Picture Day 2010

It was picture day, and I won't say which ones, but I hope some of the professional pictures don't turn out like the ones I took at home. We were trying to practice smiling, and some weren't in the mood at 7:45 am.

Angle Orchard- Labor Day- 09/06/10

We picked lots of peaches and lots of apples. Now I just have to decide what to do with them.

James Turns 3

We swam and grilled to celebrate James' third birthday. James came to the party late because he needed a nap, but he had a good time once he got there. This child is so entertaining. I love his energy and enthusiasm. And he has great facial expressions. I remember his birth, I think, more vividly than the others because just hours after he was born, Alice (Karen and Jared's baby) came along. She would have been 3 today too. I think about her often, and maybe even more now that we lost Jeremiah. Happy Birthday James and Alice!

Zeus

This is Zeus. He's a big horse. A clydesdale. If you want a bouncy ride, he's your ticket.

Soccer 2010

Well, a few weeks into the season and I'm not sure I'm impressed. Lilly and Janna's teams/coaches seem to be doing okay. Bob's and Abbey and Emma's not so much. One has never played soccer and doesn't know any of the rules, and one is young and too busy texting to pay attention to the game, and constantly yells "SHUT UP!" at the kids. If I have to sign a paper with AYSO saying I will be on my best behavior as a parent, why shouldn't the coaches have to follow the same rules? Practices have been tough with 4 different schedules to keep up with. Thank goodness they put Lilly and Lia on the same team and Cindy has been so helpful getting Lilly to practice. We haven't had games for 2 weeks due to rain and Labor Day, so this Saturday we start again. A long day at the fair grounds it will be. And I'm pretty sure some of the kids will not ask to play soccer again next year.

Mt. Graham 08/14/10

The Saturday after school started, Amy, Cindy and I took the kids up the mountain for a picnic. Some of them whined about bugs the whole time, but it was a nice, relaxing afternoon. Until Brook got a bloody nose that never ended. It finally clotted and stopped bleeding, and as we were ready to leave it started bleeding again. And when we started to leave, my suspicion was confirmed that my van battery was dead. Thank goodness Amy had jumper cables in her car, and we were back on the road. Since then we had to replace the battery, and a fuse because I lost my tail lights/brake lights.

1st Day of School

The kids are liking school so far. Of course it's only been 3 days...

Siblings

Curtis Siblings 08/08/10Cindy-Shona-Kally-Kristi
Chelsey-Dustin-Jay-Kim

I Turned 30

I never posted about my 30th birthday because, well, we were busy..... and stuff. I had a very nice day before my birthday. My parents came from Mesa, and all of Jay's family came over and we swam and ate most of the day. Jay was recently out of the hospital and supposed to be on bed rest, but he emerged to cook some good meat on the smoker. My mom and girls made me a fruit pizza. Cindy make cake for Shona and Kristi's birthdays too. We drove out by the fairgrounds to watch fireworks that night.

My nice neighbor Reyna made me a treat too.

My actual birthday didn't turn out so hot. Well, Jay's knee was hot when we woke up Sunday morning, so I called the doc right away, and he met us at his office. He thought the heat and swelling was due to overuse. Considering Jay swam the day before, I think that's a good assumption. He sent Jay to the hospital for blood work just to be sure there was no infection. On the bright side, after 11 years of marriage, we finally know Jay's blood type (I requested to have it checked). We missed church except for some of the girls who went with Sean and Cindy. That evening we went to Dustin and Amy's so Jay could rest, and the kids had fun playing there. Thank you all for the phone calls and e-mails. I don't feel any different than I did when I was 29.

Ranch Trip 08/01/10

We drove out to the ranch yesterday. Sean's (our brother-in-law) parents were in town from New York, and I guess they needed a little adventure.

We looked at water tanks

Looked at horses (I swear they're there)

Looked at windmills

Climbed fences

More water tanks

Got completely stuck in the mud due to all the recent rain

Heard THEN saw a rattlesnake. And saw another one later. First one I've ever heard. Seen plenty of dead ones. Alive ones are NOT exciting at all.

Saw a tarantula

Played on the rocks

Fell asleep on each other before we got home (they didn't like the flash)

We drove over all kinds of rocks and bumpy roads with a bulge in the tire. I took the car to the car wash this morning, and this is what my tire looks like now. Time for a new one.

I love this little face!

And she loves lemonade!

Dead Teeth

I hope these 2 front teeth fall out soon. They're not even loose, but months ago when she tripped on the stairs she hit them pretty hard, and they've been turning gray ever since. So attractive.

Anonymous Poet

I don't know who wrote this, but I found it on my desk today:

This is my dream.
I like sour cream.
What do you like?
Can you ride a bike?
Look at this stuff. Isn't it neat?
How would you like to smell my feet?
How do you do?
Do you live in a shoe?

So entertaining.

Burial

On Friday, July 16 we buried our 9th child. It wasn't easy, but it was perfect. Jay and Bob went and dug the grave earlier in the afternoon. Then we all got ready and went to the funeral home to get Jeremiah's body. The kids were very curious, so we took them in and let them see him, then we wrapped him in a blanket and sealed the vault. We drove over to the cemetery, and after back-filling the hole we talked about the resurrection and the milennium, and said a prayer. Besides it being the middle of July and completely hot and humid, I wish we could have stayed in that moment longer. It was peaceful. Our nice neighbor across the way came and helped us shovel the dirt, otherwise we might have been there a lot longer. And by the way, I know that shoveling dirt (and lots of rocks, I might add) is not considered "light housework", but it was something I needed to do. I felt very pioneer-ish, except I can go back and visit the place where my son is buried.

Jeremiah Curtis

July 14, 2010
7 oz
7 1/2 inches
12:23 am

Labor and delivery were fast, for which I am grateful. Recovery is going well. Home and resting now.

Sad News

I went in to the OB this morning for a routine check-up. I'm about 18 1/2 weeks along- almost halfway. After the doctor couldn't find a heartbeat with his listening device, he asked me to go in to the next room for a quick ultrasound. I told him maybe he could tell me if it was a boy or girl then, and he said sure.

After looking for a few minutes, and scrunching up his face, he said "I don't have good news."

I said "No heartbeat?"

He said "No heartbeat."

I will likely schedule induction for tomorrow, but since the labor process tends to be lengthy for such a premature delivery, the baby may not come until Wednesday. The doctor measured the baby and it seems to have stopped growing right around 17 weeks. They will do genetic and chromosomal testing after the baby is born to see if a cause can be determined.

We are saddened, but know that the Lord has a plan, and we trust in that plan.

Love,
Tami & Jay & Kids

He's Home!

Jay's finally home. 9 days in the hospital. Being home won't be much better, but he can see the kids more. He can't walk or stand- can't bend his knee. With time I guess. STILL practicing patience.

A Little Longer

Jay's day or two in the hospital has turned into a week just like that. So much fun. I've been up late trying to keep the house under control, and I get up early every morning to go see Jay before the kids are up. Luckily they sleep in. One morning I even came home to them making pancakes. Cindy and Amy have helped with the kids so I could make other visits to take Jay things like his pillow and deodorant- things that become necessary after a few days. He's a trooper. I'm ready for him to be home.

Jay's Knee

Well, we had a different Father's Day this year. Jay has been working in the Chiricahua Mountains (about an hour and a half away) for the past couple weeks installing a swimming pool. Friday night he got home around 6:30 and took a shower. When he got out, he was limping. He put his knees right next to each other and his left knee (the "good" knee) was very swollen. He kept reflecting on what he had done the last 2 days that may have cause him to re-tear the miniscus, which would not have been a surprise. He's done that 4 times already. He took some pain medicine, elevated his leg, and tried to sleep. By Satuday morning his knee was more swollen, red and hot to the touch. He was nauseous, and woke up dry-heaving. He was also in a lot of pain, and after lunch we finally decided to take him to the emergency room. The nurses and doctors there were great. Service was better than we've had before. They got us in quickly, and called in the orthopaedic doctor- Dr. Bryce for a consult, along with blood work and x-rays. Blood work showed inflammation, which we already knew, and x-rays showed nothing. Dr. Bryce came in and immediately knew it was prepatellar bursitis- an infection in the bursa or soft tissue around the kneecap. He said Jay was going to get a trip to La Hotel Mt. Graham- or Mt. Graham Regional Medical Center. He was admitted that evening and has been there since. We haven't been given a discharge date as the knee doesn't seem to be improving. It's still hot and red and swollen, and they started Jay on morphine this morning because the pain was getting bad again.

For Father's Day yesterday the oldest 5 kids and I took him cards and a key lime pie. He hasn't had much of an appetite, but ate a little. He was hoping to come home today, but thay said at least tomorrow. He's not sleeping much with all the noise and constant interruptions. No fun at all. A big thanks to Cindy and Sean and Dad and Patty for helping with the kids. They would have gone crazy waiting at the ER.

Addictions and Stuff

I think I'm addicted to gardening. I love being outside, even when it's hot. We've had great harvests of beets, carrots and onions, and are working toward everything else for the summer. Monday I picked a basket-full of plums and apricots. And I liked them. And I don't even like plums. I wake up in the morning and think about what I'm going to do to help the garden progress that day, and whether or not there will be anything to harvest. I try to get out before the kids wake up because it's a lot easier that way, but they have been helping too. We've been pulling weeds like mad with help from Cindy's family, Amy's family and Dad and Patty. The weeds are almost under control now. We had to replant corn as most of it didn't germinate, and lots of what did got eaten by the squirrels and the geese. Looking forward to homemade salsa and fresh corn.

I'm still sick with this pregnancy. I had an appointment Monday and told my doctor, who thought I should be over it by now. I'm not at all. I threw up outside our office on Saturday, and kept hoping nobody saw, then again before church the next day. My doc gae me a prescription to help, but I can't find it. So, until I find it I guess I won't know if it works.

And, we got a puppy. She's an Australian Shepherd named CJ, which stands for nothing in particular. We thought she had run away once already, but she was hiding under a cart asleep. The kids are enjoying time outside with her.

James My Helper

This morning I had a beautiful batch of whipping cream mixing in the Kitchen Aid, and I sat down at the table to cut the tops off the strawberries. My kids love strawberries and cream. A minute later I heard a banging noise in the mixer, and wondered what it could be. I ran over to shut it off, and found James watching the mixer intently. I thought maybe he had thrown in a toy or something. Nope. It was a whole onion. It smelled terrible. Unfortunately, the entire batch of cream was ruined. Fortunately, I had enough to make a new batch. Thank you, James. You're such a helper.

Janna's Writing

Going to Disneyland
By Janna Curtis
05/10/10

Disneyland is so much fun. Disneyland here we come! We play, and play them my mom looks at her clock, "It's time to go" she says. So we walk to our car and go home.
I slap my mom she turns around. I diden't ride dumbo. So she takes me to dumbo and I get on.
Then we walk to our car. Our mom goes then I slap her. I diden't ride the roller coaster. So we go back and I ride the roller coaster. Then we go home for good.

P.S. This never really happened, and it's been 4 years since we've been to Disneyland.