No HOLE!!

Our little miracle, Sir Jaxson Morris got a clean bill of health today from the perinatologist AND cardiologist!  Last month at our regular ultrasound, they said he had a hole in his heart and had spoken to me about possibly needing surgery when he is 1 or 2.  I know it is thanks to tons of prayers that he has made a full recovery already!  I am so proud of him and so thankful to our Heavenly Father for this wonderful blessing.

 Now, I am so worried that this boy is going to be a monster!  Check out this foot!  He's gonna be huge!  Good thing he's gonna be a c-section! 

Friday Night Chuckle

Just thought this was sooooo fitting for my life lately!!

Peek-a-boo

Jocelynn has figured out the joy that comes with playing peek-a-boo. As any good Morris child of mine, she has her own special way of doing things.... I just love her!

Missoula Here We Come

This has got to be one of the craziest weeks of my life.

I have my first coupon class on Thursday & I am frantically trying to get all my hand-outs and "object lesson" stuff prepared.

My grandparents came for a visit for my grandma's birthday (Happy 82nd! Grandma M.)! We threw a surprize party for her Tuesday.

I have a huge choir weekend coming up. We are having group photos and learning some new songs. We are to prepare as if we are out of town. Which for me translates to a logistical nightmare with rides to work and babysitters for my kids.

To top it all off - Jillian made the school play! This is her second year participating in the Missoula Children's Theatre. They come to the school for a whirlwind week of auditions, rehersals, and 2 shows all in one week! This year she is a Racoon in "Little Red Riding Hood". My nephew Jimmy is also a racoon, and Zach, my little brother, is playing the 'little loveable wolf' - leader of the wolf pack.

Watch D.O.G.S.

I have to brag on my hubby just a little... Today was his day to be the Watchdog at school. I love hearing about his day with all the kids. For the past 2 1/2 years he has participated in Jillian's school program called Watch D.O.G.S. (Dads Of Great Students). It is a terrific program where dads, grandpas, uncles, brothers, any male role model in a child's life, volunteers at the school for at least one day of the year (Joe usually gets 3 or 4 days). They help in classrooms, at lunch, "check the perimeter" of the school every hour, and overall provide the kids with a positive male role model & provide extra security for the school.

I am so impressed with all the dads at our little school. I don't think we ever have a school day where there is NOT a Watchdog on duty. It is just a terrific program (did I say that already?).

We don't have Joe's picture yet from this year, but here is my dad on his day with my brother Zach, nephew Jimmy, and my Jillian.

Notice: the other perk of being a WD is you get to carry a big walkie-talkie clearly dad loves this ;-) . Also, the kids of the dad (or papa in this case) get to wear their matching t-shirts, which they are MORE than proud to do on their day.

SAHM?

Whoever coined the phrase "stay-at-home-mom" clearly wasn't one! Today was a perfect example of that - start the clock at 9:40am:

• Take Joe to work
• Rush home to wrap present & finish dressing the kids
• Birthday party (Happy 6th Jimmy)
• Pick up Girl Scout Cookies
• Back to party
• Run home to get change of clothes
• Take Jillian to Ice Skating
• Take Aimee home (thanks for your help)
• Race to drop off GS paperwork
• Back to pick up Jillian
• Pick up Joe
• Back home by 6:30

Phew! I am tired just remembering it all!

Well, let's do it all again tomorrow...

GS Instructor!

It's official!!! Tonight I completed my training to be a Grocery Smarts instructor!! I could not be more excited!! I have posted a few of my great grocery deals on this blog, but I figured that if I am going to do this all out, I had better set up a new blog dedicated to my crazy grocery antics....

Drum roll please.....

For tips and tricks on how to save a TON of money grocery shopping, you can now access my new blog http://www.grocerygeek.blogspot.com/ - Such a great name right!?

I have a bunch of great ideas for this site, but I am sure it will take some time to get it where I want it... in the meantime, feel free to stop by to see what's happening in the world of groceries!!

A Night in Paris

We are finally done with the Valentine's Day dance for our stake. Not that I don't love my calling, but after 2 years on the Activities Commitee, I am tapped out.

The dance was a great success! We had about 350 people there, decorations rocked (as they should after 3 days of prep), food was outstanding, and I even got to get my boogey on for a minute. I am always amazed however, how days of work is taken down in about 2 hours!! We were home and in our jammies by 1:30am & everything (almost) was back in it's proper home.

Best thing about this calling is that I get to do it with my hubby & we were "forced" to actually attend this event (thanks to my mom for watching the kiddos).

I just love my Valentine!!

(I will try to scan our photo from the dance and post later)

More Birthday....

You know how I love to drag out my big day... Joe took me out tonight for my birthday. We had an Ahhhammazing dinner at LAVO at the new Palazzo hotel. We went all out just because we could! This my sound tres gross, but I am a fan of frois gras and a really well cooked Fillet Mignon (I am such a snob I know - Joe has spoiled me something good).

Next, we took a drive down the strip to the new Encore hotel and saw Danny Gans. Can you believe after being in Vegas as long as I have this is one show I hadn't seen yet? Boy, was I missing out!! He was simply fantastic!!! Hilarious, talented, diverse... just Fantastic!!

(plus, we sat right behind Robin Leach - no kidding)

I just love my birthday!

Happy Birthday to ME!

One year older and wiser too... Happy Birthday to ME!!

My sister, Aimee's birthday is on Feb 10, so we usually do a big family cake party to celebrate both big days.

Yes, that is MY Nerf gun... A dear friend of mine told me it is really theraputic to have nerf wars with your kids.... She was SOOOO right!! My new favorite FHE activity!

Jarrett Update

So, the nurse came by today to show me how to work the EasyPod that I will use to give Jarrett his shots. I have been doing a TON of research on this whole hormone thing. I have decided that there are a lot of scary facts that I don't even want to think about again, but in a nutshell, GH Growth hormone is the key to all cell growth and reproduction and can effect heart strength, lung capacity, bone density, immune system function and so much more!

I was so thrilled that the nurse was also a mother of a son who has gone through this same thing. We talked about my reservations and she had the same ones at first. Also, I found out that the shots are sub-cutaneous which means they only have to go under the skin and not deep in the muscle. I even had her give me a shot so I would know exactly how it would feel. That is a REALLY BIG DEAL if you know me and my paralyzing fear of needles. I almost cried when it was over - not because of pain - but the exact opposite. I could hardly feel a THING! I had been agonizing for the past several weeks at how awful this was going to be for my baby & it wasn't even that bad! Plus, this EasyPod device is super easy to use. I just load the needle and it does everything else... It even keeps track of when he gets this doses so his dr can download the info at our appts - and Jarrett's favorite part is when we turn it on, there is a picture of a red racecar and in big letters: HELLO JARRETT - it's realy quite neat.

So, we start tonight.... wish us luck.

Wild Animal Park

These are a little late, but here are some pics from our trip to the Wild Animal Park in San Diego.

Our little family isn't so little anymore...

The tram ride is a lot closer than it was last year - they moved the track and we got a really close look at the giraffes

Who wants ice cream?

I just love this picture of my boyzzz

Cheetahs were a group favorite for sure (especially Jarrett's)

Jake was cracking us up! He was in charge of the map and took his job VERY seriously.

I was so proud of Jake for going into the petting zoo. This was a BIG deal for him.
And how fun to see a baby rhino in the petting zoo!

Beautiful Bird of Paradise (this one's for you Grandma)

Flamingos - Grandpa's favorite

My little men at the bird show... I think they liked it

And this is why I don't usually straighten my hair in California... Humidity is not my friend. But Jocelynn & I loved our Metro Wrap (shameless plug for my friend Leah)!!

Overwhelmed...

I have been debating whether or not to post about personal issues, but I just need to vent a few things, get them out there, take a deep breath and move on... sorry.
The past few weeks have been terrific and terrifying. We had an amazing trip to California last week which I will make a separate post about - it was so necessary & I absolutely LOVE my in-laws! I feel amazingly blessed to be able to say that. We ended up extending our stay by a day and for some strange reason I feel like I have had a really hard time catching up since then.
I need to back up a minute... the day we left Jarrett had a dr appt with an endocrinologist. We have had concerns with his size for quite some time. Anyway, I really didn't know what to expect, but I thought we would just start some kind of testing to find out why he is so small. I was NOT prepared to hear that he is most likely Growth Hormone Deficient (GHD) and would need to start treatment in 2 weeks. His 'treatment' is going to be a shot of growth hormones that I will have to give him EVERY DAY of his life until he has no more growth potential around age 16!!! Pretty much everything the dr told me after that is pretty fuzzy. He will have some blood work done and probably some x-rays, maybe mri, but dr feels that he needs to get started on the drugs right away. I am still trying to learn as much as I can about this whole thing. Am I making the right decision? I know that his body needs this, but at what cost? (besides the $20K a year it will cost if insurance decides not to cover this) Is there a possibility that he can catch up on his own? What if I wait a few years and try some alternatives - acupressure, changes in diet/vitamins? Will it be too late to make a difference? I don't think the dr would be so insistent if he didn't have a good case, and I feel in my heart I need to trust him... It is just so hard to swallow right now. P.S. His meds will show up tomorrow then a nurse will come by and teach me how to use the device that will administer his meds - this is really happening and I am freaking out!!
So, while all this is going on, we FINALLY have been pre-approved to buy a HOUSE!!! This has been a LONG time coming and we are soooooo ready for this. However, we are now faced with the daunting task of finding a house. What side of town? Do we get a smaller house in a comfortable are of town or a BIG house way far away from our friends and family? What if we move in and everything falls apart? What if the school is all wrong or the ward? I have wanted this for so long, and now that it's here I am scared to death (and still very excited at the same time)!! It is such a strange feeling.
Another GREAT thing has happened too!! I am going to be an official Grocery Smarts instructor in a few weeks!! Finding this company has been such a HUGE blessing in our lives that I feel completely overcome with gratitude to our Heavenly Father for answering our prayers. We needed to find an extra $400-500 in our budget to be able to get a house. We live pretty simply already, so the only area we have any wiggle room is our grocery/household items. Well, how do you not buy diapers, milk or chicken to save a few bucks? With a family of 6 that seemed impossible. So, I went to this little coupon class & as soon as she showed us how she bought a tube of toothpaste for .25 I was hooked! This was my first full month shopping with this method and I have saved over $500 on items I would have bought anyway for my family!! There is our mortgage payment. Oh, and now I get to teach classes and can start bringing in extra money by working a few days a week! GOD IS SOOOooo GOOD!!
So, here I sit with a house piled up with toys, laundry, dishes, and bills not sure where to start... On my mind: a new house, a new job, poking my baby everyday, and how on earth do I teach my almost 10 month old that it is OK for mommy to put her down and my boobs are not portable - no matter how hard you pull 'em!
Sorry for the rant - taking my deep breath - moving on....

Grocery Deals... or STEALS!!

So, I am FREAKING out at the amount of money I am saving on groceries!!! So, here are a few of my recent steals... This week was AMAZING!! I got all of this for $90.44!! I broke it down to cost/item (because I am a dork and I love numbers) It was $1.27 per item - - - - FOR DIAPERS!!!

PLUS I received another $15 for my next trip. I had to go back and get the rest of the stuff on my list (I ran out of room in my cart). I got this next bunch for a WHOPPING $20.95!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!!! The mascara alone would have cost me $15.

It just so happens that this weeks' deals were all at Albertsons & as a BONUS, they started gas rewards this week.... I thought I was getting an additional $.05 off per gallon but when I swipped my card I ended up getting $.55 off! I filled my tank for $22.45!!!
I LOVE SHOPPING AGAIN!! As a SAHM I have to say I feel so good about stretching our dollar and really filling our pantry at the same time!

Well, gotta go.... someone just pooped on the floor.... sheesh!