finally getting somewhere i feel better

So after being denied from our insurance to get adam into much needed speech therapy. We tried to go through a program for early intervention. We got him approved and evaluated a while ago after a few phone calls to them they are really dragging their feet with our particular family. So i called up the preschool program because adam will be three in october{that's when they are eligible for it}. We had his screening today and i was given some helpful tips and we will have his more extensive evaluation at the end of september. {they'll know then exactly what therapy they need to work with him and they'll be able to do it. It's looking like they will start him after the school break is over which is the first part of october. So perfect timing!
I am so grateful that we are finally getting somewhere with the help he needs.

by the way i forgot a while ago to answer LaDale's question about my kidneys. All testing has come out clean. My assumption is that i re injured my lower back. My physical therapist is helping me and has got me on a pretty good excersize regime. {which i will probably need the rest of my life} She told me i need to strengthen those muscles as best i can. Then hopefully the pain won't be as much. That and my posture is bad{due no doubt to the stroke when i was 2} Who knew? I've got things physically i need very much to keep working on. So it just more or less engrains it in me how much therapy can do for adam {his is a different kind obviously} but still just as important.

Oh and by the way my husband is brilliant!

Congratulations!!!!

I knew you could do it, Samuel! You must feel so relieved that it's over! I love you so much and congratulations again!

Congrats!!!!!

That is so wonderfull, Samuel!!! I am so excited for you and your family. I know that all of the family in Provo are enjoying a visit with the best Aunt LaDale. I love all of you so much and hope you are all enjoying yourselves.

CONGRATULATIONS SAMUEL!!!!

SAMUEL,

CONGRATULATIONS FROM THE ROSS FAMILY AND LADALE, WHO WERE ALL SITTING HERE TOGETHER WHEN THE NEWS WAS READ!

You must be feeling extraordinarily fantastic right now!

LOVE,
ALL

The COMP Results are in, FINALLY

I PASSED at the PhD level. phew. Thanks for your love and support.

i've heard that of folic acid

one of my cousins had told me about that just in general for recieving more energy in pregnancy plus help with morning sickness....

My June-bug

I'm really not ready to post about our little June-bug in detail yet, but Mema has the scoop. It's okay, it's just hard to know the reality--spina bifida is a severe birth defect any way you look at it, but our little bug has a particularly severe form of it. Anyway, to all my wonderful family, I promise to post all we know soon, but please call Mema for details right now. I'm just not ready to deal with the reality yet. I love you all, and I'm so grateful.

One thing that I want to tell you all--I know it doesn't matter to LaDale right now, and probably never again to Jen and Amy--but all my sisters AND brothers are at a slightly higher risk of having a baby with spina bifida. Instead of one in 1000, the risk for our siblings (Brad's and mine) is two in 1000 (or 1 in 500). As a precaution, for the three months before you try to conceive, and during at least the first trimester, Caren, Telima, LaDale, you should be taking 4mg of folic acid daily, instead of the 0.4mg in a normal pre-natal vitamin. And your OB/GYN should know that your nephew has spina bifida. Just FYI. Love you all.

June

Hey, Keryn and Brad,
What happened at your appointment today?
I love you guys and your two and a half very cute kids so much. My kids are very excited to meet their new cousin. I'm just not sure when they are going to be able to see him. June won't make his appearance until after or at least around Christmas, and I don't when we will all be getting together after the first of the year. I guess we will all just have to play it by ear. Hope to hear from you soon!

Re: QOTW

Okay, so I totally cheated on this question of the week. One of our favorite things to read to each other on the web is "Best of the Web Today" from the Wall Street Journal online editorial page (Opinion Journal). The man who writes it (James Taranto) is hilarious! One of his favorite things to do is take note of odd headlines and make fun of them. He accepts submissions--if you see something funny, you can send it to him, and sometimes he'll write about it. I actually submitted one once, and got my name in the acknowledgements! (Wooo-whooo! I'm famous. Or not.) So here are a few, starting with the one I submitted:

S.L. police seek armed home invaders (Help wanted?)
Peru: Ex-President Not Dead, and Feeling Better (If the only other option is being dead, then I'll bet he's feeling better)
Cult leader gets date with executioner (I wonder if they met through eHarmony)

SKT or SWKT

I enjoyed reading about Samuel's tests. It made me glad I don't do school anymore. :) He put his initials at the end of the post (always handy for telling apart the weirdness of Samuel and the weirdness of Caren) and I found myself wishing that his name were Samuel Washington Kip Tobler so that his initials could be SWKT. Then he'd have to come back to BYU someday to be a famous professor in political science and work in the building named after him and Spencer W. Kimball. (Or maybe he can convince them to move the physics department into that building so that he won't have to get any extra degrees.)

re: qotw

I had to request this after seeing two headlines. The first was, "Four penguins killed in accident, octupus ok." The question that immediatly springs to mind is, "What were the four penguins doing driving in the first place?" And next, "Was it the penguin or the octupus at fault?" The second headline was, "Judge tells two teen, Play football and THEN go to jail." I just don't know where to even START with that one!

Tribute to Daddy

I got a letter from Kristy today that I thought I'd share with all of you:

Hey there! I just wanted to write and send you the comments my dad said about your dad.

• "He had the capacity to do what was right all the time."
• "His hallmark was his integrity."
• "He was good at giving service and loving people."
• "Mike's legacy is that he was the kind of man who changed the world and those around him for the better through his association."

I don't know the context of these remarks; I vaguely remember Kristy mentioning that her dad had said some nice things about Daddy right after Daddy passed away. But I was lifted by this letter and thought you'd enjoy reading them, too.

Thanks to all of you for your prayers on behalf of our family right now. We will definitely be keeping you updated as we learn more. Our specialist appointment is on Tuesday afternoon, so look for an update on Tuesday night or Wednesday sometime. Love you all!

new qotw

this one was requested by jenafer.

What's the funniest news paper article or title of article that you have seen?
{i think that's the question that she had requested anyway}

Mine comes from reading in the byu newspaper when samuel would bring it home for me. There was always a section i think for comments or complaints{letter to the editor type thing}

Some girl had gone into the byu book store and picked up a byu souvenir shot glass and asked one of the employees what it was for? i think she had to ask a few people before she got someone who knew what it was. I just laughed because she had such a beef about it being sold there and why anyone would buy that to drink from when it's so small. i don't think she was ever told that in the worldly sense people prefer to drink small amounts of alcohol in that way. { being in the byu bookstore it obviously was for souvenir purposes. Oh what a bubble some byu students live in.}

The changing world...

I can't wait to say to Katy someday: "You know, when I was your age, there were nine planets in out solar system." Interesting how things like that change, huh?

Oh, the shame of it all

I am here to post a disturbing piece of news that I read only this morning but apperently happened yesterday, that is why it is in todays paper and not yesterdays paper. Pluto, the lovable planet way, way, way out there is no longer a planet. It will now be known as a dwarf planet along with 2 other similar sized "rocks" that are out there by Pluto. Our solar system now, officially has only 8 "planets." The reason Pluto did not make the cut is that the International Astronomy Union requires planets to "clear the neighborhood around its orbit." This got rid of Pluto since it overlaps Neptune and, given the two, Neptune would be the official planet. So please inform your children that we no longer have 9 planets in the solar system, we have 8 with 3 dwarf planets. Who knows, this might now be the end of Pluto as a planet.

Just to let you know, the other 2 dwarf planets are named Ceres and 2003 UB313 (nicknamed "Xena" by founder Michael Brown from the California Institute of Technology). To let you know, Xena is actually larger then Pluto and that may have started the debate that Pluto is not as unique as it once was thought to be.

katy is sounding more like adam everyday

adam had that whole head turning weird flat spot thing going on too. only i think katy just has a milder version of it. {adam actually needed to see a physical therapist, katy does not , i'm assuming} Adam has really grown out of it though with the fun excersizes and all. I wish you luck.

I'm back!

Sorry for being MIA for so long. I got hit with West Nile Virus, or perhaps it was Lyme Disease, or maybe galloping consumption (poor Ruby Gillis!). Or maybe it was just a mean virus. At any rate, after 17 days I'm starting to feel better. (Has it really been seventeen days? Yes. Isn't that terrible?)

My ultrasound was supposed to be yesterday afternoon, but my doctor's ultrasound machine is "dying", so I had to reschedule with the clinic ultrasound tech. So it's tomorrow morning. Hopefully by tomorrow afternoon I can post a picture and let you all guess whether June will be moderately annoyed by her womb-name or whether he will be completely traumatized by the embarrassment of "June." (Although this is my third pregnancy, this is my first one with nobody on either side of the family pregnant too! It sort of feels weird. Caren? Telima? Michelle? Kim? (hee hee. Kim's youngest is eleven. She'd be horrified if she was expecting.)

So my boy is growing up, and, sure enough, he has a strange imagination. He calls the library the "Tower of Power", the upstairs is the "mountain cave", his dragon has gone away but now my belt is a dog. A dog that doesn't want to touch the carpet because it might get dirty. Ooookay.

As for my ladybug, there is nothing cuter than having her sit on your lap (a place she's been for ten minutes or more), and then she twists around and says, "HI!" in a bright, shiny voice. Like she just noticed you were there. And her temper tantrums are adorable (for now...). She opens her mouth into a perfect "O" and makes a noise that is half-way between "OOOOOOOO" and a growl. And then occasionally she throws herself on the floor and grunts.

And that's my life. I'm glad Katy's doing a little better (poor baby!), and I hope she gets all the way better soon. And Samuel, when do you find out what your scores are? And David and Amy, you out there?

Katy's 2 month appointment

Hi everyone! Sorry that it's been so long since I've posted here. Katy's taking up most of my time and I'm starting to get back into doing Mary Kay, which is taking the rest of my time. Katy had her 2 month appointment on Monday. It was...well, interesting. She's now 9 lbs 12 oz and 22 inches long. She's in the 25th percentile with everything, so at least she's proportional, right? The doctor told me to start doing exercises with her because she looks to her left about 90% of the time and she's starting to develop a small flat spot on her head. She also gave me some cream to take care of the yeast that's growing under her arms and in the crease in her neck. Then...the dreaded shots. I wasn't looking forward to it, especially because Katy was in such a good mood on Monday morning. She was cooing and grinning up a storm and I knew it would end as soon as she got the shots. It was so sad. She's doing a lot better now, but Monday evening was rough. Her little legs were red and slightly swollen and we didn't have any Tylenol to give her. We got some though, and life got happier after that. And then, she slept all night for the first time. We put her to bed at 11 and she didn't wake up until 6. It was amazing. The only really scary part for me has been that she's quit eating so much. She's not eating as often and now she's eating half as much as she was before. So, I called the pediatrician's office today and they said that a loss of appetite, though rare, is a side effect of the shots. It should only last between 1 - 3 days, so if it lasts longer than 4 or if I think she's getting dehydrated, I'm supposed to take her in, but otherwise, she should be fine. But other than that, she's a happy girl! She's starting to coo and giggle now, it's the cutest thing! I just love to listen to her. Speaking of which, she's crying now, so I'd better go. I love you all!!

current trends

This morning, I signed up for a free, on-line newsletter from my library for new available fantasy book . I thought it might be interesting to see what is coming out. I got my first newsletter this evening and 80% of the new books were about vampires. It must be a new trend. I unsubscribed this evening, because I forgot how much I actually don't enjoy ADULT fantasy. They didn't have one for young adult fantasy. Oh well.

Re: No more COMPS

Bless you Samuel!!! And good luck during the tough waiting period you are now enduring. I knew those tests were coming up. I also know you must feel a type of relief now that you are finished. I'm praying for you.

No more COMPS, I hope

G'Day to my family. I wanted to add a little post telling you all of the wonderful exam I finished taking today. For those of you who do not know, which might be no one, I took a 2 part exam last Wednesday and today, Friday. This exam is supposed to cover all the material that I should have learned as an undergraduate in physics and all that I should have learned in my first year as a graduate in physics. They group the topics into 4 different regions of study: Classical Mechanics (Rocket science), Electricity and Magnetism (EM), Quantum Mechanics (the weird stuff), and Statistics/Thermodynamics (Stats). Wednesday was Classical and E&M. Today was Quantum and Stats.I have been studying for this exam since before Dad's funeral. I felt that E&M was my weakest subject and so I studying that subject the most. I'm glad I did. After the exam was over on Wednesday I felt I did a great job. I most likely made small errors here and there but I felt I did great. Today was a very different story. I did not feel that I did as good today. Here is a little about the exam.

Each section has either 4 or 5 problems for us to do. We have to do all but 1 problem in each section. This mean we do 3 or 4 problems, depending on the section. They have the exam split up so that we have to do 7 problems per day. The time limit is 5 hours. We meet at 8am and they stop us at 1pm, unless we stop ourselves and give up. Wednesday I finished at 12:30 and today I finished at 12:45.

Now for the scoring. Although I will not know for sure if I pass or not until they are graded, I hope within the next 2 weeks, here is the passing percentages:
Passing at the Master's level - 30%
Passing at the PhD level - 50%
These percentages are an average over the 4 sections. This means I can do fairly poorly on one section but pull the overall percentage up with the other 3 sections. Those that pass at the PhD level also qualify for the Master's level.

I will let eveyone know how I did as soon as I get the results. I will either be excited to have passed or upset that I will have to take the test again in January. Lots of love. SKT

QOTW

Did you know there is a dance step called the Fox Trot Conversation. I thought it was appropriate for our blog since it is great for conversations with far away family members whom I miss so very much. The dance has wonderful steps like 'Follow through in the same direction with the LF (S)' -whatever that means- and can be practiced to such die hard classics like 'I've Got You Under My Skin' by Frank Sinatra and 'It Had To Be You' by Harry Connick Jr. In any case, it sound like a fun dance.

Hey, Jenafer. Thanks for sharing Jacob's birthday with us. It was great fun to hear about his day. I could just see him so excited he could hardly stand it.

Hey, Caren. How are you? You called me TLC but I was wondering how your tests are going. Have you heard anything about your kidneys? I hope you're doing better. And thanks for the face painting idea. Although I have no kids to try it out on, I have a friend who works with preschoolers. I think she'll find it fantastic.

Hey, everyone. Thanks for writing on the blog. I have missed everyone so much this summer and this blog had really helped me feel closer to you.

Love you all so much!!

adam's anti smoking commercial

Adam, Kip and i went to Walgreens yesterday. Sure enough near our car on the way out Adam picked up a discarded partially smoked cigarette.

I told him to put it down and i promptly stomped on it and said "bad".

Adam in turn started stomping it more into the ground and yelling {telling it off really} and pointing at it.

He's a great kid!

QOTW

da-da-da-da-da-da
"I am your singing telegram-"
BANG

I think she did a little dance step in there, didn't she?

new qotw

since it is the bloggiversary i thought i would come up with a qotw concerning the blog. So here it is.

If this family blog had a dance theme or dance move to it what would it be?

I think it would be break dancing, you know head spinning and flipping and doing the centipede all over the place because it looks fun and free and there's really no wrong way to do it.

Happy Bloggiversary!

It's August 15! As hard as it may be to believe, the Chateau de la Tobler has existed one whole year! And what a year it has been--both happy and sad. We've welcomed three new little girls into our family--Arabella, Lillian, and Katy--and had to say good-bye to the best daddy that there ever could be. We've answered some awesome QOTW, we've played logic games, and we've done silly internet quizzes. We've shared pictures, questions, requests, and random thoughts.

Who knows what the next year will bring? More mind-boggling logic games that Samuel and Caren get in two minutes, but I never quite understand? More insights into what Disney sidekick you see yourself as? More speculation into which of the main characters J.K. Rowling means to kill in her next book?

I have no idea. But I hope that you are as excited as I am to find out. Here's to the Chateau and another great year!

Encyclopedia Brown

Benjamin has a new favorite series of books to read. He FINALLY has decided he loves to read Encyclopedia Brown. Last Friday, he was only supposed to read one case before turning out the light and going to bed, one hour and three cases later he finally put the book down to sleep. He wants these books now for his Labor Day, Christmas and birthday books this year. I am so excited, I loved those books at his age. It is so wonderfull to see him love to read!

great recipe share

in a kids recipe book i found very cool recipes. One i've made for a family home evening activity for us tomorrow. {i had all the necessary ingredients already in the house} I thought i'd share it since it's easy and can be used on quite a few occasions.

Face paint

1/2 cup of cornstarch
1/4 cup cold cream
1/4 cup water
assorted food coloring

1. mix cornstarch and cold cream until well blended.
2. stir in water
3. divide the mixture into however many bowls you like {however many colors you decide}
4. Add food coloring one drop at a time and stir well.
5. Store paint in plastic zipping bags {to keep it fresh}

it's really fun and cleans off quite easily!

Jacobs big day

Jacob was up at 5:30 am just to excited about turning 5 to sleep anymore. He was given the honor of choosing a PS2 game to rent when their chores were done on Friday, he picked Cars, and he wanted to play it. After everyone else was up, he got to supervise his special birthday breakfast of eggs with cheese, toast and hash browns. Then he started to ask for a road trip. So, around 11:00 am, we went up to Gold Canyon, a town about a hour up into the mountains and we played for a while there. When we got home, Jacob finally got what he was waiting for, PRESENTS!! Lillian went first, elbow pads, then Erica, knee pads, then Heather, helmet, then Benjamin, license plate, and finally Mom and Dad, BIKE! He suited up and went right out in that 100+ degree temperature. After 15 minutes they all came in again, bright red and with sweat streaming down faces. Just before dark Daddy took Jacob to the park to play some more and they only came back when it was to dark to see anymore. Uncle Samuel, Aunt Caren, Adam, Kip and Cassie (Rad and Jenny's little girl) came over for cake and ice cream after dinner. Dinner was Jacobs most perfect meal, hot cheese sandwiches with the crusts cut off. And Jacob went to bed extremely satisfied with his day, without a pull up because he is now five and refused to wear it.

Happy Birthday Jacob!

I hope you had a wonderful day! Uncle Tyler and I love you so much and can't believe how big you're getting! Happy birthday!!!

Happy happy...

Happy, happy birthday Jacob dear! I can't believe you are five! I hope you had a great day and got to eat some good cake.

TLC......

LaDale,

can we call you TLC? It's short for "tender little chops".

Thank goodness you never went to my junior high growing up. {mean girls were known to bully nice girls and when in a fight pull the nice girl by the hair and bonk her face into a brick wall}
your jaw would have been toast.

{not a very nice school i went to, some california schools, go figure}

Another funny post

But first some sympathy for LaDale! You have got to be kidding--only 1/3 of the bone mass is THERE? Wow. Be really careful when you box, okay? And of course we'll keep you in our prayers.

I ran across this "Old Testament Parenting" from a link at a law blog, of all places. It is hilarious! Here is a bit to whet your appetite:

And if you are seated in your high chair, or in a chair such as a greater person might use, keep your legs and feet below you as it were. Neither raise up your knees, nor place your feet upon the table, for that is an abomination unto me. Yea, even when you have an interesting bandage to show, your feet upon the table are an abomination, and worthy of rebuke.

Update on the jaw

I was at the dentist today (no surprises as I go once a week). Back on July 14th I had my entire head x-rayed. The x-ray was then sent to a specialist in California and I got the results back today. Yuck!!
The pictures are slices of my jaw which show about 1/3 the bone mass a normal jaw should have. I have been instructed not to get into any head on collisions or take up any high risk sports, like boxing or hang gliding. Apparently, it would not take much to break my jaw in a million pieces. 5-6 months, at least, to get the jaw where it needs to be in order to stop more regression! The hope is 5 (less money that way)- so if you would like to add me to your prayers, I would much appreciate it. This thing needs to heal as quickly as possible.
One other 'wonderful' thing was found. Apparently I have "mucosal thickening, consistent with inflammatory sinus disease". Christina (my doctor) said to come in and pick up the x-rays to show the ear, nose and throat specialist once I have an appointment. WONDERFUL!!! I thought it was just allergies.
Sigh!

laughs

look up this website for laughs, I just about died,
uglydress.com

Katy's Blessing

Yesterday was Katy's blessing. We had such a fun weekend visiting with everyone who was able to come. On Saturday, we had a small luncheon for our friends who couldn't make it to the blessing on Sunday and our families. I think it turned out rather well, considering we don't have a lot of money. We had enough left over to feed everyone again after Church on Sunday. =) Anyway, the blessing was beautiful, Katy was beautiful, and we all had a great time. Katy smiled for the very first time on Thursday at Aunt LaDale! I just can't wait until she's smiling on a regular basis...I don't know why, but I thought she would smile a lot immediately after her first smile. I guess I'll just have to wait a little longer. Tyler's family came up on Friday night and we had a great time with them, as well. Thank you to everyone who helped with the weekend and it's many activities. Katy's a little exhausted after such an exciting weekend and being held by so many people, but she seems to be doing okay. A little fussier than normal, but I was expecting that. Hopefully life will settle back down to normal soon. We love you all! Oh, and if you want to see more pictures of Katy's blessing, you can see them on our website: tylerandtelima.com. Have a great day!

annoying kidneys

My kidneys are giving me grief again. i did a road trip with a kidney infection. Not the brightest idea, but hey my little brother only gets home from his mission once. I got treated in utah by antibiotics for said kidney infection. The kidney infection is gone, but pain is not. I also guzzle cranberry juice like nobody's buisness. {the 100% juice kind}. So now it's exray and ct scan time. From infection to possibility of stones in a week. Kidneys too bad you need em' to live right?

Smells, smells, smells

I have thought a lot about the smell of a room freshner that I would want. I do like cinnamon but I also like the smell of peach pie cooking. I really like the smell of cookies and so I don't know. After being at girl's camp and I think that the smell of a forest just after a rain storm is the best smell that I cam think of. If you could bottle or put that 1in a candle I would buy it. That pine scent is just not right.

laundry helpers

the boys love laundry time! Adam loves me to pick him up so he can pour laundry detergent into the machine. They also both adam and kip lik any kids love it because i will zoom them around in the laundry basket a couple times around the house. {which is all i can before i'm tired of course}]

Adam helps put away folded clothes. But this is a first today. I was putting things on hangers to later hang them in our closet. Lo and behold he scoops up the majority of the hanger items to help me put them away and in his own babbling he tells me that is what he's doing and i say ok. So he goes to the linen closet and tries to hang them from one of the lower shelves. It was very cute! He is such a big helper. I'm cherishing it while it lasts because it probably won't last long.

The Children's Parade Float

So here are some pictures of my beautiful float for the Children's Parade. Our primary entered as a group, and we all dressed in white T-shirts and pinned giant "A+"s on our backs. We also held apples (mostly whole, but the Sunbeams didn't quite get the "wait till we're done" instruction. We didn't win (YAY), but we had a great time.

RE: QOTW

So when Caren asked about the food scent you would put in a candle, my first thought was something like this: "The smell of Mommy's homemade spaghetti sauce that hits you when you walk in the house through the garage after church on Fast Sunday." But, as I thought about it, it still sounds wonderful, but would it smell the same if it wasn't Fast Sunday? And what if it was Fast Sunday and you smelled it and then found out there wasn't any yummy spaghetti sauce almost ready to eat, but just a candle? How depressing!

So I have to go to my second choice--I love the smell of cinnamon rolls. They already have candles with cinnamon roll scents--the best are Salt City Candles. So now you know what to give me for my birthday...er Christmas...er any occasion!

Heather

I was watching the Miss Universe pageant the other week, not a lot of it, just kind of flipping to it every so often till the evening gowns came on. Well, I guess I underestimated exactly how long parts of it were on. Two days ago, Heather came and told me that Barbie was going to be in a fashion show. I really didn't think much of that at the time. However, a few hours later, she brought Barbie to show me that she had won. Barbie was dressed in a bikini, with a sash, that had the word President on it, a paper crown and a bouquet of roses. Heather informed me that Barbie had won her contest and would now be President until Heather turned eight and took over for her. Oh, and because Barbie was President, I had to carry her around with me until she wasn't.

Sigh!!!!