Dream House

Lately I have found myself daydreaming about what I wish my future house could be like. I really feel like it's attainable, albeit not for a few years. Here is my secret wish:

The most important thing my dream home would have is property. I'd love to have at least 20 acres, possibly more. And on that land I'd love to have a miniature, personal farm. I want a little orchard with 2 trees each of apple, pear, peach, plum, apricot, cherry, chestnut, walnut, pecan and almond. I want at least 3 long rows of lavender bushes, a beehive, a goat, and some chickens. I'd also want a large vegetable garden, plenty of berry bushes and lots of flowers and shade trees everywhere. I would also want maybe one small field for pumpkins, melons, and other such things. I think I would really enjoy working outside. I know it's hard work, but I never feel accomplished anymore, and I think it would do wonders for me.

Maybe it's silly, but that is my dream. I could make lavender goat milk soap, honey lip balm, and other products and sell it at the fair or farmers market, and I'd have a reason to get up in the morning. I would have a purpose.


There are a lot of other fun things I want, like a fire pit and home theater, but I think I could live even in a small house and still feel like I have everything I want if only I had a garden.

For now I will stick to my potted flowers and windowsill herbs, but I will continue to dream of my fruit trees and garden.

Teaching My Son to Read

Literacy is very important to me. I love to read! When I read a good book it's like watching a movie in my head, only better because you get more details. Or even better, when I want to know something and I go to the library and search for just the perfect book it's so exciting to go home and read it and learn something new. There is just so much you can get from a book that you can't get from the internet! And that is why it's very important to me that my son learns how to read and that he learns it well.

I started trying to teach Jacob to read when he was 3. But if any of you have actually met Jacob you know that sitting still is just about impossible for this little boy. He was very ready to actually learn HOW to do it, but he just couldn't concentrate long enough and it was frustrating for both of us. So I decided that there was absolutely no point in pushing it! I wanted it to be fun for him and exciting, not something he would dread and dislike.

So how does one actually go about teaching a child to read? Well first of all, you have to make them want it! Why should a kid learn to read when they don't see the excitement and fascination in it?

• My first tip is to read to your child every single day from the day they are born! If your child has a hard time concentrating, find short, concise books without too many fancy words. If your child likes princesses, find princess books. If they like a certain movie, find the books from the movie. If they like dogs, get a dog book. It doesn't matter what the book is as long as you read to them! The more they enjoy the subject, the more they will be excited about books. If your child wants to know something, help them find a book that will explain the answer. Get library cards and go every week! 
• My second tip is to make sure they understand that the words on the page actually mean something. Point to them when you are reading. Show them that words are read from left to right. Show them what different words say. They may even start to memorize the shape of certain words and 'read' them by sight.
• Get them familiar with the letters of the alphabet. Sing the song, read alphabet books, put the letters on your wall, etc. More importantly introduce them to the SOUNDS these letters make. Have fun with it! We love to spell things out with blocks. And I like to tell Jacob how to spell things. Even though he doesn't remember, it is getting him used to the fact that letters spell words and make different sounds. 
• Make them excited by teaching them how to spell their name! Jacob thinks he is so cool when he spells his name out. We cut out the letters from construction paper and put it on his wall so he could see it. 
• When you think your child is ready  to learn (and they really do need to be ready. This may be anywhere from age 3 to age 7)give them an incentive to sit through the lessons! This is key for us. Jacob just cannot sit still. He loves learning to read but he just gets so restless! We make the lessons short (about 15 minutes or less) and he has a chart on the wall. For every lesson he completes he gets a check mark. When he gets a certain amount of check marks he gets a treat (could be candy, a special play date at the park with mom, a movie, a dollar store toy, etc.)
• Teach them words that are in the same word family! Such as mat, rat, bat, cat, sat, etc. This is really helpful for them. I taught my son log and jog and dog on our dry erase board, and then he read the word frog without any help at all. I was surprised! Then I realized that he really understood what we were doing and that the rhyming words were very helpful.
• My last and final tip for teaching kids to read is to get a good manual on teaching it. It can be whichever one works for you but the one I used and the one I highly recommend is Teach your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons by Siegfried Engelmann. The lessons are so easy because you are FED WHAT TO SAY! It's like reading a script and the script totally works. And it's consistent so kids find it easy to use too. The first few lessons you may think it's a little weird, but once you really start doing it you will see immediate progress. My son was reading real words 5 days in (we did 2 lessons per day at his request). The lessons are short enough that they won't get bored. And bonus, you teach your child to write at the same time! Although I'm extremely laid back on neatness. I kind of just let him do his own thing with writing. I show him how to write the letter, help him trace it once, then let him have at it. I don't care if it looks nothing like the original right now. We'll get to that later. 

So if you are struggling with how in the world you are supposed to teach the enormous task of reading, I hope these tips really help you. Jacob is on the fast track to literacy now and it's only a matter of time before he is reading entire books on his own. 

Cream Cheese Whipped Cream

So today we had breakfast for dinner. :) We had oven cooked bacon, scrambled eggs with cheese, freshly cut oranges, waffles and Cream Cheese Whipped Cream! It was delicious.

Here is my recipe:

Cream Cheese Whipped Cream

1 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
4 T. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
4 oz. softened cream cheese

Directions:

Put a metal bowl and whisk or beaters in the freezer for 15 minutes. In chilled bowl beat cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla until stiff peaks form. In a separate bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Use a spatula to scrape it out into the cream mixture. Beat until just mixed. Enjoy!

Now how easy was that? Now you can officially die and go to heaven. This is wonderful as a topping for pancakes or waffles or a filling for crepes. :)

Stomach Flu

Well we officially got truly sick for the first time this season. I was hoping we'd make it out unscathed, but no such luck. Poor Jacob started Monday around 2:00. He told me his tummy hurt but he has faked a tummy ache several times before so I honestly didn't really think anything of it. He was still running around and playing and laughing! I told him if his tummy hurt he should lay down. He finally listened to me and about 30 seconds later he threw up all over my couch! Poor baby. :( After cleaning him and the couch up I still wasn't sure if it was a virus or just something he ate. He was running around again so I figured he was fine. Then he laid down again and right after my sister-in-law came in to pick up the baby he threw up again. Luckily this time it was on a washable blanket. Needless to say I got a bucket after that! This continued for most of the night until he fell asleep for good. The next morning he was perfectly fine! I thought we were clear of all illness.

Then on Tuesday my body succumbed. I lost about 6 lbs of fluids in just a couple of hours and unfortunately I couldn't keep even a few sips of water down. After my stomach was empty I just sat there dry heaving and throwing up bile. :P

 Buck was working overnight, which was probably good (less exposure means less chance of illness!). I really tried to get some water in me but no such luck. My heart was racing, my vision was blurry, I could barely stand up. I even blacked out a little while laying down (and in the shower too)!  I was awake all night and kept the vomiting up until late morning when I decided that drinking sips of water was just making me throw up more electrolytes. After I stopped drinking water the vomiting eventually stopped (after a couple more dry heaving episodes), but I was very dehydrated. I called my doctors office to see what I should do and they told me to come in.  I really hate going to the doctors, and I always question whether I was just overreacting. But I went anyways. When I got there they decided I should get some I.V. fluids and some anti-nausea medications. After they gave them to me I could finally keep some water a bit of juice down. It took about 2 hours but finally I was able to leave! I did feel better although my blood pressure was very low (which is a bit abnormal after I.V. fluids. I guess I was VERY dehydrated).

Anyways, I'm doing much better today, but I'm so glad that is over. I wasn't able to eat anything solid so I just drank water, juiced apples, fresh young coconut water and some chicken broth. I also took some probiotics to replace lost gut flora. I just barely (Thursday night) ate my first solid meal of plain yogurt with honey, sunflower seeds and walnuts. I also had a tiny piece of young coconut flesh. I've been a bit nauseated with some mild stomach cramps today but nothing too serious. Tomorrow I will attempt to reintroduce some normal foods. I think I'm over the virus but my stomach hasn't had anything substantial in it since Tuesday afternoon so I'm going to take it slowly. I hope you guys all stay clear of this nasty stuff! I'm just glad it's mostly a 24 hour thing. I couldn't have lasted too much longer like that.

Wash your hands, and get plenty of rest. Try to stay well! Good luck. :)

4 Years Old!

Yesterday my baby turned 4!!! Those 4 years went by fast, but they also were packed full of many changes for us. They have been sad, traumatic, difficult, years, but also wonderful, hilarious, and hopeful. Knowing I have to be there for Jacob has really made me a stronger person, and made me much more able to get through the tough times. He has helped raise me as I raise him and he's taught me so much about life, love, and responsibility.

I can't even begin to tell you how much my heart swells with love for him. Sometimes I get very frustrated with this yelling, independent, active child but even sometimes when I think I've had it I suddenly find myself feeling the love in my heart. He taught me how to be an adult and I can't thank him enough for that. He has made me realize how much I don't know and he certainly tests my ever growing parenting abilities.

I wish I was a more organized, happy, energetic person for him. I do try very hard though and I feel like I'm improving every day.

Happy Birthday Jacob! You are such a wonderful child and I'm so glad that God see fit to send you to me.

This year Jacob spent his actual birthday at his dad's. So today we went to the Zoo with grandma, grandpa and aunt Nan. He had a fun time and loved the elephants, polar bear, and tiger. They were all very active today so he got to see some fun stuff! Then we came home for pizza and bread sticks, cake and ice cream. My sister made the cake for him because I'm not really too fond of cake, so I don't really EVER make them. I need to learn how I guess. She did a wonderful job!! She got the idea off of pinterest.

Hannah's cake turned out better than the original I think! I think hers looks more like Mater. Either way, Jacob loved it! :D

Then we opened presents. I got him a transformer (everyone seemed to get him those but luckily we all got him different ones so it worked out great!), some trains for his Thomas take n play set, a really cool puzzle book, a look and find book, a water gun, some flarp (he thinks it's hilarious!), an abc wipe off writing set,  and some more bubbles. (Sounds like a lot but a lot of it was from the dollar bins). My parents got him a cars water bottle and a transformer. He is in heaven right now playing with all of his transformers. :)

I'm glad I had this little boy. I wish I had been older and more mature when I did, but I would never take back having him. Wish us luck in the year ahead. I can already tell it's going to be interesting with the new 4 year old attitude he's developing. :)

A Day in the Life

I have been busy lately! I am basically a hermit these days, although that's not too out of the norm for me anyways with my chronic fatigue. I've been babysitting my nephew ( he is now 6 weeks). I'm actually really enjoying it! But still, my days are very filled now. I thought it would be strange getting used to a baby again but I actually feel more confident about it all now than I did when Jacob was a baby so that's good! This is about what my typically day looks like on days when I babysit (this is mostly based on yesterday):

06:30 a.m. Drag myself out of bed. I am not an early riser. Take a quick shower, get dressed, do my hair, maybe put on makeup (but probably not). Drink water, take vitamins (multi, folic acid, and probiotics, magnesium). Try to clean up any mess if I feel like it. Sometimes I get on my computer. 

 07:15 a.m. My nephew arrives. Sometimes he is awake, sometimes he is asleep. Yesterday he woke up as soon as his dad left. He ate 3. oz. pumped milk. This takes about 15 or 20 minutes. We make faces for a few minutes and walk around. I talk to him and tell him where he is. 

08:00 a.m. We change a diaper. Just pee this time.We 'play'. He wiggles on the floor, we do some tummy time, which he quickly tires of, we sing some songs, I walk him around and he looks at things. He likes looking out the window. 

08:30 a.m. Jacob is awake. I make a green smoothie and coerce Jacob into drinking it. This takes several times. I only make him drink 1 cup. Then I make him toast and have to coerce him into eating this too (even though he asked for it). I drink half of my quart of green smoothie while holding Jackson. 

08:45 a.m. Jackson is fussy. I get up and rock him and shhh next to his ear. He is out for his nap in less than 2 minutes. I put him down. While he is asleep I finish my green smoothie, read a book to Jacob, cuddle with Jacob and put on Thomas the Train. Jacob plays with his train set while 'watching' (HA! He never sits still and just watches). Jacob gets into trouble. I send him to his room. He comes back out and cuddles, then goes back to playing trains. I put in a load of laundry. Then I sit down at my computer. Buck leaves for work (I think? I can't remember the time he left).

09:40 a.m. Jackson wakes up. I hold him and he goes back to sleep. I keep holding him this time and try to read a book while doing so. Jacob wants attention, so that doesn't go over so well. 

10:30 a.m. Jackson is awake. He eats 3 oz. pumped milk and 2 oz. formula. He is hungry! Jacob feeds him for about 1 minute and gets bored, so I finish.

11:10 Jackson is done eating. Yes he really took that long! He kept falling asleep. After burping him we change a diaper and do tummy time. Then we make faces. Then we turn on some music and dance. Jacob is jealous and hugs my legs while I do this. So I put Jackson on the floor for a minute (he actually loves this!). I dance with Jacob for a minute. Then me and Jacob both make faces at Jackson to try to get him to smile. He does just a little bit. I ask Jacob if he wants a snack. He doesn't.

12:00 p.m. Jackson is fussy. I know he is tired. We sing twinkle twinkle little star and rock for a minute. I shhh next to his ear. He is out in about 5 minutes. (That would never happen when Jacob was a baby!!)

Now we get lunch. Jacob eats bread. I try to get him to eat more but no such luck! So bread is his lunch today. I don't remember what I ate. Maybe nothing. I read to Jacob some more. We play his matching game. Then he plays by himself. I sit down at my computer again and relax.

1:15 p.m. Jackson is awake. He eats 5 oz. formula! Hungry boy.  Then he pees right through his diaper. Outfit and diaper change.We dance some more. We do more tummy time. I put him on the floor for a minute on his back and he wiggles while I try to straighten up a little. I get Jacob a snack. He eats snow peas, cucumbers and laughing cow cheese. I eat some cucumbers and snow peas too and hold Jackson. Jacob takes forever to eat, but I can't complain! 

03:00-03:15 p.m Jackson's mom gets him. He has just barely fallen asleep in my arms when she comes. Goodbye Jackson! Jacob is actually sad. He wants Jackson to come back. 

03:30 p.m. Jacob plays with play doh. I water my plants and feed my fish. Then I put in more laundry,. clean the bathroom, straighten the living room. It's filled with toys again in just a couple of minutes. 

04:45 p.m. Me and Jacob drink some kefir and have a chocolate chip cookie ( I know I shouldn't and feel guilty, but I eat it anyways). 

05:30 p.m. Jacob goes outside to play. He runs around a lot and comes in after maybe 10 or 15 minutes. It's way too cold! I get the brilliant idea to start cleaning. 

06:10 p.m. Woe is me, I have cut my finger on some invisible sharp thing under the fridge. That's what I get for scrubbing floors. I need to hire someone to do things in the kitchen. I always get injured in here. It takes a good 15 ore more minutes for it to stop bleeding.Jacob is fascinated by the blood so I show it to him a lot. Glad he isn't afraid or upset.

06:35 p.m. I call it a night. No more cleaning for me. I turn on a movie for Jacob (Cinderella) and I play a game on the computer because I just don't feel like doing anything else. I get something for Jacob to eat, then go back to playing a game. He is enthralled by Cinderella and actually watches the whole movie. 

08: 20 p.m. Buck gets home. I put Jacob to bed, turn the dryer on again because the clothes aren't dry, then make Buck something to eat. 

09:00 p.m I make myself something to eat. I watch  TV show,  while Buck watches something on his computer, but I am bored and I get on my computer again and feel depressed. My finger hurts :P.

11:30 p.m. Get ready for bed. I probably should have gone to bed earlier. 

12:00 p.m. Actually go to bed. 

I need to find time to exercise somewhere in these days! I am getting there. To me, this is an awesome schedule because a few months ago I was basically just laying on the couch all day. So I am very busy, and still a bit depressed, but I'm feeling a LOT better and the depression usually only kicks in when Jacob is in bed and I'm feeling lonely. I need to go to bed earlier, obviously, but I'm very proud of myself for waking up early! Bedtime is a real struggle for me though. I've always been a night owl so this is all so new to me. Maybe my days aren't as filled as some, but I'm proud of myself for what  I have accomplished. I still have a ways to go to really feel like my old self, but I am slowly and steadily getting there.

Also, this schedule doesn't really account for ALL the things I do in a day. There's a lot more frustration and discipline involved. Jacob runs around a LOT and tends to get into trouble. 

Spring!

This is a good time of year for me. I get so depressed, sad, and tired in the winter months that when spring comes it's like I'm a whole new person! I also get really excited about flowers and plants and grass. :) One of my favorite things to do is walk barefoot through grass. One of my frustrations living in an apartment is not being able to plant flowers. I did attempt to plant in some hanging baskets last year and it went quite well, but it wasn't quite enough for me. I wanted more this year. So I bought a set of 3 pots. I started my flowers from seeds this time, and I realized something... I have no idea what I'm doing!!!

As you can see, my little seedlings are going wild! I'm now concerned that I put too many seeds in together. I guess we won't know until later though! Hopefully I have a green thumb. I'm not so sure really. But I'm definitely excited to see life! Hopefully they'll do well inside until it is warm enough to move them permanently outside.

On another happy note, my 1 year anniversary has come and gone! We made it through our first year of marriage in one piece. :) We decided to go to Heber for a little weekend getaway. Of course, it snowed. But it was still fun. We visited Park City and Midway. Our hotel room was awesome as you can see below.

 

 

I can hardly believe it's already been a year! It was a difficult year for me. Marriage isn't bad, but depression never seems to leave me alone. It's been a plague my whole life. Hopefully this year will be easier.

 I also have a brand new baby nephew. :) He is just precious and I'm lucky enough to get to babysit him! He is such a quiet baby compared to Jacob. Don't get me wrong, he still cries, but Jacob seemed to be much, much fussier. This one only cries when he is hungry or has gas. Jacob actually really likes having him over and loves to help out. I'm glad. I thought he'd be really jealous.

I'm really excited for the warm weather to come! I'm trying to decide what fun things we are going to do this year. I have already signed Jacob up for a day camp at Thanksgiving Point. I think he'll really enjoy it. I'd like to visit Yellowstone too. I've never been there so it would be a fun adventure for me. What kinds of plans do you have this summer?