The 2fer

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Disneyland!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Here's a slide show of just a few pictures from Disneyland. The rest of my pictures are on my in-laws camera and will be posted later. Grandma Kathy, Uncle Jacob, Aunt Laura and cousin Madelynn shared in our fun day at the park.

We had SOO much fun! The kids loved every minute of all there was to see and do. I had heard rumors that Disneyland is "the happiest place on earth" and then you go and hear kids screaming and crying... NOT true! Even Grayson was good, meaning he slept and ate and was very satisfied with doing just that. We got to see Mickey Mouse, Pluto, Goofy, Eeyore, the princesses and the birds in the Tiki House.

Our trip revolved around the girls so we went on Dumbo, Small World, the Tom Sawyer boat, the big train, Safari and Pirates... okay Pirates was for the parents :) For those of you who haven't been in a while, Pirates has a few extra things added now that the movies are out, but it's still the same classic ride. Kennedy was scared, MacKenzie was holding onto Justin tight and I nursed the baby all the way through!

We got the 2fer pass and will be going back to California Adventures sometime in the next 30 days. Can't wait, but will wait for warmer weather. It only takes 90 minutes from our door to Disneyland, but yesterday the Cajon pass was closed and then opened due to snow! Way freezing! Hopefully there will be another spring like day in a few weeks :)

Enjoy the pictures!

Late night

Tuesday night Kennedy got out of bed and was crying. I thought she was sad because I was doing laundry in the garage and she couldn't find me. So I put her back to bed. 10 minutes later she was out of bed again crying, but not the whining cry... a hurt cry. I picked her up held her in the living room just looking at her when I noticed her grab hold of her ear. She said, "ouchies in my ear."

GREAT! Not one of our children has ever had an ear infection...ever! AND Justin wouldn't be done with work for another 2 hours! I quickly acted upon the first thought that came to my mind and was soon talking to our neighbor down the street. She's a mom of 4 grown children and the closest geographical help I could think of. (Thanks to being a member of the church.) Anyway, I explained what was going on and Mary expressed her empathy for the situation and then told me exactly what to do... nothing. Nothing but a little Tylenol and a heating pad! I was surprised to hear that in addition to having children with ear infections, she worked in a pediatricians office for some time and they regularly sent people home with their children's aching ears. What a relief!

She also said there was one thing I could do, but that it might sound a little weird. Okay, I was all for it. She explained the process of heating up a teaspoon of oil to luke warm and then putting some in Kennedy's ear. Never seeing this done before, I wasted no time testing it out. I normally put alcohol in the kids ears after swimming, so oil was not a huge deal for me or Kennedy. Apparently the oil softens things up... I can't remember the rest of the specifics, but it totally worked! Kennedy finally fell asleep and in the morning let me know, "no more ouchies!"

Moral... yay for going to church and meeting new friends! Many experiences in my life have been made easier with the help of good friends and this was no exception. If I were not an active member of the Church I would not have met Mary and would have gone to an E.R. with 3 children, under the age of 3, by myself late at night. Now I know ear aches are no big deal and that even if Kennedy's ear drum had ruptured, we still wouldn't need to go to the doctor.

...and forbid them not, to come unto me...

We now live in the Redlands temple district which is one of the most beautiful temples!! Last night we had family home evening about temples and told Kennedy we would go today. We told her inside the temple we get married, are baptized for our ancestors, recieve special blessings, but most important we learn more about the Savior. So this morning the first thing Kennedy said was, "Mommy, I want to get married in the temple today."

Here are Justin and the girls. We tag teamed our temple attendance as he waited for me for 30 minutes and then it was his turn. As we passed the torch of the children, we let them go inside to see a beautiful stained glass of the first vision and the waiting room. I felt lots of pressure to keep the kids extra quiet when the temple worker smiled and remarked, "you know what the Lord says of the children." He didn't have to say it because the words were already going through my mind... "suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven". How wonderful for children to have their own first hand experiences with the house of the Lord. I won't lie and say it was totally easy to get there and to have them with us... there was crying and screaming all the way home, but there were a few moments where we did feel the spirit. No other feeling in the world can recreate that!


Each of our children have made their first visit to the temple at around 2 months. Kennedy went to the L.A. temple at 2 months, MacKenzie went to the San Diego temple at 2 months and now Grayson has been to the Redlands temple at 2 months. Now that I say that... we travel a lot!


And here was MacKenzie's favorite part! The water! That girl would've gone swimming if we let her and if the water wasn't so cold.

Visiting Family

Uncle Jordan and Aunt Heidi came with ponies for the girls. They were so excited to get their own.


When Kendra and her family came I totally didn't think to take pictures until the last minute. Check out Kendra's blog for a few more pictures. I thought a car shot would be fine, but you can't see the boys in the back seat... oh well, at least we had fun together. I think my favorite part was playing "Apples to Apples". I had played it before, but not like the way we played with Kendra and Michael. WAY fun and hilarious! I definately recommend it.

Okay my next favorite part about Kendra visiting was going to the outlets! We both found some new shirts and called them birthday presents.

Visitors

Our first family visitors were Danny and Sara and their kids. They came through on their way to Sea World and the girls LOVED playing with Macy and Spencer and Justin and I enjoyed visiting. On their way back home we met in Victorville and went to Chuckee Cheese. Way fun, but I think Kennedy has realized you are supposed to put coins in the machines and they work... I always tell her the little horses and merry go rounds are broken.

A few days later the rest of Justin's family came by, minus Jared, on their way home from Utah and then Kendra and her family came and spent the night for a few days. What a party! We are always open to friends and family coming over to our house... in the middle of no-where:) I'll post some more pictures later.

Sacramento Trip

I would say the most exciting part about going to Sacramento was visiting Janay AKA: Sister Koutz. We were companions on Temple Square during the Olympics and had SO much fun together. I think we knew each other in the pre-existance.


Here's Kennedy with "Uncle Ralph". We went to a Mongolian Bar-b-que restaurant with him, Quintana and Patricia. Such good food!! You fill up your bowl with uncooked meat, noodles, and whatever else you want in your stir fry and they cook it in front of you. Yummy! Here Kennedy was watching Ralph eat with chop sticks so she did the same... with straws:) For all she understood Ralph was eating with straws.

Bumbo Recall

The deal with Bumbo chairs according to Liz Pollock:

From what I understand the Bumbo was recalled because kids were falling out of them... Here are the facts:
1. If your child can stretch hard enough to fall out, they are TOO BIG to be in the Bumbo anyway
2. If your child is using the Bumbo as advised, stretching out and falling out would add up to a fall about an inch off the floor, not enough for any physical damage.
3. The box and directions say for use on the ground, not for use on 4 foot high counter tops above a tile floor.
4. NOTHING available at Target, Babies R Us or Wal Mart will babysit your kids. Believe you me if there were such a product day cares would be out of business.
So mom's out there... it's your own fault your kids fell. Just admit it and move on.

*I have made countless dinners with MacKenzie sitting in her Bumbo on the counter and not once had a problem. And Every time I put her up on the counter I knew I was wrong in doing so, however she never fell. I did however catch Kennedy's sock on fire because she was sitting too close to the gas stove. Opps! She's fine. Didn't feel a thing thanks to my super fast reflexes :)

**After reading this you may never want me to watch your kids... totally fine and I'm not offended.

Older Sisters

Who gets to have pink hand-me-downs... any little boy that has older sisters :) My brother has 4 older sisters which would explain his favorite pink snow boots he wore ALL the time and his pretty purple bike. Grayson may be able to relate one day. For now he has no idea he will be sitting in a pink bumbo chair for part of his life.


The girls love their baby brother. Kennedy wakes up in the morning and "needs" to see him first thing. Sometimes I get out of the shower and there she is lying next to him on my bed "petting" his head.

Reading level

I was just thinking the other day how much I enjoy writing and used to LOVE writing for my high school newspaper. I guess 4 years of college with no actual degree pays off in the long run. Now I can say, "no, I don't have my bachelor's, but my blog was rated genius". That'll show 'em!

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All locked up

The kids love getting in the dog kennel. Usually it's MacKenzie, but this evening she was happier shutting the gate on Kennedy:)

MacKenzie as we know her. I have not gone anywhere but to church these past few weeks.

And the kids look so cute all dressed up! Grayson is almost a month old can you believe it?

We're all a little creative

The girls are creative in their ability to locate and get into any form of sugar. At first it was MacKenzie getting into the actual sugar, now she goes for the chocolate! I thought the girls were watching a movie.. they were, just with a little refreshment:)

MacKenzie was the mastermind, but has learned from Kennedy that if you're gonna do something you shouldn't, invite your sister to join in.

About a year ago Summer Adams introduced my to vinyl lettering. It is sooo fun and now my step mom has a cutting machine!! At Thanksgiving I printed out a bunch of letters and here is what I put together this morning.

Blessing Day

Here we are on blessing day and we all made it to church early and all dressed although Kennedy's hair I thought would look better than it looked when she got out of the car. Oh well. Grayson is so lucky to have so many family members around him. There were 8 family members in the priesthood circle giving him the blessing. What a lucky guy to be surround by so much power :)


Auntie Katelyn and little Grayson. He loves his aunt and was a pretty good sleeper for her. The girls love her too and I love when she comes to visit and helps get them ready for bed when the day is over. Tonight she got them in the bath and in their jammies! Thanks Katelyn!

Just Grayson

He looks like.... well you tell me. He's just a cute little boy. He is very good. He took his first big trip to Fresno and then he went to Barstow with me to look for a house. For those who don't know yet, we're movin to Barstow!!! Yes I'm excited about it, but we've decided to live in Helendale. It's a little drive, not bad, and half way between Barstow and Victorville.

Anyway about Grayson, he sleeps pretty good so far. He does get up every 2 hours or so to eat and poops like a champ! That's about all he can do right now. We'll keep you updated!

Tea party

Kathy bought the girls this Disney princess tea set for when we got home from the hospital. She tried teaching them to hold their pinky up while pretending to drink. I didn't think Kennedy was listening, but the next day she brought me a tea cup and told me to take a drink with my pinky up! So cute!

Pennie's birthday was the day before Thanksgiving so we celebrated with banana cake.

The next morning she went digging for her other gifts. Her sister and brother-in-law got her a bag of rocks!!! Here my dad and Kennedy are showing how you dump them in the bucket of water to separate the heavy and lighter rocks...

Then you pick through the left overs to find sapphires! I just went out to take pictures, but it looked like so much fun. So now you know... the next time you don't know what present to buy for someone, just give them a bag of rocks! :)

Grayson Wood Pollock

So we changed the name a few days ago, but what's having a baby without throwing a curve ball at people once in a while. He came out at 1:49am Saturday, Novmber 10th. I had to be induced, but once they hooked me up he started coming. Guess he just needed a "jump start".


I am a HUGE fan of epidurals and anything else that gets rid of any type of pain, thus the big smile. Kathy took me into the hospital and Dad and Pennie were not far behind. Now I couldn't believe it, but my dad was there for the whole birth!!! He usually doesn't even come in the door of the hospital. He's turned over a new leaf in his new married life! That or Pennie threatened him with his life :)

Dr. Klis got to deliver Grayson. The delivery went something like this, "Ok push... ok stop!" That's as long as my pushings last, but this guy came out a true cowboy with his lasso wrapped around his neck. He was totally blue and purple, but Dr. Klis and the nurses got him breathing quickly and then the cries and the nice pink skin. What a relief to hear him cry nice and loud.

Here we are hours later. Grayson let us sleep for a good 2 hours or so and then off and on in the morning. What a good boy.

And he is sooo cute. One of these days he'll open his eyes!

9 Days over due

Thanks Khristie for the totally cute pumpkins!!! I got home from the Dr.'s office yesterday VERY upset that I was told the night before that I would most likely have the baby Thursday morning. Well it's Friday and still no baby. I wouldn't mind so much if the Dr. would've just told me out right "look, you're not having the baby until you are at least 10 days over." No instead everyday this week I've been told maybe tomorrow or probably tomorrow. Don't tease hormonal pregnant ladies!!! The truth is what we want to know!!! Anyway back to these cute pumpkins, they were waiting for me when I got home from the dr. MacKenzie can't hold enough at one time :)


Here we have Kennedy helping with the dishes. She is very good at taste testing all cupcake and cookie dough before it goes in the oven. Heaven forbid we give out treats that do not meet her standards!

Costume Party!

The witch invited the skunk and bumble bee to a costume party at one of her schools. The girls loved dressing up in their Halloween costumes or "cost-cooms" as Kennedy calls them. MacKenzie is such a ham even when she's not dressed up, but with her little bee on she was running around everywhere and it was soo cute. At one point of the evening I looked over and she was getting nachos from a total stranger! We're gonna have to watch that girl. She has no fear and loves to entertain others.

Victoria Beckham

... not a chance, but a friend at church asked me if I knew who she was upon seeing my new do a few weeks ago. Talk about feeling super good about myself! Since the baby has yet to come, and he's not due for another week but that's beside the point, I decided I could at least have my hair colored more fall-winter than summer. So my sister-in-law Laura came over to watch the kids this morning while I got my hair done.

AND... I have a great story about my new sunglasses you see here. I bought a pair of Smith sunglasses about 7 years ago mainly because I just liked them. I had them all through my mission and married life so far and finally decided the frames were fading in color and was going to throw them away and get a cheap new pair. UNTIL... Justin told me all Smith sunglasses have a lifetime waranty. I e-mailed them and asked what to do and here I have a fancy new pair of sunglasses for free!!! Moral of the story, by a good pair of sunglasses with a waranty and then don't lose them :)

Here's a side hair shot. For those of you who don't know my hair type it's THICK! I'm not kidding. It took a good 15-20 just to blow dry it in the mornings. Now I can fix it all in about 10 minutes or less!!! I love the spikey back and long front. Thanks to my sister Rebecca for guiding me into the world short dos :)

Cinderella

I read recently, "Cinderella is proof that a new pair of shoes can change your life." Now with our shoe story... MacKenzie has WIDE feet. I have been everywhere looking for shoes that fit her now that she's walking. I've been to Target, Wal Mart, Ross, Marshalls, Kmart and Payless Shoes and no shoes that are wide enough for her for everyday use. So I realized after all the looking I would need to go to Stride Rite. Well today was our big shoe buying day. I took MacKenzie into the store with only socks on because we were going to leave the store with a new pair of shoes that fit, and here they are...


Almost $50 later we found the cutest pair of leather shoes ever! I love them, but can't believe how expensive it is going to be to keep this girl in decent shoes... but what do you do? I guess I can pray summer comes soon and she'll love flip flops :)



Meanwhile, non related, but yesterday we carved our big pumpkin. Yes it will be gross by the time the 31st comes around, but Justin has to stay in Sacramento next weekend to get gassed... Don't know the specifics, but I'm sure we will find out later. This past Friday he experienced the feelings of pepper spray and for those of you wondering, he doesn't recommend it. Apparently you either laugh or cry... he laughed. Some of the other cadets in the academy didn't appreciate his laughter. Ask him about it sometime and you'll get a very entertaining story! :) All I know is when I picked him up in Bakersfield Friday night his eyes were VERY puffy!