Our Family

I'm sure there are many of you that already know how to do this but it is a big deal for me. One of the perks of being married was never having to figure out computer stuff on my own (along with not taking out the garbage and not pumping gas) and that was working just fine for me until Jason started having crazy work schedules that put him home next to never.

Since my camera battery has been uncharged for half a year I have been using my phone camera to capture our life in still but getting them off the phone was such a pain because the only way I could figure out how to do it was by emailing the pics to myself. Talk about tedious. But they say that desperation is the key to invention, or in my case trying to figure it out on my own. So I did. I sat down at my computer (although I should probably be cleaning or wrapping presents) to figure out to get my phone and my computer to play nice.

What a huge relief to know how to do that. Now I don't have to feel bad about using my camera on my phone because I can still get them onto a hard drive. Oh, I also found the charger for my camera battery so we should be back in business with that on too! AND my inlaws found our video camera!!! We thought it was lost when we moved but during the process of finishing their basement they found it and brought it to us!!! So now we can have pictures and video of Christmas morning.

I don't have time to post much else right now but here are a few pictures I was able to get off my camera. More to come soon!

These were taken at the doctor's office at Islay's 1yr appointment. That's why she is naked :)

Since the last entry was clear back in May it may be unrealistic for me to "catch up" on all our happenings but I can give you a truncated version.

Jason transitioned unceremoniously from 3rd yr to 4th yr med student. He took the USLME Step2 and passed with flying colors on both portions of the test. (GO BABE!) He was able to come with us to UT for a few weeks during our long visit to see our family during the summer. It was so much fun to have him there even though he did spend quite a bit of time studying for his test. He was released as the Scout Master in our ward and made a Gospel Doctrine teacher. Honestly, who makes a Med Student a Scout Master? With Jason's crazy schedule it was impossible for him to attend weekday meetings let alone plan them and scout camp was a pain. I did support him while he had the calling but I'm so glad he was released. It was more stress that I wanted to deal with (I know, I'm a terrible person).

Jason also spent a lot of time and $$$ applying to residency programs. We were really happy to receive several interviews and were even happier with the experiences Jason had at each program. We are excited to see where the Match will place us in March. The majority of Oct., Nov, and the first week of Dec. found me without a husband due to his jet setting for interviews but we were happy to do it. Just one more sacrifice for our future (will those ever stop? haha)

We spent a wonderful Thanksgiving together and had a delicious meal. We are getting ready for Christmas and we are so lucky that Jason gets a break from school during the kids Christmas break.

Dyson had a birthday and turned 7. He also finished up his 1st grade year with the BEST teacher I have ever met. I am so glad that he had her for a teacher. He had a fantastic summer playing with his cousins during the 6 weeks we were in UT. Reading has clicked in his mind and he can read just about anything. He can even read the scriptures well and if he doesn't know a word it doesn't take much for him to sound it out. I think the wording in the scriptures is difficult so I am really proud of him. He loves math and writing stories. he is currently working on a story about a kid who is scared to to go to school because she is new. I think he might be writing from personal experience. We love reading together each night and are currently working our way through Alma in the scriptures and book 3 in the HP series. He LOVES Harry Potter and Voldomort is his favorite character. haha.

He started 2nd grade at Watsessing but after a month there we decided to transfer him and Ridge to Brookdale. Brookdale is listed as #3 in the state of NJ for elementary schools and the opened enrollment. We felt that with all the moving we have done (and will continue to do) the kids needed the best education so we moved them. Dyson seems to be doing well there. They challenge the kids and I have noticed that his teacher expects more of him. Overall, we are happy with the move.

Dyson has lost a total of 6 teeth and only 2 of them have come out on their own. The other 4 have been pulled or surgically removed. Needless to say, he is a little nervous of losing anymore teeth.

He has grown up so much in the last 6 months. He is super mature and helps me whenever I ask him. He is great with his sisters and take especially good care of Islay. He is so independent that I'm stating to see my importance in his live diminish just a bit. I have great hope that he will be an incredible force in the world. He has such a good heart that it melts mine. I love this kid!!!

Ridge. He also had a birthday since my hiatus. He spent the summer charming the pants off all of his aunts and uncles, cousins and grandparents during our visit to UT. He has a way about him that you can't help but love. He still gives the best snuggles of anyone I've ever met. Even though he is 5 now he still has time for snuggles with mom.

Ridge stated kindergarten this year and it was super hard for me to let him go. I'm not sure if it was the fact that school was going to be all day or if it was that he is so sweet and nearly as independent as Dyson so he seemed younger? Maybe a combination of both. But either way it was hard and I cried every day for a week! (I didn't cry when Dyson went to school, so this was weird) We also moved Ridge to the new school and it has been great for him as well. Ridge seems to get distracted (just like most boys) but instead of acting out like Dyson did he just doodles all over. It drives his teach crazy so she works to keep him on task. Ridge had a knack for avoiding work and it has been great for him to follow through on his work. He has made lots of friends and was even invited to a birthday party.

He is starting to get the hang of reading and is super good at sounding out the words. I think once it clicks in his mind he is going to be almost as good as Dyson is at reading. He gets the process of sounding out words and once he does he can read it but you know that moment when they can read the word with sounding out each individual sound? That's what I'm waiting for. I think he is super close to that point and I am excited for when he can read his own homework! haha.

I love my snuggle bug!!!

Rori. She is going to be the death of me!! She is a girl of extremes. You can't help but love her when she is on a sweetness run, but when she makes the turn.....beware.

She makes me laugh EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. she also makes me pull out my hair every. single. day.

Rori has had some pretty awesome milestones over the past 6 months. She can get dressed by herself and can even put on her socks!! She is also capable of putting her laundry in her drawer, which I love since I hate walking up the stairs 6 times to put the kids laundry away. (lets face it, I don't do that. haha I don't even put away my own laundry. hahahahah) She was also moved from a carseat to a booster seat, and stopped sucking her thumb! One of her more recent and exciting milestones is she now sleeps in underwear! I love that I don't have to provide Pull-Ups on a regular basis because of their price. I'm actually surprised she can go all night without an accident because I was a lot older by the time I could do that. I won't disclose my age but I was old enough to have sleepovers before I didn't wet the bed. So I am super excited for her (and me. haha)

Rori had a birthday in October and turned 3! She is getting so big! We didn't put her in preschool this year since she most likely has 3 more years before she'll start school. Out here the cut off is Oct 15th so she would start before she turned 5 but since we won't be here I think it's more likely she'll start when she is 5 almost 6.

She loves Tinker Bell and the Disney Princesses and her favorite color is PINK. She wants pink everything.

She is also sporting a new short do. Shorted that the last one. One day after Halloween she came in and asked me if she could have some candy. I told her no since it was almost dinner time. Not even 5 minutes later Jason told Rori to come "show me." She walked in and showed me her hair. It was cut to the bottom of her ear on the right side. She cut it out of spite and I had to give her a bob. She still looks pretty cute and I have decided that I'm not going to get upset if she does it again. She did it to make me mad and I'm hoping that if I stop reacting she will stop cutting (crossing fingers.)

Rori favorite game to play with me (and my favorite too) is Blondie. I get to sit and Rori brushes my hair while we repeat dialogue from Tangled. She calls me Flower and I call her Mother. We have such a great time and play for at least 20 min at a time. I love her smile, her laugh and her imagination. She has so much spunk and pizazz. She lights up my life and I love her.

Islay. She probably has the most accomplishments of all my kids considering she was only 5 months old when I posted last and now she is 1. She met all her developmental milestones on time and some even a little early. She takes FOR E VER to cut teeth. One tooth took a whole month to break through. You could see the tooth through the skin for a month. It was so sad.

Her first work was "Mama" but she only said that at night when she was crying but once she learned how to say "Dada" she forgot how to say mom and it took several months to reteach it to her. Silly girl. She can now say Mom, Dad, Hi and No (which she says repeatedly while shaking her head.)

She started walking towards the end of October and by the end of November was a full walker. She has gorgeous dark hair that I love to put in piggy tails. Ice is the biggest of my babies topping the charts in the 10th percentile for her weight. She has some thighs on her that almost as big around ad Dyson's are right now. haha, jk. (but Dyson is super skinny still :))

Her favorite past time is getting into the Christmas tree. There are dozens of presents under the tree but she leaves them alone to grab the shiny colored balls covered in glitter, the candy canes and the gingerbread men that hang at arms length. We have redecorated the tree and now all of the ornaments are on the top half of the tree only. It really is a funny sight and I love it. It shows we have little ones in our house.

Islay is growing more and more each day and I love spending time with her. She has an infections laugh and anyone who hears it can't help but join in. She gets compliments wherever we go on how beautiful she is (actually both girls do) and I can't help but agree. Islay is a cross between the independence of Dyson and Rori and the snugliness of Ridgedon. It's a perfect balance for her. She has such a sweet personality and I can't wait to see it develope.

We are all doing well as we prepare for the Holiday Season. I'm hoping to update more regularly and even get some pictures up. We can't find the battery charger (and now the battery too) for the camera so pictures have been difficult. I'm hoping to remedy that and get some up soon.

Some of life isn't pretty but there is always something in there that is beautiful. I'm hoping to find more of those moments in my own life. I hope you can too.

Merry Christmas!

Do any of you have a hard time being inspired by others? This may sound weird but I do. Instead of being inspired by the accomplishments and ambitions of others, it seem so emphasize my own insecurities and shortcomings. Am I alone in this?

When I write it down it sounds so silly! But as I sit here and think about all the success, talents, projects, and goals of all you wonderful people I don't get inspired to start my own project or learn to do something new, instead I just feel more alone and insignificant. I wish I could feed off of others energy but instead I feel more like a failure.

I feel like a totally different person that when I got married and not in a good way.

I used to spend forever picking out the perfect outfit and heaven forbid I leave the house without makeup on. Now I'm lucky if I've showered in the last 3 days. It makes for a funny joke but the reality is that I'm dieing.

This post could go on and on but I'll spare you all from my emotional roller coaster, heaven knows I'd get off myself if I knew how.

This one is really hard. There have been so many wonderful things in my life. Some are huge mile stones that affected the rest of my life, like marriage and having each of my babies. Others are just so much fun, like trips to Disneyland or Hawaii. And there are some that are so unique they are hard to catagorize, like living in a foreign country.

So, what is my favorite memory?

I am going to go with one that was the best spontaneous, joyful moment. The only prob is I don't have a picture. So you'll just have to imagine it.

Jason was in Grenada and I was in UT pregnant with Rori. I had gotten really sick and I have to leave the island on short notice. I took the kids and we were away from Jason for 3 months. This was huge deal considering we had never been apart for more than 2 days since we had been married. Not to mention that fact that we would be apart for our 5th anniversary and Easter. Not fun. But it had to be done.

When Jason scheduled his flights the soonest flight he could get was for nearly a week after school got out for their break. I was bummed but all the other flights were booked.

The week before Jason was scheduled to come home I planned fun things to do on each day to help pass the time so I wouldn't go crazy!

On Monday I planned on going to IKEA with my mom (she hadn't been there yet!.) She was going to come pick me and the kids up and we were going to spend the day there. She called me and told me she was running late because she had to get some stuff from KMART (this should have been a clue because my mom ALWAYS shops at WalMart) but was on her way.

I was in the middle of doing my makeup when I heard my mom come in the house and yell "Amanda, come here!" I yelled back "Hold on, I'm doing my makeup" She called back "I have something for you"

So I walked out to the stairs (I was upstairs) and I saw Jason running up the stairs 2 or 3 at a time. I remember he was wearing a red shirt and army green cargo pants. His hair hadn't been cut for months and it was sticking out everywhere. He was unshaven and the most glorious sight I had ever seen! I started screaming "What are you doing here?!?!" I burst into tears, grabbed on to him and wouldn't let him go.

I have had some wonderful surprises but this one tops them all. My mom and Jason had found an earlier flight on whim. My mom called Jas and they worked out him coming home early as a surprise. Amazingly, they were able to keep it a secret from me. I usually find out these types of things.

Getting married and having my kids were wonderful and life altering in the best way. But I knew they were coming, and there were so many details and things to remember. This moment was unexpected, and it gave me the one thing I wanted most. My husband.

A picture of the cast of your favorite show.

But I do have to give a close second to The Bachelor/Bachelorette. I'm a sucker for this show and I can't wait for the new season!

A picture of the person you have been the closest to the longest.

It seems pretty obvious that this would be my mom. She has known me longer than anyone. As mothers I believe we know our children even before they are born, and we share a special bond with them.

I am a self proclaimed "Daddy's Girl" but I have come to love and appreciate my mom in more ways and for more things than I ever though possible.
My mom has made enormous efforts to be part of the life of my family. She traveled 5 times to Grenada during our time there and is planning a 3rd trip to NJ.

There are some people in our lives that can never be replaced and my mom plays that role in my life.

I love this woman!!

When Jason started this rotation I was worried about how our "daddy's girl" would handle it. I have been pleasantly surprised. She does cry for her dad but I can usually calm her down and we are actually getting along quite well. (I usually just ignore the "I hate you" comments and tell her "I know, but you still have to listen to me" it seems to be working quite well)

The other surgery we have to look forward to is Ridgedon's.

A couple of years ago Ridge got a suspicious looking lump on his left arm by his armpit. We took to the doc fearing bad news and were told it was just a hematoma or bruise under the skin. They drained it in the office and it seemed to go away.

Well, the mysterious looking lump has reappeared. I showed the lump to Jason, who was in Grenada during the discovery and treatment of the last lump, and he talked to the doctors he was working with in family practice. They suggested he go to a pediatric vascular surgeon. OK.

So we did. When the surgeon saw the lump he immediately diagnosed it as a hemangioma not a hematoma. A hemangioma is a collection of blood vessels that are tangled together. They don't cause any concern of damage or pain, but they won't go away on their own and will continue to get bigger and bigger over time, which is why it came back after we drained it. We made it smaller by taking out some of the blood and fluid but it didn't get rid of the source. The only way to get rid of it is surgery.

So Ridge gets to have another surgery! Poor kid. Luckily my mom and possibly my dad will be coming to visit us again next month and we will schedule the surgery for when they are here.

Ridge is such a brave little man and I know he will do great but I am still super nervous about the surgery. His surgeon is one of the best in America so I know he is in great hands.

It seems that we get to battle the surgery front from both sides. Wish us luck!

Normally this post is made up of pictures of an adorable kid sitting at a hair salon or on a chair in the bathroom, draped in a hair cutting cape. Then the words are usually ones of how big their child is and how they can't believe they are getting their first haircut.

This post, however is will have none of that.

Rori did in fact have her first major haircut yesterday but it was n

ot in a salon, or even in the bathroom. It was in the dinning room, and she did it herself.

I cried and cried. I am devastated. I know it's only hair and it will grow back but her hair is (was) long and it will take years for it to look normal again. I really wish she had cut her bangs instead of the side of her head. At least her bangs are supposed to be short.

I have been putting off cutting her hair because her hair is (was) so beautiful and it had lovely curls at the bottom. I was afraid that if I cut her hair her curls wouldn't grow back. I guess we will find out.

Some of you may be wondering where I was during this ordeal or why the scissors were left where she could get them. The answer is almost embarrassing.

I was holding Islay when Rori asked for a drink. Ridge said he would get it for her, since he was being my big helper that day. So he got her a drink and she was in the dinning room. I thought she was just drinking when I heard an unusual noise. I wondered what the noise was but it had stopped. Then I heard it again and I realized it was the sounds of scissors. I stood up and looked in the dinning room when I heard it again and realized Rori was not only using the scissors to cut, but it was her hair. It was all over the floor! I ran to her and I started grabbing her hair. Handfuls were coming out. I just started crying and I got sick to my stomach when I saw the damage.

So to answer the question "Where was mom?" I was in the living room side of our living/dinning room. (about 15feet away)

Now on to why the scissors were where she could get them.

I usually keep the scissors inside my cedar chest with my other crafting stuff or on top of a bookshelf. However, the other day I had printed out coupons and I needed to cut them out. I was in a hurry to go somewhere so I quickly cut the coupons out and ran out the door, leaving the scissors on the cedar chest instead of inside. BIG MISTAKE.

So there you have it.

I am "that" mom who left out the scissors, and neglected her child which resulted in her daughter having a new "DO"

I am having a really hard time with it. Rori, of course, doesn't care. She is too young to really understand what happened, but I am not. She took my beautiful girl's hair and made it impossible to style.

I've tried to coupon before with no success, but I'm changing the way I shop and am really giving it an effort.

To be honest I'm honestly trying to develop this as a new talent. I don't have lots of extra time to devote to developing any new skills just for the fun of it but I spending time trying to save money is another story.

So wish me luck and lots of saved money

I think I may be ruining the blissful childhood of my oldest son because he is no longer happy with giving his best efforts. He wants to be perfect.

Today when he came home from school I asked him to bring me his homework folder so I could see the papers he was bringing home. He brought me 2 crumpled up papers. I looked at the papers and at then at his face and he looked very sad and disappointed. Upon closer inspection of the papers i realized that they were a math test and a spelling test. The math test had a large 91% written on it and the spelling test had 90%. I was so excited for him but when I told him how proud I was of him he said "No mom, I didn't get 100 and so I just want to throw them away."

I tried to talk to him about the scores and that we don't always get 100% but we always have to do our best and try our hardest. He listened, and nodded when appropriate but at the end of our conversation he asked if he could crumple them back up and throw them in the garbage.

At first I was entertained by his attitude. I thought it was kind of cute that it was such a big deal to him to get 100%. But after thinking about it, I'm more concerned. I don't want him to spend his entire young life worried about being perfect. I want him to always strive to do his best, and work hard at learning, but I don't want it to affect his self esteem if he isn't perfect.

I realize now how much of my attitude Dyson is putting into himself. I struggle with lesson myself and so I don't know how to help or teach Dyson to not be this way. Sigh.

I guess we will both have to work on this and maybe in the process of helping Dyson become confident in who he is and his ability to be successful without having to be perfect all the time I can learn it myself.

I don't want Dyson to stop trying to get 100% in school though, so we both agreed that we are going to make sure Dyson is super prepared for his spelling tests and that he knows if the math problem is addition or subtraction.

He is super smart and I am going to help him reach his goals of getting 100% on his next tests. Wish us luck!

When ever I am doing the dishes or in the shower I seem to be able to think of several blog topics and how I would word them. Of course they are always eloquently written and full of life altering insights about myself or the world. But, when I finally get a min to sit at the computer to compose such a post... all my wonderful thoughts are gone. Welcome to mommyhood. haha.

So I guess you'll have to settle for whatever is in my head right now.

Lately I've been thinking about my goals and what I want to accomplish. It sounds cliche with it being January and all but I haven't been thinking about it in a "New Year's Resolution" sort of way. More a "Who am I and what do I have I done with my life." This reflection usually comes from admiring my friends who seem to have it all together and me, of course, comparing myself to them.

I know it's unfair of me to compare myself to others especially because I compare their strengths to my obvious weaknesses, but I do it none the less.

It seems that my life goes in circles of contentedness and not, and finding the balance to be content with who I am and the progress I've made in my life and yet not be satisfied so I will continue to strive to be better is something I can't seem to grasp.

Probably the biggest and most public aspect of my life that is affected by this is my ability to keep a clean house. I grew up in a home that was full of love and laughter, and clutter. As a newlywed I struggled to keep a clean house (even when there were just 2 of us living there.) We always wore clean clothes and ate on clean dishes, but the clothes were usually pulled from laundry basket of unfolded clothes, and the dishes would have to be washed before we could eat. Since then I have made tons of progress in knowing how to keep a house clean and with 4 kids the progress is AMAZING. At times I am so pleased with the growth in self discipline and then people will be coming over and I see all the areas of my home that have been neglected and I feel as if I have made no progress at all. I am struggling with the ability to be comfortable with the fact that I have made huge improvements in how clean my house is and to be proud of how well I am managing with 4 kids and to not be embarrassed if the floor isn't swept or there are baskets of laundry. I worry that if someone comes over and there are dishes in the sink or the counters haven't been wiped that they are scrutinizing me and my home.

This is our neighbor snow blowing his sidewalk.

Gotta have a picture of this sweet baby.

I love my kids!