Well, it's a start...........

Things have been just crazy lately. I haven't even had time to charge the camera battery let alone take pictures. Things should get less busy this next week. Between school, church, work, preparing for Christmas, busy performance schedule and moving, it's just been a lot at once. Here is an attempt at a small update. There is still so much to update on, but I'll save that for later. : )

Kevin: Work's pretty good, I guess. The usual. He has been going into Chicago at least once a month (or week sometimes) lately to meet up with an endorser or attend one of their shows. Sometimes its fun, but we are glad it hasn't been so frequent lately. He finally had a physical done with our family physician and he is in perfect health! We are so glad! Kevin actually eats pretty healthy and he runs about 2 miles a day. He has been waking up at 5:30 to go to the gym for over 6 months now (though he has done this off and on ever since I've known him). I am so proud of him for that since I don't think I could do it! He is still the teacher in Priesthood Quorum and is now a scout leader too. He loves it, he just doesn't know it yet. : )

Me: I have finished a semester! I literally am taking this a semester at a time. Even with only a few classes, it's hard with a baby sometimes! I am happy to report I had near perfect attendance (1 absence) and will have a 4.0. The program itself is a breeze, it's just a bunch of credit requirements with classes teaching things I already learned as an undergrad. I really just think they tried to find something to do so they weren't just handing you a degree, even if you know the stuff already. I guess that's the point. You have to work harder! In addition, I am competing in 2 competitions over the next couple of months. I haven't done one since having the baby and I feel my voice is in shape enough now. I will be competing in the Metropolitan National Auditions in Nebraska in January (it's the biggest competition in the U.S.) and in the Orpheus Competition in Tennessee in March. There is big prize money so I hope to at least be a finalist. I am also the soprano soloist for the "Messiah" excerpts the South Bend Chamber singers and orchestra are doing at Christmas.

Josie: She's 13 (almost 14 now) whole months! She runs everywhere now and climbs everything too. She loves to wave and say "hi" and "bye" to EVERYONE! She has become such a ham and loves attention. She will do her "cute face" just so people will interact with her and will go up and grab their legs and pull on them if they ignore her. I have to watch that when we are out in public. She is overall a super happy kid. She sleeps great. 12 hours at night and 2-4 hours during the day. She is still doing 2 naps and is still nursing 1-3 times a day. She is super healthy, but did get her first cold a couple weeks ago *gasp*. It wasn't bad at all though, and was just a runny nose. She loves throwing things, especially food. She loves saying hi to and pointing to babies and pictures on the wall. I am constantly amazed at truly how much she understands and love seeing her do things I tell her to do or seeing her process what I say. She learns new words and commands daily it seems. She's awesome! Oh, and her hair is long enough now to put in little tiny pigtails. I love it!!

Now the big stuff.......

First of all, WE FINALLY SOLD OUR HOUSE!!!!! YAY!!! We put it up for sale in August and got a buyer in September but the closing was REALLY LOOOOONG!! First they were going out of the country for a month so they scheduled the closing for the first week of November. We had them double the deposit but said ok. Then they postponed it again for some underwriting crap and took forever getting things worked out. It finally closed on Nov. 30th. We lost a lot of money and will still owe some for a couple years or so, but it is off our backs and minds now. That is a major relief. Taking a loss on the house is worth it to not have to manage that whole mess anymore. We plan on renting for a couple years and buying a new home after we pay off the balance. Houses are cheaper here, so we will be excited.

So, while that was all going on, our landlord decided to put our rental home up for sale too and he found a buyer quick also. So, we gladly looked for another rental home. That house was nice while it lasted, but we are SO ready for a different place. Old houses may be charming, but boy are they high maintenance! We found a great house that is better in virtually every way. It has 3 (4 if you count the office/den) bedrooms, 3.5 baths and has a finished basement. It is in one of the nicest neighborhoods here and it is much quieter and homier. The kitchen is nice and big and Josie's room is huge! We get our walk- in closet and 2 car garage back too. We are very excited. It's about 50 years newer so we hope it will be less maintenance. It's also only 3 streets over and down a couple blocks from the old one so the move was not bad. We ended up moving the day after Thanksgiving.

Moves are always stressful especially during this busy season, but we made it through and are in the process of unpacking.

Now for the pictures from the last couple months.

We celebrated 7 years together and 6 years of marriage!! Here's a pic from our nice night out. Thanks mom for babysitting!

I didn't want to spend a ton on Josie's costume, so I bought this one for $3 at the baby consignment store. Not bad, huh? It's actually cuter up close cause it has pink hoofs and ears. She's cute whatever she wears!

Kevin and I went as an 80's rock star and his rock star girlfriend. Whatever. It was all we had at the house. Bummed I didn't get a pic of Kevin. We ended up going to our wards trunk or treat and then had ourselves a Rockband Halloween party at our place.

Sleepy lamb....


I did get a pic of Josie trying on daddy's costume wig. It was awesome!


We also carved some pumpkins and raked lots of leaves this fall.



This is her surprised/excited face.

For my Dad- Josie Walking

My dad has not gotten to see Josie "toddle" since the last time he saw her she was about 10 months old and was only trying to take steps then. She has been walking for a couple months now and even running a little. Here are a few cute videos of her recently. (Sorry some of them are kinda dark!)

She is trying to copy everything we do now.

Josie loves waiting for daddy at the back door.

One of Kevin's old friends painted this beautiful picture of Christ's face in the sunset that's in our dining room. Josie is fascinated by it and I caught her waving to him one day. Now, at least once a day she goes over to say hi to Jesus. She actually tries to say "hi Jesus" sometimes. Very sweet. 

Josie is great at going up stairs. She is now very curious about how to get back down. 

We can't wait to see you in a few weeks Grandpa!!

In the meantime......

I have a ton to catch up on and there is so much going on right now it's crazy. In the meantime, here's an awesome article I found that I totally agree with. Hope you like it! I'd love to hear your opinions.

Sunday Forum: Suck it up, America
We have become a nation of whining hypochondriacs, and the only way to fix a broken health-care system is for all of us to get a grip, says DR. THOMAS A. DOYLE
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Post-Gazette illustration by Anita Dufalla

Emergency departments are distilleries that boil complex blends of trauma, stress and emotion down to the essence of immediacy: What needs to be done, right now, to fix the problem. Working the past 20 years in such environments has shown me with great clarity what is wrong (and right) with our nation's medical system.

It's obvious to me that despite all the furor and rancor, what is being debated in Washington currently is not health-care reform. It's only health-care insurance reform. It addresses the undeniably important issues of who is going to pay and how, but completely misses the point of why.

Health care costs too much in our country because we deliver too much health care. We deliver too much because we demand too much. And we demand it for all the wrong reasons. We're turning into a nation of anxious wimps.

I still love my job; very few things are as emotionally rewarding as relieving true pain and suffering, sharing compassionate care and actually saving lives. Illness and injury will always require the best efforts our medical system can provide. But emergency departments nationwide are being overwhelmed by the non-emergent, and doctors in general are asked to treat what doesn't need treatment.

In a single night I had patients come in to our emergency department, most brought by ambulance, for the following complaints: I smoked marijuana and got dizzy; I got stung by a bee and it hurts; I got drunk and have a hangover; I sat out in the sun and got sunburn; I ate Mexican food and threw up; I picked my nose and it bled, but now it stopped; I just had sex and want to know if I'm pregnant.

Since all my colleagues and I have worked our shifts while suffering from worse symptoms than these (well, not the marijuana, I hope), we have understandably lost some of our natural empathy for such patients. When working with a cold, flu or headache, I often feel I am like one of those cute little animal signs in amusement parks that say "you must be taller than me to ride this ride" only mine should read "you must be sicker than me to come to our emergency department." You'd be surprised how many patients wouldn't qualify.

At a time when we have an unprecedented obsession with health (Dr. Oz, "The Doctors," Oprah and a host of daytime talk shows make the smallest issues seem like apocalyptic pandemics) we have substandard national wellness. This is largely because the media focuses on the exotic and the sensational and ignores the mundane.

Our society has warped our perception of true risk. We are taught to fear vaccinations, mold, shark attacks, airplanes and breast implants when we really should worry about smoking, drug abuse, obesity, cars and basic hygiene. If you go by pharmaceutical advertisement budgets, our most critical health needs are to have sex and fall asleep.

Somehow we have developed an expectation that our health should always be perfect, and if it isn't, there should be a pill to fix it. With every ache and sniffle we run to the doctor or purchase useless quackery such as the dietary supplement Airborne or homeopathic cures (to the tune of tens of billions of dollars a year). We demand unnecessary diagnostic testing, narcotics for bruises and sprains, antibiotics for our viruses (which do absolutely no good). And due to time constraints on physicians, fear of lawsuits and the pressure to keep patients satisfied, we usually get them.

Yet the great secret of medicine is that almost everything we see will get better (or worse) no matter how we treat it. Usually better.

The human body is exquisitely talented at healing. If bodies didn't heal by themselves, we'd be up the creek. Even in an intensive care unit, with our most advanced techniques applied, all we're really doing is optimizing the conditions under which natural healing can occur. We give oxygen and fluids in the right proportions, raise or lower the blood pressure as needed and allow the natural healing mechanisms time to do their work. It's as if you could put your car in the service garage, make sure you give it plenty of gas, oil and brake fluid and that transmission should fix itself in no time.

The bottom line is that most conditions are self-limited. This doesn't mesh well with our immediate-gratification, instant-action society. But usually that bronchitis or back ache or poison ivy or stomach flu just needs time to get better. Take two aspirin and call me in the morning wasn't your doctor being lazy in the middle of the night; it was sound medical practice. As a wise pediatrician colleague of mine once told me, "Our best medicines are Tincture of Time and Elixir of Neglect." Taking drugs for things that go away on their own is rarely helpful and often harmful.

We've become a nation of hypochondriacs. Every sneeze is swine flu, every headache a tumor. And at great expense, we deliver fantastically prompt, thorough and largely unnecessary care.

There is tremendous financial pressure on physicians to keep patients happy. But unlike business, in medicine the customer isn't always right. Sometimes a doctor needs to show tough love and deny patients the quick fix.

A good physician needs to have the guts to stand up to people and tell them that their baby gets ear infections because they smoke cigarettes. That it's time to admit they are alcoholics. That they need to suck it up and deal with discomfort because narcotics will just make everything worse. That what's really wrong with them is that they are just too damned fat. Unfortunately, this type of advice rarely leads to high patient satisfaction scores.

Modern medicine is a blessing which improves all our lives. But until we start educating the general populace about what really affects health and what a doctor is capable (and more importantly, incapable) of fixing, we will continue to waste a large portion of our health-care dollar on treatments which just don't make any difference.

Anita Dufalla/Post-Gazette



Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09284/1004304-109.stm#ixzz0XLRfznOn

Josie's First Birthday!!

Josie in her new "big girl" seat that she hates.

It seems I will never have time to upload the video's off the video camera, so until I have time, here are the pics! We had her open her presents the evening of her birthday after daddy got home. I did give her a couple presents early as needed since I got her some things she really needed sooner like clothes and stuff. I quickly wrapped everything and showed her how to rip the paper. She loves ripping paper (especially important documents) but is used to me taking it away or telling her "no." She was kind of reluctant at first until I told her it was ok and helped her a little.

She unwrapped the musical set I was so excited to give her. It included a bunch of little wooden instruments she could play. She loved it!! Anything that makes noise is her favorite toy. I taught her how to blow a whistle and now she blows on everything expecting it to make noise and shakes everything expecting it to rattle like her maracas. 

She also got some great duplo blocks from uncle Arron and a bunch of cute clothes and books from grandma. She had to taste everything.

I found this cute "Finding Nemo" push car at the baby consignment place and had to get it for her.


We actually didn't  have time to do the cake the same evening since she was already tired and I didn't have time to even make it. I'm a bad mom, I know. She'll never know and didn't care anyway. So, I made the cake the next evening. I had to do it really fast since it was a busy day and Jos goes to bed early. It kind of turned out crappy, but, hey, I did it in about 20 mins. It's supposed to be the "Josie and the Pussycats" logo.  

She destroyed it.

She does this face all the time. There is actually a sound to go with it. Someday I'll upload a video of it. So funny!

Mmmmmm.............

Happy Birthday Josie!!!!

Josephine Lillan- 12 months

I decided to post her 12 month update before the birthday pics since I still need to upload some videos. 

MY LITTLE BABY IS ONE!! 

I can't believe it's been a year since this.

I guess that means she is officially a toddler now. Crazy. Anyway, her birthday came and went and now here she is 1 year and 2 weeks old. First of all, here are the stats I can remember:

Weight: 20 lbs 12 oz. (50%?)

Height: 30 in ( I think?) They said she was in the 90%. If 30 is right, I think it's more like 75%

Can't remember head circumference but it was also either 75% or 90%. Big head.

One more amazing stat: We have made it past a year with no illnesses!!!! Other than a runny nose both times she was teething, Josie has never been sick (that I know of). We have only had to see the doctor for well-baby visits. I am so thankful that she has been so healthy. I think it is partly cause she sleeps well and is still breastfeeding. I'm not sure when I will completely ween her, but I am thinking of going through the winter, just for the added immunity. She only nurses 2-3 times a day, so it's no big deal. She's fine with whole milk in a sippy cup the rest of the time.

Here is a little bit about Josie at 12 months:

*She walks everywhere now and loves her new freedom. She walks kinda like Frankenstein still, but her balance and coordination is pretty good.

*still is an eating machine. She will stuff so much in her mouth at once, it becomes impossible to chew and I have to dig some of it out so she can swallow. Also, when she drinks from her sippy cup, she chugs it so hard her eyes water. You can hear her gulping really loud and she always has milk drizzling down her chin when she stops to gasp for air. I don't know why she is unable to drink slowly, but it's hilarious to watch.

* She has at least 8 teeth (4 on top, 4 on bottom). She may have more but she doesn't let me in her mouth to investigate any further.

*still sleeps 12 hours at night (7:30ish- 7:30ish) and takes two 1-2 hour naps. She is really good at going to sleep easily. I got her used to putting herself to sleep from the beginning. I'm so glad now cause all I have to do is give her "snuggly," put her in her crib, and say goodnight and she goes down.

*says "this," "that," "hi," "uh-oh," and tries to say "what is it?" It usually comes out "tis it?" or "whis it?" She also says "mamas?" for food. I have no idea why. When she is hungry or wants some of our food, she says "mammas? mammas?" while holding out her and and closing her fingers like a crab. She also whispers to herself all the time.

*can climb almost anything. Especially the stairs. She is freakishly fast at that. Did I mention on here how at 10 months she climbed out of her crib? It had been dropped and she still got out. It was crazy.

*loves almost everyone. She is very social and smiles at most people.

*gives super wet kisses. She especially loves kissing her baby doll.

* can do all sorts of simple commands- turn the page, go get "snuggly," go sit in your chair, get down, etc.

* Loves, loves, loves books!! She will sit and read to herself or bring one to you to read to her. She will cry if you stop reading sometimes.

*She is full of sunshine and is always smiling!!

P.S. Fall here is amazing!!! We kinda missed it last year since we were indoors with our new baby the whole time. The weather has turned chilly, but not super cold and everywhere the trees are covered in red, orange, and yellow leaves.  These were taken in the backyard where our trees have covered the entire yard with leaves.