hair

I have a love-hate relationship with my hair. Really, I should be grateful to have thick, dark, full bodied hair, and I am. At least I'm grateful to have it on top of my head. It's everywhere else that I wish it weren't that dark and thick and lovely. So I'm always hoping to find a quicker, easier and less painful way of getting rid of the everywhere else hair. Anyway, a while back, I bought some wax for face and eyebrows. I've used the strip things before, but this said it didn't need any strips, just apply and remove. I had to let my eyebrows and such grow a bit before I could use the wax. Then I started to get nervous about this stuff. And my eyebrows got bushier. Well, I finally just did it. I think it turned out okay, but I'm never buying that stuff again. It cooled way to quickly. I had to keep re-heating it. So the search for something better continues.
This is the only thing I could find that could qualify as "before." As a bonus, you get to see my cute daughter trying on daddy's new headphones! Below is the finished product.

Okay, I did it.

In general, I have tried to leave Leonora's beautiful locks alone, but they were becoming a bit overwhelming to everyone involved. No matter how I tried to keep it out of her face, she always ended up with food stuck in it and hopeless knots every morning. She was constatly trying to pull her hair out of her eyes and, more recently, her mouth. So, I finally did it. I cut her hair. It was kind of a sad thing for me to do, but it seemed neccesary. Anyway, here are a few pics:
Before:

After:


A bit of hair that I trimed off one side. It was actually longer in the back, but I didn't think to save it until after I'd dropped the longer peices in the garbage.

Christmas

Well, we had a much bigger Christmas than we planned on. We have been given so much by those around us, I don't even know where to start. We have probably recived gifts and money from over a dozen families. Most was given anonomously. I don't think it was from anyone who checks my blog regularly, but just in case, Thank-you! :) Also, a special thanks to the woman in Walmart who pointed out the hole in the back of my pants. Yes, I knew it was there. I've been "planning" on loosing a few pounds before I bought new ones, but she inspired me to use some of the generously given money on myself. Yay for new pants! Anyway, here are some pictures-maybe even a video of our Christmas.

Boo! ha,ha, you didn't know I was here, did you?

Okay, sorry it's been so long since I posted. The above picture is part of the reason why. I smashed my finger! Yep, the car door got me. Do you know how many things you need your index finger for? Especially if it's on your dominent hand. Well, I don't either, but typing is sure a lot easier with it than without. (Sorry the picture is so blury. Taking pictures is also hard to do without that finger.)

Four Weeks (disclaimer:this may be depressing!)

Four weeks ago today our daughter Renee was born still. I wish more than anything that she were still here with me.

We finally got the results to the chromosome tests they did. Renee had Turner's Syndrom and was missing an X chromosome. Turner's Syndrom is not necesarily fatal, but can have a variety of health conditions that are. The combination of complications in Renee's case was. The good news is that there is a less than 1% chance of it repeating in a future pregnancy.

It doesn't really make anything better though. She's still gone.

From Stressed to Blessed

With everything we've been going through, Aaron has had a hard time being productive at work, and unfortunatly, his is not a job that you get paid for just showing up. He has to be able to sell cars-which is something he hasn't been able to do since the first week of October. We knew we would not be getting the usual paycheck on the 5th, which meant we didn't have money for rent. However, yesterday, the general manager at the dealership called Aaron into his office to ask how we were getting by without that paycheck. Aaron told them we wouldn't have rent money, and the gm said that he would take care of that.
We have been so incredibly blessed! A little over a year ago, I remember saying in church that when we do the things that God wants us to, we will be blessed and that things will always turn out better than they would have. At the time, I remember just trying to convince myself that we were doing the right thing. We had broken our lease to move to from Seattle to Sacramento with Aaron's parents. Leonora was only 6 weeks old at the time, and I was still recovering from her birth. I was emotional and very stressed about moving in with his family. Living there-even for that short time-was very difficult for me. His parents are good people, but I come from an extremely different background than Aaron. Even though we were in more or less the same situation when we moved to Utah, I was very grateful to be back at my parent's house. Since then, we've moved out, Aaron has changed jobs, and we've said hello and goodbye to another child. We've been through a lot. Now looking back, I wouldn't change any of the choices that we've made that led us to this point.
I'm so grateful to be near my family. I don't know what we would have done if we were anywhere else. Because we are here, we were able to use a burial plot that my parents had already purchased. It saved us money, and Renee is in a place where there will always be family. Aaron's work has been incredible. They sent flowers to the hospital and collected money to help out with things. And now they are paying our rent. I'm so glad Aaron is working there. The dealership he originally started at in St George would never have done all of that. Not to mention that they don't pay anything toward family health insurance. We have already payed the maximum out of pocket after everything that the insurance has paid. I can't imagine where we would be if we'd gone through all this without health insurance. I'm just so glad that we are where we are. It's not where we planned we would be.
Another thing we weren't planning was getting pregnant. In fact, I had tried to get an IUD before we moved from Seattle because I didn't want to worry about pregnancy. When that didn't happen, I was quite upset. Now I am grateful. Although I am devistated by the loss of our baby, I cannot imagine her being left out of our family! Renee's presence in our family has caused me to think differently about how we will plan our future pregnancies. I'm not saying I won't use any birth control, but I think we will be using forms that will alow us to make a decision when we feel it is right-rather than forms that require a doctor's visit or a certain amount of time to lapse.
Now, more than ever, I believe those things I was trying to talk myself into last summer. That God does have a plan for us. He knows the things that will help us grow into who we need to be. If we follow His plan, we will be blessed.

New Shoes

So, it hasn't been very long since I bought new shoes for Leonora, but I think she went through a growth spurt just after I bought them. They've been getting pretty snug, and the elastic has been leaving little red marks. It seemed like maybe she needed some new ones. We went for something a little different. These have a soft rubber sole, leather top, and they squeak! Thankfully, you can take the squeakers out. Leonora just loves them! She was a little confused when they didn't squeak on Sunday, but still seemed to like them anyway. She loves shoes. Anyway, I got these at the What Women Want Expo here in St George, but you can get them online here.

This is a picture of our family at the cemetary after the graveside service.

Edit note: The other picture was really small, but I found a bigger version of the same thing.

Renee

This is Renee's foot and my finger.

Some pictures

Aaron and I got some pictures taken of my belly the day before the induction. I thought I'd post them for you. I'm hoping to have a couple of her hands and feet soon, but they are on my mom's camera.

Sad News about our baby

I know it's been a while since I've posted. A lot has been going on, but not the kind of news that's fun to share.
On Oct. 3rd we went in for a routine, mid-pregnancy ultra sound. We found out that our baby had a lot of problems and got a referal to a specialist. We saw the specialist a week later, and got more bad news. He told us that the baby would not live and suggested that we end the pregnancy. We talked to our bishop and thought and prayed about what to do, and decided to induce labor. We met another doctor who would be the one doing the actual induction. He did another ultra sound so he could see for himself just what was going on. In this ultra sound we found out that the baby's heart had stopped. I checked into the hospital Wednesday afternoon and started the induction. It took a long time for things to happen. Our baby was born Thursday at 1:42pm. She was 2lbs 2oz and 8inches long. We named her Renee Elizabeth. Today we had a ceramony with family that was able to be here. She'll be burried on Monday.

Silly hand

Tonight at dinner, William paused eating his macaroni to take a drink. When he finished, he asked in a suprised voice, "Where is my fork?" Well, it turned out that his fork was in his left hand. He hadn't thought to look for it there. When I pointed it out to him, he laughed and said, "Silly hand!" This made me smile. It almost made up for all of his mischief today-of course, then he had to go and get into more before bedtime! Oh well! I do enjoy his cute moments.

This is my 100th post

We should have a party! :) As my friend Stephanie pointed out, I neglected to post about William's birthday-sorry William.
William turned 4 on August 29th, and we had a small family celebration. We were going to have a larger extended family party, but unfortunatly, we all got sick. William managed to escape any serious symptoms-lucky boy-but the rest of us were not up to a party. Oh, well. He seemed happy with what he had.
Since this is my 100th post, I'm going to make it a long one! My cousin posted some cute shoes she got for her son, and I wanted to show off the ones I recently got for Leonora too! so, here they are!

Cute, aren't they? She loves these kind of shoes. These are here second pair. She's such a girl. She loves to bring her shoes to me, and get all dressed up. Too bad she doesn't like me to do her hair. I think I need to get some kind of detangler. Maybe one of those spray kind.
William's favorite thing right now is Superman. He told me today that he is superman and I am William. I told him I'm mom.
Okay, I think I'm done rambling for now!

The casts come off

Sunday afternoon, William and I left St George and drove to Layton. We stayed overnight at my sister Amber's house (which William loved), and drove back to Salt Lake on Monday for William's appointment at Primary children's hospital to get his casts off! Everything went well. William even giggled when they took the casts off. The doctor says his feet look good and gave us a prescription for a brace to wear at night. His legs and feet are sensitive from being in the casts for 5 weeks, but he seems to be doing better today. He started putting weight on his feet to walk this afternoon. He's still really careful. He stays near furniture and walls for suport, but he seems to be improving quickly. He'll see the doctor again in January when he comes to St George.

Announcing

Well, I think it may be about time to make an official announcement. Aaron and I are expecting our third child! He or she will be here sometime in February. We don't have an exact date pinned down, but I figure, that's about as close as an exact date is anyway! So, for now, the due-date is Sometime in February.

Funniest thing I've read on Ebay

This is hilarious. Half way through, I'd forgoten what it was supposed to be about! I think I'm going to check out this lady's blog! Anyway, here's the link.

Balloons

Yesterday we had dinner with Aaron at the dealership. The kids always enjoy terrorizing the customers and entertaining the salespeople. Leonora has been really into balloons lately. If she sees anything that even resembles a balloon, she gets all excited and starts shrieking in delight. The dealership almost always has balloons around, so she got a couple to take home. William had to have one as well. His was yellow. I wedged the balloons in hard to reach places in the car so they would be out of the way for safe driving. Of course, the kids didn't really care for this idea. When we got home, William started begging for his yellow balloon. I handed it back to him and he said, "Oh, my yellow balloon, I love you sooo much!" and gave it a nice big kiss. I was trying to get things gathered up from the car, so I didn't really notice when the balloon bobbed a few inches out of his reach. However, I couldn't help noticing when he said, "Come back yellow balloon! Come to Uncle William!"

A few more cute pics from Aunt Cathy's house

William's surgery

On Tuesday, Aaron, the kids, and I all packed up and left for Salt Lake for sugery on William's feet. We had to go to Primary Children's Hospital for the surgery since there are no pediatric Orthopedic surgens in St. George. We spent the night with Aaron's Aunt Cathy, who was very kind to let us stay with very little notice. We had hoped to find a hotel room closer to the hospital, but there happened to be some kind of conference going on. Check in time was 6:30 am on Wednesday. The kids enjoyed the toys while we waited for the doctors to be ready for him. We said goodbye around 8:20 for what we thought would be a couple hours. It turned out to be about twice as long as expected because of the scar tissue from his previous operations, but the surgery seems to have gone well. He spent a couple more hours in recovery before we could leave. We visited with Rachel, a college roommate of mine. It was nice to see her and her pictures from the Philipines. We spent one more night with Cathy, and were able to visit Aaron's Aunt Kris and cousin Shannon. William only woke up a couple times during the night, so we were able to get some decent sleep before leaving for home. We hit some pretty amazing rain on the way home, and even got stopped on the freeway for a bit where water had washed over the road. The highway patrol had been out cleaning up already, so it didn't take long for them to get the traffic moving again. Thankfully, William slept a lot, and didn't seem to mind the delay. Today has been pretty good. He's still on pain medication, but he's able to play. Hopefully he'll continue to heal quickly and be on his feet soon!

At last!

Well, I finally made a dent in my disasterous house. I got the living room floor cleared and after changing a filter in my vaccuum, I used it! Amazing! I have a floor again! Most of the rest of the house is still a mess, but I feel better having gotten one area clean.
William has been without pants today. We're potty training. He's been pretty good about going to the bathroom. We've only had one "accident" so far today. Hopefully it will be relatively quick.

When lightning strikes

Yesterday was an interesting day. My house has been a disaster, so I thought I should probably start making a dent in it. I can't say that I really did that, but I did get some dishes and laundry done. There's more that needs to be done, but hey, I did something! So, we ran out of milk, and I figured it had been a while since any of us left the house, so I started getting the kids ready to go to the store and maybe run a couple other errands. Just as we were getting ready to head out the door, the power went off. I figured it was just because it's so dang hot here and the power company couldn't keep up with all the air conditioners going. Well, I made sure all the blinds were closed and headed out to the car. It didn't take long to realize that this trip would take a while. The traffic lights were all out, so it was really crazy on the roads. I was glad to be in an air conditioned car though. After spending half an hour at a gas station because it was the only one I could find pumping gas, Aaron called and said he was leaving work early, so we went home. He stopped at the store and got a few snacks for dinner first. A little later, it started raining, so we all went outside with most of our neighbors. It was nice to cool off. The power finally came on around 8:30. It was off for 4 hours at our house. There was a fire that was threatening the main lines into the whole area, so they were shut off to prevent more fire. It made for an interesting evening. I'm going to have to buy milk today.

One more update

Okay, so that last post ended up being longer than I intended, but hey, I was craming a week into one post! A pretty busy week too!
Anyway, a couple things have happened since we got back. The most exciting is that Leonora finally got her fourth tooth! She's getting them in a funny order. Her third was her left "fang" and the most recent is the middle tooth next to it. I guess she's going left to right on the top.
Also, on Saturday, my parents came and helped install a "new" washer and dryer that someone had given them. They are older, and the dryer sounds like it's got rocks rolling around in it, but it works! It's nice to be able to do the laundry at home. And hey, we couldn't have found them for a better price!

Another long post-Our trip to California

Well, I thought I should tell you a little about our trip to California. I know it's taken a while, and I'm getting behind on the new news, so this will just be a quick outline of the trip.
We left St George on Tuesday, July 3rd and drove all day. We stopped in Barstow at Barstow Station for lunch. William got pretty excited about eating in a "train." The dinning rooms for the resurants are old train cars. I'm not sure if it was exactly what he thought it would be, but he seemed satified. We arived at Aaron's parent's house about 10pm (pacific time). Aaron's brother had just gotten off a plane from Mexico where he served a 2 year LDS mission, which was the main reason for our visit.
Wednesday was the 4th of course. The mornings were kind of lazy. We went to the community pool in the afternoon, had burgers for dinner, and left for a park to see fireworks. None of us really knew what we were getting into. We ended up walking close to 2 miles that night to get back and forth from the fireworks. The show was really good once in got going. William fell asleep before they started, but woke up for the majority of the show. Leonora was awake and cranky until it started and then she calmed down when it started and fell asleep about halfway through.
Thursday we all went to the movies. I saw Ratatoille (however that's spelled) with the kids. It was pretty enjoyable. Leonora got a little antsy halfway through, but I managed to stay in the back of the theatre.
Friday we went to the Sacramento Zoo. It was hot. Other than that, the only disappointments where that there weren't any bears and William couldn't ride the giraffes. In the evening we had family pictures taken. The kids were pretty good, but got a little tired of sitting still-especially Leonora.
Saturday, all those who could went to the temple. Later, we had an early birthday party for Aaron's sister. She is tuning 10 this week.
Sunday we went to church. Jesse spoke in sacrament meeting. Then we all went back to the house for lunch. Aaron's Grandma and Aunt Nancy were able to come from Reno. It was nice to see them. After they left, I sent Aaron up to sleep for a couple hours while I got the car loaded up. After his nap, we all said goodbye and got on the road. The kids seemed happy to be going home. Leonora was quite cheerful up until she fell asleep. We drove all night while the kids slept. It was nice not to have them complaining at us. It was a long night though. We got home around 11am. The kids were awake of course. I had slept a little in the car, so Aaron got to take a turn. Luckily, both of the kids fell asleep between 6:30 and 7, so we were able to get to sleep early.
Although the days and nights of driving were tiring, the rest of the trip was pretty enjoyable. It was nice to see Jesse and the rest of Aaron's family again.

Thanks for reading my really long post! :)

Well, It's been a while since I last posted. Sorry about that... Let's see if I can give a quick-ish update.
The night of Aaron's birthday we went to see My Fair Lady at Tuachan. That was fun. We had invited our friends Stephanie and Toby, but we talked to them around 7:30 and Stephanie made it clear that they weren't going to make it to the show because she was in labor with their 4th baby! So after some scrambling, we found someone to use the tickets. Meanwhile, Stephanie and Toby's baby boy was born during the show. They called to tell us while we were on our way out of Tuachan. Aaron thought that they should name him Aaron since he was born on his birthday, but they decided on Micah instead. :)
The next day, William had an appointment with the foot specialists that come down from Salt Lake every few months. He was born with clubbed feet and had surgury just before he turned one, but in the last year, his feet have been turning in again. He's now scheduled to go in for another surgury on the first of August.
After a very long appointment, we had lunch with Aaron and then the kids and I headed north for Layton for my sister Amber's wedding open house. We stopped to pick up my brother Morgan on the way. I was glad to have another adult in the car. He fed the kids grapes and string cheese all the way there. The next day was spent getting ready for the open house. It was at CJ's parent's house. They have one of the nicest back yards I've been in. Sunday we came home. I was very glad to be back home and see Aaron.
Well, this is getting kind of long, so I think I'll post more later. I may even have a couple of pictures!

Happy Birthday Aaron!

I hope you are enjoying your birthday! Sorry I haven't been able to do more for you. I love you very much! Happy Birthday!

I almost forgot...

Today is Leonora's 13 month birthday. I know it's not a particularly significant birthday, but as long as I'm on here, I might as well mention it! She's been 1 for a whole month!

So, I'm feeling a bit on the blah side today. I'm tired. I keep changing my mind about potty training William. I mean, I want him potty trained, but I just keep thinking that any of my efforts are futile. This weekend we're going up to Layton for my sister's open house. I don't know how much it will set him back, but I'm guessing it will. Then we are planning to visit Aaron's family in California for about a week in July. If I worked at it, I might get him potty trained before the trip to CA, but then, what about the long car ride? Do I just let him pee his pull ups? Do I stop every hour to sit him on some gross gas station toilet? Or should I just wait until we get back? These are just a few of the questions I've been asking myself. Hmmm... maybe I'm just putting it off because I'm tired.

Amber and CJ

So I've been really busy helping out with my sister's wedding and catching up on everything I should have been doing while I was helping out with my sister's wedding. Anyway, she's married now! She and her new hubby have been honeymooning in Southern California, and soon will be settling into their new apartment in Layton, Utah. The wedding was great, and I must say that my mom and I and everyone else who pitched in did a fabuluous job of decorating for her reception. Notice the lovely decorations behind Amber and CJ in the picture? I think we did rather well!

Feeling pretty good!

Well, I'm still recovering from my cold, but I've been feeling pretty good anyway. I've been staying home a lot more lately in an attempt to potty train William. This is not going spectacularly well, but he will use the toilet when I supervise. Anyway, since I've been home more, I've been cleaning more. Not that cleaning is a lot of fun or anything, but knowing my house is presentable makes me feel better about myself-and honestly makes being home more enjoyable. Things never stay clean for very long, and I don't like to stress out about it, so I've been trying to focus on just one room everyday. Then if I have more energy or just feel like it, I'll tidy up here and there too. Today I got my living room looking pretty good. It's not perfect, but presentable. This makes me smile! :)

Interesting site on homebirth and related subjects

I got a link off this site from another blog, and thought that at least 1 or 2 of you would find interesting. Here's the link! http://journeytohomebirth.blogspot.com/

Different Shades of green

I decided that it was time for a new look. I was going to post something yesterday, but spent all my time updateing instead.
Well, Leonora turned one on Saturday. Aaron had to work, so we postponed the birthday celebration until Sunday. My family came over and we watched Leonora open presents and demolish her cake. She even ate some of it! My mom took pictures, but I haven't gotten any from her yet. I'll post them when I do.
After the party, we went to a barbeque with some of Aaron's co-workers. We had fun relaxing and chating, and also got to look at a new house that our hosts' parents are building next door to their house. It will be an incredibly nice house when it's finished. It has six bedrooms, seven bathrooms, a library, office, exercise room, rec room, theater, and dinning room large enough for a group of 25. Oh, and I almost forgot-a "Harry Potter Room" under the stairs that forms a passage from the entry to the dining room. Very cool. I asked how big it was. The owner said, "I don't really know. Somewhere between 8 and 10 thousand square feet." Anyway, it was a lot of fun to walk through.
Since then, I seem to have gotten a nice little cold that is causeing my voice to disappear. I tride to scream last night when I found William dumping the last of the milk into an overflowing cup on the kitchen floor. The sound that came out of me was not normal. I think I startled him because he got up, knocked the cup of milk over and cried for the next ten minutes. After all that, Aaron agreed to let me out of the house. We were invited to dinner with some friends, but didn't have a babysitter, so he sent me out and stayed home to put the kids to bed. I had a very enjoyable evening-in spite of the a-symetrical nature of the resturant we ate at.
Well, my posts are getting really long. perhaps if I post more often, it will help.

scrambled

Okay, I'm going to try to play a little catch up for this week... I can't remember what days everything happened, but they all happened sometime in the last week...
Well, a couple days ago, I was asking William what he wanted for breakfast. Normally he requests cereal, but he didn't that day, so I started naming off other choices. I hardly ever make eggs, but I offered it as a choice and was surprised when he said he wanted an egg. So I made him an egg. I thought I was being such a good mom! I even cut it up and stuck it in the freezer to cool it off! I was quite disappointed when he told me he didn't want "that kind of egg." Confused, I asked what kind of egg it was that he wanted. "I want a Chocolate Egg!" he tells me. Of course. Silly me. Unfortunatly for him, I don't keep chocolate eggs in stock.
Leonora has also started walking this week. She just decided to get back up when she fell one day, and she hasn't crawled since! Of course she still falls a lot, but she never stays down long.
Yesterday, I went to the What Women Want Expo with my mom. It was pretty fun, except when Leonora got really fussy and didn't want to stay in the stroller. I got some cute barettes and entered lots of drawings and got lots of cards and flyers. Then I went to Hurricane and went to a friends wedding reception. I found out this evening that I actually won one of the drawings for a free "candy bouquet." That was pretty cool.
Today, we went to our friend Toby's graduation party. It was fun, and the food was very good. There was a little kiddie pool set up with water in it, and of course that was the first thing that Leonora saw. With some help, I managed to keep her from diving in head first. Toward the end of the party, some of the other kids were getting into trouble jumping in the pool, so their mom dumped most of the water out, but left a little at the bottom. Leonora took her chance when I wasn't watching to toddle over and plop her diapered and fully clothed little bum into the pool! Oh, she had a lot of fun! Of course, it wasn't terribly fun when she had to get changed, but I think it was worth it for her.
I think that's all for now (folks)!

ha, ha, ha :)

Vote for mine or enter your own

So I randomly found this cute kids contest online. I started voting and realized, "hey, my kids are at least as cute as these ones!" So I entered them! Anyway, if you'd like to vote for them, here are the links: http://bix.yahoo.com/entry/48761?emailInviteFrom=karalynlund

http://bix.yahoo.com/entry/48760?emailInviteFrom=karalynlund

Visual DNA

Another blogging friend had this on her blog the other day, so I thought I'd try it out and see what I got. Anyway, here are the results-hopefully this works!

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Walking Into the Woods

Tonight Aaron and I got to go on a date. We hired my brother to babysit, got some dinner at Cafe Rio (yummy!), and went to see Dixie State College's production of Into the Woods. This is one of my favorite musicals, so I was pretty happy to get to see it. It was pretty good. The beginning was a little rough, and some of the cast didn't really impress me, but there were some truly wonderful "moments."
At intermission, I called to see how the kids were treating Morgan, and he informed me that Leonora actually took a few steps on her own! She had taken a step here and there, without knowing she was doing it, but never more than one at a time, and never intentionally. So after the show, I tried to get her to walk to Morgan again. Of course, she refused to budge when I set her down, but when we changed places, she was quite willing to walk the three step to my arms! She walked once more to me and once to Aaron before he had to take Morgan home. It was exciting! Even though I know this means more trouble for me, I'm very happy for her newest achievement!

A few new leaves

There's a nice big shade tree outside my living room window. A week ago it was pretty bare and dead looking, but today it's green! Because we live on the second story of our building, looking out the living room window is like looking out of a tree house. We're right up in the branches and the new leaves. It's really refreshing to lay on the couch and stare up into the tree. I've been told that green is a relaxing color, but I don't think I've ever really appriciated that fact until now.

Things I forgot to tell you

This week has been a busy one. Leonora finally 'cut' her first tooth! She's been sick on top of teething, so she's been pretty fussy. Nights have been hard. On Monday, she also celebrated her 10 month birthday! We even sang. Sorry I don't have a picture- my camera is short a battery cover, which makes it difficult to use. Tuesday was busy! I chopped off my hair- well, I let someone else do it. It's nice and short, and only about a week late for the first days of summer weather. I also went paper shopping with Melissa. That was fun. Wednesday I got to hang out with a couple of different friends. I told you about yesterday morning, but since then, I bought a couple of shirts (I love clearance racks). There nice summery shirts, which is good. After being in Seattle for so long, I didn't realize how few summery shirts I had! After that, Aaron and I went to see "Premonition" while my wonderful brother Morgan watched our kids. That was nice. Probably not the worlds best movie ever, but it was good to have a little time just the two of us. Morgan was lucky. Leonora slept the whole time. Well, I think that fills in all the gaps- at least the most recent gaps!

Happy Thursday

I've gotten some complaints about the lack of posts to my site lately, so I'm posting something...
Other than the bad violin playing, I've had a really nice morning. We took our '93 Sable to get the windshield replaced around 8 this morning. Once that's done, it should pass the safety inspection and we can actually get it registered in the state of Utah. After dropping the car off, we went to I-HOP for breakfast. I haven't been there in a really long time! They have really good omelets-one of which I had. William wasn't too happy. He prefers Kix cereal to any other food groups lately. He did finally eat one of his pancakes. While we were there we saw a friend who works there. Hadn't seen her in a while, so that was nice. Once our tummies were full (or perhaps a little over filled) we came home. Aaron's been watching a Dream Theater concert on DVD. Between the bad violins and the effeminate moves of the lead singer, it's kept us pretty entertained. William has been keeping us refreshed with "orange juice" from his new Tupperware kid's beverage set, and Leonora has been trying to steal the remote with moderate success. (Maybe she doesn't like the violins either.)
Oh, and the best part of the morning- Aaron got to change the poopy diaper! I love his days off...

I've got a pickle

Well, it's been a while since I posted anything. some new news is that we are finally in our own apartment! Also, Aaron just quit at the dealership he was working at and is starting March 1st at a new one in St. George. We both feel that things will be better with this new dealership. Anyway, since Aaron had a few days off between jobs, and we have tax return money handy, we decided to jump in the car and head to California where a bunch of our stuff has been patiently waiting for us to pick it up. We're staying with Aaron's family, and I think they've enjoyed having their grandkids around for a couple days. Lately, William has been telling me that he's a pickle. I think he got this from me. Whenever he'd get into a little mischief, I'd call him a turkey or a pickle, so he's decided that he is a pickle. He also dislikes being called a little boy and always insists that he is actually a big boy if I call him little. So, last night we were all sitting around and Aaron's sister asked William if he was a little pickle. William said, "No! I'm not a little pickle! I'm a big pickle!" Well, I can hardly disagree with that statement!

Figured it out! & Leonora's pics

So, in the previous post, I was trying to figure out how to get my pictures on my blog since the normal means were not working. Anyway, that picuture worked! So I'm trying it again with the pictures I was trying to post in the first place! BTW, the previous post's picture is a lovely little bit of cloud over Hurricane, Utah back in July.

Test

Hi!howarya'll?

So, I realized the other day that it's been... hmm... a long time since I posted. Well, I've been busy! I've been getting my Tupperware business going. I've been working on getting more than one party a month, and so far I've had two and one more on the way! Whoohoo! :) Okay, I might be pathetic, but it is brining in a little money. I'm hoping to get to $1000 in personal sales this month so I can get a 10% bonus. Anyway, things are going well, Leonora is as beautiful as ever and William ia as troublesome. Aaron's been able to sell a few cars, and evetually things will be settled enough for me to post more often (haha... yeah, right!)

More cute kids

August06 003
Originally uploaded by karalynlund.

I know you all are are probably in shock with all the pictures, but I finally found my usb cord and got my pictures uploaded today. Anyway, this is Leonora with another friend's baby. Wegot together for a little picinic at the park. Aren't they cute?

Little Flirts!

August06 015
Originally uploaded by karalynlund.

This is my friend's little boy with Leonora. I think he's got his first (well, maybe second) crush! he was giving her kisses, and she was loving his attention!

dancing in the park

August06 037
Originally uploaded by karalynlund.

Last night my brother played his trombone with the Hurricane Jazz Band in the park. We went late and left early, but hey, we were there! When William heard the music, he just had to get up and move. He and my youngest sister were a big hit with the other concert goers.

Hello again

Well, Aaron sold his first car yesterday. I think I need some more interesting posts. This one probably won't be one of those more interesting ones. William needs to wash his hands... guess I'd better take care of that.

For Real This Time

So, we have officially relocated to Utah. We're staying with my parents for the moment, but hopefully not for too long. The weekend that Aaron got here we had a very full house. Lets see... Mom, Dad, Me, Aaron, William, Leonora, three brothers, and three sisters ranging in ages from 23 to 3, for a grand total of 12-five of which are under the age of 10. Crazy. My sister left Sunday evening so we're down to 11 now. Monday Aaron made some calls to a couple car dealerships that were hiring. He went in on Tuesday and got hired at Newby Buick in St. George. He started Wednesday, and just needs to get his fingerprints and a pasport photo for his sales license and he can start selling. This last week was also the county fair. My mom and I helped out with the Tupperware booth on Friday and Saturday. Tomorrow is the first day of school for the first and third graders in the house, Wednesday morning my mom is leaving for a Tupperware convention in Florida, and next weekend my college age brother brothers are supposed to be moving out-if they can find a place to live. They start school next monday. At that point, we'll have our own bedroom! Yay! Hopefully this won't be changeing too much in the next week or so. Hopefully it will go by quickly. In the meantime, if anyone wants some Tupperware or a car, let me know!

Leonora 2 months

kara's pictures 020
Originally uploaded by karalynlund.

Here's a picture of my beautiful baby girl the day after her 2 month birthday. I even combed her hair! I need some little clips that will stay in her hair. The only ones I have are little velcro bow things, but her hair is too fine for them to hold. Anyway, she's pretty without them (at least her mom thinks so!) Oh, btw, you can see more pictures by clicking on the "My Photos" link on the right.

Nevermind...

So, I'm in S. Utah now, and due to complications, there has been a change of plans. I no longer have a ride back to Sacramento. So, what now? Well, this has got me thinking about not going back at all-especially since that job that I mentioned didn't work out. They decided not to hire the people they certified. Six were certified, one was hired. How dumb is that? So, now we are wondering if it might be better for Aaron to join me rather than me going back to Sacramento. Aaron got a number to call a prospective employer in St. George, so we'll see how that goes. In the meantime, I feel like I'm living in a soap opera or something, but at least I can see my friends and family.

Finally!

Aaron went to a job interview today at a Nissan dealership, and they offered him the job on the spot! This is such a relief, I'm almost giddy! He starts training on Wednesday, and we can't wait for that first check! It's a little scary since he's never done commission based sales, but I think he'll do well, and he is guarenteed income during the training period, so... hurrah for paychecks! :) Whoopee!!! (someone say Yeehaw, please? thank you.) :)

Leonora at 1 Month

Leonora at 1 Month
Originally uploaded by karalynlund.

Leonora is almost 2 months now, but until I track down the usb cord for my camera, this is the most recent picture I can get online. Hopefully I'll track down that cord soon, 'cause I've got some more cute pictures! Oh, and for all you Southern Utah people, you'll be able to see the real thing soon! We're planning to visit for about a week and a half. I'll be getting there late Friday night! Whoopee! I am excited to be visiting my family and friends there!
Oh, and I don't think that I mentioned I've started selling Tuperware. (My mom talked me into it). So, anyone who wants to host a Tupperware party while I'm there... well, I could use the money, and hey, you'll get free and cheap Tupperware! And I'll make you a "Blizzard!" Can't beat that now can you!? So, who wants to be first? :)

Update...

Leonora is now 8 weeks old! and as soon as I find a chance to get on the correct computer (which isn't this one) I will post some pictures for you all. The other day I left her laying on her back on the floor after a diaper change and came back to see her on her tummy. This was actually the second time she rolled over! She first did it while Aaron and I were finishing up our packing to move to California. Btw, I can't remember what I posted before about our move- that is if I posted anything... anyway, we're living with Aaron's parents (and sister and thier beagle) in Folsom, California (near Sacramento). It's been interesting being here. Aaron's been looking for a job. He's had a couple of interviews, but we don't know about those jobs yet. He's still been applying for more jobs, and hopefully he'll be able to get started in a job soon. Like yesterday. Meanwhile, the rest of us are trying to figure out how seven people (and a beagle) function in a three bedroom house. Since William doesn't have his own space, he tries his best to make trouble over the entire house. Leonora doesn't seem to mind too much. Personally, it wouldn't be so bad if I weren't being invaded by William all the time. Poor kid, he's got no place that he can just be an exploritory two year old. At least, no place that he won't get into trouble for it. Well, I could babble on longer, but Leonora is crying, so until next time...

Snopes.com

I just wanted to tell you all how cool Snopes.com is. It's a website that checks out all kinds of stories-many that come through email- and sorting out the fact from the fiction. I use it whenever I get one of those scary emails about how rapists and murderers seduce their victems. It's good to know what is and isn't likely to happen. Snopes.com also has lots of interesting facts, trivia, old wives tales and all kinds of things. I find it quite interesting and helpful. Anyway, it's a good website, and I highly recommend it.

Leonora-1st-week

Leonora-1st-week
Originally uploaded by karalynlund.

This is Leonora wearing a cute litte dress that my mom helped me make while she was here.

Leonora's birthday

birth
Originally uploaded by karalynlund.

Here is a picture of Leonora the day she was born.

I'm Back!!

We are now in California. We'll be living with Aaron's parents for now-trying to save some money. The trip down from Seattle was long and hot, but somehow we survived even without air conditioning! So, now to unpack... this should be interesting. Anyway, I'm hoping to be able to post a little more regularly since we'll have internet access again. Maybe I'll even start checking some of your blogs again! :)

Introducing Leonora Grace

Leonora Grace was born last night, May 19th, at 6:56 pm. She weighed 8 pounds 3 ounces and was 22 inches long. I've been told she has lots and lots of dark hair. Both mommy and baby are doing well. I'll make sure to update with a picture as soon as I receive one.

Update

As you may or may not know, Kara was due on May 6th. So she is very overdue, two weeks overdue tomorrow. Two weeks is as far as she can go before she can't deliver at the birthing center anymore. She called me this morning to let me know that she has been having some contractions since about 2:30 this morning but they haven't been regular enough. She called her midwife group and they told her to come in and they are going to break her water, so she should have her baby before the day is out!

A Post From A Friend

Hello to everyone who reads Kara's blog! I'm Kara's friend, Melissa. Kara won't have internet access for a little while so I'm going to be updating important stuff for her. By important I, of course, mean stuff about when she goes into labor and has her baby. That way no one will miss out. That's all for now but I'll be back when something "important" happens!

ultrasound2
Originally uploaded by karalynlund.

This is another picture from my ultrasound. It's her legs and one foot. We were very happy to find out that she doesn't have clubbed feet like her older brother did.

Ultrasound picture

ultrasound1
Originally uploaded by karalynlund.

Okay, I don't know how well you'll be able to see this. I didn't get a digital copy of my ultrasound pictures, so I finally just took pictures of the printout they gave me. The ultrasound was done in December. This one is her face.

Easter

Easter
Originally uploaded by karalynlund.

Here's a picture of William and his cousins Dari and Verah enjoying the spoils of thier Easter egg hunt.

Good Weekend

We had an exciting weekend! Saturday was my baby shower, which you can read about in my earlier posts. Then Sunday, of course, was Easter. We didn't do too much Sunday morning, but got ready for church. After church, Aaron checked his email and found out that he was accepted into an opera young artist program! He had been anxiously awaiting their email and we were both very excited to hear that they accepted him! Then while he was telling his family the good news, his cousin and her family arrived for our Easter dinner. We had a turkey, potatoes with gravy, veggies, cranberry sauce, rolls, and I'm sure something else... Anyway, it all turned out very good, and I think everyone had plenty to eat! After dinner, we sent the husbands and kids into William's room while the "Easter Bunny" hid eggs for everyone to find. It was a lot of fun watching them (including our husbands) finding eggs, candy, and a few little toys around the room. For the rest of the evening, we all consumed more sugar than we should have, but it was a lot of fun! It was a nice end to a good weekend!

Baby Shower

Cutie
Originally uploaded by karalynlund.

Saturday I had my baby shower. Ann (a friend from church) was kind enough to throw one for me, and despite it being Easter weekend, we had a decent turn out. This picture is one of the outfits I got. There are some more pictures, and if you still haven't seen enough, you can click the link to my photos on the right!

cider
Originally uploaded by karalynlund.

One of the guests at my shower brought a bottle of sparkling cider, so Aaron and I can celebrate our new baby!

quilt
Originally uploaded by karalynlund.

My friends Melissa and Stephanie made this quilt for the baby. They sent the quilt and the rest of their present to the hostess of my baby shower, so I could open it there. What a special surprise.

bucketandstuff
Originally uploaded by karalynlund.

This is the bucket that Melissa and Stephanie put together for me. It's got lots of pockets, and they were all filled with cute and useful things for me and the baby! Thank you Melissa and Steph!

A day in the park

ponyriding
Originally uploaded by karalynlund.

Okay, I'm a little slow to post lately... This was from a couple of weeks ago. We met Aaron's brother at a park in Bellevue. While we had lunch, William chased a couple of ducks around the tables. Aaron got William's kite up in the air for a while, and William had a lot of fun on the playground. Here's a picture of him riding one of the playground's springy pony toys.

Johari Window

My friend Melissa put one of these on her blog, and it looked like fun, so I thought I'd make one for myself. I'd never heard of a Johari Window before, but here's a description from the web site:

"The Johari Window was invented by Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham in the 1950s as a model for mapping personality awareness. By describing yourself from a fixed list of adjectives, then asking your friends and colleagues to describe you from the same list, a grid of overlap and difference can be built up."

So, anyone who knows me well enough, come tell me what you think describes my personality.

Funny William!

williamisfunny2
Originally uploaded by karalynlund.

One night, just before bed, William came out of his room with his hard hat, sunglasses, and Halloween pumkin. He was a little over exited about getting his picture taken and kept running up to the camera, so that's me trying to hold him back while Aaron took the picture.

Spaghetti boy

spaghetti1
Originally uploaded by karalynlund.

Okay, this picture is a little old too... Sorry it's taken me a while to get around to posting. Anyway, William loves spaghetti-well, any kind of pasta really. If there are noodles, it's spaghetti to him! He's doing better at getting food in his mouth, but those noodles are a little tricky!

Bath Time!

bubblebath1
Originally uploaded by karalynlund.

This picture is kind of old, but cute anyway! William loves baths, and it's a special treat to get bubbles.

Success!!

I've been so frustrated with William. We've been trying to potty train him before the baby gets here so we don't have to do double diaper duty, and I've felt like he's just not getting it. He likes sitting on the potty and will go if we put him on, but he hasn't asked to go UNTIL YESTERDAY!!! He had a diaper on in the living room and started taking it off. I got really irritated because usually if he takes off his diaper or training pants it means he's already peed them and doesn't want it on him. He wanted to go sit on the potty chair, so I followed him in there thinking that this was going to be pointless since he already went, but it wasn't! He actually went potty, and when I came back out to take care of his diaper, I realized it was dry! I was so happy that he'd actaully told me before he went pee! We give him stickers on a chart if he's dry, so I told him that maybe we could get some new airplane stickers for his chart (he loves airplanes). He insisted that we get them now, and I was so pleased with him that I decided it would be okay. We went to get some together. Last night he had 6 new airplane stickers on his chart! So far this morning things are still going well. With the exception of his bedtime diaper, he's been dry! My little boy is getting so big!

William, what cute sunglasses you have!

Tonight, when we put William to bed, he decided he needed to have his flip sunglasses on. These are a little kid version of the kind with shades you can flip up and down. Anyway, he had to put them on before we could have prayers. Then he couldn't decide if he wanted the shades up or down. You'll just have to picture him laying in bed with his binkie and flip sunglasses. Unfortunately, my camera has no batteries at the moment, but it was very cute! You'll just have to take my word for it.

Funeral

This last week has been an interesting one. Last Friday we found out that Aaron's aunt, who had been struggling with Lukemia off and on for a few years, passed away the night before. His Uncle lives in Boise, so we decided to take the trip to go to the funeral. We drove down on Monday, the funeral was Tuesday, and we came back Wednesday. I hadn't gotten much chance to get to know Aaron's aunt, but she was a really nice woman. One of the things that was said about her during the funeral was that she never met a stranger. I can say that I certainly never felt like a stranger the few times I saw her. She was an incredibly welcoming and friendly person. In some ways it's good that she is gone. At least she won't have to deal with the cancer anymore. But she'll be missed by everyone who knew her. We spent a lot of time on the road (about 9 hours each way including stops) but we were very glad that we spent the time to go say goodbye and see family.

Look what I made!

Andrea Shaw's present
Originally uploaded by karalynlund.

This is a cute little dress that I crocheted for a friend who had her baby shower yesterday. I'm happy it turned out so well! Someone at the last baby shower I went to (I go to a lot of these for some reason...) made a blanket and a hat (and booties? I can't remember for sure) and I asked her where she got her patterns. She said to look up "Bev's Country Cottage," so I did and found the pattern for this there. (for anyone who wants the site: http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/baby.html ) Anyway, this was the first very complex pattern I'd tried to follow. I'm pretty pleased with the results, so now I need to get started on a couple of things for my baby!

When Posts Go Wrong

I really want to change the title of my last post. Flickr just posts the title of the picture, and I never think about it until after I've alreardy posted it to my blog. Usually, it's not a big deal. I just go in and edit the post to give it the title that I want. However, it's slightly more difficult this time as there is no record of that post ever having been made. It's there everytime I go to the site, but if I go to "edit posts," that post is not included. It's a conspiracy. Someone wants the whole world to know that Andrea Shaw got a present from me.
Anyway, I want you all when you read "Andrea Shaws Present" to pretend it says, "Look What I Made!" I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out, and Andrea seemed to like it too.
Okay, I'm going to stop babbling now...

This is an edit... The post that I was posting about (everyone confused about which post I'm talking about?) has now disappeared. I'm not entirely sure, but I'm thinking I may not have "republished entire blog" when I posted it, and I think that might have something to do with it. Anyway, it's gone, so I'm going to re-post that now (hopefully with the correct title.)

girlie outfit

girlie outfit
Originally uploaded by karalynlund.

This is the first girlie outfit that I've gotten for our baby since finding out we're going to have a girl.

Happy Birthday to Me

I just realized it's been a while since I posted... There's not really anything big going on. Today I've been relaxing and enjoying my birthday! Whoopee! (Someone say "Yeehaw" please... ...thank you.) Aaron served me breakfast in bed, and we spent most of the rest of the day relaxing and playing with William. Overall, a nice day-except for the rain...

YYZ

Last night I took some medicine that's supposed to be helping this nasty cough that I've had. I was kind of worried about the effect it might have had on the baby. I hadn't felt anything for most of the evening which is unusual since she's usually most active at night, and it was kind of bugging me. I told Aaron, who was listening to some music on his headphones, and he thought that a little rock music might wake her up. So her official first song is YYZ by Rush. :) We guess she liked it, because she gave us a little kick! Aaron is excited. He was joking afterward that now he knows she must be his baby, since she's a Rush fan. Silly husbands!

Rainy Days

Seattle is really rainy. Okay, you probably knew that, but this month has been exceptionally rainy. I haven't been able to find an official record, but I've heard that the record for most consecutive rainy days in Seattle is 33. We are currently on day number 26. That's a lot of rain-even in Seattle.
According to Weather.com:
255 PM PST THU JAN 12 2006
...EVEN MORE RAIN ON ALREADY SOGGY PUGET SOUND REGION SOILS THROUGH FRIDAY...
THE PUGET SOUND AREA HAS HAD DAILY RAINFALL SINCE THIS WET WEATHER PATTERN BEGAN ON DECEMBER 19TH...NOW 25 STRAIGHT DAYS. SOILS ARE SATURATED AND THOSE ON STEEPER SLOPES ARE PRIMED TO GIVE WAY IN LANDSLIDES.
LANDSLIDES HAVE OCCURRED IN VARIOUS WESTERN WASHINGTON LOCATIONS SINCE LATE LAST WEEK. ON FRIDAY JANUARY 6...THE U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY ISSUED AN ADVISORY FOR ADDITIONAL LANDSLIDES DUE TO WET SOILS. THE ADVISORY STATES THAT LANDSLIDES ARE HIGHLY POSSIBLE DURING INTENSE RAINFALL OR WHEN RAINFALL AMOUNTS EXCEED ONE INCH IN 24 HOURS. THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST FOR RAINFALL EXCEEDS THAT AMOUNT.

Looking to Relocate

If I could be anywhere else today, it would be at Boskovich Farms in Oxnard, California. They grow strawberries. Mmmmm.... Strawberries...

A Tale of Cars, Curbs, and Keys

Last night I realized that we were pretty much out of milk, so I left Aaron and William to get ready for bed and headed to the grocery store. On the way out of our appartment complex, I sort of ran into the curb. Ooops. But I just continued on the way to the store. About halfway there, the car started making funny noises and kind of vibrating, so I pulled off onto the next side road and discovered that the front passenger side tire was completely flat. We just got this car in December, and I knew it didn't have a spare tire (this is something that we knew we would need to get, but just hadn't gotten around to it yet). Well, the tire shops had closed, and we didn't have much choice but to leave the car there overnight. After locking the keys in the car (also something we don't have a spare of), and retrieving them wih the help of a dent fixing tool (and the dent fixer himself), I was finally able to get back home just before 11:00. This morning Aaron was lucky enough to be able to get a ride to work, and I (with the help of the dent fixer again) have spent most of this morning retriving and replacing a tire.
I will be watching out for curbs in the future, and keeping spares of a few important items!

Better than Chicken Noodle Soup

My favorite food when I'm sick is pizza. I don't know why, but it always makes me feel better. Right now, we've all been sick with a nasty cold, so last night we got pizza. I'm eating some of the leftovers for breakfast. It's a Papa Johns "The Works" minus the mushrooms (Aaron's allergic) plus bacon. Mmmmm.... Pizza!

Christmas 2005

Well, we had quite a Christmas. William got to enjoy his last Christmas as the only child/grandchild, and I must say, came away with quite a stash. My two previous posts have more details about that.
Aaron also got to talk to his brother who is on a mission in Mexico, and we spent Sunday night having "breakfast" and playing games with some friends from church. All in all, it was a pretty good Christmas. If you want to see more pictures, go to my Flickr account (there's a link on the right). Sorry in addvance-there are lots of them, and they aren't all the best quality. But some of them are pretty fun.

Some Christmas Gifts

Dscf0059
Originally uploaded by karalynlund.

I got some nice maternity clothes from Aaron's mom, and Aaron surprised me with one of my favorite movies-Moulin Rouge. I also got some rechagable batteries so I can take pictures with my camera (from santa), and some cute bowls with chilly and cornbread mixes from Melissa. There were a few other things that I got for myself, but these were the "fun" things.

William's Christmas Loot

Dscf0055
Originally uploaded by karalynlund.

William got very spoiled this year! Here are most of the toys he got for Christmas.

To Anyone Who Hoped to Get a Card From Me

Sorry, it doesn't look like they're going to make it...
I made the stupid mistake of not taking the stamps (that I bought especially for Christmas cards) out of the bag before throwing it away. My stamps are now resting peacefully in the dumpster outside our appartment. But I'd like you all to know that I had a card for you! :) Maybe you'll get it next year. Actually even if I go get some more stamps and send the cards out promtly, it will probably be next year before you get them. So, if you'd like to recieve a Christmas card from me sometime around the new year, let me know. I'll try to hang on to my stamps long enough to mail it to you.

Christmas is Coming

Does anyone know this Christmas song?
"Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat. Please put a penny in the old man's hat. If you haven't got a penny, a hay-penny (sp?) will do. If you haven't got a hay-penny, God bless you."
My husband will go around singing it, but I'd never heard it before. Anyway, here's my version for you all. "Christmas is coming, my belly's getting fat, and if you're generous, it will all come back!" :) I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season! As a special gift to my friends Melissa and Stephanie, I promise to be less boring and keep you all a little more updated! ;)

Merry Christmas! and God bless you!

New News

For some of you this won't be news, but I wanted to let everyone know that we are now expecting our second baby! I'm about 14 weeks pregnant, which puts the due date at May 6th. William was 10 days late though, so I'm sort of planning on it being sometime after the 6th. I'm pretty excited to have another baby, and we're hoping for a girl. Of course, we would love another boy, too- It's just nice to have a little variety! In related news, we had our second appointment with the midwife last Thursday and got to hear the heartbeat! It was exciting, and it's nice to know that everything seems to be progressing normally. Aaron and William were both there to hear the heartbeat. Aaron was trying to explain to William what we were listening to. I'm not sure if he figured it out, but he was definately trying to work out how there could be a baby in mommy's tummy, and why it would make a noise like that. Anyway, that's all the news for now. I'm sure I'll have more again soon!

Colors

color
Originally uploaded by karalynlund.

William has discovered crayons. He's known of their existance for a while, but it's been just recently that he's figured out that they're for coloring pictures on paper and not for walls or TV's. Since this discovery, he's been coloring up a storm with his "colors" as he calls them. Anyway, here are a couple of examples of his artwork.

colors
Originally uploaded by karalynlund.

Baby Parade

Yesterday I went walking with a group of other moms from church. It was nice to get out and exercise and socialize a little at the same time. It must have been quite a sight to see six moms with their babies and toddlers parading around the neighborhood. We passed a construction crew, and one of the guys yelled out, "Baby Boom!" That was kind of funny, especially since the people there yesterday didn't even represent half of the babies that have been showing up at church lately. Anyway, I enjoyed the chance to get out, and I think William did too. He was pretty excited to be around all those babies! They ranged in age from not quite one month to just over a year. He's fasinated with babies, which is nice, but I wish he knew to be more careful around them. Hopefully his interest will last long enough for him to be excited when another baby shows up at our house, and hopefully by then he will have learned how to be more gentle.

Something...

Well, it's been a while since I wrote anything, so I thought I should write something. So here it is, a big SOMETHING. :) Things are going pretty well here. I don't really know what to write to you all about... so, I guess that's all for now. I'll let you know when I have something exciting to talk about.

Big Spider

Big Spider
Originally uploaded by karalynlund.

This is a big spider that crawled up on my back porch this morning. There's a penny there for size reference. William was really excited about it and sat there saying "ber!" (his version of "spider"). It stayed in that spot for about ten minutes. I think it was having a staring contest with that little pebble. Apparently the pebble won.

box boy

box boy
Originally uploaded by karalynlund.

These pictures were taken a while ago, but I've been a little slow to upload pics lately. William loves climbing in boxes, so we gave him a couple and cut doors and windows in them. Here he's playing peek-a-boo with me.

Ah-ha!

Ah-ha!
Originally uploaded by karalynlund.

Make a Wish...

Photo 13
Originally uploaded by karalynlund.

It was a little breezy, so we had to protect our little flames with the back pack. If you notice, William got a bit of a head start with the cupcakes, and he's still holding the evidence!

Presents

Photo 18
Originally uploaded by karalynlund.

Here's a picture of William openning one of his gifts. Notice the two little people standing next to him ready to give a hand if needed? Aren't they helpful!

William's Party

Wednesday we had a birthday party for William. I did take some pictures, but for some reason my computer and camera are not feeling very compatible this morning. So no pics for now! Hopefully it won't take long for this issue to be resolved and I can post some pictures later.

As for the party... Well, some things went very well, and some not, but all in all, it turned out pretty good. I had been worried about the weather since it had been raining a lot and we were planning to have his party at a park, but the sun came out and it was really nice weather for the party. Everyone was late, but that was okay since we were running a little behind anyway. The kids had a lot of fun chasing each other around the park, and they all wanted to "help" William open his presents. William on the other hand opened his first present and was suddenly not very interested in the others. I had to hide all the opened presents until he was done. He's been haveing a lot of fun with his new toys and books. Personally I'm glad he only has one birthday per year. :)