EternaLeppert

Young Love

2012-01-13T22:01:00.001-08:00

Madeleine has an admirer. His name is James and he's in her class at school, as well as at church. These two have been nearly inseparable ever since they met a couple years ago, but I think things are getting serious.

He gave her a note today. It reads, "Dear Madeleine. I love you. I like you. Will you play with me? From James."

He drew a picture of the two of them standing at opposite ends of the page.

He is the older man in this relationship, turning six next week. And yes, she is invited to his birthday party.

Holy Wow!

2012-01-05T22:17:00.000-08:00

If I wait another 3-ish weeks, it will have been 3 months since I've updated my blog. I figured I better just update quickly so as not to pass that mark.

So what have we been up to? Well, Bud Bud is growing like a weed. He'll be 2 on the 29th of this month. Seriously? Where does the time go? He's such a sweet little boy and I love him tremendously! He makes me smile, even on the worst days.

Madeleine is also growing like crazy and is so incredibly smart. My little Miss is knocking it out of the park in Kindergarten and is always bringing home little awards for being a huge help during the day. She also just got her ears pierced. It was a gift from Santa this year for Christmas. Boy, was she excited!

George and I are..... get this..... training for a half marathon in May!! We're really excited and motivated! Our 10th anniversary is May 3 (not to mention, it's also George's birthday) and the half marathon is on May 19. We figured it'd be a great way to welcome our 10th year of marriage. We've had some struggles, definitely hit some hard times, and we're working hard to strengthen our marriage. All in all, life is good and we're doing great!

Not only are we doing the half marathon, we're also still doing Bike MS in September. We love it! Biking has become one of our passions. So much so that we often find ourselves looking at new gear online pretty much every time we're on the computer. :) That's a good thing, though, I suppose. We're also considering doing the Seattle-To-Portland bike ride, which is 200 miles over 2 days. That's in July. We'll see.

Overall, we're doing well. Life is always interesting around here, to say the least! We're excited about the direction we're headed and looking foward to being even better examples to the kids.

I'll try to write sooner next time...

Oh, the Late Nights!

2011-10-21T01:26:00.000-07:00

It's 1:30 am. I'm awake. My son's awake. My daughter's awake. Seriously?! Yeah, seriously. For whatever reason, Bud Bud woke up wide awake and READY. TO. PLAY. He went to bed at his normal time, but now he's up. Thank heavens this doesn't happen often.

Madeleine woke up awhile later to go potty. She's now sitting next to me watching a Lipozene commercial. She asked me why I don't take Lypozene. Huh. Well, no, not going there. But thanks for the suggestion, Honey.

I'm going to try to get some sleep but it'll be interesting to see if the kids follow suit. After all, I have to be at work at 8:30 am. Thank goodness it's Friday!!

Yup... they're cute alright!

Has It Been That Long?!

2011-10-17T00:12:00.001-07:00

Apparently I haven't updated my blog in over 4 months. Tonight is not the night for major updating, though I do have a lot to do in that time. So I just wanted to post and say I'm still here. I've been busy, the kids are growing, work is....well, work.

Quickly, though... Madeleine is doing awesome in Kindergarten and loving it! She's excelling at everything they do in class and is ahead of the game. She's so smart and loves to learn. She's currently obsessed with Monster High dolls and "My Babysitter's a Vampire" on TV. Such a character. She's going to be Lagoona Blue (FYI: it bugs me that they spell 'Laguna' wrong for the sake of her name, but what do you do.....) for Halloween this year. She's quite the independent little creature, just like her momma. I love her so much! She's my little Tootsie Pop!

And Baby George, aka Bud Bud, is doing great and growing like a little tiny weed! And boy do I mean "little, tiny"! LOL!! He's currently 20 months old and is just now starting to outgrow most of his 12-month old pants. Poor little guy is just short, but he's stinking cute! His vocabulary expands more and more every day! He's currently obsessed with cars and Elmo. When he says Elmo, it actually comes out "Bubbo". That's my little man. Carve your own unique path in life. :)

George and I are still doing great! He works hard to provide for our little family, which I appreciate. He's such a great example to me and I strive to be more like him in many areas of my life. He and I were just called today to serve together as the Senior Nursery Leaders in our ward. Not my forte... I cried. Other peoples' kids terrify me. At least in my last calling I could hide behind the piano. Not now. But he's taking the bull by the horns and ready to dive right in. Bless his pea-pickin' heart, because I'm still mentally hanging out in the doorway not wanting to go in!!

More to come later, but at this point I need to get to bed! Goodnight!!

Graduation And Summer Are In the Air!

2011-06-13T22:12:00.000-07:00

I've been horrible at blogging lately... so much to do, so little time. But I simply had to just sit down and blog about my kids today! Simply put, they amaze me! Always keeping me on my toes! First off, Madeleine graduated from preschool tonight. Okay, okay... so here's a little history on the subject for you, from me. Prior to having kids I was the quintessential person that poo-pooed graduation from anything less than high school. I thought it was a stupid concept. Ridiculous. Well, move over naivete; there's a new school of thought in town!! The day we found out about it (her 1st day of school) I was beyond excited! Not to disappoint, it was awesome! So cute!! And yes... I'm slightly biased.... Here are some highlights from her graduation:
Next, Baby George, aka Bud Bud, is growing like a weed and is so smart! I can hardly keep up with this kid. I'm convinced that he was placed in my life for two purposes: 1.) To make me smile and feel more love than I ever thought possible; 2.) To give me 20+ near-heart-attacks per day. He's a boy. Through and through. Who would have thought two kids from the same parents, being raised in the same home, with the same values, would turn out so vastly different?! He is ALL BOY! He climbs. He trips. He falls. He cries and comes running to Mommy. He climbs again. He falls... again. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. I am totally, completely, and utterly in love with my little man! He makes me laugh all the time, and he loves me unconditionally. And it doesn't hurt that he's a little stud muffin, either. :) Bud Bud had his first experience at a splash pad last week and he had mixed reactions. He loved it. Then I think he might have hated it a little. Cold water will turn anyones' mood sour. But then he was back to loving it again. Attached are some pictures of him at the splash pad. And I might also add that I love, love, LOVE when my kids play well together! This day was no exception. Enjoy!

I'm a very blessed mommy! And wife! I'll get around to posting pics from Madeleine's birthday party and George's and my date night at the Monster Truck show last Saturday. :) Not sure when, but I intend to!

I've Discovered the Secret...

2011-04-14T20:49:00.000-07:00

Madeleine is very much like me. She's very confident, outgoing, outspoken, honest, and has a strong Type A personality. So naturally, she likes to be in control of the situation. Why didn't I think of this before?!

Case in point...

I picked up the kids on Tuesday after work and headed for the grocery store. As soon as we started off, Madeleine told me she and her friends pulled a ticket in school that day. Pulling a ticket, in a nutshell, is like the equivalent of a time-out or short detention. I could tell that as soon as she said that, she wanted to take it back and forget about it. Sorry, honey bunny. Not doin'. So I asked her what she did to pull a ticket. The remainder of our conversation went like this, and it's nearly verbatim:

Her: Mom, you have to understand something first. It wasn't just me. It was my friends, too.

Me: Great, but I'm not your friends' mother. What did you do to pull a ticket.

Her: I don't think you're understanding, Mommy. It wasn't just me. It was my friends, too.

Me: Okay, we've established that. What did you and your friends do to pull a ticket?

Her: Well.... *long pause* We were having fun talking and laughing, and then all of a sudden Miss Pitts and Mrs. Sandy told us all we had to be quiet. But we were having so much fun that we just kept talking. So we had to pull a ticket.

Me: So what you're saying is that you didn't listen to what your teachers asked you to do, right?

Her: *sheepish tone* Yeah...

Me: Do you realize that when you're told to do something by your teachers you need to be a good example to your friends and listen?

Her: Yeah...

Me: And you're aware that there are consequences for your actions when you do inappropriate things, right?

Her: *sigh* Yeah...

Me: So here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to let you choose your punishment for when we return home tonight.

Her: What's punishment?

**I had to explain in great detail what punishment means. She knows what "consequences" means, so I had to equate the two for her to understand.**

Me: So your choices are as follows:
1.) You can sit in time-out quietly for 5 mins with no books or toys;
2.) You can stand in the corner for 10 mins;
3.) You can have a swat (last resort, but still an option if she chose);
4.) You can go to bed tonight at 7:30 instead of 8:30 like normal.

Her: Well, I already know that I don't want to sit quietly in time-out, and I definitely do not want to stand in the corner. I guess my only option, then, is to go to bed at 7:30 tonight.

A swat wasn't even an option in her mind, which made me happy. Having to spank her, I believe, is tougher on Daddy and I than it is on her.

7:30 pm arrived without fail, and the strangest thing happened. Madeleine brushed her teeth, put on her jammies, gave me loves, and then went straight up to bed. No whining, flailing, complaining... nothing. Just a cheerful retirement to bed.

The moral of the story here? Give her some control in her life on making decisions (not the major ones yet, obviously!) and life just might be a bit easier. :)

Pregnancy Brain?

2011-04-04T21:26:00.000-07:00

During the day I usually have something happen, and then I think, "Ooh, I should blog about that when I get home." Then I get home, life happens, and I forget all about blogging.

Nope, not pregnant. :) But with the way my brain functions most days, it's rather curious that I'm not!

But I made you look!!

. . . And Life Continues At Full Speed!

2011-04-01T20:59:00.001-07:00

Well, Baby George started walking about a week after he turned one. He's quite the little traveler now. In fact, he's pretty adept at running. If he sees Mommy or Daddy coming after him, he's a goner! Good thing he's a cutey-batootie!

We moved our office at work. Right across the street to the main office. At first, I wasn't a fan. I was looking at having to move from a large office shared by two people to a smaller cubicle by myself. We moved on Monday, 03/28/11. It's now Friday, 04/01/11, and I'm a big fan! Here's why:

I have my own space.
I can decorate it how I want it.
There's more room in my cubicle than I had in the office!
I get a lot more work done (I got a lot done before... now I'm almost bored!)
Don't tell my boss I said that. : )
I'm getting to know others that I never crossed paths with previously.

All in all, it's been a good change.

I've lost seven pounds. If I actually exercise more, I'll probably pick up the weight loss rate. :)

Madeleine is the same old, same old. LOL She's doing awesome in school, and continually amazes me with what she learns each day. She can now write out her first name like a little champ. I'd say she'll be VERY prepared for Kindergarten. Thank goodness.

George's and my ninth anniversary is coming up in May. My, how time flies. I married a wonderful man and even through the irritations he's still amazing!

Finally, I'm getting a tad bit bored... I'm looking at grad school options with great gusto and trying to devise a plan to afford said education. Any ideas? Suggestions? I'm open to them! I don't want to take out another student loan, that's for sure. Ugh! It'll happen when it's supposed to.

That's it for now. I figured I had to post something since it had been nearly two months. :)

Where Has the Time Gone?

2011-02-06T10:38:00.000-08:00

Our baby boy is now officially a "little" boy. Gone are the days of having a newborn. Enter toddlerhood. *sigh*

Baby George (I'll still call him that because Toddler George sounds funky) turned one year old on January 29, 2011. He has been such an amazing blessing in our lives, and I just absolutely love him!

I think back often to the day that I gave birth to him. Up until delivery, we had no idea if we were having a George or an Alexandrhia. It was so easy with Madeleine bc we were able to place her name in our family during much of my pregnancy with her, but not with little Bud Bud. The ultrasound techs couldn't tell what sex he was and they thought I was only 17 weeks pregnant at the 19 week ultrasound. FYI: confirmed by my dr, yes, I was 19 weeks along. Apparently the ultrasound techs just couldn't tell. While devastating at first, it turned out to be more fun in the end!

Since both of my pregnancies ended in c-sections (as will any subsequent pregnancies) it was really pretty effortless on my part. The anticipation was the only thing that was bugging me! I wanted to know what and who our new baby was. I wanted to hold and welcome "it" into our family!

The moment finally arrived! I felt the tugging and pulling of my dr and his intern as they removed our baby from my swollen mid-section. At long last, Dr. Maughan pulled the baby out, we heard it cry, and then Dr. Maughan exclaimed, "Congratulations! You have a healthy son!" I immediately started to cry bc I was excited! I was excited to have a son, but even more, I was excited because my husband was able to pass on his name. That was hugely important to him, as he was named after his dad. Though George was not my first choice, our son has fully grown into his name. :) I couldn't imagine him being named anything else.

Here are some pictures from his 1st birthday party. He was such a little gentleman and left his personal cake pretty much alone. He didn't make a mess, he didn't dive in, and he just wanted nothing to do with getting sticky and dirty. Fair enough! We moved on to presents and cake! My son is like his daddy. Not a huge fan of crowds. So when all the kids crowded around him while he was playing with the presents he became very clingy to Mommy. A combination of that and being tired. He pulled on some of the wrapping paper, but by the end Daddy and Sissy were opening them for him.

All in all, it was a great party! Thank you to all who came out to celebrate with Baby George and made him smile! Below are some of the pics from the party. I realized later on that I didn't very many of the actual party, mostly of him opening presents. Oh well! Enjoy!

I Can See Clearly Now, the Blur Has Gone!

2011-01-28T22:35:00.000-08:00

I had absolutely no idea how blurry my vision is in my right eye until I went to the eye doctor today. I set up an appointment two weeks ago because of the massive headaches I've been getting in the afternoons at work. I figured it was due to eye strain because I'm working on the computer all day at work, plus I have bright lights all around the office. So I had an idea, but not full facts.

Fast-forward to today at the eye doctor. First of all, I was referred to this doctor by the husband of one of my co-workers. He told her to tell me that his doctor, Matthew Jones, is liked by all of the ladies because he's kind of Tom Sellick-ish. Okay, cool, except that I'm not a huge Sellick fan. :) Give me an eye doctor that looks like John Travolta and you've got my attention!

First came James, one of the aides in the office. He was hilarious, and we laughed about anything and everything. He must have been buttering me up for what was about to happen: he shot two blasts of air into each eye ball to check the pressure in my eyes. This helps them see if glaucoma is rearing its ugly head. Fortunately, all is well and there's not even a hint of trouble in there. Then I had to watch a little farm house while he measured how far apart my eyes are, how they react to tracking, and other such necessary tests. Pretty cool how they do that.

After James finished up with me I went into Dr. Jones' office so he could do his exam. He gave me a tissue and told me he was going to dialate my pupils with two eye drops in each eyeball, and that when they were in I needed to blink and then dab the inside corner of each eye to get the excess out. He put the drops in, and I instantly squinted hard to get them out! They stung!! So we both busted up laughing when he said, "Or you could just force it all out of there!" :) My eyes dialated without problems and he checked them for many other things.

Overall, he said my eyes are extremely healthy and the only thing he could see was that my corneas (that might be the wrong region...) are not perfectly round, they're sort of shaped like ovals. That can cause a slight stigmatism, which he later concluded, I have.

After all of the lens changes, here is what he found:
My left eye has 20/20 vision.
My right eye has 20/30 vision.
Together, my eyes are 20/20, but with excess strain being put on my left eye in order to compensate for the right.

So I'll be wearing glasses to fix that. I can almost envision a work day without a headache. I would love that!

One of the techs helped me pick out frames suitable for my facial structure, and she was really helpful. Ironically, the first frames I picked out ended up being the ones that looked the best and the ones I ended up choosing. Apparently I know frames for my facial structure better than I thought!

I opted not to order them today, even though they are very nicely priced and high quality, because I wanted to run numbers past George. We are very, very lucky to have insurance through George's employer, so that softens the blow of the cost substantially! That's one thing I will never take for granted: insurance. Anyway, he suggested I go to Costco to see what kind of pricing they have there and compare. Sure, why not. Except that I'm already in love with the ones I picked out, and I'm not totally into shopping for stuff like this. But I guess it'll be a good thing to make some comparisons.

So I'll be wearing glasses at work and while driving. It was suggested by the doctor that I try them while driving at night to see if I notice a difference in the glare off of headlights. I'm wondering how much I've missed with my vision being off just a tiny bit....

Here are the frames I picked out today. The ones shown are blue, but I chose a cranberry/burgundy frame with black tones too. Even though I really like them they may not be the ones I get. We'll see what Costco has.

You Can't Make This Stuff Up!

2011-01-06T22:04:00.000-08:00

There are some things about work I am learning as time creeps on. For instance, employee of the month is a drawing. Yup, everyone's name goes into a hat, and the person drawn out is employee of the month. Hmmm... not based on performance. Chance.

Retreats at work? Yeah, apparently the lead staff enjoy a retreat annually. However, this year the retreat was held in Conference Room B. At work. Not off site, at work. Budget cuts; you do what you have to do. This struck me as funny because the words "retreat" and "work" do not go together, no matter how hard you try. A couple of us have thought about reserving a conference room for lunch one day. Just to say we've "retreated" at work. :)

White Elephant gift exchanges are not meant to go well. Ever. But when you give someone a gift it's impolite to take your gift back from someone. Even during White Elephant. Sure, you are given the option to steal someone else's gift from them in exchange for your own, BUT you do NOT take the gift you brought in exchange for something you don't want. This is, of course, my humble opinion.

We were asked where we wanted to go to lunch for a Christmas celebration and end-of-year appreciation. Given two options, all of us involved agreed on one location. It's only logical then that the boss chose the other option, AND we all had to pay for ourselves. Not to mention this location adds an 18% gratuity for mediocre service, AND they add an additional tip line on the final copy of the receipt. As if to suggest they ought to be tipped twice for service lacking in so many ways. Sure.

Caregivers are required to take continuing education classes every calendar year. Two of them. That's it. 10 hours total, which is no big deal, right? Right?! So there were hundreds of providers at the end of 2010 who had not taken their classes. When this happens their contract is terminated and they then have to go through many steps to reinstate their contracts to get back to work. Caregivers were coming in constantly, and still are, to fix their error. They were stressed. Agitated. Vowing to never wait until the last minute again. So explain to me why the first two classes of 2011 have had to be cancelled due to nobody signing up for them!

And finally, putting the carriage before the horse never works out. Never. It only makes for some frustrated employees at the end of it all.

Now, don't get me wrong. I love my job. I'm grateful to have one, especially in today's economy. The people I work with in our office building are amazing. We laugh together, appreciate sarcasm, talk about religion and politics freely and without animosity.... we just work great together. Thankfully, we can laugh about all of this stuff that has happened, and the things that will inevitably happen again.

And the bottom line is that we do a great service for the elderly in our community. No amount of ridiculous events will change that. And the best thing we can do is laugh about it all, poke fun at it, and move forward. :)

LOVE!!

2010-12-29T23:14:00.000-08:00

I love my children! They crack me up, they make me cry, they make me smile, they can turn a bad day into a good one, and they are so incredibly special to me. :)

I also love my husband!! He's wonderful. :) He can push buttons, but he can also come up with great surprises. He is selfless, compassionate, loving, patient (most of the time...), and a worthy priesthood holder. I know I can go to him with anything and he'll listen with a loving and patient ear, then tell me to pray about it. LOL He loves me unconditionally.

I love my life. ::sigh:: Even with all of its trials and struggles, there is so much I've been blessed with.

Thank you, Heavenly Father, for all of my blessings!

Unexpected Blessings

2010-12-27T23:52:00.000-08:00

Tithing. There are no two ways about it. We pay it. We might have other places that money could go each time we get paid, but we still pay our tithing first. Right off the top. We know blessings abound in obedience to the Lord. So it's always nice to see the blessings in action, and especially in ways we can never imagine. I opened the mailbox today for the first time in several days and found a substantial check in there from my previous employer. We weren't expecting it, had never heard anything about it. It just showed up, out of the blue, from something that I had completely forgotten about. :)

I love my Heavenly Father and my savior, Jesus Christ! I'm so thankful for the blessings that come forth from obedience. From a peaceful home to an unexpected check in the mail, I'm grateful. It's so true that Heavenly Father knows our needs, and He provides for us even in times of uncertainty.

New Interests?

2010-12-22T20:35:00.000-08:00

For whatever reason, I've been really interested in the Earth and all things Geology lately. I started a geology class back in my days at SFCC and decided to drop it because of how complex it is, coupled with the 5 classes I was already taking without it. Now I'm wishing I had just stuck with it.

Any time I've had an orthodontist appt the first books I go for are the geology books. I think a lot about going to the library and getting books on the subject. And I'm totally fascinated by our local geological anomalies! Is this some random phase, or did I miss my true calling? Hmmmm.....

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E!!

2010-12-02T21:10:00.000-08:00

Our family was very fortunate to be able to go to Disneyland for vacation. When I say "vacation", I mean leaving the state of WA for some fun times! George and I had never taken vacation since we first met, so we felt we were due for one! Thankfully I have a mom and step-dad that wanted to take all of their grandchildren to Disneyland! So, of course, we got to go too!

All total, we spent 5 days hopping back and forth between Disneyland and CA Adventures theme parks. Let me just say that I LOVED being in Disneyland. I had been there two other times in my life; once when I was 2 years old, and the other time when I was 13 years old. I remember nothing from my experience as a 2-year-old, but my mom shared a story with me from that visit. She said when we were on the airplane and circling the airport in CA to land I kept saying over and over again, "We're gonna get hurt. We're gonna get hurt!" LOL Me? Nah. :) And when I was 13, I remember having fun, but foremost in my memory is this: I started my period for the first time EVER while at Disneyland at 13 years old. No fun for me, I'll assure you.

Fast-forward 17 years and we were there again! What could possibly go wrong? We had beautiful weather, a ton of fun, memories were being made with the kids, etc. All was going well until Murphy's Law knocked on my bodily door with a vengeance. Or maybe just a smirk. I started my period this time around, too.

Oh, the irony.

Anyway, aside from that nonsense, we had a wonderful time! Baby George got to go on a lot of rides, but one of the most captivating to him was Pirates of the Carribbean. He was enamored by all of the pirates, the water splashing around, and he seemed to like the hills we rode down on the ride! On our last chance on the ride the employee told everyone in our "boat" that he was Captain George. :) Splash Mt., Big Thunder Mt. Railroad, Matterhorn, Space Mt.; all as much fun as I remembered! I got absolutely soaked on Splash Mt, but the weather was just perfect for getting wet! George got soaked, Madeleine got soaked. Heck! Everyone got soaked!! And we had a blast doing it!

Over at CA Adventures it's a different atmosphere, but still definitely Disney. I would have to say the highlights were CA Screamin' and Soaring Over CA. CA Screamin' is the rollercoaster that goes from 0-86 mph in 3 seconds flat. You start out on a straight runway and then you get launched super fast, then you head up this gigantic hill!! I had so much fun on that one!! Oh, and it happened to be Tamieka's favorite! Soaring Over CA was just plain awesome. You truly get the sensation that you are parasailing or hang gliding over different CA landmarks. It's hard to describe, but so realistic! In fact, the lady sitting next to me was near vomiting when we were done. :) Good times. We got to watch the parade go through CA Adventures, Fantasmic over at Disneyland, and the band marched through several times. There was so much to do, but so little that we missed. :) We couldn't ask for more!!

Here are just a few of the pictures we took. Overall, there were more than 500 pictures, so I'm just giving you a small glimpse at our trip. If you want to see more, head over to my Facebook page.

We would love to make this a family tradition and go every couple years or so! Hopefully we can make that happen!

M.I.A.??

2010-10-14T23:25:00.000-07:00

Nope, I'm here. Just been busy.

I'm loving my job still. There are so many wonderful things happening in our lives right now! Madeleine is excelling in preschool, and both kids are doing great with Maryanne. George's job is going well, we're getting ahead on projects at home, and we have vacation coming in 2 1/2 weeks.

Vacation.

Ahhhh..... George and I have not taken a vacation. Ever. The closest we came to vacationing was either camping over a weekend here and there or going to Omak. That's it. So, thanks to my mom and step-dad, we are going to Disneyland November 4-12. Madeleine is so excited! Baby George is about as excited as an 8-month-old can be. :) And my husband? Yeah, he's excited too! He's never been there, so this will be an adventure for him!!

Excited? Yup!

Life keeps getting more and more interesting. I had a Russian lady in my contracting class today and at the break she motioned me over to her. I went over to where she was and she reached into her shopping back, pulled out a piece of chicken and a piece of bread, and said, "You. Eat." Ha ha ha!! She was so sweet and was just genuinely interested in sharing with me. At one point she offered me her soda, and when I declined **I don't drink soda** she ran over to pour me a cup of coffee **I don't drink coffee, either**. LOL Such a sweet lady, though. The heart of a servant.

Finally, our ward and Shiloh Hills ward are being split this Sunday and we'll find out our new boundaries. Here's hoping and praying that we're not split from all of our main friends. Lots of our friends live east of Crestline... worst case scenario would be that the boundary is split east and west of Crestline. Ugh! However, everything happens for a reason, and Heavenly Father has a plan for our wards. Soon to find out!

Preschool Makes History!

2010-09-09T21:44:00.001-07:00

Madeleine had her first day of preschool today. One more milestone down, many more to go, thankfully.

She has been so excited about going to preschool, so when it finally happened today she was about ready to rupture with excitement....until we got there.

*enter hesitation*

We got to Madeleine's classroom door and walked into the foyer where she promptly froze. She stared. She had her finger in her mouth. This was turning south, and FAST! In my quick thinking, I did the only thing I could think of. I dragged her in by her hand. She was slightly resistent, but reassured since Mommy, Daddy, and Baby George were in this strange new place with her.

We took her inside where the walls are covered in colors and pictures and she was in awe! I took her to her table while Daddy dealt with signing her in. :) At her table, I asked her if she could find her nametag and she pointed right to it! Smart girl!

One of her teachers, Miss Sandi, came up and introduced herself right away and then asked her if she wanted to pick out a cubby for her backpack. Madeleine happily obliged, as Miss Sandy was very perky and super friendly! We found her a cubby and she tucked her backpack away for the day.

Then it was Miss Pitts' turn to introduce herself. By this time, Madeleine was starting to warm up to the idea of hanging out with two crazy ladies who talk in a high-pitched voice to her. She kind of liked it! She was starting to crack a smile. Progress. Sweet progress.

At the start of class everyone introduced themselves to Madeleine, and she was introduced to the class. Then Miss Pitts asked all the kids, "If you could be a fruit, which fruit would you want to be?" Madeleine was the last to answer, and most of the kids were pretty shy and didn't answer. But when it was Madeleine's turn, she proudly said, "If I could be a fruit, I would want to be a banana!" I didn't have to prompt her to talk or coax her out of the shyness abyss. Nope. My girl was totally confident in that she wants to be a banana, and she was proud to share it! After prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance (thank you, Heavenly Father!) they went to the reading area to hear a story. Madeleine was given her carpet square and she sat right down next to the other kids and was ready to hear a story! This girl means business!

It was at that point, which was roughly 45 minutes after we got there, that George got my attention and then motioned for us to leave. It was time. Oh no!! It was time!! Panic started to set in! "Do I go give her a kiss, hug, and ticky? Or do I leave her alone and not make it obvious that we are leaving??" Yes, panic, indeed. So I did what I could muster up. I blew her a kiss and waved to her. And what did she do? Well, she waved back to me with a big smile on her face.

Pretty easy, right? Sure.... until I got outside her classroom door. I lost it. My composure, my dignity, my pride... everything. I started bawling. You'd have thought I was the preschooler and Madeleine was the proud parent. Miss Sandi followed George and I out the door, almost as if she's been through this a time or two. She offered to bring me some tissues, to which I gladly accepted. She brought them to me, and then she gave me a big hug! So here I am, the one getting hugged by the preschool teacher, instead of my daughter being in that position! She then said, "I know what you're going through. But my kids are 18 and 21. When they leave home now, I say YES!!!" She made me laugh, which really helped. I felt comfortable leaving my first child in their hands. They're very caring and understanding ladies, and I anticipate Madeleine will be greatly loved by them while there. She deserves nothing less. :)

So, here are some pictures to enjoy with her! I did take one picture of Baby George because he's just so stinking cute. The picture of him that you will see was taken at the exact same time I made him promise never to grow up and leave me to go to school. Somehow I think that's a losing battle...

I had to convince her to let me put braids in her hair today since it was still wet from her shower. I think she turned out to be dang cute. Not to mention a wonderful daughter that I'm proud to call mine...ours! I love her so much and am so excited to share these milestones with her. I'm incredibly blessed as a mother and wife. I have two great children and an amazing husband! Life doesn't get much better than ours!

I also have an amazing group of ladies with whom I work. They've all been where I'm at now. Sending their kids off to school. Well, Lynn doesn't have kids, but she has a dog that she sends to doggy daycare every now and then. That counts to me. :) Anyway, they all helped me feel better and made my day better.

Then Maryanne called me around noon to see if she could come by my work so Madeleine could tell me about her first day in preschool. I was so excited to get to see her and hear all about it! And she was equally excited to tell me about it!!! They got to put marbles in paint and then roll them around on paper to make pretty pictures. We'll get to see all of her projects at the open house. :) I took her over to see my co-workers and share her excitement with them and they just loved her squeaky little voice! LOL I was soooo incredibly appreciative of Maryanne bringing the kids over to see me! I miss a lot being at work, but she has helped bridge that gap. Thank you so much, Maryanne!!

In The Market

2010-09-04T19:23:00.000-07:00

George and I have come to the conclusion that we must add a 2nd (running) vehicle to our family. We do still have George's beloved '84 Chevy Silverado, and no, we're not getting rid of it. We've decided to tear that whole thing apart and rebuild it; or at least what needs rebuilding. The fuel line will be first. :)

So we drove around today for about an hour looking at different vehicles that were appealing from the street. Our criteria isn't much. If there is nicely kept signage and if the lot is clean, the employees appear to take pride in their appearance, we stopped. And there was a certain section of East Sprague that we just avoided by taking the freeway. :) On those terms, we stopped. Supposing there was a vehicle that caught our eye.

I might also add that it took quite a bit, at first, to get George to stop. (I should have brought my purse, but in our hurry to get out, I forgot it. So I didn't have my license, and couldn't drive...) Anyway, his idea of car shopping consists of pointing to a car he likes, then muttering, "It's probably too much." You know, when he does stuff like that, I just can't help but be sarcastic... so I usually come up with some smart aleck response to lighten his mood. Well, today it worked! We stopped to look at some vehicles. We have one that we're seriously considering. Well, two, if you count the van. But one SUV that would be great for the family, and it would nearly match our beloved Trailblazer. :)

We're going to see if there are any car lots open on Monday so we can test drive some. And hopefully we'll come out with a nice vehicle that we will be able to pay off in less than 6 months.

We're also in the market for a cell phone for yours truly. Not too fancy of a plan, as we are not interested in accumulating too many extra expenses since my getting a job. But since I'll be traveling to Colfax once a month for work to do some recruiting, we would feel more comfortable.

Decisions....decisions.... our goal is to be debt-free asap. So no extra expenses that are not totally necessary. Easy enough. Now, let's go shopping!

The New Job

2010-08-27T21:31:00.000-07:00

Week one, down in the books.

So there's the main building, and then there's the building across the street. My office is across the street, along with three other ladies. In this first week I have made some great friends and had so much fun! Heck, we've all even played practical jokes on the guy I just replaced; he was promoted and is now in the main building. Yup, good times!

In the midst of all of the laughter we do find a lot of work needing to be done. So what have I learned so far? Well, I've learned how to write up contracts for new providers, add people to the registry, how to conduct background checks and send those off to Olympia, and a whole slough of other things. I've learned how to recruit new caregivers for the registry. I've also learned that my travels to Colfax will be that much more important than I thought. So every other month I'm supposed to go there to recruit more caregivers in that area. That'll be pretty important, seeing how I already have consumers in the area needing caregiving. :)

As I was being introduced to new people at the beginning of the week, I constantly heard, "Oh, you're across the street." I decided that must be a scarlet letter of sorts, so the four of us wear that title proudly. :) Actually, everyone (and I do mean everyone!) has been incredibly nice and making sure all is well with me and my new position. And it's just like old times...I'm on the planning committee for company events and meetings.

I'm really having fun with this new opportunity, and hope all of the paperwork comes as easily as the practical jokes. :)

Talk? She Can Do That!

2010-08-22T22:50:00.001-07:00

Madeleine gave her first talk today in Primary. Those of you who know Madeleine know that she has two very distinct sides to her personality.

First: She. Is. A. Talker. No if's, and's, or but's. This girl can talk. She exhausts me! She's very much like me. Makes me wonder if I exhausted my parents. Who am I kidding?? They remind me of this all the time, and how I'm getting my "just reward" for how chatty I was at Madeleine's age.

Second: She pretends to be shy. I say "pretends", but she is pretty shy at first in new situations. But when she gets to know you or familiarizes herself with the situation... well, refer to the above paragraph and consider it your warning!

So imagine our surprise when, in a room of approximately 50 adults and children, Madeleine walked right up to the microphone and podium and took her place to give her talk! No hesitation, no whining, nothing. She looked at me (I was up there with her whispering her written talk in her ear so she could recite it... and yes, she helped write it!) and we got started!

She was a champ up there! I'm so proud of her, and amazed every day by how quickly time passes. It was just yesterday that she was born....right??! But, seemingly in a very brief period of time she became a 17-year-old girl trapped in a 4-year-old's body. She really is wise beyond her years. She showed that today by being a big girl and giving her talk like a seasoned veteran.

Catching Up!

2010-08-22T02:22:00.000-07:00

I just posted two posts in addition to this one. Feel free to check them out to see what's been going on in Eternaleppert. :)

My Daughter: the New-found Dental Champ!

2010-08-22T02:06:00.000-07:00

Madeleine had to go to the hospital for oral surgery back on July 16, 2010. Now, this is not something I'm proud of, as I always told myself I wouldn't be one of those parents that has kids with cavities. Much to my dismay, she had several on her molars. Crap.

Given that she is so incredibly independent, I was allowing her to brush her teeth on her own. Huge mistake!

The reason for her admission to day treatment at Valley Hospital was because she is not well-known at the Kidds Place dental office for her cooperation. :) No. My girl is classic case of fear in the office. She screamed. She cried. She kicked. She flailed. You name it. Every single appt since she was one year old, this was the routine.

Until post-surgery for a check-up about two weeks later.

Madeleine walked in there like she owned the place. She climbed up on her dental chair, let the lady put the glasses on her, place the headphones for the movie on her ears, laid back on the chair, let the hygienist scoot her up, and she was smiling the whole time. As if she knew something I didn't. I didn't care. She was cooperating.

So, here are the pictures to prove it. And no, I wouldn't have believed it if I were not there witnessing and snapping photos left and right like a tourist!

Getting ready for the poking and prodding.

Just relaxing in the chair.

Heading out, happy as a clam with her pink balloon and tokens in hand for the "win every time" claw machines in the office.

Showing off her loot!

Patience = Blessings!

2010-08-22T01:03:00.000-07:00

At long last I have a job! Getting here has been no easy task, but well worth the wait. I received more "Dear John" letters than I can count, and experienced more tear-filled days and nights than at any other point in my life!

Job hunting really isn't my favorite pastime, so when I found job listings of seemingly great opportunities for which I was completely qualified, I applied with an eager attitude! However, time and time again, I would receive "Dear John" letters either in the mail or via e-mail. I didn't get it. I prayed. I cried. George consoled me and boosted my spirits. Friends and family cheered me up and reminded me of my Savior's love for me. They reminded me to be patient. Soooo patient!

After many prayers, many days of fasting, and many tears, I have a job. I'm working for WA State DSHS in the Division of Aging and Long-term Care!! I have been working for a few years now to get a State job, but I have finally found that persistence pays off, along with waiting for the right time to come.

Now, the funny thing is how I ended up here in the first place. It was by no accident that I ended up getting a job at Franklin Hills, a nursing home, three years ago. Had I known I was interviewing for a nursing home, I'd have never even applied. But at the time I thought it was a drug/alcohol rehab facility. Imagine my surprise when I realized my mistaken assumption!

Even though I didn't want to work in a nursing home, I went ahead with the interview and figured if it was meant to be, I'd be there. Well, much to my surprise, I was offered the job there, and spent the next 2 1/2 years working for Extendicare (the parent company).

My first day on the job was one I will never, ever forget. I was the Administrative Assistant, so I sat right in the lobby by the front door to do my job. Near the end of my first day, a couple came up to the lobby and sat and talked for a few minutes. Then they gave each other a hug and kiss, and the husband walked out of the facility. His sweet wife sat in the lobby at the window in her wheelchair waving at him. She waved until the last puff of exhaust vanished from his car. She then turned around in her wheelchair, said hello to me, and wheeled off to her room.

I immediately left my desk, ran for the bathroom, and sobbed! I must have cried for what seemed like an eternity, but I had to compose myself before going back to my desk. After work, and after George returned home from work that night, I sat him down and sobbed again. I told him I couldn't return to work there because of the emotional pain. What I remember most clearly was his response to me. He said, "Honey, I love you. *smile* You were hired there for a reason, and those residents need you. You have to stick it out." And that was that. No more grumbling. Still plenty of crying. But no more grumbling. And I loved working there! In fact, I resigned from that job in Nov. 2009 and had a bittersweet experience just prior to leaving. (If you want the details of my departure from FHHR, you'll have to dig through the archives. I blogged about it when it happened.)

Just a few days before my last day, I had the opportunity to sit with, and just talk to, one of my most favorite residents. For the sake of anonymity, I'll not share her name. But I knew in my heart that she was nearing the end of her life. She had just completed her daily walk with the therapist and was sitting in her wheelchair. She was unable to speak because of her late-stage dementia. I crouched down next to her, held her hand (which she rubbed constantly every time I held her hand... I loved that...) and told her how proud I was of her for continuing to walk every day. And I talked... and talked.... and talked some more. I knew that somewhere deep down inside she could hear me, even if she wasn't responding with any more than rubbing my hand. I then wheeled her back to her room for her next treatment and went about the rest of my day. It was a couple days later that she passed away in her sleep.

Why did I share this story? Because I love the elderly. I have come to understand that they're not all sweet and innocent, but there are some that just simply melt my heart. She was one of them. So it was no accident that I got that job. It was in preparation for this new opportunity.

I'm so incredibly grateful for all of the support I've received from my friends and family! I am grateful that I've been able spend the first 7 months of Baby George's life at home with him and Madeleine. I know that I am a much more fun mommy when I have adult interaction throughout my day and then the ability to come home to my kids. And George and I are eager to get my student loan and our mortgage paid off. Then we'll be debt-free and sitting pretty! We will also be teaching our children one of the most valuable lessons of their lives by being obedient and staying out of debt!

Minus One Hair...Make That More Hair!

2010-08-07T23:04:00.001-07:00

Some days I wonder if Madeleine is possessed! Today has been one of those days; er, at least after Grandma and Grandpa Omak left for the night. She has been backtalking all evening, yelling at us, screaming "no", and a few other not-so-choice actions. WHAT IS GOING ON AND WHERE HAS OUR SWEET LITTLE GIRL GONE?????

I am so incredibly frustrated and really am just at a loss as to what I can or need to do. She has been like this since about a week after Baby George was born. We include her in everything we can, she helps out like a champ, she is always holding her brother, kissing and hugging him, making him laugh, etc. And then there are days like this...

Yes, there are times that I have to devote my sole attention to Baby George, such as feeding and nap time. Other than that, I make a point to have "Mommy/Madeleine time" so she doesn't feel left out.

How do I teach her to appropriately vent her frustrations? Any suggestions would be much appreciated, as I am at my wit's end tonight!!!

Skyfest

2010-07-26T22:36:00.000-07:00

For the first time ever, we decided to go to Skyfest. The heat. Oh, the heat... it was horrible. And the noise. Now, duh, there's going to be a lot of noise. We planned ahead and brought earplugs, as any sensible parent would do. But Madeleine still had a hard time with the noise. She was crying and covering hear ears, as you'll see in the last picture.

Now, it was awfully nice of the first person, even the second person, to come up and offer earplugs to me for her. Keep in mind she had a pair in her ears the whole time. By the eighth person, I was more than irritated. Especially since all of the people around us should have seen and heard the previous earplug conversations. I finally lost it and snapped at the last guy that offered. Why? I was overly hot, irritated, sympathetic for Madeleine, and ticked off that *another* person offered us Air Force logo earplugs. At that point I felt like all of those people were questioning my ability as a parent. Irrational? Yup. The heat really, really got to me, as well as everyone else in the group. I felt awful after having processed my little blow-up on the last guy that offered earplugs. If I could find him, I'd apologize profusely!

So, will we go to Skyfest again? Not likely. But who knows? Maybe my opinion will be swayed in two years when they return.....

Down the Gerber Path

2010-07-26T22:24:00.000-07:00

Squash=success!
Peas=success!
Carrots=success!
Bananas=success!
Applesauce=success!

So far he's turning out to be a veggie/fruit champ! There's nothing this kid won't eat, just like his sissy. :) Keep it up, Bud Bud!

Hillyard Pool, Greenbluff, Little Spokane River

2010-07-26T21:24:00.000-07:00

Last week we had a lot of fun! Thursday we had planned on going swimming with my mother-in-law and the other grandkids, so we ended up at the Hillyard Pool. It was so fun there because they have a great kids' area for the little ones! Madeleine and her cousin Megan had fun going down the slide; that is, after Madeleine and Isaiah convinced Megan to go down the slide! She wouldn't go under the water that falls onto the stairs, so Madeleine went down the slide solo. Finally, Isaiah was able to get Megan to go under the water, and after that she LOVED the slide!!

Friday, after we took George to work, I decided to take the kids to Greenbluff to walk around and look at the shops. We went to a couple places but didn't do much. It was ridiculously hot! And, truth be told, it was kind of lame. I love Greenbluff in the fall, but the summer? Not so much. However, we still made the best of it, as you can see in the pictures.

On the way back down from Greenbluff we were all hot so I dcecided to take the kids to Little Spokane River out by Windermere. We go there for Labor Day each year, so I knew this would be a fun, refreshing way to cool off. And I know it's safe. The river, honestly, scares me, so there is only one area of the river I'll take the kids, and Little Spokane is it. I've heard of too many people drowning out in the main areas of the river, so I try to avoid most of it.

Madeleine had a blast finding rocks and throwing them. But we came upon two gems! Well, not gems in the sense of precious stones, but in the sense that we knew Auntie Adie would love them. We found two heart-shaped rocks, and she collects them. So, we scooped them up and delivered them to Auntie later in the day. She loved them! I included those in the pics, as well.

My favorite picture out of all of them has to either be Baby George wearing my sunglasses, or Madeleine holding two small rocks up in front of her face. :)

Enjoy! We sure did!

Silverwood Trip

2010-07-26T20:28:00.000-07:00

Our family went to Silverwood on Saturday, July 10 in celebration of my older brother's birthday. It was a great day to go because it was sooooo quiet and slow! There was a little wind and that must have deterred a lot of people. So we didn't have to wait in line much. :)

We spent the majority of the day at Boulder Beach enjoying the sun and water. Each year we rent a cabana and just enjoy the day!

When we had to vacate the cabana at 7:00 we took everything to the car, and then it was onto the rides. My favorite ride of all is the Corkscrew, but wouldn't you know it... it was closed for the day! Bummer! Oh well. We went on all of the water rides without having to wait in line. Our last water ride was Thunder Rapids, which consisted of myself, mom, Mike, Madeleine, my niece Tamieka, and some guy we didn't know. I introduced the group to him, but I can't remember his name now... anyway, Madeleine must have been in the hot seat because she got SOAKED! And she loved it! Well, until the sun set and she was cold. My poor girl. She still enjoyed herself. :)

At the end of the night George and I were looking for a ride to go on together. We ended up going on Timber Terror, and of course, in the front seat! I love riding coasters up front!! We had a great time, and only waited in line for 15 minutes.

Overall, it was a great day! We ended up getting home after midnight because we stopped at Shari's restaurant on the way home in Cd'A.

Just a few notes; the cute girl with the curly blonde hair is my niece, Tamieka. The two little boys George is holding are our baby George and his 2nd cousin, Ronan (my cousin Ryan's youngest son). Grandpa Omak got suckered into the water with the girls quite a bit, as well as on some kiddie rides.

Here are some pics from the day:

Very Best Friend

2010-07-22T22:59:00.000-07:00

I took Baby George to the dr today for his six-month check-up. He needed his next round of shots, so he got two of them. Luckily, he is good with shots and cried for all of five seconds. So that's not what bothered him.

Prior to the shots, Dr. Suzy was poking and prodding, peeking in his ears and eyes; you know, the usual. This didn't sit well with Prince George, so he began to scream. He turned red. Overall, he was not happy. Not happy at all. Everyone within a 12-mile radius probably knew how unhappy he was.

Until mommy picked him up; er, rescued him as I'm sure he likes to think.

I picked him up and he promptly buried his head in my neck, drooled all over me, and stopped crying. He then looked up and gave Dr. Suzy and I a big, toothless grin. Dr. Suzy smiled and said, "George knows mommy is his very best friend".

I'd like to think so. :)

Summer Fun......Finally!

2010-06-28T18:27:00.000-07:00

The sun has finally made its appearance after a very wet spring and early summer season. We seized the opportunity to get out and have some summer fun last weekend. There are pictures of all of us on the motorcycles and in the pool. Such a relaxing weekend!

Favorite Kid Pics!

2010-06-14T22:46:00.000-07:00

I was going through my photos and thought I would post some of my favorites. :) I love my daughter and my son! They make me smile so much!

Graduation!

2010-06-08T09:45:00.001-07:00

I finally made it! I have graduated from college and am free for a bit! I finished my last term with a 3.7 and two 4.0's in my classes, which is amazing for me. I was really stressing about the Bachelor's Capstone class because, from what I read about it in the course description catalog, it was a class that dealt with everything we've learned throughout our degree. And, well, it did. But it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. It was actually cool because we had some essays to write, but we also had PowerPoints to put together, and scenario projects to do. It was really interesting and never got boring or mundane. Likely because we had a different subject every week, and a different method of completing a project.

I also took Research Methods in Criminal Justice, which I was also fretting! Another required class, so there was no way of getting out of it. This class dealt uncomfortably with statistics, so I was pretty much in brain-drain mode for the last 10 weeks! But it was such a great class!! I never thought I would like it as much as I did, but I really enjoyed it. I took Statistics at SCC during my AAS degree and liked it, but it was extremely difficult! So when I found out that this class dealt a LOT with stats, I was sweating it. Thank goodness for professors who make themselves available for help. She even called me at home a few times to see if there was anything she could help me with. And come to find out, she did that to most of the class. :)

Finally, I had Advanced Career Development to hone my skills on job preparation. This class was really fun because our instructor was so upbeat and positive all the time, and she has an adorable southern accent. LOL All of our projects were compiled to build our career portfolio, and I appreciated that it was to be built for actual use, not abstract. So, I now have a rockin' resume, an even better way to write cover letters, and know how to present myself even better in interviews!

All in all, I walked away with a total 2.43 GPA (C+ average). Not something I'm incredibly proud of, but I can't be upset, either. I've learned a valuable lesson. It's much harder to focus on school when you have kids and a husband. And housework. And dinner to make every night. And....well, you get the picture. Would I change it? Not for anything in the world! Will I go back and get my Master's? Yup! I'm going to wait about a year so I can find a job and enjoy my family. :)

Now, as for going to graduation, we're not going to Chicago. It's one of those things where I've just come to terms that we're not supposed to go there. We had money saved for it, but the car desperately needed new tires. We were running on zero tread. In fact, we've been on zero tread since before winter. We were very, very blessed to have virtually no snow this winter!! So, short story even shorter, we used our Chicago money to buy tires for the car. And I'm okay with that. We are sure to be safe now that we have tread. :)

So, what we're trying to plan is to go to Miami, FL in February for graduation. We'll see if that works out. I'm not going to get as emotionally invested in Miami as I did in Chicago so if we can't go there's not a huge let-down. For now, I'm going to focus on getting a great job and moving forward in my career!

Memorial Day

2010-05-31T23:13:00.000-07:00

I don't know why, but I love to go to the cemetery. Probably got that from my dad, who can spend hours and hours walking through cemeteries reading headstones of people he's never met before. Could also be because of how serene it is out there.

So today I clipped a bunch of lilacs off of our tree in the back yard and we trekked out in the pouring rain to make a few deliveries. :) First stop was Fairmount Memorial Gardens where my great-aunt and her mom are buried. I didn't know them very well. In fact, I can't even tell you what they look like. But I went to Darla's funeral (great-aunt?) three years ago and met some of the family I haven't seen in ages. Despite our lack of personal meetings, I feel particularly close to them. They are on my mom's side, and since I'm one of the only family members here in town, I choose to pay my respects for the family.

I was pulling from the archives on this one. I just remembered the general area of where the funeral took place, but not the exact spot. So with a prayer I set out in the rain looking for their headstones. I had all but given up and was headed back to the car when I decided to go down a row I didn't previously go down. There it was. :) Simple joys in life. Heavenly Father answered another prayer.

So here they are:

I was relieved that I was able to find their headstone, especially since nobody else left flowers. I didn't want to leave without finding them, so thankfully Heavenly Father was listening. :)

Onto Greenwood Memorial Terrace. George's grandparents, Grandma and Grandpa Leppert, are buried up there. He has other family members buried there, too, and they're right in the same area as grandma and grandpa. On our way there it was pouring rain. I had the wipers on full speed to keep my visibility up! We wound our way up the hill to the top terrace where they're buried in the Church section. I pulled up, parked the car, and told Madeleine to stay in her seat because of how hard it was raining. George and I got out, walked a couple steps, and the rain instantly stopped and the sun broke through!! Wow! To feel of Heavenly Father's love, and to feel of our family's love, it was amazing!!!

I should mention also that on our way out from our house, I spotted a few dandelions on the outside of our fence. I picked those because the dandelion was Grandpa Leppert's favorite flower.

So, we laid the lilacs on the headstone, along with the dandelions on Grandpa's side, and then just basked in their love.

I miss Grandma and Grandpa Leppert all the time. I'm so thankful I got to be a part of their lives before they passed away. :) And I love their headstone, and told George I would love to have something like it to signify our eternal love for one another. Their headstone is of two people walking hand-in-hand along a path to heaven. You'd have to see it to know exactly what I'm talking about, but it personifies who they were. And now living together eternally. You can't ask for anything more than that. :)

Whenever I visit their grave, I also walk to the edge of that section and pay my respects to Camille's daughter, Leah. I remember the night Leah lost her life. We found out in trombone choir practice. Camille is who I call my "Spokane Mom". She was my escort through the temple, she helped me get prepared to go to the temple, and she took me in under her wing as her "daughter". She played "Echo Taps" with me on trombone at Grandpa Leppert's funeral. I love her so much and am grateful for her! So that's why I go visit Leah's grave. :) Respecting her and her mother. She got some lilacs too. :)

Random Cuteness From the Kids!

2010-05-31T23:01:00.000-07:00

One pic is of Madeleine's outfit that she picked out for herself. I typically don't care how she dresses herself, as long as she gets clean panties, a top, and a bottom. :) We're good with her expressing her individuality and creativity. Some days are just plain better than others!! LOL

The second picture is of Madeleine being cuddled by Sparkles. She loves, loves, LOVES being cuddled by the cats. Jake wasn't up for it, but Sparkles sure was.

The third picture is of Madeleine holding Baby George. He's not happy. Neither is she. I rescued them both seconds later. :) Happy again, on both accounts!

And the fourth picture is of Madeleine laying on the floor next to the piano bench while I practiced. Her shirt says, "I love being a big sister". :) Fitting, since the picture before appeared as though she might have been second-guessing sisterdom! She really does love him and holds him quite often. She's a great big sister!!

Enjoy!

Torchlight Parade

2010-05-31T22:46:00.000-07:00

When we can make it downtown for the Torchlight Parade, we really enjoy going! This year Jon and Maryanne reserved a spot in the new parking lot across the street from the Ridpath, which turned out to be a great spot. Because the parade is mostly in the dark, I didn't get many pictures. But here is what I got. Madeleine spent most of the evening playing with Audrianna because Kambria and Eli fell asleep. :) And Madeleine's favorite float was the butterfly one, so luckily I got a decent picture of it for her. So, here you go!!

In case you're unaware, the Torchlight Parade is held each year to honor our servicemen/women who fight for our freedom while we sit at home and enjoy it. Remember to say "thank you", and remember to stand at the parade as they go past you!

My Big Boy!

2010-05-31T22:39:00.000-07:00

My best friend, Maryanne, let me borrow her Bumbo. A Bumbo is a rubbery-plasticy seat that infants can practice sitting up in. It has a high back for support, and there's a part of the frame that comes up in between the legs for additional support. So, we've been sitting Baby George in it to help strengthen his back muscles and get him sitting upright when the time is right.

Here is my handsome little man sitting up!

The Bumbo comes in especially helpful when I'm practicing piano. He can sit on the floor next to me (where these pictures were taken) on one side, and Madeleine sits on the floor next to me on the other side. I'm surrounded by love when I'm practicing. :)

Madeleine's Birthday Party

2010-05-31T22:09:00.000-07:00

Our baby girl turned 4 this month. Time sure flies. We wanted to do something special for her because... well, quite frankly, she deserves it, and... yeah.... she deserves it! So, my mom and I decided to look at Pattison's Skating Rink for pricing and offers. We were able to reserve a room there, get 8 kids in to skate for free, we had a large pizza, 2 pitchers of soda (we chose Sierra Mist and Rootbeer), and they also provide all decorations and place settings. They set up and clean up everything. Include 4 hours of skating time, and an announcement over the PA of your child's birthday party, and it was a grand total of $80.00!! Amazing! And the service was fantastic! They were all so helpful and easy to work with. We'll definitely be returning, and I would encourage any of you to utilize them, as they were just that good to us!!

Madeleine didn't get much skating time in. Actually, she didn't get any skating time in. She got up on her skates, then she nearly fell (daddy was holding her so he saved her). She was done after that. But she was perfectly content hanging out playing with everyone and watching the rest of us skate. We'll try again in a few months. :)

Here are some pictures of her party!

All in all, it was a great day, and everyone seemed to have fun. We are so grateful for everyone that came to her party and made her feel special! Oh, and the sheet cake with the crown was from Costco, but the Cinderella cake was made by none other than Yours Truly. Yes, I put on my creative hat (along with my sister-in-law, Shauna, who just gave me some pointers along the way) and decided to make her cake. The Costco cake was a back-up plan in case Cinderella didn't work out. Well, I must say that it turned out better than I expected!!! And Madeleine loved it! I think from now on that's what I'll do.

Happy birthday Princess Madeleine!! We love you!!

Our 8th Anniversary

2010-05-04T00:22:00.000-07:00

George is not what you would call "spontaneous." I've been trying to "fix" him over the last nearly 9 years to make him more spontaneous, but alas, I've all but given up.

So when I told him our anniversary date was entirely up to him, he froze. Nope, it wasn't cold outside. He was nervous. And yes, I love doing that to him.

I was at Time Out For Women (TOFW) all day Saturday (05/01/10) having a fabulous time being spiritually uplifted. George took the kids and went to Rob's, along with Dad Leppert, so they could have their "man" time. They played the Wii. They ate chili. They had a good time.

Shauna took me back to her house after we got done at TOFW so that George and I could commence our anniversary celebration, sans kids. Rob and Shauna watched them for us, which was super nice of them. Once we got to Shauna's, here is the conversation that ensued:

Me: Honey, are you ready to go?
G: *surprised look on his face* Yeah
Me: What do you have planned?
G: Uh.....
Me: You were here all day and Dad Leppert and Rob didn't give you any ideas?
G: Uh.....
Me: Okay, then I'm calling the shots.
Rob: Rhiannon, you need to go outside for a minute, and close the door behind you.
Me: Okay.

After about 26 seconds, George emerged from the house with a grin on his goofy face. He asked me if I was ready to go (practically sitting in the passenger seat, so excited to go, go, GO!), I said yes, and we were on our way. Rob's suggestion to George was to go to a flower shop and buy me a dozen roses. My husband knows me so incredibly well. I love flowers in their natural beauty, but not so much in a vase. Don't get me wrong, I love them when given to me. But I would never suggest he buy me flowers, as they're not really my thing in that context. George thanked Rob for the suggestion, and told him I'm not that into cut, dead flowers. (In fact, one year, G got me an arrangement of fake flowers just *so* he wasn't getting me flowers that would wilt)

***Author's note: Jon, Maryanne, and their kids got me flowers for my birthday this year and I was so grateful! So please do not think I'm some prude who hates flowers.

Moving forth.

We hit 32nd Ave. heading east toward Sullivan Rd. when George asked me what I was in the mood for. Mongolian BBQ came gushing out of my mouth faster than I could control!! I love Mongolian BBQ, and especially the one on Sprague/Sullivan! They have such a great variety of healthy foods to choose from, and you add your sauce and then have the cook grill it for you. So yummy! This time I put garlic, ginger, curry, and lemon juice in mine, and it was delicious! Mmmmmmm..... if it were open at 12:33 am, I'd probably be there right now.....

After we finished eating at Mongolian BBQ we stepped outside to a nice rain shower. I love the rain, so it didn't deter me at all. George goes along with it. :) There were dark, ominous clouds off to the east, but there were also two rainbows stretching across the sky! It was absolutely gorgeous.

Here's where George started to really get creative, spontaneous, and deliciously unpredictable. He drove to Mirabeau Park, parked the car, and we took a walk, hand-in-hand. There is a beautiful trail going through the park, and we ended up at the waterfall and pond over there. Now, being an Aquarius, I love the water. So naturally, I was drawn to the pond like a bulldog on meat. It was pretty chilly in that area, so we didn't stay long, but it was such a nice walk. On our way back to the car I asked him two simple questions.

1.) How do you think our marriage is overall?
2.) If there was one thing you could change about our marriage, what would it be, and why?

His responses?

1.) We have a great marriage!
2.) More sex. Every day would be nice.

Should've seen that second one coming. Ease up there, Casinova! LOL Please don't harrass him about that one... the poor thing would melt into a puddle right where he stood if he were called out on that!! :)

We talked about quite a bit of random subjects from there, and continued our conversation throughout the rest of our date. He took me to DQ for ice cream. I had the Midnight Truffle Blizzard (what else *is* there??!) and George had the Georgia Mud Fudge Blizzard. So incredibly tasty!!

After dessert, we headed back toward Shauna's. I had one special request, though, before we returned. I asked him to go park at the temple so we could just sit and talk some more. He did. We reclined our seats and reminisced about the old days. How we were at a dance at the East Stake Center and George pulled me from the dance to go walk around the temple with him (this was before he ever proposed, before we knew we'd get married). We talked about the "edge of the world" that I created at the end of the sidewalk on the south side of the temple. We talked about why we married each other, things in our past that we would rather not have there, family history and our relatives that have passed. We talked about anything imaginable. I cried. Yes, I cried because I remember thinking George would never marry me if he knew what kind of person I was before I ever got baptised. What I had subjected myself to. But when I told him about my past before we set foot in the temple together (don't worry, it's probably NOT what you're thinking, folks...) he hugged me tightly and told me it was exactly that: in the past. All had been made right, and I didn't need to beat myself up for it any more. And for those of you who don't know, a big hug from George is like being wrapped in the most comfortable blanket imaginable. I love listening to his heart beat.

After having been at the temple for awhile we decided it was time to go back and retrieve our kids. We got there and continued to have a great night, even getting in a couple games of 10,000 with Shauna and Rob. Grandma Leppert would be proud. :)

All in all, my not-so-spontaneous husband set up a WONDERFUL date for our anniversary. And he didn't even sweat over it. He knows me and knows how I like the simple pleasures in life: walking, talking, water, eating good food, reminiscing, going to the temple (we would have gone to a session, but it was late, and our other clothes were at home), and just being in his good company. I couldn't have asked for anything more.

Well, okay, so I informed him last night that I have only one more lavendar bubble bath worth of liquid left in the bottle, so some more would be great. Dr. Teal's Therapeutic Lavendar. Smells so good, and works great to relax my stressed out nerves.

Where are the pictures, you ask? Why, they're in our memories, of course! I forgot the blasted camera in my TOFW bag.... at Shauna's house......... So use your imagination. Or better yet, create your own memories (and photos!) by getting out with your spouse and enjoying their company!!

What Has Happened? And What's In Store?

2010-04-28T16:49:00.000-07:00

In the last few weeks, my little man has learned how to smile and almost laugh. Madeleine loves to poke his cheeks and make him smile at her. It's got to be the cutest thing I've ever seen, aside from Madeleine when she first smiled and laughed! Baby George is busy these days taking in everything around him. I can tell his little brain is just reeling! And he has this expression on his face that looks like absolute curiosity. I love that expression! I'm loving this stage right now, but I think he might be in the beginning stages of teething. Just a hunch, with all of the drool, chewing on his fist, sucking the pacifier, lots of poop, low-grade fever yesterday, and crying. He's a very, VERY mild baby and is calm about 98%of the time, so when he's crying for no apparent reason (and food doesn't help) I know something's up! We'll see!

So Kaplan, I just found out, has a Master's program in Psychology. :) Add that to the list of schools to consider for my next degree. I really have enjoyed Kaplan and all of my instructors there. They are so knowledgable, so I know if I continue there, I will get another quality education. But, I want to wait a year or so. And if I can get a job with a company that helps pay tuition, that would be even better! Keep us in your prayers as I continue to search for a great job!!

An Eclectic Mix From Us

2010-04-10T23:34:00.000-07:00

Easter weekend was spent at my mom's and step-dad's house in Omak and we had a lot of fun. Madeleine had a lot of grandma and grandpa time because Tamieka was with her mom that weekend most of the time, though we did get to see her on Sat and Sun for a few hours each.

Easter morning I was awakened by the excited screeches of Madeleine when she found her Easter basket. Mommy and Daddy have an "in" with the Easter Bunny, so we made sure he knew that Madeleine would be in Omak and not in Spokane for Easter. We had one excited little girl on our hands when she realized Mommy and Daddy have enough clout with holidays extraordinaire to get the job done! And my deal with the Easter Bunny was that Madeleine would not receive too much candy, as we are all on a kick to get healthier here. The Easter Bunny gladly obliged! Sweet... we'll do business again next year. :)

Madeleine was up at 6:45 am and ready to hunt for eggs outside. Nevermind that it was close to 30 degrees outside... nevermind that she was wearing dress shoes with her jeans... nevermind that Mommy was tired... nevermind... well, you get the picture. So, here is our little bundle of joy with her basket and then out hunting like a hard-core little egg hunter. Shhhh... be vewy, vewy quiet. I'm hunting wabbit eggs!

FYI: You may notice, once again, that I forgot to post them in reverse order, so you're seeing the happenings in reverse. he he he he

My favorite dog in the whole wide world is Shaggy. I heart Shags! He's the coolest dog ever! Whenever I'm in Omak, I make sure Shaggy and I have ample snuggle time. And he gets so incredibly excited when I show up.

A little history on Shaggy: I had a chihuahua named Ralph that I bought my senior year in high school from a local pet store. Ralph was my constant companion; he went where I went. He was so cool, he wore a spiked collar. :) One day he started acting like he was sick, so I monitored him. He wasn't getting better, so I rushed him to the vet, where he died from a bacterial infection in his stomach. Little did I know that the entire litter from the pet store had the same infection, and they all died. I was so heartbroken over the loss of Ralph that my parents started to feel bad for me. They knew how much he meant to me (I had my Sr. pics taken with Ralph), and they knew how much I love animals. So my mom heard an ad on Party Line about a dog that was abandoned in Riverside, just a few miles north of Omak. She went to get the dog without me knowing, and brought him home for me.

I was in my room sleeping when she brought him home. She just set him down on the floor and he sprinted through the house, straight to my room, jumped up on my bed, and started licking my face like crazy!! I was instantly in love with this dog, and promptly named him Shaggy because of how long his hair was. Ever since, we've been inseparable (except for the fact that I live in Spokane, but I go home quite often).

Here he is... :)

Then it was time for Uncle Brandon to stop by. He hasn't yet been able to hold his new nephew (only nephew!) until Easter! I think he might like Little George just a tad. What do you think?

And, last but not least, here are some pictures of the kids over the last couple of weeks. No particular order here, just adding in some cute photos of our babies. :) My niece Tamieka is also in there. She'll be 9 in November!! Where does the time go??!

And I must warn you... the outfit you see Madeleine in with the hat was picked out entirely by her. And yes, she got to wear it outside of the house. I'm all about letting our children be creative, so even though I was cringing a bit, I let her be herself, and she loved it! Funny looks from people? Well, if there were, I failed to notice. And had I noticed, I don't care. :P I did, however, talk her out of the green/white polka dot shirt she wanted to wear over the striped shirt simply because that would have made more laundry for me. Laundry is my enemy. So, "no" on two shirts. All else is fair game, I suppose.

And one of my favorite pictures is the side profile you'll see of Little George. I love the curiosity his little face displays. Is this a sign of things to come?!

And... he's smiling now! He's quite the handsome little boy, I must say! Toothless grin and all.

Holy CRAP!!

2010-04-01T07:57:00.001-07:00

Never, ever, have I had a child poop up their back. Blowouts never happened, and I was proud to say that... until this morning.

My son, who happens to be the most handsome little creature on the planet, pooped sooooo much that it went up his back, on his head, and in his left ear. And I had no clue until I stripped him for his morning change, post feeding. Not a clue. Sure, I could smell that he had pooped, but honestly... nothing came through his jammies. I think unknowingly laying him on his back probably exacerbated the issue. Just a hunch.

I'm thinking the rice cereal might have had something to do with that. A little change in his diet, and the kid poops his little heart out.

None the less, I still adore him and will kiss him. Even on his left ear.

Gonna Be a Great Year!

2010-03-29T13:32:00.000-07:00

Finally, school is almost over. What does one do when they're almost out of school? Why, they go to Chicago, of course!

Since I have done my Bachelor's degree online, graduation is a bit of a jaunt away. Chicago, to be exact. Or Miami, depending on the season. I don't want to wait until next January to walk in graduation, so I'm opting to go to Chicago this August. Does anyone think I'm crazy for wanting to rent a car while there?

Now, some may not find Chicago exciting, but I do, and here's why:

1.) I'm graduating! Who cares where?

2.) Been there many, many times, but never recreationally, and never in the "good" parts of the city. Translate: Dad was a long-haul truckdriver most of my life, went to Chicago a lot, but always in the shady areas. Wouldn't trade those experiences for anything!

3.) Oprah show!!!

4.) Many sites to see!

5.) Belated honeymoon for our May 3rd anniversary (8 years!!!)

6.) I'm graduating!!!

7.) A chance to get away from home for a few days. :)

So, after graduation in August, we then have Bike MS in September. This is the 150-mile bike ride George, Jon, Maryanne, and I ride in to benefit research efforts for Multiple Sclerosis. It's held in beautiful Mullan, ID! It's absolutely gorgeous over there, and the ride is phenomenal. Even better this year because I'm not riding it while 5 months pregnant. :) ***If you would like to donate to our team or find out more information, just ask. You can also go to my Facebook page and click on the thermometer on the left side to make a donation.

Then, in November we're taking a trip to Disneyland!! I haven't been there since I was 12 years old, and George has never been there. This trip is courtesy Mom and Mike for their grandkids. Nice!

I'm so excited about this year! Not just for the opportunity to get out of town a few times, but also for the chance to make changes in my life. Right now I am currently on a quest to lose weight, which is going well so far. I've lost 2 lbs in my first week of working out. Small, sweet victory! I'll just keep working on it! Which reminds me... I need to get to the gym. I've been putting it off for the last 2 1/2 hours. Sweat on!! :)

The Dress-up Drawer

2010-03-11T00:32:00.001-08:00

Want to enter to win a free, modest dress?? Go to www.thedressupdrawer.blogspot.com to enter. You can view this company's clothing, which is modest and very, very cute! Just go to their blog, follow the directions, and you're in for an entry. You can get up to four entries if you do everything they say. :) I did!!

Good luck!

Why?

2010-03-05T15:54:00.000-08:00

Why must time fly by so quickly? Seriously... my little boy is no longer little. He had an appt earlier this week and he's now 9 lbs 4 oz, and 20" long. At birth, he was 7 lbs 8 1/2 oz, and 18 1/2" long. :/ He's almost as long as Madeleine was when she was born! LOL

To date, Little George eats between 4 and 6 oz at each feeding every 2-3 hours. He has a couple 0-3 month onesies that are too short, so we have to pull them in order to snap them. File those away!

He has begun to coo and jabber, which is just adorable! I love just listening to him "talk" while he's checking stuff out. And Madeleine loves to sit and talk to him, telling him all about what's around them, how much she loves him, all about mommy and daddy, etc. :) She's getting used to being one of two now, which was a bit tough for a couple weeks. She's not as lippy as she was. Thankfully! I HATED that stage!!

I'm so grateful for the blessings in my life. I absolutely love my husband, and together we have two wonderful children! We just paid off our car last week, which was about one year early. Our goal, as a family, is to become debt-free in less than five years. That means paying off my student loan and paying off our house. It's a gigantic task, but we know we can do it. I could not ask for anything more! I'm so thankful my husband and I are on the same page when it comes to goals within our family and with our finances. He keeps me grounded. :)

Speaking of goals, I have set a couple new ones since the beginning of the year. I want to run Bloomsday in May. I've wanted to for several years, but never got up the energy to train for it. So, this year's the year. Also, Kara and I have set a goal to run a 1/2 marathon together. Since she lives in the Seattle area, she and I are going to train separately and then run it together. :) I can't wait! She and I grew up across the street from each other, and we were always inseparable. I don't like that she lives far away from me, but that's life. And I have Maryanne here. :) I just adore her! :) Maryanne's an awesome friend. :)

Okay, gotta go. Baby's crying!

Ding-dong!

2010-02-17T23:58:00.000-08:00

Mom Leppert and Great-grandma Heath (mother/daughter) came to visit us the other day! Yay! They're pretty smitten by Little George. :) Some people don't like their in-laws, but I have to say I have the greatest in-law family one could possibly ask for! So, it's always a welcome treat when they come to visit!

Great-grandma Heath holding Little George. She's almost as tiny as him!

Smile for the camera!

Great-grandma was trying to duck out of this picture, but to no avail. :) Grandma Leppert (aka, Mom Leppert to me) had her turn holding Little George.

Pssst! I think she likes him!

...and Mommy's favorite place to be! All snuggled up with my babies.

Valentine's Date

2010-02-14T23:59:00.001-08:00

I have come to realize that George and I are two very different people. I am very spontaneous; George is not. I am extremely talkative; George is not. I am perfectly content changing plans on a whim; George... well, you get the point.

So, imagine my surprise when he set up for his parents to watch the kids (still strange to refer to our offspring in the plural sense...) Saturday night so we could go on a date. Usually it's me doing all of that. But this time George did it. Yay!

The plan was to go to dinner and a movie, but we got started a bit late on our date. I took Madeleine to a birthday party earlier, which cut into our date time. Oh well, Little Miss had fun. So we altered the plan. Not only because of how late it was, but because there really wasn't anything on that we wanted to see. We don't watch rated R movies, so 1/2 of them were out just from the chutes!

We ended up going to dinner at the Rusty Moose in Airway Heights. George's parents live in Airway, so we weren't going to drive all the way back into town to eat. Anyway, the Rusty Moose was a place that we'd never been. It looks nice on the outside, and we were very happy with the inside experience as well! It has a very natural, rustic theme to it. There is a canoe strapped to the wall above the concierge desk, and there are snow shoes, skis, etc all over the place. They even have Cabella's catalogs to peruse while sitting by the fire and waiting to be seated. See?

Our kind of restaurant!! Anyway, there was a sign inside the waiting area:

Can you read it? It says, "New Hampshire and Lake Winnepesaukee". I found this funny! Have you ever seen the movie What About Bob? Watch it, if not, and you'll understand why this is so funny. Or maybe not... but it is to me!

George wasn't a huge fan of me taking pics inside the restaurant because it "might disturb some of the other people." Really? As if I cared about that. We were on our date, and I wanted pics to prove his spontaneity! Moving on...

I ordered the Mushroom Swiss Burger with fries and a side salad. George ordered the Classic (basically a cheeseburger) with the same sides. We both just had water (mine with lemon, please!) to drink. I had so much water that by the time I ate my salad and fries, I was full. Pitiful, I know. However, I did manage to save a little room for dessert. We decided to get two desserts since we couldn't decide. So we ended up with Moose Tracks ice cream cake and then Peanut Butter Sin cake. Um, yeah... heavenly!! Moose Tracks (yes, made from the ice cream) was, hands-down, our combined favorite!! And the portions were GIGANTIC!! Next time we'll know better...only order one! After dessert, I decided it was best just to take my burger home, which then became my brunch today. :) See, it all worked out!

Here's a picture of us in front of the restaurant sign. When I told him I wanted to get this pic, George grumbled a bit. I said, "Don't worry! Nobody will see us! They won't even notice!" LOL Never mind the fact that it's right on the highway and there were cars whizzing by at 60 mph! LOL Here we are... the happy couple on our date!

I'd like to have just ripped his dang tongue out for that one! Turkey! You can't see the sign right behind us because we were too short for it... so, here it is without our sexiness enhancing it!

After we finished taking pictures, we headed off to a place where most people go on dates.... yep, we went to Consumer Auto Liquidators to look at a mini van George had spotted the other day. Sweet mother! Okay, so yes, we've been looking for a mini van for a bit now, just not to seriously buy immediately. Checking what's out there. We want to have the Trailblazer paid off before we buy a mini van, and we're hoping to do that with our income tax return. We'll see how it works out.

So, we looked at the van and really liked it! I wanted to talk to the salesman to see how much payments would be and what the interest rates are sitting at right now. That was it. Nothing more. But, of course, being a salesman he wanted to sell us the van. We ended up taking it for a test drive and it was really nice. The seats were heated. Rhiannon was a happy girl. We returned to CAL with the van and the salesman and then went inside, where he promptly began crunching numbers and making us offers in order to get us to buy. Now, let me clarify. We were not in any way ambiguous about our intentions. We were not there to waste his time, or our own. We simply wanted to find out payments and interest rates. That's it. So, he made us a bunch of enticing offers, but to no avail. We beat the salesman. We stood our ground, thanked him for the information, and that was that. We drove away in our Trailblazer (no, we're not trading her in...) satisfied with the information we'd received, and happy that the guy congratulated us for standing firm in our position. He was impressed. So was I.

On to bigger and better things... George took me to Rimrock, which is a spot to overlook the city from the west side. The last time we were there was when we were dating, so about 8 years ago. We got up there and quickly realized time does more than cause wrinkles and gray hairs... it also drops boulders and plants gigantic pine trees in the wrong spots. Yep... we weren't able to park unless it was in the road (sure, nobody else was there, but it's the principle behind parking in the road), and even if we did park in the road we wouldn't have seen anything. There weren't many openings in the trees to see the city. Boooo!! Now, I'm sure there's a very good reason for all of that. Yes, there has to be at lesat one girl out there who's ended up pregnant because of the ability to park there with a boyfriend/husband and do their thing. But that's not how we are. We just wanted to be able to sit in the dark so we could talk, reminisce, whatever. And we wanted the beautiful view to go with it! Dang county! Oh well. The new air freshener I got for my car was making me nauseous anyway, so I was ready to head back. Plus...... we were missing our babies. :/

We got back to George's parents' house at exactly 9:14 pm to pick up our kiddos. We ended up hanging out there talking to everyone for about an hour, and then we left and came home. All in all, it was a great night, and I'm so thankful that George planned it all. I'm proud of him for stepping out there and taking the reins! :)

On another note, we found other mini vans today online that are much more enticing. So, we're going to go check them out! Yay! I'm in the exact moment of my life I swore would never, ever happen. And you know what? The view is incredible from here!

A New Desire... Not the Streetcar!

2010-02-09T11:56:00.000-08:00

Sorry, had to throw that in there because as soon as I wrote "desire" the first thing I thought of was "a Streetcar Named Desire." Corny? Sure. But it's my blog. :)

Okay, so George and I were driving back from Deaconess yesterday after having Little George's PKU done, when I had a thought come to me. There are so many little hole-in-the-wall shops downtown, the majority of which I've never entered. Wouldn't it be fun/cool/great exercise to go to all of those shops this year? Why,yes... yes it would! I ran the idea past my hubby, who was, to say the least, not nearly as excited as I. However, not to be deterred, I continued with my excitement, which basically told him he's going to endure this task with his beautiful wife and lovely children! Now that that's settled... I'm thinking I might start a new blog made specifically for this task. The goal is to go to all of the shops and such that are alluring when we're downtown. There are a few places we will not be entering, however. They are as follows:

1.) No bars
2.) No banks
3.) No "nasty" stores
4.) Nothing promoting paraphernalia of any type
5.) Nothing industrial or overly commercialized (car garages, gas stations, etc.)
6.) Any place that is not appealing beyond the front door

Now, I did have to clarify to my husband that this does NOT mean we can simply stand at the threshold of a doorway, look in, mark it off the list, and continue onward. Nope. Nor, does this mean that we can merely peek in the window and move on. Much to his dismay. I'm talking about going in, checking stuff out, seeing if there's anything culturally interesting, and then leaving after my curiosity has been piqued! Pretty exciting, eh?!

Just off the top of my head, the boundaries that will likely produce the best cultural shot of the city will be:

North: Convention Center/Riverfront Park
South: 2nd Avenue
East: Browne St.
West: Maple St.

Seems like a lot of ground to cover in a little less than a year. We may have to modify it a bit as time creeps by, but we'll see what we come up with over the course of the year.

Crazy? My husband says "yes". But I'm still convinced as much now today as ever before that he loves me and my quirkiness and spontaneity. :) Fair enough.

He's Here!!

2010-02-05T21:23:00.000-08:00

Well, we have finally unlocked the mystery of what our baby would be. We were pleasantly surprised to find we have a baby boy. :)

Ever since my husband and I met and then married, I knew that he wanted to name our first boy after himself and his dad. Since I know how important it is to George, I decided that we could name our son George and it would be okay. To say the least, he was a proud daddy again! Two wonderful, beautiful, and *nearly* perfect children later, we are a happy family of four! That, by the way, is taking some getting used to, along with saying I have a son. I love it!

So, on the morning of Jan. 29th we woke up at 4:30. A tad bit too early for me, but what does that matter... really... We had to be at Deaconess Hospital at 5:30 to get prepped and ready for my 7:30 c-section... or so we thought. We got there and found that I had to be bumped a bit for an emergency c-section. Some poor girl had been labor for a long time with no progress, so they opted to help her out a bit. You know what? Let her in! I'm patient. :)

During the prep stage the nurses had to put in the IV, which is completely normal. However, my veins have never caught on to the fact that medical needles are normal. Nope, I can tell you that I would make one failure of an IV drug user! My veins are squirrely and roll all over the place! It probably doesn't help that I NEVER drink enough water... but even when I actually do get enough, my veins are still impossible. And on that note, I'd make a failure of a cigarette smoker too since I can't light a lighter to save my life (my husband's an Eagle Scout... he can start fires should we ever be in a bad position....), and lighting candles with matches is difficult at best. I don't know why, just is...

Anyway, seven attempts and one exploding vein later, the IV was successfully in! Not to mention, 3 nurses later. :) I even asked the third nurse, "If I tell you I'm allergic to needles, will you all leave me alone?" Nope, no such luck. *sigh* So, IV's in, emergency c-section going on, I'm sittin' pretty in the recovery room waiting for my turn. All the while, my and George's families were waiting anxiously to see if they were going to have a grandson or granddaughter. George III or Alexandrhia. We shall see.

Finally, the time came for me to go to the operating room. They wheeled me in with specific instruction to wheel out baby via the same route so the family could see him/her for themselves. The staff gladly obliged.

One of the great things about Deaconess is that they allow you to listen to whatever music you want during the procedure. With my nearly insane love for Yanni, I opted to bring my new Yanni: Voices cd that my parents got me the week before for my birthday. I LOVE THAT CD!!! They popped it in and asked me questions about him and his music while they got me ready.

Now, when I say "ready", I mean they were running IV fluids into my veins so I would hopefully not puke like I did with the spinal during Madeleine's c-section. They figured I was not quite hydrated enough to tolerate the spinal, so they wanted to get 2 bags of fluid in me before the procedure this time. This was after having drank that nasty anti-vomit stuff and wearing the little anti-vomit patch behind my ear. A surefire way to keep from puking! Ha! With one bag completely in me, and the 2nd one started, they decided to go ahead and do the spinal. I had to hug a pillow and lean against one nurse, while the anesthesiologist ran the needle down my spine. (OUCH!) After a moment of irritation, I suddenly had the feeling that I'd peed myself. Sweet! I didn't, thankfully, but it was the numbing sensation that made me feel warm. It took just a minute or so and then I was feeling pretty numb all over, fairly tingly everywhere else. They layed me down on the bed and then inserted the catheter. By the way, birthing children better be the ONLY reason I ever need a catheter. Not a fan.

Voila! Catheter inserted, Yanni playing in the background... what could be better? Well, then, let's get to it! My Dr. came in, along with one of his colleagues (the one who bestowed the "Dill Pickle Award" upon me due to my narrow pelvis) to do the procedure. There were also two resident (fellow) Drs. in there getting some practice. Very nice ladies... though I'll tell you that when one of them told me of the risks of surgery (impairment, illness, death) I was a little freaked. My Dr., by the way, saw that on the paperwork and kind of freaked himself. Apparently that's information you just don't tell an excited, expectant mother because the procedure is so common and safe these days. He reassured me and we were back on track.

Laying there on the bed, I was starting to feel a little funky. Not funky, as in "let's bust a move", but just not right. Yup, it was that moment I'd been dreading. My mouth was extremely watery, and I was getting a bit light-headed... here it was, the vomit moment! I told the nurse I thought I was going to be sick, so she grabbed a blue thing that literally looked like a giant condom and stuck it next to my face so I could do my job and puke in it. I got the feeling she wasn't a fan of me spitting residual vomit out into the condom bag because she asked me not to. Okay, fair enough. After an extreme amount of vomiting, the anti-vomit liquid was out of my system and life was good again. :)

My Dr. is just amazing! I could hear him talking to the resident Drs. and his colleague, directing them on what to do next (have I mentioned he's the number 1 ranked and preferred Dr. for c-sections in town?),so I had a good idea as to what was going on. I could feel some tugging, and I knew he had to cut my stomach a bit more than anticipated, but that was fine. Our baby was definitely in there nice and snug, as evidenced by my difficulty breathing, constant acid reflux, and toes in my ribs throughout the pregnancy. :) With a few pulls, maneuvers and tugs, our baby was finally out!! My Dr. then told George he could announce what we had. So, George held our baby, brought it around the blue curtain, and said, "Mommy, we have a son!" I started crying instantly!! I was so excited, I was a blubbering idiot! However, I'd have been the same if we had another girl. I was just really excited and overwhelmed at the prospect of raising a son.

George brought him to me, and we posed for a family picture, sans Madeleine at the moment. Here we are...

Little George, as we have chosen to call him, got all cleaned up, lungs suctioned, and his color was normal. I think they did all of that before the picture... details are a little fuzzy with all of the morphine running through my body. Anyway, I got to see my little man for about 15 seconds and then he was off to meet the family. Big George gave me a kiss (very sexy behind a surgical mask *sigh*), told me how much he loves me, and then took our son out to meet the family. I, on the other hand, hung out and got put back together, one staple at a time. I could hear it... couldn't feel it. It's better that way, I've surmised. :) When I was all stuffed and stapled, my Dr. came around to my side of the curtain, patted me on the head like a softball coach does after you just made a great play, told me what a great job I did and congratulated me on our new baby. I think he might have been a tad more excited than the new parents. LOL He's just a gem of a Dr., I must say.

After all of that, I was wheeled into the recovery room (where I began my morning) and waited awhile for my family to come in. They all piled in the room and told me how beautiful he is, how excited they are to have a grandson, and how proud they are. Then, in a flash, they were gone. Everyone left me so I could get to my room and recover. I did, however, get to hold our new son on my chest as we were wheeled into the room. We got situated, and I promptly fell asleep with some Benadryl on board to stop the incessant itching the Morphine caused. At my request, we had no visitors before noon that day so I could sleep and recover.

Madeleine stayed the night at Grandma Pooh's house so she wouldn't have to be awakened so early that morning. So my parents went there and picked her up, put her in her new outfit (the shirt was custom made and said "I'm a big sister" and she had new pants to boot!), and headed on up to the hospital. Nobody told her if she had a brother or sister, as they wanted George and I to be the ones to tell her. She got there and immediately wanted to know. She was so excited to find she had a baby brother. She knew all along it was a boy. But then she started to cry. Not just a little, but a lot. She was so sad because Mommy was in pain and had a hole in her tummy. She got up on the bed with me and just laid there sobbing. I consoled my little bundle of love and reassured her that Mommy was doing very well and just had to heal a bit. After about 10 minutes of sobbing, and riding on the electric bed with Mommy, she finally stopped and cheered up. :) She's so sensitive to pain, you know...

Here she is with her new brother. And, if you ask her, she'll tell you how much she loves him and how she named him George. :)

The rest of the time was spent with friends and family, and getting used to our new baby boy. He's such a joy to us, and we are so grateful we've been blessed with another sweet spirit in our home. We're sure we got the best two little spirits Heavenly Father had to offer. :)

Our week at home has been quite busy, but filled with so much fun and excitement! He's already grown 1/2" and gained some of his weight back. He lost a little over one pound in the hospital, which is normal. We had him circumcised on Wed and he came through like a little super star! He didn't cry... not once! He just happily sucked away at the sugar water nipple provided him by the Pediatrician, and Daddy stood by during the procedure holding the nipple. What a dutiful daddy. Madeleine and Mommy went to the pharmacy across the hall and looked at toys and smelled candles while waiting for the procedure to end. :) I can handle blood and the removal of skin... I can't handle the anticipated screams and tears of agony from my children. Thankfully, none were to be had. :)

Here are some more pics of us since we've been home. Enjoy!

Sticking my tongue out at you, Mommy!

Yes, I do have eyes!

Little George is holding the bottle for Daddy. Excited about food, eh? By the way, he's not a really strong nurser, so Mommy slaved over the pump to get that milk for him! :) And Madeleine loves her daddy and brother.

Such a proud big sister!

She loves to hold Little George.

Uncle Jon sitting there while cousin Kambria holds Little George.

She sure loves her cousin!

Little George in his hospital bassinet before coming home. Such a tiny little bundle!

Madeleine loves her bubble baths. Tonight I mistakenly left her shampoo down within her reach, so she took it upon herself to wash her own hair. She's so independent! And she did a pretty good job... after I got the other 2/3 of her hair wet for her. LOL

A look of admiration.

My adorable family!

Such a proud big sister!

What's over here, Mommy?

There's my beautiful mommy!

Just relaxing on the couch with my mommy. The best place to be post-op!

I'm Thankful For...

2010-01-23T13:57:00.000-08:00

I have to tell you that there aren't enough times, I think, where I don't tell people when I'm really thankful for things... Here they are, in no particular order. :)

1.) My husband and daughter
2.) Being blessed with another child on the way
3.) The nursery/playroom being done!!!
4.) Great friends and family
5.) Having the gospel in my life
6.) Spring
7.) Fall
8.) Summer (when it's not too hot)
9.) You guessed it... winter (when it's not too cold)
10.) THIS WINTER!!!
11.) Having a comfortable home to live in
12.) Being close to graduating from college
13.) Living in Spokane
14.) Practically the best in-law family one could as for!
15.) The color red
16.) Yanni
17.) Music
18.) Talents
19.) Having people that love me for who I am
20.) Service
21.) Turning 30 (I'm really working at being thankful for this one...)
22.) The numbers 3, 7, 11, and 21
23.) The ability to express myself
24.) Being able to talk to Heavenly Father any time I want
25.) Going to the Temple
26.) Parents who challenge me :)
27.) My brothers
28.) My MP3 player
29.) Quiet time for homework
30.) Daddy-daughter dates for said quiet time :)
31.) Being able to play trombone and clarinet
32.) Living in an area that sees little natural disasters
33.) Facebook and blogging!
34.) Jon and Maryanne; Mike, Paula and Adrianna
35.) Grandparents that love Madeleine, even with her sassiness!
36.) Rainbows
37.) Going to the gym
38.) The MS Bike Ride
39.) Advisors at school that help me through my education
40.) Conservative views, for the most part
41.) Internet
42.) The awesome female trombone group Terry introduced me to on YouTube!!!
43.) Seeing George's beautiful smile... I fell in love with instantly!
44.) Madeleine's laughter
45.) Watching Madeleine blow bubbles, then catching them on the wand
46.) Seeing Madeleine dance to music
47.) Waking up in the morning to another beautiful day
48.) Freedom
49.) Straight teeth!!
50.) Friends who post old pics of you from waaaay back when on Facebook
51.) Extra time in the day

Now, I just got 51 in about 7 minutes...and this is just the short list! Think you can do it too?? Try it!! :)

Graduation is near...

2010-01-18T14:34:00.000-08:00

Some of you know that I'm in my final two terms of school before I graduate with my Bachelor's of Science degree in Forensic Psychology. To say the least, it's been a long time coming! I have two classes this term and three classes next term, after which I'm done! The graduation ceremony I'm planning on attending is in Chicago, IL on August 7, 2010. I am so excited to go to Chicago! I haven't been there in about 15-20 years, so this will be a lot of fun!

One of the things we're considering is leaving August 5 and returning August 8 so we can have a few days there. We are also thinking we might leave the kids behind (picture flying with a 7 month-old and a 4 y/o child...) with Grandma and Grandpa or other family while George and I get a makeshift honeymoon (long overdue, and never taken thus far), and I get to walk in graduation. Ahhh.... I can just picture it already. So, my mom and I were looking at prices this morning on Expedia, and for airfare and hotel accommodations it will cost George and I roughly $1,000.00-$1,500.00. Not too bad. But, here's hoping I get a job soon after I graduate! We'd have time to book everything, get discounts from the hotel for the graduation, and figure out transportation. Part of me wants to drive in Chicago, but since my mom and step-dad will be joining us, we'll probably find something close to the venue and then either walk or hit the rail system. :) Either way, I'm excited!

Now, to figure out what sites to see... I already know I want to go see Oprah, and since Mom's not a huge fan, I'll likely be dragging my poor husband along with me. :) Oh the lucky guy!

My dad and step-mom, unfortunately, are tied up in starting a new business together, so they won't be attending (according to Dad). However, I know that they will be equally as supportive from Florida. :) And either way, I know my dad is extremely proud of me for what I've accomplished. I can't ask for more than that! :)

As it stands, I will be the third person in my entire extended family to continue my education and get a Bachelor's degree. That's on both sides. I am so thankful to my mom and dad for the work ethic they instilled in me, and for always pushing me to do my best. I know I've faultered here and there, but I've always been able to pick myself up, dust off my knees, and move forward again. And I want to instill those same principles in my children. Even George is considering going back to school. :) So... maybe this is part of the family history that I'm supposed to be doing... creating a new legacy within my family! Who knows... What I do know, though, is that I just need to be done and then it's vacation time in Chicago!!

I'm wondering, though... can we request a specific pilot for the plane ride over and back? If so, I'd like to put my order in for Chesley Sullenberger, AKA Captain Sully. :)

Our Christmas Card

2009-12-22T23:32:00.001-08:00

With the financial belt a bit tighter this Christmas season, we decided to cut back on the number of Christmas cards we sent out. It's easy enough to post here, so you get to see and enjoy it! :)

Thanks, Misty, for putting it together for us! We wanted something a little different this year, and definitely not the canned options offered in the stores. We think she did a great job!

Merry Christmas!!

From Amazing...to Sad...Then the Blessings!

2009-12-10T23:49:00.000-08:00

Dec. 10, 2000 was the day that changed my life.

I remember the dare so clearly back in late 1998. There was a commercial on TV for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. From as long ago as I can remember, I was always drawn to the Church, be it by commercials on TV, or driving by the church buildings. But, as I grew, I began to believe there was no God. So, when a commercial came on TV to call for the Book of Mormon, one of my friends dared me to call and set up to receive the book. Since I was a self-proclaimed Atheist, and a smart aleck to boot, I figured, "Why not? I can give these guys a piece of mind, and hopefully save them in the process." So, I called and they came to me, Book in-hand. My friends poked and prodded me to let them in and listen to them preach to me so I could be the antagonist, so I did. But, I found that what they were saying, and what I was reading, touched me in a way I've never before felt. I was absolutely captivated by what they were telling me, and by what I was reading. I couldn't put the Book down. I prayed to know if what I was reading was true, and I received the answer numerous times that it was, in fact, true. Much to my dismay, I was being led down the very path I vowed not to travel. But I couldn't stop at that point. I was changing, and it was definitely for the better.

Fast-forward to August, 1999. I had scheduled my baptism for the weekend the Temple was to be dedicated that month. I was so excited, but extremely nervous. Coming from a family and friends that were not affiliated with the church, I received mixed reviews and comments. Mostly negative. So, what did I do? I backed out. I called Elder Green and Elder Toupou and told them I was no longer interested, and to please stop calling me. Unfortunately, they did. They respected my wish.

Fast-forward again to the middle of 2000. I was in band at SFCC doing what I love... playing the trombone. It was the beginning of a new quarter, and with that comes meeting new people. That's when I met James, a very gifted musician, and highly intelligent. He was very different. V-E-R-Y different. Something drew me to him, and I thought it was his musical ability. He and I instantly hit it off and were talking like we'd known each other forever. We talked about everything under the sun. Music. Politics. School. Interests. Religion. He told me he was investigating a church and that he had his baptism scheduled soon. When he told me what church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Instantly, there was a wedge. I told him very plainly that I'd been there, done that, and was not interested, so there was no sense discussing religion any more. He said he understood, and that was that. On to other topics. Or so I thought. Within a few days, I received a phone call. I remember it so clearly:

Me: Hello?
Her: Hi, is this Rhiannon?
Me: Yes?
Her: Well, this is Sis. Roper, a missionary from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Me: Oh? James.
Her: Yes, James gave us your name and number. Can my companion and I meet with you sometime?

And so continued the conversation. I decided to meet with them simply because I wanted to tell them what I had told James. Been there, done that, not interested, thank you, and good-bye. Sure, Rhiannon. Seemingly good plan.

When I met with Sis. Roper and her companion (who was only her companion for a few days before she was transferred and Sis. Dalley came into the picture) I again felt the same emotions I had originally felt taking the discussions. I knew the Church was true, and I was trying sooo hard to ignore that! But it didn't work. I continued to meet with them, to learn more, to read and pray daily. I could not deny any longer the truths that I came to know. I told Sis. Roper and Sis. Dalley that I wanted to be baptised. They knew, because I told them, of my previous decision to be baptised and backing out, but they never once showed hesitation. I think they knew... knew more than I did how ready I was for a transformation.

Now, when I say transformation, I mean TRANSFORMATION! I was an avid coffee and tea drinker. You wouldn't find me on a hot summer day without tea, or a cold winter morning without a hot mocha. Loved 'em! So, if there's one thing people know about the Church, it's that members don't drink either. If you want to know more on why, I'll tell you if you ask. But, to give you a hint... it's NOT because of the caffeine. :) There, dispelled a myth while telling my story.

Okay, back to it. No coffee, no tea. I never thought this would be difficult because I'm the kind of person that, when I put my mind to something, I do it. No ifs, ands, or buts. So, with that decision to stop drinking both, I did. Cold turkey. Never touched either one again. Sure, it was difficult some days. At the time, I was working at the Shilo Inn as the Front Desk Manager. One of my duties was to make sure there was always coffee and tea available to the guests in the lobby. Right across from where the desk stood. So it was in my face all the time. :) And to top it off, that was a new policy implemented post-baptism decision. Figures. So, the tasty flavored creamers were practically screaming my name. But I never gave in.

There were some other changes I needed to make... nothing I care to share here, but it was for the best. Nothing illegal, by the way... I knew that if I was going to go through with this, I needed to be 100% honest with myself and the Lord. There, easy as that! I said it. I was aware of what I needed to do... I was aware that there really was a God and that I needed His help to get my life on track. No more trying to do it on my own. With that realization, I was baptised on Dec. 10, 2000.

From left to right, Sister Dalley, Matt Borders (I asked him to baptize me, since I had a choice), Yours truly, and Sister Roper.

Now, it's not like as soon as I was baptised I felt like life was suddenly "easy." No, on the contrary, in fact! Decisions were part of my daily routine. Suddenly, I was thinking about what I *should* do, rather than what I thought I *wanted* to do. Surprisingly, the "shoulds" outweighed the "wants" and I was happy with my decisions. Speaking of decisions, my parents have always known that I don't jump into situations hastily. I think things through before doing them... so they knew that the 2nd time around when I said I wanted to be baptised, I was serious about it, and I had done my homework. So, thankfully, they were supportive. Maybe not thrilled, but supportive. :) That's all I wanted from them.

I started out in the Singles Ward, which is where single adults, ages 18-32, met for church every Sunday from 3:00-6:00 pm. I loved it! I met so many wonderful people, made tons of friends, and felt like I belonged. Nobody cared that I wore pants to church. Nobody cared that I didn't wear the trendiest clothes. They just made me feel loved and welcome from day one. I must also insert here that, by this time, James and I were dating. Okay, moving on.

There was this guy standing in the hallway of the church entrance with another guy. He was wearing a camouflage fishing hat (think big and floppy) and just standing there talking to his friend. My friend, LeeAnn, and I were talking when I pointed him out. I leaned in to her and said, "That's a guy I could never date." When she asked why, I said that I couldn't stand his hat. She said something to the effect of, "Well, George is a nice guy." And that was that. End of conversation.

Over the first months of meeting new people, I periodically ran into George and his friend Jon. I came to realize that the two of them were inseparable. Where there was one, there was always the other. It struck me that they were so close, and that they were so friendly with everyone. But, just looking at Jon, he reminded me of the jocks in high school that were attitudinal, full of themselves, and not interested in talking to people "lower" than them. But there was something about George. I watched him closely. I watched how he interacted with others. I watched his demeanor, his smile, his posture... you name it, he had my attention. When I finally realized I was starting to like him, I decided it was time to break off the relationship with James. I might also say that it was before this that I was not even interested in being with James any more because we had just grown apart. So, mutually, we ended our relationship. I mentioned to LeeAnn that I thought I might want to get to know George better, and apparently, in the Singles Ward, that's all it takes.

Mysteriously, at church and Firesides (regional church meetings) I'd find myself sitting next to George. Not that I sat down by him intentionally. Nope. There was a lot of behind-the-scenes action going on. See, when LeeAnn told the Trio (Stephanie, Amber, and Nicole) it spread like wild fire. The only two people who didn't know, I'm convinced, were George and I. :) We could have started off sitting at opposite ends of the pews, but within minutes, and with a whole lot of, "Oh, I want to sit by so-and-so today, can we trade spots?" George and I ended up sitting next to each other. They were such great friends!! It was from then on out that George and I got to know each other and really hit it off. I knew he was the one for me. So kind and genuine, and very caring. His smile melted me (and still does to this day!), and he was just a gentle teddy bear with a big build! Throughout all of this, while our relationship was blossoming, I learned that Jon was just like George. They were two peas in a pod. And they had (and still have) a wonderful friendship. Maryanne and Jon started re-dating, and the four of us soon became inseparable. :) George proposed to me on my birthday in 2002, and Jon proposed to Maryanne just the week before. Both of our guys designed our rings, and if you look at them, they're incredibly similar. Special touches on each from our adoring husbands. And they're beautiful.

We were married within two weeks of each other too, as Maryanne wanted an April wedding and I wanted to May wedding. Couldn't have been better!! We were both sealed to our husbands in the Temple for eternity. And that's something we all cherish and are so thankful for every single day! Especially on the hard days... LOL

I might also add that George's dad told George about a dream he'd had. This was just when we were beginning to date. His dad dreamt that George was going to marry a girl whose name he (dad) would have trouble pronouncing. George then told his dad about the girl he was really interested in. He said, "Her name is Rhiannon." His dad said, with a huge grin, "What is it?" "Rhiannon." George had to say it slowly for his dad to get it. I think dad knew right then where the relationship would eventually end up. And George apparently just beamed about me and would not stop talking about "this beautiful girl he met at church" to everyone he knew. Paula still talks about that to this day. :)

I love my husband. I love everything about him. Yes, even in the tough times. I know that we were meant to be together. He and I even lived 3 apt buildings apart when I first moved to Spokane in 1998. We never crossed paths, and I know that it's because it wasn't the right time. I'm so thankful for that! I love the friendship that I've built with Jon and Maryanne. (You can't help but grow close to those you crammed into the cab of George's truck with to drive clear out to Hayden, ID for church dances!).... by the way, there's no chance the four of us could do that any more. Hmmmm.... we should try it, just for fun! LOL And one of the biggest things I'm thankful for? I'm thankful that James didn't listen to me and had the missionaries call me anyway. :)

Okay, so then there's the sad part of the day to briefly discuss... Mom Leppert called us this morning to say that their cat, Dusty, was not feeling well. George was talking to her on the phone, and I could hear the conversation. She was wondering if I might be willing to take Dusty to the vet for them because, try as they might, neither Mom or Dad Leppert could get off work to take him in. Shauna has sick kids, and on down the list she went. Nobody was available. Mom Leppert said, "I know it's hard for Rhiannon to take animals to the vet..." Before she could finish, I said, "I'll take him in right after my Dr.'s appt today." No questions asked. I can't see animals in pain. Period.

My appt was quick and very uplifting. The pregnancy is going SO well!! 32 2/7 weeks along, set up birthdate for Jan. 29, 2010 at 7:30 am. :) So, after that, I dropped George off at work, dropped Madeleine off at Paula's, and headed out to my in-laws' house in Airway Heights. I had the cat carrier and I was off. On the way out there, I kept thinking, "I hope I make it in time." But I never felt a sense of urgency. I felt very calm. I was trying so hard to focus and NOT CRY. When I got there, Grandma Heath told me she tried to call me at noon to let me know that Dusty had passed away. I was crushed! But I know that the calm feeling I felt was Heavenly Father's hand prapering me for my arrival at the house. He passed away in his sleep with Grandma Heath there. In a way, it's a relief because he's not suffering. Our theory is that he may have been poisoned, or he may have gotten into something that poisoned him. My theory is that he may have gotten into some antifreeze. With this deep freeze we've been experiencing, I'm sure there were a lot of people who were topping off their radiators. Some may have spilled, and animals are prone to licking it because of its sweet flavor.

While I was en-route, Clinton was able to get there and remove Dusty. The plan, I guess, was to let Dad Leppert see him one more time before burial. I'm not sure if that's what happened, as nobody was home at Greta's when I stopped by. But, I talked to Mom Leppert and she said that Dad is doing okay. Dusty was his lap buddy, so it'll take some time to adjust.

The hardest part, and the only time I started to cry (remember, I was trying to be strong here...) was when I had to play the role of parent and explain to my daughter why Dusty would no longer be at Grandma and Grandpa's house. She said, "But I want to see Dusty." That's when I cried. She then cried too, likely because I was crying. I explained to her that Dusty is in heaven keeping Nana's lap warm, and that seemed to suffice. She seems to understand. For the first time in my life, I think I understand how hard it was for my parents when they had to tell me when my animals died. No parent likes to see the heart of their child break. Least of all, me with Madeleine. But, I truly believe that Heavenly Father had that path laid out for Dusty and that's why mom and dad were stuck having to work, I was stuck in horrendous traffic, and anything else that prevented us from getting him to the vet today.

Okay, enough of the sad part... I'll miss Dusty, as will the rest of the family. But he's in a good place. And in good company. :O)

So what I always say is you must sandwich the bad with two goods. Here it goes.
1.) Baptised on this day 9 years ago.
2.) Dusty passed away.
3.) Great drs appt for our pregnancy.

I might also add that Dr. Maughan said Madeleine is a very polite child because she uses her manners. She says "please, thank you, bless you", etc. She used her manners while in his office today. That's my girl. :) Mommy's and daddy's pride!

It's the Most Wonderful Time...

2009-11-25T22:41:00.000-08:00

Gearing up for Christmas, Maryanne, Jon and I thought it would be fun to take the kids to Riverpark Square for Santa's arrival Nov. 20th. George was at work still, so I'm sure we looked like some polygamous crowd with 3 kids and two pregnant women following behind one man. :) LOL Soooo not the case.

Anyway, the kids had a great time, as did the adults. Here are some of the pics!

Madeleine didn't want a pic with the polar bear without Kambria, so here they are! Cute as can be!

Madeleine was telling Santa that she wants Barbie for Christmas. He was so patient in listening to her.

Smiling for the camera with Santa! He was such a good Santa this year! We waited in line forever, which we finally understood when our kids' turns were up. He spent quality time with them, listening to them.

Looking pretty on the presents!

I like the illusion in this one. Madeleine was looking in a giant Christmas ball decoration on the tree, so I took her picture.

So pretty!

I love Eli's face in this one! I just wish it hadn't come out so blurry!

Squishy face!

Such a beautiful tree!

Madeleine's hair is ALWAYS in her face! But, I love this picture. It shows her in true form. :)

Up on Uncle Jon's shoulders. It gave me a nice break, since I had her on my shoulders for a good portion of the night!

She was so excited that Santa shook her hand!

Santa mingling with the crowd.

Mrs. Claus leaving on the escalator after reading "The Polar Express" to everyone. All of the kids and adults received bells to ring if they still "BELIEVE". We do, so we did!

Mrs. Claus reading the story to the crowd.

Madeleine's happy as a clam to be there! She was soooo excited to see Santa!

All in all, it was a great evening out of the house and having fun with the kiddos. I was sad that George wasn't there, but we all met up together at Shari's after he got off work. Since Maryanne and I are both pregnant, we were both starving! Maryanne had two coupons for Shari's, so we saved quite a bit on our meals. :) Can't complain about that! Then Madeleine wanted to show her daddy all of the pictures with Santa, so I gave her the camera, and he got to live vicariously through the lens. :)

I love this time of year, and I love it even more being a mother. I could have never imagined how much joy there is in seeing your child squeal at the sight of Santa, or a Christmas tree, or Christmas lights, for that matter. I used to think I knew why Christmas was so important. But year after year, I'm taught more valuable lessons. I love being a mother and a wife. It's not easy, but so worth it. And I love seeing my little girl happy at the smallest things.

Time's Sure Flying!

2009-11-16T21:27:00.000-08:00

At 30 weeks, I'm feeling VERY pregnant! It might be older age, but this pregnancy feels more like I'm pregnant. :) I'm at the point now where the baby is in my ribs, comfortably for him/her, but not so much for me. However, I'm so grateful for the opportunity to have another little blessing in our lives. Everything will work out. We're very faithful and we're trying to do what we're supposed to... so we know that Heavenly Father will bless us, regardless of the job situation right now.

What is my focus right now? Serving others. Since I was let go from work about 2 weeks ago, I've been praying for opportunities to serve others. So far, they've manifest themselves in ways I'd have never known of otherwise. Even a surprise visiting teaching encounter brought up opportunities! I'm so thankful for the opportunities I've had to serve, and I welcome more!

Unemployment Continues To Grow!

2009-11-06T23:24:00.000-08:00

As you know, I lost my job on Thursday. Here's what happened...

It all started 4 weeks ago when I had the swine flu and missed 3 1/2 days of work. I got to work on that following Monday and started to play catch-up. Yes, I had a supervisor who should have been helping me out, but that didn't happen. Didn't touch a thing on my side. So, I had a ton of work to get done. On that Thursday I was written up by the Administrator for 2 class II offenses. One was because I didn't come to work while sick with the swine flu. Yeah, you help me figure that one out because it's still a mystery to me! The second one was because all of my work from that previous week was not caught up that morning. What that meant was that, one more write-up and I was out of a job. I told George that day that I wouldn't be surprised at all if I was unemployed in the near future... how true that would turn out to be!

Enter Thursday, November 5. I got to work that morning and immediately saw that I was being treated differently by a few people. People who would normally be very nice and pleasant were suddenly not talking to me. Hmmm... clue 1.

Clue 2: The Administrator came to my office and asked Noelle, my office mate, to go talk to him in his office. He said nothing to me when he did this. Odd. And I never saw Noelle again for the remainder of my day. Even more odd.

Clue 3: My supervisor Linda was called to the Administrator's office.

As soon as Linda went to Brian's office, I went to mine and called George to tell him I had a gut feeling I was going to be let go that day. I told him to just be near the phone, should I need a ride home early.

Thirty minutes later, another co-worker of mine came to get me to take me to Brian's office. Duh. I knew what was coming. I got into his office, and there sat Jake (Dir. of Nursing), Linda (Supervisor), and Noelle (RCM), along with Brian. For a few minutes, I had to listen to Brian drone on about how I'm not a good fit for the position, and that everyone in the room agrees. Everyone else, by the way, had their eyes glued to the floor. He then brought up an issue with a care conference I had with a resident and his family the previous week. When I asked for clarification on that, he would not answer me. He just told me to let him finish. What the? If there is a problem, I should have been told prior to being let go. But, he continued on his path and kept talking. He then gave me the option to resign, or to be terminated. Gee, which looks better on the resume? So, I opted to resign. He also said that I will be able to collect unemployment, that he would not deny me that, and that I'm totally rehirable by Extendicare. Let's think about that... m'kay, moving on! And the care conference issue was brought up with Linda later, but she magically had no idea what it was about. My opinion? There was no issue. Brian's not one to hold back when there's an issue, and he was suddenly very vague in his descriptions in his office. Weird...

I went to my office to pack up my stuff, and Linda had to escort me and babysit me while in there. Why? I guess they thought I would do something against the company. Funny thing is, the paranoia is useless because I'm just not that kind of person. Anyway, Linda sat like a lump in Noelle's chair and said nothing for a good 5 minutes. Finally, she mustered up, "I still think you're a good person. And you're a good employee, a good co-worker. You just weren't a good fit for the position." Then, as if this was to make everything better, she meekly said, "I hope you're not mad at me." I just looked at her and very sarcastically said, "I'll get over it." Why was I sarcastic with her? Well, it's because just days prior to all of this, she told me what a great social worker I am, how great I handle the residents, and how we work well together. Does that sound like I'm not a good fit for the job? Hmph!

The rest of the time in there I just packed while I told her what she needed to finish. Oh, and I might also add that I called George immediately upon returning to my office to let him know I was right and he could come get me.

So, after I told her what all needed to be done, I started to laugh a little, and then I told her about how I knew it was coming. She kind of dropped her jaw and asked how I knew when she didn't even know. I said, "You guys must have thought I was stupid. You all walked around today trying to pretend nothing was going on, but you're pretty transparent!" She just stared at me, at which time I took the opportunity to tell her that I'd already called George after she got to Brian's office and told him the above info. Kind of funny... she didn't say anything. She knew she had no room to say anything because I had them figured out already.

During my packing, Kim (Medical Records, and close friend) came in and wanted to know what was going on. She then started to cry, and gave me a big hug. I told her I was doing fine until she got in there. For the rest of the time, she and I talked, and Linda just sat there. Oddly enough, I felt comfortable with Linda's silence. A couple others came in to tell me about resident issues, and I guess it never occurred to them that I was on my way out. I simply told them Linda would take care of it. That felt good. :)

Kim gave me another big hug after Josh (Administrator in Training) came in and propped my door open, signaling it was time for me to go. We both started crying again, and then she said she'd call me. George and I left. On the way out, I waved to Linda Evans, the receptionist. She saw me crying and told George to have me call her. I called her on the way down the street and she told me she loves me and not to forget to call her frequently. :) She's one of my most favorite people in the entire world!!

That night I had calls from several of my co-workers wishing me well, telling me they missed me already, and that the situation was nothing but crap. :) I have to agree, but one can only do so much.

The clincher is that I found out why I REALLY got let go. One of my other co-workers (translation: not one who called to check on me) had, indeed, gotten me fired to save her own job. That's a whole different story in and of itself. But to sum it up, her boss was coming down hard on her for not doing her job, so she set me up to be the "fall guy". The problem is, even though I KNOW what she did, I can't prove any of it. So, I'm stuck. But, I'm a firm believer that you get slapped by bad kharma.

As for me, I'm moving on. I'll still keep in touch with my "real" friends from work, and the rest can just leave me alone. They've done enough damage, and I choose not to have people like that in my life. I've always known there were only 2-3 people at work I could trust. That was proven yesterday. The rest have lost a great friend.

What won't I miss there? Well, I certainly won't miss Jake, Brian, and Barb insisting I violate resident rights (those were all chart-noted, by the way, and I hope state gets into the right charts one of these days), I won't miss the double standards, definitely won't miss the lectures from Brian on why he believes Catholicism is the only true religion (he frequently tried to get me riled up by telling me Mormons don't have the truth), the pompous air about the upper management staff. I won't miss Jake and Brian sharing information about other employees that should have been kept confidential... wow, there's a lot to be thankful for here on the "won't-miss list". LOL I still have my dignity, and I feel great about myself because I never once caved to their unethical demands. I have much to be thankful for, and I truly am. :)

One of the coolest things EVER!!!

2009-11-04T19:12:00.001-08:00

Now, I know this will sound lame to some, but bear with me here.

Today, I got off work early. I had all of my stuff for today and tomorrow done by 1:00 pm, so I got to leave. Thanks, Jake, appreciate that offer after stand-up.

Anyway.... George was off work too because of his sprained ankle. They thought they had some light-duty stuff for him to do, but turns out they don't have enough. So, he has a random week off from work.

What did we do with our time off? Why, yard work, of course! Yup, cleaned some of the back yard up and took two loads to the dump. One load was to empty out dad Leppert's trailer so we could use it. We took the old stumps and such to the Waste To Energy Plant out by Geiger.

Now, here comes the cool part. We got the car and trailer backed into the bay to unload the trailer. Off to my left, I noticed this gigantic claw-like thing reaching down and grabbing garbage, then transferring it to another section of the building. To clarify, it looked like one of those toy machines with the claw that you maneuver down for a toy or candy. Yeah, pretty cool, huh!! But wait! It gets better! Enter large bulldozer from the rear. This bulldozer was barreling through there, full-speed ahead, pushing piles of junk together to make more room.

While all of this was going on, I was completely mesmerized!! George thought it was funny. :) And neat that his wife is so into stuff like that. Now, don't ask me why, but I was like a little school girl in a candy shop. It was so fascinating!!

Much to George's dismay, I saw the sign as we were entering advertising tours of the facility. You guessed it... I soooo want to take a tour!! Any takers??! It didn't smell *that* bad in there. Tolerable, even being pregnant. I seriously want to get some people together and tour the facility! And, if allowed, I'm sure the kids would love it too!

So, what do you say??! Pretty cool, eh??

We're having a......

2009-10-25T23:11:00.000-07:00

....we don't know. And we won't know... not unless something medically proves the need for another ultrasound. It would be at that time that our insurance will pay for another. But, to all you negative nelly's that think it's bad to wait, we disagree. Now that we're being "forced", so-to-speak, to wait, we're actually loving it! We like the idea of being surprised on D-Day! Now, you ask if I would have chosen to do it this way in the first place... nope, not a chance. Would'a found out in a heartbeat. But, we have no choice, it seems. Heavenly Father has another plan for me. It's called being patient. Apparently, nothing he's done to make me be more patient thus far has worked, so why not pull out this card on me? :)

It just might work...

H1N1 (Swine Flu) Has Struck!

2009-10-08T11:11:00.000-07:00

All this talk about the Swine Flu really never had me worried. I figured I was washing my hands enough, using hand sanitizer *more* than enough, and just generally staying away from sick people. Well, reality has hit me. Regardless of my hygienic practices, I ended up contracting it somewhere... where? I have a fairly good idea, but I won't name names here. :) Someone at work, though. I'll leave it at that.

Tuesday morning I woke up all congested and coughing phlegm up like crazy! I was also sneezing, which is normal for me during pregnancy, but not like this. The sneezes were constant, and they felt like I was sneezing gunk up from my toes! They were such deep, painful sneezes, I dreaded every one of them, and I'm a big fan of sneezing!

I went to work thinking I could just push through it, but at 1130 hrs when George picked me up to take him to work, I decided enough was enough. I came home for the day and just relaxed and got some rest.

Wednesday morning I awoke and I was in so much pain I could hardly tolerate it. Now, mind you, I have a very, very high tolerance for pain. So, when something knocks me down, it's serious. My muscles were so sore, it felt like I had a ton of steel sitting on me, pinning me down. I couldn't sit, stand, lay down, or walk without being in excruciating pain! On top of that, the cough was worse, the sneezing was so hard it made my eyes water painfully, I was having a difficult time breathing, and I had a fever. I tried to just get through the day, but the more it went on, the more pain I was in, the more I couldn't breathe... something, I knew, was definitely wrong.

I tried to call George a couple times, but got no answer. Then I tried to call Jon and Maryanne, both not answering. In desperation, I called Maryanne again, and she answered! Turns out, she was on another call trying to get off it. Glad I could help! :) I asked her if she could take Madeleine for me, she asked what was going on, and I managed to tell her I couldn't breathe. I think she was here in 3 seconds flat! She took Madeleine to her house with Jon, then took me to the ER up at Holy Family. I was triaged, then had to go sit and wait. At one point I was so hot I felt like I was going to pass out. So, I did what any logical person would do... yeah, I went outside and layed down on a bench wearing just a sweatshirt, sweat pants, and a pair of flip-flops. I was loving it! That was ruined, though, when a family came out to smoke. And where did they sit?? On the bench right next to me! Dang! Time to go in!

Sitting in the ER on the chairs was difficult, at best, because I couldn't breathe, couldn't get a big breath for anything. Maryanne asked if there was a place I could lay down until they had a bed available, so they took us to the family room just off the ER lobby. Within about 20 minutes, George showed up. It was at that time that Maryanne was ready to go, so she was on her way. I can't tell you how wonderful it is to have friends like that who will drop everything to help a friend that looks (and feels!) like they've just been through a tornado! I was so thankful to her and Jon for helping out in a moment's notice.

George gave me a blessing while we were in the family room, which helped. I love the Priesthood authority he has, and that he willingly asks me if I need blessings randomly. He's such a good, loving husband and father.

After what seemed like forever, George asked the people at the desk if my turn was coming soon, and they told him they were calling my name about 10 minutes prior and figured I'd just left! Ugh!! He reminded them that we were in the family room so I could lay down. They told him it might be a bit since there were more people ahead of me and no beds available. But, as luck would have it, the lady that originally took us to the family room came to get me, was very apologetic, and took me to an empty bed. I told her I was okay and that I was thankful they had the family room available. :) I wasn't mad, so it was all good. And she was super sweet about it. No harm done.

After we got to the room, a whole slough of people started coming and going from our room. Oh, I might also mention that my first temp was 101.6, the second was 99.6, then the third was 99.1. It was going down on its own... could have something to do with the fact that I took off my sweatshirt and put on the hospital gown. Who knows. Anyway, I had an x-ray (vest covering baby, btw) of my chest, and it was fairly clear. I had swabs done of my nasal passage, which felt like little tiny bee stingers stinging me waaaaaay up in the farthest corner of my nose (not pleasant), and my blood pressure was taken several times. One of the nurses listened for the baby's heartbeat and found it to be at a healthy 146 beats per minute. It was 142 in Dr. Maughan's office a couple weeks ago, so it's good. :) The Dr. came in and checked me out, asked if I wanted any saline bags for hydration (negative, I wanted to get home at that point...), or if I wanted anything else. I simply told him I wanted something for the pain because it was excruciating, and hopefully I could get some sleep, seeing how I couldn't with the pain. They gave me a shot of some pain med, which really did nothing. *sigh* They also gave me a dose of Tamiflu, which is the antibiotic for the flu and H1N1. The swab was positive for flu, though they don't have the ability to narrow it straight down to H1N1. But with all the symptoms I was having, their best guess is that that's what I have.

About 15 minutes after the dose of Tamiflu, I started coughing, then I felt like I had to spit. Now, this is a normal thing for me while pregnant, spitting incessantly because my mouth over-produces saliva and it makes me feel like I need to vomit. No fun, but I'll take it over morning sickness any day! So, I went to the sink, ran the water, and just kept spitting and spitting and spitting. But wouldn't you know it? I had to throw up. Not pleasant for those around me, I'm sure. Especially George... poor George... the Dr. came in and assessed me, asked if I wanted an anti-nausea med, I said yes, so he sent one of the nurses back with 2 pills. I took those and was good as new; er, as good as I could possibly feel at that moment.

Later on the Dr. came back and asked if I wanted a prescription cough medicine. I turned that down because I don't want too much going into my system, possibly affecting the baby. So, with a prescription for Tamiflu and the ok to take ibuprofen for just a couple days, we were on our way out the door. Finally! Six hours later...

When we got home, we both went straight to bed. I slept with my mask on and faced away from George. :) I really don't want him or Madeleine to get sick. Luckily, Madeleine had her first ever sleepover at Auntie Min's (Maryanne's) house, and she didn't even know it! Not sure how she did through the night, but I'll have to call them later. She's now up at daycare with Grandma Pooh, who told George just to get her tonight when he gets off work so I can rest. We have such amazing friends and family! Oh, and I should also mention that when Mike and Paula brought Madeleine to me last night around 1930 hrs, they stopped at the store and got me some soup and chicken broth. That was so sweet of them because I couldn't even imagine having to leave the house to go shopping!

My mom just called a few minutes ago and told me that my brother Brandon was experiencing the same symptoms over the last couple of days, and that he wanted me to call him. So I did. He just wanted to check up on me and make sure we were all doing okay. Brandon's not the sentimental, over-the-top kinda guy, but he's always been my protector. Through school, he was right there if anyone ever messed with me. I guess he still holds that role. :) He made sure he told me he loves me, and to take care of myself. And he said that he's feeling better and is too stubborn to go to the dr. himself or admit he's sick. He's now in the clear. :) Thankfully.

When I got up this morning, I was still feeling rather blah and run down. My face is covered in spots from the broken blood vessels from the force of puking early this morning. My muscles were sore. I was still coughing like crazy. But, all in all, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Nothing to discourage me. I think it'll be good. I'm on quarantine, though, until Saturday, as I'm still contagious. So, I've not been to work since I left on Tues morning. I just hope Linda's doing okay. :)

Now, to go eat some soup, drink some Gatorade, and go back to bed. I'm still pretty worn out, so rest is a good thing.

Bike Ride at Fish Lake

2009-09-30T21:33:00.000-07:00

We decided last Sunday we would go for a bike ride on the trail out by Fish Lake near Cheney. It was suggested to us by Dr. Maughan, and he said that it's perfect for pregnant ladies because there are bathrooms at each end of the trail at the trailheads, it's about 3.5 miles one-way, and there is water at each end. We thought it might be kind of fun to ride leisurely as a family. So, here are some pics for you!

Madeleine's pointing at an ant on the ground...

Here's the train that Madeleine was super excited about seeing! The conductor stopped and then waved at her and started talking to her. Couldn't hear a word he was saying... but he was talking to her. :)

Cute stuff!

"I want out, Daddy!"

Mommy tossing rocks into the creek. There was a lot of green moss built up, so I wanted to see if rocks would penetrate it. They did!!

There's a creek on both sides most of the way. Small, but so pretty!

Daddy and Madeleine waiting patiently while Mommy takes pics! And Daddy's showing some leg! Whoo-whoo!!

And the panoramic of the lake. Very pretty out there!

Lots of fun!

So, in short... we're totally addicted to bike riding! This is a nice trail, and so close to home! We'll definitley be hitting it again, hopefully before the season is over and it's too cold!

A Cute Madeleine-ism

2009-09-21T22:48:00.000-07:00

Madeleine: singing a song in the kitchen while Mommy made dinner.
Mommy: "You sing so beautifully, Madeleine!"
Madeleine: "I know, Mommy." *continues singing*

LOL I love my girl!

"Fair"ly Lame...

2009-09-20T18:00:00.000-07:00

So, like a bonehead, I forgot the camera when we went to the fair last night. There were so many cute photo opps with Madeleine, but the camera sat cozily at home.

Highlights from the fair were:
*It started dumping rain on us.
*I ate a chinese dish for dinner with lots of chicken, veggies, and rice.
*Madeleine rode some kids' rides with her cousin Meaghan.
*Madeleine, at some point, kicked off her flip-flops and they're now long gone.
*I became increasingly thankful that I'm not working at Kodiak any more, as they do the security for the fair. I like being there with my family, not working.
*I got a window decal of little footprints to represent our family on the car. It has 2 sets of adult feet, one for toddlers, and one for a baby. That's in anticipation of "Little" Leppert!!
*I found a new love: deep fat fried Snickers bar. Oh my heavens!! No, I would never eat that if I weren't pregnant. But, since I can't have a caramel apple (read: braces... bad.....) and that's my tradition at the fair and at Stampede, PLUS, I couldn't go on any rides, I substituted with the mushy, gooey, yummy Snickers bar. Even George liked the 2 bites I was willing to part with. :) He's a good and understanding husband.

Maybe next year I'll have the camera. Maybe.....

Sheer Frustration!

2009-09-14T16:36:00.001-07:00

I was almost done posting about the MS Bike Ride and my computer shut down. All by itself, no warning. *breathe* So, I will do it again tonight when I get home. Until then, you'll just have to wait. :) But, it was AWESOME!!!

Bike MS 2009!!!

2009-09-14T10:23:00.000-07:00

Brace yourselves... it's a doozy!

As you're all probably aware, George, myself, Jon, and Maryanne have been anticipating the arrival of the MS Bike Ride. Well, it finally has come and gone, and what a weekend it was!

Friday night was pretty emotional for me. I haven't been away from Madeleine for 2 whole days ever, so it was hard. But, she was in loving hands with Grandma and Grandpa Leppert. She had fallen asleep in the car on the way out to their house around 2100 hrs, so by the time we got there, she was out cold. Or so I thought. I took her in the house and layed her down on her bed, but she immediately woke up and was ready to play! We stayed for about an hour, and then George had to drag me out of there. I was crying a little when we left, but I knew she was in good hands. We then had to go to Wal-Mart in Airway Heights to get a few things for the ride. All in all, we were in bed at 0100 hrs Saturday morning... UGH!

We started out waking up at 0500 on Saturday morning to drive to Mullan, ID for the big ride. George and I were at Jon and Maryanne's around 0600, and we left town around 0700. I had checked out Mullan on Googlemaps a couple days prior to leaving, so I knew we were to just head east on I-90 and we'd be there in about an hour and 45 minutes. Well, here goes the excitement!! Jon was telling me that the fastest way to get there was to just head up to the south hill and head out towards Rockford, WA. We had to make a quick stop at Albertson's because I had forgotten my sunglasses and I was driving straight into sunlight. So, after we finished up at Albertson's, we were well on our way to Mullan.... or so I thought....

Turns out, Maryanne thought we were supposed to start out in Plummer, ID, hence the trip south first. So, once we hit the Cd'A Casino, we had to go into town and then hit the freeway. But, not before getting gas. :) I was in a panic because I knew we would be late for registration, thus getting us off to a late start on the ride. Much to my joy, Maryanne pulled out the registration information and found that I was an hour off, so we had plenty of time to get there! Phew!

Once we arrived in Mullan, we unloaded the car of our bikes and gear, and got all checked in. We felt a little inadequate compared the other nearly 200 riders amongst us because we had homemade t-shirts, whereas everyone else had professional riding shirts. Well, not everyone... I think we saw 2 others with t's on. :) But, wouldn't you know it? We got so many compliments on our shirts! People loved them, and we were comfortably dressed. Can't go wrong there!

After we got all of the logistics taken care of (luggage...check! Bikes and helmets... check! Sunscreen... check! Lip balm... check!) we were off! The first check point was not for 12 miles, which didn't seem like much to me. Well, I'm here to tell you, there's a HUGE difference between car driving and bike riding. :) Duh, Rhiannon. :) So, we took about 45 minutes getting to the first check point, but the ride was so stunningly beautiful! I love being in the mountains and woods, so I was loving it! We were riding next to the creek, through the forest (on a paved trail, I might add), and about 40 feet off of the freeway most of the way. The trail was nice and smooth, and somewhat of a downhill ride, so we were sailing along nicely!

We got to the first check point where there was plenty of healthy snacks and drinks. I opted for some Gatorade and a banana, as I wasn't incredibly hungry. I also had a bite of George's trail mix, which, of course, was tasty! I also emptied out my CamelPak and put fresh water in it along with Gatorade powder. Good to go, back on the trail we went!

The ride on the 2nd leg was a little tougher. We didn't have the mountain trees all around us, and there wasn't much shade to be had. This leg took us along Silverton, right behind the Wal-Mart there. We also went through a mill area, which smelled really good. We were going along the path, but the worst part of that stretch was the stagnant air in Silverton. Oy! No trees nearby to filter out the rest of the smells. But, not to be deterred, we pushed ahead. We finally got more into the wilderness, riding past streams, creeks, and lakes. There were wooded pastures with horses and cows all around. We were riding across bridges and over water and ravines. It was breathtaking! Then the problems began...

Somewhere along the way, I started to cramp in my stomach and had some mild contractions. Now, being that I'm 20 weeks pregnant, I didn't look at that as a great sign, but I knew I could push ahead and keep going. I just kept pedaling and drinking, pedaling and drinking. And also praying that the next rest stop would come soon.... well, as my luck would have it, the rest stop was actually the lunch stop. It was also a whopping 19 miles from the first stop!! I was getting so discouraged along the way, thinking, "We can't be going THIS slow! 12 miles shouldn't feel like this." Well, I was right. We found out at the stop that it was significantly farther than the first. Not to be deterred, though. We were still in good shape. We had a great lunch, and then we were ready to go again. But, Maryanne, being very aware of me and how I react to things (yes, George is aware too, but she was pretty direct), she asked me how I was feeling. I told them that I was having some contractions along the way (Braxton-Hicks, I thought), but that they had stopped since stopping for lunch. George was, of course, alarmed, so he asked me if I wanted to stop. I told him I'd do what I can, and I'd stop if it became an issue. He looked at me with concern, at which point Maryanne said, "Pregnant women know their bodies and what they can handle. You know Rhiannon won't push it too far." I think that eased his mind, because we were then off on our way again. Oh, we had also met a nice lady who had a knee injury and had to stop at the lunch stop. She was done. She was bummed about it, and so were we. But, she's going to keep riding in the future.

On the ride to the next rest stop, which would be 14 miles ahead, I started to have more contractions and cramping. Ugh! Not what I wanted. I tried to keep going, but it was awful. I had a decision to make: either keep going and hope they stop, or stop the ride and see what to do from there. Well, seeing how we had a miscarriage in December, there was no way I was risking a miscarriage this time around. So, much to my dismay, George and I decided to stop at that point. That was 40 miles into the ride on day one. The sag wagon caught up to us and took us to a stopping point, where we were then picked up by Stacy from the MS Society Spokane branch. She took us out to where we could get cell phone reception and I could call my Dr. to see what to do, what to expect. When we finally got reception I left a msg with the nurse to have my Dr. call me back. As it turns out, my Dr. was unavailable over the weekend, so he had his colleague fill in for him. So, while waiting for the call, we decided last-minute to go to Kootenai Medical Center to get checked out. I must also tell you that from the minute we stopped the ride, George told me he was not leaving me, ride or no ride. He was by my side the entire time.

Also along the trip to Cd'A, I was sobbing in the back of Stacy's truck. I was so disappointed that I had to stop! I am not one to quit anything, so being forced to was hard for me to handle. I had my face buried in my shirt, trying to hide my disappointment. And I was sad that the ride had ended for George, even though he told me he was not going to continue on without me. He said he needed to know that I was okay, and that the baby will be okay. So, on to KMC...

When I got there, I had to do the registration stuff. In the middle of that, Dr. Phillips called, the on-call Dr. for Dr. Maughn. He was, first of all, amazed that I rode 40 miles being 20 weeks pregnant. He said that in 30 years of practice as an obgyn, he's never heard of anyone doing that! It was kind of funny, and he managed to make me laugh with his comments. That was a nice break from what was going on. He told me that if I didn't mind, he would tell Dr. Maughn about me when he called that night for an update. He said he needed to brag. LOL

I was hooked up to a contraction monitor, had to give a pee sample, had to go through some tests, and then wait. As my luck would have it, I was severely dehydrated. Hence the contractions. It was actually my muscles all over my body spasming, creating a contraction-like sensation. But here's the clencher... I was drinking water and Gatorade CONSTANTLY!! I was drinking so much, I felt my stomach sloshing! So, needless to say, I was surprised by that answer. Apparently my pee sample was clue #1, since it was really yellow. FYI: clear pee is a great sign! Yellow is bad!! So, on Dr's orders, I was off the bike for the remainder of the ride. Crap! That was soooo what I did NOT want to hear. I, again, started sobbing. I have been looking forward to this ride for so many months that I wasn't prepared to hear that.

I might also add that when we left the route, I sent Jon and Maryanne a text letting them know we were going to the hospital due to the contractions. I also asked Stacy to get the word to them so they wouldn't worry. Thankfully, they found out at the next rest stop.

So, with the news that I couldn't ride any more, George and I were off to the hotel to get checked in. While we waited for a driver to come pick us up, we decided to get some pics of the hospital.

Once we left the hospital with one of the volunteers, we were on our way to the hotel to get checked in. The guy that drove us is the husband of the Development Director of this branch here, and he was really nice. We talked all the way to the hotel about random subjects, and just had a good conversation.

At the hotel, we got our luggage and took it to our room, which was 2313. The room was nice and comfortable, with two queen beds. We planned from day one to share the room with Jon and Maryanne, so it was a good size for all of us. We dropped off our luggage and then went to the conference room where dinner was being served. There were also speakers to talk about their personal struggles with MS. It was amazing to see and hear! During dinner, Jon and Maryanne showed up. As luck would have it, the sag wagon took another route, thereby passing them up, and leaving them behind. The bus left and they were still in Plummer. :( So, we had Stacey arrange a ride to pick them up. So, when they arrived, George flagged them down so they could sit with us. Maryanne started crying as soon as she saw me, so she says. :) She said she was fine until she saw me. I gave her a big hug and told her how proud I was of her for finishing the day out. Then I reassured her that all was well with the baby. :)

After dinner, we all decided to go to the pool and partake of the hot tub. Yeah, I'm pregnant, and no, I didn't get in. Well, not all the way. I just had my toes on a jet, and let me tell you, that felt sooo good! We then got in the pool for a bit, then got out, showered, and had ice cream at the deli. That was the end of one great day... or so I thought. Due to the dehydration, I awoke at 1250 hrs feeling sick to my stomach and wanting to puke. Thankfully, nothing came of it. I did, however, have severe shakiness while laying in bed. Fortunately, I was able to sleep it off. I couldn't go to breakfast with everyone, though, so they just let me sleep a bit more while they ate. I really appreciated that because by the time they got back, I was feeling much better!

George and Jon had to be outside at 0745 to get George's bike and get on the bus to Plummer for the next leg of the ride. We were all downstairs waiting for the bus, which was behind schedule. While we were waiting, and after they got on the bus, we got some more pics.

As they were leaving, I started to cry. George told me, "I'm going to finish today for you." He is such a sweet husband! He knew how important it was for me to finish, and how incredibly hard it was for me to stop. I always wonder how I have been so blessed in my life! I love him so much!

Maryanne and I had to wait to get a ride to Mullan so I could get my car and we could travel to the lunch stop to await the arrival of our darling husbands. We did just that. Got the car and then drove about 20 miles back towards Plummer. We waited at the lunch stop for about 2 hours before they got there. We asked the guys if they were wanting to continue or pack it up for the day. They were both adamant about finishing. So, with that, and some lunch in their bellies, they were off again.

At that point, Maryanne and I decided we'd go into Wallace to poke around there for a bit to kill some time. You'd think I would have learned the first time around that Maryanne is directionally challenged, but noooo... I listened to her. We headed west from there to Wallace. I kept telling Maryanne there was no sign of Wallace on the mileage signs, but she thought we were headed in the right direction. Finally at the Sherman exit in Cd'A, I turned around and headed back east. :) We had quite the laugh about that one!! Here are a couple pics from the drive.

Apparently, I forgot to save the one of my cameo head shot while traveling in the right direction. :) Oops!

Moving on...

We finally made it to Wallace with about 30 minutes to spare before the guys were there on the trail. While in Wallace, I got Madeleine a bag of polished rocks for being a good girl for grandma and grandpa, and I got the guys each a chocolate huckleberry treat (which was later obliterated in the car by George's wayward elbow!). When they came through Wallace under the overpass, Maryanne and I were standing across the creek yelling and cheering for them. They were doing such a great job and we were so proud of them!! Here they are...

It was just beyond the point of these pics that we noticed they had stopped. Suddenly, Jon yelled to us that George was ready to be picked up. But they only had six miles to go... I told them we'd head over with the car and see what he wanted to do. Thankfully, on the way to the car, Maryanne suggested I call George and talk to him, which is precisely what I wanted to do. I called him and he said he was done. I then told him how strong he is, and how he does not ever quit. I told him how much I love him, and that I'd be proud of him regardless of what he decided to do. He then said he'd stick it out and finish it. Of course, at that time I was crying, Maryanne was crying.... and who knows.... maybe George was crying. :) But I knew that if he had quit six miles before the end, he'd never be able to figure it out in his head on why he was so close and he gave up. So, he chose to keep going.

On the way to the car, Maryanne and I took advantage of some photo opps. :)

We headed back to Mullan where we could greet the guys when they arrived, which was about an hour later. The poor things were pooped, but energized, if that makes sense. :) George and Jon gave each other a big hug, even before Maryanne and I could give our own husbands hugs. LOL They're such good friends, and they both said they wouldn't have rather been with anyone else than each other (well, and their wives, of course!) at the finish. Such sweet guys! Here they are!!

And some more of all of us!

All in all, it was a great weekend! We're planning already to do next year's ride, so stay tuned for that!! And yes, we'll be training that much harder so we can all finish together. :)

Last but not least, here's one of my favorite pics of Maryanne and I. I'm not a huge fan of the camera because I'm self-conscious about my chubbiness, but this is a cute picture.

And I love how close Jon, Maryanne, George, and I have gotten over the last couple of years. It's not often you find friends, especially as adults, that are so important to you that you do almost everything together. But we love Jon and Maryanne for their strong spirits and their gospel-centered lifestyle. I'm so appreciative that George has Jon who honors his priesthood as much as George, and that they are willing to do anything for anyone. I can't think of anyone I'd rather do the ride with again next year, though we're always willing to invite others to join us! Together we make a strong team, and next year we'll be that much stronger!

Is It a Boy Or a Girl???

2009-09-14T09:14:00.000-07:00

You're just as much in the dark as we are right now... we went in for our appt last Tuesday and hit a few bumps in the road.

First of all, the lady that took all of my information was rude. Not just rude, but RUDE. She wouldn't let me tell her what my history was; rather, I think she prefers guessing games. So, instead of letting me tell her why I had a c-section with Madeleine, and why it's not considered a complication medically, she wanted to tell me why it happened. I lost my patience with her and just told her if she'd listen to me we could move forward with the right answers. She did, and we did. Amazing.

There were other rude moments from her, but I'll just leave you with that one.

So, then the ultrasound tech and her assistant came in to do the ultrasound. After a loooooong time of poking around on a full bladder ready to burst, they informed us that they were unable to make a definite call because they weren't sure if we had a swollen clitoris or a tiny penis on our hands. :) Hmph! We don't know yet what we're having. We can try to find out at 24 weeks. George said, "Why don't we just wait until the baby's born to find out?" :) Negative, Ghost Rider!! LOL Nah, he didn't want to wait, either. He was just being funny.

Oh yeah, I will tell you that the first lady we encountered also told me that my dr doesn't know what he's doing because I'm (at the time of the appt) only 17 weeks, not 19 weeks. Um, perhaps she, a technician, should call the dr and tell him that herself. My dr knows what he's doing. Good thing the other 2 ladies were nice. :)

So, when we know, you'll know. :)

I Haven't Forgotten...

2009-08-23T00:26:00.000-07:00

I'll be adding more posts soon. I still need to add from our Value Village Ugly Outfit contest, Kambria's birthday party, Omak Stampede, and so on... I'm getting there. Slowly, but surely.

Maybe...

2009-08-16T23:18:00.000-07:00

We might be able to find out what we're having this month... we'll see what kind of appointment I can get. :)

And if I haven't said it in a while, I'm thankful for my many blessings. I have a wonderful husband and daughter, awesome friends, and an amazing family. I have a job that I love, a home that is comfortable, and an optimistic outlook on life. Yup, I'm extremely blessed!

Playing Catch-Up! Again!!

2009-07-29T21:23:00.000-07:00

If you are interested, I have posted 2 new posts below this one. They cover what we did over the weekend, and how my ultrasound went yesterday. :) They're long, but I try to inject a little humor so they're not daunting to read!

Happy reading!

Ultrasound #2!!

2009-07-29T20:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday George and I went to see the Dr. for my second ultrasound. We got there and I had my vitals and weight checked, which couldn't have been better! My blood pressure is always good, and this time it was no different. Phew! My weight... well, let's just say that I am 5 lbs lighter than I was one month ago at my first ultrasound!!! Whooohooo! When I was on the scale, the nurse, Terry, said, "Ooohhh... looks like someone hasn't been feeling good." I said, "No, I feel fantastic! I've just been eating much healthier and going to the gym." Yay! Now, if only I could lose weight when I'm NOT pregnant! LOL

Anyway, while we were waiting for the Dr. to come in, Terry poked her head in and said that he just got called over to Deaconess for a delivery and he'd be back in about 30 minutes. She said she'd give us the option of waiting or rescheduling. George wanted to reschedule because he had to be to work in 45 minutes. I told him I didn't want to drive all the way back to the south hill again later in the week, so we needed to wait. He said, "Well, they sort of need me at work." Ha! You can probably guess where that went with me... I said, "Well, you're my husband, and I REALLY need you to be here with me." End of discussion. He called work, and magically, they were okay with him coming in a few minutes late. I told him so. :) Anyway... I'm just sayin'......

So, we waited, and sure enough, the Dr. was back in about 30 minutes. He came in and told me that my thyroid is still off so I have to have more blood drawn in 2 weeks to see where it's at since my last increase of Synthroid. Grrr... Hopefully the increase to 1mg will do the trick, but I'm in good hands, no less.

Then he said that we're at 13 weeks and should be able to hear the heartbeat. So he got right to work and started poking around on my abdomen to find a heartbeat. Well, he found the blood flow to my left leg... then the blood flow to my right leg... he thought he had the heartbeat, but nothing solid. So, he opted to bring in the tummy ultrasound machine. Sure, we were a bit nervous, considering we wanted a positive, happy result...

With the ultrasound machine, he found the heartbeat, but then it disappeared. He was able to find it again, but it disappeared again. George and I were a little baffled... then Dr. Maughan started showing us what was on the monitor. We saw our little Leppert doing twists, turns, flips, clenching its fists and kicking its legs!! That's why we had a hard time finding the heartbeat!! Our little Mexican Jumping Bean, as Dr. Maughan called it, was all over the place, trying to be an acrobat! It was the most amazing sight! We were able to see its body in its entirety, and it was just amazing at how long Little Leppert is on the screen. :) And the cool thing about it all? Dr. Maughan was just as excited as we were! Awww... he's such a wonderful doctor.

So, thankfully, all's well with the pregnancy. I, I mean WE, go back in on Aug. 25 for another ultrasound, and maybe, just maybe, we can find out what we're having. I would love to be able to refer to Little Leppert by its name... either George III (we'll call him G3) or Alexandrhia. I can't wait!! George can't wait!! And Madeleine? She's ready for a little brother AND a little sister. She's super excited! She watches how Kambria loves Eli so much and wants to take a turn at being a good big sister too. :) I think she'll do well.

Ah, but the story doesn't end there... we were on our way out of the parking garage when we noticed a guy was stopped in front of us, blocking the lane. We stopped. He then started to back up. Soooo....George tried to quickly get out of the guy's path since he obviously didn't see us. He swerved around to the left, but the other driver hit the rear quarter panel of my beloved car! Dang! Or should I say... Bang! Ha ha! Anyway, the other driver immediately admitted he was at fault and was very sweet about it all.

I told him to go ahead and back up his van behind our car, and then we would back up to get out of the lane of traffic. Before this decision, however, some bonehead driver in an electric blue BMW was trying to squeeze his car between ours and the van that hit us. Um, hello? Last time I checked, his car wouldn't fit in a 3-foot gap between our vehicles. Thankfully George stepped out of the car, got in front of the BMW, and put his "1-minute finger" up. He yelled, "Hold on! Patience! We're trying to move our vehicles out of the way." Then he got back in the car to move it. Better him than me... pregnant, emotional, and not really in the mood to deal with idiots like that. So...

We got our cars out of the way, and I'll be dipped if another lady didn't try to butt her way through too! Man! So, I took that one and told her to hang on while we got our cars out of the way. She was understanding, but really? Come on, people! Catch a flippin' clue! LOL Employee just a LITTLE common sense.

The guy gave us his information, we gave him our name and number, and then we got to talking. He just got his van changed over 2 weeks ago to accommodate a wheelchair ramp and his power chair. He has MS. I told him about our MS Bike Ride coming up in Sept and he said, "Well, do me a favor. When you're riding, think of the jerk with MS that hit your car." I said, "Give yourself some credit, it's not that bad." Funny how you meet new friends. :) He gave us his daughter's business card in case we ever want to book a trip to go skiing in Colorado. :) Then he gave us his wife's business card, but I'm not sure what she does. I guess I'll have to pay a visit.

At any rate, here are some pics of the damage. We got off lucky, I think. His poor van didn't fare so well.

Allegro Royal Fireworks Show

2009-07-29T20:10:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday we went to Riverfront Park with Jon and Maryanne, Jon's mom and sister, and all the kids, to watch the fireworks show at night. We got there and found a great spot on the grass. It was so nice; not too hot, and certainly not too cold. We were able to just sit and relax while there was a Renaissance Fair going on. Jon, his sister Rosalynn, and George took all of the kids to the big red wagon to slide for a bit while Maryanne and I sat and talked and relaxed without the kids around. Sweet!

Madeleine's offering to let another little girl go ahead of her. She has such great manners!

After they all got back, the fireworks were soon to follow:

Ooohhhh....

Aaahhhhh....

Beautiful!

Madeleine liked the pictures of the fireworks, but she didn't much care for the show itself. I don't think she has linked the loud bang with something beautiful, so this is where she was hiding out during the fireworks:

Under the blanket that was across my lap!

So... she decided to make the best of a "scary" situation:

...by letting me make a pig nose on her! :)

Then she was laying her head on my stomach, kind of hiding in my sweatshirt that she was wearing:

She and I got to laughing, which she thought was pretty funny because her head was going up and down when I was laughing. That, in turn, made her laugh more, which, of course, made me laugh more! We must have laughed for a solid 5 minutes!

And, of course, one of the highlights of the night is the music! I couldn't get any clear pictures of the conductor or the band, so I thought I would add some pretty pictures from the night:

Finally, the highlight of Madeleine's night was the fact that she pointed to a star and said it was hers. She told me that Heavenly Father gave her her very own star. Here it is in all its glory!

Always Thinking...Could Be Good Or Bad!

2009-07-13T21:36:00.000-07:00

Madeleine LOVES Capri Sun. She could drink it day in and day out, if we would let her. Thankfully, common sense takes over and we expect her to drink more water. In fact, we rarely, if ever, buy Capri Sun because of the high sugar content. My mom brought her a whole box of them this last weekend when they came to town to visit... thanks, Mom!

Anyway, Madeleine has already had two of them today, and she is now requesting a third one. Fine... if you drink a full glass (not kid glass, adult glass!) of water. George, bless his heart, gave her the glass and told her she needs to drink it. So, what did my little Sweet Pea do? Why, she brought me her glass of water, of course! She said in a very sweet, innocent tone, "Mommy, can you drink this water for me, please?" Puppy dog eyes and all. And guess what. Negative, Ghost Rider! LOL I asked her why she wanted me to drink the water, and she very informatively told me that she needs it gone so Daddy will give her a Capri Sun. Ah, yes... she's a bright little girl, isn't she? :) What a turkey. Needless to say, after an hour, she still has about 3/4 of her water left in her glass. I just gave her 10 minutes to finish it or there's no Capri Sun tonight. That look of panic that we're so familiar with rushed over her cute little face. Good thing Mommy and Daddy aren't softies... HA! Who are we kidding?! But still, no Carpi Sun until the water's gone.

Then, I decided to start a load of laundry before going to bed. Madeleine loves to help with laundry, so I told her we were going to separate the whites and wash those tonight. She had to make a quick potty stop on her big girl potty, but not to be deterred. She gave me instructions while peeing. :) Such a smart girl!

After she got herself all wiped up, I got her potty dumped in the toilet and cleaned out, and her clothes back on, she continued to help separate laundry.

Again, always the thinker, she took her ABSOLUTE FAVORITE pink dress with white polka dots on it and said, "This has white on it, so I'll put it in the laundry pile." Honestly, that floored me. What do you say to that??! I mean, yeah, she was right. There are white polka dots on her dress, so she rationalized that it should go in the laundry. Much to her dismay, I removed it while she wasn't looking. :) Or so I thought...

In the end, it didn't make it into this load of laundry, but it will in the colors load next. :) I love that she's so excited to help, and if we end up with pink whites, well, the Distribution Center is just a few short miles away.

Just a Random Thought...

2009-07-08T00:04:00.000-07:00

Had I not opted to have two teeth pulled to get rid of my newly-formed overbite, I'd have my braces off this month. But instead, I will have them on at least until December. *grumble* Even still, I'm loving the results!

Oh, and not to be vain or anything... but, my smile looks way better than this picture! It doesn't do it justice! Actually, what I should do one of these days is find a scanner and scan my before pics and compare them to the current after pics. You would be amazed! I certainly am!

Something Special

2009-07-03T15:59:00.000-07:00

Last night we made a late-night run to Wal-Mart for cat food and a few other necessities. The highlight of going there for Madeleine is looking at the fish, so we did that, as usual. One of the employees came over and asked her if she wanted to feed the fish and the frogs, and she excitedly obliged. That totally made her night!

Then today, I was cranky earlier over something, and Madeleine went to the front yard and picked me a dandelion. She brought it in and said, "This flower is for you, momma. I love you." Awwww... dandelions have never been a favorite of mine, but George told me that his Grandpa Leppert LOVED dandelions to the point that they were his favorite. Since he told me that awhile back, I've grown a new appreciation for them. And now that Madeleine is in the spirit of picking weeds for me and presenting them to me, I have even more of an appreciation for them. She's so sweet, and always thoughtful. We must have done something right...

Great News!

2009-07-01T19:10:00.000-07:00

After what feels like forever, we are finally expecting another child! We've been trying for about 1 1/2 years, and I guess now's the time. So, needless to say, we're extremely excited!

How did we break the news? Well...

*I called my mom first (duh!).
*George very casually told Maryanne with me sitting next to him talking to his mother on the phone. I then lectured him on how men aren't to tell their wife's best friend the great news! *sigh* Moving on...
*I called my dad and told him. He reminded me of how babies are made and lectured me on how I'm not supposed to be intimate until I'm 95. Inside joke, but let's just say the age increases every time the subject comes up. He's so cute! :)
*I told my boss and a couple close friends at work. Well, let me narrow that down further... the ones I knew wouldn't say anything. :) Sorry, Kim!! Love you! LOL
*George called his parents.

And that was it... for nearly 3 weeks, we kept it secret. We're so good!

And then...

We went to see the Dr. yesterday for an ultrasound. Sure enough! A nice, strong heartbeat, and I'm 10 weeks along! My due date? Jan. 22, 2010!!! My birthday is Jan. 21, my grandma's was Jan. 20, and my dad's is Jan. 24. Now, since I already know I have to have a c-section, I get to choose the date at any time after 39 weeks. :) Hooray! Part of me wants to have him/her on my birthday, but the other part of me wants to honor my late grandma by having the baby on the 20th. My dad? Well, since he's being a turkey about the logistics, he'll be lucky if I consider his birthday a day to have the baby. LOL Nah, I'm just kidding! We'll see...

After the appt, it was safely time to tell others. I told my co-workers this morning in our meeting, which was fun. We always talk about new stuff going on in our lives at the end of the meeting, so that was a nice surprise for everyone. I was up until midnight decorating paper for 2 picture frames. Why? One of them was for Adrianna as her belated graduation gift. Hers said, "You're going to be an auntie again!" I also made one for Mike and Paula, as their gift for getting their only child through high school successfully. Theirs said, "Ready to be Grandma and Grandpa again?" I gave those to them today when I picked up Madeleine from daycare. The look on Adrianna's face was priceless! She was stunned! It took her a second to figure out what it meant, but then she got it and gave me a big hug. Awwwww.... then Paula started yelling with excitement and hugging me. They were both heart-shaped frames. My original plan was to copy pictures of yesterday's ultrasound, but I forgot to get them from the Dr. Oh well. This was more creative, I think.

We already have names picked out... if it's a boy, he'll be George Edward Leppert III, obviously after daddy and Grandpa. It's so important to George to carry on his name, and I can respect that. :) Not that I'm overly fond of the name, but I'll do it for him because I love him. If it's a girl, her name will be Alexandrhia Kaye Leppert. My mom and my mom-in-law both have Kay as their middle name. My mom's is Kae, and Mom Leppert is Kay, so we'll combine the two and make KAYE. We're considering throwing LaVoy in there (think "Kaye LaVoy") after George's Grandma Leppert. Not sure yet... kind of a mouthful, but such an important and amazing person!! The girl's name IS subject to change, though not likely. I love the name Victorhia, (you like the "Rhiannon" touch in the spelling?!) but I can't stomach the thought of people calling her Vickie or Torie. Long story, history behind both names, not fond of either. So, as much as I love the name Victorhia, I think I'll have to pass. We'll see later on.

A Night Out For Moms

2009-06-27T20:25:00.000-07:00

Maryanne was nice enough to watch Madeleine for us for a few hours yesterday while I worked later than expected (ridiculous, last-minute conference call), and the combination of all of our kids together was nerve-wracking, at best.

Last night George and Jon both had to work late. Jon got home later than usual, or what I think is usual for their family, anyway. George got done around 9:30, but then got called out on an emergency, which put him an hour behind. No worries on either account. All's well.

So, Maryanne and I proposed an idea to "the boys." They watch a movie together (I brought SWAT and Transformers to entice them on our idea!) and Maryanne and I take some girl time away from the kids. They were very willing to do that, thankfully! We wanted to go to Wonderland and either play some Mini Golf or hop in the batting cage and strain some muscles. Unfortunately, they closed at 11:00, and it was 10:45 by the time we were able to leave her house.

What's the next best thing? Dessert, of course! Off to Shari's we went. Maryanne had the Cheesecake Sampler, and I had the Chocolate Lava Cake. They were so good, but incredibly rich! We were definitely full of sugar by the time we left. But, it was good dessert and great conversation. I love being able to get out and just hang out with her, sans kids! :) Don't get me wrong, and I know I can speak for Maryanne here too, we LOVE our kids, but there's something to be said about having time without the kids every now and then. A definite must! :)

Check out the slices of heaven we indulged in last night! Won't need to have sugar for about a month after these desserts!

Who Doesn't Love Cats??!

2009-06-20T12:50:00.000-07:00

I was in the bathroom blowdrying my hair and Sparkles was sitting on the bathroom sink reaching out to me with her paw. She wanted me to pet her, so I'd stop periodically to scratch her head, chin, neck and back, and then go about my business again. This went on about three times, and I guess she'd had enough of being second rate to the blowdryer, because the next thing I knew, she had jumped up on my right shoulder and curled up in my neck. She somehow managed to maneuver her jump so she missed my arm and the blowdryer, making a perfect landing! Awwww... then she turned her head so her cheek was against my cheek, and we just got to love each other. She was purring like crazy! Such a sweet girl! I've had her since I moved to Spokane. She was my $20.00 Omak Wal-Mart purchase. Some lady was trying to make money to feed her young daughter, so she was selling her kitten at Wal-Mart. I'm such a softy for cats and dogs!!

So, then Jake showed up, and he was NOT happy about the exclusive attention that was being given. *hmph* He was circling around my feet, and then finally got up on the toilet. He's kind of a fat cat, so jumping to my shoulder is not an option. :) Poor guy! But, not to be outdone, he sat on the toilet while I showered him with love and affection too!

A Proud Parenting Moment, Indeed!

2009-06-15T16:15:00.000-07:00

I took Madeleine to the dentist today for her 3rd check-up and her very first cleaning. Madeleine absolutely loves to brush her teeth, but I have to help her get the back of her teeth quite often. She was excited about getting to pick out a Dora toothbrush! She was telling the dentist all about her Dr. Seuss-paste she has at home. So, anyway, she came out with no cavities, and a very good bite. Her teeth are looking great! Dr. Cathy was pleased with how Madeleine's mouth looks. :)

We just love the Kidds Place up on Hastings! They're so good with her! I would highly recommend them to anyone!

Oh, and the perfect ending to a somewhat cruddy day at work... I got an unexpected financial bonus from the dentist because we overpaid last time we were there. So, George just might get a Father's Day gift, after all. :) And I think I might get my hair cut. Hmmm.... something to ponder.

2009-06-13T00:09:00.000-07:00

I just finished this book called "Switching Time" by Dr. Richard Baer, MD. This story is a true story of a lady named Karen Overhill who, as a result of living through a horrifically traumatic childhood and, later, marriage, ended up creating 17 different personalities for herself.

In a nutshell, Karen suffered from Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder. The 17 alters were created at periods of her life where she, herself, could not tolerate what was happening to her.

This book is an amazing inside look at DID, and gives you a real account of what Karen was suffering throughout her life, even mere months after she was born. I will warn you, this book is NOT for the weak of stomach. There are horrendous details of her abuse, but they are necessary to bring forth the understanding of
her different personalities. Karen's Psychiatrist, Dr. Baer, works with her for a total of 18 years. 18 years!! Most of us can't even fathom sticking with something for that long. And he never once gives up on her, despite the personal struggles he experiences.

I don't want to go into detail, as those who are interested will check this book out at the local library. But let me tell you this, if you are interested in mental disorders, this is a book to read! I am so glad I read it! I picked it up at the library because I was looking for books on my topic for school last term. This did not fit the topic at all, but as soon as I saw it, I KNEW I HAD TO READ IT!!! It's incredible, it's heartwrenching, it makes you hug your own child just a bit tighter, it makes you remember to tell those you love how much you love them, and it makes you appreciate the life you have!

Fundraising Ideas for MS Bike Ride

2009-06-07T15:59:00.000-07:00

So, I was in the shower this morning thinking of random things. One of the random thoughts that came to mind is that we desperately need to start raising money for the Bike For MS ride we're doing in Sept.

Here is the ah-ha moment I had in the shower. So simple, yet so genius! LOL Okay, so I was thinking it would be fun to do a donation car wash in each part of town. If we have a car wash on the north side, one in the valley, one on the south hill, and one in Airway Heights, we'd cover a wide range of people. We would need to make up signs promoting our cause, but this cost would be very minimal. Soap, wax, chamoise cloths, sponges, buckets, hoses and sprayers. Now, I'm sure most of us have this stuff in our homes anyway, so we'd probably be putting out little money. (I like the sound of that!)

I was also thinking we could do one in Omak over Stampede weekend (2nd weekend in Aug), so Jon and Maryanne, if you're going to Omak with us, that would be a GREAT weekend to try to raise funds there too! Thousands of people in town visiting. :)

So, I was thinking that we could do a couple Saturdays in June, a couple Saturdays in July, and a Saturday in August, and we just might have a lot of money raised. Who knows? Friends and family that don't necessarily want to ride the 150 miles could help us either by donating to have their car washed, or if they're REALLY feeling giving, they can help us wash cars!!!

For information on Bike For MS, please go to this website for the Inland NW Chapter: http://bikewai.nationalmssociety.org