Randy is here!

Little Randy Lee was born this morning at 4:22 A.M. He weighed in at 7 lbs 5 oz and was about 20 inches tall. He is happy and healthy. He is sound asleep now, snoring and cooing away. He is quite the handsome little man. Charity loved visiting him and bossing everyone around for him. She's going to be quite the helper. We truly are going to have a happy new year.

It's A Walk In The Park

On Sundays we like to go for family walks in the park. This past weekend we went to the Nature Park. Here we get to feed the ducks. Charity and Jack still like to eat the duck treats so Lee and I do most of the feeding.

Jack is Lee's new puppy. He's mostly border collie. He's very smart, but needs lots of attention. He's doing really well with walking on a leash, but needs to work on "come" and not bitting/nipping.

At the park Jack got in to the pond. At first just his feet got wet, which made him look very silly with 4 stick legs coming out of a giant black fluff ball. So Lee decided he needed to get all the way wet, and perhaps work on his swimming skills. Needless to say, they got to walk home instead of drive, because Jack was much too wet to go in the car.

Charity loves playing with her new puppy. She's so proud of him as she shows him off at the parks to other kids. They usually play well together.

Stimpson Baby #2

Today's the day! We finally got to get a good look at the little one that's been kicking me in the belly and making me feel not so fun. Our little man! Charity gets to have a little brother of her very own. She'll make a great big sister.

Lee's really excited to know he won't be outnumbered by women in our little family for long. He's already dreaming up father-son camping, fishing, and whatever else trips.

Our son's blog address will be: http://ourownlittleman.blogspot.com You can go there now to see a bunch of his ultrasound pics.

By the way, We're pregnant!

If we haven't already told you, or if you haven't already heard, we're pregnant. I'm about 17 1/2 weeks along now and reality is beginning to set in more as I start to feel the little flutterings of the baby in my belly. We find out in 9 days, if all goes well, if the baby is a boy or a girl. That'll make reality even bigger in our eyes. With Charity we were sure well before her ultrasound that she was a girl, but with this kid, we're not sure of anything except that it's not twins. The ultrasound picture above is an older one, so the baby looks more like an alien cinnamon bear than a baby. Hopefully we'll get some better snap shots in the next ultrasound.

I've have hyperemesis gravidaram again, and a little worse that I did with Charity's pregnancy. It was no fun then and it's no fun now. All the more reason I can't wait for this little baby to come. I'm due January 14th, so sometime around New Years the baby will be here ready to change our lives forever. Forever and for good.

Lee finished his classes this summer and is searching for a good internship for this fall. He just got back from camp. We're so glad to have him home again. Charity wouldn't let him out of her sight the first couple of days he was back. She had only big smiles for him when she saw him again.

Weekends

This weekend Lee has been off on a camping trip with one of his classes. Charity and I have been home enjoying the sunshine. I have been working on the cushions to Charity's sofa that I am recovering. I almost have one done, but now the sewing machine is PMSing. Dang. I'll have to wait until Lee gets home so he can kick it or do whatever he magically does that's different from my attempts to fix it.

I can't believe May is already half way through. I was sure it had just barely started. Time is really going by fast. Charity is working on two new teeth, and is not enjoying it either. Her little personality and new words come out more and more each day. We're also still trying to get our new home in order more, cleaned up more, and with everything in a place more. We still have picture frames scattered, just waiting to be hung.


Oh, we have kittens. Our orange cat, Dash, had 5 new kittens about a week ago (although with how fast time has been flying, I'm not sure that's accurate anymore). There are two orange kittens, one gray, one white, and one black with patches of all of the aforementioned colors. So, if anyone will be needing a new kitten (or two, they do better with a friend to keep them entertained) just let us know! It will still be some weeks before they are ready to leave their mommy (or mommies, rather as both of our cats are acting as mothers).

Welp, this is our life these days. Could be better, but always could be worse too.

2 Years!

Lee and I celebrated our two year wedding anniversary this weekend. Time flies by fast doesn't it?! 'Can't believe that it's been two years already, although two year also seems like such a short time for how long we feel we've been together. We've now completed our first two years of eternity together--and survived! We couldn't be happier.

Movein' On

Lee's school semester is closing up this week and he'll have some time before he starts up again. We've decided to move! We'll be more in town in Rexburg and just 2 blocks away from the park, which is perfect for summer time for Charity. Our new place is close to friends and is much bigger than where we are now. This is a big plus! We needed much more space and a craft room/office for me, especially with how big Charity has gotten, she needs more play area. We're packing a few boxes each day and can't wait for the move. We've found some good deals on furniture too! We found a nice 7 piece dinner table set on sale at Binghams, we got a La-z-boy chair from some friends that are moving away for $35, and we found a couch for only $25! This is a bonus from living in a college town, lots of couples move after they graduate and it's cheaper for them to buy new furniture where they go that to pay to ship it out of state. I.e. we found a drafters desk that will be perfect for scrapbooking from a couple that is moving to Hawaii and definitely cannot afford to take it with them.

We had a good weekend. On Saturday we did a lot with Bountiful Baskets, we stayed and volunteered at Adams Elementary after Lee was done with his job for the day. We picked up a total of four flats of strawberries for Lee's family and us. We got to eat a yummy breakfast Easter morning (crepes & strawberries). I still haven't decided what to do with the rest of the strawberries.

Easter/General Conference was good. Charity loved finding easter eggs at her grandma's house. And everyone enjoyed just hanging out together, plus the food was delicious!

On the downside, Winter has finally decided to show it's face out here. There have been wind, snow, and sleet storms that just aren't fun. To top it off, our heater has decided to malfunction. We now have to turn it on and off manually instead of relying on the thermostat (we even replaced the thermostat, but it's still not working right). Lee's greenhouse needs serious repairs after the harsh winds. I guess we can't have the drip drip drop little April showers if we don't get snow and whatnot first. Ahh well.

Get-Away to Jackson Hole, WY

We all decided that we just needed to get away for a day. So one day this week we woke up and said today's the day. Lee went to his class (which go out extra early) while I packed and got little Miss Charity ready. We headed out. It was a nice day outside with plenty of sunshine. When we got closer to the pass there was a storm cloud over the pass. We were apprehensive that the day wouldn't be fun with a storm. We went through the pass just fine and came out the other end to find better weather than what we had started with in Idaho.
We window shopped around and searched for a good bathroom. If someone wanted to make some money they could just set up some nice restrooms in the center of town and add a charge for people to use them. PS. this place is not really child friendly (people are nice, but it got boring at times for Charity), also it is not very accessible for anyone with wheels (wheelchairs, strollers, etc).

We picnicked in Town Square (Antler Park as Lee calls it) and watched people come and go all around. Lee found it interesting how many people brought their dogs to the park and completely ignored the "no dogs allowed" sign.
We toured the town a bit and pretended we could ever afford living there. Jackson used to be a millionaire place, but now I guess the billionaires bought their places up and pushed the millionaires to the other side of the pass. It was amazing when we looked at items in the shops how much they were priced for those extravagantly wealthy few. Clothing cost at average, it seemed, at least $350 for one piece. It's sad how 5% off the nation's population hold over 60% of its wealth. Hmmm...should I feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, or buy a new outfit for my mistress? Tough call.
We found a climbing gym called Enclosure south of the town. It had been a while since either of us had gone climbing so we vowed to each other to rebuild our strength and come back again and last longer. We did still have a ton of fun. I had forgotten how much I love it.


We went back to the center of town, toured around a bit more. We found a cute hat for Charity and a new brown leather belt for Lee. Then finally found a restaurant we felt wasn't priced for billionaires. But of course we waited forever and a day for a table to get burgers at Cadillac Grill. If we didn't need a booth, it may have been a shorter wait, but we did and we can to compete for them as it was seat-yourself-seating. For those of you who are looking to go, the food is okay, but not worth the long wait, if there is one when you go. Anyway, after we were done the town was lit up asking us to stay just a bit longer. We came home in the dark with a cool sliver of a moon clear and bright ahead of us. It was a nice drive back, but I hated having to see the sign "Welcome to Idaho" again. Did I mention this was my first time to Wyoming? It was a good one.

Melissa & Doug.

Melissa & Doug have another give-a-way. Let's see if we can win something this time.

Rosy Cheek Boutique

One of Danielle's New Years resolutions was to get an online boutique going. She's started it and calls it "Rosy Cheek Boutique". She also has "Kindred Crafts", but puts her focus in the boutique.

Rosy Cheek Boutique is mainly for infants, toddlers, and kids. Danielle's using a few patterns for girls' clothing, boys' neck ties, boys' & girls infant shoes, and much more.

To see the progress she's made go to rosycheekboutique.blogspot.com. There will be different buttons on the side to link you to various projects if you want to see more pictures and info.

Please refer everyone you know with little ones 0-12 years to the boutique. Thanks!

Spring is nearly here!

Two smiles that just had to be shared.

Well spring is at our doorstep and we're already started preparing for a new season, either that or we're starting to come out of hibernation.

Lee has built himself a mini greenhouse out of window plastic and scrap boards. It looks pretty cool. We've started collecting seeds and starts and wondering what to plant this year in our garden. In the back yard some spring flowers (tulips, daffodils, and etc) have already begun to sprout and the strawberries are showing their green leaves, the weeds are coming in well too. (This line of flowers come early as they are next a shop with heated flooring.

Charity is as active as ever. She's going through her stage where she thinks it's funny to do what she knows she's not supposed to. (We're praying this is just a stage). The snow is melting outside (or at least it was) and so the ground is too muddy and wet for her to play at the park just yet. She'll be super excited when she can. For now she's taken up climbing bookshelves and baby gates.

Danielle has been working on her sewing projects for "Rosy Cheek Boutique". Lee's just registered for his last semester of classes. Everyone's keeping busy these days. We'd go insane if we weren't busy.