Fairies, Damsels, Release, and a Tie

Wow! We didn't quite see this coming, but here we are! Our first baby is officially growing up! But Cali on the verge of missing a couple of teeth actually started out as a little scare. Earlier in the month I was trying to capture a photo of the girls who were dressed up cute. I plunked Carice in front of a willing Cali, but I should have known better...Carice wasn't havin' it and head-butted Cali right in the mouth. Her teeth were then sore. They didn't seem loose, but the gum line was a little gray. We luckily made it in time to our dental check-up that just so happened to be scheduled this very month.

Her X-ray revealed that the roots of the primary teeth were indeed dissolving and her big girl teeth were on their way! The bunk in the tooth was not the cause. At the end of the month she lost both her lower incisors; ironically, the two teeth that she sprouted first as a 7 month old. :) The tooth fairy visited both nights leaving a five dollar bill for each tooth! (Inflation must have hit the tooth-taking winged one, too) I figure at this rate she will make a cool $hun$ after loosing all her baby teeth. Lucky! And incidentally, we almost didn't have that first lost tooth to place under her pillow for the tooth fairy to find. I brushed her teeth that night a little too rough and her gums started to bleed. Well, Cali wanted to 'see' the blood (of sorts) and so I went back in with the toothbrush to 'squoosh' a little blood onto the bristles to show her. When I did and had the toothbrush to show her, Cali tells me I knocked out her tooth! ("I did?!") It was gone...and nowhere to be seen. We looked and looked and finally I found it stuck in the fur of her bright pink slipper! All in a day's work...



We actually, finally, really, can-you-believe-it, found a preschool for Cali to attend. I know we are starting late in the school year, since obviously schools start classes in the fall, but the owner said that some children do start in January or change preschools after the holiday break. So, after hearing that, I didn't feel so out of place. At any rate, we just new Cali needed 'something'. I think she was bored at home. (We didn't go to Gymboree in December. We were going to catch up with them this month, but we haven't yet and most likely won't be going back...bummer for Carice because it fits her age group so well. What to do, what to do.)

The first day of preschool was tough. The apron strings that never seem to be there when Cali was a toddler have somehow been sewn tightly to me and Daddy over the last year or so . I could tell she wanted to join in here and there with the other children and/or with toys, but yet she still was so nervous and clingy for me to leave her alone. Finally, her teacher, Miss Debi, had her on her lap attempting to read and that is when Carice and I made our way to the door. My Cali had such a worried little expression on her face. I cried on the way home. We've been through so much with our sweet little first-born and I just want her physically safe and emotionally happy..and to know I am making the right decisions for her right now. I don't think I did much that day when I came home from the school. I prayed for her while we were apart and I felt like she was okay. She ended up loving preschool and the next time she went, I was able to do the 'drop off'. Miss Debi comes and gets the children out of the car and escorts them into the building. Parents and siblings don't have to unbuckle or get out of the car. It really is so helpful. And Cali went willingly! But-I still cried on the way home the second day, too ;) She's my baby and I love her...it's just the way it is.

However, on that second day, I was able to get Carice back to sleep when we got in the house (she fell asleep in the car on the way home from the school.) She napped while I watched something on TV other than Caillou or Sesame Street, folded some laundry and actually go the bathroom all by my lonesome! Wow! And at one point, it was quiet in the house. Nothing but sweet blissful silence. Maybe this preschool thing is pretty cool after all. Cali had her very first field trip this month. They were finishing up learning about people in the community and so we all went to Smith's grocery store for a tour. We sampled a carrot from produce, a cookie from the bakery and a yummy fry from the deli. So fun. I also had to show you this picture she colored at home. She has such a way with colors already. The artist in her is starting to beautifully ooze out; you can see she definitely is her father's daughter.

Our other little daughter is such a goose (as we call her) :) I've decided that I really love one year olds. They can be soft and squishy and cuddly like a baby, yet so fun to watch run around and play and be so funny. She has this little galloping run she does with one foot flat on the ground and the other half on the ground. And she would get up and stand on her gray little step stool, hold onto the the bar in the kitchen (or be somewhere else in the house) and cry out, "Mama, Mama." with a pained expression until I (or Daddy) came and 'rescued' her off the stool. We called her our little "Damsel in Distress" Like I said...she's a goose :) She had a rough go, though, this month...she had a double ear infection. Well, at least that's what I think she had. It's hard to hear our kind, gentle, soft-spoken pediatrician with a screaming Carice on my lap. Looking back, it makes sense when she held both of her hands over her ears when she would scream and/or cry. It reminded me of the famous painting "The Scream" by Edvard Munch. I thought maybe it was just a 'new thing' she was doing, but now I'm thinkin' she was in pain! (Good grief, Mommy, get with the program.) Not to mention the not sleeping well part. Glad you are feeling so much better, Love! :) We love you annnnddd anti-biotics.



Rick entered a poster contest this month at work. It was for the annual design review that was held at the Salt Lake Library. The 'model' in the background is yours truly ;) The pop-up portion of the book he actually made and then he 'tweaked' the rest in Photoshop. He tied for first place! Way to go, babe! If you ask me, I think he should have won. His poster was so creative and unique, but at least he got a prize out of the deal. He received money to spend at Resist Today so, her ordered a one-off wallet. They even were going to throw in a free T-shirt; fitting for a t-shirt designer. Which, by the way, his and Juna's online shop kicked booty in December selling over 900 shirts! Wow! Rick also informed me that he is going to do freelance again...much to my chagrin. "Do you want a house?" he asks (tells) me. "Yes!" I said, with blechity in my voice. I know, I know, we need the cash-houses are expensive. So, I will just have to endure viewing Rick's head from the side and/or back again for a time while the computer screen gets to see his handsome, tired face. All in a day's work for a sweet huzbind.



We are so ready for our home, though. We desperately need the room. The Moore4 have just outgrown this humble town home. Most of the time it looks as though our place has been ransacked by thieves. Soooo many toys and junk everywhere with ofttimes not enough space to store it all. Ugg. Our design for the interior and exterior of our new home has all been decided and we had our electrical meeting with our sales rep. We are just waiting now for our pre-construction meeting to take place. Exciting!

And lastly, I was released from my calling at church as the Primary Chorister. You would think I would be jumping for joy as it was not a calling I was looking forward to doing, but actually it was bittersweet. It felt as though I finally was getting that invisible rug straightened out beneath me with this calling and was looking forward to starting a new year with a new program to follow with the children. But we are indeed moving (unsure when) and they didn't want to have to switch in the middle. So, I understand, but I was finding some confidence and was doing okay. Maybe I shouldn't say that out loud, there is always the next ward we will be in. And if the stars allow...we will be in that ward for a very, very long time.



An almost buried Cali in the seemingly never-ending snowfall 2007-2008

Dakota in December

I gotta say this fast. It's really, really good news and I want it to stay that way. Okay...here goes... We found a new home to build not far from where we originally were going to build in Farmington. We're getting a great home plan and it fits our needs pretty darn well. We signed papers on the 29th and we have an address already; Dakota Drive. It's so, so awesome and woohoohooo! We are gonna get ourselves a home! Phew. Okay, breathe. Now, ssshhh...don't say a word. There shall be no jubileeing until all papers are signed, we have the keys in our hands and Rick has carried me over the threshold (a tiny yet, romantic detail we forgot to do when we were first married ;)

I must say, I did have a moment of terror, though, when we were considering buying this home. I was reading contract information and came across a term called 'secondary water'. Not growing up in Utah, it was completely foreign, weird, scary and grody to the max to think that they wanted me to use this type of water to water my lawn and garden; I have kids for criminately sakes!! Are they insane? Practically a deal breaker for me. Well, upon further investigation, Davis County has been using secondary water for years and years, but I don't have to hook up to it for our irrigation water use if I don't want to. It may cost us more to use culinary water, but sorry folks, that water is disgusting. My kids, unfortunately, will be exposed to it on their school lawns and such and so I guess we just won't get away from it totally. It is supposedly deemed safe for irrigation only (not for drinking), but I figured I'd rather be in an area that has loads of experience using it rather than a city that is just integrating it into the neighborhoods. All I can say?.....EEeeewwww.... >:(*

It's just that I'm a little more aware of health hazards now after owning that #$%@ condo in Taylorsville where my children are concerned. It's was very scary to have mold and a lead poisoning scare with Cali. We were stupid and ignorant about buying and remodeling that place. I know, we made that decision before Cali arrived, but I (we) are responsible for her 100% and I (we) take that very seriously-as parents do. Not to mention the fact that Rick and I worked our tales off to have her (and Carice, in a way) in the first place. Even though we live in Utah, somehow we weren't able to cross our eyes and give each other a 'come hither' stare and poof! we conceived; as it seems so easy for others here with families with plenty of members. I'm happy with two and two is a complete family for me. I'm not bitter, I'm just sayin'... We did check Cali's lead levels again. It went from .6 to a 1. Now, to me, that seems like it went up, but according to our Ped, tests like that fluctuate from test to test and that it doesn't mean she has 'more' lead in her blood than before. Still, I wish she had zero. Hard to say if it all came from living in the condo, maybe just livin' life, too. Lead is put in so many things. And the toy companys certainly don't have our back. (Yeah, let's just put the nation's children at risk so we can bow down to the almighty dollar.) Idoits. All of them. Bitter? Yeah, I'm bitter about that one. And Christmas is tricky with lead in artificial trees and Christmas lights. Good greif, even some ornaments were recalled this year.

We have opted for a more natural decorated tree in the last few years. This year our tree was exquisite :) We had our homemade cinnamon/spice ornaments we made last year, cinnamon sticks, real live candy canes and a red and white striped ribbon that spiraled around the tree. Oh, and we used our battery operated candle lights (still waiting for someone like Steve Jobs to come out with lead-free Christmas lights...he's the only one with any brains to design an electric cord without lead) We had a red/white/candy cane theme throughout the house after all was said and done.

It was kind of a 'happy accident' with all the candy canes hanging about our home. Some say the candy cane is a symbol of the shephards staff or if you hang it upside down, it forms the letter J, "J" for Jesus. So, I have decided to have a 'theme' each year for our tree and our decorations that symbolize or point to the the Savior. I think it will be a wonderful way to teach our children what Christmas is really all about and it will be a more meaningful way to celebrate. I'm excited about that. I should say that the candy cane shaped cookies we made were kind of a bust, however. They looked good, but tasted awful. I, uh... didn't have any eggs and so I improvised...notta good idea. Blech. But Santa choked them down with his organic milk! Boy, I bet the sleigh was a liiittle heavier after leaving our house. Yikes! And one last thought on the canes, I guess I thought that since we couldn't eat candy canes (Red #40) we could decorate with them. But, I should have thought that one through a little more as I caught Cali licking a candy cane that was hanging on the tree (to much temptation, Mommy!) Yeesh. I went to Wild Oats fully expecting to find some naturally colored peppermint candy canes but did I find some? NO! The holiday candy selection was a disappointing, sorry collection of practically nothing. I'll be better prepared by ordering them off the internet next year. We did let Cali eat some dyes this holiday season because we didn't want to be to rigid. But I have to say, and I know it sounds crazy, the dye free life makes a much more content Cali.

Cali had a terrific check-up with Dr. Price. He is thinking he may be seeing an astigmatism. However, she is doing really, really well. The Intermittant Exotropia is healing. Rick and I hardly have to let her know that her eye is 'off' and to get it back in place. It is focusing straight I'd say more often than not, now, and I am so, so happy that I am even writing this! It has been a long, hard 3 year road. Uhhhgg. (Like I said, my sweet, wonderful first born has been through so much in her short little life.) But through a Priesthood Blessing and many, many hours of hard, hard work on her and our part, the Intermittant Exotropia is going away. I also decided to put her on an Omega 3/6/9 supplement. Perhaps this has helped, too. We are scheduling another round of vision therapy coming up this year before we move, just for further evaluation and to keep that eye strong. Cali, we are so proud of you! You are such a hard worker! And we are so happy for you.


Carice is 16 months old this month! And attending nursery class at church in a couple months is creeping up on us. Not sure if she will run into the room without so much as looking back of where mommy and daddy are as her sister did, but we shall see. She is a little less independent in that way. She was trying to learn to 'hop' this month (so cute!) and from what I can tell, drew a picture on the magnetic drawing pad and followed it up with a ASL sign of 'grapes'! She's picking up on this second language! So exciting! Keeping Carice from picking off the Christmas tree ornaments was tricky this year. On Christmas Day, she seemed to actually fall INTO the bottom of the tree itself! Pine needles inside the diaper does not a happy Carice make! Oops! And Carice woke up on New Year's Eve while Daddy and I were enjoying a movie together ("Singles 2nd Ward". She came out and 'watched' with us. I am glad she is more of a 'lap dweller' when cases like this happen ;) We don't have to worry about her running around. And she made it without getting sick this month! Yea!



We were so lucky this month to have Daddy home for 12 whole days! - before Christmas and just after New Year's. And I'm happy to say he just blended right in with the routines of the day and helped out so much with the girls and dare I admit, laundry. He truly is the laundry king! It was so nice having him home. And I think it helped Carice have a little bonding time with him. She was more of a Mommy's girl, that's for sure.

Lastly, we just want to express our love and appreciation to all our friends and family who gave so much and shared so much with us at this special time of year. And thanks, Utah family, for having a non-traditional pasta Christmas dinner with us! We hope that everyone's 2008 starts out well and happy and continues all year long.

And if you find yourself a little blue now that the joyous season is over, we would like to share one more gift with you-the gift of laughter. Here is comedian, Jim Gaffigan, with some hilarious high-jinx to cheer your January.







Holy Utah Winter, Batman!!