# Chateau de la Tobler

## Monday, July 31, 2006

### Re: QOTW

Peaches- definitely peaches.
Not the peach smell they already have on the market which smells only about 1% of peaches but the smell of real, fresh, fragrant peaches. I can't help it. They are like the pied piper to me. I smell them from across the store and they call to me. I could probably find them blindfolded.
Ah, the smell of peaches.

### Everything

We were having some computer problems the past week or so because Jeff bought a new video card and we ended up with a host of compatibility issues. The upshot was that we ended up going back to our old card until we can upgrade the Motherboard and processor, which Jeff does not want to do until the new windows operating system comes out in a few months.
So, here goes my comments on the last 10-12 posts.
Keryn,
That woman who wrote that article sounds pathetic. Why have kids at all if you aren't going to enjoy them? She sounds like the kind of person who would look at ME with pity because I'm "just a housewife" and am obviously wasting my life.
I can't wait to see little Katy! She looks just to cute for words and I am sure that she is warm and sweet and has that absoulutly irrisitible new baby smell and when you hold her she just melts into you to totally meld with the holder.
My girls enertain and awake Lillian in the same way Ezra does Mercy. I heard her screaming at the top of her lungs the other day and went in to find her covered in stuffed animals and overheating to boot!
Also, I agree that feeling the baby move is about the only good thing about being pregnate! Having a baby is the only thing worth going through THAT!

### Pictures of Samuel and Caren's visit

These are some of the pictures we took when Samuel and Caren dropped by briefly on their way to Logan to see Caren's family. Adam was so very gentle with Katy. He didn't actually hold her, but he patted her gently on the arm and stomach and demanded to sit next to Samuel while he held her. I love my nieces and nephews!

## Sunday, July 30, 2006

### Pioneer Day pictures

Here are some pictures from our Pioneer Day celebration. Katy, Tyler and I went over to Keryn and Brad's house for lunch (and ended up staying for dinner too). This is the first time that Ezra held Katy. Isn't he just adorable? He's going to absolutely adore June when she comes home with Keryn in December!

### I'm Trapped!

Mercy and Ezra have a lot of fun in their bedroom together. Sometimes too much fun. Mercy slept (notice the past tense) in a crib and Ezra slept on his mattress. Ezra loves to throw things into the crib for Mercy to play with.
On Saturday afternoon, we put the kids down for their naps. As usual, they were giggling away after we closed the door. Keryn and I retired to our bedroom to relax and read. After a while, we heard a sad cry from Mercy. Keryn looked at me and said, "I'll bet you she can't even move because he's thrown so much stuff in there. She was right.
Every toy from the bedroom was expertly removed from the floor and tossed into Mercy's crib. This didn't leave much room for Mercy. So we packed up the kids, hitched up the trailer, and went to DI. We spent $12 and got a nice used mattress and now Mercy can't get trapped in her crib anymore.
Isn't it fun that kids grow up?

## Saturday, July 29, 2006

### Float trip down the Colorado

What an amazing trip this was!! We put in at the foot of the dam, and got out at Lee's Ferry, some 13 miles downriver. Incidently, Lee's Ferry is the last place to put in before the Grand Canyon, until you reach Phantom Ranch. We were able to have one whole boat to our family, and our river guide was very awesome. Mid-morning, we put in and hiked about five minutes to see some amazing petroglyphs. We saw two blue herons (quite close up) and three golden eagles (quite far away). It was a beautiful, beautiful morning, made more restful by the fact that Grandpa Ross watched our babies so we were fancy-free.

## Friday, July 28, 2006

### Nature vs Nurture Part II

I think we'll have to chalk this one up to nature, don't you?
I was chopping some tomatoes for seven-layer bean dip, and Mercy reached out and grabbed one of the whole Roma tomatoes waiting to be chopped. She took a BIG old bite out of it, and cried when I tried to take it away. So I put her in her chair and let her at it--and she ate almost the entire thing.
Neither Brad nor I really care for tomatoes. Weird, huh?

### new qotw

i know that i've asked what your most memorable scent is, but i've come to wanting to ask a question that improvises that one a little. I thought of it while we were out to dinner with my family and had tried the best dinner rools ever at this place called maddox.
So the new qotw is if you could turn a food into a scented airfreshner, {well that's not already a scented airfreshner} what would it be? If you have one that's already an air freshner feel free to say what your favorite is.
i would do homeade dinner rolls. It's partially do to having some yummy ones tonight.

### What I love about pregnancy

1. feeling the baby move--I felt June move for the first time last night at the temple
2. finding out the gender of the baby--our appointment is August 23rd at 1:50pm
3. the baby
4. did I mention feeling the baby move?

## Thursday, July 27, 2006

### Provo Temple

So I got to go to the Provo Temple tonight. I won't tell you how long it's been since I've been to the temple (any temple!), because it's all too shocking. But I went tonight. And it was wonderful, as usual. I did Initiatory, because I had heard that it had changed a little and was curious. So if you haven't done Initiatories lately, you should go! Brad stayed home with the kiddos, because there aren't too many people we feel comfortable leaving our babies with. (Just give Katy a few more weeks/months, though, and I think we'll arrange something with Telima and Tyler!) It'll be Brad's turn in a couple of weeks.
So, because a lot of us know the Provo Temple pretty well, I thought I'd update you on the changes inside and out. You already knew that it got a Moroni statue on top, because that happened ages ago (May 2003, to be exact. I remember because I was pregnant with Ezra). But they have very very recently totally changed the landscaping in the front. Gone is the place you could drive up to the doors. Gone is the connection between the two parking lot sides. Now there are two beautiful circular fountains on two levels, with granite steps and little side fountains, and lots of flower beds and long pathways all the way down the long lawn that stretches west.
Inside--well, the biggest change has been the entry and lobby. Instead of carpet, it is now all polished gneiss--think granite but wavy patterns. It is gorgeous! It goes all the way back to the dressing areas, and stops just outside them. Even the place where you rent clothes has this polished stone now. It is truly a beautiful, classy change (but a bit loud in heels).
Anyway, because more than half of us are familiar with this temple, I thought I'd update you! We're going to have a FHE where we go to the temple and take a few pictures, and talk about it with Ezra and Mercy (that was the nursery lesson on Sunday). So I'll post some pictures of the outside eventually. It's really pretty, though!

### Word Fugitives

It is a book by Barbara Wallraff. I picked it up after I received a recommendation from that writing class I took. It was actually quite interesting to read- although I know believe I know nothing about words. Not like these people do anyway.
One of the things she does in the book is give you a list of words and definitions. Your job it to decide which are true words and which have been made up. I thought you might like to try some. Here are four examples. Two are true words having been found in a dictionary somewhere (not a foreign language dictionary) and two are made up words. Which are which?
For the answer, please see the comments section.
If you are interested in more - check out the book.
1- Dunolly- an improvised umbrella.
2- Glackett- the noisy ball inside a spray-paint can.
3- Knackatory- a place to buy knickknacks.
4- Quodammadotative- a thing that exists in a certain way.
Good luck!!

## Wednesday, July 26, 2006

### Boring motherhood?

I just posted this at our PonderIt blog, but I thought that you all might be interested in it, too, seeing as it has to do with raising children:

I found this article by Helen Kirwan-Taylor in the Daily Mail of London from a link on the Drudge Report. At first I didn’t know what to make of it. Here is the title:

> Sorry, but my children bore me to death!

My first thought, even before I read the article, was “I hope her kids never read this!”

> …The lies started when my eldest son was less than ten months old.

> Invitations to attend a child's birthday party or, worse, a singalong session were met with the same refrain: 'I would love to but I just can't spare the time.'

> The nanny was dispatched in my place, and almost always returned complaining that my son had been singled out for pitiful stares by the other mothers.

> I confess that I was probably ogling the merchandise at Harvey Nichols or having my highlights done instead. Of course I love my children as much as any mother, but the truth is I found such events so boring that I made up any excuse.

> (snip)

> Kids are supposed to be fulfilling, life-changing, life-enhancing fun: why was my attitude towards them so different?

> While all my girlfriends were dropping important careers and occupying their afternoons with cake baking, I was begging the nanny to stay on, at least until she had read my two a bedtime story. What kind of mother hates reading bedtime stories? A bad mother, that's who, and a mother who is bored rigid by her children.

> (snip)

> Am I a lazy, superficial person because I don't enjoy packing up their sports kit, or making their lunch, or sitting through coffee mornings with other mothers discussing how Mr Science (I can't remember most of the teachers' names) said such and such to Little Johnny and should we all complain to the headmaster.

> At this point in the conversation, my mind drifts to thoughts of my own lunch and which shoes I plan to wear with what skirt.

> The other mothers tease me for my inability to know anything about school life. But since when did masterminding 20 school runs a week become an accomplishment? Getting a First at college was an accomplishment.

After reading these paragraphs--especially the last one--my primary emotion was pity. Oh, that woman’s life seems awfully self-centered and superficial. Just a thought exercise, but I wonder what would happen if she ran into financial reversals that made it impossible for her to employ a nanny, or to go to lunch and get her hair done, or to buy the perfect shoes to wear with that darling skirt? What if she lost her job? From these paragraphs, it seems that her life revolves around these things to make her happy.

Something else caught my eye. The author mentions her nanny a couple of times. I wonder what she thinks about her nanny’s accomplishments. It certainly seems that she places her work (journalism) far above that what her nanny does (raising children).

Ms. Kirwan-Taylor then attempts to justify her philosophy of child-raising by discussing parents who give into their children’s every whim.

> All us bored mothers can take comfort from the fact that our children may yet turn out to be more balanced than those who are love-bombed from the day they are born.

> Research increasingly shows that child-centred parenting is creating a generation of narcissistic children who cannot function independently.

> 'Their demand for external support is enormous,' says Kati St Clair. 'They enter the real world totally ill-prepared. You damage a child just as much by giving them extreme attention as you do by ignoring them altogether. Both are forms of abuse.'

> Child experts are increasingly begging parents to let their kids be.

> 'Parents think they can design their children by feeding them a diet of Mozart — well they can't,' says Dr Rosenfeld.

> Sometimes, apparently, the best thing parents can do for their children is to let them be bored.

> (snip)

> Because I have categorically said: 'I am not a waitress, a driver or a cleaner,' my children have learned to put away their plates and tidy up their rooms.

It is a great idea to raise self-sufficient children! And I don’t disagree with this research--I think that over-parenting can be terrible for children. But to use this to justify leaving your children to others to raise (to profess boredom even interacting with them)…that’s a little like justifying running red lights because other people shoplift.

Now, I’m not claiming to be a perfect mother (whoa, yeah. Far from it, but trying). Anyone who claims that “Candyland” is the most fascinating game ever is either five years old or lying. And there are times when we don’t go to the park because I am bored of pushing the swings or chasing my daughter away from the road. Any reasonable person is going to be occasionally bored or tired of explaining for the millionth time that we don’t push our baby sister down just because she walks by.

But there are so many moments of joy…when my daughter toddles up to me and lays her head on my lap, just for a second. When both of my children giggle hysterically at each other over nothing I can see. When my son taps his chest and says, with great emphasis, “I’m EZZZZ-Rah!” And a million others that erase the boredom and make it possible for me to go another day.

Ms. Kirwan-Taylor’s children are twelve and ten years old, both boys. I have no doubt that she loves them, in her way. But love is an active verb, in its most mature form. Serving, and being willing to sacrifice for others, is an example of love that I am afraid escapes her.

Ms. Kirwan-Taylor ends her piece with this subtly pathetic anecdote:

> They stopped asking me to take them to the park (how tedious) years ago. But now when I try to entertain them and say: 'Why don't we get out the Monopoly board?' they simply look at me woefully and sigh: 'Don't bother, Mum, you'll just get bored.'

> How right they are.

And how sad it is.

## Saturday, July 22, 2006

### Licorice wands

So, as Caren and I drove to Las Vegas for our trip to visit her family in Logan, Adam and Kip were in the back watching movies. One movie that they watched was one of the Harry Potter movies. Adam loves the Harry Potter movies so much that he repeats several of the lines, namely the spell scenes. On this particular trip, we had given Adam some Red Vines. We heard him repeating the spells and looked back to watch. In addition to repeating the spells Adam was waving the licorice as wands. We thought this was particularly cute as he now had made himself licorice wands. That is all.

### My opinion of Movies

It was a movie weekend for me this weekend. I went with Shauna to see a couple of different movies. Some friends of mine raved about the new Superman movie. Personally, I was disappointed and would have rather not spent the money (we didn't see a matinee, so we paid full price.) What I found most interesting was all the posing Superman did. Every second scene he was standing or flying or sitting in just the position. It was almost funny.
Today, we went to a matinee for the Pirates of the Caribbean. Now, that movie was great. It certainly leaves one ready for the next one. Enough said.
Love you all.
Hope you have all had a wonderful weekend.
LaDale

## Friday, July 21, 2006

### qotw

I had a personilzed plate for a little while. When I bought my first car, it was a little yellow toyota. I wanted to put tnkrbl on the plates. I thought that a small yellow car could be tinkerbell with out any problems. I didn't get that because someone already had it. Oh well, I went with LADONA because you could only have 6 letters. I kept it for some time but then it was just not worth the money each year to have a plate with my name on it. I don't think I have any other plate in mind.

## Tuesday, July 18, 2006

### Re: QOTW

Here would be my license plate: FZX4LFE = Physics for Life
I could also do any of the following
FZX4ME
FAT FZX
or just plain
FZX

### Another

I also always thought TUTTI would be a good one. I once saw that on a license plate and thought I would be TUTTI2 if needed.
(In music the term TUTTI means everyone plays together.)

### Re: Keryn's choice

I'll just add an A.
MTFBWY and sometimes A.

### New QOTW

I have to go fast or LaDale may take mine--
MTFBWY

### new qotw

recently samuel registered our buick here in arizona. He picked up an application for a personalized license plate just to see what it all entails not to get one. He found out that in addition to paying the extra money when you first get a personalized plate you pay 25 dollars extra with your registration each year you have it just to keep it. It's a never ending fee, i did not realize that that people actually did that.
ideally speaking it might be more desireable if it were just a one time fee.
So the new qotw is if you had a personalized license plate what would it be?
mine would be "lilcrbr"

## Monday, July 17, 2006

### Re: Wizarding job

I thought that I should put my 2 cents in on this question. I have thought about what I would want to do for my wizarding job. I have come to the conclusion that I would enjoy being an "Unspeakable." These wizards, at least to me, seem the ones who are experimenting with new magical ideas, trying to further magical information, and doing what I hope to do as a scientist but in the magical world. Plus, I get to have the opportunity to be tortured by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named just to say I don't know what he is talking about. What fun. ;)

### The craziness of weather

You'd think I was a weather girl the way all my blogs are about the weather.
First impression: This morning it was quite warm. Has been here these past few days. I was on-line looking at the weather and found this map about how hot it was around the country today.
Second impression: I went to a baptism this evening. After the service ended and I was out in the hall talking there was a sudden commotion by the relief society door. It was raining- No, it was pouring- No, it was hailing stones the size of quarters. We waited for it to ease up and it didn't. We waited for the hail to stop. It didn't. Finally, I simply chanced it and ran for the car. What an experience- not the running, but the sitting in my car listening to hail stones hit my car. It was hard not to flinch. Movie flash backs were playing in my mind- the scene from Dante's Peak where the volcano in the beginning is shooting huge rocks of magna onto the poor people below.
Third impression: I love Colorado. I am not overly fond of change. I mean, I am not a wanderlust. There is definitely something to be said about knowing where I sleep and what I eat, etc. But there is a small part of me loves how fickle the weather is here. It is always changing and I love it!!

## Saturday, July 15, 2006

### Bloody Saturday

So my precious 2.5 year old had his first bloody nose this Saturday at high noon. He had been naughty at the park (wouldn't come home), and so he went down for an early nap (considering he got up at 6:15 am this morning, it probably wasn't too early of a nap). So when I went to take Mercy down for her nap at about 11:45, we accidently woke up Ezra, who was mad about having to keep taking a nap. So I close the door and go into my room, and listen to Ezra cry. But then his cries change and he is screaming about his hands being dirty. Curious, I went back to his room, where I find him sitting up, blood streaming from both nostrils, blood smeared all over his face, hands, legs...you get the idea.
He had NO idea what was going on, and why liquid (bright red liquid, he hasn't a clue what blood is) kept pouring out of his nose. He was panicked by the "mess" all over him--he kept insisting that I clean up his hands, while all I wanted right then was to stop the bleeding. So he kept fighting me, batting me away, screaming (bloody) murder...and I was at a real loss what to do. He wouldn't let me put a plug in his nose--he kept pulling it out and flinging it away--he would only let me pinch the bridge of his nose for about three seconds at a time, he wouldn't let me put a tissue to his nose to stem the flow...wow, that was an intense fifteen minutes.
After about two minutes trying to deal with it on his bed, I picked him up and put him in the bathtub--I figured it would be easier to clean up. The poor boy was so scared and bewildered and mad--I said a quick prayer aloud, but it wasn't until I started singing "I am a Child of God" that he started to calm down (of course, I had to sing to three times through before that happened. Yes, all three verses three times through). As he calmed down, the bleeding slowed down, although it was another couple of minutes before it stopped. We sang a round of "Itsy-Bitsy Spider" and then started to clean up. Once he was clean-ish, he requested my lap, so we sat and watched "Backyardagins" for about fifteen minutes. Then he consented to allow me to leave him watching the movie while I finished cleaning up.
So now I have two very awake babies--Mercy was an interested observer through most of this from her crib; a clean bathtub; a load of laundry soaking; and a new experience to blog about. And a prayer in my heart that his nose doesn't start to bleed again.

## Friday, July 14, 2006

### whatever makes her sleep better

samuel and i never let our boys sleep in the car seat and we did loads and loads of tummy time, but our kids were the ones with the flat heads. So i don't think the car seat theory making flat heads is valid in a lot of cases. But then again our kids weren't exactly fans of sleeping in car seats unless on long car rides. So if it helps make everyone sleep better in your house i say do it.
As for other things: Kip got his first hair cut today. He looks so cute.
One last comment: Before this post our blog had 666 posts. We thought this post would be good to help us get off the 666.
Adam is having a speech evaluation on thursday the 20th, because his speech has improved but he's still not caught up yet. But the woman that i spoke with was really helpful. She sort of did a preevaluation interview and kid you not one of the first things she asked was is he a picky eater? Is it a texture thing? Does he drool a lot? Of course the answers to all of those were yes. We won't know if this is what it is until after her evaluation of him. But it has a name "a low oral tone ". It just made me feel so good that it has a name and it's been experienced before and that adam being a picky eater is not the result of us spoiling him rotten, because kip lets us stick anything in his mouth and acts like every other kid and mooches off our plates. I now think that his not wanting to nurse when he was a baby was caused by this.
So the theory that picky eaters are made and not born is thrown completely out of the window for sure. Because adam was definitely born a picky eater because of this low oral tone.

### Car seat sleeping...

Okay, so this is a question I had earlier, but forgot about until just now. Katy's pediatrician told me today to not let her sleep in her car seat because it could cause her to have a flat head. That just doesn't seem to make much sense to me...I mean, Keryn and Jenafer's kids all slept for a couple of months in their car seats, right? And they don't seem to have flat heads. Caren and Samuel, did Adam and Kip sleep in their car seats? I just wasn't under the impression that that's what caused that to happen. And Katy really does sleep sooo much better in her car seat. And I just got her on a schedule that's working, if I try to get her to sleep without her car seat, I'm scared that I'll just go back to not getting any sleep at all and I'm not sure that I can handle that. Anyway, so I'm asking for your opinions...should I follow the doctor's advice or just keep my happily sleeping baby girl in her car seat?

### Misc stuff

Wow!!!!! LaDale--I mean Professor Tobler--who will be the head of Gryffindor House now? It can't be Professor McGonagall, so...could it be you? After all, you are the Transfiguration professor. And you realize that that is a stepping stone to great things...after all, the last two transfiguration professors became Headmaster...
So can I count on you to help Ezra, Mercy, June, July, August, September...however many kids I end up having...when they go to Hogwarts? Nothing big, of course--can't play favorites, naturally--but I know I will feel better knowing you are there! Even if it is nine years away!
And about Katy--wow! Go girl! She's getting big, just as she should. How wonderful! How has it been with Terese in town? And I have to agree about BabyWise--it's funny just how wonderful it can be, when that baby starts getting the pattern. I'm so glad it's working for you.

### my wizarding job

Professor Tobler, of course. Teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As Professor McGonagall is to be the new Head Master (Head Mistress), they need a new Transfiguration teacher and I have just been hired. Yes, it will be difficult. Everyone is still feeling the repercussions of Dumbledore's death and the seeming defection of the Potion's Master Professor Snape. (The potion's class is still headless- there have been many applicants, but the Head Mistress has yet to make a decision about who will teach that class.)
Although it is strange for an English school to hire an American, fresh ideas and new blood are needed. I fly to England next Tuesday to take the train from King's Cross Station to Hogsmeade. There, I am to meet Hagrid who will escort me to Hogwarts for a tour and an opportunity to settle in to my rooms here. School starts at the end of August and then the real work begins. Ahh- Hogwarts' Transfiguration Teacher Professor Tobler.

### Katy's 2 week appointment

I know you all are just dying to hear about Katy's two week doctor's appointment...okay, so maybe I just want to tell you about it. =) It went really well, except the part where they had to prick her heel to get blood for the PKU test. She just wasn't bleeding very well, so they almost had to prick her twice, but they got enough in the end (which I am very grateful for...I hate it when she's pricked and starts to cry). Anyway, more important than that is her weight! As you know, she weighted 6 lbs 2 oz at birth. When we left the hospital, she was 6 lbs even, and still 6 lbs at 4 days old when we went in for her bilirubin appointment. I am pleased to say that it hasn't been just my imagination that she's getting bigger. She is 7 lbs 2 oz as of about 10:15 this morning, so she's gained a whole pound! I was very pleased. She's been eating really well and sleeping at least better than she used to be...I have to say that I am now a Baby Wise fan. I can't believe the difference even just doing it for one day made. Of course, she still has hard times, but at least they are fewer than they were. Anyway, just wanted to let you all know about Katy's excellent weight. It helps me feel like I'm doing something right, which always helps!

### Scientific breakthrough

I hearby declare that boys and girls are inherently different.
I'm an expert because I have one of each, and I have been observing them lo these many years...er, months.
Ezra never brought me a stuffed Tigger, smooshed it up to my face, and had me kiss it. Multiple times.
Therefore, girls and boys are different. Eureka!

### Happy Bastille Day!

I think we'll have crepes for dinner tonight!

## Wednesday, July 12, 2006

### RE: QOTW

I think I would want to do what Molly Weasley does--she's a mom with awesome magical powers (but still has to do things like laundry, packing, etc), but in reality, she's a part of an undercover, ultra-secret, full of derring-do group. I could do that. At least, I could if I wasn't so dang tired all the time.

### re: QOTW

I've given this alot of thought. I think, if I could be anything in Harry's world, I would be a wierd sister or something like that! Jeff said he would be a Auror, without even hesitating.

## Tuesday, July 11, 2006

### bubbles, burps and explosions

volcanic activity..... babies sometimes one in the same. Each kid has it's own unique way of training their parent how to burp them. I've known some people to really whack their children's backs and that's what works for them i guess. With adam for me it was on my shoulder with kip he had to be sat up on the lap. And with both no matter how much they burped they both were volcano mouths by nature having to use towels as burp rags. I've come to the conclusion that mom is the almighty bubble sensor of her grandkids, it's funny how she just knows.

### RE: QOTW

It's so funny that you ask this question because I've been re-reading all the Harry Potter books lately. I just finished book 5 and am working on book 6 now. I think that I would want to do something very similar to what I wanted to do in the Muggle world, research on animals. However, research on magical creatures would be far more interesting, I think, although I don't think I have quite the adventuresome spirit to study dragons or anything that Hagrid would love. But studying unicorns or things similar in nature to that, I think I would love. And who knows? Maybe dolphins really can talk, just not to Muggles. =)

### Burping

Is burping a baby something that every parent has to learn how to do? I thought I had it down pretty well, but I can only get Katy to burp about half the time. Is it bad for her when I can't get her to burp? I know it causes more spit-up, but I just can't seem to get those bubbles out of her system. Sometimes she'll burp so nicely for me, I hardly have to even tap her back. And sometimes it seems to take me forever, meanwhile, she's falling asleep on my shoulder and I have to wake her back up to keep feeding her. Please tell me this is normal. It's starting to drive me crazy and I'm slightly worried that I'm not burping her properly. I love her and wouldn't trade what I have for anything, but sometimes, being a mom can be absolutely exhausting!

## Monday, July 10, 2006

### everything that I feel I need to comment on

Here goes. I just showed Grandma Tobler a picture of Katy. She said that her face from the nose up is what looks like Tyler and the rest looks like Telima. I think she looks like Katy.
QOTW
If I could have a wizarding job I would work in the muggle department with Mr. Weasley. I think that I would want to be undercover in the muggle world to find out what they do because then I would be able to feel so much better about us wizards because we had it sooo much better. I really do think that it would make me feel special becasue I didn't have to do things the way muggles do.
Keryn,
I am sorry that your trip had to be hard because of the illness that Mercy has. Just remember that most children really do not travel as easily as older people do. I still remember the family reunion that we brought home the chicken pocks from. It was a good reunion just a very hard 3 months after that while each of you went through the chicken pocks.

### new qotw

it's been a while...
if you could have any profession in the wizarding world what would it be?
i would want to become a healer because they certainly should be better than muggle doctors.
i haven't found a decent pcp here in arizona who accepts our insurance yet.
i look to the 5th book of harry potter where ron's description of a doctor is quite funny...
i think it goes something like "you mean those nutters who cut people open"
anyway being a healer would be nice.

### re: Book Share

Michael Tunnell is writing a squeal to "Wishing Moon" that comes out in 2007 called "Moon Without Magic." I am so glad, Keryn, that you loved it.

## Sunday, July 09, 2006

### Re: Book share

Just a quick note to say that I just finished reading "Wishing Moon" and it was GREAT! What a fun book--and I especially loved the ending. It was well written and really good. Thanks, LaDale, for the tip!
Mercy is still sick, my poor baby. But at least she isn't throwing up anymore. We drive home tomorrow (Monday) and then I'll post some awesome pictures of our float trip. Love you all!

## Saturday, July 08, 2006

### NO MORE

Or at least, no more until my memory fades. A lot!
No, I'm not talking about pregnancy--although there are days. No, what I'm talking about is family gatherings.
It's not that I don't love getting together with my family and with Bradley's family. We've had a blast here in Page--wait till I tell you all about the awesome float trip we took down the Colorado River today. But then we got home to the babies (they didn't come on the float trip), put them down for naps, got them up...and Mercy promptly vomited all over everything.
Repeatedly. Tonight we did the family pictures, with a professional and all...and Mercy vomited all over her little coordinating outfit. Now she's down to dry-heaving, the poor baby.
Why do I blame this on the family reunion? The only time Mercy EVER gets sick is when we are on the road--with cousins. And we can't blame it on the change in water and stuff--Rex (Ezra's age) was sick yesterday, with the same thing, and he lives here in Page. And you know that Ezra will be sick as a dog tonight or tomorrow at the latest.
So I'm quarantining my family from cousins and road trips for now (well, when we get home). You are welcome to come visit us, Samuel and Caren, and of course this doesn't include Katy (well, until Mercy gets better it does). But I am sick of waking up in a strange bed to my baby swimming in vomit in a borrowed port-a-crib. Uck!

### Movie

I found The Village by M. Night Somethingorother at the library and remembering something Telima once said about it, I checked it out. I was pleasantly surprised. I sat down in the middle of the day because I couldn't think about watching it alone in the dark and now I've watched it twice. I think that man is a wonderful story teller. I know that many people don't think that- but the way he can tell a story is amazing. You get to end and suddenly you realize you've been watching something completely different than what you thought. It's brilliant. It was even better the second time because once the ending was known the whole movie fit so differently it was like watching a new movie!! I loved it and I'm telling you because- I don't have anyone else to tell and I wanted to share. Anyway!! There you have it!?!

## Friday, July 07, 2006

### Re: Our Finished Site...

Just in case anyone doesn't have it, here's the link to our site again. I know that we posted it earlier on here, but with all the changes, I'm not sure that link works anymore. It's a pretty simple website, though: tylerandtelima.com. Hope you all enjoy!

## Thursday, July 06, 2006

### Our Finished Site, almost

I just wanted to let everyone know that our site is now finished. There are somethings that I will be changing later to make it look a little nicer but the back end is done. The site does have login capabilities and so by defalt we set everyone's login to be their name in the format firstname_lastname; all lower case. (tyler_smith for example). Your passwords are defalted to be your birthday in the date format MMDDYYYY (09171983 for example). Once you login you can change yours to be whatever you want. As a note they are encrypted but it is not nearly the encryption that the banks use. In other words, you might NOT want to use the same one that grants access to your checking accounts, credit cards etc.
The benefit to logingin is that you can add content to the site. Comments on the contact page, pictures and albums to the pictures page and stories to the stories page. Do not feel obligated to post anything, I just wanted to give all of you the ability.
Note to non-birth Toblers, I did not add any of you because I don't know your birthdays. Feel free to use your spouses login and not care, use their login to access the contact page and let me know that you want one or call. You are welcome to have one, or two if you want more.
It is also not just for family but some of our cloase friends also use it. Thank you all for your calls and prayers these last few days (about 11 to be exact)

### Weather

Ok, so our weather is not as great as LaDale's, but we don't have snow either! We are going into monsoon season. Unlike last year, when we were almost three weeks late starting, we started early this year. We have been getting alot of rain already and monsoon doesn't officially start until tomorrow. It's been great! I hope this continues all this next year. I haven't ever delt with snow, but I'm not sure I ever want to! Not a problem right now, we'll see about the future but my future in snow is not looking likely.

### The best weather in the world!!

We have been having the BEST weather in the world!!! I do not remember this from last summer- but this summer we have had greatest thunder storms ever. The thunder echoes and echoes around the mountains and it rains and rains. I keep my bedroom window open all the time to listen. It looks out onto my balcony- so the wind would have to really blow to water into the apartment. Every morning the sun it out and the day it beautiful. Then the clouds roll in and before the afternoon is over we have rain and the day is even more beautiful. The pictures are from my balcony and now you are all moving to Colorado, right??

### Mago

It will be a very long time before I eat in public again. This thing is either worse than braces or I have forgotten how horrible it was to eat with braces.
I received my mago yesterday. It is a thick plastic mold which fits over my upper set of teeth. I spent the first twenty-four hours with the piece adjusted so that only my front teeth could touch. In other words, no chewing on the back. It made for interesting eating last night and this morning. Today, they added something so that my teeth touch more along the sides. Even still, it was horrible eating dinner. I sort of feel like I'm relearning how to eat.
Now, let's talk about how to talk!!! S's and T's, not to mention Th's are quite interesting still. My dentist is tells me it will only take a week or so get use to that. I taught a piano lesson today and my student seemed able to understand most of what I said- at least when she didn't it was because I needed to explain something not because the words were too jumbled.
I go in every week until my jaw settles back where it is suppose to be. Who knows how long that will take, but the more consistent I am with it, the sooner it will be done and my jaw will be 'cured'- hopefully sooner than later!!!!

## Wednesday, July 05, 2006

### Re: By the way

Caren (I'm pretty sure it was Caren, anyway, and not Samuel), that's so funny that you say that! I think that she looks a lot like Tyler too, but he can't see it. Brittanie said the same thing when she came to visit last Sunday. It's her expressions, I think, but I'm not sure. I can't quite pinpoint what it is about her that looks like Tyler, but she sure does! She is just such a cutie (an exhausting one, but a cutie nonetheless).

## Tuesday, July 04, 2006

### by the way

telima and tyler you did a great job! Katy is such a cutie! The first words out of my mouth were she definitely followed tobler tradition in the fact that she looks quite a bit like tyler. I'm probably not the first one to say that she looks like tyler and i definitely will not be the last. But she definitely gets her cuteness from both sides.

### Happy Holiday

Happy Fourth of July everyone!! Hope you have a great day!!!

## Monday, July 03, 2006

### Responses

Telima and Tyler- Cute Baby
Jenafer and Jeff- Great Pictures
Caren and Samuel- GOOD LUCK!!!!

### cayenne pepper and black pepper... great recipes

unfortunately we don't have a fence. So that equates to no good trashy people letting their dog poop on our grass. So after retrieving yet another dog gift i spread cayenne pepper and black pepper all over our lawn and i hope and pray it stays on there long enough to do the trick. In which case dog owners hopefully will learn from a very upset dog not to let their mutts mess up my lawn.
wish us luck

### vacation

This is the cave system on the island of Barbados. Do you know that this is not a volcanic island? It's actually a huge coral reef that was brought to the surface 500,000 years ago.
<-this is Jeff's beach and drink picture. it's not the beach the hotel's on.
this is our beach the hotel was on. notice there is no one there!

### Vacation

Well, this is one of my vacation pictures. This is a bar ON the beach. Jeff just had to have a picture of himself in the water with a pina colata. I had to have one, too. This is my beach, book and drink picture.

### RE: Baby feeding in general

Amen, Samuel!
And, honestly, we live in one of the wealthiest nations in the world. We have clean, fresh, easily accessible water (although both my children like to drink the pressurized irrigation water used to water our lawn. Do you think that's bad?), and healthy, untainted formula (although, dude, that stuff's EXPENSIVE). I really don't doubt that breastmilk is best, but formula comes so close, it seems, that it's not that big a deal.
And I tend to think the damage to the mental health of the mother can outweigh the "advantage" of nursing. I mean, if you are dreading the next feeding in three hours...ugh. So, go, Telima, go!
Okay. I'll get off my soapbox now, too. And tell you all that Katy makes the cutest noises in the world when she's slightly disgruntled.

### Re: Baby feeding in general

So I wanted to say that I also think the picture of Katy is extremely cute. I can't wait to see her in about a month. As for the feeding goes, sounds like exactly what Adam did when he was first born. As nice as it is to know that there is formula and pumps out there, there was also all the signs that read "Babies were born to breastfeed," or "Give your baby the best milk; breastfeed," or anything like that. It is really hard on the parents who want to do just that but the baby has other things on his or her mind. OK, I'm stepping down from my soap box. Congrats to the Smith family yet again. -SKT

### RE: Our little Katy

Oh, what an adorable picture! She is such a sweet baby girl! I'm so glad she's here. As far as the nursing goes, it is a relief to decide one way or the other. Now that you don't have to be totally stressed about her next feeding, you can enjoy her! And that's the most important part.

## Sunday, July 02, 2006

### Our little Katy

Well, it's been a while since I've written anything here and I figured it was time. Things are going fairly well right now. I can't believe how grateful I am to have Mom here to help us with everything. I feel like every couple of hours something happens and mom has to tell me "It's okay, that's perfectly normal." We've been having a struggle with breast feeding, Katy just won't latch on and suck! Sometimes she'll latch and then just sit there, falling asleep, and sometimes all she does is cry and scream, refusing to latch on at all. In order to help her not get used to a bottle, we've been doing what's called 'finger feeding'. I would stick my index finger into her mouth to suck on and then we would put a little tube attached to a syringe of milk in the corner of her mouth and then syringe the milk into her as she sucked on my finger. This was hopefully to teach her that milk comes from mom and not to get used to the plastic bottle feel. However, she has learned that the milk comes from the syringe, not from mom and she's pretty much given up on actually breast feeding. We decided this morning that it's just not going to work. For whatever reason, Katy just doesn't want to breast feed. So, we gave her a bottle today and she took to it so fast and has eaten so much that I'm sure she wasn't getting enough to eat when we were trying to breast feed. And I'm so much calmer now because I'm not stressed about her next feeding, which makes life just happier. Katy is just the cutest little girl there ever was and all the pain and frustrations are worth it when I look at her. I love this little girl more than I thought possible, but I hear that's a normal feeling for a new parent too. You just don't understand the love for a child until you have one. We already can't imagine life without her. We love you all and will keep you updated on things around here.