Alaskan Inn

Jason & I celebrated our anniversary this week (it's really May 12, but this was the only week Jason had off school,). We debated on where to go - even talked about Cancun (glad we didn't go down there), but we both really liked the Alaskan Inn (up Ogden Canyon) when we went on our 1st anniversary & they had a great deal in April, so off we went for 4 days & 3 nights of wonderful togetherness. We enjoyed watching movies, eating at YUMMY restaurants, attending the Ogden temple (neither of us had been there), hiking, going to the Hill Aerospace Museum, and, of course, sleeping in and taking lots of naps. It was really heavenly. I so much enjoyed spending 1-on-1, uninterrupted time with my sweetheart and best friend. As much as I miss my girls, we really feel this time every year (or twice a year if we can get it) is so important for our marriage. We feel so blessed to have had wonderful anniversaries every year. We were feeling a bit old when we had a hard time remembering where we went for all our anniversaries, but we finally came up with them:

1st Anniversary: The Alaskan Inn
2nd: Cruise to the Caribbean
3rd: Forest Service Cabin on Boise NF with our new puppies
4th: B&B hopping from Emigration Canyon to Payson to Manti to Capitol Reef
5th: Canary Islands, Spain
6th: Anniversary Inn
7th: Jackson Hole
8th: Hawaii
9th: Alaskan Inn

Each one has such fond memories and I am SO thankful that we've been able to take time out to celebrate and gain perspective and closeness each year. THANK YOU Cindy, Mom & Trisha for watching our girls. We love you!

Here's some pics from our trip:

The Glacier Cabin

Mmmm - one of our favorite Restaurants - Boccia D'Italia

Another amazing restaurant - Gray Cliff Restaurant. This place had like 7 courses.

Middle Fork Trail (do not ask my why Jason brought a football)

Indian Trail (so so beautiful)

Jason & the B-52 @ the Aerospace Museum

F-16. Jason Looooved seeing all these planes. We were here for 3 hours.

Fun (??) Day Friday

Most every Friday for the past few months we've had Family Fun Day Friday. McKinley loves it. She gets so excited. We've gone swimming, to the Aquarium, sometimes to the park, sometimes out to eat, and a couple weeks ago we went to Jumpin' Jacks in West Jordan. It was really great when we went - hardly anyone there & tons of stuff for them to jump around on. McKinley had SO much fun & was always asking to go back.

Yesterday rolled around & we had a coupon for Jumpin' Jacks so we thought we'd go back, but this time we went later in the day. I don't know if there were a hundred birthday parties going on or they had some kind of radio event going on, but it was CRAZY crowded. Like a million kids. So... scratch that. Poor McKinley was absolutely broken-hearted. I could hardly get her back in the car. We explained to her the problem - and that she'd probably only get to go on 1 or 2 slides. So - we suggested that we go to McDonald's & play and eat ice cream. At first, she didn't want to, but the idea sounded better & off we went.

Isn't it funny how McDonald's playlands seem to be everywhere you look until you're actually wanting to find one? Well, we drove around & finally ended up about 15 minutes away - at the 5400 S. & Redwood Rd one. Whew! We're here! Good thing... Ireland is getting fussy. Wait a minute! Their playland is all torn down. What the?? Ok... deep breath. More explaining to McKinley. We'll find another one. We head over to 4500 S. (and around a car accident), pull in the parking lot - no play place!! OK - are you serious? Now, Ireland is really getting mad & McKinley keeps asking where the play place is. Grrrr. So - keep going, McDonald's on State Street - no play place.

So - after about an hour of driving around, we finally get to the Arctic Circle at 7200 S. & State Street. It has a PlayZone. By this time, I'm thinking that this Friday isn't such a fun day anymore.

At least the kids finally ended up having fun (although, apparently McKinley was under the impression that we were going BACK to the jumping place after the ice cream).
Oh - and did I mention that Jason & I were in separate vehicles because he had to go to school afterward? It added just that much more fun to our Friday!!

Ice cream - finally!

Ireland had so much fun once we got there


I have no idea why she's making this face

Home Birth

After much prayer & meeting with several midwives, we have decided to have a home birth with this baby.
Before you think I must have lost one too many brain cells with my last 2 pregnancies, let me explain our reasons:

1. I have to admit, the first thing that caught my attention was the price. With Jason being "self-employed," our co-pay for this next baby would be $7,500. Shea...HOLY COW! The cost of a home birth midwife, everything included, is typically $1,500-$2,500. But we would pay that $7,500 in a heartbeat if we thought there was danger with this home birth or if we didn't feel right about it.

2. If you wonder about the safety of home births, go here: http://www.thebusinessofbeingborn.com/
even better, watch the entire movie. Bottomline - home births with experienced midwives have the same infant mortality rate as hospital births and the U.S. stands alone with almost all our births in hospitals. Every other country (including our "civilized" counterparts) have mostly midwives delivering babies and many of those at home.

3. I am actually really looking forward to our home birth experience. McKinley's birth was so opposite of what I wanted. I guess no one told me (or I didn't understand) that this doctor we'd developed a relationship with over 9+ months, who I'd seen every time, who knew me and my baby DID NOT run the show. This random (crazy, pitocin-cranking, "we do things my way") nurse was in charge and I felt totally helpless. I ended up getting my water broken, pitocin, and an epidural right before I gave birth. Yes, I got my beautiful healthy baby girl, but it was NOT the way I wanted it. Ireland was much better. I had a CNM there & she ran the show, but she didn't have to do much since I was already at an 8 when I went in. I kind of wish I would have had a home birth with that one, since I just got to the hospital & she was born and hour or two later. So - there you go. I know who is going to be here. I know who is running the show. I don't have to have needles and poking and questions. I can just focus on bringing my baby into this world and working through the pain.

4. My sister had her last 2 at home and had a great experience. There is also someone in our ward I've talked to quite a bit that had 5 of her 7 children at home. I also went to a forum for home births and was pleased to find that they were all women like me - not hippies or poor people or whatever. Most of them were just looking for better birth experiences.

My midwife is pretty holistic. So - I'm working on opening my mind to tea with all kinds of herbs in it, drinking chlorophyll (yeah..we'll see about that one), and eating better overall - including more veggies. It will be good for me to have her "on my shoulder" reminding me to take better care of my body. Maybe if I strive to eat better, it will make me start to feel a whole lot better. The nausea is better, but the heartburn and indigestion still have plagued me.

She's in Pleasant Grove, but it's a quick 30 minute drive and the girls love to come & see her & today we got to hear the heartbeat again. There are very few sounds in this world that touch a woman's heart like the sound of your baby's heartbeat. It makes me feel so worthwhile - even if I've seemingly done nothing but incubate this life in the past 3 months. It also makes me feel incredibly blessed. We passed a billboard with a number to call to help with infertility. I said a silent prayer of thanksgiving that we have been so blessed.

Easter Fun

Yup, finally getting around to posting Easter pics. It was a fun week for the most part. I taught preschool that week and the first day we talked about fun things like bunnies and eggs. The next preschool day we talked about the true meaning of Easter. The kids were really good for the most part & loved learning about Jesus.
On Saturday, Grandma & Grandpa Potts sponsored an Easter egg-stravagansa. It started at Wheeler Farm in the morning (along with at least 1/2 of Salt Lake. Wow - it was crazy!). The kids had a great time on the bouncy slides and McKinley had her first cotton candy. They also loved to see the animals. After that, we headed to the Potts for lunch (fried chicken w/ all the fixins!) and an Easter Egg Hunt. Thanks Grandma & Grandpa!
Sunday was great & they got their baskets and looked for eggs downstairs. Then they got in their new Easter dresses. We also had a great time at church. Happy belated Easter!


Wheeler Farm - RAINY! but fun!

McKinley on the bouncy slide

Grandma w/ the little ones after their egg hunt

Dyeing eggs

Bubbles in their baskets!

Don't know why this picture is sideways, but Ireland was excited to find eggs this year.

McKinley in her Easter dress

Ireland's CHEESE!

I tried SO HARD to get a good picture of both of them, but this was the best I got.

Ready for church!

March Newsletter & Slideshow

Better late than never, right? Sorry. Anyway, here they are. I wasn't as good at taking pics or capturing stuff from the girls this month, but ya got what ya got! Below is the slideshow & funny stuff from the kids. To the right is the link to the newsletter.

McKinley: McKinley is our never-ending ray of sunshine and questions. Here’s what she’s been doing:
-After going to the Draper Temple open house, we asked her what her favorite part was. Her answer, without hesitation, was “cookies!” (they had cookies in the church afterwards)
-We were at grandma’s house & Aunt Cindy was asking grandma “Is this your primary printer mom?” McKinley piped up “Hey, I went to primary today!”
-McKinley continues to be our backseat driver letting us know about red lights & stop signs, telling us to slow down, and to be careful when we change lanes.
-McKinley wasn’t feeling good after preschool. She was sitting on the couch and said “Mom, I don’t feel good. I forgot to not go to preschool!”
-McKinley has had a few really neat prayers including one that said “Thank you for my family. They’re nice. They’re not mean. They’re wonderful. They’re so so special.”
-McKinley has started to learn the art of buttering up. Mom gave her 2 choices (like do this or go to your room). McKinley said “I choose…to love you!”
-Mommy had told McKinley she couldn’t watch a movie. McKinley waited a minute and then said “But mommy, Jesus said I could!”
- We were doing our family council & asked McKinley what was something that made her happy. She said “My face. I like my face! I can make silly faces, sad faces, happy faces…” We love her face, too!
-Ireland had dropped Jason’s phone in a cup of water & it looked completely ruined. Daddy was frustrated, but McKinley walked over to him, put her hand on his shoulder and said “Daddy, you got to pray to Jesus.” So, they said a prayer, waited for it to dry, and the next day it worked. Thank you, McKinley, for your faith!!
-McKinley has been playing the game “Guess what?...I love you!” a lot. We get to hear “I love you” so much from our little girl & we LOVE it!
-McKinley overheard us trying to decide on a Chinese restaurant. We were getting ready to go & McKinley excitedly yelled to Ireland “We’re going to China Ireland! Hooray!”
-She was staring at mommy’s face one day and said “Mom, you have a crack in your eyes” We had a talk about blood vessels after that :)
-One day during naptime/quiet time, McKinley took all the clothes off her bottom hangers. We walked in to see what was going on. She had made a pile of white hangers, and a pile of colored hangers. We asked her to put all the clothes back on the hangers. She cried for help again later, and when mom went in, she was so upset because she had used all the colored hangers for the colored clothes & thought she couldn’t use the white hangers to hang the colored clothes with.
-McKinley has been dressing in lots of layers lately. She always wants to put a long sleeved shirt under a t-shirt. Mom has given her much liberty lately with her clothing, and some outfits have been interesting.
-McKinley was downstairs when mom had to throw up. She went in there & stood by the toilet, put her hand on mom’s shoulder and said “I’m right here, mom” (and kept saying that). And then she said “Mom, all the time you are puking – all the time!”

IRELAND: Ireland has been a little mischief-maker this month and seems to always be getting into something. She is so fun, though, and we LOVE her!
-Ireland has been on a “Moma, Dada” kick lately. If one of us isn’t there, she wants the other one. She always wants us both in the same room at the same time.
-Mom was sitting on the bed, telling daddy “I feel crappy” Ireland piped up “Happy? Feel Happy?”
-One of the most frustrating, mischievous things Ireland has done this month is taking the keyboard keys off the laptop. It’s happened 3 times now, and the first time was the worst – she had about ¾ of the keys off.
-Every time the TV is turned on, Ireland gets SO excited and says “Signing Time, Signing Time!” And she begs for it all day and gets so upset when it’s turned off.
-Ireland has started to get a bit bossy toward her sister and will say “Stop it Kinley!” or “Don’t Kinley!”
-Mom & Dad hear this from the backseat of the car: Ireland: “Panties!” Mc: Ireland – NO! You DON’T wear panties!” (this went on for about 10 minutes – each time Ireland’s “panties!” getting more giddy and McKinley’s NO’s getting more frustrated – almost to tears)
-Mom always thought Ireland was saying “Oh no, Oh no”, but realized one day while wiping Ireland’s ouchie (rash) bum, that Ireland was saying “I know, I know” because that’s what mom always says when she’s wiping her bum (as in I know this hurts, I’m sorry)
-Another frustrating thing we’ve dealt with this month is coloring on the walls. One time, she colored on the same wall 3 times in a row. We’ve done time-outs and taken all writing utensils away, but she somehow finds them. Hopefully this is a fast phase – and thankfully WD-40 has taken it off.
-We’re thinking Ireland is going to be left-handed. Not certain, but she always uses her left hand to write with and eat with.
-Ireland is still taking her pants and diaper off constantly.
-Ireland has been saying cute prayers & if you help her a little bit “Thank Thee For…” she’ll fill in the blank with lots of things. It’s so cute to listen to her pray. We’re just working on being a bit more reverent during the prayer.
-Ireland really doesn’t walk anymore. She runs all over the place – even if it’s just down the hall. She’s always in a hurry to get someplace.