Sigh......

Dear Family,

I wish you good luck without me here for the next 2 weeks. Dad don't work your tail off and when we get the chance to talk, tell me about all the good sports games I'll miss. Mom, take care of Belle and don't let the boys annoy you to much. Jonah, I expect you to beat Super Mario Galaxy by the time you get to Utah. Tate, don't go buggin' anyone and when you come to Utah tell me all about your B-Day (which I wish will be great) and all about Despicable Me. Belle, I love you dear and I hope you will be safe and as cute as ever. Pepper, don't make messes in the house and scare away intruders. I will miss you all sooooooo much (even you Jonah) and I love you all! Sincerely, Kiegan Austin

One scary night...........

So here it is....the scary night! If you don't want all the details (that I so easily give) then skip down to the blue paragraph for the gist of the story.



Friday night Tony, Kiegan, and Tate went to the Mariners game. After Belle went to bed Jonah and I snuggled up in my bed and watched a movie and ate popcorn. It was still pretty light outside when the movie started so naturally I hadn't turned the lights on in the rest of the house. I have been so so tired lately so I was dozing in and out the whole movie. At 9:45 Tony called and woke me up to tell me they were on there way home. Jonah and I watched the last little bit of the movie and while we were laying there I heard a noise outside but the houses are so close together here that I just assumed it was my neighbor. When the movie got over I really wanted to just stay in bed and fall back asleep but I was pushed (still small voice) to get up and turn some lights on and let Pepper out. That's when I heard more noises. It sounded like something was getting dragged or a window or something was trying to be opened. But I didn't think much about it because I just figured it was the neighbors or an animal or something. While I was in the kitchen the noise was louder but I still let Pepper out not really thinking. Pepper instantly went running to the corner of the deck and started barking like crazy. She has a pretty ferocious bark when she is really mad so I hurried and opened the door and let her back in and closed and locked it. I couldn't see anything because the light was on behind me so it was pitch dark out there. I heard some noises again but Pepper was still barking like crazy. She kept running back and forth from the slider to the stairs growling and barking. I was totally scared but was trying to convince myself and Jonah that it was just an animal out there not a person. I didn't hear any more sounds so I opened the slider and stood out there for about 10 min trying to see anything and to get Pepper to go check it out. Pepper wouldn't go down the stairs but kept growling and barking a couple times at the cracks in between the planks. (like someone was down there) I came back in still trying to convince ourselves it was just an animal. We both were still pretty scared so we stood in the doorway of my bedroom until Tony got home. The whole time Pepper was still growling and barking a few times. We figured that if someone was in the house then we would hear them coming up the stairs and Pepper would let us know and we could go in my room and lock the door and call the police. We didn't hear anymore noises so we just stayed in the doorway. It felt like forever before Tony got home but it was only about 30 min. I told him I had been hearing some noises and Pepper was going wild so he needed to go see what was going on. He took the flashlight and went on the deck and looked around the backyard but didn't see anything so he started to go down the stairs. He asked me how long the screen had been laying on the floor and that is when my heart sank. He flashed the light on the window and the window was wide open so he came up the stairs and I called 911 immediately. I was so scared because I didn't know if they were still in the house or exactly where they were so we stayed where we were and huddled close to house. The police came with all their lights and glory. They checked the backyard first and then walked straight in through the downstairs slider. (Yes right in) They checked the downstairs and then had us get sleeping baby out of her bed and head on downstairs. They shoved us out under the deck (I'm assuming because they had already cleared that area to be safe) while they checked the rest of the house. As they were checking the house I realized that I was standing there in all my glory with lets just say no bra on and it was a little cold outside. My pajamas aren't very thick and I was mighty embarrassed. I also was a bit embarrassed because my house was a bit more messy than usual. Why would I think of these things when a man could be in the house? Only me right? Belle didn't like the police men. She usually likes men but it must have been something about their uniforms that she didn't like but she would scream every time she spied one of them. It was kind of funny. I thought they were handsome all dressed up ready to save us.



So for the short story:

The "man" first dumped the recycling bin over under the window of the garage and nicely cleaned off the window to spy in. (Which he saw my car here and Tony's gone) He then proceeded to make his way through the side gate and around back. (first noise I heard) He then popped the screen off with a crowbar and opened the window and climbed in. He was in the house or under the deck for the 15 minutes that I stood out there looking for something. (or someone) He then decided to let himself out the slider downstairs and ran like a ban chi down the street. (He showed up on my neighbors security camera at 10:15, not clear enough to see details though running down the street) The police tried to get some fingerprints and checked that nothing was stolen.



I almost wish he would have stolen something because of course in the deep dark place in my head I wonder if he was here to hurt me, take one of my kids, or truly to just rob us. I keep telling myself it was the last but still am unsettled about it. Why would he still come in my house when he could see and maybe hear the movie playing in my room? I didn't get any sleep that night and not much last night. I am avoiding the playroom at all costs and am very glad that it is summer which means I won't be home alone during the day. Kiegan won't be sleeping downstairs for awhile but soon we'll all get over it.

I am just so grateful that I was "pushed" out of bed to let Pepper out. And that she went crazy and scared the man away. I'm grateful we are all safe and don't seem to be scarred for life. We now have alarms on all the doors and that window now has a stick in it. (It was the only one that didn't before) Someday I'll be able to sleep again.....

Two year appointment

Belle had her two year appointment last week and weighed in at a whopping.....

20 lbs 1 oz. ****Seriously this girl is tiny. She can now officially have her car seat facing front. Which she loves by the way.
She is 30 1/8" tall. Growing a little bit at a time. All her buddies that are younger than her in our DS playgroup have now officially passed her up. I guess she'll always be my little peanut. (p.s. I like it that way)

I couldn't resist sharing this picture. She is totally posing!

Work in progress.......

I'm working on a new blog...........


You can copy and paste this:
http://funredone.blogspot.com/
or you can click Fun Redone on the bloglist to the right to see it.

Dear Belle,
My beautiful little girl, I can't believe you are two already. This past year has especially flown by so quickly. You are such a big girl now and doing so many many new things. You have 8 teeth now (your four molars, two bottom front, front left top, and your tooth next to that) very strange arrangement but it's one more thing that makes you YOU. You are learning to walk and are very close but you think that monkey crawling is much faster. I love your little buns stuck straight up in the air. You can sign more, all done, eat, milk, water, cheese, go, and recognize much more. You have started to say many more words than you sign which is so fun. A few of your words are Stop it, don't, out, baby, Jonah, Peppa, wow, and me me me. You definitely know how to tell us when "you" need something. You have started your own little language when you are frustrated, it kind of sounds like monkey sounds. You adore your brothers and think that daddy is your hero. You have decided that you don't like to go to women anymore but you will try to go to ANY strange old man that will pay attention to you. (Scary....yes) You are starting to pretend play. I love to see you naturally be such a sweet mama. You love your baby and give her many hugs and kisses and bottles all day. It makes me so proud. You love your therapists and love going to your co-op class. I love to watch you become such a big girl playing with others, singing & doing the actions during circle time, and cleaning for snack time. Everyone who meets you falls in love with you. You can be very mischievous. You think it is funny to empty all the kitchen cupboards, the snack cabinet, and anything you can get your hands on in the bedrooms. You love to put things underneath other things which makes cleaning the house an adventure.
You have helped me remember what life is all about. It's about love and loving others and doing our very best at all times. It's about not giving up when things are tough. And always helping the next person and making them smile. Thank you for reminding me. Life is good especially with you in it. Miss Belle, we are so so proud of you. You have met and exceeded so many milestones this past year. You can do anything if you put your mind to it. We all love you so much and are looking forward to the mountains you will move this year.
Happy Birthday love!

love,
Mama