Matt's sister called me this afternoon just to tell me how cute our little Emmitt is. She has never seen him in person, just a few pictures here on the blog. He is so stinking cute that when I finished talking to her, I snapped a few more of my lazy little sleeping man.

Here you go Mindy . . . you get the live version in a few days.

Kendal snuggled up to him after I took his picture, so I of course had to take a few more. She really is doing pretty well with not being the baby of the family anymore. She loves her little brother and is truly super sweet. I say that meaning her intentions are sweet. Right after this picture was taken, she laid on top of him. I guess Emmitt will be tough, he will have to be!

We love Tuesdays

Matt had the day off today so around 3:00 we headed to SLC. We went to Temple Square. While we were watching General Conference with our rabbit ears, Kelsey and I noticed how pretty the flowers were at Temple Square so we decided to head down and see them ourselves.

Kendal wanted to push the stroller most of the time. Poor little Emmitt, it is a good thing he was belted in! It was a wonderful day for a stroll though and we all had a super time.

I showed Kelsey and Kendal what flowers were making it smell so sweet and then they loved smelling the hyacinths. Kendal also had a little problem with picking the flowers too. Guilt is spread all over your face when your two children are carrying around wilted daffodils and pansies!

They LOVED the water. Any and all the water features were admired, touched, loved, and watched for a very long time.

This was Emmitt's first little outing and at 2 weeks old today, he did great. I guess we will see if the wind bothered him tonight. Wish me luck and much sleep! This morning Emmitt had his first professional photo shoot. My cousin Sarah who has her own photography business came and did some super fun photos today. I will be sharing them in a week or so; look for her link on the side of my page.

Since Matt and I don't find out what gender our babies are, I buy one girl outfit and one boy outfit for each baby to come home from the hospital in. I bought Emmitt's little outfits at Walmart a few weeks ago - a pink snail onesie with pink pants and a blue cow onesie and blue pants. He came home in the blue one obviously and the pink little outfit was setting in the computer room with his hospital hat waiting to put into the cedar chest when Little Bird, aka Kendal, decided it was hers. Why would a little boy need pink clothes?


Yesterday she put the pink 0-3 months clothes on and was so proud of herself. I had to take a picture. See the crotch snaps at her belly button and you would not believe how tight the bottom of those little pants are on her legs! She wore it around for about an hour and then I imagine the painted on feeling was a little much for her and she took them off.

She repeated the process again today. I need to get them put away and out of her sight! She thinks I am crazy when I tell her those are Emmitt's clothes!

Yesterday we made a trip to the library. I try to do this when Kendal is in preschool, but with the crumby weather (SNOW), Conference weekend, and Spring Break next week, I had to go and get a little prepared and Kendal came along. She was pretty good. She kept saying "need to pay for this" with every book and dvd she picked out. It was pretty cute. So 6 dvds later, a few books on CD for Matt, about 20 books, and a trip up the EXTREMELY noisy staircase chasing a giggling 3 year old who is also screaming "don't tetch me momma, don't tetch me" in the nice QUIET library, we checked out. The fun kid librarian and I have had a few good-book conversations and another one commenced. She told me about a book called The Hunger Games that she has just read. She thought it was pretty good.

I think to myself "I have not read a book in awhile and since I am now nursing a little sweetie, I can read for a few minutes while I feed him and make use of my sitting time." So I go get the book. Well, when we got home from the library and it was time to feed Emmitt, I got my book out. I read and read and read and read. It is a good book. I finished it this afternoon and I really liked it too. If anyone is looking for a nice, easy read, with a pretty good story, get The Hunger Games. I just looked it up on Amazon.com and there is second book coming out in September. Dang it, I hate it when they do that to me! Get me interested and then I have to wait!

By the way, the fountain of Emmitt had its opening premiere yesterday. And all this time he has been around (a whopping 10 days) I thought I would avoid all those pee-all-over-the-place boy stories. WRONG!

Settling Down

Things at the Crane household are well. My body has finally decided that it is only feeding one child instead of 14, so that is seriously great. I went to Quilt Guild meeting last night. I so love that night of the month. It was once again inspiring and so friendly. We have some truly fun, great ladies that come to guild meeting. Oh, one note on that.

In the past when I tell Kelsey that I am going to quilt guild she usually says something like this "Oh mom, I hate it when you leave. I wish I could go with you or you just didn't have to go. Who is going to babysit us until Dad gets home?" She is usually excited about the babysitter and isn't so hung up on me leaving. Well, last night I told Kelsey that once again I was going to quilt guild and that there wasn't going to be a babysitter. I was just going to wait for Matt to get home and then go. Her response surprised me when she said "Sweet, we are going to party tonight!" She even did a little happy dance.

When I got home from guild meeting, the house was near perfectly picked up, the girls were in bed, Matt was in the recliner watching a cow sale DVD, the fire was roaring (it was snowing again!), and all was very well. I wondered what kind of PARTY had occurred. So I asked Kelsey this morning. She said "It was super fun, we watched Peter Pan and Dad didn't make us have cough medicine before bed." Oh the simple joys of childhood!

So here are a few pictures. This one is Kelsey and Emmitt getting ready for bed last week. Kelsey has surprised me with this little baby. I thought she would always be wanting to hold him and love on him and it would drive me crazy. WRONG! She doesn't want to hold him because she doesn't want him to "throw up on her." Funny little girl. Kendal went to my parents' house for a week after Emmitt was born. That was a wonderful thing to happen. It was always part of the plan, but the fact that Kendal was sick with fevers for 3 days before he was born was a good excuse too. While at my mom's house, she was treated for bronchitis, an ear infection, and a nasty gooey eye. Thanks mom and dad for taking care of the mischievous 3 year old for a week!

This is our little Emmitt yesterday. He is seriously the best, laziest baby. We are so happy to have this little man join our family. He is a sweetheart.

CLINT

Today is the funeral of one of my good friends, Clint Elmer. He was one of my brother's best friends in high school, and so that meant he was one of my friends too. My brother Glen was a Senior when I was a Freshmen and luckily his friends liked me to tag along with them. Glen didn't like it as well, but his buddies didn't mind. There are a few reasons they liked us 'young girls' to tag along - 1. The older guys needed someone (me and a few of my friends) to drive their trucks in the foothills while they sat in the back shooting rabbits and shouting driving orders. 2. We were so happy to be included it didn't matter that we did dumb stuff like spotlighting rabbits and eating cheese fries. 3. Freshmen girls giggle at most everything, especially 18 year old boys being crazy.

Clint and Glen had a great friendship and I am glad I got to benefit from it also. Clint was a super fun guy and he was super nice too. He was the truest kind of friend and he will be missed. I got to play with him on the Bicknell backroads (he was there when I wrecked my car 6 days after I got my license!), we wrote a few letters when he was in the MTC, for part of my Senior Ball date I went to his wedding reception, and I got to stop in at Checker Auto in Richfield every now and again to see his smiling, happy face. He was always happy to see me and I am grateful for his friendship.

Monroe, Utah - Our beloved husband, father, son, brother and uncle, Clint Ray Elmer, age 37, passed away March 26, 2009 at his home in Monroe, with his family by his side, after one hell of a fight with cancer.
He was born September 21, 1971 in Provo, Utah, a son of Mark Bliss and Diana Lee Stickney Elmer. He graduated from Wayne High School, Class of 1989.

He married Kami Kaye Hammond, the love of his life, February 19, 1993 in the Salt Lake LDS Temple. Together they had a son, Kolton Ray, which was Clint’s pride and joy.
Clint was a manager at Checker Auto and worked for them for over 15 years. He joined the National Guard in 2006, where he was with the 116th Engineer Company of Spanish Fork, currently a Specialist E4.

Clint was an avid reader. He enjoyed playing games with his family and friends. He like to hunt and fly fish, but more than anything, he loved being with his family and his friends. Clint, Kami and Kolton moved to Monroe in 1998 where they have made their home.

He is survived by his devoted and loving wife, Kami; his son, Kolton, both of Monroe; parents: Mark and Diana Elmer of Bicknell; brothers: Dallas and Kristina Elmer of Fremont; Cory and Michelle Elmer of Monroe; Cole and Darci Elmer of Bicknell; grandmother, Jane Elmer of Payson; 23 nieces and nephews; his parents-in-law: Kaye and Russell Hammond of Tooele.
The family would like to thank all the friends, family, hospice staff and the community, for their love, support and help during these past months of Clint’s valiant battle.

Funeral services will be held Wednesday, April 1, 2009 at 12 Noon in the Monroe LDS Stake Center, 140 South Main Street in Monroe. Friends may call for viewing at the Springer Turner Funeral Home, 260 North 400 West, in Richfield, Tuesday evening from 6 to 8 P.M. or at the Stake Center in Monroe, Wednesday morning from 10:00 to 11:30 prior to the services.
Graveside services with military honors accorded by the 116th Engineer Company Spanish Fork Unit of the Utah National Guard, the 222 Richfield Unit of the Utah National Guard and the Utah National Guard Military Funeral Honors Team, will be in the Monroe City Cemetery under the care of the Springer Turner Funeral Home of Richfield and Salina, Utah.

Ever Tried Sucking on a Basketball?

Emmitt has!

Definitions of engorged on the Web:

congested: overfull as with blood wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

Of or pertaining to something that is overly filled with fluid, especially a blood vessel

en.wiktionary.org/wiki/engorged

NOTE: OVERLY FILLED

Breast engorgement occurs in the mammary glands when too much breast milk is contained within them. It is caused by insufficient breastfeeding and/or blocked milk ducts. When engorged the breasts may swell, throb, and cause mild to extreme pain.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engorgement

NOTE: MAY CAUSE EXTREME PAIN

engorgement - An area of the body that is filled and stretched with fluid or distended with blood, www.beautynationpl.com/en/medical_terms.asp

NOTE: STRETCHED OR DISTENDED

engorgement - condition in which breasts become overly full of milk. Engorged breasts may feel swollen, hard, and painful. Engorgement can lead to blocked milk ducts. www.storknet.com/cubbies/pregnancy/glossary.htm

NOTE ONCE AGAIN: PAINFUL

distended or swollen with fluids.haabet.dk/SpencerSystem1952/Glossary.html

engorgement - The distention, or swelling of the breasts, usually in the early days after initiation of natural or induced lactation, caused by vascular ...stargatelibraries.com/Glossary.html

engorgement - On about day three postpartum, sometimes the breasts become hard and swollen (engorged) as the milk comes in.www.womenscareofwi.com/wcofwi/services/glossary+of+terms.asp

NOTE: SOMETIMES???

It is a good thing Emmitt takes after his daddy - he likes basketball, he is a great eater, and he is pretty persistent when it comes to something he wants!

Straight from Heaven

Well, he is here. It still seems a little weird to say "HE" to me, but I will get used to it.

Emmitt was born on Tuesday and we are so happy he is here.

Here is the growing crew at the hospital about 1/2 hour after he was born. Kelsey is super happy about a baby brother but NOT about the name. Kendal was just happy to see mom and really didn't get a chance to see brother because she is sick and grandma took her away for a few days. Matt and I are both happy he is here and super healthy and that I am no longer pregnant. Matt said I was getting a little testy, that is putting it mildly.

The rest of these pictures are from today. It is amazing how fatherhood can just wipe you out? No, I can not complain, Matt has been very helpful and understanding today.



My cousin LeEllen made this delicious blanket for him. He is so snuggly and cute! Thanks LeEllen!

Emmitt has been my smallest baby at 8 pounds and 1 ounce. He seems so tiny compared to my other babies! What a sweet little bundle straight from heaven!

Kendal was so WILD in church yesterday. She has been on one today too. Is it spring fever and she is feeling her oats or something else? Goodness, she is so WILD! Yesterday during Sacrament Meeting she was all over the place. In the past I have been able to handle her pretty well and keep her entertained, but she was everywhere! Then, she started singing. Not the nice hymns when she was supposed to, but while the Sacrament was being passed and you are supposed to be so quiet! Matt and the girls watched Madagascar 2 again on Saturday night so she started belting out "I YIKE EM TUNKY!" over and over again, which translated is "I like em chunky," the song from that movie we love so much at my house lately. Kelsey and I were giggling so hard trying to keep her quiet so that just egged her on. Matt had no idea what she was saying so hopefully nobody else caught it either. Kelsey thought it was hilarious and would whisper "I like em big" then Kendal would finish it off with "I like em chunky." It was a bad thing.

Today the girls didn't have school because of the end of the term or something. Plus it did try to snow for awhile this morning so my girls have been cooped up today. Kendal has been spanked more today than in the entire past 2 weeks. Is she really that bad or am I just super fat and impatient? You be the judge.

Friday, here I come! I have been telling people that I am not quite ready for this little baby to exit my body yet because it is perfectly taken care of right now. It naps, it eats, it doesn't cry, it doesn't poop, it is totally taken care of. BUT, I think I am ready now. I have been having some good head butts down under and kicks up high that tell me hopefully this little one is getting ready too.

By the way, I don't need any comments like the ones I get from my "old guy" friends at church. Dick offered to take me for a ride up Lake Creek the other day, Jay told me a few weeks ago that I was "looking like I was done", I won't mention the names of the fellers that tell me how LARGE I am because there have been a quite a few. It is all okay, they are sweet old men and I am glad they are my friends. I hope they mean it in the nicest way possible! I did get a wish from one "old guy"on Sunday on my way out to the car. He said "good luck this week Rachel." I thought that was super sweet. Anyway, no harsh comments on my appearance PLEASE!

OGRE

The past few days have been so nice and so we have spent most of the afternoons outside cleaning out flowers beds, picking up garbage that somehow finds my yard, and just sitting on the deck in the sun. Yesterday Kendal and I were walking from the front porch to the back deck and she said to me "I wanna pet a ogre." I asked her to repeat it a few times so I knew what she said. She does have a thing for the movie Shrek and calls him an Ogre every now and then so it wasn't that new to me, but the petting part had me puzzled. I said to Kendal "I don't know how we are going to find an ogre for you to pet. How about just a monster?" (She loves Sully from Monsters INC movie)

We went to the back deck and the conversation was forgotten until today. We were once again on the back deck and our 2 cats were basking in the sun with us. One cat's name is Serafina and one is named Shrek. She walked over to Shrek the cat and said "Hello Shrek, hello Ogre" in a sweet little high pitched voice. It was so cute. It finally sunk into my thick head what she meant the day before about petting an ogre. She is a funny little girl. I told Kelsey the story and she just about rolled over laughing. She thought it was so funny too.

Nice Weekend

Matt goes down to Salina about once a week, either on Saturday or his Tuesday off of normal work. I have not been down there in a LONG time so we all went down for the past weekend. It was a good time. I was so glad it was good weather because all I wanted to do was go up to the ranch and watch my girls run wild.

We did just that.

Saturday evening consisted of a perfect very laid back hot dog roast at the ranch. It was wonderful. I got in my ranch fix and the kids got in their cousin/4-wheeler/hotdog fix.




This is Kendal and Aiden getting the best of their hot dogs.

This is Kelsey and Judd. They always seem to get along really well. I think Kelsey wishes she had an older brother!

This is Kendal, Alissa, and Adrianna on 'their' bench.

Fashion is unimportant to Kendal. Thank goodness it is unimportant for a hot dog roast!

I kept trying to put the chips away so the kids would actually eat their hot dogs. Alissa kept giving me her little smile so I had to give up the Doritos. She loved them - with company or solo!

It was a super evening and it was a great way to spend it. I love being outside, apparently I love hot dogs because I ate 2 of them, I love that spring is just around the corner (maybe it is really here!), and I love watching my little girls get dirty and have a good time.

I am including this picture for my mom. She hasn't seen my tummy in awhile. 11 days until my due date - getting a little nervous and excited!

This is the load of kid cousins at the ranch on Saturday. Sunday's bunch was even larger with Paige, Lainee, and Lilly, but I was too lazy to take any Sunday pictures.

Thanks Cranes for a nice nice weekend!

Hubcap Heaven

"Don't have a laptop? Well, everyone else does and you can get one too, even if you have bad credit or no credit at all! Just call The Orange (or blue or yellow or whatever) Hippo and we will get you a new laptop, and maybe even a free MP3 player or digital camera! Yes, you can have a new laptop with bad credit. Bad or no credit is not your fault! Let us help you"

That is what I heard on the radio yesterday. Well, something like that anyway. Kendal had an appointment with her neurologist at Primary Children's Hospital yesterday and once I leave my beloved valley I no longer get my MOST beloved KTMP radio station. Once I hit Park City or Provo, I have to listen to other radio stations. I usually just turn it off, but I was trying not to listen to Kendal's Leapster game. I feel for all of you that have to listen to that crap everyday. Honestly, I feel badly for you. I think at least every other advertisement or commercial I heard yesterday had the words "bad credit", "mortgage rate", or "how to get it FREE" in them.

Now, since I don't have normal TV, cable, or satellite, I listen to MY local radio station, and I don't really enjoy or visit CNN.com or even KSL.com daily, Matt says I don't truly live in this world. Well, HERE I AM! I do live in this wonderful world! I just choose not to fill my little world with all the BIG world garbage! I know, I am naive in the current events of the day. I really am. I should be better that way, but still, I don't need pushy, LOUD, obnoxious radio or TV salesmen telling me how to live and what I NEED. How do you people deal with it everyday? The sarcasm, the noise, the "your a victim" spills, the harshness, the UNIMPORTANT clutter that it all gives you? Yuck, I felt dirty and defiled just listening to it for a couple of hours!

Well, on to better things. The neurologist - He is really happy with the amazing progress Kendal is making. He was very pleased with her physical abilities and also the way she responded to him. I was really hoping he would say "Let's start tapering Kendal off of that medicine she hates to take every night and morning" but he didn't. We get to have another EEG in July (that will be the 2 years seizure free mark) and if it reads normal THEN we get to TALK about tapering her off the meds. Not such bad news really, but like I said, I was hopeful for NOW!




After our appointment at Primary Children's we headed to the amazing HUBCAP HEAVEN on 33rd South. I have wanted to go there since November 2006, when Matt first lost the central part of one of our hubcaps. It took me 2 1/2 years to replace a hubcap! How pitiful is that?!?!? Then last week Matt took the car to Ogden to have someone work on it (it no longer spontaneously makes the irritating signal noise!) and another FULL hubcap was lost. There must be hundreds of hubcaps on that road between here and Ogden because it has a record with us. So all of last week and this week I (but mostly Matt) has been driving my car without 2 hubcaps! I felt so self conscious about it. It was like I was naked or revealing some PRIVATE part of my car that should not be revealed!

I called a few good ol boys down home that have salvage yards and nobody has Malibu hubcaps. Nobody, not even HUBCAP HEAVEN did! So, the Heaven boys set me up with 4 new hubcaps. They were all into the SHINY chrome and all prettying me up and I told them I needed the most basic, plain hubcaps because I was not that kind of girl. They laughed and put these ones on for me. Matt says they are still too "loud" and he also made another racial comment that I will not put on our blog. But you know what? I have 4 hubcaps! Hooray!! Derek our neighbor told me that the only way he knows it is my white Malibu is the missing center hubcap. So just in case anyone else recognized me that way, I included the picture for you!

Strawberries

Last week when the weather was nice I cleaned out my strawberry bed. I have a TON of strawberry plants coming up! If anyone wants some strawberry starts, let me know. When this last storm we just had finally melts and it dries out a bit I will dig you some strawberries.

Cake in a cup

My sweet neighbors brought me a delicious surprise today - chocolate cake in a cup!
It was the perfect serving size, even though I shared with my two little cake eaters. Here is the recipe, just because it is nice to know you can have chocolate cake in a few minutes. Is there anyone else out there like me? Sometimes I need a little treat and I don't want to wait!

5 minute chocolate cake

4 tbsp flour

4 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp cocoa

1 egg

3 tbsp milk

3 tbsp oil

small splash of vanilla

In a large coffee mug, mix all dry ingredients. Then mix in egg, oil, milk, and vanilla. Microwave on high for 3 minutes. Cake will rise over the edge of mug, let it cool and eat!

I just happened to have an open tub of icing in the fridge that we smeared on ours and it was wonderful! My neighbor Debbie suggested dusting it with powdered sugar. Try it out and see what you like. I am thinking a Snickers melted in the middle of it would be nice too!!!

Thanks Kami and Debbie!

Kristen in TF, if you read this you need to email me! cranes@thebluezone.net It was great to hear from you guys! Amelia, same goes for you. You can't just comment and then I have no way to chat with you!

Countdown

This paper is hanging inside the medicine cabinet in the girls' bathroom. Every morning when Kelsey brushes her teeth, she marks a day off. It is her countdown calendar for when the baby comes. She started it a few months ago and I can not believe how diligent she is - she is right on. Today she asked me "Mom, what is 70 minus 50? Something with a 2 right?" I said "Right, it is 20." She then told me "20 more days until we get to see our baby!"

It's here again!

It's here again - my favorite night of the month - quilt guild meeting.
The Design Challenge starts this month and the theme this year is Baskets of Friendship. We are supposed to take a 9 inch basket block that we have made to guild meeting tonight along with 2 notions in a cute little basket to trade. We will come home with another basket block that someone else has made and directions of what to do next. How suspenseful it has been! Here is my basket block. Blue and brown, I must be thinking 'boy boy boy.'





I also finished my block of the month quilt top that we have been working on as an Enrichment activity the other night. I had a post earlier about what color of sashing fabric to purchase. I tried hard to find a green that worked for me, but it ended up dark brown. I do like how it turned out though. Thanks everyone for your helpful comments of what to buy.

Here it is on our bed. That is where it will eventually live. Matt likes it and is excited for me, but I haven't told him that it won't actually go on our bed until after the fair. Hopefully I can talk all the Enrichment ladies into putting theirs into the fair too and we will have a great show!

Well, off to figure out what to have ready for Matt and girls to eat tonight while I am far away in a beatiful place called quilting.

Firstborn tag

Here you go moms - a different kind of survey for a change -it's all about your first born! Just copy and paste it.

1. WAS YOUR FIRST PREGNANCY PLANNED? Yes, very much so, 2 days after we signed insurance papers!

2. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS? hooray, Matt yelled it through the grocery store parking lot where I bought and took the test! I was excited and scared to become a parent, very scared.
3. HOW OLD WERE YOU? 26 and 27 when she was born
4. WHERE DID YOU LIVE? Cortez, Colorado when she was born, and Corvallis, Oregon when she was made (is that too crude?)
5. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT? Well, after no period and me falling of the roof of my parents house while shingling (yes, I know - amazing skill), I decided I better take a little test to see if I could take the pain meds.
6. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST? Matt of course and then my friend Debra in Oregon because she was a nurse and told me if I could take those pain meds!! Then the grandmas and grandpas about 3 months later.
7. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX? No
8. DUE DATE? Feb 11 2002
9. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS? yes, only for about 2 months though, I must mention I hate vomiting
10. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE? KFC coleslaw and chicken nuggets, or anything I didn't have to cook

11. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST? The HEAT - the 4 Corners area is warm in the summer and that apartment had NO A/C!
12. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S SEX? Girl
13. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING? I didn't care - healthy is all I cared about
14. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY? ouch . . . 42

15. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER? Yes, a few. One with the ward, one at work, and one with my family.

Kelsey at 4 days old

16. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW? I knew.
17. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY? Not really, getting chubby, that and I can't jump on the tramp now without peeing my pants!!
18. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH? hospital in Cortez, CO
19. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR? 21
20. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL? Matt
21. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH? Matt and the doc
22. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION? Natural, just thinking about it makes me wince
23. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN? no, I did get an 800 mg Ibuprofen the next day though!
24. Did you yell at your husband? Yes, he and the doctor were talking about horses having babies and how different humans were and how much longer it took! (he was the docs veterinarian) I had to remind them that I was the one in labor and I was not a horse!
25. Who does your child look like? both of us, more like Matt when she was littler and more like me as she grows. Maybe neither of us - she is beautiful!
26. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH? 8 pounds 12 ounces
27. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN? One day late
28. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER? Kelsey Dawn
29. WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO NAME HIM/HER WHAT YOU DID? Dr. Kelsey (his last name) is a vet that Matt worked with and it was the only name we could agree on. Matt's grandpa's name was Don, so we put Dawn in there too.
30.HOW OLD IS YOUR FIRST BORN TODAY? She just turned 7.

Here is little Kelsey at one month old.

**Now for the fun to spread (Tag 5 people)- I tag: lets see . . . anyone who wants to do this, it was fun, thanks Cherlelyn!

That's my girl!

The Wasatch County Chess Tournament was today. Kelsey has been going to Chess Club at her elementary school for 1/2 hour after school once a week for about a month. She is a pretty smart chess player. Well, today she got to play in a tournament just here in town and our sweet girl tied for first place in the k-2 grade division. Here she is with her winnings - a super fun vinyl roll up board and some nice pieces, with 2 queens per color. Did you know you could play with 2 queens? Me niether, not until today when Kelsey won a second queen during one of her matches!



Every kid got to play 4 matches. It is pretty nice how they set the games up for the kids to play - they get matched to their own ability levels. Kelsey did a super great job. We are so proud of her. We do have a few things to work on though - in all 4 of her matches she let her opponent get down to just their king, while she had a bunch of pieces left. She loves to kill and take their pieces so much that she forgets she is supposed to put their king in check-mate!! Well, I am sure she doesn't forget, she just gets wrapped up in the slaughter of knights and bishops and such I suppose!

This is funny, here she is in her final match, the one she tied on. It is a little dark, sorry. We have got to teach the girl how to sit in a skirt! I think she gets so nervous and wrapped up in the game, she doesn't realize what she is doing. I also caught her with hair in her mouth! Yuck! She only does that when she is super nervous!

Another 'sit in a skirt' lesson! Shortly after this both Kelsey and her opponent just stood up for the rest of the game. They were the second to last ones playing - drawing it out!

Matt had to work in Roy today and he was so sad he missed the day with Kelsey. With Matt at work, that meant Kendal got to go with us. She did so well! We left the house at 8:15 and didn't get back until about 1:15. Kendal was super good to sit quiet with me and color and play Leapster and read and "dit a dink a wawa"over and over again.

More Dreams of Summer

I can not help myself, with the past few days being so warm that the north side of my roof is nearly snow-free, I just keep dreaming of summer. I am so uninspired by anything but looking out the window and imagining leaves on the trees, a green lawn, and planning my yard work for the summer. Seriously, I looked out the window yesterday for so long imagining it all, Kelsey asked me what I was doing. When I went out to get the wood in, I just stayed out and dreamed of flowers on my dead looking shrubs and what I was going to dig up and move or throw out or plant. Actually, I laid in bed last night and decided that the snow has melted enough (about 2 1/2 feet) on the east side of my house and those little flower beds need to be enlarged. Maybe today I will get out there with my shovel and get myself a dose of spring in February.

Anyway, the girls are longing for summer too and so I finally did it - I gave them blue food coloring in the tub and let them play in the ocean. Since only Kelsey has ever played in the ocean and she was only 1 year old, it was more like splash in the blue tub water right before bed and get really relaxed and tired. They loved it. They even went diving with their amazing goggles! I have got to get Kendal some other goggles, she liked Kelsey's much more - who could blame her?


Although I could tell her that her goggles look like GLORIA! I like em big and chunky!