Our Fourth Ammoniversary

In February we had our fourth anniversary, but I was so nauseous and tired all the time, Ammon and I agreed we wouldn't celebrate it until I was able to really enjoy it. Last weekend we were finally able to do so!! With my mom watching Da Kayub for 8 hours, we went to an early showing of the movie Limitless. Really interesting. Just as good as the previews make you think it will be.

This was the weekend that was 50 degrees and rainy, so it was PERFECT weather for Ammon and I to go to our favorite restaurant, The Melting Pot. Thankfully they take pictures when you arrive and post them on Facebook. Nice little side courtesy. (By the way, note the cute new haircut I had gotten the night before.) Ammon surprised me with a much-too-expensive bottle of sparkling cider, but it was romantic and just fun to make ourselves feel special with a really expensive dinner. As a side note, the General Manager of the Ahwatukee location is a ton of fun, too!

We arrived at my parents house to pick up Kaleb, and discovered a family friend visiting. Kaleb was enjoying her kids' company so they ended up staying until 9pm. Just as they left and we were cleaning up toys, Kaleb proceeded to ... show us all that he had for dinner that night. For whatever reason, be it some food allergy or whatever, Kaleb spent the next three hours throwing up in ten to fifteen minute intervals. We didn't leave my parents' house until 10:30 because we couldn't gather the nerve to move him. He finally fell asleep at midnight once I stopped giving him any water. Needless to say, not the best way to end an evening (especially since Kaleb had just gotten over the flu the week before), but Kaleb is okay and we still had a great time before that!

2nd Pregnancy and Other Updates

16 WEEKS- I'm now totally fine with being pregnant... because I've actually had a whole week where I felt 'pretty good.' I have more energy now than I remember having with Kaleb at this point, so that's a plus. However, I definitely feel much bigger (cuz I am) than I did with Kaleb. I've already started to really show, which is kinda cool, but also a little annoying since I'm not even half way done. I've already gained ten pounds! Six were just in the last month. GRRR. Since the weather has hit 90 degrees, per Ammon's and my agreement my long locks will be facing the chopping block in the next few weeks, and I should be able to find out the gender within the next month! SO EXCITING!! EMPIRE- Ammon is LOVING his job. He really likes everyone he works with because (go figure) they all have that sense of decency and respect that most people find in a normal work environment. He's usually stuck working with the less savory folks, so it's been refreshing. As planned when he got hired, he will probably start the night shift in a week. It might be a hard transition at first, but I think once we all get into the groove of it we will be fine. It's been fun to really make plans for the future again! THE BIG BUZZ- We decided to give Kaleb a buzz-cut for the warmer season, and Ammon figured he could do a decent (and free) job of it. So the other night, we strapped Kaleb to his booster seat, stripped him down and started a-buzzin! Here's the before picture!

At first he handled it really well, but then the hairs started itching, and daddy wasn't finishing fast enough, it became one of the most traumatic experiences Kaleb has ever had. We bribed him with a couple of otter pops, and thankfully Gramma Teller showed up as a great distraction.

After a good bath, everything was fine. The funny thing is that he looks SOOOO different to me, I almost don't recognize him. I love rubbing my fingers all over the fuzz, but it's still kind of foreign. The wierdest part is when we spend time with his four-year old cousin who inspired us to buzz Kaleb's hair. From the back, it's hard to tell them apart unless they're standing next to eachother. The great timing is that Kaleb came down with a nasty flu the next day, so the short hair made it much easier to cool his 103 degree head.

Kaleb at almost 22 Months

Kaleb is just a few months shy of being two years. This past month he has learned to get into the carseat all by himself and LOVES making new friends. He seems to have no problem going up to strangers and 'talking' to them... or dancing for them, whichever the situation calls for. He doesn't like it when mom or dad (both of us he calls Daddy of course) leave unless we give him proper goodbyes with a hug and kiss and a wave.

DIET: I've been slacking with his food lately (totally playing the pregnancy card on that one), so he has found a fresh dislike for all things green except sugar snap peas. We have gotten into negotiation mode where we give him veggies first then reward him with the rest of his food in increments. Milk is often a dessert or it becomes the only thing he has at meals.

VOICES: Much like his mom, Kaleb loves to hear all the interesting things his voice can do. He likes to whisper and 'shoosh' me whenever he feels it's appropriate. He will join in screaming if others around him will do it. Plus, his new thing is growling. I'm not sure if it's from watching the Lion King a lot recently, but there you have it.

OH, GO FLY A KITE: With that windy Monday we had a few weeks ago, Ammon and I couldn't resist buying a kite and making it a day of outdoor fun. Ironically, the kite plus wind factor made it impossible for Kaleb to fly it by himself, but we all had fun at the park as usual.

Kaleb was pretty pooped on the way home, so Ammon had the chance to carry him... well that and the kite got stuck in a tree, so Ammon had to go home and get a ladder to fetch it. My cute boys' butts!

WHAT TO DO? The other day my mom bought a bunch of her grandkids pinwheels to play with while at the park. Kaleb didn't really get the chance to use it, so when we got home he seemed kinda lost, but he found a few fun things to do with it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLbC-MKnLhI

WITH THE CHANGING TIMES: Kaleb has a lot of new favorites. His favorite movie is Up and his favorite book is Duckie Duck. While channel surfing the other day, we tripped upon his favorite Disney heroine: Tinkerbell. Her first movie was on and he sat and watched the entire thing, even with giggles (I had never heard him laugh at the TV before.)

OPEN THE FLOODGATES: I think I've mentioned before that we have a hard time keeping Kaleb dry the whole night. His size six diapers just can't hold ten hours worth of Kaleb apparently. Well, it was pretty bad, but nothing compared to how it got when he came down with croup (swollen vocal chords) and we were asked to boost his fluids. A couple of mornings of this picture were probably the worst part of his illness.

PROJECT STUCK-IN-CRIB: Kaleb has become a bit of a trouble-maker whilst in his crib. The other day he ended up climbing (or falling) out of it for the first time. Plus, he has a tendency to try some new fashion statements.

KALEB'S KISSES: This is just a fun thing Ammon has trained Kaleb to do, he can get Kaleb to give him kisses in specific spots. SO FLIPPING CUTE!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_3jd3pAK1A

LITTLE HELPER:

CINCO DE SPRING: Spring Break inspired a cousin playdate. We ended up with five of them together at my parents' house. It was a good time without any real arguments. Kaleb loves it because his favorite thing to do is follow others around and see what they do.

SAY GRRRR: My newest frustration with Kaleb is his love/hate relationship with the camera. He always wants to see the pictures on the back, so he won't stay still for me to take any. At first it started with a cheesy grin...

Then came the tears with constant whining of "Mine"

Then the groping...

Finally, with some practice, and some more negotiating, we have gotten a great smile!

What I Learned From Dr. House

So earlier today Ammon and I got stuck on the couch watching a few reruns of "House." One of the episodes struck me a little to the core. I couldn't possibly repeat any of the medical jargon but basically a man had lost his ability to filter his thoughts. He told the absolute, unedited truth. We didn't even see the end of it, but there was a point in the episode when the doctors thought they had figured it out but wouldn't do anything because the man had such a slim chance of living through the surgery to fix the problem. Essentially the man went to House and practically begged him to do the surgery because of how negatively it had effected his wife and daughter. There was a chance they would never want to be around him again if he wasn't fixed. He would rather die than not be able to control what he said.

I thought about this a little. Being a pregnant woman, I tend to have a much looser filter than normal. However, I still can feel and regret the impact of what I have said. As a general rule, truth is definitely the way to go. However, I think there is a lot to be said for kindness and respect. In Sunday School the other day, there was a discussion based around "How can you tell a true disciple of Christ?" Ultimately I got the impression that most people in the group agreed that is was based on the way that person treated others. Obviously only Heavenly Father can know each of our hearts, but I would hope and pray that overall I give off the impression of being a disciple of Christ.

Thank Goodness for Caterpillars

Ammon got a job with Empire Caterpillar in west Mesa! We are so excited. It's kind of a long story, but 'I will sum up.' About 6 weeks ago Ammon put in applications at Empire for truck driving and/or a field welder position, both of which required his CDL license. He got called in for an interview and weld test for the latter. Turns out that job would pay pretty well, but it would mean a lot of traveling for Ammon, often weeks at a time. Well, a few weeks later, Ammon was called in for a 'second interview.' As he sat down with his interviewer (Johnny) Ammon was told, "Well you didn't get the job." Basically a guy with tons more experience barely beat Ammon in getting this field welder job. However, Empire was opening positions in the shop for some machinist welders, and Ammon had done such an impressive job on his test and interview, Johnny wanted to personally introduce him to the foreman in the shop. This gave Ammon a foot in the door and a shining recommendation. Three weeks later, after a lot of prayers from family and friends and a little bit of the run-around from Empire, Ammon got a call from an admin at Empire asking him to fill out some information online. We figured this was just protocal since he didn't actually apply for this second job. However, when she called a few hours later it was to ask him to come in to sign some pre-hire paperwork. I had to actually hear her say over the phone that Ammon got the job cause I didn't believe it otherwise.

This is a miracle for us at our 11th hour of need, and we are so grateful that Ammon was inspired to get his CDL (without which he may never have gotten this opportunity.) And we're grateful that HF granted Ammon a job where he will be home every day and not on the road. And we're grateful that Ammon's dad saw the ad for the Empire jobs. And we're grateful we were comforted all these months in knowing that something will come 'when the time was right.' We have seen the miracle that prayers and faith can work, and we're so grateful for everyone's support. Thank you!!!!!!

2nd Pregnancy- 11 Weeks, 2 Days

Well, as kind of a pregnancy journal I want to document some things I've already experienced on the blog. Overall I have been sick in some way almost all the time except first thing in the morning. Usually from the time I wake up till about 11 am, I feel so 'normal.' The term morning sickness obviously doesn't apply to me. I'm beginning to assume it's a tiredness issue because I usually feel the worst the last few hours of the day. And let me tell you, I am ALWAYS tired. Even if I haven't done anything my body gets a bit... shakey... by the end of the day... like I've really over-exerted my muscles, that type of shakey. I don't deny that feeling scares me a great deal since I haven't gained enough weight to really exhaust myself. Although I have gained some poundage already and that scares me too. I have to eat every 2-3 hours, serving-size meals (which is about 2/3rds of what I would normally eat three times a day.) Most of the time I have no control over what my bod is willing to accept. Usually my fall-backs are cereal, cheese and eggs (shocking for most pregnant women.), but there are few consistencies. I've craved peanut butter smoothies, tacos, lima bean soup, Greek kabobs, pancakes, cottage cheese (Wal-mart cottage cheese), my mom's fried rice, fajitas, root beer, etc. If you kind find some sort of pattern let me know! The worst is all the heartburn and indigestion. I'm starting to wonder if I have an ulcer since I often have an miserable pain within my stomach like I'm being eaten from the inside. Mexican strawberry cremesicles have been the most reliable remedy for it. (GO FIGURE!) Ammon and I already joke that this baby is a girl because it's acting like a spoiled brat... needing everything 'just so.' HAHA Overall things to be getting a little better every day. A migraine and sinus infection didn't help these last few weeks, but I feel like I'm on an upswing as I enter the second trimester.

Us Thus Far

Yes, as I am sure you have guessed, we are pregnant, due September 18th. That puts me at just shy of nine weeks, and oh what a time it has been so far.

Here is the video of me telling Ammon. Keep in mind, Ammon didn't know that camera was running. I had put a hamburger bun with the test strip in the oven. Anyway, hope you can join us in our happiness:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTCWiXE5YNU

The first time I felt nauseous was just after I hit 5 weeks. That was a sign of things to come because I've had it rough ever since. It's been a bit better for about a week, primarily because I've learned how to deal with it: eat small meals all day long and get tons of sleep and do very little during the day. If I break from any of these three rules I am miserable! I'm hoping because the sickness started so early that it will end early too, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up. I can already tell I've gotten thicker in the waist (something I did not need for another two months) and my dreams are really wacky, but otherwise not much else to tell. My doctor did an ultrasound for my first visit, and I was able to see the heart beating already, so that was my favorite part so far!! Here is my beginning pic at 8 weeks. So far to go ;-)

In other news, Ammon tried his first fresh coconut the other day. Inspired by Discovery Channel's Survivorman, he thought it would be a lot of fun. Grossly overestimating the flavor, he never before knew that the coconut we buy in the bags at the store had been sweetened. How cute is he? Needless to say, he wasn't a fan.

Goodbye, chickens. We rid ourselves of all but two of the chickens. They were making a mess of our yard and the twelve of them hadn't laid a single egg in over six weeks. We kept the two for pest control reasons.

As a Christmas present to my ever-giving parents, my siblings and their spouses pooled a big-ole chunk o money to help them buy a new stove. They had their old one since they had their house built 23 years ago. They had so much fun picking it out, I can't wait till we can do something else for them. The irony of it all is that the toaster oven you see to the left exploded inexplicably the next day. Even appliances get jealous.

Just a reminder of how silly our Kaleb is. He likes to wear Mr. PotatoHead's glasses.

And he likes to make sock puppets. This is never something we showed him, but he finds it a lot of fun. Chip off the old block I guess.

As promised, here is a video of Kaleb telling a story. It's classic!!

AAA

Just wanted to announce that I'm finished with my first semester in college and

YADADADAH!!! (Elmo's World Moment)

I got straight A's in all three classes: Accounting Principles, Payroll and Computer Information. Not too shabby for a 29-year old homemaker if I do say so myself!!

I'm so excited to have the next month to spend cleaning and organizing! I know that sounds really lame, but most of you know why I can expect little more than that for the next few weeks. And for those of you that don't know, I will be posting about it next week.

Lightbulb

2010 was not a proud one for me spiritually. I went through some real moments of questioning my faith. I didn't ever wonder if there was a God or anything so basic. It was more a matter of self. Did I really believe that our Father in Heaven cared for us? If he did, and we're doing what we're supposed to, he would bless us, right? Am I worthy of blessings? There were some dark months I went through a bit of a depression cause I hated my life and I hated myself for hating my life. Thankfully things have gotten slowly better (not my life, just my outlook.) Now I find myself seeking the light I have missed so much. Yesterday Ammon and I got to attend the temple, and even though it was a bit of a runaround at first, we really enjoyed it. I can't wait to go back, and we have plans to within the next week or so.

Well, today in Relief Society we were discussing Sacrifice... having a broken heart and a contrite spirit. I thought about how horrible I've been, and how little I've appreciated. I realized that we have EVERYTHING except a steady income. We are so blessed, and I have been SO SELFISH!! I couldn't believe what a jerk I've been, and I found myself in tears. Then a scripture was brought up. Luke 18:18-23. A young ruler asked Christ what he could do to be worthy of eternal life. Jesus listed off the commandments, and the man said he had done all those things. Then Christ asked him, "sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." The teacher asked if we would be able to give up our material things to be with Him. When I thought about it, I realized that Heavenly Father had already gotten us halfway there by forcing us to live without a lot of the luxuries we are so used to. Now all we need to do is follow Him. He gave me this wonderful gift to give me a chance to be closer to Him, and all I've done is whine and complain. My very ugly true colors have come out and I've been wearing a Laman and Lemuel badge for way too long!! No more! I'm so grateful for that lesson, that lightbulb that I was granted today in class. I just pray that I can continue on this better path.

Kaleb at 19.5 Months

As always I like to document Kaleb's continuous progress. He already seems so much older than a few months ago. We have seen him trying to declare his independence over and over again as he will for the next upteenth years. Ammon has become a great disciplinarian. Very consistent... I on the other hand tend to get the giggles when he's in time out. I'm the worst when we tell him to stop doing something and he just keeps doing it, looking at us like, "Um, I don't want to stop, so please just ignore me if you can. Thanks!" I can't help but smile at how completely unappreciative he is of our power. Anyway, he is usually a well-behaved kid, so I can't complain.

Light Up His Life: The other day, Kaleb discovered my touch lamp. You tap any metal part and it has three lighting settings. It's like 20 years old. Anyway, Kaleb thought it was the most amazing thing, so I had to snap a photo.
Good One, Mom!!: About a week ago I bought some bubble bath for Kaleb. A stroke of genius, so I thought. We can't afford a bunch of new bath toys, so having foam covering his bath water seemed a logical solution....

Obviously NOT!!

I couldn't tell you what he didn't like about it. He kept trying to escape from the tub until we moved the bubbles out of the way. Even then, he would only crouch, whereas normally he sits flat on his butt during his whole bath. We've tried a few more times. Tonight I put the bubble bath in at the last minute while he was already in, and he didn't seem to mind that. Baby steps I guess.

HANS Kaleb Anderson: My favorite new thing Kaleb does is his story-telling. We've been working on his words (see entry below), and I guess that has given him some verbal confidence. Now whenever interesting happens (usually something falling), he will tell us all about it. The other day, while playing with his cousin, she started crying and so he came over to us and told us all about how she had fallen down. He even rolled onto the floor to show us. Keep in mind, we usually can't understand a word of it, which makes it that much more fun for us. I'm gonna try to get a video one of these days.

Coordination: Just a side note that Kaleb actually ate a whole bowl of oatmeal today with a spoon... and I didn't regret it. He barely spilled any of it! It's a little thing, but I'm so HAPPY about it!!

Kaleb Steps it Up: The other day we rented Step It Up 3 (not worth the Red Box dollar unless you're really into dancing), and Kaleb LOVED the dance scenes. He even started rolling on the floor to mimic a guy's breakdancing. It was awesome. Here he is during a waltzing scene. We wanted to get something a little more interesting, but he REALLY wanted to play with the camera whenever I would get it out. Anyway, he makes us laugh:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoWMEMiN-mM

Word Wise: After our pediatrician pointed out Kaleb's slight delay in learning words, Ammon and I put ourselves to work. One night he really wanted to look at a book, so we wouldn't let him until he tried to say the word "Book." It took about 90 minutes and a whole lot of tears, but we finally had a break through and since then Kaleb has accepted that he doesn't get anything without first trying to pronounce it. Over a month has gone by, and I've written down more than 20 words in his vocabulary, which is considered pretty good. Granted most of his pronuncuations leave much to be desired, but the point is for him to have words for things. His best words are probably Bye, Nana (banana), and Night Night. His most popular is MeeWee (Movie), Tosh (trash) and Bu Bu (Buckles). The hardest to figure out is when he says Ow for Open. I've worked hard on getting a second syllable, but for some reason he thinks open sounds like Ow. The last few days he has even said "what's that?" in his own way.

Mommy Who?: In relation to that, every night Kaleb gets a few bedtime stories. Lately he has been obsessed with a book my sister-in-law made about us getting married (She does it as a business, so Liz leave your info in the comments if you want.) Anyway, it has pictures of our wedding day and he just loves to have us read it to him. SO SWEET!! Well, tonight after his bath he was looking through it and I was asking him to point out each of us, "Where's Daddy?" "Who's that?" To every response I got, "Daddy." Kinda cute, but I finally had to bribe him with a 3 Musketeers to even mention my name. Here's the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj6l_VG8MOo