I just told Alexis that Aunt Erin was in the airplan right now on her way here and she looked up to sky light and started clapping and saying "YEA."

Our FHE and Monday

Alexis has declared her favorite color to be pink and her favorite animal is a kitty cat. She is also so mart(smart)!
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This snow is something else. I think we have had more snow this winter then in the last 5 winters combined! Love it.
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I got a new calling this last Sunday. I am really sad to leave my little Sunbeam class. I only got to teach them for 4 weeks and I was getting very attached. I think the mom's of those Sunbeams need to have me come over and hang out so I can see these kiddos. I am going to miss teaching them so much. I am the Secretary in the Relief Society now. I am nervous and feeling very unprepared for this calling. I have never served in a presidency, always been a teacher(a very important job in the church). I guess I will give it my best.
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Britt's job is permanent. He went and filled out all the paperwork and is a KT Transport driver now. They gave him a few more shirts and sweatshirts that have the company logo on them. He is still getting dispatched for Selland and we hope he can make enough there to pay our insurance for one more month(ending us on April 1st. Maybe once the owner comes back for KT a different arrangement can be made to start us in May. It is just important that March is paid for because of the tonsil surgery on the 13th. If there are any complications 2 weeks after the surgery(usually when bleeding happens), we for sure want to be covered.
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Last night we went to the mall and then decided on our way home we would stop at Mr. Jalapenos here in Bonney Lake for the first time. We thought Alexis would be asleep so we stopped and got her a hamburger before leaving the mall. She fell asleep and we thought we were going to be able to eat while she slept. Not so she woke up as soon as they put the chips on. Alexis loves to dip and tried the salsa, too hot. So then she spotted the Tabasco sauce. She put some on a chip and took a bit before we could stop her. She doesn't like it...she was drooling, coughing, crying while the server ran and got milk and juice and I ran her to bathroom to wash her tongue off. We got the fire to stop and enjoyed our meal. We talked to our server a bit as Alexis took her clothes off because they got wet and put her pj's on. He said he has twins and Alexis is mild compared. Through our talking we learned that he used to work for Mazatlan restaurant and that he knew our old neighbor. He said he rented his house. I remembered that a family had moved in there and had twin babies. How funny that we were once neighbors. It was good food too.

Where's daddy

I haven't seen my husband since Wednesday. I miss him. I Alexis misses him. He is so exhausted because he has only slept 6 hours during that whole time. He may be in the Puget Sound area but it feels like he is far, far away. Every time Rudy barks or we hear a car Alexis says "daddy's home." Absence makes the heart grow fonder, right?!

First Day

The job must be official. Yesterday Britt met the owner at the truck and gave him the application(he had interviewed with him the night before and showed him his resume). Tom, the owner, gave him the keys and a KT Sweatshirt. He had a bit of a rough day though. The truck is a 9 car trailer which Britt hasn't worked on in over 2 years and it had been sitting for awhile so things weren't greased and lubed up very well. Also each driver prefers his chains and things in certain spots so Britt had to move things around so it took him a long time to get going. He says that things are going much better today and he says he should cut his load time in half on the next load. We are both so relieved that he is working, even though the rumor is that Tom works his guys hard, it is better then nothing. Britt is so tired though he was going soft sitting around the house on Facebook all day. HAHAHAHA, I teased him about FB the whole time he was off, because he got so into the street racing and mob wars. Anyways, so things are less stressful around here. I feel like celebrating tonight, but I guess making tamales tomorrow will have to do.

I have to say that I know Heavenly Father blessed us. I know it is because we pay our tithing. When we got paid on the 15th, we paid it even though that money would have helped carry us through longer. We both knew the Lord would carry us through 100 times further then that little bit of money. I love being a member of this church and having the gospel in my life. I love having a calling and that I get to teach the Sunbeams. I think about my lesson for Sunday and I hope that it helps these kiddos to know that Heavenly Father loves them. I am grateful we have good friends and family who called us, wrote us and offered help if we needed it. Also those who offered job options, you all mean the world to us, Thank you.

Wake up call

If you are sleepy while driving and need to know how to wake up I discovered the cure. Take a drink of water and accidentally spill a bunch down your shirt. Make sure it is good and cold too. I discovered this by accident as all great discoveries are made and boy does it work! brrrrrrrrrrr

She is very into the potty thing. Not only do her little people go but so does Gabriela from High School Musical.

giddy for work

Alexis is beside herself with silliness about Daddy going to work. It is funny. I don't think she remembers that he usually went to work everyday. I hardly remember! It is cold and I do feel bad for him having to work outside when it is 24 degrees. But yea for work!

Play time

Evana and Alexis were playing so good together today. It is funny how at first the 7 month age gap seems huge, but now it is no big deal. Alexis plays a lot more with her little people house now, a year after she received it. Funny girl also is obsessed with doing the laundry, hmmm wonder where she got that from??? She takes the laundry out of the dryer and puts in a basket, then takes the laundry out of the washer and puts it in the dryer and even turns it on. She then loads the washer and turns it on, which I have to turn off to put soap in. It is so weird how we pass our habits down to our kids even at 2 she is turning out to be just like Britt and I. I just love her even though she spent 2 hours crying and kicking her door because she "didn't want go to bed" and yelled that she had to go potty, yet when I took her in she refused to even sit on the toilet. Let's just say it was a very trying parent moment. She finally crashed and woke up happy as can be. Stinker girl. So since she didn't wake up until 10am she received no nap and will be going to bed early...yea for us. Oh and Britt got work for tomorrow and a call about some more work. So even though he doesn't have a permanent job yet at least he still is working. My camera is charging so when it is done I will upload the video of Alexis and Evana playing.

Scholarship

There is a group up here called Play dayz (http://www.play-dayz.com/Schedule%20%26%20Priciing.Htm). It is a fun group and I have always wanted to take Alexis to it, but felt it was a bit much to pay each activity. Today Alexis was award a scholarship for a year to them. I am really excited. The lady from the Youth Center in Buckley said that Alexis is so sharp and smart and she felt that Alexis would do really well going to these activities. It is really great and makes me fell better right now with Britt trying to find a new job.

Date set

Alexis's surgery is scheduled. She will be getting the tonsils out on February 13th. I didn't think about it until I got of the phone that Valentines day is the next day. So I guess Britt and I will be taking it easy. We usually do though, but I was gonna plan a little party for the kids and let them do the chocolate fountain....not gonna happen. Maybe I will just do it for Easter. Then again maybe I will do a cheese fountain and then Alexis will eat some. Hey she may even like chocolate after the surgery, she has been eating it a bit more here and there. Maybe chocolate is hard for her to swallow. Maybe that is why she won't eat meat either...stretching I know. I can always wish for a toddler who eats everything. She does love ice cream as long as it is sherbet, which she will be getting alot of. We went to the park yesterday and to get her to leave I told her that we were going to get a treat. Even though it was bitter cold outside and we were freezing she asked for ice cream. This morning before she even ate breakfast she asked for ice cream. At least she knows what she likes!

Breakfast

Yummy, I just made French toast. I usually do not like it because I am not a big fan of eggs. Today it sounded so good and it was. Alexis loved it, I am not sure if I have ever made it for her(since I am not an egg girl). She loves eggs so I guess I should have know it would be a hit. Britton lllooovvveeesss french toast too. I wish I was still sleeping though, haha.

T & A Surgery

That would be tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy for our little lady. The doctor didn't even hesitate. He walked in looked at her ears and throat and started talking about the surgery. He is also concerned because he says there is sticky fluid in her ear and I guess that means it has been there for awhile. So while she is out he is going to look in her ears and see if the fluid is still there and if it is, he will put tubes in right then. I guess the tubes is a simple procedure that for older kids is done in the office but for little ones they put them out. He doesn't want to have to put her out a second time if she needs them in a month. We are going to have to wait though for all this since we have family coming on the 29th and will have a very full house and a cranky 2 year who just had surgery is not in the plans. It is for the best anyway that we wait that way Amy has a chance to figure something out for her kids for the week of her recovery. Alexis may have to spend the night, it just depends on how she is doing. They said 2 year olds wake up very cranky from surgery....how exciting. I do feel a bit better because they said that when they take her into surgery we can put on a surgery suit and go in while they put her to sleep. That way she won't be too scared. We told her about the surgery and she said ok mommy. I am just glad she has no idea what it means or she might be scared... like I am. She was cute when the doctor checked her out she wanted it done again and when we saw the sleep clinic doctor Alexis asked her to check her again. They showed me her tonsils and her throat has such a small opening and they said it gets even smaller when she sleeps. So that is that hopefully she recovers quickly from this.

Rescued

Miss Alexis is so busy during nursery and today was no different. They have a baby high chair in there and she thought it would be fun to climb in and play. Well she got stuck and they had to come get Britt. He couldn't get her out so he had to break the tray off. Too fun....only my child would have to be rescued during nursery!

2 hours sleep

Whenever I go to a girls night out with my girlfriends and family we stay up extremely late. Britt is always shaking his head wondering why we stay up like that. Well last night he pulled an all night with his buddies. They did have fun, but boy is he paying for it now. Alexis wants to wrestle and since he is laying on the floor trying to sleep, there isn't much he can do about it! She gets the stool and climbs up to get a better jump on him. They weren't even doing anything that fun...re-loading...lame. When the girls get together we eat and laugh watch movies or play games. So I think he thought he would be sly so that I didn't know what time he got home. He went in and slept in Alexis' bed. I think he was going to try and say she woke up and he just feel asleep with her, but little did he know she had already woke up and I had gone into her room for that exact reason and was there until 5am. Foiled his plan, hahahahaha. I told him that he absolutely has to go to church today though, because if he is feeling well enough to play he can go to church!

Recovery mode

This is obviously before they brought out the IV needles. He hates even the the talk of getting a needle near his skin. His surgery went well and only took 45 minutes. We had to wait 1 hour for his prescription at Walmart though. I learned that people say the funniest things when they are waking up! He was trying to tell us that is throat was scratchy but it came out as my scratchy is throat! He could barely keep his eyelids cracked open and he was asking when he could go home. Then he thought he was going to be wheeling him self all over the hospital, funny how he isn't acting like that now. I am so happy that we have home teacher's that are able to come over and give blessings when needed. I felt better about the surgery today because of the blessing. So everyone keep your fingers crossed that this will help us out! Ok well maybe just cross them and then move on since it will take 3 months to know if it worked.

floods

I am so grateful that 5 years ago a member of our ward, Casey, directed us to this house. We where very close to buying a house in Orting and would be evacuated right now. I am glad that we aren't the ones having to be rescued by men like my husband. We are not just dealing with heavy rain, but melting snow from the last three weeks of snow storms that have hit the lowlands. 410 in flooded again, I still can't figure out why they don't try and fix it. It has always been a problem since it is below the flood level. 410 is closed in Enumclaw, 1-5 is closing again in Centralia and I-90 and Steven's pass is closed too. We are kind of getting boxed in here. This is one thing that makes me grateful that I don't live week to week grocery wise. We always have a very well stocked pantry and fridge. The only thing we don't have is a ton of water! We are going to go get some right now though since they are warning us our water could be affected.

Sleep Apnea

Poor little Alexis, she has big sleep problems and it is all her tonsils fault. The sleep study clinic called today because Alexis has fragmented sleep patterns and stops breathing 6 times an hour during regular sleep and 8 during REM sleep. A normal child will stop breathing 1.5 times an hour. The lady at the clinic said something had to be done. She said if the doctor won't take her tonsils out then Alexis will have to have a machine. Can you imagine a 2 year old sleeping with one of those machines every night? Her doctor said back in September that she wanted to take the tonsils if the sleep study said she was having problems. We are meeting with the Doctor and the sleep study clinic next week and will figure things out from there. Dr. Chen will probably want to take them out quickly though since the sleep study lady was so concerned. It is scary, I know it is routine surgery, but not routine for us.

Speaking of surgery, Britt's is on Thursday. We met with his doctor yesterday. The doc was funny. He was talking to us and he put his hand on Britt's shoulder and turned and told me that he wouldn't be able to do the dishes, take out the garbage or yard work and other such things for 1 year. But if he wanted to go snowboarding or something that it was ok. I just laughed! So Britt was like hey it is doctors orders. I think I need that in writing! So we have to be at the hospital at 7am. It is in Seattle, so fun. This is shaping up to be a really fun month! I guess it is better to have it early in the year when the weather is yucky.

Just Alexis making Tamales! Little Cute GIRL!

A good nights rest

We have the cutest video of Alexis seeing her bed, but I can't find the adapter for the video camera. I do have a picture of her sleeping in it though. While I went to get the camera to take a picture of her foot on the wall Britt tucked her, so this isn't as funny as it would have been. She keep pointing to Jasmine saying Tinkerbell, so I may have to find some Tink sheets. She woke up at 5:30 because she had to go potty but didn't cry and fuss when I told her to go back to her bed. I went with her to tuck her in and she asked me to stay with her. Let me tell you I would sleep on her new bed any night over the crib/toddler bed. I am of the sound opinion that our dear girl has been flopping around and banging her little body up every night and that might be the cause of her waking up repeatedly and not wanting to get back in bed. Many nights have been spent with her trying to sleep on her fold out Elmo couch(and her insisting that I lay on it with her). This morning she fell back to sleep immediately and so did I for about an hour. I only woke up because a foot found it's way to my face! I think I have found a bed quilt that I love....at Pottery Barn of course. So I am going to have to save for a long time or try and recreate it on my own. I am seriously consdiering making it, I want it to be quilted but I want to make it a duvet cover for the winter. This girl gets cold even if her room is 78. http://www.potterybarnkids.com/room/rom/romgir/romgirgdg/index.cfm

So I guess it depends on whether I can find fabric I like and if I still like it in 2 weeks! Haha I guess that is why I never seem to buy things I like when I first see them. I always change my mind. Pottery barn has so many cute comforters they are just spendy.

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Britt is so cute! I had really sore feet the other night and so while at Walmart last night he found a foot spa and bought it for me. It was a great deal at $3.75, I think I will go use it now!

Surprise Alexis!

Alexis is going to get a big surprise when we get home tonight. While she was playing with grandma and grandpa we went and got her a new mattress set. We hope that this solves some of the waking up at night problem. I think she is going to love having a bigger bed. So now the search is on for a bed frame and bedding set, the mattress and box spring are on the floor so that if she falls it isn't as far. I want to find the most perfect one that doesn't break the bank either. She has no clue that her crib is gone, ok not gone we set it up in the other room. That room is getting closer to being ready for a baby too! It has the changing table, crib, exersaucer and baby toys basket. A lot of other junk too which I am going to work really hard on cleaning up and out so that when a new baby does decide to join our family I won't have to worry about it. I also plan to use it for little Ellis will I watch him once a week. He takes really good naps when he is by himself in a semi quiet room. I am so excited and sad for Alexis getting a new bed. She is big now(tear, sniff).

New Years Eve

Bringing in the New Year with a bang! We partied hard at our Rockband party and the kids all had so much fun. Britt, Josie and Michael got so into the theme and the rest of us kind of dressed up. We had to make the guys get of the game to ring in the new year and almost didn't get the martinelles open in time, watched the neighbors lighting fireworks off way to close to the fence and came home. It was a bunch of fun.

Woke up in a brand new year and set to work making tamales!!!! It was a bunch of fun and even though the 4 of us women had never made them before they turned out great. Thanks Leslie for your recipe, we only tweeked the meat part. We used beef and I added some taco sauce because it was a bit sweet for my taste. They were yummy. We had a big surprise while making them though. Our hot water heater had quit working. It was exciting with all the dishes that we had created. I am super woman though and heated water on the stove and washed them up in a jiffy, It felt a bit like camping though!

Britt says we have hot water again after tweeking the valve and stuff, and we have a few inches of fresh snow that fell over night. Alexis is seeing it for the first time right now! She had a rough night waking up 3 times and not wanting to go back to sleep. So lets hope the new year is just as exciting as the first 2 days have been!!!! I will add pictures later!

A year at a glance!

This year has gone by so quickly. Alexis is very excited for Christmas and the snow we have right now. She is such a amazing little girl and is always making us laugh. We have been very busy this year going to Mexico, camping, Great Wolf Lodge and just spending time with friends and family.
Britt has been experimenting with the mountaineer side of living in Western Washington and is getting closer and closer to hiking Mount Rainier. He would have already climbed if he had the proper gear. So that is his goal right now to gather the gear and get up on top of the world. He has had fun teaching the Sunbeams with me this last year and looks forward to a new class of Sunbeams. This class will be different because we haven't taught them since being moved out of nursery, it should be fun! He is going in for surgery next week and hopefully everything will get us one step closer to a baby.
I have been reading like crazy to Alexis and on my own. I have been painting, tiling and trying to keep the house organized. My piano lessons are going well and things are going much better now that I have my own piano and that we moved the piano into the living room. My garden didn't do so well, but I take comfort in a lot of other people's having the same problems. I have been having so much fun with Alexis and being her mom.
Alexis amazes us all the time. She is talking so much and it is super cute. She has so much energy and can run very fast. We love to cuddle on the couch, talk, laugh and just be silly. She loves to play hide and seek and loves to follow around the big kids. She surprised us by wanting to potty train right about her 2nd birthday, I secretly think it was because she wanted a bigger toy and clothes budget! She has outgrown her biting stage and now plays wonderfully with her friends...a bit bossy still though. She is so animated at everything she does and uses her hands to talk, it is so girly! Alexis loves rockband so we got her an electric drum and toy guitar so she can rock and roll with daddy. It is the funniest thing ever, to see her shake her bum and get down! She is such a dancer and is finally getting old enough to go to lessons, which we will be putting her in when the next session starts. She twirls, and taps her toes and shakes her hips and gets her self so dizzy she falls.

We are just trying to ride out this economy crisis, not very well though since our Semi-truck engine just died. So we are now dropping $18,000 on a new one and Britt has been off work for 2 weeks and will be for another week too. It is painful, but necessary. We hope this year will bring us a bunch of first. We are hoping for a new baby, dance recitals, learning how to ride a bike with training wheels, and a few more. Have a great new year everyone.