Mon Jan 03 2005 19:20 There and back again: Home at last. I hate that drive, in the winter especially, and with a broken tailbone. And especially when an evil policeman has no sympathy on me for going a tinsy bit over the speed limit. Lily has changed lots since we have left. She has now been rolling over every chance she gets. This is great news but has complicated her ability to sleep. Since she sleeps on her tummy, when we put her in her crib she rolls over on her back and then she is unable to fall asleep unless we either hold her still and pat her back until she is asleep (could take up to a half hour), or we could keep checking on her and putting her back on her tummy every so often. The second is ineffective b/c she plays too much in between, kicking her legs and grabbing her toes and cooing, to even get sleepy. What a rascal. She is, however, cute as ever, and it is fun to see her grow and become an interactive person. She is very adorable now being able to grasp objects and shake them around, and excitedly put them in her mouth and start sucking on them while cooing, singing, and talking. She is also very strong and on her tummy, she now holds herself up by her arms and she looks around for extended periods of time now. She is getting over a cold (or allergies) she caught in San Antonio, and is getting back to her cheerful smiley self after much sadness from her mommy. It is not fun having a sick baby that can't breathe.

She was a hit with all the aunts in San Antonio. I can't go to any store or see anyone without Lily getting multiple compliments on how cute and tiny she is, and I have to agree with them. Lorna was an excellent babysitter, knowing all the tricks. I found myself missing Lillian b/c I didn't get to spend as much time with her as I am used to with everyone wanting to hold her and play with her, which was nice b/c I had more free time, but I did miss her like I said. I am glad my family got to enjoy spending time with her though. She has also found a spot in Grandpa Ben's heart, and it is very sweet to watch. All in all, Lily has matured quite a bit, apparently so much that everyone thinks she is old enough to start tasting solids. I don't know what it is but it seems like people love getting a reaction out of me by asking if they can give Lily a lick of a gummy bear or let her suck on a french fry**. This is not limited to her father. Contrary to popular demand: Lily is not going to try solids until she is 6 months old as recommended to me by her pediatrician and many nutrition specialists. So the final answer is no, and don't ask.

**Note: at a restaurant in Helotes, TX on the menu they were serving Freedom Fries. I thought that was hilarious and some people who read this might appreciate more ammunition to dislike Texas even more.

We had a steady diet of fajitas and Tex-Mex to last us until we move back in July for good. Alas, it was a fun vacation, but it is very good to be home.

Tue Jan 04 2005 14:47 Rejuvinated: I slept in till 10 this morning. I was much sleep deprived after this vacation especially since Lily's clock was all messed up. One night she woke up at 1:50 and wouldn't go back to sleep until finally I put her in her crib and closed the door at 3:30am after I had had it. Then the night before we left to come back home I told Aaron that I needed some sleep and that I would drive early in the morning to trade off for him having to take care of her all night. I left bottles for him and I slept on the couch. Just my luck she slept all night till 7. Anyway I went to bed at 12:45 last night, woke up once at 2 to get Lily and fell asleep with her in bed all night until a feeding at 7 and back to sleep until 10. I hope she doesn't require sleeping with us now, but it felt so good to sleep in.

(2) Wed Jan 05 2005 17:27 All Done: I am finally done with East of Eden. It is my new favorite book. I loved it. I could resonate with almost all the characters in it in some way. I do have some questions though that are unanswered. Maybe I wasn't paying attention to those parts, but was there any resolution with Tom and Dessy when Tom gave her the drink and Dessy was sick...It made it sound like Tom was going to kill himself from grief and guilt, but then the story ended all the sudden? I can't think of anymore questions, but I will comment when I remember.

Wed Jan 05 2005 19:27: Lately, Aaron and I have seen a lot of new movies. On vacation we were able to see Napoleon Dynamite, Mona Lisa Smile, and half of Raising Helen. And since we have been back we have taken advantage of our Netflix subscription which we have seen Home on the Range and SWAT. Tonight we will watch Connie and Carla probably. To my surprise I really liked Mona Lisa Smile. I heard bad things that it was feminist and such, but I didn't think it was too controversial. I enjoyed it as well as Napoleon Dynamite. I only saw half of Raising Helen because, well, it sucked and was terribly predictable. Home on the Range was good but a let down from what I expected. SWAT I had already seen before-lame, but Aaron hadn't so he watched it. I heard Connie and Carla was a miss, but I am still curious about it since I thought Nia did a fabulous job on My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Speaking of which the dude on MBFGW is on Raising Helen. Anywho, we no longer have lives b/c we will be watching enough movies to sink a ship. (Its good thing for us with no rental fees and plus we don't go out on the weekends much anymore.)

(3) Mon Jan 10 2005 19:21 When it rains, it pours...no pun intended: I am so mad, and I have been having a bad week when it comes to finances. No, I take that back...a bad yearly quarter. It is so stressful to try and make ends meet especially when there is poor communication between Aaron and me when it comes to which accounts to use, thus resulting in $75 in overdrafts fees. It makes me so mad b/c the banks don't do anything to deserve my hard earned money. All they do is reject the check and still charge me. What is up with that? At least put the check through if you are going to charge. Stupid! Not to mention one of those charges was Aaron getting gas and buying a quart of milk for his brother-come to find out the charge was only shy of the $1.25 it cost to buy the milk. So we do something nice for someone else buying milk and essentially it cost us $26.25. Sometimes life just sucks. I know I should put things into perspective right now, and it is only money, but I don't want to think rationally right now. I'M MAD!

Tue Jan 11 2005 16:42: I'm feeling a little better now after finding out that by working on Monday (holiday) I am getting double pay-$22.66/hr. Maybe I will work 8 hours that day.

(2) Mon Jan 17 2005 20:37 "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, and by that woman, I mean my wife."*: I worked today. I would have rather had the day off, but getting paid as much as I did, it doesn't bother me much to be here. We entered lily in a tie dye contest, so everybody vote for her if you can. The website is: http://www.jonestiedyes.com/site/658739/page/375858 and she is entry #7. I had Aaron submit the photo, and out of all the adorable ones, he picks this one. Don't ask me why. He thinks it is funny, while true, it is not the cutest one of her. But I hope she still wins, and I get the $100 shopping spree. It will be the first contest Lily or I win, so wish us luck and vote.

*Ok, I know. I'll admit, I have bad taste in jokes.

(1) Tue Jan 18 2005 14:31: Tomorrow is Aaron and my 3rd year anniversary. I still don't know what I am going to get him. I can't really spend too much b/c we are saving up for a down payment on a house. I don't know if I mentioned this yet, but Aaron and I are buying a home in San Antonio. It is one story 3 bed 2 bath and a giant yard. It is a little far from the dental school, but we are building this house and it is an amazing deal for us. The only way we could afford to get a house is to build that far out. Another really cool thing is, is that it is 'out of city limits' outside loop 1604 so our property taxes are half of what they would be inside city limits. Property taxes are a lot in TX.

Also, Aaron applied for the Air Force scholarship. We will most likely get it. I guess we will be moving after dental school somewhere else- wherever the military takes us. We will owe year for year of school which is 4 yrs, but I think we will have a great shot at Alaska. This actually works out really well for us, b/c we love Alaska and this is the only way we can test it out and know for sure if we want to settle there or not--for good. So many life choices. But if we do get Alaska, you guys better come visit! It will be a ways away from the lower 48, and not getting to see family as often will be the downside of it all.

(5) Wed Jan 19 2005 17:03 Happy Anniversary...to me: It is Aaron and my 3rd year anniversary, and we're going out. Susie and John graciously agreed to tend Lily, and Aaron and I are going out to 'our' restaurant Carrabbas. It is where we had our first date, our engagement party, and the groom's dinner; so it holds a special place in our hearts. It has been pretty romantic so far, starting with 8 o'clock in the morning when Lily woke up, and me handing her off to Aaron so I could get some more sleep, having been kept up by her all night. For some reason she is waking every 3 hours now for a feeding lately. I hope it doesn't last. Aaron also bought me flowers at school and gave them to me when he came home. They are lilies, my new favorite (but I still love irises).

(1) Fri Jan 21 2005 18:14 Say Cheese: Yesterday we had our first 'family' pictures taken at Sears. The lady was late getting to our appt. b/c she was with a previous customer, so Lily puttered out at the end of the shoot and we didn't get a good one of her in her blessing dress- the whole motivation for me to get pictures taken. I timed everything perfect so she would be in the best mood possible to get her pictures taken. We first did a family photo, then her alone in her regular dress, and then Lily in her blessing dress. She had it at that point, but we got really good pictures of her in her regular dress. Our family pictures turned out well too. I am glad I got that done finally instead of having it looming over me every since she was born to get portraits done.

(4) Tue Jan 25 2005 15:46 Baby toys are taking over: I got a flyer in the mail for Babies R' Us. Apparently, they are having a 30% off sale on their baby things including high chairs. Plus with the flyer you get a $10 off coupon. I think I am going to get a high chair tonight or tomorrow. Next month we are starting Lily on rice cereal, so she needs a high chair soon. I can't believe that in just a few months she will be eating regular food (sorta). My baby is already making steps towards not being a baby anymore. Once I get used to her at a stage, she gets bigger on me. It is fun, but sometimes I find myself looking at her newborn clothes with a smile on my face remembering how cute and tiny she used to be. (She still is, but just smaller back then.)

Lily is at a really fun stage right now. She is getting much stronger, and is able to stay awake for longer periods of time now, making it easier for me to run errands. She is getting a lot more personality and playfulness. Lately, her favorite thing to do is stick out her tongue, or to buzz her lips as spit comes dripping out. We also borrowed a saucer from my sister-in-law. (You put them in a ring, and there are toys all around the saucer and the chair spins around.) At first she freaked out every time we put her in there (the spinner with beads in it scared her) but now she likes it, and she can be occupied for about 10 mins with that before getting bored or lonely.

Mostly she is so pleasant and happy with a toothless smile, and much more interactive. She is just too cute for words.

(2) Fri Jan 28 2005 18:46: I forgot to mention that on Tues, Lily laughed for the first time. She giggled three times. I was playing 'This Little Piggy' with her and she was grinning and laughed. It was the cutest thing in the world.

I just finished watching 'Whale Rider'. It was very good, and I recommend it. Also, with our Netflix subscription, Aaron and I rented Baz Lurhmann's Romeo and Juliet b/c we hadn't seen it for awhile. I recognized his style more after seeing Moulin Rouge and then Romeo and Juliet again. Has anyone beside me ever been watching a movie, and you know the ending, yet you hope for something to change while you are watching it again. The thought that it can't change comes to you, but you don't want to accept it, so in your mind you just say "It's ok, I will pretend that everything works out and it all ends happily. I won't let myself believe that the story really ends sad or unfair." Or is it just me that likes to create alternate realities to escape grief?

Mon Jan 31 2005 20:09 The power of the Internet: http://www.globeexplorer.com

If you go to that website and put in your address, you can see an arial shot of the house you are living in. I did it with mine and my old house and I could see them crystal clear. Kinda Spooky.

(5) Tue Feb 01 2005 14:36 Eating habits of the small and big : I started Lily on rice cereal on Sunday and already she has been sleeping much better. I think she just needed the extra calories to sleep soundly for longer. She was waking up every 3 hours and it was killing me with exhaustion, but now she eats at midnight or close to it, 5am, 8am, and then wakes up between 9:30-10:30am. That is much better.

I started this diet on Monday called the Sacred Heart soup diet. It may be one of those fad things, but I really want to lose a little bit more weight, and I am pretty desperate so I thought it is worth a try. It may be one of those things that once you are off it you gain it all back, but we shall see. It is a 7 day diet where you eat this vegetable soup all day long, and one the first day you can eat fruits with it, second day veggies, third day fruits and veggies, fourth day bananas and milk with the soup, fifth day 20 oz of meat and soup, sixth day all the meat you want and soup, then seventh day brown rice, veggies and soup.

I can tell you that after completing one and a half days of this diet, I am so sick of the soup. It isn't that it tastes bad b/c it is good, but I just don't like eating it in the morning for breakfast. I am a major cold cereal eater and like that every morning. With this diet though, it doesn't work if you cheat at all, and no carbs are allowed except the brown rice, and oh yeah, tonight I get a baked potato- yum (pretty sad I look forward to a baked potato in my diet). I am also walking about 4 days a week trying to stay active.

I can't wait for the fifth and sixth day where I get to eat steak.

(3) Fri Feb 04 2005 20:42: I am proud of myself. I am almost done with the 5th day and I still have not cheated on my diet. Even though last night David and Aaron got a sweet tooth and went to Village Inn and bought a Strawberry Rhubarb pie and vanilla ice cream. I did not partake. I also got to eat steak today for lunch and am having one for dinner. This diet is pretty healthy, but not eating carbs has left my stomach feeling a little empty after eating b/c it is just fruits and veggies really, so I never feel full. Hopefully my stomach will shrink too. I've had a hearty appetite from nursing and can't remember when I didn't (pre-pregnancy). Except for when I was throwing up all the time and nothing sounded good to me.

Further news, I said Lily was sleeping better, but now she is not again. I am getting sooooo tired, or maybe more annoyed (I can't tell which) at getting up all night long. The past couple days have been every 2 1/2-3 hours. This morning is the first time I have been frustrated with Lily waking up so much. Call me crazy but I used to not mind and even like getting to spend that time with her at night holding and snuggling with her. Maybe it is b/c I feel like she is doing it out of want rather than need. In other words, I don't think she is waking up b/c she really is hungry, but that she likes the comfort of nursing and being held. Right now I need my sleep, or at least a good 5 hour stretch is all I am asking for. During the day she is becoming more clingy, and it seems like she can't be left in the room alone for very long anymore.

At Aaron's cousins' birthday party this past weekend, she bawled like I have never heard her before when we came in and set her car seat on the couch and her 2 yr old cousin Ethan came to say hi. And she wouldn't stop crying when Suzette was holding her, or even when I was nursing her. It was really loud in the house though.

I just feel really guilty that I am annoyed that she wakes up so often now, but I just don't get it b/c she used to sleep 6-7 hours straight and then another 4 and then another 3. What happened to that schedule? What am I doing wrong/different for her to be on this horrible schedule now. It has been a long time since I have woken up from a nap or from a night's sleep without her crying. And I feel bad asking Aaron to wake up and feed her b/c it takes him twice a long to prepare a bottle, and he gets up early for class most days.

One night I let her cry to see if she would cry herself to sleep and she cried for an hour and a half. I felt so terrible and bad that I didn't want to do it again, but should I? Will I ruin her sense of security, or will I build her sense of independence? All the different theories on raising children get me confused.

(2) Mon Feb 07 2005 19:59 Progress: I've lost about 10 lbs. I am not really sure how much b/c the last time I weighed myself was during Christmas break in SA so I am not sure how much but it is about 10#. Let's see if I can keep it off, or maybe even lose more! I will probably try the diet again in about a week to two weeks. I have to schedule it around leaving town to go to San Antonio with Aaron and Lily Feb 19th-22nd b/c I can't really eat the soup there.

We are going to SA to pick out colors for our new house. I am so excited. This is like a dream come true for me being a home owner...finally. I know I didn't have to wait long, but this is a huge step for me and my family getting into dental school, buying a house, and joining the Air Force. All those plans I had since I was little planning out my life playing MASH and choosing where I want to live and who I marry and how many kids I will have and what car I will drive, silly little girl things, but I am actually making those things come true. It is so crazy how fast you "grow up". Graduating high school, I wouldn't have imagined myself living in a house with kids and my husband in dental school.

Also, I finished up listening to HP#5 on cd while deep cleaning the kitchen and moping the floor. I started John Grisham's "The Summons", so far so good.

Fri Feb 11 2005 21:47: Just like Alyson, I have a sick baby. Last night before bed I changed Lily's diaper, come to find out her poor bum was red. I put her to bed, but then she woke up at 1am with a stuffy, snotty nose. I felt so bad for her. She couldn't really nurse well b/c her nose was stuffed up, but she was waking up every hour and a half none-the-less. She also had diarrhea b/c she had a messy diaper every other time she woke up, and she would howl in pain every time we changed it. It is so sad having a sick little baby on your hands. You feel so helpless, and then you start thinking that her not sleeping well was a piece of cake compared to watching them suffer.

I took her to the doctor, and they didn't say anything surprising, so afterwards I went to the store to get heavy duty desitin and cold medicine. At the store she sneezed a couple times and lots of snot came out each time. It was pathetic. Better out than in. I hope she is feeling better and that her bum doesn't hurt so badly.

(4) Fri Feb 11 2005 22:06: Last night for Enrichment, we had a healthily living lesson, and I was on the food committee this month. I decided to make Hummus, so I called Alyson and got her tried and true recipe. I am not a huge fan of Hummus; especially store bought hummus, but this stuff I could not put down. It was just sooo tasty. Aaron even likes it. It was funny b/c in line I heard people say "what's that?" "It looks interesting...� "I'll pass on that". I was a little embarrassed b/c I know how it feels to be talking about someone and they are behind you. Not that I was offended, but I knew they would be embarrassed if they knew I was the one that made it. Thanks for the great recipe Aly. Garbanzo beans have 9 grams of fiber per serving so, if you need a little nudge, there you go.

On the not so bright side, Bishop called Aaron and asked if we could speak in church. Meh. That is probably my least favorite thing to do in the world is be in front of a group of people. I thought since we had been in the ward over a year and were leaving in July that we cleared the radar, not so. Oh well, we didn't have to speak in our old ward so we had some luck.

I rented Cold Mountain on Clean Flicks, so I'll let you know how I like it on Monday.

Sat Feb 12 2005 10:43: Can I just say that Cold Mountain is one of the most depressing movies I have ever seen. I thought it was worth watching for sure. I can't say I 'enjoyed' it, but I did like it- especially Renee Zellwegger's performance. Plus staring at Jude Law is pretty easy. I don't see how this is your favorite book Aly, because you are a softy, but then again the story has many redeeming qualities. I just can't believe how evil and corrupt some human beings are. Three words: depressing, gory, and enduring.

(4) Tue Feb 15 2005 17:39 Valentines Catastrophe: My V-Day was very great. Aaron bought me Irises, and got me new shoes completely unexpected. We had plans to go to dinner in Park City at a place called Fiore's, and Julie volunteered to babysit. The food was great, and everything went well until on the way home. We got to Deer Creek Dam (about 10 mins outside Provo/Orem) and apparently they had closed the roads at 10PM and it was 10:30. We could not pass! So we had to drive back to Park City, from there to Salt Lake, and from Salt Lake to Provo. I was not very happy about it for several obvious reasons, and to top it off we had to drive through a blizzard. Some stretches of the road/highway had no lighting. I don't understand this about UT. Where are there no street lamps anywhere? Especially in the canyon when it is pitch black? We made it home safe at 12:45, and Lily had woken up and was waiting to eat for about 10 mins. She was hysterical by the time I got home (poor Julie) and so awake that when she was done she didn't want to go back to sleep. Just when I thought she was down and I left the room, 10 mins later I could hear her playing in her crib. That lasted until 2:15. I got scattered sleep throughout the night. Just a bunch or series of unfortunate events. Hopefully better luck next V-Day.

(1) Wed Feb 23 2005 21:13: Back again from a short trip to San Antonio. We went down to pick out all our house 'stuff'. I am very pleased with out choices. I was fun to pick cabinets, carpet, tile, brick, siding, light fixtures, washer/dryer, refrigerator, bathroom vanity, and tubs. We will have a lot of work to do to transform our house into our style with landscaping and painting. It is funny; I never thought I would die to get a Home Depot gift certificate much less want to go there and to buy stuff.

Lily went to the doctor's today. Well, I took her. She was 26 inches long, in the 75th percentile in height. She weighed 14 lbs on the dot, which is 15th percentile in weight. Her head circumference was in the 5th percentile. She was very good and playful, and the nurses kept commenting on how cute she was, and alert, and what a good baby she was. Not to brag, but I literally can't take her anywhere without someone saying she is the cutest thing, and I know I am bragging but I don't care b/c I agree with them.

(4) Wed Feb 23 2005 21:16: Anyone else watching American Idol? It seems like there is way more talent this year than last. I didn't care for much of the contestants last year, but I really like a couple this year.

Also, I mentioned this to Alyson and Susie, but I am putting in a Mary Kay order and if someone wants to piggyback on my order to get the 50% off discount, feel free to email me or let me know. I hope I don't get in trouble for posting this in public, so if we aren't related I am charging you full price. (Except Sumana)

(10) Mon Feb 28 2005 20:06: I have this lump on my upper back, and recently in the past year it has gotten bigger and more sensitive. I sometimes tease Aaron not to be mean b/c I might have cancer and die unexpectantly. I need to get it checked out but I have no insurance so it will have to wait till the fall.

(9) Tue Mar 01 2005 13:57 Lawyers, Law, and Trials: Lately I have been listening to a lot of John Grisham novels on tape. I have gone through The Summons, A Painted House, The Last Juror, and Bleachers. I really like the fast pace of his novels, even though some are predicable and always about law. However, A Painted House and Bleachers are his only two books (I think) that have nothing to do with law or the justice system. Having said that, I think Johnny Boy should stick with law books. Right now I am listening to Anna Karenina abridged. So far so good.

(3) Fri Mar 04 2005 17:46 Unexpected Visitors: On Wed night John, Sharon, and the kids including Alyssa and Corey excluding Jill and Camilla came to see me. They were in town b/c Jill was in Provo for an EFY interview, so they went to their favorite restaurant Chinatown. They had some time to kill before Camilla got out of her class, and since the restaurant was so close to me they popped in for a pleasant visit. It was fun to catch up. Unfortunately Lily had already been put to bed so they didn't get to see her.

Fri Mar 04 2005 19:59 Stroller Club: The weather has been so nice lately. While on my walks I have been spotting so many other mom's with strollers. I feel as though the flood gates have been opened here.

(2) Mon Mar 07 2005 17:01 Walking with a new step: Aaron got me a new pair of shoes for Valentine's Day. It was pretty creative b/c I didn't ask him or mention to him that I needed some new shoes, I just thought to myself a week before that I should get some new ones, but then dismissed the thought b/c I didn't want to start entertaining new thoughts of me having new shoes.

Anyway, he got me new Vans which I loved but they didn't fit. Most my old tennis shoes don't fit since I have been pregnant. My foot has grown 1/2-1 size bigger, so when Aaron looked at my shoes in the closet to get the size, it wasn't right. When I returned the shoes he did get me, they didn't have my size so I had to pick out new shoes entirely. I picked these all gray New Balances. I am so pleased with them. They go with everything, they are so comfortable, and they are stylish. Thanks for the shoes babe.

(6) Tue Mar 08 2005 15:59 Agency and choices divorced from accountability and consequences: A comment that Sumana made about Anna Karenina started me thinking. The book is about infidelity and I was wondering what the difference was between these so-called ‘Classics’ which seem to hold their own on immorality, and daytime TV soaps and other such shows. The TV shows certainly aren’t Classics, so why are the ‘Classics’ revered and immortalized? Is it all smut?

Then a comment was made in church on Sunday about in today’s society agency and choices are divorced from accountability and consequences. In the vulgar TV shows (I admit I watch occasionally) there really isn’t a correct portrayal of reality and how people can spend, spend, spend, but no one declares bankruptcy. Or they have affairs and inappropriate relations, yet it can’t really expose the true unhappiness and sorrow it leads too.

I couldn’t believe in Anna Karenina how nonchalant the character went about the affair, and how it was all about pretenses for their peers so they aren’t disgraced. But then I realized in the end, it got the best of the character and led to their demise. There’s a bombshell of a consequence for ya.

(4) Tue Mar 08 2005 16:08: Tonight for dinner I am making fried Halibut, with the halibut that Aaron caught in Alaska, with Caesar salad and onions rings. One of my favorite but not to often dinners. I am going to miss the halibut when it is all gone. I made Stroganoff last night with these new Barilla pasta twirls. It was really good, but I was especially impressed with the pasta. It is called Barilla Plus, and it is made with ground flax seeds, so it has Omega 3 fatty acids, and wheat, and something else that gives it lots of protein too. And they aren't all grainy like wheat pasta usually is. Have you tired Barilla Plus, Aly? I recommend it.

Wed Mar 09 2005 17:48: Lately, Lily's favorite thing to do is press her lips together in an O and blow making a buzzing noise. It is really cute, but not so much when she is eating rice cereal or baby food and I get specs of it on my face.

We made a big step yesterday in development and lowered Lily's crib. The flat part is no longer high, but on the bottom of the port-a-crib in preparation for her being able to sit up. She is getting pretty good with help and can even stay up for 5 seconds, but then tips over. My baby is getting so grown up!

(3) Fri Mar 11 2005 18:44 9306 Dublin Green: Isn't that a great street name? It's mine, and I am glad to have a real address after having numbers for so long and people messing up my address b/c they are out of state and don't have a grid system. Plus I really like the whole Irish theme of my neighborhood. It is called the Hills of Shaenfield. Sounds romantic.

In other news, I forgot to mention that Lily is now getting up on all fours and rocking back and forth. She is getting closer to crawling...Now I am going to have to keep the floors mopped and vaccumed all the time.

(3) Mon Mar 14 2005 18:15: Last night was fun at John and Susie's. We talked so much we ended up leaving just after 10pm. Lily survived but reminded me of her late bedtime at 2:30 then again at 5:15 then finally at 8:15. It was totally worth it though. ;)

Today I forgot to pump before I left for work. How could I do that??? I hurt. Tonight Aaron invited his home teaching family over to play Settlers of Catan (one of my favorite games). I hope the house is clean when I get home. It will be fun to get to know some people in our ward.

(1) Tue Mar 15 2005 13:20 These are a few of my Favorite Things...: Lily has developed some new habits not so endearing, but all the same cute (at least to the mom- sometimes). She has now started to: play with my hair, or pull my hair; however you want to say it. This one isn't too fun, but I think it is cute she wants to play with it and touch it. The worst is when she only gets a couple pieces of hair and pulls instead of a chunk. For some reason pulling only a couple hairs hurts way more than pulling a bunch.

She also shrieks. Some of her favorite places to shriek are during Sacrament meeting or church altogether, the library when her mom isn't done selecting and it is very quiet and she wants to leave, and at the store when she wants out of her carseat even though I am only halfway done shopping and I can hardly hold a child in one arm and steer the cart with the other hand.

Another thing she does when she is excited, frustrated, or just for fun (and sometimes along with shrieking) is clenching her fist together and shaking them by her head as her face gets red. This is hilarious to watch. It is as if she has all this energy cooped up and is trying to release it.

She has also started to pull her hair. This one makes me sad and I wonder why she does it, but she never cried b/c of it. It looks like she pulls it hard too. It is usually when she is tired or eating. When she is eating she usually has rice cereal on her hands from grabbing the spoon, therefore gets the cereal in her hair when she pulls it.

(2) Tue Mar 15 2005 13:41: I was looking at my stats on this blog and I found this and thought it was interesting. Apparently it keeps track of your most common words you use and I posted my top 30: Most common words

1.Aaron:134

2.really:95

3.don't:71

4.going:69

5.about:69

6.think:62

7.didn't:51

8.there:51

9.can't:48

10.could:48

11.night:42

12.getting:39

13.would:37

14.first:37

15.little:36

16.before:32

17.house:32

18.since:32

19.still:31

20.other:31

21.after:30

22.having:29

23.family:29

24.thought:28

25.though:25

26.never:24

27.people:24

28.hours:24

29.Also,:23

30.pretty:23

I think that it is funny that I have written Aaron the most, but then again why shouldn't he be first. Poor Lily isn't even in the top 30. Also, I guess I really like to say really. I think it is also funny that top 2 and 3 words are opposites. I either love things or I hate them I guess.

(4) Tue Mar 15 2005 14:00 Life does imitate art: Aaron and I got Manhattan Murder Mystery from Netflix. I love the idea of Netflix b/c now with a child, we can't go out on the weekends, and if we do, it usually isn't worth it b/c Lily cries during a movie or ruins a nice dining experience. So back to the movie. It is with Diane Keaton and Woody Allen, and was suprisingly good. I normally don't love Woody Allen humore but then again I have only seen a couple Woody Allen movies. We are waiting in the mail for Taxi and Spies Like Us. Aaron can't believe I have never seen Spies Like Us, which is supposedly Chevy Chase's best movie.

(3) Wed Mar 16 2005 17:57: I finally finished up my community service to pay off the ticket I got in Texas on the way back during Christmas. I did it was the Utah State Hospital cafeteria. I kept wondering if I was going to see anyone like Wanda Barzee. I could say if I did though b/c of a confidentiality form I signed. It was interesting, scary, and easy. I only had 13 hours and it was totally worth doing instead of paying $160 for the speeding ticket. I forgot what it was like to work at a place where most people weren't Mormon if any at all.

(2) Fri Mar 18 2005 18:39 I am so embarrassed...: Have you ever been IMing someone to find out to your horror that you are IMing the wrong person?!

(2) Mon Mar 21 2005 19:38 Most annoying: At my job I call people to verify info that they send us on their stories. Anyway, one of the most annoying things that happens is when I get the answering machine and I am halfway done leaving a message and all the sudden they pick up the phone and say hello. This is highly irritating to me b/c first of all I wasted my time and breath, secondly I hate the fact that they were just sitting there listening to me leave a message and at their discretion pick up the phone. I think it is rude. It just bothers me when people screen their calls. Maybe it is because I never get telemarketing calls. Listen people I have worked in telemarketing before (not now though) and the best thing to do is answer the phone and tell telemarketers to put you on their DO NOT CALL list, b/c if you just try to avoid them they will keep calling you back until they get a yes or no on whether you want to buy their product. That way you don't have to treat people who do have legit reasons to call like they are doing something wrong when in fact they are doing you a favor. So there!

(1) Mon Mar 21 2005 19:50 Pretty eventful weekend: This weekend lots happened. I got a perm for one. I just wanted to do something fun and new. I like it right now, but I still have to play more with it to see what I can do. It is more of a wavy perm than a tight curl grandma perm--like the ones my mom used to get.

Also, we rented Mystic River from Clean Flicks. I liked it more than I thought I would. It is disturbing but I wanted to try it out since it got all those Academy Awards last year. Some things were disturbing about some characters and I just want to shake them and say wake up. I recommend it but not if you have a weak stomach for murder and molestation. I kinda thought it was like a Law and Order SVU episode.

Baby Lily is sick again. Poor thing has a cold, and she hates when we force her to blow her nose. It's sad to hear her trying to breathe with all her congestion. We have made a break-through in her schedule though. She has been sleeping excellent this whole week. She goes to bed at 7:00pm then wakes at midnight for a feeding, then wakes at 7:00am for a feeding and sleeps more till 9:00am. Sometimes she will wake up slightly through the night but I just go in there and pat her back a little bit and she usually goes back to sleep right away or in 10 mins. But the difference is that her cries are little whereas before they were angry cries if I didn't pick her up and feed her. It has been so nice to be able to sleep like a normal person again.

Today we found out for sure that Aaron's was accepted into the Air Force Dental Scholarship program. Any little bit of help counts and it won't be so bad owing them year for year they pay for school.

Today I got in the mail a package from Grandma Smith for Lily. It is the most precious Easter dress with matching sweater and shoes. She also gave us the cutest summer outfit and little skirt and sandals. Aaron's mom has the best taste in baby clothes. Thanks Sherry!

(3) Wed Mar 23 2005 19:49 Spend, Spend: Today I went to Children's Place to buy a baby shower gift for my friend. While I was there I picked out a couple cute outfits for Lily. I felt like I could because I had a $10 off coupon, but I got a little more than I told myself I could get. (Shh, no one tell Aaron.)

Today the cutest thing happened. I think Lily was kissing my cheek. I kiss her all the time, and I think she has grasped the concept. I picked her up out of her crib and she gave me a huge grin and then planted her mouth on my cheek. Her mouth was open and I think her tongue got me a little, but I really think she was trying to kiss me b/c she moved to my mouth and other cheek. Then she started to blow on my cheek, and her cheeks got all round. It was precious. Sadly, this morning she fell off our bed. Aaron was in the room putting his shoes on and I was brushing my teeth and I walked by the door in time to see the end of the fall. She fell head first but was holding onto the down comforter and that helped break her fall some. She was very sad but I think more scared. She cried like she did yesterday when she got her 6 month shots.

Fri Mar 25 2005 17:41: This bad weather is really putting a kink in my routine. I hope it clears up so I can resume my walks. Lily has been a little clingy because she is sick. She has a cold and I think maybe a small fever, but I am not sure b/c I don't have a thermometer. Tonight Aaron is going on a campout with the Young Men in our ward. I think men are dumb because they think that going camping in freezing wind and rain/snow in the canyon (below freezing temperatures) is fun. Who can even get a fire going that lasts with it raining? I think it is reckless, miserable, and stupid. My idea of roughing it calls for a camper!! :) I can handle ideal conditions in a tent though, but I like to have my cot with me. I am not that much of a weenie though b/c I did go camping when I was 7 months pregnant.

(2) Mon Mar 28 2005 21:25: Aaron's parents are in town. His grandmother passed away so we are heading up to Idaho tomorrow for the funeral on Wed. We also got new cell phones, so take note of our new phone #s. Kristen- 671-1598, Aaron 671-0446. Things have been a little crazy with everyone in town, but as always it is fun to hang out.

Easter we had dinner at Aaron's brother's house and that is about it. Today during lunch Lily wanted what I was having so much. SHe had to settle for lettuce b/c it was the only thing she could have without it hurting her tummy. The look on her face was hilarious but she kept coming back for more. She is a cute little growler now. She will growl at whoever looks at her and it is hilarious. She will even clentch her fists and shake them while she growls. She is really growing into her own. She hates to be alone in a room even more so than before, but fortunately she doesn't mind strangers or going to them.

Thu Mar 31 2005 17:52: We're back. It was a good trip. There is something about funerals (at least for grandparents) that is rejuvenating and spiritual, and you resolve to be a better person. Plus, I love the family reunion that exists because you are all back together again. The services for Aaron's grandmother were remarkable. We had a sort of devotional before the funeral where relatives could stand and say a few memories and thank you’s and good-byes. It was touching, and grandma Beth Smith was very much apart of her family and an amazing lady.

Everyone thought Lillian was a doll, and too cute. She is cutting her bottom front teeth finally! Her poor little gums were bleeding today, and she was bawling in pain. She is going to look extra cutie with two pearly whites sticking out. We decided that she has her grandma Smith's short lip, and her upper gums show when she smiles, just like Sherry's. She recognized more of Aaron and her side in Lily, and I am starting to as well.

(1) Mon Apr 04 2005 18:35 It's in the genes: Aaron was telling me that he was re-reading through some old emails from me to him during our engagement while he was in Alaska and I was in Texas. He said, "Even back then you were bossing me around, but either I just didn't know it or I was so in love I didn't care." I wanted to jump into defenses, but I gave up semi-admitting that I guess I do 'boss' Aaron around, although I may not see it as that, he does. Now I guess he knows me well enough to recognize my patterns; so while he was re-reading through the emails he spotted it right away. I suppose I was not ready for that type of response, rather was hoping and expecting him to say something more like "you were so cute when we were dating...you said the sweetest things to me."

I'd like to think that I don't boss him around, just let him know the things that need to get done while trying to solicit his help. I think I inherited this annoying (to other people) quality from my mom who is the queen of multi-tasking and delegating. In my defense, I did plan my entire wedding by myself and if I did send Aaron suggestions of ways to help, it was for our wedding anyway. You live and learn, I guess I should be more sensitive to others is the moral.

As a side note, Ben Taylor is the epitome of multi-tasking so he and my mom are perfect for each other.

(3) Mon Apr 04 2005 18:58: Yesterday we went to Aaron's brother's for dinner and we had ribs. They were very good but I wish I had a camera. There is no attractive way to eat ribs, and while I tried to keep clean for the most part, Aaron's ravenous brothers let it all go. It was hilarious to see them with BBQ sauce all over their face, cheeks, and hands. And you can't eat ribs without getting meat in between your teeth. I'm sure we all looked like we were the last Neanderthal tribe gather around our latest kill with the bones stacked up while we devoured the carcass. Along with the ribs was corn on the cob...Can you say FLOSS!

(3) Tue Apr 05 2005 13:27: I can no longer put Lily in her bouncy seat in front of Baby Einstein while I shower. The other day I hear her crying, and I could tell it was no ordinary cry and something was wrong, although it wasn't a "I'm seriously in pain cry". So I hurried and jumped out of the shower and threw on a towel and rushed into the living room to see Lily dangling by her waist strap over the edge of her bouncy seat palming the floor. She wasn't hurt or anything, probably scared mostly, but it was kinda comical to see that she had hoisted herself over the edge.

She is slowly moving from low supervision to high supervision constantly as she is learning to crawl and move around better. As I was cleaning up the living room this morning there was a pencil on the ground, while it was way out of reach of Lily, it won't be long till she can move around anywhere to get into things.

She got sick again right after she got better last week b/c she was playing with her cousin Kate who is 9 months older than her while we were in Idaho. I spotted Kate's runny nose and suspect that is why she is sick again. That combined with her teething kept her up all night last night. She cried from 1:30-3:30 straight while I checked on her till finally I got her out of bed b/c she was really sad and she stayed up till 4:30 and then she went down. It seems like once or twice every other week when I get up with Lily, I just can't get back to sleep and I roll around frustrated that I won't just fall asleep. That happened last night after Lily went back down. I wonder how I can make myself fall asleep.

(3) Fri Apr 08 2005 17:19: Yesterday I watched a video from the Library called Sound and Fury. It was an Academy Award Nominee for best documentary, and it is about a deaf family weighing the pros and cons of their 5 yr old getting a cochlear implant so that she can hear. I didn't know that there was a 'cure' for deafness. I also wasn't aware that the National Deaf Association was against parents implanting their children (they prefer the child decide if they want it, but by the time they are that old it is almost impossible for them to develop near natural speech). It was fascinating to see the deaf culture at work, and all the different aspects of deaf life. It is a very complicated issue I suppose, more so than I thought before the film. For example, one set of grandparents of a family were both deaf and the other side was not. The deaf side was against the cochlear implant, and they felt rejected and that they didn't love the child for who he was. There were so many fascinating tangents and the whole film was enthralling. I recommend this movie 1000 percent.

Mon Apr 11 2005 19:47 Week in Review: This weekend was great. We were able to get together with Alyson and the boys while she was in SLC on her way to Canada. We met up at Amy's house (Aly's sister in law) and they had a trampoline. Aaron jumped on there with Lily, and I have never heard her laugh so much. It was the cutest thing, she just watched Julie jump and do kicks and she would crack up. We can't wait for Aly and the boys to come back our way the end of this month to play.

Also, we watched Sideways from Clean Flicks. Finally, a movie that deserves all the rave it is getting. Well, mostly. It was a great movie and very original. Maybe it was overblown a little, but for the most part was entertaining. We also watched Without a Paddle from Clean Flicks. Kinda funny in a lame way, but not really worth talking about.

This weekend I also filled up my tank. I cannot believe that it cost me $30 to get gas!!! I am very angry about it and am very anxious for the prices to come back down. This is getting ridiculous. Seriously.

(2) Wed Apr 13 2005 20:48: For some reason I thought last night was Enrichment night. Aaron took the car to work so I pack up my stuff and put Lily in the stroller and walk half a mile to the church. Come to find out no one is there. It is Thurs night. I felt kinda stupid, but at least I got the exercise.

(1) Mon Apr 18 2005 21:04 Media: I recently finished "reading" Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in preparation for the movie that is coming out. It is very random, pretty funny in a different way, and slightly confusing at times. I am on the wait list at the library for the other books in the series. I am now listening to Chronicles of Narnia, Prince Caspian as a refresher to the last 2 stories that I never got to when I first started the series. Now I think I ought to check out the previous ones too.

Aaron and I got to go out on a date Sat night, thanks to my brother David watching Lily while she slept. We went to the dollar theatre b/c it is all we can afford right now and watched 'National Treasure'. It was surprisingly very good. I had very low expectations b/c the previews looked very lame and cheesy, and there were some parts like that, but it made me want to live on the east coast so that I could check out all those historically rich places like Philly, Boston, and DC. I love history, and the movie made me miss the archeology class I took.

We also saw from our Netflix stash 'Spanglish' and 'The Evening Star' both of which I enjoyed. This Wed mom is coming into town for Aaron, Joe, and Louise's graduations. Also, Aaron's mom is coming too so it is going to be a jam packed or is it jammed pack weekend? Also, maybe Frances can answer me this, I forgot what punctuation you are supposed to use for movies. Quotes? Italicized? Underline? I have been out of school way too long. BTW, can't wait to see you at Macaroni Grill for your birthday, Frances. Hope the rest of the family joins us too. That means Leonard and Sumana too.

Wed Apr 20 2005 11:54: This week has been crazy between my work schedule and my boss being in town and Aaron's final schedule, and trying to squeeze in as much family time as possible.

Lily has been taking baby steps in crawling. She can pretty much get around to wherever, and has taken a few crawls forward, but she isn't scampering around yet. She has been able to get from the hands and knees position to the sitting position very well now, and that is one of my favorites to watch her just sit by herself. It is weird to see her vertical instead of horizontal which she has been for so long.

(2) Mon Apr 25 2005 18:54 Ummm, Macaroni Grill: It was great to see all the family there, and to catch up. I hope you all got home safely.

Tue Apr 26 2005 15:37 All gone: Mom has left now, and we have just enough time to straighten out the house again and scrub the bathroom down for Aaron's parents to come back in town for Aaron's commissioning into the Air Force. His retired AF father gets to commission him or whatever it is they do, so they will be here shortly. Just in case I haven't mentioned it already, but I think I have, (you lose brain cells when you give birth) Aaron was accepted into the Military Health Professions Scholarship. I am very proud of him.

I dropped Aaron off at school today for his first class of the semester for his last semester at BYU. It is strange how things are wrapping up so quickly when it seemed like so recently I was jealous of Aaron's brother and wife heading off to San Antonio for dental school 2 years ago. Time flies...Now I am just trying to enjoy Provo as much as I can and my last Spring living here. Provo has treated us well.

(1) Wed May 04 2005 15:24: Lily is making leaps in progress. Mainly just mental and emotional progress. She is still crawling and getting better everyday, but I have mostly noticed little things about her personality changing lately. Like now when she is playing with something that is dangerous or that she might ruin and I take it away, she now realizes that I took something away from her. Whereas before I could take anything away and distract her with a new toy to play with instead. She is no longer satisfied with that. Also, she has been getting frustrated with us lately, or at least now we can tell when she is. She will clench her fists and shake them and grit her jaw and her little head starts trembling. It is so cute and hard to take her seriously when she does that.

I was just mentioning to Julie the other day that her toy basket is all filled with garbage. She loves playing with things that we use everyday, just random things. For instance there is a marker, an old chap stick, an old water bottle, paper, paper, paper (she loves eating paper), old magazine, our old cell phone with camera attachment, pieces of plastic that her book came in, old sunglasses, not to mention all her regular baby toys.

She is also naturally following a one-nap-a-day sleep schedule. This is ok by me, b/c now that she is 8 mos she can entertain herself and get around more, whereas before she could only just lay on her back or stomach and play with what you hand her so every other minute you had to fetch her toy. She also takes a 3 hour nap so I still get some stuff done. And now she is way more interactive and fun to play with. When we go on walks I can put her straight in the stroller facing out instead of her infant carrier clipped onto the stroller. She loves looking around and watching cars drive by.

I am not very glad, however, that she keeps waking up earlier and earlier every day. She is now waking up around 7:45-8:15, whereas before it was 8:30-9:00. At least I am getting used to it slowly and it hasn't been all the sudden. I do put her down at 7:00-7:30pm so all in all, I can't complain about her sleep schedule.

Fri May 06 2005 14:12 Role reversal: I left the house this morning for work and Aaron was watching The Ellen Show...and he makes fun of me, sheesh.

On another subject, I no longer have to brush my hair. I haven't brushed it since I got a perm. The only other time in my life my hair was easier to do was when it was super short, and I didn't have to brush it then either. I didn't have to use conditioner then either, but now I have to use a ton.

(1) Mon May 09 2005 14:02: Alyson and the boys have been in town, and we have been having fun. I am sad to see them go tomorrow. Tonight, though, we get to see John and Susie and hang out.

Tue May 10 2005 14:52: Yesterday, Lily pulled herself up to the standing position for the first time. She did it in her crib and then on the couch. Now today when I tried to put her down for a nap, she kept climbing up and standing there with her little eyes peeking over the bar just barely, waiting for me to come get her. I kept putting her back down, but sure enough when I checked on her 3 and 4 times she pulled herself up. Then she would bawl b/c she was scared to let herself down, but she got tired of holding onto the ledge. Every time I went in there, she was white knuckled holding on for dear life.

I think she learned how to pull herself up quickly b/c of her fun cousins who were able to walk and get around. She would watch and watch them mesmerized. I think she had a fun time with them. It was so cute b/c she kept wanting to give Samuel kisses.

(1) Wed May 11 2005 17:40: So yesterday Aaron surprised me with some gifts for Mother's Day. He forgot it on Sunday and I guess he felt bad and really made up for it yesterday. It was sweet b/c I wasn't expecting anything. I wasn't even mad he forgot about it on Sunday I guess because I had low expectations anyway and I didn't think he would remember. So he gave me a couple shirts from Old Navy and a really pretty pair of earrings from Argentos and some See's Candy chocolate truffles. All of the things were great, and I am glad Aaron knows how to shop for me. If all else fails with go with chocolate, jewelry, and clothes. I'm pretty predictable, huh?

The rain has been pretty bad here, but at least Aaron gets tonight off from work since the softball fields are flooding. I didn't get to go on my walk today, but I recently bought one of those exercising balls and workout video for that, so I worked out on the ball today. The first time I used it I was so sore from doing squats. Those things really work.

While Alyson was here I found out that Lily loves to bounce on my lap while I bounce up and down on the ball. Alyson did it with Samuel and Lily and she just loved it. She was smiling really big and you could hear her quiet laugh. She doesn't laugh much so when she does it is a treat. So today I bounced a lot with her. It is so cute now that she can pull herself up on things, she now crawls over to me and pulls herself up on my legs wanting me to pick her up. I adore this of course because it is so sweet that my baby wants me to hold her and now she can show it to me by reaching for me and crawling to me and pulling herself up on me. It just melts my heart.

Thu May 12 2005 17:52 Not a crumb in the cupboard: We have no groceries in the house, but I am trying to hold off till Monday before going shopping just to help get rid of some food creatively before we move. That usually helps clear the pantry pretty well. That and we don't have lots of money right now. We found out that Obra Homes wants to close on our house May 27th at which time a hefty down payment is due. I hope everything works out is all I have to say.

This morning I went for a walk, risking whether or not it would rain on me. I thought I better since I took a break from walking while Alyson and her boys were visiting. It only sprinkled a little at the beginning of it, but don't worry, Lily did not get wet. She was in her infant carrier attached to the stroller with blankets covering her up. I always get scared she is going to get sick from my walking in the winter but so far, I don't think the 2 1/2 times she was sick had anything to do with me, rather from her little cousins. I am very glad I went on the walk b/c it had been so long, and also because of the rain we have had- everyone's lawns had a complete make-over. Everything was so green and luscious; I love spring.

(1) Fri May 13 2005 11:08 The big 2-5: Happy Birthday Aaron!

Mon May 16 2005 15:22: I just filled up my gas tank, and it cost me $31.57! I am not happy about it.

(5) Thu May 19 2005 17:23: I've been fatigued lately. I have been wanting to go to bed at 10:30 instead of my usual midnight or so. I just run out of gas in the middle of the day. I wonder if it has anything to do with Lily waking up earlier now (at 7:45 :< ) or if has to do with her still waking up about every 3 hours for some odd reason. I guess everything is a trade off. We have a mild, good baby but she sleeps terribly. Maybe my next one will be really bratty, but will let me sleep through the night when they are almost 9 mos old! I can't blame Lily tough. Every time she gets close to sleeping pretty well, we get company and she gets kicked out of her familiar little nook in her room. I think I am also a little sick. Well, I know I am b/c I have a sore throat. I just hope it doesn't get bad b/c it is manageable right now.

I think Lily is teething again b/c she won't let my fingers go near her gums, and she has been a little tender and cranky lately. I hate when she teethes, it is so sad to see her in pain. She is getting so good at pulling herself up on things. She is also learning to alternate her legs when I hold her hands and walk her along the ground. Before she just had stiff legs and I ended up dragging them along the floor b/c she didn't know how to step.

I started listening to Da Vinci Code on cd and I am addicted to it now. I know some don't like it, but I am really getting into it. It reminds me of my humanities class I took and talking about the art works and different ideas and such in the class. It makes me miss school, and reminds me of why I love history so much. Maybe I just haven't come to the "blasphemous" parts in the book yet, but so far everything seems to be pretty logical and legit (besides the fact that it is a fictional story). Aaron got Angles and Demons from his brother for his birthday, so I want to read that after I am done with Da Vinci Code.

For Aaron's birthday I got him a new pair of dress/casual brown leather shoes, and a Dominos game we like to play at Dad's. He got from his mom spending money, and for family night we went to the mall on a shopping spree. Well, he did, but I lived out my want to spend money through him. Is it just me, or do you just feel sometimes like you just want to go shopping and get some cool nice stuff once in a while. You just need to spend some money and then you are straight? I feel like that once in awhile especially since lately we are on a budget and we haven't spent money on ourselves in a while except essentials. Anyway, it felt nice. Aaron bought himself some Xbox things, Carcassonne (a board game that is supposed to be like Settlers of Cattan), a year membership to Xbox live (don't ask me why someone would ever want this), a new Coleman cooler, cute spice bottles for our new house (ok, this is more of a gift for me, but Aaron liked them), a new belt, and what else...I think that is it.

He also got from his brothers a gift card to Cinemark (and free babysitting during the movie) and gift cert. to Cold Stone. Aaron couldn't wait to see Star Wars so he went and got tickets to the 10:30am showing tomorrow. I have never gone to a movie so early but it will be ok since we won't have to fight the crowd, and plus the babysitting can only be done in the day unless we wanted to deal with a tired cranky baby afterwards. So, that is about it for right now with us.

Fri May 20 2005 15:21 Official Review: Ok, Star Wars III was pretty dang good. I like the last 3, but the first two were pretty lame if you ask me. I am a tough critic when it comes to acting though. But the third one is not bad. Annikan's acting is better than the second one, which isn't saying much, so the movie overall was pretty good. And they did a good job wrapping it all up for the next 3. I recommend it in the theatres even if it is the dollar. We also saw some really good previews that made me miss being able to go to the movies a lot.

(2) Fri May 20 2005 15:42 Life is becoming unbearable. : Since the change in weather from nice and breezy with a slight chance of rain to desert hot, our house has been cooking. I told Aaron we have to get our window a/c out of storage and have it in by Saturday or I am going to die. In the evenings, now that the sun goes down at like 8:45pm, the house doesn't cool down till much later. Lily goes to bed in a onesie now instead of a sleeper. I hope she doesn't get hot. Why in the world did they build a house in the desert with no a/c I will never figure out.

(3) Fri May 27 2005 14:55: Not much has happened this week. Today, my work gets in free from 4-8pm at Seven Peaks Water Park. I thought it would be fun for Lily to play in the water. I hope it is not too cold. I am however, not excited to be in a swimsuit for the first time since having a baby. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to get over my vanity. Speaking of Lily, she fell off the bed again. Man, it is so sad. At least this time she fell on a pillow so she didn't cry much, but she hit her chin on the nightstand before she fell. You'd think we'd learn by now.

Hmm, what else. Oh, I finished the Da Vinci Code. It is a good fast pace read. I didn't find it too offensive. I am a sucker for a conspiracy theory. Does that make me an untrusting person? I liked all the twist, but I figured one of them out. I also finished the last book in Chronicles of Narnia The Last Battle. I think C.S. Lewis must have taken the discussions or something b/c he knows the gospel.

(1) Mon May 30 2005 12:43 Memorial Day: I wonder if the Whitney's are going to do their annual tradition of visiting the Provo Cemetery this year since it is pouring outside. I would like to have gone with them, but I am working today. At least I get time and a half. We woke up this morning to a terrific thunderstorm. I love having rainy days once in awhile. Especially during the summer to cool everything off. Plus it is good for the toasted grass. Lily slept in till 9:00 too since it wasn't all bright outside.

Since I am working 8 hours today and am getting time and a half, I am treating myself to a Cafe Rio salad for lunch. They're the best!

Wed Jun 01 2005 14:45 The Outlaw:

http://gaven.kurokastle.net/storyquiz/images/outlaw.jpg">
You Are The Outlaw
"Sure, I'll do it. My way."
Just because you do not conform to the same laws and rules as everyone else does not mean that you are a bad guy. You travel your own path, separate from those around you, with your own reasons for doing what you do. Because of this and your own nature, it goes without saying that you are generally misunderstood. That does not matter much, though, as people love you for being who you are. You are pretty well set in your ways and have no real intention of changing. This can come across as a flicker of arrogance if your not careful. You do what is right for you, and God help anyone who stands in your way.

Which Classic Story Role Do You Play?
brought to you by Quizilla

(5) Wed Jun 01 2005 15:10: On Monday David, Julie, Aaron, lily, and I went to Park City to the outlet malls. I got some really cute things at Gap and Banana Republic. They were having a sale. I felt bad for spending money but I really needed new clothes b/c I haven't really bought anything except a couple shirts and a pair of jeans since before Lily was born (besides Maternity clothes, but that doesn't count). And lily is 9 mos old now so I really did need new clothes, at least that is what I am telling Aaron.

Then David took us to Baja Cantina for dinner. I was very tasty as usual. It is one of the better Mexican restaurants in the state of Utah which isn't saying much.

Fri Jun 03 2005 13:52 1 wedding and a funeral: Yesterday we attended Aaron's cousin's wedding. It was very beautiful, and the sort of wedding every girl dreams about. I am not complaining about mine b/c mine was great, but there are some things I wish I would have done differently or I would have done if I had the bling.

Julie babysat Lily last night so we could actually enjoy ourselves for the sit-down dinner. Thanks you Jules! It was lovely. Tonight is girls night out with Aaron's mom and all the sister-in-law's. David's got baby duty tonight, but he owes it to us b/c Aaron helped him set up for a Bridal Fair once. Before we leave we should take our loyal babysitters to dinner for all the free favors.

Mom is in town for Melea's funeral, so I get to play with her too. It seems like when you get company, you get lots of company all at once.

Mon Jun 06 2005 17:00: Today it is raining, again. It is June and it is cold outside.

(9) Mon Jun 06 2005 17:39 Life as usual: Everything is back to normal now that our company is gone. Mom was only here for a day but she stayed with Julie. Rick and Sherry have left freeing up Lily's room, and we (or should I say me) are very happy to put Lily back in there. While she was sleeping in our room with us, she was sleeping horribly.

One night she woke up 3 times from 2:00-3:45. And she does this thing where she stands up peeking over the bars in her crib making you feel like crap for not getting her out. It could also be the crying that drove me to give in to her as well. I don't know if it is her being in an unfamiliar sleeping place or if it is just that I can't hear her cry as much in the other room.

Nonetheless, she got me out of bed too many times while we had company. It is especially hard on me when Aaron is out of town (which he was for his brothers and dad's annual fishing/camping trip) not that Aaron will get up with Lily anyway, but just knowing that there is no support if you needed him or that he was there for emotion support makes it doubly hard.

I remember when Aaron was gone away for dental interviews and Lily was newborn and she woke up every single hour. I wanted to go sleep in the other room, but I didn't b/c she was still young. I have determined that since she is such an easy going gal, her sleeping is less than stellar. Oh well, at least she is a cutie.

I have a confession. I am writing it here b/c I know Aaron won't read it. I bought some more shampoo and conditioner. It is Wella and I love it. At least it was on sale 3 for $10. Aaron gets mad b/c nice good quality shampoo and conditioner is my huge fetish, and it can get costly.

My ramblings have now gotten excessive. Sorry.

Tue Jun 07 2005 15:57 Rant and Rave: Just like Sumana, I really hate it when people invade my sonic space. Especially since I have a neighbor that loves to blare his rap music to share with the whole neighborhood. Case in point, yesterday morning at 7:15 AM, bass starts, weed whacker turns on. Kristen has a hard time getting back to sleep on one of the only days Lily decides to sleep in till 9:30 (probably b/c of her sleep deprivation while family was in town, and she was in tow.) I mean who mows their lawn at 7:15 AM on a Monday morning while blasting rap music. Hello? Do you have no respect at all? Even when it started raining on him and he had to stop his yard work he still kept the music on. Finally I went out there to see if I could see him and ask him to turn his music down, but it was coming from the back yard and I couldn't see him. Oddly enough, he turned his music off literally one minute later around 9:00. It put me in an irritable mood.

I can't wait to move out of this house. Those neighbors have been blasting their music for too long. When I was pregnant and exhausted on Sundays I would try to take a nap, and sometimes they would turn on their music and prevent me from sleeping. And it is something about rap that travels so far, I think it is the loud bass.

(6) Thu Jun 09 2005 17:16: Julie and I took the WebMD.com quiz on ADHD. It said we both had severe ADHD, but Julie even more so. If I have ADHD (which I don't really think I do besides the fact of having a desk job is difficult for me) then everyone probably has ADHD, and if everyone has it then why isn't everyone on medication, and if we all need to be on medication then why would God create us flawed? Seriously, though I was thinking about Tom Cruise's interview on Access Hollywood and how he denounced Brooke Shields for encouraging mothers who had post-partum depression to go on Paxil. He said she was being irresponsible promoting psychotropic drugs. I don't know what the answers are, but I do know some people need drugs and some people take drugs without needing them. Any thoughts?

(2) Thu Jun 09 2005 17:29 Pure Bliss: Ice Cream

Going on walks in gorgeous weather

Family...I love you guys

A great movie

Getting cute kisses from Lily

Getting cute kisses from Aaron

Surprises

Reading/listening to a good book

When someone cooks for you

Going into Lily's room and seeing her standing, waiting for me to come get her with a big smile on her face.

Getting something for free that you don't expect

Good friends

Heart-felt compliments

Getting to watch your favorite show

Getting to sleep through the night

Getting to wake up b/c your daughter needs you

A good home cooked meal

A good fine dining meal

A good work-out

Finding out something about yourself you didn't know

Deep conversations

A hardy laugh

A hardy cry

Feeling your baby kick the first time in you

Having your first child

Having any child

Getting flowers

Just a few of my favorite things in no particular order.

Fri Jun 10 2005 16:58: Speaking of getting free things, I got a free salad from Cafe Rio today. Aaron and I are making ribs tonight. Get out your floss. He was so cute prepping them. Aaron watched the Alton Brown show on BBQ dry rub, and he made his own and made a sauce as well. I hope it is yummy, which I am sure it will be.

Also, we had fun with John and Susie Monday night. I wish we could go to the cabin with them but Aaron works tonight and Sat morning.

Happy 23rd Birthday Booner! even though you don't read this.

(2) Mon Jun 13 2005 15:19: When I was a little girl I thought I made up the phrase "None of your beeswax." When I think it was Alyson said I didn't I ran inside the house to grandma Walch and asked her if I had made it up and she said no. It was peculiar b/c I didn't remember hearing it before I made it up.

(11) Mon Jun 13 2005 15:30: We had Julie's 20th birthday party yesterday at my dad's house. It was fun and Dad made his special spaghetti sauce. Dinner and cake were great. Aaron snuck Lily some bits of chocolate cake. She loved it, but thank goodness there was no upset stomach that night. I hope she doesn’t develop a milk allergy b/c my niece Kate had it and it was so hard to feed that child anything without dairy.

Yay Spurs! They totally whipped the Pistons last night making it 2-0. I know they are going to win the championship. I only watch basketball with Aaron if it is the Spurs and if it is the finals.

In other news, Aaron is almost completely finished with BYU. He just has 2 religion finals left. Yippee.

On Monday at 5:00pm June 27th the Whitney’s are having a Utah farewell picnic (for us who are moving)at one of the canyons yet to be decided by Jon who is also going to let me know food assignments for everyone, so mark your calendars...the Oman might be coming too. I will update everyone when I find out where and what to bring.

Wed Jun 15 2005 12:05: This morning I woke up at 7:00am refreshed. Maybe it is b/c I went to bed at 11:00 instead of our usual late night 12:00-12:30. Around 7:15 I peeked into Lily's room to see how heavy she was sleeping to see how long I had to get ready before she got up. When I opened the door, she was already awake and sitting in her crib playing with her hands. (She often likes to look at her hands and revolve them around and twist and turn them to observe them. She also likes to do it in her car seat and plays with the sun rays.) I wonder what time she really woke up and how long she usually waits and plays before she starts crying for me to get her out of bed.

A break through with Lily is that she has slept through the night, yes from 7:00-7:00 several days in a row now. Oh happy day! it just took 9 1/2 months. Now I kinda miss snuggling with her before I go to bed for her midnight feeding. You always want what you can't have...

(1) Thu Jun 16 2005 11:23: Sometimes watching Oprah, you can get really discouraged about humanity.

(5) Fri Jun 17 2005 17:35 I'll have the usual: I have seen lots of new movies lately. In the theatre I have seen Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. The girl on there was Emily from General Hospital, so that was a blast from the past (b/c I used to watch the show religiously). It was ok, but not my type of show.

I also saw The Longest Yard which was funny, pretty vulgar for me though b/c the prison lingo was very demeaning and foul. I don't think I would have watched it in the real theatre, maybe dollar or rent, but since my in-laws treated us I can't complain.

I also watched Mr. and Mrs. Smith and I was impressed with the way they had a viable plot. From the previews I was skeptical how they were going to carry out that sort of plot for 2 hours, but it turned out to be funny and entertaining. A little violent. I think Angelina has gotten prettier with age. Sometimes she is just funky looking and sometimes I think she is gorgeous.

I also rented the movie Rabbit Proof Fence from Netflix. It was very sad and moving. A very good film. It is about Australia and the Aborigines and how they used to take away children that were biracial with white and Aborigine from the natives and put them in this camp. It wasn't necessarily to be mean, these people thought they were doing a good deed, but they were so ignorant. They would keep them away to try and breed out the "half caste's" they would call them and thought eventually if they mated with white people enough, the Aborigine blood would be drowned out. It's sad how ignorant people can be.

I also saw Spies Like Us which I had been wanting to watch again since the last time I saw it was when I was little and I didn't get the humor. Some parts are funny, but I still don't love the humor of Chevy Chase, John Candy, Bill Murray, and Dan Aykroyd. I mean I like slap stick, but more the Dumb and Dumber kind. As I grow up my taste has been evolving though. I still love movies like Uncle Buck and Groundhog Day though.

And finally I saw American Graffiti with the young Richard Dryfuss, Ron Howard, and Rookie Harrison Ford. I started it at Alyson's house in KS a year ago, but the DVD was acting up so I finally got to finish it. It is a feel good classic with an amazing soundtrack. I mostly just loved to fifties music. It makes me feel so happy and like society was so wholesome.

So there you have it...tomorrow Aaron and I are going to see Batman Begins, a movie Aaron has been dying to come out. I don't love Katie Holmes' acting let alone how ridiculous and immature she has been acting in her personal life, so we will see. (I have a hard time separating people from their characters but not the other way around. Like if an actor is annoying in real life then I usually think they are annoying in a film.) I love Christian Bale though; he will always be my Newsie and Swing Kid. It has gotten good reviews so far so maybe they went in with low expectations and were impressed. I think I will take that approach for the sake of enjoying myself while I am there.

(2) Tue Jun 21 2005 16:06 Cute as a Button: Lily is in her cutest phase yet. She is becoming quite the crawling baby. She is the biggest sweetheart and will go to anyone. She is usually pretty cheerful, and loves eating real food that we eat. Sometimes I will fix her rice cereal the same time we eat and she won't touch it. She wants the good stuff and she knows what it is. But I usually feed her mostly before we sit down to eat and so she gets a little of both most the time, otherwise she just sits and growls at us until we give her our food. She loves my egg yolks in the morning and chicken and vegetables from my salad for dinner.

She just learned to clap. She now claps for everything. If you say bye-bye, instead of waving she claps. Just last night though she gave Aaron a faint wave while going night-night. I was pretty excited. She just held up her hand, now she just needs to get down the side to side part.

Another favorite thing she does, and this is to everyone, is scrunch up her nose and make a mean face. I think she thinks this is smiling or something b/c she does it when she gets excited or happy and then she will breathe through her nose fast and heavy. It is pretty cute, and you can imagine how intimidating it is. ;) She does this to strangers and to us, so it is just her friendly way of saying hi.

About 2 weeks ago we started giving her real baths in the tub instead of her little bath chair thingy. It is kinda nice to have it out of the way, but now I've gotta keep the tub sparkly clean and watch her extra close otherwise she pulls herself up on the sides and stands up.

Church is still a struggle for us b/c she doesn't like to sit still and she gets really tired just in time for Sunday School so that and RS are unbearable. Sometimes I just have Aaron take her the third block. She has a friend at church that is 6 weeks older than her that she plays with in the back. They are a cute pair playing. They are both small for their age, but Lily is somewhat of a bully. She will chase Kiera down and take away her toy or binky, try to pull out Kiera's bows in her hair. Kiera's pretty tough though and doesn't cry. I think it is good for Lily b/c she sees what Kiera is doing and it helps Lily learn better. The best is when they give each other kisses. So precious!

Now when I come home from work, she gets so excited to see me, it is so sweet. She crawls right up to me to pick her up. She has also been letting me sleep through the night. I think we have a keeper. Please let my angel stay this way when she is 2.

Tue Jun 21 2005 19:43 Pleasure and Pain: This weekend I got pretty sick. I woke up at 5AM Saturday morning to crampy stomach ache and later throwing up. I seriously felt pregnant. It was pretty miserable and I slept and took Motrin and Pepto Bismal to soothe my hurty tummy. I had plans with Julie to go to Park City to the outlet mall, so later in the afternoon after I felt a little better we went to Park City. The drive made me nauseous, but I made it there ok and did some shopping (I got a new pair of jeans that were badly needed, capri pants, and 3 shirts)rest assure everything was on sale.

Aaron and I also made plans with Aaron's brother's and their wives to go to dinner and see Batman Begins. We went to The Happy Sumo for dinner, and I loved it. It was reasonably priced-at least the chicken dishes, and very tasty. Aaron got some good sushi too, which I am not a fan of but like it nonetheless. At this point, after having my first real meal of the day, I was feeling a little queasy. I got through the first 15 mins of the movie when I couldn't take it anymore (I don't know why but the bass and loud music was disagreeing with my body) and I left after making sure Aaron could get a ride home. I then drove my hurty tummy back home and laid on the couch and watched The Aviator with Julie (who so kindly agreed to babysit for us).

Aaron came home raving about the movie, and it did seem good the 15 mins I watched. The Aviator was also very good. I didn't think I would like it but I thoroughly enjoyed it all. I thought the acting was superb, and the story was enthralling.

Sunday I took it easy, skipping church and rested up. Then we went to my dad's for Father's Day and had Marie Calendar’s pie. I wish I was in full health to thoroughly enjoy the German chocolate pie I had, but it was still good nonetheless.

For Father's Day I gave Aaron a new wallet (badly needed) and a new Swiss Army watch. I think he liked both presents although they were very cliché. Hey, I do what works. Oh yeah, we also watched the Spurs game Sunday night, and boy was that overtime exciting. Alas, tonight we are watching the game again which I believe will be the last making the Spurs the NBA Champs yet again. For some reason I hate basketball, but I am actually excited to watch the game tonight. I guess my team has to be in the finals and it has to be the finals in order for me to enjoy it. Update: I feel better but am still feeling remnants of my belly ache.

(7) Wed Jun 22 2005 10:47 We need another dish-washa: This morning I was unloading the dishwasher and I found a pair of tweezers in the silverware basket. Sometimes I think my husband is strange.

Wed Jun 22 2005 14:36 Last Days...: Today is my last day of hard work. I had to go back to full time shifts Mon-Wed, but tomorrow I just have to work 6 hours and Fri 5 hours. Yeehaw. I can't wait to be all the way done with work.

Aaron went to WalMart and got a lot of boxes for moving. We have been packing here and there. On Sat morning we are going to have a yard sale, so if anyone (John and Susie-Joe and Louise) have anything they want us to sell for them-please bring it by. I am hoping that the more stuff we have, the more people will come and the more successful we will be in getting rid of all our junk.

(1) Thu Jun 23 2005 13:05 Beep-beep, Beep-beep, yeah: So far since I have had my car almost 5 yrs now it has had 2 hit-and-run incidents. And someone thieved the silver thing that goes around my license plate, something that I really liked about the back of the car. It was aesthetically pleasing and now it is not. This, as you can imagine is very maddening. Now I live in UT, you would think that the people that hit you would leave a note. Albeit, the damages were little, but still. You do the crime, you pay the time-or in this case the $. (And if they had left a note then I probably would have just let it go anyway b/c they were honest and the damages weren’t so much that I would make someone’s insurance go up. That way they would have their conscience cleared.) I mean you can't go around hitting people's cars and banging them up and just let them deal with it. And if they think they can hit people and forget about it, they should have their license taken away. And people who think they can just steal altogether are just disgusting. So there. Humph.

(3) Fri Jun 24 2005 12:41 Wha-whoo: It's my last day of work here forever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(3) Fri Jun 24 2005 12:43 Don't forget: Monday we are having the Whitney picnic at 5:00 pm. Call Uncle Jon to see where and what to bring. I hope to see everyone that lives near come.

(3) Mon Jul 11 2005 14:50: Finally in TX. I am normally a pretty mellow person, but I am soo stressed right now about closing on our house and moving here and having a giant moving van we had to drive for 30 hours. Aghhh! Will it ever end???

(7) Wed Jul 13 2005 20:07 GMAC: The Wal-mart of mortgage companies..."You pay for what you get": OH MAN! This past 6 weeks has been super stressful for me, and an emotional roller coaster. Is it this hard for everyone to buy a house? Seriously, we went through GMAC mortgage and I have never worked with more inept morons. They were so flaky and flat out lied to us part of the time. It got so bad and took forever that our builder OBRA threatened to cancel our home contract. That was the day we loaded up the moving van. As you can imagine I didn't appreciate hearing that we were going to be homeless when we arrived in San Antonio.

We stopped in Mesa, AZ along the way to TX to visit Aaron's parents. We stayed for 2 days and had fun, all the while stressing out about not having a home and using all our minutes on our cell phone in 2 weeks for the entire month while talking to loan officers, real estate agent, and the builders.

We finally signed papers for closing today after waiting for 2 1/2 hours in the office b/c yet again another thing went wrong that they had to straighten out. Everything that could have gone wrong for us, did. I am so surprised we even got the dang loan. Not to mention, from having the moving van another day extra we had to pay another $100 on top of the moving van expenses to keep the van another day b/c it was due back and we still had no house. Moving is expensive. So at 6:00pm today we got the key and Aaron is unloading the moving van as I type. Lily was so exhausted from no naps and being hauled around town from the bank to the title company that I had to come back to my mom's (where we are staying) to put her to bed.

So everyone, to make a long story short...I wouldn't recommend GMAC mortgage company to my worst enemy. You can get a good rate with them, but since they are so large, they have overextended themselves, therefore being completely unreliable. Thanks heavens this is over and I can sleep normal again and I have my appetite back.

(3) Thu Jul 14 2005 21:22 New address: I deleted the info "just in case", so if you want it just let me know. :)

Fri Jul 29 2005 10:57 Busy, busy, busy: We are in our house now and have tons of projects going all at once. Some getting done while others still waiting to be done. This moving business never ends. It is pretty stressful especially with 2 kids messing up your work...j/k one child undoing your work, one husband making sure the Xbox works. :) We finished painting the master bedroom, family room, and kitchen but all three rooms still need touch up. This is making me not want to paint any other rooms in the house b/c it is a lot of time and fixing and touching up. We went with khaki in the master bedroom with one wall (the wall we have our bed against) ruby red. I love the color red and wanted to do something fun. The master bath is going to be khaki as well, just haven't finished painting it. The kitchen and family room is one big area so we did it all the same color, sage. It looks really good, not too light, not too dark. It has a gray tint to the sage and not so green. We installed our blinds and I still have a couple that I need to shorten. We decided on the faux wood blinds b/c I think they are classy and pretty. And I love the white finish against the sage walls.

We still haven't gotten our sod since it keeps raining here and it is so muddy. I am not too worried about it b/c I am so busy doing the inside of the house to worry about the outside. I don't even want to think about landscaping. Aaron planted two trees in the front yard, but they aren't doing too well. They have kinda died, and I don't know if they are going to make it through. They were free though so oh well.

Aaron has started school and likes it ok. He has been getting done earlier than expected the first two weeks. Next week they will probably start lectures for real instead of going over MS Outlook and such. What dental school student doesn't know how to use Outlook is my question? I love my new stay at home mom status. I am actually babysitting a 10 yr old boy of my mom's friend at his house today and all next week, but after that it is smooth sailing and hopefully the house will be all finished up or at least in livable conditions. Painting wouldn't be that bad if you didn't have to clean out the brushes and roller every time you stopped. Anyway, my sisters Michelle and Lorna will be getting back from Utah today so I am excited to see them and get some time with Michelle before she leaves for college.

Now I need to catch up on my Crummy reading.

(12) Mon Aug 01 2005 11:05 Lazzzzzzzzzzzy: I've been feeling lazy lately. It seems like when I have the most to do is when I put off the most.

In other news, Lily took one step on Friday. It was the cutest. She is scared to stand alone so I don't know when she will start walking for real. She has been walking along the couch and coffee table forever. She is the cutest thing though.

Funny about here, I really did forget how nice people are. At the store or wherever I always get a compliment on Lily. In Utah it was like oh, another baby, take a number. Aaron and I were discussing too, is our baby really that cute that everyone says over and over that she is so cute and this and that, or does every baby get complimented like that? Anyway, it is nice to be noticed here and everyone smiles at you.

My mom is leaving tomorrow for Mary Kay Seminar and Lorna is leaving for 2 weeks to visit Aly. At least I will still have Michelle, but who knows for how long. She went to Utah and liked it so much she decided to move there. No more College Station, TX. And no more old boyfriend. She seems really happy about her decision. I am happy for her, and just when I leave Utah, Julie goes and gets a boyfriend on me. I can't wait to meet this additional Ben with the already congested family of Ben's (three for me and maybe four?!). It is too soon to tell though, Julie and Ben have only been dating like a month.

Aaron, Michelle, and I watched Vanity Fair last night with Reese Witherspoon. It was such a good movie, and then the ending had to go and ruin it. But other than that I really liked it. It was set in the early 1800's so they had beautiful costumes.

(2) Tue Aug 02 2005 17:13: Anyone have good suggestions on weaning a baby? Mine is turning a year old in less than a month! Can you believe it?!

Wed Aug 03 2005 12:43 Uh-huh, Conan: Can I just say that the sweetest most heart warming thing in the world is now Lily can give hugs and kisses when I ask her too. And even better is when she crawls up to me offering them without even me asking her too. Her kisses are pretty slobbery and to someone else may be considered gross, but I love them all the same.

This is a child that never let me snuggle her to sleep, it was either 1) I hate this woman for putting me in my crib alone so I am going to bellow and stand here peeking over the rail of my crib until she gets me out (the getting me out part worked on Lorna first time she babysat after seeing her peeking over her crib-it is pretty dang cute) or 2) awesome, she got me out and now I am going to stiff arm her neck and twist my body till she puts me down b/c now it is time to play. But now she does something I never thought she would. She lays her head down on my shoulder and puts her arms tightly around my neck and shoulder.

Sometimes if I am lucky she will pat my back just like I pat hers. I never realized that I did that with her until she started patting my back and I thought, "why is she patting my back, and I looked and I was doing the same." It is nice to have a snuggle bug around.

(3) Wed Aug 03 2005 14:01 I'm so tired, I feel like I am pregnant...or am I?!: I have a slight dilemma living here in San Antonio. I like to go on walks as you know, but the climate is different here than in U-tahr. I like to sleep in as much as my daughter allows me, before she starts kicking the wall which shares my master bathroom's wall to wake me up. (I don't think she really knows it wakes me up. Or does she...) When I sleep in though, (and I am taking about a whole whopping half hour) while I do get to enjoy the softness of my 350 thread count sateen sheets and ecstasy of my down pillow, (thanks honey!) that is thirty minutes more the sun has to make everything hot and sticky. Trust me, it makes a big difference.

While it is not hot necessarily in the morning, the humidity around you makes you feel like you are sweating. Which brings me to another tangent...Why is it in lines at amusement parks they blow mist at you to keep you cool? If everyone hates humidity so much and thinks it makes you hotter than "dry heat" then why is it that mists temporarily relieve you?

Back to my dilemma. Should I enjoy that 30 minutes relaxation, or should I drag myself out of bed so that I can go on my walk with Lily before it gets too miserable? I know I should stop being lazy and get up.

Another thing about moving to San Antonio is that I feel like I am cheating. You know when you move to a new place you have to go through things like figuring out your way around so you can do everyday things such as go to the post office and store? Check, know all that. Also, you don't know anyone in your ward and you really have to put yourself out there to learn names and make new friends. Check, know most people and check have friends. It is crazy the way San Antonio works. Every stays here and everyone marries everyone. We had a B-B-Q at one of Aaron's old best friend's house. Here I was going to it thinking "here we go again, put on your social face and get to know everyone". As it turned out, I knew most people there and "getting to know" was actually "catching up on old times." I feel like I am cheating. I guess I am just used to when I moved around in Provo, the first and second and third time in RS, and every other time for that matter, glancing around the room thinking "who am I going to sit by now and learn their name and hopefully they will remember mine.”

I am also cheating b/c I get free babysitting, although I have only asked Lorna once since we have been here to baby-sit, and I think I am going to start paying her. As mush as she loves Lily, I am sure she has better things to do. Although it is nice to call upon the help of my family. As I type now, Lily is slamming my cell phone on the tile floor. A new thing she does is open the cell phone, close the cell phone and when that gets boring…slam it down, pick it up, over and over again.

(2) Thu Aug 04 2005 18:15 Gone'n done it: Today I watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for the second time. First time was with Aaron's family- Josh and Jake and their wives Jenni and Erin respectively, after dining at Papasitos Mexican Cantina for Josh's b-day. I guess with all the hype it got and excellent reviews I went into the movie thinking it would be fantastic, however was let down. The second time around was better since I knew what I was going to get and was able to enjoy the artistic-ness of it all...that is in between Lily ripping my hair out, biting my finger with her two bottom teeth, chasing her down before she rolled off the steps, and taking her to the side to muffle her screams and grunts at the movie screen. It is a good thing I had already seen the movie and that I wasn't paying for it, otherwise I might have been a little annoyed about it all. Oh yeah, and I took the kids I have been babysitting this week to it which explains why I didn't pay for it.

I have been babysitting for my mom's friend. She has one 10 yr old boy but he has at least one friend over everyday if not two. In addition to that, staying with her is also her boyfriend's 8-yr old boy. I am usually at their house 9-10 hours a day with Lily in tow, so at the end of the day I am a little frazzled. After tomorrow I will have worked over 45 hours this week. I will be glad to finally be once again a SAHM next week and start getting the house in order. Plus Cheryl's Snickers Ice Cream candy bars will be the end of me.

I also watched Beyond the Sea with Aaron the other night. We have been able to watch all our checked out Netflix since we don't have cable tv yet and don't plan on having it until the house is satisfactory to me. So we watch movies to distract us- nice, huh?

Can I just say first off that I can not stand Kevin Spacey and his artsy fartsy bull dung he calls movies. K-Pax, huh, come again? American Beauty, he should be arrested for child molestation. And now Beyond the Sea, the guy casts someone half his age. Yeah, yeah Sandra Dean was younger than Bobby Darin, but by 6 years. Not 24. Give it up Spacey, you are starting to look perverted. I just don't get the Hollywood mindset. It is ok for Dennis Quaid to marry someone half his age, Kevin Costner, Michael Douglas, Woody Allen, on and on and on. But the minute Demi Moore dates Ashton Kutcher (by the way is 16 years his senior) she is a cradle robbing, despicable nastiness. Pu-lease I know we have come a long way in women's rights, but let's just call a spade a spade, we are still living in a man's world. Today I watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for the second time. First time was with Aaron's family- Josh and Jake and their wives Jenni and Erin respectively, after dining at Papasitos Mexican Cantina for Josh's b-day. I guess with all the hype it got and excellent reviews I went into the movie thinking it would be fantastic, however was let down. The second time around was better since I knew what I was going to get and was able to enjoy the artistic-ness of it all...that is in between Lily ripping my hair out, biting my finger with her two bottom teeth, chasing her down before she rolls of the steps, and taking her to the side to muffle her screams and grunts at the movie screen. It is a good thing I had already seen the movie and that I wasn't paying for them movie, otherwise I might have been a little annoyed about it all. Oh yeah, and I took the kids I have been babysitting this week to it which explains why I didn't pay for it.

I have been babysitting for my mom's friend. She has one 10 yr old boy but he has at least one friend over everyday if not two. In addition to that, staying with her is also her boyfriend's 8-yr old boy. I am usually at their house 9-10 hours a day with Lily in tow, so at the end of the day I am a little frazzled. After tomorrow I will have worked over 45 hours this week. I will be glad to finally be once again a SAHM next week and start getting the house in order. Plus Cheryl's Snickers Ice Cream candy bars will be the end of me.

I also watched Beyond the Sea with Aaron the other night. We have been able to watch all our checked out Netflix since we don't have cable tv yet and don't plan on having it until the house is satisfactory to me. So we watch movies to distract us- nice, huh?

Can I just say first off that I can not stand Kevin Spacey and his artsy fartsy bull dung he calls movies. K-Pax, huh, come again? American Beauty, he should be arrested for child molestation. And now Beyond the Sea, the guy casts someone half his age. Yeah, yeah Sandra Dean was younger than Bobby Darin, but by 6 years. Not 24. Give it up Spacey, you are starting to look perverted. I just don't get the Hollywood mindset. It is ok for Dennis Quaid to marry someone half his age, Kevin Costner, Michael Douglas, Woody Allen, on and on and on. But the minute Demi Moore dates Ashton Kutcher (by the way is 16 years his senior) she is a cradle robbing despicable nastiness. Pu-lease I know we have come a long way in women's rights, let's just call a spade a spade, we are still living in a man's world.

(2) Fri Aug 05 2005 13:13 Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see?: Lily stood up by herself yesterday. I look over and I see her standing. I was like what the, and looked at Aaron and he looked and we were both wide-eyed. I couldn't believe it, she was just standing and in the middle of a room so she didn't have support from a wall to get up. But then she sat down and no steps. Soon though.

I also cut Aaron's hair last night and when he went to get Lily this morning she didn't recognize him at first. She just kept staring at him.

(5) Mon Aug 08 2005 11:36 Peter Jennings: 1938-2005: I was shocked to find out Peter Jennings had cancer a couple months ago, and again today to find out he passed away. Now I feel bad for not liking him as a news caster b/c he was liberally biased. Does it matter anyway? The older I get, the less it does. I look back and think how ignorant some views I had are, and probably some I still have. My biggest memories of him was Sept 11th, my sister Aly, my mom, and me watching ABC for 3 days straight and him being the main news anchor. I thought he did a great job on the little sleep he got. My condolences to his family and friends.

(4) Wed Aug 10 2005 11:05 Fragrant: This morning I dropped Aaron off at school. I made plans to use the campus rec field to walk on the track so I would be able to beat the heat instead of starting half an hour later when I got home. So on mile 2 ½ a police lady flags me down and tells me that there are no strollers allowed on the track. "No strollers," I said, "Why not?" Apparently because brain-dead joggers run into strollers and knock them over.

First of all, how is a jogger going to run into strollers and not other joggers? They single out strollers to run into and not people? We might as well ban everyone from using it for their protection with that logic. Secondly, if a jogger did run into my stroller, the only thing getting knocked over is them, not the stroller. My stroller is beefy and also is one that the carseat clips into and is fastened to the stroller. Even if the stroller were to tip over the carseat would not fall off. And surely if the carseat is made to protect Lily from CAR CRASHES, I think it could withstand someone ramming into it. But the chances that someone would run into me or the stroller seem minimal in the first place, which makes me so mad that I can't use the track! If a stroller is unsafe on a track b/c of aimless joggers, then certainly walking on the street or sidewalk is certain death. I could be hit by a car and the likely hood of that is greater than being bumped into on the track. So no, police lady, I will take my chances on the track, thank-you-very-much. Or how about prohibiting morons that don’t know how to watch where they are going. Sounds like a better idea.

Anyway, to brighten my day I stopped at the Farmer’s Market on the way home. Can I tell you how much I loved it! Now I know why Alyson and Dave love it so much. I got all this beautiful produce that is going to be so yummy and healthy. And it is very inexpensive. I got basil that has already filled my kitchen and living room with sweet aroma, and it was a big bunch of basil. I also got tomatoes, new potatoes, black-eyed peas (thought I try something new), red onions, Fredericksburg peaches, sweet peppers (which I am very excited to taste and I think Aaron will love), and these unusual tomatoes that look like peppers but they are a meatier tomato that is used for making paste. The lady said they were really good on sandwiches so I thought I would try them too. I am so excited to make pesto pasta tonight with roasted new potatoes and rosemary and a green salad with my sweet peppers and tomatoes. Jealous?

Mon Aug 15 2005 10:51 Eggs: I just ate an egg with twins in it! The eggs had two yokes that were separated, but I think they were siamese twins b/c they were partly connected. Weird.

(2) Mon Aug 15 2005 11:07 Blogging World: Something amazing has happened. Aaron has read my blog, and not only that, has started one of his own! This was due to pressure from his family b/c several siblings have started blogs of their own. That, and he likes to distract himself while in lecture. Here are a few plugs to the new fleet of blogs of my in-law's.

Aaron's Blog

Aaron's Twin Brother Jake's Blog

Jake's Wife Erin's Blog

Aaron's Brother Ben's Blog

Ben's Wife Hailey's Blog

Aaron's Brother, Josh's Wife- Jenni's Blog (that one sounds confusing doesn't it?) (My sister-in-law Jenni)

Aaron's cousin's wife Betina's blog

Kinda confusing, but now you can put a person to the names I have been writing about.

(2) Tue Aug 16 2005 11:40 La-la land: I remember what it was like being a teenager blasting the radio or my favorite cd. Blaring music to drown out my thoughts and get lost in the song. Picking songs, bands, or albums to set my mood. I told myself I would never be like some of my Young Women leaders, or my parents, or my friends' parents who had no clue who was the latest band, and what is played out on the radio or not, b/c if it was "played out" it just wasn't that cool anymore. I prided myself on knowing all the words to every song, and all the new bands and getting to be their first fan b/c heaven forbid I like them after they "sold out" and I became a "poser". Ohh such youthful folly. Now, I don't even know the names of singers and groups let alone their newest songs. Somewhere between life and the more important things in it, got in the way. 'Tis true kids, what your parents and leaders say is almost always true. You really don't care when you grow up

Don't get me wrong now. I love music. In seminary we were asked if we could change anything about ourselves, what would it be? I yearned to have a harmonious singing voice. It's interesting to me that whenever I hear oldies but goodies or someone like James Taylor, I always get this "everything is going to be alright" feeling. Like life is so innocent and good. I used to like rap, but whenever I hear it now I get angry and irritable b/c it annoys me so much. How did I ever like that stuff? For good or for bad, I've experienced that music has a hold on you whether you know it or not.

Looking back, it is just so interesting to me how teenage raw emotion relates so well to mainstream music. Thinking back, the music was "my music", "my song", the words were a window to my heart. In a world where no one knew me or what I was going through, I could find solace in a song and I was mystified that someone else knew what I was feeling because I knew "no one went through what I went through" and all the other self-centered thoughts kids tend to adopt. I think the difference is kids pick music to dictate their thoughts, whereas adults pick music to go along with their thoughts. Kids love to blast music to lose themselves into. And I don't mean once in awhile you hear your favorite song and jam out for old time sake. I am talking about every time you get in the car the checklist goes 1) turn on the car 2)pick a cd 3) blast the music 4) drive away. Half the time I forget to just turn on the radio after I have had to haul Lily in her heavy carseat with a good supply of toys to keep her happy. I'm so frazzled that I can't even hear myself think with the music loud. I just like it quiet and background noise.

What's amazing to me though is how musicians that are in their late 20's know how to write songs that teenagers will love. I guess I lost touch with my inner child or something, but I can't really think in the simplistic, raw, and melodramatic way my teenage hormones dictated anymore. Granted a lot of the songs are the same "He was a boy, She was a girl, they fell in love, they had a fight, they made up." I mean there are only so many songs you can write about going to the prom and getting your first kiss when you have graduated over 13 years ago. Some groups just need to give it up.

Having said that, in another life called MTV world, I wanted to be a rockstar. Mom, Dad, please forgive me for watching MTV and when I saw you coming in the room for changing it to Nickelodeon so you wouldn't know that I watched Singled Out.

(2) Tue Aug 16 2005 16:53 HBP: Practically my whole family has read Harry Potter HBP, and they are all talking about it. I have only gotten through Chapter 2. I best get on with it unless I want to be left out of the loop. I have just been so busy.

(11) Wed Aug 17 2005 22:16 What if's: Sometimes I wonder what would my life have been like if my grandparents on my mom's side didn't die when I was a baby. I mean my mom said that they were planning on moving to the bay area in CA where they're from until they both died. If they had stayed alive, I would have known them, and I would have been a Californian, not a Texan. Instead, they moved to where my dad's parents lived in Texas.

I doubt I would have met Aaron, or would I have at BYU? Who knows, but I do wish that I could have had other middle school/high school experiences. California wouldn't have been so bad. It is the second best state in the Union.

(5) Fri Aug 19 2005 08:44 Please don't judge me by this entry: How can I be an engaged parent without driving myself or Lily crazy. This new independent streak is sending me for a loop. I mean I want my daughter eating her good healthy food, but what do I do when she tricks me by letting me put it in her mouth and then directly pushes it out with her tongue and then throws it on the floor, over and over. I don't want her starving, and I just wish she would eat like a regular person. What is up with all this playing with the food business?! And how come she has to get into the exact same picture every time and rip off the metal pansy? Huh? Why? Every time I leave the room, she does this. She says "Oh goodie, now I can resume ripping off the pansy on mommy's picture." Somebody help me. Someone kidnapped my baby and replaced her with a terror.

Update: Oh yeah, and she loves throwing her toys out of her stroller on our walks b/c it is funny to watch me have to pick them up, and when I take them away from her she gets mad b/c she is bored and wants to play the "I throw, you fetch" game.

However, she does know when I need a hug.

(3) Fri Aug 19 2005 16:55 Sho-co-lat: I like to buy chocolate chips as an afternoon pick-me-up snack. I like the semi-sweet ones b/c they are a little better for you than the milk chocolate ones, plus I like semi-sweet better. This time at the store I bought the off-brand semi-sweet chips when I always buy the Ghirardelli chocolate bag for like 25 cents more. But I grabbed the cheap kind b/c it was the first thing I saw and I was in a hurry. BIG MISTAKE. These "Sam’s Choice" chocolate chips are hardly worth the calories. The chocolate is so grainy compared to the smooth, creamy Ghirardelli chocolate. I didn't think I would be able to tell a difference, but there you go. Ghirardelli makes some of the best chocolate around.

(2) Mon Aug 22 2005 11:03 In the year two-thousand, in the year two-thousand: This morning I wanted to wake up at 5:30 am with Aaron to help him so he could study for his test today. He doesn't like getting up by himself b/c it makes him feel even more tired and unmotivated, so I offered to get up with him which was fine b/c this week is our carpool week and I needed to get a lot of stuff done before I went on my walk this morning. I woke up to the alarm for Aaron but he said to sleep a little while longer. So I did. A lot longer. In fact up until the time we had to go. But I still had to feed Lily. So I had to drive the boys all the way to school instead of their brother's to get a ride to school, b/c I didn't want to make their brother, Josh, late.

So I didn't get Lily her full breakfast, or water our lawn, or make Aaron's lunch, or eat breakfast myself. So by the time I got home and watered our lawn and did all the rest, it was Lily's nap and getting hot so I couldn't go on my walk. Hopefully this afternoon will be overcast, and better yet I hope it rains tonight so I don't have to water my lawn. That would be an added bonus.

Aaron and I just got our grass put in a couple days ago. They put dead grass in which makes me mad, and worse I have to water it all the time, and we have a large yard so it takes like two hours worth of moving the sprinkler here to there, twice a day. Such is life if you buy a home I guess. I wish I could put in a sprinkler system and then it would be so easy.

This weekend Aaron went to the garden center and picked out some beautiful flowers and bushes and put them in himself. It looks awesome, and I am so proud that he got cute flowers without me even prompting him and he did so well placing them in the flower bed. Thanks, my hard working hunny!

Now they have the water turned off for a couple hours due to construction here, so I can't do laundry, clean my bathroom, or take a shower.

Enough complaining though. This weekend we played games with Aaron's family and it was really fun. Josh and Jenni won both times playing Trivial Pursuit. I think the longer you are married the better you are at winning team games b/c it was in the same order both times with Aaron and I in second and Jake and Erin last, as is the case with Password. Or maybe I am just making that up.

(6) Wed Aug 24 2005 13:32 Accidents do happen, but why always to me?!: Seems like when one thing goes wrong then tons of things start following lead. I can't complain, my life is great. It has just been a challenging week. The cherry on top happened today as some guy backed his truck up (and over) my hood. To make matters worse, he has no insurance. Nice. And he wanted me not to call the police because he has 2 warrents out for his arrest, "no policia, muchas problemas para mi".

I did call the police right away, before I even got out of the car half expecting the guy to drive off. Luckily he stuck around, but a whole lot of good that did me. I am still stuck with a broken car, $500 deductible out of my pocket, and this going on my permanent record. Did you catch that part? My PERMANENT RECORD! Argh! And just when Aaron's accident was getting off our record this month and I was all excited our auto insurance was going down $50 per month and we even got to switch back to the better USAA policy. But no. Not now since my record is tarnished, the corporate insurance angency has to make someone pay.

Isn't this why I pay insurance so when accidents happen, it's covered? Nope, they take more money away from you so now they will punish me for some idiot backing up into me and I not only have to pay up front deductible, they add salt to the wound by making me pay more money for three years following. How is this fair? Stupid uninsured driver's. I hope he gets sent back to Mexico.

(8) Fri Aug 26 2005 13:56 A year ago today: Let's see...a year ago today I was in Utah. My mom was in town, and we ran around looking for blessing dress material awaiting the arrival of a late baby. I was due on the 25th. My mom and I went on a long walk hoping to move it along. The past couple days I had been eating garlic and spicy foods with false hopes that it would speed the progress. That night Aaron, mom, and I ate Aaron’s Alaskan caught salmon, and Caesar salad with homemade Caesar dressing my mom made. I remember what I ate because I threw it up the next morning.

I woke up at 4:30 AM with tremendous back pains. I sat up in bed for about half an hour because they were too painful to go back to sleep. Twenty minutes into the back pain something happened. I remembered what my mid-wife said while prepping me for going into labor. She said when you are having contractions, you will know it. The whole week I was going around thinking, is that a contraction I am having or is it just the baby doing summersaults in my tummy?

Sure enough, my mid-wife was right. I knew that this morning it was contractions. I started timing them...6 mins apart, 4 mins...it didn't hurt all that bad. I thought better get in the shower and get ready. Heaven forbid I look like a ghostly chemo patient after the baby is born. I want to look good for the pictures! So I showered. While I was drying off, it hit me. Painful labor pangs. That's when I involuntarily threw up half digested salmon and salad. I thought it would have been through my system by then. My mom heard me and came in to help me. I went in to wake Aaron up to get ready to go to the hospital and my mom got ready as well.

7:00 AM, we left for the hospital. We got there in good time but not soon enough. For some reason, when we got in to car my contractions were considerably more intense. Contractions were 3 mins about and HURTING. When we got to the hospital I was put in an observation room first. They plugged me up to machines to check my progress and to see if I really was having a baby this day. Yes, indeed I was and my contractions were getting closer and more intense. I asked for an epidural at this point but didn't get one until an hour and a half later because the anesthesiologist was in a c-section. It was during that hour and a half where I decided not to ever have a baby natural.

I finally got my drugs, felt much better and slept a lot. Aaron watched The Olympics because it had been on all week. He also got some rest too. Around 1:00 pm my mid-wife came in to check on me and woke Aaron and me up. I was already at a 9 and fully effaced so she was getting me ready to push. About 45 mins to an hour later I started pushing. It was really hard b/c I could slightly feel the contractions coming on, but I couldn't really feel how hard I was pushing so my progress was really slow. Lily's head finally surfaced only to be caught at the shoulders.

All of the sudden my mid-wife started ordering the nurse to apply something pubic pressure manually like she was doing CPR on my tummy. My mid-wife started stressing for me to "push, push, push". I had never had a baby before so I was not sure if all this anxiety was normal. I didn't know what was going on and it all happened so fast. At one point I looked at Aaron who looked nervous and helpless and I guess he must have felt it b/c he started to push on my tummy too. It was kinda cute and funny looking back. It turns out Lily was stuck at her shoulders and was turning blue from no oxygen. She finally popped out along with blood and fluid soaking Aaron's shirt and pants.

A response team of nurses and a doctor came in when we had problems and made sure Lily was ok. She was a 6 at first on the APGAR (?) scale but then improved to a 9. She was born at 3:00 pm.

Now a year later, my infant is no longer an infant. My baby is no longer a helpless little thing sleeping all the time. Everyday she gets more and more independent. Everyday she learns something new and is getting into more things. Everyday she changes and looks different. And everyday I love her more and more, beyond comprehension.

In just a couple days, she will be completely weaned. I am excited, but a part of me is sad. That part of my relationship with her will be over. Maybe because it was so hard for us to learn to nurse in the beginning and the huge boulder it was for it to happen and almost giving up altogether, but I will miss it a little. I know things will never stay the same. I told my mom in the hospital, "I just want her to stay this little forever." My mom said, "No you don't, because then you will never be able to see her crawl or walk or talk and be excited for her progress." I know this is true, and I agree that this past year has been exquisite with her in our lives and how she learns to do one thing and you think "she is so smart, she could program computers if she wanted to" but I just hope that I will always remember how cute she is here and now. Even though she spits out all her food and throws it on the ground. Even though she pulls my hair every chance she gets. Even though she no longer lies still to change her diaper. Even though she eats roaches. Even though she woke up every 3 hours until she was 9 months. Even though I got stretch marks from chest to calf. Even though...I love you, Lily. Happy Birthday!

(3) Tue Aug 30 2005 10:11 Happy 24th Birthday to me!: Last night we celebrated my birthday at my mom's house before she left for UT this morning. We had steaks and baked potatoes, and my favorite Oreo ice cream cake dessert. It was great, and I also scored bringing home some clothes from Lorna that she didn't fit into. They were hand-me-downs to Lorna, which are now hand-me-downs to me--not to be confused with Lorna not fitting in them because she grew out of them, I am not that small.

This morning I dropped mom off at the airport to go to UT for Shelley's wedding. I wish I could go, but frankly I just haven't been away from Utah long enough to miss it. I miss Julie, David, and Michelle though.

Lily has been so cute and snuggly lately. She gives lots of hugs and kisses, and even gives her dolls and stuffed animals hugs. She is cutting one upper tooth. I thought they grew in in pairs, but apparently not. This is just one lone hillbilly front tooth. It hurt her a lot on Sunday but she seems happy as ever yesterday and today.

I have been meaning to mention here Lily's big birthday party we had for her, but kept forgetting. Aaron wrote about it in his blog, but I figure I better mention this milestone too. It was really fun with lots of friends and family attending. Lily scored with lots of new toys (she was getting sick of just her teething toys) and she got to enjoy a chocolate cake all by herself. The adults got the Baskin Robbins ice cream cake that was decorated in Strawberry Shortcake theme and pretty good too. We had her party a little early so Michelle could be there before heading to Utah. Overall, it was a success.

(5) Wed Aug 31 2005 15:18: I guess I spoke too soon. My grandfather (Joe Walch) passed away today, so I will be visiting Utah this next week for the funeral. Poor gramps, he was a trooper and fought long and hard. I know he is happier now.

(2) Wed Sep 07 2005 21:37 Plants, Trees, and more Plants: Today I went to the Garden Center and bought some more landscaping for our house. It has been a fun ongoing project since moving in starting with Aaron and a friend uprooting two trees (one China Berry and one random one) from a forest and planting them in our front yard. We did this in the dead of August or maybe it was even late July, needless to say one is dead and the China Berry is barely hanging on with one sprout of leaves. It could have been from the Texas heat, or it could have been from Aaron and I being too lazy to water them.

I am proud to say that we learned our lesson because when we received our sod three weeks later, we have watered it twice a day for 2 1/2 weeks now. Our grass came to us dead and now it is green with the exception of a few problem pieces of sod that look like they came to us diseased. At that time we got our grass, Aaron and the same friend (thanks for all the free labor James) went to the Garden Center and picked out some flowers and bushes for our flower bed. They did a great job and it turned out great.

We also gathered up a bunch of rocks to line the border of the flower bed and tress with. I think it added the perfect touch. I even sprang for a HUGE rock in the front yard by paying a construction worker $30 to use their bulldozer (our neighborhood is still being developed and there are no houses to the left of us) and lifting this massive 700-800 lbs. rock and dumping it onto our lawn. I think it looks just right now, but anymore rocks I think would be a little much.

Anyhoo, today I went to the Garden Center again and bought some trees to replace the dead ones. They were having a 40% off sale so I figured what better time than now. I got a Bradford Pear for the tree by the house and a Crepe Myrtle for the tree by the driveway. I wanted to get some more but I didn't want to bite off more than I can chew. That is for another project in a couple weeks. I don't even want to think about the back yard...argh! So much work. But I think it will be worth it b/c I love having a nice yard and surrounding myself with beautiful living things. (Now I know why Frances is addicted to buying plants. B/c they're gorgeous!)

So I am pretty proud of myself for maintaining this project and I hope that by the time we sell our house, it will go fast and for a lot b/c we took care of our house and yard. I also got to fulfill a dream of when I was little and wanted to plant irises in my garden "when I grew up" b/c they are my favorite flower. Now added onto the list is any type of lily.

(1) Thu Sep 08 2005 07:45 I'm sad: I just deleted my Grandpa's phone number from my cell phone contacts. It was weird. I'm sad.

Fri Sep 09 2005 11:08 Summer reads: I just got done with The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx and am halfway through The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck. I highly recommend The Moon is Down, it is one of those simplistic intellectual books, the ones they have you read in 9th grade honors English, and if you read it again 10 yrs later you would get a lot more out of it and even something different with your maturing perspective on life. Anyway, I find it amazing that John Steinbeck wrote it during WWII and it was smuggled into "occupied land" and translated into so many different languages. Pretty cool stuff.

I supposed I enjoyed The Shipping News, however I found some parts to be a little vulgar. It was a little depressing, but in the end it had a good message. I think that the juxtaposition of her message and the storyline makes it so that you don't really believe the message though. Does that make sense?

(11) Tue Sep 13 2005 12:25 I've put it off long enough.: I figure I should say something about my trip to Utah and my Grandpa's funeral. I would fill badly if I didn't do him justice that way. So I set off for Utah with Lorna on a non-stop Delta flight. Luckily we were able to get one for under $500 each, but not much under. On the plane Lily decided to play the game of crawl over mom to get to Lorna, then back again, and again. Then she got restless of being held and wanted to play on the ground and crawl around. I just recall thinking "only an hour and a half more of this...one more hour...forty more minutes, oh my gosh do I have to go through this again." It is not fun traveling while babies need naps. It could have been worse. At least Lorna didn't vow to never baby-sit again, and I didn't get any dirty looks from other people sitting next to us, at least I didn't see any.

David picked us up at the airport and we descended into Happy Valley. I then found out that the place I had been planning to stay (my Dad's) was no longer available for me to stay at. So I called my sister-in-law, Hailey, to see if the invitation was still open for me to stay with them in Highland. It turned out quite nice though since they graciously watched Lily while she slept in the evening so I could be with family more.

I got to meet Julie's Ben (I have four Ben's to keep track of in my family) and I really liked him. He is cuter in person, not that his pictures were bad, but I was impressed overall. Seems to be a cool guy. It was fun to see Michelle and Julie's room too. The funeral was very good. I still say that Melea's funeral was the most spiritual funeral I have ever been too, but Grandpa's was great too. I loved the slide show, some of the pictures I had never seen of him before. The talks were great and they gave me insight into Grandpa's life I had never had. it is weird because since I was pretty close to Grandpa especially in his later years living so close to him, I thought I would bawl like a baby but I was pretty calm. I'm still waiting for it to hit me that he is gone. When we went to his house with all the cousins, I half expected him to be sitting there sitting on his couch watching Fox News looking kinda grumpy like he always did. That's just Grandpa. But he wasn't there.

There at Grandpa's house we were to go through and write down the things we wanted to keep. I went through his apt looking at the furniture I had dusted for him many, many times. The toiletries I had arrange after cleaning his bathroom, the bed with the headset and radio so he could listen to the news while falling asleep. His clothes in his closet all lined up, the ones he hemmed and the shirts that would loosen after he would get sick, or would be taut after he was out and about riding the bus to McDonalds everyday when well. They still smelled like Grandpa. Then I saw his McDonald's gift certificate bucks on his dresser. That's Grandpa, with his uncooked oatmeal for breakfast for his heart in the morning, and his lunches at McDonalds, followed by his milk and bread for dinner because that is what he had growing up.

It is still so weird for me to think that he is gone b/c he really kept himself going for so long. I never thought Grandpa could die. He has had so many strokes, falls and stitches, and broken bones that have all defied death. Even when he had colon cancer a year and a half ago, I thought uh-oh, this is it. I heard no one hardly ever survives colon cancer. But my Grandpa came out of surgery and was released from the hospital in what was it, like three days with a clean bill of health. During our talks while I cleaned his apartment, he would say how he didn't want to die and wasn't ready. He was such a strong spirit and stubborn that he lived to 89 1/2 yrs old. I guess that is why I disbelieved he was really gone. But things happen for a reason. Grandma died and her funeral was on my birthday Aug 30 2003 and eerily, Grandpa died Aug 31st and the funeral was Sept 3. So they died almost exactly 2 years apart.

Anyway, I picked a tie of Grandpa's to remember him by, some trinkets he always had lying around. I got some address stickers he had that companies would send to him and when I helped him pay his bills, he always used those, but would make me cut off the design sticker part because he thought that by doing that he didn't have to donate the money to the companies that would send him complimentary address stickers. Funny man. I also got some file folders and a file box. I wanted his diplomas, pictures, Richardson Family book, and other keepsakes, but everyone wanted those and I wasn't near top in the hierarchy to get those things.

Anyway, it was great to see all the siblings there and the Scoll cousins that you never see all in one place except for weddings or funerals. I am glad I got to go back to Utah, but was sad that I didn't have time to drive by my old house. I did however drive past my old walking route, and I got warm fuzzy feelings, I guess because I have so many fond memories of my walks with Lily in the nice beautiful Utah seasons, listening to great books on tape. It was good to get back because I missed Aaron too much. It seems like he doesn't ever get to go with me to things like that. My side of the family doesn't see him much. That trip I decided I didn't want to travel again without him.

I am now grandparent-less.

(6) Wed Sep 14 2005 17:18 AHHHH-DAHT: Brech-a,brech-a, brech-a....duhlopah

Aaron: When did our child learn Vietnamese?

Kristen: That's not all, she knows Russian, Italian, and German.

Our little chatter box here learned to say "uh-oh". She also took her first steps in Utah. Aaron missed it, but she has been walking a little now. It is only when she realizes she is not walking when she does it. Once she realizes it she sits back on her bum and starts crawling. And it is always when she is standing and holding onto the couch or foot rest and she sees something and walks along the edge but keeps walking when after she lets go. It's pretty cute. She is also getting her second upper tooth in.

That's what's been going on though. Lily getting teeth, talking, and walking.

(1) Fri Sep 16 2005 22:18 How sad is this?: Ok, for all you mom's out there, you know that you can not go to the bathroom in peace without being followed in there by a child. I suppose it's best so they don't hurt themselves, but I don't like it when mine comes in and unravels all the toilet paper and when you make her stop or keep it from rolling she starts hissing fiery darts at you.

Also, Lily found where the DVD's and CD's are kept. (In different cupboards mind you.) And she has taken a liking to tearing them all off the shelves.

Today I had an appt for Lily to go to and I got lost. I've been there before, I don't know why the street wasn't there when I looked for it the second time, but it wasn't. So I drove around looking for it finally finding it right where I thought it was. Why wasn't it there to begin with? Not to mention Lily decided to yell the last 15 minutes in the car so I could barely hear myself think. **Note to self, do not schedule appts during nap time, not even if the next appt available is in a month.** So I was late to the appt. While there, Lily won't walk yet, so she is still a human broom sliding her legs all over the filthy floor and getting her hands all dirty and when I pick her up, she instantly arches her back and throws herself to the floor. Luckily for me, she isn't that big or strong yet so I can wrestle her, but not really able to do this for 20 mins in the waiting room b/c then I look like a mean mom. So off she goes on the floor to catch whatever disease is laying around. She only weighed in at 17 lbs 2 oz and 28 inches long.

I was able to drop Lily off at Grandma's and Pappy’s while I went to the dentist. Actually, he isn't a dentist yet, but almost. My brother-in-law did a teeth cleaning and some other stuff at the dental clinic today. Aaron was there and was able to assist. And the best part is, it was all discounted major. Thanks, Josh!

We did have a dental school B-B-Q to go to tonight with good food, but Aaron had to leave early b/c he is slaving away parking cars for $50 for 4 hours, helping a friend out. So he barely got to eat and run. Aaron's brother Jake and his wife Erin dropped Lily and me off at home. We forgot though, Lily's crib was in the car from going to Grandma's. So Lily has been bouncing off the walls now waiting for Papa to come home with her bed. Any minute now...

(1) Sat Sep 17 2005 16:46 This is a first: Aaron and I were woken up by a very sad clingy baby this morning. I don't know why b/c both her teeth she is growing in have broken through her gums. And if any of you know Lily, she doesn't cry for no reason, especially after she has had a good sleep.

So we headed to Garden Center to buy some more landscaping b/c she was getting to clingy inside. We got 2 Japanese Yew, 3 wax myrtle (b/c they smell so good), some canna lilies, and a Magnolia tree. I love Magnolias. So we had lots of planting to do, especially since where we put the plants was where there was grass. So we had to tear up the grass and we were able to save it for the backyard sodding that is slowly growing bigger with all the projects we are doing in the front yard. (Our builders didn't sod the backyard, only the front yard.) Then we actually planted all the plants at one time. We also planted the lantana that was intended for ground cover under the Bradford Pear tree we got that is being delivered Monday along with our Magnolia tree and Crepe Myrtle tree, but we bought the lantana awhile ago and they were looking pretty sick, so I thought we'd better get them in ground.

It looks pretty good now and I think I am done with the front yard after Monday when they plant the Bradford Pear. (We have to plant the Crepe Myrtle and Magnolia Tree ourselves. Too spensive.) So now on to the backyard. I don't even know what to do with it. We kinda ran out of money too. Maybe we will wait for the spring on that one. Besides, Lily is too young right now to play outside. She doesn't even wear shoes for heaven's sake. I will post a picture of it when we get the trees all planted.

Mon Sep 19 2005 12:46 You think your S don't stink?: I remember being a new mom and actually liking the smell of Lily's poopy diapers. The sweet smell of breastmilk fed baby slime. It was a sweet smell, not offensive. Mostly it just reminded me of Lily, and I loved everything about her. I know it sounds weird, but I did like the smell.

Then came solids, and her poop quickly changed from slime to solid. At least it didn't leak out her back as much and stayed put in one solid round mound, but it started smeeeelll-ling.

I also love the smell of baby's breath. It smells so baby and so sweet. Some say it smells like rotten milk, but I firmly disagree. There is nothing much better than the smell of sweet baby's breath. Particularly my baby's breath.

Now from eating solids and Lily's new teeth (she is now showing 3 on top and one coming in on top, and 2 on bottom) her breath doesn't smell the same. My perfect creature is not perfect after all. Her breath stinks and her poop stinks. At least her breath is not repulsive...yet, but I hear it comes.

It was funny, the other day I fed Lily some left over spaghetti that I made with ground beef sautéed in garlic. My mom came over and was holding Lily and was like, why does she smell like garlic. I thought that babies had special saliva to fight off bad smells, but I was wrong.

So indeed, the perfect creature I thought I created has poop that stinks.

(15) Tue Sep 27 2005 12:20 Cerebral: Well, I've finished Angels and Demons. Good book, not as good as Da Vinci Code and due to Dan Brown's writing style was a little predictable. I can't give anything away for those who wish to read it in the future, (just like we gave away to Joe and Louise a year after HP:OOTP came out, assuming they had read it, that Sirius dies) but I didn't like the ending that much. I would tell you why but then I would give clues away.

I am halfway through the disturbing but very well written Oryx and Crake. I just got chills up my spine from writing that name. Yes, it is that disturbing. It is an "end of the world" theme, but I am still making my way through it to really pinpoint what it is about. I would love to discuss it with you Aly, after I am done, and Sumana- have you read it too?

Inspired by my trip to Utah and hanging with my sister-in-law, Aaron and I have rented the first 2 DVD's of Arrested Development. Very hilarious, and highly recommended. I love the main guy's acting, he slays me. I also think Gob and "Mom" are hilarious, but I have to say Buster does the funniest things. My favorite character is Michael though. Who's your favorite character?

Anyone who hasn't seen AR, rent season one!

(2) Wed Sep 28 2005 15:08 Poisoned!: Ok, so a couple days ago at like 1 AM, I woke with a terrible stomachache. (Sto-ma-cha-cha as Raymond Barone calls it) This unfortunately happens it seems every 6-8 mos where I awake with a stomachache, throw up, and feel fine. So this night was no different. I got up and took some Pepto Bismal and I rolled around in bed till I finally felt it coming on and I got up to throw up. The nice part about having the master bath attached to the master bedroom is your husband can hear you gagging and hurling your insides out. So Aaron came and gave me pity and patted my back. It was really sweet and it made me feel better. So I went back to sleep and woke up just fine.

The weird thing is, is that Lily a couple days earlier had projectile vomit and it got all over the kitchen floor I had just mopped that day. I was so stunned b/c it was the first time she had ever really thrown up and I was covered in barf as was she and the floor. At least it was on the tile and not the carpet. I stood there a few seconds not knowing what to do, trying to will in my mind a way to avoid the inevitable cleaning it up and me and Lily, as I had just barely bathed and dressed her for bed. The strange thing was that she didn't seem sick before or after the projectile vomit. But then a couple days later, we were at her 12 month check up and she was crawling all over the waiting room floor and all the sudden she is playing with something on the ground. Throw-up. It could have only been her own but I only turned away a second and heard nothing before I looked again and she was swirling her fingers in it. It was pretty embarrassing but at least we were at the doctors and not the grocery store.

(3) Fri Sep 30 2005 12:14 Artsy-fartsy: I have been thinking about going to a play here, but it occurred to me that there is no local playhouse that I can think of except downtown. Who wants to drive downtown? Strange, b/c I know of at least 3 off the top of my head that are within 15 mins driving time in Provo. Maybe there is a good high school play?! Probably a bad idea.

(1) Fri Sep 30 2005 12:51 Settler's: We played Settler's of Cattan last night with some friends, but we also played with the Cities and Knights expansion kit. I don't think I can play the regular way again. Cities and Knights is soooo fun. Lots going on though, so it took us 3 hours to play one game.

Tue Oct 04 2005 15:33 Drunkard: It's official. Lily can walk, albeit like a drunken sailor, but her preferred means of getting around these days has been walking. I was a little worried there, but she finally learned.

Wherever she walks now she has to have some sort of doll in her hand. Whether it be her lamb (her favorite), her yellow Carebear (her second favorite), or these other two dolls she has, she has to be dragging something in one hand or hugging it in her carseat.

She has been extra clingy this past week too. Not necessarily fussy, just clingy. It is kinda cute, but a little alarming to. I want her to learn to play by herself. It's been kinda hard too lately to get things done around the house.

We found Lily's Halloween costume on eBay. She is going to be a pig and an adorable one at that. Pictures soon to come.

(9) Thu Oct 06 2005 14:10 Media Junkie: Somebody shut me up because here I go again.

First off, I have completed the highly recommended Alias Grace. Superb! A must read murder mystery with a twist. I love Margaret Atwood's writing style even more now. She really is a fantastic writer.

Secondly, Aaron and I watched Sahara last night. I folded clothes while watching it so I do not feel it was a complete waste of time. Very lame and cheesy, but I have seen worse, and at least it was clean.

And finally, a confession. I like to read MSN Entertainment online. It keeps me up to date with celebrities' lives. And I like to see what they are wearing and such. You need not tell me I am shallow, I already know. I am not really surprised to find out Katie Holmes is pregnant. With Tom Cruise's offspring I am not yet sure b/c I thought he was impotent. This new Hollywood trend is starting to bug me. Everyone get pregnant, anybody who is anyone has a child. Well bull crap. Madonna, Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams, Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck, Tom and Katie, and much more. So it is not ok for 15 year olds to have babies out of wedlock, but it is fine and dandy for them? What because they have money? Well, that is a good point, but still. This whole baby having craze is nice, but is it really? I mean I love seeing children being relished and treated as a blessing. That is what I believe. But Hollywood is making it out to be a bandwagon. It doesn't matter if you are married or not. Or it is ok, we'll just get married when I'm huge before the baby comes. I mean how many of them really raise their own child? I really wonder how many times they get up at night with the baby and how many times the nanny does it? I am not trying to be judgmental, I am just saying that having children is HARD. What kind of human beings are being sent out into the world ill-equipped b/c they never really had a mom or dad around. I am not saying that everyone in Hollywood is a bad parent, b/c I don't know everything. I am just saying it cannot be healthy for a child to not have stability in their life and being dragged about the world whenever their mummy and daddy has to make a movie.

Ok, done bashing on Hollywood for a while. I don't want to come off to brash, I'm just being a child-advocate which is very badly needed in this world.

(6) Thu Oct 06 2005 15:20 Just like her mama: Lily is taking her nap still after 3 hours and 15 minutes of silence bliss. Not only that, the past 10 days she has not woken me up before 8:00 yet. In fact I wake up on my own. Am I lucky or what? I don't even have a clue what time she really wakes up, b/c I am asleep, but she quietly plays in her crib with her lamb until I come get her. No screams or anything.

How long will this last? I don't know, but I say I darn-well deserve it. My body is replenishing itself from waking up every 3 hours until she was 9 months old. This way, when the second one comes along, I will have a nice store of sleep energy so I don't neglect them. For some reason my body like at least 8 hours of sleep, preferably 8 1/2-9 hours.

Sun Oct 09 2005 09:01 Rough House: The good thing about having a baby at this age, her's not mine, is that you can roll around with them and hug them tightly without hurting them and without hurting yourself (b/c they are still light).

Sun Oct 09 2005 22:42 Oh my gosh:

Me: Earthquake in Asia. 30,000 dead!

Aaron: 30,000?! This is the end of the world.

(1) Tue Oct 11 2005 21:57 Medium-Rare: I just want to say that finally having our own gas BBQ has been one of the most important and rewarding things we have done so far. I like meat, and I like it even more when it is BBQ'ed. There is such a difference with our grill, rather than our giant George Foreman grill we had in UT. It just tastes so much better. Whether it is our steaks, beef sausage dogs, pork chops, chicken breasts, or whatever we want!

There is absolutely no clean-up with a BBQ. We use it probably at least 3 times a week. I am getting the hang of it too, like knowing where the knob should be on temperature-wise so the steak is not over-cooked. Yes, I do say that if you don't have a BBQ, get one or you are missing out. (That is unless you don't eat meat.)

(16) Wed Oct 12 2005 12:57 Serendipity: Two days ago, Aaron cut my hair. And he was pretty good at it too. I didn't really want to pay money to get a trim, and I didn't need one more appt to go to after Aaron was home to watch Lily. He didn't cut much, seeing as my hair is/was passed my mid-back, but he gave me a good 2-3 inch trim. He even cut layers.

I like the way it turned out. My hair was just getting so long and out of control. Not to mention, it was used as a rope swing for Lily. The only thing that I am kinda regretting is not having super sharp shears. The ones the salons use. Our hair cutting scissors were a little dull. I hope it didn't damage the tips of my hair, causing them to split sooner rather than later.

(5) Thu Oct 13 2005 13:00 Prams and nappies: The weather has been very nice lately. Cool and breezy, making my walks very enjoyable. I have finished No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency as per Sumana's recommendation. I loved it. I liked learning about African culture. I don't get much of that anymore now that I am not in school. I really liked all those Anthropology, Sociology, and Archeology classes. I'm halfway through The Handmaid's Tale and it is written much like the style of Oryx and Crake. Pretty weird freaky stuff. I think I will go onto Deception Point to lighten things up after.

Yesterday while I was changing Lily's diaper I usually have to do something to distract her so she will sit still long enough that I can wipe her bum without getting poop everywhere, so I was singing "Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree". I have sung this song to her many times while doing the hand motions. Well, yesterday as I was singing, she started doing the popcorn popping sign. It was so funny to watch, she not being able to make a clenched fist and bursting her fingers. It was more like a flipping of the wrist and "spirit fingers". I am happy she is learning these things because I have been teaching her baby sign language hoping to communicate her needs with her before she can speak. So far she can sign "milk" and "all done", but she recognizes the signs for other things like "out" and "water" even though she cannot sign those ones yet.

(1) Sun Oct 16 2005 20:59 Newsweek Article: The article is actually pretty good. It talks about the LDS church and Joseph Smith. Anyone can check it out here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9630255/site/newsweek/

Tue Oct 18 2005 13:10 Everything Zen: I bought Lily her first real pair of shoes today. I actually bought a pair of shoes and sandals because Payless was having a buy one get one 50% off. The total was $8.63 for two pair of shoes! Now I can put her down at stores and other places because she can walk and has shoes. I didn't get her shoes before b/c they say when babies are learning to walk, they need to do it barefoot. Plus it was summer and I didn't want her hot with socks and shoes.

(6) Tue Oct 18 2005 21:50 Sigh of relief: When the kids are in bed, their sins are forgiven.

Thu Oct 20 2005 11:46 Petite: The good thing about have a little baby (she's 5th percentile in weight and 10th percentile in height) is that she fits in all her winter clothes from last year. Yay!

Fri Oct 21 2005 12:06 You call this NEWS: I can't believe this is in the news even if it is a joke. Plus the 2000's Ken, looks like Kim.

(2) Mon Oct 24 2005 20:57 Crummy: Last night was a rough night. Lily had diarrhea and diaper rash pretty bad, and I woke up again with an upset stomach. I vomited (is there a prettier way of saying that- please let me know) this morning and the hurtie tummy didn't go away like it normally does when this happens. So I closed all the doors and put up the child gate in the kitchen and let Lily roam the family room and hall while I laid around on the couch trying to catch some sleep in between Lily scratching my face and yanking my hair. Somehow I don't think she wanted me to sleep. I finally put her down for a nap and took one myself and felt better.

Aaron has been gone all day, and won't be home till 10:00pm maybe? He has his major gross anatomy test tomorrow and has been very busy studying all week. I will be so thankful after tomorrow is over. It is no fun being sick and having no company and a baby's sad red bum.

(8) Tue Oct 25 2005 09:05 Master of Disguise:

Dear Mr. Insect-that-looks-like-a-twig-man,

I can see you. My screen door is not a tree. You are not camouflaged. And if I can see you, your predators can see you. Plus you have been there for a day and a half and I have not seen you eat one bug. So you might want to reconsider your chilling place, one that is in a tree, and one where bugs that you eat are.

Love,

The Woman-with-concern-for-all-creatures

(3) Thu Oct 27 2005 22:02 A moment to myself: Yesterday was a treat. I was able to go to lunch with mom and Kirsten Searle, who was my 11 yr old Sunday School teacher and who I babysat for all the time growing up. They were a medical couple in our ward so they have moved, but she is in town. We went to Bravo Italiana Cucina for lunch and walked around the new fancy schmanchy Shops at La Cantera. I got a new pair of pants and a new purse. I also went into the new Tiffany's since I have never been in one. Pretty things, but way overpriced. Even if I could afford the jewelry I don't think I would own something from there because 1) I am all about getting a good deal- not happening at Tiffany's and 2) what if I lost it and whatever was worth bucco bucks. I could never forgive myself. I already almost lost my wedding ring b/c is doesn't fit me anymore so now I have to wear it on my middle finger...nice, huh?

It was nice hanging with the girls and Aaron had Lily. The past two weeks Aaron had been studying a ton for his Gross Anatomy test, so I was home with Lily alone, and it was nice to get out and have a break. But when I got home, Lily emptied the entire shelf of books that she could reach, dumped out the dirt in out plant, and completely trashed the house with all her toys...and Aaron was playing Xbox. Oh well, Aaron needed the break and playtime and I am sure Lily had fun exploring which she is entitled to every now and again.

Tonight Aaron is at the Spurs game with his brothers living it up with his 10-pack Season tickets Christmas present. We also went to Pappasitos for dinner because they were having a special on their fajitas for two. It was yummy. I love having family nearby so we can play with them.

Oh yeah, and I finished painting the master bathroom today...finally, I can't believe that is done.

(6) Mon Oct 31 2005 14:48 "Words, words, words": So, I suppose Lily's first official words are, "hot, hot, hot, hot". She learned that one of her words of gibberish meant something to us as well as her and she now uses it for everything. Well, not really but she did know what hot meant and she still does in a way but she now uses it for "food" b/c now all the food we put in front of her is "hot". She also uses it for communication to us, just for fun she'll say it so we get all happy and encourage her by repeating the word "hot" and then she goes on for minutes saying, "hot...hot, hot...hot" testing out different fluctuations in her voice. "(high)hot, (short) hot, hot(with an enunciated 't').

I guess you could argue that "uh-oh" was her first word (and knew the meaning of it too), but Aaron says it is a not really a word, but a conversation filler or an onomonopia. Which is true, but it is still a word(s). To say the least, her gradations are very endearing. She also loves her newfound freedom by walking around, and outside she throws her arms up and arches her back to try to wriggle her way down when I am holding her...great.

UPDATE: Oh yeah, I forgot she knows yum-yum and has for awhile because she said it at her first birthday party when we put her cake in front of her. But still, hot is her first real word.

(2) Sat Nov 05 2005 13:17 I'm so lucky: Although Aaron hates housework and rarely did it without being begged 10 times when we were "sharing" chores, he has never, not once criticized my housekeeping or bugged me to clean when I have felt lazy. There is nothing worse than being harassed to do something on top of the "I soooo don't feel like it" attitude. That's pretty cool.

Sat Nov 05 2005 14:27 Endearment: Lily is doing some pretty annoying things lately like pulling things off of the table within her reach and destroying important documents and such. However, she also does some pretty cute things too. For example: she saw me brushing my teeth, and when I wouldn't allow her to yank my toothbrush out of my mouth, she went off and found two toothbrushes that I gave to her awhile ago to play with in hopes that she would inadvertently brush her own teeth while chewing on them. Success!

(4) Mon Nov 07 2005 21:04 Pictures: So I finally got pictures of Halloween, our house/landscaping, and misc. together, and Leonard has been kind enough to post them on my blog. To view them, click here.

(1) Mon Nov 07 2005 22:21 Doodies of being a parent: So, lately I was faced with one of the grossest things a parent may have to deal with while rearing children. I think I have mentioned here that Lily has had diaper rash, in fact she has had it for over two weeks now. (You know where this story is going.) I don't know why, but it is taking forever to heal, and one of the many annoyances diarrhea has is that every morning she has a nice load in her pants when I come to get her out of bed. The fact that I have to change it along with 4 more diapers a day is torture, but I also have to get up and get her at the first signs of her awakening for fear her diaper rash will get worse if left unattended to. (I usually get her when she starts whining and crying, and leave her to play and talk to herself if she is happy so I can sleep more.)

Sooo, the other morning I went to get her, and the day before that she had a cold, so when I opened the door and saw a "dried booger" on her cheek, I figured she wiped her hand across her nose and face and a booger got stuck. Wrong. Dead. Wrong. Upon closer examination she seemed to have crusty "boogers" all in her bangs until it hit me. Those aren't boogers. It was poop. Smeared all over. Everywhere. On her face, hair, hands, legs, feet, blankey, sheets, crib, and lamb. Somehow she had unbuttoned her sleeper, taken her legs out of it, and taken off her diaper. And who knows what else transpired between that time and me going in to get her. Uhhh, I was horrified crying out to Aaron to 'come see this'. I picked her up holding her out arm's distance from me and put her in the tub and started running water. I couldn't just start a bath and let her bathe in the dirty water. I had to at least scrap most of it off so it wasn't floating around.

All during this time Lily was just looking at me like "Was it something I said? What guys, do I had food in my teeth, WHAT?" Poor little baby. Her room still smells like disinfectant Lysol because I got a little crazy in there. I hope this never happens again, mainly because I don't like to see one of my babies sleeping in pooh and seeing how pathetic and helpless they are.

(2) Mon Nov 07 2005 22:34 ummm, Forbidden Doughnut: Ok, now I feel like a fat fudge because I just ate a big slice of lemon cream cheese pie Aaron made yesterday. Superb! Did I mention it was my second slice today?

(5) Wed Nov 09 2005 21:44 You can have me anytime, Mr.Darcy: Ok, just kidding. I finally finished Pride and Prejudice and I can't believe I have not read it before now! It took getting used to the language, and I was a little confused with all the characters beginning with Ms. who and which they are, but once you get in the swing of it, it is a terrific love story.

I also was able to fulfill a wish that I have had for sometime. To buy a Tiffany lamp. I have always loved them, and Aaron and I were able to pick one for half off at a JC Penny Homestore sale. It really adds to my bedroom, I think.

(9) Sun Nov 13 2005 13:16 *dramatic sighs*: I'm too depressed to go to church.

(2) Mon Nov 14 2005 22:47 The gift that keeps on giving: So one of our latest fun movies we got from Netflix (do I sound like a commercial for them? I should be getting paid for this) was Empire of the Sun. Can I just say that I haven't seen a child actor performance of that kind since oh??? Christian Bale's debut on the silver screen was AhhMazing. Very well done movie. All the acting in fact was good- John Malkovich and others. The movie itself left some weird things to ponder, but in a good way. It is a clean movie too, so check it out.

I also finally saw Batman Begins. I liked it, but the one thing I wish I could change is well actually two things. Christian Bale's lame Batman teeth, and Batman's voice in the suit. I mean I know Chris Nolan (Memento) directed it and it is supposed to be a "darker side of comic book" movies, but CUMMON! Campy-the voice and comical-Vampire Dentures. Oh yeah, I forgot, I guess there were 3 things that annoyed me about the movie. Katie Holmes. However, I am looking forward to a sequel, hopefully her character gets killed off.

I think it would be fun to be a casting director. I could choose the best and it would also be a form of entertainment. Kinda like American Idol rejects. Ok, I better go to bed, this is getting mean.

(3) Wed Nov 16 2005 22:41 I thought this day would never come: I saw gas today for $1.99 here. (And the lowest octane is 87, unlike lame Utah that is 85.) It is at a nasty place though, so I don't trust their gas, but there is good gas for $2.04. It makes me sad to think that once I was appalled at over $2.00 per gallon, and now I am ecstatic.

(3) Thu Nov 17 2005 15:34 Happy Birthday: To Samuel Matkin! 3 yrs old today.

(4) Tue Nov 22 2005 12:05 Stiff: I am sure most of you read that email about myself that was being passed around the Smith family. There were so many questionaires that I read where people were reading the book Stiff. This peaked my interest b/c I am always looking for good books. I am wondering if this is really the book that practically everyone in the Smith family is reading? And why? Have I missed something? Was it featured on Good Morning, America or something? I am sure it is good and "uproariously funny" as stated, I just wonder how everyone stumbled upon it. It just seems so unusual.

Thu Nov 24 2005 10:20 Happy Thanksgiving: Everyone. I hope everyone has a relaxing (the belt holes) day.

(5) Mon Nov 28 2005 20:01 Ay-yay-yay: Things have been really crazy and busy here. Thanksgiving break was way fun to have so many visitors. Lily really enjoyed playing with her cousins and their 'new to her' toys. She definitely is starting to look like a little girl and less and less like a baby now. She learned the word 'soft' in the car today repeating after me while I was trying to teach her not to rip out the dog's hair in her 'touch and feel' book. This is a really important milestone to grasp that concept b/c she loves to pull my hair all the time. She has been getting better at it though.

While David, Ashley- David's girlfriend, Julie, and Michelle were in town David treated the family to the best BBQ I have ever had! It is called Salt Lick and it is in Driftwood, TX. It took us a little over an hour to get there, but it was worth every mile. I have to say they have the best BBQ west of the Atlantic Ocean.

Aaron and I had to give a talk in church yesterday. I am just glad that it is over for at least a year and not have to worry about being caught alone in the hall with a member of the bishopric. I am loath to accepting talks, but I always do. The most heart melting thing happened though while I spoke. Aaron's parents were watching her while we were on the stand, and of course I could hear Lily from all the way up there. When I got up to speak, just a little bit into my talk I looked up and I could hear Lily bawling and I saw her in the aisle crying for me with her arm stretched out for me, and her other arm being held back by Sherry trying to catch her before she got further up the aisle. It was very darling and flattering. Come to think of it, when we had to give talks in Utah and Joe and Louise had her, she saw me too and started crying so Joe had to take her out. It is kinda strange b/c usually she doesn't care; she's like 'seeya mom' in public places but just when I give talks she freaks out. I bet she just wants to play with the cool microphone.

For the first time ever, I went shopping at 6 AM the day after Thanksgiving. I usually go shopping the day after but not at 6 AM. All the sister-in-laws and Sherry went and we were out for a long time. I think we got home at like 2 PM. I have most of my Christmas shopping done. Well, I had it all done, until I found out that I bought Aaron's dad something that he already has 2 of. So I didn't get much of the sale bargains, but enjoyed being around for the company.

Well, back to cleaning up my disastrous house.

Tue Nov 29 2005 20:31 Hallelujah: I got all my Christmas decorations up before Dec 1st this year!! I don't have a lot, so that's not saying much.

(1) Fri Dec 02 2005 08:08 Happy 2nd Birthday : To Caden Smith.

Sat Dec 03 2005 11:40 Happy Birthday: Alyson! Man there are so many lately.

(1) Sat Dec 03 2005 11:54 Sickie: We just found out that Lily takes after her daddy in more than just looks. She had a persistent cold and when it lasted for over 10 days I did what ever good mother should and took her to see a doctor. It turns out that she has allergies. Poor kid. Aaron has them bad. I think he is allergic to waking up because it seems like every morning he sneezes over 15 times in a row. I can't stand it because by the time he is done, there are spit clouds floating around. Yuck.

So now Lily is on Nasonex and Zyrtec. Nasonex nose spray once a day in each nostril (she loves that) and Zyrtec syrup before bed. She is actually really good at taking oral medicine, she might even like it because she always opens and swallows without coercion.

She has added more words to her vocab. Mostly she is getting good at repeating me, who knows what she thinks the words mean. She says "hi" and "out" without the "t" and "soft" and "mama" really well, "papa" or "dada" sometimes, but sometimes he is "mama" too, and her favorite "hot" and "uh-oh". This week has been different though b/c I can see her mind opening up more. She takes interest in toys she never really did before, and plays with them like cause and effect more instead of just putting them in her mouth. And like I said, she watches what I say and sometimes she repeats me. It is very fun to watch your kids develop.

(1) Sun Dec 04 2005 10:02 Firsts: Lily got her first hair cut yesterday. I have been meaning to get it done b/c her bangs were in her eyes a bit. Last night when we stopped by Wal-Mart to pick up some things, I saw the hair salon was still open so we took her right in. It only took like 6 snips and 4 mins. Today I put her hair in pig tails and they are very cute. I was only a little sad that I didn't have my camera on me to take a picture of her first hair cut. Aaron kinda rolled his eyes, but he told me I crossed the line when I said I wanted to save a little bit of her 1/2 inch hair they cut. That's weird I agree, but there is still a part of me that wanted too and still does.

(11) Mon Dec 05 2005 12:13 Dear Mom:

Thank you for watching Lily for me. I am exceedingly grateful. But next time, please don't rearrange my living room furniture whole house. I like it the way it is, thankyouverymuch.

Love ya, Kristen

(6) Sun Dec 11 2005 19:24 'Tis the Season: I have tried to update my blog a number of times this week, each time being interrupted. This time of year has been so fun for Aaron, Lily, and me that it is hard to stay still for a sec. However, here is an update about what I have been doing this week.

Earlier this week, mom and I had a girl's day! We went grocery shopping and got all the ingredients to make holiday treats for friends and family. We had lots of ideas of traditional things that my mom always made every year like sugar cookies, buck-eyes, caramels, petal bread, fudge, and rocky road fudge. I wanted to do a couple of things, but in the end only made rocky road fudge because we had so many people to make it for and too little time. It was really great because that day we got a big cold front in, and it was freezing outside and it really put me in the holiday mood and all. That and a mug of hot chocolate.

So after shopping Lily went down for a nap and we set out making over 2 dozen loafs of rocky road fudge. By the time we were done with it all, packaging it and decorating it, it was time to pick up Aaron. That is a very fun tradition and I think mom and I will have to do it again next year.

The next day I spent a lot of time making Christmas cards to send out. I can not believe a lot of things: 1)that I let my sister-in-law Jenni talk me into this 2)how much time it is taking me 3)what possessed me to pick this particular card to make (very detailed) 4) how much money it is costing 5) that we still haven't taken pictures for it yet, and we leave for AZ on Sat morning 6) and finally I can't believe it to be possible for me to finish making all these cards (about 90 of them).

Also, that day mom came over again and we had lunch and she helped me sew these cute Christmas felt pillows that I had yet to finish since Super Saturday 2 years ago. Needless to say, they were finished, and they turned out very cute.

Sometime too this past week Aaron and I were able to get up our Christmas lights. I don't find it a total waste doing all this Christmas decor since I am leaving this Sat for almost 2 weeks, because Aly, Dave, and the boys will be staying here and hopefully the boys will like it all.

Well, back to making these cards for everyone. I better not hear of any of you throwing them away next month because I swear each one is worth at least $5!!! *sigh*

(5) Sun Dec 11 2005 20:01 Sunday woes: Ok, so I am a little torn now about church and Lily. Lily is at the age where she wants to explore everything and can walk around to do so. She is so curious in Sunday School that I usually have to leave about 10 mins into it to take Lily to nursery and watch her play in there. Here in lies the catch 22. I want to be spiritually edified by staying in Sunday School. I also want Lily to be entertained, but I am not excited about dropping Lily off into the nursery in 2 months.

Seeing how kids act in nursery and how Lily is picking up on things is a little disconcerting. There is always the mean girl who thinks all the dolls and kitchen stuff belong to her and no one else. I'm talking no one including sweet, precious, harmless Lily. Then there is the boy that is about a head taller than all the other children and likes to "hug" Lily by wrapping his arms around her tiny body compared to his and squeezing her tightly while trying to pick her up and sometimes accidentally dropping her. She can't get away from him either because he is too fast. Then there is the other girl who shoves anyone who touches her toys including unassuming Lily who could careless if anyone plays with her toys. Now she is learning how to say "mine" because of all the kids in there.

Then after dealing with this for Sunday School, I brave RS hoping she will do better and that there are fewer things to get into that she can kill herself with. Lily is a very friendly child and will go to anyone. In fact she prefers anyone over me at church. She loves strangers, and the ladies are nice and all, but I just can't stay too long when Lily is grunting and growling because she was worked up so much in nursery.

So what gives? I don't want my child to go to nursery; I am a control freak I guess and I just want my child to be exposed to kids that aren't bratty and mean. But I know that is not realistic and I also can't listen to a lesson either. I just hope she makes it through nursery with as little damage as possible.

Tue Dec 13 2005 11:37 Fashion advice from a man:

Aaron: Those must be old Abercrombie pants.

Kristen: Well Lorna gave them to me, you think they are faded?

A: No, they have cargo back pockets.

K: What, so cargo is way out of style?

A: Well, I never see anyone at school wearing them.

K: I guess that means I get to buy new jeans.

A: If anyone needs new jeans it's me. I saw my reflection in the window at school and was so embarrassed that that is how I look. My pants were border line high waters. I quickly tried to pull them down a little, but it didn't help....

My pants are one step away from the elastic waistband pants.

(2) Tue Dec 13 2005 17:34 It is fun!:

Susie says try it.

Splash Kristen All Over.

Where's The Kristen?

and...You're Never Alone with a Kristen.