HELP!!!

Jordyn's pacifiers have started to cause a rash around her mouth, so we need to get her off them. Last night we thought we'd try going cold turkey. It didn't go so well. Jordyn cried until she made herself sick (literally), so Erik "googled" different methods to wean one off a pacifier. We decided to try snipping the tip of the pacifier and giving her that one (supposedly they get tired of the lack of suction and give up the pacifier themselves). Jordyn could tell right away that something was wrong with the pacifier that Erik gave her and she started to scream again. Not wanting to have her get sick again (and wanting to go to bed ourselves, it was almost 10:00 by this time) we gave up and gave her a normal pacifier, and she went right to sleep. If it weren't for the rash, I'd let her keep the stupid things until she was ready to give them up (after all she only uses them to sleep with). If anyone has any experiences and/or methods they'd like to share I'd be very grateful.

1 Year Photos

Since Jordyn wont sit still long enough for me to get decent pictures of her, we decided that we'd take her to a department store studio (thinking that maybe the "professionals" there might know enough tricks to get her to sit still). Talk about a waste of time. Erik and I had to employ ever tactic we knew to try to get her to hold still long enough for the photographer to snap a few pictures. After two hours of wasted time, we were told that their "take your pictures home today" guarantee, meant you had to pay an extra $20 to take your pictures home today, we decided we'd wasted enough money, and that we'd wait the two weeks to get our pictures, which were finally picked up yesterday. Here's what we got...

*one good thing was we got a CD with the pictures on it (enhancements included) and a copyright release so we can do as we please with the pictures.

IKE: Lessons Learned

Never having been through a Hurricane before, and believing those around me, I thought that I was prepared to weather the storm that was Hurricane Ike. I quickly learned other wise. Here are a few of the many lessons learned over the past week.

I learned. . .

. . .a generator is not optional, it's a neccessity

. . .a plastic pool and a sand box can keep a child occupied for hours

. . .a hurricane is a hurricane and no matter how strong, I'm leaving for the next one

. . .there are good people in the world, sometimes it just takes a special situation to bring them out of the wood work

. . .that a hug and a kiss from a child will solve/fix anything

. . .that children are resilent, and can survive anything thrown their way, if you are standing tall, holding their hand

. . .that I have great friends around the country whose thoughts and prayers have touched my heart

. . .small acts of kindness mean a lot to those in need

. . .you can live off of canned goods for a week, and survive to tell about it

. . .cold showers, though miserable, are better than no shower at all

. . .after going a week without chores or respinsibilities, its hard to get back into the swing of things

. . .I have a Heavenly Father who loves me and was watching out for me and my family (as well as those around us) during this storm. I've learned to have more patience in waiting for His timing to come to pass. I've learned to enjoy the company of my family a little bit more, enjoy the marvels of the great out doors, and enjoy all the tasks and chores that I have as a mother.

We put Jordyn's pool and sandbox in our garage during the storm, and it was the best thing that we could have done. They kept her occupied for hours on end. Jordyn did very well through the whole ordeal. She even survived the car ride to Austin when we "escaped" for a few days with Erik's mom. We are thankful that we didn't have much damage to our property (a bit of fence blew down, but that was it), we are thankful to have family near by to help keep me company when Erik was working long hours, we are thankful that our electricity is back on, and we are especially thankful for all of the thoughts and prayers from our friends and family.

We're Back!!

Just a quick update. We are alive and okay. Our power FINALLY came on about an hour ago so we're keeping busy cleaning up the house and making things livable! We'll post about our adventures later.

Waiting, Just Waiting

As I sit here waiting for this storm to hit, I find myself feeling helpless. I've done what the authorities have asked. I've got more than my 72 hr. kit ready, all loose objects have been brought in from outside, I have cash on hand, flashlights, a wind up radio, and the car has a full tank of gas, yet I still have fear in my heart and butterflies in my stomach. I know that no matter how prepared I feel, this is something new, and I wont be prepared enough. All this preparation wont stop this storm from coming, wont stop it from doing damage. It might keep us safe, but will it be enough to help my little one through the next few hours let alone the next few days. How will I be able to tell Jordyn, with her limited communication and understanding, that I'm ready, how can I help her to understand that we will be okay, how can I calm her fears when this storm rages overhead. My nervousness is not so much for myself, but for her, and my fear is for her daddy, who, because of the nature of his job, has to be out on the streets helping others. I pretend that I'm okay so that he wont worry about us. He needs to think we're okay so that he can perform his job correctly. I need to pretend that I'm okay so that my little one wont sense my fear. I need to pretend that I'm okay so that maybe, just maybe when this storm is over head, I might believe that I am okay, and I will get through this. Physically, I'm about as prepared as I think I can get (never having been through this I'm not completely sure what I'll need), however, mentally, I'm a mess. I'm doing all I can to plead for the help of my Heavenly Father. I got a blessing last night, I've read my scriptures, and there is constantly a prayer in my heart. I am a bit calmer than I was yesterday when I heard that the storm had turned and was headed our way, but I'm still nervous, and I still have an elemnt of fear with me. I know that I will survive this, but I pray for the well being of my child and of my husband. I pray for Heavenly Father to be with them. I pray that we will get through this together.

Not Liking the Looks of This!

Stats,Facts and Other Useless Info...

Jordyn had her 12 mo. appointment this morning. It was not a fun appointment for her. She got 4 shots and had to have blood taken. The lab nurse decided that it would be easier for her (the nurse) to try to get blood from Jordyn's arm rather than just do a finger prick. So they (one nurse was holding Jordyn's arm while the other operated the needle) stuck the needle in her arm and then proceeded to fish around for a vein. In the end, they ended up doing a finger prick anyway. Needless to say, Jordyn and I were not happy about that whole ordeal. Other than that, the appointment went well. The Dr. wants me to wean Jordyn off her bottle (which she only uses for milk as it is), and he said that it's probably time for us to start familiarizing her with a potty chair (get her a chair and have her sit on it whenever anyone else in the house uses the bathroom). So, I guess we're on our way to potty training (YEAH!!!). Here's the numbers from this mornings appointment...

Weight: 23 lbs 7 oz

Height: 30.25 in

Head Circumference: 18.25 in

Now on to the useless info...

Jordyn's words: Dada, Mama, book, shoes, bye-bye, moo, baa, all done (with sign language), please (only in sign language), hot dog, and baby

Jordyn's abilities: climbs up and down the stairs, walks everywhere and is starting to run, waves bye-bye, pushes her baby in the stroller, swing and cradle, colors, helps pick up her toys, sleeps through the night (and takes two long naps a day), eats table food, drinks from a sippy cup and can use a straw

fun stuff: Jordyn loves playing with her babies, reading books, playing in her sand box, and playing in the water. Her favorite foods include hot dogs, macaroni and cheese and ramen noodles. She enjoys fruit snacks, crackers and icees

Happy Birthday Jordyn!!!

As I finally lay my little girl down to sleep after this long and busy day, I finally find time to contemplate the bitter sweet moments of this day. This day marks the end of one chapter, and the beginning of another. My precious, sweet, innocent little baby is a memory of days gone by, and now before me stands a beautiful, inquisitive, very active, very independent little girl. Its amazing how much things can change in one short year. To me, it seems like only yesterday when I was holding my angel for the first time, only yesterday, she was so dependent for me to fulfill her every need. Then quickly, as time went by, we saw her first smile, heard her first laugh, and so on it went with many firsts. The firsts are still coming as she continues to learn new things, but many of these new adventures are things she seeks out to learn on her own and she explorers her world around her. Now are the days of dreams and adventures told to her babies in the early hours of the mornings in a language that only they can understand. Some days, as I lay in bed and listen to her talk to her babies, I wish that she were telling me her stories. I envy those dolls for the trust and the friendship that she has with them. Don't get me wrong, she'll talk to anyone who comes by, and she loves giving kisses and waving good-bye to all whom she meets, but no one gets the attention and the concentrated conversation that her babies do as she lay in her crib planning her adventures of the day. More and more every day she starts to talk in a language that I can understand. She tells me things about her babies, and she goes and gets her shoes when we go bye-bye. She is well conversed in the language of the cows (moo) and sheep (baa), and she frequently reads about the animals in her books. She is also learning to talk with her hands and tells us when she is all done eating, and asks please when she would like a treat. I remember with fond memories, my sweet, innocent babe, and I look forward to the future with riding bikes, driving cars, and going off to college, but I am truly enjoying the now. I love to watch her as she plays and probably waste away much of the day just admiring this little wonder that is in my home, this precious spirit that has brought us so much closer to our Heavenly Father, this little challenge who has taught me more than she herself has learned, this little angel who won my heart on that special day one year ago. I am truly grateful for all the wonderful memories I have of the past year, all of the first steps, first kisses, first words, even the first teeth, the first time she was sick (for this was one of the rare occasions that all she wanted to do was to be held, and rocked). I love the adventures I've had, the trials I've conquered, and the lessons I've learned. For she may have learned, and grew a lot in the past year, but I learned, and grew even more. I look forward to the things that she will teach me in the future and the adventures that we will have together. I hope that this next year will be as great, if not greater than this past year. I love you my little one and I hope that you had a very, very happy birthday. Sleep tight my angel.

Her Story

One year ago today, Jordyn decided that it was time to enter the world. Now, I know that her birthday is not until tomorrow, but the ball started rolling on Monday September 3, 2007 (one year ago). Here's how things went...

While I was pregnant, I worked at The Sports Authority (and GNC for a short time). My last day at TSA was Saturday September 1, 2007. Sunday came and went, and no signs of labor thankfully (Jordyn was due the 3rd but I didn't want to have her on my birthday, the 2nd). Erik had taken off work in anticipation of Jordyn's arrival, so we had the whole day with nothing planned. Erik did some homework that morning and then we decided that we'd go to the Tanger Outlets in Gonzales, Louisiana to check out their Labor Day sales. After spending most of the afternoon there we headed home. We got home at about 5:30. I dropped Erik off at the apartment so he could continue to work on homework while I went grocery shopping. I got home at about 6:30 I hadn't been home for more than a few minutes when my water broke. I was sitting at the counter when this happened and the first works out of my mouth were "uh-oh." Erik said, "uh-oh, what do you mean uh-oh, I don't like the sound of uh-oh". I told him that my water had broken and that we needed to call Dr. Ryan (our ob) Erik was almost done with his homework and wanted to wait until he finished (about an hour) before we did anything, but I insisted and we called Dr. Ryan, who told us to grab our stuff and head for the hospital. So off to Touro we went. I was surprised at how fast the whole check in process was. By 7:30 I was all check in and settled into my room. By this time I was dilated to a 2 and 80% effaced. Dr. Ryan wanted to wait and see if I'd go into labor on my own so we sat and waited. Since nothing was going on I sent Erik home to finish homework and said I'd call him if anything changed. Before Erik left, they put my epidural line in. I wasn't sure that I wanted an epidural until I went into the hospital and talked to Dr. Ryan. He told me that having a dry birth (when your water breaks) and pitocin (the drug that helps to induce labor) usually makes contractions a lot stronger and more painful. That was enough to convince me to get the line put in. At 10:30 I still wasn't having any contractions so it was decided to start the pitocin (at this point Erik was called to come back). The pitocin drip actually got started about 11:00 and contractions followed about an hour later. Once I had the first few contractions they started the epidural line. It took 15 long painful minutes for the drugs to start to work. This was making the anesthesiologist very nervous because it's only supposed to take a few minutes. Once the pain was gone, I was able to get a little bit of rest. At 3:00 the nurse came in to check on things and discovered that I was fully dilated and that Jordyn had dropped significantly. Dr. Ryan was called back in and once he got there things really got started and at 6:02 am Jordyn entered the world weighing in at 7 lbs 15 oz and was 20 inches long. She had a head full of dark brown hair and was absolutely beautiful. There had been no complications with the birth, but it was close. Jordyn's umbilical cord was unusually short and the placenta came out right after she did which startled the resident that was taking care of her to the point of almost dropping Jordyn. Other than that, the only other slight hiccup we had was that Jordyn's body temperature rapidly dropped and they had to keep her under the lamps for a few hours to warm her back up. Jordyn was the most beautiful baby I'd ever seen and now a year later, she's grown into the most beautiful little girl. One year ago, my life changed for ever and I'm so glad that it did. I can't wait to see what the next chapter of her story holds.

28 Things

In celebration of my 28th birthday, I decided that I'm going to divulge 28 little known facts about myself.

1. I crashed a three wheeler when I was three and landed on a barbed wire fence causing me to need a ton (I don't know the exact count) of stitches under my left arm. I still have a nice scar from this

2. I broke my left elbow when I was 7 yrs. old. I was playing on top of our pool table and rolled off. (Don't ask what I was doing playing on top of the pool table, because I really couldn't tell you).

3. I was on the high honor roll all through school, and had almost perfect attendance (my senior year wasn't so great on the attendance).

4. I was editor of my middle school and high school newspapers and considered majoring in communications in college.

5. I played volleyball for 4 yrs and basketball for 1 in high school.

6. I was in the Miss Cinderella pageant (where I won Miss Photogenic) and the Miss Hurricane pageant twice.

7. I learned to play the piano when I was younger and then took up the clarinet in 6th grade. I was even chosen to play in the honor band when I was in 9th grade.

8. I went to college at BYU-Hawaii where I graduated with a major in Biology and a minor in Biochemistry. I finished my degree in 3 1/2 yrs.

9. I went to Tulane University for graduate school where I earned Masters' Degrees (2) in Human Genetics and Neuroscience.

10. Some day I plan on going on and getting my Ph.D and studying the genetics of psychiatric disorders (This is what I did for work while at Tulane).

11. I was a life guard/ swim instructor at the Hurricane City Pool for 5 yrs, and was Head Life guard for 3 of those years.

12. I love to dance, and took dance lessons from the time I could walk until I was in 8th grade.

13. I lived in the same house my entire life, until I graduated high school and left for college. My parents built that house when my sister and I were little and they live there still.

14. I tore the ligaments in my right ankle playing volleyball in high school, and if the damage wasn't as bad as it was, I could have played for BYU-Hawaii's team.

15. I love to read, and have read every book in my house, and every book in my mom's house. I was ready actual books by age 5.

16. Hurricane Elementary (where I went to school) offered to let me skip 2nd and then 3rd grade, but my parents declined because they knew it would be hard for me to make new friends since I was so shy.

17. I was so shy when I was younger that I would rapidly blink my eyes when I got nervous, and I didn't like talking to my own grandparents because I would get nervous.

18. I have two sisters (one older and one younger) and one younger brother. All of whom still live in Hurricane.

19. I've lived in Hurricane, Utah; Laie, Hawaii; New Orleans, Louisiana, and now Humble, Texas, but I've visited places across the country I've been coast to coast, and almost border to border (the closest I've been to Canada is the Cleveland airport, other than that it would be Spokane, WA)

20. I spent a week in Ireland with some girl friends before I moved to New Orleans.

21. I became PADI (scuba diving) certified in high school, and originally went to Hawaii with intentions on becoming a marine biologist (I wanted to study sharks)

22. I'm 5'11" tall, and while I was growing, my spine grew faster than my muscles could compensate for and I now have slight scoliosis. (I only notice it when I try to use my back too much and then it becomes painful)

23. I never like to run growing up, but while in college I got into the habit of running at least 6 miles a day (sometimes I'd run about 3 in the morning and then another 6 in the afternoon). I keep wanting to get back into that habit, but can't seem to make the time these days.

24. I enjoy quilting. I have made several "rag" quilts and made a "Grandmother's Fan" quilt for my mom a few yrs ago.

25. I'm a neat freak. I believe that everything has a place and every place has a purpose. Having a very active, very messy little girl has been one of my greatest challenges in life.

26. I love to cook and am always looking for new recipes to try. I never make the same recipe twice in one month, and actually, there are only a handful of recipes that I've made more than once since we've been married. (and not because the other's weren't good, it's because we're always trying new things.)

27. I've had a variety of jobs in my life. I was a lifeguard/ swim instructor, I worked in the cafeteria and the science supply room in Hawaii, I was a traffic control supervisor (I set up the road signs on a construction site), I did research on the genetics of psychiatric disorders, I worked at a sporting goods store and a GNC.

28. I have a strong love and testimony of my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Even though I grew up in the church (and in Utah), I did't gain my own testimony until I was in college. One semester I was having a hard time, and felt very alone. It was at that point in my life that I learned that I could always turn to my Heavenly Father and that He would always be there for me. I learned that I have an Elder Brother, Jesus Christ, who loves me and came down to this earth to atone for my sins. I learned that if I kept Them close to me at all times I'd be okay and that I could make it through anything that this life throws my way. I still struggle, I struggle frequently, but I can never deny the feelings I had that day while praying, pleading for someone to be near me, and to comfort me. Those feelings of comfort and love still burn strong in my heart today. I hope and pray that I may be able to pass this love on to my children that thay to may come to know their Heavenly Father, and that they may turn to Him during their times of need.

It's Party Time!!!

On Saturday, we had Jordyn's FIRST birthday party! It was small, but we had fun. Grandma and Grandpa Wilson were there along with Joel, Christina, little Joel, and Isaiah (the family across the street). We put up the canopy, set up chairs and tables, Erik pulled out his grill, and we filled up Jordyn's swimming pool. The weather was nice, and things couldn't have been better (well, fewer love bugs would have been nice). While to food was cooking Jordyn went swimming, and then she played in the sprinkler. Once the food was done, she sat down and enjoyed a hot dog (the rest of us had hamburgers and sausage) and then she sat back and relaxed with her bowl of Cheetos. After we ate, we went inside to open presents (and take a break from the heat). Jordyn had a ton of gifts, but she was more interested in playing than in opening her presents. After a LOT of coaxing from Erik, she started to pull the tissue from the gift bags, one piece at a time. Once she saw the gift, she'd stare at it while it was in the bag, and then she'd stop and play with it before moving on to the next present. Once we got to the wrapped boxes, she was no help at all, so I sat her on my lap and unwrapped them with her. She ended up with a doll cradle (made by Erik's step-dad), a doll buggy (thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Stratton), a Fisher-Price vacuum AND lawn mower, Little People's Noah's ark, lots of clothes, a sand box (from Erik and I), and a pearl necklace from her Great Grandma Quefflec (Erik's grandma, the necklace was put in her hope chest until she's old enough to take care of it). Taking advice from my friend, Charity, don't be surprised if you see some of these gifts under the Christmas tree. After presents it was outside for the cake. I decided that since Jordyn would most likely just tear apart the cake, I wasn't going to go out and buy her a fancy one, so I just made the cake for her. I thought it turned out cute, and that it was the perfect cake for her first birthday. There was a slight breeze outside so Erik couldn't get the candle to light, so it was back inside for cake. Erik got the candle lit and put it in front of Jordyn who decided to put out the flame by grabbing it, smart child, I know. Then, in perfect 1st birthday form, Jordyn leaned over and took a bite of cake. After trying to eat the cake with no hands, she decided to dig in, and dig in she did. Once the cake was good and squished, she politely waved for the camera, and then she leaned back and surveyed the damage. And so the day ended with Jordyn being, tired, happy and full of sugar. We had a great time and hope that the pictures will help Jordyn to remember her first birthday and all the people who helped her to celebrate this special day.

Jordyn's Party