Would you like a Spinal Tap with that?

So, this blog a day thing is Sara's gig, but she's really into some book on her kindle, so she asked me to write for her today.  A quick look through the pictures on the computer took me back to...

...In early May both Liam and Daisy were a little sick with some congestion and slight fevers, so we took them to the doctor to see if they needed antibiotics.  They said Liam just had a cold, but because Daisy was just under 8 weeks old they decided to do some blood tests, so I took Liam and our nephew Sam, who was staying with us to meet up with their grandma who graciously came to watch them while we tended to Daisy.

When Daisy's blood test came back with an elevated white blood cell count, the pediatrician decided to admitted her to the pediatric unit of the hospital (the pediatrician's office is on the 4th floor of the hospital).

One of the physicians wanted to run a spinal tap on her to make sure she didn't have meningitis, but the other tending pediatrician, who happened to be my old mission companion (Dr. Jesse Spencer) who I hadn't seen in 3 years decided we should try another test that could eliminate the need for the tap.  So they sent the test off, I caught up with Jesse between his rounds and then left Sara to settle into the hospital with Daisy for the a wonderful overnight stay at the hospital, with the accompanying oxygen, and bio-monitors.

After a stress-relieving test result and a good night sleep (for Daisy anyway, Sara didn't sleep because some neighboring kids in the pediatric unit were up all night crying) Daisy was looking a lot better and we transitioned from worrying for our baby to wondering how long it would be till we were discharged.

We were very thankful that Dr. Spencer had paid attention in school and that he was the ranking attending physician the night Daisy was admitted.  She avoided the spinal tap, and bounced right back to health.  It reminded us how lucky we are to have two healthy, happy kids.

May 2010 - Picture Overload

I promise this is only a small selection of pictures from May!  Next catch-up post... Liam's First Birthday!

First Spaghetti - May 2010 

I think he liked it!

Such a cute mess.

The tomato sauce ring around the bathtub after his bath
wasn't quite as cute.  

Riding the 4-wheeler with Great Grandpa Ross Rudd.

My sisters and I took a trip to Southern Utah.
We had a lot of fun, except the one night when
Liam and I slept in the truck because he
figured out how to stand up in the pack and play
and didn't want anyone to sleep through that.

Becca and Porter. Green River.

Me, Liam and Sam at Arches.

Cute Cousins

Happy to be with Aunt Megan!

Riding on the tractor with Grandpa Martell, a.k.a. playing with big dirt.

Playing in the "smaller" dirt with Sam.

We went on a field trip to the American West
Heritage Center with Uncle Ross and his
First Grade class.  Liam loved the animals.

Right after this picture, I walked around
the fence to get Sam off of a donkey (he climbed over the
fence right on to it) and looked back and the horse was
chewing on Liam's head.  He wasn't into cuddling with
her as much after that.

Megan went to the temple!  My first time at the Draper temple.
It was a beautiful day and fun to be in the temple with family, including
my Grandma Menlove.

One of Liam's favorite activities when we were
living with my parents was to play with the horses.
We visited them nearly ever day.  He still
gets to visit them with Great Grandpa Rudd but they
aren't as close to the house.

This kid has no fear!

One Space or Two?

I recently learned (via Facebook, of course) that I was out of the loop on my typing rules. Some time since sixth grade type class with Mr. Rowan (and ninth grade type with Mrs. Jessop - how many hours did we spend learning to type), the rules have changed. I no longer should type two spaces after a period. Lest you think I accept everything on Facebook as truth, I did some further research.

From Grammar Girl (http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/spaces-period-end-of-sentence.aspx):
Two Spaces After a Period--The Old Way

Here's the deal: Most typewriter fonts are what are called monospaced fonts. That means every character takes up the same amount of space. An "i" takes up as much space as an "m," for example. When using a monospaced font, where everything is the same width, it makes sense to type two spaces after a period at the end of a sentence to create a visual break. For that reason, people who learned to type on a typewriter were taught to put two spaces after a period at the end of a sentence. 

One Space After a Period--The New Way

But when you're typing on a computer, most fonts are proportional fonts, which means that characters are different widths. An "i" is more narrow than an "m," for example, and putting extra space between sentences doesn't do anything to improve readability.

Notice how in this example, the "i's" and "t" take up much less space in the proportional font than they do in the monospaced font.

Although how many spaces you use is ultimately a style choice, using one space is by far the most widely accepted and logical style. The Chicago Manual of Style (1), the AP Stylebook (2), and the Modern Language Association (3) all recommend using one space after a period at the end of a sentence. Furthermore, page designers have written in begging me to encourage people to use one space because if you send them a document with two spaces after the periods, they have to go in and take all the extra spaces out.

I know it's a hard habit to break if you were trained to use two spaces, but if you can, give one space a try

And from Slate (http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2011/01/space_invaders.html):

Every modern typographer agrees on the one-space rule. It's one of the canonical rules of the profession, in the same way that waiters know that the salad fork goes to the left of the dinner fork and fashion designers know to put men's shirt buttons on the right and women's on the left. Every major style guide—including the Modern Language Association Style Manual and the Chicago Manual of Style—prescribes a single space after a period. (The Publications Manual of the American Psychological Association, used widely in the social sciences, allows for two spaces in draft manuscripts but recommends one space in published work.) Most ordinary people would know the one-space rule, too, if it weren't for a quirk of history. In the middle of the last century, a now-outmoded technology—the manual typewriter—invaded the American workplace. To accommodate that machine's shortcomings, everyone began to type wrong. And even though we no longer use typewriters, we all still type like we do. (Also see the persistence of the dreaded Caps Lock key.)

I guess I'll be breaking a habit. Here's to one space. I'll let you know when I'm back up to my 100+ wpm with one space. I'm sure it will slow me down for a while.

Ketchup, Catsup, Catching Up - April 2010

I figure one post per month for the year plus I haven't blogged will do it.  Here are a few pictures from April 2010.  Liam was 11 months old.  Previously documented highlights of the month included Will's first visit to General Conference, visiting Auntie Kathy and Sheba in Albuquerque and a trip to Denver for a marathon major league sports day (the Rockies and the Avs).  

 

We went on an overnighter to Salt Lake to use a Marriott reward, swim at the pool and eat at the Melting Pot. 

Liam eating flowers.  He has since outgrown that habit.

I can't figure out an easy way to rotate pictures and I'm in jeopardy of just giving up on this post, so turn your head to see his cute grin.  It's crazy how tiny he seems.

Eating at the Melting Pot.  He was surprisingly well-behaved.

Getting ready to head to the pool.  He was (and still is) quite a water aficionado.

In grandma and grandpa's bath.  We miss it!

We also threw Jenny (my brother Ross' wife of now more than one year) a bridal shower in April.  It was a fun time - my sisters may never forgive me for insisting they help me make hundreds of bite-sized desserts.  I was a little over ambitious and that was even pre-Pinterest.  

Ross was clearly very excited!

And Jenny slightly skeptical (with reason).

Liam at 11 months - not walking, but pushing his wagon across the room.

 Well, that was April 2010.  Only about 15 more months to go.  Hopefully I can get through these catch-up posts pretty quickly.

Updated Babies

In August, my sister and I decided to take our kids (plus one cute cousin) to Kiddie Kandids to get my parents a picture of all their grandkids. It was very last minute, with clearance clothes from the mall and a lot of bribery. We ended up with some cute pics of them all, but none of them all together. Being the blessed mom I am, my kids were great and we got some cute ones of them. Cheesy, but cute.

Liam - 2 years, 3 months

Daisy Emma - 5 months

Four

Four years ago today, Will and I were married.  In some ways, it feels much longer.  In others, it feels like it's still just beginning.  I like both of those feelings.  In four years, we have:

bought one house

brought two children into the world

lived in three states

with four addresses 

loved five nieces and nephews (plus one on the way)

had six jobs

enjoyed kissing each other seven days a week

completed eight graduate courses (all Will)

spent nine months pregnant (twice)

flown to at least ten different states/territories.

What an adventure. I'm hesitant to say that I can't wait to see where the next year takes us because I'm already getting a taste for the stretching and learning we're going to experience. Not long ago, I told my sister that I wish that when I was single and hoping for a husband and a family that I would have believed it might have turned out this well. Will has helped me become a better person and loves me despite knowing each of my flaws. He has given me two precious children and is an amazing father.

Pictures from the amazing Tiana Simpson.

Blogging

About two weeks ago, I decided that November was going to be the month to revive the blog. I have had very successful NaBloPoMos (national blog posting month) in the past and really have been wanting to get back in the habit of documenting the goings on of our family. Like with everything, there must be opposition, and the past two weeks have provided that via a last minute trip to help family. Before I flew out ten days ago, I had started a nice list of what to blog about in November (I can't stop obsessing about how I need to post about Liam's first birthday before I post about his second but the thought of posting a month of year-old events is frustrating). Returning to the life I love one week later (rather than the planned on 48 hours), I can't find the list and am having a hard time finding the energy to post. There are so many things weighing on my mind that I'm not ready (and might not ever be ready) to put out there on the world wide web.  I am exhausted spiritually, mentally and physically.

This virtual world we live in is amazing. I love being able to keep caught up with friends and to be able to "see" people from the many phases of my life. However, right now, it feels so superficial. I had a heart-breaking, gut-wrenching week last week and everything else seems so trivial. I am at the same time filled with gratitude for the life I have and anxious about writing it down because life and love are so fragile. I want to document how awesome my life is, but don't want to take it for granted. 

I am going to blog every day in November. Yes, I missed the first. I could have changed the time on the post that was just after midnight on the second, but I didn't. I did come back today. That's a good thing.   

So, we had a baby.

In March. And, I really want to do NaBloPoMo this month. So, I'm going to. See you tomorrow.

April 2010 - Denver - Grandpa Bill

A bonus of our trip to Denver last April was that Bill was in town for work so we got to hang out with him!  We also got to hang out with Taylor, Marisha and Brynley, but I somehow have no pictures of that...

 

Liam had (and always has) a great time with his Grandpa Bill. It's amazing how young he is and how much he has changed in a year.  Wow.

April 2010 - Denver - Avs Game

After the mid-day Rockies game, we had tickets to the Avs in the evening.  Liam and I took a long nap and joined Will after the second period, but Liam loved the hockey game.  He entertained everyone around us with his clapping and squealing!

Sadly, his cute jersey is getting pretty tight.  Luckily we haven't needed it much this season - the Avs haven't had a great season...