Welcome to the Bertelsen

Stuck

2011-10-20T10:46:00.000-06:00

One afternoon Caius was downstairs watching TV. I heard him screaming so I ran down to see what was up and I discovered him stuck in Jerrick's baby chair! Caius knows how to buckle up, but thats it. He was very upset that I wanted to take pictures of him during this crisis. I only took a few before I let him loose!

Our Bustling Boy

2011-10-19T10:10:00.002-06:00

I love this series of photos because it is so Leland. He has such a sweet personality. We often scoop him up and smooch on him during his play...he's just irresistable sometimes.

Leland is prone to intense bustling. He is always (and I mean ALWAYS) experimenting with something, working on a project like stacking cans or spreading a package of napkins all over the floor, or squating over Sophie's food and water transferring her bits of kibble into the water bowl one by one.

This was from a couple of months ago. We had potatoes with dinner and Leland decided Jerrick should have a piece too. So he balanced it on top of his head...??? After that Leland decided to clean things up, so he acquired a napkin which he had a little fun tearing up, and then he brought what was left over to where Jerrick was sitting with his potatoe hat. He let the shred of a napkin float down onto Jerrick's head and seemed very pleased with all his hard work taking care of his baby brother's needs. What a sweet and caring big brother he is!

Torches and Pitchforks

2011-10-19T09:46:00.001-06:00

This morning I have been feeling terrible about my choices. What was I thinking having our boys so close together? They make the most terrible messes, Leland is always following Caius, copying his dangerous stunts, they end up hurting each other at least once a day. And what if we aren't giving them everything they need? What if they grow up to resent me or Neal or each other?

Then I sat down to look at pictures, which almost always makes me feel better. Our life isn't perfect. It never will be. But, Caius and Leland love each other. They have fun together, they miss each other when they are apart. They are the best little buddies there ever were. When I take a deep breath and think about the big picture, there's no way they'll hate each other when they grow up. My siblings and I tortured each other and went through some things together that probably should have torn us apart and maybe did for a while, but I still love them. And I know they love me just as much. I'm proud of my brothers and sisters. I'm sitting here thinking about each of them individually, and how they've all turned out. They are all GOOD people, and I know if it came down to it, any of them would be there for me if I needed them.

Caius and Leland will probably continue to hurt each other, and destroy things as they grow up, but I know they love each other.

Cuddled together watching a movie one afternoon.

Happy to be awake and alive and messy in the morning.

Holding onto each other tight before they trip over their own feet and fall over---laughing the whole way down.

Tiiiimmmbeeerrrr.

They have all kinds of messy fun in the tub together.

I think Leland wishes Jerrick could join in with them while they have their destructive fun. I was just telling my friend the other day, Jerrick is rolling all over the place now, and in just a couple of months he'll be crawling around after the big boys, all three of them with their torches and pitchforks, mutilating our house.

When they are grown men they'll have all kinds of stories to laugh hysterically about. And they will share a bond that so many people don't have with their siblings. In the end, even though it's been hard for me, this is good for them. Neal and I love our little men.

WE RIIIIIIIIIIDDDE!!!!!

2011-10-18T10:26:00.002-06:00

I decided we needed to get some bikes already. I really love biking, and we've only been biking I think once or twice since Neal and I got married. I own a bike helmet and padded bike shorts, but no bike?! So I got on craigslist and found us a couple of bikes and an ibert safe-T seat and a bike trailer for the boys.

This is my bike. Turns out, with the basket and the old fashioned brakes, I couldn't hook up any of the kids gear to my bike! Sooooo.....

TA DAAAAA!!! My most manly man of a husband put it all on his! That's at least 60 extra lbs.!!!! Neal is the best. I tried to use his bike just once to see if I could take the boys out in the trailer on my own, but Neal's bike is the perfect size for him, and my feet couldn't reach the ground even if I sat on the bar. :(

We've been on a few really great rides this fall. We biked to Terrace Park where the Japanese Gardens are, which is really close to our house. We also went on the bike trail, starting at the Falls and it was one of the most beautiful days we've spent together as a family. Caius and Leland take turns sitting in the green ibert seat. Leland doesn't have the nerves for rollercoaster-y things, so we go up hill with him in front, and down hill with Caius in front. On our ride near the falls we went pretty fast downhill, and ran into a few clouds of gnats. I was worried that Caius would get a bug in his eye, but when we got to the bottom Neal told me he loved it so much, he just opened his mouth wide and screamed the whole way down with glee. Then we found a bug in his teeth. Ugh....I don't even want to think about how many bugs he must have swallowed. The important thing is, he had so much fun, despite the bugs (which he is normally pretty skittish about) and it is a beautiful memory for all of us now.

In the picture above Leland is happy happy eating his pizza crust, Caius is peeking out from the trailer window, and Jerrick is obviously uncomfortable. The next ride, we put him in the cargo area of the trailer, swaddled, and propped up by pillows and blankets. He slept soundly for the entire ride that way!

Here's a youtube video of the fruit of the loom commercial that Neal and I think is so funny we laugh til we're blue every time we see it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39OpLtEsg0g

That's why the title of this post is awesome.

Play Dough

2011-10-18T10:04:00.000-06:00

For his birthday, Caius got play dough and a set of tools to use with the play dough. Play dough is still a little too messy (and too tempting to eat) for Leland, so we try to play with it when Leland is taking his nap. In the beginning we mostly just made balls and snakes and used the tools to make imprints on the dough. One day I made a cat, and after that Caius realized we could make some really cool stuff.

Caius requested a Thomas the Train...and this was my best attempt.

We added another train and a big red double decker bus...

Then we put them on tracks.

This is Cai's concentrating face.

big boys

2011-10-13T13:59:00.004-06:00

our big boys like nothing more than to explore their big new house naked. caius was fully clothed earlier but then I found a trail of clothes leading up to the bathroom. now he just wants to wear his too small boots from last year. hey, at least he's pottytrained!

leland on his way down the stairs after his nap. (wallpaper strippings on the floor) there is one big red tree we can see from this window and the boys are fascinated with it.

Again sorry about the picture quailty. These look a lot better on the tablet...

Jerrick Hangin' Around

2011-10-13T12:51:00.002-06:00

Jerrick is getting so big! He rolls over all the time and can reach out and grab things now. He has always loved the little birds on his bouncy chair and started reaching for them. I felt sorry for him because they are too high, so I tied some old bracelets onto the birds. Now he likes to grab onto both and just hang on for a while. Is he cute or what?!

And these are my lovely sunroom windows. I love having a sunroom. :)

(Sorry about the picture quality)

Leland: 18 months old

2011-08-22T08:42:00.000-06:00

Here is our little Leland. On July 17th he turned 18 months old! He was so eager to go to nursery until he developed some separation anxiety. If we aren't at home, he spends his time clinging to my legs or screaming with fear because he doesn't recognize any of the legs around him. Then he wanders around looking at peoples faces trying to find mine, screaming all the while. ;)

Leland has a recent fascination with the toilet and water in general. I have found him on counter tops by the sinks multiple times splashing water around or "washing" things. Of course he loves Sophie's water bowl and tries to play in it. His favorite, and the worst part, is the toilet. He can't get enough of that toilet! We had one long week of toilet issues and finally called a plumber who said he didn't know what it was, but there was definitely something in there. He spent a good 20 minutes working on it.

Leland's vocabulary is really exploding. He usually says something once or twice and then not again for a long time. But he's starting to put things together.

One of his favorite things to do is stand in the middle of the room and do something like put together a tower or put a peg through a hole and then he says "Yay!" and starts clapping. And he claps until everyone else is clapping and saying, "Yay! Good job!" He's been the life of the party more than once, and he loves it!

2011-08-15T12:48:00.000-06:00

Jerrick is almost 3 months old!!! He is such a happy baby. He is still sleeping most of the day, and he sleeps 6-7 hours at night. I think Jerrick has turned out to be our biggest baby. He's packin' on the chub pretty quickly, and we love his little michelin man arms. Just like Caius and Leland he loves baths and gets very excited when he is in the water. One of his newest tricks is giggling! (Click on the word "giggling" to see a video.)

J, Jay-gee, Jiggles, J-bird, JJ....

2011-08-08T16:02:00.000-06:00

This couch has seen a lot of cute babies.

It has been WAAAY too long since my last blog post. I'm afraid I don't have much to say that isn't boring. And I seriously need to take a photography class or something so I can present better photos of the adorable things my sons are doing. In the meantime here are some mediocre ones.

Jerrick is 2 months and 3 weeks old. He's almost a baby instead of a newborn!

He's smiley and happy most of the time. When he's not it's cuz he's sleeping...or he should be.

Getting stronger!

He loves his hands. He watches them a lot.

Look at those lips!

Coming soon: Caius is 3!!! This is pretty much what ever y picture of him looks like now.

Jerrick's Birth Story

2011-05-26T16:38:00.001-06:00

Jerrick is here! About a week ago, maybe even before that, I started to show signs that I would be in labor soon. I would have bouts of contractions every day which never got regular or consistent, but I was certainly becoming more dilated. I just stayed relaxed and well-rested, waiting for labor to officially start. A day or two before the real thing, I was already over 6 cm dialted. The evening of the 24th was pretty normal, but I started to feel really tired around 8:00 after Caius and Leland went to bed. So I took a nap and then woke up around 9:30 or 10:00 and watched a little TV with Neal. Around 12:00 I started to have very familar feeling surges and I was sure it was time. Poor Neal had just fallen asleep! I felt bad that I had to wake him up but I needed his help, and I thought things would happen pretty quickly.

Here I am during the labor.

Neal got up right away and started to fill the pool and get everything ready for the birth. My midwife, Richelle, came over right away and set up all of her equipment. She checked for the baby's position and he was still posterior, so I did a few last minute things to try to get him to turn. It seemed like he wasn't gonna budge so I started to focus on staying relaxed through my surges. Since the baby was posterior his head was pushing up against my spine, so when I would have a surge I felt a lot of pressure in my lower back. During a contraction Neal and Richelle would get on either side of me and push on my knees and my lower back which was really relieving. I layed down and fell asleep between a few surges and after that things started to get really intense. We got in the birth pool which felt SO nice. Neal was in the pool with me pushing on my lower back during surges. I don't think I realized how hard he was pushing, but I remember feeling like he could have pushed even harder. I'm pretty sure I have bruises there now. It's a little sore but it just reminds me of what a great partner Neal was to me. He didn't get any sleep all night because he was right there with me through every surge. He didn't even act tired. To me, he seemed very awake and alert, trying to be in tune with me and predict what I might need from him. He could tell when I was having a hard time getting through a surge and he was so reassuring to me.

Just like with my other births, my surges never did become regular. I think my body just does exactly what I need it to do. I would have a super intense surge which would last a long time, and then I would have a couple of short ones that were a lot easier to handle. I did reach a point where I felt like I wasn't going to make it. I hadn't felt the baby moving down, and I wasn't having any urges to push, so I was afraid it would be a while before we were near the end. I haven't heard the most encouraging posterier baby birth stories. Most say they end up pushing for 4+ hours. I was afraid that I would need to push for that long, but I wasn't even close to the pushing stage! I was becoming so tired, and beginning to doubt myself. Then, as if my body could hear my inner thoughts, I had another intense surge and after a moment of breathing through it, I realized the baby was coming out. I had been sort of just quietly breathing through each surge with my midwife and her two assistants sitting nearby, and Neal right behind me. They were all surprised when I suddenly sat up a little and said, "Here he comes!" In just seconds, his head and body were born without me pushing at all. Neal and I caught him and brought him up out of the water. He let out a nice healthy cry right away and Neal and I just sat back together admiring him.

Neal and I with Jerrick, just a few minutes after his birth.

It was such a sweet experience to give birth in the privacy of my own home. We were able to take our time holding and meeting Jerrick, and I birthed the placenta on my own time. We didn't do anything until we were ready. I nursed for the first time, which went well. After the cord stopped pulsing, it was clamped and Neal was able to cut it. Then Richelle checked me out and said my bleeding looked normal, and I had no tears and no swelling! We moved to our bedroom where I could lay down comfortably, and Richelle performed all of the newborn tests, making sure he responded normally and had all the regular newborn reflexes. He was weighed and measured and during all of this he passed his first meconium and peed on Richelle! Once everything was cleaned up and it was clear that both Jerrick and I were healthy, Richelle and her assistants left and the three of us took a nap together. Our wonderful neighbors had Caius and Leland over for the day, which was perfect. They both slept in their rooms through the whole labor and we were just finishing up with everything when they woke up that morning. We were so tired after being awake all night long, and our boys love the neighbor kids, so they had a fun filled day while we rested.

A sleepy smirk.

So minus the the days before, my labor lasted about 6 hours from beginning to end. Jerrick Stoan weighed 8 lbs. 7 oz. and is 20 inches long. He was born here in our home on May 25th, and we are ecstatic to finally have him with us. :)

Jerrick studying his Daddy.

Just after a big kiss!

He has more hair and much darker hair than Caius or Leland had which surprised us. Caius and Leland were so sweet when they met him. I wish I could have taken a video of it, but I will always remember the looks on their faces. Even Leland who has not previously been very interested in babies, smiled at Jerrick and gently patted him. I loved the look on Cai's face when he realized that this was the baby Jerrick we had been talking about who was living in mommy's tummy...and now he was HERE! He's been nothing but gentle and sweet to baby Jerrick. They already love him.

Recovery wise, I am doing really really well. Like I mentioned before, I had no tearing, so now, a day after the birth, I already feel pretty normal except for occasional afterpains and a sore lower back.

Counting Down...

2011-05-06T12:44:00.001-06:00

This is a picture of Caius holding his swaddled "Yabbit." (It's actually a dog, but he thought it was a rabbit a year ago, so he will probably always be a rabbit to him.) He is still sitting on the couch holding his baby rabbit right now. Our friend just had her baby and Caius has been able to hold her a couple of times. He is so gentle!!! He is rather fascinated by babies and always tells everyone to be quiet because the baby is sleeping. Today I was laying on the couch and Caius saw the baby kick, and he sat with his hand on my belly for a while until he felt the baby kick again. He seemed pretty darn amazed. Caius knows the baby's name now and always thanks Heavenly Father for baby in mommy's tummy during his prayers. I am looking forward to letting Caius help me out with the new baby, and I think he will be very affectionate to his new little brother.

Leland doesn't really understand that I am having a baby soon. But he does like to find my belly button and I always know when it looks different to him because of the face he makes when he sees it. I now have an outie, and he loves to try to push it back in.

I can't believe I am only a few weeks away from having this baby! We still haven't decided on a spelling for the name, so I won't say what it is yet. I just have to get a bouncy seat for the baby, and pump up my birth pool, and then we will be totally prepared for the baby to be born. I am starting to really slow down now. I feel bigger, and I get tired quickly. The baby has "dropped" a little which means he is lower. That's good because I can breathe a little better now, but walking around is pretty uncomfortable. And the bigger this baby gets, the bigger he kicks, so sometimes on days when he is especially active, I feel like I have bruises on the inside of my belly! Only a few more weeks!!!!

Neal is still in St. Cloud. He will be home in less than a week, and we are all giddy with excitement over it! We've been apart for about a month and a half now, and it's been hard. Neal's treatment is going really well! They did x-rays a few days ago and he is already showing improvement! He has been pretty worn out lately and learned that it is common to feel tired when your 3rd vertebrae is being adjusted. They think it is somehow connected to the pineal gland in the brain. The pineal gland regulates melatonin, which regulates sleep- SO, when you mess with that vertebra a lot of people want to sleep more. Neal has been SO tired, he takes naps when he can and goes to bed pretty early. One night he went to bed at 7 and didn't wake up until 7 the next morning. Sounds good, huh?

Well, we have a lot of big stuff coming up! We decided to postpone our Easter celebration until we could be with Neal. Next week when he comes home, we will be celebrating Easter, Mother's day, and our Anniversary, all in one week! I think it will certainly help the time go by faster while we wait for the baby to come. After the baby comes we will finish packing (I've been packing little by little for the past month) and then we'll head for Sioux Falls. It sounds really crazy, but I don't feel too stressed about it. It will be an adventure. Who needs bungee jumping in New Zealand when you could do all this!? ;)

Birth Trauma

2011-04-28T11:07:00.003-06:00

Neal is now in St. Cloud, and has begun his scoliosis treatment. The first day was fascinating. He learned a lot about scoliosis in general and a lot about his individual case. They even took moving x-rays to observe how his spine moves as he moves. They discovered that Neal has quadruple scoliosis, meaning, he has 4 curves in his spine. They feel like they will be able to do a lot to help him. In the past, and even presently, chiropractic care is thought to be beneficial only for pain management for people with scoliosis. Dr. Woggon, the founder of the CLEAR Institute, and the chiropractor Neal will be working with for the next 2 weeks, says, "That is not acceptable. We chiropractors are supposed to be experts on the spine." He told Neal that he loves being a chiropractor and that treating scoliosis is more like a hobby than work for him. Neal is a unique case, so Dr. Woggon is looking forward to "figuring him out."

One of the first things Dr. Woggon wanted to know was about Neal's birth. He has found that 95% of people with scoliosis had some sort of birth trauma. In Neal's case, the cord was wrapped around his neck. This is actually pretty common, and in most cases not an issue, but, they treat it like an emergency. Unwrapping the cord is a priority and they can be pretty brutal about it, even if the baby isn't at any risk. Unless the baby is showing signs of distress, the cord can be left until the birth is complete. You may be thinking, if they know this, why don't they change their routine handling of this sort of situation? It can take a long time to change nurse and doctor habits and the teaching of those habits during their education. Even after they discovered that germs (spread by doctors who didn't wash their hands before dealing with new mothers) were the cause of childbed fever, it took about half a century to change their practices. Maternal death rates at that time were 20%-25% which is incredibly high. And it took them that long to fix it!? In a situation like this where infant mortality and maternal death aren't really concerned, it will take even longer to make the change. Anyway, even in normal birth situations, the handling of newborns can be rough. Here is a video of a fairly common handling of infants:

WARNING: This video is graphic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0QIAZJ_CuE&feature=player_embedded

If you didn't watch: The attending physician is pulling on the baby's head, twisting, yanking and pulling the baby out. This can cause serious damage to the spinal cord. This is probably the sort of handling Neal received at his birth, which damaged his spinal cord and caused severe scoliosis. Knowing that Neal's scoliosis was probably caused by something like this-that it wasn't in his genetics, but caused by harsh handling as a newborn-infuriates me.

Neal has learned so much in just one day! He feels so lucky to have the opportunity to spend 2 weeks receiving all of this education specific to his condition. And I feel lucky to be learning along with him!!!

The CLEAR Institute

2011-04-22T11:37:00.001-06:00

I talked a little about Neal's scoliosis in an earlier post, and I wanted to share some videos about scoliosis and the treatment he will be starting soon. The first video talks a little about what scoliosis is and then both videos show the tools and processes they use during treatment. Since Neal's scoliosis is over a 40 degree curve, it is categorized as "severe scoliosis." He is going to a clinic called the CLEAR Institute. There are about 10 certified CLEAR chiropractors who offer the intensive care program in the country. Neal will be in St. Cloud, Minnesota working with Dr. Dennis Woggon, the founder of the CLEAR method. He starts the two week program on Wednesday. He is required to purchase a "scoliosis traction chair," which it shows in the videos, to have at home so he can work on an "at home rehabilitation" program. For the first 6 months at home, he will need to do about 2 1/2 hours of at home rehabilitation a day. This includes using the traction chair, performing a recommended exercise routine, and working with special weights. These two weeks and then the hours of at home rehabilitation is a huge time commitment but we think the trade off will be worth it.

People with a curvature over 40 degrees are advised to pursue spinal rod fusion scoliosis surgery to correct their curve. Here are some fun facts about scoliosis surgery:

"The average curvature before the surgery was 71 degrees and was only reduced to 44 degrees after the surgery."

(44 degree's is still considered severe scoliosis!)

"The surgical procedure simply transforms the spinal deformity into a permanent spinal dysfunction that often results in chronic pain, disfigurement, and even long-term disability."

"The surgical procedure leaves up to 40% of the patients who get it severely handicapped within 17 years."

So far, the CLEAR method has had a better curve improvement record than surgery or brace wearing. (Bracing is the recommended treatment for mild scoliosis but in most cases it simply delays inevitable progression of scoliosis, or slows it, and it can be inconvenient and uncomfortable.)

Scoliosis can be painful (and it certainly has been for Neal) and it effects more than the skeletal system. It effects the muscular and nervous systems and can cause a range of health issues and complications seemingly unrelated to the scoliosis. We-and the chiropractor Neal has been working with in Sioux Falls- suspect that it has been the cause of most if not all of the health problems Neal has had in the past few years. This has all been pretty scary. Maybe one of the scariest experiences we've had is hearing that it was possible that Neal could have a spinal tumor. After an MRI and 4 days of nervously waiting for the results, he was told that there were no signs of pathological anomalies.

So after weeks of learning about scoliosis and the CLEAR method, x-rays and MRI's, Neal is finally able to move forward with treatment. We are ecstatic about the possibilities. And I am ecstatic that he will be coming home in 3 weeks, after the treatment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tm6KJ-UDSsQ&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLC-czkAmiY&feature=related

Kisses for Cai

2011-04-21T19:02:00.001-06:00

Today Caius and I were playing with his little plastic Woody figurine. I made Woody give Cai a kiss and he gave me this look:

I guess he knows now, that you can't just go around accepting kisses from ANYBODY! Especially not tough toys like Woody. I remember watching him turn into a toddler from a baby. Now he's becoming a kid!!! No signs of baby fat, he's tall and skinny now. The other day he found a black permanent marker and sneaked back to his room. Then he gave himself a really grown up looking Hitler 'Stache. He regretted it later when it wouldn't wash off for a couple of days.

The first picture is Caius when he was about 2 weeks old, and the second is when he was 4 months old. Can you believe how much he's grown!?

MAJOR Update

2011-04-16T01:04:00.002-06:00

OKAY! I am finally getting around to writing the big post about our plans for the summer / future. We were planning to start Law School in the Fall, and Neal was accepted to a number of schools. We've thought a lot about it, and Neal feels like the lifestyle of a successful lawyer isn't conducive to the sort of family life we would like. In the past few months our family has had many experiences which have led us to reevaluate our plans for the future, and we have decided that right now it is best for Neal to start working. He probably isn't going to start right away in the perfect profession, and for the first time, he isn't expecting to. In the beginning, we felt so discouraged by our change in plans, but now we've had time to let it sink in, and we are both feeling optimistic and confident about our decisions. And we've made A TON in a very short amount of time!

Decision #1: We're moving to Sioux Falls

There is a state funded program called "Dakota Roots" geared toward native South Dakotans, to encourage them to return to South Dakota. Neal is a perfect candidate for this program, so he has had their help in finding a job.

Decision #2: We bought a house

Neal and I have wanted to fix up a house together ever since we got married. We went to Sioux Falls for a few job interviews and while we were there we explored the houses on the market with Neal's cousin, Eric. Eric is the best realtor! He has construction experience so we were so lucky to have his expertise on our side during our house hunt. We found the perfect house within the week! It was built in 1912 and has been very well kept by the previous owners who have owned the house since 1960. The couple didn't have any children, so the house was very gently used. Right now the house is sort of an eyesore, but we have big plans for it. Unlike a lot of the houses built during the same time period, it still has all of the original woodwork and character. We can't wait to begin the big home improvements!

Our fixer-upper on Walts Ave.

Decision #3: Neal is in Sioux Falls

We really hated to do this, but it made the most sense. Neal went ahead to Sioux Falls to start working and start some of the work on the house. I came back to Utah with Caius, Leland and Sophie and we'll be here until the baby is born. It was really important to us, that we move forward with our plans for a homebirth. Homebirth was only recently made legal in South Dakota and our options for midwives would be very limited. We met with a midwife there, but didn't feel that she was completely on board with our preferences for a hands off birth experience. So, I am sticking with my midwife, Richelle, here in Utah. Neal will come back before the birth and then we'll pack up and head for South Dakota.

It has been hard to be apart these past 3 weeks and we have 5 more to go, but we are making it work. I've been doing just fine with the boys, and Neal and I both have been really productive getting ready to move out of our apartment and into the new house. We miss each other-that's the hardest part.

Decision #4: Intensive Care Treatment to improve Neal's scoliosis

Neal has severe scoliosis, and in recent years it has affected his health in countless ways. If this pattern continues it could shave 14 years off of his life. It isn't convenient but we need to do whatever we can do to improve Neal's health now, and prolong his life in the long run. Neal's chiropractor took his x-rays to a conference in Colorado and discussed his options with his colleagues at the conference. They all said that Neal should go to the Clear Institute in St. Paul, Minnesota for 2 weeks of intensive care treatment. We are waiting on results of an MRI, and then Neal will schedule his 2 week trip. The Clear Institute has better success rates of curvature improvement than surgery does, so we have high hopes for Neal's scoliosis to improve during the treatment, and with an at-home rehabilitation program.

These are Neal's x-rays.

Decision #5: Bigger car

We've known that we need a bigger vehicle since we got pregnant with baby #3. We will have 3 little boys under 3, all in car seats. Honestly, finding a car was harder than finding a house! We decided on a 2006 Honda Pilot. My favorite feature is the leather interior. Cleaning this car is going to be...A Piece. Of. Cake.

Our 2006 Honda Pilot

WHEW! If you made it through this entire post, congratulations! And thank you! Even though our plans have drastically changed, we really feel like we are being inspired as we make these huge decisions. We are so grateful that we have learned so much about scoliosis and the Clear Institute. We sort of feel like we had a lot of unfavorable experiences, but in the end, it has led us to the potential to help Neal, and keep our family together longer. If it works, all the hard stuff we've been through, will be worth it.

34 weeks

2011-04-15T19:51:00.001-06:00

I am 34 weeks pregnant now. That means I only have 6 weeks to go!!! This pregnancy has definitely passed a lot faster than my other two. In fact I have been feeling a little panicked / unprepared to have a baby in a month! I keep thinking I have plenty of time, and suddenly it's right around the corner. I was afraid this baby would be nameless for a while after he was born, but Neal and I FINALLY agreed on a name. Now we just have to agree on the spelling.

I am so excited to have a homebirth. I love my midwife, and I feel more and more confident every day. My birth pool arrived in the mail this week, I sorted through all our little boy clothes and set aside the newborn things. All I have to do is pick up some newborn diapers and sew up the edges of a couple swaddle blankets. Other than that, I've just been working on packing up our house for the big move after baby is born.

Below is a picture of 2 of my sisters and I. We have all been pregnant together, all with boys. Jessica is due at the end of this month, but according to her track record, she'll probably have the baby in early May. I am due next, June 1st, and Rachel is due last in early-mid July. We did not get pregnant at the same time on purpose at all, so it was a huge coincidence! We are excited to have our little boys so close in age, and hope they'll be good friends.

Rachel, Me, Jessica. I think this was in 2004.

My baby belly: 32 weeks

I am feeling pretty good. I'm starting to feel more tired, like I was in the beginning. Luckily, Leland and Caius still take an afternoon nap at the same time, so if I need to, and if I have time, I nap while they nap. Unfortunately, my SPD ( symphysis pubis dysfunction) DID come back. It is worse than with Leland, but I know how to manage it this time around. Other than that, everything is normal!

picture test 2

2011-03-30T12:11:00.000-06:00

A Morning at Our House

2011-03-29T17:17:00.002-06:00

Here are my three favorite boys. They are all morning people. Waking up to these beautiful smiling faces makes it a lot easier for me to wake up. :)

Dinosaur Bite

2011-03-29T17:11:00.003-06:00

One day I was standing in the living room talking to Neal. Out of the corner of my eye I could see a dinosaur roaming around practicing his roaring. The conversation became more intense, requiring more of my attention. Suddenly, the dinosaur came up behind me, and tried to take a chunk out of my leg!!! I have to say, of all the bites I have ever been given, this one hurt the worst. It wasn't long before it was black and blue. Here is a picture of the bite about a week later. Luckily there was no blood, and my reaction was severe enough that the cute little dinosaur will never ever think of biting me again.

I know this has nothing to do with dinosaurs but I think these pictures are hilarious! Caius put my boots on and walked around for a while. He was pretty good at walking in heels!

Growing Up

2011-03-29T16:31:00.001-06:00

Leland's ultrasound picture.

Leland, 1 day old.

Leland 1 year old. Our little Leland is a one year old now! He turned into a toddler more suddenly than Caius did. One day Leland was my little newborn, and then he woke up one day and decided to start talking. A few weeks before his birthday he surprised us by dropping something on the floor and saying, "uh-oh!" In perfect english! He quickly learned some other words like, teeth, poop, hi, ba ba (for bottle), all done and "what's that?" He has become a very talkative little boy. He still isn't walking but he's getting close. He can walk if he's distracted but as soon as he realizes what he's doing he drops down to the floor and crawls instead. That's okay with me because in the end he'll be walking around just like every other kid. I can see so many strengths in him, and I love to watch him growing into himself.

Leland is ONE!

2011-03-29T16:29:00.001-06:00

Leland's cake. I plan to start stepping things up in the coming years as far as birthday cakes go. My first step was writing on the cake! Maybe next year I'll make a dinosaur shaped cake or something. Eventually I'll try out some fondant.

Leland loves his Daddy.

Mommy and Leland exactly one year from his beautiful birth.

2011-03-29T16:22:00.001-06:00

Opening presents from Grandma and Grandpa Bertelsen with Daddy.

Coloring a picture with Caius. Leland really loves to color but gets annoyed with me trying to help him. Caius and I usually color while Leland is napping, so it was a special treat for Leland to color on his birthday.

The birthday boy eating his birthday pancakes, and making silly faces for the camera.

My Little Troublemaker

2011-03-29T16:13:00.002-06:00

"Uh-oh Lu! What are you doing on the table?!""Yessss...I caught you!"
At least he's adorable while he's getting into mischief.

Occasionally I find evidence of Leland's trouble making around the house. Like these footprints on the dishwasher door.

2011-01-10T19:41:00.000-07:00

Caius loves to go out in the snow. Neal has taken him out a few times, and he never wants to come in. Neal came up with a pretty good trick to coax him inside though. He tells him to make a snowball and then take it to show mommy. He's always excited to show me something, so he runs inside with his snowball and then we can distract him with his toys.

Caius is becoming very organized. He likes to line up all of his cars, or any other similar toys together.

These pictures are from a week or two ago. Caius fell asleep on the couch! This NEVER happens. He was tired enough to sleep through me taking pictures of him!

He still looks so sweet when he's sleeping, just like when he was a baby. :)

It's A BOY!

2011-01-09T16:42:00.002-07:00

We had our ultrasound on Thursday night (the 6th) and it's a BOY! When we first found out we were pregnant, I couldn't really fathom having a girl. The thought of having three little boys so close in age (18 months and 15 months) running around together just seems perfect. Leland and Caius have started to pay a lot of attention to each other lately. They've even started having conversations! I love to watch them sitting together and playing together, and I love to imagine one more little boy doing everything with them, and imitating them. What's hard to imagine is another personality! Leland is certainly an active little boy, but is definitely more of a cuddler than Caius ever was. He started cooing and babbling pretty early, and I have always been able to tell that he is really fascinated with language and sound. He likes to "mmm-ahhh-hmm" along to his bedtime songs. Caius has always been loving but far more interested in all the things he could be getting in to than in me or Neal. He developed his gross motor skills pretty young. He was born already able to hold his head up, and seems to learn new things quickly. Caius has an abundance of energy and keeps himself active all day long. It is fun to think of what our newest little boy will be like. He is bound to have an entirely different personality than Cai or Leland. I am halfway there to being able to hold him, and I am getting really excited to meet him, and learn him. :)

Here is his profile picture. His forehead looks longer than Cai's and Leland's ultrasound photos, so we are predicting that he will inherit Neal's fivehead. I love the thought of having little miniature Neals! Leland has turned out to look the most like Neal but doesn't have the same forehead/face shape. I have to say this his little profile is adorable, and they only get cuter!

Proof of gender! We weren't able to tell right away that he was a boy. With Caius and Leland both, we saw a little something almost immediately. In the beginning of the ultrasound we watched him move around a little and bring his feet up to his head. He was being so flexible! Toward the end we watched him practice sucking and swallowing fluid, and then he went to sleep and didn't want to be bothered. :)

Here I am at 20 weeks! HALFWAY!!!! I am feeling pretty good. No more morning sickness! With Leland I had something called Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction which is really really painful. Almost debilitating. I was prepared to have it again and had a potential treatment plan, but there haven't been any signs of it returning which I am SO happy about. With Caius, my morning sickness let up a little after the first trimester but never went away. It isn't easy to be pregnant, but I've had it a lot worse than I do right now, so I am not complaining!

2010-12-28T13:20:00.002-07:00

Caius really knew what was going on this year. He had a lot of fun unwrapping presents. We decided to open presents really slowly. Caius would unwrap a present, and we would open it up for him and let him play with it for a minute. It took a few hours, but we had so much fun watching Caius get so excited over his new toys. We decided though, that we got too many. So next year we'll try to cut back.

Caius got the hungry hippos game! Neal and I played a few rounds with him, and then we played a few more rounds after the boys went to bed that night. Neal is the champ at this game. I didn't win a single game!

I knew months before Christmas that I wanted to get Caius train tracks because I knew he would love them. But, even I underestimated his enthusiasm for trains. This train set is now his most prized possession. One day this week he woke up and immediately started building a track, and then he played for 5 straight hours! 5!!!

Caius also got a play set of tools in a tool box. It has a couple of screws and nails with a hammer, a wrench and a screwdriver. He was pretty excited about that because he likes to watch daddy using his hammer, and has tried to "fix things" with it before. So now he has his very own tools that won't do any damage to our walls or furniture! I haven't taken pictures of him playing with everything but I will soon. We got Cai a new duvet and cover which has never been owned by a 13 year old girl! (Poor Caius has been using some pretty girly bed linens, including pink floral sheets.) Caius also got some craft supplies (some felt, buttons, those furry bendable wires things...are they called pipe-cleaners???) and I am hoping to do some fun projects with him. I've been collecting ideas from the internet and all your blogs and I know Caius will enjoy doing something with mommy while Leland naps.

Leland got a toy with stacking rings and it actually keeps him pretty busy. This was his first Christmas, and he was happy to finally be able to rip all the bows off the presents. We spent a lot of time during the weeks before Christmas keeping him away from the tree and chastising him for taking the bows of the gifts. All we would have to do was say, "Leeeeeland....no no." and he would slap the bow back on the gift and crawl away from the tree as fast as he could, or just curl up and act like he was hiding from us. It was hard not to laugh at him! I don't have any good pictures of Leland to share. He is going through a phase. Whenever I take the camera out, he gets all somber and squinty.

Neal got slippers! Poor Neal hasn't really had any slippers for about 4 years. He had some when he moved out here for his first semester of school but he lived in an apartment with 5 other guys and his slippers became the communal slippers for the whole apartment. He started to worry about foot fungus so he threw them out. Neal also got a robe. And I got swimming lessons! Also, Santa left camelbak water bottles in each of our stockings. We have all been drinking tons of water!!!

I wasn't very good about taking pictures this year, so I don't have any from Christmas Eve. We continued a family tradition from Neal's side. We ate potato soup with rolls and angel food cake by candlelight. And Neal talked about Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus. To help Caius understand, we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and blew out a candle for him before we ate the cake. We have a little nativity scene of just Mary Joseph and Jesus together, that we let Caius hold. We listened to a lot of Christmas music and did a lot of preparation for Christmas, but I wasn't in a good frame of mind until we were all sitting down together on Christmas Eve in the candlelight. The purpose of the tradition is to remember how humbly Jesus came in to this world by sitting quietly together in the most simple setting with the most simple food. Nothing feels better than watching your little ones learn about Jesus' birth, and seeing that they understand it.

Lincoln Logs!

2010-12-28T12:25:00.000-07:00

Santa brought our family Lincoln Logs! Neal and I have had a lot of fun building a town...

a really big lodge...

and and super tall tower!!!

Caius and Leland aren't all tht interested yet. :(

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-28T11:46:00.000-07:00

Our tree on Christmas morning.

Our stockings! I started these last year, and finally finished them! (Except for mine.) I cross-stitched the names on Caius and Leland's stockings but, Neal has always wanted a stocking with a fury top.

And these are some of our Christmas decorations!

SNOW!

2010-12-16T16:23:00.006-07:00

This afternoon I had to take Sophie outside, and Caius desperately wanted to come with me. I told him it would be okay if he came out on the deck with me, but he had to put his boots on first. I went out and heard him opening the coat closet and pull some things out. Eventually he came out, wearing MY boots. He opened the door and stepped out with a big silly grin on his face, knowing he looked ridiculous. My Caius is a joker! I just laughed at him and let him come out. He took off into the snow but got stuck, and I think he was getting a little cold. I think he decided, "Forget this, I'm going inside!" Then he left the boots making sure to show me they were still out there saying, "Boots! Get them!" on his way to the door.

Caius is a pretty adventurous little boy. It was cold, but I think he thoroughly enjoyed this impromptu run through the snow. Neal tells me, he sometimes would run around outside in his underwear as a child (and into his mischievous teenage years). Just for fun! (I won't post any pictures of Neal's outdoor underwear excursions, though I'm sure I could dig some up...)

Date Night with Donny Osmond!

2010-12-07T12:39:00.004-07:00

Last Monday night Neal and I went on a date! We should go on more dates, but we have ZERO young women in our ward, and I hate to ask people who already have kids or who are married and have a life. LUCKILY, our niece Ellie has moved out to Provo for college, and she is so sweet to our boys. I try to prepare Caius for things out of the ordinary by talking about it a lot the day before, and I don't have to mention Ellie more than twice before he's talking about her non-stop.

We decided to go to Tucanos for dinner. Tucanos is a Brazillan churrascaria. It is basically a huge barbeque. They come around with great big chunks of meat and slice pieces off and you grab it with little tongs. They also have a huge salad bar, where you can get pasta, rice and beans, fried plantains, etc. It is pretty authentic according to Neal, who lived in Brazil for 2 years during his mission. AND, on your birthday they send you a coupon for one free meal!

After we ate we went to Color Me Mine. We went a little over a year ago and started a few things but didn't have time to finish. So we decided we should probably finish them. While we were painting a family came in and stood next to our table while they looked at the ceramics they could choose to paint. Neal and I glanced up at them and saw that it was Donny Osmond! We weren't completely sure at first, so we just sort of secretly stared at him. It was definitely him. Neither Neal nor I am really a fan, but who hasn't heard of him? I think he lives here in Provo with his family so I'm sure a lot of people have seen him around. So we didn't actually have a date night with Donny, but we saw him. ;) I don't think I did a very good job of making that sound exciting. Maybe I should have improved the experience a bit by saying we talked to him and he sang a song for us or something. Really, just before he came in, Neal and I had been talking about good waiters. We prefer the kind that don't stop by every 5 minutes and try to be your best friend. We like to be left alone to enjoy our meal with maybe an occasional check in. We aren't alone very often, so when we go on a date we really want to have ample time to enjoy each other...not our waiter. How annoying would it have been if we had barged in on Donny's family time. I'm sure he is noticed and maybe bothered by fans all the time. He and his family looked like they were having a good time together. He looked just like he does in this picture...except shorter than I would have expected, and his outfit wasn't so suave.

P.S. I'm not sure why this is in italics, but it won't let me change it.

Congratulations Neal!

2010-12-02T14:02:00.004-07:00

Yesterday we got the most wonderful news! Neal got his first Law School acceptance!!!! It is still pretty early in the game (most school's deadlines are months away) so we were really surprised. I danced around and sang a "Congratulations, Counselor Neal, on your glorious victory!!!" song because I was so happy. Neal applied to a lot of schools, so at this point we have no idea where we will end up this summer, but as we receive acceptances it narrows down our options. Now we have one REAL option! Also, I am just happy for Neal. He worked so hard to study and do well on his LSAT and got a great score, then he practically took on a part-time job for a few weeks researching and communicating with Law Schools he was interested in, and then completed the monstrous task of applying. I am so proud of all of his hard work, and I feel even more proud of him because of his selflessness. He is doing all of this for me, and for his little boys, and for our baby on the way, and for any other babies that might join our family. He is doing it so that he can support us, and so I can stay home with our children. He's the best husband and the best Daddy we could ever ask for. We love you Neal!

This is an old picture, but this is how excited we are! What a stud, huh?

Expecting Our 3rd

2010-12-01T12:57:00.005-07:00

So we are expecting another little babe! I am sure you are all interested in the details.
I am 14 weeks now, I'll be 15 on Friday. 14 weeks is the 2nd trimester mark where most pregnant women tend to feel more energetic. We discovered through some blood tests, that I have been slightly anemic during this pregnancy, therefore always tired. If I don't take a nap in the afternoon, I get a headache, and then everything else goes down hill too. Luckily Caius and Leland both take an afternoon nap at the same time, so I try to take advantage of that time. I feel guilty because I should probably clean or something during their nap, but by 12:00, I'm beat.
I have had some morning sickness but it has recently been less severe. I have some nausea at some point every morning, but like I said before, I have found ways to combat it, so it doesn't last more than half an hour. Even though I am still tired most of the time, feeling normal in the morning makes me feel more capable.
We are planning a home-water-hypnobirth. I know not everyone feels comfortable with this option for themselves, but we have done a lot of research and we feel really confident that this is the best option for us. We don't make a habit of talking about the "what ifs" and all the things that could go wrong. But it doesn't mean we are unprepared for any complications that may arise. I DO know about the plethora of things that could go wrong, but for me, it is completely counterproductive to think about it all the time, and worry about it happening to me. We think positively and try to nurture confidence in my body and it's ability to perform normally. A lot of people have asked me if I will be devastated if I end up at the hospital in an emergency. My answer is, I will be bummed of course, but no I won't be devastated. I try to remember the Serenity Prayer:

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference."

Worst case scenario is, I end up at the hospital, having a c-section. I think I will be satisfied that I had the courage to try a normal, natural birth, and I will try to accept the things that I can't control, like my body not working. Also, we are working with-and there will be present at the birth-a professional midwife, as well as 1-2 of her assistants. I have met them all and they all have experience with natural birth, as well as complications, and they are trained to deal with them. Of all the births my midwife has attended, she has only had to transfer 5 women to a hospital, and in most cases, the women have opted to go for an epidural. A lot of people have also asked me about not having a pediatrician there to care for the baby. My midwife is also trained to care for newborns. I have confidence in her, and I trust her to keep me informed and let me know if it would be best for us to transfer to a hospital for me, or for the baby. I just wanted to say all of this, because I get the same questions every time I talk about this, and more than anything, we need love and support from our loved ones.

We are so excited to be having a baby again. Caius and Leland are 18 months apart, and Leland will be about 15 months old when this baby is born. We never expected to have our children so close in age, but now that it's happening, I am all for it! As our children grow up together, they will be able to be good friends and be able to relate to each other all along the way. We hope that they will be close and that they will love each other. We don't really have a master plan for our family. We don't know how many kids we will have, but we are leaving it open. Plan A is, listen to the Spirit and do whatever we are inspired to do.

I was looking at this picture today and it scared me for a minute. We are going to have 3 kids under 3!? But then I remembered, Neal and I were laughing when we took this picture. I feel mostly optimistic about our situation. I think we just have to remember to laugh through the hard times and give it our best shot.

I also saw this picture, and it made me a little teary-eyed, thinking of how far we've come. I married a man, hoping to have a family with him, but I never knew the massive amounts of joy I would feel as we actually began the task. I am often overwhelmed by my love for my family. Catching little moments like this, where Neal is holding our little ones safe in his arms, or seeing Caius run to him with unbridled excitement just because he's home, is more precious to me than anything else. Being pregnant for 9 months and being physically miserable for at least 5 of those months, is a small price to pay for another memory pictured like this one.

Our family has a lot of changes coming up. In about 6 months we are having a baby, and moving shortly after the baby is born. (We don't know where yet.) We are getting a bigger car, probably a bigger apartment or house, and we will be taking out some BIG loans for law school. Maybe we should be terrified of all this happening so quickly, but to be honest, I'm kind of looking forward to it. I can't help my optimism!

My Golden Birthday

2010-11-28T13:49:00.000-07:00

Neal's parents came on the evening of my birthday. They volunteered to take care of our little ones while we went out to eat. We just got a "Texas Roadhouse" here in Provo which we were excited about. It wasn't a busy night at all so we were seated right away. Neal and I don't go out very often together without the boys so it was a very special treat for us to talk through dinner and take our time.

Earlier that day, Neal gave me a few gifts. A carpet cleaner (which I have been wanting for a looong time!) and a couple of full length mirrors for our bedroom.

Here is the chocolate cream pie Neal got for my birthday cake. Caius was looking forward to this part for days. When Neal told him it was going to be mommy's birthday Caius immediately got excited and started yelling, "Birthday cake! Birthday cake!"

I let Caius help me blow out my candles. :)

Here I am on my 23rd birthday. Also, I am pregant! I've been waiting for a good time to make the announcement, and since I am posting a picture of me where I am obviously pregnant, I guess it's a good time! We are expecting our third little Bertelsen baby on June 1st!

2010-11-28T13:36:00.000-07:00

Grandpa played cars with the boys a lot while they were visiting. Caius and Leland loved it!

We played a lot of games. Skip-Bo, Dominos, and Rummikub are some of our favorites.

Grandma and Grandpa stayed at a hotel with a pool. We got to go swimming one day, and Caius had so much fun. He is a great swimmer, but we don't go swimming very often. It was nice for him to get to practice and remember what he learned this summer. Leland gets very quiet when we go swimming. He likes it, but I think he was slightly confused. This was a good picture of Daddy helping Leland swim.

Our Thanksgiving Feast

2010-11-28T13:29:00.000-07:00

The cooks!

I was very proud of what we made. Everything was delicious. We had Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean cassorole, mashed sweet potatoes, rolls, cranberry jelly, pickled beets, sweet pickles, dill pickles, olives, corn, and fruit salad Jello. After a few hours we had a pumpkin pie with homemade whipped cream.

Our beautiful turkey. It was so tender it kind of fell apart when we put it on the platter.

2010-11-28T13:23:00.000-07:00

Despite all the cooking we did, Thanksgiving Day was a pretty laid back day for us.

Caius watched a few movies. He gets emotionally attached to the characters, and when something bad happens to them, he is very worried. He has even come close to shedding a tear or two in his concern for them.

Caius and Grandpa went on a walk in the snow! Caius LOVES his hat and mittens.

Here's Neal and I with our finished meal!

Thanksgiving Prep

2010-11-28T13:19:00.000-07:00

Neal's parents, Barbara and Bill, came to visit us for Thanksgiving. We probably would have gone out to eat somewhere if they hadn't come. We are so glad they did, because we had a perfect Thanksgiving feast!

We made a turkey!!! It had the neck and giblets and all that included. Barbara showed me how to make a stalk out of all that stuff and then make stuffing...which we actually stuffed inside the turkey to bake!

I basted the turkey every hour or so.

Neal did the carving!

After Caius stuck his hand in the jello bowl a couple of times, Grandma gave him the spatula.

Lazy Eating

2010-11-19T16:25:00.000-07:00

Leland is learning how to feed himself. He does best laying down. Ever since he was born he lifts one leg up while he eats. Now that he is a little older, it has evolved in to a leg cross. It always makes me laugh out loud because he looks like a naked little man. :P

The Little Fluff

2010-11-17T10:41:00.000-07:00

Sophie also got groomed, and she was so cute with her little bows!

We have been working with a trainer to teach Sophie a few things. So far we have mastered the walk, and we are working and making a lot of progress with her obeying commands with distractions. We have a good method for correcting her barking, and eventually she won't bark at all! Our trainer noticed right away that Sophie is sensitive to us, meaning: she is quick to change her behavior when she is being corrected. When she is trying to figure out what we want her to do, she looks at us, and cocks her head to the side. She really is eager please us. So, we are learning to give her the direction she needs, and we are all doing very well.

Before

2010-11-17T10:26:00.000-07:00

I was going to grow Cai's hair out this winter. He has beautiful thick hair that has a nice wave to it when it's a little long. BUT...people started asking me if he had ever had a haircut. He was just looking a little homeless.

Leland had a few loooong hairs on the top of his head that would hang over in his eyes, and then his hair on the side of his head was getting really really long.

So they both needed haircuts! We put on a movie and they both were sufficiently distracted by it long enough to give Leland a little trim and cut cai's hair a little shorter than I intended. :(

After

2010-11-17T10:06:00.000-07:00

Seeing all this hair on the floor was sad for me. Caius, of course, didn't really care.

Daddy Neal did Cai's hair for church the next day, and he looked pretty sharp. Instead of saying "cheese", he said "Ahhh!" I think, he thinks it's funny. :)

And here is Leland saying "Ahh" with his new haircut. It doesn't look much different, but I am not constantly tucking his hair behind his ears anymore!

New Room!

2010-11-16T13:17:00.002-07:00

Our little baby Leland is really starting to grow up. I've been fooling myself in thinking I still have a newborn. :( He has 6 teeth (three on top and three on bottom) and perhaps signs of a new one soon. He is standing up with the help of anything he can get his hands on, including my pant legs. He's not as cautious as Caius was as a baby, so his poor little forehead has tiny bumps and bruises on it from his various falls. He is definitely learning. He knows that if he crawls off the couch he will fall and it will hurt, and now he is careful to stay put, so I use it if I need to contain him to one area for a short period of time. Lately though, he is standing on the arm of the couch and reaching around to grab letter/number magnets from the front of the frige to chew on.

We recently had to switch Leland to formula, full-time. My supply gradually disappeared and he was getting very little if anything from me. It took about a day of starving him to get him to try a bottle. After another day or so, he was a pro, and now he is learning to hold the bottle and feed himself. We are hoping to fatten him up a little before he starts walking. As you can see from this picture, he has itty bitty feet. I don't think there is anything we can do about that, so we just love them. :)

Caius is really growing up to be a helpful, polite, obedient little boy. He loves "yee-yee" (translation: Leland) and is happy 90% of the time. He says thank you without ever being asked. He even started saying thank you when I change his diaper for him! When I took Leland in for his 9 month appt. Caius came with us to get a flu shot. Leland went first, so Caius knew what was coming and did not want any part of it. (The three nurses who helped hold him down all commented that he was a very strong 2 year old!) After the shot was administered, Caius cried for just a minute and then through his sniffling he looked up at the nurse, put his hand on hers and said, "Thank you." She said that was a first.

Caius and Leland like to take turns climbing in this old tv stand and closing the door, then they laugh at each other through the glass.

We decided to put Caius and Leland in the same room. They take their afternoon naps at the same time, and they both sleep through the night. We always planned to have them share a room, so one night, sort of on a whim, we moved all the furniture around. they were thrilled that first night, playing on Cai's bed together while we moved all the little things. Bedtime, was a little confusing but after a few nights, they got used to each other. Nap times go well too, except when they are too wound up. In that case, Leland stands up and peeks over the side of his crib at Caius and laughs at him. Every morning, and some nights when he is being mischevious, Caius walks across the dresser between their beds and climbs into Leland's crib to play with him. On monday morning, when I went in, Cai was in the crib with Leland, both of them crying because Caius had somehow gotten his diaper off while still wearing his footie pajamas. His diaper was a great 10 lb. ball in one foot of his pajams and both his legs were stuck in the other leg hole. How uncomfortable! But, I laughed out loud at him and it put him in a better mood about it before I released him from his entrapment. :)

(In this picture the caps for the front posts of Leland's crib aren't on, but if you haven't seen it before, this is the crib that Neal built when I was pregnant with Caius. Isn't is beautiful?)

The Study

2010-11-16T12:47:00.000-07:00

This is Neal's new Study. We like to call it a Study rather than an office, because it sounds cozier. We put a child proof door handle cover on the outside because this room is off limits to little sticky fingers. Now that Neal has a place to work, he accomplishes a lot, with a little less stress. Neal has been working hard to finish up his law school applications, and he is almost completely done! It was one of those things that should have been much more simple than it was. There was always one more thing popping up. Neal also recently had some midterms, and so hopefully his load will be a little lighter soon.

We have a lot of books. Neal would get rid of some if I would let him, but I have a hard time letting go of books. If I have read it, it is most often sentimental to me. If I haven't read it, then I intend to. Maybe someday we will have a library like the one in Beauty and the Beast! Oooohh, that would be wonderful. :) In the meantime, we are enjoying this "adults only" room.

Neal's Halloween Costume

2010-11-04T12:29:00.001-06:00

For Halloween Neal was Dwight Shrute from The Office. If you don't watch the show, you probably won't understand all the elements of his costume, but he really did look like him! He even wore a short sleeved beige colored shirt! Also, Neal really got in to character, and stayed that way ALL NIGHT. We were in the car driving past some construction and I said, "I wonder what they are building there." Dwight had an answer for me right away: "Judging by the height of the crane, I would say they are building a 3 story dentists office." Now I know what it would be like to be married to Dwight. :l

Dwight is prepared for any situation.

Neal had a cool Dwight watch, glasses, pocket knives. All he was missing were a couple of throwing stars!

Caius and Leland both had colds and it rained, so we didn't go trick or treating. :( And, my costume was laaame.

2010-11-04T11:22:00.000-06:00

His name tag.

"Those breast cancer fanatics think they own the color PINK."

"Support the RABID! Race for the cure." Bracelet says "Support the rabid"

2010-11-02T09:31:00.000-06:00

Leland is crawling and climbing and cruising now. He is really sturdy on his feet, and Neal and I have both seen him balance on his own, but we think he is a little too cautious to let go and stand all by himself.

Caius is excited for hats and mittens! I'm glad because I couldnt get him to keep either on last winter!

Both of the boys love bath time. We bathe them together now, and they have a lot of fun together playing in the water.

25!

2010-11-02T09:26:00.000-06:00

Neal had his 25th birthday on 9/11. Neal and I went on a little date to the mall. And Caius and I made him a cake. Caius had a lot of fun frosting the cake with me, but it was SO hard for him to resist frosting his tongue. Somehow he got it in his hair...

I told Cai to say smile and this is what he did. :l

And here is Leland crawling around like a big boy. :)

760 Days

2010-09-10T20:37:00.001-06:00

Caius loves to help out with the housework. He likes doing dishes, dusting, sweeping, wiping off the table, and anything else! He's so helpful! Here he is in my apron helping Daddy with the dishes.

Caius has started asking, "Why?" It almost always catches me off guard!

Caius is very particular about his routines. At night we have dinner, take a bath, put on lotion, diaper, pajamas, I brush his teeth, then he brushes his teeth, we comb his hair and he gets to clean out his ears (with help and supervision from me) with a q-tip. I tried to put him to bed one night without doing his whole routine and he was very upset and insisted that we go take a bath and then do every single thing we normally do.

These aren't the best pictures, but I love them. Caius really loves his mommy and daddy unconditionally. He would like nothing more than to play all day and night with us. He is so bright and full of energy. I am so lucky to have him. We have been together every day for more than two years, that's about 760 days! And I can't imagine what our lives would be without him. I am thoroughly enjoying these years while he is young, before he goes on to live his own life. :)

7 Months

2010-09-10T16:05:00.000-06:00

Leland has started solids! He really loves food. He doesn't react much to it, but I think he likes the idea of eating like everyone else at our house with a bowl full of food and a spoon. When he is eating more, I will probably make all of his baby food. Here he is munching on a green bean. He chewed on that thing for 20 minutes!

We have introduced Leland to the sippy cup, but as you can see, he doesn't get it yet.

Look at those teeth! Leland now has 3 teeth. The bottom two came in together but he seems to be getting one lonely top tooth, with no signs of the other coming anytime soon.

Bathtime is something both our boys look forward to everyday. Especially since swimming is over, they take any chance they can get to play in water! Leland is really getting comfortable in the water and comfortable with his body. He really has gained control of his limbs and spends all day every day exploring with them. :)

Say Cheese Part II

2010-09-10T15:52:00.002-06:00

Welcome to the club, Mr. Squinty. <---Click here to see "Say Cheese Part I." An old post of Caius ans Neal squinting.

(Caius and Leland are the same age in these posts. I don't know if Leland will ever catch up with that hair...)

Our 4th of July pictures

2010-08-05T14:05:00.000-06:00

Our family (I love Leland's face!)

Caius and Leland with their cousin Eamon

Baby Leland

2010-07-27T16:21:00.001-06:00

Leland is 6 months old! I can't believe our baby is half a year old already! I still think of him as my little newborn. Leland has started solid foods. He is SO laid back. I have let him taste a dill pickle, olive juice, even a lemon! All he does is sort of furrow his brow and then smack his lips together. He loves sitting with us at dinnertime and eating REAL big people food!

Leland has started to make sounds. He can say "ma" which I am excited about. It's one "ma" away from "mama"! He also says "da", "ba", and "mmmmm". He also spends a lot of time exploring tones. Neal and I both think his little noises are so cute. We often pause to "awww" over his sweet goos.

Leland had his 6 month check-up last week. He is 25 inches tall, and 15 pounds. He is in the 5th and 10th percentile, so, a little small but proportionate.

During our trips this summer, Leland hasn't slept well, but always goes back to sleeping through the night when we get home. He is taking about 3 naps a day, so he is a well rested baby. When he is awake he is happy and active, working for toys and laughing at Sophie. He has discovered that when he can't see something, it doesn't mean it no longer exists. So he gets irritated if we take things away from him. He sits up on his own, which took him about a day and a half to master. I have seen him lunge forward from a sitting position to a hands and knees position, a few times. He really wants to be able to crawl!

The biggest news is, Leland has teeth! His two bottom teeth have come up, and they are S H A R P. I thought Caius was pretty bad about biting once he got his teeth, but Leland is easily distracted while he nurses, so biting and watching me react is like dinner and a movie.
Despite that, I love him, and love watching him learn, and I love learning his personality.

Our 3rd Anniversary

2010-07-24T13:11:00.000-06:00

Our Anniversary was over 2 months ago, on May 18th. We kept it pretty simple, with homemade gifts and a free photoshoot! It was a surprise for Neal. Joseph took the photos and edited them for us. I think it might become an anniversary tradition!

2010-07-24T13:05:00.000-06:00

Feng Shui: Project DECLUTTER

2010-07-23T13:02:00.004-06:00

Neal and I have been studying feng shui(pronounced fung shway) for the past 2 months. If you are interested, this book has been very helpful to us. "Feng Shui Your Life" by Jayme Barrett. We found it at Barnes and Noble but we saw it at on amazon.com as well as at our local library.

Feng Shui , not to be confused with Kung Fu, is about energy. (I say that because we were talking to someone recently, I won't say who, who did confuse them! :) ) Everything and every space has an energy. Because you are connected to your environment, the energy of your home influences your health, your physical energy and your overall well being. Some of you probably think this sounds kooky but you really can't argue with it. Think about how you feel when your house is cluttered or there is a sink or a whole kitchen filled with dirty dishes. Even if you aren't looking right at it, you know it is there, and you know you aren't going to feel good until it is taken care of.

Clutter and messiness create bad or stagnant energy which effects YOU! The first step for us was to declutter. If you want to declutter here are some questions you might want to ask yourself while you consider which items you want to keep, and which you want to get rid of:

Do I love it?
Do I need it?
Do I use it?
Does it evoke a positive feeling and make me smile?

If you can't say yes to all or most of these questions, donate or toss it! When we decluttered we found that we were keeping a lot of things out of guilt or because "we might need it someday". We made a goal to make a place for every item we owned. If it didn't have a place or we couldn't find a place or make a place for it, it wasn't worth hanging on to. Getting rid of things that conjured guilt, sadness or anger in us or things that just plain didn't represent us anymore, was liberating. The rooms in which we have completed project declutter, are much more pleasant to be in now.

YOU SHOULD TRY IT!

Projects

2010-07-23T12:58:00.001-06:00

I am not the most crafty person, and I don't necessarily enjoy doing arts and crafts unless I am REALLY going to use whatever I make. In that case I can be pretty creative, and motivated. What Neal and I really enjoy is home improvement projects. He has more of a knack for it than I do, because he is so handy. (Actually he is literally a monomaniac. He can't do anything else until he figures out how to fix whatever is broken! He has spent many hours researching solutions for broken appliances. He was born to be a researcher...or in other words, a lawyer.)

So, with feng shui as our motivation, we have taken on a few big and a bunch of little projects to improve our home and the energy in our home.

I don't have any good pictures at this point, but we painted our house! Here is Neal taking the blinds down. It took a good 3 days to do our living room/kitchen area and our master bedroom/closet/bathroom. We really love how it turned out. I didn't realize it before but we were living in an insane asylum with all the white walls and white trim. We went with beige colors because that is what our apartment manager approved. I will post pictures soon!

A little project I did, was reupholstering our dining room table chairs. We got this awesome fabric on super duper sale at a closeout fabric store. We are in love with it! I am ecstatic about the finished product.

Father's Day

2010-07-22T21:33:00.000-06:00

I know it has been a while since Father's Day. We have been out of town, so I haven't been doing much blogging, but I have lots to blog about! I spent some time with my family and got all kinds of grief from them about my blogging style: I don't blog for a couple of weeks but when I do, I post too much! SOOOO...my goal is to do one or two posts a day until I catch up, so watch for something everyday and if I don't, please bother me about it!

We did some finger painting outside and Neal brought his guitar out. It was a perfect Father's Day. I taught Caius to say, "Happy Day!" Now he says it almost everyday. Today he was saying, "Happy Day...to you!"

Neal is such a great Dad. We have been especially lucky this summer to have Neal around so much. He is taking the summer off from school, kind of. He is doing some research for one of his professors and beginning some independent study courses so his upcoming semesters aren't super busy.

Caius learned how to jump! I love this action shot of him.

Finger/Face Painting

2010-07-22T21:02:00.000-06:00

On Father's Day we went outside and did some finger painting! Caius was a little confused because we were encouraging him to get messy, but he got the hang of it and often asks if we can "paink".

Caius always wants to share with Leland. He gave him some warrior face paint!

2010-06-22T13:53:00.000-06:00

Poor little sleepy-head, ready-for-bed, Caius.

2010-06-22T13:50:00.000-06:00

Poor Leland is just so cute with his sad little lip. We don't try to make him cry regularly or anything! Below is a second video of Leland's happiness!

2010-06-22T13:48:00.000-06:00

Here is a video of Leland's nasally laugh!

Caius and Leland

2010-06-22T13:42:00.001-06:00

Leland in the stroller at the Zoo.

Caius checking out the Rhino at the Zoo.

"MONKEYS!!! Ooh ohh ahh aaahhh ah!" says Caius.

I am just posting this picture for fun. Leland is a couple months older in this than Caius was, but they are both in Bumbos. They really do look different!!! Caius has my ears and face shape and Neal's nose. Leland has Neal's ears and my nose. They are both mixtures of Neal and I, but in very different ways!

2010-06-22T13:32:00.000-06:00

Mother's Day! We were lucky to be on our trip over mother's day so we got to see both our mothers! This is my Grandma Leslie. She got a Harry & David package from one of her kids, and of course she shared with us. We were more than happy to help her open it!

My parents moved to Alabama and are trying to sell their house in Iowa City. So we did some gardening while we were there. The house is pretty much empty so we didn't exactly have the right tools for gardening. Neal used these rubber gloves and an old rusty saw to take out a stump from an old bush. What a manly man!!!

And here is my mom planting flowers. :)

Our Iowa City trip was so much fun. I got to see a lot of my family and Caius is finally old enough to run around and play with his cousins! We didn't get a lot of pictures that I wanted to get, but we made a lot of good memories. :)

Iowa City

2010-06-22T12:06:00.000-06:00

Caius and Uncle Ay-Gook (Eric). I LOVE this picture!

Caius and his cousin Eamon. They were more interested in new toys and phones than in each other. In a few years they will love to play together. Eamon is Cai's closest cousin in age. And Eamon and Leland are only 5 months apart, so they will be in the same grade at school.

hugs. :)

This is the best picture I got of Caius playing with his cousins Alice and Elizabeth. They were running around having a great time together!

The Wedding!

2010-06-22T11:56:00.000-06:00

We had a short bachlorette party the night before the wedding. :)

The wedding party.

The bridesmaids and matron of honor (me). Kelsey, Kristilyn, Emily and I. I was the only non-blond!!!! It was also really windy which wasn't helping my already bad hair day!

Abby and Joseph when they came out of the Temple.

I was able to be Abby's escort through the Temple for her endowment and then for the sealing. It was really special to be there with her for everything. Neal got to escort Joseph also! Neal and I got married in Nauvoo around the same time 3 years ago. Abby and Joseph met for the first time at our wedding. When Joseph came back from his mission we suggested they talk and hopefully date. It has been really fun to watch their relationship develop and be there for every step, right up to the sealing!

The wedding day was BUSY BUSY BUSY! We had to drive to Iowa City right after the sealing for the ring exchange and then straight to the reception from there. Neal and I gave toasts because we were the Best Man and Matron of Honor. There were lots of little things that didn't go right but in the end, they were married and ecstatic about that! Congratulations to Abby and Joseph Thorin!!!

2010-06-22T11:32:00.000-06:00

Here is Leland with Aunt Kristen and Uncle Craig.

Grandma Barbara's love pie.

Hannah and Emma taking care of Leland.

Daddy and Leland.

2010-06-21T13:37:00.000-06:00

This was Cai's first experience with a real bed! I was worried about him not sleeping in his crib because for a long time that was the ONLY place he could sleep. He did pretty well though!

Caius was surrounded by his cousins anytime they were around. They are older than he is, but they still loved playing with him.

Caius has a new love of dishes!!!! Of course he doesn't actually clean any dishes, he just splashes around in the water. Here he is doing dishes with Grandma Barbara.

2010-06-21T13:27:00.000-06:00

Caius caught me taking pictures! The pictures after this is one on my camera are a series of Caius coming closer and closer, ending with a close-up of his little hand. :)

Daddy and Caius watching the water.

Mommy and Caius.

Daddy throwing Caius around. :)

Our Trip

2010-06-21T13:24:00.000-06:00

Long time, no blog! I am sorry it has been so long. We had a great trip to the midwest. It wasn't easy flying with two little ones but it definitely could have been a lot worse! Caius and Leland had a lot of fun visiting family, and getting tons of attention. :)

This is in Neal's parent's back yard in Sioux Falls. The grass was so soft and green! Caius had a great time running around barefoot. There is a little stream behind the house and Caius LOVED going down to the water.

2010-04-27T10:32:00.000-06:00

We are loving SUMMER! Our swimming classes start in July and we can't wait to get in the pool! We have been grilling a lot with our neighbors which is really nice. It just feels so good to hang out until it gets dark outside.

Every week we go to the library for Storytime. Caius loves checking out books. We get 3 books at a time and we read them for a week until we get 3 new books. Caius is always up for reading books! This week we are all about Dr. Suess, which is fun to read and fun to listen to!

We are leaving on Saturday for our big trip out to the midwest. We are going for our friend's wedding.This is the first time we will be traveling with both our boys. Luckily we are flying rather than driving 18 hours. We are going to Omaha, Sioux Falls, Iowa City and Nauvoo. Our trip is 2 weeks long! I am praying that our boys will sleep normally while we are there.

Neal is done with the semester and is concentrating on his LSAT studies. He is improving everyday and feeling confident.

Beautiful Boys

2010-04-27T10:08:00.000-06:00

Caius loves to color!!! While he colors he likes to get other people to color with him and then he sits and says, "color, color, color, color..."

Leland is getting easier and easier to entertain. AND on Sunday, he slept through most relief society!

Daddy and Caius sharing a bowl of cereal.

Caius eating his yogurt...and anything else he can shove in his mouth.

2010-04-18T13:23:00.000-06:00

Caius is all about going outside to play these days! He often cries by the door hoping I will change my mind about having to be inside. I think he looks almost like a teenager in this picture, with his cell phone. :)

I know these two pictures are blurry but he is so dang cute in the first one, and the second one is a good photo to demonstrate how Caius imitates EVERYTHING we do! Funny story: The other day Caius was talking (saying every single word he could remember) trying to tell me that he wanted something. In my frustration (because I couldn't understand him) I said, "What the heck?!" and Caius paused and was very quiet. Then he clearly said, "Heck?" He tries to repeat everything we say and do!

And this is our smiley little Lelo. (As he is fondly called in our apartment complex.) Leland is really getting big. He is now 3 months old. We went up a size in diapers! At his two month appointment Leland weighed 12.5 pounds and is in the 50th percentile for his height and weight and in the 40th for his head. He is mostly happy, and I feel like we really have a good handle on his schedule. It is more like a routine. He wakes up and eats then plays. It is pretty easy for us to pick up on his "I'm getting tired" cues. He takes about 3-4 naps a day and sleeps through the night. (Anywhere from 6-9 hours at a time). When he is tired we swaddle him and lay him down in our room and leave him to fall asleep on his own, which he normally does in about 2 minutes. Leland loves Neal. He always has a smile for him and Neal can make him giggle more than I can.

Leland's Blessing Day

2010-04-11T23:37:00.000-06:00

Today Leland was blessed. It seemed like everything was against us as we were trying to get ready and get to church this morning. Bad hair days, poopy diapers, spit-up! When we got there, I opened the car door to get Leland out of the car just in time to see him throw up all over his suit. He pooped in his diaper when we got inside and then he kicked off his shoes right as Neal was standing up with him to go to the front of the chapel. He was poopy and dangerously close to leaking, he was shoeless, and he was soaked. BUT...he was blessed. In the end it was a beautiful blessing and a beautiful day. For those of you who weren't able to make it, we missed you.

Family, Friends, and Food

2010-04-11T23:04:00.000-06:00

Our Family.

Sweet smiley Leland!

In his Daddy's arms.

2010-04-11T23:01:00.000-06:00

We had a luncheon to celebrate Leland's birth and blessing today.

These are all the guys. Also, the people who stood in the circle to bless Leland. (Left to Right: Joseph, Brandon, Neal, Jeff, Silas.)

And the women! (Abby, Deena, Robin, Bobbi, Heather.)

All of us plus kids...minus ours who were sleeping peacefully in their rooms. :)

"Where's Caius?"

2010-04-03T14:58:00.000-06:00

Caius got a play tent for Easter. (Daddy couldn't wait to play with it so we opened it early.) It is perfect for one of Cai's favorite games. He hides and yells, "Caius! Caius! Caius!" Which is short for "Where's Caius?!" And we look for him until he pops out.

Cai's vocabulary is exploding! He knows animals and sounds and some letters. His favorite letter is "Eck" which is X. He also says bock instead of box. He tells us when he has gone "poot" in his diaper, and he loves to say "shhh! ___ seepin'!" (Fill in the blank with Baby, Sophie, or Daddy.)

Tummy TIme with Tesla!

2010-04-03T14:57:00.000-06:00

Here is Leland with Tesla. They have been friends since they were in uetero. They are about 2 months apart.

And here is Caius and Leland getting diaper changes side by side...holding hands! :)

What Have We Been Up To?

2010-04-03T14:52:00.000-06:00

It has been a couple of weeks since I posted, so here's what we've been doing!

After months of researching, I finally settled on a new double stroller. When it came, Caius help me take it out of the box and put it together. Then he spent a good three hours climbing in and out of the chairs and basket. He LOVES his new stroller!

Here are Neal and Joseph together on Joseph's birthday (which was on April 1st). Yes, they have matching jackets.

Neal has been writing all of his final papers and finishing projects for the end of the semester. He has also been studying a lot for the LSAT which he will take in June. AND...his most favorite Professor/Mentor Dr. Burton, has asked Neal to be a TA for him in a brand new course starting next semester. The course is Honors Civilization 202...translation: Digital Cultures. I am so excited for Neal and SO proud of him!

We watched General Conference this morning and both boys played nicely throughout, and even sat together in the chair and watched for a while. Caius is singing along with the choir here.

We have also been sick. We all got a cold/cough, and the boys' seemed to linger for weeks. We got pretty worried about Leland. He was congested and coughing and throwing up every morning. He is 2 months old, but I still think of him as a newborn, and newborns should not be so sick! Our pediatrician confirmed that it was a mild case of RSV. It has pretty much gone away now. I am eager for the weather to be warm again so we can get out of the house!

A Question of Honor?

2010-03-24T17:22:00.000-06:00

First of all, this is the guy that invented the idea of the Honor Code at BYU way back in the day.

So I (Neal this time) had a funny/annoying/controversial thing happen at school today. It involved the beard rule (as in you can't have one) at BYU and the Honor Code. So I posted on Facebook about it, and it seemed like a lot of people had something to say. I decided to write a letter to the Editor of the School Newspaper, and here it is:

I went into the Honor Code Office the other day to hand in my Ecclesiastical Endorsement. As I entered the elevator to ascend up to the 4th floor of the Wilk, it occurred to me that I hadn't shaved that morning. No big deal I thought. It was an honest mistake, and I was just going in to put a paper in a box anyway.

I got in, and the lady at the desk smiled and said, "Yeah, just put your paper in this bin here." I did and thanked her for showing me where it was. As I was walking down the hall back to the elevator, I heard her yell, "Oh wait, can you come back for a second?" I went back into the room and she said, "Do you have a beard card?" I knew where this was going, but I decided to be nice and gentlemanly...

"No" I replied.

"Well, we can't accept this until you go home and shave." I explained that I really do normally shave, hence my Bishop's endorsement which I had just handed in, but that I had just forgotten that day. None of the office wokers seemed to care. Like drones enforcing a programmed command, they sent me away to shave.

I went down to the commons in the Wilk to ponder. "Am I a rebel?" I thought. "Have I lost my Honor?" "Why didn't I shave today?" For a flicker of an instant, I started feeling like I had committed some grievous sin, and my honor was defiled. Then I left Guilt City (a city forged by Pharisees) and woke up to the truth.

Well the honest truth is, I'm a father of two children, one of them born this January, and this morning when I woke up, my older son (2 years old) needed to be taken care of. My wife is sick, and so is our newborn, so they were sleeping in. I got my little boy up, and ready for the day. I fed him breakfast, and put on some good morning cartoons. After taking care of him I had to leave right away to get to campus so that I could find a stinkin' parking spot and get to class on time. The honest truth is, I cared more about my family's situation than I did about shaving my whiskers, hence, I forgot to shave.

Pondering all of this in the Wilk commons, I realized that this beard rule, while it might have been relevant in the 60's, is turning students and faculty into Pharisees. We're straining at gnats and leaving other matters undone (Matthew 23:23-24). Suddenly I've lost my honor because I chose to take care of my son rather than shave my face? I don't think so. And those of you who are married with kids know that we don't consciously ask ourselves questions like this. We just take care of the kids. They come first and other things, sometimes sadly, fall behind.

But the story doesn't end here. I met up with my friend in the Commons. He sits at the Mac booth and teaches people about everything Apple. We got to talking about what had happened, and I expressed how I didn't like the rule's pharisaical effect on the students and faculty of BYU, and that I thought it created more contention and unrighteous judgment than it did good. As if to prove my point perfectly, some kid sitting at the next booth (Guitars Unplugged) just chimed in. My Mac friend named him Babyface Nelson, and I won't disagree with the nomenclature. So Babyface says, "Well you signed an honor code saying that you would shave as an agreement to attend a school whose tuition is partially funded by tithing from the church..." I was shocked. I didn't know Babyface, and I didn't know why he was chiming in. So I explained that I didn't have a problem with the rule, just what it DOES to people, turning them into judgmental Pharisees who silently (or in Babyface's case, verbally) determine that I am honorless because of the whiskers on my face. I further explained that I had been taking care of my son, and that is why I had forgotten to shave.

So, what do you think? Am I right? Am I in the wrong? Sure, I could have remembered to get up earlier, I could have left my son in his crib crying, I could have done any number of things differently to ensure a clean-shaven face. But have I violated my own honor in doing what I did? Do you think the beard rule is really beneficial to one's honor? Don't you think it turns us into Pharisees? Perhaps not all of us. But really, what's more important to your honor BYU? Your family or your face?

To be honest, beards were okay back in the day of Karl G. Maeser, the guy whose picture is above. Then in the 60's, the whole idea of being "clean cut" as opposed to being a hippie, was created. As for today, I think beards are just fine. I've grown up enough and learned enough to know that there are plenty of "clean cut" guys that are horrible, and there are plenty of hippies (a.k.a. shaggy and bearded) who are better people than myself and many others. Having a beard does not affect your credibility anymore. If anything, a nice beard is a way of adding character to a guy.

St. Patrick's Day!

2010-03-21T19:44:00.000-06:00

We had a sort of impromptu St. Patrick's Day celebration with our neighbors this year! Earlier in the day I put on some old Irish Dance Music and danced around with Caius for fun. Then we had a delicious dinner...and turned as many things green as possible. It was a wonderful way to celebrate one of my favorite holidays.

The women folk. (plus Henry and Cooper)

The guys.

Below are pictures of each family. Sadly, both our boys went to sleep early so we decided to postpone our family picture. Truthfully, we probably won't ever take one. :( If we do, I will post it!

2010-03-21T19:33:00.000-06:00

The Robbins (Jeff, Deena, Cooper)

The Allens (Brandon, Bobbi, Henry, Haylie)

Josh!

Abby and Joseph

Our Menu

2010-03-21T19:30:00.000-06:00

Green eggs...

and ham!

VERY green mashed potatoes

and of course...corned beef and cabbage.

2010-03-21T19:28:00.000-06:00

Watergate salad/pistachio pudding

Fruit with green dip

Shamrock cupcakes!

Sophie

2010-03-21T19:26:00.000-06:00

Little miss fluff taking a nap in the clean clothes.

The Best Brother Ever

2010-03-21T19:25:00.000-06:00

Caius kissing Baby.

Caius holing Leland's finger while watching TV... A true sign of Cai's affection.

Mess, Mess, Mess

2010-03-21T19:21:00.000-06:00

Daddy and Leland. (Leland's shirt says "COOL just like daddy")

Neal loves to mess with our boys. Most people are very very careful with babies, but Neal does not want wimpy kids, and isn't afraid to mess with them. Surprisngly, they don't seem to mind. Here is a picture of Neal making Leland sit up....

and one of him making Caius sit up around the same age.

Our Smiley Guy

2010-03-21T19:14:00.000-06:00

Leland is getting more and more smiley! I love it. Also, as you can see, he is "chubbing up nicely". (As Neal would say)

Whistling While We Work

2010-03-21T19:07:00.000-06:00

Learning how to be parents of two little boys is not easy. On top of that, we have a dog to take care of. On top of THAT our dishwasher doesn't work. ON TOP OF THAT I had a first time dad with a 6 month-old at church offer me some worthless advice about how to get Leland to stop crying, like I didn't know what I was doing. *SIGH* That's life, I guess. We try to laugh and have fun through it all though.

Neal got new shoe inserts...and they were huge.

Me modeling my Valentine's Day gifts from Neal. :)

We dyed our friend Josh's hair. BLONDE!

I made Neal wear my pajama pants just so I could laugh at him. And OOOOOOHHHH did I laugh... (Neal deleted the picture.)

2010-03-07T20:05:00.000-07:00

Leland Smiling

2010-03-07T19:36:00.000-07:00

Our family

2010-03-07T19:18:00.000-07:00

Here we are! The first picture is of Caius and Leland in their matching outfits for church. We probably should have taken the picture BEFORE church and before everyone was tired and hungry! Poor Caius is always exhausted after nursery. Today we were only a few minutes late to church rather than 20 minutes late! We are getting better every week! Happy Sunday everyone!

Love,

The Bertelsen Family

Pictures of Leland

2010-03-07T19:16:00.000-07:00

Leland is almost 2 months old! He is getting chunkier and cuter, and I love it! I have a moment or two every single day where I look at him smiling at me, or sleeping so peacefully, and I think to myself, "He is SO beautiful. I am going to remember this moment for the rest of my life. Looking at my baby, overflowing with love for him." These times are getting to be more and more often and I love the sweet memories they are becoming to me.

2010-03-07T19:12:00.000-07:00