Tessa & Jackson

I wonder why babies are always so intrigued by eachother? Tessa enjoyed getting to know Jackson when we were in Prescott for Easter. I thought they were too cute in their jammies together!

Tessa's hair-raising experiences

Some of these pictures are pretty old, but we've been having fun experimenting with Tessa's hair. Neither of my other two had this much hair at this age.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KIRA!

Kira turns 7 today. I had visions of making a slide show with her baby pictures, showing her evolution to now. And while I think it is a great idea, it's probably not going to happen. I am very behind on posts and am working on her big Nancy Drew party this weekend.

These photos are from the celebration we had earlier this month in honor of Kira's and her Aunt Amber's birthdays. We love them both!

Photo projects

My father-in-law is turning 60 this summer. His nephew got married this weekend in Idaho, and his sisters wanted to take that opportunity to roast him a little and honor his upcoming birthday. They asked me to put together a slide show for the occasion. It has been fascinating to look at all of the old pictures. It was quite the project, as I edited pictures to correct fading and scratches, etc., cropped, created scrapbook-like layouts as the title page for each section, and put it all together with music. I won't even tell the whole story of how I missed handing it off to my in-laws, by less than 3 minutes. Thanks to modern technology, it was in Idaho for the celebration and was well-recieved, by all accounts. Maybe when it is closer to his birthday, I will share more of the layouts/photos. This one was my favorite. I used scans from his actual graduaton program and a note he wrote in 4th grade. For those who know the Haltermans, he looks a bit like Jared, doesn't he?
Well all of this digging, unearthed some pictures of a young Barry (I had never seen very many). And I was struck by how much he looked like Kira when he was around her age. I have been debating with some who think she favors the Halterman side, that she looks more like me with totally different coloring, but these pictures, kind of suggest that I am wrong. Of course, she is a much prettier, more girly version of Barry. :-) And I may be OK to admit that now, that I have a child that actually looks like me! (I was chubby, too!)
What about Trenton? I think he is in the middle (not just age wise) between his two sisters. What do you think?
One more split screen. Tessa's Grandpa has taken to calling her the Gerber baby. I think it fits.

Historic General Conference

Tessa is sick, so I am home from church today. I have a lot of pictures and things to report on like Shanda's visit, but I thought since it is Sunday, it would be appropriate to try and remember and record some of highlights from Conference last week that were especially meaningful to me.

First of all, I LOVE this picture Kira drew of Pres. Monson as she listened. It just looks like him to me. The conference packets I recieved by email worked great for Kira! She wanted to keep watching and working on her packets. Trenton, on the other hand, may never like the idea of sitting still for that long.

My Favorite Conference Moments:

* I got chills when in the very first opening prayer, the mothers of the church were prayed for very specifically.
*The Solemn Assembly--I didn't really remember this from before. It was a powerful experience.
* I LOVED Elder Ballard's talk about Mothers! It was so validating and encouraging! There were so many talks about families this time.
*I also really appreciated Elder Holland's talk addressing some of the points of doctrine of our church that are often debated by those of other faiths. He made it so plain and easy to understand!
*Elder Oaks also addressed misconceptions and called on us to take the opportunities dispell those misconceptions. I think I have often avoided this, because of the chance that it could lead to contention. "When we encounter such misrepresentations, we have a duty to speak out to clarify our doctrine and what we believe. We should be the ones to state our beliefs rather than allowing others the final word in misrepresenting them."
*I have long maintained that (whether by assignment or choice) Elder Scott handles the most difficult and/or controversial topics (Elder Oaks, sometimes, too.). This talk about abuse was probably the best example of this. But he handles tough topics with so much love and gentleness while allowing the strength of the message to shine through.
*I really enjoyed seeing President Monson's sense of humor! Even with all of the jokes, he did seem a little different than before as the mantle of prophet has come upon him.

I'm sure there were several others, but with the kids, I didn't take many notes. How blessed we are to be able to hear the words of the prophets in our own homes, together with our families!

Easter Slide Show

I wasn't going to do any more slide shows since blurb won't slurp them into my blog books, but I just take too many pictures! And excluding many becomes difficult. We had a great time in Prescott!

TRENTONISMS--Easter Edition
T: "Mom, Easter is coming and we get to hunt....the Easter Bunny! And we get to shoot him with Grandpa's Silver Shooter BB gun!"

Me: No, we hunt for Easter eggs.

T: Yeah. And we shoot them with a gun! (makes shooting sounds with mouth).

Me: Easter is a peaceful holiday.

T: But it is a battling holiday, too.

He did get to do battle with Kira for Easter. And he wasn't anxious to get too friendly with the Easter Bunny. When I asked him what he thought about the Easter Bunny after seeing him at the square. He said he was BIG and that he worn tennis shoes. He is pretty observant!

A Big Week for The Tooth Fairy!

Kira is minus three teeth that she had before Spring Break. Here she is with her beautiful toothless smile. To be honest, I kind of like her mouth this way...it makes her seem more like a kid and less like a miniature adult.

How did this happen?

By the time we got to Prescott, her two front teeth were very loose and we knew they wouldn't last long. Grandpa was able to tug one of them out on Tuesday night.
One of her back molars had broken (due to a giant cavity, I think) so we decided she had to get in to see a dentist. We had an appointment at Kidzaam in Prescott on Thursday morning. She had her check-up and we were told that her tooth was abscessing and would have to come out and be replaced with a spacer.

Kidzaam is a pediatric dentist office that seeks to remove the fear kids typically experience at the dentist, by making most everything fun!It really worked well for Kira! She was giggling all through the x-rays and exam. I just wish they had something for the pain and dizziness adults feel when they get the bill (actually, I think their prices are probably the same as anywhere else. I'm just wondering if we need to rethink the no dental insurance thing). We had to come back for the extraction later that day, and though Kira was scared about the procedure, she did really well. Somehow her other front tooth managed to come out in the process.
It wasn't until we were nearly back to Grandma's that she started feeling the pain and got pretty upset. But it wasn't anything that a little painkiller, the movie "Nancy Drew," and a homemade strawberry shake couldn't fix. By the next morning, she announced that she felt normal. She was nervous about going back to school and being teased, but has realized that lots of kids have spacers and other holes in their mouths. Now we just need to remember to put all of those teeth in the toothfairy pillow. I guess it is good that Kira has forgotten so far. It gives the toothfairy more time to save up!

Spring Break Report -- Prescott

We went to stay with Grandma and Grandpa in Prescott during Kira's spring break.

Grandpa took a break from work to come and play with his grand kids in the park!

Kids in carseats at the park! Can I say how in love I am with Tessa's blue eyes!

Who is the best new cousin in the world? Trenton loves his new cousin, Jackson. (I think he is glad to have an ally against the girls). Anyhow, he decided that Jackson needed to be "nurseded". He fed him his bottle and sang "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" until he went to sleep. Awww!

Kira and her big friend, Cassidy, after Cassidy gave her a little make over.

5 months!

I have so much to catch up on with Spring Break and Easter, but in the meantime, Miss Tessa has turned 5 months and keeps growing and changing. As you will notice, if you click on the bottom pic., my traditional photo sessions are becoming more difficult as Tessa can do more things, like eat my sign!

She is certainly not lacking in the chub department. She delights everyone she meets with enthusiastic smiles. My father-in-law has taken to calling her the "Gerber Baby," and at this moment she is blowing raspberries on my arm. We are starting her on solids as she seems to have an insatiable appetite and I am waiting for a tooth to surface anytime now.

She is so much fun!

I Do Not Like Green Eggs and Ham...

He does not like them, Trenton he is!

The kids and I joined Kira for breakfast in the school cafeteria on Dr. Suess' birthday. Trenton wouldn't touch his green eggs, and to be honest, I didn't like them much either--the eggs were bland, the ham a little too crispy, and the hash browns incredibly greasy--but what do you expect from the school cafeteria?
Kira insisted that we follow her to class so she could show off Tessa. Her teacher was actually very nice about it and turned it into a teaching moment, talking about babies and how they grow and develop. Kira and the other students asked if we could stay, and when I said "no" they, of course, wanted to know why. I said that Tessa would distract them and they wouldn't listen to their teacher, or learn anything.

Their response: "That's OK!"

Jackson's Blessing & Kristin's No Good, Very Bad Day

(The man of the hour)

We all got together for Jackson's blessing, March 2nd.

(The Halterman side of the family)

For the most part, it was a beautiful, lovely day, unless your name is Aunt Kristin. Kristin was being a great aunt and playing with Tessa during Sacrament meeting, when all of a sudden, Tessa decided that her beautiful, white dress, would look better if it were a bright shade of yellow (breast-fed poop yellow)! We made quite the exodus to the ladies room. Tessa had to change out the bottom half of her outfit. Luckily, our friend April--who isn't even a mom yet--was prepared with a Tide-to-Go pen, which worked quite well on Kristin's dress. You can't even see the mess in these pictures. Adding insult to injury, we later learned that Jackson peed on Kristin...3 times that same day. She's never going to want to have kids!

A Day at the Zoo!

The day before my nephew, Jackson, was blessed, we decided go on a big family trip to the Phoenix Zoo. It was a fun day and not only did we get to observe unique habits of the animals, but of the two-legged creatures, as well, since there were at least two weddings going on at the zoo that day. This first picture is of Kira with her grown-up buddy for much of the day, Bobby's Dad. He is also Trenton's "Grandfriend." (With tortoises in the background.)
And here is Tessa loving on her Aunt Amber.

Zoo Pals

Some of the fun creatures we saw at the zoo...
This baboon came and snuggled up to the window where I was standing. Don't you love baboon bums?









This tiger kind of gave me the willies. While we were standing there he actually climbed up to the top of the big tree in his area. It would have just been fascinating to watch him climb, but in light of recent events and the fact that he looked ready to pounce any second, I couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

Of course, Kerali's family in India is yawning right now, because they recently saw a tiger in the wild on safari!

Has anyone seen these children?

I once read a suggestion in a parenting magazine that seemed like a good idea. The mother said that anytime she goes somewhere that her children are likely to get lost (i.e. the zoo), she takes a picture of them on her digital camera when they first arrive, so that if they do get lost, they can show people a picture of the children in the clothes they are wearing that day so they will be easy for anyone to recognize.
We lost Kira after about 45 seconds at the zoo, so once we found her (fortunately fairly quickly) I snapped these shots. We also implemented a "grown-up" buddy system that worked really well, so I didn't end up having to use these pictures for anything other than this blog, thankfully!

Trentonisms--Vol. 579

Trenton sat down on the piano the other day and played a beatiful song of his own composition. And as he played he sang:

"I love you too much

I really do

and all of a sudden

a lightning bulb (bolt)

destroyed my house"

I think he has a future in love song lyrics, don't you?

*****

T: "I want to play that Star Wars game."

Me: "Are you talking about the one on the wii?"

T: "No, I'm talking about the one on the ME!

*****

Before the zoo, Trenton was going around telling everyone how they are related to him: "you are my Grandmommy, " etc. Bobby (Trenton's Uncle) had his family there too, so Bobby's dad asked Trenton what he was to him. Trenton thought for a second and said,

"You are my Grandfriend!"

*****

Mikelle has been put through the ringer lately healthwise with complications since she gave birth to baby Jackson. Last night she had priesthood blessing. Trenton sat reverently for the blessing. When it was over he came to give her a big hug and said, "I know just how you feel!"

*****

On a warm day:

"It's a real scortcher out there, Mom!"

(I think we can blame Jimmy Neutron for that one)

*****

"That Dazzle from Venus is a really hot girl!"

Deep Thoughts...by Kira

We are like cakes and life is like us getting baked in the oven. And when you are done baking in the oven, some one eats you..that's when you die.

Valentine's Day finally came...on Leap Day!

We declared Leap Day to be Valentine's Day in our house because of Barry's crazy work schedule.

The old saying "it's the thought that counts" usually ends up being an excuse to give a lousy gift, but it has truth in that it is the thought and effort put into a present that means the most, not the dollars spent.

Barry got the message this year and surprised me with a treasure hunt based on Shakespearean sonnets. This was especially neat because he was taking a Shakespear class while we were dating and so we would spend time reading and discussing the sonnets (haven't done that for a while though). My clues were based on sonnets I had to look up in our Shakespear book. Along the way I found a musical card, makings for s'mores (already eaten), "Becoming Jane" (I wonder why he thought I would be interested in a period romance. :-)), and the book of great Hollywood kisses.

Later that night, we went to the Melting Pot (thanks Mikelle and Bobby for the Christmas gift certificate!), and had a great time, except that we had Tessa with us, and she decided that we couldn't enjoy our chocolate course together. We took turns with her outside getting her not to cry. Valentine's is a little different when you are parents, isn't it? I still have some even more belated plans for Barry, but scheduling is proving tricky!

So I guess there is some truth to that other cop-out saying "better late than never!"

Anthem

These are from nearly two months ago, but I just got the pics from Kristin. We met at the big park in Anthem and had a fun time playing.

This is Tessa giving smiles to Grandma








And here is a funky digital layout I did showing some of the other fun activities, including the Daisy Mountain Railroad.

I am grateful for...

...GOOD HEALTH!

I have many pictures from a fun weekend and other stuff to post, but have been a little busy focused elsewhere so far this week.

On Sunday I learned that my little nephew, Mitchell had his first helicopter ride. Unfortunately, it was to the Primary Children's hospital in Salt Lake. Mitchell had what they are now calling a prolonged "complex" febrile seizure, although the doctors really can't say why this happened or how to prevent it in the future. He is home now (yea!) and seems to be doing well, but could still use prayers on his behalf.

I spent today with my sister-in-law, Mikelle, who has somehow managed to fracture a couple of her vertabrae. She has been dealing with back pain for a while, but just now learned what was causing it. She is now in so much pain that it is difficult to move or even cough, but still has to care for her newborn son (6 wks. old). So Tessa and I went over to help, today. Feeding two babies at the same time, gave me greater appreciation for those who have twins, and my friend Amberly's situation.

So today I am especially grateful that my family and I are currently in good health and recognize what a blessing good health is. Please say an extra prayer for Mitchell and Mikelle!