Baby, Baby

My Little boy is three months old! Where does the time go, and for that matter, why has my belly not disappeared with the time?! Usually I am back to normal by now, but alas, I still have a way to go. But this is not about me, this is about my boy. I just love him so much. I was so scared to have boy because I don' t know, the fear was irrational, but it was there nonetheless. But I am completely in love with this sweet little boy. He is calm and sweet and happy and a true blessing to our lives. The girls are great with him and it is so sweet to watch them interact. He still has a hundred different names: Bubba, Dada (don't know why), brother, Kai, Malachi, etc. He'll either answer to everything or nothing.
In other news, we only get to have our little tiny tree this Christmas. Kai seems to think this is funny. Personally, I think he planned it to work out this way, us being treeless I mean. He wasn't really excited about getting a tree so he kept putting it off every time we had plans to go. Well, I finally decided that I might have to take matters into my own hands so, I packed the kids into the car Monday morning and headed on down to the local Walmart. There were no trees left. None. Zip. Zilch. Zero. I knew we were late but I thought we would at least be able to find a Charlie Brown tree. You know, ugly, sparse, wilted, something. But the only thing left were holiday wreaths. You guessed it, no other place to go in this small town. I could drive 76 miles to Vegas to look. or 36 to St. George, but quite frankly it was hard enough to pack the kids in the car to go to Walmart. I told Kai when he came home tonight that Cambria was really sad that we didn't have a real tree (me too)and he laughed. This was a confirmation of his designing this plot. No tree (or rather, a small tree) for Christmas. I guess I should embrace the Holiday Spirit and be grateful.

Still in other news, we had a security system installed tonight. It was an LDS couple who had spent some time in Hawaii that sold it to us. Cambria fell in love with the young girl and kept inviting her to dinner and asking her to come play in her room. I kept trying to explain to her that they weren't really friends, just salesmen. The funniest part though was when the couple left and the installation crew came to the door. I let them in and they were carrying power drills and other equipment. As the were entering our house Cambria took note and said to me quite non chalantly, "hmmmm, I hope they don't kill us." Ahhh, to live in her mind just for a short while . . .

Tiny Dancers and Planters

It scares me to think that next year I will be on a schedule. That I will actually have to get somewhere everyday at a time that someone besides myself has scheduled. I am talking about kindergarten. Maybe I can chalk my crazy antics up to sleep deprivation, but how long can I use that excuse. My girl's had a dance recital at 6pm on Friday. Or so I thought. I had them ready by 4:30 and gave myself the rest of the time to nurse my baby and get myself ready. I thought I would have plenty of time and show up early, maybe help the teacher get things in place, Get my girls used to the stage, etc. Well I get a phone call from my friend at 5:07. She says, " Where are you? How come you aren't at the recital." I instantly go into a panic as she tells me that it started at 5pm not 6pm. CRAP! "Get your shoes on, get in the car NOW!" Luckily we live two minutes away from the rec center where the recital was being held. But I had to call all the people we invited to tell them about the change. It really sucked and luckily everyone made it except one of our family members. WE were so sad that Amanda missed it.

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We love watching our little ones dance! I think Cambria also picked her nose while she was up there. I didn't get very many pictures of the actual dance because I was too busy cam cording. Kai was meeting me there and I don't know where he ended up sitting. I am sad to say I didn't get any pictures of Kiera, only video and I had to crawl half way across the floor to get the shot because someone stood in front of me at the last second and cut off the only good angle I had. Cambria had a great time and Kiera did so good for her first dance! after their teacher gave them candy canes being climbed by gummy elves.

After the recital, Maama and Papa took us out to eat at Los Lupes, one of the tasty little Mexican food places by our house. Koko and Kim ( Kai's brother and his wife,who did make it to the recital) are visiting from Kansas. They got to come to the recital last year too. We really miss these guys.
That is our baby, not theirs:) Finally to the planting. This is one thing that I love doing with my kids that hasn't been done for along time. They love to help me in the garden. We always plant a little ornamental cabbage for some color during the winter. I think it makes them feel grown up. Its not exciting, but it creates memories.

Hacker for Christmas

Here's the story. Kai answered an email that said it was from Yahoo titled "warning, verify your account." The message explained that accounts that were not being used would be closed and to verify information on your account if it was active. Kai them "verified" our account giving them a lot of personal information, all the information they would need to access our email. This was a few days prior to the scandalous email that your received. The hacker sent a false mass email to every contact that we had and then erased every single email address we had. No one else should be in jeopardy of identity theft through our mail. We have changed all our passwords on all of our accounts and filed police reports. My cousin Candi is the one who left the previous post on my blog because I couldn't get onto the Internet. Thanks Candi!

So onto more festive holiday events . . .
I went a little crazy on the pictures, but I couldn't resist. I am feeling very in love with my family. This is Kai and Cambria getting ready for an attempt at a family photo for Christmas cards. Has anyone noticed that the same tree is in the background every year?

How happy is Kai to have a son, very! Isn't this a cute little photo? Baby Kai is getting so big. He is three months old now and is mostly referred to as "bubba" or "brother." He is the easiest smiling baby I have ever met. He is such a good baby and thankfully a good sleeper.


Ever since I can remember Christmas caroling has been my favorite holiday tradition. Every year we go with family and friends to sing to elderly people in my grandma's home ward. It is always done on the Monday before Christmas. Our group usually totals around 3o people and my mom plays the guitar for accompaniment and we take bells to jingle. It has been so fun including my own family in this tradition. Since we weren't going to make it to California in time this year, we tried doing a "mesquite" version for FHE. We went with one other family, no music and no bells. We only sang at two houses. We had a great time. Especially the kids, but the first house we sang at (good friends of ours) They actually said "don't quit your day job guys!" when we were done singing! We were pretty off key but we were much better at the next house. After we had hot chocolate and cookies at our house.

Last week I wrote a post that mentioned Cambria was sick. She was throwing up so we got her a bucket to hold "just in case". I don't think she got the idea. Kiera is sick this week and I hope the baby doesn't get it. She fell asleep like this and I thought it wa so cute.


So here are a few conversations that have been had this month:

Kiera: Mom, can we write our letters to Chuck E. Cheese now?

Me: Chuck E. Cheese? Don't you mean Santa Claus?

Kiera: Oh, yes mom, I mean Santa

Cambria: I want a tree as tall as Uncle Caca because I love Uncle Caca. Isn't he a great brudder?!

Kiear's second, much braver meeting with Santa: "I want a pet shop, a microphone and a phone. I'm on the nice list!"

Cambria telling Gigi: I sat on Santa's lap today and I really don't want to do it again." (in a sing song voice)

Kiera reciting Kai's line and someone else's in our ward Christmas play (as she looks at herself in the mirror)

Kiera doing Kai's line: How dare you, my wife just had a baby!

Kiera doing constable's line: I'm sorry, I'm just doing my job.

Its been pretty funny around here.

e-mail From a FRAUD!!!

Just Letting everyone know that the e-mail you may have received about Kai being stuck in AFERICA IS NOT REAL!!! It was not sent by us. Someone has hacked into our account and sent a mass e-mail saying he needs $2500. PLEASE DO NOT RESPOND!! The REAL kai is home safe sound! Do NOT send money!

Tis the season!

I am still hoping to get Christmas cards out this year and I need all my long lost friends addresses. You can send them to kaidavis12@yahoo.com if you don't feel comfortable leaving them on this site.

Thank you!

Malachi's Special Day

It is so hard to find a picture that really shows how cute this baby is. He hates camera flashes and he always wants to have his hands by his face. Because of this many pictures don't turn out. So his eyes look a little funny in this, but I just love him anyway.
This boy has sister who really, really, really love him. I have a feeling that they are going to be very protective.

I was both supremely pleased and slightly disappointed with this event. Pleased because it was beautiful, disappointed because I hardly have any pictures of it. The family left so quickly after, I didn't have time.

Kai gave the most beautiful blessing I have ever heard. It sounded like he had written it all down and was reading this wonderful message that he had prepared. He told Malachi that he blessed him to live up to his name because it is a name of strength. Malachi was God's messenger in the bible and that it would be his duty also to proclaim the gospel. He said that his Hawaiian name, Ho'okele, means navigator. He said that in times of trial or obstacles that he wanted Malachi to navigate his life like the ancient Hawaiians navigated their ships, looking towards the heavens for guidance.

I am just paraphrasing here. I wish they recorded baby blessings like they do patriarchal blessings. Of course there was more too it, I wish you all could have been there.

At the end of the blessing, Kiera said. I want to be blessed now. I explained to her that we blessed her the same way when she was a baby. She said, "No! I want to be blessed right now so I can see Heavenly Father!" Then in a sing song voice she said, Its my turn, its my turn!"

These are the people we shared our special day with: My mom and Dad, Sean, Ryan, Kai's mom and Dad, Ben, Amanda, My aunt Lisa, Marina, Teague, Corin, Uncle Jeff, Aunt Carla, Jordan, Amanda, Matt, and our friends the Warren's Kennedy's and Beth and Igor.

Thank you for being there for us. It really meant a lot.

I've been tagged

My friend, Cheryl, tagged me. So it's my turn now, here goes:

5 things I was doing 10 years ago:
1. Living in Hale 3 on the BYUH Campus in 209 E
2. Going to Temple or Hukilau beach everyday with my roommate Sonia.
3. Just started dating this hot guy who later became my husband
4. Teaching Relief Society in the BYUH 8th ward
5. Surfing in Waikiki almost every weekend
(seems like another lifetime ago)

5 things on my to-do list today:
(It has changed a bit since Cambria woke up vomiting)
New to-do list includes:
1. Caring for a sick child
2. Keeping the other two healthy kids away from sick kid.
3. Wash all bedding and pillow that sick kid touched
4. Spend some time on the treadmill
5. Fold lots of laundry
( we were supposed to go see Santa and attend a Salt City candle party)

5 snacks I enjoy:
1. Kroger deluxe Vanilla ice cream with 2.5 grams of fat.
2. Graham crackers and milk
3. Bagel with strawberry cream cheese
4. Quaker Mini delights chocolate drizzle multi grain rice cakes
5. Chocolate milk

5 things I would do If I were a Billionaire:
1. Donate lots of money to finding a vaccination for strep throat. We get it WAY too much.
2. Buy a house in Hawaii, Spain and Italy and travel everywhere in between.
3. Buy a boat, horses and four wheelers. Maybe a ranch to put the horses on:)
4. Put money in a family fund for any of my relatives to draw on for college or missions
5. Buy computers for the surrounding schools or bring in cool programs (like educational assembly programs) for the kids.

5 bad habits:
1. When I clean the lint out of the laundry I set in on top of the machine instead of throwing it into the trash can that is close by. I don't know why.
2. I watch too much TV at night instead of getting work done. or
3. If I am reading a book that I am really into, NOTHING gets done until I finish the book (luckily I am a fast reader.)
4. I don't get ready for the day until I am forced to go somewhere. This is partly because I am still fat from being pregnant and I don't really have any clothes to wear.
5. I have a hard time letting things go if i get upset about something or my feelings get hurt.

5 places that I have lived:
1. Whittier, CA
2. La Habra, CA
3. Laie, HI
4. Halawa Hts, HI.
5. Mesquite, NV

5 Jobs that I have Had:
1. Chiropractic Assistant ( i did the massages)
2. Worked at the Library for Education majors designing educational pamphlets
3. Subway Sand which Artist
4. Career Development Assistant at BYUH (I did everything from writing resumes, to convincing companies to post their jobs at our school.
5. Sped Teacher

5 thing that you may not know about me:
1. I was MVP of my school swim team 4 years in a row and MVP of my high school soccer team senior year.
2. I wish I could dance ballroom on Dancing With the Stars.
3. I play the guitar and compose music (poorly)
4. I have written a few children's books for my kids
5. I sell Mary Kay and just started a vinyl business with two friends

That is it for me! Now I tag have to tag 5 people and contact them on their blog!
So I tag Shauna, Dani, Marjie, Sunnie and Nicole!

Over the Hill

Happy Birthday Kai! Baby Kai is making a face because he can't believe his ol' man is 30! Although the numbers don't lie, he was helping a family move into our ward a few weeks ago and the dad asked him if he went to the local high school . . . you know as a student! Gotta bottle that beauty secret! We celebrated his special day last weekend with a softball game with his brothers and tonight he had to work, so I brought donuts to him and his class! Everyone sang happy birthday to him and it was very cute. The girls however, are wondering why he gets to have two birthdays.
My cousin did something that I thought was cute for her husband's birthday and I thought I would copy her.

Here are 30 facts that you may or may not know about my husband:

1. He was born in Northern Idaho, Couer D' Alene, to be exact on December 4th, 1977.
He lived there all his life until he went to BYUH for college.

2. His full name is Joshua Maikai'i Davis. He didn't start to go by Kai until he had 3 college roommates who were also named Josh.

3. He was a spelling bee champion in elementary school and a natural athlete. He was very competitive in all sports.

4. He loved Basketball in High school and carried a ball around with him night and day. In college he got a scholarship to run cross country, made the basketball team and then was unfortunately cut three days after ordering his uniform and shoes. After he came home from his mission, the basketball coach approached him and told him he was so sorry he ever cut him and wished that he would have kept him on the team. (Thanks a lot coach, that really makes a guy feel better!:()

5. He is 1/4 Hawaiian and is number 4 of 10 boys.

6. Out of his 10 brothers, he and the youngest are the only ones with light eyes and hair that is not black.

7. Until number 10, Michael, was born, they used to tease Kai and tell him that he was adopted. Ever since the movie "Cheaper by the Dozen" came out, his brothers refer to him as "FEDEX."

8. He served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the Country of Panama. He learned to speak Spanish fluently; a skill that serves him well to this day.

9. In his first months out on his mission when his Spanish was still poor, he and his companion ordered ice cream. He ordered a cerveza (beer) ice cream instead of a cereza (cherry) ice cream, and felt a little foolish.

10. He almost dropped out of college after his first semester, until he met a really cute girl who made him want to stay (it was me).

11. Our first date was surfing in Waikiki. My mom thinks its funny that an Idaho boy taught her California daughter how to surf.

12. Kai took to surfing like a duck takes to water. Our freshman year I would frequently see him cutting class with a surfboard in hand.

13. His GPA was less than 1.0 freshman year. He was on Academic probation when he came home from his mission, but luckily, I had a job that allowed me to be his probation officer:). He didn't need any help though. His mission had made him very focused, He went on to be a great student.

14. He typed most of my papers when we were freshman and this is what he blames his low GPA on.

15. His college major was Elementary Ed. but he changed it to accounting. Graduated with his BS of Accounting. Worked at Hot Topic Headquarters for a year, then moved us all to Logandale where he pursued his masters in Special education. Bye-bye boring numbers!

16. He was the sweetest boyfriend I had ever had. He would leave me secret messages that I had to decode while listening to certain songs, sneak up to my dorm to leave me flowers, type my papers, call up to my window to tell me to take a break from studying because he brought food, called me "girl", sang me songs and told me stories.

17. He told me he loved me (first) on Mt. Haleakala (not sure how to spell it). A volcano on Maui. We were married December 28th, 1999.

18. In the married ward at BYUH (14th ward) He served as first counselor in the Bishop Rik.

19. All his life he wanted to ride on a garbage truck. He got to do while in college. He was so proud:). His other jobs at BYUH included: Maintenance and TVA Dorm Manager.

20. He worked at Footlocker one day and then Quit.

21. He hates cream cheese. That means no cheese cake or any other yummy things with that ingredient.

22. He hates nuts.

23. Wanted to go to the movies on almost all of our dates because he never got to go as a kid.

24.He is a neat freak. Hates to have a dirty house. Hates to be dirty himself. His favorite days are when he goes to get a haircut, cuts his nails super short and then showers.

25. Can't go to sleep until he showers. Sometimes he will fall asleep with the girls wake up at 2 am and then shower and go to sleep again.

26. He is the baker in our family. He makes THE BEST chocolate chip cookies! His oatmeal cookies are dang good too.

27.He is a super good dad. He is really hands on with the kids. He can often be found wrestling, dancing or singing with the girls.

28. He loves watching, The Office, October Sky, The Practice and Hannah Montana. He loves Billy Ray.

29. He loves ice cream and has been known to eat a dozen cookies in one night. And then again the next night. He is still as skinny as a rail.

30. He is my best buddy. He works hard for our family and deserves to have many more great birthdays.

Hmmmm . . .

You know never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I would ever cut a seat belt with sciccors. Never crossed my mind. Not even once. I considered the possibility of braking the car window if my kids got locked in the car (which they did in Hawaii, but that is another story), I considered calling a locksmith if I locked my keys inside. I have even considered alternative options of what I would do if I were ever carjacked; scenarios with and without kids. But not once did anything that had to do with scissors ever cross my mind.
It was early evening. One of the first cold nights of the year and we had jut arrived at the Costco in St. George. We were exiting the car when I told Cambria to hurry up a little. She told me she was stuck. Like I haven't heard that before. But what I didn't realize was that she really was stuck. REALLY stuck. I thought she couldn't get her seat belt to release or something. Well, that was partly true. I climbed into the back of the van to help her out and I noticed that the seat belt was around her waist. I told her to stand up so that I could take it off and that is when things got bad. The seat belt was wrapped around her waist. Twice. And when I told her to stand up the seat belt locked into position and began to put a lot of pressure on her belly. I quickly realized that I was not strong enough to pull the seat belt off of her. The more we struggled the tighter the belt constricted as if it were a boa or anaconda tightening around its prey. I called Kai to see if he could help. I thought that maybe I could loosen it enough for him to pull her out through the trunk but that belt wouldn't budge in the slightest. There was a small crowed gathered behind our car when we parked. It looked like a nice little family catching up on new news. They had observed us struggling for awhile and I am sure they heard Cambria and the baby crying and Kiera saying "I want to get out" (over and over and over again). A young man approached us and asked if we needed help. We told him our daughter was stuck in the seat belt. He said he had a knife, but I had already been toying with the idea of grabbing the scissors I had in the dash to cut her loose. I went to get them and right before I made the cut that would rescue or little girl, i looked at Kai and said, "This is going to be a lot of money." To every one's relief she Cambria was free and when she settled down from the drama she told me, "I was trying to trap myself." I said, "Well, you sure did honey, you sure did."

This is Cambria's portrait of me, her beautiful mother. She was very proud These are five lessons she has learned in her 4 years on this earth:

1. I cannot fly like Peter Pan (because if I fall and hit the wall, I will get a fat lip.)

2. I cannot give myself a haircut. It just doesn't look good and Mommy will eventually find all the curls that I tried to hide from her.

3. You really can trap yourself in a seat belt.

4. If you put a sock filled with rice in the microwave for 2o minutes, it will catch on fire. (wish I had pictures of that one.)

Finally, I have learned that art is sometimes about the process and not the product. Kiera learned that finger paint doesn't really taste all that great. This is my daughter who usually hates to have dirty hands. Kiera had a wonderful time finger painting. She and Cambria were covered by the time they were done with this little project. They went straight to the bath when they were done.

Sometimes I wish I was a coffeee drinker

Last night I was up every two hours with the baby and Cambria. Everyone is a little sick with a cold and its mornings like these that make me wish I was a coffee drinker. It seems like it would be nice to have hot caffeine running through your body giving you the energy of a superhero. Small children must have a secret stash of caffeine stored inside their bodies giving them boundless amounts of energy (even when they don't get a good nights sleep) and its make me wish that parents had this hidden source of energy as well. It seems only fair since we have to chase our children around.

We have had a lot going on. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We spent the holiday at Kai's Mom and Dad's house in Logandale. He and the girls got to ride four wheelers, do sparklers and roast marshmallows. The food was also good.

Saturday we had a surprise party for Kai for his 30Th birthday (which is really Dec. 4) His family came over and we had a softball game at the park. My family was also here because we blessed baby Kai on Sunday. It was the most beautiful blessing I have ever heard. I'll post more detail about the blessing and Kai's b-day later.

I did want to tell you all about Cambria' s dinner prayer. She and Kiera have recently watched the Lion King. They were both fascinated when the baboon held Simba up at pride rock for all the animals to see. She asked why he did that and why all the animals bowed and I told her it was because the baboon (whose name I can't remember -Rafikki?- was presenting him as the future king when his daddy was gone and all the animals bowed to show respect. Well, at the end of baby Kai's blessing, Kai of course held him up so that the congregation could see him. Cambria immediately thought of Simba. Kai talked with her and told her that brother would be the king when daddy went back to live with Heavenly Father.

Okay, on to the dinner prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father,

We want you to bless our food. We want you to bring Grammy and Papa and uncle Caca to their house soon so we can see them them. Umm, Heavenly Father, are you so happy that Bubba will be the king someday when dad comes back to see you? WE want you to make us some pink unicorns that can fly around and a small blue one for Bubba.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Surely, God must chuckle.

Bad News Across the Street

He's baaaack . . . and it aint a good thing. Our Local pedophile just got out of jail (again) and you guessed it, he lives right across the street from us. I can't explain to you the horror this strikes in me. And unfortunately there is nothing we can do to get rid of him because there are more laws protecting his rights than ours. He was in jail for a few months because he failed to register here in Mesquite, Nevada. He was previously a resident of St. George, UT. I guess that means my girls are back on house arrest. Maybe it really is time to move!

So, in other news, I realize I have been absent from the blogging world and I apologize. I guess having three kids hasn't left me much extra time of my own. To be quite honest, I feel like its a good day when I am actually dresses and ready to go by 1pm. Thank goodness I don't have any kids to take to school or other obligations that require me to leave the house at a specific time or I might really get stressed. Right now I am trying to take one day at a time and realize that all too soon my new baby will be grown.

Baby Kai really is so sweet and good. The girls love him so much and we share many precious moments together. Last month we even took our first family camping trip to a place called Warm Springs. Its 30 miles south of us, its church owned and its a natural hot springs with huge amazing pools. My only regret is that I forgot to take my camera!

We also just took a trip to California so Baby Kai could meet some more of his uncles (he has 12), family and friends . He also got to meet his Great Grandma whom we call Gigi.

I also turned 29 in October and have sworn that to be my last birthday. I will not age any further. How in the heck did I get this old anyway? Its feels like only yesterday that I was 19. Thank you for the phone calls and birthday wishes. They meant a lot to me.

This weekend we prepare for Malachi's blessing and are excited for family to visit. After that we will be celebrating Kai's 30Th birthday. I don't think he is aging. I'll have to find out what his secret is. Today he helped our ward move someone in and the Man of the house asked if he went to the high school here!

I am getting very excited for the holiday and wish that shopping was more accessible. The only store in a 30 mile radius is Walmart. I'm glad we have it but it makes me miss the convenience of my California home even more.

Just in case I lose my freedom to breastfeeding babies or changing diapers or wiping noses or making meals, Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

(I tried to put more pictures on, but for some reason it's not working . . .oooohh, I hear sirens, maybe they are coming for the pedophile!)

I might be a business woman!

I am sure many of you have seen vinyl being used as decorations. I think it started in Utah (the birth place of most crafty ideas). These ideas seems to drip off of St. George and collect here in Mesquite because we are jumping on the band wagon. Three of my friends and I have started our own little vinyl business called: Lasting impressions made simple! It is so fun and this vinyl is really amazing. It sticks to anything, walls, cars, tiles, doors, windows, wood, glass, etc. Our goal was to be affordable because it can get pretty darn pricey, and we wanted to make it more accessible. Anything you can imagine, we can make! It is so fun. Here are just a few pictures of the things we can do:

Trick or Treat!

Isn't Halloween a funny Holiday. I know all about the origins, but still it strikes me as funny that we dress up in costumes and go knock on doors and ask people that we would otherwise never talk to, for treats. Still its a lot of fun. Cambria said "This is the best night of my life!"

So, this year Cambria was the Island Princess. Kiera was too, but at the last minute she was really sad that she wasn't a horse. So I velcroed some yard to a hoodie and sewed some more yarn to the pants and voila, we had a homemade costume that made Kiera proud to walk door to door and say "trick or treat, I'm a horse." The day before we had gone to the elementary schools trunk or treat. Kiera did wear her Island Princess costume to this event and a lady said to her "ahh, what a cute fairy." Kiera glared at her and said, "I am not a fairy, I am the Island Princess." She said it kinda of snobby, like "da, don't you know."

Baby Kai was a cute little pumpkin. My mom sent the costume for him.

Breast Cancer

Did you know that 1 in 8 women have a lifetime chance of being diagnosed with breast cancer. If that is not a sobering fact, then I don't know what is. Unfortunately this number hits close to home for me because two of my aunts were diagnosed with breast cancer. My Aunt Susie battled the disease for many years before it claimed her life just a few short years ago. Since this is breast cancer awareness month I thought I would share some things that I just read with you:

Good news: there are ways to lower your odds of getting breast cancer!

1. Keep moving! All you need is three to four hours a week of exercise. The more vigorous the better.

2. Drink Less. Studies are now showing that even one glass of wine or beer a day can increase breast cancer risks by 10%. (way to go word of wisdom!)

3. Watch your weight. Weight gain is linked to breast cancer rates. If you can't loose weight then try not to gain anymore (especially after menopause)

4. Replace hormones carefully. Hormone replacement therapy that contains estrogen AND protesting increase breast cancer risk by 24%.

5. Test your genes. If you have a strong family history of Breast cancer, talk to your doctor about genetic counseling and testing.

6. Get a mammogram. Staring at age 40 (or younger if your history is strong.)

There are also a lot of companies that are supporting breast cancer research in one way or another. I have some of the items in the picture above. KitchenAid. New Balance, TIC TAC, Tomboy Tools, Jello, Cool whip, Yoplait, etc. The moral of the story is: go pink. Support a good cause and most of all take care of yourself.

Liar, Liar

My name is Amy Davis, and I am a liar. A very, very poor liar. Let me explain. Kinderdance is for ages 3-5. Cambria is 4 and Kiera is 2. How can I take Kiera with me to Cambria's dance class again this year and force her to wait on the sidelines while her sister has all the fun. Kiera looks like a three year old and due to her superior intelligence, often acts like a more mature child (okay, not always.) So Kai says, "why don't you just say she is three and sign her up." So I think, yeah, I can do that. Its not really a big deal. But when I went to register my two girls, I had not prepared myself for the DOB questions. I thought I could just say "two for Kinderdance please" and give them my money. So when they asked, Whats Kiera's birthday, I stumbled. You see I often have a hard time remembering Kiera's birthday without going through a long process in my head. Her due date was April 6Th, just like her big sisters. Would she be born on April 2nd, like her big sister? No She was born March 30th, 2005. So instead of saying March 30th, 2004, I said February 30th, 2003. Hi, I'm retarded, nice to meet you. The lady behind the desk said, "umm, sorry my computer is not accepting Feb. 30th." Oh, could it be because there is no Feb. 30th. So then I said, "Oh I mean Feb. 28th." But what I'm thinking is . . . Leap year, yeah that's it, I'm sure she won't see through that one. Idiot, (me). So then she says, "so then she's 4 right? You have twins?" Then I say "No, she's not four, what year did I say? Oh, I meant 2004. Sorry, I am so sleep deprived, I've got a three week old baby at home." (so now I am using my son as part of the lie too!) Anyway, together we make up a DOB for Kiera which is completely false and I am having hot flashes and blushing way up to my hairline.

I truly feel bad about lying. It wasn't even a good lie.

So, as penance, I will go back when a different employee than the woman who helped me is there and sign Kiera up for the mommy and me dance class for 2-3 years olds. When they ask if her b-day is Feb 28th, 2004, I will say, "no, its March 30th 2005. Thats weird that you have that date in there." And then I won't lie about my kids DOB or age again.

I tried to upload video, but it wouldn't work so enjoy the pictures!

Seasons that change

Last year we had snow. It was so exciting. It wasn't thick, or deep. And it didn't last very long, but it covered everything. It was a few glorious hours of fun and excitement. It makes me wonder . . . would I like to live where it snows? For most of my life the answer would have been "no." I would have said I like to visit the snow but I would never want to live in a place where it snows.

Now that I have lived in the hot, desert for three years, I am starting to reconsider.

It might be fun to live in a place where the leaves changed color in the fall, and Christmas was accompanied by snow, and spring brought a new growth of flowers.

But where would I choose to live? I want to be somewhat close to my parents. Close enough to make a weekend trip if we wanted. So where would that be? Big bear? Cedar City? Kai grew up in Northern Idaho. The summers are beautiful, but the winters supported my argument for only wanting to visit snow.

On the other hand, my desires to live near a beach are pretty strong too. Probably stronger. Maybe I need a summer home and a winter cabin.