Ben's First Time To Attend the Temple

Ben got to go do baptisms at the temple for his very first time last month on November 28!! Rob and I went with him to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple and it was a day I've long looked forward to and it didn't disappoint! It actually turned out to be much more meaningful than I had ever imagined it would be!

We went on a Saturday while Rob's parents were working their Saturday shift. We thought it would be really cool if his dad was working his shift in the baptistry when we were there but we didn't anticipate that actually happening. When we got there, we asked if Ben could do baptisms, if I could watch, and if Rob could help, they said certainly. There were several groups ahead of us so we spent a while waiting for our turn, 45 minutes to an hour. It didn't seem long though, it was a really peaceful, serene time for the three of us to sit together, thinking, pondering and quietly talking about the significance and symbolism of baptism and the temple. At one point I was thinking about how happy I was to be there in the temple sitting between two of my favorite men and I think Ben was touched by the same spirit because he put his arm around my shoulders and said some really sweet things to me. After that I just couldn't stop the tears!! It was such a happy day, Ben was a little perplexed by my tears until I told him that they were tears of happiness. :)

When it was our turn for Ben to do baptisms, we were pleasantly surprised to see Rob's dad, Ben's grandpa, working in the baptistry!! Rob got to baptize Ben and I got to hand them towels when they got out. :)

Ben told me that he thought we should go to the temple every Saturday. He's such a special kid!!

I'm Dreaming

A few days ago, Rob and I were naming things we hoped the baby receives from the other person. I mentioned that I hoped the baby had his blue eyes. (Who doesn't know that I'm crazy about his blue eyes? Well if you didn't...now you do.) That night I had a dream that I was asleep at a little table in a cafe. (When I'm really tired, it's hard for me to wake up, even in my dreams.) :P I was curled up on the chair when Molly approached me carrying a little baby in blue pajamas, with blue eyes. Despite being an infant she was a handful for Molly. She handed me the baby and said, "You had your baby, she was 7 lbs. and 7 oz." I was very confused and shocked in my dream because I couldn't figure out how she'd gotten so big already and how I'd missed the birth. :P

(I know....definitely a dream. I've always been pretty nervous about giving birth. So it must have been my subconscious doing a bit of wishful thinking.) :)

2 Babies?????

Almost 3 weeks (May 27th) after we found out we were pregnant I got a call from my lds adoption social worker asking if I had a few minutes to talk. I told her I did. Then she asked if Rob was around..."No, he's still working." She replied saying it was okay and that she just has a few questions. I say, "Okaaaay."

(BTW: we haven't told her that we're pregnant, and I'm not exactly sure what their policy is regarding our specific circumstances anyway...usually they say people GET an adopted baby, and THEN find out they're pregnant....I've always been a bit backwards.) :P

So, my thoughts when she said this:

A: she's found out through the grapevine that we're pregnant and calling to ask me straight up about it and let me know that we're being put on hold...

OR

B: there's a mom/baby in the picture and they're considering us...

Social Worker (SW) asks: 1. How do you feel about homeopathic doctors?

Me: All for them, I use them. (My witch doctor being one) ;)

SW: Okay. 2. What about home/birthing center births with a midwife.

Me: That's good too. (I personally am not comfortable enough to use one myself because of my health history, but my sister has used a midwife a few times and she's had some really neat, personal, unique experiences...I think it's really neat, so I felt okay saying I'm okay with it since we were referring to the birth-mom.) :P

SW: Okay. 3. Do you ever buy organic food.

Me: Yes.

SW: Good. 4. What about immunizations. I know what we require of you, but how do you personally feel about it?

Me: If it were up to me, I'd choose a delayed schedule or none at all.

SW: That's what I thought. Well, we have a birth-mom working with the SLC branch that has those requests and it's hard to find couples with these specific beliefs/preferences but we thought of you two. I'm going to call the other social worker tonight and tell her about you. This is exciting!! By the way, how are you doing?

Me: (Thinking....good....should I mention I'm pregnant?....No. Not yet.) Good!

SW: Great! I don't know if she'll want to meet you but we'll let you know.

I was beyond words when I got off the phone. I told Molly my dilemma since she was the only one around (Dilemma #1: do I tell now, do I wait? Originally we were going to wait until after the first trimester to tell them, just to make sure everything was going well. Dilemma #2: Do we take the baby if they want to give it to us even if we are pregnant??). Molly said, "Don't tell, just say "thanks" and take the baby." As if we could. :P

The birth-mom is due in August!!! What if we are the family for this little baby! Wow! What a way to do it!! 2 babies 5 months apart!

Update: Rob emailed our case worker a while back because we NEVER heard anything after that surprising phone call. She told him that the birth-father had gotten involved and was trying to convince her to keep the baby, so she was unsure what she'd choose. Rob and I decided that we should start getting some of our baby stuff before August (esp. car seat) in case the birth mom decided at the last minute to give the baby to us!!! It would be a little crazy, but we'd be very happy to have another baby!!

The Tests...

As per requested: a picture of the first test done at the insta-care lab...I didn't keep the other one that they had to do because I doubted the veracity of the first...but it looks exactly the same. :)

Ever since the moment they gave us our life-changing news at the insta-care, I've been in shock and having a hard time believing that it could really be true. I told my sister Maria that I was thinking about going and buying a whole box of pregnancy tests and using them all just to help myself believe and let it sink in. She told me that she had one at her house that I could have so she grabbed it for me. I used it this afternoon and it was a new-fangled, handy-dandy, digital kind that prints the results of the test right on the screen...well...how can I doubt that?! :)


Thanks Maria. ;)

Truth is stranger than fiction!!

I believe this is one of the strangest, most unbelievable, surreal days I've ever had!

It started out like most other days, driving my kids to school while I plan out my day. I was on Bangerter Highway thinking about the house I was going to clean after I dropped off my kids. I went to pass a guy and as I looked to change lanes I approached the guy in front of me a little too closely (whether he slowed down or what I'm still not sure...these things happen in a split second) so I panicked and swerved into the lane that I had been about to move into. The problem is I swerved too sharply and started heading for the oncoming traffic so I over corrected that swerve and went back towards the traffic that was on my side. Once again I swerved to the left and ended up sliding out of control across three lanes of oncoming traffic. I messed up one girl's car pretty good and she got little cuts on her face. And somehow there was a guy in a Toyota affected too, but I can't quite figure out how. I feel so blessed that my kids and those poor people are all okay!! I believe it truly is a miracle that we walked away from that accident and avoided serious or fatal injuries to anybody!! And I'm so grateful that we were protected!

I was pretty shaken up and couldn't think clearly. Lots of nice people stopped to check on us, but I couldn't figure out how to use my cell, then who to call, then how to get a hold of anybody. Molly was crying and showed me a little scratch she had on her knee. I tried to give her sympathy but didn't think of anything else I could do. Ben piped up and said there was a first aid kit in the back of the car and offered to doctor her up. What a sweet, level-headed boy, just like his daddy! Finally I got one of my sisters on the phone and she came right over and took my kids away from the accident for me. She took Ben to school because he seemed ok. Molly felt too traumatized to go to school today. After they left my mom showed up and gave me a long hug and helped me to feel better. I sat in her car to wait for Rob to show up. Meanwhile the cops cleaned up the road and the tow guy got my car loaded on his truck.

Rob came then and helped me to feel everything would be okay. He was so supportive, reassuring and comforting! I'm so grateful for him! He took care of everything with the insurance and the cops, I was too frazzled to think straight. After that he gave Molly and I both blessings. I just have to say, again, how thankful I am for my sweet husband. He's so sweet, thoughtful and worthy to use the priesthood to bless others!

Rob took Molly and I to insta-care just to make sure we were all okay. We both had a little back/neck and leg pain. I told the insta-care doctor that I have OI so he decided to have a few x-rays done on me just to make sure everything was fine, but he didn't think there would be any problems. After getting into a little gown the x-ray technician asked me if there was any possibility of me being pregnant. I told him I was pretty sure I wasn't because we'd been trying for five years and that I had endometriosis. He said let's just check and gave me a cup to go pee in. He came back a few minutes later and said it was positive....I said "positive that I'm not pregnant right?" He responded, "No, you're pregnant." I started balling and ran (in my little gown) out to Rob and told him. He said, "WHAT?!?" I turned around and said, "Are you SURE?" The lab girl popped her head around the corner and said, "Would you like to check again?" I said, "Yes!" They did another strip which immediately turned pink. They told me they were pretty positive that I was pregnant! I was standing there balling and staring at the strip and they asked me if this was a good thing. :) I told them it was definitely good, but very unbelievable. After that the doctor decided it would be best to fore go the x-rays. He gave me a prescription for Loritab and one for pre-natal vits. :) Then he gave me a list of OBGYNs.

The rest of the day I've been trying to absorb and believe that this day was real. The first part was too horrific to be real...the second....well too simply amazing!!

P.S. Rob and his dad went to the tow yard and took pictures, I'd post some but they're too traumatic for me to look at. :(

CREATE!!

What an inspiring message!!

It gives me renewed belief in myself
and a greater desire to encourage creativity in my children!!

Park City Weekend Getaway

My older sister and her husband invited us to go to a weekend getaway in Park City the last weekend of July and it was simply FANTASTIC!!! GM and I had so much fun we've decided we need to get ourselves a fancy schmancy condo with it's own hot tub on the balcony! (Simple pleasures!) :)

The first night we wandered around downtown Park City enjoying the atmosphere and looking for a place to eat. We couldn't decide on just one restaurant so we decided to restaurant hop. We ate an appetizer at a Mexican place, I think it was called Tia Rosa's (but it slips my mind). The appetizer was SUPER and it was tempting to stay and have more of their yummy food but we decided to stick with our original plan. So we moved on to a bistro place where GM and I shared a Miso trout with yummy mashed potatoes on the side and some delicious green beans.

GM had to check out the cool Ferrari! :)


At the bistro we chose because of it's menu as well as atmosphere




Then we were pretty full so we decided to fore go a sit-down restaurant for dessert (the bistro had great bread with exceptionally good oil and balsamic vinegar) but we really wanted some fudge from their local fudge shop so we headed over to see what they had. It turned out that the girls were the only ones really craving fudge so GM and my BIL headed into the bookstore that was connected to the fudge shop. We got some fudge to-go and then perused the bookstore. After a while, since our husbands were very engrossed in their selections, my sis and I sat down to talk about our dreams and aspirations. One of which turns out to be that we'd both REALLY LOVE to have a book/antique store (two of my favorite things). So we started dreaming together and talking about all the details that would make it so great.

After dinner in town we grabbed some groceries so we could cook ourselves a fabulous breakfast in the morning in the condo and then we all went out to the hot tub on the back patio. We just couldn't get over how cool it was to have our own hot tub! :)

The next morning we used the lovely kitchen to cook some yummy omelets (but we were all quite perplexed that this nice "fully stocked" kitchen had such a glaring lack of any knives let alone nice knives like the four of us are used to. We got over it, thanks to my always prepared husband who happened to have two great knives we could use). :)

We spent most of the rest of the day enjoying the sunshine, playing in the pool and talking about the power of positive thinking. We enjoy having good discussions with like minded people.



The pool had a slide that was really meant for smaller people than GM and my BIL but they loved it despite the cramped conditions and crazy way it spewed them out the end :)




After the pool we met up with my youngest sister and her hubbie. We all went to dinner at a place called "Bandits" that does great ribs and such (most of us got the ribs, that's how we know). :)


For our evening entertainment we headed over to Kamas to see what being a true red-neck was all about. We went to a "Demolition Derby". It was a new experience for GM and me, and it was pretty entertaining, but I'm not sure I could ever convince GM to go back up on those tiny, overcrowded bleachers....he felt quite claustrophobic up there. It started to rain just as we got there so GM grabbed a big denim quilt that we keep in our car and some of us huddled under it while watching the derby. In the end my sisters and I were so cold that we had the quilt wrapped clear down over our heads like a little tent and we couldn't see a thing. GM convinced the other guys that we should leave after that. :)

While waiting for the derby to start we hid behind a random car seeking shelter from the rain




My sis her husband and her BIL (whom we met up with there) watching the derby


Thanks to the rain there was a beautiful backdrop to the derby


I took several videos of the derby because I knew that BR would just LOVE to watch them (BTW: I was right) :)

I'll spare you the rest, unlike BR, I doubt you'd dig soaking in every second of every video. ;)

We spent the rest of the evening watching movies in the condo...after some shuffling about, it ended up being the three girls in one bedroom watching "A League of Their Own" and the three boys out in the living room watching an old Die Hard movie. In the morning our little sis and her husband left to go fishing and the rest of us went to get brunch and then headed home. It was such a perfect, fun, relaxing vacation!! Thanks A&A for letting us tag along!

What A Fun Machine!!

Last week I borrowed my mom's steam cleaner to try and clean some grout for one of my clients.

My mom gave me a quick explanation of how it works (kind of complicated to learn)and the instruction book and I was off. I thought, no sweat!! Yeah right!! Well I cleaned all of the tile in my client's house and learned tons in the process. Unfortunately not enough though, because when I got home I looked at the Internet and they had tips that would have helped me VERY MUCH!! But I didn't let that knowledge go to waste. My mom was anxious to have it back for some cleaning (already?!?! I thought I'd get to keep it for a couple of weeks :P.) so I went to town on my own house. It does so much more than I even imagined. GM and his parents were laughing at me and my new toy...wishful thinking. :P I still learned more things as I cleaned my own house with it but I love it!! I loved the fact that the steam was sanitizing my bathroom and I didn't even need to use cleaning agents most of the time!! And the cleaning agents they make/sell/include (I'm not exactly sure) are all "green" so I didn't feel like I needed a haz-mat mask to clean the shower.

I even steamed a jacket for GM with it. :)

Spring Break

Spring Break started last Thursday for my kids so we started out the weekend with a sleepover. (My sis and her husband had stake temple night so we paid them back some of our babysitting debt).

MC often plays under our countertop height kitchen table. This evening she and her cousin were playing under there but they got shy and ran upstairs anytime they felt anybody watching them. So I offered to make a fort out of the table and sheets so that they could play undisturbed. :P They were all over that idea. Well, just as I finished with their fort and start walking up the stairs, the boys, BR and his cousin, walked over, took one look at the girls' fort and said in unison, "No fair!!" They then came and asked me if they could have a fort too. Well...okay. :) (Forts were one of my favorite things when I was a kid....and apparently I'm still a sucker for them). :P

I started to build the boys a fort in the living room but it wasn't so easy (no pre-maid support structure like a table over which I can drape sheets). I went out to the loft to grab some string and more blankets and then started constructing. GM finished his homework shortly after I got the string so he came down and helped me. It ended up taking up our whole living room. (We had to include the TV in it so they could still watch their movie (The Seeker) and play the Wii. They wanted to sleep in the forts (all except my niece that's BR's age, she was happy to have a bedroom all to herself) :). They also wanted to stay up late playing the Wii. In the end MC went to sleep before anybody (probably around 11 or 11:30. She went to her table fort and fell fast asleep before anybody knew it. At this point, her little cousin decided she wanted to sleep in the big fort with the boys so she went and lay down in there waiting for them to get tired too. At 12:30 I called lights out so they all went to bed.

The next morning the house was quiet and peaceful till almost eleven o’clock!! MC woke up just before ten when my visiting teachers came. I chatted with them on the porch so the rest wouldn’t be disturbed. (I was shocked that they slept so late, usually when they have late sleepovers their back up again at the crack of dawn!)

The kids played in the forts all day and then we went over to dinner and a movie at my sister’s house. (We left her kids there this time) :P.

When we got home BR and MC asked if they could sleep in the forts again. We said they could with the condition that they help clean them all up in the morning. After a lazy morning of reading and playing in the forts, we finally cleaned them all up.

Is there an OPPOSITE to the mom of the year award??: Confessions of a poor, pitiful mom

I think I would get that after yesterday!!!

Yesterday, being Friday, I really needed a break and decided to just veg and do something completely non-productive and pointless. :) So after cleaning up a bit and then blogging for a while I decided to get out the wii and play a game that ML got for me a while ago. I've been thinking of this game lately and wanting to get it out because of all the talk about wii's and such. It's called "My Word Coach". (A game that my kids (and probably my nephews) wouldn't look twice at, but since I love words and language so much, I get a kick out of it.) :) Anyway, so I start playing this game and then my phone alarm goes off to remind me that I need to go pick up my kids from school. Yes, I need an alarm to remind me to pick up my kids (most days I don't, but some days I get so distracted that I lose all track of time). Well, my kids are currently participating in an 8 week "Fun Friday" after school program where they stay until the normal let out time (Let out time: 3:15 pm. Pick up window: 3:15 to 3:30.) (MC chose dance and PE and BR chose Art and PE.) So when my alarm goes off I look at it, remember the later pick up time, shut off the alarm and resume playing the game. I played a little of everything but I got playing this tetrus-like game (but with a word twist) and got so engrossed that I lost all track of time :/ and when I suddenly came to my senses and looked at the clock it was 3:37!! I start panicking and frantically running through the house trying to gather my purse, shoes and coat and get out the door (worrying the whole time what's happened to my kids...it was so late I was sure they'd have called from the office wondering where I was...so I'm going through all the possible senarios (good and bad) in my head). Just before I scoot out the door I get a call from the office saying that my daughter is there wondering if I was picking her up or, tactfully trying to give me a plausible excuse, if I'd made other arrangements. I tell them that I'm on my way and how dreadfully sorry I am and that I'd lost track of time and how I'm off because I forgot to set a reminder for the unusual Friday pick-up time. I'm sure this lady is thinking "What kind of mom needs a reminder to pick up her poor kids!?!? Yeah, exactly!! My poor kids! Who forgets to pick up their kids?? Because they were playing a lousy game?! Like I say, I'm the prime candidate for the Non-mom of the year award. I wish I could chalk it up to being only a dream where I forgot about my kids, but then wake up and realize I'm not such a bad mom after all.

My KING size bed!

As per Serin's request, I finally got some pictures taken of my new King size bed so I can post them. (Wahoo!! I just love having a KING size bed!! Every night I'm SO glad!! I wasn't sure it was going to be that much of a difference, but it's heavenly!) This past weekend I went and got some cute pillows to go on top because so far all I had was the quilt. I'm trying to be good and get a little at a time. :P So for now I got about 1/2 of the bed accessories from my wish list. :)

Wish list for bed:
* a few more pillows
* a bed skirt

I'm composing posts in my sleep

Last night I woke my self up thinking about something I wanted to write about on my blog!! But that usually happens when I stay up late putting any sort of thought into anything. Last night it was blogging that kept me up late and so it occupied my dreams. Saturday night ML and I stayed up late playing this card game (till past 3) and so that night/morning I dreamt that Ben and Mitchell were living cards in this game and it was very strange. Another night I stayed up playing a wii game with ML and so I dreamt that my arms were interchangeable like the wii remote accessories. :P Crazy overactive dreamer...I wish I could just sleep!! :)

Happy New Year Everybody!!

This year bodes many good things, I can just feel it! ;) So many things happened this past year that I wouldn't even have been able to guess at last New Years!!

One great thing was that my parents invited us on a cruise to the Mediterranean! It was the one I was hoping to do, my absolute dream cruise, but I never thought it would happen...it seemed far too unrealistic to hope for. I planned, pondered, wondered and searched the Internet for hours in preparation for that cruise...probably far longer than the 17 days we were gone. ;) And I must say, it was incredible! I was ecstatic to just leave our continent first of all, but then after the thrill of crossing the ocean for the first time and setting foot on European soil, many more amazing things followed. (Sorry, can't give a travel-log here though.)

Another super-great event was that BR got his name drawn in a lottery for a FANTASTIC charter school and I didn't have to home school anymore (if you listen really hard you might hear 3...maybe even 4 "whew"s after that)! It was Ben's idea to apply to the charter schools ;) and we had no idea which ones were any good at the time but it just so happens (you may call it coincidence, but I think not!) that it's the best one in the area (no bias here). :P

MC (and all of us) was thrilled when her first girl cousin on ML's side of the family arrived and we got to go meet her and attend her blessing. We've all loved to see her grow...really to see her any chance we get. ;)

In addition to that our wonderful PAWS met a fantastic man on LDS singles (great site) ;) and we got to hear all about him when she'd clean with us every week. It was so great to hear her talk about a good guy for a change, well let me amend that, a guy who appreciated her and saw in her the wonderful things that those other guys were too blind to see. Then...well, then we lost our dear PAWS. She moved to Phoenix. Sad for us but happy for her and her "LOML". :) We couldn't be happier about it though, cuz if she's happy, we're happy!

Then we found out that our dear PAWS decided to get married in the Chicago Temple AND that we would be able to go AND that we'd be able to participate in the sealing of several special ancestors to ML and his family. (It was a once in a lifetime experience and we wouldn't have traded any of it for the world...well except for the part when we made Serin miss her flight, but that too was serindipitous for us because we got to hang out with her for the evening). :P

As all of this is happening ML gets encouraged to apply, and hired to a new position at the credit union. Well, I don't know if he would count this as one of the great things of 2007 but I have a feeling that someday we'll be able to look back and see past all of the heartache and trials that have accompanied this position, and we'll be able to again see the Hand of God guiding his path. I believe that it will yet be another stepping stone for him to ultimately have the perfect career for him. (However, perhaps in his mind, he just left behind the perfect career...almost).

One blessing that definitely came from his promotion at the CU was that it led to the next momentous blessing in our lives! We decided to start looking at buying a house. Well, there were several factors that led to the fulfilment of that dream but through ML's promotion, the market changing to a buyer's market, and ML's parents wanting a place that they could call "home in Utah" (as opposed to their "home in Colorado") :P we were able to buy a home that is a dream!! Before this actually happened I was continually holding to the idea that we would get a home after ML finished school, and that it would be nuts to even think about buying a home before that...well there's no saying that we're not nuts, but I'm still in awe, every day, that we have this beautiful house, and that it's our home.

And finally as the icing on the cake, we got to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas in our new home with ML's parents. It was a really great holiday. And it was really special to be able to have "Grandma and Grandpa" to spend it with! I was about to tell about those two days, which I haven't done yet. :O But I decided it would be better to save that for another post altogether.

There are SO many events (and I've probably missed some) that happened this year that I held only as distant daydreams....so I daresay, this year holds at least one dream-come-true.... don't you?

I think it's in the water....

Gettin' pregnant??? well we all know that I wish. ;) It does seem to be in the water, but I think we must have our own well. Someday. But for now, it seems going back to work is in the water. Several months ago, in the late spring, or before, I decided that my life was too crazy with homeschooling, and cleaning for several clients, along with the normal things of being a mom. So we let everybody know that we were quiting. We kept only one which we'd do one night a week. (By Bro-in-laws business). It was very refreshing to "quit" after cleaning since 2000, I felt free. Well one client we had just couldn't seem to accept "no" for an answer. She called me several times just to see if I'd change my mind. I finally caved last month when she called again (besides, I thought it would be nice to have the extra cash). I went into it knowing she was a once a month client and with the understanding that she'd call when she wanted me to come back, so I didn't feel like I was making a huge time commitment. While cleaning for her she mentions that she has several neighbors who are in need of a new "cleaning lady" and that she'll give them my number if I'd like. I tell her I'll think about it. Afterward, as I start to remember the great feeling of having extra cash on hand, the possibility of adding some more clients to my schedule sounds better and better to me. Before I have a chance to make a decision I get a call from another previous client telling me that she heard I might be back in business and wondering if I might come back. In light of my thoughts on getting more clients and my difficulty with saying “no” I tell her I will, and we make a plan for every Thursday. Shortly after that I get another call from an acquaintance wondering if I’m still accepting clients and would I clean for her. I figure it’s downhill from there…once I say yes to one person I really don’t know how to say no. We set her up for every other Friday. Sometimes I think I’m getting too old for this. ;) But on the other hand, I appreciate the workout and I’ve gotten far too sedentary lately. And the problem now is that in my mind I’ve already “spent” about a years’ worth of my new cash flow and so getting myself in deeper and deeper gets easier and easier.

Things I’ve already “spent” my money on:
 A King Size Bed
 Dresser
 A rocking chair
 Desk for the study
 Chairs for the living room
 Paint
 Shutters
 Finishing our loft

The list goes on and on and on….