weekend fun...

***I just noticed, this is my 100th post!!! YIPPEE ME!***
Growing up, I remember always working in the yard while conference was on the radio on Saturdays. So, that's what we did! Since we had our yard landscaped in front this past winter, our plants died. I don't think they got enough water when they were first planted, and it was too cold for them to make it. So, we planted 10 new plants in the front yard. It looks great! (mostly because they are alive - who knows what it will look like in a couple weeks)

In preschool Zane got to bring home a plastic cup with some grass seeds he had planted. Around the same time, we had also planted some new grass seed in our backyard to try to fill some really bad patchy areas.

Here is what Zane's grass looked like after about a week and a half: (yes that's Nemo in the background - still kickin' it!!)



Here is what our grass looks like after about 3 weeks: (yes you can barely see it)


Very very sad.

tagged...

Tagged!Here are the rules. Four people will be tagged. You have to answer the questions, then post the people tagged, let them know they are tagged, and then they post the answers on their blog. It is always fun to learn more about people!!!

10 Years ago... I just moved to Lubbock, TX to start college (again!).

5 Things On My To Do List Today (tomorrow for me)
1. laundry
2. babysit
3. Zane to preschool
4. send out a jewelry order (yay!)
5. hang out with my sister (maybe)

If I were a Billionaire...
Pay off school and all debt. Sell house and build "dream one". Give our parents lots and lots of money and send them on beaucoup trips! Save a lot for missions/college/retirement. Start a charity. Go on humanitarian trips. Donate lots of money anonymously to church and colleges.
And probably get a vacation place or two for the fam.

3 Bad Habits...
1. I spend way too much time on the computer.
2. Mountain Dew
3. Interrupting - SAME HERE! I'm soooo bad!

5 Places I've Lived...
1. Sandy, UT
2. Boulder, CO
3. Lubbock, TX
4. Provo, UT
5. St. George, UT

5 Jobs I've had...
1. Telephone Relay Operator for deaf/hard of hearing
2. Telephone Surveyer
3.Photo retoucher
4. Library Reference Assistant
5.Computer Support

3 Things Most People Don't Know About Me...
1. Oh, see my 100 things people don't know about me!
2. I've gotten over being a packrat, except when it comes to cards that I've received, I can't seem to throw them away!
3. I really have a hard time cooking if my kitchen is messy.

I tag Steph, Chardell, Jana, and my sisters (I know that's more than 4)

flashback friday...

It's still barely friday...
So here we go. It's been so nice out lately, that I have spent a lot of time just sitting out on the front lawn with the baby and playing games with Zane. So I thought I would share pictures of my love of the outdoors from over the years. (I had to leave a lot of pictures out, or it would go on forever!)

circa 1978 - I was too cute!

1988 - Grand Canyon

1993 - near Steamboat Springs

1994 - High Uintas (do you still have your U2 shirt?)

1997 - Mount Rainier in the background
(and I have black hair, but you can't really tell in this picture)

2001 - Yellowstone (yes, very stinky Yellowstone!)

getting older...

Zane has really said some good ones lately! In preschool yesterday they dressed up in caps and gowns for graduation pictures. Graduation is coming up in a few weeks. Zane was talking to me about it this morning.
Zane: "What do they say at graduation?"
Me: "I'm not sure."
Zane: "I think they say Congraduation!"

Super smarty pants!

honesty...

Tonight at dinner, Zane was having a hard time staying in his chair (nothing new there!). As he was sitting on his knees, he slipped off the chair. We pointed out to him that we weren't falling off our chairs, and why did he think that was? He said "Lucifer pushed me off my chair." Hehe. Tonight's FHE lesson was on Honesty (after the chair incident).

reflections of christ...

Here's a link to a slideshow of images that are part of an exhibit at the Mesa Temple Visitor's Center. The photographer used the cast members of the temple's Easter pageant. I think that it is amazing. Enjoy!

Reflections of Christ

the brackets continued...

I forgot to mention something else hilarious Zane has said about the brackets. When he found out how good he was doing he said "I'm kicking all the trash out of people!" HAHAHA!

the brackets...

John plays the March Madness brackets with a group of guys at work. This year he had Zane choose one, by telling him to pick which team's mascot he liked better. For example: "Do you want the Delta Devils or the Bruins?" So, wondering how his bracket is doing vs. all the guys that spend years and years studying the statistics and perfecting theirs? He is #3. Out of almost 50 brackets. HAHA!

Zane really enjoys guitar hero, but his "competitive edge" has been coming out lately, so much that we have had to turn the game off a few times. Tonight John said he would play with Zane, as long as he didn't get mad if John won. Zane said he wouldn't, but then thought for a minute and said quietly "I feel much better if I win." We couldn't help but laugh at that. Don't we all, Zane.

springtime in pictures...

I haven't blogged much, but I've taken lots of pictures I need to post. This week has been fun with St. Patricks Day, a picture taking trip to the temple, coloring eggs, easter egg hunts, and of course Easter! Here is the week in pictures (warning it's picture overload!):

book tag...

*Find the book closest to you with at least 123 pages.
*Turn to page 123.
*Find the fifth sentence.
*Post the next 3 sentences.
*Tag 5 people

Now let me explain - the closest book to me was one of many many - I am sitting in front of my bookcase, so I blindly reached out and grabbed one. The one I grabbed was "Between Husband and Wife". This is a book that our branch president recommended to us when we were engaged. It's a really good book, but turns out that the particular passage would not be PG rated - and I didn't want any nasty people searching for weird stuff and finding MY blog. So I "blindly" picked another book from a different shelf, because apparently the church book shelf was not a safe bet.

My book:
"Anna Karenina"

"After dinner the two young men go into their host's study, and write a letter to the unknown fair one. They compose an ardent epistle, a declaration in fact, and they carry the letter up-stairs themselves, so as to elucidate whatever might not appear perfectly intelligible in the letter." "Why are you telling me these horrible stories? Well?"

-I think that I should read this book - I haven't. I'm in between books right now, so maybe I should start another epic - it's only 740 pgs.

I TAG:
Steph
Chardell
Carrie R.
Tasha
My sisters (u know who u are)

phoenix...

We took a last minute trip to Phoenix to visit my parents and sisters. We had a great time. We got to see Amanda's new house, saw Horton Hears a Who, went to the park, went shopping, and got to play in the hot tub. Here's a couple pics: (sorry for the boring post)

zane the photographer...

Zane decided to take a bunch of pictures (around 100) with the new digital camera. Some of faves: (these don't include pictures of the tv, computer, table, hands, feet, etc.)

happy anniversary...

Today John and I celebrate 7 years! I love you babe!

it's time...

Ok, so most of you know that I make jewelry and have forever. I've decided that I have just way too much stuff that I need to get rid of, so I am having a BIG SALE on my etsy site. I am new to etsy too, I'm trying it out to see if it's the avenue for me. Go check it out, tell all your friends, forward the link, shamelessly plug me to whomever you talk to. I need to sell my stuff so I can make more! Try etsy, it's ADDICTING!

Visit me here: http://www.petitepieces.com/ or http://petitepieces.etsy.com/. They go to the same place right now.

cruisin...

Zane had some funny things to say today. He was playing with John's remote control helicopter (see previous post) and John said "be careful, even though it's plastic it can still break". Zane replied "not excessively." What? Haha!

He loves playing guitar hero, and actually can play it ok on the easy level. He's been talking about a "guitar hero party" when he goes outside for awhile, and I never knew what he meant until today. I went outside with him, and he ran up to the back of our yard, up on top of some rocks, and said "take a picture of my guitar hero party!" This is what I got (it's him playing a guitar - and the top of the rocks: the STAGE - I get it now).

Lily has been so happy and active the past week. I guess all she needed was to put on a little weight - if that's the way it works, I should be full of energy! All she wants to do when she is not eating or sleeping is stand up. At church on Sunday, I held her up by her hands almost the entire 3 hours. Just today she has been a little bit more stable to hold on to something herself.

And then not so stable.
(I know I'm a mean mom, and ignore the stained carpet!)

I also wanted to mention that tonight Lily actually drank a bottle! No cereal in it. Straight up formula. No problems! So exciting! I had to include one more cute picture from this past week of Lily in her stroller. She hasn't ever been in a stroller much, and she does not really like it. She would be fine, until she would look back at me, then she would whimper and whine. This was a cute moment when she was just happily looking, to make sure I'm still there I guess?!

wait for it....

Here it is, My 100 ... or 100 things you really didn't want to know about me...

1. I don't like to call people on the phone
2. My husband doesn't like to call people on the phone.
3. We fight over who has to order pizza
4. If I lose, I order the pizza online
5. I try to do everything I can online, rather than have to talk to a live person
6. I would much rather do laundry than dishes
7. I am addicted to Mountain Dew
8. My New Years Resolution is to be off the MD by the end of the year (I'm realistic and waiting until New Year's Eve counts)
9. Aspartame, Sucralose, or any sugar deviant makes me sick to my stomach, literally
10. I can't chew a piece of sugar free gum or drink diet soda
11. I want a swimming pool
12. I'm not as embarrassed as I should be to wear a swimming suit
13. My own family's germs don't bother me, but other people's…
14. Yeah, I really really have a hard time in hotel rooms
15. Favorite quote: I don't think it's (OCD) getting worse as I get older, it's just getting harder to control. HAHA
16. I don't like meat that looks like it came from an animal
17. I miss a lot of things about living in a small apartment
18. I still have acne too (thanks steph - not for the acne, but the item on my list)
19. I'm only at 19 and I think I've run out
20. I really don't think I can sing, but I do it anyways
21. I want to grow a salsa garden - tomatoes, onions, peppers, garlic, can you do that?
22. I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up
23. I dream of tropical vacations
24. Ok, I dream of ANY vacation
25. My next house will have LOTS of windows.
26. I would die without A/C
27. Sometimes I get in my car with the kids and just take a drive
28. I live for flip flops
29. I really think that someday I will be caught up on my scrapbooking (only 3 years behind right now)
30. I'm trying to eat my vegetables
31. I have wayyyyy too much gray hair for my age
32. This is how old I will be this year
33. I have a goal to one day be able to play the following songs on the piano: Fantasie-Impromptu (Chopin - minute waltz), Prelude Op. 32 No. 2 (Rachmaninoff), Sonata Pathetique (Beethoven), and Hungarian Rhapsody (Liszt)
34. I am 3 months and 12 days older than my husband
35. He never lets me forget this
36. He is 14 inches taller than me and I didn't say this to make you think that he is intimidating to me, he's the sweetest man, but I guess he could be an intimidating lawyer
37. I make jewelry and I like to sew
38. I can taste the freezer
39. I don't really think I have a style, but people look at things and say "that looks like you"
40. I want to get my masters degree
41. I still think that maybe one day I could be a doctor (see #22)
42. I get obsessed with books and can't stop reading.
43. I want to take a photography class (the one in high school didn't count)
44. I once worked as a telephone relay operator for deaf and hard of hearing people
45. I have had my tongue pierced, twice
46. The only reason I never got a tattoo when I was a "rebel" was that I promised my Grandpa I wouldn't
47. I was born RED (GO UTES)
48. I worked at BYU
49. I have a very strong testimony of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
50. I love the rain
51. I still love to play in the rain and splash in gutters
52. I only miss the snow until I am in it, then I realize that's crazy
53. I'm not as picky an eater as I used to be
54. I would much rather have a fruity candy than a chocolate one
55. I pick cake and cookies over ice cream any day
56. Pink frosted sugar cookies make my day
57. I cry all the time, and that does not mean there is anything wrong with me
58. I can touch my tongue to my nose
59. I like to hike, camp, fish but rarely do it
60. I miss going fishing with my Dad
61. I love Disneyland
62. Places I want to visit: Hawaii, East coast, Europe
63. I love tutus on little girls
64. My natural fingernails are really ugly
65. I think I have cute feet
66. My hair is the longest it has been in 10 years
67. I enjoy garlic
68. and anything with cheese
69. It's unfortunate that my husband is lactose intolerant
70. I'm slightly freaked out that my son is starting kindergarten this year
71. I freely admit that I am a music snob
72. I once made fun of "those wives" that don't shave their legs for weeks
73. I am one
74. This may be the year I finally get a pedicure
75. I would live in pajama pants and tshirts if it was socially acceptable
76. I think play is very important for kids, and TV is very important for mom's sanity
77. Popcorn is wonderful
78. I'm realizing just how unhealthy I sound from writing this but I don't care
79. I feel like sitting home on a Saturday is a big waste of time
80. My husband and I have bitter discussions about #79
81. Really, there is no point to cockroaches and rats and I dare you to change my opinion
82. I once played the flute, and was good at it
83. I used to be in a dance group called Razz-ma-Tazz, fringy leotard, knee high socks, super curly hair and all (that would be a good Flashback Friday picture)
84. I waited until after Prom to break up with the guy I went with, just so I could go
85. We didn't even look at the kitchen before we bought our house.
86. I will never make that mistake again
87. I'm so close I can almost taste it
88. I envy moms that can conjure up a wonderful meal with whatever is left in their fridge/cupboards
89. Yes, I said conjure, because it must be a magical power
90. I came in 2nd place in my elementary school spelling bee
91. I came in 5th place in my junior high spelling bee only because I was disqualified by a disgruntled parent that made a complaint that I spelled a word wrong when really I didn't
92. I don't harbor any bad feelings about #91 can't you tell?
93. I was absent over half of my senior year and still graduated and noone said anything.
94. I graduated in a class of over 1000 people, maybe that's the reason for #93
95. My kids have been neglected while I've been writing this
96. I've had some realizations this past year that you really can find yourself in being selfless and giving and not focusing on yourself and your needs.
97. #96 may totally irk some people off
98. In #97 I really wrote piss instead of irk, but changed it because that's not very ladylike
99. I don't have ANY grand ideas that any of this is funny or witty.
100. I know I will be embarrassed after posting this list.

flashback friday...

I took this idea from my friend's blog...

This is a picture (of a polaroid picture) of me and my friends from our sophomore year in high school. I can't believe this picture was taken 16 years ago! We are all still very good friends. We talk to each other almost every day.

Can you believe how tan we were? We look HOT! And what is that I'm wearing? Yes, it's a sweater and SHORTS. wow.

Love you!

mmm deceptively spaghetti...

I bought the book "Deceptively Delicious" that has recipes of different foods with added vegetable purees - basically ways to get your kids to get the veggies they need - when they won't eat them. Now, Zane is not really big on veggies - but he's not opposed to sometimes having one bite. To be honest, I got the book because I was interested in putting veggies in things for ME. I like veggies ok, I'm just SOOO bad about cooking them. I never remember to make veggies with dinner. Or, I forget to buy them in the first place. I'm also the kind of cook that would prefer to cook a whole bunch of stuff at once, and throw it all in the freezer - so I can just throw something in the oven, etc. for dinner.

So, a few weekends ago, I spent the afternoon Sat. making dozens of dozens of purees that I can just throw into dishes: cauliflower, sweet potato, squash, carrot, spinach, broccoli, red pepper, etc. The plus side to having all these purees in the freezer is that Lily can eat them as baby food too! There are also some great looking (I haven't tried them yet) dessert recipes in the book. I will let you know how they are when I try them.


Tonight we just had regular old spaghetti, but I threw in a carrot and a broccoli puree - so an extra cup of veggies. Didn't change the taste one bit. Zane loved it and Lily really enjoyed it. I thought I would compare pictures of the kids eating spaghetti around the same ages (Zane was a little older)- pretty cute kids!

today...

Took Lily in today to have her weighed. It's been a week since we've been keeping track of her calories. She gained 2 pounds! She is now back up to her 6 month weight! Yay! She may still have to have the sweat chloride test done tomorrow, we'll see.

***Just edited to say that I did talk to the Dr. this evening. He called personally because he was SO excited that she had gained that much. He said that is 4 times the amount they expected. So, my "orders" are to keep doing what I'm doing, and check back in a couple weeks. No sweat chloride (cystic fibrosis) test for now - she probably wouldn't gain like that if that was the problem. I'm glad about that, because the test could take up to an hour with her sitting on my lap, blech.***

dinner club part 1 ...

I made the recipe from my dinner club tonight for Sunday dinner and it was super delicious. Everyone loved it! I always see people's blogs with pictures of the food they make, but my food never looks that good, so instead you get a picture of my baby with it all over her face.

*WARNING* this is in NO way low fat, healthy, or low in calories, I am sure - sorry Anne ;-)

Here's the recipe with the changes that I made:

Chicken Lasagna

Sauce:

1 8oz. pkg. cream cheese (I used neufchatel)

1 can cream of mushroom

1 can cream of chicken

2 Cups sour cream (1 pint - I used light)

1/2 tsp. salt (I left this out)

1 Cup cooked chicken, cut up/shredded (I used left over rotisserie chicken)

1 red pepper, julienned (I added the veggies - use more if you want - I think I will next time)

1 zucchini, julienned

10 oz. pkg. lasagna noodles (I used no-boil)

1/2 lb. mozzarella cheese, shredded

1. Preheat to 350 degrees.

2. Combine cream cheese, cr. of mushroom, cr. of chicken, sour cream, and salt in saucepan until cream cheese is melted and blended together.

3. While sauce is going, saute the red pepper and zucchini in 1 tbsp. canola or olive oil.

4. Layer sauce, noodles, chicken/veggies, cheese...and repeat.

5. Bake for 30 minutes.

THANKS Kami - It's delicious!

macaroni and kites...

Distraction still works sometimes on a 4 year old. Thank goodness! Zane was about to have a fit this morning over something... so I suggested we do Macaroni Art. Can you guess which one I did?



The weather was so beautiful today. We had lunch at the park and Zane and John tried to fly the kite. There wasn't much wind, so the kite didn't get off the ground very high. Just as high as a little leg power from Zane would get it. We had a blast. These pictures are from John's cell because I didn't have my camera. Spring is coming!

talked with the dr....

Talked with the Dr. this afternoon, and he is very happy. He seemed surprised that she had eaten that much yesterday. He told me that he was very proud of me. He said we can just continue to feed her and as long as we are making sure she has enough calories, he is not as concerned that the calories are from formula. I also asked if it was ok if I breastfed, occasionally, as long as I knew that she had already had enough calories, and he said that was perfectly fine. That made me feel a lot better since Lily has a cold today, and has been dying to nurse, and I felt so horrible not letting her. I am feeling 100% better right now. I can handle counting calories for her. We will check in probably Monday and then the next thing will be to check her weight (maybe Wednesday?) to see if there has been any change. Thank you all for checking in on us, and keeping us in your thoughts and prayers. Here's some cute pictures because there has been WAY too much of me talking, and not enough pictures.

Zane and his planet heroes rocketship. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Lily trying to pull herself up to see the rainforest mobile closer...she LOVES it.

another wrinkle...

As if the stress of all of this wasn't enough...Lily now has a cold. She slept yucky last night and does not want to drink today because she is stuffed up I assume. She has ate her oatmeal today with extra formula , so its really thin she could drink it, but she would rather have it by spoon. Time consuming, but calorie loaded. I will post when I hear from the Dr.

Ugh.

this afternoon...

Still not liking the formula, although we seem to have found the bottle she prefers the best. She sort of sucked on this one brand of formula, without making a face afterwards, and even went back for it, but we think she was full so she didn't want to eat more. We are going to try this same combination later tonight.

She had more oatmeal with formula (no fruit) which is a step up for her. She normally will only take cereal with fruit, so that's good. She seems to have no problem sucking on a bottle for juice either. We have two more formulas to try, and then I really think we may move to adding strawberry quik to it. That's probably soooo not ok, but something has to work.

Totals for today: she has had about 12.5 oz. of formula, only drank 5 of those oz. But, with her food she is up to 643 calories. That is not far off from the 750 they want, and she has one more meal. I think we will definitely make the 750, but not sure if the Dr. will be happy with the formula amount.

so far...

We have been successful at getting her to drink out of the bottle, only juice though. She still refuses the formula. After eating this morning, she took a whopper 2 hour nap which was really nice. She has since eaten some dry cereal, 3 oz of juice with water, 1.5 oz. of formula, a jar of baby food (w/chicken in it), and a piece of bread. So far, so good. She's over half way to the amount of calories he wants her to get per day ... it's just not in formula, so not sure how the Dr. will feel about it. I'm going to go out and get some different kinds of formula this afternoon. Something has got to work. It's stressful when we are working against a deadline.



Love you all, thank you for your prayers.

this morning...

I know that you will probably all be sick of this (I am!). But I thought I would continuously post today on our progress.

John tried the bottle with no luck this morning. I tried bottle and cup no luck. I gave her cereal made with formula and a little applesauce which she ate up. Then I fed her about an oz. of formula mixed with juice from a spoon, and then she drank about 2 oz. without juice from the bottle like a cup without the top on it. All of that totaled 245 calories! The Dr. had said he wanted her to have about 750 calories per day from formula.

John is taking the day off to help. She is definitely happy. It's looking up. More later!

more on lily...

Ok, here's the full story... I'm a little less emotional right now (just a little), so I think I can handle it.

The Dr. was really baffled when we went in. She didn't gain anything over the week, I think she was exactly the same. He just sat there thinking for a long time (waiting for his "little Dr. voice" he said, haha). He then told us, he wanted her to eat table food, what we eat ground up, as much as she wants. At least 3 times a day, and not to worry about breastfeeding, just let her do it when she wants. And he wanted to do the sweat chloride test for Cystic Fibrosis. Then he said we would check in a week and see what's going on. He said we would probably need to meet with one of the other Dr's at that point that is a specialist in gastroenterology. He decided that he would just go talk to him first, to see if there was any tests or anything he wanted to get a head start on.

When he came back, he said the other Dr. thinks that her labs were off due to slight dehydration, and that it is probably a caloric issue. Since I breastfeed, there is not anyway of measuring how much she is eating, without causing me a lot of stress (not that this isn't stressful anyways) and stress=not good for breastfeeding. So, I have to feed her formula, and a lot of it - 36 oz./day, in addition to whatever table food she will eat. He said that we had the two days to do the bottle, and the only reason he is letting us take the two days is because he knows that we are good parents, and she seems ok (happy, etc.). If she looked bad, he would have made her go straight into the hospital for a tube. Also, he would prefer if he could keep her out of there because of all the RSV sickie kids in there right now - we don't want her to catch that!

They are going to do the Cystic Fibrosis test still, but want to wait until she is fully hydrated so the results don't get thrown off. So, they haven't ruled any other problems out, but need to find out for sure if it's not just a result of caloric intake.

Clarification of the tests they have already done: most likely no leukemia type cancers, most likely no celiac disease (which I didn't think they had done), they didn't get enough to do a test for inflammation.

We have bought every type of bottle/nipple/sippy cup/and formula out there. So far this morning, Dad has tried - no luck. I am going to go give it a try now. Thank you for all your prayers.

Lily...

So, short story right now, I will post more later...
She has 2 days to take a bottle...if not, she has to go to the hospital and get a tube in her nose. The Dr. at this point just wants to monitor how much she is eating, so I need to give her 36 oz. of formula per day, plus all the solid food she will eat (at least 3 times a day). We are supposed to call in a couple days, and let him know how it's going. We are also supposed to do a sweat chloride test next week for Cystic Fibrosis. Please pray and pray and pray that she will take a bottle (we have had NO luck on bottles up to this point).

mmmm dinner club...

I just got my first recipe for a dinner club that John's cousin is starting. Someone is in charge for the week of sending a recipe to everyone, and then everyone tries it, tweaks it, and comments on it. My mouth is watering already Kami! Can't wait to try it, and I have some ideas for tweaking it already, I will let you know how it goes, and maybe I will post them here after trying them (if I have your permission Kami?).

enough already...

Ok, as if 4 posts in one day aren't enough already, I just wanted to post to say that I finished a massive book last night. "The Pillars of the Earth" is almost 1000 pages. Yay me! It was good, but in case any of you are interested in committing yourself to reading it... there are some nasty treacherous yucky graphic scenes, so that is my disclaimer. They really need to have some sort of "rating" system for books I think.

did you know...

melamine plates that fall on the bottom heating element of the dishwasher, and then start to burn, smell like really foul fish. lovely.

swimsuits and the saggy baggy elephant...

This is sort of 3 posts in one, being that they are really not related.

#1: I told Zane I was going to go outside this afternoon to check on the sprinklers. I needed to check that they are all working, since it's getting to that time to start running them. He said, "Ok, I want to come too!" Next thing I know, he is outside with nothing but his swimsuit on! It was around 64 degrees today, so I decided, if he wants to run through the sprinklers, so be it. I didn't realize it would lead to, "Can I do the slip and slide, or swim?" HA, no, it's flippin' WINTER. He wore his swimsuit all day, yes he did. (and yes, I did just type flippin').

#2: We are embarking on an adventure in babysitting. I am going to be watching a 3 year old girl four hours a day starting tomorrow. I think it will be good for Zane to have a playmate, let's hope they get along well! Do you think her mom would approve of sprinkler running in 60 degree weather? Probably not. Let's not tell ok?

#3: Does anyone remember the story "The Saggy Baggy Elephant"? It was a little golden book about a little elephant with saggy baggy wrinkly skin, who gets teased by the other animals. Yes, my poor Lily is the saggy baggy elephant. Don't know if she has gained anything this week, but it's not for lack of trying. She's been eating great, as always. Guess we will find out something on Wednesday....I promise to update as soon as I can. I don't know if anyone else can tell from this picture, I just know I can since I'm her mom, and I knew what she looked like before. She still has chubby legs, those haven't sagged. But, look at her sad saggy armpit and old lady arms! Thanks for all your prayers for my saggy baggy baby!

nada...

Yesterday was a hard day. I keep telling myself not to freak out until I know for sure if there is something to freak out about. It's been challenging to make sure she eats as much as they want her to. She loves to eat solids, so that is not a problem, but it's a careful balance to make sure she isn't too full on them so that she will still nurse every 2 1/2-3 hours. I figure if she wakes up at night at all I will nurse her too (I hope I'm not setting myself up for no more sleeping through the night!). She is happy and content and full of squinchy eyed smiles that always make me feel better.

My mom has been in town this week, so we have been shopping a bunch, which has helped take my mind off it a little. And of course a little Lemon Cream Cake goes a long way. Her appointment is Wednesday morning, so we won't know anything new until then. Thank you so much for keeping us in your prayers!

the most important meal of the day...

I left my son to make his own breakfast this morning, and this is what he chose to make.




It is a triple decker peanut butter and honey sandwich with the pb/honey blobbed in the middle and not spread out. Yum!

lily update...

The dr. called back with some lab results. Nothing is too serious at this point. Her white blood cell count is low - called neutropenia, and she has a low ph meaning she is slightly acidotic. Her urine was fine, and there weren't leukemia cells. They didn't get enough blood to do the celiac disease test. They are going to hold off until our appointment next week to see if her weight has improved and then go from there. They may also repeat the CBC at that time to see if the white blood cells/ph is the same. So, still not definitive answers. She is happy and eating well, so keep us in your prayers.

our lily...

A few people in the past few weeks have told us that she looks "skinnier" and in the past couple of weeks I have really started to notice it. Her skin around her belly and arms that used to be quite chubby, looks wrinkly...like if you were to lose a lot of weight fast...your skin would kind of hang off? So we took her in today. She last went to the dr. in Dec. for her 6 month appt, and her 9 month appt was scheduled for next week, but I just didn't think I could wait. Apparently Lily now weighs 16 pounds 7 oz. At 6 months, she weighed over 18 lbs, and at her 4 month she weighed 17 pounds. She weighs less than she did at 4 months old. She also has not grown at all (in fact she shrunk? we couldn't figure that out either). Not good.

The Dr. has ordered a bunch of blood tests for some really scary things that I won't mention (because I'm freaked out enough - I don't need to freak anyone else out), but in the meantime is just having me nurse more often. We take her back next week to have her weight checked again, and we will hopefully find out this week some of the results on the tests. Please pray for her (and us!) that all will be well.

new design...

How do you like it?

happy valentine's day...

Happy Love Day!

We had a fun day of valentine making, preschool for Zane, lunch date with mom/dad and Lily, pizza for dinner (yay no dinner making for mom, thanks dad!), and a movie date for mom/dad. Hope you all were able to celebrate with your loved ones too!

ok for real...

This really just happened. John and I are up late watching some TV. Simpsons is on, and it breaks in with "This is a test of the Emergency Alert System...BEEP BEEP BEEP". Ok, so it runs through the whole announcement thing, followed by some beeps. Then when it should be done, we start hearing this. I'm not kidding. Someone hijacked the EAS. It went on for a good 2 minutes before it returned to programming.

when your kids go to bed...

We went in to Zane's room last night to make sure he was tucked in after he was asleep...and this is what we found. Haha!
I think Lily has lost weight, and/or grown taller. She seems much skinnier lately, and less of a chubby baby. She is not really more active, in that she has no interest in crawling or being mobile much at all. She is quite content to sit on my lap all day if I let her. It's a cute pic of her. Nothing to report about it, just a way cute picture.

the king and the cheese...

It is the letter K this week in preschool. They made kites on Tuesday and yesterday they talked about kings and then made crowns. (well decorated the Burger King ones). Now Zane insists that crown starts with the letter K. No point in arguing there. He is quite the reader already, I can't believe it. Now if only we can get him to understand that when you write you go left to right in a straight line... not put the letters of the word anywhere on the page. It's just his creative side coming out I think. Lily does the funniest thing that I have not been able to catch on camera. Sometimes when you smile at her, she will smile back but squinch her eyes up too. It looks like she is giving you this big cheesy smile. But, a lot of times, she just squinches her eyes, and doesn't really smile with her mouth. It is ADORABLE. This picture is the closest I have gotten to catching the squinchy eyes. Super cute cheeser!

my memories of president hinckley...

I was just thinking today about my memories of seeing President Hinckley in person, and I have 3 distinct ones that came to mind. First was when I was able to go to the Conference Center dedication General Conference session. In spite of growing up in Salt Lake City, I had never attended conference in person. And this time, I actually lived in Texas, but had come back to be able to go. (It is much easier to get tickets when you live in another state by the way, but I think I got these tickets from my Dad who was in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir). I remember sitting there during the prayer and how my spirit literally wept. Everyone also spotaneously stood and sang after Pres. Hinckley's prayer, and then slowly every apostle and authority on the stand stood on their feet. It was so neat.

The second time I remember seeing him was right before we moved from Texas, and he came for the dedication of the Lubbock, TX temple. We were outside for the cornerstone ceremony (John was singing in the cornerstone choir) and it was so neat to see him come out with his wife. They were so cute together. He made jokes, and even called my niece and nephew out of the audience to put mortar on the stone. When he left after the dedication, we were outside the temple and everyone broke into "We Thank Thee O God For A Prophet" as he got into his car, with his signature cane wave.

The last time I saw him in person was at John's graduation from BYU Law School. He had a granddaughter in John's class. We were all sitting there in the audience, and all of a sudden the prophet walked in and sat on the stand. It was so unexpected. Very cool.

I'm sure there were other times, but those are the ones that stand out to me. He was such a happy man, and we will miss him. Here is a picture from John's graduation (sorry it's not very good - the lighting wasn't very good and I was behind a pillar!).

a weepy day...

This might make you tear up a little. But maybe it was just me, I had one of those days.
the bridge