My Boys

I spent all morning on Thursday getting these pictures for my Aunt Carolyn. She's putting together a collage of all my grandma's great-grandkids. I have a new respect for professional photgraphers. I think we'll be visiting Sears Portrait Studio soon. I just have to wait for Mark to find time.

Nathan - 15 months old
May 19, 2005

Nick - 4 years old
May 19, 2005

Nathan Must Be French

Last week, I was working in the yard and the boys were playing. I noticed Nathan was playing with snails. My initial thought was, "Yuck!" But then I reasoned that I was getting a lot done and that he doesn't always entertain himself. I went back to my yardwork. The next time I looked up, he had smashed the snails all over. I scooped him up and washed him. I never realized how hard it is to wash snail entrails off of skin. It's pretty sticky and slimy.

I should have learned my lesson, but I didn't. The next time I saw Nathan, the snail smashing had progressed to snail tasting. What's more, he liked it. Again I washed him up. This kid is the world's pickiest eater. I've only barely been able to feed him any kind of food other than yogurt and he's fourteen months old! But ... he likes snails. I took him back out with the camera because I wanted proof. I handed him a snail and the first thing he did was put it in his mouth! Eww! I was sad because our camera went on the rampage and deleted a bunch of files: no proof. Oh well, it makes a good story.

My Thiry-Six Tomato Plants

Is it overkill? I'm so excited. We grew them from seed and so I have a maternal feeling for the little seedlings. Today was a perfect day to plant: overcast with rain in the forecast. After setting aside some plants for family and friends, I was left with thirty-six. With Nathan nestled in the carrying sling on my back, I planted twenty-four this afternoon. Maybe I'll be able to sneak out some time today and plant the rest. I also planted corn and peas. I planted the corn and peas in the same row mixed together. It'll be interesting to see what happens.

You know, my dream is to grow old with my sweet hubby and garden, garden, garden. We'll get a few missions in there, some genealogy, some temple work, and some time with the grandkids. I'm so glad we have all these interests in common. It will be a joy to grow old with Mark.

Congratulations Honey!

Mark has been interviewing for a new job the past few weeks. On Friday, he got an offer to work as a Computer Engineer for L3 Communications. I'm pretty excited for him because it will give him a chance to actually work in the field he studied in school. I guess the interview was pretty intense. It lasted from 8:00 am to 3:30 pm. It must have gone well.

Mark had another interview this morning. I'm pretty sure they's take him in a heartbeat. It's an IT job, but the hours are really nice. I think he'll take the first job offer. It will be fun to see what happens. Any way we look at it, a new job will be a big change. I think it will be a good change!

Nick's Bird

Nicholas was so proud of his little bird that sits on his finger. I was relieved the little bird was made from legos and not sign language! I think all the Disney movies with friendly little animals has warped his sense of wildlife. Oh well - it's pretty darn cute.

Angels in the Outhouse

Okay, it's not really an outhouse - but don't you think the title fits? I heard little squaks coming from the bathroom and discovered that my little angel had learned how to fly! He climbed all the way to the top of the toilet to retrieve my toothbrush. He thinks I'm terribly selfish because I don't like to share my toothbrush with him. Oh well. Toddler - 1; Me - 0.

St. George Marathon

We're in. I begin training the first week of June. I'm a little nervous because I usually experience tummy trouble around mile seven. I'm not sure what twenty-six miles will do. Good thing I have Kristen and Enger to keep me going. This will definitely be an adventure. I'm excited!

It's My Turn

Nick seems to be fine, thank heavens. However, I started feeling sick on Tuesday night. I threw up every few hours from midnight on. Mark gave me a priesthood blessing. I think that made a huge difference. I only threw up once more and then just laid in bed with a queasy tummy. I was able to keep hydrated and nurse Nathan. I was so worried about not having any milk for him since I need to keep him from dehydrating with his continued diarrhea. What a blessing. I am so thankful.

Creative Eating 101

Look Mom, I made Mickey Mouse! How can you get mad at that? Forget about getting mad - how can you even lecture your child about not playing with his food when he looks at you with those big brown eyes? Instead, I just grabbed the camera.

Happy Mother's Day

Monday was a very hard day for me. Everything started out innocent enough. After running off my guilt of eating three cookies, cheesecake and a piece of pie for Mother's Day, I went home and mowed the lawn. I heard Nick screaming and went inside to check on him. He had peed his pants! Nick was hysterical and woke Nathan from his nap as I was cleaning him up. I took Nathan out of his crib and he threw up all over. Poor kid has the stomach flu. He threw up every ten minutes from about 11:00 am to 5:00 pm. It was horrible. I felt so bad for the poor little guy. I called the nurse around 1:30 and she said I should take him in if he couldn't keep a teaspoon of liquid down for fifteen minutes. I called back at around 2:00 and made an appointment for 3:30pm.

Of course, I lost my car keys and had to call and say we couldn't make it. Nathan still wasn't holding any liquids down, so the nurse thought he might have to go to Primary Children's Hopital to get an IV. When I was busy with Nathan (cleaning throw up off of everything and worrying sick about him), Nick fell asleep on the carpet and peed his pants again! I almost laughed aloud because of everything that was going on ... is this for real? Luckily, Nathan started holding stuff down again by the time Mark came home with the keys. We discovered a wet diaper and decided not to take him to the Hospital yet. (I didn't want him to have to go through that because he didn't have dry skin or sunken eyes - and he still cried tears) He only threw up on me once last night, and then got diarrhea. He pooped in our bed and on me and in the bathtub with me when I was up trying to cool his fever down. (He threw up the Tylenol I gave him)

Happy Mother's Day!



The little guy is doing much better today. No vomit. He still has diarrhea. Poor kid! I hope Nick doesn't catch the bug.