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Forgot to mention . . .

Yesterday I was trying on maternity clothes that a friend of mine is loaning me. It's perfect because her daughter was born in March and technically I'm due March 3. Anyway it's perfect because she was pregnant the same seasons I will be. I tried on a really colorful, cheery shirt. Gavin saw me in it and said, "Mommy, you pretty. You pretty like a princess!" I love when Gavin gives me unexpected compliments. It makes me feel good about myself when I'm growing daily to be as big as a house and it's easy to feel ugly.

Posted by The Piquant Storyteller at 4:50 PM 1 thoughts

Unexpected vacation day

Yesterday Heath's co-workers told him he has been working so hard he deserved to take his last flex day. So Heath is home today! We have had a lot of fun already. We went to Bed Bath & Beyond to just browse and dream. Then we went to On the Border for lunch. It's not the best Mexican I have ever eaten but it's the best we've found around here. I had a taco salad which wasn't bad but it made me really miss Durango Grill, Cafe Rio, and Costa Vida salads. Those are worth dying for!

After lunch we went to see Ratatouille. Great show! It was the best movie experience we have had with the kids so far. The last time we went to see a movie we saw Shrek the Third on Father's Day. I thought the kids were really good because we had plenty of treats. We bought a huge tub of popcorn and a huge drink for us all to share. We also got a kids meal for the boys to share. I think it had popcorn, drink, and M&M's. Gavin would know. He remembers everything! He was telling us today that we would go to the "movie store" and get popcorn and a drink and "they have a little treat of NMM's." I was impressed that he remembered all that. Today we decided not to get any treats mostly because Parker only licked ketchup off of my chip strips from my salad. He never ate any of his lunch. Heath didn't want to reward that behavior. I agree. But the boys were so good. They enjoyed sitting and watching the show. Then Parker fell asleep about 40 minutes into it and stayed asleep for the rest of the movie. Nice!

Our new cell phones were waiting for us on our doorstep when we got home. Just like Christmas for Heath. He loves new toys. Tomorrow the Cougars are out and we are having a party with a couple of guys from our ward over it. It's shaping up to be a fun weekend.

Posted by The Piquant Storyteller at 4:01 PM 0 thoughts


Just add water! Ok so I didn't bring my camera to the park today. These are pictures of Gavin at the Gateway in SLC about a month before Parker was born. But I thought they were worth posting because they tell about the same story.

We went to the Tennis Park for our park day group today. There was a water feature for the kids to play in. The water showered down from 2 different spouts that looked like a home shower. There were these things that looked like big wartime guns or something. The kids could move them from side to side with the handle squirting each other. There were a few spots where the water shot up from the ground like you see in the pictures.

At first Gavin was pretty apprehensive about getting wet. Parker got a little wet but they both preferred to drink the water that drizzled out of a pole. They looked like little dogs lapping up the water. They played on the playground for a few minutes. That wasn't very fun since everything was so hot in the blazing sun. My friend's daughter burned her legs as she went down the slide. Gavin's new best friends, Abraham and Annabel, soon came and all the kids played in the water some more. I guess Gavin was finally hot enough and was soon soaked as could be with the biggest smile on his face. Parker never really did play too much in the water. He was wet enough that I didn't want to hold him. He preferred poking my other friend's baby and begging for water and snacks from everyone.

I love that I'm part of this park day group. It's so much fun for the boys and a great chance for us women to just talk. A member of our ward drove up in his work truck and was working on something at the park. When he recognized us all chatting in the shade he yelled out, "Hey, it's the 4th ward Baby Brigade!" We all laughed. It's been over 100 degrees every day this week. I guess if it has to be so hot going to the park to play in the water is the best way to beat the heat.

Posted by The Piquant Storyteller at 5:16 PM 1 thoughts


Especially for Women

I have been researching for my Sacrament Meeting talk on September 23. I came across this talk. While it didn't help in my research I had to share because it is a great talk that we all need to be reminded of once in a while. My favorite part was the bumper sticker: “God put me on earth to accomplish a certain number of things. Right now I am so far behind, I will never die!”
Here's the link to the talk. Click here

Posted by The Piquant Storyteller at 3:55 PM 0 thoughts

Burst Kidney

Maybe the title sounds more like a band name than anything else. My kidneys did not burst but trust me, I thought they might. The definition of pain is driving on the freeway needing to use the restroom like nobody's business while being pregnant!!! I had to go so bad my back hurt!

Why was I in this predicament? Because of my cursed ultrasound. I never wanted to do it in the first place so it's ironic I never had it done. I left home way too late to make it to Walnut Creek in time but I was certainly going to try. Luck was not on my side. I inched my way through a school zone as the second day of school ended. Construction on the street that put me on the freeway slowed me even more. Then, of course, traffic was slow and go most of the way on the freeway. I kept hearing traffic reports that traffic was bad in Walnut Creek. That made my day! I made it to Walnut Creek and entered a virtual parking lot of cars pretending to drive on the streets.

I called Heath because it's really easy to grab my phone and push 2 then the talk button while inching forward at random intervals. He told me not to panic even though I was supposed to be having my appointment as we spoke. He suggested I call the office to let them know I was late and I was on my way. I did. The girl was really nice and told me if I could make it by 4:00 they would still see me. I knew I was close so I thought for sure I would make it in time. As I sat at a red light behind a couple of cars I so badly wanted to hit the hazard lights and get out and walk. I'm sure I could have gotten there faster.

I entered the parking lot at 4:01 by the van's clock. Unfortunately, I think our clock is 2-3 minutes slow. Free valet parking ends at 4:00. There wasn't a parking space to be had except for compact spaces. Our van is not compact. I couldn't figure out which building it was anyway. I parked in a compact space and called Heath again. He suggested I call and ask where to go in. I decided to not "be a man" and just cancel the appointment over the phone! I told the girl that I knew I was too late. She said we could reschedule for the next day. That was seriously the last thing I wanted to do. So I told her I didn't think the ultrasound was necessary since I didn't have any abnormal blood work results. She said that they do all the blood work there and all I was doing was screening for down syndrome. I said that I knew that and I really didn't think it was that important to screen for. I told her my other two appointments were scheduled for October and I would be back then. She read my appointment dates and times, I confirmed, and she said she would cancel the screening I was there for. She was really nice about it. (I was too believe it or not) I feel kind of guilty but at the same time I tried and what more can I do?

The smart thing would have been to find a restroom before leaving. I was supposed to have a full bladder for the appointment. They suggested I drink 16 oz 1 hour before my appointment. I emptied my bladder and slammed down 16 oz of water before leaving an hour before my appointment. I didn't feel like my bladder was full until I was well on my way home. It went from full to painful emergency situation in a few short minutes. Luckily the drive home took less than 30 minutes. I even drove on faith hoping to remember the shortcut Heath showed me but didn't write down for me. I figured if I was wrong I would find a gas station or a bush or . . . something. But it worked and I skipped the construction by coming out on a different street.

We will all have to wait until October 10th to find out who is inside of me. Until then cross your fingers that it's a girl.

Posted by The Piquant Storyteller at 1:30 PM 0 thoughts


Happy Birthday Tyson!

It's my brother's happy birthday today. He's old. No, I'm kidding! I don't remember how old he is. I barely remember how old I am. For a few years now I have been answering that question like a little kid. I will be . . . in December. I guess it was too much to remember what I was before December! I thought it would be easy to remember that I am 29. I mean really, I am the age everyone wants to be. My mom may have finally stopped announcing she was 29. My grandpa got after her when my brother was 29 or 30. My grandpa said, "You can't be the same age as your oldest child!" Instead of saying, "I am 29!" I think about it for a second, sometimes do a little math in my head, and usually say, "I'll be 30 in December!" So pathetic.

Anyway, I need to call him because I haven't talked to him in forever. My mom told me that he was released from his scouting calling recently. She was somewhat surprised when he said that he would rather go on camping trips with the scouts than be the Ward Mission Leader. (Tyson hates camping like Heath hates tomatoes!) He'll be a good Ward Mission Leader but I know he misses his boys. For a calling he didn't want to do at first, Tyson has made the program what it is today. He has turned those boys, diamonds in the rough, to diamonds. I don't know that I really made a significant or even measurable difference in my Beehives but I did mourn for 2 days after I was released. That calling was my life. I tried to use my brother as a good example for me as a Young Women's leader but I was nowhere near as good as he was.

Today I get to see my unborn baby again. I don't want to do this first trimester screening but I guess I will at least know that this kid won't have any genetic abnormalities. It's nothing I have ever worried about before and I don't worry about it now but because I agreed to this ultrasound I will know for sure! Always look for the silver lining right? And since I am 13 weeks along instead of 12 weeks I really hope they can guess if this is a boy or girl. If Gavin has anything to say about it this will be a girl. He says girl 95% of the time I ask. We'll see. Parker has been in his room for almost an hour now trying to escape. It makes me mad because I need him to take a nap now so he won't be too tired or bratty when my friend babysits. You would think that by now I would know that all plans, no matter how well thought out, don't work when there are kids involved! I should also know from my experiences with Gavin that you can't force a child to eat, sleep, or go to the bathroom. I should know these things but I guess I have naive hope!



Musings on Actors

I love listening to music. It touches my soul in a way I can't describe. I have mentioned before that I am a hopeless romantic. Maybe that's why I get goosebumps when I hear good music. I was listening to Romeo and Juliet by Dire Straits (Alchemy Album). That song is one of my favorites and makes me tear up while my entire body is covered in goosebumps! It is the best song about one of the most classic stories of all time. While I was listening I was thinking of the movie Romeo and Juliet, Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of William Shakespeare's classic story. I love that movie because even though they didn't really change the language from how Shakespeare wrote it, you can understand everything. Claire Danes and Leonardo DiCaprio are incredible actors. They did so well acting you would think they were Romeo and Juliet.

I love Baz Luhrmann. He is a visionary. I have learned that people either love or hate his movies. There is no middle ground. So if you didn't like Moulin Rouge don't watch Romeo and Juliet. It's just as artsy. Moulin Rouge makes me sob my eyes out every time I watch. I usually won't watch it if Heath is on a business trip because it makes me too sad and I miss him too much. Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman have the most incredible talent. They acted so well in that movie and they sing like angels. Whenever a Moulin Rouge soundtrack song comes on I get goosebumps again and I tear up because I love the story so much, not to mention the fact that their voices are so spellbinding. Baz Luhrmann presented and produced the song that hit the charts in 1999, "Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)." The lyrics were written by Chicago Tribune columnist Mary Schmich, and the vocals were performed by Lee Perry. Ok, I copied and pasted that last sentence. I knew he was connected to that song. I thought he wrote the lyrics but he didn't. My sister has the lyrics in a quote book. That is the best song ever with the best advice.

I also love actors on TV shows. USA has 2 new great shows. I have loved Monk for years and the new shows are similar to Monk. Psych makes me laugh like Monk does. I like the different twists both of those shows have on solving crime. But my all time new favorite show would have to be Burn Notice. It's funny in a more sarcastic way and parts of it take my breath away. I love how intense it can get. It's funny to think of the main characters playing the roles they do. Jeffrey Donovan is the main character and he is good. I just can't help but think of him as the jerk, Vance Munson, from Hitch. But he is good in Burn Notice. Gabrielle Anwar is the other main character. She's crazy! It kills me that she played the queen in The Three Musketeers (The Disney version from the early 90's with Chris O'Donell). She was such a quiet and sweet queen. In Burn Notice she's a trigger happy ex-girlfriend. She's crazy! Love that show!

My other favorite show is Grounded for Life. We are planning to buy the series on DVD probably for Christmas. Friends is such a great iconic show that was so well done. The actors are incredible. I don't know many people who don't like Friends. But I can better identify with Grounded for Life. I love how the parents are always trying to do the right thing but it usually backfires. Lily (Linsey Bartilson) is the epitome of teenage girl! This show makes me laugh no matter how many times I watch it. Uncle Eddy (Kevin Corrigan) is my favorite character. He's insane and insanely funny. My new brother in law is not thrilled that we want our kids to call him Uncle Eddy. He goes by Ed and that's it. Of course Ed is not like Uncle Eddy who is always doing questionable things. But I like that Uncle Eddy is such a great friend to his niece and nephews. I guess I hoped Ed would be flattered by that angle. I'm sure that if Candi and Ed ever watched Grounded for Life they might be even more offended that we want to call Ed Uncle Eddy. I just love Uncle Eddy. He is my favorite character.

I think Donatella was right when she told Becky that there are a lot of things you can get done when you turn off the TV! While I know that's true, I still enjoy the heck out of watching TV every day. I will always enjoy the heck out of my passion for art, music, and actors.

Posted by The Piquant Storyteller at 1:12 PM 1 thoughts


10 things I swore I would never do as a mother!


10. be wishy washy about decisions (sometimes Gavin has a good argument)

9. allow my kids to go to sleep without brushing their teeth first (sometimes they fall asleep too fast!)

8. lie about anything (saying the computer game is broken when I can't figure out how to get it to come up or telling the neighbor kids we are all out of fruit snacks because that's the first thing they ask for when the walk in the door)

7. want to use a harness restraint in public (it's like a dog leash and my aunt uses one. I wish I had one too)

6. throw away toys that cause too much contention while my kids sleep

5. use the TV or movies as a babysitter (I haven't talked to a single mother who can clean her house or talk on the phone any other way)

4. Heath swore he would never let his kids share his drink

3. skip pages in a long story

2. let the kids sleep in the bed with us

1. buy toys from the grocery store (I did this today and they are actually nice toys, not junk. Plus, who can resist the look of sheer joy on a child's face? I think that is every parent's goal for their child)

Posted by The Piquant Storyteller at 1:33 PM 2 thoughts

Rise and Shout, the Cougars are Out!

This morning on the news they said that a mountain lion was spotted at an Elementary School in Napa yesterday. School was cancelled for the day but classes resumed as usual today. www.ktvu.com/video/13959825/index.html?taf=fran

Of course that's scary and not funny but I had to laugh because of a dream I had. The morning after I blogged about dreams I had this crazy dream. There were all these zoo animals in our back yard. I don't really remember the dream too much now but I think there were alligators coming into a corner of our back yard. There was a chain link fence that closed off our yard and on the other side was a mountain side. On the mountain were 3 tigers just staring at us. I tried to tell Heath about it (in my dream) and he thought I was crazy, which is when I showed him the tigers. I was looking out the window and a mountain lion was wandering around our back yard. I was so scared thinking what if I was out there with the kids! Then I woke up. My heart was pounding and I was in between sleep and being aware that it was just a dream. I have weird thoughts in those moments. I was thinking that I knew it was a dream but really, what would I do if a mountain lion came into our yard and the boys were out there? Like that would ever happen right!

I guess it bothered me enough that I actually asked Heath that question after sharing my dream with him. He laughed at me. I would laugh at me. But when I tried to get him to tell me what I should do if some scary animal, like a mountain lion, came into our yard he said, "I would yell Rise and shout the cougars are out!" So in my half asleep stupor I saw the story on the news this morning and perked up and said to Heath, "See it could happen!"

Posted by The Piquant Storyteller at 12:58 PM 0 thoughts


The Price of Beauty

I am one of the lucky few who has a husband who supports my need to be "beautiful." He may not understand why women need to do all the silly things they do but at least he lets me do it, and of course, he's always happy with the results.

I was talking to my friend Janelle today. I commented on her toenail polish. She recently had it done for her sister in law's wedding. All the women in Janelle's husband's family went together to be pampered. Janelle spent the least amount of money ($25) for her pedicure while the rest of the women went all out getting manicures, pedicures, and facial waxing. Janelle's husband was surprised that it cost Janelle $4 to get 2 little jewels in the center of the flowers painted on her big toes. She told him, "That's the cost of beauty!"

I'm all too familiar with that term. My mom is probably the biggest reason that I am so vain. I remember her braiding or curling my hair every day. If I ever complained, she would tell me, "That's the price of beauty!" It's lucky my mom had me, the girly girl, before my sister, the tomboy. My sister asked me to do her hair and makeup for her wedding day. I was flattered and nervous all at the same time because Candi's style is completely different from mine and I didn't want her to look unnatural. I'm sure she wondered if I was ever going to stop squirting her hair with hairspray. She kept making funny faces and pulling back while I was trying to do her eye makeup. I had to keep reassuring her that it wasn't too much and no, she wouldn't need a putty knife to scrape off the makeup at the end of the night.

Eventually I just got used to all the pain associated with being a girl. My head became less tender as Mom brushed through my hair or ripped stuck curlers out. I endured countless home perms. For my 13th birthday my parents told me I could have my hair permed at Salt Lake Community College. Unfortunately, we didn't ask for a senior to do my hair so 6 hours later I was finally done and 6 months later the curl was all gone so I went back. I had a perm once a year every year for 11 years. I spent around $80 dollars (the community college was cheaper) each time. My hair varied in length from the middle of my back to nearly my waist. I'm surprised my neck is still long! There was at least 5 pounds of curlers and solution sitting on my head for 2-4 hours each time I permed my hair.

It is a well known fact that I don't go out of the house without makeup on. I do full hair and makeup even when Heath is out of town and I don't even take the garbage out!!! I used to do my own nails every week but then I got too busy in college for all that frivolity. I still wear them long. I used to wear a lot of jewelry until I had kids and now I forget to wear earrings 98% of the time. I started shaving my legs daily when I met Heath and now I can't break the habit! If I do skip a day or two my legs are so itchy and hairy it really gets on my nerves!

So really, I'm pretty high maintenance and I'm ok with all the physical and financial pain of being a girl. The one thing that is making me want to change my mind is the whole leg shaving thing. My belly is nowhere near as big as it is going to get and already I can hardly shave my legs. We have a corner shower and a separate tub. In the shower there is nowhere for me to put my leg up. Essentially I am bending over completely while water streams down my face and up my nose. I feel like I may drown one of these days! I tried to shave in the tub but that's hard because it's a deep jacuzzi tub so even though my leg is straight up in the air, not much of it is really out of the water! Plus, I hate washing my hair in any bathtub so I feel like I have to shower after my bath to wash my hair. Oh yeah, I wash my hair daily. It's too fine and thin so it gets greasy and nasty every morning if I don't wash it.

I know so many women who wish they cared as much as I did. Honestly, I am envious of them for being ok with who they are just the way they are. Being pregnant is starting to make me wonder if "the price of beauty" is really worth it!!!

Posted by The Piquant Storyteller at 12:46 PM 1 thoughts



Does anyone watch Unwrapped on the Food Network? I love that show. It's very interesting to see how some foods (mostly convenience foods) are made. Yesterday I had some pad Thai from a box. It was pretty good. I loved the rice noodles but I love all rice noodles. The box said it was original pad Thai. I thought maybe I didn't really like it because I didn't like the dehydrated vegetables that you put in. Today I wanted to try again because it sounded good and I tend to eat in food jags like a little kid. So I tried a box that was flavored Thai peanut. The other thing I didn't really like about yesterday's pad Thai was it wasn't peanutty enough. Today's box had all the same ingredients, including the same tiny amount of peanuts. The only difference was the sauce was different. Oh what a difference it made! That tasted much more like the pad Thai Heath makes for me. It was so delicious! I would have made another box but each box contains 2 servings that are 52 grams of carbs each. I didn't need to take 38 units of insulin just to binge on yummy convenience Asian food!

But I do wonder what Unwrapped would reveal about the secrets of microwaving rice noodles. I would encourage all to check out their local grocery store for Thai Kitchen a trademark of Simply Asia, Inc. I highly recommend it. And I would know since I am the queen of quick meals. In college, my goal was to eat anything that could be microwaved in 2 minutes or less! So sad I know. I did have to change my standards a little because some things take 4 minutes, like the pad Thai I have been eating. By the way, you can microwave Ramen. That's the only way I eat it unless I am sick and then I cook it on the stove top. It's a comfort thing. I love that Gavin once said he doesn't like soup because it is too saucy for him! He was referring to stove top cooked Ramen noodle soup. When I make it in the microwave it is much less "saucy" and probably a whole heck of a lot more unhealthy because of all the sodium. Happy eating!



Evil Tomatoes?

Anyone who knows Heath knows that he hates tomatoes. I think he would rather pluck out his own eyeballs with a spoon, pour lemon juice in the empty eyesockets, and eat his eyeballs than eat tomatoes!!! Let's just say that Heath believes tomatoes are evil. I don't agree but it's never a big deal. I eat my hamburgers with tomatoes while Heath asks for no tomatoes. We never have raw tomatoes at home. There were a few times we had my mom and sister over for taco salads or similar dinners. Everyone else ate the tomatoes except for Heath. It's just not a big deal. Until I rocked the boat.

We decided to have taco salads for dinner on Sunday so we were buying the few things we needed for that on Saturday. I really wanted a tomato on mine and I figured it would be nice for the boys to try a tomato again since they do so rarely. Heath made me cut it up. No problem. I washed it as thoroughly as I wash fresh fruit and I cut it up as best as I could. The boys don't really like what we eat most of the time so we have stopped giving them their own taco shells and they don't eat tortillas so we have stopped giving them tortillas too. They had everything we had on our salads in little piles on their plates. They picked at their food like they do every night. It's amazing how hungry they are for snacks and even though they didn't get any snacks on Sunday they still weren't hungry enough for dinner!

After dinner the plan was to drive to John Muir Hospital where I was supposed to have my first trimester screening today. Like I said yesterday, Gavin puked several times on the way there and back. Parker refused to take a nap on Sunday so he slept through the whole thing. And like I said before, after a long night Parker woke up covered in his own puke. Then a couple hours later Parker had diarrhea. It was about 10 am and I had to make a decision fast because my appointment was in about 25 hours so if I were to cancel or reschedule I needed to do it fast before I got in big trouble for not giving enough notice. Not knowing what was wrong with my kids I rescheduled.

The weird thing was neither boy had any problems the rest of the day. No more diarrhea, no more throwing up, nothing. They played like normal. Gavin fell asleep early but that was mostly because he slept so poorly the night before. You would never know anything was wrong with either boy. Like I said, I felt better after lunch. We were the only 3 who felt yucky and we were the only 3 who ate the tomatoes. Heath had mentioned the tomatoes earlier yesterday but I didn't want to believe that was the case. I'm starting to think that we all had a very mild case of food poisoning. My friend, who was supposed to babysit for me, said that if it was food poisoning that the boys would have it worse than me because their tummies are so much smaller. So even though they ate less, they would have still been affected and being young, they probably weren't prepared to deal with that bug even though my body may have been more immune. It makes you wonder.

Whatever the bug was it didn't take long for the boys to get it out of their systems. Gavin only vomited as much as he did because we overloaded him with liquid trying to prevent dehydration. The 24 hour nurse said give a teaspoon of water every 10 minutes but start 1 hour after vomiting. Good advice.

I will speak for Heath even though he isn't here. Beware of tomatoes!

Posted by The Piquant Storyteller at 12:59 PM 2 thoughts


Wrinkles and Rescheduling

My ultrasound I had scheduled for tomorrow morning has been rescheduled for the following Tuesday. Why? Because Gavin and Parker suddenly developed some sort of stomach flu or something last night. Gavin kept throwing up in the van while we tried to find the hospital I'm supposed to have the ultrasound at. I spent the night on the couch with Gavin so I could help him vomit in a bowl and not on the carpet anymore. Neither one of us slept well at all. By the time the sun came up he was done puking. But then Parker came downstairs white as a ghost (arms and legs included) covered in his own vomit.

Heath decided to work from home today to help me with the kids. Parker never did throw up again but he has nasty diarrhea. I couldn't in good conscience send my kids to a friend with her own 18 month old daughter to deal with that. So I called to reschedule and thankfully they were fine with that. Otherwise Heath would have had to take a sick day to help me. I was feeling pretty lousy myself until about lunchtime and now I feel pretty normal. It's amazing what Ramen noodles can do!

I guess our lives were becoming too smooth and drama free so a wrinkle had to be thrown in there. But all is well. Gavin is excited to play computer games on the computer Dad moved into the kitchen Saturday night. Gavin and Parker played games every chance they got yesterday but now Gavin can play without the unwanted assistance of his little brother. Parker has finally fallen asleep on Gavin's bed. Unfortunately Parker can climb out of his crib but what's worse is he can climb over the baby gate I put at the door to keep him contained. So I pulled out the big guns, as Heath put it, and stacked the baby gates in the doorway. It's about as tall as me so there is no way Parker can get out! He screamed for a good 10-30 minutes before he gave up and crashed on Gavin's bed.

Posted by The Piquant Storyteller at 1:15 PM 0 thoughts


Baby on the Brain

I went to my third prenatal appointment today. My blood sugars have been exactly where I need them to be except for the occasional high number. Of course today before lunch I had one of those occasional high numbers!!! I panicked a little because my appointment was set for one hour after I had tested high and I still had to eat lunch. Silly me, I thought maybe things wouldn't be that bad and I could test right before going into the appointment. Since it had barely been half an hour since I ate my reading was even higher. My heart was pounding as I walked in ready to explain myself. I think I mentioned this before, but my greatest fear is that the Obstetrician will think I am too out of control and send me to a Perinatologist. That's not the bad part. The bad part is the Perinatologist she would send me to is located in Walnut Creek, where I have 3 specialty ultrasounds already scheduled. Being less than 5 minutes away from my Obstetrician is my motivation, and the fact that I suffer from extreme perfectionism.

The nurse asked if I had already left her a urine sample. I told her no because I had just gotten there. She asked if I wanted to do that right then or later. I told her I would do it then because it would show my sugars were high no matter when I did it. The doctor confirmed that yes, they noticed sugar in my urine. I explained that things are normally where they should be. She told me that I seemed to be in better control than most of her gestational diabetic patients. She said she wasn't planning on transferring me anytime soon, if at all. That was a big relief!

Since the baby is still a little young yet, we couldn't hear the heartbeat after trying to. So the doctor did a regular ultrasound and I could see the heartbeat. I'm such a panicky person especially when I'm pregnant. Dr. Carlson showed me the baby on the screen (which actually looks like a baby now) and I asked if the moving circle in the middle was the heart beating. She said yes and I said, "Oh good. The kid is still alive!" I can't wait to feel this baby move because that will be my daily confirmation that everything is ok. I did tell the doctor that I think I can feel the baby move occasionally but I don't think that's really what it is because it's too high in my belly to be baby. She said that after the first baby mothers feel subsequent babies move earlier but it may be too soon now.

I hope I asked all the questions I wanted to. The stretching pains I felt early on are starting to come back periodically so I asked about that. Dr. Carlson said that it may be that I am feeling my uterus stretch and around the incision is stretching too. That makes sense. I am so nervous to have a third child surgically removed from me. It is a little comforting knowing that even though it will take forever because they are doing a tubal ligation at the same time, I never have to go through any of this ever again! Yeehaw!

It has actually taken longer to blog about the visit than the length of the visit. I was done in less than half an hour. Lori was watching my kids and she was surprised that I got back so soon. I told her I was glad I was so close to the doctor's office. It took around 15 minutes to drive to see the Obstetrician with Gavin and 45 minutes to see the Perinatologist with Parker. I like the short drive and the get in/get on with your life speed of the appointments here.

I will go in for a first trimester screening on Tuesday. Even though I will only be 12 weeks I will ask if they can guess the sex of the baby. Probably not but it's true what they say, You always miss 100% of the shots you don't take. I took one of those shots a couple of days ago and now I have the cutest maternity clothes that actually fit! I got an e-mail about a sale at Motherhood Maternity. We were going to go after dinner but Parker was such a little pill at dinner that there was no way we were taking him anywhere in public again that night! So I called Lori and she came with me later that night. Between her and the salesgirls I scored some really cute clothes that I never would have looked at otherwise. So it is worth it to ask questions once in a while. What's the worst that could happen? They say no?

I had a strange premonition at the beginning of the year that I think only Heath and Becky know about. I saw a connection between my church callings and my teaching experience. I taught 6th grade my first year - I was the Beehive Advisor (12-13 year old girls) for nearly 3 years. I taught 4th grade my second year - after being released as Beehive Advisor I was called as an Assistant Den Leader for the Bear Cub Scouts (9 year old boys). I taught Special Education my last year - I was almost convinced that my next calling would be a life calling of being the mother of a child with special needs. On Tuesday I will know if this baby is likely to have a genetic disability. I hope this child is as perfect as the first two but we will love whatever the Lord gives us.

Posted by The Piquant Storyteller at 2:49 PM 0 thoughts


I have learned . . . I have learned that roses are my flower. I miss my Utah roses, especially the miniature ones in the front yard that always looked like they were carved out of chocolate. This is one of the 3 bushes in the back yard. I have learned that Seattle is one of my favorite places in the world. I am also learning that California is definitely home. I have learned that being pregnant is awesome because people expect you to gain weight! I have also learned that I feel more comfortable in maternity clothes than my regular clothes because my stomach is supposed to look like that! 2 days before Parker was born. I have learned that all my children are angels sent from heaven. Parker 2 days old. I have learned that I really miss Gavin making this hilarious face. It still cracks me up! I have learned that art in any form touches my soul. I have also learned that Heath is an awesome photographer. He took this picture of the sunset before the thunderstorm. I have learned that I can actually see into the future! Gavin playing with the computer August 2004. I have learned that I really want a girl so my hairstyling techniques aren't wasted. I have also learned that I really miss my sister.

I may need to stop uploading pictures because not everyone has high speed Internet. I just felt like sharing more pics and sharing some of my insights.

Posted by The Piquant Storyteller at 12:56 PM 2 thoughts


It feels like a picture day today Parker looks like he is pedaling! Interesting use of an Arby's bag. Gavin wanted me to take a picture of him barking like a dog. This was the only picture I took where you could see the dog collar he is wearing. He took it off of Clifford The Big Green Dog.

Love our dual monitor setup. I have the pictures I want on the right while blogging on the left. I love my smart husband!

Posted by The Piquant Storyteller at 1:35 PM 2 thoughts


Knock, knock . . . Who's in there?

If you are superstitious like me, try this one out. I am not a cold person. My mom and sister are cold people. I used to tease my sister and say that she didn't need to bother painting her toenails because they were naturally blue! She is the kind of person who wears fleece jackets to church in the summer because the air conditioning is too cold for her. My mom would wear jackets to our house in the middle of summer and use 2 or 3 blankets while she watched a movie with us because she thought our house was freezing cold.

I am not like that. I am always too warm. I can get cold but usually not for too long. I wear short sleeves in the winter and run the air conditioner in the car. That's just who I am.


Heath thinks that I must be carrying a girl baby because I freeze when the air conditioning comes on in our house. We had Slurpees from 7-11 last night. (Slurpees remind me of when we were dating and when we were first married and could walk to 7-11.) I was already wearing long pants and a long sleeved shirt. I put a sweatshirt on over the top and was still cold!!! I have been this way for a couple of weeks at least. I have worn my winter maternity blouses to church 2 weeks in a row now. One wrinkle in our theory is the fact that I have officially caught Parker's cold. My hot and cold flashes could be related to my being sick now. But I have been getting cold really easily for a while now.

Are you in there little fetus
In nine months will you come greet us?
I will buy you some Adidas!
(unless you're a girl and then you'll want Prada or something!)

All I can figure is I am carrying a girl because this has never happened to me before or I have officially become my mother!!! Only time will tell. I thought it would be fun to do an online poll of what people thought I was going to have. But since most of you can't even see me it makes the guessing more tricky.



I guess we'll just do laundry . . . ALL NIGHT LAUNDRY!!!

Sears' delivery guys showed up around 9 am to deliver our washer and dryer. I was so excited! I am washing bedding today because I can. The laundry room smells like new appliances. Gavin had fun watching our comforter spin around and around. He thought that was pretty cool.

The title comes from Friends. It's the one where everyone finds out. Monica and Chandler are still hiding their relationship but Rachel and Phoebe start to figure things out and then Joey tells them the truth. Instead of confronting Monica and Chandler, Rachel and Phoebe decide to "mess with them." When Monica lies and says she's doing laundry when she's really sneaking out to see Chandler, Rachel said they would give her a bunch of laundry to do. When Rachel gave them all her laundry to do and Phoebe gave them a huge bag of coins, Chandler looked at Monica and said, "I guess we'll just do laundry . . . ALL NIGHT LAUNDRY!!!" I love that show. It's so inappropriate but it makes me laugh so hard. I plan on washing all kinds of weird things that I haven't washed for a while.

Posted by The Piquant Storyteller at 1:53 PM 0 thoughts


Really Good Day

Sorry to all my daily readers. I meant to blog yesterday but didn't really find the time. Heath worked from home. I always get excited when he says he will work from home but the the day comes and reality sets in. When Heath is home it messes with my schedule. The kids act differently because they know Dad is home but they can't see him or talk to him. I feel displaced because I can't use the computer and go through my daily routine as usual. One good thing about having Heath home is he hangs out with me when he takes a break and he usually ends his day sooner.

After much run around from Wells Fargo Bank about our payoff amount from closing on our house, we finally got the money in our account. It was 2 days late but at least it came finally. I think it helps that Heath is a phone genius. He can get people's attention without yelling or swearing or getting out of control himself. He usually says really funny and sarcastic things that make me die laughing! I wasn't around when he made the phone calls so I don't even know if he used the big guns - The fact that Wells Fargo is one of his clients at work and he could ellevate the problem all the way to the top if needs be. Whatever happened we got the money we deserved.

The money showed up in our bank account about the same time that I was hand delivering registration and insurance papers to the Pediatrician's office. I had to take them home because my kids would barely stay in enough control for me to fill out the 2 vital papers I wasn't allowed to take home. I told Gavin we were running an errand. He didn't know what errand meant but he was excited. I told him we were just dropping off some papers at the doctor's office. He asked if we were going to see Dr. Smith. My jaw dropped. Who knew that kid was paying that much attention to remember the name of the Pediatrician we took Parker to see a few days earlier. Anyway, when I dropped off the paperwork I asked if they had heard the blood test results for Parker. Dr. Smith talked to us behind the door separating the waiting room from the offices. She told me that she had good news. Parker's blood sugar reading was fine. She told me that they can test a urine sample at every appointment. I don't think it's necessary unless he is showing symptoms again. She also told me they can do gene testing to see if he has the gene that would make him susceptible to developing an autoimmune disorder. But she said it probably wasn't necessary. I agree. But yeah! My baby is ok!

Once Parker woke up from his nap we went to Sears to buy a front load washer and matching dryer. It will be delivered on Monday. I can wash my clothes at my own house! I can wash Gavin's clothes that he put in the toilet when he claimed he had an accident! I still don't know why he did that. He only put in his shirt and underwear, not his shorts. Oh to be 4 years old and see the world differently than everyone else!

We also bought new underwear for Parker and Gavin. I decided that Parker was wasting the pull ups we bought because they feel like diapers. He really does know when he needs to go we just haven't been successful in getting it where it belongs yet. I thought maybe if he could feel wet and uncomfortable that would speed things up. I may eat my words soon. It was an idea. We also bought some plastic pants to go over his underwear so I don't have to worry about the carpet, the floor, the furniture, etc, etc, etc. Parker should be the only miserable one until he learns. He is so excited to stop wearing diapers. Since he doesn't wake up dry he has to be protected while he sleeps. So last night he wore a pull up and his new Lightning McQueen underwear over the pull up! He really wanted to wear his new underwear especially since I told Gavin he could wear his. I've decided this baby will be taught to change its own diaper around age 3 and we'll discuss potty training when it's 12. I hate potty training!!!

Heath bought two new computer screens so we can have a double screen to work with and Gavin gets the extra screen, mouse, and keyboard downstairs to play/learn on. We'll set up the extra computer when all the parts come in our little desk area built into the kitchen. All in all, it was a really good day yesterday.

Posted by The Piquant Storyteller at 7:26 AM 3 thoughts


Good Clean Fun

Call me a slacker! I decided not to go to the playgroup this morning or the beach (which everyone in the playgroup was invited to even though we could still go to the park if we chose not to go to the beach). I chose not to go to the beach because I wasn't in the mood to drive for an hour and a half, pay $6, and feel obligated to stay for several hours, then turn around and drive back home. Those of you who know me know that I am a total pansy when it comes to driving and activities. I chose not to go to the park because I wanted a shower! So lame I know!

After dropping off Heath at the BART station I took Parker and Gavin to the lab to get Parker's blood drawn. He was supposed to be fasting from at least 11 pm the night before. He ate dinner last night and no breakfast until we got home. We waited for at least 40 minutes before they were ready to take Parker's blood (did I mention it had to come from his arm?). The guy who took his blood was really good. He would say it was just because Parker's vein was so big and obvious. I held Parker on my lap and wrapped my legs around his legs so he wouldn't move. He didn't even flinch let alone cry! He watched the blood for a minute and then turned to me calmly and said, "Ow." He was so good. I can't get over how brave my kids are. I kept thinking back to when I went in for my Kindergarten immunizations with my cousin who was also entering Kindergarten that fall. She screamed and cried and carried on. It was no big deal for me. I couldn't understand why she was so upset. I'm glad my kids are brave too. They seem to understand that while what they are going through is certainly not fun, they will be ok. I don't know how long it will take to hear the results. I will call early next week if I haven't heard by then. The lab guy said it could take a few days. I feel more calm today about the whole thing. If he has it, I can be brave like my boys and just deal with it. If not, hallelujah! We dodged that bullet for now.

So when we finally got home I just wanted to shower and see where the day took me from there. At least I would be clean! Gavin asked to take a bath with his alphabet bath toys. Gavin hates baths so it's a big deal if he asks for one. The boys had fun playing with the letters and numbers. Gavin played until the water was definitely cold. While Gavin played Parker and I organized the play room a bit. I don't know why I did it. It won't stay organized. Really I don't care as long as toys get put away a few times a week. I just like establishing order once in a while. The next project is my bedroom that looks like a war zone or a clutter monster threw up in here!!!

Posted by The Piquant Storyteller at 1:43 PM 2 thoughts


More Exploring

I wanted to check out that bike trail by our house that I missed last week. Gavin and Parker were mad that I would make them leave the house to go for a walk. I know, how dare I be such a mean mother! The funny thing is they are always happy we went and they enjoy themselves.

Not too far down the trail is the other playground our next door neighbor told us about before we officially moved in. The boys had a blast running around playing. Gavin creates these make believe stories about all the equipment. He kept calling the fireman poles beanstops (Gavinese for beanstalk). Parker is my little adventurous monkey. He kept climbing up the fake rock climbing wall. I was his spotter although he didn't really need my help until he was almost at the top.

I used the classic mom reverse psychology to leave - "If you don't want to come with, you can just live at the park. See you later, Gavin." Gavin gets so mad when I say things like that! He kept saying, "No! I not want to leave now. I just playing at the playground." Then he came zooming down the slide (he only plays on slides when he is in the mood to, which is hardly ever unless it's a very short baby slide, and this one was not!) and said, "Ok, I ready to come with you now. Don't leave me!" It's getting harder to hide the huge grin that is threatening to burst into laughter when Gavin does funny things like that. I never would have dreamed of using that kind of reverse psychology on Gavin before we moved. It would have backfired on me because he would much rather stay at Aunt Deanna's house chilling with Daphne and Calvin, or at Becky's house playing with Thomas the Train, or playing at the Dinosaur Playground at the South Towne Mall. But here it works like a charm!

Right behind the playground, on the other side of the canal, were the apartments I see when I turn left to go to the hospital. I thought there must be a way to continue walking to the hospital. So we followed the trail some more. Gavin didn't like the trees and shade. He kept calling it a spooky forest. I didn't see an easy way to cross the overpass we were walking towards. Maybe it's further up the trail. There was a trail that went down under the overpass but I couldn't tell if it would cross to the other side. I would have kept exploring but I had an apprehensive 4 year old and a snoozing 2 year old so I didn't think it was worth it right then. Maybe one night Heath could come with us to check it out. He keeps saying I could walk to my appointments faster than I could drive there. I want to see if it's true.

And now for something completely different . . . I changed my toothbrush today because it needed it a long time ago! (I'm hard on toothbrushes and have been told I need to brush softer because the dentist could see etching on my teeth.) The toothbrush I got out was a navy blue color. Heath's current toothbrush is a turquoise blue color. I hope he doesn't confuse them and accidentally use mine. Sharing toothbrushes is my pet peeve. But I started wondering how my in laws deal with toothbrushes since my father in law is color blind. Things that make you go hmmm.

Posted by The Piquant Storyteller at 2:07 PM 2 thoughts


I must be crazy!

We just back from the Pediatrician's office, who is a woman. I couldn't tell because she had a Middle Eastern first name. I'm excited to work with a woman. The nurse practitioner I saw when I was pregnant with Parker told me she preferred women Pediatricians, Obstetricians, and Dentists. They were more understanding. I liked her and the nurse. I think it will be another good experience.

Anyway, I must be crazy because I mentioned that I was concerned about Parker. He seems to be thirsty a lot and therefore, he wets a lot. I don't know if it's a summer thing or just him or if he is actually developing diabetes. She ordered a blood test for him since it would be difficult to get a urine sample from him. I bet I'm wasting everyone's time but on the other hand I'm so nervous because what if he does have it? I can't give my child injections. I just can't. Why don't I live across the street from Becca, the Pediatric Nurse, anymore???

Posted by The Piquant Storyteller at 4:55 PM 1 thoughts


Today was my final day using someone else's washer and dryer! Yeah! I left Lori's house with both of us promising to still spend time together. The laundry was just a nice excuse to get together. Gavin and Parker play really well with her kids. Gavin asks almost daily to play with his new friends Abraham and Annabelle. I love that he is finally finding friends his own age. He needs that.

I admitted to Lori that I was concerned about getting Gavin ready for Kindergarten in time. She listened to my reasons for not wanting to put my kids in pre-school. She agreed with me but has chosen to put her kids in pre-school for various reasons that make sense to me too. Anyway, she was telling me that she has talked to Kindergarten teachers in our school district and they all said that they are not impressed with parents who try to get their kids ahead by sending them to pre-school. The teachers said the skills they expect from an incoming student are being able to transition fairly well, can put their own jacket on, don't have separation anxiety from parents or caregivers, etc. That was so refreshing to hear. It completely put my heart at ease. I have been trying to work with Gavin on the reading and writing and I feel like I'm pushing him too hard. I don't want him to hate learning or think it's a chore. He's a brilliant kid. We bought him a couple of computer games last night that will teach him reading skills. He wants to learn to read and he loves computer games so I think it's a win win situation.

I have noticed that in the last couple of days Gavin has even learned some of the sounds different letters make. I haven't been quizzing him on that at all! I always tell people that every kid is different and they all learn things at their own pace. Why can't I remember my own advice??? He's picking up on the letters naturally, the same way he's learned everything else. I just need to relax. I see Gavin as being very intellectual and observant while Parker is more physically active. Sometimes I worry that Parker doesn't know as much as Gavin did at the same age but I think it's really just a difference in their speech. Gavin had a large vocabulary at a young age and he was easy to understand. Parker seems to know more than I can actually understand him saying. But after my conversation with Lori, I feel so much better about both of my kids. They are normal kids and that was my goal all along. They only get about 5 years to fully be a kid before they are required to go to school, so make the most of it!

In about an hour I will take Parker to the Pediatrician. I'm so sad that we had to leave such a wonderful Pediatrician in Utah. Hopefully this guy is good too. He will be invited to attend the birth of our baby according to my Obstetrician. It's a scheduled C-section so why not? We'll see how I like this doctor.



More fun than you should be allowed to have in a minivan!

All day long I was prepared to title today's blog: It's a bittersweet symphony this life. Today we received the paperwork to officially close on our West Jordan house. Heath and I are so happy to finally close. We have had 2 different buyers back out at the last minute. The first buyers backed out the day the movers were loading the truck with all our earthly possesions. That took the wind out of our sails on moving day just a bit. The second buyers backed out the day we were moving from our temporary apartment to the house we are currently renting.

I had the universal sign of pregnancy but didn't really believe I was pregnant. I thought I should take a test just to be sure and for peace of mind. Heath told me he didn't think I was pregnant either but if I was he was calling our agent to dramatically drop the price on our house because we were desperate to sell it. Our rent is almost 3 times our monthly mortgage payment plus, we were paying utilities for both houses! Desperate to sell doesn't even begin to describe it. Luckily we kept our heads about us and didn't drop the price. We actually felt quite calm and peaceful with the faith that our house would sell. We should have felt scared especially since the baby wasn't planned.

The bittersweet part comes from feeling sad that we are no longer home owners. There is a sense of pride and accomplishment that comes from owning your own property. We had turned a dumpy, bank owned house into the gorgeous home it is now. That means a lot. Our house now is even nicer and we still can't believe we get to live here . . . but it's not ours.

So we signed the papers saving the first two to sign in front of the Notary Public as requested. The man who put together the papers for our current lease happens to be in our ward! He was happy to help us with this closing process. Actually he didn't even charge us. He just said to send anyone his way who might be interested in buying a home. So if you want to live in fabulous Pleasanton we can hook you up with an awesome agent.

I figured this would be the end of the story today. But oh no! After signing the papers we needed to quickly find a UPS shipping place to send the papers back to Utah to complete the process and get our money. Bro. Jackson told us of a place where there used to be a UPS store but he didn't know if it was still there. Nope, it wasn't. So Heath called the 1-800 number on the package for information. He put his cell phone on speaker. I thought the lady was rude considering she was a computerized voice! Part of the problem was the fact that Parker would yell out whenever Heath was trying to say his request. So the lady would say in the most saccharine condescending voice, "I'm sorry, I didn't get that." And then she would repeat the options again. Heath would interrupt her with his request which just made her say her snotty line all over again. We were slightly frustrated but eventually heard what we wanted to hear.

We took off in search of the address. It didn't exist! Heath thought maybe it was across the street in another shopping center. I said that they had to follow the rules of odd numbers on one side and even numbers on the other side of the street. Heath just laughed and did his poor Arnold Schwarzenegger impression saying, "But this is Caleeforna!" He was totally joking but we tried across the street anyway. Not there either. The tires on our van were starting to squeal a bit as we turned around and around looking for a non-existent address. It seemed like everyone was starting to really be in the way too. Heath abruptly pulled into a parking spot, stopping on a dime, to call the rude computer voice back and try again.

I was telling Heath he should ask for a real person to lay into. He should say things like they needed to update their information. We had time sensitive papers to deliver and were rapidly running out of time to find a place that didn't exist because their information was outdated and how do they sleep at night??? Heath and I were having a lot of fun with this whole situation! Gavin was in the back seat asleep with his mouth opened wide. Parker was laughing at our insane jokes even though he didn't know why we were laughing. So Heath called the 800 number again. The lady seemed even dumber this time. So Heath was very deliberate in his responses. I was bustin a gut laughing so hard! We finally got her to stop saying she didn't get what we said and just start telling us about the nearby addresses. After each one you're supposed to say Next. She was so slow that all 3 of us were shouting Next, including Parker! And then we would giggle because it was so funny.

We had misunderstood one number she had said the first time. So off we went to try again. By the way we had passed one FedEx truck at this point. Heath was driving like a man on an important mission. We squealed out of the parking lot and into the left lane just as it turned green. But the car in front of us was slow to accelerate and then she literally inched her way through the same U-turn we were trying to make. Heath and I were dying we were laughing so hard because Heath was asking me if he should push her through. I just couldn't believe she was oblivious to the fact that our van was practically in her back seat! Heath swerved around her and we continued the search for the Mailboxes Etc. store that supposedly was there. Heath drove our van through that parking lot like it was a Mini Cooper from the Italian Job.

We saw two more FedEx trucks and a Copycat copying store. No UPS signs, no Mailboxes Etc. It was a total Alanis Morissette moment. What's the line? "It's like 2000 spoons when all you need is a knife . . ." I wasn't sure what Heath would do next. He was cracking me up. We saw a UPS truck with a driver inside just sitting in the parking lot. I jokingly told Heath to just knock on the door and ask him where this mysterious place was. To my surprise, Heath pulled into a parking space ready to do just that. He took the envelope and marched over to the truck. I couldn't see him because the truck blocked the interaction. But the driver took the envelope and said there was a mail drop off box right there. We never saw that either.

Thinking the saga was over, we were laughing hard. Heath pulled up to a credit union to deposit a check. He got out and walked to the doors only to have them not open. Heath turned around and held up his hands like, "What the heck? They should still be open according to the sign." I turned to Parker and said, "This is just not our day!" Then the doors opened. I guess you have to be buzzed in. When Heath came back out we were laughing so hard we were crying. Honestly, I don't think you can have any more fun in a minivan.

Posted by The Piquant Storyteller at 7:38 PM 0 thoughts


Catching Zzz's

Ever since I was little I have always had dreams. I even remember a few of my childhood dreams. Heath says he's jealous that I remember my dreams because he usually doesn't. After several nights in a row of very strange dreams I usually wish I could just sleep and not dream.

Sometimes my dreams reflect the stress I am dealing with in my daily life. When I'm nursing a newborn my adrenaline gets exercised several times a night. I fall asleep while I'm nursing at night. Who doesn't right? I haven't mastered lying down while nursing so I just tip my head back against the wall and close my eyes. Mechanically I take care of the baby and get him back in his crib. I go back to bed and immediately fall asleep. After several minutes I wake up all in a panic. I start patting my chest and frantically looking all over the bed and then on the floor wondering what happened to my baby since I don't remember putting him back in his crib! I usually don't believe I really took care of the baby until I see the boppy and burp cloth resting against the side of the bed. Why would I put that away but forget the baby in the bed, I wonder. And then I realize I wouldn't so the baby must be fine! It makes me laugh just remembering it!

In my dreams I am married. I have had strange dreams where I have to go back to Elementary School or Junior High as a student. Yet I am still an adult and I am married! When I'm pregnant it doesn't matter what I'm doing in my dream, I am aware that I am pregnant! Even if it's very early in my pregnancy, I know I'm pregnant in my dreams.

Lately, I have been having super hero dreams. I don't know how else to describe it. I fly around saving people or fighting crime. I had a dream the other night where Heath and I were a super hero team of some sort. We had the ability to change into white butterflies if we needed to disguise ourselves. At one point, we turned into butterflies and snuck off into some room and in complete Sims computer game fashion, the cell phone started glowing pink and there were all these red hearts on the screen while the Sim "they like each other" music played! I'm telling you, I have really weird dreams. Anyway, I have yet to have a dream where I know I'm pregnant. In all those super hero dreams I was only married, not pregnant. Weird huh?

In the early morning and later in the evening I remember I am pregnant in real life. Otherwise I tend to forget because I'm not really showing yet and I'm not dealing with morning sickness anymore. Maybe that's why it's not part of my dreams yet. Maybe I'm having a girl finally. I don't know. I'm planning on a boy in my head so when I find out it's actually a girl on October 10th I will be pleasantly surprised!!! It's Friday so I encourage everyone to take a nap and then have a rockin weekend!

Posted by The Piquant Storyteller at 12:59 PM 0 thoughts



Every once in a while I need to break routine for myself if not for my kids. I decided I didn't want to go to the playground playgroup this morning. There really is no reason I just didn't want to do it. I'm really glad I didn't go because we had some special mother/sons time together.

There is a canal behind our house and a walking trail that goes along the canal. I put Parker in the stroller and had Gavin walk. The pavement ends soon after you enter the walking trail. It was interesting pushing an umbrella stroller in the rocks and dust. After we had been on the trail for several minutes I noticed a nice paved trail on the other side of the fence. Unobservant me didn't realize it until it was too late! Oh well. I will know for next time.

I am kind of glad that we were on the unpaved road next to the canal. Gavin had a blast picking up as many rocks as his little pockets could hold. I gave Parker a couple of rocks to hold onto too. Gavin would travel at a snail's pace simply because there was too much to take in. Like I said, he had to touch and pick up every rock. He would smell the flowered weeds along the fence. He would pick up dried grass, sticks, and leaves. I picked up a pinecone for him. Gavin then started collecting his treasures in the pinecone. Most of it fell out of course but he thought it was a good idea.

The wildlife around here always amazes me. I saw a blue herron majestically fly into a tree and just chill out there for the rest of our walk. I pointed out the bird to Gavin but he either didn't see what I was pointing to (it was a little covered by the tree limbs when I showed Gavin) or plain old didn't care because there were so many more rocks to look at! Soon after the herron, I saw a white crane fly up out of the canal. I hope those are really the names of the birds I saw. If I remember the books I read in grade school that's what I saw in real life. Parker enjoyed the ducks that flew out of the canal. He quacked as they flew away.

I have seen tiny little gecko looking lizards in our backyard. My heart skipped a few times because I thought Parker would see it too and would pick it up and either squish it or get bit. He never saw it. We were at the playground near our house one time and Parker kept talking about a cat. I love that I have never seen a cat just wandering around here. I hated all the wandering cats in West Jordan. I'm sorry if you were one of the offenders, but why have a pet that you never see? Anyway, I kept looking for a cat or a small dog that Parker maybe thought was a cat. Then I realized he meant the squirrels playing in the trees. My heart stopped again as Parker walked confidently over to the two largest squirrels I have ever seen in my life! They didn't scare either. They did move to the other side of the tree from Parker, which happened to be where I was standing. They didn't run up the tree for what felt like an eternity. I could just see Parker reaching out to pet one of those huge creatures. When they did run up the tree Parker held up his hands in the universal "I don't know" sign and said, "Cat . . . go?"

When we were done with the canal trip I still didn't want to go home. Gavin said he wanted to go to the park. So we went down the other side of our street where you can't see the playground. We walked around one of the trails at the park and ended up at the smaller playground that we have seen but never stopped to play at. Gavin and Parker had fun. There were only two other kids there and they left soon after we got there. Every once in a while I like watching my kids have the playground all to themselves. There were two slides side by side. Gavin and Parker would go down at the same time and giggle. I can't believe how much they look alike. They really looked like twins that happen to be two years apart!

Parker sat in the stroller when he had had enough. Gavin yelled out a lot of it's not fair's for a while. Parker was dozing off in the stroller and Gavin was slowing way down because he was so tired. I pointed out the yellow arrow road sign that points at our street. Gavin correctly identified the number 10 underneath the arrow saying 10 mph. I pointed out our street sign and showed Gavin that the letters spelled our street name. We practiced our address again, which Gavin remembered really well.

I'm glad I took a people break today so I could just enjoy my kids. We had fun. Well, I'm off to blow bubbles for Gavin now.

Posted by The Piquant Storyteller at 12:53 PM 1 thoughts



I know that there are many things that I say are my favorite and I have blogged many times about things that bring me joy. Today I am writing about yet another favorite thing that always brightens my day. Before moving from Utah, Heath called and put a hold on my Creating Keepsakes Magazine. They must have asked for a new address because I received an issue while we were in Corporate Housing in San Francisco. The other day Heath called to update our address since we are in a more permanant place now. The lady made it sound like I wouldn't receive an issue until the November issue came out. Yesterday the August issue came in the mail. I have not missed an issue at all from the move.

I love when I get my magazine in the mail. I can't help but smile. As soon as I get inside (or if Heath got the mail and he hands it to me) I devour it! I start at the beginning and I read everything, including ads, until I hit the back cover. I always feel so inspired and I love the art and creativity splashed all over every page. Happiness is getting a magazine in the mail!


