Babysitter

Since the surgery I feel like I am the one being babysat-not Bentley. I feel pretty worthless and have spent much of the last 2 1/2 weeks being tended to. It's almost as though I am the one who can't be left alone, when really I am the mom.

Yesterday I spent the day in Rigby and Leann and Cameron "tended" Bentley and I while Chod went snowmobiling.I look forward to the day I can be left alone with my child.

Bentley's 1st Birthday

Today the little guy turned 1! We had a party and celebrated with cake and ice cream. The cake was a xylophone. There was a large attendance for this special event with lots of family. Grandma and Grandpa Parish, Karisa, Brent, Hudson, Grandma and Grandpa Stephens, Devon, Michaela, Bret, Amy, JJ, Kai, Ricky, and even Jolyn came up from Logan for the party.He had some help opening his gifts. Kai and Cameron were very quick at ripping open the packages, and Bentley was pretty good about sharing the goods with the other boys.We are thankful for everyone who made the drive for the party!

Finally Home

Phew. What a week.

It feels as though we have been on the go since....I don't really know when...before October.

We had dinner with Chod's family Christmas Eve and then drove to Burley that night. We stayed in Burley until yesterday afternoon, so I could be back for a doctor appointment.

In Burley Santa made his first visit ever to Bentley, who wasn't as excited with the wrapping paper as I had thought he would be. All of his gifts were hits though and he has enjoyed playing with them. We then spent the next three days being very lazy, although we did venture to Twin Falls on Tuesday and then had the Wilkins' shin dig on Wednesday. We watched a total of 4 movies: The Invicibles, Ice Age 2-The Meltdown, Akeelah and the Bee, and The Lake House; ate way too much, played one very long game of Cities and Knights, and lounged around in our new pj's.

We took down Christmas when we got home and then this morning bright and early we were off again.

Chod went snowmobiling with his dad, Devon and Michaela while Bentley and I hung out with Leann and Cameron in Rigby.

Now we are home and we have a somewhat messy house, piles of laundry and a birthday party that needs to be ready by 3 tomorrow afternoon.

(only 4 more weeks till I can lift)

Traditions

Santa comes tonight! I thought I would share a few of our families traditions before the big day arrives.

#1-Something to play with, something to wear, something to read. Before our first Christmas as a married couple, I went to a little Christmas workshop were one of the presenters shared how they always give those 3 things at Christmas. That way their Christmas is balanced with toys, clothes and books.

#2-Tamales-Growing up our neighbor would bring us homemade tamales Christmas Eve. It was the only time of the year we ate tamales and we looked forward to the delivery. Even though they aren't a homemade gift, I am trying to serve tamales each Christmas season.

#3-Chocolate milk-the only tradition Chod remembers from his Christmases growing up is that they always had chocolate milk Christmas morning. Easy enough--chocolate milk it is.

There are other traditions that I would like to bring into our family, but we have yet to do them.

Merry Christmas!

When the lights went out...

If the power goes out, where is your closest flashlight?

Don't ask Chod.

We were eating dinner and one of the couples in our party got a call from their kids saying the power had gone out. Chod worried that we would freeze to death, fretted over where the flashlights were, and was convinced we had no water.

I knew we had flashlights in the 72-hour kits in the front closet, one in the desk drawer, and plenty of water stashed to get us through a few days. The freezing to death part I wasn't too worried about because with 3 of us and all of the blankets in our house (plus it was only 24 degrees outside) we could make it.

The power was out for over 3 hours.

We learned that we probably should get some more candles, the 3 we had were nice, but more would be better. And our next FHE is going to orient the family where the emergency supplies are located--including the water!

Nobody Home

Yesterday, I slaved away in the kitchen making loaves of bread and little containers of honey butter to take to our neighbors and ward friends.

On our first outing in the early evening we only caught 2 of the 11 families home. After two more tries (for a total of 3) we still have one lone loaf who hasn't found a home. I'm wondering in a 4th trip is worth it or if we should enjoy it ourselves.

WWF in the Food Court

That's what you get with 2 boys and 1 Mrs. Powells cinnamon roll.

Yesterday Bentley and I joined Karisa and Hudson in their outing to Pocatello. We were along for the ride and it was a lot more work for Karisa than for me. We stopped for a treat in the mall and the boys must have been starving, because this cinnamon roll was very important to both of them, and either would have killed to get it.

Neither shares well and it was the funniest thing for me to watch as Karisa refereed.

She ended up with frosting on her face.

I wish I would have had my camera.

My little elf

Chod made a total elf of himself tonight-check him out here.

You too can be an elf.

Good Birthday

Today I turned the big 2-7. Before I know it I'll be reaching the milestone of 30.

It was a really good day. Past birthdays I would build up and then always be disappointed at the end of the day. But today that didn't happen. Maybe it was because there was no anticipation, maybe its because I have awesome friends and family, maybe its because I spent most of it on the couch...

Flowers, sweets, and meals were all delivered to me. The gifts came early this year and there was no wrapping paper, just a very low-key day spent with chatting with a friend and watching Chod take care of Bentley.

Maybe 30 won't be so bad!

Always a Party

I am so thankful for the help from my family this week. Mom came up Wednesday afternoon to help out and Chris drove Deidra up later that night (he went back to Logan that night) and she stayed till today-Mom went home Thursday. Karisa watched Bentley while I was at the surgery center. I don't know how we would have done it without all of you.

Mom and Dad came back up last night and so it was a family get-together minus Tameka.

Yesterday Karisa, Deidra and I (more them than me really) made holiday candies. Almond Joys, Peppermint Bark, Caramels, and Peanut Brittle. Karisa is a pro candy maker after a few seasons in at the Candy Cottage.

Thanks everyone for all the help!

Day 2 and HIPAA

Two days down, 40 to go. Bentley loves his mom and I think he really misses me holding him. This morning, bright and early he woke the rest of the house up when Grandma sat him on my lap for a little while. I asked her to take him when he started wiggling and it started hurting. I have never heard such a mad scream come out of that little person as when he was taken from his mom.

Today as I would pass by him he would stretch his arms out to me-but I couldn't do anything for him. Once when he fell down and started crying Grandma picked him up and he gave me the dirtiest look.

So yesterday as we were leaving the surgical center I read through my discharge instructions as Chod pulled out of the parking lot. On the bottom right was my patient info. including my birthday, social security, and other identifiable information. On the left side was the information for another patient that was not me.

His birthday, his social.

Not cool.

Today I called to notify them of this mistake.

The receptionist acted a little worried by my story and transferred me back to the nurses-the convo went a little like this:

"Can I help you?"

"Yesterday when I was discharged my sheet had my information on it as well as another patients."

She confirmed the other patient then said:

"Well we have blacked it out on our copy here in the office."

"But I still have all of his information, I am not planning on doing anything with it-but I am a little concerned that my information will be passed along to others."

"Well like I said we have marked out his information on our copy, so it has been taken care of."

Except that I still have this guys information and their response to my problem just makes me more upset by their stupid mistake.

Have they ever heard of HIPAA-have they ever heard of HIPAA fines?

I am not looking to get them in big trouble, but I would like the reassurance that my personal information is safe with them.

Tomorrow I am calling the administrative director to express my concerns.

Christmas Cards

If you haven't received your card from any of the following families, it should be on its way. I had a lot of fun designing these cards and hope you all have a Merry Christmas!

42 days

That's how long it I am supposed to go after my little surgery in the morning without lifting Bentley.

No putting him in his high chair

his crib

the bathtub

his carseat

No picking him up when he falls down

climbs behind the chair

starts crying.

Yeah, we will see about that.

Ready and Waiting

for Christmas. Gifts are bought, tree is up, house is decorated, music is playing and the cards are out and I still don't feel like it is almost Christmas. I don't know what is wrong with me but I swear it is the middle of October.

Hopefully the holiday bug bites me soon or this is going to be one of the least anticipated Christmas's ever.

Saturday Night Fever

The following is not for the faint of heart (or stomach) :


Last night we were visiting Chod's parents in Rigby. Just as we were finishing dinner I got sick. Sick as in mad dash to the bathroom. Within the next half an hour Chod had joined me in being sick.

Vomiting.

Diarrhea.

We were a sad case. Good thing we were at Grandma's house or Bentley would have been left to fend for himself. Its also a good thing we were at a location with more than 1 bathroom, and sometimes that wasn't enough.

For instance, I was in 1 bathroom and Cameron was in the other on the first floor. Chod knew he was going to throw-up and headed to the bathroom downstairs. Leaving a trail from the entry way, down the stairs, through the hall, and finally to the bathroom.

Nasty.

We weren't well enough to make the 40 minute drive home until about 11:00 this morning.

Needless to say we were not the best house guests, and we will completely understand if we are not welcome back at the Stephens' for a while.

Neither of us are feeling too hot right now, although it is more aches and general yuckiness than anything else.

Chod is convinced we have food poisoning. I can't figure out what we could have eaten to cause this, and besides I am taking that assumption as a direct slam to my cooking.

TheBus

Chod and I chose to use TheBus in Hawaii to get around instead of renting a car. This saved us money and a lot of arguments over which way to turn, road to take, etc. Like all mass transit systems we saw a lot of crazies, but for the most part we were able to sit back and take in the scenery as TheBus services the entire island of Oahu.

You can buy 4 day passes that are cards that you scratch the month and days off. On day 1 of the second pass (we were there for 7 days and used two passes) we went snorkeling. As were were walking to the bus I reached in the pocket of my shorts and pulled out my ticket and Chod asked me for his. I told him that I didn't have it.

Chod: "So where is it?"

Me: "I don't know."

He found it in the pocket of his board shorts in 5 pieces. It was very sad looking and I doubted it would get him on TheBus. He would hold it in both hands and show it to the drivers as we would board. In 3 days only 1 driver wouldn't let him on....something about it being a mess that he couldn't decipher.

And we're back!

Hawaii was nice. It was green and lush and warm. I missed Bentley most of the time we were there and couldn't wait to get home to him. Here's a few pictures we took. Chod really wants to post about the pineapples at Dole, so watch for that.
Yeah you should feel sorry for us cause while it was single digit temperatures here, we were hanging out in nice 84 degree weather having to look at stuff like this.
Chod in heaven with his Pineapple Split at Dole. The bottom is chunks of fresh pineapple with Dole Whip (frozen pineapple juice). After the first few bites it all tastes the same-like pineapple, but he loved it.

The Waimea Waterfall.

A cool bird at Waimea Audobon Center hanging out on the largest lily pad I have ever seen.
The World Surfing Championship was going on at Sunset Beach. The waves were monstrous-but they have been known to get 60' high-so this was nothing.
Watching the sunset at Sunset Beach (which is famous for its sunsets).
We got lei'd at the luau.

Dinner! The pig they lifted out of the pit.


Chod mimicking the tiki-kind of spooky.

Sunrise over Diamond Head.

We had lots of fun and I'm happy to be back home with Bentley. I am thankful for a sister and a mother-in-law that took good care of my baby.

I finally did it

2 years, 4 months, 3 weeks, and 6 days after we got married I finally changed my name to Stephens on my drivers license.

Preparing to Leave

As we leave for our little trip to the Pacific I have been planning and packing in my head and emotionally preparing to leave the little one. I laughed at Karisa when she had a hard time leaving Hudson for the first time. Now I have almost convinced myself that I would have a more enjoyable time with Bentley...almost.

Then I think about nap time in the middle of the Polynesian Cultural Center, packing him as we climb Diamond Head, or sitting on the beach with him as Chod goes snorkeling. As much as I love him and don't want to leave him I know that he will be in good hands with Aunt Karisa and Grandma Stephens and that Chod and I will have a more enjoyable trip if he stays here.

That doesn't make leaving him any easier. I love my baby.

Thanksgiving and Black Friday

I got up Thursday morning and started making rolls to take to Thanksgiving dinner. I could not figure out what I had done wrong, but they would not rise. The dough was tough and I didn't know what else to do but make a new batch. While batch #2 was rising I tried baking some rolls from batch #1. They puffed up like crazy in the oven and didn't taste too bad.

We ended up with lots of rolls.

We went to Rigby and enjoyed Thanksgiving with Larry, Leann, Cameron, Devon, Michaela and Tenille and Stuart (Michaela's siblings). Great food, great fun.

Friday we headed to Idaho Falls to take advantage of some after Thanksgiving bargains. We didn't find many but managed to push our way through Target and the mall. Contributing a total of $8 to Black Friday.

Cookie Monster x 2

My husband loves cookies, and I am learning that so does Bentley. This afternoon I made yummy pumpkin cookies that Emily shared on her blog and the recipe is so easy-peasy:

1 box spice cake
1 3/4 cup pumpkin
chocolate chips

Mix and bake at 350

Back to my story. Bentley loves cookies. He ate a couple after dinner and when I took him to the sink to wash his hands off he grabbed another off the counter.

Like father like son.

He did it!

My threat last night of letting Bentley cry when he woke up in the middle of the night must have worked cause he slept through the night!

No waking up, no crying. Nothing. Just a full nights sleep.

Security vs. Sanity

Tonight at dinner I was informing Bentley of the plan. The plan is that when Bentley wakes up at the normal 3 am time in the morning, we are letting him cry. This habit has got to be broken (especially before Aunt Karisa gets him next week) and tonight is the night it is all going to change.

I think his dad had a harder time with the idea than the little boy did because a while later Chod asked Bentley if he wanted to sleep in our bed tonight. I looked at him and he said "I don't want to make him cry. He needs to feel secure, and how will he feel secure when he is feeling abandoned when he is all alone crying tonight?"

mm mm Good

Lately Bentley has been smelling less like baby and more like a person. I miss the smell of baby lotion and still slather him in it, but by 10 am that yummy smell would disappear...until I bought the Target brand baby lotion. Much cheaper and in the middle of the afternoon I can still smell baby on him. I thought it was just me thinking I could still smell him until 5 people in the last week have commented on how good he smells late in the day.

Skip the Johnson's Baby Lotion and go for the Target stuff. Lovin it!

Super Heroes

Yesterday as my Friday babysitting kids were here the younger (4) said "Hey look!" As I turned around he ripped open his shirt (it was a snap up shirt) to reveal Superman underneath. Soon his pants were off and he was running around my house in his complete Superman outfit.

His older brother told me they were his pj's-not sure why he was wearing them under his clothes. But he did inform me that Kent Clark always has his superman costume on underneath his clothes.

Before long he opened his backpack-and produced a complete Batman outfit-bat ears and all. Batman was worn over the top of Superman.

Two super heores in one day running around my house.

Friday Night Date

Last night we went to dinner at Applebee's and ended our date at Sam's Club where we dropped a load of money on nothing fun.

There was a man eating alone at a table to the right of me who talked on his phone the entire meal. He talked loud and I listened. He had been staying at a FourSeasons hotel somewhere and in Idaho Falls they put him in a Motel 6-trash. He thought Applebees was low class, a glorified Denny's to be correct-but the worst part-He actually had to wait 20 minutes to even get in! He kept telling the person that we was talking to that people kept staring at him-they probably didn't know he was on the phone, but thought he was talking to himself, hicks.

I wanted to tap him on the shoulder and let him know that we really did know he was on the phone but thought it was rude that he was talking so loudly that we were all forced to re-live his day.

Then onto Sam's Club. I needed to use the restroom, I saw the Women's sign and headed in. To find urinals on my left. Whoa!

Yep I walked into the, lucky for me, vacant Men's room.

Gift Giving

I love buying presents. If I had an unlimited cash flow I would be busy right now filling my amazon.com shopping cart will all sorts of goodies for all of you. But truth be known, I don't. So instead I have been helping others find gifts for the ones they love. I would love to share what I have come up with, but that would ruin Christmas.

The hunt for just the right present is fun for me. Anyone can give a packet of hot chocolate in a mug with a candy cane, but that gets old year after year.

Blogger Beta

So I just switched to blogger beta. I was a little skeptical at first, but it does make it a lot easier to customize your blog. If you want to add links to the sidebar or change your text colors, then change!

Trickster

Taking a bath standing up. Never heard of it? Well that is how Bentley prefers to bathe these days. It makes for a difficult wash and an occasion slip resulting in splits but he is insistent. He pulls himself up to the side of the bath tub and then works his way along the side eventually making it to the faucet where he can see his reflection. He then will dance in the tub while holding onto the faucet until his mom ruins all of his fun.

Modern Conveniences

This morning as I have been doing a little housework I started thinking how thankful I am for modern conveniences in my home.

#1 Refrigerator:Long gone are the days of an ice box. Food keeps longer and the hassle of hauling and storing ice is history.

#2 Clothes Washer:As much as I dislike doing laundry it would be a lot worse if I had to take my washboard down to the stream to scrub clothes clean.

#3 Microwave:This little beauty allows me to not plan ahead when preparing meals. A quick trip to the microwave and food is defrosted, cooked, and reheated.

#4 Disposable diapers:Need I say more?

#5 Water heater:I love hot water.


Yep, there are lots of modern conveniences I am glad I have in my home that I take for granted quite often.

My Little Puppy

Bentley wants a puppy.

And until he gets one he is going to act like one.
Tonight he crawled around with a sock in his mouth. His dad does not think it is the least bit cute and does not like me laughing at him. He says I am training him to be a puppy.

When he can fetch and starts chewing on Chod's slippers I'll get worried. Until then every time he does this I am going to bug Chod about getting him a puppy.

See that little spot on his forehead? That is the result of Bentley's first fall producing blood.

Giggles and Kisses

What happens when Bentley is tired? He turns into a kissing fool.

We were in Burley the last couple of days as Chod went paintballing yesterday and we spent the night.

Last night Bentley was tired and so silly. He played games with Grandpa and giggled like crazy. He never grew tired of peek-a-boo and would laugh every time Grandpa would move Froggie.

Grandpa may have gotten the laughs, but Grandma and I got the kisses. Lots and lots of kisses. At first they were asked for and before long he was handing them out freely and then surprising us with them. Wet, slobbery and a little bit snotty kisses.

Not so early phone calls

Bentley didn't sleep very well last night. I'm not sure what was wrong but I finally went to bed at 5 the morning.

I woke up to the sun shining in the window and Chod was gone. As I was waking up and trying to decide what the time was the phone rings.

I picked it up and tried to use my awake voice.

It was a lady in the ward needing help printing some digital scrapbook pages. A few minutes on the phone and she asks if she woke me up.

"Not really, I was awake just hadn't made it out of bed."

I told her Bentley had a rough night, and I didn't even know what time it was.

"Oh, its 9:00."

How embarassing.

Christmas Cards

Our Christmas cards are made, now they just need to get printed (and written in, and addressed and mailed...). I would love to share how cute they turned out, but that would ruin the surprise when I mail them. Anyway they are cute! If anyone wants me to help them with theirs-I'd love to!

Baby Slobber

We are in line to check out at Cal-Ranch and Chod is helping Bentley pull Nibs off the shelf.

"Mom, look what Bentley did."

"Bentley, do you want some Nibs?"

Bentley gets excited and starts jumping for joy.

We buy the Nibs.

Stop at Keslers. I run in for a gallon of milk.

Get back in the car and notice a strong cherry aroma. Turn around to see my baby covered in cherry slobber and awkwardly chewing something.

"Did you give him a Nib?!"

"Yeah he wanted one."

"What if he chokes?"

"Then I'll have to save him."

Somewhat Nerdy

How bout you?

First Hair Cut

Bentley's hair has been getting nastier by the day. There are about 3 spots where the hair never fell out of and so it was super long. Both sides of his head and then the very top had crazy long hair. He could have easily had a comb-over. While we were in Burley Kandice was going to cut his hair, but when her kids ended up sick Bentley went without.

Yesterday morning before church Chod brought Bentley and some clippers into the kitchen and told me it was time for him to get his hair cut. Propped up on the bar school I held onto him and tried to cut his hair at the same time.

The results: mostly shorter hair with still a few stray long ones, but much better overall.

Paint can ruin brushes

Yesterday I helped Karisa at her wards enrichment where they were painting signs. By help I mean I washed out paintbrushes all morning long. Surely these people went to Homemakings back in the day, and surely they painted there. So why was 'clean out your brush and don't leave it to dry out on the table' such a difficult concept for them?

I do not know.

Jabberbox

Bentley is a little talker! While we were in Burley he would sit on my mom's lap and tell her all sorts of stories. Dad said that if he didn't know better he would think Bentley was Deidra's child (she has always been a talker).

Last night we got home and Bentley was in his high chair eating CornPops and Chod asked, "When did Bentley start saying Pattycake?" I told him that he doesn't say pattycake. Then I stopped and looked, there was Bentley sitting clapping his hands together saying "patacake, patacake."

I kid you not.

H-A-Double L-O-W-Double E-N

Spells Halloween!

Bentley's first Halloween has been very uneventful. In fact he doesn't even know something special should be going on right now. We are still in Burley and the poor guy doesn't feel good. He has 3 teeth trying to break through and a yucky nose and everything else that goes with that. So we decided not to take him out-it is nasty out there. Right now he is in his jammies cuddling with Grandma, Chod is watching NOVA, Tameka is on the phone with her boy and there hasn't been a single Trick-or-Treater.

Yep, he doesn't know he is missing anything, but in about 12 years I will probably hear how I am a bad mother cause I didn't dress him up and take him begging for candy.

Oh well we are all much happier this way

Pumpkin

Today we bought a pumpkin and took some pictures. I didn't think they would turn out too well cause he was sound asleep when we got there. Apparently Bentley does pretty well from cat naps cause he was so happy the entire time. Was only going to share a couple but I couldn't decide which ones, so here you go. I love his eyes in the last one!






Wardrobe by Hudson.

Biter

Bentley better be getting some top teeth cause he has been chewing on everything he can wrap his mouth around. Including his mom. Today I was sitting on the floor and he clamped his mouth on the arch of my foot. I pulled him off and he went straight for my knee and bit down again.

He should be a vampire for Halloween

So close

Mom is having a much better day today. Up at 5:30, she was showered, dressed and had gone on 2 walks when I talked to her at 8. The doctor came in and said she was good to go. She was excited to finally be leaving. Then he came back in and said he had looked at her most recent CT and noticed a basal spasm. So, 2 more days in the hospital for her. The doc said that he didn't think it would be a problem, but wouldn't be able to sleep if he had sent her home.

She is tired of being in the hospital, tired of the bed, tired of the same scenery on her walks. She must be feeling much better because she has never complained of these things until today-guess that is a good sign.

Hopefully Sunday she will be home, for good.

Snuggles and Snot

My little guy has had a yucky nose. He has also been really snuggly, which is nice even if snuggling with him leaves a snotty mess all over my shirt. I am on shirt #3 for this very reason. I feel bad that he doesn't feel good (and hoping it is only a cold and not an ear infection like Taylor) but it has been a while since he would let me hold him and he would cuddle up to me. Lately he has been pushing me a way like a teenager.

When he was a newborn people would tell me to enjoy every night he was awake with reflux just needing to be held cause it wouldn't last very long. I didn't realize not very long meant only a couple of months. It was nice last night to rock with him on my shoulder making baby noises, even if it meant no sleep for me.

Love that little guy.

Update and Tanget

First an update on Mom. I talked to her around 2 and she said that she still had a long way to go but was feeling better. She had taken 6 laps around the nurses station (3 at a time) and the last 3 were much easier than the earlier ones. They have unhooked her from the IVs and oxygen. She is still hooked up to a blood pressure cuff-but that is it. They cut her morphine doses in half and she wasn't sure how she felt about that yet. She is hoping that they move her out of ICU soon and give her a normal room with a phone and a shower!

And now my feelings about dryer sheets. I like Bounce. I bought the Sam's Club brand because they were cheaper. Twice as many for less $$. They stink. I mean really, they stink. There is an unconditional gaurantee on them that if I am not satisfied for any reason I can return them and they will give me my money back. That would require a trip to Idaho Falls to return 400 dryer sheets and get $4 back. Think I may be better off just running to the store and buying some Bounce sheets. If there is anyone who doesn't care about the smell of dryer sheets I have a heck of a lot of these sitting here either heading to the garbage or to who ever wants them.

on your mark, get set, GO!

What's the fastest way to get the family together? Have Dad call the girls, tell them their mom is being life flighted to SLC because there is bleeding on her brain-and that there is no reason for them to go.

Yep, that is what happened Friday night. Dad called to tell us that Mom had had a super bad headache, was nauseuos and had a sore neck. She asked him to take her to the hospital and she was soon on a helicopter on her way to the LDS Hospital. They didn't know much at that point, but did know that there was bleeding on the brain.

The sisters called each other crying, scared and needing to be together. Soon they were on their way with families in tow. It is a scary thing when you think you may be losing your mom, the person who keeps us all together.

Not only did we go, but we went prepared.

Deid and Chris were the first there. They saw a sleepy Mom at the hospital and were told she was going to be going in for tests, so they found a couple of hotel rooms. The Stephens and Hillmans arrived at about 1:45 am, Dad and Tameka got to the hospital around 3:30 and to the hotel around 4.

We were still worried, but felt so much better that we were together. Saturday morning we showed up at the Shock and Trauma ICU to find a very sleepy Mom. We learn that the bleeding has stopped and they are mainly monitoring her. She had many tests ran, quite a few MRIs, and dye tests. We also learn that blood is very irritating to the brain tissues, which is causing the thunderclap of a headache and making her neck very stiff.

When the nurse asked Mom a question she replied, "I don't know-I'm on drugs." He asked, "You use?" "No you are giving them to me!"

We celebrated Tameka's 18th birthday (a day late) at Hires with Big H burgers, fries, rootbeer and a white-chocolate mousse birthday cake that was still amazingly solid.

Last night we condensed from 2 hotel rooms to 1. Mainly because we didn't know what our plans were, but had kept 1 room from the night before to serve at home base. Yeah, count em-10 bodies in 1 hotel room. Eight adults and 2 chidren. Wondering how we did that? First off we had a handicap room, which was larger than a normal room, with 2 queen beds. Second, Deidra and Chris had packed their airmattress. Thirdly, Tameka spotted an open room in the hotel where they store the cots, so her and Chod borrowed a couple for the night. Fourth the hotel provided 2 cribs for the boys. Sounds packed but we even had a pathway to the door in case of a fire. We were all so tired that no one was bothered by snoring, although Bentley kept reminding people he was still there. Is it really legal to sleep 10 to a room, we don't know. Does Crystal Inn have a photo of Chod posted for taking cots without permission, we don't know that either. But we do know that we were all together, husbands and all. We all dropped everything and headed to SLC when we got the call. Sleeping babies were jerked out of bed and bags were packed in a hurry. We joked that this could be a new game we play. In the middle of the night we call with a destination and see who can get their the fastest. I hope Mom realizes how much she is loved, because we wouldn't do that for just anyone.

Mom's head still hurts, but she has morphine to help dull the pain and she is really tired as she is trying to recover. They still have her hooked up to all sorts of tubes and are keeping her there for about a week to monitor her and make sure things are okay. This is somewhat of a freak thing, although common enough that they know exactly what is going on. Hopefully in a few days she will be moved from ICU and into a normal room.

We love our mom and are glad that we still have her with us.

Christmas Sneak Peak

Bentley has taken a liking to standing behind and pushing a box around our kitchen. Which is why I am so happy that I bought this for him for Christmas! 66 Days til Christmas!!

Air Pockets

When we were dating and first married Chod would wear light jackets all year long. In the middle of Logan's inversions he would don his windbreaker and head across campus. When asked if he was cold, he alway replied, "Naw, I have air pockets." Apparentley the air pockets provided a layer of insulation that would keep him unsuspectingly warm.

I have bought him a few coats because watching him in the jackets makes me cold. And deep down I think he likes them, although he insists that he fine without them.

We must have left the air pockets in Logan because he is now wearing coats and says he freezes.

Crawling=Tired Boy

Since Bentley has started cruising around on all fours he has been sleeping a lot more. He wakes up in the morning, eats breakfast, crawls around for about 20 minutes, and is then ready for a nap. This pattern of sleeping, eating, crawling, sleeping continues all day. I am loving the time during the day to myself, but I think I am only getting it so I can pick up after him while he is sleeping.

He is a little cruiser and loves to explore our apartment. His favorite things are:

a) chewing on electrical cords
b) running his hands down the vents, not sure if it is the sound or the feel of it-but he finds it very entertaining
c) crawling under the coffee table, sitting up while under it and whacking his head-not necessarily a favorite but one of the most common occurances during the day
d) himself up and whatever piece of furniture is nearby, he's a wobbly stander but thinks he is the king of the world while standing

And I am loving how tired crawling makes him.

Mohonri Moreacumer Bishop and Bentley

Chod's Grandpa Bishop past away last week and the funeral was yesterday. All week I had been looking for this photo I knew I had taken of him and Bentley when Bentley was just a few weeks old. I hadn't been able to find it and had given up. I was really sad because it is the only photo of the 2 of them together. Last time we visited Grandpa he was holding Bentley and asked me to take a picture of them, but I didn't have my camera. Thankfully Chod found it hiding in a place I had looked at least 3 times. Why does it always seem to work like that?

One big hassle

When I had Bentley I not only got a precious little boy to bring home, but I also brought home a hernia right above my belly button. In the days after I came home from the hospital I would ask Chod if that bump felt normal, he would say no and I would ignore it and life would go on.

Nine months later and that bump is still there. I've met with my doctor, met with a surgeon, had an unltra-sound (not as much fun seeing a hernia as it is a baby, btw), and today I get to go back to the surgeon. Now I remember why I have put it off for so long. Its a hassle.

Last time the surgeon said that it would be elective surgery, so I could pick when and where I want to have it done. He also said it would be a 6 week recovery-meaning no lifting Bentley for 6 weeks! HA! How is that going to work?

If anyone has an idea how I can not lift Bentley into the bathtub, his bed, his highchair, his carseat, or off the floor for 6 weeks please let me know.

Keen Sense of Smell

I was blessed (or cursed) with an exceptional sense of smell. For reals I should be a bloodhound. When I took plant pathology I worked with different bacteria that caused vegetables to rot. I can smell and detect what is bad in my fridge from the other side of the apartment when Chod's opens the fridge to take out the milk. Seriously.

When we got home from SLC for days I would say, "Our house stinks." Chod couldn't smell it, and whenever I would say this he would look at me like I was a crazy lady. I cleaned out the fridge and didn't find anything there, took out the empty garbages just in case and it still stunk. Karisa came over and I asked her if it stunk-she couldn't smell it. It was driving me crazy.

The seal on the bottom of our front door has come off in a few places and upon our arrival Friday morning we found that worms had escaped the rain by making themselves at home. We found a bunch dead and shriveled by the front door, some under Bentley's bed, a live one in the bathroom.

I was telling Dad about our worm invasion and he said, "That's gross! Worms stink!" AHA! I wasn't crazy, now that the worm corspes have been taken care of our house no longer stinks. I did find another one in Bentley's closet today, but I am hoping that was the last one.

Time for some new weather stripping I do believe.

Yoga Master

Bentleys loves doing downward facing dog! He is so funny and spends considerable time in this pose every day.

Snazzy Jammies Post #2

You'd think I'd learn! Saturday Bentley went to Grandma and Grandpa Stephens' while we went to the temple. On the way out of the temple I mentioned to Chod how I had forgotten to pack him a pair of pj's. Chod commented that we still had the last pair he had worn home (see Hudson's fancy jammie post) and he doubted his mom had another pair to put him in.

Well he was wrong as you can see! I honestly don't know where she keeps these, but Larry said Chod had probably worn them. They look a little loved, and Bentley was loving them. I wonder how many more pairs there are.

We're back!

We had a good time in Salt Lake. I got the shopping done I was planning on doing, Chod enjoyed OnTarget and I think Bentley even had a good time being hauled around and in and out of his carseat.

Hudson and Karisa came and spent a few days with us, so whenever Huddy is nearby Bentley is content. I still can't believe how much those 2 little guys love each other. And they feed off of each other, one starts jabbering-the other joins in. Its this way with talking, singing, crying, or laughing.

Karisa and I spent some time at Gardner's Village and left knowing we were talented enough to do alot of the stuff we saw there, so we didn't buy a single thing. We threw around the idea of opening a store like those some where in Eastern Idaho. The more I think about it the more I think we should do it. If only I knew where to begin.

Leann, Cameron, Bentley and I spent an evening at the Gateway. It was a nice night and we strolled along window shopping and stopped to watch the water show.

We went to Market Square, found some deals.

Spent some time at Taiwan Imports and Tai'pan Trading. Saw some cute Christmas trees and we are both inspired to re-do ours. Lack of funds and tired boys put a pause on that. Maybe we should go back after Christmas and see if we can get stuff on sale.


Bentley spent some time in the pool with his dad. He seemed to like it-although we was pretty tired both times so didn't last long.

Yep it was a good week, but I think Bentley is glad to be home to his own bed, own bath and room to crawl.

Good TImes

Some funny things have been said this week, so funny I thought I should share them.

Funny Moment #1

Tuesday night in the Atrium of the hotel we were enjoying their complementary drinks and popcorn with Larry, Leann and Cameron. Chod asked Cameron what he was drinking-rootbeer. Chod tells him that next time he gets a drink he should ask for a Shirley Temple.
Leann tells Cameron in a frustrated tone that Chod is kidding and that he should not drink a Shirley Temple.

Larry, Chod and I all look at her in bewilderment.

Larry says, "A Shirley Temple is 7-up with a cherry in it."

Apparentley she thought Chod was trying to get Cameron to ask for an acoholic drink. She then told him it would be okay for him to drink a Shirley Temple.

Funney Moment #3

We are in bed and Chod is telling me how much he prefers feather pillows over poly-filled foam pillows. I say I don't care either way.

"But you sleep with a feather pillow."

"No, I sleep with a foam pillow."

"No you don't"

"Yes I do."

"I'll bet you money."

"Okay! Why are are you arguing with me over which kind of pillow I sleep with?"

He lost $150 on that. I used to sleep with a feather pillow, but switched when I was pregnant and Chod never noticed.

Funny Moment #3

I was telling Karisa how one of my friends husband is in the military and he gets deported for 6 months at a time. Instead of deployed I said deported she found it super funny.

Low budget TV

8 years ago I graduated from high school. 6 months ago we moved. 6 months ago I noticed that Southern Idaho's news broadcasts haven't change much in the last 8 years.

Channel 8 still has Jay Hilderbrandt and Karol Honas, Jay still does Wednesday's Child every Wednesday night.

Other stations are so low budget that they only can afford 1 person on air at a time. It is sad. SLC stations have helicopters.

In the past months I have laughed at the unprofessional broadcasts. This morning I remember why I laugh. SLC has a much larger viewer base than Southern Idaho, but seriously it is bad.

I have missed my 2 News crew and my morning with Good Things Utah. Looks like I will have to enjoy them while I am here for the next few days. Friday it is back to Doug Iverson as my weatherman.

Packing Problems

Chod is infamous for being a lousy packer. I am not sure if this is intentional or if it is real that he forgets crucial items every time we leave the house.

On a trip to California he forgot his swimsuit. Bought a new one

Honeymoon to Victoria-didn't bring a jacket. Bought a new one.

Visit to Burley-didn't bring a shirt. Bought a new one.

Are you seeing a pattern? I am. This weekend I went to Burley on Friday and he came on Saturday. I asked if he would like me to pack for him. He said that he could handle it, but that I should lay out his clothes for family pictures just to be sure. I did.

Saturday evening as they were getting ready for the priesthood session Chod realized that he hadn't packed a white shirt and tie, or even different shoes. He was wearing his nasty work shoes. Sheesh.

Today we are getting ready to head to SLC. Chod was worried about packing this morning before he left for work. I assured him that I could pack for him. Now the pressure is on me. If I forget something of his I will never live it down.

But as for my suitcase-I'm thinking about leaving it empty and then I will be forced to buy new clothes while I am there!

Rice Milk and Roomates

I had some pretty crazy roommates while I was in (and out) of school. I lived with partiers, pill poppers, vitamin addicts, and hermits-pretty much I've lived with em all.

Every time I'm at the grocery store and pass the rice milk I am reminded of one of my favorites. Teresa Eagan. This girl was a riot. She was the cutest thing and in school for one purpose-to get married. And she wasn't shy about telling people her reason for being there. She had been to Ricks, BYU Hawaii, BYU Jerusalem and was now at USU still looking for that perfect guy. She took classes like family finance, country swing, and eternal marriage (institute).

She was cute, fun, sweet, but boy did she have a whacko idea of medicine. She went to an herbalist instead of a doctor. This guy had her taking 72 vitamins a day (not kidding), she drank silver water or rice milk, and he said she could only eat brown rice, ostrich or buffalo meat, and lettuce. Apparently she had toxins she needed to get rid of. She began the school year weighing 104 lbs and lost close to 20 lbs in the process of getting rid of the toxins. She then decided something wasn't right with this diet and broke out the Snickers she had been hiding in her closet.

She was a cosmotologist, so often cut hair (guys) for free in our kitchen, washed her face with dishsoap and watered her plants every time she took a drink. We would stay up late at night talking and laughing. She insisted on driving me up the hill to my 7:30 class 3 mornings a week. She would wear her pjs and heels to do so. Just thinking about her makes me laugh.

I loved Teresa. She married a man in the military and they are stationed somewhere in the south. I haven't talked to her for years. But I doubt I will ever see a carton of Rice Dream without thinking of her.

A very good thing

just became a very bad thing. For our wedding (over 2 years ago now) we received a 2lb. container of honey roasted peanuts with some games and other party stuffs. I really like honey roasted peanuts. I know they are not good for me, so for the last 2 years they have sat in our food storage unopened.

I saw them taking up space in the pantry, space that is in high demand since we moved a storage room into a closet. I thought, hmm these are 2 years old and have probably gone rancid. If they are rancid I can throw them away and use that space. So as I am opening them I tell Chod, "if they are nasty I'm going to be happy to have that room-if they aren't nasty I have a problem."

Well they weren't rancid. (How did they last over 2 years in our possession, who knows how old they were before we got them, without going rancid?)

So now I have a problem. But I think Chod may have a bigger problem. He likes them too.

I am going to hide them on the back of a shelf and hope I forget about them until we 1)have a party and can break them out or 2)I forget about them so long that they are rancid and I can then throw them away.

I know what you are thinking. Just throw them away now and save the hassle! But Chod and I both come from long lines of savers.

We have Wilma, JoAnn and Hon blood pumping through our veins.

Grandma Parish had a newspaper for every day piled in her house. And I remember sneaking weevil infested food out of Grandma Wilkins house to make mud pies with.
Grandpa Bishop has a collection of non-working toilets, just in case he may need one some day.

Poor Bentley is doomed.

My Day

It was a rough day.

1:30
Hudson is finishing his nap,just as Bentley is supposed to be beginning his. Bentley thinks he is pretty cool and the last few times I have put him down for a nap I walk past his room a few minutes later to find him sitting up clapping. Clapping is his new talent,and he is pretty good at it. But a clapping baby is not a sleeping baby.

3:00
1 with a nap 1 without and we leave the house.

A friend from the ward invited me over, so the 3 of us make the trek of about 4 blocks (city blocks). Hudson still wasn't fully awake and a little on the grumpy side. He only pushed the little girl a few times and stole her sippy cup once or twice. When it started to get ugly we picked up toys and came home.

4:36
We return home. Bentley falls asleep 45 seconds after I give him his bottle. Off to bed for him. A late nap, but a much needed one.

5:15
Hudson wants a gummy bear. I tell him he can have one if he will be good. I ask if he wants one, he nods yes. I ask if he will be good, he shakes his head no and walks away.

6:00
Put Bentley in his high chair and start feeding him dinner. Time to put Hudson in his chair. Find him in my bedroom with the right hand pulling potting soil out of the diffenbachia and throwing it in the chair and on the floor.

6:04 Hudson is in his chair. Potting soil mess untouched.

6:08 Hudson is not eating. Instead mashed potatoes are being squished through fingers and onto the table and floor.

6:15
Bentley is still eating and Hudson is in his chair still, mainly because I am not ready to deal with that mess. He continues to play in the potatoes.

6:42
Hudson with hands and face washed tries to help clean up the mess under the table. Takes a dish cloth and wipes up mashed potatoes. Then walks to the oven door and wips it off-smearing potato starch on the glass door.

7:20
Hudson takes the pages out of his tractor picture book and tears the pictures off the pages.

7:45
Chod gets home. We eat dinner with Hudson climbing on my lap and finishing off my plate.

8:10
We have FHE.
Chod entertains the boys by juggling (okay he can't juggle but they think throwing 2 objects up in the air and catching them is pretty cool).

8:20
Boys in the tub. We blow bubbles while they are in the tub, but Hudson has more fun throwing the bath toys on the floor.

8:45
Boys in bed.

9:30
Dishes done.

10:00
Toys picked up

10:30
Start blogging

11:00
Potting soil still in bedroom and potato starch still on the oven door and a puddle of water around the bathtub.

Tomorrow should be a better day.

P.S. It usually isn't this bad. Maybe we all needed a late afternoon nap.

Brown Sugar

"Why is Bentley eating brown sugar?"

"He isn't."

"Oh, what is it then?"

"Zucchini bread."

Seriously what kind of mother does he think I am? One that sits her child in a high chair and throws him a 1/2 cup of brown sugar for a snack apparently.

A pile of zucchini bread crumbs does look a little like brown sugar, so I guess I'll let it slide this once.

Bumps and Bruises

We are black and blue.

Yesterday I stubbed my toe on a kitchen chair. It hurt, I swore, and the day went on. When Chod came home and I was telling him that I broke my toe. I took my shoe off to prove it. It was black and blue. I knew it had hurt but didn't think I had really broke it. But there is was, a black and blue swollen little toe. This morning it was a nice magenta (for real) and black.

This morning Bentley was in the tub. On his way to reach for the yellow frog (it is his favorite), he reached a little far, toppled over and hit his head on the tub. He hit right on his left eyebrow. He immediately got a puffy eye and it has started to turn colors. Maybe this will be his first shiner.

Chod better be careful. He is next.

Late Night Cache-ing

Since the Wilkins Reunion we have been planning on going GeoCacheing. Chod never seems to get home before dark, so we haven't gone. Last night he got home at just about dark, by the timewe loaded Bentley up and were on the road it was dark.

We quickly learned that it is a lot harder to find a little box in the dark. Bentley was only good for one cache (which we did not officially locate) and then started crying. He cried until we pulled into the driveway-at this point he was sound asleep.

If you decide to go hunting caches after dark take a flashlight!

Shopping

Saturday we went shopping. We didn't get what we went for, but Bentley came home with some unplanned purchases. See the thing is that Chod likes to buy Bentley stuff. Chod maybe the one buying but he lets Bentley pick out what he wants. If you walk passed something and Bentley grabs it, it means he wants it. Chod thought Bentley needed new pjs so we spent probably a good hour letting him choose the ones he wanted. Chod would hold up 2 and whichever one Bentley grabbed or looked at, those were the ones he got. What is really funny about the whole thing is that there was this one pair (not the cutest ones there) that he would choose over any other. I would say something like "There are cuter ones." Chod would explain "But these are the ones he wants."

Mom won that battle and Bentley had to settle for his less than favorite pair, but boy is he cute in them!

"bababaMaMaMababa"

This last week Bentley has become a little jabberbox. Most of the day he spends singing "bababababa" and even when he isn't making sounds he is still mouthing it. It is pretty cute. Well last night he was in the bathtub baba-ing away when in the middle of his song he said "MaMaMa". I swear it really happened. It was only for a brief moment but I heard it and Chod heard it.

For the rest of his waking moments and this morning before Chod left for work all Bentley heard as "DaDaDaDa". There may be some jealousy in the house.

Fantasy Football

Next year when chrishartwell.com is sending out invitations for fantasy football he better leave Chod off the list. Every weekend is filled with whining of how his team totally sucks. Blah, blah, blah. I know it is all because of the draft picks and that Bentley ended up with a lot better team than him, and that his players always let him down, but there is nothing I can do for him. It is only week 2 and I have heard enough. Its a game honey, let go.

And Chris I am serious-Chod is not playing next year so please don't even tempt him.

Respect and Vegetables

What another yucky day. I should make cinnamon rolls, light a fire in the fireplace and curl up with a good book. Oh, that's right we don't have a fireplace, I don't have time to make cinnamon rolls and I haven't read a good book* for quite a while.

This afternoon I was at the store in line to check out when the spookiest lady started talking to Bentley. I turned around and she was or-range. Spooky. It was about an inch of makeup gone way wrong.

Tonight the Groveland Roast Beast Feast was packed. There wasn't enough table space for everyone, so you shoved your face as fast as possible and got out of there so people could have a place to eat. Chod was in Minidoka county so Bentley and I went. I think I am getting to know quite a few people in the ward now.

It is time for Bentley to change carseats. I am not nearly as excited to shop for these as I was for the carriers when I was pregnant, but I do not think it is fair to cram him into the little seat anymore. We are off to get him a new one. Lucky little guy.

*The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands was a good book, just not a curl up by the fire for an entertaining read kind of book, if you know what I mean.

Hellian update

So I know you are all dying to know how my Friday with the "hellians" went. Well when Grandma showed up 15 minutes early to drop them off I was a little annoyed (15 minutes early every week and pretty soon they would be here for hours). It was raining and she was worried about driving to Idaho Falls.

The boys were much better behaved today. In fact they were about 200 times better this week than last. Maybe my telling Grandma that they were awful last week prompted her to threathen them both with their lives. Besides lifting my blinds and pointing out every dead insect sitting in my window sill they were great.

And their dad showed up only 45 minutes after they got here. If every week is like this one it may not be too bad after all.

Autumn

It looks like fall has arrived. It is mighty chilly outside to day with a little wind and some rain added in--brrr. The weather says it should get up to 73 today, but by 12:30 has barely reached 57. This implies the end of summer. I am sad to see it go, but excited for fall (and the fun things we have planned for it) to get here.

Saturday our ward is having their annual Roast Beast Feast. They roast a pork and have some beef and the whole Groveland area comes. That should be fun. The first week in October Chod has meetings in SLC so Bentley and I are going to tag along and spend our days swimming and shopping. Then there is the Stupid Super Saturday. I think I want to have a Witches Night Out like Mom did last year. Halloween, Thanksgiving and the HAWAII! Christmas will be here before I know it.

Tacky Craft Projects

At the planning meeting for our wards Super Saturday I saw more tacky projects crammed in a little room than, well than should be legal.

Tile boards, polar fleece pillows, picture frames decorated with rocks, candle sticks made by drilling a hole in a log, stuffed animals dipped in wax-yeah you read that right.

They asked if I was planning on making anything

"Nope."

Opposed to Change

Yesterday I worked hard to make our home a more friendly place, by cleaning, rearranging and decorating. I thought it looked great.

Chod came home and was in a grumpy mood. I wasn't sure if this was due to a bad day at work, or what. Finally around 11 pm and after a lot of quizzing/guessing he told me that he doesn't like things to be moved. I asked why and he replied, "How will I know where to sit?"

I didn't know that by scooting the couch a little to the left I would be turning his world upside down.

9/11

Five year ago on this day I was getting ready for my 7:30 class when Corrine comes out of her room. Back then Corrine was never seen at this time of the day, so this in itself was very odd. She was muttering something like "Holy shit, holy shit turn the TV on." So I did as I was asking her what was going on. She said her mom had just called-and then we both saw the second plane hit. We had no idea what was going on and the people on TV seemed unsure as well. I watched for a few more minutes and then headed up the hill, still not really knowing what was going on, or what the fate of that day might bring.

My schedule was crazy that semester-back to back classes until 11:30. In my last class of the morning I was amazed that people still hadn't heard of the attacks-the news was on every television on campus. People crowded around each TV watching for hours in disbelief.

After school and work I went home and watched TV until late into the night. I don't know how many hours of TV I watched that week-I just couldn't get enough.

What I still remember is how this day brought out the best in so many people. For a little while our country was really united.

Now five years later I am tired of all the 9/11 stuff they keep showing and talking about. I know it was a huge tragedy, and a lot of lives were lost then, but when are we going to move on. On Good Morning America this morning they interviewed a man that lost his wife in the attacks. He said that although he appreciates the memorials every year and all the support that is shown it is really hard for him. He compared it to losing your wife in a car accident and then every year being shown the wreck over and over.

I only left the TV on for a few minutes this morning, and as long as there is 9/11 talk on it I am leaving it off.

There they are!

This morning I decided it was time for a little rearranging. I wasn't happy with how any room in my house is set up. Guess that is what happens when you have a lot of help when you move (I'm thankful I had so much help, don't get me wrong) but my front room is still arrange the way my dad put it the day we moved in. And he placed the sofa and loveseat around piles of boxes. It was time for a change.

I started in our bedroom-the biggest mess of them all. As I was condensing piles and trying to hide as much as possible in our closet I picked up my large suitcase. It was heavy! What in the world could be in here I thought. As I unzipped it I saw jeans-lots of jeans-14 pair to be exact, 2 pairs of khakis, 1 pair of grey slacks, and 3 pairs of track pants! I now remember packing them in there when we moved-almost 6 moths ago.

In the last few weeks I have been wondering why I have no clothes. Little did I know that 20 pairs of pants were hiding in the suitcase taking up more than its share of our bedroom. Some of the jeans were lab jeans and can be turned into denim squares for a quilt since they have acid holes in them, but still that is a lot of clothes to be missing for almost 6 months.

Now if only I can find a hidden stash of tops my clothing problem will be solved!

It's Fish

Tonight we met the Hillman's for dinner at Wingers. What a fiasco. The waiting area was packed with people and only 2 of their tables were being used. They weren't seating people. I don't know if the host was new or what the deal was. After waiting for 20 minutes for a seat and watching a lot of people walk in, see the line, and then leave and complaining with others waiting about how ridiculous it was-we were seated.

When I gave them our name for the waiting list I told them we had 4 adults and needed 2 high chairs. They seated us and I asked for high chairs, "Um I don't think I can bring high chairs over here" she told us, "Let me go check." As the waitress was taking our orders the girl comes back, "I am going to have to move you to a different table if you really want high chairs." We decide it would be too big of a hassle (we had our drinks, popcorn, and children we would have had to haul across the restraunt). I had told them we needed 2 high chairs and watched her write it down next to our name-not like it was some surprise I pulled on her.

When it was my turn to order I asked if their Blackened Tilapia was any good."It's fish." I was told. I said "I know, but how is it cooked?" "It is fried on the grill with blackening seasoning if you like that." Fried? on the grill...interesting.

I ordered it, it was fine. As we were just starting our meals another girl comes out and asks us if we would like to move to the next table because that light works-the one above our table doesn't. No thanks we will just stay put.

Before we left the manager did come out and give us coupons for free asphault pie on our next vist, if there is a next visit.

Service or Stupid?

I have babysat my fair share of kids-some not the best behaved. Today I watched 2 that could be the worst by far, and I don't know how to get out of it.

Here's the deal. Their mom and dad are both school teachers. Grandma and Grandpa watch them while Mom and Dad are at school. Grandma and Grandpa are temple workers and have to leave for Idaho Falls at 2:50 every Friday. Mom doesn't get done with school until 4:00. Which leaves about 1 hour every Friday that someone needs to watch them. That's where I come in.

Today when Grandma brought them they were not shy. They started opening cupboards and running into rooms. When the oldest opened my pantry he started finding food he wanted to eat. This was in the first 45 seconds they were here. It didn't get better as the hour went on. The longest hour of my life possibly. Soon one needed to go to the bathroom, when he came back he was carrying things that had been in Bentley's closet. When asked why he was in the rooms he told me he hadn't been. What am I stupid?! I asked him to put them back, he flat out told me no.

I'm sure they have never been exposed to apartment life before. "You have a really small house" I was told. Then we ventured outside. They opened 2 of my neighbors doors and started walking in. I would say "You can't go in there-shut that door!" But obviously that didn't register. I could understand if it was just front doors they were opening-they could have been confused, but they opened a backdoor as well. Thank goodness for Donald (a neighbor kid always looking for someone to play with), but they managed to break one of his swords, so now I feel obligated to replace it. I wonder if beating them is out of line....

Oh did I mention they are paying me $15 a month to watch them. Totally not worth it. How do I tell dear Grandma her grandkids are hellians? Somehow I need to get out of this whole deal.

Propagation of Fruit Loops

In biology we learned that plants use different modes of transportation to move their seeds to other area (wind, water, animals).

I have discovered that Fruit Loops also prefer the animal mode of transportation, as does mac-n-cheese. By attaching to clothes of small children, or tucking away in the grasp of a sticky little hand they can travel to far away places. Like my bathroom. Or my front room.

I expect on some day in the near future to find a Fruit Loop or mac-n-cheese plant growing in a remote location of my house.

Best Buddies

The excitement of having two children is continuing. I do think I am getting a little better at it. The schedules are started to mesh and Hudson is losing interest in getting into things he shouldn't. Both of the boys were really good today-they must have been worn out from the exciting weekend at the Wilkins Reunion.

This morning after baths and a bike ride they were both sitting on the couch watching a Baby Einstein movie when Bentley toppled over onto Hudson's lap. Instead of the usual response of Hudson pushing Bentley, H found the pacifier and put it back in B's mouth. Then sat there patting his head for the next few minutes, leaned over and kissed his forehead and continued rubbing his head. So cute! B sat there smiling at H. How I wished I would have had the video camera close by! I think they both will be sad when harvest is over and they don't get to spend as much time together.

Karisa won't be sad when harvest is over. She called tonight saying she had "Hudson withdrawls". Luckily for me he hasn't seemed to miss her nearly as much as she misses him, although I am sure he will be excited when she is back-only a few more days.

Lessons from The Boys

I've been watching Hudson while Karisa is in corn harvest. This is our first week together and it sounds like we have many more ahead of us. In the last few days I have learned some things about all of us.

1. I don't get nearly as much done with 2 kids as I am with 1.
2. Neither boy knows how to share very well.
3. Hudson has a little bit (or a lot) of his mom in him.
4. Hudson and Bentley love each other and are best bud. Every day they are excited to see each other and they like to kiss in the bathtub, a little strange but whatever works.
5. They hate me. I know this because just as I put one down for a nap, the other wakes up.
6. The 3 parents "working" during the day have no idea how easy they have it.
7. Hudson loves his Aunt Nik. This I know because he likes to cuddle with me and kiss me (but don't tell his mom-that would be the end of all of this).
8. Hudson will say "Chod" but not Nik, Mom, or Dad. What does Chod do to deserve that...I do not know.
9. I need 2 high chairs.
10. I will never, ever, ever have kids 9 months apart-never!

Its fun having them together and I hope they grow up being best buds, even if that means they are a little strange like their aunts with their cousins (Deidra/Whitney? Tameka/Katelin? yes strange)

Fancy Pajamas

Last week when we were at Grandma Stephens' house she put Bentley in these jammies to send him home. Yes they were too big for him, but they fit Hudson like a glove. She had them stashed in the hallway closet. Chod refers to them as the "dorky jammies". Last night after Hudson's bath these were the only pjs I had that would fit him. As he was running around the house in them Chod started laughing. "Those were Kensey's!" Kensey is Chod's younger brother. He is 24. Which makes these pajamas at least 23 years old. Nothing like an antique pair of pajamas. Anyway they made Hudson super happy. I think he felt stylin in them, cause well he was.

Buyer's Remorse

Everyone gets it. I get it no matter how long and hard I look into a purchase before making it I can always find reasons why I shouldn't have bought it.

Today I have it.

This morning Chod noticed on his fare watcher that tickets to Hawaii had dropped significantly. This afternoon we bought them. Buyer's remorse. I am excited to go to Hawaii, although I'm not sure what we will do once we are there, but it is Hawaii so it is bound to be new and fun. I can't decide if the cost of this trip is causing this, or if the thought of leaving Bentley for 7 days is already causing heart ache. Chod keeps reminding me that we can take him with us-maybe we will-maybe we won't. Chod is so excited to be going, so that is good. Maybe his enthusiasm will rub off on me.

What's something you have suffered over the purchase of?

Thanks Bob

Dad just shared this story with me and I thought it was blog-worthy.

A couple weeks ago at the Cassia County Fair Mom and Dad ran into Ryn Beck. He asked how Karisa and I were doing. They told them we were both doing good and in the Blackfoot area. Ryn mentioned that Blackfoot was a bad place for West Nile. This was just after I had posted about Chod diagnosing me with WV, so Dad said, "Yeah, Nik thinks she has it."

Speed up to today. Dad was leaving choir practice and saw Bob and Gale (Ryn's parents) in the hallway. They asked Dad how I was doing and he told them fine. They then mentioned that West Nile was awful stuff-it then hit Dad what they were talking about. He then had to explain that I didn't really have it, my husband had just diagnosed me. Bob then confessed that he has been really worried and can now stop mentioning me in his prayers!

I always knew Bob was a good egg. We have a good bond. He helped me when I was stranded in Russia and now he has been praying for my life. Its nice to know I have people who worry about me. Thanks Bob.

Front row for us

Today we sat on the front row at church. Looks like it may be our "new" spot. We used to sit on the front row, but since moving here we haven't had the courage to walk to the front and we usually arrive just as church is starting-another reason we have been back rowers. Bentley really liked having the bench to roll around on versus the chairs in the gym. And there is so much happening at the front. The conductor, the deacons, the speakers, the bishopric, and don't let's not forget all the people behind us. He loved standing up and looking back.

He was so good, the best he has ever been. We'll be moving up for sure.

A Quarter

Last night as we were returning from our spur of the moment, very short, but very productive trip to Logan we stopped at Maverick so Chod could get a drink. As I was sitting in the car waiting I noticed a payphone. I know they are almost extinct now, and why shouldn't they be even 6 year olds have cell phones. I was surprised to see that a payphone now costs $1! What happened to a quarter? I remember when they used to tell you to take a quarter with you in case you needed to call home. Then it changed to $0.35. A quarter and a dime, okay. And now its $1. I don't think I am that old, that inflation has pushed the price so high. $1 does let you call anywhere in the US, but it didn't say for how long. So now you wad a dollar bill in your shoe when you leave the house, not nearly the same as dropping a quarter in. No wonder everyone has cell phones.

I tried

Background info: I've been reading The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands and it is a pretty good book.

Last night I was in a hurry to get dinner fixed so it would be ready when Chod got home and I could head out the door to Enrichment. So after perusing many recipes and nothing sounding good (those that did I didn't have the necessary ingredients), I settled on one I came across in a cookbook-so it was a real recipe. I threw it together and it was lacking, so by trying to improve the flavor I doubled it in size and didn't change the flavor a whole lot. It was ready to eat as Chod got home, I handed him Bentley and left. When I got home he exclaimed,

"You've been reading The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands and you fixed this for dinner!?"

Apparentley my additives didn't do the trick, but the great part is we are eating the leftovers for dinner tonight, lucky guy!

What's the Deal

Maybe its in indelible ink on my church records or maybe its tattooed on my forhead and I have never noticed it, but in every ward I have been in since graduating from high school I have been given this calling. Enrichment. Every single ward. This ward is no exception. I am once again in Enrichment (don't worry they left me in nursery, just added to it). I'm not really complaining since I figure this will give me a chance to meet the ladies in the ward and not just 18 month olds. I do find it humurous though, its like I know what they are going to ask before they even start. Enrichment, my lifelong calling.

Mother Love

I love the new Cingular commercial, the one with the mom and daughter. For those of you who haven't seen it here's a link. I was going to type the dialogue out, but I can't do it justice.

Mother Love

I'm not sure why I find it so amusing, maybe it is just the mother/daughter relationship and no matter what the content of the converstation the tone of voice says it all. It makes me laugh everytime I see it. Whoever thought of it was a genius!

Here comes Trouble!

Good or bad I'm not sure, but this morning Bentley has figured out how to crawl forward, yesterday he mastered reverse and in circles. But now watch out! When he figured out what he was doing guess what his first stop was, yep Dad's mess of cords. He started pulling on them and got bonked on the head with a pocket PC docking station. Looks like a good reason for the stuff to leave the house!

A Bunch of Crazies

Yesterday Bentley and I ventured out into the big city of Blackfoot to run some errands. They say Utah drivers are bad, holy cow we almost died no less than 4 times. One guy was on his way through a red light, so I slammed on my breaks, only for him to realize what he was doing and come to a stop in the middle of the intersection. That was close. Parking lots, stop signs, I don't know what the deal was but no one seemed to notice or care what they were doing. Even driving down the road I saw idiotic behavior. This guy in a smoking pickup went blazing past me (at least going 50 mph). I came to a stop at a red light and guess who was sitting there next to me, yep the smoking pickup. Don't know what his hurry was, but it didn't look like he was saving any time. I was so glad to get home and off the road. There are a bunch of crazy drivers out there and I don't think I could have handled another scare.

Last night we did a practice run of our dutch oven dish we are making for the Wilkins Reunion cook-off. Fair warning to the rest of you--it is stinking good!

Who said they were extinct?

Bentley is continuing to find his voice. A high pitched squeal, that sounds much like I imagine a pterodactyl sounding. It is the funniest thing. Lots of skreeches in a row, he starts out slow but the more he skreeches the more he likes it and the louder he gets. He continues to a point that drives me crazy. Then takes a break long enough for me to prepare for the next round.

He also sings in the bathtub-pretty sure he's a soprano. Its cute to hear him in there splashing and singing. He loves looking at himself in the little overfill drain cirlce on the side of the tub. He sings the baby in the circle songs, and the baby sings along.

Bentley and Pink

There was a little girl, probably just over a year old, sitting in front of us in sacrament meeting today. She was cute, wearing a little pink dress with pink little bows in her hair and a pink neckale on. Bentley stared at her the whole time. His eyes followed her, wherever she wandered. I leaned over and whispered to Chod. "I think Bentley has a crush on this girl." Chod agreed.

Then we went to nursery. A different little girl with a pink dress on was there. Bentley once again set his gaze on her.

Now I am not sure if it was a crush or if my little boy just likes girls in pink dresses.

Honeycomb

No one has found the Honeycomb. Bentley is feeling sad because it was his contribution to the photos. So, $1 to the first person to correctly locate Bentley's honeycomb in the mess of pictures below. Pretend its Waldo and start looking....$1!

Little Beaver

Bentley started using my coffee table legs as chew posts this morning. He rolls over and gnaws on them. I pick him up and move him and he rolls right back over and starts chewing. He has taken paint off, if this doesn't stop the table is going to be 3 inches shorted because of this gnawing. Maybe a puppy would be easier, at least I could lock a puppy in another room. I'll post a picture as soon as I catch him in the act. I usually walk over and he stops--he knows it is wrong.

Precision Ag Lab

We are running our own precision ag lab in our front room. For those of who you saw Chod's lab while he was at Utah State you will have a pretty good idea of what I am talking about, for those who never saw it let me describe. On the long counter in our kitchen (luckily it is on the front room side) we have 1 laptop, 1 desk top computer, and 2 pocket PCs charging. Now keep in mind this is all UI equipment, our personal computers are within 3 feet of the mess, making it looking only more labish. With all the electronic equipment comes cords-a tangled mess of cords. I am really hoping this doesn't last much longer, it is such an eye sore. As I am writing this Chod continues to pull stuff out, "You need a GPS unit if this is really going to be a precision ag lab." So the photos don't so a GPS unit, but believe me it is there now. I don't know if I need actually need to put in words how un-happy this makes me, but believe me un-happy is just the beginning. All of it will be re-located to his office in Aberdeen (long story) in the near future.

The only conclusion that I have come to is that Chod is home sick and misses the tangled lab in the basement of the Ag Sci building.

P.S. The Honeycomb is contributed to this blog by Bentley. Can you see it?