More Pics!

In other news of the Lowe household (please see post below first), our backyard is undergoing construction. We did find cheap labor, but they are not always the most organized. We are putting in sprinklers in the backyard so we can lay sod. The goal is to have it done before November. Rick, our landlord, and Whitney tell me this is possible and will be done. I will believe when I see it. Not that I do not have faith in them, but they seem to side tracked rather easily. Of course, Whitney has been really good at pushing foreward with this. I know this is not his idea of a great way to spend his time while he is at home.

Ah, the perils of playing playing in a construction site. Jared found one of the many holes that litter the yard at the moment.

Sarah has finally found her thumb. She sucks her thumb just like Jared. Gotta have the finger wrapped around the nose. I haven't seen her do it since I took the picture, but it is soo cute.

The following are pictures that Jacob and Jared took. You will see what they find to be important.

I actually erased like thirty pictures they had taken on the camera, but realized it would make good blog material so I saved a couple. The others were pictures of their bed and the movie (Tarzan) that was playing at the time. They are my mischief makers (I saw that phrase in a book and really liked it). But I love them dearly and hey, let's face it. IF they didn't do silly or mischievous things, what could I possibly write about? Till next time!!

He's In!!

Whitney got the letter yesterday. He's accepted for the next CHP academy!! It starts Nov 10. He's really excited! I am excited too, but not so much that I won't get to see him. Luckily we have a good support group here. Plus I will be going to visit family in January. His graduation will be May 15. So there's a heads up. I'm mostly excited that we can move to the next phase of our life. We can really settle in to life. I feel like we've been moving toward this point for so long. It'll be nice not to have any more school or classes. He can have his career and just work. it's actually been nice to have that for the last year. It will definately be an adventure.

Other than that, I cannot believe how quickly Sarah is developing. She rolls all over the floor, but I noticed today she only rolls to the right side. How funny is that? But she already gets up on her knees and elbows. In no time she will be crawling. But I guess it's not so abnormal. She is four months old today and the boys were crawling by six or seven months. I guess it just seems fast because I want to savor her time as an infant. We are taking lots of pics and I do have video of her rolling. I wish I could upload it to our blog but I tried and it didn't work.

Picture Time!!

Whitney is trying to teach Sarah to stand on his hands. This is her holding hte pose for about two seconds. I caught her just in time.

Jared found Sarah to be a very handy armrest.

She makes this face alot. You can see the dimple on her right cheek. She has a matching one on her left. Isn't she adorable? See, I can say that and not be conceited because I am merely speaking the truth.

ABC's of me

A - ADVOCATE FOR: getting grass in my backyard

B - BEST FEATURE: physically-my hair, personality-if someone has a problem I wish I could fix it. I want everyone to be as happy in their life as I am in mine.

C - COULD DO WITHOUT:changing diapers

D - DREAMS & DESIRES: get my interpreters' license in sign language. See my boys go on missions and my children marry in the temple.

E - ESSENTIAL ITEMS: my scriptures and a good book

F - FAVORITE PAST TIME: reading or snuggling with my kiddies or hubby

G - GOOD AT: keeping up with our pics and journals

H - HAVE NEVER TRIED: skydiving. Maybe someday

I - IF I HAD A MILLION DOLLARS: After tithing, I would get debt free and put enough money aside to buy a house when we're ready. then I would go on a big shopping spree. I would love to do that just once.

J - JUNKIE FOR: good movies

K - KINDRED SPIRIT: Shannon

L - LITTLE KNOWN FACT: I won an oscar

M - MEMORABLE MOMENT: When Whitney kissed me for the first time.

N - NEVER AGAIN WILL I: stick my finger in a power outlet.

O - OCCASIONAL INDULGENCE: time away from the kids where it's just Whitney and me.

P - PROFESSION: workaholic,enforcer, nuruturer,...Mom. Cass, I should have kept your list. It was perfect.

Q - QUOTE: I don't have a favorite quote. "That thine alms may be in secret. And thy father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." Matt 6:3

R - REASON TO SMILE: my family

S - SORRY ABOUT: not spending more time engaged with my boys

T - TAG SOME FRIENDS: Shannon, Natalie, Erin, Willow, Whit and Marni

U - UNINTERESTED IN: Football and the resulting fantasy league

V - VERY SCARED OF: something happening to Whit and I'm alone

W - WORST HABIT: I have to pick at everything.

X - X MARKS MY IDEAL VACATION SPOT: Europe with Whit

Y - YUMMIEST DESSERT: chocolate silk pie. Also apple dumplings. Yum!

Z - ZODIAC SIGN: aquarius. My birth stone is a garnet. Aren't you glad you know that tidbit of infor?

Out of touch

Unless there is something significant happening, I don't always think to blog about it, but I will try and be better. I've kind of been in my own little world the last two or three weeks. I haven't done much outside the house. I call them my funk periods and Whitney says they happen after every baby. I feel like I don't do enough with the boys, that I just let them play and don't really interact with them or do anything stimulating. So I've been trying to be better at reading them stories and spending at least a few minutes with each boy and playing with them.
Fortunately for my boys, they both have great imaginations. I enjoy listening to Jacob talk to his trains and cars. he makes them come alive and I think that is such a precious thing about childhood. An active imagination should never be squelched and I hope I never do that to my kids.
Whitney is working to get in shape for the academy. We haven't heard anything since his surgery and I am nagging him to just give them a call and make sure they received the info on his surgery. Sometimes I think applications can get shuffled to the side and I don't want that to happen to him. I just want to know for sure that he is starting in November. It seems like everything we do and plan hinges on when he goes in.
I started out exercising with Whitney, but it seemed too much to ask for the boys to stay in their room for an hour. I liked doing my workouts in the morning, and then go shower and get ready for the day, but they wanted to be right there and do it with me. Which isn't a bad thing unless I'm trying to hold my self up and they decide I am a tunnel and start crawling under me. I feel like I am going to collapse on top of them. So we got a hold of a ten minute work out by the same guy and I am able to do that in the morning while the boys are eating breakfast. The only result I have noticed is sore muscles. Well, I am hoping that in a couple of months I'll be able to see a difference.
Sarah is doing great. She smiles at me all the time. I am so lucky to have a beautiful daughter and wonderful sons who love her so much. I know I need to be more patient with my boys, but every night I thank the Lord that he has blessed me with such sweet spirits to nurture in this life. I try and remember that when they are driving my insane.
Oh, here is a bit of news. I have the worst teeth in the entire world. I had to go get a fourth root canal and crown done yesterday. They want to do one more root canal but the dentist said it's an infection so I am trying to get rid of it using supplements first. I would really rather not have another root canal, thank you. They are not the most pleasant things in the world. I have made a promise to myself that I am going to take extra nutrients to keep my teeth healthy. Maybe if I'm lucky I'll still have some of my own by the time I'm forty. Thanks for letting me ramble. We love you all!!

He Lives!

Whitney had his surgery Tuesday. We got there at 6:30am and they took Whitney to do all his pre-op stuff. Kim and Julie went with us and that was a blessing. I had Sarah there so it was nice to have a couple extra set of hands. The surgery took 2 1/2 hours. The doctor told me it went textbook perfect and there were no complications. They just wanted to observe him for the next 6 hours. This pic is Whitney right after the surgery when they let me in to see him.This is Whitney 5 seconds later.
They moved him to an observation section of the hospital. When it was time for him to get up and move, he got dizzy and his blood presure. They noticed his leg where they went in was bleeding so they laid him back down and redressed the wound. We were able to leave an hour and 1/2 later. We got home about 7:30pm. It was a long day at the hospital. A friend had watched the boys for most of that time and then Shannon went and picked them for a couple of hours until we got home. They were such blessings on Tuesday. I didn't have to worry about the boys at all. I knew they were safe and having fun. In fact today, I took cookies over to Julliann to say Thank you and when we got there, Jared told me to leave. I think that tells you where he wants to spend his time. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. Now is a good time to call Whit. He'll be home until Wednesday evening recouping. We love you all.

pretty princess

Here you go, Shannon. I told you I would get a pic of her blessing gown. I couldn't believe how beautiful it turned out. I guess I'll have to have more just so Nanny can make more gorgeous dresses. Here is my beautiful girl. She will be 10 weeks old on Sunday.
This is Dad and aunt Janece. We recorded them singing Papa's songs. They are songs that the kids and grandkids heard him sing before he passed away. Anyone wants copies I can send the file. Whitney goes in for his surgery on Tuesday. It should go smoothly but if you can include him in your prayers I would really appreciate it. We love you all and let us know how you're doing.

Finally!!

We took the kids the swimming again. Jared enjoyed the relaxation part. He looks content floating in the water. I've been hoping to go more often but it seems other stuff always comes up. Jacob really likes holding baby Sarah. I don't know that she enjoys it quite as much.
Happy Birthday Jared!! His birthday was the 13th of July. We had a small family party at the Lowe's. It was nice to just have family. Good thing he's too young to remember this when he is older because Jacob had 2 birthday parties this year and Jared only got one.
Sarah sure loves her Daddy. She smiles alot now. It seems we have found the current method of making her happy. I just hope it lasts awhile. I love seeing her smile.
We took Jared's 2 year picture and this one is my favorite. He looks less like a toddler and more a growing boy. I love to see the things they learn and watch them grow, but at the same time it makes me sad because I realize that someday they'll be all grown up.

As far as other updates, Whitney is finally going to have his surgery. He has what is called Wolf-Parkinson-White Syndrome. Basically he has extra charges in his heart that go off. SO they go in with a catheter and use a high radio frequency to blast the cells. it's an out patient procedure and one that the doctor says he could do without, but because he's going into the CHP, he needs to get it done. Once it is we just have to wait to hear back from the personel board that he is in.
Sarah was blessed on Sunday. My dad flew out for it. We were sad to not have the rest of our families there but it gets harder and harder to travel for anything but big events. We haven't yet taken pictures of Sarah in her dress, but that is on the agenda this week. Hope you all are doing well and we love you!