Critters, Critters, Everywhere

Eric went Christmas caroling with the Young Men the other night (in the rain) and found this...



in the middle of the road...



I had no idea Fresno could produce frogs this big. And it is not a toad, it is a true American Bullfrog. I looked it up because as you know, I have a tiny obsession with frogs...



As you can see, Eric was BEAMING! (Are we not a match made in Heaven?) Haylie, on the other hand, screamed. She loves frogs and critters, but when she saw this thing jump across the floor (about 6ft at a time!) she got very scared. But then she warmed up to it and started touching its feet and then she wouldn't stop talking about it all night. She came home hopping across the floor saying "ribbit, ribbit". He gave the frog to a man in our ward who has a pond on his property - hopefully Mr. Hoppy will have a nice long life out there and stay off the road!

Then, there is the unexplained phenomenon of ladybugs inhabiting Haylie's room. I don't know how they get in - or where they are actually living, but ever since we moved into this house, we have found ladybugs living in her room. Sometimes we'll go months without seeing one, then all of a sudden, we'll find one every couple of days. She loves it! I usually catch it and let it crawl on her for a while, then put it in a jar for her to admire. We try to let it go before it dies in our little prison, but she gets very upset when she can't find it...

A lot can happen in 2 weeks...

The last 2 weeks have been a little crazy - in good ways and bad ways. Here's the rundown:


November 26 - Haylie started puking - couldn't hold anything down until the 28th, did fine until she puked again on the 1st. Got her back on the BRAT diet, did fine until she puked again on the 4th (and diarrhea too). Oh yeah, and Eric and I both woke up the morning of the 3rd feeling rotten - puking, etc. But lucky for us it only lasted 24 hours. So, two trips to the doctor with Haylie assuring us that it's just a virus and sometimes it just takes a while for the body to fight it, so I kept her on the BRAT diet because I was too afraid to let her eat anything else. On the 8th, we finally let her eat real food at our ward Christmas breakfast - and boy did she go to town on those pancakes! Anyway, she's been doing great until this morning - now it's diarrhea again but no vomiting. (Thank goodness). I'm not real sure what to do at this point - we're probably gonna have to take her in for a blood test to see if there is something more going on. Ugh.

Anyway, on to the good things: On December 1st my friends threw a small baby shower for me at the Spaghetti Factory. My parents drove up and surprised me! What an awesome surprise!

After the shower, we decided to go and get our Christmas tree - and get out all our decorations. Haylie had a blast decorating the tree with Grandpa Garry and Grandma Jo.

Haylie was so excited to have Grandma and Grandpa here - here are a couple shots of them enjoying each other's company - Haylie can hardly stand to be away from Grandpa Garry -





Testing out the timer on the new camera...not bad...





I was running out of ideas as to what I could feed Haylie considering that she was having trouble keeping ANYTHING down...so decided to try Jell-O - only she wouldn't touch it. Until Grandpa Garry showed her how yummy it is...and let her eat it with a cheese slicer...who could resist?




Monday morning my parents had planned on leaving mid-morning but flew out of here when Eric and I both felt sick - I don't blame them! Thank goodness they didn't catch it. But Haylie was very sad to see them go - luckily we get them again for Christmas!

And finally, Saturday we went the ward breakfast in our matching jammies and got to sit on Santa's lap. You may remember how that went down last year...



She was very excited to see him this year - but still a little apprehensive....but you gotta' give the girl credit...no tears!! She just sat stone-faced on his lap trying very hard to be brave. On the way home she even said "I had fun with Santa" - maybe next year she'll actually smile...:-)








Here's hoping that the next two weeks have a little more of the good and not so much of the bad...


P.S...I got my c-section date moved up to January 10th...less than 5 weeks to go!!!

Tagged Again...

I have a lot of things I want to write about - but I just don't have the energy right now. So, I just saw on my friend's blog that I have been tagged to tell 7 interesting things about myself, I figured that would be more fun to do than talk about the copious amounts of vomit that we've seen in this house in the last week and a half.

1. I have webbed toes. On both feet, my 2nd and 3rd toes are stuck together about 3/4 of the way up. No, this does not make me a good swimmer, as a matter of fact, I'm a terrible swimmer. It also makes it difficult to get a pedicure with those spongy things between my toes...but even so, I think I have darn cute feet.

2. I cannot cut my fingernails. I used to have a bad habit of biting them and I always hated that I had that habit, and always wanted long, beautiful nails. So, when I finally kicked the habit, I found it rather difficult to cut them. So I will either file them down, or let them grow until they break.

(this is harder than I thought...)

3. I like to shoot guns. When we go on vacation with Eric's family to Medicine Lake (in Northern California), I'm always on board to go shooting. I prefer handguns, and am actually a decent shot (most of the time).

4. I used to hate hot dogs - but craved them when I was pregnant with Haylie and now have no problem with them. I used to hate mustard, but have been putting it on my sandwiches during this pregnancy. Maybe my next pregnancy will cure my hatred for onions...no...I doubt it...

5. I dream of being on Wheel of Fortune - I'd love to go during "Family Week" with my dad - we would make a killing!!! I actually tried out last spring, they do a lottery and my name got picked, I got onstage and solved the puzzle before the other contestants - but they never called me. :-( Maybe someday.

6. I'm slightly allergic to cats, but love them anyway. But didn't have very good luck with them growing up. First there was Dusty, who got hit by a car - the poor girl came to our door crying to tell us that she just hit our cat. Then there was Oreo, who "ran away" which is code for "he got eaten by a coyote". Then Snickers who was victim of a hit and run. Then Mittens, who unfortunately got hit by a very large truck and we all witnessed it. Then Murphy, who happened to be narcoleptic. Ever heard of a narcoleptic cat? Well, he would fall asleep and it was impossible to wake him. He decided one day to curl up in the engine of our large family van for his afternoon nap and well, you can guess the rest. That was a bad day. Then there was Fuzzy, whose "fuzz" we found one morning on the neighbor's lawn. Darn coyotes. Fuzzy was the last cat. Dad refused to get any more after that as he was "tired of burying cats".

7. Random interesting facts: I love pickles - and pickled okra. mmmm. I'm not very patient. I'm a little lazy. I'm not good at cleaning. I love beef jerky. I hate shaving my legs. I love my freckles. I love being short. I'm scared of things that go bump in the night. I am afraid of alligator lizards...eeew... I'm very good at mini golf. I love bowling – my high score is 176. Sometimes I drink pickle juice. Root beer is my favorite soda. I'm a pretty good cook when I put my mind to it. I've never mowed the lawn. My favorite flowers are daisies. I hate shopping. I hate Valentines Day. I've never tried surfing - the ocean kinda scares me. I love video games. Spring and Autumn are my favorite seasons. I don’t like fruit pies, but love cream pies.

I've decided not to "tag" anyone this time - but if any of you decide to do it, lemme know so I can go see your answers!

The Metler Elves

I got this link from my sister-in-law...a good holiday laugh.

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1124793850

I Need to Be Alone

Eric took my car to work yesterday so he brought the carseat in to the living room - today Haylie sat in it and buckled herself in and just sat there for the longest time - the carseat was facing the kitchen - so she was not looking at anything interesting. I took a picture of her - then she said "Mommy, I need 'lone." I said, "What, you need to be alone?" and she said "Yeah." So I left her there - staring at nothing for a few minutes, then came back and asked her if she at least wanted to face the TV so she could watch her PBS and she said yes - so I dragged her seat in front of the TV and she literally sat there, buckled into her carseat, for an hour!

This independence is a welcome relief after the week we've had. Haylie starting throwing up Monday night and never stopped. She could not hold anything down - not even water. No fever, no diarrhea, no other symptoms, she just plain couldn't eat or drink. Finally got her into the doctor yesterday and he said if she didn't start holding fluids down soon they were gonna have to get her on an IV. Ugh. Well, we threw caution to the wind last night and gave her some food - what did we have to lose? - then Eric gave her a blessing and not only did she keep the food down, but she slept peacefully through the night and is doing fabulous today. Whew. This is the second time in the last couple months that Eric has given her a blessing and she has recovered immediately. I am so grateful for his priesthood. I feel so blessed to be a member of the church and that Heavenly Father is truly aware of our needs and blesses us constantly.

Here's a pic of her Tuesday night when she was feeling rotten - she laid there in the tub quietly for the longest time - look at that face...

Yummy Recipe

I don't know about you, but this time of year makes me crave soup. I just tried a new potato soup recipe from my mother-in-law's website and it was (in my humble opinion) FANTASTIC!! Even Eric couldn't stop talking about how good it was. It makes a lot, which for us is good because Eric always likes to take leftovers to work for lunch. It was also very easy - which is very important to me!! Just wanted to share with any of you who crave soup like I do. Also check out the other recipes on the site - there are tons of good ones!

http://www.mlre.org/index.php?recipe=293

Enjoy!

I'm Thankful...

I've been wallowing in self-pity lately - and with it being Thanksgiving time, I decided it was time for me to sit down and list some of the good things I have going for me. So here goes:

I'm thankful for Tylenol with codeine - I've been feeling MUCH better and only taking it about once a day (if that)!
I'm thankful that I'm not an elephant - their gestation period is 22 months and a newborn calf is about 265 pounds!
I'm thankful for my c-section - as much as it has caused me pain - Haylie wouldn't have made it here without it
I'm thankful that I am a woman and am able to bear children
I'm thankful for my body pillow
I'm thankful for my husband - he works very hard to take care of us and does a great job
I'm thankful for Haylie - she can make me crazy, but she brings me more happiness than I ever thought possible
I'm thankful for my parents - as far as I'm concerned, they did everything right (and still are!)
I'm thankful for my little house - I complain that it is too small, but I realize that it is also less to clean!
I'm thankful that I know who I am, where I came from, and where I'm headed
I'm thankful that we have been blessed financially - most of the time I don't know how it works, but it always does
I'm thankful for my friends - they are my second family

Those are the things that have been on my mind lately. I'm going to try to be more positive and focus on these things rather than the things that have been bringing me down. I thought of a lot more "trivial" things to be thankful for - I think I will make another list and post separately...

That felt good.

Eric's Been Tagged!!

What's the best thing you cooked last week?
Saturday morning: Blueberry pancakes for Kristie and Haylie

If money were no object, where would you go and with who?
When I have a few extra mil’ laying around, I would go to the International Space Station. Kristie could come too...

Five things you were doing ten years ago...
1. Working six days a week at Subway 9am to 1pm, then 1:30pm to 10:30pm walk across the street to my second job at an Auto Parts Store / Gas Station / Automotive Repair Shop on Camp Pendleton.
2. Serving a mission in South Korea.
3. Eating Korean food
4. Speaking Korean. Oh wait, that part didn’t come for another 12 months after arriving in Korea.
5. Wondering if the “fire pooh” would ever end… (Koreans eat really spicy food!)


Five things on your to do list:
1. Earn MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer). I’m part way there. I’m currently a MCP (Microsoft Certified Professional). Only 5 more tests to go.
2. Earn CCNE (Cisco Certified Network Engineer). My first test of 6 is 11/30.
3. Magic Conch will Eric ever finish his Bachelor’s Degree from Fresno State? Maybe someday. (SpongeBob reference)
4. Buy my beautiful wife a new car.
5. Finish my honey do list. This may be the hardest one of all. It never stops growing.


Five favorite snacks:
1. Sugar Coated __________ (It doesn’t really matter)
2. Donuts
3. Cookies. As long as the nuts are kept to a minimum.
4. Divinity
5. Are you sensing a theme?


Five bad habits:
1. I care too much.
2. Lack of consistent exercise regimen. I could stand to lose 5 pounds. Then Kristie wouldn’t complain about my favorite snacks.
3. Too much time on the computer. I spend all day on a computer. Sometimes two or three servers at once. I try to limit my time on the computer when at home. One of the main reasons I don’t have a MySpace page or Blog. It’s good to unplug!
I’m sure Kristie could think of others.


Five favorite foods:
1. If you can grill it, I will eat it.
2. Did I mention sugar?
3. If it is typically served after dinner…
4. Cream Puffs filled with homemade chocolate pudding
5. Cheese Cake.


Top 5 places I've been:
1. Volcán Barú – Panama. Only place in the world you can see the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans at the same time. Been there! Done that! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volc%C3%A1n_Bar%C3%BA
2. Washington DC – Smithsonian
3. Niagra Falls
4. Mt. Rushmore
5. Seoul
6. Panama (Central America)
7. Mt. Whitney


Five favorite memories:
1. Seeing Kristie in the San Diego temple right before we were sealed.
2. The birth of Haylie
3. The birth of Anna ____ Metler. Jan 18, 2008
4. Returning from my mission. See my parents at the Carlsbad airport.
5. Helping Grandpa Olson repair things at Medicine Lake.

The Best Prescription Ever!!!

I went to the doctor today. I've still been in a lot of pain and so he told me that I should just take it easy and take some Tylenol with Codeine. Nice. Maybe now I'll be able to make it through the next 8 1/2 weeks. Then I told him that I was really hoping for a new car because I am still driving my little 2-door MANUAL transmission Honda Civic. This is what he gave me:

I'm quite sure I have the best doctor on the planet...too bad it isn't really redeemable.

I've Been Tagged...

Whats the best thing you cooked last week?
Last week was not a good week for food...but last night I made sweet & sour chicken and it was FANTASTIC!

If money and babysitting were no object where would you go and with who?
I'd go anywhere with Eric...maybe Hawaii, maybe Europe...it really wouldn't matter!

Five things you were doing 10 years ago:
1. Chasing boys at Ricks College
2. Not studying nearly enough
3. Staying up way too late
4. Getting reacquainted with my best friend from childhood
5. Learning all about dorm life and roommates

Five things on your to do list:
1. Relax
2. Take it easy
3. Put my feet up
4. Be lazy
5. Eat

Five bad habits?
1. I have to pick at things - chipped paint, scabs, etc. etc.
2. Apparently I only have one bad habit because I can't think of any more...If anybody wants to chime in - I'm sure you've all noticed them...I promise I won't be offended. :-)

Five favorite foods?
1. Steak & Potatoes
2. Anybody who knows me knows I love food. All of it. Especially when I don't have to make it - to pick only 5 favorites would be rather difficult for me. However, I will note that P.F. Changs is my favorite Chinese food restaurant. In-N-Out is my favorite burger joint. Key Lime pie is my favorite pie. I'll do just about anything for a milkshake. I love anything with peanut butter. The best restaurant I have ever been to in my entire life is Rodizio Grill in Salt Lake City, UT.

Top 5 places I've Been:
1. Tahiti
2. Hawaii
3. Lake Tahoe
4. Mammoth
5. Yosemite

Five favorite memories:
1. When Eric proposed to me on top of Mt. Soledad overlooking the temple
2. Getting sealed in the temple
3. The first time I saw Haylie with that cute little bow in her hair (I did not get to see her as soon as she was born because I was so doped up that I passed out and didn't see her until a few hours later when I got out of recovery)
4. Snowboarding with Eric in Idaho when we were dating and Mammoth for our honeymoon
5. Going to Magic Mountain with my dad for my birthday tradition

Now it's my turn to pick who gets to be tagged. Umm...Julie and Grandpa Garry! I wonder if he'll do it...:-)

Where is that child's mother?

Here are just a few pictures of Haylie taken over the last couple weeks - she's become such a silly one - she cracks me up.


This is after eating an ice cream sandwich by herself



She found a satin nightie in my drawer and put it on - because it is SILKY, of course



This is a mat from a photo frame - she originally had it around her waist but I didn't get the picture fast enough, then she put it on her head

Today she decided to eat her sandwich "hands free" - she ate the whole thing like this

Leaves are Falling

It has been "unseasonably warm" in Fresno for this time of year, but still much cooler than the heat of the summer, and the leaves are starting to fall. It is making me so excited for the holidays. I'm sure that has something to do with the fact that my body temperature seems to have gone up about 10 degrees so the cooler weather feels FANTASTIC! But also, this is the first year that Eric and I are going to be home for the holidays. I decided a while ago that traveling to Fallbrook at Christmas time was not going to be an option with the baby coming only 3 weeks after Christmas. Then I decided a couple weeks ago that traveling for Thanksgiving was not going to be an option either. So, we've been invited to a friend's mother's house for Thanksgiving and we'll be spending Christmas right here in our own house. Eric and I have had an ongoing battle when it comes to purchasing a Christmas tree. This may make me sound like a bit of a Scrooge, but I have felt that it is a waste of money to buy a Christmas tree each year when we are not even HERE on Christmas (not to mention a fire hazard). So, every year we've compromised and either had very small "Charlie Brown" type trees like this from 2005...

or trees like this from 2006...

I told one of my friends that we were not going to have a Christmas tree last year and she was horrified by the thought - so she gave us this little guy to make sure we didn't turn into TOTAL Scrooges.

Well, since we are going to be home this year, Eric is thrilled out of his mind that we will be getting a REAL TREE...a BIG TREE...one that won't be overshadowed by the pile of gifts!!

Happy Holidays!!

I'm OK!!!

Well, after a very frustrating, anxiety-ridden 24 hour wait, I got a call from my doctor saying that the ultrasound looked absolutely perfect. Nothing wrong with the baby and nothing wrong with my scar tissue. WHEW! What a relief. However, now I'm stuck with the pain - but my doctor said that it will most likely subside as I get bigger. I think the scar tissue is just feeling the pressure now that the baby is getting bigger, but it will get used to the pressure and adjust. I also found out that I have been "underdosing" myself with Tylenol. I'm always complaining that it doesn't work - well, apparently that is because I am only taking half the dose I could be taking! That should help me sleep tonight! Please enjoy the latest ultrasound pictures...she looks like a cutie patootie, doesn't she?? Maybe I'm just a weeeee bit biased...:-) The second one is proving that she is indeed still a girl - I think Eric was hoping they had made a mistake.

Halloween

A picture of Eric and Haylie at ZooBoo - my friend Stefanie gave us this adorable bunny costume. I taught Haylie how to hop-hop-hop while wearing it - she was adorable (for the short time she actually kept it on!)

Also some pictures of the Halloween wall hanging I made - pretty much the only Halloween decoration I have! It's never been a favorite holiday of mine. But, I had a lot of fun making this...


We went to our ward Halloween party on Saturday so we're just gonna' stay in tomorrow, especially since Haylie hasn't caught on to the whole trick-or-treating thing yet. We might get 2 or 3 trick-or-treaters - there's not a lot of kids in this neighborhood. I'm looking forward to relaxing.

I had an ultrasound today but my doctor didn't get a chance to review the results before the end of the day, so hopefully tomorrow I'll know a little more about why I'm having so much pain. He said it is not likely that anything is seriously wrong, but the ultrasound will be able to tell us for sure. The baby is definitely fine - the question is whether the scar tissue from my c-section is holding up. There is a very slight risk that the scar tissue could open up.
Anyway, I'll post something as soon as I know - plus
I got more cute ultrasound pics that I'll post too!

Update

My mom got back into her house yesterday and all is well. She's very happy to be home. My dad is still fighting the Harris fire down by the border. He is doing well - just very tired as you can imagine.

Haylie lost her voice on Thursday and developed a fever (not this again!). I called the doctor Friday because she also developed a cough that sounded more like a bark. She has croup, which I learned is actually laryngitis, only in kids. I think croup is an ugly word. Anyway, there is nothing you can really do for croup, so they told me just to wait it out (does this sound familiar to anybody else?) Her fever broke sometime Thursday night and hasn't returned and she's got plenty of energy and is acting like herself - except for the fact that she has no voice. It's kinda funny - the whole "can you guess what Haylie is saying?" game has become a lot more interesting since we can barely hear her. What happened to my tough little girl who never got sick?

I'm 27 weeks pregnant and feel like I just might not make it...ok, so I'm being a little dramatic. But, I am feeling an immense amount of pressure on my c-section incision. I called the doctor just to make sure that was normal and the nurse said it is. As long as I'm not bleeding or having a fever I should be fine. But I really don't feel fine. It actually feels a lot like it did right after Haylie was born - I'm having a lot of trouble using my stomach muscles. I think I'll put myself on bedrest....hmmm...yeah...I'll get a little silver bell and Eric will magically appear every time I ring it to give me whatever my heart desires. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Ok, I'm back to reality now - I just had to have a moment...

We have our ward Halloween party tonight - I think I'll go to Target and see if I can find an orange shirt - I'm just the right shape to dress up like a pumpkin...hahaha...

San Diego Fires

I've had a few friends call and ask how my family is doing with all the fires in San Diego County so thought I'd post something to let you all know that they are OK. My dad (who is a firefighter) is fighting the Harris fire which is in San Diego right near the border of Mexico. He left Sunday morning, got to sleep for a few hours Monday night and finally got to go to a "camp" that they set up for firefighters and get some real sleep last night. My mom was evacuated from the house Monday afternoon because the Rice Canyon fire had jumped the freeway and was headed west straight into Fallbrook. She was just returning from a trip to Arizona to visit a friend and was barely able to make it into town to get her belongings, and spent an hour and a half in bumper to bumper traffic trying to get back out of town. She is staying just north of Fallbrook in Temecula with my aunt at the moment. My in-laws were also evacuated, but they were able to get back into their house yesterday - they live on a hill so they'll be able to see if danger starts to get close. A friend of the family drove by my parents' house today and it is still standing - the firefighters were able to keep the fire from getting very far into town. The fire is now on the north end of town - so we're praying that the wind doesn't shift and head south, cuz then they'll be in danger again.

My brother and sister-in-law live in Canyon Country (near Magic Mountain) and they were also evacuated on Monday night, but were able to return Tuesday and everyone is safe.

It's been a stressful week, but we've definitely been blessed. Thanks to all my friends for your loving concern. I'll post again if anything changes...

Girls Weekend

I went to Huntington Beach this weekend with my good friends, Erin, Becca, and Rachel. Erin's dad works down there during the week and has a nice condo very close to the beach. We had a wonderful time - drinking Martinelli's, getting our nails done, sitting on the beach, and we went to dinner at a yummy restaurant. I love getting away like this, because when I get home, I appreciate my family so much more. I couldn't wait to see Eric and Haylie and I felt so rejuvenated and ready to get back in the saddle. Haylie wouldn't let go of me for a good 20 minutes after I got home. I think it is sooo important to give yourself the opportunity to miss your kids (and let them miss you). Oh and while I was gone, Eric took Haylie to ZooBoo - a fun event at the zoo where the kids dress up and trick or treat with the animals. I'll post pics of that later...


They gave the pregnant woman a bottle of Martinelli's all to herself!!


Me and Rachel soaking our feet in the "spa"


Ready for dinner...I love spiral staircases!

This is the closest we got to a self portrait with all four of us in it!

Me, Becca, Erin, Rachel

Catching up

I've been a blogger slacker. So, I've compiled some pictures from the last couple weeks and am going to try to be a little bit more on top of things.

*On a side note...for any of my friends who like to read...I just read the most amazing books - the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. There are 3 books in the series so far and more to come next year. It's a vampire love story...full of romance, action, suspense, etc. LOVED IT and highly recommend it!!

This is what Haylie looks like when you ask her if she wants a bite of ice cream...


This is Haylie watching a movie with her cousin Tyler...but it kinda' looks like she's trying to put the moves on him!!


Haylie and Tyler somehow squeezed themselves into the Doramobile...


We took an impromptu trip to Fallbrook last week - Eric had some work to do down south so I tagged along and my dad was kind enough to drive to Coachella to pick me up from where Eric was working. We went to the fire station on Saturday so Haylie could sit on the firetruck...she was a little shy so the pics weren't as fun as I'd envisioned, but we had fun anyway.