Diaper Rash

Can someone please tell me why in the world there has to be such a thing as diaper rash? And why is it that my kids seem to think it is their responsibility to have the worst diaper rash humanly possible? I'm so sick of it. At least Lucy let me potty train her young, with Jack, there is no end in sight, and after a night like last night, I'm feeling pretty helpless.

Off to change another stinky one.

Quick End-of-Summer Recap

Thought I'd post a couple big events of the end of the summer before I get all caught up on here. These are just a few fun big things that happened that are worth a mention.

Lucy mastered riding her "Princess Bike" over the summer. This took the whole summer because of her skinny little legs, and the fact that we live on a mountain. We had to work hard to build that muscle. But with the help of a big wheel that some friends gave us, she has mastered it (with training wheels of course, we'll work on the next step next summer)!

Showing off her bike.



Jack didn't want to miss out, but unfortunately we haven't gotten him a real boy bike yet, so he tried using Lucy's old broken Care Bear bike. I see a Christmas present in order. Hey, at least the part he can see is blue.

Because Jack's legs were too short to reach the peddles, Lucy and I spent a lot of time doing this. It's so much cuter to watch Lucy do it than when I have to though.

This is the method I prefer. And yes, it is like noon and Jack is still in his pj's. He took an early nap this morning and was ready for it before I expected him to be, so he slept in his pj's. When he woke up, we were out here playing. Don't judge me.

Shawn's dad felt really bad by then end of the summer when he realized it had been two seasons since we had been to a Rockies game, so he took Shawn, Lucy and I to one last game. It was so much fun, and we just happened to be there for the $1 hot dog night.



Lucy was so cute at the game, she loved every second of it. Poor Jack stayed home and slept at Grandma's house, but we'll get him there next year.

We also went to the BYU v. Air Force game. I don't have a lot to say about that game, it's still a sore spot for me. But the tradition lives on. We will take our kids to as many BYU games as we possibly can! Even if Jack wore a 6 month tee shirt and Lucy wore her old 18 month BYU dress which worked as a shirt, we have spirit, how 'bout you?

Sleep Deprivation

I've always thought it is a little ironic that whenever I am pregnant I find myself sleep deprived. It's one of the more frustrating things I've experienced in life, and it has happened with all three of my pregnancies for different reasons. Right now I am 7 months pregnant and feel like I am entitled to a good nights sleep, because I know that I won't be getting one for the next year once this little baby comes. But that isn't happening right now for a couple of reasons:

1- I have a 4 year old, and she is sleeping in a toddler bed. My 4 year old is very tall, and therefore the blankets on her bed will not stay on her little body throughout the night. As a result she comes into my room every night around 1:30 and tells me she needs her blankets put back on. I'm more than happy to do this once, but lately it's been happening several times a night, and by the 3rd or 4th time, things can get pretty ugly. Neither Shawn nor myself are very pleasant people when someone starts messing with our sleep. No worries, a new bunk bed is in order and in a few more months hopefully this will be a thing of the past (at least Lucy waking up).

2- Our house is located in a valley between the rocky mountains, and a large foothill (or small mountain). As a result, the wind is funneled through our neighborhood at an alarming speed. The first night we spent in our house (a year ago from tomorrow) I was certain it would blow away. The wind starts in the fall, and lasts all winter and through the spring, but the summers are perfect. The last few weeks we have a nice breeze throughout the day, but as soon as the sun goes down, the winds honestly jump to a constant speed of at least 60 mph, and I know we have several gusts a night that are well over 100 mph.

Because of this wind, when Lucy does wake up in the night, she can't go back to sleep. Sometimes the wind is the reason she is woken up, and not her blankets. So I usually take her back into her room and tuck her in again and turn on her "ni-night songs" to drown the howls out. A couple nights ago she came in and asked Shawn if he could go close the cupboard downstairs that was making noises. It was just the wind, and our creaking house. I usually let her climb into bed with us once a night for a while, but with Shawn, me and my ever growing belly, and Lucy things are a little too tight. And once I get Lucy tucked in, I usually have to go into Jack and calm him down, and turn on his humidifier to drown out the wind.

Once I do get the kids tucked in and all calmed down, I go lay back down and listen to the howling wind myself. The howling doesn't bother me, but I usually can't fall back asleep because every minute or so we get a big gust that rattles our sky light in our bathroom, and causes me to brace myself for it to come crashing down into our shower which gets my heart racing. Then when we get a REALLY big gust, I lay in my bed and feel the walls of the entire house shake. At this point I logically tell myself that the house can't blow down, it's withstood these winds for more than 15 years now, and it will do it again. But with every house shaking gust I am certain that pieces of our house are going to start blowing away and exposing us to the the elements. Then I decided to roll over and hug my big, strong, brave husband, but whenever I'm about to do this, he rolls over and hugs me with his whole body quivering.

Lucy's First Hickey

Lucy got her first hickey about a month ago. We have a little vacuum for some ziplock bags that you are suppose to be able to seal. They don't work, but my kids love to play with the little vacuum. Lucy recently discovered that the little sucker on the end of the machine will suction itself to anything, including her face. She did it several times on her cheeks and on Jack's cheeks, but then got the bright idea to try it on her forehead. She had a hickey there for weeks.

Pregnancy Brain

I've complained of pregnancy brain many times over the past few months, but I have never seen it's full effects quite like I saw them yesterday. Sunday mornings are always a little hectic, but yesterday was especially bad. Lucy had a hard time sleeping the night before, and came into our room far too many times. I didn't think much of it until Shawn woke me up to tell me that he was leaving for his meetings and I realized it was almost 7:30 and there was no way in all the glorious world that I was ready to roll out of bed right then. So Shawn set the alarm for 10 more minutes and left. Unfortunately the garage door woke Jack up, and I realized that my morning shower just got a whole lot more complicated.

So after a slow start, I got showered, got my make up done, and then took the kids down to get us some breakfast. As we were eating I realized I was really crunched on time, and to make matters worse, I had 3 loads of laundry on my love seat which I had neglected to fold last night (surprise!) The problem with this load of laundry is that somewhere in there were Jack's two little black socks which he needed for church, and I assumed his suit. After 10 minutes of digging through the pile, I realized my assumption was wrong. I have no idea what happened to his little suit, and I'm not ok with that because I love his suit. I'm sure it will turn up, but now after folding all the laundry, and searching every other logical location, I'm not sure where in the world it is hiding.

Anyway, by the time Shawn got home we were almost ready to walk out the door, and after a few hurried hair styles, we left. It wasn't until I sat down at church that I actually looked at what I was wearing. We were half way through the opening hymn when I about fell to the floor in embarrassment. I had dressed myself in a cream shirt with a soft pink undershirt (not bad), a black skirt, and brown shoes. I spent the next three hours horribly uncomfortable. It doesn't sound bad, but it was terrible. I looked like Lucy picked out my outfit (which she said she thought it was beautiful). I would include a picture of the atrocity, but I'm officially 28 weeks, and have now passed the point when pictures will be taken. Sorry everyone, there will be no pictures of me for the next 6 months, not until the swelling in my face goes down (which isn't noticeable yet, but it will be).

Going Private

So I hate to do it because honestly it is a pet peeve of mine, but I have finally decided that I need to make my blog private. The reason I've had to do this is because withing the last 10 days, I've had two people start following my blog, and I have no idea who they are, and they are definitely not from this country, and it kinda creeps me out. Anyway, I've emailed everyone who I have an email address for to invite them, so hopefully I didn't forget too many people, but I know I did, and now they can't read this to hear my apology. Hopefully Facebook will come through where my email address book has fail. Sorry everyone, I hate private blogs, but I had to do it!

Life's a Little Crazy

Pretty much anyone who reads my blog knows that we have been given a notice that Shawn's job will be outsourced to Panama starting in November. It's been a pretty crazy time as we try to get everything sorted out with that, be we have been so blessed in that we have been given several months warning, and we are both confident that it is all going to work out for the better. To be honest with you, I've watched the lives of several family members and friends over the last year or so, and I've come to the conclusion that times are pretty crazy right now. Shawn might have put it best when he said "You don't know how messed up the economy is until you are on the hunt." I mean, companies are doing some pretty weird things right now. But aside from the economy, I've watched several friends lose loved ones, diagnosed with cancer, or endure any number of trials outside of the economic chaos. I've just come to realize that we are definitely living in the challenging times that have been prophesied of.

Through the experiences of those around me, I've tried to learn as much as I can, and one of the most influential blogs that I have been reading for the last several months has been that of Patrick and Ashley Sullenger. I went to school with Patrick, he was a year older than me and I remember him as far back as first grade, and I didn't meet Ashley (a year younger than me) until high school. I wasn't a close friend to either of these two, and they probably don't know any more about me than my maiden name and that I ran in high school. Still I feel so close to them now as I've followed their blog so closely. This young couple has only been married 3 years, and in that time they welcomed a beautiful little girl into the world, and helplessly watched her leave this life only 18 months later. Warning, their story is heartbreaking, but even more than that it's inspiring. I've been amazed to see how far their story has spread, and the lives that have been touched. Just two weeks ago Pat and Ashley received a package in the mail from a woman who had read their story and was so touched that she sought out the missionaries and was baptized. In her packaged she included a memory quilt that she made for them to thank them for sharing their story. I've just been so amazed by the impact the Sullenger's story has had on complete strangers even 4 months after the tragedy.

So my point in sharing the Sullenger's story is simply to help spread it. Honestly, if you take a half an hour (or more) to read their entire story, it is so amazing to see the miracles working in their lives, and I can't explain what it does to you. They are an amazing example to me, and I've just been completely mesmerized by their strength. I must confess that I have become a bit of a blog stalker of these two, and since I can't deny it any more, I will officially add their blog as a link on my "Blogs I Follow" list, and I will be adding them to my reader as well (since I have no idea why I haven't done that yet). Again, to read their story click here.