the first month

week one.
everything is great, Chris has to work for the first couple of days but amazing church sisters take care of Canyon and Sheridan. Canyon turns 5! He is so big. Chris takes the kids to fireworks show and the 4th of July happens. The Hospital gives Chris a week for paternity leave. No big adventures or surprises, I'm on the mend.

week two.
Gramma J comes to town and takes care of everything. I mean really, plants flowers, paints bedrooms, makes quilts, does laundry. The woman is absolutely amazing. We find things like "oops" paint at home depot and Lowe's for $5 a gallon and have two bathrooms and the kids rooms painted. And we re-floor one bathroom, I love peel and stick vinyl, so great! So I'm healing just fine. Colter has already gained a pound and a half. Chris is also working very hard on the house and kids are loving that grandma is here. They all go to the amazing free zoo together and have a blast.

week three.
G-ma is still here; great! Still taking care of me and the kids. Canyon starts KINDERGARTEN. Oh yeah, the big K. I can't believe I'm old enough to have a kid in school. It weirds me out. First day of school Colter gets a fever. Bad news. New infants get admitted immediately into hospital for 24-48 hrs. They get blood cultures, urinalysis, and spinal tap automatically. So we spend 24 hrs in a hospital, all tests come back normal. Doc says it's a virus, you can go home. Sheridan gets a fever. She gets Tylenol and gets over it within a day too. Chris is back too work and I'm doing fine too.

week four.
Canyon seems to be enjoying school, Sheridan is trying to adjust to a new way of life around the house. Grandma went home. I get a fever, well I must have finally got what the other two had. Next day I can't get out of bed, not just a fever, must be the flu, ugh. Time passes on and week 5 is quickly approaching and I still has a fever, and other various flu symptoms, but its never lasted this long. Chris wants me to get better, he hates taking care of everything and me all at once. Finally Colter is exactly one month old and I'm going to the doctor. Not a flu, kidney infection, go the the ER. I'm dehydrated and they keep sticking me with needles to find a vein. They take my blood give me anti-nausea meds, antibiotics and lots of fluids. Now I can go home and get better. Wait, hold the phone! Doc calls, all my blood cultures come back positive. So now I sit at this computer with a full blown E-coli infection of the blood, hypothermia is a symptom of being septic, that's what they call it when you have dirty blood. So I'm sitting at a nice 95 F . I'm actually getting better, hypo is better than a fever so they assume my antibiotics are treating and beating it.

Needless to say it has been a full month. And hopefully you'll forgive me for not posting sooner.

I guess you never know

Chris and I were pretty sure this baby was going to be a girl. In fact Chris was so sure that I couldn't even get him to discuss boys names. Hence the poll on the side of the page. I have now witnessed something I never thought I would, Chris- absolutely speechless - when our second son came into this world!
A boy! His name is Colter Sky Allphin (I know it wasn't in the poll). He came to us June 27 at 4:58 am. He was 7 lbs and 21 in long. Just a skinny little thing. So far he sleeps a lot and hasn't realized that he can be happy when he is awake. I'm sure he'll figure it out.

for those in the know

4cm and 80%. Baby, it's time! We are almost half way there already! Why are you not listening to your mom's body? How long can you stay in my belly at this rate? Stop being so stubborn, you aren't even here yet and we are already at odds. You must be a girl.

And do any of you remember that little chantey from back in the day? "my back aches, my bra's to tight, my butt shakes from left to right" Sometimes that comes into my head as I'm walking around and I think; why did I sing that in elementary school? It really applies now.

fat and lazy

I know I said I would blog more and so much fun is happening around here but really, I'm finally taking the time to be fat and lazy. Chris said it was ok that I finally do that. I'm too lazy to walk up the stairs right now and get the camera to upload pictures. I know where it is, I just don't want to go, I mean I already walked down them, and don't intend to do that again tonight.

The kids have been having fun playing with the neighbors. We live on culdesac and all the neighbors have kids and they come and knock on the door every night at dinner time; motivation for the kids to eat and then they get worn out before bed, it's wonderful! Running in the sprinkler and playing on the new swingset are also providing good times right now.

Which brings up my fun (Chris finds most of it). Everyone has garage sales here. Every weekend right now, before it gets too humid and gross. We also love craigslist, what people can't sale on Saturday ends up listed on Sunday or Monday!! But by spending around $150 we have gotten, a bench freezer, lawn mower, large wood swingset (free), wooden porch swing, wing back chair, end table (free), lamps (free), toy box, house phones, nightstand, twin bed, free weights (free), bookshelf, and a grill (free). There is probably more, but my pregnant brain cannot wrap it's mind around it right now. Some of the free stuff comes from when you hit up the garage sales as they are putting it all away around noon. The grill we passed with a "free" sign on it on our way to a garage sale, where we got the twin bed. The swingset came from a neighbor who helped us unload the freezer and said, "Oh I was going to post my swingset on craigslist tomorrow, you want it?" Rhetorical question. Who doesn't want a free swingset?

Anyway, I'm just hoping the baby comes soon, my body is done, even if I'm still freaking out about three kids (aaagh). I think I'm getting a cold or maybe allergies, and I'm hoping that one good sneeze will come along a break my water. But it will probably be much farther after my due date of July 1st that I finally post what I had. Well here comes a good contraction, hope for me!

We survived!

We survived moving out of our apartment, into my parents house, a trip to Boston and a drive to Missouri in a matter of two weeks. The kids seem happy too. I 'm not sure how we pulled that one off.
I have to thank my sis-in-law Heather for cleaning my apt with me, she is amazing. Then we stayed with my parents for a few days, I don't think it went too bad, I hope they think the the same.

Then we had an amazing trip to Boston for Chris' Graduation. It was so special and even though we couldn't afford to go, I'm so glad we did. It really made everything final and was a very nice close to the whole schooling thing. We also got to see people we hadn't seen for a couple years and got to see Boston's historical sights. In one trip we traveled on planes, trains, automobiles, subways, and even a duck (ww2 truck/boat). There were all sorts of things to see, hear, taste and smell. We had tons of fun with the In-laws (thanks for the duck tour), and I'm so glad I got to go with the big belly.

Then we had to drive for 24 hours to Missouri, I got pretty grumpy for some of it but it's all OK, and the kids were amazing. My aunts, and one of Chris's too put together travel bags, with movies, money, coloring books, pjs and new toys. The bags were so great! That was such a terrific gift. My dad and mom hauled all our crap out here, and I can never thank them enough for all they do for us.

So far our house is a much bigger project that we remembered it being. It started with cleaning because the people didn't clean it before they left. We had the carpets cleaned yesterday. Yeah! And an electrician came and gave us quotes today, ouch. My dad kindly reminded me of that movie Money Pit, thanks Dad! I don't think it will be that bad, but we are also getting a mower today and probably plants for the garden. $$ So I haven't taken pictures yet as no large projects have started but wish I had with the carpets, they look 95% better and are sanitized which makes me feel better. I cannot wait to paint! I know it isn't as bad as some houses (sorry Mel) but I get grossed out looking at dirty wall paper and spackled spots. I will take any suggestions you have on painting large rooms with vaulted ceilings, I really have no taste.

Well I should be blogging more now, no more working and a few weeks before baby #3. We still don't know what we are having! Any guesses?

squeezing in craft time

Here is some craftiness that I have been able to squeeze in over the last few months. It hasn't been much and I have now packed it all up. That a was a sad time. But I wanted to share some of my copied ideas from others genius. The cards were for people for reasons obvious on the cards and the journal was for my mom as a favorite moments of motherhood / grandmahood. I hope she uses it and that I and my siblings get to enjoy it later in life.

the yellow and black card is a tri-fold and tied together with the ribbon, it was super easy and way cute I think. The journal was just coordinating ribbon and paper with torn edges. BJ typed and printed off. Add some flowers and your pretty much done. Make a wish card- straight lines, layers, ribbon and stamps . I was feeling rather citrusy for the thank you card, it was another simple one. I love doing crafts and wish I had more time for it all. I have no idea why this is all underlined and I don't know how to turn it off.
Stay crafty!

a little time for fun

Well yes, I'm still alive and counting down the days until we move. But before that there is only 17 more work days. That is amazing. Chris and I have been very busy, both working as much as possible and trying to have a little fun on the side, while packing up the house. We usually forget our camera for all the fun things.
I'm 31 weeks now and growing more everyday and the constant rib pain has begun. Canyon thinks that my belly will "crack" like an egg for the baby to come and I haven't any notion to tell him different. Sheridan is talking all the time. I called Chris after work the other day and asked how his day was going, the first thing he said -Sheridan will not be quiet. Well if she is anything like her mother, she won't grow out if it. So we will just get used to it. Canyon is so big and the clothes we bought on clearance last summer for this summer of course don't fit him. Sheridan is totally potty trained!!! Life is hectic but it isn't too bad.
We had a lot of fun when Chris's Brother and Wife came to town. We miss the family a lot and it was fun to play. (And shop) We swam and roasted hot dogs in the desert and it was almost like getting a vacation for us, even though we worked. We were sad to see them go.
We were offered D-backs tickets the other night and after 2 feet of hot dogs, 1 pound of peanuts, another pound of red vines and one "take me out to the ball game" we called it a night. It was a lot of fun for us! Well that is a quick recap of all things pertaining to us.