Girls, by Sarah Spilker

I'd like to share my Walgreens Photo Center photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.

Luke is getting so BIG!

I cannot even believe it has been 8 months since Luke was born! Crazy how time flies. Luke is so much fun. He is learning to crawl. He hasn't quite figures out how to keep his tummy off the ground but he is doing the army crawl and is incredibly fast! Sometimes I set him down and come back in just a minute and he is halfway across the room!

He is a good eater. He likes baby food, unlike the girls. He is a horrible sleeper! He still is waking up 3-4-5 times every night! And just these past two weeks has really fought going down for naps. He will go right to sleep at night when I put him in his cradle and I don't have to hold him for him to nap like I did with Felicity so it isn't quite as hard, but still, I stink at getting babies to sleep well. I checked out 5 books at the library and they all said let them cry it out or just live with it. Well, there is no way I can let him cry and cry and cry until he makes himself sick. I think that is just bad parenting and I'm not gonna do it. I guess I have to live with it.

Luke loves to play with things. He checks out everything and always has to have a toy or a watch or something to play with. He definitely has my tempermant. He will be perfectly fine for a really long time, longer than you would expect, and then...crash. When he has had it, he's had it. And you better get him what he needs now! Other than that, he is a really happy baby! He is so easy to make laugh. The quickest way is to toss him in the air! When he is sleepy, he can't decide whether to laugh or cry so it comes out as a sad laugh. You have to hear it to get what I'm talking about.

We all adore our Lukey Boy!

Felicity is in Preschool

Felicity started preschool in September. She was quite nervous to go the first several times and in fact really hates to leave but once she is there she loves it! In fact, she says at the end of almost every day "I wont cry about going to preschool anymore". They do so many cute art projects and have tons of fun.

Her favorite thing is playing puppets. They have had a guest police officer, a fireman, and taken a field trip to the Animal Hospital.

Sammie at a New School

Sammie is in a new school this year. Legacy Preparatory Academy. The first day of their school year they called and said they had an unexpected opening and Sammie could take it if we want. We stressed like never before on whether or not to take it. Well, we did and it was the best decision EVER! School has been 100% better for her. No kidding. She just got her grades and got three A+, 2 A's, one C, and the most impressive, a B in math!!!!!!! She loves her new school. It really is the best. Sammie comes home and immediately starts on her homework without even being told. And she feels smart now! That is the best thing I could ever hope for.

Sammie has already had a ton of fun activities there. Last week the 5th grade took a field trip to North Canyon Park to film plays of Native American Legends. Sammie had the part of a turtle and did awesome! The whole family went up to watch them perform their plays. They have a field trip scheduled just about every month. Lots of fun!

Thank You Legacy and Thank you Heavenly Father for making it possible!

Still Kickin'

Okay, this is officially the longest break in blogging I have taken. Life has been crazy busy but really good. It would take me a year to blog all the stuff we've done this summer so I'm just gonna list a few.

• Finish landscaping the steep back yard hill (for the second time, long story for another post) and the rock walls. Thanks P's for your help!
• Lagoon!
• Sammie's "Camp Out" Birthday party
• Work, work, work, work, + Princess Camp Work
• Quick trip to St. George for an Ivins Friends Reuinion
• A spoiled birthday with a new MP3 player and a new Digital Camera!
• Bountiful Summer Fest International
• Tons of other workin on the house and yard stuff I can't think of right now.

Have you ever heard that song "I was too busy being in Love" by Doug Stone? That's how my life feels right now. I have a ton of sewing projects, decorating, catchin' up on friends blogs to do but just too busy havin fun with my kids and sweet hubby. Remember how much I just LOVE being pregnant? Well, being a mom is a million times more rewarding than being pregnant was awful (does that make any sense). Anyway, what I am trying to say is I love being a mom. I love my girls and Luke. Luke is so much fun. I just enjoy every single second of it. Even when he will hardly eat during the day and then wake up EVERY 2 hours and 5 minutes during the night and must nurse for 15-20 minutes. I'm not getting much sleep but that is okay. I kinda miss him when I am sleeping anyway. He and Felicity are napping right now unusually early and together, doesn't happen often. Which gives me just a few minutes to blog. I'll make some time to detail some summer events and especially little Lukey growin' up soon. Until then........

If i had taken the timeTo write down a few lines

Everytime that you crossed this heart of mine

I'd put them all in a book

How much time would that have took

The words and years have a way of slipping back

Oh no! Too bad, there goes the chance that i had

I could have written a play so sweet and so funny

Given old Mr. Shakespere a run for his money

Written the words to the prettiest tuneT

hat would never leave a dry eye in the room

My only excuse for not doing enoughI was too busy being in love

Yes I was too busy being in love

Brand new phrases appear everytime you are near

All this words you inspire after all these years

But i never reached for a pen

Break the mood that im in

Before I knew that the words were gone again

Oh no! Too bad, there goes the chance that i had

I could have written a play so sweet and so funny

Given old Mr. Shakespere a run for his money

Written the words to the prettiest tune

That would never leave a dry eye in the room

My only excuse for not doing enoughI was too busy being in love

Yes I was too busy being in love

I could have written the poem to make younglovers crazy

I could have written the movie for Hepburn and Tracey

Most beautiful song and it starts with your name

Written my way into fortune and fame

But i have no regrets for not doing enough

I was too busy being in love

Yes i was too busy being in love

Imaginary Friends

We spent today with a brand new puppy. His name is Charley. He was so cute, Felicity held him all day and took him for many walks. She even taught him how to jump and roll over and sit and to heel and even skip. Charley is a good dog. He learned all of this today!!

Felicity just loves her little puppy. Who ever thought a tiny little magnet on the end of a string could be so much fun?

Transcontinental Rail Road Ride

This is J.W.'s first Post!!

My buddy Justus and I decided to go ride the old Transcontinental Railroad trail here in Utah. We were looking for something close and not still covered in snow. The trail is mostly the old railroad grade that was finished here in Utah at Promontory on May 10th, 1869. This is the Golden Spike location. The trail has historic information along the way and goes through a couple of ghost town cemeteries.

We made it a overnighter and rode from Golden Spike Historic site to Lucin, Utah. Then we turned south for Wendover, Nevada. That's where the Bonneville Salt Flats are.

We gassed up and started back home. We rode until 11:30 at night and camped for the night. We cooked our tinfoil dinners and went to sleep, at least I tried. The ground was very hard and Justus is a pretty good snorer. The next morning we woke up at about 7:30, broke camp and had breakfast and headed back to the truck. We got there at about 1:00 pm.

We stopped and took in all the info and sites along the way. In all we rode 16 hrs or so including stops and for 290 miles!

The trail is mostly flat rail road grade and is super easy riding but here is the amazing thing.
On the first day Justus stopped and had a flat, not a big deal we had a flat kit and even a small DC compressor. We had it fixed in probably ten minutes or so and started again. After about 3 miles Justus had a flat again in the same tire. What are the chances? We fixed it up and started again. Maybe 5 miles later Justus has another flat same tire, but this time there is a old rail spike sticking out of his tire. Justus is pretty pissed by now and were starting to think we might run out of plugs for the tire. Then it donned on me, that stinking spike must have been sucked up in the tire from the first flat! Then it punctured the tire two times from the inside out. Not a single flat after that for the rest of the ride. So if you ever decide to ride a railroad grade bring a flat kit and spin the tire after fixing to see if the little bugger is still in there.

We saw some antelope, rabbits, lizards, hornytoads, several birds, and one other person on the trail. There was a ton of sun and the temp was great! The views were awesome and it was fun to think about the old trains working their way along the very grade we were riding. We visited two cemeteries and three places were towns used to be. There are signed along the grade giving mileage from SFO and a brief history of the location. Most of the ride is in the complete middle of nowhere the closest to anything we ever got was about 10 miles from highway 30 for about 5 miles of the grade, excluding Wendover.

It was a complete blast and I can't wait for the next trip!

Sammie's School Play "UTAH!"

Sammie has been studying Utah history in school this year. She performed in the 4th grade play Utah. Sammie has been looking forward to performing in this play ever since she was in 1st grade.


She played the part of a Spanish Explorer and a Mormon Pioneer. She did so awesome! She smiled all the time and did all the actions to the songs just right and sang so well. I am so proud of you Sammie.

Grandma Hancey made the bonnett and apron for her pioneer costume. Gma & Gpa Hancey even came up to see her perform! It was so great of them. Thank you.

Stuff & Things

Has it really been that long since I posted???? Whew, time flies! Every minute felt like a day when I was pregnant and now time is just zipping by. SLOW DOWN!!!

Well I'll start with the latest and go backwards.

Dillon, J.W.'s youngest brother, is living with us. He is a pretty nice kid so it is not as bad as I was expecting it to be.

Sammie is working really hard and anxious about her upcoming school play, "Utah"

Felicity turned 3 and is the funniest thing ever. I will post some pictures of her.

Luke was blessed. J.W. gave him a beautiful blessing and most of my family was here and it was wonderful! We had a really nice day. I will post some pics too.

I started working again. I work Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I don't know how I ended up working 3 evenings, oh yes, I said yes at different times and then realized it was 3 nights a week! It sounds worse than it is because 2 of the days are only for 1 hour but I teach so add another hour for lesson prep.

I haven't lost the prego weight yet. It really ticks me off. I am going to the gym but it is not working yet. I have a session with a trainer tomorrow so we will see how that goes. I hate that so many of the girls around me have kids and then 2 weeks later are back in their size 2 jeans!!!! I can never be friends with them. Just kidding. Sort of.

Life is good! I have the most fantastic hubby in the world and he is so good about helping out with the kids and treating me nice. I just have to remember not to wake him at night or he is up and will not go back to sleep. Last night I asked him to get Luke at 4 am after getting up with him every hour and then he never went back to sleep.

J.W. is obsessed with his latest project. He wants to put mantles around the see-through fireplace and build cabinets on the side and an entertainment type center for the top for a TV to sit on. He is completely obsessing about it. He looks at sites online for hours and hours to find the wood and is thinking up plans over and over on how to build it. It is consuming him!!! I am not complaining though, I know he will end up with a fantastic result. He is amazing at what he can create. I just love the quirkiness about him dreaming up the plans forever and ever and ever. He's the best.

Felicity -ese

My baby girl turns three this week and I am just reflecting on how adorable and funny she is. Her language skills are growing every day but dang, she says the funniest and cutest things.

Yesterday we were making rice crispy treats (sidenote - she LOVES to cook. Sammie's friends were over and Felicity really wanted to play with them but the big meanies had other plans so I was just trying to keep her busy). I used some big chocolate marshmallows and put them in the microwave. I took them out for her to stir up and she looked inside and nearly jumped off the counter! "OOOOH, That's freakin me out! That's freakin me out!, Get it away!" The marshmallows had expanded and puffed up really big and because they were chocolate they really did look kinda creepy. She thought it looked like a "big creepy turtle". Needless to say we threw those creepy marshmallows in the garbage and started over with just the small regular white ones. Problem solved.

I love the way she says certain words. She is growing up so quickly that she has outgrown a lot of them but these are my favs:

Woowee: Movie
Lewkey: Luke
Singers: Fingers
Sunny: Funny
Sishy: Fishy
Sossill: Fossil
Sork: Fork
Gwatchy: scratchy
Gix it: Fix it
Color Boops: Pink Cowgirl Boots (this is my fav)

REE REE Important: Really, really important
Fff FFf Sire Truck: She can say the "F" sound now, just hasn't quite put it with the other letters yet.
I can't ba leed my eyes!
Your Makin Me Ungry!: Angry
You have to practice gentle MaMa - when I am fixing her hair

Wookee wants her binky. J.W. tells her every time - HIS binkie Luke's a boy! So now she says Wookee a boy wants his binkie!!



J.W. and the girls were sitting down already in the restaurant and I was coming from home and met them there. I go to their booth and Felicity jumps up "Would you like to join us?"


Since she is turning 3 we really have tried to get rid of the binkie. She loves that thing more than life itself and I swear she would have it on her first date if she could. But, after some strong encouragement for weeks she decided she wanted to be a big girl and throw it in the garbage! Yeah!!!! Well, that was two weeks ago. The first couple days my adorable, fun loving, sweet little ball of energy turned into a terrible two, royal pain in the butt, brat, little less sweet.



When she is being so sad and miserable without it and begging for it I almost give in and give it to her. Afterall what is it really hurting? It makes her happy and comfortable. It is just socially unacceptable. Do I really care what other people think? Yeah, kinda.



I caved and she can have the bikie while she is in bed. Now she is almost not asking for it during the day. But guess what? She sneaks up into her bed with her binkie and takes a nap now all by herself!!! This from my little girl who would not sleep a wink for the first 2 years unless I was holding her and would never take a nap unless she fell asleep in the car or I layed down with her! I really can't believe it. It's a good thing I guess because she really does much better with a nap. If she doesn't have a nap you can almost guarantee at about 5:30 or 6 a major meltdown!

Square Foot Gardening

I am feeling ambitious and planting a garden. I stumbled across this cool garden site call Square Foot Gardening. http://www.squarefootgardening.com/. I have built my "square" and filled it with a soil mix and am just waiting for a good day to plant.

What do you plant in your garden? I am going to plant tomatoes, basil, onions, zucchini and I am not sure what else. Probably some green peppers. What have you had success with?

UPDATE: I just found out there is a gardening conference at the Salt Palace on Saturday and the guest speaker is the inventor of SFG. Anyone interested in going?

Monkeying Around

Aren't these monkeys cute?? My sister Jenny made one and sent me the link to a pattern. I showed Sammie and she just had to have one. I took the girls to the store and let them pick out their very own fabric. Felicity did amazingly great for a two-year old! Her monkey is the red one. The patterns complement each other nicely.

I had a ton of fun making these while Luke slept. My mom would be proud, I backstitched and clipped the threads and everything. I made these while my MIL was here for a week helping take care of the kids and the house while I recovered from surgery so I actually finished them! Well, I take that back. They are not finished because Sammie's monkey still needs her shoes and a bow in her hair.

Intentions

It's been said the road to hell is paved with good intentions. It's a good thing I have fire insurance because I am full of good intentions. I have a million things I "intend" to do but can't seem to get them done.

For example, I have "intended" to post a million things on this blog but I can never seem to get it done. In fact I have a couple posts in the draft stages I haven't been able to finish. Every time I sit down to my computer for a few seconds somehow a blazing alarm goes off to the girls and it's their cue to suddenly be needy. Sammie always needs help looking at this site or that or wants to talk and Felicity wants me to hold her and read her a story. I am really good at multi-tasking except for reading and talking at the same time so my little tenderheart Sammie gets all offended that I am ignoring her and Felicity messes with my mouse and keyboard and Luke is usually on my lap too so that leaves only one hand (at best) for typing. In fact, It has taken me 1/2 hour just to write this so far because I have helped Sammie twice and made Felicity a bread with Jelly and Peanut Butter with no "Lid" on it. Now I have crumbs everywhere! I did get a "Thanks Pal!" from Felicity. That was pretty cute.

I have a billion and ten sewing projects I "intend" to get done. I have the fabric and most of the patterns.

I "intend" to plant a garden this year.

I "intend" to repot some house plants today - cross your fingers.

I have been "intending" to vacuum out the van since the beginning of December.

I "intend" to finally get some scrapbook pages done of the girls, and now Luke.

I feel so unaccomplished! And Frustrated!!! I have not adjusted to being a mom of "3" at all. How did my mom do it with FIVE!! That's crazy!

Okay, I have been interrupted 15 more times since I made the sandwich. No Kidding. And now Luke needs to be fed.

I "intended" to write down a list of all the things I wanted to do but someone else needs me - Oh FORGET IT!!!!

Treehouse Museum

Friday afternoon the family, all FIVE of us, went to the Tree House Museum in Ogden. It is a fantastic children's museum with tons of hands on activities to do. I would love to open a museum like this in St. George because they don't have anything like this there and I know it would do awesome. Of course, that is just a dream. I could never really do anything that big and important. And if I tried, I would never finish it.

Baby Update

Okay, so I started having contractions on Tuesday. Not the real serious "I'm gonna die" type pains, but still they were there for about 2 hours. My back and hip is totally killing me but J.W. is home and making me rest a lot and not pick up Felicity and that really helps a ton. Oh what will I do when he is gone for 4 days again! I dread that.

I went to the Dr. today totally set to have him say, "Oh, things are progessing nicely. Let's see you at the hospital Saturday and have this baby!" Well, things did not go as I had hoped. There is still no change from last week. It looks like I will be waiting until my due date. I am so dissappointed!


Felicity is doing really well on potty training! I think it may stick this time. J.W. really inspired her to stay dry by telling her about Disneyland and going to D-land when she is all trained. I hope she can wait that long because it will be at least May or June. Anyone want to go with us?

25 Random Thoughts

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

1. I have chronic insomnia and don't think I've slept throught the night in about 6 years. When I am teaching dance I can't fall asleep because I usually have annoying preschool songs stuck in my head or I am thinking up ballet combinations over and over.

2. I still have a Christmas ringtone on my cellphone. I don't even think about changing it until it rings or and then I completely forget about it.

3. I really don't like having a dog and wish we didn't but can see how much the girls & J.W. love her and benefit from having her so I put up with it.

4. I absolutely adore everything about my husband and feel so lucky he is in love with me too. He can fix or make anything (except dinner). He is almost ALWAYS right (really). He treats the girls and I like princesses. I can totally overlook the moodiness because he makes up for it in so many other ways.

5. I think all children are beautiful and special but secretly think mine are the most beautiful, special, sweet, funny, best kids in the whole world. In general they are much better than me and I wonder how I was able to get such angels. I'm not biased : )

6. I feel lucky and priveledged to be able to bring a child into this world but at the same time I HATE absolutely every single second of being pregnant. I feel incredibly guilty about this and just wish I could be grateful to even have children. Especially since it took so long to get Felicity!

7. I am counting my blessings that I haven't puked my guts out in 3 + weeks. Well, I haven't taken my prenatal vitamins or iron pills in that long either.

8. My greatest fantasy is to have a maid, chef, personal trainer and a masseuse.

9. I love going on J.W.'s overnights even though travel time is often as long as the stay. Even though I just see the airport and hotel and a tiny bit of the city it is still fun to be somewhere else. I can't wait till I can ditch the girls and go just by myself (did I really say that?)

10. I was on # 15 of this silly thing when Felcitiy messed with the buttons on my keyboard and erased it all! I know the first 10 aren't the same because my memory lately (prego brain) is shot and I don't have a clue what I wrote before.

11. I love gardening and want my yard to be beautiful. I love to pull weeds. My favorite flowers are bleeding hearts and Peonys. I don't have any Peonys yet.

12. I have a serious problem finishing things. I completely avoid putting the "finishing touches" on most of my projects and the things I do because then I can say I'm still working on them and don't judge me! I even skip the last couple pages of a lot of books.

13. I love to read and could waste an entire day reading a good book.

14. I hate scrapbooking but love taking pictures and looking at other people's scrapbook pages. I wish I could make pages like them... but I hate it.

15. I wonder how a tiny little two year old has so much to say...all the time! She never stops talking! I really think it's cute though. Most of the time.

16. I still think the snow is a novelty and really don't mind it ...yet. But I really, really miss the Fresno Fog and a lot of things about living in California.

17. I have so many projects to do on my house. It's only 3 years old but I keep finding things I want to improve or change. Most of them involve J.W. doing them : ). I love my house.

18. I have the same dreams over and over and over. One reoccurring dream is my teeth falling out. Another one is bubblegum stuck in my teeth! Gross! Analyze that.

19. Since I was little I have been paranoid of robbers coming into my house while I am sleeping. I remember being terrified and laying so still and trying not to move. That is probably why I am so bad at sleeping issues with my kids and sit with them until they fall asleep.

20. I'm really not that bad of a typist or speller but this keyboard really sucks and is not displaying the words as quick as I am typing them. How annoying!

21. I am not a gamer at all and don't really like playing video games but lately have been hooked on Animal Crossing. So are Sammie and J.W.

22. I could never be anorexic because I feel really terrible and sick when I don't eat.

23. 25? Really. I have run out of things.

24. I have so many ideas to do my girls hair in beautiful, funky or fun ways but they both hate getting their hair done at all. This really bums be out.

25. I just noticed how many of my posts say hate and all of my sister Jenny's say LOVE. Hmmmmm.

Finally an Update!

I know I haven't posted in awhile. Sorry. I am just so dang uncomfortable I don't want it to be a "poor me" fest.

My sister Jenny and my mom threw me a really nice baby shower last Saturday. It was really fun. I was shocked at how many people came by. Thank you all so much! I guess I really do have some friends! I got so many nice baby gifts. I can't wait to hold the little guy in the cuddly blankies and cute outfits! Thank you so much Mom and Jenny for all you did.

I have not had any more gall bladder attack/pains! Thank goodness. I am doing really good at eating low fat but I am sooooo craving a huge bacon cheeseburger! I can't seem to cut down on the carbs though! I eat way too much of them. In a few weeks when the calories will really matter I will have to work on low-cal too! Oh what a pain!

I only have 3 weeks left! Yeah!!!!! I really can't wait.

I can't find my camera at the moment so I will post a pic or two in a bit.

Snow Days

I love the back yard in the snow!

The girls and J.W. love sledding at the park.

I HATE the dog dragging snow in the house.

Sammie's Ski Field Trip

Sammie got to go skiing for the very first time. She was so totally excited! In fact, she woke me up at 3:30 and then at 5:00 to see if it was time to go yet! That was earlier than Christmas morning! The school planned an awesome field trip to Deer Valley Ski Resort. She looked so cute in her ski gear. She was really excited to get a cute girly pair of pink skis (she pretends to be butch but I know there is a princess in there!) They got to ride on a "real" fancy charter bus with movie players and a bathroom. She skied for a couple of hours and had an instructor the entire time for her and only 2 other kids! She was proud that her instructor was impressed with her quick abilities. J.W. got excited about her skiing too and hopefully it is something they will be able to do together. Thanks Muir for a great field trip!