birthday festivities

I would post a birthday update for anyone else in the family so here is one for me :)

Today I turn the beautiful age of 32. It doesn't seem old. Plus just

a couple of days ago when I was volunteering at the Draper Open house for the new temple- someone asked if I was a sister missionary. I politely said no thinking I should have said I am almost 32 and have four kids :) But anyways, I have a few more laugh lines and one more year of life experience under my belt.

Festivities started last Sunday when my dad made me a Wok for a pre-birthday dinner. So delicious. Last Friday I got a box of clothes from my sister in law who has way too many :)
They were much appreciated.

Last night we had a family party and it was nice to get together with everyone. I like the open house of people that came due to various reasons. It actually seemed a little less chaotic. Jim gave me season 4 of The Office. I love that show and that is one of the few shows I giggle outloud for.

What am I doing on today my actual birthday? Well car pools, Lizzie dance class, making a cleaning dent somewhere in the house, changing tons of diapers, etc. I will go sneak a treat or something later for my own birthday present :) Plus Jim sent me some beautiful gerber daisies to stare at.

informational purposes

Since blogging is a way to share information.....

Anyone who has babies, kids, or interacts with any at least once a year (I need to include everyone) if you have time today make sure you update yourself on baby choking and CPR and adult choking and CPR. Here is a good website for infants

http://www.babycenter.com/0_infant-first-aid-for-choking-and-cpr-an-illustrated-guide_9298.bc

My sweet Afton today choked on some elbow macaroni. She has had it many times before with no incident but I think today got too greedy and put too many in her mouth. She could not breath at all, her face went bright, bright red and her eyes started to flutter and stayed shut longer than I would have liked. I whacked her on her back tilting her head down, tried to pry whatever was in there out with my finger. After many more whacks I thought maybe the feel of cold outside air might do something. I was still whacking her as I was walking outside and just a few seconds from calling 911. Something moved and my sweet little girl was breathing again.

It is one of those moments when your are pretty calm during it but afterwords shake too hard to do anything for a few minutes.

So I usually don't write posts like this but please just refresh yourself on choking and cpr. Just in case. I know I did afterwords because it made me realize how unprepared I am.

where were you when...

the 44th president was sworn in? Today is an amazing day with tremendous historical significance. There are moments in anyone's life when you realize you are alive during an important part of history. Today is one of those days.

I remember other times when I knew something big had happened. I am young so the list is short :)

-fall of 1995: I was in one of the commons room at Salt Lake Community College watching the verdict of the OJ Simpson trial.

- fall of 1995: I instant messaged my friend Aric who was up at school at USU. What would most of us do without the internet or e-mails today.

-Summer of 1996- Swimming in a pool in San Diego when someone ran out of their room and told people over a balcony that Princess Diana had died

-September 2001- in Seattle with Jim and waking up to the news with accounts that have forever changed our nation.

Today- later today I will be watching the inaguaration on TV with my kids trying to explain the importance of this day and how they are so lucky to be able to see something like this.

As a girl with a Bachelors in History I couldnt' sleep much last night because I was so proud of where we have come as a people and nation. It is nice to tell my kids they and their friends really can grow up to be anything they want.

how cool is water?

The babies love baths. They get so excited when I take them into the bathroom. Lilly- the girl who used to hate baths just sits there and splashes and smiles now. I really do mean she sits and splashes the whole time. It is so funny to watch. Afton has no interest in splashing and just eats all of the foam letters. They both get so fascinated with the water coming out of the faucet.

Whenever it is time for the babies to have their baths I ask Ethan and Lizzie to please play in their room. They always play something they like to call "Pony Legos." Some role playing with the best of both of their worlds - My Little Ponies and Legos. I have no idea what is involved but they can play it for hours. Here is a picture of tonights adaptation. They said it was

raining in Ponyville. Whatever that means.

19

I am happy to report that for the month of December Jim and I ran 19 miles each!!!! We usually run between 1 to 3 miles 3 times a week at night once the kids are in bed (talk about a run on sentence). Jim has agreed to do the Salt Lake Half Marathon with me on April 18th. We are in the pre-training stage and the amounts get bumped up for January. If we do all of January we will have ran 43 miles. Still 19 miles is pretty cool for us beginners :)

separate but together

We have been having a little trouble lately with the babies and their crib. They have been sharing this whole time and really haven't had any major issues. Lately though, we have had to put Afton in first- let her fall asleep in then put Lilly in. If we don't do it that way Afton always tries to attack Lilly and thinks it is time for all star wrestling which of course wakes Lilly up. It is getting tiring always having to wait until Afton is asleep. Sometimes Lilly is just way tired and really should be the first one going to sleep.

Here is our solution that of course was made up by Jim. He put a piece of wood in the crib to separate it and we put a blanket over it. It looks like a great design. We will see how it goes :) It fits perfectly in the slats and definitely won't be falling over. My friend Heidi has a crib and mattress just waiting for me to borrow. I had bought two sets of bedding so I have matching bedding. I am married to Jim though and we will try out his invention first :)