Okay, I think 20 days without a post might be a little more than my family can handle. My last post was on Oct. 1, 2005 (my dad's birthday) and now, here I am posting again, 20 days later, Oct. 21, 2005 (my mom's birthday). Happy Birthday Mom! I let Devan call grandma today to let her know that he remembered her birthday. Which he actually did! He reminded me yesterday that grandma's birtday was tomorrow, and then he reminded me today that it is her birthday today. I already knew of course, but that doesn't dim the fact that he remembered by himself. It's really difficult to believe that my three year old can remember stuff like that, when the last time we even spoke about it was last Friday. That was a week ago.

So, I decided since Halloween is only a little over a week away, I had better find some costumes for the kids. I opened the cedar chest and pulled out last year's costumes. They consisted of a cow, a dinosaur and a china girl. Last year Devan wore both the cow and the dinosaur, he wore the dinosaur when he was actually trick-or-treating and the cow to daycare. KeLee wore the china girl outfit last year. She was only almost 7 months old and it is made of silk so every time she tried to crawl, her knees would slide out from under her. It was cute, but I wore that costume as a toddler, so it's kinda old and worn out, so KeLee didn't get to wear it for very long. Anyway, I tried all of the costumes on them, (except the china girl, I didn't put that on Devan) Devan still fits in both the dinosaur and the cow & KeLee can wear all three! I'm not sure what I want to do, I don't really want Devan to wear the dinosaur again, because I want to be able to distinguish the pictures of this Halloween from the pictures of last Halloween. KeLee could be the dinosaur, but I would have to put a bow on the hood or something, because it makes her look like a boy.

I guess I forgot to mention, Justin did go back to work. He started back this last Monday, so he has completed a full 5 day week now and gotten 45 hours so far. Thank goodness! However, just as things are starting to look up, something else happens. My babysitter told me on Monday that she will no longer be able to watch my kids starting November 1st. (GRRRR!!) I have tried all week to find someone else to watch them, but with no luck. So far the only option I have is to put them into the new daycare that opens this Monday. They have openings for both of them, and are holding their spots for me, but it will cost me over $700 per month to have them there for up to 50 hours per week. It's not an unheard of price, and it's cheaper than the other daycare in town, but I can't afford it. Once again, I do not know what to do. It just seems like every couple of months, I have to find a new sitter for these kids. If I keep doing this, they'll never learn to feel secure with a sitter or daycare. Adjustment and change are hard for kids. Besides, Devan is doing so well with his potty training that I don't want him to revert back to having accidents all the time. It seems to happen every time I have to change something that they are used to.

I hope that this is enough of a post for now, I had better get started on my homework so that I do not have to be up all night. Love you all, and good night!

Short Update...

Well, we've had a rough couple weeks over here. We've all been sick on and off. Justin spent about 3 1/2 days in the hospital with an infection and is doing better now, but still has not returned to work. He's been home for a full week after being released from the hospital and is not able to return to work until next Wednesday at the earliest. I got pnemonia (I don't know how to spell it) and the stomach flu at the same time. Fortunately, my brother and sister -in-law took my kids for the first night and the baby sitter took them the following day, other than that, I had to be sick and take care of the house and kids. This was all while Justin was in the hospital, and he was upset because I couldn't come into St. George to visit him as often as he wanted me to. So, anyway, inorder for us to have any money from his paycheck, he had to take all of his vacation days for the year, which he just barely got. So I guess that means we really can't go anywhere for christmas, and anyone that wants to see us or the kids, will have to come to us. That's sad, I was hoping to have some time for the holidays.

On a lighter note, Devan and KeLee have both been pretty healthy. KeLee more than Devan. Poor Devan, got the stomach flu which lasted about a full day (and night), and the other day he ate raisins at the babysitter's house and has had horrible stomach aches and diarrhea for all of yesterday and today. KeLee has a slight cough and runny nose, but that's about it. (I hope I'm not jinksing myself on that one.) Hopefully, we can all begin to get back to our normal activities soon. By the way, if Justin doesn't go back to work on Wednesday, he's going to have to be Mr. Mom and take care of the kids, because I can't afford to send them to daycare if he's not working. (scarry, huh?)

I'll try to write more later, I need to get some work done. Talk to you all soon.

Birthday pics

3 years and counting...

I'm sorry, I don't have any pictures of Devan's birthday right now. I took pictures, but I can't find my camera right now, so I'll have to post them later. Anyway, on with my promised blog about Devan's birthday.

So, Labor Day weekend has come and gone. Devan turned 3 and all I can think about is; my goodness, he's going to be starting school in just 2 more years. I can't believe he's 3, but I guess it had to happen. If I'm such a wreck about 3 years, how am I going to be when he's 4 or 5?

Anyway, we took him camping at Sand Hollow. We were there from Friday through Monday. Four days of playing in the dirt, and swimming in the water. I know it 's kinda cheating, but we "camped" in the RV section. My mother-in-law had her camp trailer out there with full hook-ups. The kids watched movies, we had an A/C to cool them down so they would take naps, and we were about 20 yards from a hot shower and clean restrooms with flush toilets. I know I was raised knowing how to "camp", but that doesn't mean I have to pass up a chance to make it easy on myself. We still slept in a tent, all four of us, Justin, Devan, KeLee and I.

Devan had a small Birthday party, but we made sure he celebrated all weekend. He got a couple new outfits, a couple little trucks with trailers that he and JJ destroyed before we even left, and he got a semi-truck that has storage in the trailer for I think it's 24 hotwheels and 2 small semi's. He thought that was pretty neat, until he got home and found out the best presents were waiting for him there. Grammy and Grandpa got him a Little Tykes work bench so that he can work like Daddy. It came with a hammer, screw driver, wrench, drill, table saw, vise, 2 nails, 2 screws and of course the tool bench. The next day, he got another surprise! A package from Grandma! He opened it up, threw all of the excess packaging material on the floor, and screamed with delight when he saw the Leap Frog Treehouse toy. He somehow knew to push on the picture of Lilly and started singing the ABC's along with her. I thought it was neat because I didn't think he had remembered his ABC's that well. He has figured out more things that that toy will do, than I had ever imagined it could. He also got a new pen for this Leap Pad and a back pack to put it in. The neat thing is the back pack holds the books and cartridges too. He liked the back pack so much, I had to beg him to take his regular back pack to preschool instead of that one. I didn't want the kids to fight over his Leap Pad. So, all in all, I think Devan had a pretty good 3rd birthday.

There does seem to be a downside to his turning three, however. He has had serious potty-training setbacks to where he had been refusing to even sit on the potty when he's asked to. He was doing great, and then all of the sudden, nothing but poop in his underwear and pee on the ground. I don't know what to do, but I gave him a week of wearing a diaper, (which he hates) and am going to try the underwear again tomorrow. Along with the potty-training problems, he has also begun having social issues. He is having terrible temper-tantrums and being quite violent when he doesn't get his way. I heard from his preschool teacher that he got upset with his cousin the other day and beat him up pretty good, and when the teacher tried to stop him, he attacked her too. Also, his babysitter told me that the other day, he had asked her to get him a drink of water, and while she was getting it, he stopped the movie that they were watching and took it out of the DVD player. Just taking it out would have been OK, but when she came out of the kitchen to give him his drink and find out why the movie wasn't playing, he put the DVD into his mouth and bit it right in half! I don't know what I'm going to do about his attitude, but I'm going to have to do something. If anyone has a suggestion, I'd be glad to hear it. Anyway, I've been rattling on now for long enough. I had better get my chores done so I can go to bed. Good night everyone.

Update coming soon...

I know, Devan's birthday was last weekend and I haven't posted anything about it yet. Just be patient, I will get it posted as soon as possible. I promise.

Gas prices

I got this E-mail sent to me today and I thought this would be a good way to send it out. It's an interesting point.

IT HAS BEEN CALCULATED THAT IF EVERYONE IN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA DID NOT PURCHASE A DROP OF GASOLINE FOR ONE DAY AND ALL AT THE SAME TIME, THE OIL COMPANIES WOULD CHOKE ON THEIR STOCKPILES.

AT THE SAME TIME IT WOULD HIT THE ENTIRE INDUSTRY WITH A NET LOSS OF OVER 4.6 BILLION DOLLARS WHICH AFFECTS THE BOTTOM LINES OF THE OIL COMPANIES. THEREFORE SEPTEMBER 1st HAS BEEN FORMALLY DECLARED "STICK IT UP THEIR BEHIND " DAY AND THE PEOPLE OF THESE TWO NATIONS SHOULD NOT BUY A SINGLE DROP OF GASOLINE THAT DAY.

THE ONLY WAY THIS CAN BE DONE IS IF YOU FORWARD THIS E-MAIL TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS YOU CAN AND AS QUICKLY AS YOU CAN TO GET THE WORD OUT. WAITING ON THE GOVERNMENT TO STEP IN AND CONTROL THE PRICES IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE REDUCTION AND CONTROL IN PRICES THAT THE ARAB NATIONS PROMISED TWO WEEKS AGO?

REMEMBER ONE THING, NOT ONLY IS THE PRICE OF GASOLINE GOING UP BUT AT THE SAME TIME AIRLINES ARE FORCED TO RAISE THEIR PRICES, TRUCKING COMPANIES ARE FORCED TO RAISE THEIR PRICES WHICH EFFECTS PRICES ON EVERYTHING THAT IS SHIPPED. THINGS LIKE FOOD, CLOTHING, BUILDING MATERIALS, MEDICAL SUPPLIES ETC. WHO PAYS IN THE END? WE DO! WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. IF THEY DON'T GET THE MESSAGE AFTER ONE DAY, WE WILL DO IT AGAIN AND AGAIN. SO DO YOUR PART AND SPREAD THE WORD.

FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW. MARK YOUR CALENDARS AND MAKE SEPTEMBER 1ST A DAY THAT THE CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA SAY "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH"

R

Update

Okay, so I guess I need to update a little. Yes, Justin made it home late Saturday night. We took the boat out on Quail Lake Sunday. We didn't take KeLee because she wasn't feeling well, butDevan enjoyed it as usual.

The big news is that Devan started his first day of pre-school today. He got a name tag and they gave him a book to practice writing his name in and they learned about the letter "N". He brought home a finger painting that he did in yellow and green paint, a letter "N" that he glued noodles onto, and a paper that he had practiced writing "N" and "n" on. He had a great time and he says that he is excited to go back on Thursday. Oh yeah, he also gets to be the first one to bring home "the Me bag". I am supposed to help Devan fill it with things about him. Things like a special toy or book, family pictures, artwork, etc. Pretty much anything I can find that tells something about Devan. If anyone has any ideas, let me know. The picture is of him "signing in" when he got there. The green thing on his shirt is his name tag and the scribbles in the book are how he signed his name. Not bad for a beginner. As you can tell, he was already having a good time. See the grin? I was able to leave work today to bring him to pre-school and to pick him up to bring him back to the babysitter's house, but usually the babysitter will be doing it. I feel so bad. I wish I could do it everytime. I guess I'll have to get used to it; he will be starting kindergarten in about 2 years.

We went to Ogden...

This weekend, the kids and I drove up to Ogden to visit Justin. He's been working up there for one week already and will be there until next weekend. He is supposed to be coming home then, but we'll see. I left about 9:00 am Saturday morning and after a very exausting drive, arrived at his hotel around 3:00pm. Then for the fun stuff! We took the kids to Union Station and saw all of the trains and even got some pictures of Devan and KeLee playing on and in them. We also saw every kind of gun ever designed by James Browning, as well as what is left of his classic car collection.

We also visited the Aerospace museum on Hill Air Force Base in Roy. I didn't get very many good pictures there though. I can thank Devan for that. He was playing with my camera Saturday night and touched the lense. I forgot to clean it before using the camera, so I guess it's not all his fault. Anyway, most of the pictures have a huge blur across the left side and it makes it kind of hard to see the picture with any detail. Here is one that I was able to salvage. This is Devan looking at a model of a carrier ship. It holds 16 full size planes with room for them to land too. It's so big, in real life, that it even has ships stored in it's sides. In case you're wondering, the people in the background are my brother, Ryan and my sister-in-law, Meg. They were able to come down to Ogden to visit us and go to the museum with us. They live in Logan and we don't see them very often. Ryan just got back from Maine where he spent the last 9 weeks as a camp counselor. He managed to get a cast of young boys to pull of productions of Newsies and West Side Story. We're all very proud of him for that. Although the weekend was short, it was fun. I am home now and the kids are here, but Justin is still in Ogden. Ryan and Meg are back home in Logan and I'm sure they are both glad for that. Anyway, it's awfully late so I had better get myself to bed before I start typing incoherantly. Good night.

Kid pics

I figure, what's the use of having a blog where I pretty much just talk about my kids, if I don't post any pictures? So here they are. The top is KeLeeMae, she is 6 months old in this picture, we sent it out with our Christmas cards last year. The bottom one is Devan's 2 year picture taken last October.

This is Devan at my sister-in-law's wedding. Isn't he handsome!

This is KeLee during the wedding as well. I know she doesn't look enthused, but she's still cute!

This is KeLee & Devan playing in the water at SandHollow during Memorial Day weekend. They had a lot of fun pushing the trucks into the water.

5 days and counting...

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday! That's five diaperless days for Devan. He'll be 3 in just a matter of weeks and is well on his way to being potty trained. He's going all day without an accident and all night too. He wakes up & often has an accident before he gets to the toilet, but it's not in his bed. I'm so excited, I'll post more about it later.

Pre-school

It's hard to believe, but Devan will be 3 in just less than a month. He begins Pre-school on Aug. 22. He won't be 3 until about a week and 1/2 later, but they're letting him start early. We even got my nephew, J.J., into it as well. He doesn't turn 3 until December, but they are willing to let him try it. The pre-school is on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:00am to 11:30am. I would like to continue doing it myself, but between work, homework, and chores, I don't have enough time while he's awake to do much. He would really benefit from learning around other kids as well. I know he'll have fun and I just hope he will stop playing long enough to benefit from the program. I'll post more later to let you know how his first week goes.

Washington County Fair

Well, it's well into August now and anyone from Southern Utah knows it's time for the Washington County Fair. It's traditionally the second full weekend in August and then school starts the following week. It's kind of a last bash for anyone dreading the return for another year of academics. Thankfully, I don't have to worry about that for myself, I am still working on my "online college" and am well on my way to having an Associates of Business by March 2006. Devan starts pre-school on Aug. 22, but I'll write about that later. Back to the fair, the whole reason I'm writing about the fair is to let everyone know that I am entering KeLeeMae Nichol into the baby pageant. I entered her last year (she was about a month old at the time) and she didn't even make it into the second round. The winning babies were no where near as cute as either she or her cousin HarleyLynn (who was also entered). The contest has been changed this year. They are having registration on Wed & Thurs August 10 & 11. The judging on Friday, August 12, and the contest on Saturday, August 13. Let's just say, last year the judging took over 1 month. Registration, photography, judging 1-2 &3 times before the contest at the fair. Also, I don't know who will be judging this year, but last year the judges were the Washington County Royalty. They were like 14 years old and related to half of the contestants. (Gee, I wonder who won.) Anyway, I am certainly not a pageant mom who just wants her kid to win. I just think it is kinda fun, because she is very pretty and I would like to put it in her scrapbook just as having the oportunity. Most of the babies get awards anyway. Well, wish her luck, I'll let you know how she does.

No more wisdom teeth, please.

I guess I must have waited a little too long. I just turned 24, and not but 2 days after my birthday I got a wisdom tooth in. I probably should have had them all removed a long time ago, but this one beat me to it. Anyway, after about a week and a half of swelling and not being able to eat or speak, I gave up and went to see a dentist. I think the last time I actually went to a dentist was in 8th grade. So, that was about 1994 or 1995. It's now 2005, Oops. But the dentist told me I needed to get them out ASAP because my top right tooth was already through the gums and the left top tooth was at the surface of the gum getting ready to go through. We got an x-ray and it showed that both of my bottom wisdom teeth were laying sideways, pushing against my back molars. He said that's why my bottom jaw had been hurting so badly. Anyway, long story short, I went in at 3:30 pm yesterday and had all of them removed. The top two were yanked and the bottom two were removed surgically. So today I am even more swollen and am having an even harder time eating and speaking than I did before the surgery. Good thing for computers and being able to type instead of having to speak, huh. But even with all of the pain and discomfort, I am glad to have them out and would recomend to anyone that has a history of "funky" wisdom teeth in their family, to get them out before they come in and cause problems.

I figured it out / an overview of 2004

Okay, I finally got this thing figured out. My brother has been trying to get me to set up a blog page since August of 2004. I know, it's been almost a year, but it's finally started. This should be a good way for my family and friends that I don't get to see or speak to very often to kinda' "keep track" of me and my family. I have been married for four years and have two rambunctious kids. Devan Wade Leitner, who will be 3 on Sept. 3, 2005, and KeLeeMae Nichol Leitner, who just turned 1. Although Devan has had a rather difficult year, Kelee seems to be thriving. Devan was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea, night terrors, Chronic Diarrhea, and Failure the Thrive all just in 2004. He has been to several specialists during this time. He saw Dr. Callahan, his regular doctor, Dr. Pinna, an allergy and asthma specialist, Dr. Marsden, an ortholaryncologist (ear, nose & throat doctor), Dr. Kadu, a pediatric Gastroenterologist, Dr. Gant, a Sleep Specialist at Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake City, and has visited our local sleep lab for an EEG. I know this sounds not just scary, but exausting, and believe me, it was, but it's mostly taken care of now. Dr. Marden removed Devan's adenoids and tonsils, and Dr. Kadu did a scope of Devan's digestive system to discover the reason for the diarrhea. Although I can not remember the name of the condition, he put Devan on Pedia Sure with the notion that if he consumes more nutrition, his body will absorb more nutrition. The removal of his adenoids and tonsils has cleared up most of the sleep apnea, although he still has a difficult time sleeping and wakes up frequently during the night. The pedia sure has cleared up the diarrhea and he should be coming off of it soon. We are hoping not to have to see Dr. Gant again anytime soon, but if Devan continues to have a hard time sleeping, we may have to make another trip to Primary Children's Medical Center. He is now well into the 50th percentile for his age in weight and height, so he is out of the danger zone for now. We continue to work with Devan on his eating and sleeping habits regularly, but are very happy that KeLee has shown very few signs of following in her brother's footsteps. I hope to continue posting our family's adventures, so please check in again soon.