The Odom Memoirs

quick catch up

2009-12-01T19:53:00.000-08:00

So my draft box is full of blogs I start and haven't finished. There has been a lot happening and as most of you know we have a new addition to our family. Apparently the Lord wanted to teach me a lesson for being afraid to have big babies because we welcomed Mr. Noah William Odom into our family on November 11, 2009 weighing 9lbs 9 oz!!! 22 1/2 inches long!! He also gave us quite a scare by taking over a minute to breathe after having the cord wrapped around his neck and arm. He is super healthy and happy now! And as of Nov. 24th he grew 1/2 inch to now be 23 inches and 10 lbs 7 oz! We absolutely adore him!!! He has the sweetest temperament and spirit (plus the cutest dimples ever)!
My main reason for this post is also to send you over to check out some pictures we got done. I won free pictures through Pretty in Pink Photography. We got the pictures taken Saturday and she already has some sneak peaks up. Funny thing, my friend Marquette told me about the giveaway and low and behold Amanda who is doing the pictures is married to someone that Rusty knew in Thatcher where we went to college and my friends from high school know Amanda from the pool where they worked. Small World. We had a blast taking these pictures and I think that what I have seen looks great!! Rusty might also set up her web page that will help build his portfolio and help Amanda out! Super exciting! Be sure to check out Noah's photos.

Also, if you hadn't heard. rusty got a new job at the University of Phoenix doing something that he actually enjoys. It's great to have him come home happy from his job. I love knowing that he gets to use his creative side at work! I guess that's it for now. Hopefully I can get back to updating more often!

Maybe I could win this one..

2009-11-04T11:05:00.000-08:00

Entering to win Newborn pictures! My friend Marquette told me about it and it would be awesome to win. Check it out here.

polls...Polls...POLLS!!!!

2009-10-12T15:13:00.000-07:00

I have several polls for everyone to take part of! Just for fun!
Make sure you do all 3! (They are along the right side of the page.)
Then leave a comment with your exact guess.
The person with the closest answer will win a prize!

When will the baby be born?

How big will the baby be?

and once again...

What will be the sex of our baby?

Remember there is and "almost positive" for a girl and a 80% chance for a boy...

Results will be in when we have the baby!

Remember the winner gets a special prize...

****Info that might help you make and educated decision:***
Brayden was born 6 days AFTER his due date.
Brayden weighed 7lbs 7.6 oz (almost exactly 7 1/2 pounds)
And Brayden was indeed a boy. :)

Baby Shower and other things.

2009-10-09T01:46:00.000-07:00

So, I have an amazing friend, Samantha, who is throwing me a baby shower. She is awesome! I wasn't sure if I was going to have one since I didn't know the sex of the baby but there really were things that we needed for this new baby. I just wasn't sure how well a shower would be received or if it was even appropriate since this is my second child. Sam insisted and has now gotten me super excited. There has been a lot going on in our lives and although we are overjoyed with a new baby coming into our home there has been a heaviness there that sometimes over powers that joy. Having this shower is really helping me feel less nervous and overwhelmed and I thank her for that!

Since it is somewhat last minute we sent out Evite invitations through e-mail. If someone didn't receive one, it's probably because I didn't have your e-mail, so if you are interested in going and didn't get an evite, let me know and I can give you all of the details. (It's Saturday, October 17th in the A.M. ). If you did get an evite, please respond so dear Samantha will know how many people to expect to the party. Rusty and I did register at Target and Walmart with things that we need for the new baby. It was fun going through those aisle and imagining how tiny this new baby will be. I look at Brayden and can't imagine him ever being THAT small. Time really goes by so fast.

Brayden's little foot...

Now onto other things...still mostly baby related...
As I have gotten the house (have another post coming of all that I have done!!) and try to get myself ready for the new baby, I find that's it's not real yet. When I waited for Brayden to come I felt I had a better understanding of how my life would change and run daily with a new baby. But now with adding a second. I just can't grasp it. It makes me a little worried about how I will deal with things when the new baby comes. My biggest fear is feeling too overwhelmed and sinking into postpartum depression and not being able to truly care for my 2 children. No longer 1 but 2. I'm sure all will be well since I have such a great husband and other support group however, it still weighs upon my mind.

Some things that I found out that make me kind of sad is that Brayden won't be able to come into the hospital to see me and the new baby. This really breaks my heart! With all of the swine flu problems that have been going on, hospitals across the valley are not letting children and teens come into the hospital unless they are sick or a family member is on their death bed.

DARN YOU SWINE FLU!!

Some hospitals ( like my mom's) aren't letting children the age of 17 and younger in and our hospital isn't letting children the age of 15 and under pass the information desk in the main lobby. I can understand the hospitals reasoning but it just stinks that my son can't come in and meet his new baby brother or sister for a couple days, and that I will be away from him during that time. I imagined Brayden coming in and sitting next to me on the hospital bed meeting his new brother or sister and getting our first full family picture together as soon as possible. Yeah a few days really don't make that big of a difference but it will still really suck.

Another big change going on with our family is that we are short selling our house!
This has been something that has really been on our mind that we have been praying about for a long time, and tonight we finished that paperwork. We realize that it will hurt our credit and what not but feel it is a better solution then to stay where we are at. Explaining all of the reasons right now would take a little too long but let's just say, it has to be done.

I have to say that the timing is a little rough. It will be listed to start showing the house on Saturday and that somewhat stresses me out. We will be called an hour prior to someone coming and looking at our house and I worry about how that will interrupt our schedules. Especially if someone comes during Brayden's nap or something. Then there is the chance that I will be going into labor in the next couple of weeks. Also, let's say I have the baby and the house is still being looked at, well there will be strange people coming into my home with a newborn, during flu (more importantly, swine flu) season. Then there is the fact that if we do sell right away we will need to be out of the house in an allotted time and packing with a toddler and newborn is not always the most fun thing to do. I think... that I think too much! * sigh *

We will be loking for a place to rent and I will be on edge until we find something. I will be on edge until this house sells too. It's just crazy that so much is happening in such a small amount of time. You would think we like this kind of chaos since we had a similar situation right after Brayden was born. Brayden was born, we came home from the hospital, packed up our place and moved out in two weeks from Thatcher to Maricopa, AZ. It really wasn't all that fun and yet we might be doing it again.

As for where we are moving too? We just aren't sure. A huge part of me wants to stay within our ward boundaries because I feel like I haven't accomplished everything that I needed to do and learn in my calling as the 1st counselor in the Primary. That's not my only reason but it's a big one. Rusty kind of wants to look in an area that is closer to his work. We are estimating that wherever we rent it will be for about 2 years and then see where we go from there. If it's longer then 2 years, I have a huge concern for what school district we will be moving into. There are a lot of things going on in my head right now and I am not doing a very good job of sorting them out. I just realized that I made an incredibly long post, once again, something that no one will probably read. Oh well, that's what I get for writing this super late with a lot on my mind. :) I will try to do a better job at updating little things instead of a lot all at once.

Stroller Giveaway!

2009-09-09T10:57:00.000-07:00

So I have never done this before but I desperately want, nay, NEED this giveaway!!! As everyone knows we have baby #2 on his/her way and I have been searching for a double stroller that will work with a newborn and a 2 yr old. This stroller is pretty much awesome and can fit my current baby car seat in one side! The only problem... It's pretty expensive... :( Sad day.

However ,I landed upon this blog Two of a kind, working on a full house and found out they were going to give out 1 2009 Tango double stroller courtesy of Zooper . I am really hoping that I win, because it would definitely help out! The color I would be winning is not necessarily the color I would want in a stroller but who can complain when you desperately need one and don't have the money to buy it... So wish me luck!

A wake up call.

2009-08-26T12:21:00.000-07:00

I have been very frustrated with myself lately. I recently had such a great spiritual experience and have witnessed from a distance the Lord's gentle and loving hand in others life and yet I have been so negative and frustrated. There is no real reason for me to feel this way and then I feel so guilty because of my poor attitude.

Last Friday I went to the funeral of my Aunt Tracee. Although this was something that we knew would happen it was still so hard to see her loving husband looking over her body. He stood by her side for all these years and was the greatest husband you can imagine. He loved her so much! He married her knowing she had major medical problems, knowing that things would be hard and he was always loving and understanding. They could never have children, they couldn't adopt, she had two kidney transplants, a heart attack and heart surgery and years of dialysis. Yet, he never complained, he only showed loved to her and everyone around him.

As some may know our friend Jami has suffered a great loss. Her husband Kameron (the one I asked everyone to pray for) passed away last Wednesday. He had been fighting in the ICU for 1 1/2 months and the Lord felt his time was done here on this earth. I am just so touched by the amazing strength and faith that Jami has! Daily she updated everyone one on Kameron's ups and downs. As I read her last blog about the day he left this earth to return home to our Father in heaven, I just wept. I could not even imagine going through what she has been through.

I look at my son who is only about 6 months younger than hers and look at Rusty and just couldn't imagine losing him and having to change my whole life. Being a widow at such a young age. She is just amazing! I know the Lord thinks so highly of her and so do I. I am so grateful for the understanding I have about death and eternal ties. The blessing of the temple and knowing we will see all of our friends and family again.

I can't help but look at these two amazing spouses who have been loving, supportive, have such great faith and then think 'what is my problem?' I just feel like a spoiled brat. Having unnecessary temper-tantrums, not wanting to fulfill my responsibilities and the way that I treat my family is just awful. I have no excuse. What is going to wake me up to make the necessary changes in my life? I recognize what I don't like about myself and instead of changing it I complain about it.

I want to be like these amazing people I know. What great examples they are. So thank you Jami. Thank you Uncle Danny. I pray that you will be continually comforted and blessed by the Lords merciful hand! And I pray that I can be worthy of the same blessings someday.

**********In Memory of Kameron Haban**********

Kameron Neil Haban's obituary

July 8, 1980 - August 19, 2009

Our beloved Kameron, age 29, was called home to the arms of our Heavenly Father on August 19, 2009 in Tucson, Arizona after a six week struggle with Lupus in the Tucson Medical Center.

Kameron was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on July 8, 1980. Kameron lived with his family in Hawaii, California and Japan before settling in Sierra Vista, Arizona when he was 15. He attended MC Perry School in Japan where he excelled in academics and athletics. He especially enjoyed playing and coaching baseball and softball. From 1999 until 2001 he served a LDS mission in Phnom Penh, Cambodia where he grew to love the people and was dedicated to sharing the gospel with them. As an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Kameron held many callings in the church; he served as Elders Quorum President of his college ward, a Young Men’s Presidency member, a Sunday School teacher, Primary teacher, Scout leader, Seminary Teacher and was an Eagle Scout.

After graduating from Buena High School in 1998 Kameron left home to attend college at Eastern Arizona College, in Thatcher, Arizona where he met the love of his life, Jamilyn (Davies) Haban, in 2003. They were sealed for time and all eternity in the Mesa Arizona Temple on June 25, 2004. Kameron always put Jami first and loves her more than anything. Kameron loves his son, Kason, and worked hard to provide him with the very best. He and Kason were best buds and were often found spending all their extra time together. Kason was his pride and joy and Kameron was the best daddy to Kason.

Kameron was happiest when spending time with his wife, son and family. He enjoyed spending time out-of-doors, especially if it involved hunting or playing sports. Baseball was a huge part of Kameron’s life and he enjoyed teaching his son how to play. He could often be found in the kitchen and enjoyed cooking and baking for his family. Kameron was not one to sit still and do nothing. He was a hard worker and was constantly thinking of ways to serve and help others. He always put others needs before his own. Kameron’s smile was contagious and could light up a room. He had such a great love for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and strived to live it faithfully each day. He was an amazing husband, father, son, brother, and friend. Many lives have been touched by the love and compassion of Kameron. We love you Kam. You will be greatly missed by many and we anxiously await our reunion with you.

Kameron is survived by: his wife, Jamilyn Haban and his two year old son, Kason Alexander Haban; his mother and father, Arthur and Elena Haban; two brothers, Matthew and Daniel Haban; his grandparents, Alejandro (Mary) Haban, Irene Pascua and Roseline Dimaya.

Donations in Kameron’s memory may be made at any Bank of America in the name of Jami Haban for the benefit of Kameron Haban.

http://www.viningfuneralhome.com/sitemaker/sites/Vining1/obit.cgi?user=127503Haban

*****If anyone would like to know more about Jami and what you can do to help please click on the "Support Kameron and Jamie" button at the top of the blog.
Jami is now left with some crazy medical bills and funeral bills and donations can be made on that page. Thank you!*****

The Accident and the MIRACLE that followed.

2009-08-12T11:40:00.000-07:00

So this may be a very long blog but don't say I didn't warn you. I had a very traumatic thing happen to me this last week and although I wouldn't say it's something I would willingly go through again I feel that it was something I physically needed for my own spiritual growth. So I guess I should start at the beginning:

I decided to take a vacation with my Mother, her friend Brigette, Brayden and myself. We headed off on Friday July 31st to Farmington, New Mexico to visit some dear friends of ours (Cindy Hamson and her family) that we hadn't seen in WAY too long. We had a wonderful time with fun pictures to go with it (I will share those in another blog to come). One thing we decided to do while up in Farmington was to can. This was something I have always wanted to learn and do. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we are asked to have a year supply for our families in case of an emergency. This is something that I have never really put a dent into mostly because it felt so overwhelming and all too consuming. However, while talking to Cindy I felt empowered! Like, "This is something I CAN do." So we bought jars and food to go in them. We went to a nearby orchard and got fresh peaches that we canned and on Wednesday we decided to make some "Heat and Eat" meals.

I had never realized that you could can meat or meals that contained meat. What you have to do is make the meal and put it into the jars (with the meat raw) and you put it into the pressure cooker for 90 minutes under 15 pounds of pressure. And the meat will cook all the way through. So we had been doing this all day and the process consisted of the food cooking and Cindy would take the jars out of the pressure cooker, hand them to Brigette who placed them down on the towel for me and then I tightened the jars and they would cool. We had already canned at least 30 something jars that day not to count the 30 plus jars we had done the day or so before, we were naturals.

Well, that night (Wednesday August 5th) we had a batch of stews cooking in the pressure cooker and it finished up right after So You Think You Can Dance and so we made our assembly line and started to tighten the lids. I was on the 2nd to last one when I started to tighten a lid which didn't feel right and before I knew it I have a face full of hot steaming, greasy stew all over my face. At first I didn't feel the pain I was just shocked that it had happened. Whenever I get her my mind tries to think as logical as possible. My first reaction was get to a sink, however my body wasn't really listening, I did a quick circle in the same spot and tried to head to the bathroom but was re-directed to the kitchen sink by Doug (Cindy's amazing husband) and was met by others who started to spray me down with cool water. That's when I started to feel the pain however at that moment I was having a harder time breathing being squirted with the water, trying to catch my breath.

I was then taken to the bathroom with a wet rag over my face and we filled up the sink with cool water and dumped ice into it. My face got hotter and hotter and just would not cool down. I remember looking into the mirror in shock at what I looked like. My whole face was red and I could see my skin melting off my face. It was such a weird experience, seeing myself like that. I kept thinking, "It's going to be okay, It's going to be okay." I knew it had to be.

We knew that I had to go the the ER there was no way we could handle this on our own especially since it looked like I was suffering from 2nd and 3rd degree burns with in seconds of the accident. Before I knew it the door bell rang and a gentleman from the Hamson's ward was there to help Doug give me a Priesthood blessing. My Mom arrived around the same time (she had been at the store with Brayden, thank goodness) and they came in the bathroom to give me the blessing. This was that best thing that could have happened at that exact moment in time. I was so comforted by the blessing that I had absolute confidence that everything really was going to be okay! The blessing stated that the my unborn baby was fine and would not be affected by this experience. That I would make a full and quick recovery and that the Lord would help me through the pain that I would have to endure.

Right after the blessing we filled up a huge bowl with ice and water and I got into the car with the bowl and towel. I could not take the towel off my face for even a second with out feeling an intense burning over my whole face and neck. The hospital was at the other side of town and as we got there I was rushed in to the back trauma room. The hospital experience was a little frustrating to say the least. I had one nurse that was...not very compassionate and two others that seemed to really care, although none of them were really there to witness what was going on... I will try not to dwell on that point and just move on.

Once in my room I sat down on the bed with the ice water and rag and continued to rinse my face. It was the only thing that eased the pain at all. We had changed from me putting the ice cold rag on my face to my mother doing it while I held the bowl. One nurse rinsed my face with sterile water (she was worried about me getting an infection from the clothe we were using, she soon let it be since there was no other way to stop the burning) so the other nurse got more ice (since the ice was melting too quickly) while another nurse set up an IV. They gave me some pain medication and we continued the ice water.

The whole time I felt calm and my mind was really thinking about our friend Cindy who was in the room with my mom and I. She felt so bad and I wished that there was a way I could comfort her. She had been canning since she was a little girl (so like for 40 years or so) and has never had anything like this happen before! I was so grateful that she and my mom where there with me. I felt bad for poor Rusty, he was ready to head out to New Mexico the second it happened, but I insisted that he stayed in Phx. It felt so pointless for him to drive the 7 hours to get there and I would probably be feeling better by then and then he would have missed work and there was no way I would want him to drive 7 hours after being awake since 4 am.

For some reason, when I go through something painful or traumatic I decided to keep things as light as possible. I kept trying to have regular conversations and joke around and I think this might be one of the reasons the nurses didn't seem as concerned. They probably thought we were having a party in the room. I just think it's silly to get over worked and frustrated when all it does is make the experience worse. I did the same thing when I was having Brayden and my mom had thought I had gone completely loopy because if the jokes I made... Anyways, there was a lot of laughter mixed with bursts of tears. "Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion." Whenever I did start crying I would push them back and everyone was like, "It's okay to cry..." and I was like, "I can't, it hurts too much to cry." haha. It was true.

So I digress again, so by this point it has been about 1 hour at the hospital they had already given me another dose of pain medication (that did absolutely nothing!) and there was a big concern that I was going to get sick from all of the freezing water. The whole bed was soaked, my clothes were soaked, the floor had puddles on both sides and my body was convulsing it was so cold. However, the pain and heat of my face took precedence over all of that for me. We took the towel off for 5-10 seconds to see if it had stopped and then I couldn't go any longer with out it. They ended up cutting off my shirt since it was soaked and we couldn't pull it over my face, they gave me a dry gown tons of towels and more blankets to try to keep my body warm. This continued for a long time.

My body really was going through a lot. I had to go to the restroom which was a very difficult thing. My Mom helped me walk down the hall as I held the bowl with ice and kept applying the cloth. When I got off of the bed I could barely stand. It was like my body was so week. I was dizzy and just had trouble making myself move. While in the restroom my whole body started to cramp up and It couldn't move. On the way back I seriously almost collapsed if it wasn't for my mom holding me up and my teeth started chattering uncontrollably. The nurse had changed the sheets on my bed since the others were completely soaked and I was quickly given fresh, warm blankets which helped to calm down my shaking legs. Once in bed, we continued the ice water on my face.

We kept checking to see if my face had gotten to the point where I could go with out the towel, with no luck. My face would go from pitch white (from being frozen ) to bright red in seconds. By this point my lips were super swollen and my eyes were almost swelling over my eyes. I kind of wish I had a mirror to see all of this but at the same time glad that I didn't. The expression and concerns on the faces and voices around me was enough.

After about 4 hours of cooling my face down and even more pain medication my face would not stay cool. The longest I could take the towel off with out the pain was about 10 seconds and then the pain would start on my cheeks work up to my eyes and then my whole face felt like it was on fire. However, the doctor decided that it was time to put on the antibiotic cream and see how I would handle it. That meant no more water on my face....

I have to say that I think this is one of the most painful things I have experienced (and I have experienced a lot of pain in my life). We stopped the water and I had to lean back as two nurses on either side of me started applying the ointment. You would think that I had placed my face over an open fire. The process took maybe only 3-5 minutes and in that time I was just holding onto the bed mattress squeezing as hard as I could trying to take slow deep breaths. In my mind I just kept praying that the Lord would just help me through this moment in time. Just as I reached the peak of my pain it was like all of a sudden the pain just dropped. It wasn't all at once but it was really quick considering how long I had been in pain. My heart felt at ease and comforted. I honestly felt like the Lord said, "Okay Olivia, you went threw all the pain that you needed to, I will take it from here." And that was it. That's what happened. It wasn't because of the cream because the cream had NO numbing agents it was just a antibiotic cream to shield from infections. It wasn't because of the pain medication, although they gave me a different kind this time there was no way it could have taken away all of my pain in that amount of time and given me that spiritual comfort that I received. I knew that the Priesthood blessing that was given to me had come true. That the Lord would help me through the pain.

By this point the nurses came in and checked the baby's heartbeat to make sure he/she was okay. And there was that beautiful little heartbeat working and a few kicks to the little doohickey to remind everyone that everything was okay. I was finally at the point when I could talk to Rusty. He had been so concerned and loving. I told him how things were going and that I was doing much better. I also wished him a Happy Anniversary since it was now August 6th. We had been married for 4 years. What a great Anniversary present. :)

I was soon discharged with some pain medication, and extra cream for my face (along with the prescriptions to get filled the next day). The doctor gave me the name of a plastic surgeon to meet with the next day to clean up my face, give me a realistic idea of how long it will take to heal and to tell me how to treat my face properly. So at around 2 am we headed home and I attempted to sleep.

It is very difficult to sleep propped up and unable to turn your head in either direction to sleep. Although I didn't really 'sleep' I felt really rested. Brayden had woken up and I got up with him, so glad to see him. (The night before he was screaming as we headed out to the hospital and I was unable to say goodbye to him). He and I got up and read a book together, played cars and enjoyed Mommy and Brayden time. At first he looked up at me a little frightened and confused by the appearance of my face but that soon passed. I was a wake and feeling really good. After what I went through wouldn't I be in more pain? Wouldn't I be completely exhausted? Wouldn't I be begging for someone else to be handling Brayden so I could go back to sleep? Something? But I didn't. I felt happy, content, healthy and good.

I went and looked at myself in the mirror and was completely shocked at what I saw. My face didn't look anything like I thought it would. I had seen bad burns and this was a bad burn! Yet, there I was looking better, feeling better. I knew that the Lord was following through with what he said! A full and quick recovery. That morning we went to see the plastic surgeon and I know that he was expecting to see me worse then what I was. He added to that confidence I had by saying that I should recover with no scarring. He popped a few blisters, told me to stay out of the sun for at least 3 weeks and how to care for my face and that was it. I was doing great for being burned with scolding hot grease water only 12 hours before.

When it came to pain it didn't feel like I really needed to take the medication and by day 2 I was on a low dosage of Tylenol. This was comforting to me because I didn't want to have to use the high pain medication especially since it could slow down the baby's heart beat. The only time that I felt pain was when I was in an area that felt heated, like a hot car or sunlight (which I was trying to avoid all together).

Each day since has proven to be better and better. Everyday since the accident has been like a weeks worth of healing to my face! And this is NOT and exaggeration. I wish I had a picture of my face the night of the accident because I almost think people don't believe me when they see me. I felt awful Friday night because my face was looking...icky. I just wanted to cry, I knew I would be going home and seeing Rusty and although I know he loves me no matter what I looked like I didn't want him seeing me like that. I also felt guilty, knowing that I was healing so quickly, wasn't feeling any pain and yet I was still whining about my appearance. Luckily I kicked myself out of the rut and really focused on the fact that if it wasn't for the Lord I would be like any other burn victim being on day 2 of healing instead of week 2.

When I came home I was so happy to see my hubby and he was surprised to see me. I had sent him a picture that somewhat showed my injuries from the day before and he couldn't believe how much better I had gotten in a day. By Sunday it was even better then the day before.

I had originally thought that I would not be up to gong to church that Sunday when the accident happened but when Sunday came along, I knew I had to go. I had been blessed with healing quicker and had barely any pain, there was no reason for me to miss church. I felt like if I missed church I wouldn't be showing my gratitude to the Lord for all that He had done for me in my time of need. It was great being there and getting a chance to take the sacrament and to feel the Spirit there. It did feel a little weird being there when so many had heard my story and were expecting to see me far worse then I was. I felt that it was just a witness to the great and marvelous mercies and miracles that the Lord gives us.

There are so many things that I have gotten out of this experience. I feel like each day I have learned something about myself and the gospel of Jesus Christ. My testimony has grown ten folds and I am grateful for it. Like I said in the beginning, this was something I needed, I just hope I don't have to go through it again. :)

As of today, Wednesday August 12th I am doing great. My face is looking really good. My right cheek has almost completely peeled and is a light pink. I still have small blisters on my eyelids and a few other areas. My neck is the hardest to keep the ointment on so the skin is rougher there. There are a few areas where the skin was damaged but not peeling yet so it looks like my freckles got darker. Thank goodness for those freckles that are really hiding the small blisters and right now it looks like I just had a bad sunburn. So I am super grateful and feeling more blessed then words can say!

Thanks to everyone who has kept me in your prayers and thoughts, they have truly helped more then you know.

* I am working on getting some pictures from after the accident but as for now I will leave it with this VERY, VERY long blog. *

***VERY IMPORTANT: I do NOT want this experience to scare anyone away from canning! This was a freak accident that happened and the liklyhood of it happening again is very slim! Like I said my friend Cindy has been canning for about 40 years or so and has never seen this happen. After the incident we kept the jar and realized that it had to have been faulty. Doug was able to twist it shut and then pop it open very easily. That should not happen! We did file a report with the company and US Consumer Product Safety Commission. I am hoping that they can make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else. I am planning to can again, I admit it might take a while but I will be canning soon because it is so important!*****

Maybe I am having a Platypus!!!

2009-07-23T11:54:00.000-07:00

***So this is a post that I was suppose to post forever ago but better late then never. I was waiting for our pictures to get scanned but I guess I will just add them later.***

So I really wish I could get a competent ultrasound tech. Grr. So we went to our appointment on July 22nd and got very frustrated... I had already had a rough day because Brayden refused to take a nap and that's never a good thing for a mom who needs a break. Since we had such confusion with the last ultrasound my Dr. wanted me to meet with a different tech to get a second opinion. So, I did.

This guy was crazy... serioulsy! He had Rusty leave with Brayden because he couldn't concentrate with him there (mind you Brayden was actually being really good just playing with his toys). Then when I was asking that I get a few pictures of the baby, since last time we didn't get any good ones, he was like; "Why do you want them? You aren't going to be able to really keep them and put them in a book because they will fade." Seriously? What does it matter to him what I do with it? It's my baby and I want a photo! ugh.

So we do the ultrasound and everything was looking really good. I actually got to see the baby suck his/her thumb. It was so cool, but I felt awful because Rusty was missing all of it! He printed out one picture of the baby sucking his/her thumb but to wasn't a great photo. I was really hoping for a foot or hands photo. Or a picture of the spine...anything.

We did get some good news. He said that I don't have to worry about Placenta Previa because there was a good distance between the cervix and placenta.

So onto the sex of the baby. He looked at the baby and said, "I'm just not sure it's a girl". Okay, great. So he was looking and made the comment that he "hates whoever decided to tell parents what the sex of the baby is." and the he has "wasted more time trying to figure out the sex of the baby then anything else". I'm laying there shocked at his disdain towards this special moment between parents and their baby.

So since our baby was being ultra shy he had me turn back and forth trying to get the baby to move so we could see the sex. And this is the weird part. He sees something, points it out to me and says "Do you see that?" now I am NOT a trained ultrasound tech and I rely heavily on their descriptions of what I am seeing... So I say "yes, so it's a boy?" because that's that he was pointing out looked like to me.. a boy part. (now prior to this I thought a saw a boy part but he said it was just the umbilical cord.) After me asking if it was a boy he says... nothing. So I ask again. "Is it a boy?" and he will not confirm anything he in turn replies, "I'm gonna say that there's an 80% chance it's a boy. If I were you I would just have a boy and girl name ready." So I am sitting there going, 'Did I see a penis or not? What the heck!'

This is the weirdest part. I asked if I could get a picture of the "possible penis" to show to my hubby and Dr. (maybe she can tell me that's what it is) and the guy says, "No. I can't do that." He was completely serious! It was if he couldn't believe I was asking for a picture of the babies penis, if that is in fact what it was! I'm sitting there thinking that 'Why can't I have a picture? Is there something wrong with me wanting that picture? Are you thinking that it's like child pornography? ' I just didn't get it. After a short conversation he says that he "accidentally printed it out." and that I was "NOT to take the photo". At this point could see he was leaving it for me to take it but I was still unsure because he was SO SERIOUS about it, not a hint of a smile. Then he leaves and I am in the process of getting my self tucked in and what not and he comes back asking why I am still there. How quick does he expect me to be gone!

It was a very weird, confusing and frustrating experience! I ended up leaving, shared the info with Rusty who was just as weirded out as I was and left, only to realize that I had left some of Brayden's toys in the room (since I was being ushered so quickly out of there). I swear I am not going back to that place ever again!

I really like my Dr. I just wished she had her own ultrasound machine in her office so I didn't have to go through all the drama.

After all that you may be going, "So, What ARE you having?" and the answer is... I don't know!
The first lady said 'almost positive' it's a girl and this guy said '80% chance it's a boy'. I personally am leaning towards a boy but what the heck do I know.

Please Read!

2009-07-09T09:05:00.000-07:00

I am asking that everyone please read this through. Thank you.

We have some friends that we would like everyone to pray for, here is why:

Not too long ago Kameron was diagnosed with Lupus. He and his little family have been doing well and adjusting to the changes that come with a diagnosis like this. However, this last week Kameron has been having a tough time. He first went to the ER for a 7 hour nose bleed on July 1st and by Friday he had lost his appetite and his lymph nodes were swollen. They took him to the ER again and by the time they were seen a 1:30 am things have gotten worse. He was ambulanced over from Sierra Vista to Tuscon Medical Center and admitted super early on the morning of July 4th. Since then they have done many tests and found multiple infections in his body. He started to become very weak and had difficulty breathing.

They performed a procedure on his lungs that went well, however, his breathing was still so labored that they put him in the ICU to monitor him closer. Since it was taking all of his energy to breathe they decided to sedate him and give him a breathing tube. That way his body would be able to fight off the multiple infections. The Doctors aren't sure how long he will need to be on the respirator, at least long enough to get him stabilized.

This is such a difficult thing for this young family. His wife, Jamilyn, is so amazing. I cannot even imagine what it would be like to be her and see the man you love in that situation while trying to take care of a 2 year old. She has so much strength and faith it just amazes me.

All I ask at this time is prayers for this family. Here is a note that Jami put on her blog,

"I am asking each of you who reads this to fast for Kameron's recovery and health on

FRIDAY, JULY 10th

Fast, pray, meditate ... please just do what you do.
Kameron will be healed by his faith and by the faith of others."

I know that if we all do this he will return home quicker than if we don't. Thank you for reading this!

The Haban Family.

Insomniacs Anonymous

2009-07-07T00:30:00.000-07:00

For the last two weeks my insomnia has hit hard. I thought I had a good handle on it but for some strange reason it has decided to come back with a vengeance! No use trying to lay in bed and wait 4 hours to fall asleep and yet I feel so guilty when I actually stay up because I do NOTHING productive. Back in Elementary, High School and College I at least accomplished something during my long nights of no sleep but now they have a thing called facebook in which I just play the same stupid game over and over and over and over again. Pretty pointless.

So if this happens again, and I'm sure it will, I will try to actually do what I said I was going to do and get caught up on all of my blogs. And trust me, there are a lot. I guess it's a good thing I don't have too many followers that way I don't bore too many people to death. For those who do read this, thanks.
Here are a few fun Cartoons that hit close to home.

4th of July Weekend!

2009-07-06T14:40:00.000-07:00

We had a very busy 4th of July weekend but it was so much fun! Rusty had Friday off and I just love when we get to have a full free day with him. We don't really do anything too special but it's nice to just spend that time together. Here is a rundown of our weekend:

Friday
Hang out playing fun "indoor" games...

This is one of Brayden's favorite games.

Head off in the car.

Brayden rocking out his Finding Nemo Sunglasses.

One of our stops, the mall. We got to just walk around and Brayden played in the play area. His favorite thing was to ride on the mini merry-go-round.He would switch on and off from the boat...

to the train. The train was his favorite.

We stopped in some kids clothing stores wishing I had the money to get some of their really cute outfits. In the kids stores they have TV's with kids programs so the kids can sit while parents shop (pretty smart idea). With Brayden, he really gets into what he's watching and I don't know if you have seen some of the kid shows lately but they are crazy! Like, high on LSD crazy. Poor Brayden has never been exposed to these kind of shows since we don't have Television. He was in some kind of trance trying to figure out what the heck was going on!Do you see the confusion on his face?
The funny thing is he just sat there staring with out blinking it seemed like. Poor boy, he is like me where he has permanent dark circles under his eyes, so it looks like he is a TV zombie who hasn't slept in days! haha.

Luckily we got him out of there just in the nick of time. :) We went home a spent a nice night at home with some yummy left overs from our Hawaiian Haystacks we had the other night. After such a fun day we headed off to bed. While getting Brayden to bed he decided he needed to go potty. So we go into the bathroom and Brayden sits only the potty and decided to catch up on some light reading...

It just really made me laugh! I got a less blurry picture however it would need to be censored so this one will have to do.

Saturday
When we started the day we still hadn't really planned anything for the fourth of July. However we were continuing yesterdays morning activities:

I really wanted to do something special this year for the 4th of July because although we had fun hanging out with friends last year, we didn't really do much and we didn't get to see fireworks. So I went online to see what was going on in the valley for free and a link came up saying that Rawhide was open with a chance to see a western shoot out and free fireworks. Rawhide is out in Chandler about 15 minutes away from Rusty's folks place so we thought we would see what they were up to for the 4th.

We knew they had a full house since they have the grand kids from Texas staying with them for a few weeks (Kyle and the twins Ethan ans Allison) plus their own Derek and Tiffany. However, they had no real plans so we headed over there with some fresh corn to go with hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad and apple pie. I have to say that my favorite was the grilled corn! Yummm.... Only thing missing was the watermelon.

After eating and getting all the kids ready we headed off to Rawhide. We got there around 6:15 and it felt like it was Noon! The sun was still high in the sky and it was sooo incredibly hot! We were a little bummed because online it said that Rawhide would be a fun free celebration, however, upon arriving we found out it cost $10 for anyone over 5 years old. Rusty's folks were gracious enough and offered to pay for us and in the end we were a little grateful for the price because it meant it wasn't too busy.

Here are some photos from the day.

Brayden sittin' comfy on his saddle.

With one of the awesome Rawhide workers.

Mommy, Brayden and Daddy in the Rawhide Museum in front of two old carousel horses. They were beautiful, the craftsmanship was amazing.

Brayden sitting in a buggy.

The cousins sitting together in the buggy.
Front row: Ethan, Brayden and Allison
Back row: Kyle and Tiffany (Derek had plans with his girlfriend that day so he didn't come.)

Waiting for the Rodeo to start.
Brayden excited to see the bull's!
Rusty and his Dad also waiting for the mini rodeo to begin.

This bull rider had the best ride of the night but he got injured right in front of us! He went head first over the bulls head right when the bull threw his head back. His horn hit the riders head and landed practically at our feet. He tried to sit up but went flat on his back. His head was bleeding and they called the medic out to the ring. Eventually he got up with the help of a couple of people and left the ring. It was kid of frustrating because people were running over to see the injured rider. It was like no one had any respect.

They continued the show and here is a video of another rider.

Here is the last ride of the night, if you look in the background you can see the ambulance that came for the injured rider. From the looks of what happened we think he might have gotten a minor concussion and possibly some stitches.

Here we are trying to lasso a steer. First is Brayden, then myself followed by Tiffany. After the guy actually showed me how to do it properly I did a pretty good job.

They had a fun little playground that Brayden had fun playing on and the other kids got to ride on burros. Brayden was really happy to watch the donkeys. He kept saying "donkey" while doing the sign and was say "Hee Haw". It was really cute. He even tried climbing through the gate trying to get closer to them.

As the kids waiting in line for the burros we went and found a nice spot on the grass to watch the fireworks. It was great because they had a stadium you could watch them from or the grassy area. Most went to the stadium so it wasn't very crowded in the grass area. While waiting Brayden was running around playing with some other little kids he just met. Although it was past 9 pm it still felt like it was 115 degrees outside. Notice how red Brayden's face is in all of the following pictures!

This was the best family photo we could get...

Brayden with Mommy

Brayden with Daddy

Brayden hitting Daddy in the face with a flag. This was Rusty's real reaction...not an exaggeration! Haha, it was funny.

I love Rusty's laugh!

My patriotic little boy.

He had a lot of fun playing with the flags.

Still red in the face... why does Arizona have to be so dang hot?!?!

Rusty with his niece Allison. She is hilarious! Rusty got a kick out of some of the things she would say.

Brayden sitting on Dadd'ys lap to watch fireworks for the first time.

Brayden loved them! He wasn't scared at all. He just laid back watching them, ooing and ahhing and clapping when the show was all over.

Just in case some people missed the fireworks this year here is a long and short video of some of the fireworks we saw. I know that Glendale's show was canceled this year do to the budget so I hope you enjoy them:

After the fireworks show we caught the last "Shoot out" show that Rawhide had. I really wasn't that impressed but it was still fun. Brayden didn't jump at all during the fireworks show but when they shot the guns for the first time I swear he went up at least 2 inches off of my lap. After the show we headed home and Brayden passed out in the car. We got home around 11:10 and were still hot and very tired.

Brayden completely knocked out.

He did stir a little bit during this picture and I think his face is really sad looking. He looks tired and in pain and uncomfortable. poor boy.

He slept until a little after 9 am Sunday morning which meant we got to sleep in too. It was too bad that Rusty and I both forgot we had to teach Sunday morning so we had to rush with showers and getting ready and trying to prepare or lessons (Rusty was teaching Priesthood and I had Sharing Time in Nursery for the first time since being called as the 1st Counselor). Luckily it all worked out.

Well that sums it all up. If you made it through this whole post I am pretty impressed. Hope your 4th of july was great and remember to thank a soldier for the sacrifice they made for our county and our freedom!

"Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ" ~ Ether 2:12

God Bless America!

Response to my post "Husbands and wives"

2009-07-05T21:33:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to add a quick note about my "Husbands and Wives" blog. So I got a couple e-mails in response to this post from some people worried that maybe my marriage is having some difficulties. Some even worry that if my marriage is in trouble I am taking too much responsibility on myself... I just want to clear a few things up.

First off as the first rule in A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy; "Don't Panic!" :) With all honesty, Rusty and I are doing great! We are happy, we love each other and our little family and we are coming up on our four year anniversary, excited to know that it's already been 4 years toward our eternity that we've been able to spend with each other. We do, however, like many couples have little moments/problems that need adjusting.

My Aunt Cathy said it just right, that after 33 years of marriage that even they can use improvement and tend to take their relationship for granted. And that's what my blog was about. We need to constantly improve ourselves and our marriage. My husband always says "That which is not growing is decaying" and that's all that I am trying to prevent; decay.

Secondly, I promise that I am not trying to take on all of our little problems and thinking that I alone am the one to fix them. It wouldn't be a healthy relationship if I was. I am lucky to have the handsome husband that I have who is not only understanding, and willing to see his own faults, he is also a great communicator. When there is a problem, we talk about it and discuss where we both need improvement and where we are excelling. Rusty has helped me a lot in the marriage department. I come from a home where my folks divorced when I was 8, then my mother was in a very dysfunctional and abusive marriage to my ex-step dad for 6 years which was then followed by 6 years with my mom being the head of the home. I had not had a chance to witness a healthy marriage up close and personal but I know that despite all of that, with Rusty I can and will have a great marriage.

So I hope that this post puts some worried minds to ease. We are happy but we also recognize that there is always room for improvement. I am lucky to have my amazing husband and he is lucky to have me (because I'm awesome!).

Universty of Phoenix's Spirit Week!

2009-06-30T10:00:00.000-07:00

So Rusty works at the University of Phoenix as most know and last week they had a SPIRIT WEEK. I loved Spirit week and the chance to dress crazy with out everyone thinking you are weirdo. Anyways, so Rusty had a Spirit Week and they had some great incentive to dress up everyday. At the UoP they have Teams (there are a lot of teams and different sections of teams and that's how they would be judged. If your team won, they would be put in a drawing to win free catering for a week. Rusty was just excited that he didn't have to follow the dress code all week. Here are some photos from their Spirit Week.

Monday - Crazy Hat Day 6.22.2009
*They won*
Rusty actually forgot he could wear jeans all week and came home sad that he had forgotten.
Tuesday- Pajama Day 6.23.2009
*They won*
By far Rusty's favorites day! He said he accomplished so much more since he was comfy. (He's all about being comfy!!!)
Wednesday- Sports Day 6.24.2009
*They won*
Rusty isn't a sports guy, one thing I have always been grateful for. However, he didn't have any sports attire to wear so Tashie (She's in the yellow #7 shirt) bought a shirt at a thrift store for Rusty to wear but it was like two sizes too small and for a guy who likes comfy he said it was miserable. As soon as they were judged he took it off.
Thursday- Hawaiin Shirt Day 6.25.2009
*They won*
Rusty said this was a great day because it was like his office was in Hawaii. Everyone went all out for this day and here are the photos to prove it:
There were even monkeys in his office.

This is Rusty's favorite. One team had a boar roasting over a fire!
Super clever if you ask me...
Friday- Team Choice 6.26.2009
*They did not win*
Jimmy, Rusty's manager, use to work at Restaraunt called Nello's so he got an employee shirt for the whole team.
Rusty said they have pretty good food there. I think they should have gone with their first idea which was dressing up as bums. It would have been more fun!

So they got their Team name in the drawing four times, however, they did not win the drawing... Sad Day. But Rusty said it was a lot of fun and I am glad he got to do something like that!

Husbands and Wives

2009-06-30T01:28:00.000-07:00

So I have been thinking lately about my role as a wife. I have realized that I am going on four years of marriage and I am nowhere near the kind of wife I want to be, or that which my husband deserves. I hardly make dinners or clean as much as I should. I complain WAY too much and still expect my husband to read my mind when I am upset! (This list could go on for a long time but I think in this situation less is more.)

Well, I have decided that it is high time I straighten up. Not only are my actions effecting my spouse and somewhat hurting our relationship, they are effecting me and anyone else around me. I'm not really sure how some of these bad habits and emotions have sneaked their way into my life but they have and I have got to put and end to it!

I read this book a year or two ago called "Strangling Your Husband Is NOT an Option: A Practical Guide to Dramatically Improving Your Marriage" by Merrilee Browne Boyack . I read it and I thought, I can do this, I can improve my marriage. Only to forget about it a week later. Well, I recently read it again and have felt the need to really take some of her advice to heart. Some of the things she says hit too close to home for comfort but those words are exactly the things I needed to hear. One thing that I liked about this book is that since she is LDS she shares stories and quotes from church leaders that give her words and added depth to them. (I will not go to say that I agree completely with all of the authors opinions. However, there was a lot of good advise which I would encourage people to read and pray about, see what fits you and your relationship.)

One of the biggest things that stuck with me was to not kill the things that worked in the beginning. When you dated your now husband, what did you like to do? Go on long walks? Dance? Do puzzles? Or did you do what you do know sit around watching a movie while he sits at the computer.... When you knew you were going to see him, what did you do? Throw in some extra sit-ups at the gym? Try on several outfits? Clean your apt. up? Or did you sit around in your PJ's all day with a ponytail hoping he will come home and want to do the dishes you didn't want to do...

When you are a stay at home mom it is difficult to get motivated and do the things you once loved to do. (At least for me, but boy do I see other mother's and wives that really have it going on.) It's sometimes so easy to feel like you have lost yourself and lose all of that self confidence and that fun attitude you once had. But is that the person you were when you fell in love? Is that the kind of person you want to be? I know it's not what I want to be and I know the only way to get back to that is by taking action.

I am so incredibly lucky to have the husband that I have. He is so patient and understanding all the time. I just want to be that person that he married and not someone he dreads coming home to. I have a goal and although it might take me a while to get back to the "fun-living" wife I once was, I know that I can. Through this process I will not only make a happier husband I will make a happier ME.

My sweetheart of a husband and I Nov. 2008

(This song I felt was appropriate for this post, although I know my husband wouldn't leave me if I had my hair in curlers. It's an older song and I wish I could figure out how to post an exert of this song on my blog but I am just not that tech savvy. You could always rent The First Wives Club and listen to the opening song.)

Wives And Lovers
Hey, little girl,
Comb your hair, fix your make-up.
Soon he will open the door.
Don't think because
There's a ring on your finger,
You needn't try any more

For wives should always be lovers, too.
Run to his arms the moment he comes home to you.
I'm warning you.

Day after day,
There are girls at the office,
And men will always be men.
Don't send him off
With your hair still in curlers.
You may not see him again.

For wives should always be lovers, too.
Run to his arms the moment he comes home to you.
He's almost here.

Hey, little girl
Better wear something pretty,
something you'd wear to go to the city.
And dim all the lights,
Pour the wine, start the music.
Time to get ready for love.

Oh, time to get ready,
Time to get ready,
Time to get ready
For love.

A Mommies bragging rights!

2009-06-29T11:20:00.000-07:00

Brayden Riley 6.22.2009

This last month Brayden has really been showing us how much he REALLY knows. Now I know most parents brag about how smart their children are and how they have helped that progress along. I take no responsibility in his abilities. He has always just been a head of the curve ever since he was little baby but it doesn't cease to amaze me when he does some things.

A couple a weeks ago Brayden surprised my by walking down the stairs (which he can do all on his own) and started counting. He and I sometimes walk down the stairs and count all of the steps together (there are 16). As he was coming down, all on his own, he started counting and I was just listening to see how far he would count and to my amazement he went all the way to ten with no mess ups! I just never thought a 22 month old could count to 10 with out any help from Mom. Since then he has done it several more times but when I try to get him to do it (for the camera or anyone else) he gets really shy and just stops counting. It's a little frustrating but he did it and he has done it for Rusty too.

His language skills have also picked up A LOT. He is constantly saying what things are, repeating us and asking questions. He's favorite question, "What was that?". He will hear a sound and ask "What was that?" and we will tell him and he'll go "Oh...(and repeat what we said it was)" It's really cute! He is really working on his alphabet, he doesn't really have this one down yet but he does try. He recognizes letters and when he sees them he tries to sing the alphabet song and tries doing the letter signs which leads to the fact that his signing has also improved. He just loves to learn new signs and is perfecting the older ones.

Another great thing that he has been doing is singing! This by far is one of my favorites! He started singing "Popcorn Popping" all by himself and he knew a good amount of the words. Along with "Head Shoulders Knees and Toes" and all the fun songs they sing in Nursery. At night we have a routine where we brush our teeth, say prayers (another thing he doesn almost all on his own now. He leads the prayer and I am just there to help him out), read scriptures (He can say 'Nephi' really well, so darn cute) and then I usually rock him a little and sing whatever song he requests. Well a couple of weeks I ago I asked if I should sing "Child of God" He repeats it, which is his 'yes', and as I started to sing he knew almost all of the words to it. It was so sweet, I just couldn't believe it! He is growing up so fast and it just amazes me! He also loves to make up songs, I guess I am rubbing off on him.

Last thing I want to talk about is how sweet and kind he is. He is still a rough and rowdy little boy but he can be so sweet. When ever he accidentally hurts someone he goes up, stokes their cheek and says "sorry" in the cutest way. Not only does he do this when he hurts someone but when he sees another little kid crying he will go up and ask "You okay?" and then tries to give them a hug and says "sorry". It just amazes me that he is already showing empathy. The sad thing is if it's a smaller kid they kind of just push Brayden away thinking "what is this kid doing?". But he still sticks around to make sure they are okay and then will try to help distract them by giving them a to play with. He also loves hugs and kisses. He will come up to me or Rusty and just ask "Hug?" and we will drop what we are doing and give him one. It's usually followed by a "kiss? mmmm (that's him prepping for the kiss)" and gives us a nice big kiss on the lips or the cheek. He also loves to give his toys that have "faces" kisses. He is just a really sweet kid and I couldn't ask for a better little boy (well, most of the time).

I am a little upset at myself for not documenting all of Brayden's achievements and when they happened. I did a little bit but not nearly enough. As I am really on the process of catching up on the blog, I am realizing that I should have done more. I think it is my one regret as a mother so far. I am really trying to be better. It's a good thing I have a pretty good long term memory or I would be in trouble.

The results are in...well sort of.

2009-06-17T11:15:00.000-07:00

So I really appreciated all the votes that were cast in figuring out what our baby will be. I am going to let you know now that it is very improbable that I will be having a platypus as a baby but since it received 22% of the votes, I see that people believe Rusty and I to be freaks.... and I think I am okay with that!

Here is the results of the poll:
Boy 16% of the votes
Girl 61% of the votes
Twins 16% of the votes
Platypus 22% of the votes

We were able to get our first ultrasound yesterday and we were super excited to be able to see how big our baby has gotten. However, the baby (and my uterus) did NOT seem excited. He/she just would not cooperate! There are a few things that came up during the ultrasound:

#1 We had trouble getting a decent picture of the baby, but we did get a picture.

We got a straight on face shot. Just like Brayden's first photo. Don't see a butt chin on this one though.

#2 My placenta is too close to my cervix, thus we will most likely be getting another ultrasound to make sure there will be no problems.

#3 We did get a shot of the pelvis area and the lady was "almost positive" that our baby is a.....

We are hoping at the next ultrasound we will find the sex a definite and not a "almost positive".

(I have a total of 8 videos with Brayden telling us what our baby is. The last one I have I think is super cute but it's really dark and hard to see him so I put this one up.)

#4 My uterus is crazy, it was not the way it should be. And due to the way the baby was laying, the fluid, the placenta and some confusing images the lady (who spent almost an hour looking at the baby) is thinking there is a possibility that we might have twins. That is something else that we will be looking for when we get another ultrasound. Some people don't even know they are having twins until 6 months. So it is a small possibility. And knowing that both sides of the families have prominent twins, and other factors that will take to long to explain, it wouldn't be too far fetched for us to have twins.

Brayden and Daddy were there during the ultrasound and it was such a great family experience and considering we were in there for over an hour Brayden did a great job at being a good boy!

Brayden and Daddy with the pictures of our baby.

Brayden showing Mommy where the baby is.

Vote Now!

2009-06-10T18:19:00.000-07:00

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You know you want to!

Summing it up with very few words...

2009-05-27T12:21:00.000-07:00

Money Issues:

-Not Fun!
-Washing machine breaks. (April 2008 ~ been doing laundry at folks house)
-Washing Machine, cannot be fixed after many tries. Need to buy a new one. (Before I get too pregnant)
-Old Debt "technically not ours" threatens us. We have to pay!
-A/C goes out. (May 10, 2009) We need to wait to fix it.
-(2 days later) my tire blows up. Replace that one and the other back tire that's about to die.
-Cannot last without A/C any longer and a guy is coming today (May 27,2009). We will find a way.
-Rusty needs new glasses.
-Olivia needs to go to the dentist.

Amidst all of that, we have a roof over our head, food in our bellies, our health, the gospel, family and friends that love us and have been there to help us out!

Happy Times:
-Memorial Day = fun day as a family.

-Went on a family drive to nearby resort and walked around the gardens.

-Splurged on Soup and Salad at Olive Garden.

-Looked at a washer and dryer.

-Got Brayden brand new shoes for $4.00 (they even have Lightning McQueen from the movie CARS on them.) Poor Brayden has needed new shoes for a while now.

-Went Swimming as a family, my Mom and Dad joined us. Brayden LOVES the water.

His favorite thing was jumping off of the side into the pool (with us catching him of course).

-had frozen Pizza and watched a movie with the family. It was a great day!

Blogging...isn't it about time?

2009-05-13T20:10:00.000-07:00

So, I guess it's about time for me to write a blog. I have been putting it off for too long and what better way to get back into it then with blogging about some exciting news. "News? What news?" you may ask...
Well, we will soon be adding baby # 2 to the Odom Family. Yeah, I know! Crazy!
I am (as of today) 13 weeks and 6 days pregnant. So that means I am 3 months pregnant and in the "safe" zone. We really did try to keep it quite as long as possible because you really don't know what can happen, however, that doesn't mean a few tongues haven't slipped along the way.

It was a lot more difficult to keep the secret this time, mostly because I was actually sick with this baby (Being Pregnant with Brayden really spoiled me.) Then I was sick on top of pregnancy sickness which causes a certain parent to worry and think I had some crazy disease. So we decided to tell our folks and this is how we did it:

Brayden with his shirt that reads "Soon to be the best BIG Brother". (the flash makes it harder to read than it is in real life...)

Too bad no one reads a kids shirt and after waiting over 30 minutes with both sets of parents we finally had to be like "Read Brayden's Shirt!!!"

I know that our parents are super excited and can't wait for another grand-baby, especially my mother!

Also, there are other incidents where someone guessed and we didn't want to flat-out lie and some where it just slipped...right Rusty? So if you didn't hear it directly from us, then I apologize. Word of mouth carries faster and in weirder ways then one expects.

As for other information, our estimated due date is November 12, 2009. Brayden with be roughly 2 years and 4 month old. I am dong really good, all sickness has pretty much cleared up. Well, except for the sleepiness and occasional headache but that could be due to a certain toddler running around in my house. Also, my Doctor said that she is 85 percent sure what gender the baby is going to be by hearing the heartbeat today...but I'm not going to tell you. Trust me, I have my reasons....

I guess that's it. Except for one more question:

Motivation

2009-05-05T10:10:00.001-07:00

Something I wish I had more of!

"Moving Day"

2009-04-06T09:48:00.000-07:00

So I am writing today to promote my husbands production company. Karma Creek Pictures is now doing animations! Here is something he wrote on the companies myspace bulletin:

Hey everyone, we're getting an awesome response to Moving Day and I really want to keep the momentum up!

Moving day is our first stop-motion animation and already, it's looking amazing! Of course with a bit of inspiration from Coraline, we're using amazingly effective techniques that really bring the quality of stop-motion animation to an entire different level.

We are actually making a blog, kind of a behind the scenes or "Making of" in REAL-TIME meaning as we make the film, we're updating the blog. Step by step production. It should be great!

So follow our blog here: Moving Day

Thanks again to everyone for all the support!

Definitely check out the blog. Last weekend they had the Phoenix Film Festival in which they were able to promote the film and got an awesome response. I guess that's it. Check out Karma Creek Pictures first Animated Short "Moving Day".

Just can't do it!

2009-03-30T13:59:00.000-07:00

Grrrrr. I just can't post anything! I sit down to work on the blog (mostly to finish my "catch-up" blogging) and I just can't do it. I think it all started a couple weeks ago when I was working on a blog and I am not sure what happened but I lost everything that I was writing. Now, when ever I go to finish that blog I just can't do it. I can't say what I want to say the way I want to say it. So, if I don't write that blog then I can't do any after that and since nothing really exciting has happened lately it leaves me with nothing. I know. I know. I am completely insane. Something I learned to accept a long time ago. *sigh* Wish me luck.

Saying Prayers

2009-03-23T14:00:00.000-07:00

We have really been trying to do spiritual things with Brayden. Before every meal we pray and he does a really good job at keeping his arms folded and even tries to bow his head and close his eyes (although those are brief moments). We also do scriptures and prayer before bed. He is responding really well to it and it makes me really happy when he doesn't want to stop reading scriptures or when he reminds us to say prayer. He climbs into his high chair, folds his arms and asks. "Prayer? Prayer?".

So last night we were at my Mom's house having Sunday dinner and we put Brayden in his high chair. He folds his arms, says "Prayer?" then follows by saying something that sounded like "Heavenly" and then said "Father." So I asked him if he wanted to say prayer. (He doesn't really say 'Yes' just smiles and giggles, which I know to mean 'Yes') So he said his version of "Yes" and so I started to say prayer and waited and then he repeated what I said! Like 'Father', 'food', 'strength', 'love', 'Jesus', 'Amen', etc. It was the cutest thing ever!

So, for every prayer since he has been "saying prayer". I'm really grateful that he enjoys praying, reading scriptures and singing church songs. I think it reminds him of our Heavenly Home and can feel the Holy Ghost. I can't believe all the things he is able to do and is wanting to do at 19 months old (well, He will be 20 months tomorrow but still he amazes me!)

I asked Brayden to fold his arms to get this picture. Isn't he cute?

Here are some fun photos and a videos from last night:

Brayden was helping Nana cook Peas and peel potatoes.
Here's a video too.

Notice how fast he runs when he sees Papa go outside.

Two things he loves a lot!

Helping Papa get some oranges.

He picked two yummy ones.

And runs to give them to Nana

Little did I know that my Papa told him to give the oranges to Nana and then he would let him swing in the swing. (Which is what you see in the video)

I heard Brayden laughing hysterically outside and this is what I found:

Daddy made some cool hats with the toy car track.

My stylish hubby!

Brayden ready to eat, right before he gave his first prayer!

Nursery Songs.

2009-03-17T13:00:00.000-07:00

Brayden loves music. We are singing all the time around this house. While playing, changing diapers, before we go to sleep, in the bath tub. Three of his favorite songs are "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes", "Follow the prophet" and "Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam." Here are some videos with these songs.

This is Brayden (19 months) and his friend Caden (2yrs old) at the park, March 5, 2009, doing "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes". Brayden kind gets stuck on just his knees, and then they decided to jump around a scream a bunch. They are boys. What do you expect.

At my friends bridal shower, March 15, 2009, he found a doll and decided to rock the doll and sing to her. He wanted to sing "Follow the Prophet" to her. (Which means he just babbles and says 'Prophet') He is just so cute!

This is the only video I have caught of him singing "Jesus Wants me for a Sunbeam" , March 17, 2009. It just seems whenever I pull the camera out he clams up. He's not really too into it in the beginning but he's still cute, just ignore my singing ;)

Why do Mormons build temples?

2009-03-12T13:13:00.000-07:00

A true apostle of the Lord.

2009-03-07T20:32:00.000-08:00

We just had an awesome experience tonight that I wanted to write about it while it's fresh in my mind. My parents stake conference was this weekend and and Elder Russell M. Nelson from the quorum of twelve apostles was presiding. My parents had saved us seats to sit in the front row (next to an exit since Brayden was with us). I was nervous about having Brayden there since he is at an age that does not sit still for very long and although he had some rough patches I am so glad he came. We were right in the eye line of Elder Nelson and he smiled over at Brayden and I and waved to Brayden, who I tried get to wave in return. You could feel the love that Elder Nelson had for Christ and for the children of our Heavenly Father. It was very cool.

All of the speakers spoke truths that really touched my heart. Missionary work, the temple and the blessings of having one being built closer to us, and the one that touched me the most; strengthening family relations. So by the time it was Elder Nelson's turn my heart was so filled by the spirit that as he spoke I just began to cry. Rusty and I had a very dear moment with us and the Lord today and the on pouring of Christs love for me and my family was just too much. As Elder Nelson spoke of love and relations, of callings and that this church is the Lords church, my heart swelled with the truthfulness and a clearer understanding of his words. I am so grateful for the prophets of the Lord and their sweet sincerity and love for us. I am grateful to have the Lords guidance through them! And I know without a doubt that this is the true Church of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I am so blessed to be a part of this church, to be sealed to my family in the holy temple and to be able to teach my children the gospel of the Lord.

As the meeting closed, some children came in through the side door and went immediately to Elder Nelson. He came down those stairs and he shook their hands and hugged the little ones. Brayden and I came up and he automatically reached forward to take Brayden and hold him. Our children are such special spirits and it was really a great experience to see the love that was there. He proceeded to note that "kids sure do love grandpas" (Since Brayden kept saying Papa through out the meeting and wanting to be held by my Dad). And he turned to me and said, "You're doing a great job." Those words meant a lot as I sometimes feel inadequate as a mother. And although I know he doesn't really know me, I know he knows my heart and it was great to hear. I am so blessed to have the opportunity to be at that conference tonight and I pray I will never forget the feelings and love I felt there!

{added- There were also some really funny things that Elder Nelson said. I forgot to write them down and I think I only really remember 3 of them:
1. When talking about working and knowing 6 prophets of the Lord he mentioned that he also was the surgeon (he's a heart surgeon) for a few of them. He said, "I guess you could say I knew them inside and out."
2. While talking about the economy he spoke about how there are many examples of this in the scriptures. He proceeded to read from Helaman about how do to unrighteousness riches began to be slippery and that no one could hold onto them. He then said, " That was about 6 BC. So you see, these economic crisis will come and go." (Me writing it out just doesn't do it justice.)
3. He announced that they were going to release the stake presidency(that had been serving for 9 years) that Sunday, then he turns around and says "Do I have the authority to announce that?" Turns back around and says, "I guess I am the authority here today. So, yes. I do."
-There was some other funny things he said that I have just plain forgotten. oh well.}

I get the message!

2009-03-02T08:34:00.000-08:00

So it seems as that I complain a little too much to the Lord because he decided to take some action. I have not been very found of my recent weight gain and I know that I need to do something about it. I decided I was gong to start walking with Brayden. However, I am more talk than I am action and so the Lord decided to help me out a bit. Last Monday Rusty's car broke down in the middle of the freeway and had to be towed home. We really don't have the money for a mechanic so he and a friend are working on fixing it. That means that I am out of a car for several weeks.

Well, I took this as a kick in the butt from the Lord and a message that I need to walk. So Tuesday I walked to the store for some groceries (about 2 miles), Thursday is play date day so I walked to the park and back (roughly 3 miles) and Friday I walked to my mothers to do laundry ( a little over 4 miles). I know 9 or so miles in a week is not that impressive but for a bump on a log, like myself, I felt pretty empowered. I had fun walking (except for the fact I felt like an old lady since my hips were really achy) and I am going to walk at least 2 mile everyday. Today Brayden and I are going to walk to the "Duck Park" which is 2.5 miles one way. So although it stinks we have to spend money on fixing up our car, it's really been a blessing and I am in fact grateful for it.

Our little helper...

2009-01-19T09:56:00.000-08:00

Brayden is a nearly 18 months and like to "help" us around the house. He is super independent and wants to do everything on his own. This usually leads to a lot of injuries!

Last Monday Rusty had work off because of Martin Luther King Day so we worked out in our front
yard (if you can classify it as a yard). It had been way too long since anything was done to it and we
get the scrutinizing looks from our neighbors that reminds me of the nosy neighbor from Bewitched.

Some fun photos of my boys gardening:

Daddy's gloves are a little big but he looks so cute!

Like I said it's hard for Brayden to go a whole ten minutes with out getting hurt. And of course he got hurt because he didn't listen to Mommy and Daddy...

Blood and Mud. He is such a typical boy!

Brayden also helped us put together a table and two chairs we bought from IKEA. I have been wanting to do more things with Brayden and I figured it would be easier for him to do my ideas if he has a little table of his own.

Brayden ready to start working!
(note: Brayden has been drooling like crazy. He's got 4 teeth coming in.)

Rusty isn't very good at building things...it's a good thing Brayden was there to help.

A Smile of satisfaction.

A table and chairs that are perfect for Brayden.

Once it is all done with the stain and varnish I will definitely put it up on the blog.

FLASHBACK to March 2008 building our desk:

He liked to help then too.

Note:

2009-01-18T17:20:00.000-08:00

One thing that drives me crazy about myself is that I can never just "Start" something, especially if it is in the middle of a time line. Scrap booking, journals, BLOGS. I just can't do it. I have to start from the beginning but the problem with it is that I can never catch up. So, I decided I am going to do both!

I will continue to catch up on the last year and a half (mostly for my own sanity... I have to do it like that) however, I am going to post recent things as well. Eventually I will change the dates and organize everything accordingly but, as of now, the blog will be out of order. I'm hoping I can do this with out it driving myself too crazy ( I can be very OCD sometimes).

So, I'm wishing myself luck on this task. We will see if I actually follow through and do it. :)

I hate Internet explorer!

2009-01-16T11:06:00.000-08:00

So, if you have Firefox you have the great pleasure of reading blogs the way they are suppose to be. No pictures are covering up text, no words spread out in weird places, it's the way that that the blog was written! Today I looked at my blog from an Internet Explorer page and was in shock to see how bad my blog looked. It did not make me happy. Everyone should switch their computers too Firefox. It's amazing and much more user friendly! Do it! You will not regret it! And never use Internet Explorer EVER again!!!!!!

Our New President...

2008-11-07T21:16:00.000-08:00

This is something EVERYONE needs to hear! No matter who you voted for!

This last election was the first election I have ever participated in. And although I consider myself part of a "3rd party", someone who has mixed views I definitely lean more towards the Republican Party and so this election I voted for John McCain. I have to say that there is a mojor concern that followed the news that Barack Obama was our new Commander in Chief! I heard it on the radio as I was driving and I immediately said a little prayer in my heart for the leaders and citizens of this country. The comfort came to me then and even more as I think of President Packers talk at our Stake Conference.

Ever since Tuesday, however, I was surprise to see how mean everyone had become. There are too many haters on both sides and I feel that it is something that will truly tear our nation apart. But yesterday I read something my friend put on facebook that I felt that it was very well written and something everyone (from both parties) needed to hear.

Here is what Bob Lonsberry, a Republican wrote concerning our new President. I hope we all can follow his advice.

"Barack Obama was not my choice, but he is my president. That is true of all Americans. For the last eight years, there has been an ongoing campaign of destruction meant to handicap and hobble the last president. I refuse to be part of an effort to do the same to the next president. Those who didn't vote for Barack Obama must set a higher standard of civility and citizenship than those who didn't vote for George W. Bush. In defeat, there must still be nobility.

"That doesn't mean silent servility. It doesn't mean differences and principles are ignored.

"But it does mean the new president gets a new chance. It means we all must pray for him and work with him to make our country stronger and safer and better.

"The last eight years have taught us what happens when you set out to destroy a presidency for political gain. You help your candidate, but you hurt your country. That pattern must not be followed with this new president. America must treat Barack Obama better than he treated George W. Bush."

Go to http://www.570knrs.com/pages/bobs_blog.html for all his thoughts.

The birth of a boy...

2007-07-28T10:31:00.000-07:00

Continuing on to when our beautiful baby Brayden was born.

It was a dark and stormy night.. Just kidding. It was stormy that night, but a good stormy :)

So on July 23rd, 2007 My water broke at 7 am and after I took a shower and ate some breakfast we headed down to the hospital super excited!

Labor took a little too long for my taste but we were in good moods despite it all. Rusty was such a trooper! He was just amazing through all of it. I was grateful to have him and my Mom there!

So after a day that seemed drag on forever we had a blessed little boy come into our lives.
Though his first few moments of life were a little scary. (Due to the cord being wrapped around his neck.) Things soon started to look up and I was so happy to have a beautiful baby boy!!

Brayden Riley Odom

born July 24, 2007 12:40 am
7lbs 7.6oz 19/20 inches long
(he was mis-measured so all of his documents say 19in. when he was actually 20)

Our first Family photo.

The proud Daddy.
Rusty is such an awesome Father. I couldn't ask for a better husband. At night he would get up and change Braydens diapers after I fed him...Rusty said it was only fair that he take that responsibility.

Brayden was so observant. As soon as he was born he was looking around at everything with wide, watchful eyes. He never cried until he had his first bath and that ended up being more than an hour after his birth.
(This picture of him just cracks me up!)

Look at Braydens wide eyes!
We finally have our little boy, I couldn't ask for more.

I was finally ready to take my baby home on Wednesday, July 25th.
Everything was ready for him and I was happy to be home.
(My delivery nurses were awesome! But after that, I was lucky to get out of the hospital with out shooting someone! Long story!)

He looked so cute in his car seat. Of coarse I sat in the back next to him on the way home... I loved having a little baby and surprised how natural it was to take care of him.

Sadly, we didn't have much time to just enjoy having a baby, we started packing up out home to move only a few days later...

Our second year...

2007-07-22T05:35:00.000-07:00

The second year of a marriage doesn't seem too eventful but as I started to write this blog I realized that a lot happened. Here's a "little" rundown of most of that second year:
(note: we had a terrible camera so a lot of the photos are blurry. sorry.)

We filmed. (see previous filming post) fall 2006

Despite the fact that I had graduated from the EAC Theatre program in that Spring of '05 Rusty and I were still a part of the happenings there.

We were in our last EAC Haunted house. Oct. 2006

I have to admit it looks pretty gruesome but it was a lot of fun.

(Note: the rest of the haunted house
wasn't nearly this bloody.
I'm not really sure why
we were assigned the
bloodiest area.
Maybe because Rusty is
really good at being creepy.
And just so you know, that fake
blood was really annoying!!
It was so sticky and I swear
it tore off several layers
of my skin!)

See, Rusty is scary looking.

We carved pumpkins together for the first time. Oct. 2006

It doesn't seem too eventful but for some reason we didn't do it our first year of marriage.

Our cool cat pumpkin.

We found out I was pregnant! Nov. 27, 2006

I kind of just new it but had it confirmed Thanksgiving weekend. After not being able to eat much at Thanksgiving I cam home to Thatcher and got the official answer that Monday. I surprised Rusty at work and told him the great news.

Despite Rusty looking scared out of his mind in this picture, he was really happy.
(Note: He just likes to make weird faces for photos, this is the first of many funny faces.)

My Best Friend graduated from College with her Bachelor's Degree. Dec. 14, 2006

Although this didn't happen to me, it still meant a lot. I have been friends with Allison since 5th grade and for her to graduate it just kind of struck me. To think that much time has gone by and that she has graduated and I was having a baby and it was a lot to take in at that time.
We had a great time celebrating with her down in Tucson. Here are some photos to prove it:

Dinner at Applebees.

Photos with with high school buddies

Photos with everyone.

Playing games at Allison's and Monica's apt.

We played this Disney Princess game which had us dance as part of the game...

(Note:I am trying to give Rusty a high-five and he left me 'hanging' This is not a photo of me slapping my husband.

A Special Christmas announcement. Dec. 24 & 25, 2006

We decided at Christmas we would announce my pregnancy since I was about a week away from being 3 months along. We decided to tell our folks by giving them a Christmas present that had a newborn diaper in it that read open. Inside we wrote: Hello Grandma and Grandpa with cocoa and had a miniature babyruth candy bar in it. Some might think that's a little gross, but we thought it hilarious and a great way to tell our folks.

Or parents reactions consisted of this:

My parents- I had convinced my mother to the extreme that I was NOT pregnant. She had been driving me crazy for the last several months saying that I would announce I was pregnant by Christmas and always asking me if I was. Seriously, whenever I talked to her on the phone and I mentioned being tired, or feeling sick or that I stubbed my toe she would insist that I was pregnant (which during those times I was not!) So, since she insited on pestering me on me being pregnant, when I was not, I decided to push it so far in the opposite direction of pregnancy. (I almost didn't announce it until the New Year since my Mom kept saying I would announce it during Christmas, but Rusty was saying I was being too prideful on not wanting my mother to be right so we announced at Christmas like she predicted.)

Anyways, when she finally opened the gift on Christmas Eve, she did NOT get it! I mean, she really didn't get it! We flat out said 3-4 times that I was almost 3 months along and she still didn't comprehend it. I guess I must have been very convincing on my non-pregnancy rants that it wasn't until my Aunt Debbie said, "Karen, She's pregnant!" That my mom got it... She started jumping up and down and crying and telling everyone the stories that had convinced her that I wasn't. It was really funny. My dad on the other hand caught on right away and just rolled his eyes and sighed. I knew he was happy, but I don't think he wanted to admit he was old enough to be a Grandpa.

Rusty's parents- They opened their gift on Christmas day. They were opening the gift together but Bob had it in his hand. He barely looked at the diaper (Blanche didn't see it at all) and he got this really happy surprised look on his face and started sprinting towards us to congratulate us. Blanche had no idea what was going on... we stopped him and told him to open it up and let mom see. They both started crying. I wasn't really expecting that since they already have grandkids (7 to be exact) but they were so happy that we were starting our family. I realized the big thing that made them so emotional. This is THEIR first real Grandchild together. They both had children from previous marriages but their only child together is Rusty. So although they have grandchildren from their other children our son is their first Grandchild from their only child together. So it was a special moment.

First Ultrasound. Jan. 4, 2007

This was one of the coolest things! He was facing forward and did a little wave then he started moving his little feet as fast as he could. The doctor even thought his little tap dance was funny. When he finished dancing he stopped and turned his back to us and that was it. He was done with his little show. :)
We could tell a lot from this first photo. 1. He looked like and alien and 2. He was going to have a butt chin like his daddy.

I saw my first snowfall... in Thatcher of all places! Jan. 21 & 22, 2007

I am a typical Arizona girl who had never seen a real snowfall. So January 21th, 2007 will be a memory I will never forget. I know that sounds so silly but it was great.

It was Sunday night and Rusty and I were up late, 11pm (as usual) and as we looked out the window we were shocked to see snow falling. We ran outside and tried to take it all in. The biggest surprise was that it wasn't melting as it hit the ground. It was actually sticking!

So we threw out the idea of going to bed although we had work in the morning and went for a walk.

We walked aimlessly up and down the streets, up the the EA campus and just enjoyed the cold, soft flakes!

We made our little snow family!

Including a baby and our friend Kacie and Joe (who were also playing in the snow) added a little dog.

We declined on an invitation to a snow ball fight (everyone was outside enjoying the snow) and decided to be responsible and go to bed. I mean it was 1 in the morning...

To our utter shock the next morning all the snow and more was there! And it was still snowing!

There was like 8-10 inches of snow. It was crazy. It was the most snow that Thatcher and Safford had had in over 50 years. So the whole town pretty much had a snow day.

I was able to leave work and hangout with some friends and enjoy the snow!

I didn't realize how blinding it would be with the bright sun and white snow!

Snow-Vader! That thing was huge! Seriously it was like 7 feet and I am NOT exaggerating!

I thought it was great! But by day two it was almost all gone. And by that Friday you wouldn't have known that there was snow at
all in the valley. :(

I performed my last show at Eastern Arizona College. GREASE. Jan. 24-27, 2007

This show was very stressful for me, but I am glad I did it. When I auditioned I was hoping to be in a different show (one that had night rehearsals) but somehow I was casted as Rizzo in Grease. The rehearsal time was way too long. (August to January, definitely too long) and all the rehearsal times were in the afternoon during the time I had work. I was able to work it out, despite the tense atmosphere at work. Although some days I had rehearsal for a whole 15 minutes and others I just missed completely.

Then I had to go and get pregnant in October. ( I was not the only one. The girl who played Sandy got pregnant a month before I did.) Luckily, My baby belly didn't show until I was about 7-8 months along. Sandy wasn't so lucky. When we performed in January no one could tell I was 4 months along. I had a lot of fun being such a sassy character and doing all the dances. I made some great friends in that show and am glad I was able to perform one last time on that stage.

The Pink Ladies getting ready for the dance.

My buddy Jason Studley and I aka Kenicke and Rizzo

Both families came to see the show.

It's a boy! Mar. 7, 2007

Rusty and I had a feeling that it would be a boy, I even had a dream the night before the ultrasound that he was a boy. However, when we had it confirmed we were ecstatic! We could not wait! He was our little boy!

Rusty pointing out that our baby is indeed a boy!

Super happy about having a little boy joining our family!

FINALLY showing! May 6, 2007

I was going crazy by the fact that no one knew I was pregnant. I now most people hated being prodded by people when they find out your pregnant but I kind of missed it. I worked at a Doctors office and wore scrubs most of the time so no one noticed. I just looked like I was overweight. But at about 7 months I started show!

7 1/2 months pregnant.

Family Vacation. May 18-22, 2007

So, most everyone knows that my parents divorced when I was 8 and remarried in January '05. Well, we decided to go on a family vacation. I can barely remember the last time I had gone on a vacation with my mom, dad and brother all in tow!!! The last vacation that I vaguely remember with all of us was when we drove to Missouri and saw Carthage jail and that was a long time ago. I think I was four at the time, and yes, I really do remember that far back.

Now, knowing it had been a long time I was a little nervous about making a trip to Seaworld with my Dad, Mom, Phillip, Rusty and my 8 month pregnant self. Whew. To my surprise, it didn't go anything like the family outings I remembered as a child. We had a lot of fun to say the least and I'm glad we were able to spend that time as a family!

The family at Sea World. My Uncle John, my mom's brother, joined us for the day.

Me and my hubby.

Seaworld is a dangerous place!

I was attacked by a giant starfish and Rusty was malled by a Polar Bear. There needs to be a warning posted somewhere...

We were also to go through a session at the San Diego Temple. It was such a great experience! Such a beautiful temple!

The family at the San Diego Temple

Baby Showers.

I am lucky enough to have a lot of friends and family who look after me. I was able to have a baby shower down in Thatcher with all my 'college' friends, a small on with my in-laws and then with my immediate family and friends from the valley. With all their powers combined I was able to get ready for the baby. Cute little outfits, blankets and tons of diapers and baby cleaning supplies. Sadly I am just as bad at Thank you cards as I am with writing blogs... except worse. I still have a stack of half written thank you notes and finished ones that were never sent out. It also explains why I can't do Christmas Cards. :) So to anyone who didn't get a thank you... THANK YOU!

My Pregnant self at the Thatcher baby shower.

With the wonderful gifts.
I was pretty excited! If you couldn't tell...At the Glendale baby shower, 3 weeks before my due date, with my dear High school friends.

Decisions and Changes!

So there were a lot of things that weighed on our minds that second year. On was the baby, obviously, and the other was moving. During this time Rusty and I were both working our butts off. Rusty had taken a second job and there was the question that they might be letting Rusty go at the radio station since they were having money troubles. Prices in Thatcher had gone up with a Phelps Dodge mine about to open. We were worried what to do when our rent went up and Rusty almost out of a job and I finished working at the end of June.

We did a lot of praying and Rusty had interviews with the University of Phoenix (all in which he had to drive to Phx, twice, around my due date, talk about stressful). Once we knew Rusty got the job we didn't know what were were going to do. We didn't have the money to rent a new place and we really wanted to buy so we weren't throwing our money away. So we decided to stay at Rusty folks house since they had plenty of room for us. Just until we got settled, saved some money, and found a place. It wasn't exactly what I really wanted to do but I knew it was best for our family at the time.

The big thing now was the waiting game. When was the baby going to come? When were we going to move? And I refused to pack before He came. I didn't want my baby coming into a disorganized home.

We got everything ready for him.

I cleaned everything at least 6 times and we got his crib all ready for him.

The waiting was making us exhausted.
(I love this picture of Rusty passed out on the bed.)

His due date was July 18, 2007 however, every bit of me was praying he would come a little early (like July 8th- not too early but early enough). I really wanted time with just US. Rusty, me and my Baby. HE had other plans.

Filming...

2006-12-31T14:00:00.000-08:00

In 2006 we filmed to short films for Karma Creek Pictures.
http://www.karmacreek.com

This is our first time getting to use our new equipment including two XL2's (pictured left- Rusty is definitely happy we don't have to use Wal-mart cameras any more.)

The first film is a thriller entitled "Nonsense" in July of 2006. My Parents were gracious enough to let us crash there home for a weekend in which we spent every moment filming and very little time sleeping. Here are some behind the scene photos for everyone to enjoy.

Richard setting the cameras

Brian and I getting "into character".

Jared (aka Patrick Hidalgo) Talking to Richard about the lighting.

Jared working the crane.
(ok so that's not what it's technically called but whatever.)

A still photo from the final product!

I am super proud of Rusty and all that he has a accomplished. I am glad the we have something we can work on together and if it is meant to be Rusty will reach is goal of being a film director!

Right: Me and my hubby on set.

The next film we shot was in the Fall of 2006 down in Good ol' Thatcher Arizona with the help of many Theatre students who volunteered their late nights after rehearsal and shows to film a spoof comedy entitled "This Old Monster Tango". And now more production photos :)

So I have a lot more photos than I thought I did for this film and I had a really hard time deciding which photos to post.

Jeff as Dracula

Heath as Jason

Me "Assitant Directoring" Josh.

It never rains in Arizona except on days you don't want it too!

Super cool shot of the Director and my super hot Husband Rustin L. Odom.

Derek and Jace
silly as usual.

Me and Big D hanging out

old school

Not sure what
Derek and Studley
are up to in this photo...

Jason just would

not stop eating
the props!

Kacie Bowe

showing off
her mad cord wrapping
skills.

Jonathan sporting
the old Tally Ho's
shirt from our first full
length movie "Pizza Men"

Showing the Love

I don't think Rusty was a fan of the black lipstick.

I personally think I should wear it every day ;)

Ahhh, cold fake blood about to be
sprayed all over Deva.

And it wouldn't be a good movie with out
great stunt men like Tony here.

Just watch him in action!

He's hardcore!

I did a few stunts myself!

Super cool shot of Johnny Pants!

Jymie ready to
kick some serious
monster trash...

After she eats
her blue mash
potatoes of course.

Lounging around
waiting for the
next shot...

the late nights
were really
getting to us.

It was hard keeping our energy up for the
last shoot,in the desert, when it was
really cold and 3:00 in the morning.

But we managed it
and finally finished!

Look how pretty Rusty looks!

Well, that was definitely a lot more than I expected to put on this entry but it was really fun reliving some of those memories.

Our first year...

2006-08-08T15:50:00.000-07:00

The first year went by really quickly. I can't say that anything too exciting happened that year except that we had a lot of fun with each other. Sure there were some rough days as we got use to each others little habits, but what marriage doesn't. here are some fun photos from our first year of marriage.

(we don't have many photos of the first year "computer ready" since we didn't have a digital camera.)

At the Arizona Renaissance festival March 2006

We had the opportunity to go to
Disneyland with Rusty's family
in March 2006.

We had a blast! It was my first time going to both parks with a three day pass. It was nice not having to fit it all in one day!

(on the left: Derek, Me and Tiffany
below: The Odom Family waiting for the parade to start.)

During the Spring and Summer of 2006 we were able to promote one of the films that we had been working on for the past couple of years, "Pizza Men". It wasn't the greatest movie but it was our first full-length movie that we learned A LOT from. We premiered it in Thatcher, Arizona in the Eastern Arizona College Auditorium and sold about 100 DVDs of the film. The community was really supportive and we were able to have some coverage my the local newspaper.

We then showed the film at a movie theater in Show Low, Arizona. Here we had the participation of the local radio station (Rusty worked at a station in Safford and this was their brother station).

We were able to get a good amount of people out to the showing, plus Papa John's donated Pizzas to everyone who came out and saw the movie... who wouldn't want pizza and a movie? Our last destination for showing the film was Wilcox, Arizona. Not bad for our first film, but thankfully our movies got better...

Our first year of marriage went by very quickly, but it was wonderful!

Here is us out by my Dad's work when we were looking for locations to shoot another film.

And look.
One of my favorite pictures of my parents.

Aren't they cute?

And we reached the end of our first year of marriage together.

Closing off a year of marriage with a slice from the top of our wedding cake and a lot of milk to wash it down with.

Let's start at the very begining, a very good place to start...

2005-08-08T13:40:00.000-07:00

In September 2003 Olivia M. Leavitt met a young man by the name of Rustin L. Odom. They became acquaintances and Olivia was even able to attend Rusty's baptism into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Oct. 25, 2003.

Little did either of them know that they would become more than just friends. By Fall of 2004, they were now neighbors and were working together on film projects for Rusty's film company Karma Creek Pictures. During this time they started dating and things just fell into place.

On May 13, 2005 Olivia graduated from Eastern Arizona College with her Associates in Theatre & Cinematic Arts.

But there was even better news because it was that night that Rusty proposed to Olivia in the most perfect way imaginable!

This is the video Rusty showed when he proposed in the EA Fine Arts Auditorium. It's really difficult to read the poem he wrote, but trust me, it's really sweet. He then took me up on stage and proposed in front of all our friends and family.
(Rusty said he would fix the video quality but I didn't want to wait)

So, despite Olivia saying she would never get married in the Summer, she was Sealed to the Love of her life for all time and Eternity on August 6, 2005 in the Mesa Arizona Temple.

Definitely one of the best days of her life!

To be with the greatest guy and to get to start a family with him!

More to come and I promise to stop talking in third person!
Until then...

Just starting.

2005-07-20T10:20:00.000-07:00

So, I saw that all the family had a blog and I felt a little left out. Therefore, I am starting my own. It has been a while since we have talked to everyone and thought we could use some catching up. My first few blogs will most likely be a "catch-up" on the past year. It will be mostly pictures, since that can speak more than words. I am still trying to figure out how this all works and how to be connected to the whole family... I saw the Bruce and Velate Leavitt family page and I was like, "What about us? How do we get on there?". It may be a while before I get it all caught up but I really don't have a life so it's okay! :) So yeah!! wish me luck!