I love this book! (no spoilers, don't worry)

I was so excited for this book to come out, and became #416 on the waiting list at the library to get the book, that put a damper on things. After a week I looked to see where I was and it had dropped to about 367, not so bad in a week. I planned it would take a few months before I could read it... until, I was at the library, walked past the TEEN section (Nate makes fun of me for that)

and there it was sitting on the shelf. WOO HOO!!! I could hardly believe it, I even had to pick it up to see if it was the real thing or just some cardboard display! Sure enough it was real, now I thought for sure they wouldn't let me leave with it, I didn't want to get my hopes up. I let the kids play, and then we walked up to the counter (I was hoping for a self-checkout, but they didn't have one) and I was sure they would say "Oh sorry, we have a HUGE waiting list, you can't have this" but they didn't, I got it and went home and just couldn't wait to start.

It took about a week to read, I really didn't want it to end, and was sad when it was over, but life goes on!! Maybe I'll have to read them again, soon! Anyhow, that is the story of how I got this book, it is hard to believe that they actually had the book sitting there on the shelf with such a long waiting list. Lucky ME!!

I loved the series, sometimes I had to laugh about the fact that I was reading a vampire romance novel from the teen section. I think Nate is happy that it is over, and he will be getting my attention again! For those who haven't read it... Happy reading, its a good one!!

Walking Boy

Gracen decided it was time to start walking! A little over a week ago he took his first 3 steps and now he is trying to walk across the room. He likes to stand up to the couch and take off, sometimes he doesn't wait to get his balance and he loses it pretty easy tipping all over, the whole time he kinda giggles to himself, "a he ahe a he ahee". He gets so excited and watches to see if anyone is watching. It is fun to watch him grow and learn new things!

Brynlee the gymnast

Last night Brynlee put on her "dancin clothes" so she could do a little gymnastics. She has loved watching the olympics!! Every night before bed she asks if "the gynactsics" are on. The one night that they were on, she became a little gymnast herself and started running across the room trying to imitate what they were doing. It is fun to watch her, I kinda wonder where she gets her coordination from, it definately isn't from me! She points her toes and trys to do what they do. She is so excited to be in preschool--or what she calls "playschool" thanks to Caillou--and dance, and now the latest addition to her list gymnastics. She thinks she will be doing them all, but we are going to have to decide between dance and gymnastics, probably whichever is cheapest. It is crazy to think that she is old enough for these kinds of activities, but I am really excited for her. She is such a good girl and so much fun! It kinda makes me wonder what it will be like to have her gone for a couple hours twice a week.

Here she is practicing her gymnastics...

One last thing, kinda off the subject, last night when we were having family prayer, Brynlee was saying it and she asked to "bless that Gracen's owies will go away" Nate didn't hear owies and thought she was asking that Gracen would go away. She is such a sweet girl, and she loves her baby brother!

Emergency Room, again...

Back in April, Brynlee's fingers got smashed in a window seat at our friends house and we thought they were probably broken. I wasn't too sure whether they were or not so I took her to the school and had Nate look at them, and we decided we better take her in just to be sure. The good news was that they weren't. This morning we re-lived that experience all over again, except it was Gracen this time.
I was in the kitchen cutting up some strawberries, Nate had run to the store for something and Brynlee needed to go to the bathroom. Gracen had followed her over and found that she hadn't shut the door all the way, so he started to climb up on the door. When Brynlee noticed it opening she came and pushed it shut.(This is what I am guessing happened, I really didn't see it though) I had no idea he was even over there until I heard him screaming. I ran over and his poor little fingers were stuck in the door on the side where the hinges are. I had to turn the knob to open the door and get his fingers out. I picked him up and when I looked at his fingers they were smashed flat, I knew they had to be broken. My first thought was to go see if Nate was back, and luckily he was just coming to the door when I ran over there. I told him what happened and handed Gracen to him so I could get our stuff and Brynlee (who was screaming at this point) and we headed to the E.R.
We got there and they were actually not looking nearly as bad, but I was still freaking out. Poor Gracen was just crying and trying to keep the nurses from doing what they needed to. I didn't think to grab his binky, so I asked them if they had any (mostly in hope that if they didn't they would go get him one), they looked at me like I was crazy. They took us to a room and Nate went to find a store to get him one, poor thing was really worked up by now. I kept thinking that would be the one thing that would soothe him. After about 5 minutes the nurse came and brought a binky for him, I can't tell you how happy I was that she found one for him. I put it in his mouth, and to my amazment he calmed down to just a sniffle, and relaxed enough to get a couple minutes of sleep in before the doctor came in to see him.
We got x-rays done and the doctor, knowing that Nate was a med student, came and took Nate to look at them. Nate came back and said that they weren't broken, there was just one place near the top knuckle of his forth finger that has a tiny chip in it-nothing they can do about it.
I was so relieved, after seeing those little fingers when I first picked him up, that was all that had happened. They are still a little swollen and red, and he has a couple small cuts on one finger, but he is using them and acting like they don't bother him.
Nate and I couldn't believe that his fingers were all okay. I wish there was a way to describe how smashed they looked, something you never want to see happen to your children. Nate was telling me that when I first handed Gracen over to him, that his finger flopped down (or bent?) in between his top and middle knuckle, where it is suppose to be straight, he thought it had been crushed.
I sure am grateful that it ended good, a little stressful for us, and a lot painful for my sweet baby, but all is well. It really makes me realize just how blessed we are.
The fact that we made it to the emergency room in one piece, with Nates crazy driving, is a miracle in itself. I sure hope we don't have to do that again any time soon!!

Correction

Just incase some of you were wondering, Gracen really isn't 19 inches long! He is 29 inches. My friend Emalee pointed this out to me the other day, and of course I just have to laugh about it, I shrunk my baby down to 3/4 an inch shorter than he was the day he was born! But really he is growing and happy and healthy! Just thought I'd clear that up!

Missing Des Moines

Two years ago, I never thought I would say the words, "I miss Des Moines" but here I am in Ohio, finding myself saying it all the time! I really do miss it a lot! We enjoyed being there so much more than I could have ever imagined. We had some amazing friends, we lived in an awesome ward, and it is just a nice place to live. I will probably, in the future, be missing Sandusky too. I think the hardest part is getting used to a new place, new friends, and a new ward. Our new ward is really nice, and have really welcomed us, but it is very small, and just not the same as Des Moines second ward. Not that it should be the same, I think we will really come to love this ward just as much, and it will be a great place for us for the next two years. Brynlee is really missing Des Moines, too. She is always bringing up some story of when she was with her friends and even some of my friends out there. She always asks about our friends in Des Moines and when we will see them again. I think the hardest part of leaving was telling her to say goodbye to everyone, she would get really sad about it. She has been able to make some new friends here and is always asking to play with them, and soon preschool will start!!! Yeah, I am so excited!! So is she!

Now an update on what we have been up to. Nate started rotations at a family practice clinic last Monday. He is working with 3 doctors, and hasn't been able to do a whole lot yet, mostly just watching, I think it is pretty boring for him and he is very sure he doesn't want to do family practice.

On Thursday, Nate and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary!! He was at the clinic most of the day, I took the kids to the library and out to lunch, and I made him a nice dinner and a homemade cherry pie for dessert. We had our friends watch the kids and went out to dinner a few weeks ago to celebrate early because we knew Nate would be busy. It is hard to believe we have been married for five years! Nate really is a great person and I am blessed to have him in my life!







On Friday we went to a place called Sheldons Marsh (I think that's right). It was a pretty place, we were able to walk along a trail for about a mile and there were lookouts and a beach. Brynlee's favorite part was the beach, when we first walked to it there was a crane in the water just down from us and she ran over to chase it. Gracen was all smiles even though he had to stay in the carrier the whole time.

This is the picture of her chasing the crane, it is in the left corner of the picture and I am way across the beach that is why it is hard to see.

Gracen had his 9 month well check recently and is now weighing in at 18lbs 15ozs and he is 19 inches long. He has been all over the place crawling and is in to everything. If we tell him no or to get down he turns and smiles and waves to us, it is so cute! He has just recently started to stand on his own, he doesn't last too long before he falls, but he gets so excited and holds his arms in the air, and gets a big grin on his face. I have tried to get a video and picture of him standing, but as soon as he sees the camera he is down and trying to get it. Here is a picture of him standing in the tub.

Well, to all our friends in Des Moines, we miss you and hope you are doing well!!

Playin at the beach

On Saturday we went to the beach for a picnic and to let Brynlee play in the sand. She was more interested in the water than the sand and got her pants a little wet when she got too close to a wave. She really wanted to swim in it, but we aren't too sure of how safe the water is. We've heard that e-coli levels are pretty high so we didn't want to risk it. She had a good time anyway.

Gracen didn't get to play in the sand much, I didn't want him to eat it and that is exactly what he tried to do when I let him out of the stroller for this picture.
The weather was perfect and we had a really nice time getting out as a family before Nate starts rotations on Monday.