family and more

These are for Daddy's Dad's side of the family to see and save.

What I am reading right now...

recommended by my husband's father's sister's third son
more to follow...

Flatulence Sounds with your Armpits

Oh my, oh my, Girls can so make these noises too. My now Seven year old has been trying and trying to get his armpits to make disgusting noises like other boys in his class can {see previous post and pick out the most innocent looking boys and THEY are the ones who can do it the best} Of course our Two year old girly girl has to do EVERYTHING he does. Tonight she learned how to do it properly while she sat naked on the potty. I didn't think girls could do it but apparently they can and sometimes better than their brothers. She was quite pleased with herself as she usually just hops around flapping her arm and giggling insanely. I was so surprised! She imitates her brother constantly and follows him around incessantly even though he finds her quite irritating. I am having so much trouble keeping our home peaceful with those two now that I am busy with baby they are left to their own devices quite a bit more. I have even tried belting out Love at Home and Families are Forever at the top of my lungs but that just scares or wakes up the baby and the selective listening kicks in on the children's part and they just ignore me and continue fighting. My son is so good at waiting until I am out of earshot or not looking.Suddenly I then hear a blood curdling scream/yell of his name from the self proclaimed big girl followed by more yelling or the big brother crying out in pain. He's constantly provoking her and teasing her whenever possible. At first I told them to work it out themselves or I would make them sit together and hold hands but unless I get out the rope and duct tape that just won't happen and I am afraid it would lead to more fights from the close proximity. It isn't enough that Anastasia has a terrible two year old temperment anyway. We used to call her 'Mad Baby' when she was so small because when she cried she sounded so annoyed and angry. Yes we had multiple tantrums today again, in the car, outside the car, half in and half out of the car, in the apartment, in the hallway, at the park, in the elevator, at Amma's, in the parking lot, in the courtyard, the list goes on. But now I also have a Seven year old that loves loves loves his new sister, to carry her around and oogle her, cuddle her and kiss her but has forgotten he liked the first sister and thought she was cute too. I remember we had to keep telling him to stop crushing his sister when she was a newborn. Maybe the age gap {4 years 3 months} is too wide for them to be sharing a room but for now we are stuck in this two bedroom apartment. I don't have ANY brothers or sisters so I just don't get the laughing one minute and crying the next and then friends again two minutes later. Why do they bicker? Why do they provoke each other? What is the deal? My husbands best friends are his siblings. Why can't I get my children to be kind to each other? Helpful, is that too much to ask of them? It's been pretty brutal lately plus we're all feeling the squeeze of being in such close quarters and kind of getting in each other's way. I am really glad I have more than one child but I wasn't prepared for the dynamics which isn't really as bad as I am making it out to be but I am feeling frustrated and still adjusting. 'Stop, breathe and think.' Anastasia always says when she hears the word frustrated. Maybe I will try that next time I hear the blood curdling scream or the 'Mom she's hitting/pinching/kicking/throwing blank at me.' I don't want to encourage them to physically let the other have it but have been tempted. My grade six teacher loved to tell his students to take it out in the hallway, that he'd clean up the blood later. We do have a hallway but i don't think that would be a good solution. I just found a bug on my arm biting me and have no idea what kind it was but am totally grossed out because i crushed it and i don't like to touch bugs of have them touch me ever. I am really curious where it came from and what it was though. I guess I reacted too quickly. Maybe it came from the pile of strawberry leaves left by the laptop on top of the strawberry juice stain now on the desk. Finding that really tries my patience. I know exactly who did it too! Well I better quit brewing and stewing about this sibling rivalry thing and get some sleep. Oh is that what it is? Now I have a name for it and can do some research. I am so happy. As previously stated I better get some Zees before Avalina wakes. She's been hungry every hour today seems like, must be a growth spurt. I actually felt human today because I got four straight hours last night {pumped milk, compassionate daddy}! G'nite

Mother's Day and Class Photo

Marvin's writing skills are really improving. They studied Jackson Pollock earlier this year and each did paintings in their class. Miss Crew is such a great teacher! She has so much patience with her grade one class. We teased Marvin saying he must be holding her hand in the class picture. I am glad most of the students were looking at the camera and smiling. The class looks quite small in the photo but there are twenty
four children.

Avalina's One Month Old!

It's no wonder they call her Marvelina at Lola's house. She really looks a lot like Marvin did as a baby. In the last photo you can compare the brother and sister and decide for yourself who the baby looks like. Patrick thinks she is the spitting image of me. I can't see it but how often do I look at myself.
They're warming up to the idea of having a baby sister.
They seem to like her so far even though she is taking up a lot of Mommy's time and energy which used to be focused on them and herself! Well, it won't last before we know it she'll be talking and walking.
She's already supporting her head some and turning it to look at the other children. Babies are so amazing! It's great watching them grow and develop and exciting when they hit those milestones. In the second photo Avalina looks scared. I am sure once Patrick sees this photo he will laugh and remind me that when I try to force a smile in photos like for ID cards I usually end up looking scared. When his sister saw my driver's license she burst out laughing and asked me, "Did you make that face on purpose, It's hilarious." I was clueless and replied, "What face? I am just smiling at the camera.

More of the Same....

but different....
Here is even more photos of Avalina!
Anastasia has changed her attitude and her mind about her little sister. She no longer says, "I don't like the baby." She helps with the diaper changes by getting everything ready and getting right in there during the actual change. She is constantly telling me that Avalina needs her diaper changed. I love to hear her say, "She's rilly cute mommy." over and over. Then there's the accompanying statement with almost everything: "Not for babies. Right? Only for big girls." Any kind of snack or meal is not for babies because they don't have any teeth. Any kind of toy is not for babies, just for big girls. All the little things we do together is not for Avalina because she's too little. Shoes are not for babies. Helping Mommy is not for babies. Using the telephone, watching a video or dvd, putting on her shoes, drinking out of cups, using the potty, eating ice cream, going to the playground, checking the mail....
All of it is not for babies, just for big girls and mommies and daddies and Marvins.
Some things are also not for cats because they don't have any hands, just paws.
She is so set on determining her role and what is for her and what is for babies.
I guess she's trying to find her place and the baby's place in all this transition.
Tantrums are getting better or at least a bit less frequent now.
I love it when Anastasia kisses Avalina's head, even when she's asleep or crying or feeding. It's usually accompanied by the exclamation, " She's ears are really tiny, Mommy." or " She's hair is really soft, Mommy." or "She's happy Mommy."
Marvin likes to hold her even when she's crying. Imagine he's almost SEVEN years old. How did that happen. I keep forgetting I have T H R E E children. Unbelievable, I am unbelievably lucky.

When the children first met her....

Here's a few photos from the hospital when Anastasia and Marvin first met their new sister Avalina.

Black and White First Photos

Avalina

Avalina's First Moments

Yipee!

T H E M I L K I S I N !

Avalina

We had a baby girl and brought her home! Her name is going to be Avalina and she was born on Friday morning weighing 6lbs 10oz. She is so tiny and has a lot of dark hair and was hard to get out! We went to the hospital about 3:30 AM. It was an amazing experience. The power of prayer is phenomenal! So are little tiny babies as was our patient nurse, my family physician and my husband! He likes to think of himself as the male doula. I really want my mom to see the baby now. The other two children are crazy about her, details to follow soon...

Inspired by...

" A great attitude does much more than turn on the lights in our worlds; it seems to magically connect us to all sorts of serendipitous opportunities that were somehow absent before the change." Earl Nightingale

Children

Our children when they're happy.

My name is Betty.

Bosses retiring.

The bottom photo is Maureen by far the most supportive, encouraging, boss I have ever had. I can't say enough good things about her. That is her below on the left with Kore one of the co-workers who helps make even the busiest shift filled with the crankiest demanding people bearable. I met Maureen when I was about 19 but I only really got to know her and find out how amazing she is when she was my shift supervisor for the last couple of years. Short but sweet. Up top is Rae, she was the supervisor in the Switchboard and left without a word in July but her retirement has now officially been announced. She was very 'by the book' when it suited her and had a fun sense of humor. The way she left shook up the department and left us in limbo temporarily, with a lot of hurt feelings, but we are off to better places now, hopefully, finally with a permanent replacement. I will be going on maternity leave shortly. I will have to be brought up to speed when I return as the technology in radiology is rapidly changing. That will be exciting.

Beloved Church President, Gordon B. Hinckley, dies at age 97

SALT LAKE CITY 27 January 2008 President Gordon B. Hinckley, who led The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints through twelve years of global expansion, has died at the age of 97.
President Hinckley was the 15th president in the 177-year history of the Church and had served as its president since 12 March 1995.
The Church president died at his apartment in downtown Salt Lake City at 7:00 p.m. Sunday night from causes incident to age. Members of his family were at his bedside. A successor is not expected to be formally chosen by the Church’s Quorum of the Twelve Apostles until after President Hinckley’s funeral within the next few days.
President Hinckley was known, even at the age of 97, as a tireless leader who always put in a full day at the office and traveled extensively around the world to mix with Church members, now numbering 13 million in 171 nations.
His quick wit and humor, combined with an eloquent style at the pulpit, made him one of the most loved of modern Church leaders. A profoundly spiritual man, he had a great fondness for history and often peppered his sermons with stories from the Church’s pioneer past.
He was a popular interview subject with journalists, appearing on 60 Minutes with Mike Wallace and on CNN’s Larry King Live, as well as being quoted and featured in hundreds of newspapers and magazines over the years. During the Salt Lake Olympics of 2002, his request that the Church refrain from proselytizing visitors was credited by media with generating much of the goodwill that flowed to the Church from the international event.
In recent years, a number of major developments in the Church reflected President Hinckley’s personal drive and direction. In calling for 100 temples to be in operation before the end of the year 2000, the Church president committed the Church to a massive temple-building program.
In 1999 — 169 years after the Church was organized by its founder, Joseph Smith — the Church had 56 operating temples. Three years later that number had doubled, largely because of a smaller, highly practical temple architectural plan that delivered these sacred buildings to Church members in far-flung parts of the world. Many more Church members can now experience the sacred ceremonies that occur only in temples, including marriages for eternity and the sealing of families in eternal units.
President Hinckley was the most traveled president in the Church’s history. His duties took him around the world many times to meet with Latter-day Saints in more than 60 countries. He was the first Church president to travel to Spain, where in 1996 he broke ground for a temple in Madrid; and to the African nations of Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Cape Verde, where he met with thousands of Latter-day Saints in 1998. In 2005, he traveled nearly 25,000 miles on a seven-nation, nine-day tour to Russia, South Korea, China, Taiwan, India, Kenya, and Nigeria.
At a general conference of Church members in April 2001, President Hinckley initiated the Perpetual Education Fund — an ambitious program to help young members of the Church (mainly returning missionaries from developing countries) receive higher education and work-related training that they would otherwise likely never receive.
Closer to his Salt Lake City home, President Hinckley announced the construction of a new Conference Center in 1996 and dedicated it four years later. Seating 21,000 people, it is believed to be the largest religious and theater auditorium in the world and has become the hub for the Church’s general conference messages to the world, broadcast in 91 languages.
Even before his term as president, President Hinckley’s extensive Church service included 14 years as a counselor in the First Presidency, the highest presiding body in the government of the Church, and 20 years before that as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
President Hinckley was born 23 June 1910 in Salt Lake City, a son of Bryant Stringham and Ada Bitner Hinckley. One of his forebears, Stephen Hopkins, came to America on the Mayflower. Another, Thomas Hinckley, served as governor of the Plymouth Colony from 1680 to 1692.
President Hinckley’s first job was as a newspaper carrier for the Deseret News, a Salt Lake City daily. After attending public schools in Salt Lake City, he earned a bachelor of arts degree at the University of Utah and then served two years as a full-time missionary for the Church in Great Britain. He served with distinction and ultimately was appointed as an assistant to the Church apostle who presided over all the European missions.
Upon successfully completing his missionary service in the mid-1930s, he was asked by Heber J. Grant, then president of the Church, to organize what has become the Church's Public Affairs Department.
President Hinckley began serving as a member of the Sunday School general board in 1937, two years after returning home from missionary service in Great Britain. For 20 years he directed all Church public communications. In 1951 he was named executive secretary of the General Missionary Committee, managing the entire missionary program of the Church, and served in this capacity for seven years.
On 6 April 1958, while serving as president of the East Millcreek Stake in Salt Lake City (a stake is similar to a diocese), President Hinckley was appointed as a general authority, or senior full-time leader of the Church. In this capacity he served as an assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles before being appointed to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on 5 October 1961.
President Hinckley received a number of educational honors, including the Distinguished Citizen Award from Southern Utah University; the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Utah; and honorary doctorates from Westminster College, Utah State University, University of Utah, Brigham Young University, Southern Utah University, Utah Valley State College and Salt Lake Community College. The Gordon B. Hinckley Endowment for British Studies, a program focused on the arts, literature and history of the United Kingdom, was established at the University of Utah.
President Hinckley was awarded the Silver Buffalo Award by the Boy Scouts of America; was honored by the National Conference for Community and Justice (formerly the National Conference of Christians and Jews) for his contributions to tolerance and understanding in the world; and received the Distinguished Service Award from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. In 2004, President Hinckley was also awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush in the White House.
In March 2000 President Hinckley addressed the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. He also addressed the Religion Newswriters Association and the U.S. Conference of Mayors and twice addressed the Los Angeles World Affairs Council.
President Hinckley wrote and edited several books and numerous manuals, pamphlets and scripts, including a best-selling book, Standing for Something, aimed at a general audience. In it he championed the virtues of love, honesty, morality, civility, learning, forgiveness, mercy, thrift and industry, gratitude, optimism and faith. He also testified of what he called the “guardians of virtue,” namely traditional marriage and family.
President Hinckley married Marjorie Pay in the Salt Lake Temple in 1937. They have five children and 25 grandchildren. Sister Hinckley passed away 6 April 2004.

Real Canadian Superstore

Huge shopping trip we don't usually do. Not sure why I had my camera that day but I did. Marvin sure knows how to ham it up for the camera!
It's good to have him back in school. They are studying Salmon and Owls at F.W.Howay. He has his cousin Darius straight from the mountains in the Ifugao province in the Phillipines there with him now so for him every day is even more of an adventure! He
s also taking swimming lessons on Friday evenings and starting up with Yoga after school again. He wants to do more but we figure that is plenty. He sure gets going easier in the mornings now that he knows his cousin will be at the door any minute. He's even getting time to eat breakfast hot and at the table instead of the usual dawdling and morning protest to greeting the day. That is working in our favor. Anastasia is loving every minute of every day and wanting to not nap. Life is just too exciting for her and if you're around you hear all about it. You may not understand a word but you will get an earful! Her vocabulary has exploded and that is helping her temper too. She is more able to express herself, with phrases like, You go away, I hate it, I don't want it, It's my favorite, I want pink and the like. Before our new addition comes there will be 10 more weeks of huffing and puffing and barfing and wiggling. I can take it right, I've done it before, right? I'm not sure if I am trying to convince you or me. I'm just starting to think about what my labour might be like reality is setting in. How hard can it be, I did it a couple of times already right? R-r-r-r-right...For updates on the pregnancy part check one of the other blogs by viewing my complete profile.

Long time no blog...

Happy 2008!
Our cat Lucky is finally back to his old self which means purring, ripping up children's left on the floor drawings and eating them. Also sleeping in the beds and shedding again and just generally being more friendly and wanting to be around us. Recently I was sick in bed with a nasty virus for longer than anticipated and it brought me so much joy that he actually jumped up on the very high bed once and slept beside me with his purring on. What a relief to have him back to normal. Now he lets the children pet him and tug on his ears a little and chases their shoelaces and those kind of things instead of keeping to himself under the table all the time. Thanks must go out to my husband who has been diligently cleaning up after him and making sure he gets his medicine and meals regularly. I think Lucky is growing on him finally after all this time. Well maybe that is going a bit too far but it warms my heart to see them liking each other a little.