My three-year-old artist.

The past couple of weeks Phillip has really gotten into drawing. It started with him coloring entire notebook pages one color. Then he started drawing straight lines and circles, and now he is drawing whatever his little mind thinks of. Yesterday he drew his favorite cartoon character, "Captain Knuckles," a camera, the sun and moon, the number 10, Mommy, and a car on a road. He did a really good job too! I took some photos of them, but we haven't put them on the computer yet. I'll post them when we do. I can't help but wonder what he will learn to draw next. Or even what he will learn to say or do next! He just seems to be progressing so fast since Danny was born.

Danny is doing great, too! He is sleeping really well. He usually sleeps for six hours when I put him to bed, then he wakes up to eat and goes back to sleep for another four hours. His legs are starting to get stronger. He likes to lay on my chest and bounce with them. I don't know how much he weighs right now, but he's a little chunkster!

I love my monkeys!!!

Blogging outside!

After living in Kansas for so long, I had forgotten it was possible to actually enjoy being outside. Here I now sit, on a blanket in the shade, with my babies by my side. There's a slight breeze, just enough to battle the warm air. I feel so refreshed! Okay, enough bragging.

Today is Mike's third day at work. He says the people he works with are friendly enough. I met one gal, Angela. She seemed really nice! Of coarse our ultimate goal is still for Mike to go to school full time for a new career. But this will do until we can make that a reality. Mike doesn't really like Air Traffic Control at all. He has recently said he would like to work in Human Resources. I know things will work out for him eventually. In the meantime, we have a wonderful place to call home.

By the way, has anyone ever heard of frisbee golf? Well, until we moved here I just thought it was a made up game on the Wii, but it turns out it's real! It looks super fun too. I think I will try my hand at the sport and see where it takes me. I need to start playing tennis again, too. I really miss it!

We made it, sort of.

Well, we got to Idaho Falls four days ago. So far, the place seems pretty nice, but we've had a ton of crazy drama ever since arriving. When we got to the rental office to sign our lease and pick up the keys nobody seemed to know very much. They couldn't figure out where our keys were and informed us the stove top in our apartment didn't work. They also didn't know which mailbox was ours, and said we should just try them all until we got the right one. Great idea... I'll just stand outside and look like I'm trying to break in and steal everyone's mail!

We were told someone would be by the following day to fix our stove top, and indeed they were. Unfortunately, he needed to order the parts, which wouldn't be in for a week. Oh and did I mention the fact that the stove electrocuted him? Yeah, not gonna work for me. So I had to call and tell the office we were NOT going an entire week with a stove that doesn't work and electrocutes people. I had to be kinda rude to the gal on the phone about it. I didn't want to, but she refused to acknowledge it was a problem. So I let her know that if we didn't have a new stove by the end of the day, we were leaving and filing a complaint with the attorney general. Somehow they miraculously came up with a new stove within the hour.

Additionally, our apartment was filthy when we moved in. The walls were not even so much as wiped off, so there are all kinds of soda spills and stuff on them. The light fixtures are all covered in grime and bugs. The top of the fridge is covered in dust and grime, there were cigarette butts in our garage, and an old rusty grill with wasp nests inside on the back patio. The floors might have been vacuumed, but they weren't cleaned because they turn our socks black. We took pictures of everything and put it on the sheet you fill out stating the status of the apt. We asked if they could either send out a cleaning crew, or reimburse for our first weeks rent since we couldn't move our stuff in until everything was clean. When the lady called us back she said the owner claimed he looked at the apartment previously and there was nothing wrong with it. What a liar!!!

So, we are less than pleased with this apartment. Mike said if he like's his job, then we'll find a house and buy out of our lease. If he decides he doesn't like his job here, then we are going to find a way for him to go back to school. We're kind of tired of going from tower to tower hoping it will be different. The town seems nice though. There are a ton of parks, a zoo, a museum, mall, lots of places to go out. Now as long as Mike likes his job we'll be set!

I had a heck of a time getting to church yesterday. The internet gave me directions to nowhere, so I ended up driving around in a five square mile radius until I found the right street. With all the confusion, I was only fifteen minutes late. Of coarse Phillip had to cry and be a handful all throughout sacrament, but I knew I had to just stay in the meeting and deal with it. If you take them out the first time, they expect it from then on out. He loved his nursery class though and did really well. I met a few nice ladies and hopefully I'll meet some more people tomorrow at playgroup.

My past three weeks have been very stressful. I'm praying that it's all for my own good, but to be honest I have just been a little down. Having a baby, my five week old getting surgery, moving, and dealing with this crappy rental agency have just made me a little pessimistic. I seriously need a break.

Pros and Cons of a Baby who sleeps well.

I've recently found myself unable to decide whether or not it's a good thing that Danny sleeps so well. On the one hand, I have been getting a lot more sleep than I did with Phillip. But on the other hand, going so long at a time without nursing has convinced my body to start menstruating again. I'm really happy for Danny! He wakes up happy and it just lights up my day to see him smile. But seriously, I thought I would be able to make it longer than six weeks before getting my period. I thought that was supposed to be one of the perks of breast feeding. I should have expected it though. With Phillip, I got it back around nine weeks postpartum. But he took an entire month to start latching on and didn't eat well, so I wasn't very surprised. This time around really was a surprise for me though. Danny has been a great little "sucker" ever since he was born. He eats a TON and has gained about five pounds already. I honestly thought I was going to luck out. Has anyone else had this happen? It just seems unfair! Perhaps even more frustrating than just having my period back, is that now I have to worry about getting pregnant again. Grrrrr. I miss the worry-free days!!!

Daniel's Surgery

Well Daniel had to have a minor surgery last week. It wasn't a very big deal, but I kinda freaked out anyway. I started to change his diaper and noticed a weird lump right next to his rectum. I immediately showed Mike, and started looking all over the internet to find out what it was. I decided I thought it was an abscess, (which turned out to be right) and called the doctor's office. They told me to come in the next morning. I originally thought the pediatrician would just suck the gunk out with a needle and everything would be done with. Boy was I wrong!

The doctor came in and looked at it and said she needed to have the surgeon come down and see if he could drain it in the office or not. She said if he couldn't do it there, then Daniel would have to be admitted to the hospital and have surgery to remove the puss. I was kind of taken aback. A hospital stay wasn't exactly on my agenda for the day. What would I do about Mike going to work, and who would watch Phillip? Well, the surgeon finally arrived and decided the abscess was too big to drain in the office. We would have to be admitted. Great... just our luck.

Luckily I have a great friend who offered to take Phillip home with her for a while. The last thing I needed was to try and take care of a hungry, fussy three year old while trying not to break down about little Danny. I was told Daniel wouldn't be able to eat again until after his surgery. He already hadn't eaten in three hours, and they needed to wait a total of six hours before putting him under anesthesia because of the risk of aspirating into his lungs. That made me freak out, too. A couple of nurses came over and tried to put an I.V. in his arm, but after two blown veins they decided to let the pediatric nurses take care of it. At this point, I am a complete emotional mess.

We finally got admitted into the pediatric ward around 11:30 in the morning. We were told the surgery was scheduled for around five that evening. At six o'clock the nurse informs us that they are backed up in surgery, and the surgeon suggested feeding Daniel and trying again in the morning. That was not an option for me. I refuse to starve my five week old baby all day for NOTHING! So we made it pretty clear that we were under no circumstances waiting until the next day for his surgery. They weren't happy with us, but to be honest, I really could have cared less. Daniel ended up going to surgery at 11:30 that night.

The procedure itself only lasted about ten minutes. The surgeon made a one inch incision across the abscess and drained it. He said there was a lot more puss in it than he originally thought. Daniel was put on a ten day supply of the antibiotic Cleocin. He is doing great now, and seems much happier.

A late tribute to Michael Jackson

I meant to write this post quite a while ago, but was sidetracked with kids and moving. I realize there is a lot of controversy surrounding Michael Jackson. Alleged crimes, plastic surgeries, his infamous dangling the baby. It's not my place to judge others based on their personal decisions or accused actions. In the end, one fact remains and perhaps is the most important one of all. He changed the way we think of music and inspired countless millions with his words.

I can remember the very first time I heard "Man in the Mirror." It was such a life-changing moment for me. I was going through a pretty rough time in my life. My mother had been diagnosed with cancer only about a month after my little brother came to live with us. He was only six months old, coming from an abusive home. I was having a particularly hard time with school and friends, and had recently become discouraged at church because I was the only LDS youth in my county. It was just a very dismal time in my life and I wasn't sure how to turn things around. So one day, I went to the mall with a couple of friends and decided to peruse a few cd's. I picked Michael Jackson's Number Ones cd, put the head phones on, and scanned the bar code. There were only three songs to choose from on the preview, so I chose "Man in the Mirror." I could immediately feel the power and emotions from this song. The message was so clear to me, and I knew that all I had to do was look to myself to make the change in me that I needed; both to be a better person, and to deal with the adversity that comes from living in a world that doesn't understand you.

Indeed from that day forward, Michael Jackson has had a permanent place in my heart. I bought the cd, and listen to it on a regular basis even now. That's not the only song that has meaning to me, but it's the one that changed me. I truly do believe that the world can be a better place if we look at ourselves and make the changes we want to see in others.

I know he'll never know what he did for me, but I like to think that "in the beyond" he can see what good has come from his music. Thank you, Michael, for having the courage to follow your dreams.

Facebook Poll Rantings

Today I logged onto Facebook in an attempt to relax after a long day of phone calls and cranky children. One of the first things I noticed was a poll that a few people I know voted on. It was, "Should people on welfare have to be drug tested to get a check?" I was surprised to see how many people voted "yes." By no means do I support the idea of some scum bag using my tax dollars on dope, but being on welfare doesn't make you a scum bag. I know plenty of hard working, upstanding citizens who just so happen to be poor. Some of the most amazing friends I have are on welfare and they deserve every penny of it. What they don't deserve is the humiliation of having to pee in front of government employees to prove that they aren't scum. Do we not live in a country with a constitution that guarantees us certain freedoms? Is it not embarrassing enough to have to be on welfare? Isn't it enough that in order to maintain their dignity, they are forced to go grocery shopping at three in the morning so nobody sees their food stamps? I'm so exhausted of all the unfair stereotypes!

I'm sure it's easy to say yes when you have plenty of money. Maybe it's even easy to say yes when you don't respect yourself enough to care about your rights as a human being. It's not out of the question to assume that there are a few people abusing the system. But, in my opinion, you shouldn't punish those who are doing what's right, and have integrity, just to make sure you get all the bad guys. I saw enough of that nonsense in the Army.

There is a very vague point that our ever-strengthening government must be very careful not to cross. How easy it would be to force everyone to choose what's right. There's a name for that... dictatorship... soon followed by another name... communism. If you really want to live that way, I suggest moving to China. Just be sure to take an air purifier with you and wear a mask. I hear there is a lot of pollution.

Idaho Falls

It seems only fitting that one of the busiest times since we moved to Kansas is when we are likely to be moving again. That's usually how it works. Daniel will be four weeks old tomorrow, Phillip just started a new schedule, Mike is just about to get his vacation at work, and we get the phone call. "Hi Mike, I got your application... ." We are still waiting for the "final" word. The Air Traffic Manager has made it pretty obvious that she wants to hire him though, and just has to get the go-ahead. We are really excited about going to Idaho. Idaho Falls seems like a wonderful area, and I think we will enjoy it.

Daniel's Due Date

I can't believe he's three weeks old!

Yesterday was my actual due date for Daniel. So naturally we decided to turn on Wii Fit to weigh him in. You'll never guess how much he weighs... go ahead, guess... 10.1 pounds!!! That's almost three pounds more than when he was born, and additionally, it's close to what his doctors estimated he would weigh at full term. So I'm just curious, does that mean if he were born yesterday he would have weighed the same amount, or is weight gained differently after birth? Either way, he's a BIG boy!

Phillip has been cracking me up lately. He comes up with some of the silliest ways to entertain himself, like playing blues clues, or chasing our cat around the house. Oh kids!

Two weeks old!

Daniel is officially two weeks old today. The time is going by so fast it's almost scary. At his appointment yesterday, Daniel had already gained over a pound, weighing in at 8 pounds 8 ounces. He had also grown an entire inch to 20 1/2 inches tall. The nurse said he was in the 60th percentile for everything, which I think is excellent for a baby who wasn't even due until the 17th. Daniel is a wonderful son. He is so sweet and perfect. I think he and Phillip are going to be best friends! Phillip already wants to help with everything, and he tries to sneak him sippy cups and blankets when I'm not looking. It's just too funny.

I'd like to remind everyone that we have videos and pictures on our family website, web.mac.com/mikevandyke1