a v a r e l l

Palmyra Trip Part II

2011-12-02T00:17:00.000-05:00

We started out the day by heading to the Hill Cumorah and seeing the Moroni Monument. It was really incredible to stand there on that hill (despite the freezing windy-ness of it) and just feel the history of the place and the strong spirit that was there. This is where the gold plates were kept safe and delivered to Joseph Smith to be translated so the true Gospel of Jesus Christ could be restored.

From there we drove past the Palmyra temple and on to the Smith family farm. This place was truly amazing.

First of all, it was amazing that they fit 10 people in that teeny tiny log cabin and felt grateful for their wealth! It made me realize just how much we have today that we are so ungrateful for. It was a great reminder at this very spendy time of year to live simply.

Second, and most obviously, it was amazing to be in the exact place where Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith. Where the Angel Moroni visited Joseph. Where the gold plates had been hidden, translated, protected. Where it all began. We couldn’t help but wonder as we drove around that small town if those that live there now have any idea how sacred this place is—the incalculable impact it has had on the world. Being there made everything real. These aren’t just stories we have been told. Joseph Smith truly saw God the Father and Jesus Christ. The Book of Mormon is true. The Gospel has been restored!

Palmyra temple

Entering the Sacred Grove (Reese was fast asleep)

Wesley lacked wisdom and departed from the log home behind him to enter into the woods to pray

She slept through Niagara Falls and now the Sacred Grove...

Smith Log Home

The picture should lend a little perspective. The house was so small. The ceiling beams had a 6'2" clearance.

Here's the kitchen/living room/dining room. After the First Vision, Joseph came in and leaned over this fireplace where his mother was preparing breakfast. She asked him what was the matter and he replied that he was fine, but he now knew for himself that Presbyterianism wasn't true. From that moment on, the Smith family (and the world) would never be the same.

Carefully climbing the stairs up to the bedrooms

They were tricky! It made me a wee bit nervous to climb those with a sleeping baby in tow.

In the bedroom where Angel Moroni appeared to Joseph

The white building in the background is the welcome center, the trees to the left are the Sacred Grove, the cabin to the right is the Smith's log home.

Smith's land and the path leading to the frame home, the white house on the left.

I love this picture because of Wesley. So 2 year old. I'm walking ahead with our awesome tour guide, a senior missionary from Orem, UT. We met some really great missionaries on our tours!

Reese eventually did wake up and join the fun.

In front of the Smith's frame home, built much later.

This home is 85% original and underwent crazy amounts of restoration. The walls in this room had to have the plaster removed while retaining the original whitewash.

This is a replica of Alvin's toolbox where the gold plates were hidden or transported on a number of occasions.

The hearth, another hiding place for the plates.

Original floorboards in this room

The kitchen. The fireplace was the stove and this home had a fancy upgrade-- an oven. Can you see it? It's the tiny door to the right of the stove. They tested the temperature with their hand.

Behind me to the right is the breakfast table. It was here that Martin Harris broke the news to Joseph that he had lost the translated Book of Mormon manuscript. Right in front of me is where Joseph then spent the rest of the day pacing. I could feel his worry as I sat in that space!

Reesey enjoying the tour

2 year old + historical tours =

We passed through the Sacred Grove again and then headed on to the Book of Mormon Publication site where a wonderful sister missionary played with Wesley and gave us a great tour. We learned a lot about how the Book of Mormon came to be published and it was really neat to see where it all happened.

After all of our touring, this happened in about 20 seconds:

I wish I could have taken a video of this... he fell asleep eating his snacks in the car as you can see by the crackers in his hands. Such an amazing trip! I'm so glad we went-- we had a beautiful experience.

Palmyra Trip Part I

2011-12-01T23:07:00.000-05:00

One of the great things about living in Connecticut is our proximity to a lot of cool places. Add to that the fact that Eric racks up lots of hotel points and it makes for some great experiences!

Eric took this week off of work to enjoy the holidays and family and we took a quick trip up to Palmyra. We got into Rochester, NY at 4 pm and spent an hour at the National Museum of Play. This place was huge! 150,000 sq.ft actually and the kids loved it.

When the museum closed we went over to Dinosaur BBQ for excessive amounts of meat and a crazy delicious salad dressing. (Seriously, if you are ever in upstate NY you should go there. Be sure to get a side salad with the house dressing. I think it was a bleu cheesy thousand island mix of sorts and like I said, crazy delicious).

At the football exhibit

Climbing around on a Jack in the Beanstalk play structure

Sitting on a troll's head, obviously.

Playing in the "sandbox." It was a giant area filled with little PVC pellets. Wesley and Reese were in HEAVEN. Unfortunately, we didn't get a picture of Reese going nuts in here.

We wrapped up the day by picking up some Ben and Jerry's and playing in our hotel room. I must say, as much as we hate having Eric travel and all that that entails, it's pretty nice being a platinum member of a hotel chain-- they upgraded us to a giant room. Never gonna complain about that!

bloggity blog

2011-09-07T22:55:00.000-04:00

What was I thinking? I really set a goal to post on the blog once a week and then actually published it for the world to see. I know what I was thinking-- wouldn't it be nice to have some sort of history recorded for my kids where I can have a scrapbook meets journal while also satisfying the grandparental demands for more pictures of the babies!

But lets be honest. Once a week? This coming from the girl who does laundry on a Monday then folds it the following Monday, simply to make space for more laundry.

That being said, I'm working on it. More to come soon I promise. I have pictures from a whole summer of fun! Coming soon: Toronto, Philadelphia, Rhode Island! (Did we go anywhere else? I really can't remember...)

Teeny Reesey

2011-08-08T13:37:00.000-04:00

I took Reese in for her 4 month check up the other day. Here are her stats:

Weight: 12 lbs 8.5 oz (between the 10th and 25th percentile)
Height: 25 1/4 inches (75%)
Head circ: 42 cm (between 50-75%)

I should point out that she is really closer to 5 months and being compared to other 4 month-ers for the percentile info, so she's probably on the lower end of the spectrum anyway. She's so teeny. Eric calls her 10% nowadays.

But being small has advantages. Because she doesn't have much weight holding her down, she's quite strong and mobile for her age. She is a champion roller, easily flipping from back to tummy and back, and she almost always scoots her way off her blankets when I set her on the floor. (Not very quickly, but she gets there nonetheless).

With that, she also is showing quite a bit of walking prowess. Observe:

Wesleyism

2011-08-08T13:04:00.001-04:00

Today I made grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. I had some tomato soup with mine and I was dipping my sandwich in the soup. I went to rotate the laundry in the middle of the meal and after a minute I hear Wesley calling, "Mommy!! Dripping!! Dripping me!!" My first thought was "Please don't tell me you've spilled my soup everywhere... I should have buckled him down today..."

Fortunately, when I got back to the table, he was just panicking over some milk he'd spilled and that was dripping down his arm a bit. I sat down and he drank more of his milk and I noticed crumbs in it. I thought, "Man, he must really be backwashy today." It wasn't until he picked up his sandwich again that I realized what really happened. It was totally white on one end and dripping milk. Hilarious. He is such a little copycat. The milk was "dripping" because he was trying to be like me and dip his sandwich.

And while we are on the topic, sandwich is one of his favorite words to say. I think because it ends in that satisfying "ishch" sound. Same story with "orange."

Here's some Wesley in action:

Tree Ring Circus

2011-08-02T22:03:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I went to a weird store with my sister-in-law where I expected to find things like discount school supplies and really cheap water bottles, but certainly nothing beautiful.

And then I found this.

There in the middle of a bunch of random children's books was this little gem. The book is called Tree Ring Circus and it is so beautiful! I was drawn in by the lovely cover art. I know better than to buy a children's book without reading it, so I read it to Wesley there on the spot. And when I got to this page, I was sold:

Isn't it lovely? And the story is darling and enchanting and Wesley adores it. He wants me to read it over and over and tries to memorize it and point out all the different animals.

I'm smitten. I want to decorate the children's room based on this book. It's beautiful. I love it.

You should buy a copy too. And while you are at it, check out the other stuff this guy does. He's good. http://www.adamrex.com/

I'm Reese

2011-07-30T21:49:00.000-04:00

Name: Reese

Age: 4.5 months

Favorite foods: Mommy Milk! One time I let her suck on an apple slice and she was in HEAVEN! She also enjoys my knuckles and the occasional binky but fingers and now toes are much preferred.

Favorite person: Mommy. She will cry very dramatically if someone else is holding her for too long. She'll tolerate a few minutes with a stranger, but don't you dare wander too far. She does love Daddy though too, thank goodness.

Favorite movie: Cars. She doesn't really have a choice here. I was so good about never letting Wesley watch anything on screen but I find it a bit more challenging with her. I still deny her TV as much as possible. :)

Favorite toy: Rattle, the fishies attached to her bouncy seat, and the butterfly attached to the swing

Newest Skills: She has successfully mastered the tummy to back roll (she's been doing that for one month now) and she's getting really close to mastering the back to tummy roll. She's done it a few times, but needs more practice.

Least favorite activity: Driving. She screams like a banshee in the car. It stresses me out to no end. Sometimes she is an absolute champ, but generally she hates it.

Favorite activity: BATH!! This girl loves the bath like no other. She is all giggles and smiles the second I start filling the tub and taking off the onesie.

I'm Wesley

2011-07-30T16:32:00.000-04:00

Name: Wesley

Age: 26 months

Favorite question to ask: What's your name? (he asks mom and dad this non-stop)

Favorite foods: tortellini, plain whole wheat pasta, string cheese, mangoes (fresh, dried, and sorbet), peaches, turkey, rice, yogurt covered raisins, broccoli, carrots, fruit snacks, gum

Favorite person: Daddy

Favorite movie: Cars

Favorite toy: Red Van (a hot wheels car of course. He can play with cars for hours!)

Newest Skills: Jumping off the couch, climbing into his own high chair, climbing into Reese's bed, unscrewing lids, taking stairs like a man, he knows his ABCs perfectly and loves to identify letters,

Favorite words and things to say:
"Crashing hitting tires!"
"That's amazing!"
"That's delicious!"
"Beautiful."
"No Mommy Mommy No!"
"No Reesey Reesey No!"
"Ouch! Son of a nutcracker!"
"Watch this Mommy/Daddy!"
"Let's go do it!"
"Don't like it!"

Wesley is 2!

2011-07-30T16:18:00.000-04:00

Oh my goodness, I took zero pictures on his birthday. Whoops.

To celebrate our little boy's SECOND birthday, we went to Kid City which is a really wonderful children's museum about half an hour from us. We bought a family membership for $100. With the pass, not only can we visit Kid City any time we want for free, we can get into (almost) every other children's museum in America. We've definitely gotten our money's worth with that little gem! We've gone to children's museums in Middletown, West Hartford, and Manchester, Connecticut multiple times as well as in Boston and Philadelphia. And the pass is good for a whole year! This is the birthday present that keeps on giving! Wesley had an absolute blast at the museum and then we hit up McD's for lunch. (Something we only do in desperation... I forgot to pack our lunch!) Wes fell asleep hard on the way home, took a good nap, and finished out the afternoon with presents and cupcakes!

Fortunately I just remembered we took some videos! And what's that saying, a video is worth a thousand pictures? :)

Happy Birthday Bucko! We love you so so much!!

Reese's blessing

2011-07-30T14:54:00.000-04:00

We blessed Reese on May 15, the day before she was 2 months. It was a lovely day and we felt so blessed to have so much family there!

Clark and Guinevere and their 2 boys made the 75 mile drive from Framingham, MA to be there.
My cousin Bethany and her husband Danny and their 4 kids made the 80 mile drive from Danbury, CT
My parents Steve and Carma traveled 2,658 miles to come from Las Vegas, NV
Eric's parents Kim and Marilyn traveled 3,056 miles to come from Clovis, CA

It was such a beautiful day and a beautiful blessing for a beautiful girl! We were also glad to provide an excuse for Kim and Marilyn to finally take that church history tour they have been dreaming about for years. It's quite a commitment to make a 3000 mile trip and they definitely made the most of it. They put over 1000 miles on their rental car during their week visit!

Thanks again everyone for making that journey to make the day so special!

Little Wesley

2011-07-30T14:40:00.001-04:00

Wesley loved trekking around in the snow.
The ice didn't seem to scare him too much.

Wesley is standing on top of the snow on a thin layer of ice.
You can see that Eric has sunk down to his knees but Wesley is
light enough to stand on top.

We don't have a sled, so he rode his bike on top of the ice/snow
down the hill. It was awesome. I'll post a video too.

First time holding Baby Sister

love his little lips

He's such a goof. He insisted on putting on his jammies this way one night and rocked the look quite well

Easter 2011

I sometimes think that he can't take a good picture to save his life...

Found one!

Easter feast-- kid style

He picked out his own clothes here. I bought this shirt because it was .75, has a truck on it, and it was intended to be a jammy shirt. The problem is, it has a truck on it, so it's a fave.

I thought it would be fun to do a little photo shoot after church one day.

It wasn't fun. These are the best pics we got.

Wesley is obsessed with throwing clothes around. Unattended laundry basket: beware!

In this case, he just piled them on Daddy.

Baby Reesey

2011-07-30T14:15:00.001-04:00

One of her very first photos

7 lbs 10.5 oz

First family photo

She did not like her first bath!

Snuggling with mommy on her first day at home

Peacefully sleeping on her Boppy

After her first day at church

Aren't those tiny shoes darling?

Sleeping in her bunny suit after a walk

Giggling at Wesley

Catching up

2011-07-30T13:37:00.000-04:00

I've been absent from this blog for a long time. I just find that I manage 2 kids just fine, but all the little excesses get pushed to the back burner. "Update the blog" has been on the to-do list for the last 4 months but things like laundry, cleaning bathrooms, grocery shopping, doing dishes, and mostly playing with my babies takes up all the time and energy I have in a day!

Now that Reese is a hearty 4 month old, I'm starting to feel more like I have a handle on things... most days anyway. Well, truthfully, I was feeling terribly behind in everything. Thanks to some prayer and serious elbow grease and a good all-hands-on-deck Saturday cleaning session last week, I feel ok.

Add to that I'm starting to feel guilty about not documenting the cute things my kids say and do. I don't even remember a few months ago so I know I'm not going to remember all of these things years down the road! So the new goal is to blog. I want to blog at least something once a week. Something for us to have when we look back on these crazy young family years that go by way too fast. Sorry if blogs about other peoples kids bore you to tears. If they do, just delete me from your Reader. I'll never know. :)

Now that it is out there for all to see, here's to a new goal! Wish me luck!

Birth Story

2011-05-02T22:37:00.000-04:00

Well 6.5 weeks later, here's the story. I debated about posting this on the blog because it is really special to me, but I finally decided to share it since it is so special to me. I love birth and I love reading other's birth stories so I figured I could go ahead and let mine be read too. Funny, when Wesley was born I felt like you could have had an auditorium full of people in there watching me and it wouldn't have mattered but I never felt like sharing the story afterward. With Reese, it was a very private moment with just Eric and me, a midwife, and one nurse in the room at the time but I'm excited to share the story. Funny how things turn out... Anyway here it is.

Every day past March 12 brought more crazy hormones, desperation and crying. I knew that the due date was simply an estimate—in fact I felt rather certain that I would be pregnant past my due date. However, when the day came and went I felt sad. I felt like I needed the baby out out out! Physically, I felt ok. I felt much better than I did at the same point in my pregnancy with Wesley. My anxiety came from the fact that I had my mother-in-law in town for a limited time only and I wanted her help more for after the baby than before. (Although it turned out I needed her just as much before). Also, I was feeling anxious about how I would cope once Marilyn left and Eric returned to work. I was sure I could manage that week much better if the baby was a week old instead of 2 days old.

On Monday morning, March 14, I gagged down half a bottle of castor oil completely expecting to go to the hospital in labor in only a few short hours. That’s what happened for other people. Well not for me. Instead I just felt like I had stomach flu all day and a few bad bouts of diarrhea. I took the other half the bottle in the afternoon—a truly desperate act—hoping that it would be the catalyst I needed. It wasn’t. I cried a little (or a maybe kind of a lot) and accepted the fact that the baby would not be coming on Pi Day (3.14) and I should just make the most of the last moments of pregnancy.

I had decided that we would go bowling the next day. Well Tuesday morning around 3:45 I started having some contractions. Nothing too terribly strong, just what felt like early labor. I felt so relieved to be contracting finally! I tried really hard not to get my hopes up and reminded myself that it could be false labor and could stop anytime. As it kept going I couldn’t help but be excited. Until 9:45 a.m. Then there were no more contractions. I tried to be tough, but by 11 a.m. I was a hopelessly hormonal weepy mess. Why couldn’t the baby just come? Marilyn stayed with Wesley while Eric took me out on a long slow walk. If I tried to talk or look at anyone I would cry, so it was a very quiet walk for a while. I finally pulled myself together and decided that we should stick to the plan and go bowling. I felt like my misery was extending out over the rest of the family and I didn’t want to be Debbie Downer. I would have a good time if it killed me!

So we went bowling. I wished that we could have spent hours and hours in that dumb bowling alley, but we got there at 4 p.m. and they let us know that they would be kicking us out at 5 p.m. for the league play. Fine. Whatever. I bowled a rockin 35 or something. You try bowling 40.5 weeks pregnant. (I’m going to pretend like that was the reason for my pathetic score and hope you believe that I ever bowl better than about 40).

We finished bowling and decided we hadn’t killed quite enough time having fun, so we headed out to the library. By this point, I was completely exhausted. I parked myself in the rocking chair by the toy box in the kids section of the library and thanked my Heavenly Father for that toy box full of trucks. Wesley sat happily playing with the trucks while I sat rocking and pondering my enormous squirming belly. Marilyn and Eric perused for books like normal people do at libraries. Around 5:45 p.m. I had a really good strong contraction in that library rocking chair. It made my heart sing. At least there was some hope that the baby would find her way out. Someday. Soon-ish.

I continued having contractions through the evening that increased in intensity and length. I refused to time them. Once I felt like they were strong enough to make me want to yell, then I would time them. I told Marilyn and Eric that in a perfect world, I would go to bed, have labor through the night, wake Eric around 5 or 6 a.m. to go to the hospital and I would have the baby before Wesley even woke up in the morning. I went to bed hopeful, but expecting that-- best case scenario-- I would be in labor all the next day and the baby would come late in the evening.

I did manage to sleep from about 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. but by that point the contractions were gnarly enough I couldn’t even pretend to sleep. Lying on my side made them completely terrible and being giantly pregnant, that meant the only other position I could get in that would allow me to remain in bed was sitting. So I sat up and starting timing. Seven or eight minutes apart, but they were definitely getting strong. I was so elated. Call me crazy, but those who know me well know that I love birth. I am amazed and inspired by the process. I feel that there is nothing more sacred and God-like that we can do in life than birth. As I sat in bed breathing and praying and contracting, I felt so peaceful. A daughter was coming to me. Soon. Really really soon.

Here’s where the TMI part starts, so if you are squeamish, just skip to the part about “And then she was born!”

I went to the bathroom around 4 a.m. (without turning on the lights or even flushing because I didn’t want to wake anyone) and it seemed like things felt a little different than usual. At about 4:30-ish I went to the bathroom again and I felt prompted to turn on the light. I was a bit freaked out to discover a lot of blood in the toilet. I checked and sure enough, I was bleeding fairly heavily. My contractions were still 5 or 6 minutes apart but I wasn’t sure what the heck all the blood was about and decided it would be best to wake up Eric and go to the hospital.

Throughout the whole pregnancy I had been praying to know for certain when to go to the hospital. With Wesley, I had gone to the hospital when I met all the criteria they told me about in my birthing class and I was only dilated 1 cm. My spirits were crushed then and I really didn’t want to repeat that experience. I certainly would not have gone to the hospital when my contractions were still so far apart, but I didn’t remember anything about blood in any of my birthing literature so I just decided to go.

We didn’t hurry. I told Eric to go ahead and take a shower and we ate breakfast. I tried to make myself look a little presentable (since there are always pictures of you immediately after birth—how cruel) and pack the last minute things in between contractions. We woke Marilyn to let her know we were on our way and headed out. Thank goodness she was there so we didn’t have to call someone to come stay with Wesley. The 15 minute drive to the hospital seemed so long. And I didn’t remember it being so bumpy before! As we drove in the car, the contractions slowed back to 6 minutes apart. I found myself getting discouraged and really hoped that I wasn’t pulling a false alarm, but I felt like puking every contraction so I figured it wasn’t completely false labor.

We get to the hospital and check in right around 6 a.m. I had to stop a few times along the walk to the maternity ward so I could hold on to Eric and breathe through contractions. (And tell people that NO I do not want a wheelchair I’m FINE). At the maternity desk as I checked in I was sure they thought I was crazy. I was standing there talking to them just fine—not out of breath or grimacing in pain or anything. Surely I could not be in active labor. The nurse said to follow her down the hall to the triage room—it must have been right at about 4 or 5 minutes after I got there because another contraction hit hard. I got down on my hands and knees because that was the best way for me to deal with them at that moment. I heard Eric say, “Yeah she’s fine.” And the nurse said incredulously, “So this is normal?” If I wasn’t in the thick of a massive contraction I think I could have slapped her. Seriously? Are you honestly a labor and delivery nurse and have never seen a woman stop in the hall for a contraction?? And hands and knees is pretty much a textbook labor position so yeah. NORMAL. My goodness.

Eventually I make it to the triage room and get in the gown. I go to the bathroom before she checks my progress and sure enough there is still more blood. I’m a little freaked by that but the nurse doesn’t seem concerned. Not that her lack of concern meant anything to me; I had already decided she had no idea what she was doing. Anyway, I finally get on the table and she says I’m at an 8. FOR REAL?? I was hoping for a 5 or 6. I couldn’t believe I had already dilated that far! Apparently, if your water hasn’t broken you do bleed quite a bit when you are that far into labor. I didn’t have that experience with Wesley because they broke my water when I was at about 5 cm.

Anyway, the nurse then said the weirdest thing to me. “Unfortunately, it looks like you are going to have this baby really soon.” Why in the world would that be unfortunate??? Unfortunate for whom, exactly? I don’t know why she paused there, because what she was trying to communicate was that ALL the rooms were full and I would have to birth there in the teensy triage room—to which I replied, “What? This room sucks! (pause for a contraction) I don’t want to have a baby in here. Is this even a birthing bed?” “Well,” says the oh-so-endearing-and-helpful nurse, “it’s a birthing stretcher.” And then I snarkily reply, “I’ve never even heard of that. And I think it sucks.” I’m not going to pretend that I was being pleasant at that point. I was pretty much ready to kill the chick. Poor girl. I’m sure she wasn’t as bad as she was in my head right then. I was in active labor, what can I say. And I wasn’t horrible. Just a little snarky.

Thankfully they had just finished cleaning a c-section recovery room and I can move in there. I stand in the hallway for an eternity or so while they wheel in carts of stuff you apparently need to cram in a tiny room to make it more crowded, or rather, that you need for birth. By that point I was getting fairly oblivious to what was going on and very much in my birthing zone. I was really really ready to meet my baby. My body was rearin’ to go and I needed to get a baby out. About an hour after we got there we get into the room. I crawl onto the bed and say to my midwife Jennifer, “Do you know my dilation right now?” Well I really had crawled onto the bed so she had a pretty clear view of what was going on and she said, “Ooh yeah. You are dilated to 10. Go ahead and push now.”

Again, WHAT? So that’s why I was feeling so ready to have the baby. I really couldn’t believe I was already there though. I didn’t really feel the urge to push which was unexpected for me. With Wesley I felt my body start needing to push when I was only at a 7. I tried to start pushing but I told Jennifer that I felt unnatural pushing where I was and I also thought I was going to poop on her if I kept trying. I thought it would work better to move to the toilet. It did. Thanks to my doula friend for that little tip. I sat there pushy pushy pushing and probably cutting off circulation to Eric’s fingers in the process (he’s the best labor partner ever by the way). A different nurse comes in and says she’s replacing whats-her-name whose shift had just ended and I think I might have said “Thank goodness” out loud, even though I meant to only say it in my head. Then soon enough people start saying, “There’s the head! Oh and LOTS of hair!!” and Jennifer tells me matter of factly to get off the toilet and go back toward the bed. I know she’s right, but I’m not quite sure how I’m supposed to get myself there with a head between my legs. She takes one arm and Eric takes the other and they help me slowly shuffle over to the side of the bed where I kneel down and push like crazy. Then I shifted into more of a squat and said, “I can’t do this.” Honestly at that moment I was pretty sure that it would be ok to just stay pregnant. I was sure that the baby would not fit through that spot and that I didn’t need to make that happen and if I did I would die. Jennifer was behind me ready to catch the baby and in a very calm and stern voice said, “Yes you can.” Those were the three words I needed. No more, no less. I pushed and there was her head, push, there’s the baby!

We were both there, alive. She was screaming her brains out and I was smiling and cooing at her. Funny how quickly the tables turn. I was screaming mad only moments earlier but seeing my tiny sweet little girl made it all worthwhile.

It was such a beautiful birth. Absolutely everything I could have hoped for. I hadn’t clicked with Jennifer the one time I had seen her in my prenatal visits so I wasn’t totally excited that she was the one on call, but the moment she walked into the triage room I felt right at home with her. She was perfect for me in the moment. She let me do whatever was intuitive for me and gave me encouragement without being annoying. She was very positive and helpful and exactly what I wanted in a midwife right then. Reese was born an hour and a half after I got to the hospital. The Lord definitely answered my prayer of knowing when to go to the hospital. If I had waited until my contractions were 2 or 3 minutes apart like I thought I should, I might have had the baby in the car.

All in all it was a beautiful, miraculous, spiritual, perfect birth. I’m so grateful to my Heavenly Father to be able to share in the creative process and feel the power of the human body. It’s truly amazing.

Reconditioning

2011-04-27T22:28:00.000-04:00

I did it! Today I made it through an entire day without watching a single episode of Blue's Clues or Sesame Street!

I used to be so good about limiting Wesley's "screen time." We didn't even have a TV until Christmas so it wasn't that hard to not let him watch TV... He does of course love a good YouTube video. Anyway, even after we got a TV we still rarely turned it on. Then the farther I got into pregnancy, the less energy I had to play with Wesley and keep him engaged in better activities. I started letting him watch more shows out of necessity more than anything.

Once baby Reese showed up, I knew Wesley would need something distracting and engaging that didn't involve me so that I could nurse her. Here's a pretty standard conversation between Wesley and me:

Me: Wesley, Reese needs to drink her Mommy Milk now. Would you like to watch Blue's Clues?
Wesley: Treat.
One time I gave him fruit snacks during his BluesClues and now he asks for it every time. This one time I was also trying to get him to leave Eric's office door and he was in the heat of a tantrum. What can you do?
Me: No, not a treat just Blues Clues.
Wesley: Yeah Baloo-kloos

Then it got to where if I sat down with Reese and a burp cloth, Wesley would say, "Reesey Mommy Milk. Watch Blue Clues."
sigh. What have I done? (Some days I wish I could just go back to not having a TV. It really was easier in a lot of ways).

This is one of the many things I inadvertently conditioned him to do. (As a result of all the road trippin we did last summer he's still conditioned to want a cracker anytime we drive anywhere). So now I need to figure out how to un-condition him. Did Pavlov ever get those dogs to STOP drooling at the sound of the bell? That's what I need to know.

I've mostly been trying redirection whenever he asks for Blues Clues or Elmo Show (Sesame Street). So when I sit down to nurse Reese I'll say something like, "Where did your monster truck go?" Sometimes he'll respond with, "No! BlueClues!" but sometimes he'll smile, put his hands out, and say, "Monna truck go?" And then run off to find it.

He used to play with his vast collection of toy cars every morning. As soon as he was done with his cereal he would get the box of cars and line them all up on the arms of the sofa, slowly drive them around inspecting the movement of the wheels, and rearranging them. I honestly don't know how/why he's so fascinated with that. I sorta get bored when I try to play cars with him. Anyway, the past few weeks he's barely played with the cars at all and instead spent all his time either watching Blues Clues or begging to watch. Or begging for treats. That kid has a sweet tooth like none other. But that's another topic...

So today was a tiny triumph. I made it an entire day without turning on the TV or computer for a single show. I have to thank Music Makers and Costco for filling our day so I didn't have so much time at home to redirect. Here's hoping I can stick to my goal of putting an end to my lazy parenting and getting Wesley back into cars, books, and bugs like a good boy should be.

I think I used to be kinda smart once...

2011-04-24T00:53:00.001-04:00

Even though I am used to be blonde, I've always prided myself on not being an airheady blonde. I had a friend growing up that was truly airheaded. Her blondey mishaps were always hilarious, but I was glad it wasn't me. Case in point: We were at a party once drinking lemonade out of dixie cups. She needed to pull her beautiful blonde hair (she did have great hair) back into a pony tail so she held on to the dixie cup (filled with lemonade mind you) between her teeth while she did this. Then she flipped her head over to put her pony tail up, dumping lemonade all over her face. It still makes me laugh, years later. I never understood how she could have forgotten that she was holding a cup of lemonade in her teeth after only a few seconds of placing it there.

Flash forward to now. Ever since Reesey was born, I have felt like a total airhead. Really, airhead is the perfect word to describe me right now. I feel like I can't think of anything clever to say, complete a sentence, or carry on a conversation. Eric has to explain simple concepts to me over and over. Its embarrassing. I mean, pretty sure I have a college degree-- I shouldn't be as dumb as I am right now.

A friend pointed out that I can probably attribute my newfound idiocy to lack of sleep. I think she's right. This week I've gotten even less sleep than usual thanks to Wesley's unsolved mystery fever (I thought it was probably teething but there are no signs of those 2 year molars and the fever is gone... weird), and I had a seriously airheaded moment tonight.

Tonight as I was taking my shower, I accidentally started washing my face with hair conditioner. Somehow, in the few seconds between when I squeezed the bottle of conditioner into my hand and when my hands moved towards my head, I had forgotten what I was doing and figured it must be time to wash my face. It didn't take me long to realize I'd messed something up. So I was laughing to myself, recognizing I needed more sleep, and reflecting on how dumb I've become as I finished up my shower. I went to turn off the water when I realized I'd only washed my hair and face and not the rest of me. Pretty sure the bar of soap is one of the most essential tasks of the shower... how did I miss that step?

Wow. Please excuse me, I'm going to go fold my college diploma into a paper airplane now to try to impress my toddler.

2011-04-19T10:29:00.000-04:00

She's Here!

2011-04-19T10:16:00.000-04:00

Reese Marie Avarell

Born Wednesday March 16, 2011 at 7:30 a.m.

7 lbs 10.5 oz 20.25 inches

Cribz

2011-02-15T13:37:00.000-05:00

I need some advice, input, opinions, etc. about what to do for sleeping arrangements for my soon to be two kids room.

Here are the facts:
1) Wesley is still sleeping in a crib. He can't climb out of it and occasionally he fights sleep and needs to cry for a few minutes in there before giving in. I'm not too anxious to switch him to a bed because he's really doing great in the crib.
2) We have a Moses basket for baby girl to sleep in for the first 2-3 months in our bedroom.
3) We have a pack-n-play with a bassinet attachment that she can sleep in when she outgrows the basket if Wesley is still in the crib.
4)I was given a crib/toddler mattress by a friend here so now it is set up on the floor of Wesley's room opposite his crib.

This is the crib that we have currently. We bought it from IKEA for Wesley and it has now dropped in price from when we bought it-- it's only $69.99. It also looks like they have upgraded it a touch because it says "One bed side can be removed when the child is big enough to climb into/out of the bed."

Our crib does not have that feature. It's just a cage really.

So here's the question. Should I just buy another one of the same crib so that

a) the beds will match

b) Wesley will be able to stay in his crib as long as he wants and I won't feel pressured to get him into a bed sooner

c) and when he is ready, I can just remove one side and it's still a familiar bed for him, just all grown up.

Or should I just get a toddler bed frame because who really needs two cribs? I think I'm leaning toward the 2 crib thing because of a-c above and also because buying the crib is only $10 more than the cheapest toddler bed I could find (Craigslist included. People sell their used junk for WAY too much out here).

Originally my plan was to buy this bed from IKEA and move Wesley into it when he was ready for a bed. The thing is, I have a crib/toddler mattress and I don't have a twin size mattress. Wesley isn't quite 2 yet so I'm thinking that he'll be able to stay comfortable in the toddler bed for at least another year, maybe 2 right? So I won't have to buy the upgrade bed for a while.

So since I've never had two kids before and lots of you have, what do you do in this situation? Did you buy 2 cribs? I certainly wouldn't even consider buying a second crib if it didn't have the option of dropping a side so it can be a toddler bed too. Anyway, comments and emails on this subject will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Snowmageddon 2011

2011-02-01T15:03:00.000-05:00

I stole the title from my sister's Facebook post. It made me laugh. She lives in Texas and while I'm sure they are experiencing an unusual amount of snow, I think I can safely assume we've got more here. My friends with school age kids are pretty much losing their minds... 2 snow days a week for the past 3 or 4 weeks will do that to you. I think they are up to about 9 snow days total now. While that may not sound like a lot, that's 2 full weeks of school. I'm pretty sure they are going till nearly the end of June now. Suckers.

Anyway, Eric and I snapped a few photos of the storm we're getting today. Keep in mind, we're only at the start of this storm. We've already gotten about 5 inches today and we're expecting at least another 10 inches, plus a quarter inch of ice to top it off by tomorrow evening. Swell.

Check out these icicles on our building. I was blown away when I looked up and saw these. Those are 3 stories long!! They start at the 3rd floor apartments and go all the way down the pipes to the ground floor. The ones on the right are even bigger, just hanging there... A full one story sheet of ice. It's nuts.

I was trying to walk to the side of our front door and I got stuck. I sunk down into the snow to above my kneecap but I was still standing on snow, not the ground. That tells me that it is at least 2 ish feet deep right there and I was still in the shallow part.

Here I'm on the sidewalk standing on our new 4 inches of snow. You can sorta see how the other snow is plowed on the side-- again, it's at least 2 feet deep. When Wesley walks down the sidewalk it's up to his shoulders and he's 2' 5" right now. Hehehe so little.

My favorite-- these light posts are right around 4 feet tall I think.

I've never seen this much snow in my life. I was thinking the other day about what if this is the beginning of another ice age... will Woolly Mammoths come back from extinction? And we'll all ride around on our saber tooth tigers and live in snow caves...

As I was walking through the snow today (I went to pick up a package from the apartment office) I was also thinking that this would be totally awesome and fun if a) I wasn't pregnant and off balance/ out of breath all the time, b) I had a snowboard, c) I could take Wesley sledding. Pregnancy in the winter is wonderful because I have a built in space heater (and it is that same reason I don't ever want to be pregnant in a summer) but it's lame because you can't really enjoy the snow!

All and all, we haven't really minded the snow. It's been pretty cool. But I'm not gonna lie. It's getting OLD! I will allow this weather to continue through February, but by March I would like to see some melting going on. Just a little. If that's too much to ask then maybe just less snow dumping... And please don't let me go into labor during a blizzard. Thanks.

Handmade Goodness

2011-02-01T14:38:00.001-05:00

I've been wondering about posting stuff that I've made on this blog... I feel like Blogville is inundated with craftiness and my stuff isn't really all that cool so why should I clutter up an already craft heavy place with more mediocre crafts? However, sometimes I get lots of comments on stuff I've made which makes me think people may actually be interested... Anyway, all that blah blah blah aside, I had a request to post the following on my blog so here you go.

For Christmas I made a few little things for Wesley, namely a new snuggly blankie and a hooded towel. I don't have a picture of the blanket, but here are the towels. Obviously, the girly one is for the new baby. Having 2 matching kid things makes me realize I'm going to have 2 kids, which is still pretty trippy for me.

Wesley's "big" present was a Toy Story 3 Mr. Potato Head set. I wonder about toys that advertise "52 pieces!" "184 tiny detachable pieces!" What they might as well say is "Good luck keeping these all together, not strewn all over your house, and not lost in less than a month Sucker Mom!"

We were very excited to introduce Wesley to Mr. Potato Head, but I was hesitant about how to keep from losing the plethora of accessory body parts and keeping them from just landing in the back of the toy chest, never to be played with. So I made them a home. Nothing too fancy really, just a drawstring bag out of a remnant of burlap. For the drawstring I used the hem of a t-shirt leftover from a quilt I made and then I stenciled Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head on the front with a Sharpie.

As it turns out, Wesley LOVES his sack of potatoes. He particularly loves dumping all the pieces out and putting them back in the bag. Over and over. He did this 12 times in a row once and I'm not exaggerating. I was amazed that he was still at it after 3 so then I kept counting.

If you too find yourself vexed by toys that have a billion detachable parts, whip up one of these little beauties. The nice thing is, Wesley can't un-cinch the drawstring by himself so he must bring the bag-o-mess to me first. I like to be able to control the chaos sometimes...

I used a combination of this tutorial from Purl Bee and this one from YarnGeek. Well and a little from Dana too.

As for the hooded towels, I love it! My boss made one for me right before Wesley was born and it was small and cone-heady and wonderful for a really long time. I knew I wanted to make one for the baby too so I started looking for a good tutorial and I found this one from Obsessively Stitching and I really really like it. I was skeptical at first, but it turned out marvelously.

So there you go. Another crafty post to the blogosphere. Maybe now you feel inspired to organize your kid's toys or make them a hooded towel for a Valentine's gift. :)

Some cheese with my whine

2011-01-28T18:43:00.001-05:00

I feel like I whine a lot about Eric traveling. If I'm not whining out loud, rest assured I'm whining in my heart. I really don't like not having him by my side all the time, in case you hadn't figured that out yet. 50% of the time is NOT enough for me to live with my spouse.

Anyway, we've been at this for a while now so I should be getting used to it, and I guess I sorta am. Some weeks are better or easier than others. Then some weeks I just sink into being really sad about it and turn unproductive and my heart whines louder.

So now I will indulge in a little cheese with my whine. :) The other day "our song" came on the radio and it made me really nostalgic. I started thinking about songs and I realized that Eric and I have had several different "our songs" throughout our relationship.

#1: Happy Together by The Turtles
This was our first song. When we first started dating back when we were little kids (hehe) we were amazed at how we truly just felt HAPPY like nothing else had ever made us feel. It was that true joyful feeling that first let me know that Eric is my soulmate.

Imagine me and you, I do
I think about you day and night, it's only right
To think about the girl you love and hold her tight
So happy together

If I should call you up, invest a dime
And you say you belong to me and ease my mind
Imagine how the world could be, so very fine
So happy together

I can't see me lovin' nobody but you
For all my life
When you're with me, baby the skies'll be blue
For all my life

Me and you and you and me
No matter how they toss the dice, it has to be
The only one for me is you, and you for me
So happy together

I can't see me lovin' nobody but you
For all my life
When you're with me, baby the skies'll be blue
For all my life

Me and you and you and me
No matter how they toss the dice, it has to be
The only one for me is you, and you for me
So happy together

Ba-ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba-ba
Ba-ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba-ba

Me and you and you and me
No matter how they toss the dice, it has to be
The only one for me is you, and you for me
So happy together

So happy together
How is the weather
So happy together
We're happy together
So happy together
Happy together
So happy together
So happy together (ba-ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba-ba)

#2: Bubbly by Colbie Caillat
I think this turned into our song when we were engaged. We danced to it at our wedding. It just seemed to match the giddy feeling we always had around each other. Basically the same as the feeling with Happy Together, no one made me smile like Eric can.

I've been awake for a while now
You've got me feelin' like a child now
'Cause every time I see your bubbly face
I get the tinglees in a silly place

It starts in my toes
And I crinkle my nose
Wherever it goes I always know
That you make me smile
Please stay for a while now
Just take your time
Wherever you go

The rain is fallin' on my window pane
But we are hidin' in a safer place
Under the covers stayin' safe and warm
You give me feelings that I adore

They start in my toes
Make me crinkle my nose
Wherever it goes
I always know
That you make me smile
Please stay for a while now
Just take your time
Wherever you go

What am I gonna say
When you make me feel this way?
I just, mmm

It starts in my toes
Makes me crinkle my nose
Wherever it goes
I always know
That you make me smile
Please stay for a while now
Just take your time
Wherever you go

I've been asleep for a while now
You tucked me in just like a child now
'Cause every time you hold me in your arms
I'm comfortable enough to feel your warmth

It starts in my soul
And I lose all control
When you kiss my nose
The feelin' shows
'Cause you make me smile
Baby just take your time now
Holdin' me tight

Wherever, wherever, where ever you go
Wherever, wherever, where ever you go

#3: Lucky by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat
This turned into our song basically the second it came out, about a year after we got married. Again, it totally described how we felt. I feel so lucky to be in love and married to my best friend! The person I would rather spend time with than anyone else on the planet.

Do you hear me? I'm talking to you
Across the water across the deep blue ocean
Under the open sky, oh my, baby I'm trying

Boy I hear you in my dreams
I feel your whisper across the sea
I keep you with me in my heart
You make it easier when life gets hard

I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again
Ooh ooh ooh

They don't know how long it takes
Waiting for a love like this
Every time we say goodbye
I wish we had one more kiss
I'll wait for you I promise you, I will

I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again

Lucky we're in love in every way
Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed
Lucky to be coming home someday

And so I'm sailing through the sea
To an island where we'll meet
You'll hear the music fill the air
I'll put a flower in your hair

Though the breezes through trees
Move so pretty you're all I see
As the world keeps spinning 'round
You hold me right here, right now

I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again

I'm lucky we're in love in every way
Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed
Lucky to be coming home someday

#4: Faithfully by Journey
I feel kind of silly that this is our song right now. It seems so different than the other ones... Eric is on a HUGE Journey kick these days (and why shouldn't he be, they are awesome) and he told me that every time he hears this song it makes him think of me. Then I confessed that once I heard this song over the summer and it made me cry like a baby. Anyway, I guess that turned it into our song right now.

Highway run into the midnight sun
Wheels go round and round
You're on my mind
Restless hearts sleep alone tonight
Sending all my love along the wire
They say that the road
ain't no place to start a family
Right down the line it's been you and me
And loving a music man
ain't always what it's supposed to be

Girl
you stand by me
I'm forever yours
faithfully
Circus life under the big top world
We all need the clowns to make us laugh
Through space and time
Always another show
Wodering where I am lost without you
And being a part ain't easy on this love affair
Two strangers learn to fall in love again
I get the joy of rediscovering you

Oh girl
you stand by me
I'm forever yours
faithfully
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
oh oh oh oh oh oh
faithfully
I'm still yours
I'm forever yours
Ever yours
faithfully

Ok can you handle anymore cheese? I know, I know, I've been really sappy lately. I'll blame it on pregnancy hormones. I blame as much as I can on those things. Why not, eh?

I didn't want to forget the songs that have been special to us and I know the older we get the more we will forget about these things. So that's that. I love my sweetie.

Dimples

2011-01-22T23:12:00.000-05:00

It's hard for me to find a face I love more than this one. Ever since he was born 20 quick months ago he's had those adorable dimples that make everyone swoon. We love to kiss those cheekies.

I can't believe he's getting so old. Last week I wrote down all the words Wesley was saying and the list was over 50 words long. Now that list is outdated... he's probably added at least 10 more words this week. He understands so much and definitely knows what he wants. There is no denying he's entering that Terrific* Two's stage I've heard so much about. *I've decided I should really think positively about it and give it a better name. That will help me have a better attitude, right? He throws lots of tantrums and has plenty of meltdowns. I've been very grateful for mothering hormones plus little gifts of patience from Heavenly Father that help me just love him more despite the fits. That and things like mini-marshmallows and Blues Clues that shake him out of meltdown mode sometimes.

Speaking of mini-marshmallows, Wesley has learned what it means when I say "I'll give you a treat if you..." For example. He refused to wear this adorable hat we bought him. (The one in the pic above). I said, "Hey Wesley, I'll give you a treat if you try this hat on for me!" He immediately ran up and let me put the hat on him, take a picture, then happily and expectantly waited for his treat. You just better be able to deliver.

I could go on and on about my boy. He really is a little angel. He LOVES his cars and plays with them for so long! He LOVES babies... obsessed maybe. He loves to touch my belly and feel the kick kick kicks, he loves to give baby dolls kisses and hugs and rock them back and forth. He loves the book we have called "Our New Baby" that explains all about how life is different with a baby in the house. Any time he sees a baby at church or playgroup he MUST go up and look at the baby, squat down near it, and wave and say Hi! It's so cute. I think he'll be a great brother.

Well there's your sappy mom post for the day. I'm really glad these end of pregnancy mommy hormones have started to kick in because I feel sorta like the Grinch at the end of the story when his heart grows all big. Suddenly I am SO so excited to be a mommy of a little girl and the fears I expressed earlier on this blog have pretty much melted away. I have nothing but love for my little boy and I seriously LOVE spending my days with him. I'm so grateful I get to be a mom. I know there are plenty out there that don't get that blessing and I recognize how TRULY blessed I am. Can't wait to meet you Baby Girl and see how much sappier my life can get when I have 2 kids!

iCrave

2011-01-19T13:14:00.001-05:00

Pregnancy cravings. Yep. When I was pregnant with Wesley, I craved summer sausage, cheese, Wheat Thins, Jimmy Dean sausage biscuits, and red gatorade. I'm pretty sure I ate no less than 8 pounds of Wheat Thins through that pregnancy. No less.

This time, it's very similar. I've been craving turkey bacon like MAD, Club crackers (again, I've eaten lots and lots of those. Wesley and I share), and anything sweet and lemony. Lemon curd, lemon cheesecake, lemon pudding, lemon yogurt... For the past few days I've really been wanting delicious baked macaroni and cheese. One night when Eric was out of town I made some Kraft box stuff for Wesley and I and it did NOT hit the spot. Quite the opposite really, and it only fueled the craving more.

Generally I can't really cook when Eric is out of town because Wesley barely touches anything I cook and I certainly can't eat a whole dish of something on my own. What usually happens is that after 2 days straight of eating the leftovers I'm so sick of it that it just ends up spoiling in the fridge and I can't stand the thought of making it again, even if it was good the first time.

Fortunately, Eric was in town last night and I finally could give into my homemade baked mac & cheese craving. All the recipes I found online were basically the same-- the standard flour+butter+milk, add cheese, toss noodles and bake. HOWEVER. I saw one that mentioned bacon and I realized it must be. The online recipe looked kinda weird-ish though so I figured I would just throw crumbled bacon into my standard recipe UNTIL I saw the very next recipe in my book.

I cannot NOT share this. It was so so yummy! I know it's bad form to brag about stuff you cook and I usually don't but this realllllly worked for me. Maybe it was because of the craving that I was finally able to satisfy, plus the bacon, plus caramelized onion... who knows. All I'm saying is it was the perfect dish to serve to your hungry family while watching a crazy ice storm fall on the 2 feet of snow outside your window.

Without further ado, I present you:

Macaroni and Cheese with Caramelized Onions
4 strips bacon (I use turkey bacon)
1 large sweet onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups dried elbow macaroni
2 cups shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup shredded Gruyere cheese or crumbled bleu
*I used sharp cheddar, monterey jack, and Parmesan because it's what I had on hand and like I said, it was delicious. Plus, I have a thing against Gruyere in general so I wouldn't have used it anyway. I'm pretty sure whatever 2 1/2 cups of cheese you use will be great.
1 cup half-and-half or light cream (I used 2% milk because again, it's what I had in my fridge).
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

*Cook bacon in microwave until crisp. Crumble and set aside.

*Cook onion in about 1 T. olive oil over med heat for 5-8 min until onion is tender and golden brown. Set aside.
Side note: The real recipe says to cook the bacon in the skillet, then cook the onion in the bacon grease. That's all fine and good I guess but a) that grossed me out and b) with as much as I love bacon right now, I still hate how it stinks up your whole house and entire wardrobe when you cook it. Therefore, I microwave it so I don't have to smell it forever.

*While bacon and onion are doing their thing, cook macaroni according to package directions. Usually about 1 min less than the full time is best since you'll be baking it. Make sure it's right at al dente and not much more.

*Drain macaroni and return to pan. Stir in crumbled bacon, onion, 1 1/2 cups of the mozzarella cheese, the Gruyere, milk/cream, and pepper. Toss gently to combine. Spoon into casserole dish. (Mine fit in an 8x8 pyrex nicely).

*Bake uncovered in a 350 F oven for 20 min. Stir gently. Top with remaining mozz. cheese and bake about 10 min more until top is brown and bubbly. Let stand 10 min.

So that's that. I just finished off the leftovers for lunch and I'm not sure if I can wait very long before making it again. Let me know if you try it!

Another thing that I loved about this recipe, is that it really only takes as long to prepare as the time it takes to boil water and cook macaroni. I preheated the oven, put the water in the pot to boil, started the onion on the stove and the bacon in the microwave all at the same time. Once I threw the noodles in the water, I had 6 minutes to grate the cheese and crumble the bacon which was perfect. Ample, even. Then drain, stir, and dump. You then have 20 minutes to play with your toddler. Add more cheese, then 10 minutes to clean up the dishes and set the table. Perfect. Ok, I'm weirding myself out now... toooo obsessed with this recipe. :)

A whole new year!

2011-01-17T17:06:00.000-05:00

Happy January! I can't believe we're already halfway through this month. Time is FLYING!

One of the blogs I look at occasionally http://www.simplymodernmom.com/ is doing a project that she calls Glimpse into Motherhood. Basically, her goal is to take a picture every week chronicling her life as a mom. She encourages others to join her in the project. Well, I'm not committing to anything, but as I read it (skimmed it really) I thought to myself, I need to take more pictures. It's lame when you look back and have no pictures of something that was really memorable... like your childhood. :) So I will try to take at least one picture a week and probably post it on here. That will also make this blog less boring. Or at least that will provide more incentive for Eric to look at it. hehe

I will preface by saying I don't have a fancy camera and I'm generally a bad photographer, so don't expect art. Just life. With that, here are some pictures I've taken the past 2 weeks.

ok this one is older-- actually pre-Christmas but I love it and I don't think I've posted it anywhere. Wesley loves to cram himself into boxes that seem impossible to fit in (like a diaper box). This one was a bit too small for him but luckily, he found some stretch room with the handle hole.

Bundled up watching football with Daddy. This Kodak moment lasted about 45 seconds

Watching a show. On the back of the couch...

I came into his room to find this little tower he built all by himself. I was rather impressed.

I had to include this because it's how most pictures of him turn out. He thinks this is smiling for the camera and makes this face anytime he's confronted by the Mamarazzi.

Isn't this darling?? Wesley and his new friend Emmy thought it was pretty fun and hilarious to share a chair.

They are 5 months apart and both expecting little sisters this spring. We try to have play dates a lot so they get used to sharing with others... They definitely help each other relax in nursery so that's a plus!

Cheeeeeeese!

Annnnnnnnd I'm done.

Update

2010-12-30T18:26:00.000-05:00

Leaving the house was a success today. Wesley was a total angel and charmer at the doctor's office. So much so that my midwife said he was "so well-behaved. It's amazing!" Now I understand why moms would always counter my compliments about their sweet children with "Yeah well, you should see him/her.... etc." But yes, today, he was amazing.

In other news, any tips on how to stop hating your husband's job? Advice from anyone who has been there will be greatly appreciated.

Leave the house? Why?

2010-12-29T18:00:00.002-05:00

Today Wesley and I left the house for the first time in about 3 days. I had 3 errands to run and as usual, had it mapped out for optimum timing and effectiveness. Wesley whined the whole way through the first store, squirmed and whined through the second store and at the third store? Well that was when he wouldn't let me hold him, ran around with me chasing him and threw a full-blown tantrum. All the while, Mrs. Snooty Old-Ladyton hurried to get in front of me in line so that I had extra long to wait while holding my purchases, other bag, purse, squirmy/screamy toddler, and belly. (I wasn't actually holding my belly, I just needed you to get the visual of my burden). Thanks Snooty.

On top of this, Wesley managed to offend all 3 cashiers (one per store) by scowling at them when they tried to say hello. Seriously. With a face that cute, he should be making friends left and right. Not this kid. He likes to scowl at people who offer friendship.

And did I mention the bribery needed to get him buckled into his seat 3 different times? Each time he was all screamy about getting into the car.

This is why I only leave the house every 3 days. Unfortunately, I have something scheduled for tomorrow so I will be forced to leave 2 days in a row. It's during Wesley's daily meltdown hour no less. Wish me luck!

I should mention that Wesley was exceptionally crabby today. Like most toddlers, I'm sure, he has days where he is the sweetest angel and others where he loses all communication ability and only knows how to scream and flail. I should also mention that I really don't mind not leaving the house. I quite like it here. :)

So the doctor said I wouldn't have so many nosebleeds if I could just keep my finger outta there!

2010-12-28T18:57:00.001-05:00

(For those that aren't either my siblings or huge Simpsons geeks, the title is a quote from Ralph on the Simpsons)

Last Saturday night, Wesley woke up crying at around 5ish am. That's not completely out of the ordinary, it still happens sometimes. Usually he won't go back to sleep in his own bed afterwards and I'm forced to bring him into our bed. Normally I don't mind, but this was actually the only night that Eric and I had to share a bed for quite some time and neither of us sleep quite as well with Mr. Squirmy in there too.

Well, I tried, but he wasn't going back to sleep so I brought him in with us. Around 7:30 he stirred/woke up and I noticed blood ALL over his face! It totally freaked me out! I jumped out of bed and grabbed a warm wet wash cloth to clean him up. I figured out he must have had a bloody nose and that's what caused the wake up/freak out in the wee hours. I went into his room and saw this:

It seriously looked like a scene from a horror movie with the bloody handprints on the crib... eww. I don't do blood. I procrastinated cleaning it up for a few days but thanks to the miraculous combo of Shout + Oxy-Clean it came out in just one wash!

Here's the little nose picker with crusty blood on his face. Again, my mom instinct pounced too fast before I thought to get a picture of the whole bloody face. It's probably for the best. I don't need to remember that image.

He got another spontaneous nosebleed at church later that morning. We've since started putting Aquaphor in his nose at night and that has actually drastically cut down the nose-picking! Thank goodness. Funny thing is, he loves it when we put the Aquaphor in his nose. He even requests it. :) Hopefully that means no more nosebleeds!

Oh baby!

2010-12-28T18:42:00.000-05:00

The other day I was all bugged because I was so dang uncomfortable and feeling huge. I kept thinking I wasn't far along enough in my pregnancy to be feeling like this, and then it dawned on me: At some point without noticing, I have entered the THIRD TRIMESTER!

This led to all sorts of other epiphanies and minor freak-outs.

1) I have just over 10 weeks to get ready for this little girl. This caused me to make a list of my top 10 sewing projects that I hope to get done before baby comes. (And other goals... but mostly sewing projects).

2) I only have 10 weeks left of just one kid!! I really am freaking out quite a bit about this. I can meet the needs of one child rather adequately while also taking care of myself and the household, but can I do 2? I mean, it is the little logistics like: what do I do with the tiny one while I'm taking 15 minutes to rock the big one to sleep? Will I ever shower again? How am I supposed to run errands with a car seat and a tantrum-y toddler that may or may not sit in the cart when asked?

3) I still haven't found a pediatrician I like and I don't like my baby doctor place either. I only get to birth this baby once and I really want it to go well. I wish I could have my Utah or Vegas baby people here in Connecticut. Why are all the other birth hippies in the west?

4) I need a bigger freezer so the meals I make now won't go bad and I can take a break from thinking about food when I'm adjusting to life with 2 babies.

5) I need a bigger budget so I can get all the things I need/want and worry less about paying stupid east coast doctor/hospital bills.

And so on, and so on. I'm such a worryer. It's in my genes. I wish I could trade in some worries for excitement. I am excited to hold and snuggle a little baby girl. I've been watching older videos of little Wesley and getting really excited for another little tiny. One thing I remember from my BYU (or high school) science class is that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. I feel like right now for every excited feeling about this baby, there is an equal and opposite anxious feeling.

So basically, I need some advice and reassurance. People all over the world have more than 1 kid and survive it and usually even thrive. I know it can be done... So please let me know your secrets! Any tips for letting go of the fear and anxiety?

And to end on a high note, here's a super adorable picture of two of my most favorite people.

Car. Vrrom!

2010-12-13T20:49:00.001-05:00

I titled this post what Wesley would have called it. He loves to say that little phrase. Cute.

Eric's job requires him to travel quite a bit, as you probably have figured out by now. :) With the move to Connecticut, about half of the traveling he does is driving all over the state. After polling pretty much everyone we met that knows more than us about Connecticut, we decided that his little front-wheel drive pickup was not going to cut it through the winter. That and the fact that the clutch and tires were up for replacement, we lost the shell in the move, and it only seats 2ish people. We crammed all 3 of us in there and the more pregnant I got, the less fun that was. Anyway, Eric began the hunt for an acceptable replacement given our criteria and budget and we found one! We bought a Ford Escape to replace his truck. It was the same year as his truck, far fewer miles, 4WD, and actually has a back seat. All pros.

This makes the 7th car that Eric and I have shared in the 3 years we've been married. I think we have a problem. No but really, there is a good explanation behind every car change. That's another story for another day.

So we get our little Escape and it has a tough time starting at the dealership. Hmmm. That hadn't happened when we had test-driven it. I thought maybe it was just a fluke since it was a colder day than before or who knows what. Anyway, it turned out not to be a fluke. Every time we tried to start it, she struggled. And it got worse each time. Worse and worse until the check engine light came on and it nearly died at stoplights. That's when we called the local Ford dealership to get it looked at. We made an appointment for Monday morning, but when the time came, the ol' car wouldn't start at all. We tried jumping it with our other car. We tried giving it snuggles and loves and lots of gas and nothing worked. Crap.

Here's where the miracles start: So I start praying lots. We really can't afford to put money into the car, which is why we traded the truck in in the first place. I don't want to pay to have it towed to the shop but the thing won't start. We feel a little stuck and not sure what to do. Later that day I went to magnet something to the side of my fridge where I saw the first answer to my prayer. The phone number for Geico and our policy number... Oh yeah! We have roadside assistance with Geico! A phone call later, they towed the car for free off to the repair shop.

Naturally, the people at the repair shop assumed we were idiots and let us know the battery was dead and that's why it didn't start. We knew that... we killed it by trying to start the car all day. Well they soon figured out we weren't idiots when they thought they fixed the problem only to have the car break down on their post-fix test drive and ended up pushing it back to their shop.

Well after a battery charge, a new coil for the 3rd piston in the engine (or something like that), a new fuel pump and $1000 later, she's as good as new! But yeah. It was a thousand dollars. I'm convinced cars will never break down for less than a grand. I hope to someday be proven wrong.

So I stressed about that a lot. We haggled down the price quite a bit to make me comfortable with buying it in the first place and we felt like we got a really good deal. Until we ended up paying $1000 more than we expected. I was trying to come to terms with that and accept the fact that 1000 hard earned dollars were disappearing from savings and going toward something totally unexpected and then...

Naturally we had been in contact with our salesman through this whole process and kept him informed of what was happening. Fortunately, the dealership is one that Eric works with and this guy really liked us. However, he was not returning our phone calls or emails lately and we were getting a bit nervous. Today we got a hold of him and found out that he got approval to reimburse the entire amount of the repair! WOW!!! They'll be sending us a check this week. That is the answer I was hoping for in all my praying.

Let me just say, ask and ye shall receive. Pay your tithing and have faith. Never give up hope because the Lord knows you and your needs and just what you can handle. We would have been happy with much less-- but that's just the way the Lord works. He will bless you more than you expect if you let him.

2010-12-10T12:07:00.000-05:00

A dear family friend died today.

There is never a good time for a family to lose a mommy/wife/best friend, but as I listened to Christmas music today, I couldn't help but imagine how hard it would be right now. My heart aches for those kids and poor Jared and especially on Christmas morning without this amazing woman.

For some reason, I just can't stop crying for them right now. I do take comfort knowing she is in a much better place and her cancer battle is finally over. She was so blessed to have as much time as she did in the face of terminal brain cancer, but knowing all that hasn't helped me handle it better. I don't really handle death well. Does anyone?

Anyway, I just needed to write this. Pray for Jared, Jacob and Emma.

I get excited about good deals. :)

2010-11-15T13:49:00.001-05:00

On Veteran's Day, Saver's was having a 50% off sale. Naturally, I went, along with the rest of Connecticut. MAN that store was packed. Even still, I found some really cute stuff. I promised myself I would not go too crazy and get a zillion things I had good intentions for. Here's what I scored:

Top left: 2 king size pillowcases in an adorable print that will be made into baby clothes for baby girl. ($1ea)

Top center: Short sleeve chunky knit sweater for me ($2)

Top right: Super cute church shirt for Wesley ($2.50)

Middle left: 2 long sleeve tees for Wes (.49 each)

Middle center: THE CUTEST little boy church shoes from BabyGap, BARELY worn ($2)

Middle right: Super soft corduroys and Old Navy Painter jeans for Wes, both barely worn ($1 ea)

Bottom: Never worn zip-up hoodie ($2)

Seriously?!?! I was so excited. I love thrift shopping for kids clothes in New England! It's a bunch of high quality, barely worn stuff that doesn't even get picked over because there aren't a gazillion college student moms around trying to outfit their kiddos! (in other words, I could never find anything good in the kid's section of thrift stores in Utah). Yay for savings!

Woo hoo!! He's so big!

2010-11-14T18:23:00.000-05:00

Next Sunday Wesley will be 18 months old. We've been counting down Sundays to this blissful day when he could start going to Nursery and we could actually enjoy church again! For the last 2 Sundays, we've been taking him into the nursery and staying with him to get him used to the new routine. Today when we took him in, the awesome nursery leaders said that since he's been doing so well we could just leave him today a week early. YES!!!! He did so well-- he was having such a great time I don't think he really even noticed we weren't there. It was so wonderful to go to the rest of church and get to listen to the lessons without chasing Wesley around, stuffing crackers in his mouth to keep him quiet and occupied, the whole 9 yards. SO exciting!

I think I would probably be sad that my little baby was growing up if I didn't have another little baby growing up inside me right now. For now, I'm extremely relieved that he's big enough to take the stairs by himself, drink from a real cup, and play with other kids. That gives me faith that I really can be a mother of 2!

In other news, tonight for the first time I baked a batch of chocolate chips cookies that didn't turn out terribly. Victory!

And to celebrate finally finding all of our camera accessories, here's a video we took tonight. Wesley loves to watch Eric's wedding ring spin on the floor. He likes to barely touch it and then get his fingertip "owie" kissed. Also, anytime he sees the camera he has to blink all weird because that's what you do for the camera. In the background you'll hear the oven beeping for my perfect cookies. :) Enjoy!

Sugar and spice and everything nice!

2010-11-12T08:58:00.000-05:00

See that tiny sweet little fist on her tiny little head? Oh it's so cute!

We're having a girl! I wasn't at all surprised, I definitely knew it was a girl. I just know these things. I'm so excited! I've decided that from now on I will only be pregnant with girls because it has been lots easier. Don't get me wrong, I will gladly have another boy just as long as I can only be pregnant with girls. What do you mean it doesn't work that way? Anyway, I'm thrilled and excited but a little nervous too. Girls are a whole different ball game! I'm a little intimidated by the world of hairbows, tights, and tiny bracelets. And hopefully she'll be as fun and spunky as little Wesley who gets cuter by the day.

She's flexy like mommy-- doing a little womb yoga

Just as I suspected

2010-10-28T23:03:00.000-04:00

I worried that after five and a half months of living in other people's homes with no real responsibility, tasks, or duties to speak of (other than playing with my kid), that I would forget how to function and run my own home.

Tonight as I was attempting to make dinner, I decided this was true. Either that, or I never knew how in the first place. Or no one can ever get anything done with a toddler. Seriously-- how does anyone do anything with a 17 month old for whom you are their only entertainment? Wesley has gotten all too used to mommy-time play-time ALL-the-time that it makes simple tasks like making dinner much more insurmountable.

Tonight I was finishing the dinner that I actually started last night because last night I abandoned it and drove thru Taco Bell. All I was making was this delicious salad but I felt like it took an eternity. Mostly because I was constantly interrupted by my little monkey.

Last night I recorded what Wesley did in the time it took me to wash the mud off of, kill the caterpillars living in, and chop the head of Napa cabbage that recently came to me from a Massachusetts farm.

Got into a forbidden cupboard and pulled out as many sandwich baggies as he could before I could catch him 4 separate times.
Sat in time out for this after the 3rd time
After the 4th time, I knew the message wasn't coming through so I escorted him to the toy chest in his room and closed the door behind me. :) That bought me maybe 3 minutes
He then tried to use his set of play keys to open the shut door, then just knocked and yelled until I came to the rescue.
Got into 3 different boxes of cereal and sampled bits of each.
Helped me push the button on the salad spinner over and over and over
Dumped half a bag of cereal ALL over the floor. At least he kept eating it once it was spilled...

How am I supposed to get anything done in all that ruckus? I know that's nothing compared to lots of crazy-kid-terror stories I've heard, but it still makes me feel unproductive at best.

So as I worked on dinner tonight it was pretty much the same story as last night. This time it was a cup of water he poured on the floor instead of cereal. At one point he was playing in his room when he started making his distressed cry. I rushed in to find that he had managed to climb into the 2nd drawer of his dresser but couldn't figure out how to get out. I'm very very glad that dresser didn't tip or break like it should have... yikes. (I wanted to take a picture, but the mothering instinct kicked in too fast here. It was really quite a feat).

All of this is really just to say, I know there are people who accomplish lots and lots with toddlers... How on earth do they do it?

Take for instance, my awesome sister-in-law who has 2 little boys, currently in law school and completing a demanding internship for a judge. She manages to cook fantastic, organic, gourmet deliciousness for her family on a regular basis using muddy, buggy, fresh produce as well. To me, that is quite a feat in and of itself. On top of that, she teaches Sunday School every week and takes her boys to do awesome fun things and goes on dates with my cute brother (her cute hubby). Sigh. I don't think I'll ever be that cool.

Or look at my friend Stephanie who is soon to have her 4th kiddo and already has 3 busy little boys. She is my idol of domesticity. She runs an awesome, adorable and inspirational blog, knits the sweetest tiny sweaters for all the new babies around her, makes practically everything from scratch including 8 loaves of bread a week, and always posts new and wonderful recipes on her blog so I know she also manages to feed her family every night.

Then there's my sister Lana who I will never be as cool as, no matter how hard I try. That's just what happens to little sisters... She's in the Relief Society presidency, runs carpool no less than 46 times a day or something, cooks AWESOME food including BREAKFAST! (this has always impressed me since I ~~rarely~~ never eat anything but cold cereal for breakfast), has a successful home business, and I'm pretty sure she even showers everyday. Not just that, but she actually does her hair and makeup too. And wears cute clothes. You should be impressed. Or maybe normal people just do that stuff....

I could go on and on and on about people I know that are doing amazing things while I struggle to wipe the dirt from a cabbage leaf and turn it into a salad. These 3 women were the first that came to mind tonight as I mused about my non-skillage. So I hope someday to hone my skills and become the Domestic Betty in my mind, with perfectly coifed hair, wearing pearls and a dress I just finished sewing while I pull out my perfectly cooked roast from the oven and have all the side dishes already arranged, all served piping hot and at the same time. Why is it that I struggle with dinners so much, dangit?

Anyway, in the meantime, if the 3 of you toddler mamas read this post, just know that I think you are each wonderful Domestic Betty's and I hope I can be like each of you. Thanks for being role models.

Our cross country trek

2010-10-25T13:39:00.000-04:00

So much to blog, so little time! I'll try to catch up, but no guarantees. :)

I feel like our cross-country drive to move from Nevada to Connecticut was pretty epic. We passed through 12 states and 3 time zones in 4 days.

Day 1 (Friday): First 3 states; Nevada, Arizona, Utah. We left Las Vegas around noon and drove up to Provo where we enjoyed dinner at India Palace (so good. I seriously miss that place) and met up with some friends. Then on up to Tooele to spend the night with Brittany and fam! We had so much fun hanging out and playing with them again. We took Saturday off from driving to get in some quality family time since we don't know when we'll get to see them again. :(

Day 2 (Sunday): Next 2 states; Wyoming, Nebraska. We left around 10 am, not sure how far we would be able to make it. Turns out, Wesley is a Road Trip Warrior! He was amazing. We'd let him play around in the morning before strapping him down, then he'd fall asleep briefly or just play in his car seat until lunch time. We'd stop and eat, let him run around and play more, then hit the road again. He usually takes a nap right after lunch so this was perfect to him. He'd sleep for a few hours and play in his seat or demand snacks once he woke up until we'd stop for dinner. Pretty much same story with lunch here. Back in the seat for a DVD and usually some whining until he'd fall asleep and stay asleep until we decided we had to park it for the night.

This was our first hard-core, all-day, drive-til-you-drop day and we went somewhere in the neighborhood of 900 miles. Woo hoo! We were originally thinking we would take 5 days to do the trip, but seeing Wesley's awesome-ness on the road we decided to push hard and see if we could make it sooner.

As for the drive itself, we are really going to miss Utah. The beautiful mountains and trees... it's just a very familiar landscape that has felt like home for a long time.

We are very glad we don't live in Wyoming. No offense to those that do, all 600 of you, but that place seems rough! Untamed wilderness... and COLD. It doesn't help that it was gray and stormy as we passed through but it seemed like such a lone and dreary kinda place.

Nebraska was much better than I thought it would be. I'd never thought much about Nebraska... just one of those northern-midwesty types of places full of prairie and cornfields. I know, the stereotyping!! But truly it was very beautiful. This was the first place where we saw pretty fall colors. And driving through made me wanna yell GO CORNHUSKERS!! That place has some serious school pride and I love it!

Day 3 (Monday): Next 4 states; Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio. After our night at the hotel in Lincoln, NE, we hit the road again, left the home of the Cornhuskers and headed into Iowa. My earliest memory of Iowa was as a kid, I was playing a geography trivia game with my brother Clark. He was 8 years older and about 30 years smarter and I had no chance against him. I was losing pathetically and I got the question: Which state has more pigs than people? Exasperated, I said, "I dunno. Iowa?" And I got it right. For some reason, that's the only thing I've ever remembered about Iowa. Then in college I met someone from Iowa (2 people actually!) and was really surprised that they were normal. (Hi Preston! hehe) Here I go again with my state stereotyping... On that note, I was expecting Iowa to be more like Wyoming. But it was really pretty! Just very serene and natural. I liked it. For the first few hours. And then I got very very bored. Sorry Iowa, but now I just think you have a lot of pigs and you are boring.

It was quite a relief to get to Illinois just for a change of pace. We pulled off in Princeton, IL which claimed to be the birthplace of Ronald Reagan even though it is 30 miles away... maybe they couldn't come up with anything else to claim... I mean, "We have a Wendy's" isn't a really impressive subtitle for your "Welcome to Princeton" sign I guess, although it would have been more accurate. Anyway, when we finished our dinner break and carried on, we got stuck in a construction traffic jam for about 2 hours and made amazing progress of 10 miles in that time. Wesley watched the entire Bee Movie as we creeped along going nowhere. Thanks Illinois. We were making great progress.

And now a brief rant about road construction. Along our roughly 2800 miles, we passed probably around 100 construction workers. Of those 100, probably 6 were doing any actual work. The rest seemed to be observing the intricate swirls that the cream made in their coffee. Thank you government, for wasting my money so efficiently.

Anyway, we finally made it out of Illinois and into Indiana. Most of Indiana passed us by in the dark, so unfortunatey, I don't have any pleasant words about how the scenery was, though I'm sure it was lovely. The thing that will make Indiana live in infamy in the memory of these 3 Avarells forever: TOLLBOOTH. We were planning to stop somewhere near Cleveland, OH for the night. At first this seemed like a very doable task. Then our 2 hour delay in Illinois made us rethink. We decided to stop in Toledo. Even with that, we were going to get in later than we wanted to. We were getting tired and just ready to get to the hotel. Things were looking promising when it was time to cross the Indiana-Ohio border. We pull up to a giant toll plaza that has about 8 lanes for FastPass people that no one is using. Then there are 2 lanes open for everybody else. Both lines are absurdly long. We sat there for-I kid you not- 20 minutes waiting to PAY to LEAVE the state we didn't want to be in in the first place!! Each minute we sat there wondering what the devil was taking so long was a giant test of self-control not to throw a raging fit. We even saw one person get out of their car and go stomping up to the booth to see what the dang hold up was. I'm not sure what they discovered, because when we finally got up there, there was just a machine ready to take your toll ticket and credit card. No person. Just that stupid machine. If you've ever seen most people at the self-checkout lane of a grocery store, then you can assume what the hold-up was. Frustrating, that's what it was. Maybe the circumstance would have been different if we hadn't spent all day in a car, if we weren't already exhausted, if the stopping hadn't awakened our peacefully sleeping baby and turned him into a very whiny and irritated baby... even still... Indiana: If you are reading this blog, fix that stupid toll booth! You only need 2 fastpass lanes and you need people working the cash lanes! I saw lots of construction workers that needed something to do, you can get them to do it.

Day 4 (Tuesday): Last 3 states; Pennsylvania, New York, and CONNECTICUT!! We decided to forgive the road and get back on it just because we were so close. We drove the rest of the way through Ohio and loved the scenery. The fall colors were in full swing and it was beautiful.

Also, this was our first day of illegal driving. We had bought a new car in Vegas and the temp plate was only good through October 11 and this was the 12th. Not to mention we have black limo tint on all the windows which is legal and necessary in Vegas and illegal and sketchy almost everywhere else. Some hotel maintenance guy was eager to tell us that while our tint was awesome, it is illegal here in Ohio. Thanks. So anyway, we were holding our breath and praying that we would be able to fly under the radar the rest of the way. At one point, we were cruisin along and passed a cop parked at an emergency turn-around spot. We weren't speeding (we weren't about to push our luck) but the cop whipped around and pulled out just as we passed. Dangit. Both Eric and I let out an Ahhhh man! and I pull the proof of insurance from the glove box. But then he just cruises along behind us. Never turns on his lights, just checks us out for a while. What the heck? We thought he must have pulled out to chase the guy that sped by us, but then he followed us...? is was very weird and uncomfortable. We were planning to pull off for gas soon anyway, so after being tailed by the cop for a mile or two, we pulled off at a gas station fully expecting him to pull in with us. He didn't though, just kept on cruisin. Weird. Eric started filling up the car and I was getting Wesley up and some trucker came up and started talking to us. "Oh you musta been so scared! I said I bet he's pullin off to go pee! I noticed you got real dark tint on there and it's a new car but I could see yous was white. I thought he was goin after that blue car cuz they were muslim!" We responded with a few, "Yeah that was weird, huh, yep, oh"s but mostly I was thinking that truckers must get so bored. That was probably the most exciting thing he'd seen in a few hours.

Anyway, we made it through Ohio without getting pulled over and came into Pennsylvania. I'd heard that it was a beautiful state, but oh MY! It was definitely the most beautiful state we drove through! The colors were INCREDIBLE! There would be huge patches of bright red, orange, yellow, green, and gold trees and then it would open into a section of rolling hills and grass. There were gorgeous rock faces with trees growing at impossible angles... I can't even describe it. We'll definitely be going back to Pennsylvania. And because we are HUGE fans of The Office, we stopped for dinner in Scranton. :) What a funny place. Mostly funny because we have all sorts of Office associations with it, but it is sorta the perfect setting for the show. Very industrial and acting like it's nicer/cooler than it really is. We had no clue where to eat and we were sick of fast food, so we figured there would be restaurants by the mall. Wellll there weren't. If we had more time I'm sure we could have found something, but we were starving so we just ate at the food court of the SteamTown Mall. hehhehe. Which I must say was terribly unimpressive. It was a fun stop nonetheless.

Back on the road I called to make a reservation at the hotel near our place that we were planning to stay at only to find it was all booked. As were all of the surrounding hotels. Dangit. I whipped out Eric's laptop and starting looking on Hotels.com as we passed into New York. We were getting so close! We were 10 miles from the Connecticut border, Wesley is fast asleep in the back, and I was searching for a hotel room within 20 miles of our new home. Then Eric says, "Oh no." That's never good. What? Then I see the lights in our rearview mirror. For REAL? We got pulled over by a stealth cop.

I honestly had to laugh. We had gone over 2600 miles and had only about 60 to go and we get pulled over. And our story has to sound so ridiculous. We hand the New York cop our Utah driver licenses, Nevada car insurance, on our way to Connecticut. "So we moved from Utah and were temporarily living in Nevada where we bought the car and now we are moving to Connecticut. We couldn't register it in Nevada because we were leaving the state and we couldn't register it in Connecticut because we weren't there yet." The confused cop was gone for a while (too long, it started to make us think he was actually gonna find some way to ticket us) when he came back and said he had been trying to verify the VIN number (basically he was hoping we'd stolen the car) and then just said that we needed to get it registered. 10-4 good buddy. Silly New York. We stopped for gas shortly after that and I went to the bathroom in the most disgusting bathroom of the drive. Ewwwwww. I thought I was going to die of bad smells.

And then finally, CONNECTICUT!! We made it! We actually stayed in a hotel about a mile away from our apartment. When we woke up and went outside in the daylight, we were so happy. It is BEAUTIFUL here! Fall is in full bloom and the colors are gorgeous. I love our apartment and our town. It already feels like home. Honestly though, I don't know how anyone moves and adjusts to a new place without being a member of the church. Wednesday night the Elder's Quorum came and unloaded our entire POD into our apartment in 45 minutes. A member of the Relief Society presidency came and gave me the run down on all the upcoming activities. On Friday I found our church building and met a ton of awesome ladies. Saturday a new friend brought us cookies. Sunday we were invited to dinner. Wednesday I took Wesley to a preschooly type playgroup thing. Friday we went to a birthday party. This place is amazing. Everyone has been so friendly so far and it has been easy to make friends and get to know people. We picked our own apples and took Wesley to a pumpkin patch and corn maze. We've been here less than 2 weeks but it feels like home. This is our place!

*If you made it through all of this, you are either my mom or a real trooper!

25 Things I've Done in 25 Years

2010-09-28T10:59:00.002-04:00

So I'm 25 today. About 6 months ago I started thinking about turning 25 and I worried that I hadn't really done anything in my 25 years. Then I realized I've sorta done a lot. Sorta. So mostly for me, here's my list.

1. Learned to drive
2. Graduated high school
3. Graduated from college
4. Married my BFF
5. Had a baby
6. Worked as a cleaning lady
7. Worked as a waitress
8. Tried to sell diamonds
9. Worked in a prison
10. Worked full-time 8 to 5 for a university
11. Lived in a foreign country
12. Hiked to Stonehenge
13. Mastered tandem biking
14. Ran a 10k
15. Became a yoga instructor
16. Turned into a hippie
17. Learned to sew
18. Ate escargot
19. Took an all night bus ride from Glasgow Scotland to London England
20. Learned to cook
21. Went snowboarding
22. Learned how to read music
23. Been to 21 of the 50 states
24. Moved 10 times (soon to be 11)
25. I'll do something cool for my 25th year... like live in Connecticut and have another baby. :) And probably something else.

So guess what?

2010-09-22T17:33:00.002-04:00

Wesley just turned 16 months and I can officially say he is finally weaned! Breastfeeding was a really wonderful experience that I'm glad we could share for the last year+. My original goal was to nurse him until he was somewhere between 15 and 18 months. So that worked out! In truth, I had a little change of heart toward breastfeeding toward the end simply because...

One baby is enough to support with my body and one time. Yep, this is an announcement about baby Avarell the 2nd more than a weaning post. :) I heard that tiny little heartbeat yesterday and it made my own heart flutter and sing so I figured it was time to spread the news. And if you want the details, I'm about 15 weeks along due March 12.

So we're moving to Connecticut and there we will become a family of four. We're thrilled for our new exciting adventures and the way our lives are changing!

and P.S. Happy 60th Birthday to my mom!

Wesley's 1st big boo-boo!

2010-09-18T15:09:00.003-04:00

Wesley got his first bloody lip today. Poor little guy. He was playing a fun game with Mom and Dad and while running at full speed into the kitchen, lost his balance and ate tile. It was quite painful to watch. One of those things where you see it happening and just can't get there fast enough to stop it. Luckily it was just a busted lip and not a chipped tooth or broken nose or something. As it was I nearly passed out from the blood. I don't do those things very well. Although, I will say, my mom instinct did give me some grace under pressure. :)

So thankfully I had just made some smoothie popsicles the other day that helped numb the pain and made Wesley happy. He's such a tough guy and really is a trooper.

And by the way, he made that face in the 2nd picture on purpose.

Wesley is so big!

2010-09-14T11:29:00.002-04:00

I've been meaning to do a post about Wesley for a while. He's so big and does so many things on his own. He's not very baby anymore-- mostly just big boy. Well this morning he ate a bowl of milk and cereal all by himself (with a regular spoon too) so I figured it was time to post.

Here is a picture of him getting a mom-haircut. Unfortunately, it turned out so bad I couldn't stand to look at him. Of course everyone else said it was fine, but he looked so white trash I couldn't handle it.
In this video you can see the fix. The Dad-haircut actually. This time we pulled out the buzzers and guard and did it the way I actually know how to cut hair. Eric was a champ and did the cutting while my mom and I did the distracting and hold-stilling.

Also in the video you can see his latest trick-- blinking. It's pretty darn cute.

He has lots of tricks now.

He signs: bird, dog, monkey, banana, milk, water, more, airplane, please, sorry, thank you, cold (he made his own sign for cold), tired,

He says: car, done/gone, hi, mommy, daddy, shoe,

He also: blinks, dances, RUNS, does yoga (he has a mean downward dog), climbs on EVERYTHING, throws things in the trash, throws quite accurately actually, eats with a fork and spoon, takes the stairs like a man (holding the handrail and walking up), and loves to explore

I really can't believe how grown up and independent he is. He climbs on and off the couch by himself. He climbs onto the kitchen chairs and sits at the table by himself. And does it all left handed. Did I mention he's a lefty? I just think that's funny since Eric and I are both very right handed. Anyway, we just love this little boy and his big personality. He's so much fun and definitely allll boy.

Happy Anniversary! and other exciting adventures...

2010-09-09T16:08:00.009-04:00

Eric and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary on August 30! Well, we didn't really celebrate so much on that day because he was in Vermont and I was in Vegas. Knowing that we would be apart, we've had various celebrations all summer long to commemorate the event. :)

The first was in June which was the 3 year anniversary of our engagement. We took a quick weekend getaway to San Francisco and left Wesley with MomMom and PopPop.

The actual weekend of our anniversary, we went out to lunch at Macaroni Grill and ice cream at Baskin Robbins. We took Wesley along and had a fun family date. It seems like we just can't get enough of those these days.

Eric gave me such a sweet and romantic gift. When we went on our honeymoon cruise, I found and fell in love with a new perfume by Donna Karan. Of course it was too expensive, but I've always loved it. Welllll Eric went off and got it for me! Isn't that adorable and thoughtful! And I got him a case of Izze sodas. I guess girls really are a lot more maintenance...

This past weekend I guess you could say we finished off the anniversary celebrations when we headed out to Connecticut and left Wesley with Grandlady and Grandpa for 3 whole days! However, that was more of a business trip than an anniversary celebration. We were out looking for housing and planning our cross country move. The first day was really depressing, the second day was a mix of depressing and very hopeful, and the last day we found the place that makes our hearts sing and where all of our wildest dreams will come true! Ok, maybe that's a bit much, but it has a GARAGE and double sinks in the master bathroom and a walk in closet and an indoor heated pool! What more could a girl ask for? Wanna see it?

Beyond just finding the perfect place amid a sea of dodgy rentals, the weekend was a complete success because Eric and I pretty much giggled all weekend. Since this is a post about our anniversary, allow me to ramble on about how Eric is the cutest prince in all the land:

1) He always makes me laugh. Seriously. Always.

2) He knows exactly the right thing to say to reassure me or cheer me up when my weeks of hard work have amounted to a mess of pottage. Or in any circumstance, really.

3) He has the best smile and the sweetest face.

4) He's such a great daddy and Wesley loves him so much.

5) He's such a hard worker and so dedicated.

I just love Eric and think he's the best. After 3 years I feel the same if not more crazy about him than when we got married. :)

August 2010

2010-08-14T00:29:00.002-04:00

August-- At the end of July, I woke Wesley up at what was to him the middle of the night and we hopped on a red-eye to Boston. FYI, those aren't that fun with toddlers. However, Boston was gobs of fun with a toddler! Wesley got SO much cousin lovin and loved going on all kinds of new adventures. We saw the Mayflower and Plymouth Rock, walked all over Boston (Wesley fell asleep in his stroller. That might be the only time that has ever happened. There was that much walking). We went to a pick-your-own farm where Wesley ate his weight in blueberries straight off the bushes. He was in heaven. It was like the biggest buffet he'd ever seen. After picking berries, we went to the area where they have their farm animals. Wesley fed grass to the goats and thought it was the coolest thing in the whole world. Now he tries to feed grass to any other animals he encounters. Unfortunately, ducks are unimpressed. We also picked tomatoes and raspberries at another farm. Pretty much Wesley would do nothing but pick berries for hours and hours and be the happiest little boy in the world. Other than farming, we took a day trip up to Maine and ate lobster, looked at lighthouses and played in the ocean. We swam in Walden Pond, picnicked and climbed trees at Concord, went to see the Red Sox play at Fenway, and played played played! We had so much fun.
Now we are back in sunny Vegas. Surprisingly, it's actually cooler here in August than it was in July. Thank goodness, otherwise I would have... Well I can't think of what I could have done. Complained I guess.

Now we just get to sit back and twiddle our thumbs waiting to find out where we get to move and spend the next two years of adventures.

July 2010

2010-08-14T00:25:00.004-04:00

July-- Wes and I met up with Clark and fam (my bro) on their San Diego vacation and had more beach time and more cousin lovin. Then we picked up Eric from his company deep-sea fishing retreat and made a LATE night trek from San Diego to Phoenix so we could catch a flight the next morning to Durango, CO. We went for the wedding of a good friend of Eric's and got to stay with Eric's bro Cameron and fam. Such a fun (and way too short) trip. On Sunday we flew back to Phoenix, hung out with Lana/fam for one day, then drove up to Vegas. Wesley and I spent all of July in Vegas at my parents. Erlynne and fam and Dallin visited too and we had oodles of fun with them.

June 2010

2010-08-14T00:24:00.001-04:00

June-- Wes and I bid farewell to AZ and headed on up to CA where we got to stay with Eric's parents for a month. It was amazing-- seriously, I felt like I was staying at a mommy-resort! My wonderful mother-in-law took Wesley for walks and feed him breakfast every morning when he would wake up at 6 am so I could sleep in. They even kept Wesley for the weekend so Eric and I could have a weekend to ourselves in San Francisco! We saw Wicked and enjoyed really good food in the city. It was so fun and Wesley was much better than I expected he would be. Especially considering he was cutting molars and running a fever when I left him. Why is it always that way? Anyway, Marilyn, Wesley and I took a trip down to the beach at the end of the month and Wesley ate lots of sand and giggled at the waves. Unfortunately, the photos of this month are on my camera which is dead and the charger is M.I.A. Someday when I'm unpacked and not living out of suitcases I'll get around to posting those.

Summer Lovin

2010-08-13T23:48:00.014-04:00

I've been so absent from blogging this summer. It's one of the things that falls by the wayside when your computer and camera charger are packed in storage...

Right now I'm clock-watching waiting for the moment I can leave to pick up Eric from the airport-- our Friday night ritual. What better to waste time with than blogging, eh? Yeah, that's how I really feel. :) I'm definitely a moody blogger. Me and blogging are on a break right now. But for lack of anything productive to do, here's a quick recap of the summer so far:

May-- Threw our life in a UHaul, then a garage in Vegas. Eric drove off to CA for the start of his career. I cried. Then Wesley and I packed up and drove to AZ. We spent an amazing and fun month with Lana's family and Ashton's family. (My sis, Eric's bro). So much swimming, shopping, and COUSIN LOVIN! Wesley was in heaven having constant play buddies.

Pictures Lana took after Wesley's 1st haircut-- right before his 1st bday

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY!!!

2010-05-21T13:29:00.002-04:00

My baby is ONE!! Hooray! Naturally, I don't have any pictures, but here's a little taste of Wesley right now:

LOVES remotes. Can't get enough of them. He'll cart them all over the house and then deposit them wherever he feels most appropriate.

Still hates vegetables. Except corn. He'll eat corn kernels that I cut off the cob, but does that even count as a vegetable?

Finally cutting 2 more teeth. He cut the first 6 when he was 7 months old and he's just now getting in two more bottom ones. Cute. :) And crabby...

Drinks out of a cup like a champ.

LOVES to dance! He will bust-a-move to anything with a hot beat

He's started mimicking which is the cutest thing in the world. He holds my cell phone up to his ear (or usually the back of his neck) and pretends to talk. We went to IKEA and he was playing in the teeny play kitchen they had in the kids play area and pretended to wash his hands in the sink. Now how adorable is that?

His face is SO expressive. He's learned how to squinch up his nose and furrow his brow to express displeasure. He has the silliest little squiggly smile (it's gotten more pronounced Sarah!). Sometimes he'll close half his mouth and coo out the other half. It's funny.

He's discovered that it makes an awesome sound when he flips his tongue back and forth across his top lip while yelling. That's his favorite thing to do at restaurants.

He's still so little! People often comment that he seems to small to be able to walk as well as he does. 12 months shorts fall off his teeny waist. I swear I feed him! He actually eats lots...

As for eating, he lives on fruit, grain, and dairy. Ever since he's learned how to spit stuff out, he feels no need to tolerate meat or vegetables. He'll get there.

He loves to give hugs. Mostly to other babies and kids that have something he would like to steal.

And yes, he's quite the klepto. He will come up and hug your leg all sweet to catch you off guard. As you are leaning to pat him on the back, he'll grab your keys from your hand and make a break for it. He loves himself some keys. :)

He loves playing outside and exploring new places. It's almost impossible to keep track of him-- the second you set him down, he's off to see new horizons, bite new books/toys, and unplug new electronics.

He loves to bonk heads and play peekaboo and get tossed around and wrestle on the bed.

I couldn't be happier with this little kid. I feel so blessed. He's such a little angel with so much spunk and personality. He keeps me on my toes and even more so, he keeps me laughing and smiling all day long. So happy birthday Mr. Wesley. Don't get another day older! I love you just how you are.

Homeless and stuff

2010-05-13T22:58:00.002-04:00

So much to say, so little time... so few pictures...

Since I last posted, Eric GRADUATED!!! Woo hoo!! It was such a blast to have Eric's family and my parents in town to help us celebrate. I made Wesley a little cap and gown to match Eric-- it was so dang adorable I couldn't even help myself! I did take pictures of the cuteness, however, my camera cord is packed in some box in my parents garage so I won't be able to upload anything for a while. boo.

After graduation, we spent a final week in Provo spending time with friends and trying to do all the stuff we wanted to do before we left Utah. We DID go to the Salt Lake temple which was totally wonderful and an awesome experience. We did NOT get to go camping or hike the Y thanks to the snow. Oh well. Maybe someday.

We packed up all of our stuff into a UHaul and headed on down to Vegas. Eric started work in California and I ran off to Arizona to visit Lana, my sis. Basically, we are homeless for about the next four months while Eric goes through training at his job. Thank goodness for family! (otherwise we'd be bored and homeless).

So that's where we are and what we're doing. I promise to post pictures sometime.

11 Months!

2010-04-21T10:11:00.003-04:00

Wesley is 11 months old today! I can't believe it. The last time we'll celebrate a month milestone without a "1-year-and-" in front of it. Ooh he's such a cutie.

He's a full time walker now and has been for about 3 weeks. His poor forehead always has at least one bruise on it these days from taking unsteady steps.
He loves mommy and daddy best of anyone and he hates being babysat.
He doesn't really like other babies because that probably means I'm babysitting which means he'll have to compete with them for my attention. So if another baby kid is around, he'll go ahead and give them the stink-eye and get real clingy just so they know he's not planning to share me.
He shakes his head no, but just for fun. It's really sweet
He plays peekaboo!
He LOVES cell phones and keys
He does not like to sit down in his car seat or high chair. Once he is in, all is well, but he'll put up a fight before he gets there.
He LOVES to play outside. He would never come in if I didn't make him.
He LOVES to bite. Pretty much everything we have (that he has ever seen) has met his teeth.
He does not like vegetables. He's still a really picky eater, but he is doing much better with eating generally.
He still wakes up several times a night, but he is getting better and more consistent with sleeping. It's a long process...
He does not like getting his diaper changed.
He LOVES to play! He is so much fun and we LOVE to play with him! He is just the cutest, sweetest little thing our lives have ever known.

Happy almost 1 baby boy!

Namaste

2010-04-09T00:02:00.003-04:00

Tonight I taught my last yoga class at Ruby Shoes Studio. I'm so sad to be leaving that place-- it has been wonderful! I've taught yoga twice a week for the last two and a half years and loved it. Now I don't know when the next time will be that I can regularly teach again. Hopefully I can find another place as amazing as Ruby Shoes, but I doubt it. That was perfect and I'll miss it terribly.

Employed!

2010-04-06T11:54:00.003-04:00

Eric got a job! We are so thrilled. The company seems top-notch and like a really good fit for our family. He starts May 3rd! For the first 4 months, he'll be in a different city every week for training. That means Wesley and I will be traveling around to visit family all summer. It should be an exciting adventure! After training we'll be assigned to a territory where we will spend at least the next 2 years. We are excited for this next big step. Now we are going to be REAL adults!

Follow up

2010-03-23T22:00:00.002-04:00

After my frustrated after-lunch post, Wesley received some positive energy and good karma from you. THANK YOU!! Here his is with his FINISHED jar of apples and blueberries. Well done little trooper. He also ate some shredded mozzarella cheese, a spaghetti noodle, and tried (but spit out) some ground turkey. All steps in the right direction.

And maybe he's a one-meal-a-day kinda guy. And you are right: he's energetic and happy so he's probably not starving, even if he is slim and still comfortable in 6 month PJ's.

Thanks for the positive energy. Wesley and I needed it.

And just a reminder

2010-03-23T17:17:00.002-04:00

to myself that he doesn't always make me crazy...

This is a video of me stacking cheerios on his tray-- you can't really see that part. What you can see is Wesley laughing so hard that he subsequently gave himself hiccups.

My favorite part is at about 20 seconds. Also 27 seconds. Good luck keeping a straight face.

10 months. A little young for anorexia?

2010-03-23T16:29:00.010-04:00

My baby won't eat anything but breastmilk or paper. (Not that I'm trying to feed him paper, but when he gets his hands on some he has no qualms about putting it in his mouth).

I snapped these pictures today at lunch because Wesley and I were caught in a grudge match and needed something to break the tension. He loves the camera, so he couldn't help by give his signature, impish, closed mouth, melt-your-heart smile-- but notice he won't open his mouth. Oh no. I might sneak some delicious tortellini in there.
Since we first introduced solids at 6 months, he's never been a good eater. There were periods where he didn't hate it as much, but I would never say it was his thing. I tried everything. Homemade baby food, store-bought jars, bits of what we were having for dinner, pure steamed veggies, chunks of fruit, pasta, you name it. He WILL NOT eat vegetables. I always try and sometimes I can sneak a bite or two in.

However, lately, he seems to have embarked on a total hunger strike. Even foods he previously enjoyed he will not eat now. What you see smeared about his face in the picture used to be his absolute fave-- BeechNut Apples and Blueberries. Today: won't do it.

Aside from being really frustrating and annoying, I'm starting to get worried about his no-eating habit. The truth is-- he's lost weight in the past month! At his 9 month check up he was only 18 lbs 7 oz (the 19th%) and when we weighed him on our friend's scale on his 10 month bday, he was down to 18 lbs 4 oz. Geeeeeeeeez. I'm getting nervous! Keep in mind he started life in the 70th% for weight.

It's not that I'm not trying! Today I have given him oatmeal, yogurt, banana, graham crackers, club crackers, chicken, rice, tortellini, apples and blueberries, and probably a gallon of breastmilk. I count myself lucky if he eats two bites in a row of anything. We play games and sing songs while eating. We've tried distraction free eating-- nothing but us and the food. We've tried both high-chair eating and letting him crawl around and following him with a spoon.

I don't think you can understand my dilemma until you try to feed him or unless you have an anorexic baby yourself. At this point, it isn't WHAT I'm feeding him; it's eating in general. I'm starting to wonder if I should seek medical attention. Did he develop some weird intenstinal problem that makes him fear food? I haven't noticed weird poop or rashes... I'm really trying to make mealtime not associated with torture, but I don't know how to help him grow without a little force feeding at this point.

I'm open to suggestions here. If you have a chubby baby that eats like a dream with little or no effort from you, please don't gloat. I see enough chubby babies already. However, if you share my pain and your baby wants to be emo-skinny like mine, please share tips on how you got him to open his stinkin' piehole and enjoy some delicious nourishment.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2010-03-18T00:23:00.002-04:00

This has been my favorite holiday for 6 years now. It all started my senior year of high school. March 2004 had started as Marches almost always start-- with a string of gloomy rainy days. Then, as is almost always the case, St. Patrick's Day came and with it sunshine, lollipops and rainbows! Well, at least sunshine. My choir ensemble class had just finished with a performance and had some downtime, so we all went outside for a some sort of kickball meets softball game. I am pretty sure it was that moment that my love of St. Patty's began.

When I tell people this is my favorite holiday, they are often confused. They think I must be some closet alcoholic or that I'm a die hard Irishwoman or I LIVE for corned beef. None of these are the case. In fact, the corned beef and cabbage I made for dinner tonight was not as good as I remembered it being. (Pretty sure that had something to do with the difference between point-cut and flat-cut. NOT a minor difference. Note for next year: Buy FLAT-cut).

Anyway, the point is: I love St. Patrick's Day for the following reasons:

1. Everyone everywhere decides to match. It's like we are all let in on this big secret that on March 17th, we'll all wear green. It's so much fun.

2. It is almost always beautifully sunny outside. I think I've spent more time outside the past 3 days than I have the entire past 3 months. It's lovely. And I really think it's always that way on St. Pat's for me.

3. It just so happens to coincide closely with the first day of spring. What a better time to wear green-- we encourage the grass to return to its true color and suggest the leaves return to the trees. It's time for the world to turn GREEN again!

4. I've decided green is probably my favorite color so that definitely helps things.

To sum up, I'm sure it's all weather related. St. Patty's signifies the end of the short, cold, gloomy, winter white days and welcomes longer, sunnier, greener ones.

It has nothing to do with leprechauns or pinching, both of which are creepy.

Does syrup have sugar in it? Then YES!

2010-03-08T16:28:00.004-05:00

I have always had a wicked and insatiable sweet tooth. Nothing is too sweet for me. I love donuts. Really love. Can't go wrong with cookies, cheesecake, ice cream, chocolate... It's bad. It's a good thing I inherited 1/10th of my mom's light speed metabolism, otherwise I would have turned into The Blob long ago.

Recently I decided it had gotten out of hand-- the constant sugar cravings, longing for desserts, and eating oodles and oodles of empty calories. It was time for me to take my health to the next level and cut out the sugar.

Monday March 1 was the start date. It was a new month and the end of winter-- time for a fresh start. I put sweets behind me and I was feelin' great! I felt energized, light and healthy. By the time Friday came around though, I was definitely Jonesin'.

Saturday I was attending a baby shower for which I was to make delicious chocolate truffles. Friday night as I was making them I ended up sampling some. Well how could I not, they were all over my hands. Then the floodgates opened. Saturday I had so many sweets: sugar cookies, chocolate cupcakes and about a million donut holes. Seriously though, I probably ate at least 20 donut holes. Then, we went over to a friend's house Saturday night to play games and enjoyed lots of chocolate fondue. Oh. my. goodness.

And here's where it turns into a cautionary tale: Immediately following the final binge on chocolate fondue, I got the worst stomach ache! I haven't had a tummy ache that bad in YEARS probably. I felt like that poor little girl that threw up in church the day after Halloween because she had too much candy.

Now if I even so much as look at those dang donut holes or the leftover truffles, my stomach starts to turn. So now I'm back on the wagon, cutting out sweets. This time however it isn't a struggle-- I really don't want them! I think when I do start wanting them again, I'll have something small. For me, total denial apparently only leads to miserable bingeing. Lesson learned.

A quick glimpse of daily life

2010-02-24T17:34:00.002-05:00

More proof that he is a puppy

2010-02-24T17:28:00.003-05:00

He loves to crawl around with toys in his mouth. He does this with most every toy and item he can find (blocks, water bottles, plastic lids, etc.) but "Spiderman Ball" is definitely the favorite.

FETCH!

Cuddle Quilt

2010-02-10T00:34:00.006-05:00

My latest project has been to go through my closet and drawers and make better use of all the things that I never wear. I feel like all women (and maybe men too, I don't know) have stacks of "unwearable" clothing. My poor husband can never understand when I say, "I have nothing to wear!" All he can see is an overflowing drawer and a closet where my half is more like my 90%. So I've decided to do something about it. If I never wear it, then I'm trying to diagnose why I never wear it, then remedy that problem. If it's beyond remedy, I see if the fabric is worth salvaging for another project. If even that won't do, then it's into the donation pile.

Here was a project I made out of an old pair of pajama pants and some t-shirts, all of which I acquired in middle school. Geeez, why do I hang on to stuff so long? Anyway, the old stuff was turned into a super comfy quilt for Wesley backed with soft cream fleece leftover from another project. It's very warm and cozy and it was super easy to make!

He loves to bite it, naturally.

Want to make one?

1. I just cut 8x8 inch squares out of my old clothes, discarding the seams and waistband and sleeves and stuff.

2. Next, lay them all out on the floor to find the pattern you like best.

3. Sew the squares into rows and then sew the rows together. I didn't even pin anything until I sewed the backing on. I didn't care if it was super tidy since it was just a cuddle quilt.

4. Pin the backing on, right sides together, and sew around the edges, leaving a spot open for turning.

5. Turn it right side out. Iron and topstitch the edges.

6. Since my quilt was all squares, I sewed straight lines right down the middle of the squares(forming a grid pattern) to keep the backing and quilt together.

7. Give it to your baby and enjoy hours of cuddly fun!

It made for a quick and fun project with some great sentimentality! Wesley and I love how it turned out.

Wait, was it a baby or a puppy?

2010-02-10T00:02:00.003-05:00

I'm confused these days. I was pretty sure I had an 8 ½ month old baby person, not a puppy. Lately I find myself hiding all of our shoes so they don't get chewed and Eric has come very close to using the excuse, "The baby ate my homework" multiple times. The knees of my pants are constantly spit-soaked and my shoulders have tiny bruises from being bitten. Wesley nearly bit a hole in Eric's slacks this morning! It was only today that I was lamenting to my sister about my "puppy" and then as Eric and I were getting dinner together tonight, this happened:

Yep. Those are little bite marks on our kitchen chair. The only nice, matching furniture set we own, of course. Ok, the only thing NOT from IKEA. I tried to scold him, which he thought was hilarious. Here's the puppy in action.

He has SIX teeth now and he is DEFINITELY learning how to use them. Who could resist that sweet face? (Even if he's the bitey-est).

Sonnet

2010-02-08T00:30:00.003-05:00

Tonight Eric needed some help with homework for his civilization class. The assignment was to come up with a sonnet ala Shakespeare about a Book of Mormon story. This was my first attempt. He didn't want to turn this one in for some reason... I think it's brilliant.

Nephi needed to get the plates
From the wicked Laban
He went up to the city gates
So that he could take them

Laban said “No Way!
Not without some money.”
Nephi did not want to pay
He said, “You’re a dummy!”

Anyway, he grabbed his cash,
Hauled it to the castle
Laban greedily took the stash
And kicked Nephi out on his tassels.

So Nephi axed the king,
Took the plates—bada bing.

T-shirt Refashion and Sheet Skirt!

2010-01-31T22:54:00.004-05:00

So excited to share this.

I've been quite the little productive sewer lately. I recently discovered that I really enjoy sewing. My mom had a sewing machine sitting up in her closet for years and years that no one ever used or cared about. Ambitiously, I decided to ask for it and since I was the only one that cared to ask, she handed it over. It sat around taking up valuable space in my apartment for a long time. I didn't have the slightest clue as to what all the knobs and buttons were for-- I certainly didn't know how to wind a bobbin or string the thread for that matter. It only got used when Mom came in town and sewed curtains for me. The longer it sat taking up space, the more I wanted to get rid of it. My mom told me not to sell it, that it was more valuable than the money I would be able to get for it. Well, neither of my sisters wanted it and I couldn't find anyone to indefinitely loan it to. So I was stuck with it. I might as well use it.

Well, after a few months and lots of trial and error, internet tutorials, phone calls to Mom, and evenings with the owner's manual, I now know what the knobs do. I feel confident with my presser foot and bobbin! I'm SO glad I didn't give in to the decluttering urge to sell it! And my mom was right after all: It's way more valuable to me now than the $20 I could have gotten for on Craigslist.

That being said, I now get to share with you my creations!

First off: The Sheet Skirt. I found this fantastic vintage sheet at Saver's and it was too adorable to let it slip away. Using the existing hemline, I gathered it up and sewed it into a high waistband skirt.

Next, my fave: The T-shirt Refashion! This bad boy started it's life as a Banana Republic XL Men's Tee. Somehow it found itself at Saver's where I snagged it for a cool 99 cents. I highly recommend this refashion for tired old t-shirts. Here's the how-to:

1. Flip the old shirt inside out. Take your best fitting favorite tee and flip that inside out too. Lay the favorite tee on the old one, lining up the necklines and trace the side seams and arm holes.

2. Cut off the sides. Sew the new sides up, leaving armholes open.

3. Next, trace your fave tee sleeves onto the old tee sleeves and cut them out.

4. Pin them to your new shirt and sew them on. (This was tricky to figure out. I consulted this tutorial by Homemade by Jill).

5. Using the excess shirt you cut off the sides, cut strips and gather them into ruffles! (I learned how from this tutorial by Dana Made It).

6. Pin the ruffles where you want them on your shirt and sew them on.

Presto chango! A tired old shirt is now a fun, feminine blouse and a definite conversation starter.

Love it! I wear this shirt all the time now. Because I traced my best fitting tee, this one fits like a dream. Because it was pre-loved, its already soft and comfy. This won't be the last ruffly tee I make!

Stay tuned for Wesley's cuddle quilt made from my old pjs. :)

7 months, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and 8 months!!

2010-01-26T14:44:00.007-05:00

My goodness dear blog, it's been a while. Here are the things that have happened since I last wrote:

We packed up and made a 12 hour drive out to Fresno California to surprise Mom Mom and Pop Pop for Christmas! They had NO idea we were coming. It was the surprise of the year. :) We had sooo much fun. While we were there Wesley turned 7 months old!

Christmas Eve we left California and headed to Las Vegas for a beautiful Christmas celebration. Wesley LOVED Christmas. Opening presents is the BEST! He got spoiled by Grandlady and Grandpa Schteve for sure. He had TONS of fun when his BFF Crew showed up from Arizona. They had fun sharing toys, poking each other in the eyes, crawling around together, and teething! Crew was cutting some teeth and Wesley didn't want to be left out, so he got his first 2 bottom teeth.

After a rockin' New Year's dance party thrown by Tatum (sweet invites, by the way!) we rolled out back up to our Wintery Wonderland in Provo. Actually, it's been a VERY mild winter this year. I actually find myself missing the snow!

We just passed Wesley's 8 month birthday. I can't believe it. Since coming home after our Christmas travels, our little buddy has cut 3 more teeth for a total of 5 (wow! and we're nearly out of baby tylenol now), pulls up to standing on everything, learned that it hurts to fall so he better bend his knees when he needs to get down, and finally started crawling on his hands and knees instead of elbows and knees. He still isn't a fan of eating unless it's Cheerios or graham crackers or peaches. He's still the smiliest, giggliest, flirtiest, sweetest little baby and just a bundle of fun.

So there's your update! Stay tuned for pictures of my thrift store finds, the skirt I made out of a sheet, and my first ever t-shirt refashion! I'm so excited!

He's so ticklish

2009-11-30T00:37:00.002-05:00

Zerberts in Texas

2009-11-30T00:30:00.002-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving and Half Birthday

2009-11-29T22:40:00.003-05:00

Wesley had a HALF birthday!! Those are a big deal to me. And they are a big deal for babies because that means they are getting SO big! To celebrate, we took Wesley to his first BYU football game! Go Cougs!! It was freezing, so Wesley hung out inside Dad's jacket most of the time.

I traveled over Thanksgiving for the first time in my life and we had a blast! We flew down to Texas on Wednesday and helped my parents pack up and MOVE from their house of 29 years. That was w e i r d to see my childhood home EMPTY. Should have taken more pictures.

Highlights: We had a blast with Ethan and Tristan who are GIANTS now... I can't believe they aren't 7 and 2 anymore... They LOVE playing with little Wesley and they are so sweet to him. We had an awesome game of tag after we all got hopped up on Thanksgiving pie sugar-highs!

I got to go to a fabulous yoga class with Dallin.

Catching up with Erlynne-- she lives too far away. Sisters should be closer!

Chris took Eric to experience Chik-Fil-A for the first time... now he's hooked! Best fast food chicken ever. and waffle fries and shakes and lemonade and polynesian sauce...

Grandpa Steve can never have tooo much baby-holding time, which was A-O-K with Wes!

Sorting through all my old high school stuff and enjoying the stroll down memory lane.

Helping Lady get Thanksgiving dinner ready-- yummy!

BLUE BELLLLLL!!! Best ice cream ever. Again, Eric has a new addiction. Too bad it's hard to get in Utah!

So much fun with family. It will be weird that my parents aren't there any more. For as long as I've been me, Plano has been my parent's home. I'm excited to have them closer in Vegas though.

And to close, here was the best highlight of all:

Wesley got to meet Santa!! He was a little confused as to why some fat jolly man was holding him instead of mom... and he certainly wasn't about to relax on this chump's lap! (Note the clenched fists). It was absolutely adorable. And this guy is the best Santa-- straight from the North Pole! (Apparently they have Texas accents in the North Pole).

He's mobile!

2009-11-09T22:39:00.002-05:00

It's the end of life as we know it! Ok, not exactly... but on Saturday, Wesley mastered the back-to-tummy roll! Previously he could get to his side, but then he'd be stuck there. All of a sudden on Saturday afternoon he did it. He figured out that last step and now he's a rollin' machine! He rolled all the way across the living room floor and got stuck under the piano bench. He got stuck under the chair in the living room. He gets stuck on big toys when he rolls into them as well as the entertainment center. He rolls around in his crib now. I better get to babyproofing!

I'm so domestic...

2009-11-04T14:19:00.004-05:00

Look what I learned how to do!

It started out simple enough... I wanted to learn how to can. I bought a half bushel of peaches from a roadside stand for $6. My friend Melissa came over on Conference weekend and showed me how. We canned 12 delicious quarts of peaches. I thought that was the end of my canning adventure...

Then a lady in my neighborhood let me pick her apple tree because she didn't have time to do anything with the fruit this year. Oh and while we were at it, why don't we just pick some grapes too? So about 40 pounds of apples and 8 pounds of grapes later, I ended up with 6 quarts of applesauce, 6 half-pints of grape jam, 8 half-pints of apple butter, and a bunch of dehydrated apples that were gone in no time.

Ok, so I thought I was done canning after allllll that apple-ing. But THEN! Pears went on sale for 25 cents a pound! I couldn't pass that up! For $3 I got 12 pounds of pears and bottled 6 quarts. Maybe I'm done now... Although I did find a delicious recipe for pumpkin butter and if it's anywhere as good as the apple butter I might just be canning again this weekend!

Wesley

2009-11-01T23:18:00.003-05:00

I can't believe how big our little boy is getting! He's 5 months old, almost 16 pounds, and a total busy-body. Mom, was I super fidgety as a baby? Marilyn, was Eric? This boy is ONLY still when he's asleep. I'm terrified for when he starts crawling. He's successfully learned how to roll from his tummy to his back and spends his time working on getting from his back to his tummy.

Here are some cute photos I snapped one day...
Ain't he sweet?
I love catching these faces on camera. Hilarious.

Sleeping "peacefully" in his car seat. What up gangsta.

This might be my favorite Wesley-ism. It proves he is my son. He puts his feet up on everything. He LOVES his bouncy seat and always kicks his legs up on those side bars, all casual. This picture also illustrates two other loves-- sticking out his tongue and chewing on his hands.
We love this little boy!

My Best Friend's Wedding

2009-11-01T23:01:00.001-05:00

Wesley and I took a whirlwind weekend trip to Arizona at the end of September so I could be a bridesmaid in Michelle's wedding. It was a lot of driving, a lot of screamy baby, and a lot of fun. I love Michelle like a sister and I'm SO happy she and Darin are finally married! I was so glad that I got to be there for the beautiful wedding. LOVE YOU TWO!

Happy Birthday!!

2009-10-08T16:15:00.000-04:00

Eric is 24 today! Woo hoo! For those who don't know, I turned 24 ten days ago. I'm the old lady in this relationship, I've got a whole 10 days on my hubby. We have been discussing how 24 feels old. Not old like withered, caney, beardy, my back aches old, but old like you-can't-get-away-with-stupid-stuff-cuz-you-are-just-a-kid kinda old. Or old in that you should be mature and do stuff like be married and have kids. Or old in that lots of celebrities and almost all college football players are now younger than you. That kinda old. We also feel old because this year's birthday celebrations totally snuck up on us and passed rather uneventfully. We did manage to have a joint birthday cake and blow out 24 candles. I haven't blown out candles in YEARS! It was invigorating, really. Pretty sure I forgot to make a wish actually... Luckily Frazier was there to capture this perfect picture. The first one is the awkward trying-to-smile-while-singing-happy-birthday picture and the second is the CLASSIC puffy cheeks cloud of bday candle smoke picture. Gotta love it.

And now, in honor of Eric on his special day, here is a list of 24 things that make me smile about Eric. (Beware, this might get cheesy/mushy).

1. His adorable face
2. How much he loves Wesley
3. How much he loves me!
4. "You could sell these..."
5. His always positive outlook
6. The way he goes along with my crazy ideas, even when they seem pretty crazy
7. His charm and friendliness. I've still never met anyone who dislikes him...
8. His muscles. :)
9. How easy he is to please. He'll eat anything I set in front of him.
10. He always has my best interest in mind and what would make me happy
11. His determination
12. How much he loves Russian
13. How willing he is to give service
14. How dedicated he is to his calling
15. "Kisses!"
16. "I'm useless when a football game is on."
17. How he stays on top of politics
18. His love of softball and passion for sport
19. He always remembers to say prayers before bed
20. He bought those jeans I liked on him even though they were "dirty"
21. When he picks out my outfits. :)
22. When he wants me to pick out his outfits
23. How we can talk for hours and never run out of things to say
24. and EVERYTHING else about my sweetie!

Help with a huge undertaking

2009-10-06T12:07:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone

I'm asking for some help with a project I'm starting. Let me give you the background.

My upstairs neighbors are a 6 year old girl and her single mom. My next door neighbors are the elderly parents of the single mom. They are from Bulgaria. The mom speaks English great and is currently studying Behavioral Science at UVU. The parents barely speak English, but they sure try.

The 6 year old girl was recently diagnosed with a rare auto-immune disorder which requires her to be homeschooled. Well, I've always thought that homeschooling works well for some but not as well for others. Sophie falls in the not-as-well category. She does great at school, not as great at home.

I've been feeling for a while that I should help homeschool her. I ignored this idea and contested it for quite a while, but I finally admitted that maybe I should listen to the Spirit and offer. Last night I presented my idea and I thought the mom was going to cry, she was so excited.

Here's where I need help. They have no money to buy a curriculum, so I'm helping them make one. I've found some great resources online, but I would love LOVE any input and ideas I can get here! Can you email me worksheets, assignments, projects, etc. that your first grader is doing this year? Thank you thank you thank you!

We started today--so far it's been a success! I copied a worksheet my niece Tatum was assigned for homework the first week of school when I was visiting. :)

Alright folks, send me your homework assignments! (And your prayers, too!)

A QUALITY company

2009-09-23T17:43:00.000-04:00

I just had a fabulous experience with a company-- so fabulous in fact that I feel compelled to advertise for them.

Swanson Health Products

Here's why I love them so much: First, I searched the internet high and low to find the products I wanted and they were the only site that had them all in one place. Second, they only charge $4.99 for shipping, regardless of the size of your order. Third, they offer free returns if you are dissatisfied with your product, even if you've used half of it.

Today the much anticipated package was on my doorstep. I noticed it smelled much stronger than I anticipated. When I opened it, I realized the tea tree oil had opened and leaked out creating a small, very oily, very scented mess. I called customer service and a lady with the BEST accent cheerfully answered. (They are based in North Dakota-- she was SERIOUSLY the mom from Bobby's World).

The conversation was all of 2 minutes-- no automated menus to try to get through. The lady just answered, I told her the product had leaked and made a mess. She looked up my order, apologized for the mess, got a replacement sent out to me, and credited my card $5 back for the trouble. (The tea tree oil was only $3.95).

What service! Seriously, I'm gonna order from them again because that was the nicest lady I've ever spoken to.

Happy 4 month birthday!

2009-09-21T17:58:00.000-04:00

Wesley's 4 months old today! Don't mention it though... he's a little sensitive about his age. He's more ornery today than usual. I guess he relates to those people who get all surly on their 35th birthday because suddenly they feel old or something...

Here's a video of this morning before he decided it was a bad day.
(technical difficulties... I'll post the video once our camera battery recharges)

And in other news, Wesley no longer hates tummy time as quickly or fiercely. It's still not his fave, but I was able to snap this picture at least.

Sunday Afternoon

2009-09-21T16:08:00.000-04:00

We decided to put Wesley on the table in his Bumbo chair so we could talk with him while we ate. I think he liked it...

The Green Movement

2009-09-04T12:56:00.000-04:00

I recently stumbled across a blog that really got me thinking.

I initially found it from a simple google search for a granola recipe and then I found minutes slip into hours spent reading her posts. Which leads me to a confession: I'm a total closet hippie tree-hugger. I hide it well.

I've decided it's time for me to come out of the tree-hugging closet and hug trees in public! And so, as my first guesture, I'm taking the Ditch the Disposables Challenge! For September and October, Eric and I set a goal to use ONLY reusable bags and not bring home a single plastic store bag. I think it's going to be a challenge for sure and it's going to require us to actually remember our reusable bags, but it's worth it.
See a video about plastic pollution in our ocean
There is a lot of great (and sad) info at plasticbagfree.com.

I wondered for a while if this Green Movement that's getting so much attention right now is a fad, or just a trend. I think some businesses are definitely capitalizing on this idea and turning profit on it and some people may be doing it because it seems like the cool thing to do. However, I think anything that is about preserving nature, life, and sustaining earth for our posterity cannot be a bad thing.

All of this thinking about green got me thinking about my sweet mom. She is one of the greenest people I know without even realizing it. Here's the proof.

Her showers are the shortest of anyone I've ever met. She can bathe in under 2 minutes flat.
With that, she keeps a bucket in the shower and uses the run-off to water the yard. I used to think she was crazy or just being cheap. Maybe it was, but she was saving the environment while doing it.
She washes and reuses disposable plastic bags. She probably hasn't bought a new box of plastic bags in 10 years.
She dumpster dives. She might not thank me for putting this on here, but you can't get any greener than that. About 10 years ago, she brought home a pair of tennis shoes that she pulled out of someone's trash can. She tried to give them to me but of course, as a high schooler, I wouldn't be caught dead in some neighbor's trash shoes. She unflichingly wore these shoes (which really were still in great condition) until they were actually ready to be trashed, then at that point she used them to do yard work in. I think it's safe to say she still has those shoes.
Back in the day when stores actually still had paper bags, she would always insist on paper instead of plastic because they were biodegradable. Then we used those bags to line our trash bin instead of buying plastic bags to do the task.
She diligently recycles anything and everything that can be recycled.
She's super diligent about turning lights and appliances off, keeping the temperature at the most energy efficient setting and preserving electricity in any way possible.
She's the queen of reusing. As I type this, my baby is playing with a toy that she gave me... the same toy that I once played with as a baby.

I could go on and on. My mom has been quietly leading the green movement for years and years. Maybe it comes from being raised on a farm with nine kids and scarce resources. Regardless, we should all be a little bit more like Lady. Thanks Mom, for setting such a wonderful example.

Here's to dumpster diving and tree hugging!

An apology...

2009-09-03T16:22:00.000-04:00

I was doing some pondering and reflecting today and I feel the need to apologize. I feel like I have given out the wrong impression on my feelings toward pregnancy and childbirth. I know I complained a lot about these two things, because let's face it, they are rather uncomfortable. The Russian word for pregnant is literally translated "burdened." That's accurate. It is a burden and it is difficult, but more importantly, it is such a miracle. It is the most amazing, natural, and beautiful process. Each day when I look at my darling, sweet son, I marvel at the process that brought him here.

As for unmedicated childbirth, I'm so so glad I was able to do it! I found it to be a unique and exhilarating process. Yes, it was intense, long and painful, but miraculous and exciting just the same. I could go on and on about how great natural birthing is to me, but I know it's not for everyone. The point is, I'm thrilled to have a happy healthy baby. Despite my moanings, I feel blessed that I had a healthy active pregnancy and a relatively uncomplicated natural delivery. So I truly apologize for giving out the wrong impression.

Too cute not to post...

2009-08-26T15:47:00.000-04:00

Wesley loves surprises. He must have gotten that from me. Here's some darling video.

So proud of myself...

2009-08-26T00:13:00.000-04:00

I admit, I'm not a finisher. I could easily name off 20 projects that I have at one time started and not completed. I recently gave Erlynne a cookbook that I started making for her 5 years ago. The only reason it got finished at all was because she happened to be coming in town to see me on her birthday weekend.

I mentioned that going to visit Lana in Arizona had gotten me inspired to decorate. I love looking at repurposing projects-- when people turn trash into treasure. I always have ideas of how to do this myself but then I never actually do it. Until today. Today my golden opportunity presented itself and I pounced.

Eric and I decided to move the computer out of Wesley's room and into the living room. School is starting on Monday and it just isn't practical in there anymore. The problem is that our computer desk is about 6 feet long and will NOT work in the living room. Another problem we had to deal with was an abandoned desk sitting in the carport of the condo we manage. hmmmm

Today Eric picked up the desk. This before picture doesn't even do it justice... What we had was a nasty, decrepit, spider-webby, dirty piece of furniture that once served as a desk. Eric cleaned it off and threw away the rickety eye sore of a top part before bringing it home. At that point this before picture was taken. (This was formerly Clark's desk at the condo for those of you that may recognize it).

So I set to work. Only a few hours, 3 cans of spray paint, half a can of Mod Podge, 6 sheets of paper and less than $20 later, here's what we have!

Isn't it lovely?! I love it. Unfortunately the pictures aren't very great. But trust me, it was in sad shape before and it looks lovely now. Project started and completed in the same day. Biggest accomplishment ever. (Wellllll, not really. But it's up there).

p.s. Sorry the pics didn't make it on the original post. I have a love/hate relationship with Blogger. Most of the hate is directed to the photo uploading...

3 MONTHS!

2009-08-23T18:15:00.000-04:00

Wesley is 3 months old already! Wow. He's so cute and smiley lately. He loves to coo and giggle and smile at us.

For his birthday, we took him out on his first bike ride. He's still a little small to sit in the trailer alone, but the carseat works perfectly. We had only gone about 100 feet before he was asleep. Loved it.

The next summer vacation

2009-08-23T17:26:00.000-04:00

Wesley and I left Eric at home and jetted off to Arizona for a week of fun in the sun! And it was indeed great fun. We did a lot of just hangin out, swimming, and playing. Lana kicked my trash on a couple of runs and inspired me to work out more. She also inspired me to decorate my house! Unfortunately, now I'm itching to redecorate everything ... too bad I didn't find a money tree in Arizona. It's always fun to go to different places and get new ideas and fresh perspective. I highly recommend a week away when you can grab it.

This is my favorite. Crew is 2 weeks older than Wesley and has a significantly smaller head. Therefore, Tummy Time is much more enjoyable for Crew than Wesley. Hang in there Wes, you'll get it.

Wesley's face cracks me up in this picture. He looks like a little boy, not an infant.

After a swim, chillin in the swing

Wesley and Crew, asleep in their carseats on the table at Joe's Farm Grill (my favorite AZ restaurant)

First Road Trip!

2009-08-23T16:31:00.000-04:00

On July 24-26, we took our first road trip with Wesley. We went over to Durango, CO for his cousin Jax's blessing. It was an absolute BLAST! Turns out Wesley loves road trips just as much as his parents do. I fed him right before we left, we drove for 3 hours and I fed him again when we stopped for gas. Then another 3 hours and we were there! He slept the whole time and didn't cry. How on earth did I get so blessed!?

While in Durango, there was a lot of time spent playing with family. We went to Purgatory and rode the alpine slide (Thanks MomMom for holding Wesley), ate a delicious lunch at Tequila's where Ashton enjoyed getting whipped cream from his free birthday dessert smeared on his face (I wish I'd gotten a photo of that!), ate and swam at Trimble Hot Springs (Wesley is so cute in his little hat in the pool), and had a fantastic brunch buffet at Pam and Monte's. All in all it was a great time. Wesley got super spoiled from being held all weekend, but he eventually got over that. Thanks to everyone who made our first vacation with the baby so much fun!

This was the only time we got the boys together to play. They loved it. And no, we didn't plan the matching outfits. Complete coincidence.

Wes loves his thumb! Look at Jax's adorable sweet face

Baby feeties!

Archer striking a GQ pose after church

Ashton and Andrea

L to R: Andrea, Archer, Aiden, Ashton, Anderson

Our happy little family. Of course Wesley is snoozing away.

The whole gang. Love yall!

and the rest of the fun...

2009-07-15T16:53:00.000-04:00

Blessing day

2009-07-15T16:30:00.001-04:00

What a Party!!

2009-07-15T14:34:00.000-04:00

Wesley was blessed on July 5th here in Provo. We were so blessed to have so many family and friends able to join us for the exciting event. We got to see family from Massachusetts, Florida, Texas, Arizona and California! What a treat. HUGE thanks to everyone who came and played with us! Here are some pics from the weekend.

Eric, Wesley, Crew and Clark

Wesley in his patriotic attire
Crew is also quite patriotic

Erlynne loves herself some babies!BBQ time! Grandmas with the babies (Marilyn holdling Crew, Carma holding Wesley)Grandma and Grandpa Avarell with Kim

Finally, a decent picture of the two of us!The Avarell men

Woolstenhulme Women

Sad, Horrifying and SO NOT OK!!

2009-06-24T15:33:00.000-04:00

I really couldn't think of a title to express the sentiment I'm going to express in this post... that was the best I could do.

Here's the background. I'm not proud to admit this, but I'm legitimately scared of bugs. They gross me out. The actual fear started with a certain cockroach incident the night before my 14th birthday. So yeah, I've been suffering from bug anxiety for about 10 years now.

We live in a basement apartment. As such, we have the pleasure of frequent company-- spiders mostly, but this summer we seem to be suffering from an earwig infestation. Earwigs are especially troubling to me-- mostly due to their disgusting name. They obviously earned that name because they sneak into your ears and eat your brains out. Whether or not that is true, they gross me out and cause me much anxiety. One day earlier this week I actually exclaimed that if I saw one more earwig I was going to blow this place up. It's a good thing I don't have access to any explosives...

That being said, last night Eric had an intermural softball game and Wesley was being ridiculously sweet all evening. We were very much enjoying this behavior since Wesley usually decides he hates being alive after 7 pm and cries and fusses until he falls asleep anywhere between 9:30 and 11pm. He hadn't fussed all night! Hopefully that means we are turning over a new leaf and it wasn't just a one time deal... We'll see. So we get home around 9:30ish and Wesley starts freaking out. We figure it's just the usual evening fussies and start thinking of creative ways to calm him down. Since Eric was sweaty from softball, we figured a shower with Dad might do the trick. I put Wes on the changing table to get him ready for showertime (he's still screamy, all the while).

I take off Wesley's sock to discover an earwig spazzing all over his foot!! Naturally I scream, shake the earwig off my tiny baby's foot and kill it promptly. Wesley immediately settled down. Ummm YEAH! I'd freak out too if there was a disgusting EARWIG in my SOCK!!!! I was so offended. Don't touch my baby!! It only added to the fury that I, only minutes later, killed another earwig on Wesley's changing table and another one in the bathroom. Eric also killed 2 other earwigs in the same time frame. WHAT THE HECK?!?!? I generously sprayed Raid Ant and Roach killer around the house and thankfully haven't seen another one today.

Now everytime Wesley gets fussy, I check for earwigs first. I had a hard time falling asleep last night because I thought there were earwigs in the bed. My hair tickled my arm and I nearly dropped Wesley because I thought it was an earwig. You get the point. I'm not kidding about the anxiety thing... It's somewhat crippling at times. I'm open for tips on how to banish earwigs from your house. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go vacuum again and spray more Raid.

p.s. I don't know if I can keep that picture up... it makes me sick.

8 is great

2009-06-12T22:24:00.000-04:00

So Lana kinda tagged me. Why not, eh? But I will steal some of her answers.

8 Things I Did Yesterday

1. Nursed my baby
2. Took Wesley to get a laryngoscopy. He's such a trooper
3. Got my teeth cleaned at the dentist. No cavities! Hooray!
4. Watched parts of So You Think You Can Dance
5. Ate amazing lasagna courtesy of Melissa
6. Wore pants that zip up. It's a big deal, ok?
7. Read a little Better Homes and Gardens
8. Changed some diapers

8 Things I Look Forward To

1. When Eric doesn't work at UPS anymore (that's Thursday!)
2. Wesley's baby blessing and the giant family party that involves
3. Seeing all of Wesley's firsts and watching him grow
4. Eric's graduation-- just one more year to go!
5. Our vacation to Durango next month
6. Owning a home someday
7. Being able to sleep for 8 hours in a row every night
8. Running/Cycling/Swimming/Yoga again!!!

8 Things I wish I could do

1. Catch and/or not suck at team sports
2. Scuba dive
3. Travel the world for free
4. Eat only sweets and have Dara Torres' body
5. Paint the walls in my apartment. Someday when we're not renting...
6. Keep plants alive
7. A backflip
8. Again... sleep 8 continuous hours

8 Shows I Watch on TV
(this might be a stretch... Can I include shows I've ever watched?)

1. The Office
2. Biggest Loser
3. Universal Sports
4. Dateline
5. Infomercials
6. I used to watch Law and Order SVU but I gave it up after I had a nightmare...
7. So You Think You Can Dance (when our TV can get the signal)
8. Whatever else comes through on our antennae

8 People I Tag

The first 8 people to read this!

650 days later...

2009-06-12T22:00:00.000-04:00

651 days ago on August 30, 2007, Eric and I got married. We have enjoyed spending the past 650 nights together. Indeed, we have never spent a night apart. Until tonight. Stupid Scout campout. We almost made it 2 straight years...

Public Display of Affection

2009-06-09T12:04:00.001-04:00

My mom asked how many times Wesley had "sprinkled on me" during diaper changes. Just once on me, but more on Eric. She then asked why Eric was the lucky one and I replied it was because he changes diapers more often than I do. Mom was impressed.

That got me thinking. I really have the best husband in the world. Seriously. So this post is dedicated to him.

I already mentioned that he changes more diapers than I do. Without complaint. I might even say he loves doing it. He's so great with Wesley.

He happily takes the baby when I'm at wits end with Captain FussyPants.

He bought me a dozen beautiful roses the other day when I was mad at him. I know, I know, how can you be mad at the best husband in the world? Well I was frustrated with him for misplacing/losing important things. One of these said "important things" he later found in my diaper bag. Turns out I was the one that misplaced it. And he didn't even rub it in.

He's done the laundry for the past 2 years without complaint simply because I hate doing it.

He's learned that I LOVE surprises and supplies them for me at random.

He helps make dinner and does the dishes.

Need I say more? I'm sorry for everyone else in the world because, obviously, I have the best husband in the world. Hopefully yours are at least ok. :)

Our not-so-little baby boy

2009-06-06T15:13:00.000-04:00

So we've noticed Wesley has nearly outgrown his Moses basket. He fills that thing out quite well. He graduated a diaper size about a week ago-- no more sissy newborn stuff for him. I just started putting him in 0-3 month clothes instead of his newborns because they were getting pretty tight.

That being said, we took Wesley for his 2 week check up today. He weighed in at a whopping 9 lbs. 13.5 ozs. and was 21.5 inches long. Way to grow Wesley! My goodness. I knew he was getting big. His hands and feet are seriously enormous. He's like a labrador puppy. You know how they have giant adorable paws as puppies? That's Wesley. He makes little growls and pants like a puppy too. He's not as furry and twice as cute.

The only bad news from his check up is that he had to go get an x-ray taken of his neck. He seems to have swallowed a kazoo at birth because he makes this hilarious squeaking noise when he breathes.

Here he is hangin' out while I wrote this post. Now he's not so chill. Feedin' time!

We Love Wesley

2009-06-01T10:26:00.000-04:00

Maybe it's because we're new parents, or maybe it's because he's just so cute-- but we can stare at this kid forever and not get bored. For those of you that also enjoy staring at newborns, here's a video I took of him when he was mostly asleep.

He's here!

2009-05-28T10:12:00.000-04:00

Wesley decided to come right on his due date!

Thursday May 21, 2009 at 5:44 p.m.

8 lbs. 5 oz.
20.5 inches

...and just the cutest little guy in the whole world! Here's the proof:

It's still May?

2009-05-15T16:14:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I finished the work project I've been working on everyday for 7 straight months. When I started this project, I didn't think it would ever actually be complete. I finished it yesterday. Woo hoo! With that, I'm done. I don't have enough time left to start a new project but yet I'm still here.

My mom is coming in town tomorrow. My work is done. The baby clothes have been washed. The bed is ready and waiting for him. So where's the baby? Still in my belly... The countdown says 6 days left. 6 days has never sounded so long.

Are we there yet?

2009-05-14T10:19:00.000-04:00

May= Longest. Month. Ever.

I thought April would go slow... it didn't. May has already had 48 days and somehow it's only the 14th. Will baby ever come?

April Showers Bring May Babies

2009-04-26T17:58:00.000-04:00

I can't believe how fast time is going. I really expected this to be the longest month of my life as I grow enormous and wait for the baby. What really happened is I blinked and March was over and May is nearly here. So, as Wesley's big birthday fast approaches, here are the things I have found myself grateful for this month:

1. April showers-- the rainy kind. I love April rain. It's so fresh and clean and rejuvenating. I love the freshly-bathed-earth smell right after a good rain. I don't love the giant pile of wriggly earthworms on my front mat after the rain, though. One even managed to squeak through a crack between the door and the wall and found a home in my flip flop. Gross. Regardless-- I love rainy April days. However, what I love less is April blizzards. Sometimes the snow will mix with rain and that's bearable, but earlier this month we had a full on blizzard. Here's photographic proof:

The day this storm came, a lot of people had ridden bikes to campus because the morning weather was fine. Once it started snowing, a lot of bikes got left on campus overnight. The snow just kept coming and bike owners found about 5 inches of powder riding their bikes the next day. Some places got up to a foot of snow! Nuts...

2. April baby showers! I teach a Monday and Wednesday night yoga class at a dance studio in my neighborhood. It is really fun and I've gotten to be close friends with the group of women that regularly attend. On Wednesday April 8th, I showed up to teach as usual. As I entered the dark studio and flipped on the lights, the class yelled SURPRISE!! My first thought was, "Is today my birthday?" Wow I must be pregnant to be that confused... Here are some pics from the surprise shower. Keep in mind, I wasn't wearing any makeup because I was planning to be teaching yoga and getting sweaty.

Thanks so much to all my wonderful friends for loving me enough to throw me a party! It was so nice to sit around with experienced mommies and be able to ask all my questions and get great answers and advice. Love you ladies!

Also, on Saturday April 18th some different dear friends threw me another baby shower. HUGE thanks to Jena, Michelle and Brittany for all their hard work and organizing to pull it together, to Gwen for opening her beautiful house for it, and for all my friends and family that could make it for making such a special and memorable day for me.

3. Getting ready for baby-- now that Eric finished his semester, we had a little bit of time to get some things in order without having to worry about homework. Here are the things Eric assembled this weekend: 2 bookshelves, 4 dining room chairs, a glider, and an ottoman. He also disassembled an old bookshelf to make 2 smaller ones. Where would I be without him? We sold our older dining set within 3 hours of posting it on Craigslist (awesome) for $10 more than we initially paid for it (from Craigslist) almost 2 years ago. I should get into the furniture-flipping business. :) Anyway, so we're basically all set up for baby now! It's such a nice feeling. Our apartment feels brand new and exciting. I finally feel settled and at home. Bring on the baby!

4. Jobs! I've been a little stressed knowing that I'm leaving stable, full-time, benefitted employment to be a mommy when my husband has another year of school left. We've been stocking up on diapers and food storage, saving everything we can and preparing for the worst while praying for the best. With the economy in shambles and unemployment rates rising, I was really wondering if Eric would be able to find a good part-time job to support us for this next year. And then, true to form, the Lord blessed us at exactly the right time. Eric starts working for UPS tomorrow morning and will resume teaching at the MTC at the end of May. The timing is perfect, the jobs are great, and the Lord always answers prayers.

5. Along those same lines, I was feeling stressed about leaving my job also because BYU is in the middle of an indefinite hiring-freeze, one of my co-workers left to have a baby in March, another left for another department at the beginning of this month, and I have been planning to leave once Wesley comes in May. I was beginning to feel like I had too much responsibility at work to be able to leave and was trying to see if I could work out options for coming back to work. Yet again, the Lord answered my prayers. We got rare permission to hire my replacement and soon found a great employee that could start right away. Now I can confidently stay at home with my baby knowing that I'm not leaving my employer in the lurch. Thank goodness!

So, the showers have been thrown, the baby's room is set up, Eric has an income and my job is taken care of. Will someone tell Wesley it's time to come on out? I'm ready for him! I'm ready to be able to bend forward again, squeeze through tight places, reach across my kitchen table to the other side, sleep on my stomach/back again, fit into normal clothes, run/bike/swim, walk up stairs without getting lightheaded and panting for 5 minutes afterward... the list goes on. I'm ready for the next life adventure to begin! Bring it on!

Today at church I heard the following comments:

"Any day now, huh?"

"I'm surprised to see you here! You still haven't had your baby?"

"You are due next week, right?"

Bless their souls. I hate to burst everyone's bubble, but the "due date" is still 4 weeks away. I believe in a merciful God, so I think we can cut that down to 2 weeks.

My favorite comment was from the 2 ladies I was sitting by in Relief Society that both recently had babies. They decided that I win the "Cutest Pregnant Belly" award. I felt honored. :)

Another favorite recent comment was when a lady I had just met said, "You still have a ways to go, right?" guesturing at my belly. "Yeah, I'm due in 4 weeks," I replied, to which she said, "That soon!? You are so little!" Well thanks for thinking so!

So here you go. Here is my belly today, just past 36 weeks along (though I'm measuring at 38, for those of you who even know what that means). You decide for yourself whether I'm huge, small, or right on track. Just don't bother telling me. :)

Floating babies are creepy

2009-03-08T01:14:00.001-05:00

I really love countdowns. I had the floating baby on my blog simply for the countdown. Thank goodness I found this baby ticker so I could get rid of the creepy floating fetus!

And for those who are concerned, dinner didn't burn when the cop pulled me over. However, Eric did not have time to eat it until it was cold because he had to go to mutual.

And now, my grateful list for March:

1. SPRING!!! We've had our fair share of beautiful sunny breezy days. I love the April showers that are just around the corner and March promises to be lovely as well!

2. Wal-Mart. Seriously, you just can't beat those prices. I'm not ashamed to be a Wal-Mart customer.

3. My new cute flowery mousepad. It's the little things in life that make it fun!

4. The squirmy little boy growing in me! He's gonna be a cutie, I can just feel it.

5. Saturdays. Can't beat a full day of sleeping in, cleaning, organizing, playing, hugging, running errands, going on dates, finally checking my email... I wish I had more Saturdays. They really are so lovely.

6. Easy recipes. Gotta love it when dinner is a snap and tasty to boot. (Thanks to Brittany for the stroganoff recipe that is always a hit).

It's not fair to talk about a recipe and not share it, so here you go:

1/2 lb ground beef (I use turkey)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 pkg. italian dressing mix
1 c. sour cream
Rice or pasta

Brown the meat. Add soups and dressing packet, let simmer while cooking your rice or pasta. Add sour cream in the last few minutes before serving til heated through. Serve stroganoff over rice or pasta--whichever you prefer.

Seriously, so easy and always tasty.

7. St. Patrick's Day!! My favorite holiday is just around the corner! Be sure to wear green and dye something green. Get festive!

8. Food in the cupboards. I saw a commercial today about a kid going to bed hungry-- the commercial was urging us to donate to local food banks. I'm so grateful there is food on my shelves.

9. Prayer. Isn't it wonderful to know that we have a loving Father in Heaven that listens to our needs and responds to us with open arms?

10. Family and a loving husband. How wonderful to have supportive parents and siblings and the cutest husband in the world. Who could ask for anything more?

Have a beautiful March! This month I've been thinking about cherishing every moment. Lately we hear all about how terrible life is and the awful state of the economy and on and on. I can't help but ponder how it's the hard times that shape our lives and refine our character. So for me, I'm cherishing this time when I can work full-time at a great job, grow a baby, and support Eric in gaining his education. Cherish the little things and love the moment. That's my March Mantra.

Provo Cops are LAME

2009-02-11T21:03:00.000-05:00

I wanted this to be a grateful blog and not a venty blog. I can't help myself. Homeboy just ruined my day.

So on Wednesdays, I come home from work take care of a list-full of things that are awaiting me, make dinner, go pick up Eric from school around 6:30 and get him back home in time for him to eat and then head out to Young Men's. Tonight I had put dinner in the oven right when Eric called me and said he was ready to be picked up. Perfect! I head out to get him knowing dinner should be just about ready when we get home and the timing should all work out.

I'm driving along and all of a sudden there are cop lights behind me. Seriously? I wasn't speeding and I had just safely proceeded through a green light. Maybe he's headed somewhere important and needs me to get out of the way. I fully expected him to drive by as I pulled over. No such luck. He prances up and asks for my license and registration. I say, "Sure, is there a problem?" Usually I say that when I get pulled over for going 15 over or something and pretend like I can't possibly imagine what they are going to say. This time it was legit. I really had NO clue why I was being stopped. He explains that he doesn't think I completely stopped at the stop sign about 5 blocks away. I was genuinely baffled. "Really?" I say. "I remember stopping." He says it looked like I slowed down, but didn't exactly stop. Wow. He must be REALLY bored tonight.

I ended up digging around a while for the registration which I KNEW was in the glove box, but I couldn't find. As I was searching I made some small talk which involved dropping in, "Yeah, I'm pregnant and seem to lose everything nowadays!" C'mon... who gives tickets to a pregnant lady!! And he says, "Oh yeah? My wife just had a baby 2 months ago!" I'm like, oh yeah I'm so safe. Eventually I find the necessary paperwork and he goes back to his car. Meanwhile I call Eric to explain the delay, all the while hoping dinner isn't burning.

He comes back and says words I've never heard: "I'm going to give you a citation for a stop sign violation." WHAT?? Ughhhhh. He asks if I've ever had a traffic ticket before and I say no... although I think I should have said yes after thinking about it because one time I did get a ticket for speeding... it was a few years ago and it didn't go on my record so I'm not sure if I have to consider that a ticket or not. Whatever. Anyway, he explains that I'll probably qualify for traffic school and go to the court and blah blah blah waste of my time. Totally ruined my night. It was made worse when Eric informed me that traffic school isn't usually free. FOR REAL?!?! I don't want to PAY to have to sit in some dumb lecture about putting your blinker on! Geeeez.

I guess this is the danger of living in an area with extremely low crime rates. Cops with nothing to focus on but the stop signs. I guess I should have put the grateful spin on this that way, that the cop didn't have to be somewhere more important and could focus on little things. But I've met too many useless cops to believe that. (Sorry to the actual hard-working, non-jerky ones). And mostly I think it was just a big waste of time.

So there. Hopefully I've gotten the rant out of my system and can once again return to being positive.

A new month already?

2009-02-08T23:13:00.000-05:00

Ok, because my mom has been begging me for them, here are some belly pictures. Here's me at 23 weeks: And then here's me a mere 2 weeks later at 25 weeks. Baby had a growth spurt! Don't you think I look significantly larger here than in the previous picture?

Well, maybe it just looks like that to me. Whatever. I feel sort of giant. 15 weeks to go... oh boy.

The Grateful List:

1. Finally having an opportunity to speak

They say the two most universal fears are death and public speaking. I actually really like public speaking. I think it's fun and invigorating. Weird I know, but I guess it's like people who really like skydiving or cliff jumping or something. Same idea. I had the opportunity to speak in church today for the first time in about 3 or 4 years. I loved it! I really like preparing talks and then I have even more fun giving them.

2. Couple friends

It took us a while to figure it out and find any, but I have to say some of the most satisfying friendships are when you find a girl you really connect with and seeing your husbands connect too. Or connecting with the wife of one of your husband's good friends. So a shout out for friendships

3. AWESOMEly mild winter weather

I've probably cursed myself now, but I have to say that RAIN in January and February really makes my heart sing. I love rain. Snow is scary. I'm so glad we've only had a few gnarly snowstorms and a lot of beautiful cold days.

4. The Ensign

I set a goal to read that magazine cover to cover before I can read my BHG for the month, and I'm totally lovin it. Good stuff.

5. BHG

Better Homes and Gardens. Best. Magazine. Ever.

6. A seriously cute husband that makes me laugh and smile and loves me and thinks my giant belly is cute.

It's an older picture... but seriously. He's the cutest.

Need I say more?

7. A belly filled with a really sweet little boy that I can't wait to meet and snuggle.

8. Sunflower Farmer's Market

This new grocery store opened up in Orem recently. They have amazing sales on produce and on Wednesdays, they have twice as many sales! Best store ever. Thanks for helping us prevent scurvy.

9. Coupons

So I'm totally turning into my mom, but I can't help myself here. How else can you stock your food storage on a budget? Honestly? I now understand why my mom never bought anything unless it was on sale and she had a coupon. I sometimes feel like I'm robbing the grocery store with all the savings!

10. My personal space heater

I'm usually always cold. I plan to always have a jacket with me because I'm usually cold when everyone else is comfortable. Thanks to the joys of pregnancy, I'm now toasty when everyone else is chilly! I never thought I would see that day. I knew it had come when I woke up in the middle of the night roasting and sweaty and looked over to see Eric with ALL the covers (including the heavy comforter) pulled right up to his chin. Usually that's absolutely the opposite.