An Autumnal Frolick!

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Our BLOG Contest...you could be a winner!

Here's the deal. I update this BLOG so our family and friends can keep tabs on our little family. The thing is, those people hardly ever look (except for Liz Ahern...our only fan) and when they do they have no idea how to leave a comment or, worse, they do know and just don't leave a comment. This leaves our BLOG feeling all lonely and sad.

I saw a little contest like this on my friend's BLOG and I have decided to run a BLOG contest of my very own. Whoever leaves the most comments on my family BLOG in the month of November will win a subscription to "Family Fun" magazine. I get this magazine every month and LOVE it! It is filled with creative and easy ideas of activities to enjoy with your family. Here's a link to their website so you can check it out! Family Fun Magazine Online

Good luck and may the most loyal friend win!

*Here's a tutorial on how to leave a comment on my family BLOG:

-At the bottom of each post you will see a place that reads "0 comments".
-Click on that and you will be given a new screen where there is a box where you can leave a comment.
-Write what you want and be sure to include your name (or your sb.com ID) in the same comments box.
-Below the box are options to "sign in" "other" and "anonymous" click anonymous.
-Now your comment is recorded and my little family knows that you love and care for them!

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Ella's Halloween Costume

Today was Ella's Halloween Playgroup at the Library. I stayed up last night until 2:00 am sewing this Fairy Princess costume. When I tried it on her this morning she couldn't stop twirling to see the skirt flutter. She would sit and watch Sesame Street for 5 minutes, then quietly get up, go into the next room and look at herself in the mirror. After a few minutes of dancing in front of the mirror she would return and then repeat the process every 5 minutes.

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The "crazy" comes out!

This morning Ella was frolicking on our bed and grabbed a bottle of prenatal vitamins off of the nightstand. She began shaking the bottle in a rhythm, shaking her hips and singing this little song to the music she was creating,

"Oh my bum...bum, bum, bum!
Oh my bum...bum, bum, bum!"

It's official...she may look like Matt, but my genes have finally surfaced!

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Tender "Chicken"

Tonight I was feeling frustrated about the condition of our messy home. I don't know how many of you know, but I am a mess-a-holic! I admitted it about 1&1/2 years ago and admitting it was the first step to my sporadic recovery. Well I am off the wagon as of late...pregnancy has really worsened my addiction to just letting things go.

Anyway, Matt was in cleaning the food storage room and I was in the Den where I was hanging with Chicken. I called to Matt, "Honey...I am feeling really upset!" and before he could respond Chicken walked over to me and caressed my arm with her little hand and said, "Sits Okay". 20 months old and already being my Mommy when I need it. It was such a tender/funny moment it made me feel better and we plowed on with our cleaning efforts. Such a tender little Chicken.

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Perfect Pumpkin Patch!

Today we took a trip to a pumpkin patch. Louise came with us and we all bundled up since today was a cold and blustery day. When we arrived to the nursery we received a little wooden disk good for a free child's meal at Mimi's Cafe as we waited for our turn. Soon the tractor pulled up with a flatbed covered in hay bales. We hopped aboard and got a drive through a beautiful row of trees and plants the Nursery was growing.

On our way to the patch



We drove past 2 patches FILLED with pumpkins before we reached our special patch. The pumpkins were so clean and pretty we wondered if they were supplementing the pumpkins from somewhere else, but when we started searching for the perfect pumpkin we realized all of them were still attached to vines!

Finding the perfect pumpky!



Ella was excited and continually exclaimed "Ball!" while pointing at the pumpkins. She picked out a small one and Matt, Louise and I all picked out one as well. We climbed back on the hay and rode back just as the sun peaked out of the clouds. It was so WONDERFUL! I said to Matt, this is just the kind of day you imagine in your mind when you think about having children. And yes, ladies and gentlemen, I think I even got a bit teary at the shear happiness of it all....It's okay since I am preggy!

She found the pumpkin of her dreams!

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Can it be? 62% of pregnant women are dillusional egotists

Let me start this rant by saying I detest baby/parenting magazines. They are basically filled with a heaping serving of "one experts opinion" on every nit-picky detail of parenting, often ruling out not only your baby's specific needs, but often even common sense itself. I actually recall a relative of mine (after reading such a magazine) deciding to not praise her children TOO MUCH because it would make their significant achievements seem ordinary. Yes indeed, that makes PERFECT sense, that's what kids today need...LESS love and assurance! Not to mention that in the next magazine you pick up every bit of advice you received from the first "expert" is refuted by their "expert".

Sadly, somehow when you tell your dog you are pregnant you are magically put onto a mailing list which sends a steady stream of diaper samples and these magazines to your door. Today I was bored and against my better judgement, I started to brouse a baby magazine. As I am glancing through "American Baby" and I see a little survey which reads,

"62% of moms think pregnant women should get a temporary handicapped parking permit."


Well, this takes the cake. Listen, I don't LOVE being pregnant either, but to put yourself in the same category as those confined to a wheelchair or someone with serious physical disabilities is insanity! I had a good friend at College who had a full-length prosthetic leg (she lost her leg to cancer in 5th grade) who had a handicapped permit and often didn't use it because she felt their were other people who probably needed it more. Let's think about that for a moment before we start handing out handicapped parking permits like candy.

Being pregnant may be hard, but it's no handicap. Hoofing it from the back row will help you lose the baby weight later.

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Scrappy Giraffe October Layouts

So...I have been getting back to basics a bit and trying to scrap with fewer embellishments, bells and whistles. Here are 3 layouts I did for the Design Team for SGK with their October Kit. This was my favorite kit so far from their club.

The supplies were mostly from a new scrapbooking company named "Cosmo Cricket" and I really liked their papers, although I felt I could only scrap black and white photos because the colors of the papers were so strong. There was plenty of orange in the color sheme which I LOVED! If you don't already know...orange is my favorite color.

As usual, Ella was the subject of my scrapping! I liked the way they turned out...

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Estas tortillas podían cambiar su vida!

For years I have been searching for a better tortilla. I often dined at authentic Mexican restaurants and wondered why I could never get the same flavor at home. Last month as Matt and I passed by the cheese/lunchmeat isle of our local market, he spotted tortillas that are uncooked and you take them home and cook them yourself. I was reluctant. All I need is one more step to getting dinner on the table when I am pregnant and raising a 19 month old tornado. Matt was so excited that I relented.

Periodically he has mentioned the tortillas and asked when we might have them. I stalled thinking of the extra work and hassle. Then today Matt went to the Doctor and found out he has 2 different kinds of infection in each of his ears. He returned from the doctors with 5...yes 5....Prescriptions. After a day and feeling lousy I decided tonight was the night. I cooked up some taco meat, chopped some veggies, shredded some cheese and then came the tortillas. We heated up a frying pan and threw them in one at a time. They took about 30 seconds on each side and we were ready to eat. One bite and I saw the light. These tortillas were simply amazing and tasted like the authentic tortillas you get in great Mexican restaurants. Matt and I were in total agreement...we can NEVER go back to pre-cooked tortillas. If you trust me at all...TRY THESE! You won't regret it and truly...these tortillas could change your life!

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More Genealogy Finds

So, in working with the genealogy recently I have found a crazy situation. Adam Folts and Nancy Miller got married in Herkimer, New York. Shortly after the wedding Adam's mother died and Nancy's father died. Then Adam's widower father and Nancy's widowed mother married each other...convenient huh?

I found this out 2 weeks ago by studying the marriage record from the Protestant Church where both couples were married. I wasn't sure if I was reading the record correctly, but tonight at the genealogy library I found proof of their marriage AS WELL AS the record of the existence of them having 4 children during that 2nd marriage.

They are now on my Temple disk all ready to be sealed to each other and to have their children sealed to them. HOORAY!

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Documenting "One Week in My Life"

Here is a scrapbooking layout I did for Scrappy Giraffe Kits for October. The assignment was to document a certain length of time in your life. Most Design Team members did 1 day, but I seriously could not get it together enough to carry the camera around with me all day and document every move...so I did a week. The week was September 3-9 of this year. Most of the supplies are from a new scrapbook company called "Cosmo Cricket" and I LOVED their stuff. This has been my fave Kit so far. I really had fun with this layout.

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Dr. Karen Boheen....SUPER Doctor!

I have been seeing the same OB/GYN we had with Ella and all of the sudden I was not liking her anymore. This past Friday we went and I was asking her about her mission to Poland. She asked where I went and when I said Nebraska she replied with, "Well...Nebraska is NO Poland!" Great...my favorite thing...a snooty foreign missionary who thinks state-side missions are somehow inherantly easier and inherantly more lame! I guess God's children in Nebraska don't deserve the gospel as much as those on foreign soil. Go choke on a Pierogie!

Then when she was listening for the heartbeat with the doppler she couldn't find it right away and went to get an ultrasound machine. While she is setting up the machine she says to me, "Let's take a quick ultrasound to make sure we are still dealing with a LIVE pregnancy". What?!! What kind of thing is that to say?!! By the way, the baby was in there twisting and turning and doing jumping jacks like a maniac so all was well, but I thought it was pretty weird of her to say something so negetive before she even checked! I then decided to check out doctors in our immediate area.

Went to the new OB/GYN appt. today...what a difference! The first thing I liked was that Dr. Boheen had a picture and name of every baby she has delivered on the walls of her waiting room...and there were a LOT! I liked it because it made it seem like she really cared.

Then when we actually met her she was WONDERFUL! She came in, introduced herself and said, "Tell me if you have any questions for me and what YOU want me to do for you during this pregnancy/delivery." She actually listened to everything I said (rare in doctors) and took notes instead of grilling me about family medical history like usual. I told her I wanted a Doctor who #1 Listened to me and #2 Could be calm and peaceful in the delivery room.

Also, instead of just listening for the heartbeat at each appt she does an ultrasound. She printed me off a little picture without my asking. She'll deliver at any one of three hospitals...so Matt and I are going to take tours of the maternity units of Davis Community Hospital and McKay Dee.

I'm in love with this doctor!

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