Happy Leap Year

Happy Leap Year! Do you know where you were exactly 4 years ago today? I do.

4 years ago today I was 38 weeks pregnant and a little scared I would have my little baby boy on leap year. It was a Sunday and I went to church for Sacrament meeting and then came home. I watched movies that John and Lindy had brought over and laid on the couch and tried to drink a lot of water. I also tried to count how many times I felt the baby move each hour.

The previous week my belly was measuring small at my regular doctor appointment. I was sent to a specialist at the hospital and on Friday they did an ultrasound and checked the fluid surrounding the baby. There was less fluid then normal and I could either be induced then or come back on Monday, so they could check it again. Since I was getting a little cold feet about this whole baby thing (like I could turn back!) I decided to come back on Monday, which was fine but they told me I would have to make sure that the baby moved each hour during the weekend. If the baby wasn’t moving then he could be sitting on his umbilical cord and die!
The other dilemma I saw with this is that my blood pressure had been high for the past month and the doctors also told me to lay down as much as I could that weekend and relax. I don’t know how anyone that is 38 weeks pregnant can relax and make sure your baby moves so he doesn’t die all at the same time, but that is what I tried to do all weekend.

I had also started my maternity leave from work the previous week. I slept in every day, took long showers and spent as much time as I wanted doing anything I wanted. It was so nice to take a week to myself before I had Gage because in the past four years I have only spent 2 days total gone from either of my children and that was when I was hospitalized when Gage was 2 weeks old.

Leap Year day 4 years ago I spent a little time making some grocery lists so I could get the house stocked for the next week in case I had the baby. I had appointments on Monday and Thursday of the following week and Wade was really hoping that Thursday would be the big day (he had a test on Wednesday).

My baby moved a lot that leap year day four years ago. I didn’t have contractions and I tried to relax. I drank lots of water and prayed that my little baby would be fine. We made it though leap year day!

The next morning, with grocery list in hand, I returned some library books, and then headed to the hospital so they could check my blood pressure and measure the fluid around the baby. Grocery shopping would come later, and I would have a few more days to relax and prepare for our little baby boy on Thursday. At least that is what I thought.

We all know that babies and doctors have their own ideas though….to be continued tomorrow!

Tag and February rant

February gets the best of me every year. It is a short month. Wade's birthday, Valentine's Day, my mother in law's birthday, my brother's and one nephew and a niece's birthday. Throw in the Gala and Noah's seizure, which I know only took up one night, but it took me a week to recover emotionally and now the month is already gone!

On top of all that Gage's birthday is March 1st, so all the planning for his birthday has to be done in February. I cannot believe that he will be 4 on Saturday! I don't feel old enough to have a four year old!

Other news on the home front that made our February stressful is that we found out that one of Wade's rotations for this summer, Greeley, Colorado has decided they are switching hospitals ans because of the transition they won't be accepting residents his year. He could still rotate there in July for the experience but he really needs to find a residency spot. Now he has to scramble to find a rotation to fit his schedule in July. We were also counting on him being in Colorado so we could see him on the weekends during July. I'm sad because this means it will be one more month without him.

I never feel like I can catch up in February - it's not spring and winter is so old by this point. Iowa winters have been the worst ones I've experienced in my life. I got one cold and was able to not give it to my kids, now I am on cold number 2 (I think I'm getting them since I serve in the nursery at church). I have started 3 books and not finished any of them and if I am having hard time reading, you know something must be up!

Enough ranting, as you can already gather, we are are ready for March.

Please let spring come early.

I was tagged & thank goodness it wasn't the purse tag, so here we go:

A- Attached or single: Attached
B- Best Friends: I have lots of different friends from each place I've lived.
C- Cake or Pie: cake
D- Day of choice: Friday night date, or Sunday because there is no school work or even talking about medical school on that day!
E- Essential item: Real Simple Planner, or my glasses
F- Favorite color: red or green
G- Gummy bears or worms: neither, I don't like gummy candy
H- Hometown: none - I've lived in WA for 3 years, MS for 5 years, ID 5 years, AR for 6 years, UT for 6 years and IA for almost 3
I- Indulgences: books and bubble baths
J- January or July: July
K- Kids: Gage (4 on Saturday!) and Noah (15 months)
L- Life is not complete without: family, friends, education, the gospel, and a good book (not in any certain order)
M - Marriage Date: May 27, 2000
N- Number of Siblings: 5
O- Oranges or apples: apples with peanut butter or clementine oranges
P- Phobias or fears: the dark, although Wade has been trying really hard to break me of my night-light habit for the past 7 years
Q- Quotes: "Happiness does not depend on what happens outside of you but on what happens inside of you" or "The most important of the Lord's work you will ever do will be within the walls of your own home." both by Harold B. Lee
R- Reason to smile: my husband, my healthy kids
S- Season: spring
T- Tag three friends: Heather, Dena, and Kari W. (although if any of you feel like it, I love to read these!)
U- Unknown fact about me: I was captain of the Lumberjack cheerleaders in HS.
V - Very favorite store: Target, Barnes and Noble and amazon.com (it counts as a store, right?)
W- Worst habit: popping my toes, Wade hates it
X- X-ray or Ultrasound: ultrasound, if I had to have an x-ray something would probably be broken and I've never broken a bone in my life
Y- Your favorite food: chocolate
Z- Zodiac: Pisces

Website

Have you seen this new church website? Click here to find out more - it is a great new resource!

DMU Gala 2008

This past Saturday night we were able to attend the DMU Winter Gala. It's a formal dance the school holds each year and it's tons of fun, they have great desserts - including a chocolate fountain, a live band and just a fun time. We went our first year and had a blast. Last year we had a baby sitter and tried to out to go out for dinner first but there was a huge snow storm, we were only able to make it to the mall (which is less than 5 minutes from our house) before finding out everything was closed and we could hardly make it home because of the storm. We only used our babysitter for 15 minutes!


Since this year is our last year in Des Moines I decided that nothing was going to stop us from missing our last Gala! Then little Noah had his seizure and I couldn't think of leaving him. I took him to his pediatrician Friday and she assured me he was fine. He has a much higher chance of having another when he gets a fever now, but he hasn't had a fever since and hasn't even felt warm. Still, Friday night we didn't leave him for date night. He had a fun time with Wade and I at Costco. Saturday we decided go for it and attempt to leave him.

I had my friend Lindsay (who is in cosmetology school) help me with my hair since I am clueless and I decided to go cheap and wear the same dress I wore 2 years ago. Boring, but free (well, already paid for!) Wade and I were so nervous to leave little Noah that we gave him Tylenol for no reason. It gave me a little peace of mind.

Enough with the story and on to the pictures:

We had yummy food at the Waterfront Seafood Market (not located on any waterfront) with some classmates and friends. Wade thought I didn't like my food but it tasted great, I was just really nervous about Noah. We had a great time and totally recommend the restaurant.

We then headed downtown to get our groove on.

Either the dance floor was much smaller this year or there were a lot more people. Since the class sizes at DMU keep increasing each year, I would go with the latter. You could hardly move without bumping, hitting or elbowing someone - even during slow songs. At least this year no drunk girls tried to hit on and dance with my husband (true story, they have a bar and it happened our first year!). You really can't get away with the excuse that you can't dance for not attending this because it was so crowded you couldn't really tell what anyone was doing.

The live band was awesome. At one point one guy played his guitar with his teeth. Wade was amazed. The guy had really interesting commentary during some of the songs and kept saying that we weren't bad dancers for medical students! HA!

Despite the fact that I felt a little old and silly, since it's been 10 years since my high school prom, and I was super stressed about Noah, who was sleeping peacefully at home when we returned, we had a great time.

Monday Moments

One of my favorite talks this past General Conference was Mothers Who Know by Julie Beck. I love it and have read it and re-read it several times. It gives me wonderful things to strive and work towards as a mother and wife. You can read the whole talk by clicking here. Here are some of the highlights:

Mothers who know desire to bear children. Whereas in many cultures in the world children are "becoming less valued," in the culture of the gospel we still believe in having children.

Mothers who know honor sacred ordinances and covenants. I have visited sacrament meetings in some of the poorest places on the earth where mothers have dressed with great care in their Sunday best despite walking for miles on dusty streets and using worn-out public transportation. They bring daughters in clean and ironed dresses with hair brushed to perfection; their sons wear white shirts and ties and have missionary haircuts. These mothers know they are going to sacrament meeting, where covenants are renewed. These mothers have influence and power.

Mothers who know are nurturers. This is their special assignment and role under the plan of happiness. To nurture means to cultivate, care for, and make grow. Therefore, mothers who know create a climate for spiritual and temporal growth in their homes. Another word for nurturing is homemaking. Homemaking includes cooking, washing clothes and dishes, and keeping an orderly home. Home is where women have the most power and influence; therefore, Latter-day Saint women should be the best homemakers in the world. Working beside children in homemaking tasks creates opportunities to teach and model qualities children should emulate.

Mothers who know are leaders. In equal partnership with their husbands, they lead a great and eternal organization. These mothers plan for the future of their organization. They plan for missions, temple marriages, and education. They plan for prayer, scripture study, and family home evening.

Mothers who know are always teachers. Since they are not babysitters, they are never off duty. A well-taught friend told me that he did not learn anything at church that he had not already learned at home.

Mothers who know do less. They permit less of what will not bear good fruit eternally. They allow less media in their homes, less distraction, less activity that draws their children away from their home. Mothers who know are willing to live on less and consume less of the world's goods in order to spend more time with their children—more time eating together, more time working together, more time reading together, more time talking, laughing, singing, and exemplifying. These mothers choose carefully and do not try to choose it all.

Mothers Who Know Stand Strong and Immovable. Women who know and love the Lord and bear testimony of Him, women who are strong and immovable and who do not give up during difficult and discouraging times.

Brothers

They must be brothers. Gage is 18 months in the first movie. Noah is 15 months in his. The first one has always been one of my favorite funny movies of Gage to watch!

Fun

Grandma Christiansen sent us a fun Valentine's package that got here in time, but sat in our apartment complex main office until I finally called and asked them if they had it. You have to love the fact they hold packages hostage without letting us know. We got it yesterday which was great because we are getting a little cabin feverish.

The boys loved the shredded paper filling and it made our afternoon go by so much faster. Gage wouldn't hold still the hold time - he is a blur in every single picture!

Random, but I think it's cute. Noah is our little future dentist in the making.

My poor baby Noah's hands have so many bruises! They tried 3 times to get the IV - sad:(

random other good news

This is the other random not as important good news from this week. And, Noah is feeling better. He acts fine during the day but his fever spiked again very fast last night and while he had medicine in him, it wasn't time to give it to him again. We had to wait it out. He gets lots of cuddles. Hopefully tonight will go better. We have an appointment to see his pediatrition tomorrow.

On to random goodness from this week:

We are finally gate free and proud to be. Our stairs scare the daylights out of me and I have had a gate at the top since Noah started to crawl. He has been able to go down for such a long time but I was too scared. I finally bit the bullet and we took it down Monday. So far, so good.

I have to admit I love these frozen dinner meals from Bertolli's. Wade and I watched Top Chef about them when we used to have cable - the secret is in how the freeze the sauce. I can't believe I fall for it because they are expensive - you can make it soo much cheaper. I used to have friends at the U of U joke with me and tell me I made my own homemade ketchup because I used to make every single thing from scratch. (yes, I would make homemade ketchup if my family actually like ketchup) I still make lots of things from scratch - spaghetti sauce, pancakes, rolls, bread, pizza, salsa - but when you are in a pinch for time these babies are the way to go! They are super yummy and all you have to do it is put in a pan and heat it for 10 minutes! Seriously, I've been thinking it would be a good thing to take someone as a meal when they need one - is that seriously mommy/homemaker cheating or what? The only bad thing (besides the price) is that it really only feeds two. Has anyone else tried these? Do you love them or hate them?

Noah - Wednesday

(Noah with is bear from the WDM EMT that tried to make friends with him. He never liked the EMT, but he really does love this silly bear!)

My good news this Wednesday is Noah. He gave us a big scare yesterday.

I could tell that Noah wasn’t feeling his finest yesterday but I thought he was just a little extra tired. He’s cutting at least one molar and has some more on the top that are swollen. He took his morning nap and then was really tired at 12:30, which is an hour early for his afternoon nap but since I had been fighting a migraine for the past two days I decided we would all take naps so Gage and I also slept. When Noah woke up around 3 he felt a little warm but I didn’t think it was too bad so we ran two errands that didn’t take long. Noah fell asleep in the car on the way home which I thought was a little silly but I did have the heat on in the van and he was bundled in his coat. Let me say here that I think I’m pretty conservative with medicine and doctor visits. I tried everything and anything with Gage when he was so colicky his whole first year and nothing worked. With Noah I have really held back because of this.

We got home and I cleaned up the house and started to make dinner. Noah wanted another rest; he just kept resting his head on me so I let him sleep for a short nap and then woke him up. He was having fun watching Gage and laughing at things we were all doing but still felt warm. I had dinner ready and Wade had called and would be home in 15 minutes so I decided just to sit with him on the couch. He started to cry a little so I thought I better take off his clothes so he could cool down. I didn’t want to give him Tylenol yet because they would be going to bed in a little over an hour so I thought we could just wait. I picked him up and took off his clothes and that is when he started to have a seizure.

It was the worst thing in the world I think I’ve seen. I was holding him so I kept holding him on his side and he wouldn’t stop. I called Wade and he didn’t answer, but I knew he would be home any minute. Gage was running around wanting to know what was going on and I thought Noah would stop but it seemed like eternity and he wouldn’t. I called Anne-Marie to get Gage but her husband said she wasn’t home, when I told him what was going on I freaked him out. I really thought Noah would stop so I called my sister who has a little boy who has seizures. She said if it had been longer than 3 minutes to call 911. I’m pretty sure I hung up on her at this point. (Sorry Kathy!) I dialed 911 but then heard Wade’s car door so I threw open the front door and yelled for Wade. He called 911 and took over. Noah wasn’t responding, wasn’t breathing well and was turning grey. I was trying to stay calm. It seemed like forever and he was still seizing. He started to stop convulsing right as the fire truck got to our house. I let them take over. I was trying really hard not to lose it and felt like I was in some sort of movie with all these big strange guys in my house and my poor baby lying on the floor. It had been at least 5 minutes of convulstions from when he started to when Wade got home (I watched the clock). It was probably another 5 from that point to when the crew all got there. They later apologized for being so slow. I thought they were pretty fast considering all the icy roads.


Anne-Marie came and got Gage at some point. I have to thank her for all that she did. I am so glad that we have such a good friend that lives less than 50 feet across the street from us. She fed Gage dinner, she put our dinner away (which was just sitting on the stove and would have gone bad), she got him ready for bed and when we got home they were cuddling under blankets reading books. He said he had a great time and liked to look at the fire truck the best.

We loaded Noah in the ambulance and they tried to start an IV in his hand and couldn’t get one started. He was still pretty nonresponsive and I was really scared. Poor Wade as standing outside the ambulance trying to stay out of the way. They finally decided to leave anyway and on the way to the hospital he started to come out of it and got really mad at the bald stranger EMT man and started yelling for his Dada. This was the best thing ever! It also helped the EMT find a vein and start an IV in his hand.

He was responding when he got to the hospital and he really calmed down when he finally got to see Wade. They finally let me hold him again and he fell asleep. His temperature was never higher than 101.4 so that was the strange thing to me. He’s had a high fever before that has been much higher (104) but the Dr. that we talked to said it isn’t always how high the temperature of the fever is, it’s how fast it comes on. She said I did the right thing by calling and I probably couldn't have prevented this from happening.

We were able to come home last night after about 2 or 3 hours and he is ok. They told us that about 10 percent of kids have seizures from fevers and only 10% of those 10% have reoccurring ones. We shouldn’t be worried (but we still are). I have a nephew and a sister with epilepsy. They found out that he had an ear infection (never showed any signs) so he has to be on antibiotics and we have to give him Tylenol 24 hours a day for 48 hours. I was so scared I wouldn’t hear the alarm go off last night to give him his medicine I didn’t get much sleep. We debated sleeping in his room but decided if we turned the monitor on really high that would be the best. We never use monitors so it was really hard to trust them and I just wanted to hold him and rock him all night.

A few things that this makes me wonder: Last time he had a high fever it was after his 1 year shots. This was a week after his 15 month shots. Wade says the good still outweighs the bad with shots, but it makes me wonder. I also know that last time he had a fever his arms did a jerky thing (similar to a how newborns move) one night when I was holding him. I didn’t think it was a seizure then because it wasn’t prolonged, but looking back now I have to wonder. His arms did the same time last night right before he started to convulse. I will have to talk to our pediatrician and find out more information.

Wade and our John (Anne-Marie’s husband) were able to give him a blessing last night when we got home. It was nice that we have that comfort. I am so thankful for all the help we received last night from Anne-Marie, John the EMTs, firemen (who showed up first) and for Heavenly Father blessing us that he could recover so soon. We are very blessed that he is ok. He is acting normal today, wrestling, chasing and steam rolling his brother and having fun. It is amazing how fast you can be reminded how important your life and family are to you.
(And so everyone knows, I kept praying the whole time. I think that is the only reason I didn't lose it. I lost it after when we were driving home from the hospital. Wade kept telling me it was over but I couldn't hold it in anymore. Writing this made me cry too. I really think we were blessed.)

Gala

The DMU Gala is a formal dance that is this weekend. (Some call it med-school prom) I am trying to decide what to wear and I need some votes. I am leaning towards option 4

Option 1:

Option 2 (gold) and Option 3 (pink)

Option 4

salad

Saturday was salad day at our house. We didn't plan it that way but we ended up trying a new Crab Salad Croissant recipe and then also having chicken salad sandwhiches for dinner. The crab salad was a hit! We got the recipe from a Taste of Home book that I got from Jenny in a swap. If you like crab then try this salad - it's easy and yummy!

Ingredients:
1 package (8 ounces) imitation crabmeat, chopped
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup chopped celery
2 tablespoons shredded cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
1/4 teaspoon dill weed
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
4 lettuce leaves
4 croissants, split

Directions: In a small bowl, combine the first nine ingredients. Serve on lettuce-lined croissants. Yield: 4 servings.

Sorry I didn't post it the first time, but here is the chicken salad I make:

shredded chicken breast

cut purple grapes

chopped celery

cooked and drained acini de pepe pasta (the little balls)

mayo (the real kind)

miracle whip

I mix it all together, sorry, I don't measure anything for this, I usually put equal amounts of mayo and miracle whip. Enjoy!

Math

plus

plus

snowed in weekend (church was even canceled)

equals

& Gage'e 3rd birthday pages done and 3, 2 page layouts from the pattern book!

(sorry no pictures)

laptop

I finally bought a laptop this week. It's a Gateway, which is also what Wade has. I am very excited for this! I have been saving for it and we sold and shipped my computer. Wade made fun of me because I only went without a computer for a day but I felt like it was the longest day ever. Here is Gage playing SuperWhy on it - he was so excited to try it out. My little computer desk looks so different, I would like to make it cute, but since we are moving it will probably never happen.

My Valentine

How long have you been together? We've been married 7 years and 8 months

How long did you date? We met in May but didn't start dating until October, got engaged at the end of January and married in May.

How old is he? 32

Who eats more? Wade - unless it is chocolate

Who said "I love you" first? I honestly don't remember, probably me.

Who is taller? Wade

Who sings better? we are both the same - and we joke that our kids will learn songs at church and think they are new when in fact we have been singing the song to them each night from birth.

Who is smarter? What kind of question is this? Who will answer and say their husband is smart and they are dumb - and who is going to put that their hubby is dumb and they are smart?!? We are both smart at different things. Wade is in medical school and has been very blessed with his grades. He can remember amazing things. I cannot even pronouce some of the things he has to learn. I can remeber dates, conversations, things about the family. I love to learn - just different subjects then Wade.

Who does the laundry? I do, unless Wade needs scrubs to wear and that is the only thing we need to wash. He also washes his own white coat because it's covered with groody toe clippings and yuckies and I also always made him wash his anatomy lab scrubs - I never even wanted to see what was on those!

Who does the dishes? I do - I put the dishes in the dishwasher right after we use them - even while cooking and I'm a little freaky about it. I also have to have the counters and table wiped just right.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? if you are looking at it - me

Who pays the bills? me

Who mows the lawn? the men that drive red trucks (we live in an apartment complex)

Who cooks dinner? I do but Wade is a great cook and will do it whenever I don't want too. He always is great at letting Gage sit on the counter and help. Most of the time I'm not patient enough for that.

Who is more stubborn? We both are very. You can't tell Wade to do anything, but ask him to do it and he will do anything in the world.

Who kissed who first? Wade asked if he could kiss me

Who asked who out? Wade claims he asked me out on a date that I didn't know was a date. He asked like this..."well...uhhh....a couple of us...uhhh...are going to a play....uhhhh and would you .....uhh....like to go with us........." I had no idea if this was a group thing or a date. I had money to pay for myself and everything!

Who proposed? He did, on Superbowl Sunday 2000, the poor guy never got to see the game because I was so excited and we were busy telling family.

Who is more sensitive? I am

Who has more friends? I like to think we both have a lot of friends and are able to talk to anyone and make friends easily.

Who has more siblings? me - I am number 5 of 6 and Wade is the youngest of 4.

Who wears the pants in the relationship? I like to think we have a special pair of pants with 4 legs.

Most of all Wade is such a great husband and dad. He is so great with the boys. I love his ability to make me laugh. He is a hard worker and very dedicated to anything he does. He is honest and does what is right no matter what other people are doing or saying. He is amazing! Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day

Below are some hightlights from the Valentine's lunch. Erica took pictures and I'm sure hers will be better than mine. All the kids had fun running around and there was lots of food to share.




Noah was eating some chocolate candy and sneezed and this was the result! It was the funniest thing and I think he looks a little like a vampire in the picture.



I got home from the Valentine's lunch and Wade was home and spent the whole afternoon with us! They boys told me that I needed to stay in the living room and then they all came marching out and presented me with roses! (Well, Noah ran over and hit me with it and cried with I tried to take it away!) I can count the times Wade has given me flowers on my hands and so this was a real treat. He said that he had a really busy day coming up on Thrusday and this way he could make it up to me by having the flowers to enjoy the whole day. I hope you all have a great day!

Good News Wednesday

Here's my good news for the week.
1. I got a fun swap package in the mail yesterday. It was a valentines swap and I got some fun pink jewelry, a hair bow (which Gage said was very pretty on me) and a cookie cutter with a great cookie recipe. I can't wait to try it out! Thanks Jenni!

2. Yesterday was the 12th. I took 12 pictures and can't wait to scrapbook them for my 12 book. We had a busy day - a well child appointment for Noah, a preschool valentines party for Gage at the library, baked cookies and had fun playing inside.

3. Somehow it worked out that the letter of the week this week is V, just in time for Valentine's Day!

4. Gage still naps. I had no idea how many people didn't have nappers anymore, especially kids younger than Gage. He naps every day for an hour and he still sleeps goes to bed at 8 and sleeps until 7. On days he doesn't nap (Sunday) he goes to bed at 7:30. I have seen him on days he doesn't nap and I don't suggest it. I am going to milk this for as long as it lasts.

5. We are headed to a fun Valentine's Day lunch today. It's potluck and I'm taking homemade pizza. This is the same lunch that I got to scrapbook about yesterday!

What's your good news?

naptime

The good thing about being behind with scrapbooking is that I still get to scrapbook the season that we are in - just the previous year. Shh...don't tell Wade, I did a whole 2 page layout with the boys and not a drop of blue or green on the page! Now I get to scrap Gage's 3rd birthday. I only have 17 days until his 4th one!

I usually read during nap time but have been crafting lately. What do you do during nap time? I am going to have such a hard time when Gage grows out of naps!

Monday Moments

I spent the last two hours of our Monday morning doing some visiting teaching for my church. If you aren't familiar with what this is it is a program for all the sisters in our congregation to fellowship each other and share a gospel message each month. I have a partner assigned to me and we visit 3 other sisters in our ward (congregation). I also have other sisters in turn visit me. It's such a fun program and I love it. This month we met a super fun girl who is new and I'm so glad that I know have the opportunity to get to know her. Each month we are given a lesson that we can teach from. The lesson this month was about families and here is one of my favorite quotes from this the lesson this month.

Margaret S. Lifferth, first counselor in the Primary general presidency: “In today’s world, children will need not only a devoted mother and father, but they will need each of us to protect, teach, and love them. … Personal obedience and example in every part of our lives are the ultimate gospel lessons for children. So study, learn, and apply the gospel.”

sale

I apologize in advance for the boring post.


If you or anyone you know is looking for a new computer I am selling my desktop. I purchased it in May of 2007 and you can still buy it brand new in the store, don't think that I'm selling a dinosaur model. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it - in fact, it's small, compact and I love it. Really this is coming down to the fact that we are going to be moving at least 3 times in the next year and I really should have purchased a laptop.

I have the original packaging and will ship it for you. You can read more about it by clicking {here} or {here}. Below is a brief summary of the specifics. If you want to know my asking price or more information please email me at: wadeanddebbi@gmail.com. (And - before anyone makes the comment, I've had it listed on craigslist for a while, and that is why I'm posting about it on here.)

HP Pavilion Slimline s3323w Desktop PC w/ AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core Processor 4800+
Some specifics are: AMD Athlon 64 processor 3800+ Delivers fast 64-bit processing power along with enhanced virus protection 1024 MB PC2-4200 DDR2 memory Offers high performance along with the option of expanding up to 2 GB 250 GB SATA hard disk drive, 7200rpm More than enough space for your files, photos, music and even videos SuperMulti DVD burner with dual-layer capability Play and burn CDs and DVDs in the most popular formats with ease 15-in-1 digital media reader Reads all major memory card formats and Memory Sticks for convenient uploads Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition Latest operating system enhances your computing experience Additional software Ready to go with Microsoft Works 8, Roxio Creator and more useful

Swap

I hope all the readers out there are receiving their swap packages. I don't know how she did it, but I received my package from Heather before you could even say "Swap".

She sent some fun bookmarks (not seen in the picture because the boys took over them), a fun kids craft magazine, a cookbook magazine (not pictured because I loved it and so did my friend Crystal, she already borrowed it to copy recipes!), some fun books for the kids (some are also missing because Gage is holding them hostage in his room and won't let me take them!), and my favorite, the whole collection of Jane Austen's 7 novels! I actually had this book in my hand at Barnes and Noble the earlier in the day that she sent it to me and was thinking I would ask for it for my birthday. I have a few of her novels, but this book is a really nice looking collection! I love it - and obviously my boys love it because they won't let me take pictures of some of the books!

Remeber to post pictures of your package when you recieve it so we can all see what you got! I hope everyone enjoys their package as much as I loved mine!

scraps

I've been busy this past weekend creating a few scrapbooks. Since Valentine's Day is coming up and I signed up for a swap, I decided I could finally scrapbook with fun pink things!

When Erica posted the picture on her blog I couldn't wait to get my hands on it and scrapbook it. I never do pages out of order and I have no idea if this will ever make it to a book, but it was really fun to put together.
Here are two of the blank Valentine books I made - you can click on the picture to make it larger.
This is the book I put together of the boys for Wade's birthday. Sunday morning I decided to put a navy fleese blanket up in the living room and try to take good pictures. I would have called my friend Erica, but she was at church and then Wade really would have known I was up to something. The ones of Gage turned out really well, and little Noah wouldn't sit down or stop moving. I definatly want to try this again and I'm pretty happy with the book, it was simple and I was able to make the whole thing during nap time this afternoon.

Thirty, plus or minus a few

Happy Birthday to Wade! Today 32 years ago he was born in American Fork, Utah and weighed a big 10 pounds and 12 ounces! In the almost 8 years that we've been married I am reminded each day what a great guy he is, he's a wonderful husband that makes me laugh and a great dad who the boys adore.

He puts up with my crazy blogging habits and I decided that it was time we heard from him on his special day. So I had him answer a few questions, here is what Wade had to say:

Name:
Wade
Age:
25
Favorite color:
Pink, no…blue
Favorite season:
Spring
Favorite food:
Mexican
Favorite snack:
7 layer dip
Favorite beverage:
Juice
If you had a million dollars how would you spend it?
Wisely
5 years ago you were:
Wondering what the heck I was doing with my life
5 years from now you will be:
Established
Hobbies:
Basketball, hiking, hunting, canyonering, mountain biking, hanging out with my wife and kids, Xbox
Favorite memory:
One of my favorites has to be when Gage told us on Christmas morning last year after seeing his train table, “I am so happy!”
Favorite book:
Lord of the Rings
Favorite movie:
Lord of the Rings
If you could meet anyone in the world – past or present - who would it be:
Joseph Smith
If you could be a tree what kind would you be?
Oak
How do you feel about turning 32?
Not good
Share your wisdom, older one:
Don’t sweat the small stuff
Dream vehicle:
Mustang mach one in silver and black and a Ford F350 (highboy)
Favorite day of the week:
Friday
Something you use every day:
My computer
Why do you want to be a podiatrist?
Because I love feet, haha
Favorite band (s):
Def Leopard, Creed, Ryan Shupe and the Rubber Band
Dream vacation:

Alaksa
Greatest Accomplishment:
Having a family
What's the worst thing about turning 32:
Everything hurts
What’s great about turning 32:
It’s not 42

Published

So at the end of last year I really wanted to find a way to publish my blog. I wanted to keep the record in a nice book and I searched through a lot of different web blog publishing site to find a perfect one. Some site I found I really liked but they weren't able to work with blogger, I then came across the company {{{Blurb.}}}



Blurb is a really user friendly site that can upload or "slurp" your blog post into a book. You the select your templates, the posts you want, add some personal touches and wa-la, you are published! You can publish blog books, cook books, wedding books, anything you little heart desires and you can sell your book! It's all bookstore quality.


I started editing my book early on in January and my goal was to finish the book and have it published by the end of the month. (check!) I didn't really want to tell anyone about this venture until I saw my finished product, and I have to say it was totally worth it. I turned the entire year of 2007, which the exception of a few crazy or silly posts, into a 200 page book and I love it! It was about $40, which I think is a very fair price for a 200 page softback book.

The only problems I see with the book now after reviewing the product in my hand is I wish I had not done so many photo collages, they were really hard to enlarge and didn't turn out so well on the pages. You can only put one post on a page, so I had to get creative with some templates and photo options. I love that I have this past year in a book!

If you want to look into publishing your blog, I think Blurb is the way to go - click on it for their site. I have my friend Crystal to thank for the cute cover page, she is really talented with digital scrapbooking.





Any takers? You can purchase my book! I know you are all dying to purchase your copy of Christiansen Chronicles 2007!