6 MONTHS and GROWING....

Well I am a few days late, but I wanted to post about our little PRINCESS. She turned 6 MONTHS old last week and Dave and I are still in shock about how quickly this time has passed. She is now 13 lbs 12 oz, and 27 inches long. We love her SO MUCH! Every day we wake up EXCITED to be with her and she seems to return the JOY with a big SMILE, raised eyebrows, kicking LEGS, and eventually a turn to the side because she cannot hold her excitement. She has REALLY begun to GROW grow in the last month. The latest developments include: Rolling OVER, eating solids (yummy BANANAS!), giggling HYSTERICALLY at MIA our Dog, playing with her TOYS on her own, EATING her feet, reaching for EVERYTHING, lifting her HEAD exceptionally well, and almost SITTING up on her own. She is the SWEETEST thing in the world, she RARELY cries, is CONTENT and SMILING most of the time, (though the pictures don't show it--- I think she is camera SHY) and LOVES to be anywhere we go. She is simply AMAZING and we cannot believe she is OURS!

In the photos, on the LEFT is Anna @ 1 month and on the RIGHT is Anna @ 6 months.

"Goodbye dear friend...you will be missed...."

Friday marked a landmark day for me. I finished my last day at Primary Childrens (PCMC). I have been there since January 2004 when I started my child life internship. After finishing 800+ hours as "Heidi the intern," I moved into a PRN (as needed) position. This position gave me a lot of great experiences in learning about MANY departments in the hospital. I loved it because I could make my own schedule and meet new patients all the time. I learned how to be creative and how many different procedures there are all the time. But we NEEDED medical benefits so after 8 months I moved into my first full time position. This one I stumbled upon but found to be one of my favorite places to work. For the next 3 years I spent 40 hours a week as the child life specialist in radiology/medical imaging teaching children abou x-rays, CTs, MRIs, ultrasounds, bladders, catheters, IVs, biopsies, enemas, cancer, kidneys, etc. I loved the quick flow of the department, the staff, and the amazing experience of helping kids cope with difficult procedures.

I can't say I will miss hearing children cry, talking about "pee pee," and meeting a family who just found out their child has cancer. However, I will miss the incredible satisfaction that I felt when I was able to take a child who was crying in fear due to lack of knowledge of the hospital and through different discussions, teaching, play, and listening I was able to help them effectively understand what was happening and develop a coping plan.

No I won't miss cleaning up the waiting room and washing toys, but I will miss the joy of hearing kids play and seeing them relax in an uncomfortable environment. I won't miss having to quickly grab a snack and not get lunch some days, but I will miss great lunch conversations over nachos, grilled cheese, and pink cookies!

I won't miss having to tell a child they will get a needle, but I will miss the funny things kids say and when they would name their hospital buddies (preparation dolls I gave them) "Little Heidi," "Skateboard" or "Pinky" (yes then I had to call them that during preparation).

I won't miss my "closet" otherwise known as my office, but I will miss seeing how many people and toys I could cram in there and the relief I found in the chair at my desk after a busy day.

I won't miss the stress of not being able to meet the child crying down the hallway, but I will miss the excitement I saw when I would walk into their room with their favorite toys, blow bubbles with them, or sit on the ground and color or play trucks. I think I almost mastered the art of blowing bubbles, just disregard the mess on my hands during the process.


Most of all I will definetly miss the staff. I came to love both the child life specialists and Medical Imaging staff. They taught me many great lessons and listened to my stories. We joked a lot as a way of coping with the hospital seeting, shared daily funny expereinces and life's lessons. They knew my talents and quirks, trusted my opinion, called me to help, and made me feel comfortable. They became really great friends and amazing shoulders to cry on. I hope that one day I will be able to work among them again, but until then I will cherish the memories and keep in touch in different ways.
Halloween- Candyland

Here's to a new chapter in life!!


(This photo was taken during a "commercial shoot" they asked me and a couple other child life speicalists to be in for Intermountain Healthcare's Healing for Life campain. No there was NEVER a commercial, but for 2 -3 years now my photo has been popping up EVERYWHERE (urrg!). I think I signed my life away when I agreed to be in a commercial. It became the joke that I was the "famous CLS" and some staff "asked for my autograph." In leaving the hospital some remarked that I would never leave them since my picture is in the brochures, websites, and the medical beneifts handbook. I was upset the last day to find out there is a giant (probably 10 foot by 4 foot) photo of me at the cooporate office and it is not the one seen here where I am blurred in the background. Honesty, if I was to know this was going to happen I would have signed for royalties. Then I would never have to work again! Ha!)

It's About Time!

We're a little behind on the whole blog issue. I guess packing up and cleaning our home in every waking moment will do that! We've loved seeing everyone else's blogs and finally MADE time to get ours done as well. Here is the latest...

The doctors warned us that Anna had a high risk of eventually turning into a cyclops. For months we were in denial, but we eventually couldn't ignore the obvious truth.

We've been working closely with the FBI trying to establish a link between Anna and Al-Qaeda. She has been covering her bases well, but we're confident that she'll eventually slip up and make a mistake. That's when we'll get her.

We decided (ok, I decided and Heidi was kind enough to humor me) to go to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point. I think both of us would agree that it was pretty dang cool! Here I am in front of a close relative of a Stegosaurus.

Something tells me this dino would be slighlty intimidating if it happened to pass us on I-15.

Little did we know that the museum even offers babysitting!

One of my personal favorites, the T-Rex.

Making sacrifices to the shark god is optional, but I felt it necessary. This is the Megalodon, the pre-historic relative to current sharks. Based on the size of fossilized teeth that were discovered, scientists were able to re-create the animal. This is the ACTUAL size of what the Megalodon was believed to be! And you thought "Jaws" was scary!

Ahh, Snowbird. A home away from home. Heidi's grandma invites us up to her timeshare at Iron Blosam Lodge every summer, so we pull each others' ears and FORCE ourselves to go!

This was one of the few smiles we could get Anna to make while in the pool. Though she does love the water, she was mostly in a comatose state the entire time (not moving at all and just staring off).

Heidi, Anna and I with our swimming buddies: nieces Caitlynn and Sydney.

Heidi snapped this in the car of all places as we were heading down from Snowbird. Well done!

And FINALLY... some pics at our cabin.

Here's a shot of the four Miner siblings on the infamous porch swing (for those of you that were dying to know what my siblings looked like). Sorry we're a little far away, but it's a better picture of all of us than the close-up is.

Anna recently discovered her feet, and now they're her favorite thing to play with!

Here's our niece, Chelsea, doing her best fish impersonation.

No, Anna and I are not standing in the river (though that definitely would have been exciting during a HUGE spring run-off). The Provo runs along the front and back of our cabin.

I absolutely LOVE this picture (you can love or hate it all you want). This was very likely our last time up at the cabin for a couple of years. It will be sorely missed.

Well, my apologies for posting a thousand pictures but there was a lot to catch up on. We look forward to more fun times ahead!

Happy 1st Father's Day DADDY!!!

I am so lucky to be your daughter!! I love the way you make me smile and call me "munch," "cutie," and "pretty girl." I know your voice and get so excited when you walk in the room. I have become "Daddy's little girl" already! I am happy you get to be home with me every day. We have so much fun together. You know all my little quirks, the faces I make when I need certain things and my routine. I especially love our mornings, it is my favorite time of day. It is so fun to talk to you, kick my legs and play with my binki. Thanks for changing all my diapers...especially the ones at your office! (: Thank you for being the best Daddy a girl could ask for. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

Love your baby girl,

ANNA KAREN

P.S. Mommy loves you too and says thanks for all you do... you are truly AMAZING!

"Fly like an eagle..."

Have you ever heard of the "Flight or Fight" response? Well I think I am in the "flight" mode, because there seems to always be so much to do and I always find a way to leave it and do something I probably don't have time for. (Like Blogging when I should be getting my Young Women Calendar done and getting ready for bed). So my latest weekend flight was up to the Burton Cabin. We had a great time relaxing, walking, eating, and laughing at Anna and her cousins. Yet again another weekend when the floor did not get swept, my dog sat in her kennel with an occasional visit from the neighbor, and the moving boxes stayed empty. ( No, I feel no guilt-right?)Oh well there is always another day. Here are some of our moments...

During the drive up we saw this poor old mail box. I think it has seen a better life.

We had to stop and take a picture. I love how the dents show the sunset.

The traditional picture on the front porch swing. I could sit here for hours!

Our little Elf! She had to wear this hat at night because the cabin can get cold. She woke up the first night many time with cold cheeks. But she doesn't look too worse for the wear. She is such a smiley babe!

This is Hannah, one of Anna's biggest Fans. She wanted to hold her all weekend if I let her. I snapped this picture while trying out some features on our camera. It is a bit blurry, but I thought it was okay for an amature.

Anna liked seeing FIRE for the first time. This is Emily helping me capture the moment.

I think my arms got a workout from this spot!

My favorite phrases from my nephew Jack this weekend where..."Push me...higher, Catch it to me (meaning throw the ball), where's my trailer ( his favorite toy in the world), I hold Baby Anna, and I want to see my grasshopper (referring to his shirt)."

These are some funny kids!

Now back to reality and most importantly for this moment - to bed!

Too much too little

I have so much going on in my head and have too little time to write about it! I thought I would quickly say, life is AWESOME! I have had a wonderful month of May. We celebrated mother's day, Dave woke me up to Breakfast, Red Roses, a sleeping baby, beautiful garnet necklace and earrings (Anna's birth stone), and raincheck on a "mother's ring," and my favorite perfume. He spoils me! We had dinner with my family and enjoyed the best news from my sister Holly! She is pregnant again! I am so excited...turns out I should have given her the bassinett. (: There were so many other experiences this month including getting beef thrown in my eye by a crazy Asian chef... yet stay tuned for another blog about this new Heidi-ism! The other Highlight was that we just returned from St. George! Yep, it was great, especially because I got to be with Anna for 4 days straight! We enjoyed Zions, Snow Canyon, the pool, treats, funny nieces and nephews, Anna learning how to really use her voice on purpose (I will try to find out how to put the video on the blog), Pizza factory, treats, Anna being the best baby, and time spent together as a family! Thanks Papa and JoJo for a great trip! Here are some of my favorite pics...

Four Generations on Mothers Day

The Cutest Baby and Daddy in the world! (I know I am biased)

Zions with a sleeping baby and happy parents

To My Mother

Do they have computers in heaven? I'm not so sure, but I have a feeling that you'll get this message one way or another.

This Sunday will mark twelve years since you passed away. How fitting that one of the most incredible mothers the world has ever known would leave this earth on Mother's Day. It's impossible to write to you without the tears streaming, but please know that they are tears of love, gratitude, and awe. In fourteen short years, you made the most resounding impact on my soul that I could have ever imagined. Your kindness, compassion, and sincere love for all people still resonates in me today as the ultimate goal I seek to achieve. I have a long way to go, but I have a great example to turn to.

Sometimes I wonder why you had to go, not in the "why me?" sense, but rather "why you?". You had already given so much of yourself to others, yet there was still so much to give, so much to be enjoyed by all that knew you, so much for you yourself to enjoy. You were a light that drew others in. Your sense of humor lifted spirits and your embrace warmed hearts. I'm sure it still does.

Your legacy lives on down here, through your family, children, and grandchildren. Our baby Anna now carries your name (and I have a feeling you humbly approve). We live each day building off of the foundation you and Dad set for us, remembering the great times we shared. We're getting older (and I wish wiser), yet your memory still resides in the forefront of our daily thoughts. We'll never forget you, Mom, and the words we wish we could magnify a hundredfold are "thank you".

On this upcoming Mother's Day, I wish I could send you flowers. I wish I could join you for dinner, or just sit down and talk for a while. I wish I could hear your laugh, see your big smile, or give you a big hug. Instead, I'm posting you a Mother's Day Card. I know it isn't much, but it will have to do for now. As for all of the wishes, I have no doubt that our time will come.

I love you Mom. Happy Mother's Day.