Baby Jail

Our little monkey boy Ryan gave us quite a scare yesterday when he climbed out of his crib and landed on his head. He's doing better today, but now he knows that he can get out! We bought a crib tent to put on his crib, and it is so funny. He looks like a little inmate.

I know that I have been lacking in the picture department lately, so here are some cute random pics of the kiddos.
Jenna eating a peach

Up to no good in the pantry

Sweet Macey

My Dad and Big Jake

Macey loves her babies!

Scott and Ryan

My little cupcake

Sweetest girl in the world. She does this new thing now when she really loves someone, she pats them on the back. We call it the "Heidi Back-Pat", and you are really special if you get one.

I know it's not nice to take pictures of babies when they are sad, but he has such a cute sad face. He was really upset because Scott, Macey, and Heidi went to the store and he didn't get to go. Look at his face; his soul hurt!

Twilight

I am obsessed. I never knew that I could get so emotionally involved with a fictional book, but I cannot think about anything else! I read all 4 books in the Twilight Saga in 7 days! That's 2,444 pages total. Needless to say, my house is a disaster and I have a pile of laundry 20 feet high, but I don't care. It was worth it. I am begging you all to read these books! People kept telling me to read them, but I kept putting it off because I didn't want to read books about vampires, I'm not really into that kind of stuff. I can't believe that I waited so long. It is such a beautiful love story full of suspense and excitement, I am getting ready to read them again. (Of course, I need to get my house in order first.) And do you know where I will be at midnight on November 21st? Waiting in line to see Twilight The Movie!

It's Time!!!

I have 2 more days of the academic portion in school, and then starting next week I will be in the Master portion on the floor! So if you want to come and get treatments, you can call and schedule now. I will be taking appointments Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 6-10 pm, and Thursdays from 8-10 pm. I am so excited! Email me and I will give the the information for scheduling. :)

Skin Care Tip of the Week

ALWAYS WEAR SPF!!! It is so important to wear it to protect your skin from sun damage, early aging, and skin cancer. The SPF in your moisturizers and cosmetics are not enough. It's main purpose in those products is to product the product from the UV rays while it sits on your bathroom counter! Always wear a separate SPF on top of your moisturizer.
Also, tanning beds are not a safer alternative to the sun. Yes, I know, I used to own a tanning salon. That is what actually makes me very qualified to preach about this. Last week I was diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma, aka skin cancer. I know without a doubt that tanning in tanning beds so much played a huge role in my getting skin cancer at such a young age. Luckily, they were able to do cryosurgery to take care of the cancer, and we are hoping that that will take care of it.
Again, always make sure that you and your kids wear SPF and make sure that you reapply often when you are out in the sun.

Back from Long Beach!

I had an AMAZING weekend in Long Beach. It was everything I wanted and needed. We got some sleep, went to the convention, laughed a lot, ate good food, went out dancing, and bought some fun stuff! I really needed that little trip to reset. On Saturday night my sister Summer drove up from San Diego to hang out with us. It was so fun to see her and hang out without kids!

Here's Sharon and I at this little dive of a restaurant called Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles. Yummiest food!

Can you believe this car?! I would SOOOO drive it!

Look what I did to my hair! So fun and I love it. :)

Poor Jake!

Jake had the hematomas on his ears drained today. He did really good during the procedure, but he did give the tech a fat lip. She was shaving his ears and it tickled, so he jumped a little and his big head hit her right in the mouth. She figured it was payback for having to cut his ears open. He weighed in at 32 pounds today, he was 28 pounds just last week! He has one of those big Elizabethan collars on and drains in his ears, so he is not too happy right now, but he is healthy and his ears look better already.

Scott got home safely from his hunting trip early Thursday morning. It is so good to have him home for so many different reasons. I am leaving early tomorrow morning to go to Long Beach with my friend Sharon. You know what I hate though? Even after having a hard week and a half with Scott gone, four sick kids, and everything else that's happening right now, I still feel guilty for leaving! I am really excited, but at the same time I hate leaving Scott and the kids. I guess that's just part of being a mom.

Skin Care Tip of the Week

Your home care regimen should include cleansing x2, toner, serums, moisturizer, and SPF. You should layer your products thinnest to thickest. That way the thicker products will seal in the thinner products. Serums could include any type of corrective products and eye creams.

I LOVE this quote!

"Live your life in such a way that when your feet hit the floor in the morning, the devil shutters and says....Oh shit...she's awake!"

Is it Thursday yet?

Let me start be saying that I am 100% supportive of Scott and I am so glad that he got to go hunting. He has been working so hard, and he totally deserves this trip. With that said, I am losing my mind!!! He has been gone since last Tuesday, and he isn't getting home until Thursday afternoon. Of course all four kids have to get sick while he is gone. They have been passing around 103 degree fevers. I am so unbelievable tired, I can't even explain how exhausted I am. It is so hard taking care of four sick kids, going to school, cooking, keeping house, and dealing with chronic pain. The silver lining to this experience is that I get to go to Long Beach this weekend with my friend Sharon for an Esthetics convention. I just need to keep my mind on that, and hopefully I can make it through the next four days! I miss Scott so much though, I'm not used to having him gone now! The kids all miss him too.

My surgery is scheduled for November 11th, but they have me on a cancellation list, so hopefully we can get it moved up and over with. I am not looking forward to the recovery, it will be the same as my hysterectomy, and it was so painful. I really really hope that this will be my last surgery, I don't know if I can take anymore. I also tested positive for interstitial cystitis, which is a chronic condition of the bladder, and I was given a prescription for a medication that I have to take 3 times a day for the rest of my life. I absolutely hate taking medication, but if it will help me feel better, whatever. The prescription costs $100 a month WITH INSURANCE, so it better help! They also put me on a special diet that helps with the condition, and I really cannot eat anything. Vegetables, chicken, and some grains are okay, but almost everything else is off limits. No fruit, sugars, or anything that has any type of acid in it. This is going to be hard. I love my Rice Krispy Treats and Mexican food!

On Friday night Macey, Heidi and I were going to have a big slumber party in my bed and watch movies and eat popcorn (which I am not supposed to have). I had to do a bunch of things before we started, so I was saying, "Let me do the dishes, take out the trash, do this, do that...". Macey said, "Seriously?! Mothers have so much work!" It was nice to be recognized for everything that I am doing around here. I have the sweetest kids on the planet. They make it all worth it. :)

PCA

On Thursday at school we had an 8-hour certification class for a product line called PCA. They are best known for their professional exfoliations, or chemical peels. After a 7-hour product knowledge lecture, we all got to give each other peels! It was so fun! It is not the most comfortable thing in the world, but it is definitely not as bad as I thought it would be. Today my skin has started peeling, and I love it! I love knowing that all the sun-damaged skin is going to come off, and there will be fresh, beautiful skin underneath.

I am almost done with the academic portion of school, and I will be on the floor at the end of the month. That is when I will need models! I will let you know when the time comes. Oh, and I got 112% on my last test! Yippee!

Remembering 9/11

I can't help but to think of every little emotion that went through me on September 11, 2001. As with everyone else, I remember exactly where I was when I heard the first plane hit the tower. I was laying in bed, I think I had hit the snooze button on my alarm about 5 times, and the next time it went off I heard the DJ say that a plane had hit the WTC. Immediately I was hit with panic. My dad is a captain for American Airlines, and at the time he was flying out of New York. Then as things got worse and worse over the next few hours, I could barely function. It took several hours to finally find out that my dad was not on one of those planes, and the relief was unimaginable. For several hours I thought that I might have lost my dad in that horror in New York. I was pregnant with Macey at the time, and I remember being so scared that I was going to lose her or deliver her because I was so distraught. Unfortunately, my dad lost very good friends on those planes. Today I am remembering those who died, and those who lost loved ones. I am seeing those pictures in my head of people running, covered in ash and blood, not being able to comprehend what is going on. I am thinking about the firefighters and the police who without a second thought ran into those buildings to get people out safely, but never made it home to their families. I am thinking about my dad, and how I don't know if I could have lived if he had not. I will NEVER forget!

Funny Girl

Jenna has the funniest/cutest little belly laugh, I was able to catch it on video today. You will need to pause the music playlist at the bottom of the page to hear it good.

Also, here are some pictures to show you how much Jake has grown. The first is at 6 weeks, and the second is just a mere 5 weeks later at 11 weeks weighing 28 pounds!

Skin Care Tip of the Week

You should always wash your face twice, two times a day. The first cleanse removes make-up, dirt, and the environment, and the second cleanse prepares your skin for the toners, serums, and creams that you will put on next.

Need some good product recommendations? Email me!

Our Fun Weekend

We had a great weekend as a family. I love having Scott home every weekend, we get so much more family time. On Saturday the girls had gymnastics and then we went to a birthday party for my cousin Melissa's daughter Stori. She is turning one, exactly a month younger than the twins. It has been fun going through pregnancy and babyhood with Melissa and Stori. I got to see some cousins, aunts, and uncles that I haven't seen for a long time. After the birthday party we came home and had a fabulous UFC Fight Night. And what made the night even better was that my brother Jared and my mom watched the fights with us. Jared has been away for quite a while, and it is so nice to have my brother back. Jared, we love you so much and we are so excited for your new life!

But poor little Jakey, he has some hematomas on his ear flaps that we are having taken care of at the vet tomorrow. Our neighbor's pool is green so we are having major mosquito problems, and I think he got bit and itched so much that he caused the hematomas. I can't wait to see how much he weighs though, he is a big big boy! He is 11 weeks old and is almost too heavy to lift now!


Jenna and Jaken

My cousin Scott and his wife Crystal rockin Guitar Hero


Heidi and Naomi

Jared, Macey, and Heidi

Monkey-boy Ryan climbing on the couch

Uh-oh, I got caught!

Yes! I made it!

It's too early for pictures Mom.

Ryan getting another haircut

So big! We get to sit in big boy and big girl carseats now!

He loves to climb into boxes and have us push him around the house.

Twins-in-a-box

We were lucky to have a visit from Grandpa this weekend too!

Silly little Macey

The next couple of weeks are going to be crazy around here. Scott leaves on Wednesday to go elk hunting for 10 days in Flagstaff. I'm excited for him, but its going to be a long 10 days, I'm not gonna lie. Then 2 days after he gets back I am going to Long Beach for an Esthetics convention with a friend from my class. I am super excited, we will have a ton of fun.

BTW, can you believe that it's already September? Time is flying!

Macey Brag

I just have to brag a little bit about sweet little Macey. She is in first grade this year. Her teacher emailed me a couple of weeks ago to tell me that she had moved Macey to the second grade reading class because she is such a good reader. Since then, Macey has taken one of those national reading aptitude tests, and we got her results back on Friday. After her first month of first grade, she is reading at the third grade level, and she achieved a national percentile rank of 99%, meaning that Macey scored better than 99% of students nationally in the same grade. We are so proud of her, she is such a little smartie-pants.

I have been having a ton of people asking me for skin care advice, so I was thinking that maybe I would do a "Skin Care Tip of the Week" on my blog. Would that interest any of you?