Who Gave You Permission To Grow Up?

I can't believe you're one today. I love you more than I could ever express, happy birthday my sweet boy!!!

Journaling, Sort Of

• Very little time the past few weeks to blog. Lots of doctors appointments for me. Nobody can figure out what's wrong. All the blood and urine tests have been normal/negative for anything out of the ordinary. I finally broke down about it Sunday night and Lance gave me a blessing. I don't know what I would do without this gospel and the priesthood.
• Kimball's birthday is tomorrow!!!! WHAT?????? His top two teeth are cutting through so he's been in a lot of pain, poor guy.
• Lance has been in Las Vegas the last three days for work so I've been a single mother. But we managed and Lance had a great time, especially escaping this 40 degree cold weather.

Lots to blog about but so little time......maybe I'll catch up next week or the week after.

Magichords 2012

Last Saturday was the Magichords annual show. The headlining quartet was Code Blue out of Seattle and the Testostertones (we call it T-Tones for short) also sang. Lance spent literally all of Friday with the quartet as they made appearances on several radio stations and more importantly they visited the local high schools to promote barbershop. This was a huge success, not only were all the teenage girls flocking for autographs and pictures with the quartets and lots of pleads to marry (you'd almost this they were Justine Bieber or something), it brought a huge number of youth to the show on Saturday. I was very surprised at the number of teenagers who showed up to hear the quartet and also to support their own T-Tones. I don't think I've seen the auditorium that full for a show before so even though it's been baby steps over the years, keep going Lance! What you're doing really is making a difference.

Short background, Lance has been trying VERY HARD the last year to get more young guys into barbershop and several high schoolers have stuck with it all year. They don't necessarily sing with the Magichords but they formed their own group call the Testostertones. So this young group consists of about 10 guys ages 16-30 Lance being the oldest. They performed two songs on Saturday and knocked it out of the park! They did SO, SOOOOOOO good, I was so proud of them. Lance has struggled quite hard fighting a few of the older guys who didn't want the young kids, blah, blah. It was awesome and it proved quite a lot to the Magichords.

That takes us to the Afterglow. I was also surprised at the number of teenagers who came to the Afterglow, still begging the members of the quartet to marry her, many pictures and autographs, and lots of fantastic singing. It was GREAT!!

So Lance, awesome job! I'm sorry I totally forgot to get pictures/video of the actual show so this is all I have, the very last song.

Here we are at the Afterglow. Poor Kimball stayed up so late and despite being exhausted, he was such a good baby.

 

  The quartet sang a song just for me and Kimball. I'll admit, a little awkward for me to stand there for three or four minutes. By myself. But it was awesome. I think Lance tried to get a little video.

Four Wheeling

Friday night we took Donna and John up to Grandpa's cabin. We got there just in time to have hot dogs for dinner which weren't roasted on the fire unfortunately, because it was dark by the time we pulled in and I was anxious to get Kimball into bed. Saturday morning we all slept in, Donna made breakfast and we bundled up the wee one for some four wheeling. I got this hat/mitten set on clearance last year and it's way too big for his tiny head. But at least it kept him warm.

 Lance and Donna rode the Razor the first go around while Johnny and I rode the four wheelers, Donna held on tight to Kimball who fell asleep shortly after we took off.

 

We swapped vehicles and I stayed at the cabin while Kimball napped. Eventually Donna got brave and drove the Razor herself and then the four wheeler. She LOVED it and Lance said she just laughed and laughed. It was so much fun and such a relaxing weekend!

Tell Me The Stories Of Jesus

“We hold in our arms the rising generation. They come to this earth with important responsibilities and great spiritual capacities. We cannot be casual in how we prepare them. Our challenge as parents and teachers is not to create a spiritual core in their souls but rather to fan the flame of their spiritual core already aglow with the fire of their premortal faith.”

Elder Neil L. Andersen

Kimball-isms

Have I mentioned before that Kimball is just so funny? He's probably just funny to me since I'm his mom but really, he's hilarious. I crack up all the time at his day-to-day expressions and how he interacts with others. I think I mentioned earlier that his latest thing is the fake laugh. He does it all. the. time. During Jayna's blessing, during important phone conversations with the slew of doctors I've been talking with, the bank drive thru, even at appropriate times during conversations between Lance and I. I haven't got it on video but hopefully one day.

Today Kimball has figured out how to scare people. He loves to be scared so I scare him all the time. Today is the first time he had yelled back to try to scare me. It was the funniest thing! The unfortunate thing is that he gave me his cough so every time I'd scare him and he'd do it back to me then we'd both crack up laughing, I was coughing so hard I couldn't stop. When I bathed him he continued to try to scare me, love it!

I forgot to mention my moment of shame. (Lance just had to tell this story in front of his whole family this past weekend in Boise after the blessing. It was quite embarrassing)! Donna called and wanted me to get some measurements of Kimball so she could get sewing. At the time she called I was upstairs in the hall and Kimball kept trying to take my measuring tape so I grabbed the thing that was closest to try to distract him. It was a razor (not sure why it was in the hall on the floor, odd). The cap was on it and I didn't think he'd be able to get the cap off. But after telling Donna his measurements I had to hang up quickly because he had blood dripping from his hand. I quickly picked him up so the blood could drip in the bathroom on the linoleum instead of the carpet and inspected his hand. I ran to get some bandaids and my phone. I did a pretty pathetic job cleaning off his finger and attaching the bandaid for two reasons. #1 he's 11 months old and likes to squirm. A lot. #2 adult bandaids are HUGE and it was hard to wrap around his tiny finger six times. So I called Lance and asked if there was any possible way he could come home for two minutes. He laughed and did come help me hold Kimball still and it was fine after that. I forgot how much razor nicks bleed. His poor finger bled like crazy but it didn't hurt him. That was a shameful mom moment.

I forgot to blog about my first shameful mom moment although technically it wasn't my fault and I couldn't prevent it. About three months ago Kimball was playing and chewing on something. I dug around and found a tiny piece of green glass, followed by blood in his mouth. I sat him up on the counter and dug around some more to make sure there wasn't any more glass. He wouldn't let me in his mouth again. I tried to give him a bottle of water to rinse out his mouth but he wouldn't have it. I called Lance because I didn't know what to do and by then it had stopped bleeding. When Lance got home I showed him the piece of glass and it came from the mortuary. Lance cleaned up a broken glass bottle in the parking lot and had a tiny shard stuck in his rubber soled shoe and tracked it into the house. I don't know if there was anything either of us could have done and of course, only a crawling baby would find something like that.

Speaking of funny, this photo makes me laugh! I was on my phone and he was mad that he couldn't reach it so I took a picture, haha. What a sad, cute boy!!

Jayna's Baby Blessing

Sunday morning we got up real early to drive to Boise with Ma and Pa Cox for Jayna's blessing. It was so wonderful, even the part where Scott almost dropped her, haha. We enjoyed a delicious baked potato afterward and I loved visiting with all the girls. Oh and Conrad and John too. I stole this picture from Jerusha, this is my attempt to feed Kimball in hopes to get him to sleep since he'd been fighting it all day long. It didn't work. 

Need I also say he doesn't snuggle with me? Ever? He snuggles with Donna and Bonnie and Steph occasionally. Bonnie said it's because I'm not bosom-y like she is or the Cox's. Probably right, dang it!

Here is Lance passed out on the couch.

 And Kimball finally passed out on Jerusha. See what I mean about snuggling? Why couldn't he do that with me? Yeah, a little jealous but ultimately just happy he finally took a nap. Yay!

 Conrad enjoyed every minute of it.

And the girl of the hour! I got a really good mix of facial expressions, she's so stinking cute and the spitting image of Jerusha although nobody agrees with me. It's amazing to me how fast I've forgotten that Kimball used to be that small too. She's got the Cox cheeks already!

Pickle Pickle

Goings On

I can't seem to get anything accomplished this week. When Kimball goes down for his naps I'm too tired to get anything done and end up laying on the couch and falling asleep or getting on the computer which is a complete waste of time. We've only got two weeks to go until our Halloween party and I haven't done anything yet to decorate the house besides bring up the boxes from the basement.................sigh.............but I'm just too tired to get up and move................

Grandpa Pettingill has been needing some help at the house boxing and sorting so all of us girls and mom went over last night and got to work on the kitchen. He's already taken everything he needs to his new house so everything left is free reign for anyone to take/buy or to sell to the auction. I love old things! Grandma had so many neat, old casserole dishes and tin can spices that are antiques. I took a few things and I don't know where to put them in my house. One thing that I'm learning about her, she was a very crafty and talented woman, her whole house is furnished with everything she made. We got to her sewing room and I found the most gorgeous crocheted blanket that's white with a pastel trim. I think Great Grandma Stockdale made it. We found so many old pictures, fabric, trinkets, and everything else imaginable. I'm so thankful for the chance to help Grandpa clean out the house but also so thankful to go through some of their things because it's such a great opportunity to learn about them and have my own keepsake of the two.

Kimball is teething again, I think he's got two coming on either side of the bottom two. Nothing yet on top although it's very swollen. His latest thing is to give a good fake laugh about every minute, it's pretty funny. He LOVES cucumbers and pickles. He still doesn't hold his own bottle or cup which I know he's capable of doing himself. But why do it when Mama always does? If I hold the bottle right in front of him so he'll grab it he throws a big fit. Sometimes he'll grab it and put it in his mouth but doesn't hold it up so the water/milk comes out. Hmmm, not sure how to help him overcome this. I can't believe his birthday is in two weeks, crazy!

I went to get some blood drawn for lab work to hopefully figure out what's wrong with me. I've got my appointment on monday and I'm anxious to see what the results are.

I've got two shows that I try to catch every week and one of them is written by Jimmy Fallon called Guys With Kids, it's pretty funny. And the other that I'm obsessed with is Parenthood, this is the best season ever!

The next few weeks are crazy around here. Tonight we're taking Donna and John to the cabin to go four wheeling and I can't wait to see Donna riding! Next week is Lance's barbershop show, then he's headed to Arizona and Las Vegas for work, then Kimball's birthday, and then our Halloween party.

Speaking of Halloween, the invites are done and are being delivered! So, look for yours in the mail or at your door. We've got our costumes ready, do you?!

Criss Cross Applesauce

Mom and Trish taught me how to can applesauce yesterday. It took all day and we got four boxes done which was about 90 pounds of apples. We were all a sticky mess but it was fun.

The goods: applesauce and apple juice. According to Trish's kids, the "pink applesauce" is the best! And boy, it was so delicious. I'd have to agree with her boys.

Weekendings

Lance and I got tickets to go to conference Saturday afternoon and this was my first time going. Lance thought I didn't like conference and that is incorrect. My thoughts and feelings about it are that I prefer to stay home and watch it on tv in my pajamas. By the time we parked and walked several blocks, waited in line, got in and got seated, we were late. I really wanted to be there when the prophet walked in and we got to the conference center at about 1:20-30 but the line was so long we didn't get in in time. The seats were comfy and as soon as they dimmed the lights I got all warm and cozy and started to nod off and couldn't keep my eyes open for the life of me. The actual conference and speakers were great and I loved it. I just didn't like everything else around it. So, next time I'm fine staying at home in my pajamas where I'm not so distracted and can focus much more easily.

Christine graciously watched Kimball for us while we were in SLC. I didn't take a lot of pictures of the weekend and the ones I did get were just with my phone. Last time, Kimball didn't like Christine's cat but this time he didn't mind it at all. Thanks Christine!

 

After we picked up Kimball, we headed down to Provo where Lance watched the priesthood session with Kempton and we stayed the night with them. When I got there and hung out with Bonnie while the men were gone, these two boys started to play. Unfortunately, whenever Kimball would laugh or talk it scared Isom so it took a while for him to warm up to Kimball. Isom's new toy airplane was the apple of Kimball's eye, he loved it. Thanks Kemp and Bonnie!

Makes Me Laugh

A few weeks ago Grandpa went four wheeling with mom and dad in the South Hills. Dad took these pictures with his iphone and I just had to post them, these make me laugh so stinking hard! This is his Razor and everybody knows you need to take the windshield off when you're riding, otherwise the dirt does a tornado affect and goes all over inside the Razor. Needless to say, Grandpa left it on and was so mad at all the cotton picking dirt! I mean, he was m-a-d!! Haha, makes me laugh, I can just hear all the curse words now.

Meanwhile, Grandpa is going to lease/sell his house to a family in our ward. I think this is so great and a little sad. They built that house in the 70's and now with Grandma gone, it's a little sad. But, this is a good thing. The 4000 square foot house is much too big for him to take care of, not to mention the large yard and corral. So, he's moving into one of the duplexes he owns which will be so good for him. This next month we've got  a lot of work to do packing, cleaning, selling, and moving. But we're all more than happy to help, just wish we had some money right now, I'd love to buy several pieces of his furniture.