WAHOO!

Katie slept through the night last night. She slept from 10:30 pm until 9 am without waking up once! She has never done that since she was born. From 2 to 4 months she would sleep from 10:30 to 4:30 without waking up, and since she turned 4 months she hasn't slept more than 3 hours at a time and that would be a good night if she did three hours.

I still woke up every couple hours just out of habit, and Justin went in around 6:00 to make sure she hadn't died. Hopefully we'll have a repeat.

Last night we had a BBQ with Mary and the kids while Don was at a basketball camp. Then we went to the Spray Park and played in the water. Katie slept most of the time at the Spray Park, and when she woke up and tried out the water, she didn't like it very much. Maybe another time when she's more coherent we'll give it another go.

Memorial Day Weekend

We had such a fun weekend. Paulette, Justin's mom, came to visit and we loved having her here. Our weekend was packed with fun things. First on the list was going to Mesa Falls where we had a picnic lunch and a walk around the falls area. Then we went to Warm River (one of our favorite fishing and camping places) where Justin and Paulette caught a fish each, and I went for a nature walk with Katie strapped into the hiking backpack. Then off to Big Judd's, one of Rexburg's famous restaurants where you can order a one pound burger... We ended the day with ice cream at G's Dairy, our absolute favorite ice cream place.
Sunday, we went to church and then relaxed and chatted.
Monday we made a ginormous breakfast which was absolutely delicious. Gotta love french toast with coconut butter syrup and all the side dishes. Mmmm.... then we headed to Idaho Falls for a quick visit at Mary's then lunch at Johnny Carino's. Katie's little gums were hurting so we gave her a piece of licorice to gnaw on (i don't usually give Katie sweets), and since the licorice was blue she ended up blue too. After lunch, we said goodbye to Paulette as she was heading back that afternoon.
We ended the long weekend with a trip to the Zoo and then smores with friends at Beaver Dick park next to the Henry's Fork River.

Teething Trouble

Katie hit the 6 month mark on the 9th. her milestones have been rolling over, sad attempts at army crawling, and sitting up all on her own, and drum roll please.....she cut her first tooth this week. needless to say we have had sleepless nights and days of nonstop screaming. But it seems like we have survived round one.

Public Health Mom

The other day at Wal Mart I saw the adviser I had for my last two semesters of school. He commented on how he wished there were more opportunities for me to use my degree in this area while Justin finishes school. I don't want to work right now because I think it's great to be a stay at home mom. And the more I thought about it, the more i realized that I do use my degree every day.

I majored in Public Health. Public Health is defined as the practice of improving and protecting health through health promotion, prevention of disease, injury and disability, and preparedness for new health threats. Let's look at some duties of a public health department:
1. the signs in bathrooms that say "Employees must wash their hands before returning to work."
2. restaurant inspections to ensure safe food prep and handling (ie: thawing, sanitizing surfaces, cooked to right temp, etc.)
3. prevention of illness aka swine flu, etc (cough/sneeze into a tissue or into your sleeve)
4. injury prevention (fit and fall proof courses for the elderly, publications on how to child proof your home)
5. mold sampling
6. pest control (insects, rats, mice, etc)
7. vaccination promotion
8. Monitor and control noise pollution
9. Promote healthy food choices
10. Promote physical activity


Now let's look at some of my duties as a mother:
1. I wash my hands about a gazillion times a day between food prep, using the restroom, changing diapers, etc.
2. I wash and sanitize food surfaces, eating utensils, and dishes.
3. I thaw food nearly everyday using appropriate methods
4. I cook food to the right temperatures using my meat thermometer
5. I get rid of mold.
6. I have ant bait, and regularly sweep to deter ant infestations
7. Not only do I have my daughter up to date on her vaccinations, but I know what each vaccination is for, the type of vaccination (toxoid, attentuated, weakened live, dead, etc), and I know what reactions to look for and the risks of getting my child immunized vs not. I also educate others on the importance of vaccinating children and help clear up their concerns.
8. I practice regular injury prevention with Katie now being able to roll over and sit up, etc.
9. I know that with my screaming child my noise exposure sometimes reaches above the permissible limits, and must do something about it to ensure hearing conservation.
10. i try to find recipes including veggies (even though I don't usually like them) and that are low in fat
11. I encourage Justin in his goal to work out, and I myself try to go walking, do sit ups and push ups.


If you ask me, public health was a perfect degree

Maine

My sister Ann and her family are moving to Maine this summer. When I found out they were moving to Maine, I realized that I didn't know much about Maine other than it's supposed to be beautiful, they have lots of lobster, and some of my favorite characters from the movie Gettysburg were from Maine.
So I did some research and here are some fun facts about Maine:

1. Maine produces 99% of all the blueberries in the country making it the single largest producer of blueberries in the United States.
2. 90% of the country's toothpick supply is produced in Maine.
3. The coastline boasts so many deep harbors it is thought all the navies in the world could anchor in them.
4. The State seal has a moose on it.
   
5. Maine has around 5,500 miles of gorgeous coastlines and about 2000 islands.

A New Niece

Linay Mary Ostler (I think that's how they are going to spell it) was born this morning so I have a new niece. I don't really remember all the details so you'll have to talk to Mary for those, but she's a cutie.
Emma and Ethan were a little disappointed not to have a brother, but once they saw the little girl, they loved her and said she was a keeper.
Mom was pretty proud that this was grandchild #21. Ainsley said of the new little bundle, "Her so cute."
By the way, Ainsley fractured her tibia so she has a cast on for a few weeks...poor little thing is tired of wearing a cast. She doesn't really have pain anymore, but she asks "when is the little girl going to get better?" and she is always telling Mary, "My leg is better. we can cut the cast off now. " Toni bought her some stickers to put on it. That made her feel a little better about it, but a half hour later we found Katie with her back plastered with stickers and Ainsley's cast clear of them. When asked where her stickers went, she said "I gave them to Katie."