Picassa 3

So I've just downloaded Picassa 3, Google's photo editing program. I LOVE it. I like the control it gives you with the collages. I don't have photoshop, but aspire to someday. Picassa is what I use because it is so handy, free, and easy to use. Here are some pics of Sage. Sage has been a trooper lately. She has been sleeping LOTS and when she is awake, she has been really happy and a big cheese ball. She is in love with a stuffed animal bear my mom gave the kids for Christmas. Joel and I have come the the consensus that rice cereal was not settling in her stomach very well. One and half weeks ago we switched to 'real' food. First sweet potatos and then tonight will be her 3rd night of squash. She eats tons and seems to be a MUCH happier baby. I find that I can't get my lips off of her cheeks. They are so darn kissable. Gotta love her dimples. (Note: I did not specify which dimply cheeks I love, just to point that out....)

Hair Cut

Joel has been the one in charge of cutting Jack's hair. I have not attempted it for fear that I have inherited my mom's hair cutting skills. I remember mom giving me crooked bangs, even cutting off some of my eyebrow. But Jack was getting a mullet, so something had to be done. Presenting Jack's new do, styled with gel.

CSI Part 1

Today has been quite the day. I folded some laundry and brought the clothes to Sis' room. This is what I found.

Of course my attention went straight to Sage.

Nothing too out of the ordinary, right? I had to do a double take too.

Hmm, that's odd....What is Jack's chair doing in Sage's room?

Oh, what's that on the rocking chair?

That doesn't look right either.

Geni dog? A coyote? Hmmm....Sage?

Though looking a little guilty, it didn't seem to fit. Did you see what happened sis?

Rats, she wasn't looking. Some more investigative work to do...

Ah, I see now. To think that Jack was really playing the piano so innocently.

He didn't even have the music open! Ah that boy.

Picture Time! (Thanksgiving)

I already talked about the most DELICIOUS turkey that I've ever had. Well, here it is. The best bird we have ever cooked (not too hard to do for our first one).

In terms of food, here were our contributions. The bird, gravy and rolls. These are the best crescent rolls. I got the recipe from a Friend magazine 2 years ago. They take all day to make, but are totally worth it.

I was obviously lacking in the picture taking department that night. I only have one picture of people. Well, there were 2, but one was of me and Jack and I look TERRIBLE, so it is NOT being posted here. But here is Sage on her first Thanksgiving.

Here is a random picture of Katherine. I think she looks great in the picture. I put it here because she was there on Thanksgiving.

Picture Time! (Family Board)

Our wall have been bare for so long, so we decided to finally hang up some pictures in the house. We didn't have any wedding photos up, so we decided to kill a few birds with the same stone and include the Family Proclamation and a temple picture. I took this so I would remember how I wanted it laid out before I glued it down. I'm happy with the outcome. It is hanging on our red wall, above the piano. The plastic on the bottom is off from behind the rhinestones. There you have it.

Picture Time! (Birthdays)

As I said a few posts ago, in November, both Joel and Jack had their birthdays! Jack is now 2 and Joel a much older than that! Here is Jack right after he woke up on his birthday.

I totally forgot when I wrote earlier about the birthdays what the big present was. Joel and Jack had a combined birthday gift...

(I still think Joel is a major hottie.)

(Putting the gift together)

(I don't remember how it happened, but for some reason Jack lost his pants in the course of putting this together.)

(Of course the boots stayed on)

(It is impossible for Joel to get anything done when he is using tools because Jack is Mr. Helpful.)

A BIG BOY BED!!!!!

Jack loves his new bed. He likes to sleep with as many blankets as possible. What a nut.

(This is a combined gift because this meant the crib was freed up...Jack got a new bed, Sage got a new room and Joel got his room back (and I get to walk across the house several times a night to stay awake and feed the baby...hmm...maybe I should think through my gift giving a little more next time....)

Picture Time! (Jack and Sage)

You'd think with as much time as they spend together that we would have some pictures to prove it! Alas, there are hardly any of Jack and Sage together. Sage adores Jack. Jack is becoming more loving to her. As hard as I try for Sage to laugh and smile at me, if Jack is in eyesight she does it to him. I would soak in the attention - Jack on the other hand barely notices she is there. I force him to say hi, and he does it but could care less. I have flashes of this is what it is going to be like when they get older. Poor girl. I guess we need to have more kids so she can have an admirer too.

Here are the kiddos one night that Jack wanted to sis to be in the crib with him.

Picture Time! (Fire Pit)

Okay, so I am over a month behind in blogging the things that I wanted to write down. And I've been totally slacking on pictures too. So the next couple of posts are just going to be quickies - just basically going through my pics from the last month. To start us off: Fire Pit.

We've talked about getting a fire pit for a while. One night Joel brought one home that a guy at his work made from an old Smart Lick tub (a lick is like a hard molasses type of feed in). It is very cool. He made cutouts around the tub.

For a while there we were having a fire every night. We had S'mores, tin foil dinners, and just sat around and enjoyed the fire. I'm a bit of a pyromaniac. Jack obviously has inherited this trait. So much that this is what we did on his birthday!

Finally

I didn't think that it would ever happen, but it did....I have used a skill that for Sage that we used to do for Jack. They are so complete opposites that this baby thing has been a completely different with number two.

Here's the time tested skill:

When the kids are cranky, trying to fall asleep and are for sure not hungry, I hold them tightly and either run laps around the room as fast as possible or do aerobics. It works like a charm.

Slackin'

These past few weeks have flown by! I have had so many things that I've been meaning to write about. As dull as it is, I am just going to write a list of what we have been up to for the past few weeks. I have good intentions to write about them more in depth and to share pictures, but we'll see how it goes.

• Sage is now eating rice cereal and is totally loving it. It started out as a social thing, but now she NEEDS it or wakes up several times during the night. She is now rolling over non stop. She is even scooching backwards a little bit, and is trying to work her way forward. She really is a total cutie with a great laugh.

• On the 22nd, Jack had his 2nd birthday! On his actual birthday we just had a family lunch. We combined a few of Jack's favorite things and called it good. We made a fire in the fire pit, roasted hot dogs, and ate outside around the fire. Bill and Katherine ate with us, as well is Atrayu Corpus who was working for them for the day. On the Monday we had a few girls who are the same age as Jack over as well as their families. We had FHE and then ate cupcakes. It was nice. Jack was totally spoiled by both set of grandparents. A new table and chairs from Bill and Katherine, and pjs and LOTS of paint stuff from my folks. He uses both gifts daily. He is totally loving artsy stuff lately. It is amazing to watch him just blossom right before our eyes. Very cool.

• Joel had a birthday too. His was the 23rd. We went to church, and I made a fancy dinner of steak, caesar salad (with homemade croutons), garlic bread (I made the french bread the day before), and apple pie (and yes, also homemade). We might of had a potato dish too, but I don't remember anymore. Then he went home teaching. I always feel bad because we are all partied and out of money by the time Joel's birthday rolls around.

• We had a great Thanksgiving. This was the first time Joel and I made the turkey, and, I must say, it was the BEST turkey I've had. It was super moist with a nice flavor. There were hardly any leftovers between us, Bill and Katherine, and the Sanchez's. We all did a little bit and had a fantastic meal. I am so very thankful for many things in my life right now. Especially Joel and the kids. My heart swells with love and gratitude for them. They sure make life worth living.

• We just came back tonight from an impromptu trip to Salt Lake to see my family. It was SOOOOO nice to see everyone. I miss them a lot. Joel had decided that it was time to make the trip. He called last Wednesday during his lunch break and told me to make arrangements for that evening to go. My folks didn't object. We left around 8 this morning and got home at 7:30. We stopped a few times to run around and eat, and to get me a new pair of shoes that Joel has promised me for a while. The kids did an amazing job travelling and being there. This was the first time that Jack really opened up to so many people and so quickly. Sage had no problems, being the social little butterfly she is. We were able to see all my family, including the aunts, uncles and cousins. We also saw a few of Joel's buddies. It was a real nice trip. I am so happy that we went.

Okay, so I guess I alreay went into detail about the things I wanted to write about, I just need to add pictures in a seperate post. I don't have everything off the camera yet, and I don't have time to do so now. I need to go to bed before Joel realizes that I'm gone. teeheehee

Test Results

Results are in - Jack is completely normal and healthy. So far there is no explanation for the seizures. If he has another one, then he will have to have another EEG and probably start seizure medication. They also gave us gel to squirt in his bum if he has a seizure that lasts 5 minutes. This will help it not be a prolonged seizure. Hopefully we will never have to use it. And that's it. So, who knows how likely it will be if he is going to have another one or what caused these ones. It appears there is no damage done though. It is really good news but still does not leave me completely satisfied in terms of answers of how this started and will it continue.

The kids were awesome yesterday on the car ride. It was 3 hrs one way. Since we were there, we went to IKEA and looked around. Tomorrow Jack is turning 2. We are in search of a big boy bed. And then sis is going to be kicked out to her own room. We are totally excited!

Sleeping The Whole Night Through

So I'm sure I'm jinxing this because I said something - but last night Sage didn't wake up at all! She usually is up twice, so I'm feeling great this morning!

Sage had her 4 month check up yesterday.

She is 15 lbs 8 oz. (85th percentile)

26 inches long (95th percentile)

Pretty exciting eh? And she was amazing getting her shots. She cried a little, but it was nothing at all like last time, where she cried for days afterwards. She is such a funny baby. She recently loves to blow spit bubbles and tries to vibrate her lips like I do. She laughs every time you kiss her belly or her neck. It is too cute.

Tomorrow we go to the specialist for Jack. It is another early morning, but it should not be too bad. We do know already that the MRI came back normal. So we'll see what is going on!

Fall

I absolutely love fall. I love the colors, the chill with the sun still out. I love wearing jeans and jackets. I love drinking tea and cuddling under the blanket with a good book. I love being cozy by a fire. I love the little black birds that are so noisy - watching how hundreds of them fly together is amazing. From a distance they look like a swarm of bees. They are so many things I love...

...and there are so many things that mean that winter is coming and that it is going to be too cold to go outside with a little baby (I use her as an excuse when I think it is too cold) and the sun is not going to shine for months. It is a little, well, sad. The sun is already set by 4:30 lately.

Today when I was feeding Sage Jack wanted to go outside. I told him he needed to go get his pjs off and get his clothes on first. He ran to his bedroom to bring me his clothes, and he came out with his swimsuit. Obviously he is having summer withdrawals. (His ackward position is due to the fact that he thinks he needs to charge me every time I have the camera out.)

I guess Jack is not the only one. Katherine and I got pedicures last week. I had to take a picture because I can only wear close-toed shoes or I'll freeze my beautiful toes off. (Joel doesn't think they are very beautiful, so I have to rub it in every chance I get. He thinks his feet are much better looking. For a detailed comparison, see below.) My feet are starting to no longer be sore. They shaved off all my hard earned callouses, and I have to build them up again to be able to walk. Now that I wrote that down, I guess that is pretty gross to share. Sorry.

Joel is making use of the darkness. He is using the time to do things around the house that needed to get done, like put the molding up on the cabinets. Floor molding and closet doors are going to be coming up pretty soon on the to do list. That should be exciting.

Fall is beautiful. I just love to be outside. I love for Jack to be outside. I love for Sage to feel the sunshine and still be bundled up in cute little outfits that keep her warm. I had an idea where I was going with this little rant, but now that I'm on it, I don't remember where I was going with it. I can't even think of an intelligent way to end this entry. So, to leave you, here is the little reason my mind is still sometimes confusing even to myself because we're still up several times a night (but she is totally worth it):

So Close

Sage can roll from tummy to back, and is soooo stinkin' close to go from back to tummy. She is sure turning into a cute baby.

Pumpkins

Happy Halloween!

Obviously a bit belated. But, oh well.

We carved pumpkins this year for Family Home Evening. We started the evening going to the Sanchez's house to pick pumpkins from their garden. The Sanchez's have an amazing garden every year - they are our main suppliers of every veggie and fruit that can be grown in the area. And they are extremely generous.

After dinner we carved the pumpkins! Here are some pictures from the evening.

Sage's face is priceless:

Jack working hard:

My boys Jack has some great faces:

A few days before Halloween we went trunk or treating at the church. The Young Men and Women put it on. It was great. A great turnout on both those providing the candy and those getting the candy. I hope they do it next year. For some reason I didn't take a picture, but Jack and Joel were twin cowboys. A big stretch, right? They both had their boots, hats, flannel shirts and belt buckles. Way too cute. Sage wore Halloween pjs (it was very cold) and I was, well, a mom-who-didn't-have-time-to-dress-herself-up-because-she-was-getting-everyone-else-ready-to-go-and-so-didn't-wear-anything-special. I think it is my best costume yet. It took me all day to find the costume and get ready :)

Halloween, we didn't go out. We did have our traditional Halloweenies. (A hot dog with mashed potatoes and melted cheese on top). Evidently I'm the only one in the family who continues to have this traditional meal, but it really is not as gross as it sounds. I guess it depends on who you ask. A few years ago I made it for Bill and Katherine on Halloween. Without going into any details, it was a total flop. We'll leave it at that.

Happy Halloween!

Election 2008

I am happy to say that I voted. I brought the kids down to the ballot drop off box yesterday, and Jack put our ballots in. (Oregon does vote by mail, or drop off ballot on election day.) What a long crazy road this election has been. Very exciting. Joel and I spent the evening on the Internet watching all the different news sites of the election. Joel was dissapointed that it went so quickly - it was obvious that Obama won once Ohio was in, about 6:30 our time.

John McCain had a great speech last night - very sincere, heartfelt. I am with the commentators on this one: that was the John McCain that was lost somewhere during the campaigning. I never knew that John McCain, and so was surprised to see it last night. I felt sad for him, and thought that maybe he would not have been that bad of a president afterall. Maybe I would have voted for him if that John McCain had run.

Oh, but Obama! I'm totally excited. I think it is a change that we needed. I am sure that Bush being the most unapproved president, I want to say EVER (or at least for a very long time), (approval rating around 30%) , probably helped. Oh, and the fact that he is awesome probably helped too.

Hopefully he is all he said he is, and will do all he said he will.

Jack's EEG/MRI

The big day is over. Hallelujah. For me, this was the worst part of the whole ordeal. Come what may with the outcome of the tests, we will deal with whatever may or may not come, but the thought of the my little boy being in pain was stressful. Overall, it was a miraculous day. Jack was amazing. What a huge testament of the power of prayer and priesthood blessings.

In preparation for the day, Jack and I made puppets - to hopefully distract and uplift him. This picture just made me laugh, feeding the puppet a cracker.

The first hurdle of the day: waking Jack up several hours early, trying to keep him awake in the 3 hour car drive to the hospital in Portland, and not feeding him - only clear liquids. Thankfully Jello counts as a clear liquid. We don't have it very often, so it was a real treat.

First miracle of the day: Jack stayed awake in the car and sis slept! Not only was he awake, he was happy and easily entertained himself! He didn't even ask for a cracker or anything to eat. It was amazing.

Next hurdle: the EEG. This test included 10 minutes of putting the soap on his head, then the 26 little electroid ends with tape all over. Once the contraption was on, he had to put a blinking light in front of his face, not turning his head, and it was hecka bright. This lasted for several minutes. Then he had to blow a little windmill thing for 3 minutes. Keep in mind he is not even two, and he had to sit still with these things on his head for 20 minutes. Once done, the tape needed to be pulled off. Ouch!

Next miracle: Jack was again absolutely amazing. No crying or fussing. He was totally cooperative and SAT STILL. Even the tech was surprised.

(After the little electroids were all on, they wrapped his head in gauze to keep them in place. I didn't get a picture of it. He looked like a mummy though.)

Next hurdle: the MRI. This is what Joel and I were dreading the most. He needed to be sedated via an IV for this one. After the first seizure, Jack needed to have his blood drawn, and that was an ordeal. Lots of crying - it even had Joel in tears.

The miracle: After waiting 1 1/2 hrs for us to be taken in, Jack was still happy (and tired and hungry). He was a champ putting on weird pajamas (pictured below). It turns out that they gas him up before they put the IV in. So he wouldn't even know what happened and would not feel a thing. They came to take him from us for the anesthesia, and he went willingly, no problems. For Jack, that is a miracle. He is slow to warm up to new people and situations, but he had no problems with this. After taking him away the first time, they brought him back - someone had already taken the room they were taking him to. So after a few minutes, they had to come take him again. We thought this would set him off - a stranger taking him not once, but twice! Lo, and behold, it worked. No worries at all.

When it was all done, about an hour, they called us back before he woke up. We were right there when he woke. He was a little confused, but drank a bunch of apple juice and was fine. The nurse said that most kids have a problem putting the mask on, but he was totally cooperative. We still had to wait to feed him, but he could sleep if he wanted to on the way home (which he didn't). Jack was great all the way home too - and didn't throw up like we were cautioned he night.

The worst part of the day? When we got home, Jack ran down the driveway to go feed the pigs, like we do every day. He tripped and fell on the rocks, cutting his lip.

Thank you so much for all the thoughts and prayers coming in our direction. It was miraculously painless. What an answer to prayers.

We have an appointment with a pediatric neurologist the end of November for the results. Will keep you posted.