English Beauties!

This is the first photo shoot I have done for anyone in a long time. I am always so nervous. I LOVE doing it with my kids, but no one in disappointed, besides me, when I do it. Heidi had to completely go into it knowing that this is a fun thing, and that if nothing turned out, that it was okay. The girls did great, Luke was a little fussy, but what baby wouldn't be with the wind and weather the unpredictable way it was. I have to say I am pretty happy with them. I definitely know I am not a poised type of photographer, my shots are more documentary. Thanks Heidi for letting me have FUN with your kids and giving me the confidence to maybe try again on some one else.

Heidi, and her cute family, are one of thee very best things about Spokane for me. The BEST part is they are coming back to Utah with us! Yahoo!

Time Just Keeps Tickin'

Another week down, two more to go. I am already tired of packing, but it is so gonna be worth it to get there. It was a big week of interesting events for us here, Micah's chin, Micah's elbow, Noah's dental work, and Noah's stitches(see story below). It felt a little overwhelming, and I cringe every time I look in Noah's mouth right now. I keep thinking he has something in his mouth. I usually like the color silver. I don't in my kids mouth...but hey, they have got their teeth flossed EVERY night since their check up. Money, time, and the silver look are HUGE motivating factors.

Just to add my two bits about the stitches, when John called and asked me if I wanted to meet him at the ER, I asked what happened and then politely turned down the invitation. I HATE blood, especially coming from my kid. But John told me Noah was crying for me. Who can stay away when their kid's in pain and cryin out for them? Thanks to Engars, English's, and Huntington's for helping out. It's a long story why so many people helped out, but let's just say I don't process and execute well when I know my kids going to the ER. You'd think it would help having a Dr. husband. It did get us out of the ER waiting room quicker, but didn't do much to help my nerves.

In other news, our house has most of the finish work on the drywall done, and we have brick. COOL BEANS!(It's my thing I say when I'm happy) My mom say's it looks GREAT. I can't wait till the two weeks are over and I can give you my opnion on it.

A Rite of Passage

Noah experienced his first real finger cut with a pocket knife. We were at the Father's and Son's camp-out and Noah's favorite thing to do when we are camping is carry his pocket knife. We decided that we would find some roasting sticks to carve. We each found a stick and each starting sharpening the tip, while Deeken watched on. Before I knew it, there was a pause, followed by a quick look at me, followed by onset of the pain. Noah cried out and started shaking his left hand. Blood started to splatter on his shirt and on his face. I quickly grabbed his finger and held pressure, and we started back toward camp. As we walked in to camp, I asked one of the other doctors in our ward if he felt like doing some suturing. We washed it up, got a good look at it, and decided that this cut would be better treated in the ER instead of stitched in the field. I did have some lidocaine and suture with me, but knowing Noah, I thought it best to have other medications for relaxation and amnesia on board. We loaded up and made the 20-30 minute drive to the hospital. Noah was crying for Amy, so I called her and she met us there. The staff at the peds ER were fantastic at diverting Noah's attention and the Versed worked wonders. Noah was pretty chilled out after the Versed took effect! The lidocaine injection was a little painful, but a strong assistant was holding Noah's arm down. Five stitches closed the wound nicely. It really was a pretty deep cut, and was about 2 cm long. He cut through the corner of his nail, so a couple of the stitches were a bit tricky. A little trauma, a little drama, and now just another one for the memory books!--Written by Dad

Seriously BUGGIN' me!

I am having these feelings. I had them about two years ago when this couple I totally admired were having problems in their marriage because of infidelity. I know I don't know Jon and Kate at all, but to have watched their show and enjoyed their family... It has made me feel like I know them. I don't know the WHOLE story, never will. But it just makes me so sad. I internalize it. When it happened two years ago, John had to keep reminding me that it wasn't him who had cheated. It seriously puts a kink in my attitude. You look at people like that(again, I know I don't know them) and it makes me wonder can you ever really feel safe in your marriage?

I know people, you don't have to tell me I married a wonderful man. But like I said, I just am having these feelings, and it is seriously buggn' me! It will subside as time goes on, and I know it is silly that it was sparked by these two people on TV, does it impact anyone else this CRAZY way?

I am going to go read NIE now, it always makes me feel grateful, thankful, and LOVED.

Keep Your Chin Up!

My beautiful little girl took her first fall on her new bike. Noah and Micah were riding their bikes to school, while I pushed the little kids in the double stroller. Noah was ahead of us aways and crossed the street. I thought it probably would be best if we went ahead and crossed the street so I called to Micah and told her to go ahead and cross the street. She looked around saw some cars coming a few blocks away, and got nervous. She swerved and fell to the ground only to hit her chin on the curb. I was so happy it wasn't worse. I am not good with blood. I really hope it doesn't scar. DR. JOHN has got me putting Vaseline on it as often as I think about it. Poor girl, she was so brave and pushed on to school. Noah was brave too. He rode ahead of us to school to try to make it on time, but didn't quite make it. He had to spend his lunchtime recess in disciplinary action. Poor kid! He didn't seem to mind. He knew it was more important to take care of Micah. He really is growing up, and I love having him there to take care of his brother and sisters.

These are my tie die kids. I can't tell you how long I have wanted to try it. It was fun. I think we will do it again next summer. I think I will make the kids stick to one or two colors next time.(You can see Micah's sore chin if you look close.)

And a little update on the house. We have shingles...

and dry wall. I so wish I could see it first hand!

The Farr Family happenings of the last two weeks!

• The Dentist. Can a dentist really like his job? (Sorry Dentist friends) Do they really ever deliver good news? Even if there are no cavities, they still tell you, you need to keep workn'...brush those teeth, floss those teeth. I'm glad there are dentists(and numbing medicine for that matter), But I just can't say I look forward to visiting them twice a year.

  Cavity Count: 9

  Josie-0

  Deeken-2

  Micah-0

  Noah-2 + 1 root canal

  Amy-4

  John-to be determined

  Remember when I went to the dentist cause Noah's tooth was hurting, after x-rays they tell me it is just his 6 year molars. Five months later...root canal! I am sticking with pediatric dentists for my kids from now on! My cavities...well, I could hardly keep the tears in my eyes before I could get out of the dentists office.

• The Vehicles. My ABS light came on on my way to Utah last time. I finally took it in to get it looked at. They have no idea why it is on. Results $75 fee for realignment & light bulb, and advice to go see the dealership. John's car needs AC fixed. He says he can deal with it in the Utah summers, but I can hardly drive it here when it's only 75 degrees outside. It feels like money is going out...out..out.
• Micah funny: I showed her pics of her bedroom being framed in. She like the window seat. She said,"That's like in the movies, like on dragon tales." I tell her she won't be able to open the top up. She says,"That's okay, but there going to have to paint it and stuff." It is just interesting to follow their train of thought sometimes.
• Mini Vacation. After Micah's b-day party. My sister-in-laws sister, Dawna asked if she could take my two older kids over night. John and I decided it would be fun for them and let them go. It was the weirdest day for John and I. It was like going back in time four years. Since Deeken and Josie are exactly the same age apart as Noah and Micah, it was like having just Noah and Micah again, except it was Deeken and Josie. I'm sorry, but two kids is EASY! We were like, lets go shopping, lets go out to dinner. It was weird how free we felt even though we still had two of our kids. We however did really miss our kids and were very happy to get them back the next day. Although, they would probably have stayed for forever. Thank you Matt and Dawna!
• The House. After a week of not having my parents to get me pics once if not twice a day, I was glad to have them back this week. Here are the happenings.I got a SNAZZY pot filler for my kitchen(at least plumed for one). Don't know what it is? well as my father would say it is for PAMPERED people who can't carry a pan full of water from their sink to their stove top. It is a little long armed spigot that sits over your stove so you can just pull it over your pan to fill it up. Thanks TRAV for putting it in, and THANK YOU Heidi for giving up time with him, so he could put it in!We had our porch poured! Looks nice huh?We got our electrical all done! We got plumbed for central vac. Notice I said plumbed, it is a future wish. And this pic for me is the main reason why. That thing is central vac plumbing for a sweep plate. What is that? Well is goes in the side of our island and when you sweep, you can just seep the dust or crumbs or whatever into this self-sucking dust pan! Awesome huh!We got doors!We got walls!We got windows and insulation!

  Oh, so much fun...and yes STRESS! I am not sure whether I would stress less if I was there or here. I told my dad I wanted to come for a visit and see. He said, "How about on the weekend of the 28th and 29th(that's when I move)." He is a very funny man. This coming week and the next is drywall. I hope everything goes SMOOTHLY!

  Some sad news we found out this week is that we probably won't get one of the $6,000 grants for a new build. You have to essentially be living in the house before you can apply for one of the grants. We originally thought you could hold a spot at 30 days out, but apparently that is just when you can start on the paper work. There are still 799 available, but they are going fast. I suppose if that is a blessing that the Lord wants to give us, there will still be one there. I know that there are a lot of people who could use that money. But it doesn't hurt to offer up a prayer!

Josie turns 9 Months old

Name: Josie Mae Farr

Age: 9 Months old

Weight: 16lbs 13oz (15%)

Height: 27 1/2 inches (47%)

Head Circumference: 17 1/4 inches (45%)

Nick Names: Jo Mae, J Bird, J baby

Accomplishments: Climbing on everything...including stairs, crawls on all fours, pulls herself up onto anything she can, says mama and dada, shows interest in signs...but doesn't sign anything yet, hates liquid baby food, loves bananas, eats kix, cherrios, and crackers, smiles and laughs a lot.

For journaling purposes

Micah

Weight: 33lbs 2oz

Height: 42 Inches

Deeken

Weight: 28lbs 8oz

Height: 36 1/2 Inches

Still not potty trained. Today I asked Deeken why he peed in his pants, his reply, "My wee-wee doesn't have a battery." WHAT?