First trip to the ER

Well, we had an eventful evening last night. We took Clara to the Emergency Room! Here's what happened:

Clara loves to climb things. She is all over chairs, couches, and pretty much anything higher than the floor. On Wednesday Clara was sitting in a chair drinking out of a cup. She was finishing some pineapple juice which she'd really enjoyed. So in her efforts to get every last drop, she tipped her head back so far that she lost her balance and fell off the side of the chair. (That caused the big goose egg in the front of her forehead.) She was fussy for maybe an hour and then she was back to her normal self. No eye dialation, vomiting, nothing. Then yesterday Clara finished her breakfast and stood up in her little booster seat. Next thing I know she falls backward over the top of the chair and smacks the back of her head pretty good on the tile. I knew this one was way worse because it took her much longer to recover and she was fussy for most of the day.

Joe had a basketball game last night so I took Clara over so we could watch. She was seeming a little more normal at the game, so I thought maybe things were looking up. After the game she started to whimper and moan, and then she would sit in a chair almost unresponsive just looking off into space. We put her to bed, but I was really worried something else was going on. I called a nurse, told her what was going on and she recommended we rush her over to the ER.

We were in pretty quickly and the doctor said that with the two bonks in 24 hours he would recommend an MRI.

Poor Clara hated that thing! They strapped her down so she wouldn't move. Thankfully Joe could be in there with her, but she was still screaming her lungs out.

Results of the MRI showed that Clara has a skull fracture. Guess we will have to train her to stop climbing things. She's been such a good girl, but my nerves are still on edge trying to watch her like a hawk.

Special Tricks and Announcements

So I am updating my blog per my mother's request. My family has been here in Utah since June. I kept blogging up for a while after they got here, but then kind of tapered off, because let's face it (no offense to anyone else out there, especially those who have the stamina to update their blogs regularly) pretty much the only reason I had maintained it before then was because I wanted them to have a way to know what was going on with our family.

Occasionally my mom will ask, "Have you updated the blog yet?" I say "no" and the coversation ends. Today however, when she asked and I gave my usual answer she responded with, "Jennifer Lynne, do I have to move back to New Jersey just to get regular updates on the blog?" I was flabberghasted. I honestly didn't even know what to say because I hadn't realized she'd enjoyed them so much. So here I am.

So how is life? Busy and wonderful.

I can tell you that since September I have been working full time from home as the Director of Curriculum Development and Training Supervisor for Eleutian Technology. It's a pretty fancy title for just saying I develop all their training materials and manage a team of trainers. Working is fine. I don't love it with all my heart, but it is a good job, pays well, and we get great benefits from it, so for now it is meeting our needs.

I am still the Primary President in our ward, which can be very exhausting at times, but I know that the Lord is blessing our family. I learn things in Primary that help me be a better mom. I learn things in Primary that help me be a better me. There is something so pure about the testimony of a child, which really brings to you back to the basic doctrines of the Church. The doctrines are so simple and when they are simplified, they help build and solidify a testimony. I have amazing, wonderful counselors really magnify their callings. That has made everything easier.

Joe graduated from UVU with his degree in Psychology in December! We were so excited! He'd worked so hard and got great grades. Grad school might still be in the works but we are still trying to decide if that would be the right thing. We want to make sure it would be a good long term investment (the reason we aren't quite sure yet is because he's not really sure he wants to be doing therapy). So for the time being he is still working for his dad, which has been a good job for him.

Clara had her first day in Nursery today! She turned 18 months yesterday. I was a little nervous about how things would go, but when I carried her in there, she jumped down from my arms, ran straigh over to the group of kids and started playing with toys. She didn't even look back to make sure we stuck around. She was a champ! That little girl loves her independence. Quite honestly, I think she thinks she's an adult.

She does several new tricks that make us, the goofy parents, glow with pride.

She finally blows kisses! (That may not sound like a big deal to anyone else, but we've been trying to get her to do it for almost a year and she never quite got it. Now, she does it full out--kissing her hand twice and throwing out her fully extended arm with a big cheesy grin. I love it!)

Her favorite words are Jesus, cheese, shoes, baby, and up. She understands everything we say, but she's been a little more stubborn about actually saying words. Instead of saying yes or no she just vigorously shakes or nods her head. Usually she just points to what she wants and jabbers. Then when you verify what she wants she emphatically nods her head and grins.

She can make the following animal sounds: monkey (my personal favorite), lion, dog, kitty, and cow. We are working on sheep, bear, and bird, but usually she just makes the same high pitched whine for all three.

She has learned to frown, do a cheeser, a surprised face, and throw her head back in boistrous laughter on command.

She and Joe are the fastest wheelbarrow team any other kid 4 and under could compete with. She is a strong little thing. She got it from her 10-pound-baby father who was walking by 10 months old.

I am continually amazed by this little girl. For example, tonight she was carrying around one of her favorite books. She was a little bit hyper and was running around the living room, when I said, "Okay Clara, it's time to go to bed. Let's go read scriptures." She immediately dropped her favorite book, went sprinting for her room, and when I picked up the Book of Mormon reader, she settled into my lap and sat entranced for an entire chapter. At 18 months my daughter is teaching me what it means to really "hunger and thirst" for righteousness. Being a mother is such a blessing.

Well, if you've lasted this long, you now deserve to hear our big annoucement. We are adding another baby to our family! We are so excited! I am about 13 weeks now. Clara and the baby will be almost exactly two years apart. Clara turns 2 on the 15th of July, and I am due the 23rd. Should be a pretty exciting summer! We couldn't be more happy. There is a very special spirit that a baby brings to your home. Clara still has that special spirit, but it's changed a little as she's grown.

Well I'm exhausted, so I am going to bed, but hopefully the post will do for now. Here are some pictures as well.

Filling Papa's boots

Wearing Mama's Hat

Halloween! Little Red Riding Hood

13 weeks pregnant!

Clara's Bird Bath

My parents have this little stone bird bath in their backyard. Clara loves to splash in it. Whenever my mom goes out to water her flowers, Clara goes with her. My mom fills it up for her and inevitably she comes back in soaking wet.





The other thing she loves to do at Grandma and Grandpa Smalley's house is climb up and down the stairs. She has this little routine where she climbs up, sits at the top for a few seconds and then she wants to climb back down and start the whole thing over again.







So cute. She is so full of personality. She is such a blessing.

doTERRA Essential Oils

I use essential oils because, after having a baby, I became very wary of not only the costs of medications, but the contents as well. Even though synthetic medications are FDA approved, I was still feeling a little concerned about them. The thing that I love about essential oils is that they are all natural and very effective. I don't believe that they are a replacement for doctors or all medications. However, Joe and I have made an agreement. Whenever we get sick we will try the oils first. If those don't work, then we will go to the doctor and, if necessary, turn to other medications the doctors prescribe.

Essential oils are taken straight from plants. Oils have a potency that has incredible healing capabilities, if they are completely pure. I distribute for doTERRA Essential Oils because they are the only brand out there that takes "Theraputic Grade" one step further to CPTG or Certified Pure Theraputic Grade. To read more about essential oils and how CPTG differs from Theraputic Grade click here.

For those of you that know Joe, you've probably seen him get at least one or two migranes. He gets them often, and when he does, they can wipe him out for days at a time. He can't eat, sleep, stand noise, or light; they are awful. DoTERRA has an essential oil blend that they call PastTense. It is for tension, and tension headaches. In the blend there is lavendar, peppermint, frankincense, cilantro, marjoram, roman chamomile, basil, and rosemary. It is $18. I figured it would be worth a try because we spend that much on Excedrine for him anyway. The other day when I was at my mom's, Joe was supposed to come and meet us up there after he got off work. Then I got a call from him telling me he had a migrane. "Perfect," I thought, "now I won't see him for the rest of the night." So, I told him to try the PastTense and then lay down and sleep it off. One hour later, Joe called me and told me his migrane was gone and that he was headed up. I was thrilled! He had never been able to get rid of one that fast.

I don't believe the oils have magical voodoo powers, but they are extremely effective, and I feel good about using them on my family. I have had personal experiences with the oils that have convinced me that they are good, wonderful tools for health and wellness.

If you are interested in using essential oils for you or your family, let me know, and I will be happy to help in any way that I can. I will sell them to you at wholesale price (which is 25% below retail).

My doTERRA website is: http://www.doterra.myvoffice.com/jellis/. Take a look if you like.

Why Clara's hair's styled like the latest boy band

Clara's hair is just long enough to the point that I can do actual hairdos now and I love it! She looks so adorable when her hair is done. The problem is that whenever we get in the car to go somewhere she pulls out the bow and the hair tie. It kills me! Any suggestions to keep her hands out of her hair?


This is what it is supposed to look like.

One of my favorite faces

Clara has two new favorite things: Buckets and Spoons. This is how she carries her new favorite toys. Another thing she really likes is fruit snacks. She likes it best when I put all her fruit snacks in the bucket, so she can see how many she has and pull them out one by one.
Clara also said her first word a few weeks ago. I came home from work, picked her up and she looked at me pointed at my eyes and said, "Eyes!" We were so thrilled. Now she can say, "nose," "yes," "no," of course "mama," and "papa," and we are working hard on "please." So fun! Love it!

It's about time for an update!

I know it has been forever! I apologize. This will be a doozy of an entry.

Joe and I celebrated our third anniversary on the 8th of August. Wow, it goes by fast! So after three years of marriage, Joe is finishing his last semester of school in December (wahoo!), our baby girl turned 1 on the 15th of July, and we are blessed in so many different ways. Joe is the ward mission leader for our ward (he had the same calling in the Singles Ward when we were dating as well). I am the Primary President. Between being a mom, a wife, having a job, and trying to fulfill my calling, I have stayed pretty busy. I like being busy though. It keeps me focused and gives me less time to waste doing idle, unimportant things.

In short, the month of June was a little bit of insanity. My manager at Eleutian left for the month of June to go to France (who does that? Especially to France…). He was chosen as the director of the French Study Abroad program at UVU. So he went. Guess who they chose to be in charge while he was gone? Yep, that’d be me. Not quite sure why, but they chose me. We had three of our largest accounts starting that month and there were lots of issues that needed to be taken care of. So basically from May 29th to July 2nd I felt like I was running around with my head cut off, my husband turned into Mr. Mom, and my little girl was forgetting who I was. I was working 12-14 hours a day, getting about three hours of sleep a night, the house was a mess, the Primary got 15 new kids and we lost a few teachers (gah!), so, (needless to say) I was feeling a little frazzled. It was the craziest month I’ve had in a really long time. Then, when my manager came back, when I started getting sleep again, and when we took a badly needed vacation to California for the Smalley Family Reunion, things started returning to normal.

The Smalley Family Reunion was a lot of fun. I am so glad that we went. Grandma Smalley was just thrilled to see Clara again. It is weird when you start seeing all your cousins as adults. It still feels like we are all kids really. Some things haven’t changed too much though. Bear Lake was also on the agenda. We didn't go at all last year because I was pregnant. So Joe was thrilled to be there!

We also had a bit of a scare at the beginning of July. I had worked from 4-8am one morning, and so while I was trying to get a little extra sleep Joe fed Clara breakfast. I woke up to the sound of her screaming hysterically. Joe fed her some bread and scrambled eggs. Shortly thereafter she’d thrown up her entire breakfast and was writhing around in pain. After about a minute, her little body went totally limp, her face and lips when sheet white and her whole body got cold and clammy. Then after a couple minutes of that she’d start screaming again. This went on and on for about 30 minutes and I was ready to take her to the ER. Joe and his dad gave her a blessing and then we took her to the doctor. By the time we got to the doctor’s office, she started responding to me and by the time she saw the doctor she was fine. The doctor told us that she’d probably gone into anaphylactic shock (an allergy similar to what happens to people who are allergic to peanuts) because of the eggs Joe had fed her. So we are taking her to see a pediatric allergist to check and see if that is really what happened and also to see if she is allergic to anything else. So for the time being we are keeping Clara away from eggs. Fun stuff!

You know, I think that in the past I’ve felt scared; but I really can’t compare that to the fear that I felt as I was holding Clara, feeling totally helpless, and just wishing I could take her pain away. Being a parent has added so many different levels to my feelings and understanding of the Atonement. It amazes me how well thought out the plan of salvation/plan of happiness really is. We experience relationships from so many different angles. In the parent/child relationship we first get to be the needy partner, the child, the one who receives. Then we take a step and get to be on the other side, the parent, the one who has to give everything willingly. Then he takes it even a step further and lets us observe that relationship on another level as a grandparent, as we try to teach/coach both our children and grandchildren how to make those roles work. I honestly believe that the family is the fundamental unit of the Gospel, central to Heavenly Father’s plan, because that dynamic helps us to learn more about Him and help us to be like Him; to act as he would act in that parental role.

This sounds silly, but I had a scripture make so much more sense to me after Clara’s birthday. That scripture in Matthew 7:9-11 says:
9 …what man is there of you, whom if his son ask abread, will he give him a stone?
10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
11 If ye then, abeing evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

It sounds very silly, but in a small, simple way I have understood a tiny part of how Heavenly Father probably feels toward each one of us. There were so many things I wanted to do for Clara’s birthday; so many things I wish I could’ve given her and done for her. But instead of spoiling her rotten, I decided to give her the gifts that would help her the most developmentally. They probably weren’t the most stellar gifts, but I know they are the ones she needed the most. Which, brings us to Clara’s party…it was so fun!

Other news is that my mom and dad, along with Joey, Erinn, and Spencer moved out here mid-June. They closed on a house in Herriman (about 20-30 minutes from us) July 1st, and moved in shortly after Clara’s birthday (it needed a lot of work!). We are so glad to have them out here. It is weird but awesome to be able to see them whenever I want. Shannon and Travis are living in Sandy now, so all of us live within 20-30 minutes of one another. It is pretty cool. We all really miss McKay though. He has been on his mission since March. It was really tough on him in the beginning, but it is so much fun to see him growing as a missionary. He is a wonderful Elder.

Well that's about it for now! Congrats on surviving through all of that!