Sydney's swim class

I put Sydney in swimming lessons. I could teach her, but she wont listen to me. There was a scheduling error and the time that worked for our schedule, the pre-school level 1 class was full. They didn't tell me this when I registered, they just put us in a time that didn't work for me. When I showed up at the time I thought we registered for, they were like you'll have to come to this later time. When I said that wouldn't work, they asked if Sydney was comfortable in the water. I said yes, and that she can blow bubbles, etc. They put her in the level 2 class. I have to laugh because she is doing things in there that I'd never attempted with her and doing just great! She swallows a lot of water, and if I was her teacher, she'd be yelling at me for that, but she loves her class! Go, my little fish, go!

Thank you!

All the messages of love made me cry, but in a good way this time. Thanks for your comments, I am doing better today:)

Baby Blues

No, this is not an uplifting post. I am suffering with some sadness today. I know it has to do with once again getting postpartum, but this postpartum I really have reason for. When I got really bad baby blues with Sydney, one of the things that helped was just holding her. I don't have that luxury this time. The day started off with our goldfish dying, which never helps anything... it is almost 1pm and I'm still in my p.j.s. Yuck - I know I said when I get like this I will call somebody, but I am just venting in general cyberspace - sorry. I recently read in a magazine somewhere that women diagnosed with gestational diabetes are the most likely to get postpartum. I guess that means us women who always have diabetes have no choice in the matter either. Not that anyone does - I am just rambling.

Happy Halloween!

As many of you saw, on my facebook pictures that Sydney was being Snow White for Halloween. It is a little hard to see in these pictures, but the dogs were tied together being a 2 headed spider. Their costume didn't last very long though - they weren't getting along so we untied them. Sydney got her first blisters from trying to wear her heels while trick-or-treating. Zach handed out treats while Eran and I took Sydney. I think there were more wrappers in the garbage from what he had eaten than what he handed out. Oh the joys of this holiday!

Dog Run

So I found this little 5k race online for people who like to run with their dogs. It was clearly not advertised really well, and I think it was the first year it was held. There were about 20+ people there with their dogs. It was also a 10k race, so some of the sportier people there were running that. I am currently struggling to get back down to my 10 min. mile pace that I had prior to this last pregnancy... and I took 3rd place! I won a nice red bowl for Cal to eat his food out of. Ha! It was a nice run though, all on the U of U campus.

It's that time of year!

We were lucky enough to get to go 4 wheeling on Saturday. We went from Tibble Fork Res. to Cascade Springs. The weather was perfect, and as you can see from the picture the leaves are changing and it's gorgeous! The funny part was that we went in the afternoon, and Sydney was a little tired. Anyone who's been 4 wheeling knows it is not a smooth ride. That didn't matter to Sydney; she was on the back of my 4 wheeler and rested her head (in her helmet) on my back and was falling asleep! Then a bump would make her head slip off my back and she'd wake up. I guess when a kid is tired, he or she has just got to sleep! She must be growing again, but I don't know how that is possible since everybody already thinks she's a 5 year old...

my big little girl

Sydney is growing a little too fast for my tastes lately. She finished up her summer dance class and started preschool! She loves it so far. People always ask me if she started kindergarten this year just because she is so tall - no this is her first year of preschool! Many people have told me that I am doing well to be out of the house and getting her to these events so soon after our tragedy. Believe me, I have the desires to stay home in my room all day and cry, but that just causes my depression to be dominant in my life. I have to do the opposite of my inclinations to fight against the sadness taking over my life.

Baby Dylan photos

For those not on facebook, here is a link to photos of baby Dylan.
http://bishopimages.instaproofs.com

Loads of Summer fun

So it has been a while since I blogged... not because I didn't have things to blog about, but that I haven't felt like I have had any spare moments to post anything! First, my college roommates came into town, and I missed the main reunion because of our family camping trip, but Sydney and I did get to go to the children's museum in the Gateway Mall with them and their kids. That's what is happening in this first group of pictures, we also went out to the fountains that the kids ran through.

Then we had our annual Eran's cousin's family camping trip in the mountains of Southern Utah.

We all had lots of fun 4 wheeling, and Sydney even got social with some of her cousins once removed. There is alo the picture of my prego belly. Lots of people comment on how I'm not very big, but it is because I have a long torso. That doesn't mean baby is not getting big and causing me not to be able to breathe.

We also went to another fun fountain park for some lunch, and then went swiming at Messy's parent's condo.

Come take our poll!

So realize that 3 of the names on this list have not yet been approved by Mr. Kaibosh (Eran). His requirements are that the name is common and spelled correctly. Most suggestions I give him, he poo poos. I guess only 2 of the names I haven't even suggested to him yet. Samuel (ha, ha scripture reference) and Elliot. I am not crazy about Jeremy, but I do like Jeremiah - basically we are clueless! Help! By the way, we are likely to have Campbell as a middle name...

How do you not strangle a 3 year old?

As cute as some of these photos are... I have been bombarded with reasons to strangle my 3 year old lately! I'll get into that after explaining these pictures though. The first is Zach ready for prom this year, the second is Sydney in her Easter dress (I couldn't remember if I had posted it or not), the third is Sydney in her new dance outfit since she joined a dance class, and the fourth is Cal, once again dressed up by Sydney. So speaking of Cal, or our pets in general, Sydney has recently lost the privilege of the dogs staying in her room at night until she falls asleep. the first thing she did was cut one of Cal's ears with some scissors (I couldn't remember if I'd posted about that either), then she started to spit chocolate milk all over the dogs from her sippy cup - the walls and carpet suffering from this too. I thought I'd compromise with her to get her to give up the sippy cup, and I told her she could only have the dogs in her room if she gave up the sippy cup. She kept choosing the cup instead of the dogs though. Then one night she chose the dogs. I came up a few minutes later to find she had sprayed them both down with Windex and carpet cleaner! (I don't know how these things get in her room - oh wait these last ones were a low blood sugar time for me). Then she killed one of the last fish in our tank by dumping the entire food can into the tank. It may have been the trauma the fish had when I tried to clean out the tank, and he jumped out of the net and flopped on the kitchen floor for a bit. So besides torturing our pets, she has colored all over our walls with crayons, tells us how to drive, "Mom, the light is green, go!" - even though she is looking at the wrong light, argues with us no matter what we say... Me,"I need to take off your old band aid." Sydney, "No! I don't want to!" The next day after I took it off the day before... Me, "We need to put a new band aid on that." Sydney"No, I don't want a new band aid!" With all of that, I still love her and think she is the cutest thing on the planet. I told her we need to go buy her a new bed because her little brother will be using her mattress in his crib besides the fact that she is almost too tall for her current one. Since then she has been sleeping on the floor because we have yet to get this new bed, and she says she can't sleep on her bed because it is for her baby brother.

BeautiControl

BeautiControl
My dear friend, Sharon, is a consultant for a company called BeautiControl. Their products are amazing, and pretty affordable. Until recently her business has been mostly confined to central California, where she is located. No more though! She now has her very own website up. You can browse and purchase her fantastic products from the comfort of your own home. Go check it out!http://www.beautipage.com/sharoncornelius

Waky Weather

Just thought I'd post about the crazy weather around here last week. On Wednesday we woke up to a winter wonderland with at least 4 or 5 inches on our lawn. It was very wet snow too, so Sydney and I built a snowman. You can see it is on the very long grass that needs to be mowed.

Then 2 days later on Friday it was lovely, so Sydney and I went out and flew her dragon kite. The weather around here can give you whiplash!

We had fun on Easter too!

We had fun on Easter going on an egg hunt with some our cousins. I'm not sure what was up with some of Seth and Karalenn's neighbor kids coming and stealing some of our eggs. Just kidding, a bit less sugar at our house always helps.
Then the wonderful Seth and Karalenn were super helpful and babysat the kids while Eran and I went and celebrated our 7th anniversary at The Market Street Grill and the Anniversary Inn. I don't care that I had to make the arrangements, that was the best anniversary we've had ever! Eran was even patient enough to watch "Twilight" with me that night - what a man I've got!

I was silly and forgot to take a picture of Sydney in her cute Easter dress - oh well. Does anyone have any suggestions? She is having major issues with wetting her pants lately. She had been mostly accident free for at least 4 or 5 months!

My early b-day present!

I love my early b-day present! Eran bought me a '08 Yamaha Grizzly 450 4 wheeler. We will soon get a seat on the back so Sydney can ride with me:) Eran even took all the photos for me! Since I have to eat my words saying that he probably didn't take photos in Moab, I thought I'd include one of those pics. This one is specifically for Sharon who said I looked too skinny in the Salt Lake marathon picture. I am at least 20lbs heavier in this photo of me in Moab!

Then there is this sad picture of Cal wearing a cone so he wont lick his sores on his paws. He has to wear it for like 2 weeks, but maybe more now since Sydney took it off while I was at work and he did some more serious damage.

Announcement!

glitter-graphics.com
Yes, it's true! We are having a boy! It's hard for me to believe because almost all of my siblings have 2 of the same gender first. It was a bit of a Happy Birthday to Eran. I didn't post on his b-day oops. I was going to get a picture to go with his b-day post, but I failed there too. Geez! Happy Birthday Babe - I love you!

Laziness here I come!

I am so happy to report I finally finished the half marathon! I went fairly slow, and loved the tiny sunburn I got because the weather in Moab was gorgeous. But the reason I am so happy and excited right now is that I get to be lazy and stop running for at least 8 more months! Yahoo! This is actually a picture of me last year in the full marathon in Salt Lake, but I forgot to even check if Eran got any pictures this year of me. I doubt it...

The Over 30 Crowd

I stole this from my friend's blog and laughed when I read it! Thanks Heather!
If you have seen it before then you can move on. If not, then ENJOY!

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were.

When they were growing up; what with walking Twenty-five miles to school every morning.Uphill... barefoot... BOTH ways… In the SNOW…..Yadda, yadda, yadda!

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!
But now that... I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today.

You've got it so easy!

I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a darn Utopia!

And I hate to say it but you kids today you don't know how good you've got it!

I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have “The Internet”.

If we wanted to know something...We had to go to the library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalogue!!

There was no email!!

We had to actually write somebody a letter, with a pen!

Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take like a week to get there!

Stamps were 10 cents!
Child Protective Services didn't care if our parents beat us.

As a matter of fact, the parents of all my friends also had permission to kick our butt!

No where was safe!

There were no MP3's or Napsters!

You wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the record store and shoplift it yourself!

Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ'd usually talk over the beginning and mess it all up!

There were no CD players!

We had tape decks in our car. We'd play our favorite tape and "eject" it when finished and the tape would come undone 'cause that's how we rolled; dig?
We didn't have fancy stuff like Call Waiting!

If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it!

And we didn't have fancy Caller ID either!

When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was!

It could be your school,your mom, your boss, your Bookie, your drug dealer, a collections agent, you just didn't know!!!

You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!

We didn't have any fancy Sony Play Station video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics!

We had the Atari 2600! With games like 'Space Invaders' and 'asteroids'.

Your guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination!! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen forever!
And you could never win.

The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died!

Just like LIFE!

You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on!

You were screwed when it came to channel surfing!

You had to get up and walk over to the TV to change the channel!

There was no Cartoon Network either!

You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning.. Do you hear what I'm saying!?!

We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little brats!

And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat something up we had to use the stove...Imagine that!
That's exactly what I'm talking about!

You kids today have got it too easy.

You're spoiled.

You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980 or before!

Regards,The over 30 Crowd

(Author Unknown)

**I hated it when the DJ messed up my taping process. And I can take it a step further with the phones...We had to rotary dial. Kids these days don't even know what that is unless they have one of the "retro" play phone toys with the eyes that bounce as you roll it along.

How long is a car seat good for?

so we are now a 2 car seat family... It is such a pain to switch out the seats whenever Eran wants to go in his car, not mine - which is always if he can help it. So we got Sydney a 2nd seat to put in Daddy's car. Of course I was pricing new ones for #2 baby on the way, and the good one we had is like $280! When we need it, I just think we will claim our old one back from Seth and Karalenn, but it will be like 4 years old by that time. I could probably just look on the Brittax website or something like that, but what do you moms think?

So most of you already know...

Since I am a week away from my 2nd trimester, and Sydney has already started telling people, I thought I'd make an official announcement here. I'm pregnant! Whooppee! I'm not sure how I'll do the super pregnant stage in summer, but I'm due Sept. 23 officially. Yes, I'm still training for the half marathon. My doctor said that was great. I may do it super slow, but I think that may also have contributed to my minimal 1st trimester sickness. Eran thinks he'll only be excited for a boy. Sydney sort of gets it and is excited - I'm excited that Sydney gets to have a sibling. I don't know if Zach gets it or cares - he is very focused on turning 18 in a year and (he thinks) being able to move out. We'll see!

Happy Birthday Zach!

His mother accused me of not taking enough pictures of him, so I at least remembered to take one on his birthday. He is 17! If he lived in the wizarding world of Harry Potter, he would be of age! Scary enough that he will be there in a year in real life.

We gave him this Snoop Dogg shirt, which he loves, and took him out to dinner. We will eat his Iron Man birthday cake tonight when we are not so stuffed from dinner. His mother (and I'm trying not to curse here) gave him a cell phone. She told me it would not be activated and that I could set up all these parameters for it on line before he used it. Well, that was certainly not true since he has been using it since he got it last night. Whatever - Eran and I don't care, they are the ones paying for it, and knowing Zach, it will be broken in 2 weeks anyway.

I had to include this cute picture of my buggaboo!

catch - up pictures

These pics are long over due, but here's Sydney at Christmas singing to her new cabbage patch baby.

The next ones are Sydney's 3rd birthday with she and Serenity on her cool new 4 wheeler,

and blowing out her candles on her sponge bob cake with Uncle Seth in the background.

Here is her official 3 year old picture in the outfit Aunt Damy sent her. What a cutie patootie!

Hey, yes I am alive

It has been a while since I posted. I just thought I'd post to say I'm alive and well but with not much to say. Christmas was great! I'd share some photos, but my cord to plug the camera into the computer somehow got smooshed...
I LOVE having Sydney all potty trained and finally fairly accident free. The pull-ups at night are gonna take a while. She is now a big girl at church too - she joined the sunbeams class. She loves primary.
Zach's new obsession (to add to ALL the others) is who he is going to ask to prom. He tells me that Prom is in June, but school is over at the end of May, hmmm...
I'm training for the Moab 1/2 marathon right now. I can't wait for it to be March so I can run outside again!
More updates soon, at least that is my plan.