I took a gamble...

and I won:) Claire, with all her personality and opinions, is just a little difficult to coerce into letting me do her hair everyday. Most days, she looks like a "ragamuffin." We had keep her hair long for Tinkerbell (post to follow) and although she has beautiful hair with some natural curl, I knew the solution to our problem was a haircut but was nervous. For future hair cuts we will go to Aunt Sydnee but for this one we headed to Monkey Dooz for $10 Tuesday. The car and movie playing did work to help her relax for the hair cut. I think she is quite adorable (but, I am her mom). It'll grow quickly also and maybe by next year she will be ready for longer hair. For now, my life just got easier.

Playing a game and riding in the car during the hair cut

Lookin' all grown up

Side view--I love it!

Drum roll please...

The newest Todd baby is a BOY! We are thrilled!! More importantly, baby is healthy, super active (doing somersaults during ultrasound) and big (as usual for us)! We have a long way to go to pick a name. Danny prefers "unusual" names; Redwood is one of his current favorites (his friend's name, although he's not actually pushing for that, but you get the idea). I am leaning toward Presidential (Grant, Thomas, Clinton--joking on Clinton, we can't have a Carter & Clinton:)). We've still got 20 or so weeks to decide so we are in no hurry:)

Closure on the Pipe Situation and a New Addition to the Todd Pad

To follow up on the last post, everything was taken care of regarding the sewage line the day after the second "event occurred." Ironically, the object causing all the trouble in our pipe was the tip of a very old plumbing snake that must have been used a long time ago to clear out a clog and that had become stuck and, obviously, had broken off in the pipe.

You could tell how old it was by the layers of rust on it. Obviously at some point earlier in the month the item must have shifted a bit and started snagging things. At least it wasn't something that the kids put down the toilet because in this case there was nothing we could have done to avoid it which sort of makes it easier to swallow the unexpected costs.

In other news, our good friends Bill and Kathryn and their wonderful daughters gifted us (Carter) their beautiful female Bearded Dragon. "Beardies," as they're known in the pet industry, are beautiful lizards that come from Australia. They are omnivorous and will eat everything from grapes and leafy greens to crickets, worms and even small mice and so forth. We're excited to share some photos and videos of her in the future. I guess the Lindsays' two dogs in addition to the lizard was a little much, so when we found out they were looking for a good home for this radical reptilian, we had to jump on it. Sarah, while a bit less excited than Carter and I, is very accepting of her and is content to see Carter excited about having her live in his room (in a 20 gal aquarium). I'm sure as we take care of her, feed her and clean her habitat that there will be an abundance of learning opportunities. Bill even gave us all the associated accouterments including a UV light, supplements to feed or sprinkle on crickets to make them more nutritious for the lizard, a water bowl with magnetic fasteners to keep it from being overturned, etc. Thanks again guys!

This pic is NOT of our lizard Spike (Carter decided on the name but I secretly call her Gertrude or "Gertie") but ours looks very much like this. By the way, she's very docile so even the kids can hold her but I am limiting that in order to preserve her health an sanity. Thankfully for her health, Claire is quite scared of her!

Our very small trials...

It would be difficult if I were to sit here and try to enumerate the difficulties of our lives here at the Todd Pad knowing that in our relatively small church group (or ward) we have numerous individuals with cancer, organ failure and various mental, emotional and spiritual crisis. Indeed, our lives are wonderful in comparison to so many people who live daily with the death of loved ones, divorce, sickness and the other trials which are extremely difficult to endure yet are all too common; Sarah's expecting and the baby appears to be healthy (sex to be determined in a few weeks!), my new job--while challenging-is going well, Carter just started pre-school again and loves it and Claire, oh Claire, is growing rapidly in every way possible. Now, this isn't to say that there aren't serious trials in our lives--I've come to see that everyone has "serious trials" whether they realize it or not--but it just wouldn't be appropriate to discuss certain issues because the hardest trials are generally things you don't want to write about publicly, such as things from the past we deal with, choices loved ones make or have made, issues of the heart, temptations, trials of faith and so forth. These are the kinds of things that hurt the most but, for the most part, are confronted by individuals on their own, with their spouse, or with the help of clergy or therapy or, unfortunately, swept under the proverbial rug only to surface again later. Now, this ISN'T to say we're necessarily dealing with those specific things right now in our lives, but I think it's worth clarifying that there are different kinds of trials.

So, with that said, we have had some challenges as of late. Since Sunday we've been experiencing plumbing issues. Although we got the intial clog snaked for about $150, today we had another back up which I feared might since we never saw what was blocking it, and we spent an additional $170 getting is re-snaked and scoped with a fiber optic camera system. That $170 helped us find a fairly large, solid object (plastic/metal) which is now stuck about halfway down the straight sewage pipe which leads to the street. That was going to cost A LOT to fix--at least $450 and perhaps as much as $1,500 or more depending on how much pipe would have to be exposed and relaced--but I worked something out on the down low and we're going to get the pipe dug out, cut, spliced and have a new clean-out port put in. EVERYTHING, including the initial work last Sunday night, is going to end up costing us close to a grand, but at least the guy who's going to do the pipe repair is also going to scope it again to see what's beyond that one object that's stuck in there in order to verify that there isn't anything else farther down the line toward the city line. When you're trying to save a little and pay of student loan debt, make a car payment and survive with a pre-2008 home loan, things like this can be extremely disheartening, but that's life!

On top of this, our clothes washer broke a few weeks ago and in an effort to save some dough, I bought one on CraigsList. No big deal...except we didn't get a private seller which is what you want (you know, someone who is moving and sells their washer for 80% off because what else are they going to do?), we got a guy who fixes 'em up and re-sells them (illegal) and that was not a good idea. Anyway, he was basically running a business without a license, so after losing about $50 and five minor garage floods, we finally got most of the money we paid him back and bought a brand new one from Costco (2 year warranty).

Also, Claire broke her leg and was in a cast, although she got out of it early. Those who've had little ones with a cast know the fun of trying to make bathing, swimming, walking, etc. possible. Good thing she healed incredibly fast!

So, in the last 5 weeks or so between these two fiascos we've had about 7 floods, two of which included the always interesting and delightful appearance of everyone's favorite guy....Mr. Raw Sewage which, I must say, was limited to the drains in the tubs backing up a bit and a little water leaking from the bases of the two toilets. "Hmmm...what is that little sphere..." picks it up, "aaahhh, pooop!" Yes, that happened to me when I was rinsing down the tubs after the first incident in preparation for the disinfection of the bathroom. You can't imagine how much bleach/chlorine, cleaning agents, disinfectants, etc. we used on the bathrooms floors and in the tubs. We even washed the beach towels that we had used to stem the tide of water TWICE in color-safe bleach. Then, of course, we repeated the whole process today after the second clog and I've now missed a day-and-a-half of work.

On the bright side, we're all alive, we're still happily married, Carter and Claire think life is all about eating, playing, learning, church, family, friends, sleeping, food and all the other good things that really are the same essential things that make us happy as adults when we're focused on what really matters in this world. Yes our little house was built in 1959 and may have some old drains, but we have drains and therefore we have water and a house and the list could go on and on. Yes we just spent about $1000 on something we had no idea was coming, but we can move on despite the fact that we might not get that fancy SLR camera when we thought we would (December).

Beyond that, the number of people (Chris B., Ryan J., Rick D., our neighbors Reid and Bev, Adam, etc.) who came by, consulted with me or literally got to work to try to figure out where the $&%# "clean out" opening is (that's where you stick the snake...ahem...which in this old house just happends to be in the closet of the master bedroom)--was phenomenal. It makes me realize that when we need help, there are literally a dozens of people we can call, including family, friends and neighbors.

So, we're thankful that our problems can be solved with time and money because there are many, many other issues that can't be solved in that way or, really, at all, at least for now or in this life. I hope that getting through these little obstacles will help us get through bigger ones in the future because I'm sure they're coming...and that's OK.

The newest addition to our "pad"

I was going to find a cute picture of a tadpole, but, they really aren't that cute. So you will have to settle for an all text announcement that we are having a third baby in March. I am feeling chubby and sick in the evenings but I don't throw up and am grateful. Carter definitely wants a boy, we will find out October 14th and can't wait!

--Edit:

This is Danny and here's a tadpole:

Happy Birthday Claire Bear!

Our big girl is two, but she says "I'n a baby" if asked about the whole thing. We are having cake & ice cream with our families tomorrow so today we had a day with just the four of us. In these photos you will notice something different about Claire--SHE GOT HER CAST OFF! To spare the details, we took her to the doctor Wednesday and they rexrayed it and did not find a break. Hallelujah! The doctor did call yesterday to say the radiologist report found some inflammation in the shin area suggesting a healing injury but she is walking okay so we will just keep an eye on her.

We took Claire to Build-A-Bear and Rainforest Cafe for her birthday. She was so cute picking out a horse, which she named "Neeah" (neigh) and the outfit for her hosey.

Checking out the clothes she picked

"Bathing" her horse

What is notable in the photo is that Claire has the horse's shoes on. She insisted on wearing them and kept them on until we were on her way home. I even questioned her about them as I was changing her diaper and she said "no, my shoes."

She fits right in!

She was a bit "concerned" when the animals started moving at dinner, especially since Danny said "they're coming" but she got used to them after a while.

Best birthday meal ever--pizza and milk:)

We told Carter that we would get a chocolate volcano for dessert but we were too full so we bribed him with the purchase of balloon animals and a ride on a little car outside of the restaurant. Here we attempted to take a picture of them with the elephant and butterfly:

Riding a rocket.

Claire climbed in another car and wanted to go for a ride again. I told her we didn't have money. She quickly replied "I have money" and started digging in her pockets. I said "where is it?" She said, "hiding." Our girl is TOO smart, TOO passionate, TOO reckless, TOO fun, TOO kissable, TOO sweet, TOO busy, and TOO caring. Happy Birthday to our TWO year old! We love you!

Carter Family Reunion

My parents and I drove to Utah with the kids for a quick weekend trip and to attend the Carter Family Reunion (sorry to the friends and family who live in Utah that we didn't see, hopefully we will have another trip soon). Danny's first big presentation at work was the same Saturday as the reunion so, unfortunately, he wasn't able to come with us. His presentation did go very well though. Once we made it to Utah Friday afternoon we had tickets to meet all my aunts and uncles for the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House. I was excited for the kids (Carter especially) to see inside a temple and a get a better picture of where mommy and daddy are when we go. I really like the location of the temple as it is up on a hill and overlooks a beautiful valley.

Carter waiting to go inside

Claire wanting in on the fountain action

I didn't realize that this temple was full sized so Carter was pretty tired by the time we finished but he did enjoy it and even Claire talked all about Jesus because of the beautiful paintings. This is Carter at the reception provided afterwards. He found himself a seat to be comfortable while he ate a cookie:

He was very anxious to get back to the hotel to go swimming. We were glad Eric & Sydnee made it that night to swim with us and we ordered in some Pie Pizza--yum!

Rob & Laura flew in late Friday night and we stayed up late talking (that was a trend--I think we all came home tired). The next morning my dad & I went for a run in Cottonwood Heights (we stayed a Residence Inn there) and more fun pool time before heading to Riverton for the reunion.

Claire giving her second cousin Natalie a hug

My cousin Shanna was the only girl in her family growing up and wanted to name her son Carter just like me. They had three girls and thought they were done but

six months before we had Carter they had a boy and named him Carter. This is the first time the second cousins met. Carter Gray, Carter Todd, Morgan Blackburn

Aunt Kathy planned Bingo with fun prizes for the afternoon

More bingo excitement

My dad and his siblings (L to R: Jeff (my dad), Jenny, Gene, Tracy, Scott & Jerry). It was fun to hear them reminisce about life in Morgan, UT where they grew up.

Someone said "act sexy" for this photo and this is how it turned out. Gene and Jerry are twins and turn 70 this year. I am grateful I got to see them all!

My cousin Greg and his wife Christine came back to the hotel with us after the reunion and we got some delicious Cafe Rio and then stayed up late talking again. We all were laughing so hard! On Sunday we went to Temple Square and saw the International Art Competition and then walked over to the Joseph Smith Building where we went to church.

Our camera is acting up so some of these photos are pretty blurry but I had to include them anyway.

It was so nice to have so many helping hands with the kids and we are excited for baby Colin to arrive in October to join in the fun!

From Bigwaves, family reunion, Claire bday

This photo is from after church. Super blurry but at least we remember it;)

On Monday we started our journey home after we said goodbye to Robbie & Laura and stopped in Provo to see my mom's roommate from Provo. She told us the coordinates to meet "at a park that had ducks." We arrived and I said, "this is not a 'park', this is Rape Hill." If you went to BYU and lived south of campus you know the famous steps up to campus. The kids loved the ducks and it was fun to back in Provo. It took me back 10 years to being a freshman. I told Carter that just a few blocks away is where I met his Daddy. Carter said "I see my future here." He sometimes comes out with prophetic, unprompted statements as this...we will see if this one comes true.

We stayed in St. George that night and then made it home Tuesday. It really was a great trip we just wish Jake and Amy were there too (and of course Danny)! My dad was a saint and drove most of the way so I could sit in the back and take care of the kids (which also meant I took naps when they did--that is the best way to take road trips:))

Bones are Fragile

Today Claire and I drove with some friends to a water park in a nearby city and arrived to find the city doing maintenance. Annoying! So we came back close to home to go a park with a small water feature. Claire wasn't too excited about the water and all the slides were really hot. I thought of the great idea of going down on a towel. We went down once, she loved it. We went down again and her foot caught on the slide at the end. I watched it bend back and knew immediately it was injured. Claire is a rough-and-tumble gal but she whimpered for a while and wanted to be held. She tried to walk on it after a little while and crumbled. I took the advice of another mom and put her down for a nap first (I am grateful--Carter was at the beach with my mom so I got some quiet time) and then I took her to Kaiser. She broke her fibula right above her ankle and will be in a cast for 4-6 weeks. No swimming and limiting the heat is dissapointing but the most dissapointing part of all is that at Kaiser Fontana they only have white casts! No cute hot pink cast to dull a mother's pain of watching her child suffer!!

Claire is a trooper and minor injuries like this make you realize how wonderful it is to have healthy bodies and that she will be just fine in the long run! Carter was sweet, too, he said, "I didn't want my sister to get hurt, I didn't." So, send me your great ideas of what to do to keep your toddler entertained indoors. I know Mickey Mouse Clubhouse will do that but she can't watch that ALL day--we'll all go insane;)