Oh the Irony!

Ok, ok, so I know I said, more blogs that are shorter, and its been, what... 3 weeks?  Sorry. 

So Lisette is on a mission nearly every time she walks, no, runs.  She's fast, she even leans forwards as she goes, gaining momentum.  Surprisingly she doesn't seem to be getting thinner in any area, except maybe her face as she's getting older.  I've still have to dress, now 15 months old, her in size 24 month pants to fit around her very curvy figure.


Franklin is very comical, and is very aware of how to make a joke.  They aren't that funny if it was anyone older than 3 telling it, but he thinks he's very clever.  I had a pillow on the floor, a towel nearby, so he lays down on the pillow, pulls the towel over and says "Mommy, I take a nap!" and closes his eyes.  See, not that funny, but he thinks it is.  His dancing, however, is becoming even more comical.  I do laugh the hardest at him when he and his friend Curtis (Janiel's little boy who is a year older) play sword fight on Wii.  Curtis will twist, and get into it so hard, sweating a lot, while Franklin just barely makes short, controlled "hits" and will win 99% of the time.

We are so VERY happy to report that we have found babysitters.  I told some of you that I wanted college students just in case an emergency ever arose, and they are legal adults who can keep their cool, and drive (even if its our other car they have to use).  There are 2 college students, in fact, who are roommates.  We happened to make our first night (ever having an at home, paid sitter) Tuesday, August 31st, and as I'm driving Sarah home after 3 1/2 hours (pure bliss and kidless fun) she tells me the cops show up due to a domestic call.  It was for the neighbors, but people tend to show up at our place first if they don't know who the Romero's are.

The ONE night we FINALLY get a sitter, and the cops tell her to step outside.  Oh the irony; especially since we've wondered ever since we moved in when the cops would have to show up next door.  Luckily the kids were being great for Sarah, or so she tells me, and they moved on eventually.  Now I'm going to have numbers by the door the next time she comes, and our neighbors info so that she can tell the cops where they need to go and leave her alone.  I'm so glad she wasn't frightened by them.  She told me how great my kids are; Lisette was an angel, and Franklin was polite and sweet.  I so hope she's willing to come back, but no cops next time!

Where's the fire!

Lisette is walking like she trusts everything, and like there's a fire.  She's fast, more so than Franklin was at her age.  He didn't fully let go of things till he was a few weeks older than she is currently.  Surprisingly this doesn't mean that she's topples, and falls all the time, either.  Its cute, and makes us smile.  I am having to pay far more attention to what she has her sights set on; in case its the completely the wrong thing. 

I also have to make sure Franklin steers clear.  He likes to push her away/over if he thinks she's going to take or destroy what he's playing with.  Not that its completely unjustified.  He's having far too much trouble with sharing.  Not fun.  I just don't get it.  He's such a sweetie, but it seems that ever since we were called out of nursery back in Lehi he has had learned so many bad things and stopped being able to share, period.  It doesn't help that Lisette really can be a menace.

I have reached 200 sales 2 months earlier than my original goal.  I'm so excited.  Stephen has also been having a lot of success in the sales world with HVAC.  Stephen getting this job with Advanced Air Systems has really been the best decision we've made; probably ever. 

*My next blog will be about a poop story, so don't open in if you don't want to know

Bittersweet

One thing I have learned from the movies "Julie & Julia" and "Motherhood" is that a blog doesn't have to be long, not even more than a paragraph, to make an entry.  Now having said that I will tell you that this blog won't be just one paragraph, but I'll try to shorten it.  Besides, shorter blogs might mean more entries.

Franklin will be turning 3 on Saturday!  I can't believe the time has gone by that quickly.  I remember, after pushing for 2 hours, the first thing he did was pee on my doctor.  When they handed him to me I was so tired, and so frustrated that it took so long that I didn't want to hold him; not till I had a breather.  Last Saturday we had a small party going bowling with Papa Reed, Heidi, Sam, Reyn and Tanyth.  Franklin LOVED bowling.  He caught on pretty quick that we all had a turn, and he was pretty good at waiting for his; most of the time.  He did not want to leave the bowling alley, but at least after 2 hours of being there, and with Grandpa Reed, he was able to leave with less crying than the day before when I went to reserve.

He's definitely becoming more his age.  Lots more English comes out of his mouth.  Just this morning, after putting Lisette down for a nap, he picks up a cat toy.  "Kitty's turn!  Kitty, where are you?  Where'd that kitty go?  Come here kitty!"  Of course Rizzo is the cat he's looking for, and his favorite place to nap is under Lisette's crib.  He's also potty training.  We are on official day 2 and he has told me 3 times now, before he has wet himself, that he needs to go.  I'm so thrilled, and I know that this isn't just a coincidence.  However, I'm not sure he's (aka: I'm) ready to tackle this when we're out and about.

You say: How can she know that he's got it?  Simple, Franklin has some obsessive compulsive behavior and has a particular way about things.  Doing routines with him is so easy and this would be one of them.  We've gone through several isolated mornings over the past 3 months that I tried and gave up.  I always had an excuse; running errands was the most common. 

Monsoons are over, pretty much.  I'm very sad about that.  I love rain and seems I can never have enough.  However, now that things are drying up, and the rain is no longer coming down, the "lakes" out front are drying up.  That mean no more screaming frogs!  I've had 3 nights of silence, and it has been bliss.  I realize that I took silence for granted.  I should say silence at night, when the kids are already sleeping.  I haven't taken silence for granted overall.  I'm a mom; lets be realistic.

Howling Dogs and Screaming Frogs

6 days a week our neighbor has a friend that drops off their dog.  When this first began we weren't sure what breed it was, not that it mattered, but it looked like a large Jack Russel Terrier.  Now that it has been a few months we now realize that it is a mix with a greyhound.  As if I needed one more reason to feel better about my cats never going outside again. That dog can jump the fence like it was laughing at it.  It runs all over the place, and across the road (and its a very well traveled road). 

We both used to be very impressed with that dog.  It wouldn't get too close. It has zero aggression.  It never barks.  I was impressed.

This dog now howls; all the time.  From almost the minute it is left for the day, till someone arrives back at that house in the afternoon, that dog will howl.  At first I was unsettled, thinking maybe one of its friends died; after all its not the only dog next door, and those chihuahua's I once mentioned I have not seen in a very long time. 

I was afraid of what I might see if I went to check on that dog.  It did run in the road a lot; maybe it was hurt.  I have a horror story of a cat I came upon that had been hit by a car.  Stephen and I were living here in Thatcher, when we were first married.  The cat was alive, and I was so horrified that I ran off to pull Stephen out of class. I couldn't just do nothing, but I also didn't want to pick it up.

Anyway, back to my story. 

That dog was just howling out of loneliness.  Nothing was dead, no one injured.  So I scolded it, and every few minutes went back out there to tell it to shut up.  I have kids sleeping and I'll be danged if some stupid dog will wake them up.  This still continues, but a few days ago I heard it whining as if it really was hurt.  "What now!!?"  I had to laugh.  My neighbors either got sick of nearly running over it, or someone heard me, but they now keep that dog tied to a rope in the back yard.  I've watched it longing at the fence, dying to jump over.  Sucker!

The monsoons have been awesome.  We've had some amazing lightening storms, and so much rain.  I'm so glad that my parents have given us the leftover rock from one of their projects; such a life-saver; no more trekking through inches deep mud to get to/from our vehicles.  For any of you that know where we are located, or have been to our home (thanks for visiting, we love having visitors!) we have water treatment ponds nearby.  True, a northern wind doesn't smell pretty, but we do have lots of wildlife, also thanks to the river less than 1/2 a mile away. 

We were watching a movie the other night, and I about had a heart attack.  I heard screaming!  I instinctively wanted to dial 911 but thought I'd make sure I wasn't the only one hearing it.  We paused the movie, and then I realized I was hearing a lot of screaming, not just one voice.  Stephen laughs and tells me its the bull frogs outside.  Stupid frogs!  Ugh!!  They aren't all that loud, but I thought it might have been a murder going on, or maybe one of my kids cries was being muffled by a pillow.  Stupid amphibians!  Just like those stupid peacocks that sound like they are crying "Help!". 

hmmmm...

I've got an idea for a cruel joke.  Get a peacock, and at least 3 bull frogs and put them in someones back yard in the middle of the night.  I can just picture it now...

When did that happen?!

(WARNING: since it’s been a month since my last post, this one is going to be long. Now you can’t say I didn’t warn you.)

We’ve had so much fun this last month, and there was so much going on! Stephen has definitely been busier than ever. We’ve been experiencing 100 degree heat and higher and summer has only just begun. On top of that his company is now down to 2 technicians instead of 4. One guy has a bad back, and too many injuries have caused him to finally stop doing this line of work. The other guy was let go suddenly, so that day was very interesting for Stephen and the other remaining employee who has only just begun taking calls on his own 3 months ago. So they’ve got Stephen and a newbie. All I can say is over-time, and it makes me believe I can learn to be more patient about his job.

One of my old roommates got married at the start of this month and we were invited to the sealing!! It was so great to be there, and my mom overnight babysat for us which made it all worry-free, kid-free for us. It also made me realize I need to do that more often, having overnight sitters. Natalie is so beautiful, and her dress!! You just have to see the pictures, she’s just so stunning, words can’t describe! I ran into her mom after, while she was waiting for Natalie to come back to the bride’s room. She thanked me for coming and I told her that I owe Natalie; after all she was my only roommate who was cheering me on from the start to go for Stephen.

I also have reached 100 sales with my on-line store, and it’s only been picking up faster since. I’ve recently added more styles to my inventory, and in celebration of reaching 100 sales I am giving away a “Bright Blue Tie” that I personally love. The way to win it is fan me on my facebook fan page and comment on my picture of the tie. On Friday at midnight I won’t be taking anymore entries and will announce a winner on Saturday (this is for any of you who may read this and haven’t been on my facebook page and want to enter). We’ve also changed things around a little at home to make my work station more organized and easier to see what I have made and ready to go.

Franklin has been so funny. Just on Monday I heard him say “Oh Man” and I couldn’t help but giggle. He’s definitely been paying attention to things we say, though he hasn’t been repeating it; yet. I’ve begun the whole “if you’re a good boy, and obedient, then you get a treat”. An almost sound like I’m training a dog, but since I started it there has been far less whining, and that was my goal. I have to keep snacks with me at all times now so I can stop the whining before it gets out of hand. Trips to the store, getting into his seat, opening his scriptures, putting a game or toy away, etc. has been far more pleasant. Threats just weren’t working anymore, and now I know that I can make a positive situation work with rewards.

Lisette is miss attitude already. What am I going to do when she reaches the phase that Franklin is at?! (Rhetorical question) At least she’s been letting us put her to bed when Franklin goes to bed, no more of this 10 p.m. or later nonsense. She definitely loves her brother to the point that she’s annoying him already. Because of that annoyance he’s been having episodes of not being very nice to her. She’s also very quick. Sometimes I just can’t keep up with her. I get distracted by Franklin or the cats doing something they shouldn’t and all of a sudden she’s practically falling into the bath tub (empty of course) reaching for the knobs, under a bed, in a closet, or if I left the gate down, on her way to the cat box.

She still stares down people she doesn’t know but she can sure smile, laugh, and play it all up around people she’s close and comfortable with. She’s a ham too, she knows when people are watching her, thinking she’s cute, and plays it up; little miss center of attention, what kind of monster are we creating?!

Lisette also LOVES the water. It’s another one of those bravery things. I’ve got to start her on swimming lessons as soon as humanly possible for her. Franklin I need to because he’s afraid of not having something under his feet, so he sat on the steps the whole time, but still in the water. Lisette was too funny, I’ll need to keep the camera close by next time, but she was leaning back in her floater thing, and kicking her feet so she started to travel. She thought it was so great! That’s my girl! She doesn’t like the feel of grass on her knees though, changing subjects.

My baby is 1!! However, unlike most parents, I was ready for her to be 1, and move to the next stage; walking! She's a brave little girl, oh my goodness. She loves to jump, and almost achieves air. Mostly she jumps on her bed while holding onto the rail, or similar situations. She still has yet to completely let go of things to stand on her own, but you can tell that she wants it very much. She's also starting to cut teeth again. Finally!! Back to her big day…

To tell the truth we had to big days if that makes sense. We had a party with the Reed’s in Sierra Vista the weekend before her birthday, and one the day before her birthday with the Quinn’s. Sierra Vista was busy, but so much fun. That Saturday morning we went to a little ranch with Heidi, Sam and their kids, of someone Sam works with. They have alpacas, goats, horses, chickens, dogs, and donkeys. Franklin really enjoyed himself there!! Oh boy did he throw a fit when it was time to go. That night we had a little picnic on my parents’ porch since it was too windy to go to the park. Lisette got a wagon for her birthday, and because Reyn (7 months older than Franklin) and Tanyth (6 weeks older than Lisette), Heidi and Sam’s kids, have one too, we all went for a walk after the party to take the kids for a ride. They loved it!! Franklin and Reyn rode in the green one while Tanyth and Lisette rode in her red one.

Then for the Quinn party we went to the local park to do a joint birthday party for Lisette and Bridger (Travis and Jamie’s little boy that is 2 days older than her). So much fun! I was allowed to make the cakes and I tell you it was an ALL day event. I used 8 cake mix boxes!! What was I thinking?! Well, it was worth it when I saw some people’s reactions to my fancier cakes. After all I do like to entertain and cook/bake. We stayed till it was getting a little too dark to stay any longer, but it was so much fun. Stephen could only be there for an hour and a half before he had to get back to work (on-call that week) but some friends came to our place afterward and we had an after party, I guess, till Stephen got home.

Whoa, this is a novel so I better end my stories here. Just know that it’s been an exciting month, and we’ve been so busy, and very happy. Enjoy the slide show!!!!

What a busy Spring

Unfortunately we have all become sick over the past few weeks. I’m finally getting over a sinus infection, and both the kids are back to good health. Lucky Stephen wasn't even phased by his momentary turn of being sick. Things are heating up, but that’s nothing new about Arizona, or even interesting. That does mean that business is picking up for Stephen. My business is picking up as well. 82 sales in the last 6 months of actually selling (the last 20 in the past couple of weeks alone). Sheila will be opening a space in her home to sell her jammies (culottes) and my pacifashions. She also has gotten us a spot in a shop in Pima. I’m super excited to see what that holds in store for my product!! Thank you Sheila!

Franklin slowly prefers English over Franklinese. I’m very happy about that since we are struggling with communication. He’s very sweet, and somewhat patient. He’s also extremely eager; finally!! I haven’t pushed him to learn everything since he didn’t have patience, or interest. Now it’s a steady flow of information, and he’s soaking it all in. He’s so much fun, but he’s Franklin, he’s always been so great!

Lisette is dead-body crawling, at least that’s what I’m calling it, in correspondence with her whole “rigor” thing. She uses her toes and her arms and propels herself forward; it’s very funny to watch. I honestly was beginning to think she’d skip this stage, she’s been so proud of her rolling abilities. Her other new trick is putting herself in the sitting position. Don’t worry if you thought she could do it all along, just about everyone else did too. After all she is 10 months old. I can’t tell you how elated I am that she can FINALLY sit herself up. No more yelling and crying at me to put her in a more comfortable position. I just about cried when I saw her do it the first time I was so very happy. Stephen likes to tease her with the laser. There is a video I am uploading of this very thing, and why not get some laughs about her new tricks!

This will probably be useless information to most of you, but I am very thrilled about this; we have discovered what breed of cat Rizzo is. Now I never really needed to know, or care much about cat breeds. Granted I grew up with Persians, the very beautiful, “Fancy Feast” type Persian (no squished faces) and I cared very much about that breed. Now that is a beautiful breed of cat. However Rizzo is a VERY odd cat. He doesn’t entirely act like a cat, nor does he have much of the same temperament of our fat lazy Osgood. Thanks to Animal Planets series Cats 101 we have discovered that Rizzo is an Egyptian Mau (Mau actually means cat in Egyptian). It truly is an amazing breed, and very beautiful, too bad they are so rare. Rizzo is definitely the perfect cat for me, I wish all cat lovers could have a cat like him. It’s almost a shame that we had him fixed; almost, but not quite.

We are also making an attempt at growing flowers. We have two beds of watered seeds, at the current time, in front, and we planted a long row of sunflower seeds along the century-old wood fence along the road. It’ll look awesome, if we actually can get it all to grow. Let’s hope.

Ok, Easter! On Saturday we went out to Cedar Hills and had fun with the Quinn clan. Nearly everyone was there, and though our family didn’t camp out (due to illnesses) we stayed for several hours that morning. I also forgot that the Arizona sun burns me very quickly. I got used to being in Utah and hardly ever got sunburn. It was worth it. Franklin LOVED being out there with his cousins, Aunts, Uncles, and Grandparents. He learned about playing in the dirt from Brooklyn, and Caylee (yes, the girls had to show him) who are his age. His uncle Danny helped him color an egg, which he loved. Later, after lunch, we went for a drive in Brent’s awesome 4-wheeler. Franklin could sit between us. I didn’t think we had been gone that long, but Franklin started to fall asleep. We headed home after that to let the kids sleep.

My parents joined us Saturday night for the festivities the next morning. Franklin got to be 100% center of attention between conference sessions as he did the egg hunt. There are some videos of that as well; one is long, I must warn you, but it was just cute to hear Franklin say egg a million times. When his basket was getting too full he’d put his eggs in Lisette’s. I wish she was old enough to appreciate that since I really don’t see that happening ever again in the coming years. However, Franklin does always surprise us. After a very filling, and delicious ham dinner, my dad returned to Sierra Vista, and my mom stayed behind to hang out with me for the rest of the day. I had to go to Sierra Vista the next morning anyway to finally get Franklin’s birth certificate, so my mom rode with me, and Franklin loved having her there.

Enjoy the video below of Lisette's version of crawling!

Just a few little things while I'm thinking about them. Sheesh, I never thought I'd struggle to have to remember, and make the time (not like I'm busy all the time anyway) to do blogging.

Lisette is a sleep talker. It was cute at first, and maybe even a little endearing, but now its not so. She'll have her outburst, wake us up, and then after she gets one of us out of bed she's quiet again. I have to confess, its usually Stephen who gets up. Most of the time she doesn't bring me out of consciousness enough to get me up before he's on the move. Poor Stephen!

Franklin doesn't like Wal-mart. Once he sees where the car is pulling up to he begins to get mad, and sometimes throws a fit. What can I say, he's such a drama king! Its odd though because he's happy to be there when we're inside. I guess he just hates how it looks from the outside. Maybe I should tell Wal-mart so in the future they can make them more appealing and inviting for when you arrive. But if its only Franklin who cares, then I suppose there's no rush.

He loves to sing and does it more often everyday. Whether its the TV, the radio, or one of us, he just might randomly sing along. After he sings he always wants a high five. Usually its not just one; so its more like a high 50. He also plays it up when there are others around. He gets really silly, and constantly laughing at himself. What a funny kid!

Of course the sillier (is that a word) he gets the more memorized Lisette is. She wants to do more with him. She's finally got the rolling over thing down, not perfectly, but she does it more often. Now that she's accomplished that she wants to get moving. Having an older sibling sure rushes things along, sometimes. No, she's not crawling but last night, after rolling over, she kept pushing her self up, and wiggling her head as if she was trying to figure it out. She determined to play with Franklin. At least that seems to be her goal; to get to play more with Franklin.

She does love to be thrown around. We're not overly doing it, or anywhere like we do with Franklin; she's only 6 1/2 months old for crying out loud! When she's laid on a bed, or the couch she wants to be bounced, and tossed (lightly) onto pillows. She seems to have developed that fearless trait that must have skipped over Franklin. Don't worry, he's getting more brave, and I'm sure when Lisette starts showing him up, he'll do more.

Oh, and another thing about Franklin. So I believe I already shared, and if not here it is, that he says "Wha deer dur?" which stands for "What are you doing?". Now he calls the cats "cow" or "kitty cow" sometimes. He still calls them kitties, or says kitty kitty, but sometimes he throws in cow. I think its because of Fatty. Just kidding. He still recognizes a cow, but somehow he says it to the cats. Oh, and "Bobby" is cake. How weird is that? I guess he's making it easier for me to learn Franklinese, but won't give in to learning english 100% just yet. You should hear us sometimes.
F(ranklin): Bobby!
M(ommy): cake
F: yeah! bobby
M: no, cake
F: yeah, yeah, bobby
M: C-a-ke
F: Bobby!!!
M: Ugh! CAKE
F: yeah, yeah!!
...and so on.

Yep, that's how it is with the Cat/Cow thing too. All birds are "guck" (ducks) except for the seagulls, they are "burr". I'm wondering if I can get him to do the whole "Look, pájaro", "no, da bird" with me, just for a laugh. I know most of you are wondering the significance of that. Well, I grew up in Panama from 9 months to 4 years old. We had a maid, who was also like a nanny to me, and she tried to get me to learn spanish. So now you should see how the conversation fell into place and why I still don't know Spanish. Of course I just had an epiphany as to why Franklin won't speak more english.

So now I wrote an entry far longer than I anticipated, but that's ok. This was fast and easy to do. Lisette is still asleep and I have to try for a second time to get Franklin in bed. Have a great one everybody!!

Lots of stuff in just a little time

We absolutely loved having everyone here that was able to come. My parents came on July 31st in the morning, so I went with the kids to pick them up. Franklin was so thrilled to see them, and talked the whole way. Lisette stayed pleased as long as she was eating; I love bottle feeding. We stopped at Wal-mart before we went home, and while there Lisette got upset. My mom picked her up, and to our horror, she had overfilled her diaper. Took some time in the family bathroom to clean up the mess, but after it all, she was very happy.

Stephens’ parents arrived August 1st after my nephews’, Boston, baptism. That night we had a little birthday bash for Franklin. My little boy is 2! We had Grandma and Grandpa Quinn, Grandma and Grandpa Reed, and Heidi, Sam, Reyn and Tanith. Tanith is 6 ½ weeks older than Lisette, and Reyn is 7 months older than Franklin. Franklin really liked having his cousins around.

Its so amazing to know Boston is already 8 years old. I remember the day he was born. I was 18 and had just graduated from high school. It’s so hard to believe he is 8 years old, the first born Reed grandchild, and has been baptized. It was beautiful! And I have to give a little shout out to his younger brother, Miles. He turns 7 on the 24th, and he sang at his brother’s baptism. It was a beautiful number by Miles!

Sunday went beautifully. Lisette is a very beautiful little girl, and was gorgeous in her white dress. It was a beautiful blessing. We met at my sister, Greta’s for lunch afterward. Thanks to all that came, and making it memorable for all there. Franklin loves riding around on his new tricycle, and we have definitely found the resolution for Lisette. She is back on her original formula, but with purified water. Our kids are wonderful, and lovable. We are grateful for them both, and love them very much.

I got seriously behind on blogging because I got sick immediately following having company over. I get bronchitis every year so it must have been that time again. This time, however, I also got a sinus infection with it. It was fun for others to listen to my voice; it was very deep and sultry. I went to the doctors’ and Franklin came in the exam room with me. He kept getting into the cupboard, and though I had been whispering all day so that I wouldn’t have to use my deep voice I finally had to get after him to stop. Well, he stopped, turned around, looked at me and started laughing. He liked mommy’s voice, thought it was really funny.

I still have my cough, and unfortunately my kids did get a little bit of a runny nose, but at least that was all they got. Lisette has been an incredible eater, we’re trying to keep up with her appetite, and Franklin has been a great eater lately too. Not always, but he’ll eat almost everything on his plate. I am finally putting my foot down for when he won’t eat it all, or at all, then he doesn’t get anything else to eat. I refuse to let my kid be a junk food/snack eater and not eating his meals. So far so good, I’m winning.

Sheila (my mother-in-law) gave me a box of apples along with all her wonderful goodies, and things that she gets through her amazing coupon skills. We can’t keep up with Fruit in this house, before it goes bad (due to my food allergy, and Franklin’s picky eating) so I peeled a whole bunch to make into pies and crisps to give to some neighbors, and my sister. Franklin had one of those nights he decided not to eat his dinner, so I wasn’t going to give in. He did however pick up a peeled apple and ate the whole thing himself. I was so impressed! And he didn’t have to go to bed without dinner that night, and I was happy about that. I was sure I was going to give in before bed and let him have something, but he made it easier.

Lisette is having nights that she can sleep about 5 or 6 hours straight, its great!! She’s still picky about wanting to be held, but its getting better. She might grow up loving or hating the oboe. Right now it’s the only classical music we own on cd, so we play that in her room at night, and she sleeps to it every night. I don’t mind if she wants to play oboe when she’s older, that would make me very happy!

We’re getting to know a few more people in our ward. Last Sunday we got a new bishop, and this Sunday they split the ward boundaries. Apparently we had over 300 people in our ward. There is a new building that’s almost completely and is in our neighborhood, apart from the chapel we already meet in. We have 2 growing developments in the area. We’re also getting to know our neighbors a little more. Turns out the ones that live across the hall were from Tucson, so he knew about Thatcher and Sierra Vista. His dad owns most of the Peter Piper Pizza’s in Arizona.

I promise to get a slide show up soon of this month, events and visitors. Franklin is up from his nap, and that means Lisette will be soon too. Hope you are all doing well, and sorry this was a long blog. I didn’t feel like writing a whole bunch of blogs in sequence or some stuff might get missed. And to all you Reed’s out there, the reunion is on. I’ll write a blog on the family site really soon.

2 years of Franklin

Before you realize that you’re not quite caught up with the time flying by, reality takes a check. Franklin turned 2 on Friday the 7th. Of course it was only 2 years ago he was born, but I remember it vividly. Franklin was born 11 days early and after 6 hours of being in the hospital, 2 of those hours spent on pushing alone, he was born at 4:58 p.m. 6 lbs. 10 oz. and 19 ¼” long. He has been the perfect child; easy to please, and highly entertaining all on his own.

Of course I now realize that birthday’s are more for mothers for the early birthdays than for the children. We had family here for Lisettes’ blessing so the night before we did a little birthday celebration. He loved being the center of attention with both sets of grandparents, and Heidi and her family there.

Franklin is a very intelligent boy, and extremely lovable. He has been stealing hearts left and right since the day he was born. It’s amazing how easy it is to love him, and he is addictive to be around. He understands so much that we tell/ask him, and he has very many words he knows. However, he still only wants to speak his language; it adds to his ability to steal your heart. He is so animated when he talks, and has great inflection to his voice and many expressions in his face.

We love our son, and are so grateful for the love and joy he brings to our life, and to everyone who knows him. Enjoy these photos of 2 years of Franklin!

One Crazy Month

Sorry about the last post, the program I was using wasn't allowing me to correct pictures, or put captions, so I deleted it and went with Picasa. Yes, you may click on the title of this blog to access the album if you like to see the pictures better. Enjoy!

5 years and counting

Along with these pictures (you can click on the blog title to go to the album) don't forget to check out the new videos at the bottom of our page. Franklin has been having a lot of fun lately.

For our anniversary we decided to do some family activites. The night before Greta baby sat for us so we could have our own private dinner. I had a doctors appointment in the morning, and thankfully all my tests came back negative; no more infections. After Franklin's nap we headed up to Salt Lake and wen to the Hogle Zoo. It was very warm with some cloud cover, and a few sprinkles occassionally. Franklin completely enjoyed himself. We bought him a hat first thing since we didn't think about it before we left. He loved his hat (never took it off, a first) and kept changing his mind between riding on the stroller and walking.

The monkeys were his absolute favorite. He would have stayed there all day, every day if we let him. He was interested in the giraffe's; they had a really cool way for you to get up close to them with this tall building/corral. I should have took a picture, but I was mesmorised by one of them. We stayed at the zoo till they were hearding everyone out.

After we left we headed to The Gateway (super cool mall) for dinner. There's this fountain in the plaza of the mall, so after dinner at Thaifoon, aisan cuisine that was very good, we let Franklin have his fun. Just make sure you watch the video, Franklin had a crowd going!

Lisette is definitely rounding out, and she is so adorable. She's been getting better with sleeping longer, just need to make it happen at night instead of the evening when we want to be awake because Franklin is in bed. Franklin is still very facinated with her, and wants to help. He also gets very animated when she cries, wanting to help even more.

Just a reminder, we are going to have a joint blessing Lisette/birthday bash for Franklin on the very first weekend of August. We'd like to have a head count of who will come, mostly cause we've been thinking of having it catered; less for me to do, especially with a new born. Email me at lisl_music@hotmail.com or just comment on the blog.

A Family of Four

So we are still grasping the reality that we are parents of 2 kids; two wonderful children. I will say that Franklin has been putting on the dramatics very heavily lately (terrible two's), and Lisette has proven to be a very easy, wonderful baby (just as Franklin was). Franklin’s episodes have everything to do with him not getting everything his way. He sure was spoiled with Grandma Reed here!

We loved having my mom here, especially Franklin. He wanted to do everything she did, be where she was, sleep next to her, eat what she ate; I think you’re getting the idea. He has been adding more words to his vocabulary, and has been utterly fascinated with his sister. He’s been very good with her, and wants to help, even if it’s not needed. We’re very happy that there haven’t been any accidents, and so far no one has been hurt (I should say no one has been hurt with the new addition, I’ll explain my injury later).

Lisette was kept in the Special Care Nursery for 48 hours. Luckily my insurance allowed me to stay that long as well so I could stay in the hospital with her. I was blown away by how great the whole experience was. When we arrived at the hospital, at 1:30 a.m. May 27th, we were nervous we were going to be sent back home. Luckily the staff was very busy that time, so by the time they were going to discharge me, they did one more check, and discovered I had dilated more. When the anesthesiologist came in I jokingly asked if he was going to be my best friend, and he was. After my experience with this epidural I realize that my epidural with Franklin was nothing, a joke! It might as well have been natural child birth.

Back to my story . . . A few hours later they gave me pitosin to speed it up a little (had the same thing with Franklin). Then at 11:20 I could start pushing, and she was here at 11:23 a.m. With Franklin I had to push for 2 hours. I couldn’t believe how easy it was with Lisette! It was amazing! The nurses were great, and my doctor was wonderful; that surprised me as well.

My mom arrived the night we got to take Lisette home. We had intended for her to be able to sleep in Franklin’s room. There were a few nights, and mornings, that Franklin would get out of his bed and crawl into bed with my mom. With her help we were able to sleep more at night, and I was able to take naps during the day; huge help!! Last Sunday I woke up feeling very weak, and feverish. We took me over to the ER and I was diagnosed with a Uterine Infection. Not cool, and I still don’t understand how I keep getting infections!

All last week we had Art City Days; or you could say Springville’s founders’ days/week. We didn’t participate in everything we had originally planned, but we did watch the Hot Air Balloon fest, and went to the carnival Saturday afternoon. Franklin’s first ride was cut very short; he started bawling when it began, only because he was on the ride by himself. Then he got on the carousel with Stephen, but was still too nervous from his previous experience to fully enjoy himself. Stephen and I used the rest of the tickets (didn’t get too many because the rain was threatening to fall) to ride The Zipper. It was fun until we were getting off, and I hit my elbow on the latch. Looked down after we had walked away and noticed I split my skin open in a nice, deep gash. Yeah, still hurts, can’t bend my elbow all the way, and very happy for the invention of liquid bandaides.

Now my mom is back in Arizona, and we are sad she has gone, but very grateful for her help, and the time she spent with us. Don’t forget to look at the new slide show in my previous post for what we’ve been up to over the last 17 days. Yes, Lisette is 17 days old today, June 14th, and has already gained a pound since she was born, and an inch. She’s the size of the average new born, and my original due date is still a week and a half away. And just as a side note, this Thursday Stephen and I will have been married for 5 years!

Springtime for Franklin

So lots has been going on, and yet sometimes it feels like nothing new happens to us. For over a week now Franklin has been sleeping in a toddler bed, and loving it. We're not sure who's happier, Franklin or us. Since he started sleeping in his bed (no longer the converted crib, an actual toddler bed and we didn't ease him into either, we just took away the crib all at once) he's been sleeping a full 12 hours through the night, and 3 hours for his nap. Its been a real miracle for us since we haven't had those numbers since the disturbance moved in upstairs. That's since October. For any of you with toddlers still in cribs don't listen to statistics; Franklin LOVES his toddler bed and was more than ready to just switch.

We canceled our house phone, and even though it hardly rang, the silence has been great. 90% of all incoming calls have been telemarketers. There's been one company that I loath!! They would call sometimes 3 times a day, and I finally lost it with them. 2 calls in a row was the same operator, and when I asked for a manager, he first told me there are none, then later that he was the manager. By the end of our conversation he was laughing at me. Stephen wasn't home, so I called him up and said that this particular operator was in some serious trouble with me, and if I hear his voice again, I'm going to let him have it. Our resolve was just get rid of an expence we don't need, and then there won't be a way for that awful company to contact me anymore. Franklin's been happy to play with the disconnected phones.

The weather seriously can't make up its mind on what it wants to do. Right now its perfect, no sweater needed, nice and warm, but we're supposed to get a thunder storm tomorrow. We've also had a few days its snowed, and been super windy (have I ever mentioned there is no weather I hate more than wind?). We've been trying to figure out things that we can do indoors, and near by. We wanted to go to Gardener Village one weekend, but it was windy, and had just snowed. So instead we stopped at the mall in Draper. They had a play ground meant exactly for Franklin's age group, and we couldn't be happier.

Stephen's also been home a lot because even though its been cold the majority of people will just simply wait till next winter to get furnace work done, and no one has needed their a/c running. So on April Fool's day we went to Gardener Village anyway, with snow; but no more wind. I'm super happy, we found the exact baby quilt we've been looking for the upcoming nursery. When I have more of it together so you can get idea of what I'm trying to create, then I'll let you in on it, for now I'll say its yellow, black and white.

So when we got back from Arizona Stephen and I agreed that I needed to just take it easy and rest as much as possible. The drive home was harder on me than I will discuss and we thought just a few days would help. I've been in to see my doctor, and had some good and not so nice news. This whole pregnancy I've been right on track for the amount of weight I'm supposed to gain, not a pound more. I was super worried because my stomach rounded out very quickly even though the scale didn't budge a whole lot. However I'm still on bed rest and this time ordered by the professional, and not myself.

Its helped big time to have Stephen home a little more often, and he's been doing more housework. He's a great sport, and support. Franklin has loved having his daddy home as well. Make sure you check out the new video below to see just how much fun its been for Franklin. Stephen and I do feel better when there is work for Stephen, especially since things have been so slow. It also helps that Franklin is very helpful and obedient. He helps pick up his toys, and sometimes helps me in the kitchen. He isn't very helpful when its time to do laundry, unless I want it all over the floor, which I never do. He has a lot more personality, and has been a lot of fun.

Another Picture Post

These are the pictures I promised of Franklin's adventures; Fortress in the living room, and finger painting. (not pictures of the mattress bouncing just videos at the bottom of the blog) Some additional pictures are of Franklin chasing a cat through the cat tunnel, and getting stuck. Franklin recently got a hair cut, but we made a mohawk out of his hair one night. We also made cookies one night and Stephen introduced Franklin to the wonderful taste of cookie dough. We also took family pictures near Utah Lake.

















Make sure you check out the videos at the bottom of our site. Franklin's been so much fun, we can't keep him to ourselves. (If this was emailed to you, make sure you click on the link to our blog site to see the videos at the bottom)

Spiders for a midnight snack

I'll post this weekend all the pictures and videos we've taken this week. For now I'll just fill you in on whats been going on. Last week was refreshing and relaxing. There was a dramatic decline of noises due to an out-of-town trip that lasted 6 days, and 5 nights. I was able to regain my sanity, composure and reduce stress. Unfortunately Franklin and myself caught colds.

Stephen was great in being able to watch Franklin, who didn't seem to need the extra sleep from being sick, while I got in a nap or two. With Stephens help, especially over the weekend, I was able to more quickly get over this cold. There is still a little left over with Franklin, and some irritations of the throat with me, but overall, we are back to healthy. Friday I took Franklin in for his 18 month appointment, as well as had the doctor check on his cold. Franklin is 26 1/2 lbs. (54% for his age) and 34 inches (91% for his age). He did lose a little weight due to running around and not as interested in eating solids (due to teething and his cold) but I'm so excited to know he's definitely going to be taller than us!! He'll be able to keep up with Greta's and Heidi's kids!!

Franklin hasn't seemed to affected by his illness except for when naptime approaches he must be in bed. He has had high energy, and Stephen and I have been trying to come up with activities for him when it wasn't good for 2 sick people to be outside. Over the weekend Stephen was itching for a project since I made him stay home. So he got some scrap wood together and made a temporary eisle for Franklin. We taped some card stock to it, and let him go to town with his markers. He'd get so excited, he wanted to move on. Our only rule is that the markers stay with the eisle. He doesn't like that rule.

One evening we set up a fortress in the living room. The cats had a lot of fun with that too. Franklin was a little more sick that night, so when he got really worked up, he started coughing a lot. We had to call it quits before he wanted to. But he definitely had fun while it lasted.

The next night we did finger painting. He wasn't too sure about it, and in a way, still isn't. He wanted daddy to do more painting, and just copy him, rather than do it himself. Stephen painted his whole hand to do a hand print, and that upset him for a short while. I guess it was too much at the moment. We'll try finger painting again when we get some water colors. We did it with acrylic, and of course he had to taste it. Obviously he didn't like the taste, and sure made a funny face.

Stephen blew up an air mattress but not all the way full. We were able to bounce, and toss Franklin on it. He had the most fun with this activity. We even tried to bounce Rizzo, but he was just too light. However he did stay on it while we bounced Franklin. I tell you, that cat is most definitely one of a kind! He had to be in on every activity we do, and every room we are in. Since the air mattress was such a success, but Stephen didn't want to get it out again, I convinced him to bring in the twim mattress from the nursery. Franklin expected it to have the same effect, but even though he didn't bounce as high, he still had fun. And Rizzo was right there too.

Yes, I was going to get to the title of my blog. We have relished in the fact that we don't have many insects up here; no scorpions, and you never see a cockroach, and the mosquitos, though the locals complain how many there are, its nothing like the population in AZ. The one thing we have plenty of is spiders. There is one kind that we have down here all the time. In the first few months the cats liked to chase, capture, and kill, till they both were bit back. Now they pounce, and play, but not always eat them.

Monday morning I woke up with a slightly puffy lip, and 2 unusual red spots; one next to my nose, and the other next to my mouth. Originally thought it was acne, except for what was on my lip, till the next day. My lip was more puffy that you could actually notice it, and it started to sting. The red spot next to my mouth was bigger, and also started to hurt. Just blamed it on messing with it at first. Then the 3rd day I noticed that each red spot had two little marks and began researching the web about insect bites. I realized I had been bitten in 3 different spots; the trail leading to my mouth. In my sleep I must have sought my revenge because the last bite is on the inside of my lip. Yes, gross!! Now I seek revenge on every spider I see before it has the chance to get fresh with me. (no, my revenge doesn't involve eating them, it was just the one, and I was asleep)

Picture Post

Don't forget to check at the bottom of the blog for 2 new videos. The Description of them is just to the side.

We went to cold stone, and yes it was cold outside too. Franklin wanted to eat it at his own pace, and not ours.


We set up his crib with a bed rail so that it was more like a toddler bed. My back can't handle picking him up and over, so I needed to make the switch. He LOVES it, his bed is his new favorite place in the house. Rizzo likes it too!


Stephen got off work early one day, and decided he needed to clean out and organize his truck. His regular vehicle was having problems, so they made him switch and had to move his stuff in a hurry. Franklin was more than happy to help, there is a tool in his hand, and wouldn't let go of it at all. It was total dispare when we took it from him.


He was on edge for the next little bit, so I gave in, and let him have a cupcake. He didn't waste time shoving it in his mouth, frosting first.


Stephen was installing a whole-house humidifier (Life Saver, I have to say, Franklin and I have both been sleeping so much better since it was put in). Rizzo was having fun in the box, he always does, but this box happened to be big enough for Franklin to enjoy too. One of the videos below is of this box adventure. He had so much fun!!

What he does best

Franklin is a pro at stealing hearts. I'm not entirely sure how to descibe what he's doing other than it is super cute. He chatters and talks his own language constantly, as if you know what he's saying, however he doesn't talk as if he's being serious and that you should understand him like I've seen a lot of toddlers do. The whole mouth, tongue, and eyebrows get into it too. He gives the whole personality all at once; that is if he isn't pretending to be shy at first.

He also believes he is very clever, especially when playing "Where's Franklin?" He'll use his blanket, or his hands and cover his eyes. When you "find" him he laughs as if he is the most clever boy in the world. He has smooth moves too, if you ask for a kiss he'll lean his head forward and let you kiss him on the head (he doesn't give as many slobbery, on the mouth kisses, but he does them every so often), and he loves to copy silly faces, especially if it has anything to do with the lips.

Nursery is great, and he's learning where it is, and what it means when he goes. He can't wait to get to nursery now! Our primary kids miss him, but it feels like we actually have full lessons now in class. We're still trying to find out what happened to naps since the time change. Its like he knows, and now its not just Sundays, its every day.

My sister, Greta, babysat Franklin for us on the Saturday before last so Stephen and I could attend the Temple. It's been ages since we've gone, mostly because I wasn't ready for a babysitter. It was a relief to have her watch him, and he enjoys his cousins. Greta's been urging us to go on more dates, and leave him with her more. He sure won them over, and now they can't get enough. Its the whole personality at work, I tell ya!

This last Saturday was very nice. Stephen says I've created a new V-day breakfast tradition: Crepes with strawberries, mmm, mmm, good. Franklin took his morning nap, as we watched a movie that we've had forever (and needed to go back to the store). We ate lunch, and immediately after I got sleepy. Stephen was great, he let me sleep, even though there were things we wanted to get out and do and Franklin woke up right after I went to sleep. When I did get up, we headed out because we wanted to see Bolt at the dollar theater. It was insane out on the roads anywhere near theaters, mall, and major stores. We bought our tickets, thought we'd take care of an errand, then thought better of it and turned back.

Franklin LOVED the movie. It was the best he sat through ever!! We really enjoyed it too, it was more commical than we expected. Toward the start of the movie Franklin though he wanted our soda, versus having his own drink. It was too heavy, and we weren't paying much attention till we both felt our legs getting wet. At least it was at the start of the movie so it had time to dry before we got out in the cold.

Just a little side information: Sunday before last we were told by our landlady that her roommates would be moving out by the following weekend. We were very surprised, and excited. I've lost lots of sleep on account of the noises from upstairs, and as a result my stress has been out of control, and I started getting migrains. I've never had them before, and I started to get really sick because of them. My doctor has given me something to help me sleep, but it seemed once we had that news my stress was back in check, and my pains were going away. On Thursday I heard a discussion from the mother and daughter upstairs, and decided to take Franklin out of the house so they could talk as loudly as they liked. Stephen and I agreed that the result of this conversation would be that they would not be moving out. The weekend came and went, and we have had some communication that now proves we were right. Ironnically my stress has gone up a little since, but now we know what my struggle is we are trying to keep it under control so that my pains won't return.

Sorry there are no pictures. Its not that we aren't taking them, I just don't always download them, so please be patient with me.

We're back on line

We've talked for years about up gradingour computer, and for the last year I've complained aboutour desktop. I hated that thing, and finally, it hated me back. On Sunday (or perhaps sometime over Saturday night) our computer decided to rebel and not allow us to load up, well, anything and everything. It refused to stop rebooting itself before it even got the chance to load up.

We had a crisis on our hands. We do everything on the internet, and since we've chosen to go paperless on a lot of things we knew we couldn't remain without a computer for very long. We had once talked about getting a laptop before we'd replace the desktop, and for our budget, it was more agreable. We did lots of research, on foot, and on the phone and obviously found ourselves a wonderful solution.

It feels great to have a computer again, and to be back online. Thank you Christian for your help, and research. I haven't done much playing with this thing yet because Franklin was demanding attention, and I'd rather let Stephen mess with it. I guess its a little insurance for me; if anything goes wrong I know that I didn't do it!

Our Christmas

Please click on the title to be able to visit our photo album. There were just too many pictures for us to post them on our blog. Plus I know my sisters want the link to get some of these pictures for themselves. And don't forget to watch the 4 new videos below.

We had so much fun, and did so many things with family. We loved having Heidi, Sam and Reyn up here to share Christmas with. Christmas Eve we had dinner with the Lewis' (Heidi's in-laws, and Stephen's boss). The food was great, and it was so nice to be with a large group of people, and have a lot of laughter. Franklin went to bed very late that night; I hope this isn't the beginning of him waiting for Santa. We had to make the cats sleep in our room that night so they wouldn't terrorize the gifts. Obviously we woke up earlier than we wanted due to their pleadings. Rightly so we shut them in with us because immediately Rizzo went for his stocking.

Franklin slept in till 8:30 but went down again for a nap at 10:00. Heidi and I had planned on seeing a movie, so this meant at 12:20 waking up Franklin quickly, and opened his presents. We saw "The Tale of Despereux" and Franklin chatted through the whole movie. Luckily there weren't very many people there, and he made Heidi laugh the whole time. Reyn slept through the whole movie. We all went to our place after the movie and we gave each other the gifts we had for one another; we had each other this year.

Christmas dinner was at the Whites' with Greta and her family. Reyn wanted to push around the toy strollers Greta's girls got for Christmas, and Paisey joined in as they went 'round and 'round the house. Franklin got to hang out with his favorite uncle; Adam. Every time we go to Greta's Franklin has to hang out, and sit with Adam. Its been an instant bond that we don't know when, and how it began. When Heidi was at our place Franklin wanted to hang out and sit with Sam. I guess he just really likes to hang out with the guys! Dinner was wonderful, and we all forgot to leave room for pie.

We headed home late, and Franklin instantly went to bed. We had dinner that next night at Greta's again with Heidi and family. On Saturday Stephen and I headed out to do a little shopping, and met up with Heidi and Reyn at the mall, while Sam was out skiing, hoping that we could let the boys play. Bad idea. They both wanted to play with the slide, but from the opposite end, and there were probably a good 35 - 50 other kids. We finally had to leave the play area because there was no hope in getting them to play and be safe.

Sunday was quiet, and relaxing; sort of. Franklin took a very long nap in the middle of the day, but for some reason I don't remember that day except for going to church. Hopefully that means I got a nap too.

Monday Heidi and Reyn came over in the morning and we had breakfast together. We got to hang out that day before I took them to the airport. Greta and her girls had caught the flu over night so we had to skip out on visiting them that day. I was excited that we got to see so much of the Lewis' while they were here, and we had a lot of fun with them.

Enjoy the pictures, and videos. The first video is from Greta's when Paisey and Reyn raced around the house with the toy stroller. The second video is Franklin drawing on his magnidoodle. He loves that thing so much it goes every where with us. He's fallen asleep in his car seat holding on to it. The third video is of Franklin and Rizzo. Rizzo makes a very funny meow when he sees birds outside. The Franklin started being silly. The last new video is Rizzo trying to get his stocking. He wouldn't quit!

Quinn Winter Wonderland

About a year ago I posted a picture of these two, and Rizzo was greatly dwarfed by Osgood. Now its not so. Rizzo and Osgood are the best of pals, and Rizzo and Franklin are really great pals too. Lucky for us that Osgood tolerates Franklin for the most part.

I started having more allergy problems with our cats so we finally gave them baths. Rizzo was extremely upset, and didn't cooperate very well. He sure looks cool when he's wet though because you can see that his fur is actually white underneath. We've realized that if we ever shaved Rizzo he really would be an all white cat when it grew back. Some fur fell off his toes when he was declawed and it grew back completely white. Weird, huh?!












Osgood is a good sport when it comes to baths. Early on he's learned that if he just lets us wash him, its over with sooner. Because they are officially indoor cats they don't get baths very often. I'm just glad he's remembered to cooperate.


I have been so bad at getting pictures lately. It didn't help that I lost the charger for the camera, and its not powered by regular batteries. Thanks to Franklin it ended up behind the couch, and I just had this feeling to look there. We went out on Sunday to get some pictures. If you go back to older posts you'll see some pictures taken from this same area; I think its from May, and June.



I've also realized that I'm usually the one holding the camera so it was nice to have a turn on the others side of the shot.

Franklin is awed by the snow. He has picked it up, and we've been prepared for him to get upset by the cold, but he has yet to cry, or get mad.

Even as I write this we are getting a fresh blanket of snow. I know most of you who read this are used to the desert, and may even love the desert. I just have to say there is something so beautiful, peaceful, and pure about snow. It really makes it feel even more like Christmas to us. We truly love it here, and having the snow really seals the deal. We would love to have any/all of you come to visit us, and get to be a part of what we live in everyday.