Pics from Blythe

Elizabeth wore the dress Granny made her.

Granny took a good close-up of Amelia with her new camera.

We had a rough night last night. Elizabeth has a fever and was miserable until late this morning when I finally got a chewable Motrin into her by mixing it with Sweet Tarts (we raided Uncle Bryce's stash) and took a tepid bath with her. While I was uploading the pics just now, Elizabeth chased Eliza (the cat) into the laundry room and I heard a suspicious grunt. Yup! She'd gone through the doggy door! The pool is empty, but the first thing she did Saturday was get down on the ground and start scooting backwards to try to lower herself over the edge...without any concern for the distance or the concrete below! And just now she was sitting on Eliza. She tries that with her sister, too.

Our trip to Blythe - Day 2

The next day we stopped at Burger King in Buckeye
and Elizabeth had lots of fun at the playground.

Shhhh...don't tell anyone, but Granny did, too!

We also stopped in Quartzsite and went to the swap meet.
There were lots of tempting expired OTC medicines, but
we resisted and just enjoyed the free food samples.

Our trip to Blythe - Day 1

Leaving Daddy to fend for himself, Mommy and the girls

headed out to see Granny and Grandpa Jeppson.

We met up with Granny in Las Cruces and made it as far as Tucson the first day.

We got a motel room with a luxurious bath.

Just too cute!

They love each other so much and interact more each day!

Poor Daddy has been sick since Friday (yet well enough to leave the girls with Mommy and go to Scouts tonight!)

Hey, Ashley, you're live!

You're in the Sacramento Temple district, aren't you? That means you can register at New FamilySearch. You'll need your unit number (ask your ward clerk) and your confirmation date (again, ask your ward clerk or ask Mom) and your membership # off your recommend. It doesn't take long to register and then you'll be able to link to our family history. I'm already registered because of my calling, but you're the first family member living in a temple district that's actually "Gone Live." Let me know if you have any trouble linking up or if you just want some instructions/info to make it easier.

How crazy am I?

I'm planning to drive to Blythe with just the girls on Friday. Am I absolutely nuts?

6 Months...can you believe it's been half a year?

Here's 2 and 4 months for comparison.

Can't talk, but maybe she can count?

2 blocks, 3 blocks, 4 blocks

Rolling up Daddy

Just had Elizabeth's speech evaluation

Actually, it was an overall evaluation with Early Childhood Intervention. It went well and I think it really helps that both of the women have been in our home at least once a month since Amelia came home from the NICU, so Elizabeth knows them and they know her. Just as I thought, the only area she is delayed is communication. And I've seen a lot of progress over the past week or so, but it feels good to know that we'll have 3 appointments a month (2 speech, 1 general) to have someone work with her and give me ideas on what to do with her. The speech therapist will actually be working with both girls at each appointment since Amelia really doesn't need speech therapy at the moment, but we want her monitored. We set it up with Amelia right before she caught on to nursing, so there hasn't been much to do with her...but before we know it she'll start on solids and there's the possibility of her high-arched palate causing problems with that, so if it does we'll split up the appointments at that point. James was home for lunch most of the appointment, so that was really nice because we could both give our input and he could be more in the loop with what ECI is and does.

Some progress

Well, I haven't been posting much because I've been having a lot of fun doing Family History. It's done wonders for my mood, which hasn't been so great lately.

We're also making progess on a couple of important child-rearing fronts. One of the biggest mistakes I made with Elizabeth was letting her get hooked on a bottle when I had to wean her to take meds for morning sickness. Not only that, but she was taking one to bed and for a nap...exactly what should be avoided! But I was sick and it would just be temporary. Yeah.

I'd just about gotten her off when I went into preterm labor and it all went downhill from there! But we've been adding more and more water to her bottles and for the past few days she's had nothing but water in the bottle! Hurray!

And Amelia and I are officially out of the recliner and into the bed. I never thought co-sleeping would be a victory for me (with Elizabeth that was a last resort) and I honestly sleep better in the recliner with fewer aches and pains, but she was just getting too big. Besides, this way I can sometimes slip away. Now I just have to find a way to put her down for naps...she's in my lap right now. Elizabeth throws a fit if I leave the room and wants to be right next to (pretty much on top off) Amelia if we lie down.

Last night I found Marion Chase!

These are pictures from Vale Cemetery in Schnectady, New York that I took summer of 2003. Evans and Triphena are my 4-great grandparents (Mimi's gg-grands for a reference point). They had 4 boys. The parents and 2 of the boys died between 1880-1886 and are all buried here. That left Gilbert (our ancestor) and Marion. Gilbert's wife and daughter (the daughter is Mimi's mother) show up in the 1900 census in California and she is remarried, so he most likely died between 1887 and 1895 (or ran off, or something).

I had not been able to find Marion anywhere. I thought perhaps he had also died (the 1880 census shows the mother had "consumption") and, being the last of the family, was perhaps buried in a pauper's grave without a marker. Last night I was checking on the accuracy and completeness of my information on this family as I was working in the New FamilySearch and I came across my notes showing a middle initial for Marion in the 1870 Census. Now, he's also listed as a female in that census, so I took that with a grain of salt!

But I got to thinking...Marion E. Chase...his father's name is Evans M. Chase...what are the chances that E stands for Evans? I went to Ancestry and searched.

Here he is in Alabama (of all places) in 1900 with a wife and 2 daughters. The clincher is the fact that the second daughter is named Triphena!


The brick wall was broken down and the information started rushing out! I found the family in the 1910, 1920, and 1930 censuses. In 1920 his daughter Triphena was there with her husband and her son is on the next page. I found her husband's WWI draft registration with his full birth date and place. The other daughter, May Ida, was a spinster schoolteacher who took a trip to Europe. Here is her passport application:


It not only has her full birth date and place, but also her father's full name and his birthplace. Yes, he is Evans Marion Chase. And Little Falls is where his father (the Evans M. on the tombstone) is with his parents in the 1850 census.
I then found death records for Evans Marion and his daughter May Ida in Georgia and for Triphena and her husband and son (both named Perry Lewis Harrison) in Florida.
From 1880 to 1985 in one very productive night!

Happy Birthday, Bobby!

AWESOME!

I just registered on the New FamilySearch website! If your temple district is online I would exhort you to do likewise!!!!!!!!!! It's so cool! I feel like it's Christmas all over again, only instead of the materalistic, secular, Santa Christmas this is the real thing! This is an incredible gift from our Heavenly father to help us participate in the salvation of His children.

Our temple district is not actually online yet, but I've been called as the FHC Director here, so I registered as such and now get a bit of advance training so that I'll be ready to teach others. It was a welcome surprise this morning to find out that I actually get to use the site already instead of accessing my training from the alternate method. Maybe that means the rumors are true and Lubbock will be online soon. I can't wait to see other family members on there so we can work together. I am so excited to get started, but am restraining myself and trying to be sure I learn what I am doing first so that I submit only the highest quality work!

The Secret to the Universe

Elizabeth just discovered it, thanks, in part, to the nightstand which Mom had Dad bring in his luggage when he came for Amelia's blessing.

Ok, I'm an idiot and it's sideways. I always do that when I'm using the digital camera for videos!

Where we live

View Larger Map

Last house before the bend, on the side with all the trees on the corner. Looking at this I realize why my garden struggles so much. It's right in the middle of all those trees!

Bumbo

I've been wanting a Bumbo since Elizabeth was a baby, but couldn't justify the money and the resell value is almost retail when you include shipping. I had been hoping it would go down by the next baby, but the "recall" didn't help with that (hurt supply more than demand). But a lady on one of my message boards tipped me off that an Ebay seller had "slightly discolored" Bumbos at a BIN price that came to just over $20 shipped. I jumped on it! I had about $7 in my Paypal account from promotions over the holiday shopping period, so it was just about $13 more...definitely worth it for something I've been wanting for so long that usually goes for $40!

And she loves it!

Pigtails

Isn't she cute?! I was thinking about cutting her hair, but maybe I won't now if she'll keep letting me put them in.