Shelf Reliance

Almost 18 months ago, I became an Independent Consultant for Shelf Reliance. When I signed up, Levi was only 3 months old. I went into it more to help my own family be prepared, and the desire I had to help others learn how to be prepared as well.

I wasn't able to attend convention last year since Levi was so little, but I am planning on going this year, and I can't wait! It is in SLC in April.

As a mother, I often feel like a failure. My kids won't eat what I make for dinner. They get mad at me for making them practice the piano, or clean up their room. I feel like I can't ever stay on top of things in my "domain", like dishes, laundry, or even getting a shower in on a fairly regular basis. With Shelf Reliance, I love that I can feel like somewhat of a success when I can accomplish something.If I have a good party, or when I see my paycheck for the month, it makes me feel like I am somewhat successful!

Shelf Reliance has had a contest going to help Consultants earn their way to convention. If you earn so many points, you get your registration for free, your hotel stay for free and even airfare! Up until the beginning of this month I was in the top 30 which was earning all those things for free! I was so excited! But then I started to fall behind, and only have one week left of the contest, and I want so badly to reach my goal of earning my airfare for free! There are a few things I need to do to earn points.

I can earn points for every customer that sets up a $100/month Q, and I earn points for every new Consultant that joins my team. If anyone reading this post has any interest or desire to do any of these things, I would greatly appreciate it if you signed up for those things before Feb. 28th! The Q is an awesome program to help people build up their own Home Store on a monthly basis. There is a 3 month commitment, but after that you can stop it, pause it, or change your budget any time you wish! It has made my life so much easier, that I know it will help yours too!

You can go to my website at http://kerryblack.shelfreliance.com and click on the Join my Team tab, to sign up as a consultant. Or you can click on the Q tab, to set up your THRIVE Q. If you have any questions, or want me to send you some more information, please email me, or leave me a comment and I can reply!

I really would love having any of you sign up as a consultant and join my team, so we can do this together! It is so fun!

You just know

I remember when I was young, and dreaming of the day I would find the man of my dreams, and I wondered how on earth I would know he was the one? I remember asking older people I knew who had married, or friends in college who were getting married and asked them that very question. How did you know he was the one? And the answer I HATED getting was that they "just knew". Now what the heck kind of answer is that??? How on earth would that help me?

When I met Tony, we were on the same folk dance back-up team. We were friends for two years before anything progressed from friendship into something more. And I remember the obvious, kind of "duh" moment I had when I knew he was the one. It wasn't dramatic, or explosive, or anything like that. It was just a peaceful, calm, completely positive, no doubt about it feeling I had. I know when choosing your life/eternal companion, it is a very BIG decision, and one you don't want to take lightly. I know so many people who have to pray about it, and even fast, to be sure their choice is the right one. I remember thinking maybe I should do that too. To be sure.But it was almost like I felt silly to ask something like that, when I already knew the answer so clearly. So, of course when this happened to me, the answer of "I just knew" made complete and perfect sense to me.

Now, on a different note, but one related to this story, I challenged myself at the end of last year to read the Book of Mormon in it's entirety beginning Sep. 1 and ending on Dec. 31 2011. I started it and was doing well, and then fell off the wagon for almost a month.Yikes!I ended up being quite a bit behind my reading schedule. So, when I finally got myself back into gear to accomplish my goal, I had a lot of catching up to do! I had to read like 6 chapters a day to catch up. Well, I did it. And I loved it. And the whole time I read, I was anxious to get to the end of Moroni where he states his promise in chapter 10 verses 2-5.

2 And I seal up these records, after I have spoken a few words by way of exhortation unto you.

3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts


4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.

I kept thinking about that as I read, but a funny thing happened. As I read each day, I knew that was I reading was true. I "just knew". Every day during my reading, I would have powerful feelings that were testifying to me continually that what I was reading was true. It was peaceful, calm, completely positive, and I had no doubt.
So when I got to the end on December 30th, I didn't feel the need to kneel down and ask God if what I had read was true, because I already knew.

A friend of mine from the Folk Dance team recently posted her profile on mormon.org She talked of her testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. As I read her words, I got so excited, because she described my own experience exactly!! This is what she said:

I felt as I read each page something inside of me shouting out, "It's True! It's True!" When I got to the end of the book where the ancient prophet Moroni exhorts the reader to pray and find out for himself the truth of it, I took up the challenge. Here was the feeling I had as I prayed, "Haven't I been telling you all along?" Yes. I knew it was true. I had known it at every turn of the page.

We all have different ways of feeling when the Holy Spirit speaks to us, confirming things to be true. I have read the Book of Mormon from start to finish only a handful of times in my life. But the first real testimony of it's truthfulness I gained while reading the Book of Mormon in 17 days, while participating in the Hill Cumorah Pageant. I was 21, and it was the summer of 1998.

Here it is, 13 years later, and I once again wanted to gain that witness that I first had in 1998. This time it was so much clearer and I didn't need anything else going on around me to convince me of the amazing power and knowledge and truth in it's pages. I "just knew".

So Many Inventions

I just got home from parent teacher conference with Logan's teacher, and had to share a poem she sent home that Logan wrote.

So Many Inventions

There's so many inventions to build and to try.
I wish to have a bigger mind.
I wish that I knew just how to fly.
There's so many inventions and I do not know how to make them.
Hey daddy how do you fly?

Love my boy!

My Logan boy

I just want to take a minute to document some of the things my Logan does. He is so full of imagination, and gets quite creative when he is playing on his own. Here are a few things I peeked out my window to see this past month, and had to hurry out to catch a few pictures.




We have had an unseasonably warm winter, and this day in particular felt like a lovely spring day. I looked out my window to check on the kids who were playing outside, and saw Logan "napping" in the tree. He has tied a rope around the tree, so he has that looped around his waist so he won't fall out, and his binoculars that he got for Christmas hanging on a hook in the tree. It must have been the perfect spot for soaking up some rays, and spying on the neighbors at the same time!

Another day, after school Logan stayed outside and didn't come in right away. I got busy doing other things, and after a while went to check on him and couldn't find him.I called for him, and he didn't come (the little pill) and started to get worried a little when he didn't show up! When I went to check again, I finally saw him sitting in front of his little "tent". When I went out to talk to him I found out he was camping...complete with fire ring and all. Apparently he was in his tent where I couldn't see him when I was looking for him. We had a talk about him not answering me when I was calling for him...



Here's a story about that little tent. Our neighbors were having a garage sale in the fall, and our kids liked this little baby sun shade thingy. Tony didn't let them get it however, so imagine our surprise when it showed up on our doorstep the next morning! For some reason, that darn tent has become a hit with the kids. They play with it everywhere...in the house, outside, in the tree, etc. There have been times when it has been out in the driveway with about 5 or 6 kids crammed into it. Don't ask me how they all fit! After Logan's camping experience, he kept a log in it so it wouldn't blow away, since he didn't bring it back into the garage at night. One morning last week, it wasn't there anymore. It had blown away. Bye bye tent! Imagine my surprise a few days ago when I was driving home, and Avery yelled that she had found Logan's tent! I turned around to see what she was talking about, not believeing her, and sure enough there it was! It was sitting in the middle of a ditch full of water, at the corner of the busy intersection outside our neighborhood. The ditch ran through someone's property, but being the cool mom that i am, I pulled over to see if I could rescue the tent. Too bad for me, the ditch had steep sides, and the tent was too far for me to reach, so I came home empty handed and told Tony he would have to go get it. Well, 2 days went by and he didn't go. I woke up this morning to pouring down rain, and knew the tent had probably washed away. My suspicions were confirmed when I came home from Avery's dr. appointment today and didn't see it anymore. So really now, bye bye tent! So sad. It was fun while it lasted.

Avery is 5!!

I can't believe my sweet girl turned 5 yesterday!! I still think of her as a little girl, and it's hard to comprehend that she will be going to kindergarten next year. I will have two kids in school! For some reason this is so crazy to think about! I love that little sweet pea so much. I love her girliness, and her love of all things pink, princess, ballerina, fairy, etc. As far as interests go, she is a lot like I was. I do think she has a much more outgoing and social nature than I did when I was her age. She loves her friends, and always gives them hugs when she sees them, or when she tells them goodbye. She also loves her preschool teacher, and always has to run back to give her a hug goodbye when it's time to go home. She melts my heart.

This year is our family party year, so she didn't get to have a friend party. But that doesn't mean the day isn't just as special! After she was in bed the night before her birthday, I filled her room with balloons so she had a happy surprise when she woke up! I had about 8 balloons with helium, so they were floating around the room, and then we blew up a bunch and just scattered them around her floor. We could have done a lot more, but it was still a fun way to wake up!




She had her birthday breakfast with the whole family before she and Logan left for school, and daddy left for work. She chose to have fried eggs, bacon and toast for breakfast, so we did! She got a cute new birthday outfit, and had enough time to open all her presents before school. She got a Madame Alexander doll from Grandma and Grandpa Bowden, a Pinkalicious cupcake set from Logan, a little Lalaloopsy doll from Levi, a manicure/pedicure set and a Mermaid Lalaloopsy doll from mom and dad. She also got a a few new shirts.





We hadn't fixed her hair yet, so never mind the messy hair!

She took chocolate cupcakes with strawberry frosting to school to share with her friends. After school, she chose to eat lunch at Chick-fil-a so we invited some friends to eat lunch with us. I didn't get a picture of that!

She brought one friend home to play after lunch, and then we met daddy at Cracker Barrell for her birthday dinner. I think it's funny that she chose to go there, since we have only eaten dinner there once before. But she wanted pancakes and root beer in a bottle, so that's what she got!

After dinner, we came home and sang Happy Birthday and ate more cupcakes for dessert! I think she had a super fun birthday! The best part of the day was tucking her into bed and blowing her 5 kisses from the door when I was leaving her room. We somehow started a tradition a few years ago blowing kisses at their door at bedtime...a kiss for each year. So it was a big deal the night before when it was our last night to blow her 4 kisses. And now she gets 5!


She had her 5 year well visit appointment at the dr. this morning. She weighs 43 pounds, and is 44 " tall. 80% for her height, and 75% for weight.She's growing so fast! I have to buy her size 6 dresses and shirts just to be sure they are long enough for her! I would rather have her shirts be a little loose and not show her tummy when she lifts her arms up! She did have to get 2 shots, and she did cry, but was still pretty brave and got to get an ice cream cone on the way home. Love that girl! Happy Birthday to you!
Avery wanted to dim the lights to blow out her candle, so I apologize for the bad lighting in the video!

It's a New Year!

I can redeem myself, can't I? I cannot believe I haven't updated this blog since APRIL last year!!! That's almost a year ago! Wow! I guess adding child #3 really threw my life out of whack. I can't believe how much I have let slide, how much dumber I feel, how I have no focus, and I feel like I am constantly going in circles and have nothing to show for it. Well, I am determined to change those things this year. And updating/catching up with my blog will be one of those things. I need to document my life. I need to document my kid's lives. There are so many things lately that I have felt so passionate about, and haven't written them down anywhere. I need to start doing that here. I figure my best bet for journaling will be this blog, so I better get with it.

I will start with Christmas, and then backtrack from there!

We stayed home this year for Christmas, which has kind of been our thing anyway. We don't mind travelling for Thanksgiving, but Christmas we stay put. It is always crazy and hectic leading up to Christmas, and this year was no exception! Avery's preschool class had a little Christmas program, and Avery got to be Mary.She really loves to be in the spotlight!


Our ward Christmas party at the church included the annual visit from Santa and Mrs. Clause. Tony had camera duty, and Avery was the only one he got with Santa. Levi wouldn't get close to him, and I guess Logan didn't think he needed to tell Santa what he wanted, since he already did at Bass Pro Shop.



Levi cracked everyone up by being a super duper helper. When it came time to clean up, he wanted in on the action! He helped push all the big carts with the tables and chairs back under the stage. He also had to help sweep. He is such a good helper!



Grandma Karen sent all the grandkids Christmas dresses and suits, so the kids had some good looking duds to wear for Christmas Sunday! Logan was needing a new suit, and he looks so handsome in his! And of course, Avery just loves anything girly and pretty, so she was having a grand time flitting about in her sparkly new dress.





Christmas Eve, we strayed slightly from our usual Christmas Eve festivities, and snuck in the Christmas Eve service at our friend's church. It was a new experience for us, and added a different element to our evening.We had our usual Christmas eve candlelight dinner of potato cheese soup, homemade rolls, and sparkling cider. Then we hurried fast to go to the Christmas Eve service with our friend's. After we got home we had our traditional reading of the Christmas Story from Luke, and then we opened our Christmas jammies! I used to try to have them matching, but with the kids at different ages, it is hard to find things that match now! So, I did what I could and the girls ended up with purple, and the boys blue.




We also welcomed a new addition to our home in December.

The kids named him Happy Sparkle, and boy was it exciting to find where he was hiding every day! This picture was Christmas Eve, his last night with us until next year. Every morning, Levi would look for Happy Sparkle, and then throughout the day we would ask him "Where's Happy Sparkle?" And he would immediately run and point to him! It was so cute!

Christmas morning was nice and relaxing, even with a temporary break to attend Sacrament Meeting. We all changed right back into our pj's when we got home so we could enjoy our cozy, lazy Christmas.


Here are the kids seeing Santa at Bass Pro Shop. Levi wasn't too happy about that! I love this picture for that very reason!

I will blog again soon!

April Goings-on

Ok, so much for my promise to update more regularly. Things have been BUSY around here!

Levi has begun babbling and can now say mama, baba, and dada. He also finally got his first tooth this week! He is finally starting to chunk up a bit, but is still so small, and I have a hard time thinking that he will be turning one in less than 2 months! Time flies!

I became a consultant for Shelf Reliance back in September, and have been doing parties here and there over the past 6 months, but last week I had my first party for someone I did not know, and it was massive! She had at least 50 people there, and I have been so busy this week sending emails, booking parties, and taking phone calls all from this one party! I had one person sign up under me earlier this month, and could potentially have two more from this party, not to mention that I have 7 parties booked for the coming months. Basically all my Saturdays in May and July are booked! I will be on vacation in June, so that will give me a break, but things are really picking up with this business in a crazy, good way! Now that I see the amazing potential for growth, I really need to set my limits, and make a decision about how many parties a month I want to commit to. I am excited and overwhelmed all at the same time. I want to succeed and do well in this business. I know how important it is to be prepared, and to be self-sufficient, and I love being able to help others on their path as well. With everything going on in the world around us, and the economy, etc. I think this topic is hitting home for many people, and the topic of food storage and preparedness isn't as foreign sounding to some as it used to be. I will post more about this later, but it is both a blessing and a challenge right now. It is encouraging me to want to get better organized so I can run my business and my household more efficiently.

Easter was a little different this year. And I can't believe I didn't take ANY pictures of my kids on Sunday! What was I thinking???? I bought Avery a new Easter dress this year, but the boys all wore their matching ties, so at least they coordinated. I didn't have our annual Easter Egg Hunt and Potluck at our house this year because the ward had one at the park, so we went to that instead. I was a little bummed to break our tradition this year, but it ended up working out well, since I had been so busy this week, I didn't have the time to get my house ready for a get together. It ended up being much less stress, so it was all good in the end! It was a little bit chilly on Saturday too, so I know all the kids would have ended up running amuck inside my house anyway! The playground at the park was perfect.

I finally tried something I have been wanting to do for the past few years but never have... making Resurrection Rolls for easter breakfast. It's a recipe where you put a large marshmallow inside the roll, and brush them with melted butter and cinnamon sugar. When they are cooked, the rolls are empty...like the tomb when Christ was resurrected. They turned out really tasty, so we will prob make this a tradition. When I was explaining to the kids why we were making the rolls, and what it represented, I heard myself telling the kids "the dough is the tomb, and Jesus is the marshmallow." Ummm, yeah I never thought I would hear myself saying that in my lifetime!

The week before Easter, I was asked to speak in church.I will post a copy of my talk in another post. Since I had that really large Shelf Reliance party on Saturday, and my talk on Sunday, I was completely exhausted come Sunday evening! Tony and I have been watching a super cute television series called "Lark Rise to Candleford" and we relaxed that night and watched a few episodes. We have been checking them out from the library. It's a great show, and we love it! I may have to invest in my own DVD's of the series. They are great!

Logan had his first grade musical this past week as well, so we got to go watch his performance. It was so cute! As soon as I can get pictures and videos off my phone, I can post some! Sorry for no pictures today!

Looking ahead, my birthday is coming up in about a week, and then my parents are coming towards the end of May for Logan's birthday and Avery's very first dance recital! We are so excited for Grandma and Grandpa to come visit! This will be the very first time any of the kids have had any extended family here for their birthday (besides their actual Birth Day!)We have always celebrated all our birthdays with just us, so this will be something different for sure! We can't wait! Levi will be turning 1 when we are in Blanding this summer, so he will be a very lucky little boy to have the whole Black family there to celebrate. I am not really sure what to do, since all our previous 1st birthday's have been really small and low-key with just us. I haven't even talked to anyone to figure out the plans to see if we can squeeze in a little birthday celebration for him while we are there. My nephew Taylor will have his mission farewell that week-end, so I am sure the family has events planned for that on top of the regularly planned rounding-up of the cow's, etc.

So, for now, I will go. I will try to get some pictures posted soon!That's it in a nutshell!

7 months later...

Wow. Time sure flies. I can't believe it has been 7 months since I have posted! Let me tell you that adding a third child kind of throws one's life into a bit of chaos. Not to mention the sleep deprivation and lack of focus...or brains for that matter.I am making it a goal to get caught up on this blog, and keep it more regularly updated. I need to for posterity's sake. I don't keep a journal any other way these days, so this is going to have to be it. I have a lot to post about Levi and his growth, and what a sweet boy he is! I always feel like I can't post anything new until I catch up, but that hasn't happened yet either, and I can't let another day go by. Watch for more regular posts from here on out!

Summer vacation-Idaho

We arrived at my sister's house in St. Anthony, ID on Thursday evening. The kids had such a fun time playing with their cousins, Brynn and Jordan. It was so nice at my sister's house...the weather was perfect summer weather. Nice and cool in the mornings and evenings, and warm during the day, with no humidity! Also, the view of the Tetons was also beautiful to look at on a regular basis. We have no views in Kansas. I really do miss seeing the mountains.

Friday, we met my mom, grandma Avery, and my nephew Kellen for lunch at Bajio's in Rexburg.My sister and I popped over to DownEast Outfitters for a bit, and then my mom, grandma and Tony took all the kids (except Levi) back to my sister's house while my sister and I went grocery shopping for the food for my family's reunion at the cabin Saturday, and the food for the dinner after Levi's blessing on Sunday evening. My dad popped up to Kristy's house later on as well, and was able to meet his new grandson Levi for the first time. So sweet!



Saturday morning, rather early, I was coming out of my room and noticed my children, Logan and Avery, along with my niece Brynn, running down the hall from Brynn's room to the living room and back...all the while giggling and laughing and trying to be quiet. It was rather suspicious, so I asked them what they were doing. My nephew Kellen was sleeping on the couch, and the kids pointed to Kellen and said "look, look!" Again, while giggling and laughing and falling on the floor...while trying to be quiet. This is what I saw.



They were surrounding Kellen with naked Barbie dolls and My Little Ponies. They were quite proud of themselves and thought it was the funniest thing ever! My first instinct as a mother was to reprimand them and tell them that wasn't very appropriate. But then I thought about when I was little...and especially when I played with my cousins and brother and sister, and how funny we thought we were then too. And honestly it was hilarious that they had thought of playing this "trick" on Kellen. So I took a picture of it and waited for Kellen to wake up to see his reaction. I think it was just what the kids were waiting for. Hysterical. Apparently the night before, Kellen told them that naked Barbie's freaked him out.Funny kids.

Saturday morning, the kids went out to jump on the trampoline. Here is a great jumping picture!



Saturday afternoon we headed up to the cabin to spend the evening with my family. The kids had fun playing on the "merry-g-round". Here is Uncle Kris pushing them around and around.



We got a brief little spurt of rain in the afternoon, so Avery and my niece Cassidy decided to catch some raindrops on their tongues. Refreshing!




We had a little program Saturday night, and Avery and Logan were so cute sitting by each other watching. They had their arms around each other at one point, but when I tried to get a picture, my brother thought he would be funny and stick his hand in front of my camera. So, I missed the moment. This was what I did get though.So cute!


And I got lucky to get such a great shot of my grandma Avery holding her great grandson Levi. What a special moment.

The start of our Summer vacation and Martin's Cove

So, last year Tony's parents returned home from their mission in Africa. They had been gone for 18 months, and were anxious to plan the Black Family Reunion when they got home. They presented 4 different options of placed to go for the reunion, and were getting feedback from everyone as to where to go. The options were: 1.) Stay in Blanding and go up on the mountain. 2.) Go somewhere in Colorado, near Durango I think...but not sure.3.) Branson, MO. or 4.) San Diego. I was going for either San Diego or Branson, since I could see my family in SD as well, or Branson since it is only about 4 hours from us, and that way we wouldn't have to drive across the country like we do every year. This time the family could come out our way. We are the only ones in Tony's family not in Utah after all.

After having my grandma come stay with us back in November, I started reminiscing about the cabin we grew up going to every summer in Idaho for big family reunions on my moms side of the family. I absolutely LOVE that place, and hadn't been there for a few years. I then got to thinking that it would be a super great place for Tony's family to have a reunion, and I really wanted to be able to share that part of me with them. If they even loved it a small portion of how much I love it there, I knew they would have a good time. After talking to Tony about it, I brought up the idea with Tony's parents. Everyone agreed it sounded like a grand idea, so the plans were made. We planned the reunion for the first week of August,to allow the regular Avery and Wheeler reunions to take place in July like they do every year, and also to give me just enough time to recover from having a c-section when Levi was born.

Tony and I also decided it would be a great time to bless Levi, since all his family would be there, and all of mine could be there as well. The hardest part of living out in the middle of America, is not having family around for different events. None of my children have ever had any extended family or grandparents around for their birthdays, or soccer games, or school programs, or talks in church, etc. When I read family members blogs about their birthday get togethers with family, or other events where the family gets together for different things, I can't help but feel so alone, and left out. Almost like I am a stranger looking in on a family that I am not a part of. It makes me get really emotional, and yes I cry. Tony and I feel so strongly that we are supposed to be where we are right now, and I understand that is just part of the territory, but I can't help feeling emotional about missing out on family. Anyway...enough about that. On to our trip.

We left Wednesday morning, July 28th, and drove all day.The kids were so excited to go on our trip!
Here they are in the car! Traveling in style and comfort, with their sunglasses and neck pillows.


We stopped in Laramie, WY that night, where the kids got to go swimming at the hotel pool with daddy while baby and I hung out in the room.

The next morning, we decided to stop by Martin's Cove, since it was only about 15 miles out of our way. We didn't want to stay too ling, since we still had a good 6 hours of driving to go. I knew we would have to walk/hike out to the cove from the Visitor's Center, but I didn't know how far it really was. The missionaries offered to drive us out on a rover, and then came back to get us wher we were done, so we only had to walk maybe a mile down the trail. It was a bit warm out, and I was all set to carry Levi in the sling/wrap, but luckily, a sweet Sister missionary offered to keep Levi in the nice cool visitor's center with her while we went. It worked out really well for us, and I think that Sister Warr got her grandma fix too! I left Levi's hat at home anyway, so now I didn't have to worry about him getting too hot, or sunburned.

While we were there, there were a TON of church groups there doing the handcart trek. We really didn't have the time to spend to talk to the missionaries about the stories, or read the plaques along the trail that told about certain events that happened there. I would have liked to been able to hear some stories, but with all the trek people there too, it just felt a bit too crowded. I am glad we were able to go anyhow, and maybe someday we can go again and spend a bit more time, to really feel the spirit of that sacred place. What an amazing bunch of pioneers, to suffer through what they did. I doubt I could have done it...especially with small children. No way.I am so grateful for the blessings I have, and to live in this time.

We took some pictures of the kids at the cove, and some antelope as well.





This is a picture of the cove from the rover as we were driving along on our way back to the Visitor's Center.



This picture is from the top of the cove, looking down the path. Very pretty place, and quite peaceful. I can't imagine the suffering that occurred in this very spot over 150 years ago. If you want to read some stories about this, click here.



And more information HERE.

Random pictures

Baby Levi


A few nights ago, Logan wanted to make a "tent" in his room and sleep in it. He ended up sleeping in this "tent" two nights in a row!


Avery swimming in the neighborhood pool. She loves to swim! She's like a little mermaid.


Logan likes swimming as long as he has some sort of floatation device. He's so cute!


This is daddy's favorite thing to do! I had to get a picture of my boys enjoying a snooze together!




I just took these pictures today. He's so sweet!

Kid-isms

These are just a few of the funny/cute things that the kids have done or said recently. I need to do better at writing these thiings down, so here we go with Kid-isms.

1. The other day, we were driving home from the library, and Avery kept asking Logan what he was thinking about. She had to ask him several times before he answered her. He said "Nothing. I'm just thinking about God's beautiful world and looking at it."

2. The other morning I was trying to get ready, and I had layed Levi on my bed so I could put my make-up on. The kids kept running in and out to talk to Levi and then would run off again. I think Logan is such a great big brother, and he is so cute with Levi, so I called to Logan " Logan, do you think you and baby Levi were good friends in heaven?" He kept saying "what?" so I had to ask him a few times. Finally he came in the bathroom and with a puzzled look on his face, said " What did you say mom? You want me to put baby Levi in the oven?"

3. Again, the other morning (probably around 7 or 7:30, I had finished feeding the baby and put him back to sleep, so I had gone back to bed too. Tony was up gettiing ready for work and had come back upstairs and happened to see Avery coming out of the bathroom on her way back to her room. Tony said" good morning Avery!" And she looked at him and said "hmmmph!" and went into her room and slammed the door. Tony cracked up at this, and attempted to blame her behavior on her gender. Well, later on that morning when she was awake and talking to me, she told me she had a bad dream that I had throw her toothbrush down the toilet. She had woken up and had to go check to see if it had really happened I guess...hence her behavior to Tony that morning.

4. Logan's favorite nonsense words these days are "masa masa" whatever that is. He used to always say "so so". Like things smelled like "so so", or tasted like "so so". He will just randomly start jabbering away "masa masa" about who knows or whatever. Silly kid.

5. Tonight while the kids were getting ready for bed, Logan asked Avery if she was ever going to go to Mars. She was confused, and then said "Oh, you mean monkey bars?"

6. Almost everyday for the past two weeks Avery has said " Mom? I really wish I could have a pet lizard." A few times she has also said she would like a pet kangaroo to hop around the backyard.

The Name Game

LOGAN FROST, AVERY NOELLE, and LEVI CABLE BLACK



I always love to know how people name their children.There are so many options out there to choose from, so why do we end up choosing the names we do for our kids?

I know when I was young, I had a whole slew of names picked out for my future children. Of course, I also planned on having 8 kids, and I knew the order they would come as far as gender, and how far apart they were from each other. This was in 6th grade, mind you. I wrote a paper about what my future would be like in 20 years or something like that. I wish I had that paper still, cause it would be very interesting to see exactly what I said. From what I remember, I was going to be married to a doctor (does Phd count?), and living on a large residence in Washington State, where I had stables with horses, and people to take care of them and the massive green lawn we would have as well. So, Kansas isn't exactly close to Washington State, but I think I am grateful for the sunshine we do get here, as I have come to realize that I would probably have a very difficult time with the Seasonal Affective Disorder, or whatever. Growing up in sunny southern California spoiled me with constant days of sunshine.

Fast forward to now, when I am really having my own children and having to figure out what to name them. The names I chose 20 something years ago aren't still in the running...well maybe some would be if I could remember what they were!So on to new names!

Let's start with Logan. We had two options picked out for him when we discovered we were having a baby boy. When Tony and I got married, we left on tour with the BYU Folk Dancers like two weeks later. The first night we were in our own home after the wedding and week of honeymoon, we were joined by two of our friends from the Folk Dance team who needed a place to stay while we rehearsed to get ready for tour. Josh and Craig. I joked that they were our boys, and we would have to name our kids after them. Well, when we were expecting Logan we talked about our name choices, and we actually really liked Joshua Craig as an option! We also really liked Logan, after coming across it in the baby name book, and considered both Logan Frost and Logan Anthony. Tony didn't want to use his first name as a middle name, for whatever reason, so we settled on Tony's middle name, Frost, which was his grandpa's name.

On the way to see the Oprah show, my friend Gigi and I were were talking about our name choices for our baby's...we were due within a week of each other and were both having boys...and discovered that we had both chosen Logan as an option! I was devastated for a while. I didn't want to share my baby's name...selfish as I was. I still wasn't 100% sure that was the name we were going to go with...I had to see the baby first to know for sure who was supposed to be. The more I thought wbout it however, it didn't really matter. In fact, it was kind of fun to be able to share our first child's birth and have the same name as well. Gigi's Logan was born about 2 weeks before mine, so she was able to take the name first. When our Logan was born, I debated about if he was a Joshua or a Logan. Turned out he was definitely Logan, so that is how Logan Frost Black came to be.



I have had a little girl's name chosen probably since middle school. But when I found out I was expecting a girl, I knew the name I had chosen wasn't her name. It was easy after that. I wanted to name her Avery...after my mom's maiden name. The middle name was the hard part. Since Avery was a family name, I didn't think I needed her middle name to be a family name as well, so I went for names I just liked. I love the sound of Noelle, and thought it went well with Avery. Once I convinced Tony to let me go with that name, it was right. I didn't have to think too hard about her name...she was meant to be Avery.


( No, she's not a non-vegetarian vampire! I didn't have my red-eye thingy on my camera, and I haven't edited yet! Ha ha!)


Now with baby boy #2, we had a really hard time! I had a few boy names written down, but none of them sounded right. They were cute names, and so were many names that people suggested, but they just didn't feel right. Tony and I would lay in bed at night and read names from the baby name book we had, and try to find names we both could agree on. Levi was a name that we both said felt pretty good, and we both agreed that we liked it. I had never even considered Levi as a name before, so it was interesting to me that it settled on me and felt comfortable. I was still not 100% though, so I wanted to keep looking for other options. There were a few names I liked, but they just wouldn't work. For instance, I have always liked the name Jacob. And we both agreed on liking it the same, so that was good. However, as much of a Twilight fan as I am, I could not let myself name my baby Jacob Black. For anyone not in the know of all things Twilight, Jacob Black is one of the main characters in the series. I also really like the name Luke...but Luke Black just sounds to "kkkkk-y' if that makes any sense. We considered Joshua again, but it just didn't feel right for this baby.

Several months ago, I was reading a book series where the main male character's name was Cabel. The more I thought about that name, the more I liked it. I knew it wasn't exactly your run of the mill boy name, so I never mentioned it to Tony cause I was sure he would say no way. Anyway, one evening I was just reading or watching TV or something, and Tony was looking at family names on the computer. All of a sudden he said "What about Cable?" I was seriously surprised! Apparently Cable was a family name on his mom's side...a middle name I think. I told him I had been thinking about that name, and yes I did like it. We put it together with Levi, and Levi Cable Black was born. I considered Cable for a first name as well, but Tony preferred it for a middle name. Anyway, I am 100% sure that this little baby named himself. But we are thrilled with him, and happy with the choice because it is him. Although, I do get mixed up and call him both Logan and Avery. I also often have other random names come to mind in the middle of the night when I am not quite awake. I think the L's and V's in the names are what have me calling him Oliver, or even Lavender. Yeah, I know! Poor little dude! It's LEVI!!!!! Not Oliver! Not Lavender! And definitely NOT Logan or Avery!



Anyway, I just thought I would document the stories of how our children have been named. Maybe #4( whenever that will be) will be a girl so I can finally use the name I have had chosen since middle school!

Levi Cable Black is here!

Well, my little man is now 12 days old! Time really does fly by!

We had a very stressful month leading up to his birth, and a few stressful days in the hospital, but that is behind us now and we are home and happy with our new addition! I can say that in regards to many things around here too! New carpet, a new basement, new couches,new siding, basically a new front of the house, AND a new baby!Whew!

So, Thursday morning, Logan woke up with a fever and sore throat. Great. We ended up taking him to the doctor Friday morning really fast before I had to be at the hospital. The diagnosis? Strep throat. Great. We had time to pick up his antibiotics and send them back home with grandma on our way to the hopsital.

We arrived a little after 10 a.m., where they had me get hooked up to the monitors, and do all the other necessary preparations for the c-section. My doctor came in at noon, to apologize that we would have to wait a bit longer since she had another patient in the process of pushing. No big deal to us...we weren't in a hurry, and I wasn't in any pain, which was lovely.

She wasn't gone long, and then it was time to wheel me into the surgery room, and get my spinal and get ready to go. With Avery's c-section, I got the shivers soooo bad, that my jaw hurt really bad from clenching my teeth to keep them from chattering together. This time I wanted to try to avoid that if possible, so the anesthesiologist covered my arms and head with warm blankets. It was actually very cozy, and actually helped...regardless of how silly I might have looked. The c-section was painless, and free of discomfort, until they pulled the baby out. Then my right shoulder started to hurt really really bad! The anesthesiologist said it was probably referred uterus pain, but later my doctor thought I probably just got a lot of air in there. Crazy.




When Levi came out, he was crying and wouldn't stop for a long time. It turned out that he had a lot of fluid in his lungs, and his oxygen levels were low, so he got sent to the NICU to be on oxygen.


He was only on oxygen for a few hours, and then he was fine. He was born at 1:08 p.m. and weighed 7 lbs. 4 oz. and they said he was 18 inches long. Later when he was measured in the NICU, he was 19 3/4 inches, and I don't think he grew that long in two days! I think the NICU really liked him and thought he was so cute they wanted to keep him, and wouldn't let him come down to my room...even after he was off the oxygen, off the IV, and eating regularly like a normal newborn. I was supposed to come home Monday, and they were telling us he woldn't go home until Tuesday, which made me sooooo mad! While I was greatful that he was well taken care of, and they were playing things safe, I knew he was just fine, and I wanted my baby with me. It seemed like everyone we talked to told us something different, and so we were very confused,and mislead. I was not happy with the communication efforts, and felt like we were completely out of the loop, and we were merely visitors to this baby, and not his parents.This was an added stress I did not need to deal with while trying to recover from surgery.

We had been told on Saturday that if he was off the IV and eating well, he would probably be able to come to my room Sunday afternoon. I was really hoping this would be the case, since it was Father's Day, and the kids hadn't been to see the baby yet. We gave Logan two full days of being on his antibiotics before we brought him to see the baby. I wanted to spend Father's Day as a family in my room. When i went up Sunday morning to feed Levi, they had just taken him off his IV, and he was eatiing like a champ! I was so hopeful that he could come down! Later that afternoon, when my family came to visit, we talked to the perinatalogist and that was when he dropped the bomb that they wanted to monitor him for two days of eating normal before they sent him home...hence Tuesday, not Monday. I couldn't control my emotions, and cried. Of course, at the end of his conversation, he again mentioned that if he was eating well, then he could possibly come down to my room that night.









My family came and spent Father's Day afternoon visiting Levi for the first time in the NICU, and then hanging out in my room. I did my best to get some pictures of the family, but this was the best we could do. It started to get a little chaotic in the NICU room, and eventually my mom took the kids back down to my room to wait for me to feed Levi then come back down. This is what I found when I got back to my room!



That night came and went, and no one said a thing to me about him being able to come to my room. The next morning, Monday morning, the pediatrician from my kids pediatric office came to check on him, and after looking through his chart, and talking to the nurse in charge, agreed that he was completely fine to go home with me that day! I was so relieved! I knew people had been praying hard, and our prayers had been answered. What a relief! Then the doctor and nurses asked me about him having come to my room the night before, and I told him he didn't. They acted surprised, since word on the street was that he was going to. Well, no one told me a thing, so I missed my chance. Hence the anger at the communication efforts. I was up in the NICU every 3 hours to feed Levi, and no one said a thing to me about it.Hence the irritation about the communication efforts on their behalf. Part of me thinks it was just confusion about what to do since it was the week-end.

Anyway, I was very grateful and relieved that people with some sense came in Monday morning and were willing to let Levi come home with me that afternoon. They were able to get his circumcision done, and we were home by about 4 p.m. Sweet sweet buddy! I feel like I was jipped getting my one on one bonding time in the hospital...as well as any rest. I knew I would be tired in the hospital, but I wasn't expecting the stress of the situation, and that definitely took its toll. For the first few days of being home I felt completely wiped out!I am so glad that Grandma has been here to help entertain the kids, and let me get some much needed rest. I think I will cry when she has to go home today. I have loved having my mom here, and am not sure how I will function when she has gone home. Times like these are when I really miss having family nearby....when I need them most.

We love our new baby boy, and are so grateful he is in our family! When Logan first saw him at the hospital, he said so excitedly " I love him already!" Avery declared "Mine! My baby!" And he is! We are now a family of 5!