Whiting Baby Shower Invite

created by: Traci Smith Design Studio
www.tracismithdesignstudio.com

Baby #3 is a...

Whiting Baby #3 is going to be a...

Monday November 2nd (the day that marks J & I's first date back in 2003) was the day we discovered we would be adding a sassy, spoiled, little tom-boy to our family. A perfect fit. The "Big Brothers" are ecstatic and the name tug-of-war is in full effect. Now our focus is PINK, bows, dresses 'n frills...we will leave it up to the "Bothers" to keep our buttercup from getting too girlie. More good news came at our visit when the Dr. talked to us regarding bed rest, puking, bleeding, etc. etc (our issues) and tests & ultrasounds have all come back and we are in the clear...delivery will be normal, baby is perfect, and prayers have been answered. We are truly blessed...and couldn't be more excited...can't you tell!?!

Halloween 2009

" Trick-Or-Treat, Smell my feet, Give me something good to eat!" This tune has been ringing through our ears all month long by one little 5 year old that rules our roost. Halloween was filled with parties, cookies - caramel apples - candies, and 2 little super heroes saving the day in our house. 1st stop on Halloween- Team "Big Red's" last soccer game, 2nd stop-Sydney's 5th birthday party, 3rd stop- showing off Batman & Spider man at the Merrells house, 4th stop- the ward Trunk-Or-Treat party, and stop #5, the last stop of the night- at Grandma 'n Grandpa Smith's house for one last doorbell ring and "Trick-Or-Treat." Our Halloween equaled fun, sugar, sugar, and more sugar. Can't wait till next year...along with our new addition.

Soccer 2009

Soccer 2009 existed of a team of 13 players, 3 head coaches, and a random number of winning games this season. Team "Big Red" had a fun time running, kicking, and chasing the ball up 'n down & back again on the soccer field. Mr. JCrew had more than his fair share of good times playing on the field. Whether he was positioned at forward, defender, or goalie...he came with his game face on, his dad coaching by his side, and his fan club cheering him and the rest of the team on along the sidelines. Way to go Team "Big Red" on a fun season.

Pumpkin Faces

It's that time of year when carving pumpkins is a necessity in every home and we have one 5 year old in particular that has been more than eager to cut out his pumpkin face. Our night was set for FHE, dinner gobbled up, pumpkins set out, carving utensils lined up, and away we went cutting, gutting, and detailing our "Jack-O-Lanterns." J & "The Man" worked hard (2+ hours) carving out their wicked flaming Jack and me (with an occasional interest from the little guy) carving out a smiling skeleton. The proof is in the pudding...happy faces from all, pumpkins perfectly carved, and a Family Night well spent.

Cookie Crazy

Cookie crazy, coo-coo, in over my head with dough. What started out as a pregnancy craving turned into a ridiculous cookie baking project. I had more than enough help with 2 little monsters that added to the "work" of making over 130+ Halloween sugar cookies...who new doubling my mother's recipe would produce me with that much dough rolling, shape stamping, and cookie baking chaos! Although it created a fun family night it also created flour covered, dough 'n cookie eatin', little messes named Crew & Trip. Next time I will remind my "craving" that doubling the sugar cookie recipe is more work than its worth...even though...they are just that good!

Pumpkin Pick'n At the Garden

This weekend Grandma n Grandpa Smith invited the boys out to the garden to get thier pick of pumpkins that they grew for all the grandchildren. Crew found many that were "just perfect," Trip was a little more interested in finding the bugs in the garden rather than finding the pumpkins, and S & J snatched a couple of thier own from the patch to carve for themselves. And just before leaving, Mr. JCrew put in one request to Grandma: to turn one of her pumpkins into a pumpkin pie...just for him! Thanks Grams n Gramps for the pumpkins!!!

Perfect Pumpkin

Rebel #1 went on his 1st Kindergarten field trip to the Willis Farm. Kindergartner's got the opportunity to make their merry way through the pumpkin patch and find themselves that "perfect pumpkin" to take home with them. The Rule: no pickin' pumpkins that you (the kindergartner) could not carry home &/or to the bus themselves. This I already new and prepped our little man on what and how to find his pumpkin in the patch that would be just right for him. So he was off, and I was eagerly awaiting his arrival home with his pick. 11 o'clock came and Crew climbing off the bus...with pumpkin in arms...squeals and giggles of excitement, his great pumpkin pickin' accomplishment was relayed to me, "Mom, I just did it! I found the most perfect pumpkin out there!!!" And it was just "perfect."

When life hands you lemons...

When life hands us lemons, we make lemonade....gallons of it. The Whiting household has been plagued. We are down and out...S is on bed rest & has developed the flu, the "wild things" are snot stricken & sick, and the "glue" that has been holding all of us together has kidney stones. We have been hit with a ton of bricks...this is the vision of our chaos: ALL bundled up in our beds, tissues 'n puke buckets near by, loaded on meds, and waiting for this to pass us by one way or the other. We are just thankful we live near to family and have friends that are sympathetic in our distress. "This too shall pass..." and we will look back and laugh at the week from Hell in the Whiting Household :)

A Bun is in the Oven

A Bun is cookin' in the oven at the Whiting house. This will make "Bun" #3 and boys are excited to have an addition to our already existing chaos. As tradition goes with my pregnancies I tend to get a little sick (that may be an understatement...I get a lot sick), so IF you haven't already suspected we have been carrying around a secret now its out in the open. I had my 1st OB/baby check up visit this week and this is our delima: those of you that have been in on our secret know I have been spotting/bleeding sporadically throughout this pregnancy along with being very very sick. In this Dr. visit we were hoping to get answers to the cause of bleeding and being reassured that everything is okay with the baby. Well...first attempts at finding the heartbeat were negative (which was a little devastating for me) they sent me right away to the ultrasound tech there in the office and she did a vag. procedure to get images and attempt to hear the heartbeat...which was an instant success and good news. Heartbeat was very strong and the baby is growing and developing fine (and we are actually a week further along in the pregnancy than we thought :) ). BUT, there was a concern that the Dr. later discussed with me...where the placenta has decided to attach and the sight of the bleed is right at my cervix...not the best place for it to be...the concerns = IF we begin bleeding continuous the chances of miscarriage are inevitable....IF I continue to carry this baby with the tear remaining were it is this makes out for a very risky c-section delivery, the Dr. will have to "make his move very fast" as he will be cutting through more tissues/and in a more dangerous area than usual (Good news is he has done this surgery before on several women and has been successful his words, "it's not easy but we will be successful.")...AND/OR... what we are praying for (and asking all of you to keep us in your prayers) is that as the baby& placenta continue to grow that the sight of the tear will be pushed upward and to the side making surgery/delivery a much better ( and less scary) experience. I have been placed on complete pelvic bed rest and may remain down for the extent of the pregnancy. We are confident in our Dr. and following his guidance to get this baby here healthy and happy. We would appreciate it if you would remember us in your prayers...and are relying on the Lord to help us(me) keep it together...we got a long 9 months(actually 6 months) ahead of us. We love you guys, Jason, Shanda, & Fam. THANKS.

100 Club

Counting to 100 is a BIG accomplishment...at least in Mrs. Tanner's Kindergarten class. Mr. JCrew has been bragging since the 1st day of school that he can count to 100 and was ready to be in "The Club" (plus pick out his 100 items from the treasure box for his BIG reward). So the day finally arrived when he was given the opportunity to show his stuff...and he did. Crew is now officially a member of Mrs. Tanner's 100 Club. Their couldn't be a kid any prouder...and parents too!!!

Virgil Whiting Reunion

The Whiting Homestead, is a place that is sacred to many and holds memories that can't be sold. Our family was found on Labor Day weekend at the Virgil Whiting Family Reunion. Cousins, Aunts, Uncles, the dirt, rain, & mud were all in attendance (minus me a couple of days - I was a little too sick to rough it...wink wink. ) My "Fellas" loved the homestead, getting acquainted with cousins, the dirt, and becoming real mountain men! They had all kinds of fun, dancing a jig, listening to stories, crawdad fishing, having mud fights, launching water balloons and roughing it up with ALL the boys!!! I am so thankful to be a part of such a rich heritage of family. I know my 'Whiting Boys' can't wait to go again.

Lil' Artist

It must be a right of passage in every 2 year old life to get their crafty little hands on a pair of crayons, markers, makeup, etc. and smear it along walls, legs, arms, furniture, etc. etc. - It fathoms me that our little artist will find these messy 'applicators' when these items are clearly out of sight, out of reach, and locked away!!! We got to break this bad habit of our little Picasso's coloring his legs & arms & the house before I loose all sanity scrubbing away at little scribbles.

Lucky Me

So traditionally I am not one who is fortunate enough to enter into a random drawing and actually win anything. In fact, I tend to be cynical in regards to throwing my money away into a few tickets to be tossed into hundreds that then gets randomly pulled out...and as lessons have been learned...I do not EVER WIN ( I leave the luck up to Big J)!!! That is until I attended the annual Snowflake/Taylor Business Expo-Preparedness Fair and was convinced to donate my $5 into a drawing. Big J already had the stench of victory all over him after a big win on a Kurt Warner Cardinals jersey. So, a little eager for the 'wife' to gamble on a picture of Christ, he urged me to put all my tickets in to attempt to win this beautifully framed piece of art. My tickets were dropped into the jar, regretfully, and the drawing was made....I didn't believe it at first (probably because they were not pronouncing my name correctly) until fingers were all pointing at me. I was elated!!! My 1st REAL big win!!! Luck was on my side...finally!!!

Sonic Bandit

The Plan: take the rebels to the park to celebrate our 1st days back to school. The Story: we arrive at the park, early evening, along with many other families that seemed to have the same plan as us. Kids ran around laughing, playing, and recognizing one another from classes, to the playground, to bus rides home. All is well, that is until Dun...Dun...dun...I catch a glimpse of my son, Trip, eyeing a near by picnic table loaded with an innocent families dinner from Sonic. I think nothing of it other than hmmm...we should pick up dinner after we leave. I do a double take as I hear laughter coming from Trip's recent location...our little rebel had sprinted towards the table, taken it upon himself to climb into the middle of their table to feast on their leftovers!!! Humiliated (and killing from laughter inside) I run over to table apologizing...thank goodness the victims were more than welcoming to invite the "Crasher" to dinner with them. So next time you bring your meal from Sonic to the park...beware of the "Sonic Bandit" that may be stalking the playground!!!

Kindergarten's Here!

Well, the day has come. The tears have been shed (All by me, of course. Didn't you know, "Kindergartner's don't cry when they go to school."), his shoes tied tight, back-pack strapped on, and the much anticipated day of attending Kindergarten has arrived. Our little boy (excuse me, Big Boy) is off on a new adventure...new school, new friends to meet, new things to learn. What Fun! Almost makes me want to go back to Kindergarten...almost, I said ;) I can't wait to hear the stories of his 1st day of school!!!

New Church Calling

2+ years walking through the halls of church, enjoying Relief Society, chatting it up with the ladies in the lounge, and now the day has come when I have yet again been assigned a "Calling." Always a little nervous when the Bishop calls you into his office not knowing what he will ask of you....BUT, I couldn't have been more excited when he uttered the words Primary. I love the primary kids and was assigned to teach the 7-8year olds (such a fun age and always fun to celebrate and witness their baptisms). I am thrilled to take on the new challenge of 13+ boys and girls to teach in primary.

Retirement

After 40+ years (43 to be exact) of doing "A big ol' pile of shift work" Pop's actually retired (to many peoples surprise) from the Paper Mill in Snowflake. The fam threw him a surprise retirement party in red, white, and blue...in celebration of his "Sweet Freedom" from work. There were over a hundred people who showed up to support him and celebrate his retirement. I think we all laughed and cried at the stories that MANY felt "inspired" to tell about our Dad and his selfless service he has provided throughout his life thus far. We expect him to start making the rounds to see his grand kids. NO MORE: Work seven to three - Three to eleven - Eleven to seven - A big ol' pile of shift work! Congrats Dad.

Church Talk

Future missionary Mr. JCrew gave his 1st church talk in primary on Sunday. Lots of practice repeating the 2min. story was spent between BIG J, the "Man", and I all week so he could have his speech in his head and ready for his debut. Sunday morning came, his shoes were shined up, tie on straight, talk in hand, and come time for primary delivered his talk with enthusiasm (along with a little help from mom, as his assistant, holding up pics). Congratulations Crew, we are so proud of you and hope that your enthusiasm for talking in church continues throughout life.

St. Johns Pioneer Days 2009

St. Johns Pioneer Days 2009 (short n sweet) = the fam, campfire cirlce, Corky's, a little service work, late night games, and enjoying the parade - the laughs of cousins playing together - and the "Stations" crushed ice.