My Quest for the Fountain of Youth

The number 30 steadily approaches for me this year. I have noticed that as time has marched on, it has begun to do so across my face. What's a woman to do? Call an Aesthetician! I booked a Signature Facial for myself just weeks ago. I have had facials before, but they were just cleansing, masking, and generally relaxing. This facial was supposed to actually do something, like perhaps take a few years off my face. I had no idea what I was in for... To begin she performed microdermabrasion. I had never had that before, I thought it went fine. After the dead skin was taken off it was time for a glycolic and lactic acid peel. This is supposedly a mild peel. She said I should feel "warmth". Well it felt like my face was on fire. So much for my massage while it was supposed to be penetrating my skin. She watched me and after a few minutes she could see the burn I felt. I went to wash my face off at the sink. She continued with the face mask, cleansing, and moisturizing, etc. About 2 hours later I was done. I looked in the mirror. I looked sunburned and you could see the lines of the microdermabrasion. Apparently all normal. Not to worry, just stay out of the sun and don't work out that day. By the next day I looked hideous! My entire face was completely scabbed over. The expensive products I purchased, at a staggering price, did nothing to alleviate the pain or improve the look of my skin. By that evening I called the woman on her cell. She said I should put Neosporin all over my face for a week. She was excited that my, "controlled wound", as she referred to my face was scabbing. "You'll get better results!" However, with this "mild" peel, my results had only happened 2 other times in her 10 years of experience. I'm thinking...that can't be good. I called a friend who works for a dermatologist she said to add some Aquaphor to my face along with the Neosoprin. Did you know that stuff, especially combined, never absorbs? All that week I walked around looking like a freak. Head down, hair pulled forward. I went to the dermatologist, days later, who said those 2 treatments, microdermabrasion and a chemical peel, should never be performed in one visit on someone like me. Well, I didn't know that! So after all was said and done the final results are in: I am out hundreds of dollars, no permanent scarring, and I think 1 wrinkle on my forehead looks less deep.....

My Angel in the Night!

So I have been busy cleaning, organizing, doing laundry, etc. to get ready for my in-laws to come visit for a few days. I am the type of person who cannot stop once I start something. It's a sickness really. So still in a frenzy late at night, I thought I will take the trash out at 11:00 pm because it simply can't wait until the morning. Well I forgot to unlock the door leading into the garage and found myself locked out! With no shoes I might I add. Of course the front door was locked and dead bolted. Of course every window was locked. Of course the sliding door was locked, not that it mattered since the gate was padlocked anyway. And it's not like I could have thrown a rock at Aidan's window to wake him up because he knows not to answer the door. And the snow flurries began to roll in. David works extra late on Tuesday nights and gets home close to 1:00 am. All three kids were sleeping inside. What's a girl to do? In a panic I walked up and down our street, every house had turned out their lights! Apparently no one stays up late. Panic continued to rise. I was freezing. I tried to pick the lock but nothing in the tool bag was the right size. I said a silent prayer and immediately my next door neighbor walked out of her house to take out the trash! Thank goodness we are in sync with the same household chores! I ran to her and asked if she could pick a lock. She went home to grab credit cards and a knife. I tried. She tried. Nothing was working. After 45 minutes she was ready to wake up her husband for help and gave it one last try. And voila it worked! We screamed out with surprise that it worked! So tonight I am so grateful for a neighbor who can pick locks with a little bit of luck. Now that's what we should learn at Enrichment...;)

Forever and a Day!

So it truly has been a very long time since I lasted posted. As I like to say, it's been forever and a day! But... I'm back! I have decided that if I don't write it in my blog, I tend to not write whatever it is down at all. So here we go again, back on board!

The end of my pregnancy was a little crazy....complete bed rest, NST, AFI, BPP tests done twice a week, and 3 hospitalizations. All which resulted in a completely healthy baby boy being born Dec. 5, 2008 at 6:47 pm, weighing in at 8 lbs., 15 oz, and measuring 20 in. long. We named him Liam. The month of December and part of January were filled with weight checks as he dropped 12% of his birth weight very quickly and we struggled to get him to gain it back. But of course he did gain weight back and we are happy to say that he has chunky thighs! He is a very mild tempered baby. He started laughing on March 13, 2009. He smiles all the time and is quite the cuddler. Like his siblings he is always trying to talk, (I love the baby cooing response stage!) and put his two cents in. Liam's hair is coming in blond and we think his eyes are turning brown. As Aidan says, all the boys eyes will "match". He has finally started sleeping longer and I have more energy! I am truly grateful for his safe arrival and his continued good health at this time.

The other day Aidan said something that I have to write down before I forget. We bought him 2 new pairs of Converse sneakers. The first time in a long time that we have given him shoes with laces. After about a week we thought we would teach him how to tie his shoes. He was not particularly interested in learning this task. He then sighed and said, "I don't need to learn how to tie my shoes." Dad asks him "Why?". Aidan replies "Because Dad I will have servants to do that for me when I'm grown-up." Of course he was so sure about this fact which made this exchange even funnier.

Halloween

Doesn't Seery make such a cute Snow White?!

Aidan with his preschool teacher

Aidan was so excited to be Buzz Lightyear

Aidan received a lot of treats from his friends at school

This is my favorite picture of the kids

Seery & Aidan with me

Seery & Aidan with their Dad

Seery is ready to trick-treat!

Aidan & Seery trick-or-treating

Mackenzie, Seery, and Bailey

We had a great Halloween last week! Seery had wanted to be Snow White for months. Aidan still likes "Toy Story" and wanted to be Buzz Lightyear. Aidan had a party at his preschool. All the kids paraded through all the other classrooms at the school to show all the kids their costumes. All the preschool teachers dressed up too. They played lots of games and had treats. He left preschool with a bag just filled with treats and little Halloween toys. Both David and I picked him up from school, along with Seery. David used a half day of vacation so he wouldn't miss out on all the Halloween festivities. We went to our church for a Halloween party. We had dinner there and the kids were able to go to different rooms to play games. After that it was time to trick-or-treat. David stayed home to pass out candy. I took Aidan and Seery trick-or-treating with our friends from across the street. It started to rain so we didn't go for too long. We went to all the homes on our street, it's a pretty big street though. Somehow even though all the kids went to the same exact number of homes, Seery ended up with a lot more candy than Aidan. We went to the Beckstead's home across the street to watch the classic movie, "Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin" and eat popcorn. The kids really enjoyed having a late night party with their friends. By about 9 pm Aidan and Seery were exhausted and went straight to bed. And David and I actually had a Friday night together which almost never happens!

Tradition

Every year Gardner Village has "Witches Night Out", an event held on both the Friday and Saturday the weekend before Halloween. It begins at 6 pm and ended at 10 pm this year, it has gone later in the past. You can have your tarot cards or tea leaves read (for fun). There is a dream interpreter. They have a DJ playing music so you can dance outside. Every store store has great sales and giveaways. Sadly, no one out of our group won the raffle this time, which was a first! They have a costume contest. Women go all out for this event, you should see some of the witch costumes and hats! They are spectacular! All the women in my family that can attend go every year together. It has become a tradition in our family. We all dress up as witches and have a girls' night out. I look forward to it. How often to moms, sisters, and sisters-in-law have the opportunity to go out all together? Not often enough. So we treasure the one evening a year we do get out and have fun as women. Even Katie came this year and she enjoyed dancing to the music.

So True...

David always says, "If wishes were fishes then we'd all have our catch!"

The Scarecrow Festival

That pumpkin is just the right size

However, there are so many to choose from...

"What do you think Aidan?"

This pumpkin may be too small for Aidan's carving plans

Decisions, decisions...

Our little family

My Mom, Aidan, Me, and my little sister Katie

Seery is determined to haul this load!

Seery found "the one"

Aidan is meticulous in his choices, even if it is just a pumpkin.

Ever since 2004 we have attended the annually held "Scarecrow Festival" which raises money for Westridge Academy. It used to be held in Sandy across from City Hall and was a much smaller event. Last year and this year it was held at Thanksgiving Point and has had the space to be a larger event. Here are some of the activities that they had: bounce houses, blow up obstacle courses, a haunted house for kids, go carts, remote control truck racing, lots of games, comedians, jugglers, music, face painting, a boutique to shop, a pumpkin patch, and good food, to name what I can think of at the moment. We love going. It has become our family Fall tradition. This year most of my family met us there. It's rare that we all go out together with every one's varying schedules, so even better! We went on Saturday which has to be one of the nicest days we have had, perfect weather. Although we would go rain or shine.

Wheeler Farm & Good Friends

Aidan feeding the ducks

Seery & Bailey feeding the geese

The ducks really liked their food

Seery loved how they swam over to eat the food she threw to them

Aidan came over to check out the other pond where Seery was feeding ducks

Bailey, Seery, Mackenzie, Justin, and Aidan all playing in the tree house

Seery & Aidan saying hello from the tree house

Aidan & Seery on the tractor

Justin, Seery, and Bailey planning where they will drive the tractor

Last Thursday my good friend Gentrey and I decided to take our kids out for the day. First stop was Wheeler Farm. (I miss that we used to live minutes away from there) We fed the ducks and geese in both ponds. The kids pretended to fish in the stream with sticks. We visited all the animals. Seery's favorite animal to see were the rabbits. Aidan really liked the chickens, he thinks it's so cool that they lay eggs. The kids went up in the tree house to play, and eventually, came down. The tractor pulled wagon ride was fun. Wheeler Farm is so pretty. And always a favorite for my kids at the farm, they were able to "drive" a tractor. After the farm we went to Gardner Village. It was "Wee Witches Weekend", a "Witches Night Out" for kids. The kids walked around to see the witches, but I think their favorite thing was dancing to the music hosted by the DJ in a castle. I think the kids could have easily partied with the other kids but the pregnant moms were exhausted and ready to go home.

First Snow of 2008

Well this weekend the snow began to fall. Our lawn was covered! And since our house faces west it did not melt until the end of the day. My kids LOVE the snow. We drove the Alpine Loop and stopped to play in the snow. Aidan was thrilled to make his first snow ball of the season. Seriously it made his whole weekend. Of course 3 and 4 year old children think snow=Christmas. They want to start drinking hot cocoa, telling stories at night in front of the fire, putting up Christmas decor, and writing letters to Santa. I love this time of year too, so exciting!

The Alpine Loop

Over the weekend the 4 of us drove the Alpine Loop for the first time. It's about 34 miles between Highland and Provo, UT. It is the best of fall to see here. We went a little after the peak, but it was still gorgeous. Obviously not a fall even close to the lovely East Coast. However, I found it magical to see the seasons of fall and winter mixed together. Fall colors with snow. We loved our leisurely drive through the Utah mountains.