My New 'Do

I've been wanting to do something with my hair for a long time, but haven't had a clue what to do. It was so frizzy, thick and dead that I wasn't sure it could be fixed without shaving my head. I finally made an appointment to go get it cut this past Saturday. Jeremey decided he wanted to go to town too, so we got a babysitter for the older three kids, took Connor with us and headed to the salon. He was very good about not complaining about how long it was taking - in fact, he kept pushing me to get more treatments done. I ended up getting my hair shampooed, conditioned, cut, Malibu-ed (deep conditioning treatment), clear prismed (seals in the Malibu for longer and adds shine), blow dryed, and straightened - and it only took 3 hours! I wasn't too sure about the end result, but Jeremey absolutely loves it. I think it's going to take some getting used to. I'm told it's trendier than my old hairdo - Jeremey went so far as to say my hair was stuck in the 90s. But as long as he thinks I'm hot - what else matters!

One Sickness After Another

This past month has been the longest and worst month I can recall. I got mastitis when Connor was a week old and was put on amoxicillin to get rid of it. At the same time, I also got the bathroom blues quite severly. By day two, I couldn't take it anymore, so I took some pepto bismol but that didn't help the mastitis. I got it again for the second time about 4 or 5 days after I finished the first round of antibiotics. Only this time it was in the other side. And again, along with the mastitis came the bathroom blues AS WELL AS a 24 hour puking bug. I thought I was dead for a few days. Bless my wonderful mother - she has practically lived here for the past few weeks helping me out. Not only have I been sick, but each of the kids has had the 24 hour puking bug as well, they just had it one at a time and 4 or 5 days apart.

NOW, I am having an allergic reaction to the amoxicillin I was taking to get rid of the second round of mastitis. Cause, you know, the diarrhea and puking were all cleared up, so obviously it was time for something else to go wrong with my body. I couldn’t take the itching anymore and it was just getting worse, so Jey and I went to the hospital today and they put me on steroids for 5 days.

This rash is kind of fun though (aside from the pain of course) – wherever I scratch it gets red and makes a welt. Jeremey thought it’d be fun to write on my back - hence the "Jeys Gurl".

The nurses at the hospital thought it was funny too – they all tried it as well.

I was going for a smiley face amidst all that other scratching

Will my body ever go back to normal???

Happy Birthday Izzy!

Today is Isabelle's 4th birthday. My sister-in-law put on a joint birthday party for her daughter Rylee and Izzy on Sunday - I haven't been feeling too well lately. We had it at Grandma's house and had pizza, cake and ice cream. Jeremey is baking her cupcakes right now and then we'll open our gifts to her tonight. I can't believe she's already 4 years old!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving and got to spend it with those you love. We went to Mom's house (surprise, surprise) and had dinner with a few friends from church. I took my camera, but didn't get any pictures. I have been really bad about taking pictures lately, so these are just random photos...

Connor - almost two weeks old

Gavin working out with Dad

Izzy pumping iron

Savannah practicing her head stands

Diaper buddies

My sexy hubby and sweet baby boy

Connor Douglas Ley

He's here! After a good 20 hours of labor, he's finally here. He's a cutie. We're just hanging out at home recuperating. Jeremey took time off to stay home with us, so that's a plus. Connor was born on Veteran's day and shares a birthday with 6 other people that we know! Crazy, crazy...

Headed to the Hospital...

We'll be heading to the hospital in the next hour...YEAH!!! I'm very excited, but nervous too as I'm NOT looking forward to the pain. Then again, who does look forward to that?!? Pray things go quickly and smoothly, that we have a healthy baby boy by the end of the day! Today is Jeremey's mom's birthday, so it'll be extra special if he's born today as she'll be there with us and my mom. I'll try to post pictures in a few days when I'm back home. Here are a couple of pictures from last night - the last night before baby arrives. (For those of you who are sensitive about seeing actual body parts - sorry about the belly. At this point, the belly is no longer mine - it's all him, so I figured it was ok.)

Halloween pics

We went Trunk or Treating at the Boys and Girls Club in Kenai, then to the church for the Halloween social. The kids had a lot of fun. Nana and Grandaddy Ley brought over treats and we stopped at Grandma Ellis' to trick or treat. We forgot to take pictures of the kids before we left the house, so Grandma took one at her house.

They had a costume contest at church for different age groups...Savannah as Cinderella, Izzy as Curious George and Camry and Rylee as Tinkerbell twins.

Jeremey's IS department at work all dressed up as Superheroes.
I thought about painting my belly orange and putting a pumpkin face on it, but decided flashing my belly at church would be inappropriate!
We hope you all had a safe and happy halloween!

LaReal Nadene Mitchell Calderwood Pettijohn

Today is my grandma’s funeral. She passed away on Oct. 16th in Bremerton, Washington. Since I’m close to delivering this baby, I decided not to attend. I’m a little too nervous to fly – afraid I’ll end up going into labor in Anchorage while my kids are stuck down here. But I wanted to pay tribute to her and let her know how much I love her and will miss her. I am happy for her though. She has been waiting 21 years to see my Grandpa again, so I know she is rejoicing. The past few years were really hard on her – she had severe diabetes which they couldn’t ever seem to keep under control. She was in a full care facility in Washington near my Aunt Korene, her youngest daughter.

My Grandma was an amazing person. I LOVED going to Grandma’s house. We got to visit her often because she didn’t live too far away (3 hours) and we always had a blast. They had an old intercom system in their house and Grandpa would get on it to call us kids upstairs for dinner. He always said something funny like “Tiffany, Brant and Ryan, come on down, you’re the next contest on the Price is Right!” They had a basement room where we always used to play. Their food storage was down there too and we always used to get into the wheat and chew a handful of it. Grandpa told us if we chewed it long enough it would turn to gum. Mine never did though.

Grandma always had Ovaltine. Always. And she used to let us eat it right out of the can – a tradition I’ve passed down to my children. We used to go to Grandma’s house for Thanksgivings and Christmases. She had a huge dining table, which I inherited a few summers ago (thanks Grandma!). I remember doing homework at it, eating countless meals there, watching the city lights from the windows behind it. Grandma had one of those doors in her kitchen – it slid in and out of the wall. I always thought that was the coolest door – I’d never seen one before. Everything in Grandma’s house was straight out of the 60s and 70s – it was cool! She had a chair in her living room that used to rock back and forth and spin all the way around. We used to spin till we were sick or it would tip over. It was white with brown and orange flowers.

She had a staircase with metal bars for the railing. I remember that Ryan got his head stuck through them one time and we couldn’t get him out. I think we even tried putting butter all over his head. Finally, Grandpa came along and suggested that pushing him out backwards – slipping his body through the bars instead of his head. Why we didn’t think of that, I’ll never know.

Grandma had raspberries in her backyard that we used to pick. We used to take turns mowing her lawn and every day we’d fight over who got to run out and check the mail at the end of the driveway. We used to walk down the street to A&W and get root beer floats. We always had a good time at Grandma’s house.

Grandma and Grandpa also had a cabin across the bay in Homer that we used to love going to. Every 4th of July we’d head out to the cabin for a long weekend. One of my favorite pictures of Grandma is this one. Kenny was helping her get back on the boat so we could go home.
It was at Grandma and Grandpa’s house that I broke my neck and had to spend a while up there with them recovering.
Grandma was there when Jeremey and I went through the temple in September 2000.
This last picture is of Grandma and Savannah in February 2003 at my mom’s house.
I don’t have a picture of Isabelle with Grandma, but we gave Isabelle the middle name of Nadene, after my Grandma. My Grandma was a wonderful woman who I’ll miss dearly. I’m sure she’ll be watching over us throughout the years just as Grandpa has been. I’m happy for her and look forward to the day I’ll see her again as well.

Savannah turns 6!

Savannah turned 6 last week. We had her party on Saturday and she got to invite a few friends from school as well as her cousins. She picked a cupcake tree for her birthday cake and helped me decorate the cupcakes. We kept it pretty simple, just ate cupcakes, opened presents and played a few games.
Happy Birthday, Nana!

Pumpkin Carving

We bought a pumpkin last Saturday while grocery shopping. The kids have been eargerly awaiting the night we carve "the big punkin". We finally got around to it last night. They spent about 10 minutes scooping out pumpkin guts before deciding it was time to go outside and play. So Jeremey did most of the work. Savannah drew a face on one side of the pumpkin and Izzy drew a face (with Jeremey's help) on the other side. I meant to get a picture of the girls with their corresponding side of the pumpkin, but they were outside when it was finished so I never got it. Jeremey got to be the one showcasing Izzy's masterpiece.

34 Weeks...and counting...

I'll be 34 weeks along on Saturday. My how time does NOT fly when counting down to such an end as this. I'm already ready for this bundle of energy to be on the outside rather than on the inside. I know he isn't quite done cooking yet, so I'll try to be patient. But I'm tired of being bruised internally. I have a constant back ache at this point. Sleeping is almost pointless. Last night I got up 7 TIMES to pee. Sheesh. (Can I complain anymore, you ask? Why, yes, I think it's possible...) I've finally hit the 30 pound mark. Actually, I'm not sure if I should say "finally" or "holy cow, I've ALREADY hit the 30 pound mark". I like to eat. A lot. I pack on a good 35 to 45 pounds each pregnancy. They say 20 to 30 pounds is best. Oh well. From here on out I should still be gaining about 1 pound per week, so I know I can look forward to AT LEAST 6 more pounds. Woo Hoo!!

Here are a couple of shots of my blimpo status. Technically, I'm 2 days away from 34 weeks, but I actually got dressed today, so might as well take a decent picture while I can! As you can tell, the children are oh so excited to be in the picture.

34 weeks

Izzy, me and baby Mudd, Gavin and Savannah

They Really CAN Share!

Izzy and Gavin fight over this bike constantly. I wish we had another one just like it - it would result in far less fighting! I happened to catch them riding together the other day - it was so sweet! It didn't last very long, just a couple of times up the driveway and back, but it was sweet while it lasted.

Time Out For Women

Jen, Gina and I went to Anchorage to attend Time Out For Women on Sept. 5th and 6th. It was such an amazing experience. I already can't wait for next year! Some of the speakers were Sheri Dew, Wendy Watson Nelson, Emily Watts, Merilee Boyack, Chris Stewart, and a few others. Hilary Weeks was the musical guest. It was such an inspiring, uplifting experience. I definitely needed that recharge and the break from kids for that little while. The theme of the weekend was finding joy in life - finding joy in being a mother, being a daugther of God, knowing our part in the plan.

I'm not very good at describing things, or putting into words how I feel, so I'll just say it was very spiritual - so uplifting. We laughed alot, we cried, we filled our cups to overflowing. We got to meet a few of the speakers as well. I didn't know that Hilary Weeks was raised in Anchorage - she even knew the Calderwood side of my family - small world! It was really good to see so many women from our ward there as well. We were all very blessed to be able to attend. I should thank my dear husband - he took off early on Friday to come home and be with the kids so we could make it to Anchorage by 5:30 pm. He is such a wonderful husband and father! (I love you sweetheart!) I can't wait for next year.... :)

Gina, Jen, Sheri Dew, me, Sharon, Debbie

Jen, Gina, Hilary Weeks, me

me, Gina, Wendy Watson Nelson, Jen

Labor Day

"Gavin, stop eating rocks... Nana, try to look happy"

We went to the beach for a little while on Labor Day. The kids love to go - not because of the warm sunny beach with hot sand to sink your toes into...we don't have those kinds of beaches. They love to throw rocks in the water, search for sea shells (hard to come by) and climb the bluff. Even Gavin got to climb the bluff this time!

Savannah's First Day of Kindergarten

Savannah was so excited to start Kindergarten. She really likes her teacher and has already made two new best friends. (Her two best friends from Pre-K both ended up in a different class.) It's a little different not having her around for most of the day - it's quieter. However, when she gets home from school, that's a different story. Almost every day she goes into melt down mode for a couple of hours. First is the crying and whining, then after dinner it turns into hyper active mode. Let's just say I am glad when bedtime rolls around!

Food Storage

About a month ago, I skipped out on Primary during third hour so I could attend Relief Society. One of the women gave a 15 minute presentation on food storage and it lit a fire under my bum to get my food storage in order. I have spent the past month putting together our 72 hour kits, ordering enough food storage for 7 people for one year from the cannery in Palmer, and canning and bucketing it all. The kids had a lot of fun helping with the canning.Before we canned it all...

Savannah and Izzy helping can milk

I tried buying a little here and a little there, but it never seemed to build up, so we went ahead and just bought it all at once. The only thing left to stock up on is water. I can't find a 55 gallon drum anywhere around here! Guess we'll just have to stock it in smaller quantities. Jeremey built me a pallet that fits in the closet under the stairs (used to be the nursery closet, but oh well) and we moved all of our boxed items down there. We still have to figure out where in the world we are going to put 40 buckets of wheat! But at least we have our food storage - FINALLY!

Jackie's Visit

It's been a while since I updated my blog...sorry! I hope you guys are still checking it. My friend, Jackie, came up for a couple of weeks with her 6 month old daughter. I haven't seen her since our 10 year reunion in 2005. A couple of us girls got together at Katrina's house, gabbed and ate food all afternoon. It was really good to see her - and the other's who even though they live here, I rarely see! I need to get out more!

Amy, Katie, Tiff, Jackie, Katrina

Swim Lessons

The girls took swim lessons for three weeks. I wish I had signed them up for back to back sessions because just about the time they get comfortable doing things, lessons are over. Neither of my girls put their faces underwater yet. But that could be because we never go to the pool. Some of Savannah's friends already know how to swim. She's going to be 6 soon. If we went to the pool more often and worked with her, she would probably know by now. But they had a lot of fun at their lessons. Their cousins, Rylee, Zoey and Camry were in lessons with them. They usually looked forward to going - except for the days they had to go off the diving board. The first time they went off, Savannah screamed and Izzy curled up in a ball. Their teacher had to basically lift them up and drop them off - into the arms of another teacher of course. The second time they had to go off, Miss Anna had to chase Izzy around before getting her up on the board. But they survived. The last day of lessons they got to go on the slide. Izzy went down with her teacher, but Savannah braved it by herself. She used her hands to slow her down the whole way, but hey, she did it by herself! Maybe next summer I'll sign them up for two sessions in a row...

Savannah and Izzy on the diving board

Izzy's turn down the slideSavannah screeching down the slide

Wendy's visit

My friend Wendy and her three kids are up visiting. They've been staying with us this past week. My kids have loved having round the clock playmates. Although Gavin seems to think that Isaac (8 months old) is one of those punching bags that when you push over pops right back up. He is constantly kicking and pushing Isaac over. AUGH! Anyway, we've been having a lot of fun hanging out and catching up. She leaves soon to go back to North Dakota and it will probably be another two or three years before we see each other again. :( I keep forgetting to take my camera with us when we go places, but I did get some pictures the other night when we were roasting marshmallows in the back yard.

Gavin, Izzy, Savannah, Mayzie and Isaac

Mayzie and Savannah eating rhubarb

Ashlyn on the swingset

Trip to Anchorage

We took a family trip up to Anchorage on Wednesday. We promised the girls that if they would sell some of their toys at our garage sale, we would take them to Build A Bear. I drove up a few hours earlier (with some other family members) to attend the temple with my cousin. Jeremey drove later with the kids. They picked me up at 12:30pm and we took some pictures outside the temple.

After that, we went to Build A Bear, ate some pizza and Arby's, got ice cream and shopped a few more stores before coming home. The kids did pretty well - only minimal fighting, but they were pretty tired by the end. Gavin had a hard time on the drive home, probably because he was stuck in a car seat or stroller all day. He cried for the last hour of the drive and finally fell asleep 15 minutes from home! All in all, it was a fun family day.