Who is this?

Holy smokes, do you see some similarities? This is my mom on the left, and on the right is Amelia. (duh).

Happy 60th birthday yesterday, Mom! You are loved!

Beautiful Christmas Video

Courtesy of Foundation Arts.

We're here!

We made it safe and sound! And we're enjoying every second of it!

It's Tuesday and I'm turning back time

5 years ago today...

...we were sealed for time and all eternity in the Salt Lake City, Utah temple...

and it's been a wonderful 5 years.

Happy Anniversary to us!!!!!!! It's true, marriage just keeps getting better and better.

Thanks to the wonderful, good, patient man I married. You've helped me become a better person, obviously. I needed you to be my steady force, to balance all the wacky weights I throw at you. Can you believe it's already been 5 years?!?

I love you to life!!!!!!

I finished it!!! ... Surprise!

I FINALLY finished my Christmas Advent Calendar!!! I started working on it when Conrad was 6 months old. If you've been following my blog for a long time you might remember when I first mentioned it. Or perhaps you might remember this time. Or this minor time. Or this time when I even included a picture. Or this time when I was mostly just nesting. Or the last time I gave you a clue 4 months ago.

I have to give a lot of credit to Josh. He kept pushing me forward, encouraging me to get it done by this Christmas. He helped me along so I didn't break our sewing machine, and also helped me so I didn't mess it up in so many different ways. Josh is my lantern in the dark when I am working on crafts. He is amazing at figuring things out.

Also thanks to a fine woman in our ward that provided a cutting table, and rotary cutter (or whatchamacallit), and the best quilting skills I could ever dream for when it comes to the quilting side of my Advent Calendar. Thanks for helping me along to Lisa!

Here's to a fun tradition and memory for my kids!

Conrad singing again!

"Whenever I touch a velvet rose, or walk by our lilac tree, I'm glad that I live in this beautiful world Heavenly Father created for me."

(Notice the burp-ish noise right when he says "Heavenly." Oh, how I love my boy. He is growing up too fast.

the balls

Amanda, I made the balls! They did not turn out beautiful and clean-shaped like yours, but I made them. And here is what happened.

Conrad found them when I wasn't watching (the first photo is staged, obviously).

Right before lunchtime of course, so he enjoyed the 2 that he happened to put in each hand.

(Oh, I guess I took one of them away at the point of these pictures)

Here is the video I shot of him when I found him.


And here he is when I wouldn't let him have more.

He didn't care what they looked like, he LOVED them. How could you not love a cake ball, though? (FYI to y'all who don't know what a cake ball is, click on HERE to see some beautiful balls and a lovely description.)
(Yes, me and Josh were snickering in the kitchen when I told him I had some big balls for him to try. Oh, you gotta love having a sense of humor.)

(To Amanda, I made them using strawberry cake mix and buttercream frosting, then dipped in white chocolate. It was for a baby shower for my hairdressing girl, so that's why there's a lot of goodies in my kitchen--- leftovers!)

Amelia's first word, and something else I really like about her

Watch the video to hear Amelia's first word! (Although, you don't have to convince me that it's just random babbling. I already know that, but this is my daughter, and it's so much fun having a daughter!)






Conrad waking Amelia up. He LOVES to do that now that he can get out of bed by himself in the morning without me or dad. (although this picture was taken after this morning's nap). What a cute face he just happened to pull as I shot the camera.





What a little twin to Grandma Jane. I am in love with her upper-lip/moustache area! It is exactly like Grandma Janes!


Compare here! It is uncanny!!!

new Grandparents!

For Thanksgiving this year we traveled south a couple of hours and got to celebrate with my Aunt Lisa and Uncle Duane! We had a very nice time, I felt so relaxed at their house. My Aunt is my mom's sister and they have a lot of the same mannerisms and ideas so I felt right at home. My uncle Duane is just a real fun guy and easy to hang around so we had a very nice time! They don't have any grandchildren (YET) and so our kids got SPOILED with attention and gifts!!!

My Uncle Duane left at one point and Conrad said, "Where Grampa go?" We laughed and laughed, and then when Duane came back we told him what Conrad said and this picture pretty much illustrates how he reacted.

(His hand is swatting whomever is sitting right next to him.) He didn't like the idea! Conrad kept calling him that even though we corrected him by telling him his name was "Uncle Duane." He didn't care. To him he was Grampa.

When we left their house we told Conrad to tell them goodbye and Conrad said, "Bye bye Grandma, bye bye Grandpa!" So he even ended up calling my Aunt Lisa Grandma, too. We laughed and laughed again.

Thank you so much for the nice stay at your place!!! We had a really good time! Here is a little peak at Katie and her very nice boyfriend Joe.

Here are the latest little shots of Amelia

To my native KC friends, HELP!

Does anyone know of a specialty food store around here that sells specialty kitchen items?

They would possibly sell things like wheat, bread makers, wheat grinders, and Red Berry Pie Tone?

I am searching for this special ingredient for a special pie my special aunt Dianne makes. The infamous:

RAZZLEBERRY PIE!

I could go and buy it from Marie Callendars- but if I can make it, well then that is just going to be grand. So, if you know of any place out here in KC that sells lots of kitchen items as a specialty, please let me know!

p.s. all y'all in Utah be grateful for Kitchenkneads!

Happy Birthday to my Mom-in-love!

To my mom-in-love:

Thank you for loving my children as though they were your own

Thank you for being so selfless, and taking the time to take care of others.

Thank you for making every situation even better!

Thank you for being a genuine, loving person. You are a beautiful woman, inside and out, and I am grateful you are in my life!!! Happy Birthday to a wonderful woman! I love you Cindy!

Check out a new Etsy shop

My cute sister-in-love has finally done it! Kim has finally opened her own Etsy shop, Hollidaisy. She is quite the talent. She has cards, decorations, hair bows, crocheted items and more! She is offering a free give-away right now, so go to her blog and leave her a comment saying which 3 items you like most, and you're entered to win 4 Christmas Cards, 6 Christmas tree ornaments, and a Christmas hairbow! Go check it out!

I gave Amelia a haircut, to cut the strays away, here is a little shot.

This is how successful the big boy bed is coming:



It's going very well!

This is just a video I shot after I finished feeding Amelia some rice cereal. I just wanted to capture her babbling and Conrad's developing language.

For grandma's and grandpa's

I just wanted to share some of the delight of my daughter with you. She is tired here, so she's a little bit more silly than her normal self. And, I'm in love with her!!!

a dash of this, a whole lot of that

Amelia weighs in at 15 pounds 11 ounces. (44%)
She is towering at 26.5 inches tall. (78%)
And her genius size head is 15.5 inches around. (93%)

Conrad did well in the "big boy bed." Right now we are attempting a nap in it. I've told him if he gets out of his bed he'll go straight into his crib. He really needs a nap. So do I.

Good news: The Mormon Tabernacle Choir is coming to Kansas City next June! They are performing at the Sprint Center on June 25th. (That's just what I heard from some fellow stake members). Tickets go on sale Dec. 1st. That means my dad and mom will be coming to my town next summer!!! You see, even though my dad retired from singing in the choir 1 year ago, Mr. Mac (Mac Christensen, the president of the choir) asked him to serve as a volunteer with the choir. Dad, I cannot remember for the life of me what your exact title is, but I remember you saying that you are "The 'No' guy." He tells people when they can and can't perform due to their attendance record. Lucky guy! I am so lucky that I can brag about my dad and his role with the choir. I think it's pretty darn cool! I posted this post about him when he retired if you want to see a picture of him performing in the choir!

I received some good words from my visiting teachers the other day. I was telling them how overwhelmed I feel with the pressures I put on myself. They said, "lower your expectations of yourself." That is what I am going to do. I took a nap yesterday---twice--- once in the morning when I stayed home with the kids so Conrad wouldn't get the nursery all sick. We watched 2 hours of Sesame Street, thanks to our DVR. Talk about lowering my expectations of myself! Normally I don't sit and watch any TV with him, but I couldn't keep my eyes open as I read him the book about Nahzella the witch and her cute little nose. And then I just sort of dozed off in the afternoon when both my kids were sleeping. (I am finally figuring out how to get them both to sleep at the same time.) Hey, would you listen to that!? Conrad is sleeping already! Good job, Conrad!

Yesterday in ward conference our ward heard some very uplifting words. I was unable to attend, but Josh brought home the sweet spirit of the meeting. It was everything I needed to hear. And I'm so glad Josh could share it with me.
They spoke about mothers, but it was directed towards husbands and children. I have been feeling so down in the dumps lately about how I've been doing as a mom. To the point where I feel like giving up. Ok, actually a few times I have threatened! (oh brother, here I go...) Anyway, our bishop shared some interesting numbers about all the jobs a mother does, and how much money she would get paid if she were to be working and doing these jobs anyplace but in her house. He said that the average mom works 52 hours of overtime each week. And he said that she would get paid $138,000 a year for all the work she does. Isn't that amazing? It made me instantly feel guilty for watching 2 hours of sesame street!!!

The stake president shared a touching story.
He shared a story about when his father died, his mother was not doing very well, either. They were debating putting her in an assisted living place, but they decided to build a new house where they could accomodate her living in her own place, yet close by if she needed any help. She suffered from a disease (pulmonary fibrosis, I think) where she was slowly suffocating to death. 2 days before she died our stake president mentioned he went to check on his mom. She was not in good shape. She was struggling to breathe. So, he started to pray for his mom, that she would have ministering angels take care of her. He prayed for a long time, he didn't know exactly how long he was praying for, but after a couple of hours he felt inspired to open his eyes. When he opened his eyes he saw his wife taking care of his mom.

This is my calling in life, and I truly love it. I honestly have never been happier, and yet more discouraged in my entire life. It is hard! I value the examples of the mothers I have around me in my life. Now I value them even more since I am one. It is amazing to me all the struggles you go through as a mother, and yet keep doing it. It is hard to stay afloat when there is always something to be done. When it comes to reading scriptures or saying prayers it is truly a sacrifice to do them now. I could be doing something else... but then where would the blessings of the sacrifice go?

I also am thrilled to live where we live, out in the mid-west where people are not like Utah mormons. Not everybody knows about us, or if they do know, it may not be likeable information that they have on us. I am so excited to be able to share my knowledge of our church with anyone. It is scary, yes! But in a way it is also a sacrifice.

Speaking of which, they also spoke about sacrifice yesterday in church. We don't have to sacrifice some of the same kind of things they talk about in the bible... offering up a son, or what have you; our opportunities to sacrifice today are less obvious. At least, it seems that way to me. It is not a big deal for me to pay tithing. It is not a big deal to go without food and fast. But, when I am busy with my everyday life and the relief society president calls me up and asks me to make some visiting teaching changes, I am sort of taken back. It is a sacrifice for me to take time away from my family and re-arrange my visiting teaching routes. I usually wait until the day before they have to be done and then I have to really force myself to get it done. It is a sacrifice for me to do it. And they spoke about how our callings are not easy, how it wouldn't really be service to the Lord if we weren't sacrificing. Our callings should take a chunk of our lives, and force us to sacrifice something. And then the blessings will come. Whatever they may be. They may be something as simple as feeling good about yourself for that day. Who knows!

Anyway, I am so glad to have the knowledge I have about our gospel, and I am so glad that I have a strong testimony so that the sacrifices I make are not such a big deal. And I also feel better about my role as a mom. What a tremendous role it is. I can do it. And then on days that I can't do it, I'll try and go easy on myself and not beat myself up!

Way to make it through the post. That was a long one!

Happy Birthday Tom!

Happy Birthday to my big brother Tom.

Thanks for always making life interesting. You are one heckuva brother and I LOVE all that you've done for our family. You never cease to entertain and amaze me! (I bet you're wondering where I got the groovy picture...) hee hee hee hee!

I love you! ...Happy Birthday, and many more!!!

The Sunday Post

Just a picture of Conrad trying to be like Amelia... again. He walks around wearing a bow and likes to get into all of her paraphernalia (like car seats, bouncy chairs, pack-n-play, etc.)

Josh is the talented photographer who got all 3 of us crazies to smile at the same time. That is talent. Amelia is officially 6 months old, her check-up is tomorrow morning. She is our little angel... ... changing subject: I got my hair done. Yipee! So, I had to be in the picture.

Sorry, no new pictures of Josh, but he is looking more handsome everyday! (think Dr. McDreamy or McSteamy.)

Conrad is taking a big step tonight for the first time. He is in a toddler bed! It is only 10:30 pm, but so far so good! You know I'll let you know if it goes badly!

What's going around

What is going around here?

1 crazy lost-my-marbles mom

2 cranky children

3 kleenexes per one of the two children mentioned above whenever they sneeze

4 messes per 1 sq. foot area throughout entire household

5 minutes for myself on computer. ahhh, finally. I can ease my addiction to checking my e-mail and blogs.

I am doomed to catch the dreaded cold from one of my sick children. It is the very yucky sort. The kind where you can't sleep with a binky in. The kind where you wake up and your lips are all cracked from breathing through your mouth. Also, the miserable kind where NOTHING can make you happy. How did Conrad get it? And why did he have to give it to Amelia? I hope I don't get what's going around.

Is it just my house? Or is it going around yours too?

Priorities

What shall I post? This is what I think as I see this first shot. Josh actually told me, "you need to post to your blog." I said, "you really think so?"

I've not been up to posting lately, as having 2 kids now and responsibilities that are higher priority have taken over.

Like this. I checked out from the library, "The House that Cleans Itself." The following picture I took as part of my project. (obviously I chose a mostly-clean picture to post on my blog- for the sake of my pride... ) And obviously I'm hoping for a house that cleans itself.

Here are my higher priorities:
Amelia dressed warm in her pj's.

Conrad dressed in who knows what.
He wanted a number 6 on his shirt. So I said, your PJ's don't have any numbers. Then he said, "I wanna number 9 on my shirt." I said OK. He said "I wanna number 5 on my shirt." I said OK. After I put them on his shirt he found 1 of daddy's shoes, and 1 of my shoes. Thus the picture.
If you look closely you can see that Conrad bruised his ear.
I can only say that I am to blame. I feel awful. I let him stand on a small ottoman next to my craft table that had my sewing machine on it. He fell off the small ottoman. He grabbed the sewing machine to catch his fall. The sewing machine landed on his head. Thus the picture. He cried pretty good. I was nervous he wasn't going to be normal anymore. If you call pretending to ride on a train and ride into the firestation normal then we are good. He is into pretending all of a sudden. I love it! My sewing machine looks fine. I haven't used it since, but I think it's OK.

2 things in 1.

1- Amelia in the highchair finally being intoduced to rice cereal. She did well. I am not pressuring her as much as I pressured Conrad. I hope we have a better experience this time. If she's not interested in the food, I am not forcing it. 2- Amelia wearing a headband that I made. Kewl for me. It was made out of a 33 cent wal-mart knee-high. Thus the reason for the sewing machine being out (as mentioned above).

(To Amelia: you can't tell that is a boy bib, but don't worry, I will soon get you some girl bibs. That's just what happens when you're the 2nd child. But I love you still!!!!!! Will you stop growing, too? It seems you are growing faster than Conrad did. (Conrad could stay in his 3-6 months until he was 9 month old... ....Amelia, on the other hand, is already in 9 month size!!!)

I took a goofy picture of Josh but he told me not to post it. Anyway he's another big priority over here in MO-town. He has a Quiz tomorrow on this Human Development section. But you wouldn't know it. He is much more relaxed this section around. I get to see him and I don't feel like maybe we need counseling anymore! :D Hurray for happy marriages.