Hair Styles, Braiding, and Tying Shoes

Amelia has super long hair. She loves it but HATES to have it brushed. I can usually get the tears to stop with mentioning that it wouldn't hurt so badly if some of the length was cut off. She does NOT want her hair cut so just the word "cut" brings down the hysteria a few levels..

I am always on the look out for cute/fun styles for my daughter's hair, that I can actually do. She will hold still for me to style it every few days, but also loves to just wear it down with a clip to keep the hair from falling in her eyes. I few months back I stumbles on a site that I LOVE, for great tutorials on how to do some hair styles for girls. Its called Cute Girls Hair Styles. One of the styles that I do most often on Amelia from the site is the Same-side Dutch Braid. Here's a look at our version:

 Super cute, right?! (Pictures were taken in our old house some time the beginning of February.)

Amelia loves having her hair braided, especially because it makes it easier to brush out the next day.

More on Amelia- she learned how to tie shoes and braid hair earlier this month. She caught on to both things very quickly. I love watching her grow and learn and especially to be the one teaching her and sharing the joy for the new skills she is learning. What a blessing to be a mommy!

Adventures in Box Hunting

If you've ever moved in your life you know you must have boxes to get the job done. Well, to get it done more easily than it would have been without the boxes....

Anyway, it is always stressful for me to find boxes when moving. I'm always calling places like Target and Walmart that have no boxes available because they toss them into a box crushing machine, to leave the people who are moving and need boxes, to break down themselves and buy needed boxes from places like the Home Depot.

Thankfully, I didn't have to buy boxes for our recent move. I got a lead from calling one store, that a different store in town- a little hardware store had boxes. Because they are a smaller store and do not have a box crusher, and as a result have a surplus of boxes. Score.

So I made my way to the store with the boxes and was directed out back to the all cardboard dumpster where they put the boxes. 

the mover's dream come true: free boxes.

 The trouble was, there weren't many I could reach just standing out side of the dumpster. Being 6 feet tall, I knew a littler person would have no hope. I even stood in the little holes where the fork lift type arms insert into the dumpster. Still I didn't have what I needed and the boxes were just inches away from my finger tips.

Determined to get the boxes I needed I knew I had to think up a quick plan. I knew if I got in, I could just throw out the boxes I needed. I also know that I no parkcor-er and could not get back out without assistance. I saw a stack of pallets near the dumpster so I dragged one over, hefted it into the dumpster and climbed in with it.

...TADA! the perfect latter for exiting the dumpster...

 Within minutes, I had a HUGE pile of collapsed boxes, ready to be taped back into shape and filled with all our stuff.

Turns out, we had so many boxes that a large portion went unused for the move. So thankful for things like free moving boxes.

New Place

Sorry to be so absent from the blogging scene. The last week of January our landlord came by to pick up a rent check. We wrote out a check to cover three months of rent. He asked us when we were planning on moving.... Uh, planning on moving? We were planning on staying there till Tim graduated April 2013. Then he told us that he and his wife want to sell the house and would have to do it by October for tax reasons. He then basically asked if he would have it listed and for us to show it while we were living there.

Here's the skinny: We moved into that house when we could have been living in a house we were doing a short sale on For FREE but it wasn't worth it, trying to show the house with three small children and a dog.

So- we weren't very keen on the idea of showing the house or having to move. However, Tim mentioned that the next few weeks of school would be pretty low profile and that if ever there was a time he could take time for a move it would be in the next few weeks. So, we started looking for a place. About two days into the hunt I found a listing for a house just 4 houses down from my older sister and her family, and 9 houses away from my parents (we are not in the same city as my parents since we both live super close to the city boarders.) Anyway, less than two weeks from hearing that our landlord wanted to sell, had we signed a new contract and given our 15 days move out notice.


During this time, we were obviously dealing with packing, and then we had the fiasco with the swallowed quarter, and Tim also injured himself with what we thought might have been hernia. He and I went to have an ultrasound done on his abdomen on Valentine's Day. A few days later we found out that it was not a hernia, but a large hematoma. Nice to know there would be no surgery needed, but still frustrating with needing to move and having my normally able bodied husband, injured wearing a brace to apply pressure to his stomach, not able to do lifting.

The ultra sound appointment was our time out alone on Valentine's Day.

A week ago was moving day. Between family, friends, and elders from both old and new elder's quorums we had about 20 people, three truck, and three trailers to help with the move. We are so thankful for everyone who came to help. What a huge relief to have people step up and offer to help. There is no way we could have done it alone. We even had back up offers from dear friends to take kids and help with things. To say that we were and are still thankful is an understatement. It was amazing.

I labeled each box UP or DOWN, and then labeled them with the room where they belonged (O-office, F-family room, R1, R2, and R3 for the bedrooms up stairs, K- kitchen, S-storage room, and L- for living room). I put up signs next to the rooms so that when a box came off of a trailer, the person carrying would know right to stay up or go down, and which room to set the box in.

We are still working on getting settled. We are so thankful to be blessed with the new place to live. It suites our need even better than our last home. We have three bedrooms upstairs and five total. In the last house, we had all three children in one of the two sleep-able bedrooms. It seems to be about the same square footage, but I feel that the space is utilized much better in this new place.

Pocket Change

Wednesday, Feb 8th, I looked up from what I was doing and saw Brodrick pick up a quarter and put it in his mouth. I said, Brodrick, No, NO! Cah, cah! He then started grinning and shaking his head no. (A few weeks ago, Brodrick would have been super obedient, and would even fish out things from his own mouth that weren't supposed to be there.) In my defense, we don't have loose coins just hanging out around our house. The big kids just put the cushions back on the couch and the quarter was probably found while the cushions were off. I jumped up and went right to him to fish it out myself. He was already in the process of swallowing it. My finger swipes did more harm than good as I tried to pry it out of this esophagus, my finger pushed it farther down. I was FREAKING OUT!

I called my father-in-law then the pediatrician and they both decied it would be best to get an x-ray to find out the location on the quarter- and to make sure it made its way down to the stomach and didn't get stuck. We went in, had an x-ray done, and saw that it made it safely to his stomach. Doctor's orders were to wait for him to pass it himself.

The next day, Brodrick was NOT HIMSELF. He even spiked a fever on 103°F, vomited once, and kept falling asleep. I called the pediatrician and they wanted me to bring him in. So in we went. They were worried the quarter could be stuck and wanted us to go for another x-ray. So in we went.

Waiting at the doctor's office.

We went for an x-ray and I had enough sense to take a picture the second time. (You always hope you'll remember to do things like take a picture in hind sight and as luck-or not so much luck- would have it, we had another x-ray.)

A big coin for a little guy.

We wanted to make sure the coin wasn't stuck in the appendix and starting an infection. We waited to hear word from the surgeon at Primary Children's Medical Center, and the attending said that she had never heard of a quarter getting stuck in the appendix and that the fever and vomit were probably a red herring, and just a virous.

We are still waiting for the quarter's appearance. We are hoping it will show up soon. If I don't find it in one of Brodrick's diapers, we may need to go for another x-ray...

****2/15/2012 UPDATE****
Went for an x-ray today and there was no quarter to be seen. My sifting was not up to par but it doesn't matter since the result it the same: The quarter is OUT of him!!

Just call me Dr Mom

Remember how Tim went out of town last Sunday, Feb 5th? Remember how I was super sick and could barely breath? It just so happened that on that very night, Miles chucked the tinker toy cylinder at Amelia's face and it split the skin at the bridge of her nose clean open. I could tell it would need more attention than a band-aid since it was gaping and would leave a NASTY scar if not taken care of properly. Before loading all the kids in the car or asking a neighbor to come stay with the boys while I took Amelia to the ER, I took a picture (below) with my new iPhone and sent it to Annie and John, asking if they thought it would need stitches. (Remember how Annie is an RN, and John is in his plastics residency? Super convenient.)After brief insepction it was decided that they probably wouldn't stitch it because it was right in the middle of her face, but that they would use some dermaglue if I took her in.... After hearing this, I put the boys to bed and miraculously found some steri-strips from my c-section with Brodrick. I lay her down on my bed, and doctored her up myself. She passed out within seconds of her head hitting the pillow.

...before...

...after...

I am oh so thankful Tim insisted on my getting the iPhone. It is so great to be able to take and send pictures.  Below are pictures I took 5 days after the cut happened. The steri-strips fell off and we are putting Neosporin cream on it morning and night. Amelia's nose is still a nice light rainbow of buising, but we are so thankful that the cut is healing so nicely.

Miles and Amelia 10 Feb 2012- Despite the tinker toy throwing incident, repentance and forgiveness is alive and well in our home. They are still the best of friends. 

Sickness Haze

I finally feel like we are coming out of a sickness haze. On Sunday the 5th, Tim left to attend a convention in LA. The whole family got out of bed to take him to the airport. His departure coincided with terrible sickness on my part. I had a bit of a cough a day or so before he left, but that Sunday, things got really bad. Unproductive cough, could barely breath, massive sinus pressure and drainage, and horrible aching all over.

Normally, our sabbath day involves going to church, and if we watch TV at all, its movies, and usually movies that are produced by our church. The Scripture Stories are our favorite. (If you don't have them, definitely worth the investment.) Going solo with all three kidos is intense, but doable. But since we were sick, it just wasn't going to happen. Sadly, or maybe not so sadly since its because she was feeling well, I could not get Amelia to sit still and rest. (Glad that antibiotic was working so well for her ear infection.) Because it was a survival time, I made an exception and allowed some Veggie Tales on Netflix.

Breaking our family rules to survive sickness and being without daddy.

Miles came up to me while I was laying on the couch and said he wanted to snuggle. Within minutes he was out cold.

Sunday we thankfully had left overs to eat. Monday, I was finally feeling well enough to make some more food. I made some vegetable soup. Amelia is currently LOVING red cabbage and so we decided to put some of that in the soup. It turned the broth a cloudy color, but the bright purple was pretty. The soup was just what we all needed.

PhD Candidate

A HUGE congratulations to Tim for passing his Physics PhD Candidacy Exam with "flying colors!" (Usually there contingencies for passing but there were none for Tim.) What a blessing!

It is quite a relief to be to this point. It should be all down hill from here. He was told afterward by one of his committee members that defending his dissertation is cake in comparison. I am so proud of Tim's dedication and hard work to get to this point. There is nothing like working 80-100 hour work weeks with no pay. We are one step closer to his graduation!!