Stalking Spiders

Today we went on a spider hunt in our yard. Bayli was totally fascinated by the whole event. We found a large messy web in our rock wall and stalked the owner. Jed poked at the edge of the web with a stick to tempt our rock dweller. Seconds later, holy cow, there was a huge Black Widow Spider that slowly crept out. It crept to the edge of the web to investigate. Then we thought, get a bug. Jed hurried off to find some bait for our creepy neighbor. I swear that he is the fastest grasshopper catcher. He carefully placed the tiny morsel on the web, about eight times. We were getting frustrated. That spider had the most ineffective web. The gaps were much too big and the grasshopper would easily get away. Finally we were able to get it secured. But, alas, she (the spider) was too weary of us now and wouldn't come out for a feast. We searched for some other rock inhabitants and found two other homes that looked as though someone were home. Again with the bait, repeated by gasps of disappointment when the bait would easily get away. We did have one inhabitant (some little brown spider) that came and checked out the bait but quickly went back to its shelter, knocking off the bug with its motion. We tried one last time with the little brown spider. This time, SUCCESS! Bayli was so excited to see the spider catch its prey. We are totally morping our child-but it is so cool!!! It wasn't as dramatic and exciting as it would have been at the Widows dwelling though-what a disappointment. I wanted my baby girl to be able to see a really big spider in action.
Later, we went on another spider hunt. This time Jed was armed with spray rather than scrumptious meals. It was a bitter sweet event. I love spiders, I am not bothered by most. But, we seem to have a Black Widow infestation and we don't want our little ones to get hurt. Especially since Bayli has discovered a new found love for climbing all over the rock walls.
I figured that we would find 2 0r 3 nests. Was I ever wrong. We know that we had at least 3 nests in the rocks (we actually saw those inhabitants), not to mention there were so many suspicious looking webs that we didn't actually see the spiders that had been occupying them. Everything got sprayed. We hit a gold mine when we lifted the lid to our sump pipe. There were about ten occupying that space-SHIVER!
This was the largest spider that we found, that is a quarter. She must have been getting ready to make her nest of eggs, because she was F-A-T, fat!

We found some other fun spiders, we didn't spray them though. We loved this one that was perfectly camouflaged to look like the stucco on our home. Overall, a fun time for the three of us. And a learning experience for Bayli.

Another First...Poppin' Mushrooms

Today was the first time that I have had to call poison control. I am very grateful that we have this aide. And, it is very fitting that the one I have to call them about is the one and only Chase. Man he has given us trouble lately.
Bayli was playing on the hammock with Aunt Chalese. Chase was playing by the swingset. I had to run in the house for a minute. Chalese went over to play with Chase. All three came in the house soon after I had. Chalese had Chase in one arm and some brown "things" in the other hand. "What is this?" She told me that she had taken it away from Chase. We smelled it and thought "mushrooms!!!" We went outside by where he was playing, sure enough there was a patch of mushrooms in the grass. And there was a defining spot where Chase had been, and a little mushroom with half of its top missing.
So we go look online and try to identify our mushroom. Alright people, identifying mushrooms is pretty hard and I don't have a microscope and I don't have time to email and get info from the Utah Mushroom Society. I am totally uneducated on mushrooms, but I think that most people are.
So I call the poison control. They were great. The man who I talked to asked about the mushroom and what it looked like on the underside. I mentioned that it was all brown. He then reassured me that there are very few poisonous mushrooms in the valley and mentioned that it is a good sign if it is all brown on the gills. He took down our information so that they could keep tabs on Chase and gave us "the watch for list." Hopefully Chase doesn't experience anything on the list. Better yet, hopefully he really didn't swallow any of the mushrooms.
Note to self...keep the boy away from mushrooms.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

I love spring flowers!!! I get so excited for our plants to start to bloom. I swear at least 3 times a day I go outside and check each plant in our yard-I know lame. But I can't help it, I love to see how our plants are progressing. We have been so excited about our trees this year. We planted most of them last year. And no (for those who do not have faith in us) not one died! Jed gave them extra TLC last year to give them a good start-we totally believe in root stimulator. The tree that we have been most excited about is our peach tree. We have grown gardens in the past, but never a fruit tree. It is so funny how one tiny tree can excite a whole family. I swear that our mouths literally salivate each time we look at our tree and its now thumb nail sized crop-SOOO EXCITING!!! Bayli loves to check on her ladybugs that are "taking care of the peaches." "Mom, they are eating the laphids (aphids)." Jed hunted everywhere last year for a Halehaven peach tree (supposed to be one of the best peaches for our climate). He finally had to give in and purchase one from Wal-Mart (I know...we hate Wal-Mart). No where had one, and if they did, they looked horrible or were way too expensive. But, we have loved our little peach tree. Jed read up on pruning last fall, and worked his magic. This spring, our little tree has had so much growth and looks like it will produce a ton of peaches-YAY!!!
The other plants that I have been so excited about are our Iris's. The Iris is one of my favorite flowers. We don't have too many flowering plants in our yard, but we do have plenty of Iris's. I had moved/added about 10 plants last fall. So I have been eager to see how they did, and what they all look like. I must say, they are gorgeous-pat on the back. My yellow plant died back too far, so no flowers this year, hopefully next spring it will be beautiful again. It looks pretty sad with only 3-4 leaves shooting up out of the bulb. Hey, at least it didn't die out completely. That would be pretty sad, since Iris's can tolerate just about anything. We shall see in another year-ugh!

My Rock

What happens when mom gets sick? Dad becomes even more amazing than he already is. It is official, I have the best hubby in the world!!! I am married to a man who is always doing something. Like his dad, he absolutely cannot sit still. He has to always actively be doing something. Even on vacations, he cannot lay back and relax. A vacation to Jed involves making his body work. Don't get me wrong, the man tries to sit back and relax, but it does not last for very long. So while I have been down from my so called cold (now pneumonia) these are some of the things that my wonderful husband has done:
layed weed fabric and soft fall in the playground (I helped with that one), re-mulched some of the flower beds (I helped a little with that too), helped me keep my garden alive (I did plant that without his help, but Bayli helped me), finished the sprinkling system on the hill with a four year old (I watched mostly), layed rock pavers by the hose bibs in the back yard, cleaned the garage, dusted the house (my job), mowed the lawn (he does that anyway, but still), put sand in Chase's sandbox, cleaned the bathrooms (also my job), read my mind (bathed the kids when he knew that I was too tired), played with the kids, adjusted the sprinklers (he wouldn't trust me to do that), made bread (so sweet, he does it every Sunday), went to work (I am sure that he loved the break), took care of Chase the night of the hives, and sprayed the wasp nests (he was mad that I had knocked some down with the wasps still alive-it was so fun though).
There you have it, my husband is the GREATEST!!!! On top of that, he has made me the happiest gal in the world. After nearly eleven years of marriage, I can't get enough of this guy-thanks Jed!

Life Lessons

I've dealt with it as a nurse, but never as a mom. Where to begin? So we have been transitioning Chase from his one month encounter with formula. We had no problems with good old, less expensive, Costco (Kirkland) Brand Infant Formula. We loved it with Bayli and it did well for Chase. We decided to transition Chase to Soy Milk, since that is what the rest of our clan favors. Chase did good for the first week or so. We were gradually increasing the amount of soy to formula ratio. Things seemed to be going well. So the second week into the transition, we shot for straight soy-bad mistake. Horrible diarrhea!!! Poor little guy-sore bum and all. We backed off on the soy and did more formula and again tried increasing the soy amount-worse diarrhea!!! Now his tummy was being sensitive even with any soy. Let me tell you, it totally sucks having to give everyone in our family a different kind of milk beverage.
Last Friday, we purchased some whole cows milk and started the transition again. The first day he did so great. We figured that since he had been having the milk based formula, this transition would be a breeze. Saturday we started giving him straight whole milk and he was doing wonderful-no bowel issues. He had been being irritable for the last week or so, so it was hard to tell if he had tummy aches at all.
Saturday night, Chase slept horribly. He woke up screaming bloody murder-and our boy can scream (those who have not had such encounters, feel blessed). He screams over everything. But these screams were so much worse. He wanted mamma to rock him-something that we have never let him get into the habit of and something that he has never really liked. But this night mom had to give in a bit-I was so tired, I have been getting over a chest cold. Finally Chase drifted back to sleep on his own.
The next morning, during breakfast, we noticed a single hive on his upper chest. We thought that it was because he had been so worked up that night and had carried on his grumpiness into the morning.
At nap time, around noon, Chase was again having a hard time going down. His face was a little bit flushed, so we gave him some tylenol, thinking that maybe he was getting a cold or something. We gave him a bottle of milk and layed him down. He started crying about 15 minutes later. He had diarrhea and a very sore bum-poor guy. After fixing him up, we set to getting him that nap in, again. After about 30 min, still no sleep, and the screaming was beginning-not the bad screaming yet. He was rubbing his ears a little, so we decided to give him some motrin as well. Another hour passed with Chase crying off and on in his bed trying to settle down for his nap. Then, the SCREAMING began!!! I went into his room and found my poor baby rubbing and scratching at his face and ears, like he was being swarmed by bees. His little hands and arms were literally moving 90 miles an hour. And then I saw what the problem was. Chase's eyes were swollen like a Sharpay dogs, his little ears were poking out like Dumbo, and his lips looked like he just had botox. He was beet red and had bumps forming all over his face. On closer examination, he was beginning to form hives on all of his trunk and limbs.




Moment of mom panic...followed by a series of thoughts:
Alright, we need benadryl. Oh crap, we have never needed benadryl-we don't have any. How much can a baby have? Check the internet. Check with the doctor. It is Sunday, the doctor has to be paged, and urgent hours aren't until 5pm. What time is it, 2:30, mom has to work tonight. Call the pharmacist. Moron pharmacist-not very confident in his dosage formulations. Pharmacist takes nearly 10 minutes to tell me (in his unconfident manner) "it looks like a 1 yr old can maybe have 1/4 tsp to start, but if you need more you should check with the Doctor because you can kill a baby if you give them too much. " Not a very helpful pharmacist-all confidence lost, new opinion needed. Re-page the doctor. Baby is screaming more, swelling is getting worse, is he just panicking or is his breathing getting worse? Off to the instacare. Jed take a message from the doctor when he calls back.
At least Chase started to settle down on the ride, or was he in fear for his life, because mom was speeding just a little, how is his breathing? He seems to be okay. Arrival!!!
Everyone knows what a fun time it is to wait at the instacare. Try waiting with a screaming, exhausted 1 yr old-good times!!!
Chase's oxygen saturations are good-panic is decreasing. Benadryl given-yeah!!!
All of the questions. What caused this? Was it the milk? Does he have a virus? Did he get into something? Was it a new food? Was it the tylenol? Was it the motrin? AHHHH!!!! I want answers now-not later or worse, never.
Chase gets benadryl 1/2 tsp every 4-6hrs around the clock for at least 48 hrs. Then Zyrtec for 1 week. We are hopeful that we will not have any problems with Rice milk-we shall see.
Chase is finally dosing off on the way home. Drop him off to sleep. Off to the store for supplies. Which store? Target? Do they have Rice Milk? Macey's is closed on Sundays. Wal-Mart it is (BIG arghhh, I hate Wal-Mart)!!!! Move fast through the store-man it is busy. Do I get the rice milk in the fridge area or the packaged drinks area? Fridge is fresh, less preservatives. Check out, don't count the money drawer now!!! Race home.
Dad gets to take care of the boy while mom goes to work-mom is hesitant (not because she doesn't have confidence in dad-he will do great). What mom ever wants to leave their baby under those circumstances? And a nurse for a mom makes things even worse. Working overnight does not help at all.
After checking in with Jed multiple times the first few hours at work, I felt that things were going to be okay. Chase was playing and happy again. He loved the rice milk. Best of all, his swelling was starting to go down a bit. He had gone to bed easily.
We had planned to have Jed go in to work a little bit late this morning so that mom could take care of Chase, even though she wouldn't have slept much. But, Chase was doing so much better, we felt ok in having him go to Aunt Sheri's. He was a gem for her.
We shall see how things play out with this, hopefully we find the answers. I do know this, we will always have benadryl in our medicine cabinet!!!

"Toot" Funny Not To Share

So the other day I was bathing the kids. Bayli, being the great big sister that she is, was showing Chase how to blow bubbles in the water. He giggled and grinned his most mischievous smile. Determined not to let his sister down, he plopped on his little belly and started to blow bubbles into the water. Just as he was getting pretty comfortable with the new found talent, we heard and saw something that was very unexpected. For some reason the bubbles were now coming from his other end. That's right, my boy tooted in the bathtub. Not only that, it was right in big sisters face!!! Chase bolted up, turned to me, and gave the funniest grin and giggle of all. That's a boy for you.

Unexpected Gift-Or So I Thought

Why do kiddos love to unwrap gifts? Probably because it is so darn exciting!!! We love it when someone has a special day and gets to receive gifts. I was recently able to experience the part of receiver, Mother's Day... "crazy laugh."
So Bayli, being a 4 yr old, made lots of beautiful art projects during the week building up to the day. In preschool she made a beautiful picture of she and I walking on rocks to school-so cute. She gave me this picture and I put it on the fridge. I love the faces. It is still on my fridge.

At her next preschool class she made me a card with her hand print on it. Also very cute. She did not give me this picture though. Instead, she kept re-wrapping her card in dolly blankets and buckets. Then, she would knock on the door to whatever room I was in and run and hide. To my surprise after surprise, I would find this beautifully packaged gift and unwrap. This occurred at least 10 times. Then I realized that she was mixing up Valentine's Day with Mother's Day. I think that it was because she had a heart on this drawing-who knows the mind of a 4 yr old? I never did get to keep this gift.

On the Friday before Mother's Day, Bayli went to church to make another gift. I did not get to know the details, "it's a secret mom, you will get it on Mother's Day." When the big day finally arrived, I was so eager to see what she had made me. When I opened it up, this is what I found...


I was expecting another darling picture of maybe her and I or our family-it being this big day and all. I knew that she could draw people, she had just given me a beautiful picture a few days prior. So, I lovingly asked her what it was a picture of. And this was the response:

Bayli-"it's a snaggle waggle trap"
Me-what is a snaggle waggle trap?
Bayli-it catches rats from the future
Me-ohhh, a snaggle waggle trap (duh-I should have known)
Bayli-yeah, but this one has a dead rat in it
I then very slowly responded...oh.

No smiling faces, no rainbow hair, no holding hands, no pictures of mommies, no pictures of anything that I had expected! It then hit me, my daughter is trully one of a kind. If I always received everything that I had expected, where would the fun be? I need these moments to ground me and open my eyes like my darling daughter.
I got the privilege of having the snaggle waggle trap hang on my fridge for almost one afternoon. Then, the original artist reclaimed ownership and I haven't seen it since.

Planetarium Extravaganza

I got the opportunity to go with Bayli and her preschool class to the Clark Planetarium last week. We had a blast! I found that Bayli knew quite a bit about our solar system and the planets in it. Bayli's favorite planet is Saturn, "it has rings." That's my girl! She loved watching the Pendulum display and working the Contraptions. She is so interested in the Whys-cause and effect. I think that I got the Pluto questions about a million times-"why did they name it after Mickey's dog?" She didn't want to understand the real answer, so Mickey's dog it is.

The Pendulum

Some fun facts

Anchor girl

Walking on the Moon

Walking on Mars

1 is fun

Chase turned one! He is our little terror, into everything!!! He loves playing with the drawers in the kitchen and all of the noisy contraptions inside. We are really tired of washing lids. It is funny the things that we find around the house. Whisk on the printer, straw in the toy box, bowls in the laundry, and yes lids. Lots and lots of lids. Plastic lids aren't too bad, at least they aren't as noisy. The lids that are the worst are the pan lids. He picks up the top one in the drawer and lets it go crashing down onto the rest of the pile. AHHHH the sound is horrible! If we could, all of the drawers would have child locks on them like the cabinets. But, then he would just find something else to terrorize us with. I guess that we can handle a rumaged through kitchen 8 times a day.


Chase loves being outside, so we decided to have a beach themed birthday party. It was great. The kids played on the swingset and colored on the basketball court with chalk, Chase ate the chalk. The men played basketball, around Chase. Chase had a great day. He is so loved. We gave him a swing for the playground, his grandparents gave him a sandbox, Rob and Kami gave him a ride on car that makes all sorts of fun noises, and the Atherley/Marsh/Branch families gave him some toys and a Children's Place gift card.


Chase loves Elmo, so we had an Elmo on the beach cake. Chase got a handful of yumminess while we sang to him, then he devoured his slice. The boy was in heaven! It was a great day. The funnest part was watching him Mogley crawl across the lawn.