New Baby!

Well, we are now 6. Penelope Jane Harrison was born on December 29th at 7:35 am. She was 2 weeks early (scheduled induction) but still managed to be 8 lbs and 20 inches long. I can't imagine how big she would have been if we had waited 2 more weeks! The doctor thought it would be better to have her a little early so we could avoid shoulder dystotia (sp?) which is when the babies shoulder gets stuck under the pubic bone and the baby can break her collar bone or have permanent nerve damage. We didn't want that so I had an amniocentesis on Tuesday to make sure her lungs were developed enough and they were fine so we went in on Sunday evening and she was born Monday morning. Luckily she was a girl because that the only name we had and that wasn't even set. Eleanor calls her Penny-Dora. She wanted us to name her Dora if she was a girl and Boots if the baby was a boy. Sarah got her to agree to only name the baby Boots if it was monkey so that was good. We are thrilled to have her in our family and now I have to go take care of her....

Pictures will be added soon. To see pictures now go to Janis' blog. You'll find the link on the side bar.

VP

I was thinking recently that John McCain can't possibly win this election...unless, maybe, he chooses a woman for his running mate. I know a lot of people say that it's just a trick to pull in the female vote, trying to get the Hillary supporters that haven't decided to support Obama yet. But, I don't care. I think it's brilliant. I haven't really decided who to vote for yet but this makes McCain's position a little stronger for me. Besides, even if he is just trying to get more votes it's not like he can change his mind once he's president. If he wins she's the vice president and that's that. And I think the argument that she, or Obama for that matter, doesn't have enough experience is a weak one at best. Often a 'lack of experience' means a person can look at problems from different angles that people with a lot of experience can't or don't because that's 'not the way it's done.' Oooh, and I think I'm one of these 'swing voters' that I keep hearing about on the radio. I could go either way, really.

But I just read this book, "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson and some other guy...Oliver Relin...about a guy (Greg Mortenson) who builds schools in Pakistan. It's really good. I totally recommend it. But the point is that it's made me think about the Middle East and how each candidate plans to handle humanitarian aid and post war (or mid-war, whatever) relief for the people in that region. I care about their positions on the war itself but...this may be more important. Anyway, it's a good book and it makes you think. I told Sam the story a little and he thought it was interesting and it gave me a good way to explain about how there are good people all over the world and not all Muslims are terrorists and how important education is.

Young Love

Oh, I don't even know where to start. Sam's girlfriend broke up with him. Yeah, his girlfriend. A couple of days ago I picked Sam up from school and Kathy, a little girl in his class, told him goodbye and ran off. Then he told me she was his girlfriend. I didn't know if he meant girlfriend girlfriend or a friend that is a girl although he has lots of friends that are girls and doesn't call them girlfriends. Anyway, the next day he said they were in love. Then today he told me they broke up. I asked him if he was okay or if he was sad and he said a little sad but he doesn't seem all that broken up about it. He said they were still friends which is good. I told him no more girlfriends until he's 16. I didn't realize that I'd have to talk to my 5 year old about dating. I figured I could wait until, like, 4th grade or something. Jeff and I had no idea what to say when he said he had a girlfriend. So, I guess I'm relieved that they broke up (hilarious) so I could tell him some of the rules of dating...ie, No Dating! Luckily his first heartbreak hasn't seemed to rough. He's playing puzzle challenge with Eleanor right now.

A little about Sam

Well, school has been in session for 9 days now and I think a little of the glamour has worn off. Sam loves school and he's doing great, but he no longer pops out of bed and into his clothes. Yesterday I had to tell him to get his pants on 9 times. His reply? "Oh, I forgot." He found a different toy to play with in between each article of clothing. Then he still had to eat breakfast. All of you with kids know what I'm talking about.

Sam received a compliment from his teacher the other day. She said everyone likes him and he's the best behaved and most academically advanced kid in the class. We're very proud of him. I was pleased by this comment because I felt like he was ready for school but now it's been confirmed by his teacher. Lest you think he's too perfect he does hold his pencil wrong.

Here's a funny story about Sam being naughty. First of all he loves Indiana Jones. He sings the theme music all the time. He even chooses it for his family home evening song. Anyway, he was in trouble for not helping and was supposed to be in his room. He came downstairs and stood at the bottom of the stairs so I asked him if he was ready to help. He said no so I told him to go back to his room. He said no to that too. So, I counted to five and when I stood up to get him he shot up the stairs singing, "dun da dun dun, dun da dah, dun da dun dun..." (Indiana Jones theme music) and raced to his room. It was hilarious. I guess he needed a little excitement in his life.

First Day of School...Ever

Ready in 15 minutes

Okay, I guess Sam went to preschool last year but this is kindergarden. It's official school. I was a little concerned that Sam would have a hard time getting up on Tuesday morning for his first day. Ever since our vacation we've been on Oregon time so getting up at 6:30 am instead of 8:30 or 9 or later...I didn't think he's handle it very well. However, at 6:30 when I woke him up he hopped right out of bed, got dressed, had breakfast and was ready to go. It was great. Well, Sam was great. Eleanor and Peter were a different story. Peter had gone to bed fairly early and then he woke up at 3 am and wouldn't go back to sleep. And Eleanor got up too. They passed out around 6 am. I was hoping they would stay awake until after we took Sam to school and then we could all sleep but no such luck. We managed to get Sam to school on time though and he had a great day.

Eleanor, are you ready to take Sam to school?

Sam's Birthday

Sam is five today! I can't believe it. It was also his second day of school. So he's had a big week. We had a little family party today and he'll have another party on Saturday with some friends. We made a pinata for Saturday. Sam and Eleanor are very excited about the pinata. We were planning to play outside in the sprinkler for his party but it looks like the weather will be bad so we'll have to have to plan some backup indoor activities. Anyway, Happy Birthday, Sam!

July Birthdays

Eleanor and Peter both had their birthdays in July so it is high time I post some photos to recognize their accomplishments.

Eleanor's birthday was Pink Day. She started the day in an all pink ensemble--two pink shirts and some crazy pink pants. Then we ended the day with a pink cake with pink frosting decorated with pink fruit snacks and pink ice cream. Delicious!

Peter learned to walk and go down the stairs all by himself just before his birthday. We are very proud of him. He is very confident on the stairs and getting steadier on his feet every day.

Tagged Again

Okay, let's see...

10 years ago I was working at Intel. I can't remember exactly when I moved in with my grandparents so I was either living in the Marriott's garage (it was converted into an apartment) or living with my mom's parents. That was a fun experience.

5 things on my to do list
1) dishes
2) Relief Society meeting
3) get a babysitter for our anniversary date
4) check out the next book for our book club
5) sort through the stacks of paper piling up all over

3 bad habits
1) watching tv on the internet late at night
2) picking my nose
3) leaving the dishes (and other clutter) for later (actually I'm leaving the dishes for Jeff as a test but he hasn't passed the test yet!)

Places I've lived: Provo then Springville, UT, Tacoma, WA, Lacey, WA, Provo again, Wichita, KS

What I'd do if I became a millionaire: buy my dreamhouse and hire a housekeeper

Jobs I've had: scorekeeper for the girls basketball team, Wendy's, manufacturing tech at Intel, several custodial jobs, Provo Rec. Center, mom.

Things you may not know about me: I've gotten pulled over like 10 times. But I didn't get a ticket all those times, whew! I think snakes are cool. I don't care for Anne of Green Gables and I'm not the only one. I crocheted 11 hats in the last 3 weeks for our ward service project. Okay, that's enought for now.

I'm not going to tag anyone. I hope that's okay. No one said that if you break the chain bad luck will follow you for the next seven years or whatever...

Umm hmmm...

So, every once in a while we have to drive up to Kansas City for various things. On the drive up there is this billboard that says, "Accept Jesus Christ something something (as your Savior or something like that)--or regret it forever!" I always get a kick out of this. It's just sooo WEIRD! It may be true but it sounds so threatening. I try to imagine other peoples reactions to this sign. I always chuckle and shake my head so there must be other people who do that too. There's bound to be people who are offended or riled by it. But, is there anyone who drives by and sees "or regret it forever!" and thinks, "oh no! I better straighten up and fly right!" Has that billboard changed anyones life? I guess it's possible.

Tagged

Okay, so I've been tagged by Amanda. Jeff had to tell me. It's been so long since I've done anything on the computer besides check my email and help the kids find nick jr. Here's the rules of the game: 1. Pick up the nearest book (at least 123 pages).
2. Turn to page 123.
3. Find the 5th sentence
4. Post the 5th sentence on your blog
5. Tag 5 people

The nearest book to me is...the phone book! The 5th entry on page 123 is "McDowell Chartered, 940 N Main St Wichita (8, H1)...........2690746"

So, if this company googles itself will my blog be in the search results? I'm actually between books right now, which feels wierd. Except the Book of Mormon of course but Amanda already told us what that says.

I tag Angi, Brenda, MaryAnn, and...um...that's all for now. Okay, you're it!

? for President

So, I've been hearing all of this stuff about the caucuses on NPR (and from Heidi who got to caucus this year in Iowa) and who different people, or organizations, are backing and it makes me feel like I better get behind someone quick. Then I remember that I'm not in a caucus state and I don't need to choose until November. By then all but two candidates will be gone and my decision will be much easier...hopefully. You know, when this presidential race started last year I thought that the democrats have it, easy. President Bush's ratings are so low right now that there is no way the republicans are going to win this next election. Actually, that's why this election is such a good one for choosing a woman or a black man as their candidate. But now I think it really depends on who their candidate is. I'm an independent so I could vote either way. Last election my vote was certainly swayed by the poor choice that the democrats made in John Kerry. I thought that guy was creepy. Now I hear he's supporting Obama which, sadly for Obama, brings him down quite a bit in my view. Anyway, the point is that I don't know who to support and I'm afraid that once I choose he or she will drop out of the race and I'll have to choose someone else. It's happened before.

Peter only woke up once last night.

Peter was born on July 23rd. I remember that when Eleanor was born it took about four months for things to even out. That's when I finally decided I did like having two children. So, I figured it would be about the same for Peter. I thought things ought to be back to normal by about Christmas. It has actually taken about five months this time. Maybe that is because of Christmas and all of the holiday craziness, but I am just now starting to get my life back together. All of the dishes from Thanksgiving have finally been done. There are still piles of laundry all over the house but it is all clean laundry. I hope I'm not saying any of this too early but, I'm finally starting to feel like I'm not going crazy any second. So here it is January 8th and I'm blogging instead of doing chores but everyone is dressed and we've had both breakfast and lunch and the baby is down for a nap and I already folded some clothes and ran some errands. Whew. I think I can do this.

New Year's Resolutions

Well, here it is. 2008. So far all of my resolutions are the same as last year so I kind of feel like I haven't made any resolutions at all. Which is kind of nice. No pressure. But it just doesn't seem right to start a year with no resolutions. I have a friend whose resolution one year was to improve her posture, to sit up straight. That may sound silly at first, but I think it's a good one. And it's hard to do! Maybe my resolution will be to do the dishes right after a meal. I never feel like doing the dishes then but...I never feel like doing the dishes. If I only did what I felt like I'd spend all my time at the library and my children would be unwashed heathens. Oh wait....
Just kidding. But seriously, here are my resolutions from last year that cross over: 1)Read the lessons for Relief Society and Sunday school, 2)lose 50 lbs., 3)have Family Home Evening every week. So, I'm adding on dishes and...helping the kids learn to do chores. That seems like plenty for one year. Wish me luck!