Reno Sadlers

Bailey The Prophet

2012-02-05T20:58:00.000-08:00

Just call her Nostradamus. Our daughter is trying her hand at the prophecy gig. As we have posted there will be a new baby girl coming to our family this April which we are all very excited with. Bailey, however, is taking it a step further. One day she was speaking of the new baby and she referred to her as "him" and "he". I corrected saying "Remember Bailey we are getting a baby girl?" To which she replied, "Yes, a baby girl and a baby boy."

Since then she has not let up on the two baby theory. She has even picked out names, "Nick" and "Sally" which are of course inspired from PBS' The Cat and The Hat Knows A Lot About That (pictured above). Well, I'm not the biggest fan of Sally but if the two baby thing comes to fruition we may just have to let her name them anything that she wants.

It's been a while huh?

2012-01-27T20:42:00.000-08:00

Well, so much has been happening and we haven't blogged a thing. Well we sure left out some big stuff. Ok, so what you missed last year was Matthew and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary on a Cruise...with a 3 year old. It was a lot of fun (I still miss the food). The biggest news however is we will be getting a new BABY GIRL in April. And after getting through Christmas It has finally hit me how close that is and how much I need to GET THIS MESS OF A HOUSE ORGANIZED! Yeah, good luck to me on that.
Well aside from that we have been pretty busy (especially Matthew) with work/school/house, you know all that life stuff. Bailey is in a preschool co-op (meaning some of us Moms take turns teaching) and is in Primary at church, (a classroom instead of a playroom) and she is doing great. Although she has expressed that she misses the toys. She is working on writing her letters and numbers (iPods make everything fun). Ok so here are some pictures.
Well, so much has been happening and we haven't blogged a thing. Well we sure left out some big stuff. Ok, so what you missed last year was Matthew and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary on a Cruise...with a 3 year old. It was a lot of fun (I still miss the food). The biggest news however is we will be getting a new BABY GIRL in April. And after getting through Christmas It has finally hit me how close that is and how much I need to GET THIS MESS OF A HOUSE ORGANIZED! Yeah, good luck to me on that.
Well aside from that we have been pretty busy (especially Matthew) with work/school/house, you know all that life stuff. Bailey is in a preschool co-op (meaning some of us Moms take turns teaching) and is in Primary at church, (a classroom instead of a playroom) and she is doing great. Although she has expressed that she misses the toys. She is working on writing her letters and numbers (iPods make everything fun). Ok so here are some pictures.

Graduation Interrupted

2012-01-27T08:15:00.000-08:00

The plan for this year was for me to graduate in May and then to complete my internship in August. I received an e-mail however from the dean of the College of Education that changed all of this. The internship is no longer offered as a graduate level course and as a result I will need to complete it as an undergraduate.

In practical terms this means that it will cost me less money and for all practical reasons it will be better for me. It is however a blow to my ego to no longer be able to say that I will be graduating from college in May. Regardless, 2012 will be the year that I finally graduate from college.

Because You Asked

2011-07-16T06:51:00.000-07:00

In talking to a number of our friends and loved ones I have discovered that the adoption process is somewhat of a mystery. I would like to try and explain what we are going through in order to offer some perspective. This is not meant to garner sympathy it is intended to be informative so please try not to read to much into it. Also, our experiences are with LDS Family Services, agencies will differ in their methods and procedures.

Once we decided that we wished to adopt again we needed to initiate the process by paying a small deposit and getting interviewed by a social worker. From there we needed to complete several background checks. We had to be fingerprinted and checked by both the state and federal government (the FBI takes forever to get this done so if you are considering adopting I would do this first of all). Our financials are also reviewed to ensure economic stability. Lastly, we undergo a physical examination.

The social worker visited our home to complete a walk-through and check the overall safety of the environment (as a result we purchased fire escape ladders which I am quite frankly glad to have).

The toughest part is the paperwork. Included in it is a letter to the birth mother, family backgrounds and histories. Perhaps most daunting is the preference sheet. This is where you express your comfort (or discomfort) in having a child placed with you that has different psychological or physical disorders. Your preferences are specific to each disorder (we spent a lot of time on WebMD while completing this). You can also express ethnicity preferences as well as age and gender.

Once all this is done you are able to complete your on-line profile that is first reviewed by the Family Services staff and then is posted once your background checks are cleared.

All the background checks are renewed annually and an annual service fee is charged.

From this point you wait. This is the stage that we are at. Birth mothers can search your profile and even contact you with questions. They also fill out preference sheets which can then be matched with your own to determine compatibility (along with other profiles which also match).

Referrals are really key in the whole process. Because someone at Church knew that we were adopting we were put in contact with a wonderful woman who chose adoption for her unborn child. The decision was very difficult for her. She did it out of love for our mutual daughter and her name will forever be honored by our family. We love and respect her so much.

I want to have another child so badly. I sincerely hope that it is the Lord's will that another be placed with us.

Memorial Day

2011-05-30T20:57:00.000-07:00

Well we have had a great day, and by we I mean Me, Bailey and Matthew. As per tradition the schedule went as follows:
Drive to Fallon a little later than planned
Visit Deceased relatives and mentally shop for gravestones
Eat Lunch none too soon because Jennifer forgot to eat breakfast
Visit Living relatives for longer than planned and look at all the dogs my Uncles dog kennel
Drive home with the sun in our eyes and try to stay awake luckily the one who managed it was the one driving.

We did mix it up a bit, Matthew got to go out with the boys this morning and fill his need for firearms. And a benefit to having a bit of land (as my parents have) is that people will let you borrow some pretty cool stuff if you will store it for them. Woot for Bailey and Daddy!
It was a great day. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Anderson for taking us.

Paying our respects (as I taught Bailey to say it)

All the flags...they just make you grateful.

My sweet little girl. She helped cut the flowers from my parents house too.

I am so glad I came across this, and no I have no idea who it is.

Tuckered out Bailey.
Very much energized again Bailey. I don't even know whose that is.

My prize picture.

When You Think No One Is Looking

2011-04-17T21:47:00.000-07:00

So the background is that Bailey offered to help vacuum while Jenn took care of some other chores. That was when Bailey discovered just how much fun the vacuum cleaner was to play with. Fortunately the vacuum was so loud that Bailey didn't see Jennifer going for the camera and she just played away. Notice her reaction as soon as she realizes that she is being watched.

Happy Birthday!

2011-04-11T08:32:00.001-07:00

I guess that we were a little eager for our daughter to praise her new gift so we asked, "Do you like it?" To which she replied slowly and patiently, "You keep asking me if I like it and I like it." I guess our enthusiasm was a little excessive.

"Thank you for the new bike. It's SUPER big!"

Paradigm Shift

2011-04-02T19:56:00.000-07:00

Bailey had her little mind blown tonight. She saw a man with earrings and immediately spoke up, "Boys don't have earrings". Feeling a little embarrassed we immediately tried to correct her saying that some do. I even showed her the holes in my ears from my old earrings. Jenn summarized by saying, "Daddy used to have earrings". We thought that we had cleared it all up and saved face with the guy at the table next to us until Bailey countered, "But, now he is a boy".

Practicum

2011-03-13T21:40:00.000-07:00

This semester I have the opportunity to complete a practicum at a local middle school. Now there was a lot of drama surrounding my getting a placement which I shall not get into here, however, the placement finally came. I am working with an incredible social studies teacher at Dapoali Middle School in the Double Diamond area. His name is Fred Williams. He is prepared, he knows his class and I really enjoy the assignments that he puts together for them. He also takes me aside at different times to explain what he is doing with his class and why he is doing it. He really seems interested in helping me to become a good teacher and I really appreciate it. He has encouraged the students to talk to me about their assignments and to answer any questions that I might have. I spend a lot of the time asking them about what they are working on, and they have been really willing to let me look over their assignments. I am having a great time.

The practicum requires that I spend 30 hours total in the classroom. Most of that time is observation, however, I will have the opportunity to teach two lessons while I am there. I look forward to getting my assignments from Mr. Williams.

Disappointment

2011-02-20T22:01:00.000-08:00

So let me say first of all that I think that our little snowman was adorable. Bailey really wanted to build one so Jenn helped her out and they put this little guy together all on their own. In seeing the finished product however Bailey was far from happy, "I wanted to make a BIG snowman" she said. This was followed by full on alligator tears. Well two days later it is still enough to make her cry, "I wanted to make a BIG snowman" she says in between sobs. It is simultaneously heart wrenching and annoying to have to see a two year old learn a lesson that we as adults know all to well, disappointment.

"If it wasn't for disappointment, I wouldn't have any appointments." -They Might Be Giants

Mary Had a Rockin Lamb

2011-01-30T21:10:00.000-08:00

Little Abby

2011-01-16T21:32:00.000-08:00

Bailey has an imaginary friend which I think is so cool. I don't believe that I ever really got into that (although my stuffed animals did serve as gunners in my Gundam type robot). Her name is "Little Abby" (Hmmm... I wonder where she came up with that). Little Abby fits in her hand and sleeps on our planter stand downstairs. She actually forgot her at preschool this last week and Jenn had to go back and get her. She also left her in the grocery cart when we went shopping but to save a return trip I invented the story that I saw Baby Abby in the cart and had picked her up and put her in my pocket. I then handed her back to her mommy. I believe in validating my child's play and all but gosh darn-it I was tired and not feeling up to another trip.

This one isn't centered because Bailey was running full speed giving Little Abby a piggyback ride.

Note her hands. She is holding Little Abby up on her shoulder

I'm not superstitious but...

2010-12-25T22:19:00.000-08:00

I don't consider myself to be a superstitious person by any means, but, breaking our Christus statue while decorating for Christmas sure can't be the best thing to do. I am pretty sure I am due for a karmic butt-kicking. I choose to look at this as an ironic turn of events rather than a commentary on the increased commercialization of Christmas.

Sing it with me...

2010-12-05T21:07:00.000-08:00

Here is Bailey totally rocking out to the ABC's, enjoy.

Dear Santa

2010-11-29T18:56:00.000-08:00

Bailey loves to play my guitar (she can play as well as I can), so we have been thinking about getting her her own. And then one day...

Hmmm, I wonder what Santa is bringing for Christmas?

My Little Cook

2010-11-28T22:07:00.000-08:00

Bailey has really taken to the kitchen. She asks us if she can "cook" which means mixing flour with other stuff, like a whole carton of salt for instance. Whatever, the case, she loves it and she pays very close attention to what we are doing. I think that she will be a culinary queen when she grows up.

The Whipping Cream Will Be Mine!

2010-11-26T11:01:00.000-08:00

(We actually have very few pictures of me so here is one taken by Bailey. Please ignore the junk that has accumulated on the stairs...I SAID IGNORE IT!)

If you are like me and attempt to do your Thanksgiving grocery shopping the night before Thanksgiving let me just say that we are fools. I just needed a couple of things so I thought it should be simple. Well I had on my list whipping cream, none of that canned stuff for me. What I found was the refrigerated section had been completely wiped out of whipping cream with the exception of two small cartons waaaaaay in the back. At this point I could have given up but my home-made pumpkin pie deserved the very best so I mulled it over for a while. I grabbed a bottle of half-and-half and stepped into the fridge and stretched to my limit but to no avail. More mulling and then...Eureka!

There in the middle of the grocery store I calmly undid and removed my belt, Bailey looked really confused at this (Jennifer obviously wasn't there or this probably wouldn't have been allowed to happen). I formed a loop by folding my belt in on itself and with more stretching and stepping into the fridge I was finally able to grab a hold of the cartons well enough to pull them down into my reach. Feeling quite proud of myself I redid my belt and continued on my way.

I then forgot the whipping cream the next day and we ended up using the spray can whipping cream to top the pies.

Never Trust a Two Year Old

2010-11-21T09:18:00.000-08:00

Jennifer and I like to exchange gifts with each other around the holidays. We work hard to try and surprise each other, but this year, she is at a disadvantage. When I came home from work yesterday, I didn't even have the door closed behind me, when Bailey loudly announced, "Order daddy's present today. Mommy and Bailey ordered daddy's present today." Which she repeated about a half a dozen times just to be sure that I caught it.

Left Is Right and Vice Versa

2010-10-17T20:38:00.000-07:00

So our little girl is totally ambidextrous. She makes no distinction between her right and left hand and seems to be able to use them equally well. Her choice seems more a matter of mood than any type of dominance by one side or the other. It will be interesting to see if she can hold on to that.

Here she is with the left hand.

Here she is with the right (and looking adorable I might add).

You can't really tell from the angle but here she is using both!

Wedding Bells

2010-10-17T07:56:00.000-07:00

Our family is ever growing. This last week Jeff proposed to his girlfriend Kim and she said yes! They seem so happy and good together. We are excited for them and looking forward to the upcoming wedding. Having married into the Anderson family nine years ago I can speak with authority in saying that they are wonderful and very welcoming. Congratulations Jeff and Kim!

How does your garden grow?

2010-09-19T21:13:00.000-07:00

I had Bailey stand next to it for a sense of scale (but not for too long it would have tried to eat her eventually).

I used to be happy that my two tomato plants were thriving, but now as they inch their way inexorably across our patio I have grown to fear them. Can they be stopped?

Now That's What I Call An Activity

2010-09-12T22:11:00.000-07:00

Now I don't like to brag but the Mount Rose Ward has some of the best activities that I have ever had in my career in the church. There is nothing quite like the smell of gunpowder in the morning to stir ones senses. We had another great activity for the Labor Day holiday and the turnout was good and the gun to guy ratio was ideal. Thanks President Hickey for putting it all together.

Trek Day 3

2010-09-05T21:16:00.000-07:00

Rather than making a full account I would like to simply say that Trek was awesome! I love the youth that we were able to meet and am so excited for all of the blessings and opportunities that are in their future. I love you guys. Thank you for one of the most wonderful weekends. You will be in our prayers and memories for years to come.

My Girly Girl

2010-08-29T21:35:00.000-07:00

Well Bailey loves all things girly (she did not get that from me)so I let her pick out some nail polish at the store last week. She was so excited, it was too late to paint her nails when we got home so I told her we would do it after her nap, and when she woke up she remembered. So I painted her nails, quick dry as suggested by Apryl (Thank you!), and then she wanted to paint my nails. Luckily my fingernails were already painted (again Apryl thank you.) and I told her so but she was not deterred and she immediately suggested painting my toenails. "Um, maybe later." (obvious concern in my voice)
That evening we discovered a flaw in our quick drying beauty product. As I noticed some strange things floating around in her bath I (having feared the worst) was amused and told her lightheartedly "Oh your nail polish came off." I was not prepared for the trauma I had just inflicted on my child. "Put it back! Put it back!" (accompanied by many "wah's" and large tears) I'm trying not to laugh too hard but the intensity of her emotional attachment to this is just so cute. Well I convince her that we can just put more on so she is now mollified and we can continue bedtime.
So a couple of days later when it starts chipping off she requests another coat and I comply only to discover she has a renewed desire for painting my toenails. Oh what the heck why not right? Well...I think she needs some practice but considering the mess was contained to my feet I am pretty happy.
- Jennifer

Trek Day 2

2010-08-22T22:20:00.000-07:00

I was really discouraged the first day and in fact doubted that a good night's sleep would improve the situation, I may have been correct, but as it turns out a bad night's sleep was just what I needed.

There were hardly any stars overnight as the clouds were thick overhead. Sometime during the night I began to feel a cold splash on my face. I tried to ignore it at first but then they fell more regularly, I dragged myself out of my sleeping bag and laid tarps over the girls who were all sleeping in a neat little row. I looked at the boys who were sprawled every which way on their tarp and just shrugged my shoulders and went back to sleep, they would manage.

In the morning during breakfast time the rains finally came full on. There was a scramble in the camp sites to try to get everything packed before it got soaked, we were not successful in that respect. Still we began our trek. I was somewhat apprehensive as I knew what laid ahead.

A short distance up the trail we were stopped and all of the men were "enlisted" in the Mormon Battalion. This meant we would leave all of the women to pull by themselves in the cold, muddy conditions of the day. The weather made the separation all the more poignant for me as we left. The women looked so miserable as we marched away. I really hope that the boys appreciated that fact. While the women were left to pull solo we were marched through the brush to a meadow where the stake presidency spoke to the boys. The talks were all wonderful but President Foote's words stuck out the most for me. He spoke of women and all that is asked of them and pointed out that as men we really get the best of it. His eyes were full of tears as he spoke of how he loved his wife and again I looked around me at those boys and just prayed that they were getting the meaning of these messages. I was reminded of just how much my wife has done for me and how much she means to me.

The day continued after our families were reunited with lunch and more vignettes. At lunch the youth received letters from family via the "Pony Express" and were given time to read and reflect on them in their journals and then we continued on our path.

There was one other big event planned for the day the infamous Rocky Ridge, the idea was to really push the youth and to really try them physically. It was meant to be grueling and hard and I personally feel that it was successful in this respect. As we looked upon the hill it looked hard, as he hiked it with the handcart in tow it exceeded what we had expected. I knew the vignette that was planned, I knew that there were to be "angels" who would come out halfway up and help us out but even knowing that I still was not sure if I was going to make it. I looked at my youth as they bent down and pushed the strain evident on their faces. Then one of our youth began our family cheer and I could have cried at the way he mustered us to push on. "Who leads the camp!" he yelled, to which we all replied, "The God of Israel!" It was what we needed, when we needed it. When the angels began to pull it was all I could do to hang on, I felt then that the cart was pulling me. It was a great experience.

Camp that night was a little less than great, we found ourselves in a beautiful lush meadow, with tall, soft grass all around and an abundance of cow pies. I think the number one complaint or criticism of trek afterward was the presence of the cow pies. It was gross getting into camp and it was even worse after dark when you couldn't see where you stepped.

I want to be clear that by day two my heart was in it all the way. I felt then and continue to feel today a sincere gratitude for the opportunity to participate in the trek.

Trek Day 1

2010-08-01T21:44:00.000-07:00

So I have been wanting to journal our trek experience since we got home but have had trouble finding the time. I decided that the situation was not likely to improve in the near future so I just decided to suck it up and do it. I will break it down by day to make it easier to follow.

I have to admit that Day 1 was hard. We needed to be at the stake center at five in the morning which meant waking up at four. The problem was compounded by the fact that we could not get a decent nights sleep. We had to leave Bailey with Jenn's folks which while we know they are capable was still hard. Plus there were the nerves and anxiety about Trek. What if our kids misbehave? What if they won't listen to us? What if we have trouble buying into it? So plagued with doubt and more than a little fatigued we made for the stake center.

Families were not assigned at this point so we listened to some speakers try to set the tone of what we were doing and then made our way to the Trek site. We rode with two of the young men from our ward. The drive was uneventful (save for the vicious cows on the road) and we arrived on time. There was a lot of milling about without any of us really sure what we were doing but then the families began to be assigned. I felt like the youth were sizing us up as they made their way over to join our family (except for Marleena who at least knew of us). We did have one boon to our family in the form of Mindy Childs. Her dad supplied us with a sturdy rod to loop about a leading rope on our wagon, the result, a two horse team! (It will make sense as you look at the pictures).

We listened to more speakers as the youth chomped at the bit to be off. Jenn and I were supposed to be cheer leaders to see that everyone's spirits remained high but to be honest with as much sleep as we got it was all we could do to plod on. I can only speak for myself but I definitely had some internalized murmuring.

Their were a few vignettes, most of which we missed being at the end of the company. Nevertheless our youth were great, they were eager to pull the cart, fun to engage in conversation and all seemed to have great attitudes. It was funny that a number of them had parents on the trek who would come up to us and thank us sincerely for helping their child. I could only reply, "your child is amazing, it really hasn't been a strain on us." I would like to reaffirm that sentiment the youth that we had the privilege of getting to know gave me faith in the rising generation.

There was a lot of stop and go which inspired some pioneer road rage but there were no fatalities (fortunately a pioneer drive-by involves pine cones).

One incident I think bears mentioning is that they had a raid of our handcarts to catch smugglers, (stashed i-Pods and the like). They made us completely empty our cart after having only recently loaded it. One of the "sheriffs" commented about the ponchos somewhat mockingly. He said, "It's like they expect it to rain or something." Famous last words. We reached the rendezvous and thick gray clouds began gathering above us. Then a few drops became a few more and the rains came down upon us. I bet there were more than a few Trekkers glad for those ponchos.

They really stressed the need to keep our families together but we quickly found that it wasn't really feasible at the stops. They were good youth and we just had to trust them. At the rendezvous we had black powder shooting, archery (nailed me a boar I did), apple fritters and a stick pull among other pioneer like games and activities. I met my match in the stick pull, literally. My son Scott Dover and I could not budge the other one inch, finally we broke the stick. We tried again with similar results. We were forced to admit that it was a draw.

The night brought a fireside from our spiritual leader, President Challis (always great to hear him speak) and some wicked cool Spongebob jammies (Daniel). Then it was off to bed under the stars, well under the clouds anyway.

Starting early

2010-07-11T22:48:00.001-07:00

Bailey was rinsing her car with the hose one day and I thought is was so cute I got a bowl and a towel and told her she could wash it. (She washed some other things for me as well.)

The Rainbow Bridge

2010-06-20T23:23:00.000-07:00

Tonight I had a singular experience. I witnessed as the Anderson's family dog was euthanised. He was incredibly listless today and hadn't been eating much at all. Finally he got the shivers and refused to get up. It was decided that he should be taken to the Animal Emergency Center in Reno. The staff were incredible. They took Dank right in for an exam. They determined that x-rays would be needed for further diagnostics and the okay was given. The x-ray results were back in about a half hour. All the while they were very calm and incredibly courteous. Seriously, I cannot say enough nice things about them. Unfortunately, they found some nodules in Dank the most sever being in his lungs. From the x-ray they could not technically call it cancer but it was clear that there was little else that it could be. They said that the best that we could realistically hope for would be to determine the type of cancer and begin chemotherapy treatments which might buy him a few more months. My mother-in-law was forced to make the difficult decision to have him put to sleep. They brought him into our room and allowed us to visit. He gave mom one final lick on the hands and the doctor came in to administer the anesthesia which would stop his heart.

I was glad that I could be there for it and glad to discover that I did feel grief as we watched him pass. This experience truly deepened the love that I have for animals but more particularly for dogs. I have never been able to own a dog as a result of my circumstances but hope to one day be able to provide a home for one. I am glad to know that animals our one of the creations of our Heavenly Father and although I do not know what the circumstances will be after this life for them, I trust that He does not take his creations lightly and that there is a place for them somewhere in his plan.

He Guarantees It!

2010-06-13T20:36:00.000-07:00

We were slammed the other morning at work. In anticipation of a really busy night we were staffed really light in the morning. Unfortunately our customers didn't realize that they were not supposed to be there yet so me and another associate were just running our behinds off. At some point amidst all this commotion I looked up to see an eerily familiar bearded man walk right by me, after I completed the double take it was confirmed, George Zimmer (the founder, CEO, and spokesman for the Men's Wearhouse) had walked into our store. He took one look at the chaos and without hesitation began measuring and helping customers. It was amazing. Once the business died down he congratulated the both of us for how hard we were working and left for a meeting that he had in town. Definitely not an every day experience.

Bailey's Awesome Hangout

2010-05-25T21:44:00.001-07:00

Do you ever wish that you could just get away from it all? Would you like just a small corner of the world that is yours and yours alone? Of course, we all do. Well, Bailey has found hers. The funny thing is she knows how cute it is too. Now when she crawls in she starts saying, "Mama camera." Where better to grab a snack and unwind from the stress of toddlerhood?

An "A-ha" Moment

2010-05-23T21:31:00.000-07:00

About a week after school let out I found myself struggling with some feelings that I hadn't expected, I missed school. It felt like I was spinning my tires again and I just wanted to go back. You have to understand that this was more than just a minor thing I actually felt myself starting to get depressed. I racked my brain trying to come up with projects or activities that might help me to get out of this funk.

Then the answer came. One morning Bailey woke up and I decided to let Jennifer sleep in as Bailey and I went downstairs. That morning I played with my daughter for almost two hours straight. As I watched her smile and heard her laughter it struck me that this was what I should be doing. This is what the time was for. I appreciate that moment of clarity so much and hope that I will treasure up some great memories with my daughter this summer.

New Words

2010-05-14T23:28:00.000-07:00

Bailey busted out some new words today.

#1 Okay

In context: She came up to Jennifer, put her hand on her back, looked into Jenn's eyes and said "Mama okay?" She was just checking up on her then she did it to me.

#2 Too

In context: I was in bed and she crawled up next to me and said "Baby hide too". Meaning she wanted to get in the blankets and pull them over her head.

It seems like she has a new word or two everyday. It is amazing not just that she can say them, but that she gets the context correct too. Children are amazing (especially Bailey :D).

Train Tracks

2010-04-20T20:25:00.000-07:00

Bailey got really excited about her train table for the first time tonight (a stall tactic but still). She was interlocking those tracks like a champ. She was so cute and proud. I just had to get a picture.

Happy Birthday Bailey

2010-04-11T21:25:00.000-07:00

Thank you everyone for making Bailey's day so fun and special. I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked but hey, I was hostessing right? (aka visiting) Anyway here are some pics of the party as promised. I love that little girl!

My parents yard is full of toys for Bailey so there was already entertainment for the kids. We also had an egg hunt which I think went over very well. And just to make sure we kept everyone happy we fed them. I should have gotten a picture of my hubby grill master but I already covered that.
Bailey got a lot of great gifts and I think we have already played with, used or eaten most of them. Thanks again everyone.

Oh and did anyone's child get a nap that day because mine sure didn't.

"My Car"

2010-04-10T21:14:00.000-07:00

Today we had Bailey's Birthday party. Grandma and Grandpa Anderson hosted again. We had so much fun last year that we basically tried to recreate it with more kids. I think it went well.
I'm still working on downloading pictures but I just had to post this video of my Sassy girl defending her property. I love her little shake of frustration.

Those poor boys just wanted to play.

A Guilt Trip From a Two Year Old

2010-04-04T21:19:00.000-07:00

So on Friday I was just getting ready to leave for work when I said goodbye to Bailey. She responded by saying "No". Seeing that I didn't understand she elaborated, "No, dada house, dada house". Seriously, what are you supposed to do with that? Is that cause to use a sick day? When I left anyway she did the only thing she could, she cried her eyes out. It made me feel horrible, where does she learn that from?

A New Calling

2010-03-28T21:33:00.000-07:00

Things were normal enough on Friday. Jenn had just picked me up from school and I was getting a little bit of lunch before work. "Oh, Rick Gardner called" said Jenn as she handed me a note with his number. I don't think that Jenn realized the Brother Gardner is the Executive Secretary to the Stake President. Well I called him and as I was talking Jenn suddenly realized what it was, I could tell by the way her eyes got wide, I nodded my head while still on the phone and she silently mouthed "Oh no!" Sure enough the purpose was to set an appointment for me to meet with the Stake Presidency.

To give some background our Bishop just moved out of the ward so an appointment with the Stake Presidency is not a thing to be taken lightly. To be honest I have been jumping every time the phone rang this week so it felt kind of good to finally have it out of the way.

The appointment was set for Saturday night so I had over 24 hours to stew. As we showed up for the appointment it was a little off putting to find the hallway to the Stake Presidency's office dark like no one was home. We wondered if we were in the right place, was it a joke...? Our fears were soon put to rest as President Farr showed up and took us to his office. With only a little preamble the call was extended for me to serve as the second counselor to Bishop Davis v2.0. We of course accepted and I felt pretty good about it. I received a confirmation that it was inspired and so I left the office in good spirits. At dinner however I suddenly got a really sick nauseous feeling that I carried with me through most of the day. The implications of the call finally began to weigh down on me.

I was sustained as both a high priest and as the second counselor in sacrament today. Just typing the words it seems so unreal. I feel so small and unprepared for this. I am however glad to serve with Bishop Davis. I was his Elders Quorum President during his last tour of duty as Bishop so I am comfortable with him. This will be a new chapter in our lives and I really hope that I can measure up to what has been asked of me. For now, I just need to try not to throw up.

Management Training

2010-03-10T23:00:00.000-08:00

Well, I have completed yet another management training for The Men's Wearhouse at the Chaminade resort in Santa Cruz California. You know what I will miss the most? No, it is not the all expense paid trip to Santa Cruz, the all you can eat buffets full of great food at every meal. It isn't the opportunity to reinvent myself and to gain needed skills that will benefit me not only in this job but in my future as well. The camaraderie is great but that isn't it either. No, what I will miss the most is the never ending supply of It's It ice cream sandwiches. Without exaggeration I can boast that I ate no less than three of these bad boys a day, and that was holding back. Picture a generous serving of ice cream served between two deliciously chewy oatmeal cookies and then coated in dark chocolate. I would call it dessert perfection but that would relegate to an end of meal indulgence, no, it is so much more. They make excellent snacks, appetizers even breakfast. Use your imagination. San Francisco has been producing these bad boys since 1928 and I can see why. Farewell, magical ice cream freezer filled with only the best. I will remember you fondly and look forward to when next we meet.

Wow! Are those people models?

2010-02-21T12:08:00.000-08:00

As Promised

2010-02-21T11:59:00.000-08:00

Picturepalooza

2010-02-21T00:13:00.001-08:00

Stay tuned for more. Props to Zinserphoto.com for the great pictures, thanks Evan.

How can you stay mad?

2010-02-20T10:19:00.000-08:00

By Jennifer:
So Friday was a little frustrating for me. Bailey took an early nap so no afternoon one and I was exhausted. So she was not my favorite person that afternoon. But as I am grumpily folding laundry in my bedroom I look over to see her picking up every little thing she sees on the floor and piling it on my dresser. "Oh my gosh she is (unsolicited) cleaning up my room!" and then as I am smiling to myself and thinking how lucky I really am I turn to find my stack of folded laundry gone. She had put it away, in a drawer of her choosing of coarse but YAY!!! Score one for Mommy!!
I really do love that girl.

What a Saturday

2010-02-14T21:22:00.000-08:00

So we enjoyed an amazing family day yesterday. We started out by driving down to Carson City where our good friends and professional photographers were offering a special for family photos. Evan Zinser met up with us and we cannot wait to see the results. The weather was beautiful and it was nice to catch up with an old friend. This will be the third set of family pictures that he has done for us.

From there we decided to have lunch together at the original Scoopers in Sparks. Their food never disappoints and they have a great patio so you can enjoy your meal outside. There is a whole local bird population that knows about Scooper's. They just bounce around looking cute and innocent but man the second you drop a french fry just say good bye because they are on it like a pack of beady eyed wolves.

Then Bailey and I decided to give mom a break and the two of us headed out for a walk. At one point Bailey totally stood straight up in her stroller and looked back at me saying "eyes, eyes, eyes". She just wanted her sunglasses, upon receiving them she plopped right back down and enjoyed the ride, at least until we came in view of a slide. At that point, all on her own, she hit the button to release her tray and hopped right out of the stroller. She got in a couple of good runs on the slide as well as some quality swing time.

Finally it was time to go home so that daddy could get ready for work, oh, did I mention we did all this before one o'clock?

Words are so cute

2010-02-07T16:57:00.000-08:00

Here is our little girl showing off her vocabulary. Isn't it just great!!

Bailey Helping

2010-01-31T11:15:00.000-08:00

I thought that this was so adorable I just had to grab the camera.

More Bailey

2010-01-27T16:37:00.000-08:00

This has some really good smiling footage, enjoy!

Movie Time

2010-01-24T22:14:00.000-08:00

So, for those of you who do not get to see Bailey on a regular basis I thought some video might be nice so you can actually see what she is like. The still pictures, while cute, just don't do her justice. There will be more videos forthcoming but for now, I know that I have mentioned her dancing so here it is for all you Bailey fans.

You've got to love the fact that the video ends with her bashing herself into the TV armoire.

Oh, and props to April Meservy, the music in the background is from her newest album, available now on iTunes.

Rip Off on the River

2010-01-21T07:58:00.000-08:00

Okay so the title is perhaps a little harsh but I am just a sucker for alliteration. A few weeks back one of my regular customers was buying a tuxedo from me as he conducts a high school orchestra and also plays in a local one. He mentioned that they had a performance in Reno and asked if Jenn and I liked classical music. When I told him that we did he said, "You should come check us out". Then he wrote down the name of the place they were playing and the date for me. I had the night off so we decided to check it out.

When we got downtown it had a definite Gotham feeling to it. It reminded me of the scene in Batman, Christian Bale or Michael Keaton take your pick, when a young Bruce Wayne went to the Opera with his parents. The architecture of the Trinity Episcopal Church where we were going only reinforced these feelings. Luckily there were no muggings or accidental shootings so Bailey is spared the life of a vigilante for now.

Upon arriving at our destination we received a nasty surprise. They had a little table set up in the foyer with a sign on it that read "Adults $20". Now I had suspected there might be some charge, like the "free" Art Town concerts where they accept donations but I did not consider that it would be this expensive. Well being caught completely off guard and being supremely embarrassed I did not know what to do. I told them frankly that we couldn't afford it all the while feeling waves of hot shame flush over me. They kindly informed me that we could mail it to them at a later date and not knowing what to do I accepted. I am still kicking myself over that decision. A forty dollar concert is completely out of our budget, especially this month. I can't believe I got suckered into that one. Well we felt uneasy for the whole first half and ended up leaving early because we were having too hard of a time enjoying it. Well, next time I'll know better.

Last Day of Seminary

2010-01-18T11:02:00.000-08:00

Well, it was bittersweet to be sure. I have taught my last day of early morning seminary, for now at least. For the past three and a half years I have met with this class and though the students change year by year it has been a highlight of my church service. I have been so impressed by the dedication of this group of youth, this year in particular has been something that I look forward to each morning. It is with a heavy heart that I pass the reins on to the new teacher. I love each of you very much.

Pictures

2010-01-18T10:27:00.000-08:00

Well the blog has been a little light on pictures lately so here are a few of the latest and greatest.

This is our handy girl. Bailey loves to play with screwdrivers and to try to "fix" things.

She's just adorable, isn't she?

Caught in the act. Bailey knows that she is not supposed to play with the electrical outlets so here she attempted to hide herself behind the laundry basket so that we wouldn't notice. It's not like the laundry basket was even there, she actually pulled it over to conceal herself, honestly, where do they learn to be sneaky from?

This is how daddy puts Bailey to bed. He falls asleep and eventually she gets so bored that she falls asleep too.

UNR Self Guided Tour

2010-01-18T08:44:00.000-08:00

I was at TMCC long enough that I got pretty familiar with the campus, besides there were only three buildings to try and remember. Well, UNR is a different story. There are rows and rows of buildings and I must admit I was a little intimidated. I decided that I wanted to do a trial run before the start of school to help make myself more comfortable. Well, to help ,my amazing wife printed out a campus map then she made post-it arrows to indicate the buildings I would need. On the arrows she wrote the class numbers and times of all the classes. The resulting walk around campus was very enjoyable. I am really excited to be starting classes at the University. In a way for me I finally feel as though I am committed to my education and that all of this school will eventually culminate in a degree and in a new career. With any luck I should be student teaching in about two years.

Thank you RTC

2010-01-18T08:34:00.000-08:00

Well, school starts up this week and I will be looking at a much more intensive schedule, with me now taking classes full time. This means a lot more time on campus and since we only have one car it presented somewhat of a dilemma. First the obvious, Jenn and Bailey being left without a vehicle. This was a recipe for driving my poor wife insane, an obvious check in the negative column. Furthermore, parking passes are outrageous. The cheapest of which was over one hundred dollars and would only allow me to park roughly ten feet from my front door anyway (if you are reading this then you know my tendancy for sarcasm but in case you don't that was an example, the fact remains the spots were still really far away). Enter the Reno Transit... something that starts with the letter C or RTC if you will. It turns out they offer a special bus pass for students that is only ten dollars a month for unlimited rides.

I'm not very public transit savvy but this sounded like the way to go. I did my first trial run last Wednesday and was very pleased with how easy it was. Plus, I can study, while I'm driving to school, how cool is that? I think that this is going to prove to be a really good option for us and I am looking forward to trying to use it for other outings too. After all, the more I use it at this point the more money I am saving, right?

New Years Eve

2010-01-03T21:41:00.000-08:00

So it seems like every one of our family parties of late has turned into a Wii party, and this last New Year's was no exception. To be fair we did start the evening with some human interaction. Gene and Brenda hosted and so we began with Gene placing a Post-It note on everyone's back with a name on it. Using only yes or no questions we had to try to guess who we were. Jenn guessed her Marilyn Monroe early, it took me a little longer to guess my name of Evel Knievel. It was a good time and everyone got involved. Midnight was somewhat anticlimactic as we just barely managed to pull ourselves away from our conversations to count out the last five seconds. It was a little hard to believe just how many of those that Jennifer and I have celebrated together.

Well once 2010 had finally rolled around the party began in earnest with a new game called Just Dance. For those of you who haven't seen the game trust me it is the type of thing that Youtube videos are made of. In fact you might try searching it there I would bet dollars to doughnuts that you'll come up with at least a few examples. Definitely, not a game for the inhibited but man what a blast. Essentially, it allows for four players at a time to just hold their Wii-motes and try to mirror the dancer on the screen. A couple of the evenings highlights were a group of four boys ranging in age from nine to about seventeen dancing to the Spice Girls. By far the evenings highlight though was when the dads got up and danced to KC and The Sunshine Band with an Elvis encore.

If you ever get invited to one of our family parties, be warned, their may be some dancing involved.

Christmas in Review

2009-12-28T07:19:00.000-08:00

Christmas is interesting as a parent. I never before appreciated just how difficult it was to find time to do the shopping, wrap all the presents etc. without your children finding you out. Granted, it is easy with Bailey only being one but we still tried to exercise some stealth to at least develop the habit. We are still in the enviable position of being able to talk about her gifts right in front of her without her getting wise.

In the end, Bailey had a good Christmas. We had breakfast with Grandma and Grandpa Anderson, also Great Grandma Foneta was able to join us as well. We all got to talk to Jeff who is on his mission in El Salvador and a good time was had by all. Present opening began with a reading of the Christmas story in Luke Chapter 2 (Thanks mom and dad for starting that particular tradition). Then we opened presents. It is humorous to me the things that we do as parents.

Here's an example:

Bailey opens her first gift.

Bailey: Wow a new doll I love it! I want to play with it right now.
Parents: No, Bailey you can't you have to open more presents.
Bailey: But, I love the doll may I just play with it please.
Parents: No, presents first, then you can play.
Bailey: Okay [opens another gift]. Holy cow, a doll stroller! Wow! Thank you Santa! Now, I really want to play.
Parents: No, there are still presents to open.
Bailey: But, I'm happy with just this, can't I play?
Parents: No, because we bought you a lot of other stuff far beyond what you would be happy with and you need to stay here open them up and tell us how much you like them. This isn't about you.

Okay, so it wasn't exactly like that but Bailey would have been perfectly happy with just the two gifts. Why do we insist on making it so complicated? Another big highlight for her was a karaoke machine which Grandma Anderson picked out for her. Well you can see the pictures for yourself she loves it.

Grandma also bought the Wii Fit Plus board and game for us but I think that will be detailed in another post. I hope that you all had an enjoyable Christmas. May the Lord bless you in the coming new year.

Christmas Eve at The Men's Wearhouse 2403

2009-12-28T07:03:00.000-08:00

My work has a neat Christmas tradition that has gotten completely carried away as the years have gone by. We do an annual draw for Secret Santa. It makes it easier on everyone as they only have to buy a gift for one other person. In years past people might bring in extra gifts for someone else that they thought the person would really enjoy. Innocent enough, however, recently some of the employees have decided that they would buy gifts for everyone. This trend has been catching on to the point where now, there is a mountain of gifts at the store. We bring them in throughout the month of December and they accumulate on our front counter until finally the 24th rolls around and we get to open presents.

The nice thing is that it is not expected for anyone to do this so there are no hard feelings. It is actually a pretty good time being able to just relax with your coworkers and have fun. Of course we are still open as we do this so we have to still work a little but the crowds are normally pretty light for Christmas Eve.

Big Girl Bed

2009-12-28T06:50:00.000-08:00

Well Bailey has been upgraded from her crib to a big girl bed. This wasn't really a decision on the part of Jennifer or myself but rather was all Bailey. The Sunday before Christmas she decided no more cribs, this decision was vocalized by her screaming at the top of her lungs every time we tried to lay her in it. Even if we rocked her to sleep in our arms as soon as we would bend over to lay her down she would realize what was going on enough to work herself up into a frenzy. We could not figure out the problem until finally we just laid her down with us. She slept through the night even if we didn't. The next night we pulled her mattress out of the crib and just laid it on the floor which seemed to be acceptable to her.

Her grandpa Anderson had planned on making a bed for her so Monday night we called him to tell him that she was ready. Amazingly, he called us Wednesday morning to ask what color we wanted it as the bed was finished. Bailey seems to really like it though she does fall out on occasion which makes for some late night baby retrievals. Also, she has decided that she does not like to fall asleep on her own and requests that one of us lay with her while she falls asleep. Maybe it is something we should try to discourage but when she puts on her sad face and just pats her mattress in a mute request to have you lay down it is pretty darn irresistible. Although, Jenn has had to come in and get me a time or two as I've fallen asleep right along with her. Good thing it is a sturdy little bed.

Aspiring Big Sister

2009-12-20T08:33:00.001-08:00

So we are setting things in motion to again start the adoption process. We had a meeting scheduled with our new case worker but that was unfortunately rescheduled for the Monday after Christmas. We did however, have our paperwork mailed to us so that we could get a head start on it. We are excited but reservedly so. From start to finish the process took three years with Bailey. Hopefully, it will move a little more quickly this time. Bailey would be such an incredible big sister and she really wants to be now. Our friends have a six month old named Abby, and Bailey just adores her. All week she has been saying, "Abby, Abby, Abby". Whenever Abby is around Bailey loves to look at her, pet her, feed her even care for her. When Bailey hears Abby cry she will stop whatever she is doing to come help. It normally involves Bailey trying to force Abby to take her pacifier though she has also brought her her blanket. I would love for Bailey to be able to have a younger sibling to care for.

That being said there is a ton of paperwork that we will need to do and no telling how long it will take but I hope that it will be soon.

A UNR Family

2009-12-17T21:18:00.000-08:00

Well now that Matthew is so busy I suppose it is time for me to step up and contribute to our blog. The big news is Matthew is enrolled at UNR. We have decided it is time for him to really focus on school so he will now be going full time (plus working full time). I don't know how they do it. But this means that he should be teaching in a few years. (Yay for nights with my Husband again.)
I am very proud of all the hard work he does for our family. Thank you Matthew!!

What a difference a year makes

2009-11-01T17:02:00.001-08:00

So we were looking back at Bailey's pictures from last Halloween and we could not believe the difference in her. I thought that you might get a kick out of these.

Happy Birthday!

2009-10-26T08:18:00.000-07:00

Well Jenn's mother turned 60 this last week. We had a really nice get together. Jenn's brother and girlfriend were there along with two of Jenn's uncle's and their wives, even one of Jenn's cousins. We were quite a big crowd packed in that little house. Jenn's grandmother wanted it to be special so she was the hostess of the affair. We had some delicious lasagna and garlic bread courtesy of Jenn's grandmother and a from scratch carrot cake courtesy of my fabulous wife. It was great to be able to share some time with family.

Parenting Fail and Country Dancing

2009-10-19T09:16:00.000-07:00

First the fail. Just south of us there is a "Pumpkin Patch", not an actual pumpkin patch mind you (they have to truck all of the pumpkins in) but there it is all the same. We decided to take Bailey down last Friday to check it out. It was pretty predictable with a lot of their decor made up of dried corn husks and bales of hay. I have to admit I found the whole thing kind of chintzy but I realized that I was not really the target audience. Bailey had a blast. She ran around and tapped each pumpkin just delighted as all get out. She got her own little pumpkin which she was adorable holding. She was so adorable, but, we forgot our camera like she was a middle child or something. We have discussed going back for a redo of sorts so that we can get some pictures.

On Saturday our ward did a barn dance social. It was pretty cool in that they got a bona-fide dance instructor to teach us some line dancing. If you missed out, let me assure you, you missed a treat. Those in attendance were able to witness my attempting the Electric Slide, Cotton Eyed Joe and some nameless couples dance. I don't "dance" in the traditional sense of the word. My version involves mostly my looking dazedly around myself and trying to figure out how many steps behind I am.

I Am One Proud Papa

2009-10-04T22:12:00.000-07:00

The other morning I had Bailey in her highchair and we were about to eat breakfast when I said, "We need to say a blessing", at which point Bailey promptly folded her arms (she had gotten pretty good at this already so no surprise there). As I started to pray I could her her jabbering away, also not a surprise. I wanted to make sure that she hadn't gotten a hold of something that she shouldn't so I peeked and I was just so surprised by what I found. Bailey had her arms still folded, her eyes closed and the most intent look on her face. That was when I realized that she was saying her prayers. She continued on like that for awhile until she was done at which point she just lifted her head up and had the biggest smile on her face. I am so proud of her.

Flying Solo

2009-09-27T15:05:00.000-07:00

Bailey will be eighteen months old come the 11th of October which means that at church she will be eligible for nursery. We have been nervous about this day for some months now but as the day has drawn closer we have been more and more ready. Bailey had gotten increasingly unmanageable in Sunday School so something needed to change. We accompanied her to nursery for the past few weeks. Today I commented to the nursery leader that I did not know how she would handle it without us and she wisely mentioned that eventually we would need to try. Reluctantly I left her today.

I don't know why it is so hard. I think a part of me is afraid that Bailey will be seen as just another kid. Bailey is so special to me and I want to make sure that everyone sees her that way, it is hard to let her stand out on her own, without my intervention.

In the end she did great, she whimpered a bit when I left but then resumed playing. Her favorite toy in nursery, the rocking chair. The nursery leader said she did really well. My little baby is growing up.

Home Alone

2009-09-20T16:43:00.000-07:00

Eegads I'm going crazy. Jennifer went with her mother and grandmother for the weekend to attend a wedding in Northern California. Being alone makes me realize just how much I love those two. I am going insane here on my own. It seems like me head is always buzzing, I can't concentrate or focus on any one thing. In a nutshell, I'm a basketcase, I cannot wait for them to come home.

Games Bailey Plays

2009-09-20T16:28:00.000-07:00

Bailey is starting to get more and more creative. Recently Jenn purchased two new end tables that each have a really generous enclosed shelf area. Bailey was playing with the cupboard doors, as she is wont to do, when Jenn noticed that she had disappeared. Then she saw little fingers poking out of the louvers and the mystery was solved. Unprompted by us Bailey shut herself inside the end tables. Now we hesitate to use the shelves because we don't want to mess up what has become an ideal play area.

Bailey New Vocabulary

2009-09-20T16:00:00.000-07:00

Bailey is an incredible communicator. She has gotten really good at expressing what she wants or what is bothering her, all without words. Teaching her some rudimentary sign language has really helped. She can sign "please", "thank you", "more", "outside", "milk", "water", "baby", and "sleep". Now she is also developing her spoken vocabulary, current hits include "ma-ma", "da-da", "up", "down", "toes" and "mmmm...that's some tasty fried chicken". Okay maybe not the last one but it is still adorable.

Our Eternal Family

2009-09-13T07:36:00.000-07:00

Well all of the road blocks were finally cleared away and last night we were sealed to our daughter for time and all eternity. There was such an amazing feeling in the temple last night. Even Bailey could sense it. As soon as Jenn dressed Bailey in her white dress she was so calm. She just sat quietly in Grandma's lap and held her parent's hands when the time came. She was a model of decorum and reverence. There was a lot of crying as we were surrounded by friends who were able to share the event with us. Words do not do feelings justice, as I read over this I realize that it does little to convey the sense of warmth and love that were there. I will then simply say that I do believe that the temple is a special and a sacred place and I am so grateful that I was able to join my family there and that Bailey is now sealed to us for time and all eternity.

Along with all of the warm and gooey good feelings there was also a deep feeling of responsibility. I felt that before Bailey was sent to this earth that she was promised that this ordinance would be done for her. Now Jenn and I need to walk up to our covenants, not just for each other any more, but also for Bailey. I do hope I can measure up to the man that she needs me to be.

Jump Sasha Jump

2009-09-13T07:16:00.000-07:00

Too cute not to post.

The Birthday girl opening her present from "Bailey"

The birthday girl, aka "The Underbite Avenger"

I love taking pictures of Sasha, she has the greatest faces.

In the end, no one was left standing.

This was actually one of the fun falls, she didn't get hurt until later.

It's too bad no one got a picture of me trying to squeeze through this.

Our niece, Bailey's cousin, Sasha turned...had a birthday this past week. The party was at a place called "Jump Man Jump" which we had never been to before (although it did occur to me that they should make sure their phone number has no similarities to that of a crisis hotline). This place was amazing, it was a gallery of assorted bounce house type diversions. If you think getting a large group of children together in giant inflatable amusements is a recipe for injury, well you would be correct but its nothing that they cannot just walk off. Kids are resilient like that.

Bailey had a blast and the birthday girl was an adorable hostess. After each gift she would announce that the giver was "the best friend ever" and then give them a hug. It was also good to see some family. I believe a good time was had by all.

Don't Knock It Until You Try It

2009-09-13T07:11:00.000-07:00

When Bailey was new to eating solids, she loved her vegetables. Carrots, peas, you name it. Well since entering toddlerhood and discovering that she has an opinion she had decided that vegetables just were not her thing. We tried different types of veggies, different preparation methods even hiding them in foods, all with limited success. The answer came one day when Jennifer was getting ready for another futile attempt at preparing Bailey's veggies. Jenn had the bag of frozen peas and carrots out and Bailey reached for it. Obviously she did not know what it was but seeing no harm in it, Jenn gave her some of the still frozen veggies, she loved them, she asked for more. So Bailey eats her veggies frozen, who would have guessed?

Temple Sealing

2009-09-06T07:26:00.000-07:00

Well the time is finally arriving for us to be sealed to Bailey. One small hitch though (of course), when our ward clerk entered Bailey's blessing into the computer he mistakenly marked that she was Born in the Covenant, that is already sealed. This has the potential to delay our temple plans until we can get that corrected through Salt Lake. It is our hope to have the sealing performed on Saturday night. Hopefully that will happen.

Baby Blessing

2009-09-06T06:38:00.000-07:00

Well we got to finally bless Bailey last Sunday. We crossed our fingers and went ahead and did it in sacrament meeting. She was actually great. She stood on mom's lap so that we could place our hands on her head. The bag of gummy bears we gave her may have had something to do with her being so mellow. We are now trying to set a time to take her to the temple for our family to be sealed. I will definately post some pictures when that happens.

New School Year

2009-08-30T22:46:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow begins a new school year, granted I have already had a week of college but it doesn't seem to count until seminary begins. Tomorrow marks day one of our study of The Book of Mormon, do I have butterflies, yes, but I am so excited to begin a new year. I know most of my students already but am looking forward to meeting some new freshman as well. I am optimistic that this is going to be a great year.

P.S. If I don't post as regularly please understand.

Sparks Fountain

2009-08-23T15:18:00.000-07:00

Well Farmer's Market was coming to a close so we thought it appropriate to let Bailey have one last romp in the fountain for the season. You can see she wasn't afraid to get wet.

She speaks

2009-08-23T15:03:00.000-07:00

Bailey has become a full on chatterbox lately. Here is a sample of one of our conversations.

Finally!

2009-08-18T22:31:00.001-07:00

It is finished. The court actually gave us the whole proceedings on DVD so I hope to have some video up here soon. Also, they certified a copy for us right there while we waited. It's kind of cool being in court when they like you. It turns out that family court judges love adoptions. Think about it there normal line of work is divorce, custody battles, removing children from unfit parents. Our attorney is actually business partners with the judge. This would normally be cause to reassign the case but with it being uncontested there wasn't an issue. In fact our attorney called the court to have the case reassigned as a formality but the judge wouldn't do it. It turns out that he really wanted to do this. All in all it was an amazing experience, I am so glad that we have it recorded so we can go back and see what he had to say.

The Human Slinky

2009-08-18T22:25:00.000-07:00

So four days before we are supposed to go to court to finalize the adoption Bailey finds the rough weather beaten concrete stairs and decides to just tumble down the lot of them. So she's bleeding from her face and arms and now we're paranoid that we are going to look like child abusers. Luckily, after using Neosporin like it was going out of style she healed up nicely so by the time court rolled around no one was the wiser. Shhhh.

Our Staycation

2009-08-16T23:12:00.000-07:00

Well we missed my folks terribly this last week. To make matters worse we also missed my niece and nephew who were visiting from New York. But, we couldn't spend the week moping about what was beyond our control so we tried to have some fun and we were, at least I believe, successful.

We went Monday to Virginia City to peruse the shops and to take in the atmosphere. We also were brave and tried to watch the gunfight. Bailey started out doing fine but as the show went on she got more and more upset by the noise until she finally broke out in tears and we had to leave, kind of embarrassing but oh well.

Tuesday, we went to the park and had a picnic, outside of my being accosted by an English Bull Dog it went without incident.

Wednesday, we tried for some Geocaching which was successful in that we tried, Bailey however didn't last long so we returned home pretty quickly. The evening went better, we had dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Anderson and played a lively game of pin the tail on the donkey (a word of advice, Jennifer cheats. :D)

Thursday, was awesome. We have a really cool water park in Sparks that is geared towards younger children. It is pretty small but only $3 per adult and children under two are free. They have a whole series of different fountains and there were a ton of kids there for Bailey to play with. I think she kind of freaked one girl out though. Since Bailey doesn't really know how to play with others she just walks right up to them and then stares. This poor little girl who was the focus of her stare down kept looking around then back at Bailey, she wasn't quite sure what to make of the whole situation.

Friday, was the crown jewel of the week. Not only did Jennifer and I celebrate our eighth anniversary but we also enjoyed our wards annual daddy daughter camp out. Jenn brought her dad and I brought Bailey. It started out pretty rough for Bailey, everytime she fell down she got stabbed by pine needles. Grandpa luckily brought her wagon and began towing her around the camp site. She had a lot of fun after that, besides the head wounds that is, but more on that later. We sang silly songs, ate S'mores and had a generally agreeable time.

So, while it was not the week we intended it was nonetheless a good week. I love you mom and dad and hope to see you as soon as we can.

Birthday Wrap Up

2009-08-09T22:52:00.001-07:00

Before

After

Well today was great. As I was getting ready for church I found a box on my pillow. My wife bought me a brand new bow tie (since I've learned to tie them I've really gotten into them). I decided to don it for church and for the rest of the day as well.

We went to Jenn's folks for Sunday dinner as usual. I wasn't sure that my mother-in-law remembered as there was no mention of a birthday dinner and I didn't want to make an issue of it but to my surprise she had prepared an amazing birthday spread. I've been on a kick for the past couple years where I have really wanted German food and she pulled out all the stops. There was a pork roast in red cabbage. Sausage in sauerkraut and another type of sausage. Of course for sides we had potatoes and more cabbage. She even made my favorite cake, German Chocolate, from scratch. It was so good and I ate far more than is really healthy for me. Thank you everyone for remembering me today it was a pleasure to be able to share this day with you in everyway.

Staycation

2009-08-08T23:48:00.000-07:00

It has been difficult for me and Jenn to adjust to living on just a single income. We had grown accustomed to just knowing that the money is there. Well, we experienced a sharp learning curve this last week. Every year we go to Salt Lake City for a week in August to relax, get away from home and mostly to be able to visit with my parents. Unfortunately, this year will be different. We were scheduled to leave on Monday the 10th. Well, just recently a light started blinking on our dashboard informing us that maintenance will be required in the near future. We decided that it would be best to fix prior to our making the drive through a mostly barren I-80. What we did not foresee is that the routine maintenance would come with a bill for nearly $500. This in conjunction with another surprise expense pushed us over the edge. We were forced to pull money out of savings which was intended to pay our attorney on the 18th after we finalized the adoption. Suddenly, we found ourselves in a bad spot. The worst moment by far was having to call my parents on Friday night and to have to tell them that we would not be making it after all. I still have the time off but with no plans we have decided to take a new look at our hometown. To live in Reno as tourists. We will see Virginia City, Lake Tahoe, etc. While I am upset with this turn of events, I nonetheless hope to enjoy the precious time that I will have with my family. Wish me luck.

Thoughts on Thirty

2009-08-08T23:32:00.000-07:00

As I look down the barrel of my thirtieth birthday I feel that it presents as good a juncture as any from which to assess where I'm at. I have to admit it's hard. I am starting to feel in recent years that I am no longer a child. There are moments when I realize that it is time for me to now be an adult and I don't know that I'm ready for it.

Here are some hits and misses from the first three decades of my life. I had hoped that by now I would be through with college, sadly I have fallen far short of this objective. I take classes every semester but the degree seems to be moving ever farther from my grasp. If you catch me at an honest moment I would admit that I don't honestly believe that I will ever graduate. Furthermore, I can't believe that I am still working retail. When asked as a child what I wanted to be when I grew up I can honestly say that I never answered, "Assistant Manager at The Men's Wearhouse", but that is where I find myself. Perhaps, the greatest injustice of the advancement of years on me has been the proliferation of my nose hairs, seriously I have told my body at least a zillion times that my nostrils are not cold but it still persists in growing hair. In all honesty the cure for male pattern baldness exists inside the follicles that line the inside of my nose. If only medical science would dare to go there.

Now, let's talk hits (in order of importance) I have married my best friend in the whole world, we have a marriage that is healthy and continues to be fun. I am learning to love her more and more with each passing day. We have a beautiful child together, she lights up our lives with her smiles, babbling and creativity. I have served an honorable mission for my church and lastly we own our own home. What's more, though I haven't finished school yet I enjoy very much the taking of classes, truly, there lies value in the journey not just in the destination. Also, though I might at times not like the hours or may feel like throttling someone at work (coworker or customer, it depends on the day) I enjoy my job. I have been extended and turned down more than a couple of offers since starting there. The Men's Wearhouse continues to be good to us and I am glad of that.

I guess the only genuine complaint I have about getting older is the nose hairs, now what can be done for them?

Baby Mimicry

2009-08-02T22:07:00.001-07:00

After careful observation of mommy and daddy, Bailey has picked up some new tricks. Now whenever we hold her over the sink, especially after brushing her teeth she spits. Sadly, her spitting skills are still some time in coming so she usually ends up just drooling on herself but the idea is there. Also, she will now tuck herself into our bed whenever she is playing up there. She will pull the blankets up over her lower half and then fling herself back against the pillows. It's adorable, provided there are a sufficient amount of pillows there, otherwise she ends up smacking her head into the hall.

Our August Vignette

2009-08-02T22:02:00.000-07:00

If forced to pick a favorite month, at the risk of offending the other eleven, I would have to say it is August. It is during the summer so there is no school but school is close enough to make me realize that I need to live it up while I can. Also it is in August that we celebrate the anniversaries of my birth as well as our wedding. To that end I have rendered a small vignette to celebrate everything that I love about this month using the medium of sidewalk chalk, enjoy.

Cause for concern

2009-08-02T21:58:00.001-07:00

So with our court date fast approaching I am becoming increasingly concerned about the natural clumsy tendencies of a one year old. I think it is natural that as they learn to interact with their environment that their will be instances when certain laws, such as gravity will assert themselves. For example, look at that big bruise just over her left eye. I think most parents would agree that your child can have some such marks without it being considered gross neglect, but try and tell that to the judge, which is precisely what we will have to try and do. I am so paranoid that the day before court she is going to give herself a black eye or some other wicked looking injury so we will come across looking like horrible people. I think we all know the answer...packing peanuts and bubble wrap.

Hey Everybody, Let's Do The Bailey

2009-08-02T21:34:00.000-07:00

Bailey loves to dance whenever we have music going. This is her signature pirouette. I hope to one day capture her turbo squat into a sway, it is truly the embodiment of grace.

It's All Relative

2009-07-31T12:49:00.000-07:00

So I enjoy somewhat of a reputation at work as being "technosavvy", at work anyway. Every time the computers behave in a way that is unexpected, I am the go to guy. Here's the thing, the type of technological crisis that I am faced with involve such things as printers being out of paper or trying to teach people new and exciting terms such as "right click". A little dose of humility is never a bad thing and I got it the other day. My brother came over with his family to catch up but moreover at the request of my wife to establish our wireless internet thus allowing us to be online from the laptop as well as the home computer. As I watched him set up first the wireless doo-dad then get our Wii and laptop on board I have to admit that I was clueless as to what was going on. At one point he offered me some advice as to what to do if it should not work. After having him repeat himself twice I just nodded having no idea what he was talking about. The moral of the story is the next time you think you're good at something spend five minutes with someone who's great, it's eye opening.

SurvivorBaby

2009-07-19T22:18:00.000-07:00

So everyone is so concerned with teaching their children the basics, speaking, the ABC's, the different sounds made by animals. I'm not saying that these are bad things but there are more important skills to learn. For example, if Bailey were left on her own today what would she do. You see the problem, we need to focus more on basic survival skills, food, water and shelter. To this end I've been trying to teach Bailey how to get by in the cold hard world. Take this picture for example, she happened upon a puddle, did she foolishly splash in it? Never, not my Bailey, instead she stooped down to take a drink. She appreciates the precious resource that water is, now that's parenting.

P.S. Also note the camouflage she is wearing which allows her to blend into her surroundings, what can I say? She's a natural.

Court Date

2009-07-18T00:13:00.000-07:00

The court date will be August 18th. It was funny, our lawyers secretary called to tell us about it and said that, "If possible you should both be there." She also stressed that if we couldn't make it that we needed to call ahead to cancel and not just fail to appear. I don't think she fully appreciates just how important this is to us.

Finalization Update 2

2009-07-12T22:42:00.000-07:00

So I mentioned a couple months ago that we were waiting for a June court date which has come and gone. That was for LDS Family Services to finally terminate any paternal right claims for Bailey. Now that is over so we can now finally petition the court for the adoption. Our lawyer (finally) drew up the paperwork and we went in to sign it. If all things went as planned his secretary filed it on Friday and we should have our court date next week, that is we will know when it it not that it will actually take place next week.

A quick aside on our lawyer. We got a referral for him when we were first going to need him. Jenn met him in his office and they discussed the fees ($500 plus filing fees). Great he was retained. Since that time he has been terrible about returning our calls. After we found out from LDS Family Services that they had sent him the paperwork that he needed we waited what we felt was a reasonable amount of time, a week and called to follow up, no answer and no call back. Jenn left numerous messages on both his voicemail and with his secratary, none of which were returned. We finally got a message from him asking us to call back which we did twice a day for about a week before we finally got in touch with him. He actually said to Jenn, "Now I don't remember what we worked out. Was I doing this for a fee or pro bono?" My wife is an honest women so she explained the fee agreement to which he responded "That sounds fair to me". Needless to say we have not been inspired with a lot of confidence. I understand that this is an easy deal for him but we retained him as a professional and I don't think that expecting a little professionalism is that unreasonable. We will probably be finding another lawyer for the next adoption.

Baby Kisses

2009-07-05T22:19:00.003-07:00

Okay admit it, if you've been kissed by a toddler, it's kind of gross. You try not to show it because you want to encourage the affection and you like the thought of the gesture but it still sickens you. For those of you who haven't had this experience, let me attempt to explain. It's normally proceeded by a loud "ahhh" sound, you look to see their mouth totally agape and being pushed towards you. There's a few teeth here and there and the saliva is positively pouring from their open orifice. The same orifice that is about to be pressed up against you (pray it's not on the lips). There may at times be food in the mouth, that makes no difference for the toddler and so you steel yourself and try not to shudder. Then rather than a nice puckering motion they opt simply to smear the slobber on you with their mouth still as wide as it will possibly go. You thank them, hug them and then when they aren't looking attempt to wipe the goo from your face. Seriously, it's sweet and all, but toddlers should be required to carry squeeges.

Chef Bailey

2009-07-05T21:27:00.000-07:00

Bailey has officially begun her career as daddy's kitchen helper. Before, Jenn would have to watch her while I cooked but tonight I felt that she was ready. It was funny too the effect that it had on her. Where she was being kind of fussy all night she quickly calmed down as I brought her over to the counter and let her see what I was doing. Tonight's menu was simple, pancakes (of the just add water variety) and scrambled eggs. Prep involved mostly just mixing.

I have become so used to her as a baby that I think I underestimate her too often. She really wants to be involved in what we are doing and what's more she's capable. It's hard to realize that she is growing up in more than just stature, but also in ability. I was so proud of her tonight, I love looking at these pictures of the two of us working together.

P.S. Dinner came out great by the way. I think Bailey might have a future.

As for this last picture, it was just too darn cute to leave out.

4th of July

2009-07-05T21:08:00.000-07:00

So we don't have any really fun stories from the 4th (Jenn and I were both very sick) but we did have a cute outfit ready for Bailey so I wanted to share some pictures with you. Note the cute sandals.

Through A Child's Eyes

2009-06-28T16:17:00.000-07:00

I think a lot of parents wonder about how they will be remembered by their children. I had a moment today that gave me some hope. At the start of church I helped with the passing of the sacrament which took me away from my family for the first part of the meeting. As I was standing there at the sacrament table fulfilling my duties as a holder of the Lord's priesthood I stole a glance across the chapel and my eyes met Bailey's. She was standing on the pew looking right at me. I was so grateful to be there for my daughter to see. To let her know that her dad loves her and that he also loves the Lord. I hope that these moments will help to instill in her the values that are so important to us, I further hope that the future will bring many more such moments for her to reflect upon.

More ATV Fun

2009-06-28T15:32:00.000-07:00

It's time I came clean on something...I am not a very good husband. I want to take my wife out on dates, I want to be romantic, but I find myself wanting in the area of creativity. Well, last Friday I finally had a good idea, and thanks to the Penrod's I was able to bring it to fruition. Jenn and I borrowed our neighbors ATV (and truck) to hit the trails behind Caughlin Ranch for a good old fashioned picnic.

Although we had a little trepidation about leaving Bailey, she cries whenever we try to leave her anywhere, we finally worked up the gumption to go. The weather was perfect with clear blue skies and a nice cool breeze. Jenn was every bit as thrilled as I had hoped. She enjoyed riding and watching the trees whisk by and capturing some really stunning views of the mountains and of Reno. Once she got behind the wheel though she was bound and determined to put the fear of Jenn into me and I am proud to say she was successful.

The picnic itself was at an idyllic spot I have dubbed Tyson's Meadow. It is so peaceful there, the only sounds are the wind and the birds. It feels so great to be that secluded from the worries of the world. The only drawback to the trip at all is that now I have to find some way to buy our own ATV, I am so hooked.

Movie Review -Life is Beautiful

2009-06-28T15:25:00.000-07:00

Last night Jennifer and I watched the Italian film "Life is Beautiful" and I have to say,we loved it. It is the story of a Jewish man in Italy under the fascist regime. We follow him as he settles in to a new town, falls in love and starts a family. All of this is to set up for the main conflict of the movie which occurs as he and his family are taken to a concentration camp. Although the introductory portion of the movie went on for a long time it really got you invested in the characters. I am amazed at the horrible things that ordinary people were forced to endure. I cannot imagine what it would take to have that level of character, and I sincerely hope I am never tested to see if I am found possessed with it. While the story is fictional it did a great job of handling the subject matter. It was a beautiful and absolutely heart wrenching movie. Definitely a good one to have a box of tissues on hand. We highly recommend checking this one out.

Super Cute Girl

2009-06-27T00:33:00.000-07:00

So Bailey did something cute today that I just have to share really quickly. She was wandering around with her sippy cup when she found a washrag on the floor (don't judge, it's oddly difficult to make it to the laundry basket at times, especially with a one year old screaming her head off). Well she took the rag and began cleaning up imaginary spills on the carpet. In the process of doing this she spilled some of her milk which she then promptly wiped up. It became a game and we had to intervene when she began to deliberately spill just to have something to wipe up. We are amazed almost daily at the actions that we perform that we then see her mimic. She is just growing by leaps and bounds. I think that tomorrow I will teach her how to drive.

Farmer's Market

2009-06-25T23:48:00.001-07:00

Tonight our family finally made it to The Farmer's Market in Sparks. We had an incredible time. The atmosphere was really lively and friendly. There was such a diversity of people there and the fruit stands were great. So many samples too, even if you don't plan on buying anything it is worth it just for the tastes. There were peaches and cherries so sweet they make you never want to eat candy again. There were a lot of food vendors too. We opted for a chicken teryaki skewer that had so much meat it fed the three of us, for only $5! Bailey hasn't eaten a lot of meat before but she inhaled this chicken. We bought a pound of cherries and let me tell you Bailey could not get enough.

We also saw a group of mounted police officers, one of which was on a Clydesdale. You don't realize just how big these horses are until you see them with others. The Clydesdale made the other officers horses look like ponies. The rider was also showing off a little, he had the horse dancing for the amusement of the crowd. Bailey loved the horses, she just had a grin that went from ear to ear.

In the end it was a great evening and well worth the trip and the crowds, we give the Sparks Hometown Farmers market a hearty six Sadler thumbs up.

I LOVE MUD!

2009-06-14T22:12:00.000-07:00

So I had a blast on Friday June 16th. My friend Tyson has been trying to get together with me for months now so we could just go out and be guys for a day, well we finally got our chance thanks to our amazingly understanding wives. Jenn had to get a babysitter so that she could go to work while I played and Tyson's wife was in the hospital following the birth of their third child just the day before, again our wives our amazing.

We decided to take Tyson's ATV out to the hills behind Caughlin Ranch and to just see where the day took us. Well it seemed that every time we switched as driver we only got more and more adventurous. Tyson found a grove of dead trees that had the nasty tendancy of getting caught up on the roll cage only to suddenly snap back and whip you in your arm or face, or whatever was exposed. We just rode deeper and deeper into the mountains and watched as Reno got farther and farther away. I attempted to take pictures to show the type of terrain that we were traversing but they just didn't do it justice.

Once when I was going up a particularly steep stretch of trail I got a moments scare when the drivers side tires got popped off the ground. I wasn't as concerned with the ATV tipping onto its side as I was all of the inevitable rolling down the hill backwards that would mostly likely follow. After a few seconds that seemed to last hours gravity finally reaserted itself and the two tires found their way back to the ground.

By far my favorite story is a stretch of muddy water that I happened upon. The ATV lacked any type of front windshield so getting soaked was inevitable, but I couldn't resist. I charged at the puddle as fast as I could go. Huge rooster tails shot up on either side of us and a wall of water rose up before us, to our surprise however it did not come through the windshield, the mystery was solved after the ATV bogged down a bit and slowed down. It felt like all that water just hovered directly over our heads just waiting for it's chance to strike, and strike it did. It fell all at once directly onto our heads by the gallon and we were soaked. If you look at the first picture you can make out the small dry spot from where Tyson was sitting. You will have to excuse my stupid grin but I could not stop laughing, it was awesome. Then later through a series of loops that we rode on we came across the same puddle and I just had to go again. The effect was no less dramatic. I could have stayed out there all day long and I was ready to come back and do it again the next day and the day after that and the day after that. It was like a drug.

Thanks again to Jenn and Miranda and their longsuffering towards us. It had been a long time since I was able to just get out and have a good time. Thank you Tyson for the invite.

The Green Eyed Monster

2009-06-14T22:04:00.001-07:00

So on June 9th we babysat for some friends of our that just had a baby. It was a chance for them to go out to dinner and enjoy some well deserved time together. Well, we discovered an interesting new side to Bailey's personality, jealousy. Whenever Jennifer was holding Abigail, Bailey would freak out and demand that Jennifer hold her. At this point Jenn handed the baby off to me. No sooner did the infant touch my fingertips than Bailey completely forgot about her mother and demanded that I hold her. She did not like seeing us with another baby. Far from being concerned we found the whole thing hilarious, she is such a little drama queen sometimes.

Count Your Blessings

2009-06-07T00:27:00.000-07:00

It is amazing how taking a look into the life of someone else can make you appreciate the things that you have. Today at work I was fitting a gentleman for a suit, he had told me it was for a funeral and then proceeded to ask me about proper etiquette as far as choosing a color, did it have to be black, etc. I told him that it really depended upon his relationship to the deceased and their personal tastes. It was then that I learned that the funeral was for his wife. He could not have been older than his early forties, far too young to have to go through with this and yet there he was. Immediately upon finishing up I called Jennifer to tell her how very much I love her. I am so grateful to have her and Bailey in my life.

Life it turns out is a fragile thing, knowing this helps me appreciate that much more the time that I have now with these two special ladies in my life.

To post or not to post.

2009-06-05T22:57:00.000-07:00

I have been debating about whether or not to post on the following. I guess I am really not sure how I want to use this blog. I'm not much for getting preachy or overly political, I've mostly just wanted to reach out to the friends that we have made over the years and keep them up to date with a few quirky stories and some fun pictures. As I think about it now I do realize that I want for this to be something more, I would like for this to be a family history, abbreviated granted but a family history nonetheless. For that purpose I feel that I must share tradgedies to go along with the triumphs so it is in that vein that I offer the following.

It was in the first part of April that Jennifer and I experienced, what was for us, a miracle. We both received the strongest impression that Jennifer was pregnant. For those of you unfamiliar in our nearly eight years of marriage we have only ever managed to get pregnant on one other occasion which ended after only a few weeks in a miscarriage. We have tried throughout the years even retaining a fertility doctor for help but after month after month of disappointment we had simply given up. Try to imagine then our surprise upon our both feeling convinced that at long last we were finally pregnant. At this point it was only intuition but it felt so right. Immediately we tried to watch Jenn's diet and her activity. We were being very careful after our first experience, but despite our best efforts we felt hope, something we had tried very hard not to feel.

After a week or so of this I came home late from work one night and Jenn insisted that there was something that I had to see. She led me upstairs and into the bathroom and simply pointed at the counter. I was confused at first, looking this way and that for what I was supposed to notice until finally my eyes rested upon the pregnancy test sitting upon the counter. There were two lines as blue as could be, I reached for the instructions wanting to be sure I understood the significance of those two little lines but once my eyes finally met Jennifer's she simply nodded her head. I felt such a wave of exultation at that moment, I lifted Jenn in my arms and beamed at my beautiful wife. Somehow I just knew that this time everything would be alright.

Still trying to suppress our excitement we confided our good news with close family. Jennifer went to the doctor for a redundant test which confirmed our earlier results. Her doctor ordered ultrasounds and some blood work to be done just to be sure. The ultrasound allowed for us to see the embryonic sac and Jenn's blood work revealed her hormone levels were not only good but even slightly high. Everything only worked to confirm what we already knew, we were going to have another baby (Bailey counts, say otherwise and I will fight you).

As more and more good news came in our good news chain got longer and longer as we allowed more people into our confidence. I appointed myself as Jennifer's nutritionist and tried to cram food down her at every available opportunity. When I would come home from work I would quiz her about what she had eaten, how long ago it had been and how much she had actually consumed, I would then try to plan a meal that would supply whatever nutrients I felt she was in need of. These weeks could best be described as a sort of giddy delirium for me, but it was not to last.

On Friday May fifteenth I was up early with Bailey and decided to get the grocery shopping done. I left for the store while Jenn was still in bed. Upon arriving home the phone was ringing, it was a nurse from Jenn's obstetrician's office, she informed me that Tuesday was the earliest that the OB could see her and that she should go to the emergency room immediately so they could follow up on the bleeding. My heart sank. I ran upstairs to see Jenn bawling, I hugged her and relayed the message barely holding back tears of my own.

It was a somber drive to the hospital. Our doctor was great, he gave us some hope telling us that it is not that uncommon to bleed in the first trimester but that they would conduct some tests to be sure, an ultrasound and a pelvic exam were ordered and we waited. I called Jenn's mom to help with Bailey and as soon as she answered I just could not hold it together anymore. I could barely get a word out but she quickly understood the gravity of the situation, she came straightway and took Bailey. I should add that Bailey was perfect throughout all of this, she was absolutely charming and adorable our whole time at the hospital. She was a much needed angel in what was a very difficult time.

Once we were wheeled into the ultrasound room the true gravity of the situation hit us. Although the ultrasound tech was not allowed to discuss our results they were written all over his face. Things did not look good. Later in the room Jenn asked if I saw the heartbeat and when I replied that I hadn't we knew that it was a lost cause. We went through the rest of the formalities of the hospital but finally they confirmed our suspicions, the baby was lost, another miscarriage.

Please, understand that we are doing fine, not great but fine. I am amazed at the faith of my sweet wife as she has borne her afflictions with a smile, humbly accepting the Lord's will. I have not done as well. I get choked up, whenever I see someone who is pregnant, I cannot understand why we can't be. I am so confused because I just knew this time that everything would be fine, that everything would work out but I do not understand how. To express a cliche, it's not fair.

I love my daughter with all my heart, she is the light of my life and the apple of my eye, whatever that means. I just had always imagined that there would be more than one, that Bailey would have brothers and sisters, and yes, I know there is still time but try to understand just how much I want to hold those children in my arms now, I want to meet them and know their names I want to be their dad, now.

We have not given up either, as soon as we get the reimbursement from Bailey's adoption we hope to start the process again. We hope to bring another child into our home and then another and maybe another, but until that time I will be the best husband and father that I know how to be, I love you Jenn and I love you Bailey.