My Sweet Baby Boy

Jarrett Michael Frederiksen

July 25, 2011

8 lb. 9 oz.

21 inches long

My Sister Kim came up to see me when Jarrett was just 5 days old and captured some oh, so cute pictures.  I love these, but there are so many more.  Just a few of my favorites.  Thanks Kim!  You are the best :)

It Ours Now...we closed on our house!

We have debated for awhile whether to buy this house that we've been renting or not.  But we finally bit the bullet and said yes.  We love the area of Mukilteo and Harbour Pointe.   Our ward is fabulous and it has been a great two years.  We would love to move back to Boise as that is where our family is but lets be realistic, there are no jobs there right now.  Soooo. we are toughing out the rain and enjoying the summers and are here to stay for a while.  We are looking for any tips on DIY (Do it Yourself) as this house needs some serious updating but has so much potential.   We want to put tile in the laundry room, recarpet, paint the house, the list goes on and on.  Any advice on tile or refinishing a wood floor would be great!

Davis vs. "Ralphie"

I get comments all the time about how Davis looks like the kid on "A Christmas Story".  So today I googled the kid whose name is really Peter Billingsley.   We wondered what he looks like now wondering if that is what Davis could look like.  It was super fun!  Lets just say I was not let down, cause he is such a cutie!  Im going to have to keep all the girls away for sure!

Does Money grow on Trees?

Our rental agreement is coming up in June.  The owners want to sell our house.  We want to buy our house--is there any trees around that grow money?  I realize that prices in Mukilteo/Seattle area are low but really, to me they still seem really high.  I have a hard time forking out a lot of money for a house that really isn't all that!  You pay a ton for a mortgage and then still have to fix it up.  Its ridiculous! Seattle homes are NOT the same as homes in Boise.  You can get a sweet house in Meridian for something affordable.  I get depressed just thinking about moving...I hate moving.  I really hate moving when I'm 7 months pregnant too! 

Announcement :0)

It's true!! We are expecting a bundle of joy around July 26th!!  We are excited, overjoyed and impatient all at the same time.  The kids are estactic and can't stop thinking about this baby, how its growing, what it's doing. etc.

To top it all off we already found out that we are having another BOY!  Not too excited about that... but I guess I have 6 months to get used to the idea.  So for all of you that are guessing how far along I am--16 weeks is the answer you're looking for.  We happened to have an ultrasound because we couldn't detect a heartbeat and I asked the tech to "look down there, just to see"  Well, according to me and everyone else in the room, we are pretty sure its a boy.  If I'm wrong and it ends up being a girl, well I'll be totally ok with that!  But for now, its all blue and green, dirt and frogs at this house. 

I should be thankful...I do have my Chelsea girl!  We are going to have a blast during Father & Son Outings!  I will tell you that!

Santa came!

 This was Carson's fav!  Can't you tell?

It was a long awaited day...marked on the calendar with a picture of Santa.  Davis was keeping track!  The kids were so excited they could hardly stand it!  All was well Christmas Eve, until Carson found his name show up on the naughty list on Darin IPhone.  Uh-oh..the poor 9-year old was really upset about that and couldn't believe that he of all people was on the naughty list! It really bothered him...he kept asking all sorts of questions about how his name was there and so forth.  Then he decided to find some GOOD things to do around the house to see if his name would get switched back.  It was hilarious to watch!!  Kids are so fun to play with especially around the holidays.  To watch the excitement in their eyes, its almost like reliving the magic from our youth.  Good times!  Christmas came along with the traditional sticky buns and the acting out of the nativity scene.  This year we all dressed up in   sheets and played a part in the birth of our Saviour.  

Costochondritis

So....I had a super bad cold (actually 2 back to back) a little over a month ago. I never get that sick but I'm sure it didn't help that I had had surgery a month before. Anyway, I finally got over my cold and then about a week after I started having this really sharp pain in my ribs just below my left chest.  It really hurt to breathe deep, cough, sneeze, roll over, move, you get the point.  So after a week of this pain I decided to go to the doctor and see what is wrong with me.  This is what I found out...costochondritis!  Oh joy!  This is exactly what I need!  Now 3-4 weeks later I'm still dealing with this!


Chest Pain: Is It Costochondritis?
Medical Author: Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD
Medical Editor: Jay W. Marks, MD

Pain in the chest wall around the breastbone (or sternum) is the most characteristic feature of the condition known as costochondritis. Medically, the term chondritis refers to inflammation of any cartilage in the body. Costochondritis refers specifically to inflammation of the cartilage that joins the ribs to the breastbone (called costal cartilages). The chest pain of costochondritis sometimes is severe.

Costochondritis usually, but not always, involves one side of the breastbone. Sometimes the pain can extend to the shoulder or arm on the involved side. When costochondritis is accompanied by swelling of the areas surrounding the cartilage, the condition is called Tietze syndrome. In Tietze syndrome, the swollen area of the inflamed cartilage may be tender to the touch, and the skin overlying the cartilage may be reddened.

Costochondritis is most common in people between 20 and 40 years of age. In most cases, doctors do not know why the condition develops. Trauma to the chest wall may lead to costochondritis, and it also is believed that viral infections, particularly upper respiratory infections, may cause costochondritis. The condition also can occur as a feature of more generalized diseases of inflammation such as certain forms of arthritis, fibromyalgia, and inflammatory bowel disease

Snow Fun!

It actually snowed in Mukilteo!  We were so excited!  To be honest I didn't believe it until I saw it coming down.  The kids had a ball playing in the snow outside.  Its been awhile since we have had snow.  Too bad it wasn't enough to make a snowman :0(

So Sick..4 days of misery

Throat so sore it felt like I was trying to swallow razorblades
Head felt like I was in cloud and wieghed about 50 lbs.
Dayquil and Nyquil were my best friends although I didn't feel like they helped all that much
I even got desperate one night and popped a Vicodin!
Sleeping at night was a joke.  Every hour I would wake when I had to swallow...Horrible
My kids kept asking, "Mom, do you feel better yet?"
Postponed my sons 9th birthday
I hate being sick...especially when I have to conquer it alone while Darin is in California. I was a mess trying to say goodbye...the tears came.

I don't know how single parents do it.

4 days later...doing better...thank goodness!

Ohio Church History/Debbie Trip

One free round trip ticket + two kids in all day school + an independant, selfless husband = a getaway trip to see my good friend, Debbie Thompson. November 1st-6th, 2010.  We have know each other from our BSU newlywed days.  Those days are a once in a lifetime! Darin and I have know Jake and Debbie for 10 years now.  So many memories to think about...including our trip together in Mexico!

I haven't seen Debbie since they moved from Idaho a few years ago.  They have been all over the map so I thought it would be fun to go east (my very first time) and pay her a visit in Ohio.  It was challenge leaving my family especailly when all three of my kids came down with nasty colds the day before my flight left.  Lovely. So I took my fevered Davis and boarded my flight, out for 5 days.  My apologies to everyone on that Southwest flight! 

I was great to see Debbie and her family after so many years.  Her boys are all grown up, her twins now 5 years old and Jabren in 2nd grade reading and doing math homework. Wow, how the time really flies! I love her boys.  Jabren is my little man with his cute freckles and his shy glances toward me. It only took a few days to warm up to me.  When Debbie was pregnant with her twins she moved back up to Meridian to be close to family and happened to live down the street from me.  I spent a lot of time helping her while on bed rest and then I got lucky enough to spend a few evenings with Debbie downtown at St. Lukes NICU in the month after the boys were born.  Those were special days.  

So it was special to be able to make Joshua and Jamesen a birthday cake.  They picked out a theme of a racecar cake and we started creating.  It somehow turned out halfway decent considering a interupption of a 3 hour Dr. appt for Davis and neighbors showing up for a birthday party at 6:00 P.m. which I didn't know about.  (I thought it was a family party, oops!) left me about 1 hr. to decorate.  Ha, ha!  No pressure.  I was freaking out trying to bust out a cake in that amount of time.  But I guess the neighbors enjoyed watching me for 1/2 hr. around the table finishing it off.  Oh well, the twins loved there cake.

We had a great time doing what we do best: late night chats, cooking up new recipes (eggs rolls & grapefruit pomegranate salad) along with trying to juggle time for 5 boys.  That was a little tricky! 

Its amazing how years pass but a friendship continues where it left off.  It was as if we hadn't missed a beat. 

A few days later we headed off to Kirtland!  More to come about the history of the church... 

Harbour Pointe Building Destroyed



Our beloved church building was destroyed this morning starting at around 2-3:00 a.m. I was first alerted by a voice message saying "Did you hear about the church." I was instantly concerned and after hearing the story ran out the door with my sweats on to see for myself. It was heartbreaking. I couldn't keep the tears from pouring down my cheeks when I saw our church...gone..smoldering after being engulfed in flames earlier while we all peacefully slept. This is like my second home. I felt as though something that I've always believed in was taken and ripped from from life. My kids all started sobbing then I had to dry off my cheeks and be the example. I told myself and my three crying children. "Just because our church is gone, that doesn't mean our testimony is damaged! It burns within each of us and we will still have church meetings. This is just a building...not our religion as a whole. It doesn't stop the work." Life will move forward!

Refinished...Done

This was my mom's old sewing desk.  I can remember her sitting here at this desk while sewing my baptism dresses and various other clothes.  She always wanted to be better at sewing clothes and thought she wasn't very good at it.  I guess that why she turns to quilting later on.  When my dad asked if I wanted the sewing desk, I jumped on it immediately and knew that I could refinish it. 

Before

                 After

I think it turned out pretty good.  It took a little motivation to get it all done but now I enjoy sewing with my mother's sewing maching on her old desk.  I somehow feel like I'm her doing what she used to do.  Funny huh?  But it's very comforting to me to have the classic purple scissors around my neck trying to do what my mother loved!

30th Birthday Surprise

Dreading the 30 year mark as my Birthday approaches
Wondering what Darin has up his sleeve knowing that he had talk to my sister
Heard a sound that can only come from Melanie my younger, goofy sister
Knew instantly that she was at my house, somewhere, somehow
Ran outside to find her...found her car and some giggles but no Melanie
Saw a blur of another image. Could it be Kim too?
Almost wetting my pants with excitement, we hugged and laughed at the thrill of the surprise!

Three sisters reunite for a celebration for my 30 year birthday

We accomplished a lot!

-a complete makeover to my master bedroom (goodbye rose pink walls)
-a trip to IKEA, fun but exhausting
-Bento Time Teriyaki
-Baja Fresh
-1 hour massage courtesy of my awesome sister





I love, love, love my new bedroom! Now I'm on the prowl for something to go above my bed and dresser. Thanks you guys for a awesome weekend filled with laughing, McDonalds jokes, Greek Mediterrean Pizza and crazy fun pictures! I love you guys, I honestly don't know what I would do without you to keep me sane. We may not have Mom with us anymore but we have eachother to keep us going.

Thank you again for EVERYTHING!

Just for Laughs!

FYI**Don't try to pick up a 30 yr old!

Inspiring Hope 5K FINISHER!

The 8th day of May was a clear, gorgeous day in Mukilteo. I felt the warm sun beat down on me instead of the misty rain as early as 8:00 am that morning. That is rare around these parts! It was a perfect day for my first 5K race! I was nervous, anxious, worried, pretty much a case now that I'm looking back at myself. I didn't know if I should wear my lucky, red fleece that I'm used to training in or not. The sun was great but because its never around I'm used to dressing warmer in the early hours of the day.

After some stretching exercises and getting rid of the fleece I was set to go. I wasn't really worried too much about my time but still wanted to run it in less than 30 minutes although my main goal was just doing it and finishing without stopping that mattered the most. Running 3 miles to me without stopping is HUGE in my little mind!

As we set off I was actually surprised at the people I was slowly passing. I figured people would be passing me up left and right. Wow, I was better that I thought! I kept looking for my family at about the 2nd mile hoping they would be there with their sign that said "You've Conquered Your Fear, Go Mom!" But I didn't see them but thought of the words on the sign to keep me going. As I got closer to the finish line I thought of my mother and how proud she would've been and I thought of the hard work that I put in and that I accomplished a HUGE goal. As I sprinted around the last corner and saw my husband and my 3 kids cheering me on I got quite emotional as I saw myself a 5K finisher. It felt great to do something that I never believed I could do.

The only thing that was stopping me was me. It was my confidence that was lacking and so instead of making excuses for not being able to run I faced it head on and learned a lot about myself. I can do anything that I really want to do!

Later after looking at my time I found an amazing 30:08 staring back at me. I was proud of that. I was 37th out of 85ish. I did exactly how I wanted to. Not first and the best, but not last either.

Now what, another race? Maybe a 10K perhaps? Or a triathlon. Maybe someday!

Tulip Festival

Going Back in Time to April 1st

We had heard so much about the Tulip Festival that goes on every year from April 1st-April 30th in Mt. Vernon that we had to pay a visit! Its a short 40-45 min drive north but well worth it! I was obsessed about tulips when I got home and couldn't quit dreaming about my 1/2 acre and which types of tulips I wanted to order. It was a bit cold (a lot cold)that day but so beautiful. Next year we will hit it when there are blue skies and some sunshine! The kids absolutely loved it! Especially after we spoiled them with some Kettle Korn!