Halloween

Children have transformed my perspective of Halloween. Answering the door for tricker treaters really drives me crazy. I swear I'm my father's daughter in the fact that I'd rather turn all the lights off and hide in the house, not answering the door. I think some of it has to do with the fact that sometimes I'm anti-social and like to be alone or with the fact that I'm self conscience so I hate answering the door and passing out candy, talking to children and parents that I don't know. I'm not sure what it is, but Halloween definitely is a holiday that I wouldn't mind skipping.

Jon, on the other hand absolutely LOVES Halloween. If I'm correct, it's his favorite holiday of the year. He must REALLY love it if he ranks Halloween before Christmas. The first year we were married, Jon put a stereo outside playing spooky music, put a black light in the porch light, he put on a creepy mast, bib overalls and answered the door very slowly and made eery sounds. Scary to the point that he made multiple children cry that night. I tried hard to stay out of the limelight and sat in the hall upstairs out of sight watching it all happen and rolling my eyes every time there was a knock at the door. I finally had to yell at Jon and tell him that when kids got scared and cried or would back away from the door, he needed to take the mask off and tell them to come get candy. I was extremely annoyed, but didn't mind my place in the dark hall, watching.

Halloween registers so differently on my holiday scale now that we have children. It has become this magical day for children, which in turn makes it such a magical night for me as well. I love the excitement that fills Noah when we show him his costume. Noah trembles with joy when we say he gets to go to a party dressed up. He's figured out that if you go to each house and say "trick or treat" they give you candy and he gets so excited about that. Last year, Noah was two, and he didn't quite understand until about the 5th house. After that, he had a ton of fun running from house to house. This year, he just enjoyed every minute he could spend with this cousins, Sydney and Charlie, and was so thrilled to have people put candy in his little bag. Nothing made my heart smile more than when Noah would go to leave someone's porch and he'd turn around and say "thank you" in his little three year old voice. At about every third house, Noah would coming running back to me and say, "look mommy, candy" and he'd stop where he was on the grass or sidewalk, rummage through his bag until he could find me the piece of candy that particular house had given him.

Halloween has turned into one of my favorite holidays now because of the sweet spirits of my children. I get to stand back on the sidewalk and watch his face light up at every single house and watch him learn about people, traditions and spend time with his cousins. It doesn't get any better than that!

House Hunting

As many of you know, we've decided to move from the Sandy area and relocate to Weber or Davis county. The rationale behind this move is so I can be closer to work, lessening my commute and gaining more time with my family. Currently I travel 42 miles one way to work, which takes between 40-60 minutes each way depending on traffic. Based on my current schedule, that means I leave the house at 5:50 a.m. and get home around 4:30 p.m. My hope is that when we move closer to work, I'll be able to spend more time with my family. And if the truth be known, I'm ready for a change and want to live in a newer, larger home. Call me greedy, but our "stuff" has outgrown our current home. I'll blame it on two kids, all their toys and the fact that I don't dare part with any of their old clothes since I'm afraid the minute I do, we'll somehow be blessed with another baby. I can hope, right?

Each time I've purchased a home, I've gotten more and more particular in the things that I'm looking for. My first home was a townhouse in Millcreek, UT. Buying my first home was so scary, but so exciting at the same time. It was a 3 bedroom 2 story home that was only about 5 years old when I moved in. I was so scared that I wouldn't be able to make the mortgage payments, so I rented 2 of the rooms to roommates. Over the 5 years I lived there, I only had about 7 roommates, and oh what an adventure. I learned a lot about people and I learned a lot about myself. . . some good and some not so good. I loved everyone of those roommates and miss those relationships today since I've lost track or have little contact with most of them now.

When I married Jon, he moved into my house with me, but we wanted to find a place of our own that we both chose together. We found a home in Sandy, before it was even on the market. Weird situation, but I'm a firm believer it was meant to be. So we bought our home and have lived here for the past 5 years. It appears I have an itch to move every 5 years. :) We've loved this home, but now it's time to move on.

Finding the right house is so hard. There are so many to choose from in today's housing market, but some are better than others. I'm getting very particular in my old age and want very specific things in my new home. Now that hard part is finding all the particulars in one house. I keep finding some of my particulars in each house. The biggest thing we're careful about is finding a home that is CAN NOT be a fixer-upper. If you've seen the projects that Jon and I have done together on our home, you'd laugh. We're not exactly the handy type, oh and forget plumbing and electrical. . . we don't touch that. . . or shall I say, I won't let Jon work on those projects. We've had too many incidents with plumbing particularly that now I make sure we have a plumber's number handy at all times.

We've found houses that we like and that would meet our needs, but nothing has jumped out and "spoken" to me yet. :) Am I just crazy? I need to find a home that when I walk in, it feels like home! I know we can make any house feel like a home, but I also feel like I'm suppose to be somewhere, but I haven't found where that is yet.

Missing a Friend

A dear friend of mine posted to this blog on October 20th. Cheryl Smith. I've lost track of you and don't know how to reach you. Please let me know how I can contact you. E-mail me at this blog e-mail, tomicrane@gmail.com I miss you and want to talk to you, but can't seem find you. Miss you!

New Additions

Jon pointed out that our last post in July 2010 introduced Lola to the family. It's sad to report that Lola left our family months after that introduction. She was part Boxer, part Labrador and was so high energy. It got to the point that she was constantly jumping our fence and we couldn't keep her contained. She didn't jump the fence to run away, but would jump the fence to go visit the neighbors to the east and to the south, both of which had dogs. On more than one occasion we got the phone call or knock on the door from the neighbors saying that once again, Lola was in their yard playing with their dog. We tried everything, but to no avail, so we listed her on KSL and found her a great family with a stay at home mom and a dad who wanted to take her running twice a day. Interestingly, I got a phone call from them about 2 weeks ago where they reported that she's doing fabulous. She still jumps the fence at her house and still has lots of energy, but she fits in perfect with their family and they are so happy to have her.

Well, we weren't lonely too long, because in February, Tayton joined our family. She is the most good natured little girl ever. Just so happy and easy going. Only fusses when she needs her diaper changed or when she is hungry or tired. Now at eight months old, she's nothing but smiles and happiness. She's so happy and giggly. We recently discovered that if you put her in her excersaucer in front of a Baby Einstein movie, she squeals at the top of her lungs and shivers she's so excited about it. Tayton has a full head of hair that has a little curl to it and everywhere we go, someone stops us to ohh and aww over her. Think she's too young for "Toddlers and Tiaras"? Just kidding. Tayton enjoys blowing raspberries all the time and sticking her tongue out. Not very lady like if you ask me, but I think she can get away with it for a few more months. Noah enjoys giving her kisses and blaming bad smells in the car on her.
A 2nd new edition joined our family on May 23rd this year. Sonny is a black miniature Schnauzer given to us by Jon's brother Mike and wife Sara. We didn't want another dog after Lola, but couldn't resist Sonny. He is calm. . . he wants to lay around all day right next to you with his head on his lap. He is quiet. . . he never barks, even when someone comes to the door. He puts up with Noah hugging on him, kissing him, mauling him and yelling, "Sonny Come!" so quickly and loudly that it sounds like "Sick'em!" He even let Noah bury him beneath mounds of toys. Couldn't have asked for a better dog and am so glad we chose to welcome him into our home.


No other additions to our family to report at this time. I keep telling Jon there is one more little soul out there to join our family, but I don't know how or when. Give us the strength to keep up with the two we have! We love each of them dearly!

Potty Training Challenges

Can't believe it's already been a year since we last posted to this Blog. Everyone's posting to Facebook and Twitter these days, but I want someplace to write more. This Blog was originally intended for prospective birth parents to be able to get to know us a little better in hopes that they'd select us. Now that the most amazing two children have joined our family, I'd like this Blog to be more of a "In the Life of the Crane's" blog.

My most recent challenge is potty training. Noah turned 3 in September and we're still working on perfecting the potty training. We started back when Noah was about 2 years old, but based on Noah's lack of communication, there was no way we would be able to master it. So we waited and started up again when he was about 2.5. We tried asking him, we tried forcing him, we tried M&M and Swedish Fish as potty treats. Treats were a hit for about 1 day, but then he'd just go into the bathroom and eat the treats without sitting on the potty. We tried putting him in underwear. The underwear turned out to be a big failure since Noah would just run around the house and suddenly stop. You could see that he was peeing and by the time I'd get to him, he'd say, "I peed!!!" All proud of himself and everything. We went through about 8 pairs of underwear and shorts each day for 2 days until I couldn't handle it anymore and we'd run out of underwear. We've now resorted to a sticker chart. Once the sticker chart is filled up, he gets to go to the store and pick out a treat (toy, candy, balloon, whatever he chooses). We are also still doing the potty treats. That seems to be working, but only when Noah wants to. He takes the treats and stickers if we happen to force him to the potty, but whenever we ask him if he needs to go potty throughout the day, he adamantly refuses. He's definitely a strong willed little one. Of course, when it's time to go to bed, Noah tells us he needs to pee 4 times and poop twice. We spend a lot of time on the toilet when it's bedtime. How is it I can be manipulated by a 3 year old? I don't dare not let him go to the bathroom though, because the few times I've called his bluff and refused to allow him to go, not more than 30 minutes after I shut his door for the final time, I'll hear him crying that he's peed and sure enough, he's gotten naked and peed on his floor or his bed and now wants me to clean it and him up.

Well, something has clicked in little Noah's head because we've come to discover that he's learned he doesn't like to have poop in his diaper. However, his way of handling it definitely not appropriate. About 2-3 times a week, I go outside to find Noah, naked from the waste down saying proud as punch, "I potty! I potty!" I ask him where and he goes to show me where he's taken off his pants and diaper and pooped in the yard. Oh My!!! What am I to do? We've told him time and time again that we poop in the toilet, but it doesn't seem to phase him. The best part is when the neighbors see Noah out there naked and us cleaning up poop in the yard. How embarrassing. Thank goodness they just shake their head and laugh. The other issue is when he does this at other people's homes. We were recently in Boise with my aunt when I temporarily lost track of Noah. Oh, but don't worry, my aunt quickly found him and my 2 year old niece in the yard where Noah was proud to report he had pooped in the garden. Grrrr! Can't we keep our little secrets safe at our house?

Newest member of the family

Introducing the newest member of the Crane clan "Lola". We got Lola yesterday July 3rd. Her owners already had 2 beagles and decided 3 dogs was too many. She is 6 months old and house broken for the most part ;) She is half boxer half Labrador. They call her a Boxador. She is so beautiful and so well behaved. She loves children and has grown up with four under the age of 6. She is great with Noah and they chase each other all over the house and yard. They like to play tug a war together and Noah just laughs and laughs. She is definitely not a pocket dog like Chico. She is so sweet and we love her already.
We were going to wait until Noah's birthday in September to get a dog but we just couldn't resist her. We can't wait to spend many many years with Lola.

Yellowstone 2010

We just got back from a great trip. After spending a couple of days in Wyoming with Grandma and Grandpa we dropped Noah off with Grandma and spent 3 days in Yellowstone. We had such a good time. We were lucky and able to see a lot of wildlife. We even got to see a grizzly bear with her two cubs and also so a wolf from a distance. It rained the whole time but we didn't care. We came prepared with the right gear and umbrellas. Yellowstone is so beautiful. You can certainly see God's hand in everything. Noah had a wonderful time with Grandma and Grandpa while we were gone. His favorite is riding the 4 wheeler with Grandma around their property at a blazing 4 miles an hour. If you let him outside he would run to where the four wheeler was parked in the shed and try to climb on. He is such a fast little squirt and runs everywhere now. We are so grateful to Grandma for helping to give Tomi and I some much needed vacation time with just
each other.

(Insert exciting interesting title here)

I just thought it was time to write another blog entry. It has been a while. Things are going good. My business is picking up. I started a vinyl letter business and have been getting a lot of orders lately. The best part is that I enjoy it. Especially when I get to create new things for people. Noah has now learned to give us "loves" He will just lay his head into you and snuggle. It is great! Best part of any day. Aunt Teri invited us to go to "discovery gateway" with her preschool group. Noah had so much fun! He had even more fun after playing in the fountain. Tomi just had a birthday and we really had a good time. I bought here season tickets to Hale Center Theater. We saw 3 Musketeers on the Sat. before here birthday then went to a great new restaurant our neighbor told me about called Fuji. Amazing food and the cook does a great show in preparing it for you. My favorite part was watching Tomi catch shrimp flipped into her mouth by the chef. Tomorrow we leave for Star Valley Wyoming then after a day or two we are dropping off Noah with Grandma and Grandpa and going to Yellowstone for a few days. I love Yellowstone! One of my favorite places on earth. This time I am hoping to get a glimpse of the elusive Yellowstone wolves. I am really looking forward to spending some time with just Tomi and I. I love Noah more then anything but Tomi and I do not get a lot of alone time. Well I am sure I missed a lot of important things I should have mentioned in here but I am not going to worry about it. So long for now.

In Memory of Chico

On Saturday March 6th 2010 I took Chico in the have him put down. He has had an Auto-immune disorder for a long time and it was getting worse. Upping his medication did not seem to help at all and did nothing but give him bladder issues. That is all I am going to say about that.
I wanted to instead focus on all of the love and companionship that we got from Chico. He was such a loving dog and friend. Chico would not hesitate to jump up on your lap and snuggle with you at anytime. At night he would sleep at the end of our bed in his dog bed but would frequently sneak out of his bed to crawl under the sheets into our bed to snuggle. He kept Tomi company whenever I was gone on the road for the railroad and kept my side of the bed warm. It is now hard for us to sleep at night not feeling him sleeping on our feet and hearing his snoring. The house seems very empty and too quiet without him. He was always there to meet us when we came home. He loved going for walks; In fact so much so we couldn't say the word out loud and had to spell it instead so not to cause a frenzy of jumping and whining. We spent many hours driving with Chico to Wyoming to see my in-laws and he spent almost every min. on your lap sleeping or looking out the window. We weren't the only ones who loved Chico. He was very close to his Aunt Deedre and I suspect he may have harbored a secret wish for her to take him away when she would visit. ;)

In the short time that Noah knew Chico he loved him so much. Whenever Noah would bonk his head or get upset for any reason all we had to do was take him over to Chico to pet him and he would instantly get happy. Noah and Chico had an arrangement. Chico would get whatever food Noah dropped on the ground whether it be on purpose or accident. This helped to make Chico a fat and happy doggy. Noah loved to chase Chico around the house while laughing hysterically. I believe Chico just tolerated this but he never got upset with Noah even when Noah caught him. I know that even if Noah can't vocalize it he missed Chico. Sometimes we catch him looking out the back door, through the glass for Chico. Chico we love you very much and hope to see you again some day. You have been the best dog ever!

love,

Mom and Dad and Noah.

Christmas 2009

This last Christmas was Noah's 2nd and he seemed to get it a lot better this time. We had a plan to have him crawl out to all the toys and start having a party while Tomi video taped the whole thing. In reality what happened is a crawled over to the neck pillow we have and played with that instead of the tickle me Elmo or the inflatable toy filled with balls. Isn't that always the way. You buy your kid a toy and they play with the box! Before we had Christmas we took a trip to Star Valley and visited with Grandma and Grandpa. The trip was much easier then our last long car trip. Thank you portable DVD player we couldn't of made it there sane without you! Noah had fun playing lunch lady with Grandma. Christmas Eve we had a family party with my side of the family and all the nieces fawned over Noah. He is a real chick magnet. We had a great time singing all of the Christmas church hymns out of the song book and that really helped get everyone into the Christmas mood and make you think about the reason we celebrate Christmas. The birth of Christ our savior.



Here is a picture of me ,Noah and some of his nieces doing the conga at the family party. He really is quite the little dancer ;)
Here is one of my new favorite pictures of Noah. He got a little too excited playing in his new ball house Christmas morning and puked. So we washed Noah and the balls at the same time.







Here is a Christmas morning picture of Noah,Mommy, and Elmo. Elmo seems to be a bit ticklish but then again so is Noah. We had such a wonderful Christmas. It was so fun to see Noah get so excited. I am so blessed to have such wonderful loving family to spend not only Christmas but my life and beyond with. It really doesn't get any better then that.

2nd Adoption

We're so excited! We've been approved for our 2nd adoption. That means the agency has all of our paperwork and agrees that we can adopt again, so we now just have to wait for a mother or couple to choose us to adopt their child. We're so excited for Noah to have a little brother or sister. Please pass the word along. You can view our profile here. Wish us luck and keep us in your prayers.

Noah's Birthday

With our use in facebook we have been neglecting our blog and putting most new happenings on facebook. I think it is time I remedy this. I like having a blog because it seems much more permanent then facebook, more like a journal.

Noah turned 1 years old last September and we really had a blast celebrating his birthday. As you can tell from the pictures he loved getting into his cake. We ordered a cake from the bakery and they told us that for his 1st birthday he gets a "smash" cake for free! That was my favorite part, watching Noah first gingerly poke a finger in the cake then get into it with both hands gobbling down fist fulls of cake! He loved all of his new toys and we are very grateful for all who attended. It was so much fun! It is hard to believe it has been a year since God helped bring this amazing little person into our family. We are truly blessed beyond measure.

Dad's 70th

A couple of weeks ago we went up big cottonwood canyon with Tomi's sister Teri and their family to roast hotdogs and make smores. It rained a little off and on but we still had a fun time. Noah's cousin Sydney liked to try to feed him rocks. He would put one in his mouth then spit it out. Neither one of them was able to find a good tasting rock. Last weekend we went to Star Valley Wyoming to celebrate Tomi's dad's 70th birthday. Quite a milestone and a lot of the family showed up to celebrate! We had fun fishing, mountain biking, and feeding the horses. The whole family gathered together Saturday for a delicious birthday dinner of shishkabobs, potato salad, baked beans, veggies and dip. Wow what great food and what great company to share it with. Wil got a kick out of opening his presents with the girls on his lap. Saturday evening Tomi, her cousin Gina, Gina's boyfriend Jerry, and the whole Lund clan went up jack knife canyon to pick a local delicacy called Sarvis berries. We had a lot of fun helping the girls pick berries and also gather wild flowers. I picked Tomi a big bouquet. BTW Noah got his first tooth a little bit ago. It is on the bottom right. Some times I call him the one toothed wonder. He had a hard time on the trip there but was an angel on the way home.We had a lot of fun playing and visiting with family and were glad to have a great excuse to party. What a wonderful weekend.

Summer Fun

We have had quite an eventful summer. We got to go to liberty park which was a lot of fun. There were ducks and geese ,but of course all Noah wants to watch is the children. He loves to watch kids. It's like it hits him, hey there are other short people like me out there. We also went for a great hike up to Doughnut Falls up big cottonwood canyon with the Lunds. That was a fun hike but we thought it would be stroller friendly. It was not. We had to hike Noah up in the back pack. The Lunds had a more rugged stroller and hauled little Sydney up the mountain in reverse. The falls were beautiful and it was nice to get out of the hot weather and up in the mountains.

We had a great 4th of July and 24th celebration. Noah loved the fireworks at first but after a few minutes it was like they over loaded his senses and he fell asleep in Tomi's arms. We couldn't believe he slept through all the noise of the fireworks and this is a kid who will sleep no where but in his crib or his pack and play. He did better on the 24th and watched all the fireworks. He also loved playing with the glow sticks. They were a big hit with all the kids and Tomi and I were glad stocked up on them a year ago when we saw them at the dollar store.

One of our favorite pass times is finding new ways to torture Noah by tickling him. We can't help ourselves ,it is just too fun to listen to his great laugh.



Noah now not only rolls around but has learned to do the army drag your legs scoot/crawl so I had to install the baby gate. I went through 2 gates, 3 installations and an adapter kit before I got it work right. That was a fun day. All in all it has been a great summer. We even turned in our papers to adopt another baby. I only hope the next one is as wonderful as Noah. He has been a joy.