Can you do that when you're 7 1/2 months pregnant?

The circle of friends that I walk in currently consists of at least seven pregnant women (my apologies if I left anyone out). Among those friends there is a wide discrepancy on how they do or do not follow the doctor's orders. Some are incredibly cautious and follow the rules to the t. Others, I shan't mention any names, are a little more relaxed. None, however, are as uber cool as my beautifully pregnant wife. Don't fly within the last trimester? To heck with you all. I'll do it anyway. In fact, I may not come back until I have three and a half weeks left.


Be careful what you do for exercise, for you may not want to over exert yourself. Pish Posh. I've been doing the Baker bop, a slightly provocative dance move that originated with Mrs. Virginia Baker, for years. Doing the Baker Bop on a consistent basis is not only fun but it allows you to keep that pregnancy weight down to a minimum.

And finally, you should be careful not to do anything where you might risk falling because falling can be potentially dangerous. I'll see your caution and I'll raise you one. I'll go ice skating on a rink in the middle of Sacramento where it is 59 degrees outside, the ice has more bumps in it than a elementary school parking lot, and I will do it all while looking super hot! Doctors beware. This may not be your ideal patient, but she does make for a phenomenal wife, not to mention mother of the year. We are truly blessed to have her in our midst.

Remember, I'm a Baker

This blogging site was originally dedicated to the Brimhall/Baker family, with the intention to teach people what it meant to be a Baker/Brimhall. I'm not sure I've met that objective, until now. They say a picture paints a thousand words. Now I may not want to know all of the words this picture paints but at least it gives you a little glimpse into my life as a Baker.

Imagine walking down the streets of Sacramento and seeing this herd of...walking blueberries, smurfs, Kevin Feterline wantabees, fill in your own blank here ______. It is a site that is hard to comprehend. 15 people dressed exactly alike, from middle aged to 8 months old. Would you find it even harder to believe that Shelby and Heather found these hats the day of? And they matched the sweaters remarkably. They definitely made the outfits, not to mention the night, a little more lively. Overall, I think Baker and Lindsey get the reward for pulling off the outfit the best.

Although Uncle Jim gets an honorable mention:

Baker Turns Two--Part Two

WANTED!

Lest you think Baker's Birthday Bash went off without a hitch, let me introduce you to Lip-Smackin' Lindsey Louise. From all accounts she is wanted in several states. You may ask yourself, what is such a sweet, young, innocent child wanted for? Don't let her crocodile tears and pouty lips fool you. While we were all minding our own business Lip Smacking Lindsey Lou snuck into the dining room downstairs, where the train cake was securely fastened under several layers of the finest protection. Once there she dismantled any attempt to keep the cake secure and laughed in our general direction. Unfortunately, she did not plan on getting caught. Now she is doing time in the Prison of Shelby, a small isolated cell in central Florida. Her sentence has yet to be determined. However, in talking with other criminals that have spent time in the Prison of Shelby, the outlook is bleak. I happened to catch up with "Table Knawing Nathan" a few years after serving time. According to him, he's never had to wash as many garbage cans as he did after being locked up there. "It's amazing," he said. "One minute I am the life of the party, thoroughly entertaining all of my cousins, the next I'm up to my elbows in garbage pails and toilet bowls." All we can say is that we hope that moment of delicious, unresistable, frosting was worth your years of servitude. Good luck Lindsey Louise!

Though witnesses claim she tried to deny it, here is a picture of the aftermath:

Baker Turns Two

On Saturday, December 22nd, Baker finally turned two. It is an event that we have been anticipating for several weeks. We are still trying to adjust our schedules and family traditions around having a birthday boy in December. I wish I could say that we've successfully managed it thus far, but I know it doesn't rival the parties we've thrown for Katie (although you'd never know due to Heather's ability to create magic from the Internet and a couple of pipe cleaners). Perhaps we will consider more earnestly celebrating his half birthday when he grows older.

As for now, we had to wake the poor boy from his nap to let the festivities begin, hence the glazed look above. If not it was going to throw our carolling off by an hour. Although it took him a little while to become coherent once he did he was alive.

For those of you who don't know Baker has recently developed a love for anything Thomas (which he calls "choo-choo" in his soft little high pitched voice--perhaps the cutest thing you've ever heard,--except for when he wakes up and says, "Choo-Choo pan cakie, Daddy?"). You can imagine how a little boy who absolutely loves choo choo trains would react to this cake, a cake that Heather made from scratch in about an hour (see previous comment about Internet and pipe cleaners). A modern day McGyver. The kids were in candy heaven.

Except for Baker! When he found out he couldn't eat the cake until after pictures he began to slowly dawn his pouty face, another very cute feature that Baker has perfected.

Finally the time came where he was free to indulge. Here is a picture of him next to the magician herself, stuffing his face with a...? (Can anybody guess the item he choose to devour first? Hint: He takes after his dear old dad.)

Here is another picture, several minutes later, of the entire family. You'll notice that again Baker was not thrilled that right after he was given free reign of Thomas the Train cake (who was making a special delivery from Cavity Land) that he was being asked to pose for a family picture that was at least three feet away from the cake.

After we were done feasting on the cake the festivities began. Heather had purchased special little conductor hats and had spontaneously created three fun activities that the children could do. As the kids were eating cake we put about 70 little black stripes of construction paper in a line (resembling a train track) throughout the house. The kids were told that they were conductors and that they had to follow the tracks in order to discover a special surprise. Along the way they had to do several things that helped the trains continue to function. For example, at one stop they had to "coal," which consisted of rolled up black socks (Thanks poppy for letting us raid your sock drawer), and throw them back into the engine car.

Overall, it was an enormous success, except for one thing. Before going to CA we began to notice that Baker had a slight nervousness whenever he encountered a dog. We informed Grammy and Poppy, who have two dogs of there own, that they made to initially watch their dogs until Baker could warm up to them.

Well, in order to win over Baker, Grammy and Poppy's dogs, being the nice dogs that they are, gave Baker a little gift; a gift that would welcome him to the family. It appears, however, that Baker didn't seem to appreciate their humor. Even though the dog in the picture below was stuffed he about flew out of his chair. I guess we'll have to bill Chelsea and Diego in a few years when Baker is receiving treatment for his paranoia of all things furry ferocious!

Introducing the next GQ cover model

Several months ago I was at church and I saw this cute little kid enter church wearing a little suit with a tie. It took me a second to realize that the little boy was mine. I was so used to thinking of Baker as our little Baby Boy that it took me a second to realize that he is quickly turning into our little man. Seeing him in his little outfit was so adorable. Well, you'll notice that he isn't wearing a tie in this picture. That's because a week or two ago I turned to Heather and said, "did we ever get a picture of Baker in that cute little suit that he used to wear to church?" She said no. As usual we had great intentions of taking his picture but back in those days I was in the Bishopric and Heather had two kids, an entire music lesson, and several other things to all juggle Sunday morning before church all by herself (needless to say those generally are not the most priceless Kodak moments). On the flip side Baker had usually been in nursery for two hours, eaten snack, and wrestled with several kids during that time. As a result he usually crashed in the car on the way home. Again, waking a sleeping child for a parent's picture gratification is generally not a great idea. Either way, we never got a picture. So imagine Heather's surprise the other day when she came out before church and her little boy was wearing his suit. Why the surprise? Well the suit is for 6-9 months. For those of you who are counting Baker is now less than a month away from being 2. While it may be a little small for him (his vest looked like he was a high priest still trying to wear his mission vest; which we know there are several of those that exist in the church) I think the overall look was fetching. He certainly is a fun child to have in our lives.

I also wanted to show you a picture of Katie and Baker together. I love this picture because it really illustrates how Katie treats Baker. She is an absolutely wonderful big sister. She will play with him and entertain him for hours. The two of them have a very special bond and Baker will often follow her around the house and do everything she does. Katie is not in his vocabulary but one of the very first words that he learned to say was, "cis-sy" (Baker for sissy). It seems that Katie can get him to laugh and play faster than anybody else in the family. For example, the other day I went in to get him out of bed in the morning. After several minutes of catering to his every need (changing his diaper, getting him a drink, changing his pee soaked jammies), during which time Baker hardly acknowledged I was there, Katie walked in the room and he jumped up and yelled, "CIS-SY" We certainly are a lucky to have two such beautiful and loving children.

Do you ever wish you had a recorder?

So I'm driving in the van with Katie, Baker, and her two neighbor friends Tyler (the one with the monkey face; not that he looks like a monkey but the one literally pulling the monkey face) and Josh (the one in the stripes). As I'm driving them home I have one of those moments where I think, Man I'd pay money to have a tape recorder right now. So I decided I'd hurry and sit down and try to recapture some of the magic. We'll see how I do. Many of you may not realize this but in St. Louis they require you to tell a joke in order to "earn" your trick-or-treat candy. As a result the kids were all well versed on their latest jokes. As I got in the van I received a chorus of "do you want to hear a joke?" My thought, "who wouldn't want to hear a joke created by a five year old?" (although secretly in my head I set a timer to see if we would make it all the way home hearing progressively more creative jokes; my hypothesis was yes; my hypothesis was confirmed).

First Joke:

Katie (K): Why did the kitchen cross the road?

Answer (A): to get some food to cook and eat

then a variety of jokes that followed, each child taking their turn. Katie's second joke:

K: Why did the squirrel cross the road?

A: because it was attached to the kitchen. Rounds of laughter, where does she come up with these things.

Later, Tyler, asked: Why did the Thanksgiving dog cross the road?

Josh: to meet his girlfriend.

Katie: that's silly Josh, dogs don't have girlfriends.

Josh: Yes, they do. My uncle Rick has a dog, and his wife's name is Lasso (?) and she has like 10 kids.

Katie: Oh yeah, well why did they Thanksgiving dog cross the road?

Tyler: because he wanted to eat some turkey.

Katie: wrong

Tyler: because he wanted to be with his family and friends while they ate turkey.

Katie: Wrong again.

Tyler: b bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb (that isn't actually what Tyler said Baker simply decided he needed to share computer time with his daddy). Back to the conversation.

Tyler: because he wanted to kill the turkey so he could eat it.

Katie: How did you get it?

Tyler: Hah! I got it right. In your face!

Katie: Allright, here's another one. This time I'll make it easier so you can get it right on the first time. Why did the house cross the street?

Tyler: to eat turkey with his friends (noticing a theme?).

Katie: NO! because he had feet.

Tyler: You mean he didn't like his neighbors so he decided to walk to the other side of the road to find new neighbors that he liked better?

Katie: Yeah you got it.

Tyler: Hah! I got it right. In your face!

Oh the wonder of kids. They literally could keep you entertained for hours. By the way, for those parents that have had similar experiences and as a result found themselves placing a mental wager on how long the conversation would last? We drove from our stake center to my house. Approximate traveling time: 19 minutes. So the essence of the story? Come to St. Louis, where for the small price of a candy bar you will meet our future comedians. We love you all and hope to see you soon.

Nauvoo, here we come

Our spontaneous, last minute Nauvoo trip to see where the Pioneers lived, included a special friend, Madeline Rozeski, for Katie. We drove the short distance (3 hours) to get there and see the Nauvoo pageant (which both girls slept through after a hot day in the sun).

It was a day filled with laughs, tears, and more than a few "when do I get my ice cream cone?". Riding the oxcart became a joyous experience as Katie and Madeline wowed us with their rendition of "here comes the oxcart" over and over again. But it was well worth the experience since they were so proud that they could be on a pioneer wagon.

Calling All Relatives

One of the things that we absolutely love about Saint Louis is the variety of activities that they have for families absolutely free. Take for example the Clayton Art Festival. Every year they block off a significant portion of Clayton (a suburb of St. Louis) and bring in artists from all over the nation (but mainly from the midwest). As part of the celebration they bring in food, entertainment, and most importantly free children's activities. One of the things that Baker and Katie were able to make this year is crazy paper hats:



Next we went over to the table where they got to make marble art. As you can see they put a paper in the box, cover a varitey of marbles with different color paints, and then let the kids have at it.




These are only 2 examples of the activities we did that day. They also had sand art, clay sculpting, and a variety of other activities. And the best part, all of it was F-R-E-E free. Music to a cheap man's ears. The great thing is Saint Louis has 60 other activities exactly like this one going on each and every weekend. We've absolutely loved living here and invite all of those interested to come and visit and partake of this beautiful city.

IT'S A B-IRL!!!

After weeks of questioning and guessing we had our ultrasound today and we found out that it was a little baby B-IRL. For those of you who don't know what that means, let me explain. Heather and I for the past month and a half have been toying with the idea of waiting until the birth of the baby to find out if it is a boy or a girl. My main reservation was how Katie was going to respond; she has been convinced that it is going to be a little girl. I was afraid that if she didn't know until the day of that it was a boy then she would be very disappointed. However, for the past several weeks she has been very open to the idea that it might be a boy or a girl. So finally I asked her. I said, "Katie, what if mommy and daddy don't find out what we are having until we go to the hospital." Her response, "whatever, I'd love it either way" (what an angel she is). With my major reservation deflected I had relatively little justification to not take the plunge; despite the fact that we were still questioning ourselves as we walked into the Dr's office. So long story short: we still don't know what we are having. Although Heather swears that she saw a little device floating in the amniotic fluid. I told her that her mind was playing tricks on her because she was trying as hard as she could to find out, without finding out. Overall, it was a fun experience (although it took everything we had to not look at the screen when they told us to look away). In the end, we still feel fairly confident that it is a girl but Heather's "UFO sighting" (Unidentified Floating Object) has introduced a small glimmer of doubt. Either way we are thrilled and look forward to holding this little baby in our arms.

I'm Singing in the Rain

The other day Heather and I were in the kitchen finishing a project (as we are known to do). After a while of complete silence we looked at each other and asked, "where are the kids?" After a brief search in the house, to no avail, I glanced outside and saw a topless little girl roaming the rain drenched streets. She was hopping from puddle to puddle, enjoying herself immensely. Upon seeing this Baker decided that it was unfair that his sister was having fun without him so he darted out the door and immediately dove into a puddle. Before long the entire neighborhood was out laying in the puddles. The two older girls (Alyssa and Mallory) seemed to find particular pleasure in getting Baker to lay on his belly in the puddle and do his best Shamu impersonation. That kid is quite a character. The experience was too cute to not capture on film. Although I captured some of the footage on our camcorder I didn't think to get a little digital clip that I could add to the blog page. You'll be happy to note that we finally dressed our daughter (we didn't think it would be proper to let her roam the streets topless). However, somehow we failed to put our son in something more dashing. You can't see it well in this picture but he had on a 2T onesie. By the time he was done playing in the puddle the part that was suppose to cover his bottom was dragging on the ground in between his legs. It is amazing they let us take our kids anywhere.

How Many Kimballs does it take...?

We were very forunate to have our amazing friendss visit us over Spring Break 2007. The Kimballs are a family that we met while we were in Lubbock, TX. Tom and Andy played basketball on Saturday's and worked together at school (Tom was, and continues to be, a wonderful mentor) . Heather and Melissa became close friends through their heated discussions at book club, some of which actually focused on the book!

Knowing that the Kimballs would be visiting us on their Spring Break I devised a few science projects to keep their minds alert because you know what they say...an idle mind is the devil's workshop. I knew that if they didn't keep their minds occupied they might start concocting bizarre stories like diamond mining dwarfs that save small African Villages. So, in honor of the old tootsie pop commercials, I decided to see how many Kimballs it took to outweigh a Brimhall. What started out as a joke quickly turned into an increased desire to renew my South Beach Diet. I mean look at all those kids. I wish I could say that this experience help me increase my excercise and cut back on sugar. But alas, due to a sweet tooth and a weakened will, I simply have to say, add another small child to the pile. I've heard the saying that it takes a village to raise a child, but, who has heard the one about it taking one large man to raise a village!

Happy to be a Brimhall

This week was a special one since it was Heather’s 33rd Birthday. Yep, she is officially well into her 30’s. And how did she celebrate?? Andy told her she could sleep in, but who really sleeps in with dishes being washed and a baby screaming and Katie yelling for a bowl of cereal, so she just hid in her room and read a book until Andy finally opened the door and caught her red handed. But he made her breakfast and then the first
activity started. And what activity is worthy of a birthday? That’s right! You guessed it, cleaning house. This went on for about 2 hours and then the real fun began. Heather had told Andy that all she wanted to do was letterbox for her birthday. So unbeknownst to Heather, Andy created a box and cleverly planted it for her, in her honor. It is published on atlasquest.com under the title Grover the Groundhog. This had to be about the best gift ever. So off we went (after figuring out the clues online) and in 20 degree weather, ran to the box, grabbed it and headed to Fritz’s restaurant and rootbeer bottling plant for lunch.
It was so fun. They brought you a rootbeer float sundae for your birthday and we all gobbled it down rather quickly. Katie especially loved it as all the kids meals came in little cars. Plus, you could watch them actually making, filling and labeling the rootbeer bottles while we ate. Once back in the car, we stamped into the logbook of Grover and then rehid the box where it went. Andy is so very clever.

Then we were off to find the box at the Deer Creek Rocket Slide Park that we had Searched so diligently for last weekbut could never find. The kids fell asleep on the way there but were quickly awakened and actually excited to go in below freezing weather and swing. What kids we are raising. I’m not sure what that says about us that we encourage this behavior when we are all sick. But it was fun. The day continued with sharing cake with our friends across the street and playing Sleuth. A game that Andy won for the first time (or so he says). What a wonderful night! Thank you!!

Andy was busy this week preparing letterboxes and teaching. He has struggled with whether to watch the Super Bowl on Sunday and decided against him though this meant missing out on a fun party with friends. It’s not always easy to try and follow gospel principles. This was a big week for him with presenting. The Stake had a couples sweetheart ball and Andy was a key speaker at it. He spoke on communication is marriage. Everyone was relaxed in his presentation and really enjoyed it. He spoke about trying to avoid pitfalls, changing your perspective and made an excellent analogy between Moroni, Ammoron and Pahoran that everyone talked about in the next class. The entire night dancing was spent fending off comments from people on how great Andy was. But we did get to dance (well except for the weird single teddy bear mixer that left everyone uncomfortable) and we loved every minute of our date night without the children. But we did miss our friends that would dance with us in Lubbock. Everyone here was embarrassed or said they didn’t dance.

Katie started the week on a low point. She got so mad at Heather asking her to clean her room that she told (well really screamed) her: “I’m going to kill you.” Now where our nice, sweet daughter got this kind of language is of no consequence, and while Heather wanted to really explain that actually she was her favorite person and how Katie really loved her and should want to be like her, Heather marched her straight to time out. Katie sat on the chair and cried. Once she was cried out and Heather thought that Katie was ready to apologize for her comment, she told Katie to come talk to her. Katie then said, Mommy you need to pay me all your money for being mean to your kids. (Heather making Katie pay her money everytime she wants to do an activity or earn something). It took all she had not to laugh. The week continued with Katie playing dress up. And lacking a sister certainly didn’t stop her from having a partner. She played the fairy godmother and with a little bibbity bobbity boo, Baker was quickly transformed. She loved telling Heather that even though Heather wasn’t as pretty as Katie was, she could sit by her while they played. Obviously self esteem is not an issue with Katie.

Baker had a busy week of cruising around while he held onto chairs, toys and even the cats back. He will be walking in no time, which will perhaps help him escape from his sister. He loves to play exactly what she is and while Katie gets frustrated when he puts the littlepet shop animals in his mouth instead of talking with them as his brilliant sister does, she tries to understandand teach him how to play. He babbles more and more and Katie insists he is talking and that she understands, and her interpretations of what he says are priceless. He babbles one sound and she’ll interpret an entire sentence. It’s like watching a bad voice over of a Japanese movie. But he keeps us happy and laughing and loves on us just enough to let us know that he is happy to be a Brimhall.

Time for a Whitening?

Heather and I decided for Christmas that we wanted to upgrade our digital camera in order to enhance our family pictures. We have loved our first digital camera immensely but have recently realized its limitations. So with the help of Heather's father, Shelby and Jim, and three separate trips to Circuit City (exchanging cameras everytime we went) we picked a camera that we were satisfied with. One of the features that sold us on this camera was the fact that you could set it to only pick up a certain color within the photo and it would take the rest in black and white while enhancing that particular color. We weren't sure we believed their claims so we decided to take it for a test spin. Here are the results of our experiment. You'll notice in the picture above that we decided to focus on blue.

Next, we changed it to red. Look at that cute little devilish vixen. Isn't she adorable.



Now, here is where we were truly amazed. You'll notice earlier how I mentioned that it takes any hue of the color and truly enhances it. Notice poor little Baker's nose and cheeks. The red is faint but noticeable. Overall, we were very please with our new purchase. That is until we tried the yellow. Again, I remind you that the goal of the camera is to take any hue of the accent color and enhance it (or maybe I am just saying that to make myself feel better). Either way, it doesn't feel like I have an inch of yellow fuzz on my teeth. But you know what they say, the camera never lies. Let's just hope (like the myth that the camera adds 10 pounds) that it's really not as bad as it seems. At least Katie came out looking like a princess!

I wish I had Venus' Backhand, Not Just her Nose!

Other than Venus and Evander I don't have a clue who these people are. Anybody have some info that might help? I guess I'll have to do some research tomorrow!

If you are curious you can go to the following link to do your own research:

www.wikipedia.com

Back in the saddle again!

After nearly six months of missing in action the Brimhall Bunch is back. We have successfully moved all of our possessions from Lubbock, TX and now reside in St. Louis, MO. Obviously, successful in this case means tying as much stuff as possible on top of your car so it will all fit. We are so grateful that "Poppy" (Heather's Dad) came to help us with our move. Without his ingenuity we would have never been able to save those plastic laundry baskets! Ironically, we spent nearly two days of hard physical labor and strenuous mental energy to design a way that we could keep Katie's big girl house. And yet, it sits in our backyard and has never been used. In fact, it hadn't officially been assembled until yesterday afternoon (four months later). Fortunately, the reason it hasn't been used is because all of the children in our neighborhood (and there are a lot) all play out front in our cul-de-sac. As a result, they never venture in to our backyard. It really is an amazing neighborhood. After being here for several days Dad Baker nick named the subdivision "Cleaverville" because everyday that we came home the kids were out riding their bikes around the circle and the parents were sitting in their drive ways conversing. We have really loved the neighborhood and have felt very supported. As far as the house, perhaps when Baker gets into his, "I want to have a big girl house" stage he can use it. If nothing else it forced me and Dad Baker to be creative with our knots and our rope. What an adventure.

As for leaving Texas it was one of the hardest things that we have ever had to do as a family. We miss being Red Raiders and "getting our guns up." Even Baker at six months had learned the ways of the land. But we know that we are being watched over and protected and that the Lord has our best interest at heart. Although we truly miss Lubbock, and the many friends and family that we left behind, we have absolutely loved St. Louis. It is a decent size city that has an enormous amount of things to provide a family. We have been here now for almost four months and we have barely begun to scratch the surface of what is available. One thing that we didn't realize is that they officially lowered the legal driving age to four. As a result, Katie has been out exploring the sites of downtown with her little gang (the tatoo's and earrings are hard to see from this distance, but make no mistake, they are there). That little gang is Katie and her three little cousins from Orlando. We were very blessed to have them come visit us shortly after our relocation. It was nice to have Shelby and her children in our home. Having people that we love dearly that close definitely helped with the transition period. Katie continues to talk about the memories they made during their trip to St. Louis.

As I close, I want to apologize for dropping the ball on this site. I think it is a wonderul way to stay in contact with friends and family and get updates from the ones we love. There are several fun stories that I want to share regarding our move to St. Louis. As a result I have committed to try and blog one entry each Sunday. Rather than going back and trying to catch up I am going to start on our current experiences. On those weeks that I have more time I will go back and share those funny experiences from the past.

I leave you with one funny comment. Today we decided to go to a park to spend some time together as a family. We had just taken naps and needed to get out for some fresh air (I tend to get a little stir crazy on Sunday afternoons if we don't get outside the house). Anyway, the past several days have been extremely cold here in St. Louis. As we arrived at the park near our house Katie noticed a building off to our right. She immediately blurted out in her beautiful voice, "Mommy, that building is making a bad choice." Intrigued, Heather and I asked Katie about her comment. Both of us were curious to see what type of choice a buidling could make, especially if it was bad. She looked at us like we had lost our marbles and said, "It's smoking!" Heather and I both looked at each other with our sheepish grins and said, "Of course, how could we be so foolish?" Although this experience was comical, it reminded me of an important lesson. On those days when I've asked Katie to do something a bazillion times and I feel like she never listens I'll have to remember the smoking building and remind myself that some of our lessons are definitely sinking in. We love our children and are so happy for the joy they bring our family. We hope everyone is well and look forward to reading your comments.

Love, The Brimhalls

Buyer Beware?

Here is a story for those who miss having kids around. Where is Bill Cosby when you need him? Last week Heather and Katie went to Texas Water Rampage (which is the local water park) because we have been averaging 100 degress for the past week (not typical for Lubbock in late May/early June). Since Katie has been doing so good lately (i.e., playing with her little brother, going down the big water slide all by herself, doing her chores at home) we tend to reward her with slushies from Sonic after we go to the waterpark. We figure that is the best time to give her a cup full of slushie sugar because since she is already wet we don't care if it gets all over her. Plus the fatigue of the waterpark cancels out the sugar high. A classic win-win situation. Anyhow, it just so happens that she, unlike the rest of her family, prefers the blue coconut slushie over the lemon-berry. As usual she ordered the blue coconut and quickly began to slurp it down. Unbeknownst to her that same day her mother deposited a blue disk in the back of our toilets. It had been some time and our toilet water was looking a bit pale. Well, those of you that are quick on the uptake probably sense where this is going. Later that day, when Katie had to rid herself of her Sonic Slushie, she went into the bathroom to go pottie (or tee-tee if you are from West Texas). As she removed herself from the toilet she went to flush it and her eyes got as big as saucers. She looked up her mother and said, "Look Mom, my blue slushie came out of my bottom." A father has never been so proud!

Mid-Life Crisis?

Several of you have called and expressed your love and concern as you've received information regarding our current job status. We thank you for the love and consideration. Many of you have also been wondering how I've dealt with the stress associated with this stage of my life. The answer: I avoid it. Instead, I go out and buy things. Somedays I'll get an ice cream cone and some days I buy decorations for my office (ask Heather about my new mini football helmets). The worst, however, came on Friday when I found out that I did not get the job at Oklahoma State. I was so disappointed that I felt like I needed something bigger than an ice cream cone. Imagine Heather's surprise when I drove up in this*!


I know that some of you might be thinking that I am just trying to keep up with the Ward's (Our good friends who recently moved to Tacoma, WA) but I really felt like the timing was right. I mean, what better time to have a mid-life crisis than when you are about to turn 30 and you don't know what you are going to do with the next 5-10 years of your life? And look at it this way, if things don't work out (which we strongly believe they will) at least we can live in our car (of course Katie and Baker would have to live in the trunk). I wonder if BMW knew they would have this kind of healing power when they originally invented their automobiles? Just know that you too can feel this good. Simply go to www.bmw.com and buy some happiness today (Sorry for stealing your motto Matt Smith)!

*For those of you that have not bought my story hook, line and sinker (which I figure is everybody) this car belongs to a good friend of mine. He let me sit in it temporarily and I thought it would be fun to get a picture of me looking all sporty.

Mommy's Little Helper

Katie has been the best little helper since her brother was born. She will help daddy change his diaper (i.e., getting wipes, throwing away diapers, and commenting on the "yuckiness" of it all). Also, she will hold him, cuddle him, and always get his pacifier when he cries. Occasionally, if Heather is especially busy, she even offers to feed him. If you don't believe us we have evidence. Even though that is not Baker in the bathtub (we've been accused of putting our babies in weird positions simply for the sake of a photograph) Katie has been practicing her form. She proudly tells me that she can do it just like her mommy. She loves to feed her baby and always does what it takes to make sure her baby (and her brother) knows it is loved.

Although there have been times where we get the occasional temper tantrum when one of us shows love and affection to Baker, in general Katie has been very warm and receptive to this enormous change. In the morning she will always cuddle with "Baker Bake" and tell him his is a "cutie patootee." She loves to give him big hugs, slobbery kisses, and the occasional nose rub (the two of them rub noses back and forth). Actually, it's more like Katie rubs her nose and Baker freaks out wondering what this enormous head is doing right in his face. But for the most part he is patient with his big sissy as she learns how to share her love. We are very blessed to have these wonderful children. They bring meaning to our lives and happiness to our home.

What a difference two months make!

Here is a picture of our beautiful boy eight days (12/30/05) after he was born. You cannot tell that his daddy is already trying to groom him for greatness, can you? Any way, look how cute he looks in his 0-3 month outfit. The poor thing doesn't even come close to filling it out. Notice the tiny little ankles and the non-existent neck.

Now here is that beautiful little boy two months later (02/27/06). Notice the cute little 0-3 month outfit isn't quite as roomy. Also, notice how that non-existent neck and those tiny little ankles have expanded slightly. He is growing so quickly that we are beginning to realize that we must cherish every moment with him or else before we know it he will be sitting up, walking, telling us no, and if all goes well scoring touchdowns!

Grape Nuts or Fruity Pebbles?

So I have a brief second while Katie is in the bath and thought I'd give you an update. We have obviously talked to most of you (excepting Henlines as they weren't home) so you all know that the chances of us having a job just went drastically down. We are ever hopeful that God has us in the hollow of his hands and is directing our path. So one is left to wonder why we are always going through things the hard way. And frankly, I think that is just how the cereal falls out of the box. To some it is given to have fruity pebbles and to others it is given to have a bowl of grape nuts. The only good thing out of this horrible analogy that I have come up with is that even though grape nuts is not full of fruity flavors, those who eat a lifetime of it, will be healthier in the long run. And its the long run goal that Andy and I are after. One day, when Andy is a millionaire toilet seat door to door sales man we'll recognize the good that has come out of this trial.Meanwhile, we feel our Doctor is a genius. After months of Katie's asthma being out of control, having no sleep and mom and dad on the verge of hanging ourselves from our toenails to prevent any more craziness, Dr. Camp put Katie on Acid Reflux medicine (to go along with the walking pharmacy that she is already) and low and behold, she slept through the night. We are hoping this lasts.Baker continues to grow and is 11 lbs now. He is cute as can be and I think he is a joy to be around. Of course, he is the only one of us getting sleep and that may account for his wonderfulness!!I have started a music class called Little Rhythms and I am having a blast teaching it. I have about 13 kids that come on a regular basis (with their mommies) and it has been alot of fun. We do alot with percussion instruments, parachutes, dance and singing. Imagine me, who doesn't really like to sing, teaching. But I have found a real knack for it. I will start teaching it at the Hodges center and get paid over the summer. I will make enough to pay for all my supplies and a little extra, but the next time I teach it will be for profit. Also I am hoping to add on a class for 3 -5 year olds (without their mommies) so that will add some newness to it. But the last few times of teaching has been in my backyard, to my guinea pig group to see if I have my timing down and practice before the Hodges time. My goal is to teach out of my house in my next location and make some money that way...well gotta run, keep us in your prayers as we could really use a boost, a job and basically to be lifter up from the dredges of a soggy cereal bowl.we love you all, Heather

Cowboy or a Stag? (Part I)

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I am sure you have all wondered how Andy's interview went. We are viewing this as a God's will kind of thing. If He wants us to have a job, he will provide and if he wants us to wait for the next round, well, we are trying to not think about it.

We have spent alot of stressful nights about this whole thing. So here goes our explanation. We have asked just about everyone in the field and they all say that extension work could be a possible career killer. In fact, Richard says absolutely it would be. So if we go the route at Oklahoma then it is with the knowledge that it puts Andy as the low man on the totem pole and could prevent him from ever coming back to MFT. BUT, if we go the route at Connecticut, we could possibly remain on food stamps as we can't afford to live there. It is rumored that they may subsidize housing, but it hasn't been confirmed. So what to do? This seems to be our plague lately. Having to make choices. And this is of course, assuming he gets offered both jobs and there is a choice to be made.

UMASS has not called back after Andy postponed his phone interview to go to Connecticut so we are assuming they are no longer looking at him.

So here is the trial of our faith, do we turn down the option he is presented and hang out for the second round of interviews or just take what is offered even though both choices are not ideal. Well, that is indeed the dilemma we face. Anyone want to weigh on this? We realize we have to make it a matter of prayer and blessings, but it seems that very prayer or blessing is just that God has prepared a place for us. The exact same blessing we got last year. Needless to say, our faith is waning just a little. But Andy and I pray and pray and hope for the best. He did not get any direct feeling about Connecticut and we await his interview at Oklahoma to see if he feels something there. Does this not seem like when we are trying to get a child? I have to laugh that Andy and I must be too dense to figure out what they Lord is teaching us so we face the same issue with every major event in our life. But on the flip side, we seem to really appreciate the miracles when they come.

One funny thing, after Andy finished all of his interviews (feeling that he had done pretty well) He was in the Deans office and was putting on his coat when he heard a crash. YEP! Andy knocked his diploma off the wall and crash, all the glass broke. She was really nice about it and said se had been wanting to redo the frame anyway, but talk about leaving a lasting impression!!!