A Day on the Farm

The other day after school we went to Thanksgiving Point to their farm. It was M2's first time at the farm. We have taken him to the Dino museum, but not the farm for some reason. Aidan & Andrew have been there a lot, but we managed to find something they had never done either. We found this cool trampoline thing with rubber band things they can climb on to get to the top. Think Trampoline/Jungle Gym Combo.


The boys in the jungle gym/trampoline. I lova Aidan in his meditation stance. M2 is just hanging out. Andrew made it all the way to the top.

The boys were able to ride a horse. Aidan got this really big one, so the second time around they had to go different times because both Aidan and Andrew wanted to ride the big horse. I love this picture of Andrew, it is totally him. Aidan did really well on this horse. M2 was saying Weehaw. Ride 'em cowboy all the way around. In this picture he was afraid he would fall off, but he didn't.

The boys looking out the window. Andrew then wanted to do a "prince" pose.

Cute inmates!

The boys my a nice sheep statue

Here's the boys in front of the peacock turkey coop.

Here are the boys near the goats.

Max milking his first cow.

Sports

Need I say more! What a great time to be a sports fan.....

Go BYU

Some of you may remember my post here of Max placing his hand over his heart during the National Anthem at a BYU game. Well, apparently he now links the two together. Today I did a program for the Republican Convention and the topic of the National Anthem came up. Because of this the song was in my head and when I got home I started to sing it. Max ran into the kitchen and stood there with his hand over his heart. It was so cute I had to sing the whole song. At the end of the song he shouted, "Go BYU!"

Happy Birthday Shane

Today is Shane's birthday! I just wanted to wish him a happy birthday and tell him how much I love him. I am so proud of him starting school. It hasn't been an easy decision that we have thought over since getting married, but the stars have aligned and it is time. I am so proud of the kind of Father he is. He is so hands on and loves to spend time with the boys and play with them. He is also a hard worker and helps me out, especially with fun projects like staining the deck (our current project). He is very patient and loving. He is very loyal. He is very supportive in the things I want to learn and do. We have had some amazing years together and I can't wait for more. I love you Shane. If you want to leave him a birthday message, leave a comment and I will make sure he gets it.

New Work Schedule

So I started a new work schedule on Monday. It is still in the trial stages, but we are hoping it will work out. I wanted to see how these first few days went before I posted about them. I am not working only 3 hours a day and start in the afternoon. It has been really good to get Max in a morning routine and he seems to be thriving on my attention. He has been a little more clingy. I think it is partially the change and also he might be afraid it is temporary. It has gotten a little better every day. I love that he can sleep later. We were pretty much picking him up out of bed and taking him straight to my parent's house. Now, we can get up, eat breakfast, color, etc. He then goes to my Mom and it feels like I drive to work and it is time to leave already. That part has been nice. I'm excited because the ward play group and things like library story time are all in the mornings so now I can get to them. I am also happy that during the summer I can take the boys to swimming lessons and this won't have to be put on my Mom (you know, 4 in swimming and Max screaming to go in the water). I am also done early enough that if I need to ever get the boys from school I can do that as well. I think it will work out nicely. Keep your fingers crossed.

School

I went to my orientation for the University of Phoenix yesterday and will start my first class tomorrow. I am very excited to get back to school and know that I am doing it because I want to. I am very happy that my wife is supporting me in doing this even though she knows she will not see me on Thursday for the next two years. FINALLY!

Conversation with Max

So yesterday Max and I went to the store and bought some bandaids. I let him pick them out so he chose one box of Spiderman and one of Finding Nemo. We got home and I put them away and the conversation continued like this:

Max: "Mom, where are my bandaids?"

Mom: "I put them away for when we need them."

Max: "No Mom, they are not your bandaids, they are mine."

He then took them out of the drawer and began to play with them.

Mom: "Max don't open any more bandaids or I will take them away."

Max: "No Mom, don't take them away."

Mom: "Max, I'm serious."

Max: "No, you not serious."

Mom: "Yes I am serious."

Max: "No, I am smart Mom."

Too funny!

Go Shez

Our sister-in-law Shez is awesome. She is a runner and ran in the Boston Marathon today! I could never do that! I have been tracking her all morning online and she is so fast. If I had to run that far it would be like a whole day, if not more just to do it. When I was in Junior High I did the 50/20, but I was pretty young and so we only did the 25/10. That is 25 miles in 10 hours. We did make it in the 10 hours...miracle! I am so out of shape compared to then though. So Shez is running, not walking, and she is going a little more than the 25 miles. Her official time was 3hrs. and 40min. So compare that to my time doing the 25/10. She is amazing! This is a big marathon, so it is a huge accomplishment. I'm also thinking since she lives in Oregon and they started at 10am, that is really like starting at 7am her time, so pretty early when you have to get up far before that to hydrate, etc. Anyway, I just wanted to give props to Shez! Go Shez!

A Car

Well, we finally got a car! We have been looking now for nearly a month with nothing but frustration. With Shane's new job being further away than my work and his previous work were to each other we knew we needed a new car. Our start times are also different from each other now. We have been trying to stick to a really low budget when it comes to cars, so we have just found really high miles or really old cars in our price range. We didn't really want to give in and get something we wouldn't be happy with, nor did we want to budge on the price. We weren't looking for any special frills, just reliability. FINALLY we found something and got special Internet pricing. We went in and test drove it and signed the papers. I am so glad to be done with this whole mess. Yeah! So now, after 3 years of being a single car family, we are officially a 2 car family again. This car will also get better gas mileage than our Durango, so it is definitely the commuter. Yippee!

Spring Cleaning

So earlier this year while the weather was good we did some major yard work. We ripped out bushes, cleaned up flower beds, pruned trees, and also had some leaves left over from Fall. Yesterday our ward did a cleanup where the youth went around to all the elderly member's homes and cleaned up their yards and hauled off the stuff to the church where there was a huge dumpster. When they were done it was free game. This really nice guy from our ward came over and helped us load everything into his trailer. It took 2 loads in his trailer and then Shane took some things in our Durango. Crazy! It was so nice and it went much faster than Shane and me loading everything in the Durango and hauling over multiple trips. After we were done and had the energy we cleaned out our garage. Every time I go in there now I just feel so good. It just feels so good to have spring here and to have that feeling of organization and accomplishment. I love it so much that I have 2 pictures of it for you all to enjoy. There is one more thing we have to do which is to take down the small cabinets above the tool table and put up the bigger pair sitting on the work bench.

Park City

We were able to stay a night in Park City for free. (You know, listen to the pitch, don't buy, stay a night thing). It was a lot of fun. Andrew had fun with this shower cap and was like a robot or something here.


Max also liked the shower cap idea while taking a bath.


Aidan chilling on the bed watching a movie.

Andrew and Max chilling on the bed watching the movie.

All my boys in the pool at the resort.

We also were given a gift certificate to a nice restaurant. The boys enjoyed toasting everything with their fancy glasses...including toasting to spider man. They had Mac & Cheese for Aidan and Max, which I must say was probably the best Mac & Cheese I've every had. Andrew had a PB&J that was huge and all fancy with the crusts cut off. It was really fun.

Fast

So, with the help of our bishop (my Dad) we have decided to hold a special fast. If you are able and feel comfortable doing so, we would ask you to join us. We will be fasting this Sunday, April 13th. Our fast is that on the Lord's time table if it is possible that we will be blessed with a baby. We understand that this may be through adoption or biologically. Either way, we would love for this blessing to happen. If you wouldn't mind, all your love, support, spirit, and prayers would be greatly appreciated and accepted. Thank you, Shane and Suzy.

New Blog

I am going to be changing my blog to a new name starting on Monday, April 14th. I will try to email all who I have emails for. I'm just changing my security features so I don't need to go private. Here is the new blog so you can change all your shortcuts:

suzyqzoo.blogspot.com

Also, for security will you do the following:
1. When leaving comments if you mention the kids use their blog names, Aidan, Andrew, and Max.
2. If you have us listed in a shortcut will you make sure it doesn't have our last name?

Thanks!

Surgery Follow-up

So I went to the doctor yesterday for my follow up. He showed me a picture he drew during surgery of how everything looks. It is a little different than I was hearing after the surgery, but that was also not from the doctor. He said it still is a septated uterus, but the septum reached the entire length, when before they thought it was just partial. He tried to get to a certain location and couldn't with the large scopes they use. Their scopes are larger because they hold scissors. He said they have a smaller scope in office that they can use for exploratory purposes, but not for the main surgery. At the end of the month I will go into the doctor's office and they will not knock me out, but will do some type of numbing and use the small scope to just make sure there really is nothing they can do. To be honest it would have been nice if they would have had both scopes at the surgery so they could have just known then and if it was possible they could have done it. Little frustrating. He said he wouldn't hold my breath, that most likely it would not be fixable. He said that if it can't be fixed this is what I am left with:
1. A septated uterus.
2. The septum would cover 1/3 of the uterus.
3. Should a baby implant on that 1/3 of the uterus it would miscarry.
4. Should a baby implant on the other 2/3 of the uterus the pregnancy would last with the same risks of miscarriage as other people.
5. He said that most cases as this the uterus has been stretched from prior pregnancy and therefore any future pregnancy stands a chance to make it further than the last pregnancy. Since my last pregnancy went to 32 weeks before my water broke and they were able to keep him in for an additional week for his growth, there could be a good chance I could make it to at least 33 weeks and keep a baby in for an additional week, delivering at 34 weeks, which is actually not too bad.

So, basically, the biggest issue is my high rate of miscarriage. Shane and I just need to decide together what we are willing to put by body through and not willing to put my body through. We have also received adoption paperwork from LDS Family Services to look at all our options. I'll let you know what we find after my next appointment.

Sunday School Breakfast

This morning my Sunday School Class came over. I teach the 12-13 year olds in our ward. We had breakfast and then watched the first session of conference. It was a really neat experience. Shane was there as well of course. It was cool as they did the sustainings and they had the different groups stand up we had someone from almost every group. Shane stood up with the Elders and High Priests, we had 3 boys representing the Aaronic priesthood, then we had my co-teacher, myself and Anna who stood up for the Relief Society. Finally we had 3 girls representing the young women. It was really cool to watch each little group stand up and sustain our new prophet and all the apostles. It was also a really good session. I really heard a lot about the family and our roles in the family. Some of the things that really hit me were these things:

1. Faith, repentance, baptism, salvation...these are individual matters. These matters are fostered by the family.

2. The Family is central to God's plan.

3. If families fail, their celestial potential can't be reached. Our families need to study scriptures together, pray together, and keep their focus on the temple.

4. Parents can't be released. They are always needed and are always responsible to parent. The church is to assist, not to replace parents.

5. Sealing is essential. A Man can't receive all eternal glory without a worthy woman sealed to him. This one was really neat to remember that I am not complete without being sealed to Shane and is not complete without me. We need each other and I am so thankful we are sealed to each other.

6. Think our the special experiences in our lives that have given us faith and helped to build and strengthen our testimony.

7. Are our traditions material or spiritual? Do they make it easier or harder to follow God?

8. Are the traditions of our Fathers those that we want to pass on to our children?

9. Respect and loyalty in the home is important

10. What we teach should be based on the scriptures and words or the prophets.

11. If our children know where we stand...always on the Lord's side...we are where we need to be.

12. We (The church and its members) can't apologize for the truth of the Gospel

It was a great session and I look forward to the other 3 and hearing what Shane learns in Priesthood. He always returns with a glow about him.

Experiments

Tonight Shane and I did experiments with the boys. We have done them in the past, but not all of them with the boys. It was so much fun. Here is what we did:

1. Put soap and water in a cup and blew air in there with straws. It overflows with bubbles.

2. Put food coloring in Vinegar and added Baking Soda.

3. Put food coloring and some dish soap in Vinegar and then added Baking Soda.

4. Put water in a bowl and added some sprinkles of pepper. Rub dish soap on your finger and stick it in the water and the pepper will move away from your finger. It is a good little magic trick if they can't see the soap on your finger.

If any of you know of any books that have fun experiments for kids I would love to know what the books are. It was a lot of fun.

The Potty Marathon

So Max has seen me take the top off his little potty and dump the tray contents into the big toilet and then flush the toilet, put them back together, and then wash my hands. Today he decided that would be great fun. He wouldn't fully go pee, he would only "squirt" a little bit and after the squirt he had to take the lid off the little potty, pick up the tray, dump it in the toilet, flush the toilet, put the tray back in, put the lid on, and then before washing his hands would do this all over again. He did this a good 12-15 times, I stopped counting. Finally when he was done he washed his hands and got his pants back on. It was too funny.

1st Day of School

Well Aidan and Andrew's first day at their new school went well. Because of bad weather they didn't get to ride the bus, but they still made it. They both like their teachers and classes so far. I hope they make friends easy and have a great time learning at their new school