All geared up...

For Hockey.
Teague is ready to go! He is having a little bit of a hard time getting use to his hockey skates, he doesn't like that they don't have a toe pick. I'm sure in time he will be fine. He starts practices on or about October 8. His first game is the first weekend in November. He is a "Mini-mite" for the "Wind."

Here it is!

The long awaited family picture! My mom actually got them a long time ago, I just haven't had a chance to go to dad's office and scan it. There is one picture of just my little family and one of just Aaron and I, but I have not received those from my mom yet, I think she is waiting to give them as a gift, so while you wait for those ones, here is the one of the entire family. Enjoy. This is how my family goes;
Dad -Larry
Mom - Karen
Brother - Drew, married to Miriam. Jaffa and Natanya are Miriam's daughters. Vanessa, Michael and Marcella are Drew's kids, Michael and Marcella are twins.
Brother - Kent, married to Mia.
Brother - Jordan, married to Valyn. Keenan, Channing, Schuyler and Brighton are their kids.
Brother - Matthew, married to LuJayne. Reagan and Logan are their boys. Kourtney is Matthew's oldest.
Me - Karlyn, married to Aaron. Piper and Teague are our kidlets.

Let's see if I can place everybody:

Standing left to right: Kourtney (Matthew's oldest), Natanya (Miriam's second daughter, Jaffa is her oldest, not pictured),Vanessa, Drew, Miriam, Dad, Kent, Mia, Teague, Aaron.
Sitting left to right: Matthew, LuJayne (a little in front of Matthew), Michael, Marcella, Mom, Keenan, Jordan, Schuyler, Karlyn, Piper.
Sitting on ground left to right: Reagan (on rock), Logan (standing in front of LuJayne), then closer to the middle: Brighton, Channing, Valyn.

By George, I think I got it.

My mom has the hugest one hanging in her new living room...HUGE!

I want to make it clear, in case there is any question

Today, Wal-mart had their Grand Opening here in Centerville. I made a commitment to myself a few years ago that I would never step foot into a Wal-mart. So far so good.
As I drove by the Wal-mart, it didn't seem busy really at all. As I was driving from Centerville to Bountiful to Wood Cross to pick-up the kidlets from school I noticed about 4 or 5 driving billboards advertising the fact that they were now open in Centerville. I don't think that I have ever seen a driving billboard in Davis County my entire life. I've driven by Wal-mart a few times today, only because it is on my way to just about everywhere I go, and it has not been busy, the parking lot has been nearly empty. I must say, this thrills me! Hopefully it will stay this way.
I don't know why Wal-mart bugs me so bad....actually I do, but that is for an entirely different post! It bothers me that the citizens of Centerville fought so hard and so long for Wal-mart not to come, but then one City Council member changed his/her mind. It blows me away. I have only met two people that wanted Wal-mart to come: One person lives in Bountiful, and the other person has since moved from Centerville.
But, I just want you all to know, that I am staying true to my word! I will not step foot into a Wal-mart, even if it is within walking distance from my home, even if it has the absolute best price, even if it means I have to drive miles to another store just to get something that they may have there, Even if it is the middle of the night and it is the only store open in Centerville, I would rather drive to Walgreens in Bountiful. I will not do it. Trust me on this one.
Thank you!

Aaron

I ask Aaron if he read the post about my labor and delivery with Piper and Teague. He said that he had, but he wondered why I didn't mention him at all.
OH MY GOSH, I FELT SO BAD! So I tried to make him feel better by telling him that it was about me becoming certified as a doula and to relate my birth experience! But...then I got to thinking about it, and I can't believe that I didn't mention my sweet hubby and what a help he was during my labors in my paper! I am really ashamed.
Let me start by saying that before I was pregnant, I was the type of woman that would have said, "Bring on the drugs!!" and I was also the type of woman that if you ask me if I was going to breastfeed my babies, I wouldn't have not hesitated in saying, "NO!"
Then, I found out that I was preggers and something happened. I think that Aaron saying things like "maybe you should do some research on breastfeeding" & "I think you should at least try" finally clicked in my "Placenta brain." After doing TONS of research on childbirth, Aaron and I (Not just me!) decided to take a Bradley Method childbirth class. When we started class I was dead set on having a natural childbirth, but I was still unsure on the breastfeeding issue.
After week one, I was dead set on both issues. That class was such an incredible experience for both Aaron and I. Aaron and I went to every class together. We participated in everything together. Everything with my pregnancy, labor and delivery was a great experience because I had a supportive husband that understood what was important to me. Aaron was the one that fired our first nurse because she wasn't supportive! How many husbands would do that? Aaron was the one that was doing counter pressure and massage until my doula arrived and helping with counter pressure and massage even after my doula was there. Aaron really was the most supportive "coach" I had. He new more about what was going on with me, my body and my baby more than anyone in that delivery room and in our bedroom. Aaron was the one that was talking me through my contractions and breathing with me. He was the one getting cold washcloths for my brow. He was the one that kept his cool when everything seemed to be falling apart. He was multitasking, I didn't know men could do that, but my hubby can, during labor and delivery at least.












When I got thrush (the worst pain I have EVER had), he was the one that was there telling me that it was all going to be worth it and not to give up, while nearly everyone else was telling me to quit. When I got the Baby blues, again, it was Aaron that helped me through!
I guess I cannot stress enough how much Aaron was involved in every aspect! But really, does it surprise you? I mean look at the kind of guy he is! And...look at the kind of daddy he is!
I love you Aaron!

The Utah State Fair

Another Salazar Family Tradition! The Utah State Fair.
We've had a bit of a crazy month so far, I didn't think that we were going to make it this year, but luckily we figured it out, and I am so glad that we did, we had such a fun day. I do have to say that I always feel a bit gross at the State Fair, but I guess it is part of the experience....right? What State Fair is clean and smells lovely? If you know of one, let me know.
I think that we saw everything we could, it seems like we usually miss out on at least one or two buildings, but not this year. The only thing we don't do, and never do is the rides. They scare me, so I am a mean mom and I don't let my kidlets ride them, however, after I had explained to them why, they seemed to be fine with my decision. (I know, I know we just went to Lagoon....but it's different!)
The first building that we went in was the Fine Arts building. The kidlets loved it, there was an artist there working on a picture and the kidlets stood there and watched him for what seemed like hours, but it was only about 20 minutes, but they would have stayed all day and watched him. But, we did go back and see him on our way out. We did the Horticulture/Agriculture building which had the "Buttter exhibit" I think it is really gross that they use a ton of butter to make a sculpture of a cow, but o'well, it is a long standing (ten year) tradition for the fair.












We walked through all the buildings with the vendors trying to sell you crap, but I really wasn't interested in anything this year! There is usually something that catches my eye. We saw the cows, sheep, goats, pigs, rabbits, strange birds etc.









And......we had a typical State Fair lunch. YUMMY!









Piper really wanted to see the 1000 lb pig, but we told her she had to choose between that or a pony ride, she was set on seeing the pig until we walked over to the ponies, then she changed her mind. Piper rode on a pony named Nephi and Teague rode on a pony named Red. They had so much fun. I am very glad that she chose the pony ride over the 1000 lb pig. I don't think that Teague really cared much either way.









My favorite exhibit at the fair was the Photography, so we saved that until last. While the kids and I went there, Aaron went and bought a treat for himself....a butterfly knife from one of the vendors. Then it was home we went! Except for stopping back in the Fine Arts building to say bye to the artist.
Another good ending to an annual family tradition!

LAGOON: $10.00 & Free lunch for a family of Four!

Can you believe that? And I am being truthful, $10.00 (total) and free lunch for all four of us!

Aaron's school does this every year. This is our third year to go. The admission is usually around $35.00 per person, so that would be about $140.00 for our little family, so compared to $10.00 and a free lunch, this is pretty much FREE! YIPPEE.

Lagoon

Aaron had class that morning so we decided to meet him up there. The kidlets and I got there at about 11:30. We went on "Dracula's Castle," "The Scrambler," "Tilt A Whirl," and we were just getting on "Paratrooper" when Aaron got there at 12:30. Unfortunately, the lady that was running the ride was slower than molasses, so we didn't get off of "Paratrooper" until 1:00.

We went directly to "The Cascade Terrace" for our lunch, All you can eat Hot Dogs, Hamburgers, Chips, Potato Salad and drinks. It was free. All you can eat. Did I mention that is was "free all you can eat"?

After lunch we got on the "Sky Ride" I rode by myself. Piper thought is was pretty cool that she was tall enough to ride by herself, so she did. Aaron and Teague rode together. Then we did "The music Express," Unfortunately there could be no more than three people per car, so Piper and I rode together and Teague and Aaron rode together. Then since Teague is only 38 inches and can't really ride anything, he and I went over to "Kiddieland" while Aaron and Piper did the "Colossus" and the "Centennial Screamer."

While Teague and I were on our way over to "Kiddieland," He noticed the "Tidal Wave" luckily he was tall enough to ride with a responsible adult...i.e. Me! He loved it, and he couldn't stop talking about how brave he was. Then we started doing the kiddie rides.

Aaron and Piper met up with us and I took Piper to do the "Roller Coaster" my personal favorite of all the rides, while Aaron stayed with Teague. After Piper and I were done we met up with Aaron and Teague again. We did "Tidal Wave" again so Teague could show everyone how brave he was. Piper and Teague ended up doing all of the kiddie rides while Aaron and I watched, however, we did do "Dinosaur Drop" and "Ladybug Bop" with them. We also did the Carousel. We also let the kids play "Wac-a-mole" and in order to win, one of them had to get to 100, it took awhile, in fact, Aaron and I took over and then Aaron and I played so each kidlet could get a prize.

At about 6:50, my parents picked up the kidlets and took them home to the babysitter. Aaron and I stayed so we could do some rides together that the kidlets couldn't do. We got in line for "Wicked" at 7:30 and got off the ride at 8:30, but it was so worth it, what a great new ride. I screamed the entire time and my eyes were dripping with tears because of the wind. We also did "Colossus," "Wild Mouse," "The Spider," "Sky Ride," and "The Jet Star."

We got home at about 10:20, the kidlets were bathed and in bed! What a great babysitter Kaity is!

All in all, a great day.

Ricks Creek Neighborhood Annual Salmon/Chicken Bake

Every year, our ward/neighborhood does a salmon/chicken bake. This is the one activity that I know we will all go to without kicking and screaming (Aaron mostly:)). Since Aaron and I are on the activities committee we were in charge of making sure that the tables and chairs got from the church to the park and from the park to the church. Aaron actually stayed late at school on Tuesday night so he could go and help with all of this. I helped with getting the tables and chairs from the church to the park, the young men, the young men's presidency and the young men's presidents daughter (who is 11) were all there to help and I must say that Alexa (pres. daughter) probably did most of the work. We loaded about 50 tables and about 500 folding chairs. The young men pretty much played basketball until I got after them, then they were a great help.

Up until a couple of years ago, there was a man in our ward that would go up to Alaska and get all of the salmon for the salmon bake, however, he is now living in South America for the church, so he doesn't go fishing anymore. We now get our salmon from Costco, but rumor has it from last night that it was incredible, I wouldn't know, because I am not a fish lover, that is why they also have chicken, for people like me and chicken nuggets and tots for the little ones.

The actual party was quite fun, I think that most of the ward was there, which is really nice to see such a great turn out. Most people were assigned to bring a salad, so there was a huge variety and I think I pretty much tried some of everything. Actually, by the time I got to the grill for my chicken, my plate was already FULL, overflowing. And....I don't think that there was one thing that I didn't like which is really amazing since I am such a picky eater. But, I wasn't a huge fan of the chicken, but my plate was empty by the end. Yes...when it is food I like....I EAT! A LOT. Aaron always makes fun of me by saying something like, "Oh, did you drop your food? Do I need to go get you some more?" Nice.

After everyone was done eating, people just socialized, which I love. And all the kids played, and there were a ton of kids. It was fun to look over at the park toy and see it loaded with kids. Piper mostly played with her little friend Sydney, whom she loves SO much. Teague played with everyone, but mostly the dirt. What is it with little boys and sticks and dirt?




















After is was all over, everybody, even those who weren't ask, stayed and cleaned up. I LOVE THAT! I love the willingness and understanding of our ward. I know that it is probably like that everywhere, but I still love it. So, instead of just the elders quorum cleaning up and making sure that the table and chairs got back to the church, it was everybody who was still at the party. Clean up was only about an hour. Aaron was home by 9:15. I had left after the clean up to get the kids bathed, read to and in bed.

What a fun neighborhood tradition. This is one reason for us to stay put. The Ricks Creek Neighborhood Annual Salmon/Chicken Bake.

Doula Certification

When I was becoming a certified Doula I had to write a short paper on my thoughts about Labor and Delivery. I decided to share my birth stories. I know that on this blog I have sort of shared Teague's, on his birthday, but I am feeling inclined to share the paper that I wrote, so...here it is, enjoy:

On March 18, 2001 I gave birth to my little Piper. Up to May 22, 2003, the birth of my son, it was the most incredible, spiritual, and challenging day of my entire life. I am a little choked up just thinking about it.

I feel like in order to express my feelings about labor and delivery, I need to share Piper and Teague’s birth stories as much as I can. Both labors were VERY short, in fact, TOO short. However they were very different from one another. With Piper: my water broke at 12:45 a.m., I started contracting at 1:15 a.m., but I went from nothing – no pain – nothing, to hard labor. The contractions I was having minutes before Piper was born were on the same pain level as the ones in the beginning.

With Teague, a contraction woke me up at 7:23 a.m. Then they gradually built up, like they were “suppose” to.

I labored in the car to the hospital with Piper. It took about half an hour to get to the hospital, so the majority of my labor was in our 1988 Cadillac Eldora do (YUCK!) It was impossible to get comfortable.

I labored at home in my bedroom with Teague. I had the freedom to do whatever I pleased during my labor. I could get comfortable wherever I felt like I wanted to be.

When I got to the hospital around 2:15 a.m. the nurses wanted to do the routine check in the triage room, but when I had a contraction, they put me in a delivery room. I had a nurse that was not going to support my birth plan, so my husband fired her, and we got a new, very supportive nurse. I was freaking out because I was in so much pain, and My DOULA and my mom and my best friend had not arrived yet.

I enjoyed moving around freely, comfortably and calmly waiting for my midwife, her assistant, my parents, my mother-in-law and best friend to arrive. I didn’t really have a care in the world.

At about 2:30 my DOULA had arrived, boy oh boy was I glad to see her, even though I was in “labor land” I could feel her presence when she arrived, I was suddenly very comforted. Finally at about 2:40, my mom and dad got there. We were all working hard. Even though I was in “labor land, “ I could sense the tension in the air, I could sense that something was not right. Next thing I knew, it was all chaos in the delivery room. Piper’s heart rate had dropped, the nurse had contacted the nursery and a bunch of other staff.. I had the urge to push, so I did, and I pushed her right out. I had done it, I birthed my little Piper, and I did it completely unmedicated, but wait, she wasn’t breathing. I freaked out. Luckily I had my DOULA there to keep me calm and collective through the whole experience. My baby wasn’t handed to me after delivery, I didn’t know why, nobody would tell me anything, The doctor was rubbing her back trying to stimulate her, they took her over to “The French fry warmer,” and administered CPR. I started screaming, “IS SHE DEAD?” My DOULA right by my side held me and cried with me and kept telling me it was all okay, everything was going to be alright. Finally I heard a little cry. The nurse brought her over to me just long enough for me to look at her and kiss her, then took her away again. Nine months later I watched the video of her birth, it took my little Piper nearly three minutes to take her first breath.

People started arriving one by one at my house, before I knew it, my bedroom was full of the people I loved watching me labor as I lay on my bed. My midwife – of course – was the last to arrive at about 8:40, she got everything all situated and helped me labor, she checked me at about 8:55, and I was at a 7. At about 9:00 I said, “Okay, I’m done, get him out of me, I can’t do this anymore!” My mom looked at me and said, “Yes you can!” My midwife helped me breath through a really tough contraction, then I had the undeniable urge to push, so I did, and BOOM, my water broke, and it went everywhere, then I pushed again, and my little Teague came flying out at 9:04 He didn’t cry or anything, he just looked around. My midwife handed him to me and I held him and nursed him. After everything was said and done…I was at home with my little family, so we all just went to bed and slept.

Experiencing two completely different labors was a real eye opener to how different labor is and how each one can be handled. I use to think that if I had Piper at home there is no way she could have survived, but I now know that if my situation would have been handled differently in the hospital, it would have been a better outcome, but thanks to the support of my DOULA, I made it through that very difficult time. My DOULA is an incredible woman. My DOULA was the reason I became a DOULA. She helped make my birth the beautiful birth that it was. I decided that if I could help women have a beautiful birth experience, then that would be the greatest job in the world…and it is.

MOM!!!!!!!!!!!!

How do I get a drink out of this?

Just too cute!

I don't know why I think this is so cute. I was at the checkout at Dick's Market and I looked over and saw my cute little boy trying to rent a movie! I couldn't pass up this picture perfect moment!

Chopped it off

I have been wanting to cut my hair short for a long time. Last year I cut off fourteen inches and donated it to "Locks of Love." But, I still wanted to go shorter. So, on Tuesday, I went shorter. My cousin Melanie at Kami Hair did it, and I LOVE it, I wish I would have done it sooner.
Piper took these pictures for me.

First day of school

Always a good day!
Piper and Teague were both so excited. Teague because it was his first day at "Big Boy"School, and Piper because she is so lucky to have all the same friends in her class plus 3 new friends.











Teague is in five days a week from 8:40 - 11:15 Monday through Thursday and 8:40 - 10:15 on Friday. There are 12 friends in his Pre-K/K class I don't know how many boys and girls. Ms. Jana is his teacher, Piper had her for Pre-K/K as well and we LOVE her. Ms. Megan is her assistant.He told me that he doesn't have any new girlfriends because "I am still going to marry Hannah and you can only marry one girl." But he was excited that there was one little girl that is shorter than him, he also said that "She is straight like Jack." I am assuming that means she is skinny, since he is referring to Jack Skellington in "The Nightmare Before Christmas." His favorite movie. Hannah is a cute little girl that he was in pre-school with last year, they go to different schools this year. Piper is in five days a week from 8:40 - 3:15 Monday through Thursday and 8:40 - 1:15 on Friday. There are 12 friends in her intermediate elementary class, 8 girls and 4 boys. Ms. Varci is her teacher and Ms. Shannon is her assistant.
Everybody that was in her class last year are in her class this year, and there are 2 new girls and 1 new boy and 2 children that were at Sandcastle, just not in her class. Most importantly, Keiton is in her class. I am so proud of my kidlets! And we are so fortunate that we are able to send them to such an incredible school. I know that it is going to be a good year.

Argh!!

I forgot to charge the battery for the camera, so I only got a few pictures, only one worth posting and it isn't even that good because I forgot to turn the flash off. I turned the flash off, then the battery died.

Anyway, our last activity before school starts. The Utah Museum of Natural History had a really fun exhibit called "Toadally Frogs!" Monday was the last day for the exhibit and the first Monday of the month is always free, so...PERFECT...or so you'd think....This picture is a round aquarium with a hole in the middle (Like a donut) where the kids can stand. Can you see them? Too bad the flash was on.

The exhibit was really neat, I did not know that there were so many different types of Toads and Frogs. I would have LOVED to stay and read every little description of every Toad and Frog, it was so interesting. However...here we go...my kidlets were SO BAD! I am embarrassed to even tell you that my kids were literally possessed. They are normally so good, and I'm not just saying that because I'm their mom, I really am blessed with well behaved, well mannered children, but on Monday (the day from hell as I'm calling it) they were anything but.
Whining, screaming, baby talking, running around, not listening, not staying close to mom, crying, "You're the meanest mom EVER!"ing. HOLY COW!
I kept threatening them I finally got both of them to hold my hands and I put them on some benches and had them "think" about how they were behaving. After about five minutes we went back into the exhibit. UM....no change! So, I got them to hold my hands again and we left, we got in the car and they were crying and through the sobs they were saying things such as, "We promise we will be good, let's go back in." And, "We are so sorry!"
I gave them one more chance, we went back in and they were very well behaved the rest of the time, but for some reason I felt a little rushed, probably because I was a little embarrassed.
Aaron called and ask us not to come home for at least 70 minutes because he was taking a timed test on line, so we went to "Hires." And I am happy to say, the kids were good.

The Zoo....again

I promised the kids that I would take them to the zoo again before school starts, since we didn't see everything that they wanted to see last time. I called my friend Lacey to see if she and her kids wanted to come with us. Our kids are good friends, Bailey is exactly one year younger than Piper and Corey is exactly eight months younger than Teague. Lacey's mom came with us also. I swear, we were there FOREVER!!!

We saw the baby colobus monkey and I got some good pictures, oh how cute. The White Alligator was out of the water right up next to the glass, freaky.We saw the Elephants getting a shower. We saw the tiger jump and play in the water, very cool. And we saw one of the gorillas fill up a bottle in the stream and then drink it, over and over again. We actually saw all the animals and took all the right pictures.

As we were leaving, the kidlets remembered that Aaron wanted some Kettle Corn the last time that we were there, so they ask if we could get some for him. I told them that I only had $7.oo left, so if we got Daddy some popcorn we wouldn't have as much to spend in the gift shop, they didn't care. So we left with a bag of Kettle Corn for Daddy and a $1.99 prize for each kidlet and about $.80 left over in change. I am so proud of the fact that my kidlets are SO thoughtful, I think when I was there age, I would have decided to get a better prize instead of a treat for my dad.

Sorry there are so many pictures and that they are all out of order, but I couldn't choose just a couple! Let me see if I can tell you what they are:

Kids on the Gorilla
At the globe on the way out
Teague & Corey holding hands
"Do you measure up?" One that we take everytime.
Looking at a Reptile of some sort
With the Gorilla head...everytime
Gorilla filling bottle
Gorilla drinking out of bottle
White Alligator near the window
Elephant getting a shower
Kids on the Rhino
Kids on the Tigers
Tiger swimming
In front of the zoo
baby Colobus Monkey
cute Teague
Kids in Alligator exhibit

The kids had so much fun. And the fact that their best friends and one of my best friends were with us is what made it so fun!

Thanks Randalls for the fun at the zoo.

















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