Halloween 2008

Looking over my pictures, there is a lot that we did last year that I could have blogged about. I'm just so bad at it. One of the fun things last year was that we took Quinton to the Pumpkin Patch in Willcox. It's the first time I had been there too. It was a warm day in October. We went with my mom and two of my sisters and their kids. There was a hay ride around the place. We didn't get to take the ride but maybe next year. Quinton enjoyed running from one pumpkin to the next asking if that one was a good one. Then we took the pumpkins home and closer to Halloween we carved the pumpkins. Quinton thought it was pretty cool pulling out the insides. The morning before we went to the pumpkin patch, there was a fall festival down town. Quinton got to dress up in his costume.

I made this. This is the only kind of pumpkin carving I like to do.

Quinton's 3rd B-day

Quinton's birthday was in 2 parts. The first was on his actual birthday. We went up to the valley. I had my first doctor appointment. I was hoping that Quinton would get to see his baby brother or sister at the appointment. Unfortunately I had what is called a Blighted Ovum which means that the baby stopped developing a few weeks into the pregnancy and died. So my uterus was empty. So that was the low part of the day. But we made up for it with fun. That evening we went to a Diamondbacks vs. Cubs game. That was the funnest game I have ever been to. There was more going on in the crowd than on the field. Cubs fans can get rowdy. All the people around us just loved Quinton. He's such a friendly guy that he was talking to everyone. He had a blast. Then next day before we headed home, we took Quinton to the Zoo. It was HOT. At the Phoenix Zoo, there is a water area for the kids to get wet. I took advantage of it too. Quinton had fun. It was almost closing time so we didn't have time to see all the animals so we took the train ride to see what animals we could.

The second part was the weekend after. Quinton wanted a "Fun-Fu Panda" (aka Kung-Fu Panda) birthday party. We went up to the mountains and invited friends and family. Before the party could get started, it started to rain. So we packed up everything and moved the party to my mom's house. The house was crowed and some of the presents got wet but it turned out to be a great day for Quinton.

New Toys

About a year ago, Jeremy was finishing up his first year at school and wanting a truck. It just so happen that my brother wanted to sell his truck. It's an older truck but a nice one. So we bought it. This past March Jeremy turned his wonderful truck (I sometimes call the Beast) into w 3-wheeler in an accident. Luckily for us, my brother that we bought it from is good with vehicles and can fix it to make it look like it never happened. Wish I could say the same for the title. I still find it hard to believe that a little car could have knocked the tire off this big thing. Don't know what kind of car 'cuz we never got a copy of the police report. At the time it happened, I couldn't talk about it. I didn't even tell the ladies I work with. But the whole ordeal is almost over and soon it will be just a memory and a higher insurance rate.

Just before my miscarriage at the end of July, we started looking for a camp trailer. Every year Jeremy's family has a family reunion and my family likes to go camping and trailers make things so much easier. We were in Mesa for my D&C Surgery and Jeremy got a second wind and was bound and determined to find a trailer. So luckily I was feeling ok after a little rest so we went out in search of a trailer. We looked at a few until we found this beauty. She's older too and in need of a little work but a good deal. Jeremy and Quinton picked her up the following Monday. We took out the carpet and replaced it with linoleum, cleaned the couches and it was good to go. We've used it a few times last year and hope to use it some more this year once the truck is fixed.

Another itch of ours. With our growing family we decided a bigger car was what we needed. 2008 was turning out to be an expensive year. We got this before the copper dropped and wasn't sure that Jeremy even had a job still but here we are April 2009 and things are looking good for now. This will be the last purchase for a VERY LONG time. After much research, I found that Pathfinders are more cost efficent in the long run and we are getting about the same gas mileage with this as we were with our Stratus. This one has tinted windows:) Of course black doesn't really help in the Arizona sun. Oh well.

Playing Catch up

So it's been a few years since I have done any posting. Few things have changed. Quinton is now 3 1/2 (going on 16, he's always asking to drive the car) and very independent. He is very smart. He knows his alphabets and can spell and write his first name. If you look close to the picture above, he wrote his name on the garbage can in permanent marker. He writes his "Q" upside-down. We're working on middle and last. He is going to be a big brother too. At first he wasn't very excited about his baby sister. To be honest, he was mad. When the technician told us that it looks like a girl, he chased her down the hall telling her that "it's a boy." A little later he told me "I not glad any more." He was so broken hearted. That was in February. Now he is ok. Mostly because he thinks that he is having the little brother. I'll have him talk to his little sister and he will put his lips on my belly and tell her he loves her. Then he will have me talk to his little brother by doing the same. At my last doctor appointment, I told the doctor that Quinton is having a baby too. My doctor put the Doppler thing on his belly and moved it around so it sounded like there is a baby in there. He thought that was pretty neat. Luckily he doesn't talk much about his baby in his belly. That baby has been replaced with a stuffed bunny rabbit. He calls it his baby and take it everywhere, well almost everywhere. He's brought it a few times to Walmart with us and the bunny gets put in the front seat of the basket. But he loves his baby sister. I know he will be a great big brother. He like to help with the cooking and the cleaning. He's even given his bunny a bath.

Baby girl Wiltbank is due to be born July 14th. If this pregnancy is like Quinton's, she will be early. We moved to Safford over 2 years ago. They have one clinic and one doctor here for deliveries. So opted to go back to the same doctor that I went to with Quinton which is in Gilbert.

We have a few first names picked out but nothing set in stone. Her middle name will be Pearl which is my middle name, which I got from my Great-Grandmother. I'm still working. I work for the Graham County Recorder's Office. I've been here since we moved to Safford and most likely I'll be here for a while after the baby comes. The pregnancy hasn't been too bad. At the beginning, I had the all-day yuckies, but that's about it. Now it's easy going for the most part. I've had quite a bit of stress from various sources, but other than that, it has been a been a pretty easy pregnancy.

As for Jeremy, I'm am proud of this wonderful guy. On May 8th, 2009, Jeremy will be graduating from EAC with his AAS in Electrical Mining Technician. More pictures to follow. He was fortunate to get accepted as an intern for the FreePort McMoRan Mine (formally known as Phelps Dodge). They paid for him to go to school and paid him to work. It is a great program. He has worked so hard and has kept his grade up. He has met a lot of friends that have helped him. I think he has enjoyed college life. He says he will be glad when it's over but he'll probably miss it too. We had a little scare a month or so ago when the company told him that he would be laid off as soon as school is over. Copper prices dropped to the point that over 1500 employees. We were worried that Jeremy would be in that group but he made it through just to be told he wouldn't have a job after school is done. So we looked for jobs and he did get one call back in WY. I wasn't too excited but I go where Jeremy goes. Then a few weeks ago, Jeremy was told that they would honor their contract and keep the interns on for another two years. Copper prices are on the rise. So for the next two years we will be here. We're on the list to get a Morenci house, so I guess we'll be there for the next two years.