Harmon Life

The Many Sleeping Positions of Ben

2012-02-12T14:18:00.000-08:00

Starting at the top: Oct 2010: he is in his monkey costume for Halloween and zonked out on his bedroom floor before I could change him. Dec 2010: In a phase of having to be naked. 1st-no bottoms on(if you can see his diaper off and to the side behind him along with his pj bottoms, 2nd, his shirt is off but down around his belly. He just put his arms through the neck and pushed the rest down. Jan 2011: Just cute and funny! April 2011: He loved sticking whatever he could out of the crib. Sept 2011: fell asleep on Daddy then had to change positions. Nov 2011: Didn't have enough effort to get all the way in his bed.
Another place we have found him has been on his bedroom floor next to the door and I'm sure we will find more funny positions. He is just a funny kid.

6 Weeks Left!!!

2012-02-05T19:01:00.000-08:00

March 17th, get here sooner

Easter 2011

2011-04-24T17:54:00.000-07:00

A friend of my sister-in-law Shannon made this dress for Zoey and matching tie for Ben and Bryce. They turned out very cute. And of course we had to have all girls to have matching dresses. Abby had a purple dress. She was not here for pics.

Tractor Fun

2011-04-14T18:29:00.000-07:00

At the local gym/recreation center, they had an open gym day which was filled with toys for kids to play and run when it was just to rainy or wet to play outside. Here is Ben and Brogan, our cousin/nephew playing on tractors.

Valentine's Day 2011

2011-02-14T15:12:00.000-08:00

Here is a package from Grandma Skene wishing us a Happy Valentine's Day!

Thank you Grandma...We Love You!!!

2011-01-02T11:05:00.000-08:00

I think this was a box from Father Time presents. Silly boy!!

Father Time 2011

2011-01-01T13:31:00.000-08:00

This was a tradtion Bryce grew up with, Father time presents, or presents celebrating the New Year. The presents were wrapped and had the person's shoe on top or the present could be inside the shoe. Either way, its more presents for the kids. The picture with all the shoes goes from the top, Ben, Zoey, Brogan, Kayla, Cassidy, Jack and Abby. The whole wall was taken because of all the kids we had that year.

Pictures of Christmas!!!

2010-12-25T13:58:00.001-08:00

I know it has been a very long time since I posted anything. But here are some pictures of Christmas. I figured this would be the best way for everyone to see if they wanted. At the end, I always get the kids present, everything they got, put them together and take a pictures with the kids in it. I don't have Ben's yet because he was sleeping at the time, but I will have it. We had Christmas with 16 people total, 7 of which were kids under the age of 8 years. There was A LOT of presents, but was a FANTASTIC Christmas. Enjoy!!

My Big Girl

2010-08-25T22:37:00.001-07:00

I was just looking at my blog, realizing that I have not updated it in a while but also looking back on the past posts I have put up and realizing how big my Zoey has gotten. She has changed so much and is now 4! Time has flown by. I haven't been the best at taking pictures of either of the kids lately and need to post something, but Zoey has gotten so big and I am so proud of all the things that she has accomplished already and what she has yet to accomplish. I am so fortunate to be her mother and can't wait to be there by her side to help her accomplish all that she wants to and can do. I Love you Zoey Jane!!!

Falling asleep

2010-06-07T21:15:00.000-07:00

Ben was falling asleep in his highchair tonight. I knew he was tired but not enough to fall asleep while still eating. Had to get a video of him of course. Here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojcOcXh9jHQ

First Haircut!!

2010-06-07T14:20:00.000-07:00

Ben got his first haircut after his birthday cake. It was a bittersweet moment. He didn't cry which I though he would because he is not a fan of the vacuum or the hair blow dryer. He just crawls away as fast as he can. He did good. He sat between Bryce's legs as I did it. Here are before and after pictures. His hair does not stick out. I just did it like this so you can see how long his hair is.

Birthdays!!!

2010-06-07T12:37:00.002-07:00

It has been a birthday week (or more), Zoey turned 4 on May 25th and Ben just turned 1 on June 6th. Crazy!! Here are pictures of the celebrations-mainly the cakes!!!

Zoey wanted a Princess Tiana cake with the barbie doll in it but when I tried making it, it broke 3 hours before we were to have it, so I did not have time to make it again. I felt bad, but Zoey was very good about not having that cake so she picked out this very chocolaty cake at the store. She still got to help decorate it and put tons of pink M&Ms on the bottom all around.

Here are Ben birthday pictures.

Before it was destroyed

After he had his fun with it. He started to swing his hands back and forth sending cake everywhere.

These are blurry because he would not sit still and my camera is to sensitive, but he was very messy.

And here you can see how messy he got. He thought it was fun to lay in the tub naked with no water. I had to get pictures in before cleaning him off.

Here is a video of Zoey's birthday and then 2 of Ben enjoying his cake. Let me know if there is any problem viewing the videos. Again they are through YouTube.

Zoeys: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RMBo_X_X88
Bens: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr3eALcOfPs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTVRbg4Qyfw

JCPenny Pictures

2010-05-26T09:44:00.001-07:00

Here are the pictures we took of the kids at JCPennys. They turned out really cute. Ben was EVERYWHERE and would not sit still for very long but we got some good ones of him. Zoey did WONDERFUL. She is getting so big!!

Zoolander face. Total Zoolander face

Little update and some videos

2010-04-20T22:30:00.001-07:00

So there is a lot that has changed. We moved into a much much much better place that we LOVE. I have a video of that:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FT60GWrZ3o4

Also, I have many videos of Ben crawling. Yes he finally is but is everywhere now! AAAHHHH. Lately he LOVES going into Zoey's room which she doesn't mind sometimes. It was funny to watch him figure it out of course.

Ben does the splits. Actually he does them all the time. He has to do them to sit up. If you can picture this, from his belly he puts his legs to the side then pushes himself up to a sitting position, still with legs to the side in a complete split. OUCH! He is a VERY FLEXIBLE boy. Amazing. His doctor even said she has never seen a baby that flexible.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rpPqQOcMH0

Here is a few of Ben crawling. He was uncoordinated at first, trying to get it all working together but now he "sprint crawls" as Bryce would say. And he LOVES cords, strings, necklaces or anything like those. Now Ben is a master at crawling and pulling himself up and standing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqFPXOxRoiY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqzIx8Wa2Zo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu4UIY1aWzk

Visit to Idaho

2010-04-20T22:10:00.000-07:00

I got to visit my parents for 1 week in Feburary. It was lots of fun. Ben figured out how to sit up by himself and Zoey got to play in the snow a ton. We also got to visit Starla at her new house and meet Brinley as well as Starla got to meet Ben. Here are some pictures of the visit.

Another classic face

I made this shirt for my dad a long time ago and finally got it finished for him to wear. We made Zoey's hand prints and Ben's foot prints

Another classic Ben face.

See there it is again, the classic Ben face.
Here is Starla's girl Sofie. She is 10 months older than Ben. He is the same size as her. Ben is huge.

Zoey had a ton of fun playing with Emma. They were being so goofy.

They took turns playing dead and doctor. Zoey started it first by playing dead after going down the slide and then Emma copied.

Christmas pictures-yes I know they are VERY LATE, but they are here

2010-04-20T21:05:00.001-07:00

Here is Christmas pictures that my Mom took when they came up to spend Christmas with us. Thank goodness. My camera does great with videos but not so good with pictures. Its way to sensitive. Anyway, Zoey got spoiled with SO MANY presents. She of course got tired of opening them. Ben had lots too. Lots of clothes which he needed but I was scared that he would grow out of them in a month. Luckily he has not and still can fit into them all.

Perfect timing

Tinkerbell Fairy Costume

Hanging out with Grandpa Skene

Tinkerbell snow globe that broke that same day :(

Classic Ben face

Santa and his reindeer's goodies

Had fun playing with the Pez

Christmas PJs from the Grover's

Opening the PJ's

Reading "Up on the Housetop" Santa Book

Pictures and videos of my cute kids!!!

2009-12-19T13:04:00.000-08:00

Here are pictures and links to videos. I have given up on trying to post videos through Blogger so I go through youtube.com. I find it easier. Don't forget to watch to videos!! Enjoy!!

Gunner decided to lay right where Ben is. Ben then started to kick and Gunner started to play. I thought it was cute.

You can't see it very well but this is what I call Ben's bird face. He sucks in part of his top lip. He kept moving so I could get a very good picture so I got a video of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSY9YTMDf5g

He almost rolled over, with the help of his toy.
Here is a video of him and Zoey.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaJeMq-0eV4

Zoey LOVES to sing and LOVES to make up her own songs which makes Daddy proud because he does it all the time. Here is a video of her singing to her "drive". That's what she calls her toy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_tehrDPONk

New Hair Cut!!!

2009-11-15T16:22:00.000-08:00

Lately it has been a battle to do Zoey's hair. So I finally decided to just cut it. Here are before and after pictures. It was sad for Mom because she has such beautiful long curly hair, but I am tired of fighting with her to do her hair, even to just to brush it. And I am sure she is tired of the battle as well.

Before
So long and curly!!!

This is her hair combed straight and ready to be cut.

After
Its a little shorter then I intended, but still cute. I am debating about giving her bangs but I am not sure how to do it.

We had to watch Monsters VS Aliens to entertain her. She did very good until the end of course. She was telling me that her feet were hurting. I had her standing in a folding chair. She got mad at me when I was trying to measuring the length in the front because I was blocking to TV. She got a sucker because she was such a good girl.

Grasshopper cookies

2009-11-15T15:00:00.000-08:00

Bryce bought me a package of Grasshopper cookies the other day. So sweet! So today Zoey was eating a candy necklace and I was eating some of my Grasshopper cookies. She kept asking me if she could have one of my cookies but couldn't remember the name of them so she starting to describe them to me. She this is what she did:

She went over to our movies, pulled out the movie Kung Fu Panda, yes this particular movie(she had to search for it) and pointed to one of the characters.
Do you know which one she pointed to?
Remember, she was trying to describe what cookies I had (Grasshopper cookies).

She pointed to the bug, Mantis.
And then said while pointing, "These cookies, Can I have one?"

Too cute.

Little update on the Harmon's

2009-11-11T22:13:00.000-08:00

Life has been interesting that last few days. It has been cold and we don't have enough money to run the heat in all rooms of the house so we decided to all sleep in one room, Bryce and I's bedroom, as well as winterize the rest of the house. We have a tons of vents that are blowing in cold air so Bryce took cardboard boxes and taped them close. We also put up 2 curtains in door ways to keep the heat in the room we are most in. Bryce says it our own little sauna room.

Zoey thinks its fun and LOVES to sleep in our room. She does pretty good until the morning. Lately she has been a chatter box and has to tell us every detail of everything that is going on in her little mind. And she gets VERY upset if we don't let her finish what she is saying even if it is the 5th time she has said it. She also talks about Christmas non-stop. Everything is "When it's Christmas time, we can watch this movie"....or..."I can have a sucker when it's Christmas time". She also tells me what she is getting for Christmas. Her list has already started. She also talks about her cake that she is going to have for "my birthday when I turn 4". Since her last birthday, she has wanted a snake birthday cake, but we just watched UP and now its a dog birthday cake and its going to be a chocolate cake. She cracks us up. The other day when I took her to the store with me, on the way out she said "I think its getting pretty dark out here." She always makes us smile.

The first night we all slept in the same room, Ben decided to wake up every 1 to 2 hours. I could not take it. I still have no idea why he kept waking up. I ended up just sticking him back in his room and letting him cry then sleep then cry then sleep, all night long. I didn't know what else to do for him except let him cry himself to sleep every time he woke him self up. Little stinker. He has been ham-ing it up lately. He now has 2 teeth on the bottom and loves to chomp on EVERYTHING. He chomps and talks. He also is figuring out different sounds, which is always funny to listen to and just tonight he learned how to make a kissing sound(that's the best way to describe it). I was feeding him and he of course was just playing and not really eating and then started to suck with out the bottle in his mouth, there fore the kissing sound. He loves his momma. Daddy thinks he hates him because he doesn't sleep or eat for daddy. I just tell him that he loves his daddy, just loves his mommy more :) He loves to eat peas and green beans. He liked the rice cereal but ever since I added something else to it, he gobbles it down. He is getting so big. He now is 16lbs. and still long. He wears 9 month shirt that fit perfect and 3 month pants. He has a very long torso. He is my big boy.

Our lovely neighbors

2009-11-11T21:41:00.000-08:00

Saturday, we had a knock on our door around 7:30pm. Bryce answered it and our next door neighbor, an elderly lady, asked if we had a fire extinguisher. Bryce said no and looked outside to see why she asked that and the car across the street was on fire. He of course tried to help and said we have a hose but the lady told him that other people were going to other house to find a fire extinguisher. They found one while they were talking and a guy started to spray the car with the fire extinguisher. he wasn't spraying the correct way so Bryce shouted, nicely, to spray the base and sweep back and forth. Another guy shouted back to him "Hey why don't you just keep it ****to yourself!" Nice huh? So after that, Bryce and I both were like, "well fine, I will just let your car burn and won't give you any advise on how to get the fire out."

The fire department showed up shortly after that, and put the fire out. When the firefighters put the fire out, the window facing the street broke. It is now Wednesday and the glass is still all over the road. The car was conveniently parked straight across from our drive way. They have not cleaned the glass up. The car is gone, but everything else from the fire is still all over the road. Nice huh? We have lovely neighbors. They are the only reason why we don't like where we are.

Halloween!!

2009-11-01T15:12:00.000-08:00

Here are pictures of Halloween. Zoey had lots of fun at the Trunk or Treat at our Church. She got mad at me because I told her to say Trick or Treat to EVERY car, but she kept telling me "I already said it." We found out the her favorite candy is Nerds because every time she got a box of Nerds she would take them back out and tell me "I really loves these ones Mom." We didn't get Ben a costume this year. We didn't have enough money. Plus he was falling asleep while we were walking around.

Zoey and I carved the pumpkins. We did one for everybody.
So from the left: Ben, Zoey, Mom, and then Dad.

She was "Twirling"

Pictures!!!!!!

2009-10-31T13:01:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of the kids...well mostly of Ben.

Zoey loves getting her picture taken. Whenever I have the camera out she tells me to take a picture of her so that she can then see it.
Ben is such a good boy. He is always smiling. He is very easy going. In fact he is so much that at his doctors appointment, the doctor said she thinks he is lazy. She asked me all the normal questions like is he rolling over? No, he likes to just hang out on his side. Does he push on his legs when standing? Some times. Are you doing tummy time? Yes. How is he doing with that? He does good. He doesn't push up on his arms yet. (at the doctors) last time I put him on his tummy he just laid his head down and just hung out looking at what he could. She lifted him up with his arms to see how he held his head but he didn't. Just let it hang there. She tried getting him to stand or push on his legs but he didn't. We both think that he could do it, he just is lazy. He is such a good baby. Here are some of his best smiles.

He looks like his daddy with mommy's eyes.
Look at this cute baby!!!! He is getting to big!!!

Ben's first REAL laugh

2009-10-15T09:01:00.000-07:00

Yeah...its too cute. I was cracking up and can watch this over and over again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a64hSJPsFPo

Update

2009-10-10T12:37:00.000-07:00

So its been a while.We are officially in Spokane!!! Yeah. It has been lots of fun. I haven't taken any pictures yet because we have been pretty busy. Bryce started school on the 21st of September and is doing pretty good. He has 4 classes. American Sign Language (harder then he thought but is doing good), First Aide(probably his easiest) and Biology and Biology Lab (this is his hardest). Biology is kicking his butt. He has a hard time with the way the teacher is teaching. He already thinks he is going to have to take it over again. I have been trying to be encouraging but it not helping like I thought it would.

I haven't been working full time. The schedule that I first had at KinderCare wasn't working plus we don't qualify for day care assistance because Bryce is not working. He is going to school but he is not in a program(yet) that he can get a job right away. The state doesn't count school if you are just getting your associates. You have to be in something that will get you a job right away, and get a degree in something than generals. So until Bryce gets a job, we don't get state aid. Plus KinderCare is not paying me has much I thought it would. I found a call center job that will pay me $.75 more. I have applied to a lot more places, one a dental assistant job that I really would like. I went to WorkSource and applied for it but they didn't give me a number to follow up with, just the dentists name. So I need to find the place hopefully.

Anyway, the kids are doing great. Zoey loves her new house. Anytime we come back home from the store or anything, Zoey says something about her "New" house. She loves having her big girl room and big girl bed. We took Bryce's old bed that his parents had in the extra bedroom. She loves it. Ben is getting bigger and I think he is ready for rice cereal. He loves to sit up, makes high pitch noises when he talks, thought he was going to roll over because he liked to roll over to his side and hang out, but he doesn't do that anymore. Gunner came up a couple weeks after we moved. We had to save up a little bit more money to pay for the pet deposit. He had to have eye surgery again. He had cherry eye(which is when is tear gland swells up and comes out of place). So he had the white collar on to keep him from itching his eye. He likes the new house I think but he can't go up or down the stairs. They are pretty steep but he is kind of a wimp. We have lots of stray kitties that he has run into but they are not intimidated by him at all. It's funny to watch him try to be tough.

Anyway, I will post pictures of the new house and of the kids when I get them. Hope everyone is doing great!!

Lots and Lots of fun videos

2009-09-05T15:28:00.000-07:00

Here are a few videos to look at. I can't get my videos to upload onto my blog so I tried YouTube and hopefully it works

This one is of Ben laughing just a bit. He is getting so big and is so stinkin cute!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMhCaWTJTNM

Here is Ben having a blast in the bath. He loves to splash!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxp1jhbrhGY

This one is of Gunner's new trick. He loves to bounce a ball on his nose then chase after it. It's pretty funny.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYuDN-MCA88

Here is a couple videos of Zoey and Abby having fun together.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_eCwU3rdPE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uEiC3xUUF4

Hopefully these will all work and you can enjoy them.

Cuddle time with daddy

2009-09-04T17:45:00.000-07:00

Zonked out on Daddy. Too cute!!

My happy boy!!

2009-07-18T11:23:00.001-07:00

Ben has been smiling a lot lately and talking a lot. It is sooooo cute. Here is a video of our sweet boy! We had a WIC appointment earlier this week and they measured and weighed Ben. He is 9 lbs 8 oz, and 22 inches long. That puts him at the 25th percentile overall. I think weight was 25th, and length was 50th. He is a long and skinny boy. Not a lot of meat on him but his is still a cutie. He is a very good baby.

My growing boy!

2009-07-05T15:27:00.000-07:00

Ben is getting so big. He is one month old now. It went by faster than I wanted (of course). He is kind of smiling. We talked a little bit this morning. He was trying to copy me. It was super cute. He is such a sweetheart. He looks so much like Zoey when she was a baby. At his 2 week appt. he weighed 8 lbs. 2.3 oz and was 21 inches long. Both him and Zoey will go into their next doctor's appt August 6th. Anyway, here are some updated pictures of Ben.

Had to get some naked pictures

My Goofy and BIG Girl!!

2009-07-05T14:56:00.000-07:00

Zoey is such a goof. She has been into matching everything. She knows her colors very well and will match green to green, even if the greens aren't the same tone. She really likes to pick out her clothes as well. She is very proud of herself when she gets dressed all by herself and matches the clothes. Some don't really match but if we are not going anywhere then I will let her wear whatever she wants. Her is an example of her matching her clothes.

The green shirt is not the same as the green pants, but she was very proud the she had matched it. She has also worn all yellow. Again, yellow are not the same, but still proud of herself.

The other day she was playing with her blanket just before bed. I had Ben in my lap and was taking some pictures of him when she asked me to take a picture of her doing this:

Not quite sure what she was really doing, but she thought it was funny and I thought it was funny that she asked me to take a picture of her doing that.

She has also been such a great big sister. She has been so concerned about Ben all the time. Any time he cries, she asks "Oh, Baby Ben is sad", or she say "Is he hungry or something?" So good. We went t o our ward 4th of July Breakfast at Biddlewood park and her friend Grace was looking at Ben in the stroller and moved the stroller a little bit and Zoey started to cry saying"Grace pushed Ben". She is going to be so protective of him. It will be so fun to see what she is like when he does something she doesn't like. I laid Ben on her bed and she thought it was fun to lay by him and of course I had to get pictures.

She was concerned that he wasn't looking at the camera so she helped him.
What a good big sister!!!!

Happy Birthday Bryce!!!!

2009-06-25T12:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Bryce's birthday. He turned 26 and realized that he is "closer to 30 than he is to 20 now" (his words) and that just made him feel old. He had a pretty good day. He had to work at his 2nd job at an auto detailer, which was a bummer but he wasn't there for very long. We ate his favorite dish, Pizza Pasta, with our friends Ben, Alisha, Brigham, Gracie, Bryce, Courtney and Braden. He requested a Ice Cream cake for his birthday cake, and that is what he got. Cookies N' Cream with a white cake from Baskin Robbins. For presents, he got some computer stuff, a Blue tooth headset for is cell phone(it is now illegal to drive and talk on the phone without a headset in the state of Washington), and Boom Blox Bash Party on the Wii (if you have never played that game, try it...it is a lot of fun and works out your arms).

After dinner and cake we went to see the new Transformers. It was very good. It had a little too much sexual references that could have been taken out and a lot of it was very unnecessary. Other than that, we really enjoyed the movie.

Hopefully Bryce enjoyed his birthday. I am very happy that I married him. He is the best husband and dad I could have asked for. I love you Bryce. We all love you!!!! Happy Birthday!!!

Very frustrated

2009-06-23T11:14:00.000-07:00

So, Bryce and I have been trying to get everything, as far as school goes, ready for when we move up to Spokane. Bryce is registered and has classes already signed up to take. He has 13 credits starting on September 21st. I have been trying to figure out if I can complete the requirements to work in Washington as a Dental Assistant(DA) but just found out that it's not going to work. Washington State requires Dental assistants to be registered with the state and to have EFDA(Expanded Functions Dental Assistant) which just allows the dental assistants to do more. Well, the school I applied to in Spokane has the EFDA class but I have to have a DA certificate from an accredited school which the school I went to is NOT accredited. So, my certificate went down the drain and was a waste of my time and money. I am very frustrated and it doesn't help that Bryce is frustrated(mostly with me) to. I graduated from the school 1 year ago and never got a job because I did my externship later than expected and then got pregnant. I looked for jobs but everything that I found required the DA's to have EFDA and Radiology, which I had neither of. I did interview with 3 places but never got the jobs obviously. Then I got to the point where I obviously looked pregnant and who is going to hire a pregnant lady who will leave in a few months for 6 weeks?

I did call the school and asked if they knew of any places to get the EFDA certification but they don't know of any. That helps. I can get certified for everything to work in Oregon but that doesn't help me since we are staying in Washington. EFDA is defined differently in Oregon than Washington or I would just do that. I even looked into Idaho because Spokane is right next to the border but they require EFDA which is different then Oregon's EFDA requirements so that won't work either. Annoying.

Anyway, I am very frustrated and now trying to figure out if it is worth me going back to school for something else. I have looked at other programs to see if I could finish quick but everything is 1 year or more which won't work for us in what we want to do. Very frustrating that my DA certificate is useless now unless I start all over.

He 's Here!!!

2009-06-10T14:43:00.001-07:00

Benjamin Brock Harmon was born Saturday the 6th at 8:52pm. He weighed 7lbs 14oz, was 20 1/4 inch longer and has just a tiny bit of hair that is white. He is beautiful and we are so happy he is here. Zoey is fascinated with him. She loves looking at his toes and fingers and everything is little to her. She loves him already and is concerned and asks "whats wrong with baby Ben?" when he cries. She is already a great big sister and will continue to be.

For those of you wanting to know how labor went, here goes the story.

We went into the hospital around 3:30 pm on Saturday. I was at a 5cm so they started to set up the room. Around 5:00, I think, they come in to give me the epidural. It only went to my right side. The anesthesiologist, Bryce was not impressed with him, kinda of kept saying "well, give it a little bit longer and you can push this button for more medicine 2 times in one hour, but it will take about 15 minutes to feel the effect". Well, it never worked and I could feel every contraction on my left side. So that anesthesiologist left. Bryce thinks he was at the end of his shift and didn't care because he was going home soon. In came another one, who at first we were scared of because the first thing she said was about Bryce and my mom eating Subway and the smell would make my stomach make acids and it was not good for me. So she was kinda of mean at first but they decided to do the epidural again. After that I loved her. She was very nice and stuck around basically until she knew for sue that the epidural worked, which of course I was very thankful for. So, by the time that all got working, I was at a 8cm so they decided to break my water, which didn't take much at all to break. It wasn't much longer after that is when I started pushing. I pushed for 40 minutes and he was there. Apparently our children do not come out a normal way. When Zoey was born she flew out. I pushed her head out and then she flew out like a dolphin, as Bryce would explain and sprayed baby juice all over him. So with Ben, Bryce made sure he stayed clear of the baby juice and was up by my head. When Ben came out he was face up, which is unusual. Then as the doctor got one shoulder out, he twisted completely around as he came out. The doctor said she wished she had that recorded and could watch that again because it was very odd.

Anyway, we are both doing very well. He is a very good baby and sleeps very well. Enjoy the pictures!!!

Nothing is happening

2009-06-03T10:23:00.000-07:00

Here I sit typing and have no baby. My due date is today and I have had no contractions at all. A few pains here and there but I can't really call them contractions. I did vacuum the car and wiped it down plus put in the car seat for whenever he does decide to come. We have everything ready and I just feel like I am sitting here twiddling my thumbs waiting for a sign saying he is coming. It doesn't help that it is HOT every day for the past 2 weeks. And the fact that it is always at least 90% humidity. So I basically sit in my own sweat(sorry for details). We only have AC in one room, which thankfully has the TV, a few of Zoey's toys and the computer so that I have so form on entertainment. I would love to go walk around but it is just to hot to go anywhere. It seems like I can never cool down, even with ice cold water and lots of Popsicles and other cold things.

Anyway. keep watching and waiting for pictures of our baby boy. Hopefully it will be very soon.

Zoey's happy birthday

2009-05-25T20:44:00.000-07:00

We had a little party for Zoey today. Our friends Ben, Alisha, Brigham and Gracie came over to celebrate Zoey's birthday and share some yummy dinner and cake. I found this cute caterpillar cake on Kraft.com. It was really cute and Zoey liked it so we made it. I think she had a good birthday. Grandma and Grandpa Harmon we both busy with work so they couldn't be there but they did wish her a Happy Birthday.

Our day started with breakfast at IHOP. She got a yummy Create-a-face pancake with orange juice. Then a early nap because she didn't sleep well last night. She is getting a cold, mom forgot to put on her night time diaper so she peeed the bed and probably didn't sleep well with the combination of everything. SO needless to say she took a early nap to help with the rest of her day. Around 4:30 our friends showed up and played in the pool with her for a little bit before we went to the park. She played on the slide half the time and the other half running back and forth while Dad, Ben and Alisha played Frisbee. We came home, had Pizza Pasta and Monster Salad then shared her yummy caterpillar with friends. Here are the pictures and video I got.

The cake before candle was lit with Brigham

The cake after mommy finished it.

Eating our caterpillar

Our crazy dog

2009-05-23T08:09:00.000-07:00

Gunner has been such a funny dog. We have called him our "special boy" because of certain things he does. These certain things are things he plays with. Here are a list of things he plays with: the broom, vacuum, lawn mower, balloons, Zoey's popper she calls her vacuum, compressed can of air, your feet, Carolyn's water bed, my blow dryer, just to name a few. Anything is a toy to him. He is very fun to play with because of that. He bounces around anything and everything trying to get it to play with him. And when he gets excited and is having lots of fun, he barks or talks to whatever he is playing with. He is very fun. Here are a few videos to help explain our bouncy puppy. (Sorry it's looks squished. My camera records in HD, which is very nice but makes for squished videos on my blog.)

Baby shower pics

2009-05-19T14:27:00.000-07:00

My baby shower was on the 16th and it was lots of fun. I was very surprised at my turnout. I am not the most sociable person in our ward so I was excited to see that I have made a few friends. Even though we have been here for 2 years. I got a tons of cute boy stuff. Thank you to all that came. Here are a few pictures that Carolyn took for me.

Dee Moultrie (Bryce's best friends mother in law-she is in our ward) and my host Erin Gillespie

Me and my huge belly(not my best pic)

Dee Moultire again and my sister in law Marshawn

Me and my co-workers- Caty, Aimee and Autumn

Easter Weekend

2009-04-14T17:45:00.000-07:00

Easter wasn't as fun as it should have been this year. Zoey got sick and was running a fever on Sunday and Monday. Saturday she was good and we got to decorate eggs. She had fun dropping the eggs into the dye. I was planning on having her find eggs in the backyard Sunday but it was raining slightly and she wasn't feeling good. Her Easter basket was filled with lots of candy and toys. All she cared about was the bubbles. She kept asking to blow bubbles and I kept reminding her to look at what else was in the basket. My mom sent her a bunny that walks around and poops out jelly beans. She thought it was hilarious that is was pooping.

I got her a pretty Easter dress but I didn't get a picture Sunday when she had it on. She didn't have on for very long because we didn't stay past sacrament because Zoey was very whiny and just wanted to cuddle which was very uncomfortable for Mom and her big belly. Daddy stayed home because his back is acting up again and couldn't sleep until about 4 am. So I couldn't get him up for Church. Anyway, I will get a picture of her probably next Sunday.

I hope everyone had a good Easter weekend. Hopefully Zoey won't be sick again and plus she will have baby brother to do decorating with.

Coloring fun

2009-04-09T12:55:00.000-07:00

I don't know if you can see, but Zoey decided to color the dog the other day with red marker. It was a little hard to get Gunner to lay still while I took his picture but he was red all over his belly and chest and down his leg. I am not that surprised that Zoey colored on him because she colors all over herself with marker any time she has them (she had colored her hand completely),why not color the dog too. I am more surprised that HE laid still long enough for her to do it. I guess I was waiting for when she would do something to the dog.

8 Weeks left!!!!!!

2009-04-05T10:55:00.000-07:00

I have 8 weeks left till Ben gets here! I can't wait! I am already done being pregnant. It doesn't help that he sits low yet stretches into my ribs. He is not that big of a mover but when he does, he has big movements. It's funny to watch my belly change. I think he likes to move his arm back and forth over his face. That's what it feels like most of the time when he moves. He gets hiccups but it isn't bad compared to Zoey who had them all the time and many times a day. 8 more weeks!!!!!!

Having fun a sneaky way

2009-04-01T18:51:00.001-07:00

Any ideas of what happened to her head?

Have an idea yet?

OK, its my mascara.

Yep she got into my mascara and apparently caked her face with it. She likes to hide behind the couch when she has things that she is not suppose to have. I was a work when it happen and this picture was taken after Bryce tried to get it off her face. He didn't know how to get it off but it was on there pretty good. She likes to pretend to put makeup on with me and it's cute. This time it was still cute but it a different way.

My loving Husband!!!

2009-04-01T17:56:00.000-07:00

My sweet loving husband paid for a 50 minute massage yesterday and it was GREAT!!!! He was trying to keep it a secret but even though he won't admit it, he can't keep anything a secret. I think he gets to excited about what he is doing or he is scared of what I will think about what he is doing for me even though I LOVE anything he does for me and I tell him that all the time. Anyway, it was very nice especially being pregnant and now into the 3rd trimester. It was awkward at first but turned out to be fabulous. I loved the massage and want to get another hopefully in the near future and hopefully not be pregnant. I highly recommend getting one if you haven't ever had one. They are GREAT!!

My child's imagination

2009-03-22T15:31:00.000-07:00

Before getting ready for church this morning, Zoey was singing a song that I did not recognize. Most of the time she sings church songs like I Am A Child of God, Once there was a snowman, or it will be a mix between Twinkle Twinkle Little Star or Itsy Bitsy Spider. She LOVES to sing on her own. But this song had no words. It was more of do-do's in different tones. So I asked her what song she was singing. She told me it was Squidward's song. If you are not familiar with that name, it is on Spongebob. She likes to pretend she is eating Spongebob and Patrick or someone else from Spongebob. She will tell me sometimes that I am eating Spongebob or we will have visits from Mr. Krabs. She's a goof and loves Spongebob. But, yesterday, while doing Zoey's hair, I put barrets in her hair and she told me that they were Shrek and Fiona. Not sure where she got that one since most of the time it is Spongebob and Patrick.

Zoey has been talking a lot about her cousin Emma coming to our house. She talks about what her and Emma will do when she is here or just what Emma will like to do, like "I tink Emma likes to ride on my horse" or "I tink Emma will like to......" ending in whatever she is doing at the moment. We have told her that she will see Emma when Baby Ben comes and when its her birthday. So she will tell me that often. She is getting excited for her birthday. I am not sure she really understand what is going to happen for her birthday but she talks about how she is "2 on my happy birf-day". I correct her and tell her she is 2 now and will be 3 on her birthday so she says "oh, yeah, I will be free on my happy birf-day" while holding 3 fingers up to show me.

She is such a goof and I laugh everyday because of something that she tells me. She is so silly and she knows it.

Too funny

2009-03-18T17:03:00.000-07:00

A couple nights ago, as Zoey was playing with her "blocks" or legos, she was getting frustrated that they were not doing what she wanted them to do so she kept saying "gosh dang it, they just not workin". Too funny. She looked at me a few times but I just had to laugh that she was saying what she was saying and why she was saying it. Too cute.

A new word

2009-03-11T19:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday when I came home from lunch, I was waiting in the kitchen for my pasta to cook when Zoey came in and had a very sad, no tears, yet annoying look on her face. This was our conversation:

Mom: Why are you sad, Zoey?
Zoey: I'm just not sad.
Mom: OK(not sure what to say really). What's wrong then?
Zoey: I'm...(pause) just not sad.
Mom: Honey, what's wrong?
Zoey: (Still with a sad look on her face, looking down at the floor and now leaning on the dog food container) I'm...just....embarrassed.
Mom: (laughing now) you're embarrassed?
Zoey: Yeah
Mom: Why are you embarrassed? What happened?
Zoey: I'm just......(as she walks back out of the kitchen, still with the same sad, but embarrassed face)

I didn't know that she knew the word embarrassed. But evidently she was embarrassed that afternoon.

Update!!

2009-02-27T16:00:00.000-08:00

So it's been a while since I have updated our blog so here we go. First up our trip to Idaho.

We went to Idaho for my brother's farewell talk. He is leaving for the Chile Antofagasta Mission on March 11th. It's so soon. Zoey and I were able to drive to my parents house and spend a week with my family. It was really nice to finally make it there since our Christmas trip didn't turn out. Bryce stayed home because he couldn't get work off and plus it was too much for both of us to take a week off from work. I planned on leaving the Saturday but didn't leave until Sunday because I got the 24 hour stomach flu bug or something because I threw up Friday night and didn't feel like driving when I was sick. So I drove all day Sunday (it took about 12 hours). Zoey did really good the whole trip. She had fun looking at the clean and dirty snow outside when we went through the passes. Luckily it was very dry and a very nice drive expect for some windy spots and heavy fog just before the mountains. She was very good for me until we were about a hour outside of Twin Falls when she started to scream at me "I need out of the car" and "I need to cuddle". I think she was very tired and very done with the trip. We stopped for some gas in Twin Falls, and to let her run around before heading the rest of the way. She fell asleep for an hour before we got to my parents house. She was very excited to be at Grandpa's house. She was talking about it for weeks before we left to go to grandpa's house. Monday morning after finally making it there, I heard her tossing around andI leaned over to her. Our conversation went like this
Mom: Hi sweetie
Zoey: We at Grandpa's house
Mom: I know. Are you excited?
Zoey: Yeah. (as she climbs out of bed) I got of the bed
Mom: I saw
Zoey: We just need to get out of the room
Mom: OK, lets go.

Yeah, she was really excited. She had lots of fun visiting with Grandpa. Every one got a kick of how much she talked and that iswas really loud (echoing didn't help) and she was non stop and wasn't afraid to tell you what excatly was on her mind. For example: Zoey got a cat that walks and meows from grandma and grandpa's late Christmas present. I was getting her car seat out of my car to put in my mom's, getting ready to make a trip into Idaho falls for some things. As I was busy outside doing that, Grandpa was in his office on a phone call with a customer(my dad works from the home) and Zoey decided she need to visit him with her kitty. So she opens the dorr to grandpa's office, puts the kitty down and as it walks and meows toward grandpa, she looks and at him and smiles. Grandpa, still tlaking to someone on his ear piece phone, turns the kitty around, slides it across the floor out the door and closes the door. I come inside and she comes running to me saying, with a few tears in her eyes,
Zoey: Grandpa pushed my kitty
My response, knowing grandpa was on the phone told her "Well honey he is on the phone right now and we need to leave him alone."
Zoey, still mad,"But he dust pushed my kitty and he dust needs to be nice to my kitty"
Me: I'm sorry honey
A few minutes later, grandpa comes out and tells us what happens. We laugh for a little bit while grandpa goes and talks to Zoey about it.
G-Pa: Was grandpa not very nice to the kitty? I'm sorry.
Zoey: Yeah, you dust pushed my kitty and not be very nice
G-Pa: I'm sorry.
Zoey: Yeah (studder for a while) you dust need to be nice to my kitty

She told grandpa =). Silly girl. There were several other moments where she told somebody what was on her mind. She also was very open about her going to the bathroom. On seperate occasions, Grandma and grandpa both found her and asked how she was doing in the bathroom and both of those times her response was "I'm fine. I'm dust going poop." and "It's a big one". I wonder where she learned that phrase from, Daddy?

She very mush enjoyed playing with her cousins Emma and Jared. I heard her several times calling for Jared, trying to find out where he was. It was very cute. Luke's talk was wonderful and I am very happy that he made the choice for himself to serve a mission. I am very proud of him and will miss him and write to him as often as I can. Zoey and I had a lot of fun in Idaho. Zoey got a chance to throw snow at grandpa like she had been telling me for a while that that was what she was going to do. The morning we left to go back home, grandma and grandpa were telling her that they are going to come up a little bit when baby Ben comes and that they are going to go to the beach again like they did in May last year and run away from the cold water and play in the sand. When we stopped to get gas in Ontario, Grandma Harmon called to see where we were at and said to tell Zoey she is excited to see her. So I told her and she was confussed at which grandma it was becasue she stared talking about going to the beach and running away from the water. I immediatly called my parents and had to tell them that they HAVE to go now and that she is already excited to go.

So since we have been back from Idaho, Zoey has been talking about playing with Emma again and going to the beach with grandma and Grandpa when the baby comes out of mommy's tummy. I think she is gradually getting the idea that the baby is an object rather then just a word and a play toy. But we will see what actually happens. I was very surprise that she asked to hold 2 of her baby cousins, which one was almost 2 weeks old. She enjoyed it and I felt better about her and the coming of baby Ben. And speaking of the baby, we are both doing great. I had my 6 month check up and found that I had gained 8 pounds the last month. I think alot of it was from my parents house. I ate a ton. He is growing good, likes to stay really low and kicks all the time. Zoey likes to feel my belly, and has sometimes felt him kick, which she fines to be interesting.

The week after we came back I went back to working full time. They asked me to be in the 1 year old classroom and I found that after that week, I can't do it physically. I change diapers for 7 kids, every 2 hours or as needed, so I was lifting kids 28+ times a day and my stomach was constantly tight and I was exhausted by the end of the week. I talked to my doctor and she advised to go to either preschool room or baby room. After talking to my boss, I am now the new Preshool 2 teacher. The teacher of that class before is no longer there and I didn't know that until last Monday. I was told I was going to be in there but I thought as an assistant, but no, I am the lead teacher. I am a little nervous because I have always been an assistant and now I am planning all the cirriculm and things for that class. After this first hectic week, I am loving it. I love all my kids, even with them all being naughty because of the quick change and lack of consistency for out about 2 weeks, this week gradually got better. The kids have know me but I haven't really been with them for the whole week like this so needless to say, they are getting use to my style of discipline. The teacher previous kind of let them do whatever, but they all loved her. I have a few boys, one in particular, that don't like to listen so I am working on plan to help him and I get along together better. Along with this week in a new classroom, I haven't been feeling to well. I started getting a head cold and then it turned it a cough which lead to losing my voice and finally a trip to the doctor. I lost my voice about Tuesday and last night my throat was killing me. We have had strep aroung the building at work and I was afraid that I might have caught that, so I finally called in sick and made it to the doctor, only to find out that it is Bronchitits with a mix of asthma. I have had asthma in the past and becasue of the wheezing, shortness of breathe and congestion, not including the losing of my lung space due to the baby getting bigger, I was given an inhaler to help, along with the antibiotic for the bronchitis. So today has been a day of rest and I am feeling kind of the same, but I am not yelling at kids all day, except for my own naughty child, and I am actually resting and not moving around constantly. Hopefully I will be lots better by Monday and not have to miss work. It's amazing how I have taken charge and am somewhat organized with my classroom and trying desperatly to catch up on the cirriculm which is changing next week. I am really enjoying my job excpet for the fact I wish I was getting a little better pay, but I really like it.

Zoey has been good for Grandma, who watches her in the morning and she is with Dad in the afternoons. She knows what happens is the mornings now and I am glad to see her during lunch if she isn't down for a nap yet and when I come home. I do miss her but am doing this for her. I only have 3 more months tell the baby comes and am already done being pregnant and not looking forward for the 3 months other than to get here faster. I am very grateful for my family and for all that they do for me. I am very grateful for my husband and being a wonderful father to Zoey and I know he will be for Ben. I love to all!!! Enjoy some of the pictures I have of our trip to Idaho. There will probably be lots more but I will have to do it later.

A slight change

2009-01-30T12:25:00.000-08:00

We have been talking about naming the boy and we are sticking to Benjamin but Bryce remembered that his nephew has the middle name of "Bryian" so we HAD to change it, according to Bryce. Plus, as we were talking about it we also decided that it was too plain of a name, not that it isn't cute, but we wanted to do something not so plain. So we have decided that we like "Brock" as a middle name instead. So, Benjamin Brock Harmon is what we have picked out. Hopefully that will stay :)

The Energy drink

2009-01-23T11:22:00.000-08:00

Bryce's dad bought energy drinks the other day and told us we were welcome to them if we would like them. I was surprised that Bryce had one the other night and also one last night. When I got home yesterday, he told me "Oh, by the way, Zoey might be a little hyper tonight because I gave her some of this energy drink." WHAT!?!?! Yeah, I asked him how much he gave her and he said not very much, maybe 1 to 3 oz of it. I flipped out of course and asked him if he knew how much caffeine was in one of those drinks. He didn't think it was that bad, so I looked on the can and found out that there is 2500mg or energy blend (what ever that might be) in a serving which is 8 oz. He of course thought it was funny and I couldn't do anything about it except yell at him.

The rest of the night went ok, as far as dinner. Zoey was about her normal self, maybe a hint of more craziness but she kept it in very well. I got her into bed around 8:30. When I finally went to bed around 10:00, I walked past her room and she called out to me. She was still VERY awake, and wanted to cuddle or have me rub her back. I asked if she wanted to lay in bed with me, to see if that will help if we were to cuddle that way and then went out to Bryce and told him that his daughter is still very fully awake and showed no real sign of being tired. We kind of laughed, well he did mostly, and I hoped that she would go to sleep within the next half hour. He said he gave it to her around 3pm so it should be out of her system by now. I beg to differ. I think she fell asleep quicker than expected granted I had to tell her to be quite many times (so she just whisperedinstead) and to go to sleep. I woke up around 1:15am to her sleeping at an angle and hitting me. I cannot sleep with her in the same bed all night becasue she constantly hits me throughout the night or tries to roll over top of me. She is a crazy sleeper.

Anyway, needless to say I have forbidden Bryce to give her anything that has caffine in it. Hopefully he will NEVER EVER do that again.

Pictures of Ben!!!

2009-01-17T10:51:00.000-08:00

So, I gave up trying to scan them and decided to take pictures of the pictures, and they turned out good. So here they are!!

This is like him kissing a window. His nose and lip prints on the window. So CUTE!!

IT'S A......

2009-01-15T18:41:00.000-08:00

It's a boy!!!!! We are so excited that it's a boy. I have pictures and I have been trying ever since we got home to scan them and put them on but my printer is being stupid and not cooperating with me. I not very happy about that but I am so excited that we are having a boy. We have a name picked, since we were pregnant with Zoey, so he will be Benjamin Bryan/Brian. Not sure on which way we will spell his middle name. I thought it would be cool to go with the Y because of his daddy's name has a Y in it. So most likely it will be spelled "Bryan". I am not sure what Bryce thinks. Anyway, everything is great. He was moving constantly through the ultrasound. The lady doing the ultrasound couldn't get good pictures every once a while because he would turn away as soon as she got a view. It was funny to see him toss and turn and then of course his face and arms and legs.

As soon as I get the scanner figure out I will post pictures. We are so excited it's a boy!!!

Boy or Girl?

2009-01-13T09:12:00.000-08:00

We get to find out if we are having a boy or girl this Thursday!!! I am excited. Bryce wants to do a bet with me. I asked him what happens if we both thought it was the same thing. He said he would choose the other one. So I said I think its a boy and he said he thought so too but he is going to go with a girl because we have to be different. Goof.

Anyway, so this Thursday at 3pm we are going in for our FIRST ultrasound. I am excited to actually see the baby. We don't do the ultrasound at my doctors office. We have to do it at radiology I little odd, but oh well. So expect pictures of the baby, I am expecting to get some and will fight for them. And also to find out what we are having. I can't wait!!

I FLUSH THE TOLIET!

2009-01-13T09:04:00.000-08:00

Zoey has been fully potty trained for quite some time and I am very proud of her. Since she does it now all by herself, we have been trying to get her to do the rest of the things that come with going potty, like washing our hands, not playing with the water, not playing with mommy's makeup, not filling the toilet full of toilet paper and flushing the toilet. She does pretty good about washing her hands. I try to help her but she just gets mad at me.

She has had a hard time flushing the toliet. It's an older toliet so the handle is a little harder to turn and flush. I have been helping her flush the toliet and have been trying to encourage her to do it by herself. She did one time with me standing there and I gave her lots of praise. Last night before dinner, she went potty by herself and came running out and into the kitchen yelling "I FLUSH THE TOILET!!" She was so excited to do it by herself! She gave me a hug and then went running to daddy to tell him. It was a very exciting moment for her. Congrats Zoey! I am so proud of you!!

Dramatic girl and TERRIFIED puppy

2009-01-09T20:37:00.000-08:00

Funny story about Zoey and then funny stories about Gunner(Its an accumulation of things that have happened between the puppy and the cat. Sorry it's kind of long but pretty funny).

Tonight at dinner, Zoey gave up her will to try and eat. I made spaghetti and all she wanted to eat was the noodles. She was getting frustrated using a fork to pick the food up so I got her a spoon which worked for while until she didn't have a lot of noodles left. She gradually stopped trying and just gave up on scooping up the food to eat. She would use her hands but I kept telling her not to, then she would lick her hands to get all the "yuckies" off. She finally got to the point where I could tell she was done. She keep crying saying "I dust can't do it" and putting her yucky hands on her face, covering her eyes. She was also getting mad at her sippy cup. She would lift it up but not enough to get anything out and then complain that "it not working". She tried that twice and then lifted it too much, sending the drink in her mouth, surprising her (I had taken the stopper out). Then her last attempt, she tipped it before it got to her mouth, and spilling on her bare stomach, which was very cold. She was very concerned the whole time about her ice melting. I have had to explain to her that it melts to keep our drink cold. She loves to eat ice. Moving on, I had removed her shirt and bib to prevent stains. That was the last straw for mom, who then took her to the tub, and had to laugh at the whole dramatic scene. As soon as she was in the tub with the water she was fine and all happy. Very dramatic night for Zoey.

The Puppy:
The puppy is TERRIFIED of the cat. They have come in contact only a few times, which all ended with Gunner on his back, scared, and Yogi hissing and growling at him. We try to keep Gunner where we are at and not roam the house and eat everything on the floor. Wednesday, I had Gunner and Zoey by the bathroom with a baby gate in the hallway and all other doors closed to contain both of them as I got ready for the day. The bathroom is right by Grandma(Carolyn's) bedroom. She had gotten up and was coming out to say good morning. The cat, Yogi, sleeps in her room, of course, and was still on the bed. Gunner was curious to see (or smell) what was in Carolyn's room. She had warned Gunner of Yogi, who noticed Gunner coming in and kept a careful watch on him. I stayed in the bathroom and Carolyn was relaying what was going on with the animals. Yogi was not happy Gunner was in HER room and Gunner knew she was there but yet oblivious to her feelings of his presence. She ended up jumping on him and chasing him out of the room to the bathroom door where he submitted, on his back, to her victory.

Later that afternoon, Gunner, Zoey and I were in the kitchen. I had the gate up blocking the hallway again so he won't go down. Yogi came out and was down the hallway, on the other side of the gate. I had no idea she was even there until Gunner started barking. He only barks at her where and when he knows she can't get him. He acts tough and playful. Anyway, he was SCARED to go by the gate. He wouldn't until I sat down in front of the gate, called him and told him it was ok.

Again tonight, I was gone at work already, Bryce was up but taking a shower and Carolyn was watching Zoey and Gunner for a few minutes. Zoey had to go potty so Carolyn took her to her room and left Gunner either to join or stay in the family room. He, of course couldn't just stay in one room especially if someone he likes goes to the other part of the house. Ken's office is at the end of the hallway before it turns down to the bathroom and Carolyn's room, and is a room he rarely goes into, plus it is Yogi's so-called territory. She loves Ken and is out whenever Ken is home. He didn't see her but she saw him. Carolyn was still helping Zoey in the bathroom when she heard yelping. She came out and saw Yogi coming back down the hallway towards her and Gunner behind the couch in the family room with his big ears down and tail between his legs. Carolyn opened his crate and he ran in. He got his butt kicked again by the cat.

When I came home from work today, I had Gunner out. His usual run from getting out of his crate is to RUN into the kitchen. Today he did not. He would not leave the family room and enter into the foyer and into the kitchen because I'm pretty sure he was scared Yogi was going to attack him. The whole time he has been out tonight, he has acted like he is on his toes, watching out for himself, and scared wherever he is at. I feel so bad for him but it is just to funny to see him TERRIFIED of the cat. I have yet to get a video of the meetings between the animals, but am afriad I missed the funny part about it and now just have a puppy who is now scared to go in any part of the house without me by his side. What a silly puppy.

Zoey's first dental appointment

2009-01-07T13:04:00.000-08:00

Zoey went to her first dentist's appointment today. She was content sitting in the lobby waiting, reading some books and taking over the entire couch that was there. There was other chairs but Zoey definitely claim the WHOLE couch, which is normal at home.

We were starting to get a little anxious for when we were going to be taken back. Yes, we. I was getting a little annoyed at how long we had to wait but what do you really expect at a doctor's office. And Zoey I think got to comfortable out in the lobby and thought that that was all she had to do, until we went back. Once we did get back there, I was a little disappointed in how the dental assistant handle Zoey's first time experience. Before we even went back, one of the assistants told me that the doctors philosophy for looking at kids teeth is that even if the child is screaming in horror or whatever, he can see the teeth and he will do what needs to be done. I disagree with that and I don't know if this is me being a parent or having the experience in a children's dentistry or both, but I would like my child to have a good experience and not be scared out of her mind of the dentist and his office and what they are doing in her mouth.

When I was at Dentistry for Children, where I did my externship, for first visits for the kids, they didn't push the kids. They tried to keep the kids interest in the tools, and the chairs or even the toy box. They showed the kids how the prophy cup, or cleaning brush worked, and explained what they were going to do. At Zoey's appointment they didn't do anything. An then Dr. Shebani, who I worked with, intorduced herself to the kids, talked to them, and at least did her best to keep everything positive about the whole thing. She did force the kids to open their mouth and dive right in, usually if they were scared she would try but mainly focus on what the parents want for the kids.

Anyway, Zoey did ok. He brushed her teeth with a regular toothbrush, and then did a flouride treatment. SHe was in the chair all by herself crying and asking me to hold her and cuddle her. I hope for her that it wasn't too bad of an experience for her. I couldn't go to the Dentistry for Children because her insurance is not accpeted there or I woul dhave taken her there because I know them and what they do. So needless to say, I hope Zoey is not scared of the dentist. We will see how it goes again in 6 months. But she did good. I was proud of her for not being to upset, but still a little annoyed at the people, but what can you really do.

Christmas pictures (yes, I know its late)

2009-01-06T11:04:00.000-08:00

So I am really late about getting Christmas pictures up but I didn't take a whole lot because I had to help Zoey open her presents because after opening the first one she was done and refuse to open the rest. So, needless to say, she wasn't very happy that she had to open ALL of her presents. She would have been content with just the first present which was a Fishers Price train/circus set and then also the candy.

Anyway, the other presents that she did get was another Fishers Price set of Noah's ark with lots of animals, many cute outfits and PJ's, new shoes, necklaces and bracelets, a big tent that looks like an igloo, a swing/chair that hangs from the ceiling from Mom and Dad, bought at IKEA (my favorite store that I wish I could spend thousands of dollars easily at), play dough set, 3 pretty dresses, Winne the Pooh Color Wonder markers and book, Snow White Princess Barbie doll, a yellow crocheted hat with changeable flowers (pictures below), hair ties, a new toothbrush, and I think that's about it plus pending presents from Grandma and Grandpa Skene. She got a lot. Here are the few pictures and a video of Zoey and her Christmas. Most are blurry because she was constantly moving.

Opening her Christmas PJ's on Christmas Eve.

Her Cousin Morigaen in his new robe with her new PJ's on.

Christmas morning: coloring in her new color wonder book.

Opening her Noah's Ark

Playing with Noah's Ark

In one of three pretty dresses (I can't figure out how to turn it, sorry) Carolyn has more picture sof her in this dress. She has worn one other one to Church the week before, but I forgot to get pictures. I will sometime and post them.

Her igloo tent with her train

She decided to "sleep" in her tent while I was trying to take pictures. She is also wearing one of her new outfits. Super cute.

Her hat with changeable flowers (there is a yellow and brown flower along with this pink one) from Shannon and Fam.

This is a video of her after she got into our stocking, which had her color wonder book and her necklaces. We hadn't opened presents yet. We were still waiting for everyone to wake up. The video was taken in HD so it looks squished.

A video of funny Zoey

2008-12-21T13:22:00.000-08:00

I finally figured out how to get the videos on my computer. Definitely different and little more steps then I thought was needed, but I got it. I have had the camera for 4 days and now have 7 videos, 2 of which Bryce recorded. I was only to upload 1 of the 3 I was going to share. Hopefully I can get it to work later and share the other. This video is of Zoey watching herself in the camera. the screen is able to flip over so she just played with herself really. It's pretty funny.

Stuck in Washington

2008-12-21T08:56:00.000-08:00

So, the huge snow storm that has come to Washington/Oregon has dumped a total of 8 to 10 inches in areas, and some area more. Plus freezing rain. So far this storm has been the worst this area has seen in a while. The last snow storm they had was about 5 years ago and everything was shut down. Last night, we had some friends over, and one of our friend's spouses and baby was stuck in Chicago, trying to figure out a way to get home from New Hampshire because Portland airport had been shut down. Both Alaska airlines and Southwest (the major company that flies through Portland) canceled all flights last night. Last we heard is that anybody that wants to fly in or out might have to wait until Christmas day, all because of the storm. We have plows here but not dirt or salt trucks to help with the slick roads so it is slick everywhere.

We are suppose to have maybe just Sacrament for church today because of a Christmas program but because of slick roads, they might cancel again for the 2nd week in a row. Last week was canceled because of slick roads. This week is worse than last week. We got about a quarter of an inch of freezing rain. So on top of the slick snow, we have slicker ice due to the freezing rain. It's just insane up here. I can't believe how bad this storm is.

In addition to the slick roads, from here to Boise ID, the roads are terrible. They have closed a portion of I-84, due to lack of visibility so we cannot get out of Oregon and into Idaho. Last night is when they closed it and it continues to stay close now. There were a few people stuck on the highway that had been there for a few hours. We have been planning on going to my parents house for Christmas but that has changed. We are going to stay here in Washington. Our main concern about driving was going through the passes and into the mountains but the news has said if you do plan on it, go in a truck(which we don't have), have chains on( haven't got those yet), and pack an emergency kit for about a day(that's just scary and I don't want to be stuck in the car for a day or more!!). Just after the passes, in Ontario(just before the Idaho border) has posted winter storm warnings. They are expecting to get 12 inches of snow followed by freezing rain. So I think the storm is moving into Idaho and Utah. Good luck if you live in the path of the storm. It might not be has bad as what we had up here, but it hot us hard. Plus it doesn't help that the Vancouver/Portland area and outside do not have the right equipment to handle this kind of weather.

So, unfortunately, we don't get to spend Christmas in Idaho with my family. The weather is just to bad for driving. I was really excited for Zoey to go to Grandpa's house because she was so excited but I am not excited about driving there. I would rather not risk everything this year in the weather. It's just to scary out there. We are excited to have a few of Bryce's high school friends and their families here. They got lucky and missed the storm on their way up. So to all of those we were hoping to see, it is going to be a while until we make it up there. We are thinking it might not be until Luke's mission farewell, around March. The weather should be better then.

I do hope everyone is being safe. We sure are going to be inside longer then we probably want. I have a few videos I would love to share but have yet to figure out how to get them on my computer. Once I do, I will share.

Have a very safe and Merry Christmas!!

It's snowing in Washington!!

2008-12-18T12:46:00.000-08:00

We have had winter storms a lot this week, and have had enough snow to cover the ground. The picture above was snow from yesterday. Most of that snow melted. Today it started out raining and then next thing we notice is more snow falling. It was a little bit more than yesterday plus it was heavy wet snow. I didn't get a picture of the snow on my car but I had to scrap almost an inch of snow off my car this morning. The roads out in town are wet and in alot of areas the snow has turned to slush but as the day goes on a lot of it is going to melt. Hope fully this is the last of the snowfall, I am hoping for 2 weeks. That will give us plenty of time to drive to Idaho and back fo Christmas. So far I am not looking forward to the drive. The news channel has said that the higher the elevation, the more snow and we get to drive through the mountains to go to Idaho. I really am hoping that it won't be to terrible of a drive.

Zoey has been so excited about the snow. We went out to play in it this afternoon and she didn't want to come back in. I got about a 10min video, with my new camera, also a early christmas present, but I have not figured out how to get the videos on my computer. I can get the pictures but not the videos. Hopefully I will figure it out soon. Zoey LOVES to watch herself doing a video. It's a small camcorder and you can flip the screen around so people can see themselves and my child LOVES it. I have a video of her just doing silly things becasue she can see herself doing them. It's funny.

Hope everyone is enjoying the Christmas season. We are with our little surprise of snow. Zoey will have plenty more to play with at Grandpa's house. Merry Christmas to all.

I just so excited!

2008-12-02T10:03:00.000-08:00

Zoey is just so excited to go to Grandpa's house for Christmas. She tells me everyday. Today we made a paper link countdown for the day we leave to go to Grandpa's house and for Christmas. She was having so much fun and I found out how much more smarter she is getting. She helped with the pattern and did VERY good. She got the hang of it real quick and did it right. I am amazed at how much she has learned this year. She is a very smart girl.

Also she has been trying to negotiate/manipulate mom and dad lately. This morning Bryce said that he gave her some orange juice and he got a drink of Sprite. So Zoey, all by herself said "Zoey drink her juice all gone and then get some soda, okay, okay". Bryce just had to laugh and then he asked if she wanted a little bit of sprite in her juice and all she said was, "that's a BIG soda daddy, that's a BIG soda". She is so funny and I love her so much. Last night, when I was trying to get her to finish eating her dinner, she turned to me and said, "Hey, listen. I'm sorry". She kept saying it to me. What a goof.

The first "real" encounter

2008-11-25T19:40:00.000-08:00

Bryce's parents have a really old grouchy cat named Yogi. She is a very interesting cat who absolutely loves Bryce's dad, Ken. She usually comes out and is somewhat social when he is gone for days. It's pretty funny. When he comes home she is right by Ken's side and follows him every where he goes. Anyway, we try not to let Gunner out and run around the house by himself because of potty issues and also to avoid any encounters with Yogi because we have found out she hates him. They have met each other and know the presence of each other but usually when they do see each other, there is a baby gate in the way to protect somebody. But today I let him out to run around with me while I got ready for work, hoping that Yogi was sleeping in another room and not out and at first Gunner ran all the way down the hall and stopped to turn to go down the other hall. I was trying to get him to come back to me but he was gone. When he turned, he saw Yogi, what I didn't want to happen. I couldn't see for sure what happened but all I heard was hissing and a lot nails scratching the carpet. So I run down the hall and Gunner is flat on his back, curled up in a ball, scared out of his mind, and Yogi is standing right next to him with all of her hair standing up. I'm pretty sure Yogi won that fight, if it really was a fight. What ever it was, Gunner was scared and it was funny that Yogi scared him. What a wimp.

Twilight

2008-11-22T12:15:00.000-08:00

So Bryce and I went out and saw Twilight yesterday and it was a good movie. We didn't go to the really nice theater out here called Cinetopia, which if you do ever come to Vancouver you have to see a good movie on the living room theater. It is awesome. We saw IronMan in that particular room and it was amazing and I would have to say that it made it one of my top movies becasue of the cool surround sound. It's a really fun theater. It is expensive but it is almost worth it for the living room theater. You can order food and drinks, separate from buying tickets, that come from the restaurant Vinetopia found only in Cinetopia. If curious, visit www.cinetopia.com.

Anyway, back to Twilight. Bryce and I really enjoyed it, except for all the stupid screaming girls when Edward came into the picture. He is good looking but for Pete's sake, you know his is in the movie and that he is suppose to be drop dead gorgeous and I'm pretty sure you have seen pictures and videos of the actor before seeing the movie but do you really have to scream and get over excited about actually seeing him in the movie? It was a little annoying and hard to watch when everyone in the theater was like that. Bryce thought it was hard to enjoyed because of the stupid people, mainly girls, screaming. Other then that, it was a good movie. We got to the theater later then we should have because we had to sit in the very front row, closest to the screen. I had a hard time following things because it was so close. We waited for the credits to be over but I was feeling really nauseous and ended up throwing up outside, before going home. Not fun but it didn't really ruin anything. Anyway, Bryce and I had a really good night. We haven't been out on a date for a while because of lack of extra cash and also the last month of me being sick all day long, so it was needed. Now I just need to finish reading the last 2 books.

Our first Doctor's appt with baby #2

2008-11-21T17:57:00.000-08:00

Our first doctor appointment went really good today. Bryce was able to come, which was nice because Zoey was coming no matter what so somebody was there to entertain her. She was actually a really good girl and a big jabber box in the waiting room. She was a goof. Anyway, we were able to hear the heartbeat which was really good. It's always weird to hear that first heartbeat. It really sets in that a living thing is growing inside of you. The doctor asked her if she wanted to hear her baby, so with a concerned look on her face she lifts up her shirt, because she thinks she has a baby inside her belly as well as mommy's. It was cute. I got chewable prenatal vitamins because I cannot swallow those big pills. Some of you, along with my husband, probably think I am a wimp, but I have a hard time swallowing pills so I was glad that I could get chewables.

Our next doctor's appointment is December 18th, just before we leave to go to Idaho. I can't believe that I am already over with the first trimester. I am still a little nauseous, but it is gradually getting better. I have been getting some headaches and plus I have some days where I am just exhausted as soon as I wake up. Anyway, I will update with any new information that I get. Hope all is going well and for those that are pregnant and waiting for your little ones to show up, you are almost there and I wish you all good luck.

The color quiz

2008-11-18T10:12:00.000-08:00

I saw a couple blogs and was curious to see what color I was....so here you go.

You Are a Green Crayon

Your world is colored in harmonious, peaceful, natural colors.

While some may associate green with money, you are one of the least materialistic people around.

Comfort is important to you. You like to feel as relaxed as possible - and you try to make others feel at ease.

You're very happy with who you are, and it certainly shows!

Your color wheel opposite is red. Every time you feel grounded, a red person does their best to shake you.

What Color Crayon Are You?

Finally...an announcement

2008-11-13T09:36:00.000-08:00

I have been waiting to post this, and it's been longer than expected but I had to wait for my husband to tell his family but we are expecting our second baby, due June 3! We are excited. Zoey is not sure what is going on. Anytime I mention the baby in mommy's tummy, she says she has one too.

So far, this pregnancy is completely different then with Zoey. With Zoey, I was sick at night and if I stayed up past 9pm, I was bound to throw up. With this one, I am nauseous all day long. The last few days seem to be getting better, but for the most part, I gag all day long, which upsets my stomach more than it already is. I have found that toast with butter or bread, butter and jam and for a while until they were gone, multigrain cheerios, were all pretty good. I have not had my doctors appointment yet, just because it took a month to get insurance through the state to be approve and once it did, I set up an appt. for the 21st of this month. I will definitely post our first picture when I get it. So, I am, according to the doctor's office when I talked to them, I am about 11 weeks, and due June 3. It might change once I actually see my doctor, but that's the estimate. Anyway, we are all excited.

A surprise "visit"...so to speak

2008-11-12T20:52:00.000-08:00

I say "visit" because ..well just read along. What is in parenthesis are Zoey's EXACT words she told me.

Today just before lunch, Zoey said that someone was at the door. I had heard nothing but she was convinced someone was there. She stood by the door saying "hello" a few times when she came back and said that "Mr. Krabs" (from Spongebob if you don't know) was here!! She was so excited!! She proceed to tell me that he "come to see me". She went off and played with her baby, got a little distracted and then I asked her if Mr. Krabs was still here. She said "no, he had to finish krabby patties". I am not sure what she really meant by that, but he had to finish them before he came back. She also told me that she ate a krabby patty and I asked her how it was. She said it was "yucky" and some other things that were hard to understood. I told her to tell me when Mr. Krabs came back and that's when I started to write all of this down so that I wouldn't forget and let others know about this surprising visit through the imaginations of my daughter.

While I was writing this all down, she said that he came back and that he was underneath the table. She also told me that "she was showing baby Mr. Krabs" and he "was so excited for me", and then Yogi the old grumpy cat came in and then "Mr. Krabs give Yogi a hug".

There were lots of other stuff that she said, but I couldn't understand her for some of it. It was hilarious. She made all of the stuff up. I had asked her some questions just to she what else was going on in that mind of hers. She is such a goof and more of a bigger fan of Spongebob than I thought she was.

Zoey's Piggy Bank

2008-11-11T11:33:00.000-08:00

Since Zoey has had her piggy bank, she has found lots and lots of pennys and other coins to put in it. Grandpa Harmon keeps giving her handfuls of coins to put in her piggy bank. So today I counted to see how much she has collected over the months. She has $5.30! What a good girl. I don't know if we should go to the dollar store and let her buy something or save it for Christmas. Anyway, she loves her piggy bank and will continue to collect more.

Singing Zoey

2008-11-08T09:09:00.000-08:00

Zoey sings many songs but lately her favorite has been I Am a Child of God. For a while she kept asking me to sing for her, probably so that she could get the words right. It is super cute watching her sing all the songs that she does. Her list keeps getting bigger. I caught her a few days ago singing I am a Child of God while playing the piano. I got a video of it but you can barely hear her singing over the one note song.

Halloween time

2008-11-08T08:09:00.000-08:00

First of all, sorry for not putting this on sooner. I haven't been feeling well lately. Zoey had lots of fun trick or treating for Halloween. She was a unicorn and wasn't quite sure what to think of wearing it. It was a little tight around her head but Grandma fixed it and she enjoyed it. In fact she likes it and keeps wanting to wear her "halloween" (that's what she calls it).
This was her first actual year that she went out. I had tried to explain to her what we were going to do and she didn't quite get it until we went and did it. She has a 11 year old friend how lives across the street that had a special treat for her. It was a cookie with orange frosting and sprinkles. She thought it was a cupcake at first and then when we got home she said it was a cake. She really liked the sprinkles.
We just went around our little neighborhood and cul de sac. Then came home and ate a few of our goodies. Grandma wanted to visit a firends house who had there garage decorated for little ones Zoey's age. It was cute and of course Zoey was a littel shy when we went but then she loved looked at everything. They had lights down the side of the driveway and a big blown up decoration that had a ghost, witch and something else spinning inside of it. Zoey kept saying it was scary but then she was spinning along with it. Over all, she had a lot of fun trick or treating. Here is one last picture I got of her eating her "nummies". Her favorite thing to eat is suckers.

Carving the pumpkin

2008-10-26T18:31:00.000-07:00

I would have put this on along with the pumpkin patch post but our internet works every so often. Anyway, Zoey had lots of fun carving the pumpkin. Bryce cut the lid for us and helped us get a lot of the seeds and gooey stuff out then he cooked dutch oven cherry cobbler. We have had the makings for a few days and thought it would be a perfect night to cook it.

I explained to Zoey that we were going to cook the seeds and eat them later. Well, she didn't get all of that so she ate a few of them straight from the pumpkin. Gross!!! She had fun stirring the seeds as mom and dad got all the stuff out.

Once we got the stuff out we picked out a stencil to use for the pumpkin. Zoey liked me putting them on the pumpkin while decided, that that was all she wanted to do until I finally picked one and started to poke out the lines. She loved this. She loved to help me poke holes in the pumpkin. She got mad at me a few times because she wanted to do it all by herself. She watched me as I cut out the eyes then once I got the first eye out, she thought it was time to eat it. I think she was getting a little hungry. She took a bite out of each eye, nose, and mouth piece I cut out. Gross!! She thought it was yummy. Here is 2 pictures of the nose piece I cut out that she took 2 bites out of.
After telling her lots of times to not eat the pumpkin anymore, we finished our 34 pound pumpkin and here is the final product. Zoey had lots of fun with the pumpkin. It was fun to see what she would do with all of it. The Cherry Cobbler turned out great. We had a very fun day.

Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-26T13:46:00.000-07:00

We went to a pumpkin patch on Saturday and we had lots of fun. Zoey wasn't so sure about things at first, especially the big blown up witch. She was a little scared of it.

We invited Bryce's mom, Carolyn to come with, which she was planing on picking up some of their very delicious apple cider. It's like eating a apple. So good. Anyway, Zoey wasn't so sure on what to do there. Once we started to pick out a pumpkin, she kind of got the idea of picking the pumpkins up so she tried with a big one, which didn't work out so well. But we found some small ones that she started to pick them up and put them in the wagon we had.
They had a lot of other things there other than a pumpkin patch. They had a small place under a tent where there was a hay maze. Zoey was a little unsure at first but then had lots of fun going under and through the tunnel.

They also had a fun little fort maze as well. It was $1 for each person to go into the fort maze, but we all went in except for grandma. She had fun guiding the way around the maze. There was a little place the was like an actual fort. It has stairs to climb and a few spots to look out. Of course she loved just going up and down the steps.

There was also a big tepee that was made from corn stalks. Again, Zoey wasn't so sure until I went in with her. There was a family that came in and all she did was stare at them. Here is a picture of her in the big tepee before all the people came in. It was a huge tepee.

She had fun once she got use to what was going on. She saw a lot of people walking around eating apples so she was demanding one or saying that she "needs" an apple. Carolyn bought about 1 1/2 pounds of apples, which are so much better then ones you get from the store. Zoey got to hold the pumpkin carving kit, which she enjoyed. We came home with a 34 pound pumpkin and one small pumpkin for Zoey to paint, plus a gallon of the best apple cider, 1 1/2 pounds of fresh yummy apples.

An eventful but fun weekend to Utah

2008-10-14T08:43:00.000-07:00

I was able to visit Starla and her family in Ogden this past weekend. It was a lot of fun. The 12-13 hour car ride to a fro were not so fun but the time spent was a blast. I was very excited I got to see Sofie before Christmas. She is so cute and so tiny. Zoey wasn't so happy that I held Sofie the first day we got there. She was very jealous. She kept wanting me to hold her and not Sofie. After the first day, she was use to Sofie and it didn't bother her anymore when I held Sofie It was pretty funny.

Emma and Zoey had lots of fun playing. They both learned new things from each other. Zoey loved to play with all of Emma's toys in her room. They also had lots of fun pretending to wake up Grandpa. Zoey likes to growl like a lion. Bryce has her do it all the time. So she did for Grandpa and then it turned into screaming and Emma and her were screaming to wake up Grandpa. My mom got a very funny video of the girls doing that. It was funny and super cute. Zoey was such a goof and wormed up the everyone pretty fast. I was very proud of her when we were there for going potty and having only one accident the whole time we were there. Very good girl.

We had such a fun time in Utah and thank Starla and her family for letting us stay at her house. We almost had to stay longer then intended due to weather. It snowed Saturday night and all day Sunday enough that I-84 was closed for a while. Starla had about 5-6 inches of snow at her house. At Church, we had to wait for Ryan to finish a meeting. Emma was playing with a friend and Zoey was staring outside at the snow. She was mezmerized by the snow. She kept calling it snowman. She even told me she wanted to touch the snowman. But when we were outsid ein it, she was "freezin". It was funny how was staring at the snow like she had never seen it in her life. She obviously doesn't remember snow and was confused. It was too cute. Emma was wondering why it was winter time and got upset that "we skipped Halloween". What a cutie.

Carolyn came to pick me up, trying to leave a little eariler to get ahead of the storm but just before she got to Starla's house, we found out the highway was closed. So we waited, had some lunch then checked it again and the highway was open. We left around 3:00 and were confused as to why they close the highway wehn we approached the section that was closed. There was snow on the ground but the roads were completely dry. There was only a small part that had snow close to the road but we hadno problem driving home. Even the pass through Oregon was clear with no snow. We got home at 2:00am and went straight to bed. I had training yesterday for my work that was boring but am glad I could make becasue we needed the extra money. A

Before we got down there. my brother told me he had some exciting news. Both Starla and I were not sure what the news was going to be. We both thought that he might have gotten engaged over Conference Weekend, but he surprised us all by telling us that he started his mission papers on tuesday last week!!! I am so excited for him and was very surprised that he is going, not that I didn't want him to, but am very glad that he chose to go. I am sure that he will find it to be a wonderful experience. Congradulations Luke and am excited to hear where you get to go. Looks like we wil have to make another trip to Idaho around March to see him off. Any guesses on where he will go? I have no idea.

Anyway, our trip was very fun and wish it could have been longer but can't wait till Christmas to see everyone again. We love you all!!! I wasn't able to get pictures because I had no batteries for my camera but my mom got a ton and Starla got some of Emma and Zoey giving hugs before we left. If I get some, I will definitely post them for all to see.

6am surprise

2008-10-08T08:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday at 6:00 am I woke up to a little hand on my face and foot pushing on side . Zoey was in bed with me. I thought that maybe she had a bad dream and Bryce brought her in with us but then it was at 6 in the morning and Bryce usually comes home at that time so I was a little confused on how she got in bed with me. I remember Bryce coming in around 6 and seeing her and I both taking up the bed so he went to the family room to sleep. When I got home yesterday from work, I asked Bryce if he had brought Zoey in our room and he said no. So, somehow, during the night, Zoey came in our room and fell asleep on the bed with me and I didn't even know it. What a surprise!

Going nigh-night

2008-09-30T12:34:00.000-07:00

One morning, I was finishing my laundry and had everything out of the basket and getting ready to put things away when Zoey decided to play in the basket. She had lots of fun and was claiming she was going nigh-night. She would climb in and out of the basket with a pillow from the couch and her blanket. I had to put the blanket over her to completely cover her which she thought was hilarious. Here are some pictures.

After she was done playing in the basket she got her "Pooh Bear" out, with these little My Little Pony "chairs" and a play envelope which she called the "table" and had them set out so the Pooh bear could eat. She was so proud of what she did when she told me I had to get pictures. This is Pooh Bear eating his dinner at the table. I did not help in anyway. She did this all on her own. She still does this quite often. So silly and cute.

My poor puppy

2008-09-28T13:21:00.000-07:00

So, Friday night when I got home from work, Bryce told me that Gunner had something in his eye. He had a big red, swollen mass of something in the corner of his left eye. It didn't look very good at all so on Saturday morning I took him into the vet. After waiting for over an hour, (there were lots of other people there with their dogs and cats, who Gunner went crazy trying to get their attention and get them to love him, both the owners and the other dogs; he loves anyone he meets plus it a whole other story), we got in to see his doctor. She said that dogs have a 3rd eyelid, which I kind of remember hearing about but wasn't ever sure if it was true. The 3rd eyelid has one of the 2 glands that produces the tears. This particular gland produces a significant portion of the tears. Anyway, his had slipped out of place and was swollen. They call it the Cherry Eye. It happens often in smaller breeds like Boston Terriers (which Gunner is), Cocker Spaniels, bulldogs and beagles, because the 3rd eyelid gland is not strongly held in place.

To fix it they have to do surgery. They stitch it permanently back in place. We were planning on getting him fixed and micro chipped soon. They said the earliest we could have him fixed was 6 months old and he will be in a few weeks so we are just going to everything all at once. She got me estimates which it wasn't as bad as Bryce and I thought it would be. With everything we are going to do it will be about $280. It's not that bad plus it has to be done. Until the surgery, she gave us drops to put in his eye 4 times a day to help with the swelling and probably the uncomfortable feeling it would be to have a bulge in your eye. He didn't eat at all Saturday morning which the doctor said it probably because he was thrown off with his eye but after putting the 1 st drop in, it went away. He kind of has a darker spot in the corner of his eye, where the bulge was now but he is better until the surgery of course.

I feel so bad for him. He is such a good boy, granted he is really hyper but he is only5 almost 6 months old. We have lots of fun with him and Zoey loves to run with him. He is getting big though. He is now 17 pounds! We have read they get to be between 15 and 25 pounds so I think he will be closer to 25 pounds we he is full grown. Anyway, I will keep you guys posted on his surgery. We don't have it scheduled yet but we have to do it in about a week. My poor puppy!

"I sinks its...."

2008-09-19T17:34:00.000-07:00

Zoey's new words lately are "I sinks its...." followed by her answer to, most of the time, a question. Everything she tells me has usually started off with a "I sinks its...". For example, tonight when I got home she was telling me that Daddy and her went to the store.

Zoey: Look, mommy, I got a sucker.
Mom: Oh you got a sucker! What color get you get?
Zoey: I sinks its was....lellow
Mom: It was yellow
Zoey: yeah and I lick it and then I bite it
Mom: Oh my goodness, what did it taste like?
Zoey: I sinks its....lellow
Mom: Did it taste like banana?
Zoey: No
Mom: Did it taste like lemon?
Zoey: No, I sinks it taste like lellow.

Pictures this if you can....

2008-09-19T17:26:00.000-07:00

So last night as I was getting Zoey ready for bed, I was in the process of taking her shirt off. She decided that she wasn't ready for the shirt to come off, plus she was in a goofy mood, so she grabbed the bottom of it as I was pulling it off. She didn't let go so her hands were in front her face, still holding on to her shirt, and then her shirt was covering it all. She has done this many times before. She is a goof some days. While we were standing there, with me trying to get her shirt off and her still holding on to it, she proceeded to run in place. She did this for about 2 minutes before I couldn't hold on to her and her shirt anymore because both Bryce and I were laughing to hard. It was a moment that I wish I had my camera close by.

Mommy's shoes

2008-09-16T11:07:00.000-07:00

Zoey likes to wear my shoes, especially ones that have heels. Here she is in my new church shoes. She still wears them when she can. It's too cute. I have tried to put a video of her walking around in my shoes but I couldn't get it to work.

The Foltz family

2008-09-09T13:10:00.000-07:00

There is a family in my ward that just had a baby girl and before she was born they found out that she has a heart problem. Basically, only 2 of 4 valves in her heart are working. I got an email from our relief society president with a web address that the family has set up to inform all friends and family about the progress of the first surgery which happened yesterday when she just born on the 4th of this month. There now 2nd to youngest girl is in Nursery with Zoey and I, so I have talked with her mom alot. Anyway, I get pretty interested in things like this other than it being people that I know plus I have been thinking about them alot lately and they have been in our prayers here at home. If you are interested as well, here is the web site http://www.foltzfamily.com/

I am so grateful that Zoey was born heathly and also that the technology is amazing in our time now and that it is only going to get better. They were able to diagnose the problem a long time ago before she was born. I am so grateful for those doctors and the succesful surgery that this little girl has already had.

I've been tagged

2008-09-08T11:05:00.000-07:00

4 Things I love about my husband: They way he tries to get me to laugh everyday is cute and it works. His motivation to try to improve our lives as a family. Being a wonderful dad to Zoey. Supporting my in things that I do everyday.

4 movies that I would watch more than once: Finding Nemo, Shrek, 13 Going on 30, Transformers

4 TV shows that I watch: Spongebob Squarepants, House, The Office, and The Secret Life of the American Teenager

4 Places I have been: Idaho, Concord NH, Cancun, the Oregon beach

4 Places I would like to go: Hawaii, Australia, Maine, Boston

4 People who email me regulary: Carolyn, My mom, Courtney,

4 things I would like to eat: my leftover birthday cake, yougurt raisins, strawberry milk, mozzerella cheese sticks

4 things I look forward to in the next year: Being out of debt, Bryce in school or into his career, having another baby (no I'm not pregnant right now but wish to be) and in our own place whether a small house or apartment

4 people I tag: Starla, Jessica, Karalee, Chelsea

Update on my Externship

2008-09-04T20:20:00.000-07:00

So I thought I would update everyone on my externship. It is going really well. In fact, I was able to assistant on my own, with the help of another assistant as well as the doctor, on a treatment or filling of an 18 year old boy. He actually looked older than me, but I am used to that. I did pretty good. Dr. James, one of 3 doctors, said that other externs he has had were shaking with the saliva ejector, but I didn't which was good. The rest of it, I really didn't know what to hand him next, so Christy helped me, She is the head dental assistant. It wen t pretty good. I just need lots more practice. I have done a few cleanings on a few kids that were really good kids. I am going to hopefully finish by the 21st of this month which would be fabulos. So far I have been told that Dr. Shebani, the head dentist, likes me as well as her husband Geis who runs around the clinic as the toy man entertaining all the kids with his magic tricks. I hope that it turns into a job and I can stay there and earn lots of money. This week although has been really slow because school just started on Tuesday and nobody wants to bring in their kids in the first week on school. So Saturday's are very busy. But the weekdays are slow enough that they are closed tomorrow and monday because of 4 or 5 appointments each the enitre day. Anyway, I am planing on going in all next week and a few days the week after to finish it all up. Wish me luck.

Dinner's ready

2008-09-02T19:03:00.000-07:00

As the timer went off for dinner tonight, Zoey followed me to the kitchen saying "Oh, dinner's ready. Have to wait for daddy and say a prayer." She went for the table at first and started to climb it then came and stood by me, continuing to say "have to wait for daddy and say a prayer and close eyes" while folding her arms and closing her eyes. Too cute!!

His name is...

2008-09-02T19:00:00.000-07:00

Today as I was checking my email, Zoey was showing me her crayons and I was asking her what colors they all were. Her response was "his name is....." and then guess the color. She has few of them down but I thought it was funny that they had names and they were all boys.

Zoey's Piggy Bank

2008-08-31T09:46:00.001-07:00

Zoey has been collecting pennies so we decided to get her a piggy bank. We found this cute one at Target (my favorite store) for only $2.50 and she loves it. Here pictures of her putting the pennies in her new piggy bank. (This is actually her 3rd time doing it)

"Don't eat the baby" and tantrums

2008-08-28T11:26:00.000-07:00

One night at dinner, we had pasta with chicken and Zoey thought that a pasta looked like a baby. She was holding it in her hand very carefully and telling me that is was a baby. So, like any parent would do, I tried to get her to eat her food instead of playing with so I said "don't eat the baby" and she thought that was funny. She contined to say, "don't eat the baby" and now we do it every night. At least I can get her to eat her food. Since she thought the pasta looked like a baby, she thought popcorn from Les Schawb were different animals. "Look mama, a puppy" or "Look mama, a kitty", and so forth. I think there was a giraffe, frog and more. Her imagination is starting.

Since she has been back this week, she has been throwing major temper tantrums. I can hardly get her to do anything without it turning into something huge and dramatic. On Tuesday, she cried in one spot for 45 mintues because I told her to give me the phone that she wasn't supposed to be playing with but she wouldn't do it. She kept crying "no like it give phone to mommy" over and over again or when I reminded her to bring me the phone. Very dramatic little girl. Her tantrums consist of kicking her legs and throwing her arms around as well as her entire body. She just rolls around while kicking. So, while she does it, she gets hurt because she hits things and then they become owies and she "needs" a bandaid. Everything the last 2 days have been "needs" instead of "wants". During snack, "I need more Juice mommy". She bumps something on some part of her body, mainly legs and fingers, and toes, so "I need a bandaid mommy". She has worn me out so much this week.

My Zoster

2008-08-28T11:19:00.000-07:00

Here are some cute pictures I got of Zoey being Zoey.

Zoey's back!!!

2008-08-24T18:22:00.000-07:00

Zoey is back from her week long vacation to the Harmon Family Reunion. Yeah!!! I am so excited for her being back. I missed her so much. She was exhausted when she came home becasue she only splet for 45 min ther entire 13 hour trip. She had lots of fun from what I hear except that she whispered the whole time she was there and they wanted to put a bell on her because she was so quiet. She went around the house so quiet that nobody could tell where she went. She went swimming probably everyday or anytime that she could. Carolyn has pictures but she is in Vegas for another week visited her kids Kenny and Nicki with thier families. So as soon as I get those pictures I wiil post them for all to see.

News from quiet land

2008-08-20T13:29:00.000-07:00

So I don't have any pictures to show you but I probably will once Zoey gets back from Utah. She is having fun, so far that I hear from Carolyn. She loves to go to the swimming pool which is not a surprise. That's her favorite thing to do. My week is going by kind of slow with her not being here. I have been able to scrapbook which hasn't happened in a long time because Zoey would take stuff away. I have been able to do about 6-8 pages. Most of them are 8x8 but those are my easiest ones to do. It has been very quiet during the days without Zoey. I keep thinking to myself that I need to go find out what she is doing or if she is staying in bed and going to sleep. So it's been very lonely while Bryce is sleeping as well. I don't have anybody and then I also don't work this week. So I am all by myself and not knowing what to do.

I have however been still trying to find an externship and today I FINALLY was able to set one up. It is with a pediatric dentistry close by my home and I am starting tomorrow. They currently have another extern there and the lady that I spoke to didn't want to have us overlap on time spent so that "we would get the attention we need", those were her words. I really appreciate that. So I am working Thursday and Friday from 8:30am to 12:00pm and then Saturday 8:30 to 3:00. I am excited to start. I will continue to look for something on Mon., Tues., and Wed., so that it will go by faster. One thing the lady mentioned as well was that that is how they get thier best employees. So hopefully a job will come out of it. I am very excited. Two out of three places that I wennt to, other then this one, said that they will give me call back so it sounds like I could have more soon, which I would LOVE that. Anyway, wish me luck!!

Zoey's Friends

2008-08-06T18:11:00.001-07:00

Zoey has some new friends that she play with, Sarah and Victoria. They both are 9 and Sarah lives across the street from us and has come over before to read books to Ken and Carolyn's cat and dog when they were gone and Victoria is Sarah's friend. Anyway, they have come over lots, usually they see me pull up after I get off work and then come over to play with her until dinner. And she loves it. All this morning she was crying because she wanted to "play with Sarah and Vicki". So when they showed up tonight she was such a goof and so excited to play with them that she was showing off as well. She makes them do things for her like put all of her toys away. She loves it when they run with her or even when seh does something funny and they laugh at her she thinks its funny and laughs right on with them. She loves to play with her new friends, Sarah and Vicki.

Starla's new baby!!

2008-08-04T11:31:00.000-07:00

Starla had her baby Sunday night and I have seen her pictures and she is so cute. They named her Sofie and that's all I will say becaseu you will find more on her blog. I am very excited for Starla and her growing family and wish I was there but hope to see them in a couple of weeks. Love you Starla!!!

Zoey's Quotes

2008-07-30T20:55:00.000-07:00

Zoey has many funny things that she says and I thought I would share a few of my favorite ones that she says almost everyday.

(growling) "I make noises mommy" (continues to growl)

When I try to help her, "No Mommy stop it" or "No Zoey do it"

"ABCDEFG (long G), HIJKLMNOP (long P) QRSTUVWXYZ(long Z), Now I know my ABC(long C) Next time you sing with me (long me)" This varies. She will add mommy, or daddy or anybody that she sees a pictures of to the parts where she continutes the letter.

Mom: Do you want to say bye bye to Starla?
Zoey: No like it say bye bye to Starla!
A simple no would have worked but.......

After eating a chocolate chip cookie, I looked at her I said "Oh my goodness you have a messy face", So a few minutes later I heard, "Oh my goodness have messy face" Really cute.

"I so silly Mommy"

"Oh my goodness" and "Oh my gosh" over and over again

"I sad mommy"

Zoey: "I peed"
Mommy: "You peed?!"
Zoey: "Yeah. (as she is running down the hall to the bathroom) Go potty, make pee come out, get m's-n-m's"

Sometime's when I ask her if she got me something that I asked for earlier, I will get "oh... yeah"

There are tons more that she says, these are just a few of what I get everyday. She repeats a lot of stuff that I say and it's always funny to hear it coming from her.

Zoey singing...or least trying to get her to

2008-07-25T21:25:00.000-07:00

You can see what a goof she is. She is like this majority of the day.

A few of Gunner's sweet, calm moments

2008-07-25T21:11:00.000-07:00

As I walked by Gunner's crate tonight, I saw him like this and had to get a couple of pictures of him.

Yes, his lip is on the crate door, showing me his teeth. Grrr.

If you notice that he has a blanket on him. It's white so its a little hard to see in the picture, but he manage to get underneath it and lay like that. Look at those big ears!! He is so cute but so crazy. I can't wait till he is out of his puppy stage.

Zoey's Books

2008-07-25T20:59:00.000-07:00

Zoey loves books. I mean she loves them. Most her playing time is reading books. We have read everyone enough that she has almost every single one memorized to the point that sometimes when I try to read books with her she does it with me. My favorite one to read with her is "Moo, Baa, La la la" by Sandra Bouyton. If you have read the book, it has pigs singing "la la la" so she thought that thats what pigs said. If you asked her what pigs say she would have told you "la la la". She now knows, after a long time of trying to convince her, that pigs say "oink". Anyway, the picture below is of almost ALL of her books on her bed. She does this every time she wakes up in the morning or for nap. There is a load of books laying on her bed. She gets not just one or two, she gets almost ALL of the books that belong to her. It's pretty funny and shows her love of books. And I say almost all becasue there really is only maybe 5 or 6 books missing in that collection. You can't see the 7 books hiding under the blanket that I found after I started to get them off and put them away. She is so funny. So if you ever want to get her something, get her a book. She will love it.

The many faces of Zoey

2008-07-22T09:32:00.000-07:00

I can get the best pictures of her when she is eating. She is a goof at the dinner table.

Poor Bryce and Funny Zoey

2008-07-21T12:28:00.000-07:00

Today we went to the doctors for Bryce. Since Saturday he has be complaining of his right ear hurting and feeling like it plugged. The doctor said that he has a middle and ear canal infection like swimmer's ear in his right ear. I used to get swimmer's ear all the time and had to put in this purple dye medicine. It wasn't fun. While we were waiting in the room, Bryce was telling me that his ear hurt more than yesterday and explaining what it was feeling like, then Zoey turns to me and says "My ear hurt too" along with a sad face. It was really cute and funny at the same time. I think she was trying to be sympathetic for Daddy. Bryce then proceeded to say that his knee hurt and Zoey was convinced that her knee hurt too because she was "running and fall" on it. It was really funny. She is such a copy cat. Bryce got 3 prescriptions for his ear. Vicodin for the pain, amoxicillian for the middle ear infection and drops for the ear canal infection. He will be pretty drowsy from the vicodin. Gotta take care of my poor sick hubby!!!

Zoey's songs

2008-07-19T20:33:00.000-07:00

Zoey loves to sing her ABC's all day long. And its not very quite. This morning had a different take on it. "ABCDEFG Mom, HIJKLMNOP Mom, QRSTUVWXYZ Zoey". She knows them so wel I am very proud of her. I try to get her to sing them for the camera but she ends up wanting to instead of doing it. Another on of her favorite songs she sings alot is "Wishing Well" from Snow White. If your'e not sure which one that is, it is at the very begining of the movie and the words that she sings in when Snow White actually sings into the wishing well and it echoes back to her. If I can find it, or have Zoey sing it for me I will definetly post it. SHe hasn't been cooperative when it comes to videos or pictures lately. Some how I will get something to share with all of you.

Update

2008-07-09T12:52:00.000-07:00

So I didn't get the externship at Dental Designs like I thought I would. But that's okay because there are still plenty of options everywhere. I just hope I can start going ASAP. I would love to start this week but we will just have to wait and see.

Poor Zoey had to get a shot on Monday and was running a fever along with headache and her leg hurt where the shot was. She was very dramatic and clingy wanting me to hold her all the time yesterday. She took a good nap and was better for dad in the afternoon, but when I got home, she got all dramatic again. She does this quite often where she is difficult in the morning with me and then fine for dad in the afternoon until I get home. Goof.

We had a very fun 4th of July weekend. We went to Albany OR to visit Bryce and Courtney or Corty as Zoey called her. Zoey had lots of fun. Their bosses, I guess you could call them, finished their pool so we were able to go swimming. Zoey was freezing but refused to get out. She loves to go swimming. Eventually she got out and walked around the pool with Gunner. Gunner had lots of fun playing with Banjo. They ran around the house playing forever until Banjo got tired and was running away from Gunner who was still going 100%. He has tons of energy which is expected from a 3 1/2 month old puppy. He almost got eaten by german shepard. Their bosses have 2 german shephards and chocolate lab. When my Bryce went to take him out for potty, the german shepards pushed on the gate where there kennel was and was able to push it open. Bryce yanked Gunner up to him, (surprisingly, he didn't get hurt) and then turned his back waiting for the dogs to jump on him. Instead they ran after Bandit, Bryce and Courtney's other pug, and were picking on him. Bryce yelled at the dogs which scared them. One went running into the forest and the other went back into the kennel. Bryce was surprised he scared them. Bandit was okay as well as Gunner. Funny but a little scary.

Hope all is well for all you guys. Hope you had a fun weekend. Hope to hear from you!!!

Potty Training

2008-07-03T11:00:00.001-07:00

I am happy to say that Zoey is close to 100% potty trained. I am very surprised how fast she has caught on to going potty. She is such a big girl. I am very proud of her. Way to go Zoey!!!

Graduation!!

2008-06-30T13:34:00.000-07:00

I have graduated from dental assistant school. YEAH!!! Graduation was at 2:00 on saturday. All I have to do now is 52 hours of externship at a dentist's office. I have did 8 hours done at the dentist office the school is ran out of and it was fun. I didn't do anything except clean a room but I was at least able to see the basic how to's in a dentist office. Just watching everything was a learning experience. I went out today to see if I could get my externship going and already have a possibility of starting. The place is called Dental Designs with Dr. Heppler. I have heard from someone in my ward that the Dr. is in our ward. I thought the name sounded familiar. I didn't met him yet so I am not sure who he is. But hopefully I can start this week or next. I am excited. I am almost done!!! I have pictures of graduation being sent to me through email so when I get them I will post them for you all to see. We are suppose to have it outside but it was like 100 degrees outside that day. I could not cool off at all. It's 10 times worse with the humidity. Not fun. 80 degrees here is like 100 degrees in Idaho.

Zoey Pics

2008-06-25T12:10:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of Zoey being Zoey

Zoey's got this rocking horse from Grandma Harmon. It took a while to come but she was so excited to play with it when we finally put t together.
Zoey loves to walk around in my shoes and thought it would be fun to try on my boots. I zipped them up to see what she would do.

Boots some more!!