surgery rescheduled

We finally have a surgery date. It is set for Oct. 10th. We will have to use another neurosurgeon if we go with that date and we have to meet him still. So if we like him, Garrett will be having surgery on the 10th. If we don't like this new guy we will have to wait until the end of Oct. for the guy we know we like. The guy that operated on Kensi (Dr. Kestle). Really the neurosurgeon isn't that important to the surgery. The plastic surgeon is the main guy who does most of the work and we still have our plastic surgeon that we love (Dr. Schmelzer). The neurosurgeon comes in at the beginning of the surgery and does all of the cutting of the bone where the plastic surgeon tells him to. Then he leaves and the plastic surgeon does his job putting Garrett back together again and reshaping and correcting the structure of the skull. So we think we will be going with this new guy and having surgery on the 10th.

Since this post is about Garrett, you get to see some more cute pictures of him! I know you love it!

This picture was taken by one of the kids, likely Luke or Afton, that is why Garrett's chin is missing, but the rest of his face was so cute, I had to keep the picture!

Every time I look at this picture it literally makes me laugh out loud.



So cute and perfect!

Update on Garrett

I know that there are many of you out there who are waiting for pictures of Garrett's new head. Well...you will have to wait a little bit longer. He woke up with a fever on surgery day and they won't do surgery on a sick baby. So we are still waiting. I hope to get a hold of the Dr's tomorrow to find out when we are rescheduled. Hopefully the beginning of Oct. I will keep you posted...

Afton's 5 year stats

Afton had her 5 year check up this week. She is doing great.
She is 45.8 inches tall and 45.4 lbs.

I knew that she would have to have some immunization and had her talked into 2 shots but as they reviewed her shot record she needed 5 shots! Yikes! She wasn't behind, I guess 4 is the normal amount for this age but now they do a chicken pox booster as well. She was relatively brave and only cried a little bit. Her melodrama was in full play the whole way home, but she finally decided that she would live after I gave her a pile of candy for her pain.
Yeah...I'm a good mom!

Bathroom P.S.

Our new bathroom floor was officially "broke in" today during a potty training session with Kensi. She missed her little potty and wet all over it! (sigh....thank goodness it is water-proof!) :)

Redoing a bathroom with Murphy's Law... a.k.a... the tale of the toilet

There are a lot of things that can help you when you are doing home improvement projects...Murphy's Law is NOT one of them! Let me give you a recap...

Our upstairs bathroom was tolerable when we moved in. The walls were turquoise and purple and there was turquoise peel-and-stick tile on the floor. Not my favorite choice of colors, but I could live with it. Well, here we are 3 years later. I hate the turquoise walls. The peel-and-stick tile is no longer sticking. Several tiles were almost completely off and the floor has never been water proof. As anyone with kids can tell you...when little girls take a bath, the water does not stay in the tub. The downstairs bathroom is right below the upstairs one and has major water damage on the ceiling thanks to this non-water proof floor. Needless to say, we had to paint & replace the floor. And as any good d0-it-yourselfer can tell you...if you are going to paint, do it first and then lay new floor.

(turquoise walls...yikes)

Hmmm....what would we like our new bathroom to look like? Well, we have this great bear picture that we have had for years and loved, but just never had a place to hang. This would be perfect for the new decor in the bathroom. We would use the picture as our guide and match everything to it. We painted the wall a tan color, bought oak light switch & outlet covers & found the perfect color of green for the trim. That is when Murphy and his wonderful Law entered the picture. We could not find a shower curtain to match our lovely bear theme. Not anywhere. As we are checking the very last store in town for a matching curtain it occurs to us that maybe we should have picked the shower curtain out first and matched everything to that instead. (Duhhh...?)

(Tan walls. Toilet in the middle of the floor. Peel-and-stick tiles gone. Gross floor)

Back to square one...the bear picture and oak switch plates are out...now what? You start with the shower curtain. We found a light, airy butterfly curtain that we love. We bought the paint for the trim (a different color of green than previously bought...of course) and were ready to go until we realized that they tan walls clashed with the new curtain. Of course they had to be repainted. Now they are a beautiful shade of "rice paper" and all is good in the color department.(White walls. Toilet not even in the bathroom.)

Now onto the floor. How hard can buying linoleum and laying it be, right? We walked into Home Depot expecting to quickly pick out the piece of pre-cut linoleum that we liked the best and be on our way. (This is our "5-10 year house", so linoleum would have to do.) There was no linoleum at Home Depot that we liked and once we started researching how to lay linoleum we found that it was actually quite complicated. One Saturday down...

Maybe the Lowe's would have a better selection. Hmmm...Lowe's doesn't even have pre-cut linoleum. They have this new stuff called "no-glue" linoleum. Sounds pretty easy to us! The salesman reassured us that yes, it is quite simple to lay, just cut out the right shape and tape it down. Easy as that! Famous last words...

By now it is about 8PM Saturday night...two Saturday's down. Marshyl decides that we can't have another wasted Saturday and we have to do something about the floor. We enlisted the kids help in pulling up all of the old peel-and-stick tile. It was bad underneath. Marshyl pulled out the toilet and the work began. Or should have began. The sub-floor was quite a bit more water damaged than we thought, so it had to be repaired. Two Saturdays completely down.

The next day is Sunday and the toilet is still in the middle of the bathroom, not hooked up and not functioning. Thank goodness for 2 bathrooms! We can get this done Monday night, no problem. Monday came and we realized that we had another commitment. Tuesday morning came and Marshyl thought he could get the floor in in an hour. We lay out the linoleum and measure and cut it to size. Oh oh...time to go to work. Another day with the toilet still in the middle of the room. Tuesday night we had a work party. Weds. rolls around and we realize that the tape the salesman at Lowe's gave us to lay the floor with was the wrong tape. Nothing is open this late at night. Another day with the toilet still in the middle of the room. Actually, by this time we had moved it out into the middle of the hallway. (much better there... :S ) Thursday...we got the right tape, we had the time and Hallelujah, the floor is in place. Now, to caulk the seams so that the floor is truly waterproof. The plumbers make caulking look sooooo easy. It is NOT sooooo easy. And waterproof caulk does not wash off...lesson learned the hard way. But finally, we get it done. After midnight, but we finally have a floor! woohooo! And Friday morning the toilet finally got put back where it belonged and hooked up.

Wow, it's finally done. Was it worth it? Yes, it looks beautiful. Do I want to go and do this again any time soon? Heck NO!
(Beautiful new bathroom! Toilet back in place & functioning. Woohoooo.)

Garrett's 4 month stats

Garrett had his check up today, too. He is also doing fantastic!

He is 12 lbs. 3 oz. and 23.5 inches tall.

Kensi's 2 year check up

Kensi had her well child check up today. She is really closer to 2.5 years old, but that's life sometimes. She is doing great!

She is 35.5 inches tall and 28 lbs. 3 oz.

Afton's 5th Birthday!!!

Afton turned 5 last week! She has been telling everyone for 6 months, "tomorrow is my birthday" and people say Happy Birthday and then I have to let them know that tomorrow is NOT her birthday! Finally her birthday arrived and she would not let us forget about it for the whole week before. She told me every night, "don't let dad forget to decorate for my birthday".

Not only did dad decorate, but he made her this beautiful sign to hang up.

Here she is eating her birthday breakfast of cinnamon rolls at her new Princess table.

She got this new dress for her birthday. She looks SO grown up now! She got the crown when they celebrated her birthday at church. (Yes, she is wearing her Crocs with her dress...it's summer and it's hot...get over it!) :)

Here she is opening her presents.

Her cake this year was supposed to be a ice cream cake. But we decided that brownies would be better than cake, so it was a brownie/ice cream cake. Little did we know at the time that brownies don't make very good ice cream cakes because the brownie freezes solid as a rock LONG before the ice cream refreezes. It was a little messy, but it tasted GREAT! And anything looks better when garnished with a strawberry fan! :)

Garrett is rolling over!

Yes, you heard me right. My tiny little boy has learned to roll over. Yikes!

He is hilarious to watch. He rolls from his back to his stomach and sits there and grins, so proud of himself. Then he realizes that he is on his stomach and he HATES being on his stomach so he gets mad and cries. It is the funniest process to watch. Sometimes he gets his hands out just right and can use gravity and his big head to roll himself back onto his back and then he is happy again!

Sugar Cont'd

Okay, confession time. I fell of the wagon and have been eating sugar. I found out that I just can't go cold turkey. We had been promising the kids all summer that we would go down to the Red Barn and get ice cream and when we did that I didn't want to be left out! For our family it will have to be a slow and gradual change to cut the sugar out. My original goals are still in place and I have been doing great with them. The days that I was "off sugar" were huge for me. I found out that I actually CAN do it! Yeah me...even if it isn't for very long. But it got me thinking about everything that I ate and wondering if there was a non-sugar alternative. One morning I warmed up & pureed strawberries & apple juice together and put it on my pancakes instead of syrup. It was TONS better than syrup! We may never by 100% off of sugar, but we are striving to be healthier one step at a time!

Celebrity Collage by MyHeritage

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celeb - Collage - Morph

Sugar update

When we got back from reunion I decided that I was ready to try something drastic and so I decided to jump on board with my friends and go cold turkey without sugar for a month. If we all make it we are going to go to the spa together or something as our reward. I started on July 7th. So far I have 3 days under my belt and am feeling really good. I am not taking out ALL sugar, just the obvious ones: brownies, doughnuts, cookie dough, candy, chocolate, sugar, syrup...stuff like that. I'm not ready to start reading EVERY label to find & cut out the hidden sugar...that will come in the future sometime.

This has not really been as hard as I thought it would be. I think another factor is my success has been that I have also been working on balancing my hormones. So overall in life I have been feeling more stable and so don't have the need to "eat my way happy" with sugar.

The first hurdle came on day 2 when I was at a ward activity. They were serving ice cream sandwiches...I LOOOOOVE ice cream sandwiches. But I was able to say "no thanks" and really mean it and the kicker is that I didn't feel frustrated or deprived! I am so proud of myself. I am going to go find some big star stickers that I have and start sticking them on the calender to show my success! Yeah me! :)

The best wheat bread in the whole wide world

Today I made the best wheat bread I have ever made before! It is because I finally have in my hands the best recipe for bread in the world. I got this recipe from my friend, Becky. She has been experimenting with and perfecting the art of homemade bread for many years and finally hit upon this wonderful recipe. Even Luke will eat this! It's a miracle!

5 c. very hot water
1/2 c. oil
1/2 c. honey or 3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. gluten
1 Tb. salt
2 Tb. apple cider vinegar
3 Tb. instant yeast

13+ c. wheat flour

Add the following: water, oil, honey, gluten, salt, vinegar and 10 c. flour. Mix until moistened. Let rest for 10 minutes. Add yeast and mix. (If you are using regular yeast, not the instant; take 1 cup of the original 5 c. of water and set it aside and dissolve your regular yeast in it. Then add the water and dissolved yeast in this step.) Add remaining wheat flour (about 3 cups) to make a soft dough. In a bread mixer, this is when the bread cleans the sides of the bowl. Knead for 10 minutes. Do not let rise.

Divide into 4 loaves, shape in oil not flour. Preheat oven to warm. Turn off oven and place bread to rise in oven. When the bread is 1" above the rim of the bread pan (about 12 minutes), turn oven on, with bread in it, to 350 degrees. Bake for about 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Reunion at the Cabin

We just had a fun reunion up at Grandpa & Grandma's cabin. Everyone was there, even Aunt Krysti, Taylor & Rachel were here from Kentucky. We had a fun 4 days with a 6 hour 4-wheeler trip and picnic, watching the parade for Pleasant Valley Days, doing arts & crafts with Aunt Bryndi, singing together, cooking over the campfire and singing campfire songs, visiting, playing and of course EATING! We took over 250 pictures of the fun things that we did at this reunion (thank goodness for digital cameras!), but I will spare you and only post the best ones of a few of the activities.

the family at the top of the mountain on the 4-wheeler expedition

Ready to roll!

Nic, Kaiden, Luke, Afton & Taylor at the top of the mountain

Aunt Krysti, Grandpa & Afton chatting on the couch

Aunt Jinger reading the girls (Afton, Brynlee & Kensi) a bedtime story.

Grandma, Afton, Aunt Miriam, Uncle Thayne & Kensi singing campfire songs.

Garrett loved the toy that Grandma had for him to play with!

Nic, Marshyl, Luke, Kaiden, Aunt Bryndi, & Taylor making boondoggle key chains & bracelets.

Garrett trying on one of Grandpa's "hair plugs".

A beautiful double rainbow after the rain storm. The tops of the mountains are the best place to see things like this!

It was a LONG day!

Uncle Carson with Kensi & Afton

Nic, Ireland, Taylor, Aunt Jinger, Grandpa, Kaiden & Uncle Thayne getting ready to roast hot dogs over the campfire.

Grandma, Uncle Carson, Aunt Bryndi, Aunt Nykki, Kaiden, Luke, Afton & Uncle Brytt getting ready for the campfire.

Daddy & baby Garrett

Sugar Decision

Okay...there is no way that I can go cold turkey off sugar. Any time I tell myself that I can't have something I crave it and it is really bad with sugar. Any time I tell myself that I can't have sugar, I run out and eat a dozen doughnuts, or a whole cake...literally. So this 4th of July I am declaring my independence from sugar, but I have to do it my own way. Here is the plan:

***LSA step 1 - Eat a breakfast w/ protein within 1 hour of waking up

Eating within an hour of waking up has been the struggle for us. We get up, get dressed, make beds, clean room, have family scripture study and THEN prepare and eat breakfast. Usually that is almost 2 hours after we wake up. But a brilliant friend of mine (thanks Becky!) suggested getting up and having a quick protein smoothie first thing in the morning, then going about the morning routine and having breakfast later. That will get our protein breakfast in right after we get up. This is the recipe for George's Shake from the PNP website, www.radiantrecovery.com.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of milk
• 1/2 cup of fruit juice
• 2 tbs protein powder
• 2 tbs oatmeal (not instant)
• frozen fruit of your choice

Directions:

Put ingredients in the blender and blend on high for about a minute. If you do it for less time, you will be crunching oats at the bottom of your shake. If you prefer not to use milk in your shake, use water and a little juice. This shake work as a great breakfast choice because it combines nutritious foods with plenty of protein.

***Give protein snacks instead of sugary snacks

String cheese instead of Popsicles.

***Try to replace the sugary meals with something more healthy

Breakfast is going to be the hardest place to take out the sugar. We eat pancakes w/ syrup, rice pudding, oatmeal or cream of wheat w/ sugar & cinnamon, cold cereal etc. You see the pattern. We have something sugary almost every morning. That is NOT a good way to start the day. To combat this I am going to make more breakfast burritos (eggs, hash browns & cheese rolled up in a tortilla). I will blend up berries w/ apple juice to put over pancakes or in hot cereal to sweeten it. We won't buy any more sugar loaded cold cereals.

These 3 goals are my beginning baby steps to recovery!

Sugar Addiction

"Hi, my name is Jen and I am a sugar addict."

That is probably how I should start my day...every day. Lately I have been having a conversation with several of my friends about sugar addiction. It seems that we all struggle with the same problem and have been struggling with it for a long time and haven't known what to do about it. I have had some real incites in the last month so in order to start healing, I want to put it out there for everyone to see. This way I am accountable and this is "real", not just in my head.

I go CRAZY for sugar. When I need sugar, I NEED SUGAR. and you'd better not get in my way. And if there is none around I am a crazy lunatic. No exaggeration! I can't just eat one of something...I have to eat ALL of it...and don't even think of asking me to share because there is no way I am going to. I take my treat and hide in my room so the kids don't know and won't ask me to share. And then after eating all of that sugar, I feel rotten the rest of the day while I "detox" and that is NOT pleasant. I hate feeling like a slave to sugar, but the thought of doing w/o it seems so impossible.

This is how I have lived my life, at least my married life when I have been the one in control of what I eat and buying the groceries. And the worst part is that now I am seeing these same tendencies in my kids. So it's not bad enough that mom is a raging lunatic, but now the kids are too! And I feel so guilty passing this on to the next generation to deal with when I can't even deal with it. I was telling my mother in law about this a month or so ago, I was telling her how my 2 year old, Kensi, will go totally BALLISTIC over a Popsicle and she handed me a book that is in the process of changing my life. It is "Little Sugar Addicts" by Kathleen DesMaisons. She also has a book for adults called "Potatoes not Prozac". In her books she talks about "sugar sensitivity". In people who are sugar sensitive, their bodies chemically process sugar totally different than "regular" people. It literally affects the body like an addictive substance, like drugs or alcohol. She actually started this food program for alcoholics (alcohol is sugar) and found that alcoholics who stuck with the food program didn't relapse back into their alcoholism. Her way of combating the sugar sensitivity works for all sugar addictions. (for some people it isn't even sweets that are the problem, but breads & pasta) In the end, the goal is to be totally off sugar. But in her 7 step process, getting off sugar is #6. And the steps are doable. She reiterates over and over again that it's not our fault we are like this - it is chemistry - but there is something that we can do about it and the key to successfully overcoming it is to take it really slow.

In "Little Sugar Addicts" (LSA), the steps for children are different than the steps for adults in "Potatoes not Prozac" (PNP).

In LSA the steps are:

1 - Eat breakfast w/ protein

2- Make connections between food & mood

3 - Change snacks & drinks

4 - Eat protein lunches

5 - Shift to whole grain foods

6 - Take out the sugar

7 - Take care of life

In PNP the steps are:

1 - Keep a food journal

2 - Eat 3 meals a day at regular intervals

3 - Take vitamins

4 - Eat the right amount of protein at each meal

5 - Switch to brown carbs (brown rice, whole grains, etc.)

6 - Reducing & eliminating sugars

7 - Create a plan for maintenance

She suggests that if you are putting children through "the program" that mom (&/or dad) do the kids steps w/ them instead of trying to do something totally separate for themselves. So far all I have been able to do is just add more protein into our lives. Give protein snacks instead of sugary snacks and I can already tell a difference in behavior (mine & the kids) around here.

I have been struggling with this for years and am finally ready to put my foot down and make some changes and I finally feel like I have the tools to make the changes instead of running around blindly. I definitely think that sugar addiction is a tool that Satan uses against me. I am a horrible mom sometimes and I can generally link those times back to sugar. And when I am being a horrible mom, I am doing exactly what Satan wants me to do. He doesn't want me to feel good so that I can be a good mom. He wants me to feel as horrible as possible so that I won't be the strong, loving mom's that I need to be. And I'm not going to let him anymore.

I am trying to formulate a plan to change our lives, and you all get to come along for the ride! Lucky you! :) Several of my friends have a goal to declare their "independence from sugar" and go without it from July 4th - August 4th. I don't know that I am ready to commit to that. I literally want to cry when I think of never having cookie dough or lemon bars again. So that is a good indicator that I'm not ready yet. I have one more day to decide...I will keep you posted.

Happy Independence Day!

We take this weekend to reflect on what this country means to us. We are so grateful for our freedoms and for the men & women who have made those freedoms possible, today and throughout history.

Happy 4th of July!

more Garrett

Okay...he is so cute, we can't help taking tons of pictures of him. You all get to see the best ones!

Bathing Beauties

Two bathing beauties. Afton had been out in the sun and got a little burned. A bath felt great!

Family Reunion

We had a great time at our family reunion this last weekend. We got to see several cousins that we haven't seen in a while. But most of all, we love seeing Grandma!

Grandma & baby Garrett

Kensi's favorite part of the whole day!

This is what the kids and several of the men did most of the day. Family bonding over "Rock Band". Here is Uncle Kevin, Travis & Marshyl. Kensi was dancing!

Of course, everyone loved baby Garrett! Her are Taygan & Conner with him.

Jessica & Garrett