there really IS such thing as a free lunch

earlier this summer, we learned from heidi (queen of great deals and finds) that all of the school districts have free summer lunches all summer long. they hold them all week long at a number of schools and parks. you would think that these types of things would be for low income families, but no, it is for all children 18 and under! pretty awesome. apparently, they have been doing this for some time now and we just never knew about it! (check your school districts wherever you live to see if they do it. heidi said that it was nationwide! check it out). i guess they do it to encourage healthy eating throughout the year for school children!

 

while my mom was here, we decided to check it out. on tuesday's they have free lunch and story time in the park at the library fountain park! so, we loaded the kiddos in the car with their swimsuits and didn't even have to pack a lunch! they played at the playground until lunch was served. after lunch we enjoyed story time right there in the park and afterwards they stripped down to their swimsuits and ran through the fountain! it was a great afternoon in the sun and water, with free lunch! can't get much better than that!

 

i am sad that i didn't get any pictures of nani playing in the fountain, but she spent a great deal of her time looking into a hole that supposedly had crocodiles in it to eat the mice. all this, according to the city water workers! for some reason she found that fascinating. i guess she was waiting to catch her first glimpse of a real crocodile in the middle of the city!

 

i was surprised that kawena was brave enough to get wet! she charged out there and played in it just like all the big kids! she refused to let us put her swimsuit on, so her she is in her swim diaper! i guess i shouldn't be surprised, since she is our little stripper and hates being bothered with clothing!

 

 

after a hard day in the hot sun and water, there's nothing like a good carton of chocolate milk!

memories...

         

i was just visiting holly's blog and she is doing a post on memories of her. now, i've never actually met holly, but i do remember the first time that i read a post on her blog, and that was my memory of her! 

anyway, this is how the game works...

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! 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.

so, come along with me and take a walk down memory lane... let's see where it takes us!

making friends

i came across these pictures after i published cowgirl country and realized that i forgot to include them in the post. after the party was over and i was looking through the pictures that i had taken, i saw these and they just made me smile!

as i mentioned in my previous post, kawena was not at all interested in the big horses. apparently, she was interested in animals that were a little more her size. maryn has a dog that kawena found fascinating. he was tied up to a tree and was enjoying a little rest in the shade when kawena discovered him. I am so glad i was able to capture this exchange that she had with taz (i think that's his name?)...

"hey there little ga-gy (pronounced like doggie just with a "g" at the beginning)! whatcha doin'?"

"you're a cute ga-gy! can i pet you?"

"good ga-gy!"

"hey, what do you say we go sneak some birthday cake?! it looks really yummy and i don't think anyone's watching!"

"oh, hey mom, i didn't see you there! look, i made a new friend! it's a cute ga-gy that says, 'foof, foof' (pronounced like woof but with an "f" at the beginning). we were just chattin'!"

i'm so glad that she makes friends so easily! and didn't taz look thoroughly engrossed during the whole exchange! that's my girl!

cowgirl country

awhile ago, (i'm still trying to catch up) our girls were invited to a birthday party that had horse rides. the girls were so excited, they were beside themselves!

once we got there, the girls were given little cowgirl hats and pink bandana's.

after lunch, the kids were able to take several rides on the two horses:

 

our girls couldn't get enough! i think they probably weaseled the most rides out of the horses! nani has been asking for riding lessons ever since!

kawena and i even got a chance to get a little riding in. i don't think kawena knew what to think of the whole thing. she was very sober the whole time and never even cracked a smile!

when nani wasn't on the horses, she enjoyed giving "wagon rides" to the littlest crowd!

 

now, the girls seem to think that we need some horses of our own, just like maryn has! thanks for that eric and janine, we appreciate it!! i guess we'd better start looking for a ranch out in the country! yeehaw!

blogger frustration... be gone!

i am an addicted blogger!

*i love writing about the things that are going on in our life and sharing pictures that friends and family would otherwise not see.

*i love reading the many comments that i receive from dear friends and family, as well as comments from people i have yet to meet. 

*i love that it helps me to feel a little more connected with other adults.

*i love that it somewhat satisfies my need for adult interaction in my world that is currently dominated by little people, namely my children.

*i love that it is a creative outlet for me.

*i love that it gets me journaling, something i have not been very good at since returning home from my mission, too many years ago to count.

however, as much as i love this blogging experience, i have endured much frustration at the same time! you see, whenever i sat down to write a quick post, very rarely was there anything quick about it! i'd type it up and, as you know, i love to add pictures, which is where all of the problems started.

first of all, hello, can blogger be any slower when adding pictures? and many times after waiting sometimes as long as 5 or 10 minutes, i would get an "error" message and have to start all over! once they are finally added if i want to change the orientation of them (on the left side or the ride side), or change the size of them i'd have to delete the picture and start over. once i spent all this time rearranging and getting everything just so, and when i think it is just how i want it, i post it to my blog. hah!

then, i go look at it on my actual blog and it looks nothing like it did in the preview window of blogger. there are a bunch of extra spaces and the words are not where they were when i typed them. it's just a mess! now, i'm completely aware that a huge part of my frustration comes from the fact that i tend to be a perfectionist, but come on! why can't it look the same on my blog as it did on the page when i was typing it! is that too much to ask? something that should have taken 15 minutes ends up taking an hour!

well, apparently it is not to much to ask and i have found the solution in Windows Live Writer. this is my new best friend, (thank you pineapple princess)! i love it!! and the best part... it is free!

gone are the days of blogger frustration! i don't even have to deal with "new post" on blogger. i just open windows live writer and type up my entry, add pictures in mere seconds, not minutes, resize the pictures right there on my entry, if i'd like i can add a shadowbox or a photographers paper edge around the photo, and my favorite part i can use cute little fonts! hundreds of them! i mean, how boring are the three blogger fonts we get to choose from?! if i don't want to post it right then, i just save it for a different day or a different week! when i am ready to post it on my blog i simply click the "publish" button and it magically appears on my blog, exactly as i wrote it!

there it is, my new little secret to the cute fonts that many of you have asked me about! now, go check it out and be converted because why be boring and frustrated when you can be original and in control, no longer a slave to blogger post lameness!

our evening of lights

for the fourth of july we had our 3rd annual bbq with the dimit's down the street. after too much food was consumed we waddled out to the street for the fireworks display.

kawena had been outside watching some fireworks that were being set off by some neighbors down the street and seemed to be enjoying them. however, the enjoyment turned to terror when the first one of our fireworks was lit.

 

apparently, the close proximity was too much for her.  it was all too loud and too bright and scary. here's a close-up of our poor baby as her lip begins to pout out just before the screaming started:

this is were we spent the rest of the evening watching the fireworks, all warm and comfy in the la-Z boy chair inside the house:

she was perfectly happy inside. every once in awhile i'd ask if she wanted to go outside and she would say "jes" (yes). i'd get up and walk to the door and she would start to whimper! needless to say we stayed inside until it was all over!

the sparklers were a favorite of the kids! they make the funniest pictures, too. i was bummed that i didn't have my tripod, we lost the attachment. these would have been much clearer had i not had to hand hold the camera with the shutter open for so long! they still turned out fun, though!

lala

nani

nani

fireworks are something that our little ones have needed to get used to. i remember we had to watch fireworks from inside our house for the first 4 years of nani's life. now, it seems, kawena may need a little time to get used to them, as well. lala, on the other hand, never had a problem with them. we have called her, from time to time, our little firecracker, maybe that has something to do with it?!

uhhh...a little help please!!

 

having difficulty finding time to blog. hopefully, it will get better once my mom leaves! having a great time and loving her being here!

the littlest stripper

i know that i've mentioned before here on my blog that we have a stripper in our family. luckily, she is young enough that it is cute and we can laugh at it! i just love how she gets such a thrill out of taking her clothes off! and sometimes she even enjoys putting them back on all by herself!

 

uh-oh! i've been spotted!

this dang heel always gives me such a problem!

don't worry, i'm determined! i'll get it!

freedom!!

clothes are so restricting! who needs them?

lala, always wanting to "help" kawena. i love kawena's face in this photo!

so, if that wasn't enough. a few days later we went to get kawena out of the crib after her nap and this is what we found......

and boy was i glad she couldn't figure out how to get this all the way off! i just narrowly escaped that mess! and thank goodness she hadn't pooped!

mom, can you just get me out of bed?? geez!

it is so cute now, but let's hope she outgrows it before too much longer!

the m.i.a. update

so, i know i have been missing in action (or i should say missing in very little action) these past few weeks. thank you to all of you who have prayed for us and helped us out! your prayers have really been felt and we know that our friends are one of the many blessings we have had through this trial!

a lot has happened since my last post. i am still feeling some of the effects from the ohss, but my belly has shrunk considerably and i no longer look pregnant, just a bit flabby!

we have experienced many miracles during the last few weeks and i am in awe of how truly involved Heavenly Father is in our lives and how much He really cares! He knows us and listens to our pleadings! my relationship with Him has been strengthened and my faith has increased!

a few days after my last post, my belly was still filling with fluids from the cysts on my ovaries and it was causing me to have a difficult time breathing. after going in to see the doctor i was scheduled to have my fluids drained the next day. i was in a lot of pain and sleep was almost impossible. while i was excited to have the fluids drained and anxious to see HOW much fluid they would get, i was still a bit concerned about the procedure. apparently, i was not the only one.

the next morning, the day of the scheduled procedure, mitch woke me up before he left for work to give me a priesthood blessing. in that blessing i was promised that the invasive procedure would not need to be performed and that the fluids would be reabsorbed and leave my body naturally. later that morning when i got out of bed i could feel significant relief from the pressure. by the end of the day my breathing was less labored and the pain was decreasing!

each day i measured a little bit smaller and my weight began to come down. i know that it is because of our faith in the blessing that i was healed, not immediately, but with patience i will return to my normal pre-ohss self.

once i started feeling better, i was anxious to get out of the house and get some things done! i had been couped up and in pain for so long that with any sign of improvement i was ready to go! that wasn't the best thing for me. i am a stubborn woman at times, and it took me about 3 set backs to learn that even though i may feel better, i still needed to take it easy. so, after going out three different times and doing too much, then being forced to lie low for several days after each trip, i realized that i just needed to stay down until this was gone.

i have been on husband and self-imposed "bed rest" for about a week now. though it has been an irritant at times, i must admit that i am feeling much better and i am consistently improving!

our girls have been troopers through this whole ordeal! i am amazed at how nani has really stepped up to the plate and taken over many of my responsibilities. she has even begun to change kawena's diapers, something i particularly enjoy! the girls have been getting along surprisingly well and playing together more peacefully! and thank goodness for great friends (elizabeth, renae, and heidi) the girls have had fun play dates all week!

things are looking up, way up! and the best thing is that tutu lady is coming for an extended visit on monday! we can't wait for her arrival!

i am hoping that as i feel better, i will be able to blog more! i've got great pictures i want to share of the girls, i've just enrolled in school, and we have some great changes on the horizon....

so, stay tuned....

bump's and pothole's, detour's and delay's

i've been trying to gather the courage that i need to write this post. i have been going back and forth trying to decide if i want to expose myself in the raw. this is of a very personal nature, more personal than i've ever written before and i tend to be a very private person when it comes to imperfections. though this imperfection is of no result of a personal choice, it is a trial that my Heavenly Father has seen fit to give me in my lifetime. if it is so difficult for me to write about, you might ask, "then why write it?"

well, back in april, i was directed to jessica's blog. someone i have never met, and someone i may never meet, though i'd love to! but when i read her post about lemons and lemonade, i felt an immediate connection with her. i could see from the many comments she recieved that she not only connected with many, but helped many, as well, myself being one of those. you see, she has been given the same trial that i have been given and she decided to make lemonade out of her lemons. i gathered much of my courage from her and many others who have had to deal with the trial of infertility, like we have.

unlike jessica, my infertility did not come as a surprise. back before i even knew mitch, i was told by an old, crotchety, byu doctor with a horrible bedside manner that i "just don't ovulate!" when questioned if this would be a problem if and when i wanted to have children he simply dismissed me with a, "don't worry about it!" he had just told me that i was broken and yet he told me not to worry about it!

well, needless to say, it bothered me a great deal that i might not be able to bear children. i had always wanted to be a mother and to feel the miracle of life move within me.

when mitch and i decided that we wanted to be married, i felt it necessary to let him know that i might not be able to have children. that afternoon, he took me up to provo canyon and we read each other's patriarchal blessings. i remember the moment, so plainly in my memory, when i read in his blessing that he would marry a woman that would bear his children! i began to cry and from that moment, i held tight to that promise of bearing his children!!

soon after we were married, we began trying to get pregnant because we didn't know how long it would take, plus we were no spring chickens!

after 2 months, thanks to modern medicines, we found that we were pregnant! we were so very grateful that there were medicines out there to help fix what was broken within me!

when nani was 15 months old, we wanted to try for baby #2. so, we started back on clomid. after 4 long months, we were, again pregnant. seeing that it had taken a little bit longer the second time around we decided to get started sooner with baby #3. the soonest i could start back on clomid was once lala was weaned when she turned one.

the third time around was the most difficult and heartbreaking. it was with the third one that it was necessary for us to be referred to a fertility specialist because the clomid was not working. after much blood work, and exams, and tests, and surgeries, we were cleared to try again. we had been at it for over a year now trying different fertility treatments and we still were not successful. we came to grips with the fact that we might not be able to bear anymore children and we began looking into adoption, when surprisingly we found ourselves pregnant again!

we have truly been blessed through this trial we have been given to endure. we have been blessed with wonderful doctors who have helped us through our journey of infertility. the Lord has been very mindful of our emotional needs and our limits, and He has greatly blessed us with three beautiful daughters! i am grateful that i was promised, through mitch's patriarchal blessing, that i would bear children and that we have been able to do so!

that brings us to where we are right now! currently, we have been trying since last october to conceive. only this time we had to be more aggressive because the clomid didn't work. last month, after reading all the risks associated with it, we started a cycle of coh (controlled ovarian hyperstimulation) in hopes to stimulate my ovaries to produce more than one egg follicle to increase our chances of conceiving.

while the overstimulation worked in helping me produce several eggs, it also resulted in my becoming one of the 33% of women that develop ohss (ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome) after using injectible fertility meds. basically, this means that my ovaries have become swollen and are leaking fluid into my belly and chest, which for my friends who see me in person, will see the evidences of this (overnight, i look like i am 5 months pregnant)! i am tired and uncomfortable and often in pain. i am gaining weight like nobody's business and i look like and waddle like a pregnant woman!

though it is an annoyance, i know this will pass. we knew the risks when we started, but we also felt that it was a risk we were willing to take. fortunately, so far, i only have a mild case and it hasn't gotten as bad as it could! we are praying that we have seen the worst of it and are waiting to see how long it will take to get my girlish figure back!

though our journey has been filled with bump's and pothole's, detour's and delay's, we have arrived at our destination every time. not as soon as we would like, but we do arrive! though this is not how we would have chosen for our journey to be, we are grateful for it! we know the Lord has been with us every step of the way and He will continue to be there for as long as we choose to continue on this journey.

infertility is a frustration, for sure. it is also something that is usually kept very private because of the emotional pain. unfortunately, this means that those who are experiencing it often suffer alone. though i did not rejoice in jessica's struggle with infertility, it was, as it always is, comforting to find someone else who can understand my personal trial of wanting something so badly that comes so easily to many, but is such a consuming, emotional roller coaster for us.

so, if you are one of the "infertile myrtle club", as jessica so lovingly called us, know that you are not alone! we are there too, and we have successfully fixed that which was broken 3 times now and are working on fixing it a fourth time. the journey is not always what you wished it would be, but it is still a beautiful journey!