The Root Family

eight

2012-01-26T17:45:00.003-07:00

It is Christmas again! Just kidding. This is last months photo. If you are not on Facebook, then you haven't seen it yet because it was deleted [by me... on accident]. This big boy is now eight months. And not much has changed in the past month. He still does not have any teeth. And does not crawl on hands and knees (but he is wicked fast on his belly). Just a blob. Finally figuring out that puffs and yogurt bites are okay to eat. Doesn't necessarily like them, though. Loves his brothers. Thinks they are hilarious. Super cuddly. Especially at nap time. Cannot live without his binky. As you will see in the picture below.

ode to a two year

2012-01-25T07:59:00.004-07:00

As I sit here and try to enjoy my breakfast (a gluten free bagel smothered in the perfect amount of cream cheese with a large glass of strawberry milk), I am serenaded by the sounds of my two year old. Screaming. It is a daily occurrence in this house. One that has continued relentlessly for the last few weeks (minus a two day break that was like a miraculous slice of heaven). I know it is just a phase (at least that is what I tell myself to muster up enough courage to make it through each day). But I do not know how long this phase will last. Or the amount of damage being done to my sanity. Regardless, I trudge on. And I stand firm in my dealings. Because this whole charade stems from his desire to manipulate. A battle of wills. And I must be the one to win. Not because I am as stubborn as he is (well, maybe a tiny fraction of me needs the vindication of coming out victorious). But because I am the mother. And he should not control me. So if I have to throw away his food or hide certain toys for a few days or give him a little "spank", I will. I will not play the "I am done/I want to eat/I am done/I want to eat" game. Nor the "Throw it away/I want to play with it/Throw it away/I want to play with it" game. Nor the "Spank me/No spank me/Spank me/No spank me" game. Because he will whine and scream and carry on. For HOURS. And with three kids, I just don't have the time. Nor the patience. Of course, my actions do not stop the hysteria. But I'd like to think that - just maybe - he will get the picture. And that he will whine a little less. And scream a little less. And that one day, I will be able to enjoy my breakfast without his lovely background noise. And not have to share my food. Okay, that last one is unrealistic....

opportunity

2012-01-19T17:28:00.004-07:00

You know how every once in a while, the opportunity of a lifetime plants itself in your lap? That is what our new home was (even with all my whining about it not being perfect. cosmetic, Leigh. cosmetic). And that is what my trip to Japan was. Opportunity of a lifetime. Something that comes along and if you blink before seizing it, it is gone. Another opportunity of a lifetime has found me. And it couldn't be more perfect.
The new opportunity that has presented itself to me? A job. No. Not just A job. THE job. Yes, I have photography. And yes, my monetary needs are generally filled through my photo shoots. But it is not a regular source of income. Some seasons are better than others. THE job that has found me is currier work. What is a currier? It is a person that drives from point A to point B (to points C, D, E, F, and G as well), delivering and collecting X, Y, and Z items from various contracted clients. Lots of driving (in-car jam sessions) and little human interaction (pleasant hellos immediately followed by quick goodbyes). No nasty or rude people to deal with. No 9-5 at a desk in front of a computer. Just driving and delivering. And it is a job I have done before. In fact this job helped to fund both my camera and my trip to Japan. In very short amounts of time. Four days per item, to be exact (for half the money needed for either item - photography supplied the second half over a longer period of time).

So the new opportunity that has presented itself to me? Working every Friday. From 8:45 - 11am and 1:45 - 4pm. And receiving a SWEET paycheck for my work. Averaging more than $35 an hour. Seriously the opportunity of a lifetime.
Unfortunately, this opportunity has presented itself at an inopportune moment. Circumstances are just not right for taking on such a job. For four reasons. Joel. Lucas. Daniel. And baby girl. I do not have the ideal child care situation presenting itself along side the job opportunity. Day care is out of the question. My paycheck would essentially cover day care costs, thus defeating the purpose of taking the job. Also, just not a fan. I was in day care as a child. I have worked in jobs similar to day care (girl scout camp - glorified day care). I know how kids are treated. So no. Family is out of the question. Everyone works. A ward friend. That would be a possibility. But I would prefer someone with no small children at home (I would not want to over burden anyone). And I would prefer someone to come to my house (as both runs would be during the baby's nap time... not to mention the afternoon run is when ALL THREE boys sleep - I will not mess up a good thing I have going for me). And I would only be able to work for four months at most before baby girl joins our family. At which point I have NO CLUE where life might take me (and this includes with photography).
So I feel as if it is just not right. Which breaks my heart. But I am learning my limits and I know that this is one of them. Besides, I made the choice years ago to be a stay at home mom. THIS is my choice. It is one I would not give up easily. I want to be the one to watch my children grow. To be the one to influence their learning and knowledge. So opportunity? Pass. :(

productive

2012-01-18T22:39:00.002-07:00

I feel SO productive. I have gone through my entire blog list and am [mostly] caught up in what YOU all are doing. Because, you know. Spending two solid hours silently blog stalking is the best use of my time. When I have logos to design. And photos to edit. And projects to finish. And rooms to paint. Yup. Best use of my time.

home vs house

2012-01-17T14:51:00.004-07:00

Okay. I know I already posted today, but I am going to post again. This is a vent post. Well, not vent. This is a post of me expressing my feelings. Especially since I may have confused many a friend on Facebook.

Today has not been a good day. It hasn't been bad or horrible. Just not good. I am highly emotional, for whatever reason (yeah, that would be pregnancy). And I am noticing little things (that would be OCD). As I was using an extra paint sample to write a little note of "knock, don't ring" for the front door, I noticed something. I noticed that the paint sample was the EXACT color that I had intended the house being. Instead of the color that was actually used to paint the exterior. Having the entire exterior of your home painted is not a cheap project. Even if you do it yourself. Which we didn't. We paid a guy to do it. He did it in two days, which is pretty fast since he was doing it alone AND only working at certain hours due to having a full time job. But I quickly noticed things. As I always do. Since I am OCD. And a perfectionist. Did you know that if you paint GREEN (like crayon green) a shade of white, you will have bleed through? Even if you do two coats? I knew that. But apparently the painter didn't. Prime it or Killz it, dude. Ugh. Also, the most effective way to paint a smooth surface, such as a door, would be to remove it and lay it flat to spray it. That way you do not have OBNOXIOUS drip marks all across your front door. Not that the front door is important. It is only the door that everyone sees upon visiting. Nbd, though. And to have the nerve to say it already had drip marks. Really?! You are going with that excuse? Sand them next time. Back to the color. This, unfortunately, was not the painter's fault. You can have a million samples that may or may nor be perfect. But until something fully covers the walls of your home, you have no clue what it will look like in every lighting condition from every angle. So now the beautifully warm grey home that I had imagined... yeah, not as grey as I imagined. More of a lavender tint. Which you would not believe if I showed you the Olympic Silver Spoon paint sample. The most perfect shade of grey. When in your home and on your table. NOT on the exterior. And that instant that I placed the Eddie Bauer Gelato paint sample next to the door to stop any bell ringers, my eyes welled up with tears. Because I can't just have the house painted tomorrow to have the problems corrected. Painting the exterior of a home is an investment. Just like having the windows or exterior doors replaced is an investment. Or replacing all the flooring. Or redoing the master bathroom. Or remodeling the kitchen. Or having all new baseboards and crown molding put it. Or landscaping the front and back yards. They are all investments. And we do not have the money for them. Which made my heart break even further. Knowing that this house will not feel like my home until it looks more like what I envision.

We bought this house because we could COMPETELY make it our own. We are not restricted by HOA or any other limiting factor. I could paint it neon yellow if I wanted. Which I don't. But we can do whatever we want with it and I love knowing that I can make it exactly what I want. The floor plan is great. It flows and every inch of space is used perfectly. But cosmetically speaking, this house is not "me". Not yet, anyway. We ARE making changes. Room by room. One at a time. I am just a very impatient person. Especially when I can see exactly how I want things to be. I DO NOT HATE THE HOUSE, like I said on Facebook. I just hate that I have to be patient and take things one step at a time. Anyone who knows me knows I have always had a difficult time doing that. Which is why I burn out so easily. I want everything done perfectly RIGHT NOW. So learning patience is a little painful.

Even a few hours later, I realize that my meltdown was utterly stupid. I will definitely use the pregnancy hormones as a cop-out here. There are MANY things I love about the house. I have a teal front door. And it is awesome (and it will be even more awesome when the house is eventually made the color I had intended... which may be a while). We do not have an HOA. No additional monthly fee. No restrictions as to what we chose for our home. We have a HUGE front yard and a HUGE back yard. Not talking acres or anything. But at least I can tell you a fraction of an acre without sounding ridiculous for even using the term acre. We have four bedrooms. Which means one will permanently be used as the toy room/study. So less toys all over my living room. We have separate living and family rooms. I can entertain guests in a quiet area instead of having Pixar movies blaring in the background. WE HAVE THE BEST NEIGHBORS. I would not trade this neighborhood for the perfect house in the world. My neighbors have been exactly what I have needed time and time again. A neighbor to hang out with when bored. A neighbor to bring me gluten-free pretzels "just because" since she can't bake me bread. A [random crazy] neighbor that hugged me in the middle of the night just because I got rid of the ugly green trim. Block parties. A place to go when I lock myself out with the kids. Backyards that are more like parks than an actual park where ALL the neighbor kids play and want your kids to play, too. There will always be little cosmetic things that bug me, even when we have made a bajillion changes to the home. But despite that, I will always have the wonderful things that brought us here. I just need to remember the wonderful when I get caught up on the negatives.

Sorry. Long and wordy post. If you made it through, awesome. If not, then you probably aren't reading this so whatever. I feel better now. Like maybe the house color being a little off is NOT the end of the world. And what really makes a house a home is who you share it with. So if I am were my crazy, wonderful children and amazing hubby are, I guess I am home.

when a tree falls

2012-01-17T09:49:00.005-07:00

Sorry. I have been absent. Especially picture-wise.

Ps. Realized the issue with the pictures. And it makes me feel like an absolute nerd. Sometimes blogger is screwy on me. I will type and publish a new post only to have it appear on the wrong blog. So I delete the post from the wrong blog and post it to the correct one. In the process, blogger asks if I want it to delete all the photos from said post. Which I consent to since I don't want my pictures on the wrong blog, duh. Well... deleting the pictures is clearly not just deleting them from the wrong blog. It deletes them from picasa, the site I use to host my photos. Oops. This explains why a bunch of my Japan pictures didn't work. Blogger defaulted my post to my gluten-free blog. And I deleted that post. Bye bye awesome photos of Japan. At least it is an easy fix for me.

Moving on.

Life has been crazy as of late. So glad the holidays are over. It is not that I don't love all that comes with the holidays. It is just exhausting. And a move and an international trip in the midst of it all just added to the chaos. Since the holidays, we have had some improvements made on the new home (if I ever remember, I will take a couple pictures). We had all new interior doors put in. Ten doors. Three closets. Doors. Hardware. Jams. Everything. The old ones were, well.... hideous. And two doors did not close because of crooked gaps. The two most important doors: guest bath and master bedroom. Those rooms need privacy, thanks. Other doors had issues as well. The closets were bifold. Installed improperly. And falling off. Literally. One fell and hit me as I tried to open it. So every interior door was replaced. The new ones are gorgeous. We even went as far as to have all the doors and frames professionally painted. LOVE it.

Another new improvement to the house: tree removal. We had two eucalyptus trees out front. One dead. One untamable. Huge and ugly. Even the neighbors commented on the hideousness that was our trees. The trees are now GONE. And watching them being felled was awesome. The boys ran from room to room, watching the men work. Since one of the trees was so huge, it had to be cut down the middle. So we watched as essentially three trees came crashing to the ground. And completely hid the street beneath their branches and leaves. Magnificent crash. It was such an event that several neighbors came out to watch as well. Kylie, your dad is awesome. It turns out that we have a HUGE front yard. Only bad thing about the yard being so gargantuan is that we have to consider the future costs of landscaping... It will be worth it though.

The new house is finally starting to feel more like home. Not there yet, but with each new improvement I like the home more than before. Nursery has been painted. Toy room is next. Paint really does wonders...

half way to the end

2012-01-09T08:27:00.003-07:00

So. Crazy thing about today. I am half way done with my pregnancy. Which might be weird to a lot of you since you just found out a few weeks ago that I am even pregnant. It has been kind of nice keeping this pregnancy to myself and not talking about it. Which is why this may be one of the very very few posts in which you will find me commenting on it. My (planned) last pregnancy. Yup. Robert and I are pretty sure that this will be our last baby. Four just feels like the perfect number for us. That feeling might change with a little bit of time. Or Heavenly Father may have other plans for us. But for now, we are calling this our last. And because this is the last baby that we plan on having, I told Robert that I would not complain about this pregnancy. Which I haven't. It just seems pointless for me to complain about something that I chose. Something that is so miraculous. Something that too many women struggle with (talking about conceiving here, not hard pregnancies). Kind of wish I had had this attitude throughout my last three pregnancies. Not complaining (or focusing on negatives) has made this such a wonderful experience. And I am almost sad at the fact that it is already half over. Don't get me wrong, pregnancy is not always peachy and I have definitely had my share of nausea and (some) vomiting. But I haven't complained. Because I wanted this. Badly. You see, my first two are almost exactly one year apart. They shared the SAME EXACT due date. October 5th (2008 & 2009). My first came a little late, my second came a little early. So they are eight says shy of being a year apart. And I LOVE it. Yes, it is hard. But there would be difficulties no matter what the spacing between them. I had hoped baby number three would come eighteen months after number two. He came twenty months after (and totally messed with mom's OCD pattern). But the moment I found out number three was on the way, I knew that I wanted number four exactly one year later. Seriously. Even minutes after my last baby was born, I was telling my husband that I was ready for another. Most women don't want to THINK of another baby for months, even years. But in the time between number three and this pregnancy, I never stopped wanting number four. And I was ecstatic the day that I found out that this little one was on the way. Because my last two will be almost exactly one year apart. They share the SAME EXACT due date. Again. May 28th (2011 & 2012). Strange enough, I am hoping that this one comes a little late. My 5th anniversary is five days after my due date. And I think it would be sweet to celebrate the birth of my last baby on my anniversary. That and each of my children will be born in a different month (again with the OCD). And the best part of this beautiful experience? I AM HAVING A BABY GIRL!!! Which is something I want to shout from rooftops on a daily basis since I have wanted a girl since my very first pregnancy. Three boys later, she is on the way. I couldn't be happier. :)

Ugh

2012-01-03T09:21:00.002-07:00

So. I have been receiving many complaints that you are unable to view the photos I post. And now I have been having problems viewing them as well. I haven't the slightest what could be wrong. I uploaded photos for the previous post from my pc using the same program as I normally do. No iPad assistance. And you are no longer able to view them. Ugh. I will try to figure it out soon. Not a top priority as I have children to care for, photos to edit, walls to paint, logos to design, baby bedding to sew, etc. But it will happen. Sorry.

2011-12-29T18:14:00.001-07:00

Starting to feel locked in. 'Tis that time of year for me. I feel as if things are restricting me and this girl needs freedom. Well, as much freedom as is available to me as a parent. I need to refocus my energies. So I may make some changes. We'll see; I've said that before. Anyway, two projects as of late. Daniel's month by month sidewalk chalk. And my every-other-week pregnancy thang. Both of which I am contemplating dropping. I am a perfectionist. So the slightest difference in lighting or color bugs me endlessly. But yes. Photos.

pictures [for real]

2011-12-22T22:23:00.005-07:00

So sorry that there were issues with the Japan pictures. Apparently it is nigh on impossible to upload pictures using the iPad. Who knew. Or maybe it is just me. Either way, I uploaded the photos to a web album which you can see HERE. The pictures are best viewed full screen in a slideshow (at a 4 or 5 second interval, not to be bossy), since I didn't scale them to web quality size; I am lazy. Enjoy!

2011-12-18T16:09:00.005-07:00

Yesterday Jodi and I went to Hiroshima, an hour long trip by train. The train ride itself was quite the experience since NOTHING was in English. The language barrier was not our problem. Our problem was the Japanese man that took an interest in us. Before I go on, let me just express that Japanese people are very polite and courteous. But the men especially keep to themselves. so this experience that Jodi and I went through is NOT the norm. Two train stops before Hiroshima station, this man gets aboard and stands in front of us. When he noticed that we were American, he wanted to shake our hands. No big deal. Then he wanted high-fives. Okay. Then he wanted peace signs. Sure. Then he wanted pictures with Jodi's phone. Fine. Then he wanted kisses on the cheek. Nope. We just go along with it (minus kisses) since he is being amusing. But he doesn't quit. For the next two stops, he wants us to do all the little American hand gestures and pleasantries he can think of. Over and over and over. At first, we laugh about it. But soon, we are a little freaked. When our stop comes, we hold back a minute before getting off so there is some distance between us and this man. We get off the train and try to figure out where to go next. Before we figure out which direction will get us out of the station, the man spots us and waves. We kind of wave, but decide to start walking even though we don't know where we need to go. He starts walking the opposite direction, but turns around and follows us. We hurry to the nearest cluster of people walking through the station tunnels. Once we are at the ticket counter, he is somehow in front of us. Waving. We wave and hurry past him, trying to figure out what our next move is in a city we are not familiar with, in a country where they speak a completely foreign language. He stops in front of a station store, but peers after us waving. We rush down the nearest flight of stairs and hide behind a corner for a few minutes. We are in a wide open parking garage-type structure where there is no where to hide. There are few people passing by, so not many people to turn to for help. Luckily, the man does not pursue us further. We realized that we needed to go through the same shop that the man had stopped at, so we cautiously make our way back up. The coast is clear. We rush through the store, out the station, and into the first available taxi. It was one of the most terrifying moments in my life. The one thing to note is that he appeared to have special needs. Regardless, it was still one of those moments where you think "I am not going to make it through this". But clearly I did. We continued on to Hiroshima's Peace Park. What an intense experience. One that will stop you in your tracks no matter who you are or where you are from. I cried. I cried for all of the babies that perished. For the innocent people that died. For the lives that were destroyed. It is heartbreaking that such atrocities happen.

WARNING: There is graphic content below.

Thousands of paper cranes adorn a commemorative statue at the park.

Me in front of the A-bomb Dome. One of the only buildings that survived the bomb.

A commemorative statue that honors the fallen victims.

Photos of the mushroom cloud that the atomic bomb produced.

A watch that was stopped the moment th bomb went off.

A tricycle belonging to a 3 year old boy. The father buried the boy with his trike and helmet so he wasn't alone.

Photos of the burned victims and articles of clothing that were peeled off from the skin.

Artifacts that were warped because of the intensity of the bomb. We could touch these; they are safe, of course.

The memorial that honors all the victims that perished in the attack.

Photos and names of the thousands of people who died. We were given little paper cranes in their honor.

Hiroshima. Reminded me of a Japanese version of Chicago. Though I have never been to Chicago.

Trains are one of the primary means of transportation in Japan. So glad I got to ride one!

On the train. We lucked out and our ride was not as crazy as the videos on YouTube. Jodi says her last trip on the train was exactly like what you see online.

A cemetery in Iwakuni. The graves are elevated and stacked. So many deceased in such a small area of land.

toilet

2011-12-18T01:24:00.003-07:00

Let's talk toilets. Awkward subject, right? Regardless whether the topic makes you uncomfortable or not, using the restroom is something we all need to do. And doing so in Japan has been quite the experience. When I arrived in Tokyo for my lay over, I decided to use the toilet [as they are called here] between flights. Now that you know that I am over 16 weeks pregnant, it would make sense that the restroom is a place I frequent. In Tokyo, I walked into a stall and was perplexed. In general, the toilets look the same. But on the side there was an attachment with half a dozen buttons. Music, warming, fake flush noise, bidet, and so forth. I was overwhelmed with my options, especially when it came time to flush. I could not, for the life of me, figure it out. Then I closed the lid and realized that flushing was exactly the same as in the States. You just push down on a lever. The next restroom I used automatically started a fake flushing noise to hide the sounds of tinkling and such. That restroom also required you to sanitize the toilet after use. While visiting the Shinto shrines near Iwakuni castle, Jodi pulled me into a bathroom to see the toilets that are more common in Japan. Glorified holes in the ground where you must squat and twist and you are lucky if there is toilet paper for you to use. At Miyajima, there are western style toilets with heated toilet seats. No paper towel for drying your hands, though. Every toilet has been a new experience. Some better than others. But when you gotta go, you gotta go.

Iwakuni & Miyujima

2011-12-17T09:56:00.006-07:00

Today has been a very busy day. And since I already described most of it, I will just share pictures. Matt's ghetto van. Dead serious. You have to bang the dashboard to get the lights to work. And yank the back door to get it open.A building at the Shinto shrines.One of the several shrines.Prayer slips tied to the trees.The shrine Jodi and I went through.Part of the cemetery for the lords of iwakuni.Tombs of three of the early lords of Iwakuni.Iwakuni castle. Which, of course, closed the day I came in and opens a few days after I leave.Me at the Kintai bridge.The bridge was built this way to prevent samurai armies from quickly advancing on the castle.Impromptu market at the river bottom near the bridge. I bought chicken from the stand on the very right and it was soooooo delicious.Me and one of the wild deer that roams Miyujima. Ignore the part where the deer is frisking Matt.Me at the Otorii gate. The gate is 1400 years old and has been balancing unanchored in the same spot since it was built.The five story pagoda on Miyujima. Crazy tall.The marketplace at Miyujima. Tons of wonderful little shops full of various trinkets.

2011-12-17T02:37:00.004-07:00

Alright. This is just a little test run for uploading photos. So far I have crossed the Kintai Bridge, gone into a Shinto shrine, walked through a royal cemetery, visited the Otorii gate, and have seen a 5 story pagoda. Needless to say, it has been a busy day. And it is not yet over. Below are some pictures from yesterday's doings (market, downtown, bakery, and base).

I will post pictures from today later tonight. Since I figured out how to upload my nice pictures to the blog. Which I am grateful for. iPad pictures are NOT awesome.

blogging in Japan

2011-12-16T07:12:00.002-07:00

So. I wanted to post some pictures from today. Of the time I spent off base in the morning (Jodi's hubby - whom I've been friends with for over 8 years and whom I introduced Jodi to 6 years ago - is a captain in the Marines). But I cannot, for the life of me, figure out how to upload pictures from the iPad onto the blog. And I am too exhausted right now to figure it out. But I had a wonderful birthday that started out with me finding out that I am having a girl. And my day included snow flurries, shopping, F18s & Santa, historical bridges, and Japanese back roads. Since tomorrow is Saturday, we having many adventures that will include a camera glued to my face. And I promise to share photos as soon as I figure it out. Because this place is just SO incredible.

here

2011-12-15T14:52:00.001-07:00

I am here. Little jet lag. Major culture shock. It is incredibly amazing here. Gorgeous and different and real. Wonderful birthday present. Want to know where I am? Watch the video. It is much shorter than the last. But just as awesome. Ps, ignore the part where the envelope is eating my face. And the fact that I look like a nerd.

going

2011-12-13T23:55:00.001-07:00

Right now I am on a plane. Going some place very far. And because I am on a plane, this post was scheduled. Since I am currently on a plane. And cannot blog. And probably reading from my [iPad] Kindle. Or playing angry birds. But I thought I would do something special today since today was a special day. Nothing to do with being on a plane. Today was special for two reasons. First, Robert's grandfather turned 105 today. Yes. One hundred and five years old. And still kicking. It is crazy awesome. Second, Robert proposed to me five years ago today. About this late in the evening, too. It is crazy to think of all of the many things that have happened in five years. And since I clearly have NO time on my hands, I thought I would make a little video to share about our last five years (though looking back, I totally should have added photos. But it is awesome without them, too). &amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;My next post will be when I tell you where I am. Watch for it on Thursday... :)

my thoughts on moving

2011-12-11T16:33:00.005-07:00

As if there were not enough chaos in my life right now (including my grandpa being in the hospital for non-intentional, self induced arterial bleed... don't ask), we just moved. And I am exhausted. Here are a few of my thoughts on moving:

*Don't hire a professional painter for the details. The house itself looks GREAT. The front door... ugh. I will be redoing sometime in January. Ugly dried drip marks. That the painter says we're prexisting. And that I say were NOT there originally. But whatever.

*Don't worry about a Christmas tree before other areas of the house. My Christmas tree looks amazing. My kitchen looks horrible. I wish I had invested my time on the latter...

*Don't do a test run for the kids' bathtub on the kids at 8pm at night. When they are suppose to be in bed. Though we had an inspector, we missed the part where no hot water comes from the tub faucet and the water drains in a matter of minutes (even with drain closed). My poor boys had to bathe in freezing cold water.

*Don't wait until you have moved your possessions from one home to the next to decide what stays and what goes. Point being, pack ahead. Which we did not do. And are now regretting as we go through every item in every box. Organized packing is ideal.

*Don't delay getting your bed set up. Even if it is just your mattress and box springs on the floor. That way you are not forced to sleep on the couch. Or the floor...

*Don't purchase a home that is large enough for your children to get lost in. Our home is not too big. But I am not accustomed to various rooms for my children to wander through. I am sure it will feel too small soon enough.

*Don't choose December as your moving month. It is too cold to be going in and of your home with the doors left wide open. Especially if you are a wimp when it comes to the cold. Which is why you may see me with 10 layers on in the morning, moving boxes in and out of my home.

*Don't expect Kelly green to NOT show in some areas when you paint it white. Even after two coats. Just as with the front door, a touch up is in order.

Even amongst all the negatives, I have learned one thing. Accept help when you are in need of it. I do not know how to let people help me. It makes me feel guilty for whatever reason. But I know my limits. There have been two people who have gone above and beyond in this process. My new next door neighbor, Anna Marie. She has been over every day since Tuesday, offering her various services. Watching the boys. Providing cleaning supplies. Helping me scrub the kitchen until 1 am. She is the most wonderful neighbor ever and I feel so blessed to live right next door. Also, my future sister in law, Staci. She has helped me get through the difficulties that come with moving. Providing an ear. Entertaining my children. Helping me scrub the kitchen as well. I am so glad we are in. And I will be so glad when my home is put together. Right now my main priority is the washer/dryer, which we need to hook up so I have clothes for next week...

winner winner

2011-12-08T17:00:00.001-07:00

I went to RANDOM.ORG and entered all 60 entries (in the order that I received them) to assign random numbers. Oh. Side note. I unintentionally lied when I said there were 61 entries (I accidentally counted a comment that had been deleted). So there are REALLY 60. On the dot. And this is the list thanks to RANDOM.ORG:

There were 60 items in your list. Here they are in random order:
1. Kylie
2. Carter
3. Amy S.
4. Rachel
5. Gina
6. Bridget
7. Sarina
8. Kim
9. Kylie
10. Gina
11. Amy H.
12. Ashley
13. Amy H.
14. Nikki
15. Gina
16. Stosh
17. Laura P.
18. Darci
19. Brittany
20. Marie
21. Liesel
22. Beth
23. Danielle
24. Kim
25. Beth
26. Sarina
27. Bridget
28. Darci
29. Danielle
30. Laura S.
31. Brittany
32. Mike
33. Darci
34. Nikki
35. Beth
36. Sarina
37. Amy S.
38. Rachel
39. Lisa
40. Autumn
41. Karisa
42. Danielle
43. Kim
44. Carter
45. Lisa
46. Carter
47. Jessica
48. Laura S.
49. Autumn
50. Brittany
51. Lisa
52. Laura S.
53. Bridget
54. Karisa
55. Amy H.
56. Erica
57. Jessica
58. Amy S.
59. Jessica
60. Marcy

And then, using RANDOM.ORG, I received a random number. 50. Which means Brittany is the lucky winner. Congrats! I will be in contact with you soon regarding your reward. I even copied the image of the Generator just so you could verify the lucky number yourselves. AND I had the hubs watching the process over my shoulder to make sure I didn't cheat. Not that I would. But for further verification.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your entries. It was fun having so many friends participate. Makes me wish I weren't too poor to do giveaways regularly... Once again, congratulations to Brittany!

2011-12-05T22:10:00.003-07:00

Okay. I was going to digest for a few days, but I should probably just share my news before your imagination gets the best of you. If I had read my cryptic messages, my brain would have jumped to the most dramatic scenarios out there. So here it is:
I am adopted. I am sure most of you knew that. It was not your standard adoption, though. No adoption agency. No planned arrangement. No no. I was born in my birth father's home. No drugs. No medical assistance. Nothing. In fact, my birth parents (who planned on splitting immediately after my birth) went to the nearest public library days before my birth and checked out a midwife guide book. My birth father assisted in my birth. And then proceeded to bring me to the little hospital down the street [in a Smitty's paper bag] where my MOM was working as a nurse. My birth father took off as the nurses at the front desk looked in the bag. And there I was. My birth father eventually showed up with my birth mother, who was having a difficult time recovering from the birth. She looked at my MOM and asked if she knew of anyone that wanted to adopt a baby. It just so happened that my MOM and DAD [who also worked at the same little hospital] were wanting to adopt as they could not have kids of their own. Which is how I know this entire story and all its little details. My birth is one of the most incredible cases of Divine Intervention that I know.
Anyway. Fast forward like 16 years. I beg my parents to let me search for my birth mother. I just want to know who I look like. They agree. I make an account on Adoption.com and leave one post with the names of both of my birth parents. I get a hit two months later. Generally it takes two years [at the very least - and that is with hired professionals]. It is my birth mother's brother. He had no clue about me. He only found my single post on Adoption.com because he was looking for my birth mother who had taken off 5 years prior. Since she, too, is adopted, he wondered if she had interest in finding her birth family. Instead he found me. He reveals information in his message that only my PARENTS and birth parents would know. We know he is not faking. It is a legitimate hit. He sends pictures of my birth mother from ages 2 - 18. There is no doubt whatsoever at this point. I look almost exactly like her. I meet my uncle and grow close with him. He is able to locate my birth mother through a private investigator. My uncle establishes a relationship with her before revealing that he knows about me. She is shocked her secret is out, but wants to meet me. I met my birth mother for the first time the week before Thanksgiving while a senior in high school. One of the strangest experiences of my life. She and I do not have a relationship. Neither of us are really interested. And both of us are okay with it.
Fast forward 6 years. I am pregnant with Joel. I get a text message from my birth mother's brother that she is in the hospital. He treats it like it is no big deal. I tell my MOM, who gets worked up over the situation. Turns out my birth mother is at the hospital my MOM works at. My MOM goes to visit. And befriends my birth mother, so to speak. [BIG side note. My birth mother does not do relationships with people. She does not rely on others or feel the need to make attachments. So when I say that my MOM befriends her, I really mean that it is an exchange between two people with no emotional attachment on my birth mother's end]. I visit once in the hospital with Robert. It is slightly awkward, especially since my birth mother is in isolation and we are required to wear FULL hospital garb to visit. My uncle and I talk a lot during this time. And my MOM visits my birth mother in the hospital regularly [since she is already there at work]. A couple weeks pass and my birth mother is released. She goes and stays at her brother's house. I figure that is the last time I will see her for a while, but am wrong. They show up at my graduation ceremony at ASU several weeks later. THAT is the last time I have seen her.
So what does ANY of this have to do with ANYTHING? Well. Today, as I texted my birth mother's brother for his current address to send a Christmas card, he tells me he has some news for me. My brain jumps to, "Aww. He and his fiance have eloped". Then my brain goes to, "Oh... maybe he and his fiance are expecting". Finally, the briefest thought flits through my mind, "Oh no. Something happened to my birth mother...". What I was not prepared to hear was that I have a brother. It caught me so completely by surprise that I am still having difficulty grasping the concept. I have been an only child my entire life. My PARENTS never adopted another child. My birth mother never had any kids before me or after me. I was a mistake, and she made that clear when we first met (not to make me feel bad or anything, just that the pregnancy was very unplanned and unwanted, for which I am not offended). And because of her personality, I knew that a baby would never be part of her plans. Ever. So hearing that I have a sibling was the last thing that I could have even fathomed happening. His name is Kyle. He lives with his adoptive family in Texas. And on Thursday, December 8th, he turns two. TWO. Which means he is a couple months younger than my second oldest, Lucas. Which also means my birth mother and I were pregnant at the same time. I have always wanted a sibling, as far back as I can remember. Now it turns out that I have one. It is just so much to take in. I hope to meet him one day. If only to see what he looks like.
So there you have it. My information bomb. The reason I cannot concentrate or think clearly right now. My 26 years of not having a sibling have changed in an instant. And I am happy about it.

bomb

2011-12-05T21:06:00.002-07:00

I am having a difficult time processing right now. A MAJOR information bomb landed in my lap this afternoon. Something completely unexpected. Something unimaginably life changing. I have never been so blind-sided in my life. And I have to tell you, it is a surreal feeling. Don't worry. Nothing bad. Nothing that will even have a major impact on my life immediately other than mentally. But just the knowledge alone is enough to alter a huge chunk of what makes me me. I am not quite ready to share yet. Give me a couple days to gather my thoughts and I will try to explain. Just know that if I appear completely out of it, I am...

2011-12-03T17:13:00.005-07:00

61 comments.
27 different friends.
1 winner.
5 days and you will know if it is YOU.

I have to say, I enjoyed seeing the places you had to guess. And to be honest with you, ONE of them was spot on. But obviously I cannot tell you which one. Twelve days and you will find out. What? Yes, twelve. Even though I leave in ten days, I will not arrive until the next day. And I might as well wait until my birthday the day after that to post, right? I do not feel ready for the trip. Still a number of things to get done. Like printing a billion maps and confirmation papers. And organizing everything. And cramming all of my clothes into a carry-on. I do NOT have time for a check-in because of Customs. I SHOULD sit down and make a list. But with photography and moving and Christmas and life, yeah... might not happen. Five days and I will let you know who won [to be determined by an online generator - not pulling any names out of a hat].

surprise

2011-12-02T21:14:00.005-07:00

I have been so caught up in the many things going on right now that I completely forgot to mention our exciting news. No. Not THAT kind of exciting news. WE ARE MOVING! Don't panic; we aren't going far. Less than a quarter of a mile, in fact. We bought a home within our ward boundaries (yay) and will be moving next weekend. NEXT WEEKEND. It happened very quickly, though you may be surprised to know we have been looking for a new home since June. After months of nothing, this home popped up out of nowhere. My favorite things about the new home: 4 bedrooms, separate living and family rooms, big front and back yards, cul-de-sac lot, NO HOA. And the cherry on top: I already know [and love] nearly all my soon-to-be neighbors. Divine Intervention is a true thing, my friends. I was ready to give up the search. And we couldn't have landed in a better situation. The only flip-side: we close on the home 6 days before I leave on my trip. Which means we move 3 days before... Not to mention Christmas is 6 days after I return from my trip. December is a psychotic month for me (in the best of ways, or course).

Experiment

2011-11-30T10:06:00.002-07:00

Okay friends. This is just a little experiment. I am currently posting from our (well, TECHNICALLY Robert's) new iPad. Got to say, the app for blogger is lame, seeing how it is actually an app for the iPhone. So my iPad is basically pretending to be an iPhone. I have no clue how I am going to post while on my trip... If you know of any iPad apps that would help with this, let me know. I would greatly appreciate not having to type on a keyboard the size of a matchbox...

Oh, and I seriously had to copy and paste this post into our family blog since the app defaulted the post into my gluten-free blog. Screwy.

5

2011-11-28T12:00:00.000-07:00

Five more days, friends. You have five days [and five hours] to enter my GIVEAWAY. There are about a dozen friends that I know have not yet entered (don't make me call you out by name, because I so will). Seriously, what do you have to lose? At most, five minutes of your life. Am I not worth five minutes to you? You can't win if you don't play. Go enter.

6

2011-11-25T15:55:00.004-07:00

Look who is 6 months old. Insane. Poor little guy, it was rather cold today. Even when we did his chalk picture after noon. But no worries; I laid out a heating pad on the cement before putting this precious bundle on the ground.
At 6 months, Daniel is right where he should be in terms of milestones. He is rolling all over the house. I often have to pull him out from under tables and chairs. He is sitting all on his own. He does really well while interested in something. Occasionally, he will lose interest or grow tired of sitting and will throw himself backwards. Needless to say, he has yet to develop a good transition to get himself out of the seated position. He is grabbing and playing with everything. My earrings. My phone. My laptop. My hair. My slippers. Everything. He is interacting with his big brothers. They make him smile and laugh. And he makes them smile and laugh, too. I. LOVE. it. He is a very happy baby. Dimples on both cheeks when he smiles. A joy to have in our family.

PS. If you haven't entered the giveaway, go do it. 8 more days.

our family

2011-11-20T13:35:00.005-07:00

We had the wonderful opportunity to do a photo swap with one of my friends yesterday. Same friend that has done our family photos in the past. I did hers and she did mine. Edit our own. It was fun to have a casual session with both of our families. Especially since her little guy is just a week younger than Daniel. Here is our little family as it currently is:
And, because I couldn't resist just a little bit of play, I edited just two of Emily's pictures. Seriously, their little guy is precious. It is fun watching him and Daniel interact with one another.

close

2011-11-19T10:24:00.001-07:00

When people make less-than-pleasant comments about my children being so close in age, I think of things like this. Things that I wouldn't trade for the world. Sure, they know how to push each others buttons (like any other set of siblings). But they are best friends. And do nearly everything together (including push MY buttons). I simply love it.
Freestone Park. We went with some friends to feed the ducks. And ended up at the playground. BIG shocker . . .

giveaway

2011-11-18T17:00:00.003-07:00

Guess what. 25 days until my big adventure. Which also means it is time to start the long-awaited giveaway. I will get straight to the scoop.

There are three ways to enter, meaning you can have a total of three separate entries in the giveaway. Leave one comment per entry on THIS blog post. Here's what you gotta do:

1. GUESS where I am going -OR- if you know, simply say, "I know! I know!" (don't spoil the fun). Don't forget about the hints I gave you HERE. Remember, knowing or not knowing does not affect your chances of winning.

2. Spread the word about this giveaway via Facebook. Then come back and leave a comment saying you did so.

3. Like L. Root Photography on Facebook (selfish, I know. But in major need of a photography self-esteem boost). Then come back and leave a comment saying you did so.

Short and sweet. So what is the prize for winning the giveaway? TBD. Lame, I know. But I intend on dropping about $50 on whoever wins.

You have 15 days to enter. I will no longer accept entries after 5pm on Saturday, December 3rd (10 days until I leave). The winner will be announced on December 8th (5 days until I leave).

Ready . . . Set . . . GO!

*Open to continental U.S. residents only.

bah!

2011-11-08T11:02:00.005-07:00

Okay. This is an unofficial post about my trip. 5 weeks out. And I am getting sooo excited. My parents fast-forwarded me my birthday present: a nice gift card to Old Navy. And boy did I go to town. The store was having a "friends and family sale", which meant my entire purchase was 30% off with a coupon. PLUS there was a 50% off outerwear sale in store. AND various other sales on different items. With my gift card and the boys' birthday gift cards combined, I walked out with $360 worth of clothing (pre-tax & pre-sales) WITHOUT SPENDING A DIME. In fact, I have $10 remaining on one of my gift cards. AND I earned $30 of SUPER C-A-S-H. Which means when I go back next week, I will be able to buy $60 worth of clothing by only spending $20. And I am okay with that. Oh, just so you know. I did not selfishly spend my boys' gift cards. I bought all three a nice haul of clothing. Some of which you will see in upcoming family photos. BAH. It was amazing. I never have luck like this. But I was in dire need of a thick coat for my trip. And, because of sales, look at what I scored. I will be fashionably warm.

Also, in conjunction with my travels, I want to clarify the upcoming giveaway (starts in 10 days). Everyone will be able to enter. Even if I don't know you. As long as you live in the US. There will be three ways to enter, which means you can up your chance of winning with the more you do. Whether or not you know where I will be traveling will NOT be an issue. And the winner will not be determined by a correct guess (or already knowing). I am just throwing the guessing part in for fun. Remember. You are entering to win a nice souvenir from my trip. One that I will pick out once I am there. And may determine once I know who the lucky winner is.
Ps. I have decided that I will not reveal where I am going until I am already there. I am planning on posting a YouTube video on my blog on my birthday. At which time you will learn where in the world I am. Dec. 16th (well, technically Dec. 15th for you because of time difference). Just over a month. That day will be awesome. For so many reasons.

2011-10-31T22:52:00.001-07:00

Happy Fright Night. Love Leigh's ridiculously awesome pumpkin, Jack Skellington.

2011-10-30T16:09:00.002-07:00

Tomorrow is Halloween. A holiday that Robert does not care to recognize. A holiday that I LOVE. Though Halloween itself has not yet happened, we have already celebrated. Twice. On Friday evening, we met up with a group of friends out at Peralta Trail for a bonfire, s'mores, and a pumpkin carving contest. So much fun to have a date night with a bunch of wonderful people.

Our pumpkin. Based on The Nightmare Before Christmas. I've done better...

Last night, Saturday, we met up with our friends for a "trunk or treat". The boys LOVED walking from car to car to get candy. Joel kinda of gets the concept of Halloween. Lucas, not so much. But free candy? Yeah. They are fans. And they actually scored quite a bit. Enough for mom to pick from. Their main source of entertainment came from pulling and releasing the seat belts for the third row in our little SUV. Apparently the most hilarious thing ever.

The Trips. We love these guys.

2011-10-25T10:48:00.003-07:00

Daniel is 5 months old today. CRAZY. Which, of course, means it was a chalk day. I love playing with chalk. Daniel is about the same weight Lucas was at this age, but about as long as Joel was. So "small" and tall. He FINALLY rolled from tummy to back yesterday. By far the latest of the three. He has been doing back to tummy for quite some time, though. A cuddly little fellow who doesn't say much.

update

2011-10-24T16:50:00.002-07:00

Sorry I wasn't more clear in my previous post. IF you know where I am going in December, you are more than welcome to enter the giveaway! I will just have you state that you know where I am going instead of guessing. Because it would be pretty suspicious if half the guesses were all the same...

Ps. My passport photo... hideous.

2011-10-23T16:30:00.004-07:00

50 days. FIFTY DAYS! Cannot even BEGIN to express my excitement. Still so many things to get done in the next 7 weeks. But now that the holidays are upon us, time will fly by. Speaking of time flying, I have decided upon something. Between 25 - 10 days on my countdown, I will have a giveaway. Not exactly sure WHAT I will be giving to the winner (though I have an idea). A little trinket from my trip. There will be a couple ways to enter, but more details on that once we hit 25 days. For now, I will leave you with 3 clues as to where I am going.
1. The letter "A" appears in the name of the country (not telling where or how often).
2. I only know one word in the language (so clearly not Brasil, Portugal, Mozambique, etc. since I know Portuguese).
3. The country lies in the Northern Hemisphere.
Be thinking about where I might be going over the next few weeks. That may or may not be one of the questions to enter the giveaway. And if you guess wrong, it won't effect your chances of winning.

2011-10-19T08:36:00.003-07:00

Outpouring of love. Seriously. Thank you for the wonderful comments that you sent (which I am choosing to keep private). I was tempted to delete my post because it comes off as being rather negative. Even though that was not my intent, I will not delete it. We all have times when we need to express ourselves. But I want each of you to know that my previous post was in NO WAY written in frustration, anger, depression, or any other negative feeling. I am actually very content with my life. There have been several occurrences lately that make me realize how wonderful life truly is. I really am in a good place. Just exhausted. Which comes along with parenting, so no complaints about that. I wrote that because, even when I am at my happiest, I still need reassurance. I always have. Before becoming a wife. And well before having children. So if you read that and became concerned for me; don't. I am doing great. I PROMISE.

just going to say it

2011-10-18T14:27:00.003-07:00

Want to hear something shocking? I have incredibly low self esteem. You may not have known that about me. Because I have learned to hide it. By trying to conquer the world with everything I take on. Several people have made comments to me or about me being "good at everything I try". While that may be the case (in all honesty, not trying to boast by any means), being good at things does nothing for my self esteem. I have fleeting feelings of happiness when complimented. But I am then left with a bigger hole than I started with wondering if what was said is really true. I am not doubting those that give compliments. I am doubting myself. And there are major areas in my life (that essentially make up who I am) that I doubt myself the most in. I doubt myself as a wife, as a mother, as a friend, and as a photographer. As far as doubting myself as a wife goes, this one is all on me. Robert has NEVER said or done anything to make me feel this way. This stems from being so exhausted from three young children. I let housework slide. I let cooking slide (way slide. not even going to tell you the last time I made dinner). I feel horrible because Robert comes home from work and cooks dinner while taking care of the kids. He gives up his Saturday morning to clean the house and to take the two older boys grocery shopping. And not once has he complained. EVER. Don't get me wrong; I participate too. I just feel like I am not doing enough. Which carries over into being a mother. Lately, we have been in survival mode. We use to do "preschool" together, but it has been weeks since we left off on "W". We use to walk/run in the morning, but I haven't had the motivation or energy in several days. So we watch movies. Which is something I swore would never be a daily routine. And I feel horrible for it. In terms of friendship, I feel like people don't really like me as much as I think they do. Which is ridiculous. But I get so nervous about it that I make myself sick. And if/when I do unintentionally offend a friend, I never allow myself to feel forgiven. Even if I am. A mishap occurred just over a year ago, one that I mistakenly allowed to happen. And to this day, I feel that those involved might love and respect me just a little less than before. And I avoid certain topics with them because I feel like it is salt on the wound. I know this is not truly the case, but it is how I make myself feel. And photography? I feel like quitting. Every day. I feel like I am not good enough to call myself a photographer. That I have no right to claim to own a business. Or to charge people for my work. Unlike my other doubts, this one has a little more founding. I have been lied to. I have been taken advantage of (and I would never say by whom or how so please do not ask. and please do not assume I am speaking of you). I have had clients immediately turn around an book a session with another photographer after receiving their images. And it hurts. Painfully. It makes me feel completely incapable. That I am not good enough. So it makes me want to give up. I have no clue where I stand on this one: whether to continue on and make myself sick with worry that a client may not love their pictures. Or whether to quit doing something that I enjoy so as to save myself from undue stress.
Okay. If you seriously made it through all of that, I am impressed. I am not trying to complain. Or call anyone out (and if you somehow got that from this you completely missed the point). I just want to be honest about how I feel. Because right now I feel like a big fat part of me is a lie trying to hide all of this. I do not want the label of being a negative person. I just want you to understand the load that I make myself carry.

And if you try to tell me to change how my brain functions, my very OCD mind just might explode.

party

2011-10-10T21:47:00.003-07:00

On Saturday, we had a little party for the boys. Nothing big. Just family. And triplets. Sweet and simple. It turned out perfect. Minus the surplus of sugar. The boys were insane by bedtime. But they loved their new toys and such. And we loved the company. Side note: Robert said I am forbidden from throwing parties henceforth. We'll see...Those swords... they lasted 2 days before meeting their end. Loved that the boys loved them. Okay with them being broken.

older

2011-10-10T18:52:00.003-07:00

So. As of Saturday, we now have a 3 year old, a 2 year old, and a 4 month old. It is insane, but I would not have it any other way. I love these three boys and the entertainment they bring to my life.

JOEL - 3 years
Just over 30 lbs. Over 3 ft tall. Wicked intelligent. Incredible memory. Seriously. Creepy memory. REALLY creepy. Expressive. Opinionated. Obedient (as obedient as a 3 year old gets, that is). Our smarty pants.
LUCAS - 2 years
Just under 30 lbs. Only 2.5 ft tall. Wicked silly. No fear. Seriously. NO fear. Nada. Entertaining. Energetic. Absolutely crazy. Our spit-fire.
DANIEL - 4 months
About 17 lbs. Who knows how tall. Wicked smiley. Blob with a head. Doesn't roll. Doesn't laugh (much). Just a smiley baby. Loves to cuddle. Smiles when you sing. Our happy face.

These kids are my world. We definitely have our days. You know. THOSE days. But those days are worth it. Couldn't ask for a cuter little family.

zoo impromptu

2011-10-05T16:34:00.002-07:00

This morning, as I was loading the stroller for my daily walk/run, I noticed how lovely it felt outside. So I made the last minute switch from sweat pants to skinny jeans and headed to the zoo instead. Called my grandma while on the way and invited her along, too. Seriously. Could not have asked for better weather. Perfect through the whole trip. And I FINALLY got to see the new orangutan exhibit. SO awesome. The boys even had fun. too.

: )

2011-09-28T18:41:00.002-07:00

So..... I am a slacker. I blame the enormous amounts of photo editing I have piling upon me. Not complaining. Just saying... I am busy. I haven't even really touched Pinterest for over a week or two. And that is saying a lot. But today I post glad tidings of sidewalk chalk and paper airplanes. Daniel is 4 month old as of Sunday. Growing like a weed. Don't know his stats; waiting for Lucas to turn 2 and Joel to turn 3. Group trip to the doctor! And all three will be receiving shots. *Warm fuzzies*. And today is exactly 75 days before I take flight. Checked in on the ticket; it is not bogus. Definitely an irrational fear I have had for the last four weeks. Because it would have been the worst thing ever to find out when trying to board the plane.

2011-09-20T18:20:00.003-07:00

I run. Well, try to at least. Building up day by day. Little by little. But when I run (and walk), I often have random thoughts pop into my head.
*I wonder if Ty still hearts Christy (someone wrote in the pavement).
*I can fit 3 kids in a double stroller. What the heck am I going to do when we have 4?
*Will my thighs ALWAYS rub together ever-so-slightly when I run?
*That man walking toward me on the sidewalk will either try to kill me or smile & nod.
*How long do I have to do this to have a killer bod?
*What makes someone want to sell RVs for a living?
*It always seems to be hotter on the days that I exercise.
*People must laugh in their cars at my weak attempts at running.
*What shade of yellow should I paint my future laundry room?
*When will I have a nicer neighborhood to run through?
And some days I have much, much weirder thoughts. If anyone knows the answer to any of my questions, let me know. My mind obsessively wonders, so rest would be nice. :)

truth

2011-09-15T15:27:00.002-07:00

Lately, it feels like the weight of the world is crushing me. Not anything big. Just a bunch of little, inconsequential things. But by the end of the day, I often look like this. Completely worn. Utterly exhausted. And not because of my children, either (though Lucas + terrible twos = hell). On the contrary. Daniel's smiles bring so much light into my life. His smiles touch his eyes. Anyway. Not sure why I feel this way. Just overly emotional, I guess. Been walking/jogging/running to help kick these blues. Praying the exercise and sun will help. Don't worry. I'm okay! Just..... yeah.

2011-09-13T19:07:00.003-07:00

There is a contest. On Chapterhouse Lane. Click HERE to go straight to the contest. Click HERE to go to the blog's homepage. Click HERE to like on Facebook. Click Here to follow on Twitter. Click SOMETHING. Do it. Oh, and check under my Chapterhouse Lane blog button down yonder on this blog. I have some new blog bling. :)

2011-09-09T14:01:00.003-07:00

Some days, I conquer the world as a mother of three. Field trips. Activities. Sewing. Cooking. Cleaning. Organizing. Singing. Teaching. There are days when I can accomplish all of the above... and more. Then there are other days. Days when we do nothing but lay around on the floor and watch way too many movies. Today is one of those days. But that's okay. I like today.

countdown

2011-09-04T06:11:00.004-07:00

I like looking forward to things. And I definitely have something in the near[ish] future to look forward to. 100 days. Exactly one hundred days from this moment and I am gone. Flying far, far away. Just me. Traveling over 6,000 miles. And [if I use Google Maps for directions] I am suppose to kayak across the ocean. I think I'd rather take a plane and save 33 days of traveling...This picture in no way indicates which direction I will be traveling. And for the few that may know where I am going, PLEASE don't spoil the surprise. It's a secret. For now, at least.
But, in the mean time, we are just learning many, many things and doing fun crafts to pass the time. And if the rain [from this useless excuse of a monsoon season] wont come to us, we will make our own. Now we have a little bit of rain every day. And a rainbow of color.

2011-08-31T14:03:00.002-07:00

Not much new. Just... you know. Living. And stuff. Since Daniel is getting bored with doing nothing, we pulled out the exersaucer. Not sure what to think of it yet. But you can bet Joel and Lucas are totally into it. We also pulled out the infant toys. Daniel doesn't care too much. Joel and Lucas... fighting over who gets to play with what. Typical. "Preschool" is flying by. Which is good for me. Because I am exhausted with putting our little lessons and activities together. But I thought I would share two of the things I have recently made for "preschool". Sometimes I get more excited about things I make for my children than they do. Go figure.

2011-08-28T15:26:00.003-07:00

So. Last post. Told you I was addicted to Pinterest. Which I am. Love it. Check it a dozen times daily. Good CAN come from it. Take "preschool". I have been working on daily alphabet activities with the boys for the last 8 weeks straight. 16 letters down, 10 to go (each letter gets 2 days). I PLAN on posting about everything we have covered. Just not motivated enough to delve into that right now. BUT. I will post about the Pinterest challenge I took part in. My friend's cousin decided that a Pinterest challenge was needed for those who waste away their day with pinning, not doing. So, in honor of the doing, I share with you some of the things I have done.
This morning I painted my nails. Toe nails, mind you. I do not do finger nail polish. Saw a bunch of fun ideas floating around on Pinterest but chose this one. Glitter tips. You can bet the hubby LOVED the combo of loose glitter and nail polish. Needless to say, our bathroom floor looks like the aftermath of a pixie accident.
At the very beginning of the week, I revamped some shoes. An idea that is EVERYWHERE on Pinterest. Took some old black strappy shoes with rhinestone buckles and turned them into something I would wear. Cut off the ankle straps, removed the buckles, and added a simple leather flower. And have received a BUNCH of compliments on them.
For the boys, I have used Pinterest regularly for "preschool". One of our letters this week was "O". Found a craft site that taught us how to turn toilet paper rolls into octopi. Found another pin for the most ridiculously adorable lunch idea - owl sandwich. The boys loved eating baby owls. Maybe we should make lunch fun more often...
I could do wonders with Pinterest. But trying to do much outside of our normal "preschool" pins is just an exhausting thought. For now, I will pin. And pretend that every idea that I pin will happen...

tres meses

2011-08-25T11:06:00.004-07:00

Daniel is 3 months old today. More and more smiles. More and more babbles. Even a laugh or two. He LOVES to watch his brothers. Smiles at Lucas regularly in the bath. And the boys love him (though I literally JUST had to yell at Lucas to get the pillow off Daniel's head). Help put his binky in. Help burp him. Even make sure to give kisses EVERY night. Have no clue how much he weighs. Probably around 15 lbs. Which is small in our family...

stuff

2011-08-21T22:46:00.003-07:00

HI! I am still here, despite my lack of posts. Main culprit? Pinterest. Addicted. But using it for the good: I have been doing "preschool" with my boys for the last seven weeks. Half way through the alphabet. And I INTEND to blog about it. Just not yet. I am learning why people say the third child is the hardest. I still believe one was the most difficult [for me], but having three means NO TIME. So many things I want to get done in the day, but half of them never happen. I am grateful I have been doing "preschool" daily! But that means projects are put on the back burner. The biggest thing I have been working on is POTTY TRAINING. I was terrified to start. Didn't want to think about all the work that would go into it. Didn't want to deal with accidents and messes. But I did it. Just took off Joel's diaper [and pants] Monday morning and told him no more (out side of nap and bedtime). AND HE HAS DONE WONDERFUL. Only two accidents in the last week. Both were when he was away from home with shorts on (he spends his days naked - from the waist down - while at home to help prevent accidents). It seriously has been easy peasy. I don't have to tell him to go sit on the potty every 30 minutes. He just goes when he needs to. Soon (hopefully) he will be wearing his ridiculously cute underwear. Eek! Lucas has been, well... exhausting. Screaming fits at night still. Gets distraught when Joel falls asleep before he does. Goes out into the upstairs hall and cries at the railing. Tonight we found him passed out on the floor outside his room. Poor guy. Daniel is coming around. Not as unhappy as he spent his first couple months of life. Smiling a lot more. "Talking" a lot more. Even laughing a little. We know he is REALLY happy when both of his dimples are showing. Robert and I... meh. Nothing new. Our life basically revolves around our children. We spend our nights talking about our little ones and the pathetic monsoon season. The latter of which is SO depressing this year. Like 3 or 4 good storms in the last 2 months. Luckily, I always have my camera at the ready. So when a rare storm DOES blow in, I get some awesome shots. Oh my boring, boring life. Ha!

ugh

2011-08-12T21:19:00.003-07:00

Going to post. Nay, rant. Going to rant. I LOVE my children. Dearly. I really do. But some days... Some days parenting is not my favorite thing in the world. Everyone in our family has adjusted well to baby Daniel. First two months were much better than I had anticipated. Especially since everyone says the third child is the hardest. For me, the hardest still remains the first child. Anyway. Two or so weeks ago, Joel started having issues when going to bed. Started by crying for water. The first night he only calmed down when we gave in. Which we only did because we were flabbergasted by this unnatural behavior. The second night, we made sure he got a nice big drink before going upstairs to bed. Again, crying for water. Several nights of screaming and crying. Then Lucas picked up where Joel left off. All of a sudden, we cannot close the door or turn off the hall light because Lucas began SCREAMING and pounding on the bedroom door nightly. Bloody murder. Once we finally calmed Lucas down on the screaming front, Joel picked back up again with the water thing. Or ice. Or singing another song. So on and so on. And, by request, we have received all sorts of advice on how to handle the situation. My personal tactic, let them scream it out. If they have a clean diaper, a full belly and good health, they can learn to get over it. Unfortunately, this meant Joel screamed for two solid hours the other night. Seriously. Really frustrated over the fact that my normally amazing sleepers have been so terrible at bedtime. Not to mention embarrassed for the neighbors' sake. UGH. -End rant-

hi

2011-08-03T14:37:00.001-07:00

2011-08-01T13:57:00.002-07:00

Not blogging... it is kind of nice. I will blog again when something out of the ordinary happens. Until then, bye!

july 26th & 27th, 2006

2011-07-26T14:07:00.006-07:00

Okay. No more pictures. Just words. And only a "few". I am also combining entries from the 26th and 27th. Because, honestly, I am tired of writing every day. Since I feel guilty when I don't.

July 26th & 27th, 2006
"At this moment, I am in Dakar, Senegal. It is the Western-most point in Africa. The plane ride has been pretty good so far. Nikki hasn't gotten sick, which is a nice change from when we arrived to Africa. When I last journaled, the flight attendants had just handed me my meal. It was pretty good - chicken with pasta sauce stuff, a salad, a wheat roll, chocolate mousse. I drank 2 Appletizers! The drinks in Africa have all been so good... I will miss them.
"I fell asleep right when the movie ended and was out for about 4 hours. Those 4 hours were so uncomfortable. I ended up sleeping hunched over my tray table. I woke once to my head bobbing everywhere and Nikki's feet on my tray table. It was awkward and ridiculous!
"While we were stopped [in Dakar], Nikki and I talked to the guy catty-corner across the aisle from me. He is 18 and originally from South Africa. His mom married an American, so he has been in the U.S. for two years now. He lives in Pennsylvania. He seems like a very nice guy - he has a little bit of a wild side from the stories he's said, but an all around nice guy. I could be completely wrong, but I guess I'll never know. Regardless, he is very attractive and fun to talk to.
"Breakfast was good; sausage, eggs, potatoes, croissant, jam, fruit, and yogurt! After the movie was over, I watch something about ships in the Canal de Mozambique. It made me cry. I think it sunk in that I was gone. It was hard to leave when we physically left Moz, but now it was definite that I was going back to the U.S. I cried on and off for a half hour. I didn't do much on the plane when the show ended. Just sat and thought about Africa... I will probably cry when I arrive in Az... I want Africa and the "family" that I formed there. I miss the sights, sounds, and smells. I miss the people and the kids. I miss Elaina and Dote.
"The last two flights home were alright... The flight [from D.C. to Denver] seemed longer than it really was - I was having horrible back pain that would not go away no matter what I did. The flight from Denver to Phoenix was good - it was nice and short. My back pain continued and was worse, but I just fought it.
"It is like I blinked and the trip is over. Friends ask if it was worth it; I have to fight tears when I tell them how "worth it" it was. I don't know what to do with myself. I was only in Africa for a month, but my heart is still there and always will be. I miss my friends and family that I created... Everything was alive and real. There was nothing fast about Africa. No rushing or impatience... I will never forget what I have seen, felt, experienced, heard, or touched. I know that Africa will always be with me."

I do not like the feeling of moments being over. Like the ride home from a wonderful trip. Or - because I am crazy - when the anticipation of giving birth has come and gone. You build up to these things for so long, exist in them in the moment, then look back and say, "wait.... it is over already?!". I am grateful for my photographs and journals, but it always makes me a little sad knowing I will never be able to relive those exact moments. On the flip side, it makes me look forward to each new adventure and the memories I will create.

Just a few thoughts after having completed this.
1. I learned that I am not ALWAYS a selfish, self centered person. Just most of the time. I volunteered for this trip for the wrong reasons. But while I was there, I completely lost myself in the work (most of the time).
2. I learned the difference between needs and wants. I walked away with a new sense of what people really need in order to survive. And I realized that about 90% of the possessions I owned were just wants. Too bad five years has made me forget... for my wants are now my "needs".
3. I learned that you can be in the middle of NO WHERE and not know the local language, but still know the meaning of a smile. I felt so lost at times, but when I was on the receiving end of a smile (which was often in Moz), it made everything better. Smiling is universal.
4. I learned that you must see the good in all things, even the bad. The people whom we visited lived in mud and stick homes. They ate rice and beans. They owned just enough clothes to cover themselves. Yet they were some of the happiest people I have ever met. And this is because they look for the good.
5. I learned that you cannot call people freaks because they are different. One of our leaders, Jody, had her own set of food in Africa. Thinking it odd, I asked her why one day. She told me she was a Celiac, that she is "allergic" to wheat. My initial thought, "what kind of freak is allergic to wheat?!". Seriously. That was what went through my head. And guess what. That pain that I talked about this entry... the stomach pain that hurt so bad it felt like back pain... that pain was the onset of Celiac Disease. Never heard of it until I met Jody. And if it weren't for her and a lengthy discussion we had while in Africa, I would not be as healthy as I am now. Moral of the story, don't call me a freak for being "allergic" to wheat. :)
6. I learned that there is a plan for everyone. In this plan, we are only asked to suffer through what Heavenly Father (or whatever deity you have faith in) knows we can bear. I have had my share of difficult things to endure through. But the people in Moz have really taught me the meaning of strength.
7. Finally, I have learned that there can always be more room for love in the world. That was our main objective in the orphanages; just love the kids and be with them. It is what they needed. It is what everyone needs.

There. Done. The end. Well, of my Africa reflection anyway. And even if i am not writing about it every day, I am thinking about it. I could not have ended my journal with words more true. I know that Africa will always be with me.

two months

2011-07-26T12:29:00.004-07:00

Do you know how excited I was to do this again? Seriously. Laid in bed and thought of how I would draw this the night before. Not even kidding. Maybe it is my love for photography. Or probably just my love for chalk. The entire time, Joel wanted to "lay down in the chalks". Oh Joel. If only you knew what I had planned for the three of you when it cools down...

He is still loving this...
Two Months Stats:
Weight: 12lbs 12oz
Height: 24in
~~definitely my smallest baby~~
scratch that. Just looked up 2 month stats for the others
Joel: 15lbs and 25in long (just huge)
Lucas: 12lbs 13oz and 22.5in long (shortie)
Daniel is small and tall

Still at the pretty boring stage. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE THIS STAGE. They do not move around much. They do not talk back. They do not play favorites. But there really isn't much to report. He is still a fussy guy. Just likes to cry a lot. He is still a great sleeper. Eats at 10pm. Sleeps til 6am. CANNOT complain about that. If he keeps it up, he will be in the boys' room before 3 months! Ps. His occasional smiles are THE. BEST. Two dimples; one on either cheek.

july 25th, 2006

2011-07-25T14:48:00.002-07:00

Almost there. Two (possibly three) more Africa posts to go after today. If you have been reading all of them, you make my heart happy. If you haven't, I kind of don't blame you. Some of these posts have been pretty wordy. But, either way, this is for me. Because I like to remember.

July 25th, 2006
"Abelio was revving the engine at the gate by 5:15am. We had planned to spend the last morning watching the sun rise on the beach. While Jenna woke the girls and guys, I search for the guard to unlock the gate. Within 15 minutes, Cuca, Jenna, Jess, Nikki, Eric, and I were on our way to the beach in the beloved Landrover. The [land] was clouded in mist and fog. It was like driving through a white world. The only things that peered through the whiteness were the black outlines of the palm trees. It was crazy. I rested my head down on the passenger head rest and woke up to Abelio driving down a bumpy road. Before I had my bearings, we stopped. The seven of us, including Abelio, scrambled out of the vehicle with blankets wrapped tightly around us and headed for the shore. I couldn't figure out in which direction the shore was - everything was covered by the cloud of fog. I started walking toward the upturned boats, assuming I was headed toward the water. It was a creepy, beautiful sight to see the ocean covered completely by fog. The only water that was visible was the water that lapped along the shoreline. Every few minutes, a line of men would walk across the shore, pulling rope that trailed into the sea. It took me a second to realize that the men were fishing... The six of us sat huddled on the beach while lines of fishermen passed. Eric suddenly shot up and ran towards a line. Out of no where, the kid started pulling the rope with the fishermen. He just went! I half expected him to walk a few yards and return, but he walked quite a ways... We had been at the beach for quite some time without ever seeing the sunrise. We never saw anything but the fog."The closer it got to 12pm - when we needed to leave for the airport - the more motivated I became. I had to rearrange some of my belongings to accommodate for newer possessions. About 10 minutes before leaving, I was completely ready with all my bags packed and organized. A few people had last minute errands. I french braided Nikki's hair for the ride home and then had her come with me to buy some rolls to take back to the U.S. It was sad walking down the road by ourselves - knowing that it would be the last time we walked along the road... Everything felt so perfect about walking there; the air, the culture, the smell, the language, the weather, the colors. And it was the end... Although I had tears in my eyes, I did not let them fall.
"When we got to the airport, Augusto - a CFL zone leader - helped us unload our luggage and bring it inside. Cuca and Eric were there to help, too. The process was slightly long. We had to check baggage and get tickets. That took a good 45 minutes for all 8 traveling companions to accomplish. After we got our tickets, we had to walk across the Beira airport (it is tiny) and pay flight taxes. When all of that was said and done, we had a good 45 minutes before boarding time... I walked through the door on the verge of tears. It was hard to say goodbye... It was over. I was officially leaving Mozambique. I walked to the small terminal/waiting area and just bawled... I followed Julie and Jess to the other side of the lobby to talk to Jenna and Nikki. As we were standing there talking, I looked up at the glass wall to see Cuca! He had gone over to the arrival portion of the airport to surprise us... When the PA clicked on to tell us to go to the door for boarding, I rushed back and gave Cuca a huge hug. After wards, I walked back to my luggage, gave my ticket to the attendant, and followed the line out to the plane. The plane situation was almost identical to the situation coming in to Beira. Although the seats were arranged in the same manner, our plane to Joburg was slightly larger than the plane into Beira. All rolling luggage that was carry-on had to be stowed beneath the plane. I climbed up the airplane's stairs and made my way to the back of the plane. I was excited to sit next to Nikki... The only hard part about the flight was the take off when I realized that we were REALLY leaving. I cried for a while. My heart ached because I knew I would probably never see Elaina, Dote, or Eric again."Johannesburg was quick and convenient. The bus picked us up and brought us right to International Transfers. Our group stayed together at check-in until Jody and Linda assisted a man from Mexico who didn't speak English. While waiting, us girls went on ahead on our own but only managed to make it so far before being confused. We finally figured things out and headed to our gate. Erik was already there, watching over his and his wife [Stacy]'s bags. We dumped ours and ran to the restroom. I can't express how nice the bathrooms were compared to anything in Mozambique!... I barely made it on time, our group was on the move to board the plane! We are all seated near each other - 8 of us split 2 x 4. Nikki and I are together again and having a great time... This flight will be 100% better than flying to Africa."

Reading this and typing it out make me cry all over again for leaving Africa. I can still feel that sinking feeling of having to say goodbye. It was terrible.

july 24th, 2006

2011-07-24T16:20:00.004-07:00

Total picture overload. My last full day in Mozambique. So powerful.

July 24th, 2006
"Today has been one of the most powerful days. We did so much today, it is incredible. I have also experienced the most emotions today... Julie made a comment about packing and, before long, the five of us girls were in the room packing and repacking all of our stuff. It was chaos! So many capalanas and wooden artifacts! Clothes were strewn everywhere! Finally the confusion became organized as each of us worked on our bags. It felt so nice to have everything put away and in order! We walked down the street after our bags were packed to buy more machetes. Unfortunately the metal house didn't have any curved machetes, so I bought a straight one instead. On our walk back home, we stopped at a stand to buy 4 bags of Zana Zana's (one bag was for me).
Photo courtesy: Jenna P.
"Dondo was a quick stop. The boys at the orphanage helped Aaron and Eric unload all that we brought. When the supplies had been passed over, our team passed out blue fizz suckers to all of the kids... Everyone said their goodbyes and got into the Landrover solemnly. Nikki was crying. Others were teary-eyed, too.
Photo courtesy: Jenna P.
"Abelio brought us to a cemetery in the jungle. It was so awesome/crazy/cool! The tombs of the cemetery are all above ground. Most graves are nothing more than mounds of dirt with crosses on them. Some graves were cement rectangles and others yet were more intricate, with tile patterns. Every grave had a cup of some sort upon it - most graves had plates or buckets or other objects. The artifacts were all objects that the deceased used last while alive. The cemetery was located in the heart of the African jungle. Although I didn't see any monkeys, I did see spiders and butterflies. The trees growing overhead were so large and lush. Vines and branches intertwined and crossed over each other at odd and amazing angles. There was nothing eerie about the cemetery - it left me in awe... The oldest person I came across died when they were 62. Most people were in their 30's and 40's... It was just an incredible sight.
Photo courtesy (tea cup): Jessica P.
"The baby orphanage was great!... The kids were wearing their best clothes; all kids had shoes and all little babies had actual diaper-diapers! I was so excited to see the kids looking so good. Poor Elaina didn't have on a fancy dress like the other little girls nor cute shoes - she was in little boys sneakers. The kids were dressed up for members of Mozambican parliament that were coming to the orphanage to visit... When they did come, the children were [gathered together and began to sing. It was cute... [Parliament members] were there for no longer than ten minutes. The moment they left, we brought the kids upstairs to get changed into their regular clothes. Once all of the kids were finished we brought them back down in the yard and played. After an hour, Eric told us that it was time to say goodbye - for the last time. It hurt physically; I didn't want to put Elaina down... The moment I put her down, I started crying. It was such a horrible feeling. I said goodbye to a few other girls before walking through the door. I looked back to see Elaina, but she was hidden by the other children. As soon as I walked out into the street, I just bawled. All of us did. There was not a dry eye in our group. Abelio looked at us funny as we all unwillingly climbed into the Landrover... The ride was nearly silent."Once I got out of the car at ASEM, Dote rushed to the back door of the Landrover and began hugging me before I even got out! It was so great to see her after so long! She stayed by my side nearly the whole night. Cuca set up his projector and computer and, before long, all of the kids at ASEM and all of our team were watching a slide show of every picture our team had taken there. The kids loved the side show! They were very excited to see each other and see themselves projected on the wall. Once the pictures were finished, Cuca turned on the videos I had taken of the ASEM dancers... When the videos were over, the kids lead us into the circle ramada and we all sat at the tables. Kids bursted into song; once one person started, everyone else chimed in. Once a song changed, EVERYONE changed to the song. The head leader at the orphanage began passing out balloons for the kids to blow up. The kids were drumming, singing, dancing, chanting - having so much fun and getting so excited! Naturally, I started dancing too. It didn't take long for the entire thing to turn into one big African style party! I can't even describe what it was like! Pure joy and happiness. Being lost completely in another culture. Not thinking of anything but celebrating the moment. It was amazing... I found Dote and attached myself to her. We clung to each other until the last possible moment. I could feel the tears, but something inside me was acting as a barrier and didn't allow me to cry... We hugged tightly for a few last minutes before I got into the Landrover. I kept waving and waving until she was out of sight. It was at that moment that the tears finally came. I just sat there and sobbed."I feel like I am leaving the people I love the most. I hurts even worse to think that chances are good that I will never see them again. There is nothing I can do. I feel so hopeless. I want to stay in Moz, I want the kids I love to be with me and have all that I have been blessed with... I know Care For Life is a great program; I have seen it in action. I just don't like having to stop, having to leave... It doesn't feel right that life has to be like this for these people. I know Heavenly Father doesn't give people more than they can handle, but I never knew there were people this strong... What now? How do I continue this? I want to be involved in programs like this, but I definitely don't have the money. Heavenly Father will show me a way if it is the road I should travel. I am afraid to go back to the states. I don't know what the transition will be like. I don't fully know what kind of person I will be."
This last photo and video are of our guard, Amude. He was such a fun guy. Always entertained us girls. Left us with some good wisdom. Ps. HE IS ROCKING A MESA HIGH SHIRT. Heck yes!
And I finally posted a picture of Elaina. Well, TWO pictures and a video. First pictures under the baby orphanage section of the entry. Miss her so much.

2011-07-24T12:32:00.001-07:00

I WILL post about Africa, but it will not be until much later this evening. Just wanted anyone following the Africa posts to know.

july 23rd, 2006

2011-07-23T09:47:00.003-07:00

Going to let a little of the negative show in this post. Just because if I filtered it, the post would only be a few sentences long. I was having a bad morning. Well, a bad day. It ended pretty well, though.

July 23rd, 2006
"I absolutely, positively HATE Sundays in Africa. Sundays are the worst. I feel like an outsider and I feel used. Both are bad feelings. The only time the girls talk to me is when they want to borrow or have something... "Can I use this? Can I use that? Oh, Leigh! Would you mind if I used this?" I just say, "Nope, I don't mind." When I am really thinking, "Yes, I mind. Don't touch my stuff!" I am more than ready to go home... Cuca came to pick us up for the Beira branch at about 9:45. I walked outside and just sat in the very back of the truck. I knew the girls would pile in the back seat, so I sat in the back with Eric and Aaron. Eric tried to cheer me up but to no avail. Church was even worse when we arrived. We went into the chapel and none of the girls would sit by me. They all pushed Cuca down the aisle to sit next to me... Whatever. I am in a terrible mood and need to get rid of it.
"Instead of going to relief society, our group went into primary... It was just like being at home - the kids in primary were distracted by anything and everything. It made me smile to see the little children. Even though the kids were distracted, they were able to answer questions about the lesson and participate. Half way through their lesson, we passed out vitamin gummy bears to the kids. I was surprised at how reverent and honest the kids were while we passed the gummy bears out. The kids sang to us. It was awesome to hear songs that I know or recognize sang in Portuguese by little Mozambican children. They asked us to sing for them when they finished. Julie suggested Popcorn Popping, a song that I don't know. We sang another, Book of Mormon Stories, but I didn't that one either so I sat out. It was at that point that I realized how much of an outsider I was. I was white in a very black Mozambique and I was a convert surrounded by life-long church members and primary kids and I couldn't even sing one silly little primary song. The feeling grew worse when the primary kids stood up and sang Book of Mormon Stories in Portuguese. I didn't talk for the rest of church.
"Right as Cuca arrived at home base, half of our group got out. The other half stayed for a trip to the beach at sunset... We didn't make it to the beach before sunset. It was still light outside when we arrived, but the light was slowly fading and stars began blinking into existence... People paired off - Jenna and Cuca were off on their own and Eric and Nikki were beginning to walk away. I climbed on a part of the cement wall that extended into the ocean and stood at the edge. It felt very refreshing... We wanted to see if we could possibly get a tour [of the lighthouse], but the closer we approached, the worse of an idea it seemed. Besides, we were entering the lighthouse from the wrong angle, getting our ankles scratched by the grass... The five of us left for home when we returned to the beach."
Photo courtesy: Lucas B.

Yeah... that first part of the entry was a complete pity party. I apologize. I regret getting so caught up in my self-centered feelings. The energy I wasted on my emotions could have been better spent working and serving those around me. And while I had a hard time in Africa with feeling left out, I know that I was not hated. At least I like to tell myself that...

july 22nd, 2006

2011-07-22T20:04:00.004-07:00

There were so many things I wanted to do today. Didn't get one of them done. Yet I still found ways to procrastinate and push off posting until now. Because of this, I will be typing this entry with only one hand as I am holding a sleeping baby.

July 22nd, 2006
"Today is Saturday, a slow day. I wanted to sleep in, but as is often the case, I woke up to a very full bladder. Everyone else was asleep, so I crept out of the room without a sound - at least until I reached the door. The door makes a hideously loud 'pop' whenever you open in and creaks absurdly as the door is opened further than 6 inches. To my relief, no one in the room stirred... I was stopped short by Linda, who warned me that the power was out. After using the restroom, I snuck back into the room and rested as much as I could before Linda came in a half hour later to wake us. Rolls, jam, and cold cereal for breakfast. Nothing too exciting. We did get to eat breakfast by candle light, though.
"I hate sanding. Everyone hates sanding. I think the only person in our group crazy enough to enjoy it is Eric - he is crazy... We all went out front (well back) with frowning faces and took our places along the wood planks. The wood was wet, so I doubt that much of it was stripped of splinters. Some was, but sanding isn't really effective when wood is soggy... It stunk, but we made it through. I don't know. While sanding, I think it became evident that we are all beginning to get on one anothers nerves.
"Abelio... took us to the cambio to exchange money. I ran next door to buy a few more capalanas and another head wrap. When all were finished at the capalana shop, we got back into the Landrover and drove to the upstairs market. I had great success... After we finished upstairs, we bought tangerines from a girl with a flat tangerine basket on her head. They had to be the most delicious tangerines I have ever had! Not like the small, puny things at home in Az, but juicy, sweet, and ripe!... I followed Cuca, Jenna, Jess, and Nikki across the plaza to a corner cafe. A few of us ordered sodas - a Maracujá for me! Man was it expensive! I had to fork over an arm and a leg... and borrow change from Nikki. Maracujá is my favorite fruit! Passion fruit, yum! The cafe appeared to be pretty ritzy. There were not many black people in the shop. Several people of European, South American (Brazilian), and Asian decent were scattered about at different tables. There was a nice display case housing delicious looking pastries. Even the restrooms were decent! We sat out front at a table for a few minutes before heading to the plaza to find the rest of our group. Stacy came up to meet us - Abelio had arrived and had parked on the opposite side. Once with Abelio, we drove to Beaks and the wood market. I bought a nice bowl and awesome hair thing at the wood market...
Photo courtesy: Jessica P.
"Once power was on, we loaded our supplies and selves into the Landrover for Dondo. On the way, we stopped by the mill to get flour, but the mill was closed because it was a weekend. The trip to Dondo seemed to take longer than normal. I tried to sleep, but once my eyed closed and I began to drift, we were there... The boys at the orphanage helped unload the heavy supplies from on top of the Landrover. The children and leaders called us into the house when we completed unloading. One by one, we followed down the hall to their 'dining room' only to find a table full of tangerines, bananas, and weird knotty donut things. There were also cups and mugs set near a pitcher of orange liquid of some sort. It was touching to see these people give all they had to thank us... Our group took a huge group photo at Dondo before leaving."When we arrived at the Bueno's, João was already outside, grilling meat. There was pork, chicken, and steak. The steak was very salty but after 3 weeks in Africa, I was not going to be picky. Rolf and I attempted to climb the water tower thing after we ate. We each reached the 2 story ladder, but nearly died when I saw what I had to crawl into. I helped the boys pick the food and table up. When everyone was inside, Cuca started the movie. We watched The Net on the projector. The movie was pretty creepy..."

Once again, I am sparing you the pity parties and the drama. The latter makes me laugh. I was in Africa for a month, yet I still walked away with a crush. Maybe two. The former makes me hurt. Looking through some of the pictures and reading through some of the entries makes me remember the feelings I experienced when in Africa. While I had many good feelings, I also had feelings of being left out and not liked. STRONG feelings. And I can still feel them when I read through my journal. But I know that a lot of it came from being in a small house with nine others for a month. And I know that many of the other volunteers DO consider me to be a friend. So no worries.
PS. Danielle - do you remember that little boy's name from Dondo?! I cannot remember!

little

2011-07-21T21:02:00.003-07:00

Just a little non-Africa post. I realized that I have a new little baby and not a lot of pictures of him up on the blog. So here are a couple from the other day. He was just chillin' on his play mat, "swinging" at his toys.

Amazing pictures of him, huh? Yes, that was sarcasm. No worries, I will probably torture my little guy with a photo shoot soon. And there is his 2 month photo on the sidewalk that is coming up in the next couple of days...

july 21st, 2006

2011-07-21T13:41:00.005-07:00

Seriously. Posting every single day. Never happening again. This can be exhausting! I enjoy doing the reflection, but finding time to type daily is not easy with three small children. I keep telling myself, "do tomorrow's entry NOW so you have a day off". Yeah. Hasn't happened yet. Oh well. Almost there...

July 21st, 2006
"Before heading to Rio Savane, we made a quick stop to trade out the Landrover for a truck. Erik and Stacy put a mattress in the back for us to lounge on along the way. Abelio drove with Linda riding shotgun and Stacy, Erik, and I in the back. In Cuca's truck was Jenna, Jessica, Julie, Nikki, Eric, and Aaron. We headed off for an hour long drive. The main dirt highway began right near our house. At first, it appeared as a regular alley. Soon the alley had an appearance of a dirt street or road. Once we crossed the highway, the dirt road went through a very busy market where every head was turned on our account. The market area died off and became more of a community village. After a bit of time, the houses died away and we were driving through the open savanna. The grass lands were gorgeous; randomly dotted here and there with termite mounds housed in lush vegetation. Along the path, men pushed bicycles overloaded with sticks or coal. Women gazed at us under their balanced tubs, holding a child with their free arm. Soon, all people became scarce as well. It was strange thinking that I was in the back of a truck in the heart of Mozambique's grasslands; it is just something that is hard to comprehend. Stacy, Erik, and I had fun entertaining ourselves by singing crazy/random songs. All of a sudden, as we were about to hit a towering forest, Abelio gave us a shout as he came to a dead halt. There, to our left, were several baboons. The instant I realized what they were, they made their was to the trees for shelter. Luckily, I caught a few shots before they were gone... As we took off down the path, I kept my eyes open for more baboons. Nada. Stacy, Erik, and I began our singing again - singing the entire remainder of the way to Rio Savane."The first thing we did at Rio Savane "resort" was order food - knowing it would take at least 2 hours. Once the order was in, we walked down the path to the beach. The Indian Ocean is gorgeous! This beach was great because we could actually take off our shoes and walk bare foot in the sand... When the tide started coming in, I would balance on one foot to avoid the water. I had fun jumping around on one foot, but after a while, it got lonely. I soon became frustrated because the other girls were out with Cuca, swimming and splashing and having all sorts of fun... Right in the middle of my pity party, Eric... asked me how I was doing. I asked him how he would be if he had to stand on the shore and watch as all of his friends had fun in the ocean. I think my point was clearly made.
"Linda asked me to braid her hair for her, so I did. As I braided, we went further into discussion on the topic. When I finished, she saw that I was dead set on swimming in the Indian Ocean, so she helped me wrap and protect my foot as much as possible. Once we were finished, I bolted down to the water with Eric. It didn't take long for me to be fully submerged and treading with the rest of the group. I was so happy. I think the group was pretty excited and glad, too. The seven of us swam and body surfed and dove under waves for about an hour before going back to the beach. By the time we were out of the water, everyone else was ready to go eat, so we walked back over the concrete path to the restaurant. We ordered drinks as we were seated - I got Schwepps Maracujá and an ananis Fanta. The food took about 45 minutes, so we were sipping soda for a long time before getting our food. I had chicken with coconut rice. The chicken was good, but the coconut rice was great! I was disappointed that the coconut rice tasted nothing like coconut. The food was very filling.
"We went back over to the ocean, but I decided to stay dry. Erik ran back down to the beach to build a second sand castle (the first was created between the point of me getting out of the water and our group going to eat. We got as far as barricades before the tide came in and crushed our efforts with its force. Two teenagers from Maputo helped us build trenches). This time, Erik had no help, but that did not slow him down. Stacy and I stayed at the top of the bank, laughing at Erik and talking about life.
Photo courtesy: Stacy G.
"The four of us [Cuca, Jenna, Eric, and I] walked on for a bit. We stopped when we found a good sized crab. We tried to corner it and pick it up, but everyone was too afraid of being pinched. The boys retrieved sticks to poke, prod, and probe the poor little crab. The crab was getting away, so I threw dirt on him until he was buried. This was useful because with the crab under a small pile of sand, we could catch it. Eric was the brave one. He missed the first few times, so we had to keep piling sand on the crab. Eventually, Eric's fingers emerged with the crab. I took a picture while the others gawked over the little guy. When they put him down, he was placed on his back, in hopes that he wouldn't be able to flip himself over. We were wrong."We walked down the river's shore to where our boat was docked and got in. As I was getting "comfortable", a very very VERY attractive guy put his boogie board in the boat and hopped in with an older man. I just stared at the attractive guy on our journey across the river. I even snuck a picture at the end of the trip! The tide had come in, so when we docked at the river, we had to jump out into the ankle-deep water and make our way through the muck and mud. Once back at the trucks, we got our mattress out of Cuca's truck and loaded up into the back of our truck. The ride home wasn't nearly as fun as the ride to Rio Savane. One major difference, the passing air felt cold! The sun was fading in the sky, so that didn't help much. Also, our energy had been wasted on the beach, so it was a calmer ride."The shower felt wonderful after having been in the ocean all morning. I actually stood this time since I had already swam with an open wound. Because of this, I had to have Linda clean and dress the wound. It killed when she put an antiseptic wipe on it to kill any germs! We just left the wound open in the end so that it would scab over."

First. HORRIBLE spelling and grammar. I apologize. I tend to be self-conscious about my writing. So reading that hurt my brain. Second. I am a nerd. Sometimes my details are too... embellished. If I were writing a story, that would be one thing. But this is a journal. I do not know why I feel the need to decorate my entries with fluff. Rio Savane was a nice break. But comparing the photos with the entry kind of saddens me. I don't think I enjoyed the trip quite as much as the entry makes it sound. I am pretty sure I was feeling lonely and left out. Majorly.

july 20th, 2006

2011-07-20T09:30:00.003-07:00

So... the entry for today has personal reflections that I AM going to share. I will explain why after the journal entry. Just to forewarn you, this entry ends in me talking about my ex-boyfriend. He was on his mission while I was in Africa. And, if you know me, you know just how devoted I was. That being said, I have NEVER talked about him on my blog before. And I probably wont ever again. Too sore a subject.

July 20th, 2006
"Africa has made me broken. It has been confirmed: I have strep throat. Last evening, while I was journaling, my throat was irritating me while my nose was practically dripping all over the place. When I had finished making my journal entry, I went into the bathroom with a flashlight. Sure enough, white patched areas lined the back of my throat. This morning I woke up with a slight fever. What high spirits I had left have just been squashed. Erg... I am not going to stay in this house any longer than I have to!
"Linda and I discussed what the day would be like for me and decided that I would not go to the community or to ASEM. We agreed that, if I felt better, I could go to [the baby orphanage] for a short period... Jody came out as we were discussing this and said that no, I am not going to [the baby orphanage]... I just started crying. I was so mad that I was finally allowed out of the house to get sick and be stuck in again.
"Eric gently woke me when the group returned from the community. Just as I was waking, Jenna brought me a bowl of steaming hot soup while Eric brought me a cup of water. Eric and I talked for quite a while as I ate the strange broccoli chicken brothy soup. Odd enough, the soup was very good! It felt soothing to have the burning hot soup run along my sore throat.
"Since the last chair-showering experience was rather difficult, I used two chairs this time. I put one in the tub under the shower-head and the second adjacent to the first outside the shower. To protect my open wound, I put a freezer bag over my foot with an elastic hair tie to hold the bag securely over my foot. Showering this time was a little bit easier. The water was not as hot as I would have liked, but it was warm enough to enjoy.
"Linda... gave me permission to go to [the baby orphanage] for a bit to take some pictures. The team grabbed their cameras and hopped into the Landrover... All the kids were upstairs in the dining room watching a movie when we arrived. When they saw us in the hall, they ran out and followed us into the yard. I was already cradling on Elaina (my Elaina) when the other Elaina saw me and wanted up... I pulled out my camera and began taking pictures, along with the rest of the group. My Elaina was being so difficult. She would wiggle, squirm, and cry when I tried to get a picture with her... It was very frustrating to me. Luckily, Cuca pulled me away before I started to cry.
Photo courtesy: Stacy G.
"I ended up helping Jenna make dinner - Navajo tacos. Her and I had Cuca chop up the onions while I graded cheese, sliced tomatoes, and diced lettuce. I can't cook! But I am getting better. When Cuca and I completed our tasks, we helped Jenna flatten balls of dough into flat circles for fry bread. Ha! They all looked deformed at the beginning. After some practice, we got the knack of how to flatten it onto a plate. When we had finished a dough circle, we would give it to Jenna to fry and start another dough circle. We had so much fun singing, dancing, laughing. The group came home from the baby orphanage as we were close to finishing. Everyone pitched in some how. We had several fun songs on that everyone was singing and dancing to - the main one was 'Play That Funky Music, White Boy'. João arrived at 7 on the dot and we ate. Even eating was fun. I sat across from Erik who made me laugh the whole time.
(Pause. Don't know if anyone caught the two spellings of Eric/Erik. Two different guys. Eric is single. Erik is married - to Stacy. Continuing on...)
"Julie told Nikki to break up with Garrett and date RMs, which lead to the entire missionary discussion. I even told her to break up with him. She tried to use me as an excuse not to, since I am waiting... I don't know. I can rightfully argue either way. I would never encourage someone to wait, nor would I discourage. I don't want to say, 'Well Nick and I are different'. Every couple is different. I don't know. I wait because I know it is right. If and when I get the feeling or revelation that it is not right, I will go from there."

Reading this entry completely strengthened my testimony in personal revelation. The moment I returned from Africa, I knew I needed to stop waiting. LONG before I even met Robert. And, despite what everyone and their mom may think, I DID NOT DROP MY MISSIONARY FOR ROBERT. And Robert knows that (Nick, well... I told him, but I don't know whether he believed me or not). Even now, it is the hardest thing I have ever had to do. But it was the right thing. And I do not regret what I did. I just regret that it meant hurting Nick.

july 19th, 2006

2011-07-19T16:16:00.003-07:00

True fact: I have an addiction. Pinterest. So addicted that I push off blogging. My hubby [jokingly] says it is a waste of time. Maybe. But it can also be a great resource. I use it for my "preschool" ideas and activities. And for DIY projects. And for day-dreaming about the little girl I may never have.

July 19th, 2006
"Our group got to Mungassa at 9am. The weather was perfect! The sky was white with cloud and mist. It was amazing. I jumped out of the Landrover into a misty rain that felt very refreshing. Since our group had finished tying grass the day before, the only supplies we had to carry to the community center were the tools we needed to finish the roof and far wall. It felt like it had been an eternity since I last walked down that path but it had only been four days. Walking down the path again some how felt different. At the center site, I sat on the reed grass. That is about all that I did for the three hours that I was there. The only tasks that remained were finishing the far wall and finishing the roof; I could do neither because of my foot. I didn't even feel like singing and playing with the children within the village... Our group moral was low today.
Photo courtesy: Stacy G.
"The kids we fairly good at the baby orphanage - slightly misbehaved but not on their worst behavior. Elaina was being particular tonight. Part of the time she wanted me to hold her while another part of the time she wanted to wander on her own. Typical three year old. Linda brought out paper and crayons for the kids to use which turned hectic. Little grubby black hands reached at Linda's face for paper. Many of the kids grabbed a crayon each, but others continued trading crayon colors instead of coloring. Elaina was being a color switcher, but after a while, she came and sat by me. I wrote her name on her paper, which she then scribbled over. One by one, random kids would come up to me and shove their paper in my face. I took their crayon and drew the child on the paper stick-figure style. When several of the kids saw my drawings, I was mobbed.
"Amude, the guard, came up to me and said he had a present for me. He held out his hand and in his hand laid a bird! It started to fly away but was caught short by a string attached to its leg. I just laughed and poked at the bird - never actually touching it. Soon, many people in our group were around, looking and laughing at the bird. At my insist, Amude and Eric set the bird free."

Wow. Completely forgot the bird incident until now. How cruel?! But it was not harmed (other than the string around its leg) and it was freed. So glad I wrote down so many details. Even if some of them are in regards to drama or negative feelings. Which I have been screening. Some feelings are too personal to share. And some are just too... pathetically "pity party".

july 18th, 2006

2011-07-18T08:41:00.004-07:00

Crazy. I know. It isn't even 10 am and I am posting. I will not be overloading you with pictures for the next few days. And some of the photos I DO use may not be mine (but I will give credit when a photo isn't mine).

July 18th,
"I decided to jump into the shower since the team was gone and I could have all the time I needed with my gimpy foot. I found the smallest plastic chair, hauled it into the bathtub, and proceeded with my shower. Showering while seated has to be one of the most awkward experiences in my life! I had no clue how to go about showering while in a chair. It took me a few minutes to figure out how to enter the shower without getting my foot all wet. I position the chair underneath the shower-head with the back facing the wall. When I finally had the temperature adjusted, I got in and left my injured foot hanging out over the edge of the side of the tub. Shampooing and conditioning was easy, but washing myself was a challenge. I only feel half clean.
*** "I went into the other room to sort clothes for the orphanage. Apparently clothes sorting has been done several times, but no one has counted what we have. The little office where the donation clothes were kept looked as if a tornado had ripped by, leaving only the plastic table with a laptop on top of it untouched. Clothes were strewn about everywhere. Panties, shirt dresses, socks, scrubs, pants, skirts. One heaping mess of clothes. I tackled a pile for an hour and a half before giving up completely.
*** [Speaking of the baby orphanage] "I held Elaina for a majority of the evening. I do not know how I am going to deal with leaving her. She has become so incredibly close to my heart. If it were open and able, and I had the money to do it, I would adopt that precious little girl and give her all the love in the world. She is so independent, yet so lovable and charming. Her laugh and her smile will always be with me. I hope she has and chooses the best life possible.
*** "At home, Abelio's wife Isabelle, and 4 children were waiting for us to return. We had invited Abelio, Isabelle, and their family over for dinner in appreciation of their wonderful services to us. Jody and Nikki had made vinaigrette cucumbers, fresh fruit salad, chicken alfredo sauce, and raspberry/pineapple jello. For dessert, peach cobbler was served."

Photo courtesy: Judy P.

Pretty low-key day due to my injury. In regards to the shower, we had to bathe in flip flops because the water is not entirely clean. Had I showered like normal, the water could have passed parasites or bacteria to my open wound... which would have been AWESOME. Not.

july 17th, 2006

2011-07-17T21:33:00.003-07:00

The trip was... difficult... after receiving the injury on my foot. Just hard to have a positive outlook when I was limited because of my injury. And I am prone to pity parties.

July 17th, 2006
"By 8:30, we were in the Landrover to go to Mbatwe. For me, Mbatwe kinda stunk. It was neat to see the people excited to receive their bicycle ambulance. Our group was even on national t.v. The reason why it was hard for me is because I had to stand so that all the pressure was placed on my uninjured foot... The rest of the group went out with field workers to check the progress of families in Mbatwe, so I was left in the Landrover with Abelio. Abelio brought me back to home base where I stayed. The entire trip home, I just cried. I was having a 'feeling sorry for myself' moment.*** [Speaking of the baby orphanage] "Instead of playing with the older little kids, I followed Eric upstairs to help feed the babies. My little favorite guy was up there. Tonight I found out him name is Mondigo... I helped the attendant pass out the food dishes and then I sat at the end of the 'high chair' row with Mondigo and spooned him the mush. The food was the same as last time I fed the babies. Mondigo did not eat as fast as last time. He still opened him mouth as wide as he possibly could, but this time he took longer to chew (or gum) the food. As a result, all of the other babies had finished and were all taken out of the dining room by the time Mondigo had half finished. At that point, he threw everything back up, so I just picked him up and brought him down the hall for bathroom and bath. I really didn't know what else to do...
"At home, dinner was ready and waiting to be served! Jody made us this corn chowder & potato soup - it was SO yummy! There was also a fresh salad to go with it. Not even five minutes into dinner - the power went out. Apparently the power had gone out 4 tines when we were at [the baby orphanage] so Jody was prepared with candles. We lit the candles and ate by candlelight."

I apologize for the pictures not having a better resolution. I had to copy these from my online Facebook album. It appears that I may not have downloaded ALL of the photos I took when in Africa. Only about half are on the disc I was given (once again, thank you a billion times over, Stacy!). But half is A THOUSAND times better than none. Besides, like I commented on in this entry, I was feeling sorry for myself. So most of the pictures from here through the end of my trip are not as meaningful as the ones I tool when in higher spirits.

july 16th, 2006

2011-07-16T19:07:00.002-07:00

July 16th, 2006
"We left at 10 to drive the half hour in through town and to the other side to go to the nice church in Beira. The building is amazing! It is new and everything inside is so nice and well kept... Sacrament was just like sacrament at home - babies standing on chairs, facing backwards with snacks in their hands. Men and women laughing at the bland jokes that are always offered during the meeting. Old men coughing. Babies crying. It felt like home, just painted a different color.*** "After church, our group loaded up into the Landrover and drove to the beach. The beach was absolutely gorgeous! There was an old lighthouse that looked so... awesome! Behind the lighthouse, in the sand, there was a ship washed ashore. The ship must have been pretty old - it was corroded and not much remained. The shipwreck has to be one of the neatest things I have ever seen!... I started to venture off a little down the beach to check out another hunk of the ship. I was able to actually crawl in this area to look around. While standing inside, I found the perfect picture opportunity for the rest of the group... After I snapped the picture, I stepped out of the ship-piece to get closer for another shot when I felt something scratch me. I looked down to see that it wasn't a scratch, it was a gash... The first two things to pop into my head were "tetanus" and "depth". The wound was deep enough to be white - no blood for a while. The shock was more terrifying than the pain. I looked up and the first word to come to my mouth was "Jody". I couldn't say anything else other than, "Jody, come here now!". Nikki ran over and was getting worked up. That is when the blood began to rise. Jody was at my side in almost no time. She helped me sit down and the first thing she said was, "You're going to be okay... That needs stitches". I just started crying... Linda and Jody were both on the phone with people, trying to figure out what to do with me while Jenna poured fresh water on the wound to clean it. Jody bandaged me up with a wipe and a sock. The best part was that by this point, I was laughing. I think it was the fact that Cuca was laughing that made me laugh. I assured everyone that I did NOT need stitches. Jody and Linda said that it was time to go so we could tend to me, but I was snapping more shots of the beach!... We drove over to a couple missionary's home, the Coxs. Another missionary couple, the Kenneys, and the new mission president, the Packards, were all there... Sister Packard, Sister Cox, and Jody were all rushing to get stuff to fix me up. A small tub-dish thing was brought in to put my foot in. Colloidal silver was poured onto the cut, as well as fresh, cool water. It stung a bit, but I just looked away. It was funny, I was looking away while everyone crowded in the hallway trying to look in! Next, Sister Packard squeezed the 1/4 in. wide gash shut while Sister Cox dabbed super-glue down the 2 in. length of the cut... I hobbled back into the living room to get a blessing. Elder Cox looked down at my foot after the blessing and said, "That's it?". Everyone laughed. I felt kinda dumb, but you have to be so very safe here."

Quick "it's such a small world" story. The Sister Packard talked about in this entry was actually my mother-in-law's midwife for when Robert was born. No joke. Birthing babies and super-gluing injuries one day at a time.
Ps. Best. Scar. Ever.

july 15th, 2006

2011-07-15T20:35:00.003-07:00

Sorry. I am posting this later than I had planned. Had to make a trip to urgent care with Joel because, well, he sucked at breathing. Turns out his has Reactive Airway Disease. Which can result in acute asthma attacks when suffering from viral illnesses, such as the common cold. Like today. After a breathing treatment, Joel felt much better. So much better, in fact, that he worked himself up into a near attack from being so silly. Ending in another breathing treatment. I foresee a long road ahead. At least we are now equipped with what we need.
Now that I have explained my day, on to Africa. Rather lengthy post. And many, many pictures (it was a Saturday and we traveled several hours to spend the day at an orphanage in a distant village, Nhamantanda).

July 15th, 2006
"On the way to Nhamantanda, a few people busted put with mp3 players and i-pods. We listened to so much music and jammed out a... majority of the way! About 1/2 way to our destination, we arrived at a bridge. Everyone got out to walk across the bridge and take pictures along the way. I got a few good shots of me being "thrown" over the bridge and of me "jumping" over. It was neat to travel further out of our normal areas. I love Manga and Beira, but it was just great to see something different.*** "We first brought out the parachute. That lasted about 20 minutes. The kids at the orphanage were very well behaved, yet crazy at the same time... After the parachute, Eric helped me to teach a group of kids how to make paper helicopters. Within 10 minutes there were about 50 abandoned helicopters on the ground... Cuca, Jessica, and Julie had bubbles out, so the kids went straight for the bubbles. They were having so much fun trying to catch and pop the bubbles!... Then, out of no where, the kids lost interest in the bubbles and headed straight for Jenna, Linda, and Cuca, who had marbles. Kids were just jumping and clawing for marbles!*** "All of the orphans sat on their mat in the yard while our volunteer team was ushered into a round, open hut. As everyone was grabbing seats, two men came around to wash our hands. One man was holding a tub while the other man had a pitcher of fresh water. The man with the pitcher would pour water over our hands while the man with the tub would place the tub underneath our hands to catch the falling water. A towel was also passed around to dry our hands. Next, a man came around to each of us with a coke and a fanta for us to choose from. The director/minister of the orphanage then had Julie bless the food. There were french fries, noodles, roasted chicken, salad, and tangerines. It was such a feast! I took a big helping of everything. Our group felt somewhat uncomfortable eating there because the orphans ate on the dirt, rice and beans, while we ate "indoors". I think our group ate all food that was offered to us because we didn't want to waste anything.
*** "Eric said he was going with Abelio to get food for the orphanage to last the next two months. Nikki and I jumped at the chance to go too! We hopped into the Landrover and drove down the path to a market. Right after crossing the train tracks, a ball rolled into the street. Abelio slowed down to a snails pace so the kids could run out and get it, but they didn't budge. Abelio even stopped, but nothing so he kept going and BAM... the ball busted open. The kids looked at us in horror. Nikki and I were flipping out! We almost cried... To make matters worse, the shop we went to ended up being a shop right where the ball incident happened. Abelio and Eric went in to buy rice and beans, so Nikki & I stayed in the car... Before long, this grown guy walks up, holding the broken ball. He kept getting closer and closer to me, demanding something about "money" and "ball" from Nikki and I. We were freaking out! He was less than a foot away, holding the ball in my face, and I just yelled for Eric. Nothing. I yelled again. Nothing still. I tried a third time and he finally came out. He started speaking Portuguese with the man and the man sort of backed off. Eric went back inside and the moment he did, the man started getting closer and closer. This time, Abelio came out to deal with him... I felt very uncomfortable because of my skin color at that moment.*** "We arrived back at the orphanage to find the children in two perfectly straight lines, looking at Cuca. Cuca was holding up a toothbrush, speaking to the kids about brushing their teeth. The best part was when he held up the tube of toothpaste and asked the orphans what it was. "Colgate" was the reply. Everyone on our team laughed while Cuca explained - no, no, no, it's toothpaste!*** "We urged the girls to dance and sing for us (we heard they did amazing dances for the last CFL team). It was so amazing! I can't even describe what the singing and movements were like!*** [After returning from Nhamantanda] "The Buenos' was pretty neat. Everyone jumped at the chance to use the internet... Just as I was giving Rolf his computer back, the CFL cell phone rang... My mom AND dad were both on the phone! We talked for a good 20 minutes. I think I answered most of the questions that they had for me. When I hung up, I went to the bathroom. I had to go so bad! As I was doing my business, I heard this voice that sounded like it was coming from right next to me. I looked behind me to find a window - wide open, blinds up! There is a water tower right outside and right in full view was Aaron, climbing up the ladder of the water tower. I was mortified! I grabbed for the string of the blinds, but they wouldn't go down! Finally, after pulling the string every which way, the blinds went down. As I let go of the string, Aaron shyly said, "Oh! Sorry Leigh". I wanted to die. That is probably the most embarrassing moment of my life."
Okay. I REALLY put myself out there with that last little part. And that was, by far, the most embarrassing moment of my life. Hands down. Seriously. Sorry if it was an over-share. And congrats for making it through the worlds longest post. It was a very busy day. I look forward to tomorrow's post... major turning point on the trip. Mozambique's permanent mark on me.

july 14th, 2006

2011-07-14T17:28:00.003-07:00

Bare with me. Two more weeks and I will go back to my normal slacker style of blogging. Though I do have fun ideas of "a picture a day" posts... We'll see. Trying to post every single day is more difficult than I had imagined. I think it is getting hard with my Africa posts because this is the point in the trip where things were getting difficult for me. Pity parties for feeling left out. Which was totally ridiculous on my behalf.

July 14th, 2006
"We went to Mungassa today and worked on the grass for the roof. We aren't finished yet, but only have 10 more bundles to do. 10 bundles of tied grass can easily be done in one day. Our team is hoping to finish the roof on Monday. We only have a few more tasks to complete and then it will be done! I liked tying grass at first, but now I can't stand it. I think it is a combination of the heat and no water and the sun and humidity. By the time we finish at noon, I feel light headed. When we finished our tied grass bundles today, I helped carry them to the house we are using for storage. The bundles weigh over... 50 lbs each!*** [Speaking of ASEM, the older orphanage] "Joanna found me right away and clung to me for the longest time. While walking up to the ramada, Luisa and Dote ran up to meet me - which is when a little fight started. Joanna and Luisa started pushing one another; fighting for my attention... The activities were pretty good. Tables were pulled out for doing bracelets. A mass of kids rushed to any possible corner of the table for space to make their bracelets (or necklaces). Stacy and I passed out beads - and surprisingly it wasn't crazy. The children were very well behaved... I sat down with Dote and Luisa. With Aaron's help, I was able to tell them the three of us should make matching necklaces. We divided the beads evenly and strung them on our strings. Just as we took a picture, Linda came to ask if I would be willing to give mine away to a girl who didn't get to make one. I was kinda sad, but I knew she would appreciate it.

That last picture is of me and Lindy. Lindy was born in Mozambique and lived there the first few years of her life before being adopted by the family that began Care for Life. She is FULL of energy and personality. It was so much fun playing with her in Mozambique.

july 13th, 2006

2011-07-13T14:47:00.006-07:00

Just going to jump right in with basically no introduction. I am tired of trying to be clever right now. Sorry.

July 13th, 2006
"On the first trip out from our stop in Mungassa to the new center site, I attempted 3 bundles of grass. I made it about 1/2 way... maybe 2/3 of the way before the grass came un-bundled and I had to take it off my head. We did several grass trips in the morning to save us from doing it in the heat of the afternoon. About a dozen native children went back with us to help. Along the way, the little kids started running, so I started chasing them. I would let them catch up and get in front of me (they would all fall behind) and then I would run after them again. The kids loved it!... Once we reached our supply spot, the little kids grabbed a bundle of grass each and threw it on their heads to carry back to the community center. They looked like little worker ants while walking in a straight line down the path... When we reached the community center, I tied grass with this picky guy for several hours. He would only use certain grass, so it got stressful on occasion. Randomly, as I was tying grass, I looked up to see a huge spider in the tree near me. The spider must have been the size of my palm!Quick PS. The spider is LARGER in real life than it appears on the screen. No joke.*** [Speaking of the baby orphanage] "I just floated for a while, not holding or playing with any particular child. Then Elaina found me and she stayed with me the entire time. If I could afford and support her, I would definitely adopt Elaina. She is my baby... I looked down to see Elaina asleep. She looked so precious. I just wanted to smother her in little kisses. I am so attached to her. People started going inside the orphanage to get the kids washed up for dinner. I followed, carrying baby Elaina up. Eric and Lucia woke her up when we got to the top of the stairs - I felt so bad. It was okay, though, because she needs her dinner. When the orphans are asleep, they don't get food. Sometimes they even get in trouble."

That evening at the baby orphanage, I had an epiphany. I loved ALL of the little ones at the orphanage so much, even ones I didn't know as well. It hurt me to see any of them suffer or fight or make bad choices. While talking with another volunteer, I realized this was just a fraction of how Heavenly Father feels about us.

musings of a mom

2011-07-12T17:10:00.003-07:00

As a mother, there are times I am guilty of taking the "easy way out" so I don't have to deal with proper parenting. Why do I do this? Sometimes I am lazy. Sometimes I am selfish. Sometimes I am exhausted of the seemingly endless tantrums from one or all of my children. Either way, I am being honest in my doings by telling you that I cheat. As often as I can. And I feel no remorse. These are my sanity savers.

1. When I have made a gluten-free scrum-diddly-umptious dessert, I often times stick my entire head in the fridge to scarf down a couple bites here and there throughout the day.
2. When I don't want to share food/snack with my ~~mooches~~ children, I will lie to them and tell them that the said food/snack is all gone. Yes. I flat out lie to my children.
3. When a treat needs to be left out on the counter, I will hide it by covering it so my children will not beg me relentlessly to have some.
4. When I dish out food/snacks, I often give the faster eater more food to save myself from hearing him whine and plead with his brother - or me - for more.
5. When they aren't looking, I steal food/snacks from my children. Yup. I steal without shame.

Horrible? Maybe. Do I care? No. I am selfish with my food. Which is why Robert and I each get our own carton of ice cream. And I finish faster than he does. And end up eating his ice cream, too.

july 12th, 2006

2011-07-12T15:50:00.003-07:00

At this point in my trip to Africa, crushes were forming and drama was starting. But I will spare you. Looking back, it was ridiculous, really. I knew that at the time, too. But couldn't help myself. I have ALWAYS been one to have a crush or two. Or three. My entry. Minus the mush.

July 12th, 2006
"Mungassa was a little slower today than it had been. Not as much work got done - at least not as noticeable of a difference. I carried a ton of grass on my head to the site! The girl volunteers... spent the entire time in the community tying grass for the roof. It was difficult. The grass is so itchy! Luckily for me, I was working with a native, named Danny, who is very fast with the grass. He and I got a lot of bundles done today. Danny is 15 and in school to learn English. He speaks pretty well! I was having him teach me a few words in Portuguese. I am starting to pick up Portuguese - I can understand quite a bit.
*** "The moment I finished eating, I went outside and began sanding the benches. Eric came out and was very enthusiastic over the fact that someone beat him to the benches. He and I talked for a while until most of the volunteers were outside sanding. Nikki ran back in to get speakers for her i-pod and we were jamming out to music while sanding. Slowly - one by one, people began to disappear back into the house. Before long, it was only Aaron and I... soon just me. I sanded for about 2 hours. It is a good stress relief. There was a random change of plans - Eric wanted to take the benches to Mbatwe today, so we loaded the 20 finished benches into the Landrover and the truck. I went inside to grab my backpack and the girls, but they were all asleep on their beds. I went with Erik, Stacy, and Eric to Mbatwe to deliver the benches.
*** "After the orphanage, we went out to eat at a place near the orphanage. The food was mostly Lebanese. I tried hummus and baba ganoush for the first time and hated both. Nikki and I split a margarita pizza, but the guy screwed up the order and gave us a vegetarian pizza instead. Whatever!"
Ahhh the restaurants in Africa. Where you prepay. And the chefs leave to go buy the ingredients needed for your meal. And you have to wait a couple hours for your food. But it is SOOO delicious when you do finally get to eat. Things never tasted so good.

july 11th, 2006

2011-07-11T15:03:00.003-07:00

A shorter entry. And by short, you know it will still be long. At this point in the trip, I was so exhausted every night that I would fall asleep while journaling despite my best efforts at staying awake. Which is why I have a difficult time journaling now. Just a different type of exhaustion.

July 11th, 2006
"The things that happened at Mungassa were CRAZY! We had to carry our supplies from the Landrover to the site - a tough job. I jumped right in and put a huge bundle of reed grass on my head and followed Stacy down the path... I spent the greater majority of our time in Mungassa tying grass. I worked with several little boys that were speed demons! We went from a community center skeleton to a community center with walls! It was crazy how many people were helping us! At one point, I went back with Eric to grab some more supplies. I just lifted a bundle of grass right up over and on top of my head! I was glad that I was able to accomplish that!
***"Our team started out at ASEM with the parachute. The kids ate it up! They loved running underneath the chute while screaming and chasing one another. I only played for so long before taking a step back and soaking it all in. I took several pictures of the kids with the parachute. Dote came and found me, as well as Joanna and Luisa. Soon, I was sitting on the ground with Jessica, Jenna, and Nikki. The four of us were receiving hair braids. It hurt so bad when the girls pulled our hair!
***"If I had to choose one girl to adopt from Africa, it would be Elaina. She is just so precious and full of life. Almost always a happy girl. She does not like to be tied down against her will, but she is okay with it when she chooses. I am seriously in love with that little one!"

Elaina (most likely spelled Elena) is probably what I miss MOST about Africa. Like I said, I was seriously in love with that little girl. If I were in a situation where I could, I would adopt that darling without hesitation. When I tear up reminiscing about Africa, you can be sure she was one of the first things to cross my mind. And yes, I do have pictures of her. Not ready to share them yet.

2011-07-10T10:57:00.003-07:00

First, happy birthday Stacy G. I was reading today's 2006 journal entry last night when I realized it was your birthday. The first time Facebook wasn't the one to remind me. I hope your day is as great as it was in Moz. But if you have ice cream, I hope that it tastes more like the delicious goodness that is American ice cream rather than the chilled foam we had in Africa.

July 10th,
"At Mungassa, we unloaded the bamboo poles from off the top of our Landrover and headed out down the trail to work on the new community center. When Jen, Jess, and Erik approached, we saw that all of the beams had been oiled and placed! We set to work pounding the dirt around the beams to compact it. Hard work! All of the natives were making fun of me! But I worked my hardest and can feel it now! When the dirt was compacted, we split bamboo. Splitting bamboo is one of the hardest things ever! We used machetes and sticks to split the bamboo poles. Again, the natives laughed. This time, though, they took over for us. We kept getting "fired". The skeleton of the community center went up very quickly."Shamusas are delicious! They are like triangle puff things. The outer edges remind me of Chinese chips. The filling inside of shamusas is a mix of like... rice... potato... onion... stuff. The are sooo good! Erik put ketchup on his, so I tried it with ketchup, too. It was such an interesting taste.
[Speaking of the orphanage in Dondo] "I sat next to Linda and held Jesse, one of the twin babies. Jesse and Gabriel are a year and 3 months, I believe. Baby Gabe loves to eat, but Jesse is very picky and hardly eats. Jesse was all smiles today! I brought him out in the yard and tried to get him to walk. He would take a few steps with support, but that's about it. I sat in front of him and had him walk (with support) to me. Every once in a while, I would let go and he would stand all by himself. The moment he realized he was standing on his own, I would laugh and he would squat down. After a few minutes, he grew tired of this and crawled back to his brother. I rolled a ball to them and Gabe would whack it clear across the yard! Those boys are precious!***[Speaking of the baby orphanage] "So the orphanage... was a very intense experience... Eric asked if I wanted to go up and feed the little little babies. Jessica and I followed Eric up to the dining room where all the little children below the age of 12 months were. There were about 15 little babies - half in the "high chairs" lining 2 of the walls and half crawling or toddling around the room. Most of the little faces just lit up once we walked in. Jessica and I helped get the babies in the high chairs and the bibs on the babies. Bowls of mush were places out on the sill of the window from the kitchen... Jess and I each grabbed two bowls and sat in front of a few babies. One of the babies I was feeding took the spoon from me and fed himself, so I got another bowl of mush and scooted down. The babies I fed were both adorable. The one on my [right] was too precious. I wanted to take him home! He could not have been much more than nine or ten months old! Every time I would get a spoonful for him to swallow, he would smack his mouth open as far as it would go while squeezing his eyes shut. He was so determined to get as much food as he could with each bite! Once the food hit his tongue, he would open his big brown-black eyes and puff his cheeks while pursing his lips in a pucker! I wanted to take him home, feed him applesauce, and hold him forever! The one on my left was this little girl that just frowned and pouted. After several bites, she completely the mush and would not eat. She cried when I tried to spoon more into her mouth. It made me feel so bad because she made it seem painful.
*** "Nikki and Aaron made chicken alfredo. I think. If that is the white sauce pasta, then yes. Chicken alfredo. They even made garlic toast! The food was delicious after such a long day. Cake was brought out in honor of Stacy's birthday! There was ice cream, but the ice cream tasted more like chilled foam. Not the best thing in the world, but just about everything tastes good here!"
Shamusas. Oh how I miss the taste of shamusas. One of my favorite treats. And baby Jesse. The most darling little one at Dondo. I miss him dearly.

july 9th, 2006

2011-07-09T17:32:00.002-07:00

I have to admit, I lack motivation to write today. No reason in particular. Just being lazy. But I will still write. Because I know I will be mad at myself later if I give up now (or ever). As Dori from Finding Nemo says, "just keep swimming, just keep swimming". No, we don't watch that movie a lot. Just ever other day... But I digress. Africa.

July 9th, 2006
"We walked down the street to our church building - an old shop converted to a church. The missionaries were at the door, greeting all of the congregation. The room was old and slightly run down, but there were rows of chairs and an alter with little flower pots... It was neat to see how church was the same but how it was different... Babies would cry and the mom or big sister would take them to the back or outside. Little children squirmed. Hymns were sung. Prayers were said. It was a neat experience to see how the church has blessed these people!
*** "I woke up from my nap to the sound of little children yelling and laughing... 4 kids from ASEM were over. Linda & Jody had just made popcorn for them. Soon, stickers and balloons were out, as well as nail polish... I played with the balloons with the little kids. Stacy and Erik made swords, headbands, monkeys, flowers....*** "I got to talk to my mommio! When I started speaking with her, it sounded as if she were crying. I told her how much I enjoy it here and how I don't want to leave. I didn't want to explain what it was like because I know I would start crying. But I told her a few of the things I was doing and how amazing it was to be in Africa. Just hearing her voice made everything better. It didn't make me sad to hear her. It made me happy.
*** "I thought a lot about everything that was occurring around me. I am so thankful for this experience and I want to learn and grow so much from all that has happened. I haven't been reading scriptures or praying nearly as much as I ought to be, but I realize that my character is beginning to change for the better.
*** "Eric was so excited for the gorgeous sunset and had us climb the benches to get a better look... Our moment looking at the sunset turned into an evening stroll turned into a visit to a less active family. The family lived a ways away, so we had a nice walk to the home. The person we were going to visit was Faith. Faith lives with her father and mother, and also a niece... Our visit was pretty short... Before we left, we snapped a few shots with the family. The walk home was nice - the weather was PERFECT. Post-sunset Africa is beautiful - the sights and sounds and some smells."
I still remember that last little evening trip from this day. If I close my eyes, I can see it all. The walk to and from the house. The kids (and some adults) playing soccer in a dirt lot. The "maze" to find the house we were visiting. The church we passed on the way home with people singing the most beautiful hymns. The smell from the bakery next door. The realization that dawned on me; I was in Africa.

moo

2011-07-08T23:02:00.002-07:00

When you dress your kids like THIS:

you get free THIS:

COW APPRECIATION DAY
Cutest. Cows. EVER. But I could be biased.

Just because I like to torture my children with my camera, here are a couple more for you.

july 8th, 2006

2011-07-08T14:55:00.007-07:00

I hope I am not boring you. I know of like... three of you... who are probably enjoying this because you have been to Mozambique as well. Everyone else... well, I am going to pretend you enjoy it since I haven't had feedback either way. Warning. This one will be a long one. It was a Saturday, so we crammed a lot of things in. And, because of dear Stacy (who is a saint), there will be a lot of pictures and a couple videos. SMILE on my face.

July 8th, 2006
"After breakfast, we walked over to ASEM to see them perform for us... The guys set up [drums] along one edge of the wall while the rest of our group sat in chairs and benches along the outer edges of the ramada. Out of no where, several of the orphans began dancing... Words cannot describe how these kids moved their body! They were amazing!... Every time the drum beat changed, their dance style changed as well. When the dancing stopped, we thought it was over. The leader explained that what they had just done was a warm up! They began dancing again, but now the moves were much more intense and extreme... The dancers were near the point of dripping with sweat when they finished. The drummers continued to drum a simple beat while a few of the girls danced across the floor. They came and pulled us girl volunteers up with them to do cross-floor work. The movements started simple, but progressed rapidly to more difficult steps... I had the advantage of taking West African dance class a few years back. The little black girls at the orphanage were laughing and getting excited that I could do all of their movements.

***[Speaking of the orphanage in Dondo] "This orphanage is completely different than the others we had been to. The kids were calm and didn't hang on us as much. They were happy to see us, but they didn't "attack" us... I tried to teach the girls double dutch with the jump ropes, but Stacy was the only one successful at it! We only jumped rope for about a half hour... The rest of the group proposed playing with a parachute. Parachute was always my FAVORITE in elementary school, so I thoroughly enjoyed this!

***"By 5pm, we were loaded into the Landrover to head to Oceana for dinner. Oceana (as the name suggests) was right next to the [Indian] ocean... We had to pay in advance for the cooks to run and go buy supplies. Because we knew the wait would be so long, we brought 2 decks of cards and played scum for the hour - two hour wait for food. The food was pretty good - pizza... I ate like an entire pizza by myself! I just kept putting more and more in my mouth until it was all gone!... As we were leaving the restaurant, I volunteered to walk with Cuca to return the [soda] bottles to the shop we purchased them from. I think I have seen a pretty dang scary side of Africa! The soda shop was on the other side of this large, unlit park. Cuca and I walked in the middle of the street along the edge of the park. Any time there was a person in the street, we moved to the sidewalk. Any time there was a person on the sidewalk, we moved to the street. It was quite interesting... When we had given [the shop owner] the bottles, Cuca turned to me and said, "Do you want to run back?" I asked him if he were crazy...
***[Speaking of the performance the ASEM dancers participated in] "It was like the entrance to a battle-of-the-bands party. TONS of people standing around the entrance, hoping to get in... Our group pushed through the gathering crowd to find João, Sylvia, and the other Nikki, sitting near the makeshift stage... Poles with lights had been set up to light the stage. A nice sound system was being used to play music. A lot of the music was Portuguese, but some was English! Any time an English song came on that we knew, the girls in our group would start singing! We sang and danced in our seat until the show began... Following the fashion show was a Michael Jackson mock! It was phenomenal! The kid had the PERFECT outfit and the exact moves!... Our group was all dancing and singing - we had a blast - to "Billie Jean". Our ASEM dancers went after Michael Jackson and they did so well! They even made little costumes. The dancers did the same thing that they did at the orphanage - a traditional dance to live drums... We cheered so loud! The crowd loved it too, they were clapping like crazy!"
See. A lot. And let me clear something up that may have caught you off guard. Cuca. No, not my child (obviously). But who my child is a namesake for. The Lucas (Cuca) in Africa taught me the phrase I later used when I first met Robert. "Cala boca e me beija" (if you don't know Portuguese, Google translate). First thing I ever said to my hubby. And no, he didn't... Not that night at least.

swim & storm

2011-07-07T17:00:00.003-07:00

So... we invited our wonderful friends over for a swim Tuesday night. We had a grand 'ole time. Five adults. Five babies (plus one in the house and one in the oven - no, not my oven, thank you). Me, my hubby, my mommio, & the Rogans. My boys & the trips. CRAZY fun. We played musical babies. Kept passing them around. Lots of swimming. Lots of splashing. Lots of silliness. Unfortunately, our swim was cut short by a storm. No. Not A storm. THE storm. Biggest haboob in Arizona history (and if it wasn't, let's just pretend it was). For those of you who have never heard the term haboob, no. I am not being vulgar. A haboob is like a GINORMOUS dust storm. Think The Mummy (a movie I strongly do not care for. and one I wish I did not have to reference on my blog). It went from day light to pitch black in a matter of like 5 minutes. 50 mile wide wall of dust. Ca-RAY-zy. Too bad we didn't get any rain with the storm...

july 7th, 2006

2011-07-07T13:30:00.006-07:00

Every once in a while, we get a second chance. It doesn't happen often. And when it does happen, it is often by surprise. I got my "second chance", if you will. A friend whom I volunteered with in Africa contacted me to let me know that she had ALL the pictures that were taken in Mozambique by each of the team members. That meant she had MY photos. All 1,200 of them. BEST DAY OF MY LIFE (well, high up on the list). Now I can bombard you with photos. :)

July 7th, 2006
"At about 1pm, we went for town. Abelio, our driver, took us on a small city tour. When we were in town, we went to a cambio to exchange American money for Mozambican money. We also went to a store that sold capalanas - skirts.

*** "Our kitchen is smaller than my bedroom at home by like... half. Tiny kitchen. Jessica sliced the bread and prepared the sandwiches while I began the soup less than one foot away. When she went to cook the sandwiches, she had to step behind and around me to stand 2 inches away on my other side while working over me to flip the sandwiches periodically. Since it was too hard to have both of us in the kitchen at once, I decided to set the table while she stirred the soup and flipped the grilled cheese sandwiches. Our driver, Abelio's wife Isabelle does our breakfast and lunch dishes, but today she left early. Because she had left early, dishes from lunch were still in the sink and we didn't have enough dishes for dinner. We ran out of plates and had to pull out 6 or 7 of the china ones. Then we ran out of bowls and had to use the nice plastic/plaster tupperware bowls. There weren't enough cups, so we used some glass mugs AND we were short 4 or 5 spoons. It was interesting... The food tasted pretty good. I've noticed everything tastes pretty good here in Africa. You learn to love it.

*** "Tribal meeting was pretty good... Eric C wanted us to think about why we elected to come to Mozambique with Care for Life; some things we wanted to see accomplished while here, and what we wanted to get from this experience... I think that when I signed up for this experience, it was more to see Africa and other parts of the world. The Care for Life part just made it a purpose to be here. Since I have been here, it has been something completely different... But being here has given me something and taught me something. Being here gives me gratitude for what I have; for what I take advantage of... You can come and do things for people. Build things, hold children... but when you open your heart and let it in, you can give so much... I want this trip to motivate me to change myself. We are trying to motivate the communities, but true change can't come unless it is from within. I want to see that for the people here and for myself."

The insight I gained even within the first few days of being in Mozambique shocks me. It seems the longer it has been since the trip, the more I have gained. But clearly changes began occurring immediately. I am a selfish person (as much as I would like to, I can't fully deny that). And I DID go to Africa for all the wrong reasons. But I walked away with so much more than I even imagined I could. All because I let Africa change me for the better.

july 6th, 2006

2011-07-06T13:33:00.007-07:00

*Sigh* Doing this makes me miss Africa so much. For the first few months after I returned, I felt as if Africa was my homeland and the US was just a vacation. Like I BELONGED in Africa. That feeling has passed. But I will always feel like a little piece of me is there...

July 6th, 2006
"Today has been a long and amazing day. This morning, we went to the community of Mungassa to work on the community centers. The first center that we worked on was almost complete, with exception to a few minor things that needed to be done. I jumped right in with Eric C when he was working on leveling a wall. We used machetes to dig out the dirt beneath the reed grass walls so they would drop further into place. When that was finished, Nikki and I used twine to tie a bundle of grass on top of the walls to create a "sill"... After the first "sill" was tied, Nikki and I went around with wire to secure support-sticks together that held the wall reed grass up!... When the wire ties were secure and finished, Nikki and I began lashing reed bundles onto the walls to create sills. Linda and Jessica were working together on the sills, as well as Julie and Lucas. Erik G & Jenna were tying off twine and reed grass to complete the last wall. Everyone's efforts payed off! We were able to begin a second community center!... When the first was complete, we walked along the paths to the second center to dig holes for support beams. Using a machete to dig a hole is hard work. There was a man that I was working with (I didn't ask his name...) who is from Congo. He lived in England for 3 years and France for 5. He also lived in Germany for a period of time; he speaks Portuguese, French, Arabic, English, and several tribal dialects. He hopes to return to Congo next year and become ambassador.
***[speaking of our first visit at ASEM, the older orphanage] "I really enjoyed teaching the children how to make the paper helicopters! Eric C was translating for me while the girls were helping the little kids with their helicopters. I just sat there while everyone was working. I almost started crying because it was neat to see the kids and the volunteers working together, trying to communicate. Everyone was laughing or smiling. It just touched me that the children had learned something that has been a part of my life for the last several years because of the Science Center. Everyone was screaming and jumping up and down with excitement when they saw the helicopters working. I couldn't even join them in their fun because I wanted to just watch them in their happiness and excitement!"

Unfortunately, I lost the pictures of the kids playing with the helicopters at ASEM. But I still remember the excitement from all the things the volunteers brought to play with during our visits. Helicopters. Paper airplanes. Parachute. Beads. Simple things. Things that probably wouldn't have excited me before. Things that will now carry a special memory any time I see them.

july 5th, 2006

2011-07-05T15:48:00.006-07:00

This was such a busy day that I wrote twice. Once in the afternoon. Once in the evening. I still remember this day. The morning more clearly than many other days I spent in Mozambique. It was our first morning out among the people. It was wonderfully overwhelming.

July 5th, 2006
"... João, a director of Care for Life, divided us up among the field workers - making sure there was someone to translate in each group. I went out with a man named Celestino and another man... I believe his name was Monga... I was very hesitant to go with 2 people that I didn't know, but it was wonderful. We started down the path to visit families... The first lady that we visited was an older lady who lived with her grandson who is 12. She has had 6 daughters who all died at very young ages. It was very sad to hear about it. Another family had a child that they "adopted" into their family when the child's parents died. While moving with this kid, he was riding on a bike & his foot got caught, so now he has an injured foot. The man that he lives with, because of superstition, hasn't taken him to the hospital. It's such a difficult situation. To make matters worse, this man was riding his bike home one day (probably the only luxury he has in the world) and he was attacked by bandits, beaten with a stick, and his bike was stolen. There were so many heart breaking stories that Celestino translated for me. Most of the families were meeting their goals, so it was a good visit. After I had gotten comfortable, I began saying "Oi" and "Bom dia". I would ask the children their age and ask to take pictures. One young boy climbed a tree to get some fruit for us. It was like chalky sour apple tasting. Most of the people were very receptive of me and allowed me to take photos.

***"The orphanage was right across the street from the [Indian] ocean. The kids recognized some of the people right away and were yelling "vem aqui!" - "come here!" Everyone put on an apron and headed for the entrance. While walking along the gate to the entrance, most of the kids stuck their tiny hands out the fence and gave handshakes and hi-fives! It was precious. They were all screaming and jumping up and down with excitement before we even entered!... We tried to sneak into the orphanage without the children in the yard seeing us, but it didn't work. They made a mad rush for us - children of every size and form. It was powerful to see how little the children have to clothe themselves, usually not much more than a completely worn through shirt and a pair of tattered shorts. Boys were wearing "girl" clothes and vice versa. It was hard to know the gender of the child because there were rarely any visual clues... The orphans rarely ever see individual attention, so we just held them and played with them... Visiting was so much to take in. You just want to hold all of them - love all of them."
My memories from the orphanages that we worked at are are the most bittersweet of my memories. The most heart warming - yet heart breaking - was the baby orphanage, which we visited every night. Swore I would go back and adopt one. One day...

fourth

2011-07-05T10:24:00.002-07:00

The fourth was a busy day for us, as it was for most. Ward pancake breakfast. Preschool activities (I'll blog about that later with oodles of pictures). Making dessert. Family BBQ. Visiting friends [before they leave for japan]. Sparklers and fireworks. Busy, busy day. Here are our photo highlights.

july 4th, 2006

2011-07-04T12:00:00.002-07:00

Five years ago on this day (yep, Independence Day), I arrived in Beira, Mozambique. I spent the month of July working in orphanages, building grass huts, and giving service where needed. It was one of the most life-changing experiences I have ever had; worth everything it took to get me there.
For the remainder of the month, I am going to post entries from the journal that I kept [meticulously] while in Africa. I will also share at least one photo a day from my experience - more when I have them (my computer crashed 2 years ago and I lost all but a small handful of the 1,200 photos I took while in Africa). No worries, I will still post here and there about our current activities and doings.

July 4th, 2006
[Speaking of the trip to LeSedi the previous night] "We got there during the middle of the music & dance performance. I cannot write how alive and intense it was. The room was a circular hut - like 40ft in diameter. The audience sat on cushions that lined steps around the room while the dancers and drummers were in the center, dancing and playing around a fire. It was so loud, but it was beautiful! Just a few minutes after we had grabbed seats, the performers were pulling the audience onto the dance floor to dance and chant with them! It was fun to be a part of it! I think there were 30 audience members there, altogether, so it was a pretty intimate performance! When the dancing finished, we made our way to another hut. The performers were singing and chanting as we walked along the dirt path to the dinner hut... I ate so much! I had ostrich, lamb, venison, and so much more! My favorite was the ostrich. Dessert was delicious. I don't even know what I ate! When most people had finished, everyone was given a drum. The drummers taught us a few beats and we all tried to drum along. They kept yelling "faster, faster!". It was out of control! LeSedi was great!

***
"This morning we got up & ready, had breakfast, then were out the door to get to the airport for our last flight. I thought the plane from Phoenix to LA was small! This plane was even smaller! We had to ride from the airport to our plane on a shuttle bus. Once at the plane, we were told 4 people had to catch the next flight. We were all reluctant, but finally 4 men volunteered. Then we were told we still exceeded the weight limit & that our luggage would be on the next flight. It was crazy! Finally, an hour later, we were on the tiny, ity bity plane. 25 passengers! I had a window seat AND an aisle seat at the same time!"

I am so grateful I wrote as frequently and as detailed as I did during my stay in Africa. Though a majority of my pictures are gone forever, I still have my memories recorded. And journals help add a depth of emotion that photos don't always capture...

summer fun

2011-06-28T12:42:00.002-07:00

Saturday was a big day. Daniel turned one month. I came up with a new way to document each month. And I look forward to torturing my child this way every month until he turns one year old...
Clearly he is as excited about this as I am.
One Month Stats:
Weight: 10 lbs, 10 oz
Height: 22.5 in

Saturday was also a big day for the Root family because it REALLY marked the first day of summer for us. POOL TIME! It was the first time we have been swimming since last summer. Joel. LOVED it. Jumped in and attempted floating and everything in between. Lucas. HATED it. At first, any way. Clung to Robert like a wet cat. Slowly loosened up as time went on.
I wish I could say the lighting and contrast make my kids blinding white. But no.
That is their skin color causing your eyes to burn. Just look at them compared to my mom.

off the soap box

2011-06-24T13:44:00.003-07:00

Last post. Kind of harsh. I know. Not aimed at anyone in particular (so don't think I was trying to point fingers or lay blame to you). I promise. And I don't MIND being asked. It is just a matter of HOW those questions are asked. If you put your opinion into your question THEN I will throw daggers at you with my eyes. Just kidding. I will throw them with my mind (this is sarcasm, people. sarcasm). And I swear I am not as angry or frustrated or negative as some of my last few posts have made me appear. Really! I have felt a lot happier the last few weeks than I have felt in a while. I have just lost some of the filter that I had before hand. Personally, I blame having three children. And no patience. They say children teach you patience. I am waiting for that to happen (ha. how ironic). Seems to me that I have lost patience with each one. Either way, I want you to know that I am generally content. In the tired way. Not the overflowing gleefulness way. Besides, if you really know me, you know I am not one for jumping up and down for joy with ginormous smiles on my face. I smile on the inside.

COMPLETE CHANGE IN SUBJECT. So. I have a dear friend. She writes. Actually, I have a couple of friends that write. But for now, I am talking about one friend in particular. Who has started a story blog. Who is currently sharing an amazing story on said story blog. If ever you are looking for something to read OR looking for the opportunity to immerse yourself in wonderful goodness, check this out. Chapterhouse Lane. By Hero London. LOVE it.

two things

2011-06-23T13:15:00.004-07:00

Two things. Nobody's business. Everyone's concern. THE two things I get asked about more than anything else. Nursing & number four. Lets start with nursing.
"Are you nursing? How long do you plan to nurse?" Actually... none of your business. But let me answer anyway. Daniel is four weeks old as of yesterday. He is almost exclusively nursed. Maybe one or two bottles a week when I PHYSICALLY cannot nurse. So yes. I am nursing. For now. But guess what. Remember how I had an infection(s), but everything got better? Getting worse. Not AS BAD as when I had an infection(s). But regardless. More pain than what is normal. And really weird muscle sensations near my collarbone/shoulders when I nurse. Besides, Daniel has MAJOR reflux when he nurses. Way worse than what the other two had. But he never has reflux with formula. Keeps it in like a champ. So no. I do not plan to nurse much longer. Like 6 more weeks.
[Before you get all high and mighty on how AMAZING nursing is, hold your tongue. I exclusively nursed Lucas for 9 months and pumped enough for him to have nothing but breastmilk until he was 1 year. Never had one problem. I know the pros and cons of nursing. I am aware of passing on immunity and all the health benefits to both me and the baby. I got it. But my body is having a difficult time this go-around. And this causes my brain much stress. I do not handle stress well, so this is a sanity choice. My baby can either be nursed and EVERYONE in the household will suffer from a crazy me. Or. My baby can have formula - which, btw, my family doc said is awesome these days - and everyone in the household will be HAPPIER. Common sense decision.]
"When do you plan on having number four? You're going to wait a while, right?" Actually... none of your business. But let me answer anyway. Number four will join our family when both ROBERT AND I feel good and ready. Don't assume it will happen immediately. But don't assume it will be after "a while". And PLEASE for the love of all that is holy, don't tell me when to have the next one. Honestly, I feel good and ready. Dead serious. Not ashamed. My body on the other hand, not ready just yet. I mean I DID just give birth 4 weeks ago. It will take a couple months before my body gets back to normal. But I love how close Joel and Lucas are. And I would be completely fine with having a fourth baby close to Daniel. Especially since we will probably stop at four. Which would mean I would be done. And that much close to the end of diapers...
[Before you tell me YOUR opinion on how close babies should or shouldn't be, hold your tongue. I have heard it all before. I mean, Joel and Lucas ARE 8 days shy of 12 months apart. And it was not an accident. Yes. It can be difficult at times. Guess what, there will ALWAYS be challenges. But as with different situations, challenges differ too. So don't judge me because of the reproductive choices I make. I am not an unintelligent person. I know the "consequences" of my actions. This is MY (& my husband's) decision. Oh. And I kind of don't care whether you always agree with my choices. I wont judge you on yours if you don't judge me on mine.]
Sorry if I am harsh or offensive. But if you are going to ask, you are going to get an honest answer. I am all about honesty these days. I am tired of trying to hide certain things from certain people because I feel as if they will over-judge me. How about showing support instead? That would make things easier on my poor tortured brain!
Flip side. Daniel is starting to slowly fuss less and less. I love this. Or maybe I am tuning him out more and more. Regardless. Stress level is beginning to decrease in the Root home ever so slightly. But let's be honest: I will always stress over everything. It is who I am. But I am still loved. Know how I know? Daniel smiled at me this morning. Not a gas smile or a sleep smile. I'm thinking a real smile. He did it for his Daddy this morning, too. Wonderful.

blessed

2011-06-19T22:07:00.006-07:00

I feel so blessed to have Daniel in our family. He may not be as easy-going as I had hoped, but I love his little personality regardless. He is beginning to respond to my voice with "ooh"s and "ahh"s. LOVE it. And I know smiles are right around the corner. If they are as good as his gas or sleep smiles, they will be worth any difficulty I have had thus far. He is precious.

Today was Daniel's blessing day. Instead of the standard blessing outfit, Daniel was clad in a white onesie with a ridiculously adorable polka dot tie that I made for him (that matched his Daddy's and brothers' ties). We had so much support from our family (and a few close friends that are basically considered family). It was wonderful. And Daniel didn't even cry! Following Sacrament meeting, a lady from the ward came up to me with a little note card that had the blessing written out for us. Seriously so sweet.

Our little family of five! And yes, we are matchy matchy!

yes, please!

2011-06-18T13:41:00.000-07:00

Um. YES.

Oh Happy Day is offering an AMAZING trip to Paris! If you want to enter, click here [though, you are hurting my chances at winning]...

2011-06-14T13:46:00.007-07:00

Ok. So my last post MAY have been a tad bit "Debbie Downer". Sorry if you didn't like it. Wasn't trying to complain. Just saying it like it is. And before you start doubting, I love Daniel COMPLETELY. He warms my heart. Even if he voices his opinion often. Besides, he is only 3 weeks old, right? I am sure I will have a plump little contented baby soon. And if not, at least I can always hope.
Today was a dr. visit. A NEW doctor. Took both Daniel and Joel. Daniel for his 2 week check up (at basically 3 weeks). Joel for ridiculously severe swollen tonsils. Ps. Joel has basically been sick since Christmas. Took him in on Christmas Eve eve. Tonsillitis. Since that time he has had tonsillitis, bronchitis, laryngitis, flu, cold, and everythingelseunderthemoon. At least 12 separate cases in under 6 months. I don't mind my kids getting sick occasionally. Helps build their immune system. But this has exhausted his. Not to mention mom's patience. And since everything has been viral, there is not really a thing they can do. Doc said this can last until they are 6. Um... No thanks; I'll pass. Daniel is looking good health-wise. Gaining weight as he should. So he IS getting enough to eat. I think his stomach and brain need to learn to communicate better. And even though Lucas wasn't there as a patient, the doc said he looks to be your average, healthy toddler. "Likes to stir the pot" were the exact words the doc used to describe Lucas... Understatement of the year. He likes to stir it. Then tip it over. Then play in it. That one is CRAZY. Going to try to capture some videos of him just to prove my point...

Daniel's 2 (really 3) week stats:
Weight: 9 lbs. 2 oz.
Length: 22 in.
Head Circ.: 14 in.
Yeah... all of his stats are a wee bit smaller than Joel's BIRTH stats...

Joel, Lucas, & Daniel just shy of three weeks old (Daniel looks more like Lucas here... which is weird).

spoke too soon

2011-06-13T10:30:00.003-07:00

You know how sometimes you are pleasantly surprised about something but the moment you express it everything seems to go south? Yeah. Story of my life (ok, maybe not REALLY - just feels like it at times). Last few days have. been. miserable. Insane amounts of stress (granted some was self-induced). Daniel is NOT the happy camper I thought him to be. Nope. The more this little one learns to keep his eyes open, the more he likes to scream. And he goes STRAIGHT to screaming; no introductory whine or whimper here. Screaming is basically all he does when awake. LUCKILY he is still sleeping a majority of the day (and thankfully he still sleeps extremely well). So why the change? I am thinking it has something to do with nursing. Daniel still nurses like a champ. But mommy may not have recovered from the infection(s) as well as she thought. Just don't seem to be making enough for this forever-hungry child. The more his personality develops, the more he seems to be like Joel. Who was a very demanding baby. Yippee . . .

2011-06-08T17:29:00.002-07:00

This guy is two weeks old today. Last week it was weird to think he was here. This week it is weird to imagine life without him. He has still been a wonderful baby. Still only wakes up once in the night to eat (technically only wakes up once in the early morning). Still sleeps well. Mom, however, has NOT been doing as well. Nope. Infection. Staph infection. And possible thrush. Prohibited me from nursing on one side for about 48 hours (which I was okay with because nursing on that particular side hurt so bad because of the infection(s) that I would scream). Caused my body to stop producing due to over-demand and stress. Never thought a body could shut down so quickly. Tried to persevere. Basically "gave up". Started supplementing. On my last attempt, it all came back. Everything seems to be okay now. I am unsure of exactly how long I wish to nurse (I mean, come on. look at what I did with Lucas). But I would have been devastated if I hadn't made it even two short weeks (though the reason would have been legitimate). Other than that snafu, things here are great!

trifecta

2011-06-07T22:08:00.004-07:00

After Lucas was born, I did a comparison post with photos of Joel and Lucas. Thought it would be fun to compare all three. Joel: on the LEFT. Lucas: in the MIDDLE. Daniel: on the RIGHT. Sorry that some of the pics are not the best quality (may not bug you, but drives me crazy).
Last picture before baby came

Holding baby for the first time

Daddy holding baby for the first time

Baby's first bath

Mommy holding baby on day 2

Daddy holding baby

My friend, Gina "Banina" holding baby for the first time

Baby in car seat, heading for home

Just a day shy of 2 weeks old (I think all three look different)

Know what is weird to comprehend? I have THREE children. Weird.

anni

2011-06-03T21:30:00.003-07:00

Yesterday, Robert gave me these beautiful roses for our anniversary. He said, "I got you white ones because that is the color you wore four years ago today". Romantic, right? My response: "OR because that was the only color available..." I sure know how to kill a sincerely sweet moment, don't I? Regardless. Four years. Ups and downs as with any marriage. But I wouldn't trade a single minute. Nope. Why? Because Robert is the most amazing person I know. And I am so happy to call him mine.
Ps. The roses... the only thing we did to celebrate. Something about having just given birth to our third child...

:)

2011-06-02T21:55:00.005-07:00

As promised, here are Daniel's newborn picturesProud for so many reasons... I took these pictures... I crocheted the owl hat, bear set, & blue blanket... I sewed the tan minky blanket... I MADE THAT BABY...Seriously. Daniel could not have been more chill for these pictures. And so glad I did them when I did. His silky smooth skin is getting a little blotchy here and there. Not to mention the peeling hands and feet. And the newborn zits that are starting to form.

one week

2011-06-01T20:38:00.008-07:00

It has been a week since Daniel was born. Relatively short amount of time. Yet I still have no clue where the time went. Seriously, blinked & he was here. Maybe if I stop blinking he will always stay this way... So far: perfect baby (probably helps that he is number three. having been through this multiple times seems to make it easier). Even though he is just a week old, Daniel is already forming a natural schedule. His feeding times during the day fall perfectly into place with the schedule Joel and Lucas have. LOVE IT. And, luckily for me, he only requires ONE feeding between 10pm and 8am. LOVE IT EVEN MORE. Sleeps well, even when Joel and Lucas are wild and crazy or angry and upset. The boys love their "Baby Daniel". They always have to say "hi" to him first thing in the morning or "bye" to him any time they leave the room. Joel constantly asks to hold him. Both help give him his "blinky" (binky) when it pops out of his mouth. Currently: no resentment over a new baby. Robert went back to work today. Things could not have gone more smoothly for my first day alone. With three babies. Under the age of three. Maybe I am capable of this whole mothering thing after all...
Funny thing is, I totally have a picture of Joel poking Lucas in the head when he was born... Apparently poking is Joel's thing.

baby bear

2011-05-29T23:38:00.001-07:00

This is what we did today. He was 100% cooperative, too. My child... cooperative. Who would have guessed? More to come...

new

2011-05-27T12:53:00.009-07:00

So. We have a new little family member. He decided to make his entry into this world less than 14 hours before Mommy was scheduled to be induced. Here is the quick low-down:

TUESDAY at my doctor's appointment, I was about 4cm. Our insurance is changing June 1st & we wanted to avoid 2 insurance companies for 1 hospital visit, so I elected for a 3am (yes. 3. AM) induction for Thursday, May 26th.

WEDNESDAY at about 2am, I wake up to light cramping. Meh. Fall back to sleep. At about 3am, I wake to more light cramping. Meh. At about 4am, I decide my bladder is full enough to completely wake myself. Might as well see if the cramps have a pattern. Yup. They do. 8 minutes apart. I wake Robert. We time them. I text my mom and ask her to hold off on going to work. From 5am to 6am, the cramps go from 8 minutes apart to 3 minutes apart. I text my mom and tell her to come over, just in case this is the real thing. Run to the bathroom and throw on some makeup (I mean, IF this is the real thing, there will be photos right?). My mom arrives. We leave for the hospital. Empty. NICE. Get into triage at 7am. I am checked and told I am at about 5.5 cm. Real thing. NOW they begin to feel like contractions. INTENSE contractions. They hook me up to penicillin (I was positive for group B strep) and they tell me that they are going to try to delay delivery for 4 hours so they can get a second round of penicillin in. Okay. BUT GIVE ME MY EPIDURAL. Cause I hurt. At 8am, we are taken to our labor and delivery room and the epidural is started. Doesn't quite work. I can still feel pain during contractions. And the catheter. AND I AM GOING TO DIE. Maybe not. But it feels like it. At 9am, they give me a nice epidural cocktail by increasing the drugs and adding some mix-ins. All pain is gone, yet I can still move my legs and feet. Perfect. Relax for a couple hours. At 11am, the second round of penicillin is started. At 12pm, I am given a "peanut" ball to help with the last 1.5 cm AND to turn the baby. He is "sunny side up". And that is not favorable. At 12:50pm, we are ready for delivery. As the nurse positions me and preps the bed, baby decides to flip back to "sunny side up" (in a matter of seconds). Doc arrives. Grabs the baby by the head and flips him back (um. don't twist my baby's head off...). They tell me to push during the next contraction. One comes before we realize it, but I push anyway. Missed delivering him in one contraction by a hair. Second contraction and baby is out. I watched the entire thing (from the "safe" position of my natural viewpoint. no mirrors, thanks). Then I grabbed the camera and began taking pictures like a madwoman (yes. while my baby is still attached to me. before he begins breathing. crazy? maybe... freezing an amazing moment? definitely). I put down the camera as they hand him to me (and possibly command my husband to play photographer). Our third boy. As perfect and unique as his brothers. He has been simple and easy; more laid back than Lucas thus far and DEFINITELY easier than Joel. One night in the hospital and we are home. Recovery? Smooth. Nursing? Great. Joel and Lucas? Handling the new baby well. The most difficult thing so far: Joel. Who is 2.5 years old. And in the swing of "terrible twos". AND acting no different than in the days/weeks prior to the new arrival. We shall see how the first night home goes...

Daniel Liam Root
8lbs 4.6oz, 20.5in
May 25, 12:55pm
brown hair, steel blue eyes

man

2011-05-23T15:56:00.004-07:00

So. Been thinking a lot, lately. Pause. Rewind. I ALWAYS think a lot (one of Robert's main "complaints"). Regardless of how often or how much I think, lately I have been thinking a lot about Robert. Perspective changes over time. Dating. Marriage. Parenthood. Roles are constantly being redefined. I never contemplated the strain children could have on a marriage until I HAD children of my own (I mean, how could you know how something is going to be until you are experiencing it?!). Sometimes it feels like Robert and I just... coexist. That we are two adults who happen to live together while caring for small children. I know this is "common". I know this is "normal". But that doesn't mean I have to like it or have to settle for it. So. Been thinking a lot, lately. And getting back in touch with why and how much I love and respect Robert. Any time the topic of marriage comes up, whether it be with him or with friends, my adoration and gratitude for Robert is strengthened tenfold. Sometimes just catching a glimpse of a photo of him is enough to put a smile on my face. Though I often joke that he is dull, boring, or plain, Robert is so many things. Generous. Kind. Thoughtful. Valiant. Hardworking. Respectful. Diligent. Honest. Maybe even a little bit nerdy and a lot a bit sarcastic. And even if that newlywed passion has, well, died off, I still know that Robert's world revolves around me JUST by the way that he looks at me and the way he treats me. I wouldn't change that for anything - even all the newlywed passion in the world. I cherish him.Oh. Since most/many/some/few of you may be curious. Nothing. Still waiting. 5 days until my due date. 3cm & like... 90-100%. No contractions. No induction date set. So NO CLUE when this will happen. Ps. Lucas came 5 days early. But I am not holding my breath...

three

2011-05-17T13:42:00.004-07:00

This post will be divided into three parts.
PART I: Pregnancy
I am now 38.5 weeks along. And miserable. If you see me or talk with me, you may not know this. But secretly, deep inside, I might be rolling my eyes any time someone asks me how I am doing. Not out of irritation or frustration towards the person asking, of course. Just out of the simple fact that I am still pregnant. And uncomfortable. And have just been reminded for the umpteenth time that I have not yet had the baby. If this shocks or offends you... well, sorry. Saying it like it is.
Two things make this pregnancy frustrating at this point. First, just over a week ago, the baby was ALREADY measuring to be about 7lbs 11oz. Which means, if I go full term I will most likely have another 9+lb baby. The longer it takes, the bigger he gets. Second, yesterday I began having regular contractions. 9 am. 8 minutes apart. Noon. 5 minutes apart. 9 pm. 5 minutes apart. 10 pm. GONE. 12 hours of early labor that died off. Had a doc appointment yesterday afternoon; he thought he would see me in the hospital before the night was over. Clearly that didn't happen. Majorly frustrating. But I know it will happen. And soon(ish). -End rant-

PART II: Children
Welcome to the happier part of the post. Sorry for earlier. My kids are crazy/silly. Parenting, while exhausting, is entertaining. With Lucas, it is just every little detail about him. The way he walks, the way he runs, the way he laughs, the way he talks. The kid is an entertainer. With Joel, it is the way he has become a "mother hen" to Lucas.
Kids pick the most interesting phrases to repeat (luckily, no "choice phrases" have yet been repeated). Joel is at the "no" stage. Not just repeating the word, but sincerely expressing an opinion (I like the repeat stage with that word better...). Lately, I have told Joel, "Do not tell me 'no'. Say 'okay Mommy'". Which he usually does, albeit crying. The other night, Lucas started saying "no" out of the clear blue. No particular reason. Joel turns to him and says, "Cuca, don't tell me 'no'!". Robert and I looked at one another and busted up laughing. It. Was. Perfect.
During lunch, Lucas has the habit of shoving as much of his sandwich into his mouth as he possibly can. A few days ago, I paid attention to Joel's reaction to this. "Cuca, take it easy! Take it easy!" A phrase Joel must have learned from his father. It made me smile. Joel's ability to communicate is becoming quite entertaining.

PART III: "Stuff"
Much to the disappointment of my husband, I have major nesting instincts. Pregnancy number three has been no exception. Last week, after finishing up with my last few photography clients, I began nesting like crazy. Sewed a couple of things. Taught myself to crochet. You know, the norm. Now, 3 hats, 2 blankets, 1 cocoon, and a car seat tent later, I am done. I even managed to finish my mom's Christmas gift (only 4.5 months late, right?!). She now has the beginnings of a "heritage wall" in her dining room...
The heritage wall.

The steel blue baby blanket I am 1/3 of the way finished crocheting.

Car seat tent.

I thought some good pictures of the boys would be nice... too bad they were both throwing fits when the camera was out...

baby belly

2011-05-03T09:43:00.001-07:00

A couple more pictures Robert took the other day...