The Great Name Debate

Thank you for joining us for the great name debate. Our little guy will be arriving in less than 3 months now and it has been quite a struggle for the 4 of us to decide on a name that would be just right for him. So we put it to a vote. Jeff voted for Charles Anthony with an option to call him Charlie, I voted for Nathaniel Joseph with "Nate" as a nickname, but the boys teamed up against us and pulled out the majority for a win. Therefore I am happy* to announce that Baby Boy Orwin #3 w ill now be known as...

TARZAN JEFFREY ORWIN

(although Max has stated that if the baby is born with horns and green skin he's changing his vote to Shrek)

So what do you folks think?? Do you like it?? If not...you try to come up with something better because I'm clueless. We have discussed every name in the book from simple standards like Michael or David to off the wall choices like Promethyus and Archemedes and we've got NOTHING! My big thing is I want to make sure the kid has options--like Maxwell can be Max and Zachary can be Zach--and I want it to kind of go with the other boys names (Maxwell Alexander and Zachary Xavier). I've even given up on trying to use all the letters in the alphabet, even though we only have S,B, and Q left.

Jeff keeps whining about finding "the RIGHT name". I don't know what that's all about. He thinks that divine intervention is going to lead us to the right name, which is fine but I'm a planner person and am starting to grow impatient waiting to figure out "the RIGHT thing"! (Doesn't sound at all like me huh???)

So here is a list of our top 10 names that we sort of agree on (my picks are at the top and Jeff's are at the bottom-as they should be).

1. Nathaniel
2. Joseph
3. Daniel
4. Michael
5. Christian
6. Bradley
7. Jason (i still like Jasper better)
8. Charles
9. Anthony
10. Caleb

We are also open to using Jeffrey as a middle name this time if it works, but not committed to it. PLEASE feel free to comment, vote, or add something that you think we might like and just have neglected to fully consider.

So until we come up with something better, welcome to the family baby Tarzan!! (And my mom thought Xavier was a bad name!!) :)

Fun Times in Tremonton

We go to Tremonton about once a year (where Jeff grew up) to visit friends, family, and evidently the cows. Jeff has a lot of dairy farmers in his family and most of the Orwins have at some point in their lives worked on a dairy farm. This means that once a year Jeff feels the need to go back in time and see some cows. So we made our annual trip to the dairy farm to see the cows. This is never my favorite part of our vacation. I've done it 7 times and twice I've been pregnant. All I really have to say about cows is that they stink and I'd rather not think of where Walmart gets its milk.

On this trip we also got to meet Baby Connor-Jeff's sister's newest little one. All we heard before we met him was that he was a grumpy fussy baby. Does this look like a fussy little guy?? I thought he was a delight. Maybe he just likes me best!!

The boys really wanted to go camping while we were out there, but due to time restraints, weather, and the fact that I hate camping, we decided this wasn't the best time for it. Nana was nice enough to set up the teepee in the backyard though and the boys thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Maybe next year we can do the real thing--or maybe not!!

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Dead Fish

Max and Jeff decided they wanted to try out fishing while we were in Utah. While my husband is an avid fisherman (I've never seen him touch a fishing rod in the 8 yrs I've known him) we decided to bring along Bill (Jeff's brother, who actually does quite a bit of fishing) to make sure we had a successful day. I wasn't sure that Max would be able to sit still long enough or be quiet enough to catch anything but he actually surprised be quite a bit. A fun day was had by all and no one had to gut a fish in the end!! Check out Max sitting still and quiet!! Amazing :)

Of course, Zach had to join in on the action too!

I accidently caught a fish while watching Jeff's line when he went to go get lunch for us. Ewwww!! We threw him back.

Jeff wouldn't let us leave the pond until his boy had caught a live one. Fortunately we didn't have to wait TOO long for that! We threw this one back too. I'll stick to getting my fish at the grocery store.

After sitting and fishing all day (more like 2 hours) the boys needed to run, so off they went!

Tough way to learn about gravity

Zach had a tough time staying on his feet during out trip to Logan Canyon this fall. He loved to stand by the creek and throw sticks and rocks into the water. Unfortunately he didn't realize how top heavy he is and ended up falling head over heels into the ice cold stream. Fortuantely his Uncle Sam was close enough to quickly scoop him up so no real harm was done. But boy was that baby cold!!

Later the same day he tried climbing up the hill like the bigger boys and found himself rolling down it instead. Poor thing. I guess he's not quite as steady on his feet as we had thought!!

October in Logan Canyon

In mid October we took a trip to Northern Utah to visit Jeff's family. While we were there we were able to spend lots of time outdoors. I think the outdoors are great as long as I can look at it hrough the window, but being the mom of boys I guess I will have to learn a little about nature! The weather was nice while we were there but I voted that it was WAY too cold to go camping, and since my vote is the only one that really counts-I won :) We did go spend the day in Logan Canyon for Trey's 5th birthday and brought all the family we could find with us. It was a really nice time, but when the sun goes down in the canyon it gets colder than I like to be. I stayed bundled up and kept fussing at the boys to throw another log on the fire. I'm such a good sport!!

Aren't we adorable?!?!
Cousins are the best!

This could be the cover of Sportsman Paradise, huh? :)

Roasting Wienies with Dad--could life get any better?

All tuckered out!

Muffin Girl Reveals Her Secrets

I love pumpkins, i love crunchy leaves, i love cool weather, i love scarecrows, i love anything to do with autumn!! I needed to make a treat for a church event on the 1st day of fall and because fall hasn't quite made it to east Texas, I decided to make a fall treat as a request to the goddess of autumn to head our way.

I made Pumpkin Spice Muffins with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting and they were awesome. In fact, so many people have asked for the recipe, I have decided to post it here. I could be making millions off this, but instead I am sharing it with the people. I am generous!!

Here you have it:

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp salt

1tsp baking powder

1tsp nutmeg

1 tsp allspice

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1 1/2 c sugar

1/2 c brown sugar

2 c canned pumpkin

1/2 c applesauce

1 c fat free yogurt

4 egg whites

1 egg

3/4 c water

I know...a lot of ingredients, but the rest is pretty easy. Mix the dry ingredients together and the wet ingredients together (except the water). Then add the dry to the wet and slowly add water. Bake at 350 for 20-24 minutes (use toothpick test). Makes about 3 dozen muffins.

The icing needs to be tweeked a little I think, but I just combined 8 oz of cream cheese, 3/4 c shortening (I will try butter next time), 3 c powdered sugar, and 1 tsp vanilla. Adding a few tablespoons of water helps adjust the texture if needed. After I frosted the muffins I dusted them with cinnamon which I think made all the difference.

So there you have it. My top secret muffin recipe that I used as an attempt at making friends in our new neigborhood....and it seems to have at least gotten me noticed!!

Losing Faith

Warning: Lots of ranting and raving to follow and no pictures. Proceed with caution!

Seven yrs ago when Jeff and I got married, I had to change dentists. The new dentist claimed to find 12 cavities where my old dentist had never found one in more than 20 yrs of being my dentist. I did not let him do all the work he wanted to. I didn't know it then, but this was the beginnings of my frustration with the medical profession.

Fast forward 3 years to the Spring of 2006. I was pregnant with Max. I slipped on the back porch and broke off part of my toenail. Long story short, I went to after hours care and for $300 they removed the rest of the nail and bandaged the toe. Lesson learned: Next time I'll just do it myself. Not a big deal.

Jump ahead to my pregnancy with Zach. OBGYN Dr. M turned out to not be my favorite person. He paid little attention to me as an actual person, didn't seem bothered that I was so sick for 9 months that I lost 40 lbs during my pregnancy, and scheduled me to be induced at his leisure b/c I guess "nature taking its course" is SO unpredictable and inconvenient. The icing on the cake with him was when I was ready to deliver he was complaining to the nurse that he was hungry and wanted to get lunch before the baby came and asked if she could hold me off a little longer--all where I could very easily hear him. He did miss lunch that day, but I could tell that it annoyed him. My apologies. Lesson learned: I should have been more assertive and demanded better care or found someone else.

November 13, 2008: Zach was born and all was well, or so I thought. A nurse checked his temp and it was a little low. They suspected an infection. Long story short: 7 days and $10,000 later I was finally able to take my baby home. The kicker: No infection was ever found. Lesson learned: Ask and demand real answers constantly and demand to see all lab report, dr report, etc if ever found in that situation again.

Let's jump ahead to Fall of 2009: Max developed a cough. Doc gave him some meds. Didn't help. Got more meds. Didn't change. Long story short: In 8 months my 30 lb 3 yr old was given 6 medications costing $500/month with no real answer. We were never referred to a specialist or given a clear explanation as to what was going on. Only diagnosis was chronic asthma. Strange, but 4 months ago, we moved and I took him off all meds and he's been totally symptom free. I think he was allergic to something at school and kept reacting to it. Again: I must be more proactive and realize I am my child's only true advocate.

Summer 2010: New city, new pediatrician. Max's 4 yrs old check up. In my opinion he is healthier than he's ever been. However, Dr finds a heart mumur that he may or may not have had all his life. As a precaution he gets a full cardiac work up. $700 to tell me my child is perfectly healthy. AAARRRRGGGGHHHHH

Also Summer 2010: I cut my finger on a can of chili. It's deep and my mom is there and would have worried herself to death if I didn't get it checked out. Go to Urgent Care Clinic. In 20 minutes, it is cleaned, dermabonded, and got a tetus shot. They billed my insurance copy $1400! I'm buying dermabond on ebay for next time.

So why am I ranting and raving about this today?? I am going to a new doctor this week and I have been debating my approach with him. Maybe I should just give up, buy anitbiotics from Mexico, birth the rest of my babies in the bathtub at home and embrace the true hollistic movement. Maybe I should lay it all for this poor new guy and let him know that I am on to him and all of his collegues and I will become one of those pain in the a$$ patients who demands proof, explanation, and documentation for ever single thing I am treated for, billed for, and diagnosised with. Or maybe I've actually stumbled across a professional who does his job, cares for his patients, and doesn't intend to screw me over from the start.
I'll let you know.

PS: I know that some of my relatives are/will be doctors and I'm sure they are/will be great. Just try to remember not to screw over the little guy! :)