Yep...still teething

And I can see one of the top teeth just below the skin. It should pop through any time now. I'm wondering how the next few days/nights are going to go. Hopefully not too bad. Both kids are doing pretty good. Rayne is coughing more again. Not sure why..I guess still from a cold she fought off last week. She was coughing a lot again last night. A really wet cough too. Ugh. I'm so tired of hearing her cough..I wish she could just get a break from it already. It's been 6 months since whooping cough now. I don't have too much to report these days. We are leaving to Florence, Oregon (well..me and the kids are) next Sunday and will be gone a week. I have more photo shoots lined up which I am really excited about. Well, that's it for now. Ta ta.

Quinn is teething again

Good luck getting a blog from me right now. (please save me)

So it's all about the pull tabs.

First, about the title. So I had to get groceries today..my favorite chore in the wide world (not). I went to 3 different stores and the last one was WalMart..my least favorite of the 3. We are in the checkout and I had Esme with us...the girls were really good all day and they were bugging me for a new play cell phone because they had tinkerbell. They just saw the new tinkerbell movie so they are all about tinkerbell right now. ANYWAY, so I cave and say okay and they hand the lady their phone. Well the nice lady in the line told them they should make sure the phones have the battery tab in them so they know they are fresh batteries and will last longer. Thanks nice lady! So then they had to search all over the checkout lines on either side of us in search of 2 tinkerbell phones with the tab. At first they found one. That will not do. There HAD to be 2 of them. Thanks again lady, really. So they FINALLY found another one with a tab. WHEW. I wanted to give one of those big fake thank you smiles to the lady. But I didn't. I know it was true, they would be guaranteed to be fresh, but COME ON. They are toys and I needed to get home, it was getting late and there were TWO of them! That could have been very ugly. Thankfully it was not. Not TOO much so. On another note..I think Quinn is trying to get his top teeth now. He's been more cranky and drooly. He was up a lot in the wee hours of the morning just thrashing and fussing and not needing anything in particular but a pat and shush. I was really tired this morning so I came out..plopped him on the floor (gently of course) put his basket of toys next to him, told Dave why and said a goodnight to all of them for an hour. So besides that and groceries and making dinner...that was all that was accomplished today. I can't get used to these shorter days and especially on Friday which is a prep day for me for the Sabbath. It comes way too soon...I don't have enough time to get ready. OH well. Life goes on. I guess that's all for now..Quinn is fussing again. Later!

Ahhhhhhhh

Rayne is spending the night at Grandma and Grandpa's. Quinn is asleep. Need I say more? It's quiet in here. Dave is on his way home and apparently we are going to watch a movie online tonight. I haven't seen a movie in months, at least. I'm surprised I still know how to spell it. Quinn now has 2 teeth and when he gets mad, he spits. Isn't that lovely? Seriously, he starts going thbthbhththbhthbhthbth and the spit just pours out of his mouth and his face gets all red. He will soak the top of his shirt if I can't get to him right away. He's 7 months old. Not 1, not 2, 7 MONTHS. Help me now. His little personality is just blooming. He cracks us up a lot. He started making this little fish face too. No reason, just to do it. No crawling yet. I think I'm okay with that. I had a vision. Quinn crawling. To me. Wanting up. And nothing else. He is so much a mama's boy...if he sees me, he reaches out for me immediately. It's cute and I love it, but sometimes, I just want a break from holding him so much. My tendinitis is acting up. Ever had someone stab a needle filled with burning hot liquid into your arm? Me neither, but that's what it feels like when I get the pain in my arm. As of right now I am getting an A in my first real Master's class. Hopefully it remains after our final paper is graded. Oy, I'm tired so signing off. Kids are great, we are hangin in, goodnight.

Did I already say Argh?

Well I really mean it. Argh. Another one of those days. Nothing too major, but enough small things to add up and make me exhausted. I guess I should expect that from a Friday. They are always crazy and whirlwindish. Is that a word? Apparently not since it is underlined in red right now. Well, I think it should be a word. Anyway...Quinn started saying Ga Ga. Seriously, ga ga..just as babies should be saying right...ga ga goo goo? It's funny and he thinks so too. He says it and then smiles really big like he would say.."did you hear that? aren't I cool?". It cracked me up. I think Rayne has been feeling the effects of Dave working overtime. She had a bit of a rough week with her behavior and just not being real settled or happy. She misses her Daddy. They are like peas in a pod those two. I did manage to do more school with her this week. I have to call about getting a Math assessment set up for her. Oh the joy. She's 5 and they want to assess her math skills. Whatever. I don't like assessments, can you tell? I got to do another fun photo shoot with a friend's kids in the fall leaves...actually, several friends' kids. They are of course on my flickr account. I like how they turned out. I cannot wait to upgrade my gear. Should be in about 3 months or so. I am hoping the biz takes off soon. We could really use the added income. I need to advertise more. I have a good friend building a website for me (thanks Emeth!) and I think she said she's going to do the biz cards too. I'm excited about it. I will be a .com :) The site is www.shilowe.com How cool is that? I had no idea photography would become such a passion for me, but it is and I absolutely LOVE LOVE it. I would take pics all day if I could. Some day I want to travel and just take pics of my travels. It would be a blast. I think the kids would like it too. We could go around and just do educational stuff and they could see their country. I hope to make that dream come true someday. They will probably be my little protege's with their own DSLR. Or at least a really good point and shoot. Well, I know I haven't done biography in a while, but I've just been too tired and then I won't remember the details. I'll have to try and do it again soon, after Quinn is sleeping better again. He's been doing the whole nursing every hour thing again. It's really tiring. So that's it for tonight. Bye all!

Argh

Rayne today....argh. She has been testing me again. TO THE MAX. I am feeling very burnt right now. It's just not stop arguing or flat out disobeying again. It wears me out after awhile. I was in with Quinn trying to put him to sleep tonight and I told Rayne she could play on the computer for a little bit while I put him down, then it's time for her to go to bed. So I'm in there with Quinn and I hear her start banging on my computer. So I go out there quickly, which of course disrupted Quinn in his almost sleeping stupor, and shut the computer and told her she was now done because she knows better than to do that. I also told her to get to bed. She says, NOOOOO. And my teeth get ground down a bit more...and tell her to go to bed NOW. She continues to whine and argue and start throwing a fit..so I tell her however many times I have to tell her to get to bed, that's how many things she loses. So she finally went to bed (not without whining about being "hungry" of course). She is always magically starving when it's bed time...or thirsty or both. Now most of you know how slim Rayne is and I really hate denying her food when she is really hungry, so I offer her a couple of choices and of course it's never what she wants..that's how I know she's not REALLY hungry, she is just munchy because she doesn't want to go to bed. (side note here...I HATE that commercial for Clorox wipes that has the little boy plopping the meatball into the sauce from up high, which of course splatters the sauce everywhere, and says it's okay to make messes because their wipes are so strong..blah blah blah. HATE it. It was just on.) So she decides she doesn't want to lose anything and lays in bed and asleep within 10 minutes. Imagine that. I went back in with a hysterical Quinn once she was in her room and he too was asleep about 10 minutes later. FINALLY. I was then able to get online and do some schoolwork (oh so fun) and do some updating here and there on certain sites. I opened an Etsy shop. Selling photographs. It's a site that sells anything handmade. Pretty cool site, everyone should check it out. http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6378613 I need a massage. That is all.

Wow and Double WOW

We had an awesome time at the Feast. Seaside had some really nice weather which was such a blessing for that time of year. We had sunsets on the beach too! I was so excited. And the evening we decided to do Canon Beach it was clear and a GORGEOUS sunset. You can see all the pics at flickr. I'll also post some on here gradually. Rayne had a lot of fun. AND......drum roll.......Quinn go this first tooth at the Feast! It finally broke through and we were all so excited. He slept really well there too. The bed we had in the house we rented was SO comfortable. I wish we had that bed. So the little man is growing up. Now he has a tooth. Soon there will be two and then he will be crawling and on and on..sigh. We went to the Maritime Museum in Astoria and Rayne got to go down inside a very large retired boat. She watched a movie about rescue boats and loved it and told me all about it very adamantly. We also went to the aquarium in Newport and she loved that too. Got to "pet" a starfish. She wants a pet turtle too. She also got to ride the carousel at the Carousel Mall near where we had Church and she LOVED LOVED that. She loves those things. She also got lots of presents and had fun playing with her new friends. Oh and she sang in the Children's choir and had fun doing that. As you can tell, we were very busy and had a lot of fun. We also went to the Cheese factory and sampled Tillamook cheese and got an ice cream. The Seaside, Oregon boardwalk had swings right on the beach so her and Quinn got to swing on the beach facing the Ocean which was neat. Seaside, Oregon is actually a really fun place to go. I would love to go back someday. There are tons of little shops and a boardwalk and "things" to do to keep busy. Canon beach was my favorite, I've wanted to get sunset pictures there FOREVER. Now I finally have some and I love how they came out. Kipper (our dog) went to my brother in law's and had a lot of fun with his roommates dog and cat. So all around it was a good time for everyone. Now we are home and getting back to the grind as they say. More to report later, too tired now.

One Week and counting...

One more week until we go to the Feast in Seaside, Oregon. I really really hope we have some nice weather and that no one gets sick or hurt. I am PRAYING that this is the case. Rayne had another treatment, for vitamin B. Her next one is this Friday and it's for Grain Mix which could be a big culprit of the eczema. That would be nice to nip that in the buuuud. I want to do the same treatment as soon as we can afford it. Who knows what I have sensitivities to. I think Dave should do it too. Eventually I will get Quinn done too. He is liking his food. He LOVES peas. And he seemed to like apples more today. He didn't care for banana when I tried it the other day. Go figure. I have had a headache all day today that just keeps holding on. I hate that. It's hormonal. I hate that too. Rayne spent all day at her cousins house today and it was weird not having her here. There was a void. I think Quinn missed her too because he was a bit cranky today. But I did get some video of him laughing really hard. It's a must see. Here's the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9c36m5yhwc
BE WARNED..your tummy will probably hurt from laughing when you watch this! I think I'll end on that note. Night!

It's OCTOBER!!

I can't believe how fast the months go by and here it is October. We leave soon on our trip to Seaside, Oregon for the Feast of Tabernacles. I hope the weather is decent while we are there. Rayne can straighten her arm all the way and now just has to work on being able to bend it closed all the way. It's MUCH better. She's still dealing with really dry skin where the Splint was, but hopefully that will go away soon too. Rayne also started NAET treatments. It's a holistic treatment of her allergies. It's at a Bio Energetics place and so far we found out that she is sensitive to Vitamin C, B Complex, Mineral Mix, Grain Mix, Food coloring and additives. She was treated for Vitamin C at her first appt. and now will be treated for B Complex tomorrow. That's all we can do until after the Feast. The woman who is treating her has seen many children be treated for serious allergies like peanuts. They went from being deathly allergic to being able to have them. She witnessed it in her office. So we have a lot of hope for this place and pray that it will take care of Rayne's allergies. Quinlan is officially sitting up. I still put a pillow behind him, even though when he does fall over he manages to fall to one side or the other instead of straight back. He loves sitting and playing for a little while. It's very cute. We went to a pumpkin patch and they had a scale so I put him on it and he weighs 19 lbs according to the scale. Little chunk. We had a very busy week. Sunday was Heritage days at a park, Tuesday was a Holy Day and Wednesday was the Pumpkin patch. Today I had a photo shoot with a 3 week old little girl. She was really cute and a little trooper through all of the outfit changes. And now it's almost Friday and the week is over. WHEW! Oh and we squeezed in homeschooling and my school and the household chores in there somewhere. Now that I read that, I'm exhausted!! Goodnight!

The picture is from the photo shoot tonight...Sophie.

They're OUT!!!

YAY! The pins are out and prayers were answered because they came out smooth as buttah...the doc and nurse were both really shocked that she didn't even flinch and he didn't have to pull very hard. It took him less than a minute to get both out. She's using her arm more, but still can't straighten it all the way. She's trying though all the time. Hopefully it will just take a little more time for everything to stretch back out. She was such a trooper though. On the baby front..Quinn is now sitting up. He still topples forward or backward at times, but for the most part, I can put him down to play and place pillows strategically and walk away, while checking on him all the time of course. I can usually hear when he has toppled...he doesn't like it. Not close to crawling yet, which suits me just fine for now. It's nice that he can play a bit now...less holding required. My arms was hurting a lot from holding him so much (whew). He's still a little chunk, very solid. We all just got over colds and he got a cough again, but he seems to be getting better now. Still no teeth either. I think I will start giving him avocado at the Feast (mid October). See how he likes it and how he does. He looks at food and wants to grab it all the time. He has tried to grab whatever I'm eating from me before, lol. I'm only going to do avocado and carrots at first for a while. No fruit probably until he's a year..don't want him to get that sweet taste and then not want anything else. We'll see though. He's a little chatter box....blabbity blab blab all day long. And I just adore his big hearty laugh. Rayne can still get him laughing pretty good. I'm still doing school, about to finish my first class next week and then on to the next one. I stay pretty busy I guess you could say. Rayne is doing well in homeschooling and has shown a lot of improvement in her letter and number recognition and writing. She's doing well in other areas too. It's fun to watch her learn. Especially when she isn't getting frustrated and then angry and then wanting to throw something or quit just because she doesn't get it right away...not that that happens EVER. yeah right.

And NOW


the all suspenseful........BIO.......

Nice lead in eh? Okay, so I left off at the wacko I was working for by being a Nanny to her 2 beautiful children that are now grown and hopefully not screwed up by their Mother. Wow, they are now grown. That's depressing.................................................................................................................................................anyway! So yeah, I continued working for her and just making sure I wasn't around any more than needed and NEVER brought that psycho stuff up again. While I was working there during the day, I decided I needed more cash flow and got a job at The Nashville Palace. THAT was an awesome place to work. I had so much there. I started out as a hostess which sounds easy, but I can tell you WAS NOT. It was a job of strategic and careful planning so as not to tick the waiters and waitresses off. Everyone wanted to make sure they got the same amount of tables and the others. These people made some bucks, let me tell ya. We often had some wealthy folks eating there. Mostly tourists, but sometimes local biggies. There was one "famous" person that was always in the bar...and I mean ALWAYS...like daily and all day long. That little guy that always wore the crazy cowboy hats and outlandish outfits..remember him? I think Johnny something? I can't remember his name, but he used to be on TV a lot in country music. He was there just about everyday. The best part of the job was on Wednesday nights it was employee night and if you sang (which come on..everyone there was trying to make it big) you got to get up on stage and sing with the band (and they were good). It was SOOOO much fun. It was a huge stage and a very large attentive audience. And it was a contest at the same time I believe. I could be wrong, my memory fails me at times. Anyway, I didn't care about that..I was always hoping for that producer that just loved what I sang and approached me with a deal. Of course, far fetched, but everyone there was hoping for the same thing. One guy I worked with has been in several Country Music Videos. Including a Carrie Underwood one. It was cool seeing him on TV...obviously still sticking it out and trying to make it. He was a pretty good singer. I always thought he was gay, not sure though. He made a lot of money as a waiter there. So from hostess I moved onto Cashier. Again, not the "typical" cashier you think of. I had a little booth and I was responsible for cashing out all the customers through the waiters and then figuring out the tourist groups final bill (no small feat). THEN at the end of the night, I had to make the books balance, do a credit card batch and go in the back and count. Sometimes the books would be off by $20 or so and it would take an hour or MORE to figure out how and why. It was usually because I had to take a break and one of the waitstaff had to do be cashier and it ALWAYS got screwed up. So I finally convinced management that ONLY I could be in there. And if there was anyone else in there, they had to stay with me to close books. Of course nobody wanted to do this, so they agreed, if I had to take a quick potty break...they waited patiently. The end of the night till could be $10,000 easily or more. No joke. The tourist groups final bill could easily be 2-3,000 depending on how large. This included all 50-100 of them to eat, drink and watch the show. It was crazy. But it was SO much fun. Everyone there was fun to work with and the show was always good. There seemed to something exciting going on all the time. One time Alan Jackson did a Satellite show from there and they shut the WHOLE place down. Only employees were allowed in and I was scheduled to work. I got to go in the back and talk with his fiddler and it was SO cool. He sang and then answered questions live from fans. It was really cool. Back then I SOOOOO wanted to be a country music singer..well known of course. I wanted it all. Or so I thought. On almost my last day of Nannying the girls (it was a summer gig only) I got really sick. I didn't know what happened, but after me and the EXboyfriend went singing, we went back to his Aunt's house, where he was staying and stood to get up and doubled over in pain. I thought..man I must have ate something and now I have REALLY bad gas pains or intestinal trouble. So I kept trying to go the bathroom. But nothing helped and it wouldn't go away. So the EX said not to try and drive all the way back to where I was living (it was like 30 minutes away or so) and to sleep on their couch so he could keep an eye on me. He crashed on the floor by the couch. I couldn't sleep and kept tossing and turning, taking gas pills, antacids, trying to go to the bathroom countless times and nothing helped. It kept getting worse and worse. It was HORRIBLE. By early early morning I knew something was very very wrong and it wasn't just something I ate. We all thought appendix. By then his Aunt and Uncle were up and we told them what was going on and how much pain I was in and it was my right side and they were really worried it was my appendix and that I needed to get to the hospital asap. So in the car we went and it was about 20-25 minutes to the closest hospital. Not including traffic. Thankfully it was early enough and there wasn't too much traffic. I kept getting worse and worse on the way there and he kept slowing down when he saw a cop and I was hollering DON'T SLOW DOWN..if they pull us over GREAT...I thought I wasn't going to make it if he didn't get there soon. My chest started hurting too by this point. That's the only part of getting there I remember...telling to stop slowing down! So we finally make it and he ran in and got a wheelchair cuz by then I couldn't walk and wheeled me into ER. We all know how fast they are in ER's. It seemed to take FOREVER. I was finally seen and could barely talk by then I was in so much pain. I hadn't ever felt pain like that up to that point. It was in my chest, it seemed it was everywhere. So they make me get up and go into another room and a doc does a pelvic on me. Oh my...that hurt so much I think I screamed. Of course he couldn't tell what was going on, but he could tell it wasn't good. I really don't remember too many details from that point on. I think they must have xrayed me, although I can't remember them doing so. They came back in and said that I had internal bleeding and it was likely from a cyst on my ovary that ruptured. So I would need surgery soon. I panicked. Flipped out panicked and scared. I asked for a minister to come annoint me before surgery so we got on the phone and made some calls. I had to call my parents who were 2000 miles away and tell them what was going on..I'm sure that was a lovely call to receive. By the time it was time to go to surgery my whole upper body was convulsing...like my chest would contract and my arms would move, involuntarily. It was awful. I think I had as much morphine as they could give me and it wasn't helping. Then all of a sudden a rush of docs and nurses come in and tell me they can't wait any longer for the minister to get there, my blood pressure had just dropped dramatically and they had to go in NOW. More panick and freaking out. But I couldn't cry because it hurt too much to do so. So off I am wheeled and really scared. Right when they got me there and started to wheel me in to pre-op, the minister came rushing in and was able to quickly annoint me. I went in feeling much better about having been annointed and they told me to count back from 100..I think I got to 98 and that's all I remember until they woke me in recovery. It was SOOO hard to come out of that stuff. I was SOOO sleepy. I didn't want to wake up....I remember I kept trying to open my eyes and the nurse kept telling me over and over again to wake up, open my eyes and it was SOO hard. She seemed to be getting mad at me for not staying awake, but I didn't care. When I was put into a regular room the doc came in and told me the deal. Apparently, I had a cyst rupture on my right ovary that caused a tiny little tear in my ovary. It didn't clot and therefore just kept bleeding and bleeding, filling my entire cavity with blood. Thus the extreme pain and convulsing of my upper body. They had to suck blood all the way up to my diaphragm (spelling on that). It took them quite a while to get almost all of it out..enough to stop the pain anyway and my body could take care of the rest. They put one stitch in my ovary and confirmed no endometriosis. I was always worried I had that because of really bad monthly cramps. Anyway...they sucked out over half my blood volume. In other words, I was very close to bleeding out and crashing. Good thing I went in when I did and not later. At that point, it was the scariest thing I had ever gone through in my life. It took me a LONG time to recover from that. Not only from the blood loss and anemia, but the pain of the incision. Where they cut still hurt a year later when I leaned on anything around that area. Yes, I have a scar there...it's not big and no one can really see it. But it bothers me sometimes to this day. Hopefully it will never happen again. They said it was a fluke...an egg that should have released from my ovary didn't, formed a cyst and then later ruptured causing the tear. If it hadn't caused a tear, I would have been fine. Crazy isn't it? So there's the story of my close call and first surgery. The recovery from that was NOT pleasant at all. It was long and difficult. I had to have constant help for the first 2 weeks and therefore stayed in a room at the Ex's aunt and uncles. They took me in and took great care of me. So that's it for today. I'll try to keep up better, but no guarantees. Life happens.

The picture is Rayne at the river...all healed and being silly again.

2 More Weeks

The pins in Rayne's arm get pulled in 2 weeks. I am NOT looking forward to that appointment, but will be glad when her arm is all healed. She's doing really well still and is able to use her hand more. We really started doing more homeschool and she loves it. I had to stop her at 9pm last night and tell her it was time for bed. She wanted to keep going! I can tell you, it's not easy to homeschool her with Quinn though. I like to give her my undivided attention which is when he naps, so when he doesn't nap well, it's kinda difficult. But we are working it out. It's amazing how fast little ones learn and how much they remember. My schooling is going okay. I will be glad when it's something more interesting and actually about Psychology. Okay, I got interrupted a few hundred times during this blog, so I'm quitting now. I guess stay tuned when I can actually finish a thought or sentence or both.

Trying To Hold Her Down

Rayne is feeling much better and I have to really slow her down, which is a good thing. She goes back in for xrays next Tuesday and hopefully everything looks good. She's not having any more pain and is even using her right hand more. We've started doing some school and she seems to like it. She was doing her Math workbook all morning. I wasn't feeling very well today and Quinn was super fussy, so I only got to work with her for a little bit this morning. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. I've started school again too, getting the Master's so our schedule is going to be pretty full. We shouldn't be too bored this winter, that's for sure. I think Quinn is more actively teething now, as he is fussier than usual and constantly chomping on his finger while fussing. Even being held doesn't seem to help. I hope he doesn't have too much difficulty with it. He's getting so big. It goes really fast. He's close to sitting up by himself. That's it for tonight..I'm pretty tired.

Really Trying To Stay Sane

Not sure it's working. Rayne is so incredibly whiney and grumpy. It's very difficult to be patient. She keeps crossing that line though of being rude and mean. I hate that she is in pain and bored and yet trying to keep her from being mean and rude to us. Ugh. NO MORE MONKEY BARS EVER!!! That is all.

Poor Broken Rayne

Well..so much for Rayne's first camping experience. We got to the site and set up the tent and bedding and ate dinner and Rayne and her cousins were anxious to get to the playground. My first instinct was to say no, it was getting too late and almost dark, but I let her go with my Sister in Law and her cousins. A little while later I heard her blood curdling scream from all the way at the playground. So I went over there to see what was going on and she was still crying and screaming and my Sister in Law was holding her. I went to get her and looked down and saw her arm just dangling there and looked SO not right. I knew it was broken immediately. I yelled that her arm was broken and what happened? She fell from the monkey bars and landed on her arm. I got her back to the camp site as quickly as possible yelling for someone to help me with her. My Dad finally came out to the road and saw me and I yelled that her arm was broken and we got her back to the site. There was a paramedic not far from our site and he came over and helped get her arm in a makeshift splint and then we got her in the car on my lap in the front to get her to the hospital. When we got there, they took xrays and found out it was dislocated and very badly broken. It would need pins. They didn't have an orthopedic surgeon that could fix her, so we had to drive all the way back home to our hospital. We got in at about 3:30am. She hadn't had any pain meds up to this point. She was a serious trooper. She slept for most of the way there. She finally got a shot of morphine at 4:30. We talked to the surgeon shortly after that and when it was time to go up to pre-op, she was being SO good. She wasn't afraid and was talking and laughing with the nurse and anesthesiologist. They told her where me and Grandma would be (my Mom came with us to help with Quinn). They then started wheeling her away and she didn't cry or anything. I, however, broke down as soon as she was out of sight. Just for a bit. I was scared of the surgery and emotionally drained. I can't believe how much pain she must have been in. The surgery took about an hour and then she slept til about 10:30. I had 2 balloons and gift waiting for her when she woke up. She was happy about that. Once the local wore off she began to be in pain and has been in a quite a bit of pain for the last couple of days, but I think she's getting better. She was much better this evening with just over the counter pain meds. We had great nurses and they had a crib in the room for Quinn and an extra bed for me and my Mom to get some rest. My Mom stayed with us the whole time. She was up for over 24 hours by the time we were released that evening. Then we got home and my Mom unpacked our entire car and most of the clothes and stuff and cleaned up the house a bit before getting a ride home. My Dad stayed behind to finish out the camping trip with Rayne's cousins. Dave fell twice during this whole ordeal and banged up his head pretty good. He's still sore. It was just an awful weekend. But we are thankful it wasn't worse. She says she never wants to go camping again, but I'm sure she'll go sometime. She goes back in on Tuesday to get xrays done to make sure things are healing how they should be. She has 2 pins in her arm and a fiberglass splint all wrapped up. They are hoping the pins will be out in about a month. We are praying that it heals nicely and no need for any more surgery.

No bio this time..just too tired.

Goin Campin

We are off to Wallowa Lake in 1 week. Rayne has never been camping, so I hope she has fun. We are sleeping in a tent..that should be interesting with the baby too. Hopefully it goes well. The weather is supposed to be good..and not 100 degrees...ahhhhhh, that will be nice. I had the great idea of having a stupid yard sale. Yes I said stupid because that's what it was. Stupid. Nuf said. Rayne's cough is much much better. Quinn is doing fine..he chomps down HARD on my finger..like painfully so. I'm guessing he's still teething. Just a wild guess though. I don't think I've blogged since deciding to start a photography biz. I want to do maternity/newborn and children's portraits. So I've been doing a lot of photo sessions for free to build my portfolio. It is so much fun, especially belly and newborn pics. SO my favorite. And I even managed to do a shoot with a very grumpy 3 year old who did NOT want her picture to be taken and come away with several very cute shots of her. So I was happy about that. I am going to upgrade my camera in the next few months hopefully and upgrade my computer to a MAC and get aperature 2 with it. Oh and calibrate my screen so I will be all ready to go pro. I am hoping by February to be full blown pro and charging for sessions. I MIGHT try sooner, but I feel inclined to upgrade my gear first so I can make sure to the best pictures possible. So that's it on the homefront. And now......


THE BIO.

So I had to leave off at where I should have left the ex boyfriend. My brother wasn't doing well..he is still not feeling well, but hopefully slowly getting better. Some people just shouldn't try to climb big tall mountains, ya know? Anyway..so I'm at the point in my bio where you would think I would leave a person that lies and cheats and yet I don't. Instead, I decide to drive 2000 miles to Nashville at the same time he does. We both decide to move there at the same time. Me, to pursue singing..I seriously wanted to. Him, for a business venture that would end in failure. Making a big move like that was not new to me and I always think it's exciting. Until I get there. And then I question my decisions and wonder why I'm so retarded. I guess I should explain how I got to Nashville in the first place. I had a job at Hanford through an employment agency in the human resources department of somewhere...can't remember where. The place is huge. The job was boring. I mean seriously boring. I read at least 20 books while working there. Then I discovered I could get online and that's when I began searching for other jobs. There was a nanny position near Nashville that sounded appealing to me. Of course I already knew that a certain someone was going to be moving there. I figured I would have some support while trying to pursue my singing. That's the one thing he did right. He completely believed in my singing and that I could go somewhere with it. And that was important to me then. So anyway, I contact this person with the ad and we talked and hit it off. She liked me from the phone interview and I got the job. It would include room and board and 150/week. Not a bad deal back then. So I took it and broke the news to my parents that I was once again moving a long ways away from home. I'm sure they were thrilled with me yet again. So I pack up and head out shortly after that. When I arrived at the house I would be living at, it seemed very nice. Very southern which I loved. An older house with lots of charm. The kids were sleeping so I would meet them later. Their Mom seemed really nice. Yeah right. Anyway...we talk for a while and then I go to bed as I am exhausted from a long driving trip. The next morning I get up and meet the girls. They are really cute and it seems like we will all get along great. The girls were 5 and 8. Hard to believe they are now about 15 and 18. Wow. Time goes by fast. So life goes on as normal for a while..I watch the girls during the day and then I'm free in the evening. I think the Mom thought I would just hang out with all of them at night, but I had other ideas. I was there to pursue my singing. I had to get out and do that. I met up with the ex boyfriend and went out singing wherever I could. It was fun. I love singing so I usually have fun when I am doing that. I could tell though that the girls Mom was irritated that I wasn't there in the evening too. Oh well, not much I can do about that. And then one day, I went to a movie in the park with them and when we got home, the Mom asks if I heard her grandparents in the house last night? I said, no were they here? She said..well they died several years ago, but that she thought she heard them in the halls again the night before. I think my mouth must have hit the floor. I thought at first she was kidding..she was not. She continued to tell me that they come out every once in a while and it usually keeps her up. Okay....I want out now. And that's where I will stop. It's late and I'm tired. Next time will continue with this nightmare I've managed to get myself into. And how my health will decline rapidly and end in emergency surgery.

The photo is from my most recent photo shoot.

We are at 80%

Rayne is much better. She still coughs and even has really hard coughs, but not nearly as often. They aren't kidding..it's called a 100 day cough for a reason. It really does last that long. We are only at about 45 days. Longest illness I know of. Quinn's never progressed. He is drooling like crazy though and will choke on it at night and sometimes during the day. Mostly when he is sleeping. I think he might be teething. So I have to listen for him in the monitor and run in there when he chokes. Sometimes I have to lift him up and help him and sometimes, he's okay on his own. He is such a chunk. I bet he weighs at least 16 lbs now. Rayne didn't weight that until she was like a year old!! He can wear 6 month clothes..in part due to his cloth dipes, but he's a chunk too, lol. I'm getting serious about pursuing a photography biz. I really want to do maternity and newborn pics and eventually birth photos when Quinn is older. I can't leave him overnight to do that yet and don't want to take him for obvious reasons. I'm excited to make a go of it. I've got several people lined up to do shoots for to build my portfolio. No pay, but will hopefully pay off when I'm ready to go. I'm excited about the camera I will get with tax return too. Not releasing that info at this point. I love photography so much. It is so creative. So many aspects of creativity to it. And it's so important to people as it captures their loved ones in time. I love candid photography..really capturing people's personalities. I would love to do weddings, but most are on Saturday and that just don't work for me, as I don't work on that day. Maybe someday I will get to do one.

And now...for biography stuff..it's been a while, I know.

So I was leaving Alaska at my last writing. Or typing. I tried to stay on...but the thought of another winter after what I had gone through with those people, was just too much. There were a lot of things I loved about Alaska and I was leaving a dear friend, but I just had to. So I went to the Feast that year in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. That place will always have a somewhat bittersweet feeling for me now. I'm sure you've guessed why. It's because of a man. I met someone at that Feast site. I thought he was different. I'm not sure I want to go into that much. Let's just say I made some bad choices from the time I met him through the next 3 years. Yes, 3 YEARS. This was my first real serious relationship. Before this, I had dated, but not for that long. Man..there are so many things I just don't think I can type out for all to read. I guess some things just have to remain personal and kept locked up. It woudn't do anyone any good to know them or for me to have anyone else know. To sum things up in a nut shell...I met this guy, decide to move to a city in Oregon closer to him, but still quite a drive away. Instead of being 3 states away, he was only 1. So I thought since I met him at the Feast that he was a regular Church goer..don't ever assume this of someone. He in fact had JUST started attending Church again and I don't believe he had any intention of attending regularly. This guy was so mixed up in what he wanted, it was awful. I of course had no idea at the time. So I move to this city with these friends I had also met at the Feast. I stayed with them in their home until I found a job and could afford my own place. These people were also not what they seemed. Especially the woman. She in fact smoked pot at her neighbors regularly and had me watch her son while she did it. I didn't know this right away either. You could say I was a bit naive about the big ole bad world. VERY naive. Living with them was interesting to say the least. It was not fun. While living in that city I worked at a place called National Flora..a teleflora company. The job wasn't bad, I actually enjoyed it. At times it was not easy, like when a grandmother called in for flowers to be sent to her grandchild's funeral. Those were difficult calls. I was to remain composed and compassionate when sometimes it was hard not to cry with the person. Then there were the idiot callers that would spend thousands on roses at Valentines and ask me if I would be impressed if my significant other did that. I actually told a guy I would be very angry if my boyfriend spent that kind of money on some flowers. Stupid. So at that time I lived for the weekends that began by either me or this man traveling to see each other. Little did I know at the time he was still seeing his Ex girlfriend. On the weekends that we couldn't travel and during the week. Nice eh? Not nice at all. And I had no clue. How would I? He lied from the get go to me about a lot of things. It would take me almost a year to find out. And when I did, what did I do? I believed his lies again and gave him another chance. And not just once, but many times. And it wasn't just one girl as I later found out. There was another ex he was seeing too. Doubly nice eh? Can we say STUPID. I wanted it to work so bad, I was just blind to his lies. Seriously...I was so scared that it was my last chance at someone actually caring for me, I closed my eyes to it. And let me tell you, when I opened my eyes again..I was disgusted with myself. Completely. So after moving to his State and living there for 3 months and discovering his side relationships twice while I was there..I finally left. And you would think it was for good wouldn't you? Nope. After that, I moved to Nashville to pursue my singing. Except that he went too..to pursue a business opportunity that would fail. I'm going to leave off here, getting word that my brother isn't doing so hot...gonna go chat with SIL...sorry...stay tuned.

Photo is another friend's daughter...her eyes will getcha

Mending Mending

Rayne is mending. Quinn is still okay. It's been a month this coming Monday since we got the results of Rayne's pertussis test, so Quinn should be in the all clear. For this, we are so so thankful. I cannot even express in words how thankful. He is drooling like crazy, so we are wondering if he is trying to cut teeth already! He also was fussy for a couple of days (can we say crazy Mommy?). He's choking/gasping in his sleep once in a while..not sure if it's saliva or some reflux. He spit up more today than he usually does. Maybe I'm eating something he doesn't like, not sure what it could be though. He's done it twice so far tonight..it's scary. This is going to be a short one tonight, my nerves are frazzled again. More later, goodnight.

The picture is my friend's daughter from a little photo shoot I did.

He's still okay...and Rayne is mending

So far Quinn is still okay, no bad cough. I am so so thankful for that. SOOO thankful. Rayne is healing. She isn't coughing as often or as bad. Sometimes she still has some whooping coughs, but most of them are just a hard cough. I can't tell you how awful this cough is. I will be so glad when Christ returns and all sickness is wiped out forever. I want that to be soon. Like now. Anyway, it's been a bit of a stressful month or so and I could so use a break. But alas, I am a Mommy and there are no true breaks. But that's okay. I am a Mommy and I love it. I am thankful for my children's health right now. And for ours. And for my families. I can't wait until it's okay for us to return to Church. That can't be until the cough is better managed. I don't want her to have a bad attack during services as it would be really disruptive. So we will wait a bit longer. Hopefully another week. So we should be able to order some school supplies later on this month. I'm getting excited to start Rayne on schooling for real. Since the baby has been born, we didn't do much this spring. I think she would really enjoy reading, so we will start working on that. She also loves to add things..she tries. So we will also really focus on that. She loves drawing too, so I can't wait to get some good art supplies for her. She's been drawing tons of pictures for us and her "family" which is of course us, have really long legs, lol. And big heads. not sure what she is trying to say there. AND, everytime she draws us, I am the biggest person in the picture...hmmm...not sure if I should be offended or honored. I'll have to think on that one.

And finally...some more bio stuff

So I was still in Alaska in my last posting. Working for the people who were shams in every way possible. If it wasn't for that little girl, I would have quit a long time before things fell apart. Oh, I forgot, before I started working for them I got a black lab puppy I named Boots. I loved him. He was such a neat dog. He loved to pull kids on sleds, he was always happy to see me. He was fun. Well, with this job and supposedly moving back and forth between Salt Lake and Alaska, it wasn't really going to work to keep him. So I had to give him away. I could never have sold him like a piece of property. There was an employee of theirs that had a son and they were looking for a dog, so I chose them. I cried so hard when I put him in their truck. He tried so hard to get out of the window, he didn't want to go. I know he went to a good home, but it was so hard. I hated it. I wish I would have kept him, because of what eventually happened with the job. So I worked for them all summer, overtime many times, having to cancel my plans I had made for the evening many times. The girls Dad would fly over to Anchorage in his little plane and then if the weather changed too much, he would get stuck over there (how convenient) and if the Mom was out of town, I was stuck until he could get back. Nice right? No relief either. And quite a distance from medical help if I needed it for her. I remember one time in particular, I had a date to go to a movie and dinner and had to cancel at the last minute thanks to him getting stuck over there. I was so very mad. VERY mad. He didn't even care that I had plans, just called and said, sorry I'm stuck, you'll have to stay. What if I refused? What if I just quit? Argh, it bugs me to think about it. I also remember I was with them at a bbq when we heard on the news about Princess Diana being killed. That was weird. Funny the things you remember and what you were doing when they happened. I think that's about all I remember of that job. I learned a lot about caring for someone completely disabled in every way. I loved the little girl, she was so sweet. Plus she loved to hear me sing and a Leanne Rimes song in particular, lol. She got so excited when I started singing that song to her. It was my back pocket tool I brought out when she was having a melt down about something. Those could get pretty hairy. You did NOT want to make her mad. Anyway, it's too bad her parents were losers, because I would have loved to do that job longer. BUT, because they didn't do what they were supposed to and hire another part time nanny to help me, I ended up getting tendinitis in my shoulder and eventually got to where I couldn't lift her by myself. She weighed 70 lbs. I had to go to the doctor because of the pain and I claimed L&I. Guess what they did. They fought it. Claimed it was because of my violin playing. I had already been playing violin for like 20 years and they claimed it was from that, and not lifting her repeatedly day in and day out. They of course lost and had to pay my medical bills, but in return...they left me. Right at the last minute of leaving for Salt Lake, they said they weren't bringing me any longer and they just left. I had no job and no place to live. And THEN, before I could find a new place to live, they shut off the electricity and it had already started getting cold outside and snowed. They didn't even give me a week. I just woke up one day and there was no water and no power. I was SOOOO mad. I had to go stay at a friend's house until I found a roommate to move in with. Nice eh? They just didn't care about anyone but themselves. I think they were abusing their daughter's lawsuit funds. They took the hospital to court because she was disabled from the DTaP vaccine and won, on behalf of their daughter. It was enough to take care of her for the rest of her life. So that's what happened with that job. From there, I tried to stay on in Alaska at a daycare, but when the Feast rolled around, I decided to move out of Alaska. It was just too much for a single woman..I wanted out. And that's where will leave off. The next part of my life was not to get any easier, thanks mostly in part to my stupidity and naivity. Stay tuned....

Never been so scared...

We found out that Rayne has pertussis or whooping cough. It's very horrible to hear your child cough to the point of no more breath and then gasp trying to breathe. Horrible. It's even more horrible to worry that your 3 month old may get a cough like that and have to be hospitalized. When I found out Rayne's pertussis test was positive, I freaked. Big time. And I was in Portland on what was supposed to be a fun trip for Rayne. It ended abruptly with us heading home to get the kids on antibiotics and hoping it was in time before Quinn got that cough. We prayed and have done everything we can holistically and medically and I think he's going to be okay. So far, he doesn't have the cough. I am so praying that he doesn't get it. This illness is so awful. It hides sometimes. That's what I am still worried about. But I know so many are praying and I am just trusting in God to protect him. He's so little. Rayne is recovering..although she still has pretty bad coughing fits. Some still take her breath away and it's still awful. My nieces and nephew have it also and that's what sent little Miette to the hospital one night. This is no disease to mess around with at all. Especially with very young kids. Needless to say, I just don't have it in me to do biography stuff again. It may be a little while. When things can settle down a bit and kids are healthy again.

Still recovering...and exhausted

Everyone is still recovering from what is supposedly bronchitis. It has kicked the kids' butts. But it seems they are on the mend. Night time is the worst. Rayne wakes up coughing horribly and says she can't breathe. We took her into the ER yesterday and they took chest Xrays...and said they looked clear. They gave her a breathing treatment and took a Pertussis (whooping cough) test just in case. I wanted to know for Quinn's sake. I'm supposed to call tomorrow for the results, but I'm thinking it's not that. We were also sent home with a nebulizer for her. I will be so glad when she isn't coughing at night anymore like she has been. It is so scary sounding and she really does lose her breath for a while. I am hoping Quinn is NOT going to get this. PRAYING he doesn't. So far, he hasn't, but I still worry. I think it should be called having worries, not having kids. It's constant worry. I guess that's where I need to work on my faith in God. One of the areas anyway. I'm not feeling much like doing biography tonight again..just too burned out from a rough 2 weeks. We are hoping to do our little trip this weekend, assuming Rayne keeps improving.

I've never been so scared in my life...

This weekend was supposed to be chock full of fun and adventure. But instead, it was a scary and worrisome weekend. After we picked up the rental car for the weekend, we went to pick up my niece who was going with us on the trip. We got there and my SIL was transferring car seats to the rental car and my brother had just got home. Miette, my youngest niece has had a really bad cough for a few weeks now and having a hard time getting through them without choking on the mucus. Well she had a really bad one and turned purple and passed out. We of course called 911 right away and my brother ran and got their neighbor lady who is a nurse. I was freaking out and screaming for them to hurry. It was that scream you do when you know something is terribly terribly wrong. She was out for at least a minute, it seemed like an eternity. The paramedics got there lightning fast, as they are just up the road from them. One of the firefighters was a friend of the family and when he heard that address with a breathing stoppage come over the speakers, he was very worried. Thankfully she came to right before they got there, but my brother and SIL still took her to the ER and found out she has bronchiolitis and likely so do all the kids. Even Rayne. Thankfully Quinn has been spared thus far and we had them all annointed, even Quinn. I am worried though that he could still get it, so prayers are appreciated. I am watching him closely. Miette is on medication to help, but she doesn't want to take it and they are having a really hard time getting it in her. If they try and force it, it causes a coughing fit and they DO NOT want to do that. So, hopefully she gets enough and just gets better. Rayne is still coughing, but I think she will start improving in the next few days. Cough medicine is helping her right now. Yuck, coughs are awful.

I don't have it in me right now to do a bio blog, so you'll just have to wait until life returns to "normal".

The picture is of my little niece, Miette.

Updates first.....Quinny-poo is getting big. And heavy. But he is just so cute about it. He has chub! Chubby cheeks, double chin, monster thighs...just what everyone wants to hear right? Well..on a baby of course it's squishy cute. And he is. Rayne is also doing well. Her behavior seems to be getting better. I hope it lasts. We have our trip in a week and I am hoping she does well. We are going to Oregon zoo and Enchanted Village. And now Esme is coming with us so Rayne will have a pal along. Hopefully they get along well and Esme doesn't get sad being away from home. Poor Rayne..I have to tell this...we have 2 strawberry plants that have strawberries on them and Rayne has been watering them and watching the strawberries start to ripen and gets all excited for them to finally become edible and then her youngest cousin (who is not even 2 yet) comes over and picks them all and eats them. I feel so bad for Rayne. She has been SO patient waiting for those berries to become their juiciest and sweetest. I think I am going to have to move them somewhere when the cousin comes over so she can't pick them. Anyway...one of life's many disappointments I guess.

Okay, on to the biography....

So I left off still in Alaska. But I was in Salt Lake City being trained to take care of the 14 year old girl with cerebral palsy I was going to start caring for. A very difficult job too I might add. She wasn't light and needed to be lifted...A LOT. She couldn't even go potty by herself..pretty much anything. She couldn't talk, couldn't walk, and had VERY limited mobility. She was born normal and fine. She got vaccinated and reacted very very poorly. Her Mother even alerted the doc and nurses about her daughter not responding well at the first one, but they just wrote it off and gave her the second dose. That was all it took. Brain damage. They sued and won, but not really. They won enough money to care for their now mentally and physically handicapped child for the rest of her life. Not exactly a victory. I would be so mad...I can't even imagine. I'm glad we don't vaccinate. They are BAD. But that's a whole other story. So where was I...oh yes...crash course training before going back to Alaska. So they bought a summer home in Alaska (yes they had money) and I was in their winter home being trained. The husband owned a plane and had flown ahead in this small plane to set up their house before we all flew back. Remember that piece of information. So we are not even there a whole day before I somehow get wrangled into singing at some forum type thing! As soon as she found out I liked to sing, I was signed up to be a number in this show or whatever it was, I can't remember. So I sang, because I love it. And the little girl I cared for, loved it! So I continued to sing for her whenever I could. She would get laughing (sort of) and banging her tray on her wheelchair in joy. It was worth that. This little girl was so sweet. Too bad her Mother wasn't so sweet and a total fake. I think their marriage was a sham. She always complained about him when he was gone. And he was always on overdrive and very selfish. He pretended to be so concerned with his daughter and her care, but he was just more concerned that he didn't have to worry about her. It irritated me to no end. So anyway..day 2 of being there and her husband doesn't show up at his check in point on his way to Alaska in his dinky little 2 seater plane. Big shock. But she melts down. So now I am consoling her too. She is crying hysterically on the stairs with the phone in her hand, trying to find out where her husband is. We don't hear anything all night and FINALLY in the morning he gets to a place he can call. He apparently got stuck in a storm and couldn't make it to his check in point so he put the plane down somewhere and there was no phone. Sure. Ok. And that is all I have to say about that. So after 4 days, it's time to make our way to Alaska. The home they bought is not just a cabin. It's a HUGE gorgeous home with cabins, Silos, a POND and tons of land. TONS. It was so beautiful. The pond had beavers too. And there were eagles flying around. What I wouldn't GIVE to go back with my DSLR camera now. Oh man..that would be so great. So I am seeing all they have and then in the back of my mind I'm thinking...they are paying me $9/hour to take care of their completely needy child? Hmmm....something wasn't right. They also kept promising me to hire the other part time nanny so I wasn't always doing all the lifting. They were actually supposed to do this, not just because they were nice. Well..their promises were empty. I was doing EVERYTHING. Lifting, physical therapy, feeding, bathing, toileting, medicine, playing...all of it. My days were long. Very long. I loved the little girl, but the job was taking it's toll. It was a catch 22 and I kept being told there would be help soon. Well, along down the line I finally tell them that I either will require more pay or room and board on top of my salary. So of course they jump on the room and board. I get one of the cabins. It's a studio, but roomy and nice. I really liked it. And the empty Silo was a great place to go stretch my vocal chords when everyone was gone. I of course did the National Anthem. Over and over and over and over. Gotta love those acoustics. Doesn't get any better than that. Wow, I'm tired now. I think that's all for now. Oh wait...you probably thought I forgot to tell you what type of business they owned in Salt Lake City. Also known as Mormon capital of the world. Well...I found out what they did in a very sneaky way on their part. She told me that she needed to run by the office really quick once day, I thought..no big deal. So we go into the actual office part..she does whatever she needs to do and then we go to the other part of her business. We walk into this building and through these doors and it's pretty dark inside. I look around and realized there were women with basically nothing on but those earring things on their BOOBIES!!! It was a strip club! I was floored. I think my mouth hit the floor..I'm sure of it. I didn't know what to say. She was so casual about it like it was a coffee shop or something. I couldn't believe that's what they did and how they made their money. Ew. and Yuck. I seriously considered not staying. But I figured, my job was to take care of their daughter...it wasn't my business what they did. That would NOT have been my thoughts now. I was very young then and just didn't have my standards fully in place. So there ya go..that's what they did. And they owned 2. Later on while we were in Salt Lake she tried to get my opinion on which boobie jewelry they should keep out of a huge bag of 'em. I told her I certainly was not the person to ask. ew and yuck. That's all for now. For the next biography I will answer the following...what did these people that owned strip clubs do to me after all the hard work and long hours I gave to them...it wasn't nice at all!

Blog update: Quinn is now 9-1/2 weeks old and doing great. He's a little chunk which I love. I never thought I would have a baby with chunk. I think it's the length difference between him and what Rayne was at at his age. He is smiling a lot and cooing which is so cute. Rayne is loving her little brother and can't wait to see him in the morning. She loves doing his buttons and snaps on his outfits..which thankfully he has patience for because sometimes it takes her a little while to do. Rayne had a pretty good week. We are hoping her behavior is mellowing out. It's so much fun when she is good and happy. She did great in Church today and yesterday. It was Pentecost today so we had Church both days. That's usually difficult for her, but she did great. She even fell asleep at Church today! She stopped doing ballet for now and is only in Contemporary Dance for now. I think ballet was too structured for her liking right now. I attended the class with her in the beginning and thought it was too much for her. The teacher was going really fast and it was very confusing to the girls. Too many technical terms being thrown at them and they didn't know what they were before they were having to use them in a dance. Oh well, she may want to try again when she is older. So in the fall she will be in 1st grade. She learns so fast and asks a million questions all the time. Sometimes my head is buzzing with all her questions, lol.

Just a little biography stuff tonight..it's late:

I left off in Alaska...well, after working at McD's, I got a better job at a pizza place that my friend's friend owned..it was a family business. They needed a daytime food prep and evening driver, so I applied and got the job. I actually really liked it. I would get there at 12:30 and start prepping toppings..shredding cheese, chopping veggies, etc. Then, after that I would either help make the pizzas or deliver. And this was in winter. I only ditched my car once and that was because I turned too sharp and didn't realize that what looked like the road was actually just a ditch filled with snow. So the guys at the pizza place had to come pull me out. I learned Kenai very quickly doing that job. It was pretty fun. For some reason I thought I needed to make more money after a while and decided to quit there and work at the cannery. Oh man was that a mistake. That place was horrid. It stank. It was long hours and they always wanted you to work overtime on top of that. I came home smelling like fish and had to take my clothes out to the porch. I had to shower right away and even then, my roommates claimed I still smelled like fish. I would get up when it was dark and come home when it was dark. Barely had enough time to eat and sleep and get up and work again. I lasted 2 weeks and quit. From there I got a job in a daycare as a preschool teacher/lunch person. I liked it, but while I was on vacation I was offered a nanny position for a 14 year old girl who had Cerebral Palsy. I didn't have much experience, but I guess they like my phone interviews and while I was visiting friends out in upstate New York, I was hired and they paid to have my plane tickets changed to fly from there to Salt Lake where they lived. They had just bought a home in Alaska for the summers and had me come to Salt Lake first for training. The little girl was very sweet. Her parents were another story. They were VERY interesting...and when I found out what they actually did for a living...I have to say I was appalled and considered not working for them...but that's all for now, lol. I'm going to keep anyone that doesn't know what they did hanging for a bit. Stay tuned...:)

8 week already....

It's been 8 weeks since Quinn's birth. Time has gone by so fast. He is growing so fast. He's cooing a lot and smiling a lot. He loves to see Rayne too..as soon as he sees her, he starts smiling. Rayne is still battling with her eczema and it's so frustrating for her and us. She is so itchy. Spring is so hard on all of us. Allergies really bite. I hope Quinn does not suffer with them. Everything on the home front is okay. We have our good days and our bad. Rayne has been a bit better with her attitude. She hates being sent to her room so that is working for now it seems. That and I added another rule that if she is disrespectful or doesn't obey, then she gets to earn her next meal by doing chores. We'll see how that goes. She seems to think that she doesn't have to listen all the time..she can selectively listen to us. Yeah right. Anyway...

Biography stuff

I left off at moving to Alaska..yes Alaska...and the generosity of some friends to take me in for a time after my move. I started working at McD's which we all know I hated with every fiber of my being. Hated it. I had to get up at 4am to be there at 5:30 and I hate mornings with a passion. But I loved being in Alaska and was having so much fun with my friends. I remember one of the friends..the one that helped me drive the Alcan highway, bought a camper so I decided to clean it for him to thank him. It was really dirty. But I love camping and it was a cute little camper. I don't know whatever happened to it though. I can't remember. I'm sure he must have sold it. Both my friends worked at the airport in Kenai at the time, so it was kinda fun to fly to Anchorage some times for really cheap. I remember there was one time that the airline had an annual dance and we got to fly to Anchorage and stay in the hotel there and they served awesome food and it was really fun. It was so weird to see how the sun never really sets in the summer time. It was still very light out at midnight. And still like dawn at 3am. But it's good that it only lasts during the summer, because no night can get old. Just like very little daylight, which was the case in the winter. I remember the sun barely got above the short treeline in the winter and only for a couple of hours. I would get up to go to my pizza delivery job at noon and the sun was just getting up to the tree line and then it was set again by 4pm. That got really old, really fast. So did the bitter cold. Have you ever had to go and start your car every 2 hours so it would start in the morning? It gets old. Kind of like getting up with a baby I guess, lol. One time I got up for my shift (we took turns) and I fell asleep on the floor in the living room and when the next shift came, the cars were still running. Needless to say, he didn't have to do his shift, lol. When the temperature finally gets warm enough to snow...it's Tshirt weather over there. That's an almost 60 degree rise in temps. It goes from 30-40 below zero to 32...it's crazy. And when it snows...it doesn't just snow a couple of inches...it snows like 3 feet at once. Alaska is a place full of new things if you have never been there. Extreme weather, extreme days/nights, awesome fishing...it's just a whole other world up there. I would love to go back some day. Never to live..the winters are too harsh..but to visit...that would be awesome. It's so beautiful in the summer. And the moose calves are so cute..and there are twins a lot. Man those things are huge. I have been very close to a bull moose for a very very short time..I immediately got back in my car and drove away. Well I think that's enough for one night. Quinny keeps stirring.

Happy Mother's Day

To all Mommies out there. Does that mean we all get the day off...completely?? Yeah right. I wouldn't do that to my children. So for the updates first...Quinn is still doing great...aside from having Thrush and passing it to me..so we are dealing with that. It's not comfortable for Mom I can say that..hopefully he isn't bothered too much by it. He is still sleeping fairly well at night..some nights he needs to nurse more than others. Rayne is still really battling with her eczema and wheezing attacks. She woke up in the middle of the night with a wheezing attack and itching all over so we had to give her some Benadryl. I wish she could outgrow this junk. Or that we could figure out if there are underlying food issues or something. It seems to be every spring though that it gets really bad. Dave and I started classes again..yay. And we each have to make up for having the first 6 weeks off for Quinn's arrival. Double yay. We are still working on Rayne's behavior..she had a couple of good days and some not so good moments today and tonight.

And now for the biography stuff.

So I wrote about the college stuff last time. Now for the after college stuff. Right after I decided to go live up in upstate New York on a dairy farm with some friends for a while. We were supposed to save up and take a trip to Europe together..but my 2 friends were dating and they decided to get married instead and start their life together. So hmph. I stayed up there for 3 months and worked through a temp agency at a paper mill. There was a very nice young man that worked there..however he was somewhat obsessed with me and I didn't care for that much. He sent me flowers all the time and made "jokes" about how we were going to get married. It actually got get get very old and he was SO upset when I told them all I was leaving and moving back to Wa. State. Oh well...I hope he's happy today. So after that I decided it wasn't for me up there..although I love Northeast..especially Vermont..it's beautiful. I moved back to Wa. State and back in with the parents. I rode a train from Plattsburgh, NY to Pasco, Wa..3 days and it was wonderful. I had time to think and read and it was SO beautiful going cross country and not driving. I wish I had the camera I have now! So when I got back home I got a job as a preschool teacher at Kindercare and loved the job. I worked in the 3 and 4 year old room and eventually became lead teacher in there. I worked a lot of hours and really did love it. I loved all my kids and we had a lot of fun. I decided to go on vacation after a little over a year and decided to go see some friends in Alaska. It was SO much fun..I had never been there before. I LOVED it up there. In fact, I loved it so much...I decided to go home, put my 2 weeks notice in and move to Alaska. Before I left from my vacation I had acquired a job at the McDonald's up there and went home to break the news. Of course the parents were none too thrilled with rash decision like that, understandably..but I was stubborn and had made up my mind. So I moved to Alaska 2 weeks later. My friend flew to Seattle and met me there to help me drive my car on the Alcan highway to Alaska. That trip was a blast. We pretty much drove round the clock aside from a couple of short breaks. One of the breaks was at a natural hot springs that was so awesome. It felt so great we had to nap in the car..we were exhausted. The lakes on the way were a aqua marine color, which I now know to be because of the minerals in the water from being a glacier fed natural body of water...aren't I smart?? I again, which I had my camera I have now. At one point when we had crossed into the state of Alaska there was massive rainbow that stretched all the way across the sky. I tried to get pictures..but couldn't fit it all in. I have no idea where those pictures are..packed away somewhere. Someday I will do a scrapbook. So 2 incidents occured on that trip...one being my friend driving too fast around a corner with gravel and we ended up in the ditch..thankfully we weren't go THAT fast and we weren't hurt and there was a truck that came by shortly after and towed us out. And then in Anchorage..the friend of mine rear ended someone at a light and I believe they totalled the guys old icky car...that was not fun. And then we finally made it to Kenai, Alaska. That's when I started getting really nervous and doubting my decision to move there. But once I met the people I was going to be staying with, I felt better. They were really nice and welcomed me into their home. It's weird that their kids are probably all grown now and the youngest was only 4 when I was there. Man, time goes by so quickly. I think I will leave it here for now..I'm tired of typing.

Going to start something new...

First off the picture is of my friend's son and I just love it! :)...So my blog is kinda boring..unless you are family and checking in for updates...and friends. But otherwise...big whoop right? Well, I'm going to still do updates on the fam, but I am also going to start writing out my life adventure..I know..big whoop again. But I've wanted to do that for a long time so I don't forget in my old age things I've done, places I've been and when and all that jazz. So I will start today. Updates..Quinn is growing FAST. He is much heavier than I remember Rayne being at this age...must be my yummy moojuice...he loves it. He is still sleeping well at night..wakes about every 2-3 hours to eat and poop and get changed. Seriously..he poops everytime he eats. And he LOVES having a fresh diaper to poop in...everytime I change him...he poops. Dave has seen it and Lisa (SIL) has seen it. Or should I say..heard it, lol. Rayne is still adjusting somewhat...she still has break downs and wants A LOT of attention. So we are still working on that with her.

So now for the biography stuff. Not sure where to start..my childhood was pretty uneventful..so I dont' want to start there. College was interesting. But not quite as interesting as afterwards. Hmmmmm...I guess I should include some college stuff. I attended a private University through our Church...before the Church split up in a million pieces. That was fun too. The only reason I got into this college was because I played violin and had a high recommendation from our minister. My SATs weren't that great..they were mediocre at best. After the first year in college, I wanted to quit. I wanted to leave after getting a 2 year and travel or something..I was so sick of studying. But I hung in there and finished. I was in a lot of activities during college and when I think about it, I have no idea how I did it all without collapsing. I always had a full load credit-wise...16-18 credits going. At one point I had to get approval to have 18 or 19 credits..I can't remember which one...and I got the approval. It was Orchestra putting me over the limit..which was only 1 credit. I also had Women's Speech Club, Outreach Volunteer, Volleyball or whatever other sport was going on at the time, working out, Orchestra rehearsal's at night for a big production and I was the concert master. I negotiated with the instructor/director for more scholarship money for me to stay in Orchestra because of having so much on my plate and being concert master. He upped me one and not only gave me more money for the following year, but paid off my tuition for the previous year that I had left! Cool eh? Believe me, I had it coming..rehearsal's were at least 3-4 hours extra, 3 times a week. I also worked 20 hours a week to help pay for tuition and such. Doesn't seem like much, but when you are stretched thin already..it's not easy finding time to work. Any spare time I had, I was at work or studying. It was a busy busy time. I also somehow made time to socialize and go to dances...I LOVED dancing in college and learned a ton from guy friends that new how to swing dance. By the time I was a sophomore, I knew a ton of moves and had a blast. I also basically discovered that I could sing in college. I was singing a song in the bathroom and someone asked me if I was going to try out for the next dance coming up. I said, I never thought about it and the girl said I should try..so I did and I made it and the first time I ever sang with a microphone or in front of people was in front of about 1000 people on a huge stage. It was the most fun I ever had and I was hooked. From then on I tried to find any place there was to go singing and I still love doing it. That was also the reason for one of the adventures I have been on in my life...more on that later though. Anyway..my grades kinda suffered because I had so much going on all the time, but I think it was worth it in the end. I had a lot of fun and learned alot and made a lot of friends...most of which I have no contact with unfortunately..not sure what happened there. I tried to keep in touch, but just didn't have the contact from their end, so I guess I gave up. I think that's enough for now. Quinn woke up anyway and needs my attention...go figure!

Here I am

So I can't get on here too often to update...or I keep forgetting...or interrupted...or all of the above. Quinn is doing great...he nurses every 2 hours at least. He's starting to really let me know when he is NOT happy. He basically lost it in the car today on the way home from Church. We were almost to our exit and we had to pull off on the exit before ours and I had to nurse him. He's staying awake more and much more alert. He smiles big at me, I just don't know if it's a real smile or just a mimick of my expression. It's cute either way though. Rayne is still trying to adjust. I finally heard the big sister phrase who is in trouble..."you love Quinn MORE than me!!" What every parent loves to hear right? She's already pulled the "you don't love me" phrase before, but now she is trying to use this one. We are trying to really praise her for her good behavior and for helping. I gotta type fast because I think Quinn is stirring again. Dave had a great review at work and we now have STOCK!! We are pretty excited about it. And it vests as early as next year for part of it and the year after for the rest of it. We've never owned stock before, so we are pretty excited about it. I think that's it for now. I'm tired anyway..go figure.

A little update

I haven't been on here for a few days..so I thought I would pop on and give a little update before Quinn wakes. He's doing great. He is nursing beautifully which was a major goal for us. He sleeps a ton and is a really calm baby which we are SO thankful for. I keep waiting for the honeymoon phase to end, but trying to enjoy it while it's here. Rayne is doing good...she tries to be helpful. She's going through a bit of a stage though that we are working on. I'm sure it will pass, but for now, it's tough to be patient at times. I think she is in competition for who is the Mommy, lol. I am still trying to get my strength and stamina back and heal fully. I think it is going to take a bit to get everything back to "normal" for me. I am not very patient with myself for healing..I want to be at 100% NOW. But I am thankful to be doing so well considering what my body just went through. So that's it for now...

He is here! Quinlan Egyji - April 2nd

So it's a really long birth story and NOTHING like we had planned, but he is healthy and doing well. And nursing! Rayne never was able to latch well and so this time it was a huge goal to have Quinn breastfeed and he's doing it! So we are thrilled with that too. So here is the birth story... Monday night I ate a piece of fried chicken from Yokes and immediately had really bad pains in my stomach. I figured it just didn't agree with me and it would pass after I laid down for a while. But after about 2-1/2 hours of that hideous pain I had to call Kelly and Lisa and tell them how much pain I was in and there was no way I could drive to go get Dave...so my Mom had to go to their house to sit with Indy and Esme and Kelly and Lisa came over so Lisa could be here with me and Rayne and Kelly went and got Dave. Quite the fiasco. I still figured it would pass...I took peppermint oil and whatever else I could think of that might help and nothing was working. So we called my midwife to get her advice and she thought it was very possible that I was in labor and she would be over to check me. After she got here and checked me I wasn't dialated enough to be considered in labor like she thought. She hung out til like 3am and then Lisa stayed up with me until 5 am. I got maybe 2 hours sleep total in between severe cramping and pain. When things were still bad in the morning, we called Fran back over to check me again. There was no change in my cervix so labor was definently ruled out and Fran then suggested I go to the hospital and get checked out. So off to Kennewick General we went. I was admitted and they started doing tests to try and figure out what was going on. They did an ultrasound to see if they could see anything wrong with the gall bladder or the pancreas and found nothing. I was put on pain meds and hooked up to an I.V. After suffering all night and still not knowing what was going on, they took more blood to test and the Dr. was concerned with a couple of the results so we then had to decide on the fly to break my water and get the baby delivered to figure out what was going on. There was also the possibility of a partial placenta abruption. So I had my water broke and a epidural and then pitocin administered to get labor going. This was at about 8:30-9am. They also placed the fetal skull monitor on Quinn to keep track of him during the contractions which I really hated. The spinal wasn't wearing off very well and I hated feeling totally numb from the waist down. They then came in and told me they were going to start a magnesium I.V. for my blood pressure. And the nurse said it had a muscle relaxer in it so I would probably be pretty sleepy! I FLIPPED out on them..and said NO WAY. I asked them how they thought I was going to be able to push a baby out soon if I had yet another relaxer going in me. So we refused it until I could talk to my Dr. I told him what I was feeling and how I was feeling and that I thought my blood pressure was going up so high because they kept trying to put more and more into me and causing more problems for me both emotionally and physically. He was wonderful and listened to me and agreed to try it my way first. I told them I wanted to start feeling more and to stop the epi drip. Once I started feeling the contractions and breathing through them I actually felt better, weird as that sounds. I felt like I was in more control which was important for my state of being. I dialated quickly and when he came back in, said I was fully dialated and ready to push. I then began throwing up again and on the last puke, Quinn came shooting out of my like a canon ball. I hollered, "I think he's here!" and we lifted the blanket and sure enough...there he was...laying on the bed. He was beautiful and so so small looking. He was much smaller looking than Rayne did when she was born. 7lbs, 9oz and 19" long. And he looked just like Rayne. He was born April 2nd at 2:02 pm. I thought that was cool. And 4+2+2 = 8...the year of his birth. So after his birth I thought I was doing ok, but then the pain meds wore off and I was still in a lot of pain. A LOT of pain. So they took me up for an Xray and then later for a CT scan. They finally found a blockage and I had to have a tube put up my nose and down to my stomach to pump out the upper part of my bowels and allow whatever was doing the blocking to pass and then give my intestines a rest to correct the problem. It was the most horrible thing having that tube put in. HORRIBLE. It was there for 3 days and I couldn't eat or drink. I could suck on ice at first which would just get sucked right out so I was thirsty ALL the time...there was never any relief from that. By the time I got to eat something Saturday night...clear broth..I was STARVING. Food never tasted so good...even broth. After seeing that I could tolerate clear liquid they removed the tube and the next day upgraded me to a full liquid diet and I finally got to go home. I'm getting better everyday...less pain and all. Quinn is doing great...a little sniffly so we are trying to keep him warm and he's nursing really well so far. My milk came in today and he's loving it...much more satisfied and sleeping more. He's been sleeping so much today, I might be in for a long night...we'll see. So there's the story of Quinn's birth. Not what we had imagined but we are so so thankful for his safe arrival and my recovery. I'm glad it's over and I'm glad I'm done having babies. SO DONE.

Getting Closer....

...but still not here. I haven't blogged much lately..it's been busy and I'm trying to slow down a bit. It's difficult making myself rest and take it easy when there is always so much to do. Dave has had to pick up a lot of the slack because I just don't have it in me anymore. We are at 38 weeks now and still waiting. Contractions are becoming more intense..but still not painful or regular. So I'm guessing it will still be at least a week, probably longer. I wish and hope sooner. Rayne is doing fine. Her eczema is so so..she is needing more allergy medicine than she had been..I think it's that time of year again. Allergy season. She is VERY much looking forward to going to Disneyland and we are planning to go in June. While Quinn is still young enough to be content being in the sling and not wanting to get down and crawl around! Rayne can't wait to see the princesses..that is her favorite thing right now. She said something funny the other day...she came over to my belly and asked Quinn if he was going to come out today. I told her he was probably too warm and cozy in there and doesn't want to come out. Kinda like when she is in a warm bath and she doesn't want to come out because she knows she will be cold. So she leaned over and told Quinn that she would get him a warm towel if he would come out, lol. I thought it was cute and funny. She's always saying stuff that cracks us up. Silly girl. Well that's about it for now...not sure when I'll get back on again. One of these days it will be a birth announcement!

36 weeks...4 weeks and counting til due date...

And I am SO ready. My ankles are no more. When I walk, it feels funny cuz one foot is so swollen. Rayne turned 5 Wed.! She had a really good birthday. It started very early thanks to DAVE. As soon as she opened her eyes he asked her if she had a present in the kitchen waiting for her..at 8:30 in the morning! She didn't fall asleep until 11:30 the night before. So of course she came out and woke me up and then unveiled her present...a brand new bike. Princess of course. And now she has a princess bedroom too. Her room got painted and her new bed put in and princess removeable stickers placed all over the walls and a castle. It's very girly now. So we of course went to the park and let her ride her bike for a while and then she chose Applebees to go eat and then went to her cousins house to do the pinata and ride bikes more. THEN we had to rush home and change for ballet class and after ballet we went home for cake and a present from Grandma and Grandpa. She also got an online pet..Webkinz..from Grandma/pa E. She hugged the little dog as soon as she saw it and named it July..it's a girl. Anyway, it was a very busy day and a very busy week. It was exhausting. But she had fun and hopefully some memories were made for her Golden Birthday. We are in the planning stage for a trip to Disney this year. But it will just be me and the kids and my sister. Dave has to work and already has a lot of time to take off in the next 7 months. So he will have to go next trip when Quinn is old enough. Ok, I'm tired...off now.