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I figured I should also write a quick blurb about how we are doing and what's going on with us right now, since my kids are being good and everything. Ha. Yeah right. Josh is sitting here screaming, so it'll be quick.

We are still in Bagdad, obviously, Dave is still working in the same job, and not much is new, but I'll go youngest to oldest...

Josh is growing like a weed and is chubby and wonderful and cuddly. He is almost 9 months old now, but still doesn't sleep through the night. :) Fun for me. He loves his older brother and they have so much fun together. He is a total mama's boy, by every explanation. I leave the room, he cries. I put him down, he cries. But it's okay because I love him. :) He is so cheerful and happy and fun and probably the most photogenic baby I've ever seen. He has his first tooth on the bottom, which has been fun for me dealing with his extra grumpiness. He has his next checkup in a week, so I'll report stats then.

Sam is doing new things every day and is becoming so grown up. He is very smart and defiant and starting to get a sarcastic sense of humor. :) He is also very stubborn and can be a REAL pain in my butt, but then a second later he can turn around and be the sweetest boy I've ever seen. He started "preschool" with Christa a couple months ago and is LOVING it (though it will probably not continue anymore). He loves learning and interacting with other kids and is GREAT for other people. :)

The only new thing with me is that I finally finished my book--the final edit and everything! Woo hoo! So, I'm working on my grueling query letters and synopsis, mini synopsis, etc. etc. etc. so I can start researching agents to send it in to. Writing the book was definitely the fun, easy part. This part feels like homework--homework that I actually care about and want to be perfect. LOL. Anyway, thanks to those of who who currently have copies of my final manuscript and are reading them. I started reading it to Dave the other day, feeling SOOO lame because he isn't in to romances, but I have been very very pleasantly surprised that he actually really likes it so far and is anxious to know what happens to the characters.

Anyway, Dave had a health fair a few weeks ago here in Bagdad that he ran, and in that process, he had his blood taken and it was high. He always new it was high, but this time worried him more. Thinking about his dad and seeing his life go in that same path gave him a brutal wake-up call, so for the past few weeks he has been EXTREMELY strict with his diet, determined not to end up that way. I have been sooo proud of him. He is eating smaller portions (and still always starving), eliminating as much carbs and refined sugar as possible, and he is working out every single day--even when we are out of town on the weekends, he'll get up early enough to run. Anyway, he's been taking his blood every morning and the results have been extremely depressing. He finally has an appointment today to see what the deal is, though the numbers we see scream diabetes. We are still hoping for something more positive, and praying, but we wont know till we go in and get checked for sure. We will keep everyone updated.

Our prayers go out to everyone in our family (and outside of it) who are struggling. It seems there is a lot of that going on right now and the list of people to pray for just grows each day. I just thank the Lord for our blessings and hope everyone else can receive the same kind of blessings we get.

We are excited to be going to Colorado for Christmas! And we were excited that Braxton and Cindi might be coming for Thanksgiving, but Brax lost his job and we aren't too sure it's gonna happen anymore. :( We are praying for you guys and hopefully you still can come!!

Halloween was great. We spent it with the Stewarts in the valley and went trick-or-treating with the kids, had a little shin-dig, the usual. Unfortunately, Brand was sick, but still made an appearance as Darth Maul so that their Star Wars family could be complete. They all looked so amazing! Tiff did an amazing job sewing the costumes and they found killer masks. Dave still didn't know until that day what he would be but through together a last minute viking costume that actually looked pretty amazing. I was a witch, thanks to Tiff having the things on hand, Sam was a cowboy, and Josh was a monkey. It was lots of fun, but now Sam wont stop asking for candy. He will randomly say things to me like, "Mom, I love candy."

Bad News

Gosh, this whole blogging things seems foreign to me now because of how long it's been. I got outta the mode and then events started piling up and blogging seemed a chore to me because of how much I'd have to update everyone on. But I need to start anew. I just wanted to express my feelings at the moment.

I can't even thank the Lord for how blessed me and my family are. We complain, and especially lately because of Dave's health (we go in today to find out whether he has diabetes for sure or not...we are pretty sure he does, but I'll let you all know when we know for sure), but yesterday changed our thinking completely. Our good friend, Christa Johnson (Miss Christa, as Sam calls her...she's his "preschool" teacher), was diagnosed with breast cancer yesterday, and possibly lymphnode. I feel overwhelmed with sorrow for her. She is such an amazing person, so willing to give of herself and her time, and she deserves a life full of great things! I love her and my heart aches for her and what she is going to have to go through now. I feel as though I can't pray enough for her, and I hope the power of prayer is strong enough to lift some of her load and make it possible for her to get through this with as much ease as possible!

We love you Christa and you will be in our prayers!

Pics Again

Here are a few recent pics. Oh, and nothing new with Josh. Still has diarrhea a bit, so I'm going to give it a couple more days and then I'm thinking about starting him on the prevacid again because I don't think he would still have diahrrea after 9 days of being off of it. Argh. It's all so frustrating...

Sam found a pen...

I just loved this picture of my beautiful boy.

The boys watching a Brainy Baby video.

Hahahaha....this one is just funny. I'm not sure what he was scared of.

This Weekend...

...was great! Dave and I actually got to go on a date on Saturday (with the baby of course...)! Thanks again so much to Christa for watching Sam! What we thought would only be about a 5-6 hour babysitting job (we were just planning on driving to Prescott Valley and seeing a movie), turned out to be an all day thing. We did see a movie, but we ended up thinking of all these other things that we had to get done while we were there. That's the thing about living so far away from town. When you're there, you have to take advantage of it and get everything done you can.

Anyway, we saw Wolverine, which I absolutely loved and it made me want to watch the first and second X-Men movies when we got home. So we had a good time out, and as he always is, Joshua was great in the movie.

Yesterday, Mother's Day, was good, but not really any different than any other day. I wanted a laptop, but we want to wait until we find the perfect deal, so instead Dave (well...I guess it would really be from Josh and Sam) got me 2 movies I love: P.S. I Love You and 27 Dresses. He also got me a really funny Michael Scott card that plays sound of him talking about children. Except it's kind of annoying now that I have it memorized, because Sam opens it plays it all the time.

On Friday night Dave took Sam to the Father and Sons, though they didn't camp over night. It's just too difficult and not worth it for Dave to camp with Sam at this age because of how difficult he can be. But they had a lot of fun! And I got to hang out with just me and Josh. You know what I did? I watched Twilight with the comentary by Catherine, Kristen, and Rob (yeah....I know them so well that I refer to them only by their first names, haha). Yeah, don't make fun. I usually would never sit through a movie while listening to a boring comentary, but the the Twilight one is actually pretty funny...actually, pretty hillarious. There were parts where I was laughing out loud by myself. It was just funny to hear them all talking about stuff and getting a feel of the experience they had making the movie. And Rob Pattinson is actually pretty darn funny. He kept making fun on himself as Edward and I got a kick out of it. Anywho....

So Joshua hasn't changed much. He still has diarrhea, though not as bad as before, so I don't know if it was actually the Prevacid causing it or not, since it's now been 6 days since he's been off of it. It's so hard to say. I'm still not sure whether I made the right decision or not. He had one really good eating session at church yesterday, where he ate for about 10 minutes on each side, like a normal baby, and I thought that would be a positive turn, but it was only a one-time thing. I'm still not sure what to do. He has an appointment on June 11 with the G.I. doctor (I'm going to have them put us on the cancellation list though) so we'll see how that goes.

That's it for now!

Sam's First Sentence

So yesterday at church I started to smell something gross - something that smelled just like Sam when he's poopy - and I leaned over to him sitting next to me, and whispered, "Did you poo?" Well, usually he doesn't answewr me more than a "no," or somtimes not at all. This time he looked up at me with his beautiful big blue eyes and big pouty lips, and in his sweet sweet voice replied, "No, I didn't poopoo. I just farted." Haha...it was pretty funny....

Picture Post

Last months combined YW/YM activity...Human Foosball:



Cutest Boy!


Taking the boys out for a walk...and Josh cried the WHOLE time. He's definitely not like his big brother. Sam loved car rides and walks.

Dave and Sam on the new porch swing Dave got me!


Two naked boys...

I just had to take a picture of Sam in the snazzy tie Will-Will gave him...

And finally...asleep. I had to take a picture to document it, because I knew if I didn't, Dave wouldn't believe me that he was actually asleep in his swing, it being such a rare occasion and all...

Joshua's Reflux

Well, I thought I'd give an update on my Joshie (Dave hates when I call him that, by the way. He thinks it's too feminine. He would rather call him "Shua"...as in, the end of his name...yeah, I don't know how it came about either.). First off, I never got to tell my fun story about the last straw I had with his and Sam's pediatrician. So, the day I had Joshua's follow-up appointment, I was running extremely behind and rushed to get both me and the boys out the door and by the time I was driving into Prescott it was 3:45 on the dot - the time of my appointment. Well, the dr. office is only like 2 minutes from the spot I was at, so I decided to be nice and call them to let them know I was still on my way. Well, when I did, they told me there was no way they'd see me and that I'd have to reschedule...even though I was literally only going to be 2 minutes late!! I apologized and told her I was running behind, could they please give me a break because I drove an hour and a half JUST for this appointment...with two screaming kids (yeah...Joshua HATES being in the car), and Dr. Green didn't even care. He had his rounds to do at the hospital and didn't want to wait. He knows my story and that I live out of town, and he didn't even care. So after arguing with her about it, I said, "Fine, I'll just turn back around and drive an hour and a half home!" and then I hung up. And that's exactly what I did...after I pulled over and nursed Joshua, of course. I was so incredibly LIVID. That was the biggest wasted 3 hours of my life. And I had to listen to two upset, mad kids the whole way. I don't blame them for crying the whole time.

Anyway, I just couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe that a dr. would care about his patients that little. That was the last straw for me and it totally wiped out my wishy-washiness of switching doctors. I decided then that, even if he did call back and asked me to reschedule (which he never did!!), I wouldn't. I refuse to ever take my kids there again.

So, after listening to people's opinions, we switched to Dr. Sipes. I took Josh to her and I absolutely LOVE her! She was so good with him and you could tell she really cared. I also didn't feel stupid for asking questions or trying to get more information about things, unlike Dr. Green, who would always make me feel like an idiot for wanting to know things. I'm sorry I want to know what's going on with my child...

Anyway, she was great and her office was nice and clean and bright (SO unlike Dr. Green's) and her staff is great. So about the medicine...he was on Zantac about a week and a half and it helped a LITTLE bit. It helped so he wasn't throwing and spitting up all the time, but that's all it helped. His food would still come up, just not all the way (he'd swallow it) and he would still hiccup and burp all the time, still couldn't eat well, etc. So Dr. Sipes put him on Prevacid, which I have heard works better most of the time anyway. This has started to work, but unfortunately it's giving him REALLY bad diarrhea! I looked it up and it is a side effect...but only in 3% of people!! Of course, he has to be in that 3%... And it's not something I just want to deal with because he's miserable because of it and has constant diaper rash. So unfortunately, I have to take him off of it.

So I don't know what we will do. I'm tired of it though, and I'm sure he is too. I wish we could find something that worked. I might just have to put him back on the Zantac, because a little help is better than none at all. He also has a referral in to see a G.I. specialist at Phoenix Children's, but that probably won't be for a while since the wait is so long. I guess I'll keep you updated...

My Latest Downfall Rant

Well, it's been a while. I've been so busy (not with anything exciting...just with Motherhood), and when I do get a moment here or there (which isn't often lately), there are other things I need to do. Lately I have been struggling, not with anything really going on in my life, but within myself. It's hard not to get wrapped up in the emotions and feelings that just come naturally, and replace them with positive, selfless feelings. It's hard for me not to get jealous sometimes that Dave has the freedom to come and go as he pleases...even just that he can run out quickly and get something he needs, go on a joy-ride with a friend, or even just simply take a shower whenever he wants! I never realized before how much something that simple could mean! I feel like I am bound down by my children (it doesn't help that we happen to have two of the most needy kids in the world) and never have time to even get ready. I can't remember the last time I showered and got ready for the day...to MY specifications. Even when I can, I'm always rushed so I can get the crying baby fed and then get out of the house to get to wherever it is I need to go. So even when I do "get ready," I feel so yucky. It's hard not to feel bad about yourself when you look and feel YUCKY every day. It's sad when I look at a simple 10 minute trip to the grocery store by myself as one of the most liberating things! And that I would fight anyone who tried to go for me. :) (Dave offered to go while he was out last night and I almost freaked out...even though he was trying to be nice). Anyway, I just need to keep reminding myself that I haven't lost who I am in this process, because that is who and what I am - a mother. And I honestly wouldn't want to be or do anything else in life! All the things I want to do for myself can be put on the backburner because being a mom is the number one priority. That's why I am on this earth and I feel so blessed and love my children so much! I just wish that when I was feeling underappreciated and feelings of self pitty and that I need a break, I could push a button that would put everything back into prespective for me and help me think the way I am supposed to think!

"For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the Fall of Adam, and will be forever and ever, unless he...becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father."
-Mosiah 3:19

"...When ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God."
-Mosiah 2:17

I loved one of the talks at conference (for the life of me, I can't remember by whom) that talked about how when we put ourselves first, and indulge our desires, we are sinning, and how we need to be putting others (like our spouse, children, etc.) first. That was just the jist...it was a beautiful talk and I was grateful I heard it because of how much I need to be reminded of that! I just pray that the Lord will be understanding when I have my selfish moments and that he can help me to replace those thoughts with ones of a selfless nature!

"...Pancakes Real Quick..."

I just wanted to post some T.V./movie reviews...cuz I'm bored. :) I went to go see 17 Again last Friday night with the girls (Christa, Becky, Destiny, and Ashley) and it was a ton of fun! Even though I had the baby, it was so nice to get out and have girl time. We all agreed that we definitely need to do it more often! That was the 2nd movie Joshua has been to with me and he did EXCELLENT! He either nurses or sleeps the whole time...so nice.

Anyway, the movie was so cute and good! I absolutely LOVED it! Some parts irked me a little, like when the 17-year-old version of himself would get a little too "comfy" with his normal aged wife...just thinking about a woman thinking that way about a 17-year-old boy was creepy (even though he was really her husband in a 17-year-old's body...). And then when his daughter tried kissing the 17-year-old version of himself....again, creepy. But I loved it! And I was so glad Zac Efron did such a good job! He was great at doing the same mannerisms as Matthew Perry would do...and talking like him. You could picture Matthew Perry acting or saying things he was saying. And of course, it wouldn't be a movie review if I didn't mention that Zac Efron was such a HOTTIE in it! Was that a little juvenile for me to say? :) I know, I never would have thought that before, but he was just a adorable in that movie.

That was the only movie I have seen in the theater lately, but we have watched a few we've rented. We recently watched Seven Pounds and I cried. Such a great movie, and evokes so many different thoughts and emotions...it's literally heart-wrenching. Besides little minor things that I think could have been done better, I absolutely loved it.

We also watched Slumdog Millionaire and thought it was great! It had gotten so much hype from the Oscars, so we rented it and it was definitely as good as they made it out to be!

We also just rented Doubt, but haven't taken the time to watch it yet. That's another one that got a lot of hype. And I love Meryl Streep and Amy Adams, so I'm sure it'll be good.

We watched The Day the Earth Stood Still last night and it was...okay. Keanu Reeves is one of those actors that just rubs me the wrong way. He's so dull and can't act, in my opinion. But I guess that's why he was good in that role because he had no personality. I just can't help but picture him, in his surfer dude, Keanu voice, saying "I know kung-fu..." or in his Bill and Ted's role. The worst part of the movie was when he was talking in Japanese...HORRIBLE. Anyway, the movie was pretty good and entertaining, but only a one-timer for me.

Speaking of weird movies, about a month ago Dave and I saw Knowing, with Nicholas Cage, and it was nothing like I expected. I was thinking it was going to be about something totally different, and that it'd be better, but it was just...eh.

Last night I was flipping channels and the Holiday was on. I know that movie is old news now, but it is absolutely one of my most favorite romantic movies. It's so cute and I love it! Just had to mention that.

There was also a preview when I saw 17 Again for a movie coming out called My Sister's Keeper (based off of a novel), and I cried just from the preview. I recommend looking up the extended trailer...it looks so good and so moving! Definitely a tear-jerker. For me anyway. And maybe it was because I have experienced a little sister going through chemotherapy and cancer, and it hit home a little more, but I think anyone would agree it looks great!

May is going to be a good month too...there are three movies in particular that I am way excited to see when they come out: Star Trek (I am usually not a Star Trek fan AT ALL, but this one actually looks pretty awesome), Angels and Demons, and X-Men Origins.

Now on to T.V. shows...because of our beloved DVR, we watch WAY too many shows...because we can. :) I'll start with the best...this season of 24 has been awesome! I've loved it so far. And I am very excited because I found out that there will be a season 8 (or a "Day 8"), which means Jack won't be dying from the bio weapon he got exposed to! Yay!


Another show that has been awesome this season is Heroes! That is one show that just gets better every season! That and House...LOVE House! The writers to that show are brilliant, in my opinion. We also love Fringe...not much to say about it, other than we love it. I love the characters and it's another one of J. J. Abrams excellent shows!

And speaking of J. J. Abrams...I have to mention Lost. Now, don't get me wrong...I'm a huge fan of the show and will always watch it, but come on...when are they going to start answering some questions! Yes, they have started to explain a little more this season, but along with it, they have created more questions! So you're always wondering about something! They have one more season to go, so hopefully they'll answer everything by the end.

A new show we started watching that we absolutely LOVE is Lie to Me. It's right up there with the rest of them. And we started watching Southland (we've only seen 1 episode so far) and that seems to be pretty good too.

Of course I love my American Idol too. I have loved this season. My favorites were in the top 3 last week so I was happy! I LOVE Danny Goky and Allison (whatever her last name is), and even though he's weird, I LOVE Adam as well!

And then we have our funnies...The Office is always our favorite. And we started watching that show, Parks and Recreation. It's way too much like the Office and Amy Poeller is too much like Michael Scott. It's not the funniest, but there was a REALLY funny part on the first episode..."If you're going in the kitchen can you make me some pancakes real quick?" Haha...those of you who saw it know what I'm talking about. Dave and I still laugh about it...

I have been extremely disappointed in Scrubs now. I think it's kind of lost it's magic. There are still some funny parts, but overall, I think they've ran out ideas.

A new show we absolutely love is Better off Ted, and sadly, I found out it's going to be cancelled, which totally bums me out, because it's hilarious!! We loved the "operation white shadow" episode...again, those of you who have seen it know what I'm talking about...

Those are the main shows we watch, a few others here and there. I also just finished reading The Giver for the little Bagdad Ward Book Club we have. I loved it, and it was very creatively written, but I guess I was just anticipating a more climatic ending. It just sort of ended, and I was hoping for it to explain more and wrap things up better. It didn't have a bad ending per se, but it just didn't give me closure. But it was a really great book and well written!

Random...

A few pics of my cuties....


Sam came to the back door like this one day...you gotta love little boys...how they can somehow find mud even when the backyard is dry.


Sam with his new Spiderman "gear" on so he can ride in the bike seat with daddy!





Isn't he just the cutest thing??!!

Love/Hate Relationship with Doctors

Well, it's been a little more stressful at our house than normal because Sam has been sick the last few days, which just means 2 needy kids. But other than that, and Joshua's appointment, nothing new in our lives. Joshua had his 2 month checkup on Monday and weighs 12 lbs. 1 oz., exactly 1 lb. heavier than Sam at his age, and is 24 inches long, 2 inches longer than Sam was. He is thriving and doing extremely well, except his doctor did say he's a sensetive baby. He said that you can just tell sometimes...with Joshua's sensetive skin (which we are now thinking breaks out when I eat strawberries) and his tummy issues. He said I need to be careful down the road when I start to intruduce solids because he could develop food allergies.

And then we have the issue of his reflux. I'm 100% sure that's what the problem is now. It's literally getting worse every single day, and where he wasn't really spitting up or anything before, he is now. He threw up all over me in the middle of the night while he was sleeping on my chest and it reeked like stomache acid. Poor thing. I feel so bad for him because he wants to eat so bad and as soon as he starts, he has to pull off because it's coming back up. He is miserable, I can tell. And the thing that makes me mad is that his dr. seems to make his problem seem less than what it really is. He isn't with him all day and night, seeing the way he is and how bad it is.

I didn't want to let it go on any longer on Monday, so I was hoping that the dr. would prescribe some Zantac for him, because as his mother, using my motherly instincts (which I think are more acurrate than a dr. at times), I felt strongly that that's what he needs. But of course, the dr. didn't want to do that. He wanted me to try disolving rice cereal in liquid and giving that to him after he eats every time. Now, I appreciate the fact that he wanted to try less "harsh" measures before he just prescribed the "drugs," but I researched all this stuff before the appointment, and each point I brought up to him he tried denying or ignored. I know my baby and how he eats, and I knew the whole rice cereal thing wouldn't work.

First of all, Josh only eats for about 2-5 minutes each time, making it so that he eats every 45 mins to an hour, which would mean I would constantly have to be pumping and then topping him off with the rice cereal ALL day. He doesn't have normal set feedings like most babies. Also, he is a breatfed baby, therefor, trying to get him the rice cereal in the first place is a challenge. He wont take a bottle - I tried for like 15 minutes, 4 times a day, for two days, and he asolutely refuses.

Then if I try giving it to him on a spoon or in a suringe, he just spits it back out because (1) he's already eaten and could barely keep it down, so he doesn't want anymore, and (2) it's too thick for him. I can see how this method might work for a baby that's solely bottle fed because you can just mix the cereal in with the bottle. But it's pretty much impossible for Josh.

Also, from researching online, that method hasn't even proven to be ffective, and most of the time worsens it for babies, because they spit up anyway, and the thicker it is when it's coming back up, the worse pain they're in. You also have the risk of the rice cereal replacing some of the calories in the milk they need.

But of course, he is the dr. and I'm just the "concerned mom," so my points and concerns didn't matter. He told me to try it for a week and then call him if it isn't working and we'd go from there. Well, I left that office very aggitated because I want my baby to have relief and I knew what the outcome would be already. And I was right. He is still getting worse and throwing up worse, so as of last night, I stopped even battling with the rice cereal thing all together. So tomorrow (4 days is good enough to wait, right?) I am calling the dr. and hoppefully he will be willing to just call in the prescription for me. We'll see.

And I'm not even one for medicines in babies. Sam actually got prescribed the same thing when he was a baby (along with Reglan, which is horrible....don't even get me started of everything I have learned about that...) but, as his mother, I felt bad about it then - that he didn't really need it. So I trusted my instincts and didn't give it to him. I didn't want to pump him full of medication he didn't even necessarilly need. And I was right...he hadn't even really had a problem. I'm glad I listened to my gut then, especially because his dr. prescribed him the Reglan along with the Zantac. The funny thing is, I remember Sam's dr. at that time was so mad at me and treated me like crap when I brought these concerns up, and flat out told me that if I don't give it to him, he will suffer long-term side effects. Ha! The other way around! Especially because Sam's reflux problem wasn't even a real problem...they even said it was very minor! Seriously, why should it be so difficult to find a pediatrician who actually cares what the mother thinks??

Anyway, my point is, I feel differently this time because I know that Josh actually needs it! And I strongly feel that it will help him and do him some good. Especially because it's only getting worse. So we'll see what he says when I call him...

Another thing that upset me about the dr. appointment (and the reason I have finally taken the push to get another pediatrician) is how he made me feel about the way I want to immunize. I have been doing research, and of all the research I have done, the thing that seems to fit and feel the most right, is to do an Alternate Vaccine Schedule, created by Dr. Bob Sears. Dr. Sears has been researching Vaccines for 15 years, he presents the research and lets parents decide what they feel is best. He provides information on each vaccine, when the child should really need to get it (due to what diseases are the most high-risk at certain ages), and what chemicles are in each one. It scares me to be pumping in, sometimes, 6 different strains at a time, especially with the high aluminum levels. Anyway, so he created a different schedule which allows for the child to get all the required immunizations,but they are spread out more, only getting about 2 at a time, at the times they should be getting them. If anyone is interested in info about it, you can read this article I read on the La Leche League website, which is what introduced me to this concept in the first case. Lots of good info!

Anyway, I feel very strongly about it, and it's the way I want to vaccinate my kids, but when it came time for Josh's imunizations at his appointment, and I brought it up, the dr. interrupted me, immediately silencing me, saying "We don't do that here." He then went on to say (in a round about way) that he thinks Dr. Sears is a quack. He is not willing to split up the vaccines at all and when I asked him how other people did it (because I know people that do that), he said they go somewhere else. So that's what I'm doing. It was either going to be all or nothing with him, and how can I have a dr. for my kids that thinks the way I want to go about their health is ridiculous?

So anyway, I found another dr. that breaks them up and actually does that alternate schedule all the time, and when other people recommended her to me, they all said she was excellent. So I made an appt. with her and Josh in 3 weeks for his immunizations and we will no longer be going to our current dr. We'll see how it goes. I hope she works out!!

Happy Easter!

Our boys on Easter... I forgot to get a picture of them in their church outfits. So, this is them in their jammies this morning.


Church was great. In sacrament meeting, the talks were focused, of course, on the atonement and the resurrection and I'm so grateful for the spirit I felt and that I could be reminded today of those things! Sunday school was really good also, though we didn;t really have an Easter message, per se. We talked about missionary work, and I have to admit that most of the time in Sunday school I don't pay that close attention, but for some reason today it was different and the spirit was so strong! It was such a good and powerful message! A quote that was read from President Eyering, and also some comments made, really opened my eyes to how crucial it is that we are doing member missionary work! There is so much work that still needs to be done! The field is white...there are people waiting for the gospel. Are we actively enough searching those people out?

Easter Message

This was a beautiful message from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, given at the Sunday morning session of Conference, and I was filled with the spirit then and now, as I saw this on Karyn's blog. I think it's a wonderful Easter message we all need to hear! I hope we can all remember the real reason of this holiday - to remember the resurrection and sacrifice of our beloved Savior, Jesus Christ! Happy Easter everyone!

Me and Edward

Haha I thought this was pretty funny... I look like I might just eat HIM!


Create your own FACEinHOLE

Like Nails on a Chalkboard...

Yes...it's that time again. Sorry to all of you who don't want to hear complaining, but I was in the mood to list off some more of the most annoying things to me lately... :)

1. People that are way too judgemental about other people's mothering...moms always know what's best for their own kids, in my opinion. Just because something worked for someone else's kids, doesn't mean it works for all!
2. Doctors who feel it isn't necessary to give you detailed information about you or your own children and what's going on with them.
3. The king on Dora the Explorer...there's just something about a king who's obviously old enough to sport a huge mustache, but clearly still a child because he acts like a dumb 3 year old, that rubs me the wrong way...
4. Steven Baldwin....enough said.
5. Political correctness.
6. The Runzheimer program at Dave's work (the program that requires you to go into debt to buy a new truck...which they are now getting rid of....now that we are stuck with a truck we didn't want, of course).
7. When cartoons get men to talk for women. Example...Dora's grandmother (I know...a lot of things about this show bother me). :)
8. Moths, Moquito Eaters (also known as Mosquito Hawks...), and all other big bugs that seem to love this time of year in AZ.
9. When both your kids are screaming their heads off at the same time...both poopy at the same time...both wanting to eat at the same time...both waking up crying at the same time...ah...the joys of motherhood.
10. When people can't admit they're wrong...even when they've been proved wrong.
11. Waking up in the middle of the night with "I'm a grumpy old troll, who lives under the bridge..." in your head.
12. Donald Trump's dead animal on his head.
13. Colic.
14. The high school phase...drama drama drama...
15. And lastly, I know I have mentioned this before, but even venting about it doesn't take away it's annoyingness. :) The Kidz Bop commercials that play every commercial break on Nick!!

Ah...okay...now that I have that out... :) I'm really not a negative person, I promise. And I also promise that I am happy and love my life. I just felt like bringing these to attention... :)

Conference and Nursing

I am a little disappointed because I couldn't get as much out of conference as I normally do. I usually watch every session, but this time I only was able to watch 2, and I only really heard about 3 talks total. It's really hard to pay attention when you're taking care of a fussy infant and a needy two year old...

But anyway, it was really good...the parts I did hear. My favorite was Elder Holland's talk about the Savior and the Atonement on Sunday morning. It was so good! I love conference and I look forward to reading the talks in the Ensign next month!

So, I decided that since I have been off dairy for about a month now, collectively, and I'm noticing no change in Josh (if anything, he is worse!), I'd try eating it again and seeing what happens. So I ate ice cream last night (yay! so good!) and had actual milk with my cereal this morning...so far there is no difference, so I'm thinking he probably doesn't have a problem with dairy. It's just so hard to tell because his fussy spells are so sporadic, that when I think they were brought on by a certain thing, the next time it's something else. So it's hard to tell. Unfortunately, I think it's going to just be something he has to outgrow.

The only thing I can pin it to now is my overabundant milk supply, or overactive letdown. The way he is acting fits every symptom to the T. If it is that, there are things I can do to try and manage it, which I've been doing, but it doesn't really get under control until usually by the end of the third month...so I just have to be patient and accept the fact that until then, he's just going to want to eat for only about 5-10 minutes at a time, every hour or two! The La Leche League website has been such a tremendous help to me! That site is amazing and is sooo full of information...anything you wanted to know about nursing, or babies and mothers nursing habits, issues, etc., is on that website....and MUCH more! It has totally helped just to be more educated on the way things work and what you can do about certain things. It even puts some of the old breastfeeding myths to rest and explains the why behind a lot of stuff. I highly recommend it to anyone who has questions or issues they need help with. It has cleared up a LOT of unknowns for me! Anyway, I am going to a LLL meeting in Prescott on Monday too, and hoping that will help with stuff too!

Everything else!

Okay...the last post of the many many pictures from over the last month! Here's some pics from when the Lindsays were here...

Sam and Aaron watching some shows together... Aaron looks like he's going to be a gymnast... :)



Sam giving Aaron kisses...



Chillaxin'...



Dave took Brax and Cin on a tour of the mine...yeah...they're pretty dorky.



And other random and cute pictures of Joshua...



Isn't he so cute?? He already started rolling over at like 4 weeks and does it almost every time I put him on his tummy.




My little Edward Cullen...

I don't know why this one is sideways...I can't figure out why its not showing right...but its cute so I had to put it on.

More tummy time...






This one's doing the whole sideways thing too...


I look tired....hum....


Random/cute pictures of Sam...

Finally, mommy and Sammy time...

In his big boy bed, or "boy bed," as he calls it.

All three of my guys asleep!

Helping daddy make pancakes when the Bartons were here.


Another sideways one...Sam and his cousin, Bridger,

Haha...we had to get a picture of this. Sam was playing in the laundry basket and got his foot stuck!

In his favorite Spongebob shirt...

Cottage cheese in the hair...

Macaroni and cheese...dipped in sour cream. He loves everything in sour cream. Aunt Jessica fixed his hair...

Saying "cheese" in his Thomas the Train P.J.s


And lastly, my two handsome boys in their cute church outfits...



Sam's new outfit is a little big, but he'll grow into it...

Sam wore this same outfit when he was 3-4 months old...