Videos of Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas. I was trying to email a couple videos that we took and was unable to do it so I am trying to put them here to be viewed. I just might make this blog private and try it again. Enjoy.

Giving Up

In case anyone is still following this blog I plan this to be my final post. I am officially giving up on blogging but since this is my last post I will give you an update. Since my last post we have expereinced a tremendous amount of change in our lifes.

In March we welcomed a foster baby into our home who is still with us. It would be a violation of privacy laws to post any information or pictures of foster children and this is a big part of the reason I am ending my blog. We are full time foster parents and the children in our home are such a big part of our lifes that I can't figure out an accurate post without including them. This baby is a great joy to have in our home.

In April Jared got into a teaching program in Louisianna. Me and the kids moved in with my in-laws (my in-laws were gone all but 4 weeks that Jared was gone so I didn't have a lot of people help but it did help a lot with expenses) and in May Jared moved to Louisianna to start the program. Although Jared enjoyed teaching he did not enjoy the culture/attitudes/philosophy/discrimination against white men, which he experienced both student teaching and subbing within the education sector in Louisianna. At the end of August we agreed he should quit the program and come home. He arrived home at the end of August.

My summer as a working single Mom of two kids was incredibly difficult and I have increased empathy for those single Mom's who do this all the time. I was also incredibly blessed. So many people gave our family service. It was humbling and I am so grateful. The first weekend Jared was gone the water heater broke. This was the one time Spencer was openly upset about Jared being gone. I told Spencer we had to call someone to help fix the water heater and he told me "No, Daddy will fix it." Besides this one experience, Spencer was a strong kid. He tried to help me however he could. He made sure I had a glass and siverware at dinner time. He tried to carry things in from the car for me. He was great. I had so many people call and check on me, jump in and take care of things in young womans for me, help me with my kids at church (one woman took the baby every sunday during the second and third hour of church so that I could handle my calling in young womans), let my kids come to play at their houses, babysat for me, sent me cards, fixed my water heater, helped me when my car broke down, gave me and my children blessings, and I am sure there was more. In this regards it was a summer full of miracles.

I am so glad to have Jared back home. A week and a half after he got home we moved out of my in-laws and into our own place. Things have continued to be so busy and so full of change. I have increased my work hours and am now getting up at 5am to work every weekday before the kids get up. Jared is reevaluating his career plans and trying to figure out if he still wants to be a teacher and if not then what he is going to do.

On top of this we took a second foster child into our home three weeks ago. He is three weeks younger then the other foster baby in our home and so I am counting this as my experience with twins. I am now in charge of three kids under the age of three (Spencer is almost three and the babies both recently turned one). Life is exciting and exhausting as I try to learn to manage these three beautiful children that God has entrusted to my care at this time.

I do not want to overlook Spencer in this post. He is growing so much and fills our life with many smiles and much joy. He talks a lot these days and I love it. He has also started singing songs. He is so sweet with the babies. He sings to them he plays with them sometimes and he tells me if he thinks they need something. He also potty trained this month. He loves to go swimming, he is so happy to have his Daddy home, he loves watching Bob the Builder and Clifford and Dora. I am so blessed to be his Mom.

All in all I am grateful for the challenges we have faced this year as I have grown tremendously as a person. Being a foster parent has been so much different then I anticipated. It is incredible and emotional and full of joy and love (both for the babies and their parents, I didn't expect to love their parents), and hope, and pain, and never knowing how many kids you will have in your home next month or who those kids will be or how long they will be there. It is by far the most selfless thing I have ever done and even though we started foster parenting with the goal of adopting and increasing our family, our feelings have changed. We still hope to adopt some children through foster care but we also realize that this isn't just about the foster child placed with us, it is about that child's whole family and so somehow I am coming to a place where if these parents are really prepared for their children to come home I will send them home and feel happy for their parents succeeding and grateful for the experience (although I am sure it will also rip my heart out).

Thank you to those who have read our blog. You can still find me on facebook or feel free to email me.

Big Changes

It has been a long time since I have updated this post. After working on it since April, we finally became licensed foster parents in December. Since becoming licensed we have had two sweet baby boys on a short term basis. The first baby was about 10 weeks old and we had him for a weekend. Last week we had a 6 week old for two days. Spencer has really like having a baby at the house. After the last baby went home he has started asking for a baby.

Spencer is now 2 years old and is so much fun. He is talking a lot more and interacting a lot. He loves to read books and to be outside. We earned a library card for 2010 and he has been enjoying trips to the library.

In January Jared decided to go back to school to become a jr. high or high school teacher. He wants to teach: history, political science, economics, business, and/or math. He found some awesome programs in Lousianna and applied to both of them. He has had an interview with one program and we should hear back about it within the next two weeks. He has an interview scheduled with the other program at the end of March. Jared is also looking at some on-line programs or night programs that he could do from Washington.

At the same time we decided I should probably go back to work full time if we stay in Washington. I found what looks like my dream job and I have had two interviews there so far. I should find out soon if I move on to a third interview.

I am not sure what is going to work out in our life but both plans include moving and will bring big changes. We are excited to have a new plan for our lifes and are excited to see what works out.

Finally, an update!

I am Finally updating our blog! I typed up the blog and then tried to add the pictures to the corresponding places but that didn't work so the pictures are out of order.
Riding trains with Aunt Ali, Aunt Amy and Ethan, Carter, Logan and Collin.

Lots of Cousins and others and Cousin Logan's second birthday party in CA.

Value quilt I made for girls camp this summer. There is a picture of a temple drawn on the middle square but it is hard to see in the picture.

Jared is the Weblos leader for the boy scouts. Spencer and I went along with the scouts on a fishing trip. We didn't catch anything but it was still fun.

The planter's day parade in Woodland, Wa.

The 4th of July parade with Aunt Rosie and Cousins Kaylee and Lily.

Frank and Elaine Wade (Jared's Parents) celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary. Way to go guys!

Our trip to the beach in May.

The last few months have been pretty busy. In April we decided to become Foster Parents. We did all of our foster care training in May. In June we passed our home inspection and our interviews. Now we are just waiting for my background check to be complete (Jared's passed in June) and then we will be licensed for foster care. We are only going to take one baby at a time between the age of 0 and 1. We were originally told to expect a baby in August but since my background check is taking so long (I had to get refinger printed) it might take longer. We are excited about getting a new baby (although I am not looking forward to night times with a new baby, it has been great sleeping through the night).

We have also had some adventures over the last few months. In May we took Spencer to the beach for the first time. The weather was beautiful at our house but was cold and cloudy at the beach. He had a lot of fun playing in the sand. We also went to a party celebrating my in-laws 45th wedding anniversary!

In June we went and saw my sister, Chelsey, graduate high school. She is such a hard working beautiful young woman. I can't believe I have another sibling all grown up. It was fun to celebrate with her. I know that she is prepared to face the challenges that come with being an adult. I am so impressed by the way my parents prepared her for this time in her life and I hope I can prepare Spencer likewise. We also went to the Planter's Day Parade in Woodland, WA. Spencer really enjoyed that. I was asked to make a quilt for girls camp. At camp they tie 10 quilts and the girls who help get their name put in a drawing to keep a quilt. I made a young woman themed quilt. There was a square for each value and then squares with power stars made up of all 8 values.

For the 4th of July Spencer and I went to a parade. Jared and his parent's were in the parade. We also went to the 4th of July celebration at the park here in town. They always have booths and fun things to do. We also watched the City firework show and had a BBQ at my in-laws with Aunt Rosie, Uncle Todd and Aunt Karen, and there kids.

In July we helped my parents dig a french drain. A large number of people from church also helped them. I was touched by all of the people willing to help. Jared got to use a mini excavator and enjoyed that. It was fun to visit my family. I am so glad we only live 2 hours away so that we can see them at least once a month.

For my birthday in July, my Mom and sisters, Emily and Tess, came to visit. They took me out to lunch and then we went to the spa for pedicures. It was a lot of fun and I am so glad they came. My in-laws also threw me a family birthday party. My sister-in-law, Rosie, cooked a wonderful meal and made a delicious cake with fresh strawberry and ice cream filling.

In July we also went to California for a week. We had a great time visiting Jared's family and friends. Spencer has two cousins in California that are his age and four others that are close in age. It was so fun watching them play together. The cousins are all little blue eyed blond kids. People often ask us where Spencer got his blue eyes and blond hair, but if they saw him with his cousins they wouldn't need to ask. Spencer and I both got the stomach flu while we were down there but otherwise it was a great trip. Spencer also got to meet two of his great grandma's and we went on a short train ride.

August is off to another busy start. The last few weeks Jared's work has really picked up (which we are so grateful for). I have also been busy with work. It feels like most of the day is spent with Jared and I running in and out switching who is taking care of Spencer. That has been tiring. I have been in court a lot over the last couple months and I have learned a lot being there. I have two more court hearings scheduled next week and then I am hoping to cut back for a little while. Spencer has been a trooper. He has adjusted pretty well going back and forth between Jared and I. He has also accompanied me to the courthouse a couple times (just to file things, he doesn't come along when I am in hearings). I don't have to walk through security at the courthouse anymore and the security people extended that luxery to Spencer (which I really appreciate). On top of all of that I was made the young woman president at church.

Each day I pray for the ability to know what is most important to accomplish. Life is so busy I hope that I will not lose focus on the things that really matter.

This Sunday is our 6th wedding anniversary. I am so grateful that I married Jared. I loved him so much when I married him and somehow that love has just grown each year. He is a wonderful husband and father and I know marrying him was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

Here are some newer pictures.

Easter, Earth day and the rest of Apri

We are dogsitting Rusy again and Spencer couldn't be happier. Spencer had a great time at Easter this year. On Saturday we went to the primary easter egg hunt. The leaders limited the number of eggs each child could find so once the older kids found their limit, they helped Spencer find some eggs.

On Sunday we went to Frank and Elaine's (Jared's Parents) for dinner and another Easter egg hunt. Jared's brother, Todd, and his family were also there. It was a fun night.

This Easter Spencer discovered that Easter eggs contain candy and choclate. He loves both of those and the first thing he did in the morning was go straight for his easter basket. He was so excited with the choclate eggs that he didn't bother unwrapping them before he took a big bite. He bit me really hard trying to get the foil out of his mouth. It was a lot of fun watching Spencer enjoy easter.

This year Jared had a booth at our local Earth Day Celebration. Him and his nephew, Conner, stayed all day giving out coupons. Hopefully we will get some business from the event.

While Jared and Conner were working the booth, Spencer and I enjoyed the rest of the fair. It was a neat event with a small planetarium, Ronald McDonald, an African music playing band, and a petting zoo. The petting zoo was Spencer's favorite part. I had a hard time keeping up with him, he was so excited to pet the animals.

Cake and Chiropractor

A few days ago Spencer did the cutest thing. He found a box of cake mix. The box had a picture of a piece of cake on it. This very smart little boy brought the box to me and was trying to open it. I opened it to let him see what was inside and he was very confused. He looked at the bag of cake mix and then looked in the box and back at the picture on the box. He repeated this a few times and even stuck his hand in the box to make sure there was nothing else in there. I realized he thought there was a piece of cake in the box. It was adorable.

The last couple days Spencer hasn't been feeling well. He is cranky and has been pulling at his ears. My chiropractor had mentioned chiropractic care can help ear infections. When I realized Spencer was running a fever today I decided to try the chiropractor. Spencer went in for his first chiropractic adjustment today. He did very well. The Doctor also used one of those ear looking in things to look in his ears. His ears were red and irritated. She then recommended some vitamins and ear drops to help him. On the way home we stopped at the store to get the stuff. The lady at the store gave Spencer a sample of a child's chewable vitamin. He choked on it and then threw up all over both us. It was not a fun trip to the store and we didn't buy the vitamins. The ear drops seemed to help him but he threw up again after we got home. I hope he will feel better tomorrow. I am interested to see if this chiropractic thing really helps him or not.

Toddler

It has been a long time since I have done an update on here. I keep meaning to download pictures but that is not going to happen tonight. Over the last month and a 1/2 Spencer has been growing and developing at super speed. He no longer looks like a baby, we seem to have a full fledged Toddler. This month I took a wonderful parenting class based on the Love and Logic approach to parenting. One of the things the instructor told me to do was to start giving Spencer some responsibilities. I was amazed to realize he is capable of helping out. He has started helping pick up his toys after his bath, he kind of helps me do the dishes (mostly he just plays in the rinse water), and he has started helping me cook by dumping in the ingrediants after they are measured. Spencer has also been responding to us in ways that we know he understands. It is amazing watching him try to communicate with us. Lately he points at things and says "That" when he wants something. He has also started trying to say other words and he gets frustrated when he can't say what he wants to communicate.

This last month Jared has been getting more work which is great. I also started teaching basic estate planning classes to the community. I had my first class this month, it is a two night seminar and the participants go home with a basic will, power of attorney, and health care directive. I have three more class scheduled. The first class seemed to go well and I came away with some ideas on how to improve the class. My next class starts next week and I hope it will also go well.

Overall we are happy and healthy!

Update

This last month has been busy. Right before Christmas the batteries in our camera died and I didn't have any others so I don't have many pictures. The week before Christmas we got a lot of snow, over one foot! That was unusual for this area. We spent Christmas day with Jared's family. The sewer had backed up and two of his brothers couldn't get there due to the snow so Jared and his Dad spent most of the day working on the sewer problem. It was a unique Christmas. The day after Christmas we flew to Boise, ID for my brothers wedding to Brittany. The wedding and reception were both lovely. It was the first time I got to meet Brittany. She is so sweet and I am excited to have her in the family. On the 28th we flew home and had our real Christmas celebration with Jared's family. The following weekend we went to my parent's, opened gifts, and attended Mike and Brittany's second wedding reception. The week after the wedding reception our we were hit with flooding. Thankfully our home did not flood but a lot of roads in the area flooded and part of our city was evacuated. The weather has just been bizarre this month. I also received a lot of work (which I am grateful for but am also trying to figure out how to balance my time). Jared has been a trooper, stepping up and watching Spencer a lot for me so I can meet with clients and work. I am so grateful for his help and teamwork. Spencer continues to grow and to just amaze us. The other day he figured out how to drink through a straw. He also likes to try to sweep the floor and help in any way he can. Below is a picture of him helping sweep and of his first full haircut. Jared cut his hair and did a fantastic job. We hope you are all doing well!

Spencer is 1!

It has been a while since I have posted anything so I will try to give you a good update. November was a busy month. Mid Novemeber Spencer and I went to Spokane for five days. We had a wonderful time and got to see many friends. For Thanksgiving all three of us went to my parents house. Jared watched Spencer for a lot of hours while I went shopping with My Mom and sisters, Chelsey and Emily. That was pretty nice. The Saturday after Thanksgiving Spencer started walking!!! He is doing a great job and improving everyday. On Saturday we went to our church Christmas Party. Spencer walked to the front of the room right as a speaker ended. Everyone started clapping and Spencer thought they were clapping for him. He turned around towards the audience and put his hands in the air. It was so so cute. On Sunday Spencer turned 1! I can't believe it has already been a year since he was born. My parents came to celebrate with us on Saturday and then we had a little party with Jared's family on Sunday. It was a fun weekend. Spencer has brought so much joy to our family. I love watching him learn and grow and I am so grateful to be his Mom. Here are some pictures from the last month.

Spencer's Birthday Party. He got his very own cupcake.


Spencer got a Mickey Mouse doll for his birthday. He loves it and gives it lots of hugs!



We tried to get Spencer's picture taken with Santa but all Spencer would do was scream in terror. Santa had me sit on his lap in an attempt to make things better but as you can see that didn't help.

Here is a picture from Saturday's birthday with my parents and Aunty Em and Aunty Tess.

This is the Sixth Christmas we have been married and I have never really decorated because I always had finals right before Christmas and last year we had Spencer right before Christmas. I was determined to do more to celebrate this year so I sewed Christmas stockings for us. It was an enjoyable project.

Busy little bee!!!

This was Spencer's first Halloween. For Halloween he dressed up as a bumble bee. Jared was a bee keeper and I was a fuddy duddy without a costume. The week before Halloween we enjoyed our church harvest party. On Halloween night we went to the Grange (a service organization and a place where older people play old time music, dance, and socialize). The Grange building is just a few houses down from ours. Partway through the music they stopped and had a costume contest. We entered Spencer and he won 4th place. He was the youngest contestant by at least 50 years and he beat out some neat costumes. I was so excited that he won. They gave him a piggy bank as a prize. Ever since we bought the costume spencer loves to play with it.

Weekend, Watermelon, and Adventures of Spencer

This Morning I found Spencer sitting in his baby basket. When he was a newborn he slept in the basket next to our bed but now that he has outgrown it we keep some of his toys in there. Lately he has started climbing in and out of things, it is very cute.
Last week Spencer quietly disappeared while I was cooking dinner. I found him in the bathroom closet playing with the toilet paper. You can't see it in this picture but he took a bite out of each roll of toilet paper he was playing with. He is such a busy boy. After trying all summer to grow watermelons we decided to harvest one of them and see how it turned out. I got three to grow about the size of the one in the picture. As you can see Spencer thought it was delicious. It wasn't as red or as sweet as store bought watermelons but it was alright and I am glad we could eat it.

Last weekend we went to Goldendale Washington to visit my Grandparents. Spencer is their first Great-Grandchild. My Parents and three of my sisters were there along with my Aunt and Uncle and there family. It was fun to get to see everyone. Below is a four generation picture of Spencer, Me and Jared, My Dad and my Grandpa Morgan.

P.S. 10 month

Spencer is also standing up on his own for a few minutes at a time. Even though I think he could do it, he still is not trying to walk without holding onto things. Jared has been trying to coax him with all kinds of tempting treats to get him to walk between us but Spencer always ends up dropping to the ground and crawling.

10 Months

Spencer is 10 months old! We are currently dogsitting Rusty, for Jared's parents. He will be with us for a month. Spencer has really loved having Rusty here. All day he crawls over to Rusty's bed to give him a hug and pet him. It is very sweet and I am trying not to think too much about all of the dirt and dog germs. Rusty is very gentle and patient with Spencer. Spencer has also starting crawling around making a cute little growling noise. Today he figured out how to pull himself up onto the fireplace, the rocking chair, and the couch. I am sure this new skill will make life more interesting. Today I got a new hair cut. It is a change for me and I think I like it. Below are some current pictures.

Atlas Clean

This last month we have been very busy with Jared's work. At the end of August we opened our own carpet cleaning company called Atlas Clean. The model for the business is environmentally friendly so we use a smaller vehicle, smaller equipment (that is still as effective), and all non-toxic cleaners. I answer phones, do the books and do the legal work for the business. Jared does the marketing and the cleaning. So far this arrangement is working fine. Business has been slow and so Jared got his general contractor's license and has been taking landscaping and maintenance jobs. Much to my surprise this business has been helping Jared and I grow closer and work together. I am grateful for that. Also Jared is FINALLY HAPPY about his work!!! That is making a huge difference in our life's!!!

Spencer has had a pretty independent month. He is very busy and plays happily by himself for an hour or more at a time. I always keep an eye on him when he is playing on his own. It has made it a lot easier to get things done. He is also babbling more which is so adorable! He figured out what I am doing when I take his picture so lately whenever he sees the camera he gets really excited and either jumps up and down or crawls to me to try to get the camera. It is very cute but has made it a lot harder to take his picture. This month we bought Spencer his first shoes for walking. His aunties and Grammy also sent him his first Halloween bib and matching oncie they say "I love my Mummy and my Mummy loves me." Here are some pictures from this month.

9 months

Spencer will be 9 months on Sunday. I can't believe how fast the time has gone. He is still sleeping through the night!!! We are having a harder time with naps but as long as he keeps sleeping through the night I won't complain about that. I have been busy with church service this week. I spoke in church on Sunday and last night I taught a short class on creative scripture study. Thanks to those of you who shared your creative ideas!

Sleep Success

The last few months we have really been struggling with Spencer's sleeping habits. It was getting to the point that he would only go to sleep nursing then once he was asleep he would immediately wake up when I laid him in his crib. It was taking hours to get him to sleep in his crib and then once he was finally in his crib he would only sleep a few hours. Most nights he ended up in bed with us and so none of us have been sleeping well. Last Thursday night Spencer had a really bad night and none of us got much sleep. We decided that starting Friday he would have to sleep in his own bed. I have been reading a lot of different baby sleep books and what they all have in common is that a baby needs to learn to fall asleep on their own. Back in June we tried the Baby Whisperer method and it worked well for one week. At the end of the week we went to my parents for the weekend and that was the end of that. Friday night we did a bedtime routine which ended with Kisses and being put in his crib. We left the room and checked on him after 5 minutes and then ten minutes later. He cried but he fell asleep in just under 30 minutes and then he slept 9 and 1/2 hours straight in his crib. It was wonderful! Saturday night he only cried 20 minutes and then slept 11 hours. Sunday night he cried 5 minutes and slept all night and Tonight he cried 1 minute and will likely sleep all night. It has been so nice to finally get a full nights sleep! I am so grateful this method is working and hopefully it will continue working.

Gardening

This year I planted a garden for the first time ever. It is a small garden with tomato, watermelon, zucchini, butternut squash, and pumpkins. Since this is my first time gardening I was surprised when the pumpkins and zucchini both produced beautiful flowers. None of my garden has been harvested yet. I have zucchini and tomatoes that are progressing nicely and just last week tiny little watermelons started growing. I am really enjoying my garden. Spencer also enjoys the garden. I have to watch him pretty close though because he has a tendency to grab the leaves off the plants and try to eat them. Below are a couple pictures of my garden and of our little budding boy. Spencer is eight months old now and is such a joy. He is crawling like a pro, getting around the house very quickly, and starting to "help" Mommy by grabbing cloths as I fold laundry and knocking down piles as I organize and clean the house. Despite the fact that it is now taking me significantly longer to get things done around the house, we are really enjoying him.

Birthday Adventure

This week was my birthday! We celebrated today by going on a

birthday adventure to Mount St. Helens. While at the Mountain
we watched a couple videos on how the volcano had exploded in 1980 and how the explosion changed the land scape. It was pretty interesting. We also went on a hike along the ridge, the views were beautiful. Jared and Spencer went in a pretend helicopter at the visitors center.

About a week ago Spencer started crawling and he also started standing up. He is getting very good at standing up and pulls himself up on everything. It is getting harder to keep an eye on him, he is such a fun busy boy.

Cub Scout Camp

This week Jared has been helping at Cub Scout Camp. Yesterday Spencer and I went along for Camp family night. We got to watch Jared teach the cub scouts how to build fires. He was very patient and did a great job teaching them. I was impressed. While we were up there another Mom took this adorable picture of Spencer. Spencer had a great time watching all the boys and eating watermelon. They had sliced watermelon and he grabed my piece away from me and ate it down all the way to the rind.