Bear Country

This is what was on our front porch the other night.

Black bear black bear what do you see? I see some bird seed waiting for me. We left a big box of bird seed out on the porch and this bear couldn't get enough of it. We couldn't get him to leave! Silly bear, don't you know bird seed is for birds:) Kaitlyn started kindergarten!

She loves it, her teacher is great. I am enjoying watching her grow up, it's brought back some beautiful memories of my own childhood that had gone dormant. Kaitlyn has made lots of friends, she came home with a friends phone number the other day and has not stopped asking me to call for a play date since. I'm not exactly sure what to do with ALL the papers that come home from school. The pile is growing exponentially and it's only a month in. I'm determined to come up with some unique way to preserve the memories for her but at the same time not have them overtake my house. The other thing that made me laugh was the first week the teacher struggled with Kaitlyn over her lunch. Katie REALLY wanted school lunch but we always sent one with her. The teacher talked it over with me and I told Kaitlyn if she went a week without complaining about her lunch she could have school lunch once a week. She complied and now she enjoys her once a week greasy delicious school lunch. It's been fun to hear all the typical kindergarten stories, like boys chasing girls at recess and so forth;) We found a fabulous preschool here for Adam he LOVES it and is growing up so fast.

He is a natural reader. So good with words and sounds. He also started up in Hockey, although he has a lot to learn, just seeing how much fun he has makes it worth it.

Kaitlyn got to try out the first day with Adam and was a natural on the ice but was already committed to soccer and dance this year. Fall is in full swing here we got our Halloween all planned and our door decorated with bats and spiders. Just picked up our pumpkins today. I am trying to figure out what to do with myself now that the kids are in school. I am working at the office with Joseph and taking it slow till I find exactly what I want to do. Dr. Joseph, which is what he is called at the office since both him and his Dad are Dr. Shepro, loves being a Chiropractor. He is in Yakutat this weekend seeing patients and will be home soon. We are excited to spend the first ever holidays in Juneau and with Joseph's parents. They have been so generous with letting us stay with them and work in their office. We are anxious although to get out on our own and start our lives up for real. For now we got to find a new car as our Honda took a turn for the worst. Poor car, took us to Iowa and back 3 times and got us to Juneau here. Lots of memories were made in that car, it's funny how cars can hold cherished moments for families. I remember so many cars from my childhood and all hold special memories for me and my family...lots of funny stories too.

Juneau Girl

Well we have been here in Juneau for almost 2 months now. I have to say I have become a good ol' Juneau girl. I am loving the weather, the mountains and the family up here! Despite the lack of shopping I have found that this place suites me rather well. Kaitlyn and Adam are loving it as well, they think everyone should move here. I have heard Kaitlyn say 8 million times, "Can't Aunt Amanda move up here and Grandma and Poppy"! Joseph is really loving his job. His Dad and him make a good team and his Mom and I work hard to keep the office running smooth. Not living in Iowa among the avid Chiropractic fans that are there it has been interesting how little the rest of the population knows about Chiropractic and it's benefits. Exspecially for kids. So I have been spreading the Love all over town and sharing how AWESOME chiropractic is! I am just about done unpacking and now have the fun job of getting crafty and decorating some more. Joseph's parents home is beautiful and I am excited to do some fun stuff with it, especially outside:) I will post pics as each room gets done, I have been finding lots of fun ideas on blogs and have a huge crafting bucket list! Here are some of the pics I had on one of my SD cards..I have a few cards FULL of photos so I'll keep posting as I have time.

2,185...SERIOUSLY!!!

That is about how many children go missing EVERY DAY! I am astonished, today I got a terrible taste of what it might feel like to have a child go missing. Kaitlyn, Adam and I were all together in the living room. The kids were playing with their toys and I was unpacking some books onto a bookshelf. I asked the kids to put away their toys and ended up having to put Adam in his bed because he refused to help (go figure). I came back to the living room and Kaitlyn was gone. I did'nt think much of it at first, I started calling her name and looking for her so she could finish helping pick up but I got no response and could not find her anywhere. I got a little more curious and started looking everywhere. Under beds patiently thinking she was hiding or something. Then as I still had no luck in finding her I started to worry she went outside. We live right on a river now and it worries me a little but the kids are scared to go down there with me let alone by themselves so I doubted she would go down there. But alas she was not to be found out front, in the car or in the house so I started to panic. I asked Grandpa for help and he said, "Go run down by the river and I'll continue scouring the house for her". I ran down to the river, shouting her name. My heart was racing, I started to feel a panic attack hitting. My mind was racing a thousand miles an hour of all the possible terrible scenarios. What if she was taken, or was lying helpless hurt somewhere and couldnt shout my name. What if she was down by the river swept away in the current. I was starting to shake and shout her name louder and with more emotion. I ran inside having not found her anywhere outside. I yelled to my father in law.."Where is she?"..his eyes were full of worry and concern, he had called Joseph as Kaitlyn was no where to be found. Joseph called back and Grandpa ran outside to search the river more. I pleaded with Joseph to hurry home, he was already close by and told me to call 911. I called and the police were on their way. Joseph arrived with his Mom who was the only calm person through all of this, she having had lots of experience with these situations as her 5 kids were full of suprises. Joseph's Mom ran in the house and called Kaitlyn's name, I turned to her and said.."Joan I'm going to loose it, I am loosing it." It had been at least 20 min now and I was convinced that she was gone-I was faced with for a moment the idea that my sweet little Kaitlyn was missing..FOR REAL. My whole body was swirling, I was seeing colors, I felt like the world around me was spinning and I could not stop it. Joan ran up the stairs and said, "Kaitlyn I have some candy for you, come and get it". She repeated it a few times and I melted on the stairs. I had looked everywhere at least 5 times. I prayed another prayer of many and heard Joan say-"Kaitlyn, there you are"! I looked up the stairs and there was my sweet little Kaitlyn with her big brown eyes and precious little hands. Oh my how relieved I was-I balled and sobbed and sobbed some more. I am SO LUCKY! Then as I held her in my arms and pleaded with her to NEVER do that again I began to ache for those mothers who don't get that opportunity. Whose children really are gone. My heart goes out to them and I hope that somehow they can find the faith and strength to move on. It would have been so hard for me, I am not sure how I would have been able to go on even for another minute not knowing where my daughter was. The gosepl gives me strength I would not have on my own but it would take hard work even with my faith to overcome a challenge as hard as losing a child. Kaitlyn was hiding in a closet behind some boxes that looked so packed together that there would be no space for her in amongst them. She had a flashlight. It took her literally 1 minute to find that hiding spot which is how long I would assume it takes for a child to go missing-so quickly. Hold tight to the ones you love. Tell them you love them and enjoy every moment. I am not sure I'm gonna let my kids out of my sight any time soon, I hope I never have to endure such a terrible trial and I wish more than anything that those two thousand some odd families would not have to endure it either. Tonight I kissed Kaitlyn and Adam extra hard and long and squeezed them so tight. Oh and I told Kaitlyn she is NEVER aloud to play hide and seek EVER again!

These Two are to Blame!

Since I've been home it has been my pleasure to spend some time with these two adorable creatures.

My Niece Stella

My other Niece Layla
I thought it was going to take me a LONG time to talk myself into having another baby (like maybe NEVER). Not that my two are horrible, in fact they are wonderful. It's just that having them so close was a little traumatic and the added stress of being in school and living in the wonderful state of Iowa didnt help either. Somehow though, lately, I've been having those "baby" thoughts. I never thought this was possible and when I have the thoughts I get a little irritated because I know what having a baby means...9 months of torture plus no sleep, getting NOTHING done and a complete sacrifice of myself. Plus, now that I've had two I would require myself to do it perfectly this time..make no mistakes because I'm experienced now, I should know what I am doing..right? I'm blaming these baby thoughts on these two. I mean look at them..They are adorable! Plus their little personalities are just darling. I can't help but want one. Dang cute kids, I gotta stop hanging out with them:) Anyone got a colicky baby I can hang around for a few days?

Exhale!

My Little Princess

Adam will FINALLY let me touch his hair...He is my Handsome Boy

Kaitlyn's new FAVORITE pass time is Dress up..if you can't tell:)

Party Time..Daddy Passed his Last set of Chiropractic Boards..NO MORE BOARDS!!!!!

Katie's been begging me to have a Baby..She LOVES her Little Cousin Layla

TIME OUT FOR WOMAN..me and Hilary Weeks! She is a beautiful song writer/singer. She helped me change my life through her music. Was so glad to meet her!

Kaitlyn and her new BEST FRIEND, her cousin McKenna!

GO BEAVERS! The gang went to see a OSU game and we just happened to Win despite the horrible season we had...

SPIDERMAN!!!

I asked Kaitlyn what she wanted to be for Halloween, she said a Girl who rides Horses..so I said.."oh a Cowgirl?"..she said, "No mom not a girl who rides cows, horses!"..lol

I feel like I can finally breath again. What a crazy Fall, which happens to be my favorite time of year. Growing up in the Northwest you can't help but live for the vibrant colors that come when fall hits. The valley's are soaked with amazing shades of reds, oranges, greens and even purples. I love being back near the mountains and right next door to the crashing scenic Oregon Coast! With the change of seasons this year came a lot of change in our lives. Because of my sudden development of panic attacks (see previous post on IUD), my loving husband quickly flew with the kids and I home to Oregon and moved us in with my parents in Tualatin. He flew back immediately to Iowa to finish up school and two rigorous sets of National Chiropractic Board exams. My parents and brothers and sisters took us in and helped me recover. Within a few weeks of being home and a few visits to a very good doctor, I began to get better and better. I have been panic attack free for a while now and it feels so liberating. I have to give a shout out to my Heavenly Father who even though I tend to turn to Him only when I need Him for something, was totally there for me, which is what has made this Christmas season even more special for us. I feel so grateful for the atonement and for the accessibility we have to our Savior through the scriptures, modern day Prophets and through Prayer.
We have had many wonderful adventures since arriving here in Oregon. Kaitlyn and Adam have been LOVING being near all there cousins, aunts and uncles and of course their Poppy and Grandma. They are also LOVING their Preschool classes and the two dogs my parents have. We had an amazing Holiday Season and a very Merry New Year which we spent at the Coast with Joseph's family.
Joseph and I will be heading over to Iowa in February to attend his graduation and then will be starting the migration North up to Juneau in the Spring to start work with his Dad. Joseph has been enjoying his internship and loves doing Chiropractic work..thank goodness right?? since we just spent 5 years and a lot of money on it:) I am working for my Dad in his office, which I LOVE, and am helping my sister out who has 5 kids and some crazy stuff going on.
I'm disappointed I have not kept better notes on life here on my blog for family history reasons' but it's hard when you haven't posted in while because you feel the need to go back and post about everything you might have missed. Somehow this makes me feel so overwhelmed that I just avoid posting at all, so I gave up on that idea and am not going to go back and try to cover every detail over the past few months but will make a better effort to post more often for a while at least. So here's to a lot of posts for 2011!!!! Love and kisses to all our friends and family!!!

HONK HONK!!!

Our neighbor's boyfriend is a Semi Truck Driver and our kids got to be lucky enough to check out his Truck when he was in town today. Having driven on I-80 plenty since being here in Iowa our kids have developed an interest in Big Semi Trucks. You know Iowa IS home to the Largest Truck Stop in the USA......

Here are some photos of them checking out his sweet ride..he even let both of them pull the horn! We are gonna miss our Iowa neighbor, she and her family have become a part of our family and we will never forget them and their love and generosity!








Kaitlyn Pulling the Horn...the pictures after it are to show how excited she was afterwards...the camera could not keep up:)

Slumber Party

Kaitlyn had her first Slumber Party. Her friends Mom and I are good friends so we all spent the night together. We did pedicures, manicures, facials, made neclaces, watched a princess movie and went on a firefly hunt. Unfortunately our AC decided to die that night so our house was super hot and humid but we still had fun. And of course no slumber party is complete without a pillow fight! The girls had fun, they slept well and we look forward to more slumber parties.






This is the popular play time activity lately at our house. Make a train out of whatever they can find.

Who would of thought..

..that this little thing could have changed my life. Let me preface this post by saying that I usually would not write for everyone to see things that might be considered too "personal". My intent is to provide information for other woman who may suffer the same way from having the Mirena IUD placed. I know for many woman the Mirena IUD works great. To you I say, AWESOME! I although had a different experience. 4 weeks ago I went in to have the IUD placed. The midwife who placed it said she wanted me to be on my period when they put the IUD in so to be sure I was not pregnant. After placement I had severe cramping and bleeding. I went home and took some pain medication and went to bed. The next day at noon I was hit by some intense nausea with NO stomach cramping and shortly after started throwing up constantly. Despite throwing up the nausea would not subside, it was constant and felt like morning sickness times 10. I started to get severely light headed and at this point very scared. Nothing made sense. If I was sick or eat something weird, my stomach should have hurt at least a little. But my stomach was fine this seemed to all be up in my chest and head. We called the nurses line, they were unsure of the cause and had never heard of the IUD causing these symptoms. I was instructed to stay hydrated. I suffered through the night and woke up the next morning with the same thing only the lightheadedness turned into episodes of tingling running up through my chest and into my head and than feeling like I was going to pass out. It was very scary. Fortunately I had an amazing neighbor who helped me throughout this process and came to my rescue that morning until Joseph could get home from school. He took me into the doctor where I was prescribed Phenergen for the nausea and was told to take an easy. My doctors office was a OBGYN. The midwife I was seeing had a hard time believing this was due to the IUD. She had never heard of it before and apparently did not want to look more into it. She did get out the brochure and read the fine print which did say a side effect of the Mirena was nausea. The whole week with the Mirena in was THE WORST WEEK OF MY LIFE! by the weekend I was losing my mind. I was hormonal like nothing I have ever felt before and trust me..I have PMS so I know what hormonal feels like. I was pacing the room ready to admit myself. Monday exactly one week later, I still had the nausea (despite being on the phenergen) and the lightheadedness. I asked to have it removed. My midwife walked in the room abruptly, said.."so we're taking it out now?"..and than without waiting for a response said.."this was quite the expensive experiment!" I replied taken back by her sassiness.."this was not an experiment." She removed the IUD very easily, signed her paper, and walked out of the room. I felt totally violated. She did not ask me how my symptoms were, she had no concern for my well being. I left the clinic and hoped I would start to feel better now the IUD was out. One week later with the same symptoms, woke up to a bad episode of lightheadedness and tingling in my chest and face. It was so scary I went to the Urgent Care Clinic, where was than sent on to the ER as they needed to do tests they could not do at the clinic. They wanted me to go by ambulance but I declined, I've only been dealing with this for two weeks I was pretty sure I could handle a car ride to the ER. They did a whole slew of tests..EKG, blood, urine etc. My heart rate was perfect, no heavy breathing no NOTHING! Just the nausea and lightheadedness. No one had an explanation. None of the doctors would even come close to relating it to the IUD. I was told to see my Regular Doctor within 2 days to follow up and to get my thyroid tests back. At this point I was so discouraged. The only thing that gave me hope was the testimonies of woman online that I found when I googled.."mirena nausea and lightheadedness"..there are hundreds of woman who have gone through exactly what I have gone through. I decided it was time to humble myself and go see my Chiropractor who had told me several times how awful the IUD was and how the hormones mess with woman's bodies. I was trying to avoid confessing I had tried it but knew he would be able to help me recover. Of course he was totally understanding and knew exactly what was going on with my body. Because he understood the body and how it works he knew how the hormone in the Mirena was causing me the symptoms I was feeling and knew how to help me get better. He adjusted me and got my nervous system reset and gave me some supplements to help de-tox my body and get my hormones back where they should be. Within two day of seeing him I was 80% better. Now two weeks later I am a changed woman. Not only because I'm not nauseous or dizzy all the time anymore but because this whole experience changed me in so many different aspects of my life. I love and appreciate my children so much more. They were the only thing that kept me going and they were so comforting when I felt literally like I was dying. I have a new found LOVE for service. So many people offered help to our family. There is nothing like accepting help and humbling yourself enough to ask for it that helps you see how amazing service is and how much I want to be the type of person who freely gives it. My husband and I bonded so much, he was there when I needed him and I learned to appreciate him so much more. I was humbled to my knees before the Lord. I had become so distant from Him and had not even realized how horrible my life had become because of it. I reflected a lot on my life while I was sick and chose to make some changes. I am determined now to turn to my Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ FIRST when I am faced with a challenge instead of the world. I have been praying a lot lately and have been finding that The Lord is ALWAYS there when I need him. He can comfort me in the darkest moments and help the bright moments seem brighter. I am so excited to have Him back in my life and am grateful for this experience if only to say that it saved me from being spiritually numb! So for those of you out there who feel like crap it just might be your IUD. I am still getting my body back to health, I am determined to treat my body better. I got to THINK better...EAT better and MOVE better. I am a NEW woman determined to make my 30's Healthy so my 40's and 50's are wonderful. On to the next challenge. Moving Home! Yay....

Kaitlyn's Farm Birthday

For the longest time Kaitlyn has been saying she wants a Dora party, but I didn't believe her because we don't watch Dora or have any Dora paraphernalia. Fortunately, last minute, she changed her mind and decided she wanted a farm birthday, well this I believed. She adores animals, ex specially horses and it seemed a bit more like the little girl I know. We started off the day by Kaitlyn and I going to the mall for a little shopping and girl time. We headed to the spa and got our first mommy daughter pedicures. Kaitlyn is a girl after my own heart, she LOVED being pampered and knew exactly how to relax and enjoy the pedicure. Kaitlyn can be a girly girl but also is rough and tough. Most of her good friends end up being boys, she just relates to them better for some reason. While we were at the mall Daddy and Adam were busy putting together Kaitlyn's Farm Party. They got ice cream cake and put up farm animals all over the walls. Kaitlyn was so excited when she got home. We played farm for a while and than our adoptive Iowa family..our neighbors..came over for fish dinner. Kaitlyn loves fish, ex specially salmon, but our poor student budget only could afford Tilapia. Sorry Kaitlyn one day we shall have a salmon feast!

Diaper-LESS

Every parent who has potty trained knows that it's NOT easy! It's funny to think about what an important skill this is to teach your children. It's something they will do every day..mutiple times for the REST of their lives. I don't think we appreciate enough our Parents for teaching us to go potty in the toilet. Let's face it, if they didnt we'd still be wearing diapers, which could be rather embarassing as an adult! So Thank you Mom and Dad for teaching me and teaching me well:)

Adam was way more stubborn than Kaitlyn with the potty stuff. He made me want to give up soooooo many times. You can only handle so many messes before you want to scream. But alas, I had bought my last box of diapers and I was NOT going to buy anymore so I stuck with it. I tried really hard to always help Adam be successful by asking him to go OFTEN. It was really fustrating and time consuming but I knew at some point the switch would go off in his brain and he would finally DECIDE to do it himself. After a good month, he finally chose to do it and not only during the day but he was waking up to go at night too. Yay! I was so afraid about the night time with Adam but he has been perfect for a few weeks now. I may really suck at a lot of Mom stuff but I feel pretty darn good that somehow I got both my kids potty trained.

Now I just need to teach them to wipe:)

The Claw

Ready to watch Toy Story 3 (Joseph looks a little tired, but he's actually excited)

Sayin Goodbye to Nathalie and Paige


Awesome Storm that rolled in the other day...Gotta Love Severe Thunderstorms!!!

Fun with Nathalie and the kids...

BLOCK PARTAY...Oh Yeah!!!

Paige loved this Tiger,I shoulda let her take it home!!!

Adam and Kaitlyn coloring, Kaitlyn is now drawing in the lines, I am such a proud Mom!!!

Our Favorite Neighbor Corey Graduated from High School..we got invited to his Graduation party...we felt so "cool"!!! The kids absolutely adore Corey and he has been such a big help to me over the past 3 years. We will miss him when he leaves for college:(

We thought Toy Story 3 was a Hit! The story line was interesting and the cheezy drama made me laugh and cry! The kids had so much fun going to the theatre and were laughing histerically throughout. It captured their attention, the theatre was surprisingly quiet and well behaved for the amount of young kids being in there. I guess that's one way to tell if the movie is good....Definately going to add this movie to the duo we already have. Way to go Pixar!

We had fun this week, Nathalie and Paige came for a visit. We went to the zoo, eat lots of delicious food (Nathalie has some great recipes and is a wizard in the kitchen), partyed it up! I love me some Nathalie and Paige time! Can't wait for another visit....

Joseph finished up another trimester at school. We decided to stay home for the break so this will be our first and last official "summer" in Iowa. We are usually out of here as soon as school is out but seeing as we move in 4 months we thought it was best we lay low and enjoy these last few months in the heart land.

Here's to summer break in Iowa...CHEERS!!!!!