We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Greetings again this Christmas season. It’s been a great year for the Bitners and we hope it’s been a great one for you as well. Here’s our 2007 news, youngest to oldest.

On Mommy’s birthday our youngest gave us a great big surprise by making a pink line appear on a pregnancy test. (Actually 3 pregnancy tests so Mommy & Daddy were sure they weren’t hallucinating.). We’re excited for her arrival this Spring.

Little Malia turned 2 in July. She’s kept her head of curls and is our little fireball of energy & muscles. There’s no middle ground with her spunky personality, every experience of each day is either the worst trial anyone has ever gone through or the most fun activity anyone could possibly be having. She’s a blast.

Mayah has had quite a year with school at Perrinville in the mornings and during summer school. She also was accepted for Head Start this fall and has had a great time participating in things with all the other kids and learning to be a big person. She’s doing great, she has come so far in her ability to speak and interact with friends and family. She’s got a lot of spunk as well.

We have lots of fun with the girls. We did our garden again this year and the girls enjoy it as true tomboys should. Mayah especially enjoyed collecting worms and holding snakes this year. She and Malia learned how to make a mudhole and swim in it up to their necks. We spent a lot of time with cousins this year in Oregon, Ohio, Illinois, Utah and Indiana. All the cousins are so good with our girls. We are so grateful to have such great nieces & nephews.

Ariel went to an A Cappella competition at Disneyland with her choir and won 1^st place gold. She spent two months with us this summer. She also went to Youth Conference and Pioneer Trek and made some new friends. She also moved to Spokane in August. Senior year at a new school wasn’t the plan but as always she’s made friends and is having fun. In November she was admitted to BYU. She hasn’t decided on a major yet but Dad hopes she does something with her great writing skills. We’re so proud of her.

Besides the surprise birthday present, Penny’s year has been full of daily surprises from our girls. Mayah & Malia keep her hopping. Penny has been a consultant for clothing retailer Modbe and has spent a lot of time at the gym, we all make the goal each year but she’s kept it up pretty well. Penny put this blog together earlier this year, made dresses for the girls for Christmas and shares her talent & love with us in a hundred other ways each day. She is so good to us all.

Duane’s career is progressing with some new opportunities at Ford Motor Company. He is now a global commodity manager buying throttles and EGR systems for all engines manufactured by Ford in North America. He visited Hitachi in Japan and made two separate trips to Europe to visit several other suppliers. The highlight of his year was returning to Madeira where he served his mission 20 (yes, 20) years ago. He was able to visit there in May and again in November. He spent both visits with the Faria family and had a blast.

We are so grateful for our many blessings, our family and friends. Best wishes to you this Christmas season. Please view our 2007 slideshow below.

Love, the Bitners

Happy Holidays!

A to Z Survey

I was tagged by Renae-nae

A: available or single? Happily married (very much so)

B: best friend: Duane

C: cake or pie? BOTH

D: drink of choice? Water

E: essential items used daily? My meds!

F: favorite color? I have two favorite colors Lavender and Chocolate Brown

G: gummy bears or gummy worms? Gummy Bears

H: hometown? I was born in Utah but I spent most of my life in Highlands Ranch, Colorado.

I: indulgence? Chocolate

J: january or february? Neither...I would love to fast forward through both months.

K: kids and names? 3.5--Ariel, Mayah, Malia and 'baby'

L: live is incomplete without... My family

M: marriage date? July 21st

N: number of siblings? 7

O: oranges or apples? Apples

P: phobias or fears? I am afraid of the dark. Stop laughing.

Q: favorite quote? I will have to think about it.

R: reason to smile? My family

S: season? SUMMER

T: tag 3 people...Sarah G., Christina B. and Kristi H.

U: unknown fact about me? I can't think of anything because I am not that interesting.

V: vegetables you don't like? I haven't met a vegetable I don't like

W: worst habit? Talking too much.

X: x-rays? yes, please (???)

Y: your favorite food: Pizza

Z: zodiac sign? Leo

Halloween memories

This is one of my favorite pictures. I believe it was taken October 1983 and I was four at the time-same age as Mayah is now. In this photo my brother, Perry is dressed up as Charlie Brown and my other brother, Paul, is Sylvester the Cat. This particular Halloween I dressed up as Lucy from Charlie Brown--obviously, I am not wearing the costume in this picture. But yeah, I totally loved my plastic Lucy costume. I love how excited and happy I am in this picture.

Halloween is a fun and magical time for children and as a child I definitely was not an exception. Halloween is the one time of year when I was willing to walk or run for miles and miles in freezing cold weather--without complaining--just for a giant sack of candy. My absolute favorite part of Halloween was dumping out my sack of loot at the end of the night, comparing my pile to others around, taking inventory and trading with siblings or friends. I always tried to get more candy then my brothers but I never succeeded. Perry and Paul were just better at trick-or-treating then I was--It didn't matter if I ran from house to house all night long, they still always got more candy then I did.

Those were the days! :)


Side note: Who else misses the days when Halloween costumes were simple and inexpensive and/or even homemade? I went shopping the other day and I was horrified to see the current price of Halloween costumes. Perhaps I am cheap but I can't justify spending $14.00 on just cat ears and a tail--especially when they are cheaply made.

My goldie locks has chicken pox

As I was getting the girls ready for church this morning, I discovered a few suspicious spots on Malia. I freaked out immediately because I know for a fact they weren't there yesterday evening. I hoped that a bug had gotten to her last night but my suspicions were confirmed after closer examination of Malia's spots--she definitely has chicken pox!!!

It turns out that I exposed Malia to the chicken pox because I had shingles. I thought that if she was going to get chicken pox they would have shown themselves at least a week ago. I didn't know that it takes 12-14 days for the chicken pox virus to incubate before showing up on the skin. I feel so stupid because I would have known how long chicken pox takes to incubate had I done all the research ahead of time.

Luckily, I haven't taken Malia to church for 2 weeks--Conference Sunday and the week before that because I thought Mayah had pink eye (turned out that she didn't have pink eye, she just had something in her eye) and I still had shingles--and of course I didn't take her to church today. Anyway, Malia hasn't really been in direct contact with other kids over the past two weeks. The handful of kids that she has been around were all old enough to have been vaccinated against chicken pox--I think.

I am sure everyone is asking why on earth I didn't finish vaccinating Malia. I am asking myself the same question.

The last set of vaccinations Malia received was when she was 9 months old. Soon after that, Mayah was diagnosed with autism. While I have never felt that Mayah's autism was caused by vaccinations, I personally know a lot of parents who swear that their children were neurotypical until they received a certain vaccination. Hearing these stories really scared me and I decided to wait on vaccinating Malia further. I fully intended on getting her vaccinations done by the time she was old enough to attend public school but I just wanted to spread them out a little. Unfortunately, my plan backfired and now my child has chicken pox.

Moral of the story: vaccinate your children.

Side note: As of mid-September, Mayah is fully vaccinated--so no worries there.

Seasons change

It is finally cooling down here in Michigan. As of yesterday (Wednesday, October 10), we are finally getting the weather one would expect for this time of year. There were days last week that we were getting 89 degree weather. YIKES!!!

Since the weather has finally changed, I have been putting the girls summer clothing away. I couldn't help but get a little teary eyed when I realized that most of the stuff won't fit them ever again. I wish my kids would age a little slower so I can enjoy this precious time a little longer. I swear it doesn't seem that long ago that they were both babies. They have changed so much in such a short time.

Thinking about my girls and how quickly they have grown got me thinking about how quickly time passes. I also started thinking about how life unexpectedly changes. Looking back at the past 7 years made me realize that most of what has happened in my married life was not exactly planned by Duane or myself.

Seven years ago Duane and I were newly wed, super happy, inseparable and disgustingly in-love with each other. Both of us were happily employed and living in Colorado at the time. Duane and I had all sorts of plans for our future.

Five years ago, Duane and I had just moved from New Mexico (after living there one year) to Utah so Duane could attend BYU to get his MBA, I was 4 months pregnant with Mayah, I was only working 20 hours a week, Duane wasn't allowed to work (per BYU's request) and we were really struggling financially. Duane and I decided that graduate school was the best option as no one was hiring just one year after 9/11. We had no idea what we would do after Duane graduated.

Exactly three years ago, we had just moved to Michigan 3 months previously, Duane was working for Ford and was called to be the Elders Quorum President in our ward and I was 2 weeks pregnant with Malia and didn't even suspect as we weren't trying to have another baby at that time. Mayah was finally old enough to attend nursery at church but she kept me on my toes the rest of the week.

Just last year, Duane and I were seriously discussing the prospect of not adding to our family ever again. There were several reasons as to why we were discussing that possibility, all of which were valid reasons, most of which I will not go into now. At the time, I was feeling very overwhelmed with the girls. Mayah had recently been diagnosed with high-functioning, mild autism and Malia was a force to be reckoned with--a very stubborn and determined little toddler. Both children demanded a lot of time and attention from both Duane and myself, so we felt like it might be best to keep our family from expanding.

Now Duane is still employed at Ford, I am 15 weeks pregnant with our third child, Mayah is attending a wonderful preschool that has a program for autistic children and Malia is our fun little two year old. We are also very happy with the life we have.

Duane and I had no idea what life had in store when we first got married seven short years ago but our Heavenly Father sure did. It wasn't by chance that we ended up in Michigan. I know that Heavenly Father has guided us down this specific path for a reason. He knew what our family would need to pass through in order to be happy.

I know that Heavenly Father is aware of me and my family. I know that he loves us. I know that he only wants the best for us. I know he will do what he can so we might return to him some day. These thoughts are what keep me from giving up when life throws another surprise our way. These thoughts also keep me from running outside to shake my fist at the sky--and yell--when life takes yet another unexpected turn. ;)

It's raining, it's pouring...

Things have been a bit crazy in our house for the last week.

Earlier in the week I discovered that the "bug bites" on my back are actually shingles. Apparently the pregnancy is not only lowering my immunity but it is also stressing me out enough to bring on the shingles. Luckily I don't have more then a small patch on my back. They already seem to be healing up but they are quite itchy and sort of hurt. For anyone that doesn't know, shingles are a form of chicken pox. Only people who have had chicken pox can get shingles. I cannot give shingles to anyone but while I have shingles, I can give chicken pox to anyone that hasn't had them yet...I think that is weird. Anyway, I am trying to keep from stressing about it because I don't want to get more shingles.

Mayah stayed home from school yesterday and today because she has pinkeye. Now that she is going to two different preschools every day, she is exposed to twice as many germs. I am sad that she has pinkeye because she really loves school. She has been so bored at home. We don't have any cool or fun things to keep her entertained. I hope the infection goes away and doesn't spread to her other eye because I don't want her missing too much school.

If the pinkeye wasn't bad enough, Mayah had to get 4 stitches yesterday after she accidentally sliced her leg open with scissors. I know, I am a bad mother. I shouldn't have let her have the scissors to begin with. This is the first scissor related emergency in our home as I am usually monitoring Mayah when she has scissors--she really likes to cut paper and she is really quite good at it...until now. Anyway, Duane just got home from work so I took my attention from Mayah to talk to Duane for a few minutes. It was during that time that she somehow sliced the skin on her right leg--right next to her knee, on the outside of her leg.

The cut is about one and a half inches long. Although the cut wasn't super deep, it was deep enough that she needed to get stitches. Even though the doctor numbed the area, poor Mayah screamed long and hard while the doctor stitched her up. Duane and the nurse had to hold her down so the doctor could give her the stitches. It was so sad.

As a reward for being so brave, we took Mayah out to eat at Ikea--one of her favorite places to eat. She ate very little and then told us that she was tired. We then took her home and soon after, she was passed out. She slept well last night.

There have been other things that have happened quite recently such as our second car--my car--having issues. As of now, it is not working at all. We believe it has to do with the battery as it is a cheap battery and sort of old. The wires connecting to the battery don't look good either. Duane hasn't been able to do anything about it as he is quite busy at work this week. Hopefully he will be able to get around to it this weekend. I don't like not having a car.

Anyway, despite all the craziness, we are all still alive and kicking. As hectic as things have been this week I know that things could be way worse. I am very grateful for what we have. I am grateful for our wonderful health insurance--without it we would be paying a pretty penny in medical bills as our family has been to the ER twice in the last 2 months and there have been a lot of doctor/urgent care visits made in the last two months as well (both urgent care visits were in the last week). Don't even get me started with the amount of prescriptions that we have had to pick up lately. I am just so grateful that the co-pays for all of the recent medical care is quite reasonable.

I know that we are being blessed through our trials. It is that thought that comforts me the most. :)

The photo at the beginning of this blog is actually a year old--from last September. I accidentally broke our camera this summer. If anyone is keeping track, that is the third camera I have gone through in 4 years. Duane isn't too happy about that. We joke about getting me the new fisher price camera that is made for toddlers. They are made tough so they won't break when dropped. My question is, why don't they make ALL digital cameras tough like that? ;)

'Halo 3' Widow

On September 25, 2007 the world was apparently forever changed when Halo 3 finally hit stores. Since my husband is a "gamer" I know all about Halo 3 and its effect on the Universe. Unfortunately for Duane he was not able to get his copy of Halo 3 until today--September 29. Anyway, he got it in the mail today but was really good about not cracking it open until the girls were put to sleep.

Right now Duane is busy "bonding" with his brothers through a healthy session of killing each other. Xbox Live is a wonderful thing if it has the ability to draw families closer together, and in this case it has.

I am glad that Duane feels like "one of the guys" now but I wonder if it comes at a price. I mean yeah, there is the obvious price of the xbox 360 system, subscription to xbox live, and the price of the games but I am talking about the price our marriage pays. Okay just kidding our marriage is fine but is his xbox date worth all the Saturday nights that we don't spend together?

I have to admit that Duane works hard and he deserves to play hard in return so I really shouldn't complain. I also should mention that I get my girls night out at least once a month and Duane totally doesn't complain about it.

I suppose I am sort of jealous because I totally don't have the hand/eye coordination needed to be a successful gamer. I sort of want to join in but I totally suck and even if I didn't, I don't want to be playing with just a bunch of guys. I already suggested that my sisters-in-law and I have a "powder puff" Halo match, just for fun, and they weren't interested. I sort of felt stupid afterward.

Xbox is not all bad. I actually can play Lego Star Wars. It is a very fun and EASY game to play. I really like playing Lego Star Wars with Duane. We really get a kick out of it. I sort of wish there was a Lego version of all the games so people like me--coordinationally challenged--can actually play and not die all the time.

Ugh!!! As I type this my husband is ARGUING with some random guys that he and his brothers are playing against. It sort of reminds me of that scene in 'The Break-up' when Vince Vaughn is fighting with a little kid while playing some game over the internet. This would be much more hysterical if it wasn't my husband fighting with strangers over a round of Halo 3.

One thing I need to remember is if Duane wasn't busy killing his brothers right now, he would be in here harassing me to get off the computer so he can go to ESPN.com and check out today's scores. Once he gets on ESPN.com there is no getting him off the computer.

In the end, I am glad the Xbox 360 and Halo 3 make Duane happy. Plus, while he is playing Xbox I get to do/watch all the stuff I want to do and/or watch. So I guess it is sort of a win/win situation. : )

Oh and by the way, I just wanted to post a little tidbit for all the xbox widows out there. I thought you might enjoy it since it seems pretty accurate.

Evil Twin???

I must have an evil twin or something like that. I keep being told that I look like a girl that is on an internet video called 'One Semester of Spanish--Love Song'. For those of you that haven't seen or heard of it, here it is:



I won't flatter myself and pretend I have a small waist like that girl but I must admit that I also see the similarities in our faces but only at certain angles. From straight on that's totally my face except for the lips and sort of the nose. My hair is always parted just like hers and my hair usually looks just how she styles it. Totally weird.

Anyway, this is not really a blog-worthy subject but I thought it was sort of interesting. I guess that theory--the one about having a non-relative "twin" living somewhere else in the world--is true. I always thought that theory was silly because I have a pretty unique look due to my genetic makeup. People can never guess what my ethnicity is. Most people think I am Italian, Hawaiian, Native American--I have even been asked if I am Middle Eastern. I hardly ever get asked if I am of Mexican descent, which is what I am--for the most part.

So yeah, I guess I just think that it is weird that I look like someone else or rather she looks like me--assuming that I am older. ; )

Baby Bitner

Say hello to 'Baby' Bitner. This ultrasound was done September 4, 2007 and at that time the baby was measuring to be about 9 weeks 6 days along. I am positive that the measurement is off by a few days but that is besides the point.

We are quite excited for this new addition to our family. Duane doesn't mind if we have another girl so long as she is a healthy baby. Actually, Duane would prefer if this baby is another girl and so would I. I really love my girls and would be happy if we had a third little girl. Boys are nice and all but I don't believe I would have it in me to mother a little boy.

As far as naming this baby goes, I have a HUGE list of names--mostly girl names, of course. I had a list of favorite names when I got pregnant with Mayah but most of those names have been overused since then so I had to start from scratch. People keep asking me if I will give this baby an 'M' name as I already have a Mayah and a Malia. First off I have to say that I didn't intentionally go with 'M' names. It just so happened that I liked names that started with M's when I was naming my girls. I have to admit, I am leaning towards 'M' names yet again. Although, I don't believe I will choose an 'M' name for the sole purpose of keeping the theme going.

I keep saying I will choose the baby's name which is mostly true. Duane and I have an agreement that goes back to when we were engaged. I feel that since the mother does all the hard work, the mother should get to choose the baby's name. Duane is okay with that so long as he can veto any weird names like 'LaFawnduh'. Its lucky for Duane that I am not that "creative".

If anyone would like to make any name requests feel free to do so. Just know that I make no guarantee that I will put your suggestions on my list or that I will even like them. I don't mean to be a jerk but I am pretty picky about names.

I have a whole system that goes into naming my babies. There is a filtering process that each name must go through, which is:

a. The name must not be overused/popular but it also cannot be too unique or different.
b. The name must have a strong/good meaning. Example: Mayah is a hebrew name and it means 'Close to God').
c. If the name belongs to a notorious person or even just someone I really hated growing up, the name has been tainted and I won't consider it. Example: The name Joshua is forever ruined for me because I have known SEVERAL Joshuas that were total jerks...that is not to say ALL Joshuas are jerks--just the majority that have come into my life. Also, I will never consider the name Monica for obvious reasons.
d. The name cannot rhyme with any body part, adjective, or anything else that could be used against my child in school yard battles. Example: Fat Pat
e. I am not a fan of using family names. So far I haven't used any family names. Don't get all offended if you submit your name and I don't use it. I am not going to have 100 children so I won't be able to name my children after every single relative. I don't want any jealousy so I figure I might as well not use ANY family names. If that still doesn't clear things up, just remember that Duane and I won't even consider using our own names.
f. I don't use surnames as middle names. I don't want there to be a question of whether or not we are hyphenating our children's last names or whatever. My children only have one last name and that is Bitner. I feel that a middle name is a second name that my child can fall back on if they decide that their first name isn't what they want to go by. Example: There was a kid named Lance that went to school with me. It turned out that his first name was Gary and Lance was his middle name. I can see why he went by the name Lance when he was a kid/teenager since Gary is more of an adult name.
g. I will never use a name just because it "sounds cute".
h. The name cannot be made up.
i. I do not believe in alternative spelling. The spelling of the name must already exist in order for me to consider the alternative spelling. Why make it more difficult for people to pronounce the name?
j. This isn't exactly super important but I do like names that I can shorten and make into a nickname. Example: I usually call Mayah, My-My and Malia, Li-Li (pronounced Lee-lee).

I realize that my baby naming system is ridiculous but I want to make sure that my kids have good/strong names that will be with them throughout their lives. I also want my children to know that I put a lot of time and effort into naming them. My baby naming process is one way for me to let my children know that I love them.

As summer officially draws to a close... *sigh*

As the summer comes to an end I can't help but feel sad that it is already over. Fall is a beautiful time of year but it only reminds me of the looming winter ahead and how I am going to freeze to death. Michigan is known for its winter temperatures as it is often described as "bone chilling".

In order to get my mind off the upcoming Fall and Winter, I've decided to reminisce about this past summer. This summer was wonderful and is filled with great memories.

Originally we didn't plan on much traveling but somehow ended up going to Nauvoo, I also went to Ohio with the girls to visit the Morrison Family and we also found ourselves in Utah--twice.

Our garden has grown beautifully and we all enjoyed spending time in it, especially the girls. Mayah was/is quite a fan of snakes/bugs and Malia was our little piglet--playing in the mud while Duane and I weeded and watered the garden.

Ariel came to visit us twice, during the month of June and again in August. Ariel did some dating, made some friends, went to Kirtland, Ohio with our stake for youth conference, did some babysitting and also made us clean out our trash-hole of an apartment helped us get our house in order.

Duane traveled to Europe on a business trip this past May/June. He was there 2 1/2 weeks total. He spent some time in Germany, Spain, Portugal, and England. Obviously Duane was usually quite busy doing business-y things but he did get the chance to stay in a castle--all the while shoving his face full of paella--during his stay in Spain, drive over 120 mph (or was that kilometers per hour? hmm...I'll have to ask him about that) on the German autobahn and also ate some very bland food during his short stay in England--ApparentlyEngland isn't fascinating and/or exciting for the business traveler. While in Portugal, Duane was able to visit some families that he helped teach/baptize during his mission. He hadn't been back to Portugal since he left 20 years ago. It was a wonderful experience for him.

While Duane was in Europe I was at home holding down the fort. The girls and I did quite well on our own for the first week and a half. We kept busy by going to the park, did some shopping, went to the garden, and we went swimming quite a bit. It was the last week that just about killed me. Single parenthood sucks and I don't ever want to do that again--EVER!!!

The Fourth of July was quite fun. Ariel was still with us during that time and she invited her friend, Anderson to our ward picnic. Duane and I went to see Transformers while they babysat the kids and that evening we all went to see the fireworks display near our apartment. The city of Westland didn't start the fireworks until 10-ish at night so the little girls were passed out by the time the fireworks were going off. Too bad they missed it because it was a great show.

One of my favorite things I did this summer was go swimming with the girls 2-3 times a week. As a result I upped my chances of getting skin cancer got a really great tan. The girls also turned into little mermaids as their swimming skills improved. While neither of them really know how to swim all that well as of yet, Mayah did learn how to tread water, jump into the pool, and hold her breath under water. Malia can sort of hold her breath, is great at blowing bubbles, and is quite good at throwing rocks/pebbles into the pool when I am not looking. The girls and I really did love going to the pool and we are really sad that the outdoor pool at our gym is closed until Memorial Day 2008.

We did quite a bit more over this past summer but I just listed my favorite memories. I plan on reliving these memories while the leaves start falling off the trees.

Needless to say, I can hardly wait for summer 2008.