A few weeks ago I read an article about a mother of two toddlers who was in the same room with them when her large, sturdy dresser tipped over and crushed her 3 year-old's skull. Awful, terrible, but luckily the child survived though he was left blind. She had turned around for a minute and her son apparently started climbing the dresser. She said she never would've guessed that such a sturdy dresser would ever fall over, much less on her child. This story seriously freaked me out, and I thought about the pieces of furniture around our house that we already know aren't sturdy in the first place. Then there are the dressers etc. that we think ARE sturdy.
I started bugging Kent about securing a hutch and television in the kids' playroom, and a couple of Saturdays went by. Finally, this past weekend we bought what we needed, and Kent secured the hutch and the TV inside of it both to the wall. Well all I can say is thank heavens (!!!) I followed my gut because just this morning my two-year-old Rebekah came running out of the playroom crying that something was falling. I went in there to find the television literally hanging out of the hutch. The chain we used to secure it to the wall had worked, and visions of the TV crushing her little feet, legs, or worse were just that ... visions... and not reality. I thank the Lord for the promptings that moved me to secure that TV.
Moral of the story: Secure your furniture! LIsten to your gut!
A few facts about childhood injuries from household furniture - http://www.cpsc.gov/LIBRARY/FOIA/FOIA08/os/tipover.pdf
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Tiananmen
Twenty years ago today the Tiananmen Square Massacre happened in Beijing, China. As I watched a report about it on the news today, I became choked up with emotions about that day. I was just barely 18 years old and just about to graduate from high school, and I was also living in Hong Kong when the massacre happened. For weeks before tensions had been mounting, and although Hong Kong was a British colony at the time, there were demonstrations and protests going on all over the city in support of the pro-democracy protests occurring in China itself. I had attended one of the demonstrations where thousands of people peacefully chanted and listened to speeches about freedom and democracy.
Hong Kong had a lot riding on what happened in China at the time because within a few years the city-state was to revert back to Chinese rule, and many were nervous about how their own personal freedoms would be affected. Those of us expatriates, especially from the West, watched with anticipation to see what would happen. Student protesters had filled Tiananmen Square in Beijing and had even erected a Statue of Liberty. We all kept saying, "The Chinese government won't hurt them. They can't do it with the world watching." But they did do it on June 4, 1989. It was a Sunday, and we woke up to headlines in the Sunday newspaper that some of the student protesters had been killed at the hands of the Chinese government. My heart was heavy, but at this point we still thought it was just a few people who had been killed. We went to church where everyone was crying and emotional. Instead of the regular 3 hour block of meetings, we only met for an hour, and everyone went home.
My good friend, Jennie, was visiting me from the States, and we had heard that there was a massive demonstration against the killings going on close to my house. We went downtown and were overwhelmed to see a virtual sea of Hong Kong Chinese marching through the streets of Hong Kong. Jennie and I sat on a fence on the side of the street, and unwittingly became symbols ourselves of the freedom they were marching for. The demonstrators were chanting in Chinese "Freedom! Freedom!" but when they saw 2 American girls on the side of the street, they began to chant in English "Freedom! Freedom!" Thousands of people marched past us and grabbed our hands, "Thank you! Thank you!" they said. I have never been so overcome with gratitude for the freedoms I had taken for granted my whole life. Living in various countries growing up I had always assumed that I was entitled to protection and freedom simply because I was American. That day in Hong Kong I realized that freedom is NEVER free! That people died for us to have freedom in the United States and now people had died in China trying to bring freedom to their own people.
After we returned home that night we found out that more than 1 million people marched that day in Hong Kong, and also that possibly thousands had been killed in China simply for demonstrating for freedom. I learned in a very personal way that freedom is a blessing and a privilege. "We the people" are the ones who should be running our country, and as soon as the government becomes a power unto itself disregarding the will of the people, it is time for all who love freedom and democracy to wake from the slumber of complacence and realize what a blessing it is to be free. We are not entitled to be free simply because we are Americans; we are simply enjoying the results of what others fought and gave their lives for. We are not entitled to live free of terror simply because we are Americans; we have a responsibility to do all in our power to be able to live free from terror. I will always have a greater appreciation for the amazing gift of freedom that I enjoy and that so may in the world are still longing for.
Hong Kong had a lot riding on what happened in China at the time because within a few years the city-state was to revert back to Chinese rule, and many were nervous about how their own personal freedoms would be affected. Those of us expatriates, especially from the West, watched with anticipation to see what would happen. Student protesters had filled Tiananmen Square in Beijing and had even erected a Statue of Liberty. We all kept saying, "The Chinese government won't hurt them. They can't do it with the world watching." But they did do it on June 4, 1989. It was a Sunday, and we woke up to headlines in the Sunday newspaper that some of the student protesters had been killed at the hands of the Chinese government. My heart was heavy, but at this point we still thought it was just a few people who had been killed. We went to church where everyone was crying and emotional. Instead of the regular 3 hour block of meetings, we only met for an hour, and everyone went home.
My good friend, Jennie, was visiting me from the States, and we had heard that there was a massive demonstration against the killings going on close to my house. We went downtown and were overwhelmed to see a virtual sea of Hong Kong Chinese marching through the streets of Hong Kong. Jennie and I sat on a fence on the side of the street, and unwittingly became symbols ourselves of the freedom they were marching for. The demonstrators were chanting in Chinese "Freedom! Freedom!" but when they saw 2 American girls on the side of the street, they began to chant in English "Freedom! Freedom!" Thousands of people marched past us and grabbed our hands, "Thank you! Thank you!" they said. I have never been so overcome with gratitude for the freedoms I had taken for granted my whole life. Living in various countries growing up I had always assumed that I was entitled to protection and freedom simply because I was American. That day in Hong Kong I realized that freedom is NEVER free! That people died for us to have freedom in the United States and now people had died in China trying to bring freedom to their own people.
After we returned home that night we found out that more than 1 million people marched that day in Hong Kong, and also that possibly thousands had been killed in China simply for demonstrating for freedom. I learned in a very personal way that freedom is a blessing and a privilege. "We the people" are the ones who should be running our country, and as soon as the government becomes a power unto itself disregarding the will of the people, it is time for all who love freedom and democracy to wake from the slumber of complacence and realize what a blessing it is to be free. We are not entitled to be free simply because we are Americans; we are simply enjoying the results of what others fought and gave their lives for. We are not entitled to live free of terror simply because we are Americans; we have a responsibility to do all in our power to be able to live free from terror. I will always have a greater appreciation for the amazing gift of freedom that I enjoy and that so may in the world are still longing for.
Monday, May 18, 2009
"Decorating" Forest's Nursery
We have had a series of what I'll call incidents in our house lately. Most of these incidents are the doing of Rebekah with Maija joining in "because I decided it's fun" as she put it. We've had the Green Permanent Marker incident 2 weeks ago when magically Rebekah found a green permanent marker 2 hours before our dinner guests arrived and decided to draw all over the white playroom walls, the TV, the hutch, the toy box, the stenciling on her bedroom wall, and of course herself. Clearly Maija was involved too since I found drawings of people all over the walls also. Let's just say I was not a nice mommy when I found it.
The next day (the VERY next day) I walked into the room to find the girls jumping around naked in a pool of soapy water on the carpet! My alter ego "Mean Mommy" came out again that day. And then 2 days later Rebekah used her magical powers to somehow get my makeup out from inside my purse which was up on the kitchen counter...all without my noticing... and then she and Maija drew all over themselves with my eyeliner and lipstick. My girls spent most of the afternoon in their room that day.
We had a few days with no major disasters until the girls decided today to "decorate" Forest's nursery. I spent most of the evening yesterday getting his nursery ready so we could move Forest in there in a few weeks. Maija and Rebekah were very anxious to help me, but they were frustrated that I wouldn't let them do more. They sure got me back today. Kent found it (that's good because I'm not sure I could've handled finding yet another disaster) and had the presence of mind to take pictures before trying to clean it up. In the end, I had to repaint the wall and went ahead and repainted the playroom wall which was still greenish from the Green Permanent Marker incident.
I'm glad Kent took pictures because I'm sure someday I'll look back at all of this and laugh, but today is not that day.
Click on picture to see slideshow
(Also has pictures of my neice's baby blessing)
The next day (the VERY next day) I walked into the room to find the girls jumping around naked in a pool of soapy water on the carpet! My alter ego "Mean Mommy" came out again that day. And then 2 days later Rebekah used her magical powers to somehow get my makeup out from inside my purse which was up on the kitchen counter...all without my noticing... and then she and Maija drew all over themselves with my eyeliner and lipstick. My girls spent most of the afternoon in their room that day.
We had a few days with no major disasters until the girls decided today to "decorate" Forest's nursery. I spent most of the evening yesterday getting his nursery ready so we could move Forest in there in a few weeks. Maija and Rebekah were very anxious to help me, but they were frustrated that I wouldn't let them do more. They sure got me back today. Kent found it (that's good because I'm not sure I could've handled finding yet another disaster) and had the presence of mind to take pictures before trying to clean it up. In the end, I had to repaint the wall and went ahead and repainted the playroom wall which was still greenish from the Green Permanent Marker incident.
I'm glad Kent took pictures because I'm sure someday I'll look back at all of this and laugh, but today is not that day.
(Also has pictures of my neice's baby blessing)
Monday, May 11, 2009
Mother's Day Tea
On Friday I got to go to a Mother's Day Tea at Maija's preschool. As part of the Tea, her teacher had asked each child several questions about their mothers. Here are her answers:
"What is your mommy's name?" - Kim
"How old is your mommy?" - 11 or 12
"What color is your mommy's hair?" - White
"Where is your mommy's favorite place to eat?" - Restaurants and home
"What is your mommy's favorite thing to play?" - Hide-n-seek
"I love my mommy as much as..." - Playing hide-n-seek
"What is your mommy's job?" - Work all the time, go to store and take care of me
"What is something your mommy always tells you?" - I love you
"My mommy doesn't like it when I..." - Do something bad to my sister or baby brother
"My mom laughs when I..." - Make silly faces and watch cartoons but not Spongebob. He's not funny.
"When does your mommy look the prettiest?" - When she dresses in princess clothes
"My mommy cooks the best..." - Chocolate chip pancakes
"My mommy's favorite place to go is..." - When I have birthdays at Chuck-E-Cheese's
"My mommy says,
Too funny! And for the record, I DON'T fall all the time, but I DO always tell Maija I love her.
Also, my sister-in-law took the cutest pictures of Forest with her daughter (his cousin), Dolly, who was born the same week as he was. I'm posting just a few of them.
"What is your mommy's name?" - Kim
"How old is your mommy?" - 11 or 12
"What color is your mommy's hair?" - White
"Where is your mommy's favorite place to eat?" - Restaurants and home
"What is your mommy's favorite thing to play?" - Hide-n-seek
"I love my mommy as much as..." - Playing hide-n-seek
"What is your mommy's job?" - Work all the time, go to store and take care of me
"What is something your mommy always tells you?" - I love you
"My mommy doesn't like it when I..." - Do something bad to my sister or baby brother
"My mom laughs when I..." - Make silly faces and watch cartoons but not Spongebob. He's not funny.
"When does your mommy look the prettiest?" - When she dresses in princess clothes
"My mommy cooks the best..." - Chocolate chip pancakes
"My mommy's favorite place to go is..." - When I have birthdays at Chuck-E-Cheese's
"My mommy says,
- 'Always... - love
- 'Never.... - do something wrong
- 'Be careful when.... - Mommy falls because she falls all the time
- 'Money is... - for buying ice cream.'"
Too funny! And for the record, I DON'T fall all the time, but I DO always tell Maija I love her.
Also, my sister-in-law took the cutest pictures of Forest with her daughter (his cousin), Dolly, who was born the same week as he was. I'm posting just a few of them.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Missions and Missing Grandparents
In the next few weeks all of our children's grandparents but one will be leaving to serve as missionaries overseas. Kent's mother and stepfather are headed to South Africa for 2 years, and my parents are going to Norway for 18 months. I'm not sure how we will survive without them, and it makes me sad to think that our children won't have contact with them for that long. Well, I guess they'll have contact, but not in person. We are proud of their commitment to serve but we will miss them terribly.
With all of the recent events Maija has been asking a lot of questions about Africa, "What does 'African' mean? Why is Forest from Africa? Why is Grandma going to Africa? I want to go to Africa...." and the best one, "Mommy, will you take me to Africa?" :-) I told her "yes" and that's a promise. One day I want our whole family to go to Africa together not only because our son is African American, but also because I want my children to see the world and to have firsthand experience with other cultures.
I guess in that way I want them to have what I did growing up. I always knew about other cultures, languages, places through personal experience living all over the world, and also through my mother who was born and raised in Finland. I can still remember hearing her speak in Finnish on the phone to friends and family. Now my kids hear me speak Spanish and French, and they hear their father speak Chinese. I hope they will understand what a beautiful place the world is and how amazing people come from every corner of the globe.
The update on Forest is that he is almost TWO MONTHS old already! I can hardly believe it! He is seriously (and I'm not just saying this) the CUTEST baby on the planet. He is all smiles these days and does the cutest little tongue twists while he flashes his big smiles. He's cooing and trying to vocalize, and he laughed today at a funny face I made. He is extremely strong - I thought Maija was a strong baby, but Forest takes the cake. He will be crawling before 6 months I guarantee it. He is all muscle. We are so lucky to have him in our family, and I am helplessly in love with him. Here are some pics:
With all of the recent events Maija has been asking a lot of questions about Africa, "What does 'African' mean? Why is Forest from Africa? Why is Grandma going to Africa? I want to go to Africa...." and the best one, "Mommy, will you take me to Africa?" :-) I told her "yes" and that's a promise. One day I want our whole family to go to Africa together not only because our son is African American, but also because I want my children to see the world and to have firsthand experience with other cultures.
I guess in that way I want them to have what I did growing up. I always knew about other cultures, languages, places through personal experience living all over the world, and also through my mother who was born and raised in Finland. I can still remember hearing her speak in Finnish on the phone to friends and family. Now my kids hear me speak Spanish and French, and they hear their father speak Chinese. I hope they will understand what a beautiful place the world is and how amazing people come from every corner of the globe.
The update on Forest is that he is almost TWO MONTHS old already! I can hardly believe it! He is seriously (and I'm not just saying this) the CUTEST baby on the planet. He is all smiles these days and does the cutest little tongue twists while he flashes his big smiles. He's cooing and trying to vocalize, and he laughed today at a funny face I made. He is extremely strong - I thought Maija was a strong baby, but Forest takes the cake. He will be crawling before 6 months I guarantee it. He is all muscle. We are so lucky to have him in our family, and I am helplessly in love with him. Here are some pics:
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
The Joy That Is Forest
What a big boy Forest is getting to be. He is 5 weeks old already which is hard to believe, and he is growing so quickly. He's already gained over 3 pounds and 4 inches, and he is so strong holding his head up without any problem and putting all his weight on his legs. He's also starting to try to roll over. I'm telling you this baby is seriously strong. Of course, Kent says, "Good! He's going to be an athlete!" :-) We know that his birth uncle is an engineer, so he may also end up following in Kent's footsteps and be an engineer. Really I don't care what he grows up to be as long as he is a good person.
Maija and Rebekah are SO cute with him. Maija tells him all day long, "Oh baby, I love you!" and Rebekah is right there at his side as soon as he starts crying; she gets upset with me if I don't make his milk fast enough, "Mama! Baby cry!!!" It's also been fun to see Forest start to respond to the girls. He loves to watch them while they run around the room or jump up and down on the bed. He is a very observant baby and will just stare at your face and examine the world around him. In case you haven't noticed I am so in love with this baby and so grateful for him.
I often think about the courage it took for his birth mother to choose to bring him to the world and then to make the ultimate sacrifice and place him for adoption. She could've made very different choices, but because of her wanting what is best for him, we are blessed to have Forest in our family and he has the opportunity to live his life and become whoever he chooses to become. I watched this video tonight and thought of the miracles that brought Forest into our lives -
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Pictures & Videos of Baby Forest
I finally uploaded pictures and videos from the last 2 weeks and put them together in a Phanfare slideshow.
Enjoy!
Click on pic to start slideshow
Enjoy!
Friday, March 13, 2009
We're Home - Finally!
After a long 11 days in Utah waiting for all the paperwork to go between the 2 states, we are finally home with our sweet new baby boy, Forest. The paperwork actually took 8 days; the other 3 days were spent with Forest in the hospital right after he was born. It was so hard to take him home but not to our home.
I do have to say, however, that my father's cousin and his wife, who we stayed with, were so amazing to us. They took care of us and helped out, and basically treated us like their own children and grandchildren. We owe them! Not that we can ever really repay them, but it made the whole experience so much better. I can't imagine how hard it would've been if we had been in a hotel the whole time.
Kent brought our 2 girls up with him after being home with them for 2 days. So we all got to spend the week together, and the girls got to spend time with their new baby brother. I'll post pictures of their first time seeing him. It was so cute! For now, we are exhausted and ready to get some rest.
I do have to say, however, that my father's cousin and his wife, who we stayed with, were so amazing to us. They took care of us and helped out, and basically treated us like their own children and grandchildren. We owe them! Not that we can ever really repay them, but it made the whole experience so much better. I can't imagine how hard it would've been if we had been in a hotel the whole time.
Kent brought our 2 girls up with him after being home with them for 2 days. So we all got to spend the week together, and the girls got to spend time with their new baby brother. I'll post pictures of their first time seeing him. It was so cute! For now, we are exhausted and ready to get some rest.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Our New Baby Boy!!!!
So here we are all dejected thinking that we weren't picked to adopt the baby boy who was due this week, and then yesterday (Monday) at 11am I get a call saying that the baby has been born and the birthmother has chosen us to adopt him!!!! Oh, and can we be in Utah by that night? So I spend 3 hours on the phone arranging airline tickets, rental car, child care for our girls for 3 days, money transfers, organizing Relief Society, and then figuring out what the heck I need to pack and bring.
Kent and I jumped on a plane after a friend in the ward graciously took our girls at the last minute (thank you, Amber!) We were so excited when we landed in Salt Lake that we forgot the infant carseat at the airport. We got to the hospital at 8:40pm and were able to hold our little baby boy (or soon-to-be ours.) We've named him Forest Farnsworth; we're still working on the middle name.
Forest was born at 9:41am on Monday, March 2nd. He was 7 lbs. 8 oz. and 18 inches long. He is the sweetest little thing and is doing really well. We've been able to spend all day with him today and the papers legally placing him with us will be signed tomorrow. Then Kent and I will get to meet his birthmother on Thursday, and Kent will fly home. I'll be here in Utah for at least a few more days while all of the paperwork is approved here and in Arizona.
Here are pictures of little Forest:
Kent and I jumped on a plane after a friend in the ward graciously took our girls at the last minute (thank you, Amber!) We were so excited when we landed in Salt Lake that we forgot the infant carseat at the airport. We got to the hospital at 8:40pm and were able to hold our little baby boy (or soon-to-be ours.) We've named him Forest Farnsworth; we're still working on the middle name.
Forest was born at 9:41am on Monday, March 2nd. He was 7 lbs. 8 oz. and 18 inches long. He is the sweetest little thing and is doing really well. We've been able to spend all day with him today and the papers legally placing him with us will be signed tomorrow. Then Kent and I will get to meet his birthmother on Thursday, and Kent will fly home. I'll be here in Utah for at least a few more days while all of the paperwork is approved here and in Arizona.
Here are pictures of little Forest:
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