Merry Christmas!

Today was the Little Lady's first Christmas! We think that she's starting to get a little less colicky! We've actually been able to eat a few meals sitting down together (meaning one of us doesn't have to be standing holding her). I think she's just a high maintenance baby. But now we're starting to understand the little things that she likes. For example, we recently figured out that if you put something over her face she'll go sleep. It's not something heavy so she can't breathe just a washcloth will work. In church yesterday, I laid her down on the chair next to me and put her burp rag over her face and she went to sleep! I was shocked and so were the people around me!

Tomorrow we're going to brave the 7 hour drive to Utah to visit our families. The hubby has the week off and so we're going to go spend a few days with my family, then go be with his family and go skiing. I'm really excited to see the snow and be with family but I hate traveling (just being away from home). Plus, the drive is killer.

We'll come back Saturday and pick up the little foster man again. We'll have him for another monthish and then he's going to live with a relative! Anyway, we had a great Christmas! Santa was good to us. The Babe was so excited because he got the scooter he ask for.

Christmas Eve Traditions

Tonight being Christmas Eve, I've been thinking about our traditions. We, like thousands of other people, read the Christmas story from the bible. We also like most people try to have pajamas to open and wear. We try to have a nice dinner whether it is with our immediate family or extended. We have a special Christmas candle that I like to light on Christmas Eve and again Christmas day. Most years, we have a family that we do that 12 days of Christmas to, so we deliver the last gift and reveal who we are. We often finish up wrapping presents, delivering goodies to the neighbors, and sometimes go look at Christmas lights. If a piano is available, we usually end up singing Christmas songs.

Tonight we are embarking on a new Christmas phase in our lives. Our oldest is now almost 3 and understands that Santa is coming. So we've been playing it up all month, telling him how if he isn't good then Santa won't bring him presents. Tonight, after the Babe goes to bed, I'm making the hubby take some sleigh bells out by his window and yell, "Ho, Ho, Ho." We'll also do the traditional plate of cookies for Santa and carrot for Rudolph.

I can hardly wait to see his sparkling eyes tomorrow morning when he sees that Santa has come. I'm so excited to watch him open his presents and force him to stop playing with one so he can open the others. I love the excitement that he has. I wish you could bottle that. He was in the store the other day when we saw a Santa who was "off duty" shopping. He got so excited he made us go back to see Santa. He even wanted to invite Santa to dinner tonight. I think this is a phase I'd like to stay in for a long time.

No Surprises This Christmas

I'm sad to post that there will be no suprises this Christmas for me. I bought, wrapped and know exactly what my husband, 3 children and everyone else we buy for are getting for Christmas. Of course that wouldn't be a surprise. Every other year, I usually go with my hubby to pick out what I want because he "won't pick the right one." This year, I told him that I wanted him to pick it out and if it happened to be the wrong size or whatever then I'd exchange it for the right size.

So he got all excited and went shopping a few different times, which is strange for him. I was pretty excited because I was finally going to have a surprise under the tree this year (like I was a kid again).

Well this past week, he has told me everything he bought me! No, I didn't ask. I didn't weasle it out of him. He just couldn't keep a secret. He said he doesn't like to keep secrets from me. Weird huh? He even showed me my stocking stuff.

Plus, I wrapped all my presents from my mom with her. My dad asks exactly what we want and buys that. The hubby's parents usually keep it pretty low key for Christmas presents.

But I am excited to see the Babe on Christmas morning. He asked Santa for scooter and I called him last week to put in the order. The Babe is actually getting the whole Santa concept this year and it's fun! We're going to put out cookies for Santa and probably buy a carrot for Rudolph.

We do have one other exciting/sad Christmas happening. The little foster man is with his family for Christmas! Well not his parents but his extended family. So that is great! But of course we miss him.

Tis The Season To Be...... Greedy?

Today I was putting gas into my car when I noticed a woman had pulled in behind me. She got out of her car then when she saw me get back into my car to wait for the gas to finish, she got back into her car and watched me. I was a little nervous because it was obvious that she was watching me! When my gas finished and I got out to put the pump away, she jumped out of her car and ran over to me. She had a sad story about how she left her ATM card at home and wondered if I would help her.

Let me just stop here and say that since we've lived here in Vegas, I don't know how many times this has happened! Almost every time we get gas, sometimes in the parking lot at the store, I even was approached while stopped at a stoplight by a man walking in between cars asking for money. These aren't just men or homeless people. It's all sorts of people. I've been approached by black, white, Hispanic, women with children, men, shabby looking, nicely dressed, old, young sometimes they'll even just send their kids over.

Now let's give some of them the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps some of them really are in need.
But none of them come across that way! When I'm approached, I feel threatened, scared, offended, nervous, and anything but charitable. When I turn them down, I feel bad. Yes, we could afford to give a few dollars to them but ultimately how do I know if they are going to go buy the gas with it or go buy drugs or whatever?

And really let's be honest, most of them are just scamming. This just irks me to the core. Why do they think they are better than me enough that they don't have to work for a living? I don't understand how they think it's ok to lie to people for money.

I would support any business who wouldn't allow this kind of behavior especially a gas station. I put myself in this woman's situation. Let's say I go to the gas station and oops I forgot my debt card and my cell phone (and my car doesn't have enough gas to get me home pffft like that happens). I would probably go inside the store and ask to use the phone to call my husband. Since we only have one car, he would have to ask a friend or neighbor to take him to give me some money. But I wouldn't even think to ask a stranger for money, even a couple of dollars.

Just to finish the first story, I told the woman I didn't have any money and quickly left. It was true, I don't carry cash. After I left, I thought I could have done 3 things: told her the truth and left, gone into the store and got her some cash from my atm card, or offered for her to use my card while she pumped the gas into her car. But if I'd have done either of the ones I didn't, she could have killed me. I didn't know her. She could have stole my credit card or done any number of things I don't even want to think of. Yes, I felt threatened.

So my question is: how do you determine when to give and when to run the other way?

Welcome to the Bad Parents Club *UPDATED*

We have officially joined the ranks of the Bad Parents Club.

My hubby has made us permanent members.

This morning, I went to get the Babe his cereal for breakfast (no I don't make bacon and eggs for him for breakfast) and he got really excited. Apparently, this weekend when I sent the hubby off to get groceries while I did some Christmas shopping, he found it appropriate to buy the Babe some of that nasty, sugar-coated, stain your clothes colored, overpriced cereal. You know the one that has some sugary, crunchy, berry, nasty name and of course a favorite cartoon character on it. What a way to start out the day? Who actually feeds their kids this? I'm sure my sister-in-law would throw a fit (if she were reading this)!

I guess we were borderline members when we admited that we take him to the playplace at a fast food chain and let him play there (and collect all those wonderful germs).

And yes, members of the bad parents club don't make/buy their children advent calendars either. It's a disgrace.

Update: The Babe was playing with his piggy bank this morning and he said, "Mom, I'm going to give these pennies to those who don't have any pennies." I thought that was very cute and I'm going to take him to Walmart to let him give his pennies to the bell ringer guy. So perhaps we'll hold off on going to Bad Parents Annonymous for a while.

The Babe's Weirdness

Conversations from today:

"Hey mom?"

"What?"

"I can't find my thing."

"What thing?"

"My Thing. It's lost."

"Where is it?"

"It's in there."

"Go get it."

"But it's lost. It's my Thing!"

*******************************************

The hubby and I are finishing dinner and look over to see the Babe standing on the couch in order to reach on top of the bookcase.

"What are you doing standing on the couch?"

"I'm just looking at the binkie that's up here on top of the bookcase."

"Ok well leave it alone."

Two seconds later, "Do you have the binkie?"

His hand immediately goes behind his back and he says, "No."

Hmmmmmm, you think he had it?

School Lock Down

I recently became aware that one of the schools in our neighborhood had a lock down the other day. I didn't know what a lock down was until my mom informed me. It's incase someone comes into the school with a gun or there is other danger to the children where they would need to be locked into their classrooms not evacuated.

She has to do regular lockdown drills along with her fire drills and tornado drills. She explained the procedure in her school. They lock the doors to their classrooms, take the children away from windows and shield the children with the teachers. Also, they slide a green card under their door if all their students are inside the classroom or a red card if any of the students are in another classroom or the bathroom. I think that police are stationed at all the entrances to the school.

This new lockdown procedure is a little controversial in that parents are saying it scares the students. I could not imagine being a 5 year old and being told to huddle in the corner while my teacher shielded me with her body for more than 5 minutes without being scared to death. But I, as an adult, understand the need. There are so many dangers that our children are facing in schools that I didn't have to face when I was in school.

Let me explain about the lockdown that happened in my neighborhood the other day. I guess a man who lived across the street from the school went crazy and told police he was going to shoot up the neighborhood.

I read an article just barely about how high schools are doing surprise lockdowns. They are using them to search the school for drugs, and weapons. Interestingly enough, they give the student an "amnesty period" where students can turn in their drugs and weapons without being prosecuted. I think this defeats the purpose of doing them in the first place. But this is the quote that I thought was interesting.

"In the past two years, students have taken advantage of the amnesty period. They have turned in numerous items, including two firearms, an electric stun gun, more than 100 knives or bladed weapons, more than 200 types of unlawful prescription medication, alcohol, cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, pagers, and small quantities of such illegal drugs as marijuana and ecstasy. Tennessee state law prohibits pagers on school campuses."

How sad is it that our children have to face these things every day! It just scares me to death that people are shooting kids and that children are bringing weapons to school and shooting each other. I'm so glad that I'm not a kid anymore but I really fear for my children. It's so hard to just be a kid anymore. Especially when you're faced with things like this.

1 Month Old Letter

Little Man,

Today you are 1 month old. I can not believe how big you are getting! We've had you in our home for 2 weeks now and my how you've grown. You are such a good baby. It's hard to believe how good you are. Unlike my own children, you hardly ever cry, you don't spit up at all and you are a cuddler. You'll let me cuddle you all day long.

You haven't started smiling for real yet but you often smile and laugh while your sleeping. It's very cute! You also sleep with your eyes open sometimes. It's very creepy.

We are so happy to have you in our home and family. You bring so much joy to our lives! I feel so sad at times that the choices your mother made will affect your life so much. I hope and pray that you will be able to live a normal life. We really hope that your parents will be able to take care of your someday. I think they care for you a lot.

We want you to know that we love you. That we will be here to take care of your for however long you are with us. It scares us that they could call us tomorrow and take you away. But we understand how important it is to be with your family and we hope that that will happen soon.

Love,
Foster Mom and Dad

The Babe's Swimming Trip

Today we put the Babe down for a nap late. You have to understand that we have a small window of time that we can put him down and he'll actually sleep. So if I put him down between 12:00 and 1:00, he'll usually sleep till 4:00 but if I wait until 2:00 he won't sleep at all. Then from 2:01 till I finally give up and go get him, I fight with him to go to sleep. So today was one of those days. Usually, this stresses me out but today the hubby was home so it wasn't bad.

Anyway when he doesn't nap, he plays with anything and everything he can find in his room. We don't keep toys in there but we leave books in there. He often "accidentally" pulls his curtains down and ends up playing with the curtain rods. He sometimes gets into his closet and finds old Halloween costumes or cowboy boots from when he was 6 months old.

To preface today's story, I need to tell the story from the store. I was sending the boys to the store to do some "secret shopping" for mommy and I let the hubby get the Babe dressed. He put him in these shorts that are labelled 2T but must be made for a gigantic 2Ter (lol). So I never dress him in those. I told the hubby but he didn't listen and went off to the store. The Babe hates wearing them because he has to continuously pull them up. I guess they were walking out of a crowded store and sure enough the Babe's pants fell down around his ankles. He's young enough that he didn't even understand and didn't miss a beat.

So they come home and we put him down for his non-nap. After his nap, the hubby noticed that his pants were on backwards. Whatever, perhaps I put them on backwards when I changed his diaper? When he went to change his diaper again, he said to me, "Honey did you change his shorts? These aren't the ones I put him in this morning."

The Babe answered, "No, I did. I was going swimming."

Family Pictures

Today we got some family pictures made. We have a friend who's starting a little photography business. So she took them for us. We went to a hotel here and on their grounds they have some nice places to take pictures. The Babe loved it! We've taken him to lots of studio pictures and he does alright but he loved this! There were rocks to climb on and ponds to look at the fish in and all sorts of fun things. So inbetween his exploring we snapped pictures. lol. When we all got home, I sat everyone* on the couch for a picture with my camera. We get the semi-professional onces back tomorrow (I think). Plus, I got my hair cut today. I know you all noticed so I didn't have to tell you and I know you all think it's fabulous.


* I'm still not sure if I can put pictures of the foster baby on here. So we didn't have him pose in this picture.

Christmas Bonus

Today the hubby brought home his Christmas Bonus from work. Yeahh! I love bonuses! So I need help. How should we spend it? It's about 1/2 of his regular paycheck he gets every 2 weeks. That probably doesn't tell you how much but you can guess. Here's our list of ideas so far (leave your ideas in the comments and I'll add them):

1. Save it (how boring lol)
2. Buy plane tickets for our 5th Anniversary Trip (to the midwest) next year.
3. Buy plane tickets to Hawaii.
4. The hubby suggested buying lots of necklaces and rings for me (he's totally kissing butt).
5. Pay off our incredibly low interest rate student loan (that's why we haven't paid it off yet is because the interest rate is so great).
6. Divide it up and do a little bit of #1, 4 and 5.

Gym Excitement

So I think I've decided to throw in the towel and get a gym membership. I've been dreading doing this since we moved here. I guess I'm excited about it now. The gym I'm joining has babysitting included! Now isn't that great! How many times a day and for how long can I drop them off?

Everyone I know here goes to a gym. There are cliques that revovle around which gym you go to and what time a day you go. If you don't go to the right gym, then count yourself out of that group of friends. Man, I didn't know the gym was such a social event.

I personally think that gym is a gross place where I don't want anyone that I know to see me at. But maybe that's why I haven't joined yet.

I also think it's silly to pay to go run on a treadmill when I can run outside for free (without anyone seeing me either). But the babysitting is key. Also, they have tons of t.v.'s to watch, a luxury we don't have. And they have a juice bar. So on days I'm not feeling like working out so much, I can drop the kids off at the daycare and go to the juice bar. On days I'm feeling like working out a lot, I can sit on a bike and watch t.v. and perhaps spin the wheel around a few times.

As you can tell, I'm not much of a worker-outer (yes that's a word). But I'm excited to join and see what happens. Maybe I can even get into one of those workout cliques.

Conversation with the Babe

Today we had the following conversation while I was trying to read blogs.

"Mom, mom, mom, mom, mooooooommmmmm."

"Honey just stop talking for like 2 mintues."

"Does it make you happy when I talk?"

"umm...no. Stop for a minute, I'm reading."

"Does it make you sad when I talk?"

"No. Just 1 minute?"

"Does it make you crazy?"

"YESSSSSSS!"

This is the Little Lady

3 Month Old Letter to the Little Lady

Today you are 3 months old and my how big you're getting. It seems like just yesterday we were bringing you home from the hospital. You are so alert and busy all day. Compared to the other kids, you keep me the most busy and you aren't even moving around yet.

You've started to smile and laugh a lot more lately. Your laugh is so cute! You'll get into these moods where anything we do just makes you laugh and laugh. It's very cute! I love to listen to your little baby jabber. You mimic the influctions we use in our voice to "try to talk". It's fun.

You really like to stand up and it almost makes us wonder if you will walk without crawling. Your eyes get really big and bright when you stand with assistance.

Your hair is growing weird so it just sticks straight up in the back. It's too fine to do anything with and I've tried glueing it down to no avail. So sorry you have to deal with this at such a young age but that's part of being a girl.

You are very interested in the new baby. At times, I think you get a little jealous but you love to study that baby and see what he's doing. You also love to watch your older brother. Anything he does whether it's playing with his toys or talking to you, you'll sit and watch him for a long time.

You slept through the night for the first time just yesterday. It was scary for us. Dad even went in and checked on you to make sure you were still breathing. But experience has taught us that you will grow up and sleep for entire nights (thankfully). I don't want you to grow up. I just want you to stay small and cute. The world is so harsh and mean sometimes; I just want to protect you by keeping you small.

We are hoping that now that you are 3 months old the crying will start to subside. You cry so much and I just want to help you but there is nothing I have found to comfort you except to hold you all day. But we think we're starting to figure out your schedule and maybe that's helping a little.

We want you to know how much we care for you and love you. We constantly worry about you and wonder what to do to best help you learn and grow properly. We worry about everything from what clothes you wear (at this age even) to what to feed you to what color your poop is. We really are trying to be good parents and we hope you can understand that.

Love,
Mom and Dad

Tales of the Banished Stool

About a year ago, I bought my son a stool. I'm not quite sure what drugs I was taking at the time of purchasing the stool but I surely wasn't thinking clearly. There was no need in buying it, I think I just saw it and thought it was cute.

This stool has since been banished. Permanently.

The stool is the Babe's favorite way of getting anything and everything he wants that I've put up from him. He uses it to help him climb up on the counter to get anything he can't reach by just standing on the stool itself.

Now in my drug induced terrible purchasing moment, I didn't even buy a nice-plastic-oooops-this-broke-so-now-we-have-to-throw-it-away stool. I bought a sturdy-this-is-going-to-last-50-years-wooden stool. This also presents it's challenges. The stool has crushed many a toes and hands in it's short lived life. Sorry but it's me or stool.

He carries it from room to room in the house searching for contraband I've hidden from him. Well I'll teach him. I've hidden the stool now as contraband.

Simplifying Christmas

Today at church we had a lesson on Christmas. They asked the question of whether as a child you remember the presents or the traditions or what? In my thoughts, I remember lots of things.

One big thing was how every year we picked a family and did the 12 days of Christmas for them. If you're not familiar with this, you drop off a gift anonymously every day starting 12 days before Christmas usually with a theme of the day number equaling the amount of whatever you give. For example on the 12th day you drop off 12 eggs or whatever. I remember the memories of the strategies of not getting caught and the families whom we served.

Another tradition I remember is cutting our tree down every year. Each year we would drive up the canyon, take our hacksaw wood saw and tromp through the snow to cut our tree. We'd want to climb up a tree 6 feet and cut the top off a bigger tree but my parents wouldn't let us. So we'd walk miles and miles so we could find a Charlie Brown Tree the Perfect tree. Then we'd drag it back and tie it to the top of our van for the hour drive home. It was quite an experience. As a married adult, I helped my mom cut a tree for her. Of course it was a total disaster trip but we enjoyed the journey.

Anyway, the lesson encouraged us to focus less on the material part of Christmas and enjoy the traditions and memory making experiences instead. Basically encouraging us to simplify our Christmas. It's not about who gets what or really even what you get. It's about how you feel and the memories you collect.

One tradition the hubby and I have started which we're excited about is we each fill a stocking for each other. It's more of a game. We have rules. You're allowed to spend $10 (no more!). And the fun part is you're supposed to try to buy 10 things to put into the stocking. This one started one year when we were poor (please note we still are poor but we were poorer) and I wanted to do stockings for the hubby and I. So I went and bought $10 in stuff for each of us and ended up with 10 things each. And no we don't go to the dollar store to do this, we go to a very large, popular, somewhat controversial retailer.

So I just might say I'm done Christmas shopping for my kids and just wrap up what I have so I can focus on the experiences. Then I'd go bake.

Shopping Bliss

Today we went shopping at a rather large, well known, often controversial retailer. We often go there on weekends. Today was our first excursion with 3 children shopping. Of course it's the first Saturday of December so the store was very very busy. I told the hubby to let me go by myself. But we trooped out with the Little Lady in a sling straped to me, the New Baby Boy (I still haven't found a name for him on my blog...see the new poll) in his car seat in the cart and the Babe running around touching everything in sight. At one point, the Babe ran down past all the checkouts from the bathroom to where the hubby was checking out and everyone kept looking at me waiting for me to freak out.

Anyway I'm rambling. Today we went through the same checkstand as we did the last time. That is the sloooowwwwwwwest. line. ever! The poor lady knows she is slow but still continues to check. The one who everyone ditches out of her line after waiting half a lifetime in order to get out of the store before their 100th birthday. Ok so maybe that's a little bit dramatic. But seriously lady can you be any slower?

The hubby brought it to my attention last time that she ties a knot in the bag that the eggs are in. Does this really help them not break? Today he brought it to my attention that she double bags anything that may: break, be eaten, is large, has the color green on it, or is oddly shaped (which takes her an hour to get into 2 of those bags).

So we have come up with a system to solve our checkstand issues. We think they should get each checker a rating in stars on how fast they are at getting people through. Then to promote a lively competition and encourage them to be fast, they should have a jumbotron with a scoreboard on it. This would tell you live stats on who is the fastest checker at that time, which line they are checking at and which lines to avoid (see story of cashier above). Another incentive they should do is have them wear a little badge around that shows how many stars they have and one for the fastest that says, "I'm the fastest checker. Who are you?"

The Choices Parents Make

Today I was reflecting on how much of an impact the choices we, as parents, make have on our children. I mean every choice we make has some sort of impact on our children. Whether it's a good impact or a negative impact is up for judgment. But there are some obvious ones in my opinion.

I find that when I am busy and don't pay attention to my children as much as a should that the Babe gets into things he's not supposed to. Because I give him my consent without listening to him.

I was on the phone and he ask me if he could have a piece of candy. I said ya sure whatever you want (meaning leave me alone) and sure enough he did (both leave me alone and eat candy). This is teaching my son that mommy is too busy to pay attention to what he is saying and that if he asks me questions while on the phone he can get away with anything. I need to address this by telling him I am on the phone and to wait until I am finished to ask mommy questions.

The hubby reminded me that being a parent is one choice that you are never relieved of. You maybe able to get a divorce or even give your children up for adoption but you will still always be a biological mother to someone.

It really makes you think about taking the responsibility of parenting so lightly. Especially when you aren't even old enough to take care of yourself.

New Boy

Today we picked up the new baby boy. Mom did name him so we were glad about that! He is very very cute! He makes the Little Lady look like a devil (meaning he's so good and she's so colic-y). Grandma and Grandpa (the hubby's parents) got to see him before they left and the other Grandma (my mom) got to spend the day with him before she had to leave. I took lots of pictures but I'm still not sure if I can post them here. I doubt it. But I might be able to email them or something. I'll ask tomorrow. But I got some cute pictures of him smiling! I still haven't come up with a nickname for him for on this blog. I'll think of something soon. He looks nothing like our children of course but we'll keep him for a while.

Baby Blessing

Today was the Little Lady's Blessing! Her daddy gave her the blessing and grandpa and 1 uncle stood in the circle. She looked so cute! He blessed her that she would be close to the spirit. He said we are grateful that she is a part of our family. He blessed her that she would be able to develop her talents. He blessed her with health. He blessed her that she would be a great mother just like her mother and grandmothers. He blessed her that she would find a worthy companion and be married in the temple. He also blessed her that she would be an example to her brother and the rest of her family. And he got the correct name!

Last night, he told me he was going to say her middle name as Rotunda. I got a little nervous.

Everything went well and she didn't cry during the middle (just right as soon as he passed her back to me).

Tomorrow we'll begin our new adventure...wish us luck!

We Had a Baby It's a Boy!

Oh did I forget to tell you I was pregnant?

Wait a minute, I wasn't pregnant.

Monday morning we go to get him from the hospital! We are very excited and nervous! It'll be like having twins!

Biggest question. The child hasn't been named yet so they told us we can call him whatever we want until he has been named. Any suggestions on a name for someone else's kid? Plus, I need a nickname for him on here. He could be the Brave Little Toaster?

List of things to buy: onesies, binkies, diapers, sleepers, formula, blankets, outfits, strong alcohol. The hubby just said ear plugs, sleeping pills and Tylenol. Are we crazy? Yes. But we'll survive.

I'll describe him. He's tiny tiny, has a little bit of red hair, a cute nose and very sweet. I'll let you know how it goes! But first we have to get through Thanksgiving and the blessing of the Little Lady.

Letter to the Foster Child

Dear Baby Boy,

I met you at the hospital today and to be honest I was nervous to meet you. When the lady told me about you and how you are only 9 days old, I was excited/nervous/petrified/curious all at the same time. When they told me more about your situation, my heart wanted to burst. I could not believe that at 9 days old your mom was not able to take you home and love you. I wanted so much to love you.

When they placed you in my arms, I again felt mixed emotions but the overwhelming feeling came over me that your life will never be the same because of the decisions of your mother. I felt so sad that you didn't have anyone to hold you and love you and oogle over you and snuggle you. I wanted you to stay small and safe in my arms. I wanted so much to give you my love.

I'm not sure if you are going to come be a part of our family for a time or not. I hope that whatever happens that you will be able to have a family that will take care of you and give you the support you need to make it in this world.

Love,
Kendra

Quilting Flop and Family in Need

First, I wanted to update on the quilting project. Last weekend, I did the first girl quilt top and this weekend I was going to put it together. I had decided to try something new and machine quilt it then hand stitch the binding. Auntie "L" had walked me through the process a number of times and I thought I would try it. Well I got through one stitch (all the way across) and it messed up. The bottom fabric puckered. So now I have to undo it and go back and do it the way I know how. Auntie "L" has promised to show me how to do it when she can physically be here helping.

To make a long story short, it was a flop. But I haven't given up. I will keep working on them.

I have another Christmas project now. We have some friends who we've found are struggling financially. So I decided that we were going to help them out for Christmas. I enlisted the help of my playgroup moms and we're all going to pitch in to do some nice stuff for them for Christmas. We haven't decided what the best way to do it is. Should we just leave a bunch of presents on the door and ring and run? Or should we incorporate the presents into a 12 days of Christmas thing? Or should we actually let them know who we are? I just hope that they won't be offended. I might be offended if someone just dropped off $300 worth of presents on my door. Although, I don't consider us to be poor so maybe that's why. I'm super excited to help a family in need! Plus, I think it will be fun to go shopping and pick out fun stuff for them. Let me know of any suggestions you have.

Oprah's Baby Language Lady

I missed this Oprah Episode but 3 people have told me about it so I finally went and found the video clip. I'm intrigued enough to try it. The lady says that babies make different sounds in their cries when they are hungry, tired, uncomfortable, need to burp or pooping (or really gassy). She explains the sounds and shows real babies making them. Check it out here. There's a place where you can listen to the actual babies on there. The sounds are:

• "neh" = hungry
• "owh" = tired
• "heh" = uncomfortable
• "eair" = pooping or lower gas
• "eh" = needs to burp

I listened to the babies and said, "I recognize that sound." So I'll update you on the experiment on to whether the Little Lady makes these sounds.

P.S. Pumpkin Crunch turned out fantastic and it's super easy to make (see comments for this post if you want to know what the pumpkin crunch recipe is).

Isn't This too Cute!

As If Our Jails Aren't Already Full Enough

Man I sure hope we don't get pulled over today. The DMV sent us a certified mailed letter (the kind they bring to the door and you have to sign for) saying that our registration for our car was suspended.

Suspended?! What for?

So I call the little number for irate customers for questions regarding this notice and the man says, "We sent you an insurance verification statement and the insurance company said you didn't have insurance with them." We of course have car insurance but they wanted to know what car insurance we had last year. We have changed companies since last year.

I told the man who our insurance provider was last year and he tried to call them. They were gone for the day but they would try again in the morning.

So I ask what would happen if we were to get pulled over tonight. He told me that the policeman would impound our car, give us a $1200 fine and possibly take us to jail.

Ummmmmm what?!?!

All because they couldn't figure out what insurance we had last year?

To make things even better, the hubby lost our registration paper for our car. So I'm sure they would take us to jail. It's insane what we have to do to get another copy of that paper. Either we have to go wait in the never-ending line or fax in a paper that has to be notarized practically signing our lives away.

So pray the policeman stay away from us this weekend.

P.S. There is a new poll down there. So go vote. Anyone who is rich and wants to send it to me for Christmas, feel free.

Thirteen Holidays we Celebrate (and some of our traditions):

1. Thanksgiving We always go to one of our families houses for Thanksgiving. To us, Thanksgiving is all about family and so staying home seems lonely. The hubby always makes a "Thing I'm Thankful for List" and puts it on his desk at work for people to add theirs.
2. Christmas We are starting to want to do actual Christmas morning at home. But we again usually end up going to one of our families. We always do something fun with our stockings. The weekish before Christmas we'll go shopping and we'll try to buy for each other 10 things for the stocking and the total cost can only be $10. We try not to get junk, we try to get things the person really would want/need that are small (e.g. small toys for the kids, 1 pair of sock or misc office stuff).
3. New Years We usually go out for new years but it's not a big thing. Last year we ended up going to dinner early and then just staying home. But we always do the countdown and kiss (even if it's not midnight yet, what does it matter). Our kids are still to young to stay up that late.
4. Birthdays For our birthdays, we go out to eat and with the kids we do normal party type stuff. We try to do fun gifts but sometimes with the adults it's hard. For nieces and nephews, I try to send a card to each of them on their birthdays (we have 19 combined).
5. Presidents Day We don't usually do anything special for this but we do a day off work. So we usually end up going somewhere as a family.
6. Valentines Day Of course, we go out to dinner and hopefully the hubby remembers to get me something. lol. No, he does a good job.
7. Easter I'm a big easter fan but the hubby isn't. I want to do a big easter basket and he doesn't really want to do the whole easter bunny thing. So we compromise. I usually do something for the kids and buy them an Easter outfit. We of course do egg hunts and everything.
8. Anniversary We are fairly low key for our anniversary so far. We'll usually go out to dinner and go shopping or something. We exchange gifts. For our 1st, we went to Capitol Reef which was fun. But this year will be our 5th so I think we're going to go on a trip back east.
9. Memorial Day We got married on memorial day weekend so that makes it nice for our anniversary. The hubby's family always went to the cemetery and put flowers on family's graves. I never did. Plus, we don't have any family buried here. So sometimes we'll go put flowers on random people's graves.
10. Father's / Mother's Day We usually cook the other a nice meal and do a gift. The hubby makes an effort to get the Babe to sing me a cute some or make me something cute.
11. 4th of July I love fireworks! So we usually end up shooting fireworks like 5 times. We also buy a flag to display.
12. Labor Day Not much excitement with this one. We go somewhere because get the day off work.
13. Halloween We're not huge Halloween people either. We dress our kids up but we usually don't dress up. We end up buying and eating way too much candy.

What are some of your traditions? We need some suggestions.

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

1. K T Cat
2. Bubba
3. Tina
4. Momma Bee
5. Slackermommy
6. Jenn
7. Carmen
8. Smurf
9. Lisa-Marie
10. Mert

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Movie Standards

Today I rented a popular movie that came out today and I was shocked. I have never felt the spirit leave my home so quickly. I actually made the hubby come home from work to get that filth out of my house. I cannot understand why anyone would make or act in a movie so ugly, inappropriate and obscene. And I only got through the first 30 minutes of it. It was rated PG13, which brings me to my conclusion.

I thought about all the PG13 movies I have seen lately. Were any of them really good uplifting movies? Did any of them make me feel better about myself or the world? No. Most of them had violence, drugs, crude references to sex, or a number of other inappropriate images and scenes.

I've decided to stop watching PG13 movies all together. I rather enjoy watching movies for entertainment purposes. But I don't need movies that make light of things I consider to be serious.

In college, I stopped watching PG13 movies and I really don't think I missed anything. My friends thought I was crazy. But if it's not appropriate for a 13 year old then why should be appropriate for me?

Pumpkin Roll

Today I'm going to try to make a pumpkin roll. My mother-in-law makes it and it's delicious. The hubby is super excited! Anything I make that his mom makes is a treat for him. He's a momma's boy. lol. Here's the recipe:

For the cake part:
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp lemon juice
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt

Beat eggs on high for 5 minutes. Gradually beat in sugar. Stir in pumpkin puree and lemon juice. Mix other ingredients separately and add to pumpkin mixture. Spread out on greased floured cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 15 minutes.
Turn out on dishtowel that has been spread with powdered sugar, roll up in towel while still hot and let cool. When cool, unroll and add filling.

For filling:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 3oz packages cream cheese
4 Tbsp margarine
1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix together and spread on. Roll up and refrigerate.

RSS Feed

Ok, this is very technical. I feel so cool knowing all this. Yesterday, I found this great article on RSS Feed. What is rss feed? It is this cool thing where you kind of subscribe to my blog kind of. You have an RSS program that will check my blog and tell you when I've posted. So you don't have to keep checking my blog to see if I've posted or any of the other people's blogs you read. When the person posts a new post then it will show up on you feedreader program and you can read it right from there. That was a terrible way of explaining it. If you still don't understand, here's what Lindsey said (she's way more eloquent than I am):

What the heck is an RSS feed? This was the question I heard the most last week, LOL! It took me a while to catch on too, but now that I’ve got this little gem figured out, I’m ADDICTED. You know how lots of websites and blogs have a way for you to subscribe to updates via email? An RSS feed is sort of like this. Here’s the Wikipedia explaination. This is how I understand RSS (and keep in mind - this is MY understanding, not the true technical definition). Every time that I publish a post, the post is sent to my RSS feed for my site. The address for my RSS feed is: http://www.mysuspensionofdisbelief.com/?feed=rss2 If you click on this link, you’ll see all the post info from my site, but it isn’t very visually pleasing. That’s just fine. People don’t read RSS feeds in this format. Instead, they read them in a feed reader.

There are many different types of feed readers. Different web browsers have them integrated - there are extensions for Firefox and for the new Internet Explorer 7. There are web based feed readers such as NewsGator and Feedster. And there are programs you can download to your computer, such as FeedReader (the one I use) and Pluck.

A feed reader works like an email program. For example, let’s say that I want to know when Suspension of Disbelief updates. I could either check the site every day to see if there is an update, or I could subscribe to the feed, and every time that a new post is made, my feed reader gets the new feed . . . like you’d get an email update. I can read the post in my feed reader, or I can click the link to read it on the web. The key is that I don’t have to go check the site every day. This can be VERY helpful if you have lots of blogs that you like to read. I have different folders in my feed reader for blogs of my friends, business blogs, tech blogs, etc. I can read so much more because I don’t have to keep checking the sites!

I downloaded the program feedreader to put all the blogs that I read into. You subscribe to their RSS Feed and then it keeps track for you. It saves tons of time. So I added an RSS Feed link on the bottom right of my blog (that's how you'll subscribe).

You Know He is Lieing When.....

Today before dinner, the Babe was in the other room being very quiet (which means he's into something he's not supposed to be).

I said, "Babe, what are you doing?"

He ran into the livingroom and said, "Mommy, I'm not eating candy."

Girl Quilt Top #1

Here's the 1st girl quilt top! It's super cute!

Holiday Project

I have a holiday project.

Let me preface the project with this. We are officially licensed for foster care!!!!! We have an open status and now we're waiting for a child. Actually that's not entirely true. We want to do a program called the shelter program. It's for emergency care for shorter term. We aren't licensed for that yet but we could take a foster child for the long term. We have more stuff to do for the shelter program. It's complicated. But the hardest part is over.

Anyway back to my holiday project. When we get a shelter child, we could have them for 24 hours up to 3 monthish. I thought I would make a baby quilt for each of them. These children come in with little to nothing. So I want them to leave with a lovey that they can have forever. Of course we don't know whether we'll get a boy or a girl so I'm starting with one baby blanket of each. I went to Joanns today and hit their big sale. Pretty much everything was 50% off. I bought material for the girl quilt and I think I can make them for about $15 each. I thought I'd keep them simple, just a 42 inch square blanket with 4 different blocks and maybe I'd embroidery something on a few of the blocks.

Taking it 1 step further, I thought I would try to make 4 blankets by Christmas and donate 2 to the child haven here. Even if we don't have any foster children by Christmas I still want to help out. This weekend I'm going to make the first one (if the Little Lady cooperates, is it too early for her to be teething?).

Election Excitement

On voting day, I got quite excited to vote. I guess it's something my dad instilled in me. I remember when I turned 18. He took me to the polls and let me go in the booth with him to vote. We were voting for one of the Clinton elections (tells you how old I am). He showed me how to push the little pin thing in and how to vote. I of course being young and naive, voted for the exact same people he voted for (including Ralph Nator lol dad) because I thought my dad was the smartest person alive. I have since realized he isn't and have formulated my own ideas on how to decide whose name sounds the coolest vote.

I also remember voting for the first time with my hubby. We of course voted for different candidates on almost every one so our votes pretty much cancelled each other out. It was his first time voting (because of his mission) and how exciting it was for him.

This year I was a little sad that we voted separately and I of course had 2 little helpers. My oldest little helper thought it would be fun to play with the new fandangled electronic voting machine. I was quickly alerted by the numerous computer staff that if he played with the machine that my vote would be messed up. But they still gave me my sticker.

Dear Little Lady

Today you are 2 months old! You are truely my little lady. I thought of the name when you would cross your feet every time I would take your picture. I really think you are going to be a mommy's girl. The other morning I was trying to get you to look at your dad and smile. But you wouldn't take your eyes off me. It was so cute because the Babe was completely opposite. He's a daddy's boy, big time!

I am so amazed at the instant love that I have for you. With the Babe, it took me quite a while to get that unconditional love. But with you it was so instant that I was quite shocked. You love to be held and if I would, you'd be held all day. I love holding you! When you're awake, I can hardly stop from just watching you. When you're asleep, you look so peaceful and sweet.

You've started smiling for me now and that is the sweetest thing ever. You have such a big smile that it just makes my day better. You love being swaddled, still. You'll fall asleep faster on my tummy than anywhere else. You also love having something over your face while sleeping. Often, I'll put you in bed with me in the mornings after the hubby leaves (because I'm too tired to try to get you to go back to sleep). And you'll wiggle your head up under the pillow. It's so cute!

You love your brother already. He still doesn't have too much interest in you but you love to watch him and hear him talking or rambling all day. You love to have noise going. Whether it's the bath tub water, a movie going or just people talking. You sleep much better when there is noise in our house. You also love to be moving. The swing or rocking in your bassinet or in my arms. You love a little movement.

My favorite time of day is in the morning just after you wake up and you are so sweet. You smile tons then and are just happy to see your mom. I can't imagine the things that you will have to face in your life but I hope that as your mom I can help you through anything. I want you to know how much your father and I love you. We worry so much about you and will always be here for you.

Love,
Mom and Dad

I'm Glad We Don't have 12 People in Our Family

This weekend we had the hubby's brother and family here visiting. They have 6 kids! They stayed with some friends but we got to spend all day Saturday with them! We went to Red Rock Canyon and hiked, then played and ate dinner together! It was fun!

It sure seems like nieces and nephews grow up faster when we live far away from them. Their kids are getting so big.

Their oldest is really becoming a young lady (age 12). She played with Babe the whole time (it was nice not to have to keep track of him so closely). Their youngest is the Babe's age and she loved the Little Lady. She wanted to hold her the whole time. It was interesting to see that because the Babe doesn't ever want to hold her. Not even when we brought her home from the hospital. One of their boys mowed the lawn (with supervision).

It's weird to see kids that are old enough to help out with the younger ones. I'm the youngest of 3 and I don't remember seeing that. They are all very well behaved and good kids.

I've never set a table for 11 people though. It was fun! Our house is too little though. We were quite squished at our table for 8. lol. We were really happy to have them come visit and we'd love to have them come back sometime.

Moms for Modesty

I ran into this group of women who are striving to make a difference with modesty. II believe so strongly in it that I put their button on the side of my blog there. Their mission statement is:

Moms for Modesty Mission Statement

1. As a mom for Modesty I believe in common-sense modesty for girls and young women.
2. I believe in refraining from sexualizing our girls and young women.
3. I believe that it is unwise and unfair to taunt boys and young men by permitting my daughter(s) to dress in an immodest manner.
4. I believe that true beauty comes from within and I strive to teach my daughter(s) this truth.
5. I will loyally shop at retailers that provide girls' and young womens clothing that is modest, affordable and stylish.

I think it's sad that we have a hard time dressing out daughters modestly because you simply can not buy clothing that is modest. I've often fussed about this with my own clothes as well. At playgroup the other day, the other moms were fussing because their 18 month olds girls were wearing 3T shirts in order to get them long enough to cover their bellies. And these girls are not real fat. It's that clothing makers are making their shirts too short so their stomach shows.

I also liked #3 where they talk about taunting boys by wearing immodest clothing. I think that is so true. I think that women blame men for being such visual people. But I really think that the blame lies with the women. They are the ones who are showing off most of their body in public. It's hard not to notice a woman who is dressing immodestly.

Thirteen Things I'm Thankful for:

1. My Family This encompasses so much. My hubby and my 2 beautiful children especially. But also my parents and the way they raised me. My extended family and they way they support me always. My in-laws and their family for they way they raised my perfect husband.
2. Dora the Explorer What would I do without Dora? How would the dishes ever get done?
3. Freedom This sounds cheesy but I really take it for granted. We're especially grateful for the people who died so we could have freedom.
4. Google How did anyone survive without google and the internet. Wikipedia is a lifesaver. Having information so readily available is amazing!
5. Security / Stability I don't understand how people live not knowing if they will have a house to live in tomorrow or food to eat. I realize that things could change and make it so our lives would change but I still feel fairly secure.
6. My Religious Beliefs I'm so grateful that I know that there is a god and that I can return to live with him someday. I understand where I came from and what happens after this life.
7. My Senses I love smelling things and being able to see and feel. How life would change without even 1 of my sense is mind boggling.
8. Good Health We are all relatively healthy and haven't had any major issues. This could also change anytime but I'm grateful that we've had that so far.
9. Music I am so grateful for the classic composers and the work they created. I can't imagine writing a piece of music that is as beautiful as some of the songs they wrote. They are my idols.
10. Friends We have no immediate family here where we live and it's so nice to have friends who take care of us and love us.
11. Food We eat so well and it's nice to always have food and never want food.
These last 2 are from the Babe:
12. Daddy's Work I'm also grateful for my husband's job and that he is willing to support me so I can stay home with our kids.
13. His Bike He loves to ride his bike. (remember he's 2)

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

1. Gail

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Foster Care Success

Today we had our home study to be licensed for foster care! The home study is where they come into your home and make sure it meets all their safety requirements. They also go over your application and ask you a bunch of questions about you and your family. We passed with flying colors!

Actually, she did find 2 things that need to be fixed but they are super easy. We need to get a lid for our garbage can and 2 of our smoke alarms had dead batteries (which is strange because a: we checked them a few weeks ago and b: they are wired electrically and they should flash red when the batteries are dead).

So they have to do more paperwork and then we'll meet again for our actual licensing. The lady said that we will be licensed before Thanksgiving! That's exciting!

Plus, I got more info today on the shelter care program. It's a program where you take children who need a home immediately for a shorter term (less than 3 months) until they decide what needs to be done with their case (e.g. go to live with grandma, be place in a regular foster home or be placed for adoption ect.).

Interestingly, the lady today said that I am not allowed to talk at all about why the child was taken from their home or any other particulars about the case. She also said that I probably wouldn't be able to post pictures of the foster child on my blog. So if/when you see pictures with a blurred out face you'll understand why. She said I can talk about the child's daily activities/milestones (e.g. little suzie smiled for the first time today).

Another interesting thing I didn't know. Foster children can only be babysat by a person who has gone through a process to be allowed to babysit. They have to get a t.b. test and get an FBI background check ect. (I knew all this) But they must be babysat in my home because my home is the one that has met their safety requirements. The only variance is if another licensed foster parent watches them then they can go to their house. It really makes sense but I just hadn't thought of that.

Leggings are Back?

On Sunday, I saw a grown woman wearing leggings under her skirt. This was a mom! You know the leggins that we wore in the 80's. The kind with the lace on the bottom that hit you midcalf. The really thin kind and these were in a nasty faded grey color. I wonder if they were a pair she'd kept from the 80's?

I can't believe that they are coming back! I refuse.

I thought that perhaps they would be cool with the teenagers for awhile and then go out of style because they look so awful. I sure hope that that mother was having a crazy moment and everyone else doesn't start wearing them.

P.S. This is a terrible picture of Lindsey but an ugly picture to go with her ugly outfit!

Happy Halloween

If you couldn't tell, the Babe is Curious George and the hubby is The Man with the Yellow Hat.


Isn't he adorable?

She's a strawberry. A very unhappy one.

This is to show that she hates candy. I gave her the sucker and she cries. Or it could be that big yellow spider next to her hand.

By Popular Demand

Here are some pics of the Little Lady and the Babe.

Here's the Little Lady just after she woke up this morning.

I got this gem just after the messy hair picture! Her first smile on camera!


This is her normally.


Here's the Babe last night. He's such a daddy's boy.


And of course his happy pumpkin. Those eyes are going to make the girls go crazy.

Wisdom Teeth Survival

Well I survived! Barely. No, actually the surgery went well, I guess. I was gone for the whole thing. lol. It had to be the most bizarre experience I've ever had.

First, they gave me a Valium type pill to take an hour before I went to "relax" me. That's quite an understatement. Anytime I moved the room looked like it moving in slow motion. My relief society president took me to the surgery and stayed the whole time then took me home. When they prescribed the medication, it says you aren't allowed to drive after taking it. Before I took it, I thought that's silly. I can drive. But man I'm glad they didn't let me drive. I found myself telling my relief society president all sorts of weird things.

We got there and checked in. Not very long after, they called me back and took me to the "sterile" room. I call it that because they told my relief society president that she couldn't come back at all (even while I was coming out) because the room is sterile and they don't want people's germs in there. They had me sit down in the scary chair and a lady put 2 monitors on my chest, one on my side and the oxygen thing on my finger. The same nurse guy was there from the day before (he's from Detroit) so I ask if he was upset about the baseball game. He said something. Then the surgeon came in and started the IV. I remember asking him if he had gotten it on the first try. He said, "yep, that's end of your job." And then I remember nothing! How weird.

I have some vague memories of maybe getting in the car and going into my relief society president's house. She had me sit downstairs and gave me a mushed up banana to eat so I could take the pain medication. Then we went upstairs and I literally fell into the bed and was out.

I slept till 1:00 when she woke me up. When she woke me up, I was super disoriented. She had to tell me her name and mine. But I came out of it pretty fast. I ate some stuff and pumped milk (to throw away, how sad). Then a little while later, I had some soup and she gave me some more pain medication. This was not good. I got really nauseous and actually threw up all over her carpet. I felt so bad! As soon as that pain medication was gone, I started swelling and hurting a little. Once I got some ice on my cheek, I felt better. I took some Tylenol which helped too.

On the left side, the bottom tooth was impacted sideways. I think they really had to dig to get it out because it is super swollen and sore. The other 3 are fine. After a good night's sleep and some food, I'm feeling a lot better.

The hubby survived it test and of course he thinks he failed. But I doubt it. If he does though, he can take it again in the spring. He was pretty beat last night though. It didn't help that I couldn't help either. And the kids survived a full day without mom too.

The Big Day

Tomorrow is the big day. I might die tomorrow. We'll see. I'm having my wisdom teeth taken out and the video did say there is a possibility that I could die. So if I die then you can all come to my funeral. But assuming that I don't die then I will be 4 wisdom teeth down and probably chipmunk cheeked. The hubby is taking the professional engineering exam tomorrow and will be at that for 8 hours. So I have arranged for my relief society president to take me to the surgery and I will hang out at her house all day (they won't let me be alone in case I get up to get a drink and fall and hit my head or something). My children will be at 1 friend's house in the morning and another friend's house in the afternoon (who said that if I die then she'll keep them indefinitely and attend my funeral). I can't nurse for 36 hours afterward so the poor Little Lady will have to get formula for the next day and 1/2 (which she takes fine). I'm petrified. Can't you tell? But there is no choice, I have to get it done. So tomorrow morning it is. I hope I survive.

Controversial Subject

I recently ran across this blog article from a woman who just had an abortion. It's been quite a controversial blog in the blogging world lately (you can see she has 97 comments, on a post previous to this one she had like 500 comments). It was a real eye-opener for me because I don't think I know anyone who has had an abortion and if I do they for sure haven't shared their experience with me. As far as my religion goes, I am pro-life. I chose to be. But if I step away from my religion, I could be pro-choice. That's kind of confusing I know. But let me explain.

I am pro-life because no other decision you make will directly affect someone as much as creating a life or in this case (debatably) taking away a life. So at what point does the fetus because a life? At conception? At 12 weeks, 24 weeks, birth? I don't know. But I do think once the life is created, by having an abortion, you are taking away a life. End of story.

I could be pro-choice because I really think that the woman should be able to decide. After all, it is her body. I mean she is ultimately the one who should be able to decide if she wants to carry a baby for 9 months, take care of a child, give the baby up for adoption, or in my opinion, end the pregnancy thereby taking the baby's life. But taking that choice away from her is not my right is it? Because I believe one way doesn't mean that I should force everyone else to believe the same way by taking away their rights. I can also see situations where an abortion may be the best option. For example, when the mother's health is in question.

The woman referenced has quite a few other posts about the circumstances of how she got pregnant, her health situation and what made her decide to get an abortion. I'm not sure if what she is writing is completely true or not (the facts don't quite add up in my opinion, she would have a little more common sense than she does). I don't know if she is justified in her decision or not. That's not my place to judge her. I really was intrigued by the way she describes the abortion clinic. There was bulletproof glass on all the windows and security cameras watching every part of the building as well as the parking lot? Wow! I live a sheltered life. She says that she has received death threats. How sad is it that a woman can't even make a decision about what to do with her body without being afraid of being murdered for her decision.

Wisdom Teeth Revisited

As you know, I didn't get my wisdom teeth taken out the last time they were bothering me because I was pregnant. So here we go again. I am changing oral surgeons because I didn't really care for the first one. I have an appointment for Thursday (consultation) and Friday morning surgery. It seems so weird to me that they treat it like no big deal. The lady was like, "we can't guarantee a same day surgery but we will schedule you for the next morning." Did she forget that this is a huge decision isn't it?

I have to get them taken out on a friday so the hubby can be around for a few days to help out. This friday isn't ideal because the hubby is taking the professional engineering exam. But next weekend we have family coming in. Then after that, it gets crazier. So I found someone to watch my kids and someone else to take me to and from the appointment (they won't let you drive). Crazy life!

The Grumpy Old Troll Who Lives Down the Hall

We are contemplating changing the Babe's name to The Grumpy Old Troll Who Lives Down the Hall (TGOTWLDTH). We got the idea from Dora the Explorer. There's a character on there who's name is the the grumpy old troll who lives under the bridge (pictured below). What do you think? Most of the time when the Babe doesn't get a nap he's pretty grumpy. So we think the name is appropriate. We also thought about getting him some of that candy off Charlie and the Chocolate factory that helps you grow a beard so he could have a cool beard like this guy.

Magic Green Grow Pellets

Surprisingly, the Babe has been eating better lately! We're hoping that everyone was right and that it was just a picky eating phase (Of course everyone is right because they are always right). The Hubby actually is getting him to eat things that are green lately! It's a miracle!

Wanna know the secret?

He told him that peas and green beans are magic green grow pellets! It's really quite funny to here him ask for green grow pellets. I keep waiting for one of our babysitters to call me up while we're out and ask what we're teaching our kid. But then I realized that it really doesn't matter what we call it, if he eats it then great!! So with dinner this week we had suddenly salad and hidden inside the pasta were some magic green grow pellets. The Babe thought that was hilarious!

Picture courtesy of The Hubby's Garden plus some random bean the Babe picked up that he's painfully attached to!

Pumpkin Pie Sucess!

It's funny because the pumpkin pie actually worked but the pie I made from the can, I made it wrong and it wasn't that great. I put sweetened condensed milk in it instead of evaporated milk. Oppps....I didn't really know there was a difference till the hubby announced it in front of our guests. Of course, the guests said, "Oh the one you made is way better. We love it! You've spoiled us. Now the can kind will never taste the same." But they were just being nice. Like they would say, "Yuck. This is terrible." After all that work, I realized that we aren't really pumpkin pie people anyway. So we gave most of it to them to take home. She's very much a pumpkin pie person. But I will admit that mine did taste better than the can kind. The texture is completely different; they almost can't even be put in the same category. It's like comparing apples and oranges. So I'm taking orders for my famous pumpkin pie (oooppps I guess I already spilled the secret recipe). On the left is my pie and on the right is the canned version. I have to give the hubby credit for the homemade crust too.

Pumpkin Pie from Scratch

Today I ventured out there and tried making pumpkin pie from real pumpkin. Actually, I was so nervous about it, that I bought the pumpkin mix in a can also and made both. So we invited some friends over tonight to taste test my pumpkin pie and compare it to the pumpkin pie mix. So I will tell you which is better. I got my recipe from the Williams Sonoma catalog (they have recipes in there every couple of pages and their website has some excellent recipes). Here it is:

To do the pumpkin puree:

Buy a Pie pumpkin (also called Cinderella pumpkin, sugar pumpkin). This is a smaller type of pumpkin that is better for making pies with.

Cut it in half. Take out all the seeds and stringy stuff.

Put a couple of inches of water in a dish with the pumpkin and cover it and cook it in the microwave for 15 minutes.

The outside skin should practically fall off and you take the innards and mix them with a mixer.

The actual recipe is:

1 1/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1 Tbs. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
2 cups pumpkin puree (1 pumpkin makes about that, maybe a little more)
3 eggs
1 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup milk
piecrust

In bowl, whisk together brown sugar, cornstarch, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves. Add pumpkin, eggs, cream and milk; whisk to combine.

Pour filling into piecrust; bake at 425 for 15 minutes then turn down to 350 for 50-60 minutes. Let cool completely before serving.

I'll post tomorrow and let you know how it turns out and with a picture.

Thanks to Nello for the Header

Thirteen Things I'm excited about The Holidays

I'll admit it.
I got smitten by the Christmas bug at the store yesterday
when they had all that Christmas stuff out already.

1. The Smells I'm super excited about all the smells associated with the holidays. Like stuff baking in the oven, candles burning, a fire in the fireplace, Christmas trees.
2. Cooking / Baking Surprisingly, I love to bake. Not so much cook. But my favorite time of year is the holidays for baking because you can bake everyday and have an excuse (e.g. I'm taking these over to the neighbors that we don't know or haven't talked to for a year. Opps they never made it. Oh well maybe we'll talk to them next year. lol.)
3. My mom is coming! I'm excited to see here for a few days! She hasn't seen the Little Lady yet and she is super excited. Plus when grandma gets here everything is nicer.
4. Decorating my house I don't love hanging Christmas lights but I enjoy looking at them. I was meaning just putting out the fall stuff then changing to the Christmas stuff. This year I'm putting fresh roses in my garland. I don't care what the hubby says!
5. Volunteering / Helping Others Anyone who knows me, knows that I love to help others. I love how during the holidays people are more likely to give! I wish that could last year long.
6. Friends It seems like we get together more often and have more fun during the holidays.
7. Time off Work The hubby gets time off which means I get a break from the kids somewhat. Plus, I love spending time with him.
8. Presents I love buying presents and getting presents. It's just fun!
9. Wrapping Presents I love to wrap presents! I love the challenge of making them look all pretty and it's just . 99 for the Babe. I guess I'm weird.
10. Skiing / Snow We don't get snow here but we will probably go to Utah to play in the snow and go skiing! Last year, I was pregnant and couldn't ski so the Hubby is going to take me a bunch to make up for it.
11. New Christmas Tree We bought a tree last year on clearance after Christmas and it's pre-lit and all fancy. So I'm excited to see it and put it up. Well not yet but after Thanksgiving.
12. Christmas Music I love listening to our 10 Christmas c.d.'s for about 2 weeks then I'm sick of them. But I'm excited to sing Christmas music in the choir and hear it in the stores ect.
13. Mornings This one is hard to explain. But I mean like cold frosty mornings. Like waking up and staying under the blanket because it's cold out of it. Like starting a fire in the fireplace cold (not that we have a fireplace but my dad does). The excitement of Christmas morning too. I love having kids so I can be a kids again.

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1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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Organization

This last week, we had an enrichment night on how to stay organized. 4 women presented on different aspects of the home that need to stay organized: keeping the clutter organized, the paper organized, time management and family relationships. They were all very good.

The things I gathered from the first 2 that I liked were these. The first lady said that she saved all of her first daughters clothes. All. of. them. So did I. Then when she found out she was having a boy with the 2nd, she went through all those girl clothes and handed them down. She said why save them? If....she has another girl, they will probably be out of style, yucky, the wrong season ect. When weeding them out, she would ask herself 3 questions: do I love it? Will I need it? When will I use it again? So I went through the Babe's clothes the other day and I am giving away a ton of them! It's hard. Those clothes were expensive and I love them all. It's weird because I'm not a sentimental person but I got sentimental with his clothes. It's gotta be the hormones (or lack of or something). The paper lady just said to open the mail over the trash can. Good idea! And to take artwork from your kids that they are "attached" to and put it in a pile for a week or so then if they ask for it you have it then throw it away.

The 3rd lady was by far the best. But also the most interesting. She was time management (and also the person who set up the whole evening). She showed us a schedule of her week and gave a handout of a posted schedule she has with her kids (3 boys ages 10-14). At first, I thought who she is a freak. But I honestly am giving it an effort this week to try her schedule and I'm liking it. The schedule goes like this:
Monday Home Blessing Day (it's no longer house cleaning but home blessing)
This is where you do all your surface cleaning for example, vacuum, sweep ect. She also cleans one bathroom and does 1 set of sheets every monday. This one was a stretch for me because my little ones need so much attention. But I got a lot done. Also on Monday she meal plans for the week. This is the part I was most excited about! She also cleans out the fridge so she can be ready for tomorrow (not like deep cleaning but just gets rid of the moldy stuff to make room for groceries)
Tuesday Errand Day
You do all the errands you need to get done. These include going to the library, dry cleaners, grocery shopping, ect. Yesterday we went grocery shopping, had the oil changed in our car and washed it. That was enough for my little family.
Wednesday Pamper Day I call this my day off.
She said she does something for herself this day. She gets her nails done or her hair cut. She also gets in the bathtub. I'm writing in my blog (because that's a luxury these days lol). This is the day I hire a babysitter so I can get the stuff done that I didn't do on Monday and Tuesday. lol.
Thursday Office Day
This is the day she does her bills, schedules appointments, does calendaring ect. I have a list full of things that needs to get done and fall into this category for tomorrow.
Friday Romance
She goes on a date with her husband every friday night. Of course her kids are old enough to not need a babysitter. We go out every other Tuesday and last night we went to the best Italian restaurant.
Saturday Family Day
She spends the entire morning until noon working as a family. They don't sleep in. They get up and work. Whether they need to do lawn work, house work, whatever. Her kids know they are going to work and hard. Then they play. She said they usually do something as a family then they eat out that night.
Sunday Spiritual Renewal
This day of course is reserved for the Lord.

Interestingly, she says that she only cooks 5 nights a week. They eat out twice a week. That's all she can do. So we're trying it this week. We'll see how it goes. The other schedule she passed out was way way over the top. Like scheduling out every minute. Drive me crazy scheduling. But I can do this week thing. I think.

Moms Group

I joined a "mom's group" this last week and today I finally got access to their calendar/stuff. It sounds really fun! It's called West LV Moms Group. I found it through yahoo groups so it was pretty random. I think there is only like 14 members so it's small. And most of them only have 1 kid. But that's ok. So I think I'll go to my first play group on Wednesday and see what it's like. The hubby's comment was, "they let total strangers into their house?" I guess technically they are strangers at first but once you hang out with them a few times then they aren't strangers.

P.S. The Babe went poop on the potty for the first today! Actually it's the first time he's done anything on the potty for a very long time (since June-ish).

Header Courtesy of Nello


Thirteen Things I would do with a Billion Dollars:

1. Buy a Gynormous House. Heck while I'm buying houses, I'd buy all my family houses too.
2. Donate to Charity. There are so many charities that I feel strongly about. Or research.
3. Go to Germany for a month. Actually there are a bunch of places that I'd want to spend a month in. I could just travel for the rest of my life. But then what would be the point in buying a gynormous house.
4. Hire a maid (to clean the gynormous house that I don't live in because I'm in Germany)
5. Buy a new piano. I can't really complain because I already have 2 pianos but I would buy a brand new piano because I've never had one.
6. Buy a hemstitching machine I've been eyeing one of these because I think they are so cool. I also want a cool sewing machine and serger.
7. Buy a truck do you know how hard it is to buy furniture without a truck. Gas is so expensive though that it's hardly worth it to have one. But since money doesn't matter in this fantasy, I can have one.
8. Have a building named after me. I mean like at a university. You know all the buildings are named after someone who donated a ton of money. Well I value education that I would donate enough so they would name the music building after me.
9. Have a redwood tree / grove named after me. Every time we go to the redwoods I am amazed at the beauty. Each grove is named after someone who probably donates enough money. Again I think the redwoods are cool enough that I want to keep them around for a long time!
10. Go back to school (in the building that's named after me lol). I never finished my degree. This one isn't because school costs so much. But when the hubby was going to school, I was working so we could eat. Now that he is working I'm staying home with the kids. So maybe it has something to do with money. I could hire a nanny to watch my kids while I attended classes as well as pay for my tuition. Also, I would have to worry too much about my grades because money wasn't an issue.
11. Complete my 1 year's supply of food storage. Lol.
12. The hubby's contribution to this list was that he would buy a new bike (like pedal bike). He rides his bike to work and we bought him a $70 Walmart bike. He has had like 5 or 6 flat tires in the past year that we've had it. Not because he's hard on the tires or anything just because it's cheap.
13. Ummmm.....save it! Duh. I mean I'd like to think that just because we suddenly got a ton of money that we would change as people too much. I mean sure we'd probably buy a few nice things the first year or whatever but we'd probably still have the same friends and eat at the same cheapo restaurants ect. I can't ever imagine us going out and buying $200 jeans or other extreme things.

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

1. Jules
2. Amy
3. Bubba
4. Colleen


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Food Storage

Yesterday I heard a statement that again made me renew my efforts to have a store of food in case of emergency. The statement was, "If something were to happen and you don't have any food, you will have to sit by and watch your children starve to death." I'm not sure there is anything that could be much worse than that. Now this isn't to say that I have no food storage. I think we probably have 5-6 months worth. But I still want a years worth. So this brings me to my thought process today. How do you do food storage so it works?? My brother's approach is to buy a full years worth and put it in the basement and never even look at it (unless it was needed) for 20 years until it goes bad. Then cut your loses and count yourself lucky you never had to use it. The hubby's idea is quite different. His idea is to buy 2 cases of this when it's on sale and slowly use it. Although this sounds like a great idea, it's really hard to maintain. We did it a while ago with flour. We bought a ton of flour because it was on sale. So if something were to have happened just after we bought that flour we would have been fine. But now a few months later, we've used most of it up and so if something were to happen today then we'd be in trouble. Plus it's really hard to tell how much spaghetti sauce you need to make 1 full years worth of food storage.

So my new theory was. Do both. I did the math on the price of all that wheat that you are supposed to have (which in my opinion is the biggest part of what they suggest) and for my family of 4 it costs about $200 to buy all that wheat. Wheat lasts 20 years and most people rarely use it to cook with. So I'm taking donations. Lol Just kidding. But that's not too bad. Then you have the problem of where to store it ect. But at least I can sleep better at night. Then on top of that we'll buy extra whenever it's on sale and we'll have spaghetti sauce on wheat bread for a year.

Pet Flies

This weekend we acquired 2 pet flies. They came to live in our house by simply flying in the back door. They both enjoy landing on our food and infesting it with millions of germs, lounging around the house waiting for more food and buzzing around my head driving me crazy. The Babe has really taken to them. On Sunday, he invited them both to go to church with us. When they didn't answer, he had to wait until they got into the car before we could leave. Yesterday, while the Babe was setting the table, our pet flies were ask what they wanted to drink with their meal. Now that the 2 days of imagination building is over, I think that it's time that the pets fulfill the measure of their creation. Perhaps we will release them into the wild. But it's more likely that the mommy exterminator will find them.

Music? Or just plain noise?

I pose this question tonight because I really don't understand. In the church, why do we meet just to meet? The question comes from an experience we had today. We went to our ward choir practice. Just to preface our ward choir, we hardly ever go because whenever we do I come home all flustered (and now I write blog posts about it lol). But they are performing next week and they really need male voices. But we went to this "rehersal" today and from the time we first sang each some to the time we were finished they sounded exactly the same. We didn't accomplish anything. Usually in a choir, you want to do something, anything to make the sound better. But no we just sang the song over and over again. What a waste of time! So why do they hold ward choir just for the purpose of holding it? I mean sure it's fun to go and sing but who really wants to go sing a hymn (because that's all we ever sing) over and over and over again for an hour?

Also, I am in desperate need of ideas to console a colicky baby? The vacuum doesn't work. Running water does but I can't run the bathtub all day. Tommorow is Monday and the return of the hubby to work. He is much much more patient than I am so the weekends are like a relief. But tommorow we go at it again. So any suggestions?? I'm going crazy so please help. It's starting to make me grumpy.

Thirteen Supernatural Powers you obtain when you have a toddler:


1. The Poop-O-Detector (insert ooooo's here) This power helps you to be able to detect a poopy diaper across the room and distinguish which child it is.
2. Extendable Ears (insert ahhhh's here) This power gives you the ability to hear through the living room, down the hall into the toddlers bedroom so know if he awake and playing or sleeping.
3. The Daddy Radar (insert wow!) This radar uses the extendable ears to know when the garage door opens so you can alert the toddler thereby giving you at least 30 seconds of peace and quiet. This radar also goes by the name of the Dump-the-crying-toddler-off-on-daddy-because-I'm-done radar.
4. Lightening Reflexes This power comes in handy when you are holding the baby, trying to feed the toddler and sweeping the floor. It's used in this situation when the toddler's milk inches over the edge of the table.
5. You actually grow Eyes In the Back of Your Head Now I know many of the children won't believe this but it's true. I can see my toddler stealing the binkie from the baby even when my head it turned.
6. The Ability to Read Minds This power is used when the toddler goes into the kitchen with the intent on eating the cookies that are on the counter. The mother can spot that a mile away.
7. Interpretation of Tongues That is exactly what it takes to understand toddler language. Even the daddy's don't have this power.
8. The Power to Heal with a Single Kiss This power is used daily with my toddler who even as I am writing this got his arm stuck in a space substantially smaller than the size of his arm.
9. The Ability to Carry on 2 Conversations at Once This power comes in handy when on the phone and the toddler keeps saying, "Mom, Mom, Mom, Mooooommmmmm!"
10. An Invisibility Cloak (note: this power is rarely successful) This power is used to eat any candy, drink any soda or sneak any other coveted item into the house.
11. The Stink-O-Dispeller This power dispels stinkiness thereby allowing the mother to not take a shower for 3 days and still smell rosy and fresh.
12. The Super Sleep-O-Meter This power makes it so the mother only needs about 5 minutes of sleep per day and she is ready to go.
13. Unconditional Love Without this power, I'm not sure the mother would be able to hold it together. This power makes it so the mother can withstand all the spitting up on, all the rejected meals, and even repel the comments like, "Mommy, you have a fat belly."


Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

1. Chaotic Mom
2. Norma
3. Taraden
4. Mar
5. Lazy Daisy
6. Jen

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