Merry Christmas

 

As the holiday season fast approaches its end, I find myself amazed at the experiences of this past year. We have definitely felt the hand of our Heavenly Father bless us in our daily endeavors.

JL is still working at Novarad in American Fork. He was recently accepted at WGU and will finish his bachelor's degree there. We are so excited at the opportunity this will provide him to graduate not only with a degree, but also with multiple certifications in his field.

Walter is finally over his milk allergy! He now gobbles up every bit of cheese and ounce of yogurt that enters this house. If only we could work through that pesky meat issue. He is as precocious as ever. We are perpetually entertained by his expanding vocabulary and I thoroughly enjoy explaining the wonders of the world to him. Just yesterday we had a thorough discussion on the differences between dragons and airplanes, both being things that fly up in the sky using wings. He is a Walter through and through and reminds me constantly of my dear father and grandfather. He is the best big brother and Henry adores him.

Henry is struggling with food allergies of his own. He is still allergic to dairy, soy, and corn. However, his world has been changed by the recent introduction of solid foods to his diets. He is cutting his first tooth and knawing on everything in sight. As always, he is the sunshine of our life, and keeps the entire family entertained with his constant giggles of joy.

I am back at BYU finishing my degree through the Independent Study program offered and playing with my boys every chance I get. Currently, I am enjoying my new role as teacher to Walter in our own version of play school. Thank heavens for the internet! We are going vegetarian (in house) at the start of the new year, much to JL's chagrin, so I have been filling my free time with a search for kid friendly vegetarian meals.

Finally, Christmas would not be Christmas without our dear brother and Saviour, Jesus Christ. I have felt his love engulf me time and time again this year as I faced each day. I am so grateful to be a member of His church, and to hear the additional guidance of our prophet, President Thomas Monson. I am grateful for the Holy Ghost and the constant peace that is provided through Him as JL and I have made decisions about our future. I am grateful for each and every one of you and the love and support that you provide to our little family. I wish you all a happy holiday season and a wonderful new year.

Under Construction

Ummm...I will be neglecting this blog for the time being. I'm busy redecorating my home, refinishing furniture, playing with my children, laughing with my sister, and dreaming up fabulous gifts for all of my wonderful friends ( primarily you and baby boy, Chrissylove!) I promise pictures of all of my adventures when I return.

Um...I had a baby

I was on the phone the other morning with my mother (by the way, it is her birthday today and she is awesome so if you know her...tell her how AMAZING she is) and she reminded me that I have completely neglected my blog. As in, I have not announced yet that I gave birth to the little light of our home, Henry Braeden. We call him Baby Bits. (Labor Story and pictures for those who care will be posted shortly.)



Is that not the cutest little guy on the planet? He is twice as cute as Walter was at his age, mostly because he doesn't make grumpy old man faces at us all the time. He's seven weeks tomorrow and already 11 lbs and in 3-6 month clothes. And my favorite part? Even though you can't tell in the picture he has dark red hair that if you catch in the right light makes him look like a flaming red head. I am 200% in love. So is JL.

Walter thinks his baby brother is the coolest thing. He gives him kisses all day long and is constantly looking for him. He walks around the house saying, "Baby Beets." and "Oh Beets." Our friend Amanda made the very astute and correct observation that Walter sounds British when he says it. One day I'll get it on video. It is. HILARIOUS.

We're still getting back into the routine of things since his arrival. Finding our balance as a couple and a family. What always amazes me is how someone so small can have such a HUGE impact on your life, instantly. One second they weren't there and the next it's as if you've known them all eternity. Hopefully we will have hit our stride before JL starts school in a few weeks and things get really crazy around here.

A Flag Day celebration

This afternoon Walter and I loaded up and went to JL's work for a Flag Day bar-b-que. We were running a little late, mostly because Walter thought that a t-shirt and diaper were totally acceptable attire to wear in public and I spent a good five minutes waddling after him as he ran circles around the living room and kitchen.

I'm glad we got to go and I wish I had thought to bring the camera. They hoisted a new giant flag over the Business Park while a band played "The Star Spangled Banner". They also had little flags for all of the kids so Walter "conducted" the band with his little flag in hand. When the flag started to go up, Walter just said, "Whoah."

But JL's favorite part was that JDawg's catered the event. So even though we've made a pact to not eat out, he got to get some of his favorite fast food. Walter loved that he got his own bag of chips like a big boy and watermelon to munch on. JL and I also shared all of the non-chocolate chunks of our cookies with him. My cousin Sarah happens to be the HR Manager at JL's work, and she got a kick out of Walter who just kept showing her all of his cookie pieces and saying, "Cookie! Cookie!"

It was a great way to spend the afternoon. I hope everyone's Flag Day was equally a success!

Feel free to add some advice of your own

Earlier this month, JL and I made a pact to be better about spending money. We each have our own trouble spots and I accepted the challenge happily! It's kind of like a competition with yourself, and since I like to be competitive but I hate to see people sad, this worked out well.

The first thing I did was to get back on Bountiful Baskets. For those of you who live in the many states that they do this, you should definitely join the band wagon. I forgot how much food you get for just $15! We've been munching on bananas, watermelon, cantaloupe, peaches, pears, apples, and fresh salad made from romaine, spinach, tomatoes and bell peppers since Saturday. Mmmmm....fresh produce. This is really nice for us because with Walter's food allergies, he pretty much sticks to fruit and grains with the occasional veggie snuck in. I am a bit nervous because we have three artichokes and I have never cooked or eaten an artichoke in my life. I will definitely make sure to blog about that little adventure.

I've also made a firm commitment to eat more chicken. And, no, not Chik-fil-A. With both pregnancies I have had major aversions to chicken, but it is healthy and cheap and soaks in flavors really nicely. Hence....more chicken.

Just making small changes in our grocery approach will save us an estimated $200 a month! Crazy to think about.

I also did a big look into coupons versus shopping the weekly sales. I was lucky because our local news had just done a special on that exact topic so my research didn't take very long. This made my pregnant lazy self happy. I was equally ecstatic to note that the woman who shopped the weekly sales did better than the coupon cutter for most things. I hate cutting coupons. Then my sweet husband reminded me of something I'd completely forgotten about: The Dollar Store.

I know a lot of people brush off the dollar store as a place for hoarders to shop for things that will break before you get them home. This is true in a lot of areas. But the dollar store also has some real finds, especially in household cleaning and hygiene. JL loves the little individual use flossers over regular floss, and you can get a huge pack at the dollar store for...$1. Sponges are cheaper. Also, they have an amazing bathroom cleaner. You do have to be careful that you don't get sucked into the $1 attitude and end up buying things you can get cheaper other places.

You're probably wondering what the biggest help has been. JL can be an extremely forgetful person and the biggest saver we've had is packing his lunch together every night. We get breakfast, snacks, and a lunch all thrown into a grocery bag in the fridge that he can just grab and go. No more last minute drives to drop off food or sending him off to pick up a dollar burger. The other huge perk to this is that JL has lost 8 lbs! I'm so proud of him for keeping this up so far!

I'll continue to update you guys on new discoveries I make in my quest to save money. We're so excited to see how much we can save so that we can get out of debt even faster and put more money into savings every month.


One last thing: I've started using cash for things instead of our debit card. I really love this! I take all of my loose change after every purchase (yes, even quarters) and put it into Walter's piggy bank. He loves to hear the clink of the coins and I love knowing that I'm saving money for his future without feeling like I'm making some huge sacrifice!

Walter Speak

I'm not the best record keeper when it comes to Walter and I have no shame in admitting that. But as he gets older and older, faster and faster, I felt like I should at least jot down some his wonderfully hilarious vocabulary.

Hey
Yeah
Bye
No No
Go Go
Dadda
Mamma
Baby
Tissue
Scriptures
Pooh, Kanga, Eeee(Eeyore), Tigger, Oooowl and Christopa
Shower
Bath
Nigh Nigh
Eat
Stuck
Cracker
Strawberries
Lookin Good (No Idea where this came from)
Cup
Milk
Socks n Shoes - usually while putting them on he will then count them for you
Tennis Shoes - which is everything except HIS sandals
ball
cold
hot
stinky
silly
dancin
blue, purple, yellow, geeeeen
car
And my personal favorite, Whooooooaaaaah

There are more, but really, who wants to read a list of the adorable things my 18 month old says? You should just come see for yourself. Then you could enjoy his happy dance, the way he vrooms his cars around the house, his great block tearing down ability, and snuggle time. Plus, he's really starting to get the hang of small sentences and those just take the cake. "I say yes" "Uh OH! Stinky Mamma! I go go poopoo!"

He's classy. We love him.

start at the very beginning, it's a very good place to start

Remember in my last post how I said I was puked out and never wanted to see vomit again? That didn't work out so well for me. But....that's another story. Just know that I lost that battle earlier this week.

Remember when I was preggers with Walter and I was in Labor and Delivery three times before I actually went into labor? And one of those stays got me admitted for three days? I'm sure it's all very clear in everyone's mind. :) The details aren't important, but the thing to take from this is that when we found out we were pregnant again and we made it through the first trimester without losing the baby, the first thing I said to myself was this: "I will NOT go into L & D unless this baby is hours away from leaving my womb. The end."

I put up a good fight. We made it almost 35 weeks without a single major hiccup. This morning, I lost that battle.

Now I love to laugh at life's little hiccups and I love a good pelvic exam...always jump starts my day. Really, it's better than any amount of caffeine injected into your system. I love seeing my doctor. He always puts a smile on my face and I know that he has the baby's best interests in mind. And when we have differing opinions I just mentally watch the attached video in my mind and let him have his way (because obviously, between the two of us, he's the one with the heart of a champion.)

This isn't a post to vent or complain about the annoyances of pregnancy. While I don't necessarily enjoy the last 10 weeks, I really love the end result. Best job ever. This isn't even a post to talk about what landed me in and out of the hospital in 75 minutes this morning. It's not important. The baby is healthy, I am healthy, and we haven't ended our contractual lease agreement yet.

I just want the world to be aware of how grateful I am for the small everyday blessings in life.

Tuesday afternoon I took Walter to his 18 month check-up. He was great. Minus being freaked out by the student nurse and her heart monitor, we didn't have any problems. He didn't even have to get any shots. At the end of the appointment, I mentioned in passing a rash that Walter has recently developed. It comes and goes and JL and I figured it was something that he was allergic to causing a minor reaction. It turned out that the rash was a sign that he was no longer in the contagious stage of Fifths Disease, a viral infection that does absolutely nothing to children or adults, but could cause miscarriage or severe anemia (in the fetus) if a woman comes in contact with it during pregnancy. A simple round of tests is all it takes to check, so we ended up hopping in the car and driving four blocks south to the lab at Orem Community to have the tests done. A prick, a fair amount of blood, and Walter and I could be on our way.
If you're familiar with OCH, then you know that to get to the lab, you first have to check-in with one of the wonderful women who work in the registration area. There are four of them in their separate offices and I've had the pleasure of enjoying the company of each of them in the last three years. I walked into the office and my helper of the day asked, "What can I do for you today?" Just as I was about to explain that I was here for a quick test in the lab, a small voice whispered in my ear, "You should probably pre-register today for Labor and Delivery."
Pre-registering was not what I wanted to do. Walter was tired and grouchy. I didn't particular want to wrestle with all of my insurance paperwork at that exact moment. I didn't want to go through all of my personal information, my husband's information, emergency contacts, etc. I wanted to get in and get out. But I pushed aside my stubborn nature and asked if I could pre-register. I took the twenty minutes out of my mostly mundane day and went on my merry way.
This morning when I waddled into Labor and Delivery, tired and grouchy, having lost the battle with my body, my sweet husband, and my OB, I didn't have to fill any paperwork out. I didn't even have to show them my picture id, they had it scanned and in the system. My OB had called ahead and I didn't even have to explain why I was there. All I had to do was answer "Yes" to the nurse's question of, "Are you Alison?" and waddle my way through the secure entrance and into a room.

I didn't know on Tuesday afternoon what my Friday morning was going to be like, but someone did. And He took the time to help me out as much as He could. I'm grateful for that little gift that helped get me through a very long morning at the end of a very long week.

And if you actually read this never ending post, here's a little gift for you. My OB, Dr. Wayne Young, competing as Captain of the Men's Olympic Gymnastic team in 1976.