Bevan

Yesterday I took Bevan in for his 2 year check up. Yup, only a couple of months late. We were uninsured for part of that time then once we got insurance, our normal pediatrician (he'd been my pediatrician and then my girls and Bevan's for the first 1 1/2 years) retired and I wasn't sure who to go to. My neighbor's brother is a pediatrician and I love their family and I'd heard great things about him, so I decided to give him a shot. Can I say, HE WAS WONDERFUL! He was friendly, talked "Donald Duck" to Bevan. Visited with me for a very long time and made us feel totally at ease. Wow! He was great! Bevan weighs 31 pounds and is 36" tall. He's in the 75% of both. The Dr. said he "was quite articulate" for a two year old. That surprised me, I don't think he talks that much, but I guess he's where he needs to be. I have to say, we think Bevan's just about perfect!

Ahhh, quiet

Quiet, is it a good thing? I thought it was, and I was really looking forward to it, but now I'm not so sure! :)


Today is the first day of school. The first day Maddie goes all day. I've always prided myself on not crying when my kids go to kindergarten, they're so excited, and I'm excited for all the wonderful things they are going to experience. But, today as I took Maddie to 1st grade, I got teary eyed. She's been my little buddy for so long! We've gone everywhere together and I'm going to miss her more than I thought. I still have my buddy Bevan, we immediately came home and read Dr. Seuss's "ABC" book. I dare you to read that and not be happy! This will be a fun time for me and Bevan, one I will try to treasure every moment of (at least most of them), I know this time will go too fast and I will never get it back.


Ok, I'm done "waxing nostalgic", now on to the girls.

Both of them seem to have great teachers. Maddie has a teacher who is probably about 40 and has never been married, we've heard wonderful things about her. Katie's 4th grade teacher is all about Dr. Seuss, so she has to be amazing! Truly she has set her whole class up around the book "Oh, The Places You'll Go", this is definitely one of Dr. Seuss's masterpieces! She has "Whoville Council" and many of "Dr. Seuss" theme activities, I think I love her! I hope Katie does as well!



Last night Doug gave both of the girls blessings, a tradition my parents did with me and one Doug has carried on with our kids. Here's a rundown of what they were blessed with.

Maddie: courage, go to school with confidence, have the Spirit with her, remember what she learns, continue to learn, be a good friend, be a good big sister and helper to mom, have the ability to overcome challenges, and that the day won't be too long for her.

Katie: ability to remember what she studies, have the Holy Ghost help her, grow mentally and socially this year, challenges won't be too much for her, patience to study the things that don't come easily, be organized and remember to turn in work, make new friends, and blessed to associate with friends that will help you grow toward Heavenly Father.

eta: I just really looked at these pictures, who is that girl? She can't be my little Katie, she's way too grown up!

I think the blessings worked. The girls proudly and bravely went to school. Even Maddie who was quite nervous and kept telling me she didn't want to go to school, ran right in and immediately made herself at home!

Oh, the Places You'll Go!

By Dr. Seuss

Congratulations! Today is your day. You're off to great places! You're off and away!

You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose...

You'll be on your way up! You'll be seeing great sights! You'll join the high fliers who soar to high heights.

Oh, the places you'll go! There is fun to be done!

You'll get mixed up, of course, as you already know... So be sure when you step. Step with care and great tact and remember that life's a great balancing act.

And will you succeed? Yes! You will indeed! (98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)

KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!

So... be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray or Modecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea, you're off to great places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So...get on your way!

A Little Catching Up

There are lots of things to catch up, but I'm going to ease us all into it! :)

One evening, just as we were sitting down to dinner, Katie said "there's a horse in our yard." We all looked out the window and what we saw wasn't a horse, but this:

We weren't sure if it was a full grown cow but a few minutes later we saw this:

It was a mama and her baby.

These moose (or meese) hung out in our neighbors backyard (they have a waterfall and the moose liked the water) for three days until they were finally tranquilized and hauled off.

One night as we were putting Bevan to bed he decided that he'd had enough of sleeping in his Pack 'n' Play and he asked to sleep in the "big bed". So, that was it, he's done with the Pack 'n' Play, and he's a big boy now. Now, if we could just get the potty training taken care of...

Picture update

For anyone who cares, I added Katie's birthday pictures and one on the blog about Leslie's birthday. (It's back at the end of July)

Love this quote!

I found this quote on another blog and I absolutely love it! One I definately need to remember, especially right this minute as my girls are walking home from 7-11, by themselves! (With their slurpees of course)



A mother is not a person to lean on
but a person who makes leaning unnecessary!

Need some help

Ok, for those of you who are smarter than me (which is most of you), why have pictures on my old posts disappeared? I was just looking back through older posts and a lot of the pictures have disappeared. Does anyone know, is this something I did, or is it a blogger problem? I want to have those records so I need to figure out a way to fix it.

thanks!

Happy Birthday, Katie!

August 11th was Katie's birthday, I wrote this post and have been trying to get pictures uploaded, but who knows if that will ever happen. So, I'll post it now, and maybe come back and add some pictures.

Wow! I can hardly believe it's been 9 years. Having a first baby is such a life changing event. Katie is a wonderful little girl. Such a mothering, helpful person. She gets up every morning and makes breakfast for herself and Maddie and Bevan (she won't even let me help). She wants to do everything for herself, every once in a while I can talk her into letting me help her with her hair. She thinks she's a grown up, but I still want to have her stay "my girl" for a while longer.

For her 9th birthday she and I went and got her ears pierced.



She was also able to pick out another pair of earrings.
After getting her ears pierced we went to a Mexican restaurant for Shrimp Quesadillas (Katie loves shrimp). Grandma Austin, Grandma Meikle, Bevan, Maddie, Doug, Grandma-great Meikle and Aunt Juli joined us as well. Katie was very, very spoiled with gifts! Most of them having to do with her new ear piercings!
Then on Wed. Katie took one of her friends and we met Alesa at Cherry Hills- fun times! We didn't get home until 10:30 but the kids had a great time. I think we are finally done celebrating, but we had fun while it lasted!
What a wonderful girl Katie is and how lucky I am to be her mom! Love you, Katie!

Finally, my green scooter!

I've wanted a green scooter for a long time now. Of course, I would look really funny driving around on it with my three kids and all their paraphernalia. So, I've never really worked hard on getting it. Last night my mom, Juli and Doug took the kids and went to the park for a dinner/fundraiser for a young father in our town who got in a motorcycle accident and received brain damage. While there they could purchase raffle tickets for prizes that were donated. Guess what, we won, my scooter. Here it is:

Ok, so I won't really fit on it, but the kids are having a blast! I think they are now the most popular kids on the block. :)

We also won a pink bike that is just perfect for Maddie.

And my mom won a basket full of Biolage hair care products! What lucky people.

Weighing In!

I'm only doing this to keep myself accountable. I have not lost any weight this month. BUT, after the CRaZy month that I've had, I'm ok with that. We're starting over. My goal is 10 pounds by the end of August.

Let's Get Started!

I've been telling you that I have a lot to tell you and that I've been way busy. I guess it's time I start telling you about all that's been going on. So, I'll start with part of it. I guess that's the only way, I'm going to get it all down.

A few weeks ago our neighbor/counselor in the Bishopric call to see if he could visit with me. I knew I was in trouble! ;) A few weeks before I had been sitting in Sacrament meeting when I had the thought come to me that I would soon be in Young Women and that Sheri Egbert would be with me. I kind of brushed that off, until I got this phone call. When Mike came over he called me to be the Secretary of the Young Women, and sure enough, Sheri is the President. I'm so grateful for the preparation I had for this. Last time I was asked to be in Young Women I said yes but went home and cried. This time I was prepared and grateful for the opportunity.
We were sustained three Sundays ago. After Sacrament meeting we were set apart. What a wonderful opportunity these blessings are. In my blessing I was blessed with the ability to be detailed and thorough in my record keeping. It talked about how important those records are and how much you can know about the Young Woman through these records. I was also blessed with the ability to become friends with each of the Young Women. That this calling would not detract from my home life and responsibilities but instead will become a better wife and mother.

One of the other sisters received an amazingly detailed blessing. She was blessed with the ability to "be able to think outside the box to help a couple of young women who would be having problems in the next few weeks. As you help them through your struggles you will eventually be able to see their success." What a cool blessing! But I have to admit, I think I would have been scared!

I then left town for two weeks (more on that to come). When I got home I immediately had a bunch of Young Women stuff to do. Then to top that off, I had PTA to organize. What a crazy time! I am the President at Katie's school and this time of year is very busy, trying to get everyone trained and set up meetings, etc... I think I am on top of these things but I know that they will continue to keep me busy. This next week I have 3 Young Women activities/meetings to attend and 2 PTA meetings. Yup, I'll be busy! But, it will be fun!

So, that's the start. I'll tell you about my trips later. Maybe tomorrow...