GET UP AND PLAY

A new endeavor

2012-01-31T16:57:00.000-07:00

I love being a stay at home mom/ trophy wife. I feel fulfilled in parenting and I love the freedom of my days. I'm learning to love housekeeping and cooking more (it's a journey for me). I feel blessed to have the option to stay home with my young children. That being said, I have been searching for something to call my own outside of my work as mom and wife. I've dabbled in taking some of my hobbies to the next level (photography, blogging, etc.) but nothing really seemed to click for me until a few months ago.

I attended a health and wellness class put on by my sister-in-law, Kate, focusing on using medicinal grade essential oils to treat illnesses and promote better overall health. I was so amazed by what I learned! I had never even heard about essential oils, let alone that they could supplement or replace traditional medicine in my home. I've slowly been embracing alternative medicine and healthier lifestyle choices (and sometimes not so slowly, ahem, George's unplanned homebirth) and this has become a big piece of the puzzle for me. I've had so many positive experiences using these oils in the few short months I've been using them.

As I learned more about these oils and the company that offers them, I felt it clicking for me that this could be the opportunity I've been looking for. So I have now become an independent product consultant for doTERRA essential oils. It has been a really great outlet for me- time away from home at conferences, classes and events; opportunities to learn, teach and share my knowledge; and fun people to associate with. It's definitely been an adjustment to take on a part-time job like this, but it's so fun. John has been really helpful and supportive. I've even started a new blog (one of my current hobbies) with Kate and my mother-in-law, Sue, to share some of what we're learning. I would love it if you wanted to visit it and leave me a comment, 3MamasWellness.com

December fun

2012-01-30T21:18:00.000-07:00

We're still it the stage with our little family where we are creating traditions, trying things out and seeing what works for us. We still celebrate with both of our families quite a bit, but we are beginning to do more things on our own and finding our groove. A lot of the most fun moments this year were with just my three guys. Here's some of the things we did this year to celebrate, mostly documented with my cell phone camera.

Putting up the Christmas tree

Seeing the lights at Temple Square with Grandma and Grandpa T

one of the luminaries that Grandma T helped design and hand-punched over a decade ago when she was working at the Temple Square gardens. They're made out of Tyvek (not paper) so they've lasted this whole time!

Talking with Santa at our ward party

Christmas jammies

making gingerbread houses with my family- Steve and Charlie were on a team

Johnny's former band, Marmalade Hill, played his company party and he got up and played a few songs with them. He had so much fun playing again and it was so funny to see everyone in the company look at him in a whole new way!

Johnny and Charlie playing with Charlie's Little People nativity set. Reading the Christmas story out of the scriptures, singing hymns and recreating the nativity is one of John's family's traditions and it was fun for Charlie to have his own nativity set to play with and be occupied with.

We went to the Lower Lights Christmas concert at the Masonic temple. It was THE highlight of the season. The music was beautiful and the feeling of camaraderie was palpable.

The cool constellation ceiling at the Masonic temple

Charlie and Grandpa T reading the Polar Express

Johnny experimenting with new rice krispie treat recipes to take for our neighbor gifts

Christmas 2011

2012-01-30T21:00:00.000-07:00

We spent Christmas Eve with part of John's family having a lovely buffet dinner and a mellow evening. They were gracious enough to invite my mom and Aunt Barb to join as well. We sang Christmas songs, read a Christmas picture book, and made it home early. It was low-key and fun. A week after Christmas, we had "Christmas 2" (as Sam and Lily were calling it) when my dad was in town at my parents' house. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of either of these fun evenings.

Christmas morning, we had my mom and Aunt Barb over for a gigantic breakfast (way too much food, but it was oh, so good!) I thought we'd have to distract Charlie from the presents long enough to eat breakfast, but the concept of Christmas morning/Santa hasn't really sunk in yet. After breakfast, we had to tear Charlie away from playing in the toy room to come open presents! Why did we even buy anything? He was pretty into his stocking that Santa brought him and once he saw the presents, he was really good at getting the wrapping paper off.

George didn't get any presents from us this year. He was happy with the ribbons and watching Charlie's antics.

Aunt Barb and Mom brought gifts that were the hit of the day. The first was a talking Lightning McQueen that asks, "Where's Mater?" Sure enough, the next present to open was Mater!

I found a set of real mini-sized tools for a great deal months ago and saved it for my tools-obsessed little man. Charlie loves real tools and turns every kitchen utensil into a tool. He needs lots of supervision with them and some of the tools (the hammer especially) have been on "time out" in the cupboard quite a few times.

I love this picture- look how happy he is!

Figuring out the pliers

Showing off his sweet suspenders

George thought Charlie was pretty entertaining

After opening presents, we hurried to get ready for church. I had arranged for my friend, Sarah Maxwell, to come sing a special musical number for our sacrament meeting so I wanted to be sure that I was early to the meeting to meet her. I ended up leaving John, my mom, and Aunt Barb home with the kids so I could be sure to be there. Being in sacrament meeting by myself was the best present I could have gotten! I loved being able to focus on the talk and not be entertaining kids the whole time. :) Bishop Miller gave a great talk and Sarah sang The Wexford Carol beautifully!

Unfortunately, the kids didn't nap so the rest of the afternoon and evening were a little challenging. We went over to John's parents' house and opened presents and ate a delicious meal. I One of our favorite traditions is the dollar gifts. We each come up with a creative gift to give to everyone but it can only cost a dollar. It's always so fun to see what everyone thinks up! This year some of the highlights were little toy guns that shoot foam discs (Mark and Chelsea) and dollar bills folded into origami frogs (Sam). We gave everyone little kitchen egg timers in the shape of tomatoes and taught everyone the Pomodoro Technique that John uses at work to increase his productivity.

Currently...

2012-01-24T22:40:00.000-07:00

-Listening to Adele

-Watching Friday Night Lights (just finished the last episode on Netflix, sob!)

-Instagram for the iPhone. (No iPhone? Try Ink361). I love taking mediocre photos and turning them into mini works of art. It makes capturing the everyday moment so much more fun. I'm getupandplay if you want to follow along.

-Reading Rachel Thurston's beautiful photography- this post about her daughter is pure joy.

What's up with you?

Thanksgiving 2011

2012-01-15T21:10:00.000-07:00

For Thanksgiving, Mark and Chelsea were gracious enough to host us (and most of John's family) at their home in Boise. They worked so hard to have us there and we appreciated it! It was George's first road trip, and that part was rough, but Charlie was extra dreamy in the car to make up for it.

Traveling with two little kids takes so much stuff- it really overwhelms me! This time, the only thing I forgot was the camera battery. Ruh roh. So most of my pictures are from my phone and from other people's cameras.

We went to a fun park and had the place to ourselves, probably because it was pretty cold- Charlie liked climbing on this dinosaur.

It was fun to see how much Emma has grown. She is such a fun, happy, pink little baby and has the cutest little personality! The trip wasn't complete (literally, John was packing up the car as I took this picture) until we had the obligatory side-by-side cousin picture. Emma is 5 months and George is 3 months.

Chelsea snapped this one of Charlie playing with James' toys- he was in heaven.

Almost the whole crew (missing Jeff who took the picture, and the babies). The food was incredible- everyone contributed something delicious and everything was made from scratch and gluten-free.

John was a patient "road" for James to drive his cars on.

We are so thankful for our wonderful families!

Family portraits

2011-12-23T15:26:00.000-07:00

Photographed by the talented Jeanette Soffe.

Simple, chic nursery

2011-12-07T22:51:00.000-07:00

I'm so behind on blogging and instead of catching up, I will direct you to a photo tour of my little (darling, hilarious, beautiful) niece's nursery as designed and photographed by my sister, Catherine. Check it out here.

George- 2 months

2011-11-15T09:58:00.001-07:00

George, my dear, you are your own little person. Of course, one might say, but sometimes it's hard for me to remember that you aren't Charlie version 2.0. I love you just as much as I loved little two-month-old Charlie and much of the day to day is the same as it was with him. But sometimes you'll do something that is so utterly unique and it gives me a little peek inside your unfolding personality.

For example, you have a quivery, quavering chin a lot of the time. It's usually not because you're cold, it's just part of you. It's gotten especially darling as your cheeks get chubbier and all that lovely baby roundness jiggles along with your chin.

You love to be held and often have a hard time napping on your own. But if I hold you, you'll sleep for hours. That usually doesn't happen because I have another little guy to chase around, but I enjoy it when it does. You usually take a few short naps in the morning and if I can get Charlie to nap in the afternoon, I cuddle up with you in my bed and we all sleep for a few hours. You sleep best when I'm next to you.

This past week you've started sleeping through the night! I'll put you to bed around 8 or 9 pm and you usually wake up to be nursed at 11 or 12 then you'll sleep until 6 am. And if I'm lucky, I can nurse you back to sleep until 7 or 7:30 when Charlie wakes up.

You are a sweet, social baby. You love to be held and rocked, sung and talked to. Both Grandmas are excellent at this. You have won everyone's hearts with your big smiles, little coos and the occasional, elusive laugh.

You've started to "wake-up". You aren't a newborn anymore who can sleep anywhere and loud noises bother you. This is pretty tricky with your boisterous big brother, but luckily I'm learning your the tricks to keep you happy.

You love music- it soothes you when we're driving in the car, especially. We even have a go-to song for you, I Was Brought to My Senses by Sting. We skip the first minute or so and get to the fast part of the song and you calm right down. We play it so often that Charlie now sings along with the chorus.

We feel lucky to have you in our family, little guy.

November 2011

2011-11-10T22:31:00.015-07:00

Busy November! My dad came for a visit to meet George and be here for his blessing, we celebrated my birthday (29) with both my family and John's family, we had an early Thanksgiving dinner with my family.

I love Charlie's face in this one!

Grandpa soaking up Baby George time

I don't think I've blown out my own candles in 7 years- love those little helpers!

Halloween 2011

2011-11-10T00:03:00.002-07:00

We had a pretty low-key holiday this year- Charlie wasn't feeling very well and George was totally oblivious. We went to our ward party which was fabulous but crazy. There are so many little kids in our ward and they were running around crazy in the gym. I don't mind that one bit, except that it meant that Charlie wanted to run around with them. He's not really to the point where I can just turn him loose without being right next to him. John was on the committee in charge of the event, so I was essentially flying solo trying to corral a sick (but wild) Charlie with one arm and hold George in the other arm. Thankfully, a very sweet newlywed saw my predicament and offered to hold George. I took her up on it and she held him for over an hour! Thank you, Kamber!

The night of Halloween I didn't think we'd go out because Charlie was still under the weather. We answered the door for a few trick-or-treaters (including some of our new neighbors who we met for the first time). Charlie loved answering the door- he asked everyone to come in and said, "Hi, I'm Charlie!" to all the kids. After seeing him so excited about it, we went out for about an hour to a few houses on our street and in our ward. It was so fun to be out among our neighbors and to see so many little kids! That's something that definitely drew us to this neighborhood.

My mom showed up at my house one day with boxes of her Halloween decorations and decked the Halloween halls for me. It was nice to have a few festive things up because decorating definitely didn't make it onto my to-do list this year.

The Decorations

Skeleton tee and skeleton jammies

my little Scarecrow

the Scarecrow and the Jack-o-Lantern pumpkin

trick-or-treating

George's 1st smiles!

2011-10-26T00:07:00.004-06:00

I love that first social smile- it usually comes right when I need it most. When you look into my eyes and give me that gummy, drool-filled, double-chinned, joyful grin, I don't feel tired anymore. Instead, I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. Love you, little Georgie!

George portraits

2011-10-15T11:20:00.001-06:00

We had some Baby George portraits taken by my good friend (and now backyard neighbor!) Jeanette Soffe. George was really fussy and she still got some wonderful, sweet shots. He was only two weeks old. Thanks, Jeanette!

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George- 1 month

2011-10-15T08:56:00.000-06:00

Time is just zooming by with this little one! This picture is from when he was 1 month old (and he'll be six weeks old tomorrow!)

At one month, George was a little over 11 lbs. He looks pretty solid to me! We've been getting lots of weight checks because we've been to the pediatrician almost every week, boo! Poor George had a diaper rash that turned into a staph infection so he needed an antibiotic cream. That started healing then he came down with a cold, poor baby! On the 10th (5 weeks old), he was up to 12 lbs. 6 oz. I wouldn't be surprised if he makes it up to 13 lbs this week.

He's wearing mostly 3-6 month clothing (some 0-3 still fits). Despite having a TON of hand-me-down clothes from his big brother, Charlie and George are almost exactly 2 years and 6 months apart so hardly any of the clothes are the right season! :( Luckily, Chelsea loaned us some of James' clothes to help fill in the gaps. Isn't it great to have family?

He's still a great sleeper and eater. He'll often sleep for 3 hours (sometimes more!) in the afternoon. And he usually has a 4 hour stretch of sleep in the night. Mama likes that. He's starting to smile, but it's still quite elusive. Both grandmas have been able to coax it out of him once or twice and I've gotten a few, too.

I bought George a little giraffe like Charlie's so we could take these monthly comparison photos. I ordered it from Amazon and when it arrived in the mail I opened it up right away and put it on the table. The poor little toy hadn't been in our house for an hour before Charlie found it and gave it a good dunking in the bathroom sink. I have a feeling this is how it is going to go for George- he'll have hand me down clothes, toys and books that are well-loved and anything new will have to withstand big brother!

For reference: here's Charlie at 4 weeks and 5 weeks (just a note, George's giraffe is a little smaller than Charlie's but I still think George is bigger than Charlie was at this age).

Watch out, Mama!

2011-10-13T16:01:00.002-06:00

The other day I was driving with Charlie and George in the car when a cat ran across the road. I had to break very abruptly to avoiding hitting it. I looked back at a startled Charlie and explained to him why I stopped so sharply. I think I said something like, "A cat ran into the road and I had to stop the car quickly so I wouldn't hit him. But he ran away and he's okay now." We talked about it for a minute or two more then I changed the subject.

The several hours later, we were back in the car to go pick John up from work (we only have one car). Charlie kept saying something over and over and I was struggling to understand him. Suddenly, it clicked for me that he was saying, "Watch out, mama! Big cat in the street!" I told him that there wasn't a cat any more and that I would watch out and be careful. The rest of the evening and at least once a day since then he tells me to watch out, mama! Sometimes he tells me there are two cats in the street, sometimes it's dogs, but it's definitely a concept he has latched on to!

I love these conversations we have in the car together!

Family, faith and orange rolls

2011-10-10T22:14:00.003-06:00

Our church holds a General Conference every 6 months and I love it- the gathering with family, the break from wrestling my kid in the pew at church, the wonderful words of inspiration from our prophet and leaders, and of course, the traditional orange rolls.

The best part of this conference weekend is that Mark, Chelsea, James and Emma came down for a visit from Boise! They are so dear to us and we've missed them so much. Chelsea and the kids stayed for the week and Chelsea and I squeezed in some fun activities- a play date at Grandma T's house, a girls' dinner out with our high school friends, and a play date at Discovery Gateway with our kiddos.

Aunt Chelsea and Uncle Mark meeting George for the first time

Hanging out and watching Conference

Aunt Anne just loving baby George

Quality toddler time with Anne

Grandpa T with babies George and Emma

Anne and Emma (I love how pink and perfect and chubby Emma looks!)

George's first family outing

2011-10-09T22:53:00.002-06:00

When George was only 10 days old, we took a family outing to Silver Lake. The canyon was beginning to feel autumnal and we loved the chance to wear sweatshirts, smell crisp air and enjoy the beautiful mountains before the snow comes. Charlie loved running on the boardwalk and George slept the whole time snuggled in the BabyHawk on my chest. I felt so lucky to be in that beautiful place with my little family. We had to take a circuitous route to avoid a moose hanging out on the trail and in our backtracking ran into a pair of silver-haired couples who fawned over my babies, making me puff up with pride. We lunched at Silver Fork Lodge- it was our first time there but we'll definitely be repeat customers. It was a perfect day.

George's fan club

2011-10-03T11:45:00.001-06:00

Grandma and Grandpa T

Uncle Steve, Sam, and Lily

Sam, Aunt Kerry and Lily (they brought George balloons and a birthday cake with a "0" on it)

Aunt Anne

McKenzie

Emily

Uncle Richard and Aunt Cat (this was really special for us that they were still in town to meet George!
We made it by two days!)

Grandma Barbara

Aunt Kate

Uncle Sam

Little buddies

2011-10-03T11:43:00.000-06:00

When Elizabeth was here for the summer, she borrowed our car seat (she's a petite little gal!). When she and Charlie were in the backseat together, they loved to reach and hold hands. Darling. Charlie wants to hold George's hand now and he'll have to wait a little while for George to grow into this fun activity!

Charlie- 2.5 years

2011-09-30T16:16:00.000-06:00

Charlie is so much fun these days. He's talking so much! He repeats pretty much anything we say, which is both hilarious and a reminder to watch what we are saying! The other day he ran up to me and threw his arms around me and said, "I love you, Mama." Then he gave me a half a dozen kisses all over. I'm one lucky lady.

He's adapted to our new home and loves to play in the backyard. We don't have a lot of toys out there yet but he's happy with rocks, sticks, pears and apples from the fruit trees, the hose (which he loves to spray in his face), and of course, the golf ball run that John set up for him in our dirt pit (formerly an in-ground trampoline).

He's been a very sweet big brother to George. He tells me when George is crying and sometimes says, "Mama, help George." So cute. The other day, George was crying and Charlie brought over "geen bee" aka his beloved green blankie and gave it to George. It was so darling that he would share his lovey with his brother to make him feel better!

He's still pretty rough and tumble, though, so I'm very cautious about leaving George and Charlie in the same room together unattended, even if just for a moment. :)

Cuddling with dad after a hard day

Charlie loves lounging inside my nursing pillow

Just after he squirted himself in the face with the hose- he loves it!

Charlie and his beloved green blankie

Making mud puddles at Grandma and Grandpa S's house

George hanging out and Charlie playing with his new puzzles

playing with stickers

Hanging out in Grandma and Grandpa T's backyard (photo by my brother-in-law Sam)

photo by Sam

Showing off Daddy's shoes and his "rainbow sock" (which is really a baby leg warmer)

playing in the dirt pit with Daddy

my handsome, happy boy playing hide-and-seek in the trees

Can you spot the toddler?

Charlie loves to vacuum with the ShopVac

just chillin' with Mom's shades

George update

2011-09-27T08:52:00.000-06:00

I always knew that I'd be very busy with two children and that one of the things that would fall by the wayside is taking pictures. It's a classic second child problem. But I underestimated how little I truly would photograph and write about George. For example, I wanted to take pictures of George with a stuffed animal every month- I wasn't going to attempt every week like I did with Charlie. But I haven't even purchased an stuffed animal for him yet, let alone taken any pictures! If you are reading this in the future, George honey, I really do love you as much as your brother.

George is a very sweet and calm baby. He's been a pretty great sleeper and eater from the beginning. There are days where he'll sleep in 3-4 hour stretches and occasionally those stretches are even at night! Yay! He loves to be held or to snuggle up next to me while he's sleeping. He's acclimated to loud noises and the sounds of his boisterous big brother don't usually bother him.

He's had a pretty bad rash in his diaper area that we are trying to get rid of. At his two week appointment, the doctor said it looked like heat rash, so I'm trying to dress him lightly and keep him dry and cool. I've also changed brands of diapers, tried cloth diapers, spent time with the diaper off outside and a few different diaper creams. So far, it's still there but the things that help it the most are plenty of naked time, frequent baths and keeping him cool. Poor little Georgie. He's still pretty content, even with a sad, ouchie bum.

At his two week appointment he weighed almost 10 lbs (9.94 lbs) which is the 82% percentile and was 21.75 inches long which is 84% percentile. We definitely think that he looks more like John's side of the family, which is fun because Charlie looks so much like me. He loves to find his hands and suck on them and does pretty well with the binkie and the bottle. We'll see if these things end up sticking!

One week old

George's birth story- our unplanned home birth

2011-09-24T17:29:00.000-06:00

This is George's birth story, recorded for our family journal and told in a spirit of uplifting others by sharing our experience. It is a very tender and special story, not only because of our experience with how sacred it was, but because of dear friends whose recent experiences with childbirth were so very different. I feel incredibly blessed that both George and I are healthy and whole. Please read it and comment on it with care.

The week before my due date, I'd had a few episodes of regular pressure waves (what we call contractions in Hypnobabies, our chosen method of natural childbirth). They were intense enough for me to have to lie down and concentrate to get through them and regular enough to time. Each time they were about 90 seconds long and about 10 minutes apart and would last for several hours before fading away. I was starting to feel pretty uncomfortable. On Thursday of that week (Sept. 1st), I had a root canal scheduled that I had to cancel because I was too uncomfortable and having lots of pressure waves. John went late to work that day so I could rest. I went and saw The Help for the second time that night (I went once with my book group and once with my mom, sister, sister-in-law and aunt, and yes, it is great enough to go twice!) I was so uncomfortable that I had to get up and walk around for the second half of the movie. I even called my doula (birth coach), Heather, to let her know that tonight could be the night. (Heather was the same doula we had with Charlie and since then she has become a Licensed Direct Entry Midwife and owns her own birth center).

Nothing happened that night and the next day, Friday, was the best I had felt in weeks. Charlie and I went to the park with Catherine and Elizabeth and I even ran to catch Charlie without too much effort (although I'm sure it was far from graceful looking!) Saturday we went to see Mary Poppins (fabulous!) and again I was pretty uncomfortable with pressure waves. We made a plan with Heather to try some natural induction methods on Sunday night to see if we could get my labor to really started. A natural induction would kickstart labor if my body was ready and only if it was ready. All day Sunday I was having pressure waves and I rested most of the day and listened to my Hypnobabies scripts.

Heather came to our house at about 5:30 pm and we started the "induction" using homeopathics. She checked my progress and before we had even started I was 6 cm with a bulging bag of waters! My body really had been preparing for the past week!! Things started ramping up and I began to have regular pressure waves around 6:30 pm that were about 2-3 minutes apart and about 90 seconds long. John took Charlie outside to play and luckily our neighbors stopped by to visit so they entertained Charlie out in the backyard so John could start getting things ready. (Thanks, Hadley and Zeke!) We weren't really prepared for things to get going so quickly! I just concentrated on my hypnosis while relaxing on the bed and I was completely comfortable during each pressure wave. I was feeling really happy with my progress because by 6 cm dilated with Charlie I was so uncomfortable that I was asking for the epidural! John worked on filling up the inflatable kiddie pool in our living room so I could labor in the water, packed the car, and called his parents to come pick up Charlie. The plan was to stay at home as long as possible before going to the hospital.

When Sue and Rick came to pick up Charlie, I was in the water and Sue peeked in to say hello. I was calm and able to talk with her in between waves and just closed my eyes and used my off switch when I had a pressure wave. I was using my center switch a lot during this phase of labor and I was able to easily talk with Heather and John in between waves. At some point, I got out of the water to walk around to get my labor to progress more. John and I walked halfway up the street and then back to our house to walk laps in the backyard.

After walking, we came in and had Heather check me again. I was 8 cm dilated with an anterior cervical lip. Right after that, my water broke. I was still very comfortable and got back in the birth pool to labor for a little more, trying to get the cervical lip to go away. Fairly soon after my water broke I started to feel hungry and asked for something to eat. Just as John had left the room to get a snack, I was hit by an incredibly powerful and LONG pressure wave. I had several of these right on top of each other. I knew I was going through transition because the pressure waves were very intense and uncomfortable. John was supporting me and helping me "aaahhh" through each wave (in fact, he was "aaahing"right along with me) and Heather was doing hip presses.

Just then, we heard a knock on the door. It was my mom, coming by to check on me. We had been trying to get a hold of my mom to let her know that I was in labor and couldn't get a hold of her all evening. Such timing! I was in too much discomfort to talk to her much and I told her she could stay or leave but that I couldn't talk to her. She decided to leave. I felt bad that she had missed the calm, easy part of labor. :) (I think this was at approximately 9:00 p.m.)

Heather told John that it was time to go to the hospital. I couldn't even imagine getting in the car and having to drive to the hospital (about 15 minutes away). I vocalized my concerns (I'm sure it was not eloquent, or even in full sentences). I'm pretty sure all I said was, "I can't." Heather confirmed with me that I wanted to stay home and I told her that I did. I felt completely confidant about staying at home with Heather to help us.

As soon as Heather knew we were staying at home, she called her assistant midwife, Angie, and also our Hypnobabies instructor, Marinda. She was prepared with almost everything she needed for the birth except a doppler (to check the baby's heart tones) so she called these great ladies in as back up and to bring the doppler. They both made great time over to our house! Angie arrived at 10:20 p.m. (she said she drove from Saratoga Springs in the carpool lane and speeding the whole way and made it in about 20 minutes!)

Sometime before Marinda and Angie arrived, I got out of the pool and onto the birth stool. Heather checked me again and I was 9 cm and I still had the anterior cervical lip. I was pushing through each contraction because it felt much better to be pushing than not, although I wouldn't necessarily call it an "urge" to push.

Marinda's arrival was especially nice because she was able to help me with my hypnosis. Having her familiar voice coaching me was so helpful. I still felt a lot of discomfort but I was able to relax a little bit more into each pressure wave.

I felt so supported by this incredible birth team! John was sitting behind me supporting me by my arms and talking in my ear. Marinda was on my right, holding my right hand. She was coaching me with Hypnobabies mini-scripts and also massaging my clenched hands in between contractions to help me relax and wiping my forehead. Angie was on the floor in front of me to the left, holding my left hand and also taking notes in my chart and otherwise assisting Heather. And Heather was directly in front of me on the floor. I would sometimes brace my feet on her legs to get a better position. I also looked her right in the eyes when it got really tough and making that eye contact with her helped a lot. She was also guiding my pushes with her hand, so I could feel where to focus the push.

After what seemed like forever, I could finally feel that George's head was descending into the birth canal. What an incredible feeling. It didn't really hurt that much (the pressure waves were still much more intense) but I could feel an incredible fullness in my pelvis. I felt like if I tried to push him out, my legs were going to pop off of my body! I told Heather I was scared to push and she and Angie gave me some homeopathics that are supposed to help release fear.

His head started to crown at 11:04 (and ten seconds) and at 11:04 and 59 seconds he was out! Let me tell you, pushing that baby out took an amazing amount of effort but I did it! I got to hold him on my chest right away and it felt so surreal to have him here. I was exhausted and I felt kind of out of it- I definitely didn't feel that euphoric rush that I've heard people talk about with their natural births. I was just so relieved to be done! Heather was a little concerned with my bleeding after the placenta was delivered so they moved me to the floor and I just laid on the hardwood floor with George on my chest while they gave me medicine, herbs and massaged my uterus to get it to contract. I was never worried and my bleeding was under control quickly. After a few minutes, John held George while I walked (!) to my bedroom and got under my deliciously warm covers. I got to hold George and John got in bed next to me and we just cuddled together as a family for a while. Marinda, Heather, and Angie were all working on tidying up, filling out paperwork and taking my blood pressure and giving me water but none of that really interfered with our family bonding time. It was heavenly.

After about an hour, Heather stitched me up and George was weighed and came in at 9 lbs 4 oz and 21 inches!!

For a few days I felt like there's no way I could do it again, but after having some distance from it, it seems totally doable. I learned some valuable things from both my births, who knows what the next one will hold!

All smiles now that it's over!

Meeting George

2011-09-18T09:00:00.000-06:00

Charlie spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa T's house the night that George was born. When he came home, we were very interested to see how he'd react to having a new baby brother! We took him into our room where George was asleep and let Charlie meet him in neutral territory (aka not in Mama's arms!) Charlie was definitely interested in Baby George and wanted to give him the bulb syringe, which he thinks is George's special toy.

Then we let Charlie open his gifts "from" Baby George- a Mac trailer from the movie Cars and a bunch of new board books. He was very excited!

Giving George a kiss. :)

I think these guys are going to be great pals! Charlie has been a great big brother so far- he's very soft to George and wants to hold his hand in the car (although it will be awhile before they can reach each other!) Mostly, Charlie just kind of ignores George, but that's just fine with me for now.

Welcome, Baby George!

2011-09-16T15:47:00.000-06:00

Introducing

George Spencer

Born Sunday, September 4th (9/4)

11:04 p.m.

9 pounds 4 ounces (9/4)

21 inches long

just minutes old

first car ride, 2 days old

Charlie used to make this same face!

one week old

George found his finger to suck on while we went on our first family walk around the neighborhood

Cabin "camping"

2011-09-15T18:44:00.000-06:00

We headed to John's family cabin for an outing with my family while we were all in town this summer. We loved being together in the beautiful mountains!! We walked, threw rocks, roasted hot dogs and marshmallows, played board games, went on the swing, and hiked around Silver Lake. It was so fun and we didn't let the rain damper our spirits.

Memorable moments:

-The fire that was burning blue and green

-My mom sitting out in the rain under an umbrella tending the fire so our hot dogs would cook

-Poor Lily falling out of the top bunk in the middle of the night

-The all-night parade of sleepless family members throughout the cabin in the middle of the night

(no one slept well, but everyone was a good sport about it!)

-Kerry taking Charlie out to play- mostly they found rocks to throw. When Charlie would find a big one that he couldn't lift, he would say, "Kerry, big rock throw!" and she would happily comply. (Weeks later when I mentioned Kerry, he told me about throwing big rocks with her).

I love my family and this beautiful world we live in!

Baby Eh-bef

2011-09-15T18:36:00.000-06:00

We had the most fun with our cousin Elizabeth (aka Eh-bef or just Bef, as Charlie calls her) this summer! Cat and Richard were here for an amazing 8 weeks and we relished every day we had with them! Catherine (and Richard) were both SO helpful with our big move- Cat would call me practically every day and help me with some project or another. My house was organized and ready for the new baby to come because of their help.

Little Miss Elizabeth

playing at Grandma Bev's house in the early morning

Last playdate :(

At the zoo- Charlie was equally terrified and fascinated with the animatronic dinosaurs and Elizabeth was completely ambivalent about them!

At the good old MP13 ward party. I was flying solo with Charlie and all he wanted to do was play in the gross water fountain. Luckily, Catherine and Richard showed up and they helped me chase him around for a while.

Ward friends- Cat and Elizabeth, Allison and Emme, Kristy, me (and gigantic belly)

Elizabeth enjoying one of Bishop Moffat's soft serve ice cream cones (I miss that ward so much already!)

the aftermath

We went to Discovery Gateway (the children's museum) one afternoon with Elizabeth and Catherine. It was right before closing time on a school day and we practically had the place to ourselves!

Elizabeth and Charlie were trying so hard to share with each other, especially at this cool PVC pipe/ping pong ball exhibit.

Playing in Grandma Bev's yard is always a hit and Elizabeth was well accessorized this day

Charlie "watering the garden"- he usually misses and gets the dirt instead, making a nice mud puddle for pebbles to splash into.

Grandma pushing Elizabeth in the swing- she loved it so much that she eventually started falling asleep!

playing at my new house while Cat and Richard helped hang up my gallery of family portraits (they helped me so much!!)

One of our last outings with our cousin- to get frozen yogurt. Charlie wanted to hold Elizabeth's hand and she loved it!

Thanks for a fun summer! We are going through withdrawal!

Family portraits

2011-09-04T10:37:00.001-06:00

We took the opportunity of having my whole family in one place (for the first time in almost three years) to have some family portraits taken. Never mind that I was 8 months pregnant, the toddlers were crazy to control, John and I had to speak in church that day, and it was SO hot and humid that we were all sweating to death. I wanted these pictures to happen! Our good friend (and now neighbor!) Jeanette Soffe was on deck to take the pictures and she did a great job as usual!

Waiting game

2011-09-02T21:13:00.000-06:00

No baby yet! My due date is next week and I've had a few days where I thought, "Today's the day!" only to have the regular, strong contractions peter out. Wah wah wahhhh. It's a little frustrating. Yesterday was one of those days- I canceled my dentist appointment (for a root canal, yuck) and John stayed home from work because I woke up contracting. I timed them and they were regular (every 5 minutes and 2 minutes long!) for two hours. But by 11 am the contractions had become less regular but I was uncomfortable all day. I even went to see The Help (for the second time!) with my mom, aunt, sister and sister-in-law but had to get up and walk around for half of the movie because I just couldn't sit there anymore. After a good night's sleep last night, today I haven't had any contractions! I remember this stage with Charlie and there were a lot of false starts then, too, but it's just annoying to go through it! The waiting game is the worst.

How are you doing?

10 year reunion!

2011-08-28T23:01:00.000-06:00

This has been the busiest, craziest summer of my life (including the two political campaigns I ran). One of the main reasons was because I was the co-chair of my ten-year-reunion and the other chair, our class president, moved to Portland at the beginning of the summer. We moved into our new house August 6th, the reunion was August 13th and I was nearly 37 weeks pregnant. Just a little crazy.

I had such great help from a dedicated committee made up almost entirely of pregnant moms or moms with young (infants!) children. Let's hear if for the ladies, we can get stuff done! I really could not have done it without Brynn, Liz, Katie (fearless president), Ashley and Courtney.

The night of the reunion Catherine (best sister ever) came to help and Johnny was his always incredible, hands-on help. I didn't get to talk much with either of them but I appreciated their help so much! I had so much fun greeting people at the door and chatting for a short while as they were checking in- I wish I could have talked with some people more!!

Here's a few pictures (thanks to Catherine- that was one of her main duties that night).

Our class president, Katie, and my faithful helper, Johnny, adjusting the speaker. This is the only pic I got of him that night!

Whitey and Amy

Brent and Susie

Sarah and Sam

Ashley, Romney, Jeff and Heather

Greg, Annalisa and me

me, Liz, Brynn, and Lindsey

Baby Sofie, Ryan and Ashley

Ashley, Anya, Krystal, and Roxanne (and some of their dates)

Nate, Abby and Abby

Mike and Catherine

A letter to my firstborn before the second born arrives

2011-08-25T21:28:00.000-06:00

Dear Charlie-

Right now we are sitting on my bed watching Yo Gabba Gabba together. You have a sippy of lemonade and a cup of goldfish crackers. I shared my drink with you and in return you are sharing your snack with me. You aren't satisfied just sitting next to me, you want to lean on my shoulder, lay on my leg, and sit on my lap and I am eating it up. We're laughing at the funny songs together.

Yesterday as we were driving in the car with Dad, you were telling us all the things you saw out the window, including a "big truck green garbage." Yes, my dear, that was indeed a big, green, garbage truck. I love hearing your little thoughts come out more and more as you acquire the language necessary to communicate them with me.

When you are all done with your food and you want to get down, you say, "All done, hold you, all done, hold you," over and over again. Requests for "hold you" and "help you" are common throughout the day and I will be sad when you learn to use the proper pronoun.

You are suddenly much more interested in whether or not we are watching you play. You'll call for me (MamaMamaMama) or Dad (Da-ee, Da-ee, Da-ee) incessantly until we respond. Often the only thing you want to tell us is "watch!" or "wooghk" (look). You have a very German-sounding "k".

You love shaking hands with people and saying, "Nice to meet you!" or "I'm Charlie."

You are busy, interested, and strong which keeps me on my toes all the time. Now that I'm in the final two weeks of this pregnancy, it is really hard to keep up with you. Lifting you, my big boy, (or bending over, or sitting on the floor to play) gives me quite the bout with sciatica that never really goes away. But avoiding lifting you altogether is almost impossible.

You've adjusted pretty well to the new house although many days you still don't take a nap. This worries your mom quite a lot because we both still need it.

I worry about bringing a new little baby into our balanced life- some days it feels perfect. Will you feel displaced? I just have to trust that you will still feel secure and loved and that all our efforts to help you feel that way will be successful.

We're talking a lot about the new baby and helping and big boys vs. little babies, and I just don't know how much of it is sinking in. I hope it clicks for you once there is a little brother around.

Charlie, my darling, you taught me how to be a mother, thank you for letting me be your Mama. I love you.

Summer in iPhone photos

2011-08-18T21:53:00.008-06:00

We've had the craziest summer of our lives! Being pregnant and keeping up with our active little guy is enough, but we've been spending time with family, packing, moving and planning my ten-year reunion as well! But we've had a lot of fun despite all the craziness!

We went to John's cabin with my family and it was gorgeous! The the wildflowers were so abundant!

My parents are some of the most hardworking people I know. They will have an idea and just make it happen. They drastically changed the yard in the short time that my dad was here- I'm talking taking out a big, dying maple tree on their own, moving large rocks, taking out a huge row of overgrown hedges (thanks to our neighbor, Dan Perkins for helping with that one!), tearing out an old fence and planting three new trees. Whew! Charlie wanted to "help" Grandpa dig a stump out of the dirt one day.

It's so darling to see the special relationship that Elizabeth has with my parents. She knows them so well because she sees them all the time in Abu Dhabi. Here's my mom and Elizabeth cuddling up together after Elizabeth's bath.

We took Charlie to his first movie in a theatre- Cars 2. It was a little over his head and he got bored halfway through. He spent a little time walking up and down the stairs with Johnny and we ended up taking off early. He was also terrified of the Smurfs movie preview and gigantic cardboard cutout in the hall. My cute family joined us to be part of the memorable day!

Charlie spent a lot of time playing in the backyard with Grandma and Grandpa

John and I went to the Sheryl Crow concert at Red Butte Garden. It was so much fun and a great show! The highlight was seeing our friend, Paul Jacobsen, open for her. What a great opportunity for him- he did a great job!

John and James reading books for one last time before James, Chelsea, Emma and Mark moved to Boise. We miss them so much!

Playing in Grandma T's pool for a little 4th of July party

Sitting in the backyard with Uncle Mark and cousin James (Charlie wanted to hold Mark's hand)

Our friend, Scott, (age 28) had a superhero water fight party. Charlie loved it and caught on to the idea of shooting a water gun right away.

It's been so fun to have Catherine, Richard and Elizabeth in town. Elizabeth is just the littlest sprite of a thing! It's so fun to see her toddling around. She saw this stuffed hippo of Charlie's and instantly got attached to it. She calls it, "Baby" and carries it around then flops herself down on it on the floor and sucks her thumb. Hilarious.

Charlie continues to be very attached to his matchbox cars. He can't hold them all in his hands, even though he tries, so we started giving him tote bags to carry them around in. One day, I got him to wear his little clear backpack (a gift all the way from London from our friend Amy) with the cars inside and he loved being able to see them and wear them around.

Richard and Johnny geeking out over their laptops

We went to Discovery Gateway with Sam, Lily, and Kerry. Lily and Charlie loved the helicopter and had it to themselves for about 15 minutes. We've spent a lot of time with our fun cousins this summer- going on outings to the pool, This is the Place park, and the children's museum- and Kerry and Steve have been so willing and helpful to help watch Charlie so I could pack!

We spoke in our former ward and John and his dad were polishing his talk up until the last minute. Luckily, it all came together and he got a lot of compliments on it! (Three weeks later, we used the same talks in our new ward.)

We rented a giant truck to move all of our stuff to our new house. We had great help from family and friends and moved everything in about 3.5 hours! We're still unpacking, organizing and trying out different configurations but we're here!

How's your summer been?

Toddlers!

2011-07-23T08:41:00.004-06:00

We had a playdate in my parents' very fun backyard and it was so fun to see four toddlers running around and playing together. We played in the hose, the sprinkler, the sand, the dirt, and with golf balls. What else is there in life?

Catherine, Charlie, Elizabeth, James and Chelsea digging in the dirt (which for some reason is MUCH more interesting to the kids than the sandbox)

Me, Charlie, my cousin, Christine, her little boy, Spencer, Catherine, and Elizabeth (and James in the background)

Me and Chelsea, my sister-in-law and favorite playmate who is moving in 6 days! I can't even talk about it, it makes me so sad.

Spencer loved the sandbox and it was so fun to see him so grown up!

James and Chelsea had on their shades- we just need to get Emma a matching pair.

Backyard BBQ

2011-07-23T08:33:00.002-06:00

Steve and Kerry hosted us for a backyard BBQ at their charming, century-old house in downtown Salt Lake City. Horse-drawn carriages start at temple square and then clop-clop past their house. It's so darling. It was nice to relax together (as much as you can relax when there are two toddlers running loose) and enjoy the summer evening.

Independence Day 2011

2011-07-16T16:48:00.004-06:00

We started off the celebrations on the Saturday before the holiday with a backyard pool party at Grandma T's house. The grown ups hung out in the shade while James and Charlie played in the pool and squirted each other.

Then, after a yummy dinner we moved the driveway for some fireworks provided by Uncle Dave. Both Charlie and James were enthralled by the "rockets".

Uncle Dave, our fireworksman

I love the expression on Charlie's face- it's priceless!

Uncle Mark, Aunt Chelsea and James are all watching a firework while John is helping Charlie- that's his "I'm scared" pose.

I don't know what Mark is saying here but I love this expression!

Then on the actual 4th, we headed to our new neighborhood for their annual breakfast and kiddie parade.

Our friend, Hadley, was the impromptu parade leader in another neighbor's vintage truck

Our family portrait snapped by my mom along the parade route.

Charlie had a great time once we bribed him with some candy to stay in the wagon.

Then that evening, we headed to our friends' home for their annual party. They always have delicious food catered by Red Iguana, tons of little kids and giant bounce houses and inflatable water slides. Charlie found the little slide into the kiddie pool more his speed. He was entertained for a long time!

My parents have a giant flag that they hang over the garage on Independence Day. I had John take my picture in front of it- this is my first (and maybe only) belly shot of this pregnancy. I'm 31 weeks here.

Summer of craziness

2011-07-15T10:30:00.003-06:00

I think I will always look back on this summer as the one I almost lost my mind. Here's what's been keeping me so BUSY! (It feels good to write it down so I can realize how much we're actually doing and why I need to go to bed by 9 pm every night!)

-Visitors! My parents and now Catherine, Richard and Elizabeth are here visiting. Lots of fun, sharing of only two cars, babysitting each others' toddlers, talking, juggling nap schedules, eating, laughing and PROJECTS (my parents have totally re-done the whole garden, including taking out a huge tree by themselves and a gigantic row of hedges!) And did I mention we have SIX PEOPLE sharing TWO CARS?!!

-New house! So exciting and fun, but a long list of projects and endless appointments (furnace repair, appliance delivery, carpet cleaning, etc.) I feel like every free moment I have should be spent packing. Every free moment John has is spent building stuff (this week- a pedestal for our washer and dryer), moving, loading and unloading stuff into our new house.

-Spending quality time with my darling Charlie before my attention is divided forever, with my beloved in-laws before they move to Boise, with my family while they are here for the summer, with my niece and nephew while they're out of school, and with dear friends both new (we are being welcomed SO WARMLY into our new neighborhood!) and old (we are going to miss our friendships in this ward a lot!)

-Pregnancy stuff including doctors' appointments, ultrasounds, doulas, chiropractor and childbirth classes. Bambino no. 2 has a health issue that we're monitoring (we won't know until after birth if it's minor or not), my blood pressure is borderline high and needs to be checked every week, and we're trying for a natural birth which takes a lot of practice and preparation! And just add to that the exhaustion of the third trimester and you can imagine how productive I am!

-My ten-year high school reunion! I'm the co-chair of the committee and the reunion is on Aug. 13th. (If you went to high school with me, please buy your tickets!) I'm so lucky to have a great committee who is working so hard to help make this reunion happen!

How's your summer going?

Baby Emma!

2011-07-07T20:58:00.004-06:00

We are so thrilled by our newest little niece, Emma Marie. She's so adorable and sweet and teeny! Congratulations to Mark and Chelsea and James, the proud parents and big brother. (My favorite thing? If you ask James what sound Emma makes he goes, "Wah." So funny.)

This is when we first got to meet and cuddle her- she was only two days old! What a little sweetheart!

Then I got to take a few pictures of her last week. Even as sleepy and floppy as she is (as all newborns are), she still showed off her gentle and calm personality. Even when she was crying, she would stop after a minute as soon as Chelsea touched her or picked her up. What a little dream.

Welcome to the family!

Homeowner!!

2011-07-07T16:30:00.000-06:00

Here's the story of how we came to buy a house, feel free to skip ahead to the photos!

We've been thinking about purchasing a home for a while and and had talked about starting to look this summer. I thought we'd look for a long time before we found something we liked or could afford. Then one day, out of the blue, John's good friend, Hadley sent him a link to a house and told him it was for sale but not officially on the market and we should check it out. Their mutual friend, Terry, was the realtor and so we made an appointment to go look at it. John fell head over heels for the gorgeously maintained and large backyard and liked the house, too. I liked it, too, but I wasn't sold yet!

We made an appointment to look at other houses closer to where we live now with our other friend who is a realtor and we ended up looking at 12 houses in one afternoon! There were a few we were considering and we prayed about them all, strategized, budgeted, talked to the neighbors on the street, called the bishops of the wards we'd be in and one by one, we let the others slip by. We just kept coming back to the first house we had seen in Holladay.

We made another appointment to go look at that house, this time taking John's parents, brother and a contracter to look at some of our areas of concern (the rickety staircase and unfinished shelf basement, primarily). While we were there, the owner showed us his vintage trucks he had meticulously restored. As we left, the contracter texted me, "Sometimes I worry when people have remodeled their homes that they haven't done it the right way, but after seeing those trucks, I think we can trust this guy!"

We decided to make an offer on the home, which was counter offered and we accepted. The appraisal and inspection both went incredibly well, too. My parents arrived in town just in time to tour the home with us and give their stamp of approval. Finally, last Thursday, we wired the down payment money and then signed papers on the home!

signing papers

It's kind of a surreal experience to buy a home and at first, I was really reluctant to tell people we were buying a house because it is never a sure thing until the end. It just felt awkward to talk about until it was finalized. And now it is!!

our first home- this is a shot I took from the street on a rainy day before we made an offer- we were checking it out with our entourage (in this photo- John, Terry (our realtor/bishop), Breea, and Dave)

Grumpy TV viewer

2011-06-28T21:09:00.003-06:00

I get so annoyed when I go out on a limb and start watching a new TV show in its first season and then it gets cancelled! Argh! Does this happen to anyone else? Even worse I'll even get invested and start caring about the characters for a season or two and then it gets canceled with no wrap up or conclusion! I assume that TV executives get antsy about low ratings for a season and cancel shows but it's a vicious cycle- the viewers are reluctant to get invested in a new show until it's been around for a few seasons!! Argh.

The most recent victim, The Event, reminded me of the other shows that I started watching in their first seasons that met untimely deaths.

This one broke my heart most of all: RIP, Veronica Mars.

What are the shows you miss most?

Our cute Charlie lately

2011-06-23T20:01:00.000-06:00

I introduced you to the movie Cars and you ask for it daily. You laugh at the funny parts and tell me what's happening during the other parts. You even try to say "Ka-chow!", which is Lightning McQueen's catch phrase. I'm excited that you like this movie since the sequel is coming out in a few weeks- I think it will be your first movie in a theatre!

You love all things with wheels- the drive to take Dad to work is filled with your commentary of everything you see, including cranes, diggers, trucks, trains, buses and culminating at the water feature outside Dad's work, "Water!"

You are becoming more and more boyish every day and less of my baby.

If I tell you something is hot, like the shower, or the slide at the park, you stand there and try to blow on it to cool it down.

You love to toast drinks, which I'm trying to teach you is called "Cheers!" but you just call it "Boom!"

You know all your colors now and use them to describe the things you see. Up until recently when I asked you what color something was, you always answered "Blue!" Somehow in your mind, that was the only answer to that question. But now you've figured it out. As we drive around town, you love to tell me the things you see. Now you've started describing them, too. "That's a big bus!" or "Big white crane!" Sometimes you just shorten it to "big white". It's pretty cute.

Here you are watching Dino Dan so intently. The Zoo has a dinosaur exhibit right now and there's banners all over town advertising it. Whenever you see one you yell out, "four!" (which is how you say dinosaur, of course.)

Cuddled up with dad before church

So busy in the backyard.

We love this little fella!

Father's Day!

2011-06-19T08:09:00.004-06:00

How is it possible that this was two years ago? Today is the third Father's Day that John has had and I can't believe how fast the time has gone. I'm so grateful to have married a man who is such a devoted father.

He's was the official baby bouncer-to-sleep and used to walk the house with Charlie every night.

Now he's Charlie's favorite buddy and we're lucky to have him. Happy 3rd Father's Day, Johnny boy!

I'm also grateful to a wonderful father-in-law who taught so much by example and my own wonderful dad (who is in town!!) who showed me what to look for in a husband. They are both patient, kind, gentle, and hard working and I love them!

Chelsea's baby shower

2011-06-18T20:54:00.004-06:00

We had a baby shower for Chelsea and her daughter at my house. Chelsea's darling friends did all the food and I was so grateful for that! Cleaning the house was more than enough for this pregnant lady. Luckily, Charlie took a four hour nap that day (!) and John worked himself to death and we got it all done. I even had a little extra time to decorate (which I seldom do for showers because I'm usually frantically trying to finish cleaning or cooking!)

I used my mom and grandma's antique dolls and my mom's Bessie Pease Gutmann darling little girl prints to decorate the mantel.

Charlie woke up from his nap and saw the pink pennant banner and said, "Surprise!" I appreciated that he noticed. :)

I staged the piano for the gifts with my antique baby scale, which I pretty much only use as a baby shower decoration.

Some of the lovely co-hostesses and attendees: Alana, Holly, Kate and Sue.

L-R: Sam, Shelley, Carolyn, Chelsea and Lizzie

Opening presents! Oh, it was so fun to see all the darling baby girl things that Chelsea got!

The whole group (two versions so that both Annie and I could be in the picture).

We had so much fun celebrating and I know that Chelsea loved getting a chance to see everyone before she and her family move to Boise later this summer (sob!)

Happy Birthday, Elizabeth!

2011-06-17T09:34:00.002-06:00

It's this little girl's first birthday! I love Skyping with her and her parents. Last night as we were Skyping, I would ask her "How old are you?" and she'd ever so coyly raise one little finger. Precious. I can't wait to see her in July!! Happy Birthday, Elizabeth!

Feeling Lucky?

2011-06-06T11:26:00.002-06:00

Could I ever be lucky enough to win this giveaway from Oh Happy Day? A trip for two to Paris!! I will have my fingers crossed until she announces the winner!

Contest!

2011-05-30T08:54:00.002-06:00

My blog friend, Kate, from My Next Life, is having an amazing contest on her blog. She's giving away an original painting valued at $800 for free! All you have to do is a leave a comment on her blog. Make sure to mention that I sent you (then I get another entry, sneaky sneaky!) Since I own hardly any furniture of my own, I would use the painting (if I win) as inspiration to start acquiring some furniture! Check it out!

Red Butte Garden

2011-05-28T07:42:00.004-06:00

We had a break in the (unpleasant, wet, rainy, cloudy, cold) weather and enjoyed a GORGEOUS day at Red Butte Garden. Man, that place is so beautiful! Charlie loved all the water features, shrubbery tunnels, giant sand pit and the lizard sculptures. I loved having John there to chase Charlie around.

Family history stories

2011-05-22T18:00:00.000-06:00

My grandparents on their wedding day with their parents

My grandparents, Harold and Beverly, with their siblings as attendants

The other night I attended the viewing of my great Aunt Ruby. She was my father's aunt, my maternal grandmother's sister. My brother, Steve, and I went to represent my parents who live out of the country and by extension, my grandparents who have passed away. While we were there, we saw our Aunt Pat, another one of Grandma's sisters and she told us some great family stories! We loved listening to her and seeing her vibrant personality and sparkling blue eyes. She looks so much like Grandma!

Aunt Pat told us that she was close with all of her sisters growing up, but had an especially close bond with Beverly (my grandmother). They looked alike and lived close by each other (one on Hubbard Ave. and one on Wilson Ave.) They shopped at the same grocery store and the cashiers would get confused and ask, "What did you forget?" not realizing that the person they had seen earlier was a different sister! They often would wear similar outfits to events without coordinating it- they once showed up to a wedding in identical clothes! They both drove gigantic Packard cars. They even had the same watch! One time when Aunt Pat and Uncle Dee were serving a mission in Canada, my grandparents went to visit them. Aunt Pat's watch was in the bathroom and Grandma put it on, not realizing it wasn't hers.

On that same trip to Canada, my grandpa was wearing a pair of Dockers pants, which were a new casual khaki style. Uncle Dee (who only had dress clothes with him on his mission) kept commenting on how great the pants were, asking, "What are those called again? They sure are great pants!" When Grandma and Grandpa left to go home, Grandpa left his Dockers for Uncle Dee.

My one of my favorite stories about my Grandma came from Aunt Pat at Grandma's funeral in 1999. She said when they were growing up, they'd play with baby dolls and Grandma's babies were always girls. Aunt Pat asked what she would do if she had a boy one day? Grandma replied, "I'll throw him in the "banure" pile!" And of course, my grandparents ended up having five sons and no daughters!

Aunt Pat and Grandma were expecting babies around the same time and ended up delivering within days of each other at the same hospital. In those days, women and newborns stayed for five days. Aunt Pat said she remembers sneaking into each others' rooms to visit. Aunt Pat had a girl and my grandma had her fourth boy (my Uncle Matt). My grandpa kept teasing, "You got OUR girl!" and apparently mentioned it a lot throughout his life!

Aunt Pat told us that my grandma dressed her five boys so immaculately. They always looked so nice. But she and her mother (Lily Watkins Searle) noticed that there was always a pleat or ruffle somewhere on their dress shirts. Aunt Pat thought Grandma just had to sneak something girlie in there! Grandma Lily wasn't as positive- she thought that they would turn out to be "sissies".

After Aunt Pat brought up Grandma Lily (my great-grandmother), Steve mentioned that he has a daughter named Lily, who has quite the vivacious personality. Aunt Pat said that's just how her mother Lily was! Her family would be laughing at the dinner table about something and her father (Keros Searle) would say, "Now, hasn't this joke gone on long enough?" and Lily would look at him like he was crazy! She was the spunky one and he was the reserved one.

Lily was the 32nd child of John Watkins, a Mormon pioneer (he traveled in the Martin handcart company across the plains) and a polygamist. Lily was his youngest child. He had a dream before she was born of a beautiful baby's face nestled in a calla lily. When he awoke, he said the expected child is a girl and her name will be Lily.

Aunt Pat has a granddaughter and a great-granddaughter named Lily. We chatted with Uncle Dick, Aunt Ruby's husband and he said he also has several progeny named after Grandma Lily. Aunt Pat told us she has 57 great-grandchildren! Uncle Dick and Aunt Ruby have 140 grandchildren and great-grandchildren combined! What a wonderful legacy! My grandmother didn't live to see any of her great-grandchildren, although my Grandpa was alive to meet his first great-grandchild, Kate. Now my grandparents have 36 great-grandchildren (including those expected this year).

It was such a wonderful opportunity to be there and talk to my relatives that I never get to see and hear such wonderful stories! I'm so glad I had that chance!

In the "wee" hours of the morning

2011-05-22T09:39:00.004-06:00

I woke up at about 2 am to Charlie crying and crying. I waited to see if he would go back to sleep on his own but he kept crying. So I got him a little drink of milk and headed into the dark nursery to give it to him. He normally just reaches for the milk and stops crying but he was really upset. I reached down to check to see if he'd wet through his diaper and jammies and my hand came into contact with skin! He was totally naked! I turned on the light and saw his fleece jammies totally unzipped, one leg completely out and his diaper off. Poor thing was soaking wet! I got him up and changed his clothes and of course, by then he was more awake and wanted to read some books. Toddlers are so funny.

Happy Birthday, Sissy!

2011-05-18T22:26:00.004-06:00

I just love this lady! It's been so fun to see her become a mom this year- she's really grown into this new role and is totally rockin' it out every day. I really respect her and how hard she works to make life for her family a lovely one. Happy birthday, Catherine! I wish I could be there to celebrate with you!

At our weddings:

From our childhood:

Easter 2011

2011-05-15T07:00:00.001-06:00

We dyed Easter eggs this year with Sam and Lily. I didn't want them to get their clothes dirty, so I had them put on some of John's old t-shirts- they were so cute in those giant shirts and they reminded me of when I was a little girl and wore my dad's shirts as nightgowns. I had a plan to keep Charlie occupied but also out of the dye and luckily it worked! I put him in his high chair with his own eggs (plastic) and bowls (empty) and he was so happy! He felt just like one of the big kids. I had Sam and Lily decorate their eggs with stickers to keep them out of the dye and we got some interesting results!

We planned to have our Easter egg hunt on Saturday. As we were waiting for Charlie to wake up from his nap, I went outside to check to see if the Easter bunny had visited yet. As I was "checking" in the backyard, I heard a loud rustling under the porch. It freaked me out so I went in and had John and Steve go out to investigate. Sure enough, my fears were realized and they found a huge, injured raccoon under the porch. Yuck. We obviously couldn't have our egg hunt outside with a possibly dangerous and/or rabid raccoon wandering around so I talked to the Easter bunny and he agreed to move all the carefully hidden eggs inside to the living room. Meanwhile, we called everyone we could think of to help us get rid of our guest. Let me enlighten you all- animal control, the division of wildlife, the fire department, and the police department, and Terminix will all NOT be willing to help you and will keep re-routing you to the other agencies. Without going into details (to protect the parties involved), we ended up taking matters into our own hands and the poor creature wasn't a problem any more.

The kids didn't care about being inside anyway and we had a great time watching them hunt for eggs. Charlie was a little bit sad and frustrated having to compete for the eggs but he got over it once we opened a few candy-filled eggs for him.

On Easter Sunday, we went to church and enjoyed the great lessons, hymns, and talks that focused on the Savior. After church we met up with John's family for a yummy dinner and money hunt. All John's siblings are grown (and some have kids of their own) but his parents still hide money all over the house for them to search for. It's so much fun and everyone is really into it. They best part is that the money is mostly in coins and it isn't hidden in eggs- picture quarters balanced on door frames and hidden between books. John and I didn't rake in the cash this year because we were hunting with Charlie but it gave us both so much joy to teach him the game and then watch him search the house for the coins.

It's been fun to start traditions of our own with Charlie and incorporate some of the ones of our childhood. From my childhood, I remember Easter baskets and candy but I mostly remember getting new Easter dresses and my whole family going over to my grandparents house to show them our outfits. My grandma took a picture of our whole family together each year and I love those photos now!

Here's a one of our Easter portraits

We had a nice celebration, what are some of your Easter traditions?

Papa Mark visits!

2011-05-14T08:00:00.001-06:00

My dad was in town for a couple of weeks in April and it was so much fun to have him! Charlie would wake up in the morning and call for "Papa!" first thing. We had so much fun with him here- he made a new swing for the big kids when he was last here and they got good use out of it. The weather was mostly rainy but we got outside on the few nice days. Sam and Lily had a bunch of sleepovers, Dad helped Steve and Kerry move, and we even had a combined March/May birthday party for half the family (John, Grandpa, Charlie are March birthdays and Steve, Lily and Cat are in May- we had everyone together except for Cat) so there was lots of quality time together.

Two of my favorite guys- my dad and my little boy!

Baby Niece

2011-05-11T22:52:00.000-06:00

I just got to Skype with this little cutie. Guess what she can say like a champ? "Baba". I will choose to believe that she's saying my name. What a little love. I can't believe she's going to be one year old soon!! I'm so excited to see her this summer!

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T09:03:00.004-06:00

Nothing makes you appreciate your own mother more than becoming a mother yourself! I'm grateful for my mom and all the other wonderful mothers in my life (aunts, mother-in-law, sister, and sisters-in-law) who I see in a different light now. I love you!

I'm grateful for Charlie who taught me how to be a mother and for this next little boy who will take it to the next level!

Charlie- 24 months

2011-05-08T08:44:00.009-06:00

John made this little pillow recliner one day for Charlie and he LOVED it!

Showing off his cute little scowl in the sandbox in the backyard

Charlie's talking so much more and doing the funniest things. Man, I love that kid and he is at a great age.

He loves things that are big. He says it the cutest way, "Beeeg!" So as we're driving around town, I hear "beeeg tah" (big truck) or "beeeg bus" (big bus) from the back seat. The other day he said "That's a big bus."

He loves when he hears an airplane in the air. He stops everything, puts his hand to his ear and says, "Lissen. A pane!" (Listen, airplane!) Then we have to search the sky until we see it and then we wave to the plane and say goodbye. Now that the weather is heating up, he gets confused by lawn mowers- they sound like airplanes you know.

He loves to point out the mama, dada and baby in groups, pictures, books, on tv, wherever. If he's playing with two toy cars, the big one is the mama or daddy and the little one is the baby. Then he'll often point out his Mama and Dada, which we love. This weekend for the first time, he recognized that he's the baby and said, "I baby." So darling. (Just in time for him to be dethroned as the baby in a few months.) Luckily, if I ask him if he's big or little, he loves to tell me he's big, so hopefully he'll still think it's cool to be big in September.

Right now he's playing a game where he falls down, then looks at me and asks, "Otay?" to which I'm supposed to reply, "Oh, are you okay?"

His favorite food recently is french fries. He loves them (let's be honest, who doesn't?) He can now ask for them and often will. He calls them "foof fies".

I taught him how to be "soft" and he'll take his little hand and rub it so softly across my cheek when I ask him to be soft.

He loves to be in the backyard. Despite new sand (thanks to Grandpa Mark) and new toys (thanks to the Easter bunny) in the sandbox, he still prefers digging in the dirt garden beds most of the time. We're trying to train him to pick up rocks and put them in his bucket (might as well put him to work, right?) The other day, Johnny was helping him and came across a big rock and said, "That's a big guy" which Charlie repeated every time word for word after that.

I've been visiting a chiropractor (whom I LOVE) for my pregnancy related aches and pains in my back and hips. It helps me so much and I really believe that going often will prevent other health problems. I've been meaning to get Johnny and even Charlie scheduled for that same kind of preventative care but just hadn't gotten around to it. Then last week, Charlie fell off the couch right onto his neck. It was really scary and I knew that he'd need to be adjusted by the chiropractor. So the next day, Charlie had his first visit to Dr. Kristina. It was so interesting to see how she adjusted his little body- it was so gentle! She just adjusted him while he played with toys in her office and he was so still and good for her.

Charlie loves the wonderful people in his life and has certain games he likes to play with each grown up when he sees them. For example, when Grandpa T gets home from work, Charlie grabs him by the hand and says, "C'mon! C'mon!" and takes him downstairs to the treadmill. He wants to watch Grandpa walk on it and walk along with him for about a minute and then he's done. But he will not give Grandpa any peace until they've performed this little ritual.

Johnny bought himself a bunch of Rokenbok (it's a combination building/marble run kind of toy- click on the link if you can't envision it) in college. Yes, college. He has had fun playing with it every now and then but it's mostly been in storage for years. But one morning John got up with Charlie and when I woke up, I found them building towers and ball runs. They build and play with it almost every morning. It's so cute to see them building and working on it together and Charlie loves it! It's a little too old for Charlie so we mostly just have the ball run set up for him.

He's starting to understand sharing and being kind and taking turns. He's still learning but I'm proud of his progress. I'll ask him which truck I (or Sam or James) can play with and he'll choose one out of his toys. If he wants something another kid has, he'll try to offer a different toy before he takes it. And a few times, he's given toys to other kids completely unsolicited.

He's our little pal and we love him a lot!!

Vote for Fictionist!

2011-05-06T14:50:00.003-06:00

Our boys Fictionist are rocketing to the top of the Rolling Stone competition. Can you believe that these guys from Salt Lake and Provo are getting national attention and are one of four finalists left competing for the cover of Rolling Stone magazine? I can, actually, because they're wicked talented and driven and always have been. Please vote for them by rating them 5 stars, sharing and liking on Facebook, and Tweeting about them. While you're there voting, you can download some of their music for FREE.

They deserve this big break! VOTE!

And for those of you who aren't too tired and pregnant (like me), they're playing a FREE show tonight in Provo with Paul Jacobsen and the Madison Arm. Check it out.

My littlest buddy

2011-04-28T20:27:00.002-06:00

Dear Baby,

We just found out that you are a boy! It's exciting and fun to think about having TWO sons soon and truthfully, a little bit exhausting! Your big brother is full of energy- he doesn't walk anywhere, he runs or jumps his way from room to room- and that gives me a glimpse into my future when I'll have two little active guys.

I love feeling your kicks in my belly. You're my little buddy throughout the day as I chase and play with and take care of Charlie and I think about you being along for the ride. You often kick when we sing songs or read books, I like that you're included on the fun.

I used to feel bad for second children because inevitably their lives aren't documented as much as first children. I have found that to be true for you, little buddy. I haven't taken any pictures of my belly and we didn't even take a videotape to the ultrasound (although that's more about the outdated technology of VHS). I haven't written many journal entries or blog posts for you. I haven't purchased a thing in anticipation of your arrival.

But I no longer feel badly for second children. True, I was probably more giddy with excitement and anticipation while pregnant with Charlie. But now that I actually AM a parent and I know how awesome it is, I am just full of joy that I get to do it again. And I think that makes being pregnant with you even better.

Love you little guy!

Love, Mama

Welcome Home, Elder Sam!

2011-04-18T10:41:00.003-06:00

On St. Patrick's Day we welcomed John's little brother, Sam, home from his LDS mission. He'd been serving for two years in the Baton Rouge, Louisiana mission and we were so excited to see him! He hadn't even met Charlie before! Despite Charlie being wary of Sam at first (lots of frowns and furrowed eyebrows), within ten minutes of playing with Sam, they are now best friends!

Charlie's birthday party

2011-04-05T21:38:00.004-06:00

Our great family gathered to celebrate Charlie's birthday. We met at the U of U Union the Saturday morning after Charlie's birthday for a round of bowling. Charlie remembered exactly what to do and had such a great time. He could lift the heavy balls and loved pushing them down the ramp. The bumpers ensured that the ball made it to the pins, even though it took quite awhile sometimes.

Grandpa T showing off his snazzy bowling shoes

My little birthday boy, love him...

Notice the dirty face- halfway through his bowling game, Charlie was more interested in Lily's bag of chips than bowling...

After we bowled (yay to Breea who got the highest score!), we went to our house for a pizza lunch, opening presents and cake. We gave Charlie a Blu-Ray of Bambi- it's so fun to watch these classic movies from my childhood with him.

The show stopper of the whole day was the "digger" cake that my friend Amy Bellamy made. The backhoe was made out of rice krispie treats and fondant and the chocolate cake was incredibly delicious!

Charlie knew what it was immediately and really wanted to play with the digger!

To appease the birthday boy, we let him use his new lego digger from Aunt Chelsea and Uncle Mark to scoop up his cake.

Thanks everyone for celebrating with us! We love this little guy!

Charlie is 2!

2011-03-24T16:26:00.005-06:00

Time just flies when you're having fun! Charlie, you are the light of our lives. You dominate our thoughts, conversations, and days and that's just how we like it. You are such a special individual and we're so blessed to have you in our family. It's so fun to watch more and more of your personality unfold. You crack us up, you make us cry with gratitude, and you teach us how to truly love. Happy birthday, Little Man, Big Guy, Cheby, Char-Char, Chucky Ricky, our little Charlie. We love you.

One week old...

One year old...

Charlie- 23 months

2011-03-23T22:00:00.000-06:00

We have an almost 2-year-old on our hands. He's so darling and fun but can throw a fit when he wants to!

He's getting so much better at talking. Often I'll hear, "Hel. Peas." from the other room which means, "Help, please!" So cute. He also likes to grab our hands (or push on our bums) to get us to come with him, usually while saying "C'mon".

If he hears a plane or dog barking, he puts his hand to his ear and cocks his head to the side. Then we all listen. The other day, he "listened" his way into Grandma and Grandpa T's backyard because he could hear the creek rushing.

He's loved to point out our noses or ears, so we've been teaching him other face parts. He now knows chin, cheeks, teeth and eyebrows.

We've had a few warm days (hallelujah) and have spent them at the park. He loves the slide, sandbox and climbing on the play structures but still doesn't want anything to do with the swing.

He's starting to learn his colors, although almost everything is blue. He loves to color (so do Sam and Lily) and his favorite part is putting the markers in and out of the package and taking the lids on and off.

He loves watching "Little Einsteins" and blasting off when Rocket blasts off. He gets so excited to countdown and blast off that he makes sure I'm watching, too and we do it together.

There's a large construction site a few blocks away and as we drive by Charlie yells out "dee!" when he sees the digger (backhoe) and "da ta" when he sees the dump truck. Often, we'll just sit in the car and watch all the heavy machinery for awhile.

Every night when John gets home from work, Charlie puts him through the "Charlielympics". It's basically a game of follow the leader through the living room, including crawling through the IKEA tunnel (yup, John goes through the tunnel), climbing over the ottoman, sitting in all the chairs and culminates in sitting in the tiny, child-sized rocking chairs. Charlie sits down in one and tries to get John to sit in the other one and every time, John has to say he's too big. Then Charlie will get up and trade chairs and try to get John to sit down in the other one.

He's started sitting down and "reading" to himself, which has me over the moon. He'll jabber along while looking at the pictures and sometimes, he'll say the words he knows go with each page. In particular, he's been loving his "Potty" book and reads the last three pages over and over ending with a big "Hip, hip, hooray!" (He's so into it that he puts the book on the floor, and stands up so he can jump on the "hooray!")

The biggest snowstorm we had this year (probably about 14 inches) and it was in March! Silly Utah. Charlie loved "helping" John shovel the driveway and then he and I explored the backyard. The snow was up to his waist and he needed my help to walk through it. Even with all his snow gear on, he climbed to the top of the playhouse and down the slide. He was so slippery that he slid off the slide and kept going for a few feet on the snow!

"Listening" to the stream in Grandma and Grandpa T's backyard led to throwing rocks in the gully, of course.

Checking out a pine cone at Liberty Park

Showing off his beautiful necklace- he's very into accessories recently, especially jewelry and hats

I love that he lines up all his cars, trucks, trains and buses in a row

We sure love our little man!

16 weeks

2011-03-22T15:45:00.000-06:00

I'm 16 weeks along with this pregnancy and time still feels like it's going very slowly. But I DO get to find out the gender in 4 weeks, so that's something to look forward to in the immediate future!

I started feeling the baby move this past week, which is so fun- it makes it seem so much more real (like there's actually a baby in there instead of just a life-sucking force.)

I'm totally showing and have been for weeks. It could be because this is my second pregnancy, or it could be my late night Wendy's habit- who can know? I DO know that I've been in my stretchy waist maternity jeans for 2 months already and I don't think they're gonna make it through to the end.

I'm feeling much better nausea-wise, although mornings are still hard until I force myself to eat something. And I definitely still have my dry heave moments, usually involving stinky laundry, gross stories, or poopie diapers. You know, the usual.

I'm still exhausted. I thought my energy would pick up a little bit now that I'm in the second trimester but I still am so wrecked by the end of the day (or at any given moment during the day). I nap with Charlie every day and it saves me. On the days I don't take a nap, I'm whimpering by 5 pm.

The weird aches and pains have started, too. I went to a movie last weekend with John and I was uncomfortable the whole time- I'm such a lemon.

The weird, vivid pregnancy dreams are back, too. Today I dreamt that I was trapped in a sinking ship with my family and all I had to help us survive was my cell phone and a set of bow and arrows. Wha?

I'm slowly wrapping my head around having TWO children. It will be strange and hard but I think it will be so much fun (once I get the hang of it!)

JohnnyT is 33!

2011-03-21T08:34:00.005-06:00

It's JohnnyT's birthday today. He's bummed that he's no longer 32, only because that means he's no longer 2 to the 5th power. What a nerd. Love him.

We spent the weekend together after a week basically apart. He spent four days in Las Vegas and two days here at two different work-related conferences- the SmallTalk and Mountain West Ruby conferences. Geek heaven.

It was so nice just to be together as a family. We went to the temple in the morning with his family and Elder Sam, recently returned from the Baton Rouge, Louisiana Mission, then spent time shopping at Gateway and eating an early dinner at Happy Sumo (wait, is it MY birthday? What a great day!) We bought JohnnyT some new pants and Charlie some rad sunglasses. Then John, Charlie and I played in the backyard until bedtime. It was cold but my boys weren't phased at all. Charlie decided to climb to the top of the fort and send all the golf balls down the slide. John spent the rest of the weekend working on house projects, including cleaning up my "desk of shame" in the kitchen and organizing it into a beautiful work station. (Again, whose birthday is it?) Sunday we heard Elder Sam's great talk in church and helped at the open house at Grandma and Grandpa T's house afterward. Lots of family and friends and for Charlie, throwing rocks into the gully.

Saturday, JohnnyT opened one of his presents- a canvas print of this photo which had us both a little teary-eyed. Sometimes we just get overcome with gratitude for our little family.

Then this morning, he opened another round of presents. These two shirts from BustedTees. The man loves a good geeky t-shirt- ahh, the joys of a tech department dress code (hint: there is none.)

Happy Birthday, JohnnyT! We love you so much!

Emergency preparedness- 72 hour kits

2011-03-15T18:17:00.006-06:00

With the disaster in Japan on my mind, I feel so helpless and scared. My heart is heavy with compassion for the people there and my head is full of worry about my own little family. Many of the recent disasters in the world have shown me that I need to be prepared, because a large scale disaster can strike any time and anywhere. So to combat my worry, I decided on a plan of action. My first step: to create 72 hour kits.

John and I were lucky enough to be gifted with kits for Christmas several years ago (thanks, Grandma and Grandpa T!) So I had a good start. First, I gathered clothes for our kits (which we had never added to ours). We happened to have gone through our closet last weekend in preparation for a yard sale, so I had a large stash of clothes to look through. I chose a pair of pants, shirt, and sweatshirt for each of us (along with socks and underwear). Then I found some comfortable shoes that were starting to look shabby but still had plenty of wear and added those. Charlie didn't have a kit at all, so I found an old backpack to fill with supplies for him. I chose clothes that he'd fit into for at least six months (my plan is to check and replace/replenish our kits every six months, more on that later). I added diapers, wipes, a blanket (lovey), and shoes. I had hand-me-down clothes and shoes for him that I didn't mind sacrificing to the kit- I recommend using the upcoming yard sale season (or your local thrift store) to find clothes for yourself or kids that you don't mind putting in your kits.

Next, I pulled out the contents of the kits to check the expiration dates on the water (yup, water expires) and food. Our kits have dehydrated/ration type food and a small amount of water. In our kits, the food was still good (several years later) but most of the water needed replacing. I just replaced it with bottled water from the grocery store. Each bottle had a small expiration date stamped on it, but I rewrote the date on the lids in Sharpie so it'd be easier for me to read next time I check it. For Charlie's kit, I put in some water and some packaged food that will last at least six months (mostly dehydrated apples and granola bars). As I did this, I wrote a REPLENISH card (idea from this excellent post by SeattleMamaDoc on emergency preparedness) which has the date I checked our kits, when I need to check them again, and when the food and water expires.

The rest of the kits' contents were in great shape. We have toiletries, toilet paper, garbage bags, a basic first aid kit, flashlights (both regular with batteries and emergency hand-crank), road flares, emergency solar blankets, waterproof matches, and an emergency whistle in ours.

SeattleMamaDoc's post lists more important items that our kits are missing: children's medicine, prescription medications, copies of important documents, games/books, and storable milk (for our milk drinking toddler). I will be tracking these items down and including them in the next few days.

Our finished kits- the shoes are attached on top for easy access (and because I couldn't fit them inside)

Another recommendation from her blog post that I think is excellent is purchasing a large storage tub for your kits and/or supplies. Our kits are in backpacks and are meant to be portable. However, we don't have enough water or food in them to last for 72 hours. Each person in your family needs 3 gallons of water per day (more for nursing mothers). So for our family, we need to have at least 27 gallons of water (and likely more). There's no way to fit that in our backpacks! We need a separate container for the water (perhaps some jugs like these) and all the food we will need.

Now, about the REPLENISH card. Writing a card and putting on or in the kit is not going to do me any good if I don't remember that it's there! SeattleMamaDoc recommends setting an appointment in your day planner, iCal or Google Calendar to check your kits every six months. I set mine up in Google Calendar to email me a reminder to check our kits. That happens to fall about four weeks after this baby is due. So our food and water and clothing needs will change at the time that I next check the kits.

It feels so good to have started to organize some emergency preparedness for our family. I'd love to hear about your ideas- it really helps to have buddies in this process!

Sophie's portraits- sneak peak

2011-03-14T22:17:00.003-06:00

I took some portraits of John's cousin's little girl, Sophie. Isn't she a doll?

Charlie- 22 months

2011-03-13T11:07:00.000-06:00

Still catching up, but here's some notes about Charlie at almost 2!

We have afternoon church now which means that Charlie often doesn't get a nap. One Sunday during sacrament meeting, he just conked out. It was so cute.

When Charlie wants to go outside he'll bring me his boots or my boots and say, "Boo" and then the sign for outside.

My two valentines dressed for the holiday and checking out our patchy snow after church.

Charlie's been more interested in drawing and the chalkboard. He loves it when I draw different shapes for him and he knows and can recognize several shapes (and a Stop sign!)

-He's started to put his finger to his mouth and say "Shhhhh..." He loves to do it while we say prayers.

-He's talking lots more; one of our favorite things he says is, "I deeee!" which means, "I did it!"

-We're all working so hard on teaching and learning to share and take turns. The other day, he gave James a toy without being prompted. And then when he wanted it back, he kept signing please and waited patiently until James gave it to him. We were all so proud of both of them! (Of course, ten minutes later Charlie was tackling James to the ground to get something that he had).

-Learning to have bottles only at naps and bedtime (this is a Mom and Dad learning curve!) We're hoping to phase the bottle completely out by his 2nd birthday.

He's finding more humor in life all the time. He recently started cracking up while watching certain TV shows or reading certain books (especially Blue Hat, Green Hat).

-John has been making forts out of blankets and couches and Charlie loves them. Hiding and chasing are two of his favorite things and having a fort to hide in or chase through has just amped up the fun!

-He loves playing with toddler apps on the iPad and can navigate them pretty well.

Different this time around

2011-03-08T18:18:00.003-07:00

Thank you all for your kind words about our new little one. We are very excited. I'm sure many of you have felt the way I do right now- it's a little overwhelming to think about actually having two children. Whoa. The practical aspects of it sometimes blow my mind.

Being pregnant this time around is just so different. I feel better than I did with Charlie, but it could just be that I'm more used to it and I'm busy chasing my toddler around. I've been less nauseated but so so SO tired. I have to take a nap every day or I just cannot function. So if you call me around 1 pm I won't be available. :) I'm so lucky that Charlie still takes a good nap every day- I'd be sunk without that break.

I feel like this pregnancy is going so s l o w l y. I'm 14 weeks now but I feel like I've been pregnant forever. And have forever still to go.

The main difference in this pregnancy is that I'm not just sitting and dreaming about this baby all day as much as I did with Charlie. I'm already so focused on Charlie and delighted by him that I just don't think about it. I definitely have those, "Oh yeah, I'm pregnant" moments. I am excited for sure and so happy but it's just different.

I am totally convinced I'm having another boy just because that is what is familiar to me. I am in boy mode. I will be shocked if I'm having a girl (although, the odds are 50/50).

I'm going to need one of these...

2011-03-02T20:16:00.003-07:00

and Charlie's going to need one of these...

image from Etsy

because baby number 2 is due on Labor Day! We are very excited and happy to add to our little family! Thanks to everyone who already knows for their joy (and help!)

Jolly Green Giant giveaway winner

2011-03-01T08:21:00.000-07:00

Hi all-

I forgot to announce the winner of the Jolly Green Giant giveaway. I entered the possible number of commenters into Random.org and the winner is commenter #5, Kimi and Joe! I'll contact you shortly to get you your prize. Thanks for playing along!

On friendship, sisters and bravery

2011-02-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

Do you know my friend, Casey? She is kind of a big deal. Our story is one of those "we were childhood friends who grew apart because of life's circumstances and then were reunited because of the blogging world" old chestnuts.

Barb and Casey, circa 2007 (yes, we're at Baskin-Robbins in the dead of winter, what of it?)

Casey found my blog one day and we reconnected. We had both changed a lot since our days of playing on the same street and planning elaborate pet talent shows. We became friends again based on the adults we now are, not the children we were. Even though she lives in Indiana, I feel lucky that I'm on the shortlist of people she wants to see when she comes back home for a visit.

At the premiere of Twilight- I've never heard so many preteens squealing all in one place!

Casey's expertise in navigating the blogging world has given me courage- she helps me to be brave enough to try new things (I've called her my security blanket before). She has opened her soul to her readers on her blog in a way that can only be described as honest, admirable and raw, even. She has struggled with horrible demons and challenges like depression and infertility and come through it stronger and purified as if by the refiner's fire. She is one of the bravest people I know.

at the Pioneer Woman's book signing last year

Casey is expecting her second daughter (nicknamed Mozzi) who joins her first little cutie whose nickname was The Moosh. She will have two girls and they will have a sister. I have a sister, as does Casey- we know firsthand that sometimes a girl just needs her sister. Both of us are separated from our sisters by large geographical distances. I think sisterhood and friendship are closely linked- sometimes, if you're lucky, you can find sisters in the world to be your surrogate sister. That's what I wish for Casey- that she will always have sisters around her to help her through those hard times. (So far, she's got a small army all organized by Emily to throw her this virtual baby shower!) And that's what I wish for Mozzi- that she and The Moosh will love and support each other.

at the Casual Blogger Conference last year

Congratulations, Casey! I'm so happy that another baby gets to have you for a mom, because you're awesome at it.

Nighttime

2011-02-25T19:02:00.002-07:00

Charlie, I love our nighttime routine. Usually Daddy is home and we do the routine all together, the three of us. It doesn't take very long, but it is my favorite time of day.

We get your bottle out of the fridge and head into the bedroom. This turns into a game of "I'm gonna get you..." that you never seem to tire of. You and daddy hide under the covers on the big bed until I find you. You always scream and laugh.

I love putting lotion on your lovely skin, keeping the eczema you've had your whole life at bay.

I love putting on your footie pajamas and telling you "One arm, two arm. One leg, two leg." and having you help put on your jammies.

I love going into the nursery together. Daddy carries you and then lets me get settled in the glider and then hands you to me- you are getting heavy and I let Dad do the heavy lifting whenever I can.

I love your independence and I remind myself of that when we struggle to get your teeth brushed. We do it in the glider and it takes a lot of patience on our parts as we convince you to take turns brushing- Charlie's turn, Mama's turn, Charlie's turn, Dada's turn. Charlie's turn involves lots of chewing toothbrush bristles and asking for more toothpaste.

I love reading books to you on my lap while Dad sits on the footstool nearby. Sometimes Dad does the reading and I sit on the footstool, but I love that Daddy lets me have more than my fair share of turns snuggling you and reading to you. I love that you can find the moon (and lots of other things) in your favorite books, including Goodnight, Moon, Goodnight, Gorilla, Pajama Time, and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

After a few books, we sing songs. I love hearing your dad sing with me to you. We add new ones every so often, but the favorites are Itsy, Bitsy Spider, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, I am a Child of God, Snow is Falling all Around, and Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. We always end with "May There Always Be Sunshine" a song we learned at Kindermusik. (It's a Russian children's song and there are many versions, this is how we sing it each night). (Mama usually does the signs as we sing).

May there always be sunshine,
May there always be blue skies,
May there always be mama,
May there always be me.

May there always be laughter,
May there always be big hugs, (with a big SQUEEZE from Dad)
May there always be daddy,
May there always be me.

I love praying with you each night, Dad and I taking turns saying the prayer. I'm excited for the day when you will pray in your own little voice, right now you just listen.

I love getting you into your crib and making sure you have your two blankies and your toy giraffe and the rest of your bottle. You snuggle right up and "get cozy".

I love that after we have turned out the light and turned on the sound machine, we always say, "Goodnight, buddy. We love you. See you in the morning."

And I love that after we shut the door, your dad and I turn to each other and say, "I love that guy." We love you so much, Charlie. We are so lucky.

Jolly Green Giant giveaway (*sponsored post)

2011-02-21T15:25:00.005-07:00

As a child, my parents were great about letting us try different activities. I remember trying lots of things once and not really sticking with anything. One of the things we tried was a children's contemporary dance class at a studio called Virginia Tanner Dance. I remember that my sister and I were placed in the beginning class because we were total novices. However, many of the children in our class were much younger than us. Over the course of the class we had to create and then perform an original piece of choreography to go along with our assigned color. We were assigned green so we made up a dance with tall, tree-like moves (I think that's what we did. It seems really weird now, but that's kind of what I remember doing.) Then we were given our costumes- they were green leotards with different patches of green fabric sewn on. The green patchwork costumes coupled with our obvious larger stature led my sister and I to dub ourselves the Jolly Green Giants of the group. That was not my favorite performance.

Our costumes were remarkably similar to this

image source

I've always thought of that story when I see the Green Giant brand and now you can, too!

Anyway, I have an opportunity to give away a fun little prize package to one of you. I received a prize package from Green Giant and MyBlogSpark to test out. The prize package included one frozen sample of Green Giant boxed vegetables, an insulated tote bag, serving bowl, a heat-resistant serving spoon, and pedometer. I actually was most excited about the insulated bag- I have already used it to take a pot of soup to someone in the hospital and it was still steaming hot an hour after I got there. I was impressed!

Frozen vegetables work really well in our house because I never know who will be here for dinner and when, so they are a lot more convenient than fresh produce sometimes. This particular package of veggies was a broccoli and cheese one- something that both of my particular boys will eat. And they have Weight Watchers points on the package for those of you who might be interested in that.

Please leave a comment on this post telling me what your favorite or least favorite vegetable is to enter to win your own prize package (the insulated tote alone is worth it, but all the other stuff is pretty cool, too.) You have until Friday, February 25th to enter.

Charlie-21 months

2011-02-21T06:00:00.001-07:00

Giveaway post still open below!!

I'm a little behind on my updates: we've just been busy playing with our fun little guy. I just love this age- Charlie is talking more and more every day and he says the funniest things. He is just the most fun little companion throughout my day. Here's some of what he's been up to.

He's been saying "mmmmMMMMmmmm" with so much emphasis. He does it while eating but also sometimes in the bathtub while drinking bath water (gross).

He hides so quietly that sometimes it takes me a few minutes to find him. Before, I usually could find him by his excited giggles but now he's figured out stealth hiding. Luckily, he has a few favorite spots and can often be found in them (behind the rocking chair, by my side of the bed, in my closet behind my clothes, under the dining room table, behind his curtains in his room, up the ramp toward Grandma Barb's apartment, etc.)

Playing with stickers at church- this kept him occupied for at least 20 minutes

He still loves his trains and plays with them every day

He loves to play the piano with mom, dad or by himself- he really likes to turn the pages of the Children's Songbook and look at the illustrations

Charlie is the only child in our ward's nursery. He loves it, though, because it means he gets to have all these great toys to himself!

This child LOVES the snow. He will go out and "help" shovel whenever given the chance.

Look at that pure joy on his face!

He often begs for a "no ba" (translation: snowball) and often eats them on the couch like a treat. This one day I convinced him to wear his mittens so his hands wouldn't get too cold.

When Sam and Lily got new bikes for Christmas, Lily let Charlie borrow this old bike of hers so he wouldn't feel left out. He can't ride it, but he loves to sit on it or be pushed around on it.

We finished Kindermusik (which we LOVED) and started a Gymboree class (with James and Chelsea). It's been so great for these two little boys to get out all their energy on the fun slides, ramps, and mats. Charlie has a look of intense concentration on his face the whole time- he hardly talks or smiles because he is so focused on the "work" of climbing and sliding and picking up balls and rolling them down the slides and ramps.

(John joined us on the last day of Kindermusik. You can see our teacher Ms. Katie and Chelsea and James all playing the drums.)

Here's Charlie exploring a tunnel at Gymboree

Charlie found this Lilo and Stitch hat at Sam and Lily's house and they graciously let him have it (I think my dad bought it for them at Disney on Ice?) He wears it at least once every day. His favorite thing to do is put on this hat and a multi-colored string of beads and go running through the house, sometimes running into walls and doors.

Charlie found my Grandma Bonnie's old magnifying glass and he LOVES it. He thinks it is the funniest thing ever!
Charlie is getting really attached to his matchbox cars and trains- he carries them around with him and gets upset when he can't hold them all at once. He lined them up on the couch like that all by himself. Also pictured, his two blankies (a green one and a blue one) that he needs to sleep.

The number one comment we get about Charlie is his cute, curly hair. This was a great shot John took of his hair at church.

And here's the rare day when his naptime habits flattened out all his curls- he looks like a completely different kid! (He LOVES to color and has really great fine motor skills. His favorite part of coloring is taking all the crayons out of the box one by one and then putting them all back in.)

Another shot of his "straight" hair

We love this little boy!! He's just the most fun!

Vote for Fictionist for the cover of ROLLING STONE!

2011-02-16T11:10:00.004-07:00

I've written about Fictionist before (here and here)- they are an awesome Utah band made up of extremely talented guys (two of whom are my high school friends). They are one of 16 bands in a Battle of the Bands contest where the winner will be on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine and get to play on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. This is a HUGE opportunity for them and they have worked so hard for it. Plus, their music really is some of the best out there right now. Please click on the widget below to rate them 5 stars, as well as Tweet about them and "Like" them on Facebook. You can see all the official rules here.

Love is...

2011-02-15T12:19:00.003-07:00

photo from ara133photography on Etsy

...making a big pot of soup so that there's plenty to share with someone in need.

...requesting your husband clean the shower for Valentine's Day and waking up to the sounds of scrubbing.

...wet toddler kisses.

...watching Modern Marvels and 30 Rock together.

...doing the dishes, taking out the garbage, bringing in the milk, changing the dirty diaper, or doing the laundry.

...being remembered.

...sharing the best thing about your day.

...requests from a little boy to build forts or fetch fruit snacks. "C'mon, Mom!"

...friendship that endures through time, distance, and big life changes.

...knowing that wrestling a toddler in church is worth it because the truth of the gospel means I can be with my family forever

Hope you had a Happy Valentine's Day!

Original, affordable art from Hue and Hum

2011-02-08T08:00:00.000-07:00

Are you searching for a Valentine's Day gift(s)? You will love this idea.

My friend, Caitlin, is an artist married to Robbie, her musician husband/high school sweetheart. They have a blog called Hue and Hum where they write about their cool life- including art, music, home improvement projects, crafting, traveling the world, and most recently, their puppy, Albus.

Here's the good news for you- Caitlin aka "Hue", is offering two Valentine's Day prints for a pay what you want price. She's created two unique pieces of art- a "Friend-tine" and a "Lover-tine" and both are beautiful. It's such a great opportunity to get original artwork but also stay within your budget- because you are setting the price!

For all the details about how to get this great (and AFFORDABLE!) piece of art, visit Hue and Hum.

(p.s.- watch for a free original song from "Hum" (aka Robbie from the awesomely talented band Fictionist) to be released on Valentine's Day!)

Happy Birthday, Mom!

2011-02-04T12:47:00.003-07:00

I miss you and love you so much! I'm glad I live in a time when the internet, email, and Skype exist so that I can talk to you even though you live on the other side of the world. We'll celebrate with Aunt Barbara here (my mom's twin) and think of you!

My parents and their four grandchildren- Fall 2010

Grandma reading to baby Charlie

The posterity- Charlie, Lily, Elizabeth, and Sam

My mom, Beverly, and her twin sister, my Aunt Barbara

Me and Mom on my wedding day

The Next Generation

2011-02-03T12:15:00.003-07:00

I got together with some girlfriends and their kids for a play date in January. It was so satisfying to see that our overly idealistic and optimistic teenaged selves weren't just dreaming when we said that we'd be friends forever and our kids would play together one day.

L-R Kate (Amy's daughter), Evelyn (Susie's first daughter), Charlie (my very sleepy son), and Alyce (Susie's second daughter)

The first generation- Susie, Amy and me (we aren't quite "little old ladies having a luncheon together" but we'll get there)

I read it in 3.5 hours

2011-02-01T15:39:00.003-07:00

Ree Drummond's (aka The Pioneer Woman) memoir arrived on my doorstep yesterday. I read it today during Charlie's nap and during his snack- I read it in one sitting! I just couldn't put it down. I am a big fan of her blog and writing anyway, but this really is a well written memoir- I think many people would enjoy it even if they weren't familiar with her blog. Ree will be in Salt Lake on February 10th for a *book signing at the Salt Lake Main library (downtown) sponsored by the King's English bookstore. I hope I can meet her this time!

*I just called King's English to get the scoop. You have to pick up a free ticket (each person can pick up two tickets) at their bookstore (1511 South 1500 East in SLC) to get admission to the book signing. Once at the library, your ticket gets you into the auditorium for a reading and then guarantees a place in a signing group.

5 years ago today...

2011-01-21T13:10:00.001-07:00

I married this man. And I would do it again in a heartbeat. I love you, John.

Hello, Friends

2011-01-08T23:59:00.002-07:00

I love it when my friends come to town for the holidays and I get to see them! It was extra fun to have Johnny along to hang out with the husbands.

We went to Cafe Rio to see Madelyn and Cody (in town from Texas) and Blake and Amy (in town from England by way of New York).

Amy, Susie, Madelyn, Barb

Johnny, Scott (who is now a new dad!), Blake, Amy (not pictured, cutie baby Kate), Cody, Mads

We met up with the Drs. April (and their baby in utero!) at Hires with Melanie and Riley and darling little Bronco.

Carolyn, Mike, Riley, Bronco, Melanie, Barb, Charlie (thanks, Johnny for taking the pic)

Charlie- 20 months

2011-01-07T23:31:00.004-07:00

Charlie, you are still just the most fun ever. You are talking more and more (I started a spreadsheet of all the words you know to be able to keep track! It's two pages now). You say funny things, too, in your little baby language and we think you are hilarious. You are learning that hitting will get you a time out "sit down" and that you get lots of praise and love for "soft hugs", hopefully these measure will begin to pay off soon. It's sad for everyone when you aren't soft. You were 20 months old all of December and it was so fun to see you really understand some of the fun Christmas things. You know who Santa is and liked to find the Santa doll at Grandma and Grandpa T's house. You loved opening presents. You wanted every ornament on the tree to be a ball and you tested the aerodynamic properties of each one. Everything was more special with you around this year. We are so lucky that you are ours! Here's some of the photo highlights:

Finding a Charlie-sized hiding place under the coffee table

Helping Daddy set up the Christmas tree

A spontaneous hug you gave Sam just melted my heart

Having some toast with your cousin, James

Coloring with Sam and Lily- check out the look of concentration on Charlie's face

Charlie loves this bottom shelf of the kitchen bookshelf and one day he thought it'd be a nice spot to sit and enjoy an apple

"Playing" Wii bowling with Sam and Lily

Baby goth or marker eater?

I attempted a trip to Costco with all three kids one day. It actually was great- Lily wanted to sit next to Charlie and both big kids entertained him while we waited in line.

Playing in the snow with cousins- they wanted to build a snowman and Charlie just wanted to eat the snow

Charlie loves to put things on the phone cradle- look carefully, that's a remote control, not the cordless phone
All dressed up in his suit for church

My handsome boys
We bought Charlie a little potty seat, just so we'd have one to try to start using before baths and showers (you know, when he usually pees on the floor). He loved having his own little seat! I'm sure it will be many (many, many) months before we even start thinking about real potty training.

Charlie emptied his bucket of blocks and walked around with it on his head for fifteen minutes, slowly bumping into tables and chairs and walls as he went. What a funny little guy.

My first Monday of 2011 was spent...

2011-01-03T11:31:00.004-07:00

-Coloring pictures with Charlie for an hour. He loved to pick out the crayons from the box, one by one, then carefully situating them in his coloring hand (he's a righty). Sometimes this took both hands to manage. Then he'd color a little bit then want to pull out the next one. Once he got them all out, I'd put them back in and he would start again.

-Skype-ing with my sister, who is so far away. She wrote a great post for going into the new year, you should check it out.

-Putting all of the frozen goods back into the freezer that after Charlie unloaded it. He knows that Daddy keeps a few snowballs in there for Charlie to have when he gets a bonk and needs a little snowball to eat feel better. After he unloaded all my bags of frozen fruit, vegetables and burritos, he found his snowball and contentedly ate it while sitting on the couch.

-Folding laundry, specifically towels. I prefer to have all white towels so that I can bleach them and dry them on hot without worrying about fading. I love a warm towel out of the dryer.

-And while I was folding towels, I watched Oprah's new network, OWN. I am such a groupie but I really do love Oprah. One of the shows featured Diane Sawyer (whom I didn't know I loved but I do after watching her for an hour) and she said the most incredible thing, "Criticism is just a bad way of making a request. Why don't you just make the request?" Life changing.

Christmas Day 2010

2011-01-01T12:30:00.001-07:00

We had so much fun on Christmas morning with Charlie. He was a very good boy and got a few big presents. The first one, a basketball hoop, was set up in the kitchen. He saw it first thing when he woke up. His face was so priceless and he said, "Ba-baw!" (which, if you don't happen to speak Charlie's toddler language, means "Basketball!") He picked up the little rubber basketball and made his first basket! (He didn't make any of the ones after that, but he's a great dunker.)

Charlie's other big present was a new train set (and a very generous loan of Steve and Kerry's train set, too). Charlie loves connecting all the magnetic cars and pushing them around the track. We Skyped with my parents and Catherine and Richard and Elizabeth. It was so fun for them to see Charlie's excitement in his trains. He kept jumping up and down!

After we opened presents, we went to Steve and Kerry's house to exchange presents with them and see Sam and Lily's new toys. It was so fun to see them and eat Kerry's family's traditional breakfast rolls- white rolls stuffed with scrambled eggs and shaved beef. Yummy. Sam and Lily worked to earn money then bought us gifts from the dollar store. They were so proud of their purchases, it was really sweet. (You can see Charlie's cute Christmas outfit that only lasted a few hours, then he was back in his jammies for the rest of Christmas day.)

John's parents' house- we had our traditional brunch, while we waited for his brother Sam to call from his LDS mission. (Missionaries are only allowed to call home twice a year, otherwise they email and write). After talking with Sam, we opened presents. One of my favorite traditions is that we exchange dollar gifts with each other. They're always so creative! This year, one the favorites was a tiny flint and steel to put in our camping or emergency preparedness kits. Charlie and James were really into the presents this year. James gave Charlie a Mr. Potato Head set that kept him occupied for over an hour! (Which was really great because he didn't end up napping at all on Christmas day).

Christmas Nativity

2011-01-01T12:27:00.002-07:00

John's family has a special Family Home Evening the Monday before Christmas where we read the Christmas story from the scriptures, re-enact the Nativity with figurines, and sing Christmas hymns. It's such a great tradition and I hope that Charlie will be more into next year. :)

Christmas Eve 2010

2011-01-01T11:55:00.008-07:00

Christmas Eve was spent doing last minute gift preparations, making Christmas treats, listening to Christmas music, playing outside in the "snow", and a trip to see the Zoo Lights followed by a festive dinner and presents.

We didn't have any new snow on Christmas, but that didn't stop Charlie from finding the few patches on our lawn to munch on.

My parents bought Sam and Lily new bikes for Christmas and John assembled them, with lots of "help" from Charlie. He was really good at standing right where John was working to keep careful watch over everything.

We spent a huge chunk of time making homemade caramel chocolate dipped pretzels and peppermint marshmallows to give as gifts the next morning. Luckily, Charlie took a 4 (!) hour nap so we had lots of time to work. There was a steep learning curve, but we'll be better next year.

Then we met up with Steve, Kerry, Sam, Lily, and Grandma Barbara to hit the Zoo Lights. We'd never been before. It wasn't too cold, although pretty crowded. I just made it much worse by standing in the middle of the walkways to take pictures of the lights, whoopsies. It was fun to have an activity to do before we ate ourselves into a food coma.

I made my first Christmas Eve dinner- ham, mashed potatoes, cucumber/tomato salad, pomegranate, feta, walnut green salad, artisan bread, green beans, and pumpkin pie. Luckily I had lots of help, but I was still exhausted after!

Then it was time to open presents- we had Sam and Lily close their eyes and brought in their new bikes covered with blankets. I think the pictures say it all- the looks on their faces were priceless. They were thrilled!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-23T09:05:00.001-07:00

Winter Solstice Lunar Eclipse- insert Twilight joke here

2010-12-20T07:20:00.002-07:00

Are you going to stay up tonight to watch the lunar eclipse?

In this part of the world, there will be a total lunar eclipse which is definitely interesting, but I don't know if it's worth sacrificing sleep over. However, the real reason to stay up to watch is because today is also the winter solstice. A total lunar eclipse on the solstice hasn't happened in 372 years! The pinnacle will be tonight (well, technically early tomorrow morning) at 12:41 am (MST), if you want to catch it.

More information and photo credit, on NASA's web page.

Gingerbread Houses 2010

2010-12-19T20:37:00.002-07:00

One of my favorite Christmas traditions, making gingerbread houses! We waited until Charlie had gone to bed (he's still a little young) and made our houses with Sam and Lily from kits I purchased at Costco last year for 6 bucks.

Black family photos

2010-12-16T11:38:00.003-07:00

Thank you to Erin (who I will always think of as "Danza", her Brighton Girls Camp counselor name) and Matt for letting me photograph your beautiful family! We braved the cold to take photos at one of my favorite spots in downtown Salt Lake, Exchange Place. We had our photos there taken by Jeanette and I still love it. There's so much interesting architecture crammed into one street! It has the added benefit of being right by John's office, so I could go inside and warm up afterward.

Taco Night Winner

2010-12-14T14:22:00.003-07:00

The winner of the Taco Night giveaway is...

lucky number 1 (that seriously never happens!) Congratulations to Maren! You should see your prize package soon!

Thanks to everyone who commented!

Taco Night Giveaway (*sponsored post)

2010-12-09T16:12:00.005-07:00

I'm not found cooking dinner often. (Confession, I'm typing this on my laptop on top of the stove which is also covered in today's mail. Fire hazard? Eh, I live on the edge.) Lots of factors contribute to this, not least of which is I don't have a lot of recipes in my repertoire. However, I AM working on cooking dinner more often. The other night I made dinner out of the ingredients I had on hand and came up with Taco Night! It's always a hit with my ~~extremely~~ particular fellas (even Charlie will eat it), it's easy, fast, and let's face it, cheap.

I'm happy to announce a giveaway by the folks at Old El Paso because theirs is a product I actually use on the occasions that I do cook. I always have some taco seasoning in the cupboard (wayyy in the back behind the Pirate's Booty and pita chips) and I'm always pleased with how it pulls together my random ingredients into a MEAL!

If you're an infrequent cook like me, or a regular cook, or a gourmet chef, you'll want to comment on this post. One randomly selected commenter will win a prize package from Old El Paso and MyBlogSpark, which includes:

-a $10 Visa card to buy Taco Night ingredients (or anything that you want, truthfully)
-a packet of Old El Paso taco seasoning
-a collection of kitschy cute plastic serving dishes

If you don't win (or heck, even if you do) head over to MyBlogSpark and download a coupon for $0.60 off of any 2 Old El Paso products. Here's some new recipes to use them on: Double-Layer Tacos and Chicken Ranch Tacos.

For one entry leave a comment with your favorite "go-to" meal.
For an additional entry, blog, Tweet or Facebook about this giveaway (leave a separate comment).
For an additional entry, become a "follower" (in the column to the right) of this blog (leave a separate comment).
Please comment by Monday, December 13th at 11:59 p.m.
Winner announced sometime Tuesday, December 14th.

*MyBlogSpark and Old El Paso provided me with a prize package to sample and one to giveaway but the opinions expressed are my own.