Bike Trailer Finished - Finally!!

I got this bike trailer for free at a garage sale and it was pretty beat up.  All the fabric was old, ripped and really worn but the frame and wheels were still in good shape.  So.... I decided to re-do the whole thing...

Before:

After:

 

 

The only original fabric I kept was the bottom, and I used the old fabric panels for patterns with the new fabric.  I got it taken apart and sewn ok but of course couldn't remember how to put it back together...  That's where my awesome husband comes in!  He put the whole thing together in no time and got it working great, he even stayed up until 2:30 in the morning so I could try it out the next day!  I think it turned out pretty well.  It's not perfect by any means but it works, and Bentley LOVES it.  We can ride for hours and he'll ask for more.  So, for about $20 (for fabric), and lots of time, we got a new bike trailer!  Not too bad.

Ode to Infertility

Dear Infertility,

You suck.  Please go away.

Love,
Diane

blog blog blog

I do realize this is a poor, neglected blog.  We are just enjoying our 2 months of summer and blogging is the last thing I want to do!!  Maybe I'll dedicate myself to it again sometime in the future.  In the meantime, I know I'm lame.

Besides spending all our time at the splash park, going on walks, and just enjoying being outside, I have been doing tons of crafty projects lately, I'll post pictures sometime (when it's not so beautiful outside!).  I've been making lots of baby gifts (carseat covers, pacifier clips, onesies, dresses, etc), clothes for me (skirts, dresses, shirts), I just did a friend's drapes last night, I've been oil painting, refinishing kid chairs, and lots of other stuff!  But my biggest project lately is re-doing ALL the fabric on a kid bike trailer that I got for free from someone at church.  The fabric was totally destroyed but the frame and wheels are still in good shape.  I'm about halfway done and can't wait to get riding!!  Bentley is going to love it.

Also, we LOVE LOVE LOVED having Gail, Curtis (or Taco as Bentley calls him) and Nadezhda in town this past week!!  It felt like they never left.  I think they're the greatest.  I got some good pictures of our adventures so maybe I'll blog them later!... :)

I also thought I'd give a shout out to my friend's awesome business, Malan Maternity.  She is awesome for creating this company on her own!!  They are having a sweet giveaway too, so go check it out!  http://www.milanmaternity.com/

And just because he's cute:

Free Living Scriptures DVD?

Bentley absolutely loves the one Living Scriptures DVD that we have, he always asks to watch "nephi" and "mormon".  I saw this on a friend's blog and though I'd give it a shot -

Get a free Living Scriptures DVD of your choice for putting a link to the Living Scriptures Facebook page – facebook.com/livingscriptures – on your blog! To claim your DVD, create the link then email the URL and your contact information to: rewards@livingscriptures.com.  Enjoy!

Mr. B Man

I know I'm crappy at blogging regularly, oh well (so lay off it ryan!! j/k).  This kid has been keeping me more than a little busy!  I think about posts I could do all the time but don't ever get around to it.  Eh, I should stop making excuses at least anyway.

Bentley is such an awesome humanoid.  He's not even two yet and he totally cracks us up all the time.  He has so much personality.  He's crazy and sweet and smart.  He talks so much and has been putting sentences together and saying the awesomest stuff.  Here's a few things he's been up to lately:

Playing old school Nintendo with mom








Fixing stuff with dad












Getting haircuts - yes, we committed the unpardonable sin and chopped his luscious baby locks :(  The poor kid couldn't see past his long hair.  We miss it but think he is pretty cute in a mohawk anyway. 

Terrorizing cats (the other day he yanked one on the tail and got a scratch from it on his arm so I explained to him about how sometimes animals can hurt us if we aren't respectful to them and ever since then he has been pointing to his scratch and saying "sometimesssssssssss, cats hurt".












Enjoying the SUN!!!  Finally!  We spend basically every second of every warm day outside at the park or in the yard, or whatever gets us out of the house.  We love it!








Potty Training (and yes, it's going quite well despite the fact that he's not quite 2 yet)

















Making messes (in this particular picture, he found the salt shaker and poured salt everywhere.  Nice.  Other messes lately have included pen on furniture, popcorn kernels everywhere, etc.)











And just some general cuteness and smiles.

We seriously *LOVE* this little fruitcake :)

Genes and Futures and Such

My mom died of breast cancer when I was a little girl.  She was young- in her early thirties.  Her sister also had it, and their aunt.  So of course, with a family history like that I have to be very careful.

This past fall, I got my first mammogram at 24 (btw it's so not as bad as everyone says.  Quite easy, quick, and painless.  But you should probably wait longer than I did after you stop nursing to get one..... It was funny to say the least!)  Anyway, I decided that with a large risk of getting breast cancer, my prevention needed to go farther.

With the help of my sister Kristen who had already done all this herself, I was able to find a genetic counselor and meet with her in Twin Falls, got my insurance to approve the BRCA genetic testing (this took a little work but it can be done!), and I had my blood drawn and sent to a genetic lab to see if I had the gene markers to indicate I was likely to develop breast cancer.  Everyone has the BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 genes, it's just potentially problematic if you have mutations on these genes, so that's what they were testing for.  The next step was to wait for the results... it took 3 weeks (it was supposed to be 2- arg!)

I finally received my test results this week- I didn't test positive for the typical mutations on BRCA 1 or 2 that would indicate cancer, but I did have a mutation on the BRCA 2.  They don't know that this is necessarily related to an increased risk for cancer, but it's still not known for sure as most of this type of genetic testing is still quite new.  Interestingly though, my sister and I had the same mutation on the same gene.  The counselor calculated that my risk of getting breast cancer lies just under 30% since the tests were negative.  To me, that still feels like a pretty high risk!

Some people have issues with genetic testing, saying it is inappropriate to know what will happen in the future, etc., but I look at this as an incredibly positive opportunity to ensure that I stay healthy!  There are lots of awesome things that can be done to minimize risks (like a mastectomy with implants), and I plan to do just that in a few years, after I've had the chance to nurse a couple more kids.  I'm not scared at all, I am just glad to be able to take charge of my future and make sure I don't have to go down the same road as my mom!

Anyway, I chose to share this because not many people know things like this can be done, and so easily!  I didn't have to pay $1 to have this awesome $3000 test done because I worked with my insurance, and my genetic counselor helped a lot.  If you have a risk of cancer in your family and would like more information on getting tested, you're welcome to contact me!

Time to Get Busy

Am I the only one who didn't know about this, this, and this?  Oh, and this, and this...?  And a whole bunch more...

I stumbled upon them recently and my mind has been spinning with projects ever sense!  I'm gonna be busy for a while.

 See what I mean??

The Rest of 'Em

We finally got the rest of our family pictures back from Shelby that she took in the fall (I do realize it is now March but we've both been a little busy)! Here are a few...

A trip to the Benson's

Bentley and I went to Kentucky for a week to surprise my awesome sister Gail for her birthday and had a GREAT time! She was surprised as could be and was pretty excited. It was a long day of traveling (about 15 hours- driving from Idaho to Utah, flying from Utah to Chicago, layover, then Chicago to Kentucky), but it was worth it of course.









We spent our time just hanging out, eating great food, playing music, and shopping. We also went to an awesome bluegrass show in Ohio, saw a movie (ok, it was New Moon...), cooked delicious mediterranean food, and hung out with some of Gail and Curtis's fun friends. Oh, and we ate Gail's amazing chocolate chip cookies.















































Bentley and Nadezhda took a couple days to get used to sharing toys and being in each other's space, but they eventually got the hang of it. I loved watching them jump on Dezh's bed together. Bentley really liked their dog Drake ("doowake") and loved chasing him around. For some reason, B called Curtis "Taco". I have no idea why, but I love it!
























































It was hard to leave them, we had such a great time together, it was like we hadn't been apart at all. Besides Jimmy and Bentley, Gail is my best friend in the world. They were so good to let us stay with them and give us such a fun time. It was so good to see them all again, I sure love those guys!