Update on Pretty Girl

I took Kyah to the Dr. yesterday so he could get a look at her. He looked in her mouth and said she had sores covering the back of her throat and the insides of her cheeks. Poor girl. He called what she has, Stomatitis, which is a fancy word for saying she has sores all over her mouth. He wasn't so sure it was from being exposed to the cold sore virus because her gums are really swollen which he said isn't typical for that. Instead he thought it was a virus in the same family as Hand Foot and Mouth. I'm not so sure. Whatever it is though, she is absolutely miserable! She can't hardly eat or drink. She just cries and says "mouth hurt." We have had three horrible nights. She will sleep for about 30 minutes and then wake up and cry the saddest "I'm hurting" cry you've ever heard. I feel like we've been awake for 100 hours. Nate actually did take over at 4:30am because I just couldn't do it anymore. I was so sad to see another new sore on her lip this morning, which I'm sure translates into more sores in her mouth. Because it is a virus, there's not much we can do, except wait. Poor poor Kyah. This is the worst sickness she has ever had. I just pray the next few days will go quickly and that Gage will not get this!

Myth Busted

I took Bessie, my new stroller, out yesterday for a run. I thought we all could use some fresh air. For some reason, I had it in my mind that pushing Gage and Kyah in a jogger was going to be a piece of cake, that I could run just as far and as fast as I had run previously without pushing them. I couldn't have been more wrong! Pushing 60 plus pounds up and down hills while running is super hard! What was I thinking?? For about the first 2 minutes it was cake, then I had to go down a super steep hill. Whoa Nelly. Because the hand brake doesn't work, the stroller wanted to go mach 10 down the hill. I used all my might to keep it from pulling me forward on my face and ripping my arm out of it's socket. When I got to the bottom of that hill and down the road a little bit, I stopped at a gas station to pump up the tires. They all needed air, the back left tire needing the most as it was only about half full. As luck would have it, power was out and the machine wasn't working. We ran ahead anyway. I'm hoping that the stroller was harder to push because of the flat tires. Also, the stroller pulls to the left. I'm also hoping that was due to the left flat tire in the back. Because the stroller pulled to the left, I was constantly adjusting it with my right arm. My shoulder area felt like it was about to fall off by the time I got home. Also because I am right handed and was doing most of the steering with that arm. While it was so great to get out with the kids and run it was super exhausting too! I went about 3.4 miles, give or take .2, and it took me 47 minutes! Does anyone else have a hard time jogging with their two kids? Or is my hand-me-down stroller just a dinosaur that has lost it's smooth ride. Or maybe I'm just a wuss. I kind of think of it like roller blades. You know if you had a good pair it was so easy to skate, but if you had a old or cheap pair it was really hard. Maybe my Bessie is just old. What do you think????

Feeling Guilty.

Last week I was plagued with a cold sore. Apparently I was not very careful as I have passed it onto poor pretty girl. I few days ago I thought she was getting her two year molars since she was cranky and her gums seemed swollen and red. Well they continued to get worse and now she has sores on her tongue, gums, and lips. Apparently the first time you are exposed to the cold sore virus(I really don't like calling it Herpes), it can be bad! Also, 85 percent of kids have been exposed by age 2. I guess I was lucky because I didn't get exposed until I almost 25. It was horrible. My gums swelled up huge and were red like Kyah's. So I know just how miserable she is! She can't really eat and she just wants me to hold her all day. She says "mouth hurt, mouth hurt," all day long. Did I mention she has had a raging fever too. I feel so guilty! I really could have been more careful than I was. Now she could have cold sores her whole life. What if she gets one right before Homecoming or something. Yep, all my fault. My sister Kimm knows how much it stinks to get cold sores during school. Just look at this picture. She has had them her whole life. I just keep praying that the virus will stay dormant until Kyah's an adult. Poor pretty girl.




Oh, if 15 years from now, she does get a cold sore before a big date, let's keep this post a secret and not tell her I gave them to her!!

Go Eagles.

I finally got the pictures off my Dad's camera from when we went to Rocky's football game two weekends ago.


Before the game started and before the cannon scared him.


We're number 1!




TJ and Me.







Rocky is number 77.


Wearing Uncle TJ's hat.





The only picture of them after the game. They love their Uncle Rocky! (Even if they don't look thrilled.) Did I mention before they won this game? Otherwise there would be no pics with Beefcake.

My Good Fortune (and Friend).

A little while back I wrote a post about my friend Lois who always looks out for me. She was the one who made my kids cakes. Anyway, she called me today and told me she was coming back from North Bend and she had a double jogger stroller for me!!! I started screaming on the phone. Then she explained. She was looking at the freecycle website and she saw that a lady was getting rid of her double jogger. (The brand is The First Step, and it is the Expedition model.) Note: freecycle is this cool website where people post the things they want to get rid of and you email them if you want it, then you go pick it up. Lois knew that I wanted a double jogger and so she just went and got it. She has done this one other time when she saw a kitchen set for the kids to play with. She is such a good friend to me. I can't even believe my good fortune. I have wanted a double jogger for soooooooooooooo long! It's not perfect, but it's free! The hand brake is broken and so are the foot brakes, but the seat belts are in working order and the tires and wheels are in good shape. There is a basket underneath for storage too. I took Gage for a run to the end of the road and he loved going fast. Here she is.




We are going to be best friends.

Dance Tinkerbell Dance!

Practice Practice Practice

I really want to improve on my family shots. I have only tried one time to take a family portrait and it didn't go so well. I had a lot of blurry shots. So tonight I tried again. I did much better focusing, but not so great on some composition issues that I really should have caught while taking the pics. I also need to learn how to make little kids laugh while I'm trying to focus. Oh well. The little boy in the blue shirt was so funny and such a good sport. He was smiling in every single picture I took. His mom told me after the shoot, he insisted on buttoning all his buttons because it made him look good. :) Thank you to my friend Andrea and her family for being such great sports! I started out traditional and tried to get more creative after that. I have a LONG way to go. Here's a preview of the session.

Excuse Me!

Tell me if I'm over reacting.

My friend told me yesterday that someone asked her if I was pregnant. She obviously noticed the look of horror on my face and then tried to explain that they had "heard" that someone at church was pregnant and because of Kyah's age, they thought maybe it was me. I don't buy that for one minute. There are 15 kids in the nursery for crying out loud. Why me? I am totally mortified that I look prego to someone, especially after my recent weight loss, which apparently is not enough. This is not good for my psyche right now. And yet I can't stop stuffing my face today, or yesterday for that matter.

When Quiet is Bad.

I was putting on my makeup and realized Kyah was WAY too quiet, especially when I called her name and no answer. This is what I found.




Do you know how long it takes to pick up "beans" out of bean bag elephant? Too long. That's why I got out the dust buster and now the elephant is a little skinnier. Whatever.

Hello Buns!

Of all my embarrassing moments, this one takes the cake. Luckily, it's not about me! Instead the star is my sister Kylee.

She attends Brigham Young University where she lives for intramural sports. This particular season: flag football. As you can imagine, Kylee is quite intense when it comes to competition. She was playing safety and got a pick. (An interception) She was running her heart out toward her end zone when the unthinkable happened. A girl on the opposite team, with the same intensity of Kylee, came running after her and leaped toward her flag. Instead of pulling her flag though, she got fistfuls of Kylee's shorts and pulled them right off her buns. Unfortunately for Kylee, she was wearing her most scandalous lacy pink and black thong!! Yes, her bare buns were hanging out. She screamed very loud and yanked her shorts back up, but the damage was done. EVERYONE had seen her buns, even if it was only for two seconds. (Luckily she tans.) Even more unfortunately, the events transpired right in front of the sidelines where all the spectators were. She had some friends there. Afterward the conversation went like this:

Kylee: Everyone saw my buns didn't they!

Friend: I don't know, it happened so fast.

Kylee: Oh please, they were totally hanging out. Everyone saw.

Friend: ..................... Yeah.



Poor Kylee.

Catching Up.

It's been a few days since I've posted so I've got some catching up to do. On Saturday, I took the kids to Cheney for Rocky's football game. Nate stayed home to work on his applications to Harvard and Yale. Harvard's is due by Oct. 2nd. The kids were great on the ride there. We only stopped once and that was because I had to go to the bathroom. We got to the game about 45 minutes early. Perfect timing. The kids got to run around a little bit before it started. However, when the team was running out before the game, they shot off the cannon which freaked Gage out! He doesn't do loud sounds. He was screaming. I had to take him up top by the concessions to calm him down. Then he absolutely would not go back to our seats. I finally got him to sit in the top row of the bleachers with me. Then the Eagle mascot, Swoop, started coming up the aisle. Apparently Gage is terrified of Eagle mascots as well. Let's just say it was a really long 1st half. By the second half, I finally got it through to Gage that the cannon only went off after a touchdown and then I would know to cover his ears. He agreed to sit in our row with everyone else. (The bribe of skittles didn't hurt.) That only lasted two minutes when he started freaking out again saying he needed to go up top. I told him Swoop was up there eating and so he agreed to stay in the bleachers with me covering his ears at all times. I must of told him 15 times that Swoop was up top so he would stay in the bleachers. Let's just say that was Gage's first and last game this season. Luckily Kyah was a real trooper and loved being at the game with all her aunts, uncles, grandma, and grandpa. I didn't have my camera, but my Dad did. We got some pics, but who knows when my Dad will ever email them to me. I did take this pic of me before leaving our apartment. It serves two purposes. 1) to prove I was going to the game. And 2) to show my haircut that I don't like. You can't really get a great idea of how bad it is from this pic but you'll notice that I have a layer of hair that goes about to my chin, and then it is just straight hair five inches down to the bottom. And one side is better than the other. Anyway, here it is. Ask and ye shall receive. (a few of you have requested a pic.)



By the time we got home from the game. 3:30am. I could tell I was getting sick with a head cold. And sure enough I was. I have not been feeling well at all. Plus, for the past two nights, I have had a major migraine on top of it all AND they are doing construction on the freeway directly behind my bedroom window. It starts at 11:30 pm and is constant loud construction noise for a few hours. Last night I had to put in ear plugs I was so miserable and that noise was more then I could take. This morning I had to get out of this house. I took the kids to a nearby park and called up a new friend to see if she wanted to meet us there. She did and we had a good time chatting for an hour and a half! The kids had a good time playing too. A fire truck came into the parking lot and Gage was waving his little heart out to them. One firefighter got out and gave all three kids fireman hats and stickers. I didn't have my camera and I'm still mad about it. I did get a quick pic when we got home. But, before we got home, I bought a loaf of apple crunch bread from Great Harvest, my arch nemesis. That is what Gage is holding in his hand in this pic.



I think I'm all caught up now. That's what we've been up to.

One of My All Time Favorites

A few weeks ago I took pictures of Leslie's baby Tanner. You may remember that I was not posting my favorite picture because she wanted to use it for her announcement and wanted it to be a new picture for people to get in the mail. Well, the mail has been sent and here is the picture.




This is the first time I ever tried to do a photo like this. One that is black and white with a little something in color. It was fun to figure out and I'm sure there are more in my future. :)

Back in the Saddle.

It has been nine days since I ran the half marathon, nine days since I've ran. Period. Until tonight. It almost seemed like a life-time ago that I was referring to myself as a "runner." I realized I needed to get back out there and run. In fairness to me, yesterday was really the first evening I could have gone running since the race. I decided against it though because I was feeling so tired. So tonight, I made it a priority. Every run I've gone on prior to this was what I would consider a training run. All building up to my big race. I ran because I knew if I didn't, I wouldn't be able to accomplish my goal of the half marathon. I also ran because it had become an addiction to me. I needed it to feel good about myself. For nine days, I let that go. Last night I was worrying that I may never run again, that I may not be able to get up the energy and will power needed to get out my front door and run, just for the sake of running. You see, I have no races scheduled in my future. Today when I was reading Running With Angels, recommended by my sister in law Jana, and the lady was talking about how she hated walking at first, but she made herself do it, and then she loved it. And she did it for her. So tonight, I ran for me. I ran for the sake of taking some alone time for myself, time to exercise, time to stay healthy emotionally and physically. And while I was surprised at how hard my 3 mile run was, I loved it. I realized I had missed the melodic sound of my feet hitting the sidewalk, I missed the breeze in my face, I missed the fresh air, I missed the rush that came from finishing a run. I realized once again my body is capable of amazing things. I am capable of amazing things. I am a runner.

Do the Puyallup 2007

Yesterday Nate's sister Kristen and I spent the day at the Puyallup Fair. We enjoyed rides, burgers, scones, hypnotist show, a little shopping, and of course ended the evening at the Daughtry concert in the grand stands. My sister Kimm had a concert ticket too and met us there. We had so much fun. I borrowed my sister Kimm's camera so I wouldn't have to haul around my big one. Can you imagine me going on rides with it? Yeah, not so much. So here are our hilarious pics.

This is us on the Monster Mouse roller coaster. I held the camera up and just kept taking pics the whole time.

This is plaster man. He looks fake, but then you start thinking, is that a real guy??? So Kristen and this other girl decided to go and stand by him for a pic.



And then he starts moving really slow and puts his arm around them. It was funny and kinda creepy in a Halloween kinda way.


Waiting for the concert to begin.


Our rocker pose. Hello Chris Daughtry. Let the rockin out begin.


This is our action shot of us cheering. We wanted an encore.

Fun times.

Still Losing Sleep.

The reunion was great. I got to see everyone that I wanted to. Nate made a friend with my BFF Jill's husband. (Jill was one of my really good friends from HS. We used to go to AMPM and get funyons and hot dogs. We reunited about a year and a half ago but our husbands had never met.) That was nice for Nate to have someone to talk to while I ran around chit chatting. While I did talk to everyone who was my friend in high school, I failed to talk to anyone who wasn't. For some reason my brain forgot that in the past ten years, I have really grown into a confident, well rounded, super-fun gal. (For the record, I was super fun in high school too, just not as confident and I was still figuring out who I was.)I slipped right back into my insecure, what if they aren't nice high school mode. I have spent the past three nights mulling over the night of the reunion in my brain, wishing I would have said hi to more people, people that I recognized and knew, but wasn't necessarily friends with. I also had wished that I would have been able to have more than a 4 minute conversation with a few people. The ten year was very cliquish and I do understand why people say the 20 year reunion is better. Don't get me wrong, I loved catching up quickly with old friends. I spent the full three hours talking with people. I almost lost my voice from talking so much, well more like yelling because the music was out of control and you couldn't hear. :) I hardly even got to eat, or drink for that matter. Good times.


My Best Friend from High School, Amy, went with me and Nate to the reunion. This is us before we left.




This is us in the bathroom. I told you I slipped right back into high school mode right?





Jill and me.


My neighbor growing up Michelle and her husband. She still is neighbors with my mom.



And of course, me and my cute husband. :)

My little camera was sitting in my purse on the table most of the evening. Towards the end I thought I better at least take a couple of pics. :) Oh, Jill was one of the head planners for this event. Thank you Jill and the committee for all of your hard work and efforts!!!!


Oh and one last thing, I still hate my hair. You will not see a picture of me with it down until I get it fixed.

One small crisis later, and I'm out the door.

I hated my hair cut today. Figures huh. So I pulled it half back and called it good. I"m not loving how I look, but what else can I do now. I'm going to have a great time anyway. I out the door right now. I self timed this pic one minute ago! And the outfit winner is.........







Black pants, black belt, white with black polka dot shirt. Wish me luck!

Hawaii Here I Come!

We are totally booked and confirmed for our trip to Hawaii!!! Yeah!! In December while you are all looking at grey skies, my eyes will be feasting upon the beauties of the Pacific Ocean and the island of Oahu and my toes will be sinking in the sand. Sorry to rub it in. :) This is one of my dreams coming true folks. Nate and I have never been to Hawaii. The best part is, most of the trip is paid for by Nate's work! Does it get any better than that? We will be staying at the Wyland Waikiki. Here are some pics.



Looks fun doesn't it?! So I need to know, what are the must do's of Oahu. We are staying five nights and so we only have four days to fill. But really only three days to fill because one of them is Sunday and we like to observe the Sabbath. I'm pretty sure one day we will be going to the Polynesian Cultural Center, and another day at Hanauma Bay snorkeling. After that, who knows.

Reunion Outfit Part 2

I was surprised at how varied everyone's responses were. I love you all for commenting! And just an FYI, I was not offended by anyone, I loved your advice and I listened. I decided the dress is out because I do not feel great in it. And then I went to the store and got a pair of black pants that are more fitted and a top that didn't have a red belt. I did keep the red belted shirt though as I think it is fun. Here are the new options. Once again, be honest, I appreciate it!

I Can't Wait Until Tomorrow

I am dying to know what you will think of these outfits. I have a feeling that everyone will be on the same page. But let me tell you what Nate thinks. I was dying for someone's opinion last night after I came home with the new outfit. I put it on for Nate and came into the living room. He just stared at me for 30 seconds then said, "It's fabulous." I turned to go back into the bedroom and said, "you hate it." Then he laughed really hard, which confirmed he hated it. Then he says, "If you like it, that's all that matters." Double confirmed he hated it. Since I already had the outfit on, I made Nate take pics. They are not great pics. Nate was lying down on the couch and stayed that way to take my picture. And I really should have put on my shoes and maybe a little makeup. But I think you can at least get the idea. When I look at the pics, I think I need a totally new outfit altogether. If I get to go to my friends house tonight to look at her closet, I take pics of the new choices and post them tomorrow. But I have a feeling it's not going to happen. So be honest, let me know which outfit you like best, or if you hate them both and think I should start over. Really be honest, I don't want to show up looking fat or crazy, like is the red belt too much?? :)

Coming Up.......

My ten year high school reunion is this Friday. I'm not sure what to wear. I bought an outfit tonight, I have a dress I could wear, or I might be able to find something at my friend's house. I'm going to need all of you to help me. On Thursday I'm going to post pics of me in whatever possible outfits I have and I want you to tell me which one looks best!

Just Like Momma

Kyah loves to walk around wearing momma's "hair ties" as she calls them. When I got home from the race on Monday, she went and got the matching pink hair tie and wore it the rest of the day. (I don't know if you noticed the pink head band thingy in my hair.)She was saying, "my pink hair tie," all day long.