Four months left!

That's right, only 4 months left and Aviendha will no longer be an only child. We decided to surprise everyone when we came up just after Christmas. I know, I know, we waited forever, so naughty! However, it'll go faster for everyone else! We decided to find out what we're having this time per our agreement after not finding out for the first one.

It's a boy! Nick is excited and ecstatic that there will be one more male in the house and he'll only be outnumbered by one. The due date (April 25th) seems to be creeping up on us real fast this time, probably because we have a curious toddler and a million other things going on...

Anyway, that's the big news with us!

Aviendha strikes again!

So there we were, Nick was showing me stuff on the computer, Tekara was playing a game, and Aviendha was upstairs quietly watching a movie.... Or so we thought. Nick ran up stairs to go put Aviendha to bed when he found this:





Yes, this is an entire bag of flour. She had a snowflake ornament and there was flour sprinkled on our undecorated (thankgoodness) tree. She's been REALLY excited for snow. This took quite a while to clean up as the flour kept clogging up our vacuum.

Twilight, shmilight...

You'll have to click on the comic for the full view. I thought the books were somewhat entertaining.....



I'll still probably rent them, like I did the last time, but let's just say I'm not in a hurry :)

Hahahha

How to change your own diaper:

This picture speaks for itself. I decided to spare everyone the front view (as funny as it is) since this is not a private blog:



I was doing the dishes today when Aviendha decided she needed a diaper change. First step was to take off all her clothes. She found a pull up and put both her legs through one hole. Pulled it up. I found her dancing in the living room looking like this. She was so proud :)

Oh boy....

So I woke up one morning to this:

What's that stuff on her hands?

Nick left the eggs out on the table. Luckily she only cracked open one. Want to know why she didn't open more? She tried, but her hands were too slippery to get any more out! 8 of them remained unslimed because she gave up and decided to play some more in the one she managed to get out. Yeah, the Adventures of Aviendha are coming into full swing with all the electronics she's damaged and the stuff she's gotten into. We love her to death! What can you do but laugh and then teach?

Dress Up

Aviendha loves to play dress up. She put on her princess nightgown (backwards) and then piled some clothes on her head. Poor girl needs some hair! She played like this for quite a while, re-stacking things as they fell off her head. So cute :)

Petting Zoo

There was a petting zoo near the parade we went to this summer. Aviendha really is fearless. She walked right in and pet and hugged every animal she could get her hands on. She even kissed one (ugh!) but I didn't get a picture of it in time. I also hoped she wouldn't get worms or something. We washed her hands pretty thoroughly after we got done!





This last one is my favorite picture. We didn't know the little boy standing next to her but they both found the front of this rooster pretty interesting!

Summer Parade

Yeah, I'm such a procrastinator! Actually, we've had a TON going on since the middle of this summer so I don't feel too bad for posting these pictures. These are from Settlers Day Parade up in Deer Park. If you think you've seen a red neck parade, you haven't been to this one! Among the dozens of 4 wheelers and ponies pulling carts we have some real confusing and amusing additions that seem to have nothing to do with the theme:

The closest hooters is way out in the valley...this is saying a lot!

This is a large woman on one of those chair scooters...I'm not sure what the purpose was...

Yes, this is a truck pulling a boat. This wasn't the only one either.

My favorite gem is Spiderman on a lawnmower with a Spider Elmo strapped to the front.


This was a pretty fun parade for the Aviendha and she especially enjoyed hanging out with her Aunt Emmy! There was also LOTS of candy being thrown so that helped of course :) Overall the strange and unusual made this a fun parade to watch!

Stickers

I know, this is old but I realized I've been neglecting to get the pictures off my camera and post them. Here's one gem!


It's a good thing we got this picture because she doesn't seem to like putting stickers on anything anymore...

Little Joker

We had our ward trunk-or-treating party last night. After Aviendha's insanity after eating a few pieces last night we decided that we wouldn't be going out tonight. Nick gave her candy for breakfast this morning....yep, I was thrilled. Anyhow, she's been running around non-stop until she decided to tell us she needed to be changed. Yeah, she still refuses to sit on the potty. So, Nick is taking her pants off and he asks her (cause he can smell it) :

Nick: Are you poopy?
Aviendha: Nooooooo, I'm not poopy!
Nick: Yes you are! I can see it!
Aviendha: Hahahaha! Silly Baby! (referring to herself)

Yeah, she made a joke. She's been making attempts at jokes for a few days now.

Yesterday she was sitting on my lap facing me. The window was to my back. She pointed out the window and said "BIG Tiger!"

I looked out and said "There's no tiger out there silly!"

A car drove by just then and rolling her eyes she said "Oh, it's just a car!" Then she proceeded to laugh and slap her knee.

She's so funny! I can't wait for what's to come!

*Sigh*

Aviendha has been obsessed with the toilet lately. She loves throwing everything she can in it. Several times in the last week I've gone in to a full toilet. We've been trying to keep her out by keeping the door shut and the light off. Well, I made the mistake of leaving the door open and the light on a little bit ago (intending to return and shower) and within minutes the toilet was full of bath toys and she was happily dipping my phone in it. Yeah, she's resourceful! Luckily she hasn't discovered the combination of dumping and flushing. When she does though...we are in trouble!


My phone was pretty doused. I think that's number 3 for broken things around here. Last week Aviendha accidentally kicked a glass of water onto Nick's laptop. A broken car is pretty rad too. So if anything else sucky wants to happen I say: BRING IT ON! (while I'm still in the "everything is broken so why don't you break too" mode that is...)

Obama Address YouTube Copy

Here Kim, hopefully this works for you!

Change!

This SNL clip is pretty funny (and it's good to see people finally feeling like they can be critical of the president.)

Couldn't resist!

I know it's not true of all females, but in general, it's pretty accurate!

Death

Should I be laughing or crying?

Found this last night. So true!

NILBOG

If you have a sense of humor and want to see the leading girl of "The Singles Ward" then you need to watch "Troll 2." This is literally the best worst movie ever made! Every line, every action, every "special effect", and every costume is so terrible it's hilarious! Seriously, watch it!

I hate being sick...

Man, I just got done with the flu from H-E-double hockey sticks. Now I have a silly cold. It'll probably be done by the end of the week. Stupid immune system..... I was just getting everything back on track too!!!

Aviendha has discovered throwing stuff off of our deck. In one night she threw down 4 books, some blocks, and anything else she could sneak past her Dad while he was "watching her". When he went down to pick everything up, she managed to get a few more things down. She thought duping her Dad was pretty funny!

Only a few more pages to print and I'll have all the recipes from my Mom's binder copied and ready to be handed out to all my sisters. I'm a little amazed how much I got done between being sick and cleaning my house like a mad woman.

Tekara will be coming next week to join the insanity! We're really excited to have her with us! Nick is excited to have someone willing to play "Punch Out!" on the wii. I'm excited for him to quit asking me.

Anyway, that's what's going on with us around here....

Hmm...

I was doing dishes today when suddenly I heard Aviendha crying. It took me a second to realize she was fake crying. I ignored it and continued doing the dishes. I heard it again a couple more times and it struck me as odd that she wasn't coming to me for whatever she was fake-crying about. I peeked around the corner to see her with a basket with a wash cloth covering the top of it. I watched as she placed a pink flower that belongs to one of her dolls on top of the wash cloth. Then she leaned over her basket and fake cried for a few seconds. After she was done doing that she pulled the wash cloth off and pulled out her small bear which had been in the basket. From there she continued on playing how she normally does, never repeating what she had just done. I suspect she was doing that over and over a few times before I saw her. But still, I wonder what she was doing before....

Scary Stuff!!!!

I don't know how many people have seen this. This took place only a month ago. If you haven't seen it will certainly make you very nervous!

He is former prosecutor, House Democrat Alan Grayson; she is Elizabeth Coleman, Inspector General of the Federal Reserve. The issue is oversight at the Federal Reserve. Watch it and weep.





For more information you can go to:

http://dailybail.com/home/alan-grayson-discusses-ron-pauls-hr-1207-and-auditing-the-fe.html

Lady and the Tramp

Growing up I can remember my younger sisters (not naming any names but Sariah and Tekara come to mind) watching certain movies over and over and over again. I can also remember where us older sisters would eventually resort to hiding them so that we wouldn't have to hear them anymore. There are a handful I can remember that drive me bonkers even thinking about! I will probably never own these movies because of that.

Aviendha is starting this phase. I hope that it is short! When she DOES get to watch a movie, the one she wants is always the same. I can't even tell you how many times we've watched Lady and the Tramp in the last few months. The last few days have been torture to entertain her while we've all been sick. She is a little more resilient and got sick first so she's been feeling better than Nick and I have. Five times in one week is more than I can handle, 2 of those being on the same day......

Today we watched it for the last time (for a while anyway). The new rule will be: When you've watched it twice, censecutively, it goes away for a month (or longer depending on how often she's given the chance to watch something). Hopefully this will get her to cycle through what we've got and help her try new things. Sounds simple enough right?

A Motherless Daughter...

Mom died very early Sunday morning. We all knew it was coming, but that doesn't change how heartbreaking it is. Even now, two days later, I know she is gone, but there's a part of me that thinks I'm going up to see her this weekend and have a laugh or two...

Last December I bought a book after a sister in my ward recommended it to me called "Motherless Daughters: A Legacy of Loss" by Hope Edelman. I had thought I would read it to prepare myself for her death but I kept putting it off, and putting it off. I pulled it off the shelf today and devoured it in a couple of hours. I'm glad I waited. I have been handed a great deal of understanding.

While the gospel provides a comfort and peace regarding all the eternal and spiritual matters, there's still that gaping void I know I will spend the rest of my life trying to adjust to. It's something I've thought about over the last several years, of what I would be missing down the road, but I could never put into words what it was that I would really be needing. Hope said it beautifully:

"Regardless of our age, we yearn for a mother's love throughout our lives, reaching for the security and comfort we believe only she can provide at times of illness, transition, or stress."

"Our mothers are our most direct connection to our history and our gender. Regardless of how well we think they did their job, the void their absence creates in our lives is never completely filled again."

Here, though, is the one thing that hit home for me the most:

" In the redwood ecosystem, buds for futures trees are contained in pods called burls, tough brown knobs that cling to the bark of the mother tree. When the mother tree is logged, blown over, or destroyed by fire- when, in other words, she dies -the trauma stimulates the burls' growth hormones. The seeds release, and trees sprout around her, creating the circle of daughters. The daughter trees grow by absorbing the sunlight their mother cedes them when she dies. They receive the moisture and nutrients they need from their mother's root system, which remains intact underground even after her leaves die. Although the daughters exist independently of their mother above ground, they continue to draw sustenance from her underneath."


My Mom was a wonderful teacher. Someone who has taught me my most important life lessons. She taught by making me self sufficient. She taught by being the best example she knew how to be. I've always known that when she passed, I would still have that foundation to draw from.

But the fact remains, I will still miss my mother....

New name for Daddy

It's finally happened. Aviendha learned Daddy is also called Nick. So she's been calling him that for two days. The only problem with this (aside from the obvious) is that she hasn't quite got the 'n' down so she calls him Dick. Yeah. We laugh too.

My Little Cutie Pie!

So I know it's been a while since I've put up a visual update of Aviendha. We've had some rough days in the last few months with new allergies cropping up (another appointment to get some of them taken care of on Monday! YAY!!!) The good news is since we took care of her allergy to wheat her hair has been growing faster! Unfortunately she still has a lot to catch up on in that department... Her language is also catching up at a fairly rapid rate now that she's feeling better. In the video you'll see how much she loves to talk on the phone. She had talked to Sariah recently so she's always asking about her. Her dancing at the end is pretty low key compared to what she normally does. Her default dance is jumping but at the end she's trying to do some break-dance type moves with her arms. She thinks she's pretty dang hilarious in this one! Oh, and yes, those are her pajamas...

I'll work on getting more video and pictures up now that things are calming down.

Allergy Update

Well, things are just as awesome as ever! I still haven't had to use any allergy meds. I love that I can go outside and take a deep breath without wanting to curl up and die. We've narrowed Aviendha's new reactions down to oranges, a spice or two, and possibly an oil. Luckily those have been far easier to avoid as opposed to wheat and dairy. She has gained a lot more energy and her language has picked up. We are heading up to stay with Nick's family this weekend so we'll see how the cat treatment worked... Unfortunately we haven't made it back to Richland to start me on foods but we have another day set up in a week and a half for 3 or 4 treatments.

I saw that in my last post about NAET that the link wasn't really highlighted so for those of you who may not have found it here it is: About NAET

The Allergy Cure

I know, it's been forever since my last post. I haven't been on the computer much because....well....I just haven't cared (and will probably continue doing so after I get done with this..)! There's been a bit going on here and we've been out of town a lot. However, I thought I'd share something I think is pretty awesome so here goes...

Everyone has allergies, too many in some cases! I've had Hay Fever, among other things, since I was 14. Most people know about Aviendha's issues with wheat and dairy. I went to see an Ears-Nose-Throat Dr. last summer to see what could be done about my allergies and I was pretty much told I'd have to be on TWO allergy medications all summer to keep my symptoms to a minimum. That's right, being on TWO wouldn't relieve all of my symptoms, and I'd be a walking zombie during the nicest time of year!!!

I was talking to my sister Eleasha about a month and a half ago about something her friend had done called NAET Clearing. Apparently it was supposed to get rid of your allergies but you have to go to someone certified to do it. I thought, hey, what the heck, it couldn't hurt to try! So the closest person I found is in Tri-Cities (Richland), about 2 1/2 hours from here. I've had about 6 treatments so far, for all the seasonal stuff, and I have to say: WOW! The trees and flowers are blossoming and the wind is blowing all the pollen around and I can honestly say it works! Not an itch in one eye or any sneezing! I have to say, this is good timing too because Aviendha has developed more allergies since her 2nd year molars have started to come in. We had her cleared of all grains and dairy this last Friday!!! I wanted to celebrate by giving her a PB&J sandwich for lunch (my dream!) but we didn't have any jam so it was PB&Banana. Life in the allergy department is starting to look up! The best part about it is that it can also bump my Thyroid back into gear and a whole host of other issues, allergies aside!

I'm super excited to go back but I have to wait till someone can take a day off and come down with us because I need a 3rd person so Aviendha and I can go at the same time.

So how does it work? You can go here for more information about what it is and how it works. Just scroll down to the Q & A section. On that same site is where you can find someone near you who is certified to do it, in case you are interested in trying it out.

Anyway, life has just become a little bit more simple for us here and it's AWESOME!

Gummie Bear Chipmunks

Uh Oh!

I know, I know! It's been forever since my last post, but I've been a combination of busy, lazy, and preoccupied. I suprisingly don't have a whole lot of christmas stuff to post except a couple of videos. But I haven't taken those off the camera yet so by the time I actually get around to it I may not feel like posting Christmas stuff anymore! HA HA!

So, a funny little story here. Nick wasn't feeling well a week or two ago so he was laying on the couch and I thought he was watching Aviendha who was playing next to him. Suddenly I hear Nick say: "Ugh, I give up!" and he marches off to the bedroom to go to sleep. Wondering what was so upsetting I go to the couch and there is Aviendha on the floor playing with Nick's computer (he fell asleep so he wasn't watching her). Here's what she did:




Don't worry, it was all fixable. Though, she did it again a few days ago (he hasn't quite mastered keeping things he values out of her reach), and actually broke the "L" key pretty good. He's hoping this will get him a new computer faster. Yeah, he cracks me up!