ASHER

Asher is silly. Very rarely do you get a smile out of him. More than half of our pics of him are like this one. No smile, just a silly face. He has two loose teeth right now and he's already lost two other ones. Asher is growing up way too fast! He picked up teasing from Mark and now he has to tease Hallie all of the time. He tries to be sneaky so we can't tell he's teasing, but he doesn't realize he has a smart Mom! Plus Hallie is a tattle tale. I just have to brag for a minute about how smart Asher is. His brain is like a little sponge and he is so eager to learn. He could recite the alphabet by himself before he was 2. He could recognize letters in preschool and not many other kids could. As soon as I taught him to count to 100, he never forgot and kept counting. He loves to write and is actually pretty good at penmanship. His kindergarten teacher is way impressed. I taught him the basics of reading and now he is actually pretty good at reading! He surprises me everyday. I am so proud of his learning accomplishments and he is such a special boy. He really adds a lot of great things to our family. He is so sweet and tender-hearted. My Patriarchal Blessing tells me the importance of my kids and I can totally see that in Asher. We are so blessed to have him as part of our family!

ALL ABOUT MY HUSBAND

1- Where did you meet?
Kelly Canyon. He was a ski lift operator and I was snowboarding. I had Kolton with me and Mark had to ask every time I got on his lift if Kolton was my son. Later Mark told me he thought I was a granola. Me? Granola? Seriously? Anyway, he thought I was riding his ski lift to see him and to his disappointment, I was only riding it because I was with Kolton and it was Skiiers Lane, the easiest run at Kelly's!

2- How long did you date before you were married?
6 months

3- How long have you been married for?
7 years

4- What does he do that surprises you?
He always comes home with new recreational vehicles. It's not too much of a surprise because he talks to me before he buys anything, but I never realize that he is serious about it that day!

5- What's your favorite feature about him?
His eyes.

6- What's your favorite quality about him?
He is hard working and I know that the kids and I mean the world to him. Plus he has a sense of humor.

7- Does he have a nickname for you? What is it?
Just recently he has decided to call me Heath. I think it started out as a joke more than anything.

8- What's his favorite color?
Blue.

9- What's his favorite food?
Anything that's home cooking country comfort food.

10-What is his favorite sport?
UFC/MMA

11- Who said I love you first?
He did.

12- When and where was your fist kiss?
Our first date in his parents living room.

13-What's your favorite thing to do as a couple?
It has changed since we have had kids, but anything together is fun.

14-Do you have kids?
Yes. Asher, Hallie, and one on the way.

15- What's a hidden talent that he has?
He is a self-proclaimed professional singer. He sings to everything and knows almost every song!

16- How old is he?
30. He claims to be 29, but really, he's 30.

17- What's his favorite type of music?
Hard Rock, Rap, Country. Pretty much anything. For some weird reason, he has been listening to the oldies lately. Strange.

18- What do you admire most about him?
His willingness to help those in need. He is also very outgoing, it's as though he has never met a stranger!

19-What's his favorite past time?
Snowmobiling, 4 wheeling with Asher, anything to get away from every day life.

20- Do you think he is going to read this?
Eventually

HALLIE

Hallie is so funny! I think she always finds a way to make people laugh, even if she's being serious. The other day Mark had the kids and was in Rigby. He has an uncle Max who lives up there so he said, "Should we stop by and see Max?" Hallie replied, "Who? MAX-ican?" Mark told me what she said and I couldn't stop laughing! Those little comments of hers are just hilarious. Today she was riding her bike and got mad because she was having trouble with it. She jumped off, hit her seat, and said, "Bike, COME ON!" Her expression was just so funny. And she has to know everything. You can't give her fluffy little answers to her questions. The most recent question that won't go away is "Mom, how is your baby going to come out?" I tell her it will just be born, so she asks if I'm going to have a c-section. I tell her "No, it is just going to be born." and that answer is not good enough. How do you tell a 4 year old how babies are born? Mark told her the stork would bring it to us. Then she asks "How is the stork machine going to help get the baby out?" He had to explain it is not a machine, but a bird. He explained how storks deliver babies and Hallie said, "NO! The baby is in Mom's belly! How is it going to get out?". I still don't have an answer for her. I know everyone else has experienced those fun little moments with Hallie. Even though she was such a pain as a baby, we definitely couldn't live with out her!

KINDERGARTEN

Asher's first day of school was today. I can't believe it! It was only an hour and I got to go with him, but it is still sad. Tomorrow I'll probably cry after I drop him off at school. But Asher is so excited that it makes it hard to be sad! At least 1/4 of his class is hispanic and they don't speak English! I told Asher that if he talks to them enough he could learn Spanish. Ha ha! He said he doesn't want to learn Spanish. We know two kids in his class, so that might make it funner for him. He misses his preschool teacher, but he'll be just fine in Kindergarten.
Hallie starts preschool next week. She is looking forward to that! We are sad that summer is over, but I think my kids are ready for school.

BLOOD TRANSFUSION

Well, as most of you know, I had to get a blood transfusion for the baby last week in SLC. Thank you everyone who worried so much. I know there was no way for anyone to help at the time, but thank you for all of your prayers and concerns and offers of helping us out for these next few weeks, months, or however long it will end up being! Overall, it was a scary experience because the antigen M is a milder antigen and usually isn't a cause for concern. I have expected things to be fine this entire time, now I'm not so sure! Now I know that even if the doctors say "rarely" or "5 % chance" or anything else, I should be prepared to be that rare case! I know that everything will turn out fine, it is just a matter of getting to that point where everything is fine. I know that everyone's prayers for me were heard and answered. A prayer seems like a small way to help out, but I can't begin tell you how much it really did help. I've seen and experienced what a simple prayer can do, and once again, THANK YOU! Now I just have to get ready for this baby in case she decides to come early!

ABC TAG

* A - Attached or single: Attached

* B - Best Friend: Mark, Shannon, and of course my sisters!
* C - Cake or Pie: Hmm, depends on my mood. But I rarely eat pie, so when it's around, I eat it!
* D - Day: Saturday
* E - Essential Items: Sunglasses
* F - Favorite Color: Red
* G - Gummy Bears or Worms: Bears
* H - Hometown: Idaho Falls, ID
* I - Indulgences: ice cream and cookies
* J - January or July: Both are great, but there is more to do in July.
* K - Kids: Asher, Hallie, and one on the way!
* L - Life is incomplete without: Family
* M - Marriage Date: August 3rd, 2001
* N - Number of Siblings: 5 - 2 sisters and 3 brothers
* O - Oranges or Apples: Apples (Gala are the best!)
* P - Phobia or Fears: Spiders, especially hobos! Anything slimy or squirmy. I hate my blinds being open at night because you never know who could be looking in!!
* Q - Quote: Not a big quote person. However, one I tend to say a lot is "We'll see". My kids know that when I say that, it basically means "No"! Mark quotes me on that all the time.
* R - Reason to Smile: My happy family
* S - Season: Fall. I love the leaves changing colors and the smell in the air. It's also the beginning of the holiday season.
* T - Tag three: Jennifer, Kelsie, McKenzie (I'll tag them too so maybe they will do it!)
* U - Unknown fact about me: It takes a lot for me to consider someone a friend. I just don't let a lot of people close to me. I have a lot of sorta friends, but not too many I consider a real friend.
* V - Vegetarian or Not: NOT
* W - Worst habit: I like to stay up late.
* X - X-rays or Ultrasounds: Ultrasounds. There is always something wrong with you if you have to get an x-ray. For me, ultrasounds have only been done when I'm having a baby, not to find out what is wrong with me.
* Y - Your favorite food: I really don't have a favorite food. I do have a lot of dislikes though!
* Z - Zodiac sign: Aquarius. Only the really cool people are an Aquarius!

REMEMBER WHEN?

Okay, so I read McKenzie's blog and read her "Remember" post. I left a memory, so maybe she'll leave one too! Anyone else is welcome to leave memories as well!

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

HORRIBLE COLOR!

I started painting my bathroom and the color is so WRONG! These pictures actually look good compared to what it looks like in person. If it really looked that good in person, I might consider keeping the color! I was going for a teal/turquoise that was light and airy. That didn't happen. I started painting and felt very nervous, but I just kept going hoping it would darken when it dried. I was almost done and just felt like crying! So I took a break thinking that when I came back it wouldn't look so bad. Was I wrong! It looks like toothpaste smothered all over my walls. I had to avoid the bathroom the rest of the day because it made me sick. I know it's just paint, but when I'm in my bathroom it feels like a swimming pool! I don't know how it went so wrong. Anyway, I'm going to paint it brown now. I'll probably want to cry again when I see the results of brown paint, but at least it won't feel like a swimming pool!

PERINATOLOGIST VISIT

Yesterday I went to see the Perinatologist and I actually got some good news! The antigen M antibodies are very rarely bad enough to have to get a blood transfusion for the baby while still in the uterus. That is a relief to know the possibilities of that happening are very slim. However, they checked the amount of blood flow in the baby's brain and because of the results, they want to see me weekly. I had no idea how that worked, but they measure how fast or slow the blood flows in the brain and then put it on a graph to see if it's flowing normally. There are 4 different zones; A, B, C, & D. Zone C is normal blood flow while zone D is too slow. Zones A & B are too fast. If the baby's blood is flowing to fast, it means they are at risk for anemia. I'm not sure what it means if it's flowing too slow. The baby's blood flow landed in zone B, which is too fast, but not fast enough to take action. We just have to monitor. If it gets to zone A, then we will probably have to do an amniocentesis to see how anemic the baby is. Hopefully it doesn't get to that point. And as far as we know, we are still "possibly" going to have a girl. Who knows. The baby is about 1 lb 10 oz. This ultrasound was so cute. The baby was opening it's mouth and then closing it and sucking. I have never seen a baby move like that in an ultrasound. Very cute to see it's little mouth open and close! Overall, it was a good visit. Much better than I had expected!

4TH OF JULY

This year for the 4th we wanted to go 4 wheeling, but Asher's 4 wheeler broke down! So we went to the parade instead. Asher and Hallie got a ton of candy and got to see all of the fun floats. Mark actually admitted the parade is not that bad. That's a surprise! Afterwards we went to Jackson to ride the Alpine Slide. That was pretty fun. It also gave the kids a chance to sleep on the way there and back. Of course we had to celebrate Kelsie too. Her birthday is on the 5th so she gets fireworks for her birthday! Anyway, we had a BBQ at Jennifer's house before the fireworks. Honestly, I think the Idaho Falls fireworks are awesome and anyone who misses them because of all the people is crazy! The fireworks were a bit loud for Hallie, but I thought they were great! Overall, we had a fun 4th of July. Can't wait until next year.