Baby News & Thanksgiving Wrap-up!

As most of you now know, CLS and I are expecting our second child on the 17th of April next year. We are excited, and I'm a little nervous since they'll be 16 months apart, but I know it will be such a blessing. Anyway...we found out a couple weeks ago that it will be a GIRL!!! Crazy, I know! I had expected a boy and actually kind of hoped a boy because we are out of storage space in our apartment, but I am getting more excited to have a little girl. It will give us an opportunity to teach MHS how to treat girls and someone for me to play dress up with. Some have inquired about my health, any sickness and what not. I'm thankful to say that I wasn't as sick with this one as I was with MHS. I compare the two like Montezuma's revenge vs. the stomach flu. Not the most pleasant, but not the worst thing either. I haven't had any pregnancy induced vomiting, only flu induced, but that's over with. All is going well and we hope it continues in that direction. I am using the same Dr. and CNM that delivered MHS and will deliver in the same hospital. It went so well last time, why change a good thing?

Onto Thanksgiving...we had such a great time! Some of my siblings, my parents, grandmother, and cousin with his family all went to this beautiful cabin in Pinetop (25 people total). It snowed and we got to do lots of fun things. CLS went squirrel hunting and then cut it up (yuck!), fishing, saw the new James Bond, and put on "Wheel of Fortune" on his projector for the family to play. I got to do some scrapbooking and finished 8 pages (That's good for me!), played Skip-bo, overate and just relaxed! MHS was in heaven on the huge sheepskin rug, he LOVED it! He had a great time playing with all of his cousins, going on a ride in Uncle Mike's Vroom-Vroom (Ranger) to see the Christmas lights, sitting by the fire and eating marshmallows (one of his favorites) and watching the boys have snowball fights (he thought that was really funny!). All in all it was a great Thanksgiving, now it's onto working off all of those extra calories by doing Christmas shopping, ugh!

Playing Catch Up

(Disclaimer: A warning...because of the length of time it has been since I last posted, this post is a little longer!) I know, I know...Halloween was a long time ago, it has simply been too busy to post anything, so we are playing a little catch up. Every Halloween my sister has a big party on her driveway and my family all goes over there and we sit on her driveway and pass out candy. The kids that come love it because they get like six different houses all in the same driveway. The first picture is of all the cousins that were there, it was a great time! MHS and his twin cousins were pea pods...it was very cute! My mom covered her big wagon with green paper and wrote "3 Peas in a Pod" on it and we pulled them around the neighborhood for a while. MHS wanted out of the wagon; he'd much rather push it instead of ride in it. When we got back we let him push a stroller back and forth on the sidewalk for a good hour or so. He wore holes in his socks, and we had to finally force him away from the stroller and into the bath. The pushing was definitely the highlight of his night!

 

 

 

More big news about MHS, he now has 6 teeth and is cutting at least one more, he doesn't let us see the bottom easily, so we don't know if there is another one or not, YET! He got his first "real" haircut" yesterday and now looks so much like a little boy, it's kind of sad! There are also a couple pics of him playing with his current favorite toy, the hammer & ball set. He's really good at hammering and then putting them back, it's so fun to watch him learn all of these new things!

 

 

 

 

Last but certainly not least, MHS is WALKING!!! You heard me, walking! and it is hilarious. He decided last Friday that it was time and spent a good hour and a half that night just practicing and practicing. If you ever want a lesson in perseverance watch a little child learning to walk. He would fall and just stand right back up where he was and go again. He did the zombie thing until yesterday afternoon or so and now the arms are more out to the side and he balances pretty well for only doing it a few days. He doesn't fall much anymore, but definitely when he sneezes it knocks him down. People say he's early, I guess I wouldn't really know, but he did beat his three cousins that are two months older than him. It was inevitable with how much he pushed stuff around! He also never crawled over to things to get back up, he'll just stand up, which I guess is good. It is crazy & cute. I just love him!! Here is a little video, not so great, but it's all I've got. (I hope it works, I guess we'll just have to wait and see!)



Onto CLS & myself...life is crazy as usual. I had my fall Halloween recital on the 3rd of November, it went great, but required a lot of prep work! The kids were fantastic! After that was my mother's birthday and I had undertaken the LARGE task of redo-ing her grandkids picture wall. She has 21 grandkids and with 8x10's of almost all of them and no rhyme or reason to it, it was in desperate need of a makeover. So after much coordination and shopping her wall is darling, and I wouldn't say that if others hadn't said it. I can now sit in her house and not be irritated at the ugly picture wall anymore. (I know it was a little selfish, but she LOVED it and had wanted it done, so it wasn't ALL selfish!) More big changes...starting in December, my piano students are making the trek out to Prescott Valley for lessons. I had much heartburn and turmoil with this decision, but felt it was the best thing for me and my family, so no more driving to lessons. I have been pleasantly surprised at the willingness of the parents to bring their children to me. Now I feel the pressure to do an even better job! We'll see how it goes, but it should be a big help to MHS's schedule. As for CLS, well he has been planning a 3 day, 60 mile hike with some buddies for about 4 months now and they leave this Friday. They are all getting their packs ready and have their hiking boots broken in. CLS's biggest concern is getting lost...I hope the other hikers have a better sense of direction than CLS. He doesn't have many shortcomings, but that is one and he will readily admit it. I doubt many pictures will be taken, but perhaps we'll get before and afters of the fearless hikers. Have fun honey! That's it for us...we hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!

What F.R.I.E.N.D.S. friend are you?

What F.R.I.E.N.D.S. friend are you? Your Result: Monica Geller-Bing   You are so like Monica! Very helpful, but probably a little bit too picky about the little things. The best friend/partner for you would be your exact opposite!
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Keep Praying!

I know many people have been talking about the marriage props. in the various states in which they are on the ballots. I just wanted to remind anyone and everyone that ever looks at my poor little blog to pray for not only prop 102 in AZ, but prop 8 in CA. I just spoke to my sister whose in-laws live in Northern CA. and they are working very hard every day to get the word out about voting Yes on prop 8, but are now undergoing severe persecutions and even damage to their belongings for their stance. They visited the Oakland Temple last night and could hardly get to the temple due to the crowds and protesting going on. People were jumping out in front of their cars, pounding on them and screaming all sorts of unkind things. Women were standing outside the doors crying because of the things yelled at them. There were no police officers to be found, but temple security had increased in numbers. The temple President told them to be strong and to stick with it, and they will, but I know our faithful brothers and sisters in CA could really use some extra prayers. So if you aren't already, would you please remember them and prop 8 in your daily prayers, in addition to 102 in AZ and for the public at large to make informed choices this election. Now I'll get off my little soap box.

Smart?...or Just Plain Lucky!

Quick, funny little story about MHS. Yesterday CLS told me that he had put MHS in the back seat of the car and given him his own water bottle to hold. By the time CLS had gotten around to the other side of the car, MHS had managed to unscrew the lid and had dumped the water all over himself. "He can unscrew things now", He tells me. I thought to myself, "Sure honey, you just didn't screw that lid on tight enough." Well just moments ago I went searching for MHS, as he was not making any noise, so I knew he was into something he shouldn't be; sure enough...he has unscrewed my jelly bean jar that I use for my primary class and is delighting in the newly found treasure he has illegally accessed!! It is a regular Ball canning jar. I couldn't believe the little rascal. I don't know yet if he really knows how to unscrew something, or if he is just getting lucky, but I'm hoping I don't have to find that out the hard way.

Update #2

(Still no pics) WHEW! What a week, we are so glad it is over! Piano lessons are done for the week, CLS is done at the office for the week, we made our whirlwind trip to Show Low for my Dentrix training in 24 hours (record time) and MHS had his 9 month check-up. MHS did great...he is 21 lbs (50%), and the nurse said 30 in., but I think 29 in. long (the 90-94%). He is developing wonderfully and as much as Daddy doesn't want him to, the NP thinks he'll be walking well before his first birthday. (Daddy was not pleased to hear that news.) Unfortunately he had to have two shots, the flu vaccine and another routine vaccination. The bad part was we had to stay in Show Low that night, so needless to say he had the worst night of his life thus far. To make a long story short, we finally got some sleep at 3:00 in the a.m. after a car ride to get him to sleep. Thank heavens for caffeine the next day; doing a training on 3 hrs. of sleep is impossible without it!! I am grateful that I don't drink it regularly, so that when I do, it has the effect I am looking for! My recital is starting to fall into place, FINALLY! Thanks to a great friend, we will have the venue we wanted after all, HOORAY!!! To round off the week, we will finish our primary program tomorrow, yeah! I love it when big projects are finally over with! I look back at my week and think, Oh I'm glad it's over!!!!

UPDATE!

Well Mack is still sleeping so I thought I would post a quick update on what is going on in our lives. (No pics, sorry.) MHS is growing by leaps and bounds, we find out tomorrow how he is doing when we pay the doctor our 9 month & 2 week visit. He now has 3 teeth, 2 on the bottom, and the first one he got is on the top left, kind of weird. He is pretty much eating only table food now and we have yet to discover anything he doesn't like, typical boy. He pushes everything, the high chair, boxes, blocks, anything he can get his hands on all over the place and is now standing on his own without holding on. He is doing MUCH better at taking naps and still sleeps through the night, YEAH!! CLS's practice is doing well, I guess. I don't get too much info, but he seems happy enough. He is going on a 60 mile, 3 day hike next month so each night when he gets home he switches into his new hiking boots to break them in. He absolutely is the best Dad. MHS loves to "workout" with him, especially when he turns on the Def Lepard cd. He takes MHS for a walk every night if he doesn't fall asleep drinking his bottle, to help him go to sleep. He feeds, changes, baths, and plays; what more could you ask for in a father? I am still crazy busy with piano and Dentrix trainings, in addition to being a mommy and wife. I am having my Fall recital on the 27th and it has been an absolute headache getting this one sorted out, and I'm still working on it, so fingers crossed that things will start to fall into place. I have to go to Showlow this weekend for a training, and then there is one every weekend for the next 4 weeks. I'm still managing to keep sane; how, I don't know. That's it in a nutshell for now.

happy BELATED birthday ME!

That's right folks, my birthday was on Monday, the 25th, and to say the least it was kind of strange, but still great! Weird because it fell on a Monday, (Don't you hate that! That's the worst day for a birthday!) so we celebrated most of it on Saturday. Great because I was with my family and got great gifts! CLS, MHS, and myself drove down to Phoenix to have a little cake & ice cream with mi familia. CLS went jean shopping with me at the mall (I didn't buy any jeans) and then we drove around the mall until we found a restaurant we hadn't been to before and gave it a shot. In this case it was Benihana's. I have to say, I really wanted sushi, and their sushi ain't great. That's alright, it was like dinner and a show I guess, but it wasn't the best habachi restaurant I've been too. Definitely go for Kyoto's if your in the Scottsdale area. Still, it was something new and that is always fun! Afterwards we had key lime cake courtesy of Costco, which was FABULOUS, and ice cream. Then came the unveiling of the gift CLS was dying to give me. It was so cute, it was like a little kid that was trying so hard to keep a secret that they wanted to tell with all of their being. His excitement was of course contagious. So he brought out this gorgeous picture of the Manti temple, the temple we were married in and I was shocked to say the least! I love my husband to pieces, but he has a hard time with gifts, well he didn't this time! He did a great job! I am so lucky! So here is a picture of my beautiful picture and a couple of me and my yummy cake and not so cute blowing face!

CLS also gave me a gift I really wanted, a promise to attend the temple with me every month for the next year! I can't wait. I love my hubby! He is the world's greatest and is such a good balance for me! Eternity is going to be a blast, and now that we have MHS, I'm certain it couldn't get any better, well maybe with a few more kids it could, but that's about it!

Next up are some random photos from MHS this past month. He is hilarious! I am the luckiest mom in the world. I love him so much. He still loves working out with his Daddy, sucking on anything, including rope licorice, (and thus needing a bath) my edamame shells, his bottom lip, and his foam alphabet. He & I are holding a cucumber from our container garden and the last picture is of him riding his little car at Grandma's house. He currently LOVES to push anything and everything around and as of yesterday his favorite toy is a big diaper box that he pushes all around the house. This pushing thing started a couple weeks ago and he is pretty good at it, he'll turn and get himself unstuck. He is a smart little guy and so funny! With those big blue eyes, I'm afraid he'll get most anything he wants!

That's about it for this past week. We are heading off to Idaho for a visit tomorrow, so we'll post about all the fun next week!

7 MoNthS & CuTeR ThAn EvEr!!

Our little guy is 7 months old today, and as fun and cute as is humanly possible! He is a fast little crawler; we call him sidewinder because one side is stronger than the other so he goes in a straight, but kinda sideways line, it's pretty funny. He climbs up on everything now and would much rather stand than anything else. He wishes he could walk already & when we help him walk, it's on his tippy toes. He loves his baby food and it shows since he is growing like a little weed! His favorite toy currently is the doorstop behind our guest bathroom. He'll find his way there from anywhere in the house. He still smiles all the time and can cheer up even the grouchiest of people with his bright blue eyes and big grin! He makes waking up everyday exciting and experiencing life so fun! We consider ourselves the luckiest family in the world to have him!

New School Year...New Piano Schedule!

It's funny how much the school year affects everyone...even those of us that don't have children old enough to be in school. Heavier traffic in the mornings and afternoons; grocery stores busier right after school starts in the morning and right before it ends in the afternoon (don't wanna shop with all the kiddo's...I know that'll be me before too long!) One more twist a new school year throws in for me is a new piano schedule! It seems like I just figured out my summer schedule and now here we are doing one for fall/spring. I have to admit it is a little tiring and stressful, but once it's done and I can get to the teaching I love it! As if teaching itself isn't enough, I am doing Piano Olympics with my students. It is super fun, but LOTS of work for me! Hopefully my Olympians have a good medal count come Halloween recital! (Speaking of Olympics...this Friday!!!! YEAH!) I have right around 25 students that I love to death, but situating things to be convenient for them and myself is a challenge at times. I think I've almost got it all done, so now my own personal celebration begins! We start our new schedule tomorrow and I can't wait!

Do It Today!

I have a confession to make...I am a procrastinator. It is a character flaw that I've battled my whole life and sometimes seem to conquer, but the victory is short lived and I fall back into my bad habit. I found a quote by Benjamin Franklin that I have heard before, but it seemed to help me today to renew my resolve to DO IT TODAY!! It goes...

"Work while it is called today, for you know not how much you may be hindered tomorrow. One today is worth two tomorrows; never leave that til tomorrow which you can do today."

That rings far too true in my life! I say I'll do it tomorrow and amid my laziness forget that I already have a jam packed tomorrow. I inevitably end up with too much to do tomorrow and again, it doesn't get done. I/we have to make every minute in everyday productive. (btw...relaxing has to be done too! That is considered productive in moderation.) So I'm going to go do some of the things that I need to do today, so I can do other important things tomorrow!

CaLiFoRniA!!!

We just returned from a fast, fun-filled trip to Southern California! We ran down there so Clint could do a free-dive spearfishing competition...unfortunately they were skunked and none of the three in his party got anything this time, but the Beach was still super fun! Mack LOVED the waves and had a great time racing them with Mommy and Daddy In addition we got to see some of our very best friends, the Walkers! They moved form Prescott 7 months ago and we miss them so much! They live in a super cute apartment and have a darling little girl Angela that is two days older than Mack. Here is a small glimpse into our relaxing weekend we spent with my sister, her family and in-laws.

Here are a couple pics of Mack, his friend Angela and her Mommy and Daddy

Lots of driving, but so worth every minute!

My FaBuLoUs FaMiLY!!

This is a little late, but better late than never I guess. So I went to Utah at the end of June for a family reunion/mini vacation. (Vacation is a little debatable as I took Mack by myself...need I say more?) It was oodles of fun despite the longer than usual nights due to a new place and being totally off of Mack's schedule. The best part though, as usual, was being with family at our little family reunion. I guess little isn't the best word considering we have 22 immediate cousins (not including the seven of us) and then all of their spouses, which aren't a few, and then all of there kids. I think we had between 75 and 100 people there, but what a party! I guess we should be grateful it isn't the Smith side, that's even more! Excuse the tangent, now back to the best part...all of my siblings and I were together. That doesn't happen as often as I wished it would so when it does it is a scrum-diddly-umptios treat! We had to capture footage of the rare sighting. So this is it, my siblings and I and a few stragglers (three of the five new grandbabies).


Back Row: Far left is Mike (Numero uno of 7), Tyson (#3 of 7, despite the gray hair), Shawn (#5, right before me)
Bottom Row: Far left is Aanika holding her baby Ella(#4 of 7...middle child), Me holding Mack (#6 of 7), Maquel holding Mitch-one of her twins, (#2 of 7, also like my second mother) and finally the baby of the family, Camy.

We're all grown up now, but have even more fun because of it! Not that I'm partial, but I love them all and really do believe they're the greatest in the world! Not a bad looking, sun-kissed bunch, if I do say so myself.

ThE MuScLe MeN!

Ever since I've known Clint he has been very good at exercising. I guess growing up their family had a workout night every week and they would try to pull apart the spring thingy (I don't know the name for those things) and would use stretchy ropes and do pull ups and all sorts of exercises. Well being the athletic family that we are (wink, wink), we decided to start Mack young. So this was our first family exercise night. Mack joined in on the push-ups with Daddy. This was taken probably a little over two weeks ago, but Mack's been moving now for quite a while, I guess since the end of May. It's been quite interesting to have to really watch out what we put on the floor and I've never vacuumed so much in my life, we don't need any extra protein from the dirt on the floor! We thought if we got some camo on him we could send it to the Marines and tell them it is their youngest recruit in training (and yes, I am kidding).

New Experiences

Mack has been trying out a few new things lately and is discovering others. It's fun to watch his excitement and interest in the world around him. These are a few of the things he has been introduced to lately. First...biter biscuits, Yummy!

I'll let you interpret that look.

Balloons, and more importantly balloon strings, Super Cool! The balloons were for my students' piano recital...happy to report they all did famously! I love my piano kids and wanted to get a picture of all of them, but was busy talking with parents and kinda forgot.

Pens. It's hard to see, but Mack managed to write on his face (on the right side of his mouth) You can't see it better because by the time I grabbed the camera his never-ending faucet of drool had washed most of it off.

FOOD!! Yes it's true. My little boy had his first experience with baby food this week. It was delicious sweet potatoes, one of my personal favorites. He has already had rice cereal a few times, but we didn't get a picture of that.

He LOVED it! Such a boy, all he cares about is his food.

And last but not least, he discovered Daddy's mouth! I think he is a little confused as to why Daddy is eating his hand, apparently it is only okay for Mack to eat his own hand.

This week was also a week of discoveries for Clint & DeeDee. We cleaned out our garage, which I've been begging Clint to do since March 2006, and found a treasure!

These are very cool "loops" that they give to the students leaving Dental School. Needless to say, Clint had never seen them and they were unopened, but we thought they were pretty funny. He obviously has a nice pair at the office, but decided to keep them for when he works on small objects, since that happens all of the time (wink, wink). Notice how the tip of Clint's nose is magnified...I thought that was funny!

Me being myself...a weirdo with big Eyes.

That's about it for the month of May. June is super busy too. Clint has a scuba diving trip. DeeDee is going to Utah and possibly Idaho and of course, we have lots of exploring to do with Mack around here. We sure do love this crazy life!

A Month's Worth of Memories

It seems the insanity of the last month has ended and I can finally update. A lot has happened in the last month. It started out with a little visit to see Clint's brother Scott and his wife Allison and new baby girl Madeline in Dallas, TX. Clint's sisters Andrea and Christy flew in from Boise and we had a fun family get together for Madeline's blessing. Baby Mack had a grand time meeting his extended family.

Baby Mack & Little Madeline playing on Madeline's floor-mat. Mack will grab a toy and never let it go, even if he is asleep!

The mommy's sporting the Moby's from our sweet Mother-In-Law. She is great & the Moby's are too! We wore them on our walk to the canal to see the turtles & the ducks. Mack got all tuckered out. Ya gotta love Madeline's bonnet!

Aunt Andrea & Aunt Christy holding the new babe's!

Uncle Scott, Aunt Allison, and Little Madeline on Madeline's blessing day.

We also went to visit Clint's best friend Tim who is in Nurse Anesthetist school in Dallas. He has a beautiful wife Melissa (who is expecting a little girl) and a little 18 month old boy, Cade. He is one tough boy, that kid is 28 lbs. of pure muscle!

Playin' with the dog Toby and Little Cade

This is in their backyard...isn't it gorgeous!

These are just some pictures of Mack in the past month that I love. It is crazy how big he is getting. As Ty Ellis, a little 5 year old boy in our ward puts it, "Mack's brains get bigger everyday".

I love those big blue eyes!

This is Clint's invention, and was Mack's favorite way to hang out for a while, straddling the pole of hid floor-mat. You can't see it, but he has barf down the front of his face. He doesn't seem to mind it too much.

All worn out from playing with his toys.

Mommy & Mack were dancing, boy was that fun!

Then over Memorial Day weekend we went camping past Goldwater Lake with some families in our ward. We had a grand ole' time and Mack did fantastic on his first camping trip. He is going to be one great Boy Scout!

Mack loves sucking on his lower lip!

He fell asleep on Brianna! Mack is absolutely into cuddling.

Lounging around the campfire. (Thanks Abby Stilson for the hat =) )


Part of the camping party!

The camping men. Glenn Stilson, Stacey Stine, and Clint

A family picture in front of the beautiful scenery. I think we could be the model family for Trailer Life magazine...we look a little trashy, but hey we'd been camping for 2 days!

So Long Sweets!

I have decided that I have been enjoying far too much of the "sweet stuff" in life and it is time to cut back. I have done this, might I add successfully, a couple of other times in my life for extended periods of time. I know it sounds cliche, but there really is a profound difference in how I feel and my energy levels, not too mention the pleasant side effect of fitting into my jeans comfortably. So I shall once again swear off the sweets for a while. This is not too say that an occasional (and yes I mean very occasional) special day that calls for a bite or two of a delectable dessert will be allowed, but I will exercise my self control and I'm sure Clint will be right there reminding me of my commitment as well. In addition...I have chosen to make my goal known to the world so as to create a little more accountability to people outside of well...myself. SO, this is it. I will be a changed woman, again!