Our Family

Happy Birthday Brad!

2009-04-10T21:10:00.000-07:00

Brad is now the BIG 30. I can't hardly believe it. This is actually good news for him, because he can now play in the 30 and older leagues. Brad is a great husband and father. Happy Birthday Babe! We love you!

More pictures and update

2009-04-09T22:00:00.001-07:00

Yes, we are Jazz Fans! Our jerseys were one of our Christmas presents. We have taken Indie to two games. The game against Indiana Pacers, we got to sit the last half of the game on row 10 lower bowl (thanks to Denver's car being stolen) and Indie made it on the bigtron twice! I swear she's the cutest jazz fan.
Brad gets his own 30th birthday blog. Tomorrow on his birthday. Isn't he a great dad. Indie is a daddy's girl!
I am working at the U still and doing work from home. However, I think my average hours of work per week is maybe 5. Yes, I have a way cool boss who let's me work as many or as few hours as I want. These pictures were taken at Zion. We went hiking, while I was down there for work. Don't you just love it when your work pays for you to vacation. Thanks to grandma Indie for being a trooper. She went to St. George with me and watched my girls. Brad was on his own business trip. Indianna. What can I say about the little spitfire. Besides being a daddy's girl. She is talking very well now. She actually attempts to try any word you ask. Before she could say any word, she called Maylin "Me Me" and Brooklyn "Boo" and Denver "D". She uses them so often, that they have stuck with us all. So, you may here me say "Me Me" for my dear little sweet Maylin. Indie can now say both of their names fairly well. Indianna is all girl! She loves "baying kitchen" and taking care of her babies. She tells me "bye bye mommy. Me watch Me Me." She's a handful with her dramatic crying tantrums, but so sweet at the same time. We just have to make sure she gets her "beauty sleep." Which she isn't fond of. She has a mind of her own. I've been trying "reverse psychology" and it worked for a while, but now she is starting to catch on. Smart girl! Oh the baby she is kissing is her cousin Daxton. She loves babies and kids.AND last but not least. My dear sweet Maylin. She is growing so fast. She is sitting up, rolling over, and says "ma ma". I love that she says that and not "da da". Indie didn't say "ma ma" until she was at least 12 months. Her 6 month appointment, she was in the 90th percentile for her heigth and 20 percentile for her weight. Tall and Skinny. She is a total mama's girl. Which is nice, but not so nice at night. She is still waking up in the night to eat. (Probably because she is so skinny) Other than waking up at night...she is the "BEST" baby ever. She is so sweet and happy. She's my little angel. She can make any one's day with those big "sparkly" eyes and smile. I just don't have a picture of it that does it justice. That'll have to be my next post. (maybe in another 6 months ;) You never know.)

And that's our quick update.

UPDATE! UPDATE! WARNING LOTS TO UPDATE!

2009-04-09T21:22:00.000-07:00

Ok. I realize I haven't blogged for a long time. Thanks to all of you that have reminded me. In honor of Brad's 30th birthday, I thought what kind of wife would I be, if I didn't blog about that. So, I am going give a quick update with LOTS of pictures and then blog about my "wonderful terrific Husband."

The most recent pictures would be of our trip to Florida. We went to Florida with my entire family (except "Boo" Brooklyn, McKenzie's baby). My parents paid for everyone's flight except Indie's. We paid for hers. They also paid for the sweet house that we stayed in for a week. It came equipped with it's very own swimming pool and hot tub and enough bedrooms for everyone. We had so much fun and are so thankful to my parents for the generous trip. It was a lot of work with 2 little ones, but was well worth it. I think the pictures say it all.
Indianna and dad on one of her favorite rides. I like the look on her face. It says, "grab a bag and watch out." No, she didn't on any of the rides, but we had our fair share of "grab a bag!" (That's my polite way of saying she gets motion sick and she was SICK!
What's Disney without meeting the princesses. This was probably Indie's favorite part of Disney World. Although hesitant at first, she really started to like meeting the characters. The picture after Cinderella, is her yelling "DUCK!" for Donald Duck to come back. She started yelling "Mouse" when we were waiting in line to meet Mickey and Minnie.
Maylin's favorite character. Pooh and Eeyore. She loved their soft fur. Indie's favorite character...would be either Mickey or Cinderella or Snow White. (The good mommy) That's a story for another blog.
Indie's other favorite ride. She got her very own driver's license. She's a horrible driver. She would hit the middle thing and we would whip lash back to the other side and then back to the other side. She thought it was SO funny. I had to hold her from falling out. The seat belt didn't do any good.
What "Me Me" thought of the trip. For those of you who know Jayben Whitesides...what do you think? Could they be related?
Beach Babes! We only made it to the beach once and it was extremely windy. Indie loved playing the sand and Maylin loved spending time with Grandpa.
On the airplane, I think this was about 5 minutes before our first "grab a bag" incident.
Almost forgot this one!

4 Month Appointment

2009-01-08T08:37:00.000-08:00

I know, we are WAY behind on blogging. We had a wonderful Christmas down in Southern Utah in Toquerville. I'll blog about it and post pictures later. But, let's just say that Santa was more than good to us. We had a great year and welcomed the New Year in here in Ogden with family. We are working really hard with Indianna for potty training and trying everything we can to get her to say new words. The potty training is going well. She's pretty much trained, but doesn't know how to pull down her own pants to go. We are working on that. The new words, well let's just say that we get really excited if Indie decides to share her new words with us or actually attempts to say a word. Her newest words include "sticky" and the one we have been working on "food". But my favorite is "luv u". She's only said it once to me, but at least we know she can say it.

Maylin is growing up so fast. She went from being the best baby to the worst baby ever since our trip down south. I think we finally have it figured out though. She's just overtired. She is starting the earlier bedtime schedule and I love it! Even though, she still doesn't sleep through the night. BUT, she is taking naps and falling to sleep on her own. YEAH!!! Maylin had her 4 month appointment this week. She weighs 12 lbs. 15 oz. which places her in the 50th percentile. WOW! I'm not use to hearing anything less than 75th percentile because of Indie. She was always 75th, 90th, 100th or off the charts. Maylin's head is in the 25th percentile. I guess you could say she has my head and Indie has her fathers. Maylin is 24 1/2 inches long and that puts her in the 75th percentile. Maylin is a very sweet baby and is smiling and laughing tons. Brad, Indie, and I love it!

Christmas Letter

2008-12-17T17:05:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope all is going well with everyone. We are doing great. We have our tree up and presents everywhere. Indianna is very excited to open them, but she is a good little girl and hasn't opened any on her own... yet.

Indianna is doing really well with the potty training thing. She knows when she needs to go and does her best to tell us when that time is, however sometimes we don't pay enough attention and fail to let her use the potty. She gets pretty upset about it, but hasn't started using actual words to tell us. I think that one of these days she will want to tell us something bad enough to tell us about it in words.

Maylin is also doing well. She is all smiles, slobbering and talking (jibberish). Everyone says that she is the best baby they have ever seen. Karlie and I feel very blessed that we could have two beautiful good little girls to give us some excitment.

Karlie is being a good mom to the three of us and does a very good job of taking care of us. She recently had a chocolate making get together with her sister and sister-in-law (McKenzie and Trisha). The chocolate was really good and helped me gain around 8 pounds. She also has four plates of them still sitting here that has set aside for visiting teaching (they might not be there for very much longer...mmm...)

I have been enjoying learning many things at work. My current trainer will be going to a training course for a couple of months and will be leaving me to fend for myself and all of the AF tires. Hopefully I won't have too many problems with getting things done. A couple of days ago I got to test out our snowblower. It was so amazingly fast and easy compared to shoveling that I am trying to figure out why I didn't save up for one years ago.

We just want to let you know that we are greatful for our Savior Jesus Christ. We know that his sacrifices through love and obedience have prepared a way for families to be together forever. We know that his perfect example and teachings can help us have a full and happy life. We have a strong testimony of the Atonement and the healing powers that it offers. We know that Heavenly Father loves us and has given us his son so that we can be happy. At this time of year we hope that everyone remembers Christs birth and makes an effort to give back by finding a way to bless the lives of others.

Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Potty Training

2008-12-02T09:20:00.001-08:00

We are at it again! AND, I think we are back to where we left off. Indianna has gone on the potty twice in the past week and one of the times she told us she had to go. BUT, now she likes to go every 5 minutes. We bought big girl panties over the weekend and yesterday Indie wouldn't put on her diaper. She wanted her big girl panties. I told her that if I put them on her, she HAD to go on the potty. Well, she didn't go in her panties, but she didn't go on the potty either. She ran to the potty every 5 minutes. Finally at nap time, I switched her over to a diaper. Does anyone have any new ideas for me? She loves sitting on the potty and playing with stickers. I switched her over from candy to stickers.

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-26T22:08:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I thought I would just list things that I am thankful for. These are not in any particular order and are just a few of the many things I am grateful for.

1-That I am still alive
2-My beautiful sweet girls
3-My husband
4-Family (including in-laws)
5-Jesus Christ
6-Freedom
7-The Gospel (including temples, prophet, etc.)
8-Friends
9-Mine and Brad's Employment
10-My education

I think my favorite quote is appropriate for Thanksgiving.

"To bad we can't forget about our problems like we do our blessings." I hope we can all reflect on our many blessings this time of year. I know I am greatly blessed. Happy Thanksgiving.

Not going private

2008-11-17T09:48:00.001-08:00

Ok. I really like Janessa's idea, so we are not going private, but we are taking off all last names and ask that if you have our page as a link on your blog, please take off our last names. I am also going to be changing our web address, because it has our last name within the title. At least I think I can do this. We are going to change it to: bnkfamily.blogspot.com I will leave this web address for 2 weeks and then I will be changing it over.

Going Private

2008-11-12T11:29:00.000-08:00

Ok. We are really thinking of going private. I didn't think much of this, until I read the Reid family blog and watched the news video on dangers of blogging. Even after, I thought "well, nobody would ever know where we live." I mean, when we moved into this home, I was working as a social worker. Not a good thing to have your address public. So, I agreed that our phone number could be listed, but not our address. Thinking that was actually true...I checked out whitepages.com and sure enough there is my address. I really doubt anything would ever happen, but better safe than sorry. I just want to protect my girls. I really struggle with this, because I have come in contact with people I haven't heard from in a long time. I wish there was a way to leave the blog open, but make sure that anyone who looked at my blog, needed to login under an email and that I could see who is looking at my blog. I do have the world map at the bottom of my blog, so this kind of helps me see who looks at my blog. I have to admit, there are some places that I don't know who is looking at my blog. I'm sure people do like I do and click on someone elses friends or family blogs. With that said, list your email in the comments and I'll send you an invite.

Indianna's Birthday Party

2008-11-07T14:42:00.000-08:00

Yes, I'm behind on blogging and Brad posted about Indie opening her presents. This is her birthday party with the kids. They finger painted and broke a pinata. Indie loved it! But, she also loved her cake!

Helping mommy make the cake

The Finished Cake

Kanyon's Masterpiece

Indie's Masterpiece

Indie hitting the pinata

Indie blowing out her candle

Indie after enjoying her cake

What Little Girls Do

2008-11-05T15:20:00.000-08:00

Ok. So I have been reading in other people's blogs about what naughty little things boys do or what little boys do when their parents aren't watching. Well...girls are a little bit different. Here is a picture of what little girls do when their parents are not watching.

Yes. That is lotion all over her face. I can't tell if she was eating it or if she was just putting it on real thick. AND I can't seem to figure out how in the world she got that lid off.

One other cute thing. The other day, Indie was feeding her baby doll all kinds of fake foods. Well, the next thing she does is she pulls up her shirt and puts baby next to her. Yes...she was trying to nurse her baby. She is all GIRL!

Indianna's Birthday Present Opening

2008-11-03T16:51:00.000-08:00

Indianna with one of her presents from Grandma Cook.

Indianna's favorite big present was an easel with a chalk board on one side and a white board on the other. It also has a roll of paper that comes up and over either side so that she can color/draw on the paper. The easel is also equiped with a tray to put all of her art supplies (chalk, crayons, dry erase markers) in.

Opening her first thing of colored chalk.

Indianna really got the hang of opening birthday presents, however she is still so peticular about each little piece. Most little kids seem to tare into presents like their life depends on it ... not Indianna ... she takes her time and pulls every piece off one at a time and then hands the piece to Karlie or myself before she goes to the next piece.

At Denver & Trisha's Wedding

2008-11-03T16:08:00.000-08:00

Ammon Reyes and Maylin Rose Lundell at the Salt Lake Temple grounds.

The Cook Family and the cute couple.

The Cook Family again with the cute couple (they must like the in-laws)

On the Temple grounds with all of the grand kids

One of our family pictures during the two day event.

Since I have been a slacker in the whole blogging thing I thought that my first post should be accompanied by some pictures (the real reason is that Karlie has been on my case for awhile). Ok so I hope you all enjoy these pictures and I will try to make some more posts for fun.

Maylin's Baby Blessing

2008-10-31T13:53:00.000-07:00

Maylin was blessed on the 12th of October. She looked so pretty in Brooklyn's pretty white dress. Brad gave her a wonderful blessing. I think she's going to be my little missionary.

WAY BEHIND ON BLOGGING

2008-10-30T21:40:00.001-07:00

I know...I know...it's been way too long since I blogged. BUT, two kids is very busy and we have been really busy as a little family. So...keep checking the blog and read all the stuff that has been going on. I'm going to start with my visitor from Germany. My friend Denise came and visited at the start of this month. It was so good to see her and meet her boyfriend Alex (Not sure if I spelled his name right). He is such a sweet guy. I'm so glad she found such a great guy.
Crazy thing lately. I have been lucky enough to run into so many of my old friends lately. I love the blog, because that's how I have come in contact with some. Although I've been busy and may not be the best emailer or caller, I love hearing from everyone.

Lots of Pictures

2008-10-09T08:28:00.001-07:00

McKenzie took these pictures the other day. I just love them. She could almost be a professional! Too bad, Indie doesn't know how to smile for pictures. Maley is already catching on though.

I took these ones and actually caught Indie and Maley smiling!!

One of the Best Times of the Year

2008-10-06T11:21:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love conference. As a kid, we didn't really pay too much attention to the Saturday sessions, but on my mission, my appreciation grew immensely. To hear from the prophet and apostles and be spiritually uplifted, there's nothing better! I have to admit, I have my favorite speakers and they didn't disappoint. My favorites: President Monson, President Uchtdorf, Elder Holland, and President Eyring. Here's a quick summary in case you missed them.

President Monson - Talked about Change and how we should live and be happy with TODAY.

President Uchtdorf - Talked about faith, hope, and charity

Elder Holland - (Probably my favorite talk) Talked about how angels still administer today.

President Eyring - Talked about unity and finding common beliefs and likes with others rather than differences.

I'll attach the talks as soon as they are availabe on a word document.

Also, the women's conference was awesome and my favorite was President Uchtdorf. He talked about what we can do to be happy. Two things - Create and Compassion. http://www.lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-947-37,00.html

Two Weeks Old

2008-09-17T12:22:00.001-07:00

Maylin had her two week appointment a couple of days ago and she is growing. She is now 8 lbs. 3 oz. and 21 inches long. I can't believe it's already been two weeks. I guess she is looking a little bit older. Overall, Maylin is a pretty good baby. Compared to when Indie was a baby, she's an angel! She has her fussy times, but she's does well.

More Pictures

2008-09-13T16:26:00.000-07:00

Bath time with two kids. Need I say more!

Indianna threw a fit until I finally put her in the sink for a bath. She did NOT want to bath in the bath tub.

I would do it all over again

2008-09-11T11:43:00.001-07:00

After what seems like complaining about the whole situation. I want everyone to know, that if I had to, I would do it all over again for my beautiful baby girl! Here are some more pictures.

Indianna, Maylin, and Brooklyn

My two girls

Part 2 of the Horror Story

2008-09-11T11:12:00.000-07:00

So, I had a bad delivery right and things should be good now right? Well after the delivery, I started to get this horrible headache. They told me that they had given me enough medicine to last 24 hours, but could give me some morphine if needed. Well, not that my cut hurt, but my head was hurting. So, I asked for the morphine. Wouldn't you know it, the tubing in my IV got clogged again or something. No big deal, another new tube and we are on our way. I stayed on my pain meds as much as I possible could, but mostly for this headache. Monday night it hit. I was so nauseated and my head was killing. Machel ordered a shot in the hip for the nausea and Ted came in to assess whether I had a spinal headache. Luck would have it and as Ted said, "I'm not surprised, you have the spinal headache. There are two options. One is the passive treatment. You stay on your pain meds and drink lots of caffeine OR we can do a blood patch. Where we take blood from your arm and put it into the spine to seal up that leak." Hmmm...let me think about this...I'll take option 1. There's no way I was going to let them stick another needle into my back. In the mean time, my pulse was high and I had a bit of fever, so they had to draw blood to make sure I didn't have an infection. My legs were as swollen as a hippo and supposedly my blood count was really really low, so Machel ordered an Iron supplement for me. A couple of hours later, Dr. Naisbett comes in and says that the hospital doesn't have any Iron supplements and canceled the order. WHAT? Seriously? What kind of hospital is this? He told me to just take prenatals when I get home. Tuesday, my head felt fine, but there was this constant ringing in my ears, which soon developed to a load thumping noise and everything anyone said, echoed in my ears. It was horrible! So, on Wed. morning bright and early, I decided to do the blood patch. I was suppose to go home that day, and thought to myself "there's no way, I'm going to be able to care for my girls if I have this headache." I told the nurse at 6:00 am and she said she paged the anesthesiologist. At 8:00, the nurse came in and was like packing our stuff. Not really, but she sure was in a hurry to get us discharged. She couldn't believe the anesthesiologist hadn't been in yet, so she paged him again and said he was in surgery and he would be in at 10:00 am to do the procedure. Waiting for the horror of it all dragged on forever. 10:00 came, 12:00 came, 1:00 came, and he still hadn't shown up. Finally at 2:00 he came in to do the procedure. I ask him what are the risks of this procedure and he says, "Well, your situation is a bit different. Because when Ted hit your spinal, normally fluid leaks into the catheter and that's how you know you hit the spinal. But, that didn't happen with you. SO, it's very possible that I could put blood into your spinal fluid, you could get an infection, be paralyzed, and he listed about 5 other concerns." So, with that in mind, he says, "Ok. Should we try and do this thing? Well, let's not try, let's do." Already shaking and nervous, now I was about in tears. How in the world could I let this guy "try"? Yeah, I started crying instantly. It took him several jabs and he kept saying what Ted said, "I can't seem to find it" and he said "I'm going really slow so we don't have any problems." and finally my favorite, "I just can't find it, I'm going to have to have you sit up." That's when I thought to myself, if I sit up, this procedure is over. Just then he found it, and they drew blood from my arm and it was finally over! I laid on my back for an hour. The headache did not go away. Since I was laying flat, I asked the nurse to take out my staples since we were being discharged any way. I ask her, before doing anything, "is this going to hurt?" "no, you might feel a pinch, but nothing compared to what you just went through." BOY, was she wrong! She goes to take out the first one and I yelled and screamed. Then the second one, again even worse. And then the third one, I couldn't take it any more. I said, "I thought you said, this wouldn't hurt!" She said, "they just don't seem to want to come out. It's this tool. Let me go get another one." So, she comes back with a brand new "tool" and again pinched me to death. Brad instantly jumps up and comes over. After looking at the "tool" and what the girl was doing, (seriously...maybe 2 seconds) he says, "you're using them up side down." So, instead of losing the staples, she was crimping them down tighter. She flips the tool over and takes out the other staples. I didn't feel a thing...when she was using the tool right. But, what about the 3 or 4 staples that she had already tightened. She couldn't get them out. I felt her shaking as she kept trying. Finally I said, "Can we maybe take a break for a minute?" She says, "yes" and leaves the room. About ten minutes later, she comes back in with another nurse who says they are going to give me a shot to numb the area so they can get the other staples out. And there you have it! Part 2 of the Horror story. Not to mention other little things like the pain meds that they scan, 2 of them didn't have bar codes on them so they couldn't scan them and when they were taking blood from my arm for the blood patch, they couldn't find a "wet" swab to sanitize the area. They were all dry. I think they opened like 3 or 4 swabs, before they found one that was wet. The last nurse says, "I don't know what it is about this room." So...either the room is jinxed or I have really really bad luck. You decide.

Maylin Rose Lundell

2008-09-10T08:07:00.000-07:00

Maylin Rose Lundell

Well, our little one is finally here. She's now 10 days old, but this is the first chance I have gotten or felt like blogging about it. I'm going to tell the whole story, just because as sad as it is, it's almost funny how wrong things went.

At 12:15 my water broke while I was in bed. I hadn't even fallen asleep yet. I couldn't sleep. We got everything ready and went to the hospital. I was excited to be delivering at Ogden Regional because I have heard about how much better they are than McKay. With all the horror story that follows, I have to say, their nurses are a lot better than McKay's postpartum nurses. We arrived at Ogden Regional around 12:45 and by the time they got us to a room and all the paperwork filled out it was about 1:00. They put us in a room and told me to change and that they would be back to check me and get everything going. At 1:30, I was having major contractions and was in horrible pain. After waiting a half an hour, I finally sent Brad to go and see if they forgot about us and to get my epidural ASP. They finally came in and checked me I was at a 3 plus. They told me that I couldn't have my epidural until I went through one bag of liquid in my IV. So, they put in my IV and I suffered through the contractions for about a half an hour. The "Anesthesiologist" (Really a CRNA?) came in and had me sit up for the shot. This was different than McKay, at McKay when I had Indie, they had me lay on my side. Well, while "Ted" jabbed needles back and forth in my back. He kept saying he couldn't find it. First try, "I can't find it." Second try, "I got blood that time in the catheter" and the third try, "I got it." WOAH, I said "why do I feel like I'm going to tip over?" I felt like I was on a very rocky ship. They laid me down in bed and the next thing I said was, "why are my hands numb?" They told me because my blood pressure cup was just getting done. YEAH RIGHT! Next thing I know, I am gagging and throwing up and then I couldn't swallow and I felt like I couldn't breathe. It instantly went up higher and I couldn't hold up my head? I just kept repeating, "I can't breathe." They kept reassuring me that my oxygen levels were fine, but how they knew that I don't know. Brad tells me that they couldn't find a finger pulse thinger that worked. They kept running in and out trying to find one that worked. They finally told me that "if we have to, we will breathe for you." I'm sure it wasn't life threatening, but for me and my family it sure did feel like it. The nurses started to panic. I heard one nurse yell to get "Ted" in there "NOW!" and that she "I'm not going to do this alone." Grandma Indie, asked one of the nurses "Is she going to die?" and the nurse said, "I don't know!" My mom had to leave the room she was so nervous. My dad and Brad gave me a priesthood blessing and they said, my body instantly calmed down. After an hour of suffering, the numbness wore off. Machel had arrived and I was feeling all contractions again. Machel checked me and I was a "10" and ready to push. Machel says, "we are having this one natural." After an hour of suffering for air and experiencing the pain, I said, "I can't do this." I pushed for a couple of minutes, before Ted arrived back in the room. Machel says, "Don't you dare give her another dose!" Ted argued back that he knew he hit the spinal now and that he would give me a smaller dose. Ted says, "well isn't she in pain." Machel yells back, "she's in transition! What do you think? Yes, she's in pain!" Without saying another word, Ted gives me another dose. Although I didn't say either way if I wanted it or not, I sure was glad that he gave it to me. I became numb and started to push. The problem: every half an hour Ted had to give me another dose and every time he did, the contractions stopped. They got the "pit" hooked up to my IV to help with contractions. After an hour of pushing and not making any progress, Machel and I decided a C-Section would be best. While they are setting up everything for the C-Section, Machel kept trying to turn the baby's face and having me push. She looks up and says, "why isn't the pit dripping?" The tubes weren't working and so, here I had been pushing without any pit. Machel thinks I might have been able to deliver vaginally, if it weren't for the tubes not working. During the C-Section, I felt panicky as my chest became heavy again. I think this was just nerves, but Ted, decided it would be best for everyone if he just put me out. So, out I went! I woke up to the sounds of my family holding baby Maylin. Maylin was 7 lbs. 15 oz. (no not a 10 lb baby, phew at least that turned out ok). She was 20 inches long.

I realize how long this blog is, so...I will blog about the other days to follow later. Here are some pictures. By the way, pictures were not a priority during delivery as you can tell, so we don't have a lot of early on pictures.

Indie's first time being introduced to Maylin. Yes, she's a bit hesitant, but I was also hooked up to all machines still.

Grandma Terry with my two girls.

Almost the whole Cook "fam damily"

Maylin

Big Babies are Suppose to Sleep Better Right?

2008-08-29T17:56:00.000-07:00

Ok. So, the baby is still not here yet. We went for our final appointment until next week when Machel is suppose to start me on the 4th. For those of you that haven't heard the "big news", does anyone want to guess how big the baby is measuring? 8 lbs you guess...no bigger...9 lbs you guess...no bigger...9 and 1/2...no bigger...10 lbs...you're getting closer...10 lbs. 2 oz. YES!!! I'm serious...it's not a joke. Of course...the measurements could be off a bit...maybe a pound or two if I'm lucky. Machel stripped the membranes before she even measured the baby. Then after, she wanted to "check" my cervix again, when really she was trying to break my water for me. It didn't happen. I'm still dilated to a 2 and 85% effaced. Not much has changed. She wants to see me on Tuesday if I haven't gone by then. I think she's going to try and break my water again or find some way to justify starting me. So...everyone pray that the baby will come soon and that she won't be too big! Oh and NO, I'm not having any contractions.

Family Home Evening

2008-08-25T09:06:00.000-07:00

Ok...all you parents of young kids. We need ideas for spiritual family home evenings. We are pretty good at figuring out some activity to do with Indie, but when it comes down to the spiritual part or lesson, we have a hard time thinking of something that will keep Indie's attention. Mostly, we have just shown her pictures of Jesus and give a one minute talk on how much Jesus loves us. Any ideas?

Just to show you how desperate we are for the spiritual part. This is what we did last week for family home evening. It started with the idea of finger painting, then went to pudding, but we didn't have chocolate, so it ended up being vanilla pudding. Here's the pictures.

NOT YET!

2008-08-21T15:39:00.000-07:00

Still not yet. I went and saw Machel today and I am now dilated to a "good" 2 and still 80% effaced. The baby is measuring at 7 lbs 12 oz. So for my sake, Machel hopes that I go this week. That's what she said last time. She says it's very possible, but you never know. So, you can still guess if you want to get in to the guessing game. Maybe September isn't such a bad guess after all.

Getting Closer

2008-08-11T12:21:00.001-07:00

We had another appointment today with Machel and we are getting closer. I am still dilated to a 1, but now 80% thinned. Maylin is HUGE!!! She gained a 1 lb and 1 oz. in just 6 days. She is measuring at 7 lbs. 4 oz. and 2 weeks early. Machel doubled measured just to be sure and the second time, Maylin was measuring even bigger. So...Maylin is a big baby! She could come any day now. Although, I'm not considered "full term" yet.

Another appointment

2008-08-06T07:37:00.000-07:00

We went and saw Machel again yesterday. She finally checked me and I am 70% thinned and dilated to a 1. Considering that I am 35 weeks and that my water broke 4 weeks early last time, Machel is somewhat concerned. She didn't put me on bed rest, but did tell me to avoid certain things. Baby Maylin is doing well. My fluid is a little low, so she is squished, but other than that she is doing well. She is measuring at 6 lbs. 3 oz. and is measuring 1 week early. So, she has slowed down a bit since last appointment. I go and see Machel again in a week and she will check me again. She said she would be happy if I even made it to 38 weeks, so I think Machel thinks the baby will come before then. So, all you late guessers...you may want to rethink your guess. Here is what I have so far. Yes, my dad's guess is in 1 day...but that is only because he was listening to me say that I was having bad cramps and that I knew I was thinning. Personally, I think Riley's and Melise's guess is a pretty good guess. AND I have to say, anyone who guessed in September...I'm afraid you are going to be a bit off. BRAD!!!

Papa Cook: Aug 7th
Amy: Aug 12th
Tricia: Aug 13th
Riley: Aug 15th
Melise: Aug 15th
Denver: Aug 19th
Alisa: Aug 20th
My guess: Aug 23rd
Jared: Aug 24th
Grandma Dow: Aug 25th
McKenzie: Aug 27th
Janessa: Aug 28th
Julie: Aug 28th
Mama Cook: Aug 29th
Becki: Aug 30th
Brad: Sept 2nd
Holly: Sept 4th
Tyler: Sept 5th

BY THE WAY...Family, please take a look at the Dow Family Blog and Brimhall Family Blog links.

Family Blog

2008-07-28T10:56:00.000-07:00

Ok, I posted this on my genealogy blog, but I know no one ever reads it. So, I'm posting this here because I like the idea. Who wants to participate in a family blog? I think I would do one for my side of the family and one for Brad's. The idea of the blog, would to post updates of what's going on in your family. I know most of you that read this already have your own family blog, but I mean just a place where any family member can go and read exciting updates. Some family members don't know how to blog or don't, so you could also make updates for the rest of your family. For example: my update for Brad's family today would be something like this:

Marty and Jill are living up in Idaho again. Karl and Zenda have Tom and Alisha living with them. Robert is still working as a chef at Wolf Creek. Nate is really sick and has been for 7 weeks. Keep praying for him. Brad and Karlie are expecting a baby girl in Sept. Tom and Alisha moved up to Farmington. Tom is working at LDS Surgical Center. They will be living close to Tooele in 2 weeks. Seesha started working again. John and Holly are expecting. David is doing well on his mission in Spain. Paul graduated high school. Gwen is living back and forth between Nate's and Melissa's and mom's and dad's house. Joel has become one of Indianna's favorite pals.

Let me know what you think. I think in order to do this, we would need several email addresses so people would know that the blog exists and also to add them in case they wanted to post anything. If you think this is a good idea...leave a comment and email me all the email addresses in your family. I think for my side of the family it would be the "Dow Family Blog" because no one on my dad's side blogs and for Brad's side it would be the "Brimhall Family Blog" because I don't think Brad's dad side blogs either. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Nap Time

2008-07-25T15:28:00.000-07:00

Ok...I need help! In the past 2-3 weeks, I have been having a hard time getting Indianna to take a nap. I know she's tired, but when I lay her down, she just talks to herself for like an hour. Then when she doesn't nap, she gets tired at 5:00. We tried to keep her awake until at least 7:00 on those days. Any suggestions or help? Nap times are really important in this house, because that is when I get a lot of my work done. For those that don't know, I work from home. I usually work during her nap and then later at night when she's in bed. Any ideas?

Blessed Honored Pioneer

2008-07-25T15:15:00.000-07:00

Happy Pioneer Day a day late. Here's to all my ancestors that came before and endured so much. I want to take this opportunity to honor my own pioneer ancestors. Well, because of the length I will honor one by telling her story. Lucy Perlina Ford was a member of the church in the early years. She was a member of the Nauvoo 2nd ward. She was married to Eli Dow, but later divorced him due to his drinking habit and it was said that he wasn't very kind to her. They had two children: Abigail and Lorenzo Dow. Abigail died in Nauvoo when she was two years old. Lorenzo was my great great grandfather. Lucy got her endowments in the Nauvoo temple. She remarried John Miles (Or Mailes). John went traveled the pioneer trail to the Salt Lake Valley and was one of the first to arrive in 1847. He later came back for Lucy, but died before he was able to return to Salt Lake with Lucy. Lucy and her children (Lorenzo and children from John) travelled to Salt Lake and I arrived around 1849. (I am telling this story, strictly from memory) She lost several children. I think it was around 6 children at a young age. Three set of twins. She lived with George Albert Smith for a while until they got settled. I have Lucy's patriarchal blessing from Hyrum Smith, which states "your descendants will bless your name and always remember you." I am so thankful for her endurance and wonderful example of faith.

Another appointment

2008-07-16T08:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had another appointment with Machel. She asked how things were going and did an ultrasound. Once again, she said, "This is a BIG baby!!!" I reminded her that I went 4 weeks early with Indianna and she said that she would for sure check me in two weeks. I figured two weeks isn't that far away, so I didn't say anything about the contractions I've been having or the fact that I think I am thinning. Machel measured the baby and any guesses how much baby Maylin gained after 4 weeks? This blows my mind. Maylin was 2 lbs 8 oz last time (4 weeks ago). This time she is measuring at 5 lbs. 1 oz. She gained 2 lbs 9 oz in 4 weeks. WOW!! Again at the end of the appointment Machel told me to come back in two weeks. So, we go out to make our appointment and the girl says that Machel is booked. So, she calls Machel and asks where she wants to put me. Machel asks the girl, "how far along is she?" It blows my mind that Machel forgot that fast. I think it had been 2 minutes. Needless to say, they moved me back to 3 weeks. So, the next time I see her will be at 35 weeks. Hopefully, baby Maylin doesn't come too early. On the way home, Brad and I were curious as too how early I was measuring. On the ultrasound it says, Aug 30th. So, I am measuring 12 days early. Next time it'll probably be 3 weeks, just like Indianna. Ok...for those of you that want to guess when I'll have Maylin, I'm keeping track. Here is what I have so far.

Papa Cook: Aug 7th
Riley: Aug 15th
Melise: Aug 15th
My guess: Aug 23rd
Grandma Dow: Aug 25th
McKenzie: Aug 27th
Janessa: Aug 28th
Julie: Aug 28th
Mama Cook: Aug 29th
Becki: Aug 30th
Brad: Sept 2nd
Holly: Sept 4th
Tyler: Sept 5th

Happy Independence Day

2008-07-06T18:40:00.000-07:00

I have a deep appreciation for the freedom we enjoy here in America. What a great land we live in! We are so blessed to have the freedom's that we enjoy. After serving my mission in Germany and seeing what communist rule has done to a wonderful people, I can honestly say, "I love America!" Thank you to all those that have sacrificed their lives, time, and family so that we can enjoy all those blessings that we enjoy. We really appreciate you and are forever grateful.

We had a great fourth of July. We first did the Riverdale city walk. Well...Indie and I. It was a 5k and I have to say, I was kind of sore later. But, that didn't seem like enough excitement for the day. We ate breakfast in the park and Indie enjoyed playing on the playground near by with lots of attention from family. Later we went to Whitesides and played in the pool. Indie LOVES swimming. After swimming, we went to my parents house to have a bar-b-que and we watched fireworks. It was a day full of fun and energy. Below are the pictures that show the day. Thanks to McKenzie and Tyler for bringing their camera. AND thanks to McKenzie for walking with her slow sister the whole walk!

South Ogden City Days

2008-06-30T10:06:00.000-07:00

What a fun week we had. It was South Ogden City days and we took every opportunity to enjoy it. We first went to movie night in the park on Monday. They showed the movie, "August Rush" (One of my favorites). Of course the movie didn't start until it was dark, so needless to say we only made it about an hour into the movie. Indie was 3 hours past her bedtime and was throwing her body around because she just didn't know what to do with herself. She did love every moment of it though and thought she was such a big girl.

Indie with her popcorn was ready for the movie to begin.

On Wednesday, we went to the parade. However, I forgot my camera. I never dreamed that Indie would get so much candy. She has candy to last her for weeks! Not to mention, 3 balls and 4 Frisbees. It was so hot though! I think the reason we got so much candy, is we were the only ones on the sunny side of the road and everyone felt sorry for Indie so they would toss her handfuls of candy. Indianna did not like the sound of all the big trucks and cars, but started to get into it once we gave her a piece of candy. She got the hang of it real fast. Although a little hesitant, I think she really enjoyed the horses at the end of the parade.

On Friday, we decided to go to the carnival. I had bought a discount pass in advance and figured we would exchange it for 30 tickets so Brad could ride a couple of rides with Indie if needed. Three words...."What a WASTE!!" It was the lamest carnival ever! They didn't even have a ferris wheel. What carnival doesn't have a ferris wheel. Indie first rode the boats by herself and hated it. You can't tell from the picture, but she didn't like it. Then she rode the merry go round with Brad. Yes, Brad had to pay tickets to stand by her to make sure she didn't fall off. Indie liked it ok, but wasn't too thrilled. We then tried the small car rides and of course Brad was too big to ride with her and the guy told us that Indie was too small to ride the rides. WHAT!!!! Seriously??? So, Indie had a choice on her rides...the boats or the merry go round. We decided it was WAY too hot to be there and decided to turn our tickets over to someone who could use them. It was so disappointing to pay $15 for 2 rides. Oh well...now we know. After the carnival, we decided to get slurpees to cool us off. Now, that was something Indie enjoyed. We then went to Whiteside's pool and after warming up to it, Indie LOVED it! and did not want to get out.

On Saturday, there was a concert and fireworks. Although a pretty good sport, Brad, refused to go to a country concert. I decided to honor his wishes, since I had already dragged him to the movie, parade, and carnival. All of which, he did not want to go. We ended up going to grandma Indra's house and playing cards and watching the fireworks from her drive way. We had a perfect view and must say...it was better than sitting in the heat at a concert. Grandma's house was PERFECT for watching fireworks. We might have even had a better view than the people in the park. Thanks grandma!

And of course, the perfect way to end the week. We went to church on Sunday and heard great lessons and talks.

Potty Training

2008-06-30T08:29:00.000-07:00

So, Indie and I have decided to give potty training another try. Indianna is doing very well and I am so proud of her. She is getting to the point where she tells me when she needs to go. (She doesn't actually say potty yet, but she pulls at her diaper and whines) So, she has done fairly well. The only problem...I spend probably a quarter of my day in the bathroom reading books on the hard floor, while she takes her sweet time to go potty. At first, I thought the only reason she wanted to go potty was so she could read books. BUT, when I make her get off after only reading one or two books, then she goes in her diaper and gets mad at me for making her get off the potty. So, we are to the point, where she spends about 20 minutes on the potty before she goes. I'm hoping that with time, this time will decrease, because 10 times a day for 20 minutes, can really add up fast. This morning, I got tired of the floor after 30 minutes. Indie had gone 3 times already, but hadn't done her big job. I rushed her off the potty and after about five minutes of playing she came to me, with a disgusted look on her face, and said "oh oh!" Poor girl was SOOOOOO disappointed that she had gone in her pants. I felt bad, but I just couldn't spend any more time on that hard floor. I of course assured her that she was a good big girl and that we will make it to the potty next time. So, that is where we are at with potty training. I have to say, it is very nice, not to change too many dirty diapers. I've probably only had to change about 3 poopy diapers this past week and I think that is pretty good.

Another Appointment

2008-06-19T12:38:00.000-07:00

I had an appointment with Machel on Tuesday. It was probably the fastest appointment I have ever had with her. She didn't check me, and I didn't ask to be checked. I figured if she was really that worried about it, she would remember. Baby is doing well. She is weighing 2 lbs. 8 oz. right now. Her head is down and she's getting ready. She's measuring 4 days early, but Machel thinks it's because of her big head! That's right! She's going to have a big head like her daddy and sister. Because my head is really small, so I know she didn't get it from me. When she was measuring the head, it took up the whole screen and I said "wow, that's her head, it looks big." Machel says, "That's because it is BIG!" Last time her stomach was big, this time her head. I guess we'll luck out and have another big baby. We also got to hear the heart beat and Maylin is doing great!!! Or Maelynn. We still haven't decided and we are still working on a middle name. I guess that's it. It wasn't that exciting of an appointment. The next time I go to see Machel is in another 4 weeks. I'll be 32 weeks then, so hopefully we'll have more exciting news.

We might have decided on a name

2008-06-10T11:22:00.001-07:00

Ok. As most of you know, Brad and I have really struggled thinking of a name for our second daughter. We really liked the name, Melise, but it still just didn't feel quite right. It was actually amazing when I finally came up with a name that felt right. It was Wednesday night, Brad was asleep and I was up working late. I decided to take a shower and that's when it came! It's amazing the places you receive inspiration. I was so excited, I could hardly wait to tell Brad. But, I didn't want to wake him. This name kept me up all night. I just kept thinking about it and was just SOOOOOOO excited to finally feel good about a name. What's the name you ask? Well, Brad and I wanted to name this daughter after Brad's side of the family, since Indie totally after my side. (Grandma Indra and my brother Riley). I came up with a name that I like and we can say that she is named after Brad's mom, Marilyn. We just aren't sure how to spell it. Brad likes it with "lyn" on the end, but I think we could spell it however and still say it's after mama Lundell. So I need help with spellings. Post your favorite way to spell it. There is a peak in Ogden named "Malan's Peak". Brad doesn't like that spelling. So here are just a couple of ideas. Maylynn, Maelynn, Malyn, Maylin, Maelin, Malin. Any other spellings are welcomed. We would call her Maley for short or as a nickname. We are also still trying to find a middle name to go with Maylin, but we really want a simple family name to go with it or at least something that has meaning.

Weekend of Fun

2008-06-10T10:43:00.000-07:00

This past week, Brad's family came and stayed with us. We had a lot of fun. On Friday we went to Lagoon. It was Karl and Zenda's stake Lagoon day, so we got in free. We took Indie on the "free" rides. Indie loved the train ride, especially the animals. It made us realize how much we need to take Indie to the zoo. We are planning on this for one of Brad's Friday's off. It seems Saturday would just be too crowded. Brad also took her on the Merry-go-round. She didn't like waiting in line and she didn't like waiting for the ride to start. She hated being strapped in, but as soon as the ride started, her big smile return to her face. Unfortunately, we forgot our camera and you will just have to take our word for it. She also loved playing in the water fountains at the entrance and LOVED playing with her uncle Joel. I don't think I have ever heard Indie laugh as much as she did with Joel.

On Saturday, we went fishing because it was free fishing day. Indie loves play fishing in the bathtub, so I figured she'd love real fishing. She didn't seem to mind it until her and dad actually caught a fish and dad was waving the fish in her front of her so I could get a picture. She did not want that thing anywhere near her.

Goodbye old friend

2008-06-04T09:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we said goodbye to an old friend. After 6 years and 60,000 miles, Paca finally gave up. She was to the point of not worth fixing. We went to sell her for parts and just as Brad was towing her into the salvage yard, a guy pulled up and offered us more money for her. Turns out, it's Brad's brother Karl's brother-in-law. He's going to try and fix Paca up so she can go back out on the street. But, regardless, we said our goodbyes. I have to say, I'm pretty saddened by the whole thing. But, I guess there are different times in our lives and our cars kind of match our lives. There's the single car, the fun car, the family car, and the retirement car. We enjoyed the fun, Paca, and you will be missed!

The one and only time Paca got stuck. AND that was
only because we tried to run over 3 ft of snow

Play date with dad

2008-06-02T09:05:00.000-07:00

On Friday night, Indie and I took dad to the park so he could see how much Indie loves it. Brad mostly took pictures, but the pictures alone show how much fun Indie had. This park is probably a mile from our house and it has a toddler park and a splash pad.

This is Indie climbing trying to go down the toddler stairs.

Friday's Appointment

2008-06-02T08:54:00.000-07:00

I went to the doctor's on Friday. The baby is doing well. Machel first measured the head and said, "right on schedule" she then measured the belly and said, "well she's definitely not a small baby". Nothing too exciting happened. Machel said she would check me next time, because she's worried I might go early because my water broke and I went early with Indie. The good news: my sugar levels are fine and my fluids are back up. Last appointment my fluid was at a 9 this time it was at a 17. I'm 25 weeks now. If this baby comes as early as Indie, she will be here in 11 weeks. We are still thinking of names, but really like Melise. Machel asked me about names and I told her we like Melise and she thought it was a beautiful name. Indianna seems to like it to. Each time we ask her, she smiles and nods yes!

Week full of excitement

2008-05-27T09:47:00.000-07:00

What a week full of excitement. Last week two big events took place in my family. First, my brother, Denver, got engaged on the 21st of May. What a great day! Denver proposed to Tricia Taylor and of course she said "YES!" They are going to be married on the 13th of September. For all of you who know, I am due on the 11th of September, so let's pray for an early delivery like Indianna. Congratulations both of you! You are perfect for each other.

Second, on the 22nd, McKenzie and Tyler had their baby, Brooklyn. She was born at 9:15 pm. Lucky Kenz only had to push for like 20 minutes. She weighed 7 lbs and 4 oz and was 20 inches long. She is home with her mom and dad and doing great. She does have a bit of jaundice and therefore under a billi blanket. She eats well and loves to be bundled and cuddled. Congratulations! She's beautiful! Indianna loves her cousin Brooklyn and is the best little helper. I think she's going to be a great big sister in September.

Spirit of Elijah

2008-05-16T13:58:00.000-07:00

Ok, no surprise on the title, right? Actually, I haven't been doing any genealogy lately and really haven't been in the mood. But, recently the Catholic church has decided not to share their records with members of the LDS church. I don't know if this is for individuals or the church in general. But, it has kind of got me thinking. Have I waited too long to ask for records? One of my lines are from Ireland and they were Catholic. For 66 Euros, I can have them do a search on one name. Do you know how much 66 Euros is?

Second reason I have thought about genealogy lately: a good name for our second daughter. So far, we have come up with basically nothing. I have searched all of my names in my genealogy and thought about doing more genealogy just so I can find a name.

Yesterday, one of my "genealogy email groups" decided to do a roll call. For those of you who don't know what this is, that's when all the people who are in that group send out an email with the surnames they are searching. So, I put out Delahunty and at the last minute, decided to put the name White. I haven't done any research on the White family, but have thought about it. This family was also from Ireland and married into the Delahunty family. What happened? Today I got an email from a guy on the list who has some "letters from 1970" regarding a townland in Ireland that was called the "White Estate." It happens to be very close to where the Whites and Delahunty's lived. So, I emailed the guy back and told him I was interested. Is all this coincidence, or are the White's calling my name? I kind of feeling a tug from the other side or as the gospel teaches, the spirit of Elijah.

Big Girl

2008-05-16T13:31:00.001-07:00

Today Indianna and I went to the park before the weather got too hot. Indianna loved every minute of it. She is starting to get the hang of going up the stairs and going down the slide herself. Luckily, we have a playground near our house that is just for toddlers. So, just her size. As she was playing, she sat and observed another child her age. He was probably a two year old. She followed him everywhere. She finally caught up to him and just sat there and smiled at him. She was trying to communicate. When all of sudden, this little boy grabbed her by the shirt and threw her to the ground. It didn't hurt Indie, but she looked at him like, "why did you do that?" and then she started crying. Poor girl. She is now convinced that all little boys are mean. Another little boy, also two years old, came to the playground and he was so nice and friendly and wanted to play with Indianna. Well, I guess she had learned her lesson. She stayed her distance.

Today, Indie and I are also trying something new on the potty training. My mom tells me that when she potty trained her kids, she just let them run around naked. Well, I think Indie knows when she has to go. Earlier today, before the park, I was talking to my mom on the phone and Indie went over to the diapers, pulled one out, and then went and laid down on her blanket where I usually change her diaper. I figured she wanted her diaper changed, so I changed it and it was barely wet. So, we have decided to try the running around naked. It'll make me and her more aware of when she has to go. How's it going you ask? Well so far in the first hour, we have made 5 trips to the bathroom and one accident on the, luckily, kitchen floor. She is now begging me to put her pants back on. What a big girl for trying though.

Talked me into it

2008-05-15T12:01:00.001-07:00

Ok. I have friends and family doing blogs and they have all encouraged me to do a blog. I always tell them that I don't have time. But, after these past few weeks, I've had a lot of thoughts and feelings so why not write them down. First things first, I'm not sure how often I will update this or even if this will be the blog I always write in. The true thing that talked me into blogging was of course, genealogy.

In the past couple of weeks, we have had two deaths in the family. Our 6 month old nephew Corbin passed away on the 1st of May and Brad's grandfather passed away on the 4th. We attended grandpa Brimhall's funeral this past weekend. As we were sitting there for the viewing, I challenged Brad and a couple of his cousins to name all of their cousins. Needless to say, they couldn't do so. Brad's grandparent's (the Brimhall's) have 9 children and I think it was 44 grandchildren and I'm sure lots and lots of great grandchildren. The Brimhall family tries to get together at least once a year, but with families living in different states, we rarely see some of the Brimhall cousins. I suggested at the viewing that someone in the family start a Brimhall family blog where everyone can post all of their information. Nobody was up for it and I don't feel it's my responsibility to do it. But, it did get me thinking about how I should do a blog for my side of the genealogy. I did start a genealogy website through geocities about a year ago, but never really got it going all that well. This might be an easier way to get the family tree started and going.

With that said, as I was creating my very first blog I thought about what I should name it. I figured I will blog on 3 different topics. One, what's going on in the Lundell family (Brad, Me, Indianna, and baby sister). Two, family history or getting the family updates from both my family and Brad's family. And three, to post genealogy. Ok, so in reality this is all family history and genealogy. How exciting!!! AND that's what talked me into doing a blog. Nothing is more exciting than genealogy.