Update

Today I was sitting around thinking of all the stuff that has happened this year and it has been packed with lots of things! Let me update you on the past few months.

Andrew: Has gone off all carbonation and caffeinated soda's. He has lost 6 pounds in a month from just doing that! GO ANDREW! Andrew had his 23rd birthday on the 28th of August. I decorated the house and made him breakfast, we also went to the temple and up to the canyon with a few of our friends. It was a pretty great day. He is also in DOA ( Dean of Admissions) training at work this week, which is a huge THUMBS UP! He is almost done with his 3rd quarter this year which means 5 more quarters left and 1 internship before he graduates! We are sooo excited!

Starrie: I am still recovering from surgery, mostly just sore. I can't really work out yet which is a bummer, but I lost 11 pounds! 3-5 of which was the derrmoid, the rest is most likely from my hormones getting back to normal. Other than that I clean and take care of the girls, basically 24/7.

Jocelynn: She is super independent and is becoming more and more helpful as the days go by. She has little chores/favors that she does for me which include, taking the trash upstairs, cleaning up her room, watching sissy (while I'm in the shower), watering and helping weed the/her garden and wiping the bathroom counter top. She also gets on her little stool and helps me cook/stir things. I am thinking of getting her the little kids kitchen helper set, so she can be more involved. She is super smart and knows a lot of church stuff, she has given a few talks and prayers in primary already. If you want to get her to love you, just talk about temples with her. She's got a whole spiel.

Vivian: Totally could walk if she wanted, but she gets too scared and does not trust herself. She is also really independent. Jocelynn taught her how to clean up the toys and Vivi totally does it all the time now! She also thinks that she can just crawl upstairs and play in their room for hours on end without being bothered. She can get bored pretty quickly, so she is starting to occupy herself. Her favorite things are the trash, bowl cupboard, being messy,getting behind the rocking chair and throwing shoes down the stairs. She is so stinking smiley, you can get a smile out of her any time of the day.

Face Mask

Making brownies

Playing in daddy's birthday balloons

Rice cereal is better to play in, then to eat. Sink bath!

High Chair Redo

I've had this project on my mind for quite sometime. And I finally did it. This high chair is from my mom who bought it 15 years ago, I think it needed a little update.

Supplies:

Satin Rustolium spray paint

Laminated aqua chevron fabric (fabric mill)

Non-slip grip fabric (Joann's)

Elastic

Stapling gun

Time and patience

Basically I took the whole thing apart spray painted the whole metal frame, sewed slips for the old rubber handles and sewed / stapled the chevron fabric on. Then screw everything back together and voila! A beautiful new high chair!

Old High Chair

New High Chair

And its Boo Approved!

My little boo boo has learned to do quite the amount of things these last weeks! I am super de super excited for her!

She fully broke through her 2nd tooth.

Learned how to CRAWL!

Pulls herself up to couches and walks around the edge.

She has learned to say "yaya"/ "dada" which both mean she wants Andrew.

She coos, squeals, makes random noises, laughs, fake coughs and much more!

At 8 months Vivian is turning into being mischief , but lets be honest I knew that ever since I was about to have her. We also like to say that Vivi has "little sister syndrome". Meaning, she feels the need to not do anything because Jocey will do it for her. Which is why she has not crawled until now. Little sister syndrome also means that Viv is a tattle tell and can be whiney at times. Luckily her and Jocey absolutely adore each other, and she is such a sweet smiley girl!

Surgery

WARNING GRAPHIC SURGERY PHOTOS

Oh my Lanta have I (Starrie) been through the ringer this week!

Last Saturday,the 15th, I had excruciating pain in my left lower abdomen. Andrew took me to the ER and after an ultrasound we found out I had a type of lesion on my left ovary, they were not 100% sure what it was so they highly suggested I go to my doctor the following Monday. I had strict orders to not go to church, no heavy lifting and to know I would need surgery ASAP.

After getting referred to a surgeon, on Tuesday, I met with Dr.Rees and he informed me that it was a softball sized dermoid cyst sitting on my left ovary. It's also called a non cancerous tumor that continues growth (up to the size of a cantaloupe) and has to be taken out by surgery. They also contain hair, nails, skin and teeth because they come from your reproductive organs. Regular cysts are small and the body eventually gets rid of them usually creating no further problems.

Friday was my surgery and it took about 3 hours because the dermoid was tangled with my ovary. They had to take it out C-section style. I was extremely nervous because I've never had surgery before for anything. Everything went well and I am doing great. I was totally out of it all Friday and only remember being extremely nauseous and I kept passing out. Apparently I was jumbling all my words around and tuning into random conversations.

That's about it. Also Andrews cousin Josh was in the hospital the same day to get his appendix taken out so he stopped by for a visit.

Here are some pictures. View at your own discretion.

Giant nasty dermoid cyst/ tumor. Don't worry it was just sitting right under my skin.

After it was cut open, you can see the hair in it.

Awe I am no longer drugged up and out of it.

Cute little Josh in his bottle cap glasses. Surgery buddies!

Its official!

JOCELYNN IS POTTY TRAINED!!!

I did not want to officially say anything until she had no accidents and was poop trained. So here we are! No accidents since June 5, poop or pee. Jocey is full on in underwear (other than at night, not necessarily because of accidents. Mostly to be safe. ) and tells you when she has to poop, she still has to be asked to go pee otherwise she holds it for hours and hours. But that is A OK with me. Anyways just wanted to share the super exciting news with everyone, because you know this is a huge milestone and I would argue the hardest part of parenting thus far!

A Beginning To Potty Training... Win!

So the last few weeks Jocelynn has been asking all about potty training! But she has not been 100% mentally ready until now. Every night for the last month Jocey has personally prayed to Heavenly Father each time asking if he will please please please help her get potty trained. Last night before Jocey went to bed she told me this," Mommy I want to get potty trained so that I can have my Barbie movie, can we please use the piggy timer and get me potty trained?" Me: " Yes Jocey... we can try again (half brushing it off my shoulder)". So we had a go at it AGAIN today. Although she is not fully potty trained she is peeing on the toilet trained as long as we go to the toilet every 30-45 min. She cant wear real underwear until she has done this for 3 days in a row, so she is in Pull-Ups until then. But it is a awesome improvement and I AM ECSTATIC!

What we did:

• Bought a piggy timer to set every 30-45 min for a reminder.
• Stayed home ALL DAY.
• Got some Dora the Explorer Pull-Up's. (Totally against them in the beginning but they ended up working nicely for Jocey) 
• Let Jocey eat and drink whatever she wanted all day.
• Called daddy after every-time she went pee.
• We used basically all the concepts of potty training in a day.

Accidents = 2 (1 poop, 1 pee)
Going to the bathroom on the toilet = 9 (all pee)

I expect getting her to poop on the toilet is going to be a struggle, but this is such an improvement and she is so determined all of a sudden to get this done. I am one proud mama and Andrew is a proud daddy! I'll write another post when she is no longer in the transition stage.

Today Jocey, Vivi and I all went to the park for 2 hours with one of my bestest buds Sage and her son Thor. Then we came home and gardened. It was a great day. I am pleased. Very pleased.