Independence Day

For children all Independence Days should start off with a parade! The one in Idaho Falls was big and lasted quite a while, but we were not impressed by it. Kenya enjoyed getting candy and hanging out with her friend Hannah. We were able to meet from friends and hang out with them and their family during the parade. Kenya had a blast dancing to the music that some of the floats had playing and did I mention the candy and free stuff they gave out.


After the parade it was home for a much needed nap for Mommy and Kenya! Then we went to a family in our ward for a fun BBQ and for Kenya to "play with friends". She just loves being around other children and it is not kids her age that she plays with. It is usually older ones that she can communicate with because of the kids her age she cannot understand and play with well. Our friends had a sand and water table set up and Kenya played in it with several other kids for literally at least 2 hours.
After our dinner and a little fun playing we headed down to the Melaleuca Freedom fireworks celebration on the Greenbelt. Again Kenya loved playing with the Hildebrandt family!! Thanks Hildebrandts REALLY you made us feel welcome and we had a great time crashing your family events! Really they just let her join in the fun with all of the cousins and friends that Hannah had there. She had the time of her life because for at least 3/4 of the day she was playing with other children. She loved the fireworks again, but fell asleep about 25 minutes into them and didn't wake up until a few hours after we got her home and in her own bed. I think the show is about 30 minutes or so long. It took us well over an hour to even get out of the parking lot we were parked in and so we did not get home until after 12 am and the fireworks were over at about 10:30. It was a fun 4th of July and we are so glad that Kenya enjoyed it!

What do you know this is a picture of Kenya and a dog. One of the Hildebrandts had a puppy at the Greenbelt and this occupied much of Kenya's time. The dog was a little bit mouthy, but Kenya did not mind. She was in heaven as long as she was near it or holding its leash.

This video is of Kenya playing with the dog. That poor little puppy crashed not to long after this and was sound asleep the rest of the night next to one of the grown ups.





This last picture is of Kenya playing with some of the girls there just before the fireworks started. They has glow sticks that they were making jewelry out of and they treated Kenya great making sure that she was included and letting her has a few. Again, thanks Hildebrandt family for including my daughter when she does not have any family around to celebrate with, you sure made her day and in turn Robert's and mine.

Cocoon.

I don't know if I ever posted this or not, but I wanted to make sure that I got it in there somewhere. Not long after we moved to Shelley Kenya made a profound statement. We had read "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and a day or so later asked me if Baby Inside was in a cocoon (as she pointed to my belly). I told her yeah, kind of. How does a 2 year old process that information and understand that the butterfly coming out is going to be like when the baby is born. Blows my mind.
The reason I was reminded about this was because tonight I was reading her the same story and she told me that my belly was a cocoon and that the caterpillar was in the cocoon too. What a smart girl!

How much can a toddler pee at once?

The answer to this question is still mind blowing to me. Here is the story to go with it.
Kenya and I were getting ready to take our routine nap when she asked for drinks. She is potty trained and rarely pees her pants during naps (but over night is a whole different story). As she was drink both milk and then water I was thinking to myself, she is for sure going to pee this time. I was exhausted from have 2 ridiculously late nights over the weekend and not really having a chance to recover from them and thought about this and decided it was not all that bad and took potty right before we went to nap (which is she did, as normal) and to sleep we went. This map was almost 2 hours when I woke up. It was HOT in Kenya's room on the chair where we were sleep holds in heat plenty well. Because it was so hot the nap was over for me, however Kenya was still sleeping. So I checked and yes Kenya has peed her underwear was wet. I then felt a wetness on me. So, I got up and still holding Kenya went out into the living room to hold her there because I knew it would be at least a bit cooler and it was. To my surprise when I was walking from her room to the living room I felt that my entire backside was wet from about the middle of my butt down to my knees. I then laid down on the couch and was in awe by just how much see must have peed in order to soak through her blanket on to me and then the entire backside of my shorts and underwear.
Hello.... Lois you are pregnant and a thought hit me.... Maybe your water broke.
I just lay there on the couch wondering if that was possible and/or likely. Well, last Friday I began to lose my plug and Saturday confirmed it. Then I spent 2 out 3 day walking forever each day celebrating the 4th of July. The more I thought about this the more likely it was me and not Kenya. I laid there with her for about another 20 minutes because that girl needed her sleep! Then when she woke up I went to check the chair we were sitting on. Yep! It was super wet too! I then called Robert to tell him and then talked to my mom and then my doctor. I decided to go in to the doctor this afternoon to have him check to see if it was my water breaking. Yeah, imagine calling your Dr who actually just happened to be on lunch to tell him you think your water broke or it could just be that your toddler peed the bed. So with his recommendation I called Robert who came home from work at his lunch (2:30 pm) and we went to the docs office to see if this baby was coming anytime soon.
This whole time I am thinking well if it is your water you need to get to doctors to see if you are going into labor and/or will need to be induced because the water is gone, but if it isn't your water then it will all be for nothing. Other things that made me think it was the water. There was a smell of urine on Kenya's wet underwear, but not on me or the chair. There is no way a child could pee that much!!! I don't really know what labor or contractions are like because with Kenya I never really felt any, so I kept telling myself who are you to know if your water has broken.
So, I guess you are wondering the results of the visit. Well, Baby Inside is a....... baby inside still and does not appear to be coming anytime soon. The doctor said I am still a "tight" 3 and the baby is not engaged yet. I will go in next Tuesday on my due date for my next visit.
So, what was it that made me to wet. I am thinking that is could have been a lot of sweat because like I said it was HOT in there and a combination of Kenya's pee. I thought I was going to get a different story to tell out of interesting day, but at least it is a story none the less. I am really not ready for this baby to come anyway so that is nice that I am just a paranoid pregnant woman who is afraid she wont recognize labor.

An Amazing Start: 4th of July Weekend 2011

So Saturday the 2nd was a great way to start the 4th of July weekend! We lounged around in the morning to early afternoon and then made our way to Driggs, Idaho to have some fun at the Huntsman Springs Celebrate America event. I know you’re probably wondering where in the world is Driggs! Well this town lies in the beautiful Teton Valley. It was an all day celebration that had inflatable play palaces for kids, music (live symphony and record hits), an abundance of sunshine, shows, overly expensive street vendors, heat, Glenn Beck, activities, classic cars, patriotic planes, and FIREWORKS!

This event was not only a celebration of the best nation on Earth, but it was also a huge benefit for the fight against cancer with one of the foremost cancer research and treatment centers in the nation. What better event to show up to, right? The kicker to this shindig was that everything, but the overpriced, concessions, was FREE!

We, made probably one of the worst purchases of all time. We got, what smelled, looked, and just overall felt like, what be a good funnel cake and was sorely disappointed! It was like consuming a vat of oil. We didn't even come close to finishing it. It was like 5 dollars for a plate of oil! I guess everything can't be perfect at a place like this!

Enjoy a few pics and vids of the fun-filled day.


This girl is patriotic! She already knows to put her right hand on her heart during the national anthem!

Here's a tour of our makeshift shade tree. It's not much for the eyes, but it did the trick for the abundant sunshine I mentioned earlier.
As per request, here is an updated, pregnancy pic of Lois
I know you're probably thinking, "Alfred Hitchcock was there?".

Jump was one of Kenya's favorite parts of the day because she loves dogs with a passion. She loved watching the doggies dance too!
Kenya was lovin' the inflatable play palaces!


Kenya had a blast with "friends". There was this family that had 3 little girls and one little boy that had set up next to us. Kenya saw the littlest girl (age 3) and the oldest (age 7) playing frisbee with their dad and immediately wanted to play with them so she went up and repeatedly asked to play with them. They allowed her and they were all playing together for the next few hours! Kenya and Audrey (the 3-year old) would throw the frisbee and race each other to it like a good old-fashion, fumble rooskie...tackling included, but did it in the nicest way. It was so cute to watch them.

Here Kenya is with Alexis ( the 7-year old) pursuing the frisbee.
Kenya saw the little brother fall down and was quick to go help him up and to help him walk! He could already walk so we had to thank her for helping, but not to help too much because she might make him fall over again. We can't get enough of her helpful heart. She is going to be an awesome, big sister

The first vid is of Kenya visiting Daddy at work.

Next is the amazing dog-show called "Jump".

After that was some dance time.

Lastly, Kenya using her acrobatic skills and uncanny determination to try somersaulting up a hill! (Note: Kenya does know how to somersault...you try doing a perfect one uphill. Do it!! Now! I'm watching you!)




Glen Beck spoke at this event and he did it well. His speech was patriotic and religious. He spoke about how our children need to know about the important events that have taken place in the past in order to help mold our country into what it is now. He didn't single out any particular religion, but he made it a point to let everyone present know that this country was not built by man alone--God was at the foundation of it all. Without Him our country would not be here as it is today. It was great!

The day was rapped up with an amazing fireworks display that was, in our opinion, better than that of the Melaleuca Freedom Celebration! The fireworks were seamlessly, choreographed to patriotic music, video and narration that would make you want to cry with tears of appreciation and joy because God has blessed this country so much and continues to do so!

I hope everyone has a safe, memorable, and appreciative Independence Day celebration! God Bless America!!

And the Dr says....

I had my 38 weeks check up today. I am dilated between a 2 and 3 (nothing big, but it is starting); the baby is not yet engaged and my cervix is still thick. So, it looks like it may be pretty close to the due date when this baby comes. Next Dr appointment is a week from today.
With Kenya at 38 weeks I was at about the same spot and stayed there for about a week and a half. (Kenya was then born on her due date.) I know they say that the actual labor is faster after the first one, but do you progress faster to? Should I be preparing to have this baby sometime next week and not the week after?

Latest Happenings.

Yeah, Kenya loves dogs!! Doesn't matter the size!
Last Saturday we went to a car show in Rexburg and all Kenya cared about were the dogs that were walking around. But that is nothing new.

So we went to a free ice cream social on Monday night for Family Home Evening and got free ice cream. But as seen in the first picture no matter where we go Kenya's favorite part of going out is seeing all the dogs. These were people in line behind us getting free ice cream and Kenya asked very nicely to hold the leash and the lady let her. She was in heaven. She just held it for at least 10 minutes as we moved our way up in line.

Yummy ICE CREAM!! Look at that face!

Here are local firemen playing the bagpipes and drums. I LOVE the bagpipes and thought this was pretty cool to see these men playing. It was great music!

When the firemen were finished playing music they set up a cutout and let the kids hold the fire hose to see how strong it was. I thought that was really neat.



Kenya posed while watching others play with the hose. Miss sassy!



Kenya had her first dentist visit on Wednesday. I was a little nervous, but she was AMAZING! Yet, I am not surprised because she is that great of a kid! She got to choose what flavor of polish and she chose cookie dough. She said it was great! Then the polisher had stripes and looked like a zebra and she was excited that she got a zebra in her mouth. She is still talking about it! Not one fuss or whine durning the whole thing. They said her teeth are great and all they really did was polish them and make sure she was not getting decay yet. Great job, Kenya!!
This is the fluoride treatment. Yeah, she let them do this three separate times and did not swallow the fluoride. I can hardly stand the stuff sitting in my mouth.



Kenya decided to put her animals to bed in the crib that she and I had just put together yesterday. It was so cute I had to get a picture.
This was today after 2 days of being sick and not quick in full spirits. We had given her some medicine an hour or two before and she was wasting some of her energy pent up form the last few day. She just began to chant, "We can make it. We can make it." after were were talking about making something for Baby Inside and danced for several minutes like this. But of course by the time that Robert go the camera rolling she was bouncing into other rooms and such. It was quite funny!

Baby Inside update

Well, the doc said on Wednesday that all is looking good and I am right where I need to be for just past 37 weeks. A couple of weeks ago I had those dizzy spells and then when I went to the Dr that week I had a very slight high blood pressure (112/82) and a little protein in my urine. I think the high blood pressure may have been from me worrying about those dizzy spells and such. The Dr said that those dizzy spells were most likely just a crash of blood sugar and that I need to make sure to eat more protein with my carbs. I have had 2 visits since then and both I have had normal blood pressure and no other concerns. So, all is well and things are going good! I am getting more tired and have spells of motivation without energy or energy with no motivation. Slowly I am getting things done. (It would help Kenya had not decided over the past few weeks that she does not want to sleep through the night.)
The baby is in position (head down and has been since I first went to the Dr at 28 weeks.) She we are on track and next week I will see if I am dilate or thinning at all.

What a comfort.

The other day I heard a song on the radio that brought me to tears as I was thinking about my dad. It was Garth Brooks "The Dance." (A little background on this song is that it was one played at my best friends dad's funeral shortly after we got out of high school. He treated me like a daughter and this song already meant so much to me, but it was the first time that I had heard this song since my dad has died.) As I sat down to cry Kenya noticed the tears coming to my eyes and of course said, "Mommy, you sad?" Which I replied with, "Yes, I am just sad because I miss Grandpa." Well the rest of our conversation went something like this.
"Its okay Mommy, just be happy."
"I am okay, but I am just sad."
"Come with me I will take you to see Grandpa." She had been playing with two camping chairs and pretending to be driving them not long before this happened. She explained to me where to sit and that she would be in front (driving) and that I would sit in back and she would take me to Grandpa.
"We are going to go on a big long trip, okay Mommy?"
"Okay" and the tears just kept coming!
Then as I began to play with her the joy over took the sadness and I think that made Kenya a little sad (that I was not sad anymore) because she kept telling me you "You can cry again Mommy, its okay to cry." I told her I knew it was okay to cry.
After this I began to make a playlist of songs that remind me of my dad, so now I am going to post that playlist for everyone to hear! Enjoy!!

Sunny Weather Times.

Some of our friends were do sitting and we went on a walk with them to the park. Kenya was in heaven playing with this puppy. This we a few weeks ago and she still talks about at least once a day.

This was just today. We went to a different friend's house and the girls were playing outside in the pool and they took a break to go and talk to a neighbor's dog.

These pictures are of us going to the splash park on Saturday. Kenya has a lot of fun and we did too. I get so much joy out of watching her and seeing her enjoy life!

I remember those days of sitting on the fountains or sprinklers. Kenya loved it!

Here is her first time on the carousel. She told me that she told the horsey, "Giddy up!" and "Whoa, horsey that's too fast!"
Here is a video of her riding the horse.



Oh Kenya and Hannah, what fun you have together! These girls are crazy and will go in the pool no matter what the temperature. It was cold water once again and they still played in it.


The weather patterens here are quite annoying. It is always very nice in the morning and even hot like today, but then after nap it almost always clouds up and get cooler. I don't really ever want to go anywhere before nap time though because then when we get home and try to take a nap Kenya does not cooperate well. So, we play outside anyway and Kenya gets tough skin in the cooler weather. What a great toddler!

Light-headed and Dizzy

Since the end of last week I have had a few times where I have been getting light headed and dizzy. It started last Thursday and that was a really bad episode. I had gone for a walk to a little craft store and while at the store I got really hot and I started to lose my vision and felt like I might pass out. I sat down for a few minutes and was able to recover enough to walk home. Once I got home I sweat profusely for a good 30 minutes and was all clammy. I figure it is low blood sugar. I had french toast with syrup for breakfast so I think my blood sugar spiked and then the insulin kicked in and I then went too low. This scared me a little bit, but for the next couple of days I was fine. Once in a while I was a little high headed, but only if I stood up to fast or something. Then on Sunday at church I felt my blood sugar doing something. I again got ridiculously hot and clammy and had to leave to cool down and get some water. It passed after a short time and it was not nearly as bad as the first one. Finally this morning after eating a bowl of sweet cereal I was light headed and need to sit for a few minutes. That is why you all get to hear about this because I needed something to do while I rested or I would convince myself to get up and do something!
I have a Dr appointment tomorrow and I am going to mention it to him. I am sure he will just tell me to take it easy and try to regulate the sugar better. It isn't something I am too concerned about, but if it could be something more hopefully the Dr will tell us.
Can you believe it only 5 more weeks!?

Baby Inside update

Well, the baby dropped last Thursday and it was very visible. I woke up and I don't even look pregnant any more. Before I was carrying the baby so high that it was obvious that I was pregnant and that I was due soon, but now I hardly look it. This baby has decided that it likes the pelvis region and I think it is there to stay until delivery.
I know this does not mean that I am going to have the baby any time soon, but man does this baby out a lot of pressure on my pelvis. It makes getting up and down a lot harder and taking stairs is a long process. I still don't really have much to complain about because from what I hear about other women talking about their pregnancies I still have it easy, and I would agree with that! I had a Dr appointment on Tuesday and of course he said everything is fine and not to worry about the baby dropping. The baby is in the right position and it still might even move around a bit more he said. I don't think so, I think it is comfortable or is stuck there. Either way things are going great and we will have this baby in about 6 more weeks. Can you believe it?
Not much more to update on until the baby comes. We are still looking for name for both a boy or a girl. (Names that beginning with E or J)

So, I don't know why I just remembered this today, but I did not post any information on Kenya at 2 years old. At her check up she was in the 80% for height (34ish inches) and 70% for weight at 27 lbs. She talks like crazy and has been using full sentences since before we got back from China. She is a smart one! I just wanted to document this while I still remembered the specifics.

Random happenings from last week.

We had a fun filled week and did lots of activities because the weather was so nice. It sure made the week go by fast with all of the fun things we did.

I was doing laundry and then got to chatting on the phone with Kira and Kenya decided to help, which is nothing new, but then she began to put the clothes on. This was what she ended up with. I asked her several times if she wanted help getting her PJs off and she said no. Everything is on backward and the first time the shorts were on inside out too. Notice her sandals on over her footed jammies.


One morning Kenya just asked me to take a picture of her and Daddy. Here it is. SO CUTE!!
This was Kenya and my first picnic of the year. Windy, but so loved it!
This is the end of the same day. We made cupcakes for Family Home Evening and she got to help and love it!
Tuesday we went to Rexburg for a dentist and doctors appointment and then had lunch with Jena. Kenya loves visiting her! Sorry, no exciting pictures from then.

Thursday we had lunch with Daddy on the Green Belt and played with the geese and then went to the zoo with 4 other moms and kids. Here is Kenya walking with her friends. She loves having friends.
Friday we went to the Hildebrandt's house and play outside in the backyard and in Hannah's pool. These girls had so much fun! They played in the sun and pool for over 3 hours. Kenya has sun block on, but at the end of the day her face was a little burnt. I got some sun as well of course. That water was cold! I think it was only like 75 degrees at the most! This first picture is Kenya's reaction to the cold water! Oh so cute!



Last night I made lobster tails for dinner. It was yummy. This was my first time and if lobster comes on sale again like it did, I will for sure make it again.

Kite Festival 2011

Saturday, April 30,we went to the annual kite festival for the area. The first 30 minutes almost convinced to leave prematurely because there was no wind! We were feeling cheated (even though it was free or donation), eventually the wind did pick up and we had a good time watching kites of all shapes, sizes, colors, and characters dance in the air. We were treated to free hot dogs, soda, music, kite making, and ways to win prizes.

Kenya got a pinwheel, for the cause of stomping out child abuse, during a race to grab a pinwheel. The kids were to line up and at the drop of a man's hat run as fast as they could to get a pinwheel. Well, I, Robert, explained to Kenya what to do and when to go and showed her understanding by repeating what she needed to do. So once the hat dropped, instead of taking off in a sprint for the pinwheels she was so concerned about the man dropping his hat that she almost came in dead last out of at least 50 kids, many of which were smaller and younger than her. But her caring nature shone brightly. Even after she got a pinwheel she continued to worry about the man dropping his hat!


The next few pics are of Kenya flying a kite for the first time. We learned how to make it from some very helpful Boy Scouts.




When we first got there, since there wasn't any wind, Kenya went and played in the inflatable play palace. She enjoyed sliding down the entrance and bouncing on the inside.

Father's Day Weekend 2011 a Memorial for Daddy!

This is for those of you who do not have the blog address to our Pig Fest page and that might be interested in coming. For more updates and things to come on refer to the Pig Fest blog.

http://evanspigfest.blogspot.com/

Details are still very scares, but my mom has decided that Father's Day weekend is when she is going to do the memorial for my dad.
As far as I understand it, the celebrating is going to be a very much like our other Pig Fests, but without the pig in the ground. (This still might be undecided, I am not sure.) SO, bring things for camping, swimming in the creek, hiking, fishing, and having all kinds of good food and fun!
We are hoping that everyone who wants to come will come! There is not going to be a specific invite set out, so consider yourself invited.
The week before Memorial Day she is going to be traveling back from CT with Kira by car (it will take a few days). She said that she will need time to rest and prepare for the company and activities.

Lets make this the BEST one ever and try to get everyone to attend!!

Thoughts on the Latest World Event

Last night I received a text message from my sister telling me that Osama bin Laden had been killed by US forces. Of course the first thing I did was to "google" it. Sure enough many confirmed tid-bits on the matter, but no real details. Then within 30 minutes President Obama spoke on the matter live from the White House and confirmed the news with details. My reaction...
Well I know it is a good thing that he is dead. We can learn from the Book of Mormon that is better that one man die than so many others. Is this something to rejoice over? I do not feel so. Yes, we should be proud of our country and what we have accomplished, but we should not celebrate the dead of any person. (True I did not personally loose someone as a direct effect of his planned terror attacks and maybe I would think differently if I had. I hope not.) After the briefing from the president last night the news showed a crowd gathered outside the white house who were celebrating like it was the winning of a sporting event. This also makes me think of something in the Book of Mormon. People became so wicked that they delighted in the shedding of blood. I am glad to see that as I surfed the web today looking for more news and updated information and details that the topic of many major news stations had headlines leading to the same question I had about rejoicing or celebrating over his death. As I was reading on facebook this morning a friend of mine made a posted that I very much agreed with. It was by Joey Franklin,
"Is slightly embarrassed by the frantic crowds gathered at the white house and cheering over Bin Laden's death like drunk NFL fans on a Sunday night. Yes, I'm glad he's gone. But it seems like mourning our own dead, and praying for peace is more appropriate than "USA" chants and raised fists. God Bless all nations and may He keep innocent people out of harms way."
He then added the quote of Alma 48:11 "And Moroni was a ^astrong and a mighty man; he was a man of a perfect ^bunderstanding; yea, a man that did not delight in bloodshed; a man whose soul did joy in the liberty and the freedom of his country, and his brethren from bondage and slavery"
This fits exactly how I feel. Thanks for putting it into words for me!'

Another thought that I had was, "Wow, our intelligence agencies CAN keep a secrete." This was even before Obama announced that this mission had been in the works for 8 months. With all of the negative press and such that our government gets sometimes I begin to think that there is no one in our government or agencies that can be trusted. Well, there were no leaks in this operation and had there been it would not have been possible. I know that really there is so much that we do not know about, but there is also so much that is lost and so many complication because people cannot keep their mouths shut.

So, there you have it. A little look into what I have been thinking about about and how I have been feeling.