my virgin attempt at PhotoShop

are you impressed? LOL don't be too impressed, its from a template and I only added the text. But I had fun doing it and will attempt to do more. Here is the header I made for my food blog.

my girls inspired me!

It's something I've been thinking about doing for several months, but never had the guts to do it. Well, now that part of my "guts" have literally been removed (had my gallbladder out yesterday) I decided now is the time! I'm going off candy for one year! I have an intense addiction to candy - particularly chocolate. Peanut Butter M&M's are my biggest weakness. But I must admit, the Lifesaver Jelly Beans at Easter were DELISH! In addition to candy, I am also going to get rid of all obvious high-sugar desserts: cookies, cake, pie, and dare I say . . . ice cream!

So it looks like sugar free jello (with a possible splurge of whip cream) is in my future for treat time. Any other low-fat/sugar free ideas are appreciated :) I hope I dont go crazy in the meantime! Wish me luck!

Jainna Lydia Kirkby

Family Scratch blog

I've started a new blog about cooking and incorporate healthy eating for a family of 8. I'm going to be updating it 2 or 3 times a week and adding recipes on a regular basis. Please pass it along to your friends and feel free to make comments and suggestions.

http://familyscratch.blogspot.com/

Little Miss Jainna, part 1

Born Saturday, February 20, 2010

After 2 weeks of false labor warnings, our 6th child (5th daughter) came to our family in a quick rush. I want to tell her story, but I can't seem to find the time to sit down and write it all out at once, so for now I will give a brief update and later hopefully find the time to give more details as to how she came to us.

First of all, we have finally settled on Jainna as her first name. The middle name is still undecided, but at least we can stop calling her "that baby with no name". Second, she is still in the care of the wonderful hospital staff at American Fork Hospital. Although its hard to not have her at home with us, we know it's where she needs to be.

She was 5 weeks early, and therefore is not ready for some of the daily demands life puts on her. She initially had trouble breathing properly on her own, but that was under control within the first 12 hours. The next main hurdle was (and remains to be) her eating ability. She is so sleepy and does not have the energy to wake up to eat. Also, she does not have the internal instinct most babies have to suckle and nurse. These are all typical responses that "near term" 35 week babies have problems with. It's nothing to panic about, just something that time and patients will bring her success.

At this point, I am allowed to attempt to feed her twice a day. So I go in every morning for her 10:30 feeding and then again in the evening for the 7:30 feeding. We have had no success in getting her to nurse at this point, but she could turn that corner at any time.

At a later time I will share more about her delivery, but for now all I will say is she came FAST (meaning about 25 minutes from arriving at hospital to actual birth time). Apparently one of the side effects of such a fast delivery, is that her eyes are bruised - it looks like someone punched her in both eyes. I'm not sure how long the redness and swelling will last, but I cant wait for that to be remedied.

She was on an IV to give her fluids, but now they have removed that and now is on a feeding tube instead. A "feeding tube" sounds more intimidating than it really is - its a teeny tiny tube in her nose that leads to her stomach to give her food directly. It doesnt get in her way, and she is not bothered by it at all. I'm glad the IV is out because that WAS in her way and she seemed constantly bothered by it (or perhaps im just thinking of how I would feel to have that in my hand all the time - no thanks).

She did have slightly elevated levels of jaundice so the put the "bili lights" in her bed for one day. But she conquered that event quickly and is back to normal lighting.

One of the hardest parts is that the other kids have not had a chance to hold her or even get a good look at her. They are so anxious to have her home with us - as well are Brian and I. We took the kids school pictures and taped them to her bed.

I think she will be at least another week before she even starts to be interested in eating, and another week to get her up to speed with proper nursing amounts. But that is just my guess - any and all prayers are appreciated.

More to come later, until then enjoy these pictures and video (if it will work).

Love, Liz

Joseph and Brianne

No, its not a new boyfriend . . .


Brianne has been chosen to be "Assistant Director" for the upcoming school musical, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat. She had auditioned for a chorus part, but they obviously saw in her what we've been seeing for many years - a great ability to lead. She is listed first in the cast listing (above all the leads) which to me says she is the star :)

We really didn't know how she would do compared to the other girls who were auditioning, and since there are so few girl parts in this musical, we all thought she'd be "lucky" if she got to be in the ensemble (chorus). On Wednesday night she learned she did not make callbacks, but her teacher explained that callbacks were only for people getting lead roles - she still had a chance to be in the ensemble. Then this morning the teacher posted the official cast list and the first title on the list said "Assistant Director - Brianne Kirkby".

She is VERY excited - we didn't even know the teacher was considering a student position for this. We think she fits the "role" perfectly. She would much rather do this than be a chorus girl, even tho it means not being on stage performing. Personally, I think she fits in behind the scenes better than on stage. She will go to every rehearsal (which is a pain in the rear for me - but owell what can I do?) and get to boss everyone around, how great is THAT??? lol just kidding :)

We are all thrilled for her and invite everyone to come see the show at the end of March. And any local friends who are driving home past Willowcreek every week day at 5 o'clock who can pick her up would be appreciated :) just kidding again - sort of.

Grats Brianne! GO GO GO JOSEPH!

Happy New Year!!

I did it!! I didn't eat candy for a whole year. It wasn't as hard as i thought it was. I have now inspired my sister to do it along with my cousin, good luck to them and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

ps Just for the record, the first candy i ate was a skittle. [: