10 Years

Every year on our anniversary, Brandon and I sit and reminisce about our years together. We always recap our years of wedded bliss and remember where we were on each anniversary.
Thanksgiving is not the best time for a wedding anniversary and we aren't ever really sure how to celebrate anyway, but we always have a nice dinner and this fun recap.

Our first 10 months of marriage we were living in Salt Lake City near Trolley Square. I was working full-time and going to school part-time. Brandon was working part-time and going to school part-time. In late September we left for Nepal for three months. We spent our anniversary there. ON our anniversary we were on a kayaking trip. The next day we returned to Kathmandu and went out for a fancy dinner of water buffalo steaks with some of our kayaking buddies.

Our second year of marriage was spent living half with Brandon's dad in southern Salt Lake City and half in an apartment in the Sugar House area of SLC. We got our ferret that year and were always entertained by her antics, especially with the cat.

Our third, fourth, and fifth years of marriage were spent living in Laie, Hawaii. Those years are so hard to tell apart because there are no seasons to differentiate the memories by.

Our next four years of marriage were spent living in Oklahoma. My favorite anniversary memory from those years is the year of the blizzard. Brandon and I were driving to Illinois for Thanksgiving on our anniversary. We got into a blizzard on the way that slowed traffic to a snail's pace. We decided to get off in Normal, IL. The first four motels we stopped at were full. We drove further into town and found a beautiful hotel called Le Chateau or something that we thought we would not be able to afford. Not only were there rooms available, but the price was right and we spend a romantic evening eating pizza and watching tv.

Next year maybe I'll tell you all the story of our young romance and our wedding.


2005

I promise you'll laugh

A great bit about American holidays from Jim Gaffigan's Beyond The Pale comedy show. Please find five minutes to enjoy this.

Thanksgiving Weekend

Well, it is officially winter weather here, no snow yet, but it is cold.
Wednesday evening we headed up to Brandon's dad's "cabin" to begin the Thanksgiving festivities. We hit a deer! It was horrible. We are all fine. We stunned the deer, Brandon had to drag it off the road, but the next day it wasn't there so it must have recovered (we hope). I was in shock and very upset. Brandon's door wouldn't open and the headlight was broken, etc. but nothing major and we fixed the door. Things got better from there.




Brandon had an obsession with the video camera on Thursday and filmed absolutely everything.



The Thanksgiving meal was delightful. Alan & Brandon fried the turkey and make sweet potatoes in the dutch oven. Linda made the brussel sprouts and the pumpkin pie strussel. I made the mashed potatoes, stuffing, and cranberries n' cream salad. The stuffing was THE best ever created. Thank you to Jen for the recipe.
We played a little Beyond Balderdash, which was amusing. In the afternoon Brandon and Alan had strung lights on the giant pine tree in the field behind the house. It is the envy of the neighborhood (we tell ourselves). We had an official lighting ceremony and then watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, the J. family favorite Christmas movie.



On Friday Linda had to leave early to work (boo hoo). Brandon, Jonah, and I met up with my (ex)Uncle Ed and my cousins Helene, Elisa, and Marta and Helene's boyfriend Robert, for a little Park City shopping and sightseeing, which it was way too cold for. Helene lives in Portland and I hadn't seen her or Ed in forever so it was really nice.
Friday night we watched Planes, Trains, and Automobiles and Disturbia. My hands were sweaty in Disturbia and I kept yelling at the tv, both signs of a great thriller.

Saturday Jonah woke up way too early. Alan headed off for a guy's day out with his friend, which fell thru when he was pulled over for speeding. The cop was going to let him off with a warning but when he ran his licence he found that he would be arresting Alan instead. Yes, arresting, with handcuffing as standard procedure. Apparently Alan had received a speeding ticket in Sandy a couple months ago which Sandy city has no record of being paid, which suspended his licence, which he didn't know because he hasn't updated his licence with his new(ish) address. And also because he had an outstanding fishing-without-a-licence ticket pending from 1989. No joke. Brandon had to bail his dad out. Alan took it all in stride and I am proud of how calmly he handled the whole fiasco. I wish I could see the mug shots!
Saturday evening Alan made reservations for us at Snake Creek Grill here in Heber. It is supposed to be one of the best restaurants in Utah and we were not disappointed. Of our three meals the crab penne pasta was the favorite. It was nice to get a babysitter and eat out. Alan said it was an anniversary present for B and I since our 10 year wedding anniversary is tomorrow.

Crazy Coincidences

I just figured out that three of my good friends are due the exact same week as me. Congratulations to Autumn, Alisha, and Janette! It will be SO fun to have girlfriends to compare bellies and symptoms to for the next 6+ months:)

TV

Most days I don't miss having tv, but then somedays I wonder, "What is going on with Pam and Jim?!!!"

16 Months Apart

According to a sonogram I had on Tuesday, today I am 12 weeks pregnant. And I thought I was only eight!

New Tricks

Tuesday Jonah began doing this. I know these pictures are not the best of him, but they're what I've got. He is very proud of himself. On the same day he also finally figured out crawling on his knees, he doesn't do it much, but he can now. And have I mentioned he gives great kisses? Yup, very nice, open mouth kisses. A lot of times he grabs ahold of your hair or ears or cheeks so he can plant them properly. They are very sweet and sometimes quite funny.

Lonely

I have been blessed with a lot of friends.
Sometimes there is just nothing better than having a friend closeby to do nothing with. I don't have that here.
I don't have a friend who might drop by just cause she's in the neighborhood. I really miss that.
I don't have a friend to go to the gym with (I don't even have a gym).
I don't have a friend to go shopping with or to lunch with on Saturdays (I also have nowhere closeby to shop).
I don't have a girlfriend to go to dinner and/or a girlie movie with unless I drive 45 minutes away (I only have two movies to choose from in Heber anyway).
I don't have someone's house to run to and chat at when I need a break from the baby.
I don't have someone to hang out with when Brandon only wants to hang out with his computer game.

I also need to buy a bra and I'm going to have to drive 45 minutes away to get one.
Also, there is no Yankee Candle Store or Illuminations stores in Utah. Ugh!

Thank goodness for the internet, at least I am close to all of you at any given moment, at least in spirit.
"I love my computer, my friends live there."

Jonah Update

Well, lots has been happening I just haven't been blogging it. Sorry.
Jonah turned nine months old on Halloween. He has been army crawling for two months but this week has been getting up on his knees A LOT more, hasn't started crawling that way, but he's seriously thinking about it. He likes to kneel and get up higher on things like his toy box and Dad's toolbox. He can also go from crawling to sitting now instead of only the other way around.



He actually knelt and reached up to the second shelf of movies yesterday and pulled most of them down too. Pulling out/down movies and reading the covers is probably his favorite past time. It may be tied with playing with his steering wheel toy and is followed closely by chasing cats and being read to.


Jonah's car toy, his current favorite.

Yesterday Jonah did something he's never done before. He pulled himself to a standing position. He did it in the bathtub of all places (really wanted my trial size shampoo that was up on the edge). That means no more sleeping with the crib rails down.
I have weaned Jonah off of his midday breastfeeding and he now takes formula twice during the day. I have decided to still nurse him first thing in the morning and before bed. At his nine month check up the doctor said he hasn't gained any weight since his last appointment so we needed to add some more food and especially fats and proteins to his diet. We have also taken him off the dairy products he had started (cheeses, cottage cheese, and yo-baby yogurt) to wait til he's a year old for those. There has been a lot of research done on allergies lately and we want to be safe. Jo also refrains from egg whites, wheat, citrus fruits, strawberries, shellfish, peanuts, and tree nuts. I am going to see if we can get some wheat-free bread and pasta from a health food store next time we're in Salt Lake.
Jonah is not a picky eater in any way and he loves feeding himself finger foods. I have started introducing some salted and canned foods to his diet. Every morning he has hot cereal and has tried it with a little coconut milk on it to add some fat recently (yum!).
What else? This morning was the first time in over a week that Jo has slept past 6am. Hallelujah!! We've tried less naps, more naps, staying up later, everything! Maybe something is finally working.
Jonah loves stroller rides and going new places. He still loves strangers, especially under the age of five. He does have a little separation anxiety and tends to get mad when I leave the room, but he quickly gets over it.
I still think top teeth are working their way here. He has fussy, drooly days and then he has days he's fine. He is still overall an easy, pleasant, nearly perfect baby. I find myself alternately telling him he's big and that he's "just tiny". I can't quite decide.
Helmet news: Jonah is still wearing his helmet 23 hours a day. He usually takes it off for dinner and bath time. He did take a three day hiatus so that a sore on his head could heal. We see the cranio doctor this week for the first time since his helmet has been put on. He'll tell us how much longer he has to wear it, hopefully just another month. And we also see the technician for another adjustment since his head grows so fast. We switched technicians after the first guy couldn't seem to get things quite right and I kept having to drive all the way to SLC every week cause Jo would get a tight spot or a sore. His tilting has gone away and his head is looking rounder.


Cousin Joselyn here for a visit from Oklahoma. He ADORES her. She wanted him to wear his hat she found in his room.


Practicing walking with his dad.






I call this the "superbaby" pose. He does it whenever I walk towards him when he's crawling and at random other times. I don't know if you can tell here, but only his torso is touching the ground.

Twilight Fans

I'm ready for a new book to read. I'm in the mood for something easy, quick, fun. I sent an email to about 30 people yesterday with a list of five books I have at home that I've been wanting to read, asking which one they recommend. I knew I would also get some other recommendations for future reading, which I welcome. I've already heard back from about 20 people. I don't know if I've ever gotten such a great, quick response to an email.
I have decided to start reading the DaVinci Code today. I will probably read The Life of Pi next. I received at least a half a dozen recommendations for Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. That book has been the talk of Utah since I moved here in July. It's a craze. I promise I'll get around to it eventually.
But, since Twilight is a book about vampires and werewolves, I must ask all you fans if you have seen Underworld (starring Kate Beckensale)? It is a great movie about vampires and werewolves.


Now, most of you know that I am not into R rated movies, I have probably seen less than a dozen of them in my lifetime. This movie is rated R. I'm sure you can find an edited version out there if you are not into R movies either. However, although it did deserve the rating (I've only ever seen one rated R movie that did not), I didn't regret watching it (much how I felt with The Matrix, Gladiator, etc.). The rating is for violence, but it wasn't gross-out stuff, very well-made. I do not, however, recommend its sequel Underworld Evolution, which had less character development, a weak plot, and embarrassing sex/nudity. I did regret seeing that.
The Internet Movie Database gives the following summary of the movie's plot: "Selene, a beautiful vampire warrior, is entrenched in a war between the vampire and werewolf races. Although she is aligned with the vampires, she falls in love with Michael, a werewolf who longs for the war to end."
Just had to recommend that to all my Twilight-loving friends.

Dinner in a Pumpkin

A couple people requested this recipe. It is easy and delicious and an excellent seasonal favorite for fall (though I make it year-round).

Bake a pumpkin (or any type of hard squash). I did my small pumpkin at 350 for 50 minutes with 2 T. milk and 1 T. butter inside of it.

Boil 2 cups rice in 4 cups water. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover, cook on low for 15 minutes.

In a large skillet cook approx. 1 lb. breakfast sausage (almost any sausage will do) along with a small chopped onion, 2 stalks of chopped celery. Stir into rice when finished. Salt to taste.

Serve rice mixture in or over pumpkin/squash. See? I told you it was easy.

Halloween 2007

For Jonah's first Halloween he dressed up as a monkey, since we like to call him a little monkey and he's always loved his monkey doll.
His festivities included visiting Dad at the office, eating sweet potatoes for dinner, "trick-or-treating" at one neighbor's house and going to bed while the ward trucker treat was going on and before we got any trick-or-treaters.


Monkey on the loose!


Papa monkey


Momma monkey


I made dinner in a pumpkin for Halloween night. Yummy!
We watched half of Ghostbusters and half of the original House on Haunted Hill before I got too tired to go on. It was a great night!


Our porch, our jack-o-lanterns, and our laughing witch with the light-up eyes.
We didn't get many trick-or-treaters (dang that ward trunker treat), but we sure enjoyed the ones we did get! Anyone want some leftover candy and playdough?

Halloween Party

Brandon and I had a Halloween party to attend on Saturday night.

We went as the King and Queen of Hearts. Simple, cute, matching costumes:)


Cole, the host of the party, was one of my best friends at Star Valley High School. Brandon and I hadn't seen him in at least five years.


I believe there were seven men at the party dressed as German bar maids. Here I am with a few of them.


My favorite costume at the party was this guy, Jeff(?), who came as Tobias from Arrested Development. The humor was lost on a lot of people but we loved it.

Taking in the Scenery

Nice Nancy

Nancy awarded me this like a month ago and I forgot to ever post it. It's true, I'm totally fabulous.


Nancy recently awarded me the WonderWoman award. I feel undeserving since I don't work outside the home and I only have one child, but I accept, because it gives me something to live up to.

Nancy is my little brother's girlfriend's mom. Yup, that's what I said.
Nancy and my mom have a lot in common; they are both great friends to their kids, they both always look very put together, they are both good writers (Mom, start a blog!), and they are both total goofballs. Nancy and I have never met, but we have become blog buddies. She sent me a baby gift before Jonah was born and sent me a birthday card this year. Nancy, you rock! I look forward to meeting you someday soon.

Volunteer Work

My church encourages everyone in it to keep a (year) supply of food and water for their entire family on-hand at all times in case of an emergency. Living in apartments, Brandon and I have only ever managed to keep 72-hour kits. That can change now that we have a house with a pantry and plenty of other storage spaces.

A couple Sundays ago a sign up sheet went around the women's meeting (Relief Society) where you could purchase cans of food supply items. There were four to choose from and the prices seemed good, though I had no idea how big the cans were so I couldn't be sure. I bought one can of quick oats and signed up to volunteer at the community cannery.

Well, last night was my chance to serve. My ward (aka: parish) and one other had been assigned to work the Midway cannery from 6-8 that evening. I had no idea what I would be doing but I was excited to do some volunteer work and get involved in my community and learn something new. Basically, we canned what our wards had ordered.

There is a warehouse full of about 15 different types of food, all in very large (Costco-size) bags. We did four items last night; quick oats, regular oats, dried apples, and hot cocoa mix. We put them from the bags into more useable size (aprox. the size of a gallon of milk) cans and seal them for freshnesss (they are supposed to last 5 years). You are supposed to slowly use and replace your food storage, so it rotates and never goes bad.

It worked kind of like a factory assembly line. Some people brought food and cans from the warehouse into the front. Somebody counted out the correct number of preprinted labels (we did 101 cans of regular oats and 40 cans of cocoa, etc.), date stamped them, and then put them on the cans. Most of the time I was moving the cans from that table, into the bin in which they were filled, dropping in a freshness packet, shaking down the product so they could get filled more fully, then moving them over to where they would have a lid placed on top and be set onto the canning machine that would seal the top on (I got to do this at the end and really liked working this simple machine). Lastly, a plastic removeable lid would be placed over the top so that once the can had been opened it still has a top. Then they were placed in boxes of six each.

Maybe you found that all incredibly boring, but I was facinated and I plan to do it again. Some of the people I worked with were real characters and everyone was there with a willing heart. I seriously had a great time. I bought a can of dried apples before leaving cause there were a couple extra and they were delicious.

Sometime I'd like to go to Salt Lake and volunteer at welfare square and see where the bags of food come from and all the other welfare-type service begins.

Breastfeeding

The Benefits of Breastfeeding

-Prevents infection in infants (less diarrhea, flu,respiratory infections, etc.)
-Increases the effectiveness of baby's vaccines
-Protects against illness
-Lower incidents of SIDS (suddent infant death syndrome)
-Protection from allergies and eczema
-Decreased rates of diabetes, Chrons, cancer, Hodgkins, and Juvenile Arthritis
-Better cognitive development & higher IQs (even taking into acct. mother's economic status and education levels)
-Less adult obesity
-Better social development & more independent children
-The longer a baby is breastfed the less likely the child will need braces.

-Mothers loose their pregnancy weight faster and have decreased bleeding
-Natural birth control for mothers who breastfeed exclusively (stops when baby begins sleeping thru the night or eating other foods)
-Decreased rates of breast cancer in mothers (especially premenopausal) & other feminine cancers
-Decreased insulin requirements in diabetic women postpartum
-Decreased osteoporosis

-FREE (I bought my first canister of formula a couple days ago and it was $14!)
-More ecological (no trash produced)


The American Academy of Pediatrics says you should breastfeed your child exclusively (no formula, no solid foods, no juice, nothing) for the first six months of life. The AAP also recommends breastfeeding until your baby is 12 months old.
UNICEF recommends breastfeeding for at least two years, as do other international organizations.

I feel good about what I've been doing for Jonah (and for myself). I breastfed Jonah exclusively for the first five and a half months of his life and I continue to breastfeed. Now the big however. However, I feel this phase is coming to an end. Jonah will be 9 months old a week from tomorrow. Although he doesn't bite me with his teeth almost ever, he bites down hard now while breastfeeding now and pulls sometimes too. Breastfeeding has recently become very uncomfortable.

Yesterday I tried giving Jo pumped breastmilk in a sippy cup for his midday feeding. He screamed, cried, and sobbed. I didn't have the time, the heart, or the patience that day so I gave in and gave him the breast. I have been reading tips on weaning from books and online for the past several days. We are going to try as many as we need to.

Also (men, turn away now), I'm not sure if Jonah bit me or if that piece of skin I pulled off yesterday caused a tiny bit of bleeding on one of my nipples. Now there is a scab. I tried pumping instead of feeding from that side yesterday and I didn't get hardly anything out. I nursed on that side this morning and it didn't hurt like I thought it would (and like it did last time) but the breast didn't empty and I'm going to get an infection if I can't get the milk out. Any suggestions? I tried melting and rubbing it off gently with a warm, wet washcloth but it didn't work. Help.

Anyway, wish me luck with the weaning. I'd love tips from all you experienced mothers out there.

The Weekend

Big Family News: My brother, Mark, who is exactly 10 years my junior, has been called to serve a mission for our church for two years. He will be serving in Chihuahau, Mexico and begins language training in Provo, Utah at the Mission Training Center on January 30th.

Friday night I hung out with my sister-in-law, Andy, and 4 of her friends. We went out for sushi and to see a friend's band play. Lots of fun. I was up way past my bedtime.

Saturday I went to Salt Lake and hung out with two old friends from high school. It was great catching up with them. I hadn't seen Melanie in six years! We went out for Chinese food and then saw Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on the IMAX screen. Great movie. Afterwards we went and saw Holly's new house.

I'd spent the whole day Saturday away from Jonah so Sunday I skipped Sacrament meeting so I could feed him and lay him down for his nap (he will not nap in church and cannot miss a nap). When I got to church I found out I'd missed the primary program, one of my favorite meetings of the year!

Finger Foods

For about a week now I've been giving finger foods along with every meal so that Jonah has something to feed himself while I am feeding him or while I am making him something. He is getting better and better and getting things into his mouth, though sometimes it is a two-handed effort. His favorite is motzerella cheese. He has also tried bananas, cooked zucchini, cheerios, and avacado. He is really fun to watch especially as he pushes everything to the front of his mouth so he can attempt to chew with his two tiny teeth. It always makes him look like he's puckering up for a kiss. I think he's getting a top tooth right now as well.




And though Jo is slightly disinterested in toys right now, he is really into books.

This Morning

Jonah slept thru the night last night (yes!) and woke up around his usual time at 6:15. I changed him and fed him. I peeked out the window but it was too dark to see anything. While he was playing in the front room I checked the weather online. It said "cloudy with a low of 33 and high of 49" and I thought to myself, "hmm, no snow." It drizzled and rained yesterday and snowed in Park City when I drove thru and in the mountains, but not in Salt Lake or Heber. It was not snowing when I closed all the blinds last night around six.
When Brandon left for work this morning at about ten til eight he came back inside and said, "Have you looked outside yet?" and I said, "I don't think so." It still didn't dawn on me what I was about to see. He came upstairs and opened the front door to a winter wonderland.
Beautiful!



I took Jonah out with me as B left for work and we touched and tasted the snow.