Yes, it's been SEVEN months

January 14, 2010

I can't believe it's 2010, and I can't believe my little Jimmy is already over 8 months old!!!
For anyone who has been watching this blog, I apologize. You all know how busy life is and especially with a company to run, family and church life to deal with....it can be a handful!

To make things a LOT easier, I'm going to post some parts of journal entries because that will give you the best updates for the past few months. For anyone who doesn't have time to read this is the basic recap:

Jimmy came home in May, the smilest baby boy on the planet. He's been sleeping through the night, 12 hours a night for the past 4-5 months. He's amazing. He's rolling, playing, laughing, teething, eating, smiling and making us so happy and proud!! He's below average on his age scale and is measuring closer to 6 to 6 1/2 months in development which for him is normal. His bifud thumb surgery went very well. Elise loves him, and I'm sure his favorite toy since Christmas is a walking roaring dinosaur from his Uncle Brad.

Elise is reading small stories. Her vocabulary is amazing. She can swim, read, tell me different prophets by sight, states by sight, presidents by sight etc. She's incredible to watch. Elise loves to cook, play with her kitchen, watch Mickey Mouse, play musical instruments, paint, count money and read scriptures in the morning with the family. She even brings us pillows to kneel on for family prayers. Right now she is all about calling me Captain Mommy, and daddy Brian. She loves being outside, and loves her grandparents. We're working on potty training and she's doing really well. This year when she turns 3, we'll put her into a ballet class and I will continue to teach her and Jimmy at home. An independant, fiesty, smart and sassy little girl. I am proud of her academic accomplishments, and church accomplishments. She's sitting more reverently in church, can recite the articles of faith and is starting to work on manuscript. She's a funny girl.

As for Brian and I, we're good...working hard in our respective roles in the home and enjoying our kids and the time we can spend with them. They make life entirely worthwhile and we are so grateful for the Lord's hand in our lives. I'm working hard to resolve some medical issues that many of you know I have, and that is looking up as well. I had my screws from my shoulder removed in October and have a LOT of relief from that. I'm so glad we took the hardware out of the equation. Brian's as usual, healthy and the strength I have grown to rely on to get through the hard times. I wouldn't trade our trials for anyone else's. I'm very grateful for the blessings we have been given.

Love you all, and please email me if you need anything terrahctr@hotmail.com or to update me on your life!! .............And now, here are the journal entries:



May 31, 2009

It has been a LONG time since I’ve written. Well, not really so long as it feels…
I haven’t written really, since I was in the hospital getting ready to have Jimmy. It took apx. 4 weeks to get him out of the NICU and home to us. In 2 days we will have had him here for 2 weeks.
Life continues to be crazy. We’ve still not finished moving into the other house. There is so much to do and I have thought more than once how I do not have any time to get the things done I would like to. Now that I’m awake after a feeding, and having a difficult time sleeping b/c of some serious pain I thought I’d take a minute or five and jot some things down. Typing is going to be my entry of choice I think in the future b/c actually writing is so much more time consuming. This is definitely easier and quicker.
Jimmy is a tiny little thing. Skinny like me, and SO different from elise. She loves him to pieces. She loves all babies really, but is so quick to run in to his room when he cries and shove, and I really mean shove a pacifier into his face, or pat him…and when I say pat, it’s really more like hit…but in such an innocent way. She is such a nurturing little girl. She turns 2 this week. Lots of big changes are coming her way. She’s ready to be potty trained, to transition her crib to a bed (she can climb out of her crib now), have a haircut for the first time and also get her ears pierced. Where on earth does the time go???

July 12, 2009
Oh, how lousy I am at keeping my empty promise of writing more. Regardless of my intentions I didn’t write anything last month! Let me tell you it’s been a rough one. Jimmy is doing great and so is Elise…really just growing up so fast. Elise talks all the time now and with such exactness it’s amazing to me for such a young girl. Jimmy can finally wear socks without them falling off, which is great
August 16, 2009
It seems like a waste of time to be awakened and lay in bed with all these thoughts going around and not write them down…especially when jimmy waking us is imminent and I have a horrible headache. I think it’s best to try to remember the wonderful things and that most times, most things are wonderful. Jimmy is really coming into his own. He’s turning into a little man, lots of smiles, sleeping for apx. 10-12 hours nightly, brian helping when he can with those feedings. Elise is such a smart girl. She can do her word cards and I think the running total for my 2 year old is something like 50 words/letters/colors. I am so proud of her. She’s always trying to be such a great help.
Nyla continues to be a wonderful Gramma to them both, visiting as often as 2-3 times a month as long as she’s not camping with Ken. I am grateful for that.

November 10, 2009
Well, as always, there is so much to write, and such hectic schedule that I feel bad for not entering sooner.
On the good news: Jimmy’s surgery went well and I go on Thursday this week to have his soft cast removed. I was a wreck during the procedure and for several days afterward, but on the whole…I’m so proud of him and wish I handled surgery as well as he. My surgery went as planned (not pregnant). I have more ROM in my shoulder. More than I’ve had since 2005 . Additionally, it’s been the easiest recovery I’ve had in all the surgeries combined. Mom came down for three days to help, which was SO nice. That, I’m am so grateful for. Elise and Jimmy are so fun. Elise is such a good helper. A menace at times, and disobedient/stubborn…then again, she is two. Her vocabulary, humor and wit is so hilarious, sometimes it’s hard to discipline b/c she can be so stinkin’ funny!!! Jimmy is playful, full of smiles, hitting his milestones and is just exceeding everyone’s expectations of a 2 mo. Preemie. He’s great. Sleeping for 8 hours consistently, sometimes he even sleeps through the entire night. He rolls from side to side, babbles, has great hand/eye coordination, follows people with his eyes, laughs, can eat food and biter biscuits…the whole 9 yards. Elise is great with puzzles. I have to say, other than being outside, or watching Mickey Mouse, that must be her fav. thing. She loves to help with Jimmy. She copies everything we do or say. She likes to help with dishes, laundry, Jimmy, cleaning, cooking…she’ll be a great mommy. She does great with her babies and toys. Today I caught her trying to teach my old playmate, sissy the seal her words. She has well over 50 she knows: alphabet and sight words. I need to get her started on blends. She can count to 20 easy. She loves to color, use her play dough, kitchen set, doctor’s bag, instruments and have ‘game-time’. She’s an absolute doll. As for me, I met my goal of weight loss, at 114 lbs (take away 2 for my implants and really, my clothes are falling off of me. Brian’s happy, I’m happy.
So many cute things elise has done lately. We went trick or treating. She had a fun time. She talks about it a LOT. She is definitely stubborn. She hates tights. Every Sunday, we have issues. This past Sunday, we had a power struggle. I told her, her shoes wouldn’t fit w/o tights. She continued to cry, so I tried to put them on. They went on and she looked at me and said, ‘sorry, mommy’. w/in 10 minutes, she couldn’t walk in her shoes and was begging for relief. So I gave her the tights and she was fine. No complaints. She went pee-pee on the potty and doesn’t take forever. She’s growing up so fast. Her vocabulary is vast and impressive. Her overall knowledge is impressive. In fact, sissy the seal is indeed, NOT a seal, but a sea-lion, and she calls it that. she knows animals better than any kid I know. She knows a heck of a lot more than any kid I know.
Jimmy’s getting his name/blessing this Sunday. I intend to write down as much as possible. I’ll enter it in when I can. I’m very proud of my family and am excited to see them continue to grow/develop/improve. We’ve been doing the articles of faith, and elise can sing the first 5, some of them, without my help. She’s amazing. Love that kid. 

November 16, 2009

Have to mention I deleted some ‘too personal to share info, so this is from where some of it ended:

Good news, the blessing was beautiful, short and sweet. Jimmy cried the whole time, but looked so, so, so cute. In the circle? Dad, Brian, Chane, Bro Anderson, Bishop Smith, and Pres. (old temple pres.) Belnap. It was really nice
Also…Kristen Randle sent the music I grew up with. A great C-mas present for the fam. Totally stoked about that.
The house looks good, for the most part. NO big drama there. That’s good news. I suppose that’s it for now. I’s almost 3 am, so I should go use the heating pad and try to get back to bed. Thanks for listening 
--terrah
November 18, 2009
I have been going through the kids’ clothes. It’s amazing how fast they grow!! The kids are good. Jimmy though…he’s teething and grumpy/needy. It’s been a struggle b/t him and elise…she’s refusing to nap lately and I’m loosing my mind. I could also use a trip to the store to get some matches and anything else pertinent to the season.
What a day. Hopefully it’ll just get better and I’ll get better, and the kids will get easier to deal with. Here’s hoping 

December 25, 2009

Christmas this year was centered more toward the real meaning of Christmas. I am proud of that. We read to Elise the story of the baby Jesus, we read from Luke 2:1-16, we had a very, very simple dinner: ham, sweet and reg. potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, yeast rolls, pumpkin pie….Grandma Nyla brought a mac/cheese dish, and a great pumpkin shortbread dish. Of course I set the table with the china and cutlery, snowflake napkin rings for my red and green napkins, and moved Elise’s booster chair to the big table so she could enjoy Christmas dinner with us. Who came you ask…Ken, Nyla, Brian, Terrah, Brad, Shannon, Devon, and Elise. Jimmy was sleeping. In the morning of Christmas we ate pumpkin bread that I made and hot chocolate. Elise got most of the presents, you know….learning tools like manuscript books, coloring books, leap frog DVD’s and mini Disney characters. Also, like when I was a kid, she got things of necessity, like toothpaste  to help take away the cavity causing pez that she got in her stocking. A child after our own hearts, she got a huge box of legos. I remember envying Chane’s lego collection, and she loved them all. Grandma brought an elmo for both babies, and some new pajamas. Brad brought a moving dinosaur and a pink/purple monkey for Elise. She loved them! She loves dinosaurs and things that move. The toys and learning things will be used for Jimmy too, but he’s just so little and had more fun with the tissue/wrapping paper so we didn’t really get him anything. We have been blessed to have so much, and we do! Brian was so thoughtful, and got us tickets to see Mary Poppins. I got him tickets to see Michael Buble, a tomato slicer (cause he eats them what seems like, every day!) and a DVD, and lastly and Advent Calendar. He’s talked about having one since we’ve been married and so I found one.
January 1, 2010
Can’t believe it’s 2010!
I did some shopping today…great sales really. I left a note for brian and took the kids so he could sleep. He’s got what the 3 of us have had, and it’s nasty. I wish he’d just rest and sleep and take it easy, but he’s kind of like me, well…a LOT like me. I know there are things to do/organize and feel horrible for not having the energy to do them. I do surely empathize. I love him so much and want him to get better much faster than I did.
I had my preliminary back injection on Tuesday, next Tuesday I should go back and have the nerves severed lasting anywhere from 6 to 18 months. Wouldn’t that be awesome????
Caroling season is over, and I missed a few biggies b/c of my illness. That was a waste. I am able to sing at the shrine in 10 days  I am so happy about that, I miss it so…singing with awesome people and getting paid for it.
Elise is so smart. I’m working baby signs with Jimmy, reading more books myself and also attending the temple once/week unless I’m sick or Brian’s sick.
This has been an interesting year. I’m grateful for my blessings and am faithful that the Lord will continue to provide us sufficient for our needs.
January 9, 2010
Brian told me I had to write this immediately or I would face some kind of consequence, so here it is: I told Elise something putting her to bed you know the phrase, ‘no way jose’ and she looked at me and said, mommy, I not jose, I ‘lise. She is also lately calling me Captain Mommy, which she has picked up from who knows where, but I guess it’s better than Terrah Mommy, which she was calling me for a while, or just regular T rah. Elise likes to do words and read books, color, paint, count, look at the globe, puzzles, money identification, signs etc. I know kids are so different, and it makes me wonder how jimmy will be. How will he be??? Right now, he is the calmest thing in my life other than the temple and elise is what makes my head spin like a stupid toy you get at the dollar store. Potty training is going….she can do it, just is willful, forgetful, stubborn and sometimes all the bribing and prizes in the world wouldn’t make her poop on the potty just for spite. I think she does a lot of things just to get under my skin…she knows she’s making ‘bad’ choices too, because I ask her what kind of choices they are!! She knows. Kids are smarter than parents’ give them credit for, they just need the nudging to move forward. I am convinced that that is the case for most kids.

That's it! I'll add pictures to my facebook account, and you can see them there. I've got a little girl on the potty trying really hard I need to tend to instead of blogging!!!!
Until next time :)
--terrah