Orland's Overture

Oh the " talks" we have!

2011-10-27T18:12:00.001-07:00

Had another rough night with Abinadi and Enoch. Enoch because I've learned he's a troublemaker and there is no where safe in the house that he can't figure out how to get to and he stole some Wendy's fries. Abinadi because he's having to take meds for a UTI that has ingredients he's allergic to. So after it taking awhile for me to realize that the "voices" in my head were NOT part of a dream, I realized it was Abinadi crying for Mommy to get him Mater. Yup! That's my boy! Can't sleep cuz his tummy's hurting again so he wants his Mater to play with. Needless to say after everyone in the house had been woken up, we had to have a long talk about the proper protocol for when we have tummy aches and can't sleep... and sorry but yelling for Mommy to find your favorite toy isn't one of them!

Then later the next day as I'm trying to convince Abinadi to drink his formula he tells me he can't cuz his tummy hurts, then he all cutely walks up to me twiddling all his fingers together and tells me in his I have an awesome secret voice, "Mommy, my tummy feels like this ( looking at his twiddling fingers) and I can HEAR it!"

Ok well I guess you probably had to be there to grasp the level of "cuteness" so you'll just have to trust me when I say it was adorable! :-)

Not only have you not walked a mile in my shoes, but you haven't even looked down to notice what type of shoes they are!

2011-10-24T21:50:00.001-07:00

(Once again, those seeing this on Uriah's facebook, this is written by Kaelynn for her blog)

Maybe I'm crazy but I trully don't believe people have the right to judge me. We have had a terrible month and it's not getting better.
And when I need to be sitting here pondering and striving hard to have the spirit with me so I can know the right decisions to make as to if my son needs a feeding tube, and when is the right time. And also what are the right accomodations to fight for for my daughter's safetey in school, and I could go on with this list of the questions we are desperately trying to receive answers to, I am instead sitting here and the only thing going through my mind are the comments that have been made and the obvious judgment people have of me.

And the worse part is that these people judging me have never ONCE talked to me about my life, or the real situation. They take no interest in the day to day, or what is trully going on, yet they feel the need to judge me for decisions I've made without knowing the how, why, when, where, and any other pertinent information. I'm sorry but you don't have the right to judge me.
Not only have you not walked a mile in my shoes, but you haven't even looked down to notice what type of shoes they are!

I just wish people would realize that their opinions can be hurtful, and if not being sought after, should be left unsaid...I need to let this go, I need to clear my mind and get rid of the anger and pain and frustration and hurt and contention so that I can invite the spirit back into my heart and get back to more pressing important matters. So while I want to dwell on this and resolve it, I can't. I have to let it go. I have to forgive and move forward so that my children can have my full attention. I've already wasted a day of my precious time on this stupidity, and I can't waste any more.

...but I will add this, just because I forgive and move forward, doesn't mean I haven't learned from this experience, and things and relationships will never be the same.

I believe...

2011-10-04T16:12:00.000-07:00

(For those reading this on Uriah's facebook, this is a reminder that this is written by Kaelynn from her blog. Sorry still haven't figured out how to disconect the two.)So one thing great about modern technology is that I have been able to find a large support group through the internet while dealing with all of these struggles. Most of these AMAZING women who have helped me survive so much are experiencing and going through the same trials I have faced and often much worse. And it is through them that I have been blessed with knowledge, support and understanding, and also insight into this crazy life of mine.Recently I have seen many of them posting about how they are loosing or have lost their faith in God, how they question "why." Why do these amazing inocent children have to suffer, how could God allow this to happen, and not be willing to take away their pain? To be honest I cannot say that these questions have never entered my mind, these confusing feelings of why, but through all of this pain and stuggling I can tell you with the upmost sincere heart that my faith has grown. That I know without a shoddow of a doubt that my Heavenly Father lives, and sent his son to earth to die for us. I feel that love every moment that I feel weak.In the "caregiver" world there is a common understanding that there are days where you will fall apart. Days where it just gets too hard and all you can do is cry. So you cry it out, and pick yourself up and move forward. What else can you do? And in those tragic moments when your world is crumbling around you and you can't fathom a way to make it through to tomorrow, I can tell you honestly, you don't magically receive peace, or suddenly feel better, actually that is the moment when you feel those seeds of doubt enter your mind and all you can do is cry unto the Lord, "WHY!!??" Why do we have to experience this? Why does there have to be so much pain? And most importantly: Why do my beautifuly innocent children have to be the ones to fight this? They don't deserve it! But just as in those moments when you feel that missery and anger and pain, that is when I have gotten down on my knees and prayed to my loving Heavenly Father. I have prayed crying my heart out to my Heavenly Father telling him my fears, my anger, my frustrations, my anxiety, and how in that moment it is just too hard for me to bare. I remember the story I heard often growing up when I man looked back on his life as footprints in the sand. He could see times where there were two sets of footprints and he asked his Savior Jesus Christ, why there were two pairs of footprints. And The Savior told him that those were times in the man's life when The Savior walked beside him. The man looking back realized that at times when his life was so difficult and he faced many trials, there was only one set of footprints. In confusion he turned and asked his Lord, why when life was so hard did you leave me? And The Savior answered, those times in your life when you faced those trials, you don't see one set of footprints because I left you, I never left you. Those are the times that I carried you through....And in those moments when I am down on my knees in utter despair, I ask my Heavenly Father and Jesus to carry me. To carry me through until I am strong enough to move forward again. I want to bare my testimony to you those prayers have ALWAYS been answered! In those moments I feel peace, I feel love, and I feel the strength of my Savior carrying me through. I can't tell you that anything miraculous happens, things don't magically get easier, trials don't go away, but somehow, when I feel all is lost, I manage to make it through. I remeber growing up and we had family friends with a special needs child. I remember my parents always saying that she had such a sweet spirit. I didn't understand it when I was younger and as I grew I remember asking my parents why these children have to suffer. The answer I received was odd to me and I am still trying to understand all aspects of it. But my parents reminded me that it is all part of Heavenly Fathers plan. The Plan of Salvation. That we came to earth to face trials and make choices in order to have the opportunitly to return to Heavenly Father. When I first heard this explanation I thought my parents were odd, as they would say: what did that have to do with the price of tea in China? But then they went on to clarify that first when Adam and Eve were sent out of the Garden of Eden, along with it came all the diseases and trials of the world. One cannot progress and grow very much without tribulation. But then I remember my mother and a few other different mothers when I was younger telling me that these special children give other people the opportunity to grow, to love and to become better people. That is why you can always feel such strong sweet spirits when you are around them. We all chose to come to earth. We all knew we would face trials and tribulations...but I can just imagine that Heavenly Father knew there was so much more in store than we could ever imagine. That the world and satan would become so stong that he would need strong spirits to help guide people through. I imagine that one day he asked these sweet spirits into a room and told them that he had some very hard work for them, work that wouldn't be fair, and work that would be painful and hard, and these AMAZING spirits volunteered to come to earth and face these trials in order to help people grow and use their free agency to have the opportunity to return to Heavenly Father. I remember Abinadi's blessing after he was born, and I remember hearing the words clearly that he would be an example to his sister and his other siblings. I remember feeling the spirit so stongly at that moment, testifying to me the truth of that statement. I assumed it meant he would be a good missionary and a strong leader, but as time has gone on and he has gotten sicker and sicker, in subsequent blessings the spirit has reminded me of that blessing and confirmed to me that I know now that this is what that blessing meant. That my beautiful little boy is such a strong sweet spirit and will face many trials and pain in his life and yet through all that pain and trials he will still be an example to his siblings. He will be and is one of those sweet spirits. I know that it is so easy to get lost in those moments of pain, fear, anxiety, and hate, to give up faith that there is a Heavenly Father who loves us and watches over us. But I want to tell you to NOT loose your faith! Life is hard, life is devestating, and there is someone there waiting to help us through it! Our Heavenly Father loves us just as strongly and intensly and unconditionally as we love our own children! That feeling you feel for your own child, is exactly what he feels for us. And just as in our own lives with our own children we cannot take away every pain, every trial and every difficult learning experience, our Heavenly Father feels the same about us. While he wants to with all his heart to make our lives perfect for us he knows we must endure. But he had to help us so he sent us his only begotten son, our Saviour Jesus Christ, and he watched him suffer and die for us so that we could return to live with him again. So no matter what sorrow we feel, our Heavenly Father knows! And not only did Our Savior take upon him our sins, but also our ailments so that he could better understand how to help us. So I ask you in these hard times to not turn away from the 2 people who trully know you and your trials. Heavenly Father Loves us and wants to be that support that we desperately need! I may never in this life truly understand why. I may never be able to stop that feeling of frustration as to why my innocent children have to suffer. But I do know that in these times of pain and tribulation my faith has grown because I have seen countless blessings and have personally felt my Heavenly Father's love, and those times when my Savior has carried me through this life! I know my savior lives and loves me and wants me to return to live with him again. I know that I may not understand why Heavenly Father cannot take away my childrens pain and disease, but I WILL NOT let satan win because of that! I will look for the blessings in my everyday life, I will strive to learn the lessons my Heavenly Father needs me to learn, and I will be the best mother I can be to these AMAZING spirits that Heavenly Father has trusted me with. Because most of all THEY deserve to have the best life possible and return to Heavenly Father again.I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen

The "Talk"

2011-09-12T10:47:00.001-07:00

Well it's official. We finally had THE "talk" with the GI doctor. For those of you who don't know what talk I'm refering to, it's the one about getting a g-tube. Don't know what a g-tube is, it's a tube that goes directly from your child's stomach to their belly so that you can feed your child formula through the tube. It is a scary devestating topic. To realize how sick your child is...even though they seem so healthy.

I think the hardest part at this moment is that we are teetering on a line. If Abinadi was a little worse the doctor would be demanding that he gets a tube...if he was a little better she would think he would be fine without it. I guess the simplest way to put it that he's surviving and not thriving, so the doctor is turning the decision over to us to get our opinion on how we feel our son is doing and where we think he will be in the next two months. It gets even harder that we also need to make this decision on a time frame...within the next 2 weeks so that we can trial an ng-tube (a tube that goes from the nose to the stomach to feed through) to see if he can tolerate the feedings and if they make a differience. Then to get the tube 2 weeks later so that he can have at least 2 weeks of continuous care afterwords before the move back to Colorado. At first I didn't want to think about it, how could I even come to make a decision like this? This is life altering. I wanted the decision to be easy when we came to this point, for the doctor to tell us absolute yes or absolute no...I just really didn't want to think about it.

But as we stood waiting for the Tuesday night family race to start Abinadi had another brakedown. He didn't want to go, he didn't want to run, he just didn't feel good. And in that moment I broke down in tears as well. This wasn't my child, my child LOVES running, LOVES being out and doing family activities. He's not been feeling well, he's not wanting to drink his bottles and he's constantly exhauseted. I was so glad at that moment that I had sunglasses on so that no one could see my utter break down, but in that moment all I could think of was, that while yes Abinadi could continue to survive but I owe it to him to have the chance to thrive! And no matter how much I hate the thought of a tube, if that could make all the difference in his development and growth don't I owe it to him to at least try and see if it makes a difference? I'm terrified of what this will mean and the trials that will come with it, but I have the strong feeling that I owe it to my son to do everything I can to make him the healthiest he can be.

My Children AMAZE ME!

2011-09-12T10:46:00.001-07:00

I am so overwhelmingly proud and amazed by my children! To the point that I think someone should do a story on them, or recognize how amazing they are. I guess every mother wants their children to get the recognition they deserves. I just am amazed everyday by their strength. Isabelle who has worked through all her asthma issues to become an AMAZING runner. She's ran multiple 5ks, and she just ran a 1.2 mile race ALL by herself in 13.50. She's always the smallest person there yet she can run like crazy! Then there's Abinadi who LOVES to run with his big sister! He ran/walked the entire 3k the other night. And practices running with Isabelle during her running club. And often outruns some of those children. It amazes me, and it amazes everyone who sees my kids. I constantly hear comments about them and all I want to say is, "you don't know the half of it." I have to bite my tongue to keep from telling them that this tiny little boy ALSO is on a formula only diet, has asthma, AND is constantly sick with his disease from either seasonal allergies or trialing new foods that cause flares. And we are continuously fighting a delecate balance to keep enough calories in him and hydrated well enough to keep him out of the hospital...yet he is there every chance he can running and playing as happy as can be. I guess I'm just a mother who feels that with how hard they have to work to live their lives daily and do the activities that many take for granted, I wish there was a way to recognize their accomplishments with more than my, "YOU ARE SO AWESOME!" comments and hugs. But I guess it'll have to do because few see the daily struggles to show how AMAZING these children really are!

Let's Face It

2011-08-25T17:51:00.000-07:00

So let's face it...my life is depressing. I know that. I live it everyday. I have many days where I can't keep myself from crying because of all of it. I vent too much, yet I keep too much still hidden and it's making me crazy. I see what I tell people and I think, "No wonder people don't want to talk to me, or keep in touch." but then the other side of me thinks, "Well, better to know now who cares and who doesn't." This has been an eye opener for me to see the true colors of people, and it is always surprising.

The speakers in church last Sunday were talking about counting your blessings. (At least I think that's what they were talking about. I was having a hard time listening because of my kids) I know it's what I need to do right now, but I am struggling to appreciate the blessings through all the trials. I know they are there, I can start listing them off and have a hard time stopping. But for every blessing that I feel and know, there is another trial knocking me over. So how do I appreciate all the blessings when I'm drownding in trials?

I began this journy promising myself that I would not teach my children to hate this disease. That may be an odd thing to say, but I've met people online and all they could talk about was how much they HATE Eos. And I decided that I would never be that way. I wanted my children to have a positive outlook on life, to see all the blessings they have...yet I find myself everyday struggling not to scream out loud, "I HATE THIS DISEASE!" I hate it, I started hating it the moment I had to lay on the floor for hours one day squirting little sips of this NASTY formula into Abinadi's mouth every couple of minutes so that he wouldn't end up in the hospital again. I HATE it everytime I look into my boys' eyes and see them pining over food. I HATE it when I realize my house is a mess because I can't handle the stress of it all, and all I can think is, "well if my kids were normal, I would have it together." And I can go on and on with multiple times every day where all I feel is HATE towards this stupid disease!

It is SO HARD to appreciate the blessings when all you feel is hate. I am trying hard to keep my kids from feeling that hate. But I know they do. I can see it in their eyes when problems arise. And all I can do is tell them, "I know how you feel. I hate it too. But we gotta keep goin' and we just have to deal." So I guess I'm dealing. It may not seem like it. And it surely tonight doesn't feel like it, but letting it all out, is helping me deal. Admitting to myself my true feelings will hopefully help me move past them, and appreciate the blessings we have.

Advice I Need to Say Out Loud, Even if No One Cares to Listen.

2011-08-20T18:02:00.001-07:00

You know when you were a kid and you CONSTANTLY teased or picked on your sibling? You'd make fun of them, and often say mean things. But the moment someone else picked on them, you were the first to say that's not ok?

Well, word of advice to anyone willing to listen. It's the same issue with a chronic disease or illness. I try to see the positive side, and make jokes, just to get through the day. It's ok when I start the jokes. But when someone else comes up and starts making jokes. It's hurtful and feels as if they're dismissing all the trials we have to face. So word to the wise, don't try to make light of it with jokes like, "Well at least it makes grocery shopping easy!" or "Ahh man, I wish I didn't ever have to cook!" Unless you've lived it don't comment. Because you'll probably just end up hurting feelings, and because I would switch places with you in a heartbeat. So don't make me feel worse with the reminder that I can't.

With a Chronic Disease You're Chornically Forgotten

2011-08-19T11:35:00.000-07:00

Just as the title sounds, that's how it feels. So just think of someone you know who's child or themselves that is battling something life changing, and stop and ask them how they're doing. Listen to them vent, be a shoulder to cry on, do a little service. Because I can tell you from personally experience they need it! No matter how well they look, or put together, or strong they seem. It's a daily stuggle that never ends, so please don't end the kindness.

Feeling Quit Left Out

2011-08-18T22:03:00.001-07:00

You know that pain you felt when you were a little child and got left out of a game or slumber party? Well I can tell you from personal experience, in a similar situation, even as an adult, it still hurts.

When you have food allergies, especially when you have children with food allergies you face so many situations where you are left out because you can’t have the food. It happens daily in a child’s life. It’s hard but you learn to survive because you have to. The hard part comes when you find situations where it’s just not safe to attend. People don’t realize that food gets EVERYWHERE! And how easy it is for a child to touch a toy, or a table or another child and then the food allergic child then stick their hand or that toy in their mouth and they are then sick. We are SO blessed that our children do not have anaphylactic food allergies. I thank Heavenly Father everyday for that blessing, but it still doesn’t diminish the fact that my children will get sick if they come into contact and accidentally ingest or are covered with a known food allergen. And every place we go we have to weigh the risks of whether or not it is safe enough for us to attend. I don’t feel bad about that. It’s our life, it comes with the territory.

But I’ve been having a hard few days. Uriah’s gone with the military again for the next couple weeks and I just need some socialization. You’d think I’d be all set. The ward is having a young family activity…the only problem, it’s an ice cream social. And in the safety world of food allergies, that’s a big no no for little toddlers who can’t keep their hands to themselves. I don’t have any bad feelings towards the people planning it. I’m certain the thought never entered their minds that it automatically excludes us. But the pain is still real, and it still hurts being left out.

It’s hard enough knowing how often we don’t get invited places and my only guess is because the hosts don’t feel comfortable with our situation, but to add on that we CAN’T attend something is just as hard. Why do we as Americans are not capable of having fun without food being the focal point? It’s not fair and it’s painful being the one left out….just saying.

I just wish out of all these people who know us and know our situation, someone would have thought that maybe it’d be nice to plan something everyone can do.

First trial of Bananas

2011-08-18T17:37:00.000-07:00

Well almost 3 months of elemental and we're now trying to find "safe" food for Abinadi to eat. (We're going to go at least another couple weeks if not more before we start reintroducing food to Enoch) We first started with Smarties candies. A food many Eos kids find safe because it's all artificial and broken down forms of food, but nevertheless Abinadi started refusing his formula instantly and we had to stop it. Then it was strait sugar to make certain he doesn't have a sugar intolerance, but he didn't like it well enough to eat enough to make a true judgement but he seems fine on small amounts of it. For those of you who don't know, you build a safe diet by taking ONE food, and only one food and trialing it for AT LEAST 2 weeks. More if you question symptoms, or some doctors expect longer for different foods or to scope between trials. The drs here in AK are VERY conservative when it comes to scoping and refuse to scope younger children, and mostly will refuse to do a scope any sooner than a year apart. I'll be curious to see what different treatment we get in CO. You must eat the food everyday for those 2 weeks, and if no symptoms YEAH! You have another safe food to eat. If symptoms arise you pull it and wait for the body to recover before starting a new trial.

So that leads us now to our first official food trial. We chose bananas because they were a food he used to love. First bites not so good. He cried that they were YUCKY, and it was obvious that he didn't remember how to chew or use his tongue, and he didn't like the texture. A common problem that arises from being entirely elemental and not using those muscles. But we continued on and with coaching from me we've been able to get 1-3 bites of banana in him daily. I want to get more than that but he just cries that he doesn't want it. He will need feeding therapy but we need to get at least some safe food for him first.

I'm afraid he's going to fail bananas though. No obvious allergy signs to bananas, but little problems have started creeping up. He's not sleeping well, he has more saliva, is coughing again and it's increasing everyday. All signs that his reflux is getting worse. But that all could just be because his body is readjusting to having food again. Or that his seasonal allergies or asthma is bothering him. All things that suggest that we have to push through and see what happens.

I hate this waiting game! I hate just waiting for the day that he starts vomiting, stops drinking and everything goes downhill. I feel like I'm a terrible person just waiting for that day, but we have to be certain. To make matters worse he's started getting violent today. You may not think that's anything but when you watch your child battle with a disease daily, you start to notice and learn there are emotional signs and symptoms that show up, and who can blame them? You'd be emotional too if you constantly felt ill.

I'm probably going to extend the 2 weeks to be certain the bananas are safe if no other symptoms arise, but I feel like my life has become a detective novel and I am obsessed with watching and looking for any clues or problems that might or are arising. It's tiring! *SIGH*

Here are my 2 elemental boys during snack time after a hard day of play. This shouldn't be ANY child's snack time. :o(

UPDATE: Bananas were a fail. It took almost 2 weeks to have diffinitive obvious symptoms to make me pull the food, and sadly even though he's been off the food for almost a week now his symptoms kept getting worse. Now I know why I was never able to pinpoint which foods caused the problems.

Why I'm so Passionate About Eos

2011-08-18T12:27:00.000-07:00

So if you've read my other posts, you know that we don't have anything official. But here is why I'm passionate about Eos. Because when it comes down to it, these amazing mothers have been the BEST and sometimes the only support we've had through all of this crazyness, and with trying to get our boys healthy. And looking at things in the long term perspective the only way we will eventually find answers and better treatment options is if Eosiniphilic diseases are reasearched more and find more treatment options giving us more information.

The Perfect Example

2011-07-22T11:12:00.000-07:00

Say you see a man coming out of the movie theater carrying an empty tub of popcorn. He's talking about the movie he just saw and you watch him throw away a movie ticket stub. What's the first thing that enter's your mind is that obviously he just got finished watching the movie he's talking about.

Yet upon closer inspection the person selling tickets doesn't remember him, neither does the ticket taker and the concessionair. He also paid in cash and didn't want a receipt (you know to save the planet and all that.) No one in the movie theater remembers him...it was just too dark. So we seem to have NO proof that he actually watched the movie. But are we pretty sure he watched the movie? Yes!

If it waddles like a duck, and quacks like a duck...it's a duck.

Now could this guy have us all fooled and he never trully watched the movie? Sure. It's possible but not likely.

So when it comes down to it there is a chance our boys don't have an Eosinophilic Disease. But if not that just leaves the probability that it's a rarer disease or a non categorized subset of the disease. Either way that still leaves us in the same spot with our 2 boys having severe non-IgE food allergies to too many foods that they cannot sustain a healthy diet. And the fact that they will not grow out of it, we can only hope to build a large enough diet of safe foods to eventually be off the formula.

The Confirmed Diagnosis or Lack There Of.

2011-07-22T11:10:00.000-07:00

We have known that our kids have food allergies before we ever left the hospital with all of them. Obviouse signs that they couldn't tolerate formula. Further testing eventually revealed that all of them had non-IgE food allergies found with patch testing. In simple terms: food allergies that effect their digestive system, not anaphylactic. With Isabelle it was simple. Found out what she was allergic to, removed those foods from her diet and viola, she was a MILLION times better within 2 months. I couldn't believe it, it was like night and day.

With Abinadi, it wasn't so simple. We removed known allergies, tried formula after formula, and he still wasn't a 100% better. So we found he had asthma and started flovent as best as you can in a baby and suddenly a lot of his vomiting stopped as well. After that point we had seen a GI, done a scope and tried another formula and he was doing better. But slowly with more and more foods intoduced and as more time passed by he got sicker and sicker again. Back to the GI do another scope and NOTHING. Signs of damage, but no obvious cause of the damage. (We later found out they only took one biopsy for each location, which only gives a 50% chance of diagnosing an eosiniphilic disease.) That is when we found out about Eosiniphilic Esophagitis and noticed that he fit the symptoms and how he responded to treatment exactly as the disease does. But we didn't have a confirmed diagnosis. So we decided to take things week by week.

By this time Abinadi was vomiting every 3 days with no obvious reason why. He was retested for food allergies and it was all inconclusive, so we cut out every questionable food and it helped...a little, before he got worse again. Every week we were pulling more foods out of his diet yet he was still so sick that we eneded up in the hospital with dehydration and failure to thrive. He was loosing weight constantly, wouldn't eat or drink, gagged on everything, vomited every 3 days to the point where he was dry heaving for hours. Couldn't sleep and a million other horrendous symptoms no child should endure.

We doing things step by step, changing reflux meds, put him on elecare and neocate, cutting out foods, tried multiple other meds, and steroids which helped but never solved the problem. Finally we got to the point where we had to do something drastic and fast. That was the decision to pull ALL food from his diet and put him on an elemental formula ONLY diet and an adult dose of nexium. It was like night and day. It took a couple months to get enough calories in him, and to find a balance between the constipation and formula causes and meds...but eventually I got to see my boy again. I can't tell you how heart reanching it was that day that I noticed that my boy was happy again. That his symptoms had resolved and I could see that twinkle in his eyes again. It still brings tears to my eyes to remember that moment. To realize that I couldn't remember how long it had been since I had seen the personallity of my little boy. I had him back. And I will EVERYTHING in my power to keep him this way. No matter what that means.

That is when we had the conversation with the GI dr about his "diagnosis, or lack there of" She finally admitted to us that in her heart of hearts, that this was what he had. An Eosinophilic Disease or a rarere sub set that hasn't been categorized in literature yet. She had no way to prove it and we can't prove it. But it fits, it makes sense, so we'll just move forward with what we know and treat him as we can.

But I journey didn't just continue here, it got worse. We started to notice all the same symptoms and problems in Enoch that we saw with Abinadi. Actually at an even worse and faster rate. So we tried many of the same things and finally got to the point where it only made sense to go to a formula only diet with him as well. He hasn't been scoped at all yet. The drs didn't feel comfortable scoping on a child so young especially when even after a scope they didn't think that no matter what the results if it would change how they treated him. So we're taking it day by day and hoping someday we'll have "official" answers or diagnosis, but if not, that's ok. We'll still do what ever is needed to keep our boys healthy.

Halloween 2010

2010-11-05T22:09:00.001-07:00

Ok, the reason why I haven't been updating this blog is because either I spend all day trying to upload pictures and it never does, or I spend hours and it won't publish, or like now it's doing funcky stuff so I have no idea which pictures are which and can't comment on them or arrange them. In other words I spend lots of hours on it and it never works, so I get frustrated and don't try. SO sorry!
But here is a quick summary of our Halloween since I can't seem to narate each photo...
Isabelle wanted to be a witch, when I asked her why she told me it was because she wanted to laugh like this, "(use your imagination and insert your cutest witches cackle here.)" Ha Ha Ha Haaaaa!
Abinadi wanted to cackle and do magic like Isabelle, so he got to be a wizard. You have to pay attention to the hat to see that he was the Scorcerer's Apprentice from Fantasia.
Enoch was a ghost with a cute hat that said Boo but sadly I didn't get any pictures because he was either bundled up or in the carier. But my adorable little baby boy is growing SO Fast! He is interested in everything, he is definitely our child. Hee Hee!
I love how adorable my children are!

Once again I am sorry that my computer or my blog never work well enough to post anything...We love and miss you all! Oh and this first picture is Abinadi fiting into his Halloween costume from last year. He LOVES monkeys, or as he calls them, "ah ahs"

My cute kids...

2010-09-10T14:53:00.000-07:00

This photo collage created with Smilebox

Enoch

2010-08-03T11:25:00.000-07:00

I haven't had much time or energy...but I wanted to share photos!
This is a smilebox, click it and it should still work.
It's messed up my entire blog so it won't stay on here long...

Enoch Lehi Orland

2010-07-12T16:17:00.000-07:00

Presenting: Enoch Lehi Orland, born Thursday July 8th 2010 at 2:30pm. 8lbs, 4oz and 21 inches long. We're all home and doing well. Isabelle and Abinadi love their brother and I have to keep them from attacking him with kisses.

Keep watching, more to come...

Attempts #2,026-27

2010-07-06T13:33:00.000-07:00

I have learned from this first adventure that when I see the sign saying "snowmobile" trail, and a different trail marked for people to speak up and ask Uriah, "why aren't we taking the person trail?" :o) It was a lot of fun but there was mud everywhere, and often no way around so we had to go through it. Isabelle and I almost lost our shoes a few times. Hee Hee. I did ask Uriah why we took this trail and he said it was the trail they took on their winter hike...when it was covered in 3-5 feet of snow. So no mud or streams to trample through. Next time I think we'll stick to the people trail. :o)If we weren't walking through the mud, it was through tall grass and weeds as tall as Isabelle. If you look in her hand you'll see a ton of wildflowers that were too aften saved from falling and getting muddy before she was. I'm really glad I didn't let her pick flowers till the end of the hike.

Isabelle didn't like almost loosing her shoes, but she loved that she got to finally "play" in the mud and streams. I'm not a big fan of mud and dirt all over kids, so she was loving it because it really never happens. Abinadi was somewhat bored with this hike, I think it was because we were so focused on not falling that we didn't speak to him much at all. Or let him our of the back pack once. Poor kiddo.

She really is such a beautiful child!

These of course the flowers she proudly saved!

This is our second Adventure. We went to Flattop Mtn. We didn't hike all the way up, they have some gorgeous trails all along the bottom half of the mountain, great for families.

We spent the week before making binoculars, a bug jar, collection bags, and an explorer book with a map and ideas and things to look for. The book also has space to add all their photos and things they collected and space to draw everything. This whole trip was about being explorers and noticing nature. In some ways it made the hike much more enjoyable for the kids, in another way I was going nuts with Isabelle fussing the whole way about "when are we going to catch a bug?!" Lesson learned: Don't do a bug jar unless you're willing to sit there forever and stop a million times. LOL!

End of June and we found a few snow patches still around. Isabelle loved it and we had to hike way off the trail so she could touch the snow. It was adorable. But I wouldn't suggest it in the future because they are breeding grounds for mosquitos. There were so many they stopped caring that we were wearing bug spray, needless to say we took our picture and rushed out of there. :o)

Abinadi wanted to explore too. Thank goodness for his monkey! (Leash) it gives some good needed freedom for exploration without me stressing about him running off a cliff. Oh and this was me at 39 weeks. All this hiking and still no baby!

Family photo:

So those are a couple of the adventures we've been on lately. We're enjoying nature and family time. Isabelle and Abinadi do well with hiking, I'm excited when the next one comes so we can go on some bigger hikes. :o)

Oh and I just had to add this photo below. This is Abinadi doing his favorite past time during any meal. Cute huh? (And a little frustrating but still incredibly adorable.)

Just a little of what's happened here...

2010-06-03T07:53:00.000-07:00

I know I've been aweful at keeping up this blog...I'm just working on surviving pregnancy with my house and family intact! :o)

But I figured I'd at least through in a couple pictures so you can see we're still alive.

The kids were really quiet one morning and we found them playing in their Daddy's boots, aren't they cute?

My video clips never work on this so I made a smile box of the videos:

Personalize your own picture collage

Isabelle graduated from Joy School (You graduate every year)! It was a great experience and Isabelle and I learned a lot! I would suggest this program to anyone! My only advice, make certain that you do it with mothers you get along with and have the same goals and wants for the kids as you do. (ex: not just wanting a place to send their kid three hours a day twice a week!) It made the program hard when the Moms were causing drama and unwilling to compromise when situations came up... Oh well, it's over and done with and now we move onto next year with mothers and kids that I think it will be GREAT!

Isabelle's Birthday Celebrations

2010-04-26T11:35:00.001-07:00

Isabelle is finally 4!!! And let me tell you she is SO EXCITED about it. We had a party to celebrate. I was very proud of ourselves because the entire party only cost $25, and that doesn't include the fact that we have a ton of forks, plates, and craft items left over for future use. So Yeah!!! It was a Dress Up Party, originally was supposed to be a Princess party but she has too many guy friends so it evolved. :o) The fun thing about a dress up party is that they use their imagination without me having to plan a game. These kids were locked in the tower by an evil queen, and Super Man was coming to unlock the door and save them!

My kids love Balloons!!!! We had a meltdown when they came home because Abinadi couldn't figure out how to take one balloon so he could play with it. Wonderfully Isabelle was in a sharing mood and choose to cut a balloon off so Abinadi could have one. I was so proud of her at that moment! Abinadi would just stand their and look up at the balloons. Then he got stuck, hee hee, and of course I'm the mean Mom that made him wait to be untangled so that I could get some good pics...

One of our games was playing with balloons, they were supposed to have a contest to see who could keep it in the air longest, but they had more fun playing balloon fights, and shooting the balloons across the room. It was a lot of fun to watch them. Isabelle got a lot of wonderful princess presents from her friends! It was so nice of them because I make it a point to tell guests that gifts aren't needed (I don't believe gifts should be what a birthday or party should be about), but they were all the sweetest friends and brought presents anyways. We also made masks (of course since it was a dress up party) this is Isabelle showing of her great mask. Abinadi wanted to show off like Isabelle, he didn't have a mask, but he rarely smiles for a picture so I couldn't pass it up!

Isabelle told me that Abinadi was eating crums from the cake and I assumed she meant just off the table, I walked in to find that the "crumbs" was actually a BITE out of the cake.

I loudly called Abinadi's full name and he proceeded to walk out and put himself in time out, which of course he didn't like. But it was adorable!

We called the cake her fairytale cottage so that it could be for whichever character she chose for the day. She called it her Cinderella Cottage. :o) I was quite proud of this cake! It came out so much better than her last bday cake!

2010-04-05T15:21:00.000-07:00

Easter Celebrations

Of course you have to get dressed up for pictures on Easter, even if it is General Conference and all you are doing is having a quiet day at home! Our day was filled with coloring Easter Eggs, hiding and finding them, and enjoying our new trinkets, all in between conference.
I believe this is the first and only picture we have where both kids are smiling naturally! Aren't they just Adorable! I just LOVE this picture!

Another cute picture! It is so difficult to get Isabelle to not have a goofy look on her face, and for Abinadi to have anything but a blank look on his. There is no denying that they are turning into two amazingly wonderful kids!

My little photographer!

We found the Easter Bunny!

I am going to have to make Uriah relinquish his photographing privileges, I found he didn't take many pictures because he was waiting for them to hold still, or look nice, instead of just taking a million so that a few come out good. I'm certain you other mothers out there know what I mean when I say that kids never hold still for the perfect picture! I'm just giving you a hard time Uriah. ;o) I love you!!!!

I made this Easter cake for the YM/YW desert auction fundraiser. I am still working on figuring out how to cover a cake with fondant. The whole design ended up this way to cover the flaws I had. But I'm learning that sometimes covering the flaws can turn into a beautiful cake. One day I'll figure out how to do whats planned, it's nice in Alaska though. Everyone and their dog I knew in Colorado could decorate cakes, so it was never anything special or it would end up a competition instead of enjoying everyone's efforts, here everyone is shocked that this is even possible so I never hear comments of "I can do that better" or "did you see the cake so and so made? It's much fancier than yours." I'm not trying to say I'm better than anyone, or that I don't want anyone else to make cakes either. I'm just trying to say that it's nice that it's not a competition up here. I'm not big on competing over talents I just enjoy doing and improving on and wish everyone was the same way.

I'm working on a couple smile boxes of pictures of this kids, so keep watching, I hope to have them finished soon.

We love and miss you all, and hope you all had a wonderful Easter!

WOW

2010-03-18T15:40:00.000-07:00

Sometimes blessings come in disguise...sometimes, as a SMACK in the face!

If you've read my earlier posts you know that Abinadi cannot have regular meats, so we've been making the change, and buying a lot of turkey, and used up the last of our moose. We realized we needed to find another source of moose and started asking around at church, no one had much left so we figured we needed to figure something out. (If you remember from before we're on the list to help take care of moose when hit by cars and when you do so, you get to keep the meat. But it's hit or miss when they need you, and who's turn it is.)

Well monday after talking to everyone we get a call. There was a moose up in Eagle River and it was our wards turn to take care of it. WOW, we couldn't believe it! Heavenly Father knew we needed meat for Abinadi and he was providing for us. We were so greatful for the blessing...

...But the story get's better! With most of these situations the moose is hit by a car (I know, roadkill, I try not to think about it!) well we found out this one wasn't. Oddly enough the moose was climbing down a mountain like many moose do everyday, and it fell and broke two of it's legs. So it was lame up on the mountain for two days before it was found. WOW, and yet the story gets even better. A neighborhood dog went missing for those two days, and it was found with the moose pretecting it from birds and other wild animals. I know, crazy huh?! So we got this moose in the freshest form possible, and with the most amount of meat.

I heard the story and I couldn't believe it! Moose do not just fall down a mountain and brake their legs, and they difinitely do not have neighborhood dogs come and protect them for two days! Once again, when you have a need Heavenly Father will provide a way! Even with something as crazy as moose meat!

Ultrasound results

2010-03-08T09:27:00.000-08:00

We finally had our ultrasound. Woohoo. Especially after all the drama and headache of getting it. It was also slightly depressing with the military how quick and impersonal it was. But YEAH, HOORAY, we got the news we were looking for. Drumroll please…it’s a boy! Uriah and I are excited, it is truthfully the news we were expecting. We both had a strong feeling it was a boy. Abinadi is still oblivious; mostly annoyed that he can’t lay comfortable on my tummy. I will not be surprised if he regresses when the new baby comes. :o)

Isabelle’s response is the funniest! The first time I told her, (we had prepared her that we were probably having a boy because all she could talk about was how she wanted a sister and we new she would be heartbroken if it was a boy) she was monotone and asked, “Oh, did the doctor tell you that?” Didn’t seem upset but not happy either.
Later Uriah asked her how she felt about having a baby brother, this was her response:
“I want a baby girl, but we’re having a baby boy.” Then, a couple minutes later, she said, “I’m still angry that we are having a baby boy. But just a little angry.”
Needless to say I was literally rolling on the floor laughing. Finally a little while later she said she wasn’t angry anymore.

My true response is that I want the house entirely rearranged for the kid. The kids rooms have to be switched (It only makes sense that the ones sharing should get the larger room, DUH!), and I want the family room moved around so it will be more functional, and to move the daybed which was being used as a couch upstairs for Abinadi (which means we have to move the couch into the family room and buy a new couch for the living room. We either had to buy a bed or a couch, and since we already had a bed, the couch makes more sense! Now we just need to find one we like in our price range.) Don’t you just love nesting?! Uriah comes home and asks, “What do you want me to move today?” Hee Hee. He’s learned quickly. It’s stressful and the house is a mess, but it gives a chance to spring clean and clear the rooms of allergens.

I've posted many posts today to catch family up on the big news around here, so please keep reading on.

The Name Game

2010-03-08T09:15:00.000-08:00

So now that we all know that the baby is a boy, I can finally make Uriah discuss names with me, and he has told me that he doesn't know because he got the name he wanted. So a little background, Abinadi was named because it was Uriah's favorite scripture hero with a story that means a lot to him. He also wanted his son to not just have a scripture name, but a scripture name that could be an example for him, so after many prayers by me I finally realized that his name was supposed to be Abinadi, and when we first saw him we knew he would be strong enough to handle that name!

Now with another boy on the way, I have made Uriah promise me one thing, that this boy be named with the same criteria as Abinadi. A name that has a great story behind it, preferably a scripture or church history story, and a name that can be an example for him. Well Uriah has never been good at discussing names and I need help, so I am openning the subject up for discussion.

Please share with us your favorite scripture or church history heros. Not just a nice name, but a name that can be a good example. I would love any thoughts you might have, feel free to share them with me any way you want, comment, email, phone, facebook.

Daddy Blockhead

2010-03-08T09:05:00.000-08:00

Sometimes Uriah can be such a BLOCKHEAD!….I guess it’s a good thing because he entertains the kids. Hee Hee!

I love you Honey!

Abinadi Allergy Results

2010-03-08T08:42:00.000-08:00

We had Abinadi retested for allergies, but we have had so much difficulty introducing new foods and getting him off of the most basic of baby foods that we were trying to get a basic baseline and to then move forward from there. He had 50 prick tests and 25 patch. The pictur is from a week later and a bath later, his back was so small they had to do pricks all the way down his bottom. Good news is that he is not anaphylactic for any allergens, nor does he have any seasonal, environmental, or pet allergies. Yeah!!! His patch test was a different story.
Here’s is the breakdown of Abinadi’s Allergies:
Milk
Apples
Peas
Garlic (which can be found in many processed foods)
Beef
Chicken
Pork
Now Abinadi might have many more food allergies, this was just a baseline test to get us started. We will have to see what the future brings. He also has a contact allergy of Lanolin, fragrance, and CAPD, which are found everywhere in household products and mostly all soaps, and body care products. Which he will never grow out of, and buying hypoallergenic or fragrance-free does not guarantee that they are free of these allergens.

The BIG news is that Abinadi most likely has ASTHMA. It is a daunting diagnosis but we have already started him on medication and it has made a huge difference in his lifestyle! Even with his eating because he breaths better.

So what does this mean? We get to go exotic with meats, wild game and fish. And while he doesn’t have many household, environmental or seasonal allergies we need to get rid of them to help his asthma. The good news is that since we have been medicating his asthma, his ability to eat “grown up” food has improved. The doctor claims it is because when you eat you need to breath and when you can’t breath, you can’t eat. Who would have thought?

Also he does not appear to have a soy allergy, so hopefully by the end of the year we can have both children eating soy. The problem; garlic is an allergy like soy that is in everything so the likelihood of him being able to eat out, or many processed foods will still be slim.

Isabelle Allergy Results

2010-03-08T08:32:00.000-08:00

We had Isabelle retested for her food allergies. It was a torturous experience! 50 skin prick tests and about 35 patch tests. Which for the week prior and during they are not allowed any medicine, not even Tylenol for the pain. The wonderful news is that she is growing out of some of her allergies. Yeah!!!! The picture is from 4 days after the test and a bath so imagine what it looked like before!

Now what does that mean you ask? Well it means that we get to take this next couple years to slowly reintroduce the foods that she was allergic to.

Does this mean she can start eating all the foods she couldn’t before? No, since she has been off of the food for so long, it may take a long while before her body can tolerate the food, so while she is no longer “allergic” it does not mean she can tolerate it yet. We are going to start with apples and then forms of Soy. Which for different reasons could take the entire year.
Here’s the breakdown of what she’s allergic to:
Melons
Green Bean
She is also still lactose intolerant, but the doctor thinks she is old enough to try lactaid before she has dairy products to be able to eat it on rare occasions.
She is also severely allergic to cats and mold.

The doctor wanted to put Isabelle on an everyday allergy medication, Singulair. It helped her immensely until she started having a “mood” reaction where she became severely depressed with many other behavioral problems so needless to say that option is out!

Well that's the catch up of our family. Hope you all are doing well! We love and miss you all!

Vrrrr! Vrrrrr!

2010-03-03T20:13:00.000-08:00

We bought Abinadi his first couple sets of hotwheels cars. It is ADORABLE!!!!!!! Vrrrr! Vrrrr!

It's just as cute that Isabelle is baffled as to how he can have fun making the cars crash each other off the table. Hee Hee

Sorry I am so behind on updating this, we should have lots of news by the end of this weekend so keep watching!

Random pictures to let you know what's going on!

2010-02-01T12:26:00.000-08:00

My little baby boy is no longer a baby! I guess it's a good thing since the new baby should be here around July 9th. I'm excited that he is growing and I love to see what he is learning. Like when there are no blocks around you can use cans to play with.

With becoming smarter, he has figured out how to take apart this little stool and sit in it. But he is definitely a toddler, because no matter how many times he gets stuck and cries for help, he always goes back and does it again. Hee Hee

This is the photo of the only time my son has truly fallen asleep on his own. It is a momentous occasion in our house because our children never fall asleep with out being put to bed or tied down. It is so rare in our family I found the photo of the only time that it has happened to Isabelle too.

I'm not one that likes bath time photos but I thought it was funny to see how orange my son is turning. And no he does not have tan or olive skin. He was whiter than Isabelle. His diet because of his food allergies is full of carotene so therefore he is slowly turning orange and there isn't much we can do about it. We just hope he doesn't get too orange because Uriah swears he is going to start singing the oompa loompa song to him if he does. LOL! At least we will have Halloween covered! ;0) Just teasing!
Another moose adventure at our house! The moose decided to take a rest in our neighbor's yard for a few hours laying down and eating snow. Once again, always exciting!!!

Sent Daddy out to play with the kids and found him building a snow cave. I was only expecting a snow man. Way to go above and beyond Daddy!

Abinadi was having a lot of fun until he lost his gloves in the cave. Poor kid, then he was done for the day.
Isn't she adorable!

We'll that's what's been going on in our family! Nothing much new but we're growing and loving life here in Alaska. We love and miss you all!

Polar Bear Birthday

2010-01-16T17:22:00.000-08:00

We went to the zoo for our Polar Bears' Birthday Party. It was fun and cold. It at least gave us a good activity for family time. We got to watch the Polar Bears come out and explore the giant snow birthday cake, and different presents put out for them. Only in Alaska do you get to experience a polar bear's birthday party. I guess they need to give you some reason to go to the zoo in the middle of winter with it being 21 degrees outside, (I didn't dry my hair, just put it in a pony tail, and it froze. Hee Hee!)

Testimony Meeting

2010-01-16T17:09:00.001-08:00

I thought Isabelle was playing "School" like she often does, but found out that she was actually holding "Pretend Testimony Meeting." She and all her dolls took turns bearing their testimonies, Isabelle helped the shy ones. Then Isabelle sang a song, and had me sing a song while she played her pretend piano. Then she conducted the music for everyone to sing. It was adorable!

And I promise that she is not always in these pajamas with her hair a mess! It just always seems she is when it is blog and picture worthy. She refused to get dressed even though she had to dress up all her dolls for "Church," and Abinadi is only naked because he was fighting getting dressed and then when I realized what Izzy was doing, I wanted pictures before she changed activities! And yes I have not finished putting away the Christmas decorations yet! Someday it'll happen!

She is so cute!

2010-01-07T15:38:00.000-08:00

They say imitation is the greatest form of admiration.

Isabelle wanted to have earings like me (until I told her how they put the hole in my ears), so she found some "earings" she could wear:

She also wanted strait hair. This is our attempt at strait hair, it didn't work very well!

It's sweet that she wants to be like me! It makes me smile! It's also a lot of fun!

Sorry, Here's some Venting!

2010-01-06T10:59:00.000-08:00

Uriah was studying his scriptures last night while I was laying in bed feeling sick and pregnant like I do every day. He came across this scripture; Moses 4: 22 "Unto the woman, I, the Lord God, said: I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception. In sorrow (Footnote: Pain) thou shalt bring forth children, and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee."
He said it should help me feel happier about being sick all the time because it is in the scriptures that women will have pain through pregnancy.

I guess I am not as spiritual as he is because if it said it in the scriptures that women should be miserable, it just makes me more annoyed at those women who are glowing and feel great throughout their whole pregnancy. It didn't make me happier at all! Maybe I should just be more loving and except my fate. We'll see if I can get that spiritual! Hee Hee, maybe some day after I am done being pregnant. :)

I love and miss you all! Forgive my pregnancy venting please!

Snow Adventures

2010-01-03T15:15:00.000-08:00

2010 started with a bang. After waking up at midnight for fireworks (In Alaska they set them off now because you can't see them on July 4th), I spent the rest of the night dreaming about Iraq. This is the first time I have done that since returning from my deployment.

But the real adventure was camping at in the mountains at 3500ft in a snow trench. The night wasn't too bad. It only got down to about -5.

Here are a couple photos of my sleeping arrangements.

As always, the scenary was beautiful!

A Few Cute Christmas Stories

2009-12-30T12:19:00.000-08:00

We sat down Christmas Eve with our Christmas books and scriptures to tell the Nativity story. Isabelle had her little people nativity set so that she could follow along. As we were starting the story, she quickly took over telling the story. It was adorable! She took her little figures and had Uriah and I pretend to be the innkeepers and say, “No Room”. She then continued to tell the whole story. Did I mention it was adorable?!
She did the Nativity Play in Joy School, and she was quoting much of the play word for word. (I would have added the play video clip a while ago, but it was too long.) We then had to all sing “In a Little Stable” I guess we are doing something right as parents. It was a really sweet experience and it felt good to know that she truly understood that Christmas is more than just presents and Santa.
We were also getting ready for Santa that evening. She had been saying for a couple days that she was going to wake up and see Santa. As we were trying to explain to her that Santa is so quiet that she wont hear him, she replied, “So, but I’ll hear his reindeer on the roof going clip clop clip clop! Reindeer are loud.” She said it so matter of factly and I guess you can’t fault her logic. I can’t even count all the songs, stories, and movies that mentioned reindeer paws on rooftops! One of the presents we got for Isabelle were movie tickets and a promise of a Mommy Daughter Day to go to the movies and see the Princess and the Frog. She had been asking for a while to see it and didn’t understand why we couldn’t just get the movie from netflicks. After the movie I asked her if she liked her Christmas present and the Mommy Daughter time. She sweetly, truthfully responded, “Yes, but I really really love the present Daddy made me, and Abinadi loves it too.” Awwww! I’m not the jealous type when it comes to the love and appreciation in our family. It just truly touched my heart that Isabelle really loved and appreciated the cradle that Uriah made for her. I couldn’t wait to hurry home and tell Uriah what she had said.
This is Isabelle reading to her "Baby Pinkie" in her Daddy's Gift. I am so blessed to have a husband so talented to be able to make a cradle from no plans in a day, to make this Christmas special for our daughter.

This is why Isabelle said that Abinadi loved the gift also. He wouldn't stop climbing in and out of it. He would throw Isabelle's dolls out, and grab a toy, or my shoe, and climb in and sit. He was having a blast!

Hope your Christmas was as special and full of love as ours was! We missed all of you at this special time!

With Love, from the Orlands!

The Reason for the Season

2009-12-20T16:20:00.000-08:00

To help us all remember the true "reason for the season" (Hee Hee, I've heard that saying a million times this Christmas) Isabelle wanted to sing her favorite Christmas song. Translation below.

"In a Little Stable, far across the sea,

was a little baby just like you and me.

Shepards stood around him, Angels watched with care.

For the Babe was Jesus lying smiling there.

Ding dong, ding dong, Christmas Bells are ringing.

(These words were skipped...Ding dong, ding dong happy children singing,

Ding dong, ding dong. What do all the Bells say?)

Ding dong, ding dong. This is Jesus Birthday!

Merry Christmas

She surely looks and sounds like an ANGEL...but is she?

Alaskan Thanksgiving

2009-12-12T17:42:00.000-08:00

We had a lot of SNOW this Thanksgiving Holiday. (Not much since oddly enough) We spent a quiet weekend at home playing in the snow. It was lots of fun with plenty of leftovers. Eventually we hope to figure out a made from scratch stuffing recipe, maybe next year. Maybe we need to try it more than once a year!

Be patient with the Snile Box Please. It's large but I think it's darn adorable and worth the wait!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Uriah and I also celebrated our 7th Anniversary. Can you believe it? 7 years, it's amazing how time flies when you're having fun and enjoying life with your Best Friend! I am looking forward to an eternity of years with you! I love you Honey!

This is why…

2009-12-10T16:58:00.000-08:00

No matter how tired and sick you feel, you do not ignore checking on your kids when they get “too quiet”! I was just hoping that for once they were quiet because they were getting along. Well I was partially right; they were getting along, just getting along making a huge mess!
This was 1/5 of our carpeted dining room floor, the entire room plus parts of the living room and kitchen were covered with half of a large box of Rice Chex.
To make matters even better, I broke the plug on my vacuum yesterday!

Blessings in Disguise...

2009-12-10T11:22:00.000-08:00

...AND OH BOY WAS THIS A GOOD DISGUISE!
Well I mentioned before that Abinadi just had his first birthday. We had all these great plans for a party and a birthday cake and we were going to let this be the first time that Abinadi got to try butter for the first time to see if he would react...but then everything went wrong! I got so sick the weekend before his birthday. (That's how we knew!) And my sickness was so bad the week of his birthday, I ended up in the ER and had to get drugs. I felt like the worst mother in the world! I couldn't even pull myself together to make a cake for my sons first birthday.
He got the snow suit for his BDAY, he sure looks like he's having fun!

But then the I got the impression that maybe we shouldn't let Abinadi try butter yet! (You definitely have to listen when you get a message from the Still Small Voice!)

Well a week later I was hosting Joy School and the kids were decorating graham crackers with icing. I was excited because I made ornamental icing which is powder sugar, water, and mirengue powder! So Abinadi could have his first frosting! But low and behold he started "reacting" imediately! I couldn't figure out why, then I read the ingredients in mirengue powder...there's milk in there! I had no idea! I've been using it for years and never read the ingredients because I thought it was simple powder egg whites! I even learn something new everyday.

Then a couple weeks later I gave him a graham cracker and he started "reacting" again! I couldn't believe it! I know that all the ingredients in the crackers were safe, I checked the box at least 5 times. At least so I thought, so I started nit picking all the ingredients...wheat, good...sugar, good...cream of tartar, hmmm. Isn't that just a baking spice? So I checked our McCormick Cream of Tartar, and all it said was cream of Tartar, so I did research online and low and behold Cream of Tartar is actually a by product of grapes from the whine making process! (I bet you didn't know that!) And there were a few warnings out there that if your child has a grape allergy that they should stay away from it! I have been wondering for about 6 months if Abinadi had a grape allergy, I guess this kind of solidifies it in my mind!

So those of you who know me, know that I despise being pregnant! I am so sick and useless almost the entire 9 months that it is trully a trial for me! But I have realized that my being sick came as a great blessing! Crazy thought huh? But with how quickly and how much he reacted to such small amounts of milk and grapes, I am terrified that he would have ended up in the ER if I let him have a cake and icing made of butter and mirengue powder! Thank goodness for those Blessings in Disguise!

Pay Attention! And Count! Hint Hint!

2009-12-03T16:40:00.000-08:00

I know that it's been a while since I updated everyone...well, not that long, but a lot has passed by. Abinadi turned 1, we had Thanksgiving, and we are preparing for Christmas. I've been sick lately so I'll catch up more later, but people have wondered if our blog is broken, so I thought I'd add some pictures to prove that we are all still here!

I think the decorations came out well!

Can you hear the laughter?

one.two..three...Jump!

I'll try to get the rest of the pictures and stories up soon...er or later! ;)

We love and miss you all! Especially during this holiday season!

More from the Mind of a 3 Year Old...

2009-11-12T13:39:00.000-08:00

It snows at Christmas time...therefore, it's snowing so it must be Christmas time!

3 Year Old: "Mommy, why didn't Santa come and leave presents last night?!" (You have to imagine the agony in her voice.)

Mommy: "Because it's not Christmas yet."

3 Year Old: "But it snowed last night!"

Mommy: "Santa only comes one night out of the year, just because it snows doesn't mean that it is Christmas."

3 Year Old: "But it snows at Christmas, so why isn't it Christmas?"

Hee Hee! I love how simple life is to them!

Oh, and it doesn't help that every store has Christmas up now before Halloween is even over. I guess it gives me an excuse to already pull out the Christmas Music...WHICH I LOVE!!!!

Lots of Halloween Fun!

2009-11-02T12:05:00.000-08:00

Halloween is so much more fun as your babies grow older!

We hosted our Joy School Halloween Party. They had a Halloween Parade, pretend Trick-or-Treated, decorated cookies, and memorized a cute poem:

Five little pumpkins

Sitting on a gate

The first one said,

"Oh, my, it's getting late!"

The second one said,

"There are witches in the air!"

The third one said,

"Children, beware!"

The fourth one said,

"We'll run and run and run!"

The fifth one said,

"Let's have some fun!"

OOOOOOH, went the wind

And OUT went the light

And the five little pumpkins

Rolled out of sight

It's a poem I've heard a lot and love, we turned it into a cute finger play. I found it again on this cute website that has songs and poems for children for FREE! Check it out. It don't really like the music they have chosen for most of the songs but their are a lot of different songs, and lyrics that you can never remember. http://www.kididdles.com/

Here are our completed Halloween Costumes:

It's amazing what buying some different ribbon can do. I know, I know, I said I didn't want to spend any money but found I didn't have what I needed to finish the costumes. So for $5 I bought ribbon for Isabelle's Cinderella and I got about 9 yards of it for that price so there is plenty left for future projects. We tried and tried for Abinadi to find something at home, but he grew out of everything just before Halloween, so when we saw this cute monkey costume for $9 we couldn't pass it up. And yes I know it looks like a bear, but I promise it has a tale! So at least it wasn't the $40 I was afraid of. So all in all I think I am getting better at being money wise. Let's hope it sticks!

Thanks Uncle Jared for the Cinderella accessories! They were the finishing touches we needed! And truly made her feel like a reel Cinderella!

We also colored pumpkins, then carved a couple with Daddy. Isabelle had to use a spoon and refused to stick her hand in the pumpkin...yep, she's definitely my princess!

They also got the chance to go to a little haunted house at Uriah's office. The people were really nice and didn't try to scare us, they just stood there quietly. Isabelle was slightly afraid until we started talking about what she saw and made her say "Hello" to the monsters. Then Daddy had to point out a skeleton at a desk and tell Isabelle that he worked so hard, he died at work! After we were done, all Isabelle could talk about was, "I never seen a REAL Monster before!" and "That guy died at Daddy's work! I hope Daddy doesn't die like that!" Sometimes I could just...........my husband. It makes me chuckle now, but it was difficult conversation to have to explain that it was all pretend and no one really died at work!

So here is how the family with Food Allergies did Trick-or-Treating this year. I originally planned on exchanging all the candy Isabelle got with candy she could actually eat, but after much thought, I realized that wouldn't be anything special for her because she is allowed too much candy already because I feel so guilty so often when there is so much other food she can't eat. So we decided that instead she would get 10 cents for every piece of candy she got this Halloween. I thought it would be a safe amount because, remembering when I was a child how you would get one piece of dinky candy at each house. You know the ones, the tiny tootsie rolls, or the really hard pieces of bubble gum that tasted nasty and couldn't really blow bubbles. We also weren't planning on going to too many houses. Isabelle would then be able to choose if she wants to buy some candy or something else with her money. We went around our block and because the kids were too tired and too cold we only hit half our street and a few other houses, yet we ended up with

two large buckets full! Over 100 pieces of candy! And I don't mean the dinky candy, I mean the miniature good candy! So Isabelle and Abinadi have $6 each. And Uriah and I ended up with a whole ton of candy that we love but never buy because of the food allergies. We are all very content with the situation!

Utah Trip Part 1

2009-10-30T11:45:00.000-07:00

We recently went to Utah for my nephew's baptism. It was a great opportunity to see family. Half of Uriah's family came out, and my parents drove in from Colorado. The first thing we did was go to temple square. Isabelle LOVED it. We live 2 blocks from the Anchorage temple. So excitingly we get to see the temple every time we go to church. It's a mini temple on the church parking lot. So Isabelle was excited to see a temple so BIG! We were also having fun teaching her that there are many temples around.

Look closely. If you understand this picture, than you get our humor. I couldn't resist taking a picture of it!

While walking through temple square you always run into the sister missionaries ready to talk to you. It's funny how people react when you say you are from Alaska. It's almost as good as saying you're from Mars with how interested and surprised people seem.

We had a tour of the new conference center. (I didn't know that you could walk in and they had people ready to give you tours at a moment's notice.) While we were in there, Isabelle was getting restless so I let her walk away from the group and as we were walking up the isle, another tour guide started talking to Isabelle about how he loved her curly hair. He asked her if she would share her hair with him. Which Isabelle responded, "No! It doesn't come off!" I love how smart 3 year olds can be!

We of course had to take pictures of Abinadi with Abinadi, and Uriah Lehi with the Lehi. It was funny to me how no one in Utah was surprised that his name is Abinadi, but they were surprised that we don't call him by a nick name. I wanted him to grow up knowing and being proud of his name! I have no problem with friends and family giving him a nick name. It took a lot of prayers, and guidance by the spirit to finally admit that that is what his name should be, and when I finally came to that decisions I knew that that is what he should be called! And when you know him, you know that he is a strong willed child, ready to take on such a strong and difficult name! So we bought a small print of the picture to hang up in his room, thanks for that suggestion Aunt Heather.

Well that is the first instalment...keep tuned for more about our trip to the zoo next! We love and miss you all!!!

My Baby's Walking!

2009-10-22T20:34:00.000-07:00

MY BABY'S WALKING!...and if you're a Mom you know what tone I am saying that in. One just oozing with pride but with a tinge of sadness as you realize that your baby is growing up.

Only in Alaska...

2009-10-20T18:15:00.000-07:00

Recently we had the opportunity of eating moose. I truthfully have to say that it was good. And I am a person who can’t stand the taste of deer. I think it is too gamey and can barely stomach it even if it is smothered in sauce.

The funny part is how we came by the moose… In Alaska, non-profit organizations sign up to take turns and help “dispose” of wild animals like moose after they are found dead from a traffic incident or having to be killed for public safety. So our ward was called in for a moose that was killed by a car. All the men met up and “disposed” of the moose, which is now in several different freezers around the ward. We even had a brunch to eat up some of the moose. The funny part was all the men were clamoring to get in on the action of the next moose. So I can truthfully say that so far Alaska is the only place that I know of in the U.S. where it is socially acceptable to eat road kill! And not to just eat it, but to fight for who gets dibs on the next poor animal!

I don’t know about you, but that just cracks me up.

Monday Morning Photo Shoot

2009-10-19T16:13:00.000-07:00

Well...we just got back from vacationing with family and I am trying to find time to write about that...and Abinadi started taking his first steps a couple days ago so I need to write a post about that too...but today is Monday and our impromptu photo shoot was too exciting not to post right away!

All from our back porch! They hung around our street for an hour or so snacking on some good food! They say anything's fair game for a moose if it's not fenced in. You can even be fined on base $300 for feeding a moose if you leave out a Jack-o-lantern and they make a snack of it. I'm curious too see if they ate the Jack-o-lanterns down the street.

Any Suggestions?

2009-10-02T09:03:00.001-07:00

So this year for Halloween, we are trying to be smart. We are trying to be more economical all together as a family and finally get ourselves out of debt. So buying Halloween costumes every year doesn’t save money. I have decided to make Halloween a creativity game! We look all over the house for ideas of different things we want to be, and try to come up with different ideas of things we have to make different costumes, like unused curtains as dresses.
Isabelle has her heart set on being Cinderella this year. She has never seen the movie but thinks all the pictures of Cinderella are just Gorgeous! We found a skirt of mine that we are turning into a Cinderella dress. I have the basics of it made all with things that we already have. But I am stuck, so I am asking for any suggestions. I think the back looks good, but the front needs something and for the life of me I can’t make up my mind as to what I should add. So I thought I would get the opinions from others. Please let me know what you think or any ideas you might have!

Would adding a crown and jewelry be enough? I don’t have any but I was going to try to come up with a way to make those too. If you have any ideas for those let me know. Do I need larger ribbons, jewels, a sash? What are your thoughts? Oh and I don’t want to do anything too damaging to the skirt, I do plan on wearing it again, so no bedazzling like my husband suggested. Hee Hee!

Oh, yeah...Abinadi is probably going to be a Polar Bear; we found a fuzzy one piece outfit that I am going to alter for him.

Please, Please, Please, leave comments and let me know what you think! I am in a creativity slump with this dress and Halloween is slowly creeping up!

Fall Fun!

2009-09-27T20:02:00.000-07:00

We hosted Joy School this week. It was a blast…and very tiring. Our topics were the Joy of the Earth, and the Joy of the Body. So we did a lot of playing in the leaves, and exercising, we also made bread. I don’t have much to say, but here are some adorable photos we took! It was nice that it made me get out and truly enjoy the fall that we are having. That is the one thing I have truly come to enjoy from Joy School. It is not some intense program to prepare them for school but rather a tool to help Isabelle and me learn to enjoy life and each other. To laugh at and appreciate her curiosity for the 10th time that she got out of bed to ask: “I have a question. My question is….”, and for the 10th time that I responded, “Go to bed or you will lose a privilege!” It made me get out and appreciate the beautiful views that we have from our street.
It helped me notice how advanced and smart my Isabelle is and realize that I chastise her far too often for being too smart for her own good. Abinadi as well as he jumped in to play with all the children and I was shocked to find that he can hold his own.
(But I often wonder why I buy teethers! Yep that's a sock he's chewing on.)
I am truly finding that I have a lot more to learn from Joy School than Isabelle does. Ahh…the beauty of growing up, whether you are turning 20 something or 4 you find in life that you always have something to learn.

The Top of the World

2009-09-19T19:51:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago I took a trip to the top of the world--the northern most point in the United States. It's a little town called Barrow, Alaska.

The latitude of Barrow is 71° 17' 26" N. The top of the continental United States is 49° N and the Arctic Circle is 66° 33' N. Needless to say, Barrow is in the North!

First I flew up there in James Brown Airlines...

Then I saw a town that I did not expect. Barrow is one of the towns spoken of often in Alaska. As such, I thought it would be a little more established. But in reality...there is not a paved street, not every house has running water, there are no street lights--just lights attached to the power lines.

I went to take pictures of a senior officer's visit there. But while I was there, I had one goal...take a dip in the Arctic Ocean.

Before I post the pictures, you must be warned...I have a body for Alaska...it doesn't see much sun.

My other souvenir I came home with was the flu. The Air Force hospital hasn't told me yet if it was H1N1 or not. I guess asking for flu test results in less than 3 weeks is asking for too much. Kaelynn teases I got the flu from the Arctic Ocean...but I don't think polar bears or walruses carry the flu.

Hi, this is Kaelynn. My husband doesn't know that I am adding this, but he asked me to look at his pictures from the Barrow trip, in them I found one random picture of some lady's mullet. It made me laugh so hard! Of course my husband is the one to take a picture of someone/something like that while he is supposed to be taking scenery pictures. Hee Hee, and I couldn't resist adding it to his post!

This One is for Grampa!

2009-09-13T21:34:00.000-07:00

Isabelle has now become a huge fan of classical music. Whenever we are in the car I keep channel surfing because the radio stations up here will play some random weird music. One day I was finally tired of it and turned it to the classical station. Isabelle was very excited and called it her “ballet” music because it sounded like the music from one of her Barbie movies. We can now never drive anywhere without Isabelle demanding to listen to “ballet” music. What makes it even better is that she is convinced that she will get Uriah to change his mind and have “ballet” music be his favorite. We have had many conversations about how you can like many different types of music but she is still determined that “ballet” is the best and Daddy should think so too!

The even funnier thing is that you find with classical music you can’t sing along when you like the song and I have found myself absent-mindedly conducting the music. That is before I realized I was doing it and had to stop and laugh at myself. :) Thanks, Dad!

Just to add for fun, you might think I am crazy…or dorky!

Many of you who know me, know that I am a sucker for a romance story. I normally don’t try to broadcast that fact but I wanted to add this story…
I love romance stories mostly because I love a happy ending. There is enough of my own drama in life to not to need to read someone else’s sad sob story and with most romances you can be certain that everyone will live happily ever after because of course in stories, love conquers all! Well if you have ever read any romance novels written within the last couple decades you can be 99% certain that there is going to be a dirty scene in it. So much so that church leaders now warn women against reading romance novels because mostly all include such dirt.
So I have avoided mostly all romance novels for the past few years. I had a conversation with my mother about how we wished she hadn’t gotten rid of her old Barbara Cartland romance novels written in the 70's and had the crazy idea that I should try to find some to buy. So I went on ebay and found 100’s of her books for sale for cheap. I am now the owner of around 60 Barbara Cartland Historic Romance Novels. They are quick easy reads that teach that love is sacred and for marriage only and the dirty scenes are described as, “She only knew her love welled up inside her and joined with the love he felt for her. Then as he carried her into the sky, she found the beauty and wonder of it was so perfect that nothing could ever spoil it. It was the love that came from God, belonged to God, and was theirs for ever,”
I know, I know, Cheesy, but no smut. I had really got thinking about the fact that when Isabelle was older there would be no likelihood of finding romance stories she could read without having to blackout about every other page, and I would be the one that would have to read the book to black out the pages and that just ruins the whole point of me not reading those stories either. So while most people would (especially those in my family) call me a dork, I think I've made a good decision. Especially during football season when my husband monopolizes the T.V. I love you Honey!

First Day of Joy School

2009-09-02T16:52:00.000-07:00

Well we started Joy School this week. We are really excited. We are in a Great group of 5 kids with parents who are all very involved and just as excited for the year like we are. Everyone is also very understanding of Isabelle’s allergies and are ready and willing to work with us. I woke Isabelle up and she ran into my room screaming, “Joy School, Joy School, Today is Joy School!” She was sooooo excited! For those of you who don’t know, Joy School is an in home preschool program that focuses on values and preserving different childhood characteristics. We each take turns hosting and teaching the kids so I have 4 weeks off and then one week where I am responsible for everything. I like the thought of a program teaching children and parents how to enjoy childhood and life. They grow up so quickly.
If you want to check it out go to:
http://www.valuesparenting.com/joyschool/index.php

This is the Joy School House a made for the group. My craft for the month.

These are all our Joy School Friends. Yep, Izzy is the little one, she's slouching a little, but I didn't even realize she was this short. WOW :)

Precious Memories

2009-08-31T17:23:00.000-07:00

When I started this blog I was confused by people who said they wrote their blog as a Journal. I always thought that a journal would hold my deepest thoughts. But as a grow as a family and listen to the many talks and lessons in church about keeping a journal, I have to look at things in a new light. I need to keep a journal to help preserve my family’s precious memories that we create daily. I want a way for my children and posterity to look back on our lives and see how much we love and appreciate them. I get it now. I am already doing that in the blog, and I will just now print out all my posts on photo paper and put it in out family’s journal I plan on making. I want a journal that all of us can write in when our children get older and share their special family and personal experiences. I now just need to work on my own personal journal, baby steps…baby steps.

So here our some of our precious memories we’ve made lately:

Birthday Celebrations
We had our Great Indoor Camping Adventure. We built a tent in our living room, and slept in it all night. Well, Isabelle and I did, Abinadi joined us after his midnight bottle. Uriah was still in quarantine up in our bedroom. It was a lot of fun! I also learned that Isabelle did inherit some of my genes and talks in her sleep! She freaked me out halfway through the night crying in her sleep crying about her not wanting her puppy/shopping cart (I still don’t know what she was saying) taken away. We had a whole conversation with her still asleep and I finally calmed her down by telling her we will talk it over in the morning and she immediately laid back down dead asleep.

Since we didn’t get to do our original birthday camping plans we played up the few things we did have. We made Hobo dinners and Isabelle got to be very excited to keep a secret from me about the trick candles they bought for me. She went around all evening saying she couldn’t tell me, Daddy said she can’t tell me, it’s a secret! It was adorable to see how much she wanted to tell me, and I just had to keep encouraging her to keep the secret.
That’s why I look so dorky in the picture, we were playing up the fact that I couldn’t blow the candles out and needed her help. She loved every minute of it. I’ve learned that as you grow as a parent you don’t make your birthday and other event plans to just please yourself, but more often so that your children can see how important it is to make other’s feel loved and special and have the opportunity to show their love.

Abinadi, our Climber and Musician
I am certain that I have mentioned before that I was afraid that Abinadi would become a climber. Well, my fears have officially come true. Anything that looks like steps, he climbs. We found him one morning climbing on his sister’s stuff to get onto the fire place. All this done so that he could crawl over to the CD player. He loves music! He will stop everything when he hears music and start dancing. Once he realized that we wouldn’t allow him to play with the CD player, he was content to dance and clap to the music. He also loves cheering for himself, so he will clap and then sign yeah whenever he is happy with himself. And let me tell you, he was very happy with himself for climbing up on the fireplace!

Isabelle is sometimes too smart!
I had to include this picture of Isabelle. She found this outfit of Abinadi’s and wanted to wear his shirt. I told her it wouldn’t fit and she had to prove me wrong. So she put it on. She was a little shocked to find it wasn’t a shirt but was excited that it was like a onesie. Now you all can see that my 3 year old can fit into a small 24month outfit!

The Best Present Ever!!!

2009-08-28T08:51:00.000-07:00

It’s times like these that make my life perfectly wonderful! …and helps me to realize and enjoy the little things in life.

After waking up in the family room, (Uriah is sick with the flu…but that is another post entirely!) I went up to wake up Isabelle so that we can keep our schedule for school. I opened up her curtains. The first thing she asked was, “Mommy, is today your birthday?” I answered that it was and she got so excited and said, “Happy Birthday Mommy!” I was so touched I almost cried. I sat down and gave her a BIG hug. She then jumped up and said, “Mommy I have something for you.” She grapped something imaginary from her book shelf and handed it to me. I said thank you and she told me it is a pretty necklace for me. A pretty pink one. I almost cried all over again! It was soooo SWEET! She helped me put it on and told me that I could wear it Sunday to church.

______________________________________

Isn’t it Beautiful!? You don’t have to use too much imagination to see the beauty in it. Let me tell you it made my day and I began to look at the day on a much brighter side. Instead of having to make my own Birthday cake…I get to have fun baking with Isabelle. Instead of missing out on our camping trip…we’re camping inside, an in home adventure! And instead of having to take care of my sick husband on my birthday…I get the wonderful chance to show him how much I love and appreciate him!

So after all, today is turning out to be a wonderful day. All thanks to the insight given to me from my wonderful 3 year old daughter and her beautiful present.

My Kids Are Cuter Than Your Kids!

2009-08-21T18:20:00.000-07:00

Hee Hee, Kust Kidding, but I thought it was a cute title for this post. Here are a few cute stories of my little devils…oops, I meant Angels. No matter what, I love them! Especially when they ACT cute.

I wish I had said that….

Isabelle was watching T.V. the other day and Uriah and I were up and about getting stuff done. When Isabelle turned off the T.V.. I asked her why she turned it off and she said, “I can’t watch T.V. all day! I have to exercise!” She then started singing and jumping around and asked if different activities were exercising. My first response was: HOW CUTE! I then tried to figure out were she had heard that because sad to say, it wasn’t from me. Now I have said, “We can’t watch T.V. all day,” and, “we need to exercise,” but never in the way she just had. I asked Uriah and her recent babysitter but both admitted it wasn’t them either. So my cute little 3 year old put two and two together all on her own! Aren’t they adorable when they want to be?

Creativity!

This is Isabelle’s Fort! Made all by herself, idea and all. The only thing I helped with was finding things heavy enough to hold up the pillows

My Little Handsome Man

Isabelle attends speech at our local elementary school for 40 minutes twice a week. It was her first day back this last Thursday. Abinadi and I sit in a small storage/parent room while we wait for her. Emphasis on the storage! Needless to say he tried to escape the room the entire time we were there. It doesn’t help that every person we walked past, talked to, or was within hearing/seeing distance had to stop everything and come and look at Abinadi. Everyone loved him, they called him the little Gerber Baby. And let me just tell you that Abinadi was loving every second of it. He started acting shy and adorable by placing his head down on my shoulder whenever anyone talked to him. And then if they talked long enough he would give the biggest grin. Let me just tell you he was working the room for all the attention he could get! What can I say…he is adorable! It is just going to be a long school year with trying to keep him in the tiny room and not be a distraction

“Terrible Twos”….A Breeze Compared to the “Too Smart for Their Own Good Threes”

2009-08-18T18:33:00.000-07:00

So I was recently sick with a cold that my children had passed onto me. Uriah was being the wonderful husband that he is and was taking care of the kids for me. When I had had my fill of Isabelle’s misbehavior, I sent her off to her father for a lecture. Here is the footnote of the situation:

She sweetly walked up to her father saying, “Daddy, I sorry for not behaving very well.” Uriah then went into a lecture about the need to listen and behave. Isabelle being herself was in her own little world singing and talking to herself. Uriah asked her if she was listening and she sweetly answered, “No.” Uriah responded with how she needs to listen and asked her what he was talking about. She sweetly repeated in her own words a simple synopsis of what he had said. Obviously having no care of what the meaning of the words were.

Realizing that he was not getting through to her, Uriah asked what we should do to help her listen and behave. He asked if we should give her a spanking when she misbehaved. First she answered yes, then changed her mind and said, “No, cuz when you give me a spanking I get mad at you.” Uriah asked again, “So what should we do when you are misbehaving and not listening?”
Isabelle’s response: “Daddy I sorry for not listening very well.” All this said while she walks off playing and starting to misbehave again.

…Ahh the joys of parenting.
It made me smile and laugh that at least she didn't have the "Too Smart for Her Own Good" behavior just for me!

2009-08-16T13:50:00.001-07:00

RSS feed test#1

Woohoo! I Won!

2009-08-14T17:24:00.000-07:00

As with our children’s afore mentioned food allergies, we cannot buy any bakery cakes. Therefore I have been improving my skills in the cake decorating category so that my children can have special birthday cakes. So when our ward was having a dessert contest, I figured it would be a good reason to practice some more. This is the cake that I entered. I thought it was a cute idea. I’ve wanted to make this cake for a while. For all of you perfectionists out there, (like me…in some cases) ignore all the imperfections. I am using the excuse that my materials weren’t the best for decorating cakes (I know…I also need more practice!). Someone told me Royal Icing (that's just water, powedered sugar, and meringue powder) would work and I thought I would give it a try. It was a little too heavy, but it worked well enough. Except for the parts that started falling off the cake!

So what do you think? I know nothing too original, but it was fun! Just about everything went wrong, like the handle breaking and collapsing on the cake. Needless to say most of the flowers were placed to hide imperfections. (Cake decorating tip 101)

And guess what! I won!....Well...sort of...

I won first place in "Best Presentation" and "Originality". I got a 20 out of 20 in the presentation category. But as for taste and texture I didn't even place. I am not surprised though. I tend to not make my cakes too sweet so that you can enjoy an entire slice with all the icing, and when a cake is made from scratch with no preservatives or soy it never tastes as rich. But it is truthfully healthier for you and I am good with that.

This is what the inside of the cake looked like...

I call it the Checkerboard cake and it is surprisingly simpler than you would think.

Oh...and I got second place in the overall category! Now while I am tooting my own horn, don't think that I beat out all these amazing deserts. I was the only one who came with a decorated desert and some of them were store bought.

I wasn't going to post anything about winning but then I thought, "Hey, why not? What's the use of a personal blog if you can't brag every now and then." Hee Hee, I know... I'm a dork."

We love and miss you all! Thanks Mom for all the decorating lessons!

Trip to the Zoo

2009-08-10T08:56:00.000-07:00

So there isn’t much to say about our trip to the zoo. It was fun family time. But the zoo itself was quit disappointing. I am not a zoo person myself! I never liked the smell or that you couldn't always see the animals...but you kind of get excited for your children when you talk about different animals and tell them about actually seeing the animals. It was difficult explaining to Isabelle why there were no zoo animals like elephants, monkeys, zebras, lions, hippos, giraffes, etc.
And the animals we did see either weren’t that spectacular or you can see them around here. Needless to say, we won’t be buying year passes like I had hoped. I never thought I would say that I miss the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo with all it’s hills, but I do. At least we got a few cute pictures and spent some good family time together. We have to look at the positives!

We love and miss you all.

Fun with CURLS!

2009-08-06T11:53:00.000-07:00

So I have learned with curls that it is not so much as you training the curls what to do but that they train you how to do the hair with however they curl. For those of you who have never dealt with curly hair you probably think I am crazy for thinking that your hair can train you. Let me tell you it is TRUE!

With Isabelle we put a little product in her hair and then style it with however the curls react. Today was fun because her curls just fell into a Faux Hawk! The pictures don’t do the 3-dimensionality of it justice.

Sometimes curly hair drives me nuts! Then when you least expect it... it's a BLAST!

Canoeing we will go...

2009-08-02T19:28:00.000-07:00

So I got back from my week-long adventure canoeing with the young men in the Alaskan wilderness. It was a great trip that made my back ache. We left Tuesday ahead of schedule. The weather was rainy and we all hoped it would break, but to no avail, it rained...a little.
Tuesday we hit the water and canoed across a short lake to our intended first campsite. Although the site was nice, we were diapppointed that it was so close...so we kept going. We portaged through a water portage--which means if you were light enough you could float. But two adults were too heavy so I got out and pulled us through. The $80 breathable waders I bought was money well spent!
We portaged twice more across two more lakes before we called it a night and set up camp. It rained a lot Tuesday night into the morning, but from then on the weather was great. A little overcast and few showers, but otherwise, sunny and great temperatures--about 65 degrees. All in all, there were 11 portages ranging from 50 yards to 3/4 miles. But we put our camps at all the right spots so the long trips were either at the end or beginning of camp. For example, Thursday night we camped at the beginning of a 1/2 mile portage and took our time to carry our canoes to the other end that night. In the morning we packed up camp and carried our gear to our waiting rides.
The highlight of the trip came while canoeing down the Moose River. We were the lead canoe and came around a sharp right turn and about 20 yards in front of us stood a female moose snacking on river grass. We promptly started to back stroke, as not to hit her, and scared her away. But it was cool to see a moose in the Moose River!

Cute…but SCARY!!!

2009-07-31T17:27:00.000-07:00

How do you convince an 8 month old that this…

…is not so smart?! Especially when Big Sister makes it look Sooooo Fun!

I already caught him after he fell down three stairs and he decided to climb back up and play some more. Cute…but SCARY!!!

Wisdom of the Young

2009-07-29T19:32:00.000-07:00

We have had non stop drizzle for the past several days. With all the moisture we now have a backyard covered in poisonous but pretty mushrooms. Isabelle asked me where all the mushrooms were coming from, so I gave her a scientific answer that because it was raining so much there is a lot of moisture in the air which mushrooms like and that is why they were groing. She had to quickly correct me, "No Mommy, they come from underground!"

Ahhh, to have the wisdom of the young.

Not Much Going On

2009-07-29T15:17:00.000-07:00

There isn’t much going on here, so I thought I’d give you little tidbits of the last week. First we had another hike. Uriah went with the youth. Isabelle begged and begged until we let her hike with her Dad. She stayed in the carrier all the way up and walked down most of the way. We are learning that the reason why there are so many short hikes in Alaska is because instead of making a longer safer trail with a lot of switch backs they just go strait up the mountain. Uriah did a lot of hand over hand scrambling with a toddler on his back. (Scary Huh? I found out after he came back down.) Abinadi and I took a different trail where he happily napped the whole way and I didn’t have to worry about falling off a mountain.

Thank Goodness for technology! The kids and I hung out in the truck watching a DVD while we were waiting for Uriah to finish up with the youth.

Abinadi is trying to grow up so fast. He can now climb up stairs and we are working on descending them now.

Second Try….Almost There.
We tried another round of crackers. They are more cracker like. But a little too much like Wheat Thins. (They are the only type of crackers we can still buy.) I want a recipe that is like Ritz. The good thing about this recipe is that there is a lot of room to play with for changing the flavor and texture. I got smart with this batch and instead of cookie cutting them I used another fondant tool and roller cut them before baking.
So that's the update. We hope you all are having a little more fun then us!

First Try……..Failed!

2009-07-21T22:46:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I know this isn’t very blog worthy, but I figure I am writing this blog to keep in touch with everyone. And if you have known me long enough you know that I am terrible having conversations on the phone. I am just not a phone person and never have been. The only persons that I consistently have ever talked to on the phone is my Mom and Uriah.

Ok…so back on topic. This is what I what I would talk to you about if I actually did get around to calling everyone.

For those of you who are just now catching up with my family, you need to know a little history. Isabelle has several food allergies and Abinadi has decided he wants to be just like his sister and has just about all the same allergies. They are allergic to soy, apples/pears, milk, and quit a few other fruits and vegetables. For those of you who are like me and never looked at the ingredients on your food, you have no idea that SOY is in everything! It is an emulsifier and preservative. To put it in different terms, soy makes up 25% of all Americans’ calories! Now I am not talking about soy milk or pediasure. I am talking about your everyday store bought food, your fast food, and just about everything else. To make matters worse, if you find a food that is soy free, it usually has milk or apples/pears in it. So for the past couple of years we have been searching for food that my children can eat. We found a few brands at health food stores, but sad to say that since health food has become more popular and their products are more popular, these brands have sold out for profit and now put soy in all their products. (Soy is the cheapest of all vegetable oils)

Ok, sorry for that rant…back to the story again. Well about 5 months ago I had come to the realization that I could no longer find soy and milk free bread. So I had to start making all our breads from scratch. The cookies were the next to go, but that didn’t break my heart too much, cookies are easy. But now all the crackers we used to buy now have soy. Crackers aren’t so easy. I’ve been looking for recipes for a while now but hadn’t tried anything yet. Uriah had been TDY these last two weeks and I had hoped he would find some crackers in the lower 48. But sadly they all had soy too.

So I gave in today and tried making some butter crackers. I don’t think I got the recipe quit right. I might change how I cooked them. But I think I need a different recipe. They kind of came out like sugarless sugar cookies. Not my cup of tea. Isabelle liked them, but then again she likes anything new because her choices are so limited.

I am still debating if I want to try a new recipe or keep working on the one I have. It has taken me several tries to get the tortilla recipe finally right. So maybe it just needs some perfecting. I do have to say though that Wilton’s fondant rolling pins and mat are awesome for rolling dough. (Especially if you don’t have that much counter space) I use them for everything.

So that’s my boring story that I wanted to share. I know it’s long. I really just wanted to share the fact that making crackers…not so easy. But the story doesn’t make too much sense without all the history. So thanks for reading my rambling. It wouldn’t have taken so long to tell if I had told the story over the phone, but then again, that’s a lot of phone calls.

If any of you have any good cracker recipes or tips, I am open to suggestions! Please help if you can. If not, you are all going to get an update of every trial and failure in this cracker baking adventure. So if you don’t want any more boring long winded stories, please help!

We love and miss you all!

Izzy’s Photography

2009-07-17T23:44:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I find that you just need something to occupy the mind of a 3 year old in order to keep your sanity. Today that sanity came in the form of an old camera that she got to take around and be a photographer for the day. Thanks to Special Agent Oso she knew how to work a camera. (All you parents out there probably know who I am talking about) She literally took 156 photos. Thank goodness the world has gone digital and it didn’t require me to waste time and money on getting the photos developed. And now thanks to the wonders of the internet you all get to enjoy her photography that she is so proud of. Don’t worry I am not going to post all 156 photos. But you do get a highlight. Here is the world from the viewpoint of a 3 year old:

Handy Hubby

2009-07-15T23:31:00.002-07:00

So with trying to figure out how to be a good mother while trying to keep the house clean, I’ve noticed that normally one or the other starts to go downhill. I decided that I needed a calendar to keep track of what I need to get done but paper ones don’t work because I am constantly changing things around depending on appointments and other events so it ends up a blob of scribbles. The computer never works because it takes too much effort to check it when I need to remember things. So my wonderful Hubby offered to make me a calendar and this is the almost finished project. It’s a magnetic board so that I can easily change my schedule. It’s going to have monthly, events, chores, activities and any other type of magnet you can imagine. I am using scrap booking stickers and little wood pieces. I just realized that the cost of them add up so we will be collecting them slowly whenever we can find them on sale, or when Uriah can scroll saw some. It’s awesome though isn’t it! Uriah never ceases to amaze me! I’ll have to add a picture when we have all the magnets. Feel free to send me any extra scrap booking stickers you don’t want… Hee Hee! Just kidding! (Sorry for the glare)

4th of July Celebrations! (Or lack there of)

2009-07-15T23:31:00.001-07:00

When you think of the 4th of July you envision back yard BBQs, picnics and parades, and FIREWORKS. Well here in Alaska everyone seems to see a different picture. The majority of people here spend the day fishing or gardening. Exciting huh? There are only a couple of places that do fireworks, and that’s at midnight, and the main one is done at a baseball park after a game. Not really family friendly. You can’t really blame them for the midnight fireworks because that is the only time that it even gets a little dark. But it isn’t nice when you have children sleeping. So Uriah and I decided to go hiking again. We finally gave in and bought two children carriers so that we can hike more easily, and because we can’t find any other hikes that are stroller friendly. This way we can also plan more hiking trips too! We had a wonderful time hiking! Sadly we didn’t get to the top of the mountain. Partly due to the lack of trail, (we were on a back county trail) but mostly due to children being tired. Isabelle hiked at least a mile and half up the mountain. She was having so much fun walking and talking about all the plants and things she was seeing! I was so proud of her, also grateful that I didn’t have to carry her all the way up. J I wasn’t surprised that when we decided to turn around she was ready to be carried all the way down. She just sat in the carrier and talked to herself about all her new plans for hiking. Abinadi loves the carrier. He was so cute especially when he fell asleep on the way back down. We then went home and spent the rest of our fourth resting the evening away. Happy Fourth of July!

Quality Family time!

2009-07-15T23:30:00.000-07:00

Whenever Uriah has some free time, he has been spending it in the garage working and woodworking and other craft projects he is doing for me. Isabelle loves spending that time in the garage with him having quality Daddy daughter time. They are both content to sit there with each other doing their own crafts. Well one day they were out in the garage and I was inside on the computer with Abinadi and he just started freaking out. He was not happy. So finally after trying everything and not being able to make him happy, I passed him off to his father in the garage. Not too surprisingly the tears stopped instantly! He was happy as a clam from then on!

A Hiking We Will Go! And some back yard camping too.

2009-07-15T23:29:00.000-07:00

Well it was a fun filled weekend for the Orland Family! It started with a backyard camping trip Friday night, followed by ward picnic on Saturday, finished up by a family hike and lake visit on Monday. Uriah and Izzy slept the whole night outside. I of course was smart and slept inside in the nice cozy comfortable bed. I still was the one waking up with Abinadi to feed him in the middle of the night. I guess you can decide which one is better. Isabelle had a little trouble with the early light in the morning waking her up, but other than that it was a success. Watch the smilebox to your right to see more photos. Saturday we had a ward picnic and I wouldn’t normally mention it except for the fact that we saw a MOOSE. Now seeing a moose isn’t that rare of an event. But this one was cool because it was only a football field distance away. And my husband being who he is took Izzy over to look at it. I thought we were going only a little closer since you hear horror stories about how mean Moose are. Uriah and Izzy kept going closer and closer, (I didn’t want to yell at them because I was afraid it would scare the moose) then I realized that there was a barbed wire fence between us so I went closer with Abinadi. When we got to about 20 feet away I realized that there was no barbed wire on the barbed wire fence. I was a little freaked out! Ok a lot freaked out until Uriah told me all the warning signs to look for if the moose was getting angry. Then anger over took fear when I realized I hadn’t brought a camera! Oh well, lesson learned. Then on Monday Uriah took the day off and we had the whole day together as a family. We went on our first family hike up to Thunderbird falls. We all had a lot of fun, and was quit surprised at how tropical Alaska could look. We especially loved the plants with leaves larger than Izzy’s head. It was only a little disappointing because of how far away from the actual falls we were. Happily Izzy had no clue and thank goodness for the zoom on the camera we got a decent picture. We then went to the largest Lake around here (the one Uriah Canoed across) and collected some pretty rocks. Beware Papa Allan, they might be sent to you to make some jewelry. All in all it was a fun and exhausting day. We are now looking forward to this coming Fourth of July weekend for some more special family time. We’ll let you know if we do anything worthwhile.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

"I so proud of you," says big sister Izzy.

2009-07-15T23:28:00.000-07:00

So in the middle of writing my next blog about our last weekend I realized that Abinadi was standing up behind me holding onto the chair. He still can't crawl correctly yet he is now climbing up to a standing position on his own! I obviously had to stop everything and get the camera out to take pictures. Luckily I got him to repeat what he had just done. This is the rare footage of a child actually repeating what you want them to on camera. The clip is a little long but definitely worth the wait. Especially to see Isabelle’s response. It makes up for all the time outs she has been getting lately for hitting Abinadi.

Make a Smilebox postcard

Welcome to Our New Chapter!

2009-07-15T23:26:00.001-07:00

We did it! We are finally blogging. Is that the right term? Anyways…having just moved here to Alaska we are trying to find the best ways to keep in touch. So I will do my best to keep the blog updated with something new about the family. Even if all it is is a new Smile Box or photo in the corner. So let’s try to catch everyone up on us. Uriah is doing great at his job. We are having to adjust to him being gone more often and for much longer hours. He is also in the Young Men’s Presidency which takes up a lot of his time as well. He just recently went on a canoeing trip as a precursor to the week long trip they are planning in July. I complain too often about him being gone so much but I truly am proud of him! Ok...and a little jealous. Being a Recreation Major, I would love to be the one who got to go on camping and canoe trips. With all the talk about Uriah and Camping, Isabelle has caught the camping bug. We make tents for her weekly in the house and we are getting brave and are planning to try a backyard camping trip to see if it is possible to survive an actual in the forest camping trip this summer. I think I am most worried about the mosquitoes (or as Isabelle calls them, Bugsquitoes). They are everywhere! Everyone talks about how scary and big they are. They start out big and easy to kill, then they get smaller and faster and meaner. I wish we had the big ones back!
Isabelle is slowly adjusting to being so far from family. It is hard not having the ready made friends she had in Colorado. She has a new imaginary friend everyday. She is so creative and smart! I think Uriah and I will end up trying to put her in an early start program before kindergarten, we can barely keep up with how smart she is becoming!
Abinadi is growing like a weed. Sadly he is allergic to just about all the same foods that Isabelle is. At least we are now prepared and ready to keep such a difficult diet for him. He is into everything and such a boy! Everything is fare game for going in his mouth or being destroyed. He is getting his first two teeth and just started army crawling. I love this time when you can see how much they learn everyday. Not much going on with me. We are still in the decision stage of whether or not I’ll try to finish my degree here, or get a job. Just keeping busy being a Mom. Maybe I’ll finally finish all the crafts and quilts I have started that are still laying around unfinished, or finally getting around to accomplishing some of my goals. We love it here in Alaska! I have already told Uriah that I think we could retire here. He just keeps telling me that first I should survive a winter, and second it is far too early in his career to retire. So well see. But it is gorgeous here, and everyone is so nice! They haven’t seemed to have progressed past the 90’s though. It is quite interesting. Well I hope that gives you a little update of us! There will probably be a lot of little posts to start to get everyone caught up with what is going on in our lives. We love and miss you all!

Make a Smilebox photobook

We're Trying this again

2009-07-15T10:27:00.000-07:00

Let's see if the comments works now