Congratulations to Nick!

This past week Nick received his acceptance letter to The Parks Law Enforcement Academy.  I am so proud of him.  He starts in January and it is about a 6 month program.  He will be gone from 7AM-5PM 6 days a week.  It will be difficult, but the program has a 98% job placement.  Some even get job offers before they complete the program and he will be able to work at almost any National Park in the country.  He will finally have the opportunity to do something he enjoys and he will get paid well for it.  We are way excited!

Current News

On Friday we took Aspyn to the Allergist/Asthma Specialist.  She had a panel of 14 different tests to see what she is allergic to.  She is officially allergic to Cats, Dogs :( , Grass, Mold, and Poplar Trees.  They can do more tests when she get's a little older, but for now.... We won't be getting a dog.  It's so sad because she loves them so much!  She also has mild asthma and is on a special inhaler 2 puffs 2X per day for 2 weeks.  After two weeks if she is doing better we can take it down to once a day and so on.  She has had a nightly cough for about 6 months now so we are hoping this takes care of it.  They also weighed her on Friday and she weighs 23 pounds 4 ounces.  She has gained about 3 pounds in the last 2 months.  We are so happy to see a progress.

Aspyn has also been working hard on potty training since September 1st.  She is doing exceptionally well.  She loves to wear big girl underwear and is especially a fan of her bikini underwear.  She chooses them over her Tinkerbells and Dora's.  She is also staying dry at night already.  I still put her in a diaper just in case, but when she wakes up in the morning her diaper is still dry.  Oh, and she's been going through a new streaking phase.  The other day I had to dress her 4 times in ten minutes.  She enjoy's running around naked.  We struggle to keep anything on her.  She just loves the freedom I guess.  It is one bright side I have found to Braxton not being home right now.  Aspyn is also talking full sentences with quite the diverse vocabulary.  She is truly exceptional and we just love listening to what she'll come up with next.

Braxton seems to be doing well.  He get's to come visit for a couple days in October.  We can't wait to see him.  We are trying to plan lots of fun things to do while he is here.  He wants to go to the Woodland Park Zoo. He says, "It's not only a place to see lots of cool animals, but it's also a place to learn."  He's so cute like that.  His favorite lately is the Salt Water Crocodile.  I miss taking him to the library because he would always ask the librarian to help him find a book on _____ and he wanted it to be a nonfiction book.  He loves to learn.  From what I hear, he is doing well in school in Utah.  He got 100% on his spelling test and is doing well with reading and math.  He is also going to boy scouts there and he's enjoying that.  We miss him very much and can't wait for him to get to come home permanently.

As for the baby.  We've chosen to name him Kolson.  The meaning of it is... Son of Nicholas.  We are still trying to decide on a middle name though.  I would like something that rhymes with Ty and Skye since Braxton and Aspyn's names already rhyme (unintentionally).  I am down to 9 weeks left and am struggling on a decision between a C-Section or a VBAC.  My Doctor has cleared me for a VBAC (vaginal birth after ceserean), but Nick is a little nervous about it.  Does anyone have an opinion they'd like to share?  I've been having Braxton Hicks contractions for a few weeks now depending on my activity or stress level.  My hips are killing me and sometimes at night I have to get up and take Tylenol so I can sleep through the pain.  So far I have only gained 15 pounds, which I am way proud of.  With Braxton I gained 65lbs and with Aspyn I gained 35lbs.  This is most likely our last baby.  I don't know how much more my body can handle and Nick and I both are unsure of how much I can handle more emotionally.  3 is a good number.

Nick is hating work and trying to get a new job at the college as a security guard there part-time.  It pays better than Ross too.  Right now he is at the college trying to get his classes and financial aid all worked out.  He didn't do very well in his summer semester so we are hoping they will give him a second chance. 

Braxton turned 8

Yesterday was Braxton's birthday and he turned 8.  He had his birthday party a few months ago at his other parents house in Utah.  Below is a picture of him at that party.  The other picture is of Braxton on his first day of 2nd grade in Utah.  We miss him so much and can't wait to get him home permanently, but it looks like it's going to be awhile.  He get's to come visit us in October for a few days from the 16-19th.  We are very excited to get to see him.  He's supposed to be getting baptised now that he's 8, but that too will be postponed for some time.  Happy Birthday Braxton!  We love you so much and miss you terribly!!!  It's hard to believe you are 8 years old already.  You've grown up so fast.

Gonna Go Private

I am thinking I will be going private very soon so that I can post more about what's really going on in our lives. If you want to still be able to read, please email me your email address so I can send you an invitation. Thanks! merindajo@hotmail.com

Happy Birthday!

Today is Nick's 30th birthday. Yes the big 30. He is 30 and still handsome to me! I hope I still look as good as he does at 30. I tease him all the time, but I think it's because I'm a bully and I have low self esteem.
Anyhow, he is working from 9-6ish today and then we are going to a 14-year-olds birthday party. Nick and him share the same birthday and he is having a professional DJ at his party so we will go check it out for a bit. After that I am hoping that I can take him to a movie or something. I haven't lined up a sitter yet so we'll see. I'm a sucky birthday planner when it comes to Nick. I want it to be so spectacular that I overshoot and end up falling extremely short. I also plan on making him some yummy key-lime cheesecake bars for tonight and some chocolaty brownies for tomorrow. He's not much of a cake eater, but he loves his brownies and ice-cream! So, to all of you who know my wonderful husband please don't forget to call and wish him a happy birthday even if it's a belated one. "Happy Birthday Nick! I love You!!!"

A Summary Update On Us

So a lot has changed in our family since my last post. I am sorry for not keeping everyone up to date as well as I should have. We don’t have internet right now, unless we put our laptop in a certain spot near an upstairs window to get a signal from someone else.

We live in Mount Vernon, Washington. We got our own house to rent on April 1st, 2009. Braxton is almost 8, Aspyn turned 2 on June 14th, and Nick and I are expecting a little boy November 16th. Nick is working at Ross as their Loss Prevention guy while he goes to college full-time. He has 15 credits this summer (8 week) semester. He is way overwhelmed, but doing well for how much he has going on. He was planning on attending the Parks and Law Enforcement Academy at the college starting in December, but now due to new circumstances he is not certain what he is going to do. We’ll keep you posted. Braxton is currently in St. George for summer with his dad and that is not going so well. Last week Mariah (his dad) was awarded full custody of Braxton until further notice. At this time, I am at a loss to do what I need in order to get him back due to $$$. I need to get to St. George and get an attorney. All of which cost money that we don’t have right now. For those of my family and friends that are prayers… please keep us in your prayers.

On a more positive note, Nick and I are loving church. We both have callings now and I love mine. It has helped me over the past week to focus on something else other than Braxton. Nick is the Secretary for Elders Quorum and I am the Secretary for Young Women’s. Our ward is fantastic and there’re a lot of really great people in it. The young women are great, and really fun to have the opportunity to work with.

Sorry for no pictures. I am currently in the process of uploading them to my computer, so I will get to that soon.

Pregnant!

Well, I am pregnant. I am 6 weeks and 5 days pregnant. I had an ultrasound on Thursday and there really is a baby in there this time. My due date is November 16, 2009 and I'm hoping for a boy, but will be happy either way. I'd like to leave more info, but the battery is dying on my computer so I gotta go before it's too late! There is much more "NEWS" in our life right now, but I'll have to get back to you later!

The Latest on our Situation

At 9:00 PM on Valentine's Day Nick and I spontaneously decided to come back to Idaho Falls to visit. We left at 10:30 PM and arrived here at 1:00 AM Monday morning. We knew we needed to come back sometime within the next few weeks to do our deposition reguarding our car accident we were in 2 weeks before Aspyn was born. So we decided, why not just go now. 

I just became a Scentsy wickless candles consultant so if you need to order more wax or would like to schedule a party somehow I would be EXTREMELY HAPPY to have your business! My website for Scentsy is www.scentsy.com/merinda For the rest of the month of February everything is 10% off. If you order the Symphony warmer or the Taracco Mint wax you will get 20% off of either of those because they are the scent and warmer of the month. Any questions you can call me (360) 540-7649.

Nothing much is new other than we are here in Idaho staying with Nick's amazing mom and enjoying our vacation.

It turns out Nick's sister, Kadi is pregnant. YAY! I am so so happy for her! I thought she was just from watching all the symptoms, but she didn't believe me. Turns out I was right afterall. Best of luck Kadi!
Anyhow, not much new for now.  More updates coming later.

We are Here!

On Monday, January 5, 2009 we made the huge change in our lives. We moved to Washington! Nick hasn't found a job yet, but we are happy.

It is so beautiful here! On Saturday we went to a beach in Anacortes with our family Kadi, Avery, and Teiya. We ate lunch and searched for shells and even got to see a seal up close. It was so awesome! Then we went to another beach/bay in Oak Harbor on Whidbey Island (the same Whidbey Island from The Last Mimzy). We found lots of clam shells and other interesting stuff. It was a great day!

And yesterday after church we went to Chuckanut Bay where we saw oysters, clams, crabs, hermit crabs, a trilabite (still alive) and Nick and Braxton found 4 Eels. Then we went on a nice little hike to get back up to where we parked.

I wish that I had pictures of all of these beautiful places and iteresting creatures to show you, but our camera is still packed. The nice thing is that we live here and when we find the camera we can go back and take pics and I can put them on here for you to see. Now you know that we are here, and though our situation is less than perfect we are still very happy and staying positive. We love and miss all of you back in Idaho!!!

NEWS! Good & Bad! But OK!

Sorry about no posts in December, we've been really busy and at the same time really not. Here are some updates on our life. As you all know our apartment building has forclosed. We are pretty much squatters at the moment. We aren't supposed to be living here. We're the only one's left in the building, everyone else left months ago. They've taken our dumpster away so we have nowhere for our trash, but no need to fear. Nick lost his job the day after Thanksgiving. He has still been working on trying to get unemployment, but so far nothing. We have been without an income for a month now. Ok, so forclosed home, no job, and two days before Thanksgiving I found out I was pregnant. They say things happen in 3's.

We were way excited about the pregnancy, but stressed about all the other things. When I went to the doctor the following week she said my uterus was huge and maybe I was further along than I thought. I wasn't further along it wasn't possible. So she said I might be having twins! Turns out it's not twins. A week before Christmas I started having complications. Turns out my body wasn't really pregnant. Did you know that their is such a thing as a false pregnancy where your body can gather everything for a baby except for that one important part-- an embryo? Well it can and that's what happened to me. Technically it wasn't a miscarriage, but same as considered it had to come out somehow and oh was that painful!!! But I am ok. Things happen for a reason. I may have a skrewed up body, but I have two beautiful children already so when it's meant to happen again it will. Heavenly Father just realizes this isn't the right time. I think he's right considering our situation.

The Good news is we're moving. Monday, January 5th we are moving to Mount Vernon, Washington. Not my first choice in towns, but it's where we need to make a start. I am totally relying on FAITH at the moment. It's the only way I can handle this scary change and keep myself from putting dents in our truck (that's another story). Also we just got a call this week that Nick has a test to take to be a security surveliance guy at a very nice casino in Marysville, WA. If he passes the test then he get's an interview and Nick is amazing at interviews.

So that is the news and update on us. I will try to post some new pictures of the kiddo's later. Probably not till all this lovely moving is over with though.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!