Meeting Christopher

At least before we all got sick, we had a chance to drive to Spanish Fork to spend some time with my sister and meet baby Christopher! He is such a stinkin' cutie!

Of course Christopher needed to bond with his Auntie in the sling!


Isn't Aubrey the most beautiful Mommy??!

When we were all feeling better, we got to go down and visit a few more times. When Brad finally got there and came down with us, he and I and Owen all managed to sleep in a twin sized bed together!!!! It's a good thing we are used to snuggling at night, lol. Eli thankfully slept on the floor. Aubrey had to go back to work for a few days at the end of the semester (she's a teacher) so we all went down to watch Christopher one morning. Eli was pretty taken with him, and spent a lot of time saying "he's so cute!" or "oh, he loves me" or "oh, I LOVE him!." It was really something just to see the way that Christopher (or "little Tofu" as I call him) would just gaze up at Eli as if he'd known him forever. Owen liked him too, and seemed to be ok with me holding him... but he was very sensitive about sharing his Daddy!








The cute little Slabbert Family.
My parents were also in town at the end of our third week in Utah, so it was wonderful to spend some time with them (somehow I didn't get pictures of them with the boys!). My mom spoiled the boys with a suitcase full of toys - she is better than Santa Clause! The kids adore their grandparents, and it was wonderful to see Owen warm up so quickly. He wouldn't let grandpa out of his sight, and even wanted him to hold his sandwiches for him and feed him - it was really funny. We all got to grab some dinner and hang out at the BYU duck pond one evening. Aside from the mosquitos and Owen throwing himself into the nasty duck poop water (yes, of course), it was a lovely time. We even saw an egg pop right out of a duck's behind!

Starting Somewhere

If I'm ever going to blog about our Utah trip, then I had better get started....

Here is the Benson home in Morgan where we stayed - it was so beautiful out there ... when it wasn't raining! We got so much cold weather, rain, and even some snow!!!


Owen hooked up to an IV in his scalp... he ended up being sick for SEVEN DAYS. Everyday I just thought, really? AGAIN? As I put more puke laundry in to wash. With my back hurting and a very sick and weak baby who was all out of sorts from not being home, getting sick myself, and a bored 3 year old, it was a fairly miserable first week of "vacation." The second week was an improvement, though the first half of it was really just spent recovering. Phew.

Oh, and do you see the lovely diamond patterned "blanket" he is wrapped in - it's my Storchenwige Leo Natural wrap... again, THANK GOODNESS for wrapping when you have a sick baby! I wore him in it on my hip all during the check-in process and the long wait, then we snuggled together under it in the hospital bed, then I wore him in it back out to the car with his gauze taped head. It was very comforting for him. I just had to wedge a towel between his face and my body to catch the throw up.... I'm so glad he is better. There's nothing worse than watching your child suffer and not being able to do much about it.

A Quick and Crazy Jumbled Update

A friend sent me an email recently to make sure that we are all still alive... so I guess I'd better start trying to catch up on here! We've been back home for two weeks now. Yesterday was our 8th anniversary... and I didn't remember until 730pm if that says anything about life lately! Lest you think I am the most terrible wife, we had already agreed to celebrate later in the week, so it just slipped my mind for most of the day. We did end up staying up late to watch "When in Rome" and had cake, sparkling pear cider, and popcorn! We were thinking about getting a sitter so we could go out this weekend, but I have been using every friend I have out here for childcare since I hurt my back and have been going to physical therapy twice a week, so I really hate to ask anyone and I'm so paranoid about hiring young women.

Oh wait, did I forget to mention before that I hurt my back?

Yep! I hurt it doing some yard work just before I left for Utah. I had the awful nerve pain down both legs, my tailbone, bum etc - the worst it's been since I first hurt it 15 years ago. I couldn't lift up my legs straight in front of me, put on my own shoes, dress/diaper kids, you name it. It is amazing how much bending you have to do when you are a mom! I got to see a Dr. over at the Rehab hospital where Brad works, and got the complete workup with MRI and everything. Good news is that the PT is really helping, so I think once all the kinks and junk get worked out I'll be ok. Bad news is that it has really put a halt on the working out, and hence the weight loss. I've been doing Turbo Jam and really love it. I lost ten more pounds in three months (34 total since last year!!!). When I'm feeling bummed or stressed I tend to hit the snacks hard, so I'm hoping this lull doesn't send me too far backwards in my fitness goals. I really want to try this Insanity workout, but have been informed that I need to get in better shape before even attempting it or I may paralyze myself =). I need to keep myself mobile so that I'm not totally dysfunctional for our move next month.

Oh wait, did I forget to mention we are moving again?

Yep! Not too far this time though...just a smaller/more affordable/but very cute house a mile or two down the road. We will still be in the same ward, and a quick commute to work for Brad. The nice thing is we know and love the family we will be renting from as well... they were kind enough to let us plant the garden this past weekend so we could get things growing before it's too late. Also, I've been cleaning things out again in preparation and thinking, how do I have enough stuff for a yardsale after having two huge moves already since 2008? I think I get more brutal with the clean out with every move. As it is we no longer have a crib/swing/pack n play/changing table etc and I DO actually plan on having at least one more kid. I think I've just realized you don't need all that plastic clutter to keep track of a baby lol. I just let mine sleep next to me at night, and wrap them during the day. Oh yeah, the back thing... maybe I should have kept the swing, lol.

Anyway, I'm sorry for the rambling stream of consciousness! I usually try to polish these posts up, but for today you get a little peak inside my mind. I'll start positing pics from our trip soon! I must have at least 500 afterall....

So Far So Good... and Not So Good

Well we made it to Utah last Sunday (Mother's Day). We had to leave the house by 5:30 in the morning to make it to the aiport two hours away, all on about 3 hours of sleep. I was so relieved that the boys did relatively well on the plane without carseats since I was traveling alone with them. The only hitch was once we arrived in Salt Lake, we discovered the airline had lost one of our carseats. Thankfully they have loaners to give out, and delivered ours later that evening when they found it. We had a nice Mother's Day dinner at my in-laws (though it was sad not having Brad here!). We met Sky and Ashley's new baby Jace, who is a total doll! On Tuesday I took the boys to see my sister in Spanish Fork, and her new baby Christopher, who is also completely adorable! We spent most of the day tearing up her apartment - I mean visiting =) and had a good time.

Here's where it gets not so good...

On the drive back to my in-laws' in Morgan (about 1 1/2 hours from Aubrey), Eli threw up all over himself and the backseat. Thankfully we were only about ten minutes from home. What a mess.... We got home to find out that Grandma was getting sick too! Eli's sickness continued until around 2am.... just as I cleaned up the last of Eli's throw up, Owen started in. It was a looooong night, and day, and another night. Finally on Thursday afternoon Owen was still throwing up, refusing to drink anything, and really looking yucky so I had to take him to the ER. Thankfully I was able to leave Eli home with Grandma, and he ended up having some fun playing with his cousin.

Once at the hospital, Owen needed fluids and sugar, but his veins were really hard to get into because #1 he's a baby and #2 he was dehydrated. After 3 tries in his hands the NICU nurses came down and put one in his head. It was pretty traumatic, but thankfully I was able to lay with him in the little bed and snuggle him to sleep after that. He also got some anti-nausea meds and we came home.

By the time we got home, I was feeling sick, and spent the rest of the night throwing up! A couple of times Owen woke up as I was running to the bathroom, and let me tell you, throwing up is so much worse when your sick one year old is following you and sobbing. Ugh. Thankfully I felt better yesterday, but Owen is still dragging two days later. We've done a lot of sitting on the couch watching tv and reading books. I'm a little stir crazy, and Eli definitely is! What a vacation huh?! I'm just hoping little O-man perks up soon... it is so hard to see your baby not feeling well, and unable to tell you exactly what is bothering him. Hopefully we have a little more fun next week.

=)

All Aboard!

This week for our Resident Spouse playgroup we drove 1/2 an hour to the neighboring town of Moberly for a miniature train ride. The train runs along a real track, and was a hit with the kids. It was the PERFECT day to be outside, and I enjoyed the relaxing ride through the park.

The kids got to take turns sitting in the Engine and pushing the "whistle." Eli felt like a real Engineer!

Afterwards we had a picnic lunch, and played on the "Candyland" playground. The park was right on the banks of a large lake, surrounded by woods... very scenic! I was sure grateful for the fence though, because my boys were dieing to get near the water and throw stuff.

It was a good day!

Two Babies

In my long winded postings about our Nauvoo trip, I skipped over the most exciting news of the weekend... on Sunday the 25th - the day after Brad's birthday and while we were in Nauvoo, two baby boys were born into our extended family within 4 1/2 hours of each other! Brad's brother's wife gave birth to Jace, and my sister Aubrey gave birth to Christopher! We are so excited to meet and hold both of them that we can't wait to get to Utah (I should be out there with the boys on Sunday!). I am especially tickled to see my baby sister as a MOM! She is amazing! And Eli couldn't be more excited about the prospect of holding two little babies... he has been awaiting their arrivals for MONTHS. I can't tell you how many times he made me let him watch Aubrey's ultrasound online... he especially likes to hear the heart beating, lol. Anytime he heard mention of either Ashley or Aubrey, he had to comment that whoever was mentioned had a baby in her tummy and that soon it would come out! Anyway, welcome to the family Jace and Christopher... we're coming your way soon!

Naked Bats

The week before last I watched a friend's little girl during the day while she was out of town. After using the potty one afternoon, Eli did not want to put his pants back on. Trying to reason with him I said, "We don't walk around naked in front of our friends... that's embarrassing." Eli responded, "Bat's fly around naked - that's embarrassing too!" I busted up laughing. I have no idea where that came from, but he agreed to put his pants back on before leaving the bathroom.

Here are a few pictures from their adventures. Eli and Ivy got along surprisingly well... alternating between boy and girl games.

Hiding from "Sharks"

Playing Butterflies

Ocean in the Tub

Pretty Princesses

Princess Cake aka. Poptarts

Sailing to the Promised Land

Watching Curious George with their Babies

More Princess Cake

Dress up... Again

Ok, so it looks like girl games won out the majority of the time, but Eli and Owen didn't seem to mind! Ivy looks like she could be related to us, so I had fun pretending to have three kids. I think these boys could use a sister... what do you think?

Birthday Boy

In all the posting about our trip, I didn't want to leave out the Birthday Boy! The trip was our main celebration, but while in Nauvoo Brad got to open his gifts: a much needed watch and socks! He also got a birthday candle on his English muffin =).



Once home on Monday, I made his favorite cake ever - it's the cake that made him fall in love with me I think! Back in our early dating days at BYU, I wanted to make him something special for his birthday... I had no idea if he liked carrot cake, but it's the only thing I knew how to make from "scratch." I even tracked down a wheat grinder and some whole wheat to make the flour... nowadays I just buy whole wheat flour at the store (I didn't know you could back then... that's how much I knew about cooking!). Eli and Owen both sang "Happy Birthday" in the most adorable fashion, and helped blow out the candles. We all LOVE Daddy here at our house, and enjoyed having a special day for him!

Whole Wheat Carrot Cake

2 C Whole Wheat Flour
1 C Brown Sugar
Almost 1 C Honey
1 C Oil *(I used 1/2 Cup oil and added 1/4 Cup milled Flax Seed)
1/3 C or less Water
2 tsp Baking Soda
*2 tsp Baking Powder
*1/2 tsp Salt
2 tsp Cinnamon
3 Cups Grated Carrot (I did heaping cups, so over 3 1/2 cups total)
4 Eggs
*2 tsp Vanilla

Cream together wet ingredients in one bowl. Mix dry in another. Blend together and add carrot. Bake in greased pan at 350 for 45 minutes. Cake is very soft and moist, but with a gritty
"whole grain" texture to it!

Cream Cheese Frosting

2 C Powdered Sugar (I used about 1 Cup - I like it more cheesy)
8 oz Cream Cheese softened (I use Neufchatel)
1 tsp Vanilla
1/2 Stick Butter softened

*Cake is my Mom's original recipe... items marked with * are changes I have made.

Carthage

On the way home from Nauvoo, we included a stop at Carthage Jail in Carthage, IL - the place where the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were murdered when an armed Mob with black painted faces stormed the jail. It was not uncommon for one or both of them to be jailed on false charges in an effort to stir up opposition or cause to expel them and the church body from the area. This was one such time - even the jailer took kindly to them, allowing them the use of the master bedroom rather than the jail cell. This particular time, Joseph seemed to sense his impending demise, and the thought of his final parting with his wife and children always brings me to tears.

The Jail House - literally a house. The Jailer and his family lived in it. One room had a barred cell and was called "the dungeon" even though it was on the second floor. Another room on the ground floor was equipped with a barred door and was called the "debtor's cell." The Dungeon Room

The Master bedroom where Joseph, Hyrum, and the 5 friends with them were allowed to stay. When armed mobbers stormed the jail, this is the window Joseph fell out of after being shot.

hThis would be the courtyard where he landed after he fell.


There remains a hole in the door from the bullet that killed Hyrum as he was leaning into the door, trying to keep it shut against the rushing mob.

I realize it may seem morbid to want to visit a place with bars and bullet holes where people were killed, but for me it is interesting to see a piece of history that has been preserved - a place that can bring these stories back to life. It is also a poignant reminder of how very blessed we are today to enjoy relative peace, freedom, and faith.... and how much has been sacrificed for us to be able to enjoy them.... we must never forget what these Pioneers gave; we must never cease to cherish the Truth and the Faith that has been preserved at great cost. For me, reconnecting with these places, these people, and these stories has inspired me to want to be a little better and try a little harder every day to find joy in my station, and to appreciate what I have been given.