The Powell's

Five

2012-03-01T13:32:00.001-08:00

This year has started out in a whirlwind, and doesn't seem to be slowing down! The first part of January we found THIS out!

We will soon be 5! Of course we more or less knew it anyway since my body was apparently made to be pregnant when ever I say it's okay :-) We are super excited to add another little monster (or maybe princess, but not getting our hopes up!) to our day to day chaos! Deegan has been so excited as well, and prays every night saying "thankful that there's a baby in my mom's tummy". I managed to stay morning-sickness-free until 7 weeks and then it hit me hard! This time around it's mostly Afternoon/Evening sickness though, so poor Adam never gets to see me feeling good during the week while he's at work. He's been SUPER helpful with the kids and the house when he gets home from work and I really appreciate it.

Adam was finally able to take his Journey Man's test and is now DONE with schooling! I'm super excited and so proud of him for finishing up school and doing so well. He is constantly getting compliments from co-workers and his bosses on how well he does his work, and how hard he works. I couldn't ask for a better example of work ethic for my kids! (I don't have any current pics of him working on my computer, so here's a picture of him relaxing after work :-)

I spent all of January making plans for a fundraiser boutique for the Kailing family in our ward. Brother Kailing was diagnosed with Carcinoma 2 years ago, and has been fighting hard for his life ever since. Last fall it was determined that the Carcinoma could not be stopped and he only had 6-12 months to live. While he has made great progress with the recent treatments, the prognosis is still essentially the same, and he's living week to week. He and his family are a very strong example of faith and love for the Gospel. While they have their down days, they are usually out celebrating the lives they have and serving those around them in need of love. The fundraiser was a much bigger success than I ever imagined and we were able to raise over $3000 for them!

On the 14th of February, Valentine's day, my boss from Call Assistants called and asked if I'd be willing to come back to work part time like I had been before (After "quitting" I told him I'd work from home part-time on an "as needed" basis, and the work load died off around the end of October, so I didn't work through Nov., Dec., and Jan.- good timing to not work and just focus on the crazy life!) I have to admit, I have secretly missed working with them and doing the work I did. It was fun, and it was nice to have something to change up the monotony of being home all day. So, I agreed, on the condition that I set my own hours, I only work a maximum of 3 hours/day and I work strictly from home. It feels good to be able to make those kinds of demands because you know they need you more than you need them! Of course, they accepted my terms and wanted to me start work immediately! I had a conference call that day, then told them I wasn't working the rest of the day. It was Valentine's Day! You can't call me on a holiday and just expect me to start working that day! That was okay with them, and I started the next day. So, now I am a part-time working mom again, but I enjoy it, and I don't miss out on much because 3 hours/day can be done while kids nap or play alone for a little bit!

March should be relatively uneventful (besides the masses of birthday parties for all of our siblings and their kids), but April will be good! We just booked flights and hotels for Adam, myself and the boys to go to Texas for a week for my birthday! Adam served his LDS mission in the San Antonio and Austin areas of Texas about 8 years ago, and we've wanted to go back ever since. We're super excited to finally have the time to do it!

Last but not least, here are a few random pictures of what we've been doing during the days.

December happenings

2011-12-27T20:00:00.000-08:00

December was relatively uneventful until Christmas. We did get a night of gingerbread house making and The Grinch in, and also got to go see lights and have dinner with our friends the Matthews up in Preston, ID one night (forgot to take the camera, but the display was awesome!)

(RANDOM: Deeg decided one day to line up all of his cars on the back of the couch! I thought it was kind of funny, and he was pretty picky about who touched them and which ones you could move for the whole day.)

Christmas Eve was spent at mom & dad Jorgensen's house with all my siblings, their kids, my aunt Stacy and Grandma and Grandpa Jorgensen. We began the night by feeding the kids pizza and playing pin the nose on the snowman and a little Christmas cupcake walk. After they were all in their Christmas jammies, we looked up Santa on the Norad tracker to see where he was at, then we let them watch a little Christmas special movie on Netflix while the adults ate good food upstairs. After the movie was over, the kids all cuddled up in bed while Grandpa read them a bedtime story. Once the kids were in bed, we migrated to the basement to enjoy a night full of exciting games. We had our gift exchange and I ended up with the coveted gift of one of Grandpa Jorgensen's handmade burl bowls (I'll write a separate post on Grandpa's work!) After the gift trade, we played a super fun game called "Akward Family Moments". It was especially fun because my grandparents and aunt Stacy were there to add variety to the mix! We played most of the night, then cleaned up and got things ready for Christmas morning.

I found this T-shirt for Brett and knew he had to have it! (he works for the sewage plant, so he is usually at the forefront of any "poop" jokes in the house!)

Christmas morning was utter chaos, but so fun! 10 kids and 10 adults all opening presents at the same time gets a little wild! Everyone was so happy, especially Griff... he has been on cloud 9 non-stop since Sunday morning, laughing at just about everything and carrying a huge grin! Christmas is so much more magical when you have little kids that get so excited!

Griffin trying out Cullen's new bike and squishing Afton.

After finishing up at the Jorgensen house we ventured a mile down the road to Mom and Dad Powell's house. We had a nice breakfast, opened more presents and opened all the toys to play for a while. The boys' "Big" Chistmas gift was too big to take to Jorgensen's after storing it at Powell's house, so we waited for that one until we went there.

I don't know a lot about Christmas day from about 11:00 on because I had some aweful stomach bug and decided to more or less sleep with no interruption from then until about 7 that night. The sleep was just what I needed and I felt much better on Monday morning, and was able to get up and play with the boys and Adam.

Today (Tuesday) is Deegan's birthday! We celebrated with a few more presents to open this morning before heading out to breakfast at Angie's. The waitress was really sweet and got the staff to come sing to Deeg and brought out a HUGE cinnamon roll for us to share. After Breakfast, we spent the morning searching every store imaginable for a cowboy hat and stick horse... to no avail! How can it be so hard to find those? (we found hats, but they were $40 or more, and for a 4 year old, that seems a bit steep!) Adam brought balloons home for Deeg just before Grandma and Grandpa Powell came up for a lunch at McDonald's play place and spent a few hours at the house playing. We finished off the day with a nap (Deeg fell asleep on the way home from running a couple errands) and are now watching The Lion King (new birthday present) before bed. It's been a GREAT few days, but I'm anxious to get life back to normal!

We wrapped Deegan's presents in our new phone boxes... he was so excited to open the first present and think he was getting a phone (major let down when you realize the new phone box is holding just Batman underwear, but he liked them anyway.) !!!

Birthday Bath :-)

Deegan got color tablets in his stocking for Christmas and he asked for an orange bath today!

Gratitude and Charity and Thanksgiving

2011-12-02T05:59:00.000-08:00

I know Thanksgiving is over, but since I didn't get around to posting earlier, this is a late Thanksgiving post! For all of the days in November leading up to Thanksgiving, I decided to post on Facebook one thing that I was grateful for. At first it was just a fun game that a lot of my FB friends were playing so I decided to play along. After a few days I found myself lying in bed everynight thinking about what I was going to be thankfuk for the next day. Every night was an overwhelming list of things, and I had the hardest time deciding which to post. I was never able to post all of them, because there are SO many wonderful things in my life, especially things I take for granted. That was probably one of the most uplifting "games" I have ever played! So, on that note, I'd just like to express my gratitude for all the people who have infulenced my life (for better or worse) and helped me become a better person. I am especially grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Without my savior in my life, I don't know where I'd be, but I'm pretty certain I'd never be as happy as I am now!
In my rush to get my visiting teaching done before Thanksgiving, I searched for a quick little thought to give since there was no designated message for the month. I found this little card that had 2 quotes that I thought were a PERFECT way to start the Christmas Season...

President Monson teaches: "Charity is having patience with someone who has let us down. It is resisting the impulse to become offended easily. It is accepting weakness and shortcomings. It is accepting peopel as they truly are. It is looking beyond physical appearances to attributes that will not dim through time. It is resisting the impulse to categorize others."

"When we havecharity, we are willing to serve and help others when it is inconvenient and with no thought of recognition or reciprocation. We don't wait to be assigned to help, because it becomes our very nature. As we choose to be kind, caring, generous, patient, accepting, forgiving, inclusinve, and selfless, we discover we are abounding in charity." -Silvia H Allred

I've always looked at charity as just doing something for someone in need, but it's good to recognize that charity is more than just that, it's basically an unconditional love for everyone around us. I can handle the kind acts of service, but the unconditional love is one I need to work on, so that is my goal for this month and the coming year.

Anyway, enough of the "journal" and on to pictures.....

First Snow day (11/5):

I learned that you can print (with your computer printer!) on Fabric! That opens up SO many possibilities! I was ECSTATIC, so I made a cute little Thanksgiving sign to add to my lonely wreath!

The boys found a secret hide out.....

We put up the tree the Saturday before Thanksgiving so that we could do our Black Friday shopping and not have to hurry home from visiting parents to put up the tree (because I insist on having it up by the weekend after Thanksgiving :)

Thanksgiving was a lot of fun. The boys and I spent Wednesday hanging out with my mom and sister. Griff had his 18 mo check up that day also. He is growing, but slowly.... he's in the 8th percentile for weight, 15th for height and 45th for head circumference! (At that age, Deegan's head was about 90th percentile, so I'm happy with 45! :-)

Thursday we spent the day with Adam's parents, brother and G & G Powell. We took the boys to see "Arthur Christmas" with Adam's parents in the morning. It was a cute movie and it was fun to see Deegan get excited. Griffin was excited too, but mostly just excited at all the open places he could run through the theater... Oh well, I got my workout for the day! After the movie we went home and had dinner. At 6 that evening, Keli and I went to Walmart to wait in line until 10 pm for an Xbox with Kinect. We quickly made friends with the 2 groups in front and the one behind us, and had a lot of fun talking, planning, playing cards and relaxing. Brett and my dad cam and joined us after a little while as well, and it was really just a fun night! We of course got our Xbox's and went out to fight the lines... They were totasl chaos, but something about the chaos is just fun for me! Adam and I normally just get up around 5 and go to whatever stores look appealing at the time, rather than planning and waiting in lines, but since the stores were all opening early on Thursday instead, we changed it up a little this year.

Overall it was just a fun weekend with family, and I can't wait to do it all again for Christmas!

Tis the Season

2011-11-01T09:54:00.000-07:00

Wow! It's already that time again! Adam and I have been on the look out for awesome Christmas gifts for everyone on our lists for a couple weeks now. The weather is finally getting cold and it's time for the Christmas Music!!!! Anyway, here's a quick re-cap of October before I get so caught up in November and December that I forget about it!

The Boys have been loving the Raspberries all summer long, but I think they'd agree they taste especially good when they're cold and freshly washed by rain!

On our way to pick up the Big Christmas present for the boys, we saw this stop sign. Elliott Smith is Adam's favorite musician, and where Deegan's middle name (Elliott) came from, so we had to have a pic!

I have decided that during the warmer months, I may just install a porta potty and leave the boys in the backyard with some sleeping bags, they can live off the land for months! :-) Maybe just on the naughty days!

We had more apples this year than any of the years past. I gave away about half of them, left a ton on the ground to be thrown out because I didn't have time for them, and still got 32 quarts of apple sauce! Everytime Griffin goes outside he finds another apple to eat. I think Deegan has been helping some because he always seems to find the ones with no worm holes, luckilly!

Adam's mom throws a Halloween party every year for the kids (and adults I guess). While we waited for the "party" to start, the kids played "Just Dance". Deegan LOVED it and Griffin even joined in on the dancing!

Posing for a picture. I guess he was so into dancing that he just couldn't stand in a normal standing position!

Even though there's a whole room full of toys at Grandma Powell's house, Griffin's favorite toy is the wooden duck!

On sunday (Oct. 30) I decided maybe we should do SOMETHING with the pumpkins on our porch (we got 5 from our garden). They were too small to carve, and I was out of kid paint, so we improvised with our Mr. Potato Head parts. I think they turned out pretty dang cool. I'll probably be on the look out for cool potato head parts for all of the next year!

Halloween morning my friend Krista and her kids came over to play and make SLIME! It was really gross, but super fun!

Trick or Treating (this pic is super blurry, but I still think it's cute)

TOTing this year was super fun. Krista and her husband joined us and the boys and girl had a blast! Griffin and Annie were more in to it than the older boys I think! Both were very protectinve of their candy and didn't want to get back in strollers once they were out! They were polite though. Griffin kept putting candy back in the people's bowls and even signed thank you at a few houses! We were definately ready for bed when we got home, but it was fun while it lasted!

Figuring this 24/7 Mom thing out...

2011-11-01T09:14:00.000-07:00

I'm still trying to decide if it's harder to be a stay at home mom or a full time working mom........ Of course, I LOVE that I am home with my kids all the time and I am loving that I can play and watch what they are doing, but when I was working I had (what I considered) a good excuse for taking time to myself to get away, even if the laundry wasn't done. Now I feel like "I'm home all day, why would I need a break when I didn't even do the laundry today?" I'm adjusting... I'm sure I'll find my balance, but I feel almost like a prison inmate that's been in prison for so much of his life that he doesn't know how to live in a normal world. I'm almost more overwhelmed by the thought of doing easy every day tasks (that I see all the other stay at home moms doing) than I ever was by work. Whatever the case, I Love being home, and still have no intentions of going back. So here's a quick recap of what we have been doing since August:

Deegan finally outgrew his little tricycle that he's been riding since he was like 18 mo. old, so we got a "Big Bike" to finish the summer off.

After a couple of weeks, the excitement wore off and he asked me to take it back to the store (I got it on KSL for $10) because he likes his "little bike" better. He's starting to ride the big one more now and Griffin has kind of hijacked the trike.

He Idolizes his dad! He tells me all the time that when he turns 5 he gets to go to work like his dad (you know, how most kids say "When I'm 5 I get to go to School"...) Whatever. He's going to be pretty disappointed when Kindergarten doesn't have a concrete mixer to drive!

(Before)

We FINALLY re-painted the bathroom that we've wanted to re-do for almost 3 years now. My network at work was having issues one day so I couldn't work, so I decided I needed a project for the day. I found a small one, but didn't have the supplies and the boys were napping, so I decided to start sanding the cupboards instead.... I don't think I thought very far ahead on that one because it was a MUCH bigger project than the few extra hours that I had, but atleast it got us started! I sanded, painted and then stained the cupboards then Adam (and Deegan) painted the walls. It looks MUCH better!

(AFTER)

(During! )

Half of a cow: 97 lbs ground beef and TONS of steak, roasts and stew meat!

First time mini- golfing!

The Job Saga Part 2

2011-09-25T14:09:00.000-07:00

Ok so, I planned on finishing this up sooner, but I get on a "blogging" kick and I do a bunch of posts, then if I quit, it takes a while for me to come back and post again. In any case, here's the rest of the story (sorry it's kind of long)....

So, I drove the kids home, trying to decide if I should be really, REALLY angry, or if I was totally over re-acting having not known the whole story behind what I saw. I called my sister, as I always do when I have ANY kind of questions about just about anything (good thing she likes me and doesn't get tired of it!), and asked her if I should be upset. I always need a second opinion, because I think I over exaggerate things a LOT. She agreed, and said she would be irritated too. I planned on calling "Jane" that afternoon to see if I could discuss it with her on Friday, but then I remembered that she was leaving right after I picked the kids up to go on vacation for the weekend. That left me 3 days to stew over it and get more angry!

Friday I spent the day trying to focus on work, but mostly trying to figure out if I could just quit or what I'd do if I couldn't. All I could think about were all the times that I had that "feeling/prompting" that I need to be home with my kids. I would dwell on those for a day or so and then the next day I'd feel good about work and love how our lives were going, so I ignored them. We had a lesson last spring in Relief Society at church about choosing right from wrong, and the topic that was discussed more was distinguishing good from best. I wasn't listening that intently until a friend of mine gave the example of working moms. She explained that while sometimes it's necessary for a mom to work, sometimes we need to look outside the box to make it work without the mom's income. I knew then that I was working because I enjoyed the extra financial freedom it gave me to do the things I wanted, but that I needed to be home with my kids because that was more important. Again, I brushed that off after a day or two and went on with my life, but that has always kind of lingered in my mind. So on friday, I looked at our finances and decided we could make it work without my income once Adam got his raise that he'd be getting in a month or so. I made arrangements with one of the girls in our neighborhood to watch the boys starting (possibly) on Monday until school started, but I left a small "benefit of the doubt" room incase something changed after I talked to "Jane" on Monday. I was just hoping that that would buy me enough time and I'd be really able to quit when school started and I lost my babysitter.

On Sunday evening, I decided I'd warn "Jane" that I wanted to talk with her so she wasn't caught totally off guard, and maybe I wanted her to stew over it too... So I called. There was no answer. I tried again in the morning before I left to go over, and still no answer. Oh well- her problem now not mine. On the way there, Deegan whined and complained that he didn't want to go. I still hadn't decided if I was going to leave the boys or not, but I had paid her for the next month, and our contract said that I had to give 2 weeks notice and then anything after that would be returned, so I kind of couldn't justify paying a babysitter twice for 2 weeks. When we got there, the boys stayed in the car and I went to the door. Her 9 year old answered the door, so I asked where "Jane" was. She came, and I asked if we could talk outside. We stepped outside and I told her that I had a possible problem but that I didn't want to make it a problem until I knew the whole story, so I said that I'd tell her what I knew and she could fill in the blanks after. She agreed, so I told her the story up until I saw Griffin in the backyard alone, and said "you can understand why that would upset me, right?" Nervously she said yes and then explained that the kids had been eating lunch and Deegan went upstairs to use the bathroom and had an accident. She went up to help him, and left the kids eating (Griffin in a highchair). While she was up there, the 9 year old girl got Griffin down, the 2 year old boy went outside and Griffin followed. The 2 year old came back in and must have closed the door on Griff. It wasn't until her husband heard crying and said "where's Griffin?" that anyone noticed he was gone. The looked around and finally found him at the back door pounding, and that's when the 9 y.o. let him in.
Well, that was better than what I had expected, but it was still not a good explanation. So, I told her, "Ok, well then... here's the rest of the story..." and I explained that I came back around and that she didn't tell me what had happened when I asked. Her reason was "I didn't know yet". Well, if I were her, I think I would have 1. heard a crying baby and asked what happened, and 2. not made an excuse if I didn't know and just asked the kids/husband while the mom (me) was standing there. Then she said "I need to tell my girls to be better about watching him." (NEWSFLASH.... I would NEVER pay a 9 year old and a 7 year old to watch my 1 year old! IT'S NOT THEIR JOB!!!) All I said was "well, I'm quitting my job, so this is my 2 weeks notice." Her response was "Oh that's great, I know you wanted to quit". I explained that I DIDN'T plan on quitting and that this was the straw that broke the camel's back. She just smiled and said that it would be good that I can be home with them. ARG!!! I wanted to punch her! I told her that Deegan was not wanting to stay and that I was going to take them home with me for the day and maybe I'd bring them tomorrow. All the way home I was fuming because there are SO many problems with that story! Seriously, if I wanted to report her, she would lose her license and she just brushed it off like nothing happened! I should have! Or atleast demanded that she let me out of the contract immediately, but I was too much of a pushover. Anyway, I was glad to have atleast told her we were done. That night we recieved a call that Adam's grandpa wasn't doing well and wouldn't probably make it through the night. Adam and I took the next 2 days off to be with family and help with funeral arrangements, so luckilly I didn't have to take the kids to "Jane's" house. I called and let her know they wouldn't be there and she kept asking questions like: "So did you quit your job? (No- I'm not quitting yet) "Who's going to watch your boys then?" (A friend) "Oh, just a high school girl?" (Yes, but I know she will do the job right and I know and trust her and her family) "Well, you'll have to pay her more than you pay me." (Nope, the same, but that's not an issue anyway for care I can trust). I couldn't believe that THAT was her argument to get me to stay with her! Thursday I had a meeting that I needed to be at, so I couldn't let the kids stay home, so I forced myself to try and trust "Jane" and take them. When I dropped them off I felt awful, and even though I know she is a decent person, I still didn't want to leave them there because she now had no vested interest, but I had no other options. When I went to pick them up, they were standing on the front porch ready to go (shoes and back pack on Deegan, Griffin and blanket in Jane's hand and all gathered up). That has NEVER happened. Normally when I picked them up, they were still eating or playing or whatever and I was there for 15-30 minutes getting them all ready to go. I decided then that I was done taking the kids to her house. I called her on Sunday and told her that I wasn't bringing the boys becuase Griffin was sick and that I felt better about just keeping them home with me anyway. When she asked if I was sure, I said yes and told her I'd rather be able to know what they are doing and who's watching them. Her reply was "Oh, well then.... I guess I wont get to really say goodbye to the boys..." I just said, yeah. (What do I or they care if she says goodbye?)

That same weekend, I had talked with a friend who was looking for a good daycare that would work with her schedule. I told her the only one I knew of I had fired, but then I offered to keep her little girl. We talked about it Sunday and the difference of what she'd pay me was what we'd need to make up for Adam not having his raise yet, so it was settled that I'd watch her baby about 4 weeks later. I wanted to make sure I gave my boss enough time for me to help train the replacement, or whatever he needed to work out, but I wanted a couple days to make sure this was the best option first, so I planned on telling him on Wednesday or Thursday. That monday, he and I were talking about the fact that my task load was piling up and not moving as quickly as normal. He asked if it was just because of the death in the family or if there was something else going on, so I asked if I could come in and talk to him. I called my babysitter, Kara, and she was there in a few minutes and I called Adam to tell him I was quitting. All the way there I tried to figure out what I was going to tell him because I was pretty sure he was NOT anticipating this, or prepared in any way. When I got in, I just said "I need to quit". I explained my daycare situation and that I felt like I needed to be home with my kids. I told him that I just couldn't give 100% to my kids and my job at the same time anymore. He respected that, and said he thought I was making the right choice, but then he asked if there was anything he could do to make it work better for me, or to atleast let me work part time. I told him I'd be willing to consider it, but that I was only willing to do what I can do when my kids are asleep and that it can't interfere with my "Mom" schedule. He asked for a few days to see what he could figure out and that was that. I started training Francis, the guy in the Philipines that I had been training for a while, at SUPER speed to try and get him up to speed because I still figured I'd be more or less quitting. Finally the last few days before I was ready to quit, my boss told me he wanted me to still work on training and a few other odd tasks 10-15 hours/week. That's where I am now, and I am LOVING having my days free to go to the park and play and take walks and read books and make dinner and do dishes and laundry. The first few days I spent scrubbing my house floor to ceiling just because I finally could! I was so excited! (That excitement has settled, and now I just do the cleaning I have to do ;-), but my house is cleaner than it has been in 2 years and I love it!)

On a side note, when "Jane" came to bring me my check for the weeks I paid past the 2 weeks, she tried to justify that day when Griffin was left outside by telling me all the precautions that she normally takes to keep the kids in and safe, etc. and that it was just a weird coincidence and I explained that I was frustrated with her before that because she seemed distracted all summer and that I was just trying to wait until school was back in hoping that it would be better. I explained that maybe she needs to work on her priorities when her kids are home, or maybe not do daycare in the summers. (I was proud of myself for speaking my mind!) But I also realized that maybe this was just the Lord's way of being blunt and straight forward that I need to be home with my kids since I obviously wasn't listening before! I struggled every day from when I decided to quit until I finally was done working full time with if I really wanted to quit. I was ok until someone brought up something like who my replacement was, or when I had to tell Francis that I ws quitting. I got kind of jealous that they were going to be doing my job. Now that I'm here, I wouldn't go back unless I really needed to. I LOVE it!

The Job Saga part 1

2011-09-06T20:02:00.000-07:00

A little background info on my job... I love my job. I work for a telemarketing company with a new and very innovative way of doing telemarketing. My job is to build/program and manage the scripting software that the agents use. My boss and I agreed when I took the position that it needed to be flexible for my kids and that I would work mostly from home. It has worked out great, with the exception of a couple babysitter issues.
In April, I had decided that it was too difficult to work full time and be a mom to 2 crazy little boys, so I intended to ask my boss if I could cut back in the next couple of months to part time.

The day I went in to ask him, I chickened out because his boss was in and he intimidates me! The next day was a day I worked from home all day and just went in for an afternoon meeting. My boss asked me to come in early and told me not to worry, that this was a good thing. I was a nervous wreck because I didn't know what to expect or if I wanted this "good thing". When we met he asked me if I'd be willing to train some script developers in the Phillipines and then manage them as the company grows. I am always looking for a new challenge, and I wasn't prepared to turn down such an opportunity, so I accepted. The potential to grow in that position was extremely tremendous! I could stay with the company and advance as quickly and as much as I wanted if I accepted this position, so I did. I decided that life was good the way it was and I could handle it and so could my boys. Adam was just finishing school that month, so we'd have more time together and things would be good, and they were... Until July 21st....

My boys were going to a daycare 4 mornings a week (M-Th) just so they could have some time to socialize and get out of the house and I had a few hours to focus on work. The daycare provider (we'll call her 'Jane') also taught preschool, so it was great for Deegan, and she didn't have other daycare kids- just mine. She did this out of her home with her 4 kids as well (9 yrs, 7 yrs, 5 yrs, and 2 yrs old). She is highly qualified with a bachelors degree in elementary education and 8 yrs of preschool and daycare experience. I was happy and my kids were happy (90% of the time). After school got out for the summer and she wasn't doing preschool and her kids were all home, she got a little lax about things, and I tried to wait it out, knowing it was just a summer issue.

On Thursday, July 21, I drove in to the driveway with my windows down and heard a crying baby. The neighbor's car had just pulled in as well, so I assumed the crying was from there because it sounded a little distant. I walked up to the door and knocked and there was no answer. I knocked again and still no answer. Then it occured to me that maybe they were playing in the backyard and it WAS Griffin I heard. I walked back down the steps and around to the back of the house. As I got to the back fence (which consisted of cheap garden fencing and tree stake type poles) I saw Griffin alone on the back deck- Crying his heart out as he pounded on the sliding glass door. I wasn't sure what to do because the fence had no "gate" and I couldn't climb over it easilly, but I didn't want to leave him there while I went around front because the deck was more of a small landing with stairs down to the cement pad at the bottom. Griffin was still pretty unstable in his walking, so I knew that being upset if he turned around he'd just fall straight to the bottom. For a few seconds I tried to get his attention to try and calm him down so he could crawl down the stairs safely, but he didn't hear me. Just then the door slid open and the 9 year old girl grabbed him and took him in. She didn't see me, so I walked around to the front and knocked again. I didn't know what to think and was a little afraid that I was over reacting about something I only saw for a split second. When Jane answered the door, she was holding Griffin, who was still screaming. As I walked in and played dumb, I asked why he was crying. Jane's response was "I don't know, he's been so happy all day! He JUST started screaming a couple minutes ago!" I just said "Hmm" and continued putting his shoes on. Then she added, "...he was rubbing his eyes, so he's probably tired." Trying not to be quick to accuse, I said nothing. She must have felt my frustration because then she added "I was upstairs because Deegan had an accident and I was helping him change, so... something may have happened, but I'm not sure". That comment made me furious, and I just signed them out and left without saying much.

July

2011-09-06T19:18:00.000-07:00

July was Crazy Busy! We had 6 family Birthdays, and 2 holidays, a funeral and a lot of chaos, but it was a great month looking back!

We started the month off with fireworks on the 1st at USU. I love that we can always see the fireworks on the weekend for the 4th of July Holiday up here in Cache Valley! The next day we headed down to Syracuse to enjoy the 4th of July festivities with both families and a visit with Adam's Sister Lori and her family who came in from Chicago. It was so much fun to see them again! I tried to convince Lori to let me keep her Kaity for the rest of the summer because she adored my boys, and I kinda adore her! Lori was unwilling :-(

While Lori was here, her Sweet Blake got to fulfill a BIG dream of his, and we got to go along. Blake is a BIG fan of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, especially the director, Mack Wilberg. Through family friends and connections in the area, we were able to go see the choir practice for their sunday performance and were given preferential treatment the whole time. They gave us the best seats in the house for the best sound. Half way through the practice, Mack Wilberg stopped and welcomed all who were there to see the practice, then announced that there was an honorary member in the audience- Blake Fifield. Blake stood up, put his arms up in the air and looked around at the congregation, then bowed a few times.... I could just see him picturing himself as the star of a big show with spotlights and applause! The choir applauded and chuckled a bit when he bowed. After the practice, Mack came down and met Blake. Blake was in HEAVEN! The Smile and excitement on his face as he waited for Mack to walk toward him was priceless! What a blessing Blake is in our lives, he has such a sweet, honest spirit!

While we waited for the choir practice to begin, we toured the LDS Conference Center. I've seen the tour before, but it was fun to hear about it again and learn new things. And as always, the company made it even more enjoyable.

Among the hustle and bustle of July, Griffin learned that he can climb! He's gotten VERY good at getting himself up on anything he wants... His favorite place is looking out his bedroom window. Luckily he hasn't tried to climb out of the crib, but I have seen him try to climb in a couple times (to get his beloved blanket of course!)

We closed the month with Adam's Grandpa Lemon's reunion with his loving wife on the other side! It was hard to watch him go and wait knowing he was laying there in agony awaiting his time to see her again, but such a relief and a blessing to feel the joy they had when they re-united! He was a great man and one I'm proud to have known and be related to! He brought a lot of love and joy to the family.

June Travels

2011-09-05T05:04:00.000-07:00

What a summer it's been! We've had lots of fun and been super busy. Here's a recap of what we've been doing and where we've been... In June Adam and I decided to take a weekend away. It was kind of our Valentine's Day that we never had time for! We wanted to go somewhere that wasn't too far, but far enough that it was kind of new to us. We considered Denver, then decided on Boise becuase it's closer. We didn't realize at the time that the drive to Boise was 5 hours! Anyway, we had a great weekend away and enjoyed seeing something new for a change! We missed the boys a lot though... Everywhere we went we thought about what we could have done with them, or what we could get to take home to them. We decided to bring home a new toy for each of them. Deegan got a Bubble Mower which he LOVED. (We didn't take any pictures in Boise.. lame, I know! So here's pics of Deeg Loving his mower)

The week before that (after our hotel was already paid for and we couldn't change our plans), my Best Friend from High School (Tiffany) told me she and her husband and 2 sweet boys were going to the temple to be sealed! I was SUPER excited! I didn't get to go to her wedding because I was 9 1/2 months pregnant, so I had been waiting for this day forever!!! The sealing was 2 weeks after our trip to Boise, and it was in Denver :-) So instead of Adam missing work and having to make the drive with me, I invited my sister to join me. It was such a fun weekend of just being girls- not moms, not wives, not work associates... just girls! We drove out on Friday morning. We were able to stay with Keli's sweet sister in law, Viola, and spent time with the Ames family. Viola has 3 adorable little girls who could just make anyone's heart melt, and they spent lots of time cuddling with me while I was there. They even called me Aunt Katie, which I kinda liked ;-). Saturday morning I met up with my "long lost" other best friend from HS, Maria. It was SO good to catch up with her. It had been about 7 years since she and I had seen eachother or really even talked. I was amazed at how easilly we just picked up where we left off like it had just been yesterday that we saw eachother. She and I drove up to the temple together, so we had a good hour or so to talk each way. The temple and the sealing were absolutely beautiful! Everything went so well, and Tiffany's little family was just glowing! Tiffany, Maria, and I spent the rest of the afternoon/evening hanging out doing what girls do best- shopping and talking, then Sunday it was back to reality! It was definately a good trip and one I'd like to make more than once every 6 years! I missed Colorado once I got there, but it sure was nice to be home in my quiet little Providence, UT.

May

2011-06-13T12:14:00.000-07:00

May is typically our time to recover from the chaotic months prior. This month was definately not as chaotic as March and April, but still had a few events to keep us from getting lazy and into a routine :-)

We started the month with what I thought was just a teething fever, until Griffin woke up from his nap with a temp of 105.5. As I think most moms who aren't medically inclined would do, I flipped out! That's REALLY high! So I called the Dr. up here by our house because our pediatrician is an hour away, and they said either go to the ER or go in and hope their dr. could treat him. Of course, I went to the Dr. because who wants to pay for the ER if you can help it? He looked at him, saw no other symptoms and just said," it must be the stupid virus that's going around.... He'll have a high fever for about a week, and probably you shouldn't take him out so we can stop the virus from spreading more." a few hours later (after hours, so I couldn't call the dr. back) his fever got to 106.7! ACK! Anyway, the nurse said as long as Tylenol keeps it down we're ok to let it get that high. So that was that, we were on house arrest for a week. It lasted 6 days before the fever was gone, then 2 days after that of non-stop uncontrollable crying... like ready to throw him out the window crying! That's a long time to be sleep deprived and have cranky kids! Luckilly we all survived with no injury :-) I took the kids to school the following Monday, Extatic to have a break, and when I picked them up, Deegan had a fever of 104.... Here we go again! It was the EXACT same story, 1 week later. That was about all of the drama for May, but it was a long 2 weeks!!!

Once we were all better, Deegan and I decided to build a sand table on one of the Saturdays that Adam was working...

we had lots of fun!

The boys love to ride in the basket...

"Maybe we should get something so you don't have to ride together..."

"Hmm, that's better!"

:-)

I LOVE this kid!

Memorial Weekend we went to my In-laws for Sunday afternoon and night, then over to my parents for a family BBQ on Monday.

Movie time at Grandma's

Dirty Shirts= Laundry time!

Deegan was SO excited to put up the flag! For those of you who didn't know or have forgotten, he has a thing for flags...

He really likes them!

Then we went to Jorgensen's for our BBQ, and we were having SO much fun that I didn't take any pictures :-)

My mom and dad had just gotten home from a long trip to Hawaii, so they brought back some fun things (Shirts, and jewelry!) for all of us! I'll post pics of all of the boy's fun shirts when I get a chance to take some!

April

2011-06-13T10:44:00.000-07:00

Here's my quick update for April... almost caught up- One more month! :-)

March and April are always SUPER busy months. We have 6 family birthdays in March, 4 in April, including mine and Griff's, and Easter, which makes for a lot of family get togethers!

Easter:

Easter Egg Hunt #1 (with Powell Fam)

Easter Egg Hunt #2 (with Jorgensen Fam)

Easter Egg Hunt #3 (By ourselves Easter day)

Too much Easter Egg hunting!

Pickles to keep the kids from going out and finding the eggs before everyone else

Another pickle addict... I can't afford this!! I better have a girl next time so we can stop the pickle madness at our house and have some girly food instead! :-)

Lucky for me, Deegan likes cookies too! ... and cookie dough! And yes, I love to share it with him... I ate raw cookie dough tons of times and I'm still alive!

And last but not least, Griffin turned 1! My dad took all the pics, so I still need to get them and then I will post them. We took balloons to school for his birthday and the kids had a blast playing with them!

March

2011-05-24T12:28:00.000-07:00

Yep. I know it's almost June, but since I haven't posted since Feb, I need to back up to March. I have decided that I am going to try and just post 1 or 2 pics every few days, then the task is less daunting! For now though, I'll get caught up first in a quick, very shortened version of our lives.....

Gardner Village

Apparently the Recycle basket and Toy basket do NOT belong together in the same corner...

These boys LOVE to be together! (90% of the time anyway)...

... And it sure makes for a happy mom to see them play together...

...and relax together...

...and go Couch Diving...!

Boys will be Boys I guess

:-)

Also in March, Griffin started taking his first steps! (Note so I can remember because otherwise, I wont!)

My little Loves

2011-02-20T14:21:00.000-08:00

Amist the chaos of getting ready for work on Valentines Day morning, I decided to make a cute little valentine of my boys to put on Facebook.... Here's how it went: "Here Deeg put this shirt on, I want to take your picture for Grandmas and Grandpas" D:"No, I don't want a shirt on" K: (Struggling to put shirt on) "Ok just let me take one cute picture... sit here on the floor and hold Griff" D: "I don't want sit on the floor! That's making me sick!" K: "Fine we'll just take it on the bed... say Cheese!... Say OOGA BOOGA... SAY TRACTORS... UGH Look at me!"

Love you all!

We have fun together!

2011-02-20T14:17:00.000-08:00

Treehouse Museum

The Sword in the Stone... Guess I'm not Knight Worthy.

Deegan tried SO hard, again and again!

Chief Griff

Sick day. What better way to watch a movie but in the comfort of a storage tub!?

Just like Daddy

Learning to get around... and get stuck.

Tumbling class

Running the obstacle course

Griffin even gets to join in on the fun!

Brotherly Love! Chillin on the entryway floor.

The favorite thing to do when dad gets home from work!

Bath Time!!

Deegan decided he needed to open up the piggy bank and buy this super oversized "Concrete Mixer" yesterday. He is in HEAVEN and of course had to sleep with it! I'm not sure this pictue even does the size justice! it's so big. My first comment at the store was "We can't fit that in our house!" Oh well, guess we'll have to! It is pretty cool, it actually works and you can turn it to "mix", or turn the other way for whatever you put in to come out of the slide thing (I'm sure there's a technical name, and Deegan probably knows it, but I don't, so "slide thing" it is).

Before and After

2011-02-20T13:34:00.000-08:00

Griffin got his Helmet off the Wednesday before Christmas. I knew going in to the appointment that it was probably our last, or maybe one more, but I went in and the Dr. said. "He looks great", did 2 little measurements and said "Here's your trophy" as he handed me the helmet. I almost didn't know what to do because I still wasn't really expecting him to be done! I asked him, "That's it? He doesn't need it at all anymore? Do we need to come back sometime or anything??". "Nope! You're good to go!" he told me. I left feeling a little lost like I didn't know what to do! :-) Griffin on the other hand was SO excited to not be wearing it. He would rub his head and hair like "Ahhhh! I missed you head!" :-) The Dr. told me that he changed much quicker than most kids do and we must have caught it at just the right time. He only wore the helmet for 8 and a half weeks and they expected 3 months at least! Anyway- Here are the Before and After pics.

BEFORE:

AFTER

Christmas and Birthdays

2011-02-20T13:12:00.000-08:00

We went to Temple Square in SLC with Steve, Roxy, Ana, Brett and Breanne and decided to ride the Trax down. Deegan was SO excited to ride a train!

It was super cold and crowded but we had fun!

Gingerbread House decorating on Christmas Eve.

The Finished Product

Waiting "Patiently" to go down and see what Santa brought.

WHOA! Look mom!

"That's EVIL Dr. Porkchop to you!"

The best baby christmas present... wrapping paper!

just enjoying the fun! (Not so much for Kohen)

Happy Birthday Deegan!! Not the prettiest cake, infact probably the ugliest I've made but it sure tasted good!

Got all the presents unloaded and organized in the toy room! This is Griff's corner :-)

I love those sleepy eyes! They make me melt!

The 2 best Christmas presents ever! Garbage truck (or as Deegan says it "Gaabage") and a moving train! Thanks Grandmas and Grandpas!

Birthday Party #2

My little Elves!

Griff liked the Birthday celebrations too!

Photo Catch up

2010-12-05T18:16:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned in my last post... my "free time" has been filled with enjoying my family, so here's a shortened version of an update (in no real order because I still can't figure out the easy way to arrange my pics in the order I want)!!

Nothing fixes a cranky mood like a bath!!

We replaced our cement wall this summer- Deegan was in HEAVEN with the tractors and cement truck at our house!

Typical Naptime... (Notice those moon boots that are in EVERY picture!)

Hiking to the wind caves in Logan Canyon... never again with 2 babies that need to be carried!

It was very rewarding getting to the top though-Definately a good hike if it weren't for the kiddos and heat.

Backyard Campout

Getting Grfiin fitted for his helmet to help re-shape his head. They made a cast of his head... it was kinda weird to watch!

Before Picture... After coming soon!

First food and first picture of the helmet (middle of October- 5 1/2 months)

"The case of the missing candy"

Deegan was Sherlock for Halloween (Trunk or Treat at the church)

I can't figure out how to move Griffin's Halloween pic to here, so it is at the bottom ;-)

Taking a break from the helmet! (this is his 2nd hair cut- 6 mo. old!)

Sitting!!! (and not feeling so hot, which is why he is eating the medicine bottle)

Deegan decided he wanted to learn to sew... so after a few "no, I don't think so's", I gave in and decided to help him.

4th of July

:-)

Our new pets... 2 babies broke through our less than secure gate and now it's snowed open, so they (and about 4-5 of their friends/family) have free range of our back yard for now! We've enjoyed watching them play in our backyard, but they eat my trees...

And poop everywhere!

Sitting and enjoying time out of the helmet! (he gets about an hour out of it each day)

Elementary my dear Watson!

For now, that's what we've been up to! Nothing crazy, but we sure enjoy the time we have to play together and go places together! If I get time to have Holiday Pics taken, I will post them, otherwise- Happy Holidays and may the spirit and love of Christ be a big part of your Christmas season!

Update:

2010-08-30T10:40:00.000-07:00

Well, I quit my job! BUT- then I "Un-quit" sort of. A few days after I gave my notice, my boss came to me and said he really was impressed with my work and me i n general and wants to do what he can to keep me with the company. I explained that I really need to be home with my kids and that it was just getting too hard to be gone all the time (I was working noon-8 pm and every other Saturday). So, he offered to let me work from home, he just needed to figure out what exactly I could do from home! So he told me to give him a week and he'd work something out. He asked if I would be willing to come in at all and I told him my MAX would be 15 hours a week as needed. So, a few days later he came to me with an assignment to see how I perform before he offers me one of 2 different positions. He liked my work, so a week later he offered me a position on the new "script development team", which for now only consists of me and one other guy. He told me I would have the flexibility I need and that I can work at whatever time of day I want as long as the work gets done. So basically, I am writing, programming and recording the scripts that the phone agents use when making calls. Life has been MUCH better the last week and a half and my kids are so much happier!

SO- after realizing how crappy it is to be away all the time and not able to do things, I have decided to take advantage of the time I do have to go out and enjoy my family. Which means I probably wont ever catch up on blogging and I probably wont post very often and when I do it will most likely be just pictures with maybe short captions. So, for now- I hope all is well with you and we will keep you updated in pictures. I'm going to go enjoy my husband and kids!

It's Only been 3 Months - Already?

2010-07-30T20:35:00.000-07:00

The past 3 months have been the fastest longest 3 months of my life! Griffin is 3 months old and he is getting big SO fast (as they always do!). Why does that have to happen? At the same time, I have been working full time for the past 7 weeks and it has been the longest 7 weeks ever! This is a short update because I just don't have a lot of time these days, but I am quitting my job to be a stay home mom on the 20th of Aug, and then you will be bombarded with pics and posts from this summer and my cute boys! Anyway here's a few to hold you over.

LOVE the Hair!! How can you get any cuter than this?? (other than maybe a cute shirt and combing his hair)

Brothers! Deeg LOVES to hold Griff

Check out that bod!

He is generally a very happy baby, except at night because he has reflux and nights are just not a good time for him. But the rest of the day he is very smiley and laughs a lot too.

Deegan's typical wardrobe choice! (Of course, I would never let him out of the house like this, but as long as we're inside, the boots are on!) He's so Quirky!

Father's Day and the Last trip to the cabin

2010-07-04T10:00:00.000-07:00

Forr Father's Day and Mother's Day, Adam and I got tickets to see Josh Ritter. We've seen him a couple times before (Here's Pics from the first time) and really enjoy his shows. It's not just that we like his music, he puts on a fun show! Adam has had a new debit card to be signed every show he's been to (this would have been his 3rd card). Unfortunately, Adam got sick that day so we went to the show hoping he'd be okay, but we ended up leaving after about 5 songs. So we still saw enough, but Adam didn't get to have his card signed. :-( Bummer! Then he spent the rest of Father's Day weekend sleeping on the couch feeling crappy. Double Bummer. It was a good weekend though. Deeg, Griff and I went to my parents on Saturday to have

Father's Day dinner. The kids played on the slip N slide all night!

Deegan made a "Treat of the Month Club" mail box for Adam. Each month for the next year, Deeg and I get to make/pick out a treat for dad and put it in his mail box. He had lots of fun painting it and then we stamped his hands on the box too.

For as long as I can remember, we have gone to my grandparent's cabin every summer. I remember when it was just a field with a camper, and then a nice little cabin, then they built on and we helped finish it! Now, the time has come to let it go. Grandma just finished up a year of Chemo Therapy and is feeling well, but they just haven't had the energy to keep the cabin up the way they used to be able to. As we all get older, we dont have as much time to go and enjoy it either. So, they sold it. We went down last weekend for one last visit before it was gone.

Deegan had a blast! When I was pregnant w/ him, my dad joked that his nickname would be "Digger" (Deegan -> Deeger -> Digger) Little did he know how fitting that name would be! Deegan spent both days at the cabin sitting in the dirt digging with his Skid Steer and his Excavator. This is his favorite past time these days.

Deegan's first fishing trip!

The run off is a great fishing spot because I didn't have to make sure he wasn't getting too close to the water!

"I GOT ONE!!!"

A few days ago, I sent Deeg outside to eat his popsicle. He looked so cute sitting on the side of my little hill with his "little one skidsteer" in one hand and popsicle in the other. He's such a good kid!

Some Updates!

2010-07-04T08:14:00.000-07:00

Digging in the dirt while we fixed up the yard.

I found out last summer that my "flower bed" in the middle of my yard is filled with VERY LARGE chunks of cement that used to be part of the septic system years back. The cement chunks are about 8 inches thick and 1-2 feet wide, and sit only a few inches under my dirt ( not even deep enough to bury my petunias!). So, we had to add dirt to it to build it up a bit so I can have flowers in my dirt mound in the middle of the yard.

Brant asked me to help him out with a surprise birthday party for Keli, so I offered to make the cake. Of course, I have NO decorating skills, but I knew it would taste better than a bakery cake if I use Keli's yummy recipes! So, since I have no skills, I decided to use that to my advantage and make a "cake wreck" (http://www.cakewrecks.com/). Deegan loves to help me with the mixer, so I make him put on an apron to help me. Guess I need to make him a "Boy apron"!

Complete with spelling errors, instructions and "sperm balloons"! Although it wasn't pretty, it was funny to those who mattered (Keli)!

6 weeks old! Loves to smile!

For Memorial Day, my family all came up to go back to the fun park where we had my birthday party. We went to the Willow Park Zoo first. I didn't get many pics, but the kids had tons of fun. Especially chasing the Peacocks, feeding the ducks and howling at the Coyotes!

Deeg and Dad hanging out while mom was at work!

2 weeks!

2010-05-13T15:12:00.000-07:00

Right after the nursery got him all cleaned up. Nice Faux-hawk dude!

Leaving the hospital. Clearly Deeg was excited about his new brother!

SO Tiny!!

Rocking out with Ana at Grandma's house!

3 Perfect Boys! What a great family I have!!

Beautiful little face

Trying to get some sleep here!!!

2 Weeks Old

6 lbs 12 oz

Is it really May already??

2010-05-13T13:59:00.000-07:00

Wow! This year is FLYING by! Since I skipped over some fun activities, I figured I'd go back and post some pics.

Easter egg hunt at Grandma & Grandpa Powell's house. It was cold and wet so we had it inside. It was much harder and more fun inside than out!

Swimming

My G&G Jorgensen came to visit, so they stayed in a hotel for the night, which meant we all got to go swimming. Deeg had never been swimming before, so he was excited to play in the "big bathtub". Now all he wants to do is go swimming!

Yup- Dad let Deegan have a turn too! ;-)

My Birthday- Getting OLD!! :-)

My family all came up to visit us for my birthday. We packed a lunch (KFC packs nice lunches! ;-) and headed to the park down the street. It was a perfect day for the park and we all had a blast!

Deeg-punzel

Down the Tire Tunnel!

His very own Tractor! We need one of those in the backyard- I don't think he'd ever leave it!

Aiden showing off his mad hanging skills!

The week before we had Griffin, I got some kind of stomach bug. Since I was delivering at Davis Hospital, which is 20 minutes from Keli's house and an hour away from mine, I stayed with Keli incase the puking put me into labor. My sweet sister put up with me for the rest of the whole next week, and took care of me and Deegan. Then after we had him, I stayed at my mom's house for the weekend- mostly because she wasn't ready to let the baby leave yet! :-) Anyway, it was nice to have soomeone there to help out when Adam couldn't be, or just to let Adam and I have a break together too! Thanks mom and Keli!

Delivery Day

Bags are packed! I'm ready to lose this belly!! Off we go....

The happy couple!

Patiently waiting ... to be done, so I could eat more than ice chips and popsicles! I wanted Adam's Skittles SO bad!!!! Luckily I was done in time for lunch!

We had a baby!

2010-04-29T14:54:00.000-07:00

He's Here!!! Much quicker than my labor with Deegan (12 hours), Griffin arrived after just 5 hours of labor! Mom and Dad had just showed up with lunch for Adam and my mom joked that I better give her a few minutes before I am ready to deliver so she has time to leave first. I told her that would be no problem since I was only dialated to 5 cm less than an hour before. The nurse checked and said "Just what I thought! You are 100% ready to push!" :-) Just enought time to put lunch back in the bag and run out the door mom! After the first push the doctor stopped me because Griffin's hair was already out! A few more and we were done! So, I present to you our new love:

Griffin Alexander Powell

5 lbs 14 oz

19.5 in. long

What a Sweet Big Brother!

New Baby for me = Giveaway for you!

2010-04-29T03:44:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: WINNER- Keli!!

I come from a competitive family, so I like contests. I also have left over inventory from my Baby Emblems website that I am no longer selling (Who has time for that with a job, a 2 year old and one on the way??). So, I decided that I would do a contest and giveaway from my Baby Emblems inventory today.

For those of you who don't know, I am having a baby today (Thursday)!!!

So here's the contest: Guess Baby Griffin's size

Comment on this post how much you think his birth weight and length will be, and whoever is closest will win a choice of the following: Tutu, Crayon Caddy, Binki Clip, Carseat Canopy or headband with 4 hair clip flowers. (Choose from my current inventory only-descriptions on the blog.)

Now to make it fair, I will tell you all that at my appointment 9 days ago, he was measuring about 6 lbs and 4 oz.

The contest will end when he is born, so post your answers quickly (Who knows when that will be!) since I will probably post the actual stats on facebook shortly after. Make sure to leave your e-mail address so I can contact you if you win! (In the event of a tie, I will randomly choose the winner from those who answered correctly)

Good Luck!!!!

Spring Cleaning... finally cleaned off my camera and ready to take more pics!

2010-03-31T15:37:00.000-07:00

I figured it's pretty bad when Adam tells me that it's been a long time since I updated the blog, becuase he never reads it and I'm pretty sure he doesn't even know the blog address. He noticed the other night while I was reading other people's blogs. So here we go! Lucky for you, our live's have only been mildly eventful, so this wont be a huge blog overload!

In a nutshell, we've mostly just been working a lot, and Adam is just finishing up the semester of school next week! HOORAY! In my time at home when I'm not working, I have been finding super grocery deals which are like drugs... so addictive! And working on getting ready for Griffin. (coming in 5 weeks!!)

We are still working on potty training... Deegan has decided in the last couple of days that he prefers the big potty though... I guess that's a step forward!

Spring is playing tricks on us this year... Every time we have a nice sunny day and I break out the Capris, the next day we wake up to this...

Today is no exception. I wore short sleeves 2 days ago and played outside, now I am inside watching the snow pile up again! Hopefully it will clear up before Easter though.

Deegan got his own "Big Boy Bed" which he LOVES... There are drawers on the sides for his toys, and he loves to help clean up now! Hooray!

We are also working on learning to be nice... Normally he is a pretty nice kid, but when he gets mad the first thing he does is start hitting. So, time out is becoming more regular at our house.

Deegan had the opportunity to "model" for the new Garanimals (Walmart's line) toys that will be out this fall. I don't have the finalized pics yet, but I could see them on the computer while the photographer was taking them and they were AWESOME! I can't wait to see the finals. Anyway, it was a lot of fun for both of us. He was so good to just do what ever they asked- most of which was just to play, but when they needed the toy held up, he held it up; when they needed him to face left, he faced left. The only trouble we had was that they told him to knock over the big blow up bop-it toy (You know the kind that have a weighted bottom and don't fall down?), he would just tackle it or pick it and and throw it...! :-) He's just not a gentle kid I guess!

After we finished, they let him pick out a toy to take home (not one of the new ones, but still a fun one for him)

He was so excited about his pictures and talked for a couple of days about taking pictures.

Last but not least, we found an AWESOME deal on a new car. It's a 2003 Toyota 4 Runner with only 71K miles. The last owner took REALLY good care of it, so it is really nice and clean inside (we even saw it before the detailers cleaned it)! We traded Adam's 2 seater truck for this one, which was bitter sweet because now we don't have the truck for working and hauling, but this will fit all 4 of us!

How's that for Car Salesman service? (This is our friend Josh who sold us the car).

The rest of Christmas and 2009

2010-02-07T07:11:00.000-08:00

Well, it has taken me forever, but I figured that since it's February, I better atleast finish out last year! :-) I'm having a hard time with the dang photo uploader, so I can't get the pics to stay in the order I wanted. So, here's our random pics from the end of the year. After Christmas at the Jorgensen's, we went to the Powell's. I didn't get as many pics because I was a little tired of taking pictures. Deegan's birthday is the 27th, so we went home long enough for me to work the day after Christmas, and then turned around to go down to Provo to have Christmas/birthday with my grandparents and the rest of the Jorgensen fam. Then back up to the Powell's for a second birthday party. It was a lot of fun, but pretty chaotic! I was excited to be home after that and get Christmas put away and life back to normal!

Happy Birthday! (Just waking up)

The first birthday cake...

... the second birthday cake We got a little lazy with the second one and just made it green with the tractors on top.

Birthday party at great grandma Jorgensen's! Deegan got TONS of tractors for his birthday!

Mom and dad were too tired to wrap presents, so we just opened them up before he got them. Saved a lot of time waiting for toys to get opened!

Christmas at The Powell's. This coloring pad makes music and plays faster/slower with the speed that you are coloring. It's pretty cool!

Overall, the year was good and it's great to finish it out with family!

Christmas with the Jorgensen's

2010-01-03T10:21:00.000-08:00

I'll keep the writing to a minimum, but we had a great time with family for Christmas. We were able to spend time with both the Jorgensen's and the Powell's. Here's what the Jorgensen's do for Christmas:

We start with a big dinner on Christmas Eve. We had DELICIOUS Brisket with Adam's favorite BBQ sauce (Rudy's Sause) straight out of Texas. MMMMM! (Sorry no pics of dinnertime!)

The kids got new jammies from Grandma. Now it's time to find out where Santa is...

Then the kids do a "cake walk" style gift exchange, and off to Grandma's room to watch a movie...

So that the adults can do their gift exchanging...

Adam won the "Tonight/ Not Tonight" Pillow!- Awesome!

Then the kids go to bed and the adults stay up and wrap presents and goof around.

(Steve got new jammies too! He looked rediculous and could hardly sit down in them :-)

Then off to bed everyone goes to wait for Santa to bring all of our goodies.

I managed to wake up when Santa was there and snuck up on him to get a picture. The kids were SO excited to see him at Grandma's house!

6 a.m. came a little too early for some (the ones who were up all night with their child in their bed not wanting to sleep!)

Deegan was a little too sleepy to open presents at first until we told him there was a tractor inside, then he tore into it and had a blast!

Adam got his own bottle of "Rudy's Sause" from mom and dad to take home.

My new mop and hat and scarf!! (P.S. I definately love the Shark Steam mop and would highly recommend it)

Deegan's tractor. He puked on his PJ shirt, and would only let us change one of his socks to his Christmas socks, so- he's a little mismatched. Kinda cute I think!

The kids helped deliver the presents, and then we cleaned up. After clean up, we headed over to the Powell house to spend the rest of the day... more to follow. We had tons of fun for the night.

On a side note, I got to open my gift from Deeg before we went down to mom and dad's. He made me a handprint stepping stone, and wasn't sure he was ready to give it up. He helped me open it and was excited about it, but wanted to hold it himself. He has such pride in his own work! Even now, I have it on a plate stand and he puts his hand in it and says "Deegan's Hand!"atleast twice a day.

And the verdict is...

2009-12-15T10:40:00.000-08:00

Boy!

Griffin Alexander Powell

Look at that cute little button nose!

Our First Snowman

2009-11-16T10:20:00.000-08:00

Last year we didn't get to play in the snow much because I couldn't find a snow suit small enough for Deeg. This year I made sure to buy it early, so I have been way excited to take Deegan out and let him play in the snow. So, we had a very small snow storm this weekend, and we decided to take Deegan out to play yesterday afternoon when it had warmed up a bit.

Ready to go!

Helping build the snowman

Snow Angel

Throwing snow at dad

MMMM! Snow tastes good!!

Halloween Recap

2009-11-03T20:01:00.000-08:00

Every year Adam's mom does a fun party for all of the grandkids for Halloween. It was a lot of fun, and a nice kick off to the week before Halloween. We had "Mummy" sausages and soup for dinner- MMM! We played games like pin the wart on the witch, Halloween bingo, spider toss, and a cupcake walk. Later in the week we had some friends (Haley and Zach) over to carve pumpkins. Deegan painted and had a blast! Halloween day was tons of fun too. We went trick or treating on Main St in Logan during the day with my parents, siblings and their kids. Unfortunately we didn't get a group pic with the Jorgensen kids because by the time we were all together, everyone was so in to T-O-T ing that there was no time for pics! After Main St.we went to the mall and had pizza and then T-O-Ted there as well. Everyone was exhausted and ready for naps so we went our separate ways. That night we dressed Deegan back up in his "Max, King of the Wild Things" costume and took him to a few friends' houses in the neighborhood. It was fun, but we were ready to just be home and relax. So we went home and popped some popcorn and watched the new Transformers. What a week, but it was so fun to see Deegan enjoying the T-O-Ting.

REALLY ANGRY!

2009-10-28T13:52:00.000-07:00

Maybe it's because I'm going on like 2 hours of sleep, maybe it's because I am pregnant and have been grouchy for the last day or 2, but I am very angry right now! Here's the story...
I got those wonderful little coupons from Kmart for a $25 gift card if you transfer your Rx. Great, Deegan needed more of his blood pressure medicine anyway, so I figured, let's do it! They sent a set of 4 coupons for $25 each Rx, so I also transferred my Zofran last week. Well today when I went to pick up Deegan's rx, the pharmacist was acting really irritated. After a minute he asked a couple questions about my insurance and then said "do you want my opinion about this medicine?" I said sure, no harm right? WRONG! He goes off on this big schpeel about how I need to be careful about transferring Rx's because your pharmacist should know your medical history so they can get the dosage right, etc. Then of course he says "and this one especially, a BLOOD PRESSURE medicine for a toddler? In the 8 years of pharmacy experience I have, I have never even seen this medication (Propanolol or something like that), that should tell you something." I left absolutely humiliated and feeling like a HORRIBLE mom because of course he had to tell me all of this in from of a line of 3 other people. On my way home I was trying to convince myself that I am not a horrible mom and that I would never put my son's health in danger intentionally and especially not over $25. Then I had an "aha" moment. What they crap does this pharmacist think he is doing even thinking about giving me anything other than what the Dr. asked for!?!? I know my doctor, and I trust him to prescribe the correct dosage and the correct medication and if there were any dangers he would tell me. Believe me, I have asked him at every appointment if it is really okay for Deegan to keep taking this. WHO DOES THIS STUPID PHARMACIST think he IS??? ARG! Anyway, needless to say, I will be transferring my Rx BACK to Smiths where I don't have to feel like a horrible person, and where I certainly hope that the pharmacists don't think they can prescribe whatever they want regardless of what the Doctor asked for!
(PS When Deegan first started taking it, I filled at Smiths and noticed a big sign at the counter that said something along the lines of "We now carry Propanolol", so apparently it isn't an uncommon drug- JERK!)
Ahhhhh! Okay, I'm done now, I can breath and maybe even take a nap! :-)

Happenings at the Powell House

2009-10-27T14:10:00.000-07:00

So, I take a million pictures "because I want to put this on the blog", but I never put it on the blog. I am really going to try and be better about it. Promise. I just can't promise success. :-) A few weeks ago, we were hanging out with my inlaws, and Deegan decided he needed to show everyone how you snore... it was really LOUD, and sounded a lot like a pig! :-) We were all laughing pretty hard, so I had to have a video of it. If you watch 'til the end you can also hear his monkey impression.

Keli came up to my house one day with the kids to help me make apple sauce. We went out to pick the rest of the apples, and got the ones we could reach but still had lots more up high. I was getting ready to get the step stool, and I thought, I guess we should just shake them down. I told Keli that we could just shake it and she kind of laughed with the "ha, yeah you are going to shake the tree hard enough to make the apples come down" kind of tone. Then she realized I was serious. She didn't realize that that is how apple orchards get theirs down so fast! :-) She had a lot of fun shaking the tree! :-) It was like a kid at Christmas time. (Sorry if I embarassed you Keli, but really- I thought it was funny!)

Deegan's favorite pastime is to play with shoes... I give you "Deegan... in Boots!" He wears any and all shoes, no particular favorites. I keep my shoes in plastic tubs, so he only gets the ones that got left out which are usually my church heels or flip flops, but Adam's shoes never get to stay organized because Deegan gets all of them out of the closet and just sits in a pile of shoes while he chooses which ones to put on next. Then he will pick out one for me or Adam to wear too and bring them to us. He has gotten really good at putting the "thong" part of my flip flops between his toes and walking in them. I keep Deegan's shoes on the bottom shelf in his closet, right at about his waist level, which also means that really he just has a pile of shoes on the floor too! :-) Every day, he pulls them out, and every night before bed he sings "neen ut, neen ut" ("Clean up, Clean up, every body every where...") as he puts them all back on the shelf.

One of the things I love about my house is the 3 big trees along my sidewalk, but when fall hits and the leaves turn that beautiful orange and yellow, they also have this bad habit of falling on my sidewalk and lawn.

After cleaning up this mess, Adam had picked up 15 bags of leaves! He said he just picked up some because he knew more were coming anyway, so he didn't even get the lawn clean! Now, 3 days later, I have a lawn full of leaves again and probably will get another 10 + bags before we are done! But we have fun playing in them anyway. Deegan kept putting them on my head. He didn't quite get the idea of just throwing them in the air!

Last but not least, I gave Deegan a hair cut the other day, so Adam took some cute pics. He is so good at getting his har cut! He just sits and plays in front of the bathroom mirror. Good thing because this is a very frequent thing at our house... and I already have to tie Adam down and cut his hair as quick as possible, so I don't think I could handle 2 boys that hate hair cuts!

Filling our Days with More!

2009-08-30T15:05:00.000-07:00

I assume that all of you who are visiting my blog, are doing so because you read my last post on our "DeeganDays" blog, and know that we are now expecting #2. That being said, our days are no longer just "Deegan Days", so this is the beginning of the Powell Family Blog- for our growing family! Enjoy!