Blogfest

Tori and Me


Saturday was Blogfest. What is Blogfest, you ask. Well, let's see... My sister Robin has a fabulous blog, as I'm sure you've heard. When I read her blogs and go to comment I would always notice interesting and funny comments from her friend Tori. I started occassionally reading Tori's blog and she started reading mine. Apparently Tori reads lots of people's blogs, friends and friends of friends. Well one day she and her friend, Suzanne, came up with the brilliant idea of Blogfest. They invited all the women whose blogs they read to get together for lunch.
I believe all the women were LDS, married, and have kids, so right away we have a bit in common. After I was invited I decided to suggest having it at "our" cabin.


On top: Mel, Lisa, Kayelyn, Suzanne, Amanda, and Gina.
On bottom: UTMommy, Me, and Tori.

Well, the party was a hit; great food and facinating company, what an incredible and diverse group of women. Amanda came all the way from South Dakota on the pretence of visiting her family in Utah, but mostly to meet her fellow bloggers.
After a getting to know you game, a great lunch, lots of good conversation, and another game, came secret voting ballots for one another. I won the prize for, "Most similar in real life to her blog." I was very flattered, I pride myself on being genuine, you know.
Thanks for a great afternoon, ladies!


The spread



Eating on the deck.




The stragglers


UTMommy & Tori battling it out wearing hot cabin decor.

Welcome Henry!

My beautiful sister, Robin, gave birth to her third child on Friday. His name is Henry. He is welcomed by his four year old brother, Tucker, his 1 1/2 year old sister, Charlotte, and a whole lotta other people. Isn't he a beauty?!
7 lbs. 3 oz., 19 1/2 inches long. Robin's labor was only about 4 hours long. Incredible!! Unfortunately this meant she had to forgo any pain medication (she always thought going natural would be kind of cool, she says she won't ever think that again though). She pushed him out in 3 minutes!!! She had some complications and a lot of pain right after the birth but is doing fine now. Henry had some troubles eating but is doing better now as well, should be plumping up soon. I can't wait to meet him, hold him, and kiss him!
There you have it, Jonah has a male cousin his age. I'm sure they will be the best of friends even if they never live in the same state. They'll be in the same grade too:) Thank you Robin and Trent.

A Week in Pictures

Last week's trick: "Look, Ma, no lips."



Last Saturday: Jonah took his first boat ride on Grandpa Alan's boat and I did my first watersports in two years (tried lake surfing).



Saturday evening: BYU-Hawaii Alumni picnic in Provo Canyon.



My 14 year old sister-in-law, Vivian, finished the newest/final/7th Harry Potter book about 24 hours after it's release (she slept for five hours and ate once). The rest of us have spent significant amounts of time trying to finish as well. At the time of this writing, I am the only one out of six of us reading it who has not finished. The M.'s showed up in town with three hardbacks and a book on cds that they all had been working on on the plane ride here.



Jonah's newest trick is showing us the underside of his tongue. He has spent the past several days doing a lot of tongue "chewing."



The fam all in navy blue after a picnic at Washington Lake in the Uintas.



Jonah's aunts and Nana keep him laughing.



Yesterday: Four wheeler ride with Vivi.



Yesterday: M. family pictures



Today: racing Brandon on the Alpine slide. Awesome!!

Cars Suck

Here is a picture I stole off the internet of a car just like mine, a 93 Toyota Camry. Yep, I drive a car over 10 years old, almost 15 actually. I got the car about 4 years ago with something like 73K miles on it, suh-weet.
It has about 106K on it now but it still runs great, sure it has a few "quirks" but nothing major. Well after driving across country my little car was ready for an oil change and maybe a tune up, then the a/c starting going out off and on so I got it into a shop this week. Unfortunately I went to Big O Tires instead of an actual mechanic shop.
They were supposed to call me back with an estimate that day and work on it and have it ready for pick up the following day. No call. The next day I call and the girl answering the phone, who took the keys and our info from Brandon the day before, tells me she can't find the car. In fact she acts like she's never heard of us. I said, "You have our keys, you have the car, you've had them for a day and a half. Did you not write up some kind of work order? Do you have our name in the computer??" Morons. They find the car and get to work on it but call us mid-tune-up to give me an inflated estimate. Whatever, they suck. Oh and they can't replace the freeon in the cooling system cause my car needs some special, superexpensive kind from the dealership.
Found a real mechanic who's been in business for 29 years, Iron Horse in Heber City. He's doing an oil, lube, and filter job on Brandon's car as well as flushing the radiator and fixing the motor on the wiper fluid thing. Found more wrong with B's 98 Chevy Malibu that we will have to deal with later.
We live a 20 minute drive from town, up a steep, dusty mountain, it's gonna be rough on our cars. We'll need studded snow tires for me in a few months and maybe a four-wheel drive vehile for B.
But for now we are living on credit cards because the Utah Licencing Board (also deserving of a Tad Award) says it will take 30 business days to process Brandon's dental licence. When he said, how am I supposed to pay my bills for the next two months, the lady on the phone ACTUALLY said, "Well, maybe you could work at Walmart for awhile or something." Yeah, that's what he got his doctorate degree for. Thank heavens for in-laws who don't charge rent on their "mountain home" (it's not really a cabin).

Now I've Got Pictures

Somebody loves his new highchair and its detatchable tray toys.



Here's the view off the back deck.



Jonah makes this face all the time now. He does spit bubbles, popping noises, and sucks in both his lips after this with the tongue out.

Rice Cereal

Guess who has been eating solids for 3 days now.


And he LOVES it!

Other new stuff with Jonah: Saturday he got his toes in his mouth for the first time. It is now a daily activity.
He slept 11 hours three nights ago (the day BEFORE rice cereal), skipping both night feedings. The next day he went back to his normal schedule (one feeding between 10 and 1 and another between 2 and 5) then last night only had the early feeding. So we're almost done with night feedings I believe.

Addendum to my last post: after my ranting about having nowhere to set the baby except on the floor and in the high chair, Brandon did some hard manual labor (without any prodding from me, only a slight guilt trip) and found the Bumbo, the jumper, and the swing. Thank you, Brandon!! And though he wasn't happy about doing it, he's happy now that he saw how pleased Jonah was to have his jumper.

Annoyances

I am grateful to have a helpful, hardworking husband. BUT, wouldn't it be nice if he hadn't packed all my jewelry, my cds, the Bumbo seat, and the Johnny Jump Up without labeling them or telling me where they are! I've searched the storage trailer and have determined that they are all somewhere in the middle and I will not see them again for several months when we move into our own place :(

O'Doyle Rules!

This is the hummingbird that Brandon has named O'Doyle, after the redheaded bully on Billy Madison. Our O'Doyle spends his afternoons patroling the yard and keeping other hummingbirds away from the two feeders on the back deck, especially this one. He hops from tree to tree watching for intruders and when they approach he comes buzzing over, telling them to go away.

Sorry, No Pictures

I haven't taken any pictures in over a week, PLUS I don't know where the cord to upload them from the camera to the computer is anyway. I will have to take some though, it is GORGEOUS where we are staying.
Alright, last Wednesday morning I dropped Jonah off at Alisha's house and went by Panera Bread to pick up fresh bagels and cream cheese. We had 6 guys and me loading up the moving truck, it got done SO quickly, it was awesome. Thank you to Jeff, Ike, Jamon, Elder Bernier, and Elder Campbell for all your help! And thanks to Rebekah and Megan for coming by to say goodbye. We will miss you all.
Elaine couldn't make it on the flight from Houston to OKC so we had to change travel arrangements for the cats and they rode in the car. Fortunely for them, Brandon and Ryan decided to drive straight on thru to Heber, rather than stop for the night. It was a 20 hour trip! Thank you Ryan!!! And thank you to Jamon & Alisha who let Ryan, Brandon, Jonah, our cats, and I stay the night at their house on Wednesday!
Thursday Jonah and I hung out with Jocelyn, Alisha, and Jamon in the morning. Then we stopped at three different stores looking for dry ice on the way to the airport and couldn't find any! So now Alisha has 8 bottles worth of frozen breast milk in her freezer that I'm deciding what to do with. Any suggestions?
Jonah and I landed around 4pm in SLC. He was loud but pretty good on the flight. I was SOOO grateful to have an empty seat next to me! (Grammy) Linda had left us her car in the short term parking that morning when she went to work a Dublin trip for 3 days. Getting my suitcase, my baby, a diaper bag, and a carseat to the car was quite an ordeal, especially since I needed to pee and was hungry, Jonah was hungry and tired. I ran into Tori in the airport, which was pretty wild since it was our first meeting and we were both stressed out with child and luggage in tow. I changed Jonah and tried feeding him but he dozed off. I then called everyone I knew, hoping to find someone's bathroom to use (so I didn't have to stop, wake Jo up and take him into a public restroom and sit him in his seat on a dirty floor while he cried) and something to do in the valley til I could get ahold of my FIL to find out how to get into the cabin. Had to pull over and feed my screaming baby in a parking lot anyway. Finally I swung by my aunt's house where my Grandma is staying (but not answering the phone). Sorry Grandma for not giving you warning of my coming and seeming more excited to see your toilet than you. Chatted with Grandma Aggie for about 15 minutes and introduced her to Jonah.
Finally got ahold of the in-laws. Met up with Alan at his house, got a drink, relaxed, and fed the baby again (he does a double feeding at bedtime, which it was by this point). Jonah had gone all day with only one regular nap and two mini snoozes instead of three naps. I had gone all day with only one meal. Alan drove us up to Heber and got he and I dinner on the way. At nine I put Jonah down for bed (he is usually in bed by 7). He was so tired he couldn't sleep at first but wound down after about a half hour. He slept his usual 12 hours (w/ a feeding or two) instead of waking up at 6:30 like he usually does.
He adapted to a normal schedule pretty much immediately. Unfortunately (maybe because of too much car riding) his naps have not been very consistent and when he gets put down for bed and some naps the past three days, he does more screaming than ever before. "My poor nerves."
Saturday I took Ryan to the airport while Brandon returned the moving truck, but not before taking him to try my favorite burritos at La Puente. Then we ran over to see my friend Kathy and introduce her to Jonah and introduce Jonah to her son, Bryson who is 9 mos. old. They were facinated by eachother and I'll have to take video of them together next time. Stopped by to see my best friend Jen and her newly landscaped yard but didn't have time to stay. Ran to Babies R Us to buy monitors and a high chair. Picked Linda up at the airport, got pulled over for speeding while taking the wrong exit, running out of gas, having my car's a/c go out, and had a crying hungry baby in the back!! I'm just grateful he wrote it for only 5 over when I was actually doing 13 over (hey, it was a huge 4 lane road, I didn't know the speed limit was only 30).
Sunday was thankfully uneventful. Today we took my car in to be serviced and drove around Heber and the even cuter sister city of Midway. Grabbed a few groceries and headed home. Brandon's oldest friend, Matt is over now, we're about to hop into the hot tub, they just got back from a ride on the four wheelers.
Off to soak...

Moving on Up

Jonah with his second-cousin, Jocelyn.



The best baby in the world.



The field next to our apartment, it was even prettier last week. I love black-eyed-Susuans.




Yep, I am blogging, the night before we load up our moving truck. I'm actually DONE packing, it's practically a miracle.
Tomorrow morning we load up the truck, then we clean the apartment. Brandon will be driving the Penske moving truck hauling the Malibu and our friend Ryan will be following him in my Camry. Thursday Jonah, Jasmine, Rusty, my friend Elaine, and I all fly to Utah. Wow. Can't wait til it's over.
More to come soon!

Presidential Candidates

I have been doing research on the presidential candidates, both republican and democrat for the past few months. I am not affiliated with any party, but I will register as one now that I have a candidate I am excited about and want to vote for in the primaries. Yesterday while looking into a few candidates some more I came upon a great website with a 25 question survey to show you which candidates views are most in-line with your own. After taking the quiz, it confirmed I had chosen the right person. I will do a later post telling you about "my" candidate. For now, I encourage you all to do your research and really think about the issues that are most important to you. I also encourage you to take this quick test found at:
http://www.selectsmart.com/president/2008.html

Independence Day

Went to the Edmond LibertyFest parade yesterday morning. Fun, but LONG; two full hours. Fortunately my moisturizer has sunblock, unfortunately I didn't put any on my chest. We sat with the Taylors and the Christensens from our ward. Jonah slept thru most of it.

After the parade we met up with Jamon n' fam at Josh (B's 2nd cousin)& Randi's house. Hung out there for awhile, chatting and hearing about their wedding gifts and even trying out their new snowcone maker. Ran home to change into swimming suits and grab some lunch and then headed over to Kim (B's cousin) & Greg's house.


Jonah had his first swim. He loved it! There were a bunch of us in and around the pool and we had a really good time. It feels like I haven't been swimming in forever! In was nice to have hot weather and sunshine!!

Goings On

Saturday night was my Girls' Night Out / Going Away Party. Six of my girlfriends and I went to Bravo for dinner. Great Italian food, great conversations. I forgot to take pictures until the last of us were walking out. Here's Lacey, Megan (A Day in the Life), and I. Alisha, Randi, Victoria, and Rachel S. were also there. Jonah stayed up too late with his dad and now his bedtime is all messed up, but it may end up helping his nap schedule.

Sunday was my last fast Sunday in the Village Ward, so of course I bore my testimony.



Yesterday was Jonah's first ride in the stroller facing forward, not in his car seat that attatches to the stroller. He's such a big boy.

Sunshine

It's still raining. Now, I'm a big fan of rain, but the lack of sunshine is really getting to me. Fortunately there are other things to brighten my days, such as...


Free Concerts. Brandon's cousin is married to the keyboard player of the country band, Diamond Rio. They played in Shawnee, OK on Thursday night. They are fantastic live. I've seen them in concert three times, in three different states, never with Brandon. This time B had to work on a crown at the lab at school. Getting done is more important than entertainment. I took Lacey as my date instead. Here's the whole gang. Me, Lacey, Jamon (B's cousin), Alisha (Jamon's wife), Randi (Josh's wife), Josh (Jamon's nephew), and Greg (Josh's dad).


Jonah is my sunshine, he makes me happy when skies are grey.


Here's me and Jo at a bridal shower this afternoon. When Camila was 17 I was one of her young women's leaders at church, she's 21 now and getting married on Friday. It was fun seeing people from my old ward (we split a year ago).

Record Breaker

It has been raining for 15 days straight here in Oklahoma City. That is a record-breaker on our weather reports. But basically it's been raining since February. I've never seen such a wet year, admittedly I've only lived here four years.

I feel real empathy for my BIL, Trent, who lived in Seattle during its wettest winter ('98/'99); 90 out of 120 days were rainy that winter.


One good outcome of all this rain, I've never seen Black-eyed Susans in bloom like this before. They are everywhere!

Another weather note: Brandon thinks he heard someone on the weather report on the radio say "winding", a word my brother, Ted, coined when he was a child.

Flying Jonah

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Talk about a happy baby...

Mark

Mark and I are ten years apart, almost to the day. He is the seventh of our nine kids, but appeared to be the last for a full six years as our baby. He is almost 19 now and is preparing for a mission for our church. When he was very little he earned the nickname Smudge, fortunately that faded out before it got around to the kids at school.

Mark and Ted were nearly inseparable as children, though Mark was always the more mischievous of the two. (I forgot to mention how much Ted hated the feel of towels/terrycloth!). Mark was a lot more style-conscious than Ted in high school, he only liked to wear certain brands, styles, colors. Mark is tidy, meticulous, and careful. Mark cleans his room, takes care of his skin, keeps his bathroom tidy, etc. Mark is dependable, reliable, responsible. Sarah says Mark is the best babysitter. You can count on Mark.

Mark has a dry, hysterical sense of humor. Mark knows how to handle Mom better than anyone else. Mark is honest and he will call you out on your dishonesties or exaggerations. Mark likes my cooking, which always earns anyone bonus points in my book. Mark is easy to talk to. Mark shares his feelings, which is rare for a teenage boy.

I love you, Mark!

Later Today

Stiff legs pose.

Moments later.



Head x-rays. We're taking these x-rays to a neurosurgeon in two weeks just to see if Jonah's flat spot will go away on its own or if we need to get him "the helmet."

On the way to get the x-rays, the fan belt in my car broke. Fun.

Movin' Right Along

This used to be my dining room.
We spent all weekend beginning to pack for our move. First we gave away our old dining table and chairs so we'd have somewhere to put boxes.

Yesterday Jonah rolled all the way over from his back to his belly for the first time. It has made naptime interesting ever since. He moves a lot for a kid who can't crawl. Yesterday he went from back to belly and rotated 90 degrees in about 5 minutes. He can roll from his belly to his back right OR left now too. He's a little wiggler. Just now I had to let him cry for 4 minutes before he fell asleep for a nap, I went in to check on him 10 minutes later, he was on his tummy, smashed up against the crib-posts, so I had to move him and roll him over. We don't have bumpers. Is that good or bad?
Other new stuff with Jonah: he likes to grab his feet when he lays on his back (very cute). He likes to grab, scratch, and pinch. He is going to be a cheerio grabbing pro when he starts eating solids, I swear. I like to hear him scratch his sheet/mattress when he lays on his back in bed. He likes carnations. He likes cats. He likes trees.

Yesterday morning Jonah and I went to the zoo. We had a great time. It was warm and very humid. Jonah liked the part of the path that was in a bamboo forest. He liked the Feathers and Fins show almost as much as I did. We finally got to see the Butterfly exhibit I've been excited about, it wasn't very exciting. I still think the bat exhibit is the coolest thing there. The bears made me a little nervous since I just heard about the 11 yr. old boy in Utah who was killed by one last week. The crocodiles made me a little nervous too. I'm a bit overprotective. I was craving chicken nuggets on the way home so I made my semi-annual visit to McDonalds for a Happy Meal. They had the weirdest thing there, a kiosk for dvd rentals, a dollar a night. Might have to go back and check that out more closely.

Rent Arrested Development (seasons 1- 3 are all there are), it makes me laugh so hard. I love watching So You Think You Can Dance.

More later.

Personality Test

I am an Animated Creator.
Your imagination, confidence, willingness to explore, and appreciation of beauty make you a CREATOR.
You are outgoing, comfortable with others, and up for anything, which makes you ANIMATED.

Confidence 86
Openness 74
Extroversion 86
Empathy 44
Trust in others 92
Agency 66
Masculinity 34
Femininity 78
Spontaneity 30
Attention to style 62
Authoritarianism 66
Imaginative Earthy 52
Functional Aesthetic 68




My personalDNA Report

You're not afraid to let your emotions guide you, and you're generally considerate of others' feelings as well.

You prefer to have time to plan for things, feeling better with a schedule than with keeping plans up in the air until the last minute.

Generally, you believe that you control your life, and that external forces only play a limited role in determining what happens to you.

You are able to be yourself in many situations.

Sometimes it is hard for you to understand why others feel the way they do, but that doesn't stop you from trusting them or having faith that they are good people.

You know the world is complicated and that there is often more than one side to a story, so you are careful not to make judgments about others too hastily.

You are an independent thinker and don't get too worried about how others might perceive you—you are not self-conscious about being the active, engaged person that you are.