The Alan Daniels Family

More Curise Pix

2011-12-12T13:29:00.001-08:00

Puerto Vallarta - South Banderas Bay

Room on Ship with cute towel animals.

Horse back riding in Puerto Vallarta

Best beach I have ever been to. White sand and clear water.
We could see the bottom of the ocean from our chest. This is
in Cabo San Lucas.

Cruise Highlights

2011-12-12T12:58:00.000-08:00

Well, the vacation finally came and went. It was amazing. Alan and I are generally pretty frugal with money so blowing money on what seemed like such an extravagant vacation was a little uncomfortable. I felt really guilty at first. But we worked hard and were smart with our money this year and it was an amazing experience. So I think I'll be able to forgive myself for busting into the savings account. I could write a ton about what happened on our trip, but that would be really long to read so here are the highlights.

The ship was really nice. It is only 3 years old. It has a 40,000 sqft spa facility which is where we spent a lot of our time. We went every day and got 4 different spa treatments. We also spent a lot of time on the "serenity deck" which is the quiet "adults only" deck. I got a lot of reading done and Alan had some homework to do (unfortunately) so that was a favorite spot. We saw some shows in the theater and caught a couple of comedy acts.

Of course the food was out of control. The scale said that I had gained 9 pounds the night we got back. In all fairness, it probably wasn't that much because I was fully dressed and it was night time on a full tummy when I weighed. But I feel like I gained 9 pounds so I am going to count it. We met some really great people and I was so excited that the couple we were assigned to eat with every night in the dining room was so fun. They were great and we really enjoyed getting to know them. On the last day there was a chocolate buffet. Did you hear me people? A CHOCOLATE BUFFET!!! The whole thing was devoted to chocolate dishes and deserts. No wonder I gained 9 pounds.

We booked 2 excursions through the cruise line and did some stuff on our own. I went out of my comfort zone a lot this past week. I was pretty proud of myself. We went zip-lining, hiking and repelling in a huge canyon, drove on a bus for a very long time with a very, very crazy Mexican driver, rode in really fast boats, rented jet skis, swam and snorkeled in the ocean, rode horses through jungle canyons and jumped off rocks into waterfalls and ate authentic food on beautiful private beaches accessible only by boat. These descriptions don't really do the activities justice, but I am pretty sure that I won't ever forget them, even if I don't describe them in detail. And to top it all off, I sang Karaoke with a live band, in front of a room full of people, all by myself. Yes, you heard it right, I sang Karaoke, ALONE! Of all the things I was scared to do this week, that was the most horrifying. I probably sounded like crap because I was so nervous, but I didn't chicken out or hyperventilate and that is what counts.

Alan was the adventurous one when it came to eating. He ate tons of seafood and steaks since I don't really like those things and we never really eat them here. But he also had sushi, clams, duck, alligator, shark and frog legs. He skipped the escargot because he said he had already tried it. I was thoroughly impressed but really grossed out at the same time.

There were so many things to do on the boat, that we didn't even begin to scratch the surface. Honestly we didn't even try. Our main goal was to relax, not to party and I think we accomplished it. It is nice to be home now, even though we both still feel like we are on a boat today. I keep rocking back and forth with the tide of my living room floor! ;-) We will have to start saving our pennies so we can try something different next time. Hopefully it won't be another 7 years before our next vacation!

Fall Break

2011-10-26T16:14:00.000-07:00

We wanted to take the kids to Disneyland, but instead we decided to save the money for a cruise. So selfish, I know! So we took them to Sedona instead. The Hamiltons, Orams and Daniels spent the night in a neighboring city (in one hotel room, YIKES!), then woke up the next morning to go hiking. We were trying to see the fall colors but we were about a week or 2 to early. There were some yellows and red's but not much. It was pretty anyway.

We also went to see some old Indian ruins which were pretty neat and took our first trip to Jerome AZ. If you don't know, Jerome is a ghost town. Well it used to be. Back in the 70's only a hand full of people lived there. It used to be an old mining town built in the early 1900's. Now it is mostly a tourist hot spot because of all the historic buildings. Barely anything looks like it has been restored. And the whole town is built on the side of a very steep hill/mountain. Very precarious at best. Since all the buildings are so old, they all look like they are about to roll down the side of the hill at any moment. Wouldn't want to be there during an earthquake, but it was really neat to see. The kids actually really liked it too. They keep talking about wanting to go back to the ghost town. We had a Haunted Hamburger, voted the best burger in AZ and I have to say it was pretty yummy. But that pumpkin cream pie was to die for!

The point of all this is that the kids had a blast and we spent about 1/20th of what we would have spent taking them to Disneyland. Plus it was way more relaxing! I would say the trip was a success.

September - The Month of Birthdays

2011-10-04T17:12:00.000-07:00

It seems like everyone in our family has a birthday in September or May. Se we decided to have one big celebration this month. My grandparents were in town, so my mom's step brothers came for our party too. Mom's step-nephew Dylan had a birthday in Sept as well as grandma so we had a party with presents and individual cakes for: Alyssa, Matthew, Kimberly, Dylan, Josh, Zachary & Grandma! It was crazy!

Kimberly got her first "friend" party. She had a pretty good turn out. It was a slip'n'slide party. In most places a September 15th birthday would be to cold for this but here in Hell.....oops, I mean Arizona, September 15th is the perfect time. It was a lot of fun and since we did everything outside, including cake, ice cream and presents, I didn't have to freak out about a million kids trashing my clean house. Clean up was super easy.

Zachary had a little birthday party on his birthday in which we let him eat his cupcake. He was a mess but he loved the cupcake (of course). So we let him have 2. :-) It was pretty low key since 1. we already celebrated the week before at the MEGA PARTY and 2. he isn't going to remember anyway. I can't believe that he is already a year old! Time goes by so fast when you track it in terms of how big your kids are getting. For documentation purposes, he started army crawling at 10 months & regular crawling at 11 months. He can go up the stairs like a pro, but doesn't even attempt the down (thank heavens). As of this post he will walk around the furniture but won't stand unsupported and is definitely not walking. He has a few words even though the only ones he uses regularly are "mama", "dada" and "ah-dat" (which is used interchangeably for "what's that" and "I want that" . His first word besides mom and dad was "grandma". He can also say "no" and "all done" when he feels like it.

In other news this month, Alan and I finally got callings at church. We are now Sunday School Teachers & we are team teaching the Marriage and Family Relations Class. I am super excited. I love teaching with Alan. We work really well together as teachers. And I have never gotten to teach Sunday School to adults before so that will be different. Hopefully people who actually want to be in class and participate (fingers crossed). I think our first lesson will be this Sunday.

A Kimberly story to part with. The other day we were in the car and Kimberly starts shouting "Mom, Zachary just talked! He just talked!" So I said "He did? What did he say?" To which Kimberly replies "He said, WELL ISN'T THAT CONVENIENT?".......... Right Kimberly, sure he did........... :-)

Pix are of me with the kids, Kimberly's party and Zachary's party.

So much has happened!

2011-09-03T11:46:00.001-07:00

Well, a lot has happened since I posted last. I'm not even sure where to start. To avoid this being a 10 page post I am going to hit the highlights.

1. We moved into our new house!!! It is beautiful and I love it. It is so cozy and there is so much space. I don't feel overwhelmed and closed in. It is definitely worth the extra 10 minutes to town. Well at least it is for me, I'm not the one driving it every day. But Alan seems happy too.

2. Kimberly started Kindergarten. It is hard to believe I have a kid old enough to be in school. She really loves it and has finally started to adjust to the fact that she can't do whatever she wants whenever she wants. She has had to "flip her apple" for not "making good choices" twice already. Her seat was also moved in the first week to the "square table" which is essentially the isolation table because she has a hard time not socializing when she should be working. It has been a month and she was switched back to a table with friends this week. We will see how it goes.

3. Benjamin started Pre-School. He loves it. He is way more excited to go to school than Kimberly is. It is only 2 times a week but he wakes up every morning asking if he gets to go to school today. He is the youngest in his class but he keeps up with all the other kids. He is so thoughtful of the other kids. Always giving toys to them and suggesting they take turns. Even though he is my rambunctious child he is also my "sweet" child.

4. Zachary is mobile now. Though he hasn't taken to crawling in the traditional format. He army crawls. I saw him crawl the regular way the other day for the first time so I know he can do it, I think he just prefers to army crawl. He is really fast. 11 months old but nowhere near walking yet. He has, however, managed to master the stairs. The baby gate finally went up this week. We don't want any broken heads. He only has 2 teeth still.

5. Alan has reached the halfway point in his Master Degree program. I am so proud of him. It doesn't give him a ton of free time, but luckily our new office is dark and cool and pleasant to spend a lot of time in!

That is about it for now. I feel so much better lately. Most likely due to the fact that Kimberly is now in school and we have more of a daily routine. Plus Benjamin is way more manageable when he and Kimberly aren't squabbling all day. And I am sure the daily doses of Paxil aren't hurting either. ;-) I have closed on some houses so we have a little money in the bank and are starting to replenish our year supply. I have been good about reading my scriptures and saying prayers daily. We even have family prayer and scripture study most nights and usually squeeze in a FHE once a week. I feel like everything is going so well right now. Like we are doing what we are supposed to be doing and we are mostly happy. Strange how that works huh?

The pictures are of the formal living & dining in the new house, Kimberly on the first day of school, Zachary mastering the stairs and the kids hanging out in their new play room.

Quotes and Conversations

2011-07-21T11:29:00.000-07:00

Before I start, Alan had his 31st birthday last week. We didn't do much, just a small cupcake and ice cream with the family that was close by. He and I went out on his birthday and saw Harry Potter and had dinner at Claim Jumper and bought him some new clothes. The pix are from his birthday and one of the kids at the summer camp activity that Kelly hosted at our house.

Now on to the cute stuff!

Benjamin - "Mom, Jesus loves me. (Pause) But he loves me more when I don't pee my pants! "

Robin - "Kimberly, can you throw this in the trash please?" Kimberly - "Mom, look at my hands? Does it look like they're busy right now???" Robin - "Are you really that busy or are you just being sassy?" Kimberly - "......Ugh, But just a little bit sassy!"

Kimberly - "Why would Jesus make me a girl with hair on my arms??? Only boys have hair on their arms!" Robin - "Mommy has hair on her arms." Kimberly - "WHAT!!!??? You have hair on your arms too???"

Robin - "Kimberly, what do you want to be when you grow up?" Kimberly - "What is that doctor that takes care of animals? Oh, yeah, a betrinarian." Robin - "Benjamin, what do you want to be when you grow up?" Benjamin "BIGGER!!" Robin - "No, when you have a job like daddy, where do you want to go to work?" Benjamin - "I want to work at Walmart!"

Robin - "Benjamin, what's wrong?" Benjamin - "Daddy said NO poptart!" Robin - "I'm sorry buddy, it will be ok." Benjamin - "Mom, mom .......Maaaawwwwm!" Robin - "Benjamin, WHAT?" Benjamin - "I want you to say YES poptart!"

Robin - "Benjamin, Guess What?" Benjamin - "I'm your best friend?"

Kimberly - "Mommy. If you let me have a piece of gum......I'll let you have a date with daddy!"

I guess this is one of the things kids are really good for. ENTERTAINMENT!

Trip To WOOTAH

2011-07-14T12:04:00.000-07:00

On the whole way to Utah, Benjamin kept asking if we were in Wootah yet? It was so cute that the state has been officially re-named in our home. The kids had so much fun that today they had a map and a compass and were "going on an adventure to wootah". Very adorable.

We mostly just hung out with everyone. Exactly how I like it. Not hurried or over planned, just spending time with everyone. We lounged around the house with Dave and Louise while the kids had free reign of the back yard. They played on the swings and the trampoline, ran through the garden chasing birds, helped feed the rabbits..... They were in heaven with so much space. Especially since it wasn't too hot to enjoy it. Alan and I doubled with Rick and Brenda which was fun and went over at night after the kids were all asleep to watch movies.

We spent a night at Brian & Callie's house. The picture shows Kimberly, Benjamin and Olivia enjoying what I like to refer to as "white trash swimming". There was a sizable sink hole in the yard so we threw down a tarp and filled it up like a pool. Then we put the toddler slide at the edge so they could side into the water. The kids thought that was great fun. It made me feel like I was living in an episode of "Raising Hope".

We stayed a night at Jason's house and everyone came up for a BBQ. We chatted till the wee hours of the morning. It was really nice to have Jared and Laura there. I am excited that we will have a better chance of seeing them more now.

And of course I fit in trips to the Oquirrh Mountain and Draper Temples. Two more to add to the list. We went the long route on the trip up and took the kids to the Manti Temple so they could see where we got married. Now every time Benjamin sees a big white-ish building he thinks it's a temple and asks if we are going to get married.

Maybe the most eventful part of vacation is that we bought a house. Yep, we bought it sight un-seen. It was pretty nerve racking. But I saw it come up in the MLS and it was so pretty I knew it would be gone by the time we bought it. We looked at it the night we came home and it just made me feel even better about the decision. I absolutely love it! I am so excited. If this one doesn't pan out I will be heart broken. Not to mention I will be likely to rip out all my hair.
Should be closing in a couple of weeks. So when we get in and it's all beautiful I'll post some pictures!

It's Official, I'm nuts!

2011-06-16T16:22:00.000-07:00

I know this post has nothing to do with the baby, but the pictures were so cute I couldn't help but throw them up. I hate having a post with no pictures.

Ok, I'm not announcing this to everyone, but since this blog acts a sort of a journal, if you read it you get to know. I have always struggled with horrible anxiety and distressful thought patterns. It started when I was 17 and over the course of my life has had periods when it wasn't so bad and times when it felt pretty debilitating. For my entire adult life I have had issues handling stress. The weird part is that I remember these issues coming on very suddenly and I attributed it to the big life changes that were starting to happen in preparation for college.

Well lately, I have struggled to the point where my moods and actions have had quite the effect on my family and so after years of poking and prodding by my husband, I finally went to see a therapist. I have been 3 times and finally have an understanding of what is going on. Turns out that the Dr. thinks I struggle with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I have wondered for some time if I might be OCD but my obsessions and compulsions don't fit in the "common" categories. Also, I have periods where the symptoms are pretty bad but then they will go away for a while. I figured that I couldn't be OCD because I just wasn't that sick. Plus the mental illness that runs in my family is Bi-Polar Disorder. Well, turns out OCD runs in my family too.

Knowing what the problem is won't change anything instantly. I may not even need to be medicated, that is yet to be seen. I was on drugs for a while before I had Kimberly and they were indeed very helpful. But I was in a really bad place then and I'm not that bad right now. Of course, if I was on meds, I'd probably be less up and down with my day to day problems.
But I will continue to see the therapist for a while to do some cognitive behavior therapy and try
to learn some good coping skills and reverse some of the obsessive patterns.

As it turns out, many of the things that are being suggested are things that I already did to help myself. Maybe I should charge myself an hourly rate for being my own therapist for the last 14 years. Do you think the insurance would pay a claim where I billed myself? :)

Catching Up.

2011-06-02T16:59:00.000-07:00

Wow, I skipped the whole month of May. And I feel like so much happened that I can't possibly record it all. But i'll do my best.

We sold our house! We were able to close a little early even. Now we are living in my mom's basement....again. We put offers on 2 houses and got out bid. This week we put in our 3rd offer and I have been told by the listing agent that they are going to accept it. I don't have the paperwork yet though, so I'll believe it when I see it. The home is a short sale so we probably won't be moving in any time soon even if our offer is accepted.

Benjamin turned 3 on May 22nd. Though he still looks like he is 1 1/2. :) But, he is starting to get easier to understand! Everybody was sick the week of his birthday so we didn't invite anyone to celebrate but family. We set up the slip n' slide. The whole month before his birthday he kept telling us he wanted a "chocolate birthday". So he had chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and chocolate icecream. He was a happy camper.

Kimberly graduated from preschool. They had a cute little program and she got a certificate. The ladybug crown is because it was "Leah's Ladybug Preschool". More importantly, as most of you probably know, she got into Kindergarten! I am so relieved. I think she is very ready and I may be able to salvage what is left of my sanity without her and Benjamin fighting all day.

I took Zachary to the doctor for shots and a check-up. They were very concerned about his weight. He was in like the 1st % for weight but the 50% for height. I have never been able to get him to take formula, but the Dr. told me that he had to stop breastfeeding because he wasn't getting enough. It took a few days of refusing to give him breast milk but he eventually took the formula. Now he eats like crazy. I feel so bad. He was literally starving to death, but he never complained so I didn't know he wasn't getting enough to eat. I felt like a horrible mom. He is slowly getting chubbier and it suits him.

It is the same-old same-old with Alan and I. Work and work. Rarely we play. But I can't complain. We bought Alan a car this past weekend. It is a little piece of crap. A 2002 Hyundai Accent. The body and interior are in Fair condition but it runs well and is a manual transmission with pretty low miles. It will get good gas mileage and should last a while. Mostly I am greatful that we were able to pay for it in cash. We drink a lot of the Dave Ramsey Kool-aid around here. Now we have to start saving for when the Van dies once and for all. New things break daily, but it is still running, thank Heaven!

It's almost summer....YUCK!

2011-04-23T15:04:00.000-07:00

ADORABLE BABY ZACHARY!

So here is a cute Benjamin story. He was trying to flush the toilet, but the handle was broken. When he pushed it down it just jiggled and did nothing. He tried a bunch of times to no avail then threw up his hands in frustration and exclaimed "Awww Dang It! The batteries are dead!"

The other day at the ATM Kimberly told me the following, "Mom did you know that when you get money from the machine it sends it's magic through the air into my hands and gives me Super Strawberry Powers to kill monsters?" Later that night there was a car tailgating us and she said that the car was driving to close. I asked her if she would use her Super Strawberry Powers to make him back off and in her best YOU IDIOT voice she replied, "Mom. Strawberry Powers don't do that. " Then she sat pensive for a moment and followed up with, "But they do make me see really really far away. Don't tell anyone though. My Super Strawberry powers are a secret!" Since then I am chastised if I bring it up in front of anyone who doesn't already know about her secret powers. Good thing she can't read this blog post. :)

The days have been getting hotter. We've had some in the high 90's already! :( It's only APRIL! But I suppose that is what I get for living in AZ. I am having an open house right now and the past hour has been a little slow so I thought I'd update while I have nothing to do.

Basically everyone is doing well. We had a buyer for our house and he couldn't get his financing so we had to put it back up. That is a bummer. I hate having to keep the house show clean. But I do have 4 buyers I'm working with right now, so if all goes well hopefully we can get some money saved by the end of the summer and get Alan a little car to drive around.

The kids are driving me nuts a little. I guess it is the age. Someone should have warned me that having a 2 year old who acts like a 2 year old at the same time you have a 4 year old who acts like a 14 year old was a bad idea. Zachary is a mama's boy and has a hard time with me not holding him. If he can't see or hear me it's fine but the second I come into view he cries. Sweet little turd! And he is so skinny! Just like Benjamin. He only has 1 chin and you can see his neck. So odd in an infant.

Kimberly is taking the early entrance exam for Kindergarten in a couple of weeks. Her birthday is only 2 weeks past the cut-off, but I think she and I will both go nuts if she has to wait a whole extra year. Hopefully she gets in. Benjamin is pretty much the cutest "naughty" kid I know. He grins at you and giggles while causing mayhem so he usually gets away with it. Alan just finished a class today so he gets a 2 week break from school. That will be nice.

Random Facebook Posts

2011-03-12T11:20:00.000-08:00

I have been so busy getting the house ready and keeping it clean and getting out for showings that the blog has been neglected. So here are some random tidbits that I have posted to Facebook over the last month or so:

On our way into town yesterday, listening to random rock music (fyi, i was not singing along). Kimberly - "Mom, promise me something ok?" Robin - "What?" Kimberly - "When we get there, whatever you do, do NOT sing Kung Foo Fighting!" Robin - "What are you talking about?" Kimberly - "MOM, just promise me!"

Kimberly: Mom! Isn't my painting so beautiful? Robin: "Yes! What is it???" Kimberly: "Well, it's a bad guy and a good guy and they're in really big trouble because the earth is about to explode!"

Kimberly - "Mom! Didn't you hear my brain tell you not to make me hard toast?" Robin - "Kimberly I can't hear your brain talk to me." Kimberly rolls her eyes, sighs then shakes her head and hits it with her fists. Robin - "Is your head talking to me right now?" Kimberly - "Yes, but it's not talking, it's yelling!" One Word.............PSYCHO!

Kimberly quote of the day: "Mom I wish I could be seven instead of four." Why don't you want to be four? (In the saddest voice ever) "Because it's hard to be four."

Robin: "Daddy is staying home to do homework" Kimberly: "I don't think he's going to do homework, I think he is going to talk to himself!" Robin: "Why would he talk to himself?" Kimberly: "Sometimes I talk to myself!"

The picture of Zachary is him trying to kiss the baby doll. He was very determined and so cute! But not as cute as the picture I didn't get of Benjamin trying to "nurse" that same baby doll this morning. I was feeding Zachary and he plopped down beside me on the couch, lifted up his shirt and stuck the doll to his nipple. When I switched Zachary to the other side, Benjamin switched the doll to the other side. We had a nice talk about how boys don't have milk, just mommies do. I don't think he really got it. After nursing his baby he burped it, changed it's pretend diaper, then threw it across the room. 3 out of 4 isn't bad...right?

I posted this particular picture of Kimberly because she is so into posing for the camera right now. She changes poses like a model and wants me to take multiple shots. Does this picture remind you of anyone? Maybe for those of you unfortunate enough to have seen the picture of me in a similar pose only wearing a bathing suit??????? Yeah, you know what I'm talking about. I guess that apple doesn't fall far from the tree does it?

Quotable Kimberly

2011-01-17T16:58:00.000-08:00

Someday I will publish a coffee table book called Quotable Kimberly. I just have to remember to write it all down. There are so many of these small tidbits that just don't get recorded. Too bad!

Robin (consolingly): "We are leaving Daddy at home so he can do his homework."

Kimberly (matter of factually): "I don't think Daddy is going to do his homework, I think he just wants to talk to himself."

Robin (puzzled): "Why would he want to talk to himself?"

Kimberly (with that what's wrong with talking to yourself tone): "Sometimes I talk to myself!"

Resolutions 2011

2011-01-12T17:05:00.000-08:00

Cute baby Zachary in a surprisingly cute helmet!

So last year I was able to keep all of my new year's resolutions. That was a first. I have been thinking about what I wanted to resolve to do this year and I figured that my resolutions should fit into the categories of physical health, spiritual health, emotional health and financial health. I don't know if that last category is really considered a "health" but I am sure Dave Ramsey would back me on this one so I am going with it.

1. Physical Health - I have never been able to run for a very long time/distance. Even at the peak of my fitness in high school and college I never even tried to run longer than a mile. I don't know if it is the asthma or just my pure dislike for running, but I have never even tried to push myself. A couple of days ago at the gym I ran 2 miles without stopping. It was a 12 minute mile but I didn't stop. After that I decided that I could do more if I just push myself. So my physical health resolution for the year is to be able to run a 5K without stopping. I would like to do a Turkey Trot at Thanksgiving, but I have to at least be able to pull it out on the treadmill at the gym.

2. Spiritual Health - I have always struggled with studying the scriptures. I read them ok, but I never really "study" them. So this year my spiritual health resolution is to read the entire Book of Mormon with a study guide. I have ordered my BOM institute manual and it should be here any day. Our family scripture study goal is to read as a family at least 50% of the days of each month. I also want to maintain my temple attendance with at least one trip a month and try to add 2 new temples to my list.

3. Mental Health - My mental health resolution for the year is to be under 150 lbs. by Christmas. I know this sounds like it should fall into the physical health category, but I think losing some of the weight that I put on over the past 6 years will help me mentally more than physically. I haven't felt good about myself in a long time. I am embarrassed about the way I look which gives me pretty crappy self esteem and drastically effects the way I treat my family and the relationship I have with my husband. I may never be 130 lbs again, but I think under 150 lbs is reasonable.

4. Financial Health - It was so nice to sell the house in Brigham City and get out of debt. For a couple of glorious years we had no debt but our mortgage which is how it should be. Then Alan lost his job, twice. He took a pay cut, cars broke down, babies needed surgery, etc. I know we are way better off than the average American family but even having any credit card debt really sucks! So the financial resolution for this year is to have all the credit card debt and doctors bills paid off by the end of the year and at least $2500 dollars in our savings account.
So those are my resolutions and now that I have written them down I have some accountability to make sure that I get them done.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-31T09:36:00.000-08:00

Wii!

Opening Presents

Kimberly's Christmas Make-Over
(Make-up done by Kimberly)

Christmas wouldn't be complete without a gun!

Zachary's first Christmas! New books for everyone.

This Christmas was a good one. All the family was around (except Cara, Shane & Syd :(). On The 23rd, Kyle & Beth came up with the kids and we had a nacho bar, played Pictionary and Kyle and Beth opened their presents from us. Then on Christmas Eve everyone else got together again to have a dinner at Mom and Dads. The kids made gingerbread houses, even Benjamin did his own! I need to get the pix from my mom cuz they were super cute. We did our family gift exchange and then it was off to bed so the kids could wait for Santa.

Christmas morning was nice. Kimberly and Benjamin are still too little to remember that Christmas morning is what it is and wake up at 4:30am. Benjamin woke up first at around 7:30 and hung out in bed with us until Kimberly got up around 8:00. They were very excited to see that Santa brought them a tent with sleeping bags and backpacks. They have spent the last week lounging around the house in their sleeping bags and sleeping in them (on their beds) at night.

Alan was fooled this year. I bought him a decoy gift which was actually perfume for me since he doesn't like the body spray I was using and was constantly complaining about it. He opened it and I could see him trying to hide the disappointment (which is what I was going for). Then he got to his second gift which he assumed was a DVD by the shape. But when he opened it you can imagine the questioning look on his face when it wasn't a DVD but a Wii game. Puzzling since we don't own a Wii. So then I brought out the 3rd gift which had not been placed under the tree. My parents gave us their Wii. I had really wanted to get him one, but that was way out of the budget this year. My parents weren't using theirs and so they offered it up. We keep getting all their perfectly good hand-me-downs. I keep waiting for the day we inherit their car or house or something! :) Anyway, it is really fun and it is nice to get our netflix on the TV in addition to the computer.

We rounded out the presents with books and games and other odds and ends. Alan got me the box set of DVD's from the "Love Comes Softly" series. They are really good and we have enjoyed watching them. I was quiet surprised.

The afternoon and evening were spent at Kelly and Josh's house. The kids got a big trampoline from Santa so of course we had to go test it out. We stayed for dinner and then brought over the fire pit and had a "camp" with the kids and made smores and had hot chocolate. All in all an eventful holiday. Sad it's over but ready to get back to getting skinny, which is pretty much impossible over the month of December. Hey at least I haven't gained any weight thanks to the fitness challenge. Now for the New Years eve festivities tonight. I think we will have a good time but I'll save that for another post! :)

More Surgery Pictures

2010-12-18T10:58:00.001-08:00

Saddest Face EVER! He is hurting so bad. Thank Heaven for Morphine!

Face Before

Face After
Again, the pics don't do it justice, although the front of his head
is where the difference is the least noticeable.

Zachary's Surgery

2010-12-18T10:39:00.000-08:00

Most people know, but Zachary was born with a condition called sagital craniosynostosis. The short version? The top two plates in his skull were fused together. He had to have surgery to avoid possible brain damage and certain head deformities. So on December 10th we took our sweet 10 week old baby in to the children's hospital and he got a craniectomy. A pediatric neurosurgeon removed the effected parts of his skull. Now he has a softspot the size of TEXAS!

I was a mess in the weeks leading up to the surgery, Alan and I were both scared to death to send our tiny newborn baby in for such a major procedure. But we are now a week post opp and Zachary is doing awesome. We were in the ICU for 4 days but he had relatively minimal swelling and pretty much no bruising. We feel very blessed that it has gone so well. His incisions are healing well and I think the scars will be small. He is basically back to his happy self. Kids are so resilient.

Now he as to wear a helmet for the next 6 months to a year to properly re-shape his head. We went in for our consult yesterday and he got measured. The helmet should be ready before Christmas. I ordered a green and brown camouflage so Zachary will look really manly.

Here are some pix: at the peak of his swelling, profile before, profile after, top before, top after.
The pictures don't really do the change justice. When he came out of surgery he looked like a different person to us. We'll see how much if any the helmet changes his head shape!

Daniels Family Reunion

2010-12-06T17:15:00.000-08:00

We had a blast over Thanksgiving! It was so good to see everyone. The weather stunk, but hey, I guess you can't have everything. The kids had a lot of fun with their cousins and playing in the snow. Being in the temple with everyone was awesome. It was such a special experience. Someday I hope I can be in the temple with all of my brothers and sisters.

The drive home was miserable. There was a blizzard and I-15 was shut down for a long time. The trip from Riverton to Las Vegas took us 12 1/2 hours! YIKES!!! But we made it home safe and sound, and all things considered, the kids were pretty well behaved.

Zachary is scheduled for surgery to fix his head this Friday. I am a nervous wreck. But I have prayed and fasted and just have to trust that Heavenly Father will protect him. The type of surgery is called a craniectomy. Sounds like they are going to chop off his head! We had to go do blood work today, and he didn't like that so much. It took 3 nurses. One to take the blood, one to hold him still and one to repeatedly dip his binki in sugar water so that he would calm down! It is a good thing he won't remember the surgery because he hated me for letting them stick a needle into his arm. I can't imagine how he will feel after I let some doctors cut his head open. :(

Halloween

2010-11-12T17:40:00.000-08:00

Since Halloween was on Sunday this year it was pretty low key. We had a 3 ward trunk or treat at the church on Saturday. Zachary had a cute Halloween sleeper. Kimberly was dressed as a Devil and Benjamin was Spider Man. Well, in Spider Man pajamas. He thought he was Spider Man and that is what counts. They both got some red spray in their hair for fun. Kimberly is getting a little to old to post bath tub pictures so I will just tell you that after washing their hair the tub water looked like blood! It was crazy! Then on Sunday night we hung out with Grandma and Grandpa. We carved our pumpkin and used it to make scary faces on the wall. We also watched Hocus Pocus. Cute movie. The kids had fun and luckily for my diet they didn't get to much candy. I am glad that Halloween has come and gone. Now we can get on with the REAL holidays! It is crazy the transformation that happens overnight in the stores. October 31 is littered with spooky costumes, candy and harvest decorations. But by the morning of November 1st, it is all gone and replaced with Christmas decorations. Oh, its only mid November and I am already getting Christmas giddy. :)

Kimberly-isms

2010-11-04T17:28:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in a while because I wanted to put up Halloween pix but my printer isn't reading my camera card for some reason. It also isn't printing so I hope we didn't lose it. So I will have to throw up Halloween news later. For now, here are a couple of Kimberly-isms.

1. In reference to a scary Scooby Doo episode:
"Mom! That gives me the grapes!" (gives me the creeps)

2. While contorting her face and squeezing her legs together:
"Oh! Oh! I need to make a pick stop! )(Pause) That's when you need to pee and poo!"

Someday I'll be able to write a book about all the funny things my kids say and do. Oh and by the way, apparently Benjamin can count to 10 and sing the ABC's. Kimberly could do this well before his age, which makes me wonder if he has been able to do this for a while and I just couldn't understand him until now?

AZ State Fair!

2010-10-19T22:30:00.000-07:00

We went to the fair last Friday. It was opening day so the kids were all free and Alan and I got in for $1 each. Smoking deal right? Ha ha ha. We still ended up spending $75 dollars that night. But, we had a really good time. The kids got to ride the ponies, and we splurged on some rides. We did the farris wheel and then the kids got to do the kiddie swings and kiddie roller coaster. We went into this really cool dinosaur exhibit. They had about 30 or so robotic dinosaurs. Some of them were 30 or 40 feet tall. Then there was a movie about dinosaurs and a big sandbox where the kids could dig for fossils. And of course we had yummy fair food. Foot long corn dogs and Indian fry bread. Mmmmm! Zachary spent the night bound to my chest in the Snuggly. I don't get the same weird looks from people here in AZ that I did in UT for bringing my 2 1/2 week old out in public. Maybe that is because the weather is so warm here. Or maybe people in UT are more paranoid. The baby was a pretty good sport though. Up until the end when he got hungry. The kids had a blast but lucky for my pocketbook the fair only happens for a couple of weeks each year!

Funny Benjamin story. We had Family Home Evening last night and Benjamin said the opening prayer. This is the prayer he gave:
Heavenly Father,
Thank you for this day, thank you for my gun, thank you for my sword.
Jesus, Amen
I already knew where Benjamin's priorities were, but now I guess GOD knows too! :)
On the bright side, at least I am starting to be able to understand what he is saying in his prayers!

Welcome Zachary!

2010-10-05T14:26:00.000-07:00

It has been a week and I am finally getting around to posting about our beautiful little addition. We officially decided on a name. Put it on the birth certificate so there is no going back! Zachary David Daniels came into this world at 12:41 am on Tuesday September 28th. He was 8lbs 6oz, 20.5 in, and 8 days overdue. Kimberly won the name game and she will be quick to remind you of that. She was thrilled that we named him Zachary and tells everyone she sees that Mommy and Daddy let her name the baby.

Long story short, Monday was a long day of seemingly uneventful labor induction. The cervix gel they started me on at 5am wasn't working so after 7 hours at the hospital they were going to send me home. (How mean to do to a woman a week overdue!) But before discharging me they did an ultra sound to make sure that the baby was safe to go and decided that my amniotic fluid was too low. So I got to stay and they started a different induction method, a pill of some kind. I don't know if it was that pill or the morning of gel or my Dr. coming in around noon and stripping the heck out of my membranes, but by 4pm I was having decent contractions and by 7pm I was dilated to 5cm and in lots of pain. Got the IV drugs which didn't work for beans and then opted for the epidural. Props to those who have natural child birth! I couldn't do it. Of course I have never felt non-induced contractions and I have heard that induction makes them worse, but still, I'm way to big of a wimp for labor.

Zachary is sooo good! Not that Kimberly and Benjamin weren't good babies, but Zachary is just about perfect. He only cries when he is hungry or poopy and he has the softest little cry. He likes to be snuggled but will also sit in his bouncer chair for hours, even if he is awake. He just sits there content and looking around the room. And to top it all off, he has slept for at least a 6 hour stretch during the night time since the day he was born! I haven't felt so rested in a really long time. He is a beautiful little thing too. Alan and I are both quite smitten with him. Kimberly is too. She loves to hold him and is actually very good at it. She will hold him for 30 minutes and keep his binki in his mouth while I clean or check email and stuff. She is quite the helper. Benjamin likes his brother too, but he really isn't that bothered. I'm sure that his interest in his new brother will be peaked when the baby is older. Like old enough to play guns and swords. Until then I am just grateful that he isn't jealous.

Alan was taking all the pictures so he isn't in any of them. I'll have to get some with Alan and the baby. Especially before he shaves his beard. Yes, that is right, his BEARD. He looks like a mountain man. I need proof before he gets annoyed and shaves it off!

Kimberly's Birthday and Baby Matthew

2010-09-23T17:57:00.000-07:00

Late report on Kimberly's birthday. Kimberly is now 4 and insists on sharing that fact with everyone she comes in contact with. She also likes to point out all the things that "4's can do". For example, apparently 4's can "answer the phone and touch babies on the head". There is a long list of things that 4's can do, but that list swings both ways. I have started compiling a list of things "4's have to do" such as: clean their own toys, get their own drinks of water, stop peeing their pants and walk reverently at church. We will see how long the "4's have to" excuse works.

I asked her what she wanted for her birthday dinner and she wanted a picnic with hamburgers. Since mommy is very pregnant and it is still pretty hot to BBQ, we cheated. We got Jack in the Box to go and took the kids to the park for a picnic. :) Then on Sunday we had a family party for her with cake and ice cream and presents. She got everything she asked for and more. One of the benefits of having lots of family around is lots of birthday presents. She raked it in and was thrilled about it.

On September 11th, we welcomed grand baby # 8 into the family. Kelly broke her water that morning and bumped her c-section up. Little Matthew Ryan Oram was actually "big" Matthew at 9lbs & 8oz. That was 9 days early too! No wonder Kelly looked so huge. My mom is convinced that it is something in the water here in Maricopa because everyone seems to give birth to defensive linemen. But I'm pretty sure that mine will be a week late and probably wont top 8lbs, so i'll shoot her theory to pieces eventually.

Speaking of my baby.......yeah, no news. Went to the Dr. today, 3 days past my due date and I am still thick and closed. Apparently I have a very uncooperative cervix. I am so done being pregnant and just want my baby to come out. Especially since Kelly and I were due the same day and her's has been her for almost 2 weeks. Very frustrating. People say that nobody stayed pregnant forever, but I am convinced people like me are why the mortality rate in child birth used to be so high back before modern medicine. I am trying to hang in there and let the baby come naturally but I am not very patient. If he is much more than a week late, I'll probably be induced. I'm still hoping for a miracle though. How sad that I get excited over the occasional painful contraction! But alas, no labor for me! :(

Pix are of Kimberly's birthday party and the kids holding their new cousin Matthew in the hospital.

RELEASED!

2010-09-06T19:05:00.001-07:00

This past Sunday Alan and I were both released from our callings. It is a little bit sad. I will miss it. But it was time. I had been in for 20 months and Mom had been president for 3 & 1/2 years! Being in the Relief Society Presidency was a lot of work, but it forced me out of my comfort zone & helped me make new friends. Alan is sad too. I think he mostly liked being Scout Master. But with the new work schedule, it was impossible for him to fulfill the requirements of the calling. The weird part is that neither of us got new callings when we were released. Sunday came and we didn't have any meetings or stuff to do. Not sure I like it. I would rather feel busy. The sad part is it will probably be a while before I get a new calling. Most women want time to "relax" after having had a baby. I guess I'm weird, but I'd rather have something to do. Whenever I don't have a calling, I feel a little useless.

Speaking of babies, I am still fat and sweaty. There is nothing going on either. Sure I have tons of contractions, some even painful, but if there was such a thing as an "over competent cervix" that is what I'd be suffering from. My due date is still 2 weeks out but I have no dilation and no effacement. Hopefully the baby will not be to late. My Dr. will want to induce me if more than a week past the big day and I'd kind of like to experience going into labor on my own. (Something I haven't done yet). So keep your fingers crossed that my cervix gets busy soon. Is this TMI for a blog?

We still haven't picked a name. I posted this story on Facebook, but since this is kind of like a journal for me I'm going to write it here too. Kimberly is convinced that the baby should be named Zachary. It wasn't really a name we were considering. We had thought about it briefly when we first found out I was prego, but haven't really talked about it recently. Anyway, for whatever reason, she insists that the baby is Zachary. Last week I asked her:

Robin: "What if mommy and daddy don't want to name him Zachary?"
Kimberly: "No, Zachary!"
Robin: "Why do you think we should name him Zachary?"
Kimberly: "Because my heart says so, it just doesn't have a mouth!"

She comes up with the funniest things. I am impressed that she is sticking to her decision. She has been calling the baby Zachary and nothing else will do. Hope she isn't too disappointed if that isn't what we pick. Unfortunately, we can't really come up with anything that is sticking out to us. So maybe we should let her name the baby.

Classic Kid Comment

2010-08-19T21:51:00.000-07:00

I was talking with Kimberly and Benjamin about how the new baby was coming soon and trying to get them pumped up. Kimberly got all excited and said

"Then when the new baby comes we can send Benjamin away!" I asked her where we would send him and she said "Hmmmm......I think to Aunt Cara's house. I like her a lot."

Promotions, Car Problems and House Guests

2010-08-13T17:18:00.000-07:00

It has been a while and quite a bit has happened. But as my belly gets bigger and the scale reads heavier, I have less energy. Most days I sit around the house reading a book, hoping the kids aren't tearing things up around me. Anything other than that makes me tired and sends me into contractions (and lately they are occasionally painful).

First off, Alan got a promotion! Long story short (and believe me this is the short version): Alan's boss's boss came up to him on a Thursday a few weeks ago and asked if he had a few minutes to chat. They conversed very casually for 15-20 minutes about his professional goals. Then he told Alan that he was going to send him upstairs to meet with a VP while she was in town. Once he got with her, she said "You've already had your interview, I just wanted to get to know you" or something like that. He was thinking "Interview? HUH? Is that what that was?" Since he didn't apply for a position he was pretty surprised.

On Sunday at church a friend who happens to be the big VP at the company came up to us and congratulated Alan on his promotion. Then we were really confused because Alan hadn't been offered a job yet. He apologized for letting the cat out of the bag, but said that he had signed off on the promotion and thought they would offer it to Alan on Friday. But that Friday Alan had to leave early for a scout camping trip so he wasn't given the good news. Then of course we stressed out about it all weekend. It was an especially long wait because Alan had arranged previously to take Monday off.

He showed up on Tuesday for work when the original boss that interviewed him told him that he had the job if he wanted it. When Alan accepted he said "Good, I'll go round up your new team and introduce you, then you can get to work!" He was in a bit of a daze and essentially it was baptism by fire. This was almost 2 weeks ago, but so far he seems to really like the change. He manages a team of people doing what he used to do on the phones. Only now he doesn't have to be on the phone, he just gets to help others be better at it. Oh, and did I mention that the promotion came with a very generous pay raise? We still aren't rich, but it is more money than we have ever made. It will be nice not to feel so strapped financially. I feel very blessed.

Jonnie Price moved in with us 2 weeks ago. He is a friend from Utah. He and his wife and son used to live across the street from us in Brigham City. Jonnie got a job where Alan works so he came down and is staying here until he finds a place to live and can bring his family down. Who knows, Ashley and Kingston may end up here for a while too. It would be tight, but probably fun. The kids would like having Kingston to play with. Benjamin likes Jonnie. It is like having a fun second dad.

The a/c compressor broke in our car last week. We got quoted $1200 to fix it! We didn't want to dump anymore money into the car, especially after having put a new transmission in a few months ago. So we went and looked at some new cars. Ultimately we chickened out. We still need a second car pretty bad, but we didn't want to acquire another payment until we pay off the credit card which we had to use to fix the car a couple of months ago. We ended up going to a mechanic in our ward and got the a/c fixed and some other things fixed too for $1050 instead of $1200. Luckily I closed on a house earlier this week and we were able to use my small commission check to pay for the repairs on the car. In some places air conditioning may be a luxury, but in AZ in the summer it is a necessity. One afternoon I had to run a bunch of errands and it was 114 degrees outside. Luckily I was by myself, it was beyond unpleasant. I was literally afraid to drive my kids around after that until it got fixed. They likely would have gotten heat stroke since you can't even roll down the windows in the back of a mini-van. I'm glad it is taken care of though. It was rough going for 4 days with 3 adults who have different schedules and no car between them. I would have liked to use my commission check to pay down the credit card but at least I didn't have to put the new repairs on it too!

Well this has been a book of a blog. Sorry (if anyone has actually kept reading to this point). I will have to make sure that I don't take so long to write about it next time something actually happens in my dull life. The picture above is of Alan and Jonnie making their lunches this morning.

8 Weeks and Counting!

2010-07-28T15:27:00.000-07:00

I hit 32 weeks on Monday. But as excited as I am to not be pregnant anymore, I am a little apprehensive about having a 3rd child. I often feel overwhelmed by the 2 I already have. Plus the thought of having a newborn stresses me out a little. In some ways they are so easy and some ways they just aren't. Plus I hate the breast feeding and sleepless nights. Some moms feel a bond and enjoy breast feeding. I never have. I do it because it is good for the baby but I seriously dis-like it. I am also a little worried that Benjamin will be jealous and too rough with the little guy, or that Kimberly will mother him into an injury. I know I planned having my kids so close together and I'll be glad I did later, but part of me wishes there was just a few more years between them all. I envy that Kelly will just have little "Matthew" at home once school starts next week and I have another whole year (maybe 2) before Kimberly goes to Kindergarten. Maybe this is just the normal stress that all moms feel as D-Day for baby #3 gets closer. I heard a rumor that we might be getting released from our callings soon. I love being in the RS presidency, but that would sure take a huge load off my mind. And once the baby comes I'll probably feel a little less "crazy in the head" since it will be cooler and I will be much more mobile. Some exercise would do me good right now, but my back is so bad most days I can barely move. Also, little baby Daniels still has no name. We don't really have any clue. It's just not happening for us. Nothing sounds right. Is it weird to be stressed over a name? We didn't settle on Benjamin's name until a week after he was born. I just don't want to do that again, but it looks like we are headed down that road. One positive note: I had the flu at the beginning of the week and lost about 4 pounds. Maybe I can escape the big 200lbs, for one more doctors appointment? Keep your fingers crossed for me! :0

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALAN!

2010-07-19T12:34:00.000-07:00

So last Thursday my husband officially became a grown-up! That's right, the big 30! We didn't do much and I felt a little guilty that maybe we should have made a bigger deal of it. Oh well. We had the family over for cake and ice cream that evening.

The kids and I had previously gotten him 2 new pairs of shoes and a belt that were supposed to be for his birthday. But I have this problem with gift giving. You see, I feel that a present shouldn't be something that the person needs and would have gotten even if it hadn't been their birthday. His Sunday shoes had big holes in the soles and his belt was too small. So that present didn't really count.

Kelly and I came up with a joint present. She got him a dart board for his office and I got him some cork to back the board so he wouldn't have to patch up the holes later. I had to re-arrange the office so that there would be an unobstructed space big enough for the dart board and the dart score board that we already had. So in addition he got a freshly cleaned, re-arranged and organized office. It was a big fat pain to move all the furniture around by myself, especially since I had to take all the books off the book shelf. And I was hurting pretty bad later that evening from all the heavy lifting that I probably shouldn't have done. But it was worth it. I think he likes it and it makes a good distraction for when he needs a break from doing homework. Also, my mom and dad got him a piggy bank with 30 gold dollars in it. That was kind of fun. The money is supposed to be for downloading music.

Then on Friday night we went to see Inception at the movies and went to Claim Jumper for dinner. We blew our wad for the month going out, but if you can't be frivolous on your birthday when can you be? We so rarely get to go out that we had a really nice time. Even if it was 115 degrees outside.

There are some more pictures of Benjamin falling asleep. From the pool to our house is about 1/2 a mile which makes the car ride all of about 30 seconds. Of course he fell asleep in that 30 seconds and then was un-wake able. Alan just laid him down on the floor and he slept like a zombie. His eyes were half open but trust me, he was out like a light. He must get that whole sleeping with the eyes open thing from his uncle Greg. Kinda creepy!

Speaking of Naps........

2010-07-13T18:03:00.000-07:00

Right now Benji is sleeping on the floor at my feet in the office. I slipped a pillow under his head because he looked so uncomfortable. I always ask him if he wants to go lay down on his bed but he refuses. He just plays until he can't play anymore and then lays down right where he is standing (or sitting) and falls asleep. Even if he was actively engaged in activity. Hence the guns next to him on the floor.

The picture of me is one that I took right this very minute. I NEED A NAP! I didn't sleep very well last night on top of going to bed at 1:30am and getting up at 6:30am. (Don't ask!) I failed my first glucose test for gestational diabetes last week and had to go do the 3 hour fasting test today. So by the time I actually started the test I had been fasting for 14 hours. By the time I actually got to eat something it had been 18 hours. That may not seem like very long to most of you, but if you have ever been 30 weeks pregnant, I'm sure that you can feel my pain.

I was physically exhausted from the lack of sleep and calories (and though I shouldn't admit it, the lack of caffeine). Needless to say when I left the Lab I went straight to Jack in the Box and downed an ultimate bacon cheeseburger with a large curly fries and diet coke. Not my brightest idea, but at the time my stomach was thinking, not my brain.

Now I am home. I am hot and swollen because it is 110 degrees outside. I am tired from the lack of sleep and uncomfortable because of the jump from no calories to like 4,000 in a 20 minute period. I just want to take a nap but I know if I pass out now I'll never sleep tonight.

SIGH! I 'm sure nobody wants to hear me complain about being pregnant and swollen and tired and uncomfortable. But if I can't complain to my blog, who/what can I complain to? Isn't that kind of why people keep these things? To vent? Even if you guys don't appreciate my grumpy post, Alan will surely appreciate that you had to hear it and he didn't!

I Dont Need A Nap!

2010-07-09T18:27:00.000-07:00

Benjamin insists that he doesn't need naps anymore. Yet, amazingly, around 5:30 or 6:00 pm every day he falls asleep on the couch while watching a movie. Usually he falls asleep sitting straight up, then as the slumber deepens, he falls over on his side as pictured. I hate it when kids think that they don't need to nap anymore. Why can't they just appreciate the freedom to sleep in the middle of the day. There isn't a mommy in the world who wouldn't take at least a short nap daily if the opportunity was given. SIGH!

Usually I record interesting Kimberly conversations, but today I'll throw in a Benjamin conversation. I was asleep soundly this morning when he burst into my room happy and excited. We had the following conversation.

Benjamin: MOM, MOM!
Robin: What?
Benjamin: basdflkjgoidfakjhasjdhlkjhdsfjkhlkasdf - JOSH.
Robin: What?
Benjamin: basdfljhosid;kljansdf;oijasdfj;lkjasdlfk; - JOSH.
Robin: Josh?
Benjamin: Yeah! lsidfuoinasldfkjuoiansdflkjoiand - JACKIE.
Robin: Josh and Jackie?
Benjamin: Yeah! laskdjfoinsdfknlkaweroinhdsfjhk - PARK!
Benjamin: lkdsjfoiansdflkjajowiehrtknasldkfjnoiah - SWIMMING!
Robin: You want to go swimming at the park with Josh and Jackie?
Benjamin: Yeah! Yeah!

I used to think that I was fluent in "Benjamin". And I was when he was speaking one or two words at a time. I understood about 90% of what he said. Now that he speaks in multiple sentences at a time I am only getting about 25% of it. It is just a bunch of garbeldy-goo mixed in with an audible word here and there. He obviously knows what he is saying and gets very frustrated when I don't, which is often. Hopefully that doesn't last too long.

The belly picture is Me, my sister Kelly and my Dad going from smallest to biggest. I am surprisingly the smallest and Dad is the biggest. However, he is in the process of trying to loose some weight so hopefully he won't be the biggest much longer. As long as I'm not the biggest I guess I don't care who is! :)

FINE! I'll do it myself!

2010-06-30T17:24:00.000-07:00

Kimberly has been begging me to paint her nails for the past couple of days. I keep telling her "maybe tomorrow" because it just seems like too much work. Yesterday I let her color with a purple marker. It is actually the only marker we have in the house and Benjamin was sleeping so I figured "What the heck? Why not?" I'll tell you why not. Because apparently a purple marker is the perfect solution to a mother who is too lazy to give you a manicure. She actually did a pretty good job. And her right hand didn't look any worse than her left one. I just hope it comes out of her shirt.

I have felt guilty for a long time that I never did anything decorative to the kid's rooms when we moved in. I just ran out of money. So last week I got ambitious. It took me a while to tape off and 3 different colors meant 3 different days of painting, but I finished the boy's room. It still isn't what I'd like it to be. I can't buy matching furniture or anything. And the crib still needs to be moved back in. (Placed where the basketball hoop is now.) I need pictures in the red frames. I'm also trying to decide if the valence is enough or if I dare make curtains. Plus you can't really accessorize a toddlers room, stuff will just get broken. So my crazy painting scheme will have to do for now.

Before, the room was light blue with some sticky vinyl polka-dots that I had thrown up in desperation, trying to achieve some sort of color variance. On the first day, I haphazardly painted some white lines on the wall. I didn't tape or anything because I needed the white to be the bottom coat. So just 4 or 5 roller width white lines on the back wall and one roller width sloppy white line at chair rail height. Kimberly walked in the room the next morning and saw what I had painted. Her eyes got big and she threw open her arms exclaiming "OH MOM! I LOVE IT!" I couldn't contain my laughter. Guess I won't have to do so much work in Kimberly's room to please her. :)

Tattle Telling

2010-06-21T12:59:00.000-07:00

This has become my life recently. Listening to tattling. I always knew I could never be an elementary school teacher but the last 3 weeks have just re-affirmed that thought. I have been watching Aly this summer while Jeff has been working. She and Kimberly are very hot and cold. Some moments they are playing fine and some they are literally at each others throats. I've walked into a room more than once to find them slapping and hitting or hands around each others necks trying to strangle. Some days I just want to pull my hair out! I am seriously beginning to think that I am crazy for having a 3rd child!

At church last week Kimberly had a lesson on David and Goliath. So when we got home I quizzed her to see how much had actually sunk in.

Robin: Kimberly, who was David?
Kimberly: He was a little boy.
Robin: Who was Goliath?
Kimberly: He was a great big giant man.
Robin: What happened between them?
Kimberly: They had a fight and David killed Goliath with a swing shot.
Robin: Who helped David kill Goliath?
Kimberly: Heavenly Father
Robin: So if Heavenly Father helped a little boy like David what do you think He could help
a little girl like you do?
Kimberly: KILL GREAT BIG SCARY MONSTERS!

I'm not sure what I expected. I was hoping for something deeper in that last answer, but she is only 3 after all. I guess I should be grateful for the reading/listening comprehension.

Lost the transmission in our car 2 weeks ago. Spent $3000 on the credit card between the fixing the car and renting one for a week while ours was in the shop. Good luck getting that paid off anytime soon. But I guess that is why I have a credit card. $3000 beats the $15,000+ it would have cost me to buy a new one.

Alan applied for a new position with the training department where he works. He got an interview which was a little surprising since he hasn't been there that long and his sales numbers aren't great. Found out that half of the floor where he works applied, but they are only decided to interview 9 people. That feels nice, even if he doesn't get the job because he must have gotten a pretty good recommendation from his boss to pull off getting an interview.

Other than that not much is new here. My back is killing me almost exponentially with each new day and I'm already starting to get swollen by the end of each day. Benjamin is still acting like a 2 year old (who has decided that they are too old to nap) and Kimberly is still acting like a 14 year old. And since I started this post Aly has been in 4 times to tattle, although the 2nd time she stared, I gave her a look and then she ran out of the room without finishing. Maybe they are finally catching on. By the time we have a system down, summer will be over.

Practice Makes Perfect

2010-06-02T17:45:00.000-07:00

Callie and Brian came to visit this weekend and they brought Olivia. Kimberly and Benjamin couldn't get enough of her. I think seeing the baby made them even more excited to have a new baby at our house. Benjamin was even pretty gentle. As gentle as Benjamin can be that is. :)

I got some comment from a stranger on my last post. He quoted me about how children are a reflection of their parents, basically saying that if my kid was bad it was my fault for setting a bad example. (I can't recall a time when I took a blue ball point pen and colored all over the couch with it????) Then he/she left a web address to an anti-spanking website. Really? You don't have better things to do with your time than browse the blogs of complete strangers and criticize them on their parenting skills?

To this I have one thing to say. It is none of your business how I choose to discipline my children. I stand behind my decision to spank when I feel that the situation calls for it. Not only am I not abusive, I am a very loving parent and if you ask my children they will tell how much I love them. Furthermore, I have a hard time believing that a person who is so against spanking, actually has children of their own and thus could not possibly understand the value of an occasional spanking from a disciplinary standpoint.

Besides ruffling my feathers a little, this completely rude (and probably bleeding heart liberal) individual got me thinking........What other creepy strangers are viewing my blog? Maybe I should go private. Sounds like a pain in the butt to me. Why can't people just mind their own business?

Artistic Impressions & Hair Sculptures

2010-05-31T07:23:00.000-07:00

Last week Benjamin woke up and came into our room around 6:30 am. He said good morning and then took a blue pen and piece of paper off of Alan's night stand and headed for the living room. Benjamin is very good at coloring and I wasn't too worried. Nevertheless, Alan got up 5 minutes later to retrieve the pen. Unfortunately there is a first time for everything and 5 minutes is an eternity for a two year old with a pen. Benjamin had colored all over our couch. And I don't mean little spots here and there, I mean ALL OVER! I was too mad to think about taking a picture of the whole couch before we started cleaning it. But I have posted a picture of the couch's arm and you can just imagine that, but on the whole thing! It took hours and hours of scrubbing then a good cycle through the washing machine and the couch finally looks like it did before that blackest of mornings. Actually it looks cleaner. Thank heaven for microfiber! Benjamin was of course punished with a spanking and a time out. Then he got the opportunity to help clean up his mess. He wasn't very helpful and probably actually thought it was fun, (which kind of defeats the purpose) but making him help clean up the mess made mommy and daddy feel better.

Oh, and FYI, you should clean out your drains now and then. We have been in the house for a little over a year now and have only recently had our shower stopped draining. So we took off the drain cover to clean out the clog, only to find a glob of hair as big as a new born baby! It was so disgusting and smelly that this pregnant lady almost lost her breakfast. I had to call Alan in to come and dispose of it. Oh and just so you know, there is no possible way that all of that hair could be from me. Some of it had to have come from the previous owners. If it was all mine, I would likely be bald right now!

My BABY is TWO!

2010-05-24T14:12:00.000-07:00

Saturday was Benjamin's birthday! He is two already! Wow it goes fast. We had a fun birthday party for him on Friday night. Kelly, Jackie, Josh, Grandma and Grandpa joined us. We went to my parents house and had a barbecue, followed by presents then cake and ice cream. After it got dark, we had a fire in the back yard and roasted marshmallows. Finally we told scary or silly stories (depending on who was doing the telling) by the fire. The kids even did a little star gazing with grandma. A very successful evening.

Now that Benjamin is two, it is officially ok for him to throw temper tantrums and be sassy. At least I think that is what is going through his mind. Luckily for me, he is as cute as he is naughty so it is hard to stay mad at him.

Oh and he has an amusing new game he likes to play. Whenever he is scolded by an adult, he promptly walks over to a different adult to "tattle"on them. For example, he got up on the counter yesterday and ate a cupcake without asking. Alan caught him and took it away. He cried and walked into the room where I was to tell me that Daddy took away his cake.
But it is the way he said it that is funny. He told me like Alan had done something really bad and naughty and should get in trouble for it. Like he was "tattleing" on Kimberly. It doesn't have to be Alan and I either. If he gets in trouble by Grandpa, he'll go tell Aunt Kelly, etc..... It's like he keeps expecting the adult he "tattles" to, to put the one he "tattles" on in time-out or something!

Fantastic Funny Bones and Groundings

2010-05-18T16:21:00.000-07:00

I was at the computer this afternoon doing some stuff for work and realized that it had gotten unusually quiet. Silent in fact. So I walked out to find my children. And what were they doing? They were doing the dishes! :) They had pulled the stool out of the bathroom and were standing at the sink. Kimberly was washing and Benjamin was rinsing. I guess Kimberly had decided that the kitchen was more dirty than she could handle.

I need to be better at recording the funny things my kids say. So here are a couple of brief conversations with Kimberly this past week. The first one comes from having watched too much of the movie Hairspray recently. (This is the kid's current favorite.)

Kimberly: Mom? Are mouths bones?
Robin: Yes, mouths are bones and muscles.
Kimberly: Where is my funny bone?
Robin: Right here on your elbow.
Kimberly: My funny bone just told me a joke and it made me laugh!

Kimberly has had a problem with wetting her pants recently. We have tried every kind of punishment and reinforcement possible. Nothing seems to work. Finally one day after 2 "accidents" before 10AM I told her that next time she would be grounded from TV for the rest of the day. This conversation happened upon the 3rd "accident".

Robin: Kimberly, since you wet your pants again you are now grounded from TV for the rest of
the day.
Kimberly: What does grounded mean?
Robin: It means when you can't do something anymore.
Kimberly: Well then you are grounded all day!
Robin: What am I grounded from?
Kimberly: You are grounded from being mean to me!

She couldn't have been too mad because yesterday in the car she asked me....
Kimberly: Mom? Do you know who is FANTASTIC?
Robin: Who?
Kimberly: YOU are fantastic!
Then she said "I love you mother" in sign language.

Blessings

2010-05-10T15:49:00.000-07:00

Having enough money to live and having enough money for LIFE are two completely different things. I am eternally grateful for Alan's new job, but when he took it, he also took a 15% pay cut. We can still pay the bills and buy groceries, but we never seem to have enough for the extra crap that always seems to come. Like oil changes and car batteries dying. Or doctor's visits and new clothes for the kids. (Benjamin is still wearing shirts that are size 12 months...and NOT because they still fit!)

Recently we have been depleting our savings trying to cover these extra expenses. And our savings wasn't that great to begin with. This has caused a great deal of stress for me because if any minor catastrophe happens we will not be prepared. I was holding an open house this past Saturday, and on Friday morning when I said my prayers, I asked Heavenly Father to help me pick up a client this weekend. My last deal closed last week and I only made a whopping $300 dollars after everyone else got their cut. ($26,000 houses don't fetch a huge commission to begin with) So as of now I am client-less. Anyway, I finished my prayer and sat down to read my scriptures. Not even 10 minutes after I had finished my prayer, a friend from my ward called me and told me that they would like me to help them purchase a home in our neighborhood. My jaw dropped to the floor! Wow! That was a quick response to a prayer if I ever had one.

But apparently Heavenly Father wasn't done pouring out blessings because the next day a different friend from the ward called and asked me to help them look for a house in our neighborhood as well!

To top it off, my brother came over bearing a gift this afternoon. He did some work on a bike for a friend. This friend's family owns a company that sells and installs garage doors and openers. We don't have a garage door opener. It seems trivial, but we can't park in the garage and if you have ever experienced an Arizona summer you know that this isn't really an option. By 10:00 am, the seat belts are too hot to touch and you spend 20 minutes trying to cool down the car before you can get the kids into it. Well my brother's friend is in town this weekend and he not only hooked us up with a free garage door opener but they are going to install it for free tonight! I was getting ready to go spend my $300 commission check on a garage door opener this week. Now I can put it in the bank.

Heavenly Father is aware of our needs, even things that seem so insignificant like a garage door opener. (I'm tearing up just writing about it.) I just hope that I can pay it forward sometime soon and help someone else out the way I've been helped in the past 5 days.

Pictures are of: 1. Kimberly on her first day of dance class dressed in her beautiful ballerina outfit. 2. Kimberly and Benjamin playing in the laundry basket. They were "driving a boat".
3. Benjamin sleeping in time-out. We told him he could sleep in his bed or sleep in time-out. He opted for time-out. And the last picture is of Benjamin sliding around the bathtub. Kimberly poured 1/2 a bottle of conditioner in so it would be nice and slippery. Mommy was not happy, but he thought it was fun. Luckily he had the sense to take off h is clothes first!

It's A Boy!

2010-05-03T15:22:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I am a little behind on this announcement. But most of you have already heard the news via Facebook. We had our first (and probably only) ultrasound about a week and a half ago and discovered we are having another boy! Kimberly and Benjamin came with us and were actually pretty excited to see the baby on the TV............for about 5 minutes. Too bad the appointment took about 40 minutes! Alan is pretty excited to be having another boy. He wanted a playmate for Benjamin. I didn't really care about the baby's gender either way. And Kimberly, well, she was less devastated than I expected. I fully expected to hear crying and tantrums when she found out that she wasn't getting a sister. She whined for a bit, then went through some denial, then she pouted. But by the end of the visit I think she was pretty much over it. Kimberly is very excited to have a baby period. She thinks she will be a big helper. She even told me that she would change the poopy diapers. Too bad I can't actually take her up on that offer. We tried to let her change one of Benjamin's once, that didn't go so well! :) Maybe if there is a baby #4 she can be the manager of poopy diapers. We are a little stuck on a name. I had one picked out if the baby was a girl. But don't really have a clue on a boys name. I am open to suggestions and would appreciate any. Keep in mind that I am not in to obscure names. I like good, solid, well established names. None of this squishing two names together or making up something that nobody has ever heard of. Also, I probably won't double up so any name already taken by a parent, sibling or cousin is likely to be out. Too bad we have such a big family and Dave & Louise already took half of the good names!

The baby is breech right now. Probably because the placenta is on the back of my uterus. Not a big deal, but his facing backward made it very hard to get a good face shot. A bit disappointing. We only got one 3-D face shot and it is kind of hard to see. There is one of what looks like him sucking his thumb and a good one of the hand. I like to call it his "Titanic" pose!

It's A Miracle!

2010-04-18T21:37:00.000-07:00

I'm sure that most of you are thinking by the title that I must have won the lottery or something. Not quite but almost as good. My news must be good to warrant an entire post! Are you ready? Here goes......

I won my first Board Game today! Alan and I play all the time with Kelly and Josh. We don't play your standard Monopoly type games. They have all these intricate, expensive, takes forever to learn and play kind of board games. Then they have a bunch of games that are card games. Not face card or number card games like Uno or Phase 10, but like the crazy difficult board games we play only on cards.

Anyway, I have never won a game we have played together. Not only do I never win, but I never even come close. In fact I usually come in last. A lot of times it is just plain bad luck too. But tonight we were playing a card-board game and I WON!!! BY A LOT!!! Many of you may think that my elation over this may be a bit overboard, but If you could be there when we play, you would understand.

Winning tonight made my week, maybe even my month! Maybe someday I will win an actual board-board game!!!

When going to the Zoo, don't forget to:

2010-04-15T18:04:00.000-07:00

1. Make sure you take as many pictures as you can while you look fat, tired, dirty or a
pleasant combination of all three.

2. Simultaneously make faces at each other or look away from the
camera in at least half of the pictures.

3. Stop at some point for a treat.

4. Watch a Rhino POOP!

5. Take time to visit with Benjamin's biological mother.

6. Ponder the important questions in life.

7. Volunteer as a stylist for over privileged goats.

8. Take a nap at the end of the day.....but make sure to shower first!

Easter, Shinanigans, and Kimberly's Quote of the Week!

2010-04-05T15:24:00.000-07:00

Kimberly's Quote of the Week
Easter was fun. Jeff was here visiting so he and Ani joined us for Easter dinner at my mom's house along with Kelly's family and Josh's dad Dave. We had an egg hunt and the kids got lots of treats. After dinner we were playing games and Dave was in the front room with all the kids helping them put a puzzle together. Dave is built a little like my dad with a round middle section. While playing, Jackie explained to Kimberly that Dave was her grandpa. Kimberly gave him a good look and then replied "I guess all grandpas have big tummies!" I didn't hear this but Dave took great pleasure in reporting the incident to us. Good thing he is about as big of a Teddy Bear as my dad. He found the unflattering observation more amusing than offensive.

Kimberly is really into playing house right now. She insists that she is the mommy and tries to tell Alan and I to do things. We were leaving Kelly's house and her bossy comments were getting on my nerves. So I told her if she was the mom she needed to drive home. At first she thought this was a great idea. But after I put her in the driver's seat and turned on the car, she changed her mind. When we got home she was refusing to go to bed and insisting that she was the mommy so she could stay up. Well, the car thing worked, so I thought that I would play along again. I told her that she could stay up and that daddy and I would go to bed, but she had to change Benjamin's diaper, get him in bed and then go do the dishes. She said ok, and Alan and I went into our room and shut the door.

After some struggling and screaming by Benjamin we hear a knock on our door. "Mom! Benjamin won't go to bed!" I snickered and told her to leave him alone for now and go work on the dishes. I thought this would surely frustrate her. But I thought wrong. About 60 seconds later I hear a chair drag across the floor. Then the water turns on. Worried for the safety of my kitchen we snuck out to see what she was doing. There she was, clumsily trying to scrub pancake batter off the mixing bowl from that morning. Bless her heart! She was really going to do the dishes! I am glad I have such a "big helper". Hopefully she really will be helpful after the baby comes.

The kids are going through a phase right now. Benjamin wants to wear this pink skateboard helmet before doing any sporting activity. The picture is when he insisted on wearing it before playing basketball in his play room. Kimberly's phase is a little more disturbing. She likes to be as naked as possible. We have recently had a lot of modesty conversations. She has a two piece princess dress of which she likes to wear only the bottom half. One day I told her that she couldn't wear the skirt with out a shirt and explained that all of our clothes had to cover our bottoms, tummies, boobies and shoulders. I sent her out to put a shirt on with the skirt. She however came back with a different idea. As the picture shows, she pulled up the skirt over her chest and pulled the netting from the dress stylishly over her shoulders. She came back in and told me that her dress was ok now because her boobies and shoulders were covered. Touche!!!
Schooled by a three year old again! The last picture is of her flash dance ensemble. She wore her swimsuit and daddy's socks all night. Then she struck a pose for the camera. I didn't ask her to pose, she just did. This was the least "provocative" of the pictures. Ugh! I'm in trouble. Our home teacher found her outfit amusing!

From the mouths of babes

2010-03-24T09:28:00.000-07:00

Oh Kimberly! Here are a couple of conversations we had a few days ago. One morning I was bathing the kids and Benjamin had some snot running down his nose. So I reached up and wiped it off.....

Kimberly: "Mom, when I am 4 and the new baby comes I am not going to put boogers in my mouth anymore."
Robin: "Well that's good! We wouldn't want our new baby to think it's ok to eat boogers."
Kimberly: "Yeah, but right now I'm still three......so I can still put boogers in my mouth sometimes."

Later that same afternoon we were in Subway eating lunch. A very large lady walked in and stood in the line about a foot away from us. In her loudest loud voice (which was definitely loud enough for this large lady to hear) Kimberly said the following......

Kimberly (wide eyed): "Mom! That lady has a really big butt!"
(I quickly buried my head in my hands....the lady didn't turn around but I could tell that she had obviously heard the comment.)
Robin: "Kimberly, that is not a very nice thing to say. We don't say things like that about other people."
Kimberly: "But mom, it's true! She does have a really big butt!"

I was mortified because like her mother, Kimberly only has one volume. LOUD!

Alan and I went to Disneyland for our 5 year anniversary this past weekend. We had a good time. I was glad not to have the kids with us but I couldn't help thinking the whole time about how much fun they would have there. We took the train to California and then we walked everywhere when we got there. Our feet and legs were like hamburger. It was less than a mile to our hotel but on the way home the last night it took us 45 minutes to walk it. I thought that someone was going to have to scrape me off the sidewalk. Fun, but definitely not a relaxing weekend. Maybe next time we will take the train to Palm Springs and spend the weekend going to the SPA and playing golf!

Kimberly is pretty convinced that the new baby is going to be a girl. When you even suggest that it could be a boy she shoots the idea down faster than you can get it out. I told her that it might be a brother and she says, "But mom if I try really, really hard I can make it a sister". She will be sorely disappointed if it is a boy. Benjamin however, really needs a brother to do brother things with. Kimberly is so girly that she will never be influenced by tons of testosterone. On the flip side, Benjamin plays whatever Kimberly does. We have seen him in tiaras, necklaces, make-up and now he is stealing my shoes. I guess as long as he continues to be rough, tough, violent and mean to his sister I don't have to worry. Right?

2 pictures at Disneyland, one of Kimberly, Jackie and Josh participating in a demonstration at the science museum (Benjamin decided that he needed to participate too so he just wandered up there. He thought he was helping.), one of Benjamin in Kimberly's pajamas and my shoes, and one picture of the two of them playing dress up. The found old Halloween costumes.

Make Up and Trampolines

2010-03-08T10:03:00.000-08:00

So much for my New Year's resolution! It has been well over 2 weeks since I have updated this. In my defense, I have felt terribly the past couple of months. Mostly I just lay around on the couch trying not to throw up. I am 12 weeks today though so maybe I'll get lucky and the sickness will stop soon. But enough with the complaining. The few of you who read this don't want to hear me complain. You want to hear amusing stories about things my crazy kids say and do. Well I am happy to oblige.

Last week I was checking my email and I locked myself in the office because the kids just come in and push buttons on the computer. I left them in the living room watching cartoons. 15 minutes later I walked out to find that 15 minutes is all those two need to get into a lot of trouble. They had stolen my make up from the bathroom and decided to decorate their faces. Kimberly insists that Benjamin did her face. I am sure this was a lie in effort to keep her out of trouble. But if it is in fact true that Benjamin did her make up then I am impressed. He might have a future as "make up artist to clowns, or maybe even Octo-mom". It took a fair amount of scrubbing to get the lipstick off of them.

For some reason, the past 2 weeks or so Kimberly has been insisting that she wants a BIG trampoline for the back yard. I'm not sure where she got this idea because she hasn't been on a trampoline since we left Utah. But she asks almost daily for one. Finally I told her that we can't have a trampoline because there is no grass in our back yard. If she fell off a trampoline into the rocks, she would get hurt really bad. Then a few days after this conversation I made a comment that we needed to spray the back yard because it had been raining and our "desert landscape" is starting to grow grass. (As seen in the above picture. If we don't do something soon it's going to overtake the house!) Kimberly started freaking out....NO! NO! Don't spray the grass!!!! She had this horrified look on her face. I asked her why not and she told me that "When the grass grows everywhere then she could have a BIG trampoline!" Sneaky girl! If I didn't know any better, I'd think that she was praying for grass.

It's a PEA, I mean a BABY!

2010-02-12T14:20:00.000-08:00

I went to the OBGYN yesterday for my first appointment. I would love to post an ultrasound picture but I didn't get one. My new OB doesn't have an ultrasound machine in her office. She said that she could set an appointment for me to get one done but that sounded like so much work. I was kinda disappointed because seeing the ultra sound is what makes it feel so official. (Though I have been "feeling" official for about 4 weeks now and it stinks!) But I have to remember that at 8 weeks the ultrasound picture looks more like a pea than a life form. So, I'll probably only get one ultrasound around 18 weeks. A little lame, but the less crap I have to pay for the better. Due date is September 20th. They are very strict about inducing without an emergency in Arizona. So there goes any chances of cheating like I did with Benjamin. This being the case the baby probably won't come until October! HEHE.

Kimberly is very excited for the baby. She talks to my tummy and calls the baby Natalie. (which is the girl's name we've probably settled on) Every time I tell her that it might be a brother she quickly dismisses my comment and assures me that it is, IN FACT, a sister. My sickness patterns have been consistent with how I felt when pregnant with Benjamin. I am guessing it's a boy. I hope for Kimberly's sake I am wrong, because she will be crushed!

My Birthday was pretty lame. Besides an uneventful Dr. appointment, I pretty much laid on the couch all day being sick, followed up by some power puking in the evening and going to bed early. But since we aren't celebrating until Sunday with the whole Fam Damily it doesn't really matter. Hopefully I feel better on Sunday when it counts.

Dave, Louise, Sara and Matthew should be here in a few hours. The kids are VERY EXCITED! More to come on the fun and SUNNY weekend!

Proof my house was messy......once!

2010-02-01T20:58:00.000-08:00

Thanks for all of your comments. I'm glad people are reading. I am actually feeling pretty crappy as of this week. Only throwing up about once a day so far, but constant nausea. Plus the past two days I've been sick with a sore throat on top of it. Needless to say my house looks wretched! Those of you who know how anal retentive I am about cleaning are probably saying, "I'm sure it's not that bad." But it is! I am actually doing something I can't believe I'm about to do. But just to show you how crappy I have felt the past 2 days, I am posting a current picture of my Kitchen. It's amazing that it can get so messy so fast. This is probably the messiest it has ever been. Now I know why I clean it 3-4 times a day. Guess that's what I get for having the audacity to be sick and pregnant!

PS. My sister that lives here in Maricopa got pregnant the same month I did. She even has the same due date as me. How neat is that? At least I have someone to be miserable with!

THIS IS A TEST!

2010-01-31T19:46:00.000-08:00

If you are reading this please read the whole thing as important information is contained.....

We left my sisters house late yesterday and Kimberly was marveling at the stars and the moon and how beautiful they were. I told here that when she grew up she could be an astronaut if she wanted and fly in a spaceship to the moon. Today, Kimberly and I had the following conversation:

Robin: "Kimberly, what do you want to be when you grow up?"
Kimberly: "I want to be an astronaut so I can go to the moon!"
Robin: "What will you do when you get to the moon?"
Kimberly: "Look for Jesus."
Robin: "Does Jesus live on the moon?"
Kimberly: "YES!"
Robin: "What else will you do when you are an astronaut?
Kimberly: "Go to the stars."
Robin: "What will you do when you get there?"
Kimberly: "I will play with them."
Robin: "What will you play with them?"
Kimberly: "Duck, Duck, Goose!"
Robin: "How will you do that? Stars aren't like people are they?"
Kimberly: "No Mommy! They are like animals!"

Sometimes I wonder what on earth is going through her head. At least conversations with her are fairly amusing. Especially when she is speaking Spanish. She will speak in her own gibberish language sometimes. She thinks this language is Spanish. I don't have the heart to tell her it isn't. By the way for those of you passing the test and reading this right now, I am pregnant. Only 7 weeks but the gross amount of bloating I have experienced in the last month is contributing to the ease with which I appeared pregnant in the picture from the last post. I'm not calling people, so hope all my loved ones are reading this! :)

Spontaneous Vacation

2010-01-26T15:13:00.000-08:00

Ok, so not quiet spontaneous because we planned it a couple weeks in advance but it felt that way because it was so short. We met Callie and Brian in St. George this past weekend. Left for UT on Friday night after work and left to come back to AZ on Sunday morning. It was a nice time and Benjamin wasn't even that bad in the car. And by that bad I mean in comparison to the last long trip we took, not in comparison to "normal" children. He was much more entertained by the DVD player this time. Thank Heaven, since it is a 7 1/2 hour drive!

Now I have to go fix the leaky toilet in Kyle's new house. Actually Alan has to fix it. Good thing he is good with toilets! HEHE. Apparently the appraiser saw a leak and with a leak FHA wont issue a loan. But we signed an "As-Is" agreement so the bank wont fix it, and Kyle isn't allowed to per FHA regulations. So it looks like the only person left is me, and by me I mean Alan. Good thing I love my brother.

Pictures are the family outside of the St. George temple, Kimberly in a tree, Benjamin peaking under a dressing room door at the outlet mall and Callie at 7 months pregnant with me pushing out my belly trying to look 7 months pregnant. I think I have successfully achieved at least 5 months........what do you think? Oh also there is a picture of the progress on the new bridge over Hoover Dam. Thought Brian would appreciate it. Magnificent sight!

We Believe.........

2010-01-19T12:53:00.000-08:00

Kimberly came home from Sunbeams on Sunday having accomplished what I would consider a very impressive task. She can recite the First Article of Faith! Maybe that is something that all 3 year-olds can do, but I'm going to assume it isn't so that I can go on believing that my child is extra intelligent. It is the cutest thing. She also bears her testimony. She likes to do it in the "phone" (microphone) in the primary room after all the kids have gone home. She also practices bearing her testimony at home. But since we don't have a phone on a podium she stands at the sink in the bathroom and watches herself in the mirror as she speaks into the handle of the faucet. :)

We went to tithing settlement a few weeks ago. I am always surprised at how much money we made that year and baffled by where it all went. We did surprisingly well for Alan being out of work the majority of 2009. I'm sure that this year it will all go to Pure Fitness. That's right! I joined a gym. Unfortunately there aren't really any places to work out in Maricopa so I have to drive into town to do it. This is kinda crummy since it costs an arm and a leg in gas money to go into town daily. Especially when Alan is already going into town for work. But I have to do it. I got two personal training sessions when I joined and had the second one this morning. The trainer kicked my butt! I think I would much rather be on the trainer side that the trainee side. This was the first time I have ever worked with a trainer and I now understand why all of my old clients thought I was Satan! I almost lost my breakfast!

Oh, also my cute neighbor Ani is going to meet with the Missionaries this Thursday. I had her come to dinner a while back when the missionaries were over. Alan wasn't home and I needed a few extra adult bodies in the house. We didn't talk about anything religious but she came with us the next week to see the lights at the Temple. They followed up with her the next week and gave her a Book of Mormon. She told me she had been reading it and had some questions so she called and made an appointment and asked if I wanted to come. I don't know if it will be a discussion or more of a Q&A but either way I am very excited!

Silent Nights!

2010-01-06T11:15:00.000-08:00

This title does not refer to Christmas. It refers to the quality of my evenings after 8PM. I love Josh and Jackie, but the four of them were hard to get and more importantly KEEP in bed. Being back in a routine has been good for mommy. They sure did have a fun week though as I'm sure Kelly and Josh did in Germany. We went "camping" in the back yard (aka a fire in Alan's new fire pit) multiple times, rode scooters and skateboards, played games, went to the movies and mall with Colton, Jodie and Donovan and went to Chuck E Cheese. This seemed to be the favorite activity of the week. We ate a lot of pizza because Bashas is selling the large cheese pizzas for $4.99 right now. Good times. Kelly and Josh offered to watch ours for us if we ever want to get away. I'm sure they knew when offering that this was a safe deal. We won't be cashing in on that anytime soon. HEHE.

The pictures are of the kids outside on Christmas day riding skateboards and scooters and playing with the new bike video game that was given to us. They are smiling in this picture because Benjamin is asleep. Due to the amount of fighting that ensued over the bike while he was awake the rule quickly became that the game could only be played while Benjamin was napping. Works much better that way. Benjamin likes tiaras and necklaces. This is no secret. But I thought I would defend his masculinity. The necklace is often used as a weapon and his neck is the easiest place to carry it. Maybe I should get him a necklace holster? Lately the tiara is usually worn upside down and over one eye as shown in the picture. So he is really a "necklace whip" toting, "tiara-eye patch" wearing pirate. What's not masculine about that?

I must briefly comment on this week's season opener of the Bachelor. On the wings of love? Really? In the opening sequence they were doing a brief bio on Bachelor Jake who is a commercial airline pilot. The last 30 seconds of the spot were him riding along the beach on a motorcycle with an airplane flying off into the sunset behind him. Of course they chose the song "On the wings of love" for the background "mood-setter". The only mood it set for me was nausea! Gag me! That is an all time cheesy high. Even for the Bachelor. This will not keep me from watching this season though. The obviously fake drama of lies and deception promises to be bigger than WES from last season. You almost have to watch because you wonder how they can get worse than that!

Santa Strikes Again!

2009-12-28T15:22:00.000-08:00

We had a nice Christmas. We had to wake the kids up at 8:30. Guess I should enjoy that while I can! They were so excited and got everything they wanted and then some. Thanks to those of you who sent gifts! After presents, Kelly and Josh and the kids came over for Christmas breakfast then I took them to the airport. They are in Germany on vacation right now, lucky ducks! Josh and Jackie are staying with us for 8 days while they are gone. It is a bit chaotic and crazy here and my house looks like a tornado hit it, but so far so good. On Christmas afternoon we played outside for a long time with the kids and their toys. Jackie and Josh got scooters and Benjamin got a skateboard and a basketball hoop. Alan really enjoys having some older kids to play with. By the end of the day everyone was pooped! Pretty standard for a Christmas. We missed having a big group of family around since it was basically just us this year. But it was nice to try and start some traditions of our own. On the 23rd, we went with my family and my neighbor to see the lights at the temple and hear the concert. And on the 24th we ate out for breakfast and dinner. That is a tradition that I definitely want to keep up :) Then Alan and I put the kids to bed and watched White Christmas while we "waited for Santa". Then on the day after Christmas a bunch of people got together to play soccer and have a BBQ. All in all an eventful weekend. Check the sidebar for some other Christmas pictures!

Santa is Watching!

2009-12-19T10:33:00.000-08:00

We were at the mall last week and Kimberly wanted to go see Santa. The last two years she had a complete meltdown when she had to sit on Santa's lap. But this year she promised there would be no tears or screams. I told her when she sat on Santa's lap she needed to tell him what she wanted for Christmas so that he could bring her a present. Then I asked her if she knew what she wanted for Christmas? The following conversation took place:

Robin: "Do you know what you want to ask Santa for Christmas?"
Kimberly: "Oh yes!"
Robin: "What?"
Kimberly: "I want Ariel!"
Robin (to herself): "Oh crap, that isn't what Santa is bringing her!"
Robin (out loud): "You don't want Ariel! Wouldn't you rather have a trampoline?"
Kimberly: Long pause, contorted thinking face, wonderous excitement face, "Oh yes, a trampoline!"

Kimberly then proceeded to ask Santa for a trampoline without shedding a single tear or squeaking a single scream. A Christmas miracle! Though as you can see from the picture I'm not sure that the experience was very pleasant for her. FYI, she is getting a small exercise trampoline so that she will stop jumping on my couch. I'm pretty lucky that my little trick worked. Next year, I should probably ask her what she wants from Santa BEFORE I shop for it!
I am also pretty lucky that Kimberly is now old enough to use Santa as leverage. Whenever she is acting awful I just remind her that Santa is watching and if she wants a trampoline for Christmas she must be nice and do exactly as I say. December has been wonderful. What on earth shall I do for the other 11 months of the year?

FYI, I feel like Chevy Chase in Christmas Vacation. I have had to vow not to put up more lights. I went through a phase for about a week where each night I would look at the exterior of my home and decide that it just wasn't enough. So I would add another strand somewhere. I know it doesn't look like a lot of lights, but I only have one outlet outside. I am afraid If I put up any more I'll light my house on fire! Just wait until next year, maybe I'll line the roof!

Also just to explain the other picture, apparantly Benjamin want's a computer for Christmas!
Sneaky little turd! HEHE

I sold my first house!

2009-12-09T16:11:00.000-08:00

The above photo is of me giving myself props for closing my first real estate transaction today! The house hunting process with these people was ridiculous! It took like 2 months of searching. I drove all over southern Arizona. At least gas money is a tax write off. But, after they picked one the process went pretty smoothly. I should be getting my first pathetic little check on Friday. (1. The commission on a $50,000 house isn't much, 2. I give a bunch of it away to my broker and my trainer, but that's ok because the help I got was worth it.) Hopefully this is the first in a long line of less pathetic little checks! :)

FINALLY EMPLOYED!

2009-12-01T10:38:00.000-08:00

For those of you who don't know, Alan got a job! He started yesterday. He is working for a company called EDMC that manages 3 different university's online programs. He is actually going to be in sales. It is kind of a glorified call center, but they aren't cold calls. Alan decided that if he really wanted to be a marketing exec. some day, then he better get some sales experience since most Marketing departments are actually Sales and Marketing departments. The job pays well and benefits are available starting right away. We feel very blessed right now.

Now lets talk about what is really important right now, CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS. Every year it gets harder and harder for me to wait until Thanksgiving to set them out. I don't have very many and oh, how I long to go shopping and fill my home with green and red Christmas trinkets. But since we are broke this year and I don't think that my children would appreciate holiday ornamentation in lieu of presents, I have set up my small collection.

Next year I think it is time for a new tree. My little one is cute but it has definitely served it's purpose. It looks puny under my 9 foot ceilings. The picture of the exterior of my house is really hard to see, I know. But you have to believe me that it looks really good. I would have put up more lights but I ran out of outlets. The last thing I need is to catch my house on fire. I am going to make sure that my next home has multiple outdoor outlets. That way I can give Chevy Chase a run for his money! (National Lampoons Christmas Vacation :)

Late Halloween Pictures

2009-11-19T15:49:00.000-08:00

We went trick-or-treating with a group of friends this year. Jackie and Josh came with us but eventually had to ditch us. I guess when you are 4 and 5 years old you are just way too fast for toddlers. We were cramping their style and slowing them down.

Kimberly was a princess this year (BIG SURPRISE THERE!) I'll honestly be surprised if she doesn't want to be a princess next year too. Benjamin went as a Skunk! How cute is that! I was in Savers and found this used skunk costume that said "little stinker" on the front. It was only like $3.99 so I couldn't help myself! How appropriate, he essentially went as himself for Halloween.......a little stinker..........HEHE! :)

Dad is in California today with Jeff who is probably out of surgery by now. He is having all of the metal parts taken out of his arm (plates, screws, etc.). Dad should be coming out with Jeff and Aly by Sunday and then Cara, Shane and Sydney are coming on Monday. Kimberly is beside herself with excitement! Oh, and it is official! Congrats Kyle and Beth on the engagement! Welcome Beth and Brooklyn (Burkalin - as Kimberly says) to our family.

Poor Princess Benjamin

2009-11-07T00:36:00.000-08:00

So it seems that since Kimberly is older she most often wins when it comes to selecting which games she and Benjamin will play. And most often right now those games have something to do with being princesses. I'm sure that Benjamin will kill me when he gets older for having shown you these pictures but since right now he doesn't know any better and he is so darn cute, I'm going to post them anyway.

These pictures show Kimberly at her 3rd birthday party back in September. The purple dress is her old, tattered, rag-like-Cinderella-dress. The blue one is her shiny new real-Cinderella-like-dress. That one is already getting tattered because she wears it so much. The pink dress is representative of the 4 new regular "can wear anytime I want to" dresses. Since she received those she has worn pants or shorts a total of maybe a dozen times. She will wake up at 6:30 in the morning, come into my room and say "Mommy, can I wear my big girl panties and my dress now?" Apparently Kimberly is all girl. Luckily, despite his taste for tiaras and tutus, Benjamin is most definitely all boy! So much so that a little cross dressing is probably good for him. What a terror. If Alan is being punished for being a pain when he was little (cuz we all know what an angel I was.......) then justice has been served. That kid is into everything! And he's fast, agile and just plain naughty. But he's still cute so we still like him. Plus I get to take him to nursery in a couple of weeks..............Hallelujah!

As for Alan and I everything is pretty much still the same. He's going nuts being home all day and I'm going nuts being away from home all day. I try to stay busy subbing, luckily I'm fairly popular and get requested a lot. And I am actually staying pretty busy with real estate stuff too. I have two homes under contract right now, which in theory sounds great but cheap houses don't bring very helpful commissions. Maybe we need to move to Scottsdale??? HMMMMM.....

We are also staying busy with our callings. I have found a group of people who play volleyball on Wednesday nights at the church. It is pretty competitive and actually a lot of fun. I guess that is my outlet right now. I wish Alan had one. He actually got up and went to play basketball with some guys from the ward at 5AM this morning. FOR REAL. I know, I know, Alan hates basketball. But I think it is nice for him to get away even if it is at a Heaven forsaken hour playing the sport of the Devil.

Mostly right now we are trying to be optimistic. Even though Alan has been out of work for over 6 months now and we barely have a penny to our name we have so much to be grateful for. I have food storage that we have been able to live off of, we don't have any debt besides our home, and we have all managed to stay healthy which is a miracle considering how much I am usually sick. Plus we have a support system of family and friends. Even though we don't know how or if we will be able to pay the next bill we just continue to have faith and you know what? Somehow, it all just works out. Amazing isn't it?

Two Words - I"M LAZY!!!

2009-09-01T22:11:00.000-07:00

That's it, that's my only excuse for months between posts. Before I start, let me introduce this post's pictures (and these are mostly for the benefit of Laura because I keep promising........), they are: my living room, my kitchen and one wall of my office. I have been stalling, hoping that I could get the rooms fully decorated before I took pictures. But alas, that may never happen. No $ = bare walls!

Soooooo, too much has happened since my last post to catch up. Here are the bare minimums. Family Reunion in UT/WY: Awesome! Kids loved it. Youth Conference: Awesome, we loved it! Got my Real Estate License: Fhewww, I did it! School Started: finally some cash flow! Kelly and Josh moved in to their new house: It's beautiful, they love it!

Other minor things. 1. Went to the science museum, it was way fun! That is what some of the side bar pictures are from. 2. Got the world's largest cold sore on my chin! It has been 2 1/2 weeks and it is only now starting to heal. Guess we all have herpes you idiots! HEHE..... only a select few will get that reference. 3. Still haven't cleaned my bathroom. That must be a new record for me. :(

I'm not complaining but how come expensive things only happen when you don't have any $? Tonight I blew out a tire. But we will definately need 2 new tires (at least) + tire rotation + allignment + a new lug and nut. And I've been so good this month. I've been working hard at my calling, paid tithing and fast offerings, done some service, been to the temple twice, made up for last months inconsistent scripture reading and actually visited all the sisters on my visiting teaching route. Maybe they'll be giving out free tires at Big O tomorrow! :) Keep your fingers crossed.

So I thought that getting the schooling and testing done would be the hard part about being a Realtor. Boy was I wrong. That was like a walk in the park compared to getting clients. I'm just not the "drop my business in every conversation" kind of person. My bosses told me to pass out business cards at church which they don't understand would be a major faux paus. Or send out an email to everyone I know, which again is people at church. Last I checked, stealing a copy of the ward email list and using it for business purposes isn't kosher either. Well, if anyone reading this knows someone who wants to buy a house in the greater Phoenix area, give them my name and number.

We are going to L.A. this weekend for my niece Alyssa's birthday (courtesy of my parents). Unfortunately we won't escape the heat. Apparently it has been 100+ degrees there the past week. Granted that is better than 110+, but honestly, will the heat never end? It doesn't even cool down at night. It will still be 100 degrees at 10PM. UGH! At least in L.A. we'll have the Beach!

Bachelorette Junkie

2009-07-01T01:54:00.000-07:00

Like my dear sis-in-law Callie, I too am enamored by the Bachelorette. It started as having a "girl crush" on Jillian last season. If I was a dude she would be my type. But I have now hit an all time low. After watching last night's episode online tonight, I was so sad that Michael left (though I knew it was inevitable) but way excited that Ed was back. So I started Google-ing the show. I read a ton of fan blogs - don't worry, I'm not that obsessed - (but the thought and research they put into those is amazing) and reading a bunch of spoilers. Spoilers are just what the title claims them to be. Blurbs speculating or claiming to know what is going to happen in subsequent episodes. Then I stumbled on to some hollywood gossip pages where people were talking about how obvious it is that this season must be at least partially scripted. And that perhaps people like Wes were paid to portray the "villian" role for better ratings or some guys being guaranteed spots in the top four. Or that Kypton is slated to be the next Bachelor. My search ended with finding Jillian's post-show blog on People.com, which apparantly she updates after each show airs. On this blog she gives her thoughts about what happened during that episode and how seeing what we see makes her a lot more understanding of some of the comments she gets about "being a freakin' idiot".

Ok, so my point of this whole blog is that I am out of control! I actually posted a comment on her blog tonight! The worst thing is that I posted it with advice...............like she's actually going to read it. Oh and FYI, I was posting #288, and they only dated back through June 30th.

What can I say? Reality TV is my Achilies Heel. Even if the "reality" part isn't real at all, it sure is entertaining!

About Bitty Ben

2009-06-23T23:20:00.001-07:00

I was reading Laura's blog and decided that I don't devote as much time to Benjamin as I do to Kimberly in writing. So here is an update on the little Monkey Butt.

What a Pill! Boy is he a handful. He is finally using walking as his main mode of transportation. He has also figured out how to stand up unassisted in the middle of the room. He can run too but if he goes really fast he falls. He is now 13 months and I haven't had him in for a checkup, but at his last one he was just a little squirt like Marissa. 20th% weight and 25th% height.

He loves to get into anything that he shouldn't be touching. I know what you are thinking, this is pretty normal for toddlers right? Probably, but I would say his attraction to dangerous or breakable things is much higher than most. He is also developing quite the little attitude which he obviously gets from spending so much time with his sister. He is perfecting the temper-tantrum and "fake cry for attention".

Benjamin is the king of defiance. He understands "no" perfectly well. But understanding isn't the problem. The issue is compliance. If you tell him no, he stops, looks at you, flashes a big grin and then promptly does it again. Even with a scolding or a swat on the diaper. Sometimes he waits until he thinks you aren't looking before he does it again. That is my favorite. Who would have thought that a 13 month old understood the concept of being sneaky?

Like most boys, Bitty Ben is a THRILL SEEKER! He is constantly climbing on things and people and he loves wrestling and being thrown in the air. The higher and dizzier he gets, the better.

Some of his other favorite activities include housework. "speed laundry" consists of pulling all of the folded laundry out of a dresser drawer faster than I can put it back in. "doing the dishes" is similar to speed laundry but instead involves pulling all of the dishes out of the dishwasher faster than I can put them back in. His version of "cleaning the floor" requires crawling through the swept pile and then eating the lovely treasures out of that pile faster than I can sweep them up (note: this may be done with the broom in his hand while pushing it back and forth in the rest of the mess that I haven't gotten to yet). "scrubbing the toilet" is obviously done by bare hand and usually results in the option of mopping the floor with the toilet water (again with bare hands). And finally "de-cluttering" is his way of taking all items off of the bookshelf and out of desk drawers and throwing them on the office floor so that the bookshelves and desk look clean and spacious. What a big helper I have!

Benjers or Buddy Buddy (Kimberly's nicknames for him) is also perfecting the art of inflicting physical pain which he finds highly amusing. Be careful for those of you who will be seeing us in the near future. If you hold him facing you he will most likely slap you in the face and then laugh at you. I have tried to break him of this but when I tell him no, he laughs. When I give him a little smack on his hand afterward, he laughs. And often times the disciplinary action is followed by a double handed slap and a giggle. He also loves to pull hair, the bigger the handful of hair he gets out, the harder he laughs. It is amazing that Kimberly still has hair at all. Alan gets particularly frustrated when Benjamin wanders into the office and purposely pulls out desk drawers so that they will hit Alan in the knees. And don't even think about saying "ouch" or giving a painful grimace. That only gives him fuel. This being said, it is no surprise that his way of showing affection is a head butt. Not a hug, or a kiss, or a snuggle, but a bonafied head butt. We call it a "bonk" and if he is in the right mood, he'll do it on command.

Lastly, he likes to sing. Kimberly sings all the time and lately I have noticed that when she sings he often attempts to sing with her. Most commonly they sing "once upon a dream". You know the song from sleeping beauty? Yeah that is a favorite around here. They actually sing it to each other. It is pretty dang cute.

Benjamin has a few words now. Daddy, Dodger (my mom's dog), Hi (usually accompanied by a wave), Jackie, peek-a-boo (which was his first word besides daddy) and Ah-yee. That last one is either Mommy or Kimberly. I'm not sure but I think it's Kimberly.

He sure is fun and wild. And super cute. That is the hardest part. Sometimes he is so naughty but then he flashes those baby blues and that mischievous grin and you just can't be mad!

JUST BOB IT!

2009-06-19T15:54:00.001-07:00

Ok. So I got crazy today. Once every couple of years or so I get very compulsive with my hair. I have been thinking about cutting it for a while now, but today I finally got the nerve up to do it. This is probably the biggest cut I have ever had. I lost about 12 inches. I decided to go with a long bob instead of the standard one for a couple of reasons. 1. My face is way too round for my hair to go to far above my shoulders. Tried that once, it was a disaster. 2. I can still put it in barettes and even a ponytail. 3. My hair curls (curls meaning all the natural curls/waves I have) nicely when it is short and leaving it longer allows for the shortness that comes with styling it curly. It feels nice to not have the tangled mop on my head. I was sure that I would be more sad about parting with all that hair since it has taken me about 10 years to get it that long (at 18 I cut it to my chin and haven't had a major cut since then). But I am actually very happy with it and slightly relieved that I should be able to cut back my conditioner purchases. I was going through a LOT of conditioner just so that I could brush out all those tangles!

Need your oppinion!

2009-06-16T01:42:00.000-07:00

Alan broke the camera at scout camp. I don't know how it happened and neither does he, but it just stopped working. So no pix today. But we are going to get one sometime before our trip to UT/WY. Can't go on holiday without a camera! Luckily my mom paid me to paint her house last week, so we have a little extra $ to set aside for such a frivolous necessity.

Alan has come to the conclusion that he is going to start school in January. He is committing himself to it. So one or both of us need a job. I love subbing but the work is so inconsistent that I can't rely on it to pay the bills. I have pretty much decided that while the bulk of my experience is in the recreation field, the pay is usually pretty crappy and the hours are worse. I don't want to spend that much time away from my family. So I have narrowed down my options. I can either try to find a job as a personal trainer to supplement the substitute teaching. (Between the two I may be able to come up with most of an income.) OR.......... get into real estate.

I know the market isn't at it's peak, but it is finally starting to rebound here. My agent stays very busy and is starting his own brokerage. He has offered to take me on if I am interested. Plus he would mentor me and show me the ropes. It is pretty in-expensive to take the classes and get licensed. This option isn't the route for instant money but it holds a much better potential for the long term. Plus, I think I would enjoy it. I just don't know if I am ready to start a new "career". When I left Brigham City Rec I figured that would be the end of my work outside of the home. If I get into real estate I actually have to try to be moderately successful. I can't treat it like Mary Kay (you know the "if I make money then great, if not oh well" attitude).

Of course being a real estate agent I can set my own hours and choose to be as busy as I want. If there comes a time when we don't need the money I can back off for a while. But still something like this signifies the end of stay at home mommy-hood for a while. Alan thinks I should do it, but I am still unsure. What do you guys think?

Why the heck can't I update this more often?

2009-06-02T22:53:00.000-07:00

I have to start this post by telling everyone to look at the pictures on the left side of the blog. They are from Easter and Benjamin's birthday party. Next, you may want to take a trip to the bathroom then get something to eat and drink. It's been over a month since my last post so I hope you don't need to be anywhere any time soon...................

Can you believe it? My baby is already one! Though he is just a little guy, he is definitely starting to act his age. Blatant defiance, temper-tantrums, and way to cool to be caught hugging or kissing his mother. Wait.... did I say he turned one? Maybe I meant 14....... No, no, I'm sure he is only one. Don't get me wrong. He is mostly still a good natured baby, but he is hanging around his sister a little too much. The two stooges are rubbing off on each other.

Benjamin has started taking steps in the last 3 days or so. Usually only 5 or 6 at a time. Then he decides that crawling is faster and he's off to the races (or the refrigerator). For those that don't know, my sister Kelly moved into the basement at my mom's house about a month ago. They have decided that they are tired of anti-morals attitude in LA. Plus they want to buy a house. Kimberly is excited to see her "friends" almost every day. I say "friends" because apparently to a two year old "friend" is a much tighter association than cousin. I don't have to worry quiet yet though because if you ask her, she will still tell you that mommy is her best friend.

Nothing is too exciting on the home front. We love our new house. I am sure many of you thought that I would have posted pictures of it by now, but here's the thing...... When Alan lost his job, we had to put the kibosh on all of my brilliant decorating plans. Oh, and what glorious plans they were. Now to some, my house may look good. And to the few who are design impaired, it may even look decorated. But I can't bring myself to "show off" empty walls and bare windows. Even if my odd color pairings look surprisingly pleasant. This self proclaimed interior designer will just have to knock off a few more convenience stores before she can post pictures of the house.

I was able to get a long term job subbing at the high school towards the end of the year. It was a lot of work because there were no lesson plans or grades given to me. I pretty much had to start from scratch. It was a freshman health class. Pair 190 of the most immature and obnoxious not to mention naughty 14 & 15 year-olds possible with titillating topics like drugs and STD's. What do you get? You don't want to know! Let's just say that I feel like I handled it well and hopefully got some important information through seemingly in-penitrable skulls. Honestly I really enjoyed myself and I am eternally greatful to have had a steady paycheck for a brief period. Plus, It helped me remember how darn smart I am, ........no really! I better stop talking about myself or there will be no way of keeping my narcisism in check. HaHa LOL ;) Is narcisism even spelled right?

Again my novella style blog entry is probably getting old. But I am bored because Alan is at scout camp all week and if I am not busy trying to fight off his wandering hands then I just don't know what to do with myself. A week is a long time to be a single parent oh, and also I enjoy his company :) Luckily when he gets home we have all day to spend hanging out as a family. See even being unemployed has it's perks!

Moving Day!

2009-04-20T09:42:00.000-07:00

It's almost here! The new carpet comes tomorrow so tonight we will be pulling an all nighter trying to get the painting finished and the old carpet pulled out. After that, we will finish up the cleaning on tuesday night and wednseday day, then hopefully we can spend wednesday night moving stuff in. We promised Kimberly yesterday that she could eat breakfast at the new house next Sunday. You wouldn't think that at 2 1/2 she would understand, but she seems to. She always asks to to to "the new house" and gets upset when we leave.

Oh, FYI. For those of you who don't know, Alan was laid off again last Monday. His company decided to shut down the whole Arizona opperation. This time he didn't get two weeks for them to re-think. He and everyone else were escorted out on Monday afternoon. When I came home from subing and he was there and told me what happened, I wasn't surprised. I'm used to it by now. Sad huh?

Cute Kimberly story. We went shopping for an Easter dress. I picked out a cute one with these abstract flowers. They had a dot in the middle and for leaf like shapes comming off of the dot. They spaced evenly, you know at North, South, East and West. Anyway, I asked her:

"Do you you like this pretty dress with the flowers?"
To which she crumpled up her face deep in thought and then replied
"No, those aren't flowers, they're ceiling fans!"

She said it so matter of factly and she just stared at me. If I could have read her mind I am sure I would have discoverd that that she was thinking to herself, "DUH! Are you a flippin retard mom? Don't you recognize a ceiling fan when you see one?" The funny thing is that she was right. They actually look more like ceiling fans than flowers. So now we refer to it as the ceiling fan dress. That seems to satisfy her.

Sooooo Bored!

2009-04-02T12:26:00.000-07:00

I am at the high school right now working as a substitute. However, I am in the computer lab and there are no lesson plans or anything. I am basically just sitting here and making sure that kids stay off of sites like the one I'm on right now. I thought that I would sum up this year.

Alan gets a job, we buy a house. Alan looses his job, we loose the house. Alan gets un-laid off, we put an offer on a new house. We never hear back from the sketchy listing agents using our offer as leverage for better offers. We pull out and put an offer on the original house. 2 days before we are supposed to close the mortage company calls and says they have lost all of our paperwork. I get PISSED. Closing day likely comes and goes and we are still in my mom's basement.

Ok, so more than that has happend this year, but that feels like the only thing. You know how the third time is supposed to be the charm? Well we are on our third house and it is more like the pain in my @#$! I am so upset and they don't give me enough space to vent on this blog the way I would need to so that I could even begin to feel better.

On the plus side, my babies are cute and getting soooo big! Benjamin is now 10 months. No walking yet, but he pulls himself up on everything and walks aroud the furniture. Callie and Brian came to visit last month. It was so good to see them. Alan is getting a little homesick finally. It will be exciting to see all the Daniels clan at the reunion this summer. You know, when we lived in utah, going on vacation to wyoming didn't seem that great. But now that we are in arizona, I am pretty excited. Being able to escape the Arizona summer even for a week will be really nice.

Oh, for those who don't know, I'm still in the Relief Society Presidency, but Alan just got a new calling. He is pulling double duty as a sunday school teacher and ....................................................
the new Scout Master! At first he wasn't very excited, but now I think he is more in to the idea. I am sure that he will do a good job which is why they called him.

Sorry there are no pictures. I'll get some up soon. I have a really cute one of Benjamin getting into the refridgerator! He just crawls right up in there. If you even have it open for a second, he is in it. He is really fast and very sneaky.

Oh, FYI Kelly and Josh (my sister) decided to move out here in May! Yea! I'm so excited. So is Kimberly. They are going to take our place in the basment.......IF WE EVER GET OUT! This summer will be so fun now!

Brilliant thought.......for anyone who hasn't given up reading this incredibly long and boring post: maybe I should update the blog more often? You think? Then I could write less and more people will be willing to read it until the end? Yeah that's a good idea. If you would like to place a wager on whether or not that will actually happen, drop me a line. Let's bet!

Is Jesus My Savior?

2009-02-05T20:33:00.000-08:00

I know I need to write an update about all the crazy stuff that happened to us in the month of January. So within the next few days. But this was so cute I decided it was worthy of it's own entry.

Last night at about 3 or 4 am, Kimberly came into our room. She wasn't crying but she seemed upset. She was very insistent "I want to lay on the bed, I want to snuggle with Daddy." Since she was a bit shaken we humored her and plopped her up on the bed. She laid there for a minute and then started asking this question over and over. At first I couldn't understand what she said but when I figured it out I was blown away. Alan had fallen asleep so I woke him. The conversation went as follows.

Robin: "Alan, aren't you going to answer her?"
Alan: "What.....hmm.....did she say something?"
Robin: "Yes, she asked you a question."

Kimberly: "Daddy, is Jesus my Savior?"

LONG PAUSE.......

Alan: "Yes Kimberly, Jesus is your Savior."
Kimberly: "I love Jesus."

SHORT PAUSE......

Kimberly: "Daddy are your arms ok?"
Alan: "Yes my arms are ok."
Kimberly: "You have happy arms!"

Then she was quiet and we got up and put her back in bed. Sometimes she says things that are so grown up. I doubt she knows what the word "Savior" means. I certainly haven't tried to explain it to her. But she used the word in the right context. Of course other times she uses phrases like "happy arms" and I am reminded that she is only 2. This just goes to show that your kids are always listening.

PICTURES - TAKE 2

2009-01-07T21:15:00.001-08:00

BEST FRIENDS

2009-01-07T13:20:00.000-08:00

Kimberly and Benjamin play so well together. I wish I had something that took good video because it is soooo funny to hear the laugh track of these two playing. She giggles and he laughs then she laughs harder, then he laughs harder and so on.

Kimberly says the most random things that sound so grown up. We were in Savers the other day buying me a pair of Sunday shoes and we were at the register checking out. The money drawer came open and she pointed and said "Mommy look! He has 400 dollars!" Kimberly got a jump rope for Christmas because she kept taking this bungee cord and flinging it around in front of her face (it was way to short to jump over) and telling me that she was jumping rope. So now she jumps up and down flinging the jump rope in front of her face (she has no clue that she isn't actually jumping over the rope) and she counts her jumps. But instead of starting at 1 and going up she picks some random number way high up and skips around. Example: "Mommy I'm jumping! 64, 65, 64, 64, 58, 63........ I'm not even sure how she knows these numbers because I never count that high with her.

Benjamin is a smart little whip. He as recently discovered that it is funny to torture his sister. We were on a walk the other day and they were sitting next to each other in the stroller. Kimberly was eating chips in front of him and he was none too happy that she wasn't sharing. So he started grabbing them. Each time he would grab for one she would scream and then he would laugh. So I moved the chips. But this didn't resolve the problem. When there were no more chips to grab he decided to grab her hand and try to put it in his mouth. Each time he would grab her hand she would snatch it away and scream with annoyance and he would laugh with glee. It isn't just the laughing that was funny, it was the way he laughed. It was very taunting. You could tell he enjoyed watching her squirm.

Benjamin is very close to crawling. I am waiting for him to take off any day now. Kimberly better watch out. Once he is mobile, the torture possibilities are endless!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2008-12-29T19:55:00.000-08:00

Well Christmas has come and gone. It is always a bit sad and a bit of a relief all at the same time. All of my brothers and sisters and their families were here. It was the first time we have all been together in I don't know how long. The kids had a great time playing with their cousins. We spent a lot of time eating and playing board games and chasing wild Havolina Pigs through the subdivision at Midnight. Yes, we really did that, it was quite exciting. The kids got the standard presents. Mostly stuff that cost less than a couple of bucks. Kimberly got a magnifying glass which she calls her "science kid" because she saw them use one on a PBS cartoon called Sid the Science Kid. Benjamin mostly got clothes and teething rings. Alan got some speakers for his MP3 player and a Zune Music Store gift card. I was actually surprised this year! For the first time since we have been married. I got a really sweet tool belt! It is pink leather and I look like a stud in it! Then we got a small air compressor and finish nail gun. Now comes the daunting task of taking down all of the decorations that I was so excited to put up. Yeah, that is way less exciting.

On another exciting note, I got a new calling last week. I was just made the 2nd (enrichment) counselor in the Relief Society Presidency. I was kind of surprised that my mother would call me to work with her. I was worried that people in the ward would think it was weird but I get the feeling it won't be too big of a deal. I guess there are a lot of extended families in our ward. Most of the Young Women's Presidency that just got released was related. Anyway, I am really excited because I think It will be a super fun calling and it will help me get to know people better.

Kimberly is busy being two. On sunday moring while she was eating breakfast, Kimberly decided to shove 6 cheerios up her nose. 4 on one side and 2 on the other. I missed all this because Alan was gracious enough to let me go back to bed since I got up early with the baby. I guess they were pretty hard to get out. Then when we were in Sacrament meeting, she sneezed and about half of another one came out. Maybe we will re-name her Homer when we find a crayon in her brain.

Late Thanksgiving Update

2008-12-14T11:30:00.000-08:00

My mom's computer network has been all weird lately and so the internet has not been working in our living quarters until the past day or so, and even now it is kind of hit and miss. So here is a very late Thanksgiving update!

We had a pretty "traditional" Hamilton Thanksgiving this year. We actually spent it with Scott, Marylynne and Lucas Leopard (Shane's Mom, Dad and Brother). It was just going to be the three of them for Thanksgiving and Marylynne didn't want to have a big to-do for just three people. One might think it is a little weird to spend the holidays with your brother-in-law's family, without your sister or brother-in-law present. But the Leopards are super fun and we had a good time.

The day started as usual by attending a cheap movie at the $2 theater. We went and saw WALL-E. It is the first movie that we have taken Kimberly to see in the theater since she was old enough to enjoy movies. She did really well. She got pretty restless in the last 15 minutes or so, but mostly sat on mine or Alan's laps and watched. Benjamin was glued to the screen for the first 30 minutes or so, then he fell asleep.

After the movie, we hit up the Hometown Buffet. The stuffing was marginal and they had these potatos au grautin (spelling?) that were a bit sketchy, but the rolls were excellent and the turkey was really juicy. Dessert was good as always and for those of you who know my buffet history, I managed to walk away feeling fairly comfortable and without hurling all over the booth! :)

Then we went to the Bowling Alley for a couple of games, where Kimberly proceeded to have diahreah all in her pants. Of course the bathrooms were closed for remodeling and there was only a port-o-potty outside. So I had to take care of the matter as discretely as I could in the middle of the bowling alley floor!

Jeff came out to visit for a long weekend on Friday and he brought his new girlfriend Shannon. She was really sweet and fun and got along with our family very well. Alan was pretty bummed about not getting his normal Thanksgiving experience with a big feast and tons of family. So my mom made a mini Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday so that he could have some Turkey leftovers.

I got all excited for Christmas and decor put up the trees that weekend. I also made Alan help me put up lights on the outside of the house. It looks pretty good if I do say so myself. One conclusion that I have come to is to never have a massive Christmas tree. In theory they sound great, but I have never had to set one up before. My mom's tree is 9 and 1/2 feet tall and probably twice that around at the bottom. It looks beautiful, but there is just something wrong with needing a ladder to reach the top 1/3. Not a chair, not a stool, but a ladder! Plus I think that it is probably breaking some sort of fire code to have that many lights in one tree.

The pictures are from the bowling excursion and of Kimberly helping to put up the lights.

BITTER-SWEET

2008-11-12T09:40:00.000-08:00

Well, yesterday's news was happy and sad. Shane got a job! Which is great, except that now he and Cara and Sydney are moving.........to Seattle! In like a week! I am super bummed. I move to Arizona where I can finally live close to my family and my bum sister decides to move! :( But I am happy that they have such a great opportunity. At least I got a few good photo opps while they were here. (See bathtub photo)

I was inspired by Laura's blog. I wish I could do half of those neat things with Kimberly's hair. But alas, Kimberly has significantly less hair than Erin and exponentially less patience. Shown above is what I was able to pull out while she was mesmerized by Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Maybe someday she'll have enough hair to braid it or something fun. Also, we need to work on Kimberly's ability to pose for the camera. I say smile, but she won't do it until after the flash goes off.

Benjamin is getting so big. He and Kimberly love to play together. He is also becoming more of a baby and less of an infant. He is quite persistent when he wants something. He has this horrible screech that sounds like what I'd imagine a baby Tara dactyl would sound like. He is already getting frustrated that he can't move around the way he would like to. However, he has finally grasped the concept of reaching out to grab things. That is nice because he has toys that hang from his car seat and that keeps him occupied while we are driving. And he drank his whole bottle this morning while holding it himself! That is a happy moment!

Alan's business trip got canceled this week. He was a little disappointed but I wasn't. I would have had nothing to do while he was gone. So far he seems to like his job, but I think he is a little bored this week since his boss is gone and there weren't a lot of projects set aside for him to do because he was supposed to be in Houston.

I got a calling. I bet you can't guess what. Ok, you probably can. I was called to be a teacher in the Relief Society. I know....shocker! (If you can't sense my sarcasm in writing, then you don't know me well enough.) I was kind of hoping for something different but at least I enjoy doing it. All but two of my callings have been either teaching Relief Society or Gosple Doctrine. I dropped hints like crazy (in front of the right people even) that I wanted to be put in the primary. Oh well. Alan has mentioned that he wants to be the primary pianist. Maybe he'll have better luck!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

2008-11-01T12:52:00.000-07:00

I have a million excuses for not keeping up with this, but I won't use any. Just a vow to do better. I'm going to try to update once a week, so If I don't, someone send me a nasty email or something.

For those who don't know the Alan Daniels Family is now living in Maricopa Arizona......in my parent's basement! Alan lost his job in August the job market was not promising for technical writers in the SLC area. After much thought and prayer, we decided to move to Arizona. Alan has been wanting to attend graduate school to get an MBA for a while and ASU is where he wants to go. So I sold most of our posessions and we packed up a trailer and came to AZ.

Long story short, the move has been a great blessing. Alan searched for a job for 2 months before we came here and only had 1 interview. After we got here, it only took him 2 weeks to find a job. He has now been working for 2 weeks and he seems to enjoy it. He is working for a company called LaPolla Industries. They make foam insulation for residential and commercial buildings. His official title is Marketing Coordinator. It is a small company so it is only he and the marketing director are the only marketing staff. He gets to do all of the things he liked from his old job (over seeing the graphic designers, copywriting etc.) plus a lot of new stuff mostly dealing with events. He will get to travel across the country to a number of trade shows each year and is attending a national sales conference in Houston next week. This job pays better than his last one, has WAY better benefits and is in the field of marketing which is what he wants his MBA emphasis to be in. Our short term loss will hopefully be our long term gain!

Also if all goes well, we will be officially "homeless" on Monday. After the first deal on our house fell through, we had to put it back up on the market. But we got another offer 4 days later. We signed the closing papers yesterday and hopefully it will be a done deal on Monday. Quite the relief. Of course we lost a little money on the home and since we ate up our savings being un-employed, we had to borrow some money from my generous parents to close. Which means we will be in their basement for at least a few more months until we can pay them back. It is so hard for me to not have my own space, but at least the house is REALLY big and they have good cable. I love DVR. I can watch HGTV till my little heart is content and dream of having my own house by the time Callie and Brian come to visit during spring break (Don't think I forgot! I'm holding you to it!) Good thing parents don't get to stop being parents when you become an adult! Now we have lived in the basement of both sets! THANKS.

Halloween was fun yesterday. Kimberly was definately old enough to get it. Though she was too shy to say trick or treat at most of the houses. She didn't want to go in at the end of the night. After the first couple of doors she looked up at Alan and said "Daddy, this is really, really fun!"
She was a princess (she is in that princess phase where she wears a tutu around the house all day) and Benjamin was Santa. The costume was a little small so he fit the part looking nice and chubby. Sydney (Kimberly's and Benjamin's cousin) was a fairy princess. It was a fun night!

Oh the JOYS of Motherhood!

2008-08-07T09:53:00.000-07:00

I got off track from keeping this updated when we left on vacation in June, but now I promise to be good. Everyone is doing well. Benjamin is getting big and starting to smile a lot. Kimberly talks like a big girl now. She loves to sing and dance. The other day in the car she started in....... A happy a know, a silly so, a happy a know, cap a hands! For those of you who don't understand 1 year old speak, that's "if you're happy and you know it, then you're face will surely show it, if you're happy and you know it clap your hands". She's big on all songs that have actions and very good at the action part.

Yesterday morning I woke up and went to get Kimberly. As I approached her room there was a foul odor seeping out her door. I walked in, and there was Kimberly, happy as a clam, covered head to toe in poop! She had taken off her diaper which was just about the only place that there wasn't much poop and was playing with a constipated lump like it was a ball of play-dough. On her tummy, hands, under fingernails, butt, legs, on the floor, wall, door, dresser, dirty laundry and laundry basket, mattress and pillow (which by the way had no pillow case or sheet - guess that's what I get for being lazy). Needless to say I was furious! I had to put her in the shower and scrub poop out of parts that should NEVER contain poop. I had to clean her mattress the best I could and then flip it over, but her pillow was toast! (washing pillows doesn't work to well) I even had to scrub poop out of the cracks in the hard wood floor. I am eternally grateful at this point that her room doesn't have carpet. Oh the joys of Motherhood!

Kimberly is a good big sister. She tries to be gentle and wants to be very helpful by feeding the baby or changing his diaper. When I don't let her she just does it to her baby doll. Usually with real wipes and diapers. And she loves to clean - everything but her toys. She often dumps her water out when eating so that she can get the towel and clean it up. Or dumps her food because she wants to sweep it. It drives me nuts but how do you discipline a child who just wants to clean? Twisted world!

I re-decorated my front rooms lately and am in the process of re-doing my bedroom. I put pictures up on-line so that I could audition for a show on HGTV called Design Star. I'm sure I won't get picked, but it is still fun to see what people have to say. I have had some really rude comments and some nice/constructive ones. I sometimes think that professional designers are pretty snobby. I'm sure they don't generally have the task of decorating a whole room with items that you have found at the DI. But if you haven't already you should go see my pictures and give me a 5 star rating cuz you love me so much. Go to HGTV.com then click on the design star page. On that page there is an audition button. Go to the gallery of auditions. Mine is titled "thrift store magic" and the thumbnail is a black and white picture of me.

2 WEEKS OLD!

2008-06-06T12:06:00.000-07:00

Picture #1 - Bitty-Ben in a newborn onesie that still swims on him and his ultra PHAT Jordan beanie sent by honorary "aunt" Cassie. I have a hard time getting him to stay awake when I want a picture.

Picture #2 - Bitty-Ben at the doctors office. Not a great picture, but at least he is awake. I need a camera with less of a delay!

Benjamin had his two week check-up yesterday and he is doing great! He has grown 3/4 of an inch and gained a whopping 7 ounces! He is now 6 lbs. & 10 oz. I am trying to adjust to life with multiple children. Those of you who have had many children may think that I am a weenie. However, it is really different having two kids. I feel like all I do all day long is change diapers and feed kids, with some laundry interspursed. Benjamin is so small and even the newborn diapers don't fit him very well. So he always leaks out of them. And the times when he doesn't leak, I get the diaper off and he pees all over himself and the room. (and sometimes me) Yesterday, I went through 5 outfits in 24 hours.....and he only has about 8 outfits.

The rest of the family is doing well too. Kimberly is adjusting to not being the only child and getting back to normal. The clingy thing is calming down, although she is still crying when we drop her off at nursury. Not sure why that started. Alan is staying busy with his free-lance graphic design work. And I am actually losing some weight. I have lost 25 pounds since the baby came already. Without too much work. Unfortunately this morning was the first time I stepped on the scale and didn't weigh less than the day before, I was just the same. CRAP! I knew I would plateau at some point, I was jsut hoping It wouldn't be for another 30 or 40 pounds! HEHE! I guess I should be greatful for the ease of the first 25. Now the real work starts.

Callie is having a birthday party tonight. It should be super fun. Unfortunately it was planned for outside and it has been raining and stormy all day. Hope that doesn't put too much of a "DAMPER" on things! HAHAHAHA. Dang I'm funny! Anyway if you see this.....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CALLIE! WE LOVE YOU!

INTRODUCING - BENJAMIN RUSSELL DANIELS!

2008-05-29T12:14:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I don't know why it has taken so long to pick a name. It isn't that we couldn't agree or didn't like anything, it's just that nothing was sticking out as the "right name". But after calling him a variety of things this past week, we have settled on Benjamin. (or bitty-ben as I am calling him right now!:) He just looks like a Benjamin. And Russell is the middle name of his father, his grandfather and his great-grandfather, so that just seemed fitting. Benjamin is doing well, and in about an hour we are taking him to his first well baby check. He is also getting his little man circumcised today. OUCH! It is a good thing he won't remember today or he'd probably hate me for a while. I am doing well, still a little sore, but getting around much better. Poor Kimberly is being a very good sport. She is a little attention starved, but she loves her baby. She is constantly trying to kiss him and hug him. We have the portable crib set up in the basement and she has figured out that when she pushes her Lego Box up to the crib and stands on it, she can reach in. She likes to stand there and stroke him when he cries. So far I am not seeing much jealousy. I think she will be a really good big sister.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY!

2008-05-25T20:32:00.000-07:00

We have a new baby! Baby boy Daniels came into this world on Thursday May 22nd at 6:41 pm. He was 6 lbs., 3 oz. and 19 inches long. He is very beauiful and both he and I are doing well. Tired but healthy. These are some pictures that we took at the hospital of mommy, daddy, aunt callie and the cutest baby boy we've ever had! He still has no name yet, but we are chewing on a few possibilities. Check back tomorrow or Tuesday. I'll post his name and some more pictures as soon as we know.

BABY DAY UPDATE!

2008-05-17T10:16:00.000-07:00

So my doctor is great and is basically letting me schedule when I want to have the baby. I am not due until the 3rd of June but my body is cooperating much better this time around. I wanted to be induced on the 23rd of May so that the baby could share a birthday with uncle Kyle and so that Alan could take less time off of work (since he doesn't really have it to take) over the long Memorial Day weekend. But my doctor is going to be out of town starting the 23rd so we are going to go in to have the baby on the 22nd. I don't know what time I am scheduled to go in yet but we should have a baby on May 22nd. Unless he is stubborn and then maybe he will share a birthday with uncle Kyle anyway. So 5 days and counting until BABY DAY! We will keep everyone posted and look here sometime around the last week of May for lots of baby pictures!

I HAVE BEEN TAGGED!

2008-05-12T16:00:00.000-07:00

Here are the rules:

A ~ Each person has to list 6 facts/habits about them

B ~ After part A, go to 6 people's blogs and leave a comment letting them know to read your blog, and that they have been tagged. List at the end of your posting who you have tagged.

1. Volleyball season is over! Although I love to coach, there is a certain amount of relief when the season is over. It can be quite stressful and 6 months is a long season. We never went to the "ship" this year (as my brother Kyle calls it), but I had a really good group of girls. My team picture is above.

2. I unconsciously rub my feet together when I have no shoes on. It's a habbit that I have had for a long time, but never noticed that I did it until I got married. It drives Alan nuts! To the point where he has slept on the couch because of it. I think it is inherited. I've seen my Dad do the same thing.

3. I hate to fold laundry! I don't mind washing it, but for some reason I loath the folding and putting away part. Usually, there is just a clean basket and a dirty basket. I take them out of the clean basket, wear them and put them back in the dirty basket. I would rather scrub toilets than do laundry.

4. I like reality TV. I know that this is so 2001, but I can't help it. Survivor, America's Next Top Model, and yes, even the Bachelor. (To name a few.) There is something about all the drama that helps me through the mundane nature of my daily routine.

5. Much to my husbands dismay, I don't like kissing. I know anyone who knew me in college would call me a liar, since the term most often used to describe me was probably "lip slut". But I just don't care for it. I think I just kissed boys back in the day, cuz you have to so that they will like you. It is part of dating. But now that I am married Alan has to like me whether or not I kiss him. Sorry hunny! Hopefully my "sparkling personality" makes up for my fridged lips!

6. I don't like fruit. Not sure I ever have. I'll eat apples, grapes & canteloupe but that is about it. I am pretty sure that the problem lies in the texture because I like most any fruit flavor. You know, in candy, or juice or even jelly. But actually eating most of it is a big turn off. Espcially things that are seedy, pulpy or mushy (which pretty much includes most fruit!)

I don't actually know 6 people who have blogs that they actually keep up so I am only tagging 3. These people would be Kelly, Lora and Kristine.

KIMBERLY NEEDS A SPONSOR!

2008-04-28T11:58:00.000-07:00

My kid is amazing! She is so athletic. In this picture she is actually balancing on that skateboard by herself. She also ate it pretty hard in the parking lot where Alan and Jonny were skating. She was running after the skateboard and got going a little too fast. She scraped up her face and cried like it was the end of the world. So we took her in and cleaned her up. But true to form, the second we went back outside, she was back in the parking lot chasing the skateboard. We went to a few parties on Saturday. Kimberly had more junk food and sugar than she has ever had in her life, all in one day. And no nap to boot. She was bouncing off the walls! We put her in bed around 9:00 when we got home and she just layed there bouncing and giggling. Her bed was squeeking. Then about 5 minutes later she just stopped. Like someone turned off a switch. I walked in to check on her and she was out! No more sugar for a while! We are finally having a few nice days. The weather has been so odd. It is probably in the low 70's right now and tomorrow is supposed to be 80. But Wednesday is supposed to be back in the 40's or something. It is driving me nuts. I'm ready to move back to CALI! We got a shed recently and Alan finished putting it together this week. It is the smallest shed on the planet, made just for the smallest yard on the planet (which happens to be ours). But it is cute and probably big enough to fit all of our tools in. So we got the back yard cleaned up and now Kimberly can go outside to play, which she loves. Not much else to say right now. We are pretty boring. I am getting really tired, so I have been watching a lot of TV. Right now I am watching season 3 of lost on-line. I love having a working computer with the internet. 36 days until my due date! But I have been having quite a bit of cramping and contracting lately, so maybe we'll be lucky and it he will come early!

Going Going, Back Back to Cali Cali

2008-04-15T18:48:00.000-07:00

Ok, I know it has been forever since I have updated, but we are really boring and I have had nothing to say until now. Kimberly and I went to LA this past week and we ended up getting to see most of the family. In fact the only ones who weren't there were Alan and Kyle. Kimberly had a blast playing with her cousins. We went to the beach and the park and the library and the aquarium........ lots of playing. She is still talking about Josh and Jackie. It was so nice to spend time in the sunshine. Especially since it snowed here in Utah today. She was a little confused when I told her that we were going to visit grandma and grandpa because when they showed up it wasn't Dave and Louise. But she warmed up to grandma and grandpa Hamilton eventually. She also loves going on the airplane. She kept looking out the window and asking "What's That?"
Alan missed us while we were gone......at least I think he did. He said he missed sleeping with me. But I think he was temporarily insane becasue last night was our first night home and he didn't get any sleep! I was breathing heavy and shaking my feet and flip-flopping all over the place trying to get comfortable (which is nearly impossible right now). I think we need to go back to the old Dick VanDyke days of separate beds. At least until I have the baby. Speaking of baby, I am now 33 weeks. The doctor says he is a little bit small but I'm not complaining. Hopefully that doesn't mean that he will be late. Still no name, and knowing Alan and I he'll be lucky to have one before we leave the hospital. Go check out the pictures on the left side of the page. There are some of the California trip. And if you scroll down, you can see a cute comic strip that Big Josh made about our day at the beach. If you can't see the pictures very well, just click on them to make them bigger.

JOSH'S COMIC

2008-04-15T15:48:00.001-07:00

JOSH'S COMIC CONTINUED

2008-04-15T15:46:00.001-07:00

JOSH'S COMIC - EXCITING CONCLUSION

2008-04-15T15:36:00.000-07:00

HAPPY EASTER

2008-03-23T16:48:00.000-07:00

Today has been a good Easter. We had a big Easter dinner and Easter baskets and an Easter egg hunt with Sarah and Matthew. And best of all, we got to hear an Apostle of the Lord speak about the atonement and resurrection. Elder Holland spoke at our stake conference yesterday and today and gave us some wonderful insight and instruction. What a nice sabbath. The pictures are of Kimberly's first real Easter egg hunt and a family picture taken today (for my mom). Sorry, my kid never smiles when you are pointing a camera at her. Mom, the most current pregnant picture is posted in the last entry.

29 WEEK BELLY SHOT

2008-03-19T09:20:00.000-07:00

This picture is for Lora who wanted to see how fat I am getting. I am actually much smaller than I was with Kimberly at this point. As of my Dr. appointment last week I am 3 lbs. over my pre-pregnancy weight. I am 29 weeks. So with any luck I'll have a baby boy in 10 weeks. I know that is being optimistic, but optimistic is better than realistic. Realistic would mean a baby in 12 weeks! By the way today is my 3 year wedding anniversary. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY ALAN!
I heart you!

Robin the MOVIE STAR! HA HA!

2008-03-11T11:10:00.000-07:00

So, I got a part in the student film that I auditioned for. I actually got a pretty big role. It is the main supporting actress part. I have a lot of lines. Actually I think I have the 2nd most lines in the film, next to the lead actor. I am pretty excited. We are shooting my very first scene today. Hope all goes well. Luckily if I suck, nobody will ever know since it is a student film. However, good or bad, I will probably get a copy of the finished product. If you would like to see it, I can make it available for a small fee, hehehe. I don't mind being humiliated, if I'm making some money off of it! :) I'll keep everyone posted.

Mommy, I want to be a plumber when I grow up!

2008-03-06T10:40:00.000-08:00

I know it has been a while, but I'm not a slacker I swear. Our lives are just extremely boring! The other day I went shopping and got a toilet plunger. After we got home from the store, I was in the kitchen putting away the groceries and Kimberly started calling to me from the other room, "Mommy, Hat!" I walked out and she was holding the new plunger in one hand while putting the cup from her potty chair on her head with the other. It was quite priceless. Luckily neither the plunger nor the potty chair had been used yet. The new pictures on the side are from my birthday. Daddy and Kimberly made a surprise birthday cake for me while I was gone at practice. Kimberly got to help put on the sprinkles and the candles. She was very excited about that. But I think that she was more excited to eat the cake. As some of you know, I have decided to try my hand at doing some local acting. I have signed with an agency and have been taking some coaching. It has actually been really fun. I went on my first audition last week. It was for a student film. No money, but hey, since I have about......zero.......experience, anything would be helpful for my resume. I didn't expect anything to come of it since it was my first audition, but the director called me last night and I have a call-back audition tonight. I am pretty excited. We are finally getting a new computer. We are having one built for us. We have only ever had hand me downs and while we appreciate the free-bees, they haven't exactly served us very well. Maybe someday we will get the internet too! Alan is really enjoying his new job. He is a quick study with the new computer programs. He is quickly finding out though that there is a lot he needs to learn. He was going on a field trip this morning to the printer's shop for a crash course in printing. Alan is also enjoying his new calling though he is very frustrated that his quorum only has 20% home teaching rate. He is very excited because over easter weekend is our stake conference and Elder Holland is coming to all 3 sessions. I am excited to hear an apostle too, but he seems more excited than he did for Christmas. That is why I married him. He is way too good for me!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR ROBIN!

2008-02-11T11:04:00.000-08:00

Here is the nicest picture I can get of my kid. This is for mom. She wanted a picture where Kimberly wasn't making a face. Unfortunately, she inherited uncle Kyle's picture taking face making gene. If you are one of my siblings and you don't call me today, you are in trouble! P.S. - Pray for us, we're getting our taxes done today. We need a return, not a payment!

3 Days Until I'm OLD!

2008-02-08T09:49:00.000-08:00

So, it is only 3 days until my birthday. I love phone calls, so If you want me to continue to love you, you should probably give me a "Happy Birthday" on Monday! (wink, nudge) I cut 6 inches off of my hair this past week. In this picture, it shows where my hair is now. Imagine it 6 inches longer. It was soooo long! I was a little sad to see it go, but the cut was badly needed. Alan is finally going to stop pulling double duty at work. His boss finally hired a new tech-writer. So now he will be doing just the graphic design. (Well in addition to the training of the new TW.) This will be a welcome change. He has been working a lot of long hours trying to get everything done. He will be moving into a new office next week and he has gotten his own business cards and everything. Kimberly is about the same as usual. She has become quite the climber lately. Every time I look up she is somewhere that I wouldn't expect. The problem is that she can get up but can't get down. So I help her down and two seconds later she is back up again. She is always busy and occasionally naughty. It is getting hard to contain her at church. This next month until she turns 18 months will be very long. I don't expect to get much learning in since the majority of church will probably be spent in the hall. Oh and Alan got a new calling this past week. He was just made the 1st counselor in the Elders Quorum Presidency. I think he is excited for the new calling. There are a lot of inactive elders in our ward and he is good with the missionary work. However, he and I are both sad to see him released from his current calling. He loves teaching the youth and I like having him in class. Unborn baby boy Daniels is also doing well. My tummy is finally starting to get a little bigger now. Though I still don't look 23 weeks. He moves around a lot. Not quite as much as his sister did, but a lot. If you have any name suggestions, let us know. We really have no clue what to call him. And yes - O'doyle is out of the question!

Clownin' Around

2008-01-24T12:14:00.000-08:00

Check out what a ham our kid is! Krusty look out! I think you got some competition!

Baby Update & Potty Training?

2008-01-22T14:23:00.000-08:00

I am now 21 weeks and still don't look it. You can see by the picture that the baby bump isn't very big. I went to the doctor yesterday. I have lost 5 pounds since the beginning of my pregnancy but haven't gained any of it back yet. My doctor jokingly calls it my "pregnancy weight loss program". He dosen't seem to be worried about it though. I feel bad because most people don't realize that I am pregnant yet, which means that I just look like I'm getting fat. But I guess that I should be glad that I am not as big as a house. Kimberly went poo-poo on the potty for the very first time today! She has been telling us for a while now when she is in the middle of going. She will look up at you and ususally (while grunting) say "have poo-poo!" But until now she never let me know soon enough to get her to the toilet before she was finished. We made it today and she was very excited. As soon as she was done we called Alan at work to tell him the news. Kimberly got on the phone and rattled off a few excited sentences that we couldn't understand, followed by a very audible "I POTTY!" She is only 16 months, but hey, if she wants to poop on the toilet, more power to her!

2008-01-11T12:57:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! This is all new to me so we'll see how it goes. I thought that it would be nice for people to see what we were up to since I'm horrible at keeping in touch. I will try to keep it updated. This is a family picture in front of the Charlie Brown Christmas tree we cut down for our family reunion. We had a great time and it was really fun to see everyone. Next time, hopefully the reunion will be some place warmer. Not much new right now. I had a volleyball tournament last weekend. Our team was seeded about 4oth out of 48 and we ended up 21st out of 48. We did really well! I think we surprised a few people, including ourselves. Next one is on the 26th of Jan. Hopefully we move up a few places. Alan is going to be starting a new position at work soon. He will probably be working as the graphic designer instead of the technical writer (as soon as they can hire a new tech writer). A welcome change for him. It will help him keep work a little more interesting. Kimberly is getting so big and talks a ton. She has short sentences that are actually understandable. Incase you didn't know, baby number 2 is due June 3rd and is a boy. Don't know what we'll call him yet, but If we have decided before he comes it will be a Miracle!