Ho ho ho!

Sometimes I'm surprised by what my job description includes as a speech-language pathologist in the schools. I got enlisted to play Santa for the kindergarten classes. The kids were so cute. I had a little girl run up and give me a hug. When I walked in the hall children followed me. One girl pulled on my beard then started yelling "He's a fake! He's a fake!" Luckily most kids believed.

Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Clause not some bald speech teacher.

At least I'm not really that fat. I had some stuffing to help fill me out.

A long Awaited Carebear picture

We were suppose to post this awhile ago, but we didn't (I'm still blaming dial-up - even if it was more laziness than anything). So, when we got this picture taken the Carebears were hidden (we knew that Sydney would be instantly obsessed). Sydney apparently has a 6th sense when it comes to Carebears. She found them anyway, but at least it makes a cute picture.

Long awaited pictures

Okay, so here are the long awaited pictures that I've been talking about for way too long now. I finally have DSL (mind you it disconnects more often than a dial-up so I'm probably going to switch soon.

These pictures where from November (no snow), but they're still cute. I like Sheryl's idea having a day where you put older pictures (ahh, memories). However, I don't post everyday so they'll be a little more sporadic.

Announcing Baby Number 3

Just so y'all know. We are expecting... again. Lindy in the beginning of June (or the end of May) next year. We won't know if its a boy or a girl for another month or so.

Happy Holidays

So, my aunt Jodi let me know that I really need to get on the ball about posting pictures. Good news is that we're getting DSL at home soon so it will be a lot easier to do that (I wouldn't recommend uploading pictures with a dial up!) Bad news is that I don't have the pictures right now.

 

So, we were at a family party yesterday when Sydney finds what she thought was lip gloss. I heard her saying "Lips, lips lips!" as I watched her put a glue stick to her mouth. She was a little upset when I took it away from her, but I do believe it was in her best interest. Anyway, I promise (again, lol) to post pictures in the near future (preferably when we have our DSL Internet).

Dire need of a good editing

Wow, the message below this is in a dire need of a good editor. I wrote it real quick with my gmail account. The blogger dashboard is blocked from my school computer so that is the only way I can send messages in. So, that means I have no means of editing them (after I send them that is). Anyway, I do believe in proofreading, but I have my weak moments. I'm not a writing teacher for goodness sake.

key words: Bob Bateman

So, a friendy of mine from high school stubbled on to my blog. I thought, "Wow, how easy is my blog to find?" So, I tried to do a google search on myself to find my own blog. And it wasn't as easy as that. There are sooo many Bob Batemans and Robert Batemans out there. I'm not unique :( so sad. So, I decided to add "key words" in my blog entries to add in the search for Bob Bateman. So, I went to West Jordan High school (WJHS), lol, and then Utah State University (USU). I'm an SLP (Speech Language Pathologist) for Davis School District. I should probably stop before I give too much info out there. I don't really think there is anybody who reads this blog who doesn't know the basic info anyways, oh oh I went on an LDS mission to the Kentucky Louisville Mission (1998-2000). So, lol, if you thought this was a different Bob Bateman or Robert Bateman (like the Canadian Painter) then you were wrong! Even if I do post his art on my blog, it really isn't mine.

 

Okay I'll stop before I hurt myself. lol.

House shopping blues

So, we decided that we are sick of throwing money away in rent. We want to live the American Dream and become homeowners. We've met with a realtor, we've driven around different neighborhoods, we are starting to get things figured out with some lenders. Well, it's not going so well at the moment. All we can afford is houses in scarey parts of Ogden. Our lender told us that we could afford what we wanted if Lindy was working, but we decided a while ago that Lindy wouldn't work while our kids are still home. We don't want someone else raising our children. Anyway, that means I'm living off of a first year teacher wage (and we don't get a whole lot) at least I have a master's degree so that I start a little higher.

 

Anyway, after looking in some of the neighborhoods that have houses we can afford we decided to save up money for a downpayment and keep an eye on the "Good Neighbor Next Door" program (a program that helps teachers and police officers get into a HUD house with 50% off). I guess it was good for us to see what we were up against so that we can be a little more serious about our budget and savings and get our debt paid down. Still a little frustrating, after being in school for all those years, I guess I thought it would be easier now that I have a real income.  Anyway, we are still holding on to our "American Dream", but we are going to be a little more patient about it.

Dumbdore gay???

I got this email from one of my friends.

 

Hi Bob,
 
Hows it going?
 
I have spoken to a couple of people that are reacting to the Harry Potter book gay announcement. You read those books did u get the impression that Dumbldor (?) was gay? and if u did, did it make reading the book/s any less enjoyable? Was just curious as to ur take.

 

What is up with that? Why do we have to try to corrupt everything, how annoying is that? Any idea where this is coming from? Please, let me know, I'm curious how they made that assumtion. Anyway, I guess it doesn't really matter. He's still a great guy (even if he's fictitious).

The kid escaped

So, now that my daughter knows how to get out of her room nap time is going to be difficult. Today Sydney broke out of her room during her nap and went downstairs and woke up Savannah (she's been taking her naps downstairs). And this morning she found one of our cokes (at least it was caffiene free) and gulped it down fast. We were determined not to let her get a taste for pop. She already does now and she's two.

 

I'm excited. I think I'll be able to get out of work before 5pm today. This is a first. In a long while.

Busy Busy

Well, I've relapsed when it comes to posting blog entries. In my defense, I've been working at least 10 hours a day at work. In fact I should be working right now, so I'm going to get back to it. We have some cute pictures of the kids from a photo studio, we're still waiting to get the pictures back. I need to post those. Our kids are getting so big so quick. It's kind of sad. Anyway, I need to get back to work.

Work is Crazy

Well, I really had turned over a new leaf on writing in my blog. Then work got crazy busy. Hopefully this week will calm down a little (probably not). Anyway, remember to register to vote, vote against vouchers! Have a good day.

Milestones

Savannah is beginning to crawl!! kind of... rather she is scooting forward a little with her knees up... a little.

 

In other news, Sydney has increased her firm grap of the dreaded word "no". She uses this all the time. She hasn't figured out the word "yes" yet, which gets her in trouble when we ask her if she wants candy or ice cream. Instead of saying "yes", she just repeats the item that she wants. She has also figured out how to say later, such as, "Sydney, lets go to bed." -- "no, later bed, no." We really enjoy this one. We love our girls.

 

Please bother me, remind me, and pester me about putting pictures on here. I just need to put them on my flash drive before I go to work. I just keep forgetting to do it.

Completely behind on the summer movies

Okay, so I had a long list of movies that I wanted to see this summer, but as you people with young children know, theaters and toddlers/infants don't always work so well. So, the only movies I did see this summer were Spiderman 3 and Harry Potter 5. What am I missing? What should I put on my list to at least rent (to watch when the kids are asleep)? I know there were a bunch of good ones out there, but at this point with all the time I have (which isn't much) I have to prioritize. Which ones are a must see?

Interactive Disney

Well,

For some reason, in my mind its so much easier to send an email than to make a blog post. Anyway, I have to share what Sydney has been doing lately with her disney movies.

 

Sydney has only recently discovered the disney shows. She is obcessed with Cinderella and Snow White, but she loves to watch all of them. She talks to the main characters throughout the show. When the movie starts she greets the main character "Hi cinderella", "Hi tarzan", etc. She will also do this periodically through out the movie. When she's done she'll tell them good bye. She was watching Lion King, the part where Simba's dad dies. Sydney kept telling him to wake up and get up. We didn't know exactly how to tell her that he's not getting up. She does the same when Snow White eats the poisoned apple.

 

I'm amazed at how much she understands, and reminded at how much she doesn't. But hey, she's two. She's growing up so quickly. It amazes me. We love her so much. She is so sweet with us and her sister. I wish I had a picture to put on here. I bring some pictures with me to work so I can do that. Y'all will have to remind me.

New commitment to cleanliness

This email a message thing works great. Now I'll both my readers so much more (both of them even)! Ha! So, we're turning over a new leaf and we're going to keep our home clean! With two little kids under 2 year of age, we haven't always been the best at this. Sydney use to follow us around and just recreate the mess that we cleaned up, true story. Savannah is now a little more content watching us from a bouncing chair instead of having to be held 24/7. We got a toy chest (a real nice one from RC Willy) to help with the toys. Sydney doesn't put the toys away yet, but she only pulls one out at a time. Its been wonderful. Before Sydney would have her toys scattered all over our home. This makes it difficult to use the bathroom in the middle of the night. You never know what you're going to step on.

 

Anyhow, I need to get to work, have a good day.

testing

I'm just curious what would happened if I attached a file to the email.

Confusion at the school district

I just got back from a training from the school district. I do think they are great and so far I love my job, but oh my gosh! How much paper work is there involved? There are so many things to remember. I can't keep everything straight. I have forms for this and that. I have lots of trainings to keep track of. I have evaluations where I need to make goals for myself and then show data for my improvement. I have so many things to juggle. Oh, and yes, I have students to see, students paperwork to organize, all my files are in disarray. Okay, I may be exarragting, a little, but not much. I'm feeling a bit overwhellmed right now. I'm suppose to do this in a 40 hour work week?? I wonder if the general public understand how much people in education do for the little pay. I'm always hearing people tell me how crappy our schools are, well, we're doing the best with what you give us. Well, not all teachers I guess. I've met a few I rather don't like myself, but some of us are really trying.

So, what's going on?

Okay, I've been so bad about writing on here. I'm sorry Lacey. I'm going to repent and be better. In my defense I just started a new job. I've already mentioned this previously, that I've been recently hired by Davis School District as a Speech-Language Pathologist. I'm working at West Point Elementary and Syracuse Jr High. Its been a lot of work. It seems that as an educator you donate a lot of time that you don't get paid for. I've put in a lot of time, which Lindy hasn't cared for too much (which is also my excuse for being a bad blogger).

 

Well, who cares about me, you guys aren't here for me anyway, its my cute kids you want to know about.

 

So, Sydney is 2 years old now, she is our loving, emotional child. She loves to give mom and dad lots of hugs and kisses. She gets very upset when one of us leaves. She likes to talk to her little sister (as long as Savannah doesn't touch her). Savannah likes to grab things, including her older sisters hair. So, Sydney is in the stage where everything is hers, and if she doesn't get it then she gets very upset ( I mean throw herself down and kick and scream upset). We've been told that the emotional child has a tendency to be the tantrum child as well (feel free to correct me if you feel that I am wrong). Sydney loves Mickey Mouse (and the gang), Little Einstein, Strawberry Shortcake, and Carebears. She knows all the theme songs to these cartoons (at least she tries really hard).

 

Savannah is 7 months old, she is our big eyed smiley girl. Everyone who sees her mentions her big eyes. She loves to smile and laugh at people. People keep mentioning to us what a happy baby she is. If only they really knew... lol... She has her moments. Anyway, she especially loves to watching Sydney do just about anything. She thinks its all funny. Savannah is starting to get interested in toys; however, she still prefers to have people make silly faces at her. She's in the process of learning how to sit up on her own. She still tends to fall over, but she's getting there. She can roll over on to her belly (which she does everytime we put her to bed). The funny thing is that her tummy isn't her favorite place in the world, but she won't roll back over. We know she can because we've seen her do it before, but she won't do it on a regular basis. We think she be quicker at the walking thing than her older sister. Sydney took forever to roll over and sit up. She didn't start crawling until like 11 months or so. Oh and we've started Savannah on solid foods, she's slowly getting better at eating.

 

Anyway, that's what's going on with our kids. Pretty boring unless you have kids of your own I suppose. Well, have a good day.

--
--Bob Bateman--
http://bobbateman.blogspot.com

Testing

This is a test to see if I can use the email a post feature. If this works It'll be a lot easier to make posts. I'll be able to do it at work even (when I can find the time). Well, here goes nothing.

California Trip

Sorry, I haven't written. We went to California for a week. We just got back yesterday. We went to Disneyland for 3 days, Seaworld, Universal Studios, and the San Diego Zoo. It has been a long week. We had a lot of fun, but truthfully, I'm glad we're back home. I didn't realize that a Bangerter trip (we went with Lindy's family) consisted of getting up early and going to bed really late, with little to no dead time. You see, I'm a lazy person so this was a difficult thing for me. But we had a good old time. Sydney loved it (when she wasn't throwing a fit about something) and Savannah, well, she liked looking at people.

I'll have to write more about it in the future, because I gotta go. And I'll post some pictures too. We took a gb worth (and my mother-in-law too more!).

Harry Potter Theories

---Warning--- If you haven't read through Harry Potter book 6 and you want to, then you might not want to read this for as it contains plot spoilers.

My brother, Nate (aka Chuck) told me yesterday that instead of playing WoW (World of Warcraft, an online game that a few of us are obsessed with) he was obsessed with Harry Potter. He spent a good part of the day looking up conspiracy theories on the Internet about what might happen in book 7. Well, Nate, you inspired me to do the same (I better be quick cause I gotta get ready for church).



Harry Potter book 7 is coming out soon. And we're very very excited. Any there are thousands of theories out there guessing at this or that. There are several going theories. Apparently there are several people (including Lindy's grandmother) who can't bare the thought that Dumbledore isn't actually dead (See Dumbledoreisnotdead.com). I personally think he is. At another website, the writer says:

Often in heroic stories the mentor of the lead character dies before the hero has the final confrontation with the ultimate evil. This is seen time and time again, famously in films like Star Wars (Obi Won killed by Vader - “Strike me down and I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine”), and the Lord of the Rings (Gandalf dies - resurrected, but the hero doesn’t realise this after the quest is complete). There are reasons for this as well. If Dumbledore isn’t dead then he will feel compelled to help Harry in the final battle, likewise Harry will feel he has to protect Dumbledore. The death of the mentor is generally the turning point, the catalyst, it turns the reluctant hero into the ‘enthusiastic’ hero. The death of the mentor is also the signal that the hero has learned everything he needs to, Harry now knows how to defeat Voldemort - he just doesn’t realise it.

This makes sense to me. Harry has to defeat Voldemort alone, he can't have help from his mentor. The question that has been by many conspiracy theorists is the following: Did Dumbledore plead for Snape to save or kill him??

This of course raises the question, is Snape really evil? Well he killed Dumbledore didn't he? Dave Kopel gets a pretty good argument in an article entitled Severus Snape: The Unlikely Hero of Harry Potter book 7. You just have to read the article. They also mention in this article why he thinks Harry has to die at the end of the 7th book. My sister-in-law, Lindy, and I really hope this isn't the case. The whole messianic ending of the 3rd Matrix movie was kind of annoying. I can see how it could happen. I just hate to see the hero die in the end. Errr.



Oh, and here is some commentary on the book cover art for the new book: Judging a book by its cover by David Haber. Interesting.

Anyway, what do you guys think?

Smiley Baby

Savannah is such a smiley baby. She loves to look at people and smile away. Here is a picture of the her (a little old - its from April). She's so wiggly. We all just love her to pieces.

It's June!!

It's finally June, but I want Spring back. Its too hot!!!

about being outside. She wants to be outside every second of every day. She's bang on the door and shout outside, outside. The problem is that we don't have our own back yard with our apartment (its shared and there is not fence from the street). Sydney has the tendency to make a bee line straight for the street. Often times she will point out cars and trees (over and over again), but mostly she just likes to run around. Oh, she's also So, anyway, Sydney has been obsessedobsessed with swings and slides. She wants to be on them all day (literally). When we take her off of the playground equipment or we take her inside, we become the most horrible parents in the world (in her eyes). We're not really that outdoorsy (I wish we were more, but what can you do). Perhaps we'll have to change our life style to accommodate our daughters outside fetish.

Into the Temp World

Well, I do have a job lined up, but... it doesn't start until August. What to do, what to do... how about a temp job. So, I started a temp job today. It was absolutely brainless, required minimal thinking. Sad thing is, I bet I have more education than my supervisor and his supervisor... LOL. At least I don't have to think at all while I work. My job starting in August will require a lot more thinking, planning, and etc.

Okay, this is another LOST posting, so again, if you aren’t interested in the TV show LOST, then you are welcome to read older posts about other random subjects.

Okay, so… What did you think about the season finale? This episode (as most do) brings up several questions:

Who the heck are the people that have a boat off the coast? Apparently, they aren’t friendly to the island.

How is Walt tied into this? You were right Danny, Lock wasn’t dead. The island wouldn’t let that happen. I was shocked to see Walt helping him.

What was up with the flash-forward of Jack??? Wow, that was crazy ending!

Whose funeral did Jack attend in the flash-forward? We at least know it was a girl and apparently Jack didn’t necessarily consider her a friend. It was kind of a scary neighborhood where the funeral parlor was at.

Who are the good guys? After watch how mercilessly Sawyer killed that guy, I wonder who the good guys are? Those others that were holding the hostages didn’t follow Ben’s orders and just shot into the sand instead. Sawyer didn’t have to kill Tom. I wasn’t too happy with what Sawyer did.

Where do we go from here? I wonder if Ben and Lock will be able to convince the survivors that these people are bad and maybe they’ll join tribes?? I don’t know. It’s going to be interesting. Apparently, Jack’s life will be more fulfilling if he stays on the island, and there are several people that would rather stay there.

And, we were very upset about Charlie dying. We know that it had to happen with Desmond’s predictions and all, but I think we were being hopeful. He’s been annoying most of the show, but there were moments when we really like Charlie. We like how he became a surrogate father for Clair’s baby.

Oh, and Hurly rocks!!

I saw a news report about a movie that's coming out on June 22 called September Dawn (click here to go to September Dawn's official website), a supposed "historical fiction" that appears to be more fiction than historical. Its about the mountain meadows massacre that happened on September 11, 1857. According to Wikipedia it is directed by Christopher Cain, is described by a press release as fictionalizing the "point of view held [by] direct descendants ... that the iconic Brigham Young had complicity in the massacre, a view denied by the Mormon Church." [Press release (2007-03-26)]

Here is a link to the Wikipedia article about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Meadows_Massacre. There is no evidence that Brigham Young ordered the attack, on the contrary, there is evidence that he order the local Mormon settlers to do nothing. The problem was that the local militia didn't wait for a reply from Salt Lake. By the time the reply came the massacre already happened. No, there is still a lot of controversy over this, especially with a TV movie coming up. If you look at the Wikipedia discussion and history on this article you'll notice there has been a lot of debate. Some believe that the LDS church did a cover up. People are entitled to their opinions, as am I.

What bothers me the most about September Dawn, is that they make some pretty big claims about Brigham Young's involvement that aren't provable. On the website for September Dawn it says, "On June 22, the truth will be revealed". This infuriates me to no end! When you have no evidence for the assumptions you are making then you cannot claim the truth! Just because Christopher Cain is sure Brigham Young was behind this doesn't mean he is! Can Christopher Cain write history??? This movie makes Brigham Young look like an 19th century Osama bin Laden. I'm not saying the massacre didn't happen. It was a sad dark day, but it wasn't directed by Brigham Young. I hope people will realize this movie is not what happened, but what someone believed happened. They say they did their research, but they sure have filled in the holes with some anti-Mormon propaganda.

It is true that the massacre occurred. Yes, these Mormon settlers did this. But I wouldn't say the Mormon church did this. On the Wikipedia discussion page under "Pretty Good Article" this comment is made:

In Iraq, members of the US Military raped a woman and killed her whole family. It was, in fact, an official squad of the US Army. However, they did not operate upon that unit's rules of engagement and did not take orders from the military directing this action. So, I would not say that the US Army raped that woman and killed her family. I would say it was the individuals who did that.

This was a horrible thing that happened, but don't blame the LDS church, especially when the evidence is incomplete or missing.

I also wonder about the timing of the production of this movie. This is going to have a great effect on Mit Romney's presidential campaign. The movie was written and filmed before Romney declared his intentions to run for office, but it seems convenient if you want to put a barrier in front of his way. People are really looking at his religion, which is stupid. Just because Mit Romney is a Mormon is no reason he shouldn't be elected into office. People should decide to vote for or against him on the political issues. Yet, how he handles this film will be very important for his candidacy.

Right now I'm waiting for a DVD to finish burning. Lindy and I recently bought Vegas Movie Studio + DVD. Basically, it is video editing software and DVD creation software. We've had a DVD burner for about 2 years, but we had no idea how to use it so it acted as our CD-ROM the whole time. Finally we are starting to create family videos. I would put them on here, but with a dial-up connection it would be ridiculous. (Sorry Jim, none of my new neighbors have wireless networks. Stupid North Davis County folks – Get with the times!)

Anyway, so we made a photomontage for our mothers for mother’s day. We made ourselves a copy. Apparently, Sydney thinks it’s the coolest thing since ice cream. She loves to look at pictures of family members, that and the songs we put on there are songs we sing to her everyday. So, Sydney (even as I’m writing this) is watching the video and shouting out “Nana!” (Savannah’s nickname) to her own baby pictures. All babies apparently look like Savannah. She loves to sing with the music. Usually she’ll get at least 3 words from a phrase/sentence and mumble the rest of them. It’s hilarious to listen to. When the video ends she shouts out “Again!” and we watch the video over and over and over and over. Ha! That’s what we get to do as parents of little children, watch their favorite videos over and over again.

When I went to get Sydney out of bed this morning she was jumping in her crib as if it was a trampoline and shouting “Bounce!” Then she started practicing her colors (red, blue, purple, yellow). She loves to practice colors and numbers. Whenever she sees a number she starts counting and then yells “Blast off!” (too much Little Einstein apparently). Kids sure do make life interesting.

So, who else is watching Lost? Okay, if you watch and are up-to-date you should read this. If you aren't up-to-date or you don't care then you may not want to read this.

So, what's up with Ben killing off Lock???? Lock was one of my favorite characters in the episode. I missed the episode where Lock killed his father. I guess I assume that he solves his problem. It seems like the only way people can die is if they figure things out and the resolve their main conflict.

I can't believe that they are actually going to get off the island. They are going to want to drag it out for another season at least. We still don't know the origins of the others (apparently Ben isn't really from here), we don't know all the details of the island. And that big black cloud that attacks people.

So, remember the episode (I'm assuming you actually know what I'm talking about , LOL) the episode where Mr. Echo stares down one of those black clouds. Well, if you pay real close attention you seen faint scenes from Echo's past. So, I'm thinking maybe those black clouds are really the characters' past coming back to get them. Of course there is always the theory that all of these guys are dead and in purgatory ( I don't believe that personally). I'm rambeling now. Meh...

Next Wednesday is the season finally. I wonder what questions they are going answer. I assume they are going to bring up some new questions. Is another hatch going to blow? Is Charlie actually going to drown like Desmond said? Err, I can't wait till next Wednesday....

Day two...

I'm going to attempt at becoming a runner. I'm on day two of my new running schedule. My sister-in-law, Kelsey, had a schedule that is suppose to gradually get you to the point where you can run for 30-45 min straight. I guess a combination of running and walking is the way to go. At anyrate we'll see how that goes.

So, mother's day. We had a dinner for Lindy, her mother (Alice) and my mother. My brother Brad and his wife Heidi came too. We had a good old time. Lindy's dad and I were cooking for everybody. That basically meant I was watching Lindy's dad grill. He's the master and I, the apprentice.

Anyway, I ought to get going.

Here are some pictures of my family.



Little Savannah, our new edition to the family. She's our little angle.

Here' Sydney! She's our little ball of fire. She has enough energy to power several midwestern towns. It has been a joy watching her develop and learn. She's always surprising us.

Savannah kept slowly falling to the left. This was a particularly difficult shot to get. Sydney has decided to call Savannah "Nana". She often asks to "hold her". She does get a little jeolous. When we're holding Savannah, Sydney wants to be held to, by the same person.

This is Savy's blessing picture. The deer-in-the-headlights look is a signature of Savy's.

We spent way too much time trying to get this simple picture of our family. I think this one turned out pretty good.

Getting both children to look good in the picture is unbeliveably difficult. Savannah's falling asleep while Sydney's having a melt down. Errr.

Well, I finally did it. I graduated. I walked last Friday. I took Sydney with me as I walked, she was awesome. I'm done with school altogether. It is nice to be done. I have accepted an offer from Davis School District that won't start until August. I'm trying to find some temp work for the summer. I've been in school my whole life, I can't believe that I'm finally done. Kind of feels weird. Now I get to work for something better than $7/hr. I haven't made that in a while, but it's all good.

On Saturday I took a big 2 hour long Praxis test, another hoop I have to jump through in order to get licenced. Well, they give me a answer sheet that has 180 places where you can fill in your bubble with your number 2 pencil. At any rate, I figured 180 questions in two hours (120 minutes), well, that less than one question a minute. I'm freaking out because I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep up. Half way through the test I was just a little behind, I'm flying through this, probably too quick, cause I'm afraid that I'll have like 30 questions left when they tell us to stop. To my surprise after I have finished 120 questions the bottom of the page says "stop, close your book". Apparently, the answer book was a generic sheet. I was flying through the stupid test, when I didn't need to. Well, I didn't skim through or anything, but I was unduly stressed out.

At any rate, I am done with anything involved with school, except the graduation bit. Now I can spend my full attention on trying to find an income. Hopefully sooner than later.

So, having two kids is so different than one. I'm sure anyone who have more than one will being thinking "duh!". It's nice to be able to tag team the kids. But keeping our house clean has been a joke, not that we were ever really good at that to begin with.

Sydney is starting to show signs of jealousy of her sister (just a little bit). When one of us are holding Savannah, Sydney will want to be held at the same time. However, Sydney is starting to say "hold her" because we'll always ask her if she wants to "hold her". We'll let Sydney hold little Savannah for a few moments before they both start crying. It's better than before though. Sydney calls Savannah, "Nana". We weren't sure if we wanted to encourage that because of the dog in Peter Pan. Anyway, this is enough rambling about our two daughters. Next time I'll try to be a little more cohesive with my postings.

So, I haven't been very good about leaving regular posts on here. I know a few of you read this, mostly because I've read the comments. I'm sure you're annoyed with the fact that most of the time the blog hasn't been updated, and there haven't been new pictures in a long while (which is the main reason to come to the blog - not pictures of me, but of my cute daughters).

So, are any of you excited about the new Harry Potter book coming in July? Who do you think will die in this book. She's been pretty consistent with killing at least one good guy per book for the last 3 books. I'm afraid its going to be someone as important as the last one ( I won't say who in case you haven't read book 6 - I don't want to give away any spoilers here). My sister-in-law, Kelsey, said she hopes they don't kill off Harry himself at the end of the book. Some kind of Matrix messianic thing. (But then I never thought they would have done what they did in the last book - again, I'm really teasing those who haven't read book 6). I assume that they can't kill off Ron or Herminie (they have to get together or everybody will be mad). But it could be a Weasley, like maybe the dad or one of the twins or something. Maybe Neville will save the day. What do you guys think?

SALVATION!!!!!!!!!
Today I completed my master's defense and I passed! It was a success. Later on in the day I had my first job interview (which was equally scary). I don't know how well that went. We'll see in the near future. All I have left is my praxis test which I take on April 28, then I'll be done with my masters degree in speech-language pathology. It has been a very long two years.

Now comes the next scary part, finding work and doing what I went to class for. I really do love the field because I love working with people, but I feel inadequate. I still feel like I need a lot more training. Hopefully, I won't feel like a charlatan 5 years from now. Only time will tell.

To those downhearted folks still in school. There is a light at the end of the tunnel and it really isn't a train! Keep it up, it will eventually end.

Well, we blessed Savannah, as mom and dad probably already told you. It's an awesome and humbling experience blessing your own children. I blessing our baby got our new ward’s attention. Like a neon light saying “HEY! WE’RE HERE! GIVE US A CALLING! MAKE US TALK IN CHURCH! ETC ETC!” So, we got a calling a week later, today, (teaching the 12 year olds) and we got asked to speak in church next week. Oh and we got hometeachers today too. Considering we’ve been in the ward for 3 months, that was a lot of attention for one Sunday. Apparently it took the membership clerk a little while to get our recorders.

Baby Blessing and More

By the way, it has been a joy taking our children to church. Sydney has been a lot of fun. Sydney wants to run around and make noise, Savannah is hungry and crying, we have lots of extra stuff to drag around like books, snacks, diapers, etc etc, fun. The other day Sydney decided to crow like a rooster as loud as she could during sacrament meeting. That was a joy. And another day in church Sydney was trying to say "eyes" but the first vowel come out as an /a/ as in back instead of /ah-i/. So, she was yelling out an expletive, but in an innocent manner. The people in sitting in front of me probably thought that we’ve been teaching Sydney how to swear.

I’m almost done with school. Just 2 more weeks of my externship, my defense in 3 weeks, and the SLP praxis test in 7 weeks. Then I get to start to work for the rest of my life. But it will be nice to be able to have a real income for once in my life (and before 30 at that – but not much before 30).

R2-D2 and Chewie's real role in the movies.


If you are not a Star Wars fan then ignore this message and wait for more cute pictures of Sydney and/or Savannah. Apparently, with the prequels we have to re-evaluate the original movies. My sister-in-law Heidi sent me an email that explores these issues (an acknowledgement of my geekiness, I'm sure). So, here it is, a discussion of why Chewie almost killed Luke.

A New Sith, or Revenge of the Hope
Reconsidering Star Wars IV in the light of I-III

Cereal and Memories

For as long as I can remember, I've been hearing stories about the time I emptied several boxes of cereal on the floor and danced on them. I don't ever remember doing this, but its my parents favorite story to tell. I began to believe that nothing else happened in my whole childhood. My one and only defining moment was spent stomping on cereal.

Even as I have children of my own, I continue to hear about the infamous day. Then today, something happened that will bring a smile to my parents face and a cringe to my own. My daughter, Sydney, took off with a box of Cheerios and decided to empty it onto her bedroom floor. Instead of getting upset, I grabbed the camera. I'm not sure if that was a good idea cause my parents will enjoy rubbing it in. However, when I tell stories to my daughter I'll at least have evidence instead of hearsay.

Life with two children has been interesting. Sydney if starting to get use to the ide a of her baby sister being around. Instead of Savannah, she calls her Nana or just baby. Sydney's vocabulary is explouding, she has become a little parot recently. She is coming up with new words all the time (and new signs cause we've been teaching her sign language).

Savannah, still only a week old, is a little cutie. She likes to sleep all the time, even when we're trying to feed her. Her weight dropped a little and we're still waiting to hear about her bilirubin count. Hopefully it will go down so we don't have to have her under a bili-light. Sydney had to do that and she hated it. We'll hear about it tomorrow, but I'm sure things are going to be okay.

We'll try to be better about leaving stories about our daughters on here in the future(that and pictures).

It's a Girl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Announcing the birth of Savannah Marie born on January 17, 2007 at 6:11am. She was 7 lbs 7 oz 19 1/2 in.

Good bye Logan, Its been fun.

We're now completely (we're still working on it) into our new home in Layton. We were really sad to leave Logan, we've spent our whole married lives up there. Its bitter sweet to leave (finishing school and all). Here are some parting pictures.

We do plan on posting some pics and stories of christmas, soon.