Birth Day.... This and That

Belly pictures make me so happy.  I'm never happy about having the belly, but I love everyones pregnancy pictures.  Including my own.  It amazes what the body is able to do.  The last few weeks of pregnancy was really hard on me.  There was a lot of acid reflux, I pulled my groin at 36 weeks and I cried out of discomfort several times. 

At 36 weeks I was dilating and effaced.  The Doctor told me that I could go into labor at any time.  Getting this information was painful!  The next 2 weeks were unbearable!  I couldn't think about anything but getting the baby out of my body.  In a perfect world I really wanted to have her on April 1st.  But more then anything I just wanted her out of my body.  Patience has never been one of my strong points.  
About a week before our baby arrived Abe and Dave had a conversation about skin color.  Dave explained to Abe that skin color is the same as eye color.  It doesn't matter what color your eyes are, and it doesn't matter what color your skin is either.  The next day Abe announces to us...."The baby will be born with White skin or Brown skin.  It doesn't matter which one."  Dave grinned really big and said "Son, your right."  If the baby was born with Brown skin Dave and I would have a lot to talk about.  
Molly Rebecca Peterson was born on April 1st 2009 at 9:02 pm.  She arrived 2 weeks early.  When I first met the Doctor her shook my belly and said I think she will weigh 7 pounds 14 ounces.  As the Doctor was pulling her from my Yoo Hoo he started laughing and said "I was way off!"  Molly weighed in at 8 pounds 15 ounces!  Making her my largest baby.  Molly has been my favorite name for the last 10 years.  Every Molly I've ever met has been kind, funny and very enjoyable to be around.  Rebecca is the name of my Brothers first wife.  Becky was the most amazing woman I have ever met, and my best friend.  She slowly died of cancer over the course of 4 years.  She did this with strength and beauty.  Always remaining close to Brian and the Lord.  I miss her so very much.  Hopefully our little girl will always strive to uphold the names she has been given.  
We are so excited to have our little April Fools baby!  Both Dave and I think an April Fools Birthday will always be fun.  At least we plan on trying to always make it a fun day.  

I went about my April 1st the same as any other day.  The only difference was my desire to get the baby here.  I said 3 separate long prayers begging the Lord to let me have an April Fools baby.  At 2:55pm I had one painful contraction.  I grabbed my vacuum and started vacuuming the whole house.  I was determined to keep the contractions coming.  We arrived at the hospital around 5 pm.  From 5 pm to 6:30 pm I was very unhappy.  But somewhere around 6:30 the wonderful drug doctor fixed me.  I felt nothing.  Just the way I like it. 
I have been very unhappy with the Doctors this pregnancy.  Military Doctors are super over worked.  For the most part I've noticed this translates into a very impersonal relationship with your Doctor.  I have hated this!  I had two children on the economy, with real OB Doctors.  This time I had a GP.  The first Doctor they assigned me felt like talking to a tree and she left me sitting naked on the table for 45 minutes.  I then asked to be reassigned.  The second Doctor they gave me was better.  But I still didn't love him. 
This second Doctor they assigned me informed me that I could give my self my own strep B test. This was at my 36 week appointment.  I said how about you just do it when you check me.  So he gave me the test.  The following week he checked on my results.  They said pending.  Basically  he said that's weird. That was the end of it.  We'll when I arrived at the hospital I was Strep B positive and I had no idea!  (Dave is very forgiving of this slip up.  I am not.)
I was only able to get one dose of antibiotics, 3 hours before the baby was born.  You should get 2 doses 6 hours apart before delivery.  Poor little Molly!  Her white blood cell count was at 47,000.  Normal is 5,000 to 20,000.  Resulting in several more blood tests for our little new born.  We also had to stay in the hospital an extra day.  She is ok, but she gave us a fright.  
I do not touch my slimy new born babies.  (I don't fault other people who don't feel the same way I do.)  I don't play with other things that fall from that region.  So I don't touch my new born babies.  I once read that a baby bonds with it's mother in the first 60 seconds of life.  I believe this to be total bull crap.  I have a great relationship with all my kids and I didn't hold any of them right away. 
The Doctor who ended up delivering me was WONDERFUL!  I had never met him before.  He was great and renewed my belief in Military medicine.  His last name is Raney  The drug Doctor's last name was also Raney and their wives have the same name.  They were a wonderful team!  
So now that the baby has arrived I just figured she would weigh around 40 pounds.  That I would leave the hospital and everything would be as it was before the pregnancy.  I tried on some pants at Target the other day.  They made it past my thighs and stopped dead at my huge butt.  This did not make me happy. 
I enjoy being a girl.  This song has always been my theme.  Lately however I've rethought this theme.  For what ever reason I sweat like crazy at night, I bleed and I'm lactating all over the place.  My enjoying being a girl has always rested on my hair being done and feeling great.  I'm not sure I will ever feel attractive again.  
After Abe met Molly he asked us if the Doctors cut her penis off.:)  This is my same son who told my mom when he was 3 that she has a vagina.  It's good to be informed... right?
Her umbilical cord makes Dallin very nervous.  The second day they came to visit me in the hospital, Dallin asked me..."Mom is the baby dirty?"  I said "No"  he then said " Oh good because yesterday she was very dirty."  All of this over the cord.  

Easter Egg Hunt.

Dave is not stressed out, the sun was in his eyes.

This picture makes my heart so very happy.  I love being a mom.  It's way better then being a Hollywood movie star!;)

Everyone in their Easter clothes!

We are lucky enough to have Daves mom Roma with us for 11 days.  My mom is on a mission so she couldn't come.  I feel so lucky to have so much help.  Roma is great!
Dallin is very worried that if he turns around of closes his eyes Grandma Pete will disappear.  They love getting to spend time with her. 

Savannah and my random mind

This is the hotel Becky and I stayed in. It was one of the first Hotels in Savannah. It has been redone very nicely, but it's still an old building. It smelled like garlic. It was right on the water. It was fun to see the boats come and go on the river.

My Junior year of high school I became good church friends with a girl named Becky Willis. About half way through the year I started to realize she didn't really talk to me at school. A little, but it seemed like she went out of her way to not speak to me at school. Our second semester in Mr. Schmicks class we sat across from each other. Having realized she would be my buddy at church and not a school.... I started talking her ear off every day during class. One day she looked at me and said "Your never going to shut up are you?" I said "No, I'm not." (She didn't want to talk to me at school because her group of friends didn't like me.) Well pretty much since that day we have been very good friends. I talked her into moving to Provo with me and finishing beauty school at the Paul Mitchell school. She was my maid of honor at my wedding. And although we don't talk every day or even every week, she remains one of my closest friends.

Becky is not married. Which means she has the whole world at her feet. The awesome thing about that is... she is doing something with that power. For years she has been talking about going to Art school. Well earlier this year she applied at SCAD, one of the Nations finest Art Schools. It's located in Savannah Georgia. She got in. Not only did she get in but she was offered a scholarship. Not full ride, but a start and she is trying for some more scholarships that I'm sure she will get. (Her art work really is awesome.) So Becky needed to come and check out the school. I happen to be living 2.5 hours north of Savannah. She came out to visit me and we went down to Savannah. Between my friend Misty and David they took care of Kimi, Abe and Dallin. So we got to go alone! It was wonderful! The city of Savannah is just breathtaking! It's a total walking city and our first day there we probably covered 6 miles. 8 months pregnant this completely wiped me out. But we had such a good time. SCAD is an awesome school! They had so many wonderful programs. I am jealous of this next chapter of Becky's life. She is going to have an awesome time!
I love the old buildings in Savannah! This was one was on the same block as our hotel.

I have a couple of Abraham stories. Some times that boy is just so darn funny. The other day he announces to Dave and I that he is going to quit school. I told him that was fine, but he would need to get a job, because he cant just do nothing. I asked him what kind of job he was going to get to help earn money. First he said "oh I know, I'll make money running on the treadmill." I told him that wouldn't work. So then he said "Well then I'll do pull ups!" Once again I told him that wouldn't work. Exasperated he said "Then what will work!" Needless to say with a daddy in the Army and a mom that refuses to give in to fatness our children are being brain washed from a very young age about physical fitness. Sorry about that kids. Every family has their flaws.

We went to McDonalds drive thru the other day. I gave the lady my order. As I started to pull away from the speaker, Abe says to me "Mom, does that lady have a period?" Shocked I tried to keep my cool. After a few moments of trying to find the right words I ask Abe where he heard that. He said "Mrs. Pulaski....very long pause.....She said every sentence has a period at the end of it." I said yes she does have a period at the end of her sentence. I almost had a heart attack. Mrs. Pulaski is Abes kindergarten teacher.

Also the other day Abe says to me "Mom when I grow up and have a wife I'm gonna be your next door neighbor." I told him that was fine but his wife would have to be ok with it too. He said "Oh she's ok with it." I am so happy that my children seem to like Dave and I. We have no idea what we are doing, but we must be doing something right.
After eating at Paula Deens The Lady and Sons Becky and I hit the gift shop. Where her son Bobby just happen to be hanging out. It was fun to pose like we knew who he was. Which we really didn't we just figured he must be one of Paulas sons, because other people were falling over him.

My older brother Eldon is five years my senior. He is very calm in nature. I bet most people have never really seen him angry. There isn't much about me that is calm. I'm calming down as I get older, but it's certainly in my nature to be anything but calm. I remember several times as a kid or teenager, my parents would be gone, I was board in my room so my thoughts would drift to my brother Eldon. On the occasion that this would happen I would see only one option. I must go down stairs and say or do things confrontational enough to make Eldon turn red in the face and scream at me. It really was good sport if you had nothing else to do and your parents aren't home. I believe my success rate when I put my mind to it was 100%. I even got him to hit me once. (I milked that one for days.) Once I had succeeded in making my brother scream at me I would return to my room and revel in my accomplishment. Knowing I had just done something that few if any other people would ever be able to do.

You would think that this act would have some how damaged our relationship. But Eldon always got me back. I was a very emotional teenager. I was upset all the time. When Eldon could tell that I was really worked up he would sing very happy songs to me. This always drove me over the edge. There was nothing I hated more then the song Love at Home after a long fight with my mother. He usually choose to do this while driving me somewhere in the car. So I had no escape. To date Eldon is not only my brother, but one of my best friends. I love his wife and I love talking to him on a regular basis.

It turns out most families have some sort of relationship like that. With Kimi living with us I'm starting to see that some times I have a relationship like that with her. I try not to, but some times it just slips out. For example: The other day Kimi and I got hot dogs at Sams Club. As we were leaving Sam Club I set my hot dot on my cart. I hadn't gotten very far when it fell to the side of my cart. But it landed in the paper. Kimi then proceeded to tell me that I needed to watch my hot dog and put it in a better place. Annoyed that I had just dropped my hot dog, I told her thank you and to be quite. As we started making our way to the car, my hot dog rolled off my cart and onto the ground. Again landing perfectly on the paper it was wrapped in. However by now I'm super annoyed. Kimi then really started in about how I hadn't picked a good place for my hot dog and I needed to be more careful. This enraged me beyond words. I didn't yell at her. However I did tell her I didn't want to hear her speak for five minutes. I guess it doesn't really matter if you are "normal" or you have down syndrome. A sibling is a sibling.
This is Paula Deens Key Lime Pie. I am not ashamed to say that... I am a better person because I have eaten it. It was so very, very good! I have the recipe and intend to make it for the upcoming ward talent show.

If I die tomorrow I want my eulogy to say that my 5 year old and my 4 year old still take naps. And that I eradicated Kimi's toe fungus. As far as I can tell these are my greatest accomplishments and deserve due note. Kimi arrived at our house with toe nails that would scare the most seasoned podiatrist. They were thick, yellow and truly gross. She has been collecting this toe nail fungus for the last 6 years. I had my mom get some over the counter toe nail fungus fighter. At first it was so hard for me to put the stuff on her toes twice a day. But after a short time I started to revel in the challenge. I get to file them, cut them and continue to put that stuff on them. They in no way are perfect... but they look 100% better. I have made it my life's cause to do away with Kimi's toe nail fungus. I have taken up the cause the same way that one guy in Arizona has taken up the cause to get illegal aliens off his property and out of America. We both have Strong convection's.
I would love to go back to this beach when it's warm. When we were there it was pretty cold for the region. Becky is going to have a wonderful time living so close to the beach.

I am allergic to big book stores. I love them. They smell nice and I aways feel smarter just being in them. However, every time I step into Barns and Noble I have to poop. Every single time! Is there something in the air? I used to think it was only Barns and Noble that I'm allergic to, but the other day I went into Barns and Noble and Boarders in the same day. The same thing happened at both stores. I have never heard of this happening to anyone else. But I refuse to believe I am the only one this happens to. If large book stores have the same effect on you, please speak up. I hate feeling like a freak of nature.
Tybee island was way more beautiful then I thought it would be. The coast line was completely different then anything I've seen before. I really liked this walkway out to the ocean.

Dave had a big project due the other day. I know it was a big project because I knew it was taking place. Dave doesn't really talk about work much. After he presented his project he texted me and told me it had gone awesome! I was really happy for him. When he got home for lunch I asked him what kind of grade he had gotten. He told me he got 85 out of 100. I said that's not that good, what did you do wrong? Apparently in this perfect presentation he gave, he forgot to recognize the senior officer in the room and he played with his pointer thing. I love this about my husband! The Army is full of suck ups and people who think they are super special because of their rank. This is not my husband. He really isn't ever going to suck up. And if there is ever going to be something he will forget... it will defiantly be to recognize the senior officer. Dave gives respect when it is due and earned. In general he is respectful to everyone. But he never goes out of his way to rub elbows with big wigs. I remind him all the time that it's not what you know but who you know. This means nothing to Dave. He is not a kiss up now, nor will he ever be. Being in the Army this is rare and I love him even more for it!


Spanish moss hang from all the trees in Savannah. Apparently the original settlers of the area would stuff their pillows and what not with it. Then they would get eaten by the bugs... Hence, Don't let the bed bugs bite!

Friends play a major roll in my life. In Daves too, but more so my life then his. However having said that the two of us have a theory. If no man can serve two masters, can you really be dear friends with someone if you don't like their spouse? Example: David is my best friend. At the risk of sounding cheesy... he is my day and night, my whole world. With out him I am not whole. This being said, can I be really good friends with someone if their spouse doesn't really like Dave? The answer we have come up with is no. You can be causal friends, but true friendship will never be achieved.

As we look at our own life it seems to have rung true. All of the people I hold dear to me, all have husbands I am always happy to see and are always happy to see both David and I. They have husbands I am grateful for, because they take such good care of my friend. Even though I love the female half of the relationship more then the male, I recognize that with out the male half my friend would surly fall short. Because of this Dave and I have come to the conclusion that life long friendships can only be formed when there is love for all four parties involved.

I have no idea what I bring to the table in my friendships. I have wonderful friends who don't seem to be divorcing me. So I must bring something to the table. But just what that thing is I have no idea. I feel so fortunate in my life for my friends. I really believe that because of each one of them I am not only a better person but a more complete person as well.

I have met a new friend here in Georgia. Our husbands have yet to spend much time together. But all the tell tale signs are there for them liking each other and for us liking each others husbands. This delights me to no end. She is an amazing person. When I first got here I was pretty bummed about how long it took me to really meet people. Once I met Sarah, I felt a kindred spirit in her. Not only do we have a lot in common, but our friendship wont be ending in Georgia. We are both Army and both headed to Ft. Hood Texas. Even though I wont be there for a year. I love knowing that she will be there when I arrive. Sarah has five kids. The oldest is severally handicapped. Her only daughter has had cancer. All of these challenges she has handled in stride. She radiates the kind of spirit I can only hope to catch a piece of. I feel so blessed and lucky to once again have found such a wonderful person, who doesn't think I'm so bad either.
I have some of the worlds most wonderful friends. Some of my Army friends from Alaska knew I wouldn't be having a baby shower here in Georgia. So together they threw me a virtual baby shower! It's been lots of fun opening the gifts as they come in the mail. Every day is like Christmas! My friend Misty,(who was also in Alaska with me) came over and took some pictures of me and my new goodies. I really have been blessed with good Friends.

Good Friends, Awesome Family, Children who like me and a Husband I am lucky to know, let alone get to spend eternity with. My life is pretty darn good.

Youth in Asia

Above is Abe and David bowling together. I love this picture! When we were bowling I couldn't find the right size ball. I bowled like 5 gutter balls before finally picking up Kimi's 8 pound ball. It fit perfect and the rest of the game went pretty well for me.

For the last year I have declared youth in Asia on our dog Scout. Many times I have tried to convince my family that we need to get rid of the naughty little Boxer. I have gotten no where with my argument. David, Abe and Dallin are going to make me pay for my dog mistake for the next 15 years. I work really hard at hating her. The problem is this.... she loves me back! No matter what I do, her love is unconditional. On Friday Dave and I just about came to blows over the dog. (again) I really wanted her gone. But on Sunday something happened that made me realize... this dog will love me through anything.

Bare with me, getting to my dog point has a scenic route.

My mom doesn't believe she hurts my feelings. She believes I can choose to have my feelings hurt. But she doesn't believe that she has ever hurt my feelings. Because... she didn't set out to hurt my feelings. Having said that, I think that's crap. She and other people have hurt my feelings on several different occasions. However this line of thought has been drilled into my head. My mom informing me that I can only choose to have my feelings hurt and my dad telling me to just get over things. This is the way I was raised. It is embedded in my soul

Having said that.... On Sunday one of my friends hurt my tender little feelings. ( I actually don't get my feelings hurt very often. ) Upon realizing the situation that had led to my hurt feelings, I began to cry. I stood up, walked to my bathroom, put down the toilet lid, took a seat and wept. That dumb dog realized what was going on as soon as I began to cry. She followed me to the bathroom and laid on the floor right outside the door until I came back out. She then followed me around right by my leg and kept looking up at me.

This stupid dog.... That I have been trying to euthanize or give away for over a year... totally cared that I was sad. No wonder people like their dogs so much. Dogs are the most faithful, comforting things on the face of the earth. Scout didn't care if I brought my hurt feelings on my self. And she didn't care that I "choose" to have my feelings hurt. All she cared about was trying to make me feel better. Dumb dog. Why does she have to be so good to our family?
Abe and Dallin loving each other at the Bowling ally. They love to bowl, and I love to watch them.

Last Christmas David bought me some PJ's. With these PJ's he gave me this pair of yellow poke a dot underwear. Upon receiving these underwear, I thought... oh that's nice... underwear. I was so wrong. These underwear came from Gap Body. They are heaven sent! Oh how comfortable these underwear are! They are perfect for working out in. The cotton blend is so soft and it wraps around my booty perfect! They make me so happy. As my booty expands with each month that my baby grows I find my self longing for more then one pair of these perfect underwear. ( Kimi and I work out every day, and they are perfect for just that.) So the other day I went back to Gap and bought some more underwear. I bought 3 pairs for 20 dollars. However, if you don't buy 3 pairs they are 15 dollars a piece! 15 dollars each! I just about died when I saw that. The problem is this... once you've had these amazing underwear... nothing else will do! Normally I'm not the kind of person who buys 15 dollar underwear, but there just so wonderful I would be a liar if I said I wouldn't be willing to pay twice that just to feel them lovingly wrap around my huge butt. That's the problem with the finer things in life. Once you have it... you can't go back.
Dallin would sit on the floor and watch his ball roll all the way down, every time he threw it. It was really cute.

We finally have orders for the next few years. We will be moving to Ft. Hood Texas. This is not Hawaii. At first I was very sad. But now I'm pretty excited to become a Texan. There is flaws in this new plan. The biggest flaw being... David will deploy again before the end of the summer. School gets out on May 22nd. May 22nd we will drive to Florida for 5 days and go to Disney World. (Right now military gets into Disney World for SUPER cheap.) We think it's important to do something fun with the boys before their dad is gone for yet another year of their life. After Disney World we will drive to Texas, drop off Kimi and the dog with my sister LeAnne... and then continue on down to Ft. Hood.

Dave will be deploying with in 8 weeks of our arrival in Texas. I can take a lot. But I don't feel like I can handle 2 little boys, 1 new born, 1 down syndrome sister and a naughty dog all by my self with no support. So we are headed back to Washington to crash at my parents with my sister Shelly. Our family goal is for Abraham to attend 3rd and 4th grade in the same place. Since it's not going to happen before then.
For those of you that don't know... My mom is/ was a very serious bowler. I like to think she has nothing on me!

Some times I think I'm a pretty good little Army wife. Please don't get me wrong I HATE being with out David. But as far as being cut out for the life style I do ok. Example: When I think of Dave being gone for a year I hardly ever think of the parts that suck. Most of the time I find my self very excited that I'll get to take the kids to Dave's parents for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Spring Break. This is a rare treat and something they will love. I think about how awesome it will be to be by my Washington friends and how sweet it will be to work out and shock Dave with a hot bod when he comes home on R&R. I really hardly ever think of the hard times. Mostly just the good. I feel like if you don't focus on the awesome parts, you'll drive your self nuts. And for everyone information.... Don't look at me with your sad little eyes and tell me how you don't know how I do it. I HATE it when people do that. Please understand that my husband is a soldier. This is a choice we made. Until the day that we unmake that choice he will remain a soldier. Soldiers have to go and do what is needed. This involves some families left behind. It's a fact of life. There is no way around it. America needs it's soldiers, Dave is one, this will involve deployments. Yes he might die. But so might everyone else. It's not a point I choose to spend any time on.
This is my cute little family. We love having Kimi with us. Speaking of such... I think I mentioned that Kimi gets me to the gym on a very regular basis. Well since she has moved in with us she has lost 14 pounds. I hope it's the gym and not stress.:)

I'm going to sound off the the whole Micheal Phelps situation. Here is what I've got to say.... Who is surprised? I'm not. College kids smoke pot. I personally don't think it should be against the law. I think it should be a 21 thing. I've been around drunk people and high people.... I'll take the high ones. The kid is not LDS, and full of fame. What else do people expect? Everyone has different reasons for not smoking pot. In high school I didn't because it didn't appeal to me. After high school, I had decided to be a good Mormon. Mormon boys don't smoke pot because if they do they wont get to serve their missions. But if your not LDS finding a reason not to is probably difficult. The law doesn't take Pot very seriously. So why should anyone else? Getting all fuzzy and eating snacks sounds pretty good some days. ( I'm not now or will I ever smoke pot.) I just think every one should dig their pantie out of there butt... teach their kids to watch them and other truly good roll models and get over it.
Kimi maintains this pose until her ball hits the pins. It's awesome!

Everyone is from some where. These places are very different from each other. Dave was raised in Orem Utah. Where the girls are blond, they have very tight body's, everyone is happy and everyone runs. I was raised in Benton City Washington. Where a tight body is something 15 year olds have, most people color their hair with a box off the grocery store shelf, and the cross country team runs every fall. We are from very different places. I often get teased about where I'm from, by Dave's brother. Back in 2002 I happen to wear a pair of cut of shorts and a tee shirt I had cut the selves off of one very, very hot Utah day. I did so because Dave had been playing outside volleyball for hours! I was baking and didn't have anything else to wear. With no hope of the game ending, I put on some thing I could catch some rays in... with out wearing a swimming suit. I have never lived this down. Ever since then my poor town has been under attack by one Tommy Peterson.

This story came to my mind the other day when I realized we we're out of oil. But we wanted to make some brownies. My solution? Well I just pulled the oil out of our deep fat fryer and used it. Now in my defense the oil had only been used once for donuts. However it did lead me to that ever faithful saying... you can take the girl out of the town, but you can't take the town out of the girl. I hated Benton City growing up. All I wanted to do was leave. I now realize that everything about that tiny Eastern Washington town is burned onto my soul. And I'm really ok with that. Who I am today, has much to do with my beginnings in Benton City Washington. And I wouldn't change a thing.
Abe and Dallin waiting for their cars to race.

Dave and I have a theory. One he agrees to! We think people from Utah are shiny. They just have this little glow about them. In addition to being shiny... When a person from Utah is about to tell you where they are from they get a certain look in their eye. I have come to identify this look. It's a look that makes you think they might be about to tell you their actually from Disney Land. But it always turns out to be Utah. Being from Washington, I didn't realize that most Mormons come from Utah. Did anyone see American Idol Salt Lake? Everyone was so happy! It was wonderful to watch. I would like to thank Utah Mormons for representing and making us all look good.
Abe and Dallins cars are in the middle. Dallins was blue with money stuck on it. Dave painted Abes pine block into a bus. It was awesome! Abe's bus was the slowest of the night. But he loved it! He still plays with it every day.

I know this blog is random. And I know it's not just about what my kids are doing. I'm sorry about that. My poor head is full of random things all day long. I have to have a sounding board to let it out. If you don't like it, don't read it.

Oh Kimi, and other things.

There is a look on a persons face when you know they are glad to see you. It's a look that you only get from a friend. Someone who knows you and enjoys seeing your face. This look is taken for granted by way to many people. Even though it has been 3.5 years since we left Pullman, I still miss that look. Don't get me wrong, I got that look from people in Alaska. But never the way I got it in Pullman. There were people I never really hung out with during the week, but every Sunday I would see them and be greeted with that look. Pullman was kind of a cruel trick for Dave and I. Never again will we have friends the way we did in College. I long to be with those friends again. I miss them the same way I miss my family.

In Alaska I had several good friends. Most of them were military so we all moved on at about the same time. However my very best friend in Alaska stopped being my friend about 9 months before we departed Alaska. I still do not know why this happened. This has left a hole in me that has yet to heal. It left me feeling disposable and resulted in a lot of sad days on my part. Nothing Dave said or did has been able to compensate for the loss of that friendship.


Along comes Kimi Gale. Kimi is the great eraser. Before she got here I was so bummed about not having any friends in Georgia. I missed my Army friends, my Alaska friends and as always my Pullman friends. Kim has been here for a month. Words can not describe the impact she has had on me and my whole house. She just brings a beautiful spirit with her. A spirit I have been privy to all my life, but never really noticed until she arrived. I have gone from feeling very sorry for my self, to not caring that no one gives me that look. Who really cares if no one cares that I'm around? If I've made Kimis day, I'm happy. Making her day is not a difficult thing to do. For the next 18 months I'm sure my blog will have a lot about Kimi on it. She is such a major part of our life now it's not possible to exclude her from my writing. Dave and I both love having her in our home.


At church the other day Kimi had really bad breath. Well apparently my mom has taught Kimi not to chew gum. Or maybe she just doesn't like it. What ever the reason she didn't want to have anything to do with my gum. She kept telling me I could just give her a cert. I don't use certs. So finally I made Kimi chew this piece of gum. For 10 minutes she gave me the stink eye, while I tried to talk her into chewing the gum. Finally I figured she would have had to have it chewed. I let her spit it out. I am not kidding.... there was no more then 3 chews on that piece of gum. Also.... the same day I got a full lecture from Kimi about the cookies I just made. She kept on telling me they had too much sugar in them. (I know this is straight from my moms mouth to Kim's.) Finally Dave asked Kimi how come our cookies weren't ok, but her ice cream was fine? She replied by informing us that ice cream has milk in it and milk is good for you. It was a fight we couldn't win.


One more Kimi story and then I'll stop. I can't wait to see Kimi in heaven whole. I really hope she still likes me when she can see all my flaws. The other day I was in a bad mood. Dave called me grumpy and I called him a turd. He then grabbed my arm and pulled me into our food pantry, shut the door and then tried to hug and heckle the grumpy out of me. Upon leaving the pantry Dave was met with the wrath of Kimi. She was not happy that he had called me grumpy and grabbed me by the arm. She laid into Dave like I have never seen before. Apparently my dad has never openly called my mom grumpy. Dave got the wrath of nine hells on his head. And all out of protection of me. Yes I think Kimi will be a very good person to have on my side some day. Seeing he would not win, Dave said sorry and showed her a Jack Black video on you tube. All was forgiven. She really is easy to please.

Daves family shows love through teasing. I have learned this the hard way. I know that my father in law loves me. Of this I have no doubt. However he will push my buttons and tease me until I am on the verge of giving him the bird. Dave is the same way. Teasing is just a way to say I love you. Kimi and I however pretty much grew up in a tease free zone. We got it a little when we were young, but for the most part never got teased. Kimi and Dave are on an interesting path of discovery in the teasing department. It's a work in progress.

Ok I know I've mentioned before that little boys are perverts. It just never ends. The other night Abe and Dallin were taking a bath. After several minutes we were able to convince them to stop touching their dangles. From touching they moved on to watching them float in the water. This was amazing to both of them. But there was no touching. Upon exit of the bath tub Abe points his freshly clean behind at the back of his brothers head and says "Do you want to smell my clean bum, bum?" At this point both of them burst out laughing. I don't ever remember doing this to Kimi or any of my friends. Boys are so weird. I would love to think that they will out grow this. I have however been a wrestling manager for a high school wrestling team and I know my husband played Frisbee hoo ha smash in the MTC. Please tell me my boys are normal. They seem normal, but I would never do what they do!

So Tom Hanks has let me down. I have been a huge Tom Hanks fan for the last 20 years. He said that Mormons are unamerican and gripped about all the money the church gave to the Yes on prop 8. What a stupid thing to say. The church didn't give any money to Yes on prop 8! That is not the way they spend tithing. Members of our church yes, but the church... heck no! As for unamerican.... what a moron. He clearly knows nothing of our history. OHHHHHH, I'm so sad by his comments. I've always thought that we would be good friends when I got to Hollywood. I was wrong. How is it that the Mormons get all the credit for Prop 8 passing? Why do people think we have so much power? Prior to the vote I didn't see a single Yes on prop 8 rally on TV. They were all No on prop 8. 80 % of blacks voted yes on prop 8. And yet the mormons get 100% of the glory to it passing. Oh I hate that I can't stop watching the news!

The boys started Mixed Martial Arts. They love it. I know they are probably a little young for it. But they really wanted to do it and they are loving it! Abe and Dallin are both in really good schools. I'm pretty darn happy with our set up here in Georgia.

Dave's school is awesome. Most days of the week he is home by 4:15. I love it! I know it's short lived and that we will probably face another deployment soon. But for here and now we love it! Our house is awesome, Dave is home and the weather is pretty warm. Yes we have it really good right now.

At the beginning of January Scout (our dog) turned 3. Dave made her chicken and rice and we had a cake for her. She is such a spoiled dog!

A whole month of fun!

Oh my we have had a big month! The month began with me finally locating the couches that I wanted. This was a very big deal. I found the perfect leather sectional! The only problem was.... it cost 8,000 dollars. After a day of pouting because I knew I couldn't have it I threw my self into stalking Craig's List. If I couldn't have my Bassett sectional new I would stop looking for new all together. One evening after checking Craig's List for the 200th time that day, a new ad had popped up. 500 Bucks for a leather couch, chair and ottoman. All purchased at Haverty's 3 years ago. The pictures were great! I e mailed them right away. First thing the next morning the sellers called me. I made arrangements to go take a look at the furniture. It was in a very nice neighborhood. As I walked to the door I noticed small home made confederate flag hanging in the window. When I got in the house I noticed a few other confederate flags. All very Americana style. So I took one look at the couches and bought them. They are in mint condition! The wife had the husband post them on Craig's list. He had never heard of Craig's list and he didn't think they would sell. So he listed them at 500 dollars. (They had five people waiting to see if I was going to buy them.) They have a truck and we don't. So they agree to help us move the couches. I run home and tell Dave all about the couches. I also mention to him that they have confederate flags hanging in their house. I said isn't that nice that they honor their heritage like that? Dave then said, "Honey I'm not going to argue with you about this.... those people are dirty racists. Anyone who still flys that flag believes the south should have won. And what did the South stand for?" I had no good response for what the South stood for. But I insisted they weren't racists. David told me I was wrong and left it at that. We went and got the couch's and brought them back to our neighborhood. We'll let me tell you a little about our neighborhood. We live in a very nice neighborhood. There are a lot of teenage kids in our neighborhood. It was Saturday and as we drove in most of them were out side enjoying the day. Our neighborhood has 139 houses. Of those 139 houses Dave and I are sure that 3 of them have white families living in them. As we round the corner to our house our teenage neighbor/ babysitter is out side with about 10 friends washing the car and listening to music. The music was a little loud, but not so loud that I could hear it in the house. It was fine.... it was 3 in the afternoon. So I'm all excited about the couches! Dave and the husband bring them in the house. As they are doing this the wife leans into me, looks up a little and totally under her breath says "so what do you think of your neighbors?" I could have died! Dave was right! They are dirty racists! I then started going on about how wonderful they are and how lucky we are to have them, and how the daughter baby sits the boys all the time. She then took a step back and said "oh well that's nice." I couldn't believe it! We now have 500 dollar, brown leather, racists couches in our house. By the way Dave thinks the husband is the leader of the KKK. He is tall as Dave, thin with a pot belly in the middle, blue jean pants pulled up above his belly button, white t shirt tucked in and..... a huge confederate flag belt buckle! Wow! That's all I've got to say about that.

So that was how our month began! On the 19th Kimi arrived. She will be living with us while my parents are serving their mission in Detroit Michigan. They will be on a 18 month CES mission. Teaching at UofM in Ann Arbor. Having Kimi here is great! My mom brought her here and was able to stay for about three days before heading back home. The boys loved her visit. Dallin keeps on asking me when grandma is coming back.

Dave and I both feel like having Kimi in our home is very much a blessing for our family. However, it does come with it's challenges...

Kimi and I are both the children of my parents old age. (My parents do read my blog, hope I don't get in too much trouble here.) I'm sure that when my parents were a little younger and had 4 kids under the age of 7 the moved a little faster. But in my life time everything has always gotten done in it's own time. This has caused strife in my marriage to Dave. If Daves mom (Roma) says lets go to a 4pm movie, at 3:30, everyone says great! They get ready, get out the door and make it in time to grab some popcorn before the movie. This would NEVER happen in the Gale house. We are a slow moving bunch. Kimi has adopted this same quality. This has been a bit of a challenge for this unstructured, fly by the seat of our pants family. After a couple of weeks of this Dave came to the conclusion that Kimi is like a bear who just woke up from hibernation.

The other challenge we have run into with Kimi is.... she doesn't really complain about anything. She will ignore you, she will mutter under her breath, she will lash out at something very little. But if something is really bothering her she doesn't say a word about it till it's too late. We are working on communication.

For example: Kimi and I go to the gym pretty much every day. The first time I took Kimi to the gym I kept a very close eye on her. She was on a treadmill in the back row and I was on the elliptical one row in front of her. After about 20 minutes I stopped looking back every 30 seconds. At about 28 minutes I glanced back to check on Kimi again. There she was.... walking on the treadmill.... with her shirt off!!!! Yes she did have a sports bra, but non the less, her shirt was off. There was no Hey Jodi I'm hot. She just took her shirt off in a military gym full of soldiers. I couldn't get my fat pregnant butt of the elliptical fast enough. Lucky for us there were probably no more then 40 people in our section and she was in the very back.

Christmas this year was great! It was so fun to spend the season with just my little family. On Christmas eve Dave made us a Mexican feast and we played games. It was really nice. They boys got just the right amount of gifts. Kimi was so fun to watch. We got her all the High School Musical bedding for her room. She loved it. She also got an I pod from my parents and I put all her music on it for her. She Loves her new I pod! Dave got a Blue Ray and the perfect Pull up. And I took the grand prize! Dave bought me a Canon Rebel! With all the extras! I could have died! I have loved photography for so long and been wanting a really super camera. Dave has grown sick of me not having a hobby. So he bought me the camera. At first I was going to return it to the store. But then I opened the box and couldn't part with it. I love it! Hopefully I'll get really good at photography.

For New Years Eve we went to Sea World in Orlando Florida. Military gets in for free, so we took advantage and rang in the new year in style. I was totally amazed at how smart those animals are. Kimi and Dave rode the big roller coaster and they both loved it! Then Dave, Abe, Dallin and Kimi rode the wet roller coaster. Thee of them loved it, but Dallin hated it! He got off and told me that he didn't have very much fun. There were fire works and noise makers at midnight. We really had a wonderful time.

The only draw back was our hotel! It was awful! I was in charge of finding a place to stay. It was dirty, the beds were tiny, it was run down and the AC was so loud it reminded me of being inside Grand Coolie Dam! Usually I am very good at finding nice places for very little. But this time I failed! The place we booked it from gave it 3.5 stars and compared it to the Double Tree. UMMMMM... not even close!

While in Orlando we went to breakfast at McDonald's. No big deal, but this McDonald's seemed really big from the out side. So we go in and holy cow it was huge! It was the worlds largest McDonald's! I ate eggs Benedict and David had waffles! Dave was not as impressed as I was. I was totally blown away! I took tons of pictures.


On our way back we stopped in Daytona Beach and let the boys play. It was 65 degrees and windy, but Abe didn't care. He hit the water like it was a hot day. Dallin mostly stayed on the shore and played in the sand. Abe is totally my child and Dallin is all Davids.

We had a great Holiday season and are so happy to have Kimi with us now. I'll try to blog more often so I don't end up so wordy.

Walmart, Pregnancy and Dog!

I hate Walmart. I have always hated Walmart. No matter what I buy there, it's broken. I wanted to pick up some Christmas tree balls from Sam's Club, (a very poor substitute for Costco, but the best I can do in Augusta.) Anyway they were out of the ones I wanted. I only wanted to spend 30 dollars on the whole tree. So I headed over to good old Walmart. As Dallin and I got there he told me "Oh mom, I love Walmart! It's just great!" It was at this moment I knew I have completely failed as a parent! So I pick out my 30 dollars worth of Balls, buy them and go home. As we are putting up the Christmas tree about 20% of the balls I just bought are defective! They either don't come with tops or the tops have no hole in them. What the crap? I mean when I go to Walmart I'm not expecting a quality product, but this is ridicules! Same trip I happened to pick up some food... it expired two days before I actually bought it! I used to buy the little boys clothes there. That was until I realized that if the clothes I was buying didn't already have a tiny hole somewhere, they would have one after a wash or two. Averaging me anywhere from 3-10 dollars for my kids to wear the outfit once. There are no words for how I much loath this store. And yet I find my self there about once a month! What is my problem? Why can't I just leave it alone? It's the really low prices! I delude my self into thinking...this time I wont be wasting my money. I realize how much cheaper things are there, but isn't it worth spending 4 dollars at Target instead of 2 dollars at Walmart, if that item is not going to be thrown away shortly after it's first use?



What is with pregnancy? I was rinsing my mouth with mouth wash yesterday morning, when all of the sudden I realized I had pooped my pants. It was just a little bit, but it was a pooping of the pants. There was no other way to slice it. I've never been the cool kid. But I've also never been the kid that poops their pants!!!! Being pregnant I deal with the risk of wetting my pants on a daily basis. But this is a whole different ball game. I am not ok with it! I have grown used to feeling totally normal and with in a matter of moments sprinting to the bathroom, squeezing my keagles and praying that I wont wet my pants. This I accept as a part of pregnancy. But what happened yesterday has led me to some long thought out conclusions....



Eve really did get screwed for taking a bite of that fruit! I bet Adam was totally stoked when he realized he and all of his future man folk would get to "provide" for their families. I hear people call pregnancy a beautiful miracle. Most of these people are men. In my world beautiful miracles do not come with bad backs, stretch marks, Huge knockers, Acid reflex, Sleepless nights and adult acne. I also have heard people say "pregnancy glow." Well congrats to other women, but I have never glowed while pregnant. If there is any glowing it's because it just took me 2 minutes to climb a flight of stairs and I cant catch my breath because the baby has laid claim on my lungs and I can't breath anymore. Dave even admits I don't glow when pregnant. I do however break out like a fifteen year old boy. My sweet friend Dori told me to counter act this break out problem by putting coconut oil on my face. This had the opposite effect. I know have white heads in that hard to reach place on the side of my nose.



Honestly pregnancy does amaze me. Everything has to be perfect for a child to be conceived. And everything has to stay perfect for that baby to survive. Every child is amazing. However I don't think the process is beautiful. Dave goes to work every day, where he learns something new and interacts with people who take him seriously. I however stay home and consider the day a victory if I only wet my pants once.



Oh the dog! I don't know if I have much else to say about the stupid dog. She is the perfect for the boys and a really good family dog. However she hates me. She has no respect for me! Yesterday she took off and wouldn't let me catch her. Dave had to come home from school and get her. She came right to her. I used to not understand how people could just leave their dogs. Now I realize they had it coming. I will no longer judge the parents of an abandoned dog.



Well that's it for now.

Testing

Halloween 2008. This whole post is just me trying to figure out things in the blog world. I'll post more and better later.

This is Abe (batman) and Dallin (Buzz Lightyear) this year at our friend Misty's house for Halloween. Dallin did have awesome wings, but the poped 30 seconds after we put them on his back. They were really cool too. Abe has worn his batman hat/ cape almost every day since Halloween.