I could eat her up!

2 & 1/2 months old

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Potty Training Begins...Da-Da-Dummmmmmm!

*WARNING: The opinions expressed in this post are those of the author and are in no way meant to offend any parent who chooses to rear their children in a different way than the author does.*

Today begins potty training. I can admit that I may have never been more scared of anything in my entire life. The other mommies in Playgroup told me all of these stories about how you don't really need to train your child until 3-4 years old.

My personal research began.

I read many articles stating that the worst potty training mistake a parent can make is waiting past 2 years of age. Interesting since the current trend is touchy-feely "experts" telling you to not "push your child before they are ready". This always seemed like bunk to me and all of my research seemed to support that it truly is bunk.

Then I came across a potty training program made by a woman who raises foster children between the ages of 1 and 2 years of age. She potty trains all of them before the age of 2. This includes children who are non-verbal. She has a child with severe autism who is now 5 years old and STILL cannot speak, but was fully potty trained by 22 months.

Then by sheer coincidence on the news that same night was a report that the national potty training age in America is ridiculously high. And that the world average is potty training at age one and that just 50 years ago the average in the US was 2, where it should be (according to the local news).

So we decided to start before Ella got any older. This morning she and I threw away all of her diapers and she became a "big" girl. Our potty training program does NOT allow training pants or pull-ups...so we were on our own! This is the part where most mommies would go into graphic details and use words like "poo-poo", but I am choosing not to. I will just say that it went extremely well today and she made it through her nap with no accidents. A triumph so far! And on a side note...Ella's little bum looks so funny and cute in her panties. It's adorable.

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Week 1 of South Beach Diet comes to a close...and so do my pants!

This morning marked one week on the South Beach diet. This week was pretty bearable and Saturday was the only day when I felt like racing to a Chili's and eating the entire menu. The weigh-in has just occurred. As of this morning I have lost....drum roll please....

10.8 pounds.

Of course, this announcement required a racy pin-up girl picture and I have filled that requirement with flying colors. I know you are wondering how I got an artist to paint my picture so quickly, since the woman pictured left is CLEARLY me. Amazing transformation isn't it?

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Summer of Fun Agenda and Seashore Mafia Hat

Yesterday I sat down and compiled a calendar of all of the fun things we were going to do this Summer on Saturdays and Family Night (Monday). It was so fun planning what summer activities we could do as a family. Included in our schedule is...


Swim Day at the Clearfield Aquatic Center
Hogel Zoo Excursion
Ice Cream Days at Thanksgiving Point
a Fishing Derby
Pioneer Days Celebration in Salt Lake City
The National Dutch Oven Cook-Off (we will be tasting, not entering)
...and TONS more fun.

And of course, this grueling task on my part required a purchase of a new, shifty looking, Seashore Mafia hat for summer and sunglasses (pictured above).

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First Smiles and Sunday Best

Eva has been shining forth her first smiles the past week. She is so adorable and getting to be a SUPER-CHUB! Here are a few winning smiles...


So, last night I did the unthinkable...I actually prepped everything we needed for church today. I laid out all of the outfits, shoes, stocked the diaper bag, stocked the church activity bag...the works! What a better morning! WOW! I may plan ahead every week...what a novel idea!

Eva wore a cute little outfit that Aunt Debbie sent for her. She looked adorable. I took this picture of the two of us together to send to Debbie with our Thank You card. P.S. Doesn't our backyard look lush? It's a good thing you can't see the overgrown lawn!

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Promised Publishing Fun!

I promised this a while ago and never delivered.
I know...I'm kinda lame.
All these broken promises. Oy!

Anyway, here is the ultra-fun Papercrafts special issue magazine with 2 projects from me in it. The first project was a card made with the Tinkering Ink line called Perfectly Posh. It reads "Oopsy Daisy" and was credited to Emilie Ahern.

The second is a altered CD cover to celebrate a 30th birthday and was also made using the same Tinkering Ink line. This project was credited to Emilie Ahekn. I'm sure she's a nice girl but her last name is pretty weird!

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"goodbye pizza...I'm going to miss you the most!"

Tomorrow Matt and I begin Phase I of the South Beach Diet. Although I have always been chubby I have never been a fad dieter. But the SBD really intrigued me since it's not gimmicky, just the way everyone SHOULD be eating anyway. Whole grains, lean meats, lots of veggies...nothing to radical.

To make myself feel less depressed I have been telling myself that this is not a diet...it's a healthy lifestyle change. And yet, tonight as I ate my Wendy's Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger, I felt as if I should be wearing a blindfold and smoking a cigarette after my final meal.

I will keep you updated. No, of course that does not mean I am posting my weight on my blog! {Are you crazy?!} But I will report next Monday on my total weight loss at the end of week 1, if for no other reason than to keep me motivated in that first week, so I can BLOW you all away with my amazing poundage decrease and get one step closer to my extremely unrealistic, nay, laughable "rock-hard abs by Christmas" goal.

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Grandma Ahern

Just wanting to post this photo of Grandma Ahern from the baby blessing.

I love how it turned out.

Grandma Ahern and I share a love of
family,
geneology
and music.

Although she shows signs of aging and the years that she has lived, her eyes are bright and her face is so peaceful.

She is...

simply
beautiful

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How Cute is She?

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Recently...

Loving this song...


"Hey There Delilah" by: Plain White T's



Making Homemade Cards...




Eating this Ice Cream...




Enjoying peace because of...





Recently...
my life is good.

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To My Mom

Mom - It was you who taught me how to pray. I remember praying with you all throughout my childhood. I remember being a teenager and you coming into my room one night and holding my hand while saying a silent prayer. This is the love of a mother to her child.

And now, as I teach my children to pray, I can't help but remember where I first learned to speak with my Father in Heaven. The prayers of my children and their children began with you. Thank you for this legacy of faith and a beautiful tradition.

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Eva's Blessing Photos

We had a fabulous day when we blessed Eva today. We had about 40 family members and friends come and afterwards we had a delicious brunch. It was a beautiful occasion.

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Family Night Project

Tonight for Family Night we had such a fun project! i just had to share. We gave a lesson about Christ calling his disciples to be "Fishers of Men" and how we could help bring souls to Christ by being good examples and living Christ-like lives. Then we made this sweet art project and Ella completely LOVED it!

FUN FISHY MAGNETS
Supplies List:

-2 large hearts (felt or craft foam), different colors
-2 medium hearts (felt or craft foam), different colors
-2 small hearts (felt or craft foam), different colors
(The specific sizes don't matter as long as they are relative to each other)
-Cool heat Glue gun
-1 Googly eye
-Glitter Paint
-Magnet Strip

I think you can get it from the picture. We glued a magnet strip on the back and put them on our fridge. A BIG hit!

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An Unnatural Obsession

Well, the Morrissey concert was tonight and may I just say...I can now die in peace. As the days preceding the concert passed I began to worry that this man could not possibly live up to my expectations in concert. Especially considering he is now in his 40s and his voice might be shot and old-man-ish (a la Paul McCartney). My concerns were in vain.

His voice...flawless.
His manner...delightful.
His set list....amazing.
The concert....incredible.

Among the highlights were the songs...Panic, Everyday is Like Sunday, The Queen is Dead, The Boy with the Thorn in his Side and Please Please Please

And the very best part of all? He played a very obscure B-side song, which just happens to be my favorite Morrissey song of all time...I've Changed My Plea to Guilty. I didn't think it was possible, but I think I may have teared up a bit at that point. It was shear heaven!


The crowd was comprised of a varied lot of super-geeks, 30+ year old bad dancers and tattooed goths. As soon as Morrissey appeared on stage, Aaron, Matt and I leaped from our seats. The lame boring people behind us didn't like that so we found some very cool, very inebriated super-fans, dancing like fools in the back and we happily joined them. All in all a delightful night which I will always remember.

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Cutest pin-cushion......EVER!

When you're a Mom and you have a BLOG, you worry on a daily basis that you are boring your reading audience to tears. Stories of diaper changes and toys being broken are not what a high-powered executive might find stimulating (how many high powered execs are reading my BLOG you ask? Hey! For all you know I could have a hidden life filled with corporate America contacts!)

Anyhooo, this post laughs in the face of boredom avoidance....I got a pin-cushion for my Anniversary gift and I am so IN LOVE WITH IT! I just keep staring at it and smiling inside!

Am I pathetic?
Maybe.

But loving beautiful things is not a crime and just admit it!
It's the cutest pincushion you've ever seen too!

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The day they met...

I just proofed this photo from the day Eva was born. My Mother-in-Law brought Ella to the hospital to meet Evangeline for the very first time.

We were worried about how Ella might react, but she was very gentle and a bit awestruck by the new little baby.

This was the day they met and for the rest of the days in their lives they will be sisters, for better or for worse. I know they will fight and disagree, but I hope they will always love each other...

no matter what.

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"Tagged" with a Vengeance

Okay, I put the "with a vengeance" in the title to make this post more exciting. I am not one for tags, but I love my friend Jessica, so I am willing to do it...just for her. The idea is to post 7 random facts about yourself and tag 7 other people by commenting on their blogs. I decided, to give this a fun twist, I could make it jive with the 7 deadly sins. It might not paint the best picture of me, but hey, I am not hell bent on impressing anyone.

Gluttony It's no secret, I have a love affair with food. A good piece of chocolate or some killer creme brulee and I'm a goner. I could easily eat myself into a coma with Cool Ranch Doritos or those loaded cheesy bacon fries from Outback Steakhouse. Mmmmmmm.

Pride I know every single word to every single song on the ABBA Gold album. It's a crowning achievement of my life and I'm not ashamed to admit it.

Greed I am the queen of working customer service reps (a torch recently passed to me from my mother). Give me enough time and a telephone and I can get money knocked off of your bill, acquire free stuff and pretty much get anything I want. My most amazing accomplishments? Removing $3,000 from my mother's cell phone bill, returning opened computer software to WalMart, paying half price for our internet/cable service for the last year (with NO promotions). I once bought a King size headboard and mattress from Craig's List for $100, kept the headboard and re-sold JUST the mattress on Craig's List the same day for $150.

Sloth My house is always a mess. It has literally never been entirely clean in the entire course of my marriage. Fun is my priority...not cleaning.

Envy I really really REALLY want to get a tattoo. I almost got one when I was 15 and I freaked out and ended up with just a dot (a la Pheobe). I have always regretted not getting it. I watch "Miami Ink" like a stalker and wish I had a tattoo. Ahhh...someday!

Wrath I love being a mom, but hate being pregnant. I hate everything about it. I'm not glowing or loving feeling the baby kicking...I am mostly barfing and telling the unborn fetus that I am saving up spanks for their arrival.

Lust I am infatuated with Lenny Kravitz. Besides being hot and talented, he exudes a raw sexuality that I find completely captivating...feather boas or not! If I weren't married and he was interested and we happened to be in the same....oh never mind. You get the picture.

Okay now...

I'm gunna tag Angie, Julie M, Kissy J, Michelle, Stacey, Ticee and Emilee (don't feel obligated to go with the seven deadly sins).

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