Lefebvre Family Letters

I only took me 6 years and 3 months...

2011-11-22T08:19:00.001-08:00

I finally ordered a wedding album for Adam and myself. Check it out here.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Photo Book Tip: Create an adventurous travel photo album at Shutterfly.com.

October photos update 1

2011-11-03T09:06:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos of our trip to the Pumpkin Patch with Janessa and her preschool kids.

Honest feelings about having two kids

2011-10-25T07:07:00.000-07:00

I really don't know how people do it. 5 kids, 10 kids, multiples... I've been having a hard time imagining how I'll handle things when I just have 2!

Lucy has always been a pretty easy child: relatively compliant, no health problems... When she turned two, I was expecting the worse with the "terrible twos" but she never really entered that stage... until now. I really though that by waiting to have a second baby after Lucy was 3, that I would have perfect timing and I wouldn't have to deal with the terrible twos at the same time as having a newborn. Well, common consensus has been that threes are worse... why didn't anyone tell me this a year ago? Why on God's green earth do they call it the terrible twos, then? *sigh*

Well, Lucy's attitude is what's getting the best of me and I'm struggling to be consistent in the way I handle it. I want to nip it in the bud, but her will is stronger than mine. When I struggle I really wonder "how the h*ll am I going to juggle two kids?" One was SO easy. And in just 18 short weeks, I'll have 2--one three-year-old, flat out telling me no when I ask her to do something, and one newborn, helpless and needy and demanding every ounce of my attention.

I know Adam will be available those first few days as will my mom, and that should help. But I'm freaking out a little realizing that soon, I'll have to do it on my own and I don't know what to expect!

These realizations make me feel horrible. Because deep down, I think, I shouldn't have had another kid. It's not about who my kids are, but more about who I AM and I'm not sure I can do it. I watch mothers who have it all together and their kids are obedient and little joys and while Lucy is a joy, she's not obedient all of the time and I worry that her defiance will become stronger as I need it to be weaker.

Being pregnant with these realizations also make me feel like I'm the only terrible mother who's ever questioned her choice of having another baby. I feel like these are things I should have really thought about and considered BEFORE getting pregnant! Too late. I'm screwed.

October Update

2011-10-25T06:54:00.000-07:00

I've been very out of the habit of posting photos and updates on our lives so I'm going to make more of an effort and especially when the new baby gets here.

Which is a great intro into our October Update blog post. I'm 21 weeks now and feeling OH-SO-better. It's amazing what a couple of weeks can do. I just can't believe I have 18 more weeks to go! Seems like forever. BUT I have the holidays to sustain me... Halloween's in a week, Thanksgiving's in a month (it'll be at our house this year, yay!), and we start to decorate for Christmas December 1 (my best friend from grade school's birthday!). After Christmas is Lucy's 3rd birthday, her party will be in the beginning of January and "Princess Pirate" themed (at her request). Then I have a little down time in January and February to nest and settle and spend our last few weeks as a family of three.

I've been meaning to schedule a photo session for just the three of us. We have NEVER had a family photo taken. I know, I'm so bad. Well, I really want one before baby #2 gets here! So hopefully I can get that together in the next week or so.

We've had a lot of fun this month. In the beginning of the month we went to Chico to meet the Bryson's new baby Emilee. So sweet and tiny! She's perfect! We also celebrated Gramma Marian's birthday at the Chinese Buffet which made this pregnant momma VERY happy. I got to go on a women's retreat the next weekend with my friend Janessa and it was a nice time away to reflect on my relationship with Christ and just relax with no whiny kids, no house cleaning, no bills, no cerfew! Last weekend we went to the Pumpkin Patch with our friends from Oroville, Logan and Robin Wilson, and their two precious sons, Cason and Hunter. The kids had so much fun playing and searching for pumpkins and it's always nice to connect with my friend Robin (of over 20 years!).

Amid all the playing we had a couple doctors appointments... one very important Dr. appointment was our ultrasound to find out the gender of our little growing baby. Adam and I had decided from day one that we would be happy with whatever sex the baby ended up being, leaning back and forth between our preference; a girl would be "easy" because we already know what we're doing and we have a ton of girl stuff left over, plus they'd be sharing a room; a boy would be fun because it would be new and exciting and then we'd have one of each. As the weeks went on, Adam was more convinced it was a girl, and I was more convinced it was a boy. I even referred to it as "him." Well, the ultrasound revealed that "he" was a "she." Yes, we are having another girl and are overjoyed! We will name her Lydia Jane.

October is coming to an end and hopefully I'll get some photos up soon of the Pumpkin Patch and a precious photo of our Lydia's profile. Stay tuned!

Untold Story of Ashley Bolger

2011-09-29T14:42:00.001-07:00

I'm sitting here (in an open classroom where my student has yet to show up), thinking, "It's time for a new blog post!" and I thought I'd write about some of my thoughts from yesterday.

As I folded laundry while watching Grey's Anatomy, I couldn't help but think how differently my life could have been if it weren't for a turn of events that occurred in 2005. Yes, this is the same year I got married, but my marriage had nothing to do with it...

In Fall of 2004, I attended Humboldt State where I rowed on their NCAA crew team. I was horrible. But I LOVED being out on the water (ironic since I get incredibly sea sick), so I worked really hard to get in shape and be as good as I could be (for a spaz). Rowing crew meant early morning workouts, I had to maintain a grade point average, and early night curfews. Because I was a Junior, I was a couple years older than most of the first year rowers and I was not able to survive on 5 hours of sleep and a RockStar. Because of my 5 am schedule and the fact that I lived in a Freshmen dorm, sleep was hard to come by. I had a perpetual migraine.

Let's skip to more relevant details. By Winter I was off the crew team due to a relentless injury (and to maintain what was left of my dignity), and I was able to resume a normal sleep schedule and give myself time to heal. My injury healed after months of physical therapy, but my headaches didn't go away. After one giant 6-month headache, my mom took me to a neurologist. The neurologist said I had migraine headaches and put me on an anti-seizure medicine. He ordered MRI's to make sure there was nothing else going on. I don't remember exactly what kind of MRI I had, but I had to have it done at UC Davis and they injected some radio active dye into me so they could see where the dye was going in my brain. It may have even been a CAT... either way, I had more tests done.

Spring semester resumed at HSU and I continued my classes and moved out of the Freshmen dorm. Other than my giant headache (which the anti-seizure medicine kept under control), life was pretty good... I was planning our wedding, I was VP of the Resident Programming Board, the "Ashley Bolger" that everyone knew.

Between Spring semester and into the following Fall is when the story gets "untold" or "weird" and even like it happened to another person. I really think the only people who knew were my parents and Adam.

It was April that I got a call from my Neurologists receptionist:
"Hi, Ashley. I want to make you an appointment with the doctor to talk about treatment for your epilepsy."
"Uh, my what?"
"Your condition, epilepsy?"
"I don't have epilepsy."
"Oh, um... the doctor has notes here that you've been diagnosed from your scans done at UC Davis."
"Well. Ok then. This is the first I'm hearing that I have epilepsy."
"Well, what day works for you?..."

Isn't that a nice way to find out that you have a life-altering condition? Over the phone? From a receptionist? ALONE IN A DORM ROOM WITH YOUR MOMMY 200 MILES AWAY?! To say the least I was shocked and did call my mommy and daddy and I can't remember, but I probably cried a little bit.

My headaches were my only symptom. I'd never had a seizure (that I know of). I'd never had as much as a leg twitch and I was being diagnosed with epilepsy. Good thing I was already on anti-seizure medication, right? We made an appointment that April to see the doctor to follow up and make sure that we were using the correct treatment plan for my case.

The doctor threw so much new information at us it made our heads spin: you have to take your medicine consistently, if you don't take your medicine, you could have a grand mal seizure which could lead to more problems, and if you don't take your medication I'll tell DMV and your license will be suspended, surgery is an option to fix the problem, but you may lose some of your memory... It was like a whirlwind! I remember feeling like everything was upside-down and backwards and inside-out.

Medication for the rest of my life didn't seem like a good option for me considering I couldn't remember to take something as simple as vitamins every day. I panicked at the thought of surgery becuase I didn't want to have a shaved head for wedding photos, but if I had the surgery after the wedding I might not remember it.

In June we decided to see an epilepsy specialist at Stanford. However, on the way, we stopped at UC Davis to pick up copies of my films, and they LOST them. Yea, weird, huh... but somehow it figures. Once we got to Stanford the doc asked some good questions, some were hard to answer, or, it was hard to give the right answer...? Like, have you ever spaced out? Duh, I'm blonde. Have you ever lost track of time? Really? Some of the questions made me wonder, who hasn't? If those were qualifying questions for epilepsy, I wondered, who DIDN'T have it?

More importantly, the doctor asked. "Who diagnosed you? What tests did he do?"
Upon answering this questions the doctor sat back and asked, "He didn't perform a EEG?"
Nope, never.
The words I was longing to hear then came from that wonderful man's mouth: "You can't be diagnosed with epilepsy if you haven't had an EEG."
YES.
There was a catch however. "Your brain does show abnormal activity however," referring to previous MRI's done in Chico, "so let's do an EEG just to make sure."
Sure! One more test to make sure that I'm normal? Why not?

The EEG was not fun, but it wasn't horrible. I had nearly 30 electrodes glued to my head and had to sit in a room with boring old movies for several hours. Once the test was over they didn't even have a shower for me to wash the glue out. My mom and I ended up stopping at a salon on the way home and paid them to wash my hair. The results of that test were "inconclusive." Seriously?! My wedding was just over a month away and we decided to wait until after the wedding to follow up with any more tests.

We were married and went on our honeymoon in August. We moved to our "precious" little apartment in Eureka and within 5 days of moving in, I flew back down to Stanford for a week long EEG. Again, I was bored, under constant surveillance, but at least I had newer movies. Three days in, my mom drove down and kept me company during the day and stayed at a local hotel at night. By day 5, we were prying the doctor for answers. He said that they had not seen any seizure activity but something in my brain activity "was not quite right." Those were his exact words! "Not quite right." That same day, I checked myself out AMA and never looked back.

So, yes, we all know I'm "not quite right." Haha...

But can you imagine had I not sought a second opinion? Can you imagine if I opted for surgery? I can't imagine if any of it were true! If I were still on medication.

Thank God I am me. And not that breif nightmare of who I could have been...

Two month sabbatical

2011-09-09T08:59:00.000-07:00

It's been over two months since my last post. And of course my last post was just a photo to announce that we're expecting again. I've been holding off on writing for a few reasons, none really valid, other than the fact that I've been really tired and this will make my 100th post. I guess I felt like it should hold some significance...

So while there may not be any kind of ultra significance to this post, it's time for an update!
We are expecting Lefebvre #4 in March 2012. This baby is much anticipated as we tried for nearly a year. This is my 4th pregnancy overall (we had two miscarriages before Lucy joined us), so I've been very nervous about this pregnancy and honestly "waiting for the other shoe to drop." We got pregnant at a time when I had almost given up and was rather surprised when we got a positive test. It's almost like I was unprepared--and so I felt pretty out of control. Which I am anyways, right? Who really has control over their unborn child? Ha, even their living breathing children!?

I've felt way more tired with this pregnancy and even had stronger bouts of morning sickness. I don't throw up. I'm my father's daughter and it just doesn't happen unless there's a virus involved. So while I know that makes me automatically luckier than some other women, this has been a difficult pregnancy. I basically sat on the couch for 8 weeks straight unable to eat without feeling sick, and needing to eat because I was so sick. Without throwing up once, I lost 10 pounds.

At 11 weeks, I started spotting. Spotting is a common occurrence for most women in pregnancy, but not me. The only other times I've spotted, I've lost the baby (twice). So you can understand why I ran to the emergency room. There would have been nothing they could do, but I couldn't have slept that night without knowing what was going on. Baby was fine! He was kicking and punching and had a strong heartbeat. That was a relief and it was nice to see my blob of a baby seen at 8 weeks had evolved into a little tiny person just 3 weeks later.

Two weeks later I started spotting again while camping and I felt much more relaxed about it. I had a little more time to feel "prepared" and didn't feel the need for control. I do still worry daily about the baby but what saves my sanity is I can now feel him move. Movement is a good sign! It's just little flutters at this point (nothing like feeling Lucy trying to stand up inside of me while taking a walk at 25 weeks), but it's a relief.

So I'm 15 weeks on Monday, and into my second trimester. I've left the couch and feel much better. I still feel uncomfortably pregnant, but I can eat more than just cereal and I know that I will end up getting more uncomfortable as this pregnancy progresses.

I've always describe pregnancy to my friends like this: your body is a piece of metal, and every pregnancy is a bend in the metal. After pregnancy, your body bends back, and with every pregnancy the metal bends in the same spot--bent metal gets weaker and weaker. Now, I know my body is not "bent" as much as other bodies, but I must just be made of weaker metal than other women! Once my 2nd trimester his with Lucy I was flying high, I felt great. I am still a long way away from feeling the way I did with Lucy.

Explaining this to people has made them smile coyly and snicker "It's a boy!" Honestly, I don't disagree. In the very beginning we were hoping for another girl because Lucy is so easy going, relatively obedient (perfect). But as the weeks go by I've got that "feeling." Mother's intuition is usually right, I think, and I'm expecting (and now hoping for) a boy.

2011-07-03T09:14:00.001-07:00

Car for sale!

2011-06-22T12:19:00.000-07:00

Hopefully it'll sell soon and you won't have to see my million posts on facebook and craigslist... But in the meantime here's our ad on ebay--please let me know if you or anyone you know is interested!

UPDATE: We traded in the car for a Honda CR-V. :)

Attempting Disneyland with a Toddler #2

2011-06-21T15:49:00.000-07:00

My first blog was about Money, Flying, Strollers, and Food; the 4 most expensive elements to our trip to Disneyland--as well as with any trip, really. This second blog will be shorter and about being a Mommy in the park, Visiting Characters and going on Rides, and Disneyland from the Eyes of a two-year-old.

Being a Mommy in the Park
This goes for any parent, daddies, too.
Imagine yourself packing for a trip... do you have everything? Nope, there is SOMETHING you forgot. Checked your list twice? Too bad, you forgot (dot, dot, dot). It happens to the best of us, and I say that because it ALWAYS happens to me. You'd think I'd have learned by now, but no.
Aside from parenting our children, a major part of our job is providing what they need, right? While in Disneyland, this begins with the diaper bag, or as I'd like to call it, the Mother Ship. Don't over-pack, but don't under-pack. There's a fine art to predicting what you will need, fitting it all in one bag, and not forgetting a thing.
So what is my diaper bag recommendation for a trip to Disneyland? Ditch the Petunia Pickle Bottom beauty you got from your great aunt at your shower, and dig up the good ol' reliable Jansport you retired when you graduated from college. Two straps, one loop, two or three pockets--that's all you need. And it fits great over the handle of your stroller (personal or rented), on someone's back, and it doesn't scream, "I'm a $180 diaper bag; steal me!"
Now, while I recommend a backpack of some sort for this purpose, there are some additional attributes to take into consideration. I used Adam's from college and while it was awesome for school, it really had too many pockets. I tried to utilize each one and couldn't remember from diaper change to diaper change where I stashed the wipes. One main, one in front (and an optional water/milk bottle pocket) is plenty. oh, and a carabiner! I gotta have my carabiner! My BFF. Whether it held her crocs, the coffee mug, the bag of goodies we bought, it was and always is a diaper bag necessity.
Inside... now let me first tell you what I did pack for our first venture into the park:

Diapers and Wipes (I used night-time diapers because they hold more and I new I didn't want to run to the restroom to change her diaper every time she was wet. Some of you may gawk at this, but it's a fact and you know you'd do it too.)
Individual Horizon Organic Milk Boxes (These undergo a special process so the milk does not have to be refrigerated.)
27 oz. Klean Kanteen (It can always be refilled at a water fountain and ice at a food venue is free.)
Lysol Wipes
Hand Sanitizer
First Aid Kit
Activities for Lucy (from the Dollar Store)
~$35 worth of food from Dormzy.com (this was to share with my parents, siblings, and my family of 3)
Hats and Sweatshirts for the three of us
iPhone (instead of a camera)
what was left of my sanity

This is what I should have brought:

Twice as many diapers, because even though night-time diapers hold twice as much, I'm naive to the fact that my daughter drinks like a horse and we were in the park much longer than I predicted.
Wipes
Lysol Wipes
Same milk
1/2 sized Klean Kanteen
~$50 worth of food
iPhone

Less is more! We didn't need 1/2 of the stuff I brought in, and I brought in wrong proportions. If you have something that takes up a lot of room like extra clothing just rent a locker--it'll save you the hassle of juggling it all day.

So what happens when you DO forget something... As I briefly touched on, I should have brought more diapers. By 5:00 pm, we ran out! We were in line for Dumbo when I could smell Lucy's newest brew, and I mentioned to Adam, "we're out, what do we do?" A very kind couple behind us (with their own brood) mentioned that over at guest services, they have diapers. What a brilliant idea! Disneyland has millions of people come through every year and I KNOW I'm not the first mother to run out of diapers. We dashed on over to Main Street and found the Baby Care Center. B.R.I.L.L.I.A.N.T. I was so impressed. I was a little nervous to find out the price of the diapers. If a corn dog was $5.99, would a diaper be $4.99? Come to find out, they were selling diapers at only $1 each. Great price considering... plus I was in a pinch! (Poopy dipe) Inside the Baby Care Center is a nursing station, a large changing station (forget those Koala Kids plastic thingies), high chairs, and even toddler toilets! It was so quiet and serene, I wished I was a breast feeding mamma just so I had an excuse to stay in there!

Ok, Back on track... Being a Mommy in the Park can include a lot of other elements. You are there to show your child a good time. Show your child excitement. Let them experience Disneyland in their way. This leads me to my second, third, and fourth points: Visiting Characters and going on Rides, and Disneyland from the Eyes of a two-year-old.

These three really go hand-in-hand because of our expectations as parents who were once kids. Let me repeat that: Our expectations as parents who were once kids. We were kids once upon a time, but now it's their turn. By no means am I saying you're not supposed to have fun, but your two-year old is going to move at a different pace. That pace may be faster or slower, depending on your child. But it's important to guide them through Disneyland in a manner that will give them the full experience without pushing them in the direction of Point A that makes them miss out on Point B. Let me clarify:

Visiting Characters

Oh, the illusive Characters... now you see them, now you don't! Characters can be a big part of your trip, especially if you WANT to see them. Keep in mind that there are often LINES to see characters... L-I-N-E-S. Full Hour lines. Is this how you want to spend your vacation? There are special appointments and attractions for particular Characters as well as meals you can arrange with Characters. Depending on your toddler's interest level in Disney Characters, there may be one or two that work better for you. Be sure to check out the Character Experiences page to plan ahead. As I mentioned in my first blog, you are going to need more than one day, so if your family wants to meet characters, perhaps plan one of those extra days for meeting characters.

Please please please do not be one of those parents that pushes their child to the front in order to get a hug and autograph from Mickey. Thankfully they have additional cast members to keep parents from doing this, but it's just sickening, and there's nothing wrong with your child learning the virtue of waiting, patience, and letting others go before them.

Going on Rides

Speaking of L-I-N-E-S. Waiting is a big part of the game at Disneyland, but there are two ways you can cut down on your time in lines when it comes to rides.

Plan your day around your Fast Passes. You can have two at a time--you will want to go to big attractions first to obtain your passes (i.e. Space Mountain). Such a quick and easy way that the geniuses at Disney have created to make your experience that much better.
There will be rides (i.e. Space Mountain) that your toddler will not be able to go on because of height restrictions. Another system Disney have in place is called Ride Sharing. How this work: Parent A waits in line for the ride of choice. When he gets to the front of the line and sees an attendant, he mentions that he wants a ride share pass (don't quote me on this jargon). After he enjoys his ride, he is able to meet Parent B at the exit (where she and the kiddo have been waiting or returns to after a little shopping), and the attendant at the exit will let Parent B on the ride with little to no waiting time while Parent A takes the kiddo. It's a great system! Otherwise you'd have to wait in line twice while one or the other parent has your kid.

Disneyland from the Eyes of a Two-Year-Old

Lucy is a very smart girl and sometimes I forget that she's only 2. I brought a bunch of activities for her to do while waiting in lines, thinking that she'd be bored. But to a two-year-old, there is something exciting and magical in everything at Disneyland. I can't say enough about Disney and how GENIUS they are. There is something to look at EVERYWHERE. Whether you see it or not, is up to you, but it's there. Lucy saw most of it. She was delighted to watch trickling little fountains, talking Tikis, begging parrots, mist-spraying space ships, everything was eye-candy to her.

I've had to check myself and make sure I'm not a parent who tries to create magical or memorable moments. Without trying, Disneyland already provides that for my daughter (and still for me!). Lucy has taught me more to "go with the flow."

Our trip to Disneyland was so great, we're hoping to go again in 3 weeks, and again in September. She can't stop talking about it. It was worth every penny, and if I had it, I would have spent more to see the joy on her face, hear her talk about it every time she's on the phone with Grandma, and know that we've created a precious family memory without even having to work hard at it.

Monday musings.

2011-06-13T15:55:00.000-07:00

Our froggy friend

2011-06-13T15:47:00.000-07:00

2011-06-13T15:46:00.000-07:00

I told Lucy to clean up her room. This isn't what I had in mind.

Attempting Disneyland with a Toddler #1

2011-06-01T08:04:00.000-07:00

I've always been one of those moms who's vowed to wait until her children were "old enough to remember and appreciate" something. Disneyland in particular. I wanted to wait to take Lucy so that she would remember it and know what's going on, who the characters were, and also so that I could hold off on spending $100 a head on a trip to what may not be "the happiest place on earth."

BUT. We did it. And might I add: successfully. We had an amazing trip and so much fun, that I thought I'd blog about why it was successful and how you too can have a successful trip to Disneyland with your toddler.

Because there are many elements to traveling and to Disneyland, I'm going to split my blog into two. This first blog will be about Money, Flying, Strollers, and Food. These are the 4 most expensive elements to this trip. The second blog will be about being a Mommy in the park, Visiting Characters and going on Rides, and Disneyland from the Eyes of a two-year-old.

When you go is not important. It's always busy, but a weekday is less busy... I guess. If you have social anxiety, start taking your pills now. "There will be a lot of people and it will be OK." This was my personal mantra for the week. Also know that there is never enough time to see everything, so don't set that expectation. You WILL need a couple of days between the two parks and there WILL be things that you miss. Fact.

First let's talk about money. I didn't not have to pay a cent to get into the park. This was one of the deciding factors to even go to Disneyland in the first place. My sister works for Disney and graciously gave us her 6 free passes for the day. It didn't hurt that Lucy is under 3, so she got in free as well. If you are going to spend the money on a trip to Disneyland, I recommend getting a 3-day park hopper. The best deal I've seen is at Safeway (of all places) or booking through an insurance agency like AAA. Booking through AAA will give you other perks as well. That's all I have to say about that. I have no experience in this area otherwise.
*Every offer is different but if you visit Disney Rewards Visa and sign up for their credit card, they will send you a Disney Gift Card (our offer was for $200).

Flying
Driving 10 hours in a car with a 2 year old didn't sound like my ideal way to start a vacation. So what I probably would have spent on admission to the park, I spent on flying to LAX from Reno. TOTALLY WORTH IT. Lucy loved the plane and we were there in under 2 hours and she still talks about it every time she gets on the phone with a family member.

There are a lot of articles I found online that helped me prepare for flying with a toddler. Very helpful. Check them out here: Family.com and Babycenter.com
I took her car seat flying out of Reno on the plane. I'm glad I did because flying out of Reno was like riding on a pioneer's covered wagon with one square wheel. While I white-knuckled it, she hardly noticed and was high enough in the car seat that she could see out of the window. On the way home, flying from LAX I decided to check the car seat because it was one less thing to juggle. It was easier to move her around once in flight, she could sit on my lap so we could both see out of the window; it was the better choice for us. I could imagine that if you have a rambunctious kid that might squirm his way out of the lap belt, the car seat would be ideal.
FYI: Southwest lets you check up to 3 bags per person under 50 lbs for free and airlines HAVE to let you check safety items for your baby such as car seats, playpens, strollers at no extra charge. Double check with your airline, but this was very useful info for me while planning what to bring. Also, 2 years and up is a full adult priced ticket depending on the airline; bummer, but nice when you get to check all that extra baggage and give her her own seat.

Back to the park itself...
Stroller
Chances are you'll be travelling with a stroller. We traveled with an umbrella stroller borrowed from a friend. This was a good choice because it was light weight, it folded up easily for the airplane. However, when we got to Disneyland, we opted to rent one of their strollers. This was a GOOD choice for us. The rental stroller was only $15 per day. This is a good value if you a) have a $400 stroller you don't want to "leave alone" in the park (trust me, you will abandon your stuff several times in the day), b) your stroller doesn't have a large under carriage for storage, c) you do not have front swivel wheels. As petty as these points may be, it really did influence our decision. We saw many people at the park with phil&ted strollers and even bugaboo and it is a safe place. But knowing it could rain, someone could barf, etc, I would rather take the rental and know I don't have to pay for professional cleaning or worry that my investment is being destroyed.

I can understand why they would want to take their reliable, well made strollers however. I saw many people with cheap umbrella strollers struggling over curbs, monstrous doubles trying to weave through people traffic. These strollers are similar to a mid-level jogging stroller with height, swivel wheels, under carriage storage, and strudy enough to have your bag full of stuff hanging on the back and not tip over when your child's not in it.
At $15/day (or $25/day for 2) it's was totally worth it with Lucy's age. If she were older and were doing more walking, I probably would have taken the borrowed umbrella stroller (which we did take our 2nd day which was only 1/2 day in the park).

Food
What ever you think your food budget is for the park, double it. Right now. While the food is excellent and of good quality, you'll pay $5.99 for a hand dipped corn dog and $2 for a green apple. The only thing that seemed reasonably priced when it came to food, was the espresso drinks (comparable to Starbuck's prices), and the Bowl of Gumbo in New Orleans Square ($8.99).
The park does however allow you to take in food so that's what we did. We probably saved ourselves a good 50+ bucks, but it is hard to resist the temptation of a mid-afternoon pick me up espresso drink, and getting the full-experience of New Orleans Square, waiting in line for the Haunted Mansion, while sipping a Mint Julep.

Keep in mind that while perfect planning can propose and perfectly joyous vacation, toddlers are unpredictable and I saw more than one major meltdowns in the park (none by my sweet Lucy, of course). Things occur that were unplanned, both good and bad--It all comes down to how we handle it!

So hold on tight while I develop blog #2 and start planning your trips now--because my conclusion after actually doing it--it's worth it!

Blog

2011-04-21T07:44:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd take some time today to just update the world of what's being going on in Casa Lefebvre for the past two months.

Not a whole lot, but not too little.

It has been two months so... March flew by. I had a show in Chico with my friend Carla, and it was my dad's birthday. Before we new it, April was here, and now we're 1/2 way through....

My friend Janessa had her little baby boy on April 4 and has taken a month off from running her in-home-day-care, so I've taken on one little girl 3 days a week. McKenzie also happens to be one of Lucy's closest friends, and her mommy Tina, is one of my closest friends here in Susanville. It's been a nice arrangement. That said, it does occupy a little more of my time in ways that my time was not occupied before. But I've loved it! Lucy loves having a friend over so often, and it's actually given me more time to do what I need to around the house.

Speaking of the house, we've attempted a refinance with no avail. The comparables in this market are just too low, even though we've invested over $15k in the house, unless we wanted to pay $500 for an appraisal (something we just can't swing right now), the comps were coming at only $75k! Darn this recession and all the forclosures! Oh well. It wasn't something we NEEEEEEDED, just something we wanted to attempt to change our financial situation and to remodel a little more.

THAT being said, we are going to remodel some more even without the refinance this summer. We're going to convert our downstairs living area, AKA my office, guest room, playroom, to a master bedroom. I need an office with a door that can shut, and we need an extra closet... so the conversion will benefit us in the present and will likely increase our home value.

I leave in 3 weeks to visit my sister. No, I will not be taking Lucy to Disneyland without her daddy. While that would be fun, I'd rather just go with my sister and leave Lucy at home with uncle Joe (hint-hint). It'll be a nice week off from the monotony of my world and a good week to hang out at the beach and just relax.

I've been potty training Lucy off and on for a month now. I'm not too stressed about her progress, however after a day like yesterday, I'd like to ship her off to potty-training-boot-camp and make it someone else's problem. We have really good days and then days where I just don't have the patience. It'll be interesting seeing how she does when we fly to LA. I think I need to invest in pull-ups.

Adam and I have been trying to expand our family for over 9 months. I went to the Dr. yesterday just to "chat" and they took some blood work, so by Monday I should know what it says. 9 months is not a long time in the scheme of things, but it makes me anxious to know that I was Fertile Myrtle 3 years ago (3 pregnancies in 18 months) and now I'm having difficulty. No worries though! I'm positive, waiting on God's timing, and still playing the game of baby-making. It WILL happen in God's timing, I have no doubt... I just wish his timing were more in line with MINE ;)

Well, I've rambled enough to make up for the two months of absence. Cheers!

Waiting...

2011-01-28T08:46:00.000-08:00

There are a few things I am learning patience through... additional patience, I might add, because I feel like I'm already pretty patient. Some things I'm waiting for:

Right now I'm literally waiting for Lucy to wake up.
Tonight we're staying at Ashley Candler's and that should be really fun. Lucy's such a flexible playmate; she hasn't seen a lot of her playmate here in months, but she just jumps in and befriends them like she plays with them everyday.
I'm just waiting to go home... I've enjoyed my stay in paradise for the week, but that's a long time to not see Adam, the dirty pile of dishes, the laundry that needs to be folded on the couch. Plus I'm SO done with these dogs. It's not that any one is bad, I am just done with having 4 at a time.
I also want to go home because of all the stuff I've ordered that is probably just sitting on my front porch: new glasses, new proactiv, sports caps for our klean kanteens, a tent for Lucy, hopefully Lucy's birthday present (yes, a month late).
8 more days until our little mini vacay.
I can't wait for our tax return! We plan to pay off our credit card and hopefully NEVER use it again.
I lied: I will be using the credit card again but just to buy a round trip ticket to see my sister in Huntington Beach.
Janessa's baby should be here in 2 months and I can't wait!
I'm ready for our family to expand and this is probably what's testing my patience the most.
I can't wait to get paid again. I found some cute clothes that I want.
I'm excited for our birthday's. I know what I want and I'm pretty sure I know what I'm going to get Adam.
I'm looking forward to the new season of Dexter, and the next DVD of Breaking Bad.
While I love living in Susanville, after being in Paradise for the week, I'm looking forward to the potential to living closer to convenient amenities: Costco, Trader Joes, family. I'm so GLAD we work for USFS because they'll pack us up and move us to where ever Adam gets transferred. I'm just not anxious to move, but I know it is kinda inevitable. I guess I don't want to think about it as much because I've made such GOOD/GREAT friends in Susanville and I LOVE their kids.

Whell......I guess I better go. Lucy's up and I have to go beat the dogs. Just kidding...

Norah's Adoption

2011-01-15T14:29:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned a few posts ago, the daughter of my friend who passes away is going to be adopted by my friends sister and brother-in-law, Jenni and Brett Goodlin. While this will take about a year, it will also take funds. The Pampered Chef is sponsoring a fundraiser to help aid in these funds. 30% of sales placed on my website will go directly to the Goodlins.
To support this adoption process, visit www.pamperedchef.biz/ashleylefebvre
Click SHOP ONLINE
Enter Nora's Adoption as the organization name
Shop for your favorite kitchen items and be sure to have them directly shipped to you
Please feel free to comment with your questions.

A Heart of Order

2011-01-14T08:19:00.000-08:00

This morning I woke up after 3 lovely days off (we had Dr. appointments in Chico so we went to visit family and stayed an extra day for sanity), to my alarm reminding me that I had to go back to the real world. I rose to find my glasses, flattened my fuzz of a hairball head, got the fire going, and walked through the kitchen to my office. Dishes were undone, stuff was cluttered on the kitchen table, paperwork strewn across my desk. A minute version of chaos--but one that I felt could wait until later, I had to teach.

As I was waiting for my second student to show up, I updated myself on everyone else's blog (i.e. Kait built forts as a kid, Lynae had creative song writing skills that I never new about, and most people are still reeling for the death of Carrisa). One blog I read occasionally is called Passionate Homemaking. I occasionally read this blog because while I love being a stay at home mom, baking bread and finding green alternatives for make-it-yourself beauty products is not something I want to ~~waste~~ spend my time doing. But the photo on my blog dashboard caught my eye and caused me to read the post titled Understanding the Heart of Order.

How I miss Eden. I've obviously never been there, but how my heart longs for the joy of the life we have been given on Earth AND the joy of having an intimate relationship with God.

I've always had an admiration for people who are "Longing for Heaven" but have never felt it myself. I don't long to leave Earth. While I am at peace with the fact that life does come to an end and there is something much greater afterward, I have not longed to leave. Maybe because I am in good health, my child is healthy, and my relationships are healthy. Health... hmmmmm.

I do have physical health. My my heart is very ill. I am a killer, a hater, a judge, a glutton, a spiteful person. I definitely need healing from these malicious cancers.

But I do not need to wait for healing! I guess I'm one of the lucky ones that my cancer can be cured! Trust me, it keeps coming back, but the blood of Jesus Christ makes it go away like it was never there.
Eden. Orderly. Serene. It's such a bummer that we screwed that up. I love this world (not everything in it) but what God has created in it and what he has given me in it!

I wanted to insert an anecdotal little comic about Eden, but they were all stupid, so this is what you get.

Anywho.. this is supposed to be about the heart of order just as God created the Earth with order. It has give me a new charge to be a little more orderly. Ok, a lot more orderly, but baby steps, right?

Photo Updates

2011-01-07T14:54:00.000-08:00

I knew I was behind on posting photos, but I just realized that the last time I posted a photo of Lucy was from Halloween... so here you go!

Just Chillin with Daddy-O

Lucy's first sleep over at Micah and Kayla's (1/1/11)

Bowling in the New Year with the guys

Uncle Matty and Daddy

Lucy's 2nd Birthday

And now that they're all uploaded they're all out of sequence, so good luck figuring it out. Blasted blogger.

2011

2011-01-02T21:17:00.000-08:00

It's a new month, a new year, a new decade, a new week, and just 3 hours away from a new day.

This is perfect timing for a new post following my last one, which was dismal, hopeless, disappointed, sad.

This is perfect timing because I just read a friends blog which contained such good news! As I mentioned in the last post I mentioned the death of a dear friend, Carrisa, who left behind her grieving friends, a family in pain, and an 18 month old daughter. Carrisa was in many ways the glue that held Adam and I close to our Paradise friends--sending us birthday packages, making sure to invite us to parties. Carrisa's death upset me in many ways, but in the celebration of her passing and meeting her Jesus, self-pity set in when I realized I wasn't a very good friend in return. This is the ONLY photo I have of me with Carrisa, and of course it's the whole group of us and this was taken over 6 or 7 years ago.

To quote my friend Lynae (probably the one taking the photo above) "The weight of life that makes us forget to be friends. But then death reminds us to be friends again." It sucks that Carrisa's death has made me realize, I haven't taken the time to be in more photos--which represent memories--sharing priceless moment with friends and people I love.

But we're obviously not to the good news yet! First bit of good news is, I'm vowing to be a better friend, to share more memories. AND I'm choosing to be happy!

Second bit of happy news is about Norah! So many exclamation points because I'm so so happy! Read here. What a joyful answer to prayer!

2 days in and 2011 is beginning to look a lot less bleak. In our darkest moments God DOES answer prayer, but we have to remember that it may not be the answer we are looking for and it most definitely won't be in the timing we are expecting. AND we have to be willing to listen.

2010

2010-12-31T09:05:00.000-08:00

While I wrote a few months ago about how blessed we are by Christ (which we are) (read here), in reality, I was on a high. Not drug induced, but I was really excited in the present moment about my connection to Christ and what all he had done for us. But right now, I feel low. The high is not currently "toked." In reflection of 2010, I feel like I have a lot more questions for God and his doings... my main question is "Why?"

I feel like 2010 was a year of difficult lessons, A year of pain and misunderstanding, and so much of it will blend into 2011. When the year ends tonight at the strike of midnight, all that happened doesn't just go away in the 2010 archives of our lives. The happenings blend over into 2011 and perhaps even the years to come. Why?

Lets start with some GOOD lessons learned:

We bought a house. Best financial decision of our lives so far and we are extremely grateful to all parties that assisted us in making home ownership a reality.
We remodeled our new house WITHOUT GOING INTO DEBT. Holy crap--it still feels weird. I guess I owe Obama a thank you? Nah.
Speaking of Obama--Adam works for the federal government which is proving to be awesome. Thank GOD he doesn't work for the state of California as we may have even more listed in the "Why?" section below.
Lucy is the joy of our lives and while she just celebrated turning 2 yesterday, there is nothing "terrible" about her.
I have a great job that allows me to work from home and stay home with Lucy! I didn't even know this time last year the difference it would make in her flourishment and our family bond.
We have our health; we did experience illnesses and even a surgery, but we are overall healthy and well fed.
We have a loving extended family of friends! Our friends are so dear to us, near and far, thank God for facebook ;)

Ok, now the lessons (un)learned that I still have "Why?" attached to:

I worked in an office this year that made me sour. My faith was not strong enough to keep me positive or a good friend. I burned some bridges and I don't know why that was necessary. Couldn't I have just stayed the "good" person I was and not injured people along the way? Who I was makes me ache and I hate her, but I can't shake her.
A dear friend died about a month ago at the age of 25. She was a mommy of an 18-month-old sweetheart. Why would God leave a child motherless and expose her friends and family to such painful grief? There are SO many "whys" that surround this event, that it hurts. And so many of them are selfish! Ha! Can you believe it? What's with me?
Another dear friend has an ill son and with every glimpse of healing, he is stricken with another ailment. Her last blog was titled 'How Much Longer, Lord?' Nothing seems as difficult as what she has to deal with everyday and yet I complain. Where's the sense in that?
Pregnancy sucks. Not really, I guess... but talk about uncertainty. NO, I'm NOT pregnant. But for months we try to achieve the one task that our bodies are created for (some of us longer than others), and then once we are blessed with the gift of life growing inside of us, we worry for 13 weeks if the pregnancy will be "viable." And then some of us move on to the 2nd trimester triumphantly, relieved from our morning sickness, while some of us grieve from loss and the babies that "didn't make it." What the heck? I HATE miscarriage. And I HATE when my friends have to suffer through it. What kind of crappy lesson is learned from THAT? But just because you've made it to the 2nd trimester doesn't mean you're in the clear. There is so much that can happen! (Perhaps if you're currently pregnant you don't want to be reminded). My best friend has placentia previa and has a 20 month old and a 3 year old. She can't even hold her son when he needs her (she does because she's a good mommy), but jeez... it sucks! And then there's the birthing process... My view is not always so dismal, but it is heavy on my heart to ask WHY such a beautiful and necessary survival skill SUCKS so hard.
We may not have gone into debt for the house remodel, but there is some debt attached to our medical bills--is that a NECESSARY thing to have hanging over our heads?

Why? Seriously, what lessons are there in these that we couldn't learn in a less painful way?
Christ is the ultimate healer.
Without Him there is no hope.
But in a year that seemed so hopeless, what are we to expect for 2011? A second coming? Crap, my heart is not ready for that.
My heart is heavy.

New blog site

2010-11-11T19:12:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I've been thinking about starting a new blog.

I'm no expert on any one thing. But I like my life. I love it. And I have joy. I wonder if I have joy that other wives or mothers are looking for...? So not being an expert and wanting to share joy, I've been thinking about starting a blog about all the things I am NOT an expert on. Cleaning, sewing, parenting, being a working mom, shopping, finding screaming deals to save money, cooking, being a loving wife, being a caring friend... There is so much I have not perfected, I'm just busting at the seams to share my trials and errors! Does any of this make sense? Why would I want to share how NOT good I am at something? Well, for one, to share with you how much of an expert I AM would be arrogant. I would rather share how often I fail and what joy it brings me!

The verse that has urged me to share these delightful failures is Titus 2:4-5:

...[Urge other] women to love their husbands and children,

to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind...

so that no one will malign the word of God.

So, the point of this post is to tell you "I'm thinking about starting a new blog." Now you know why. The next question is: What will the name be? I'd like something catchy but not kitschy, and relevant. I'd like your help! I got this idea from Adam's cousin's wife (so basically MY cousin) Kait who has several blogs, one of which I "helped" name (The Ruffled Owl). She had a lovely apron to give as a gift for this help, but I'm not nearly as crafty, so my prize will be a set of microfiber towels from The Pampered Chef, which happen to be my FAVORITE cleaning tool and may very well be the subject of my first post on my new blog (which has yet to be named).

Please help! I'm looking forward to getting started and the sooner the better. Please submit your suggestions via comment or email by next Friday, November 19th at 12:00pm, noon, PST.

Blessed by the Presence

2010-11-09T11:56:00.000-08:00

My heart has been so full this week.
Heart? Full? What does that look like? I am happy. I have energy. I have patience. I am in love. I feel loved. My home is clean. My yard is tidy. Our bank account is not empty. Dexter should be in my mail box today. Yes, my heart is full.... It is full to the brim, or bursting at the seams with joy.

Oh, and we visited another church last Sunday. It was a church we were hesitant about for the past year because of some of the doctrinal issues that surround that denomination... BUT we enjoyed the Sunday service! The music was pleasant and was contemporary (a little loud, but at least is was on-key), and the preacher actually gave me something to thing about for the rest of the week! I haven't come away from a service feeling "fed" in a LONG time.

The sermon was on Zacchaeus, the unpopular and hated Jewish tax collector from Jesus's time. When Jesus saw "shorty" up in a tree trying to "sneak a peak" he said "Dude, I'm going to be a guest in your house today." Ok, so maybe Jesus didn't say "dude," but he addressed Zacchaeus as a friend and invited himself over. If someone I knew invited them selves over, I would probably be okay with it, however, it depends on who that person was. Someone I ran into at the grocery store and had no priors with? Maybe not so okay... but anyone who I had met more than 2 or 3 time... I'd be like, "yeah, cool, what time? Oh yeah, and you bring the beer." Haha.

Long story short... In response Zacchaeus says that he will pay back anyone he has cheated 4 times greater than what he owes and will give half of his possessions to the poor.

The point? Zacchaeus wanted to give to "redeem" himself as well as to show how blessed he was to have Jesus as a guest. Jesus had never physically met Zacchaeus but he invited himself to his house. Jesus didn't "bless" Zacchaeus with good health, a beautiful wife, obedient children, etc. (at least we are not told such). He was simply blessed by the presence of Jesus.

The preacher charged the congregation to show the world how blessed we are by Jesus. I went away thinking--I am blessed! I have a fabulous house, wonderful daughter, doting husband, and the list goes on... BUT none of these are a result of my faithfulness. I have done NOTHING to deserve these results.

I HAVE SIMPLY BEEN BLESSED BY THE PRESENCE OF CHRIST. Is it silly that this makes me misty eyed? I love the song "Blessed be the Name." We happened to sing it that day in church. One verse says "Every blessing you poor down, I'll turn back to praise." So, as the pastor instructed, I am trying to make it evident that I am blessed by His presence and I am trying to turn those blessings back into praise!

Plus Dexter will be in my mail box later today! YES!

Waiting for February

2010-11-04T13:18:00.000-07:00

Adam and I have planned a mini-vaca for the first weekend of February. No, it's not Hawaii. No, it's not Cabo. No, it's not even a different state or somewhere "vacation-y" like the beach. Sacramento. Don't laugh. I AM SO EXCITED. Sacramento is my 2nd honeymoon: for 2 glorious nights in the Rancho Cordova Marriott (courtesy of my Uncle Kenny); a Kings game vs. the San Antonio Spurs; a tour of the Capitol Building; a quiet visit to the newly re-opened Crocker Art Museum, where I am Ashley, Adam's wife--not a household secretary, underpaid maid, on-call taxi driver, puppy pooper-scooper... the list goes on. I am and will forever be honorary title of Mommy, and I will miss Lucy dearly for those 3 days, but I NEED to connect with my husband without things that distract me from just being his wife. Oh, and I do LOVE being his wife. ;)

On another note... speaking about being husband and wife; Adam and I finally share a closet! We moved into this house in February and everything about it (since our remodel) is nearly perfect EXCEPT for the closet space. There are 3 single door closets in the whole house with one cabinet in the bathroom, and one mini-closet for linens. I got the closet in our bedroom and Adam got annexed to the coat closet, which made it really convenient on laundry day, BUT it just felt wrong not sharing a closet. So, I bought these "closet extenders" and now we share a closet! Yay! It's the simple things...

November beginnings

2010-11-02T20:38:00.000-07:00

A great way to start a new month is with a winning record at the World Series. Not me of course, but the SF Giants. Regardless of whether you're a Yankees fan, or a Braves fan, you can't deny that this past series was just darn-good baseball.

Another great way to start a new month is with nearly $100 in savings! Yep, $100. I've been really looking online for good deals on things we need and trying to be frugal and one of the ways I've done this is signing up for the Just for U program with Safeway.

As a Safeway club member, I automatically get their club card deals. Now they have even more savings available in coupons. But the Club Card was supposed to save us from clipping coupons, right? Right! The nice thing about the Just for U program is the coupons are "clipable" online and automatically connected to your club card or phone number that you use at checkout. You "clip" the coupons online, and you can print your shopping list which lists your coupons by category and reminds you of your savings and when the coupon expires.

So, yes, it was an overall fabulous experience. At the beginning of my shopping trip, I was a little annoyed because it took me a little longer than my regular shopping trip (just choosing what I needed by the cheapest Club price) because I had to look for the items which I had a coupon for. For regular coupon clippers, this is probably a typical experience, but it was all new to me. I also ended up buying more than I usually would BUT I won't have to shop again as soon as I would in a typical month.

So, my total bill was almost $300 before the savings. I saved over $100 and the savings were so huge that the cashier needed an override from the manager! That made me feel special! I felt bad that I held up the line for an extra 30 seconds, but HELLO! I JUST SAVED A BUTT-LOAD OF MONEY!

Can you tell I was/am excited?

Church

2010-10-31T20:43:00.000-07:00

We do not have a church that we are regularly attending here in Susanville. I have a list of excuses as long as my arm as to why... but really it comes down to one fact--none of them are Ridge. I "begged" Tom to plant a church here, but I was politely told no (and rightly so), so we've begun our search again.

Today we visited the Highland Baptist Church after a knock on our door yesterday morning. They handed us a really great pamphlet on their church and I thought "why not?" It was a nice and short service, they had child care so we could focus on the sermon (which was on the parable of the prodigal son in Luke). However, the music was strictly hymns with no instruments--which has been a real turn off for us. The folks there were SO kind and we could tell that they were wanting new attendees, but it just wasn't the church for us.

We were so lucky to find Centerpointe in Eureka when we did (fresh in our marriage, we had only lived in Eureka for 2 or 3 months). It had a pastor who preached well, and that sense of "family" which we find very important. We've been in Susanville for a year and a half and aren't plugged in anywhere yet. The Church in Susanville is where most of our friends go, and they have been our "family" however, their Sunday service is not what we're looking for either; they don't have instruments, and there is no child care--two deal breakers.

With the remodel over the summer, we were so distracted from finding a church that just now do we feel like we can exert the energy to find one. We've tried the EV Free, Nazarene, Calvary Chapel, Chruch of Christ--denominations I thought I would never step a foot into... we are just trying to find where God is leading us. I think the "lesson" in all of this is "don't knock it until you've tried it," and we've been so spoiled at Ridge, I wonder if God wants us to go somewhere that needs us, but we don't necessarily need them...?

Just keep us in mind if you hear of someone saying "I love this church in Susanville," and give them our number! Next week we're going to try the Assembly of God. I'll update you then :)

Halloween 2010

2010-10-31T20:32:00.000-07:00

We had many events this weekend for Halloween. Friday was "Safe and Sane" where all of the Uptown shops hand out candy. We went with our friends Janessa, Kayla (the mermaid), and Micah (Mr. Monkey). Luckily they close off the streets, because the amount of people there was ridiculous. We moved up and down Main like a herd of cattle and just as slow. It was fun to show off Lucy however and she got some good treats.

After Safe and Sane we drove over to Almanor to see my dad who was staying in a cabin there on his annual fly-fishing trip with my uncle and several other guys (Adam was there, too, that night). Lucy was so excited to see Papa. She kept asking if she would also see Dash and Riley (my parent's dogs).

Saturday night was the Harvest Party with The Church in Susanville (a church that we do not go to, but have a lot of friends there). When I got Lucy dressed for the party, she asked "Papa?" I had to explain to her that no, we wouldn't be seeing Papa tonight. She asked "And Dash?" She's so silly. Lucy got to go "fishing" for treats, and play "kick the gourd." Flo (pastor's wife) made fresh baked bread which made me want to take up baking bread... however, I don't know how, and I don't have a loaf pan. SO, I'll have to do one or the other here pretty quick. Here's Lucy sitting with her buddy McKenzie who lives down the street from us.

Tonight we went trick-or-treating at 4pm. We caught everyone off guard--no one was ready with their candy out yet. We knew it was early, but more than anything, we just wanted to show off Lucy and add to our candy supply. By the time we went out, it was the third time she'd worn her costume (which I amateurishly made), and it was looking kinda shabby. I neglected to take pictures, but I figured we had enough. Oh, and when I put her costume on her she said, "Papa?"

Pumpkin Patch 2010

2010-10-28T22:31:00.000-07:00

New Website!

2010-09-20T09:47:00.000-07:00

I think I totally forgot to mention that I have my Pampered Chef website now!
The nice thing about my website is you can place an order even when there isn't an open show. Here's how:
1. Visit www.pamperedchef.biz/ashleylefebvre
2. Click on SHOP ONLINE.
3. Select option number 2 on the page to place an individual order.
4. A pop-up will appear that says ATTENTION, just to make sure you don't want to apply your order to someone's open show. Click "Otherwise click here to continue."
5. You will be redirected to our online catalog where you can place your order!

No bottle...

2010-09-09T20:34:00.000-07:00

Ok, so here's a kicking the bottle update.
My bribery with the baby? Yeah, didn't work.
Baby's cries were stronger than mommy's will...
Anywho... we got a new puppy and the puppy ate the last nipple I had for Lucy's orthodontic bottle.
I thought, perfect, this is a sign to quit cold turkey.
Nope, once again, mommy was weak and pulled out the nursing bottles hidden up in the closet.
Last night, for whatever reason, when it was time for bed, Lucy gave her daddy her good-night kisses, grabbed her sippy cup and headed to her room. She never asked for a bottle! So I saw this as a good sign, put her to bed with her cup, and I didn't hear a peep all night!
Tonight is night two of this bed-time ritual! I am as pleased as pie. Is that an appropriate idiom?
So now I suppose the plan is to send her to bed with a sippy cup with milk for a while and then phase to water. We'll phase out the cup all together closer to potty training when wetting at night will actually be an issue.
Yay for me! Yay for Lucy!!

Work

2010-08-31T08:31:00.000-07:00

This week I start consulting through TutorABC online. I'm actually quite nervous. I've had it pretty easy that last few years with being in the same line of work and feeling equipped for the job. Now, I'm joining the teaching field (never been there), consulting Mandarin speakers (don't know a lick of it), helping them perfect their English comprehension and pronunciation (I'm an Art Major)! I know English. I did quite well in college... but college was a long time ago and I'm worried that I'll be sub-par. Plus I get graded after each session (class) by my students and if they grade me poorly my hourly wage goes down. Scary!

The timing should be interesting as well. Each session is 45 minutes. No problem. But I need to coordinate these sessions around Lucy's naps or when she's occupied and won't need me at all. I tried to get up this morning at 5:00 am to see what it would be like if I chose to start a session at 5:30 am (which is the plan). I rolled over when Adam got up at that time and didn't wake again until 7:00! It's going to be very difficult. My plan is to teach 4-5 classes a day, but I'm thinking realistically it'll be 3 or 4 at the most. Luckily I can work 7 days a week if need be to help with our cash flow.

So, the first class is today at 1:30..... wish me luck!

4 of us

2010-08-26T10:59:00.000-07:00

So apparently a year is not long enough to remember you have a brother-in-law. Joe will be in Monterey as well. Which is a good thing, because he'll be DD :)

Sigh...

2010-08-26T07:15:00.000-07:00

Well, I am up this morning, as early as it is... I was supposed to start consulting today online for my new company, but again there's another glitch and it didn't happen. But rather than going back to bed, I decided to stay up, enjoy the silence and wait to see if the garbage man will take all my cardboard boxes on this glorious recycling day.

Life is not "normal" around here. "Normal" however is a subjective word... Normal for us has really changed in the last 2 months. I look forward to our new normal, but that will require the roof being completed. Adam is such a hard worker-- after 10 hours a day working in the forest, he comes home and works ANOTHER 4 hours on the roof. And then after his 40 hour work week, he works on it all weekend. Needless to say, I don't see him much. BUT I'm honestly not complaining. If he were camping this much, or backpacking, or even being lazy, YES, I would complain. But we have a common goal here and it includes getting a roof on our house before the sky starts falling in what we predict will be about 6 weeks. For those of you in Paradise, it's called snow. REAL snow :) with -15 degree below weather.

With not being able to spend as much time with Adam as we used to (it IS just momentary) Lucy and I have had to find ways to entertain our selves. This weekend we're going to Chico for a Gardner family get-together. We have family coming in from out of state and it'll be fun to get to see everybody. Well, almost everybody. We know a few won't make it (Matt and Kait, Katie, Beth and Dave) and they WILL be missed.

I'm very excited about next weekend's potential (Labor Day weekend). We were planning a family trip to Yosemite, however with the roof occupying Adam's weekends, we decided to postpone. So, that gives me an opportunity to go to Monterey with my mom to help her orchestrate a wedding that weekend. It will be work, but it's going to be SO much fun, because my dad is also going, and my sister is in the wedding. It'll be just the four of us for the first time in over 5 years! Yes, just the FOUR of us. I'm shipping Lucy out. I'm hoping Marian will be able to take her and it's sounding hopeful, but I won't know for sure for another day or so.

I am so excited about the prospect of my OWN schedule. Taking a walk down cannery row BY MY SELF. Granted I'll be at the whim of my mom (which is the point of this trip--she's the boss and I like ti that way) but even if there's 10 minutes down-time where I can just do one thing by myself that doesn't involve "running" to Wal-Mart for TP, or orchestrating a trip out of the house around naps, it'll be the BEST WORKING VACATION EVER.

Well, the recycling truck is almost here and I don't want to be rude. :)

Adam's Anniversary Band

2010-08-19T20:16:00.000-07:00

I've had many comments requesting a photo of Adam's new ring...

So here you go. It's actually pretty massive. It's a size 11 and weighs a lot. Kurt (the designer) and I wanted to use all the gold from my grandmother's bracelet so that it's thick and IF something happens, it's less likely to break or bend. Adam primarily uses his right hand at work, but on the weekends he's working on the house, chopping wood, he may get called on a fire, so we wanted it to hold up to as much abuse as possible.

Smile Pretty

2010-08-19T20:02:00.000-07:00

Summer Lovin'

2010-08-19T10:49:00.000-07:00

ditching the bottle night 1 & 2

2010-08-12T21:10:00.000-07:00

Well, last night Lucy really wanted her baby. She kept saying, "Baby, baby." We gave it to her at bed time instead of a bottle and she made it about twenty minutes. After 20, she started crying. I let her cry for 15 more minutes and then went in and she was asking for a bottle. I gave in and gave her a watered-down bottle of milk and made sure to take it out of her crib when we went to bed, and she slept through the night (not uncommon).

Tonight she made it a half hour with the baby and then cried. She didn't ask for a bottle though, she just wanted to be held (today was a rough day with an off nap schedule and too-short of a nap as well). So I gave her a bottle of water and explained that if she wants a bottle, the baby cannot sleep with her in her crib. She was ok with that. So she's sleeping soundly now and at least the bottle is water and not milk.

Tonight will be another night--in Paradise actually, so we'll see if being in a different place hinders this process... probably, but it has to be done! If I have to start over on Saturday night, it won't be a big deal. But I think she's getting the idea.

5 years

2010-08-11T12:40:00.000-07:00

Adam and I celebrated our 5-year anniversary this month... technically we celebrated last month, but our anniversary was actually August 7.

On a whim, we decided to go out to dinner to celebrate, about 3 weeks ago. We went to Lake Almanor and ate at Gamboni's Grill. The meals were fabulous! We had such a great time on the drive there, during the meal, and on the drive back. We were made for each other!

The most exciting part about our anniversary was the gifts! Yes, I love what he gave me (Hot Diamonds After Hours Embrace Cuff Bracelet--see photo), and I wear it every day. BUT I was REALLY excited about what I got him.

When we got married, Adam was working odd jobs with construction and we wanted a ring that would hold up to Adam's abuse of his hands. For a wedding band we purchased a $40 titanium band from Overstock.com. That ring held up wonderfully and served it's purpose, but now that he has his career and is "nicer" to his hands, I waned to buy him a "real" wedding band.

I had a design in mind so I went to see Kurt at Leslie's Jewelry here in Susanville and he totally executed it. I used some of my grandma's gold jewelry to melt down into the ring which is kinda special, because it was the same grandmother whose ring we adapted for my wedding set. Adam has a degree in forestry and it has been so wonderful seeing something he's passionate about and being a part of it. I wanted the ring to feature two trees with trunks that met in the middle--two strong, independent beings that meet together and are better as one (us!). The trees are engraved and unique--they are un-uniform like redwood trees, which is fun because we spent the first 4 years of our marriage living in the redwoods! The engraved trees are coated in chromium and the rest of the band is polish yellow gold. It's BEAUTIFUL! When I gave it to him he said "I finally have a REAL wedding band." YES! That was the best thing I could have heard. He made me happy--even without giving me the bracelet of my dreams...

There is so much to the story of this anniversary and many more details! It was very special and I will always remember it.

Here's to 60 more baby!

ditching the bottle

2010-08-11T12:15:00.000-07:00

In a moment of desperation, a year ago I gave Lucy a bottle at night to help her sleep. This is a horrible habit and one that I have wanted to break for months. Sure, quit cold turkey would work, but I'm weak. I can't take the hysterical screaming and pleas for a "ba-ba."

SO! I've come up with a plan! I'd like to bribe her! Yeah, from one faux-paus to another, right?

Anywho... Last night I bought her a baby doll. Her FIRST baby doll. It has it's own blankie and is just the right size. It will come out right before before bed when she starts her nightly bottle, and then while putting her to bed, the baby will come out of the box! She can either take Baby to bed, or "ba-ba." She may choose "ba-ba." If she does, no Baby. Baby will only be for ni-night, just like bottle. We'll try again the next night... and the next night... and hopefully it won't take too much longer, but when she kicks the bottle, she can have Baby any time of day.

Simultaneously, I'll be watering down the bottle just in case she doesn't ever choose Baby. I know the milk is bad for her teeth so hopefully we can get to just water. Worse comes to worse, after she's transitioned to water, I'll transition her to a sippy cup.

I have used the word hopefully several times... Hopefully, this is a good plan!

reality check

2010-08-09T14:34:00.000-07:00

I have to keep myself in check with what I post on this blog. It is public. It's not a journal that is stored under my mattress and anything I emotionally write is not kept private. I have not always handled situations maturely and for that I am human but not necessarily kind.
Slanderous words travel fast, but apologies are slower. I do not wish to take back my words for I feel that would not be honest, but I do wish to apologize for the manner in which I have handled the situation.

Father's Day Camping Trip to Antelope Lake

2010-07-15T22:10:00.000-07:00

For Father's Day we decided to do an impromptu camping trip. Luckily living in Lassen County, there are a lot of close options. There was in Humboldt as well, but it's much dryer here. We went to Antelope Lake, one of the many campgrounds there, with a lake side site.

Our humble abode. It was so special to wake up the three of us in our little tent and Lucy gave daddy his cards.

Mommy and baby.Camping always makes me dehydrated. Drinking alcohol doesn't necessarily help, but I had to drink the Mike's in order to use the bottle to fill it with water to drink. Lucy LOVES bottles and it's almost a silly obsession. She couldn't have it of course when it had Mike's in it, so I let her have it with water. And yes, we are THOSE kind of parents who thought it was SO funny and took a picture of it. We are those parents.

Lucy is the kind of kid you can give a task and she does not get distracted and it her nature to NEED to complete the task. We told her to collect sticks for daddy's fire and she was happy collecting bark and pine cones for the majority of the afternoon.Our baby girl was exhausted. I love to take in these precious sleeping moments. I can't explain why other than this is one intimate moment that we as parents will not always get to see. When she's older and married I will get to see her and hear her laugh and watch her put on her shoes (correctly hopefully by the time she's married), but I will not always get to watch her sleep, so soundly, snuggling with "Scout," catching flies.

Good trip with a few stressful moments, none worth mentioning here, because the trip was so delightful and worth the "casualties."

New Windows

2010-07-15T22:03:00.001-07:00

Just Lucy

2010-07-15T21:57:00.000-07:00

Trouble sleeping

2010-07-15T21:51:00.000-07:00

I've been laid off for 2 weeks now. I am really loving it, but for whatever reason, I'm having trouble sleeping. I do believe these two items are related, however, I'm not sure why. Now that I'm at home, I have a ton of stuff running through my head. I'm sure it could be argued that I'm not getting mentally exhausted enough at home like it was at work... sure. But I'm physically working a lot more... I used to just sit at my desk for 8 hours. I remember getting up for lunch (the second or third time I'd stand in the day) and I would have to stretch because my hips were so sore from sitting. My hips have been great at home! So physically I'm more tired, but as soon as my head hits the pillow, the list starts running of what I need to do tomorrow. *sigh* Hence me up at 10pm blogging.
Well, lucky you, this should be a good few posts, catching you up on the last couple months.

New Job

2010-06-23T14:18:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been job searching for a few weeks and and have had a few interviews with no positive feed back... YET. None negative either, but just none positive.

While waiting to find out "what's next" I decided to start my own business selling Pampered Chef. I've always enjoyed going to parties or "shows" featuring products like Avon, Mary Kay, Tupperware... and even tried to sell mark. in college with no success. But I've matured in a lot of ways and have run my own business as a Realtor(R) so I feel now that I have the skills to succeed at selling Pampered Chef.

I've REALLY wanted to start my own business packaging gift baskets for escrow closing gifts, holidays, and the like, but did NOT want to be self-employed. There is so much that goes along with that that I'm just not prepared for and don't WANT to be prepared for. However, with PC I am a sub-contractor and will be 1099-ed at the end of each year. Which is fine--all I have to worry about is keeping track of my taxes... I can deal.

I have a lot of business ideas and I can't wait to get started. My "stuff" should be here next week sometime and then I'm off to "book" "shows." So without being said, if you or someone you know would be interested in hosting a party, I would love to do a show for them! I've already tried to hit up a few of my friends. More than anything, please help me start my new business-- even if you can only think of 2 people who would come to a show, I still want the practice and I want to spend time with people in this business.

Oh, and keep posted for my website. If you're not into a show, you can always order our fabulous products through my catalog or my website. Thanks!

Home Improvements

2010-05-28T12:55:00.000-07:00

We've been working one day at a time on our house, getting things updated and replaced.

Mother's day weekend we planted lawn seed (after the prior weekend of tilling and prepping the ground). This what our grass looks like now! It's looking great and is coming in fast!

Here are a few of the things we've done up to this point:

New lights in the kitchen/dining
Windows are ordered and sitting in the driveway ready to be installed
New grass/garden areas
New 50 gallon water heater
All new BLACK kitchen appliances

Here are our plans for the next month or so (more importantly, the kitchen is this weekend):

Strip and re-stain the kitchen cabinets
Take down wall cabinets, cut, reinstall, and move fridge
Strip the vinyl floors with ammonia
Install new kitchen faucet
Install new kitchen counters (purchased last weekend at Home Depot; yes, I drove from there to Susanville with them hanging out of my trunk)
Change out all cabinet hardware
Install pull-out cabinet drawers
Paint the kitchen (not this weekend)
Pull off the paneling in our bedroom and paint (basically re-decorate with our new comforter set)
Change lighting in playroom.
Drapes in bedrooms (sigh)
Have a House Warming Party!!

Feels overwhelming and exciting, but it's a relatively short list that we can tackle in a relatively short amount of time. I'll post more photos once things are accomplished.

Catherine's Graduation from Chico State

2010-05-28T12:25:00.000-07:00

My little baby sister graduated from CSU Chico Sunday, May 23 as a candidate for a bachelor's degree in Art with an emphasis in photography. She has been working her tail off to graduate "on time" for the past weeks, months, and in all reality, past 4 years. The whole fam-damily gathered to watch the ceremony and then we went to Catherine and Joe's apartment for a great party. The ceremony itself was cold--it started at 9:00am after a Saturday of rain, but once we got to Cady's I actually got sunburned on my shoulders! It was so nice to see all the family and celebrate Catherine's accomplishment. I'm so proud of her!!

She's on the big screen!

She's the tall drink of water with the lei coming down the ramp.

I tried to get a shot here of them throwing their hats. Not so much.

Graduate wifey and proud hubby.

Pudding for my Puddin'

2010-05-28T11:16:00.001-07:00

Every once in a while, you gotta let lose as a momma and let your kid get messy. It just so happens that in this particular case, she got the high chair mess, the walls, messy, and the bath tub messy!

She had a great time with the pudding and was SO happy!

New Post

2010-05-24T12:57:00.001-07:00

I promised I would update my blog today. But I lied. I'm too tired. Maybe tomorrow?

Weekend at Home

2010-04-12T11:38:00.000-07:00

I love having weekends at home! We got so much accomplished. Adam was home Friday and had a burn pile. Saturday he mowed the back yard and took a load to the dump. Saturday and Sunday I re-decorated our bathroom (including new paint and towels), re-organized the pantry and kitchen cupboards, did about 5 loads of laundry, painted the front door red, cleaned the house and actually took photos to share with you! Aren't you lucky!? I'll post some more once we make more improvements and finish decorating (ie. our room and Lucy's room). Here you go!

Dining area and "downstairs" playroom

Kitchen

Bathroom

Dining area off of kitchen

Living Room

Oh yeah! Ads!

2010-03-31T13:35:00.000-07:00

I've signed up for Google AdSense. So, you'll probably see relevant ads in the margins of my blog posts. CLICK ON THESE! I make money if you do and I would really appreciate the extra cash. :)

Twenty-six

2010-03-31T12:59:00.000-07:00

I've really had the urge to blog lately. Our life is so steady and solid and it's made me appreciate simpler things around me rather than stressing.

Lucy is growing exponentially! She's realized that when she does something funny we laugh, which makes her do it over and over, which in itself is funny so we keep laughing. Her hair is getting long, but not long enough to do anything with. She's in a size 4 diaper now and is walking so good. When we go to Wal-Mart we let her "run" and once she gets going she stumbles. A few weeks ago she was teething with 3 molars coming in and she was a completely different baby--fussy, whiny, obnoxious. Now that they've poked through, she's my Lucy again--making jokes, singing and dancing, hitting the dog and laughing hysterically.

Tomorrow Adam turns 28. I'm so excited! He's going to pick up a prime piece of meat from Idaho Market to BBQ and I'm going to sauté mushrooms and asparagus and bake crescent rolls. And the highlight of my day will be making a lemon meringue pie from scratch. I made him the same recipe last year and it was SO good. The meringue took some practice but it was worth it and I have a better "plan of attack" this year. Our friend Matt will be joining us as well as his out-of-town girlfriend Donna.

Next Tuesday, I turn 26. I feel so old. And I'm not just saying this to make the people who are older than me even older than they are. 26 is "late" 20's to me. It's the "over the hill" of 20's. I'm not depressed that I thought I'd have more accomplished by this age, or that I'd be in a "different place," but rather that I didn't treat my early 20's the way they should have been treated. I should have played more, I should have laughed more, I shouldn't have been so serious, I should have... But rather than wallow in my own self-pity, I'm going to make 26 my best year! Here are a few things I have planned:

DRESS like I'm 26--I'm young and I only have a few more years to dress that way before I start looking silly.
Lose 30 lbs (I'm 1/5 of the way there)--After getting married I let myself go and other than wanting to LOOK good, I want to feel better. I've felt like the last few years that my body was older than I was--my knees pop, my back aches. I've lot all my baby weight and then some and now is the time to loose my "newlywed weight."
Have another baby. Yes, that is the goal. NOT today, but this year sometime. MY "ready" point is losing the 30 lbs. If I can lose them, then that's my indicator that I'm ready. My body will be healthier and more equipped for baby-making and the ultimate goal is a VBAC. Too much information? Sorry.
Love more! There's no explanation needed--we could all give and receive more love in our life.

Twenty-six will be a good year for me.

Perks

2010-03-17T13:25:00.000-07:00

I my line of work, we don't always get recognized for our hard work. A lot of buyers and sellers don't realize the work that goes on "behind the scenes" in Real Estate. I happen to be an agent AND the office receptionist AND marketing coordinator. I have to make executive decisions and often hire and fire companies we use. It's nice to have the power trip, but telling someone "no" isn't' always easy. Today I received a wonderful surprize from an ad company we recently created a business relationship with. These were delivered to me:

I know that my paycheck is my recognition of my work, but it's nice to have a little extra perk here and there.

St. Patty's Day

2010-03-17T10:55:00.000-07:00

Today is Saint Patrick's Day. This day always reminds me of my late Grandma Elizabeth. I don't even think she was Irish, but she always had "Kiss me, I'm Irish" stickers.

We had our corned beef brisket last week, so tonight we're having Stroganoff.

Lucy's been EXCEPTIONALLY fussy for about 2-3 weeks. It wasn't until after a high fever (103) this past weekend that I decided to take her to the doctor. I assumed that if she didn't have other symptoms (runny nose, fever, cough) there wasn't anything wrong. Then with the fever I assumed she had an ear infection. Then waiting at the doctor's office, she broke out in a rash that started behind her ears and made it's way down to her diaper line. Yeah, so when the doctor saw her, she had no fever, clear ears, and essentially nothing wrong. THEN tomorrow, she was throwing a mini tantrum and I could see in her mouth. SHE'S GETTING 3 MOLARS! I didn't think she'd get molars this young. But they are sharp and no wonder she's been so fussy. Adam's getting in a wisdom tooth and it makes him grumpy too :)

I'm having a Pampered Chef party this weekend. The theme is Senoritas and Margaritas! It'll be our first gathering in our house since the Superbowl (which is the weekend we moved in). I'm very excited. Melinda (my friend and co-worker) picked up some margarita glasses from the dollar store to serve in and then let the guests take home. The dish we'll be making is a Chipotle Chili Cornbread. Yummy. It should be a lot of fun!

Adam (and his friend Matt) just took me out to lunch at Primo. Good food.

Tomorrow night my mom and Aunt Lori are visiting to paint my house--the inside that is. Jared our painter should be painting the outside tomorrow. Finally it's above 40 degrees here. Yesterday got up to 66, and so far today it's 52.

Well, I hope you're wearing green so the leprechauns don't pinch you! Have a safe and happy St. Patty's Day!

Musings on Motherhood

2010-03-11T14:30:00.000-08:00

Just a few thoughts from a mom... perhaps you can relate.

I just got my white jacket dry cleaned so that I don’t look like a bum when I’m out and about, however I left the house this morning with spilled milk on my shirt and hard-boiled-egg-yolk-handprints all over my pants at knee-level.

I bought a frame at IKEA that has 2 sides so I could put a picture of Lucy on one side and a photo of me and Adam on the other. It’s sat on my desk for 2 weeks—empty.

Lucy’s clothes came out of the dryer smelling like fish but I dressed her in them anyways so then I sprayed her with Febreze.

Photos...

2010-03-04T16:35:00.000-08:00

I am SO sorry that my last post was SO long ago.
Well... We bought a house. Yep, we are the proud owners of a 2 bedroom, 1 bath in Susanville! Here are the listing photos:

Ugly, right? Yep, well, much has changed... and the changes will keep coming. The house is now purple... Trust me, it was an accident. But once we have better weather (it's been snowing off and on for a couple months), we'll have it repainted a gray color like wet cement. The trim will be white and come summer we'll put on a new Black roof. Oh, and we'll have the feng-shui red front door.

We've since had the bathroom remodeled with tile and a pedestal sink (yet to be installed). We put a hearth and wood stove in the living room. The room you see with a fireplace is currently our "office" and where all the boxes that have yet to be unpacked are kept. That is our big project for this weekend--finish the interior! I'll post more photos of the interior next week after we've got it all straightened up this weekend.

As for Lucy (she's the star of this show, right?) She's walking and "talking." Here's a video of her walking.

For more photos please visit http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2035459&id=30900776&l=089b3bd150

Lucy's 1-Year Photo shoot with Catherine Cruz

2010-01-13T11:44:00.000-08:00

Lefebvre Update

2010-01-13T11:06:00.001-08:00

SO! Long time, no post...

The Lefebvres are doing quite well here in Susanville. We celebrated a very nice Christmas with both of our families and rolled in the New Year like a couple of old folks: "Do we have to stay up? I guess we should..." Last year we were in the hospital and slept through New Years, and we were bummed that we "missed it." But we have a 1 year old now and have magically turned into old farts.

We are still in escrow on our house here in Susanville. We're hoping to close by the 28th but the appraiser called for the paint to be done before we close and with the cold weather, we're hoping and praying that it can be done in 15 days.

We've met some new friends in town which is what I had really been hoping and praying for. (Lots of hoping and praying goin' on here!) They're a Christian family with 2 kids and we got together with them last night for dinner and really hit it off!

Today I had an ultrasound on my abdomen to see if I have gall stones. The tech said everything looked clear, but that just means there will probably be other tests to follow to find out why I've been having such stomach issues. Diet elimination has been the only thing to help so far, but that has really limited what I can eat. Rather than giving you an example of what DOES upset things, I'll give you the list of things that DOES NOT: bread, pickles, pretzels, cooked vegetables. That's it. Pretty boring, huh? Well... hopefully we can figure it out and it's not an allergy or something.

This weekend we're going to try out a new church in town. I'll let you know how that goes. Adam and I both have Monday off, so we're going to stay in and rent movies to watch on our NEW 46" plasma TV !!! Our Christmas gift to each other was the commitment to save up for a TV and last weekend, we reach our goal and made a special trip to Costco to buy it! Our last TV was a BEAST and weighed close to 100 lb. The new plasma is so light and hardly takes up any room in my little apartment living room. It'll take up even less of the room in our NEW HOUSE (granted we close :).

My only resolution this year is to be more organzied and to pick up better after myself (it may sound like 2 resolutions, but it's really just one). And if you were to look at my kitchen table, you may say I've already blew it. But I'm exempt from holding to my resolution until we move (I've decided). Why try and be organized in a space that I don't like and in a house that is too small for us. But we have started to put seasonally used items in a storage unit, which has helped me feel like I'm on the right path. Haha, I just realized in our NEW HOUSE we'll have about 400 extra square feet for our stuff, which is the same size as my & Adam's first apartment. Ha!

Ok, enough for now. Thanks for reading and when there's something new to share, I'll let you know!! xoxox (It's like a journal entry)!

Lucy's first Birthday

2010-01-13T10:54:00.000-08:00

This was the highlight of Lucy's first birthday party; she was so joyful... that and the fact that over 48 people attended! We felt so blessed to be surrounded by our friends and family from the Paradise Area (and some from MUCH further away) even though we haven't lived there in 5 years!

On her actual birthday we took her out to TCBY and let her have her own frozen yougurt cup.

This last year has been the most joyful for Adam and myself. We love Lucy so much and she is the perfect addition to our lives.

At her one year appointment she weighed in at just 17.5 lbs, and 28.5"! She's still a petite little thing, but she sure takes up a lot of room in our house. :)

I'm looking forward to another year with Lucy. I can't wait to see her walk and start to formulate sentences and all the other things that happen before 2.... She's my joy!

Lucy's first Christmas

2010-01-13T10:21:00.000-08:00

Lucy and her new Nintendog from Great Grandma Lue.

Bear loves lucy's new Nintendog too.

Lucy loving her new dolly from Grandma Marian in her cute "My First Christmas" PJs
Lucy chowing on a candy cane.

Bear in his new bed in front of the furnace. LOVING it!

Lucy's first Christmas Tree

Lucy being silly on the floor of mommy's work on Christmas Eve.

Playing catch-up with Thanksgiving...

2010-01-13T10:17:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving at my parents was fabulous and came and went. Lucy, who loves baby food sweet potatoes, did not like the real thing, even with marshmallows!

We brought along our friend Matt (he works with Adam in the Forest Service, but his family is in New York) and he was a great addition to the festivities.

Lucy and her pretty auntie Cady.

Nothing new...

2009-12-09T13:56:00.000-08:00

Things are good here.... Nothing really new to report. We've had sub freezing temperatures for a few days now. There's about 6 inches of snow on the ground and the streets are frozen. Working in property management has been interesting because every tenant call and thinks that they are the only ones in the world with frozen pipes and no hot water. You'd think that everyone who's lived here more than a year would get it by now--you have to HELP things to keep from freezing and if it's -15 outside EVERYBODY's pipes are frozen. We're warm and toasty, however. Lucy i think has been getting cold at night--she's not a still sleeper and tosses off her down blanket every night, so tonight I'm going to try a space heater. Welp, that's all.... stay warm!

Preaching to the Chior?

2009-11-24T09:37:00.000-08:00

We have so much to be thankful for this year! Great is the Lord’s faithfulness! To give you an update: Adam is now a permanent employee of the Forest Service. Today is his “first day.” I cannot express enough the following:

Kids—go to school. God will be faithful to reward your hard work. He WANTS you to be successful and he has such great plans for you in employment.
Love one another. Love is the only way that we have made our marriage work. Granted, all you need is NOT love, but patience and joy and trust and desire for a successful marriage. After God, Adam is my number one. Lucy will always be my BFF, but also my #2.
Be patient. Our life together started as man and wife in 2005. We were not rich, we had no money to our name, in fact, our debt was more than we made in a year. Our first year of marriage we made $10,000. That’s it! We kept plugging along though, trusting that God would provide. He gave us the means to get out of debt and gave us the endurance to stick with part time employment while finishing school.
Consider it all joy! In May we moved from a beautiful CLEAN 2 bedroom apartment in Eureka to a crappy, dirty, hell hole in Susanville. Ok, so maybe it wasn’t THAT bad, but I hated it and I wanted to move as soon as possible. I did complain more than my share, but I stuck with it and God has blessed us with the fact that we’ve never had to call the cops or make complaints about our neighbors. And now, we’re looking to buy a house! It would be nearly impossible for us to buy right now if we had moved again. Moving is so expensive.
Let go and let God. We really stressed this year about everything. Lucy’s health. Money. Adam’s school. Adam’s job. Where we were going to move. Ashley’s job. Money. Our living situation. Money. Did I mention we stressed about Money? Any way… why did we stress?

Matthew 6 says:
25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? 28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

I fail these simply rules time and time again (except for the “go to school” part. Been there, done that). But God is faithful when I am not!

Snow Day!!

2009-11-22T21:15:00.000-08:00

This week we had our first snow in Susanville. It started about 11am on Friday and continued through the afternoon. We had between 4 and 6 inches. We saw this as the perfect opportunity to let Lucy play in the snow (as much as her snow suit would let her) and take a family photo.Lucy's first snow angelWe ARE a handsome family!

The snow coming down from our living room windowLucy did not like eating the snow.

Here's a video treat for you!

Lucy at 10 Months

2009-11-22T21:12:00.000-08:00

So pretty in pink!!

Lucy's First Spaghetti

Uncle Joe visited and he and Daddy spent most of their time lounging on the couch and on their iPhones. The were probably even texting each other.

At one point we all had the swine flu. It was horrible. Lucy was able to sleep anywhere.

She LOVES baths! And has the wrinkliest butt!

Our little Flower

2009-11-09T13:54:00.000-08:00

Back from Paradise

2009-11-02T13:03:00.000-08:00

We just got back from a vary nice visit to Paradise. Other that just passing through on our way to the Lord's Land in September, we hadn't visited since Catherine's wedding at the end of August. We took Lucy to several friends homes on Halloween to "trick-or-treat." She was so cute dressed as a flower. As soon as I figure out how to post the photos, I will (they're in a wierd format). We visited Grandma Marian at her new house and Aunt Kim at Casa de Paradiso. Great Grandma Lue was visiting and Lucy got to spend a lot of quality time with her. It was so good to get to see everybody and not feel overwhelmed by the traveling. Sunday, even Great-Great Uncle Clyde and Aunt Orpha drove up for a visit. Saturday night we went to a party at Jessica and Dustin Jackson's house. We had a great time! Sunday we went to church and the intern pastor preached a great sermon on Revalation 4. Check it out at http://ridgechurch.podbean.com/ (it's the one titled Unveiling Paradise by Josh Lee).

Pumpkin Patch

2009-11-02T12:56:00.002-08:00

Being so close to Paradise has been great--we get lots of visitors! Two weekends ago Auntie Cady and Uncle Joe came to visit and we went to the Pumpkin Patch. Lucy didn't completely know what was ging on, but she was a good sport with the photo taking.

Adam's Job

2009-11-02T12:56:00.001-08:00

We are still waiting to hear as to whether Adam is going to be a permanent employee with USFS. Just wanted to let you know we're still WAITING and we'll let you know as soon as we have more answers.

Long winded... apology in advance.

2009-10-08T11:06:00.001-07:00

I don’t want to only blog when I have something to whine about, but it seems fitting today. First off, the transition with Lucy at day care and me at work full time seemed to be going fairly well for the first week. Lucy loves to play with the other kids and seems to really like Sally, the owner. She doesn’t cry when I drop her off, she’s very easy to hand over. The first day, I thought I might cry, but I didn’t. Adam picks her up at the end of the day and rarely does he have anything important to report. She’s napping there just fine.

She does have a cold unfortunately. That has complicated the transition a little—especially for her and I at night. We’re up at least every hour, sometimes every half hour. I found out last night however, that she sleeps better with me lying next to her (we moved to the couch) and then we are both able to get some sleep. Last night, at 1:30, approximately the 6^th time I awoke with her, I got so frustrated I yelled “what do you want me to do?!” I wonder what Adam thought about that. I proceeded to thrash around the house, grab some blankets and my pillow, throw the blinds shut in the living room, tell the whining dog to shut up and plop Lucy and myself down on the couch to try and get some, any sleep. From there we slept relatively fine until 5 when Adam needed to get ready for work and then we moved to the bedroom. The series of events that followed that morning seem petty and insignificant individually. But collectively, they made me incredibly grumpy.

Poor Lucy was so tired once we woke up, she had a little bit of a bottle and then wanted to doze on my shoulder. As she was dozing, she went potty in an already saturated diaper. It leaked all over me. I knew I didn’t have time to give her a bath so I wiped her down really good with wipes. I was able to give her some food in her high chair and turn on Sesame Street so I would get a shower and once my hair was done and I was all dressed, Bear was dancing around the living room to go out. I acknowledged him and let him know I need to put on Lucy’s sweater, my jacket and some shoes. Well, he couldn’t wait and decided to wet on one of our couch cushions which was on the floor (because I had slept on the couch). I was so furious with him that once I did get him on the lease and outside, I yanked him around so much out of frustration that I was sure someone would see and call PETA on me.

Because Lucy doesn’t feel good, she doesn’t want to go and play with her toys by herself like she usually does. She’s normally so independent and cruises around the house exploring, but when she’s sick, she just wants to be held—but not to snuggle—just to sit there and try and get at whatever I’m doing. It really hard to comfort her when she’s so congested. (Keep in mind, this is simply a congestion illness—no green snot, no tugging on the ear; if it were that bad, I would be staying home with her and would never let her go to day care and risk getting the other kids sick).

Finally I’m ready to head out the door and I put Lucy in her car seat and she just yells at me angrily. I can’t tell if that’s because she knows she’s going to day care, or just because she doesn’t want to be in it… I just couldn’t tell, but it frustrated me even more because it made me feel like I was making her do something she didn’t want to do and because I knew she didn’t feel good and she just needed a day home with mom which is something I couldn’t provide today. Sigh.

By the time we got to day care, she was happy and the delivery went smoothly. Sally is so great and I’m so glad I found her. Her accent is charming and she always asks me how my new job is going. I was still grumpy at this point, but I’m not one to really reflect it too much onto other people, at least I like to think that I don’t. Oh! I forgot to mention that I ran out of milk, so I didn’t get my morning coffee (and I don’t always have it and I don’t think it’s something I necessarily need every day, but today would have liked to have it). So I left Sally’s and drove over to Thunder Joe’s to get a coffee. I let the lady making coffee know I was grumpy and I needed something with an extra shot and not something too sweet. I left with the perfect white chocolate mocha and feeling a little better. My funk finally disappeared at about 10 am and I’m feeling better.

I love my job. It’s pretty much the same stuff I was doing in Eureka, but for more people and less pay. I started at the same pay rate I started at in Eureka, which is $2 less than what I ended at in Eureka,, but I’m sure I’ll prove my worth very quickly here and hopefully it’ll go up.

It’s 10:36 now and I’m in a much better mood. I need to get to working though. :)

More changes for the Lefebvres

2009-09-30T09:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was finally offered the job I was waiting for at Susanville Real Estate. I'm going to take over the receptionist position with the intent of boosting their marketing. Marketing is my "expertise" and the way I justify "wasting" 4 years getting an art degree (I say wasting only because there's not much else you can do with art, and I'd like to think that I'm NOT wasting it by using it in marketing). Downside is, Lucy will have to go to daycare. This was an incredibly difficult and heart breaking decision. I don't doubt if I face much ridicule from other mothers at the fact that she is my child and I should be the one raising her. Adam and I truly feel that this is the best decision for our family so that we can appropriately provide for Lucy and our future children.

Surprise, I start today although Lucy is with me. My mom is coming to town tomorrow to watch her for a few hours and all day Friday. Monday she'll start in day care granted I can find one that we like and is in our price range.

This whole process has been exhausting. But I'm looking on the bright side and trying to find a positive. Adam will have Lucy on Fridays (if he doesn't have overtime), and we'll prioritize evenings and weekend fun. I wake up early with Lucy so that we'll have mommy-daughter time before she goes to day care. I keep telling myself that everything will be ok and she'll still recognize me as her mommy.

Newest photos of Lucy

2009-09-25T17:52:00.000-07:00

Life in Susanville

2009-09-25T17:40:00.000-07:00

Things are good here in Susanville. Adam is still waiting to hear if he's a permanent employee with USFS. I'm getting a new job, but it's status is on the DL and I don't know when I get to start (doesn't that just leave you on the edge of your seat?). I'm totally addicted to FarmVille in Facebook. Pathetic, I know. We had a fabulous surprise visit from my sister and her new hubby Joe, and we'll have more visitors this weekend.

Lucy is now eating whole apples and more clearly saying "All Done," which she's yelling at me at this very moment. She is sleeping better throught the night lately but I've broken one of my cardinal rules out of desperation: I'm putting her to bed with a bottle, and giving her one in the middle of the night instead of getting her out to eat. Although all the baby books warn against this, it has worked well for us. She's not waking completely up by me reaching in and getting her our of her crib and she's only asking to eat about once now instead of 2-4 times. This is a habit I will eventually have to break, but it's a "better" "worse habit" than her still sleeping in our bed or something.

Anywho... I've decided I'm going to go short with my hair again. I thought I wanted to grow it out, but I just end up wearing it in a pony tail and I HATE that. So, off it goes! Just waiting for another paycheck to go down to the salon.

The Jacksons are coming over tomorrow night and that should be fun. We laugh pretty well with them and it's fun getting to know Jessica away from our big group of friends.

That's all for tonight! Thanks for reading...

Our Lord's Land Trip

2009-09-23T09:42:00.000-07:00

For about 6 months now, we've been planning this family trip to the Lord's Land near Mendocino and made plans to go with 3 other families. On Friday we headed down with Ryan and Lyndsey Bryson, and Seth, Lynae, James, and Josiah Condit. Saturday we were joined by Logan, Robin, and Cason Wilson. We had a good time--the weather was better than we could have asked for. Amazingly, we all crammed into one cabin--All 8 of us adults and our 4 kids! We alternated with meals; the Brysons cooked AMAZING enchiladas for us the first night, the Condits made some tasty eggs, bacon, and veggies for us the first morning, I cooked boring spaghetti the 2nd night, and the Wilsons made egg and ham "muffins" or last morning together. On Saturday, we met up with the Wilsons in Mendocino and went on a 5 mile hike to the Pygmy Forest at Jug Handle. It was a great hike and needless to say I was quite sore the next day. Oddly enough, I only took one photo the whole trip. It's a silly one too: I don't know why Robin and Logan's mouths are open.
This photo was taken by Lynae and it's of Lucy eating pretzels on the beach.

Adam's SF Trip

2009-09-23T09:36:00.001-07:00

For Adam's birthday (April 1, no joke) my parents gave Adam 2 tickets to a Giants game of his choice. He decided on the September 12 game and decided to take my dad. The two had really great seats (just 26 rows up from the Giants' dugout) and had good time. Unfortunately, Lincecum wasn't pitching and the Giants lost to the Dodgers. None the less, fun was had by all.

Lucy's Standing

2009-09-23T09:30:00.000-07:00

For a few weeks now, Lucy's been pulling herself up on furniture and walking along the edge of it. It's so cute... and she know's it. We love when she turns around and gives us that grin as if to say, "Look what I can do!"

What I've been working on the last couple of days

2009-09-12T19:46:00.001-07:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

Waitings stages...

2009-09-10T12:48:00.000-07:00

I feel like we're waiting on a lot of things right now. We really want to buy a house, but we have to wait. We have to wait for Adam to get word that he has the permanent position that he put in for like a month ago. I'm waiting to hear if I possibly have a job. We're waiting for Marian to get park approval for her new house. We're waiting for every paycheck. I'm waiting for fall so that I can actually wear my wardrobe.

I know it sounds like I'm whining, but really I'm just stating the facts.

Most exciting thing right now that we're waiting for is our trip to the Lord's Land. One more week! I'm going to start packing this weekend.

September 8, 2009

2009-09-08T13:26:00.000-07:00

Today is Tuesday after Labor Day. Lucy and I are at work, going on 3 hours now. It feels like it's been so much longer. Tonight I'm going to "slow cook" chicken for tacos. I don't have a slow cooker, so we'll see how that goes. Adam will be at a Giants game this weekend, so I'm looking forward to NOT traveling. I don't care what we do otherwise while at home, just as long as we don't have to pack up for an over night. I'm hoping that a friend from Paradise will come and visit. I think I'll indulge on some Pay-Per-View and perhaps start packing for our trip to the Lord's Land the following weekend. I'm VERY excited. We're going to go with the Bryson's, the Condit's and the Wilson's. Hopefully it will be our first annual family trip with these 3 other families.

Our getaway to Lassen Volcanic National Park

2009-09-06T14:24:00.000-07:00

September is here and this is the first weekend in 3 months that Adam and I have not been sick or traveled or been apart. We have stayed home and enjoyed each other's company and it's SO nice. I feel like it's been a real re-kindling for us and a reminder that God has given us each other and Lucy because we were created for each other. I don't know if Adam agrees, but who cares what he thinks. Right? Just kidding.
Yesterday we decided to explore our surroundings and made the drive to Lassen National Park.

Here we are lounging at King's Creek after our hike to the falls.Our attempt at a flattering shot.Adam and Lucy at the Sulfur Works. Stinky!Lucy and Bear were so good in the car all day.I kept commenting to Adam on how blue the sky was and how clear the water was. It was amazing.

I highly suggest that all visit and see what the park has to offer.
Next time we go, we're going to drive in to Butte Lake and hike to Cinder Cone and the Painted Dunes, then on to Snag Lake where we'll camp and then hike out the next day.

One month later...

2009-09-06T13:14:00.000-07:00

I asked Adam last night, "tomorrow after church, could you watch Lucy for an hour so I can update our blog," knowing that it IS a priority and I can't keep my fans waiting much longer... :)
The month of August was a full one.

On the 6th, Lucy started crawling. She is now an avid "cruiser" and is working on climbing everything.

On the 7th Adam and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary at the Hotel Diamond, including dinner at 33 Steaks, Blues, and Booze, brownie dessert from Room Service and "Benjamin Button" the movie from bed.
On the 8th, Adam bought me a car!!! Yes, a car! We trading in the Jeep (may it R.I.P.), taking advantage of the "Cash for Clunkers" program. Social programs like that, although many social programs are abused, were made for people like us--hardworking people who need a little boost in a down economy. Although we loved the Jeep, every other month there was a new $200 issue that needed to be fixed, and the miles it got per gallon of gas was raping our wallets! So we traded it in, got the full $4500 rebate for it (Kelley Blue Book was less than $1500), and purchased a blue 2009 Hyundai Elantra. It's so pretty! And I'm so proud of us. The was also a $2000 Hyundai instant rebate and we sacrificed $500 of it to buy down our interest rate to.... guess!! 0%! 0%!!! We're awesome. Actually, God is awesome, because without the CARS program or the instant rebate there is NO WAY we would have been able to purchase a new car.
On the 10th, Lucy said her first "Ma-Ma." Shortly following on the 20th she said her first "Da-Da" and now that's pretty much all she says.
On the 14th I threw my sister a Bachelorette Party. We had a really good time.
On the 17th my friend from when I was little and lived in Quincy, Robin and I went to IKEA. I successfully spent under $20! Shocking!
On the 20th, my mom, dad, Catherine, Joe, Adam, Lucy and I all caravanned to Monterey for Catherine and Joe's wedding. I was a whirlwind visit but so worth it. Lucy got to put her feet in the sand and the ocean for the first time (very momentary). I guess this was technically our first family trip. Other than to Paradise and moving.

The wedding was BEAUTIFUL and so unique.Needless to say, I cried for the majority of the ceremony.

Finally, on the 23rd we traveled back home (to Susanville), but only for a short while, for Catherine and Joe's Paradise Reception was to be August 30th at my parents. Again, another party thrown by my mother that "went off with out a hitch." Fabulous party. Can you believe that brings us to September?!

girl's night

2009-08-04T17:54:00.000-07:00

Adam was able to pick up 6 hours of over time tonight so it's just me and Lucy! So far so good. Usually by this time every night I'm anxious to cook dinner (my time to myself) while Adam takes our little girl off my hands. But tonight we've just been hanging out--being each other's BFF.

After all my complaining about Bear these last couple of weeks, I am happy to announce that he has not messed in the house since last Thursday! It could have even been Wednesday. Again, changing my attitude about the situation has changed my perspective.

I have something planned every weekend from here until practically "Kingdom Come", but I love it. I'm not stressed by it or anything. Off to feed my little girl... oh, we have a WIC appointment in the morning and I'll give you an update on what she weighs afterward.

Changing your attitude changes your perspective.

2009-08-03T17:13:00.000-07:00

My new thing lately has been trying to change my attitude in order to change the way I perceive things. Like with Lucy's late-night wakings, I've been trying to view them as "us" time in order to keep my sanity. It's been a good rule of thought and I have a more positive outlook on like I think because of it--plus the fact that I'm praying like crazy for God to calm and change my heart (the root of my attitude).
Yesterday we got back from a nice visit to Paradise. We found out that my best childhood friend, Ashley is having a boy! We're also thinking of taking advantage of the Cash for Clunkers program. We were running through the list of all the things that need to be fixed on the Jeep and the list was so extensive that the cost would out weigh buying a new vehicle after the rebate. Not to mention all the savings in gas we'd have with a new vehicle. However, the senate still has to pass the new $2billion proposed for the program or else it's gone by Wednesday or Friday or something...
If we do buy a new vehicle, I think we'll wait to buy a house. Originally we were going to try and take advantage of the $8k tax credit for first time home buyers by December, but realistically, we need the rebates on the vehicles more than we need the $8k come tax time. We'll see what happens. I have a peace about which ever route we end up taking.
OH! We got a jumper for Lucy! Yes! My grandma bought us one and it is a LIFE SAVER! She loves it and it really entertains her so I can get things done around here.
As far as my Real Estate Business goes, I have approximately 2 clients (aside from myself). My mother-in-law is buying her first home in Paradise, and I have some clients here who work for CCC.
I think Lucy's teething is getting better--she's less fussy. However, I've changed my attitude about the situation, so my perspective is less likely to jump towards "she's so fussy, I can't handle it, she needs drugs." She's a delightful little creature who is learning to crawl, and I love her!
My mom is having a endoscopy tonight for a gall stone that's dislodged from her gallbladder and is blocking a passage from her liver. We call her mellow yellow :) Hopefully the endoscopy to have the stone removed will make her feel better.
Less then three weeks till my sister gets married!
And the best news of the day: ADAM JUST CAME HOME AND SURPRISED ME WITH A NIGHT'S STAY AT THE HOTEL DIAMOND FOR OUR ANNIVERSARY! It's the hotel we stayed our first night in as man and wife. My parents are going to watch Lucy and pay for us to go out to dinner that night. I'm so excited. That's this Friday.
That's all for now. :)

sleep deprivation

2009-07-29T16:01:00.000-07:00

Today's been a pretty relaxing day. There are two new main things I've been working on in my life to make it better: 1) Learn to "turn-off" and be still in the silences; not plan the next big thing or run through my to-do list. 2) See Lucy's numerous mid-night awakenings as "us time" and not her taking away from my sleep. Today's day one and so far so good. I'm averaging just 6 hours of sleep a night, so we'll see how tonight goes.

Worst adventure ever....

2009-07-26T12:57:00.000-07:00

So this weekend Adam was supposed to go golfing in Likely with my dad and some of his buddies. While Adam was gone, Lynae was going to bring her boys and come stay two nights with us. Brainless as I am, I didn't think about the fact that Wednesday Adam had the stomach flu and that Lucy and I could get it. By the time Lynae got here on Friday afternoon I was feeling really yucky. "Morning sickness" is what it felt like (don't worry, I'm NOT pregnant). We went to Wal-Mart to cool down (it was extremely hot in our apartment) and in Wal-Mart, Lucy vomited. By the time we got to the parking lot, so did I. I felt so stupid for feeling "immune" and not even thinking that I would be exposing Nae and her boys to it. Lucy and I stopped thowing up by midnight and I really couldn't have made it through the night without her. Morning rolled around and I begged Adam to come home. Lucy started throwing up again and I had "other" stomach issues. I can't imagine going through this with more than one kid or without any help! Today, I still feel crappy and have slept the majority of the day. Lucy too, luckily.

you won't be able to stop laughing

2009-07-24T13:33:00.001-07:00

Six Month Update

2009-07-15T14:09:00.000-07:00

So much has happened since my last post... I thought I'd update you. I haven't written much lately because I've been so overwhelmed with a six-month old, a puppy, and trying to get some real estate under my belt.
Bear has been an interesting addition to our family. I keep telling people I would rather change diapers for 12 years than have to house-break a dog. I just have to keep reminding myself that he's a puppy and I have to teach him to go outside. Dog's don't come equipped knowing. But he is such a joy--mostly because Lucy loves him SO much. She'll just sit and watch him and laugh and laugh. She let's him get away with a lot, too; she's got chew marks all over her feet!Lucy turned six months on June 30th! I can't believe how many milestones she's met and passed! Here are just a few:

She has 2 bottom teeth (toofies as we call them)
She can sit up all by her self for a long period of time
Last night I held her hands and we walked across the living room together!
She's started eating some solids (limited diet, but it's a start)
She is incredibly tactile--for months now she's been picking things up, passing them from one hand to another... and then to her mouth
She's started drinking out of a sippy cup
She is attempting to Crawl. She can scoot all over the place (backwards), but she just needs to learn to get that butt in the air and coordinate her arms and legs

For the fourth of July we went camping at Rocky Point Campground at Lake Almanor with my parents, Catherine and Joe, and the Jacksons. Marian and David camped at the Vagabond on the other side of the lake, but we were lucky enough to have a few visits from them.We used our awesome tent that we got as a wedding present (it's considered a tent cabin--it sleeps 11, has 4 rooms, and you can stand up it it). It was so great because we could take Lucy's Pack-n-Play and not have to crawl in to bed every night. I HIGHLY recommend getting a tent like this if you don't want to sleep with your child (not my thing).Lucy did not like her life vest or the boat. I think these pictures say it all:My mom worked magic with bear (calming him down after wrestling with Riley)...
And my Dad worked magic with Lucy... she's been so fussy lately teething and all.
The night of 4th of July we went out on the boat with the Jacksons to watch fireworks. We had a great time. We boated out to the peninsula where there was some sort of pre-concert going on. The band was called the Spazmatics and they did pretty good covers. After the concert though, they played MJ music and I'm so sick of it. Everyone else on the lake was trying to drown it out as well so we ended up listening to about 5 different songs at once. The works were "ok," the finale was awesome.Unfortunately, after the show, we had a dead battery and waited about 20 minutes for the Sheriff to come give us a jump.
The next day Catherine and Joe went tubing and it was a fun show...

Last week I visited Lynae while our hubbies were backpacking. Here are some pictures from the weekend, but I don't have time to tell you what all went on... Lucy's up and we're going to go play!Norah, Lucy and JosiahSprinkler Ready...

No so sprinkler ready

I LOVE this face

Norah "riding" Bear

Our New Apartment

2009-06-26T11:45:00.001-07:00

Our living room looking in from the front door

Our living room from the hallway. You can't tell, but we have an amazing view of Diamond Mountain.

Our dining "room"

The Jerry-rigged dog pen in the dining "room"

Lucy's room

grumpiness subsiding

2009-06-26T11:39:00.001-07:00

How can I stay grumpy when this is my world?...

grumpy and need to vent...

2009-06-26T07:02:00.000-07:00

So... we have a new dog. He's as sweet as can be and is technically not the reason for my grumpiness. But MAN! I cannot wait until he's done being a puppy. Let's start with yesterday--the Jeep died. I have no idea what's wrong with it but speculation is, it's the alternator or starter. Either way, likely a $300 fix. Grump.
The night before, I realized that the battery was dead, but we have my dad's battery pack, so my plan was to plug it in before I went to work. Well, I plugged it in for about an hour (45 minutes longer than it should have taken) with no success. Grump.
I called the insurance company and had it towed away. The shop where I had it towed to should have time to look at it this morning and give me a prognosis. Grump.
So, then I cleaned my house and was bored out of my mind because I couldn't GO anywhere.
Last night, for whatever reason, Lucy got a burst of energy at 8:00 (normally her bed time) and she was up until 9:20--20 minutes AFTER mommy's bed time. Grump. Bear started crying in his crate at 10:30, 12:30. and 3:00--each time he cries we just go out and tell him no until he stops. It usually takes 5 minutes each time, which isn't much in the scheme of things, but when you're deep in REM and SO exhausted from an exhausting day, 5 minutes is an eternity and at that time in the night/morning, all patience goes out the window. Grump. Grump. Grump.
This morning, when Adam got up at 5:00, so did Bear and 30 minutes later, so did Lucy. 5:30 is WAY TOO EARLY FOR MOMMY. Grump.
On top of it all, our shower was just recaulked yesterday which means I can't shower for another 24 hours. The maintenance guy got caulk on my bathroom rug and hall carpet. It's 90 degrees in my apartment. The downstairs neighbor is blairing his music. Bear pooped in the house AGAIN...
Man I'm grumpy.

The new addition to the family

2009-06-22T20:40:00.001-07:00

Daddy think's he's so funny.

We got a dog! He is a dachshund, he's 10 weeks old, and his name is Bear. He and Lucy love each other. What a great investment!

This month so far...

2009-06-22T20:11:00.000-07:00

Well, I've started work at Susanville Real Estate and Lucy gets to go with me. She's a good girl, but some days we just have to stay home because she's too "active." She's been pushing teeth for a few months now, but nothing's shown up. I'm hoping that this phase is over soon--I want my old baby back. :)
We've tried one church in town and really liked it--the Susanville Community Church. It's an EV Free and their preacher was really great. We'll go again this Sunday and try out the nursery for Lucy.
After church one Sunday, we thought we'd let Lucy show off her mad crawling skills... or, attempting to crawl skills:
I have a video but for some reason it won't up load. You'll just have to see it in person.
She tries really hard but so far just doesn't have the upper body strength to hoist her body up from the belly-lay position.Out of all the toys Lucy has, her favorites are her toes, paper and the remote.She's getting to be such a big girl! She's rolling over all over the place and can even hold her own bottle. I don't know why we didn't think of it sooner, but she LOVES to listen and watch daddy play guitar. She stayed occupied for 20 minutes while I made dinner! Fabulous.
We just returned from another trip to Paradise where we celebrated Adam's first Father's Day. He took the annual camping trip with "the guys" and followed in suit by getting injured. He sliced his hand open between his thumb and index finger and needed 7 stitches. AND on top of it, he got food poisoning. It's been an interesting few days....

5 Month old photos by Doug Wion

2009-06-22T19:59:00.000-07:00

Lucy meets Josiah... and gets her photo taken by the talented Lynae Condit

2009-06-13T08:42:00.000-07:00

Lucy finally got to meet her new best friend, Josiah Daniel Condit! He was such a big boy, born 5/21/2009, 7 lb. 9 oz., 22 inches long. At Lucy's last appointment, she was 23 inches long!

They have the same size feet!Such a pretty girl, sitting up! (Showing off for her man)

This one's for Dustin. You know why...

CRAZY MOVE!!!

2009-06-13T08:05:00.000-07:00

Just for the record: I hate moving. I love new houses, but I HATE moving.

We were so blessed though to have so much help.

Devin taking apart Lucy's crib Lucy and LindaLiving Room Chaos

I was so naive to think we didn't NEED the help, but on the day of the move, people just showed up (or show it seemed) and it's a good thing, too! Adam graduated on the 16th, our guests left on the 17th, I had to work a full day on the 18th and planned to work and full day on the 19th, Adam picked up the moving truck on the 19th, and I thought between him, my mom and I, we'd be all done and moving out by the 20th. HA! Thank goodness I decided I had too much to do at home with the move.

I stopped in at work to say good bye (for about the 100th time) on Tuesday morning, and got home around 11am. From 11am to 11pm, Linda, Mom and I worked our little hineys off packing and cleaning. Then, Wednesday morning, we cleaned for another 4 hours before FINALLY hitting the road. It was rather ridiculous. I keep a clean house, but apparently the apartment was REALLY dirty.

Adam and Chris Mitchell (Adam's good friend from junior high that just happens to go to HSU) got the entire truck packed in one day--NO, LESS than one day (they picked up the truck in the morning and left by 2 pm!). Here are some of the precious things I did not get pictures of:

The 17' Truck PACKED with our stuff.
The Jeep PACKED with our stuff (minus the driver seat).
The Echo PACKED with our stuff (minus room for Lucy, Mom and me).
The hellish-road trip across state to Susanville for all 3 vehicles.
Dustin, Adam, and Chris trying to get our over-sized furniture into our new little 2-bedroom apartment.
Dustin, Adam, and Chris lifting the couch to the 2nd story to put it through the window.
Dustin, Adam, and Chris (plus the maintenance guy Jason) breaking the window while putting a couch through it!

Mom and I didn't get to the apartment until the 21st (Thursday) and when we got there, I had a total melt down. I thought the apartment we just moved out of was dirty... this apartment was FILTHY. Oh man... I flipped out. I had just spent 12 hours plus cleaning the apartment in Eureka until it SHINED and I walked in to this place and there was food on the walls, scum in the toilet, burnt food on the stove, and the list goes on!

Long story short, I complained and told them that they have to clean it. The complied (or at least said they will), but I have yet to see them come to the apartment to clean. I'm sure it will happen. If it doesn't, I'm going to make some more waves and I'm sure it'll all get done, just so they can get me to shut up. :)

But any-who... We're moved and LOVE Susanville. It is so beautiful and is just a hop-skip-and a jump to Paradise!

Adam loves his job and is already after a promotion (potentially coming available in November).
I am now a Realtor at Susanville Real Estate and am getting my feet wet in the biz. Love it and will hopefully make some money soon. :)

Adam's Graduation

2009-06-11T10:44:00.000-07:00

Adam Graduated on Saturday, May 16 at 3:30pm. The day was perfect--no rain! Lucy and I sat so proud of Adam through the ceremony with our family and close friends. Kara and Roman joined us. Roman was such a good boy! (This is the only photo I have of the graduation so far AND it's my only photo of us with any party of the Deno family!)Marian, David, Kim, Jose, Craig, Toni, Catherine, and Joe all came to visit and it was just one giant party all weekend long!
I am SO proud of Adam!

DONE!

2009-05-14T12:15:00.000-07:00

ADAM IS DONE WITH SCHOOL FOREVER! YAY!

Lucy's 4-Month Check-up

2009-05-14T12:09:00.000-07:00

Lucy had a doctor's appointment this morning. She weighed 11.3 pounds and is 23 1/2 inches long! She's in the 25% for height and head size. We had a really nice nurse who talked to Lucy as she gave her her shots. Lucy was such a champ. The first time I took her to get her immunizations, she SCREAMED the whole time. This time she whimpered through the first one and only cried really hard on the second one for a short while. I think she was a bigger trooper because her daddy was there. I didn't laugh at her nearly as hard this time.

Her next check up will be at 6 months (around the end of June) and at that time they're going to order x-rays for her hips. Her hips look good, but it's a precautionary measure because she was breech. I guess being breech, first born, and female can all lead to hip problems in the future (that's probably my problem). Until then, she's a happy healthy little baby!

New Eye Balls

2009-05-14T08:31:00.001-07:00

So, I went to the eye doctor yesterday... We've always known I couldn't see very well, but now it's official. I'm near sighted with an astigmatism in my right eye which causes me to NEED glasses. But I picked out some cute ones (ones that I'll actually wear this time) and they should be here in 3 weeks. The doctor I went to was SO nice. I've seen a lot of doctors in the past year, and Dr. Ryan's office showed an exceptional level of professionalism that was refreshing and unanticipated. I'm going to write them a thank you note because I am so impressed! We move in a week so the office even offered to have my glasses shipped to me at our new address.

Lucy eats rice cereal for the first time!

2009-05-12T17:37:00.000-07:00

"Do I Like it?"

"Um... I'm not so sure..."

Mother's Day

2009-05-12T09:03:00.001-07:00

I had a wonderful 1st mother's day! Lucy got me a sweet card and we just spent the day relaxing, packing, and just being a family. Sunday was our last service at Centerpointe Church. We will certainly miss the congregation and friends we've made there, but there was something cathartic about knowing it was out last service. The move is becoming very real (especially considering most of my house is in boxes) and we are extremely excited for the new beginning and being closer to our families.

Last Thursday night we also had our last "Deno Night." Luckily Sean had the night off... but that experience was not so cathartic. It really saddened me. We've lived here 4 years and have finally made good friends and now we're leaving. :( I will miss Kara's cooking and sweet demeanor, and our poignant conversations.

TONIGHT is our last small groups Bible study... I forgot that with new beginnings comes a lot of endings and "lasts." It's all good though (I keep reminding myself)! When God closes one door, he opens another! It has to be done for the new life we are going to build in Susanville.

By the way, do you like our blog's facelift? Fun, huh?

Adam has a final today--last one will be Thursday (another good "last"). Family will be here Friday night through Sunday morning for the Graduation Ceremony. Kim and Jose will be staying with us and considering we don't have a spare bed and there is JUNK all over my house, they probably won't want to stay long. Preparations are in the works for Adam's graduation party on Friday, May 22. Haha... I can't believe I'm planning that far ahead--I have something important going on EVERY DAY until then. But don't ask me what we're having for dinner tonight.