Dodging a Bullet

Peter got the estimating position that he applied for! He is such a go getter. The crazy thing was that the day before they interviewed him, they laid off a bunch of electricians and told the others that they had to work a job in San Francisco or be laid off too. Peter would not have taken a job that far away and been laid off too, but they had already decided to put him in the estimating department. Without his Construction Management degree they wouldn't have even considered making him an estimator, so once again we have been blessed. I don't think it would have worked if he had been laid off and then tried to get the position so it is a good thing he is proactive. He won't make any more money for now but once he finishes his apprenticeship hours in January, there should be some nice changes in his income.

Here are a couple of random funny pictures:
This is what I see when I look down! I have to bend WAY over to see my feet of course.
Tanner thought this was the funnest discovery in the world!

Poor Little Face

Eden has not had very good luck the last couple of days. Yesterday she came running to me with a little scrape on her cheek (left). Apparently Dallin pushed her and she fell or something. Then this morning at 7:30 Eden decided to jump off of the bean bag and dove right into the TV stand. Unfortunately there was a little screw sticking out because a knob came off. I didn't realize it was even there because Peter had cut it off, but someone pulled it out farther. I could tell right away that we were going to the doctor today. I called everyone I knew in the ward for help with the boys, but then ended up asking John's wife Sarah to come help, which she was happy to do (it is a 40 minute drive). I can't tell you how nice it is to find someone so willing to help, I was so grateful.

So Eden and I went off to the urgent clinic in Sacramento. The doctor didn't think stitches would be the best thing to do so she taped the cut together with this tape stuff. The cut is horizontal and about 3/4 inch long but it was pretty opened up being right on her cheek. I am really worried that the doctor was just trying to get it done and that there may have been more done to prevent a big scar. I think it would have been better to go to a plastic surgeon or some kind of specialist even if it cost a lot. I guess I will be investing in some Maderma now. I am supposed to keep the tape on it for a whole week. I hope she can leave it alone for that long. Believe it or not we have never had any of our kids need stitches yet, although I think this pretty much counts.

Folsom Lake

Yesterday I really needed to get out of the house so Peter took us to a lake about 40 minutes from our house. We explored around the area a little bit and took the kids swimming. It was really hot and we found a nice shallow inlet just right for our little ones. They all got new hats and sunglasses, which they loved too. It was so nice to get out and do something fun. There was lots of water play, finding rocks and watching out for snakes (we didn't see any, but there were rattle snake warnings which Eden really took seriously). The kids had a blast, and I was mostly a spectator. I am counting down the days until I can once again feel like a person and not a house. All of my kids had dirty faces, but I will put these on anyway.

Can We Really do a Seventh Year?

Okay, most people do pest control to get through college so we never imagined that Peter would be starting his seventh year of it! Here is a job update for Peter: He is working for Berg Electric which is a big national company. He is trying to finish his 4 years of apprenticeship hours so that he can test and be a journeyman. That should be around January, Yay! He was working on a big commercial job in Sacramento, but then he had to take 2 weeks off to go to the apprenticeship class. Now that he is back they have taken him off of that job and he is in the warehouse for now. That is where they stick people until they have another placement so he is preparing materials for the jobs. He is interested in learning more about estimating so he spoke with someone and gave him an application. He talked with the apprenticeship and they said that those hours would count if he worked in that department. So we are crossing our fingers about that because it is what he wants to do and it would keep him close to home. Most of the other jobs going on are at least 2 hours away and Peter is not interested in doing that.

So that brings us to pest control. We just need a little more to make ends meet so Peter has decided to sell with his brother on Saturdays and about 2 weekday evenings a week. At least it is not full time pest control for him. They also pay for our rent if he sells enough so that is a big motivation as well. Peter's goal is to still be able to make about 200 sales this summer by the end of September. I am so glad that we will have him on 4 nights a week and Sundays. It is not going to be easy around here without him. On selling days he will leave the house at 6:30am and get home around 10:00pm. He must really love us to work so hard. I love that guy.

While I am talking about Peter I must say that he has been so helpful during this pregnancy. He is very involved with the kids when he his home and will always give me breaks to rest. He has pitched in with the house work a ton and even does the dishes every night. It really takes a team to raise these little kids, I could never do it alone. I am so lucky to have you Peter!

More Parent Training

This weekend we finished our parent training course. It was soooo good. I am so exited to internalize everything. I know it will help Dallin so much as well as our other children. I really like the strategies that we learned because they are so positive and Christlike. It just feels right. I love it. I am so grateful to have opportunities to understand autism. I still feel like I am just beginning to scratch the surface with it all but so much more knowledgeable than 2 years ago. I have a really long way to go with learning federal and state laws on rights, but I am learning all the time.

Yesterday John and Sarah came over and we had dinner and played games. They are so fun to play games with, no matter what we play we just laugh the whole time. Our kids really love Uncle John. They get so exited when we tell them he is coming over. Tanner was calling him Daddy John yesterday. Tanner thinks anyone without hair is John now too.

My little potato heads.
Three skirts is better than one.

Peter was trying to get Eden to smile. She loves her daddy.

I think kids this age on a trampoline are so funny because they run more than they really jump and it looks so funny. Tanner really has a great laugh.

Randomness

Eden cracks me up. She can undress and dress herself really well, but struggles a little bit taking her shirt off. I thought she was getting it and so in the morning and at night I just hand her the outfit to wear and she takes care of the rest. She even puts her dirty clothes in the hamper. So yesterday I happened to see her struggling to put her pajama top on. She was trying to put it over her shirt that she had on. I went over to help her and discovered that she still had on her shirt from yesterday under that layer too. Apparently if it doesn't come off easy, she just layers over the top of her shirts! Good thing I caught it at 3 layers!

Eden has also been helping us pick a baby name. Her top choice is Pig. Last night she suggested Cinderella. She is such a helpful little sweetheart.

Well, I have survived half of Dallin's month off of school. He is actually a really good boy, but still very intense and needs a lot of guidance. I see a big difference compared to the last time he was off school though. Two more weeks and I may be able to get some stuff done again. It has been really great for him to have so much time to play with Eden this month. They are really good little buddies and I don't have to do so much now that she screams at him if he does anything she doesn't like. I wish it was going so well with Tanner, but they have their cute playmate moments too. Good thing Tanner is pretty tough.

We are still agonizing over where to place Dallin for Kindergarten next year. Our meeting is May 7, and we really need to have an opinion by then. I was really leaning toward and autism kindergarten, but he is doing really well and I think he may be ready to be in a typical setting. One thing I was reading is that when you teach autistic children social skills, even if they really understand, if they use the skills on their peers and it is not reciprocated they will stop using the skill within minutes. If Dallin were with typical peers it would definitely be more ideal for his social development. The big question is, is he ready for that environment or does he need one more year in a highly structured environment. To me this is a crucial decision that we need to get right. Ahhhh... I have been so back and forth I don't even know anymore.

Last night I gave Peter a kiss. It was so funny because afterward he said "you know what I like about kissing you? I don't have to worry about getting yucky snot or slobber on me like I do with the kids when they kiss me." He had me rolling because it is so true!

I talked about everyone but Tanner. Umm... he is still so way cute. Peter and I are always joking that he is our favorite. I think I just really love the age. Lately after we put the kids to bed (all in the same room) Tanner will wait until everyone else is asleep and then he will start to call for Daddy. It is so cute that Peter will go get him up and we will play with him for an extra hour just because we can't resist his cuteness. Okay I think I just said cute way too many times, but that is the best way to describe our little Tan man.

As for me, I seem to be in full nesting mode this week. I can't stop deep cleaning everything and trying to make sure everything is organized. It is kind of nice because our house really needs it. I even painted over all of the crayon art on the walls. There was a lot after living here almost a year with 3 toddlers. So naughty! It feels so good to see the walls completely white again. The pregnancy is going well but I keep asking myself if I can really do another 5 1/2 weeks. The hardest thing right now is that my hips are so loose that they keep getting out of alignment or something and it is really really painful. I have never had that problem before. I move around like I am 90 years old. Especially getting in the car or putting pants on, anything that I have to lift my legs for. Cleaning takes about double the normal time. Pregnancy is so crazy.

Dallin's First Ski Trip

Peter decided that Dallin was ready for his first ski trip. I told Dallin that he was going to go yesterday and he was so exited he could hardly contain himself. This morning he woke up and was ready to go. As we expected, Dallin loves to ski. Peter could hardly talk him into taking any breaks and just wanted to be out on the slopes all day from 9 to 4. Man this kid is so much like his dad sometimes its crazy. He also got tired of the bunny slope pretty quickly and they spent most of the day going on the big lifts. Peter held onto him most of the time, but he did pretty well by himself for his first time too. Dallin had the time of his life and is already trying to figure out when he gets to go again.

This isn't exactly a Warren Miller Film, but he is a pretty cute little skier.

You Know You're Really Pregnant When...

You have outgrown most of your cute maternity tops and find yourself thumbing through your husbands t-shirts more than your own wardrobe!

Cream Soup Substitute

I get so mad when I have to buy those cream of mushroom or celery cans for over a dollar at the store. Especially when a recipe calls for 2 cans. So here are 2 recipe solutions. I think the first one is a mix that could be great for using your food storage and for always having it on hand. These cost a fraction of what a can of soup would cost and you can pronounce all of the ingredients!

Cream Soup Substitute
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups dry milk
3/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup chicken bouillon granules
2 tablespoons dried onion flakes,
optional1 teaspoon dried leaf thyme1/2 teaspoon dried leaf basil,
optional1/2 teaspoon dried leaf oregano,
optional1/2 teaspoon ground marjoram,
optional1/2 teaspoon pepper2 to 3 teaspoons butter

PREPARATION:Combine all ingredients except butter together and store in airtight container. To use, mix 1/2 cup dry soup mix with 1 1/4 cups water and cook until thick; add butter. This is equal to one can cream soup.The mix makes enough to equal 9 to 10 cans. For cream of mushroom or celery soup, add chopped sauteé mushrooms or celery along with the butter while cooking

Cream Soup Substitute II
INGREDIENTS:
1 tablespoon butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup low-fat or fat free milksalt and pepper to taste

PREPARATION:Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir in flour; keep stirring until smooth and bubbly. Remove from heat and add the chicken broth and milk, a little at a time, stirring to keep smooth.Return to heat. Bring sauce to a gentle boil; cook, stirring constantly, until it thickens. Taste and add salt and pepper, as needed to taste.Use in casseroles in place of condensed cream soups.Can be varied by using vegetable broth, sauteéd chopped celery, celery seed, or sauteéd chopped mushrooms.

Finally a Soccer Mom

Yes, my dream has finally come true. I am a real soccer mom! We signed Eden and Dallin up for a rec center class to see how they would do. So far, they are doing great. They are both following directions and totally love it. This was their second week. This means that we will sign them up for the league that starts in May. The class was for ages 3-4 so Dallin is probably the oldest one there. That is good I think. He seems to be very athletic already and understands what he is supposed to do.
Eden is usually the last one to the other side of the gym but she LOVES soccer. She is always more interested in hugging her coaches and getting their encouragement than anything else though. She just loves being part of something.
At the end of their class they played their first "game". They got to put jerseys on and have nets up. It was hilarious because they would all chase the ball and inevitably someone would stop the ball with their hands and then squish it with their foot and everyone would stand around like "what do we do next?" The couches would encourage them to kick the ball and it would start all over again. Dallin got the ball several times but I will spare you the 5 minute video. This is just a short clip of the class.

Ultrasound

I was called in for an ultrasound yesterday. The doctor was worried about placenta previa, which would mean I would need to have a c-section, but everything was fine. I have never had such a good technician. She was so nice and even did some 3D ultrasound pictures for me. Everything looks good with the baby and he is already estimated to be a whopping 5 pounds 14 oz. Yikes! I guess we are going to have a big baby.

Tanner and Zora

Peter's brother John and his family moved 30 minutes away from here for summer sales. We are so exited to have some family around again. We have been hanging out and enjoying them the last couple of weekends. We played a hilarious game of Scrabble, watched conference, and played "duck, duck, monster truck" on the trampoline with the kids.

Here is a little clip of Tanner and Zora. Zora is so cute, whenever we turned the camera on she would stop what she was doing. Tanner is really intimidated by babies so he was pretty offended every time she touched him. It was so funny. I think the 2 proud daddys are pretty cute too.

The Mind Institute

I was fortunate enough to hear about this special parent training seminar that they were going to do at the UC Davis Mind Institute. This is one of the top places doing studies on autism, very state of the art. That is another benefit of living here, it is only a half hour away. So a few weeks ago I submitted an application and crossed my fingers. We did get accepted and we were so exited. It was even funded by a grant so it was free for us! I would guess that this training would cost a lot for both Peter and I to have.

So it started on Friday night and then went all day on Saturday. It is a small class with only about 15 people. It is basically training us to work with our child with the same theory as his in home therapy. It is called Applied Behavior Analysis. The teacher is soooo good and we learned so much. We have done "parent trainings" before that turned out to be more like a support group and we didn't get as much out of it. This was very different. It was actual skills that we can use to help Dallin function better on a day to day basis. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time because as he was teaching us, I felt like he knew Dallin and our challenges that we have. We feel like we have more understanding into the mind of autism and if we can help the world make sense to Dallin more than his behaviors will be much more appropriate. It was so awesome. They even gave us a great book to use as a resource. I felt like a sponge trying to soak it all in. We will be better parents to all of our children for sure if we implement these teaching strategies.

In two weekends from now we get to go again for another full weekend of training. I know I say it all the time but we have been so blessed. I can't even imagine where we would be right now if we were not here. I really feel like we are doing the best we can for Dallin and that is something we will never have regrets about. He deserves the best chance as he starts his life just like any child would.

Quote of the Day

We had the missionaries over for dinner and we had home made hot fudge sauce with yummy Costco ice cream for dessert and Dallin exclaimed very matter of fact, "Ice cream is delicious!...Poo poo is not delicious...its gross." Of course while the missionaries were turning reddish and trying not to laugh I was secretly beaming at Dallin's display of original thought and language. It was funny.

While I am on that subject, the other day I told Eden that she needed to go flush the potty after she had used it. She looked at me and said "no, I don't want to flush, I want to keep it." I think we are just so proud of going poop in the potty around here that she thought it was her trophy.

The Train Museum

Yesterday we went on a field trip with Dallin's class to a train museum. Dallin was in heaven. He could have stayed and explored all day. There were lots of full sized trains to look at and walk through. There was even a toy train area on the second floor which was a hit too of course.
Looking into a coal furnace.
Inside a train. This was a passenger train. We also went in a postal car, dining car, and sleeping car.
Dallin's cute class. Lots of the kids kept saying hi to Dallin. One even held his hand for a while. I can tell he has made some good friends this year.

Eden's Babies

She is just so sweet I had to document:

World Autism Day

Yesterday was world autism day. This whole month is Autism Awareness Month. For this reason, yesterday CNN ran autism specials on various topics all day. My most favorite program was Larry King Live on the immunization controversy. I hope that everyone, especially moms will watch this 10 minute clip: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2008/04/02/lkl.autism.long.cnn

I wish the whole program was available to watch, it was very very interesting when they brought a panel of doctors in.

I have been asked what I think about this topic many many times and I do believe that there is a link between the vaccine schedule and triggering autism. I also believe that there are other environmental triggers. My younger son Tanner is not vaccinated at this point. He will be 2 in June and I am planning to start him on a very slow schedule soon. If you could walk in my shoes in the last 4 years, this would not seem extreme measures by any means. I believe that the demand by mothers to regulate a safer vaccine schedule recommendation from the CDC is on the brink and that if we take a stand now, our babies in the future will have a much greater chance of defeating this epidemic. My family is a real living example of how autism can affect and turn your world upside down. Please believe through this mothers tears and heartache that this could happen to you.

I am so optimistic for the future of children and autism. There is so much research developing and this country is beginning to open its eyes to the reality of the extreme rise from 1 in 10,000 to 1 in 150. That is 1 in 94 boys by the way. I really do believe that my children's children will face a much different world in the prevention and treatment of autism. Please go to http://www.generationrescue.org/ to view what is considered a safe vaccine schedule.

I remember having Dallin injected with up to 4 shots at a time as a baby, many of which were combinations of different immunizations. I also remember him having adverse reactions each time. I cannot say that I am positive that this triggered his autism, but I can say that in hind site there is absolutely no way that I would allow this to be done to him if I could go back and do it again. Despite what pediatricians tell you, this is your choice. I have been told by a pediatrician that there is no link, that there is no longer mercury in vaccines. I now know that this was a lie and it was time to find a new doctor. This doctor, aware of my sons autism, then injected him with 3 vaccines which were not even necessary for his schedule at the time. This is a very close minded view and there has now even been a family awarded compensation by the federal government because their child's autism was triggered by immunizations. http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/03/06/vaccines.autism/index.html#cnnSTCVideoThat this is a good start even though there is still no statement admitting the link. I think the compensation speaks for itself.

I hope that I can be an example to all that autism is a real and it can affect anyone. I share my opinions because I hope that those who read this will at least take the time to think about vaccines before you follow such an aggressive schedule. I just don't want anyone to be uneducated like I was as a new mother. Just research the facts and decide what is best for you and your child. I live with a broken heart every day and I do not wish my experiences on anyone. I don't want any of you to have to wonder if your child will be able to go to college, serve a mission, get married and have all the success that life offers. Please feel free to share this message with anyone that may be interested in this information.

Pricilla

Parenting is the most important thing we do!
How well we do it will determine the LONG-RANGE HAPPINESS of our children (and of ourselves). Parenting is too important to leave to chance and too important to be approached defensively or by reaction.

Chocolate Princess