The Move...and more...

This month has just felt like one giant whirlwind! To be honest, I'm glad October is almost over. But here is the recap of our month...

We moved Conference Weekend. DON'T ever move conference weekend if you are hoping for help from your ward. We only had one of our home teachers come and help for an hour and a half in between sessions. The rest of our helping hands were family and my good friend from work, Ginger. I love how family helps out. It was a stressful weekend, with many tears from being overwhelmed, but we got moved. I took the following Monday off so that I could spend the day cleaning out the old apt. I was there cleaning from 9:00-3:30. Then we went back around 7:00 and I left at 10:30 to pick up Cayden from my mom and dad. Poor Jared was there until 2:30am. I never thought it would take so long to clean a stupid apt. but you just don't think about all the little things that have to be cleaned. But we were glad to be done and in our new place.

Our Kitchen is the most unpacked room in the house so that is all I'm willing to take a picture of right now. ;)

The next week was the week of H1N1. Boy was I glad to have that week over with. It was not easy being pregnant, tired, and rundown and have to take care of my family 100%. I did my best though. Cayden went in and out of a fever but seemed to handle being sick just fine. He was up and bouncing all over the place. But poor Jared really had a go with it. I couldn't get him to stay home from work so he would come home and just crash. He had a fever and chills. Then he had headaches and nausea so bad that if he moved he thought he may throw up. He spent practically an entire weekend in bed. I thankfully never got sick and was able to take care of my boys.

This past week wasn't too bad. We have a tree in our backyard and Jared and Cayden had fun picking up leaves. However, Jared was annoyed the next day when the rest of the leaves had fallen off the tree. He still hasn't made it back out to pick them up. I made yummy truffles this week for a work party. Bethy and I had fun making a mess. Cayden got to spend the week at Auntie Annie's house since my mom is in Florida. He got up everyday asking for "An Annie". It is so nice to know that we have someone else close who loves him and is willing to watch him. She is more of a 3rd Grandma. He absolutely adores her. All month until it was time to go to her house he would say "An Annie, soon." And we would tell him "Yep, you get to see Auntie Annie soon." He was so excited.

Helping Daddy "clean" up the yard

Bethy and me making truffles

On Friday my oldest brother Chris had surgery again. About a month ago he had an MRI of his brain tumor to see if it was shrinking. It is. However, they decided to take an image from a strange angle. In taking the image at a strange angle they found a mass in his throat. A biopsy was done and we found out that now Chris had thyroid cancer. It is totally unrelated to the cancer in his brain. Cancer # 2. So they stopped his chemo treatments until the thyroid cancer is gone. He had MASSIVE surgery and they found more cancer than they thought was in there. The had to remove the thyroid, a piece of a vocal chord, and the para thyroid on the right side and moved the para thyroid from the left over to the right. They also found cancer on his carotid artery. They removed as much as they could but had to leave some to avoid cutting the artery. So now, he will have radio-iodine treatments to kill the rest of the cancer. The prognosis is good however, he most likely will not get his voice back to normal. He is still in the hospital and we are hoping to get him home soon. He is in good spirits but just wants company while he is in the hospital. Annie has been my angel this week too. She has been watching Cayden so that I can go to the hospital and be with Chris. She even offered to have him spend the night. They won't allow children in the hospital. It really bothers me but thankfully I have a wonderful extended family.

Last night Jared kept Cayden so I could go have a Girls Night Out with my sisters. I love hanging out with my sisters! We always have so much fun. We went downtown to the Denver Center of Performing Arts and saw a show called Girls Only. It really is a girls only show, no men allowed. It is an original comedy that celebrates the honor, truth, humor and silliness of being female. The 2 women that perform the show are the 2 women that actually wrote it. It is a fun half scripted half improv show. It was awesome! And I had a blast hanging with my sisters. Ask Jared about the "angel" Christmas ornament I brought home from the show.

That brings us to today. Its snowing. Yep! We are expecting 8-14 inches. LAME! As beautiful as it is, I'm so not excited about it. I'm worried this winter is going to be awful. But maybe that means lots of snow days? I just pray that when this little guy in my tummy decides to come that the weather cooperates.

Cayden wishing he could go outside today.

Ok. That's it for now. I hope that this blog is enough to keep you all in the loop about us over the past month. I'll try to be better about blogging as long as things settle down.

~Love To All~

When Pigs Fly!

That is the stupid phrase that kept going through my head at 1 am Tuesday morning as we sat in the emergency room at the Children's Hospital.

On Monday I came home from work and Jared said Cayden had fallen asleep. I thought it was a little strange until I talked to my mom and she said that he had only had a 45 min nap. But when we woke him up around 6:15 he had a fever. I took his temp and it was 102. So we pulled out the motrin and loaded him up. He was shaking with chills so we wrapped him in a blanket while we made dinner. He seemed to be ok once the motrin kicked in. Until midnight rolled around...

We switched Cayden into a "big boy" bed to get ready for the new baby and he wakes up nightly crying for "Daddy". So at midnight when he woke up crying for "Daddy" I rolled over and said, "Jared, he wants you." and rolled back over to go to sleep. A few minutes later Jared came back in and woke up up to ask when we need to be worried about Cayden's fever because he was at 104 and had real shallow breathing. I jumped up and called my mom and got her advice about what to do. When we couldn't get his fever to come down I called the on call doctor and he said to take him to the ER. We didn't really want to have to do that so I took his temperature one more time. But when my cold hand touched his skin it sent him into uncontrollable shaking. He was shaking so bad I thought I was having a seizure from his high fever. So I asked Jared to give him a blessing and when he finished we decided to take him in. We did get his fever down to about 102.

We got him in the car and headed to the ER. When we got there Cayden was wide awake and happy as could be. He wouldn't stop taking about the truck parked next to us.So we second guessed taking him in. So Jared asked him if he wanted to go into the hospital and his reply was "uh huh." Then Jared asked him if he knew what a hospital was and he said "uh huh." (He goes the hospital a lot with my mom and brother) So Jared asked him again if he wanted to go in and he said "uh huh." So I said "You do" and he replied "I do." S0 I took his temperature again and it was back up to 103. So we got out and took him in.

They weighed him and took his temp. and he was up to 104.9. I can't imagine how he was feeling. He just wanted to cuddle with Jared and kept saying "hurt" and grabbing his tummy. They decided to give him more motrin because they said we didn't give him enough. I warned them that he was grabbing his tummy and as soon as he took the motrin he threw up. I felt so bad for him. It broke my heart to see him so sick. He did look cute in the hospital gown though. Once we talked to the doctor some more the nurses came back in to do a nasal swab. It was more of a nasal suction! They shoved a long tube in his nose to suck out mucus for a flu test. I fought back tears the whole time as I sat and watched my little boy suffer wishing there was something I could do for him. It took a little while to calm him down after that but he finally was able to rest. After a while the nurse came back in and said it was the flu.

He tested positive for influenza A and they said it was most likely H1N1 because the seasonal flu hasn't hit yet-Swine Flu GREAT! This is when that stupid saying "when pigs fly" popped into my head. I didn't think it would attack my family but it sure did. They started him on Tamiflu and suggested I see my doctor and get put on Tamiflu as well.

Cayden is feeling better but still fighting a fever off and on. He hates taking the Tamiflu because it tastes awful but he is a trooper about taking it. My doctor told me to stay away from him and wear a mask around the house to avoid getting it. Yeah right. I'm feeling good and having faith that I wont get it. Although I'm a little worried about Jared now. He just got home from work and is feeling pretty crummy. I guess I'd better go take care of my boys. I hope everyone is doing well.

~LOVE TO ALL~

P.S. The move was stressful but we are all moved in. Moved in but not unpacked. I'll post more on the move later.

Almost Moved!

OK, so Saturday we got most everything moved into the new place. Its a disaster! We are so excited to get all unpacked and moved in though. I am taking a "sick" day off of work so that I can finish things up at the apartment. I hate cleaning!! But hopefully I can get it all done. We have turn in our keys to the apartment complex by noon tomorrow. I'm hoping its not a late night of cleaning. Anyway, I'll post pictures of the new place as soon as I can get more batteries for the camera.

Just an FYI to everyone...Our internet is being shut off today and we won't have it back until the 13th. Dang Comcast. Why am I not their first priority? Anyway, so we will be out of touch by e-mail for the next week and a half.

Hope everyone had a good conference weekend!!!

~LOVE TO ALL~

Moving Day!

ITS A MAD HOUSE!!!
I hate moving. It always stresses me out and I feel so overwhelmed. But I am so excited to get into our new place. Its going to be awesome! We have slowly been packing things up during the week but I feel we haven't gotten far enough. Annie and Steve came over last night and helped us move some boxes so we would have a little less to do today. They are so great!

We got up at 6:30 this morning and by 8:00 This is what our apartment looked like.

We have been working and the piles of boxes are even bigger now. We start moving this over to the new place in about an hour so I'd better get back to packing.

~LOVE TO ALL~

The Hunt is OVER!!

We received a very exciting phone call last night. The land lord/owner of the town house we fell in love with called us. He said he was willing to come down to the price we can afford so that he can have good tenants living in his home. WE ARE THRILLED! Another tender mercy. What a blessing!

We meet with him Saturday morning to sign the paperwork. Then we can move in as soon as we pay the first month's rent. We plan to move in Oct. 2nd and 3rd.

We can't wait to be in a home. It is going to be perfect for us. It even has a small, and I mean small, backyard for Houdini to move around in.

I'll post some pictures as soon as I can take some.

~LOVE TO ALL~

We're still here!!!

I have to apologize for not blogging over the past few weeks. Things have been CRAZY! The past few weekends have been spent home hunting. I can't say apartment shopping because we are really trying to find a town home to rent. We have found a few nice ones and some complete holes. It has been quite the experience. Hopefully we will decide on one soon because we only have until Oct 6th before we have to move. So keep your fingers crossed for us.

One little miracle after another...Jared is working back at Ideations. They need him at least until the end of November. Before that he was working with a guy, JR, that my OB actually referred him to. She went above and beyond her job as my OB and Jared working with JR was a huge blessing. He told Jared that if Ideations lets him go again that he would love to have him back. Jared is still looking hard for an animation job and we are hoping that something in that field will come through soon.

Cayden is doing great! He is enjoying his days with his Grandmommy. At first he had a hard time adjusting to me going back to work. Now when my mom comes to get him he leaves happily. He give Jared and me a kiss and says "bye" on his way out the door. We are so blessed to have my mom so close and so willing to watch him. We are also blessed to have Auntie Annie, or An Annie as Cayden calls her, close and willing to watch him too if for some reason my mom can't.

Cayden with his free Chick-fil-a chicken sandwich (sporting his FSU shirt!)

Cayden's vocabulary is growing more and more each day. He can count to three and identify colors now. Its very fun to watch him learn. He can tell you the characters in CARS, Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and Monster's INC. He is definitely his father's son and loves PIXAR films. We talk to him a lot about being a big brother. He likes to lay his head on my tummy and tell the baby "hi" and then tell Jared to come talk to the baby. Just yesterday he felt the baby move for the first time. I held his hand on my tummy and when he felt the baby move he got a strange look on his face, waited a second, and then yanked his hand off my tummy and jumped off my lap. It will be interesting to see how the new baby will rock his world. I think he will be a great big brother though.

Ok. I think that's enough for now. Life is not all that exciting for us right now. We are just taking each day as it comes and thanking our Heavenly Father for the blessings that come with it.

~LOVE TO ALL~

P.S. Had a check up this week and the baby is doing GREAT!

Tender Mercies

As this summer has been difficult for us I have been thinking a lot about a conference talk given by Elder Bednar back in 2005. It is a talk that has always stuck with me and makes me think often about the little things each day that the Lord blesses me with.

What Are the Tender Mercies of the Lord?
"Since last October I have reflected repeatedly upon the phrase “the tender mercies of the Lord.” Through personal study, observation, pondering, and prayer, I believe I have come to better understand that the Lord’s tender mercies are the very personal and individualized blessings, strength, protection, assurances, guidance, loving-kindnesses, consolation, support, and spiritual gifts which we receive from and because of and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Truly, the Lord suits “his mercies according to the conditions of the children of men” (D&C 46:15)." -Elder Bednar

When I first thought of the Lord's tender mercies for me I had only lived in Colorado for a few months. I really hated living here. I loved being with my family but I missed the comfort of being in Florida. I missed my friends, my grandparents, my home. One Sunday I was having a particularly difficult day and my sister Kimmy said I should come to the singles ward with her. I hated the singles ward but needing that special sister time I decided to go with her. As we were sitting in Relief Society they announced the opening hymn was Come Come Ye Saints. I love that song and was happy to sing it. However, it wasn't until we sung the third verse that I realized why I needed to go to church with Kimmy that day.

3. We’ll find the place which God for us prepared,Far away in the West,Where none shall come to hurt or make afraid;There the Saints will be blessed.We’ll make the air with music ring,Shout praises to our God and King;Above the rest these words we’ll tell—All is well! All is well!

As I sat there and sung those words my eyes filled with tears because I knew that I was where I needed to be. I knew that going to church with Kimmy and hearing the words of that hymn was a tender mercy. I knew the Lord had a plan for me and I was exactly where he wanted me.

It was only a few short months after that Sunday that I met Jared and I knew more of what the Lord's plan for me was.

This year has been a struggle for our family. With Jared being out of work and wondering how we were going to survive week to week. With help from family and our Bishop we have been able to stay on our feet. But even more recently I have seen many more of the Lord's tender mercies bless our little family.

When Jared and I felt it was time to have another little one join our family we were broke. I was working but not bringing in enough to support our family. We were in the temple and I just cried because I thought "how on earth can we afford to have another baby." Then the tears went away and I felt peace in knowing that the Lord would take care of us. I was terrified to tell Jared that I felt it was time to have another child but when I did he looked at me and smiled and said, "OK." I was shocked but then learned that he felt that same peace that I had.

As the summer rolled on things got tough but we have been so blessed. Cayden has been healthy. I have been healthy. Our little new one is growing just as he should. And Jared has been blessed to keep finding small job opportunities. I know that the Lord is watching over us and I am so thankful that He is.

Things haven't been hard for just our little family. My little brother Matt is struggling on his mission. He got so sick and no one to talk to. His companion,mission pres., and area authority don't speak English. He was in bed for 3 days sick as a dog with only his own thoughts to drive him crazy. He was ready to quit and come home. He was granted permission to call home and talked to my dad for over an hour. He felt better after talking to my dad though. We are waiting for an e-mail this week to find out how he is doing.

Then we found out that my Granddaddy was sick and had to be in the hospital. He was so sick he had no idea what was going on around him. He is better now and is home. My mom went down to help care for him.

With everything going so badly its hard not to get down. Just like the old saying, "When it rains, it pours." Satan is working really hard to make it pour and get our family down. But when I think of all of the Lord's tender mercies it helps to keep me from getting down.

I am so thankful for my knowledge of the gospel and thankful for the spirit it brings into my home. I am thankful to have a husband who honors his priesthood. I am thankful for the knowledge of eternal families and that I have been blessed with such an awesome family. I am thankful for my temple marriage and a husband that loves me as much as I love him. I am thankful for the blessing of being a mom. I am thankful for a little boy who makes me laugh EVERY day. I am thankful for Father's blessings that help keep me going when I'm down and for a father who is always ready and willing to give them.

So my challenge to everyone is, that no matter how hard things get, you take a step back and find the tender mercies that you are blessed with every day. It makes living life so much easier.

~LOVE TO ALL~

CASA BONITA!!

This past Thursday was our nephew's birthday. Kimmy and Tyson took the family to Casa Bonita to celebrate the occasion. Spencer turned 2 and was having a Handy Manny party so they felt that it was fitting to celebrate at our local and very popular Mexican restaurant. Its quite the restaurant too. If you are ever in Denver it should be a planned activity during your stay. There are shows, cliff divers, puppet shows, caves, arcades, gift shops, a mariachi band and the best sopapillas on the planet. The real food on the other hand you have to be kinda picky about. I'm not a big fan but the rest of the family sure loved it. Let's just say they don't put as much heart into their food as they do the rest of the restaurant.

When we arrived I had decided to just purchase a kids chicken plate for me and one for Cayden. However, this is one restaurant where they really do stick to the 12 and under policy. The lady would not let me pass unless I purchased an adult meal for me. (You can't get in unless you order food.) It was a HUGE mess. They finally let me order 2 kids meals for me and one for Cayden. It all worked out because Spencer ate my 2nd kids meal. Once we got our food we were escorted to our seats. We ate and everyone was up and down the whole time because of all the exciting things going in the restaurant.

We had a fun night. Spencer had a blast and was very pleased to have the mariachi band come sing to him. It was funny though because they didn't sing "Happy Birthday" they sung "Happy Verthday". It was quite comical and everyone had the song stuck in their head the rest of the night. Timmy still has it in his head and sings it constantly. After Casa Bonita we went back to my parents house for cake and presents. It was a fun evening but a very late one.

Cayden and Jared after a trip through the cave. (Mikey peaking from behind the rock.)

Cayden and Spencer playing

Behind the waterfall. ( Too bad you can't see it)

Cayden and me in front of Casa Bonita. (Me in all my 21 1/2 week glory)

Everyone minus Tyson (He took the picture)

I head back to work tomorrow. I'm SO NOT excited. I hate going back to work after a long break. I hate having to give up all my time with Cayden. Especially now when he is learning so many new things at once. I just don't want to miss out on it. But unfortunately I have to get back to work. I just pray this year is easier and less stressful than last year.

Jared is still looking for job opportunities. My OB actually called me on Friday and told me of a guy doing some woodwork for her and said he needs help in his shop. So she gave me his number and Jared called but we are waiting to hear anything back. He finds new studios to apply to every day and we know that something will come through soon. We know the Lord has a plan for us we just don't know when or where it will lead us. Until we know we are saying our prayers and doing our best to stay close to Him.

I guess that's it for now. We hope everyone has a wonderful week!

~LOVE TO ALL~

Learning with Daddy

Cayden is such a Daddy's boy. When I get him out of bed in the morning the first word that comes out of his mouth is "Daddy." All day long you can count on Cayden saying, "Daddy? Work." But he knows that when Daddy comes home he get the play time he's been looking forward to all day. I'm so glad that Jared and Cayden have such a great relationship.

Last night Cayden knocked over my one and only plant. Its an indoor orange tree that Jared and I brought home from one of our first trips to Florida together. It needed to be re potted anyway. Even though it made a huge mess when Cayden knocked it over I was glad that it could turn into a learning experience. Jared took Cayden with him to get the larger pot off the balcony and then together they replanted the little tree. Cayden was so gentle with it too. He was very careful when he moved dirt from one pot to the other. It was so cute to watch. I think Cayden enjoyed playing with dirt indoors. But mostly he enjoyed helping Daddy.

I am so grateful for a husband that loves spending time with our son. Even though he may be totally exhausted and it takes every ounce of energy he has left he still makes the effort to play with Cayden. What a blessing for Cayden and me to have such a wonderful man in our life.

Another Beautiful BOY!

We were so excited to have our ultrasound yesterday. When I first got pregnant I thought, " Oh, this one is going to be a girl" because all I could think about were girl names. But the past month or two I felt more that it was going to be a boy. And yesterday the tech "sorta" confirmed it. When I was pregnant with Cayden he willingly spread his legs to let us know he was a boy. But this baby was a little more modest and kept his legs tight together, but the tech said she was pretty certain its a boy. She pointed out his boy parts 3 different times so I feel that's good enough for me. Here are a few pictures, I was sad she didn't try to get better ones.

OK, now for a little update on life. We just got back from a last minute trip from Utah. Moroni, UT to be specific. It was quite the interesting experience for me. I am so not a small town girl. I felt so trapped there! Its a nice little town but I don't like the fact that there is NOTHING to do. There wasn't even a park to take Cayden to so he could play. I'm also not sure how I feel about waking up to a rooster crowing and a cow mooing. I did my best to stay positive while I was there. I drove into the surrounding cities and checked them out a little. But even in those towns there wasn't a whole lot to see. Moving there would definitely be a change of pace. Jared does have a job there if he wants it. However, we aren't sure yet if it would really benefit our situation. Lots more prayers need to be said before we make that decision.

Before we left for Utah last Sunday I decided to give my boys haircuts. That's right both of them. Cayden finally got his first haircut. It was so sad but I was tired of everyone getting on my case about his long hair. It was just so pretty. I didn't cry though and Cayden was so well behaved while I did it.

Before
After

So after our few days in Moroni we headed up to Jared's mom's house. We were just planning on staying there Wed. night and driving home on Thursday morning. However, neither of us were ready to come back home quite yet. We didn't come home until Saturday. Cayden had fun hanging out with Grandma. On Thursday we went in to Salt Lake and had lunch. Then we tried to go to the Hope Gallery but by the time we got there they were closed. They happened to close early that day because they had a special event going on. So we trekked back up to Temple Square in the wicked wind and made our way to the Church History Museum. We had a nice time looking around and Cayden and Jared enjoyed playing in the kids area. Then we went and looked at the Presidents of the Church display. That was pretty neat. It was a fun day but we were all pretty tired by the time we got home.

Jared and Cayden behind the replica of the conference center podium.

On Friday we were kinda lazy and stayed at the house while Jared's mom went to gather her things from school. When she got back we watched CARS (because that's Cayden's favorite movie) and then went to pick some apricots off a friend's tree. It was fun to watch Cayden pick them. Then we had dinner and went to the Drive-In. I was so so excited. I hadn't been to a drive-in for so long. UP was playing and we hadn't seen it yet. Going to the drive-in was the best way to take Cayden to the movies. He was contained to the car and fell asleep when he got tired. It was a great evening!

Cayden on Daddy's lap at the Drive-In.

Now we are back home and back to life. Jared is working with a guy from church doing landscaping and I head back to work next Friday. School starts on the 24th and I'm not looking forward to spending the day with other people's kids rather than with Cayden. But, we have to pay the bills. At least I know Cayden is in good hands while I'm at work. Ok, that's it for now!

~LOVE TO ALL~