should actually do the writing). She writes for people who don't read much or something. She drives me crazy!! I think I am a better writer. So, I set out to put my money where my mouth is, so to speak, and start looking for an agent...

You can have my book! Read it! Sell it! Burn it! Whatever! I don't want it! Getting published is the most frustrating, annoying, self-esteem damaging, hideously impossible thing that ever existed!

What good is a book, then?

The hardest part for me is I believe we are all meant to do something. We all have some talent that we are meant to share with the world. I just thought that writing was mine. So, how do I share it?

June

2008-07-01T14:23:00.007-06:00

I went without the internet from the day we moved (the 14th) until just this week. So there is much to say.

Moving was crazy. I really hate moving, but I survived it again.

My grandmother passed away on the 8th.
She was the only grandparent I ever really knew.

Here she is with James last summer.

We miss you and love you!

Jake's little brother got married on the 21st.
Our camera's batteries were dead,
but here is James in his suit another time.

Then Jake went to Las Vegas on the 22nd.
Without internet, we went to visit Grandma
every other day so that I could work.

We also visited the Gateway Fountain which James
REALLY enjoyed.

Look Mom! Water!

I think I can catch it!

Greetings From Las Vegas

2008-06-24T14:40:00.003-06:00

I'm on my first road trip for my new job at a Red Hat training. Las Vegas used to scare me. I have not been there for 10 years. Now, Las Vegas amuses me greatly. Really, who goes to the airport terminal to play the slot machines?

Silly Boy

2008-06-04T12:38:00.002-06:00

So, yesterday, I put James down for his nap then came into the office to work, like I always do. I could hear him playing around, which he does sometimes for a little while. Then he started saying "uh-oh" over and over again. I ignored it at first thinking he had just dropped something and that he would settle down. But the "uh-oh"s just kept coming. Then he started to get a little fussy between "uh-oh"s, so I went to check on him. I go in and he is standing in his crib. As I got to him, he handed me his pants. I don't know why or how he got them off. I put them back on, and he went to sleep.

SURPRISE!

2008-05-27T12:50:00.003-06:00

No, I am not pregnant. I know that seems to be the popular post right now.

We are moving out of Wymount! I know, we are always saying we will be here forever, but Jake got a job offer, even though he wasn't really looking. He actually refused the offer the first time. They came back with a better offer, and we just couldn't refuse it.

We will be moving to Bountiful, somewhere...

Jake starts on the 16th of June.

Catching up with James

2008-05-07T13:42:00.004-06:00

Lots of pictures:

This is at the Discovery Gateway
taken on my brother's i-phone.

More of the Discovery Gateway.
In the ball thing, James thought he had died and gone to heaven.
Balls everywhere!

James at work.

"Oh, hi Mom."

James learned to go down the slide by himself.
This is with my friend, Amy's boy, Everett.

James also recently discovered pianos.
He thinks they are pretty cool.
This is with my sister.

My parents live right by Temple Square.
James thought the fountains were pretty neat,
as long as he could touch them.

Recently our rug gave up the ghost.
I am learning that more and more things
have a lifespan of about nine years
(in other words: everything we got
when we got married is slowly dying off
starting with the vacuum...)

Luckily, James likes to Swiffer.

Thanksgiving Point Dinos

2008-04-02T11:35:00.005-06:00

The day before Easter, we took my niece and nephew off my brother's hands (he is the one in the wheelchair temporarily), and took them to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point. Here are some photos:

This is my nephew,
posing while sitting on a dinosaur's head.

James didn't much care about the dinosaurs.
He thought these numbers on the wall were pretty cool though.

Jake made me pose for this.
I am drinking the waterfall.

This is my sister and niece
swimming away from a giant shark.

This is James in the ugliest stroller ever.
(please note the hand in mouth in every photo)

Here is James
(hand in mouth again)

They have an erosion table
which is basically a really big sand box with
flowing water.
James enjoyed splashing in it.

He didn't like the sand on his hands though.
Lake Powell might be interesting this year.

He REALLY liked the hooks that the
smocks hung on.

And as always, he loves wheels.
These are on the hideous stroller.

They had a Safari Jeep that
also had wheels.

March in a Nutshell

2008-03-31T14:38:00.006-06:00

So, James is teething (again!!!) and for the life of me I can't imagine which teeth he is getting considering he has all eight of the front ones. All I do know is that we are all worse off for it. Everything enters his mouth, which this month led to: a cold, an ear infection and the stomach flu. It has been a long month. I am glad it is over and that the two teeth on top, at least, have finally broken through. Somewhere in the middle of all of that, James also turned one. I think it was two days after I spent the night throwing up everything I have ever eaten in my life, since James threw up on me three times while he had the stomach flu. He also shared the cold with Jake and myself. Happy Birthday James!

Also, my brother was in a car accident that he was lucky to live through. It broke his pelvis in two places and broke two of his ribs. Please, people, stop at red lights!!! But everyone who has seen his car says he was lucky to be alive at all. Happy Birthday to him too!

Hopefully April will be better...

On a lighter note, I do have the month in pictures too.

This is James with my dad, on the day of his birthday party...
before we knew he had the stomach flu.

Still before, he is looking healthy...

This is after he had thrown up twice,
and lost all interest in the party.
He must have thought this horse was cool
because it was the only thing he left my lap for.

Poor kid didn't even get any cake at his party.

This is him finally sampling the cake.
I still don't think he felt very good.

This is a truck he got for his birthday.
He loves to haul the thing around,
even though it is heavy.

Jake got James two Braves shirts for his birthday.
Here he is sporting one of them.

On a side note, we went to Winger's this day,
and the waitress thought James was a girl.

Netflix

2008-03-03T14:21:00.003-07:00

So, my brother and sister-in-law gave us a six months membership at Netflix for Christmas. Of course, it took us until February to get it set up because that is the way life seems to go. Any way, I LOVE NETFLIX!!! Every week I go to the mailbox and there is a movie surprise for me. It's almost like Christmas! I don't get out much ok. It has been wonderful to be able to catch up on all the movies I have missed since having James, and also some I missed from way before that. So far I have seen A Beautiful Mind (not sure how I missed this one, way good movie), Flicka (it is because of my horse obsession that I never outgrew), and Music and Lyrics (which for the 80s jokes was good, but for the "romance" was awful), and Superman II some special other director's cut (this one was Jake's doing). Future upcoming movies: Sicko, The Dark is Rising, The Bourne Identity, The Prestige, and whatever other weird stuff Jake has added. Does anyone have any suggestions of favorite movies?

Spaghetti

2008-02-06T13:29:00.000-07:00

The way I see it is that every kid has to have pictures of themselves eating the messiest foods. Here is James with spaghetti:

Before:

This stuff is pretty good.

Slurrp!

Yum!

10 Months

2008-01-26T12:50:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe it has been ten months already!
Some things James likes to do now include: walking (always), playing peek-a-boo, reading (I guess, really making someone read to him), exploring his world, and he is finally learning to crawl, although, it is really just to get to something to pull up on so that he can stand again. He can also, go from standing to sitting quite well, and can pick things up off the floor. Now if only we could get him to eat...

Some pics:

These are of James playing "boo."
He thinks you have to tilt your head to play
because you are supposed to look around things
even if there is nothing to look around.

(no, it is still cold here, I just really like this outfit)

Playing with his maracas.
The one plays music when you shake them.
He is in to music right now.

In some winter attire.
My little brother's girlfriend made us all the cutest hats for Christmas
(see above).

This hat was really good for a while because he couldn't get it off,
but leave him alone in the car for long enough... now he can.

The Christmas Blog...

2008-01-14T11:15:00.000-07:00

Keep in mind we had four Christmas celebrations this year, between all the families and what not.

The Ward Christmas Party:
The first Santa visit.
Moments later he realized he didn't know this man, and started to cry.

Christmas Eve:

James gets a present. Yeah!

Wait, there is stuff inside? Can't I just eat the paper?

Pose for the picture.

On, to Christmas Day. More gifts..

This gift was a winner. A toy where James can walk!

He also got a dump truck which he loves.
This is Dad giving him a ride in it.

My silly boys:

I am slow

2008-01-10T14:28:00.000-07:00

As soon as Jake uploads pictures, I will do some Christmas blogging I promise.

My new favorite thing

2007-12-04T10:51:00.000-07:00

So, it has been a crazy month or so. James had to have a little procedure on November 13th. Then he went on to get four of his top teeth at the same time. There has not been enough sleeping at our house lately. And without naps, I have not had time to blog (let's not even discuss my work or the state of my house). This brings me to my new favorite thing in the world- Johnson's Bedtime Bath bubble bath. Here is my testimonial: Sunday night James went down at 9:00. He woke up at 11:48, 12:02, 12:07, 5:00, 6:30 and 7:30. And the only reason he went down at 12:07 is because Jake went and got him and they both fell asleep in the rocking chair. Now compare with last night. He took a bubble bath at 7:30. He actually fell asleep at 8:30, but I was watching Heroes (and he was in my lap). He went down at about 9:15... he slept until 5:20, in which he grunted, rolled over and went back to sleep until 7:30. If you are a parent and you don't own Johnson's Bedtime Bath, go and get it now. Then sleep well tonight!

Now for some fun pictures. We took some pictures of James in a Christmas outfit for our Christmas card. Here are some outtakes.

Aren't I cute?

HERE I AM!

Toes!

Penguins are tasty!

Are you guys done yet?

And now back to our regularly scheduled program...

2007-11-06T13:09:00.001-07:00

After losing most of our regular fan base, I decided to go back to a subject that is not so controversial. JAMES

James discovers leaves.

I was trying to take some cute autum pictures. I spent most of the time trying to keep him from eating them. There were other cute ones, but I can't figure out how to rotate them. I will keep playing.

The infamous Halloween costume. You are all probably wondering, "why a clown?" Lets's just say the only reason James had a costume at all is because his aunt buys baby clothes for children she doesn't have.

Please note the awesome WWF pumpkin (no not the wrestlers, they lost the lawsuit and are now the WWE).

Steven Colbert For President

2007-10-31T00:15:00.000-06:00

Well, so far, it's looking like it's going to be Hillary vs. Rudy. I'm not the Hillary hater that everyone around me seems to be, but I don't particularly like her either. I'm more of an Obama fan after watching the three top Democrats debate. The Republicans are not impressing me in any way, and the top runner can't get any facts right.

So, I'm officially announcing my support for Steven Colbert for the 2008 presidential election. He only needs 1000 signatures to get on the Utah Primary Ballot, but I'm thinking he missed the application deadline. Consider my name signature number one.

Something else annoying

2007-10-30T16:11:00.000-06:00

So, yesterday, Jake and I went to Mr. Mac to look at suits. James skipped his afternoon nap, and thus fell asleep in the car on the way to the mall. We transferred him to his stroller, and he stayed asleep. This older gentleman was helping Jake pick out a suit and all of that. While Jake was in trying on pants, the guy is making small talk with me, asking stuff about James and what not, which is all fine. Then he says "I thought kids took naps in the late afternoon." Thanks buddie, I had no idea.

Oh, the joy of the BYU Health Center

2007-10-30T11:38:00.000-06:00

So, go back in time with me to last November. I was pregnant and came down with a terrible head cold. Sleeping is difficult enough for me when I am pregnant, so with a stuffy nose, it just wasn't happening. Jake decides I need to go to the doctor because he was worried about the baby. So, of course it is impossible to get an appointment at the Health Center, so we go to the Urgent Care. The guy was a complete moron. First, the only reason I agreed to go was to find out what kind of decongestant I could take while pregnant. The doc. didn't even notice I was pregnant. Then, he thought I was eight months pregnant when I told him I was due in March (yeah, I am eight months along if I am an elephant!). Then he kept telling me I could take Tylenol, even though I never expressed any symptoms that would require Tylenol. So, in the end I just should have called my OB and asked if I could take Sudafed. *sigh*

Now fast forward to last Tuesday (yes, it took me a week to get around to this). I had an aunt die of breast cancer. My mom had skin cancer. My sister had precancerous cells removed. I have a yearly PAP smear. I am not saying I enjoy it, but it is one of those things I take care of. First, I get weird looks when I try to do anything preventative at the Health Center. Second, I go in expecting a full on yearly check up. Usually, they talk to me about my overall health, check all vitals, do a breast cancer exam and then the whole PAP smear. (loads of fun!) The lady that takes me back doesn't weigh me. (I am thinking, huh.) Then she almost forgets to take my blood pressure, then attempts to take it through my enormous sweatshirt, which I suggested I remove for her. Then she asks me how I like the birth control pill I am on. (uh...) I tell her I am not on one. Then she can't find any of the stuff required for the exam, so I sit there and sit there. Then she says me the doctor will see me in a minute. (weird, I have always changed first) So, I ask her about it, and she tells me the doctor will talk to me first. (ok). So the guy comes in and talks to me, once again saying something about my birth control. Again I repeat that I am not on a pill. He says, "oh, so you are trying to get pregnant?" (blink, blink) I say, "Actually I had a baby..." "congratulations." "I had him seven months ago." (and I have been bringing him to the Health Center on a regular basis ever since, shouldn't that be in my file somewhere??) Any way, so then he tells me to change and whatever. He only does the PAP smear. That's it. Bam, see ya next year... I feel like I missed something somewhere. Such good service. Man, do I miss IHC.

It is time for a James update.

2007-10-24T13:18:00.000-06:00

Here are some new pics with narration...

James turned seven months on Saturday
(these were taken on Sunday).

Jake bought him a BYU basketball, and he loves it.
Currently, he tries to play soccer a lot.
This mostly means he kind of walks into the ball and thus "kicks" it, then chases it.
It is a very tiring game for Mom.

In the evenings, Jake and I often let James walk back and forth between us.
On Sunday we were playing this game, when Jake decided to see how long James could stand on his own, but James wasn't content to stand.
He took a hesitant step, then kind of fell into Jake.
He did it again too. Then he took about two steps to me.
So, thus we have a walker on our hands.

This is James standing on his own.
I think he fell right after Jake got the picture though.

Tag, I am it

2007-10-23T14:00:00.000-06:00

Now, I don't get embarrassed very easily, but in my case it is because I really don't care what people think. In fact, the last time I was embarrassed was at a Lagoon party- which leads me to...

Fact/Habit/Embarrassment 1: Jake and I had only been dating less than three months when we went to this Lagoon Christmas Party. The DJ/MC whatever the guy was started harassing Jake because he was with a different girl than he had been with the year before. I can't remember all the guy was saying, but he started in about "will you make a commitment to her right now" or something similar, and I was kind of freaking out. I mean, my sister was sitting there at the table, and well, frankly, I wasn't ready for a proposal or anything (of course, I realize now that that never would have happened, but I didn't know that then). It just all sounded a lot like a set up to me.

Fact/Habit/Embarrassment 2: Since Liz confessed her Hanson thing, I have to confess that I had all of the New Kids on the Block Albums at one point, even a Christmas one.

Fact/Habit/Embarrassment 3: I have all sorts of weird talents. I can pick up things with my toes, including crayons, pens, paper (this comes in very handy when you are pregnant), I can turn over my tongue, and I can fit my entire fist in my mouth, at least I used to be able to (Jake won't let me try it any more, he is afraid it will get stuck).

Fact/Habit/Embarrassment 4: I took AP Psychology in high school and it became my major in college, and I used to conduct Psychological experiments on myself.

Fact/Habit/Embarrassment 5: I was fired from my job at the credit union because someone called and complained that they had heard me say the "f word." So apparently I have a swearing problem, although it is news to me that I do. I promise I have never said the "f word" in my life.

Fact/Habit/Embarrassment 6: I really don't think I have any more. I don't cheat at games (Liz). I am not secretly a superhero. I am pretty much boring, what you see is what you get.

I tag Lisa, Lesley, Vicky, Abbie, Jean and Maren

Wasn't this one supposed to be better?

2007-10-16T22:13:00.000-06:00

So I convinced Brooke that we should rent Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer. I heard it was much better than the first one. The first one wasn't bad, it just wasn't.... great. (I bet you were all thinking I was going to say fantastic. That kind of description is reserved for Doctor Who) So we watch the second one tonight and..... meh. I actually preferred the first one. And I don't really prefer the first one. Such a disappointment.

Still, on the plus side, both Fantastic 4 movies were still light years better than Superman 4: The Quest for Peace. That movie was just painful to watch.

Good thing we rented Transformers too. I at least know that one is good cause I saw it with my buddy Zach when it came out.

Brooke wants to make up for renting the Fantastic flop by renting the 3rd Pirates movie. If it's anything like the 2nd one...... I guess I'm in for a good long nap.

Addicted to Reading

2007-10-10T11:21:00.000-06:00

I always say my ideal job would be if someone would pay me to read. Now, somebody always answers that I should be an editor, but that isn't what I mean. Sure, I usually can find a typo in every book I read, but that isn't why I read, and I don' t want it to be. I just love reading. I have always loved reading, and I find almost any excuse to do so, and I will read almost anything recommended to me. I am reading about a book a week right now, two if they are children's books. So, you know that game where "if you were stranded on a desert island and could only have three books what would they be?" I cannot come up with only three, it is impossible. They were playing this game on a rerun of the Office last night, then they did "which five DVDs would you want on the desert island?" And all I could think was can I trade my DVDs in for books? Yes, that is right kids, I am sick. :) Any way, so I am thinking I should try to come up with a top ten book list, but I just don't know if it is possible. Maybe if I can count a series as just one book...

1. The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan (alas, we miss you!) This one is number one without question. There are not better books ever written.

2. White Fang by Jack London. Yes, most of you have probably read the Call of the Wild; White Fang is better. I have read this book probably five times or more and it is probably about time to read it again.

Now it gets harder. Those two are obvious.
3. Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, yeah I think that has to be number 3 out of principle.

4. Message in a Bottle or A Walk to Remember or A Bend in the Road, something by Nicholas Sparks, not sure I can choose which one.

5. The Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper.

6. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J K Rowling. Yep, that's right just the first one, before all the hype and the movies and all that, though to be fair, I haven't read the seventh one yet.

7. The Giver by Lowis Lowry everybody should have to read this book at some time in their life.

8. The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley, just read it, it's good.

9. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas because you gotta have a classic on a list like this.

10. The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron

Now, remember, I haven't read EVERYTHING yet.

Tagged again, new questions

2007-10-02T14:03:00.000-06:00

1. Where did you meet your husband?

At Lagoon, an amusement park in Farmington Utah where we both worked for six years. We don't really know the first time we met, but we hooked up while helping my sister (who also worked at Lagoon) film a commercial on Rattlesnake Rapids. Jake got volunteered to ride for safety during one of the shots, and got soaken wet. It was like our third day of filming, so I had brought spare clothes, so I lent him a t-shirt. Weeks later he still hadn't returned it to me, I ran into him in the food kitchen and told him I wanted my shirt back. He told me that we would have to set up a randezvous so he could return it. I said, "oh you think you get a date out of this, huh?" He still claims that wasn't what he meant, but since I had said it, he decided that was what he wanted.

2. What was the first thing you said to your husband?

Beats me, probably something boring and work related.

3. What was your first date?

The circus almost exactly ten years ago...

4. Where was your first kiss?

My parents couch at 3 AM, Chips was on. I tried to hold his hand, he obviously misjudged my intentions...

5. Did we have a long or short courtship and engagement?

On man, was it long... Eleven months of dating and nine months engaged.

6. Where were you engaged?

The parking lot of my church.

7. Where were you married?

The Bountiful Utah temple.

8. How was the reception?

Long and boring, just like all receptions. But I didn't fall down the stairs or spill food on my dress or anything stupid. Jake just kept knocking over the fake plants, so not too bad, I guess.

9. How was the honeymoon?

Now that is a little personal isn't it? No, it was good. We went to Zion National Park. Maybe some day we will be filthy rich and go to Hawaii or something.