Yum-o!

Eat your heart out, Rachael Ray:

Cinnamon Bisc-mellows Recipe as follows:

Get a marshmallow
Wrap a refridgerated /"canned" /raw/doughy biscuit around it
Stick on long metal hot dog roaster or clothes hanger, whatever you've got.
Roast. Time for roasting depends on how good of coals you have, feels like forever, but probably 5 minutes. At least until outside is crispy EVERYWHERE and browned. (you wanna make sure it's all the way done, or else it's just not as good!!!!)
Dip in melted butter
Sprinkle Cinnamon Sugar Over
DELVE INTO YUMMINESS!

That is what I enjoyed tonight. Kim-the-boy and his wife Brindy introduced it to us. I love roasting marshmallows. When you have something like this, it's just way too good to keep to yourself. Something about the sweetness of the marshmallow and saltiness of the biscuit made it very possible to go overboard and have more than there are fingers on your hand. Ok, I didn't have that many, but I could have. I promise you, it is soo good. I love a new roasting recipe. The old "roasted starbursts" has not held my interest, I think this is the new best roasting marshmallow recipe, maybe even better than s'mores. Ok... ok, s'mores are still really good! (I made 2 s'mores today at my house, thanks to my stovetop burners!)

On another note, today Mr. D had his picture taken with his 2 girl cousins on Daddy's side. I'm hoping to post a copy on here, it's darling. The 3 of them are in an old washtub "taking a bath." I hope Mr. D doesn't get too embarrassed about it in the future. Like, when he's 12 or 13.
Anyway, if I can't get a link of it on here, I'll take a picture of a picture and then post it on here.

Happy Birthday To Kim-the-Girl!

Today is my sister-in-law's birthday. She is officially old. Actually, she's only 2 years older than me, so she's still verrry young. I just wanted to give her a little tribute on my blog to wish her a Happy Birthday.

Kim, I hope your birthday this year is better than the one last year, and the year before, and the year before, etc. Because you deserve it. Way to go for being a supportive wife to my brother, far from "home" in Utah. You work hard, and so I hope your day is a bit of a break for you (it probably isn't because it's the middle of the week and Ethan's probably in school). Anyway, I wish you the happiest birthday!

Highlights of my Holiday Weekend

This past weekend wasn't stressful or busy, we simply hung out with family members. Saturday, we read below post. Sunday, we had church, then went to Josh's parent's for dinner. Monday we had a BBQ at my parent's house. The following are pictures from some of the highlights...

Here is Conrad and his 2 cousins. L-R:Conrad, McKall and Katelyn. I had to take the picture fast because Katie is a mover! She's 2 weeks older than Conrad and has been crawling like crazy for about a month or so. Obviously she was not happy, her mom set her down so I could get the shot. Conrad and McKall were doing all they could do to console her, but somehow stares aren't as good as a hug.
Here is Josh's Grandma, we don't see her as often as we see his other grandparents, so I thought I better take a picture of her holding Conrad.
Notice anything special??? YIPEE, it's his teeth! I'm not sure if the 2 "I-Teeth" have come ALL the way in yet, but you can see that one is almost here. And this year for Christmas he's already got his 2 front teeth! (I know it's a little early). By the way, Conrad started eating baby food again last night. I am SO glad. He's finally got his appetite back for iron and vitamin filled solid food. :) I'm now sure that it was because he had 3 teeth coming in on top. (I think he's about to get the bottom "I-teeth" too, they're certainly looking like they're ready to pop.) *sigh*
Here is my grandpa at my parent's house on Monday. My grandpa voluntarily picked up Conrad and went strolling to the garden in the backyard. He wanted to show Conrad the tomatoes. I think Conrad liked it. I had to catch a shot of my adorable Grandpa holding my adorable Conrad.
Uh, if anyone knows who this child is, please claim him. Ha, ha. Actually, this is a funny story. My parent's next door neighbor's were having a backyard BBQ, too. Their kids were all outside playing inbetween their and our backyards. So, this kid comes running up to Josh and asks him, "Will you push me on the swing?" He wrapped his arm around Josh's and was BEGGING him. Josh had no idea who the heck this kid was, as shown by his expression in the picture, so he told him "no." Again, "no." Over and over. Josh said, "Go find someone else to push you." He walked right on inside my parent's house and started looking for someone else to push him. He found my brother Kim. So, once again he wrapped his arm around Kim's and started begging him to "come push me on the swing." Kim didn't know who this kid was, either, so after a while someone mentioned, "Ask your grandma to push you." Instead of going back outside and next door, he started to look for his grandma inside our house. We realized that he was confused so someone said "Um, I think you're at the wrong house, I think your grandma's next door." He looked like he was about ready to start crying! I felt so bad for him.

My parent's house and their next door neighbor's house are set up a little similar, they both have pits in their backyard and their floorplan is mostly the same. This little boy's grandma and the next-door neighbor lady are best friends. So I don't think he comes around to that house very often. This little guy probably thought Josh looked like one of the 6 sons that grew up next door. He probably thought he was one of his "uncles." Anyway, he made it back next door, and we didn't hear from him again.

So, my weekend was nice. Thanks for visiting my blog.

edited to add:
About Conrad's "I" teeth. I don't know if that's the correct label. Here is the correct label: the ones right to the side of the very front and middle ones.

Memorial Day Weekend

What do you like to do on Memorial Day Weekend?
This is what I've done so far:
First I got up and did the wife-ly duties, like vacuuming and dishes and making rolls for tomorrow's dinner. Then, we went on a drive up Weber Canyon (3 times-on accident), drove past Pineview, stopped at Valley Market in Eden to see my old bosses, drove back through Ogden Canyon and stopped to get a sandwich at Wendy's. Right now it is 5:00 pm and I am relaxing with my hub and Mr. D. Next item on agenda: Go to Josh's sister's house to play X-Box. No, I won't play. Josh is playing with our bro-in-law and 12 other guys, they're going to have 4 XBOX 360's . Talk. About. A. Party. They do it monthly. The ring-leader, our bro-in-law, decided since women get to go to showers and have Homemaking and all those "lame-excuses-to-get-together," he was going to start having an XBOX party every month. I praise him, actually. I think he's being original. If I were better at HALO and whatever else they play, I might actually join them. But, that would take away the point of his "boys night out." Anyway, I don't mind.
I will be upstairs with the wives watching, what else? The JAZZ game! (I really hope it's a good game) So, we will be watching that and chatting about nothing in particular. Plus junking on junk food. :) I love talking with someone other than my adorable husband or 8 1/2 month old son about nothing in particular and junking out on junk food!!!
Really, I'm looking forward to it. It'll be like my own girl's night out.

Tylenol dosage

This is my boy right after he woke up from a nap, and was fed, and diapered. Want to know what made him cry? I stood up and walked away. Yep.

I just called the Dr.'s office to find out the correct amount of Tylenol dosing for my teething Conrad. I was surprised to find that I've been giving him only 1/3 of the appropriate amount. No wonder he's been so whiney. Finally, I get my Mr. D back.

p.s. he broke 1 of the 3 teeth through yesterday (say that 3 times fast), now he's got the ones to the side to work on....

So far, so goo- er, alright.

Conrad is a major pain nowadays.

Here are things he is doing!

1-only nursing

2-pursing his lips every time I attempt a spoon at his face

2-sleeping for no more than 40 minutes

3-having a conniption fit every time I attempt to wipe the steady flow of drips from his nose

4-crying and whining every time I leave his sight.

One thing he is not doing:

Waking up in the middle of the night to nurse.

I think it has something to do with those 3 teeth coming in on the top. I dunno, I've just heard teething hurts.

I found this picture of Mr. D and decided to post the sweetness that once was.

Finally eating solids...

Solid.... dinnerware, that is. I made yet another attempt to feed Conrad baby food, and these are the resulting pictures.
note to Emily: notice the cookies on the table? I made your recipe, and they were delicious!!!
Mmm, yummy glass bowl.
Wondering, "What is mommy doing with that camera again?"
Here he lets me take a picture of his smile. Sorry it's blurry, but it's my only one from this session of him smiling like this, it's so cute!
and...back to work. Looks like the bowl slipped from his grasp of desperation.
I gave in and let Conrad just have at it, for the first time. He had to have a bath afterwards, but at least mom was able to get some things done while he was being entertained. That's a rarity these days. He's been whining due to the 3 teeth coming in on the top of his mouth. Argh. He has 1 through, and 3 more on their way. Wish me luck!

A walk in the park

A week ago for FHE we decided to go on a walk to Layton Park. Here are the pictures!




Ah, and sleep. That is the best part about going on a walk, it wears out baby. We also got a 25 cent ice cream cone, it wasn't that good, so I won't elaborate.
We had a nice time!

For Sale: our car... ...SOLD!

Yes, we sold our car! I haven't written anything on here yet because, well, we only put it on the market like 4 days ago. I think the market is good for smaller cars that have lower gas mileage. Yes, lower gas mileage. That is what interested people. I wonder why?

The first day I put it up for sale, with yellow writing all over it and everything, we had a neighbor come over and test drive it. That was Thursday. He said he would let us know, and we have heard nothing. Yesterday at Sunday dinner with mi familia my parent's next door neighbor's friend saw it. (did you get the connection?) He took it for a test drive and gave us an offer. Good thing my husband doesn't settle for the bottom of the barrel (hello, he married me! hee hee), and didn't take the offer. They bartered until today when they came to an agreement, and we came out with more than I thought we would get. So good.

Anyway, long story made short: read the title of my post.

We also have a new car!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We bought Josh's parent's car, a Toyota Camry '99. It has HEAT! TOTALLY AWESOME! For those of you that don't know me and my history with cars, I haven't had heat. Ever. Well, maybe growing up with my parents and riding in their van. So, it was very lovely to get into the car, after it being a chilly night and turning on HEAT. We didn't even have to turn the corner until the warmth was there. Oh, and it has A/C!!! Previous car didn't have A/C either. I think that I am being blessed for going through last year's hot summer as a pregnant saturated woman (Conrad was born in September) by now getting this very lovely car.

HALLELUJAH!

Changed again

I changed the template again on my blog, hope y'all don't mind. I enjoy doing that way too much.

Josh's b-day in a nutshell

Just a quick note, today was great.
I gave Josh fruity pebbles for a breakfast-in-bed gift (he wasn't really in bed, but it was morningtime :) ). Josh checked my blog, because he had plenty of free time, ha ha, and then he played his airplane X-BOX game. No, it's not new, he just loves the new game. After a while of playing I gave him a new outfit: shorts, t-shirt, button shirt. I also gave him some junk food, so he could junk out today in all his free time.
The day was lovely. We did our all-time favorite past time. SAM's Club! We love to go there and just walk around and look at all the cool things we really want. We succumbed to a few of those desires and bought a new iron (the old one got ruined by some a craft project I'm working on) and new phones (our cordless phones die after we talk for like 5 minutes on the phone to someone). YipeeeEEEE! Oh, and Josh had to buy himself a birthday gift, so he bought a digital TV antenna for our..... ...... ..... .... any guesses?.... TV.
Then we went out to eat at "Dragon Hill," a chinese restaurant in Clearfield/Layton/Syracuse. I would've guessed it was in Syracuse, yet it's right by the Smith's in Layton-ish, but the address on it's menu said Clearfield. Figure that one out. Anyway, I HIGHLY recommend anyone to eat there! They had great service, gRRReat food, and we were in and out in about 40 minutes. They weren't too busy, as it is a new restaurant, and they had plenty of workers there, just staring at us waiting for us to need them. It was great. Did I mention the food? D-Lish. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!
After that we roasted marshmallows and had smores with Josh's family. I chased a few of the nieces and a nephew that tried to have more than 11 cookies. I, myself, kept track of having 3 smores, and a couple marshmallows. Yum. Tomorrow we are visiting my family so we will celebrate with them then.
THAT'S ALL FOLKS.
Thanks for visiting my blog. I hope you enjoyed your stay.

Josh's Birthday- to be, or not to be?

Here I am, after the first "milking" of the day, fretting over what to do for Josh's birthday. It's today. And I have no good ideas. I can't sleep because I keep rolling ideas through my head. I think the biggest reason possibly why I can't decide what to do for Josh is because I have to plan it all. Normally, this is not a big deal. For some wierd reason I am mentally fretting over all the tedious details that go into giving someone a great birthday.
EPIPHANY
I just realized why I am doing this.... this is the first year (in the 3+ years that I've known him)that Josh hasn't gone to work on his birthday. So, he's going to be home all day, and I feel as though I need to have every waking moment to be a celebration.
*feeling a bit overwhelmed*
One good thing, I try to keep telling myself, is that Josh does not have the same expectations that I have when it comes to our own birthdays. I hope/expect to have a surprise birthday party every dang year. I hope/expect to have breakfast in bed (what is all the hype for, though?). I hope/expect to get phone calls from friends I went to school with back 10 years before. Anyway, I am always hoping to get unreasonable and silly things. It's a bad habit.
Josh is happy to just get together with a small group of people, no big parties for him. He said, "If we're going to have a big party, I want everyone to go there and then tell them, 'By the way, it's Josh's birthday!" He doesn't favor all the attention. I, on the other hand, thrive. I think. Most of the time I do, sometimes I don't.

So, anyway, moving on, I'm not going to post my ideas because there's a possibility Josh may read this in all his free time today. *disappointed chuckle*

It's Signing Time

Imagine being able to understand what your tiny child is thinking, long before they're able to talk. That's what my hope is for little Mr. D.

A week ago I checked out Sign with your Baby by Joseph Garcia so I could do just that. I know that a big reason the "Terrible Twos" are so terrible is because the kid is upset about something, but can't communicate it. So, I'm hoping to keep the nickname Mr. D (short for Mr. Delight, nicknamed by his Grandma) for my young man.

So far, after a week, Mr. D is making the sign for milk. Milk is made by squeezing a hand like it's milking a cow... it's personally very flattering. lol. I doubt he's getting it though, because he's been opening and closing his hand like that since before I started teaching him that sign. And it's only been a week since I started. The book says they probably won't make their first sign until they're about 9 or 10 months old, that is, if you start signing by 7 or 8 months.

I've also heard that boys tend to be slower at developing speech than girls. I'm afraid that will be very applicable to Mr. D because he's such a mellow guy. I try to talk to him when I do daily household things or when we're driving, but by nature I'm not a big talker. He also doesn't have an older sibling to learn from. So, I think this exposure to a "second language" will help.

"Goals" or "Goal IDEAS" ?

Some personal goals that I either have already been working on, or want to start working on:

1- Get a routine with Mr. D, aka. Mr. Delight, aka. Conrad. As soon as a routine is set, or I think it is set, things change. Things like, "Ope, it's the weekend. Sorry Conrad, no 3 hour nap for you on Sunday while we teach our primary class." Routine broken weekly.

2-Brush my teeth before DH gets home. Maybe even put on some lipstick.

3-Be showered and ready for day by 9:00 am. Hey, it's a full-time job being a mother, I should pretend I am starting my day like everybody else at a reasonable time. No more waiting until Conrad wakes up, and then falls back asleep for a nap, and then showering. If I do that, I'm lucky to be ready for the day by noon.

4-Have house cleaned up by the time DH gets home. That way, he'll see my appreciation to him for working laboriously for 10-12 hours by giving him a presentable environment.

5-Have dinner almost ready when DH gets home. Almost so that he can have a chance to relax and do what he wants, shower, watch Simpson's, and have a hot meal right out of the oven, or whatever.

6-Take time for myself to do something besides blog. For example, I really want to play on a sports team. ANY SPORT will do. I would prefer soccer or volleyball. I *mentally* need something to take my aggression out on. Something away from home. Something away from being a wife. Something away from being a mother. No offense. I just really believe that a woman needs time to not be anything. It's a healthy thing, that way she can come back and have more enjoyment in her full-time job. I think playing a sport will help.

7-Save money from my budget so I can spend it on a home-decorating project. I've done 1 decoration project the past 3 years we've lived in this house. I think it cost about $20. I can save $5 a week to go towards painting, or drapery... I think. Now that we're moving, I know I'm going to want to decorate our new place and make it "ours."

8-Socialize more than just on Sunday at church. I end up talking to only 4 and 5 year olds if I stick to the current ways. Or I end up saying "Hi-how-ya-doin" in passing to a person I used to socialize with.

9-Socialize more than just on Sunday at family dinners. I love our families. Is it bad to want to extend out of my family network? Don't be offended, family members. I love to socialize and meet new people, that's one reason I'm excited to move away to Missouri. New people! I thrive on meeting new people and finding out about them, it's amazing how different people can be. I also love the thrill of gaining a new friendship. I feel flattered when someone reciprocates and asks me questions about my life/history because they find it interesting. It's a fun game for me.

10-Be a happier wife. Josh always asks me if I'm happy. It's been hard for me to find joy in this new role as a mother. I thought it would be different. I thought it would be peachy-fuzzy and lovey-dovey with a cute little bundle of joy, always playing. It's different. I've gotten myself into a bad attitude about the routine things a mother does. I need to find joy in small things like, the sound of water running over a dirty dinner plate, or no dust on the coffee table. Or even, "I've finally figured a way to get rid of the dirty diaper smell in our house." ha ha. This is also a personality issue. Josh is naturally optimistic. I wish I were. I am very naturally pessimistic. My dad always taught me, "Fake it until you make it." That is what I do very often, so people don't believe me when I say I'm pessimistic. I would like to be happier so Josh looks forward to coming home.

11-Love myself. I need to take it easier on myself and not beat myself up over petty things. There's a song that brings me to tears, one of the verses says:
"Like a gentle breeze can blow the clouds from the sky; Like a gentle kiss can ease the pain of goodbye. We've been hurt by others often, we've forgiven and forgotten. We should be more gentle with ourselves."

I know I'm pretty common with other housewives/mothers. But, this is my first time doing this. I have no idea what I'm doing. I have no experience, no education (beyond watching my mother who is way-above-and-beyond), and I want to do well. My whole life (since I was around 11 when I started baby-sitting) I've had a job where I had to be somewhere for a specified amount of time. I had breaks. I had rules, and I had someone there to motivate me. If I messed up, someone was there to tell me so. Now, it's all me. My dear husband is too kind to say, "Well, you should've folded more laundry or weeded the garden." (I'm very lucky).

Goal setting is a good idea, one I haven't done for a long time. So, like a saying on the wall of my 10th grade History class, "Shoot for the stars, and then at least you'll get to the tops of the trees." I'm ready to get above the weeds and touch the branches on the trees. I'm ready to see me achieve more than cleaning my house and making dinner. Something I can look back on and see a distinguishable difference.

Fruit Basket of People

Here are some pictures that I've been meaning to post, I'll explain each picture.

Here is my big sister. What a good girl she is, reading the New Era and getting spiritual and all. I really look up to her, she is always making good choices. (note to Jeni: how was that? I heard that when Josh was taking this picture you mentioned something about "looking spiritual?" Hee hee. ) We also talk and sound the same. Really. I think she has such a lovely voice, though.

Here is my brother-in-law, married to my older sister. Now I have to pay him because I posted his picture on here. Oh well, I can probably afford it. :) He's always working on a project and trying to better their house. He chimes in with some pretty funny banter on occassion. We really like him, too.

Here are my neices, the daughters of the fore-said people. Ari (on the left) and Sophie (on the right), yes her arm is broken. She simply was doing a cartwheel and it snapped. Ari is a peach. She's always kind and always trying to make you feel better. She takes after me. :) Sophie is a bit more like her dad, in that she's always trying to make things nicer. She's always out for a good fun time, too. I love those 2 girls. (BTW, they're twins!)

Here is a picture of Cade, Ari and Sophie's older brother. This was taken at a baby shower for me, last summer, and Cade happened to be caught with one of the bows from a gift on his head. You can tell by the look on his face he's a little embarrassed. He's a true boy, he loves to play football and he's the catcher on his baseball team. He's always making us laugh. I love him, too. :)

I gave Josh an office chair as a gift for graduating. Here he is posing, cap included. Now we can recycle the lawn chair he had been using to be a kitchen table chair! I love Josh the most. Sorry to anybody out there that thought I loved them the most.

Solids Strike

Alright, I am sick of this. Conrad HATES to eat solid foods. He won't even eat bananas or applesauce. I wonder if it is because he just got a new tooth, plus the other top one is ALMOST in. So, I've become a milk machine every 3-4 hours again. Additionally, we're waking up at 4 in the morning because mom's milk is not quite enough to hold off hunger anymore.

Any ideas, or words of encouragement? This picture is before the strike, obviously, because he's not grimacing!!!

Mother's Day Poem

Hello everyone, I am in a bragging mood, so I have decided to share with y'all a poem I wrote for my mother on Mother's Day. I also wrote one for Josh's mother. They are pretty much the same, just a line or 2 different (they're both GREAT moms! I didn't need to alter either poem just in case it didn't match). :)

To a mother who tenderly cares
Enough to say a quiet prayer
Each day for our safety and for God’s blessings
Received so richly, there’s no distressing.

We praise you, Mom, with adoration
On this day of celebration.
Thanks go to you for raising me
To be where I am with a good family.

To prove to you how much you mean,
We’ve made something for you to see.
Our lives have changed to something grand,
Because we’ve added a set of hands.

This visual reminder is but small,
Yet it shows how much you’ve given to us all.
These 2 little hands will one day be
An amazing person, we can all agree.

So on this day we wish you the best,
For helping us attain what we never would have guessed
would bring so much joy, so much love in our heart,
Happy Mother’s Day to you, with all our love we impart.

We put Conrad's handprints at the bottom of the poem, it was darling. The poems were received very well, I might add. :) :) :) :) <-----those are smiley faces to convey how pleased I was with myself. The above pictures were taken on Mother's Day, as well.

Mother's Day cute-ness :)

Yesterday we got together to call our missionary, my baby sister (serving in Australia) because it was Mother's Day. While we were all waiting to have our turn talking with her, Conrad and his cousin, Ike, decided to become friends.




That's enough to make a mother's heart melt. A daddy's heart? Well, probably not. COME ON, they're just babies. And they just found another person their own size, so they're probably thinking, "Finally, someone I can talk to." hee hee.

Happy Mother's Day to me?

What is Mother's day, anyway?
Is this just a day that I, as a mother, get out of small household duties so my loved ones have to see what I go through?
Is this a day I remember what an enormous calling motherhood is?
Or, perhaps, is it a day to reflect and enjoy what only I, as a mother, can do?

According to the above picture, (taken right before I was induced with Conrad) you could say that I am overwhelmed at the thought of motherhood. When I was a young girl I loved to hold babies, I loved to baby-sit, anything to do with children. Now that I have a baby of my own, I take for granted what I have. What I feel I need to do is reflect and enjoy this time!!! I know it won't last long, yet I am still anxious. Anxious to have back my body (I'm stilllll nursing!) and anxious to have a good night's rest and anxious to not have a teething baby (ow!!) and yet, anxious to have another baby. No, this is not an announcement. I feel that the sooner I can get our kids here the sooner I can be done. Good thing I'm married to Josh, thee all wise husband, who knows better than I do!!! I'm sure that if I had a bunch of young kids I'd probably.... well, let's just not go there.
This is me 6 days before I was induced. No, I did not get stretch marks on my tummy. Yes, I did get stretch marks. Let's just say, I got a kick out of telling Josh my "nursing bra" size.
Here I am holding my 3 day old baby. (I'm pretty brave to post a picture of me at my fattest!!) I look happy still because my milk was just barely arriving! Ha. That was a good breaker-in to motherhood. If I knew then what I know now I would have enjoyed those first few weeks much more. I wouldn't have griped so badly about staying up all night with a starving baby "practicing" nursing. Yes, that was a rollercoaster ride.... DOWN! Luckily, he got the hang of it about 2 1/2 weeks later and we've steadily kept coasting upwards, with no plunges in mind.

What do you mother's out there feel is the most rewarding thing as a mother? According to my blog, you could guess that I'd say nursing. Nursing is very rewarding, but I wouldn't say that I love nursing. I'd like to have my own body back, with no baby attached. I would like to not have to worry about being away for too long, because baby won't take a bottle. That is a big one. BUT, I do have to say that nursing has made a great connection between Conrad and me that Conrad and daddy just can't have. I'm the only one that can make Conrad feel better when he's sick, or of course, hungry. But Conrad knows, or at least I'd like to think he knows, that I'm the one that will comfort him and make "it" all better.
Hmm, well, I guess that is the most rewarding thing as a mother. Maybe I'll change my mind when he grows up and there is more to this relationship than eat, sleep and babble.
It is amazing to me how miraculous having a baby is. Men out there may say,"Without us, you couldn't have a baby." Yes, that's true... but men, if you didn't have mothers, where would you be?

Tonight I rode on a big blue striped school bus

Year: 1977, make: school bus, color: white with blue stripes, interior:homemade

Yes, and I wish I would have had my camera.

While we were at my parents house, soaking in this time we have with them before we move, a big white with blue striped school bus drove up and stopped right in front of their house. My brother yelled his friend's name, "J!" and ran outside to greet his friend. Turns out his friend is moving to Georgia, from good old Utah, for a transfer in his job. J didn't want to rent a moving truck so he looked online to see any good deals, he found a big white with blue stripes school bus. He claims that he's going to save around $2000-3000 by buying this bus instead of getting a moving truck.

So, he offered to take us on a ride around the block. My niece Ari, who is only 6 years old and never gets to ride a bus to school (because she lives too close) was ecstatic. We hopped aboard and went on a 3 minute drive around the block inside a big bus that had been turned into what else, but a motor home. There was a bed in the back, a "spacious" bathroom (it really was (!)), stove top, refrigerator, and plenty of sitting room. It was quite extravagant. It was the final touch to make my night anything but normal.

p.s. to family members out there reading this: if you haven't heard yet, Sophie broke her arm tonight doing a cartwheel. Poor thing's going to wear a cast during summertime.

Here are my cute nieces Ari (on the left) and Sophie. That picture is another fun story. Basically, Josh and I baby-sat them while their mom and dad and brother went to Cancun for 9 or so days. This is St. Patrick's Day, I took pictures of them and the aftermath of finding what the Leprechauns left for them! I just wanted to post this picture because I love it when other bloggers leave pictures. It nice to get a visual.

Time to buy a gate?

It's not quite official, yet, but I think Conrad is crawling. See my definition of crawling:

While on the tummy, bunching one's legs underneath and simultaneously
reaching in front grasping the carpet fibers, and all of a sudden pushing legs
out and pulling tightly on the carpet fibers. This process may only have a
success rate of about 1 inch.

He is getting closer all the time, his knees come up underneath a little bit more each time he tries. Maybe I should go buy a gate... I've heard they don't help though. Any advice?

New Blog Template

In case if none of you blog readers notice, I changed the way my blog looks. I really like the new look. Hey, Kim the girl, correct me if I'm wrong, but is this your old template? I'm glad you don't have it still, because I quite enjoy it.

More new things

You know what it's like when you come across something new and cool and you can't get enough of it? Well, that's Conrad with putting things on his face. The other day at church Conrad was getting restless in my arms, so I laid him on the ground with his "Tigger Rattle." As he sat there playing with it I noticed he was laying it on his face, and then leaving it there. Once he got it there he would flail his arms out, kick his legs up and down on the ground and gasp for air.

Here he is with his "Tigger Rattle."

He does it with whatever he gets his hands on. Today we got a book catalogue/magazine in the mail (notice the tiny pieces of paper on the ground?). We have no money to spend so I let Conrad play with it. Here is a glimpse of him at his finest:
Here he is wondering what I am doing on that dang computer...again.

Anyway, it is the darndest cutest thing. Yesterday I was folding laundry on my bed and I left him on the ground to "scoot and roll" around. He rolled over to the bedskirt and started playing with it, in his normal fashion of letting it his cover his face, then kicking and flailing his arms and gasping for air.

AND, just barely he almost got up on his knees and toes to crawl! AAAAH! Just right now while I was typing! Any day now... the crawling begins. In the past 2 days I have seen a DRAMATIC increase in his mobility! He is now reaching for things that are above his level (ie. in the crib we have a mobile/toy that hangs from the side rails and yesterday he was actually reaching up and touching it! Today he was trying to reach for the things on our coffee table, which stands about 1 1/2 foot high.)

Let the chasings begin...

lipstick and skirts

Today I was inspired, once again, by Em's post so I decided to wear a skirt. And lipstick. Did it do anything for me? Well, here is an actual quote:

Josh: "So did you feel more feminine today?"
Ali: "Um, not really, I just had a hard time walking."

Although, the other day I went to the store: Wally World to be exact, wearing my regular wierd-fitting jeans and green t-shirt I've worn since when I was pregnant, (so it's all stretched out wierd) and LIPSTICK. I ran into an old friend that you could say was "high class." I felt embarrassed wearing the above said, not to mention the flip-flops on my feet. But, as I approached her I remembered I put on my lovely new lipstick (given to me as a sample from clinic!). At that point it did not matter what clothing I was wearing. I was pretty... because I was wearing lipstick.

So, we had a nice conversation for about 2o minutes, right there in the frozen section by the "Healthy Choice" dinners (I noticed this because she was buying a bunch, being rich and all.) I left with her phone number so we could keep in touch. And she was the one that offered it!

Anybody else have a good lipstick experience? Or maybe, a good earing experience? :) Or whatever it is that makes you feel pretty?

OH, consider this a warning for the below post. It is very long!

Friday the Fourth

So, last Friday was Josh's graduation. That evening we decided to have a lovely meal at the Braza Grill, and here are the pictures of the event.

Everybody: (whether they like it or not.)

(For the safety and comfort of my family members I am not listing their names in the below said pictures, just identifying their relation to us.)


Me. Cutting the blessed cake. It was kind of non-climatic to just demolish a cake right after I decorated it. Well, actually... hmmm, the restaurant workers did sing a happy birthday song to Josh in Portuguese. That was VERY fun! It was basically shouting in unison and a lot of loud clapping. (at least, that's all my foggy brain can remember.)

In the picture L-R: Josh's grandpa and his wife, then Josh's sister and her husband.
L-R: Josh's dad, grandpa, my sister, and my sister's husband.
Here's to us! (don't worry, I made sure it was a "virgin"-or-non alcoholic drink)

L-R: My mother, my brother, Josh's brother, and then Josh's mom
Here's mum and dad.
L-R: My brother, my grandpa, my grandma, and my brother's wife.
Here is Josh's brother (24 hours after having Lasik surgery) and his wife.
Who is that silly lady? haha, silly grandma.

We had a good meal. I think everybody left feeling full. ;) Ok, I KNOW everybody left full. What a feast.

Would I recommend it? Hmmm, that's a whole 'nother post. Well, I'll just explain.

1-When I called to reserve for 25 people they didn't take my name, just number of people. That made me just a little bit nervous.

2-When we arrived to eat, no one greeted us at the door. We just walked in, saw where everybody else was, and walked to our table.

3-When our hostess explained how the "process" worked she mentioned the price of our meal. The price she said and the price on their website was $2 different. She also worded it: "Our dinner is around $18.99." (emphasis added on the word around). Why did she say

AROUND? Not just "Our dinner is $16.99." I was ALREADY worried about the price of dinner because heck, it's expensive! Not to mention I told 20 other people that it was $16.99.

I confronted her on this (very etiquette-ly) and asked her why it was $18.99 when on their website it said $16.99. I was trying not to be an obnoxious customer so I submissively added, "Is it because you're trying to be like the other restaurant in Murray?" (their price is $18.99). She agreed. Then she apologized. I explained how I had told everyone invited to eat with us that the price was $16.99. She apologized as best as she could by saying, "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm really sorry." And that was that. I didn't have the guts to come back and say something like, "Well, I think we should get the $16.99 price because that is what it said on your website."

Of course, now it seems like it would have been a piece of cake to say. I was on the spot and a little upset by the news, so I didn't feel comfortable saying what I felt like saying. (whenever that happens at other times I always say something I regret later on!)

5-(or whatever number we're on) I had some family members that only got the salad bar, no meat, and they were charged the full price. I felt horrible for them. I thought I had explained it to everyone, but I guess I missed them. So, they were charged $40 dollars for some salad and drinks.

Anyway, enough griping. I was just embarrassed that I told everybody one price, and they got another. I have been seriously considering calling the restaurant and letting them know how I feel.

Let me emphasize the good now: we had such a lovely time. The server was such a cute girl, very earnest about doing a good job, and very sweet. Our food was delicious. If you're a "meat person," you'd be in heaven. I am not a big "meat person," so I really enjoyed the salad bar and the company of those around me! OH, and our drink, a Brazilian Strawberry Limeade, THAT was something to talk about! I really mean delicious when I say: it was delicious!

Wow. If you've made it this far, congratulations! You've made it through one of Ali's griping sessions. My apologies. But fortunately for me, this is my blog. I get to say whatever I would like to. On the other hand, in the future I will try to be considerate of other's time... and brainwaves!