Media

I am stuck on hold on the phone so I thought I would clarify. I am worried that my last post could be misinterpreted. It was not to diminish the new president. I am hoping that he and the rest of the government can turn things around and make it all work.

My complaint is with the over board media. Sometimes I wish it would just implode. There are times when our country may be better off without the media prying, judging, theorizing, predicting, giving opinions, pushing their ideas of social norms and over reporting stories. They drive me insane. I have had to stop watching the evening news because the majority of it is pointless or the same thing every five minutes.

What Do You Do

What do you do when you go to the gym at 9:30 AM and you need to do cardio, but your MP3 player is broken (I should never be allowed near these devices. I think this is the 2nd one I have broken and I have lost one.) and ever TV station has the same thing on. Well I watched the inauguration of our 44th president.

I guess I should mention that he is our first African American president because the media and many people make a big reaction to this. I am glad that Americans can accept this given our history, but I feel that the bigger deal we make of this the longer a barrier will exist. Yes it will come down eventually, but I think it would make it come down faster if we didn't have to hear media theories on how a black family will be different living in the White House. Hello, they are normal people and will live how any other family would live. We are all humans and will make our own decisions and these decisions shouldn't be affected because of the color of our skin. Although some people allow this criteria to affect their decisions which is why there has to be such frenzy. I will now get off my soapbox and get on track.

Anyways, it was a nice ceremony with a good speech. I think he should be a minister or something with the way he gives his speeches. It wasn't a show I would recommend running to. It didn't really motivate me to keep moving, but what was I to do. I did go for the length time I wanted to and I was able to watch history.

Besides watching history the girls and I got out to enjoy the beautiful weather. We went with a friend to the Riparian Preserve and then to the library. Nothing amazing happened, but it was extremely pleasant. I also felt like a great mom because that is 2 days in a row that we have gone to the park. The amazing thing is that when I put my kids first everything else seems to have fallen into place. I have been able to accomplish everything I have really wanted to each day (while keeping the house semi-picked up) and have been able to maintain a more peaceful and happy spirit. Now I just have to stick with this children first thing. If I can do this I think our home might be a more peaceful place.

New Adventure

Well the our little family has entered a new journey in this little lifetime of ours. It isn't a route that we would have chosen because it will be difficult and we prefer to take the paths of least resistance if possible.

On Friday the Grimm Reaper was back at Centex and Brian was on his list. They were kind enough to keep him working until the end of March, which works out well since this baby is due at the beginning of April. They are also giving us some money towards COBRA which will really help.

We have survived 12 rounds of lay-offs so we had already done some thinking, planning and preparing. We lean heavily towards moving back near family (This would be the plus side of things). It is not set in stone but that is the course we are walking for the time being. So we are thinking about renting our home instead of selling. That way maybe we can sell it at a better time. So if you know anyone that is looking to rent, our home may be available.

Also, if you hear of any jobs in Utah (or in Arizona) we might be interested.

Don't worry about us. Everyone has trials of some sort and this is just ours and will pass. We are not extremely concerned because Heavenly Father will look after us. As long as we do our part and listen to the whisperings of the Spirit we will make it and will gain something from it.

My Big Baby

So I am pulling my hair out with Kelsey. Last evening I became fed up and put her back in a diaper. Of course she cried and was a little humiliated. She peed in her pants again. The day before she did it 2 times. The day before that 2 times. On Sunday she peed twice in her pants. I can't remember the in between days.

I am at a loss of what to do. She will go through long periods of no accidents. Over Christmas and in the car, no accidents. At stores and at the gym, no accidents. I thought it was because she can get constipated, but I am not sure any more. She tends to get distracted easily. Often I will see her dancing around and I have to sternly tell her to go to the bathroom. On the way sometimes she sees a toy or becomes concerned about something and stops making her way to the bathroom. Sometimes I think she has the urge then gets distracted, loses the urge so keeps going and then the urge comes on fast and strong and it is too late.

We have done the chart thing with a reward for staying dry 5 days in a row (2 times). Each time she accomplishes this with hardly any trouble. I tried ignoring it (not so well). I have made her sit in wet pants for a length of time. I have praised her for going in the toilet. And finally yesterday I told her if she was going to wet her pants like a baby then she was going to be a baby and wear a diaper. I even threatened to go buy baby food and put her in the baby chair for dinner. Brian said he wanted to see me feed her baby food. Well when she had to go to the bathroom she took off the diaper and went in the toilet so I let her have her underpants back. I had also regained composure.

I don't know what to do. I don't want to have to do laundry 3 times a week to keep her clothed. Could it be a medical problem which means I am doing some damage mentally?

The Sketches

Here is a picture of one of my Christmas presents. I don't have them on the wall yet. I am still debating where to hang them.

So what else have we been up to

Well as soon as we got home the kids wanted the tree down because everyone in Utah had already taken their trees down. This task had to wait. First there was loads and loads of laundry. Then folding. After and in-between there was unpacking. Then came the time to find homes for new stuff which required new plastic containers for new toys. All toys must now be contained and organized since the playroom is becoming the baby boy's room and we are quickly running out of space in our home (For birthdays this year the girls are only going to get 2 gifts, one from mom and dad and the other from each other. No more toys, no more room.) I wasn't going to re-organize now just to re-organize and de-junk in a few weeks when it came time to paint the nursery, so I took some time to rearrange and de-junk. So I now have a car load of stuff intended for charity.

During this time there was a trip to the grocery store and Costco because we left the fridge empty. I also had to make a special trip to the Disney store because Kelsey was given a Tinkerbell glass and now had 2. Macy only had 1 of these little tumblers and wanted to buy herself another one. Of course the week I got home I had a doctor and an eye appointment and then ward canning day. Yesterday Macy had a dentist appointment.

My house is almost back together and cleaned. The tree is down (not up in the attic yet) and Christmas is put away. Maybe next week I will think about putting up my small collection of Valentine stuff. I was able to set up our new speakers and receiver (The outside speakers are not working for some reason. I will call my dad at some point or wait until the baby comes, which ever is first.) Saturday Brian and I put the girls bunk beds together and they love it. Yesterday it took me 3 hours to do a month and a half worth of finances. I still have a little bit more to do because I can't find receipts and who knows what I purchased at Target at the beginning of December. And finally today I am catching up on my blogging. Maybe tomorrow I will just sit and catch up on all of my friends blogs.

What we did on the first part of my sabbatical

I have not died. I have been on a 3 week sabbatical (now almost 4 since I began this post). Last 2 weeks were inadvertently, the prior two weeks I planned it that way. Besides not writing, I also did not stay caught up on all my wonderful friends. I have a lot of catching up to do.

Christmas was very good to us. We had an uneventful trip up to see family on Dec. 23 and 24. The biggest issue was it took us way too long to get out of the city because of bathroom breaks, grabbing dinner, and getting some snacks during the first potty stop.

On Christmas Eve we swung by Brian's sister's house to visit with family that had gathered and then in the evening we went out to my parent's to stay. That night I gave my mom chimes I had made in Relief Society. She has wanted a set since my Grandma Lue started using chimes on Christmas. Brian was real excited to give these to her. The chimes are not his favorite, but the rest of us had a good time.

We were lucky enough to have a white Christmas. It was freezing on Christmas Eve and then on Christmas day a big snow storm hit. At Brian's parent's home they received at least a foot and a half of snow. It was such a beautiful winter wonderland that I had to snap a picture of a random home plastered with snow. The picture doesn't do the magic of the scene justice. We were grateful to have four-wheel drive that day.

We were given many wonderful gifts. Somehow the kids came home with a carload even though I really tried to avoid it this year. My 3 favorite gifts were drawings of my girls done by my aunt (the gift was from my mom she had asked my aunt for this favor), an electric grain mill (I know I am dorky. Last year I was excited about my vacuum sealer), and tickets to the Broadway musical Lion King. Brian and I may have been married way too long (which is really not that long) because we gave each other the exact same gift, the John Bytheway collection of talks on CD.

With all the snow, luckily a grandma's intuition kicked in. She gave the girls snow pants and boots for Christmas. This was a perfect gift for Macy. She loved being out in the white stuff. Brian almost took her skiing for the first time but decided to wait for next year. To break in the new gear the girls went sledding with their cousins. Kelsey wasn't so sure of the attire and the cold weather. We got her all dressed and then she wouldn't get out of the car. Macy on the other hand loved it. I think she is our little daredevil. Here she is waiting to go down.

One night her and Brian went out and built a snowman. Kelsey stayed inside with me until it was time to put eyes and nose on and then she wanted to be a part.

While we were up there I was able to visit with a lot of friends and family. I went to lunch several times; once with some of my good friends from high school, once with a good friend from college (actually we went to high school together too, but didn't know each other until we were roommates), and once with a good friend who I used to work with. Brian and I also had some great date nights. We laughed all night long at Zupas with Brian's cousin and his wife. Then we laughed some more when we went out on New Year's Eve with our wonderful friends the Hodlmairs. After dinner we had to go back to their place to play a little Guitar Hero band. They made me the lead singer, not a good choice. Of course we played a few games of Ticket to Ride the Germany edition with Brian's parents (this game was Brian's Christmas gift) and then some more with my brother-in-law, Jake.

One of the best events of the trip was watching the Sugar Bowl with fellow Ute fans. We made our way back over to the Hodlmair's to do some cheering. It was a sweet victory. In fact, Brian recorded the game here at home and keeps watching it again and again.

All of us came home with new Utah attire. Even baby boy is ready for next year.

Besides Christmas, this trip was about the Running Utes for the girls. They got to go to two basketball games. Now they don't stop cheering, "Go Utes!" and doing cheer type gestures.

Of course there was shopping on this trip. I made my way to my favorite store the Banana Republic Outlet. It did not let me down. Brian came home with several ties from the Dillards sale and I started some shopping for baby boy otherwise he will be wearing lots of pink.

Our trip was slightly longer so I could go to a good friend's wedding. The wedding was definitely worth it. She was married in the temple, but instead of doing the traditional Mormon reception she had a sit down dinner. She made me a big fan of the sit down dinner. It made the evening an enjoyable night out instead of a quick five minute drive-by. Because of the dinner people were there to hear the toasts, see the cake be cut, and to watch the first dance. The evening was very entertaining too, but that was in part to the two parties that came together. If we can afford it, I am going to nudge my girls in that direction. Don't tell this to Brian or he might become like Steve Martin from Father of the Bride.

On Sunday, January 4 we stuffed everything in that we could and headed out for a long drive home. We were packed in like sardines and not a lot of room to breath, but I think we got everything home. The girls were great on the trip, but we watched/hear the same Strawberry Shortcake movie for the majority of the drive. There was a time when Macy fell asleep so Kelsey picked a different movie, but then Strawberry Shortcake went right back in. Bathroom stops seemed to be at 2 hour intervals. Kelsey must have a small bladder.

The above picture could be titled "No Room in the Inn".

Brian and I did talk about names, but sorry to say no definite conclusion was reached nor did we come real close. Soon we might need some help.