6 Months Old

Jussie (Justin) turned 6 months old yesterday. I wanted to update his milestones so we don't forget.

Justin is a very happy baby. He observes everything and then wants to try it. He loves textures and has to feel everything and scratch his little nails on it. The more sound he can make with his nails the better. He seems to love everyone and will smile and laugh at the drop of the hat. He can sit by himself. He rolls all over the house and does this little army crawl, caterpillar, and roll to get around (look at video below to see). He likes to taste food like popcorn, kefir, and some fruit. He doesn't really eat much though, just little tastes. I will start giving him fruit, yogurt, and kefir soon. I'm not in any hurry to feed him until he's ready. He is 18 lbs and inches long. His hair is starting to come in (very slowing) brown. His eyes seem to be a greenish blue color but it's still hard to tell. He recognizes the words doggie, birdy, ball, and mommy. He finds every little thing on the floor and puts it right to his mouth. He loves paper and will eat it if he gets the chance.

We can't tell you how much happiness and love this little guy has brought into our lives. It's been hard to start over (being older) but it's also been so much fun to watch the older kids with him. If anyone is sad around the house I can just bring Justin to them and it will always bring a smile to their face.

We LOVE you little boy!!!



This little baby in the video is Justin's favorite toy. He got it from grandma for Christmas. BTW - I didn't realize that I was talking to Justin in such a goofy baby voice. I need to work on that.

Sledding Again

The kids went sledding with our co-op group. It was a gorgeous day!

Savy and her friends all held on to each other and went down the hill.

What a cute smile.

The big 40!

On the eleventh we celebrated Patrick's 40th birthday. Savannah and I stayed up until 1:00 am the night before decorating. We blew up black and yellow balloons and put sayings all over them.

This was Patrick's favorite.

We made him waffles with blackberries.

Matthew and Savannah brought him balloons at work.
When he got home he had his favorite meal, lasagna, and his favorite treat., cinnamon rolls and strawberry ice cream.

We had a bonfire on the roll from 40 candles!


The rolls turned out sooo good but they took forever to make!

Patrick got a watch!

Jus helped Patrick open his presents.

Then we went bowling.

We let him win ; )

Then we came home and I wanted to crash from cooking ALL day but then I saw this!! After about two hours of cleaning we found the counter. I then fell into bed and didn't wake up until 10:00 the next day.

Happy birthday Patrick!! We're glad you are around and still kicking.

Brownies

Today I made these brownies for FHE. Patrick can't eat the whole unprocessed sugars (repadura or sucanut) so I've tried many brownie recipes with honey with no luck.

I finally found a recipe worth keeping. These are really good. I also made frosting by beating together a little honey, butter, vanilla, and cocoa powder.

Honey Brownies

Ingredients

* 1/3 C. butter * 3/4 C. honey * 2 teaspoon vanilla
* 2 eggs * 1/2 C. whole grain flour * 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/3 C. coco powder * 1 C. chopped walnuts

Directions

Cream butter in a smaller mixer bowl; blend in honey and vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine flour, salt and carob, gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in nuts. Pour into a greased 9x9x2-inch pan. Bake @ 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Cool. Frost with Creamy Brownie Frosting. Yield: 16 brownies.

Painting........fun

We've been painting our house for the last week and a half. I have much to catch up on soon but since painting has taken over our lives I'll have to wait a little longer.

I haven't combed my hair or changed my clothes for....well... you don't want to know.

Soda.....Yum????

Another good reason to avoid drinking soda.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=9307526

STUDY: Nearly half of soda fountains contaminated with fecal matter

January 11th, 2010 @ 3:49pm

By Dr. Kim Mulvihill

SAN FRANCISCO -- Many of us have filled up our cups at the local gas station. But those self-serve soda fountains may be serving up a lot of bacteria.

Researchers from Hollins University in Virginia tested more than 100 beverages from self-serve and staff-serve dispensers. What they found coming out of these machines is pretty unappetizing.

"We obtained soda fountain beverages from a wide variety of fast food establishments and found that a significant number of the drinks had levels of bacteria, including coliforms, which would not be allowed in municipal drinking water," said Dr. Renee Godard, professor of biology and director of environmental studies at Hollins, and a co-author of the study. "To our knowledge, no one has looked at bacterial contamination from soda fountain machines before, and our results may have public health implications. They signal the need for regulations that enforce the manufacturer's recommended cleaning regimens for these beverage dispensers."

They found 48 percent of the beverages contained fecal matter.

More than 11 percent were contaminated with E. coli and 17 percent were tainted with a bacteria known to cause meningitis.

Most of the bacteria showed resistance to one or more of the 11 antibiotics tested.

In these drinks, they also found smaller amounts of other kinds of germs including staphylococcus, klebsiella and candida.

Mmm Mmmm....Want a soda anyone?

Chocolate Milk - Mmm Mmm

4 cups of milk

2 -3 ripe banannas (depending on how sweet you like it)

3-4 Tablespoons of non sweetened cocoa

Makes 6 cups.

Blend up and enjoy!

Reflection

It has been exactly one year since I found out I had a huge blood clot in my leg. Four days before that, I had a pulmonary embolism (blood clot left my leg and went into my lungs- 1 of 3 people who get this die of it) My life has changed forever. I'm so glad I'm here to tell the story.

I want to reflect a little about how I was feeling then and how I am feeling now.

Went I first found out about it:

* I felt really scared.

* I cried a lot not knowing if I'd be around for my kids.

* I worried about my unborn child

* Later, I felt really angry. I didn't understand why this happened when I was trying so hard to eat and be healthy (I guess I thought I had super human powers)

* I was humbled. Having to go on a drug was one of the hardest things I had to do. It hurt so much inside my heart.

* I was terrified at the thought that I didn't have control of my life.

* I had to learn to trust in Heavenly Father. He knows what's best for me. This doesn't come easily. I still struggle to remember this.

* I learned compassion for others who have to go through health problems. Before I used to think in my head, "if only they ate healthy." I guess I needed humbling.

* I know my Heavenly Father loves me especially when I have trials.

What would I tell others:

*Keep active and exercise everyday.

* If you're on a long plane or car ride. Get out or up every 2 hours and walk around. Pump your foot up and down for 10 min. on the hour.

* drink plenty of water.

*If you're pregnant and really sick, do all you can to drink water and lightly exercise. If you are in bed too long pump your foot up and down for 10 min. every hour. This may have prevented my clot. You are at higher risk for a clot when pregnant, especially when you're really sick, inactive a lot, and can't keep water down.

*If you have pain in your groin area or a swelled up leg or foot, go and get it checked out!

* If you have trouble breathing and get a sudden cough when no one else in you family gets it, get it checked out!

*Don't cross your legs.

* Birth control pills can cause blood clots.

My leg is mostly back to normal. It is not as flexible as the other. I can't sit on my knees any more because it is very painful. They have no idea why because my clot is totally gone beneath my knee. Oh well. It's a reminder to me of who is in charge. I will need to wear the compression nylons for one more year and I will never cross my legs again.

I'm so happy that we made it through and that my baby is healthy and strong. Thank you for all you have done for us this year. I was so amazed by all the love and support we got. I hope I can be there for you when you need some extra support.

Sledding

I can't believe it's 2010! Today we went sledding. Patrick and I took turns sledding with the kids and watching Justin in the car. It was a nice warm sunny day and I actually enjoyed the snow. I guess it's not really the snow I don't like but the cold that comes with it. I guess you can't have it all.

We thought it would be fun to go down this hill that had a jump at the bottom. Tanner went first. The sled starting going so fast that when he hit the jump he went flying in the air about four feet. I thought he was going to get hurt but he landed smoothly. He had this look of terror on his face but when he landing he said, "That was so much fun!" We decided to go somewhere safer after Savannah and Matthew wrecked on the same hill.

Savannah and Matthew going down the hill backwards. Savannah seems to do that peace sign every time I take a picture....ggrrrr.

Brady is more cautious when we go sledding. That's not our baby behind him.

Happy New Years Day!!

We had a nice New Years Eve. We usually go to my sister's house but this year she was gone on a cruse with her family. Matthew and Savannah really wanted to have a party so we let them invite their friends over. We haven't done much since the baby was born. I think it was around 2:30 by the time the last person left. There was lots of good food and games.

We played lots of games and ate lots of good food.

Group games.

Ping Pong!

We have been so blessed to have such good friends for our kids. They are wonderful kids. It's also a plus that we are good friends with their parents.

Justin started sticking his tongue out when he smiles. It's so adorable!

What a contagious smile!!