take my hand... we'll make it i swear

2011-12-20T13:08:00.000-06:00

Among the craziness of my life, I haven't taken much time to sit down and reflect. I'm just over 3 weeks away from my due date to have another little girl and that quickly approaching date has brought on a lot of emotions.

I am choosing to attempt a VBAC this time around (vaginal birth after cesarian) after having an unexpected emergency c-section with Adelle. I've decided to have an epidural, which I was really torn about. I really didn't want to have one - I feel like it really slowed down my progress the first time around - but my doctor explained to me that should the VBAC not be successful and I end up having to have another c-section, if I don't already have an epidural in place, I will have to be completely asleep for the surgery and no family (Luke) will be allowed in the room. If I already have the epidural, I'll be able to be awake and see the baby right away, with Luke by my side, which is how it was with Adelle. I am praying that the VBAC will be successful, but also know that I need to have an open heart/mind for whatever happens. The most important thing is the health of my baby and me.

Adelle has been asking a lot lately if she can see her baby sister. She is so excited to be a big sister and I know she will be a great helper. We have most of the staple things we need to be ready, but during one of our several moves in the past 3 years, we lost an entire tub of 0-6 month clothes. I couldn't believe how much meaning/emotion I had attached to a tub of clothing when I realized it was gone. I am really grateful for Luke's love and support through all of this. Pregnancy is not my favorite, but I am counting my blessings for how smoothly it has gone and to have such a supportive and loving husband as a companion.

Meanwhile, we are still here in Oklahoma living with my paternal grandmother and helping with her care. She came home a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving after being in a rehabilitation center (convalescent hospital) for several months. She was home for about a month, doing very well, but now she has been in the hospital for the past week and 1/2 and is currently in ICU dealing with several things. She first went into the hospital for a bladder infection that turned into a blood infection. Since she's been there, she's gotten pneumonia and they found 2 blood clots in her leg. It's a blessing that we were able to get her there when we did. She is sleeping a lot, but her awake periods are more alert and lucid. I know that she wants to overcome this, but it's just a long process when so many things are attacking her body. It's really hard to see someone doing so well, then all of a sudden take a complete turn in the other direction. Her health is so fragile, but I know she still has some fight in her. I've learned so much from her example. She's strong, opinionated and unconditionally loving. Even today, talking to her on the phone, with everything she's dealing with, she wanted to know first thing how the baby and I were doing. I am blessed with so many influences of love and strength in my family.

With everything that's happening in our lives, sometimes it's been difficult to focus on this little baby who we are going to be meeting very soon. I can feel that she is already a part of our family. She has also done very well at reminding us of her presence. I cannot believe how active she has been in the womb. She reacts every time she hears Adelle or Luke's voices - and kicks Luke almost every time he goes to touch my belly. Other than that, she's just been moving constantly. Adelle would always just find a comfortable position and stay there for as long as possible. It's going to be interesting having 2 little girls and I can't wait! I look forward to being in the hospital with her, not having to worry about anything else but this new little baby.

Family Reunion October 2011

2011-10-21T20:48:00.001-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, we had the rare opportunity to travel to southern New Mexico for a family reunion and to celebrate my Grandpa Jack's 90th birthday. It was a great trip and I got to see a lot of family (and kind of meet them) that I hadn't seen since I was about 6. My maternal grandmother has 11 siblings, so my mom has tons of aunts, uncles and cousins, etc. It was fun to get to know them. It had been a long time since I'd seen my cousins on that side as well. Overall it was a great trip. It wasn't without set backs, but I won't get into that too much (Adelle gets carsick sometimes...).

One of my favorite things to do in southern New Mexico is go to White Sands National Monument. We go every time we visit my grandparents and just love it.

We decided to stop in Amarillo, TX overnight on the way there to make the drive a little more bearable for everyone. Adelle loved staying in a hotel.

I took tons of pictures at the dunes. Adelle was the only one who wouldn't take her shoes off.

My sister-in-law Gaia and her daughter Kate about to slide down the dune together (Gaia turned out to be the daredevil of the group...).

This is my cousin Jay who got a running start to slide down the dune. Just past the edge of the photo is a large speed bump/ramp they built up in the sand to make it a little more exciting.

My sister Gina and her fiance Steven.

This one was taken at sunset when we finally got back to the car. So sweet.

This was the latest we had ever stayed and it was so great to see the sunset.

The hardest part of visiting is saying goodbye to family when it's time to go home! We all had a great trip and can't wait to visit with everyone again!

New Additions!

2011-06-29T15:06:00.002-05:00

It's been a while since I've posted and life has been busy. First of all, as of tomorrow I am 12 weeks pregnant! My expected due date is January 13th, which is Friday the 13th. At my 10 week appointment, we got to do a quick sonogram and see our little one with a quick heartbeat, hands and feet. It was a really cool experience. With Adelle, our first sonogram was at 18 weeks.

Since you've probably peaked at these pictures, I will go ahead and say that last week we made a big decision to get a dog! Lady is 6 months old and she's a Yellow Lab and Anatolian Shepherd mix. I know some people might be surprised by this because I am openly not much of a pet person, but I just fell in love with her. She has a very sweet demeanor and already loves Adelle so much. Luke has wanted a dog for a long time that he could train and run around with. Adelle loves her new friend and tries to help train her with Daddy. I've already found myself worrying about her the same way I worry about Adelle. She's already part of the family.

This first picture is when Lady and Adelle first met (the car ride doesn't really count). Right from the beginning, Lady was submissive toward her and got down on her belly trying to play. It was so cute. We're having fun teaching Adelle how to treat an animal kindly too. I'm excited to see how they grow together!

It's hard to remember that she's just a puppy sometimes because she's already so big. She is a quick learner and is very teachable. She's an outdoor dog, but we're house training her as well so that she could be inside for emergency situations. In a couple of weeks, Luke will start a 6 week obedience school with Lady and I know he's excited about it.

I just love her coloring/markings. I love her golden undercoat and her white belly with golden spotted legs.

She's more cooperative with the camera than the rest of my little family.

The first day and they're already besties. I took this from the back door. Lady didn't even try to come inside, just sat on the porch step, so Adelle joined her. So sweet.

So cute.

Hello from Oklahoma City!

2011-04-02T18:36:00.003-05:00

Sliiiiiiiiiiiiiide!!

2011-02-17T21:43:00.002-06:00

Now this is what February should look like. Adelle and I had a great time at the park this afternoon. So much fun that I eventually had to carry her over my shoulders to the car as she was kicking and screaming, saying "slide" over and over again. We had already been there for a LONG time and she was literally out of breath. And, needless to say, she fell asleep very quickly tonight and we haven't heard a peep since. Hopefully we'll see some more pleasant weather so we can go back soon! I got some other fun pictures, but this one was just my absolute favorite.

I hope everyone else got to be outside and enjoy the beautiful weather today!

Snapshots

2011-02-06T10:40:00.001-06:00

Most of yesterday was a pajama day for Adelle... got some cute pictures and wanted to share a couple.

ouch.

2011-01-20T13:34:00.000-06:00

Well, yesterday I sprained my ankle pretty severely when I was carrying my daughter to the car in the snow. There was a patch of ice under the snow and I fell. I made sure Adelle was okay and she landed on her feet, but my ankle popped and now I have a high ankle sprain. Oh, and I was wearing heels because I had just come from a job interview (which was a HUGE waste of my time). I know, not very smart to carry a child in fresh snow... I'm learning my lesson. I am grateful for my parents' next door neighbor who happened to be outside and heard me yell out when I fell. He literally carried me on his back into my parents' house and I'm not a tiny girl. So, for his kindness I truly am grateful. I'll have to make his family some cookies or something with a card.

In the meantime, Luke is taking care of me as he has quite a bit of experience with every type of ankle injury you could imagine. I am really HATING being so immobile. I have crutches, but I'm already so exhausted from having to hobble around. Can I have my leg back, pleeeeeaaaaase???

Thank you to Mom & Dad who are watching Adelle today so that I could manage on my own.

Progress

2011-01-17T15:09:00.000-06:00

Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.

Martin Luther King Jr.

“'Tis healthy to be sick sometimes.” - Henry David Thoreau

2011-01-06T14:29:00.000-06:00

Not sure if I agree with that quote, but lately I think I must. Adelle has been sick since Christmas, first with a cold, then with the flu. We have to put Vaseline on her cheeks and nose a few times a day or they turn bright red from the moisture and wiping her face constantly. Vaporizer, check. Space heater, check. Moisturizing tissues, check. She's also coughing a bit more now, so we're giving her cough medicine for toddlers and making sure she gets lots of vitamins, good foods and liquids. Today is the first time in quite a while that she finished her whole meal, though it took her over an hour to do it. Right now she's on her tiny fold-out couch cuddled up with a pillow and blanket, watching Olivia, while the orange juice from her sippy cup provides a constant drip into her mouth.

Yesterday in the mail I got a large box from Northridge Publishing, who creates CARDS Magazine. I've been featured in it a few times. The most recent was the September 2010 and I haven't even submitted anything since then, but I had 3 cards in that one, which was very cool. So, for being published I got a large box of goodies and am excited to try out my new stuff. I've been keeping up with my creative blog and working on some things with my Etsy shop, which has kept me plenty busy along with my normal responsibilities.

Also, I have decided I'm going to run in my first 5K in March. I want to at least be able to run most of it, but really want to be able to run the whole thing. I haven't been a runner in quite a while, so I'm excited to train and prepare for it.

BEGINNING

2011-01-01T22:23:00.000-06:00

I want to be happy today. I want to live my life as if I did it on purpose rather than just letting things happen to me. I'm learning more and more as I get older that there are some dormant fears and doubts that I haven't completely shaken yet. But this year, I am going to fight back. I am going to learn how to be happy and just let myself be for once. I have set a few small goals for the year and I will probably fail at each of them at least once, but I'm not a quitter. I'm not weak or sickly. I'm not passive or embarrassed. That's not me. So in 2011, I'm going to figure out how I can just be me... Wife, Mother, Latter-Day Saint, Daughter, Sister, Singer, Artist, Designer, Intellectual (in my own way), Breadwinner (as much as I need to be), Athlete (once upon a time), and Homemaker. Quite the juggling act, but I'm going to be happy with the efforts I make and the progress I achieve. I don't have to be ALL of those EVERY MINUTE OF THE DAY. I can choose not to be overwhelmed.

With this blog I've put this silly pressure on myself where I've felt the need to document every detail of my life. Well, I'm not going to do that. I might share an occasional picture, but most of the time I probably won't. I just need to write again. I need to reflect on moments that are important to me in my life that I don't want to forget (and that I haven't documented elsewhere). It's so important for us to take time and reflect on our actions, choices, thoughts, reactions, etc. I can't even count how many times I've gone back to read my old journal or blog entries to find myself learning something all over again... from myself. I blog so I will remember. I blog so that if I forget, I'll have something to help me remember.

That being said, I wanted to share a little story from about a month or so ago.

Luke, Adelle and I went to a Mexican restaurant here in town for dinner and we were having a nice evening. At the end of our meal, the waiter came over with a helium balloon that perfectly matched Adelle's pink and blue striped sweater (pink balloon with a blue string). When she realized he was giving her that balloon, her whole face just lit up as if she was about to eat a whole cupcake (she LOVES cupcakes). She grabbed the balloon quickly and while she was admiring it, Luke reached over to tie it onto her wrist (the ceilings were pretty high, so if she let go it would be too high for us to reach it for her). Adelle of course thought her mean old daddy was trying to take the balloon from her and wouldn't let him get it, so he gave up and just let her hold it and play with it for a while. I say a while, but really about 20 seconds later, there went the balloon straight up to the ceiling. She was immediately devastated, watching it hang right above her head out of reach, and we were just trying to explain to her that it was too high and we were sorry but it was gone. So, we finally decided to just get out of there so she would stop looking at it and being so upset. As we were helping Adelle put her coat on, a little girl about 4 or 5 years old came over and approached Luke, saying "I noticed that she lost her balloon. Can I give her mine?" She handed Adelle the balloon and just smiled. I said to her how thoughtful and kind it was for her to give up her own balloon and told her that we would remember this for a long time. So we took our time leaving and as we walked out, we just kind of mouthed "thank you" to the little girl's parents. Her mom told us, "she just wanted to do it..." So, by the time we got to the parking lot, we had an extremely happy child with a balloon tied TIGHTLY to the belt loop of her jeans. Luke and I were still just kind of taking in what had just happened, while Adelle kept saying "I got a balloon!". We were on our way to another store when we hear a loud "POP!" in the backseat directly followed by "AH MAN!!!" This time it wasn't nearly as devastating because she couldn't see the balloon anymore... she just said "it's gone!" a couple of times and was over it. We had a few more errands to run and at the last stop of our night, we were waiting to check out, when the cashier says, "Does she want a balloon?" After everything that happened that night, Adelle still made it home with a balloon.

I'm not sure what the moral of that story is. It makes me think about a lot of different things... I just didn't want to forget it.

...it finally feels like summer!

2010-07-06T22:38:00.000-05:00

So, we don't have a lot of money and I'm as busy as ever. I've accomplished pretty much nothing that i've wanted to accomplish in the past few months, but...

I don't care! It's been a long time since i've felt so happy, so physically well, so eager and looking forward to the future. luke starts a new job on thursday with the local cable/internet/phone provider here as an account executive and my temporary job ends july 24th. that's a week earlier than originally anticipated, but we get a big bonus for just staying until the 24th. umm... yes please. then, i'm going to CHA with Chelsea in Chicago! CHA is basically what papercrafters live for. It's this huge nerdy convention filled with vendors who are releasing brand new products... some even offer special edition products just for the convention, like my favorite papercrafting company, Papertrey Ink.

Anyway, Adelle is cute as ever, Luke's as cute as ever (too) and he's enrolled in school full-time for the fall (in addition to the new job) and after a few more weeks when my job ends, I'm looking forward to getting to spend more time with my little family... in my own family's space... that's right, we're finally going to be back into our own place. It's a small cheap 2 BR apartment that'll be perfect with our free cable/internet (via Luke's new job) and will help us save up on the moneys. The kitchen appliances are yellow (like, from the 70s), but we don't care! Gimme a few boxes of magic erasers and some green works and we'll be in business in no time.

Also, I'm going to be singing in a doctor recital... a guy at KU asked me to sing in his ensemble and be a soloist for his choral conducting doctoral recital. I've only been to 1 practice so far, but it's Old World music and I am really excited to be singing in a group again.

Maybe I should've just bullet-pointed this post because my mind's all over the place, but I also want to mention that I have been doing Weight Watchers for a few weeks-- not going to the meetings, but following the plan on my own. I've lost about 6 pounds so far and I feel really motivated to be more active and make healthier choices. Oh, and my sister Lori just had a baby and my sister-in-law Vanessa is pregnant with twin boys who are due in November! Life is good!

just a few things...

2010-06-14T23:14:00.001-05:00

Would you believe me if i told you not much has happened since February? Well, it is and it isn't true. Let me start by saying that Luke, Adelle and I have been staying with my parents since the beginning of May and it has been... challenging. I really am truly grateful to my parents for letting us stay here until we figure out exactly what happens next, but holy teenage angst-y Heidi resurfacing! I can't remember the last time I was so happy, angry, upset, silly, moody, claustrophobic (no, I'm not pregnant) well, since I was pregnant. I never imagined how challenging it would be to live within someone else's household after heading my own for a few years. I can't think of anything more motivating to get our own junk worked out. We just have some things up in the air (Luke is either going to be in a police academy in the KC area or in school full time in the fall and I currently have a temporary job that ends at the end of July), so we don't know where to rent an apartment or how much money we need to save up, etc. To be more specific, Luke is currently in the 2nd round of testing to be a police officer in the KC area. If he passes everything, then he will attend their police academy and be employed as a police officer (while attending school ideally).

Well, that's all for now...... to supplement the lack of details, let me remind you all that Adelle is almost 19 months old! That's almost a full month in nursery! Here are some pics until next time :)

This first photo was taken in March at my sister Lori's house.

This one is May 22nd at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Check out Adelle's super cute pink aviators :) June 11th. I haven't figured out the color of her hair... it's not quite red, not quite blonde, not quite brown. Somewhere in between...

we're alive!

2010-02-22T21:20:00.000-06:00

dear blog,

i'm sorry i have neglected you so long. i probably don't miss our frequent visits as much as you do, but i do apologize just the same. things have been busy with working at 7 a.m. (25 minutes away) and Luke being out of town every other week. i'm not going to promise that i'll do better or try to catch up on what has been missed... that just seems a little too daunting. however, i'm checking in now, so hello and take care.

cordially,
heidi

dear everyone else,

i don't know if anyone even checks my blog anymore seeing as i haven't updated it in over a month! just the same, we are well. i start my higher paying job on monday, which is going to be such a help. luke is still enjoying his work and may have an opportunity for advancement (and possible relocation, but more on that at a later date) this summer. it's hard for me to be too excited yet, since it's still a way's away and we don't know anything concrete yet. adelle is as cute as ever. she's starting to put more and more syllables together and has a handful of words she says regularly (the most frequent is "hi," which she says to everyone, including strangers at the grocery store, etc). i'm looking forward to having a card published in the March 2010 issue of Cards magazine, which comes out on the 1st. I didn't realize it was a $20 (each month) magazine, so I'm glad they'll be sending me a couple of copies. someday i'll be on the computer with the pictures when i think to update my blog. i have some cute pics/videos of adelle being cute and growing up way too fast! she looooooves mandarin oranges and peanut butter (not together) and is more interested in people than any toy we could ever get her. she dances whenever music comes on the tv/radio/etc and has started turning in circles as part of her dance moves. she loves to tickle my feet and watch my reaction. she thinks it's funny to sit on things, including me when i'm playing with her on the ground. she still calls me "heidi" most of the time, but "mama" is showing up in her vocabulary more frequently. she loves to drink out of a straw. she loves trying to put clothes on herself. today i gave her a cut up peanut butter sandwich on a plate and she successfully carried the plate from the table to the couch without spilling any of it (any parent will understand how exciting that is). some mornings, we don't even know what time she woke up because she's playing so quietly in her crib. she has started crossing her arms when she stands still (so cute). the way she talks and babbles, she must think she's already grown. she observes and seems to really understand so much. she's wearing 18 month clothes and her 12 month PJs don't fit anymore :( i can't believe how big she is! i was looking through some of her newborn pictures yesterday and just can't believe how quickly the time has passed. i feel like every day is slipping through my fingers before i even think to grasp it. she is the happiest, most pleasant baby i've ever known and she truly is a blessing to our lives. i may miss holding her in my arms as a newborn, but i am so excited to see who she will become.

i better stop before i get carried away (hah.. too late). i hope everyone reading is doing well!!! comment and let me know how you are!!

stuff and stuff

2010-01-16T18:36:00.000-06:00

Last night Luke and I went to see Avatar. I have heard a lot of different reviews about the movie, but I honestly loved it! Yes, it is slightly Pocahontas-esque, but it didn't bother me! I thought the story was extremely interesting, the graphics were BEAUTIFUL and the acting was good. Some people have even said it is anti-American, but I do not agree. I just think it is more about how it's easy to just take what you want when you have the bigger guns, so to speak... but everyone has a story and no one should be dismissed. Maybe that's a stretch, but that's what I got from it. Anyway, I can't imagine seeing it for the first time at home. Definitely worth seeing it in the theater...

That's all for now!

i {heart} this face!

2010-01-11T13:04:00.001-06:00

i{heart}faces is celebrating their first birthday with a special theme of "Best Face Photo."

I {heart} this face! Only 2 days old and already so expressive. It's hard to believe that she's already almost 14 months old!!!

Happy Birthday i{heart}faces!

p.s. i'm working on a normal post... soon!

pressing down on me...

2009-12-16T12:57:00.000-06:00

i don't know where it comes from, but i feel this everpresent pressure that when i do a new post, it needs to be in-depth, insightful and of course loaded with pictures. part of it is that i RARELY keep a real journal, so this is the main place i document all of the new things adelle does... i have a saved post that i'm still working on about all that. maybe i'll finish it someday... with or without pictures.

today i just want to say that i'm tired. there are some things in my life that have caused so much stress and heartache in the past 6 months and honestly, i'm just tired. i'm so over not being able to afford the things we need. i'm so tired of having a messy kitchen...even after i've seemingly JUST cleaned it. luke recently got a great job and right now all i can think about is how tired i am of him being out of town this week (he should be home within the hour).

just a little (much needed) venting. i'm done for now. as far as positives:

(a yay list)

My sister Kelly took me to see Wicked a couple of weekends ago and I LOVED it!! We had a lot of fun! It's been a long time since I did something fun with Kelly. We used to hang out a lot.
Adelle is a walker (runner practically). More on that in the unfinished post, whenever I get around to it...
I actually made friends at work! We even hang out sometimes. And we've had a couple of days off the phones the past couple of weeks, which is basically awesome.
Luke found a great job with advancement potential in the very near future!
We got library cards! Yay! I got this book for Adelle called "Everywhere the Cow Says Moo!" where it does the animal sounds in a few different languages... Adelle was just laughing hysterically the first time we read it together!!! So fun.

Time to get ready for work so I can actually spend a few minutes with Luke when he gets home before I leave. Happy holidays and all that :)

the past few months for us...

2009-11-16T23:40:00.001-06:00

This is why I never know what to say when people ask me how my new job is going:

http://www.fox4kc.com/news/wdaf-john-lim-scammers-ps-111709,0,4421927.story

This was on the news tonight (Monday) on Fox 4.

And wow, I need to open my mouth more when I talk.

Some Exciting News!

2009-11-08T20:42:00.003-06:00

It's finally time for the launch of Heidi Stock Design!

Check out my website for many more design options - holiday cards, baby announcements, etc!

:)

All designs are original and customizable.

Get your orders in early and save 10%!

family visit!

2009-10-30T11:25:00.000-05:00

This week, Adelle had a great time bonding with grandparents on the Stock side! They came bearing gifts for Adelle AND mommy and daddy (some of the best hot cocoa I've ever had in my life) and we all had a great time! Adelle warmed up pretty quickly.

You'll notice her silly little doggy hat... this is from a Halloween costume (from her Aunt Gina) we were going to have her wear, but it's too small :( So she's been sporting the doggy ears for the past couple of weeks off and on. hehehe She has even slept in them a couple of times and loves them! Thanks, Gina! Luckily, Adelle's grandpa got her a great Jayhawk dress that has now become her cheerleader costume for Halloween as well :) It even has a little white turtleneck with "Kansas" written on the collar. Very cute.

Luke's dad has encouraged me to market the cards that I make. I do enjoy entering them in challenges and what not, but that night I went through what I had and realized how many great cards I have that would sell great, even if they wouldn't necessarily be chosen for a publication or something like that. So now I'm motivated! I've been at my sister Lori's watching her girls/helping her out some yesterday and more this afternoon because she had to have an unexpected surgery (she's doing well... just not enjoying the recovery process). Then I start a new job on Monday! And Luke is going to be enrolling for classes at JCCC this weekend.

This week we're heading to my parents' house. My brother Craig and his family will be visiting from Missouri and the church there is having a trunk-or-treat. It'll be fun to have all the grandkids together in their costumes. Now I just need to find the SD card for my camera!

Happy Halloween. Be safe!

the importance of creativity/creation

2009-10-25T12:35:00.000-05:00

Luke and I are home from church today -- he has food poisoning and I have a fever and chills. Awesome. Adelle's the only healthy one around here. Since we're missing church, I've been reading talks from previous General Conferences and was reminded of this quote from an awesome talk given by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, the 2nd counselor in the General Presidency. This was during the General Relief Society Meeting in October (end of September probably) of 2008. Enjoy:

"You may think you don’t have talents, but that is a false assumption, for we all have talents and gifts, every one of us. The bounds of creativity extend far beyond the limits of a canvas or a sheet of paper and do not require a brush, a pen, or the keys of a piano. Creation means bringing into existence something that did not exist before – colorful gardens, harmonious homes, family memories, flowing laughter. What you create doesn’t have to be perfect… Don’t let the voices of critics paralyze you – whether that voice comes from the outside or the inside. If you still feel incapable of creating, start small. Try to see how many smiles you can create, write a letter of appreciation, learn a new skill, identify a space and beautify it."

And here's a link to the entire talk: HERE.

thoughts and Cards Trends Blog

2009-10-23T18:07:00.000-05:00

As far as the last post, I've decided to just be proactive. If I really want to have a relationship with the people I've been friends with in the past, then I need to be the one to make the effort to actually HAVE a relationship with those people.

Tomorrow I'm singing at a funeral for a 24 year-old man, who is the younger brother of a good friend from high school. His passing was very unexpected, so I ask that you all keep the family in your prayers tomorrow (Saturday) especially.

On a lighter note, I have a card featured on the Card Trends Blog today! This blog is done by CARDS Magazine, so it gets a lot of traffic. It's exciting that my work is starting to be recognized and showcased. This challenge was to make a collage-like card, so I literally used scraps from another card to make it (with a few added things). I was recognized for my overall design, but especially for my unique color combination. Anyway, that was fun!

I hope everyone has a fun weekend! Halloween is only 8 days away!

some days are just hard...

2009-10-19T18:24:00.000-05:00

I'm not going to go into detail, but you may not know that my new exciting and glamorous job fell through. It's a long stupid story that results in me looking for jobs again. I got a temporary 2 month position that starts in 2 weeks, but beyond that, I'm looking. This of course has caused some economical challenges for us, but we're doing the best we can and are grateful for help from family.

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine from 7th grade through high school got married. I found out about it from someone else's blog. Today I found out that another friend from elementary school through high school got married and apparently nearly everyone from our little high school group of friends knew about it. I'm not sure what to do with all of this information, but I am having a hard time with it. I'm not sure if it means that I was a bad friend after high school to not keep in touch as well as I could have or if it means that we were never really that close. This is aside from like 3 other marriages of friends in the past year that I either found out about after the fact or on Facebook. I know that my religious values sometimes left me on the outside of things, but it is just really upsetting. These are people I sought out when I got married to make sure they at least got an announcement. These days I don't really have any close friends who I HAVE to call when I get news, aside from my sisters anyway. Maybe that's the trade-off for having a close-knit family and a husband, but I guess I'm just not the type of person who can completely let go of a friendship, even if it's been a long time. I know I could've made many more efforts to see these old friends though, so maybe I shouldn't be so worked up about it.

Anyway, I just needed to vent a little. This evening Luke and I are going to take Adelle and just get out of the house for a little Family Home Evening. Location is TBD, but I'm excited to just get out and do something as a family, even if it's just window shopping or going for a walk!

time to update

2009-10-17T14:10:00.000-05:00

Hello to everyone.

Not much to report today, but I wanted to share some exciting news (no, I'm not pregnant). You may know that I have a card blog, where I show cards that I've made, etc. Well, recently I've been submitting cards to be published in card/craft magazines, and one of my cards was selected! I will be published in the March 2010 issue of CARDS magazine, which is one of my favorite craft magazines. I can't wait! I already had to box up the card and send it with details on the materials I used, how to make it, etc. They'll send it back to me after the March issue comes out and will send a bunch of cardmaking goodies and 2 copies of the magazine along with it. Yay :) This was kind of a goal when I got started and I have come a long way since the beginning of my blog. I've had fun learning about different techniques, trends, etc. Each publication asks for specific criteria depending on the issue, so that's how you decide what to submit. Here's an example. Anyway, I can't show you the card now, but after it's published I will be sure to post it on here. :)

Adelle is as cute as ever and is becoming more and more dependent on us for entertainment. She's never been too attached, but lately she wants to be held or us to be playing with her all the time. She also got her first ouchie this week... nothing serious, but she slipped and hit her face on the corner of the coffee table. It didn't break skin, but she has a long bruise line down her cheek. She barely cried -- just got mad when I tried to put ice on it.

That's all! Hope everyone is doing well.

sleepy adelle pictures...

2009-10-07T01:20:00.001-05:00

taken 10/5/09 in the early A.M.

a busy busy busy month.

2009-10-01T16:58:00.003-05:00

wow, i can't believe it's been nearly a whole month since i last posted... adelle is as cute as ever of course and she's kind of a big stinker. she likes to play with her daddy's XBOX and when he tells her 'no,' she looks at him, shakes her head no, then laughs and usually goes after it again. she is saying "up" and can repeat a series of notes if i sing "ahhh" to her.

about 2 weeks ago, i started a new job in OP. i'm working primarily from home, but am enjoying the change so far. monday evening luke and i moved to the KC area and really love our new place. i'll be sure to take some pictures when we finish unpacking (we're pretty close already). luke has had several job interviews and we're just waiting to hear back. tuesday evening, we found the phone number of a bishop of the ward we thought we would be in and called him. that same evening the elder's quorum president, elder's quorum secretary, and relief society secretary called us to set up times to meet us. luke already played bball tuesday night and i got to meet the r.s. pres and secretary this morning. the r.s. president in my new ward is one of my former YW leaders from growing up in lawrence. sometimes i forget how small the church really is. anyway, we get to meet in the brand new stake center, which is pretty close to home (and for luke that means a full-size basketball court).

that's the update for now. i need to take/post some more pics of us and adelle. we're so blessed to have such a sweet/funny baby. tonight we have a visit from the EQP and EQ secretary. then bball for luke and SLEEP for me. it's going to be great.

milestones and what not.

2009-09-03T11:34:00.004-05:00

I think I'll just start with some cute pictures of Adelle, since they're not really related to the post.

Here's Adelle during bath time. I just wanted to show off her pretty face and long eyelashes :D

Here's Adelle's favorite bath time pastime (that's a mouthful -- the words, not the rubber ducky).

I cannot tell you how many times we have found Adelle chewing on her binky like this. So silly.

so i bet you're all wondering what we're up to these days... well at least our cute little girl.

just a day after my last post, so on August 12th, Adelle started pulling herself up to standing in her crib. she did that for a few days and then started doing it with furniture around the living room. about a week ago she started doing a LITTLE cruising (walking while holding on to furniture), but she only does it if she sees something really worth getting. also, she has been crawling since just a couple of days before she turned 9 months, so also just a few days after my last post. She is very quick and already pretty sneaky. also, about 2 weeks ago (so right after she turned 9 months) she started saying "dada" somewhat consistently. she definitely knows who "dada" and "mama" are and will sometimes try to say "mama," especially when she's crying.

we had adelle's well-child 9 month visit on Monday and the doctor couldn't believe how healthy and on target she was! she now weighs 20 lbs and 10 oz and is 29 inches tall (that's 3 inches in 3 months). the doctor also said, because she's getting all the nutrition she needs and eating so well, that we could start to phase in whole milk instead of formula and also more finger foods (you know, since she already has EIGHT teeth). she's already had a lot of finger foods, but i think we're going to start giving her veggies primarily in the finger food form because she has developed this habit to start talking and blowing out air and making silly noises as soon as she gets a spoonful in her mouth (only with veggies or something she doesn't quite like as much as fruit), making it gets all over her and us instead of you know, into her body.

i've gotten to go to a couple rehearsals now for the Kansas City Symphony Chorus. I don't think I knew what to expect when we (my mom and I) started, but it is such a wide range of people - experience, background, AGE, etc. Overall it's a fun time, though I forgot how much Charles Bruffy loves count singing :) I'm enjoying singing again and look forward to the performances and other opportunities it may present.

Oh, and I'm 25 now, as of Saturday the 29th. So far, it feels good :P

Update!

2009-08-11T11:26:00.010-05:00

Hello hello! Not a ton has been going on for us. We just had a transition in the house where we work, so that has kept our hands and calendars pretty full. Transitions can be really challenging -- especially when we don't have all of the information -- but we're doing the best we can with what we've got!

On Saturday, I had an audition for the Kansas City Symphony Chorus. I have been looking for ways to get back into singing for a while now, so when they emailed me about auditions (I signed up for updates from them), I was excited to get involved. I was out the door on time to take Adelle over to my parents' house while I was gone, but then everything else went wrong. First of all, I wasn't paying attention and headed for the wrong highway. Turns out I could've gone that way, but without directions, I didn't want to get lost. So, I turned around and lost about 15 minutes. Then I decided to take the North Lawrence exit to KC and there was a huge detour once I got over the bridge. I got so lost in North Lawrence trying to figure out where to go that by that time, I had burned about 35 minutes, meaning I would undoubtedly be late. Well, I was late, but only by 5 minutes and they were running about 10 minutes late! So, I had just enough time to fill out my audition form and then sing. The audition was actually fun. Charles Bruffy, the director, worked with me a little bit, having me sing my song in different ways ('Pie Jesu' from Faure's Requiem) follow by a little sight reading. Then at the end of the audition they welcomed me to the choir and gave me the music! I'm really excited to sing on a regular basis again and my mom auditioned too, so I'll always have someone to ride with.

Fun Adelle things:

I can just lay her down on the floor, give her a bottle and she'll hold it and drink it on her own.
She is SO CLOSE to crawling that we're having to baby proof now, except while I was taping some cords to the wall, she started going around me to get to the part that wasn't covered yet and she keeps moving what we have in front of the TV stand to cover the electronics (uh oh!). She is pretty quick pulling herself around with her arms and she does this push up thing (hard to explain), but lately she'll go forward with one knee and then lunge. So, I think she's pretty close to figuring it out. It's so funny to watch. Oh and this morning, I went in to get her and she had pulled herself up on her knees holding onto the railing of the crib. NOOO!!
Adelle has FOUR top teeth coming in all at once! We discovered them about 3 days ago and she had been a bit fussy, so that explains it! We're having to slightly medicate her in the morning before her first bottle, or she refuses to drink it because it hurts her teeth so much. So when these fully grow in, she'll have EIGHT teeth! The top 4 and the bottom 4. She's growing up too fast!!!
She'll be 9 months old on the 19th, just 8 days away! We've been watching the Friends DVDs again and last night we watched Season 10 The One With Emma's Birthday and it made me cry. Before we know it, Adelle will be a year old! It's going by way too fast. Before we know it, she's going to be asking for help with Math that I can't do anymore...
And now for some pictures representing her new "skills:"

Here, Adelle is sporting her new fake smile, which I'm sure she got from us. She is always imitating the things we do. So cute.

This is Adelle in her new preferred sleeping position. Bottoms up!

And here you can see her new obsession with sticking out her tongue. She's been doing this for almost a whole month now, but it's still so funny!
I hope everyone's having a good week! Soon I'll post a couple of projects that I recently completed.

Enjoy!

Clapping!

2009-07-25T15:54:00.003-05:00

I mentioned in the last post that a goal for the week was to record Adelle clapping and overall just being cute, so this is some footage I took last night. (please excuse the clothes on the floor behind her and Luke sleeping on the couch) Enjoy!

Oh, and she has 2 more teeth coming in! She already has the 2 in the middle on the bottom row and now 1 on either side of those is just breaking through the gums.

8 months and a new missionary in the fam.

2009-07-22T19:21:00.001-05:00

all of a sudden my daughter can do a bunch of stuff. like today i said "yay!" to her and she started clapping. then later i said "clap" and she clapped some more! so cute! and she has started waving, but not consistently yet. what's funny is watching her try to be mobile. she gets up on her knees and then doesn't know what to do, so she rocks a little and eventually lunges backwards. she's getting there though! oh, and she can pull herself up to a sitting position from being nearly flat on her back. it's so cute watching her figure things out!

on another note, my brother went into the MTC today! i'm excited to hear about his initial reaction and his experiences there. this is such an important thing for eric and i'm really glad he gets the opportunity to do it -- to go out on his own without family nearby and really learn how to work hard and be outspoken. this 2 years is going to affect the rest of his life so much and i am so grateful that he not only gets the chance to do it, but that there is nothing else he would rather be doing than serving as a missionary! yay! and so, i'm going to try not to miss him, but instead to be a good pen pal with words of encouragement and sincere interest. that's what he needs from his family, not "wish you were here"s.

back to the first note, my goal for the week is to get a picture of adelle, since she turned EIGHT MONTHS OLD on this past sunday, and also a video clip of her clapping and babbling. she is just so stinking cute.

if you really knew me...

2009-07-08T10:03:00.004-05:00

you might know that i have a very slight bossy streak. and if you really knew me, you'd know there's more to say than that. let me explain.

i have a younger brother. he's nearly 20 now. before we know it, he'll be off to the MTC and then to the mission field (yes, I realize I'm referring to SLC as the mission field, but too bad, Utah! you're part of it too!) to learn about what it means to be self-sufficient, to realize how much he really values his personal space and time alone, to come to understand what it really means to work to the point of exhaustion, to draw closer to Heavenly Father than ever before, to rely on the Spirit for everything, to realize there's still so much to learn. now i'm faced with the realization that my little baby brother isn't so little anymore. i remember constantly ragging on him, not in the playful way an older sister would, but really just being bossy and kind of mean. i resented him for making me be the one to mow the lawn with this mentality that the able-bodied male should do it. i was annoyed that i was still the gopher even though he was the youngest. maybe i was just more of a pushover.

then there was that week in Kentucky where together we endured the nearly 10 hour car drive to a session of EFY (Especially for Youth), to be a part of my spiritual (and social) high. forced to be friends, at least for a week. now don't get me wrong, we always had our moments, though they were often heavily shadowed by my motherly attitude of "you should do what i say" or "you should feel bad for not doing what i say."

eventually i got over myself (some), got married and moved out and now we can actually talk on the phone, talk as peers, talk as brother and sister. i tease him about girls, impress him with my ~~vast~~ growing NBA knowledge, and watch him play with my little girl as I realize she'll be nearly 3 when she gets to play with her uncle Eric again.

but it really is worth it.

Eric, i am so excited for you. we won't be too far away and you'll constantly be in our prayers, that your time will be well-spent, not just for you, but also for the people in Salt Lake City (I guess you ARE going to a foreign land afterall, hee hee). Good luck and don't be surprised if Mom cleans your room while you're gone!

And I hope you'll forgive me in advance for my poor pen pal skills, but we'll do our best!

Love, your youngest big sister, Heidi.

craigslist

2009-07-07T00:39:00.001-05:00

I love looking at antiques and random stuff on craigslist and came across this:

life is so good when you choose to be an active part of it.

2009-06-30T11:56:00.004-05:00

i got up this morning determined -- determined to do something more than i did yesterday, specifically to start the day more active and involved in the outside world. so, i went to the grocery store. :) i loaded up adelle in the stroller and walked down the long street to hy-vee, where we browsed a little while, got some things we needed, and walked back home again. this is one of the nicer days we've had in a few weeks, so it was really great to be out in it. adelle fell asleep on the walk home and i was just trying to keep her legs shaded (i'm sure i looked silly walking to the side of the stroller, pulling it rather than pushing it from behind).

this has been a really busy week and i've really enjoyed it:

on thursday evening, i got off some time from work and went with my sister kelly to the mormon tabernacle choir in kansas city at the sprint center. we had a lot of fun and even got there a bit early. we were playing games on her iphone watching people running in at the last minute (this is one of the most embarrassing things for me about the LDS culture... always late! ... and i am guilty of this at times as well, but not for something like this -- there were lines of people walking in through the first song). i probably wouldn't have gone if it wasn't for my friend Greg who is in the choir and sent me 2 tickets, but i am glad i got the opportunity to be there. it reminded me of some goals/desires i once had that got pushed to the backburners while life happened... more on that later.

friday after we worked half a day, luke, adelle and i packed up the car and drove to st. louis to my brother Craig's house. we stayed there overnight and then went to the St. Louis Temple on Saturday early afternoon to go with my brother Eric and my sister Kelly, both of them going for the first time. my brother Eric is preparing to leave for the Mission Training Center to train to be a missionary in the Salt Lake City South mission. it was a really great experience to be in the temple with so many family members... i just wish that everyone could've gone. i am definitely grateful to Craig and Vanessa for being willing to stay and watch the kids. it was a really great trip and just reminded me of how Luke and I need to be making a better effort to go often. there are always reasons not to go... it's so easy to say you're too busy or that you can't get off work, but when it's really important to you, you make it the priority and honestly, when we told our boss how important it was for us to go, she found people to be on call for us herself and made sure we got to go. that was such a huge blessing and definitely not something that always happens.

i'm tempted to start rambling, so instead i'll just end with a super cute Adelle picture from today.

Adelle pic of the week:

2009-06-24T22:25:00.003-05:00

I hope you will overlook the messy sweet potatoes on her face and notice how stinking cute Adelle is in her daddy's KU hat. What's funny is that she kept it on for a really long time... it didn't even bother her. Then of course Luke put it over her eyes and she tore it off and threw it on the ground.

I like her.

blog surfing.

2009-06-22T21:50:00.004-05:00

i really don't blog surf very often. i stick to the blogs i know and have been invited to read... most of the time. but every once in a while i'll do a little blog surfing and come across something that looks kind of like this:

This blog is open to invited readers only

http://{insert clever blog title here}.blogspot.com/

It doesn't look like you have been invited to read this blog. If you think this is a mistake, you might want to contact the blog author and request an invitation.

Makes me feel like a total stalker.

{insert awkward scream here}

quick update!

2009-06-15T17:32:00.004-05:00

I'm sorry I've been away for so long, but I just wanted to do a quick update and let everyone know that all is well. I took this picture of Adelle today and just wanted to let everyone know that she's just as cute as ever :) She's a really good eater and we're slowly working in the puffs and soon she'll start meat (at the end of the week when she turns SEVEN MONTHS on the 19th!). She babbles pretty much constantly and is playing with different sounds. She thinks the 'p' sound is hilarious and does it a lot, as well as the 'b.' She's growing up too fast!!!!

In other news, my little brother Eric got his mission call last month and will be serving in the SLC South mission. He goes into the MTC on July 22nd and we're all really excited for him! Very soon, we will go to the temple with Eric as well as with my sister Kelly. I haven't been to the temple since before I was pregnant, so I am REALLY looking forward to that. And I'm really grateful to our boss who is so understanding and said she'd be the backup so we can be gone on the weekend.

Unfortunately, this is all I have time for at the moment, but I'm going to try and play a little catch up here soon. If not, I'll at least be blogging more frequently than once a month. And in the meantime, check out my craft blog!

life, milestone, and other junk.

2009-05-19T18:44:00.003-05:00

It's been a while since I really blogged about my life. Even now I don't have much to say, but wow have we been busy and exhausted... almost all the time. Our only day off in the past week was Saturday because of weekend staff participating in KU's graduation (and the fact that many subs were unavailable also because of graduation).

Luke and I have decided to change up our work schedule... we work together and it's a little bit flexible during the day, so now Luke has decided to take on the brunt of the work instead of us working equal amounts. We're in our second week of doing this and it already is working so much better. This way I'm available during the day to do the paperwork that needs to get done, as well as taking care of Adelle in her own home and having some time to pursue some of my own personal interests (I don't know if I mentioned that I'm working on a graphic design website). I already can feel this change helping our marriage so much and I'm so glad that Luke is willing to take on the extra responsibility. If you've never tried it, it is really challenging working with your spouse, especially this kind of job where it so easily spills into our personal relationship. This new schedule has really helped a lot though. We're not around each other ALL day long, so then we can appreciate the evenings/weekends more.

In other news, ADELLE IS 6 MONTHS OLD TODAY!!!! That is such a milestone that I can't believe she's there already! My sister Lori took some pics of her yesterday and I can't wait to see the best shots! maybe i'll post a pic of her before bed from ON her birthday. I'm going to write her a letter tonight and also write down the things she can do/almost can do right at this moment.

That's all for now!

Lori George Photography

2009-05-11T15:03:00.006-05:00

As I've mentioned a few times before on here, my sister Lori has started a photography business. This weekend she officially launched her website/blog and she's included a drawing for a free session! If you live near Lawrence, check it out and leave a comment (by Monday, May 17th!). You could win a free session plus a $25 ordering credit! Also, even if you don't win, she is offering 50% off session fees if you book a session before May 31st (which makes the individual person session only $12.50!).

I'm taking a small part in her business in designing custom announcements/invites/etc. for her clients. Depending on how many opportunities I get through this, I plan to also start my own website where others can order from me as well... maybe other photographers offering to their clients as well as people who just want to order. Anyway, check it out!

my first order...

2009-05-01T11:27:00.003-05:00

I have been working a bit with my sister Lori on her budding photography business and have had fun looking at pictures and helping her make editing decisions, etc. Along with that, I have also been working on various announcements/invitations, etc that she can offer to her clients for babies, holidays, etc. Well I got my first order! I took off last names and changed the birthdate to protect a little privacy at least, but here it is! I created that butterfly pattern myself and used a color scheme the mom wanted. It was a lot of fun making this! And of course the photo was taken by Lori! Click on her name to check out her website if you want some great child/family photos taken! And her rates are pretty low so far since she's just starting out.

yay!

2009-04-26T23:39:00.001-05:00

adelle is cutting her first teeth! it's the 2 front bottom teeth. no wonder she's been sticking her tongue out so much the past couple of days. i would too if some foreign sensation started breaking through my gums...

yay! they grow up TOO fast.

...

2009-04-16T16:43:00.001-05:00

i'm inspired by Susan Boyle.

This is the kick in the pants a lot of people need...

the butterfly.

2009-04-12T13:19:00.002-05:00

I learned something new today and I wanted to share. I was thinking a lot about Easter and why we really celebrate it versus how we celebrate, so I wanted to find some of the symbolism behind things that often represent Easter. Some things are pretty obvious. Eggs, chicks, bunnies, flowers... all represent new life, just as Spring itself does -- the new life that is promised to all of us when our bodies and spirits are reunited in perfect form because of that Spring morning when Christ rose from the tomb after being crucified and then lying in a tomb for 3 days.

In my search for meaning behind all of the Easter bunny and egg decorating hype, I found a great explanation as to why we sometimes see the butterfly in the mix with everything else that may represent Spring and Easter. First we have the caterpillar who walks along the Earth, representing Christ's life on Earth. Then there is the cocoon stage, representing Christ's crucifixion and burial -- when he was lain in a tomb. Then comes the butterfly emerging from the cocoon transformed into a magnificent creature, just as Christ was raised from the dead--resurrected with a glorified body. I really enjoyed learning about this and hope it will give me an extra reminder of the blessing and promise that we will be resurrected into perfect bodies because Christ first was resurrected to set the way.

Happy Easter everyone!

month 5 so far... so fun!

2009-04-06T00:21:00.000-05:00

i have a cute baby and she takes baths. and does other cute stuff too.

2009-04-01T14:58:00.005-05:00

Last Thursday was our first attempt to give Adelle rice cereal. She may have gotten some swallowed, but if that's the case, it was definitely on accident. She must not be quite ready because she kept pushing it out with her tongue. We'll try again within the next week and see how she does. She has definitely been interested in food that we eat and seems to want more than just the formula, so we're just waiting for everything to fall in line.

On Sunday we gave Adelle in her little bath and decided to actually take pictures this time. Luke likes to just pour the water down her face "to help her get used to it," thus the following picture.

Adelle doesn't like to smile at the camera, but she'll smile at her mama... :) Last night I was sitting next to her and playing with her upside down... I thought this was a pretty cute one.

Enjoy!

fonts/headers.

2009-03-29T00:08:00.003-05:00

a big thank you goes out to chelsea for reminding me of this awesome font website. Thanks to it, I have a new blog header. I would add pictures like I used to all the time, but I don't have any of me, Luke and Adelle all together (I know, what!?!?) so until then I don't want to add pictures. Anyway, I also approve of that website.

On a somewhat related note, I decided to email the creator of the 365 cards blog and asked if she would like a new header for the site, so here's what I came up with. She wanted me to use the same colors/font that was already there, so I did have those guidelines. Enjoy.

Be Thou My Vision

2009-03-26T18:53:00.002-05:00

This is one of my favorite songs... a very old Irish hymn, from around the 700s. It really is beautiful and if you haven't heard it before, I suggest finding a recording on youtube or something. It's been in my head all evening.

Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art
Thou my best thought by day or by night
Waking or sleeping Thy presence my light
Be thou my wisdom and Thou my true word
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord
Thou my great Father, I , Thy true son
Thou in me dwelling and I with Thee one
Riches I heed not nor man's emptly praise
Thou mine inheritance now and always
Thou and thou only first in my heart
High King of heaven my treasure Thou are
High King of heaven my victory won
May I reach heaven's joys, O bright heaven's Sun
Heart of my own heart whatever befall
Still be my vision O Ruler of all

it's official!

2009-03-18T18:41:00.001-05:00

Adelle has a super cute dimple on her left cheek :)

i'm losing my hair... and my vision is shady...

2009-03-18T09:54:00.003-05:00

Well, just the hair loss part is true, but that should give a few people a nice little giggle (it's a reference to something that you could call a guilty pleasure from the teen years). I am officially losing my hair from the whole post-pregnancy normalizing stage of life. I'm not breastfeeding (a very long TMI type of personal story that I will not be sharing) and my body is finally ... slowly ... getting back to normal. I didn't think it would bother me, but mentally, when I run my hands through my hair, only a couple of hairs at the most should come out, right? It's strange and kind of uncomfortable seeing more than that.

On another note, my sister Lori (the one who has taken the gorgeous pictures of Adelle) is starting a photography business and I got to design the header for her blog and her watermark for when she posts on the web. It was a lot of fun and I'm excited to see what she does with her exploding talent. I've linked to it on the top sidebar, so take a look if you like (and remember, she's just starting, which honestly really impresses me considering the quality of pictures she is taking).

Milestone!!!

2009-03-10T23:26:00.002-05:00

Adelle has been trying to laugh for a long time. She'd do little fake coughs and smile, she'd open her mouth really big and squeal... today she laughed for the first time for real! She had the dirtiest diaper I have ever had to change (it was so full it leaked) and so when she was just in her diaper, I did raspberries on her stomach and she laughed so hard every time! Of course then I had to take her into the other room so Luke could see and she did it again :) What a fun milestone! Adelle is just getting too big way too fast! She'll be 4 months old in 9 days. I can't believe it.

Rock Chalk!

2009-03-10T14:51:00.007-05:00

Luke and I were very lucky to be invited to the KU Basketball game on Saturday against Texas (we even got a pass for the parking garage)! Luke's brother Nick and his girlfriend Shelly invited us last minute and we were so glad to be able to go! And thank you to the family for helping us by watching Adelle!

Luke is a HUGE KU bball fan and this was actually the first game he has ever been to, so we took a ton of pictures/video. We were really high up, but we had a good view and had a ton of fun!

As you can see by the scoreboard, it was a great game! At one point KU was behind by double digits, so it was kind of nerve-racking, but they pulled it out in the end! I'm just glad they won because I'm pretty sure if we had lost that Luke would've thought it was his fault and he would never have gone to another game (and he probably would have burned his clothes too :P)

It was senior night, so the team all stuck around to hear the speeches of the 2 seniors (we snuck in at floor level to take a picture as we were leaving)

Also, congrats to the team for winning the Big XII Championship! They have won consecutively since 2005 and many people doubted they'd be able to do it with such a young team this year. They showed a video after the game about how they've won back to back to back to back to back and it was a great montage of moments from the past years. It was fun to see them receive their trophy too. Anyway, thanks Nick and Shelly! We had a great time!

Haphazardly Crafty

2009-03-09T14:52:00.002-05:00

i have decided to start a new craft blog. If anyone is interested in being added as an additional author, let me know!

Sketchy Sunday

2009-03-09T00:00:00.003-05:00

Here's my take on the Sunday sketch for 365 cards:

Card Patterns Sketch #5

2009-03-08T04:27:00.005-05:00

Card Patterns (linked on the right) posted their weekly sketch on Saturday. Here's the sketch and then my take on it (we are allowed to alter it to accommodate our own designs...):

i'm a little bit country?

2009-03-07T23:58:00.002-06:00

Saturday's challenge on 365 Cards was just to use a circle as a prominent part of the design. I made 2 and really don't like either very much.. I just wasn't feeling inspired by the circle. I think it's probably because I don't have any of those cool toys that make it easy to cut out interesting shapes, etc. It's not very fun to cut out circles by hand. If I had punches and cutters, etc, I think I would've used lots of different papers cut into circles... I dunno. It's just not in our budget right now to have all the cool gadgets. Anyway, here are the cards I made.

actual blogging

2009-03-06T14:13:00.004-06:00

I know I've been doing a lot of card junk... maybe I'll start a separate craft blog or something. Or maybe it could be a group blog! Is anyone interested in doing a craft blog with me??

So, Fridays are hard. It's the first day off we have after working 4 12-hour days, so when Adelle decided to wake up at 5:45 a.m, it was kind of hard to be excited about it. Luckily she went back to sleep for a little bit after I fed her, but I guess we have to officially say goodbye to sleeping in, huh... I really can't complain. We have been extremely lucky. Typically Adelle will sleep 9 to 10 hours a night without waking up. Maybe that means she'll be an extra challenge in her teen years :P

Adelle is at a stage where she loves when things crash together, so I've been doing "If You're Happy and You Know It" with her a lot... I tried to take a video of it, but I was holding the camera, so couldn't use both of my hands to crash her hands together. She's still pretty stinking cute though. Take a look.

And a cute picture: She looks surprised a lot when the camera goes in front of her :)

(from Wednesday 3/4/09)

I feel all tech-savvy ever since I realized the laptop has a memory card reader...

Flashy Friday

2009-03-06T13:35:00.003-06:00

Today's assignment for the 365 Cards challenge is to make the card flashy, whether with "bling" or glitter, etc. So, here's my take. I'm not sure about the striped paper... I think if I was to redo it, I might just leave that out. I accented the paper on the left with red glitter paint just on the stems and centers of the flowers. I really don't use bling or glitter, so this was a stretch for me, but I had fun!

more cards (get used to it i guess)

2009-03-06T03:00:00.006-06:00

These are the cards from the last 2 days on 365 Cards.

Wednesday's challenge was to create a card based on an advertisement and I chose to use this vintage Bell Telephone ad:

Here's the card I came up with.... I really need to get some more sentiment stamps. All I have is "thanks" and an alphabet. I don't want to always have to use stickers. I wasn't as 'inspired' as I'd hoped... but maybe you'll see my interpretation of the ad...

The other challenge was Thankful Thursday, to create a simple thank you card that could easily/quickly be recreated for when I would need to make many thank you cards. I think the key is just finding nice paper that just kind of speaks for itself. Here it is:

more card challenges (card box, Tuesday Trio) ... (2nd post of the night... read below)

2009-03-04T23:14:00.007-06:00

The very first challenge on 365 Cards was to make a card box, you know, for all the cards we'd be making. I kind of cheated by using a basket, but I did make the dividers... I like being able to see the cards sticking out of the sides of the dividers, but I decided to put foam on the bottom of them to better separate each section.

Then, this is yesterday's challenge... still 365 Cards. The requirement was to use 3 things: ribbon, flower, button. I don't usually use buttons and not many flowers either, but here you have it. Not the best I've ever made, but it's fun I guess. I'm still learning. I do really like the colors though (have you noticed I like brown?) And now I wish I would've stacked the flowers then put the words at the bottom of the column. Oh well.

technology, who'd have thought...

2009-03-04T21:56:00.006-06:00

I did something dumb today. I accidentally deleted all the pictures off of my camera. Regular readers may have heard me say "I can't upload pics because I can't find the cord to hook up my camera to the computer." Yeah, there were a LOT of pictures on there that I had never uploaded... mostly of Adelle, pretty much since we left the hospital. My dad is trying to find some way to retrieve as many as he can from the card, but we'll see what happens. I bawled and bawled... so, then I learned today... guess what! This laptop has a memory card reader built into it! I could've been loading pictures all this time. I never even thought about that.

So, to make myself feel a little better (momentarily), I took pictures of some cards I've made for sketch/challenge sites.
Yes, I already showed you this one, but now you can actually see it. This is from Sketch #4 on the Card Patterns blog (link to the right). I tried to make it the right coloring to show the green of the paper, but I don't know if it's quite right. Ah well.

This next one is sketch #1 for the 365 Cards blog. I like using sketches. It's a good springboard.

This last one was a challenge instead of a sketch... This is the Monday challenge on 365 Cards. The challenge was to use no more than 2 embellishments, which is easy for me... I don't use a lot of embellishments. So, my embellishments are ribbon and... ribbon I guess.

Anyway, enjoy! And don't feel too sorry for me about the pictures. I'm coping... and praying that daddy can fix my screw-up :P

Pay it Forward Challenge

2009-03-03T13:45:00.003-06:00

My sister Lori posted a Pay it Forward Challenge on her blog, so now it's my turn! The first 3 people to comment on this post will get something homemade by me within the year (and maybe sooner than later if you're lucky). The trick though is that then you must pay it forward and do the same thing on your blog (or facebook or email, whatever you use to communicate with people). I thought this would be a fun thing to do since I have all this "creative" energy. (I use the quotes because I always wish I was more creative than I am) Anyway, I look forward to it and hope that you like whatever I make for you!

Happy commenting!

Crafting

2009-03-03T02:03:00.003-06:00

I can't stop myself. Ever since I started working on Adelle's quilt again, I've been crafting like crazy. I've been making a whole bunch of cards and finding all sorts of challenge blogs where they give you a challenge or sketch or something and then you make the card according to the challenge. I've made all the ones I've seen, but I still can't find the cord to hook my camera to the computer... booo! So, here's a picture of one I made from the Card Patterns (link to the right) Sketch #4 that I took on Luke's phone. Sorry about the poor pic quality.

And since then, I added a tiny rub-on that says "happy birthday to you!" (white). I like the added touch, but was too lazy to take another picture, especially with such crap quality.

Oh, and thank you to LynAnne for loaning me her sewing machine!!! I can't wait to really use it!

3 months!

2009-03-02T10:47:00.007-06:00

Adelle turned 3 months old on February 19th. The following Saturday (the 22nd), we went by mom and dad's and took some pictures of Adelle. So, here's Adelle at 3 months! It's really hard to get her to smile at the camera because as soon as it's in front of her, she just stares at it like some strange foreign object. (Lori, recognize the fabric on her outfit?)

new wheels and such

2009-02-22T23:19:00.003-06:00

The Eagle Summit has reached its last days. Right now it isn't even running (something with the alternator) and we've been driving my brother Eric's car, which emits horrible fumes through the vents. Anyway, it finally came time to find a new car, so on Saturday we got a silver 2007 chevy malibu. We really like it and it's by far the nicest car I've ever had. [Pictures to follow]

In other news, Adelle turned 3 months on the 19th! We also retired the bassinet and have been working on her sleeping in the crib. She's actually been doing really well, taking a few short naps during the day, then sleeping from 11ish until 7:30 or 8 in the morning. We have been really fortunate. She has been a really good sleeper since the first few weeks.

Saturday was the monthly craft day at Chelsea's house. Let me just say that she is a fantastic hostess! I didn't get a ton done because I was having too much fun talking to all the girls I haven't seen much since we switched wards, but I did start Adelle's album and made a few cards. It was so much fun and will definitely be a regular event. Thanks, Chelsea, for a great day!

cute little girl...

2009-02-19T00:06:00.001-06:00

I still haven't found the cord to connect my camera to my computer, so here's a shot of Adelle from about a week ago that Luke took on his phone. She's just chilling in the bouncy seat my sister Lori has been loaning us.

Dear Adelle,

2009-02-17T14:56:00.002-06:00

Please stop growing. You are doing it much too quickly and I just can't keep up with you. I would like it if you would please stop that now and stay little forever. Thanks.

Love,
Mom

(Adelle has started wearing 3-6 mo. sized clothing)

2009-02-11T20:13:00.003-06:00

In response to my last post, Ali wrote "other than this, how's life?" so I will attempt to respond before I forget entirely about it and move on to something else completely (story of my life, more and more and more as time goes on).

Life is good! It's hard to say how life is outside of the job because wow does it take up a lot of my life. However, there are actually other aspects. For example:

Adelle is fantastic. She is trying so hard to laugh that she constantly throws her arms and legs down and makes this heart-melting expression that I'm pretty sure is imitating my "let's be excited when we say hi" face. It usually consists of opening my mouth really big (you know, like the big-mouthed surprise gasp) and then saying "hi!" a few times... and her version is so cute. She just smiles and opens her mouth really big while crinkling her nose. I made. the cutest baby. ever. It's as simple as that. Of course, it does make me wonder just exactly how goofy I look to her when I make said face. I'm pretty sure she'll love me either way, so I'm okay with it. One sad things is that I think she is already being affected by the allergens in the air. The last couple of days she's been sneezing a ton and randomly has the red puffy eyes to go with it. I don't like seeing her having to feel yucky like that :( We're washing everything and trying to pinpoint what exactly is causing it.

Church is great too! I really enjoy being in a family ward and I LOVE that I got called as a Primary Teacher. It's for CTR 6 (the kids who will turn 6 during the year) and completely exhausting and rewarding. I pretty much have every extreme of personalities/energy levels in that class and it cracks me up constantly. And wow, you really can tell which kids get taught at home and which don't.

Now that we're getting a little more situated into the new place, I've been getting more motivated to do some crafting, etc. I bought a couple of scrapbook albums, one for Adelle (black with small white polka-dots) and one for Luke for mission pictures (per his request). I also started working more on a quilt that I started before Adelle was born and the top is almost done now (I do not sew quickly. Not at all.). Thanks to Lori for letting me stay very late to get some of it done last weekend. She has been teaching me a ton along the way (and managing the machine because I still can't figure out how to thread the thing) (I apparently like using parentheses a lot).

choice, accountability, parenting: worries & woes... and how to learn from them

2009-02-06T23:31:00.004-06:00

i really love my job. it can be exhausting and extremely frustrating (especially when hearing "4:00 4:00 4:00 4:00 4:00 snack snack 4:00 get a snack" over and over and over and over and over again), but at the end of the day, i can't help but smile and learn from the people i serve every day. at the end of the day they are grateful for our effort to maintain a positive and fulfilling daily environment and every day is a clean slate no matter how difficult the previous day was for them. i really am grateful for that and am trying to follow suit. i can get really frustrated when someone refuses to make a good choice (like simply climbing up into a chair instead of waiting for someone to pick you up off the floor) and it's easy to continue reminding that person that s/he didn't make a good choice, but i can say with confidence that if i messed up, they wouldn't even think to rub my face in it for the rest of the day, so i'm striving to be more like them in that way. life is full of too many good choices to just focus on the few not so great ones (and they're hardly even "bad").

that brings me to something else i've been thinking about a lot lately. as a teacher, as a parent, as an authority figure, your limits will always be tested unless you put a stop to it from the beginning. my sister-in-law Gaia and i were talking about this last weekend, specifically the example that if your child is screaming and crying for candy or something like that in a store, it means nothing to threaten leaving unless you actually do it. that may mean leaving a full cart of groceries and having to make another trip to the store, but otherwise, the battle will never end. it may be really challenging in the beginning, but it is so worth it in the end. in my field of work, that may mean waiting over an hour for a man to decide he's going to pull himself up into a chair after going limp expecting his staff to carry his weight while he's walking (he is fully capable of carrying his own weight) and consequently dropping to the floor. he was so convinced that someone was going to come rescue him and pick him up off the ground and ultimately he was right. we were prepared to leave him where he was with a staff and take the rest of the group home, when 2 other staff members (who don't work in the home, but are therapists, etc, in the community center) came and pulled him up off the ground. any possibility for progress was immediately lost (as well as about an hour of our time which was now for nothing) and well, he was right. it not only impeded progress, but further engrained in his mind that if he decides to drop to the ground, he just has to wait long enough and someone will come rescue him. frustrating. he is very seizure-prone, so he has to be assisted when walking, but that doesn't mean doing the work for him. it means supporting him enough that if he has a seizure he can't fall forward and crack his head open on the ground. in the past few years he has decided more and more to let staff do the physical work for him that his actual abilities are diminishing as a result. really, it comes back to the fundamental principle of choices and then being made accountable for the choices you have decided to make.

it may be easier at the time to just give the screaming child the candy so s'he'll shut up and let you finish your shopping, but do you really want to deal with that over and over again? then all of a sudden you have a spoiled rotten kid who is so convinced that they can anything they want out of you and your credibility as an authority figure is obsolete.

anyway, just something i've been thinking about a lot lately because of some of the things that i encounter at work along with my overwhelming desire to try to not be a horrible parent.

thank you!!! (two months pt. 2)

2009-01-21T09:57:00.010-06:00

i need to say thank you first to Lori for taking these adorable pictures, then to Chelsea for making the adorable tutu!

here are some 2 month pictures of our Adelle!

Enjoy!

wow.

2009-01-12T00:08:00.002-06:00

it feels good to finally take some time to sit down in front of the computer--something i haven't really done in a while. first of all, saturday, january 3rd, we moved. we are now in a 3 bedroom duplex and we really like it. we have cleaned the old place, turned in the keys, etc, so we are free of it (it really was a great place, so it's kind of bittersweet). of course, don't try to go into the back 2 bedrooms as they are still completely filled with boxes. we hope for that to change at some point. so, that's the first big event.

The next day, sunday the 4th, Adelle was given her baby blessing in sacrament meeting at the student ward. Luke gave the blessing and the people in the circle included Luke (duh), my dad, my brother Eric (Kevin was in bed very ill and Craig and his family moved to St. Louis, so sadly they couldn't participate), my brother-in-law Chris, and Luke's friends Matt, Sam, and Nick. i'm really glad luke and i talked about the blessing after church because as i was trying to focus and remember every little word, i somehow missed about half of it. I am so grateful to be married to a worthy priesthood holder who could use his priesthood keys to bless our little girl. It was a very sweet experience. After church, the family came over for some delicious shepherd's pie (made with roast instead of hamburger... so good). It was fun to have (almost) everyone in our home and for them to actually fit. Luke and I hadn't gotten a lot of sleep (we stayed up literally all night packing the friday night before that), so I guess after eating and everything it sunk in. Let's just say we woke up after almost everyone had left because they felt bad that we were both asleep.

All this past week we had some more training for our new job along with attempted unpacking. Then yesterday (Saturday), we decided to celebrate Luke's birthday, which was on our moving day the 3rd. We went to see Seven Pounds, which was a very interesting and well-made movie, though I don't know how I feel about the ending.. that's all I'll say about that. Then we ate at Longhorn Steakhouse, which was honestly a little disappointing (except the mashed potatoes were excellent) and did a little shopping. Thanks to our friends Matt and Ali for babysitting!!!

Finally, today we attended a new ward. We decided that along with our move across town that it was time to move to a family ward, especially because the church building isn't even 2 minutes away from our house now. It's the ward that Luke went to when he was a youth, so he knows a lot more people than I do, but Iwas surprised at how quickly it felt familiar and comfortable. It will take a while getting used to a family ward, but I really look forward to it. One thing I think is really great is that the Bishop decided to use Preach My Gospel for the majority of Sacrament Meeting talks throughout the year. It is just focusing on pure simple truths and the things that the gospel is built upon. I really look forward to learning from Preach My Gospel this year.

Anyway, that is the very lengthy update. We're doing well, Adelle is changing so quickly, and we're getting a little less tired as each week goes by. To me, that's success. Eventually we'll unpack the cord for uploading pictures from the camera so I can post them, but until then, imagine a really cute little girl whose cute little chubby cheeks are getting chubbier and a cute little girl who now knows how to smile at her mom and daddy when they do something she likes (ya know, when she feels like it). We love heer so much and it is so fun thinking about who she is already trying to become.

More to come... you know, as time is constantly passing.

one month

2008-12-21T01:07:00.002-06:00

my daughter turned a month old on friday. time is going by so fast and even looking at pictures, i'm having a hard time realizing how her looks and expressions have changed so gradually into what they are today. i'm sure it's impossible to really catch every moment and even if you do, you're constantly playing catch-up and missing the present worrying so much about capturing what will automatically become the past. anyway, i've decided to just try and enjoy it as i go, write things down when i get the chance, and not worry so much about capturing every moment. that's what memories are for, right? though they're far from perfect, they have a way of reminding us of the best things in life. the pictures and writings just fill in the gaps (though i am very grateful for both).

so, in spirit of remembering... practically since birth, adelle has made this little noise that sounds like a mix between laughing and clearing her throat. i'm pretty sure it started when she needed to burp, but now she does it pretty much all the time and it just cracks me up. i think i'll be a little sad when she grows out of it. also, she's starting to respond more to things i do besides just getting quiet. for example, i've been singing christmas carols to her (she gets extremely calm when i sing silent night) and today jingle bells came on the tv so i started singing it to her. every time it came to the "hey!" part, i would lower her chin whenever i said it and she'd make a big grin. it was the first time she smiled in response to something rather than just smiling randomly or in her sleep. and now, for the past couple of days, when i look at her and smile, sometimes she'll give me just a little smirk. i just love watching her working so hard to slowly become the woman that she will eventually be. i feel blessed to be so connected to her life and am constantly going to try my best not to mess that up. this is the easy part, right? i definitely CAN wait for when she starts having her own opinions and realizing that i'm not perfect :P

yay for being a mom.

vote for our pictures!

2008-12-20T19:50:00.001-06:00

https://www.greatamericanphotocontest.com/voter1/index.aspx?referid=EmailFriends&p=951932&x=.JPG

https://www.greatamericanphotocontest.com/voter1/index.aspx?referid=EmailFriends&p=951970&x=.JPG

someday you'll see us again..

2008-12-07T11:21:00.005-06:00

i'm sure it's completely normal, but i am a little bit afraid to take Adelle out to any public places. even church seems like too much of a risk for my little one's immune system (especially at this time of year), so since she was born, we've been at home for a great majority of the time. yesterday, she and i did venture out to my sister Lori's, where we took advantage of her nice camera and artistic eye to get a few cute pics of Adelle before she's too grown up and we forget how cute and little she is now. here are a few favorites (thanks, Lori!):

okay...

2008-11-29T22:35:00.002-06:00

i said i would explain more about the whole birthing experience, so here it goes.

i went in monday night (the 17th) at 7:30 p.m. where they started the slow process. they did some things to prepare my body for labor (in hopes that those things would send me into labor without having to break my water). the next morning they let me eat breakfast, take a bath, then they started me on pitocin at 8:30 and broke my water at about 9. the contractions started coming and progressing very quickly. i got an epidural and by 1:00 i was already dilated to a 6, but they said the baby hadn't descended low enough yet. it took until like 7 that night for me to be dilated to an 8, but the baby still wasn't low enough because basically she was turned funny and kept hitting my pubic bone instead of being able to go under it. the doctor tried a few times to help the baby turn or help her get below the bone, but the baby had enough room that she just kept popping back up. dr. was very patient with my desire to not have a c-section and let us wait it out until about 12:30 a.m. when she checked me, the baby's head had swelled quite a bit and we finally decided that at this point the c-section was the best option to safely delivering a healthy baby. i was in the operating room by 1 and Adelle was born at 1:21 a.m. Wednesday morning, November 19th. it was really strange being able to feel all the pressure and pulling during the surgery, but not the pain. of course, after the surgery, the pain medicine they gave me apparently didn't work with my body, so for a bit, i could feel the entire pain of the surgery. i hope that's the only time i ever have to tell a nurse that my pain is at a 10. i don't want to dwell on that experience too much, but it is definitely not one i will soon forget.

we have had so much love and support and appreciate everyone who has visited, brought us dinner, or sent a kind note. we have had many meals provided for us and it has been such a help! we haven't gotten much sleep and we're still getting the hang of things (as we will be for the rest of our lives i'm sure), but we're so glad to have Adelle with us. it's crazy to think that yesterday was her due date and we've already gotten to enjoy her as part of our family for over a week now. we've been taking lots of pictures and will post more soon!

Adelle Madeline

2008-11-21T23:47:00.003-06:00

She's here!! Our beautiful little girl Adelle was born Wednesday morning (November 19th, 2008) at 1:21 a.m. at 7 lb 7 oz and 20 and 2/3 inches long. I cannot tell you how blessed we feel to be her parents and cannot wait to see the person she will continually grow to be!

I ended up having to have a c-section, which I will explain more in-depth later.

I'm too tired to say much more right now, but here are some pictures from now. A picture from the operating room while they were stitching me up, then a few from today, day 3! Enjoy and more soon!

the time has come!!!

2008-11-14T16:34:00.002-06:00

As some of you may know, throughout the later stages of my pregnancy, I have had an excess of amniotic fluid. Sometimes this indicates problems with the baby, but in this case they really don't know why, so no big deal, right? Well, when you have too much fluid, it makes it more likely for the cord to come out before the head and wrap around the baby's neck. This is something that can be taken care of during labor, but it's harder to do when the baby gets bigger. Since my baby is on the big side already (she was 6 and 1/2 pounds 2 weeks ago), the doctor and we have decided to induce.... on MONDAY! I go in Monday at 7:30 p.m. where they'll break my water, put me on some antibiotics (I have something called GBS), then the doctor thinks that itself might get my body into the early stages of labor without the more invasive stuff like pitocin, which makes your contractions more intense, etc. Anyway, by Tuesday morning if not much has changed, they'll help me along a little. I'm already dilated at 3 cm and partially effaced, so who knows what will happen.

So, now something that was just in the near future has an actual date or arrival! I felt like we were really ready, but at the same time, now I feel like we have so much to do this weekend to really get ready. We still need a changing pad and I need to pack my overnight bag for the hospital! I have a general list and have checked online, but any suggestions on things that would be nice to have there during the slow labor process? I think I'm going to make a mix CD because they have stereo systems in the rooms so I can listen to whatever I want during the labor :)

We are very excited and can't wait to meet our little girl so soon! Apparently she has a lot of hair already (Luke's part Native American). I can't wait to get her out of my belly and into my arms! Wish us luck!!!

260 days down, 20(ish) to go!

2008-11-08T17:10:00.003-06:00

one pregnant woman + flu shot (sore arm) = only able to sleep on one side = aching back, legs, shoulders, etc etc etc. = lucky me.

i've never gotten a flu shot before yesterday. the nurse was NOT gentle either. she practically wound up before stabbing me in the arm. ah well. i suppose it's for my own good.

soon i will blog about my baby shower, which was on november 1st. it was really great and reminded me of how many amazing friends/family i have in the area. i am so grateful to have them! also, luke has been working on cleaning out the baby room to get it ready. he moved the recliner into the bedroom and a dresser into the baby room, so we're getting closer and closer to being ready for the little one!

according to my appointment yesterday, i'm dilated to 2.5 cm and some other signs (that may be a little too much information for some) are showing that the end is near. of course, that doesn't mean she'll come early and i kind of doubt she will, but we're excited nonetheless. we really have everything we need for now and other things we'll be able to get along the way. it's been really fun getting ready for her and i can't wait to meet her!

i voted.

2008-11-04T18:55:00.000-06:00

did you?

hallelujah!!

2008-10-31T10:45:00.004-05:00

well, we had another appointment yesterday, which brought another sonogram, and guess what! The baby turned on her own! She is officially head down, has dropped half the way (whatever that means) and so I guess that means it's very unlikely for her to turn again. I'm 1 and 1/2 centimeters dialated and 60% effaced, but really that doesn't indicate any time frame. It's just good to know that things are on track now, so yay. my due date 4 weeks from today!

Happy Halloween!

Tonight will be carving pumpkins, trunk-or-treat, parties, lots of fun! And then sleep, lots of sleep. Have fun and be safe!

our poor poor car

2008-10-30T14:46:00.003-05:00

well, the summit is on its last limb. luke had to take the car to topeka the other day and at one point when he turned left, the switch decided to stay on ... forever. so, we are eternally turning left! we had to put duct tape over the left turn signal in the front and we took out the bulb for the signal in the back. since we're eternally turning left, that means we cannot switch it to turn right or use the emergency lights. we have to hand signal. it's fun ... anyway, i guess we knew it was coming because the wand for the turn signals has been loose for a while (which means something inside there is loose) and it doesn't beep anymore when we leave the lights on after turning the car off, so luke and i have both drained the battery, including today. in fact, we would be at our pre-admission appointment at the hospital right now if it hadn't happened again. thanks to friends (ali) who are willing to give rides home/jump the car for us. otherwise we'd have to miss our 4:30 OB appt too!

anyway, i know everyone loves the summit, but start saying your goodbyes. you never know, the next time you see her could be the last.

Halloween Bunko!

2008-10-25T18:27:00.003-05:00

Every year around Halloween, my sister Lori and her husband Chris host a Halloween Bunko Party, which was held last night. Bunko is a dice game that is a lot of fun. Lori and Chris provide various simple costumes at the beginning of the night and this year Luke was a nerd and I was a "bather." Luke did a pretty good job of being in character for the pictures. Lori always has a great spread of snacks and treats as we play, then at the end of the night there are several awards pertaining to different scores of the game. Luke ended up with the overall highest points, so he went home with a bag of caramels (they're already half gone) and I came home with a pumpkin carving book/kit for rolling the last Bunko of the night. We both had a lot of fun!! Thanks Lori and Chris for a great night!

The boys got a little more into their characters than the girls... (Lori's taking the picture)

The first picture we've taken together in MONTHS.

still sideways

2008-10-24T16:08:00.002-05:00

apparently the baby is just too comfortable. i don't blame her. i feel pretty comfortable in my body too (well, i did until it started hosting another person -- and yes, i say i am a host like someone would a parasite). she's still turned sideways in pretty much the same position she's been in for a while now. i know there is still hope and the doctor gave me some things i could do to at least feel proactive in getting her to turn. we'll see what happens... pray for head down!

luke and i had a random 'argument' today about what is defined as soda. i told him that it isn't soda if it's not carbonated. what do you think? i was drinking hi-c orange drink from mcdonalds and he called it soda. his argument is that soda that is flat is still soda, but i say it was made with carbonation! that's why it was called soda in the first place! anyway, i'm adding a poll to satisfy our disagreement (he said i could), so what do you think??

also, can i just say how much i LOVE fall?? we were driving downtown (home from the doctor's) and i think it was the first time in a while that i had really looked outside. i think my favorite (besides its beauty) is the crisp cold smell when it's dark out. i just love it. i probably mention it every year, but that is the reason i decided to make this new background. i like it.

yay for autumn and the season of holidays it brings!

hotcoldhotcoldhotcold

2008-10-22T13:08:00.002-05:00

hot flashes are a myth. i am just constantly hot. today it has been especially bad, where just walking from one classroom to another makes me sweat. also, when i sleep, i have to frequently switch the side i'm sleeping on because i get so hot. it's fun. i'm glad that luke doesn't get cold easily because we sleep with 2 different fans on every night.

i haven't had much to blog about lately because i've just been working then going home and resting most of the time. last night i was at my sister lori's and her little girl elise was reading stories with us. she picked up a book and brought it to me and sat in my lap... she kept trying to scoot back so she could be closer to me, but my belly wouldn't let her! it didn't keep her from trying though... it was so funny (and a little sad for me).

this past weekend i went to the maple leaf festival with my parents and sister kelly. we met lori, chris, ava, and elise there and we had a good time. in the almost 17 years i've lived here, that was my first time experiencing the maple leaf festival! of course by the end i thought my legs were going to fall off and my belly was going to explode.

coming soon: the things i enjoy about being pregnant.

SONO #4, Anniversary

2008-10-09T16:39:00.008-05:00

Yesterday was my 4th sonogram! This one was really thorough because they wanted to take all of the important measurements, etc, so it was about a half hour long. The nice sonographer even turned on the 4D camera for me and I cannot believe what technology can do! You shouldn't be able to know in such detail what your baby's face looks like before she's even born! Also, she took a picture that shows without any doubt that she's a girl, but I'll spare you of that one.

They found that she is about a week ahead in size (though I am guessing that may just be because she's going to be a big baby) and she actually is turned the wrong way right now. So, please pray for our little one that she will turn on her own in the next 2 weeks. If she doesn't, they will do something very painful where they give my uterus a shot to relax it (apparently the uterus is made to harden when it's pushed on) and then they will manually turn her over. And you know it's not pleasant if the doctor uses stronger words than "pressure" and "uncomfortable." It's going to hurt. PLUS it only has a 50% success rate, so there's still a great chance that after that I would have to have a C-section. They basically said that she's too comfortable in there (I guess I have a lot of amniotic fluid, so she has a lot of room in there), so she's not feeling the need to turn yet. So, we're praying and hoping that she will turn on her own before my next appointment in 2 weeks. Isn't she beautiful??

This past Sunday was mine and Luke's FIRST anniversary! I cannot believe a year has already past, but at the same time I can hardly remember life without him. I am so grateful to be in a happy, eternal, and loving relationship with my best friend. It was a great opportunity to pause and look at how much "us" has developed since that beautiful day in Nauvoo a year ago.

I woke up to a sparkling clean apartment, the smell of orange rolls that Luke had made (it's kind of a Sunday tradition that we enjoy), and Luke was setting up General Conference on the TV. For dinner we made one of our favorite meals, smothered burritos (a recipe my mom gave us - thanks!) So basically we celebrated with food and had a great relaxing day watching Conference and enjoying each other's company.

yummy generic brand orange rolls, our favorite!

yummy smothered burritos!

i never would've thought....

2008-10-05T12:09:00.004-05:00

CHECK THIS OUT!!

Just make note that it does not specifically say Independence! It could be in any of the Kansas City suburbs, so no panicking! I am SO excited about this!!!!

______________________________on another note____________________________

Today marks ONE WHOLE YEAR that Luke and I have been married. It feels like we've been married so much longer than that. More on that later because I'm watching General Conference on the TV.

one day at a time

2008-09-30T11:08:00.003-05:00

i've decided i'm not going to complain about all of the not fun things i've had to deal with in pregnancy. people say the 1st is typically the worst and i'm going to hope that's true. i will say that i am measuring 6 weeks ahead of schedule, so i have to have a FOURTH sonogram on Wednesday the 8th. we'll see what they say then, but i'm guessing i won't be having the baby too early. it all depends on how big she actually measures when we have the sonogram.

today has been an interesting day at work because almost every kid has acted out besides the girl i primarily work with (thank goodness). she has actually been extremely cooperative and willing to work today. we walked 8 laps around the gym this morning, which i think took all the fight out of her :) it's like President Hinckley would always say, that the best medicine is to go to work!

last night i decided to make pumpkin gooey cake because i'd had the stuff to make it for a long time. it is really not a healthy dessert, but is probably one of the most delicious desserts i've ever had. you can also substitute the pumpkin and have banana or pineapple gooey cake, etc, but i imagine you can't beat the pumpkin. so basically, i highly recommend it.

and... sunday is mine and luke's first anniversary (and it's General Conference weekend! yay!)!

a night of firsts

2008-09-17T11:51:00.003-05:00

Tuesday morning I woke up at about 3:15 a.m. to throw up. In the following 3 hours this would happen 3 more times... and well, it happened several more times within that 12 hour period. I couldn't even hold down water and my temperature was slowly rising. Once my temperature got to over 100 degrees, we decided it was time to go to the ER. I was admitted to a room in the OB at about 9:00 p.m. where they hooked me up to a baby monitor and an IV (for hydration) and gave me some medicine in the IV for nausea so I could start to hold down at least something. The first place they tried to do the IV didn't work because I was so dehydrated (that makes your veins smaller), so they ended up putting it in my hand. Anyway, we were out of there around midnight and they put me on a clear liquid diet for 24 hours, so now I'm just at home resting and trying to be as nourished as possible on my water, 7up, and chicken broth. I felt MUCH better by the time we left the hospital and am slowly feeling better and better. I should even be back to work tomorrow.

So, last night included a lot of first time experiences for me. It was my first time going to the ER, first time being admitted to the hospital, first time to have to ride in a wheelchair, first time to have an IV, first time to be hooked up to a baby monitor.

I'm glad to be home and that I'm able to hold down liquids now, so yay.

Eternally connected

2008-09-12T17:27:00.004-05:00

I was sitting on the loveseat after school today, finishing an episode of Friends from Season 7 (Luke and I have been working on watching the whole show all the way through), when little Baby Girl started kicking me right in the middle of my belly (about 2 inches above my bellybutton) several times. After about 20 seconds of kicking, I put my hand on the spot where I felt her, only to feel her not kicking but rather pushing back on my hand. For about 10 more seconds we were connected in that way until I felt her shift to another position. I cannot begin to describe how powerful that 10 seconds was. I can't really explain it, but it's pretty easy to forget that not only is that a real soul inside of me, spirit and flesh, but it is my daughter. I am a mother and through the power of God have provided for this child of God to have her turn on earth. It makes me wonder how much she already understands about who she is and her relationship to me and Luke. It makes me wonder if she just likes the sound of Luke laughing or if she responds because she understands that she's his baby girl. It makes me wonder how much she still remembers from the preexistence where she dwelt with God. Maybe she already knows me and I'm the one who has just forgotten. I cannot wait to teach her that she is a daughter of God and to teach her about her incredible divine worth. I already love her so much and can't even imagine how exponentially that love will grow in the years to come. I hope I'll always be able to remember these feelings of gratitude to my Heavenly Father as the time grows closer and closer to finally meet our little one.

it's officially...

2008-08-28T21:35:00.004-05:00

...a GIRL! we got to take another look at our baby today and now we know for sure! so yay! I uploaded the pictures they gave me at two of the sonograms, so here they are:

18 weeks... pretty much a skeleton baby. this made us giggle a little about how creepy it looked. That's the front view of the face on the left side, then the left hand to the right of that (she was kinda laying on her stomach).

And then this one is from today, so 1 day short of 27 weeks. Luckily her cute little cheeks have filled out some, so she doesn't look like a skeleton anymore. So that's the front view of her cute little face on the right, then she's curled up with her knees to her chest, which is what you see on the left.

Things I've learned about parenting today:

2008-08-25T13:26:00.004-05:00

1. Without consequences, we cannot learn.

We have a student who has been nothing short of difficult since the first day of school. If anything is expected of him or he is asked to do anything at all, he throws a complete fit. It starts out just whining and yelling, but when he doesn't get what he wants, he very quickly escalates into throwing things (not little things, but like computers, phones, etc) and hitting anyone he can get to. The best part is that his mother has issued a hands-off policy with this student, meaning if he hurts other people, we cannot restrain him or put him in a time out room. Today, as soon as he got here, he was spurting out things that his mom had apparently been saying about us over the weekend. He has autism. That's what he does -- repeats everything he hears. He is a smart kid and can recognize when there is tension, so already he knows that there is tension between his mom and the people at school. So, whose side is he supposed to take? It got to the point where the school administration had to be in there, taking away everything he could use as a weapon and separating him from the para he'd been beating on all morning. Then, they called his mom to come in, where she began to give him ice for his self-inflicted pain and stroke his hair, telling him everything would be okay. That calmed him down for a little bit, but that is after a para had to go to the hospital with 2 black eyes, a migraine, and many bruises, etc, phones and computers were broken, and the rest of the classroom got cheated out of a morning of learning. He has had no consequences for his actions, so how will this cycle end? Everything we try to accomplish at school is contradicted at home, as well as the integrity of our work being questioned, so how does she expect her son to ever succeed?

That's all I have time to write for now, but as you can see, it's been a long day.

back to school

2008-08-19T16:32:00.002-05:00

Well, I've been back at my normal job since last monday, which would explain some of the lack of posting. A lot has happened in the last couple of weeks, but I won't mention all of it. I am alive and well, though it's getting harder every day to sleep comfortably. I'll take time to post pictures and more detailed info about my whereabouts, but here are some things to mention now.

my little brother Eric was ordained an Elder this past Sunday. yay for that. congrats, Eric!
we're almost completely unpacked finally. our bedroom looks much better now than it did a week ago, that's for sure.
Luke also started work last Monday at a junior high in town. He works in their library as a computer lab tech, which he seems to be enjoying for the most part.
Reading scriptures and praying everyday with your spouse really does make a difference. We have recommitted and I am glad.

And well, YAY FOR THE OLYMPICS! I've really enjoyed watching the different events and am so impressed with the persistence and diligence these athletes have! I am especially proud of the several USA swimmers who have received medals. I don't even need to mention Michael Phelps, but I will, because wow! That 7th gold was so intense with him winning by 1/100th of a second! I just couldn't believe it! And I cried at the All-Around female gymnastics competition where we won the gold AND silver. So cool. The past week we've really been coming home, taking a nap, then watching the Olympics until it's over. I don't know what we'll do when they're over :P

Also, I have to say that one person really does make a difference. We got a new teacher in our classroom this year and it has already caused so many positive changes. I didn't want to go back to this classroom at first, but with this change I think it's going to be a great (though still PLENTY exhausting) year. Yay for that. Oh, and I strongly believe that our department should be warned about fire drills... I had a student break down into a complete anxiety attack today. She completely lost control screaming, crying, biting down on her hand as hard as she could, flailing her limbs, etc, and it took me quite a while to get her to listen to me enough that I could pull her out of her chair and get her to walk outside with me. It was about 20 minutes before she could even start to settle down. It is so hard to see what little control these kids have sometimes. I am grateful to understand God's plan, especially that there was a pre-existence where we dwelled with God and were able to make decisions about our time on earth. I know that the physical, mental, and emotional strains these kids experience are only temporary and that they will be blessed in the eternities because of their willingness to endure those things.

ramblings of a pregnant woman

2008-08-02T12:47:00.003-05:00

My husband is one of those people who can't wait for birthdays, so basically I already got my birthday present from him (my birthday isn't until August 29th), which was a new camera! To show my excitement concerning said camera, I will display a preview of our living room as it is so far. I'll post better pictures later once the whole apartment is put together.

And, to prove that I am truly a pregnant woman, I will display my favorite dessert at the moment. Yes, those are fruity pebbles and this is one of the few sweet things I crave. It's hard not to be jealous of something so awesome. To make it really good, you'd have to mush up the cookies and mix it all in together. Yummy.

That is all!

a word to the wise

2008-08-01T09:36:00.005-05:00

So, we are done with the horrible excuse of an apartment forever and are in our much much better apartment now, trying to get everything unpacked. We've made quite a bit of progress, but there is still a long way to go! I'll take pictures when we're finally situated.

Now comes the word to the wise. While it seems beneficial to borrow a truck from a friend who was more than willing to give it up for us, it is NOT beneficial to then lose the only copy of the security-coded key. Luke is notorious for wearing cargo shorts where things just fly out of his pockets from left to right and this loose key was no exception. We called the doctor's office, checked the car, tore apart the apartment (as much as we could), and no luck. So, now we've called Ford and asked about the cost to get a new key made... they all say, well if you have one copy of the key, it's much cheaper. otherwise we'll have to make 2 copies of the key and you'll have to pay for both of them. I kept thinking, would I really be calling you if there was another copy of the key!? That was yesterday.

So last night, as I was trying to falling asleep, which really didn't take too long, I felt the strong urge to check in the car one last time before getting the truck towed to Ford today. I got up, threw on some clothes and trekked out to the already toasty car to search one last time. Was in the compartment in the side of the driver's door? No. Was it under the driver's seat? No. Was it under the back seats? No. Was it under the passenger seat or in the compartment of the passenger's door? No. Anyway, I was about to give up and go inside (it was pretty hot by then), when I noticed a strange piece of black clothing in the compartment to the side of the back seats. I reached in to see what it was and what fell into my hands? The key!!! I literally yelled out "Hallelujah!" and couldn't help but smile at that point. I really thought we were never going to find it. Anyway, a lot of prayer and thought went into this search and I am grateful to Heavenly Father for hearing my plea and I know that is why I was so drawn back to the car this morning. I didn't think about looking anywhere else but there and I know that is because our Heavenly Father can direct our thoughts to the things we need to be focusing on right in the moment. Anyway, that is the story of the lost key and I am so glad it has a happy ending (Except I'm very sorry to Casey, who was very gracious in letting us use it in the first place, for being out of a car for an extra day because of this)!

On another note, Luke and I are going to Olathe tonight to celebrate the homecoming of my very dear friend Jenn from her 18 month mission for our church in Fresno, California. I cannot wait to see her and I can't wait for her to meet Luke!!!!!

it's a...

2008-07-30T23:09:00.002-05:00

well, it's an 85% chance girl! the doctor was pretty confident that it was a girl, but said she didn't get a convincing enough look to say she was 100% sure. and now she wants to look AGAIN during our next visit. sheesh.

we're pretty sure it's a girl! haha... it's hard to rely on 85% so we still feel pretty up in the air about it. it was fun to take a little look at the baby though!

Walmart & Target bags everywhere!

2008-07-27T18:07:00.002-05:00

Well, since we don't get the newspaper, we decided to use all the Walmart and Target bags from under our sink to pack all the fragile things. So far it's working well and we have many to spare. Every time I finish a box, I get this gratifying feeling like we're that much closer of getting out of this dump and well, yay for that. And while a house is a LONG way off for us still, I feel like this is a move up for us, which is definitely a good thing.

Some of the things I REALLY like right now:

Walmart brand vanilla ice cream (it's Blue Bunny just in a cheaper box, did you know?) with crunched up Golden (vanilla instead of chocolate) OREOS in it. YUM.
www.failblog.org - SO FUNNY.
free digital scrapbooking websites (I can link to some in a later post if you're interested)
duct tape
feeling the baby move pretty much every day now
finding Ben Folds Five (the CD with the piano on the cover) for $3.50 at Goodwill - I'm SLOWLY rebuilding my CD collection since all my CDs got stolen earlier this year, which includes burning copies of a lot of the ones I had backed up on my computer.
all the boxes Becky collected for us from work (THANK YOU!!!)
using large plastic totes for moving

I am really looking forward to this next week. We get out of this dumpy place on Tuesday, then my best friend Jenn gets home from her mission on Wednesday!! Also, Luke's brother is coming into town and staying with us starting Tuesday night and my little brother Eric and brother-in-law Chris have a birthday on Thursday. MOST IMPORTANTLY, we have an OB appointment on Wednesday, which will include another sonogram, meaning we better find out the gender of our child this time! If not, we'll live... and we'll be able to tell said child many stories of how difficult it was before it was even born (I hate that I have say it), but we're hoping!

It's going to be a very busy week, but a good one for sure. Wish us luck!!

you see...

2008-07-19T09:12:00.002-05:00

the purpose of the poll was to help us deal with the fact that it's 50/50 and have to wait until the 30th to find out the gender of our child! this tied at 24 nonsense isn't helping the suspense any! :P

i thoroughly enjoy working on saturdays (no i don't) because it's extremely slow... i've only had 3 short calls in the past hour. it forces me to find alternative ways to pass the time. one of my favorites is eating the food that luke packs for me pretty much on a daily basis. he's cute. he made the mustard on my sandwich into a smiley face.

yesterday luke and i went to see the dark knight (that's the batman movie, for anyone living in a cave) for a little day date. i cannot tell you how well-done that movie was! especially heath ledger. it is definitely unfortunate for the movie scene (and his family, etc) that he is gone, but i will say that this is by far the most powerful and convincing role i've ever seen him in. even if the character was extremely creepy and psychotic, i'm glad that he will be remembered for this.... and he absolutely will. overall it was a very well made movie and i was impressed. i would definitely recommend it.

i've been thinking a lot about the things i want to accomplish before the baby comes. some of them are on hold until we find out the gender, but i'm excited to start working on some of these things:

I've mentioned before that I want to learn how to make a quilt for my baby... I'd like it to be a gender-specific blanket, so that's on hold until after the 30th, though I'm very excited to do it.
I would like to get caught up on my scrapbooking, especially the holes in my high school scrapbook, like showtime, prom and graduation. those are big ones... and part of being able to do that deals with actually getting those pictures from people who actually have them.
Organization! Right now our second room is just full of unorganized stuff. I'd like to clean it out/get everything organized so that when we move, we'll actually be able to use it as a nursery (which will be practically empty until we find out the gender and start finding furniture).

those are the main things i would like to work on. i would also like to go through and get rid of a lot of stuff we never use before we move, so that we're not just lugging a bunch of junk with us.

am i too ambitious? we'll see, but i'm excited to get started. that counts for something right?

do you have any project/"spring cleaning" goals that you're working on?

blech.

2008-07-17T14:44:00.002-05:00

So we're moving into a new apartment on the 28th and I CANNOT WAIT. i'm really sick of the poor condition of our apartment. even the air quality is poor... it will be really nice too to live on the side of town where our new place is. We have a lot to do before then, but we're up for it.

I'm having kind of a rough day, just not feeling great, so I'm going to follow Kaysi's example and post a yay list for today, although mine might be slightly more surface level because my brain is near shutdown level.

yay for:

Luke
banana bread
Waffle Crisp cereal
blogging
Lori letting me borrow lots of maternity clothes
getting to move into a better apartment in 2 weeks
vitamins
Mary in HR who gave me some cheerios to snack on
not having to work tomorrow (it's kind of strange having Fridays off instead of Saturdays)

what makes you say yay today?

traditions

2008-07-13T22:50:00.004-05:00

i've been thinking a lot lately about traditions. my family doesn't have a lot of formal traditions, but we get together for every holiday and celebrate birthdays together. one of my favorite family traditions is Dirty Santa. every Christmas Eve (or Christmas day if people have other commitments on Christmas Eve), each of us contributes an anonymous gift so we can do a white elephant gift exchange. each year there are a couple of repeat gag gifts and we always have a lot of fun doing it. anyway, i want to begin our own traditions as our kids are growing up. i came across some ideas on a baby website recently and here are a couple of the ones i liked:

Create a "YES Jar". Into it, put all the "NO's" that you're willing to put off until another day: "NO, you can't go to the zoo." "NO, you can't stay up late." Choose one day a month where your child can pick out a few "NO's" and turn them into "YES." "YES you can have ice cream for dinner." "YES you can skip your bath."
For birthdays, let each family member choose his favorite meal. Then everyone but the birthday boy helps make it. Or write a letter to your child every year on their birthday. Give them the stack when they're 18 (or in my case I'd probably put them in a scrapbook or something like that).
Give each child a new pair of pajamas on Christmas Eve.

do you have any favorite traditions that you hope to pass down? i'd love any thoughts, ideas, or feedback...so leave a comment.

the atrocity of daytime television

2008-07-11T14:01:00.002-05:00

At the beginning of the month, Luke and I changed to $10 cable where we just get the limited network channels, you know so we could cut down on some expenses. I have Fridays off from work and instead work on Saturdays and when I sat down to eat my breakfast in front of the TV, there was NOTHING on, so much so that I ended up leaving it on QVC because there really was nothing better to watch. I'm sure it sometimes has good things on it, but today it's ugly jackets and clothing lines, as well as now big ugly bug windchimes... I just don't know how they get people to spend so much on items that are so unnecessary. They just stand there and talk about how great they are and say "almost sold out..." over and over again and then it's "this type sold out, so hurry and get the other type," convincing people to buy things that are not only ugly, but overpriced and completely unnecessary for life. Yikes.

Happy Belated Independence Day!

2008-07-09T13:54:00.016-05:00

HAPPY 4TH!

I finally got my camera back from my parents' house, so it's time to see some of our 4th of July festivities.

Introducing my newest nephew, Nathan. I got to spend some time holding Ashley and it made me think a lot about 4 1/2 months from now when it's my turn!

Everyone brought something to share for our little 4th of July cookout. Here's Ryan enjoying some black cherry jello.

We had lots of yummy treats, including watermelon, canteloupe, rice crispie treats, root beer floats, and s'mores! Elise had fun eating her watermelon.

The kids had fun jumping on the trampoline, even though it made their feet turn black. Even after Kate's daddy washed off her feet (those are Kate's feet), she came outside and wanted to get right back on.

We did get a few small fireworks for our own entertainment and set them off in the backyard. Ryan and Elise especially enjoyed them... here's Ryan just sitting in his lawn chair enjoying the view.

Ava was less than excited about the fireworks. At one point we found her under the trampoline with her hands just like this over her ears. She eventually just went inside because she couldn't take it anymore (most of the ones we got weren't even loud, but she didn't care). The little smirk on her face is because I couldn't help but laugh a little about how scared she was.

I guess I don't take very many pictures of adults when my cute little nieces and nephews are around... maybe I should work on that. It was a great holiday and helped us to be grateful for the many freedoms we enjoy!

2008-07-08T17:21:00.003-05:00

there is a very high correlation between my mood and my food intake. today i forgot to bring my lunch to work and i've just been a little irritable all day. i did go get lunch, but i usually have snacks here during the day and i've accidentally deprived myself of that. let's just say i cannot wait for dinner time!

for everything there is a time and a season

2008-07-06T17:25:00.002-05:00

For 4th of July, we went to my parents' house to have some festivities. We did a cookout, then just hung out, lit off some fireworks, and then my fam headed to the city fireworks. Luke and I planned to go to the city show, but we waited a little too long to get there and it was just ridiculously packed. The parking was a nightmare and neither of us had the energy or patience to wade through the traffic, so we just decided to go home. I had to work the next morning anyway. But it was a fun holiday and any holiday is good if you get to spend it with family, which we did. I took some pictures, but I accidentally left my camera at my parents' house, so I'll post pictures at some point.

Today was the great day where most of the EFY counselors were in our ward, since the KU session starts tomorrow. I saw so many familiar faces and it was really fun to catch up with them. I really loved the EFY years and learned so much about myself, about the youth of the church (who truly amaze me), about teaching, and so much more. Seeing the counselors today was a great reminder of that. I hope the weather cooperates with them this week. KU is always a rough session when it comes to the humidity and heat.

Yesterday marked 9 months for mine and Luke's marriage. It's crazy to think that we've just now been married for the amount of time it takes to have a baby. BUT I'm in my 20th week, so come Friday my pregnancy is halfway over! So far, the time still seems to going by quickly, but I'm sure that feeling will change come October or so. The only awkward part of it right now is that yes, I'm showing a bit, but I'm still at the stage where people might think I'm just getting kind of fat in the belly. Ah well.

I'm becoming more motivated to get some things done before the baby comes. I guess I'm starting to realize how different life will be once that happens... especially at first I'm not going to have much time to be concerned about anything else. So, I guess this is the time.