The Soesbe Clan

Snap shot

2012-01-17T13:06:00.002-07:00

Hi all! Well it seems we have made it half way through the first month of 2012 and I haven't given any updates from Christmas or anything since after Daisy's birthday. There's a reason. I got a new phone. I finally upgraded to the 21st century and got a smart phone. The Iphone 3gs is a wonderful thing, it does so much. Except send pictures to my email quickly...it takes the stupid thing forever to send one gosh darn picture, so I dont have much to show you. But a quick update on the family is in order I think.

Baylie: is so funny. She makes me laugh every day. She's doing very good in school and is really coming along. She has begun to identify small two letter words like "is, to, be, we" etc. Which, half way through kindergarden may not seem like an accomplishment for most, but for her its huge. Reading is something she loves but word/letters/number are hard for her to process and understand. We are very pround of how she's doing. She's developed quite a sense of humor and is just funny to listen to. Her reasoning of how things work is amusing...its how she sees it BUT its an acurate description even if its slightly skewed. We are now gearing up for her 6th birthday in a couple months!

Daisy: continues to do well in school. She loves school and has several friends. We continue to stuggle with her attitude at home and will soon be speaking to a counselor about it as its becoming overwhelming to everyone in the house. That being said, she is still very sweet when shes not being very naughty/whinney. She just celebrated her 4th birthday, and it doesnt seem possible that she is already 4.

Pepper: is the sweetest naughty child ever. She's so loving and affectionate and cute that its hard to be mad at her for long. But she tries to get into EVERYTHING!!! And if she can't get into it, she wants to climb on it. She gets in trouble several times a day for getting on the dinning room table or for getting into my bathroom. She's a bright child that loves to explore. She was doing motor skills early enough that her language skill are lagging a little, but she's started making up for it. It doesnt help the she has two big sisters to be her voice for her. But shes starting to come along, and is very polite. She always says Please and Thank you. We are so grateful she is ours. And she has her 2 year birthday coming up in May...where did that time go!?!!?

James: just celebrated his one year for working at L&H. And he still loves it. He works in Mega Door (the big cloth doors you see at the mines are mega doors) Hes crew lead, and really enjoys his job. We are doing well as a couple. We just celebrated our 6 year wedding anniversary, and I am so glad he picked me to spend his life with.

Me: I am chugging along. As I write this I am almost (tomorrow) 17 weeks along with baby #4. We have names picked out for him/her. We will find out in Feb. if jr. is a he or a she. I would love a boy, but I am almost certain that jr. is girl. We dont want to tell our families what baby is until its born. But I will give you the names we have so far. Girl: Dally Grace. Boy: Weston or Wesley Allan. those are subject to change before the baby arrives in late June/early July, but for now thats what we've picked. I like either boys name so it will be on James to pick the final. I think he's leaning more towards Weston.

Thats it for the Soesbe family in January! I will leave with my most recent ultrasound of jr. taken at 14 weeks (the end of December).

Happy birthday Daisy and James

2011-12-19T07:54:00.004-07:00

Hi everyone! Well better late than never. I am now giving you the pictures from Daisy and James' birthday party....from two weeks ago. Oops. Well, I've been busy so back off lol. Their birthday was the 10th and they had a great day. Daisy turned 4 and James turned 27. Here are some pictures from the day.

.
James opening a present, harassing my mom.

Another present.

The gift i got him, a dash adapter for his stereo.

Daisy and friends opening presents.

Daisy getting in there to open her present from meme.

Its a color wonder light brush with metallic paper!

Opening her gift from Grandma Donna

Daisy with her Minnie Mouse. She was looking way older than 4 here.

Say Cheese!

2011-12-04T12:54:00.001-07:00

BEST. SMILE. EVER!!!!!

PS. Please note the missing lower front tooth!!!!! Yay! She's getting so big!

well now this is a surprise!

2011-11-18T10:07:00.006-07:00

Hi-dy ho everyone! We got a BIG surprise about 4 weeks ago. And now I am ready to share with you! Scroll down!!!

Keep Going!

Almost there!

Just a little more!!

AAAANNNNDDD.....

SURPRISE!

Smooth as Tennessee Whiskey

2011-10-05T15:07:00.003-06:00

The Soesbe family has grown by one more memeber!

The adorable little scamp in the picture below is Whisky. He's a 12 week old 3/4 chocolate lab 1/4 poodle. James picked him out and Baylie named him. And wait, before you're all "OMG! How does your 5 year old know what Whiskey is!?!?!?" Let me explain. Baylie doesn't name anything...ever. Not toys, not dolls, not fish. Its part of the autism, she has a hard time developing attachments to non human things. SO, imagine our surprise when on our way home from picking him up, she pipes up from the back seat and says "I love Whiskers."

The problem was niether James or I loved "Whiskers". So, we comprimised with a name that sounded like it. And so, we have ourselves a Whiskey dog now.

Pickups and Princesses

2011-09-23T10:19:00.003-06:00

September has been a fun and busy month! We have finally got the routine for our mornings. Got the temporary fence put in for the kids and dog.

On the 10th Pepper competed in her first beauty pageant! I have done 2 with each girl, so PJ has one more she will do probably around Christmas time. She took 3rd overall in her class out of 3. But that's okay she also won the most side awards of the other girls. She won Best Hair and Most Photogenic. We only participate in natural pageants that give every girls a sash and crown.

Pepper's awards!

Her crown. The crowns were beautiful!
This on really isn't sideways, she was laying in the chair lol. This is her party dress.

This was her everyday wear. The theme was back to school, she's wearing a UW cheerleader's outfit!

And finally last weekend, we traded in James' old red Ford for an '03 Dodge pickup! He was very excited about it. I love it a lot too. LOVE the pearl white color!

Its coming!!

2011-09-14T11:25:00.001-06:00

Dear Gena How I <3 thee!!!! The next book in my favorite series is coming out on the 27th!!!!

SCHOOL!!!

2011-08-31T12:18:00.004-06:00

My my my, time sure has gone by fast in a slow kind of way. It feels like just the other day we were bringing Baylie home from the hospital. And yesterday she started real kindergarten in a real mainstream school. And her first day of school was a success- she loved it and it went great!

(Baylie's first day of school)

And Daisy had her first day back to pre-school yesterday- also successful.

(Daisy at the park earlier this summer photo by DC Photography)

And today, PJ had her 15 month check-up. She's a big girl. Still way above the curve in height and she went down in the weight curve to the 70%. But that was to be expected as she's running all over constantly now.

(PJ at a friend's birthday party riding Watermelon)

I guess my little babies aren't so little or babies anymore. They are little girls and toddlers. It makes me sad in a happy way. We are so blessed to have them in our lives.

(taken August 2011)

A new Book!

2011-08-01T07:27:00.004-06:00

Its coming out soon, and as Gena is one of my 3 favorite authors, I have to promote the new book she's about to release!!!

Her books are omg HOTTTTTT~~~~***sigh***

And on a side note, I will be writing a new blog later today to update everyone on last month and give you our plans for this month!

July

2011-07-07T09:42:00.007-06:00

Hi everyone! Well it looks like we've rounded the corner into July! And now its time for an update!
June was a busy month for us. We spent the first 2 weeks of the month cleaning and fixing up the new house so that we could move in. And then we went on a very short vacation. And we came back and finished moving in. And we added a new member to our family! So the house. Its not finished by a LONG shot, but its done enough that we can be comfortable here and just go room by room until its all done. Next summer will begin the outside work. I love having a clothes line- it makes my job soo much easier :) and I know y'all want some pictures of this process we've been going through...

This is the dinning room there's no before/after of this one. Oh yeah! PJ is now walking 100% of the time now too!!

Baylie's bedroom before and after (ps it had nasty carpet before) and the curtains are a spring green not yellow like the picture shows.

Before and after of the kid's play room.

Before and after of the kitchen, the after is a little messy sorry we are still getting some things sorted out.

After and before of PJ's bedroom (again with the yucky carpet)

Daisy's room before and after...its not all done yet but close enough.

This is the spare bathroom/kids bath after and before...no more grayple!!!

The vacation. It was more of a mini vacation. We left Saturday the 18th and came home on Monday the 20th. We went to James' family's ranch in South Dakota for their annual family reunion. It was lovely to see everyone again. The last time we were there Daisy was 10 months old...its been a while. I realized when I got home that I didnt take any pictures...not one! I was so angry with myself, but maybe this fall or next spring we can go back and I can try for pictures again.

The moving. We spent our first night in the new house on the 16th. We only had basics here, but it was getting tiresome going back and forth at night from one house to the next and we were close enough that staying here made more sense. After we got back from SD I put a fire under the process and we got it done in about a week. So now all the stuff from inside the old house is inside and (mostly) put up in the new one. The stuff from the shed and the front yard of the old house will probably get moved this weekend or next. It takes time to move a fence and a swing set! But the kids are setteling in nicely and everyone is enjoying having their own room, and mom and dad are enjoying having a kids area and an adult area. :)

The new member. The day before we left for SD we added a new member to our famliy. We adopted Nix aka. Onyx. Nix is about a year old, female labradoodle cross. She is black and white and amazing with the kids. She has a few bad habits and manors that we are working to correct, but mostly we wonder how anyone gave up such a happy loving dog. Now that she is relaxing into her now forever home we see her playful caring personality emerge and we love her even more.
In other Soesbe news. We had a great 4th of July with our family(ies). My mom has moved back to the state of Wyoming permanently, and we are soooo happy to have her home. And, well we just keep on keepin' on! Hope y'all have had a good summer so far!

House Update

2011-06-09T13:15:00.005-06:00

Its been 2 weeks since we closed on our new place. We have had some delays in the cleaning/fixing-up process due to illness, but we seem to be back on track now.

The walls are cleaned, the carpets are cleaned, the bathrooms are cleaned and the kitchen is clean. The ceilings in the play room, dining room, living room and kitchen have a nice fresh coat of white paint on them. The play room has a coat of wall paint too that still needs some touch up, but as soon as I get that done I promise to post pictures.

The whole house is going to be the same color for now. Eventually we will be adding accents, but for now one color fits all!

PJ will be getting the swirly ceiling room, Daisy will be getting the blue ceiling room, and Baylie will be getting the blue wall room. The blue ceiling and the swirly ceiling will be staying. PJ's room will be done in primary color butterflies (thanks to some pictures I found and some peel and stick removable vinyl stickers). Daisy's room is going to get some peel and stick clouds for the ceiling and probably bubbles of some sort for the walls. Baylie's room will be done in horses again to help minimize the change factor for her.

We are doing the dining room in a barn/farm theme. And, since it opens into the kitchen, the kitchen will be too.

The dining and kids' rooms will be getting the carpet ripped out and laminate flooring put in. (Seriously, who puts carpet in a DINING room?!?!?!?!)Eventually (hopefully next spring) we will be doing the rest of the carpeted rooms (master, play, and living rooms) in laminate as well. Its much cleaner and healthier for us allergy sufferers.

The final project (besides actually moving of course) will be putting up the fenced yard for the kids and getting over their playground stuff. We are still hoping to get moved in by the middle or end of next week. If anyone wants to know how they can help I am taking volunteers to watch kids- do you know how hard it is to paint with kids around and no way to block them out of the room?

Next post I promise pictures!!!

Hello Summer

2011-06-06T11:00:00.002-06:00

Hello everyone!

Well we have been busy the past few weeks! On May 31st we closed on our first home!! And ever since then we have been crazy trying to get it whipped into shape so we can move in. (Many thanks to everyone that's come by to help out!) The process has been slowed due to illness.

On Thursday I dropped B and D off at school and took P over to the new place to start scrubbing walls (hello 3 pack a day smokers). I got about 30 minutes into it when the school called me to tell me that D puked and I needed to come get her. (Seriously, I have a deep down deathly fear of up-chuck) So I put on my big girl panties and brought D back home, I call Grandma Fran when I got home and asked if she could watch D and P while I went to get B from school. (She did, thanks Gma F) And when I picked B up they told me she didn't eat breakfast or lunch (totally unlike B) and that she acted tired. Great, another sick kid.

Daisy continued to get sick for the rest of the afternoon/night/next morning. B didn't eat on Thursday at all, but bounced back on Friday. P puked Thursday night, but seemed ok on Friday. I got sick on Friday too, but thankfully I can't really bring things up. So, Saturday we did some errands and went to the new place to clean because everyone was feeling better. We made some serious head way that day. Then yesterday, B had some tummy problems (going down not up thankfully) and P puked again last night. So, I kept B home from school and we stayed home at the current house to let everyone rest and heal. Hopefully tomorrow we can get paint and supplies, finish cleaning (kitchen and master bed), and maybe get a little paint started! I may go back over tonight to finish the cleaning and get the paint so I can just start the paint tomorrow without the extra steps.

I still hope to be in the new place by the 17th (or sooner if I can swing it). And we will be having a house warming on the 3rd of July!

2011-05-19T20:39:00.002-06:00

Well, it's official we have a graduate....a preschool graduate that is. Baylie graduated preschool tonight. She did so good, I am so proud of her and how far she has come! Congratulations Baylie Renee!!!

Happy Birthday Peach!

2011-05-16T06:38:00.003-06:00

Yesterday my littlest baby turned 1! She had a great birthday with all her family and especially her cousins. Here are some pictures from the day!

This is a picture of all of the England great-grandchildren

Stuffing in the strawberry shortcake

Such a happy girl!!

The shirt I made her, says "Birthday Girl" on the front and has a "1" on the back!

Wearing her custom made (by me) birthday hat!!

The house

2011-05-09T16:20:00.002-06:00

Well, they company that owns that house in Foothills accepted our offer and we signed the first round of paperwork. Then at the beginning of last week we got the okay to do the inspection so, at the end of last week we had an inspection done- it passed with flying colors. So tomorrow we will sign the loan paper work, we have picked Metlife to carry our homeowners insurance, and we have a closing date of May 31st at 9 a.m.!! So at the end of this month we will finally be homeowners, and as soon as we do the cleaning and painting we can move in! I can't believe we are this close to having our own place! The house is nothing special, 4 beds and 2 baths. But, it has a yard and two storage sheds and its just what we were looking for to start out our lives with. Pictures to follow soon!

Oh and I have to give some MAD props to my step sister Delilah for taking such amazing pictures (like the one in the title) of PJ for her 1 year pictures!!!!!! Thanks Delilah you are amazing!!!!!

Updates...

2011-05-02T11:21:00.003-06:00

Okay so first I know you are wondering about a house. We did put a new bid in on a different house. This will make the 3rd house we've put an offer on. The offer was accepted and the first round of paper work has been signed, sealed and sent. We are now awaiting the okay from them to start inspections. As soon as it passes inspection then we can finalize our loan and set a closing. We should hear back about when we can do inspections between Wednesday and Friday this week! This house is over in Foothillls. Its a double wide, with 4 bedrooms and two baths. We hope this is "the one".

As for us, we are chugging along. The girls and I have been sick for a couple months now. Starting with influenza B at the beginning of last month and (hopefully) ending with a nasty cold we are in the process of kicking.

Baylie and Daisy are still in preschool and loving it. James is still with L&H and loving it. I'm still at home and trying to figure out if I want to go back to work this fall after Baylie starts Kindergarten. I am just about to start a business at home selling Passion Parties. So I am working at building some clientele before I beginning the selling part.

Other than that we are gearing up for PJ's first birthday in 13 days. I cannot believe that my baby is 13 days from being one year old :o( It makes me sad to think about how fast they grow up. She is trying to walk, and I know once she does we will never have a calm moment in our household again!

That's the news in the Soesbe House!

We like it!

2011-04-09T21:04:00.003-06:00

We went and saw the first house today. We REALLY like it! Its just right for us and so we made an offer. Same process as the first time. We made a low offer- and we will see if they come back with a counter offer or if they accept it. Fingers crossed, if we reach a price agreement we could get the ball rolling asap!

I forgot my camera, but I will be asking the agent if we can go back to look again so that I can take some pictures. But we are both very excited about it!

Happy Saturday!

2011-04-09T07:37:00.003-06:00

Hi all! Today is going to be a very productive day for the Soesbe house. I have a load of dishes washing, a load of clothes washing and I am getting ready to hit the shower so I can hit the Cam-Plex garage sale! I have a box of clothes to drop off to a friend and then home to help feed kids lunch and then nap time. Then James and I are going to look at two houses! I am super excited for this. We have been waiting all week to look :o). Then the afternoon will be spent relaxing before we have some friends over for supper (spaghetti with Kielbasa sausage and garlic bread). I will post later about the houses we looked at. If we decide to make an offer you all will be the first to know! Ta ta!

Prospect

2011-04-04T20:16:00.003-06:00

This is a house that the old man and I are very interested in seeing very soon.

***UPDATE: we have an appt to look at this house on Saturday at 1!

On the road again- going slowly...

2011-04-02T14:35:00.002-06:00

So there's another house we have asked for a showing on. I have no idea how this one will be- but the locale is SUPER! Its in the 4J subdivision and I have been eye-balling it for sometime now. James is calling to see if we can look today. So I guess that means we are back on the road again, but taking it slow. Our pre-qualification on the loan lasts until July. But if we don't find one that suits our needs before then thats okay too. The place we are trying to get into see is an actual house house. It has a swamp cooler for a/c but thats no big deal- we can make it work until we can afford to have central air installed. The square footage is smaller but it does have 4 bedrooms and a nice little back yard and a garage. And as I mentioned before- location location location! I expect that it will need some love but we aren't afraid of hard work so long as there are no health issues (ie MOLD!) There's another house over in Westover that I would LOVE to look at too- 3 beds but an unfinished basement! Soooo....one thing at a time! Happy weekend to all of you out there!

Probably not....

2011-04-01T07:55:00.003-06:00

So it looks like our journey into owning this particular house is coming to a screeching halt. The agency informed me yesterday that the a/c unit is our responsibility to replace. So now we are talking about 1500 [*correction* the estimate from Powder River Heating was $3000 to $3500] to replace and install, then the mold issue that could cost a min of 3o0 or so but as much as 1000 or more depending on how bad it is inside. Soooooo......we just dont have that kind of cash laying around. And yes we could get it added to our loan, but we are not sure

we want to do that. It may be possible to buy a new double wide and a small lot for about the same price as the house and we wont have to worry about the health issue. See the thing is I am super super allergic to mold. Its one of the many reasons I didn't stay in FL with my family. The thing with mold is that you may think you got it all but you may not have and then it comes back. So we are taking one last look at the place tomorrow morning with my step dad. But I think we have already both made up our minds that this is not the place for us. And since it didn't really pass inspection we should be able to get out of this with our earnest money. It sucks though because we had so many hopes and dreams put into that house alreadly. And not to mention boxes packed. But it is what it is. Better to find out now then to find out later when my family gets sick. I hope everyone is having a good Friday and a good first day of April. ALSO April is Autism awareness month!! So the picture at the bottom is for my Baylie Renee.

Today's word "Issues"

2011-03-30T11:29:00.003-06:00

Sooooo... The house has some mold issues, some drainage issues, an air conditioning issue, and a sprinkler issue. 1. MOLD. It appears that in the laundry room the water damage we saw was actually caused by what appears at the moment to be a slow leak some where. There is mold all around the back side of the laundry, into the hall, the pantry and in the master bath by the shower. It will require tearing out the lower two foot of wall and plastic-ing that part of the house off while it gets sprayed down with bleach and dried out properly. Then the wall that's been torn out will have to be replaced and repainted. 2. DRAINAGE. The back yard kind of drains into the house- or rather the skirting in the house. Not a big deal it will just require some dirt/drainage work to be some this summer some time. 3. AIR CONDITIONING. The house is listed as having "central air" and it should- but it doesn't. At least it doesn't any more. The previous owner or some other person removed the a/c unit. Thanks a lot dickweed! I am calling to get estimates on how much it is to replace the unit- but my guess is some where between $1000 and $1800. Can we say OUCH! Well it does have the house listed as having it so we may not be responsible to replace it. 4. SPRINKLER. There is an automatic sprinkler system- yay! The system on the back side of the house is put WAY to close the house. I mean they point into the yard, but the sprinklers are seriously less than 3 inches from the house. That will cost about $200 to have fixed professionally. I took some pictures today to take you on a full photo tour of the house via facebook. We will have to decide now if we want to go ahead with the sale of the house or if its going to cost to much out of pocket to fix. Yet an other issue is money- its limited! So tonight when James gets home we will talk about if we want to move forward or scrap it and start over. I HATE ISSUES!!!!

Hurry up and Wait

2011-03-28T12:54:00.007-06:00

That is the order of the house buying day. When you make a bid thats accepted on a HUD house you have 72 hours from the acceptance email to send in all these addendums and paper work things plus your earnest money. Its a very frantic process. Then once its in and they have it they send the agent a one line email "Information recieved on ________. Thank you." That's it! No word of if it was accepted if its in review or how long it will take to get the green light for all the other things. So I called them and was told that it take about 2 weeks after they get the paper work for them to process and review and then send on the (by fax) the one page document that lets us start the loan process and the inspection. Ugg!! Really?! Well then that means that at some point this week we should know if they accepted everything and it was properly filled out.

And now something to brighten you day a bit...

Sigh been waiting for this for like a year....

2011-03-22T16:24:00.000-06:00

The Darkest Secret by Gena Showalter

My favorite series by my favorite author who is releasing the newest book next week. YAY!!

House part 4: boxes

2011-03-20T17:41:00.002-06:00

Spurred by the thought of being out of our house in 2 to 3 weeks, I went box hunting this afternoon. Now some people just go to u-haul or home depot or some other moving company to get 'moving boxes'. But not us, we are broke in redneck fashion! I went dumpster diving to find boxes today. Most people in the US are like us and find boxes in this particular method. I am going to tell you where, on a Sunday afternoon, I had the best luck finding boxes. I hit the mother load in two places:

1. My Obgyn's office- doctors offices are good because most restock on Friday night or Saturday.

2. The Dollar Store- They put out the majority of their inventory on Sunday when its slower than the rest of the week. I found an entire city dumpster filled to the top with nothing but collapsed boxes at the dollar store today.

Other good places to look are liquor store (good strong boxes- also makes your new neighbors wonder if you are alcoholics!), grocery stores and fast food or restaurants.

Happy hunting!

House Hunting Part 3: Paperwork

2011-03-20T10:19:00.002-06:00

Oye-vey!! Lots and lots of paper work goes into buying a house. We went in on thursday evening to sign initial paperwork to get the ball rolling on buying the house a stack of paper about a 1/4 to a half inch of paper work! Then we gave them money- $1000 for ernest money in the form of a cashiers check which my bank so kindly charged me a $7 fee to print! Now that its been shipped I have been gathering all the paper work for the loan for the bank. Let me tell you what- more paper!! Two inches of paper at least for this part. 3 years worth of tax returns and full W-2's for the past 3 years, 2 months worth of bank statements for EVERY account you have, copies of driver's licenses and ss cards. The names addresses and phone numbers of evey employer for the past 3 years, the names phone and address of your landlords for the past 3 years and your address for the past 3 years. (Luckily for us we have lived in the same house under the same landlord for the past 6 years). Paycheck stubs and all other proof of income for the past 30 days.

And now the fun really begins. We will get word Monday morning that everything arrived safely to TX and when we do hear from them that starts our clock. We will have 15 days to get a home inspection, get the approval for the loan, and set a closing date. Which equals more money. $150 to HUD for the re-winterization (rediculous!) the water has to be turned back on for the inspection, and then in less then 2 weeks we will be moved in, but HUD is going to come back in after the inspection and re-winterize the piping. The inspectors will be about $200. All these fees add up in a hurry! But as soon as closing is done (with in 2-3 weeks from now) we will pick the first weekend and send our kids off with thier grandpa and start cleaning!! All of this means that technically we could be out of here by the first weekend in April!

The House

2011-03-17T13:50:00.003-06:00

Front of house

Front livingroom

Master bathroom

kids' bathroom

Kitchen

House Hunting part 2- Acceptance

2011-03-16T19:41:00.002-06:00

Well they did not accept our bid of $85K, but rather came back with a counter offer of $91K and they will pay up to 3% at closing for closing costs. After some discussion we decided to accept their counter offer.
SOO...tomorrow I will be speaking with our loan person to have a letter of pre-approval sent over to the Realtor and I will be going to the bank and getting a cashiers check for $1000 for the earnest money payment.
I am freaking terrified. That's a lot of money and a BIG commitment! But a 5 bedroom 2 bath 2006 house on a 1/4 acre lot that's got the back yard completely fence with 6 foot privacy fence for $91K and only minor blemishes- how can we pass it up?! It will be an amazing adventure for us.
Luckily for you- I will be chronicling the adventure on here so everyone can join in!

House hunting part 1

2011-03-16T11:35:00.005-06:00

Well by now its no secret that we are looking for a house in a casually serious sort of way. We are mostly interested in HUD houses. We are not opposed to private owner sales either, but HUD is mostly whats in our price range. We need a big yard with at least 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.
HUD houses tend to have things wrong with them that are fixable. And the pictures below are actually the second house we've been interested in buying. To go through WCDA for financing the house must be FHA insured, and the first one wasn't. So unless they change that we kept looking. The house below we made a very low offer on. We made the offer for 85K the asking price is 138K. But below are the things wrong with it besides being filthy! Also what you can't see is that it needs to be leveled badly. I will caption the pictures so you know what you are looking at...

This is the front 'porch' its leaning and the dirt work wasn't done correctly under it so its sort of sitting in a hole on the one side lol.

a piece of crown molding missing from the cupboard in the kitchen, an easy fix but still something we will have to pay for

Three cupboard doors torn off in the kitchen, and the fridge was taken out.

a piece of famica torn off one of the counters

torn/worn carpet in the master bedroom

small almost hole in the wall

cracked mirror in the master bathroom

piece of molding in the laundry room thats been warped and coming off

sorry this one is side ways. its the door way to the master bedroom missing the door

the access pannel in the laundry room wasn't quite right and will have to be fixed

missing molding in the laundry room, the washer must have leaked or overflowed at some point ruining the molding and doing some small damage to the sheet rock- an inspector will have to determine if its mold or just yucky.

crack in the ceiling from the house shifting and settling- fixable but a pain in the ass!

crack in the wall on the doorway to the kitchen- again fixable but kind of a pain

discoloration in the ceiling where that crack is. we think someone tried badly to patch it or paint over it, it doesnt look like water damage from a leaky roof- which was deemed ok by the first inspector

broken living room fan

broken hing in the second bathroom

carpet issue in one of the smaller bedrooms

broken window in one of the smaller rooms, luckily they are double pained, but it will still have to be replaced.

These are all relatively small issues but they will end up costing quite a bit. Just releveling the house will cost around $500. But it has 5 bedrooms, 2 baths and a large yard with tons of potential- we really liked this one and are hoping are first bid is accepted. We should find out within the next 4 hours or so. If not we will go a little higher, but not much considering all that needs done on it. Address is 2305 Wrangler Rd. which is out by the Cam-Plex.

Pepper's 9 month check up at 10 months and a sick Daisy

2011-03-15T13:29:00.003-06:00

Today PJ had her 9 month check-up...on the day she turned 10 months. Well better late than never! So some stats from the doctor:

Weight: 22.1 lbs butt necked! Which is about the 90-95%

Length: 30.5 inches- this put way off the chart- even for a 10 month old!

PJ just went through a growth spurt this last week, I know this because last Monday I put her in a pair of pajamas for bed time, they fit just fine, and yesterday I put her in the same pair and her toes were crumpled up in the feet of them! She's forever growing and changing, she wants to walk but is scared to let go. She laughs at every thing and everyone. She started vocal mirroring lately. My favorite was when I called her Bam-Bam the other day and she said it back to me! She really is Bam-Bam, if its in her hand she will bang it on any hard available surface. She quite the little character and her doctor was surprised today at how strong she is. The bad news from that appointment is that there is still fluid in her ears (she had an ear infection a week ago) and if it doesn't clear in the next two weeks we will retreat with antibiotics and if that doesnt work then hi-ho hi-ho off to the audiologist (for an ear tube consult) we go! I really don't want another kid with ear problems because that means we would be 3 for 3. However, proper hearing IS important and we will do whatever we need to to make sure she can.

A sick any kid is not fun, but a sick Daisy is even worse. I love my middle child dearly- she's like my mini-me- but she is the whinniest one of the 3 so far and now that she's been sicks its been aweful! I have been cutting her some slack because of the fever she's been running. It started Friday when she woke up and lasted until Sunday, no fever yesterday but it came back today. Not to mention the constant river of snot. I had James take her to the walk-in clinic on Sunday afternoon where after waiting for over 2 hours he was told she had an upper respiratory infection. Well, I didn't think that was the right diagnosis for her problem so I took her with me to PJ's appt. today and sure enough she has Influenza B. So her pedi started her on Tamiflu. I am hoping that this doesn't have much for side effects for her. I know some people don't do very well on it. She will be staying home the rest of the week and I feel like a total heel having to take her with me to school everyday to drop Baylie off, but I don't have much choice. I sure hope she feels better soon!

Baylie's 5th Birtday Party

2011-03-07T07:23:00.004-07:00

Yesterday was Baylie's 5th birthday party. (Though her actual birthday is Wednesday) We had it at Godfather's pizza, and despite crappy weather, we had a really good turn out. Baylie got lots of great clothes for this spring and summer. She also got some new games for her Leapster (Thanks Grandma Donna and Meme and Pepe) and a book and some earings. And last but no least a new baby bed for her dollies (Thanks Jenni and Hadon). Here are the pictures from her party!

Here it is all set up!

The birthday girl with her Super Why! cake.

Opening up presents! Thanks everyone!!

Partying really wears a girl out. This is daddy reading her a bedtime story! She wanted to sleep next to her baby in her new bed!

This one was from a few days ago, but was too cute not to post.

The shirt she is wearing is 26 years old!

Kids Husband and Happenings....

2011-03-03T15:25:00.003-07:00

Hello March and spring! Well it be update time again!
KIDS:
BAYLIE: Miss Roo turns 5 this month! Holy cow!! Her birthday party is on the 6 @ Godfather's for any that would care to join us. She's a trooper. Happy, loving, and very talkative. Mostly we understand all of what she says. She will talk with you about any and every thing that comes to her mind. If you know her at all you know that, that can be SEVERAL things in the span of a minute. On the way home today she talked with me about the signs she saw (recognizing the letter H! Yay!) ((if you wonder why I am so happy about that you should know that she has a really hard time with letters)) the gauges in my car, the passing airplane, trains, the sky and sun, and a few other things i have forgotten. The drive home takes me all of 10 minutes btw! We are trying to prepare for her kindergarten testings and screenings. Because of her special problems she will get two testings and a regular screening. We are hoping to mainstream her with an aide. She surprises me almost every day with the things that roll through that never quiet Brain of hers. Her memory for events is like a steel trap she can remember things that happened over a year ago, small things that I forget about until she tells me. She is very mechanically minded and a very tactile learner. My greatest challenge with her will be figuring out how to make abstract 2 dimensional things (like letters, numbers and words) into hands on, moving activities, and also figuring out what we can do to help her transition from one activity to the other. Transition is hard for autistic people. She enjoys teaching her sisters the things she has learned. Like letters or shapes or colors. They say we learn things best when we teach them to other people. This may have to be a concept I work into her learning. Which takes me to Daisy....

DAISY: AnnaBanana is stubborn and sweet, opinionated and loving. She won't do a thing unless she's ready too. This is one of those love/hate things. Her strength and ability to think for herself is a wonderful trait that I love, BUT it also makes things very hard to do. Take potty training for example. She has been ready to make the transition for...oh I don't know about 6+ months, but her stubborn hard headedness has prevented her from actually doing it until today. Then suddenly she comes to me and says she wants to wear panties, period, the end. She went all last night and all through school today without and accident. She has a mishap at nap time- but that happens and I didn't expect perfection on the first day. But she had to decide she was ready for it, we couldn't make her do it even though she was ready and capable. Daisy continues to LOVE LOVE LOVE school. Her teachers love her too. She has already begun to learn and grow so much from being there and she has just started! Daisy is very affectionate with her siblings and pretty much everyone else. And I often have to remind her (and Baylie) that Pepper needs her space and not to get in her face. And that takes us to Pepper...

PEPPER: Peaches is still my doll-baby. Though she's been sick lately. She started getting a yucky nose in December and when it hadn't cleared by the start of January I took her to the pedi. She had a sinus infection and was given amoxicillian. After that was finished she had a couple good weeks and then it was back again! So back to the doctor who gave us nose spray for allergies. That did nothing for her, so more antibiotics were given. Something called Cefprozil. It hurt her tummy but we gave it to her anyway. And then it cleared for a few day and came back AGAIN!!! But this time it came with a yucky cough and a fever (she reached 102 last night). So back the doctor today we went. She has an ear infection :o( :o( . So no more messing around, the doc brought out the big guns Zithromax. It stays in the system 10 days after the last dose which will take her to her 9 month appt. (which will be taking place on the day she turns 10 months lol). But as of today she was 21.11 #'s and 29.5". I don't know what % that is but I know its higher than most :). Despite being tire and sick she is still the sunniest child I have ever seen. She smiles and loves everyone. She loves to make noise, from banging things on the floor to rattling toys to talking she like to make what I call her music! She is still not walking but getting closer by the day. She observes her world and takes in everything she sees. She loves other babies and children and always wants to play with them or touch them. Even running a 102 fever last night at 1 in the morning she was still smiling and happy to see me when we went into the kitchen to let the Advil take hold. She has 5 1/2 teeth as of right now, two on the bottom and 3 1/2 on top. She is a total Daddy's girl too (just like her sisters) her whole face lights up when he gets home from work and she often won't go to bed unless she's seen him. That takes us to James...

JAMES: Hubby is LOVING his new job at L&H. He has already had a good raise and enjoys the people he works with. Just today is boss brought pizza out for the crew to the work site for lunch. This company truly believes in taking care of their employees and their families. James made the decision a few weeks ago to undergo an elective sterilization. (aka vasectomy) So the appt. is set for June 10th and yes I will update about that as he has asked me to come with him and hold his hand. His new job keeps him busy all day and the kids keep him busy at night. Most nights we are pretty content to just veg. for an hour after the kids are down for the night before we go to bed ourselves.

OTHER STUFF: With our taxes we got a new computer tower (yay!) and paid some bills off (yay again!) and then put some into savings. We are now the full owners of our mini-van, and our slowly whittling away at the rest of our debt. Not too much is new here in Soesbe-land other than the afore mentioned things :). I am so amazed that my oldest will be 5 and my youngest will be 1!! Its bitter-sweet to me that James is getting the big V. Bitter because I know we will never have a son- no one to carry on our last name. Sweet because I know we can't afford to have an accident and I need to get off the current method of prevention I am currently using. I am glad he volunteered for this and though it makes me sad to know we wont have that boy, I also know we are stretched thin enough with the 3 beautiful girls we have.

PICTURES COMING SOON. AFTER BAYLIE'S BIRTHDAY PARTY!!!

Accountability

2011-02-21T15:56:00.004-07:00

Accountabilit is not the ability to count. Accountability is being responsible to someone for some action.

So I am once again going to try for weight loss. Ihave 94 (yikes!) pounds to loose. Now the last time I was at my "goal" weight I was....um.....*calculating*looking through old pitures*.....wow I was about 15. Good golly molly really?! I suppose thats right. When I graduated high school I was about 170, and when I moved back up here I was about 180. After I had Baylie I porked on about 40 lbs. Then I lost about 20 to get prego with Daisy and pork on about an other 40 or so. I was the heaviest I've ever been when I was p/g with D and after I had her I didnt loose any. Then I got sick and dropped about 50 just to end up p/g with Pepper. I only gained 30 with her- lost some after but then gained it back plus 10. Which is where I am today. Fat and not real happy with the dimples, jiggles and rolls- not to mention the two chins!

So I, along with bff Jenni, am starting the South Beach Diet. We will be accountable to each other. Something we've never done. Weekly weigh-ins, lots of support, etc... There are a few people joining in the diet but not the accountability part- which is fine. Jenni's mom Tammi, my step sister Delilah will also be joining the chubb removal society. I hope each of us finds what we have been seeking with this diet/excercise program. Good luck everyone!!!

This is me this weekend. Note the two chins and short neck and flabby arms....

This is me my senior year of high school at islands of adventure note the trim arms, smooth jaw, and long neck (but a little leg and belly chub) ....

THIS is me at the tender age of 14/15 at the correct weight. No double chin, no flabby arms, nice long slender neck.

January and February UPdate :)

2011-02-14T15:19:00.002-07:00

Okay so now that I have about caught up with the pictures from the past 3 months....

Lets Update:

Baylie:
Baylie has an actual diagnosis!!! WOO HOO!! I should probably not be so happy that my kid has problems, but as most of you know this 'diagnosis' has been almost 4 years in the making! Baylie had a doctors appointment in December with a geneticist. She has a triplication on her first chromosome. Which mean that instead of two copies (one on each set like you and me) she has a total of 4. What does that mean? We don't know because there is no other documented case- Baylie is the first. So still keeping with trying to help her be the best Baylie she can be we went to Billings to meet with doctor Nicholson. She is a neuropsychologist. After playing with Baylie, asking me lots of qestions and reading the evals and other doctors notes she concluded that Baylie has high functioning autism (aka. Asperger's). So we were not shocked, but relieved that finally we can move forward. She was put on Trazadone to help her sleep and so far its working good! Other than that Baylie will turn 5 in a few weeks and she got registered for Kindergarten to start in Fall 2011! Holy COW!!! I just dont know where it went. She continues to like school and is even starting to engage some of the other kids in playing (yay!)

Daisy:

Daisy turned 3 in December. She is a big pain in my butt, but I sure do love her! She started preschool at the end of January and is so far LOVING it!

Pepper:

PJ is one day shy of 9 months old already!!! Where did that go??! She has four teeth and uses them regularly. She adores her sisters and her daddy and has started speaking! Mama, Dada, lala (when i sing to her she sings lala back to me!) baba etc... She is trying hard to stand alone and pulls up on everything and now recently is now scooting along things (like the couch) holding on. Not much longer for her and she will be running with her big sisters!

spagetti face!

HI!

This is her bear stance- she tries to push up so she can stand but instead she just falls back on her tush!

James got a new job finally and loves it there. He now works for L&H Industrial. His offical title is oilfield/megadoor. He has been there 3 weeks and already has been given a good raise and his benefits are awesome. He come home happy now (sure beats coming home cranky all the time like he was) I think he found his forever job at last!

Next to bat: Christmas

2011-02-14T15:01:00.005-07:00

Christmas 2010. Well let me explain. We have to have several "Christmases" though there is only one Christmas. We just have so much family that's divorced, living in other places, and not related that having one just doesn't work.
So the first Christmas was at my lovely sister and brother in-laws house with there two boy and my mother in-law. James unfortunately had to work late that night so he missed it :o(.

All of the kids wanted to sit with Josh to open their presents. Dustin is off camera in this shot. But sitting in Josh's lap is the newest addition to their family Ian!

Next was our family (at home) Christmas. It was nice as my mom and step dad joined us and we had a lovely day!

The stockings were hung by the tv with care....(check out those amazing dolls)

The tree after Santa came to visit. Never mind that angel up there, she was celebrating a little much.

Daisy and Baylie each got a new toy organizer. Baylie got a Fairy one and Daisy's is Princess.

This is Pepper trying to chew that present open.

This is Baylie holding her new dolly. These dolls (one the pic above, one B is huggin, and one beside her) were hand made by my grandma and they are amazing!

We actually went to Christmas Eve service at church and here are the girls in there Christmas dresses!

This next one is of Pepper at Baylie's Christmas program at school. Baylie was being very grumpy that night and i was able to get a good shot of her all dressed up :(. BUT PJ was pretty darn cute if I do say so...

Little behind oops!

2011-02-14T14:32:00.004-07:00

So I will be doing SEVERAL posts today/night. My sincere apologies for slacking and I really hope to remedy this problem by getting a new computer very soon. (This one takes FOREVER to upload anything!!)

So I guess to start off- the pictures of Daisy and James' birthday party. Now most of you know that they share the same b-day so we have one party. This year, however, we did two parties. One small one on the actual day that was just us and then a bigger one on the weekend. James asked me specifically for the monkey cake that you will see. It is a monkey head shaped cocoa crispy treat covered with peanut butter to make the face and brownie ears and m&m eyes and chocolate liquorish for the rest.

Daisy telling me "I Love You"

Mr. Monkey-face

Daisy blowing out her candles

James blowing out his candles

Next the birthday party that was on the weekend. If you are wondering about the frosting, Wal-Mart. It like fell off the cake and i had to putty it back on- oh well it still tasted just fine!

The horses had some messed up hooves and fell over in the 'dirt' part of the cake, I had to attempt to fix it.

She didnt care all she saw was "HORSIES!!"

See them leaning- they were drinking a little too much Colorado kool-aid!

Me helping her with the wooden fairy house Aunt Bree got for her.

Our friend Whitney and Travis brought their sons over to help us celebrate. That's Ethan there by Daisy and just behind them is KaCee

the pros and cons of "moon dough"

2011-01-18T17:29:00.002-07:00

For Christmas I got the kids (the older kids) Moon Dough. For those of you unfirmiliar with this product here is the link. I got them this thinking it was a good alternative to playdough. So here are the pros and cons from the mom of an almost 5 year old and a 3 year old stand point.
PROS:
doesnt dry out (rather clever you can leave it out forever and it will still be usable)
flakes right out of fabric with scratching
if it get squished into your floor it just comes right up because its dry not wet
not salty dry hands after play
no sticking to molds, it just pops right out!
balls back up and sticks to itself after play like playdough

CONS:
it crumbles like none other
more expensive than playdough
perhaps a little harder to hand mold than playdough
doesn't come with any kind of container

So as the mom of preschoolers I both like and dislike this product. I like that it comes right out of everything, and that it never dries out. But I hate that it crumbles so much it really makes a mess. It is gluten (wheat) free which is awesome and hypo allergenic also awesome. But it isnt safe to eat like playdough (which tastes nasty but is harmless if swallowed). For me that is a con too because of Baylie's problems she still feel the need to explore orally and Daisy copies that. Also due to crumbling it gets on the floor and I worry PJ will eat some too.

BOTTOM LINE:
If you have older children that no long feel the need to put things in their mouths this stuff is AMAZING! If you have kids that still put stuff in their mouths or a little on crawling around your big ones during play time then I would hold off buying this particular product. The age rage is 3+ I would agree and maybe even say closer to 4+

Daisy at 3

2010-12-10T14:13:00.002-07:00

HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY DAISY ANN!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAMES!!
So I will have a long post tomorrow after her party with pictures and such but for today just a status update.

As of my home measurements today Daisy is:

37 1/2 inches tall
and
36.4 lbs.

That puts her in the 95% for her height and about the 92% for her weight. So By my guess she will be another tall one- maybe not as tall as Baylie and PJ will be, but taller than my 5'7".

RIP Blue Waters of Bristol Bay

2010-12-07T16:09:00.002-07:00

Today heaven gained another beautiful angel My mom and step dad made the decision to put down our beloved Blue Waters of Bristol Bay aka. Gator. On Saturday morning he was attacked by two pitbulls and after being rushed to the vet in Gillette and a 3 hour surgery where they attempted to put him back together he struggled for 3 days to continue his life. But this morning his health went down hill and they had to put him down as he was suffering and wouldnt be able to recover. Here are some pictures from his long and loving life:

(all of these were taken by me in Rozet)

The man who's pits killed Gator are still around. They attacked a Jack Russle the day before and paralyzed him and he was put down as well. The piece of scum that owns those dogs moved them in the middle of the night on Saturday before authorities could seize them and quarentine them until judgement was passed. The dogs need to be put down. They have also attacked a person and were once again moved before authorities could take them in. The man's name is SEAN LEWIS, AGE 31- BROWN HAIR AND GLASSES, DRIVES AN OLDER GREEN CAR. USED TO LIVE IN SLEEPY HALLOW HAS RELATIVES IN GILLETTE AND MOORCROFT. These dogs are extremely dangerous so beware. Please if you know where in Gillette this guy or his dogs (two pitbulls one black one brown with white spots) are please let me or the police know immeadiately. Sean Lewis has a brother named either Clay or Trey. Both are now currently wanted by the law!! Thank you.

Two part post part 2: PJ

2010-11-23T14:10:00.006-07:00

Today's Part 2: Pepper

On November 15 PJ turned 6 months! She is getting so big. By my rough home estimates she weighs about 20 lbs. and is about 28 inches tall.

For someone that can't crawl yet she sure is mobile! She almost has it though. She gets up on her hands and knees and rocks but everytime she tries to lift a hand she looses her balance and does nose dive.

During the past two weeks PJ has been seen by the baby tooth fairy and been blessed with her two bottom teeth!! Yesterday the second one came in so she enjoyed her very first graham crackers!

During the past week she has also added some new sounds to her baby babble. Finally some consenents have joined all the vowel sounds! First was MAMA then last night B joined the word party for BABA. I dont count those as first words but I am glad to finally hear them!

PJ can sit for short period of time on her own before she looses her balance and slumps to the right or left. She is generally happy to sit, but doesnt care for the bumbo much as it always makes her throw up. She is still fighting with some reflux, so I think at her 6 month check up in December I will ask about some Zantac.

She is still the happiest baby I have ever seen and super easy to get along with in her personality. Which makes her my little dolly peach baby and makes me feel so grateful we have her in our lives.

And if you like the Chirstmas photos they were taken by the uber talented Jenni Hitt of JL Photography!

Two Part Post: Part 1- Baylie

2010-11-23T13:28:00.004-07:00

I am doing two posts today. Part 1- Baylie Part 2- Pepper. Next month I will do a two part post Part 1 Daisy Part 2 PJ.

So Part 1 for today: Baylie.

Baylie has had some testing done this month with Children's in Denver. The first was with the pulmonary (sleep and breathing) clinic. They had no explanation for Baylie not sleeping. However they did give a RX for clonazepam- which is a seditive used as a sleep aid. I works wonderfully! It has been really nice to finally get some sleep- no more head banging!!!

The next meeting we had was with the genetics specialist from Children's. And after almost 4 years of searching for the reason Baylie acts like Baylie is this: she has a chomosomal abnormality. On the first chormosome pair on chromosome #1 Baylie has a triplication within the chomosome itself. This is different from say Down's Syndrom where there is an actual third chomosome. But they have never seen this triplication in this place on this choromosome. So Baylie is the first reported documented case-ever. Which means that now we have a answer, but they dont know anything about it. James and I will have to have our genetic maps done now to see if we passed it to her or if it unique to Baylie. Now if everything I just explained is Greek to you I have posted a picture below of a normal human chomosome map. The circled area with the red arrow is around the area that her triplication happens.

Okay so thats what we know for Miss B. we will start working with a Neuropsychologist out of Billings in January- hopefully they can help her with the behavioral problems.

AND if you like the pictures of Baylie they were taken by the fabulous Jenni Hitt of JL Photography.

Halloween 2010

2010-11-01T22:29:00.002-06:00

Our pictures from this Halloween. I told James we have to dress up next year :o) Enjoy!

Baylie and Daisy painting their pumpkins

Mr Smiley, our family pumpkin

Daisy as a black cat. she think that this is a camera smile like this :oD

Baylie as a leapord cat. she is pretending to actually be a kitty.

pj as raggedy ann- i made all of her costume!!

5 months

2010-10-19T16:04:00.008-06:00

welcome fall! as we roll into the middle of october miss pj turned 5 months old! She is about 19 lbs and (after a recent growth spurt) is about 28 inches long! she is still as sweet as sunshine and happy as the day is long. so without further delay pictures of all the kiddos from the past couple of months!

baylie in a bow!

This was taken last summr (2009) those would be my two sisters Fawn and Jamie (respectively)

Daisy being cute

baylie being cute

pj passed out in the swing

attempting to get a good 5 month picture

Here it is! a good 5 month shot of pj!!

her first go with sweet potatoes!

Looking very halloweeny in her spider shirt!

i love the angle it makes me smile :)

so cute!

4 1/2 months

2010-09-30T14:39:00.002-06:00

Hi everyone! Well its that fall time of the year again!! I see leaves changing and less day light happening all around me. Though our temps have had a few cool days mostly they are still pretty warm *knock on wood*. Today PJ had her 4 months well child check and shots. I hate having shots done. PJ is such a happy baby that I hate making her cry that way, but it must be done! So, here are her stats:

17 1/2 lbs (95%)
26 inches (90%) and
her head they didnt give me the measurement on just told me it was in the 60%.

I can feel and see the corner of her first tooth which is maybe a week or so away from breaking surface so long as it doesnt decide to go back down! Shes trying hard to crawl and gets very frustrated that she can't go join her sisters. Shes figured out how to scoot backwards though, thats pretty amuzing.

Baylie is still loving school. We go back to Denver to talk with a doctor in the sleep clinic there next Friday. All the tests we've had done for her have come back fine, so we are on the schedule book with a genetisist. Why? Well when chemical levels in the blood are okay, MRI is clear, Neurology looks fine and no one can figure out her special issues then its time to see if its in the blood make-up. We will be seeing a neuropsychologist sometime in the near future (yet another trip to Denver!)

Daisy is doing well. I am looking forward to putting her in pre-school come January! I am so sure she will thrive and grow in a school like setting.

James is also doing okay. He still works for TSI. Still hates it. But if I can find a good paying job by January James will quite TSI and go back to school full time! He is very excited about the idea of going back. He says he'd like to go for his associate degree in desiel mechanics. I think he will do well there. I just hope we can make it happen for him.

I am doing ok too. I am searching for a job as I mentioned above and until then enjoying the time I am home with my girls (esp. Pepper...who doesnt love a happy cuddley baby?) I know that I am going to start Christmas shopping this month, and I have the kids' halloween costumes picked out, I just need to start making them!

Thats it for the Soesbe household for right now!

happiest baby on the block

2010-09-02T21:21:00.004-06:00

My little PJ is just such a happy thing and such a sweet baby! I thought I would share some pictures from the other day!

three months and horsin around

2010-08-18T20:08:00.002-06:00

Hello ya'll! I hope summer has been treating you good. Our summer closes on a sad note as my mom had to go back to florida. She will be there until December.
But on a happier note i have pictures for your enjoyment!

First up: Daisy and the blue flower headband i made for her

Next, when the county fair was happening my friend Ciara was in for open class horse, she was nice enough to let us come ride for a while!

Followed by Pepper my now supported sitter. Shes been doing this since the beginning of august, I finally broke down and bought her one of those bumbo seats...she really like that!

Shes also doing amazing with holding her head up and head control, she gets those legs to kicking and her butt in the air, i imagine that by the time shes about 4 1/2 to 5 months she will be at least doing an army crawl.

This last one is daisy modeling her pettiskirt, she and baylie both got them and we are having some professional pictures done this friday in them...tomorrow i am making shirts to go with the skirts, and i made pepper a rainbow tutu!

The Plan...

2010-08-01T16:35:00.003-06:00

So after seeing a number of my friends and relatives over the past few months I have realized that I am out of shape. I am ready to change that! I am thinking that I am going to get a membership somewhere (where ever its cheapest!) and whenever James gets home at night I will go work out.
The goal is to get at least 3 nights a week to start. I am also going to (finally!) start watching what I eat and how much. The how much is my biggest problem right now.
My weight loss goal is 70 lbs. The ticker to the side here is my marker. I will weigh myself once a week on Sundays.
The final goal is to have lost the 70 lbs by....((drum roll please))..........Christmas. I have 20 weeks to loose 70 lbs! Whick is roughly 3.5 lbs a week, well within the range of 'normal and safe'.
If there are any takers that want to join me on my weight loss challange I would love company. These things always work better if you have a partner or support.
I am hoping that going back to work (when ever I can find a job) will help too! Let me know if you want to be my belly buddy (lol) as I do love company!

2 months and then some

2010-07-20T11:24:00.010-06:00

Its so hard to believe that little Ms. Pepper is 2 months and 5 days old already!!!! She went in for her shots today (those always make me sad) but here are her stats from todays appt: 23 3/4 inches and 14 lbs. 4 oz. She amazes me all the time. Her head control is amazing and now she stands on hard surfaces (like your lap or hands or floor) and if you put her feet on the floor (we have hard wood floors) and the rest of her on a blanket during tummy time or even on her back she will scoot. And the other day she got up on her elbows and knees for a bit. She is in a hurry to grow up and I just want her to stay little lol.

Thats my grandma (they came up for a visit for 2 weeks) and my cousin Cheryl holding PJ

The 4th of July

my grandma and baylie holding pepper

my grandma and grandpa holding pepper

family shot: grandma, grandpa, mom, me, james, pepper, bob, baylie and daisy. 4 generations of Avery women :O)

Baylie had her MRI in Rapid at the beginning of this month. She did very well and the results were clear of anything! Daisy is Daisy....she just is. James' mom took the kids and me to Devil's Tower about a week ago, they had lots of fun.

the girls at my aunt's house, that's their cousin Avery with them on the swing

Playing in the pool at our house!

more more more...

2010-06-17T16:14:00.003-06:00

Hi ho everyone! Lets see...PJ is a month old, wow where did that month go?! Today she had a check up to make sure she's better from the infection that landed her in the hospital a week ago. She got the doctors seal of approval! And she weighs in at a healthy 11lbs 10oz.

James and Baylie made the trip to Denver, we have started her on an antiseizure medication. She is sechuled for an MRI in Rapid City on the 2nd of July, but to do that she has to go to our pedi. to make sure she's ok to go under the sedation, so thats happening on the 28th of June. On this past Monday she underwent a surgery to remove her tonsils and adnoids and is recovering from that now.

Daisy is a trooper and is just chuggin along. She too underwent the the tonsil and adnoid removal surgery on Monday and is recovering just fine from that. Both girls had enormous tonsils and adnoids. Daisy had her teeth cleaned at the beginning of the month and her dentist said her teeth look great!

James is still working for TSI, though not very happily as they keep messing with his hours. So when he has time he is in search of a new job.

I am doing fine as well. I go in for my 6 week check on the 29th, I hope that goes well. (I dont see why it wouldnt) Its been an adjustment for me getting used to the three kids instead of two. And we have been beyond busy with all the appointments. We've seen pediatricians, neurologists, dentists, and ENTs all in the span of one month. The average week since Peppers birth has had at least one if not two or more doctors appts in it. The 13th of July should be the last of them for a while. That one is a dentist appt for Baylie for a cleaning- though I also know that somewhere in there is Pepper's 2 month well child.

WHEW!!!! I am soooooo tired of doctors! lol

a new nick name is born

2010-06-09T14:45:00.003-06:00

As most people do, we have given all of our children nick-names. Baylie is affectionately referred to as Roo-Roo, Daisy is lovingly called Bananas, and now Pepper has a nick-name too: Mighty Mouse.

Most of you know she was in the hospital for 24 hours this past monday and tuesday for observation. While she was there they took some blood and put in an IV. It took two nurses to hold her down for the blood draw and 3 for the IV. These ladies work on infants constantly and absolutely could not believe how strong Pepper is. And so we have bestowed the name Mighty Mouse to her.

And now some pictures from the past couple of weeks...in 6 days she will be a month old!

BABY!

2010-05-20T14:44:00.003-06:00

Sorry this is taking so long. We welcomed Pepper Jeannette (PJ) into our family on Saturday May 15, 2010 @ 7:51 pm. She weighed 8lbs 9.6 oz and was 21 1/4 inches long. She is healthy and beautiful with a full head of brown hair and dark blue eyes. My labor lasted 16 hours and with the help of oxytocine and an epidural I only had to push two times! There's not much more to her birth story other than my water broke naturally on its own at 4:30 am. and by 12:30 my body just wasnt doing as it should have with contractions so they gave it some chemical help, I asked for the epi at 6 pm. and went from 4cm to 10 in two hours. I have lots of pictures, but I'm going to wait until this weekend to post them as I just dont have the time right now. Just saying both baby and mom are fine and home and adjusting to life!

falling to pieces

2010-05-13T17:03:00.002-06:00

Well with 7 days to go until 40 weeks I am now fighting two things. First a cold/allergies that oh so nasty and coughy...but I am making some progress towards getting better there. Second, a tooth ache. I had a filling put in my third to the last molar on the upper left side last summer. Last night that whole side of my head started throbing. I thought it was the tooth behind it, but after a 'squeezed in' trip to the dentist I found out that it was indeed the tooth with the filling. Apparently (this I was told was pretty uncommon) I have an elongated nerve in that tooth, so that the filling is touching the nerve of the tooth. This caused an infection in the nerve and the surrounding tissues...up to my nasal cavity on that side, back to my jaw, up to my temple and into my eye. Needless to say OW! They gave me an antibiotic to clear up the infection and my OB gave me a painkiller to help manage the pain until the antibiotics clear up the infection enough that my face doesnt hurt constantly. After baby is born that tooth will require a root cannal, which because I dont have dental insurance will cost $1800, or an extraction with some sort of spacing device to keep my teeth from moving. Again I say OW! Pulling it sounds like a pretty good idea at the moment.

Baby girl is pretty darn cozy in there, so I suspect I will still be pregnant clear thru to week 40+. We will just have to see, I am using the spa day my sister gave me for my birthday on Saturday so maybe they can get the ball rolling!

Hope everyone has a good week, or what's left of it, and a great weekend!!!

week 38....9 days left to the big 40

2010-05-11T17:59:00.000-06:00

we are making slow and steady progress...we went from 1-2cm 2weeks ago to 2-3cm 1 week ago to 3-4cm today...i do believe he scraped me too, i get an u/s next week if i am still prego to check baby weight and fluid levels- if baby is over 9 lbs or the fluid is low we will set a date for induction.

shower

2010-05-06T00:59:00.012-06:00

I am overdue to post pictures of the baby's shower. It was lovely and we send our many thanks to everyone that came out to celebrate and help us prepare for baby P. (yes that IS a name hint). I appologize that these are so out of order!

all the stuff baby got!

cute pic of baylie

daisy and her bubble wrap

baylie and her bubble wrap

a silver babys first year pic frame from my grandparents

bibs from my grandparents

the guy is our friend nate, the bear is from my grands

from my grands

from my mom

my mom again

baylie and daisy both got bunnies from my grandma

before the presents

from james sister, love the super soft blanket and the purple bubble dress!

From my mom and step dad...it matches the crib set!

here mom open this one next!

baylie helping again

the quilt my husbands grandma made for her

Baylie helping me, the outfit from the schaefers

The quilt my husband cousin Howdy made for her

From Nan and Rich from church...they also got us a "jean" jacket too.

The yellow duckie bath robe and clothes that Pastor Matt and his wife Jenni got for us.

whats in this one mom??

from my mom and bob...the matching diaper bag

from james mom, a gift basket packed full of lots of goodies!!

this one drew a lot of OOOOOs from those who are recently moms, a brand new medela breast pump in style advanced backpack!!

James' dad got us diapers and this bib, which ilove!

The matching changing table that Jenni, Jami, and Tammi got for us!

this is the sit-n-stand that james got me just because he loves me...this is like the delux model!

week 37 and a half

2010-05-04T17:53:00.002-06:00

went in for my weekly check today, not much change from last week. still at 2 cm, but we are 50% effaced instead of just squishy and baby girl is at a -1 station, which is almost fully engaged. dr beck said he wouldnt be surprised to see baby sometime next week-we will see. i am opting not to have an induction but to just let her come when she feels like it. thanks to my beautiful children i am now fighting with a cold, as they are too, and i feel like poo. i hope its a short one- the girls new doctor says that it should only last 5 to7 days.

SO, I want your guess on baby since we are close! What day, time of the day, and weight do you think baby P. will be at???

Just some background: Baylie was 8 # and 4.5 oz and was born at 12:15 pm, she was 8 days early. Daisy was induced on the first day of week 40, she was 8# 9.5 oz and was born at 8:15 pm.

Sunny days sweeping the clouds away.....

2010-04-20T16:14:00.002-06:00

So about a week and a half ago my mom and step dad got the kids a swing set. James and Bob put it up in a few hours and then I went and got a toddler swing for it so Daisy could swing too. Here are some pictures from yesterday, and while it was NOT admittedly sunny as the title implies, it was 70 and beautiful right up until the rain started!

Baylie being a good sister and giving Daisy a push.

She's so cute.

I have to tell her when to stop pushing Daisy cuz she gets that swing really going!

Both of my girls swinging

She likes to lay parallel to the gound when she swings.

And she is a ham!

Which brings us to the bump. This picture was taken at 35 weeks and 3 days. My next appt. is next week on the 28th, just before I turn 37 weeks. Its hard to believe we only have 30 days as of today, and on Thursday I will be considered "term" and they won't stop labor if it starts!! I am getting very excited for the baby shower on Sunday and have been busily cleaning the house inbetween outside play sessions! I had a small shower for Baylie before she was born, but Daisy never had a shower, so it will be nice to have some new things for this baby. BUT the real joy is in seeing friends and family for an afternoon before our life gets even crazier!!

35 week check

2010-04-14T13:19:00.002-06:00

Tomorrow I will be 35 weeks, only 5 more to go! We had a check up today, my ob says she measures good, her heart was chuggin along at 135ish, my bp was 117/70 and hey I lost about 10 lbs in 2 1/2 weeks! I showed my ob where her butt was (just under my ribs) and he told me that maybe in the next few weeks she would drop and her butt wouldn't be in my ribs any more. To which I replied "Doctor Beck if she drops any lower she may just fall right on out!" So with that he decided to check everything down below. The trap door is still firmly shut BUT he was honestly shocked to feel that she is indeed VERY low, as in her head is sitting on the trap door just waiting for it to open for her. lol. And with that my appt. ended and I go back in two weeks for my next check and my group B strep test (oh joy). After that appt. I will start to go back every week until she figures out how to say "open saysme" and gets that trap door to open up for her. :o)

Easter

2010-04-07T16:03:00.005-06:00

Here are some pictures from Easter, we sure hope yours was great! And a big congratulations going out to Jami and Brandon and Madi Cone on the addition of Emma to their family!!!

Daisy's Easter Basket

Baylie's Easter Basket

OOOOOH MOM THERE'S CANDY IN HERE!!!!!

Mmmmm....chocolate bunny!

James showing Baylie the dress he picked out for her

Trying on her Easter bonnet

Baylie helping Daisy put on the sandles she got for Easter

Baylie all dress for chruch acting silly

James and the girls all ready for church

Daisy all dressed up...she's like a dog always has to have her nose in the camera!

And baby girl to be at 33 weeks 4 days

again

baylie

2010-03-28T07:25:00.002-06:00

This last week Daisy got actual Rx glasses because she cant see. Baylie, seeing Daisy wear something she didnt have, begged for a pair of glasses. At first we tried those reader glasses they sell over the counter with the lenses out of them. But that wasnt good enough. So I went to Walmart and bought her a set of frames from off the wall in the eye doctors office that have just plastic lenses...no Rx. She loves them and has been wearing them for the last 2 days solid. So I just had to take a picture.

goofy kid

she was 'helping' me with the baby shower invites

this week

2010-03-26T12:21:00.005-06:00

We made the trip to Denver to have Baylie's sleep study done as well as having her sleep deprived EEG done this week. Both tests went well, we should be getting the results from both in about 2 weeks.

I had my 32 week check up. Everything was fine. My bp was 113/61 baby's hb was 130. He didnt tell me the measurements but said they were right on track. My hemaglobin was low (I think because I am getting sick) so he gave me an Rx for an iron pill and an antibiotic.

Daisy's glasses came in as well. So the pics are for your enjoyment!

from a distance they aren't bad, but we didnt have many options to pick from.

Close up.

Up coming events

2010-03-18T13:29:00.003-06:00

Well this next week we will attempt to go back to Denver, the trip was cancelled last week because Baylie got sick the day before (bronchitis and and upper resp. infection). I have held her back from school to get her healthy again, but she will return to her normal classes after the appt in Denver. I will also be scheduling a sleep deprived eeg for her in the next day or so. Her teachers and I think she is having seizures (absence seizures) so the first step to knowing is to have this eeg thing done and then a trip to the neurologist.

(remember the ugly red boppy pillow from a couple weeks ago? Not any more! And she has a matching blanket to go with it!)

On Sunday we will be down to just 60 days left before baby girl gets here. Last night (after months of debate) James and I finally agreed on two girl names for her. Both fit her personality so far, we will just have to see which one fits her face when she gets here. But we decided not to let anyone in on the names becuase people tend to offend or offer advise that is not always welcome. I promise you that the baby to come is NOT your old bosses dog that growled at you everytime you came over NOR is she that girl you knew in 2nd grade that beat you up took your lunch money and threw up on your shoe. She will be her own person no matter the name we give her. And on that happy note folks TTFN!

30 weeks

2010-03-12T16:32:00.002-07:00

We had our 30 week check today, I drank the nasty stuff. They did an ultrasound. Baby looked good. SHE measures a week ahead and a pound more than she should, but my due date is the same as before May 20, just means we have a big girl on our hands. Just like her sisters. We are not going to reveal her name until she is born, but we have several that we are throwing around. I would post some ultra sound pictures, but we didnt get many good ones as she had both fists (in fighting position) in front of her face AND the placenta is blocking the view too. But other than that everything looked good. Baby's hb was 145 my bp was 110/60. So an uneventful yet productive appt.

Pictures from the weekend

2010-03-08T14:56:00.009-07:00

I am now officially in high nesting mode. (Much to the dislike of my husband and ob lol.) This weekend James had 3 days off so we worked! I rearranged our bedroom to be baby friendly, as the baby will spend the first 3 or so months in there with us.

James and the baby will be sharing the dresser, as you can see a changing station set up!

Next, I got my bassinet in! YAY! I just had to put it together, so this pic was taken in our living room right after I finished. You can't tell it from the picture but the fabric is actually light weight sage green and white gingham, and the wheels flip up to make a cradle.

Here's the baby's corner in our bedroom, the ugly red boppy nursing pillow is going to get a make over with some very soft green turtle fabric.

Daisy and the baby's room almost done! I am missing a changing table (because I dont have one yet!) The glider chair in our bedroom will get moved in right between the two beds when the baby moves into the room.

A picture of the baby's crib with the horse bedding we got...I LOVE it!!

This is a hair clip keeper I hand made for Baylie! I am working at trying to find a D for Daisy as well, but I haven't been able to make it to the craft store.

There is a story to these two pictures!

These two pieces of trim ( the one over the light switch and the one little one in the corner) took me 4 years of nagging James to get done!! But finally after 4 years he finally finished!!!! He also finished the trim work in the hall way (after a year) and in Daisy's room, but thats only been about a week. lol.

Which brings us to the belly shot for the week. This is 29 weeks 4 days and that is ALL baby hangin out there up front, she take up LOTS of room as she is big and very tall. We will find out on Friday what she is (if she is she or if she really is a he) but I wont be telling anyone but James, so I will continue to refer to the baby as "SHE" even if baby really is a "HE".

The week ahead...

2010-03-04T11:02:00.004-07:00

Well this week has been relatively normal for us, but next week is going to be PACKED! Baylie will have school on Monday, and it will be the first time she will ever bring birthday treats with her to share with her class. (I am making confetti cupcakes) Tuesday is her actual birthday, I cannot believe that my baby is going to be 4!!! Holy cow where did that time go?! But alas, most of Tuesday will be spent in the car...or rather the new mini-van, on the way to Denver. Baylie has a sleep study scheduled for that night...so happy birthday to her. We will come home Wednesday sometime. Thursday is just a regular school and errand day for us. Friday I have a doctors appt. I have to drink the nasty orange glucola and have my blood drawn-YUCK! But, because my ob is awesome, as a reward for drinking and bleeding he is giving me an ultrasound! So, I get to see baby one last time before due day! My appts have started being every other week now. Luckily, Kayla (our wonderful on call babysitter) will be taking the girls that day so I dont have to try to juggle kids and a lab and the sonogram room!

28 weeks 5 days

going to blow out the candles!

We are still on the quest to find out whats going on in Baylie's head. Her school called today with concerns about her possibly having seizures. This is a concern I've had for sometime but never voiced, so it was startling to hear it from her special education teacher today in Wal-Mart. With that being said, I am waiting on paper work from the Developmental Dept. in Denver to get her re-evaluated and now I will be looking for a pedi. that is willing to give her a referral to go see the neurologist at the Children's Hospital as her teachers and I believe she needs to be seen by one. I will keep you all updated as best I can about all of these things!

after everything was opened

Daisy with 'her' balloons

TTFN!

pictures

2010-02-23T16:58:00.004-07:00

Pictures from the past couple of days:

27 weeks and 5 days. Appt today went well. I measure 28 and baby's hb was 155ish.

goofy kid

so beautiful

my little sweety

She takes that baby everwhere with her now that she has a 'car seat' for it-lol

updated belly shots and other things

2010-02-19T12:05:00.003-07:00

These are from week 25

Covered bump

Uncovered bump

This one is from week 26

bump and a new hair cut!

Other happening at Soesbe house: with the help of James' brother in law Josh we were able to get one of the kids' rooms refloored on Wednesday and then the kids' furniture switched around. So Baylie is now in her new room and Daisy is in hers. I am hoping to get Daisy's room done next weekend. I figure paint on Saturday floor on Sunday and poof room done! Baylie's room needs a shelf moved and some touch up paint and a beautiful mural put up then her's will be complete! I hope to have the shelf and touch up paint done this Sunday, but the mural will have to wait until we have to $$ to buy it.
We are headed to Denver overnight on the 9th of March. So Baylie will be spending her 4th birthday in the car and then in Denver. We are going for a sleep study for her. Trying to unravel the mysteries that are Baylie and help her to get some GOOD sleep at night for the WHOLE night. Preferably BEFORE the new baby comes. I am waiting for paper work to take her back to be re-evaluated by the developmental team in Denver. Her school and I agree that this is necessary at this time. I am also hoping one of them will give me a referal to a neurophyscologist so we can see if Baylie has done damage to the front of her brain (we are pretty sure she has) from all the banging she does at night. Ah, one thing at a time for her though. It all equals a lot of trips to Denver this summer though- but thats ok. There is no price tag too big when it comes to knowing whats wrong with you child and how to fix it so that they can live a normal happy life!

The bump and I are doing well as are James and Daisy. We are hoping in March to get gender conformation. But who ever is in there is a fighter and is feisty!

2010-02-08T11:47:00.001-07:00

Ok, belly pictures from week 24 and 4 days to be exact!

hard to see much in this one :o(

this one is a little better, it deff. starting to show! lol

2010-01-29T14:33:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I Cry

Sometimes I cry for the little girl I dreamed of. The one all first time moms hope to get. The normal baby that grows into the beautiful little girl, that transforms into the confident woman. I cry for that little girl because I know she is somewhere trapped inside the child that sits before me, waiting to come through. But, as I sit there crying, mourning the loss of that dream child, I feel a little hand rub my back and a small voice ask “mommy are you ok?” And through tear washed eyes I see the child that sits beside me who is so much more than I ever could have dreamed.

Sometimes I cry for the normal life I always thought she’d have. The life we as parents hope are children will someday have. I cry for the friends, that she could have had if only she was ‘normal.’ I feel sorry for the sweet little girl in her that just wants to be loved and accepted by her peers. How her life will go I cannot say, but I do all I can everyday to try to give her that life.

Sometimes I cry for trials she will have to face in this life. I cry for the testing that they do to her. I hope one day she will understand why we do it. I hope that she learns tolerance, for often times people present the hardest trials of all. I cry because I know that she will fail more than she succeeds, at least for the time at hand. But then as I cry I see through my tear washed eyes that she has over come so many trials and doesn’t even know it yet, and how wonderful that is for her.

Sometimes I cry for her and how things must seem to her. How difficult her life must feel to have so much inside and no way to say it. To want to learn it, but not understand how it’s being taught. I cry because I want to help her but I don’t know what else to try. But then as I cry I see through my tear washed eyes that she is happy with her world and the people in it, and that she will continue to try even if she fails.

And sometimes I cry for me. Being the mom of a special needs child is hard, and not what I signed up for when I decided to be a parent. Every day is a struggle to try to understand her, every night an eternal search for sleep for her. So I cry with my head hung down in shame for me and my loss and all the losses she will face in her young life. And every day I will continue the search to figure out what is wrong so that it may be fixed or overcome. And I cry for the bills that keep stacking up while the quest for the truth continues. But though my tear washed eyes I see my husband standing with me and I hear him say it will be alright. I hear him tell me that no expense is too much when it comes to a day where I might not have to cry for her anymore, and I know he is right.

But until then, sometimes I cry.

The break down

2010-01-24T10:29:00.004-07:00

It was brought to my attention that not everyone is ultrasound savy. Like, my grandparents who had no idea what they were looking at other than an ultrasound. So, for all you non-sonogram-reading people out there I have broken down the last set for you!

Its A......

2010-01-20T20:46:00.003-07:00

So we just got back from the doctors. We had our anatomy scan tonight. Everything looked good, baby measures right on and is much taller than I thought. My ob stated the obvious as baby is head down, and I mean really LOW down he said "wow there's not much more room down there!" I told him he was preaching to the choir.

But, ok ok. First know that at a little over 18 weeks he did a fast u/s for me and told my mom that it looked mostly like a girl, BUT he couldnt say for sure because baby was so small and thin. So today he looked and ITS A........................................................

BABY! lol. Yup thats right not a puppy or a kitty, its a baby. I will continue to call baby SHE until I know otherwise. Sorry to disappoint. But he did tell me that in 6 weeks we would try again, it would be my reward for drinking the glucola.

So we got some really excellent shots of baby praying and talking to us and her chubby cheeks and arms. My ob said everything look great. I will post pictures for you all to see.

left: thigh measurement; right: baby's toes

Left: baby's hands folded in prayer; Right: baby's face with hand folded just under her chin. She was doing this the whole time mouth moving like she was saying her prayer outloud, it was so cute!

Baby Registry and more...

2010-01-13T13:26:00.003-07:00

Hi everyone! I hope ya'll have had an awesome start to the new year! I know this is a little premature but I've had some people ask me so....
Baby Soesbe #3 is registered at Wal-Mart. com and BabiesRUs.com. There are some things that are duplicates from one site to the next, my appologies for that! We have a crib, the bedding set, and a diaper bag. We will be getting the basinet and car seat when our taxes come back, I just put those on the list as a reminder to me lol. Preggy brain is not much fun! We will be having two baby showers, dates TBA. But I know that one will be in June after baby and the other will probably be in April before baby comes. For ease, I will post the links to the registries themselves at the end of the post.
I feel her (baby) moving around alot these days. She's really super active. She makes my stomach jump and dance. She still laying VERY low, mostly between my hips still, though I would imagine that she won't be able to fit down there much longer without breaking my hip!
We hope everyone is doing well, and I will post pictures from the upcoming ultrasound as soon as it happens on the 20th at 5!
The resistry links:
http://www.walmart.com/giftregistry/gr_detail.do?registryId=86172619036
http://www.toysrus.com/registry/search/index.jsp;jsessionid=Zyt5LTxGXsBTxh92J1wP6k1pvd160wdyjzKyvJVCWBFchHH2TWk4!1045386950?_flowExecutionKey=_c963AF23E-3AAE-2C50-CB19-EF06BE310D2F_kCA543303-58AD-D208-DD34-0028F31DDE5D

Harley Jean

2009-12-29T15:09:00.002-07:00

Happy Holidays everyone! On the 23rd of December we had what my ob (who I love) calles a 'fast free ultrasound' so that my mom, who is here on her Christmas vacation, could see the baby. My ob never came out and told me 'its a...' but he did tell my mom so that she could tell my grandma on Christmas. However he did let me look so that I could make and educated guess. My guess is that we are going to have another girl. So, in May we will more than likely welcome into the world baby Harley Jean. And if you are wondering the spelling will probably change before she is here. We will go back in January on the 20th for the full level 2 anatomy scan and will post more pictures then! But until then...Enjoy!

Legs side by side, potty shot, tail bone to the left legs to the right

head and face, legs pointing left the birght spot between them is her hand

3d profile looking to the right sucking her tumb

Another potty shot legs to the right

2, 25, 25, 18

2009-12-17T15:40:00.002-07:00

No not a football hike or game scores. Those are things we have celebrated so far this month. On the 10th Daisy Ann turned 2 and James turned 25, we celebrated the weekend before with a small, but it was still a happy birthday for them!

As of today, I celebrated my 25th birthday and my 18th week of pregnancy! I am officially 5 months pregnant!! Woo hoo, 2 weeks to the half way point and 22 to the finish line!

I wish everyone a happy holiday season and hope you and your loved one are happy, safe and healthy.

Birthday's

2009-12-01T15:35:00.003-07:00

Just a note: James' 25th and Daisy's 2nd birthday parties will be on Sunday the 6th at our house at 12:30. I am providing food, cake, and drinks. I wasn't all the ball enough to get invitations sent out in the mail this year. So if you can come we would love to have you. It's at our house. If you can make it please just write a reply to this blog, or if you can call!

Hope to see you all there!!

4 years

2009-11-25T17:55:00.001-07:00

Just a quick note to say Thank You to my wonderful husband James for 4 years of marriage.

Dear Santa

2009-11-14T22:07:00.003-07:00

Today we got the girls' Santa pictures done. Aunt Jenni says Daisy looks like Mary-Kate and Ashley Oleson from their Full House days. Either way it was fun...

Doing Marriage Math

2009-11-10T13:21:00.003-07:00

So the other day I got to thinking about how this is my 3rd child in 4 years of marriage. Then I thought I would do some math (even though I hate it). My husband and I started dating in the end of June 2005, 3 weeks later I found out that I was pregnant with my oldest. We got married in November 2005, so we dated for a total of 5 months before we got married. This year, in a couple of weeks actually, we will celebrate our 4th year (48 months) of marriage. When the new baby comes in May we will have been married 4 years and 6 months.
So, assuming I can add right, 48 months of marriage + 5 months of dating + 6 months until baby = 59 months my husband and I will have been together.

Of the 59 months we have been together I have been pregnant 30 (I dont care what they say 40 week IS 10 months). Given that 59-30=29 months we have been together when I haven't been pregnant.

Up until just this August I have been sick for 18 months, plus one month of recovery from my surgery. Then adding in 4 months of recovery from child birth (8 weeks each child currently born at the moment). 29 weeks of not being prego - 23 weeks of illness and recovery = 6 months that my husband has had a non-pregnant completely healthy wife.

The man has put up with so much from me (not all of it my fault) that I truely think I must just keep him forever, because he has seen me at my worst and only had glimpses of me at my best and yet he stays with me without complaint. (He even, after 15 hours of work wont even complain if I ask him to stop on his way home to pick something to eat up when I get a craving!) I really do love that man *Heart*

Gender Identification

2009-11-03T12:24:00.002-07:00

No we can't tell what it is yet. But I thought I would update on what my husband calls cruel and unusual punishment. As I mentioned before, I do not want to know the sex of the new baby is. Partly because its going to be my last, and also I want James to be the one to look down after hours of labor to say "Its a ......!" He will not be attending the ultrasound appt. in December and even though he desperately wants to know ahead of time I wont tell him, because I won't know either. (he's lousy at keeping secrets anyways)

BUT my only living grandmother's health is not that spectacular and being as she's a planner (she love to plan suprise birthday, anniversaries and what not) and she really wants to know to so she can start planning, I will be taking an envelope with a paper that say BOY/GIRL and I will have my doctor circle which ever baby is put it back in the envelope and seal it. I will send it out immeadately and she has been sworn to secresy. She may not even tell my grandpa-which she thinks is hillarious. When I told her last night she went out to the living room where my grampy was and started singing "I'm going to know something you wont know!"

I've decided to buy neutral things until baby's arrival, and I am going to make a Dr. Seuss themed nursery set and then after baby's born we will have a shower/show off party!

an update on #3

2009-10-28T18:37:00.002-06:00

This is a picture of baby 3 from today at 10 weeks 6 days. The heart beat was 168. To read the picture correctly: to the left in the dark blob is the baby's body, to the right looking slightly detached (its not really just looks that way) is the baby's head. If it helps you the chin is pointy and the two dark circles to either side are the eye sockets, the baby's head is laying on its arm w/ the hand to the back of the head so you cant see it.

pumpkin carving...kind of

2009-10-25T18:04:00.004-06:00

So today we carved/painted pumpkins for Halloween. I know the carved one wont last that long, but we did it early so daddy could be a part of the fun.

Daisy painting her pumpkin....and herself

Painting her leg

Baylie working on her masterpiece...and her pumpkin too.

The girls and daddy helped me make a face for our family pumpkin. James told me shapes, the girls helped me draw them on-then daddy gave them a much needed bath!

Daisy's finished pumpkin

Baylie's finished pumpkin

The finished family pumpkin...I think I'll call him....Henry.

Henry with the lights out and a candle in :)

The mess after all the fun :( But thats why there are 3 rows of drawing paper taped to the floor!

up for opinions

2009-10-21T17:19:00.002-06:00

I am strongly thinking about using cloth diapers with the new baby. After doing my research today I am leaning towards a brand called SmartiPants. They use inserts that you dont have to touch to wash like most insert brands, and they have a one size system-which means when you buy the recommended 24 thats all you have to buy, they grow with baby from 7lbs to 35lbs. They also have a built in waterproof outer layer, so no diaper covers or plastic pants! What do you think, would you use them? Better for the environment and the pocket book (on average at our house we use a box of diapers every 2 weeks X $20/box X 3 years = about $2,000 for one child) compared to $320 for the 24 cloth diapers. I know there's the arguement about energy cost because of extra laundry, but even if we used all 24 in one day that's only one load of laundry. Anyone else have input?

Because I said I would...

2009-10-20T14:42:00.002-06:00

Okay I said a couple of weeks ago that I would post an ultrasound pic of soesbe baby 3. And I will put some up of the kids and one pretty one just because. No, I did not get my camera fixed, I just figured out how to get the pics off my phone onto the computer and into file formatt to be downloaded here!

So first up...the tests. And would one do? Nope because it was from the dollar store and James and I both thought it was probably wrong with the positive result-afterall it was only a dollar...so then we got some more spendy digital tests...i didnt take pics of the read out i dont think, but i took pics of the acutal tests....

Moving on about 4 weeks to the first ultrasound to yeild results...

Let me tell you what ur looking at the little light colored blob inside the squash-looking dark blob...thats the baby at 7 weeks

Now the kids- baylie after she got her hair cut by me...just out of the shower, its much cuter when its dry and fluffy-

Now Daisy begged me to put the head band on her then she walked around for a few mins saying "I pretty!" so I took her pic-

Lastly, this was my very first sunflower to bloom this summer the color was so awsome in real life-

hey people where are the updates??

2009-10-14T21:43:00.003-06:00

So there are a few of you that read my blog, trust me I read yours as well. So I know you all lead exciting busy lives but I have to say "HEY YOU GUYS, WHERE DID ALL THE UPDATES GO??!!" Beth, I really look forward to your updates: who's walking and talking and causing trouble? How are you feeling, how is the pregnancy going, how bout some pictures of you and the kiddos?! I have no email for anyone so I can't just send one off! Jess, how are you and the boys, how bout some more pics of them and you? Any closer to coming home?? Jami love, I know you feel like I do...yuck!...but hey were are your tummy pics and some updated ones of Madi. Jee whiz I feel so out of touch with everyone...so frustrating...................

PS. since I am talking about updates quickly I will say everyone in my house is doing fine, my camera is still broken, James got a job yesterday with TSI (yay) which means I am back to being a stay at home mom. ttfn

Seeking Advice from all Moms!

2009-10-12T18:26:00.002-06:00

Hi everyone, I am looking for a breast pump. I need advice as to a good one for large busts. I need an electric one because of the large bust thing. It would also be a good thing if it didn't break the bank. I just don't know what to buy...something with lots of suction for sure and I dont know what.... help!

taking it week by week

2009-10-08T09:09:00.002-06:00

well i am 8 weeks into baby #3, and so far its been rocky. the morning sickness is killer with this one and it seems to be a VERY picky eater because i can only eat a few things so long as they sound good at that moment. and what i've come to realize is that it may sound good before and during the cooking process but more often than not after its done and ready to eat it no long is appealing to me. but with luck i should only have about 4 more weeks of this particular brand of torture. but since my camera is broken i have no way to post the pictures from the last ultrasound. but what i can do (and i think its so neat that they can do this) is give you a picture of someone elses baby at this week in developement so you can see inside the womb. This site is so cool. grr okay i cant get the picture to upload, but if you follow the link and go to "far along" then put in your due date or mine (may 20, 2010) it will take you to a page that is soooo neat. ttfn

Make a pregnancy ticker

#3

2009-10-01T10:26:00.002-06:00

I do have pics from this appt. but there isn't much you can see with the untrained eye. I will try to get those up later. We found out that I'm farther along than I thought I was but still not as far as the charts say I should be. I am exactly 7 weeks today, giving me an actual due date (yay!) of May 20, 2010. We hope we have a healthy baby-we got to see the little heart fluttering away in there (YAY again) but honestly we would really like a boy this time. My dr remarked on the fact that i lost about 5 lbs from last tuesday...he called it a heck of a weight loss program but not for long! anyway, it was nice to have the good news, now maybe i can sleep alittle at night now. my next appt is on the 28th of this month, there shouldnt be much to report at that one, just a heart beat...which as of today was 138. and if youre wondering that is about 30 beats less than either of the girls were at that same age.

A quick post

2009-09-24T18:07:00.003-06:00

for those who dont know and didnt pay attention to our new heading, we are expecting child #3. the exact due date is unknown right now as my last monthly visity does not seem to corrispond to time of conception as it normally would. i have another ultrasound this week with dr beck and hopefully we can see more than we did last week. he is fairly optimistic that even though the timing is off that the pregnancy will go normally. although he did mention that because mine is so early that i should know that 45% off all pregnancies at this stage end in misscarriage. but being as i've had two normal healthy ones he thinks things will be fine. again we will know more on the 1st. if you want my guess at a due date i would say the end of may to the beginning of june.

Baylie tested positive on monday for influenza a...we will know in a couple weeks if its h1n1 (swine flu). she is trying to recover from that. but as i type james is at the clinic with her because we are seeing little progress and she is over half way through the medication. my worry is pneumonia. * update* not pneumonia.

I am sick as well. I have bronchitis and an upper respiratory infection. normally they would give me an inhaled steriod to help but they can't becuase of #3. so i am stuck with tylenol, psuedaphedrine, and robitussin (yucky!!). Sleep has been difficult becuase baylie has been ill and nights are hardest on her.

James and daisy remain well. apparently so far daisy seems to have a super human immune system. she shares everything with baylie and hasnt even come down with the sniffles. James continues the hunt for a job. i continue to sub...which is finally starting to pick up. but i really must go lay down now, i am hurting something fierce. so ttfn

Given Freely

2009-09-13T21:30:00.002-06:00

Something given freely with no string or expectations attached can sometimes bring you more than you ever thought possible. But when love is given freely (and love comes in many forms) it is the most beautiful and touching thing ever. If you dont know about our situation right now its not great. James and I as a couple are fine, but he lost his job 3 weeks ago and hasn't been able to find anything yet, so our financial situation is grave bordering on dire. I have been stressing on how we are going to make our bills, buy food, and the clothes that Baylie needed for the winter. By the generosity of someone very special to me (she's been like a sister for almost 17 years because her sister may as well be mine, and her family 'adopted' me a long time ago) a huge monster sized weight has been lifted off my shoulders in the form of clothes for my kids. She called it a trade because we pass on all of our outgrown kids clothes to her. I call it the best gift I think I may ever have had. Words do not even begin to express the gratitude I have for her and her husband. I never thought that the love we gave to her and her family in the form of hand-me-down clothes would have ever come to this- I hoped it wouldn't accutally. But somethings are out of our control. So once more for you (and you know who you are) thank you for love given so freely and selflessly that I only hope one day I can, in some way, repay it to you (and more than just hand-me-down clothes). I want you and your family to know that I have always loved you and held you close to me in my heart, and though you didn't need or have to do what you did, you are even more special to me now then I ever could have known you would be. Thank you.

God's Hands

2009-09-11T19:33:00.003-06:00

I know that God's hands are leading us and guiding us to where he wants us to be. But sometimes it feels like he's taking us way off the beaten path. The unfamiliar is scary and dark. And sometimes it feels like no matter how hard you try to get back to the light sunny path you liked so well that God's hands block every attempt. I know He never gives us more than we can handle, but right now it feels like He's testing the very boundary of that. Like he wants to make us say uncle over and over even though we are already on our knees crying for help. That which doesn't kill us only makes us stronger. I believe that sentence, but how close to death do you have to be to come out stronger. Nothing has worked out the way we hoped for, every inch we've gained since marriage has been painstaking and hard, just when we feel like we can make to the next inch we always get knocked back a foot. Lately it feels like we were really starting to climb that mountain and God's hands shoved us back down, into a cave we didn't even know existed. There seems to be no way to climb the walls of this cave, there's no rope, no hidden trap door, no ladder, and no one standing over us with an outstretched hand to help us back up. What do you do when you can't pay your bills, can barely put food on the table, the government won't help because of the work you've already done, you have to put tags on the one and only vehicle you have that runs, and your kids need new clothes and shoes. No matter how hard we look we can't find him a job, mine is as needed and I only get paid once a month, so all the work I do this month I get paid for next month. We cant make the bills we have due at the end of this month, and if we don't pay them on time we will never get caught back up. Baylie has dental work scheduled for next month that we can't pay for because we have no insurance now. I feel so lost and mad and frustrated, I can't even afford the medication I need to keep my stomach feeling okay after that surgery...which I can't afford to pay for now...even the little insurance wont cover. I feel like we are sinking and I can't stop it from happening it just is and that God, well I don't know what He wants from us yet.

Standing on my soapbox for a stupid reason

2009-09-07T10:05:00.003-06:00

So here I go (walking to podium). I get so mad when people call Daisy Ann any thing but Daisy Ann or the nickname we gave her which is Banana's ( Daisy Anna Banana). I understand that grandparents are entitled to give their grandchildren nicknames as well, but the one I told everyone I hate and yet still ppl call her is Daisy May. It just sounds so hick and redneck like we should live in Arkansas, play banjos, and james should call me sis! I gave my children beautiful names, and Daisy is old and beautiful Ann is after my mother. James' mom and grandma both said they didnt want their names used and my step mom already has grandchildren named after her. So ppl give her a nickname all your own (like we call baylie roo or like della calls her baylie boo) but please stop making her sound inbred and for god's sake PLEASE STOP CALLING HER DAISY MAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Two weeks and a day...

2009-08-19T13:36:00.004-06:00

So I got the okay from the doc to lift again, but to go slowly with how much and how long because the muscles are still mending and I dont want to strain them again. He also released me to start to try some soft foods... think smashed potatoes (no milk to make them creamy) or cold cereal anything but raw hard to chew things and of course meat and bread. Here are the totals from this weeks measurements:

Waist 381/2
lower stomach 45
rt thigh 25
lf thigh 25 1/2
lf arm 12
rt arm 13
bust 45
hips 43 1/2
Weight 210 with clothes on

TOTALS: theses totals are only from last weeks check. Waist -1 1/2, Lower stomach -2 1/2, Right thigh -1, Left thigh -1/2, Left arm -1, Right arm unchanged, Bust unchanged, Hips -1/2 ,Weight -5 lbs. Doing the math for you I am down another 7 all over inches!

TOTAL TOTAL: I've lost a grand total of 14 lbs and 17 all over body inches in two week and a day!! Only 50 more lbs to go! Which I expect to go a little faster now that I can get up and move and lift things again.

getting your full entertainment value

2009-08-18T08:50:00.003-06:00

Sorry folks I realized that the past several post have contained no fun pictures...so i will now make up for my error. Enjoy!

This is baylie cousin dustin and daisy playing in the pool

the girls and cousin preston playing on the NASCAR slip and slide

baylie just about missed the stop there and landed in the grass!

Daisy never really got the the whole slip and slide thing, but she really had fun playing in the sprinkler thing and the stop pool at the end!

one week and 2 days later...

2009-08-13T09:31:00.004-06:00

I am starting to feel better with each day...a few spots are still very sore, but I atleast have more movement than before. Here are the measurements taken today...

weight 215
waist 40inches
hips 44
bust 45
rt thigh 26
lf thigh 26
lf arm 13
rt arm 13
lower stomach 47 1/2 (adding in today, so no comparison made)

TOTALS: -9 lbs, -4 inches in the waist, -3 1/2 inches in the bust, -2 inches in the hips, -1/2 inch in each thigh, and my arms are unchanged. total inches gone: 10 all over.

And on a side note my friend jessica and her husband james had their triplets yesterday...they are small but for 10 weeks early everyone is doing very well. they could still use some prayers though.

I'm home

2009-08-08T12:01:00.003-06:00

We made it back from denver last nite...or rather this morning about midnite. The dr did a nissen fundaplacation...you can look these up to know what exactlly they did to me...and then a pyloric plasty. In short, the took my stomach and wrapped it around my esophogus and then made the valve that leads from my stomach to my intestines bigger so food will pass easier. I cannot begin to express how much I hurt right now not to mention wicked runs! but my mom got me some truely beautiful flowers and james got me a bear. i still have the painful ablility to burp,but mostly everything goes the other way. there are 6 incisions...3 that go horizontally and are about an inch long, one that held a drain tube that looks like i now have another belly button, and 2 that go vertically. these hurt the worst becaue they go against the grain of the muscle. one is only about an inch long and is right over my diaphram the other is the problem maker because it is just under that other one but it is between 3 and 4 inches long and very swollen and bruised. thats all i can manage right now. ttyl

blog before i go

2009-08-01T21:03:00.003-06:00

Well I am blogging tonight because tomorrow night I will be packing to go back to Denver for my surgery on Tuesday. We will be leaving in the morning on Monday because I have to be there at the hospital at 6 am on Tuesday. Hopeful we will get there in time to see my firend Jess who's also in the hospital (she's on bedrest with her triplets). Anyways, the pageant went fine the girls didn't win anything, but we still had fun. We found out who will hopefully be interested in what when they get older. Baylie really like the horses...no fear. Daisy REALLY REALLY like the beef. She got so upset when we had to leave the cows behind it was cute and funny.
Well this surgery will inevitably make me loose some weight, and I plan to start working out as soon as I get the green light from the dr. to help keep it off. So I will give my stats now and again every two weeks. I have put about 6 inches on since I was pregnant with Baylie...I would really like that to come off and then some so....

Weight (about 2 weeks ago with clothes on)- 224 lbs
Bust (today)- 48 1/2 inches
Waist (today)- 44 inches
Hips (today)- 46 inches
Upper Arm left -13 inches
upper arm right- 13 inches
upper thigh left-26 1/2 inches
upper thight right- 26 1/2 inches
wearing a size 18 to 20 depending on maker.

the powers that be say that my target weight at 5'7" would be about 135lbs give or take 10% which if my math is on would be between 121.5 and 148.5. Personally i think they are full of crap-i would look grotesque at 121 or even 135 pounds and honestly 150 would be nice but i am aiming for 160. so-agian providing my math is right- i have 64 lbs to loose!

Its been a while

2009-07-23T19:13:00.003-06:00

I know I know its been almost a month since my last post. But we've had a lot going on! First, we got my mom and step dad a house in Moorcroft. And when I say house I really mean a 1970-sumthing single wide that needs lots of work. So we've been busy with that. Next my mom is back up for a while and I had the pleasure of navigating for her long distance over the phone...eat your heart out TOM TOM! (lol) Now that she's here the house reconstruction is in full swing.
We finally heard back from the stomach dr in denver. The news is that I really do need the surgery we went to denver for in the first place. This will happen Aug 4th. Then its a liquid diet for the next 6 to 8 weeks..woo. I have signed the girls up to do the Miss Campbell County pageant on the 31st of this month...and have been sewing like crazy to get thier outfits done...I am almost there-if it were a house I would say we are down to the punch out work. I will post pics when they are done all the way... and from the pageant as well. These things are sorta spendy so this will probably be the last one for both kids until they are old enough to want to be in them and to not need me on the stage with them. But its nice to have my house back to myself and to know that in a few weeks time I will be able to sleep in the same bed that my husband sleeps in. We have been busy busy busy...gotta enjoy summer while we can!

daisy's backyard beach adventure

2009-06-30T09:13:00.005-06:00

First mommy said I should appologize for some the pictures being sideways, she says sometimes the computer just will not cooperate.
I say let the adventure begin!!!

This is me on the way to blue waters and sparkling sand...my very own beach!

This is me play in my oh so clear ocean!

I thought it was mighty fun to water the water

This is me getting a refill

Okay enough of the water...now I'm on my way to beautiful sandy beaches...

I played in the sand on my private beach

I was pretending to be a sand fair and I was sprinkling it everywhere!

I had lots of fun getting covered in sand

This is the point where mommy said..."Oh NO daisy dont EAT the SAND!"

I said "why?"

See like I said my own private beach....he he he

Contemplating the kids' life verses

2009-06-25T11:34:00.002-06:00

I have been trying to find life verses for each of the kids...its not as easy as you think. I wanted to give them each something to live by to help guide them as they grow. I am open for suggestions. So far the front runners that I've found are: for Baylie Proverbs 3:11-12 which is "My child do not despise the Lord's discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the child he delights in." for Daisy Proverbs 3:5-6 which is "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." Tell me what you think!

more pics from the park

2009-06-20T17:22:00.003-06:00

daisy in the sky

daddy and daisy on the shovel

baylie going down the big twisty slide

baylie on the big girl swing with great grandpa avery

baylie and daddy on the shovel

great grandma avery on top of the jungle gym

baylie and great grandpa avery on the baby swing

daddy helping daisy down the big twisty slide

Fun at the park

2009-06-16T15:41:00.003-06:00

Hello. Since I didn't have the surgery yet and james has all this time off and my grandparents are here from florida we decided to go to the park today. Here are some pics!

This is the kids' great grandma and grandpa avery.

Baylie looking cool

Daisy lookin like a rock star

I absolutely loooooove this pic...if youre wondering that would be mud on her face from the sandbox....

More pics to come!!