Soldier Head Twist

This guy can turn his head completely backwards and see what's behind him.

Work and Raif

I have just finished my probationary period at the bank. From when I talked with the bank president a few weeks ago he said that the plan was still to move me to Jerome. Before that can happen they want me to have some teller training, spend some time with the loan secretaries, and get my loan officer training. So there is a plan, but it still feels like the end of the commute is a long way off. If management lies in my future, then the training, which is more than any other loan officer has ever had at the bank, will prove to be quite valuable. All in all, they are very pleased with the work I'm doing.

Raif had his doctors appointment on Friday. According to the doctor, he is doing very well with his developmental stages. He weighs about 15.5 lbs, which is about 15th percentile. However, for height he is in the 50th percentile. Basically he is skinny and tall.

He is getting up on his hands and knees more and more, but he still doesn't want to crawl very much. What he likes to do is stand up. He is usually quite happy when he is doing so. I tricked Angela by helping him get up in his crib. She thought Raif had done it by him self, but nonetheless it was fun to watch him play in the crib.

For Angela and I at times, the task of getting everything in order seems monumental. Meaning the bookkeeping, apartment managing, and house stuff. Part of the frustration stems from the fact that some things will just have to wait till Brent and Connie leave on their mission. The good part is that it is coming together, but just at a slower rate we would desire.

Slower Days

We are on to slower days now. Yesterday, we went on a steamboat ride up and down the snake river. Some brothers built a steamboat look-a-like and they give two hour tours. The ride includes lunch (or dinner) and everyone had a great time. If anyone comes to visit we'll try to spend a day on the river. Unfortunately, we forgot our camera but Isabella got some shots with her camera that I'll try to post later. Not much else going on. Tomorrow Dennis is off and everyone else will be gone so we're not sure what we'll do for the holiday. My guess is catch up on sleep.

August is Almost Over

OK I know I haven't updated in a while BUT August is almost over. So what does this have to do with not writing you may say? Well it means the end of the 10 birthday's, Alma's wedding and all the planning and clean-up involved, Mom and Dad's farewell (attended by all but 3 of his sister's, considering that he has 13 in all that's alot), Quincy has finally moved out, Alma has gotten rid of most of his non-working cars and at the first of this next month Dennis will be off "probation" with the bank and become a full bank employee. They have actually already started the paperwork for this. Something tells me they don't expect him to mess up anytime soon.Dennis is doing well in his job. It seems like every other day he comes home with a story about how they are very happy with his work. He seems to really enjoy the work and it sounds like he will really like working for this bank.Raif is sitting up really well and has been trying out his hands and knees (he's still working on crawling forward). His next doctors appt. is next week and he'll get is next set of shots. It took us a while to find a doctor and make an appointment.Alma's wedding seemed to go well. We had a treasure hunt to keep the kids busy and Saturday night we rented a projector and made a huge "screen" out of bedsheets to create our own drive-in movie theatre. Everyone seemed to have a really good time. Now we spend our time cleaning things up and packing up the house for Mom and Dad. We hope everything is going well with everyone else. Happy Be-lated Birthday Katie your card is coming.

Raif College

I finally got around to making a collage out of pictures I had taken of Raif when he was about two months old. Thought I'd post it

OK OK so we'll update!

Well around July 4th we had the Buhler Reunion. I got to get my groove on down in California while Dennis spent the week free and easy (and worked). Alma will be getting married Aug. 25th and I have been working on helping him put together his wedding and reception. So far the big things have been taken care of it just getting the little things put together.
The rentals are coming along. I'm drafting a new lease that I will have the renters sign in the coming months. I'm also working on a new system to collect rent so that I will not have to visit each rental each month. The new system will work through the mail and I'm working on adding an incentive program for paying the rent on time.
The plumbing business is coming together and I think that I've gotten it down. At least until I hit tax time:)
Raif is growing like a weed. He's sitting up better each day but loves standing the most. Since he can roll over on his own he has started sleeping on his stomach. At first he would wake up mad because he was on his stomach. Now he has started to get used to it and will actually spend awake time happily on his stomach.
We also replaced our digital camera so we can finally start taking more picture. It has some neat features where I can pick a color and it will turn everything else in the picture to black and white. We'll post more pictures (yes we'll be in some) later. Dennis says that he'll try sitting down and updating everyone on his job within the next couple days.

DENNIS GOT THE JOB!

OK I know we haven't written in a while but Dennis did get the job with Farmer's National Bank and we have been busy getting our schedules worked out. He is working in the Twin Falls branch. They have two ladies that will be leaving on maternity leave and he will be taking over thier job's in the customer service department. Then they will move him over to the Jerome branch for a little bit. Basically he is cross training in several different departments until they find his perminant postion. So far he is enjoying working for them and says that this job is just what he was hoping that he would get.

Raif has found his toes and loves to try and pull his socks off. He is also working on rolling over. He gets to his side but stops himself when he sees that he may end up on tummy (which he hates). He is sleeping better. He still gets up around 5 but we give him his pacifier and he goes right back to sleep until 7. (Great, considering we put him to bed around 7:30-8 with a sleepy feeding at 11)

I've been working on planting some grape vines along the back fenceline and getting the irragation system working. So far I have successfully flooded the borrow pit and driveway twice in an attempt to water the front lawn. Luckly, I hear that brown is the new green for summer lawns so we should be safe for this summer's lawn fashion. Still working on getting the weeds down and the fences fixed but one project at a time. They have also called me to teach the sunbeams in primary. So far the lesson have been easy like- I can do many things and I have feelings. Both which I could relate to. Maybe that's why they called me. Hmmmmm.

Job Update

Well I thought that I would give a quick update on Dennis' job searching. He's been sitting on pins and needles waiting for THE phone call. Friday Farmer's National Bank had him take a drug test and fill out paperwork for a criminal background check. Friday afternoon they call to tell him that he had passed the drug test (yea we were sweating that one for a while). Monday they called to tell him that Wyoming is one of the few states that keeps criminal records by county instead of state. That means that they have to call each county and find him records. Luckly he has only stayed in two countys. Today Dennis waited by the phone and monitored all internet use (since we use dial-up). At one they called to say that they were still waiting. So we are left still waiting (Dennis in baited breath so I hope it doesn't take too long) for THE phone call.

Pictures of Raif's First Feeding

Raif got his first taste of "solid food" today. We gave him some watered down rice cereal. At first he rolled it around and most of it got on him instead of IN him. For a while it was a battle between the spoon and the "Price is Right" on TV. Finally he started paying attention and searching for the spoon. Toward the end we just gave him the spoon to naw on.
He's still working on the coordination for it.

Pepper the Wonder Dog

Here she is jumping on the trapoline with Dennis. He takes the soccer ball on the trapoline with him and she'll spend at least an hour (or as long as Dennis can last) playing tug-o-war and keepaway. We uploaded more photos onto the flickr account. Click on the right to follow the link.

Jumping Dogs and Sunday Sermons:)

I finally figuired out how to change the settings to allow anyone to place comments without being a member of blogger. Sorry for the hassel!
Time flies but I'll try to make up for it. Mom and Dad are getting check up calls from the mission center (more on this can be found on their blogger). Raif is sitting up better every day and we are looking to start him on solids soon. Pepper has discovered the trampoline and loves to jump with Dennis (we'll post pictures on this later). Dennis is getting job offers and is working though what to accept. All the positions so far are for teller positions but some are offering that as a start with strong possiblities for moving up (when the postitions become avaiable). The biggest thing seems to be timing for Dennis. They WANT him they just don't have the position open for him.
The bishopric has also found us and it looks like we get to talk on Sunday. Dennis has been assigned Memorial Day and I get to talk on reverance. I think that they remember me as a kid and are wondering what I may have learned since then:) Dennis is going to tell our dating story since he HATES the way that I tell it (who can blame him). I told him that he can have free rein with it. I imagine it will be along the lines of: she saw me in the distance and was drawn to me. She couldn't explain why or the animal attraction that she felt for me. I tried valantly to refuse her but she just wouldn't go away. I was hoping that the summer in Pinedale would cool her off but to no avail so after wearing me down I agreed to marry her:) Awww the love, ohhh the romance.
I have taken over most of the bookwork for the business and so far I think that I'll be able to handle it. Mom still worries over the money though. I guess it'll take a while to let go after doing them for sooo long. Mom's also been on a rampage cleaning and packing the house. I think that it is really good for her. As she has packed, she has started to throw more and more away not wanting it when she returns or not knowing why she kept it for so long. She's also cleaning like a mad woman wanting the house to be nice for us to move in. I'm just glad that she'll get to enjoy it a bit before she leaves. She's also got a new table (finally for those that know how much she loved the table she passed up) and so far both Dad and Mom love it.
I'm still working on getting out to the farm. The state has a new program to save water for the aquifer that I'm looking into. I'm also looking to start a compost pile for mom and rent a wood chipper to take care of all the branches left over from the wind storm last year. Well Dennis is waiting for me so we can watch the next stargate episode that we barrowed from Brenda. So long from Idaho and hope everyone is well.

Raif's Boxseat

Raif and Grandpa Buhler have started a morning tradition (when they are both up at the same time:) Grandpa plays the piano while Raif sits in his exclusive boxseat. He's the only one with tickets for it and he seems to really enjoy Grandpa playing the piano.
Dennis is still looking for jobs next week he has two interviews. The first one is with a company that sells something (they were a bit cryptic about it). He's interviewing with them so that he can get some practice interviewing before any REAL interviews. The second one is with First Federal bank. He had applied for a job with them a month ago but they had said they wanted someone before he got out of school. When he checked back they said that they still hadn't hired for the loan officer spot but they currently didn't have room for a new hire (we're not sure what exactly that means). They liked the application though and wanted him to come in so that they could interview him.

We're Heerreeee......

Goodbye Wyoming, Hello Idaho. Well we finally made it, after scrubbing and cleaning and repairing the house. The drive wasn't so bad after Dennis got the oxen attached and the wheels on the wagon, the pace was quite brisk. Raif and Pepper had sparatic moments of discontent but we worked though them. Dennis has decided to take today off to help move us in. Tomorrow he'll get out and start pounding the pavement.

Oh what a night

Every new parents dream is that their little one will begin to sleep though the night. Last night we had some friends over so we were a little late getting Raif to bed (8 pm, usually it is 7-7:30). Our friends left at 10:30 and we gave Raif his dreamfeed (we give him a bottle with milk and formula trying not to wake him up) then headed to bed ourselves at 11-11:30. Now usually Raif is hungry again at around 3-4. But last night At 3 he stirred but went back to sleep and I thought that tonight might be the night. At 3:30 Pepper began barking because our new upstairs neighbors had just arrived with their dogs. Now Pepper hadn't meet these dogs yet and wanted to let them know that she could hear them running around upstairs and would not be left out of the fun. It took until 4 to get her to only bark in small woofs. Between 4 and 4:30 we would have to get up and quiet her when her woofs would get loud again. Finally around 4:30 she calmed down. At 4:45 Raif was hungry and ready to eat. We got him back down at around 5-5:15. Again had to tell Pepper to stop barking. By 5:30 everything quieted down for a bit until Pepper heard the dogs stirring at 6. We took another 15 min. to quiet her down and by 6:20 Dennis' alarm went off for work. Hitting snooze he attempted another 9 mins for rest but had to calm Pepper again. Giving up he decided to get dressed and go to work. Surprisingly everything calmed down after he left at 6:40 until Raif got up at 8 to start the day. Now my mama said there'd be days like this but I still keep praying that tomorrow night will be the night that both the "kids" sleep through the night.

Our Dog Pepper

Last summer Dennis and I adopted a stray puppy. Dennis has always had an inside dog and always wanted a puppy soooo we ended up with Pepper. For the most part she is a good dog. She LOVES people and animals. Energetic and happy. She is also the reason that we are currently repairing 4 ft. of the side of our landlady's house, a hole she chewed in the concert wall of our apt., 4 separate corners in the apt., multiple holes in the back lawn, and replacing our landlady's grill cover. Some might think that this is because she gets bored. I think it is because she has an attention span of 5 seconds. To solve this problem we have gotten her MANY chew toys, most of which she seems to think are beneath her. The best is when I bought her a two foot rawhide bone to chew on. The next day I walked around the back yard to find it. Yep, no bone, not even a scrap. I have a suspion that she may have baried it but that means I would have go though the several different holes that she has dug. Of course, if she sees me doing this she has to dig each of the holes deep to find what I was looking for (plus a couple more just in case I hid something somewhere else. I'm hoping with the additional space of the farm she will be too entertained to be so distructive but what would be the fun in that.

Update on Raif

At Raif's last Doctor's appt. he weighted in below the average 3% range (it's like dropping off the chart) So the doctor says that we should give him a bottle a day with formula+ milk and that I should wait until 6 months to start him on solids, breastfeeding as long as I could. Personally I started experimenting with my diet. I cut all products that normally cause problems out of my diet and still had some fussy feedings SO I tried eating normally and didn't have a fussy feeding that entire day. One fussy feeding the next, anyway I starting to think that it may not be anything that I'm eating, except chocolate.
I have been doing some research and there is something called dysphagia that has similar symptoms to reflux. Basically with dysphagia the baby doesn't swallow right and some liquid gets down their windpipe. (this could be why he's chronically cogested). They can do a MBS (modified barium swallow to see if that is what it is but we would do anything until we get to Idaho. Another reason I think this may be it is that some of the symptoms sounds like Dennis as a kid: refusal of the breast or bottle and untreated it can lead to ear infections . His uncle (a Dentist) also noticed that Dennis didn't swallow correctly. So we'll see.
Still working on packing and again I am glad that we started early so that we have time to clean and repair (why Pepper desided to chew on the side of the house we still haven't figuired out but we now have 4 ft. of it to replace) and visit with family while they are here. Hope to see everyone soon!!!

Moving

We starting packing today to get some of the "nonessential" stuff out of the way. Just a jump on it all. Little did we know that packing the bookcase alone would take an hour and a half. I'm beginning to realise that starting to pack a week early REALLY isn't that early. I guess sorting out what you WANT to take with you is probably the most time consuming. But onward we plug away. Luckly Dennis only has one final this week and we can do most of the packing together. (I did marry him to carry all large and heavy boxes for me, pectorals and all that stuff:)

Too Much Snow

Ok I can't take it any more. Here in Laramie, Wyoming summer is being a tease. Sun and hardly any wind (remarkable in its own right) one day and 5-6 in. of snow the next. Yep that's right we just got 5-6 in. of snow. Snow's is fine but I am finally beyond ready for spring (and rain at least!!!!!) Just another reason I'm ready to leave Laramie.

Update--

Well, After looking at Raif the Doctor says that he has reflux which might be why he's sensative to milk and soy proteins. She gave us some medicine to give him and it seems to be working. Dennis is busy finishing up the last assignments for his classes and it looks like he will only have ONE final to take!!!! Wow! Mom and Dad are coming down to help us move and we have already found someone to take over our apartment after us. I look forward to seeing everyone when we make it up to Idaho. Thanks for the upcoming events LaDawn, I've put them on the calendar and maybe we can make it to some of them. It looks like Dennis is graduating at the same time that Damian is getting his award so you'll have to give him a big hug from us.

Raif's Feedings

I think that Raif may have a milk allergy. I'm still debating whether this is true. But I have noticed that he has a fussy feeding if I eat anything with milk in it. I'm looking into a doctor's appointment to see what they may say. We are also going to make an appointment with Gem City Bone and Joint because he always holds his head to the left. They should show us some exercises to help straighten it out. I guess we'll see what they say.