Wife Appreciation:

Here is to my wonderful wife!

1. She cleans.
2. She cleans some more.
3. She supports me in everything that I do.
4. She excels at work.
5. She cleans. (yes, it is very repetetive)
6. She does my laundry.
7. She gets the kids to bed.
8. She cleans up after the kids (Yes, that includes me)
9. She mows the lawn.
10. She weeds the lawn.
11. She weeds the flower garden.
12. She cooks me dinner.
13. She does the dishes after dinner.
14. She deserves a break! (and a vacation)

Thanks sweetie for everything that you do for me!

Reservations

That's right! My husband, the romantic, has already decided to make reservations for next year's Valentines Day. What on earth could possibly make a man do this? Well, this particular place brings back a lot of memories for us. It seems like 3 out of 5 years we've been married, we've spent a little bit of time here. The service is always great, and if I recall correctly, the last time I stayed there, it was about $600/night. By now, I probably have you on the edge of your seat wanting more details about this place, and how YOU could get a room there.
Well, don't get too excited. It's the hospital!

Walker had a cough all day Friday, which just got worse and worse the closer we got to bed time. We did a couple of Albuterol treatments between 11 and 1 am and tried to get him to sleep some more. By 3:30, he was up again needing another treatment. Walker didn't seem to be responding to the treatments, so Jason and I thought to check the expiration date...yep-expired! Since we had no friends up on Facebook to see if anyone had any albuterol, we decided to have Jason take Walker into the ER while I stayed home with Parker. They ended up staying at the hospital until about 10:30 when they came home. The timing could not have been more perfect. Parker was ready for his morning nap, Walker (having been awake half the night) was out like a light when they got home, and Jason and I took the opportunity to take a nap as well.
After giving the day some thought, Jason and I realized that when Walker was 10 months old, it was on Valentines Day that we first went to the hospital to treat bronchiolitis. Then last year, it was again on Valentine's Day that he got the same thing, and this year it is the same.
Jason has made the decision, to save time, we will simply make a reservation for next year at the ER, probably some time around Valentines Day!

Also, Parker has started walking!!!! His first few uncoaxed, unassisted steps were taken during the closing prayer of Relief Society last week. Monday through Thursday had three or four steps here and there, but Friday and Saturday have been filled with the new pitter-patter of Parker's feet. Parker's fascination with cupboards and drawers has also increased from just open/shut to "Oh my, what goody goodiness is in here?" Needless to say, Momma and Daddy busted out the safety latches this weekend.

I Think It's That Time of Winter....

...when you just want summer to come. (And all the Popsicles that go along with it)

Merry Christmas, Happy Anniversary Happy New Year, Happy Birthday

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! Ours was not stressful...and I made sure of that! I stocked up on groceries, diapers, formula, wipes and toiletries for at least the month of December. After being at work for hours on end seeing all the crazy grumpy-bum shoppers withdraw all their money (and when I say 'all' I really mean 'all' ) to go to the mall or Walmart, the last thing I wanted to do was go spend more time with them at any store. I apologize to those who were expecting a holiday card from us. This was also part of my "no-stress" plan. There were also no goody plates made from my kitchen. I'm sorry.... Eating right and baking goodies do not belong in the same sentence in my book.
Jason and I celebrated our 5th Anniversary on the 28th. We went out to eat at an Argentine restaurant, Tango's. Our new tradition. And continued our date with an eye-reddening double feature at the theatre. It's been a while since I stayed up past 10:30, so I was quite pleased with myself that I was able to stay up so late. We saw "New Moon" and "Avatar". It was quite the night.
We rang in the New Year with a few good friends. I made a cake for Parker's first birthday.I just didn't want to trust another no-name cake froster to destroy the cake by misspelling Parker's name. (If you'll recall, Walker's First Birthday cake said, "Happy 1st Birthday Walkr"
Parker liked having cake..........on his head
I'm not sure what he liked more: eating cake, or eating the plate.

Parker loves walking with his new little gadget from Grandmother Clements. We also got him a little ...um, I forget what they are called, but Jason and I call it the abacus. It has the thick wires that wind around that have the little wooden beads on them.

We got the kids to bed, played games and in the middle of playing, 'Celebrity' discovered it was 11:59-just in time to get the Martinelli's out and toast to the New Year.
So here's my toast to you: Don't spend this year waiting for next year. Make it the best you can. Keep those who are close to you even closer.

Our Big Disappearing Act

For everyone anxiously awaiting our return to blogging, here is our latest.

For the most part everything is same ol', same ol'. Jason and I are still working like crazy and the boys are growing up so fast. Parker is teething and chewing on everything from fingers and toes (anyone's he can get a hold of) to Walker's forehead. Sad but true. The two were playing on the floor together and Parker just went for it. He has been saying , "Ta-ta, Du-du, and Muh-muh". He's also been working on standing and cruising. Any bets as to when he'll walk?

We also had a wedding in the family. Jason's little sister, Heather just got married to David Turner. At the reception, Jason gave a speech. He did a little play on words that I thought was cute. He told them names that they could use for their future children. There's the obvious: Tina, Ike, and Paige. But I also like Ambi, Rebecca Elizabeth (initials would be R.E.-Turner) and Ursula (U-Turner). But we can also say now that Heather is the Head Turner.
Not many people know about my talent of doing flowers, but I have done them for weddings, prom, funerals, Valentines Day, and have made enough leis to cover the King Kamehameha statue in Hawaii by myself. Here are some pictures from the wedding.

Kids Say the Darndest Things!

So here we are mid through October playing catch-up on the blog again. In the past month Parker has gotten four new teeth and loves to chew on everything. He is a pro at crawling and sitting up. The first place he likes to go in the morning is Walker's room where all the toys are. He is becoming better at 'telling' me what he wants. Any of you other mothers know this to be the whining stage. Walker has been enjoying his preschool and loves to show me ALL of his papers from the beginning of the season. He is trying to get in all of his bike riding, sprinkler running and outside playing in before it really turns cold.

Walker and Parker have started to become fond of bath time together. We've spent two years teaching Walker to not splash the water outside the bathtub and now it's Parker who does the splashing. He LOVES being put in the bath. If these two faces don't say 'Double Trouble', I don't know what does.


Last week Sunday was a real eye-opener for me. I went to pick up Walker from nursery. I did my usual excited face and told Walker I was really glad to see him and told him it was time to go. As I waited for him by the door, his teacher came up to me and said, " So, uh, Walker said there's a baby girl in his mommy's tummy...." After giving her the 'deer in the headlights' look, choking on my gum and coming back from flashbacks of being GREAT with child, labor pains, 3 am feedings and no-shower days, I kindly shook my head and told her that was not the case.

If we rewind the Walker imagination train up a bit to about six months ago, we will see where this thought came from. Walker was getting into the car and wanted to sit next to Parker in the middle where there is no car seat. Jason came up with the logical solution, "Walker, when momma has another baby, then you can sit in the middle." End of problem-he got in his seat just fine. Walker then continued to tell our friends that when I have another baby that he gets to sit in the middle. Our friends thought it was the cutest.

I guess this is just his imagination spiraling dangerously out of control, but at least it gives me more incentive to exercise. So if you have been one of the lucky ones to find out this exciting news from Walker, just know if you don't hear it from my lips...double check the source.

Where were you?

As I've been looking at the news, I've been seeing a lot of posts and blogs about the anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center, and thought I would make my mark for posterity.

The morning of September 11, 2009 started with a phone call from my Grandma in Utah. She told me that there had been an accident and that a plane crashed into the WTC in New York. (My parents had flown from Hawaii to Salt Lake to take my brother, Orlin, to the MTC) Mom and Dad were ok, but because flights had been grounded, they didn't know when they would be able to come back home. I didn't really think the 'accident' would be that bad, but I turned on the tv to see it for myself. I was flabbergasted at what I saw! The smoke, the sorrow, the chaos. I woke up my little brother, Matthew and told him to watch the news while I took a shower. After I got dressed I went out into the living room just in time to sit down and watch helplessly as the second airplane crashed into the second building. I remember the news playing the tape over and over again. As if seeing it once in my life wouldn't cement it to memory. The reporters were saying that the first crash had been an accident, but I knew the minute the second plane crashed that this was no accident.
I headed to seminary and to school where the current events were the only topic of the day. Lunch was more somber than I ever remember. My show choir class was even more distraught over the news. My friend had some family members living in New York and had cut class to try to call them to make sure they were ok.
We all know how the events unfolded that day...and the days following that have lead to years of rebuilding confidence, healing wounds that will never heal, and hearts that will never be whole.

May we never forget that day.