Pre- Media Blackout Update

So next week, we will be going without TV, movies and computers (except to look for a job for Ammon). Our bishop has asked us to spend that time on improving ourselves and our relationships by preparing for general conference next week. Ammon blames me for this because of something I said during ward conference. What can I say? I speak my mind and we need all the blessings we can get right now.

I'm gonna give a quick update on us: Ammon was laid off last week from his job, which wasn't too terrible a loss since they were giving a rollercoaster of drama, including going a month without being paid and even jipping him on five hourse of pay on his last paycheck. Come to find out, that last paycheck bounced today. As if we didn't have enough money problems!

Coincedentally (sp?), I got a part time job at the new toy store in the Superstition mall called Brilliant Sky (where Kaybee used to be, next to Payless). I have really enjoyed it so far and look forward to having a little outlet for my creative energy. Come by and see me soon!

We caught ANOTHER mouse yesterday. I think that makes five this summer!

Also, Ammon and I have new callings. We are now our ward's activities directors and I'm kind of looking forward to it. Ammon is glad to finally have a break away from primary (after 7 years of teaching). I was a little sad since I had only been with the Young Women a year, but this will allow us BOTH time to be spiritually enriched on Sunday in new ways, baby naptimes allowing.

I started The Chronicles of Narnia last week (thanks for the suggestion, Liz) and have gotten through the first two books already. Fun, light-hearted reading with a great lesson are always winners to me!! I did finish a novel a few weeks ago that I had been reading for almost two months (hence why I haven't done a book review). It was so dissapointing, I didn't want to dedicate a whole entry just to that. So all I will say is Dean Koontz' Strangers was 'just ok'. Too long for a boring ending. Usually I like his stuff but this one was "EH" (shrugging shoulders). Read Lightning if you want a good Sci-fi mystery by the same writer. That's his best work.

Of course I can't have a general update without mentioning our little cuteness. We have gotten Kaleb to sit on his own a lot lately. Never for more than thirty seconds, but still, we were very excited to see him so independent even for that short amount of time. Should have a video after our media blackout (cameras aren't banned).

More Kaleb Cutenes

Here is a picture of a cute little vest outfit Llama and Eric got for Kaleb. I just love it!!! Even if the tie is too small for his neck folds. Thanks a bunch, guys, for all of the awesome clothes!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY6kE378pZY

Plus, we got video of Kaleb's first REAL laugh. Sorry I started the video pointing at the dishes, but the camera was in our office, on the other side of the house from the nursery, and the baby monitor was on in the kitchen. I wanted to get as much as I could. Hope you like.

Let the Games Begin

Lately, Ammon and I have been getting out the board (bored?) games and spending our evenings in strategic warfare. Ammon has the Lord of the Rings version of Monopoly, Risk and Chess. We started with Monopoly and Ammon kicked my trash. Below was the scene as I surrendered (Ammon was on the right... Obviously).


Then after I cooled down, I suggested we play Risk. Ammon made short work of me even more quickly and cruelly! Below is my last stand. I was the green soldiers. Don't see any green soldiers? That's because there is only one and he is at the top left of the board. It made be sad. But I had Kaleb's love to make me feel better!!!!

How Many Eggs?!?!?!

72

6 Dozen

Our chickens are giving us an average of a dozen eggs a day! The madness!!!

New videos of Kaleb

This is a video of Kaleb screaming. We think it's his way of saying "I want ATTENTION" cuz he does it when he is happy and when he is frustrated. You also get to hear his other cuter cooing too. Plus, this shows how much Kaleb has learned to love playing with blankets. Be warned, the video starts right in the middle of a scream, so prepare yourself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWW3L4tjOBY&feature=channel

We finally got a video of Kaleb standing. It's so funny to see his short chunky legs holding up that long torso. Notice that I only help him balance and don't hold any of his weight. Usually when we do this is when he starts screaming to say "Look at me", but of course he stopped right when we started recording.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkfTWWcvy84

Blessing Kaleb

On Sunday, September 6th, we blessed Kaleb in our home. My entire family was able to make it, which was so wonderful, and the BBQ after was also a bunch of fun. Thanks to all that were able to make it (and those friends that we didn't invite, just look below at the crowd we had just in the circle, then add a spouse for each of them and six kids under seven and you'll understand. We had to limit the craziness to pretty much just family). Kaleb was so good during the blessing, even though he was a bit emotional beforehand. All in all it worked out.

Here is a close-up of Kaleb's blessing outfit. We didn't find a single white outfit... plus with how limited our money was we had to buy something that he could wear more than once.

Yo, DOG!!

Kaleb is 3 Months OLD!!!

Kaleb is now three months old! We didn't have a doctors appointment this month, so I don't know how much bigger he has gotten. According to our measurements (home scale and Ammon's tape measure) he has actually shrunk... Hmmmm. So if there is anyone out there that has an accurate meat scale or whatever those are called, let me know. Oh, well. Here are some fun photos:

Below is Kaleb at two months:

And three months in the same outfit. He looks as though he just filled out a bit. Nothing major, but definitely doesn't look as though he has shrunk any, so we are safe there!!

We have the dillema of Kaleb growing out of his bath tub. Now that he likes to kick his legs, he often pushes his head into walls, which doesn't seem to bother him. I would just use the bathtub with the ramp, but our faucets are notorious for quickly getting to the scalding point so I have been delaying taking him out of it... Plus then I would have to admit he's growing up.

Ammon and I have decided to accept the "yo baby jus' aint brown" fact and enjoy Kaleb's beautiful blue eyes. I just hope the poor kid can tan. Plus this photo just has a cute face!

I have had requests to get a photo of da baby butt, so here you go, Liz!


Kaleb has been getting much more active and he thankfully doesn't mind being alone when he first wakes up for a nap. I came into his bedroom to the scene below which told me that he is past the age of swaddling and that we needed some other way to
keep him comfy (and warm at night):

So Gramma Lynn bought him a set of Bear footy pajamas (thank you!). Don't you love

his bear feet. Get it? Bare FEET!! PWA! Good times!!!!

Like I said, he has been getting more active, especially exploring with his hands. Lately he has become particularly interested in his hair. Sometimes his hands will wander around his face like someone else is controlling them. He almost gets mad at them. Makes me laugh!! The photo below just looks like he's practicing for his "I'm not listening" phase.

Kaleb's feet can now reach his face with my help, and the first time I heard him laugh was when I made his feet 'kick' his hands out of his mouth. Of course I haven't heard him laugh since, but he is figuring out he can pull his legs toward him and play with his knees.

He now has almost full control of his head, and the other day we put him in the Bumbo. He likes to sit in it for about five minutes to watch tv (or dad playing video games). Then he realizes he can't move his legs like that and he starts going a little ballistic.

Kaleb has also discovered how much he loves to stand and will make it known to you if he's ever in your lap sitting too long. He can hold his own weight with his legs already, but has serious balance issues (like his mom still does). Below is a photo I got. I took videos as well, but like a total moron I got them with the camera on the side not realizing that you would have to watch them whilst lying on your side. I will get a better one soon. Well, guess that's all for now!!!

Chicken Coop Craziness

Ammon finally got the chance to work on our new chicken coop. We still had all of our chickens in our small little chick coop and the birds were starting to mutiny. Below is a picture of the space on which Ammon started the coop. We had a shed there and a wooden fence (see it leaning on the left there).

Ammon got the fence back up and then framed up the structure.

He also decided to build a larger feeder so we wouldn't have to feed the chickens twice a day.

Here are the nesting boxes he made to encourage them to lay eggs. We put old golf balls in there to show them where to lay and to discourage them from pecking at the eggs. So far its working!!

Apparently chickens are supposed to like sleeping high. Ammon built this roost for them... but they prefer to dig holes in the dirt. Silly birdies!!

Here is the finished coop. It is huge and Ammon got it done in less than a week!

I was so proud of him!!





Here's the interior of the coop before the roost and nesting boxes were put in. The rooster is standing in their old coop. Imagine eight chickens in that little spot.

Here's a photo of our first egg. It's much smaller than it looks in this photo. Our chickens started laying within a few days of moving into the coop. It was so EXCITING!!!

Here's a photo of our first dozen!!! It took about a week since only three of the chickens are currently laying. Lok at that little tiny little one on the right. Ammon thought it was a poop since it was so small and brown, but NO there was a yolk in it!

Well, we were so thrilled to have everything all organized with our new coop. The chickens really liked it and were starting to lay... then one of our chickens died. Dont know why. Kinda creepy. SO we were down to eight hens and a rooster. Then our rooster died, probably of heat stroke. Wasn't a terrible loss since we didn't want a rooster in the first place. Then, the next day, a friend of ours decided to move and she couldn't take her chickens with her. Ammon had three days to make our one coop into two. (Chickens will fight to the death if they are defending the territory of the flock so we couldn't put them together). SO now we have seventeen hens and get 6-8 eggs a day. It's so awesome to see all of the work finally bring fruit... or EGGS!!

Photo Shoot - Kaleb... in Brown

I thought Kaleb looked good in his brown outfit, so I decided to do another random photo shoot with him. Enjoy!!

Well, you said "cheese" and I got hungry!!

"Re-assemble, Stephanie! Re-assemble!!" (Short Circuit)

No, I don't have anything in my cheeks. Why do you ask?

Pictures are hard work!!!

Financial Options - Advice? Experience? Anyone?

Okay, so as most of you know, I was laid off from my job in November. Ammon was laid off in December and ever since has only had six weeks worth of work until he got his current job a month ago. Both of us have been receiving unemployment payments, which admittedly have helped us keep our head above water. However, because of the debts we accrued earlier, we are now in the unpleasant position of picking our financial battles. We have tried to get a mortgage modification from our bank, but they only offered to lower our payments $110 a month for the next four months to help us 'get back on our feet'. Then we are required to pay all of our back payments (currently four months worth). Sound a little ridiculous? Yeah, we thought so. We make barely too much to qualify for the "Making Homes Affordable" program until my unemployment payments run out in five weeks. However, according to our lender, once I stop receiving that money, we will not be making enough to qualify for any of their modifications due to our 'debt-to-income ratio'. You still with me?

As I mentioned a few months ago, we had to surrender our Silverado, so we are looking at having to pay the deficit after they sell it. Plus we have three almost maxed out credit cards and our one vehicle (on which we owe about $6000 more than its worth). Our credit prevents us from qualifying for a refinance, so now we are thinking of filing for bankruptcy. Other than our mortgage and the Silverado, we have been able to pay everything on time (yippee for us?). I'm not posting this for a pity party. We made our bed (and then someone wet in it, ripped the sheets and pulled all the stuffing out of it!!...), so we need to accept responsibility. BUT we also know that we can't continue like this unless we somehow find more money. Something's gotta give.

I'm posting this to reach out for any advice or experiences that may be helpful for us in this situation. We aren't exactly proud of the decisions we made to get us into this mess, but I feel we are doing the best we can now with what we still have. So please, any help would be... helpful! ;-)