Cold, cold go away!

Holy freakers why did my beautiful Fall depart so hastily? My love of Michigan quickly changed today! Joel and I went on a date tonight and we had to walk from the parking garage to the restaurant. Ummm, yeah it pretty much brought back some terrible memories of freezing my potato off last year! I'm sad because I refuse to buy myself a winter coat just for a few more weeks of humongoid uteritis (a.k.a big fat prego belly). I'm not sure exactly how I'll get along with a simple jacket for the entire winter - maybe I'll just wrap myself up in a big blanket and call it good. It's probably the only thing that will fit soon enough.

I think the thing that I hate even more than this bone-chilling cold air is the infestation of diseases that run rampant in this jive town complex. I swear as soon as someone is sick around here, it runs like wildfire until it's time for another round of sickness. In fact, Joel and I just got done cleaning up Camryn's vomiting episode. Yipee! I'm just so freak'n grateful that it happened when Joel was home! He's on call tomorrow so pray for me - I don't want this to go through the whole family while I'm alone - gag! It certainly wouldn't be the first time.


The silver lining in this particular situation is what happened once Camryn was clean and snuggling in OUR bed. She whispered in my ear, "Thanks for helping me out Mom." How cute is that? JD said the same thing to me when I cleaned up his barforama episode a few weeks ago. I love grateful kids.

As I'm writing this, I feel the need to write a few happy things to get me through these next few months...

• Joel and I are beside ourselves with glee because we get to look at houses next week!

• Joel keeps wanting to take me out on dates so we can have a conversation w/o any interruptions - no complaints here.

• I love that we have a babysitter that lives a couple of apartments away - hence the opportunity for multiple dates!

• My braces are going to come off in 2 months - as long as my teeth behave.

• Christian and Camryn play beautifully together. This lovely phenomenon allows me to rest my poor worn-out body during the day.

• I love it when I remember to chain my door so that Christian can't escape and neighborhood kids can't sneak in while I'm taking a shower!

• I love that we sold JD's loft bed on craigslist just to replace it with our KING bed! Yep, you read that correctly. JD's tiny little room is now just one ginormous bed - he looks so tiny all wrapped up in the covers!

• I love that we gave JD our old king because we bought ourselves a nice new king. Joel is convinced we're the only people in Northwoodian history to have 2 kings in these tiny apartments!

• And finally, I love that I happened to arrive at Macy's department store today just to discover a freak'n awesome sale. I got some scream'n deals! To top it off, some kind skinny lady felt sorry for me and my heavy load (many bags and 2 kids) so she helped me out to my car! How nice is that?

Well, that was random, but it worked - I'm happier now!

My Little Man Got Baptized!

Yesterday was a great day. JD got baptized and I am a free mother - he is responsible for his own sins now! Ha! I wish it were that simple. I used that card a few months ago when he was being a stinker to some of his friends. I had a long talk (actually, many long talks - he likes to discuss things with me) with him about how he was about to turn 8 which meant he would be responsible for his own sins. I said it in a...well...forceful manner so he would get the point. And that he did. Something clicked inside him that day. I don't think he understood the magnitude of his turning 8 until that moment.

Many conversations and lessons followed in the weeks after that initial conversation. I must say that there is something about this magical age 8. JD has grown in maturity and understanding over the last few months - to the point where I really felt like he was ready to take the the plunge (ha ha pun intended).

Since JD is a very thoughtful, sensitive and introspective kid, I could definitely see his little ticker mulling over the magnitude of his baptism and confirmation. He would ask me things like, "Mom, will you describe what the Holy Spirit feels like?" Or, after getting in trouble, he would come crying to me, "MOM, THE HOLY GHOST DIDN'T TELL ME THE RIGHT THING TO DO!" I would give him the standard gospel answers, but it just always seemed to come back to an issue of faith. "JD, if you have faith that one day you'll feel the Holy Spirit's comfort, then you will - just keep praying," would be my standard answer. I had no doubt that eventually he would feel something that he could identify as the Holy Ghost, I just didn't know when it would come.

It couldn't have come at a more perfect time. I know the Lord was aware of JD's desires and so when Joel placed his hands on his son's head to confirm him a member of the Church and to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, JD felt it for the first time. What a wonderful testimony builder! Yeah!



He shared this little bit of information with his gammy (Joel's mom) immediately following the baptism and confimation program. She asked him if he felt anything special during his confirmation and he was able to identify the warm feeling around his heart as the Holy Ghost. Later that evening when we were home, I was able to hold him in my arms and ask him the same question that his gammy asked. He explained the feeling to me and I was so thankful that he could recognize it with certainty.


The entire evening was very spiritual and I couldn't have asked for better experience for our first child's baptism and confirmation. Baptisms around these parts aren't that common so it was neat to have such a great turn out. JD and his friend Annie had a joint baptism at our chapel. We are friends with Annie's family so it was a warm and inviting little program that took place. The talks were perfect and the spirit was strong - especially during JD's confirmation.

JD and his bud Annie

Camryn and her bud Brigham
(Annie's Brother)

Christian and his bud Lily, or Lolee
as he so affectionately renamed her.
(Annie's sister)

JD received a very nice set of scriptures during a special family dinner out (before the baptisms). He was soooo excited. Not in a yipee kind of way, but in a way that exuded curiosity and validated his maturing age. He and Annie showed off their new scriptures later that night - it was cute. I spent a good part of the morning today walking him through this ins and outs of the scriptures: footnotes, topical guide, glossary, how to find scriptures etc. He spent the entire sacrament meeting perusing the pages of his new precious gift.

Joel and I are aware that JD is a gem and are continually trying our best to be good stewards of his strong little spirit. I feel like I fall short most of the time when it comes to raising him, but that's where the beauty of the atonement comes into play. If we can just try our best, Christ makes up the difference. I love the gospel!



Anyway, JD is on his way towards making a name for himself in this life. I hope that he might read this entry in our family blog book some day and at the very least feel comforted by the feelings he had on the day of his baptism and confirmation.

Chicago part deux...

So Joel's mom, Cristie wanted to go on a vacation a while back. Did we accept? Are you freak'n kidding me - any chance to get away baby. Anyway, at first we were going to have a little adventure at a place called Put-in-Bay, Ohio. After researching a bit, we decided it would be a bit cold for that particular trip. Joel had such a great time in Chicago the first time (like 2 weeks ago!) that he suggested that for our adventure. They accepted and away we went.

Ummm, first of all traveling with little ones is umm a lot harder than just adults. Everything from packing to eating to sleeping is more complicated. Man we most suredly love our little seedlings to put up with all of this craziness! It definitely made a difference to have a couple of extra helping hands - thanks Stan and Cristie!

I think my favorite part of the trip was experiencing Chicago through my kids' eyes. One of the first things we did upon arriving at our hotel was take the kids on a fairly long walk to the famous Frontera Grill. I was so excited to experience this great little iconic restaurant. Luckily we got reservations for brunch (dinner can take up to a month to get a reservation!). Anyway, the trek to the restaurant was so enjoyable for me - my kids were in awe of the towering buildings and the Chicago river. JD received an excellent education as to why some parts of the city smell like urine.

There are tons of bridges over the
river that raise up for big ships to
pass through. We were lucky enough
to come across one. It was
a pretty magnificent sight.

Christian loved staring at the river and
all of the boats passing by. I think
he ended up throwing a bunch of
leaves and garbage into the river.
Oops.

The food in Chicago did not disappoint. Frontera Grill was, according to Stan (lived in Mexico), very authentic to true Mexican cuisine. The food was quite different and interesting. In a good way! After all was said and eaten, Joel and I decided that we are just a couple of boring Americans that prefer the Mexamerican flavors. We had some dahang good deep dish pizza at Giardano's for dinner. Man, they know what good cheese is! I ate the whole inside out of a piece of cheese pizza. I swear it was a 1/2 pound of cheese. Yum-o. It reminded of the days in my youth when I would break off a chunck of cheese, melt in in the microwave and eat it straight. That sounds good, I think I'll have that for lunch. We hit the West Egg once again for breakfast for their, among other things, famous Turkey & Avocado Eggs Benedict.


When traveling with Cristie Gardner, you can bet that you'll be upgrading to a fantabulous suite by bedtime. One time we took a fun trip with them to Niagara Falls. After Cristie worked her magic, we had 2 rooms right smack dab in front of Horseshoe Falls. Saweet! So when the rooms in our downtown Chicago hotel weren't exactly ideal, Cristie worked her magic and we ended up with a suite (humungous) overlooking the Chicago river, Lake Michigan, the Magnificent Mile and the Chicago Tribune building. Saweet part deux!

We had an interesting next morning. After breakfast, we decided to visit the Shedd Aquarium. Little did we know that there was a Chicago Bears football game that morning as well. Umm, traffic kinda sucked! So after driving all the way there, we were told that because of the game, we would have to turn around and drive back to the parking garage (where we started in the first place!) and pay $25 for parking! Gotta love a big city! It was a fun little adventure. We got to drive past all of Barack Obama's huge acceptance party set-up in Grant Park - kind of interesting. We enjoyed the aquarium, but got pooped out enough to call it a day and head back to Michigan.

The shark tank was pretty cool. I was
mad I didn't have my nice camera to
take some decent pics in the dark.

Christian was obsessed with all of the
turtles in the aquarium. He and Camryn
still talk about Nickel, the enormous
sea turtle.

We were tired by the time we got home, but not as tired as Stan & Cristie! They still had 2 hours left to drive back to Cleveland. It was great to see Chicago with loved ones. I'm glad we got to have some one-on-seven time with Joel's parents too!

Our next trip is in a few weeks. I think I'll be able to handle the wait.

Now wintering over in Michigan.....I'm not so sure about :(

A Spooktacular Evening...

Our Michigan Halloween celebrations are a thing of the past now. Am I sad? Not really, but trick-or-treating has definitely been a pretty slick process around these parts. I guess I'll miss the efficiency here. Who am I kidding...get me outta this joint!

JD the martial arts expert, Christian the
doctor (not on call - the best kind!), and
Camryn the cutest Tinkerbell around!

Anyway, the trick-or-treating here in family housing is quite unique. Because of the large population of kidlins, someone somewhere decided to have an annual Halloween Parade through our little campus. The parade starts at one end of our facility and winds its way through to the other end of the facility. I find it amusing each year as we join in the parade: is it really a parade if no one is watching? Hmmm... we're all walking and there ain't a soul looking at the cool costumes. Funny. Anyway, at the conclusion of the parade, the trick-or-treaters are free to roam and claim their loot. We take off to the least saturated parts of Northwood to snatch up what we can before it gets too crazy. Luckily our kids are so young that they're pooped before we can make it around the entire facility. Perfect!

This particular year was probably the most enjoyable of the past 3: the weather was fantabulous, Camryn passed out the candy for Mom and the whole free candy idea finally clicked in Christian's little brain. I think watching Christian catch on to trick-or-treating was my favorite part of Halloween this year. He was a bit hesitant at first to approach strangers, but boy once he saw his brother and sister going to town, he wasn't far behind in the race. He kept shoving candy in his mouth all night long - only to spit it out a minute or two later. I think I had like 5 used suckers in my pocket by the time we were done!

This is a sugar-induced smile...
see how his eyes are glossed over??

Partners in crime: Dr. Christian
with his best friend, Katelyn, the
wicked witch of the Northwood.

JD's job was to pick chocolate whenever it was available - for his fetus brother of course! I don't even know how much junk I shoved into my ever expanding face. I even had chocolate for breakfast a few days later - how sad! I don't generally eat a bunch of junk so it made me totally sick! Time to bag up the loot and hide it until it rots!

Camryn's job was to pass out candy. She was thrilled to manage our stash of suckers. I bought lame candy this year (dum-dum suckers) so that I wouldn't be tempted to eat it all. It worked. We still have a huge bag full of them - excellent for bribery :) Also, Camryn and Christian got to enjoy a fun Halloween party at Camryn's preschool. They enjoyed some yummy treats and a chance to show off their costumes.

Camryn passing out treats

Camryn's preschool party

Mom and Dad's job was to laugh at our kids and enjoy a fun night of sugary bliss.

And that we did!

OK, enough family history...now I must go and do my duty and VOTE - so should you!