The Adventures of Shennim

Reverb 10 - Week 2

2010-12-14T15:17:00.001-08:00

December 8 - Beautifully Different

What makes me different... What do I do that makes others light up... Why is this such a hard question? I am different because I want to see you smile. I want to do something that makes you feel that surge of warm happiness inside, because I know how rare that feeling is. I will tell you the truth. Whether is showing you how beautiful you are in a photo I take, to sitting there online as you open up and vent... I will do it. Oh, I probably say the wrong thing at too many times. But trust me, when I do I feel even crappier than you do. Does this make me different, and beautiful? I don't know. But its what I have.

December 9 - Party
I have no true social life. So, selecting which party "rocked my socks off" was a very slim selection. Of course any social gathering I have with my friends is always amazing. I miss them all, alot. But I guess the only actual party I went to this year, that comes to mind at least, was the NaNoWriMo KickOff Party.
Come on, a room full of other Portland peers, all there for one reason: Their love of writing. How much better can that get? Yes, we supplied ourselves quite nicely with candy and soda. Then we sat and talked about our novel ideas, our triumphs, and our expected fails. It was more than awesome. It was the gathering I have been craving. The permission to be the geek that I am.

December 10 - Wisdom
The wisest decision I made this year. It would most likely have to be the decision to ignore all my fears and rational thoughts, and accept the WriMo challenge. I know I talk a ton about it. And for good reason. I should have chickened out of it. Come on... write a novel in 30 days? While having two kiddos, keeping house, plus who knows what else? Anyway, I never had finished any novel. I knew I wouldn't finish this. How could I?
I ignored my thoughts though, and let the challenge happen. What happened? You should know. I finished my first rough draft ever. And I feel amazing, even to this day. I am one huge step closer to accomplishing a dream I have had for my entire life, and that there makes it a VERY wise decision.

December 11 - 11 Things
11 things in my life that I don't need in 2011. Oh my...
1. My laziness. How many bills have been late, how many dishes have stacked high, how many photos do I still have to edit... all because I sit and think "Oh, I am just... going to do that later." I need to kick myself in the butt much more... and get off my butt in a sense and do the things I want and have to do. Life is waiting people!
2. My weakness. I feel physically week. And its not cool. I used to be in track, and good at it. I liked my body (well, enough... who really loves their body?) I even had some muscle in my arms that was a feminine flex worthy. Now... I feel like flab. So, I need to get back on my exercising bus.
3. Stacks of laundry. You know the drill. Let the basket fill up until its spilling out. Wash everything. Let the pile of clean clothes sit for weeks, until most are either dirty again or so wrinkly that they need to be washed again anyway. And... repeat. I am an expert at this. Its an expertise I wish I did not have. So, laundry, watch it. I am coming for you.
4. Spending. I am not a horrible spender. But I do know I spend a few extra bucks here and there when I really do not need to. Yes, we need our goodies. But I need to make it a prize, not an impulse.
5. On that note... Debt. We are in it, who isn't? Well, I don't want to be anymore. Credit cards were a BAD idea, and that idea is now being smacked upside the head and sent bye-bye. come tax returns, chunks will be paid, cards will be snipped, and we will make our way out of the stress of the in debt life.
6. No Me-Time. I am a stay at home mommy of two amazing little boys, and my husband works long hours at work. I love my "job," but the issue with being a SAHM is... you never get time off. Day, night, its all the same. And I am going nuts. I feel lost... Writing is one of my ways out. But I need to actually GET out.
7. Diet. I do not diet. I am very much so on the see food diet, and I love it. My issue? I don't eat the healthiest. I skip meals... I eat lots of candy... Mt Dew... I love you Mt Dew. This is most likely a leading reason why I always feel so weak, and lazy... So, "healthier" foods, whatever you end up being, time to be munched.
8. Exhaustion. I need to get to bed earlier. Enough said.
9. Finger biting. This is my bad habit. I don't bite my nails... but more so the skin around them. It hurts, all the time. And doesn't look pretty either. It has been a bad habit of mine since late elementary school, and I hate it. But I never seem able to stop. I need to. I have no idea how I will go about doing that, but now that I have stated it, I am bound.
10. Loneliness. Granted, some loneliness you cannot avoid. It is part of life. But I could try to get out more. Get to church more. Arrange play dates more. Go on hubby dates. Lots of things. I need to chase away the loneliness.
11. My excuses to not write. Pretty much fixing everything I just listed will help with this. I have been working hard on writing more, and it feels amazing. This next year... I need to keep that up. I am me when I write, and what is better than that?

December 12 - Body Integration
Well, naturally, I felt pretty integrated with my body this year when I gave birth to my little boy. That is probably one of the most in tune events you can experience. Since then though... I have been at sorts. Being chunky and preggo the first half of the year then spending the rest trying to get that to go away does a number on your integration.

December 13 - Action
"Action When it comes to aspirations, it’s not about ideas. It’s about making ideas happen. What’s your next step?" My next step is so obvious I feel like a broken record for repeating it as often as I do. Ready? EDIT!

December 14 - Appreciate
I have truly come to appreciate this little family of mine. Though they drive me crazy, wear me out, and try me every second of the day... where was I going with that? No, really... I sit and watch my kiddos play and grow. I kiss my hubby, listen to him talk and laugh. And I realize how truly lucky I am to have this amazing family I have helped to create. Baby number two wasn't planned, not on our end. But with out him, our family was never complete. I love all my boys, so much, and am so thankful every day that I got to draw this straw.

Reverb 10 - Week 1

2010-12-09T11:04:00.000-08:00

(I posted this on my writing blog, and thought it would be nice to post here too!)

A writing friend of mine, Kim, posted this on her blog. I totally love the idea behind it, so I am stealing it from her and doing it too. It will be a great way to get my brain moving again, in prep for the mad editing I have laying in wait ahead of me.

According to their website: "Reverb 10 is an annual event and online initiative to reflect on your year and manifest what's next. The end of the year is an opportunity to reflect on what's happened, and to send out reverberations for the year ahead. With Reverb 10, we'll do both."

Simply, they give you a prompt a day, and you answer it. In interest of the fact that I am still not a decent blogger, I am going to just do a weekly post of that week's prompts, instead of daily. So, let's dive in shall we!

December 1 - One Word

My one word for 2010 would have to be "showcase." This wasn't the easiest year for me. Aside from some personal issues that need not be delved into, we had huge bill problems, birthed a baby, depression came back full swing, both kids got dislocated arms, oh the list can go on. Its no where near as bad as other people's lists, but still, it is my list. The year wasn't all bad though. We got our newest family member, who is one of the cutest babies ever. I finished my first draft of my first novel. Good things have happened. And I hope more do next year. Hence my word for the coming year to be "Hopeful."

December 2 - Writing

"Writing. What do you do each day that doesn’t contribute to your writing — and can you eliminate it?" (Author: Leo Babauta)

Things that don't contribute to my writing... let's see... First thing that comes to my mind are my kiddos. I can't eliminate them, but I'm sure I can find a better balance that what I have right now. Other than that: Facebook, StumbleUpon, the internet in general. Reading books. Wanting to sleep or just zone out mindlessly into television. Yeah... I have a lot prioritizing to work on come 2011!

December 3 - Moment

Its hard to pick a moment in which I felt most alive. Do I pick the birth of my second son? Writing the last sentence in my first novel? They are so close to being a tie...So here, I will pick the one that takes up a little less time :)

I sat at my computer, typing like mad, knowing how close I was to finally finishing. Some how I had succeeded in getting both kiddos to take naps, and the apartment was silent aside from my music lightly playing and the mad tap-tap of the keyboard.

I didn't know exactly when it would end. I had not fully planned it. Until that final sentence was written and I stopped and stared. That was it. I couldn't go on. This was the end. My heart fluttered and jumped, a strange mix of pure joy and odd anxiety. Had I said enough? Not enough? Did I really just finish the first draft? I did it!

I sat back and couldn't stop staring, a smile spreading on my face. I could have ran for miles that day. I felt like shouting in joy, bursting into tears, laughing like a maniac. I was alive.

December 4 - Wonder

Cultivating a sense of wonder... I do not need to cultivate. I have two imaginative little boys that keep me laughing at the wonders of life every second of the day. So I guess you could say I cultivated it when I conceived each of them... which wasn't this year... so it doesn't count. Along with that, I did remake my dining room into my writing den. I really do think it helped, a lot, with my writing adventures. It is wonder...full...

December 5 - Let Go

This is hard. This is something I am still working on, and have not yet fully succeeded. But what I let go of was: The battle for love. I always feel like I need to try hard, to always get everyone to love me and want me around. But the thing is, how often does that backfire? How often am I just wearing myself out on a useless case? This is something I have done my entire life, and just this year I realized that I needed to change it. If they are going to love me, they will love me. I shouldn't need to try so hard, every second of the day. I am me. Love me or leave me.

December 6 - Make

This year I made a lot of things. A baby for one. :) And I have gotten back into baking and cooking. Discovering a tuna casserole my husband will actually eat. Banana chocolate chip cookies. My first ever apple pie. Oh yes, and I "made" a novel. The first draft anyhow. Materials: my brain and insanity. What do I want to make next year? Hm... the final draft? Maybe? Oh, and my first successful loaf of bread. Yeast, I will not kill you this time, I swear!

December 7 - Community

This has been something hard for me, living down here. Up on the island I lived on my entire life, the sense of community was so strong you could eat it. Here... not so much. I have felt almost lost. Then came November and I met my online, occasionally in person, community of writers. They made me like this area, finally. WriMos, I love you. This next year I hope to stay in contact with them more, attend the random writing groups that are hopefully forming... in essence: Be a writer.

(even though today is the 9th, I want to only do one week's prompts at a time. So... on the 14th there shall be more!)

Its been a long time

2010-11-24T13:43:00.000-08:00

Hello friends!
Believe it or not, I DO exist! I can't believe the last time I updated this was when I was 30 weeks along with Conner. I kept thinking to myself that I need to get on here and tell everyone the happenings in our lives, but each time I would, something would distract me and I would forget. oo, shiney...

I apologize to those of you who do not facebook and have been missing out on the photos and updates of the last few months. But, in the interest of time, I will just begin from NOW...and someday catch up on everything else in more detail some other time!

First! Conner Zachary Merritt was born May 28th! We decided on his full name a few hours after he was born (took a bit of a debate...) He is such an amazing little man! My labor was VERY fast and easy (I do need to post a post about that...) and there were no complications at all, thank goodness.

Conner will be turning 6 months old in just a few days. Oh my! I can't believe how much time has flown. He is such a happy little man, always wanting to cuddle and be loved. I find it amazing how different your children truly can be. Rylend was always out for a laugh, crawling by 5 months, two teeth in and weaned by four. Conner...he is still all gums, all smiles, and just mastered the rolling stage of life. And my oh my is he a love, always wanting to cuddle and make sure everyone nearby is loving him too. He has been such an amazing addition to our family, and I am SO thankful for him! He is my little Conman, and he knows it.

Rylend. This boy is growing fast! He is now obsessed with Santa Claus (I am very glad to see the Halloween and "ooOOooo" obsession go away for the time being!) and is always talking up a storm. I have recently discovered the singer Mika, and whenever I play his CD, Rylend busts out in awesome dancing. I wish I knew where he got all of this non stop energy...and that he would share some with mommy! He is also now obsessed with baking, and loves to count whenever he gets the chance. Smarty.

We have just decided that this bag of diapers will be the last. Hopefully. We attempted potty training a few months ago and it was an epic fail. But now Rylend is barely fitting into the size 6 diapers, and is more than ready in every other aspect. So...wish us luck! I can't believe he is over 2 1/2 now...

Shane. Shane got a promotion at work and is very happy with it. He loves the responsibility and choices he has now been given. I love seeing how happy he is, most days, when he comes home from work. Only problem with his new position is he has to deal with the more stupid side of people more often...but Shane is amazing and handles it with ease.

Me. I have healed up great from having Conner. Am back into my pre-pregnancy clothing. Am exhausted every day after chasing after, feeding, and loving my little boys. I finally donated my hair like I have been wanting to for years (cut off about 14 inches!) And on top of that:

I did NaNoWriMo this year. (National Novel Writing Month...write 50,000 words in 30 days!) I was so afraid I would fail...but an amazing friend of mine joined with me and by day 14...I had won! I am still a tiny bit off from finishing the first draft of my novel, but man does winning feel amazing! All I win is a printable certificate and bragging rights, but really, that's all I need. Who knows how far this novel will go...but at least now I know I can do it! (If you want to follow my writing, follow my blog at jennimerritt.blogspot.com )

Phew! Talk about summarizing 6 months in a few very short paragraphs! I can't promise how often I will update this now, but I am aiming for AT LEAST once a month. I hope you all are doing awesome! Please comment me and let me know anything and everything... I miss everyone! Being a stay at home mom away from most people I know can suck. But aside from my non stop mommy duties, I am trying to find ways to stay distracted and busy... :)

30 weeks along!

2010-03-29T18:27:00.001-07:00

I had my doc checkup today.

Everything is going great. Baby's heartbeat was at 140, and I am still measuring just right. Can you believe I am 30 weeks now?? Well, to be super technical, I am about 30.5 weeks...haha! Shane and I keep finding we have moments where we "realize" how close we are. We just look at each other and say "Wow..." We are so excited, but very nervous too. Two kiddos is a big step from one. Breathe...

Aside from the indigestion, back pain, pelvic pain, exhaustion, and other such things...I am doing great. Definitely feeling huge! The baby looooves to move, so much that it actually hurts pretty often, which isn't fun. But it is still awesome to see my stomach doing the baby dance. And Rylend loves to kiss it and blow raspberries...VERY cute

Oh, and for those of you who wonder: No, we have not settled on a name yet. Middle name is for sure Zachary. But as for the first name...well we don't need it set until we are leaving that hospital. We have a few we do like (the two in the lead are Conner and Jackson) but nothing is definite yet. So...you all just have to be patient until little baby boy #2 is born!

I thought to add these photos just for fun. Rylend LOVES stickers. And decided that today, mommy's belly needed to be decorated. It was too fun. I love my little man :)

Jenni's new writing blog

2010-03-17T17:24:00.001-07:00

As most of you know, I love to write. But I also suck at actually getting about to DOING it. This last weekend Shane took me to the bookstore and had me pick out some writing books, since we can't afford for me to take the classes I would love to take. Then I got an idea. I started a writing blog. One of the books I got is a writing prompts book, and I have set myself a goal: Write a prompt a day. Hopefully it will get me back into the swing of writing and I just may finish one of my books...someday. I post my prompts on the blog, along with other facts and tips I find about writing. I am really liking this and am excited about it. Sadly, I haven't got much feedback, or any I guess, but then again, I did just start it. If you ever feel like taking a look through the new blog, please do! Then...comment to me so I know you did! Its something I am really working on. Something for myself amidst all the mommy duties of my life. And I do need support. I just thought to let you all know! Here is the link

theliteralme.blogspot.com

"Writing is a journey, not an event"

All about Rylend, the update

2010-03-17T16:59:00.000-07:00

I haven't been very good at updating this blog lately...sorry about that! I'm not sure how many of you are reading it, but I like to think I am keeping someone out there updated. This entry will be about *drumroll* Rylend!

Can you believe he will be two in just about 2 weeks? Its just crazy. I can't believe how big he is getting! And smart too. VERY smart. People we meet all think he is at least three. Even my doc, who just met him for the first time today, was surprised to hear he wasn't even two yet. My little man is now fitting into most 4t shirts, and 3t pants. Almost size 9 shoes...crazy crazy.

He is really talking more too. The other day he was hiding in the cupboard under the tv (he thinks its a fort) and I was asking him questions. He kept answering "No" and "Um...no" so I asked "Why do you keep saying no?" His response? "I not sayin no!" Oh my... sadly though, he is also very much so, full blown, in his terrible twos. I have been at wits end too many times to count now. Temper tantrums, demanding, refusing to nap, screeching... I can't wait for this phase to GO AWAY, ha.

Then he does something cute, and I remember why I love him. His new ritual? Every morning he wakes up, then comes into our room. Climbs into our bed and snuggles down between us, says "nigh night" then dozes back off for a bit with us. I love it. I wake up finally to him saying "oh mama" all loving, hugging me, then jumping on the bed. Its a nice start. With Shane's new work schedule, he is home in the mornings. So now the boys have breakfast together as mommy rests a little more. They have found the joy in building forts with blankets and giggle inside together, its quite cute. Then I come out of the room "mama!" and a happy boy running to hug me...most days.

Rylend obsessions? Lately it has been "Ty-ee" (Thomas the steam engine), "Caws" (Pixar's Cars), "Buzzy" (Toy Story), and of course "Ah-mee" (Walle). He has some shoes with Thomas on them, and runs around carrying them yelling "Ty-ee Ty-eeeee!" Also, he has started to grab my hand, then hold it tight as he pulls me to his room. Then he makes me sit down and we HAVE to play with all his toys. Today he pulled me in, sat me on his bed, then said "shh" and walked out of the room shutting the door. Whenever I tried to leave, he pushed me back in and shut the door again, saying "shh" I guess it was my nap time...

He is quite an amazing little boy. He knows where the baby is (pats and blows raspberries on my belly), yells "I did it!" everytime he does anything, and is already ready to great anyone with a hi and share big hugs. My little man...getting big! And before we know it, he will have a little brother to teach all of his "darling" tricks to.

28 weeks!

2010-03-17T16:32:00.000-07:00

Can you believe it? I'm in the third trimester! This is so crazy...in just a couple more months I will be a mommy of two. Its amazing how fast life moves. Though, at the same time...days are just dragging by now. Will June get here?

Ok, pregnancy update. Everything is going fine. I went in and saw my doc for my checkup today. He measured my belly and told me that its measuring perfectly. Which is good, because I don't feel perfect; I feel HUGE. Shane and Rylend came too, and my doc let Rylend push the button on the little heartbeat-listening device. Rylend thought it was amazing to push the bitton. I love hearing that heartbeat. Today also was the "beloved" glucose test. Luckily this time I got orange flavor instead of fruit punch (I hate normal fruit punch...glucose enhanced fruit punch was AWFUL!) I wont know the results from that test for a bit, but I'm sure it was fine. I can tell you one thing though...not wanting that orange soda now that's sitting in my fridge! (mmm but pineapple sounds good. ultimate craving this time around = fresh pineapple. Can't have enough!)

I have been having REALLY bad back pain with this pregnancy. Probably doesnt help that I have to pick up my son constantly, who I just found out is now in the 90th percentile for weight (about 32 lbs) and the 80th for height (35 inches). The baby is sitting lower than Rylend did too. My doc gave me a vicoden prescription. The one time I tried it...it did nothing. Just my luck huh? And there are days where whenever I move around, I have to hold my belly because my lower ab/pelvic area HURTS. Yeah...maybe I'm not fully enjoying this pregnancy this time around...but I am still very excited to have the little boy soon! (About names...we think we know the name, but have decided to not fully announce it to the world just yet. Just in case!) Oh, and I waddle. That should make some of you chuckle.

Everything is going good though. I am now at the point where I will see my doc every two weeks (oooo) I DO have a baby registry at Amazon. I have set everything to the priority we need it...just click "sort by priority." There are still things we need...but we are almost there!

Ok, heres the pics!

I am planning on trying to take some nice pics of my belly. This was a test one, just to see if the lighting in my living room will work. Still...I like it

28.5 weeks! (March 17, 2010)

Just had to include this one. My two little boys haha :)

24 weeks

2010-02-12T13:38:00.000-08:00

Today marks 24 weeks pregnant! I cant believe I am now 6 months along...its crazy! I dont really have much new to report since my last post. I see my doc again in a few weeks. Until then, just feeling this little guy squirm and move around. And watching my belly slowly grow bigger and bigger. I am to that lovely point where I go to bed and can't fall asleep until about midnight or one. Then I wake up every time I want to change position. Then I have to go to the bathroom. Then...sigh I feel like I never sleep. And I never know during the day if Rylend will nap that day or not. I am pretty worn out.
Oh! But at least some good news, for once. Shane got his promotion at work. Its a small raise once he is trained...and new hours. He will be home during the early part of the day and working at night now. We are excited for the change and hopeful money increase...but I will miss him. We went in the other day to apply for food stamps. Yes, we are at that point. Can you believe this? We BARELY qualified. Like...we are right at the cut off line. So the help we are getting is barely anything...I hate this cut off line. They seem to only help the people who dont work at all, and rarely help the ones who are TRYING to work, just not earning enough. But a little is still something...I guess.
Ever since we set up Rylend's big kid bed, we have made it a night time routine to say family prayer before he goes to sleep. And he loves it. He jumps into his bed and Shane and I kneel on the floor by it. We take turns saying it every other night, and Rylend folds his arms, bows his head, and is very quiet until we say amen. I love it. The other day I was at the computer and he was playing with some toys in the living room. Suddenly he ran over to me and made me fold my arms. Then he folded his, bowed his head, and glanced at me. I got the hint and said a quick, small prayer. After I finished he looked at me, smiled, said "Amen!" then ran off to play again. Its moments like those that your heart melts. I will be sad when our routine changes and Shane isn't home anymore for night time prayer. But we have decided we will start morning prayer once the change happens. I love it. I love my little family.

Ok, here are my 24 week preggo pics for all those of you who wanna see the bulge!

Rylend and his big kid bed!

2010-02-01T13:33:00.001-08:00

A bit over a week ago we decided to take the plunge and move Rylend into his big kid bed. He was very confused when we were taking apart his beloved crib. It was a tough time for him. But he got to help Daddy put together his new bed, which he totally loved. That first night wasn't TOO bad. But the next day...no nap. No way. He sleeps at night just fine in it. Though there have been the few times we find him curled up on the ground instead of in bed. But when it comes to nap time...it is mostly gone now. The second day, when he didnt nap, he was SO tired by dinner time that he passed out in his chair. We moved him to his bed, changed his diaper, and let him fall back asleep. When I checked on him later, he had taken off his diaper and was sleeping on his belly, his bare little bum up in the air. It was too cute.
Anyway! Here are some photos I have snapped of his new bed and him. Hope you like! My little man...getting bigger!

Helping Daddy put his bed together

TA-DA! No more crib!

Hugging his kitties :)

I snuck in and took a pic of him sleeping...so cute

This is what happens when he doesn't take a nap...HA!

Ultrasound #3!

2010-02-01T13:16:00.000-08:00

A week ago I had my doc appointment and the long ultrasound where they measure everything to see if the baby is all good. As far as we know from what the woman doing the ultrasound said, everything looks great. She had to chase the little guy around though...he just doesn't like to sit still! And he kept covering his face, like he was saying "No...don't look at me!" I love being able to take that sneak peek at the baby. And Shane actually got off work early enough to make it this time, which TOTALLY made me happy. With his work schedule, he has never been able to make it to my doc appointments with me. And missed the ultrasound where we found out the gender. But he was there this time, so all is good.

And yes, it is still a boy haha. We are starting to settle on the name. Its still a spelling battle for us, but I have a feeling it will end up Conner Zachary Merritt. (I like the "e" better so there!)

Here are the ultrasound pics. I will take another belly pic...soon...

See...still a boy. LOL

His little feet...one is on top of the other

His arms...he was holding his hands together. Way cute

These two are his profile. He was sucking in his bottom lip, causing his top lip to stick out far. It was cute. :)

20 Weeks!

2010-01-22T09:01:00.000-08:00

Well, last friday I hit 2o weeks! I know... this should be labeled "21 Weeks" but oh well...lol

Yup! The half way mark has now come...and gone. Crazy how time flies huh? Before we know it, we will be having another little boy in our home. I am still mega nervous about that. But I think we will do ok. Right now Rylend is obsessed with babies. Everytime he sees one, he just HAS to yell out "BABY!" and run up to kiss it. Last night I put a diaper on his kitty...oh man he loved that. He kept giggling and saying "poo poo" then kissing his "baby" and carrying it around.

We went up to the island this last week for a visit. 9i will post an entry later with more pics from that) While there, my friend Jessie threw me a small baby shower. Only about 5 or so people showed up, but we had fun. Jessie, Megan and her mom went in together and got us the new diaper bag we wanted. We love the one we have, but it will NOT be big enough for two kiddos. The brand is called Dadgear. Its amazing! We got the backpack version...and I have promised myself I will not wear it in until the baby is here. (If you want to check out the bags, the website is www.dadgear.com) Also, my friend Jamie handed down her pack and play to us. AWESOME since we REALLY needed that. The crib wont fit in our room and plus, we just dont own one. And you just HAVE to love hand-me-downs! We got a few other things too. A baby swing, clothes, some toys, and an awesome baby name book from my mom called "Sci-Fi Baby Names" Basically it just lists a ton of different names that have appeared in scifi movies...perfect book for us! Good choice mom! We only have a few more things that we need before this little guy gets here. Phew.

Last night I set up the pack and play in our room and started sorting baby stuff. I pulled out all the newborn and 0-3 month clothes we have, filled the bottom with baby toys, cuddled with the two baby blankets we got at the shower...I loved it. Rylend kept trying to put his kitty to bed in the pack and play, throwing it in and going "shh" I think Rylend is starting to notice something is about to change. He has become super needy of mommy, always needing to be in my lap or at my feet. In fact, he is sitting in my lap this very moment lol. Sigh...I love my little man.

So yes, we are in the last half now. I am feeling ok. My back is starting to hurt more, and the energy has yet to come back. I am very much so showing. You know, I really dont feel that big. Compared to my stomach at this time with Rylend, I am practically around the same size. So it really makes me self conscience when someone sees me and makes comments like "Wow! Sure its not twins!?" or "You so big already!" Really...wrong things to say to someone who is already out of their comfort zone. Then I spend the rest of the day feeling huge and fat...sigh. Just venting. The baby is moving a lot more. Some days I barely notice him. Others, like yesterday, it felt like he didnt STOP moving all day. And, just like with Rylend, everytime Shane rushes over to feel the baby move...it stops. Haha...

We are still working at the name game. We were liking Jackson for a while, but all of the Michael Jackson jokes got old REALLY fast, plus I didnt like how it was the number 3 name for 2009. Sigh. So now we are maybe thinking of Connor. Or Conner. Believe it or not, both spellings have a different meaning. Connor means wolf lover. Conner means hunter. I originally just found it and liked it. Then realized it is kinda after Shane's Grandpa Harward who passed a while ago (Conrad). Shane mostly likes it because its the last name of a character in one of his all time favorite movies. (John Conner...The Terminator...yeah lol) So yeah, we will see. My deadline is the baby must be named by the time we are leaving the hospital...in June...so we still have some time. Still, what do you think?
Connor Zachary Merritt...
or Conner Zachary Merritt...
hmmm

Ok well to wrap this entry up for now...heres my belly! HA!

And the new baby is a....

2009-12-31T09:13:00.000-08:00

I went in for a quick ultrasound yesterday after my doc appointment. Sadly, Shane wasn't able to be there. Sucky thing with his job: he cant really just get off early, unless its an emergency. But I did have my friend Penny there with me. Well, the doc put the dopplar on my stomach and right away we were in the right spot. I saw what the baby was with no prob, but he went on explaining all the body parts we were seeing. My doc is a really nice guy who gets very excited about finding out the gender, almost as excited as you are. It makes it more fun.

Well, right when he pointed between the legs and announced. "And that is a ... BOY..." the baby spread its legs WAY out and made sure we could really see that he was a little boy, right on cue. Yup everyone. We are having another little:

BOY!

And right after we saw that, we saw the little guy start to pee. I know, that sounds weird...but it was cool to see. A little stream going out for a bit, then stopping. It was just cool...seeing my baby not only there, but already functioning and living.

I have to admit, I was sad. Shane and I were both really hoping for our little girl. Its funny. All growing up I just had this feeling like I would have daughters. It was never a question in my mind that I would. Now I am having my second son. I guess thats proof that things don't always go as you are so sure they will...but yes, we ARE excited. For one...we get to save a heck of a lot of money on clothes. There are only a few things we are needing for this second kiddo, all of which are on my baby registry if you are curious (Mainly a new breast bump since my first one got lost...a pack and play...lots and lots of diapers...a new play gym since ours was old and deplete...and yeah.)

But for two...I do love our little boy. Rylend is such an amazing kid, so full of happiness and love. I am very excited to have another sweet little one like him. And now he gets that brother every boy loves having. My family was the same way: two boys then me. And my brothers were always close growing up. So this will be another great adventure.

My belly is poking out more. Rylend laughs at it when he sees it, then lifts up his own shirt to show off HIS belly. Such a funny kid...

Now we are onto the project of picking a name...we have a few we are kind liking. We have a few months left though to really decide. Haha we shall see...

Ok, thats it for this post! Here are all the pics from yesterday! ENJOY!!!!!

BOY!

This was when he spread his legs all wide. Haha

You might not be able to see it too well, but he is looking right at the camera in this one. His face is on the left. there are two dark circles for his eyes, a white bump where his nose is, and then a dark circle under. His mouth was open. Aw...I love it.

His little profile. Sadly, it blurred a bit. Maybe we will get a better one next time.

You can see one arm, then his fingers of the other hand above it. He was running his fingers around in the fluid. It was cute.

These are both pics of my belly I took yesterday just before my doc appt. 17.5 weeks along. ooo

And here is the link to our registry. Any help would be VERY nice, but please, money is tight. If you cant get us anything, do not stress about it. We will make due!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/baby/3FWJRFGGZL1ZZ

Here comes Santa Clause!

2009-12-20T12:02:00.000-08:00

We went yesterday (saturday) to see Santa. My friend Jessie was visiting for the weekend with her hubby Ian and little girl Theresa (T is 6 months younger than Rylend). We thought it would be fun to all see Santa together. So after breakfast we bundled everyone up and headed over to the Cedar Hills mall.
So...Rylend...is such a little boy. He saw the OTHER kids running around, so just HAD to do that himself. And when we wouldn't let him run amok and tear everything apart...the world ended and the temper tantrums broke out. Oh my...it finally got to the point where I walked around the mall with Rylend as Shane stood in line with our friends. After walking for some time, a very wet diaper change, and more angry "Im not getting my way" crying...it was our turn to see Santa.

I was pretty nervous he would be a little hellion for the man. Last year we got such a cute pic...and I thought for sure this year it would be the red faced anger snapshot.

But, AMAZINGLY, right as we walked up to Santa, Rylend smiled and got super sweet. He said hi, then we put him in Santa's lap and stepped back for the pics. Rylend flashed his teeth, said "CHEESE!", giggled, smiled at Santa...even blew him kisses as we walked away. Then, as soon as we were out of Santa's sight...the boy went nuts again. One old man smiled and I heard him say "That kid is ALL boy!" I think Rylend sensed that Santa is the man you have to be good for...dont want to be on THAT naughty list! It was pretty cute...though I was pretty worn out after!

Christmas is here in a few days! Rylend keeps eyeing the few presents we do have out...I cant wait! Ok, here are the pics! :)

Belated Updates of all the Happenings

2009-12-08T09:45:00.000-08:00

Have I really not posted anything since October? Ok everyone, here's my hand...slap away.

Alright! So, since the last update...
Things are going ok for us. I am JUST not feeling sick now. Its got pretty bad for a while...I was losing weight instead of gaining. Ouch. Then I got my prescription for Zofran...and the world got a bit better. Its an anti-nausea medication, for those of you who dont know...it its a magic one too. Haha. I am just going off it now...been a week since I have had to take it and no escapades of dashing to bathroom. I do feel woozy still...but I can handle it...mostly. And as for the exhaustion...yeah still waiting for that to go away. This pregnancy is SO different from Rylend's. I can barely get myself up for the day...it sucks. On some plus sides: I am now showing of a tiny little bumpy. I will post one I took at 13 weeks...I am now almost 15 weeks and its more obvious but I am too lazy to go take the pic at the moment. Also, just before Thanksgiving I had a doc appointment. I got to hear the heartbeat! I love those moments...it was at 160. Fast little one! My doc told me that at our next appointment (Dec 30th) if the ultrasound isn't being used, we can sneak in and try to see the gender. YAY!!

Other, non-preggo related topics.

We have all of our Christmas decorations up...we did it a few days before Thanksgiving. I will admit...I suck at waiting. I just love how they look! If it wasnt so weird, I would leave them up all year long. Rylend thinks the tree is the most pretty thing ever. Every morning when he comes out of his room he waits for me to turn on the lights, then gets all excited and says "oooo wow! PETTY!" He loves to lay next to the tree or under it and just stare at all the lights and ornaments...its so cute!

We are stressing right now, gotta admit it. For some reason, no matter how hard we try, every december we are always broke. We have been SO careful with our spending! We dont even KNOW where the money goes...Just bills and groceries. I checked our banking today...They just took out power, rent, and car insurance....leaving us with a grand total of $48. And Shane doesnt get paid again until the 17th. Hmm...oh yes, and we are out of diapers and wipes. And groceries. Oh, and havent gotten one present for my little boy's christmas... I got WIC this last week, which does help a little. But I do think we will be having to apply for Stamps...hoping that Oregon wont suck for once and will approve us. And REALLY hoping no mystery bills or emergencies come up in the next week and a half...we have no money for any of it. I hate this rut. And we never seem able to get out of it. Then to top it all off...we are having another little one. Yes, we ARE excited. But nervous like nothing else. If we can BARELY scrape by as is...how will we afford even more? I don't know...I think I am just venting. And I am VERY impressed if you are still reading at this point. Sometimes it just feels good to vent. We have been weighing our options...looking at maybe some big changes we will have to make...but that's in the future to come. For now I sadly pull out my credit card which I am trying to pay OFF...and go get ready to walk to the store and buy diapers. Its the song that never ends....

PHEW!

ANYWAY!

Life is stressful. Whats new. But Rylend is so good at curling up in mommy's lap and cuddling. Really good at kisses too. And you should see his face light up when Daddy comes home and he runs and jumps into his arms. He is good at making us smile...which we need bad at the moment.

Ok, gotta run. Gonna bundle up to brave the cold cold cold weather and walk down the block. Wish me luck!

And the due date is...

2009-10-16T08:43:00.000-07:00

We went to get an ultrasound yesterday in order to get a more accurate due date. Well, the official due date now is:

June 4, 2010

The baby is a very cute little blob on the screen. I kept saying "Oh, what a cute blob" which kept the ultrasound technician laughing. She was very impressed though. At only about 7 weeks along, the baby already has a VERY strong little heart beat going. Which doesn't fully surprise me. This baby is spending all of its time and energy making mommy sick. I literally cannot touch food until afternoon every day. I try to force myself to nibble on saltenes and drink ice water. It helps a little...but I still find myself running to the oh-so-beloved bathroom much more than I would prefer. This is already VERY different than how it was with Rylend! They gave me a prescription for a med that helps with the sickness. I'm just trying to decide if I want to go get it and try it...I get paranoid about things. Though I HAVE found...peppermint chewing gum is my friend. Though it doesn't eliminate the queasiness, it makes it so I can at least move around and look a bit alive for my little boy. Sigh...I am very ready for this first trimester to be done...and hoping the nausea goes with it.

Im posting the two print outs they gave us from the ultrasound. Like a said...a very cute little Blob. Even though it doesn't look fully like baby yet...it was still amazing to see. Nothing solidifies the realness of a pregnancy like seeing the little person. I will also post a link to the site babycenter and a page that talks about the week I am on...for anyone who is curious.

Hope all is well for everyone! I will go back now to chomping my gum. :)

And the site... http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-pregnancy-7-weeks_1096.bc?intcmp=timeline

The News!

2009-10-06T14:11:00.000-07:00

Hey there everyone! In case any of you HAVEN'T heard yet...We are expecting again! Yup!!

I had been feeling off for a week or two. Then got a cold last weekend that for some reason wouldn't leave. Shane kept teasing me, telling me that I was pregnant. I just brushed it off...until my lovely time of the month never came. I still had my doubts...mainly I didnt want to convince myself that I was, then take a test that said no. My breasts had been hurting...and a few days after missing my period, I started feeling sick. So I finally gave in and took the test friday morning (Oct. 2) and...a lovely little blue plus sign! Yeah...when I called Shane, his first thing he said was "Told you so." Since then, I took one more test...for save measures lol. Then saturday morning we drove over to Planned Parenthood and got the confirmation test. I called yesterday and set my first doctor's visit (Oct. 26th) and an ultrasound (Oct. 15th). We need the ultrasound because we arent fully sure when the due date is...but Im not complaining. I get a little sneak peek at the BABY!

So...to answer obvious questions...No, we were not trying. We were talking about maybe starting...but obviously someone up there had different plans for us. We are very much so hoping for a little girl...whenever I ask Rylend if he wants a brother or sister, he just looks up at me and shakes his head....haha "no mama...you dont need any more!" I am very nervous about being a mommy of two. Rylend will just turn two before his future sibling is born...thats pretty close in age! And as for money...wow NOT ready there! Then again...who EVER is? We are very excited though. I am already seeing the difference in this pregnancy compared to Rylend's. I am only in my first trimester, and am tired ALL the time. And this time...I am actually getting the "lovely" morning sickness I "missed" out on with Rylend.

I will make sure to try to update here whenever there is new news, pics, anything. I know I have been bad lately with my blog updates...maybe this will kickstart me back into it! :)

Family is Forever

2009-09-21T08:12:00.000-07:00

This last sunday we actually made it to church. I know I know. Having just one kid isn't an excuse. It has just been hard for us to go to church every sunday, when we spend about 90% of the time in the halls with the kiddo. The main reason we went this last sunday was because Brother Coakley called and asked me to give opening prayer in our sunday school class. I am happy he did.
I spend basically all of sacrament meeting (first hour) out in the hall with Rylend. He was able to sit still long enough for us three to take the sacrament, but then very quickly got VERY bored. So I went to to the usual laps. Another mom with her little girl was out there too. Rylend and Brooklyn became friends very fast (she is 16 months, he is almost 18 months) and soon her mommy Courtney and I were walking and talking together as the two little tykes explored the halls together. It was pretty cute. Rylend would randomly sprawl out on the ground on his back and Brooklyn would walk over and crouch next to him, patting his tummy or rubbing his hair. He would smile, then spring up and they would run again.
At one point though...while taking a break on the couch...Rylend saw the fire alarm. They have a plastic cover over them to prevent them from being pulled too easy and...well..Rylend must have decided that the cover just had to go. Before I could stop him, he reached over and knocked it off. The cover has ana alarm...much like a car alarm...it it started peeping away. I snatched Rylend up and was just thinking "Oh, you gotta be kidding me!" Luckily our friend David Lloyd came out and made it stop for us, and just gave us a smile. My kid...
Well, halfway through sunday school (yes, after I said the opening prayer) we decided we would duck out and see if we could maybe slip Rylend into nursery a few weeks early. They very happily accepted him and as we opened the door for him to go in, he smilied and booked it in, instantly running for another little boy he knows (my visitng teacher's 2 year old son Tane). It was wayyy nice to be able to just sit next to Shane the rest of sunday school and...LISTEN! Oh my! On my way to Relief Society I decided to peek in and see how Rylend was doing. He was sprawled out on his belly on the floor, Brooklyn cuddled up next to him, and they were happily playing with some toys together. It was too cute. After church when I went to get him, he was cuddled up to Sister Sellers (his teacher) and looked pretty content. Then he saw me. His eyes got all huge and water, and he quickly stood up and ran towards me, arms out, saying "Momma!!" It made my day. They told me he did awesome, only got a bit teary eyed in the last ten or so minutes. I was so proud of him. My little boy is now in nursery. AWW

In Relief Society they were talking about doing temple work for your ancestors. I was listening, but found my mind drifting to other thoughts. As most of you know, my family converted to the church when I was a little kid. Im not one of those born and bred mormons, like it seems most are. When I was about 9 or so, my family went to the temple to get sealed together. I remember feeling so special, because most other kids my age didnt get to go to the temple, and here I was, not only going in, but going up to a sealing room too. Its hard to have spiritual experiences at that age. I remember my parents dropping us off in the kid care area while they went to do their thing. My brothers and I did our usual bickering, though we did try to be more reverent about it (as if that is possible). Sitting in Relief Society yesterday, I looked back on that day and realized there were moments that made more of an impact on me than I had realized.
One of the moments was a little girl that was there. Oh man, she was energetic. And not happy to be kept in the kids area. I think she was about two or so. She was all over the place, throwing toys and crying and making noise. Finally one of the temple matrons came to get her and bring her to her parents. Her family was getting sealed that day too. I remember wondering what they would do with her and her noisiness. In the temple, you are supposed to be quiet and reverent. Its a very peaceful place. Well, later the matron who was taking care of us told us what had happened. The little girl had made noise all the way up to the sealing room. Yet as soon as they opened the door, she quieted down. They handed her to her parents, who were kneeling together at the alter. Very quietly, and without anyone telling her to, the little girl reached out and placed her small hand on top of her parents'. Something had calmed her. The little girl knew that at that moment, it was time to be reverent. I truly believe little children can feel and hear the Spirit stronger than we adults can. Moments like this shine that true.
Another moment. There was a little boy waiting in the room with us also. He was maybe a year old. This boy...He had a heart defect. His skin had a blue tinge to it. His family was getting sealed to him before they knew he would pass, which could be any day. I remember looking at him across the room. A matron was holding him, showing him toys. She saw me watching, and asked if I wanted to come play with him. I walked over and reached out to hold his tiny hand. It was ice cold. Even at 9 years old, I remember feeling my heart break for this little boy and his family. It wasn't fair that he was barely even a year old and was facing death so soon. My brothers held his hand too. A few moments later a matron came to pick him up and bring him to his family. To this day I still remember his name: Benjamin. I never found out what happened to him. But for some reason, a few days after our temple day, I always felt like someone had told me he had passed. I know my parents didnt. And no one from the temple would have. But in my heart, I was always so sure that someone had told me that Benjamin, just a few day after being sealed to his parents, had passed from this life. I felt sad, but I was always comforted, knowing that one of the last things he did was be sealed to his family for time.
I remember finally going up to our parents. Walking in my stocking feet down the hallways of the temple, taking a quiet elevator ride up, the matron smiling at us. I remember waiting outside the room, looking out the window at the temple grounds below. I can still point out which window it was that I looked out that day. Then they opened the door, and let us in. My Dad always jokes about my mom was able to hold it together the whole day until she saw us three enter that room. Tears started to stream down her face, and my dad's eyes glistened. We knelt at the alter with my parents, placing our hands on top of theirs, and were sealed together as a family for time. I remember feeling the peace of that day, but not understanding it fully.
Looking back now, at all the moments of that day, I finally do understand. We all pray for God to send us moments, to touch us with His presence. And we never realize how often He truly does do that. I remember the little girl, who felt the Spirit so strong, even in her youth, that she quieted down and let it fill the room. I remember Benjamin. A boy that in our minds was being taken before his time. And his family knew they needed to be sealed to him before he left. I can imagine the joy in their hearts as he sat at the alter with them, his tiny cold hand held in theirs, as they were promised that though this life may end, he will always be with them. Always. And though my brothers and I faced no life theatening illnesses, the tears on my mom's face as she saw her three children enter the room, dressed in white, shows she too felt the same thing.
This life is a precious thing. We spend much of our time struggling for money, for bills, for the small things we think are so important yet really mean nothing in the grand scheme of things. In all reality, kneeling across the alter with your love and your children, knowing that no matter what may happen in this life, you will NEVER lose eachother in the eternities to come...THAT is what life is about. I have been thinking about this alot today. I have been watching my little boy play. And I find myself with tears in my eyes, knowing that I will never lose him. That he is sealed to this family that Shane and I have created. And though life may be hard. Though he might stray, he might grow distant from us and lose his way, that in the end we will all be waiting to embrace and comfort. Family is a bond that cannot be broken. Maybe it will look weakened at times, but it can never disappear. I am so happy that I sa tin Relief Society and let my mind wander back to memories I do not touch on often enough. They seemed to simple when they happened. But years later...thats when I needed the memories of those moments to touch my mind again. God truly does work in a very mysterious way. But if we do listen, He does answer.
I love my family. I may live far from them and may not talk to them enough. But they are my family. We have our great memories, our bitter ones, and everything in between, but I would never trade any of them. Each memory, each moment, has made me who I am today. I am proud of my parents for choosing this path, even though I know how hard it has been at times for them. There is no doubt how much they love their children, and looking back now at the memory of both of them kneeling at the alter, tears in eyes as they saw us enter the sealing room, I know how much I do love them.

He likes to.. MOVE IT!

2009-06-12T10:34:00.000-07:00

Rylend may be a bit behind in the whole "walking stage"...but he is trying to catch up! We all joke its because he knows Brandon (Kandra's little boy) is visiting soon and Rylend wants to be able to keep up with him. The last few days Rylend, out of no where, has REALLY been trying to walk. I already posted a video of an attempt. His problem is its just TOO exciting for him, so he falls over all the time as he laughs.

Just yesterday I was sitting on the couch and Rylend was standing about five feet away with Shane. Out of nowhere...he just walked over to me all by himself! It was SOO CUTE! Of course, when those moments happen...you NEVER have the camera! He has been trying to walk by himself alot too...just standing, holding onto something...then he lets go and takes a few steps. Funny thing is, every time he does, he EXPECTS an applause. He will start clapping and look around to who ever is in the room. If you dont clap and say "Yay!" you are in trouble. Ha!

Well, today he has been REALLY working on it. I decided to take a chance at getting it on video. So as he was leaning up against the couch...I quickly backed up and hit record. And...he did it! Man he is SO CUTE! I love watching babies waddle around. Now MY baby boy is doing it. He already climbs on EVERYTHING and tears EVERYTHING apart (I think he likes to prove that he really is a boy) and I know as soon as he masters walking...we dont stand a chance. But at least then I can take him outside more and just let him get it out!

So here is the video!
YAY RYLEND! *claps*

Build-A-...CAT!

2009-06-09T13:29:00.000-07:00

We took Rylend to Build-A-Bear for the first time. As soon as we got there, he got super excited. And, of COURSE, chose a cat for his toy! It was so cute how even before the kitty was stuffed, he was just LOVING it.

He wouldnt take his eyes off of the lady who put the stuffing in his kitty. And as soon as she finished and handed it back to him, he wrapped his arms around it and flashed all of us the BIGGEST smile!

The rest of the time we were there, he would NOT let go of it. We officially named it "Zitty Zat" ...which got the guy at the check out to chuckle.

Rylend is now VERY much in love with that new kitty of his. He takes it to bed with him and giggles when I put his clothes on the kitty. This kid...Its crazy how out of nowhere they stop being babies and start being kids...

Rylend LOVED Build-A-Bear and we know we will have to go there again...no doubt for yet another Zitty Zat.

ALSO...he is SO close to walking! We have been able to get him to take a few steps by himself here and there. He just gets wayyy too excited and ends up toppling over laughing. Then he claps for himself as we say "yay!" He is cruising along anything and everything though. And the last few days I have spent most of my time holding his hands as he walks all over the apartment. Here is a video of us trying to get him to walk one night. He does in the end...kind of. If anything...you can just see how dang cute he is!

The Untitled Crowley Project - Promo Extra!

2009-06-04T13:31:00.000-07:00

Guess what I did!
Well, to explain it first...I am a member of a site called Extras Only. Its a local casting agency that specializes just in casting extras for movies, commercials, photo shoots...anything really. I started it just for fun, since another friend of mine was doing it too. Well, they are filming a movie in Portland right now. At the moment it is just called the Untitled Crowley Project. And guess what...they do all their casting through Extras Only. Oo...

The movie is starring Harrison Ford, Brendan Frasier and Keri Russel. Its about a married couple (Frasier and Russel) who are trying to find a cure for their childrens' disease...so they team up with a doctor (Ford) to find it. Gonna be one of those tear jerkers I have a feeling! Anyway...I have gotten a few calls to be a PAID extra, but ended up not being needed for each as of yet. But they also needed promo extras...aka people to fill the gaps and who arent getting paid. There was a shoot last week at Pioneer Square in Portland, but I didnt go. This week was over at Oaks Park. I really needed to get out of the apartment and away from some of the things happening in my life right now (THATS for another blog another time!) So...I decided to go!

My sisters in law Tania and Sammy went too. The motto for the movie biz is "Hurry up and wait" and thats EXACTLY what we did. We arrived and checked in at 11:30, then they closed the gates for anyone else. There were probably a hundred or so promo extras...maybe a bit more. Then...we waited. They supplied water and cookies and chips...and for about 3 or so hours we sat in our holding area. Inside the skate rink across the park from us they were shooting a birthday scene with Frasier, Russel, and the kids. It was a nice day, occasionally drizzling but not bad enough to run for cover.

Finally around 4 or so they took pity on us and opened up the amusement park for our pleasure. Yay! We got to ride all the rides we wanted for free, and they gave us hot dogs. It was fun to just goof around with Tania and Sammy while watching how the movie biz works. Around 5 they finally told us it was time. They gave us our marks, our actions...and...ACTION! Us three were sitting on a table, told to gab about boys and check them out. Haha! Yet it was all supposed to be pantomime. They gave us some greasy, cold props EW. About twenty feet from us was Brendan Frasiers start mark. Sad to say, I doubt we will be caught in the film. There was a big tree in the way. But it was still cool to see the scene being shot. I took a few pics of him too...which...shh...we werent supposed to do. We were told very clearly not to talk to any actors or crew unless they talked to us. So no people, dont ask, I did not get any autographs. The crew was really nice and friendly though. And from what I could see of Frasier, he seemed like a nice guy too, which is nice to see in Hollywood.

Finally around 7 we were done. To be nice to the promo extras, they do a raffle afterwards and give out prizes. Sadly...we won nothing. Still though, it was an awesome day!

I have to say, its addicting. Even though I spent most of my time sitting...I can see why people do keep trying to get into the movie biz. Im thinking about activating my account to become a paying member. That means they open you up to even more casting opportunities. It could be fun...just gotta get my self-confidence to think so too! I am definitely going to go to any other calls that happen in the future. And even if you cant see me in the film when it comes out next year...you can point to the tree in the amusement park as Frasier runs with the kids to the rollercoaster and say "HEY! Jenni is sitting behind that!"

hahaha

Good times.

(A pic we took of me while waiting..I like it... Woo...)

Jenni misses...

2009-05-19T09:38:00.000-07:00

Here is the first segment of Jenni misses. I figured every so often I should write something about just me. Rylend is definitely the center of my life and makes enough stories for me to write a book, but I realized that moms way more than they should end up totally forgetting themselves. Sometimes its good to at least just write about something the mommy likes or misses or did...Maybe it wont always be something I necessarily MISS...but here we go...

JENNI MISSES...

RUNNING

Ever since I was very very little I remember how much I love running. My family has two acres of property and during the nice weather I would literally just run in circles for fun. There was a grassy driveway down one side of the property and I remember racing my brother John up and down it. I couldnt wait until I was finally in middle school and got to join the track team.

My dad did track growing up. I remember him telling about the events and his memories of it and I would just sit there thinking "Wow! I cant wait!" I always ended up saying I wanted to do whatever my dad did. I wrote in first grade that when I grew up I wanted to be "an EMT, just like my dad." I know I really wanted to be a writer...but doing something like dad sounded so much cooler. Really though, even thugh the fact that he loved running helped, I truly did love it.

I joined softball in fourth grade. I really wasnt that good at it. I think it was more a competetive thing with my brother since he was a huge baseball addict. I couldnt throw right and barely ever caught the ball. But when my chance came to bat and I got to run around those bases, thats when I loved it. Other teams learned that I was the girl who would always try to steal a base. I would sprint as fast as I could. In fifth grade I quite softball and joined basketball. I wasnt as bad at that as I was at softball. I was decent at dribbling and stealing and even made a basket every so often. But my favorite thing? I bet you can guess...booking it down that court, swerving in and out of the people for that little bouncing orange ball. I would dive for it, usually ending up with bruises and bloody noses.

I remember one time a friend of mine asked me to teach her to run. Ha! We were hanging out in front of the whale museum in town and she told me I was so good at it and wanted me to teach her. I think we were about nine. So we spent the rest of the time we had there running up and down the sidewalk, me "teaching" (like I knew what I was doing right? It was like "so stretch your legs as far as you can...stay on your toes, think of your ankles like springs, etc") and she running after me.

Finally the day came that I left the elementary school and entered the long awaited middle school. I joined volleyball that fall and loved it. I was the youngest setter on the team and actually did pretty decent. But all I could wait for what that spring. As spring drew closer, I found out something horrible.

Our middle school didnt have a track team!

I dont remember everything I did, but I wasnt happy. I had always been one of those kids who would write up petitions whenever I wasnt happy with something and get everyone who could write to add their signiature. Then I would wave it in front of my teachers face...it rarely changed anything but I always had to get my point across. I remember writing one, saying that we needed our own track team. Then bringing it to the principal. Within a few weeks our science teacher had agreed to be the coach and we started our first practices. I was in heaven!

I couldnt get enough of it. I wanted to do every event and run run run. Yeah, I would complain sometimes. It was hard! But inside I loved every second of it. Through out middle school I looked forward to volleyball in the fall, theatre in the winter, and then the long awaited for spring and Track season. We were a small school with a new track team, so we only had about two meets a year. It mostly was a bunch of kids getting together and running. I slowly came to find some of my favorite events: Hurtles. 4x1 Relay. 400m dash. 1600m. Long jump. It was hard because we could only do four events. I would have to bounce back and fourth, the only one I constantly doing was 4x1.

Middle school ended. I entered high school. I quite volleyball, mostly out of fear that I wouldnt be good enough. I sike myself out alot and even ignored the fact that the high school volleyball coach had come to me asking that I join the team. I just chickened out. Sadly. But Theatre and Track...they never left me. My first year I qualified for Tri-Districts (one away from State) with three events: Long jump, 400m, and 4x1 relay. I was so nervous! I kept messing up my footing on long jump and ended up not placing high enough. I took off too fast for 400m and placed one spot below the qualifying spot for State. Then 4x1. We were doing amazing. Ahead of the pack. I ran third leg (hated that leg) and as I sprinted to the last hand-off, she took off her mark too late and I ran into her. We placed two spots too low. That year I also had my first break-up. I remember during PE the next day asking my teacher if I could just run. Of course he let me. I probably ran about nine or ten miles that class. I was burning and aching but I had just discovered what else running can do: heal.

In tenth grade I discovered a new love: Triple jump. We were having a home meet and there were only two other competitors. Our coach asked if anyone wanted to try it. As long as we didnt scratch, we would place and get points for the team and our lettering. A friend and mine and I decided to give it a shot. The judge at the pit gave us a quick lesson...and I placed first! There was one other girl on our team, a grade ahead of me, who had been doing triple for a while. She wasnt too happy. But I had just fallen in love with it. It quickly became my main event that I focused on. They would have to pry me away from the pit to practice relay or 400m. I would alternated between triple and long daily, flying through the air over and over. Sprinting down the line then leaping into the air and landing into the sandy pit. I loved it! I placed first at almost every meet after that. My distance got better and better and before long I had almost pre-qualified for State.

One practice I was trying to get past a mark I had been landing for too long. I just couldnt get it. We all played in the sand while others jumped, making sand castles and such. The girl that was jumping long before me, who I was now beating every time, was digging in the sand. I saw her digging, and should have looked closer at what she was doing. I went back to my starting spot, sprinted down the lane, hop skip jump...and landed in the whole she had dug right where I had been landing all day. She had dug it down to the hard dirt below. All I remember was screaming, feeling fire go up my leg, then falling over and blacking out. I opened my eyes to the team running to me and the girl begging me not to tell. Of course I did...she never showed up for practice again. Turns out she wanted to make my shin splints worse (I suffered from those non stop). But instead I twisted my right ankle and tore the cartelidge in my right knee.

You cant do much to fix knee injuries. I was heart broken. I was about to qualify for State. I couldnt run at all now. I kept showing up for practice. And they let me come on the meets to root everyone on. Bi-Districts rolled around...and I decided I would compete. I started practicing, trying to push through the pain. My knee was always wrapped tightly and IB Profen was a good friend. I remember that meet. I can picture that runway and pit and remember the pain as I tried to shoot down it. I didnt do horrible. Better than I thought I would. And my coach was proud of me. I was trying. I remember running and jumping into the air, tears filling my eyes, and landing, trying to put as much weight as I could onto my left leg. I didnt go onto Tris that year.

My knee never got back to how it was. in 11th grade I was back in track, but I couldnt push like I once did. I hated 4x1. Basically girls 4x1 is a popularity contest fill of bickering abckstabbing girls. And Coach always put me on it even though I told him I didnt want to. I had to deal with the girls, the attacking, the snide comments. Sigh. All I wanted to do was be at my pit. I did well that year...not AS well as before...but well. My senior year I didnt start track right away. I was busy with running start, planning my wedding, etc etc. But I got pulled back in. I couldnt resist it. Its like a drug haha. I did it for the love of running, not the competition. I did well, could have gone onto tris but decided not to.

I wish they had a track team for Addicted Graduates. You leave school, get handed your diploma and move into the "real" world, and all your passions you created those 12 years become ignored gems. Unless you have been accepted into a college for one of you talents, you end up losing them. Theatre, Track, Choir...what do you do when you dont have the afterschool announcements and Meets and scheduled field trips?

I stopped running.

I have decided something though. Just because I dont have the Meets and competition, why cant I still run? Like when I was younger, running around my family's property just for the sheer joy of it. The burn of the lungs. The strain in the legs. The quick breaths and pounding heart. Watching the world whiz by as you take step after step down the path. Not to mention is kick starts your metabolism and trims in those parts of your body ruined by such things as...pregnancy...

So I am running again. I mapped out an area in a neighborhood near us. It is about a mile there and a mile back, so a good two miles. Some hills, lots of sidewalk...quiet streets. I went running yesterday in the first time in who KNOWS how long. It was about 6 at night and had been hot all day. But a breeze kicked in right when I started. I couldnt run the entire time. Thats what you get for being out of shape. But I ran most of the way. I loved the fact that my legs throbbed and felt like Jell-o. I loved the sharp burn in my lungs and the sweat beading on my forehead. Running is one of the best therapies out there. Life is a headache, like nothing else. I am trying my hardest to raise a kid in a good home with the right morals and lots of happiness. He has a mind of his own and I am on my feet alot chasing him. We have bills and rarely enough money to pay them. In all senses we are poor. Friends are far and few between and family is far away. Its easy to feel alone and depressed and worn out. But putting on my running clothes (which I found out I need new ones. Especially shoes sigh) and letting the pavement take away my thoughts...I had forgotten how good it feels. I miss getting the metals of first place. The kudos and the slaps on the back and the news articles...you dont get those in real life.

But I feel good. Thats worth it.

Our trip to the Rock

2009-05-13T11:42:00.000-07:00

So the other weekend we made it up to good old San Juan for a visit. Shane took of monday and we were able to visit for three days. It was nice. The island is one of those places that no matter how long you are gone, as soon as you step foot there it feels like you never left. We werent able to make it to see everyone we wanted to. Its kind of hard when you only have about 2 and a half days and you want to spend as much time with your fam as you can...while trying to make time too see your friends also.

On Saturday we went to the Children's fair. Its an interactive "fair" they do for the kids on the island...with classes about safety and such stuff. Rylend got to meet Officer McGruff for the first time and couldnt take his eyes off of him! He was like "WOW! Thats a BIG puppy!" We wandered around, saw some people, then found a cute mermaid booth and took his pic in that too. The hair tickled his face and he couldnt stop laughing! It was wayyy cute...

Saturday night we were able to get together with some of our friends. It was sooo nice seeing them again. I really wish they could visit us more too...but money is very tight I know. Still, we had fun chatting and remembering fun memories.

My dad babysat Rylend later and we were able to all go see Wolverine. It was a pretty good movie! I think I am biased though just because I think Hugh Jackman is very yummy...haha!
And look! A nice pic of just Shane and I (in line for the movie) I know...its rare. Mostly because I am usually in my pj messy hair getup and pics of Rylend are WAY cuter. But I do like this one.

Sunday was nice and relaxing. We just spent time with my family, went out to see my grandma, then relaxed. Its easy to forget exactly HOW cute my little nieces and nephew are...but as soon as I see them I remember VERY easy. Aly was all over me all weekend, giving me hugs and wanting to play with Rylend who is her "best buddy." After being shy at first, Breken was all about playing "BOO!" with "nenni nenni nenni" and shelby finally gave me a hug without me having to steal it.

On monday we tried to squeeze in a few more visits while spending time with my mom too (it was her day off yay!) It was sad to have to leave. I really do miss my family and friends on the Rock, alot. If I had the money (and patience for that car ride) I would be visiting WAY more often...but for now I guess blogging will have to do. Sigh...

The car ride home was LOOOONG. Traffic was bad and Rylend didnt like his seat anymore. He finally passed out for about an hour...but that was it. He basically didnt sleep all weekend and ended up getting a cold. We had an angry tired sick baby on our hands and he is still suffering from that dang runny nose! At a rest stop (we had to stop for a VERY stinky diaper) Rylend decided HE wanted to drive the car...it was cute.

Overall it was a nice visit. I was VERY tired by the time we got home, but I had a ton of fun seeing everyone again. Till next time!! LOve you all!!

IHeartFaces - Laughter

2009-05-12T11:52:00.000-07:00

It was so hard to pick a pic of laughter for Rylend! I have wayyy too many. If there is one things he is good at, it is laughing!! This one is one of my favorites, out of the hundreds I do have. And since I have to pic only one...here it is! Rylend playing with one of his favorite things: his Blankie!

I took this pic a while back. We were goofing off with some friends at the park at night and taking random pics. Those are the memories I love. In this one we were all cracking up because I just got kicked in the face...oh yes good times! I miss them though. :)

He is a PIRANA!

2009-05-01T11:08:00.000-07:00

Rylend and his teeth...

I remember when he first started getting them I was sad because I loved his gummy smile. But then those little pearly whites came in...and his smile only got more amazing. Now he has four on top and three on bottom and LOVES to show them off. When he smiles he clenches his teeth and pulls back his lips so you can all of them, his little cheeks balling up and if he his smiling just right you can see dimples too! Its very cheesy and goofy, but I love it!!

A few days ago I went to fish a toy out of his mouth (Rylend thinks everything is edible, I swear) and I felt something sharp in the back on his top gums. Well, I grabbed the flashlight and let him hold it (haha fool the kid!) and looked in AND...He has his back top two molars in!! Me bing mommy got super excited, insisting Shane look at his new teeth. I know know what it is, but little things like this are just so exciting! Shane thought it was cute, but I couldnt stop trying to look! My little boy now has NINE TEETH!

It kind of exlains why he has been trying to CHEW so much lately. He shoves his food into the back of his mouth then chomps away, usually gagging himself in the process. But he is like "Hey! I can CHEW this stuff!" About a week ago he was wrestling me on the ground, kissing me and huggin me. His kisses are the open mouthed, rub all over your face type kisses. and all of a sudden OUCH! He had bit my lip. And not only a small bite...He had almost pierced it and I was bleeding. I sat up and said "Ouchie Rylend!" Then his face got all concerned...and he tried to kiss my lip again. Aww...he wanted to make it better.

My kiddo...such a loving, goofy little ham.

MEGA Update #3 - First Zoo visit!

2009-05-01T10:51:00.000-07:00

This last weekend my brother Herbie came to visit with his wife and two little kids. I was way happy to see them. I love living in Oregon, but I do miss my family a TON, especially my two nieces and nephew who are all WAY too cute. We met up with them at the zoo. Aly (my niece) saw me and came running into my arms. Man I love her. Little Breken (it was his second birthday!) was tired and shy, but as soon as we entered the zoo, you could see him getting more excited.

We had fun, even though the weather was overcast and drizzling, half the animals were hiding, and the zoo was doing construction. Sadly we weren't able to see ALL the animals because of this, but the few we saw were fun. Its amazing how much more exciting things like the zoo become when you are with little kids. Rylend LOVED it. We were sad we werent able to go see the cats, since Rylend is IN LOVE with cats right now, but he loved seeing the fish, birds, elephants and penquins.

Shane and I decided that we need to go back to the zoo OFTEN this summer. Its cheap and full of animals. Plus it was just so nice to have a day out with family, goofing off and enjoying eachother outside. Ah, the joys of warm weather...we all emerge from hibernation!

We had TONS of fun and cant wait to go back and see the rest of the animals !

MEGA Update #2 - EASTER!!

2009-05-01T10:30:00.000-07:00

Rylend had a great first Easter. Sadly it was wet outside, but what do you expect living in the pacific northwest? So after church we did an easter egg hunt inside up at Grandma and Grandpa Merritt's. Rylend had tons of fun, but he couldnt understand why we wouldnt just let him eat the eggs right when he found them! He kept putting them in his mouth, and before we knew it his spit was colored HA!

One of the family traditions with Shane's family is they fill the living room with balloons. Rylend came in and saw it...and LOVED it. This kiddo LOVES balloons. He likes to smach his face against them and yell or chase them around...

He also got one of those chocolate eggs that has a toy inside. It was SO CUTE watching him realize it was all his to eat. He chowed it down, watching everyone to make sure no one took it away, doing his usual "mmmmmm" as he ate something that tastes gooooood

Gosh I love my little boy. I love being able to have these holidays now and experience them through the adventure of my baby. Mommyhood is the best thing ever, and my family I have makes it all worth while.

MEGA update #1 - One year old shots!!

2009-05-01T08:54:00.000-07:00

I am SO behind!!!! So here we go...update mania!
FIRST POSTING!:

The day after Rylend's birthday Shane, Zach and I took him to the park. We have actually never put him in a swing and it was a beautiful day...so why not! Shane and Zach slapped on their roller blades and pushed Rylend in the stroller...and since I have no coordination, I rode the bike. It was a great day and I got tons of ultra cute pics...though Rylend was so intrigued with everyone and everything, I couldnt get any of him actually smiling AT me. Here are a few of my faves, plus a slide with all the rest! (This posting would be WAY too long if I posted them all.......)

IHeartFaces - Reflections

2009-04-27T23:42:00.000-07:00

Ok everyone...I know I REALLY owe you a good update entry soon. I still have to post his 1 year old pics I took...pics from his first zoo visit...stories...more and more...I am a slacker!! No, scratch that. I am a busy mommy of a one year old and when I do have the time to sit, I nap haha! I have tons of updates...but for now...

This week's entry is reflections. I know if I had the time to doll myself up and escape mommyhood for a little bit I could take some awesome pics. But alas...that just cant happen right now. But I have this pic of me from a little while ago I totally love. Hope you like it!

And here is my one for the kid's section. This is from around Christmas. I was making dinner one night and Rylend was SO amazed by the oven, the food inside, and the little kid staring back. I wish I could capture more of what he does with mirrors, but the camera never seems to be nearby when he does the cute things he loves to do! I love this one anyway. :)

Oh yeah! And I felt special. Last week's contest (Self-portrait) I did not win or get an honorable mention. But I felt very special anyway because they put my pic in one of the collages they make to show off the entries...yay me! I will take what I get *smiles*

iHeartFaces - Self Portrait!

2009-04-21T12:53:00.000-07:00

Ok, So anyone who knows me knows I love to do my own little photo shoots... but I am wayyy self conscience of SHOWING OFF the pictures though. I never think my work is good enough...call it bad self confidence I guess. But I figured I should enter one of my photos this week. This is one of my all time faves...for some reason I just LOVE it...

And here is my entry for the kids section. Not the world's most amazing photo, but I love it. That was such a happy moment and memory.

Rylend is ONE!

2009-04-03T23:11:00.000-07:00

Well, today was the day!
My baby boy turned ONE. It is so crazy to think that I have now been a mommy for one whole year. It feels like it has barely begun, while at the same time as if I have been a mommy forever!

I woke up this morning and ran into Rylend's room yelling "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" He started squealing and jumping around, super happy. The rest of the day we did our usual routine, minus me baking cake and cupcakes and wrapping presents.

Then once Shane got home, we headed up to Grandma and Grandpa Merritt's. When we got there we saw they had already decorated...aw! I set to work on icing the cake (I have NO icing skills, unlike my mom who is very good. So yeah...the cake TASTED great, but looked like it was made by a very very very amature lol) and Shane played with Rylend and the fam.

It finally came time for the big ole birthday cake!
We strapped Rylend into the high chair, and started to sing. At first he looked at all of us like we were nuts. Then he quickly smiled and started to laugh and cheer us on. It was so cute! Grandma brought the cake over...and after looking at it a moment Rylend reached forward for some, candle still burning! haha! Daddy had to help him blow it out...then I handed him his cupcake.

Here is a vid of us singing to him...he is so funny!

He held it in his hands for a moment, squishing the frosting around. Then raised it to his mouth and CHOMP, in it went! The smile on his face was priceless. He started to laugh again, and we cheered for him. Oh my, this kid LOVES the attention! He sat there eating his cupcake, quietly going "mmmm mmmm mmmmm" the entire time. Mmmmmmm

Here is a vid of Rylend when we gave him the cupcake. Its actually way longer and even cuter...but the program I used to shorten it so I could upload it only let me do this small part...sigh. If I find a better way of getting the whole vid up, i will do it and let you know!
At least you get to see his first reaction!

After that we sat down to open the presents. Rylend still doesnt understand why we let him open something, look at it...then make him set it aside to open something else. We had to open them quickly to keep him happy, then he set to work exploring his new toys. He got some awesome puzzles and books, along with cute church clothes from Grammy and PopPop Mason. And he got this cute little baby laptop from Grandma and Grandpa Merritt that I ALMOST bought him but luckily didnt! Tania got him some new sippy cups with straws, Great-Grandpa and Grandma Merritt got him a new bib and some sippy cups, the Lloyds got him a cute little train with lego type stackables...then when we got home later he had some packages from more people! Wow this kid is lucky!! New clothes from Herbie and Tessa...more new clothes from John and April! Letters from Donna and from Brandon...I know my kid is well loved and I love all the people who are making sure he knows it too. He has such amazing people in his life.

So I am sitting here now, thinking about my little boy. How amazing he is and how blessed I have been to be given him. He is so smart. So so funny. He had a blast today and deserved it. Rylend is always bringing such joy and adventure into our lives, regardless of his bad days. I love Rylend so much and cant wait for tomorrow to see what new laughter and learning moments he will bring into my day.

(Below are a few pics Ashley took for us of my little family. I love them so much!)

I forgot to attach these pics... X-Rays!

2009-04-02T21:05:00.000-07:00

So, I forgot to attach these pics also to my last post. They are the xrays of his legs today. We still have to go to over to St. Vincents and get copies of his leg when it had the fracture...but at least you can see his cute little bones! hahaha
Once we get the St. V ones I will post them too!

The brace is GONE! YAY!

2009-04-02T19:45:00.001-07:00

Well, we went in for Rylend's check up today. He was super happy, playing with the toys in the office and smiling at the other babies and patients there. Then it was time for the xray. The nurse was super nice and let him touch the buttons of the machine and look at it...but as soon as it was time to lay down with the lead vest on and be held still...he lost it. Let me tell you, this kid can scream. There was only room for one of us, so Shane stayed in with him (strong daddy can hold him still better than mommy who wants to pick up the baby and comfort him...) and as I stood right outside the door, a nurse walked by and said with a smile "Aw, are they picking on him?"

When my boys came back out, Rylend looked at me then smiled, holding out the stickers the nurse had given him. Aw!!

Well, we saw the doc and...his leg is better! New bone has grown around the old, splinting in what is left of the fracture. So we got the go ahead to stop using the brace and to just make sure he doesnt do anything crazy...like falling off a couch with his leg caught haha. We went out to the hall to look at another computer that had the images of his first xray (the docs at St. Vincent never let us see the images of the break) and as the doc was showing us where the fracture was a nurse came by and snuck a few more stickers into Rylend's pocket. Aw, I think all the nurses there had a crush on the little man.

Anyway, Rylend is already SUPER happy that the brace has been packed away. The last week has been a major wrestling match of brace vs. Rylend and I wont miss it at all! When we got home I wanted to give Rylend something for being so good at the doc's today. I always thought it was nice when a kid got rewarded for being good for the doc, other than screaming and biting. So I grabbed one of the two presents Shane and I got for him for his bday tomorrow and gave it to him. No worries, he has other presents from family, so I thought we could sacrifice one of ours for a reward.

Its a little puzzle with animals...had to get it because it has a cat on it and Rylend is OBSESSED with cats! I set him on the floor with it in front of him...and for the rest of the evening he was consumed! He is such a smart and curious kid...he would pick up each piece, look at it, look at where it came from...try to put them back...I took some pics and videos. I will put one of the videos on here. I love it...he tries to do the puzzle by putting all the pieces on the board at once...haha!

I love my kid and cant wait for tomorrow! Just think...this time last year I was in the hospital, in labor, just a few hours away from pushing...just a few more hours away from holding my amazing baby boy for the first time ever...Time flies.

IHeartFaces - Pouting

2009-03-30T14:36:00.001-07:00

My friend Kandra told me about this site, where each week there is a new theme and you can enter a pic for the contest...this week is pouting and I KNEW I just HAD to enter one of Rylend's 4 month pics I took...I have other good pouting ones...but this one is too perfect!

Hope you Like it!!

Rylend update - And the verdict is...

2009-03-11T16:04:00.001-07:00

We jut got back from the doc a bit ago. Heres the run down.

Dr. Achertman told us for a fracture like this, they usually put the kid in a full or half body cast (under the armpit then down to the knee)
BUT
since Rylend is still so small (well..compared to being like..2 or more) he wont need the cast! Instead they gave us this funny little brace. I cant remember its exact name. He has to wear it about 60% of the time for the next three weeks. Meaning, he DOESNT have to wear it if he is taking a bath, in a car seat, in his high chair, or if someone is monitoring him/holding him...
Dr. Puth (the one giving us the brace) was very nice and friendly. As he put it on (Rylend did not like it...) Shane made a comment about Forrest Gump...and I just burst out laughing. It felt good to laugh (though my throat hurts bad still...) and Rylend calmed down a bit after that.
Rylend fell asleep in the car almsot instantly and we headed home...happy to be done with it, for now.
I am sooooo happy Rylend didnt need a cast! That all he needs is a Forrest Gump brace most of the time. Our next appointment is April 2nd, where he will have another x-ray and we get to find out if he still needs the brace or not. Funny, thats one day before his ONE YEAR OLD birthday!!! I was hoping he might be walking by then...well, looks like I got my answer on THAT one. But oh well. I am sure as soon as his legs heals and the brace is gone, he will be back to his old tricks and learning more than ever.

Thank you everyone who have been sending me up-lifting thoughts and praying for my baby. I love you all like nothing else. I have attached a bunch of photos from today. Check out little Forrest Rylend. Run Rylend Run!

Rylend and Daddy playing with the toys at the orthopedic office

Rylend had never played with a puzzle before...he loves it!

Waiting for the doc to bring in the brace. I think I had a harder time than he did.

Passed out in the car on the way home. Long day...again!

Rylend with his Gump brace on. He seems ok with it...playful and all...just confused

Putting him down for nap...my little boy...SIGH
I put a TON more pics up on my myspace account. If you have one, go check them out. If not...I will try to put update pics on here when I can. :)

Rylend update - Got the appointment set

2009-03-11T09:13:00.000-07:00

So, I just got off the phone with Portland Bone and Joint Clinic. They set us up for a 1:30 pm appointment with Dr. Achertman over at Emmanuel Hospital today. At first they wanted to set the appointment for tomorrow, and I had to remind them it was a baby with a fractured leg we were talking about, plus Shane took the day off today to be with us. Sigh...It feels like I am sighing alot right now. But yes. So I will send out another update this evening with what happened. I am praying and hoping they say he doesn't need a cast, but we will see. Keep those good thoughts coming. We love you all.

Here are two photos I just took of Rylend. We propped him up on a pillow to make it so he doesn't have to put more pressure than necessary on his little leg. He is very bored, but happy.

His first big ouchie...and more

2009-03-10T18:36:00.000-07:00

So I don't update for a while...and when I do its not the happiest news. Sigh...

Last night (monday) at about 7pm Rylend was playing aorund on the couch, being his normal high energy goofy self. Its amazing how something bad can happen so fast you feel like you didnt even blink, yet at the same time time slows to a crawl and you see everything happen. Next thing we knew he was falling, which isnt so out of the normal. But this time his right leg and slipped and gotten stuck between the cusion and the arm rest. Making it so that as he fell, he must have twisted it or pulled it in a bad direction or SOMETHING...because next thing we knew he was on the floor, crying harder than usual. We spent time calming him down, drying his tears and trying to get him...calm. My poor baby didn't know what to do. Finally, the tears slowed and we did a full body check. We poked and prodded, inspected, over and over. And foudn that whenever we moved his right leg too much...he would cry hard again. But there were no bumps, no bruises, no swelling...

First we called PopPop (Grandma Mason) who is a trained EMT. Then we called Grandma Merritt. Then I remembered the little magnet our health insurance company (it kicked in just a few weeks ago THANK GOONESS) had mailed us, with a 24/7 nurse line we can call. Shane cuddled with Rylend as I called and talked to the nurse, telling her everything. She told us to give him tylenol and let him go to bed. If in the morning he was still not crawling, favoring one side, sweeling occured...basically anything but improvement, she told us to take him to a doctor.

Well...morning came. Shane went to work after bringing Rylend in to cuddle with me in bed. After feeding him his breakfast I sat him on the floor and...he was still doing nothing. My poor baby! I called Tania (my sister in law) and she picked me up. We went over to urgent care and...sat. For two hours we had to sit in the waiting room. Then the doctor finally got us, looked at Rylend then told us he doesn't do pediatrics and we had to go to the hospital. You gotta be kidding me! We were mad...but kept our cool. (LUCKILY Urgent Care has a brain and refunded us the co-pay...since they did nothing for us)

We went back up to Shane's parent's house and called the pediatrician's office we plan on going to. (Since we just got the insurance, we havent set it all up yet...but it is now!) They are connected with St. Vincent's hospital, which is a really good one. Appointment set, I let Rylend nap and finally sat down myself. It doesnt help that I am sick right now and have no voice...I sound like an 80 year old smoker!

Shane got off around 2 today. So luckily he was able to come to the doctor with all of us. I really was having a tough time without him next to me...so I am so grateful he was there. At the pediatrician's office, they checked him then sent us to get an x-ray. I had such a hard hard time there. Shane stayed in with Rylend, holding his hands out of the way and trying to calm him, but Rylend bas BAWLING, most likely wondering why he was naked on a table with a lead blanket over one leg and a woman pulling on his hurt leg to get it laid right for the x-ray. I was pacing outside, watching through the window and tearing up alot because I couldnt do anything to make his ouchie just go away. Mommy kisses do alot...but not alway enough.

We walked back to the pediatrician and...

Rylend has a small hairline fracture on his upper right femure.
My baby broke a bone. Not a bad break. The doctor reasured us. But still...

I guess babies have a membrane around their bones, which is a God-send because it is snug around where his fracture is, acting as a splint so he isnt in pain unless we move it too much.

Because it is small and he is ok otherwise, they let us go home. Tomorrow they will call in the morning, telling us when our appointment is with the orthopedic doctor. He said the one he is sending us to specializes only in children and is very good. They might let just his membran be the fix...maybe a splint...maybe a cast. It really depends on what they decide tomorrow. Until then...we are cuddling him and loving him. Giving him tylenol and trying to keep him entertained (he is so bored! no crawling...what shall he do?)

...SO YES...
That has been my last 24 hours. I am feeling so worn out and tired and worried right now. The doctor said this happens alot. They call it a toddler fracture because those little tykes are always hurting themselves. There wasnt anything we could have done to stop it.
But still...I am trying not to beat myself up. We want to protect our children and never let them get hurt...but it will happen no matter what we do. At least it isnt worse...I just wish it wasnt so at all.

Please keep Rylend in your prayers, that he will be happy and not in too much pain and will heal fast. I am praying he wont need the cast, but whatever happens happens. I will keep you all Updated.

Here is a picture I took of him a few days ago. I love it to pieces and it makes me smile right now looking at it. Here is my happy baby boy, before ouchie. Look at that smile..I love him so so so much.

I Believe

2009-03-09T10:12:00.000-07:00

I just found out from a friend what Big Love's newest episode is planning to share. For those of you who havent heard of that show, its about a polygamist fmaily who broke apart from the church to practice polygamy. The newest episode is said to aire scenes inside a temple, showing parts of some of the temple ordinances we perform in there. In TV Guide, there is a publicity shot of the first wife, obviously standing in the temple, dressed in a temple dress and wearing the apron and head piece we wear. When I saw this picture, I was in shock. I really felt a rock drop in my stomach. The temple is something we all hold dear to us. Its a holy place set aside on earth...God's house here. The ordinances we perform are not secret, they are SACRED. If you do not know the difference, look it up. (If you want to see the article, go to page 48 on this site. http://www.tvguidemagsales.com/WeeklyIssues/TVG030909.pd I dont want to post it)

I was recently told that for years other religions have had to put up with this, and now its our turn. That along with our church being widely known, so will our sacred rites. So what, are we supposed to sit back and sigh and just say "Well, had to happen sooner or later"? Are we supposed to watch at the world picks apart our beliefs, GOD'S sacred rites (NOT ours) and say and do nothing just because this has happened before to others? We are taught from youth to stand strong. To stand for TRUTH and RIGHTIOUSNESS. To be strong in all opposition and to be warriors for the Lord. I am not saying that we should battle this. Oh, it will aire no matter what. But what they are attacking now isnt just a little thing.

For years that HAVE made fun of us, remember. Missionary work. Our strong family bonds. Church attendance. Old practices of polygamy. The list can go on forever. This isnt the first straw of abuse from media and those alike...its getting close to the last. Yes, we have all sat back and laughed at the monks smacking their heads in Monty Python. At the Catholic church's mishaps and at who knows what else. And know what? I feel bad now. I feel the hurt they felt as their beliefs were bashed. But people, this isnt just belief that is being made fun of. Big Love started that when their first show aired.

For those of you who are endowed members of the Church. Remember how it feels when you step into those temple doors. How peaceful and precious every moment felt as you walked the hallways of the temple. The feeling of stepping into the celestial room and KNOWING you are in God's place on earth. The temple is blessed. It is set aside for the ordinances that GOD has given us to do on this earth. Yes, it is horrible that other religions have had their rites bashed for years. But if you truly believe in this faith, you know that those are beliefs...THIS is GOD's rites and ordinances. There is a difference. Its one thing to bash man. Quite another to bash God. Friends who dont believe. I am not saying you are evil. That what you believe is WRONG. But like I do not bash what you hold to be true, dont bash what I believe in.

I know this church is true. I KNOW that God lives and Jesus Christ is His son and lives too. I believe with all my heart that this church was brought back to us by God, given to Joseph Smith to share with the world. How many times in the bible did God ask a simple mortal to do His work? How come it seems to impossible today? I know it is true. I know the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ. That it was written by true people who lived and breathed as we do. I have been to the temple. I have felt the holy spirit there and I KNOW that the temple is a place of God. I know that what we do in there is sacred, special, and holy. I believe in the priesthood. I have felt it touch my life. I have had priesthood blessings and have felt them heal me of my afflictions, whether it was an illness or just stress. I know God hears my prayers. He has answered them more than I can count. Yes, I struggle. I am not as active in going to church as I should be. I struggle with tithing. I am no perfect. But my belief, my faith, my knowledge in WHAT I believe...I know it is all true.

So how can I just sit back, turn on the tv, and willingly watch a show that you know Satan is helping along. Shane and I decided when this show first aired, to never watch it. We knew it would go no where good and that even the light prods at our faith were bigger than they looked. Remember the whole "frog in boiling water" story? Well...watching a show that you know publicly puns at your faith will only lead to bigger bashes, more abuse. And things like this can only weaken your testimony.

I know we cant do much. But we can stray from watching shows like this. We can make sure our non member friends know what we really believe. We can pray and go to the temple and remember these testimonies that we have all worked so hard to strengthen throughout our lives.

We will "stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things,
and in all places" (Mosiah 18:9)

I believe.

A lesson we should all learn...I love it!

2009-03-08T21:26:00.000-07:00

My friend Kandra posted this on her blog, and I just HAD to post it on mine! One, I LOVE SNL! And two...how true is it!? If only everyone could learn...watch this! (btw if you are reading this in an email...you need to go to my actual blog page to see the video!)

If Jenni had money...

2009-02-23T10:39:00.000-08:00

If I had money, I would first pay off these pesky credit cards.

But after that...I found a laptop that I would LOVE to have. Its very small (8.9 in screen) and doesnt have a huge drive or anything. But it runs the internet, and Word...which is all I am in it for. I really really do want to get my writing under way. But I have such a hard time sitting here at my computer desk and doing it. And dont even mention long hand...I have been raised in the computer age and long hand gets me NO where. This laptop would fit perfect in the diaper bag, a purse...and I could sit anywhere and write. And the best part...it isnt EXPENSIVE...its just money I do not have. At Best Buy it is going for about $240.00. Come on...thats very very cheap. For those who are wondering, its an Acer Aspire One Netbook (I want the blue one...) But yeah...I guess I just need to bite down and wait, saving money sucks when you dont have it to save. Or I need to find that long lost rich relative who has money they want to spend on little Jenni...hahaha! Anyway, just sharing a thought in my head today.

Heres a link for those who like reading about computer doo-dads --> BEST BUY

Back from the CRUISE!!

2009-02-17T10:20:00.001-08:00

Hey there everyone! Well, on sunday night we got back from our CRUISE! For those who didnt know, we went on a cruise with Shane's family to the Mexican Riviera. It was amazing! Here is a quick run down on our adventures

We left on the 8th WAY early in the morning. I had just gotten a cold, so of course I was feeling very stuffed up and tired. (Figures...I get sick when I finally get to go on a cruise!) We weren't sure how Rylend would like the plane ride...but as soon as the plane started to taxi we knew it would be a fun trip. He smashed his little face up against the window and started laughing as the plane sped up then left the ground. Then he spent much of the time looking out our window, making cute little "ooo" and "hahaha" sounds.

We set down in LA and got on bus to head to the ship. Rylend was excited that the adventure was still going. He stood up against the bus window and giggled as he watched the cars whiz by. Finally, after arriving, going through security, and getting pics taken, we stepped foot on the Carnival Pride Cruise ship!! I was sooo excited! Those ships are so huge, and so so beautiful. When inside, aside from the swaying underfoot, you can easily forget you are on a big boat.

We left LA late sunday night...and the cruise began!

The first two days were "Fun at Sea" days, as we made our way south. It was great feeling the air warm up and *gasp* seeing the sun! We had fun exploring the ship, eating all the food we can eat (everything is all you can eat all week...I had chinese for lunch every day and sushi for a snack before bed almost every night...HEAVEN) Monday night for dinner was elegant night, so we all dressed in our pretty clothes and went to enjoy a nice dinner together. Let me tell you, if I ever strike it rich...I will adjust to that life VERY easy. In the last week for dinner I had the best array of duck, lamb (a few times...its my fave), lobster....mmmmm tons of food. And I have FALLEN in love with chocolate melting cake...yeah. But amazingly I didnt gain weight during the week. I think it helps that it is faster to take the stairs than wait for elevators on a cruise...so we worked it all off. Monday night Shane and I also got to go to a comedey show...SO funny...

Wednesday we arrived in Puerto Vallarta. It is beaitufil there. Palm trees and nice warm weather. The sucky part was that now Shane AND Rylend had that cold...We got off the boat, went through a wild storm of pics the cruise line takes for you (I got one with a parrot on my shoulder...so cool!) Then we went to find us a taxi. After bartering the price for a bit, we were on our way to head downtown. He dropped us off and agreed to pick us up in a few hours. We all walked down the streets of Puerto Vallarta, looking in little shops, watching the Flyers spin by their feet, taking pics along the boardwalk...it was great. By the end of the walking though, Rylend's nose was running worse than ever and he was getting a slight fever. By the time we got back to the taxi, he was crying hard. We stopped at a pharmacy to get some medicine for him, and while Shane was in getting it, Rylend threw up all over himself and me. He has the same gag reflex as mommy...which means when he felt some of his snot running down his throat...he chucked it all back out. Needless to say, Shane and I didnt get to do the rest of the tour we were gonna do and they dropped us back at the boat. Rylend passed out fast back in our room. For the rest of the day he was NOT a happy baby...sigh. But Shane stayed with him and I stepped back off the boat to get a sundress from a shop nearby. I was able to barter it down so I ended up getting TWO dresses for the price of one...it was great!

Thursday Rylend still wasnt feeling better. He had a slight fever and that nose....it ran like CRAZY. Shane wasnt feeling well either. In the morning we arrived at Mazatlan and Shane offered to stay with Rylend so I could step off the boat there. I went with his parents and sis. We didnt go into town...just the shops at the dock. It was still fun though. There was an artist there that went by the name of Charlie Picasso. He would spray paint pictures on canvas, moving the paint around with scrap pieces of paper and his fingers...then set it really fast with a torch! It was awesome to watch and the paintings were BEAUTIFUL...I bought three!
Shane was feeling better, so Lynda stayed with the napping Rylend and he came to shore with me, his dad, and Tania and Ryan. We rented some ATVs and went for a ride down the streets of Mazatlan...it was great!

Early friday morning we arrived at Cabo San Lucas. Rylend was finally feeling better, left only with that pesky running nose. We got off the ship into a little tender boat and jetted to shore. Once there, we got into another boat and headed over a beautiful little beach called Lovers Beach. The next four or so hours we spent at the sunny beach, relaxing and playing in the warm waters of Cabo. It was great. Rylend was still kind of cranky, but we still had fun and all left with slight sunburns...nice reminders of the fact we are VERY white haha! After we all got back to the ship, it started its voyage back to America.

Saturday was our last day at sea. We were all very tired but still enoyed the last day of vacation. I coudlnt believe that I had just spent three days in Mexico...for those of you who dont know, I had never before set any foot out of country, not even to Canada. So this was not only my first cruise, but my first time ever leaving the US. I am so happy I was able to go...it is such a great memory to have now! That night Shane and I went to the NICE restuarant with his parents and Tania and Ryan for Valentines day. It was cool to be waited on by real french waiters, having a 4 course gormet meal (everything was SO DELCIOUS), and just relaxing with the other adults. After that we all headed back to our rooms, packed our bags back up, set them outside our rooms to be picked up...and passed out.

I woke up sunday morning in LA, ready to go home. As amazing and fun as the cruise was...there is still something great about knowing you get to go home now. We had about a 4 or so hour wait at the airport for our flight...but fianlly boarded and flew off back to Portland.

This was such a great cruise! Its hard to summarize everything. So many little fun memories were created. Needless to say, I literally have HUNDREDS of photos. I hope to scrapbook them...just need to GET the book and PRINT the pics...It will be one of those things I finally do in like...2o years. HA!

Anyway, we all are home now, safe, tired, still slightly sick, but very happy.
I have uploaded all the pics onto my Myspace account and havent set them to friends only yet. I know some of you do not use Myspace, so I will leave them public for a few days so you can see all the pics I have. Please go look! There are so many! Just click on this link...let me know if there are any issues! --> CRUISE PICS

His first up-do

2009-02-02T22:48:00.000-08:00

So, for church this last sunday we decided to style Rylend's hair for the first time ever! We gelled it up, combed and pampered and voila! A mohawk! The way Rylend's hair is growing in makes the PERFECT little mohawk. And let me tell you, he was soooo cute in it I couldnt stop snapping pictures. (Those who know me roll their eyes and ask "and when does she stop normally?" haha)

Here are a few pics of his hair do. I love my little boy...he is the best!

Shane

2009-01-28T09:09:00.000-08:00

You know, I am sitting here thinking about Shane. So I have decided to make a post about him. Awww...

Do you know how lucky I feel to have Shane? Jeez...when I think how my life could have ended up if I hadnt met him...it only makes me love him even more. Shane works so hard for our little family. From the day he moved up the island when we were just dating, he has been working hard to take care of both of us. He was taught hard work as a child, thank you Brian and Lynda. He knows that his family is the most important thing to think about. He goes to work each day, no matter how much he doesnt want to sometimes, because he wants to make sure we are taken care of. Shane has such a great heart. An amazing sense of humor. He can make me smile no matter what...even when I am mad AT him and dont want to smile. I love seeing both him and Rylend light up when he comes home from work. He is an amazing daddy and seeing Rylend's smile when he sees his daddy proves it to you.

One of my friends from high school, Maya, just reminded me of a memory from 10th grade that I had totally forgotten about. We were in Mr. Mcnairy's Washington State history class and were checking out a map of the state (goofing around, as always) and you could see the top bit of Oregon on it as well. We were checking out the random town names and laughing when all of a sudden Maya went ""OOO JENNI LOOK!! ALOOOOOOHA!!! I am going to live THERE someday! That would be sweeeeeet!" We were joking about how there is a place in Oregon called Aloha and making up what it would be like...A year later I had forgotten that day, but met Shane. And look...he is from Aloha and now...we live here! Crazy....

I remember after the first time I met Shane. It was at EFY my first year in 2003. The last song of the night at one of the dances we have there. And I had no one to dance with. Then I see him sitting over near the corner, by himself, head in hands. I decide to disregard my usual rule of girls do not ask...and head over to ask him to dance with me. All I can remember from that dance is telling him about the island...and his laugh. If you know shane...you know how is laugh in unforgettable. I saw him one other time that week. Got a picture taken with him and got his email address. Then must say forgot about him.
A few months later, I get an email from Shane Merritt and rack my brain to remember who that is. When I finally do, I smile and open yahoo messenger and start to chat with him. From that day on, we chat. Sometimes daily. Sometimes a month or two stretches by with no talking at all. Sometimes we talk for 4 hours straight. Others only a few minutes. We find out all about eachother. But thats as far as I go. I was in a very steady relationship. I remember talking to Megan about this "weird guy who is stalking me on IM" lol. I was actually freaked out about him sometimes...how he always said love ya at the end of the conversation with that winky face...Shane is a flirt. Go figure. But its also just his personality. He didnt love me. He is just a goof like nothing else. But still...I acutally didnt like it and even avoided him a bit. But for some reason, I couldnt avoid him for long.
He is supposed to come visit me in May of 2004. But that doesnt happen. I am actually relieved...I didnt know what to do with the idea of him visiting after only meeting him that one time. The we request to be in the same group at EFY with his friend Robby and Kandra. I am nervous as HECK to me in the same group as my "stalker" But Kandra has been tons of fun to talk to online and we will be roommates...so I go. And it is fun. I like Shane...but I dont want anything else. I see him and Kandra...I know what is going on between them. And I have Scott.
Scott...I have to deal with that. At EFY that year I realize alot about life...about myself. And I learn what I DO want in my life. My beliefs. MY dreams. So I decide to break up with Scott. And get better in church. And go after my dreams. I dont want to date anymore for a bit. I want to be me. I feel pulled to Shane...but I dont wan to go there. I see him and her...I know its not meant for me...and I dont fully mind. I want to be...free
So I go home and break up with Scott and get ready to enjoy my senior of high school. But Shane keeps calling. And emailing. And then he comes and visits me a month after EFY. I thought it was nice...but didnt expect that a few days after his visit I would be dating him. So I think..."ok..summer fling. It wont last past that because of the distance..."

BOY WAS I WRONG.

He moved up a few months later...proposed...Shane knew he wanted me. He actually had to convince me that I wanted him. He said I love you first. I made him explain to me how he knew....and didnt say it back for some time. He waited though. We went through tough times. Disapproval. People hurt. I didnt mean for that to happen...but life happens and we cant avoid it.

I love where I am now. People ask I you could go back and not date someone you sis, would you?
NEVER

If I didnt date George, I wouldnt have been distraught by the breakup and decide to go do the MCT play again...where I met Michael.
If I hadnt dated Michael, I wouldnt have been encouraged by him to hang out with my friend's offisland...where I met Taylor.
If I hadnt dated Taylor, I wouldnt have done track that year (he told me I should still do because I am good...I doubted)...where I met Scott.
Scott...
If I hadnt dated Scott, I wouldnt have decided to go to EFY to prove it to people I didnt believe. I was in such a bad place...but I went, and I met Shane. Then I stayed with Scott...and a year later decided to got to EFY again to find out if I do really still believe. And there was Shane again...

I love them all for helping to lead me to Shane. Maybe I would have gotten there some other way...but that is ahrd to believe.
And I do believe. I KNOW this church is true. And it is so wonderful to have a man in my life who knows this too. Who supports me and who tries hard with me to do the right thing. Who was able to take me to the temple and get sealed with me for time and all eternity. Who holds the priesthood. He is the father of my amazing child. I cannot wait to have more with him. To see him raise them and teach them.

Yes..I am gushing. But those of you who have the person literally of your dreams...you know what I mean. Its the love that no matter how hard we try, we can never explain in words.

How lucky am I to have Shane in my life. To have his love. To know that when he leaves for work, he is working for us. That when he comes home, he is coming home to me.

I love you Shane.

My Writing

2009-01-14T13:02:00.000-08:00

So, those of you who have known me a long time KNOW how much I love to write. I remember being in 1st grade, declaring to everyone that someday I would publish books. My mom says when I was three I insisted on learning to write. I would sit at the table, pencil in hand, and yell out "Mom! How do you spell cat!" She would reply with C-A-T. Then a short moment later I would suddenly ask "Whats a C look like?"

By the time I got to Kindergarten, I knew how to write. And I loved it. I have devoured reading my whole life. Escaping into other worlds created by other minds...its a thrill! There is so much magic and amazement in the world of writing. By second grade I was put in an advanced reading and writing group. I was already at high school level. By 4th grade I had peaked at college level. Come high school, I had to take the madatory classes and would skate by with a super easy A, turning in three times the amount asked for every time. And by the time I enrolled in Running Start, I was filling my notebooks with poetry, book ideas, pulling friends in with short chapters I would right. I have had a handful of amazing teachers through my years that have supported me so much. They could see my passion and they were excited for me. Ms. Greeley, Ms. Bordi, Heidi McKenna (also lovingly known by our class as "mom")...I think of those three women often and how much of an impact they have had on me. I even lost a bet to Ms. Bordi, now owing her a published book...not that I think she remembers this.

But my one issue has always dragged me down...writer's block. See, I am one of those people who, even though everyone tells me otherwise, thinks my work is never good enough. Forget the fact of my advanced placement, my teacher's and friend's praise, my winning of many writing contests...I still never see my writing as being up to THAT par...what ever that par may be. So as much as I love it. As much as I dream to see it in print. To have others devour the stories... I never finish. I literally have over ten book ideas, with one chapter written for each. I have the whole world of the story plotted in my head, with a few blank spots here and there. And I never touch on them again.

I wish I could afford to take some writing classes again. To learn more techiques and rules and tips. But they are always pricey. And we have no money. So I grab writing tip books and dig in. Orson Scott Card (one of my all time favorite authors) wrote a book called "How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy." Its amazing. Inspiring. Yes, it has been helping. Along with the unending prodding from Shane. I will read him a blip from my newest writing, and he will soak it in. He has actually told me not to read to much for him...because he hates waiting for more.

So what to do?

I have started a blog for my writing. There isnt much there yet, being as I just started it a few days ago. Please, if you have the time, go there. Leave me tips. Tricks. Thoughts. Critiques. Help my mind spin up. Brain storm with me. You are all my friends and family. The best help I can get is from you.

jennimerritt.blogspot.com

Hopefully, soon, the worlds I have created will finally meet other waiting minds.

The Last Few Weeks...

2009-01-11T20:35:00.000-08:00

Holiday season seems to make time spin by faster than ever. Here I was a few weeks ago...posting about the Santa visit...now its almost halfway through January and I am finally back on here! Ok...sorry for the lack of detail...but here is a run down of the last few weeks!

CHRISTMAS
It is so great having Christmas with a little kid in the house. Ok ok...so Rylend was more confused than excited. He couldn't understand why mom and dad were setting objects in front of him and LETTING him tear it apart. Rylend kept giving us a look like "Are you crazy!? Make up your minds!!"
But it was still a ton of fun. He got a huge bundle of new toys and goodies. Let me tell you, "big kid" toys are such a life saver. The "baby" toys he had before were long past boring him, and now he is so intrigued with the new goodies that he literally squeals when he sees them!
We cant's wait for next year and the years to come, when he comes to understand Christmas more and more and the excitement of Santa bubbles over. This is way too much fun.
Here are a few pics from Christmas!

FAMILY PICS
After Christmas we all went and had new family pics taken. This Merritt clan is getting HUGE! Its funny when we all go walking in there, you can almost here the poor photographer sigh with instant exhaustion. There is now 12 people in this family...and it still has some way to grow! Rylend had a ton of fun. (of course, he is already VERY used to paparazzi haha!) Here are the pics!

NEW YEARS
So....nothing exciting here. Really. Shane's family was gone for the week, taking Cameron to the MTC. Yup! He has left for his two year mission to AUSTRALIA. We will miss him...it will be quiet...er without him. So Shane and I went up to their house to cuddle with the pets and enjoy a Matrix night. It was fun. We welcomed in the new year, not with a ball drop, but with "there is no spoon" action...ha! Then after midnight struck, we watched neighbors and people all over the Beaverton/Hillsboro area (they live on a hill with a great view) light of tons of fireworks. Nice and relaxing.

FRIDAY HARBOR
On the 2nd Rylend and I went up to the island to visit. Riding the train for 6 hours with a 9 month old who refuses to nap...I wont do it again. Shane couldnt get the time off to come too, so I had to bite through and try to find ways to keep him quiet enough so as not to drive my co-passengers too batty. When we finally got off, one of the ladies came up to and gave me a nice compliment. "I just wan you to know you are the best mom! You kept your cool the whole time with this little boy. He is very lucky to have you!" It was very nice to hear...but if only she had heard what was going through my head the last 6 hours...ha! Mommy's secret...
The visit was nice. I got to see my family and most of my friends for the week. Rylend adored watching his three cousins up there run all over the place (two are almost 2 and one is almost 4...) He quickly and easily became in total love with his PopPop (my dad). I even got to see my friend Jessie's baby girl Theresa (three months old!), watch the dress rehearsal for the HS play "Grease" (they are amazing...of course!) and enjoy a much desired SUSHI NIGHT...I miss those a ton.
Sucky part....RAIN.
So I was booked to leave on the train thursday morning. So of course wednesday night it really starts to rain. And rain. And for kicks...rain some more. Before you know it, just south of Seattle is flooded. They cancel ALL trains...close off I-5 and basically all surrounding areas... So I was stuck on the island for two more days.
This was the longest I had been away from Shane since...um...we started dating? And Rylend had never NOT seen daddy for more than a day...so come Friday we were both READY to go home. But travel arrangements are hard to make... So Shane and Zach decide it would be fun to make a road trip to Anacortes and pick us up at the ferry Saturday morning. Yay! We got home late Saturday afternoon and I LOVE being home!
I miss my family and friends there alot. I wish they would come and visit me...someday. It kind of feels like they all expect us to go there but will never make the same effort to come HERE. Its not that far... I wish they would.
Here are some pics!

So now I am home. Happy. VERY TIRED. And have updated you all. I will do more later! NIGHT!!!

Hello Santa!

2008-12-21T07:35:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we bundled up in warm clothes to brave the winter snow storm we have been having. All for the new adventure of...meeting Santa! I think I was more excited than anyone else about this. We drove over to the Cedal Hills Mall and met up with Kelsey and Jayden there...then in we went!
Luckily we got there early so the line hadn't had a chance to grow too long. Even standing in line was fun. All the moms were chatting and all the kids were staring. Rylend was smiling at everyone and completely enjoying all the attention and "aw how cute!" comments coming his way. Then our chance came.
We went up to Santa and Daddy held Rylend in his lap to meet him. Rylend just stared like "whats up with all the red?" until Santa pulled out a teddy bear and started playing. Rylend loved it and started to giggle and smile.

So onto Santa's lap he went!
I was actually nervous to see how he would react. Like most of you know, the first Santa visit usually seems to consist of pure terror and crying...
But here my kid is, cuddled onto Santa's lap, smiling for everyone! There was alittle knob on the chair that he was FASCINATED with, so we had to keep diverting his attention back to us...but other than that he was happy and content with the whole experience. When we picked him back up, he wouldnt stop staring at Santa, like "Hey wait..I forgot to tell you what I want!" Shane did call it though...we got one pic where he is staring RIGHT at the big white beard like "WHAT is that??" Ha!

hear about those calendars?

2008-12-18T09:21:00.000-08:00

Ok, I need to do a Jenni rant.

Have any of you heard about those calendars made by the mormon guy? You know...he made a calendar taking pics of hot young men who just returned from their missions and BOOM...huge controversy! He got excommunicated and the calendars are all over the news. NOW he does it again...except with hot mormon moms. And once again, it hits like wildfire across the news. "Will these moms be kicked out of their church" blah blah

SIGH

When interviewed, one of the moms was asked how she felt about the possibility of being excommunicated. her reply was along the lines of "well if it happens it happens. " with a shrug and a smile

Ok, honestly!

ONE: Why is this even on the news?? Woo...so some guy decides to make calendars with concenting adults that know what they are doing...and he gets excommunicated for his choice. NOT the first time this has happened. I have this feeling that he KNEW it would happen, and that if he contacted just the right people he could get the unneeded and rude attention for the church that he wanted. i mean come on, the news wouldn't have known about the "scandal" of these calendars unless someone had told him...and it just feels too simple. When you see him smiling and being all cool, you know this hasnt hurt him...ge is getting better business than ever!

TWO: In my oppinion, these models also do not care. Obviously shown by the woman who just smiled and shrugged away the possibility that she could be kicked out...and the coolness of the calendar maker... How can they rant and rave about how they might be excommunicated while at the same time they claim they dont really care? They dont realyl believe, thats is clear. If you have a testimony and faith in something, ANYTHING, you dont do something you know is wrong and shrug it off like nothing as happened. They know the teachings of the church...

THREE: There are many LDS models and actors out in the world. There have been for a long time and there will be for a long time to come. They dont flaunt it. And they do their job. Yes, modeling means you cant always wear "modest" clothes. And acting means you cant always be "molly" or "peter" (sorry...mormon slang...er..."very mormon") But they still live their LIVES in their belief. No one is perfect and no one can ever EXPECT perfection. So I say la de da to the fact these returned elders and mothers have decided to do this. I know that I have no where near the ammount of self esteem you ever need to model at all...
The fact that bugs me is that they made their choice to do this...then had to rub it in everyone's face. "ooo I modeled for a calendar...I dare you to kick me out."

Im sorry people, but you dont dare God.
He will always take you up on it...and not in the way you thought.

Though I dont flaunt it much...I DO believe in this church. I am so happy I was able to get married in the temple and that I know what I do. That the Prophet is on this earth today and that we have the priesthood. I have seen it in action and know how true it is. Faith is a hard thing to have, especially today. Times are way hard and temptation is rampant. People dont LIKE it if you believe and they swerve away from truth like it were a disease. I am no missionary, no saint. I am not perfect and I hate preaching and driving people nuts. But I do firmly believe this faith.

And the fact that it is getting attacked more and more...and people will so willingly throw it away with a shrug...and that people LIKE attcking it more than ever...

ever hear of signs of times?
i think we are getting there people.

8 months old!

2008-12-04T09:15:00.000-08:00

It has been a long time since I last posted. What with chasing after this little boy and trying to keep my home in order, I just havent thought much about this blog. But for you all to know, we are doing great. Money is tight...very tight. But we are happy and still have enough in our bank for bills.

Rylend...
Wow this kid is amazing. I know you read about my saying that all the time, but it is true. I cant believe my little man is 8 months old now! He is an EXPERT at crawling. I love it when he gets excited and speed crawls to us...so cute! He has also taken to standing up against EVERYTHING. Even if it is too tall or short...he finds a way to use it to stand. He hasnt really tried to walk along things much. When he does, he gets stuck and falls over...which is cute too. When we try to help him walk, he always ends up and dropping to his knees like "hey, crawling is easier!"

A couple weeks ago two more teeth came in. Now he has his top two and bottom two...like a little turtle! There is a gap between his two top teeth and his smile is even CUTER now...if that is possible! Along with that, his vocabulary now consists of " mama" "dada" "hi" "baba" and "nana"
Shane and Rylend have a cute little game they play now too. Shane will shake his head back and forth, yelling. Then he stops, looks at Rylend...and Rylend does it back...then looks at Daddy. Now its gotten to the point that RYLEND starts the game with almost anyone..play with me!
We just had to pack away his beloved walker. It has risen as tall as it will go...and he is too tall for it. He isnt happy...but it was making it so he was walking funny and wasnt helping anymore. Sigh...

Along with all of this, Rylend laughs even more now, pays SO much attention to everything I am just waiting for him to say something like "mom, no...THIS is how you do it!" and almost everyone who sees him falls inlove. I can see why. God must have really loved us to send us this child. He is so smart and funny...though I do hate waking up at 7 am every day...dealing with his whines and woes because thats the only way he can communicate...not being able to just go somewhere...I would NEVER trade it in EVER for anything else.

Christmas is in just a few weeks. I cant wait to see him open his presents and experience the holiday. We will only be able to buy him one gift it looks like...but that doesnt matter. Even watching him open that one gift will be amazing.

Momma's boy

2008-10-26T10:10:00.000-07:00

So, like I have said before, Rylend says Mama. He will say Dada when he sometimes feels like it too. Lately though, it seems to all be about mama. Whenever he is tired, unhappy, hungry...etc...he cries for mama until I get him. No one else....Each kid seems to go through stages like this, and mine is entering the mommy only one. I love it because he wants me and just being in my arms makes him calm down and cuddle now. But at the same time...it gets frustrating. I havent just had a real ounce of ME time in some time now. I need a small break...but hate leaving my little boy. He is just too precious.

Here is a video we got of him last night. Shane was getting him in his pjs for bed, and Rylend wasnt happy that DADDY was doing it. Right before we started recording, he had yelled out "MA MA!" loud and clear...it was very cute. I recorded a bit just for the memory...then we cuddled together for some time before he went down for bed. My little boy....

Round round round round...he gets around!

2008-10-16T12:34:00.000-07:00

In the last few days, Rylend has discovered he can crawl further than just he living room. Now I set him on the ground to play, and when I check again, he is gone. He has discovered the bathroom...dining room...his room...our bedroom. Today it got really quiet and I went to find him. He was all the way in our room, IN the closet, playing with some hangers that had fallen down. Little sneak!

He has gotten so good at crawling too! Now the only time he falls down is when he sees something he wants and lunges for it! And let me tell you...when he sees something he wants...he WILL lunge for it! This kid is amazing. We all said he would be crawling by Halloween and look...still has a few weeks to go!

Here is a small video I got of him. Hope you like!

6 months and 1 week old!

2008-10-11T11:36:00.000-07:00

Wow! I can never seem to get on here as often as I want to. Even now this cant be a huge update post, but I want to let everyone know that things are going GREAT! Rylend is so big now! For Christmas Grandma Mason got him a pair of pajamas...and after seeing him, she realized they definitely will be too SMALL by then! They are 12 month!! So she gave them to us early. I am actually really happy she did. It has been getting pretty cold here, and the pjs she got Rylend are so warm! Life saver, let me tell you. Sometimes when he sleeps he kicks all his blankie off...then wakes u at about 4 am screaming because he is cold....and the only way to calm him is to give him is bottle about....2 hours early lol.

Let me tell you, Rylend seems to have set a goal to progress faster than his age in almsot every way possible. Starting to fit into 12 month clothing. Two CUTE little teeth (when he smiles, he flashes them at you. I love it!) Saying Ma and Da...when he feels like it. When you ASK him to talk, he laughs at you. He mostly seems to chatter when he is waking up in the morning. AND...yup you guessed it...he is crawling! He is actually getting pretty good at it too. He still loses his balance and "belly outs" sometimes...but let me tell you..this kid is MOBILE! All day I am pulling him away from the computers, the DVD player, the DVD shelf...Yesterday I finally had enough. I took all wires on the computers and put them in a box (haha foiled little boy!) then I vacuumed like mad, got and Craigslist...and found a TV stand that has DOORS. YES! I totally love it too. That has lessened my need to chase a SMALL bit...but dont get me wrong. I love that he is mobile. So strong!

Also Rylend has been introduced to the sippy cup! Oh man. My friend Kelsey and I put him in the stoller and walked over to Albertsons. While we were there I decided to get a cup for him. Well, I picked it out, then handed it to him to play with while we finished out shopping. Ha! When I looked down, he was holding it up, with the lid over thats over the mouthpiece in his mouth! He knew EXACTLY what to do! When we got home, I put some very watered down apple juice in it...gave it to him...and he went to TOWN on it! Its his favorite thing now. Whenever he is playing, he MUST have his cup near him. Its so cute!

As for Shane and I...Shane got his promotion at work, with new hours too. Its nice because he should be home around 1 or 2 every day...but sucky because he has to leave at about 4 am AND doesnt have tons of overtime like he did before. But it should give him some sort of raise too...so yeah. And for me...I have been getting more into photography. I have taken Kelsey's pregnancy pics, couple pics of Zach and Kelsey, Katie's (Zach's little sis) senior pics.....and I wanna take some for my sister in law Sammy...I just need to find out if she still does. So yeah, I am happy. I love doing photography. And occasionally working on my book...occasionally. Its hard when everytime I sit down to write and little baby behind me starts to throw a fit...sigh. Motherhood! We all love it, regardless!

Words!

2008-09-30T08:11:00.000-07:00

So, I am laying in bed with Rylend like we do every morning. Its so great to take that time each day and just cuddle. Well, he is playing with my hair as always and all of a sudden starts:

"Ma ma ma ma ma ma. Ma. Ma. Ma ma..."

It was so cute! I responded with a "ma ma" and he looked at me all wide eyed like "wow you can say that too!" then he started on it again. "mama. ma. ma. mama mama. ma ma ma ma..."

Now when I come into the room and look at him, he gets all excited and starts saying it. Sometimes its just his lips moving with no noise, but then the word comes out and he says it a bit...then moves back to going after one of his toys or rolling or trying to crawl (SO close! Just has to figure out how to move his arms without bellying out)

My little boy is getting bigger and bigger! Its so fun to watch!

Oh, and here are two pics of him when he tried bananas the other day. We had just gotten back from the beach so he was super tired...hence the cranky and blank looks. But you can see his little teeth in one! Yay!

(And had to put this up...I love it! (from when we went to the beach))

My poor boy!!!

2008-09-16T12:24:00.000-07:00

So, as I said already, last friday Rylend started getting his first tooth. WELL! Yesterday as we are on our way home form the islands (will post blog about that visit later with pics) I let him bite my finger and....ANOTHER toother! YUP! BOTH of his front lower teeth are coming in. The tips have both cut their way through and now are just coming up slowly. Poor boy...teething tablets help but still, he isnt all that happy right now.

Its cute when he smiles big though. You can see the tips.

My boy...he is getting big!!

5 months have flown by!

2008-09-12T15:47:00.001-07:00

I have so many videos and pictures I still need to post on here. but for now, I am just going to write. I can hardly believe it that Rylend is already 5 months old. (to be exact...5 months and 9 days!) He is growing so fast and learning so much! He loves to be in his walker, exploring everything he can get into. When we put him down on the floor to play with his toys, he rolls everywhere. Then he will get up on his hands and knees, no problem, and look around. He tries so hard to crawl and almost has it! He is such a determined little boy, wanting to get on to the next stge before he has finished the one he is already on. If you hold his hands and help him stand, he will take his little baby steps, walking wherever he feels like at the moment.

And his talking! No, no words yet. But even without real words thi kid communicates like nothing else. His little coos, squeals, grunts, grumbles, squeaks...it is so easy to have a conversation with him.

He has moved on in food too! Yup! So far Rylend has explored both carrots and peas. I have videos of that I will post when I have more time. He seems to like anything he can eat. He made a few faces when we gave him the peas, I think just because he had just gotten used to the carrots. But after that..he ate his whole bowl of them. And I have also moved him to formula. I started to dry up naturally and it was getting harder to feed him. He has taken to the formula happily and still gets his cuddle time with mommy. When he sees a bottle, even across the room, he wants it! And in his walker, he will walk to his high chair then start ramming it and reaching for it. He knows food...

Rylend is so amazing. How he "reads" his books. He blows raspberries too! So cute! How he leans to the person he wants and gets SO excited when he finds out they want him too. How he talks to his toys, grabs his feet, watched everything SO closely then starts to laugh for no reason. Life is so amazing with him around!

And today! I am feeding him in the morning then he goes to bite my finger like usual as we cuddle. And guess what I feel! YUP! The tips of a little tooth. His lower left front tooth to be exact. The sharp little tip is barely sticking out of his gums, but if you can con him into letting you look, you can see it! So amazing! It makes me kind of sad, knowing that he is entering another stage in his life. Teeth! He is fussier than usual and I feel bad that I cant make it better for him. But I know Rylend is such a tough little kid, he will get through it and find out how exciting this new object is!

I look back and cant imagine my life without everything I have now. Money is tough. Living isnt always easy. Family cant all be close and friends grow apart. But when I wake up next to my loving husband, when I hold my perfect son...those things make all the cons of life seem so minimal. Sure, we have our tough days. Rylend can sure get on my last nerve. And irritation is easy with someone you live with. But I love them both more than life and am SO HAPPY that I am sealed to them for eternity. Moments like this, when I turn around and see my son smiling up at me...they are what makes life worth it all.

bath time and FEET!

2008-09-12T09:18:00.001-07:00

Rylend has decided that he LOVES his bathtime!! He will sit in his tub and talk to the bubbles....leaning forward to them and smiling. We now have a rubber ducky for him and he of course bites it...then gets distracted by the bubbles and lunges for them. Its wayyy better than when he used to cry every bath...now its a fun game. So playful!

Just about a week ago Rylend really discovered his feet. The pictures below are after a bath. I laid him down to go get his pjs and when I got back...he was so immersed in playing with his feet I just HAD to take pictures!! Now...they are one of the ONLY things he seems to want. When I feed him he ALWAYS has to have at least one of his feet in hand. I have always loved it when babies play with their feet, so I am TOTALLY loving this!

oh yeah...I am now 22!

2008-09-12T08:04:00.000-07:00

Oops..ok...on August 31 I turned 22. Yay! Well, it was a nice birthday. We went to church...then had dinner with Shane's family at CHANGS MONGOLIAN GRILL!!! Other than Sushi Town, Chang's is my other FAVORITE restaurant. It is soooo good. Its one of those places that you dish up your food, then they cook it right in front of you. Mmmmm so good with plum sauce. If I had the money, we would eat there at least once a week.
Its kind of sad, thinking about birthdays. Remember the times when you were young and you could literally FEEL the day coming the whole month before? Like, the air seemed to glitter and everything seemed so much more brighter and exciting as you felt the day come closer. Then when it finally hit, you would wake up so excited. It was your birthday! No chores for the day, a party, cake, presents, friends...it is so hard to describe the feeling of those days. Now...its the same old day. No butterfly anticipations. No glittering light or huge birthday bash. We still did the cake, but the presents were gone. The party was just family. The day was just another day with taking care of my family, going to church...I woke up and just went "oh, its my birthday" then shrugged. Dotn get me wrong. I still had a great day. We all had fun together and all...I just miss the carefree its my day the world is amazing birthdays of childhood. Ah...being an adult...

(Here we are on my birthday, just before we left for church.)

play time!

2008-09-12T07:52:00.000-07:00

Rylend has discovered the joy of...books! I was sorting through some of my books and he just HAD to have one of HIS books to "read" too. This is a cute one...each page has a little mirror on it so he can see himself...and he LOVES it! He also loves Brown Bear Brown Bear and basically any other book you will read to him. He gets so excited and sits there with his mouth gaping open. Then he will look first at the left page, then the right page, then wait for you to turn it! Like he is really reading hehe. He is such a smart little boy. Maybe he will be a book worm like his mommy...and a gamer like his daddy....

It has also become a game for me to "chase" him out of the kitchen. When he is playing in his beloved walker, he will walk it into the kitchen then go reallllly quiet, watching for me. I will look around the corner and say something like " hey you shouldnt be in there!" and he will smile all big. Then I will push him out...and a bit later...the game is back on. He almost lives in that walker now. such strong little legs!

MY boys

2008-09-12T07:27:00.000-07:00

So this post is mainly just about my two boys. Let me tell you, they are such best buddies! Whenever Shane comes home from work, Rylend gets super excited and only wants his Daddy's attention. And when Shane has his late days, Rylend gets all restless because Daddy should be home by now! Its so cute how much Rylend loves his Daddy. Shane is so good with him too! The love to play around..."rough house" and (meaning rolling on the floor together or tossing in the air) but their favorite thing....computers. Rylend loves the computer! When he is in his walker, he always walks to a computer and stares at it. And the other day I had him playing on the ground while I was checking my email...and he got SO MAD because I wasnt holding him infront of the computer. As soon as I picked him up, he started to smile and stare at the screen. Rylend loves to sit on Shane's lap when he is playing a game and watch the action. And recently he has discovered the keyboard...which means he wants to "type" all the time. Its really cute!! Here are a few pics of him typing and of him watching a game with Daddy.

And here are some pictures of the boys playing together before bedtime.

I love my two boys SO MUCH! This little family of mine...I would never trade it for anything!

waking smiles

2008-08-27T20:55:00.000-07:00

I love my little boy. Whenever he wakes up, as soon as he sees me, he gives me the biggest, happiest smile. It makes me feel so loved! Then I always hold him to a mirror to "say good morning to himself" and he gets SO HAPPY! I managed to snap a pic of him waking up after nap one day. Here you go!

Also, Kelsey had her baby shower on the 24th. Here are some pics of us three at it. It was a lot of fun. Very relaxed, sitting out on a back patio with some other women and babies, and eating snacks. I wish my baby shower had been more relaxed and fun like that. Oh well! We have more kids yet to create! I cant wait for Kelsey to have Jayden. He is gonna be a cutie!

august camping trip

2008-08-27T20:08:00.000-07:00

This last weekend (August 22-24) we went camping with Shane's family over at Spruce Run. It was a lot of fun. His siblings are very entertaining, not to mention I get that much needed break from always holding my boy since they all want to cuddle him too! On saturday we drove out to Canon Beach and spent most of the day there. Rylend loved watching the waves and playing in the sand. He thought the sand was the most amazing thing ever and spent a large chunk of time staring at it, "talking." Then he tried to eat it...Shane tried hard to not let him, but somehow he got sand anyway. Kids are good at that. We also made a sand sculpture of a monkey. I did the face...very proud! haha. Overall it was a very nice camping trip. Relaxing, family time, and sunshine. Does a body good!

Rylend playing with Daddy at the camp site. Happy boy!!

Rylend's first time to the beach. He was eating his carrier...haha

Daddy showing Rylend the waves

Mommy walking with Rylend in a tidepool. He loved the water

Rylend discovering sand...on his foot. Amazing!
Eww kid. He was happy though
Here is a video of Rylend and Alexis in the sand:

Our AMAZING monkey! Yay!!

4 month old pictures!

2008-08-24T17:41:00.001-07:00

I set up a backdrop and took some photos of Rylend. He is such a cutie! I have all of them up in my myspace album, but for those of you who do not use that site, here are my favorites!

Photos with Mommy, Kelsey in the hospital, and "crawling"

2008-08-24T16:59:00.000-07:00

I realized that there really arent many pictures of Rylend and me...since I am the one who always has the camera in hand! So one day, since I was dressed up for our dinner that night (August 13th was our three year anniversary! WOW!) Here are a few that I took!

On the same day, our friend Kelsey (who at that time was almost 30 weeks pregnant) had to go to the hospital. Turns out her little boy Jayden was trying to come out early! They had to give her steroids and magnesium to stop the contactions and she had to stay there for about a week. They finally let her out, but she is on bed rest now. We brought Rylend in to see her a few days after she was admitted. We call him her little boyfriend. Rylend LOVES Kelsey. Its good to see she is doing good again, though a little crazy with her bedrest! We are all VERY excited to meet little Jayden...he just needs to finish baking first! Here is a pic of Rylend visiting Kelsey

Also, Rylend has decided it is time to move on to bigger and better things! He has very much so mastered rolling. I will set him on one side of the living room, and before I know it he is on the other side, smiling up at me. So now he is working on his crawling. He pulls his knees under him and lifts himself onto his elbows...sometimes even hands. He will rock sometimes. Other times just push nonstop with his legs, kind of inchworming forward. He has found it gets him moving a bit more than rolling and quickly gets into whatever I might have left on the ground. I think in the next month or so he will be crawling very well! And he isnt even 5 months old yet!! I would upload a video I have of him, but each time I have tried I get problems. So here are a few pics, so you can get a slight image of my little man's skills!

Shane's birthday (August 11th)

2008-08-24T16:36:00.000-07:00

Ok, I havent posted forever...so I have a few different posts to catch up on!

First one!
Shane had his 22nd bday on August 11th. We went out to dinner with his family and some of our friends at Applebees. Man...first time I have been there. Its pretty good!

I wrapped Shane's present COMPLETELY in bows...it was awesome! And Rylend LOVED watching Daddy unwrap it too! He laid on the floor afterwards and "talked" to the bows. It was so cute!! For his bday, I got Shane Eureka Season 1, slong with T2 and Hackers. I love Amazon! They are so cheap!!!!

We WERE going to go lazer tagging, but of course we didnt check their hours...its kinda bummed Shane out, but we will go soon!

this kid loves his cereal

2008-08-08T09:02:00.000-07:00

Here is a video of Rylend in his high chair, eating Gerber cereal. Of course we started recording it towards the end of his giggle fit, but it is still a very cute video! I also snagged some pics from it, though they are a bit blurry... (for those of you who get this in an email update, to view the video you have to click on the link at the bottom of the page that brings you to the actual blog page, in case you havent discovered that!)

Video...

And some pics...Isnt he SUCH a cutie??? Man, this kid is awesome!

Hot days and Twilight Books

2008-08-07T09:08:00.000-07:00

Oh my gosh! It has been SO SO hot! Literally, yesterday I would wiped sweat off my forehead, and I could feel it bead right back before my hand was even down. I had gotten so excited that the heat had gone down that I forgot it is just the beginning of August. Here I am in perfect comfort...then two days ago WHAM the heat comes back and I am pretty much miserable in it. It is especially sucky when it comes time to feeding Rylend...We are both sweatmeisters so I bet you can guess the comfort we lack there. Rylend has been spending most of his days in just his diaper. It is cute seeing his fat rolls and he loves feeling "free." You should see how excited he gets when he has NOTHING on! I let him lay on his mat one day naked and he sat there all happy, shaking his bootie. It was way too cute.
I am HOPING this heat goes away soon. The news tries to convince us that it will go away soon....but I cringe every time they happily say there will be no clouds or sunshine will break through. Man, I really AM a northwesterner! lol

Now for something totally not related to real life at all!

__________________________________________________________

TWILIGHT
Yes people, I too have entered into the Twilight world. I just finished the 4th book, Breaking Dawn, a day ago and I am still FIRMLY a Twilight fan. I know alot of people have been complaining non stop about how this last book turned out, but personally I find it did wrap up the love story quite nicely.
If you DONT know Twilight, heres a quick rundown on it:
Bella moves to Forks, WA to live with her Dad. There she meets Edward and very quickly knows that one, he was very different than others, and two, that she was inexplicably drawn to him. Lo and behold, she comes to find out he is a vampire, but all too late. She was in love. Good thing that he is a "vegetarian" meaning his family of vampires have sworn to never hurt another human and feed only on animal blood. Through the first book you watch as their love grows...then is tested as a group of rogue vampires, true vampires, happens on them and ends up hunting Bella.
The other three books keep telling the story, each one with a new trial that the teen lovers battle through. People mainly dont like the fourth one because Bella and Edward get married and Bella is only 18. They dont like the fact that Stephanie Meyer is endorsing YOUNG marriage...not to boot that Bella ends up getting pregnant and keeps the baby, when most of these people this she should have aborted. It seems people dont want to remember that the author is a MORMON so of course the LDS teachings WILL bleed through into these books. And we do support younger marriage and starting families young. I truly dont see what is wrong with that. Also, people were expecting some grand message from this final book, and were mad when it had a happy ending where everyone turns out where they should be in life. The readers complain that this ending could never happen in real life....which is understandable...since this book is a FICTION. Jeesh...I loved the ending. We all wish that happy endings would always happen and that is why we read. To escape. Right?

But yes I think this four book series is a work of art. It comes from a LDS housewife who had a funky dream one night and wrote a book that would become such a best-selling phenomenon... They are even making a movie on the first book, coming out this winter! It gives me hope that maybe, someday, I too will finish one of my stories and people will love it too. I like being given hope.

This series has made its way onto my top shelf full of my other all time favorites: Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth Series, Piers Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality series, all of Orson Scott card (Mainly the Ender/Beans series)...and it desereves that spot (now I just need to BUY the first three books....ha!)

4 months old!

2008-08-04T11:09:00.000-07:00

(for those of u now tuning in from my myspace blog...this is the same entry as there. Scroll down for the older ones that u havent read yet!)

Alright! Yesterday was Rylend's 4 month birthday! Man he is HUGE now! People who see him ask me if he is 7 or 8 months old...haha! He is such a goof ball too. At church yesterday he took a nice nap during sacrament meeting. It was testimony meeting so different people were talking. He woke up a bit before the meeting was over...looked over to Grandpa Merritt...and just started LAUGHING. It didnt help that Brian was making faces...Shane would smother Rylend's face in his chest...but the kid kept laughing! He was in such a great mood and usually we make him laugh harder, so he didnt know what to think. Great timing kid...but it was WAY cute!

He has his first bites of Gerber cereal. I think he was more interested in knawing on that spoon though. We need to get him a high chair, but other than that...I am way excited to start feeding him food. He would raise his eyebrows every so often, as if He is draining me! haha

Also, joy on all mother's parts, he rolled to his belly today!!! Yes, he has been rolling from belly to back for quite some time now (though he wont do it as much anymore. He is more interested in being in his walker, which he ADORES) But each time he has been on his back lately he would roll to his side then just chill. Last night he actually would roll his hips completely over then stop, having that dang arm stuck under him. I knew it was close though. Then today, after changing his diaper, he started doing it again. SO I grabbed the camera for the heck of it and....he rolled! He chilled +on his belly for a few seconds, then rolled back to his back and zoned out. SO BIG!

(hah he is on his play mat right now and he just did it a few times again!)

...so thats about it for now.

Im going to go watch my little boy roll all over the place! Have a great day!

Look alike

2008-07-31T22:19:00.000-07:00

SO! I decided to play around with some pics I have and see who Rylend looks more like at this age. Its crazy to see he is basically a half and half splice of Shane and me!

FIRST: Rylend vs. ShaneSame eyes, ears, hairline...i think nose too! Basically the top half of the face!

NEXT: Rylend vs. me
Well...obviously he has my eye color...other than that...same mouth, same cheeks...and that nose...so hard to tell who's nose Rylend has!!!

I am just so amazed at how evenly he seemed to get our features. WAY happy he got his Daddy's eye shape. My little boy is so cute! Today he threw quite a few fits and would only nap IF I laid down with him the WHOLE time. But when he finalyl woke up from his afternoon nap...he was so happy and playful. All he wanted to do was smile and watch us as we sang songs. He loves music! Then he finally fell asleep for bedtime in his daddy's lap. Its cute, Rylend gets so happy whenever Shane comes home. And when I make eye contact with him and simply say hi, he laughs and smiles. He is an amazing kid, let me tell you!

Now then, I need to get to bed. Its about 10:40 pm and I am pooped. 'Night!

taking pictures

2008-07-31T10:17:00.000-07:00

So, I have been thinking more and more about how much fun it would be to do photography. I mean, I already live with my camera basically glued in hand (as people can tell when they see the hundreds of pics of my little man). My friends Zach's little sis wants me to take her senior pics for her. Its kinda nerve racking. They want to pay me and everything for the shots. One, I have taken lots of pictures for friends in the past, but never for someone I haven't met yet. Two, what on earth am I supposed to charge!?!?!? And three....Im not a pro. I can take good shots, I think, but what if she ends up not liking ANYTHING I take? Thats typical of me to think...I like to doubt.
But I do love photography. And Kelsey (Zach's girlfriend) wants me to take some pregnancy pics of her. That should be fun. And she said she will start telling other people about me...which is awesome. But at the same time...I would love to get enough money for the few things I need, then I would feel like a real photographer instead of a wannabe.

ONE is...the main thing...I love my camera. But I want a NICE one sooooo bad. I think I would die and go to heaven if I had one! My sister in law Tania has an AMAZING one that makes me drool everytime I see it. I wish I had the $709 for it.....and its a bit pricey to ask for as a gift! But man...if you ever wanna make Jenni die on the spot of sheer happiness........get her the Olympus EVOLT E-510 Black 10 MP Digital SLR Camera with 14-42 mm 40-150 mm Lens...or something to that greatness.
ITS ON AMAZON....drooling.....click here to check o ut link

TWO....if I cant get that, then I want this cool set I found for the Kodak I have right now. It has attachable lens, a tripod, all the amazing things I dont have. Man...I dont even have a tripod, thats sad! Its on amazong HERE Every so often I go and drool at this set.....Its amazing. And $109...so maybe I can get it....maybe...

How awesome does that look? Yeah.....tis a beauty set....

THREE...backdrops!!! Kelsey and I went to Goodwill the other day and bought tons of random sheets and fabric. We have sheets, curtains, shower curtains, lengths of fabric. It will be fun to play with and all. But I want to actually do something to CHARGE people money...I will need to get something a bit more pro than a used king sheet. I found this awesome set...of course on Amazon...for about $111. It comes with the support system, the black and the white background. I REALLY like it and will definitely get it someday. Here, click here for the link...HERE

And I am not even mentioning the lighting I will need to get......sigh.......

I just wish that starting something that makes you happy didnt cost SO MUCH MONEY! Im not naive enough to expect people to buy me these things as presents. I just am rambling about them here so everyone knows what is going on for me in this head of mine. I think I could do well as a photographer. I need to read a few books for technique and get lots of practice...and get suitable equipment. But I would love do to this. Its something I can do while still being at home with Rylend. And its something that makes me happy. So I guess we will see what happens.

This is what is on my mind today.

Baby boy giggles

2008-07-30T08:08:00.000-07:00

Here is a video of Rylend laughing away at a noise I was making. Such a happy kid!!!

A start

2008-07-29T11:45:00.000-07:00

Hey well my friend Kandra basically gave me the idea for this blog. I update so much on myspace and sometimes on facebook that I forget most of my friends and family either dont use those sites or rarely check them anyway. SO here you go! I will try to update this when I remember. How we are doing, what is new, my thoughts. This is for all of you who do not conform to the myspace/facebook world (though, I have to pitch...I have TONS of pics on myspace so...if you ever wanna see them....you have to go there!)

Now then, as for how we are doing...

We are getting very settled in here in Aloha, OR. There are sitll boxes sitting around, unpacked. But we love our new little home. Its a very nice apartment complex with a playground and swimming pool. Rylend didnt like the pool the first time we put him in it, but he soon passed out in the floatie toy and just drifted around in his huge waterbed.

He is such an amazing little boy. I cant believe he will be 4 months old in just a few days! He laughs ALL the time, coos and "talks" and even tries to sing along with us. We have no doubt at all that he was made to be in our family.

Shane got a good job. He works for Loomis, driving the armored truck. He really seems to be liking this job. And as for me, I am loving being at home with my little boy. I have been trying to work a bit on my writing...when I am able to. Who knows, maybe someday I will publish...we will see though!

Anyway I hope this blog will work for keeping in touch with all of you. Please leave me comments sometimes so I know you all are out there. I will post another post soon...as soon as I have something to write about!

Loves!!