I didn't feel the baby move much on Sunday so we had a stress test and ultrasound done at my dr. appt. on Monday and fortunately the baby is ok. He thinks the reason I didn't feel her as much was because of me being in early labor. I'm dilated to a 2, 80% effaced, and the baby's head is at a 0 position. I kinda wish he didn't tell me I may be in early labor, because now I keep thinking "maybe tomorrow..." I am definitely in the nesting stage, with more energy to get the things done I need to. My mom is leaving for Pittsburgh tomorrow and won't be back until late Tuesday night. I'm trying to prepare for what to do if I go into labor when she's gone and luckily I have good neighbors and visiting teachers I can call on to babysit if I need it. Kinda crazy that the time is almost here.

We celebrated Andy's 29th and Evelyn's 3rd birthdays on Sept. 7th with a BBQ, a cupcake pinata, pies for Andy, and cupcakes for Evelyn. We loved having family come and celebrate with us. Thanks to Jason and Kiley, Chris and Angie, Heidi and Andrew, and Grandpa Fred and Grandma Nancy for coming. From us Andy got shorts and a new wallet. Evelyn got a scooter, Frozen DVD, a letter recognition game, and a watch.

Evelyn started another "mom and me" preschool in September. It's every Wednesday from 1:30-3:30 and she is loving it. I'm loving it too. I'm so grateful I (and she) can be involved in things like this. It's also nice to have some special one-on-one time with Clark for those 2 hours she is gone.

Clark is finally starting to say some words that I can understand. He says "ba-ball" and points to the remote control to watch football (his favorite thing to watch), hi, bye, Daddy, doggie, "bub-bub" (bubbles), 'side (outside) and Momma. "ba" can mean a variety of things...ball, balloon, bottle, or banana. He's really good at pointing to what he wants. He's great at finding everyone's matching shoes and bringing them to us when we are going somewhere or if he wants to go outside.

Everyday I am just so thankful I can be their mother and my constant prayer is that I can be the best mother for them. They are such great kids and I love spending my time with them.

This morning, Evelyn was trying on my mom's necklaces and bracelets and my step-dad told Evelyn she was so pretty to which she replied, "Yes, I am." I hope she always has that confidence in herself, because not only is she a cute girl, she is a daughter of God.

Also, Clark needs a brother. He is playing with the bracelets now too. :)

This summer, a friend, her mom, and me did a preschool 4 mornings a week for Evelyn and her friend James. We taught 3 days and went on a field trip on the 4th day. We all had a lot of fun and I'm so glad I was able to be a part of it. Evelyn and Clark got to learn and do lots of fun things. On August 8th, we held a little preschool graduation for Evelyn and James. Me and my friend, Anna Ford, wrote a tribute to our kids and I also did an interview of both kids. I wanted to make sure I copied it down.

Evelyn's Tribute
Evelyn Elizabeth Yerka was born on September 8th, 2011 in Logan, UT. She looked like a doll when she was born...everyone said so. She is the oldest in our family and she is a wonderful big sister to Clark. She loves "her" dog Buddy, Clark, and playing outside. Some of her favorites are riding the ponies at Thanksgiving Point, wrestling with her dad, watching Little Einsteins, blowing bubbles, riding her bike, eating treats, and hanging out with her Grandpa. She is kind to everyone, always wants to help, and is such a sweet and wonderful girl. We sure do love her and are so grateful she is in our family.

Evelyn's interview. Almost 3
Best Friend: James Ford
Favorite Food: Sandwich with purple and popcorn (I'm assuming pb&j and she has only had popcorn once. It must have made an impression. ha)
Favorite Color: Pink
Favorite Thing To Do: Play outside
Favorite Song: "I Am A Child Of God"
Favorite Thing About Being 2: Dance class (she went one time. ha)
Favorite Toy: Her Baby
Favorite Animal: Elephant

This week I've had some cooking wins and I'm pretty proud of myself since I don't consider myself a good cook. I'm trying harder though and I'm also trying to expand my recipes. This week (so far) I've tried 3 new things that my family has really liked. Here are the links:

http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2014/05/baked-honey-chicken-tenders-recipe.html
My step-dad commented over and over again how good the chicken tasted and it was easy too. I just had to plan ahead a bit since it had to marinate for a few hours.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/apricot-leather/detail.aspx
We had an abundance of apricots this week and since we are going on a road trip soon I thought I would try these out. While they took much longer to dry than the recipe said (I also didn't use the oven as long like the recipe said since it was so hot that day). I tried one today and they are tasty! I only used about a tbsp of sugar and instead added a banana to keep it healthier. These are really good!

http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/blog/2013/03/zuppa-toscana-recipe.html
Lastly, I made this for dinner. It's kinda like the Zuppa Toscana soup from Olive Garden. It had a lot of flavor and Evelyn ate it all! That's saying something since she is a picky eater.

I'm enjoying cooking more for 2 reasons. 1. Trying out new things is a little out of my comfort zone, but I feel really good about myself when it turns out yummy. 2. Evelyn loves helping me in the kitchen and I love having her help. I have the best kids!

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Andrew Yerka
4062 W. Liberty Creek Dr.
South Jordan, UT 84095
Cell: 320-224-1296
AndrewYerka@gmail.com


SUBJECT: Internal Memo to HR (URGENT! RESPONSE REQUIRED!)

Dear God,

On Saturday, May 24th, at 7:30 a.m., and again at 11:30 p.m., I submitted a request for an abundance of wealth, energy, instant career advancement opportunities, charming good-looks, and uncanny luck. As of 9:05 p.m today, I have not received any communication from your department.

While I understand Sunday's are a busy time in your office, I have been waiting for my order for a little over ten years now.

Additionally, I have not received any extra paid time off for activities such as; golfing, sleeping, playing video games, recording music, watching Netflix, killing zombies, shooting friends with paint-balls, or even getting shot by paint-balls.

Please look through your records to find any previous requests and expedite them as soon as possible. Let me know if you have any questions or need any additional assistance. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Andrew Yerka
andrewyerka@gmail.com
(320) 224-1296


RE: Internal Memo to HR (URGENT! RESPONSE REQUIRED!)

Hi Andy,

After reviewing our records, since your eighth birthday on 09/06/1985, we have received 7,566 requests for all the above mentioned gifts. I am pleased to inform you we have reviewed your request and have posted the results of our internal investigation below;

1. Abundance of Wealth

• Our records show you have a college degree from an accredited 4-year university.
• You are married to one of our finest case-workers, Kimberly E. Yerka.
• You are the father of two beautiful children. 

Lately I have been realizing I am losing my smarts. I feel like with every child or pregnancy, I am forgetting things more and more. A couple of weeks ago we went to Thanksgiving Point to see the Tulip Festival. (Colletta and Melinda you would have LOVED it!) There is a lake there with geese and I was talking to Andy about them and said something like, " Evelyn is trying to caughting the goosed. " I was really trying to say Evelyn was trying to catch the geese. I knew I was saying the words wrong but for the life of me I couldn't figure out the correct way to say the words. I felt pretty dumb. And for the fist time in the 5 1/2 years since I graduated college, I wanted to go back to school. Who knows? Maybe someday I will.

BIG NEWS!!! Clark is walking!! He took his first steps mid-April and is full on walking. He still doesn't say anything, but that doesn't mean he's not communicating. He's a great pointer and grunter. :)

We went to the Hill Air Force Museum last Friday with my parent's. It was so neat! I would totally recommend it to anyone in the area and it's free! We talked to a lot of volunteers there and one of them was a teacher at Bingham where I graduated. Go Miners! We also saw the "Candy Bomber" plane. If you don't know the story, it is worth the look-up. It was so worth the trip to Ogden.

One of our neighbors gave us a bike trailer and so on Sunday we went on our first bike trip! I have been wanted a trailer for a long time but they are so dang expensive! Even off KSL. I hope we can go on many bike trips this Summer. It felt so liberating riding my bike! I forgot how much I love it.

Today is day 1 of potty training Evelyn. I know she's ready since she's been going potty about once a day for months now, but it's harder than I anticipated. So far we've had 6 accidents...but we've also had about 6 victories! Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

I'm 20 1/2 weeks pregnant and we're having a girl! We're pretty excited. I haven't thrown up in about a week...knock on wood...and I seem to be having more energy. Yeah for second trimesters!

We're doing really good and hope you are too!

On Saturday, March 29th, we moved from our house in Logan to my parent's in South Jordan. We had great help so it didn't seem to take too long. Thanks Jason and Kiley and Andrew and Emily! We started out our day by waking up early and got breakfast at the hospital. (They have yummy biscuits and gravy) Then we picked up the U-Haul and started packing it. We left our house around 3 so we got to my parent's around 5. All day Evelyn was looking forward to riding in the "big truck" with Daddy. Unfortunately she slept the whole ride down, but she still told everyone about her ride! Some wonderful neighbors from up the street came to help unload. I LOVE the ward I grew up in and I'm so glad to be back. On Monday, we went back to Logan to clean and thankfully Kevin came up to help us. We got to our house around 1 and it took us 4 1/2 hours to clean it. We better get our full deposit back! I came home with sore fingers and a sore heart to leave our house. We'll miss having our own space, but more than that, we'll miss our wonderful neighbors, the Parker's. She sent me a text on Monday morning and said, "I looked out the window and your car wasn't there and it made me sad." We are so sad to not be near them anymore.
It's going well at my parent's house. They both work full-time so me and the kids hang out here with Buddy, the dog. We're hoping for warmer weather soon so we can go outside and play. We're also hoping to get over our colds soon. We all have sinus infections and coughs. We heard some news Andy might be moving to the South Salt Lake store so that will be good as far as commuting goes. Today, I can't seem to snap out of my sleepiness. It's 2pm and I already took 2 naps. I'm also 14 weeks today which in baby terms means I'm starting my second trimester, so I'm hoping I get some energy back and to lose the nausea. Clark is getting more comfortable walking. He kinda took a step on April 1st so I think he'll be walking for reals soon. Evelyn is in heaven living with my parent's. Her favorite person is my step-dad so he's the first person she wants to see in the morning. I'm looking forward to Conference and I'm going to try some activities to keep Evelyn occupied so I can pay attention. I don't have high hopes though with 2 small children. :) Also, we're celebrating Clark's first birthday on Sunday after Conference. I'm going to make a cake in the shape of a 1 and that's about it. We don't do Pinterest parties in our house. :) Well, that's about it. Happy April!

This morning I had chips and salsa with an A&W for breakfast. It was the only thing that sounded good to me. I've been throwing up a couple of times a week, but I'm not nearly as sick as I was with Evelyn or Clark. With Evelyn, I was very sick for the whole pregnancy. With Clark, I had awful acid reflux for the last half of my pregnancy and I was very uncomfortable. So far with this one, I have to go to the bathroom all the time and I seem to have more cravings. I'm also tired all the time. It really hasn't been a hard pregnancy so far. Since I'm not as sick as before, I get anxious about miscarrying again. It's almost reassuring when I throw up because then I know the baby is doing ok. When I do throw up, Evelyn always comes in the bathroom and rubs my back and says, "You ok Mommy?" What 2 year old has that much compassion? Anyways, I just wanted to document how I'm feeling since this is the closest thing I have to keeping a journal...and I'm really not good at updating this even.

Currently, both of my kids are dancing to Choo Choo Soul. It is just the cutest. Since I am so tired all the time and we're also in the process of packing up our lives...again...my kids watch a lot of Disney Junior. We go on a walk every evening and try to go to the park every day though. Evelyn's favorite shows are Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Sheriff Callie's Wild West, and of course Little Einsteins. She asks to watch "Rocket Ship" every day. Her favorite movies to watch are Finding Nemo and Leap Frog. Clark loves books. Evelyn didn't like books when she was younger so it's fun to read with Clark. Yesterday, Clark had a double-whammy of doctor appointments. He first had to get his ears cleaned again (hopefully for the last time) and then he had his one year well-child check. He is now terrified of doctors and he had to get 3 shots. He handles shots like a champ. He woke up after his nap and was so cheery! What a good kid. Every night I reflect on my day as I tell Andy what we did, and I am just so grateful for my kids! They are the best and we have so much fun together. I feel so blessed to be a mother and so blessed that I can stay at home with them. My kids are happy, smart, friendly, caring, and I feel so grateful to have them in my life.

On Tuesday I turned 28 and it was such a good day. I was able to see my baby, be with my family, Andy had it off, and he threw me a surprise birthday party. He took me out for a little bit in the evening and when we came back to my parent's, my closest friends were there! I have never been more surprised in my life. There wasn't cars outside of my house and my mom didn't drop any hints like she normally does when Andy is going to surprise me. The first person I saw was my friend Diana's husband Richard who I don't know very well and I was so confused and I couldn't remember who he was! It was so thoughtful of Andy to do that for me and so good of my friends to travel to see me. I felt so loved. The people that were there were Diana and Richard Thompson and their 2 kids, Jackie Lambert, Heather Wheeler, Rob Dangerfield, Aleisha and Rory Christensen, Janae Bedke, Megan and Mike LeFevor and their baby, and my grandparents came too. I was so overwhelmed and filled with joy. It was the best surprise. I have the best friends and the best family. I love them all so much. It was a great way to start off my 28th year!

This morning a woman came over to pick up some baby cereal Clark doesn't eat anymore and she taught me something in the brief moment I had with her. She gave me a pamphlet for her church and said "since you are giving me something, I wanted to share something with you." It was so brave of her and it inspired me to be a better missionary myself. I wasn't offended and I will actually read the pamphlet because I like learning about different religions. I bet most people will have the same reaction I did when she gave me something that is important to her and I hope it will be easier for me in the future to share a simple message of my faith with others.

3-12-14 Clark had surgery to put tubes in his ears and to have his adenoids removed. We got there at 6:30 am and he did really well before, considering he was hungry and couldn't eat plus we had to wait quite a while. At 7:45 the anesthesiologist took Clark away and it broke my heart because Clark didn't want to leave me and I thought I could be there when he was put to sleep. At 8:08 they brought Clark back to me and he was crying and so confused. I found out it was worse than the dr thought so it was a really good thing he got it done. I had a hard time calming Clark down and we were finally allowed to leave around 9. Clark had a hard day that day, but starting the next day I could already tell a big difference. He was so much happier. Fast forward to today 3-20. I took Clark in for his post-surgery appt and the kids did great for the first hour. (We had to wait FOREVER!) When the dr finally came in, he noticed right away Clark's tubes were plugged with mucus so we had to go into this surgical room to hold Clark down (it took 3 of us plus Evelyn holding his foot) and the dr put a funnel thing into his ear and started squirting fluid into his ear trying to get the mucus off. When the mucus was dislodged, he put a vacuum thing into his ear to suck out the pus in his ear. Poor kid. I was told it didn't hurt, but it sure was loud. It took a while for the first ear and then he did the second ear and then I was told Clark needed a shot as well and we would have to come back tomorrow to do it all over again...on his first birthday. I hope his ears will look better tomorrow.

Evelyn is now 2 1/2 and is such a good girl. She is getting over something too; I think she might have had Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease since she said her mouth hurt and she had bumps by her mouth, and on her hands and feet. However, it's supposed to be very contagious and Clark didn't get it so I don't know if it was that or not. Plus after talking to others whose kids had it, they all said how awful it was and it really wasn't bad. She was still her normal, happy self-she just wouldn't eat. She loves playing with others and asks every day to go to G-ma and G-pa's. Little does she know we'll be moving there in about 2 weeks!

The last day of February, my landlord called and said, "Your lease is up tomorrow and I assume you're moving out?" What? When we lived in another apartment they owned, we were able to do month-to-month after our lease so I was expecting that again. After asking about that she said they wanted us to sign another year lease and they already found someone in our ward who was moving in. You never know what to expect with these particular landlords. When we lived in their apt the first time, we were subtly told we needed to move out because we were having a baby. Now they are making us move out because we can't sign another year lease. Sidenote: this house was vacant for over a year before we moved in, because they are such weird people and are so strict with who they will let live here. I was worried they would do something like they did the first time so Andy and I were already discussing some options before I got called to move. Luckily, my parent's are letting move in with them again. They are such kind people. We're moving in on March 29th and we have no idea how long we'll stay there.

Earlier this year, Andy was told by the end of the year he would have a district manager interview and it could be months before he was placed somewhere. Well, now we're being told it could be much sooner than that so we're just going with the flow and excited to see where we go!

Also, I'm pregnant. I'm due October 2nd, so I'm 12 weeks today. I have been throwing up almost every day, but this pregnancy is a breeze compared to Evelyn and Clark. On Tuesday, my birthday, we had our first dr appt and saw the baby move and heard the baby's heartbeat. It was the best birthday present ever. I'm nervous to be a mother of three, but I'm excited at the same time. My continual prayer is that I can be the best mom for my kids and they will feel loved. I love being a mom and I'm so grateful I can stay at home with them. I love my family.

Last Summer, I tried to potty train Evelyn. She was interested and went on "her potty" once a day or so for a couple of weeks. Then I pushed it. And she wasn't ready. Fast track to this month. Evelyn is potty training herself! She climbs up on the real toilet, takes her diaper off, wipes herself, flushes the toilet, and then shuts the lid. The only thing I have to do is keep Clark away and help her wash her hands. :) I'm so proud of her! Shoutout to Evelyn! The best 2 year old in town!