Why, Berg

What A Happy Halloween!

2009-11-04T21:09:00.000-08:00

Avery didn't have school the day before Halloween and since Dustin is retired, we decided very spur of the moment to go visit my parents. We piled in the kids, costumes, dirty laundry (Friday is laundry day, you know-no clean undies for the kiddies otherwise), and we were off! It was fun to go trick-or-treating (er, I mean to have the kids trick-or-treat) at the houses where I did as a kid. Grandma and Grandpa were a great help with our little dragon, chicken, Jessie the yodeling cowgirl and mermaid. We got tons of candy and even saved some of my parents candy for the actual trick-or-treaters. It was great fun. What a great holiday! You give a little candy, you get a lot in return. You could just go buy a bag for yourself and skip the trick-or-treating entirely, but come on! Who wants to miss all these great pictures?

P.S. Merry Christmas!

Harvest Time

2009-10-26T13:51:00.000-07:00

We have been harvesting and canning for the past couple of weeks. Even after years of participating while my mom canned peaches and pears and made jams and jellies, I still don't know how to do it. Thank goodness for big sis, who does, or at least pretends to. Jen and I bottled pears and apple pie filling and made plum jelly and jam. It is so fun! We spend the day talking and peeling and slicing and sweating and neglecting kids (not total neglect, we do feed them and turn on movies for them). And after all that work, this is what we have to show for it:

This is only my half of the spoils. Jen has the other half.

Here is some of what we got from our garden.

The beets aren't looking too hot.

I love gardening. It is in my blood. Both of my parents were (are) farmers. Granted, if you saw how much my garden didn't produce, you might not think it. But let's not focus on that. Let's focus on the positive. For instance, we got three pumpkins of differing colors and two varieties of squash! We got two whole cobs of corn (won't be planting four rows next year for sure).
We also have about a thousand little apples.

Not bad for our first ever garden.

Math

2009-10-21T19:43:00.000-07:00

This:

Plus this:

Equals this:

It was inevitable. What spunky-two year old boy can resist the utlimate thrill ride? Well, not mine for sure. Those marks are where his ribs are. It looks like a hand print, but it is because there is no fat at all covering his ribs. He also got his face and arm, but you can't see it in this picture. I guess he is just toughening himself up for bikes and motorcycles and football and other painful experiences later in life.

Dustin's Geburstag

2009-10-16T15:12:00.001-07:00

Well, a little older, a little wiser as I like to say. Happy Birthday to dear old daddy Dustin. In lieu of our recently remodeled cat room and Dustin's allergies to the pesky creatures, I found the perfect cake (Thanks to a little inspiration from my kooky friend).

I promise, this cake is better than an alternative. And doesn't Dustin look nice and thin? (His body, not his hair, people). He is such a great dad and husband. What a lucky gal I am.

It's Always Fun When Grandma Comes

2009-10-12T14:02:00.000-07:00

Gramma Lana came to see us for 10 days this month. Oh, it is fun when Grandma comes. It is endless presents and crafts and games and treats and we love it! Here are the kids in all their new church clothes Gramma brought.

And Grant learned a new trick just for Gramma.

And no, Ryan, those are not girl Halloween pajamas. Gramma would never do that.

She was here for General Conference this year. I love General Conference. I was able to go to the General Relief Society Meeting with Lana and my sister Jen and her friend. It was awesome to be there. Conference was amazing with helpful and timely counsel from living prophets, which is so cool. That same weekend we drove around and saw the Autumn leaves and it was beautiful. We also went to Dustin's mission reunion and saw friends we hadn't seen in years and ate these yummy Brazilian chickeny-bready thingys and drank Guava juice. What a great 10 days! Thanks for all the fun, Gramma Lana!

Help Wanted

2009-09-27T19:33:00.001-07:00

Hey does anyone need a Landscape Architect? Ya know, just wondering.

No Valium Needed

2009-09-18T14:22:00.000-07:00

This is how we spent our morning:

Maren had a run-in with the edge of tub last night after Ryan was being wild and swiped her on her way out. She ended up with 5 stitches, a cool blue camouflage band aid, a pony sticker and a happy meal. Bribery does amazing things. She was so brave and didn't scream or wiggle or even really cry. Oh, it breaks my heart to see my kids in pain. But even more heart breaking is when they are trying so hard not to cry when they are being put into more pain. I couldn't even watch while they numbed the wound or stitched it (I have this skin thing: blood ok, skin not ok). I was very proud of her. I'm pretty sure when I had stitches at age 5 that they had to strap me down. As anyone can testify who knows both Dustin and me, any calmness in my children is not inherited from me. So thank you, Dustin, for how great Maren did today.

The Happy Sumo

2009-09-13T20:27:00.000-07:00

This is what we have been up to the last couple of weeks:

I mean, seriously, have you ever seen so many rolls?

My sister Monica and her kids came to visit from Illinois and we had so much fun playing with cousins. Monica really wants to be like me and so she has her kids all around the same time as me (except Avery, but that's only because she wasn't married yet). It makes for a lot of fun when we get together.

The sisters (minus a VERY much missed sis and sis-in-law) giving and getting fun pedicures.

Lots of dressing up and dancing occurred.

Liam was born 3 hours earlier and now has about 3 pounds more fat on his body than my fat little baby. Although I think Grant still has him beat on head circumference.

We love our cousins! Please come back soon!

Many Firsts

2009-08-30T20:23:00.000-07:00

We have had an exciting week. On Monday, Avery had her first day of school. Two days before, she had three days worth of outfits set out.

Two (long) days later Maren started preschool. She was so excited, she wore her backpack for an hour before we left (including during breakfast).

Three days after that Grant took his first bath in the big bathtub (I know, I know, it isn't that monumental, but I needed a theme). Aren't we all just growing up so fast?

What is a Shamone, anyway?

2009-08-14T13:27:00.000-07:00

I tend to dream about celebraties that love me. A little weird? Probably. One time Anderson Cooper had a crush on me (you know, the CNN guy who has the face of a 20 year old and silver Ken-doll, 50 year old man hair). The other night I dreamed I was in High School Musical. Troy really liked me, of course. Everyone was singing and dancing and I had great rythmn. You should have seen it. Then about a week later I had another dream. This time Michael Jackson loved me. As you can imagine, it was a little creepy. Plus, he had on blue eye shadow. Double creepy. But, in remembrance of his dearly departed-ness, and Weird Al Yankovic, I am doing a post about my little fat baby, Grant.

I took Grant to his 4 month check-up this week. He weighed 16 pounds 4 ounces. What a fat kid! I know, I know, some of you are saying "What?! All my babies were that big by 4 months. It's not that big!" And others of you are saying "What?! My neighbor's, sister's, nephew's, dog's, owner's baby was that big at BIRTH!" But let me explain something to you. Avery was 17 pounds at 17 months. Maren was 18 pounds at 18 months and Ryan was 20 pounds at 24 months. THIS IS A HUGE BABY! I dare say that he is going to get switched to a front facing carseat by age one. He's probably going to outgrow Avery by age two. He's probably going to outgrow Dustin by age three. Just kidding. Oh, but he's such a cute, fat thing. Look at how happy he is to be tortured.

We just absolutely adore his big, pumpkin face, plump little self.

July Has Come and Gone

2009-08-05T20:47:00.000-07:00

Here are some fun things we did during the month of July:

We went to a family reunion on The Farm and saw a REALLY exciting parade in Buhl, Idaho.

At least some of us came prepared for the scorching sun during the parade. (seriously, thanks mom, I think you shaded half of my body too, with that hat)

I introduced my slaves, I mean children, to the wonderful world of raspberry picking, just like my mom did to me when I was young.

We went on long walks in the sunset with Uncle Bert.

We put too many kids on a trampoline.

We went to another family reunion and as Ryan says, we rode "Rumpah's Oh eece."

Some of us went tanning.

We went fishing.

And four wheeling.

And Grant took a nap wherever he could get it.

We also were visited by many long lost friends (but I forgot to take very many pictures).

So as you can see, we had a great month!

Awesome Giveaway

2009-07-29T21:36:00.001-07:00

This looked like a fun giveaway. The prizes are way cute! Check it out at http://shane-natalie.blogspot.com/2009/07/natalies-ginormous-baby-shower-giveaway.html

Ryan's Birthday

2009-07-09T13:42:00.000-07:00

Does anyone else feel like lately, all I ever do is post about my children's birthdays? Don't worry, Ryan's is the last Wiberg birthday for a few months. He turned two this week. He is definitely two. The other day I wouldn't let him do something and he put his head down and muttered under his breath "Tupid Mama." Isn't it great to have older siblings to teach you to say mean words, when you can barely talk? I tried not to laugh as I took him to a time-out. I'm not totally sure that he even knew why he was in time out. He hears it so much, maybe he thinks it is a term of endearment. Anyway, he is in a fun stage of trying out his language, rough housing, driving trucks into walls, throwing balls, reading his "horse books" (farming magazines from my dad) and all the other great things that come with a two year old boy. He gives cute kisses and loves to sing E-I-E-I-O, I Am A Child Of God and the Sunbeam song. He yells "Help Me!" every time he sees I am going to cook or clean (no, not because he is afraid of my delicious cooking, but because he actually wants to help me). He has to hold Grant about 20 times a day, but it only lasts for about 3 seconds and then he is done. He absolutely loves his Daddy. We love our little Ry Guy!

The Loot

Brand New

1 Year

2 Years

Family Time

2009-06-29T13:40:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago we had Dustin's family in town for a fun visit. Danielle and Tyler and their family and Dustin's mom all stayed with us for a little over a week. And if you can believe it, nobody threw up (that is a first for our yearly get togethers) (although there was some funky cold virus passed around... swine flu?).

We went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House (beautiful!) and played at fun parks.

We also went to the SaltAire (?) and stepped our feet in the nasty, stinky, filled with dead ducks Great Salt Lake, just to say we have done it.

By the way, there was a techno concert there that night and we saw a girl wearing a HUGE clown wig. Ummm, can anyone explain this to me? Am I really that old and out of style that I just don't get the clown wig as being cool?

We played games, talked until the wee hours of the morning, chased kids at the park and had a great time. Saturday night Dustin's parents and siblings and families all came over for a big family birthday party.

Dustin's entire family lives in the Denver area and so we don't have as many opportunities to be a part of their big family parties, so it is always lots of fun for us to have these get-togethers.

The next day Dustin blessed Grant in our ward. I didn't hear much of it, thanks to Ryan yelling "Daddy" and trying desperately to get up to where Dustin was standing, until I took him out. But I hear it was nice. We also had to speak in Sacrament Meeting that day. Afterward we had another big gathering and ate dinner. It was great to see family that we don't see often enough. By that evening around 5 pm I had physically and mentally shut down and I don't think I had any energy for about a week after. But, as always, it was a wonderful time with family and we were so glad everyone came to support us.

Avery's Big Day

2009-06-24T21:07:00.000-07:00

Avery is now officially 6! She is getting so big. She was really hoping to lose some teeth by her sixth birthday, but no luck. She rides a bike without training wheels, is a kindergarten graduate, loves to do art projects and is still a couple of inches taller than Maren. Avery is very good at finding snails to keep as pets, reading and is very helpful with her siblings. She is always making sure everyone is safe and doing what they should. For her birthday cake this year she requested a flower cake and even helped me decorate it. I can't believe my baby is 6!

5 months

1 year

Two

Three

Four

Five (notice the same dress)

Six

Mimi

2009-06-17T14:50:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th Birthday to our Maren! This is actually a week late, but such is my life right now. This whole month will be spent playing catch up. Maren wanted a treasure chest cake. I got the idea from my friend Rachel. I was a little tired of princess cakes and so I spent a few weeks trying to convince one of the girls to have this cool pirate cake. In the end the necklaces and candy did most of the convincing.

Maren always seems older to me than she is. She has always played with older kids and kept up just fine. She loves to laugh and make other people laugh. We regularly find toy spiders and snakes under our pillows at night. She is very helpful to me and likes to do secret service for people in the family. She loves to hold and help take care of Grant, build castles with Ryan, play "mom" with Avery, wrestle with Dad and read books with Mom. Maren is such a fun part of our family.

5 months

One

Two

Three

Four

We're Winners In My Book

2009-06-03T12:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was mine and Dustin's 8th Anniversary. The gift for eight years is Bronze. I couldn't help feeling like we were in third place for something and that just didn't seem right (you're all gold to me, Babe). I gave Dustin a bronze frame to hold a picture of Belize. He gave me bronze colored chocolates and bronze tanning lotion. For any of you who have had to put on sunglasses to keep from being blinded by the glare of the sun off of my pearly white legs, you will know that this was a much appreciated gift. Here is a photo of us back in the day:

We were just babies then. Although, I don't know that my looks have changed much. When you are completely out of style, it is easy to look the same after eight years. Dustin has lost something since we were married, which ages him a little. Luckily for both of us, I have always found balding men highly attractive (um, just one now though). So, Happy Anniversary, Honey! I love you!

Million Dollar Smiles

2009-05-27T13:57:00.001-07:00

Here is Maren's new and improved million dollar smile: 3 root canals, 1 filling, 5 sealants, a sleeping princess potion and a lot of money later. It is our fault because we don't have dental insurance, but even with insurance I think this would have cost a pretty penny. I think those silver teeth must be diamond plated.

Grant is working on his million dollar smile, too.

Milestones Reached

2009-05-17T20:36:00.000-07:00

This weekend Dustin took Ryan on a Father-Son Campout. Does that make anyone else feel like we're old? I have to admit I was a little nervous. Dustin will openly confess that he is afraid of camping by himself (just in case he has to defend himself against wild animals or aliens) (I'm really not joking). I was more worried that little busy Ryan would wander while Daddy was putting up the tent and he'd be lost in the mountains forever. Or he would find a creek to jump in. I still remember a Daddy-Daughter Campout when I was probably 4 or 5 and I fell in a deep, fast moving creek and my dad had to jump in and save my life (thanks, Dad). But, Ryan and Dustin both survived the campout. No aliens attacked and no creeks were jumped in and they made it back in one piece.

Last week Avery was the VIP for her Kindergarten class. She got to be the leader when they lined up for things, take show and tell every day, have dad come to class and tell about her and bring her favorite treat to share. Also, all the Kindergarteners got to eat school lunch on Wednesday, which may have been the highlight of her year. Luckily they served pepperoni pizza and jello, otherwise she would have starved. I can't believe she will be in school all day next year!

I just wanted to throw in a picture of Grant so you can see what a little man he is becoming.

A Day of Thanks

2009-05-11T14:01:00.000-07:00

In case you were wondering, the plumbing is working on its own. When one has major bladder reconstruction surgery and a catheter for 4 weeks, one wonders what will happen when said catheter is removed. Will the plumbing just remember its duties and how to do them? I'm sure, late at night, you have all laid in bed pondering this very dillema, like I have. Well, I am happy to let you know that the plumbing does, in fact, just remember its duties. Isn't the human body miraculous? Definitely a divine design. A healthy body is such a blessing. As I've made many trips to the hospital recently and seen so many sick and hurting people, I've been overwhelmed by what a blessing it is to have a healthy body and how when you are not healthy, it can be very overwhelming. So on this, this Thanksgiving day, I'm thankful for a bladder that remembered how to do what it is supposed to do and that my house (although occasionally smelling like one) doesn't look like a toilet.

Baby Grant

2009-04-20T08:49:00.000-07:00

Ahh, Internet. One day it works, the other it doesn't. It is working today so I figured I should hurry and post while I can. Grant is doing well. He is a good, sleepy baby-just the way I like 'em. My mom was here last week to help with the kids, which was wonderful and Dustin is taking a few days off this week. He is doing a great job filling the mom role. Thank goodness for people who feed us, take care of us and play with my children. Food and attention seem to be the necessities of my family. My sisters are going to help with school pick-ups and watching kids, so I think I'll survive this thing.

It's A Boy!

2009-04-14T13:28:00.000-07:00

Well, once again, I had no mother's intuition on this one and I was wrong. I was sure we were having a girl, but after a very eventful delivery we had Grant Roderick on Saturday night. His head was a whoppin 37 cm (the nurses say they've never seen a 38) and so after a couple of hours of pushing, the VBAC was a no go. I delivered by C-Section at 9:45 pm. He was 8 lbs 1 oz (my biggest, by far). Grant wasn't breathing on his own and they worried he had a hernia in his diaphragm, so it was kind of scary for a an hour or so while they worked on him. When they got in to do the C-Section on me, they realized that my previous C-Section had scarred the bladder to the uterus, so 7 doctors ended up cutting up and repairing my bladder for a few hours. I had Dustin take pictures (am I weird that I wanted to see my insides?) so I could show you how cool it looked with my uterus out on my chest while they fixed me up, but I decided that maybe no one else would like to see my insides (except maybe you doctor and nurse types-you know who you are). They kept Grant in the NICU for a couple of days, but he seems to be fine and so hopefully, we'll all go home together. Dustin and my dad gave me a Priesthood blessing the night before delivery and in it Dustin blessed me that I would gain a stronger testimony of the Plan of Salvation. So even though it was very intense, I felt peaceful and sure that regardless of the outcome, we can be together forever as a family. It made me very thankful for the Priesthood and especially thankful for Jesus Christ that makes it all possible.

It is a little ironic that my sister, Monica, and I were due the same day, delivering a week early to avoid big babies, attempting VBAC's and both ended up having 8+ pounder babies by C-Section. She was the winner though, and delivered 3 hours earlier than me.

What We Have Been Up To

2009-04-10T21:26:00.000-07:00

Here are some updated pictures of what we did with the house. After a month of living here, there is still a lot of work to be done, but most of the major stuff has been finished (You will notice that there are no pictures of the kitchen. That is a major thing that is not finished). I have included some before and afters for your viewing pleasure.

Bathroom before:

And after:

Living Room before:

And after:

Please notice my beautiful new front window, just put in this week. It has no bullet holes.

Here is the bedroom and hallway after:

I didn't put any current pictures of the bedrooms in, because that would require that I clean them first.

Yesterday Dustin and I went to Wicked. It was totally wicked.

(I know, I am a brave soul to post a picture of myself this large and in charge. But, I went out in public looking this great, so why not publish it for all the world to see?)

Tonight we colored easter eggs.

And tomorrow we have a baby. So we are just packing it all in.

We're back

2009-04-07T21:50:00.001-07:00

Ahhhhhh. Internet is so nice. We just got it back tonight, after a long month and a half of no contact with the outside world. But the downfall? Here it is 11 pm, and instead of snoozing I am checking hundreds of old emails and writing a blog. And I only have 9 hours of catch up left. But I am really happy to have it back. And just in time for the pooping of the piggy. (Just so you are not offended, I DO realize that childbirth is a beautiful and wonderful thing). We are also in our house, so someday soon I'll post pics of what we are living in (it is much better than it was). Hurray for Internet!

Ryan's Favorite Toy

2009-02-23T19:32:00.000-08:00

Ryan loves the vacuum. I mean loooooveeesss the vacuum. If he hears the closet door open where the vacuum is stored, he comes running saying loudly "Yes, yes, yes!" because in his little mind, by opening that door I am saying "Ryan, would you please help Mommy vacuum? It makes it so much easier and faster when you participate." I tried to get a good video of what happens when I vacuum, but alas, most cleaning is done while Dustin is at work and for obvious reasons, it is hard to video while I am vacuuming. But you can imagine the scene as I try to push the vacuum while Ryan tries desperately to 1) hold on to the side of the vacuum, 2) push the vacuum himself, 3) stand on the vacuum while I am pushing it, 4) sit on the vacuum while I am pushing it, 5) take vacuum appendages off while I am pushing it, 6) do anything else to the vacuum that you can think of that would make it more difficult for me. His obsession with vacuums has actually helped with the fixing up of the house because if he starts to touch things he shouldn't, we just send him to a vacant room with the shop vac and let him clean those already cleaned floors. This is what Ryan looks like when I put the vacuum away:

The above pictures were actually when I took the camera away. He also loves to take pictures. But the reaction would be the exact same for the removal of the vacuum. But how can I resist this cute face wanting to help me?

Someday this vacuum love will be the favorite quality of his wife, I just know it. I may even enjoy it in a few years.