Fowler Fam

Super Hero's to the rescue

2011-10-01T18:00:00.000-07:00

It's been one of THOSE days. You know, you think that you are doing so well and are going to fit everything in, then CRASH, BANG, &#!?)!! it all falls apart. Now I am back at home writing this laughing my head off at all the embarrasment, and thankful to the ladies that came to my rescue.

So lets see, today started off AMAZING. I got to listen to conference. I had it blaring throughout the house while I deep cleaned by stove and finally cleaned those pesky lids on my spice rack that were covered with grease. Re-arranged the kitchen counters a bit and listened to some amazing talks. My favorite was President Uchtdorf's talk. I took from it, in the matters of the universe, I might be small and meaningless. But I mean everything to HIM, my heavenly father. Thats a good feeling.

So after the morning session of conference. Cooper, my 8 month old settled in for a long nap. So I took the chance to go outside and paint the trim on our house. It worked out perfectly. I love the color (dark dark blue) and Cooper woke up right when I finished. JJ got to play outside. Perfect.

So then Lunch time, kids were great. They both ate which was a feat for JJ lately. So I settled in to watch the second session of conference. JJ went down for a nap so I could just sit, listen, and fold laundry. Another perfect 2 hours.

BJ got home around 3:30 as we were lucky and he was invited to help out and work on a construction project to earn a little extra moolah. So I figured, I better make my store run with the truck (single vehicle family) before he needed it to get to the priesthood session at the church at 5:00. So I got Cooper dressed (JJ stayed home with daddy) and we headed out to the store. I got to the store at 4:10 (I had 35 minutes to get home, doing good). Got everything I needed, I was doing good on time, it was 4:30, still had 15 minutes. Made it to the cash register, 3/4 of the way through ringing up the food guess what I discover. MY WALLET WAS NOT IN MY PURSE! Haha, of course, it was sitting right on top of the desk where I left it this morning when I got out my insurance card to copy. Here is where my first super hero entered. The cashier calmly said, "Don't worry, we can just set it in the back for you if you would like and you can come back and get it. How long will it take you?" So in my head I am calculating having to go home, get JJ and drop BJ off at the church and then come back, with both kids this time. I told her it would be around 5:15. "Ok, she said, I'm off at 5:00 so when you come back just go over to Teresa on aisle three and she will get you taken care of." Then she went and told Teresa the situation and got me all taken care of. Wasn't that nice! I am sure they deal with this often, but it was my first time and I was incredibly embarrased. But she made it soooo easy.

So back home I went, and made it in time to get JJ dressed (yes, he was still in his pajamas. LOL), kids reloaded in the truck and BJ dropped off at the church at 5:05. That was as close as we could make it. Then back to the store I go. This time with 2 kids. I park in the parking lot and have to load one kid on each hip, because I left my ring sling for Cooper at the house and JJ will not hold my hand. So I'm quite a site carrying two kids at a time. Of course I could have gotten a cart, but then what would I do? I already had a cart loaded up with groceries inside! hahaha. OH My. Now of course, here comes the tricky part, right inside the store are the 25 cent candy machines. Of course JJ see's them. I figure, hey, I need him to be quiet for a few minutes so I give in and get him a Bubblegum. BAD DECISION! It does quiet him up and he obeys me and we go back to aisle three where Teresa see's me in the line and asks the bagger to go get my cart. So Nice! When I get up there, they have it all ready for me and I pay and get ready to go. Teresa, (My second super hero) asks if JJ can have a sticker. I say sure. She picks out a hippo and gives it to him. Now here is where the bubble gum comes in. Right after getting the sticker, JJ throws up. Right in the middle of the checkout lane. He was laughing at the hippo and choked on the bubble gum. I still have Cooper on my hip (who has a stinky diaper) and I'm trying to keep JJ out of the throw up and he is crying. Now comes two more super heros with paper towels, garbage bin, and cleaner. Now I am really really embarrased. Not only did I forget my wallet, but my kid threw up in the store. I am apologizing like crazy, and Teresa says, "Don't worry, we all have kids and have been in your situation before. Its ok, we'll handle it."

SOOOOO NICE!!! One of the ladies even pushed my cart out to the truck. Which is good because at this point, who knows what else I would have managed to mess up. JJ even got a new Hippo sticker and the cutest thing happened. When I was putting him in his car seat in the truck, he points to the sticker and says "Hippo" and makes a sound, that surprisingly sounds like a hippo. Where the heck did he learn that!?

So all in all, it turned out ok. But definitely embarrasing in the moment. I am just thankful to those wonderful ladies at Super One who made it not so embarrasing and helped me keep my composure enough to make it back home. Thank You for helpful strangers! A little kindness sure goes a long way!!

Anywho, I'm off again. Got to go pick up BJ.

Christmas Time Photo Catch-up

2010-03-02T09:44:00.001-08:00

So I just realized that we never posted any of our Photos from JJ’s first Christmas and a few other events in December. I am going to try out a new layout for pictures. It groups them into photo albums. I am not sure how it will turn out, but hopefully you will still be able to see all the pictures.

First up is a few pictures from Rick & Nick’s (BJ’s brother in law & Brother) family birthday party…

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BJ and I had a bit of fun decorating the cake. Since Nick is in the National Guard the camo was for him. While the animals and trees are for Rick since he likes to hunt. Personally I think the anteater animal is a bit too creepy for my liking.

Next up snow pictures from one of BJ’s trips to Schweitzer Mountain…

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A few days before Christmas Santa also made a stop over at Aunt Missy Caudle’s house. This was the second time that JJ saw Santa, unfortunately each visit had the same result…JJ crying. He is still pretty adorable though.

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I think that about brings us to Christmas Morning. We were living with BJ’s parents at that time which was really nice as it sure made Christmas morning fun. Uncle Nick was also there. JJ didn’t really know what to do with his presents. So BJ and I had to unwrap them all. He did learn a new trick though he would clap his hands and yell…YAY! After each present. It was really cute.

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JJ and cousin Joey Christmas Afternoon. They are such cuties.

BJ thinking its funny to cover me with anything and everything available while I take a Sunday nap. Stinker. It was actually pretty comfy as I was finally warm with the pillows and blankets over me.

I think that brings us up to the present time. Christmas was a lot of fun. JJ actually did pretty good not playing with the Christmas tree. Every time he got close to it we would say no and he would know he was in trouble. The smaller tree downstairs at the parents, however, was an entirely different story. He pulled that one down on him twice, crying each time. Silly kid. He is always good for entertainment.

Pics of our New House

2010-02-21T15:22:00.001-08:00

So I am finally posting pictures of our new house that we bought. We are excited to join the homeowner category. I am sure that this excitement will wear off in April when we start paying the mortgage! So for those that are far away and won’t be able to see our new home, please enjoy the pictures of our humble abode.

Front Yard

Living room

Living Room/Hallway to Master Bed

Master Bedroom – We LOVE the tall ceilings

Closet & Master Bath off of Master Bedroom

Above pic is taken from Living Room Looking into Kitchen/Dining

Dining Room

The office

JJ’s Room!

JJ had just waken up from his nap. Cute fella

Laundry Room / Entrance to Garage

These shelves were a housewarming gift from BJ’s brother Casey. I do believe he made them himself. Thanks Casey!!!

The garage/BJ’s workshop/playhouse

The back yard

View from the back yard. We are really lucky with this view. The picture doesn’t really do it justice. Canfield Mountain looks a lot bigger than it is in the photo. Behind the fence if farmland. There are a still a few big farm fields mixed into the suburbs here. Its kinda refreshing and nice. We will see what they plant in the spring.

So that is our home. I missed a picture of the kitchen apparently. I took one, it just didn’t make it into the camera. All well. We feel incredibly blessed to be able to get our own home and one as nice as this. Cant’ wait until we get to paint! Just remind me that I said that when we are painting and I am complaining of having to paint walls.

Hope everyone is doing well wherever you are. We wish you well and miss you all!

Amanda Fowler’s Baby Shower – Better Late than Never Right?

2010-02-17T22:10:00.001-08:00

So below I am going to be posting the pics that I took at Amanda’s baby shower for the twins. Sorry I am so late getting these up. The shower was several months ago. Hope you enjoy…

Ok these next few photos are where we played the game titled “How Prego Can You Go” We split up into two teams who had to blow up balloons and stuff as many as possible into the “preggo” persons clothes. I was told afterwards that the balloons I picked were pretty hard to blow up. Sorry guys! By the way Tami and Missy are really sporting those balloons quite well.

The next photos are from the game where people teamed up into pairs and tried to write their own words to the Oreo Jingle song. There were some really funny ones. I wish I could have video’d them to post, but BJ is the video guru not me and he was in class that night :(.

The next few photos are of Amanda’s insane but much needed present stash. That tub in the picture was full of clothes given to her by her mother and I believe her Grandma (I hope I didn’t get that wrong) She got so many cute outfits and handy stuff. Those twins are sure to be dressed pretty stylish.

So that's all I got folks. It was a fun night and I am so glad that Amanda, Jeff, and Brenton were able to come down and visit with us. It was fun having them around for a bit. Poor Brenton had just had his tonsils out that week so he was a bit under the weather. I am jealous of all the popsicles he got to eat though. JJ sure had fun with his uncle Jeff. He now loves the voice of Donald Duck. I bet the twins first laughs and giggles will be caused by his funny Donald Duck impersonations. Amanda and Jeff are so cute together, they make a great team. So glad they were able to find each other.

A few Pics of JJ

2010-02-17T21:46:00.001-08:00

JJ relaxin before eating at Grandma Fowlers

I took this photo with my phone so it is a bit fuzzy but it cracks me up. It looks like he is posing for the camera like you would see in a professional photo. The little stinker.

We’re All Moved In!

2010-02-16T21:05:00.001-08:00

Wow, can’t believe that we bought a house. We’ve been in for about 2 weeks now. We have found just a few kinks, like the ceiling fan in the living room that won’t work. Well the lights work, but we can’t seem to get the fan mechanism to turn on. We turned the coat closet in the laundry room into a much needed pantry closet and need to finish caulking the tile around the kitchen counters. But that is all we have found so far. I think that is pretty good! We are loving the house and are trying to figure out painting colors for once we get our tax return. HMMM, maybe I should focus more on actually getting our taxes done first.

Other great news – JJ is walking. He is so cute. He will get about 4-5 steps in and then get so excited with himself that he falls on his behind. He has had some really good walking stints where he makes it about 20 feet, but that has only happened a few times. I still haven’t figured out how to get videos from my phone on here so that you can see it. I think BJ will have to take them on his phone as my video format on my phone is different than what I need. JJ is going to be turning 11 months in another week. I can’t believe that he is almost a year old! He is also getting very vocal. He has to eat everything on his own and hates if I give him bites of food, unless they are marshmallows from my off brand lucky charms cereal. Aren’t I a good mom, filling my kid up with sugar in the morning. At least I am sharing right?! JJ loves his new home, but is missing the grandparents. Previously we were staying with BJ’s parents, so JJ had a bunch of admirers and attention. Now whenever they visit he gets all giggly and gets a big smile on his face. It is really cute. He was showing off for Grandma Fowler earlier today when she stopped by. He is such a cute little boy. I love being a mom.

My job is also changing up a bit. I am working for a DME company and have been challenging all of their denials from the insurance companies. I have to appeal the denials. As of March 1st we will now be switching from 1 biller to 3. They are hiring on another biller and switching my job up a bit. Instead of me doing all the appeals for all of the locations around the US, I will be doing the billing/appeals for the Fife location. Each biller will get a location or two (depending on the volume of sales from each location) and will handle all the billing and appeals for those locations. So I am excited for the change. Now I won’t get too depressed from dealing with messed up files all day every day and will get to do some regular work to get my mind off it now and then.

So that is all our news these past few weeks. We will try to get some pics of JJ and the house up soon. I wanted to wait until I got some decorations up on the wall so since that is now done I have no excuse. BJ is here complaining that he didn’t get his own paragraph about what is new with him so I guess I can say that he is getting his building/handyman skills up to par. He is the one that built our pantry shelves and installed our bed frame tonight. He even cooked dinner tonight. Aren’t I lucky! He has been working hard with classes on Tuesday and Thursday nights and working at the spa cover place full time. He also has two websites that he is working on designing (designed by jeebs grafx). He is such a hard worker.

Countdown to Moving Day

2010-02-02T20:39:00.001-08:00

We were able to walk thru the house tonight. The renters are out and they cleaned it immaculately. That’s great news as now I don’t have to worry about cleaning it when we move in. We will definitely have to do some painting as there are some nice big screw holes in the walls. At least they patched them up nicely, but they need some paint. We will probably hold off on that for a bit until we can decide what colors we want though.

BJ says he has already started his idea “log” for things he wants to do to the place. He is so funny. I am excited to move, but not exited to say good bye to our Savings account or to sign all those papers tomorrow. All well, can’t get something for nothing.

JJ was interesting today. He was very whiney. I am wondering if he is teething again. He had a busy day. Playing with my computer plug-in again, ripping off the binding on one of the grandparents books, pouring out some lighter fluid from the pantry, slamming cabinet doors on his hands and saying “owww”. That last one unfortunately was pretty cute. I’ll try to upload the video from my cell phone.

What a way to end the workweek!

2010-01-16T10:23:00.001-08:00

So we got good news today. Our bank is ready to finance the loan as of the 26th of January. The renters that currently reside in the house though won’t be out until the 30th. So that means that we are closing on the 3rd of February and should get the keys no later than Friday the 5th. HOOORAY!!!!

BJ and I can’t wait to get moved back into town. All this driving back and forth from the parents to work is too much! It literally takes 2 hours out of your day. I know some of you city living folks will say that spending that amount of time in your car is just a way of life. But there is a reason we don’t live in the big cities. If we did, we would probably have serious cases of road rage and our Psychiatrists would force us to move back to the rural country where you can get to the closest grocery store in 15 minutes not an hour. Oh, I can’t wait.

I also am testing JJ to see how smart he is. He likes to play with the toilet paper dispenser in the bathroom. He turns it and turns it till there is a big pile on the floor. I finally got tired of it today and realized that he only turns the roll one direction. So I took the dispenser rod and flipped it around. So now when he rolls it, it keeps it the paper wrapped up instead of unrolling it. This will be a real test of his brains, I am waiting to see how long it takes for him to figure out all he has to do is roll it the other way. It is one of those circumstances that I hope that he doesn’t figure it out, simply for my own nerves. But secretly I hope that he does because that will mean that he is a smart kid.

BJ has been busy this week making a video for Cedar MT Spa Covers. It is something that they can burn onto a DVD and send out to all their customers to give them an overview of their products, quality of materials, and educate them on how to fill out an order form correctly and order online. We just watched it. It’s really cool. He did an excellent job. He is also busy designing a website for a friend of ours. I am sure he is getting tired of working all day at his normal job and then coming home and working on his design/video projects. Combine that with his night web design courses on Tuesday and Thursday, he doesn’t get to play very much. Poor fella. Can’t wait till someday his design business is busy enough that he doesn’t have to do both jobs. Maybe it will even be busy enough that I don’t have to work. A girl can dream. I have faith that it will happen though. He is determined enough to make it work.

Loves to all the family & friends – we miss those that are far away!

Summer Lake Fun - 2009

2010-01-14T19:50:00.001-08:00

BJ getting some air on the wakeboard

JJ’s first boating trip. Thanks to friend Lizzy for lending the cute hat. He slept for about 3 1/2 hours on that boat.

JJ & Mommy playing at Tubbs Hill. BJ is off swimming in the cold water.

Daddy snorkeling at Tubbs Hill. He is crazy as that water was freezing!

Daddy being silly. Showing off his muscles climbing rocks over at Tubbs Hill.

Look at that Tummy!

BJ & his brother Casey checking out Lake Coeur d’Alene

Janalee trying her luck Wake Surfing.

Aunt Missy & Little JJ

JJ playing with Aunt Missy's Kittens

More Pics from Summer

2010-01-14T19:35:00.001-08:00

This was taken at Lake Wallowa over in Oregon over the 4th of July

My little sweet boy, Laying in the Grass at Lake Wallowa – 3 1/2 Months Old.

Look Mom – I can eat my hands! – 3 1/2 Months

JJ and Uncle John taken at Lake Wallowa – 4th of July

JJ’s first Razor Scooter Ride. He’s pimped out for it, but not liking it much!

Rest Stop on the way home from Lake Wallowa. JJ & Daddy

The Perry family – 4th of July 2009 – Lake Wallowa State Park

Joshua Jay Fowler Pictures

2010-01-14T19:26:00.001-08:00

Catchup - June 2009 through January 2010

2010-01-14T18:20:00.001-08:00

Ok, so I have made a resolution to try and keep our blog up to date. I decided that I have also been horrible this past year at writing in my journal. So I have decided to use this as my journal and figure out how to print them out and put them into a journal each year. So we will see how long this lasts. One month, two months, hopefully I can keep it up all year. So the last blog was back in May. So I have to update you on the past what – 7 months!

June – This was a fun month. The weather was finally starting to turn warm and our little family had lots of trips to the lake. We also traveled down to Glenns Ferry (my hometown) for my 10 year High School Reunion. It was a lot of fun seeing everyone again after 10 years. It was cool to see how people have changed and how some people hadn’t. Ha ha. Some of my family were also in town so I was able to spend some time with them as well. I am sure BJ was bored several times that trip, but he was a great sport.

July – This month was family reunion month for the Perry family. We all traveled over to Lake Wallowa State Park in Oregon. We spent 3 nights there over the 4th of July. The weather didn’t really cooperate with us as it had rain storms each day, but we did get some nice sun too. We had fun at the lake thanks to my brother in law Bret and his boat. Some of the family went on a tram ride up into the mountains and others even rode horses. It was fun to camp in tents and gather round the warm campfire. JJ did a great job and didn’t put up a hassle at all. It was great.

August – I think this month brought a lot of fun at the lake. BJ has a few friends that own boats and so he goes wakeboarding a lot. Many times it is at 5:00 am. Crazy kid. JJ and I were able to go a few times as well. We have found that JJ loves boats. The sound of the engine puts him to sleep. I just love the feeling of the sun.

September – BJ went back to school for his last semester at the end of this month. We also moved in with BJ’s parents out in Athol. The company I was working for went out of business and with BJ in school for just a few more months we didn’t want to get tied into a lease. Plus I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to find anther job. Luckily a few weeks after we moved I started a new job at Scooters America. They provide power mobility (wheelchairs) to people. My job is to handle their appeals when an insurance company denies coverage of an item. Unfortunately it also came with about a 40% pay cut. Better than nothing though.

October – For Halloween JJ dressed up as Super Man. It was great, he makes an awesome superman. When you hold him up in the air he makes his body rigid and looks like he is flying. It was very cute. I would post pictures but BJ accidentally deleted them from the camera.

November – Thanksgiving was great this year. We went to BJ’s sister Missy’s place. You gotta love a holiday that gives you a reason to eat so much food. It was delicious! BJ and I decided to look into buying a house once he is done with school so we started looking.

December – Christmas was a lot of fun this year. We spent it at BJ’s parents. JJ had fun banging at the presents. He didn’t know that he was supposed to unwrap them. He had fun playing with the paper and boxes after the presents were unwrapped though. We put an offer on a house in Hayden. It is a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom 1150 sq ft house. Rancher style that was built in 2005. We are really excited about it.

January – Although BJ is technically graduated with his Associates of Applied Science in Graphic Design, he decided to go back to school to take one more class. The added a another web design class to the program and we both thought it would be good for him to take it. So he has classes Tuesday and Thursday night. Our home offer was also accepted and we should be closing on that at the beginning of February.

So that should bring us up to date. Hopefully from now on I can update it at least once a week. Wish me luck!

JJ's first Bath

2009-05-12T21:31:00.000-07:00

So here are pictures of Joshua's first bath. The poor fella cried through the entire thing. It is funny, he hates sponge baths, but LOVES the little bath tub that we got him. Now he smiles through the entire thing.

JJ's First Outing

2009-05-12T21:29:00.000-07:00

So JJ was born on Saturday and on Tuesday he had his first outing. After being cooped up at home for three days, we went on an adventure. A walk at Higgins Point. We decided it was BJ's turn to look pregnant so we put JJ in his little Baby Bjorn and wrapped him up good and covered the whole thing with a blanket - viola! BJ had a pregant belly.

In the Hospital

2009-05-12T21:23:00.000-07:00

Here's Joshua

2009-05-12T21:20:00.000-07:00

Ready or Not Here comes Baby!

2009-05-12T21:16:00.000-07:00

So here I am on Friday, March 20th, my due date, feeling miserable and thinking that this baby is never coming out. Well what do you know,that night at 11:00 pm as I laid down to bed, I had my first contraction. Twenty minutes later, I had another one. BJ is sleeping at this point, so I just lay there in bed waiting to see if they continue. At 12:30am the contractions are now 10 minutes apart and are getting quite painful. So I finish packing my hospital bag. I wake up BJ at 1:30am because they were then between 5-10 minutes apart and I couldn't time them myself anymore. We call Labor and Deliery at 2:30 and they say to see if we can wait a few more hours until they reach between 3-5 minutes apart. So BJ packs his bag and takes a shower. At 4:30am we decide to go because they are 5 minutes apart and closer if I am up and walking around. That was when this picture was taken.

We check into the hospital and were lucky that a lady from our ward Liz was a nurse on shift. I was really nervous as I have never been in the hospital before so it was really nice to be around someone I knew. She was great. The contractions slowed down a bit and I was only 3 cm dialated (only 1 centimeter more than 2 days before). So we tried walking around, but that was really painful and I was so tired, next we tried the jacuzzi tub. That was really nice. When I was checked around 8 am I had progressed to 4 cm and decided to go ahead and get an epidural. I was starting to feel pretty nauseous so we ordered some breakfast. Unfortunately, after eating it, I threw it up. But hey - I lost my mucus plug at the same time- haha. I received the epidural around 10am and the dr came around 11 am and broke my water. I didn't feel a thing. My epidural was so strong, it was great. I couldn't tell one bit if I was having a contraction. My leg fell off the bed at one point and that was interesting. I had to have the nurse put it back up. Luckily I finally got a few hours of sleep. When they checked me around 2:00 - I think- I was almost completely dialated. I think I started pushing about 30 minutes after that.

I first thought I would only have the Dr's and nurses and BJ in the room with me. But I was really nauseous and decided heck with that. Bobbie - BJ's mom was great and stayed in the room to help me out. So in the end I had BJ, Bobbie, and Holly a high school girl that was job shadowing the labor nurses that day in the room with me. The labor went pretty well. I was nauseous through the entire thing and was throwing up in between pushing. There was one point where I went to push and almost passed out I got so dizzy and the room started spinning and going black. They gave me oxygen between pushing so that helped. Then at 4:12 pm, little Joshua Jay Fowler was born. He was 8 pounds 8 ounces and 19.25 inches long. They put him right up on my chest (where he pee'd and pooped on me - of course). He was beautiful, so perfect, and so worth everything.

Once my epidural wore off (about 2 hours) we moved to a regular recovery room. Recovery went ok. They almost put my catheter back in, but about 30 minutes befor it was scheduled I was able to drain my bladder so they didn't have to. I was able to eat a little bit that night which made me feel a lot better too. Little Joshua did so well. He got a bit cold so we snuggled up to each other for the entire night that first night. We actually left the hospital 24 hours after delivery on Sunday around 5:00pm. My mom, Janae was able to travel up to help me for a week, which was GREAT. We were so lucky to have everything work out so well. Joshua is and was completely healthy and there weren't any complications with anything. We definitely count our blessings.

Preggo Belly

2009-04-01T21:09:00.000-07:00

So here is a picture of my pregnant belly. Sorry, this is the best that you get. I hid from any camera possible while I was pregnant. This was taken at Casey & Tami Fowler's wedding on March 6th. So that was about 2 weeks before my due date of the 20th.

Monster Jam - Feb 09

2009-04-01T21:02:00.000-07:00

So to keep our winter boredom at bay BJ, Janalee, Rick & Missy, Casey & Tami, and Tami's parents and sister all went off to see Monster Jam in Spokane. It was awesome as always. Janalee wore earplugs while BJ and Casey screamed their heads off at the loud trucks. Their favorite was Captain America who was 10 times louder than the rest of them. It was all pretty sweet. Except for the stupid robots that came out during intermission times. They were kind of boring, but designed to entertain the kiddos. All in all it was a fun night. I was hoping that the noise from the trucks would send me into early labor, but had no such luck.

Winter Snow Storm

2009-04-01T20:24:00.000-07:00

So here is one picture of all the snow that hit us. This is only about half of the snow that actually fell in December. But I don't have any pictures downloaded to my computer yet of the full effect. we had over 3 feet of snow within 72 hours! We still have a pile of snow in our yard that is about 2 feet tall from where we shoveled our roof off. It was amazing. The poor snow plows were running for weeks and still couldn't get caught up because it kept falling. All of our roads were single lane roads because the snow berms were piled up so high on the sides of the roads. For those of us driving small cars, like me, I couldn't even see oncoming traffic when pulling out of parking lots because of the snow berms. So thank goodness it has all melted!

Our Christmas Tree

2009-03-14T21:45:00.000-07:00

We went out and bought a live Christmas Tree this year. It was so nice to have the house smell like a live tree. We kept it up until New Year, then BJ with his ingenuity took it and put it in our front yard in all the snow. Since we don't have any trees in our front yard, it was pretty cool. Until it started turning brown and losing all its needles. Then it had to go. Instead of getting rid of it the proper way, BJ had a funny situation with his boss where his boss stuck his Christmas tree in BJ's truck. So in retaliation, he took our Christmas tree and his Christmas tree back about a week later and stuck it in his boss's truck. He he he.

Our Christmas Lights

2009-03-14T21:41:00.000-07:00

So here is a picture of our house all decorated with Christmas lights. Of course we kind of forgot to turn off the light upstairs, but you get the general idea. Poor BJ had to hang the ones from the peak of the roof by climbing up on the roof and bending over the edge of the roof. He did a great job.

Christmas Preggie Photo

2009-03-14T21:38:00.000-07:00

Okay, everyone far away wanted to see a picture of me pregnant, well, this one was taken right before Christmas when I was about 7 months pregnant. My belly is much bigger now I will have some more pics up soon because everyone wants to see some belly pics too.

2009-03-14T21:34:00.000-07:00

So I couldn't help but post these pictures. I am not sure when BJ took them or why. They make him look like a worm, kinda freaky don't you think?

2009-03-14T21:32:00.000-07:00

Here is another picture that BJ did for his photography class. All I got to say is don't mess with a hormonal pregnant woman! She might just eat you!

2009-03-14T21:30:00.000-07:00

These pictures were taken on Halloween for one of BJ's projects in school. Looking at it, I just can't help but laugh, but am glad that I didn't have to get covered up with the leaves. Just think of all the creepy crawly things that might be hiding in there! EWWW

The Great Pumpkins!

2009-03-14T21:20:00.000-07:00

So here are our pumpkins that we carved this year for Halloween. We had a little help with John & Maggie Green who came over and carved two of them. Janalee's pumpkin ins't pictured as she takes too long carving pumpkins :)

The Verdict

2008-12-08T10:28:00.000-08:00

Well, when I got home on Thursday night, I was the first one home. BJ was still at work and wouldn't get home for another 1/2 hour. Guess what I found...The door locked. Now it was unlocked when we left this morning. So the Management company locked it after leaving the keys inside the house. Wasn't that nice of them! Let see, the house was unlocked when I got here, the owners only have one keys to the house which is why i am bringing them copies...Lets lock the door with the keys inside! GRRR. So I sat in my car until BJ got home.

They took the remote with them and left us a note saying that they will be back to finish the remote and the carpet. So all they did was drop off the keys and lock the door on us. So ya, I would say that they failed the test. But luckily they did drop off the right keys! Now we can wait and see how long it takes them before they come back to give us the opener and the keys. Probably not until the new year.

The Management Company Test

2008-12-04T10:02:00.000-08:00

Ok, so we have lived at our new rental House for about 5 weeks now, and it seems like our Management company has developed a disease that makes their brains function at the level of a 3 year old, maybe even less. Our current Management company is the same management company that we had for our previous place of residence, so we have over a year of history with them. We never complained at our old place, even though they moved in 4 college students who like to party and spoke pot into a duplex filled with families and kids. Or that they took our water nozzles outside our duplex and put locks on them so that no one could access the water. Still we never complained. Now however, it has just been too much. So here is the current story and timeline. The test is to see if they solve the problem this week.

We moved in on October 25th and were given one set of keys, one programmed garage remote, and one garage remote that needed programmed (there are three of us living there, BJ, Casey, and I so more sets were needed). I go to Home Depot and get key copies...key copies don't work. Go back to Home Depot to have them redone, The brilliant technician keys the good key to the bad keys. Now none of our keys work. Yay! I have to travel to the neighboring town of Post Falls to go to the management office to get new keys. I have to pay an additional key deposit as well as $3 a key. Sweet - our keys work! We also have a garage remote that works, but the other one won't program (we are guessing that they gave us one with a dead battery)

About 3 weeks later BJ gets a phone call from D & M Management Company saying that they are coming out the next day to change our locks. Wait, What, Why!? So I give them a call. Apparently our locks weren't changed from the last tenants before we moved in, so the previous tenants could still have a key to our house and could gain access. My thoughts - wow, that would have been a great thing to be aware of when moving into the house in the first place. So I inform them about our key situation and the fact that we paid them extra deposits and money for key copies so to make sure that when they change the locks to bring 3 good key copies with them. Also we talked about the other maintenance items that needed done, the garage remote, our toilet, and some carpet needed tacked down. The lady said she would have them all taken care of at the same time (I had to rig our upstairs bathroom toilet with yarn for 3 weeks to get it to flush!)

So the next day they come out, Bj is home sick and not really aware of what is going on. Later on in the day after they left, he notices that there in one key on the table. Thats right, one not three. So he calls me up and I tell him to call D & M and see what can be done. This is a Friday right before Thanksgiving week. Aparently they will be gone all next week so if we want key copies he will have to go get them. Good thing he was sick as otherwise we would both be at work and wouldn't be able to. So he goes out to Post Falls again and gets key copies. Unfortunately we find out later that night when we are both home, that the copies are bad. They are of the old locks and don't work. BRILLIANT. Now we can't lock our house again for another week until they get back to the office after the holidays. Not to mention the fact that they didn't program the remote or tack down the carpet. Luckily though, the toilet was fixed.

So that brings us up to the current week. I called and explained the situation to one of the office staff and she says, Well I can't help you with the keys but I can put in a maintenance request for the other items. Are you Serious?! So she says she will have the office manager call me back. Never Happens. I call the next day, and request the office manager, explain the situation. She apologizes and says she will make a maintenance order for the following day and make sure that he brings two more key copies with him for the doors. I am thinking - thank you - was that really so hard!

So the test is today. They are scheduled to come out either today or tomorrow to fix the remote, the carpet, and leave us key copies. So anyone want to bet whether or not they will get it right this time? I am betting that something will go wrong and at least one of the items will not get completed, whether the keys are still bad or he doesn't program the remote. What do you think?

2008-11-01T21:27:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of our cute little baby boy. You heard me right, it is a boy. We had our 20 week Ultrasound this past Monday. Since we moved, this is the first time I have been able to sit down and post a picture. We had to wait for our Internet to be transfered.

So it is really exciting. A Boy, I knew it was a boy. BJ and I have been calling it a him and a he from the beginning. I was hoping it might be a girl, but for some reason that morning when it really hit me that we were going to find out what we were having, I didn't feel like I wanted a girl anymore. I kind of felt like I would be disappointed if it wasn't a boy. So now BJ and I just have to agree on a name! I think it is going to be harder than I thought to agree. Everything went well though, he is healthy and everything looked good. He was dead asleep though and set on not moving a muscle while the ultrasound wand was on him. The lady made me get up and move around a bit to see if we could wake him up. When she started looking at him again with the wand he had completely flipped around and was facing my spine so all we could see what his cute butt. LOL. He still wouldn't move again after that so we had to give up. She took pictures of everything she needed though and checked and said everything looked good. So that was a blessing and a relief.

We're Moving into a House!!

2008-10-08T19:36:00.000-07:00

So we got good news today. We are going to move out of our duplex apartment that we are renting and move into a four bedroom two bathroom house. We aren't buying it, just renting again, but it is only $100 more than our current place. That way we don't have to deal with the neighbors. They have been really quiet lately though, but this way we get a lawn and no one is directly attached to us.

We are way excited. So how did this come to be???? Good question. Well earlier this week we found out that our lease was up at the end of the month. I thought it reverted to a month to month lease, but was wrong. We would have to sign up for another year! They said we might be able to get special permission for a 6 month lease, but that would expire right after the baby was born and I didn't want to deal with moving right then. The other issue was that work had been talking about maybe letting me work from home and just "renting" an office from me out of my home. In other words they would pay for part of my rent. The only problem there is that our office lease is up at the end of March 2009. If we were able to sign up for another 6 months our apartment lease would end April 2009. So either way the lease dates didn't match up and it would solve the problem of how to work from home around the time the baby is born. So in the end they agreed that if we found a place now that would have an extra room for me to work out of next year then they would be willing to pay part of it starting now.

So here is the deal we struck... For now they will pay $200 of our rent and then when the baby is born and Casey (BJ's brother) moves out and I start working from home, they will pay $450. Thats awesome since rent is only $900. So in the end I get to be a sort of Stay at Home Mom! Awesome huh. Only I still get the career - LOL. It will be interesting to see how it all works out, but we are way excited.

I also had by 3rd Dr's appointment today. He says that everything looks great and I am right on schedule. I got to hear the heartbeat again, it was 150 beats per minute, he said that was good. I am showing just a bit, but not too much yet. I haven't really "popped out" as they say, but it will come soon. We also scheduled our ultrasound where we get to find out if we are having a boy or a girl for 3 weeks from now. October 29th! That will be a busy week since it is also the week we are moving.

So all in all it was an exciting day. On a more scary note, Bj had a meeting at The CDA press. That is one of the places where he is currently working. Apparently, they decided to pre-warn everyone that they are a bit worried with the economy. If it keeps heading south, then the first thing businesses start to cut is their advertising dollars. As a result, CDA Press would have to lay off people, and the first to go would be the interns. That would be BJ. Hopefully that doesn't happen, but I know if it does, we will find a way. He still works at Cedar Mt Spa Covers as well who keep asking him to come back and work more hours, so at least there is that option. Just in case though, that is one reason we picked the house we did. It was the best bang for your buck rental. There were a couple other options but they were a few hundred dollars more, so we decided it wouldn't be a good idea.

So that is our news as of today. They are calling for snow this week, but I doubt we will see any down here in town, just up in the hills if it even happens.

Hope everyone is well - we love you and miss you all!

Janalee

Kit Kat

2008-10-03T22:20:00.000-07:00

So BJ wanted to make sure that a picture of our current Baby made it on here. So here he is. Our little tyke Kit Kat. He loves to jump and play and try to make as loud a noise as he can from his tail pipe. Yup sounds like a male to me. LOL. I thought the picture of BJ modeling the red helmet was just too good not to post.

Q'emlin Park Photos

2008-10-03T22:16:00.000-07:00

This was our trip to Q'emlin Park in Post Falls. This small fork of the river there is beautiful in the early summer/spring. The rapids get HUGE! I'll have to post some current pictures so you get an idea of the difference. Right now this fork of the river is made up of just small puddles in between the rocks.

Crazy Weekend

2008-09-22T10:32:00.000-07:00

Wow, well this weekend was productive and crazy. It all started on Friday night with our neighbors partying it up as usual. It was weird as this was the first night in a long time that I actually konked out for the entire night! I mean, no getting up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, nothing. I even slept through the neighbors partying, (BJ not so lucky) and then I even woke up at 7:30 in the morning wide awake! Amazing what a good nights sleep can do.

BJ being the crazy kid he is, decided to make a bunch of noise in the garage that morning trying to get back at the partying neighbors. So we decided to start cleaning out the garage at 7:30 am. We organized things to sell on craigslist, threw away a bunch of stuff and made a thrift shop pile. Then of course there was the 4-wheeler, that had to be moved (hence started up and made a LOT of noise) to make room for our organizing. LOL. I'm sure they loved that, then again they were probably too drunk to even hear it. We finished that by 9:30 in the morning and were at a loss of what to do, except for the 5 boxes that we had moved inside the house. Now the inside of the house looked messier than the garage! So we spent the rest of the morning organizing the boxes and putting it away. BJ ran into two Mini-DV tapes that he had recorded from when he was on his mission in Japan. Those were fun to watch.

Then we went out and Janalee bought her first bunch of maternity clothes. Wow - they are so much more comfortable than regular clothes. But still - why can't they make cute maternity pants. I mean - just because we are fat, doesn't mean we don't want to look cute! Hardly any of them had cute pockets or were faded in the appropriate spots to make you look thinner. It was aggravating. Luckily the one cute pair that I found actually did fit me (although, still pretty big, they will work for a while).

Other news - BJ got a new calling this Sunday. He is now the Young Mens First Councellor. We were scared at first that when they reorganized it he might be taken out of the Young Mens, but are so glad they kept him in. He enjoys it so much. Still no news on a co-teacher for me though. I think I am going to loose my mind :).

Oh - I forgot the best part though - Saturday night.... Janalee told off the neighbors. Ya, so this time, BJ was konked out, and they started up their ping pong ball championship in the garage again, so Janalee, hops out of bed, gets out the lease agreement to see if she can find any help there...nothing. So she puts matters into her own hands and stomps out to the neighbors garage. She bangs really hard twice on the garage, scaring the boys inside. Here is the transcription....

Boy 1: "What was that?"
Boy 2: "It wasn't you?"
Janalee: "It was me"
Boy 1: "Who is Me?"
Janalee: "Your neighbor"
Boy 2: "Oh Crap"
Janalee: "Do you guys realize that we can hear everything you say and do in there?"
Boy 1: "No, I had no idea"
Janalee: "I realize you guys have only lived here for 2 weeks, but you partied the first weekend, then last night, and then again tonight. If it doesn't stop, I will get the police and management involved."
Boy 1: "We didn't know"
Janalee: "What did you expect, you moved into family housing!"

Then I walk away.

I kind of feel bad about it now. There are a bunch of better ways to handle the situation than getting mad at them. I hate to think of having a bad relationship with my neighbors. But hey, I am a grouchy pregnant women when my sleep is in jeopardy. They have been quiet so far since then, but we will see.

So that was our weekend!

Update to September 2008

2008-09-17T19:52:00.000-07:00

So I completely forgot that I had started this blog and had decided to start a new one when I logged on and it was already here! Surprise. So I guess I better update you with what has been happening this past year. Lets see, BJ and I have been married for a year & a half now. Seems crazy that time passes by so quickly and yet so slowly :).

We are currently living in a 3 bedroom 2 1/2 bathroom duplex. We have been living here for 11 months now. It was great getting to move out of that cute, but tiny 1 bedroom apartment. Casey, BJ's 24 year old brother lives with us as well. That way it was easier to afford the extra rent. He is fun to have around, and makes us laugh a lot. We are looking forward to the time we can afford to maybe move out and rent a house though. Our new neighbors like to party every night until 2 am. They have a ping pong table in their garage and love to drink and party. UGGGH.

BJ is in school again, that started up last month. He is in his 2nd year at NIC in the graphic design program. He is enjoying getting to learn a whole bunch of neat stuff and show off. Well, he doesn't show off on purpose, but his classmates are usually jealous of his work. He is also working two jobs during full time school. We like to keep ourselves busy apparently :). He is doing an internship at the CDA press (local newspaper). There he works in the design department putting together ads for the newspapers in the area. He also works several hours a week at his previous job, Cedar MT. Spa covers. There he cuts & designs the spa covers prior to them being sewn and stuffed. He enjoys his coworkers there. They are a bunch of guys who like to joke around a lot!!! He also currently serves as the Young Men Secretary at church. It is his dream calling and he enjoys it alot. He gets to keep being a young boy every week :).

Janalee is still working full time at Home Med Plus, a durable medical equipment company. She has worked there for about a year and a half. Their sales office is in Fife, WA, and she does all the billing and bookkeeping for them. She enjoys it as she gets to spend time in an office by herself without all the company DRAMA! She also works part time doing some other medical equipment billing at home for another company. This provides her with guilt free money to spend on fun things like furniture :). Speaking of, they purchased some 3 weeks ago which has still yet to arrive, athough technically it should have only taken 10-14 days. GRRR. Anyways, i digress. Janalee is also serving as a ward Primary Teacher. She is in charge of the CTR 5 class. There are about 12-8 kids on a weekly basis, and they are a handful! Hopefully they will refill her co-teacher spot so that there are two teachers. It is really hard to keep track of them all going to the bathroom, class, and drinking fountain when there is only one teacher!

The Fowler family has more good news though. There will be an addition to the family next year. Thats right, March 19th, 2009. BJ and Janalee are expecting a hopefully cute little bundle of joy. They won't find out if it's a boy or a girl for a couple more months though, so keep your hats on. They are both really excited, but Janalee is starting to get really scared/ancy! You know her she likes to try to plan everything out, and is finding it hard to when the nursery is currently being rented out and she doesn't know what she is having yet. Guess that's why God invented patience, and perhaps, thats something she really needs to learn. LOL. BJ is hoping for a boy and Janalee is hoping for a girl. So either way they will be happy.

This summer was a lot of fun for the Fowler family. They got to travel down to St. Anthony's for a nice fourwheeling and family reunion trip. They got entirely fried,(pictures to come) but had a blast. BJ & Janalee got to hang out with BJ's Brother Matt & their family as well as Jeff, and Casey. It was a lot of fun. Only one hitch in the event though when BJ got sand in his eye and got it scratched so badly they had to cancel their camping and book it to the hotel. Not to mention the fact that he was dehydrated and burnt to a crisp by this point, AC was much needed. During the trip they made it to the Hix family reunion (Janalee's side) in Idaho Falls. It was fun seeing a bunch of family that they hadn't seen for a while. Many of whom BJ had never even met! Unfortunatley BJ had to head back home that afternoon leaving Janalee for a whole week. Luckily she got to spend that entire week with her family. Especially since this was the first time that year she had seen them. Trips to the Zoo, trips to see Grandpa Hymas, Trips to the swimming hole, and most importantly the fancy parade in Glenns Ferry. All memories that were made and cherished.

I believe that is the jyst or at least the main highlights to bring you up to the current date. Now that I have remembered about this blog, expect to see me here more often.

2008-09-17T19:24:00.000-07:00

We ran into this sign on top of a dam during some sight seeing with our friends Audrey and Seth Wilde up in Montana. We can see how they feel about wives up there!

BJ playing in the Gift Shop

2008-09-17T19:20:00.000-07:00

BJ saw this hat and just couldn't resist trying it on. Looks pretty natural doesn't it.

Me n BJ

2007-08-29T19:50:00.000-07:00

Update to Here and Now

2007-08-29T10:44:00.000-07:00

So I decided that I might as well start a new blog for my new life now. So here it is!