A Big Long Post

Cute pic of Randy and Scarlet.

Tried putting Scar's hair in a ponytail last week. Not quite there yet!

Last week we went on a hike in Jacksonville. I love that place. It was pretty. Whenever I go hiking ANYWHERE, I feel like I'm in Eugene.

A part of me was wishing I was in Eugene. We didn't look our best. I was wearing these hideously too big baggy jeans, my glasses AND my beanie (not the cutest combo), and my bright red coat (not such a good combo with the bright green beanie). Anyway. I felt like I looked like hippie, and knew I'd fit right in Eugene.

It was a great little hike. As we were walking, Greg and I decided we're going to buy one of those books of Oregon Hikes and try to go on one once a week. We have become way too hermit-like. The days of nonstop work for Greg and non-stop Scarlet-care for me come to a close and we both just poop out and watch too much tv. We can't do it anymore! It just doesn't feel good. But having a kid limits what you can do. What are we supposed to do in the day? We're too cheap to eat out a lot and we can't bring her to the movies. I hate to shop. Am I missing some major activity that everyone does? What does everyone do? Seriously, tell me. People ask me what I do and I say, "Nothing." And I receive these looks like I'm the most boring person in the world, but seriously- what do people do? In the past our main activity was having people over for dinner and games and the dollar theater. But all the movies here are expensive and it's hard to have people over on a school night when they have 4 kids. ANYWAY. We think hiking will be a great thing to enjoy. It's healthy and it's free and it just plain feels good to be outside.

Later on that day . . . Greg got tazed!!!!

Five different recruits were tazed in a row and Greg was last of all. It's pretty funny, because everyone (except the girl) clenched there whole body and loudly MOANED for a good 3 seconds. It was pretty funny. Greg's moan was by far the shortest. I really wanted to shoot him from the front to see his face, but I really wanted to see it shoot in. Oh yeah, he was told they were going to TAPE the probes on him and then turn it on. During the lecture about tazers, beforehand, the speaker mentions that they're going to SHOOT them in, because it's supposedly less painful. The other way you get a major burn.

Next was the pepper spray. Greg said the effect was immediate. That immediately he got a headache, couldn't breathe and his eyes were burning. So, they all get sprayed, then have to beat the pad 5 times while yelling, "Get on the ground!" Then hand cuff someone else. The whole point is to show that they can fight through it, should they ever get sprayed on the job. Hopefully that never happens. Greg was the first one for this.

They waved me over after he finished. He did this for maybe 5 minutes until the next one had to use it.

Horrible. You can just see the pain. They ALL looked like this. Like their dog, wife and parents all suddenly died and they've been crying all day. It was so sad. I had never seen Greg experience so much pain. He said it was the worst thing he has ever experienced. It was pretty incredible, because there were all these muscley guys walking around, who probably like looking tough and they did NOT look tough and you knew it was 'cause it was just that bad.

For the first while he was pretty non-existant. H would just walk around fast not talking at all. He said he couldn't see anything. Then when he was able to focus and talk he'd have a nice long stream of mucous hanging 5 inches from his nose and wouldn't have a clue. I thought that was pretty funny. All the officers were so nice. They were constantly coming up to him and giving him tips on how to make it better. They were really supportive and telling him how great he was doing. It was COLD. On the way home it snowed.

At home about an hour later.

About an hour later. He can hardly keep his eyes open enough to squint. His eyes were SOOOOOOO red. Everytime I took a picture I'd say, "You can barely tell in the pictures!"

Where the probes of the tazer went in.

They emphasized over and over how it doesn't hurt when they go in or out and I just couldn't believe it, because these are thick little "prickers" going into you. Yeah, Greg said he could definitely feel them, especially when they had to yank them out.

I repeat, the pictures do NOT do it justice. Even his ears turned bright red and got super hot.

Probably an hour later.

Next morning, not much better. He's squinting because his eyes are super sensitive to light. We had to dim the lights and keep all the blinds shut for the whole day. It stunk. I'm a bright light kind of gal.

Morning after that, MUCH better. Still not great, but now he can keep his eyes open.

Later on in the day, almost all the way back, just that one eye!

So it's been 3 days now and his eye still is all bloodshot on that one side.

On a happier note, Scarlet LOVES The Wheels on the Bus. We do it everyday. She was a little distracted by the camera, though.

We also do The Wise Man and the Foolish Man

And this was just playing.

Scarlet is like a changing machine. She can do something new or better everyday. It's insane! If I went out of town for 3 days I would miss something! We've decided Scarlet is left handed. She is WAY more coordinated with it and always reaches out for things with her left. Being a right handed mother (her father too), I certainly never expected this! She is really good at eating food now. She loves it. She is always grabbing at our food and wants a taste of everything. Greg was bad and GAVE HER HER FIRST TASTE OF CHOCOLATE WITHOUT ME!!!!!!!!!!! Can you believe that? Of ALL things for me to not witness. Well, she LOVED IT. I mean her eyes LIT UP and she was SMILING as she licked that chocolate chip. She has NEVER reacted like that to ANYTHING we've given her. Oh man, that girl has some Arnold genes in her. She is getting more and more active on the ground. She can't crawl but she's movin' around and scooting to the side a bit. When we sit her on the couch in a corner she used to always reach for something and fall forward, but now often she can just pull herself back up! She's always reaching for whatever is around her. Very curious girl. She's just super fun and we love her. Though her naps aren't always (or should I say EVER) as long as I want them, we're basically on a routine schedule now. Which is so nice. It seems so much easier to get things done now. I remember when getting a shower seemed so impossible, or running errands of any kind was just this daunting event, looming ahead. I love getting out with her now! She is definitely a Momma's Girl and I confess, I like it. She just stares at me and sometimes will only be content if she's with me. I feel bad sometimes, because others wish to be with her, but I'm glad she likes me so much.