Zumba

So, for a long time, I've bugged Brandon to take a latin dance class with me, but we haven't been able to make it work because of babysitting logisitics with the kids. So, when I heard about Zumba a few weeks ago, I thought it sounded like fun, but didn't know of one offered up here.

Then, the paper ran an article about Zumba. A class is offered here two nights a week, so I decided to try it out. Monday was my first night, and it was pretty good. I didn't have a blast like everybody kept saying. It was fun and I got a good workout. But, I went again last night, and wow!!! It was so fun.

I think I didn't enjoy it as much on Monday because I didn't really know what to expect, but last night was AWESOME! I got a great workout in, and I had fun doing it. Plus, I love latin dancing (I'm not very good at it, but I love it anyway!), so I got to go cha-cha and shake my hips, and I LOVED it! I plan on going regularly. I'm still dancing today. I think I'll turn on some Shakira and shake my hips as I do laundry and make dinner! :D

A Tribute to Champ . . .

My brother, Ryan, got a dog when he (Ryan) was 15. He named the dog Champ. Last night, the hard decision was made to let Champ fly free. He would have been 16 (in people years) in a few weeks. He was so thin and just all around looked ready to go. So, this morning, the vet went over to my parents house, and let Champ quietly go to sleep. He was cherished by so many and will be sorely missed.

I remember when Ryan first got Champ. Ryan was 15, I was 12. My dad and Ryan had "fought" for a long time about Ryan getting a dog, but my dad finally gave in. So, my mom took Ryan to Vernal to pick up his new dog, while my dad and I went for a ride in the airplane.

I remember flying over Dutch John with my dad, over the highway that goes from Tridell to Vernal and spotting the car driving along. We flew up around the mountains, down to Roosevelt for some gas, and then back up to Tridell. When we got home, Mom & Ryan were home with a little fluffball. He was seriously tiny. Champ seemed like such a big name for such a small puppy, but he quickly grew into it.

When he was little, he loved to fetch. He'd chase after an old tennis ball that we'd throw and drop it back at our feet, completely slobbery, and expect us to throw it again. He'd just dance in anticipation. He'd go out in the field behind my parents house and chase the prairie dogs. He'd always go down to the canal with us when we went swimming. And he loved to go up in the mountains with us when we would go Christmas tree hunting.

After Ryan left on his mission, he became the family dog. (Mom, can I claim him as mine at that point?) You could tell he missed Ryan, but he became my "Champ," my best friend. He'd always go up to the cemetery with me when I would mow the lawn. He let me cry on him when Ryan left on his mission.

And I can't tell you the number of times that Champ would lay his head on my lap and let me cry for whatever reason (death in the family, fights with parents, problems at school, stress, boys . . .). He'd just sit there with me and let me hug him and hold him while I cried. Occasionally, he'd lick my hand, or lick my tears away for me, and then he'd continue to just sit there with me.

My boys have come to know and love Champy, and will miss him very much. He would always get so excited when anybody would drive up to the house, and he'd jump on them as soon as they got out of the car. His whole body would wag - not just his tail - when someone came outside to pet him! As you can see in the pictures below, he loved the kids, too. The ones of Gavin sitting with Champ are some of my absolute favorites. That's just how Champ was. Calm. Dependable. Steady. Loving. Patient. He was always patient - with the grandkids, the cats.

He was a true gentleman. When we'd feed the animals (cats and dogs) he'd ALWAYS stand back and let the other animals eat first. He'd stand there and let them finish, and then he'd eat whatever was left. I've never seen him push his way in to eat. He'd cuddle with the cats (seriously, how many dogs and cats cuddle together?), and he'd let them sit on his head, and groom him, and they'd sleep in his doghouse and he'd patiently wander off somewhere else to lay down.

He was my friend, and he will be sorely missed. It's gonna be weird to drive up to my parents house and not have Champ run out to meet us. Sleep well, sweet dog. Thanks to my sister-in-law, Jana, for these pictures of Champ.

This first one is from about 9 years ago up White Rocks Canyon.
























This one was taken yesterday.


We love you Champy and will miss you dearly! Hope you are running like a puppy again!

Check out this cuteness . . .

Don't you just love his boots?

Sorry about the camera angle on these videos - it was the only way I could get him to talk and laugh and not just stare at the camera light!

Enjoy the shows.

He laughed!!!

He did it! Connor laughed for me tonight! (Okay, okay, it was probably at me . . .) I was poking his tummy and tickling under his arms and making weird noises. And he laughed!!! Oh, and, I have a witness. Brandon heard him laugh, too. He laughed for me about three times, so I had Brandon grab the camera. Once he was in the spotlight, though, he cried instead of laughing. Ahh!!

So, we gave up on recording him, and I just talked with him for a minute. He cooed at me and talked with me, so I made some weird, funny noises and he laughed again! We got one or two small laughs on camera this time. I'll have to figure out how to upload it tomorrow since it's on my video camera and not my picture camera, and I'm not sure how to work that one on the computer.

He laughed!!! Hee, hee, hee!!! :)

Oh, I love it, I love it, I love it!!!!

Such cute baby laughs! There's just nothin' cuter.

Ten year anniversary

So, a few weeks ago I posted that it was our ten year anniversary. We treated our trip to Mexico as our ten-year celebration, since we knew that we'd have a new little one around, and wouldn't be able to get out and about as easily as before. But, we did manage to send the other boys to my brother-in-law's house while we headed out to dinner. Here's the story:

We had a slow leak in one of the tires on the van, so Brandon took the three older boys with him to Sam's Club while they fixed it. After it was fixed, he headed to Little Caeser's and then out to Jon's house (12 minute drive, or so) to drop the boys off while I fed Connor and got ready here at home. When he got home, we pulled our dinner coupons out, and decided that we'd go to Firehouse Pizzeria for dinner. They had a good deal (with the coupon) and pizza sounded good, so we headed out. Another 12 minute drive, since Firehouse is just down the road from Jon's, but it was all good.

We pulled up to Firehouse, and Brandon jokingly said, "We should probably check the coupon just to make sure it's still good." (We've had issues with coupons before that we realize - too late - only work on certain days or times.) So, we check the coupon, and lo and behold, the deal is only good from 4:00 - 6:00 pm. It was 6:30. Decision time - should we still go in, or should we drive back to Logan and eat somewhere else. We decided to stay.

So, we go in, but there is no hostess there, so we just sit down. After sitting there for about five minutes, someone finally comes up to the hostess platform, and proceeds to sit someone that just walked in the door. So, Brandon flagged her down, and she got us seated, and got us some drinks ordered. (I love flavored lemonades!!)

As we're sitting there trying to decide what to order, Brandon suddenly realizes that he doesn't have his wallet in his pocket. Uh-oh! So, he heads out to the van to see if it's in the door of the van. It's not, and I don't have my purse with me. *sigh* So, we head to the front of the restaurant, explain what's going on so that we can pay for our drinks, and the chef just waves us out the door with our free drinks.

At this point, we have to go back into Logan so that we can get his wallet (and pray that he doesn't get pulled over for some reason). We headed home, grabbed another coupon, checked it to make sure it was valid, and headed out to eat. By this time, Connor was starving, so we ordered our food, thinking it would take about fifteen or twenty minutes for them to bring us our food. I thought I had plenty of time to nurse Connor, so I covered up and got him eating, when they brought our food. Wow! Five minutes!

So, Brandon ate, while I fed Connor and changed a blowout diaper, then I was able to eat (VERY quickly while Brandon held Connor. By the time I was finished, we had to go pick up the boys, so we headed back out to Jon's house. Connor fell asleep on the way, so Brandon just ran in to get the boys, but as soon as the van stopped moving, Connor was awake. By now, it's 8:45. Do I go in and feed him (guaranteed that we'll be there another 30 minutes at the least) or do I hope that Brandon comes out quickly? I decided to stay in the van, and was about to pull him out of his car seat when Brandon and the boys came out. So, we drove home (with Connor crying), Brandon put the boys to bed while I fed Connor, and then we sat down and laughed about our mishaps of the night.

We forgot our marriage license when we got married, and now this. We're going on the assumption, now, that something funny will happen on our twenty year anniversary! *sigh* Oh, the memories!

Thanks for a fun night, sweetie!

Wanna celebrate with me for a minute???

I hope this doesn't come off the wrong way, but I wanted to post this.  This is my journal, after all, so I might as well list my accomplishments along with those of my hubby and kids.  So, here's my bit of news that I'm celebrating - I can fit into my pants!  My pre-pregnancy pants!

I pulled some of my old pants out a few weeks after Connor was born, and they've been getting kind of big as my waist shrinks.  I do have some that fit right now, but, they're faded, and the legs are fraying, and they've got paint on them.  So, in short, they're not nice pants.

So, yesterday, I was lamenting to Brandon that my pants didn't fit and that I'd have to go out and get some new ones.  But, I decided to look in my clothes bin just to make sure I didn't have some in there that might fit, and lo and behold, I found some brand new pants!!  I had bought two new pairs of pants back in January and had only worn them a handful of times before they started to get really tight.  Come to find out, I was pregnant! ;)  So, I packed them away, and promptly forgot about them until I went digging!  Yeah for new pants!  They fit, and they make me look skinny!

My other good news?  I weigh less now than I did when I got pregnant with Connor!!  Yeah!! Don't get me wrong - I don't look ultra-fabulous, since my stomach is still stretched out and poochy from the pregnancy, and I really haven't worked to firm anything up yet, but I'm working on it.  But, for now, I'm super happy that my pants fit!  :)

*Sigh*

Strep throat, followed by a bad chest cold. *sigh* And, I'm not positive that the amoxicillin worked like it was supposed to. I took all ten days worth of medicine, but my throat is still hurting. *sigh* I took a three hour nap today (thanks to my wonderful hubby for watching the kids), and when I got up, I just wanted to go back to bed. I'm pooped. I forget how much being sick takes it out of you. I'm ready to be healthy again. Hopefully soon.

The love of music . . .

You'll have to excuse my voice - this was the day before I was diagnosed with Strep, so my throat and voice were off. But, don't you love how fast he smiles when I start singing? He's always like that - he LOVES music!!

Double the baby - double the love!!!

So, Connor had his two month checkup yesterday (and it actually hit right on his two month-day), and he's doing quite well for a little bug. At birth, he was 7 lbs. 13 oz. & 20 1/2" long, and yesterday, he was 13 lbs. 13 oz. and 24 1/4" long!!! Wow! He's almost doubled his birth weight, and he's got the rolls and chunk to prove it!

He didn't like getting his shots, though, and I don't blame him. He had three shots in the legs, and one oral vaccine. He slept for a while, but then woke up screaming. The vaccine site in his left leg was rock hard. I tried to feed him, but he wouldn't have any of that. He just wanted to cry. So, I gave him a nice, warm bath, then tried to rub a bit where he got his shots, tried to run his legs, and was finally able to get him to nurse. He did okay for the rest of the evening, and only woke up once crying but went right back to sleep when I gave him his binky and rocked him for a minute.

Last night after his shots . . .

"I HATE shots"

He's doing quite well. He's smiling and cooing, and just starting to laugh. He will usually sleep from about 10:30 until just before 6:00 each morning, eat and then go right back to sleep until it's time to take the boys to school at 8:50.

He loves bath time and is starting to figure out kicking in the tub. He is doing really well at tummy time and will lay on his tummy for a while after his bath just looking around. On the flip side, though - he HATES getting dressed. No matter what it is - a onesie, shirt, nightgown, jammies . . . he absolutely hates getting dressed. He will start to scream and then scream until I'm finished dressing him and pick him up. Then he's fine. :)

He also LOVES music. When I was pregnant with him, every night before we'd go to bed, we'd listen to CMT's Power Picks for that day. Well, we were listening to it the other night, and Connor was fussy until we turned it on, and then he just laid there looking around, and kicking his feet while the music played. He loves me to sing to him, too. I tried to upload a video the other day of me singing to him, but blogger was having problems. I'll have to try again.

Anyway, those are the stats for my little bug. He's such a sweetheart and we love having him here. Gavin loves to help me bathe him and rub his little body with lotion, and Connor loves getting a massage. Heck, who doesn't?

Just hangin' out with my big brother

Here are some two month pictures of him. He's such a cutie! Enjoy!

Look at that chunk!!!

"Um, Mom, I'm tipping . . ."

Okay, back to smiling for the camera.

How do I get comments?

Okay, so my comments link won't show up now.  I was editing some stuff with my background, and the link disappeared.  I've tried everything I can think of - turning the comments off, rearranging the posting options, hiding the comments, having the comments on a full page . . .  I don't know what else to do and it's driving me nuts.

I want the comments link back, and when I click on it, I want it to pop up in a separate window so I don't have to leave my blog page.  *sigh*  As of right now, the only way that I can read a comment that is left is to click on the time stamp at the bottom of the post.  (I'm assuming that's how you post a comment, too.)  Has anybody dealt with this or have any ideas to get it fixed.  If not, how do I get help from blogger (like a real person, not a help section) to see if I can get it cleared up?  It's driving me NUTS!!!

Blah . . .

That's how I feel today.  And yesterday.  I can't swallow (it's more comfortable just to spit), and I hurt everywhere.  I get hot, then cold, then hot again.  I went to the dr. yesterday, and while I don't have an ear infection, I do have strep throat, which is causing my ear to hurt.  I also have bruises on the back of my throat (how does that happen?), which is adding to the pain, also.  *sigh*  Last night was really rough - I went through about four sucrets and have been taking Ibuprofen around the clock to try and clear the pain.  So far, nothing has helped.  If you've never had strep throat, let me just say this - it HURTS!

On, the other hand, let me just say how thankful I am for Brandon's job.  I emailed him yesterday and asked him (in an off-handed way) if he'd come home and build a fire in the fireplace for me 'cause I was so cold and achy.  I really didn't think he'd do it, but about twenty minutes later, I hear him open the door and come in and build a fire for me.  How sweet!  I laid on the floor in front of the fireplace for about two hours just soaking up the heat.  And, today, he was able to leave work for a few minutes so that he could come take the boys to school so I didn't have to go outside in the below zero weather.

I'm so grateful that he has a job that is somewhat flexible.  When he was a teacher, there was no way he could leave to come help unless it was an absolute emergency. And, I'm SO grateful for his co-workers!  They're awesome.  I don't know how else to describe them.  They're awesome.  :)

Anyway, I'm going to go try and swallow something for breakfast as I'm really hungry.  I've had some hot tang this morning and that seems to help a bit, so I might just live on that today.  I'm on Amoxicillin, so hopefully this will clear up soon.  *sigh*  Blah!