Three Year Anniversary

Three years doesn't seem too long to be married, but a lot has happened during this short time. Allow me to indulge myself in a brief recap. We've experienced/currently experiencing a lot of things alone, together, and with friends and family...





wedding day * honeymoon * fun and practical gifts * buying a bed * buying a tv * 2 kids * process of pregnancy and child birth * process of adoption * living in Provo * living in 3 different apartments * putting furniture together * Marcus finishing 3 years of his PhD program * Jenny taught high school * Jenny stopped teaching high school * trips to California * trips to Michigan * waterskiing/tubing/swimming/boating in Kentucky * camping at Arches National Park * Jenny getting to know the Greens * Marcus getting to know the Hauberts * Marcus becoming an uncle * Jenny becoming the first daughter-in-law * birthdays * anniversaries * Chris's job in CA * Colin gets home from mission * Bryan goes on mission * Analisa gets driver's license * Scotty dyes his hair (and gets engaged) * Lisa breaks her leg * Lindsay breraks collar bone * Ian starts 1st grade * Adam builds deck * Ted gets new job in CA * Peggy loves new house! * Hunter becomes a brother * Jackson starts to walk * Christmas in California with no snow * Christmas in Michigan with a lot of it * Indoor water park in January * Outdoor water park in Provo * Samantha's surgery * many doctors * many prayers * much fasting * Jenny starting a card business * Marcus endlessly supporting Jenny in any new adventure * getting our Honda * selling my Saturn * Tivo! * Marcus teaching classes at BYU * a lot of scrapbooking * repainting walls * painting dressers * painting faces * fireworks * yard sales * hiking Timp * cold winters * hot summers * football games * basketball games * waking up too early * staying up too late * beautiful restful sleep * no more sleep * Sunday dinners with brothers * wrestling matches with Samantha * meeting great friends * saying goodbye to friends *





And for those of you who do not know, Marcus was matched in Spokane, WA for his internship. We will be moving in August, saying goodbye to Provo, BYU, fabulous friends, and wonderful family -- and saying hello to all that is ahead.

Happy Anniversary Marcus.

I love you.

Easter

Samantha dumping out her Easter basket.

Callie with her first Easter basket.

Mom and her girls

Dad with Samantha in her Easter dress.

Kansas v. Memphis

Wahoo! Great game Kansas! I admit I didn't really watch until the end -- between getting the kids ready for bed and cleaning the carpet -- but boy, what a game!

Raise a Smarter Child by Kindergarten

Allow me to preface this personal book review with the following statement: I am not, by any means, obsessed with the idea of having the smartest child. It is not a regular practice of mine to pick up books that "raise IQ by up to 30 points and turn on your child's smart genes" as this book says on the cover. The only reason I checked this book out from the library, and then bought it, was because I honestly feel like I was led to this book -- Raise a Smarter Chid by Kindergarten by Dr. David Perlmutter.

I was at the library quickly trying to check out Life of Pi before Samantha's nap time. She was getting fussy, so I found the book and cruised through the isles of bookshelves when this book caught my eye. All I saw were the words "smarter child" and I decided to check it out. I read the book in 4 days. Sure it gives a lot of ideas of activities to play, etc, but it also specifically addressed issues I had been contemplating and praying about. The author is a neurologist who basis a lot of his treatments on nutrition. I looked up his curriculum vitae and he has a pretty good background. So, this is what I appreciated in this book--

#1 Nutrition. I am one of those people who, though I don't always make the best decisions in my health, I feel that Heavenly Father has put food on this earth as a way to nourish us. How novel an idea, I know. But I feel like the better we take care of our bodies, the more we will be able to prevent, if not reverse, problems. I appreciated the insight he gave on certain foods to eat, as well as supplements if necessary. This was particularly helpful for me because he gave a good guide on what to look for in formula, which I have never used before.

#2 Immunizations. I know this is a controversial issue and Marcus and I don't always see eye to eye on this. He being in a scientific field looks for hard evidence while I, a more "feel-y" person look for the anecdotal evidence. We were specifically told by our geneticist that Samantha would NOT have seizures. After her 2nd round of immunizations, she had her first seizure. It was that night, and we rushed her to the hospital. All of the doctors said her shots wouldn't have caused her seizure, except one. Dr. Hacking told me that it was something I needed to consider, and if I wanted to continue with her immunizations. I continued. I have always felt extremely guilty -- that I caused her seizures. Now, we have Callie. And I really was not sure what I should do. I believe immunizations are important, but I also believe some children are more susceptible to having reactions (be it seizures, autism, etc). When I read the section about immunizations, I can't tell you the relief I felt. I had such a peace come over me. I was able to resolve my concern about how to better avoid the "dangers" while immunizing. At this point, I didn't know there were alternate schedules. I thought you immunized or you didn't. Dr. Perlmutter explains what happens in the brain and then suggests a schedule that gives less shots at a time, while still getting it all done by age 2. Basically, it spreads things out a bit so your body isn't being attacked with so much at once. Like I said, I think for most kids, the traditional schedule may be fine, but for me, this was a true answer to a pray that I had been anguishing over. It will require me to go to the Health Department more, and Callie may get more shots (the shots are all individual doses), but for my peace of mind, it is worth it. Sorry Callie-belle. You're the one getting poked, but I honestly feel better about it.

Aside from all that, there were good activities and whatnot that explain what you are doing and why they are good. ADHD, Asthma, TV, environment, etc are all discussed. It was an easy, quick read, that I found to be a great guide for what I needed right now.

Update

So, in the past 2 days I've been told by my mother-in-law (through Marcus) that I need to update our blog because people have been wondering how things are going...and while talking to Lori today, she informed me that she was afraid Samantha was back in the hospital or something because I haven't written in awhile. So, to all you loyal family, friends, and blog surfers, I apologize, and here is an update.

Not writing much doesn't mean there isn't a lot going on. Here's the rundown:

My mom was here for a week and I cried pretty hard when she left. Moms are so great. I love you mom. Then Marcus's mom came out to help. Mothers-in-law are great too! I love you Peggy. We all got pretty nasty colds, and I'm actually thinking it was a mild flu because Callie and I both had fevers and I was extremely achey. We are all on the up now though.

Samantha, who we have always struggle with when it comes to sleep, seems to be sleeping a little better. We found a new method. Last week she would not fall asleep for her nap. I went in to try to calm her down. I had to pick her up because she was so out of control, but when I did that she kept grabbing my neck. It was pretty frustrating, so I took a blanket and swaddled her so she would leave me alone. It worked. She left my neck alone and she fell asleep almost immediately. When she was younger we tried swaddling her and she always put up the worst fight. Now, at almost 2 years old, swaddling is the trick. Amazing. We've been doing that ever since. We may still be swaddling her when she is 6 if is works! And even though we swaddle her like a little baby, she is such a sweet little girl. She now has 2 bottom molars which makes her smile so adorable, 2 teeth have broken through on top, and 2 are pushing on the bottom. She is also beginning to take steps. The other day she looked like a drunkard as she took 2 steps backwards, swayed, and took 2 steps forward before jumping to my knee. She is just so cute.

Callie is also doing well. She has the most precious smile. I love it. She has discovered her hands and is beginning to suck on them more and more. I used to think she was an easy baby (and I know she still is) but now, she gets fussy and is having a harder time sleeping. I think it's probably because she is 3 months instead of being the newborn blob that sleeps all day. Gosh, I'm really going to have to work now! She is almost always a good night sleeper though. She quickly started sleeping 5-6 hours at night. It's pretty typical that she is sleeping 5-8 hours before waking up to eat. Someone upstairs is looking out for me because I can attest, as many of you can, that taking care of more than one child feels impossible when you have several nights of no sleep. Callie has become such a part of our family. Not wanting to go into detail of how we believe her situation may have been, we can simply say, it's hard to imagine her living in Detroit. It seems so natural for her to be in Mormonville, Provo, UT in our family. She is a beautiful little baby and feel blessed to be her parents.

I plan on posting more pictures soon so you can see my cute girls and I still have 2 books to review, which I'll do soon. But for now I just wanted to reintroduce myself to the blogging world and give everyone a quick catch up. More to come in the near future.