Swine Flu

Our school has had several students out sick in the past week or two. It should have come as no surprise to me that I ended up coming down with the swine flu on Wednesday. What is even worse is Jessica came down with it today. :( Poor honey! My sister-in-law Angie and I took her to the doctors. She had a temperature of 103.9, an ear infection, and has been throwing up since yesterday. Her pediatrician (who I think is fantastic!) put her on some medicine for settling her stomach so she can eat. Then we got some pedialyte for her to drink. The pediatrician said that if she can't keep it down by tomorrow, she will be hospitalized so they can set up an IV for her to get fluids in her. Poor baby! So far she has only taken 2 oz of pedialyte. I'm praying that she doesn't have to be hospitalized... We shall see!

Packing

has become one of my least favorite things to do. Yet, what it all symbolizes is wonderful! The update for our family is pretty life-changing: Jer has a new job with a company that is based in Eugene, Oregon. He will be able to work from home as well as stay part-time with the MTC. As Jer and I have thought and prayed and talked about what this means for our family, we decided that I needed to be a stay-at-home mom as soon as possible. This decision translated to putting in my notice at school. My last day will be November 20th. In all honesty it was a hard decision to make. Not that staying home with my baby was hard, but leaving teaching was hard. I love my class. I love my students. They are amazing and they teach me new things every day. I prayed long and hard before making the decision. Interestingly enough, I have concurrently been reading President Hinckley's biography. The other day I read about his decision to work for the church instead of the railroad company. That decision truly changed the course for their family. As I was reading about that, the Spirit was so strong and bore witness to me that, as hard as this decision to stay home has been, this is one of the most important decisions I can make for our family. I know that this decision will change the course of our family life. I know that this is the right thing for my children. (Well, child and future children.) In some ways it is unnerving and a little scary though. I have worked, mostly full-time, since I was a junior in high school. Not working is a new adventure. I am so excited though!

Running

I haven't run since before I was pregnant. I have never been a big runner but a few years ago (when Jer and I were engaged) we decided to run a 5K. It was horrible! I was probably the most annoying runner on the trail. I had the worst attitude. Later, much later, I realized what a downer I had been for Jer and everyone around me! I decided to try again and change my attitude.

A few summers ago, a friend of mine was training for a half-marathon and I decided to run with her. She was an awesome running partner! I never realized how important it was to find someone who you could "mesh" with as a running partner. Someone who runs around your speed, someone who you motivate and who motivates you, etc. It was neat. By the end of the summer we were running around 18-21 miles a week. Saturdays were our long runs and the longest we went was around 7 or 8 miles. (Which, for me, is huge!) Then I got pregnant and fell out of the habit of running. Which, looking back, makes me very sad.

A few nights ago I got new Nike running shoes. (Thanks to my mom!) The poor salesman had to answer several questions from me because I wanted to find a good shoe that fit me and my goals. My mom was laughing at me because I had to run around the store in the shoes before I decided. :) I found a really nice pair that I have worn to school yesterday and today to break them in. Hopefully my sister who is down here will want to go running with me. She is a runner and I think we'll have a good time pushing each other...

We'll see how the running goes. I'd like to do another 5k soon. We'll see. :)

Halloween

I am a holiday junkie. I pretty much love any and all holidays. In our family we even celebrate Groundhog Day. (It's true. Complete with watching the movie, a groundhog cake and I'm working on decorations...) Next to Christmas though, my favorite holiday is Halloween! I love the decorations, wearing costumes, candy, and fog machines. (Don't ask.)

One of my 6th grade students told me about this fabulous website that allows me to make different blog backgrounds. So, in honor of Halloween this month, I have changed my background to Halloween. I am super excited about this particular Halloween because this is Jessica's first one. Jer and I have been talking and deciding what to do for her costume. I told Jer we had to be a themed family. We finally decided to be pirates from Pirates of the Caribbean. Jess will not be a pirate. She is going to be Jack, the Monkey. We found the CUTEST monkey suit at a Halloween boutique in the Provo Town Center. Adorable. My mom = not so thrilled. She wants Jess to be a princess. :) Maybe next year mom. Maybe next year.

Nothing is Safe

She is officially crawling!

Yikes!

2 Saturday's ago I got up early with her and was at the computer. I looked over at where she was on the ground and... oh my gosh! She was crawling! I grabbed the camera and began taking videos. I had to go wake up Jer to show him. Now, normally waking up Jer early in the morning is an endeavor where I am basically taking my life into my own hands. But, this morning, I was so excited that I had a valid reason for waking him up!

How has life changed? As many parents previous to us can attest - nothing is safe. What does Jess like to go for the most? Anything electronic. Lovely. This face shows how she feels about me hiding the electronics...

She is so fun to play with! She is such a happy baby. She smiles and laughs and is officially ticklish now. We love to play with her!

Here she is crawling! What a cutie! You can see the diaper box to the right... 2 days after she started crawling, she started pulling herself up. What a terrifying experience this has been for mommy! She loves to pull herself up on the diaper box. We put it in front of the DVD/VCR because that is her new favorite "toy". Last Saturday she had a rough day. She is learning about balance and every single time she pulled herself up on something she would fall and hit her head. Poor honey! I wonder if it's harder for mommy than her! I am so freaked out all the time with it. Typical mommy issue I wonder? :-)

She also wants to help feed herself now... like the post says: "Nothing is Safe!"

Have I mentioned how absolutely cute she is and how much we absolutely love her!?!?!?!?!