We Lived!

The trip wasn't bad at all. The worst part was driving through Salt Lake City on the freeway going about 40 mph at about 2pm Friday afternoon through falling snow and bad visiblility. The Oregon blues and even Snoqualmie Pass barely required us to reduce speed and there was no falling snow anywhere else along the way until we entered Kent and little flurries started falling. We arrived at my parent's house just as the snow picked up. Thank you all for the prayers for the weather. Cam arrived in the moving truck an hour or so after us, he still had a fine drive until he got down from the pass and into the valley where the snow was falling. It took him a little longer the tranverse the road after he got off the freeway, but he too arrived without incident. I am sure I will post more later, but I am pretty tired and my bum hurts (tmi? I took the whole trip in the back seat between the two car seats).

Anyway, thanks again and we did all arrive safe.

The Big Move

So I really should be finishing up packing right now. We have to pick up the moving truck RIGHT when Cam gets home today, then he has to go off to the airport (and I will be doing any last minute packing at that time) to pick up his brother and *maybe* my dad (depending on the weather). Once they get home it is packing time while I take Dallas and Chelane to Provo to get Karma's luggage, drop some things off at DI, do last minute Christmas shopping, get chains for the car and a prescription filled... such a fun night ahead of us.

My big issue right now is Dallas deciding that digging through boxes is fun. Evey time we move I have a bad habit of taping up the boxes early then needing to cut the tape open to add/remove something from the box. So this year I haven't taped much up yet and Dallas is loving it. I am not loving it as much since I am the one that has to go and repack every box about seven times...

I really should get back to packing. I need to have most things done so when the laundry and dishwasher are finished I can focus on packing up those... I don't know when the next post will be, probably after the Christmas holiday since I have no idea what sort of internet access I will have before then. Please pray for good weather in Oregon and Washington while we drive through. I love you all and Merry Christmas!

Dallas Loves Being a Big Brother

Well, I guess I can't say that for sure because I haven't asked him.

Dallas loves to say "hi" to Chelane (and he actually says "hi" with the wave now) and cuddle by her when she is on the floor.

Chelane loves having people around, she is very social. She cries if you leave her in a room by herself when she is awake, but once you walk back in eye-shot, the crying stops and smiles ensue. Since she loves to have someone nearby and Dallas likes to sit close to her and look at her it works out nicely.

The other night Dallas was sitting next to Chelane. Without warning he grabbed her around the middle and *tried* to roll her over onto his tummy. She is getting a little too big for Dallas to move around easily. Cam and I got the hint though and let Dallas have some supervized holding time.

He kept trying to hold her steady by putting his hands on her face and across her head. We quickly corrected that and showed him how to hold her at a less fragile part, the torso.

All right, I think I have delayed long enough... back to packing!

Little Quirks

Cam put a new door on our pantry Saturday. He had to use a power drill (to screw things in) and a hand screwdriver. We kept Dallas in his booster seat the entire time to keep him out of the way and out of mischief while I held the door as Cam screwed it in. This also gave him a perfect view of what Cam and I were doing.

When we were finished, Cam removed the removable head from the screw driver and got Dallas out of his seat. Dallas immediately picked up the screwdriver and started "fixing" anything he could see... the bar stools, the door handle... Interestingly enough he would only put the headless screwdriver in places that had a screw, apparently he knows what a screwdriver is for.

There are four total screws that hold the plastic cover on the back of those stools and, although you can't see it, he had the screwdriver covering one of them.

Dallas also has an affinity towards tape, stickers, and bandaids. If one of us leave our bathroom door open, many times he will come out with bandaids and ask for helping opening them and putting them on. He will take them off and put them off many times; his arm, the wall, and apparently his mouth...

When he came to me with this on his mouth it was actually holding his mouth shut, he thought it was the funniest thing ever.

Hot Zone

It is one of my favorite books. For those of you that don't know much about it here is the jist. It talks about the Ebola virus, a disease related loosely to HIV that attacks blood cells and turns your insides to mush through massive hemorrhaging. The "Hot Zone" refers to the area in Africa it is thought to originate (I think).

Well our house is a pretty bad Hot Zone right now. We had my mom, dad, little brother, little sister, and one of my older sisters at our house for Thanksgiving (we more than doubled our "family" size that week, it was so fun!). Sunday after Thanksgiving (right before everyone was going home) my little sister woke up feeling very weak and sick. Monday morning Dallas woke up at 5am throwing up. Monday afternoon Cam came home from work early with a sore throat.

I was thinking Chelane and I were going to skip out on the sickness altogether until Thursday afternoon when I started on a sore throat. Friday I woke up with a fever, body aches, absolutely zero energy, a HUGE headache, and the inability to keep myself warm. When Cam got home I went to bed for a little bit and apparently broke my fever. When I woke up I felt like I had much more energy, but still a massive headache. My body was also quite weak from not feeding myself that day. I took some ibprophen that night (without consulting a physician, bad me) to try to stem the headache and lower backache I had so that I could sleep easier (and sit or lay down without my back protesting). I am happy to say that today I am feeling much better (although the sore throat is still around, but I can deal with that).

Cam has pretty much had an off-and-on mild sore throat all week. Dallas didn't throw up after Monday morning (he really only threw up once) but started on a runny nose Tuesday and now that that has eased up he has a pretty nasty cough. Chlane has still stayed all but immune. She sounds like she has a little of it (her nose is a little cloggy and she coughs once and a while) but, other than those mild symptoms, she seems great. I would happily take another day of the fever from h-e-double-hockey-sticks if it meant Chelane didn't get sick.

I started a few packing projects on Friday and Thursday that I obviously didn't finish on Friday so the house is also a complete mess. So maybe "Hot Zone" isn't the correct term to use... maybe something more like "War zone where biological weapons were used"...

Smiles?

Today after a brunch sort of meal at ten consisting of pancakes, Cam brought Chelane upstairs and put her on our bed. She was just laying there wide awake and as content as can be. I leaned over her and started talking and smiling and, could it be? She was smiling back at me? Yes those were smiles, big, wide-open mouth smiles and cute closed mouth happy lips, and she kept them going while I was talking to her. I yelled for Cam to come in the room and look at this amazing feat. She of course stopped by the time he got in there but Cam confirmed that she had been giving him big smiles a few moments ago when he extracted her from the baby swing downstairs ...

So could it be my little baby is smiling socially already? She is barely 6 weeks old?! I don't remember the particulars of Dallas starting to socially smile but I DO know that the first time I caught a picture of it was March 9th and I vaguely remember him starting the social smiling just a few days, week tops, before then... December 21st to March 9th would be more like 10 weeks... this just seems early for smiles. She seems to be growing up so much faster than Dallas was. I can't believe we have passed 6 weeks already.

Beauty Marks

Monday afternoon I fell asleep in bed while holding Chelane. Dallas was watching a movie so I think I subconsciously thought that he would be fine. Well he got a hold of a big, fat, permanent, sharpie marker and drew all over the TV stand. Luckily through some rubbing alcohol and very fine sandpaper you can't even tell anymore (just some gray discoloration in the wood grain once and a while). Obviously I didn't learn my lesson. Yesterday Dallas got ahold of the same sharpie marker (that I conviently put back right in the same place he nicked it from in the first place) and this time decided to improve his face...


A few hours later while changing his diaper I noticed some other work...


Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice shame, on me. So the marker now resides on the top shelf of our hall closet. I am just very happy he didn't take the marker to the walls or doors or computer or TV screen or... You get the picture.

Also I have been doing a tiny bit of packing in preparation of the move coming up. (I have applied with the Kent School District to be a part-time literacy para-educator at Sunrise Elementary, keep your fingers crossed for me). I repacked some baby clothes into smaller boxes to keep them separated by size, and therefore had a large empty box that Dallas decided to take up residency in.


He fits quite comfortably in there. Anyone want a Dallas for Christmas? Just pay shipping.

Chelane is getting very large. She doesn't fit into newborn size anymore. I am up a diaper size as well and she will coo at me if I talk to her. I can't believe she is getting close to 2 months already (she hit 6 weeks yesterday). Man how time flies.

I am not sure when these pictures were taken (my camera wants to date them at Sept 22 and Oct 5... hmmm something about that doesn't seem right). After looking at the date it gave for the other pictures of Dallas, I surmised that it is a month behind.

The Downpour

I have decided that Dallas will fit in fine in Washington.

On Sunday I picked him up from the church nursery after my class got out. Usually Cam is waiting there with me too (since we come from different classes) but this time he was no where to be seen. The three of us (since, of course I had Chelane with me in my class) walked to the coat rack where Cam had stowed the car seat. I buckled Chelane in while trying to convince Dallas that standing under the coat rack with me would be more fun than potentially getting himself lost in the sea of people currently inhabiting the hallway. Then trying to finangle the car seat and Dallas we took a lap around the church trying to figure out where Cam was (it was about this time that I realized I had NO idea where his class was...). I decided the car was the best place to wait for him. As I walked outside I realized why the hallways were staying so packed, it was DOWNPOURING.

Utah doesn't get too much rain, and when it does it doesn't tend to pour like this. This was Washington worthy pouring. This was you-are-soaked-completely-through-after-standing-in-it-for-five-minutes pouring. Of course living in Utah for five years (ok one of those years I was in Washington for the summer) I had stopped carrying a coat around with me or putting on layers; the weather isn't unpredictable (or bipolar) in Utah.

Luckily baby seats come with covers. I walked out the door and stood under the eve making sure I knew where the car was. Dallas decided to walk out from under the eve. I was expecting him to run back under after he got sprayed but he didn't. The kid sat in the rain and turned back to face me smiling and saying, "whoa." Well I took his hand and he made for the car. Once we got there I realized the car was locked and as I fished for my keys two young boys (5-10ish?) ran by. Of course running looked like much more fun than standing still by the car, so Dallas took off after them. I ignored the fact that Dallas left me (great mom I am) the parking lot was pretty empty and there were no cars moving around so I felt like he was safe, plus I was more worried about getting Chelane out of the rain; those car seat covers only cover so much of the car seat. Gratefully the mom of those two boys took Dallas' hand and walked him back towards me. By the time Dallas and I got into the car I was wet through and Dallas was slightly damp (this is where I dislike the difference between boy church clothes and girl church clothes).

Again this morning it started to sprinkle while Dallas was eating and looking out the window in his booster seat. Again there was pointing and "whoa." I think the kid will love Washington, he is definitely my child.

The Christmas Debate

When should you start Christmas preliminaries? After Halloween or after Thanksgiving? I can see both sides of the fence in this one.

Growing up we were not allowed to play Christmas music or put up any decorations before the Friday following Thanksgiving. Of course on that Friday all Christmas-ness broke loose as we climb up to the loft in the top of my parent's garage to fish out all thing Christmas. My sister would make sure that Christmas music was playing bright and earl. We put up our fake tree, decorated the downstairs with my mom's collection of Nativities, and (sometimes) put the lights up outside.

I asked my mom one year why we had to wait until after Thanksgiving and she gave me a very astute (as always) answer. It is to give Thanksgiving a fair shake (that is me paraphrasing). The more I think about it the more I agree that Thanksgiving does get swallowed up by Christmas too often. In stores the day after Halloween all the Christmas things get put out (if they weren't out already) and, in some cases, Christmas music goes on the radio. I can understand the stores' reasoning: unless you are a grocery store, you get more revenue from Halloween and Christmas than Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is a very important holiday though. Even if you don't want to celebrate the Native-Americans-save-the-English-settlers bit just the idea of having a day of the year soley devoted to thinking about all your blessings and to be especially grateful towards you Heavenly Father is, I think, a very good thing.

One another side of the same coin, Christmas is also an extremely important holiday and should really get more than a month for celebrating the birth of our Savior, so is starting the day after Halloween such a bad thing? Honestly Christmas could just be thought of as an extension of Thanksgiving (actually that should be the other way around).

Like I said, I can see both sides; and now, being the mommy and needing to decide holiday traditions and everything that comes along with that, I still am far from making up my mind on this matter.

Of course this is all a moot point since we will be moving right before Christmas and be spending the actual holiday in Canada...

Our Halloween

Halloween this year was a little different than you would expect from a family with an almost-two-year- old and semi-new born.

First of all Cam took the day off to go in for some dentist work at 9 in the morning. He needed a bit of work done (why not take advantage of the dental insurance we may not have for a while, right?) and they estimated 4 hours. They gave him a pill to take an hour before he went in and would "administer more as needed." It is basically a sedative that would make him loopy enough to pass out during the work. Well, I went down to Provo to hang out with Karma for a while before she had class and when 1 o'clock rolled around I went to get Cam from the dentist.

The dentist work went fine but, oh boy, was Cam out of it. His speech was very slurred, he talked very quietly, his eyes were never more than half open, and he would take long pauses while talking to you or take a long while before answering any questions. He insisted that he could get himself in the house and upstairs by himself, that I should just take care of the kids (after I let him go by himself and read the post-operation stuff I found out I should always hold his arm while he walks and help him upstairs if stairs aren't completely avoidable... oops, I am glad he didn't hurt himself).

I let him sleep until about 6 then woke him up to eat something and see what he wanted me to make/get for him (he wanted a smoothie and me to make pudding) I also told him I was going out for a few hours, Dallas was getting ansy (I wouldn't let him in the room with Daddy while he was sleeping and that is where the TV is, so he was watching movies on the computer when he wanted too, and he just had too much energy for me to keep up with him). So I fed Chelane, left Cam (who was seeming a little less drugged), and navagated out of the neighborhood full of early trick-or-treaters to go to the nearest large store that had the best possibility of entertaining me for at least an hour and a half: Wal*mart.

If anyone is wondering the best time of the year to go to Wal*mart, it is Halloween night. The parking lot (which I haven't seen less than half empty before no matter when I come) was only about 10 cars deep, they didn't have many registers open but I still only waited for 2 minutes to get to the front of a line. We did a little shopping, purused the DVD's, called Karma to see if she wanted to come up and hang out with me (I needed non-drugged adult contact) and people watched. Like I said, there weren't many people at Wal*mart, but almost all the people that were there (including employees) were dressed up in honor of the holiday. I came across one person dressed up (well make-up'd) like the Joker in "Dark Knight" and the resembalance was pretty scary. I actually tracked him down after I passed him and asked if I could take a picture, unfortunatly the camera on my phone isn't very good and the lens is dirty so all my pictures come out grainy and unclear, but here is the picture anyway (I sorta think the bad-ness of the camera adds to the affect (or is that effect?)).


When I got home around 8 Cam was asleep again and I woke him up to administer the smoothie (I had gotten a smoothie too which Dallas took the lid off while I was tending to Cam and knocked on the floor... so I ended up with half a smoothie). Then Karma called me and told me her tentative Halloween plans had fallen through and to come get her for the weekend (yippee!).

I left the house close to 9 to go get her and navigated through the mostly deserted neighborhood (I guess when you have small kids the night ends early) to kidnap Karma from Provo. And by the time we got back Cam was almost completly normal... Happy Halloween!

Three Weeks

It is hard to think it has been almost four weeks since Chelane was born. In some way it is still surreal not to be pregnant anymore and in others it feels like she has been here forever and I couldn't imagine out lives without her. Here are some pictures of the last week.


Chelane likes to be very awake for a few hour stretch in the day, so we take advantage of that for some tummy time. Dallas can't resist Chelane on the floor. He will always lie down next to her (like this) and watch. He is usually very gentle but sometimes he likes to roll over...

He is being a great big brother and helper to me. He not only fetches me diapers but he is my little alarm. Since my hearing isn't terribly good (and the last few weeks with this cold it has gotten temporarily worse) sometimes I don't hear timers go off downstairs if I am upstairs, or Chelane crying if I am in the laundry room. However, I can always count on Dallas to run to my side and point to the offending noise so I can go take care of it.


This is our little angel. Very wide-eyed and adorable if I do say so myself. Karma came up to spend last Saturday with us and she said she had definitely gotten longer and "chunkier". She seems to almost be too long for most of the newborn size clothes she has. She is such a cutie.

The Plan

I guess just so everyone knows, Cam has decided that is the Seattle job falls through we are going up to Seattle for school anyway (he is going to go to GRCC and finish his associates and then see where he wants to go from there). He isn't even 100% sure he will take the Seattle job, or wait for it if they aren't hiring right away, anymore either.

We already applied him to GRCC and he was accepted. He is tentatively thinking about physical therapy or sports medicine stuff. It look like either way we are planning on being up in Seattle area by the end of March at the latest. THere are still a lot of details to iron out but we have started the process for applying for grants and student loans, now we still need to find a place to live and get Cam (and possibly me too) are part time job. Please keep your eyes open for good part time jobs and/or cheap 2 room apartments if you could (Jen, how much was rent at the complex you and Dane were at that is right down the street from GRCC?)

Fun Times Around the House

So i figured we were WAY overdo for a baby picture, although this isn't the best... I mean Chelane looks great but I have nice circles around my eyes (which I always seem to have) and the really bad eyebrows, I need Jen to shape them again and then I PROMISE to keep them up. She seems to have really open, bright eyes when she is awake. I know you can't see them in this picture, but her eyes are a deep blue right now. They may continue to get lighter, but I think I can safely say we have another blue-eyed child.


Dallas rediscovered Toy Story 2 (he had completely mangled the DVD, there there are about 5 chapters in the middle that have to be skipped because it freezes every two frames; but he is still watching it) and it is the only movie he will happily watch for the last 3 days and we can't seem to interest him in doing anything else (he has taken short breaks, but he always come back to the TV). I guess when you are watching the same thing over and over you have to find different ways to make the experience new - at least that is what I think the idea behind this was...


Anyway both kids are doing great. Dallas cries more than Chelane does... And he has figured out how to take his pants off, I know big discovery. He ran out of the room last night (where he was, surprise!, watching Toy Story 2) without them on and streaked to the bathroom while signing "bath". Sorry I wasn't fast enough with the camera to catch that one, it would have been a good date picture (as Cam puts it - showing the picture off to girlfriend in 15 years) for later...

Another Short One

Portland is a no-go. Cam got the news this morning, so he is applying for the Seattle position. If that doesn't go well either we are still planning on moving up for him to go to school, probably after Christmas sometime.

Also I finished the "Twilight" series last night, I stayed up a little late to do it... I didn't get to bed until almost 1am, but luckily Chelane is deciding to do her long stretches today. She didn't get me up the first time until about 5am and hasn't gotten up again yet (it is almost 11am - I am going to wake her soon if she doesn't rouse). I liked the books, the last one made me cry (all the parts where she is preparing to send off Renesmee and thinking they will all die, it tugs at a mother's heart strings).

Well I should get back to my amazingly perfect children, Dallas is eating Honey Bunches of Oats in milk downstairs with a spoon (still, hopefully) and I need to see how much damage has been done to the kitchen :/

E*Trade Makes Me Happy

So they put off the starting time of the Portland position another week, so that is another week of waiting. Also the Seattle position opened, but we have no idea when they are wanting to fill that by. Cam is also struggling with the decision of either applying to these jobs or just forgetting about them and planning on school full-time.

I am only about ready to pull my hair out, but it is no big deal :)

"She's Perfect"

... At least that is what the doctor said at her 2 week check-up today. Ok, ok he actually said, "She looks perfect." Yeah I know that is a slight difference.

She seems to have grown a quarter inch (up to a whoopin' 20.25" now) and they weighed her at 7lbs 10oz (she was 7lbs 1 oz at birth). I do have to enter a caveot here, she had her diaper on when they weighed her and since I use cloth diapers it added a bit more than a huggies would have. However, the docter and I agreed that the diaper wasn't adding 10oz, more like 5 or 6, and therefore she was still up to (and a little past) her birth weight. So I can breathe easy, it looks like the kid knows what she is doing as far as nursing goes!

Sorry, no cute picture to put with this one... I'll try harder next time.

It Snowed

Yes, here we are in October, poor fall has only been happening for about 3 weeks, and we get snow... I guess in snow's defense it is melted already...


I have always associated snow with winter and Christmas, and while the snow makes me a little happy because of that connection, it is also making me sad when I realize how far away Christmas still is.

I think I am going through some past-baby emotions. Sometimes I am feeling just super and then little things either set me off (temper-wise) or start me crying for no real reason. Having only one car makes it a little worse since I can't go out and about during the day (although I don't know how much of that I will want to do, at least not for a few months, trying to handle two kids by myself doesn't sound terribly fun); and while sitting at home, being able to relax and read (I am on book 3 of the "Twilight" saga, Mom bought them for me when she came down to help with Dallas) while taking care of the munchkins is very nice I know I am going to get a little stir crazy without adult interactions... So keep posting and commenting so I feel like there is at least SOME connections with the outside world!

I really love this picture of her... Sorry you are going to be getting random baby pictures posted up here for a while I think.

I feel like I should write something...

but I can't quite decide what. With a new baby around there should be tons of stuff to write about, I guess I am just feeling overwhelmed at it all.

Dallas is taking to his new baby sister very well... sometimes too well. He figured out how to climb up on Cam and mine's bed (which is quite a feat, the bed is only an inch or two shorter than he is and to accomplish this he balances on the bed frame and gathers fists full of our blankets to hoist himself up) which isn't bad except sometimes I put Chelane on the bed and leave. I can be gone for only a few moments and Dallas will almost always have scurried up on the bed. He really just wants to hold her and play with her but he doesn't know his own strength nor the special care she requires.

Today Mom and I (I am very lucky to have Mom here to help with everything around the house and keep my company, I know I will be lonely when she leaves) were showing Dallas how to play catch with his ball. It is one of those $3 plastic balls from the big bins in a Wal*mart. You know, the really thin plastic ones that are about 9" in diameter and even if you chucked them with all your might it still wouldn't hurt whoever you were aiming at. Well he really loved it. Later that day I brought Chelane downstairs and put her in her swing while I made some dinner (Chelane decided to be awake from about 2:30 to 5). Dallas was running around, once and a while pushing the swing alittle or caressing Chelane's head or hand. I then turn to see him running across the room with his ball that he drops onto her lap. Luckily the game ended there, he removed the ball and had no interest in trying to play catch with her any longer.

Dallas has also developed a dislike for loud noises. I notice I tend to raise my voice often and for really no reason. When I do this Dallas will "shush" me. He also will "shush" if Chelane is crying (which only seems to happen if I have let her get hungry or she is in the middle of diaper change).

Chelane has started to do some long stretches at night. Last night she ate alittle after 10pm, so i was expecting her to wake me up around 1 or 2am to eat again. When she started to cry it was past 4am. I am trying to wake her up every 3 hours during the day (she does it herself anyways, I just encourage) to make sure she is getting enough to eat to justify longer stretches at night (I like those longer stretches). She is also producing enough diapers that I am not too worried about her not getting enough. I will admit I am scared to have a Dallas repeat (failure to thrive at the 2 week appointment) although she doesn't fall asleep nursing after 5 minutes the way Dallas did, so I am hoping we have this nursing thing figured out.

It is very nice to be able to be at home and relax. I was out and about a lot after Dallas was born (Cam's family was in town and my family was in town... not to mention moving when Dallas was 5 days old...) and I think that contributed to my failure to figure out nursing with him. This is a nice contrast.

Oh I kept debating on if I should say anything about this, I am getting sick of the uncertainty to be honest... So Cam didn't get rejected for the Portland job. He hadn't had any email or any contact from the Portland manager so he sent him a company IM on Monday. Apparently they have filled 2 of the 4 positions with locals (non E*Trade people I am guessing) and the manager in Portland is fighting with Human Resources about something (he couldn't say what) before he fills the other two positions (I am guessing with E*Trade people). So hopefully we are still in the running and Portland can happen. Ah, if I only had patience...

Well that is most of the exciting stuff around here. I should carry the camera around the house with me and shoot some pictures to post... posts without pictures just seem to be no fun.

Events This Last Week

Well Chelane finally came (yay! she just couldn't wait another day for October!) and she is absolutely adorable. Cam and I have taken to her right away. She is a very mild baby. She is sleeping for three hour intervals between feedings and isn't awake very often yet. I have been nursing her and she seems to be having enough diapers to suggest she is eating a good amount, I guess we will see for sure at her two week check-up. Here are a few pictures.


As for Cameron's job... He hasn't heard anything all week so he is figuring that he has a rejection email sitting in his inbox at work (he can only access his work email at work). We will find out "for sure" on Monday, but for now he doesn't have it. We are both pretty bummed about that, but it just looks like he is going to start throwing his resume out there and see if anything turns up.

Dallas has started to try to take his clothes off *sigh* He apparently didn't want to be wearing his shirt (I think this was Monday, the day before Chelane was born) and was trying to get it off. Luckily the shirt stretches or "un-stretches" when it is washed.


Apparently Dallas has become accustom to cameras and has decided on a certain face for his "smile." When we pulled out the camera to try to get pictures of Chelane while she was awake Dallas walked in front of it and gave us this priceless face.

Still Waiting

Well since I said to expect a post in a week regarding the job opportunity in Portland I figure I need to update. Cam hadn't heard anything from the Portland office all last week. On Friday about an hour before his shift ended (which would be 2 PST) he sent a message to the manager inquiring about the position. The dude in Portland told him that they hadn't figured it out yet. Cam let them know that he was expecting a baby still (he had mentioned it at the original interview as well) and that he may not be in work next week depending on what happens. The Portland guys say they will give him a call on his cell phone, if he isn't at work, to let him know about the job.

I guess this shouldn't come as a HUGE shock to anyone that has been following the stock market the last few weeks; there have been tons of banks going under and huge plummets and rises, so things have been pretty busy. Anyway, the training for the position starts a week from Monday (October 6th) so E*Trade technically has all of next week to mull over the decision of who they are hiring as well, I just hope they let us know sooner rather than later. Hopefully the delay also means that they are trying to get funding to help with moves (since they are having to import employees).

In other news I am still waiting on Chelane to decide to make her entrance into this world as well. I was due last Monday (the 22nd) and there is no "change" that I can see to make me predict when she is coming. I am hoping it will be sooner rather than later as well since there will be a lot to do if we have to move and I would like to be pretty recovered from child birth when I have to make a 12 hour drive to Oregon. *Sigh* I hate everything being to up in the air.

For something completly different Dallas broke our DVD player this week. He tried to put both Baby Signing Times in at the same time... Cam had to take a screw driver to the player to get them out and once he put it back together it wouldn't read the DVD's. It is OK though, the player was old, the remote only worked half the time, and we got a new player for about $30.

Some of Dallas' Favorite Things

This is a bit of a compilation of pictures of Dallas over the month of September and some in late August. He definitely has his own preferences and personality. It is very fun to see them develop.

One of the first things he is liking is using the stairs instead of the couch. I guess it is because he doesn't have to climb on anything (so long as he uses the first step). He will lay on it while watching TV and if we give him a snack to eat outside of his booster seat (dry cereal or something like that) many times he will plant himself on the step to eat it. Also with the aid of the 2nd stair he can reach a light switch - the only light switch he can reach in the house.

Stairs aren't the only thing he likes to sit in... Any box or basket that he can fit in, or if he can empty out one of his drawers, he will happily take up residence for a time. But I guess most kids are like that. (Karma took this picture, I am not sure what is up that face...).

Since we moved Dallas into a twin sized mattress that just sits on the floor in his room, he has started to enjoy looking at books and playing with small toys while in bed. One night Cam and I put him in bed, said good night and went about our activities. I walked back in (probably only 5 minutes after we put him down) to see how he was doing (I normally don't do that), but I am glad I did. I came into the room to this sight and ran downstairs to grab a camera and tell Cam to come have a look.

Dallas has had a bit of the hat fetish lately. He fished out his sun hat from this summer (that is already getting noticeably too small for him) and his winter beanie from his closet. Depending on his mood he will put one or the other on and wear it while he roams around the house.

While at Wal*mart last night we past a display of cheap, children's cowboy hats. Cam and I decided to see what Dallas would think of a cowboy hat (since he seemed to love the straw hats at Grandma and Grandpa's while he was there in July). Well he picked the red one over the black one and immediately put it on. We weren't necessarily intending to buy it, but he didn't take it off until we were home (even in the car where the hat was smashed between his head and the back of his car seat). Well it seems like a good buy, Dallas really likes the hat and now he has a hat that is a "toy" and that he can grow into (it is pretty big on his head still).

I Can't Believe it IS Butter

Honestly I still by margarine most of the time because it is cheaper than butter, but I cringe almost every time. Butter is much more natural and I like that. Organic butter is EVEN BETTER! I am slowly trying to move to organic fruits and veggies and natural, grass-fed, free-grazing animal products, the only thing that really holds me back is the price. It is hard to spend $4 for a dozen eggs when I can get them for $1.50, but the more I read the more I want to support local farmers and farmers abroad that allow their animals to graze and don't cover their veggies in pesticides. Being able to find coupons and learn more about organic farmer's products and methods is a huge motivator to convert my small family over to all natural and organic products. Organic Kitchen is doing just that. Thank you so much!

Of Bibs and Ducks

So, as Chelane is stubbornly waiting until AFTER her due date to come, Dallas keeps reminding me of the fact that I am an anxious waiter.

Dallas came two weeks early so one afternoon in August I decided, "Hey, why not set up all the baby stuff?" So I did. Since Cam is an EXTREMELY heavy sleeper (as long as it is in the middle of the night, from about 5am on he isn't so heavy) and the master bedroom is in this house is huge, I just set up the crib and dresser, with the baby clothes and diapers, on the side of the room we weren't using. Cam, of course, came home and immediately teased me for being so pro-active and then put the crib (already complete with sheets) to good use as a hanger for his work pants. *sigh*

Every few days or so Dallas will decide to rearrange my baby organization job and pull the clothes out of the dresser. He especially seemed to love a little pink spit bib (he believes it is a hat I think) until the other day. He pulled out a cute, newborn-size, yellow sleeper with ducks on it and brought it over to the bed where I was finishing "Return of the King". He handed me the sleeper, and when I asked what he wanted me to do with it he promptly started trying to pull his shirt off and signing "help". When I didn't oblige and tried to explain that the sleeper was for a baby and too small for him, he took the sleeper from me and went to find Daddy...

Portland

So Cam had his interview for the RM position in Portland yesterday. Cam has applied to almost anything that has opened up in the Sandy center over the past few months (about 3 different positions); after all those interviews, however, he said he didn't feel good about the interview... he didn't think some of his answers were good or he felt ill-prepared, etc. When he came home yesterday he said he felt good about the interview. I take that to be a good sign.

If he gets the position he would have a week of training in Seattle, a week in GA and then start on Oct 20th in Portland. We will know if he got the position by the end of next week so (for those of you not doing the math) that will leave basically 3 weeks for 2 weeks of out-of-town training and moving. That also means (for those of you not following too closely along) that I will be packing up the house pretty much by myself with a newborn and a toddler running around. At least I won't be bored! Hopefully Karma can help out...

As you can tell (well maybe you can't) I am getting my hopes up, which I know I shouldn't be. I am just VERY ready to be out of the desert and I know Cam is ready to be off his estate and retirement team. Anyway, we will find out by the end of next week, so watch out for a post along those lines in a week!

Movie

So since Dallas isn't talking too terribly much I have decided I need to stop slacking on teaching him signs, especially of things he asks for constantly. So the last two days I have taught him "candy" and "movie". Of course he is making the signs his own... His candy is a pincer grasp twisting anywhere on his head (last night it was behind his ear). His movie is him interlocking hands and doing that "wave" like move from elbow to elbow. I think it maybe him combining "help" and "movie" together.

Anyway, it is pretty cute and a lot nicer than "uh uh uh" and pointing.

Some Pictures

I am not sure why I am posting these, most people that check this are family and have already seen these pictures, but they are so darn cute. So here are the Dallas and me pictures with my 33 week preggo belly and Dallas is about 19.5 months.

The Waiting Game...

I didn't expect to be waiting until my due date with this pregnancy, but it looks like that is where I am headed. Dallas came over 2 weeks early so I just assumed that would happen again, but here I am 8 days from the due date and nothing. Cam is looking forward to his daughter, not only to have another baby but also to take some time off of stressfull work.

Also Cam is applying for a position within E*Trade at a new office they are opening in Portland. It is the same position we have been waiting to open in the Seattle office, but this will at least get us out of the desert at considerably closer to family. He has an interview on Wednesday and the position would start October 20th (when Cam first told me about the position I thought they would *maybe* be filling it by around Christmas... this would be happening a lot quicker than that).

Dallas started saying some more words. He has "yes" ("ya-ya" in a very happy (and high) voice), "no" (complete with head shaking), juice ("oo-s" along with the sign), and cereal (sounds a lot like his juice but he is signing cereal along with it), and "uh-oh" that I have only heard a few times. His understanding of words has ballooned and he is starting to obey better (and at the same time be more defiant). Cam and I are looking forward to his verbal skills taking off.

The Book List

Yeehaw I have 12... most of the italicized ones I have never started just wanted to read (except the Bible, The Complete Works of Shakespeare, and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes... I have read all the Bible but a few chapters from books in the Old Testament and, I have only read a few plays and sonnets from Shakespeare, and I have read 2-3 of the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes... Oh and I have gotten most of the way through The Count of Monte Cristo and Brave New World was one I sorta started reading for a class but decided I didn't care for it)

I really feel they should have a separate text for those you intend to read and those you have started, there is a big difference to me.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR USING THIS LIST:

* Look at the list and bold those you have read.

* Italicize those you intend to read, and/or books you've started but haven't finished

* Reprint this list in your blog so we can try and track down these people who've read 6 and force books upon them ;-)

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma- Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility- Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas (en francais)
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte's Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery (en francais)
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

The Cousins

Dallas has the wonderful opportunity to be less than three months younger than his cousin, Adalyn (my brother's daughter). They haven't been able to see much of each other since Dallas was born and raised so far in Utah and Adalyn in Washington (and she will move to New York for her daddy's school in a few weeks). The times they are able to get together they seem to have a blast.

Adalyn and her parents were in Utah for much of July and Dallas got to play with Adalyn twice. Dallas loves kids his age/size and is very social (his verbal skills need to develop a bit more though). He and Adalyn had fun running around and terrorizing the house or wherever we happened to be.


They are so close to the same size it is amazing (although Adalyn is a bit taller and more wirery, taking after her father). And I think we all agreed that the two of them could be mistaken for twins.

Dallas and I will be up in Washington next week (which is Adalyn and her parent's last week before the big move to New York) so I am looking forward to more quality time and cute pictures.

Being Bored

So Cam has worked at least 10 hour days so far this week. Monday was 11.5, Tuesday and Wednesday were 11, and yesterday was a little over 10. He leaves at 6:15 am (before Dallas or I wake up) and gets home between 6:30 and 7:30 pm, depending on how long his day is. Dallas usually goes to bed around 8 or 8:30 pm.

I am happy about the extra money that will come next pay check, but I am not so thrilled about Cam not being around and him not being able to spend much time with Dallas. Also next week Dallas and I are going up to Washington so we won't see Cam at all then either *sigh*

I have gotten used to Cam being home at 4:30 pm that I don't know quite what to do with myself in the evening when he isn't here and the days seem so long.

Cam had been moved to a retirement and estates team a while ago (without any pay change or option to say "no" really) and it has been taxing on him. I think dealing with dead people and sometimes emotional family members all day would do that to anyone. This week though he is covering or someone covering for someone else at a training session. He answers questions and take escalated calls (if any) from the new employees. He only take retirement calls if the queue is overly full. He commented that his 11 hour days this week have seemed shorter than his 8 hour regular days. He keeps applying for anything that opens up, so hopefully something will catch and he can move to a better paying, less stressful position.

Beds and Things

Well here is a picture of the top of Chelane's quilt, the colors are a bit more vivid in person. We went to Wal*mart and perused their $1 a yard shelf and since it only takes about 3/4 of a yard per pattern, this was a pretty cheap quilt. Plus I love the colors. I wasn't too sure about it at first, I was pulling out lots of bolts and laying them next to each other while Cam did some other shopping. I had been looking at the possible combinations for too long so I made Cam - I mean gave Cam the privilege of making the final decision. I am glad I did! He seems to pick good combinations.

We got Dallas a twin mattress a few weeks ago. It sits on the floor in his room and he adjusted with no problem. The first week/week-and-a-half he would get out of bed and fall asleep on the
floor and he even fell out of the bed a few times (luckily the mattress is on the floor so it is a 6" fall).


We would find him like this on the floor more often than not and move him gently back into his bed. After the first week/week-and-a-half though he is getting the hang of falling asleep in bed. It is still obvious that he isn't necessarily falling asleep right away every time (there will be clothes or toys moved around) but he is making it back to his bed when he decides he wants to sleep. I am happy he is able to make the decision more for himself now. And he seems to like it too.

Baby Arrangments

We moved around furniture today so there would be room in the master bedroom for the crib and baby dressers and all that. Dallas is still using the crib to this day, but we are planning on getting him a "big boy bed" sometime in the next month so he has time to transition before the baby comes.

I guess I haven't said already, "It's a girl!" There seemed to be no sign of baby boy parts in the ultrasound. We are planning on naming her Chelane (sha-lane), Cam loves the name and suggested it for Dallas before we knew the gender. I already bought a bunch of fabric and made the top of a baby quilt for her (it is reminiscent of Dallas' for those who have seen his - but with purple, green, and pink). I just need to put the border on, tie it and hem it up (of course I have to go buy the fabric to do that with still...).

I actually have had a bit of fun sewing last month. I was making that baby quilt and then I decided to make some wipes. They are two sided flannel, about 7"x 4" and fit in a regular wipes box just perfectly. Of course no Kassie project would be a Kassie project if I had finished it all at one time... I still haven't bought the essential oils and other things to use as the wipe "juice", so we are wetting down the wipes as we need them. This is something else that will have changed before the baby comes as well (I hope!).

I bet now you are wondering, "Wait, why is she making her own wipes?" Well Dallas is in cloth diapers now. It works great and isn't a huge change from disposables. Even Cam changes his cloth diapers (as long as it isn't pooey, lol but then he was the same way before...). I just use a prefold that you pin down and a synthetic cover. I haven't had a leak outside the cover yet (and the covers are so easy and quick to hand wash if there is a leak outside the prefold). I really feel like I am doing a bit to help the environment and I haven't had problems with Dallas having diaper rash at all since I switched. I am excited to see how they work with a newborn. We do still keep some disposables around, but those are reserved for day trips (if we take any) and babysitters (if we have any). The "sposies" are a brand called Tushies and are made with cotton and wood pulp innards rather than all the weird chemicals and non-biodegradable stuff most diapers have in them. They are a bit more bulky than other brands but again, I feel better using them (yeah I know, I am going granola over here).

I will get a pic of the quilt up here some (mostly so I can get compliments for it, lol).

Bandaids are for Wussies

Dallas likes to play in bathrooms. Lots of the time we just let him play with whatever he finds unless it is dangerous, fragile, etc. We try to keep doors shut, but that doesn't always work either.

He found some razor head refills in a drawer once - probably early April. The razors are in individual plastic containers with a plastic pull off lid. The lids require fine motor skills and finger strength, but Dallas still got it off. It wasn't long before he cut himself on the razor. My sister, Karma, was over that weekend and she noticed he had the razor first and took it from him. She also noticed the blood first. He had just done a few little cuts on the tip of a finger but, as razor cuts do, they were bleeding a lot.

Dallas wouldn't keep a bandaid on, or a bandaid reinforced with packing tape, or a wad of toilet paper plastered to his hand with packing tape. So we pulled out the big guns.

Yes that is right: a wad of toliet paper, held down by packing tape, wrapped in an ace bandage with his sleeve pulled up over most of his hand. Good luck with THAT one Dallas.

I know this second pictue doesn't show anything new but I LOVE this kid's smile (his bottom canine teeth have grown in since this too).

He had it off when he walked back into the room less than 5 minutes later.

We finally did childproof our cabinets about a month ago.

I'm Blue

Since Cam is in charge of cleaning the toilets he invested in some of those blue toilet bowl tabs that slowly dissolve in the tank and keep the toilet clean between scrubbings. We decided to keep the blue toilet tabs in the dowstairs bathroom since Dallas was hardly ever downstairs. Back in late March, after Dallas had mastered going down the stairs by himself, the bathroom door was apparently left open...

I am sure it took me a while to decide Dallas shouldn't be downstairs unsupervised that day when he let himself down. I had heard him crashing around in the kitchen - there wasn't anything in his reach that he could hurt in there - but then it got quiet. When I went downstairs to see what was happening, this sight met me


You can't quite appreciate it until you see his hands too, which are a little more visible in this next picture. He kept trying to grab at the camera and, since I didn't want to leave him with with remnants of the toilet tab in his mouth and on his hands, I stopped trying with the camera and cleaned him up.

There were also some blue smears and hand prints on the walls and in the carpet. Luckily that stuff is very water soluble. I was a bit worried about Dallas too. He had gnawed some of the tab off completely, but he seemed absolutely fine, no blue poo either.

I am a great mom aren't I?

Stair Master

Just wanted to document this as the first day Dallas went down the stairs by himself. Normally he avoids the stairs and we haven't even had to worry about gating them; but today he turned himself around and started on down, once Cam saw what he was doing he following him just to make sure he didn't hurt himself, and he made it down all 14 or so stair without incident. It looks like we will have to start gating the stair off to keep him out of the kitchen now.

Fashion and Music

Hey! Sorry it has been a while.

Dallas is making leaps and bounds in many skills such as dressing and grooming and making music. Last night Dallas had been running around with only a diaper for an hour when he walked up to Cam with a shirt around his shoulders. This was a In-and-Out Burger T-shirt my younger sister had left at our house, it fits Dallas like a floor length dress. Cam took the shirt off Dallas' shoulders and put it on Dallas. Dallas walked away looking at the big sleeves and in awe of how the lower part of the shirt moved when he walked. A half an hour or so later, Dallas returned to our room with one of Cam's T-shirts put on PERFECTLY (well, it was backwards - but the arms were in the right holes and it was over his head) over top of the In-and-Out shirt. I think we both wished we could have been watching out little man manipulate that larger shirt over his head.

This morning after breakfast I let Dallas out of his high chair and free to roam around the kitchen and living room while I did some dishes. It wasn't long before he went for the cabinets on the island that contain some pots, plastic bowls, the egg beater, and a stand-up cheese grater. Dallas is free to play in those cabinets, there isn't much that he can hurt or can hurt him and he can't make too big a mess with the contents. His items of choice were the cheese grater and a metal pot lid. He carried them to a spot of open kitchen floor, set the pot lid down and laid the cheese grater of its side. With one had on the lid and the other on the grater he moved them back and forth on the tile making some horrible screeching sounds and it wasn't long before he joined in the chorus with his own yelling and whooping. I guess things like that can only be music to Mommy ears.