Life As We Know It...

So...

2012-02-12T00:59:00.001-07:00

I finally transferred pictures from one of my digital cameras to the computer. Let's just say, I have a lot of images to go through. Ha. I'll post more pictures as I edit them down.

There has been a lot going on here. It has been fun. It has been challenging. It goes on.

Here's to more blog posts in the future!

Our Taylor Turned 4!

2011-10-17T21:52:00.009-06:00

Taylor turned 4 recently! It has been a great year to see this little girl grow!! Her personality is beginning to really shine through. She can be quite witty at times and has impeccable comedic timing. She'll laugh the loudest when she is being silly, thinking she is the funniest person ever. She has her own agenda and will hold her ground (I tell Mike that she gets her stubborn streak from him.. he thinks otherwise). And yet, when it comes down to it... she can be ever so sweet (probably why she gets away with being so evil some times).

And still... her best friend is Kaylee. Oh how that little girl loves her big sister. It makes my heart happy to see the love she has for her big sister. When we asked her about the things she 'loves' her immediate and only reply was, Kaylee.

During The Last Year:

Talking increased (sometimes she just won't stop... she just goes & goes... kind of like the energizer bunny)
Understanding of what she is saying has increased by all those around her.
Potty trained (I told you she was stubborn)
Became a big sister (Loves her little brother and tries ever so much to be helpful)
Sociability is increasing with other little kids.
Interest/Love has increased in reading (will pretend to read books [though probably believes she really is])
Still enjoys imaginative play (and can make any inanimate object come to life in the worlds she creates)
Fell in love with the moon & stars (something about being able to see them... makes them exciting... Glad the orange glow of Chicago isn't blocking that sight anymore)

We know this next year is going to be great! And we look forward to all the new things she will begin to do, explore, and learn about. We love our Taylor!! And are so glad that we were blessed to have her come to our family!

Other info...

Since we moved (the 2nd time), every time Taylor would come out of Primary she would immediately exclaim, "Not Fair! It's my birthday party." Every. Single. Week. In a way, it kind of became an obsession of hers. She brought the idea of birthdays up whenever she could.

As presents started to arrive, she liked having them stacking up in a spot in our living room. And she would accuse anyone of messing with her stuff if anything was slightly askew.

When the day of her birthday dawned. We allowed her to open two presents first thing that morning (The "when to open presents" is still a debate between Michael & I). I'm not sure if she understood, right then, that both presents were for her... because she kept telling us that one of them was Kaylee's... no matter how many times we all told her that they both were hers. She got over that quickly enough, though.

That night, some of Michael's siblings came over to have some ice cream and some very sad looking cupcakes (some day we'll be better cake/cupcake froster people). It was simple, and it was fun. We are glad to have family so close.

Another Puzzle!

2011-10-12T12:28:00.002-06:00

This one even has his name on the box!

Mike did this for Marbles: The Brain Store, a company found in Chicago. Go! Go! Mike!

Here's a close-up as requested:

Introducing Oliver Youssef!

2011-09-18T17:10:00.004-06:00

Oliver wears mittens a lot... he likes to grab his face...

He also has no control over his movement and hits himself quite often...

Oliver is very sweet looking when he is in his awake mode. Just chills out and looks around with these wide eyes...

He's got a little bit of jaundice... so he gets some sun time these days...

Oliver makes lots of fun faces...

Oliver is a string bean... I probably will never get a fat baby... sigh at no pinching of rolls of fat...

He could be cold... he could have a gas bubble... he could be hungry... or he could be getting his diaper changed...

We think we got lucky again and had another cute baby... then again we are his parents...

A few more pictures and birth story follow...

Extra Ollie Shots...

2011-09-18T17:10:00.003-06:00

Well, Hello there...

This is a somewhat common face of his...

He's got back hair and some hairy arms...

I have a dark-haired child... repeat... I have a dark-haired child...

Scroll down if you want to read about me giving birth... yar...

So... I Gave Birth!

2011-09-18T17:09:00.004-06:00

Not sure if I am really all that happy in this picture... ha...

I was scheduled for an induction on Tuesday, 9.13.11. The hospital was supposed to call me at 5:30am to let me know what time we were supposed to come in and get things started. They called me at 6:30am and told me they were ready for me right then. I told them I would be there in an hour as I had to make sure my kids were squared away and then drive the 20ish minutes up there.

We arrived at the hospital at around 7:30am, got all checked in and then went to Labor & Delivery. By 8:30am they had gotten me all hooked up to the monitors and an IV going. Right after that they started me on the Pitocin.

8:30am - About 3 cm, 70% effaced & at a -2 station (So.. for 3 weeks I had been a 1 @ 50% and -3.. so in 5 days things finally got moving).

9am - Started on 4ml of pitocin

9:30am - Bumped up to 8ml of pitocin

10:30am - Bumped to 12ml of pitocin (I can feel those contractions.. ha)

11:45am - I'm still at about 3+ cm, 80% & still -2. Pitocin is bumped up to 16ml

1:10pm - I'm at 7+ cm. Painful contractions (they were about 1m 15s apart...) I did get some pain relief that was supposed to take the edge off the contractions. Yah, that lasted for 3 contractions (so less than 5 minutes). Though during that time.. I did express my undying love for my Mike, in-between contractions (he asked the nurse if there were any psychological effects possible from the drugs). Beginning to feel the urge to push.

1:20pm - A really nice nurse came in and put my pitocin down to 8ml, saying that my contractions were too on top of each other

1:35pm - I'm at a 9, fully effaced, baby is right there. I'm begging for drugs at this point.. ha. I'm told that they can't give me anything at this point. I'm told repeatedly not to push. They keep paging my doctor, who isn't responding. I'm told my bags of water are bulging, but they still haven't broken and they can't break them for me (only the doctor can)

1:40pm - I'm really feeling the need to push. The nurse checks me again. I'm fully dilated and as she is checking me, she accidently breaks my water. At this point my doctor walks in and gets set up really quick like.

1:42ish -1:47pm - I'm all set up to push. Baby starts coming out sunny-side up, so the doctor decides to rotate him. He keeps firmly telling me to stop pushing. I have a nurse leaning over me in my face telling me not to push. I'm telling her that I can't help but push. I have 3 nurses, Mike and the doctor around me. I'm thinking this is never going to end.. ha. Next thing I know they are getting his other shoulder loose and then woosh! he's here!

I basically spent most of the time laboring on a birthing ball.. which did the trick up until about a 7. Then really nothing worked. ha.

I tore very little, maybe a stitch was needed. I can't remember if he did or not. The IUD came out imbedded in the placenta wall. The doctor mentioned that there was some dry blood on it, so that probably explained why I bled at 13 weeks. Oh! And then the doc decided to ask me about how I felt about an IUD for birth control... yah... funny guy..

Oliver was born at 1:47pm. With a nice healthy cry. He did great on his apgar. And he immediately started to breast-feed (which if anyone knows me, knows that I struggled a lot with breast-feeding the girls).

Everything looks great with Oliver! He has a hip click, so we have to go get an ultrasound done on his hips at bout 4 weeks and if they see that his hip joint isn't fitting properly into its socket, then he'll have to wear a harness doo-hickie for a few months.

He was 6lbs 10 oz and 19in long at birth. When we left the hospital he was about 6lbs 5 oz. But he is eating like a champ and I am sure will gain weight wonderfully.

I got another rhogam shot, because it seems I can't produce anything but + blood type babies... thanks Mike!

So far my healing process is going better than ever!

Girls love their little brother, ask lots of questions and do their best to help take care of him!

We are happy!

Oliver!

He's Here!

2011-09-13T21:15:00.002-06:00

Oliver Youssef - 9.13.11 - 6lbs 10oz - 19in long

Pictures to follow! Yar!

The Magical World of our Children Begins to Crumble...

2011-08-26T07:59:00.002-06:00

So...

This morning, Kaylee comes in and asks Michael the loaded question, "Daddy, do you believe the Tooth Fairy is real?" Mike & I look at each other and Mike asks her, "Well, what do you think? Why do you ask?"

Kaylee tells us that there was a little girl at school that was telling her about how it was her daddy who was the one who would put money under her pillow when she lost a tooth.

So, we told her the little girl was right. We explained that we just wanted to make things special for her (she still liked that it was Mike who put the money under her pillow and I that sprinkled glitter on her). We then told her that she could help us be the tooth fairy for Taylor & other siblings in the future. Now! that was an idea she definitely could get behind. She was really excited about that. We, also, told her we would continue to exchange her lost teeth for money. Finally, we asked her not to go around telling other little kids that the tooth fairy actually = mom & dad (seriously, don't need my kid being THAT kid. ha.)

I assume Santa is up next on the chopping block.. we'll see.

But, this does bring up the very real fact that my children will be learning things from their friends in their interactions with them (things I am not there to say, "Whoa, wait one minute.. I get to explain that one." or "She's still a little young (as in it isn't really pertinent for you yet) for that question.. give it a year or so and we will come back to it").

Granted, this was a silly & innocent revelation... but I imagine that more serious topics will eventually come up. Topics that I as a parent am hoping that I get to first before some random friend gets to them. It may not always happen (since my timetable is not the only timetable out there), but I will continue to promote an open dialogue with my children. If a topic comes up that my kids are still questioning, I hope that they will do as Kaylee did this morning and come to Mike & I and ask for further explanation. We are forever willing to talk with our kids and to be open with them. We just hope that they will continue to be open with us and want to talk to us.

Ah, the stories I have about Kaylee asking me about babies. Thank you pregnancy for opening the door to all those questions. Ha. But! at least it was me who was first (and I am sure we will revisit this one several more times) to start laying the framework that will begin to shape her thoughts and ideas on the parental-child topic of all parental-child topics...

Our Outgoing Girls: The Boys & Kaylee (Mike, may need to purchase a shotgun)...

2011-08-21T19:27:00.001-06:00

So... Boys...

Kaylee seems to already be attracting the boys to her. I noticed this a bit last year in kindergarten. When she would come home, most of her stories about friends and whatnot were about certain boys in her class. I didn't worry too much about it, because Kaylee has always been a good mix of tom-boy & girly-girl, and it would make sense that she would hang out doing more physical activities (like tag, racing, hide-n-seek, etc.).

So, when I went to pick her up from school (on the first day) she had one little boy run up and whisper something in her ear. She informed me that he had invited her to go to 7 peaks in two Saturdays. She also told me about another little boy that had been trying to put a grasshopper in her hair during recess (Mike later informed her that it was probably because the boy thought she was cute). I asked her if she had made any friends that day and she started to count how many friends she had made and to tell me that they were all boys. I asked her if she had made any friends that were girls and she told me, she thought that there was one.

Well... that is ok, right? She's just a cool girl that enjoys a lot of the fun things boys enjoy. No biggie. Yah...

We were in Provo Saturday night to attend the reception of one of Michael's cousins. Kaylee ran up the drive-way and instantly found a table that had a bunch of young boys (nephews of the bride?) seated at it (granted, there weren't really any young girls that I could see). When we finally made it up the driveway, she came bounding up to us with one of the little boys in tow. He asked if he could show her where the snails were and then they bounded off with Taylor to go and look at all the snails. She spent the rest of the evening with that particular little boy and a few of the other little boys.

Taylor, instantly took to Michael's cousin Meagan and kept telling people that this was her new friend. Meagan was great and walked hand in hand with Taylor all over the place and just hung out with her until it was time for Meagan to go. Both girls were sad to see her go, along with her sister Aubrey that was there too.

Later in the evening, Kaylee came up to ask when they were going to start the dancing, because she had picked out the boy she was going to dance with. The evening kept going, without any dancing (issue with the wiring?). She came back a bit sad, because this boy that she was going to dance with had to go. But not too long after that I did spot her up on the porch with her boy and he was twirling her and they were dancing. Finally, he had to go, but Kaylee was satisfied with the experience. She told me that he was 7 years old and that his name was Corder (quarter? that is what Kaylee is sticking too [she said that is what his mom said]) After this, the music really got going. Kaylee was approached by 3 of the other young boys about dancing. She started off using the 'eeny, meeny, miny, moe' method, but scraped that and just told them in which order she would dance with them. Dancing ensued and all had a great time (one of the dads of the boys asked if Mike had purchased a shotgun yet)! Even Taylor found her one boyz-ez (she likes to add an 's' to words and then an extra 'ises' to that) and held hands with him and danced. She was quite proud of her one boy.

---------

Michael likes to call the girls our ambassadors, because for the most part Mike & I are pretty reserved people in our interactions with people we meet, and associate with. They will make friends instantly (Taylor mostly following Kaylee's lead, but she does step out on her own quite often) wherever they go. They aren't afraid to talk with people they don't quite know (adults or kids). And (when not tired) usually will give hugs and kisses to family members (or close friends of ours), even ones they don't get too much interaction with (live far away).

So, yes, we have very outgoing girls. Something, we hope to continue to foster in them. Because, they are wonderful, happy, kind girls... who, we feel, can influence those around them for good. Besides, they make things fun!

Back in School... And Number 1!

2011-08-17T11:08:00.005-06:00

School started for Kaylee, today! Over the last several days, it has been the only thing that she would talk about (and I mean the only thing). This may be because she has a pretty boring mom, at the moment (Yay! Pregnancy!). Kaylee is most excited about the prospect of 2! Recesses! (and all the other great scholastic stuff.. but her brain almost exploded at the idea of more than 1 recess).

We have been well prepared for the big day for awhile (go go shopping ahead, to avoid the mass rush). We had the check-in-fair last week (found out who her teacher was and got other info.). We met her teacher yesterday for a few moments and looked around the classroom.

Kaylee's teacher this year is Mrs. Garcia! She loves Dr. Suess (especially the Cat in the Hat)! Kaylee had a great time listing off all the Dr. Suess books she has read. She seems really nice and I think Kaylee is going to have a great time learning from her!

On Monday night, Michael gave Kaylee her back-to-school blessing. So glad to have the priesthood in our home. What a fun tradition we will have every year.

Lots of kids everywhere when we arrived (the highschool, middleschool & elementary school are all right next to each other). We parked in the church/Seminary parking lot behind the school to avoid the parent drop off traffic (success!) and walked around to the front, where Kaylee immediately spotted her principal all dressed up in a tux-suit (with coat tails). She thought that was great!

Kaylee mentioned that though she was excited, she was a bit scared about the first day. I saw no fear in my daughter as we walked into her classroom today. She was her ever bright and cheerful self. She wandered around trying to meet the other kids and make friends. I overheard her asking one of the little girls if she happened to like her dress & sparkly headband. I mentioned to her that if she complimented other little kids it may make them feel less nervous around her and help her make friends quicker (so then she told the little girl that she liked her pink backpack.. go go Kaylee). All-in-all, she was herself, trying to get all the kids to gravitate towards her and be instant friends.

We finally left, with big hugs and kisses from Taylor.. who as we were walking to car, repeated to tell me that it was unfair that Kaylee was in school and she wasn't. The word 'unfair' must have been repeated over 50 times. (The other day, she also informed me that she deserves a cool Eagle shirt just like Kaylee and spread her arms to show me her wings.)

We'll have to see how the day went..

Anyway, It would be that the night before school begins... I would have some nasty braxton hicks from 12-3am (so mom was a bit tired when she got up at 6:30am this morning)... so we ran a little behind on picture taking time.. sorry about that!

Uniforms!

Looking Sweet! Compare her to her Kindergarten pictues! Wow! She has grown!!

Adding her own foot pose for me and smirk!

Yay for being able to recycle last year's backpack!

Here are a few more pictures:

Curiosity because of the Bogeyman....

2011-07-12T09:15:00.000-06:00

So, around 2am last night, I awoke to see a smallish figure in our doorway (a hesitant one... who I think decided it was better not to try and wake Mike or I up, as it was departing before I called out her name).

Kaylee told me she had had a bad dream. From what I could gather it seems that dream Aunt Tiffany (good going dream Tiffany! Tell your kids to be on the look out for her...) told her that there was a bogeyman, which resulted in the bogeyman becoming a part of said dream-turned-nightmare. We talked about the bogeyman not being real, had her say a little prayer and then I laid down next to her for a few minutes to relax her.

As I got back into bed, I started thinking about an odd occurrence that happens quite often. I would say that 90% of the time that when one of my kids is about to come in and ask for something (in the middle of the night), I'll be awake right before it happens. It is like my mind, body, or spirit (your pick)... knows that within minutes some little child (or something else, I've woken up prior to being called on the phone in the middle of the night, etc.) is going to need something.

I come out of deep sleep in preparation for some future event that I had no knowledge of beforehand. Eerie...

Not to say this is how it is every time. Sometimes I awake when they are in the process of describing to Mike what is going on... or sometimes Mike tells me about something that happened in the middle of the night the next morning (muwahahaha... slept right through that...).

But, it does lead me to wonder if I need to be aware of something in the middle of the night when I do randomly wake up (lately because of pregnancy it is just bathroom breaks... ha).

So.. out of curiosity, does this happen to any of you?

Thunderstorms...

2011-07-08T10:46:00.002-06:00

I love a good thunderstorm. I love the smell of it. I love the look of it. I love the feel of it.

Whether I be out in the storm, watching it from a window, or holding a good book... I love storms.

Thunderstorms bring back fond memories from a childhood that found anyway to be out amidst the downpour. With future plans of being out among the great storms of the plains with a camera in hand, I continue to find ways to enjoy this awe inspiring form of nature.

So, it would seem only natural that I would want to instill a love of storms into my children.

So.. next time there is a good storm in your area, get out and ENJOY it!

Stuff does Happen at our Home at 1 am...

2011-07-04T09:05:00.005-06:00

Usually it is one of our children coming in to tell us they had some sort of scary dream.

Taylor's most recent involved a sad story about a Monster that took her toy... she just kept repeating, "It took my toy..."
Kaylee's most recent involved zombies, but she is doing better now that Mike gave her a little journal next to her bed to write down her dreams... telling her this way she would be able to control them better. She told me, that she just makes all the zombies, vampires, werewolves, etc., sit down to tea (water) with her these days.

Anyway!

So last night, between a shoulder sunburn & being pregnant (I swear pregnancy hates me... I'm not supposed to be uncomfortable for another couple of weeks... it is starting too early this time). After my many marathon roll overs from side-to-side, I went down in the basement to read for a bit. This was around 12:15am.

Kaylee came down, at some point while I was reading, to see how I was doing. I told her the sunburn & pregnancy were making it hard for me to sleep. We talked a little bit about why pregnancy does that, but then she, excitedly, informed me she could tell me why I got a sunburn. She told me it was because the Sun was powerful and that its use of gravity made my skin go all red. Yep... gravity is the cause. So we talked a bit about what gravity was again and then I got all scientific on her and talked about the Sun emitting waves and how that interacts with the skin. Her eyes kinda glossed over and she asked if she could go back to bed. I guess that is how I get her to go to sleep.

Around 1:15 am I thought that my reading had sufficiently made me tired enough to try the sleep thing again. I had just laid down, hugging my body pillow when I heard a chirp. I waited to see if I had imagined it, but the chirp came again. I told myself if it chirped a 3rd time I would get up to investigate (I waited till it chirped 4 times). Of course I knew what the chirp was (fire alarm petering out), just had to find it and stop it for the time being. I made Mike get up, cause he is taller.

I felt like we were in that Modern Family episode, where Phil tries to find and take care of their ~~annoying~~ noisy fire alarm. You can watch a clip of it here: http://www.hulu.com/watch/190574/modern-family-i-can-handle-this (it's clean...). Really, it is funny!

Anyway, it turned out to be the girls' room's fire alarm. We took it down, and of course it decided to really go off and both girls work up. Happily they went back to bed, and happily the alarm stopped. We heard another chirp and thought maybe we had gotten the wrong one, so we removed another before figuring out that the real one was just taking a few minutes to completely die out.

After that... we went to bed. And I slept.

The Girls...

2011-06-26T21:08:00.001-06:00

I'm pretty sure I haven't posted any pictures of the girls since we have been back in Utah. I'll remedy that now...

We've gone to a waterpark this Summer, but haven't done too much else in the way of swimming (I don't have a car the majority of the time). The girls were a bit antsy, so we decided to let them out in the front yard with the hose. We attached a sprinkler head to it (that we found in the garage), but Taylor wouldn't go in it (so that wasn't much fun). We don't have a kiddie pool, so Mike did the next best thing and went and found one of our wider cardboard boxes to make a make-shift pool. He threw a tarp over the box and then filled it up. Go-Go us!

The girls enjoyed themselves and I took the opportunity to take a few pictures of the kids. Suffice it to say... my girls just don't like to meet eye-to-eye with their mom when it comes to my camera. And it turns out I didn't give a flying woo-hoo about the background overexposureness... woo!

Kaylee was really excited to find this moth...

Sometimes she poses well for me and sometimes she has a different idea of what I mean by pose...

Here they are modeling for me. I guess I won't be signing them up for any modeling gigs anytime soon...

So Taylor used to be my go-to girl for a great natural smile on command... yah...

She does great with the natural feel when she doesn't look at me...

This was Mike trying to get Taylor to stop tilting her head to the side.. She is mimicking the hand position he was using to visually reference his request to get her to STOP TILTING HER HEAD...

So I found some swimsuits on sale and thought I was being clever by buying a size up (usually their swimsuits barely last the season, they always seem too small). Kaylee's works great, but Taylor's is a little big in the bum area (works great with a swim diaper). So Mike decided to clip her swimsuit so it wasn't so baggy... yup...

And there they are together...

I love these girls. Happily they love me back.

Auctions... of the Police kind...

2011-06-26T09:40:00.003-06:00

So... Michael remembered at the spur of the moment, that the Orem city police were having an auction for bicycles that they had recovered and other police evidence that had been acquired.

He mainly wanted to find a bicycle, so that when we move closer to his work (which will hopefully happen soon, not that we don't enjoy where we are living (thank you Maryann), we would just like to be in a place that we don't need to vacate in about a month.. ha), he can just ride his bike over. We showed up and there were definitely over 50 bikes hanging out to be looked at (some more functioning then others). Mike made a short list of the bikes he was interested in and then decided to wander over to the tables that were covered with random evidence.

Eventually, Mike comes back with this big grin on his face and tells me that they have some magnifying glasses over there that he thinks would be perfect for when he is sculpting miniatures. You have to understand, he has been in the market for these types of glasses for years (either he can't find ones he likes or the ones he does like are pretty expensive and it is hard to justify their purchase). And there were 2 pairs of them!

Anyway, when the bidding came up for the glasses, he tossed out an offer of 2 dollars. The auctioneer chuckled and asked him if knew that these glasses usually retailed at around 300 dollars. Anyway, the auction went from there and it was Mike and two other men bidding on them. Eventually one set of glasses went to Mike & the other went to someone else. Let's just say, that Mike got a very very very good price for his glasses. He is a very happy man.

After an hour or so... they finally got to the bikes. Mike had his eyes on this blue street bike that was completely functioning (minus needing a bolt for the gear shift). It's pretty old and well used, but has its charm. We didn't know how much the bikes would be going for, Mike had his limit on how much he would spend. They trotted forward several kids bikes and I think the highest I heard one go for was 11 dollars (hello, future purchasing of children's bikes). Before we got to the bicycle that Mike wanted, I think the highest we saw one go for was 50 dollars (and it was in pristine condition and one of those trickster bikes). Mike's bike came up and there was him and one older gentleman that started bidding on it (starting bid was 10 dollars). Let's just say, Mike got it for waaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy less than he thought he would (even less than the glasses). It was a good day for Mike.

So.. Mike participated in his first auction and rather enjoyed himself.

The girls and I played at the park nearby for some of the time. There was 11-12 year old boy playing on the playground and it didn't look like he was there to play with younger siblings. Anyway, Kaylee gravitated towards him. I didn't feel comfortable with her playing with some random kid twice her age. So, I called her over and told her I would like it if she would play with the kids around her age. She didn't necessarily like the idea, but did as I asked (true to form, though, she did tell the older kid that she couldn't play with him, because her mom said she couldn't... ha). Was I being overprotective?

When we weren't at the park, the girls and I read from the books we had picked up from the library or we went and looked at what dad was doing. Fun afternoon.

Crocheting...

2011-06-17T12:11:00.000-06:00

If anyone knows me well, they know I start to get a little weird in the brain (some may say I am always weird in the brain) when I'm not learning about something.

Before I was blessed with pregnancy, I had some sweet goals for 2011. I had this amazing gospel study plan laid out for the New Testament (which, is moving forward a lot quicker these days). Mike & I had 12 monthly challenges laid out (that may be a 2012 goal, though the world is supposed to end... so who knows). I had other various personal, couple, parenting, organizational, etc. goals. I love goals! And! Learning usually accompanies goals, so to me it is a win-win situation.

Lately, I've been on a crafty kick (may have something to do with the upcoming bundle of joy). I've been gathering some fabrics for baby blankets, which has been an interesting experiment (turns out I don't know much about fabrics, and my math needs brushing up on.. yay...). The other thing I have been really into lately is crocheting (someday I may actually pick up knitting needles again, but those last ones deserved being thrown across the room). I've had varying interest in crocheting over the years, but I think I may have finally taken the plunge into doing something more than a chain.

I really do wish there was someone close at hand who was able to physically show me how to crochet. Suffice it to say, YouTube videos & some choice websites (found via Google) have been my teachers. My mom occasionally gets calls of frustration from me.

Anyway, over the last week... I've been making lots of squares as I practice different stitches and whatnot. Oh the joys of working out kinks. But! Last night I decided that my lingo and understanding of crocheting was decent enough to try out making a simple drawstring bag!

This is the second one I made. Mike was there during the first and I kept giving him daggers when he would understand something quicker than I (I am supposed to be better than him at something, right!?!?! I mean, the man doesn't even crochet!!!). It took me a few tries to get my circle going. Anyway, this is bag number two! First time adding a decretive border (and another color). There are a few finishing kinks to work out and I don't really know how to tie bows to make them look pretty. This is old yarn (I've had for years) that I have been practicing with (I didn't want to get any nice yarn, until I was actually able to make something).

I was pleased when my brain decided to become aware of the fact that this basic draw string bag can be flipped upside down and would work decently for simple baby beanies. So, so.. excited to make a BAJILLION of those. Bags & beanies aren't the only things I am looking to make, but they are a good start!

Anyway, they will get prettier in the future (gift worthy & whatnot). For now, my girls have a ton of fun stuffing toys in them and swinging them around by their drawstrings.

Taylor at the park...

2011-06-15T14:31:00.001-06:00

This was Taylor & I at a neighborhood park back in Illinois, right before we moved. Definitely going to miss the mass amounts of little parks scattered throughout the neighborhoods (I think we could easily access 10-15 parks within a couple blocks of our flat).

iphone pictures at their best.

Check out my caged animal...

You know... she makes me hold her hand down the slide, but has no issue swinging from that bar...

My Taylor... See that hole in the shirt (near the bottom where the ruffle part starts)? Yah, basically, when she realized it was there she kept telling me it was Kaylee's fault. "Kaylee cut it with the scissors!" She just couldn't let it go.

My poor kids... pregnancy, really does take me out for the count. I do try when I am having a good day to get out with them. Here we had finally had a decent enough day weather wise to get out, combined with me feeling decent, we took the opportunity to get out.

She loved having me take phone pictures of her, and kept making me do it every time she was swinging from the top of the slide (after a while I just pretended to do it... evil me...). Most of the time she is exclaiming, "Look at me! Look at me! Mama, look at me!!" I can't look away for a split second... ha. We had to take "shots" from our water bottles each time before she launched herself down the slide.

She had a great time at this little park, even if it was just with me. That is one really great thing about Taylor, she has the ability to entertain herself (she enjoys other kids, or as she calls them "my friends"... though she has a tougher time liking 'babies'... especially when they get close to her, touch her, or push on her.. ha).

No. 1 Requirement Secured...

2011-06-14T10:49:00.003-06:00

When we were deciding on places to live, it was interesting to see how Mike & I viewed what was important about where we were going to be. His no. 1 priority was quite different then mine and it has taken me a few months to start getting him to come around to agreeing with me about the importance of my no. 1 (this isn't to say he didn't think it was important, he just didn't place it as high up on his list of concerns).

Anyway.. so what was my no. 1? Good Schools for our kids. And! This morning I secured Kaylee a spot in a school that I deemed worthy to help educate our children.

ALA is a charter school. People at Mike's work had said good things about it and were happy with the education their children were receiving. It is relatively new (est. mid 2000s), so it can only go up in its accomplishments and programs. I liked what I had researched about it. And comparing it to the local school district in the area of where Michael wants us to live... it surpasses them with flying colors.

It has three schools (elementary, junior high, & high school). I was a little worried about getting her in, because it is a lottery system (and that lottery system might only get you onto a wait list... high demand to get into it). But I was prepared to at least try. Well, when I went into start the lottery process this morning, the register asked me about which grade I was applying for. Then she told me that there was good news, as they had an open spot in the 1st grade (meaning I could bypass the whole lottery/waiting list system). Of course I took it! This also secures a spot for Taylor for K, in the coming years.

I'm intrigued by their use of the 7 habits of highly effective people (Stephen Covey) in their goals for the early grades. Michael liked what he saw from the junior high art displays. We met the elementary school principal and one of the 1st grade teachers. They were all very nice. It looks like there will be plenty of opportunities for Kaylee to grow academically, socially, and extracurricularly. And! They have a dress code (uniforms, with a little bit of variety... I just LOVE the idea of uniforms [plus it will make the school year clothing shopping much easier]). Classroom size seems to be moderately small, which is always a good thing.

I am saddened by the lack of Spanish Immersion programs in Utah (with such a high Hispanic population too). They have a few Immersion programs in the Valley, but they are far and few between with decent waiting lists to go with them. We'll just have to find other ways for our girls to pick up languages at an earlier age.

I can breathe a sigh of relief as I cross this off my list. We now have a bit more flexibility in finding a place to live (none of this, specific neighborhoods to fit into certain school boundaries... and no hoops to jump through as you try convincing a district to place your child in a different school then the one you currently reside near).

I can always tell who has been in the kitchen...

2011-06-12T11:51:00.001-06:00

I don't know how many saw this movie back and the day, but there is a particular scene that I am reminded of on a daily basis.

The scene:

The little boy is sitting at the table (I think eating breakfast) in the kitchen. His mother is cleaning up after serving him. She leaves to go and do something in another room. As she leaves, you can see in the kitchen that all the cabinets and drawers are closed. The camera moves to the boy at the table, who now has his hands firmly plastered to the table. Eventually, the mother comes back into the kitchen and stops suddenly in shock/surprise as she views the kitchen. She finds all the drawers and cabinets wide open (which, seems to be something that annoys her...). She scolds her son and begins closing the drawers and cabinets. Finally, we see the boy remove his hands from the table where his hands have left sweaty palm prints.

(I apologize for the pixilation.. not a popular movie still to find in google images it seems)

One could come into our kitchen at certain times of the day and find a similar scene. Granted, my sweaty palm prints on the table are not from being freaked out of my mind by some supernatural experience, but rather out of annoyance caused by my OCD need to have everything as my mind perceives it should be.

The culprit. Michael. Sometimes, I think he thinks it is a game now. Yar!!

Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?

2011-06-08T10:33:00.002-06:00

I still don't know the answer to that one, but I do have fond memories of playing that game in my Granparents' (the Bergers) basement on old school Macs.

So it's been almost 3 weeks since we departed from Illinois and I finally decided to say something about it. There isn't as much mystery involved as to where we ended up...

Yah, that's right.. we made it back to the fold. We are no longer lost sheep. Go us!

Back in April, I kept ~~nagging~~ encouraging Mike to help make a decision about where we were going to move. Mike likes to take the wait-and-see approach, whereas I get all OCD proactive about upcoming decisions. Mike's position on the matter won this round.

With Mike's show being up, we had some time to make it up to the Chicago Temple to do an endowment session together. Before the session began, let's just say that I had had my confirmation that we were going to get an answer that day. After the session, as we had just sat down in the Celestial room, Mike leans over and whispers, "I really think I need to call Sean in Utah and tell him I want to work for him again." My reaction = tears. And these were not tears of joy (Mike complaint is that I end up crying whenever he tells me about any revelation he's gotten while in the temple. He may be right.. guess I'll have to work on that in the future. In my defense, I'm pregnant and usually de-stressing after being stressed throughout the endowment session that I am going to mess something up. I hadn't even gotten the chance to meditate on the subject at hand).

Honestly, I have loved living outside of the Holy Trinity of Mormonism (as I call it... consisting of Arizona, Utah, & Idaho). I love my religion, don't get me wrong. But, I also love diversity and I really do believe that there is a difference in Mormon culture in and out of the Utah sphere (2 years prior we couldn't leave it fast enough... and now we were going back). Maybe it was that we just had a really great ward in Evanston and I didn't want to give that up. It could be that I was going to be really sad not to see all the Hasidic Jews in Skokie. I was also really going to miss that Japanese super store out in Arlington Heights. I was just going to miss the Chicago area and the people there. And Utah was the LAST PLACE ON EARTH that I wanted to live.

I had to swallow my pride (Just 5 months prior I had been telling my Mother-in-law Cindy about how Mike and I would never be caught dead in the Holy Trinity again.. yay for eating my words!!) and abandon my plan of living somewhere warm and new to explore. Discovered a lot about myself in the process and pinpointed out some personality areas that really do need improving.

Mike called Sean and secured a job and then we started the process of packing and wrapping any loose ends up in Chicago. Mark flew in the night we set out and the three of us took shifts as we drove straight from Illinois to our destination in Utah. Haha... never again will I do that trek, pregnant. Great company... but it took me several days to recover from that expedition. We weren't exactly the Mormon pioneers, since it took us only about 24hrs to make it, whereas it took them several months. But a similar trek... we skipped the religious persecution part, in favor of a job.

We were greeted in Utah, by Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Siblings, & Grandparents. They all helped us unload the truck and some even left us some nice groceries to get us through the first couple days we were here. We have a wonderful Aunt that has allowed us to crash in her now semi-empty home for the Summer as we do some searching for a place to live (thank you Ange & Thad for taking an internship for the Summer... promise not to ebay your stuff while you are gone).

For now, life isn't going to be exploring exotic areas around the world and stealing world treasures. It's going to be slightly less exciting than that. But, there will be lots to look forward to here in Utah and lots to be grateful for.

I'm grateful for:

A husband with a job! Also, that he is very happy where he is working and sees endless possibilities of where the future will take him. Got to love being able to do something that you have always wanted to be doing.
Having amazing family nearby. And a few choice friends that are in close proximity.
There are a million flecks of gold worth of blessings that I have seen and continuing to see. Truly the Lord is blessing us (even if one of those blessings is taking me a bit of time to really love).
Dry weather... humidity was not as fun on a daily basis.
Clean grocery stores, with fresh produce. Ah... Macey's how I love thee.... AND... $1 cheaper gas prices... woo woo!

What I am looking forward to:

Finding the parts of Utah/Mormon culture that I can handle.. and exploiting them for all they are worth.
Having crafty relatives nearby that want to share their wonderful knowledge with me. Also, just getting to know some relatives better and all their crazy outlooks/philosophies on life and their plethora of interests.
More musically talented people in the area who will teach my kids things like the violin & piano. Hopefully at a much reduced rate then the ones I was seeing in Illinois.
Exploring Utah a little bit better. There is lots of outdoor Utahness to see.
Creating a Mike & Petra crew niche that I can be proud of.
List can go on and on and will...

So... we are here. And 99% of the time we are happy about it (few kinks we are still working out). But it will be GREAT, because we are going to make it GREAT! Life is what you make of it.. and I've got my new mantra for our Utah sojourn.

Did someone call for the tooth fairy?

2011-05-17T16:15:00.000-06:00

Well it finally happened! She's had the wiggle tooth for a couple months and the adult tooth coming in behind dropping hints that the infamous day would come.

It all occurred on a sunny Sunday morning. It was basically hanging in their by a thin ~~root~~ thread. Kaylee was a little worried about it and had me hold her. Taylor was a little hysterical about the whole thing and had me hold her too. Michael took a paper towel and gave it a little tug. He made a face afterwards like he didn't get it and went in for another try, but then went "Aha!" and showed her her tooth. Kaylee kept asking me if it was the best Mother's day gift ever and I assured her that it indeed was. I told her I was proud of her being brave (only tears shed were from Taylor) and she told me that she was able to be brave, because I held her (Best Mom Ever Moment).

We interviewed the girls on video afterwards. Taylor was really upset and when Mike asked her if he could pull one of her teeth, she immediately clamped her hands over her mouth and cried out a muffled "NO!"

The tooth fairy made her debut Monday night, because ~~I decided tha~~t she didn't work on Sunday. Kaylee woke up to some money & note under her pillow, along with being sprinkled with little flowers and ~~glitter~~ fairy dust (much to the dismay of the tooth fairy's husband). She was a little put out that the fairy dust didn't make her or Taylor fly, but otherwise very happy (I think she woke up earlier for that, then for Christmas morning). She was so happy, in fact, that she promptly went to the kitchen to grab a paper towel and then had Michael tug out the other loose tooth.

So.. the tooth fairy came back the next night to find another tooth and a note from Kaylee. The note asked the tooth fairy for REAL fairy dust so that she and her sister could fly & for 30¢ $$$$. She awoke to find some money and a note under her pillow. The note basically told her that fairy dust didn't make children or fairies fly, but in actuality it just made children tired and too much of it would make them sick (this was the tooth fairy's husband putting his foot down on any more fairy dust for subsequent teeth lost.. someone hates his dust!). Kaylee accepted this explanation and went about her day happy as can be.

Taylor meanwhile continued for a bit to tell Kaylee that her mouth was broken and it was dad's fault.

Pictures of the first lost tooth aftermath...

And now the second lost tooth...

What has Michael been up to?

2011-05-14T14:02:00.003-06:00

I decided to make a Michael-centric post, since I like him so much.

At the moment, he is at his last final of his graduate career. Supposedly, after next weekend I have to call him 'Master'.

I wanted to show you some pictures of the things he has been working on...

These are all pop-up settings that could be used for some sort of table-top gaming. Several of them open up and have fun things to look at inside.

He is way excited to begin working at his new job (he's pretty restless, at the moment). Yah, did you catch that... he went and got himself one of those 'job' thingies (so much for being an eccentric artist). Basically, going to the Temple has its benefits.

I really love this guy. I am so very proud of him and all that he has done. I'm excited to see the man he evolves himself into and all the wonderful things he will do along the way.

Congrats Michael!

You did it!

It's a...

2011-05-04T18:24:00.005-06:00

GIRL!!!!

We are just so excited to add another pink bundle of joy to our crew!! We feel a big sense of relief, because to be honest, Mike and I were not quite sure what we would do with a boy. If we fail with one girl.. we at least have two others that may turn out a little bit normal!

How about some pictures!!

Here is a cute profile shot.. little hand there by the mouth!

Now here's the IT'S-A-GIRL shot!

Wait a second... What is that between her legs!?!?! This calls for a close-up to confirm!

WHAT!?!?!!? That is definitely not a girl!! Looks more like a turtle...

Yep! Turns out we are having a little BOY!!!!

Baby boy looks great! He was moving around a bunch and kept his face mainly turned away from the wand (thus making facial and profile shots near impossible). He was not shy about showing us his manhood. Techs & Doctor said everything looked perfect & healthy! He is in breech position, which accounts for the lovely kicks to the cervix that I have been feeling lately. Kaylee knew what the spine was right away, while Taylor claimed that it was a snake (so either I have a turtle or a snake in my stomach).

We had a lvl II ultrasound cause of the IUD... so the whole process was nice and long (love watching baby). They spotted the IUD just up and to the right of my cervix (next to the placenta). They said it is just hanging out there in-between the membranes and uterus wall. The Doctor (not my normal OBGYN.. some special Maternal-Fetal guy at the hospital) said that he thought it was a great position and didn't see it adversely affecting the baby in any way. He felt it was in a benign position. We talked about there being no evidence of any birth defects caused by IUDs and he made sure to mention that they do indeed have lots of successful outcomes to my situation.

Baby boy moves around a lot these days. I've been feeling him since around 17 weeks (his cervix kicks even earlier) and Mike has been able to feel him for about the last week. Girls are not patient enough at this point to wait for movement. Kaylee is overjoyed that it is a little boy! She wanted a little brother, badly! Granted, she didn't doubt for a second that it was a boy. (and she was the one who wanted a little sibling back in December, before we even found out about baby.. go figure! I need to have a chat with someone up above about 5/6 year olds not making additions to the family decisions without my input!).

We are looking at two names at the moment.

I've had the name Tanner picked out since marrying Michael. It is his middle name & they descend from the John Tanner line (for you LDS church history admirers). When we started dating he was going by the name Tanner. I had known him all Summer long by that name and had dated him for a month, before catching a glance of his BYU ID and seeing the name Michael.
Michael heard the name Ollie over the weekend (I wanna say church), which led him to fond memories of his father telling him stories as a boy about a boy named Ollie who was a spy genius. He says that his grandfather used to tell his dad these same stories when his dad was a little boy. So now we are considering Oliver. We'd call him Ollie.. And!!! I would be allowed to buy him one of those neat hats that makes you think Oliver Twist.
For a middle name we are decided on, Youssef. Youssef is my father's name (though he goes by Joseph). Many of you know that my Grandfather is from Iran. So we thought this would be a great way to honor both my father & my Persian heritage.

So it is going to be either Tanner Youssef or Oliver Youssef. Honestly we may be leaning more towards Oliver, at the moment. I mentioned to Michael that may mean that we lose our claim to the name Tanner, by not using it this time around. He scoffed at that idea and said that none of his family would use it, since it is HIS middle name. (So.. I guess that means it would still be ours to use next time??? Since he is still claiming it as his to use [amongst his siblings]). What are your opinions (about the name.. though other opinions are welcome too)?!

We are just so happy and excited to have a healthy baby boy on the way!!!

Oh! Oh! Here Comes the MFA!

2011-04-11T20:29:00.001-06:00

LDS General Conference...

2011-04-09T17:09:00.000-06:00

April Conference has come and gone with our family catching conference on the computer.

Mike missed out on the day sessions on Saturday (yay.. for class), but made his way to the Priesthood session that evening. Then he went on a conference binge during Sunday to get in his Saturday sessions in-between his Sunday sessions.

Girls were spotty on their attention spans, but did a good job playing quietly during the sessions. Kaylee got very excited when the choir started to sing a primary song (she did a great job singing along with it). We had rootbeer floats and other ice-cream treats (turns out the baby does not like such treats) Saturday evening. And I won the "only one to stay awake through all my sessions" award.

I thought I would recap some of my favorite parts of conference:

Richard J. Maynes

I liked the parallel made between Sheep & Lambs - Parents & Children

’Twas a sheep not a lamb

That strayed away in the parable Jesus told,

A grown-up sheep that strayed away

From the ninety and nine in the fold.

And why for the sheep should we seek

And earnestly hope and pray?

Because there is danger when sheep go wrong:

They lead the lambs astray.

Lambs will follow the sheep, you know,

Wherever the sheep may stray.

When sheep go wrong,

It won’t take long till the lambs are as wrong as they.

And so with the sheep we earnestly plead

For the sake of the lambs today,

For when the sheep are lost

What a terrible cost

The lambs will have to pay.

Dallin H. Oaks

Desires dictate our priorities, priorities shape our choices, and choices determine our actions. The desires we act on determine our changing, our achieving, and our becoming.

M. Russell Ballard

I enjoyed the Flecks of Gold story... It's those simple small things that accumulate into something big...

Oftentimes we are like the young merchant from Boston, who in 1849, as the story goes, was caught up in the fervor of the California gold rush. He sold all of his possessions to seek his fortune in the California rivers, which he was told were filled with gold nuggets so big that one could hardly carry them.

Day after endless day, the young man dipped his pan into the river and came up empty. His only reward was a growing pile of rocks. Discouraged and broke, he was ready to quit until one day an old, experienced prospector said to him, “That’s quite a pile of rocks you are getting there, my boy.”

The young man replied, “There’s no gold here. I’m going back home.”

Walking over to the pile of rocks, the old prospector said, “Oh, there is gold all right. You just have to know where to find it.” He picked two rocks up in his hands and crashed them together. One of the rocks split open, revealing several flecks of gold sparkling in the sunlight.

Noticing a bulging leather pouch fastened to the prospector’s waist, the young man said, “I’m looking for nuggets like the ones in your pouch, not just tiny flecks.”

The old prospector extended his pouch toward the young man, who looked inside, expecting to see several large nuggets. He was stunned to see that the pouch was filled with thousands of flecks of gold.

The old prospector said, “Son, it seems to me you are so busy looking for large nuggets that you’re missing filling your pouch with these precious flecks of gold. The patient accumulation of these little flecks has brought me great wealth.”

David A. Bednar

I loved his use of light and the sun rising to talk about the patterns of revelation... And this little gem has brought much needed peace...

In many of the uncertainties and challenges we encounter in our lives, God requires us to do our best, to act and not be acted upon, and to trust in Him. We may not see angels, hear heavenly voices, or receive overwhelming spiritual impressions. We frequently may press forward hoping and praying—but without absolute assurance—that we are acting in accordance with God’s will. But as we honor our covenants and keep the commandments, as we strive ever more consistently to do good and to become better, we can walk with the confidence that God will guide our steps. And we can speak with the assurance that God will inspire our utterances. This is in part the meaning of the scripture that declares, “Then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God."

Lynn G. Robbins

Many of us create to do lists to remind us of things we want to accomplish. But people rarely have to be lists. Why? To do’s are activities or events that can be checked off the list when done. To be, however, is never done. You can’t earn checkmarks with to be’s. I can take my wife out for a lovely evening this Friday, which is a to do. But being a good husband is not an event; it needs to be part of my nature—my character, or who I am.

Because be begets do and is the motive behind do, teaching be will improve behavior more effectively than focusing on do will improve behavior.

Conference was great (Can't think of a time when it hasn't been.. ha)! There was plenty of good things said and I look forward to spending time with each talk as I review them throughout the year.

Weird formatting issues.. that I don't feel like fixing.. sorry...

And the blocks of text continue...

2011-03-26T11:42:00.001-06:00

I gotta say that I feel for our girls. In-between my being sick 24/7 & Michael's preparations for graduation, there hasn't been much in the way of doing anything. Our days are pretty mundane.

Girls are doing pretty well for the time being. Kaylee continues to do great in school. She was talking to me in Spanish yesterday (helping me with my pronunciations). Report cards and parent teacher conferences assure us that all is well on that front. Taylor refuses to potty train, and gets flushed with miralax often. She's growing and it is fun to see that spunky personality of hers emerge.

Michael continues his final push towards getting his Masters. He needs to have everything ready for the final show by April 24th. He is basically done with everything at that point even though he won't graduate until May 21st. My guy has talent! His work is coming along splendid. He still has a lot to do, but we are hoping to see the pop-up settings completed in the next two weeks.

I'm the same. Sick (though... it is slowly getting better). Had some minor bleeding yesterday after the OB tried to find the IUD in the cervix again (looks like it won't be coming out until the baby does). Heart beat is great. Anatomy scan is scheduled for May 4th.

And finally...

Looks like our days in Illinois are numbered. Many of you know that Michael deals with seasonal effective disorder in the winter. You can usually find him at his desk being blasted by many different lights to help offset it. There isn't much reason for us to stay in the area now after the surprising news of January. Chicago and its surrounding areas are pretty expensive and the winters are long. We have definitely enjoyed our time here, but feel it is best for our family to be elsewhere.

Michael's chosen profession as an artist gives him leeway to not have to move somewhere specific. Basically... the internet, phone & mail system allow him to work from about anywhere. Being near a college/university allows for teaching opportunities that arise.

We've narrowed it down to three different areas under Mike's "Warm/Sunny (with mild winters)" clause. The Phoenix, AZ area... The Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX area... and the Austin, TX area... Though things could change... you never know.

We need to figure things out relatively soon. We are hoping to move in June. Giving us time to get to know the area before Fall school hits. Also being roughly settled before I get too pregnant or we have a newborn would be nice.

I gotta say this would be a WHOLE LOT EASIER if we were normal folk that move for reasons like schooling or a specific job. Makes choosing seem easier that way.

13 weeks...

2011-03-17T13:27:00.004-06:00

Things have been pretty normal for pregnancy... minus the psychotic morning sickness this time around. I thought it was bad before... but this baby has proven me wrong.

So I hit the 13 week mark the other day. And to welcome the occasion my body decided to do some minor bleeding (never had that happen before during pregnancy) around 3am.

There I was waking up for what I thought was a normal nightly bathroom visit and got that little surprise. Went back to our bedroom all in tears shaking Mike's leg to wake him up. Told him what was happening and asked for a blessing. He got up, got his white shirt and tie on and gave me great blessing. Got to love having your own personal priesthood holder in the home.

We had recently bought a home fetal heart monitor (since I've been stressing about the 2nd trimester increase miscarriage rates). Luckily it had arrived the day before in the mail. Mike found a strong HB.. so between that and the blessing I felt a lot calmer. Talked to a doctor on the phone and was told to try and get some sleep and to call the office when it opened in the morning and schedule to come in that day.

We checked for the HB in the morning and found it again. Talked with a comforting mother-in-law to make sure I wasn't completely overreacting. Went in for a ultrasound in the afternoon. Baby was active and had a good HB. The tech even told me the gender of the baby... but... it is only 13 weeks... will hold off on announcing that one. Got my rhogam shot (yay for RH factor) and went home.

Bleeding has stopped. Things are back to as they were. Not sure why I bled... though the tech did see that the IUD was now in my cervix. She thought it may be the IUD or things just moving and stretching.

Here is a picture of our turtle baby (as Taylor refers to it.. her exact words were "ewww.. turtle baby")...

Sick... Sick... Sick...

2011-03-03T19:22:00.000-07:00

I think I have forgotten what it feels like to be well...

Yar...

This is the part of pregnancy I loathe most... ha...

Blog posts may be far and few between for a bit longer!

Hoping for springtime, lack of nausea, and some family outings in the future!

She's 6 Now...

2011-01-23T21:11:00.001-07:00

Our Kaylee turned 6 yesterday.

I can't believe she is 6! I am probably going to say that every year. I love this girl so much. She continues to be a little energetic ball of sunshine. She tries so hard to be good, and to learn, and still makes time to be a normal kooky 6 year old. She is so smart and has a memory that at times I wish failed her... haha. As much as I don't want her to get any older... to stay my little Kaylee forever (and I told she couldn't have any more birthdays, because I didn't want her to grow up)... I cannot wait to see who she becomes and the amazing things she does. She loves instantly. She assumes everyone should be her friend as soon as she comes into contact with them. She loves the gospel and is teaching us how to be better individuals. She is truly extrodinary.

She's a wonderful big sister. You know how as parents we hope that our kids get along, talk to each-other, are friends, protect and take care of one another? Well, today, is the perfect example of what type of sister Kaylee is. Taylor has been have transition issues with moving into Sunbeams in primary. Today she was FREAKING OUT and would not go quietly into primary. Between Mike and I... we spent a good 10-15 minutes trying to coax her into primary (because even being with us in our class.. she wouldn't calm down and refused to be placed on the ground... makes it hard to teach). I got her to stop screaming, by bribing her with the promise of a movie at some point in the near future. I told her Kaylee was in there and that she could sit by her friend Ava. She seemed ok... a little sad still (basically could melt down again at any second). I sat her down in class and I was getting up to leave, when she asked for Kaylee...

My beautiful, kind, smart, wonderful little 6 year old got up from her seat, knelt down in front of Taylor, held her hands and started telling her that everything was ok, that primary was fun, that she was nearby in her class, that she wanted her to be happy. As she got up to go back to her class... Taylor started to cry for her... and so with the help of a little moving of some other kids nearby.. they made room for Kaylee and she sat down next to her sad little sister... she put her arm around Taylor and pulled her in close and just smiled.

I who was standing behind them by the door... trying to stay out of Taylor's line of sight... had a very hard time trying to not look like a sap... and cry. I am so proud of my Kaylee.

Her main interests right now are art & space. She's still allergic to hippos (as we found out during watching part of the BBC Planet Earth series). She wants playdates. She is doing basic reading. Loves having books read to her. Loves tickle fights. Loves building legos with her dad. Still likes being with us constantly and wants us doing things with her constantly. Loves talking to family on the phone or skype. I could go on forever...

Her Birthday...

It was a pretty simple day. She woke up before the sun had even risen all excited about presents (note that Christmas we did the waking up...). We did present opening first thing in the morning. She got an art easel, paints, apron, paint brushes, a learning laptop, jacks, a sweater, a globe, go fish cards, a mirror, an ocarina, and $10. She was very excited about each and every gift (turns out Taylor was too). She went right to work on her easel, painting pictures. She messed around on her laptop and played that ocarina until I wanted to strangle Michael for purchasing it. She found out that there are still some more presents on the way and was excited that her birthday will be "extended" to another day (we have to sing happy birthday to her as she opens them she said).

When she got her $10, she asked us if she could put it in a box at her school that is for (as she explained it) moms and dads that don't have any money. It turns out that she has one of those little boxes (like the UNICEF ones... but for kids with Leukemia) that you collect money in and she ran to her backpack, got it out and placed her money in it.

For the days activities... we played some Mario Bro. wii. We did art. We had ice-cream cupcakes. We went to Chili's for her birthday dinner. We rented a movie. We wrestled. We were going to the planetarium next weekend as well. We just kept it simple, laid back and family oriented. I'm not a huge fan of friend birthday parties it turns out. I told Kaylee that as she gets older and makes better friends that maybe we can do special activities with 1-2 of those really exceptionally best friends. We'll see...

These are the cupcakes we made for her kindergarten class (I felt like a real mom that day) and for her birthday.

Archive: Christmas 2010

2011-01-20T10:20:00.003-07:00

I believe this year was our first year at home for Christmas as our little family. For our first one, I think we did a pretty decent job making it fun & memorable without losing the meaning.

Our girls slept in. We woke them up. Ha! They each got one present from Santa and then one joint present. They were wrapped in special Santa Clause wrapping paper. Their stockings were also full of gifts from Santa.

They also got many wonderful gifts from family members. Our girls are so blessed to have such wonderful family members that help make the holidays special and exciting.

I think my favorite new Christmas Tradition that we instituted this year was our take on Michael's family's Shepherds Dinner. We made foods that the shepherds might have eaten back in the day (cheese, bread, dried fruit (mango... Mike says he doesn't completely believe that the shepherds actually had mango back then... I told him to have an imagination), chicken noodle soup (maybe they had a broth?), honey butter, sparkling apple cider (instead of the wine), crackers (wheat thins)). We built a homemade tent out of sheets and whatnot in our living room. We put cushions and blankets on the ground to sit on. We read the Luke 2 account of the Birth of Christ to seal the deal.

Before the girls went to bed, they were allowed to open one specific present under the tree. Their Christmas Pajamas... so wonderful! I just thought it would be fun for them to be in their new jammies for the festivities in the morning. If I had some sewing skills (or some talented in-laws near by) it would have been cooler to sew them. Someday... when school is done.

We tried some other things out, and worked out a few differences in opinion on how things would work for future holidays (ah... the joys of compromising! Though I think Mike conceded more ground to me.. I did use my charms).

We spent most of Christmas day on the computer/phone skyping with different family members across the nation and playing with our fun new toys. It was a great Christmas! Here's to future Christmases!

------

That wraps up our December and brings us into January. I'm not too far behind! A few more posts and we'll be all caught up.

Funny side story... Michael was grabbing some cereal out of our food storage closet and got a menacing surprise instead. As he was getting the cereal down and box of Ferrero Rocher chocolates fell on him (those gold foil wrapped chocolates are one of my secret joys in life). The edge of the container caught Mike on the cheek and gave him a little bleeder. He attributed the attack to the fact that he was going to surprise me with them on our Anniversary, but seems to have forgotten about them (since he was just finding them). He said that is what he gets for forgetting chocolate... payback hurts.

Wooted Again!

2011-01-13T23:36:00.003-07:00

Mike did it again! Yay for 1st place!

7 Years can be so Wicked...

2011-01-12T15:15:00.002-07:00

Mike & I celebrated 7 years of togetherness in Dec. On our anniversary he gifted me tickets to go see Wicked (which has been playing here in Chicago recently). I had hinted to Michael that I wanted to see it, after hearing some music from the play.

Last night.. Mike & I attended our first broadway musical...

I prepared myself by reading the book. Which, the play strayed far from. I didn't exactly love the book, but I still found myself thinking, "that is not how it went down in the book!" many a time during the play. I could go off on a whole tangent about books & movies... but I'll restrain myself.

The theater was great! Seats were great! We were up on the balcony, but could see the whole stage really well. We had a lot of fun chatting about the architecture of the theater. We made our way to the stage and looked at the orchestra. We scoffed at the $65 dollar price tag on a Wicked Hoodie. We theorized about burger joints being called cafes, about the snacks and beverages they offered.

The play was wonderful! Acting and music was well done. I enjoyed the ending to the play a lot better than I did the book. The night was truly Wicked!

Here's a really horrible iphone picture of Mike & I at Wicked. The lady next to us was kind enough to take the picture!

Big thanks to my friend Rebekah for watching the girls... for 6 hours!!!

-------------

On another note that had nothing to do with the above....

Today, Kaylee dropped her lunchbox on the floor as she was putting her backpack in her locker. Her sandwich fell out onto the floor, which made her embarrassed and upset. As I was trying to calm her down and tell her I would go get her a new lunch, a little boy from her class came up and said, "It's ok, that happens to me every morning." That just melted my heart, that he was trying to cheer her up. No one laughed at her, but I think she still felt bad about it.

Archive: S-C-H-O-O-L

2011-01-07T21:30:00.004-07:00

We've left the month of November and entered December... We'll start off the December posts, with one about school...

As everyone who reads this blog (which is in the millions I've heard... yes, we are THAT popular) knows, all 4 of the people that make up our family have been in school these last few months. I thought that I would let all our adoring fans know exactly how things went!

Michael - Has ONE last semester left until he gets his MFA! This last semester he mainly spent working on the book portion of his future board game. He's also been researching paper engineering. He TA'd a freshman course class and seemed to enjoy the dynamics of a classroom from the teacher's perspective. He's gotten good feedback on his projects, and as always I think he is a genius! He's looking to delving back into the miniature making and paper engineer making this next semester as he pushes ever closer to graduation day and full fledged adulthood.

Petra - Eventually re-assimilated back into the school routine. Met some good people. Finished all her school work and is happy with the grades that resulted from her work (Mike says grades don't matter... pfffttt). I'll post the work as soon as I sit down with a scanner for a few hours. Secured an internship and has some other prospects on the horizon.

Kaylee - Spanish is flourishing. She sings songs in Spanish and uses simple phrases. Her Spanish usage may be small still, but her ability to discern what her teacher expects of her, as she speaks to her in Spanish, is quite amazing. She's reading, writing sentences, doing simple math, talking about science & social studies topics, making friends and still enjoying every moment of school. We got her 1st report card and she's doing excellent!

Taylor - Had a great time at preschool. She is speaking so much better these days. They even got her to step away from playing with all the toys and do some art work. She's counting, practicing her alphabet, and singing songs. She loves books, horses, and small objects. Make believe is still the center of this little girl's world.

We made it through one semester with only minor blips. I think were a little more organized going into this next semester and that is going to help things run a bit better. Mike & I were even really good at not leaving everything to the last minute and entered finals breathing easier this year. And... we got a 6 week break! Ha!

Learn... Learn... Learn... Never stop...

------

Also, check out the side bar... Mike's got a shirt up for voting this week in the derby at shirt.woot. Looks to be doing well, as he's in the fog. If you get the chance, vote for him! It helps his ego. :)

Archive: Thanksgiving - Colorado

2011-01-03T21:51:00.002-07:00

We made our way out to Colorado for Thanksgiving (hence the title of the blog). My Dad & Monica are always great hosts. Monica's mother, Mary, joined us as well. She is great company too.

We ate lots of great food. A lot of healthyesque foods. Thanksgiving dinner was wonderful as usual, lots of things to choose from. Dallas Cowboys were on the tube. That night, we went out and saw the movie Tangled.

We got to play at the park, and at the Mall play place. Kaylee was a little dissapointed that it changed from the food playground to a Warner Brother's playground. But she instantly made friends, like always. We went to the Museum and watched a great movie on stars. They did a really great job making it kid-friendly. We enjoyed some other fun exhibits.

Mike & I got to go see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I. I thought they did a decent job with the movie. We visited my favorite bookstore... The Tattered Cover.

The girls did their part to help with putting the lights on the outside of the house. It looked great when they were done.

I have to say, I love going to Colorado to visit these two. I always feel so ready to tackle the world when I get back. In my opinion, they are wonderful people, who have interests and insights that usually mesh well with my personality.

Thanks for having our craziness!

I'm Calling For Some Updating!

2011-01-02T19:31:00.003-07:00

It is about time that I do the whole update thing.

November/December may suffer this coming year as well. I basically went through finals and then somewhat did the whole crash thing thereafter. Then the holidays were upon me. So my blogging has lacked. My goal is for this week to do some much needed updating to this blog.

We are going to start back at Thanksgiving and work our way forward to the present. So be ready to warp back in time and experience our lives in the past.

You should listen to the music from Inception's soundtrack that I linked on the sidebar... to get the full experience.

Sit back, relax, and enjoy my memories. They'll be coming to a blog near you.. very soon.

Dia de los Muertos...

2010-11-18T19:10:00.001-07:00

Having a kid in school means we get lots of opportunities to experience new things along with her...

Since Kaylee is in the TWI program at her school... we get to celebrate the Spanish holidays... (we are also more aware of other religious and cultural traditions, because her class is rather diverse... (and we have some great Jewish moms who take the initiative to come in and talk about the many Jewish traditions exist... They even asked me to come in and talk about a Mormon holiday... the only one I could think of was Pioneer day and well.. that might be awkward with the whole Illinois kicking us out and whatnot.. besides its in the Summer...).

Back on November 1st, Kaylee's class celebrated Day of the Dead! All the TWI classes put up displays of deceased family members and a little tribute to them. The Hispanic families did a much better job on making something awesome to honor their loved ones. Maybe next year we'll get more elaborate.

Kaylee put up a picture of her Great Grandpa Evans who passed away a couple of years ago.

This is my Great Grandpa Evans. He passed away in early 2008 after a short battle with cancer. He was very nice and showed me through his actions about the importance of families. I am glad for the time I had with him and know that I will see him again, because families are forever.

Pictures of other classmates loved ones...

Yay for fun traditions!

Music...

2010-11-14T18:54:00.004-07:00

I like me some music...

Sometimes I come across music I really think others will like... music I have to share...

I especially like soundtracks. Recently we watched DreamWorks' How to Train Your Dragon (and in my humble opinion, HTTYD beats out Toy Story 3 by a long shot (and I am a PIXAR fangirl... own them all... also usually not a DreamWorks fan... movies are usually a little too crass for my taste, but not this time...)).

I must say that John Powell, who did the score, did a great job. If you like this small sampling and have a chance to pick up the full soundtrack... do so. You will not be disappointed.

I'll try to post up different scores that I have liked in the past and find in the future. Email me if you know of any good soundtracks off the top of your head. Eventually I'll have the greatest soundtrack mix of all time... [insert evil cackle]...

Enjoy...

Can You Trick Someone Into Reading The Scriptures?

2010-11-12T21:17:00.002-07:00

Taylor is an independent. She is a lone ranger. She is stubborn. She doesn't move with the crowd. If she gets bored with something, she will refuse to continue doing it. Basically the earth could be on the verge of being blasted into the 3rd dimensional nexus of doom by tiny laser beams from tiny magenta looking aliens from Mars (who had taken everyone's left sock before completing the annihilation of the entire human race [minus Anne Getty's babies... BECAUSE HOW CAN YOU KILL A BABY IN A PEA POD?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!]).... and while everyone would be gunning for the nearest 50s styled school desk to hide under (Duck & Cover!), she would stand on a desk playing with a plastic horse without a care in the world...

Anyway...

There was a period not too long ago (I would say... 2-3 months ago)... where Taylor was doing the whole repeat the words we would say for prayers and scriptures (actually did the scripture thing like 3.. maybe 5 times tops... and that was like within the last 3 weeks, because we switched back to the normal Book of Mormon, from the Book of Mormon reader... and yadda yadda... boom boom baaaaaahhhh...)...

Anyway...

We still try to get her to repeat the words from the scriptures... even though her response is usually... "Nooo!" "Nuh Uh!" Point at me and say "Mommy!" ... Yep... and tonight was no different...

The Scene (We'll differentiate Michael and Taylor with colors... Mike can be orange... cause he is an orange kinda guy... and Taylor will be magenta... cause the aliens were magenta...):

Michael with scriptures in hand... "Ok Taylor its your turn.." "No!" "And it came to pass..." "Noooo!" "He dwelt in a tent..." "Nuh uh!" "I saw a tree..." "whiney noise that basically means something negative.." "goodly parents..." "No!"

Then Mike decided to be a trickster... smarty pants... kinda guy...

"And it came to past... Noooo...." "Nuh uh!!" "He dwelt in a tent... nuh uh...." "Nooo!" "I saw a tree... whiney noise" "nuh uh!" "Really Taylor!?!" "goodly parents... Nooo...." "Nooo!" "Finally!"

Yep... That IS how it goes...

Darth Vader... Mash-Up Princess... Candy...

2010-11-09T18:40:00.000-07:00

Halloween 2010 was one packed in with new experiences...

First up comes from Kaylee's school... We got a note on the Monday before from school talking about the expected Halloween festivities on the up coming Friday. Ours came home in the form of Spanish, so I asked Mike to pick us up an English version the next day. When he asked about it, we were told there was a new note in the backpack and to read it, cause it explained everything. Well... that note explained that the Halloween activities had been canceled school wide. Someone on the PTA site said that they had talked with the principal about it, and he had said that because Halloween had fallen on a Sunday this year that it was considered a religious holiday and thus had been cancelled. Yar! Someone mentioned that St. Valentines day had been on a Sunday last year and the school had still celebrated it.

In the end... after much uproar from parents... the school reversed its decision on Thursday (with emails coming out right as school was letting out) and teachers scrambling to convey to parents that all things were a go. Kaylee had fun at school... and at least one of us enjoyed the yummy Mexican foods. (I'll look into getting pictures from one of the other moms... I was running late with the Guacamole and left the camera in the car).

Taylor's Pre-school Halloween party went well... (I have pictures... that I'll post later, maybe in like Dec. or Jan.). She got to decorate a pumpkin cookie, dress up, go on a little parade, and got a fun little grab bag. It was really fun and much thanks to those who put it together.

The girls had a fun primary Halloween party the week before. They got to go trick or treating from class room door to class room door. There were several other little stations set up with fun things to do (cupcake walk... fishing... etc.) in the gym. There were yummy chilis (combined chili cook-off). They got to parade around in their costumes and basically wreak havoc in the gym (which may have been the most fun).

Finally... the girls got to go trick-or-treating. We headed over into the single family housing area nearby again as I thought it was a success last year. The girls enjoyed getting candy (with Taylor being slightly possessive over her bag of candy). I made the girls take pillow cases, because that is what I grew up with and I think those were pretty cool (they not so much). Taylor got tired of walking around in heels 3/4 of the way through. They were both pretty tuckered out by the end. Taylor didn't speak to any of the people, but Kaylee had her lines down pact (and made sure that I knew she said thank you each time... I told her after a while I believed her and she didn't need to keep announcing it to me).

And... a thought out to Mike's Siblings concerning Halloween... How do you all feel about the traditional trick-or-treating, because Mike doesn't really care for it and I'm trying to figure out if that is a family-wide consensus...

I'm all for combining traditions... like family Halloween parties with a little trick-or-treating... but find myself sometimes wondering if I am slightly more overzealous about holiday traditions and activities with the feedback that comes from my spouse.

Other small tid-bits... Taylor recently became afraid of Ghosts... You hear her in the hallway saying, "Scary... Ghosts..." Otherwise she didn't seem to mind the giant spiders and other scariness that comes with Halloween...

Concerning Darth Vader... I want you all to know that Kaylee decided on Vader soon after last Halloween, and held onto the idea of him all year. There was much excitement when Vader showed up in the mail. Can I just say... HOW COOL IS MY GIRL FOR WANTING TO BE THE DARK LORD OF A GALAXY FAR FAR AWAY! (or should I be worried?)

3... Three... Tres... III...

2010-11-07T18:29:00.004-07:00

Look who turned 3...

Yes... it did happen last month. It was a pretty simple birthday. She finally *got* the whole opening present thing. By the end of it all, she wasn't quite sure how to cram all the little objects into her two hands.

3 year oldness in all its glory:

Loves to jump/hop... especially over cracks...
Stubborn! If she does not want to do it, she'll hold her ground...
Still loves playing with her toys and going on adventures with them... Especially loves small animal figurines...
Forming friendships outside of the sphere of Kaylee...
Enjoying her many activities, especially preschool...
Showing no signs of being interested in potty training (that has to be fixed between semesters)...
Our little cuddle monkey... shows some signs of possessiveness over me with her, "My Mama!" while wrapping herself around me (*Special!*)... This usually occurs when Kaylee is trying to cuddle...
Would eat chocolate all day if we would let her... Prefers only water or milk... Goes in spurts of liking foods and then disliking them...
Getting so much easier to understand language wise...
Gets excited over the simplest things... like seeing the moon, the sun, an airplane, finding a bug, or any random small object, seeing animals outside the car window, etc...
Follows Kaylee around all day, ropes Kaylee into play with her, mimics the different things Kaylee does, gets excited about things if Kaylee is (even if she doesn't get what is going on)... Likes to torment Kaylee... Gets frustrated with Kaylee... Loves her Kaylee...
Sometimes refers to herself as,"Mae"... a little girl from her favorite movie, "My Neighbor Totoro" (actually both our girls refer to themselves as the little girls from the movie.. and in many ways, those little girls remind me of mine...)

We love having our Taylor with us. She can be a little punk some days and on others turn you into a little puddle of moosh because she is just that cute! Mike & I did something good at some point to be blessed with these girls...

Other Notes...

She got to bring some cupcakes to preschool and have the kids sing happy birthday to her.

Not too bad of cupcakes (that got crammed into an already full schedule)...

Marbles...

2010-10-07T13:09:00.003-06:00

So, over the summer, Michael did some design work for a local company, called Marbles. Michael learned of the opportunity through people in our ward that work with the company.

Well, the products are finally out in the stores! We stopped by this afternoon to check them out.

This is the brain puzzle that he designed...

Michael designed the tins for these putties...

100 post mark reached!

Preschool: Taylor's Turn...

2010-10-06T21:08:00.003-06:00

Taylor started preschool last month. She is going to the same preschool that Kaylee attended last year. She needed something to occupy her time, while her best friend was away at kindergarten. So far, so good. She loves going and is very excited to see both Nancy & Rebekah. We know she likes them, since she constantly jabbers away about them.

Her language skills have gained some semblance of normalcy. I think it is because she is forced (since she doesn't have mom & dad there to decipher) somewhat to communicate in a way others can understand. Either that or she sees all the other little kids speaking English and decided to try it out too. She's also decided to become a little more independent these days. Wants to do more and more herself.

She's happy... we're happy...

And some more shots of Taylor's many faces...

Oh! Oh! Oh!

2010-10-06T20:00:00.001-06:00

Woosh!! That is how life feels right now...

Taylor: Preschool... Obsession with horses... Obsession with numerous tiny objects continues... Language skills on the rise... Potty training skills stalled... Loves books... Loves numerous activities (would love it more if one of them involved going to school with Kaylee)... Cuddle bug (wraps that little arm around your neck and pulls you in close)... Calls tinkerbell, "pinkerbull'...

Kaylee: Kindergarten... Spanish language acquisition going really well (uses simple phrases... loves counting... gets after me when I don't count in spanish)... making lots of friends (2 of her classmates that she plays with most are Jewish.. ha!)... Loves books... Loves learning... Loves school!! Having fun with gymnastics (her cartwheel is getting better)... Trying to get better at negotiating with Michael and I... Space is still her favorite subject to learn about... well that and princesses...

Petra: School... OCD... Perfectionist... Has Keratoconus in her right eye... Getting glasses so she and her oldest can be twinners (Kaylee likes the idea!)... Glasses won't fix it completely, but turns out I don't really want to touch my eyeball (contact lens) and my left eye is still really good...

Michael: Final year of grad school... Likes to play Mr. Mom... Working hard at his game (and getting great feedback on it, especially the book part these days)... Writes me notes on a daily basis (yep... I love it!)... Is wittier than I (as evidenced by his blog post... thinking about handing the blog over to him, since he is more entertaining!)... Debates art theory with me every chance he gets... Thinking of joining on the "get glasses" bandwagon...

Our family is happy... busy, but happy...

Petra's Back in School!

2010-09-26T14:15:00.001-06:00

...which is why the blog posts have slowed down lately. Most of the creative cooking around here has been done by me this month. And most of that involves trying to make waffles using only one measuring cup so I don't have to wash more dishes. Obviously the results are varying widely especially now that I think I remember the original recipe. Also, I made grilled cheese sandwiches with Kraft singles. They just don't have enough flavor to pull it off. String cheese worked way better and also the cheese is super-stretchy which allows for literally minutes of fun. In addition, I've found that you can put Costco's Panda Express orange chicken sauce on almost any food and it will be delicious. The food doesn't even have to be of asian origin! Also a caution to all you budding chefs at home: marshmallows roasted over a gas flame just don't have the same flavor, cook your s'mores on a wood fire if at all possible.

Other stuff that's been going on: Kaylee lost her glasses. We found them the next morning under the monkey bars. Her teacher told me they had looked for them. Not very hard. Its almost as if most elementary school teachers aren't willing to spend hours searching for the personal items dropped by careless kids these days. Must be all this "No child left behind" business. More like "no children's glasses not left behind."

Anyways...most of us had sore throats at some point last week. Not Petra. She must have a more genetically robust immune system. We've all been working hard to get good grades. Well, not Taylor. But she is working hard at talking instead of making horsey sounds. Soon she won't even be able to talk to horses anymore, but, as we tell her "Two legs aint s'posed to play with four legs!" It just aint right.

Hopefully Petra will be back in the saddle, but not literally of course, next week and you won't have to endure this sort of placeholder chatter for a while.

You May Have Noticed...

2010-09-05T12:50:00.001-06:00

Kaylee's hair...

You might have noticed from recent pictures of the Kaylantor that her hair is a bit on the shorter side. My friend Lisa was kind enough to give Kaylee a back-to-school haircut. While we were discussing what to do with her hair the idea of donating her hair to Locks of Love (the organization that helps collect hair for the making of wigs for kids who suffer from medical hair-loss because of a diagnosis) came up. And so...

After explaining where, to who, and exactly what her hair would be used for.. Kaylee was keen on the whole chopping her hair off. Lisa let me do the cut for the donated ponytail of hair. After looking at my cut, it was clear why I defer my haircutting needs to people much more adept at those sort of things (like Lisa!).

Anyway, it was a great experience for us and we hope it was something that Kaylee will be able to remember, and to take away the idea that doing kind deeds is a great thing to do (and fun!).

And So It Begins: The First Day of Kindergarten...

2010-09-02T18:42:00.003-06:00

It finally came... Kindergarten...

The night before.. Michael gave Kaylee, Taylor and I each a back-to-school blessing. It's a great back-to-school tradition that my girls will get to enjoy in future school years.

Kaylee is in the TWI program at her school, so she'll be learning in Spanish and English together. She was very excited to go and had no separation issues (she has never had them... she's just gone forward without hesitation).

We got to the school early (we walk) so that I could get some pictures in without feeling stressed. Kaylee & Taylor got to play around in the kindergarten area while we waited for things to get going. I found myself wanting to constantly call her back and keep her close to me.

She has a really nice teacher named Mrs. Haran, who is from Mexico.

Kaylee came home and we video taped her talking about her first day of school. And she would not sit still. I do not think I have ever seen her wiggle, climb, and fidget so much. She told me she had to get her wiggles out now, because she hadn't been able to get them out during school.

A few things she told us...

She didn't get sent to the principal's office. She was very proud of that fact.
She said there were some boys that liked her lunchbox, but that there was a little girl that thought she was a boy because of her lunchbox. (That made me a little sad, but I kept telling her she was more awesome because of her lunchbox.. she agreed [she thought the little girl was being silly]).
She said her favorite part was when the teacher read to them
She loved it!!

Taylor didn't do so well with her sister leaving. She kept saying in-between sobs, "Kaylee... She's gone... Kaylee..." and when we drove past her school later that day she said, "Kaylee's school. Let's go find her." (She's gotten slightly better at letting Kaylee go, though on day 2 she got in line with her and got upset when I made her get out of it).

First Week Reflections... She is slowly making friends. I've heard her use some Spanish with people at school. She's observant and shares information, but sometimes gets a little tired of our constant asking for every detail of school. My girl is tired when she comes home, but she somehow makes it to bedtime. I keep having to adjust Kaylee's lunch, trying to find the right balance in how much she can get through. The school routine is a definite adjustment, but we are making it work and we are really enjoying it as a family. Kaylee is still loving school and is happy to go back every day.

More pictures... enjoy!!

*About the Sister picture... there is a picture of my sister and I on the first day of school in front of a tree in a similar pose.. I thought of that picture and took the one of Taylor & Kaylee because of it. :)

Destination 3: Those VA Family Members...

2010-08-31T17:51:00.002-06:00

Our final stop was to Virginia to visit Michael's parents and siblings. The girls love all the attention their Uncles & Aunts give them (we, as parents, love having a plethora of people to entertain our kids, as well...). Michael decided to begin an obsession with fishing and spent most opportunities that arose doing that fishing thing (We did some fishing at the ponds down the road from the grandparents.. I think you could put just about anything on the end of a line and catch fish there. I mean I caught my very first fish there! Now that is something...). We baked lots of yummy treats (which I'm sure we all had fun working off afterwards). We tried indoctrinating the family with Miyazaki films, but don't think they quite took. We swam, we played, we talked (and realized how opinionated we truly are, but I think that just makes us fit in better...).

On the very tail end of our trip we got to see Michael's brother Matthew and his family (who just made a cross country trek to come back for school). Note to all cousins... move to Illinois... Doooo iiiiittttttttt!

Grandpa & Grandma!

Aunts Beth & Tiffany! Watch out for Beth, she thinks she comes up with cool clubs... not true! :P Tiff is the most awesome person in the world.. just ask Kaylee!

Uncles Brian & Josh... or as Taylor lovingly refers to them, "That's My Brian! That's My Josh!"

Cousins Katie & Will! Isn't Will a ham! :)

Look at these curly blonde (yes.. yes they are) haired girls!!

More pictures for your viewing pleasure...

After about 3300 miles we made it home! Thanks to all our family that allowed us to come crash in on their lives. Hopefully they will all have us back!

Destination 2: Massachusetts & The Great Grandparents

2010-08-29T19:16:00.000-06:00

We made our way to Massachusetts to visit my grandparents. I have many a fond memory from my childhood that are linked to them and their home.

They were great hosts to us (even amid some health hiccups). They put us up in a nice hotel and fed us a nice spectrum of yummy foods. We visited the Yankee Candle Factory mega store and watched the fun anamatronics whilst browsing the wares. The girls were able to dip candles as well. We spent some time amongst some butterflies and viewed some art by Eric Carle (author of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar") and other illustrators. We got to go around on the merry-go-round and visit the Deli in Connecticut. And we got to spend some quality time at their house exploring the outdoors, the trains, the dollhouses, and the animals (dog, cat, & turtle) while enjoying some wonderful conversations.

*The Butterfly and My Bum... They told us that the butterflies may decide to land on us. Kaylee was really excited about the idea and tried to sit or stand really still. We were talking about this when our first meeting with a butterfly ended up being on my bum. Everyone had a good laugh, with Kaylee trying hard to capture him. Kaylee got to hold two butterflies... The first came from a little girl who had got a hold of one that had a hurt wing and she was kind enough to share him with Kaylee. The second came from the one that landed on Mike's knee. Kaylee was very happy with the friendliness of the butterflies. Taylor was very excited about her butterfly stamp and the giant lizard.

*Madagascar... Our girls have an Uncle that served his mission there so we were excited to honor him by taking a picture of their Hissing Cockroaches

*Rein's Deli is a Kosher New York Style Deli in Connecticut that is owned by our Jewish relatives. Wonderful place and we never hesitate to drop by there if we are in the area. As you can tell our girls were overjoyed about being there (yay for skipping nap times!)

*That Turtle... The girls couldn't stop talking about him (or the cat and dog!). Kaylee kept repeatedly asking if she could hold the turtle. Well she got her chance! She enjoyed the experience until it was revealed upon removing him that he had left her a gift in the form of poop all over her shirt. She stopped asking to hold the turtle after that. She did keep telling us about how he pooped on her though!

It was truly a wonderful visit!!!

Lunchtime for a Kindergartner...

2010-08-20T15:08:00.002-06:00

I am going to sidetrack here from my Mike & Petra Crew Road Trip Re-cap and write about Kindergarten things for a moment.

My OCD/Perfectionist personality is making it so that I am probably over-thinking, over-planning, over-organizing, over-doing pretty much everything...

There may be several of these posts in the coming days... so chime in whenever you have any ideas... because that is exactly what I am asking for... Ideas!!

Anyway... I am trying to create a lunch menu for Kaylee and her lunchbox...

Here is my rough draft version of my few ideas that flew off the top of my head...

I'm planning on having a main dish, side dish, fruit/veggie, dessert & drink (you may notice drinks are not listed, because that is basic enough for me to not worry about)...

Are there any other ideas that you may have to add variety to the school lunchbox? Comment or email, anything is appreciated.

Other ideas that I was thinking about concerning the whole lunchbox thing:

Attaching a little pocket to the top of her lunchbox (I'll post pictures of the awesomeness that is her lunchbox soon enough) and then putting a different picture in there every day (maybe so they tell a story or something else). I would do small notes (and I may still), but since the reading skillz are still coming along that may have to wait till another year. The plan is to make 5 pictures on Sunday (fun Sunday activity) that way in the rush of the morning all we have to do is slip one into the little clear plastic pocket for her enjoyment.
Lunch Themes! Holiday themes, Season Themes, Month Themes, etc.
Silly shapes or objects with her foods...

And while we are on this subject... we are going to be one busy family this next school year. Moms, how do you do it?!? The dinnertime hoopla... Do you have quick, yummy (hopefully healthy) ideas for dinners? I'm in the process of attacking this future stress and have come up with prepping ahead on a weekly basis... that and keeping it simple on weekdays. Anyway.. keep the ideas coming. And I will be sure to share what I come up with and end up doing in the future. That there is a certified Petra guarantee... Those are special. :)

Detour A & B: Niagara Falls & Palmyra, NY

2010-08-18T23:29:00.003-06:00

We decided that since google maps was taking us past Palmyra, NY on our way to Massachusetts that we would stop by for a few hours. Mike noticed how close we came to Niagara Falls and so we decided to tack that on to our journey too.

Niagara Falls was pretty. Very touristy, and probably better enjoyed on their (expensive) boat rides. At least I assume the view would be more exciting. AND I can't believe how CLOSE we were to CANADA!!!! I left our passports at home (Mike's may actually be expired...) and so we couldn't cross over to the most awesome place on Earth (only because they say "eh!" and because of the movie Strange Brew). Otherwise it was pretty fun to feel like the All-American Family doing the All-American tourist road trip stops.

In honor of All-American Family Tourist Road Trip I decided to try messing with the color feel of my images... give them a more 70s-80s vintage feel.

Mike & the girls in front of the falls. This is a free area to view the falls from...

Better Shot of the US side of the Falls... I took this from the pay area (granted 2 dollars isn't too bad to get a better view and ride the elevator down)...

We decided that since we paid to get into the pay area that we might as well go down the elevator. Kaylee wanted to get close to the falls, so she and I walked up some steps and came back rather wet... Yes, I know one of those blue ponchos (as seen behind us) would have been helpful... BUT I feel more authentic this way...

Random shot of Michael having to clean off the wheels of the stroller after pushing it through some mud... Classic moments like these need to be captured!

CANADA!!!

Look at our little blue dot!!! We were so close!!!

Our next stop was Palmyra, NY. Birthplace of the Restoration of the Gospel. Girls were kinda grumpy and kinda not completely interested in the importance of this area. Kaylee decided not to perform when the Sister Missionary asked her questions at the Hill Cumorah Visitor's center. Taylor decided to jump on one of the beds in the Smith home and both girls had a little bit of trouble being reverent in the Sacred Grove (With Kaylee at one point telling us "I was having a good time walking with Taylor, until you came over here." We were required to walk 15 paces behind thereafter).

And of course there was me trying really really hard to drive home the importance of where we were to Kaylee and feeling slightly frustrated when it wasn't seemingly clicking for her (I blame a long drive, tiredness, and 5 year oldness...Yar!) But! They'll have memories of it... and at this time in their lives... that is all that matters. Hopefully they felt something special there too.

Reenactment of Joseph receiving the plates... Kaylee kept asking us where the stone was that the golden plates were hidden under...

Smith Home Replica... Roomier inside than it looks from the outside...

They had this really old bible in there (not the one used by the Smith family, but still way neat)...

Palmyra Temple... View from our walk from the old Smith home to the new Smith home...

Random shot of clouds.. cause they were being pretty that day...

They had cool hats back then... I tell ya.. When is this fashion statement gonna make a come-back?

Exact replica of Hyrum Smith's toolbox that at one point held the Golden Plates... (The original box resides with Hyrum's posterity)...

Sacred Grove...

Girls trying to be reverent in the Sacred Grove... Notice the folded arms...

Happy Girls...

After we left Palmyra we took a detour, off the toll road (cause we didn't want to pay the toll... but we ended up detouring back anyway), into the Finger Lake region. Beautiful area! Michael and I had fun chatting about just dropping everything and moving to a small town area (actually this exact area... it is really gorgeous) and living the simple life... I think I could be happy in a place like that.

Back on the Toll road we made our way to Massachusetts and Great Grandma & Grandpa Berger. Stay tuned for more!

Destination 1: Pittsburgh PA Area and Grandma Evy

2010-08-16T14:56:00.001-06:00

Our first stop on our Mammoth road-trip was to visit my mom who lives in the Pittsburgh PA area.

She lives in this nifty old house (oldest in her city) that has lots of fun history around it, including use for an underground railroad stop. The girls loved her dogs (all 3 of them!). Kaylee was slightly more timid around them, but Taylor felt like they should immediately obey her. My mom was a great hostess. She took us to visit Pittsburgh and see the building she worked in (I found my OCD germ issues didn't like Pittsburgh all that much... ha...). She took us up one of those nifty car lift thingies so that we could get a better view of the BILLION of bridges that crisscross their way over rivers. She took us to the Children's Museum (awesome puppet show) and also to a neighborhood carnival. We even went looking for Amish people!

Girls were sad to leave Grandma and her dogs. They were very enthralled with the idea that all their grandparents they were going to see on this trip had dogs.

Pittsburgh and all its bridge glory...

Kaylee at the carnival...

Taylor waiting for the puppet show to start before she and Kaylee moved up to the front...

Kaylee at the carnival... again...

Puppets the girls made at the Children's Museum...

Crazy camera/TV screen thingy...

Up, Up, and Away!

We got to watch a puppet show at the Children's Museum that was loads of fun.. the girls had lots of fun, especially when the puppets came over to get up close and personal...

Amish were spotted...

My girls love their Grandma Evy... as I was choosing pictures to post and Taylor saw her.. she started yelling Grandma! Grandma! excitedly.

Road Tripin'

2010-08-12T07:15:00.006-06:00

Mike & I decided that it was time for our little family to have a road trip experience!

We ended up visiting family in Western Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, & Virginia. With pit-stops in New York & Eastern Pennsylvania.

Always fun to spend hours upon hours in close quarters with family. Girls did rather well endurance wise... they ended up watching movies on our laptop, eating snacks, drawing, looking for road signs, taking multiple naps, eating snacks, and repetitively asking us where we were and how long it was going to take us to get where we were going.

It took a few times, but I think the idea of states has finally stuck into Kaylee's mind. She kept calling them continents and sometimes countries.

Taylor managed to only misplace one small creature/animal figurine out of the plethora that she came with and collected along the journey.

We did pretty well car sick wise until our trip down to VA. Kaylee decided her stomach wasn't going to agree with her and tossed her cookies twice.

I became obsessed with finding state license plates. Nevada, Wyoming, Alabama, New Mexico, Hawaii & Montana evaded me. And yet I found TWO Alaska plates! Canada represented in the forms of Ontario, Quebec & Alberta. And Washington DC has a license plate?!?

Michael kept a watercolor/sketch/writing journal of our trip for posterity's sake.

Our girls at the start of our trip....

Picture perfect Taylor...

Trying to get Kaylee to give me a natural smile is not the easiest thing on the planet to do. The picture on top was taken after me asking her to smile (notice that she looks like she is pain) and the picture on the bottom is me asking her to say cheese.

Oh and... We decided to start our own Mike & Petra family road trip tradition in the form of having Bagels for breakfast the morning we begin. Yay for traditions!!!

Follow along the next couple days for updates of each leg of the journey... It'll be fun!

Squirrels...

2010-07-25T15:30:00.007-06:00

(Artist's Rendition: Actual Squirrel Not Available For Questioning)

I knew the squirrel from "Operation Doughnut" would be back. He showed up a few weeks back, sneaking in through an open window that holds our air conditioning unit. He didn't get to anything, before I came across him that morning.

I knew I was tempting fate, by leaving our kitchen window open (screened as it is). I did my duty though. I kept baked goods covered and often put them back in cupboards.

I knew he was in my kitchen when I heard the sound of things being knocked over yesterday morning. I got out of bed and there he was, scrambling back to the hole he had chewed through our screen. I said a few choice words to him (none needing repenting of) and clapped my hands at him to get him to go back through the window. Surveying the damage... it wasn't that bad. He had chewed through pieces of the lid for my dried oats (those kind you get from the LDS food storage). He left at least two droppings (one on my counter and the other on the window sill). He may have munched on some pretzels, but it looks as though he kept himself to my counter top.

Still... I threw away the bag of pretzels, the oats (which I don't think he actually got to any of.. since the holes in the lid weren't big enough for him to get into). I tossed a bag of closed cereal, which didn't look like it was disturbed at all, but he probably walked on it... which meant it deserved being tossed. I 409'd like no ones business. I washed things off and ended up throwing two sponges away. Michael and I chatted about my CRAZY OCD GERM ISSUES and how it could be much worse, but I was trying really really hard to not have a melt down. He said he would clean it up, but I told him (since he kept trying to tell me how clean squirrels are... and I kept telling him that couldn't be true, since I see them coming out of my trash can several times a day) that I didn't trust him enough to do a good enough job. I still have anxiety about my kitchen... sigh... This is gonna take a while to get over.

We closed the window (Yay... for it being hot! hot! hot!) and the squirrel still came back several times. He didn't seem intimated at all by us. He came back in through his hole, but was sadly blocked by the closed glass window (Yah chew through that!)

Is this the end?!? I doubt it... Urban Squirrels are of a whole 'nother breed!

Life is Moving Forward...

2010-07-24T16:23:00.001-06:00

I feel it. These next few weeks are going to fly and before anyone realizes it, school is going to begin... for all 4 of us!

I'm excited and yet so full of anxiety at the same time.

Kaylee: Have I prepared Kaylee enough for school. She isn't going to be one of the "below-average" kids in her class is she? (I think we can all admit we want our kids to be on the forefront of being awesome at school.) I find myself rushing to teach teach teach her more and more. Have I instilled in her a love for learning, exploring, experimenting? Does she understand that mistakes happen, but not to give up.. to keep trying? Practice... Practice... Practice... Is she going to behave in class and listen to her teachers? Are kids going to be nice to her? Is she going to be nice to others? Is she going to be safe (she is going to be out of my care, amongst people I know not terribly well)? Will she keep that vibrant radiating out of every pore happiness that she has now?

Taylor: Basically everything I feel for Kaylee, but to a lesser extent, because she is still so young... How is she going to react with other people telling her what to do? With more structure? Am I sending her off too soon to pre-school? Will she be potty trained before she begins!?! How will she do without her best friend being around for longer periods of time? Will she miss me? Will she enjoy it?

Michael and I: Are we insane?!?!

Life is moving forward... Maybe it is the passage into a new stage in our lives that gives me this unsettling feeling. That feeling of life is changing (in good ways), but it still gives a feeling of almost sadness that life will not ever again be as it is now. Maybe it is just being so aware of the change... that makes it almost surreal.. Or it could be that, "!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Have we done all that we could up to this moment to have our children prepared for what is coming next for them? In how many ways did we fail them?" feeling...

Camera is in VA being fixed.. no pictures this week...

Lazy Days of Summer...

2010-07-15T17:38:00.000-06:00

Mike Has Another Art Blog...

2010-07-13T20:09:00.001-06:00

He has another one... and can't quite tell me what it is going to be all about. Suffice it to say, it will probably be a little bit of this.. and a little bit of that...

Follow along.. I dare you to...

(You can find a link to his blog along the right hand side of this blog... Cheers!)

Hello John Adams...

2010-07-11T22:47:00.008-06:00

Do you ever find it weird when things you have been thinking about (ALOT) pop up in random places almost reinforcing that you are correct in what you are concerned with (either that or there is someone out there that knows what you are concerned with and is helping you figure it out and piece all those disjointed thoughts into one grand life altering thought by bringing to light information that might be of help to you)?

I had one of those introspective days...

In hopes that I might come to some agreement with myself on what bothered me most out of the Pandora's box of thoughts I had just unleashed...I took it up with my, infinitely patient husband (because he has never heard me vent about these thoughts before... haha). He mentioned John Adams (a book I had planned on reading after I had finished 1776, but he had already started since I was reading 1776).. which fueled my desire to read that book even more...

So Instead of writing out something less eloquent then what author David McCullogh & John Adams wrote... I'll just share what they wrote...

"...We have too many high sounding words, and too few actions that correspond with them." -Abigail Adams

David McCullogh writes of Adams,

"Why was he [Adams felt] constantly forming yet never executing good resolutions? Why was he so absent-minded, so lazy, so prone to daydreaming his life away?

On July 21, 1756, he wrote:

I am resolved to rise with the sun and to study the Scriptures on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings, and to study some Latin author the other three mornings. Noons and nights I intend to read English authors... I will rouse up my mind and fix my attention. I will stand collected within myself and think upon what I read and what I see. I will strive with all my soul to be something more than persons who have had less advantages than myself.

"But the next morning he slept until seven and a one-line entry the following week read, 'A very rainy day. Dreamed away the time.'

There was so much he wanted to know and do, but life was passing him by. He was twenty years old. 'I have no books, no time, no friends. I must therefore be contented to live and die and ignorant, obscure fellow.'

That such spells of gloom were failings in themselves, he was painfully aware, yet he was at a loss to know what to do about it. 'I can as easily still the fierce tempests or stop the rapid thunderbolt, as command the motions and operations of my own mind,' he lamented."

There it is... exactly how I am feeling (maybe not about all the same specifics... but in general terms, it is spot on).

I have yet to find the key that will solve this debilitating problem... but that doesn't mean I'm not looking.

Navy Pier...

2010-07-09T21:50:00.015-06:00

And we conclude this visit from Beth with Navy Pier...

We debated between the Science and Industry museum and Navy Pier (with no help from Beth! I told her when we come to visit she has to make all the decisions.. Girls/teenagers are soooooooooo indecisive! :) ) Navy Pier won, because we hadn't been there.

It was pretty fun experience. I am pretty sure we didn't explore all that was possible, but we did get to ride the ferris wheel, the merry-go-round, see the stained glass museum, play in the water areas, and view lots of other stuff. There are plenty of boat ride offerings there, as well as bike rides and segway tours. There is a lot more to the area for future visits.

Yah.. I caught that at a good moment...

So far away from everything... Interesting that the only thing important to the west of us is Tokyo...

Run Forrest... Run...

She's so Hiiigghhhh... High above me...

Girls LOVED LOVED LOVED this...

Maybe a little too much... you can see her there in the bottom pointing at the doggie/horsies...

Ah.. Chicago... Horrible lighting, but still pretty. If you look near the bottom that road with the traffic (going southbound) is LakeShore Drive... Little did we know, but part of the southbound lanes had crumbled and given way a little bit earlier than when this picture was taken. It was a huge mess! Good thing we were not headed that way!

Our girls love running around in water... Best moment of the day came soon after this. As we were walking out of the park I spotted a butterfly on the ground... I showed Taylor and she squatted down all cute and kept excitedly saying (with a huge smile) "BUGGY!! BUDDERFIY!!" over and over... then (in less then a second) she stood up and tried to stomp it to death... luckily she missed, poor butterfly... I don't know if I laughed in horror or amusement...

And that concludes our Beth-Chicago Extravaganza... We enjoyed having you with us Beth. Know we think the world of you and look forward to watching your life unfold. We only hope for the best for you. Love you more then all your other siblings love you (that should at least stick us above Rob on the "best siblings ever" totem pole!)

Chinatown... in all its Americanization Glory!

2010-07-09T21:50:00.014-06:00

Or should that be America in all its Chineseization glory?

We decided it was time for us to hit up Chinatown and drag Beth along with us. Our drive down was pretty uneventful until we got within a mile of Chinatown and then the stress of driving new streets and trying to find parking set in for our dear driver and her trusted co-pilot front side passenger navigator personage (who it turns out can't say anything right during these moments.. he would claim everything he says is right!). We made it though!

Well... Chinatown had Chinese people in it. It also had lots of tourists. Michael informed me that all their little souvenir shops were indeed virtually the same in Taiwan (It seems they like to make very thin isles and fill up every available space with seemingly useless, yet shiny objects). I was rather disappointed with their selections.. I wanted something more towards the authentic side of things, but really only found cheap knock-off merchandise that the normal ignorant tourist wouldn't mind. (wow.. do I sound snobby there?) Anyway, looks like I'll have to give into Michael's grand plans of living in Taiwan or China to achieve that goal.

We went into a few shops that were more "authentic" Chinese stores (like a health food store) and they were pretty neat (I was admittedly drooling over their cupboard system.). I do believe though that we found a 3-d picture of Jesus and some children by Simon Dewy (an LDS artist) for sale in the store. Reminds me of when Andrea & I on the Big Island in Hawaii found a picture of two Goth kids in front of the SLC temple as a filler picture for a picture frame in one of the little souvenir shops.

We ate some yummy Chinese food and had a yummy icy fruit drink with the tapioca balls. And that was Chinatown. Maybe we will hit it up again during Chinese New Year or something when they do something exciting!

These greeted you on your way into the Chicago Chinatown Library Branch...

I think they were pretty sick and tired of me taking pictures at this point...

Pot-Stickers.. Pretty Tame...

Beef, Mushroom, Onion on Rice Mixture... Made even cooler by being in this wooden log thingy...

Duck!

Ice Fruit Drink with Tapioca pearls... Yay for surprises in your straw!

We are indeed Pigs... Wait a minute!

Did you read that!?! I project RAW POWER!!! If this doesn't secure me friends, I don't know what will...

Roosters... and yet not morning people... interesting...

Ah... Arrogance... Truth it speaks (Mike isn't over my shoulder, so I can mock him).. and organized!?! I almost spit my water out at that one... Do I dare take a picture of his work area and closet!?! (Maybe he should stand behind me more often when I write these...)

And that my dear friends is Chinatown take 1.

Books... Beignets... Board Games... And things that go BOOM!...

2010-07-07T13:24:00.003-06:00

Books....

If there is anything that I have learned about my husband's family over the last 7ish years is that they like their books. At any given time you can find one of his siblings sprawled out on the couch or lounging in a chair with a book. They are quite content to spend the whole day with a book. When we were first married Michael and I had a discussion about this, because I didn't understand how when we went on vacation he just wanted to stay put with a book instead of exploring (granted we were in his hometown and I am not sure he felt too compelled to explore it). I think I also was somewhat put off by it, because is those first few visits I was still getting to know the structure, workings, mannerisms, and personalities of his family (which left me feeling somewhat alone in that new world). Granted now... doesn't bother me at all and I think I would feel somewhat weirded out if they stopped doing it.

So I guess I shouldn't have been worried about not being "cool" siblings when both Beth & Michael parked it on the couch (In our oven-like apartment) to read after a morning trip to the farmer's market & library. Such creatures of habit.

Beignets...

Found something I wanted to recreate from Taste of Chicago it seems. Beth and I went at it one of the evenings she was here. Few minor tweaks in the future on the recipe, but was enjoyed by all (maybe a little too much!) We also made No Bake Cookies, which I must say tasted best right from the freezer (did I mention that our apartment feels like an oven!?!) Recipe can be found on my food blog...

Once again they went at the powdered sugar (but later were quite alright to try eating some of the beignets themselves!)

Let's just say that I will be spending some time over the next few days working off my over-enjoyment of the baked goods and other foods I ate over the weekend.

Board Games...

LOVE LOVE LOVE playing board games (love a good game of cards too). We don't do a ton of it when it is just Michael & I (because board games are much more fun with more people and the girls aren't old enough to understand some of the complexities of the game [though Kaylee is getting closer, she cheats on occasion though]), other than Candyland & Chutes and Ladders. I really enjoy the atmosphere that a good board game can create. Grab some nice goodies, fun drinks, & get some good conversation going and you've got the makings of a great evening.

We convinced Beth that we should play board games most evenings she was here and occasionally on downtime during the day... We ended up playing: Harry Potter Clue, Boggle, Ticket to Ride (European), & Phase 10. She probably thought we were starved for game time, since I was always suggesting it.

Come visit so we can play.. :)

We also watched the movie Ponyo. Our whole family are big Miyazaki fans.

Things that go BOOM!...

Turns out fireworks are illegal here in Illinois. We also moved here last year right at this time and decided to forgo any of the festivities as we were trying to orient ourselves and unpack. We ended up heading over to NU to get a view of the fireworks which are set off by Lake Michigan. We had a decent view of the fireworks being shot off down in Chicago (yep you can see that far) and next year we will be sure to put ourselves in a better position (one without trees) to view ours. Took lots of pictures & Video, but had a brain-fart the next morning and cleared my card, before taking the shots off. So no pictures from that little venture.

Enter Beth...

2010-07-06T10:14:00.004-06:00

Somehow (between the combined efforts of Michael & I and Beth) we convinced the powers that be to let Beth come visit us for a few days.

Ah.. the joys of hosting a visitor. The anxiety that comes with trying to create something that will be memorable & enjoyable. The efforts to hide all your weird everyday mannerisms that you can get away with when it is just your immediate family, but you aren't quite sure how it is going to go over with an outsider. And then of course... hoping that you somehow convinced them that they will someday want to come back for another visit (though... if you didn't want them to ever come back I would assume you would want to do the opposite). Well... want to know what is even better?? Hosting A Teenager.

We tried to think of things that would WOW Beth and the surrounding blog posts will allow you to decide how we did (because Beth.. being the kind guest that she was told us we did a good job... but she might have just been saying that, because she didn't want to hurt our feelings!)...

Taste Of Chicago...

2010-07-06T10:13:00.010-06:00

What way to best introduce Chicago then through its food! I mean Chicago is pretty diverse... We have all sorts of cultures (Polish, Greeks, Southerners, Europeans, Asians, Jews, Indians, Muslims, etc.) that have settled here and brought with them the awesomeness that is theirs. So when I heard about Taste of Chicago.. I thought WOOHOO!!!!

Alas... What happened to my expectations is what happens to you when a movie or a book (or whatever you want to imagine) is hyped up beyond belief to only be sadly disappointed, because it didn't reach the heights of pure greatness that it was supposed to.

It was a pretty decent experience and it was neat to see it all, but instead of being this smorgeshborg of ethnic foods (that I know help make Chicago unique) it was like the Best Fast Food (not to be confused with Wendy's or McDonalds... more like nicer.. more expensive.. fast food) that Chicago has to offer. There were a few gems that we came across (I'm sure if we talked with people that had gone before that we would have found more) like the African inspired rice and goat that we all tried (which I of course forgot to photograph before it disappeared) and...

Not really a gem... and kind of disappointing when you have had real Chicago Deep Dish Pizza....

Italian Ice... Enjoyed because it was so flipping warm outside (Beth decided to come during some of the hottest days this summer!)... We had some gelato the next day and it made me forget this...

Quite honestly the best part of the whole experience! Beignets! Have you ever watched a movie (or an animation) and seen some food on it and been like, "Does that really exist? And if so how do I get me one of those!?!" Kaylee was pretty excited to try something that Princess Tiana made. Granted the powdered sugar was enjoyed quite a bit more then the Beignets themselves...

Speaking of foods in movies.. ever since I was a little girl I have been fascinated with huge drumstick pieces of meat with that glistening skin covering it. It all started with the movie Sleeping Beauty (where the two kings have a food fight) and continued through Pirates of the Caribbean and I want to say Lamb of God (I am sure there are other movies too). Well... I saw some guy with one!!! They exist! After thinking it over some more I realized I probably would have found them at any Medieval festival dinner thingy or something like a Renaissance Fair.

A Few Other Bits of Chicago...

2010-07-06T10:13:00.009-06:00

Guess what!?! I like free stuff (maybe a little too much, because even if I don't need it or would have no use of it... I will still gravitate toward picking whatever it is that is free up). Admit it! You do it too... How many mini shampoos, conditioners, soaps have you taken with you? Or how many times have you used your grocery cart to crush through the other carts to get to one of those taste test booths at the grocery store?

Anyway... scored some cricket phone mini frisbees on one of the corners of Michigan Ave. Kinda made me want to scour the rest of Chicago touristy areas for more free junk! But I stayed strong and we moved on to...

At least there isn't some scary looking kid/adult face being projected onto it in this shot...

I recently read an article in the Chicago Tribune that talked about how Illinois was in the mid-lower 20s on most obese states in the nation (Colorado sat at 51... which I can believe after being there a week or so ago). Child obesity was brought up (as it always is in those articles), but after looking at this picture I am sure my girls are on the other side of that spectrum (she was not happy about saggy britches!).. I've always joked that I have starving Ethiopian looking children... They just run that food off...

Kaylee either looks awkward or crazy when trying to get her to pose for a picture...

A trip to Chicago wouldn't be complete without a visit to Millennium Park. The girls decided to cool off! Beth was a great sport and went in after them fully clothed (and somehow I don't have a picture of that... weird). Thankfully Michael's studio was close by and we were able to get some people into dry clothes.

We made a quick trip over to the bean...

And who wouldn't want to take advantage of Michael's ability to get free tickets to The Art Institute of Chicago...

And... I'll leave you with this little gem...

1 Year Later...

2010-07-02T22:37:00.002-06:00

And life couldn't be better!!

Potty Woes... Point Jars... Other Happenings...

2010-06-30T17:59:00.006-06:00

Something switches in my brain during the potty training phase. I do great with changing diapers (especially with my inability to smell). Dirty diapers do not bother me... almost a challenge to see how few of wipes I can use to get through those really messy ones. But... as soon as that stuff finds its way into a potty or elsewhere... I don't handle it as well.

Taylor has been doing much better with her peeing in the potty. I can't remember the last time we had wet panties (she does love her "kat-kat" panties featuring Hello Kitty). Michael even told me that over the weekend she chose to pee without either of us prompting her to. Otherwise we ask her to sit down on it about every hour or so. It helps that we placed the potty out in the living room area, since that seems to be where we are most. However... pooping in the potty is another matter. For instance, today, (we've noticed Taylor poops about the same time every day) I had her just sit on the potty while I let the girls watch Disney's Alice In Wonderland. Whole movie she sat there.. she pee'd, but no poop. I decided maybe the fact that she pooped twice yesterday (How she will love me some day for sharing all this info.) that maybe there was nothing to come today. I sent the girls to take a nap. About 5 minutes later, Taylor comes in upset muttering really fast with the word poopy popping up here and there. Sure enough she pooped in her panties. Frustrating... so aggravating... At least this time.. she came to tell me and seemed slightly upset by the turn of events...

Getting my girls (well... mainly Kaylee. I'm just happy to get Taylor to take things back to her room at this point) to do their jobs around the house has taken some creativity. First, I tried hoping they would just miraculously want to be clean (no such luck). Then I tried just asking them to do certain jobs (cause my kids don't need any incentive other then my asking them, yah they are just that perfect.. not). Finally, I had Michael make this really cute job chart (Taylor just kept tearing it down and Kaylee didn't seem at all interested).

Things needed to change. I really want my girls to be clean and to learn responsibility and taking care of their space. Recently I came across the idea of a points jar.

How it works:

Certain jobs & behaviors around the house garner a certain amount of points.
Certain bad behaviors can lose points.
There are rewards that cost points.

Kaylee & I spent some time one morning decorating the jars. I got some girly looking gems at Michaels to use as the physical representation of the points. We made a point chart (more for Michael & I to reference) and then made a list of rewards and their costs. So far it has been working great! Kaylee gets really excited about earning points. She also gets to practice her counting skills while sorting her points. Some days she asks me how she can earn more points. My favorite is that she is more likely to finish all her food now, because she will get some points for it (as well as for trying out new foods.. even if she ends up not liking them!).

Early last week she spent her points so that we could go as a family and see the matinee show of:

And to wrap up the month of June here is a little bit of info about how we spent our first month of Summer Vacation:

We got season passes to the swimming pool and have so far emerged sunburnless
I spent some time in Colorado watching World Cup games, browsing farmer markets, drinking hot chocolate, bike riding, good food, walking & enjoying my hosts.
Went to a local street fair
Weekly ritual of the farmer's market
Getting books from the library as well as signing up for our Library's Summer reading program
Various church activities
Making lots of goodies
Long evening walks (well.. I was running and Kaylee was riding her bike, but there was some walking involved)
Summer cleaning, reorganizing and purging
Kaylee finished up her year of preschool & gymnastics
Lots of lazy summer days (because how many more of those are we going to get?!)

We have lots planned for July! It is going to be a great summer!

My Weight-Loss Goal... Did it happen?!?

2010-06-21T08:23:00.004-06:00

It has taken me two weeks to post this, because I wanted to make sure that I could maintain it... but!

2 Weeks ago I hit my goal for weight-loss. I finished. 25 lbs lighter, several inches gone, muscles that haven't seen toning in a really long time, and an all around healthier me. There are still things I plan to work on... and weight/diet maintenance will probably be something I will have to work at for the rest of my life... but go me!

What wisdom have I taken from this whole thing? (Remember... my opinions... these are things I found that worked for me...)

You can hear/read about it all over the place these days-- weight-loss takes a combination of diet & exercise. 3500 calories = 1 lb. Create a weekly deficit between eating less & burning calories through exercise. Have to eat healthy foods too... can't eat only just less junky foods. 1-2 lbs of weight loss a week is healthy and probably means you are creating permanent loss as well as gaining healthy habits.
I had to say goodbye to breads, rices & pastas. If I did eat those I ate the whole-wheat version, but I still ate pretty small portion sizes of these.
I completely agree with the 3 meals & 3 snacks a day idea. Eating every 2.5-3 hrs helped my body to not go into "I am a giant cranky food seeking monster of starvation that will eat everything and anything in my sight." This is not to say that I wasn't hungry during other times of the day, but it was easier to tell my body to wait and to feel like I would not over eat. It also increases your metabolism. I was told that a sign of my metabolism increasing would be when I started feeling hungry when I first got up in the morning... I have never been hungry in the morning when I first got up, but after a few weeks of this I began waking up hungry.
It was normal for me to feel hungry about 15-20 minutes before a meal and for about 15-20 minutes after eating (which is about average for people). It takes a little bit of time for your body to feel finished... so even if I still felt hungry after eating I would just tell myself to wait and sure enough the cravings would subside and my body would feel satisfied.
Drink LOTS of water. I started out drinking 64 oz and when I was really pushing the cardio & weights I jumped up to 96 oz a day. Got myself a 24 oz bottle (with 16 oz & 8 oz marked) and kept count of how much I drank. Try to not drink so much water right after you eat... so that you do not flush all the nutrients you just ate up. Had to use the bathroom a lot more... was kind of annoying. Helps curb appetite too... (my health teacher in college once said that sometimes your body says it is hungry when it is actually just thirsty).
I had to find something to occupy my time, if I felt any bit of boredom setting in I had to occupy myself otherwise I would just snack my boredom away.
If you do decide to go completely healthy on your diet, give yourself something to look forward to every week. If you completely deny yourself of sweets, or more non diet friendly foods (like pizza, pastas, breads) your body will crave these and you may find yourself succumbing to their evil deliciousness. If you allow yourself a "cheat" meal/treat once a week it gives yourself something to look forward to and help puts those cravings at bay, because you will get it.
Counting Calories/Checking portion size seems like it is just one more thing to take time away. It really does help though to give you a better idea of portion sizes and how fast calories can add up. Target had a dinky scale that worked for 5 bucks.
Shake up your work-out routine. Your body will adapt to the amount of time you are putting in and to the exercises you are doing. Run 1 week... get out on your bike the next... do some yoga, mess around with the sets/reps you do of weights/toning exercises.
Stress is bad... actually makes your body want to hold on to its fat.. so relax.... very hard for me to do...
Having a girl body can be stressful.. because guess what... we do tend to hang onto water weight at certain times of the month... So get to know your body and when things are a little funky it won't stress you out as much...
Sometimes my weight would come off pretty regular and other times I wouldn't see any change and then WHAM! 2 lbs drop off in one day.
Record.. Record... Record... Take some pictures to compare... before and after... it will help you see the difference. Maybe do it once a month or something... Might want to take measurements too...
To be honest here... this took some mental focus & dedication. I wanted to quite many times, but I had to push through. If you cheat or fall off the wagon so to speak... get back up and keep at it... mistakes happen... it is what you do after that really counts...
Take some time to do some positive reinforcement (my public speaking teacher told us to do it in front of the bathroom mirror in the morning). I struggle with this, because I am truly my worst critic and probably beat myself up mentally and emotionally better than anyone else ever could. Basically if I screw up, say something dumb, make a mistake... chances are I have noticed it and am in the process of mentally and emotionally agonizing over it, analyzing it and punishing myself. go.. me... There are benefits & drawbacks to being self-aware... somehow I have more of the drawbacks... ha

If anyone wants to hear many more details of my whole experience or any other bits of wisdom I might have give me a call... or I can call you. I can answer questions too... I can even be a good advocate/supportive personage. Look at me.. I'm trying to be helpful... :)

I promise to post a photo within the next two weeks...

Bye Bye Beard...

2010-06-16T12:11:00.000-06:00

I lost the battle... :( The beard was shaved off today. I was promised 4 months of beard growth and I only got about 5 1/2 weeks. Lame. Lame. Lame. It would seem I don't hold as much sway concerning my husband's decisions about his personal appearance as I once thought I did. 6.5 years has desensitized him to my opinions. ha. Shouldn't it be the other way around?

Granted... it turns out that there are just some places on his face that hair refuses to grow.

Shirt.Wooted Again!

2010-06-10T23:11:00.002-06:00

Yay!

Wisconsin Road Trip

2010-06-09T17:41:00.002-06:00

We took a road trip up near Madison, WI over the weekend to attend the reception of one of Michael's mission companions. It was really good to see Joe again and to meet his new wife Rebecca. They were really cute together and the reception was loads of fun. They had yummy food, fun games (for the newlyweds), scrumptious cake, little teddy bears for the little girls to catch instead of a bouquet, lots of music with lots of dancing!

Wisconsin is beautiful. Very green, lots of wide open space and a barn about every 1/2 mile or so. :) There was a lot of rain on our way up (as you can see below), luckily we only hit up some highway closure on the way back (it would not have been fun with a rain/night combo).

Documentation that proves our journey really happened...

Relaxation is key for these long drives to be successful...

Someone's arm straps need to be tightened...

Holy Rain Batman! Yes the window wipers were going...

More Rain! Window Wipers were active!

Michael, Joe & Rebecca...

Missionary Michael & Missionary Joe foam sword fighting...

Seeing The World Differently Now...

2010-06-07T14:33:00.005-06:00

Took my Kaylee in for her kindergarten eye exam, thinking it would be quick, simple & uneventful. Ha!

Turns out that 5 year olds tend to be farsighted. The eye doctor told us she would probably grow out of it and wasn't too concerned about it. But.. then she mentioned the whole having astigmatism in her right eye. Then came the prescription for glasses.

Kaylee is really great at wearing them and I think all the compliments she gets helps to feed that ego of hers. But.. don't let that mature look fool you... she is still a 5 year old down to the bone.

After receiving her glasses her father proceeded to try them on and found to his surprise that he could see a little bit better. Yep... :)

Plantar Fasciitis

2010-06-04T07:52:00.000-06:00

Feet... hmph!

For about a week now I have been dealing with pain in the back of my heels and the bottom of my heels. Basically they hurt whenever I put my weight on them. I hobble around instead of walking and my speed is now set to tortoise. It is worst in the morning, but gets gradually better by the evening.

I don't think I have ever been so grateful for normal working feet. I took for granted how much I need to be up and moving around. In reading up about plantar fasciitis, it mentions that it is commonly found in older people and in young athletes & soldiers. I think they could add moms who have been exercising a lot too.

My home isn't up to par on the clean/organized register. It is slightly discouraging trying to get things done when every step makes you cringe in pain. So you would think I would just try relaxing- stay off the feet... but then things don't get done & that ends up stressing me out. And somehow I have decided my OCD stress (over being perfect) is worse than dealing with pain. Hmmm.... I am so much happier when I am productive.

Things are getting better... I just hope this doesn't stick around for months (like it says it can). My nutritionist sent me some nice stretches to do to help my feet feel better. I probably should invest into a nice shoe inserts too...

In the end, I find that I have more respect/empathy towards those that deal with pain on a daily basis for long periods of time. Much praise goes to you for continuing to do the normal (and more) daily things with having that constant nuisance around.

Pancakes & Star Wars

2010-05-30T18:04:00.003-06:00

I love this girl... She doesn't necessarily love my camera...

My girls love pancakes... My Kaylee loves Star Wars... Williams-Sonoma (as my sister pointed out for me) made something that nearly got her head to explode... I'm working on my technique, but hopefully these are one of those things she looks fondly back on and thinks, "My mom did fun things for me..."

School Carnival

2010-05-28T08:55:00.002-06:00

The other day there was a carnival at Kaylee's future school. We thought it would be a fun little family activity and made our way over there.

Just being on the school grounds brought all these warm fuzzy feelings about being a mom of a child in elementary school. I can't wait for the Fall when we do back to school shopping and pick up all her supplies. I just love that feeling. Science Projects, History Reports, Stories, Math, Reading, Art, Spanish.. etc.. I cant wait!

Do you ever getting feelings like that... ones that just bring you to a sort of home... a familiar and comforting feeling and yet exciting? It brings you back to a memory (and the feelings you experienced with it) that had enough of an affect on your life to still reside within.

Girls had lots of fun. Taylor was a bit irate about not getting to ride the pony (but we were pretty sure she would freak out being on it without one of us right next to her...) so we tried distracting her with the playground. She still ended up yelling, "I want to ride the doggie! DOGGIE!!!" They got to play on big blow up slides and jumping areas. They played some little games and won some small prizes! Much fun!

Pictures by Michael and his iphone...

Taylor without her "flop flops" on...

Taylor with her "flop flops" on...

Finally contained within a cage...

Does this look like a doggie to you?!?!

Shedd Aquarium

2010-05-23T21:11:00.002-06:00

We headed down into Chicago to visit the Shedd Aquarium the other day with some friends. It is nice to know people with memberships to other museums, because it makes going to them not only lots of fun, but also cheaper. ;)

Allan, Summer, Atticus, Lincoln, & baby Gabe were kind enough to show us around. We are definitely going back! (Hopefully our next visit will not involve a billion and a half school field trip kids!)

The girls loved seeing all the different kinds of fish. It really is a treat to show the girls what amazing creatures exist and open up that dialogue with our girls about the world around us.

Got to say... next time I need to bring my flash with me.. Yar...

Tinkerbell, Modesty, Tape, & Kaylee

2010-05-21T15:19:00.000-06:00

Kaylee took matters into her own hands when Tinkerbell's modesty was at stake. She grabbed some Ivy that is growing on the side of our flat and with the tape that her father lovingly bestowed upon her several weeks ago she crafted this little gem together.

Gotta love her problem solving skills!

Year 1: Complete

2010-05-13T18:29:00.004-06:00

Congrats Michael!!!

Michael finished up his first year in his quest for his MFA! He had his last class today and then got to breathe the breath of fresh summer vacation air.

It has been a great semester. Michael found a new focus for his artistic energies (after setting aside his 8.5 ft cardboard man) in the form of his game. He has gotten great feedback about it & lots of new ideas (basically it was received a lot better in an art atmosphere than he expected). Most importantly is that he is really excited about it! I am honestly amazed each time I see what he has done next with it. My spouse has some mad skillz!

While he wasn't working on that he spent time delving into the Medieval times & all the fun textiles that came from that era.

Even though he is on break till September... he has lots of things to occupy his time. He'll continue working on evolving and refining his game. He has some extracurricular design projects for a local company. Then there are all the other fun things he will think up to create. He also has us... 3 ladies to drive him nutty as we explore our surroundings.

1 year down... 1 year to go... Time does fly...

Side note: One of my Mother's Day gifts from Michael was him finally growing out his beard for longer than a week... so if he looks scruffy over the summer, you can blame me and my obsession with his facial hair.

Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-09T17:52:00.004-06:00

This was my gift from Kaylee from preschool.

My thoughts on Motherhood and me...

I feel very fortunate for the opportunity to be a mother and I hope that I will always be worthy of the gift of caring for my children.

Though, most days I feel like a failure of a mother.

I read this book called "Outliers: The Story of Success" and in it the author talks about it taking
approximately 10000 hours to become a master at something. It got me thinking about what I skills I would like to be master of... what spheres of being would I like to be master of. I came up with a pretty large list. Two of those things at the top of my list are that of being a mother & a wife.

I am sure there a plenty of women out there that do the motherhood thing a lot better than I have from day 1 (I have outstanding mothers, sister-in-laws, extended family members & friends/acquaintances that have proven this fact to me). I don't even want to try and count how many mistakes I have made, how many things I wish I had done differently, things I wish I had known... etc. What I do know is this... that there is always a tomorrow. There is always the opportunity to do things better- to be better.

Some days I feel like the quote that is often (though there are several variants on this quote) attributed to Thomas Edison, it saying... "I have not failed, I've just found 10000 ways that won't work." It seems it is my lot to find out how to not do things most days... but I do figure things out eventually. (Studying out what I have done in the past & observing others has gone a long way in helping my figure things out.)

Never give up... Successes will come...

Motherhood is hard. Sometimes it is enough to put me to tears as I lie in bed trying to enter that void of blackness that brings relief to the stresses of life, the never-ending worries & thoughts. And then the hopeless thoughts of, "I don't know if I have it in me to get out of this bed and face the day..." "I can't do this... it is just too hard.." can come as the sunlight refuses to leave me in the safety of sleep or the disrupting sounds from the other room cruelly invade the silence. And when it seems like nothing else can go wrong... something does and you just want to run... run so far away...

Motherhood is priceless. The feelings of wonder when finding out that there is someone growing inside me to the first hearing of the heartbeat & first cry. To holding that infant in my arms and knowing it is mine forever. To looking into their eyes and ending up gazing into the eternities. And then there is that never ceasing, honest to goodness pure, innocent, undeserving true love that radiates from every pore of their being. Those words of, "I love you Mommy..." can make the darkest day seem brighter then the sun at noon day. And then there is that getting the opportunity to be a part of the adventure of their lives, to see them reach for their potential and to witness events in their journey and the outcomes of their decisions.

Motherhood is worth it. Nothing can compare.

1 Successful Potty Moment

2010-05-03T11:30:00.002-06:00

Occurred this morning! Woo!

Now we just need more of them.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

2010-05-02T17:29:00.006-06:00

I am rather excited about what came out of my kitchen today.

Check it out!

Sleeping Habits

2010-04-30T07:57:00.007-06:00

What sleeping habits does your family have?

Our family varies from group to group and individual to individual. Funny how that works... Interesting to see how different people can be in things as simple as sleeping.

Sorry for my sloppy video recording... Seems I am not very good at it.. :)

She is sleeping there with Stitch (from Lilo & Stitch)... which was Kaylee's stuffed animal, but Taylor decided to commandeer it...

Together, the girls, have a sort of sleeping ritual that we must go through every night for them to successfully go to sleep each night.

Bathroom time: potty, tub-time, diaper change, brush teeth, comb through hair, jammies
Scriptures, prayer, & plans for tomorrow time (which usually consists of Kaylee telling us what her plan for tomorrow is)
Followed by water time & piggy back time
Personal prayers. Hugs & Kisses. Love yous, Wuv yous, Goodnights, G'nights.
Sending Taylor back to bed 7-10 times.

If Kaylee has a scary dream, she usually ends up at the foot of my side of the bed. If her father continues to kick her, she tries to sneak up in-between us. Taylor hasn't reached the nightmare stage, but she does saunter in now and again for a refill on her water.

Taylor is my sleep in girl, stinker at going to bed, and not my nap taker. Kaylee is my early bird, obedient bedtime girl, and a great nap taker still.

The girls do camp outs on the floor occasionally. Or camp outs with me, while their dad sleeps on their bunk beds. They can sleep pretty much anywhere and will sleep pretty much anywhere.

They breath really loud when they sleep. With Taylor snoring quite often.

Musts - For Kaylee... it is Bear Bear, Star Blanket, hugs & kisses, & water. For Taylor... it is monkey, a towel, a big blanket (so glad she is out of the little blankets having to be arraigned a certain way... that one got old.. especially when we had to fix them several times a night), hugs & kisses, & water. We honestly can not miss any of those. Funny what they must have.

Mike - Man is asleep within 5 minutes of that head hitting the pillow. Occasionally he gets kicked by yours truly if he makes that evil throat clicking sound (Stephen & Matthew may know what I am talking about there) or snores.

Can sleep anywhere... Church, Temple, Airplane, Car, School, While I am talking to him (my favorite), with or without a blanket (though I have noticed he is a feet inside the blanket kind of guy), Someone else's house, Stressed or relaxed, etc.

He & I both need our white noise... usually in the form of a fan.

Me - Other then some weird OCD germ issues with things having to be arraigned a certain way. Yes I am crazy. It takes me anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour to fall asleep. It takes me a long while to get this brain to shut down.

Only good night rest I get is when I am in my bed with my spouse nearby. Otherwise it takes me a little while to adjust to new surroundings or new situations. Left side preferred - feet in the blanket kind of person. I used to move my feet back and forth a lot.. but I only do that occasionally now. I used to only sleep in a curled up ball, but now I like to stretch out.

AND WOW! I am wordy these days...

Bits & Pieces of Our Week... (Journaling Entry)

2010-04-24T20:40:00.005-06:00

It has been a cold & wet week here. Please come back Spring.

Taylor

Taylor is still my imagintive play child. She is so content to have two random objects in her hands and go into her own little world with them. Granted sometimes those objects are crayons & pens and they leave their tracks from their adventure over the arms of my couch. But she talks to them in her own little language and it is just way cute (note to self... video tape it). Taylor is finally repeating words for prayers. She likes to remind us that she wants to say them by repeating the word "dear" over and over.

She had a hard day on Thursday. She really wants to be a part of all the fun things Kaylee does. I don't think we will have a problem with leaving her at preschool in the Fall. I practically had to drag her screaming/kicking little body out of Kaylee's class. So cute though.. she was in there trying to take off her jacket & shoes and sit with the kids.

It feels like one day Taylor's speech just became clear and more understandable. She is coming up on the last of her diapers and then OPERATION: TAYLOR POTTY TRAIN will commence. Still my stubborn eater. If she had her way she would just rotate between waffles, eggs, mac & cheese, chicken nuggets & pizza.

Still my cuddler & kisser. She says "wuv you" all the time. At bedtime it is this back and forth between the girls and us with shouts of "love yous, wuv yous, goodnights, g'nites." That can pretty much go on forever. She (along with her sister) still likes to demand piggy back rides after family scriptures & prayers ("back! back!" - I believe that is how we started getting her to pray... we bargained piggy back rides for prayer... go us). And don't forget their hugs & kisses... not a good thing to miss.

She had an upset tummy last night. I came to in the middle of her first emptying out of her stomach. She finished up with the towel I got her and then tried to use that towel and clean up her pillow (most cute... even at 2:30 in the morning... maybe that is why it was cute?). After cleaning it up and starting a load of laundry I tucked her up and she cuddled up on me as I lay on the couch holding her. 30 minutes of bliss. Honestly... kids throwing up in the middle of the night is not usually a pleasant experience... but last night was one of those keeper moments. Guess that means look for the good in every situation.

Finally... she got mad at me for taking my phone away from her the other day (I had a phone call). She stood next to the couch with this look of "Better give that back or I will take you out back and you will regret you ever were born" and slamming her fist down on the side of the couch to emphasize her point. Ah... my moody daughter. Tried so hard not to laugh.

Kaylee

Busy, busy with her schedule. She started Spring gymnastics at a new Gymnastics place. Much nicer facilities and she gets to do a lot more. She'll do gymnastics camp for part of the summer. She has a two week beginners blitz swimming class starting up in May. She still enjoys her preschool & church activities. Always demanding playdates. I can't wait till it warms up and stays warm... yay for the beach and the billions of parks here.

TWI! We tried explaining the TWI program to her over breakfast and she replied with "That's good. Now tell me the story about Kaylee Bat Fairy Princess." Yep.. she's excited. I officially signed her up for her TWI Kindergarten class in the Fall. We taught her what limited Spanish we know, "Hola! Adios Amigos!" and 1-10. The best was when Mike came home and she was like, "Hola Chichi!" Yep... mixing Spanish & Japanese.

She is always my little helper. She likes helping me change Taylor's wet diapers, setting & clearing the table, helping me cook & bake, mothering Taylor (and most every other child), bringing up groceries, etc.

Always the best reminder that we should use kind words with each other. She is always the complimenter. She told me I was a great cook after making dinner the other night.

Michael

Coming up on the close of year 1 of his grad school exploits. Always working on art, always thinking about art, always talking about art. The boy loves his art. He's had some really good experiences this semester (and hopefully I will be able to blog about those soon). Such a hard worker... focused too.

Goes back and forth on if he wants to grow a beard... after about a week (Sunday morning to be exact) it gets shaved off.

Getting slightly annoyed with my baking obsession. Says I am trying to make him fat. LIES I tell you! LIES!

Petra

Baking/cooking obsession. This week I made: blueberry muffins (yes... frozen blueberries & fresh blueberries create different outcomes), mint oreo truffles & regular oreo truffles, peanut butter chocolate bars, homemade pizza, m&m cookies (mind you... I almost whipped up another batch from scratch in my obsession to get puffy pretty looking cookies.. I failed..). I plan on trying bread tomorrow... and almond joys later in the week. And get this! Get this! I have not tasted any of those things. Not a one!

Any requests... send them my way. Anyone want any of the things I make... let me know. My family will be happy to share.

Look below...

Yar!

2010-04-24T20:40:00.000-06:00

There be pirates here...

Kaylee's friend Jack had a birthday! It was held at a place called Pump It Up... so you can imagine there was plenty of running & jumping around. Kaylee had a really fun time with her friends. She got to eat some yummy pizza, pirate booty, and a massive cupcake! She also got a pink balloon & took home some pirate treasure! Luckily her head did not explode from all the excitement.

Taking pictures in low light of children that are not staying still at any one moment is tricky & problematic.

Pictures are slightly Kaylee biased... hmmm....

Two-Way Immersion Program (TWI)

2010-04-15T21:41:00.004-06:00

Here in our lovely school district they have a program for K-5 called the two-way immersion program. It is a program where half the class is native Spanish speaking students & the other half is native English speaking students. The class is taught in Spanish (but I believe they do their reading in their native tongue.. I could be wrong and I'll explain why further down). The school where Kaylee will go for Kindergarten has this option. And you can't just say you want your kid in it and they put them in. No no no... there is a whole "lottery" process. That's right.. you can tell the district that you would like your child in a certain program and they will assign your child a random number along with everyone else's kids who want in the program and then randomly choose which lucky kids make the cut. You just hand them your paper and hope you are one of the few chosen.

Like any OCD parent (that would be me) I opted for the... "I'll toss my daughter's name into all the hats and see what comes back my way." (The Hats: TWI program, Magnet Schools, Permissive Transfer...) Well... got my (anxiously awaited) letter in the mail today and it said:

"We are pleased to inform you that your child, Kaylee, has been selected for the TWI program..."

I don't think that was the answer I was looking for. The TWI program was my 3rd pick. And it was my 4th until the whole overcrowded thing went down with a few of the other schools in the district so I decided to move permissive transfer down a spot... since I didn't think she would get into one of the overcrowded schools when they were kicking out people in their own boundaries. So really it was my 4th pick. Not to say I am ungrateful. A lot of parents from what I could tell at all the meetings I attended really wanted their children in this program. I just kind of was surprised by it. And I'll admit it.. because it was so low on my list of concerns I didn't really pay attention to all the info about it... nor the questions raised by other parents.

I want Kaylee to speak other languages (Heck! I want to speak other languages!). So while I am excited at this opportunity I also have concerns and they are these:

Will she stay on at least par with where the other kids in her grades that are in the normal gen ed classes? (and this is my biggest concern)
Michael and I don't speak Spanish... he speaks Mandarin and I speak really bad Japanese (I love that language... yar)... though this one doesn't concern me as much.. because I will learn Spanish to help my daughter.. and I know I can...
How beneficial will this be? Will she even like it?
How will Kaylee fair in that environment? I mean I was already worried about a whole day of school, more kids to socially interact with, everything and anything about Kindergarten and now they add another language into the whole mix!?
I probably will have more the more I think about it...

This decision effects a lot of things in my daughter's life.. in her future life.. And I care a lot about that life...

My next few steps will be to contact the school... take Kaylee with me and visit the current K TWI class. Talk with the teacher and the district. Talk with other parents. Get advice from smart people.. (*cough* *cough* that means you.. readers). And just do my research. All before the deadline of acceptance on the 23rd.

So yah... now I need to decide what to do... fun stuff...

Healthy: Mind, Body, & Spirit (Petra-Centric Post)

2010-04-13T21:21:00.007-06:00

I said 2010 was going to be different and I meant it.

I have to say that moving here to Illinois has been the BEST thing ever for my family and for me personally (and anyone who talked with me prior to moving and relatively soon after we moved would know I thought completely the opposite, at least concerning me). I love Utah, but this has been like a much needed breath of fresh air. It also put me in the mindset of beginning anew and making life different.

So.. I wanted things to be different for me and thus I pursued a courses of action that would lead me to results that I was looking for.

Mind: I've always loved learning, knowledge, pretending to be smart... but sometimes I felt like I was just saying that rather then living it. So... BAM! I am reading more... with a goal to read at least two books a month (I blame my dislike of "The Three Musketeers" as holding me up on that one). I joined a wonderful book club filled with ladies from my ward who end up picking really great books. I am headed back to school in the Fall to finish my degree & plan on getting a Masters eventually. I am always improving my photography. I am researching more about subjects that I am interested in (and expanding my interests!)... so that I can at least sound somewhat intelligent while discussing them. But.. I also let it be creative. Nothing like flexing those mental muscles to make one feel good. I am sure I will find other fun things to do in this area.

Body: I love food... maybe a little bit too much. I knew I needed to change my eating habits if I wanted to outlive Michael! So.. I have. I recently got a nutritionist who has really helped make the whole "changing your diet thing" wwwaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyy less complicated & stressful. This has led me to become more knowledgeable about food/eating habits, introduced me to lots of new foods & peeked my interest in cooking/baking. I also have gotten more physically fit (because exercise goes hand in hand with eating healthy). Sadly, I think I have always had body image issues (which probably helped move this thing into high gear.. that... and I just felt like people here in Illinois seemed more healthy/fit, which made you want to be too). I do cardio and weights (something I don't think I have ever done in my life prior to this moment) several times a week. Things are feeling better & looking better. I've never been considered overweight by all those little BMI charts.. I was just on the very high end of my healthy BMI range. Now.. I've dropped 20+ lbs (in the last 5 months [the time I have been actively working on this]) & broken into the teens (somewhere I haven't been in 8+ years). Dress & grooming have improved (I will be master of my curl someday). Things are definitely better in this body department. Still more work to be done, but I have made progress.

Spirit: Testimony is strong. Activity is great. Family Gospel Program = Go! To help in this area, I just decided to tackle the Old Testament.. something I have avoided in the past.. but wanted to have a better understanding of later scriptures by getting to know it better. I'll be moving into my gospel library some more after I finish off the classics in my home. Basically here... I am just running drills on the basic foundation of my spiritual habits to keep them strong and from getting rusty. Spiritual boot camp for the basics. Not anywhere close to perfect, but I have to start somewhere.

Have I covered everything... probably not even a tenth of what I know is possible. But I've started the adventure and there is no looking back (well maybe occasionally for comparisons...). And now I know things can be done. There will probably still be doubt about if I put effort into something that I'll get something in return. I most likely will fail at things... but won't give up. I'll find a better way to get whatever it is that I am trying to do done. But the fact of the matter is... put in time, effort & passion and you can make things different.

There is a better me out there and I am going to meet her.

Shepherd Kaylee

2010-04-11T16:53:00.000-06:00

When Kaylee woke up this morning she handed me a blanket & headband.

This is what she asked me to do:

Thunderstorms

2010-04-07T16:37:00.003-06:00

I am a meteorology geek. Have loved weather, especially severe weather, for a very long time. In my youth I knew the weather channel anchors by name. Yes.. it amazes me too, that I have come so far.

Anyway, one of the perks of moving to the midwest is that it moved me into thunderstorm & tornado territory. No tornadoes yet... I don't think they come this far north too often (but I am within driving distance and that is all that matters). But! We have been hit with some storms these last few days & Monday's was particularly sparky! Yar..

We were up past our bedtime, chatting, when our flat started getting pelted with these...

We woke Kaylee up to see the awesomness that was this hail. Some of the chunks measured about 1.5 inches. Michael gathered several more (after it stopped... of course) and we stuck them in the freezer. The next morning, Kaylee got to take some to show to her preschool classmates. She was so proud of her hail.

It's Easter!

2010-04-04T14:43:00.004-06:00

It really has been a wonderful day. Between wonderful conference talks centered on our Savior & fun little activities.. I don't think we could have asked for anything better. Well... maybe some family close by!

The festivities began yesterday with conference and Easter egg decorating.

Today, the girls woke up to a home full of colorful Easter eggs and Easter baskets full of toys & candy! (good thing we have some dentists in the family... right?!) [See below this post for those pictures] Much squealing did occur. Michael & Kaylee enjoyed their colorful eggs for breakfast.. Taylor not so much. We headed out this morning and took some fun pictures of the girls in their Easter Dresses. It was a delight to see all the churches around here packed full of people. Got home in time for the morning session of conference.

I'll be honest here.. my girls do not sit still for conference! Taylor pretty much ignores the video. Kaylee has done pretty well this year, mainly she sat down and sketched like her father (when Taylor didn't distract her into playing). It was fun yesterday pointing at all the church leaders and talking about who they were and what that meant. Kaylee really loved it when the choir sang primary songs she knew and would sing along with them.

Pictures...

I think I'll end with my simple testimony. I just want to say that I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and I know that He lives. That through his Atonement and Resurrection death is not the end. We will live again... and if we are faithful & endure to the end we shall have Eternal Life.

And after this conference... Looks like I'll be spending my time on becoming a better parent!!!

More Easterness!

2010-04-04T14:10:00.002-06:00