Random Happenings...

I haven't updated in a while. Here's what's been happening this last month:

M. RUSSELL BALLARD: On Valentine's Day, Elder Ballard came to our stake for conference. With my calling we were given the opportunity to serve a dinner for our families and the Stake Presidency along with Elder Ballard and Elder Wheeler of the 70. It was such an amazing experience for him to go around the room and shake all of our hands. I only had Ben and Princess with me. I didn't think that G-man and Ikey would care much. He was very jovial and had a very sweet temprament. I was happy to have the experience to meet that man. Two things that really spoke to me that he taught us during that Stake Conference, 

• Pray daily as a couple to keep our marriages strong. This will not only give us a united purpose, but also give us daily opportunity to see your spouse as the Lord sees them.
• Stop and be still. Make a daily effort to listen for the personal revelation that you need in your life.

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PRINCESS fasted for the first time on fast Sunday at the beginning of March. She is preparing to be baptised in May and she is trying to do all that the Lord wants her to do. It was really hard and a struggle near the end of the fast, but I was proud of her for making that effort. I know Heavenly Father was aware of her.

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SAD NEWS: My sweet sister in law Jenny went to the doctor because she felt like something wasn't right. After a battle they diagnosed her with anemia. After undergoing further tests she found out this week that she has Malignant stomach cancer. This has affected Ben and I deeply because we have seen cancer first hand with Ben's sister and her husband Jay who passed away three years ago. Jenny's diagnosis is good and they are being aggressive in their treatment. We love you guys and know that you are being guided and watched over! You are in our thoughts and prayers!

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Last, my belly is getting bigger. I'm at that weird don't fit into anything stage. Maternity clothes look ridiculous and  my clothes are tight and make me look gross! Ugh!! Oh well! I'm not on bedrest anymore which is a real blessing! I started feeling the baby about 2 weeks ago. We find out what the little squirt is at the end of this month...

Fire?

Reading my email, a friend of mine (who was with me when my wife called about the house being on fire) suggested that the smoke might have come from the dishwasher. I walked right over to the dishwasher which had already begun its heated dry cycle, and removed this wooden spoon from the heating element.

Nice call Jeff, thanks!

FIRE!!!!!!!

I had am interesting night last night. It started out great! Ben came home from work, we ate dinner and then he left with his youth group to go to SLC to my brother Rick's game. I put the kids to bed and settled in to watch American Idol. I had just gotten done watching when all of a sudden I smelled a very strong smell. Almost like burning rubber/melting wax. I started running all around the house trying to figure out what the smell was. It started getting a little smokey and I started panicking! I got the phone and called 911. She got my information and then told me to get the kids out! I ran upstairs. I knew that G-man would be hard because he is so big and I can't carry him. Also he is my deepest sleeper so I said a prayer! Guess who was an answer to my prayer? Princess! I yelled "Princess, we have to get G-man up!" She went in and started wiggling him. She grabbed his hand and yelled into his ear, FIRE! G-man! We need to go see the fire truck! That did it!! 

In the mean time I got Ikey and we all ran out across the street to the neighbors. It was so cold last night and none of us had shoes on! The police came first. I was just feeling sick. With anxiety, stress. The police made me sit down and a neighbor brought a blanket. The police started asking questions. There was no visible smoke on the outside of the house, but it was just weird. Also, there fire alarms had NOT gone off. Why? I don't know. 

At this point I can hear all the sirens coming. Wow. This was not really happening. You always imagine what you'll do when you have an emergency like these. I have actually been thinking (stressing) about this a lot lately. I had just watched a 20/20 episode during the day on what to do in an emergency situation. They say 80% of people just freeze. 10% jump into action. 10% make the situation worse. 

By now the fire truck and accompanying ambulance are just down the street and all the neighbors start coming out in droves. Inside the neighbors house I can hear my boys screaming because they've just been plucked from their beds and are just upset. 

The fire truck pulled up and the head fireman comes to me and starts asking me a lot of questions. I answered them to the best of my ability and then he asked if we felt sick. I had a burning feeling in the back of my throat. I said that my daughter had complained of a stomach ache earlier in the evening, but this is not uncommon. When Princess is tired, everything dramatically starts to hurt. So we asked G-man if he felt sick and he said no. Princess and I were taken to the ambulance and we got all hooked up to carbon monoxide monitors. That all came back negative but my heart was racing. The medic said, "Well, that's not uncommon."...YOU THINK? :) At this point I borrowed a neighbors cell phone and called Ben. I said, "Don't freak out ok?" He immediately was like, what happened! I told him not to speed because there were YM in his car and everything was under control. I later learned that he did speed a little to get home.

So in the meantime, the crew of firemen went into the house. They were in there forever! The head guy came out and said they didn't get it because the smell was so strong but they had checked all the electrical outlets, pulled out all our appliances, gone into the attic, and the furnace, Washer/Dryer, and the garage. Thermal sensors said that nothing was hot or toxic but it just didn't make sense because you could see the smoke.

Sigh. So, they cleared us to go back into the house. The smell made me sick and I just couldn't sleep because of the anxiety. Just not knowing what is going on is driving me crazy! So we have the furnace and A/C people coming today to check our furnace (which is less than a year old).

We shall see. 

To be continued.....

Eating myself a piece of humble pie...

I have always taken advantage of being able to do what I want to do when I want to do it. I have goals, routines and schedules that are hard for me to break.

This pregnancy has been hard because I have started bleeding off and on and am now told that it could and probably will be like this my whole pregnancy. *Deep breath*. Ok. What does that actually mean? I may need to lower my expectations for what can get done and drop some non essentials. 

What are non essentials you ask? Well laundry for one. It is all the way in the basement and I guess I can't haul it all down there. So, where's the option for disposable clothes like paper plates when I don't want to do the dishes? Who needs clean clothes anyway? But I do love the disposable plates! 

So, if you are expecting to just drop by my house you may get something special to look at. I feel awful because I haven't deep cleaned in like forever.

Ben gave me a blessing last night along with his brothers and father and that has given me a lot of peace. I can do whatever I need to do to keep this sweet little peanut safe! The essentials are taken care of and I have the best husband in the world who has taken over with a lot of housework and without grumble. Mostly, emotionally he has been there for me to just let me state my concerns and fears. I love you sweetie! I am so blessed and I thank the Lord every day for these things.

Cat's out of the bag!!

Did everyone notice the new countdown?? 

We are expecting!! Some of you already knew this but most don't and we are super excited! The good news, I haven't been as sick with this little peanut. The bad news, I've already encountered some bumps in the road. Last week I started bleeding and thought I was experiencing a miscarriage. We went to the doctor and I was diagnosed with a partial placental abruption (placenta peeled away from the wall) so I have been on partial bedrest and am trying to take it easy. The best news: I'm healing nicely and will be able to get back to normal life soon! 

Now, maybe I can be better about keeping this blog updated now that I am feeling a little better and entering the second trimester soon!

It's one of those days!

It's a PJ day! We've been so busy over the holidays and life just doesn't seems to slow down, so I am staging a BOYCOT in my house. Honestly, I am not leaving. I will stay in my sweats all day. The boys are still in the their PJs and I feel just fine about it. My house is a disaster! Laundry is piling up and I just need to tackle it. 2 people have already called to see if I want to do anything NO NO NO! 

Here's my list of things to clean (life y'all care, but hey!)

Loads of dishes...scary!

Kitchen floor

Clean up the clutter

Wipe basboards/walls (only if the handprints are visible :)

Clean the bathrooms YUCK!

Vacuum

Take the darn christmas tree down

Laundry, laundry and more laundry

Prohibiting Untested Products for Children

I heard of this a few hours ago and I was very skeptical, but after reading New safety rules for children's clothes have stores in a fit from the LA Times, I'm feeling a little angry.

Now don't get me wrong, my wife and I have three children and we wouldn't dare put them at danger, but this law is going to put my wallet in danger and a lot of small stores and manufacturers out of business. The law was signed by Congress last year and begins to take effect on February 10th, 2009.

Read more about the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, or CPSC and the actual act here.

From the act:

The new legislation imposes an additional third-party testing requirement for all consumer products primarily intended for children twelve years of age or younger. Every manufacturer (including an importer) or private labeler of a children’s product must have its product tested by an accredited independent testing lab and, based on the testing, must issue a certificate that the product meets all applicable CPSC requirements.

After having read some of this, it does appear that the restrictions don't fully take place until 90 days after the CPSC releases the third-party laboratory accreditation requirements for that category of product. In short, everything that is government approved will have a special tracking label to prove that it is safe and can be successfully placed in my child's mouth.

I found a partial schedule here, and it stretches into September of 2009, but I don't see clothing specifically mentioned. I'll need to learn more about this.

Sen. Robert Bennet (R-UT)
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)
Rep. Jim Matheson (D-UT 2)