Zoo and Tute

Amaree loves animals. Her first words were concerning animals, and she gets excited when she sees animals on TV. Because of her love, it was only obvious that we had to go to the zoo. I would show her animal books and she would stare at the animals she knew for hours, but the exotic animals seemed to mystify her. I was looking forward to this day for a very long time.

Andrew and Amaree look at some monkeys.

When we got to the zoo, Amaree didn’t quite know what to think. However, it wasn’t long before she was screaming to be let out of her stroller so she could get a closer look at all the animals. If Andrew or I fell a little behind, she would gesture frantically for us catch up. She would point to the monkeys high in the trees and stare in awe at the elephants. She loved the exhibits where she would run across the hallway. Back and forth over and over as she tried to see everything. She really enjoyed herself.

Look at me, Mommy!

Drama Is Brewing.

A few days later, I was getting Amaree dressed for the day. I had picked out an outfit with a cute appliquéd bunny. When I tried to get her dressed, she threw a fit. From what I could gather, she didn’t want me to put it on because then she couldn’t see the bunny and pet it. I put it on anyway and she rolled around on the floor for ten minutes crying and moaning.

The next Sunday, I tried to get her dressed, but she was very unhappy about it. Finally, Andrew was able to get her dressed in a cute little dress. She came into the bathroom where I was finishing my hair and she pointed to her dress and said, “Tute?” I thought she was pointing to the flowers and I said something about the flowers and she got frustrated, rolled her eyes, pointed at the dress again and asked, “Tute?” I finally got it. “Yes, sweetie, that dress is very cute!” She smiled and wondered off to play.

What is that smell?

A few days later she got upset with me because she thought the outfit I had chosen was not “tute”. She rolled on the floor and cried for at least ten minutes and didn’t eat breakfast because she was so upset about it. Sometimes she will ask if the outfit we have chosen is cute. Andrew can usually pick out clothes that she likes better than I can but if she doesn’t think it is “tute” then she is very upset with us. Oh, the joys of little girls…

"Is my hair tute?"

One exciting development is she is beginning to notice when she has to use the bathroom and likes to sit on her potty chair. She hasn’t really figured it out yet, but the fact that she is showing interest in encouraging.

If we have to live with her being tute, then we have it made. She is still one of the most well behaved children we know. She is so much fun and is such a wonderful helper. She makes our lives wonderful!

Summer 2010 update

Once again, time seems to fly by us. This summer has been a whirl-wind. The passing of my uncle has been hard, it seems to be surreal. Work has been stressful and full of changes. The biggest thing that happened though, was the accident.

The morning after the shooting.

Many of you know about it, but I will tell the story anyway. I was directing the play for Altamont Longhorn Days. On July 15th, I was coming home late and as I was leaving practice, I called my husband. "Hi Honey, I am on my way home." "Jessica" "Yeah, I will be there soon, what is going on?" "The gun just went off!" Click. Ummmmm....What the hell does that mean? So I called my sister to run over to my house and find out what was going on. I drove home as fast as I dared, still wondering what he meant. What does that mean? Is my baby okay? Is my husband okay? What on earth has happened?


When I pulled into the house, my sister's vehicles was sitting in front of my house with the flashers on. I lost it then. Some of you may not understand, but out here in the country, we have to turn on our flashers so the ambulance can find us. This freaked me out because my Aunt had left the house to turn on the flashers when her husband passed away. Pulling up and seeing the flashers in front of my house was overwhelming. My sister, Kerron, walked out of the house and said "Jessica, they have been shot, but they will be okay. The ambulance is coming but everything will be okay." I lost it and started screaming. Kerron said something to me about knowing how I don't handle trauma well, so deal with it outside. I started running to my neighbors house, still screaming my head off. I wish I were one of those people who remained calm in an emergency, but I now realize I am totally not calm. I burst into my neighbors house, screaming, "they've shot themselves, Andrew has been shot!" She tried to calm me, but I was a wreck.

Amaree found Daddy's wallet and phone!

We ran back to my house and walked into the kitchen. Eric was laying on the floor, with a towel around his leg. Andrew was laying in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room with a towel around his knee and moaning.


The living room looked like a crime scene. There was blood everywhere. The carpet was covered in blood, there was blood on the sofa, on toys, just everywhere. There were also two guns, laying in pieces and one lone shell.


I started yelling again, mostly at Andrew. "What the hell were you thinking! I can't believe you shot yourself! What is wrong with you!" He started yelling back. "Just shut up! Just shut up, okay! You're not helping!" It is comical now, but it was tense.


Eventually a paramedic showed up and started helping. The ambulance got lost and didn't show up for 35 minutes. My parents were on their way home from a vacation and saw the ambulance wandering around. They saw the lights at our house and thought that something had happened to Amaree. (BTW, she had been in the hospital just two days before with a breathing problem. It was so severe she was almost admitted, but she was able to pull through with some medication.)

Amaree during a breathing treatment.

My parents finally got the attention of the ambulance and pulled in. Just as they were pulling in, the paramedic walked out. They asked him what happened and he said, "They have just shot each other." They thought it was Andrew and me who were shot. Anyway, they walked in and saw our crime scene. They tried to comfort me. Amaree slept through the whole thing-the gunshot, my screaming, and everyone who was helping.

The ambulance took Eric and Andrew to the hospital. Eric was lucky. The bullet went through the fleshy part of his calf. He has a small piece left in there, but it has healed very well. Andrew had a more severe injury. The bullet went across his knee cap and carved a groove across the top. From the groove, there are five or six cracks. He has had to have a recovery process of rest and physical therapy. He is doing great now, and his limp is getting better all the time.

So what happened? Apparently they were cleaning the handguns. Andrew was showing Eric how to do it. They took Andrew's gun apart, cleaned it, and then he put it back together, put the clip in it, and then he put the gun in the holster and put it away. They took Eric's gun apart and cleaned it. Eric said, "Wait show me on your gun again." Andrew grabbed his gun, pulled the slide back, pulled the lever to release the top, then pulled the trigger. He forgot that he had put the clip back in because he had already taken it apart once. Anyway, we are all very blessed. It could have been so much worse!

Happy Birthday!

Amaree has been doing very well. She is talking so much and learning so many new words. She even said six new words in one day! Her birthday was great. It is amazing to see her reach milestones. She is starting to get more personality and likes to tell me "Don't Touch!"

Rendezvous was so much fun for her. She had a ball, and loved posing and having her picture taken in her clothes.


She is also loving nursery, she knows where it is and can't wait for us to leave her there. She is a star!


We did have to go in and have a sedated hearing test to make sure everything was okay. The procedure went well and she has great hearing! The post op was tough, she didn't like being woken from that drug! Once it wore off, she was fine.






Hopefully, things will calm down a bit more. Things were so crazy for a while, I was almost ready to be put in an asylum!

Amaree posing in her rendezvous outfit.

June 27, 2010

Amaree giving a big grin for the camera as she goes to open her favorite drawers and pull something out!

HOLY COW!! Time sure gets away from us we have not updated in months. Amaree continues to be the joy of our lives. Every time we look at her we count ourselves a couple of the luckiest people on earth to have her as our own. Amaree has enjoyed the spring and the summer months, she runs to the door to be outside whenever Mom and Dad will let her. She is getting a nice little tan from being outside so much. Mom is jealous because she can't tan, she just burns. The skin type is just one more way Amaree is Andrew's little girl.

Amaree has been wearing her glasses without any problems. She asks for them in the morning and wears them all day. She loves wearing them. Every where we go, people ask about the glasses. They are amazed a such a tiny person wearing them and keeping them on.

Amaree outside getting ready to play!

Jessica's new job has been stressful and hard. The best thing about the day is coming home and playing with Amaree. She is learning lots of animal sounds and other signs. She loves the chickens and can recognize their sound. When she hears them she starts saying ch-ch! ch-ch! and pointing towards the sound. She even stops playing if a horse or other animal is on the television. She loves animals.

Amaree is so helpful! She loves throwing things in the garbage and getting things for mommy and daddy. She also drags everything out of the drawers and spreads them throughout the house.


This past week has been very tough on the family. Jessica's Uncle Scott, who came to the rescue (with Cousin Alexaus) the day Amaree was born and with whom Amaree shares a birthday, passed away. He was so great at always taking care of us, and we are having a hard time adjusting to life without him. He will be missed, and Andrew is really going to miss their fishing trips.

Andrew and Amaree with the BIG fish he caught on his last fishing trip with Uncle Scott. The fish was bigger than Amaree (and we can see how she feels about that)!

February 25, 2010

Amaree is eating like crazy, we think that she is going through a little growth spurt at 18 months she is moving into 6 to 9 month old cloths. We picked up Amaree's glasses today we figured it would be a fight but she seems to like them. She has been wondering around the house exploring her new world with her enhanced vision. We were looking through the thick little buggers and they seem to be very strong, it is no doubt they help her see much better. We went a saw some of the nurses and ladies at the NICU that grew so close to Amaree they were all so excited to see how well she is doing they could hardly contain themselves. Amaree as usual was her flirty little self showing off for them. A part of us felt like we did not want to put glasses on her but they sure look cute on her. We are probably very bias but we think that Amaree can make just about anything look good.

Feb 4, 2010

Amaree strutting her stuff

Amaree trying to be like mom !!!!!

It has been way to long since we updated the blog. Amaree has been doing so great and life has been so busy we have lost track of time and updating the blog. Amaree has decided that she is done seeing life on all fours. She started walking about 2 weeks ago. One day she was crawling the next day she was taking a few steps between mom and dad and after a coouple days pratice she has become a pro, walking upright all over the house. Everyone that sees her walk makes comments like she is not big enough to walk, but those that know Amaree know that she has a spirit that will not allow her to body size to get in the way of what she wants. Jessica took a full time job working for Duchesne County doing computer repairs the first of this month and Amaree is adjusting to being at the sitters 4 days a week (dad watches her on friday's). We are so blessed she is so fun to be around and brings so much joy into our lives.

November 16, 2009

Amaree fell asleep and I put her in the laundry basket. She is so tiny still!

Amaree has been doing great. We have had a lot of drama, but it is life as usual. Since Amaree has learned to crawl, she has also learned how to climb up on things. This caused a few problems. First, her cradle had to be put away and we got out her crib. Because she can already stand, we had to have the crib lowered before we could put her in it. Now the drama-she HATES it. She acts like we are abusing her when we put her in there to sleep. It has been major drama but I think she is starting to get used to it.

This is the face that Amaree makes all the time. I had to take a lot of pictures to finally catch it on camera. She usually makes a snorting sound with this face. It is so funny.

We have also been through Sick Amaree 101. Amaree is normally a happy, flirty, inquisitive baby. She loves people and going to new places. When she is sick she just cries and wants nothing but to be held. Even to put her down causes major screaming when she is sick. She hasn't been really sick, just a virus and a cold and now her molars are coming in. She has eight teeth and more are on the way. Sick Amaree is a real trial for me. The crying is so constant. I like my Happy Amaree.

She is still so tiny. She weighs about 13 pounds. When people ask how old she is and I respond with "14 months", I get quite the reaction. It is kinda fun to see the looks on peoples faces.

Amaree in her Halloween costume-Little Pocahontas. This is the only one that wasn't blurry! She is so busy!

For Halloween, Amaree wore the buckskin dress that Andrew and I made her for Rendezvous. She was so cute!


Today is November 16, and Amaree came home from the hospital exactly one year ago yesterday. This has been such an amazing year. She has grown and changed so much. She has such a fun personality. Everywhere we go people comment on how inquisitive and attentive she is. She is so social and interactive that people are amazed when I tell them her story.

August 31, 2009

Amaree did great eating her cake!

Amaree turns 1! Yesterday was Amaree's first birthday. It was wonderful! It was nice to make new memories for this day and to spend time with family. Andrew and Kerron made a beautiful cake for her. I made a video of her first year and all we have been through. We also had a brick of cheese that showed how much she weighed. We had root beer floats and lots of friends. I am so grateful for our friends and family who supported us through the trial of her hospitalizaiton.

Birthday girl opening her presents!

We also went on vacation the first of the month. We drove to Washington state. We drove most of the night so she did okay, but it did get to her the last hour each way. We saw Mt. St. Helens, the Pacific Ocean and family.

Oregon coast and Mt. St. Helens

On the way back we saw the eye Dr. He is still concerned about her vision. It is better and it is improving on its own, but we're not out of the woods yet. We also got to go back to the hospital and see one of her nurses. it was awesome.

Amaree is getting all her teeth in at once! She has her two bottom ones, but she is getting SIX all at once. There have been some grumpy days, but she is often so good.

Amaree is crawling and getting into everything! She is so funny now. She loves exploring and following us around the house. Amaree loves getting up on things. She has learned not to let go, she had several bumps and scrapes from letting go and falling.

Amaree still flirts and is super cute with everyone. I cannot believe that it has been a year! This time last year was so scary and nerve racking. This is so much better and so wonderful!