A New Calling

I'm really excited about my new calling. I've been called as the Assistant Ward Welfare Specialist. It's a new calling for our ward. It encompasses the callings of the Ward Employment Specialist and Ward Provident Living Specialist. Previously the wards welfare needs were being met by the leaders of our ward, but since that need is becoming so great they have called 2 of us to this calling and many more to be called to the committee as well.

Here is a definition provided by http://www.providentliving.org/.

“The stake presidency [or bishopric] . . . may call welfare specialists to assist the stake [or ward] welfare committee as needed. These specialists should be stake [or ward] members who can assist other members in such things as finding employment, improving nutrition and sanitation, storing food, obtaining health care, improving literacy, managing finances, and helping meet other welfare needs”

I truly feel called of God to serve in this committee. He has been inspiring me all week on ways I can serve and how to get this committee going. All this days before I was even asked by our Bishop.

Sister Duke and I had our first meeting yesterday as a committee and we already have so much planned for this month and next month. I can't wait to share the news with our ward, but for now it will have to wait. Other helpful tips I will also pass on to my family and friends. I may have to start a different blog, but I will let you all know.

22 Weeks

Today I had my 22 week checkup, but I also had another ultrasound. At my ultrasound at 18 weeks we couldn't get a good look at Kipton's spine so that is what today's ultrasound was for. It was also my 7th ultrasound for this pregnancy. I've had so many issues, but in the end everything is fine.



Sometimes it's hard to believe just how flexible babies are in the womb and it's also neat to get to see how the baby is positioned.



Below is a picture of Kipton curled up in a little ball. For those who aren't familiar with ultrasound pictures I'll explain it.

His head is in the center and he is looking up, his body is in the bottom right with his thighs over his body, his knees above his mouth and his feet above his head.

Everything is going well for this pregnancy. I am developing anxiety, a hormone imbalance, but the doctor told me it will go away a month or two after birth so that is good news. I just can't handle too many things on my agenda. If I have more then one thing to do it stresses me out to where I don't want to do anything. Mostly it still gets done, but I'm a nervous wreck the whole time. I'm also developing a food allergy which is not a pregnancy thing my doctor said so she is referring me to an allergist to look into that.

Other then that I am 22 weeks along, measuring 20 weeks and I've only gain 5 pounds. Great news there!

Denver Zoo

Monday was free to go to the Denver Zoo and Taylor was off so we decided to go. I don't think we will be going again on a free day, it was really busy and people and strollers were everywhere. As the day went on the people started to disperse out a little better, but when it came to watch any of the demonstrations or feedings we weren't able to get close enough. I took many pictures and decided to do a slide show of it all. The music I wanted I couldn't get so I finally just picked a song so I wouldn't have to stress over it anymore.

It was a lot of fun to go with Tracy and her son Brody. Ashton and Brody are becoming great friends. Grandma and Grandpa Guthrie also came out. I think Marianne had just as much fun as Ashton did pushing him around and chasing the geese. I didn't get any pictures of them and I wished I did. I started to get really tired from walking around after 4 hours.

I hope you enjoy it!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Results are in!

To start, who ever voted on the poll, you were all RIGHT. There were only 5 votes, but all for the same sex. Most of you know what I thought I was going to be having and turns out I was right. I am happy to say that too. Feels better then being wrong : )

We are having a healthy baby BOY!!!!

I had a pretty good idea that we were having a boy. Now that we've had one of each and Ashton and Peyton's pregnancy were very different I was hoping to be able to predict future pregnancies. Since the beginning of this pregnancy it has been exactly like Ashton's. I also have only been able to come up with one name which was for a boy.

The name we have picked is Kipton Taylor

Peyton and Boo

When Peyton lets me, I like to play with her hair and try different things. I don't usually get a lot of time though. I was taking a picture of her and thought she reminded me of Boo from Monsters Inc.

They even talk about the same too : )

Everything and Anything

I can't believe how sick my kids have been getting. Maybe we are catching up for all the healthy times we've had. To show you the timeline, Peyton got sick the first week of November with a double ear infection. I also got sick. 3 weeks later we all came down with Swine Flu. Ashton got a secondary infection and got croup the same week of the flu. Then we started getting better. Then both kids got a stomach bug with tummy aches and other tmi issues. Then Peyton got a secondary infection with croup which is now appearing to be gone. However, Ashton got a secondary infection a week after Peyton's croup. He at this moment has strep throat and nose. I am still fighting off something. I hope I can keep it away. Being a mom, pregnant, and sick is just awful.

Pregnancy is going fine. I am eating again so that is nice, but I still have food aversions and I don't like to eat anything sweet. I want the sour stuff and yes that includes pickles. I'll be 17 weeks tomorrow and in one more week we will hopefully be finding out what we are having. Although I have a really good guess to what we are having, but I could always be wrong.

Christmas was a lot of fun, but very busy. Here are some of the pictures we took.

The Guys

Scott Thompson, Scott Henderson and Taylor Flint

The Ladies

Chrystalee Thompson, Annedria Henderson, Shaundra Flint, Liz Flint, Marianne Guthrie

Family photo

Never perfect : )

All of Taylor's sisters, spouses, and kids

Opening Presents

Peyton got a cabbage patch doll and I like the look on her face in this picture. It was like Ashton was going to take it and she wasn't letting it go.

If your wondering how the transition with the cats is going, all I can say is it's okay and not okay. It's going okay with Sophie and not okay with Mimi. Here is a video of Bella and Sophie. For the most part they are fine. Sophie lets Bella into her personal space. Mimi on the other hand, Bella can just look at her and she will start hissing. She isn't social unless all the kids and dog are not around. Sophie will hang out most of the day with us and is a big talker. Sophie is exactly what I wanted. I am hoping Mimi will come around. Here is a video of Bella and Sophie.

This is what Christmas morning looks like after 15 people open presents.

I hope everyone had a Wonderful Christmas and hope the best for everyone in 2010

Big News!

Alright I am finally ready to share this news with the world. We are expecting again! I am 12 weeks pregnant! Seems like just yesterday I was 4 weeks and finding out. It has gone by so fast. It was pretty hard to keep it a secret, but as time went on it got easier. Lots of bumps along the way including testing positive for H1N1. I've been sick with a cold since the first week of November and then last week (the day before Thanksgiving) went to Urgent Care where I found out that I had swine flu. Then both kids and hubby got it along with Ashton getting croup too. We are all on the mends now and I am so thankful that the flu hasn't turned into anything to major. This pregnancy isn't as easy like it was when I was pregnant with Peyton. I've lost 10 pounds due to a big food aversion and smells. Finally got some medicine to help. Can't wait to eat again!



We are very excited to have another baby. Ashton will be three years old and Peyton will be almost two, 22 months older then this baby. I am due June 10th, 2010. Just after the first of the new year (in 6 weeks) we will be finding out what we are having. I can't wait and I already have my suspicion as to what this little bean is.

Our new additions

On Saturday we adopted 2 new kitties. It was only suppose to be one, but I later found out that Sophie came in with Mimi and after hearing that the owners dropped them off because they lost their home I couldn't separate them. Poor kitties lost their home, their family and almost lost each other. I had to take both. They also gave me a 2 for 1 deal so that helped.


Here is Sophie. She is about 1 years old. Loves attention and is very friendly. She is a big talker and purrs softly.

She is very good with kids. Practically another Bella. Sophie was not harmed, but you can see that she lets the kids touch her even if they grab her face.

Next is Mimi. Yes this is a different cat. She is 2 years old. It's possible that Mimi is the mother of Sophie. Mimi likes her privacy and distance. She is still warming up to her environment. She lets the kids pet her, but does prefer to observe from a distance. She purrs very loudly.

Time for some side by side shots. These cats are almost identical. Mimi's eyes are more green and Sophie's are more yellow. Both their right front foot is white and both their left front feet are black, but Mimi has slightly more black then Sophie. If your a cat expert you can tell Mimi looks a little older the Sophie.

A friend comes over to play

Today Ashton had a friend come over to play. Brody is almost 2 and Ashton and Brody play every Sunday in Nursery.

They played so well today. They would run from Ashton's room at the end of the hall back to the living room. Ashton followed by Brody who was followed by Peyton who was followed by Bella. It was so funny!

Of course the big hit was playing with cars.

Then there became a sweet moment. Brody had taken a liken to Peyton. For several minutes he had his arm around her.

Peyton wasn't too sure about what was going on though. She even got down, but he followed and tried to put his arm around her again. It was very cute!

Halloween

Well, first I'm very disappointed in myself for not taking many pictures. I am on the committee for our wards trunk or treat and I was way too busy to take pictures of my cute kiddos that night. Luckily the next day was Halloween and I got 3 photos, but should have tried to get more.

Ashton was so cute in his pumpkin costume. He really enjoyed wearing it and loved carrying his own bag. He said, "trick or treat" about 3-5 times at each house.

This is the only picture I got of Peyton in her costume. She was a fairy and she loved being all dressed up. She too loved carrying her own bag. So much she wouldn't let it go.

I thought this was funny. He saw the moon and started talking and pointing to it.
This was our first Halloween with the kids where we went trick or treating. Both Ashton and Peyton did so well. It was also pretty nice weather here for just having snow 2 days prior. Nice weather equaled a light jacket and even people had their doors open when we got to their house.

Thank you Marianne and Phil for coming and helping me out since Taylor had to work. It was a lot of fun having you both over.

Lately I've been using the Emergency Essentials Food Storage Analyzer to calculator all of my food storage needs. Something I wasn't thinking too much about was nutrition. I was just trying to get all of the basics and then start adding to it as we go. However in an emergency situation and possibly if we need to use our food storage for a longer duration it is going to be important to have a balanced array of foods. Especially for our little ones who are still growing. Using this new food storage calculator shows you how nutritious your food supply is. Personally I want to get more dehydrated fruits and vegetables. I have strawberries, apples, bananas, onions, and carrots, but there are many more I would like to get. This just got a little easier for me since Emergency Essentials is giving away a free $10 gift card. This will the 2nd gift card I've received from. You can also use your gift card towards non food related items. I like some of their candles and wool blankets.

Silly Kids

This is what you get when you give your kids one mini chocolate chip muffin. Hope you enjoy the video!

Oh I think it's funny that they both fall down at the same time, but not near each other.