A Million Little Things: A truly random collection of posts about what's on my mind

Being Healthy: Weeks 2 & 3

2012-01-28T11:25:00.001-07:00

1 Lbs lost during these weeks
2.2 Lbs total:

Things I have learned during the past two weeks

When I don't drink enough water I can't lose weight (week 2 I gained .6 lbs, WHAT?!)
Eating salad for lunch is basically the smartest way to save my points for other meals/snacks
Twizzlers are 1pt per twizzler.
I miss bread, I still eat a little, but I miss snacking away at bread
Rice, so not worth it. On WW, rice is 5pts per cup, I only get 30pts per day so that's a LOT of points
Zumba gets easier and less embarrasing with time
Attending the gym 5 days a week makes me feel like a rockstar. And I miss it on that one weekday I don't go.
Wearing new workout clothes makes me happy
I am getting really toned. The total lbs lost may be small but I feel and look a LOT better.

Boo on pictureless posts, here's Evie happily playing at the mall on the cars (no money was inserted and she was still happy.)

Also here's great recipe for dinner I found through WW and adapted slightly (more cilantro, less onions).

The key here is keeping the portions under control, with the sauce and the cheese in particular. It doesn't seem like enough sauce, but it actually is. Serve with salad for one awesome dinner. 1/6 of a pizza is 10pts, not bad for a satisfying dinner. Also, I love pizza. Leftovers are delicious.

BBQ Chicken Black Bean Pizza:

Pizza dough (storebough or homemade)

1/2 c of bbq sauce

8 oz of chicken breast, cooked, cubed

1 1/2 c cheese (low fat, I used mozzarella)

1/2 small can black beans (7.5 oz)

1/2 small red onion, chopped

1/4 c cilantro chopped

1. Pre-bake your pizza crust. I used a pizza stone.

2. Coat the chicken in 1/4 c of the BBQ sauce

3. Sprinkle pre-baked crust with 3/4 c of cheese

4. Top with chicken, onion, black beans, and cilantro

5. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese

6. Drizzle the pizza with remaining 1/4 c of BBQ sauce

Bake at 450 until cheese is bubbly.

2012: Our Best Year Yet

2012-01-25T11:53:00.001-07:00

I have a feeling about 2012. A feeling it is going to be awesome. As in the awesomest year we've had yet.

We are so excited about some of the things we have in store. Since the 50 in 500 list ends next month anyway I figured I'd just make a giant "To-Do" for 2012. Some of these come that list (still not completed), some come from the "Year of Dates" gift I gave Joe, some came from pinterest, and some just come from my wishful little heart. Lots of goodness going on here. I may add to it later. And if I have time I'll blog as we complete things.

Doesn't looking over a list like this just get you excited for a new year? It does for me. They aren't exactly all "resolutions", I think about it more as being deliberate with how I live my life. Spending time on that which makes me happy. These things make me happy.

And since this post needs a photo, here's the happy little lady I plan on adventuring with:

Places To Go:

Take Evie for her first zoo visit
Go to the new Utah Museum of Natural History
Go to Lagoon
Tandem Bike Ride/JDawgs with Joe
Go hiking, somewhere beautiful, take Evie Lou, cross our fingers she'll ride in the carrier and not insist on walking...
Take Evie to a water park/outdoor pool
Go visit friends/family in Portland
Go to the Vocal Point concert in February (tickets purchased!)
See the Sound of Music @ Hale Center Theatre (tickets purchased!)
Tram ride in the fall at the ski resort
To the Nicklecade again with Joe
Visit the new Oquirrh Mtn and Draper temples

To Do:

Take pictures of my favorite spots at BYU, preferably in the spring
Fly kites on a windy day
Go ice skating
Host book club
Geocaching!
Recreate our first date on the 6 year anniversary in June
Go see a nature IMAX at the planetarium (deal found here, only available for one more day)
Berry Picking again!
Celebrate our 5th annivesary, go out to eat somewhere special

To Learn:

Take an Econ class at SLCC this spring
Enroll for and pass three classes in my MPP program this fall
Read my camera manual
Read general conference between sessions
Finish reading "In Defense of Food"

To Accomplish

Become completely debt free except for my small student loan
Sell one of our cars
Quit my job!
Hit my 10lb weight loss mark
Hit my 20lb weight loss mark
Hit my 30lb weight loss mark
Make it through an entire ab workout at the gym without quitting...
Move, unpack completely and get basic organization done before I start school
Get Evie's bike seat attached, tires pumped, and ready to ride once the snow clears

To Create

Paint grandma's kitchen table
Finish reupholstering the orange chairs
Make pillows for the couch
Make a Christmas gift at Color Me Mine
Elmo cupcakes (or cake) for Evie's 2nd birthday
A doll for Evie's birthday, probably this one
Make some sort of garland/banner for Evie's bedroom at our new apartment, maybe this one.
Yarn wrapped letter for new apartment
Finish the felt magnet letters I started.
Make some sort of cute/wipable menu board for the kitchen
Repaint Evie's dresser, like this.

Pesto Pasta Salad

2012-01-19T15:46:00.000-07:00

At the end of last summer our wonderful neighbor asked if we would like some fresh basil. She said it was all going to seed and she needed to get rid of it. So we gladly helped her out and harvested cups and cups of fresh basil. What's a girl to do with so much basil? Make homemade pesto my friends. And so I did, can't remember the recipe. Just google something that uses pine nuts, Parmesan, pesto, olive oil, and garlic and you'll be happy.

But to make this pesto you could just use jarred pesto from the store. It doesn't take much and store bought pesto can be great (or terrible, I got the "Classico" brand once and it was good so maybe look for that).

This homemade pesto was delicious. I made a whole bunch and once and froze the extras. And thus we have fresh pesto in the middle of the winter (and I guess the "freshness" is relative if it's been frozen...).

The only problem is that I'm on weight watchers and a huge serving of pasta with pesto would take too many points. But the pesto was sitting there needing to get used.

So I made pesto pasta salad. With a ton of vegetables and it came out at only 4 pts per cup, which is amazing. Dieting or not you'll love this. Make it for meatless Monday, or if you don't think that's satisfying enough add chicken or salami and make it meaty. I don't care. Just make it.

It is good.

See look at this beautiful vegetable goodness (and this is before I realized that I needed to still add broccoli and carrots).

I wrote this up with measurements because I needed to calculate the WW points, but really this is one of those "use up all the vegetables in your fridge" kind of meals. Noticeably absent here are zucchini and squash, because I don't like those. But add them if you do, healthy! Also noticeably absent are tomatoes which I forgot to pick up at the store today.

Sad. We love tomatoes. It's okay, winter tomatoes are sub-par.

This recipe was still yummy. I used Ronzoni Smart Taste white pasta. It has added fiber but is still white. I've made whole wheat (or blend) pastas before. The taste is noticeably different. And I am not yet fully converted. So if you want to be healthier, use wheat.

Anyway without further ado here's the "recipe"

Chop the following:

1 1/2 c cucumber (I used English so I didn't have to peel it)
1/4 c green onion (2 onions, roughly)
1 c red bell pepper
1 c green bell pepper
3/4 c carrots
1 1/2 c broccoli
1/2 c red onion

Add the chopped vegetables to 7 oz cooked pasta (this is half a box of the type I got)

Toss in 1/3 c pesto

Add 1/3 c of feta (or more if you like...more would be better if you aren't dieting...)

Toss toss toss.

Serve as the main dish.

A 1 cup portion is 4 pts, for those of you who happen to be on Weight Watchers. So have 2 cups for dinner if you like! I had just 1 for lunch and found it filling.

You may be surprised to find that little people like pesto, I was.

And just for fun here are two lovely pictures of Evie from Sunday.

Someone is naughty and likes to climb out of her high chair. She's told regularly to "sit on your bum" and she often complies. Little monkey.

Also I don't know what she's so amazed by on the floor. Could be a piece of Sesame Street wrapping paper that she's been chasing around the house for days. Every time she comes across it she laughs and stomps her feet. Those Sesame characters make her happy.

And now I'm off to play with the little lady for a bit. Hope you like the "recipe", let me know if you try it.

Being Healthy: Week 1

2012-01-16T19:03:00.000-07:00

Well you guys, I'm happy to report that this week I lost 1.2lbs. Can you say Hallelujah!? Okay so five pounds would be more impressive or awesome. But to put this in perspective, if I lose 1.2lbs per week every week for the next five months I will be 10 pounds thinner than I was at my wedding. If I keep losing at that rate, by our 5th anniversary in August I'll be almost to the weight I was when I met Joe.

Talk about a happy anniversary present to us both.

So 1.2lbs is awesome.

Cheers all around.

So when I left the gym on Saturday, my 5th visit of the week, I stopped at Old Navy and got some new exercise clothes. Working out for a couple months now I felt justified in purchasing a few things (so I could stop rummaging around for my black stretchy pants hoping they weren't "too dirty" to wear, again.).

I heard Old Navy was having an awesome sale and that their line of workout attire was pretty great. I'm happy to report that both things are true!

So when you run into me at the grocery store and I'm all sweaty and my hair is a mess, at least my cute gym attire will clue you in as to the reason for my disheveled state. Also don't judge me for the chicken nuggets in my cart, those are for Evie who needs to gain weight! I eat salad for lunch. Evie gets the goods.

Also those pants make me look thinner and more toned than I am. So you'll think "man, Anna's such a dedicated athlete" when really I'm just a mom who loves the gym and bought fancy compression pants on super sale at Old Navy.

Unless you count cheating on the ab workout at my gym class as dedicated athelete behavior, in which case, why yes I am a dedicated athlete.

Will a day come when I can get through the entire 10 minutes of abs at the end of a class? Sometimes I think no. I've never had abs, but perhaps 2012 is the year! If not 2012 is at least the year where I count on doing downward dog without looking like a fool.

New gym clothes. Down 1.2lbs. Possibly looking towards life with visible abs? Life is pretty good right now. Here's hoping next week I lose 1.3lbs. :)

Expecting the best of each other {Charity}

2012-01-14T23:56:00.003-07:00

Can I tell you how much I love teaching the women at church? Best. Calling. Ever.

This week's lesson is called "Love thy neighbor as thyself." Great topic.

As I was preparing the lesson I was reminded of a quote (not in the lesson) by Marvin J Ashton. It is one of my very favorite quotes ever. So beautiful.

“Perhaps the greatest charity comes when we are kind to each other, when we don’t judge or categorize someone else, when we simply give each other the benefit of the doubt or remain quiet. Charity is accepting someone’s differences, weaknesses, and shortcomings; having patience with someone who has let us down; or resisting the impulse to become offended when someone doesn’t handle something the way we might have hoped. Charity is refusing to take advantage of another’s weakness and being willing to forgive someone who has hurt us. Charity is expecting the best of each other”
― Marvin J. Ashton

I love that.

Charity is expecting the best of each other.

Of course as I prepared the lesson I thought about a lot of different ways we can serve and love our "neighbors". But probably one of the most profound and kind things we can do for eachother is to love purely. To give one another the benefit of the doubt. To expect the best of each other. After all charity is the pure love of Christ and by loving, accepting, and forgiving in this way we can make a difference. For a lot of people.

Happy Sunday everyone.

Happy Birthday, Merry Christmas

2012-01-06T13:53:00.002-07:00

Do you like hearing what people got for Christmas? For some reason I do. If you don't, skip this post!

My birthday falls just before Christmas so I get doubly spoiled. My husband told my entire family to give me cash so I could splurge on a fancy camera bag for Christmas. Both last year and this year I've been singing "I wanna fancy camera bag for Christmas, only a fancy camera bag will do" to the tune of "I want a hippopotamus". Maybe Joe was tired of hearing it? Or maybe he just loves me. Either way I need to get my act together and order this bag:

It's totally a want and in no way a need. So I feel spoiled to be getting it.

My good friend Helena took me to lunch and gave me a microplane zester I'd been eyeing. It's time to make something that calls for fresh lemon zest!

And I didn't get anything for my birthday from Joe. And for Christmas he got me some small items from Bath and Body Works and a gift card to get some makeup at the mall. But nothing big. And there's a good reason for that. Every year Joe's work has a charity auction at the holidays and we always try to buy something from the donated items. This year there were several refurbished macbook laptops donated. My personal laptop will be 5 years old this summer and that's when I'll lose my work laptop (since I'm quitting). Heading back to school this fall I really wanted a new laptop. So we got this puppy for $340. Steal! And helped the food bank too. Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday to me. Thanks honey!

Image from here.

And just a few days later everyone spoiled us terribly.

My mom gave us a few more pieces for our nativity set. It's so nice to build that up, because really I'm not sure when I'd ever have the extra money to justify it.

My sister in law gave me some cake plates. I love cake plates!

Joe got a gift card to Best Buy, Phil knows how to make him happy.

Joe's parents gave us a requested gift card to Walmart so I could buy this dutch oven I've been eyeing. It's rated by America's Test Kitchen as a best buy at $45...much better than a $300 Le Creuset, well better for the budget conscious. But not as pretty. Still, it'll do!

Source: walmart.com via Anna on Pinterest

My grandparents gave us cash and we just used that to buy the bike seat I mentioned in this post. Found it for a steal on KSL thanks to a tip from my good friend Sarah (thanks!). We're excited to test it out soon (toddler helmet purchased!) and use it like crazy when it warms up a bit.

We were spoiled with new PJs, Evie's grandparents gave her clothes, a stuffed animal, a push toy with bubbles that pop, a chair that blows up for her to sit on, a book. I'm sure I'm forgetting things, it was craziness!

My dad gave Joe and I a Kindle Fire. We use it to show Evie her Elmo videos each day. It also rocks for browsing the web, using apps, and reading too (though I'll say that my mom's original kindle is better for reading since it's not backlit and the e-ink display is easier on the eyes). It's a total luxury item. We'd never buy it ourselves. Thanks Dad & Peggy!

Actually that seems to be the theme of Christmas, lots of people buying us things we'd feel guilty splurging on ourselves. We are so blessed by great gift givers! I'm pretty sure I can't accept any other gifts for a full year I feel so spoiled.

Did you get what you wanted this year? Anything that was a total surprise? My husband was completely surprised by his book of "year of dates" and said it was the most thoughtful gift he's ever been given. I'm calling that a victory and we're both looking forward to some very fun dates this year.

Bless You Elmo

2012-01-04T15:45:00.000-07:00

It's no secret our little lady has a hard time sleeping. Crying it out most nights no matter how good the routine is. If anything the routine clues her in that it's bedtime and the crying starts in earnest! Lavendar baby bath, songs, bottles, even doctor approved sleeping meds. Nothing helped. 18 months of crying and misery for us all.

Then we discovered that if we play this youtube video of Andrea Bocelli singing to Elmo she goes down with little or no crying. It's as if she's thinking "well if Elmo's going to go to sleep I will too". Seriously, that's it!? After all this time?

Don't worry she still wakes up at 2am ish crying her brains out so we aren't home free on the sleep front. But we'll take incremental improvements.

And just for fun here are few other youtube favorites. Evie digs Feist:
We all enjoy a little Bruno Mars
And while I often find Adam Sandler a little annoying, Elmos dancing in this video makes me laugh
This Glee Parody is hilarious
Norah Jones loves the letter Y
And Jason Mraz just wants to go Outdoors
There you go, a little Sesame Street love for you all. I think you can understand why we'll be having Elmo cupcakes for someones birthday this year. Bless you Elmo (and Andrea Bocelli) for helping Evs sleep!

One Goal for 2012

2012-01-03T13:08:00.001-07:00

I love lists and goal making. And of course there are many many goals/lists that I have running at any given time (project get out of debt, for example, is going REALLY well. hooray!). But with the rise of the new year there is one overwhelming goal for our little family:

Be healthier.

As in a physically stronger, thinner, crazy vegetable consuming, only occasional sweet indulging, active family. (Oh and for Evie switch that thinner to packing on the pounds).

I've been really inspired to change by this blog and this book. We do okay right now. Not great. And there are some specific target areas we're taking on:

Go to the gym 3-5 days per week. I've already become a bit of a gym addict, but a work trip out of town and a stomach bug over the holidays has thrown off my groove. I'm ready to get back.
Eat vegetables. Every day. Vegetables should cover half your plate at any given meal...still figuring out how to do that at breakfast. Maybe we'll just do more at lunch and dinner to make it up.
Eat less sweets. We have a real sweet tooth at this house. I don't think it's practical for us to say we'll only have dessert once per week. But we could do some serious portion control -- like when the oreos say a serving size is 3 cookies we should just eat 3 cookies and not laugh at the serving suggestion. I'd also like to see our sweets incorporate fruit more as the main portion (hello apple crisp with extra apples!).
Active family outings: I really miss the warm weather. As spring comes on I want to do more bike riding, swimming, and park romping. And this year I think we'll also attempt hiking with a 2 year old. Instead of a bike trailer I want to get one of these to put Evie Lou in. I think she will LOVE riding up front with mommy (though she will not sleep like this child pictured, I guarantee it):

I'm so excited for these improvements in our life. I think that's the key to making big changes, mentally being ready. And this year I really really am.

To help me be successful I'm joining Weight Watchers. I know a lot of people who've used that plan and I love that it really is a common sense way to change your life -- no crazy pills, no extreme food combinations, no quick cures, just an emphasis on portion control and eating lots of fruits and veggies. Average loss on Weight Watchers is about 1-1.5lbs per week. I'm looking forward to being 50 lb thinner a year from now -- which, in case you were wondering - is right in range with what my doctor recommended this year at my checkup. It's a big mountain to climb, but I can do it.

Other big changes in store for our family this year:

Quitting my job -- this has been on the docket for a long time, but I couldn't be public about it on the interwebs until I'd discussed it with my boss. I'm looking forward to a new phase in my life this spring/summer.
Back to school -- I'm applying to graduate school, hooray! Staying here in Utah, but a Masters of Public Policy which means plenty of the statistics and analysis classes I love. And a few scary econ classes too. Most courses are at night which allows me to still be home with the munchkin.
Becoming debt free -- in one year the only debt we might still be working on is an unplanned ER bill and my very small student loan (which will be in deferment anyway due to change 2) and maybe a small amount left on our one car. But no big car loans, no other debt, nothing. And we plan on never going into debt again except for buying our home. After five years of marriage (and an initial debt payoff plan derailed by having our moving van stolen in the first 3 weeks of our marriage) this is a VERY big deal to our family. I might cry tears of joy for weeks, just sayin.
Moving -- we had thought that it would be buying a home this year but my decision to return to school means that its much more practical to move up to campus family housing for two years than add in a long commute from home to campus. So project buy-a-house is being deferred and we're embracing the cinder-block walls and cheap rent of campus housing.

So that's it, 2012 is looking like a very happy new year indeed. How bout you? Big changes, big plans for 2012 or just looking forward to a calm continuation of the awesome life you already lead?

Salt Lake Park Tour: Water Conservation Park

2011-12-12T22:50:00.001-07:00

I've been busy. Remember back when I said I'd be posting a series about parks in Salt Lake. Well I started taking pictures, then the weather got cold, then we moved, then my life stayed crazy, my daughter kept not sleeping at night...excuses excuses.

Well this weekend I finally got around to backing up my SD cards to the hard drive. And here they are. Lovely pictures of a lovely park. You could go visit now, but you definitely want to visit next spring. I am so excited for spring...you know...in like 5 months. :)

There's no playground at this park. This park is intended to teach the residents of the Salt Lake Valley how to user water wisely while still having an attractive landscape. It's educational and beautiful. I really loved it.

Name: Water Conservation Park at Jordan Valley
Located: 8215 South 1300 West, West Jordan, UT 84088-9422

Beautiful right? Those little blue squares have facts about water conservation on them.

This little lady was right on the verge of walking when we visited. She was still in that hold on with one hand and toddle mode.

A lot of the plants have signs near them with their name. It's a treasure trove for garden planning dummies like me. No researching what will do well in our desert climate here in Utah, just go visit the park and find things you like. Like this arbor. I want to marry it.

That bench is a good place to rest...and nibble baby ribs until they giggle. Good clean park fun.

There's lots of beautiful landscape like this:

Turns out this is a great place to take family photos...which is what brought us there one evening. I took photos for a friend. And a lot of the pictures of the landscape I have are of this adorable family.

Thanks for being my guinea pigs, friends, it was fun to take them and to be introduced to this awesome park.

So, readers, have you been here? If not, go as soon as the weather improves. It's beautiful and quiet, perfect for a Sunday stroll.

Things I Love: The Gyro Bowl

2011-12-09T11:56:00.001-07:00

Thins I love this time around might as well be called "Things Evie Loves" because she is crazy about this one.

Well and it may as well also be called "Things Joey Loves" because he thinks this is awesome.

Have I mentioned before that Joe loves all things "As Seen on TV"

Before I'd met him he'd bought "The Miracle Blade" knife set. And loved it.

While we were engaged my roommate owned "The Magic Bullet" and Joe was jealous.

We own the "Shamwow"

We registered for the "Ronco Electric Food Dehydrator" for our wedding.

Joe laughs hysterically at the "Shake Weight" commercial. (Um, who doesn't?!)

So it comes as no surprise that since we have a child the "gyro bowl" appealed to us.

Wait, do you not know what the gyro bowl is? Here behold the amazing infomercial:

We resisted for awhile, but at a recent trip to Target we caved and paid about $12 for a bowl that is virtually unspillable. It really only fails if Evie chucks it or falls on top of it or if food gets stuck under the bowl and keeps the inner bowl from spinning.

But for the most part it prevents spills from normal baby toddlage.

And Evie loves eating whatever is in it because she feel so independent carrying her food around and deciding when and where to eat.

You know how babies are. They want to "do it themselves". All. The. Time.

Evie prefers to carry it like a purse and, amazingly, it doesn't spill.

Anyway, if you have a toddler I cannot recommend it enough.

Yay for the gyro bowl!

Merry Christmas - this will make you smile

2011-12-07T22:02:00.001-07:00

We are having fun this year with a little one who is understanding more of the Christmas magic than she did last year (at 6 months). She still doesn't "get it' really but she's in a big light bulb fascination phase which, you can imagine, dovetails perfectly with Christmas!

Anyway, Joe sent me this video today saying it reminded him of me. And it's true, I am like this at Christmas. I hope it's something we can teach our kids. I won't say anything more than that because I don't want to ruin the video.

I'll just end by saying that I want to raise kids like this:

The Rory Gilmore Reading List

2011-12-06T23:22:00.001-07:00

I adore the Gilmore Girls.

Sure the acting isn't always stellar all around. But it's decent. And the writing -- particularly in the middle seasons -- makes me laugh, so much.

And that Rory Gilmore reminds me so much of myself in my teen years.

I introduced Evie to the Gilmore Girls early on. She was a SLOOOOOOW nurser (like 45 minutes at least) and so I'd watch a lot of TV on the couch while feeding that baby. I looked forward to my daily Gilmore Girls reruns showing up on the DVR.

And as Evie got older she grew to recognize the theme song and always turned to watch the TV. Funny baby.

So as a Gilmore Girls fan and a book fan I was very amused to see the "Rory Gilmore Reading List" on pinterest (source). Bless you list assemblers.

So here's the list, for those who wonder. The ones I've read (some fully some mostly read) are in bold, I avoided bolding ones I started and quickly abandoned (Fountainhead by Ayn Rand, you know who you are...). Some I will never read (sorry Stephen King). Still, I'll be adding at least a few of these to my GoodReads account (Feel free to warn me away from ones you hated or urge me on towards favorites I haven't read so far).

Overall this exercise is making me feel like I'm not "well-read", ouch. Guess I'm not as much like Rory Gilmore as I thought. Sigh. Well maybe I'd have more time for reading if I did that instead of watching the Gilmore Girls...

1984 by George Orwell
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
Archidamian War by Donald Kagan
The Art of Fiction by Henry James
The Art of War by Sun Tzu
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
Atonement by Ian McEwan
Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
Babe by Dick King-Smith
Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women by Susan Faludi
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Beowulf: A New Verse Translation by Seamus Heaney
The Bhagava Gita
The Bielski Brothers: The True Story of Three Men Who Defied the Nazis, Built a Village in the Forest, and Saved 1,200 Jews by Peter Duffy
Bitch in Praise of Difficult Women by Elizabeth Wurtzel
A Bolt from the Blue and Other Essays by Mary McCarthy
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Brick Lane by Monica Ali
Bridgadoon by Alan Jay Lerner
Candide by Voltaire
The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer
Carrie by Stephen King
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White
The Children’s Hour by Lillian Hellman
Christine by Stephen King
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
The Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse
The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty by Eudora Welty
A Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare
Complete Novels by Dawn Powell
The Complete Poems by Anne Sexton
Complete Stories by Dorothy Parker
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas père
Cousin Bette by Honor’e de Balzac
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber – started and not finished
The Crucible by Arthur Miller
Cujo by Stephen King
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende
David and Lisa by Dr Theodore Issac Rubin M.D
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
The Da Vinci -Code by Dan Brown
Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol
Demons by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
Deenie by Judy Blume
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson
The Dirt: Confessions of the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band by Tommy Lee, Vince Neil, Mick Mars and Nikki Sixx
The Divine Comedy by Dante
The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells
Don Quijote by Cervantes
Driving Miss Daisy by Alfred Uhrv
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
Edgar Allan Poe: Complete Tales & Poems by Edgar Allan Poe
Eleanor Roosevelt by Blanche Wiesen Cook
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe
Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters by Mark Dunn
Eloise by Kay Thompson
Emily the Strange by Roger Reger
Emma by Jane Austen
Empire Falls by Richard Russo
Encyclopedia Brown: Boy Detective by Donald J. Sobol
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
Ethics by Spinoza
Europe through the Back Door, 2003 by Rick Steves
Eva Luna by Isabel Allende
Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
Extravagance by Gary Krist
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Fahrenheit 9/11 by Michael Moore
The Fall of the Athenian Empire by Donald Kagan
Fat Land: How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World by Greg Critser
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson
The Fellowship of the Ring: Book 1 of The Lord of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien (TBR)
Fiddler on the Roof by Joseph Stein
The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
Finnegan’s Wake by James Joyce
Fletch by Gregory McDonald
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Franny and Zooey by J. D. Salinger
Freaky Friday by Mary Rodgers
Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut
Gender Trouble by Judith Butler
George W. Bushism: The Slate Book of the Accidental Wit and Wisdom of our 43rd President by Jacob Weisberg
Gidget by Fredrick Kohner
Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen
The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels
The Godfather: Book 1 by Mario Puzo
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
Goldilocks and the Three Bears by Alvin Granowsky
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
The Good Soldier by Ford Maddox Ford
The Gospel According to Judy Bloom
The Graduate by Charles Webb
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
The Group by Mary McCarthy
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. RowlingA Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (definitely only partially read)
Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry
Henry IV, part I by William Shakespeare
Henry IV, part II by William Shakespeare
Henry V by William Shakespeare
High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
Holidays on Ice: Stories by David Sedaris
The Holy Barbarians by Lawrence Lipton
House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III (Lpr)
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
How to Breathe Underwater by Julie Orringer
How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
How the Light Gets in by M. J. Hyland
Howl by Allen Gingsburg
The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo
The Iliad by Homer
I’m with the Band by Pamela des Barres
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Inferno by Dante
Inherit the Wind by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee
Iron Weed by William J. Kennedy
It Takes a Village by Hillary Clinton
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
The Jumping Frog by Mark Twain
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
Just a Couple of Days by Tony Vigorito
The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar by Robert Alexander
Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Lady Chatterleys’ Lover by D. H. Lawrence
The Last Empire: Essays 1992-2000 by Gore Vidal
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
The Legend of Bagger Vance by Steven Pressfield
Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis
Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke
Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them by Al Franken
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
The Little Locksmith by Katharine Butler Hathaway
The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Living History by Hillary Rodham Clinton
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
The Lottery: And Other Stories by Shirley Jackson
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
The Love Story by Erich Segal
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
The Manticore by Robertson Davies
Marathon Man by William Goldman
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter by Simone de Beauvoir
Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman by William Tecumseh Sherman
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
The Meaning of Consuelo by Judith Ortiz Cofer
Mencken’s Chrestomathy by H. R. Mencken
The Merry Wives of Windsro by William Shakespeare
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
The Miracle Worker by William Gibson
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
The Mojo Collection: The Ultimate Music Companion by Jim Irvin
Moliere: A Biography by Hobart Chatfield Taylor
A Monetary History of the United States by Milton Friedman
Monsieur Proust by Celeste Albaret
A Month Of Sundays: Searching For The Spirit And My Sister by Julie Mars
A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Mutiny on the Bounty by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall
My Lai 4: A Report on the Massacre and It’s Aftermath by Seymour M. Hersh
My Life as Author and Editor by H. R. Mencken
My Life in Orange: Growing Up with the Guru by Tim Guest
Myra Waldo’s Travel and Motoring Guide to Europe, 1978 by Myra Waldo
My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult
The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin
Nervous System: Or, Losing My Mind in Literature by Jan Lars Jensen
New Poems of Emily Dickinson by Emily Dickinson
The New Way Things Work by David Macaulay
Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich
Night by Elie Wiesel
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism by William E. Cain, Laurie A. Finke, Barbara E. Johnson, John P. McGowan
Novels 1930-1942: Dance Night/Come Back to Sorrento, Turn, Magic Wheel/Angels on Toast/A Time to be Born by Dawn Powell
Notes of a Dirty Old Man by Charles Bukowski
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Old School by Tobias Wolff
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Opposite of Fate: Memories of a Writing Life by Amy Tan
Oracle Night by Paul Auster
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
Othello by Shakespeare
Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War by Donald Kagan
Out of Africa by Isac Dineson
The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton
A Passage to India by E.M. Forster
The Peace of Nicias and the Sicilian Expedition by Donald Kagan
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Peyton Place by Grace Metalious
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Pigs at the Trough by Arianna Huffington
Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain
The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby – read
The Portable Dorothy Parker by Dorothy Parker
The Portable Nietzche by Fredrich Nietzche
The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House, and the Education of Paul O’Neill by Ron Suskind
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Property by Valerie Martin
Pushkin: A Biography by T. J. Binyon
Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw
Quattrocento by James Mckean
A Quiet Storm by Rachel Howzell Hall
Rapunzel by Grimm Brothers – read
The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe
The Razor’s Edge by W. Somerset Maugham
Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier – read
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
Rescuing Patty Hearst: Memories From a Decade Gone Mad by Virginia Holman
The Return of the King: The Lord of the Rings Book 3 by J. R. R. Tolkien (TBR) – read
R Is for Ricochet by Sue Grafton
Rita Hayworth by Stephen King
Robert’s Rules of Order by Henry Robert
Roman Holiday by Edith Wharton
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
A Room with a View by E. M. Forster
Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin
The Rough Guide to Europe, 2003 Edition
Sacred Time by Ursula Hegi
Sanctuary by William Faulkner
Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay by Nancy Milford
Daisy Miller by Henry James
The Scarecrow of Oz by Frank L. Baum
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand
The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
Secrets of the Flesh: A Life of Colette by Judith Thurman
Selected Hotels of Europe
Selected Letters of Dawn Powell: 1913-1965 by Dawn Powell
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen – read
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
Several Biographies of Winston Churchill
Sexus by Henry Miller
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Shane by Jack Shaefer
The Shining by Stephen King
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
S Is for Silence by Sue Grafton
Slaughter-house Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Small Island by Andrea Levy – on my book pile
Snows of Kilimanjaro by Ernest Hemingway
Snow White and Rose Red by Grimm Brothers – read
Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy: Lord and Peasant in the Making of the Modern World by Barrington Moore
The Song of Names by Norman Lebrecht
Song of the Simple Truth: The Complete Poems of Julia de Burgos by Julia de Burgos
The Song Reader by Lisa Tucker
Songbook by Nick Hornby
The Sonnets by William Shakespeare
Sonnets from the Portuegese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Sophie’s Choice by William Styron
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach
The Story of My Life by Helen Keller
A Streetcar Named Desiree by Tennessee Williams
Stuart Little by E. B. White
Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
Swann’s Way by Marcel Proust
Swimming with Giants: My Encounters with Whales, Dolphins and Seals by Anne Collett
Sybil by Flora Rheta Schreiber
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Tender Is The Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Term of Endearment by Larry McMurtry
Time and Again by Jack Finney
The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
To Have and Have Not by Ernest Hemingway
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Tragedy of Richard III by William Shakespeare
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
The Trial by Franz Kafka
The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters by Elisabeth Robinson
Truth & Beauty: A Friendship by Ann Patchett
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
Ulysses by James Joyce
The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath 1950-1962 by Sylvia Plath
Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe – started and not finished
Unless by Carol Shields
Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann
The Vanishing Newspaper by Philip Meyers
Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
Velvet Underground’s The Velvet Underground and Nico (Thirty Three and a Third series) by Joe Harvard
The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
Walden by Henry David Thoreau
Walt Disney’s Bambi by Felix Salten
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
We Owe You Nothing – Punk Planet: The Collected Interviews edited by Daniel Sinker
What Colour is Your Parachute? 2005 by Richard Nelson Bolles
What Happened to Baby Jane by Henry Farrell
When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka
Who Moved My Cheese? Spencer Johnson
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee – read
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire – started and not finished
The Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

Joe's Christmas Gift

2011-11-28T12:44:00.001-07:00

Alright Joe, stop reading right now.
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I'm actually successfully keeping this one a surprise so don't read this post

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I mean it, Joey.

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Okay, I think we're safe now. Husband should be gone.

I've got Joe's Christmas gift all plotted out and thought I'd share:

A Year of Date Nights:

Ever since Evie was born our date night has suffered. Her inability to go to sleep for anyone but Joe and me (and struggling even with us) makes it very difficult to leave her with a sitter, even grandparents. So this is what date night looks like for us:

Put Evie to bed at 7.
7-8:30: I work, Joe either works or watches TV, waiting, making sure the baby is really asleep.
8:30: leave for movie at the dollar theatre, my mom babysits.
11:30: return home, praying that little Evie is still asleep. Sometimes she is, sometimes she isn't. Sometimes she woke up and grandma successfully put her back down.

Bottom line, this is not a romantic carefree way to date.

Poor Joe.

Poor me.

It was time for a date-night-intervention.

On pinterest I'd been seeing this pin "A year of prepaid planned dates" and people saying it was a great wedding gift.

Source: shannonbrown.typepad.com via Helena on Pinterest

I"m thinking, seriously, that's quite the wedding gift?! I think we'll stick with a cake plate for wedding gifts.

But I could give my own husband (and therefore myself...) a year's worth of prepaid planned non-movie dates. It's money we've budgeted for dates anyway, why not preplan them and surprise them.

You see, Joe is up for anything but when I ask him to plan things it stresses him out.

I asked him to plan our first anniversary and a few days before he broke down and said "will you please help me, I don't know what to do!"

This man will LOVE, L-O-V-E, LOVE pre-planned dates.

So I started planning. And decided that manilla envelopes was a little boring. I much preferred something like this coupon book I saw on etsy. And I set off to designing something similar.

I use the term "design" loosely here. Mine was "designed" in MS Powerpoint and not InDesign or Photoshop.

I don't have mad design skills. But I did google how to install new fonts and used two, count them TWO non-standard fonts.

Oh and I planned one date per month.

I printed them off. Cut the cardstock for the book. Assembled, had it bound. And am now gathering the "inserts" for the pocked on each month.

Pictures? Okay. Let's call it a Tutorial since that is the buzzword in blogland:

1. First you'll want to modify & print out the ppt slides. You can use mine as a template (I also included instructions on exactly how to print and where to get the fonts I used). Download the file here:

file backup online

2. Cut out 2 rectangles of cardstock for each month in coordinating colors. I went with a 1/2" border all around and then and extra half inch on the lower piece so it stands out and creates that visible pocket.

3. Adhere the PPT slide to the smaller rectangle (I used double sided sticky tape on 2 sides).

4. Adhere the smaller rectangle to the larger rectangle (I used double sided sticky tape on 3 sides, not the 4th or you'll seal off the pocket!).

5. Take it to an office supply/copy shop and have it spiral bound (Mine cost just over $2)

6. Fill up each pocket with something small.

I also plan on adding a cover page, but haven't gotten to it yet and wanted to share early in the month for all you brainstorming your gift giving.

I feel good about this gift. It is handmade and it'll make Joe feel special. And it'll make our date nights more exotic for the next year.

You heard me, ice skating is exotic.

We are officially a pathetic suburban couple.

If you are wondering what we will be doing, here's Our Plan (within the brackets is what I plan on putting in each pocket):

January: Ice Skating at Murray Park [gift card for hot chocolate]
February: Go see the new Utah Museum of Natural History [pre-paid tickets]
March: Going to a Vocal Point concert [Tickets if they go on sale by Christmas]
April: Going geocaching [gift card for snacks/lunch]
May: Tandem bike ride to get J-Dawgs in Provo [cash for JDawgs, phone number for bike rental place]
June: Roast hot dogs in the canyon (which is what we did on our first date, June 2006) [A note that says "I'll bring the supplies if you stoke the fire" which is both literal and a reference to the text message exchange that brought us together...oh and the fact that Joe made me build the fire on our first date and I was a failure]
July: Dinner at Ruth's Diner [print off of the map to get there, it's up the canyon]
August: See "Sound of Music" at the Hale Center Theater [Tickets]
September: Go berry picking, with or without the baby in tow [Cash for the berry field]
October: Tram Ride at a ski-resort, moonlit or regular, his choice [Not sure, ideas?]
November: Date to Nicklecade [A couple of nickles]
December: Date to Color Me Mine [gift certificate for them]

There you go. My husband's Christmas gift. Which is really a gift to us both.

What would you do on your 12 dates? Are you going to make one for your significant other? I hope so.

Do it. They'll love it. I plan on making this an annual tradition.

Evie's Fashion Blog: Horizontal Stripes Add Weight

2011-11-17T10:40:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I think it'd be hilarious if Everly had a fashion blog. She's often looking more put together than I am (including the spilled chocolate milk on her outfit). So here goes: fashion blog post 1 (note the awesome posing and excellent background for this photo!)

Hey blog world, Evie here.

My fashion challenge is that I'm skinny and long. So horizontal stripes work to my advantage to make me look chubbier. I'm also working on eating my weight in ketchup, chocolate milk, and peanut butter so that horizontal stripes will not be required. Anyway, I know you're dying for the details so here goes:

Cardigan: Carters via TJMaxx
Shirt: It's a dress from Faded Glory Baby, refashioned as a shirt (the secret is to go 2-3 sizes smaller than you would in a dress...my mom is a genius), hand-me-down
Pants: Old Navy, hand-me-down
Tights: Yes I'm wearing red tights under this ensemble, not sure on the source, sorry!
Shoes: Baby Gap, hand-me down

Hair: Are you all wondering how you can recreate this awesome hairstyle? Just get out of the tub, don't touch your hair AT ALL, let it dry as a messy mop, brush out when dry, and refuse to let your mom doll up your natural do with bows, headbands, pig tails or clips. That's it!

If you like my fashion blog I'll be back someday with more! Maybe rocking my binkie next time.

Love!

Evie

10 Reasons I'm Grateful for Everly

2011-11-16T16:32:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I focus too much on how hard of a baby/toddler Evie is, but we love her very much and she has so many great qualities. And I'm a little late to the internet thankful party happening yesterday, but better late than never, right?

So here are 10 reasons I'm grateful for Everly
(phew, text heavy, beware! But I'll sprinkle in some cell phone pics.)

10. She takes me places. Or rather I take her places. I'm experiencing a whole new world of story times, aquarium visits, park exploration, and trips down the toy aisle at Target. Places I might not frequent otherwise. Good times Evie, good times.

9. She's my little buddy. I'm never alone. While this is one of the hard parts about motherhood --- the loss of independence, it's also fun to have a little buddy everywhere you go. A little friend to share secrets with, talk to, hang with. I look forward to the day when she's bigger and these conversations can go both ways, instead of me looking like a crazy person talking to myself as we stroll through the grocery store together.

8. Dressing a baby girl is fun. I wanted a girl, I got one. And while she won't really stand for any styling of the hair she does let me dress her in almost anything I want (no hats!). I have a lot of fun with it.

7. She reminds me of me. Though everyone (and I do mean almost everyone) thinks Evie is a little Joey in appearances (and they are right) she is much more like me in demeanor. And seeing those traits in Evie makes me see both sides of the coin -- the ways those qualities could be seen as both good and bad. And I'm glad she's mine so I can help her focus her energy on the positive sides of those qualities (persistence, determination, strong sense of taste (she knows what she likes), broad range of interests, social). It also reminds me of the negative side of some of these same traits I personally want to avoid....enough said. Thanks Evie!

6. She is funny. Okay sometimes unintentionally so but she really does make me laugh. This week it was when she was stuffing her cousin's face with cheerios. He's 15 months, she's 17 months and whether he wanted those cheerios or not she was determined to "share" with him. So funny.

5. She lets me tickle her
Joe won't let me tickle him. Most of the time when I try to tickle Joe he gets bugged. Sad.
Everly not only lets me tickle her but she has an awesome giggle when I do. Giggle giggle giggle. It's a source of great joy, tickling a baby. Thanks for that Evs.

4. Everything is magical to Evie
Lately, every single time I put Evie in her carseat she points at the light by the door. She thinks its the greatest thing ever. Then she looks over to the other unopened door (where the light is off) and looks back and forth. I say to her "on...off...on...off" and she thinks this is awesome. It's so fun to have a little person to get excited over the "magic" of everyday things.

3. Raising her is intellectually challenging. I'm a bookish, learning, school addicted person. I've always loved fall for the back to school time that it was. New pencils, backpack, calculator, protractor -- and then in college, very expensive textbooks too. I loved it. All of it. And I loved it because I loved learning. I miss that structured school type learning, but being a parent is intellectually challenging too, just in a new way. Being a parent requires more research, innovation, and experimentation than any non-parent can possibly imagine. I'm amazed by all I have learned and continue to learn.

2. She's made me more grateful for Joe. Watching her with Joe has been amazing. He wrestles with her. She smiles in excitement when he comes home. And only dad would help her dance/punch to "Eye of the Tiger" on the radio. Hilarious. I'm grateful that the arrival of Evie has helped me appreciate Joe in new ways and especially appreciate ate quiet alone time together, which is far far to rare these days. You wanna know where I'd like to go on vacation? Back in time for a week to our pre-kid life so we could bask in our life before kid worries and naptimes and babysitter coordination and just be together. Sigh. For now I'll settle for a date to the Muppet movie with my man, and I cherish those 2.5 hours all the more since Evie's arrival.

1. She makes me a more selfless person.
Evie has been a hard baby from day one. She has a really charming personality but a tough temperament. And the nights of good rest have been few and far between. And more tears have been shed since her birth (hers and mine) than I expected. But while all this difficulty makes my life--well--difficult, at times. It also makes me a better person. It's made me more grateful and productive and overall selfless -- particularly, with my time & independence. And those are lessons in life I really needed to learn, painful though they may be.

So I'm grateful to Evie for that -- and grateful for all she's brought to our life: laughter, happiness, giggling, silliness, and a deep and resounding appreciation for things like chocolate milk. You're right Evs, chocolate milk IS amazing. Thanks for the reminder.

This mommy was going crazy (again...)

2011-11-07T13:06:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I was going crazy.

I was spent. Too much work not enough breaks. I had had it. I had no patience left for my picky-eating, not-good-sleeping, takes-weeks-and-weeks-teething, newly-screeching, mess-creating toddler.

I was beginning to feel like my only options were to put her in day care and go back to work full time in the office or continue on in the miserable state we were in. Neither option was appealing to me. I was not being a good mommy and we were all unhappy.

Then Joe came up with a brilliant solution - I should join the gym. With built in day care while I exercised it was a win win -- break from the baby & exercise too. I was hesitant at first; I'd never left Evie in day care with a stranger before. She's so fussy and particular I felt sure that 5 minutes into my workout I'd be getting paged to the day care to take my crying toddler home.

But I was wrong. I mean, sure, there've been a few tears (but that happens even when I'm present -- being in the 10th percentile and a late walker means that playing with other kids leads to lots of being toppled over and trampled upon).

But overall she's done so well. Such a champ! I haven't been paged once. And at the gym they have a videocam of the day care so I can check in on her anytime and it puts my heart at ease. I think it's good socialization for her too.

And I have newfound sympathy for my friends who work full time and leave there kids in day care all day. That must be really rough, dropping your child off all day and trusting someone else to kiss their bumps and bruises, worrying about other sick little kiddos, and all the other worries that come into play with day care. Luckily there are some really great child care options out there for full time working parents, but I still think it's hard.

Oh man lets just be honest, parenting is hard no matter the configuration of life circumstances.

The good news is this new configuration has made our circumstances so much happier. I come home happy from the gym. Evs is a little clingy after (which is nice since she's not normally cuddly or clingy at all). I find myself more energized, productive, and patient. The whole day goes better.

Huge sigh of relief.

Last week it felt like I had no good options. Bless Joe for finding the perfect solution.

And to wrap up, how cute is this little lady with her pigtails? She may be high maintenance but she's a totally charming little person. I'm glad she's mine.

Flower Power (aka Halloween 2011)

2011-10-30T01:15:00.000-06:00

Confession: I stole my first piece of Halloween candy from my child.

It was a tootsie roll she got in her goody bag from play group on Friday. I plan on stealing some high value candy in her future -- twix & snickers, yum yum yum.

And I'm glad we have a couple more years before I have to figure out how to handle candy overload (for now it's just small bits here and there, no big trick or treating marathons for a 17 month old).

Everly is a flower this year, in case you were wondering.

Did I oo and ah over costumes? Debate for hours, days, weeks? Try to figure out a complex theme for the whole family? Why no, no I didn't. My friend Holly told me I could borrow this cute costume and that was that.

Maybe I should put more thought into Halloween...and Joe and I should dress up too...I envy all those cute families and their coordinating costumes, but I am lazy/busy/not-motivated/not-that-cute.

Anyway, I'm guessing by now you just want to see pictures of the baby right?

Here she is in all her glory:

There were booties and white tights:

And a puffy green bodysuit worn over a white onesie (a Christmas onesie actually, but don't tell):

And a flowery top to emphasize chubby cheeks:

I'd say Evie wasn't certain about the hat...but she was certain---certain that she hated it. Just like headbands, flower clips, and getting pigtails put in her hair. The crying and tugging began:

"Mommy, am I not making myself clear?!! What the heck is going on!?"

"Seriously mommy, this costume makes me sad!!"

So mommy assisted with the yellow flower headpiece removal. And she still looked darling at playgroup.

By the time Saturday night's party rolled around she surprised us by wearing her headpiece. Maybe she was encouraged by the costumes of others. Or maybe she was just distracted by the excitement.

Regardless she found a toy and momentarily forgot she was wearing the headpiece.

Momentarily...eventually it had to come off. I saw the tugging begin and pre-emptively removed the head-piece before crying could ensue.

The point is she wore it for a while.

Which gives me hope that someday this little lady will wear a headband. Maybe. If I'm lucky.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN everyone! Our plans for Halloween itself involve story time at the library (in costume), visiting daddy's work (in costume, donuts will be served!), and a quick evening party with friends (where we will leave earlier than I'd like due to bedtime).

Happy Weekend

2011-10-21T14:20:00.001-06:00

Hey everyone -- just wanted to say happy weekend and share this photo of a happy Evie. She LOVES her some pickles. Look at that grin (and the seeds smothering her chest from the gnawing fest).

I have no pickle gnawing plans in my future this weekend. Just a little yard work, some work work, a thrift store run, and a few church meetings.

Should be pretty mellow.

This afternoon we're counting down the hours til daddy gets home from work. It's one of the most depressing aspects of my life that Joey has to work. I'm glad he HAS work, I just wish we were independently wealthy, you know, and could chill together all the time.

For now I'll just be grateful that Evie is so contented with pickles.

Happy weekend one and all!

Getting rid of one car

2011-10-19T09:13:00.001-06:00

We are a two car family.

When we got married Joe had a car and I had a car. Both were fairly new. Since cars take their biggest dip in values in the first couple years it just made sense to keep them both -- they'd both taken the largest chunk of depreciation so we made it a goal to pay them off and drive them til they died. Or until the repairs started getting so extreme they weren't worth repairing, which I guess is death to a car.

And in fact we're looking to pay the cars off in the very near future -- hopefully within the next 12-18 months. Very exciting time in our lives -- no more car payments, rejoice!

I was feeling pretty good about this plan until I read this article last week. And the wheels started turning in my head wondering how we could get rid of one of our cars.

The article, you will note, recommends living within biking distance of work. Joe actually loves biking so that would be great except his office is within biking distance of the prison and, uh, no. Also they are a young growing company prone to relocating the office quite regularly as they outgrow it. So buying a house for biking proximity to work -- not going to happen.

But we can give Joe a reasonably short car commute.

And I, as a work-at-home mom can go without a car during the day.

Gasp. No car. Seriously?!

The no car thing seemed really extreme to be, before, I read that article.

Then I did the math -- the article suggests that even in a paid off low maintenance car you are spending roughly .17 per mile. Ouch.

Example: The trip from my house to the local Joann's fabric is 4.2 miles. So it's 8.4 miles round trip. So that means, in addition to my purchase at Joann's it costs me $1.50 to drive there. Take similar trips during the week and those add up. Fast. If I'm doing this in a car that's not paid off -- it's more like .34 per mile or $3 per trip. Double ouch.

It's not that its not affordable (we've been doing this a long time, we can afford it), it's just that it's not how I want to spend my money. If I'm going to clip coupons and price match to save 1.00 here and there on groceries it makes sense to me to make one larger change to save a lot of money.

Image from here.

For us, getting rid of the car will save a lot per month:
$60 insurance (ish. That's about 1/2 what we pay now)
$30 registration/taxes
$70 gas (2 fill-ups per month)
$20 maintenance (oil changes, wiper blades, car wash, etc..)
=
Total: $180

And that is on a paid-off, no major repairs car. Add in either a car payment (about $250/mo) or one major $600 repair per year on an aging vehicle ($50/mo) and it gets even more painful.

So I was sold. Totally sold on getting rid of the car.

The question became, where should we live that I would be within walking/biking/public transit of the places I'd like to go during the day. Trapped in the house is not for me. And that is why, next year a we house hunt we're only looking in one community in Salt Lake -- Daybreak on the west side of the valley. Also known as heaven.

Image from here.

They have a gym, lake, school, churches, an LDS temple, parks, playgrounds, shopping -- all within walking/biking distance. And there's a new Trax stop out there (SLC rail transit) so we can hop on and go to the library a couple of stops down. Or anywhere else trax will take us.

Will it be a hassle sometimes to not a have a car during the day? Yes. Is it a hassle I'm willing to take on to save $180-230 a month? Yes. Absolutely.

And hopefully I'll get some killer quad muscles from pulling Evie around in a bike trailer. And hopefully since Evie will grow up with parents who are naturally more active in their day to day life and that will make her more active in turn.

So what do you guys think? Would you consider dropping one of your cars? Making your home purchase decision based on that decision? Biking everywhere you went? We are so so excited about it.

Funny Story

2011-10-18T11:11:00.002-06:00

Friends, I like blogging. But I LOVE sleeping. And my baby is demanding. And my job requires working. Thus...blogging is always at the end of the priority list. It's like this "sleep or write a blog post...?" sleep wins every time.

So while there are lots of posts I'd love to write (and pictures I'd love to take) for now I thought I'd just share with you a rather humorous story that I hope to never forget.

When Joe and I were on our second date we went to feed the ducks at Sugarhouse Park -- just down the street from my apartment. We were walking around, holding hands, la la la. It was all mildly romantical.

But this story isn't about us, it's about Joe's sister Gretel. Gretel calls Joe and he answers to hear Gretel tell him "We're having a baby!"

Now think to yourself, after "congratulations" what's the typical response to this announcement?

Most of the time it's "Oh how wonderful, when's the baby due?"

But Joe, oh, Joe, he says "Oh that's great Gretel, when did you conceive?"

Gretel was a bit put off by this statement and as she paused to compose a response I elbowed Joe and said "You're supposed to ask, 'When is the baby due'?", which of course is what he meant.

So he corrected himself and she told him the due date.

And I have made fun of him about this ever since.

Ha ha "when did you conceive?"...what an awkward question. "Well it could have been that one night after the Olive Garden" or "maybe it was that Saturday after the movies"...seriously people, NEVER ask such a question. It is awkward and your significant other may mock you for the rest of your life.

And Joe will probably be mortified that I'm sharing this in a public sphere, but I think this story is hilarious.

The end.

Cook Book Review

2011-10-04T15:07:00.000-06:00

I don't buy a lot of cookbooks. Between the small handful I own and the recipes I get from friends or the internet I'm pretty much set (case in point...my Pinterest "recipes to try" board is a thing of beauty)

But the truth is that sometimes the internet/food blogs/your friends/random searches on allrecipes.com can lead you astray. The recipes might not be written clearly or people just have different tastes (holy moses parsley). Sometimes I try one of these found recipes and have great success and sometimes a total flop (blasted grainy no bake cookies).

But my recent cookbook purchase, it's a gold mine. Everything I've cooked from it turns out great. And there's a reason for that -- America's Test Kitchen/Cook's Illustrated test out recipes over and over to find what works best. Those recipes are fine tuned, even for us amateurs.

It makes sense that their recipe for apple crisp was so amazing because they tried several variations and found that it was best without oats -- WITHOUT? This sounds like crazy talk. It's not. I'm a believer. My apple crisp will only ever have a flour butter crumble paste with pecans in it. It's the right thing to do. I'll save my oats for something else...

Anyway so far I've made these three recipes and each one went on my "remake" list.

Pan Seared Chicken with Apricot Orange Pan Sauce (amazing and easy)
Apple Crisp (easily the best I've ever had)
Mushroom Barley Soup (meatless and Joe still found it satisfying, win!)

You should buy this cookbook. Buy it and love it. Or buy the "healthy" version (if I'd know this existed I would have bought it instead in the first place). I got mine at Costco, but the price is basically the same on Amazon.

Sigh. Between this and now living with my mother who watches Evs while I cook I'm in dinner making heaven these days. It is lovely. So so lovely.

50 in 500: Have Family Photos Taken

2011-09-29T13:56:00.003-06:00

Family photos are such a dilemma.

My tastes in photography exceed my budget and I'm not very satisfied with my body right now so I don't really want to get them taken. But I feel like Everly deserves family photos so we made it a priority.

Thanks to a Groupon we were able to have family photos taken with a local photographer I like for $50 instead of several hundred. We had them taken this week and I'm so relieved to have it off my to do list. (And so relieved Evie let me put a little bow in her hair! Lets all rejoice even though I wish she's go for headbands.)

We have so few images of the three of us that it's really fun to have these. And while Everly got a gooseegg the night before, after falling in the tub, it miraculously was not purple the next day so she still looks adorable.

I'm also counting these as Evie's 12 month pictures just a few months late. Several months ago I had a professional photographer take Everly's pictures (once she was a good solo sitter) so this means we've completed 2 items on our "50 in 500 days" list:

Have family photos taken
Have Evs' 6 month/12 month portraits professionally done

Now I just have to design our Christmas card and get it ordered before my Groupon for that expires. I'm excited to send those out this holiday season.

(And as a sidenote, how cute is this baby? And just a bit wobbly standing on her own still)

Salt Lake Park Tour: Copperton Park

2011-09-20T14:08:00.000-06:00

Enough of you seemed interested in seeing my pics of each park we visit. So here's the first.

Name: Copperton Park
Where: Copperton Township....out west west west along the Oquirrh Mountains (see embedded map below)

I have a lot of fond memories playing on the playground at this park as a child. It's quite far west so I'm not sure what possessed my parents to take us there, but it really is something special. Many hours of happy imaginative play were spent there.

And Copperton Township itself is so cute that when you visit you'll risk wanting to buy a house and stay forever.

But it's a tad too quiet. No gas station or supermarket to speak of. But there is a credit union that's open from 11am to 3:30 (lol). And this tiny post office:

Copperton was settled as a town for miners working at the Bingham Canyon mine (Kennecott Copper). Now that the mine is less active it makes sense that the town is so quiet, but I imagine one day it was filled with families raising young children. I wish I could have seen it in it's hey day.

If you really want to make a day trip out of it you can schedule a trip to tour the Copper Mine at the same time, pack a lunch, and play at the park after. Info on copper mine tours can be found here ($5 per car...little boy heaven with those giant dump trucks. Totally worth it).

You can see the mine as you drive out (on the left in this pic):

Anyway on the park itself.

It's got giant trees. Lots of em. Thanks Copperton settlers for planting those long ago. (It's worth noting that there aren't any really large grassy areas for playing things like soccer or ultimate frisbee).

There's a basketball court,

tennis courts,

a roller hockey court,

a large pavilion, several small picnic tables, and even horseshoes (which Joe loves, oddly enough).

And of course a giant playground with big slides, tunnels to crawl through, walls to hike up like a monkey,

and giant tires to climb all over (I loved those tires as a kid).

And some regular old playground equipment as well. Including swings which are Evie's playground equipment of choice.

Overall the point is this: Copperton Park is a nice quiet little park off the beaten path. It has fun activities for all ages and I can tell you for sure that we'll head back there regularly and Evie will have many happy memories there, just like me.

If you want to head out you can use this map to find your way, just click directions and pack the diaper bag:
View Larger Map

So how bout you locals -- have you been here before? Did you love it as a child? Has it been too long since you've been back?

Baby Leg Warmers

2011-09-20T13:43:00.003-06:00

First off this picture makes me laugh. The end.

And yesterday I caved at Target and bought Evie some leg warmers. I'd seen these since before she was born but could never find the right pattern that seemed like it would go with lots of outfits. And buying plain white or grey just seemed boring. Then when I saw these rainbow ones at target I knew I had to get them.

They are cute all stretched up to her thighs like this and they are even cute when they sag down and puddle at her ankles.

But I must admit that Evie seemed perplexed by them and tugged a bit at them at first. Ultimately she left them on. I wish the same could be said for headbands. Sigh.

Anyway I guess this isn't much of a post, just a "hey, aren't baby leg warmers cute!?", I'm sure you agree :)

Ha!

2011-09-18T01:17:00.000-06:00

This baby makes me laugh. And smile. Also cry. And get frustrated (particuarly with the non-sleeping/poor napping).

Taking photos of Everly is a good hobby because I look through them later and discover gems like this one. She just makes funny faces. And jabbers...talk talk talk...all day long. Wonder where she gets that one from...

50 in 500: Visit a farm and pick our own food

2011-09-18T01:05:00.000-06:00

I'll be honest, as it was mid-September I'd pretty much assumed I'd missed the boat on this one.

The my friend Holly invited me to go berry picking with her. It was such a fun outing and I'm so glad we went. And not just because I ended up with a giant bowl with 4.5lbs of raspberries for $11.

We chose this berry patch because Holly had been there before and it wasn't that far from our home. If you live in Utah you can visit there (up through the first frost -- generally in October) and meet the lovely proprietor -- nicest man ever.

I thought things would be pretty picked over but those bushes were loaded with raspberries. So I picked and picked and picked and Evie was fussy (teething baby and a momma who forgot pain reliever in the diaper back...uh it was a no good situation) and yet she was a total champ overall. I tried giving her raspberries to snack on but she doesn't like the texture and rejected that raspberry in no time flat.

So Holly suggested I try a blackberry. I was skeptical, but I think these images can show you that someone liked those blackberries, very much. :)

And I gained some picking time. Hooray. And isn't that berry face hilarious? These pictures still crack me up. Oh Evie.

At McBride's they have both raspberries and blackberries.

Here are the raspberries (with pokey thorns)

And the thornless blackberry bushes.

The berries are sold for $3 a pound if you pick (and it was either $5 or $6 a pound if they pick for you). I don't think the berries are certified organic, but Holly told me he only sprays at the end of the season to keep the weeds down. All I know is those berries were good. Yum. For real.

And did I mention the owner is nice as can be? He weighed our berries and then rounded down. Said "oh that's 13.60, lets just say $12" and then when we only had $11 cash or $100 bill he said "oh $11 is fine". Bless him! (and shame on me for not planning better and having better cash). Oh and he insisted several times that we pick some free flowers on our way out. They had scissors handy and everything. He was just really charming, you should go meet him.

We'll be back next year, with the husbands so we can pick more aggressively. Though Evie will still probably get just as messy chomping on those blackberries. And that's fine by me because I'm always up for a laugh and fresh fruit is a healthy snack.

Phew, one more item completed on the 50 in 500 list, I love how it helps me get to some of those "someday" items on my to do list.

If you live nearby and can find time in the next few weeks head over to McBride's Briar Patch, you'll be glad you did -- 1849 S 2100 W, Mapleton, UT (really it's almost in Spanish Fork)

Have you visited a farm lately? This fall weather has me itching to put on a sweater and go find an orchard somewhere to pick some apples for a pie. And drink some cider. I really love fall. And the fact that berries can be picked then was just a delightful surprise.

High / Low

2011-09-08T20:09:00.001-06:00

Have you heard of doing daily highs and lows at dinner time? Each family member tells about that day's high and that day's low. I like this practice. I remember going to my friend Brooke's house for dinner in high school and her family did it, but I think they may have called it something else.

Regardless I have plans of implementing this in my little family's life.

Do you want to hear about yesterday's high and low? You do, okay.

High: read an entire book on the kindle app on my phone.

Specifically this book, I give it 4/5 stars on goodreads. It was rather enjoyable to devour a good fiction book in one day.

"Wait" you say, "Don't you have a 15 month old high maintenance child, are still unpacking and getting settled, and you have a part time job -- how is it possible you read an entire book in one day?"

Well my friends that was brought to you by yesterday's low.

Low: Woke up in the morning to stabbing pains in my abdomen.

Not like cramps. Not like labor. Not like anything I'd had before. It was bad and getting worse. I yelled for Joe. I started crying and saying "something is wrong, I think we need to go to the emergency room". I'm cheap, I don't like to spend $$$$ on emergency room trips, in fact my last ER trip may have been when I was living at home as a child.

I'm the wait-it-out-and-go-to-the-regular-doctor type person. Or at the very least an instacare type person. But it was 7am and the pain was too horrific to wait for those places to open or to sit in a lobby waiting to get in.This was emergency pain.

So we jetted out the house and I whimpered when every bump Joe hit hurt. So bad. WHAT THE DEVIL IS WRONG WITH ME?!!!

We get to the ER and I'm still in a lot of pain. During the check in process and getting settled in a bed the pain is slowly subsiding. And I'm starting to feel like a moron for being there. But seriously that pain was nowhere in the realm of normal. And how was I to know it would subside. And even if it had subsided, what the heck had caused it? Something was WRONG.

The ER doc informs me that he thinks it might be appendicitis and that the pain can come and go (GREAT!) He orders some tests. Those tests take F-O-R-E-V-E-R. And in the meantime Joe takes Evie to a friend's house since the doc says we will be there a while (umm when I was mentally wishing for an Evie free day I was hoping it'd be at a spa not at the ER...apparently I should be clearer sending out these mental wishes to the universe).

The tests come back and the doctor says "good news -- your appendix looks fine. bad news -- your ovary looks twisted"...ummm...okay...uh, wait, what?! How does such a thing happen?

So he orders an ultrasound. Let me tell you that ultrasounds are much more fun when you have a little baby on the screen. The tech was really kind and apologized when he had to put pressure on my sore stomach. Then he found the culprit, it was not a twisted ovary but rather a giant burst ovarian cyst.

Yikes. And ow. And hey there giant cysts -- go away and never come again.

It then takes several hours for a radiologist to confirm what the radiology tech had already told us. Then the ER doc proclaims that if he "had to have lower right quadrant pain" that this is the diagnosis he would choose. It doesn't require surgery or antibiotics or anything really. Just pain meds if I want them.

So about 4.5 hours after arriving at the ER we left the ER. I had finished the majority of my book and I was just cursing the heavens that our "get out of debt quick" plans would now be foiled by an ER bill that will likely reach several thousand dollars (we have insurance but it's a high deductible plan because WE ARE NORMALLY CRAZY HEALTHY, ugh.). I'm still irritated.

Joe stayed home the rest of the day and helped with Evs. I took a long afternoon nap, worked in the evening, and polished off my book.

And today we're right back to normal like we barely skipped a beat.

It was quite the day.

Now in a few weeks I can guarantee you the "low" for the day will be receiving that ER bill. I better have a really good "high" stashed ready to go when that puppy arrives in the mail. Any ideas?

(As a side note -- to all my women friends who have ever told me they have had similar ovarian cyst type issues -- my apologies for having no comprehension of the pain involved. I mean, ow, seriously, ow.).

Salt Lake Park Tour?

2011-09-02T12:03:00.000-06:00

This is my new screensaver on my work computer. It leaves plenty of room for icons in the dead areas and has a bright smiling picture of Evie on the swings. I know I'm her mom, but seriously that is one cute baby.

It makes me feel like a good mommy when I take her on little outings like this. And I LOVE the parks because they are so fun and free.

I plan on taking pictures every time we go to new parks. It's helping me get more confident shooting in manual in bright sun. I have a lot to learn.

So anyway, if I go to new parks and take all these photos I thought maybe I'd do a post on each park. Maybe introduce people to some new playgrounds, free splash pads, etc...

Would you guys like to read such posts? If it's of interest I'll do it. It'll help me get out and explore more. And since we have a lot of park-going days in our future over the coming years I feel like it'll be good to know what's out there. From the big city parks to small neighborhood ones. Or those hidden parks that you find and think "why didn't I know about this!?"

Anyway leave me a comment if you're interested and if there's enough interest I'll do it. If not I'll just use the park outings to work on taking pictures in bright sun at the proper exposure without harsh shadows. :)

Lately...

2011-09-02T09:55:00.000-06:00

Lately there just isn't much time for blogging. But life keeps plugging along:

We've been sick (Evs, Joe and I).

We've been moving.

We've been getting caught up on work. Boring. Tedious. Necessary.

For a couple weeks there Evs wasn't sleeping. To the point that I went to the doctor for help. He gave me some tips and something to try to help her sleep for a few days to get caught up, but ultimately just told me we were already doing everything we should be and that Evs was just a willful child. Ha! Oh well.

We bought a blackout curtain and it has made a big difference in her sleep. Best $5 I've spent in a while!

We found a house we are in love with. Well a neighborhood, we'd be building. Lets hope all the financial ducks fall in a row and we can buy it sooner rather than later.

We've been going on walks and to visit the parks. Everly is still crazy about the swings and I can't wait til she can walk and climb more on the playground.

Speaking of walking, I think it's only about a month off! She's been getting more daring with her cruising and standing. And she's so so proud of herself.

Evs still has only 2 teeth. She wants to be independent with her eating and can't chew much up. Please oh please baby get some more teeth soon.

Everly has finally passed the 18lb threshold! Hallelujah. Still, today she is wearing a pair of 0-3 month pants as capris. I find this amusing. She is very healthy, just small. But growing all the time.

In other news a big milestone this past month -- I stopped nursing her. I get my body and wardrobe back to normal. And she's in love with her bottle 3 times a day. And straws all day long. The sippys are still missing from the move...anyone know where they are?

In other news: my brother got a job at the same company Joe works for. He got laid of from his other job the same day he was offered a new one. It was crazy and miraculous and now they carpool together.

Also it's been nice living with family. We miss having our own place (and being able to find things) but Evs is spoiled with attention and I'm spoiled with helpers. I've been able to cook so much more and that has been glorious.

Anyway, there you go. What I've been up to. No crafting, a little of photography, and lots of cooking. But no time to post. Maybe in a few months when things settle down with our routine, work, and Evie's sleep.

Until then here's a pic of Evie in all her two tooth glory at the park this morning:

Update: 50 in 500: Unpack all of our belongings & organize the craft closet

2011-08-23T23:03:00.003-06:00

*Update: The first time the pics didn't work so I'll try this one. Hopefully it works. Fingers crossed.

With the move a few items on my 50 in 500 list obviously won't get completely "done" but they were 90% of the way done when we moved so I'm calling it good.

Get moved into our own semi-permanent place and get ALL our belongings unpacked Well we pretty much were all the way unpacked. There was one small pile in Everly's room -- the things in that little pile never did find their own place, but since I could have just stashed them all in the storage unit on the balcony any time I wanted I'm calling it good. I don't really have pics of our apartment all clean and looking packed away but I have a few of the outside of our place. I took them as part of documenting where we lived when Evie Lou was born.

Here's our garage...I'll pause now so you can all oooo and ahhh.

This is our street sign "Park Trail Way", we no longer live there so I'm calling it safe to post.

And here's our building.

And the sign for our stairwell, we were #206.

Ah good little Apt #206, I'll always remember you as the first place we were really settled and the place we brought home little Everly from the hospital.

And not to be forgotten, on the 50 in 500 list was Organize the craft closet Clearly this little closet could use some work, but it really was more than half organized. So I'm calling it done and done. Mosts of the craft stuff will just stay in boxes til we buy our house. So I'm crossing off for pure satisfaction and in recognition of a good college try on my part.

50 in 500: Unpack all of our belongings & organize the craft closet

2011-08-23T16:52:00.000-06:00

With the move a few items on my 50 in 500 list obviously won't get completely "done" but they were so far along when we moved so I'm calling it good.

Get moved into our own semi-permanent place and get ALL our belongings unpacked
Well we pretty much were all the way unpacked. There was one small pile in Everly's room -- the things in that little pile never did find their own place, but since I could have just stashed them all in the storage unit on the balcony any time I wanted I'm calling it good. I don't really have pics of our apartment all clean and looking packed away but I have a few of the outside of our place. I took them as part of documenting where we lived when Evie Lou was born.

Here's our garage...I'll pause now so you can all oooo and ahhh.

This is our street sign "Park Trail Way", we no longer live there so I'm calling it safe to post.

And here's our building.

And the sign for our stairwell, we were #206.

Ah good little Apt #206, I'll always remember you as the first place we were really settled and the place we brought home little Everly from the hospital.

And not to be forgotten, on the 50 in 500 list was Organize the craft closet
Clearly this little closet could use some work, but it really was more than half organized. So I'm calling it done and done. Mosts of the craft stuff will just stay in boxes til we buy our house. So I'm crossing off for pure satisfaction and in recognition of a good college try on my part.

And because a post with pictures of Evs is better than a post without, here are a few cell phone pics of Evs lately where you can see the apartment a bit in the background looking somewhat composed:

50 in 500: Get New Tires for My Car

2011-08-22T19:32:00.000-06:00

Oy, we have spend a bundle on my car this past month. I really can't complain because my little Corolla is such a good car and all these repairs fall under maintenance rather than major repairs, but still. Almost $900 later we're feeling the pain.

In the past month we've:

Gotten new tires

Did the front brakes

Got the safety & emissions done

Paid state taxes & updated the registration

Got a new battery

Had the circuit board replaced.

Phew. Seriously?! I mean seriously!!!!!

Do you know what else I would like to spend $900 on...it's a long list.

Sheesh. Luckily the circuit board thing was free -- covered under a Toyota recall.

But the rest. Sheesh.

At least getting new tires was on my list of 50 things to do in 500 days so I can check that puppy off.

I'm still in pain from the $900.

Ouch.

But I have had the car for 6 years so I guess it was time. Do you think I'll get another 6 years before I have to put so much money into it again? Yeah, me neither...

Oh well, done is done. Check it off the list.

Moved.

2011-08-15T23:12:00.001-06:00

We are moved. My mom's garage looks like the room of requirement from Harry Potter and we will be in "hunt down what we need" mode for a while -- since we don't plan on unpacking the majority of our belongings during our stint here at my mom's house. But everything is out of the old place and the keys are turned over.

Let me just say. Moving is a doozy. I was miserable. And when I told my mom it was the worst move ever she reminded me that the one where our moving van was stolen definitely was worse. That made me laugh, because seriously, it was so so much worse, but in the midst of my misery moving last week I somehow lost that perspective. All I could think is "This is terrible!!" And it was but having our entire moving van stolen and then found dumped in a river was way way worse.

Still this last move was no cake walk.

I do not recommend packing all of your belongings in 5 days.

With a 14 month old to care for.

And a 14 month old who gets a raging 104 degree fever.

So you can't utilize any of your friends' offers to watch said baby while you pack.

It was bad you guys, real bad.

I'm not saying this to complain, I'm just stating the facts.

5 hours of sleep Thursday night. 4.5 hours of sleep Friday night. And a long LONG Saturday -- moving van, wrapping up packing, and cleaning. It seemed impossible but we did it. And when it was all over we were ready to collapse at 6pm, but no such luck.

The first night in the new digs little Evs was having a total panic attack and could not sleep for hours. I have NEVER heard her scream so unconsolably in my arms. And that's saying something given her 4 months of colic and general sensitive/fussy disposition. We finally opted for a midnight run to Walgreens with a screaming baby. It took me right back to the colic days, oy. Lets not go back there. Ever. Okay?

Good news -- benadryl knocked out Evs and at least she got 7 hours of sleep Saturday night. That's 5 short of the typical goal on a given night, but at least we got her down. On the way to walgreens we were desperate and so was Evs.

Don't judge us for giving our baby benadryl to sleep, we'd cleared this with a doctor (and a nurse practitioner too).

But as bad as that all was, we are moved out of the old place. Mission accomplished.

And Evs is sleeping better. And the sleep deprivation of Saturday night led to a three hour nap today, and THAT was glorious.

Anyway I have lots of catch-up to do with work, and unpacking, and caring for the babe. And Joe goes out of town on Wednesday-Saturday (dreading it) so blogging will have to be on the back burner for a while.

This post is long, pictureless and has to real point other than to tell you about what was one of the longest weeks of my life. Lets all be glad it's over. Phew.

Moving on

2011-08-09T12:52:00.001-06:00

We are moving and this is how we all feel about it:

We've been trying to get out of our lease for a while, so we are delighted to have found some people to take it over, but we have to be out in 5 days. Yikes. Packing, working, taking care of a 14 month old....easy peasy, right?

I'm excited for the future, but sad to leave the place we brought Evie home to right after she was born (and the place we have lived longest of all our homes in the past 4 years).

Change is good. And hard. And stressful.

Given our history with moving it's lucky it's an in town move. We're just heading one town over to live in my mom's basement for several months. Living with parents wasn't high on our "must do" list, but becoming debt free, relying only on one income, and buying a house are. This move will get us there faster than any other plan we've conceived of.

Plus Evie will get to see grandma lots. We're really grateful she's open to letting us stay for a short time.

So yes, this means another move is on the horizon in 2012, but that move should be to our first home, and it will be a joyous day.

I'll be back here in a week or two. When the craziness of moving is over. (Oh and if you're local and available to help us move Saturday morning we'd love the help, thanks)

Good for a laugh

2011-08-04T22:39:00.001-06:00

I love Harry Potter.

The story. The movies. All of it.

I was so sad when the final movie came out, because it means it's all coming to an end.

I love it that much more because Joe and I read Harry Potter 7 on our honeymoon. It came out just before our wedding and we're both fans so we took it with us to the cabin in the mountains and read it together during those honeymoon days.

And I love BYU. I went to school there, I work for a research project at BYU, and I will always love BYU.

At BYU there's a sketch comedy group called "Divine Comedy" -- this particular brand of BYU humor makes me laugh. It reminds me of all the silly clean fun I had at BYU during my years there.

So when I saw this video I loved it. Harry Potter and BYU humor, combined?!

Really it is so so funny.

Maybe you will think it's funny too -- even if you don't love Harry Potter and didn't go to BYU.

But you will definitely think it's funny if you are a Harry Potter loving BYU alum.

Good times:

F is for Funny Instead of Awkward

2011-08-01T22:35:00.000-06:00

Remember how I told you about Evie's awkard hair? Thanks to the comments I had a few ideas for what to try. Joe nixed cutting the mullet, at least for now. So today Evie had her first piggies.

Here she is modeling them with a funny face:

And here she is moving on with life as if nothing had happened (she actually didn't try to pull the elastics out--success!)

Were you wondering how they look from the back? Oh okay, here's another.

And here's a pic of the piggies in action. They really make me laugh. Poor little Evs has inherited my straight fine hair...Sigh. Well it makes for piggies that stand straight on end, but she won't have to use a blowdryer to straighten so at some point she'll be grateful for that.

And last but not least here's a shot from above. And Evie is is pulling out the laundry from the basket...these days she's all over emptying containers.

Yay for the pigtails, I think they are so cute. And funny. They make me laugh too. She looks like a little bug, so cute.

4 years -- Happy Anniversary To Us

2011-08-01T06:01:00.014-06:00

Happy Anniversary to Joe and I.

Married 4 years and filled with more than our fair share of drama/stress, we're hoping that next 4 are a little more calm. We have plans and dreams for the future...but our plans for years did not lead us to where we are now so who knows where life will take us.

I do know Joe will be there with me. He's a wonderful husband. We don't have a perfect marriage, but we work really hard to make it a good one. He makes me laugh all the time and can still make me feel all tingly and happy so we must be doing something right.

We're celebrating tonight with a baby-less dinner out. I'm looking forward to it. Maybe I'll wear my "Love Spell" body spray...I wore it when we were dating and Joe informed me that it was a bedroom perfume. Ha ha. I love that man.

And in honor of our anniversary I must invite you to read this post about how we got together. If you haven't already heard the story, I think it's a good one.

(For those who read the family blog I wrote a ~~little~~ long post chronicling the major events of the past 4 years -- it's mostly for me, but perhaps you'll find it interesting. Check it out over there.).

Toddler Entertainment

2011-07-28T11:50:00.000-06:00

Keeping Everly happily entertained is difficult.

Her attention span is short.
She's usually moody because her sleep is irregular.
She's clingy.
She can't walk.

I confess, I am perplexed. Playdates help. The pool is fun (but a pain with the sunscreen lather up). But I have a lot of hours to fill each day (especially since she's napping terribly). So this is a call for help!! Help friends help!

I need ideas for things to do to entertain a 1 year old. I feel like once she communicates more and is more mobile it'll be easier for me, but I'm stumped. And bored. And frustrated.

I wish she'd entertain herself for an hour straight so I could clean, ah that would be bliss. But since she won't I want to find ways to have fun together. After all she's small and thinks I'm the coolest person ever so I should milk that while I can.

(Photos above were all taken this morning in a very short time span. Happy, crying, entertained, bored....no matter the emotion she's still awfully cute.)

Awkward with a Capital A

2011-07-18T16:21:00.003-06:00

My daughter's hair is awkward.

It's getting super long on top (falling in her eyes in front) and getting some length in back, but the sides have a lot of catching up to do.

I'm at a loss on how to style it.

She pulls headbands off...so that's out.

Any of you mommas good at hair and have suggestions?

If not we'll just continue being super awkward for a while. I mean we're kind of awkward anyway, maybe it's good to just embrace it?

Just me (and the baby)

2011-07-17T20:37:00.001-06:00

I almost never post pictures of me here. I really don't take many of me these days. I'm not at an idea weight, I don't have time to style my hair (just getting it blow-dried is an accomplishment) and makeup is a rare thing. But I try to take a few here and there, especially for Evs. So she can see what she and her mommy looked like together.

Here's one we took today before church.

Do you have a hard time taking photos of yourself?

I find it's so easy to say I will take them later -- you know "when I lose weight", "when I have time to do my hair", or "when I'm wearing something cuter". But "later" could quickly mean months or years go by with virtually no photos, so I'm making an effort.

Mommyhood 101: Baby Transport - Carseats, Strollers, and Baby Carriers

2011-07-13T21:53:00.000-06:00

Babies are immobile. At least for a while. So you'll want to consider what you carry/push/wear them around in, right? Here's what worked for us.

In the Car:
I have heard great things about the Chicco Keyfit carseat so that's one I'd definitely recommend (and maybe buy next time around):

But we used a Graco Snugride. It was perfectly adequate but nothing too special. My sister-in-law gave it to us.

Just a note -- if you are using a used car seat you should check a couple things:

Make sure it wasn't in an accident. Accident's weaken the plastic and while I'm an big fan of reusing where possible car seats are one place to draw the line. Do not use a car seat if you can't verify that it has not been in an accident
Expiration date -- it'll either be on a sticker on the car seat or perhaps stamped into the plastic itself (on ours it was the latter). You may be surprised that car seats "expire" but apparently the plastic weakens over time and since safety standards improve over time car seats from 10 years ago don't meet current standards. Some people use expired seats but I'd be wary of it.

When Everly got a bit bigger we switched over the Max Cosi Priori -- overall I like the seat a lot but I have nothing to compare it to. The best thing about this seat is it's easy to adjust which is great.

Speaking of adjusting, in this picture the chest strap is too low on Everly...ahhh. It was the first time I put her in it, we're better now.

While we're talking car seats, are you sure you're using yours correctly? I found this pictorial guide so helpful in identifying the proper ways to buckle your child in. A car seat won't do much good in a high speed crash if the buckles are too loose or your child can fly out the top (because the chest strap is too low). Take a couple seconds and review the guide, it'll help you feel more empowered.

Strollers

What kind of stroller you'll need really depends on you. I knew I wanted a jogging stroller and I didn't want one that would be obsolete when we have a second child. So we got the Phil & Ted's double jogger (where the second seat is in line and removable). It is, admittedly, a REALLY pricey stroller. We got ours for less than half the price in the classifieds, I'd recommend buying used, but I know Costco has them too.

What I love about this stroller:

-seat lays flat

-works from newborn through an older kid stage

-while a doubler it's in line rather than side by side which makes it easy to maneuver

-it's is a "smooth ride" :) really super smooth

-easy to fold up

-fits in the trunk of my car

-front wheel can be fixed or turn

What I don't love

-While it fits in the trunk of my car it is bulky

-The bag on the bottom doesn't hold much

-Sun shade could be bigger

We also have a Maclaren umbrella stroller we received as a hand-me-down. Looks similar to this one:

It wasn't important to me to have a stroller with a car seat adapter so this works great. It fold up really small, has a good size basket, has high handles (unlike lots of umbrella strollers) and will suit Everly for a lot of years to come. And it was free. If you wanted a one size fits all a Maclaren umbrella would work.

A lof ot people would like a travel system (car seat/stroller combo) but they look really bulky to me. Maybe ask a friend who has one. It also depends on your baby -- my baby wasn't good at just chilling in her car seat so I was holding her a lot of the time anyway.

Which brings us to

Baby Wearing

Now I'm not expert on baby-wearing. Some people wear their babies all the time. That wasn't me. Everly didn't like being restricted so wearing didn't always work. But sometimes it was a real lifesaver. And fun. Here's what we tried.

A wrap

Whether it's a Moby, Sleepy, or home-made wrap this works really well for lots of babies. From infancy to older ages. There are different ways to try it and lots of babies do so well with the snuggling. Everly didn't like being restricted so I only got her to like it a handful of times. *sniff* Seriously I want a cuddly baby next time around. Here's a pic of one of the rare times she let me put her in it:

A sling

Again love it, but it was a little awkward getting Evs in and out and she didn't love being restricted. But I thought it was comfortable and nice when she went for it.

Baby Bjorn (or similar soft-structured-carrier)

We LOVED the bjorn. A lot. It was so comfortable to wear (with a small baby, when she got closer to 1 it started to hurt my back). The real lifesaver was Evs likes being faced out and she could do so comfortably and I could get stuff done. Our bjorn was a hand-me-down, but you can get a great deal on one at a yard sale or a second hand shop (like Kid to Kid). Here's a not-great picture of me carrying Evs in it last summer when she was tiny:

Eventually Everly outgrew all these methods and she started crawling, but she was getting super clingy so I pondered getting her a new carrier. Since all my other carriers were hand me downs or loaners I hadn't spent anything on them (thanks friends and family) so today I shelled out some of my cash and bought this carrier:

Boba Carrier

The great thing about this one is you can wear it front or back. It works from 15-45 pounds so it's really a toddler carrier. It can double as a hiking backpack and it is SOOO-O comfortable. And easy to use. No crazy tying maneuvers. It's a soft-structured carrier with buckles to fasten and straps to tighten. And I bought it in grey so Joe can wear it too.

I thought about making one to save money. But time is money and I am short on time so I bought it. I found a good deal buying it using a coupon code from a local woman who runs this site (no shipping!), if you're interested in getting one it's the best deal I've found.

Anyway so there you go -- babies on the move -- carseats, strollers, and baby carriers. That's what worked for us. Other mamas out there, any favorites you'd like to recommend?

Waiting for mommy (or daddy will do...)

2011-07-12T20:26:00.002-06:00

We are sticking to our "no more swaddling" guns, but Evs is sticking to her "I don't want to go to bed" guns which means lots and lots of crying at our house.

I'm really sick of it.

Which is why this picture makes me laugh. It's just so pathetic. It's Evs...she's crawled to the corner of her crib right next to the door, she brought her stuffed animal with her, and she's crying hoping mommy or daddy will cave and come back. We're not.

We've learned our lesson in the past little lady. We come in, you smile real big, and then you just want to stay up more. We're not caving this time.

Go to sleep baby.

Seriously....baby #2 better be the best sleeper on the planet.

Out Cold

2011-07-10T00:07:00.000-06:00

I love this picture. Naptime has been a struggle post swaddle, but once she's out she could not be more adorable. Makes me want to go pick her up and snuggle her...

but Evs isn't much of a snuggler

and she wouldn't sleep through such a disruption

so we'll just leave her in her crib for now. Sweet litte baby face.

(p.s. I wonder how old she'll be when she realizes the big black camera on her wall is a surveillance camera...thoughts?)

50 in 500: Visit SLC Farmer's Market

2011-07-10T00:00:00.000-06:00

I've wanted to go to the SLC farmer's market for ages. But Joe often works Saturday mornings and we just hadn't made it down there. Today we did. Which means I'm crossing off one more item from my 50 in 500 list.

We had a rare free Saturday so we packed up the baby & stroller (and a diaper bag with a million items) and drove downtown. It was fun to see the variety and difficult to practice restraint with our purchases.

Pardon my terrible photos, turns out taking pictures in manual mode with constantly shifting lighting is tricky.

It was crazy sunny, even for 10am. So Joe set to work lathering up the pasty baby.

I try to remind Everly how lucky she is to ride in the stroller. I tell her "I wish daddy was pushing me around the farmer's market" but she remains unconvinced of the joys of stroller riding.

Here's the view from across the street, that park was packed! (Do you see the valet bike parking, love it. Wish we lived close enough to bike over)

There was so much to see (and want to buy!) like these darling dolls. I've been planning on making one for Evs, but it was tempting to pick one up.

We did buy some blackberry jam, peas, and cherries. And I wanted to pick up so much more!

Look how huge those peas were!

These cherries were delicious. That's right we've already consumed almost half of them.

They also had a lot of food stands. I was really tempted to buy one of these oven baked pizzas (how cool is that portable oven? if I were rich I'd throw a party and hire them to cater)

It was hot though and crowded and Miss Evie Lou was getting tired of her stroller so we decided to head to lunch. (Note Evs pulling off her hat...she has a major aversion. If only she understood the pain of a sunburn maybe she wouldn't tear it off so much!)

My little brother reminded me of this restaurant Moochies which was featured on the Food Network's show "Diner's Drive-Ins and Dives" (I even had seen the episode!). When Joe said he wanted to get a sandwich I figured we might as well make it a special sandwich trip (rather than boring old Subway run). We were not disappointed.

Can you tell we were hot? Look at how hot and sweaty Joe and Evs are here. Phew that water was refreshing! (Please ignore my husband's hat hair and Evs' awkward hair...she's in that awkward growing it out stage)

I confess, Moochies is really a dive, nothing fancy here. But the price is right, the service was great, and the bread on those sandwiches...made me want another.

We ordered both their specialties and shared. Joe loved the cheesesteak (I liked it too, but American cheese is not really my fav)

and I was wild for the meatball -- I've been known to crave meatball subs and this one blows my Subway meatball trips out of the water. Like I said -- the bread! the meatball! We'll be back and next time I'm not sharing with Joey.

We were so stuffed after eating at Moochies that we spent the afternoon and early evening snacking on cherries and watermelon. Summer. Ah summer, I love you so.

Anyway, it was a good start to a Saturday. I wish we could go every week, but I'll settle for one more repeat Farmer's Market/Moochie's run before the summer is out. If you want to join us, we're down. :)

I prefer...

2011-07-08T01:53:00.003-06:00

to see my baby like this:

or like this:

but not like this:

There's been lots of crying and frustration around these parts lately. This parenting thing is kicking my butt...

Lets all be glad it's the weekend and this guy will be around:

He makes the baby giggle, he makes me smile, and he brings home the bacon.

Here's hoping for a weekend with less tears, more naps, more fun, and lots of baby giggles. Hope yours is good too. :)

Operation Abandon Swaddle

2011-07-06T13:10:00.000-06:00

Everly has been swaddled for a good solid year now.

Efforts to abandon it in the past have been unsuccessful.

I tried methods like unswaddling one arm at at time til she got used to it. That didn't work. I think in a younger baby it would, but once Evs has an arm out she's strong enough to get fully out and then wail to high heaven. And I dreaded the swaddle weaning...big time.

Then in the past week the velcro on her swaddler was finished. Through. We'd used it so much that the velcro wouldn't stick well anymore. She would break out, fully or partially and either way the aftermath wasn't pretty.

So we just went cold turkey.

It hasn't been pleasant.

It's like starting sleep training all over again. Lots of crying.

On the upside when she does finally fall asleep we get cute shots like this on the baby cam.

Is there anything cuter than a baby full out sprawled conked out? I don't think so.

I'm declaring operation abandon swaddle a success...finally.

The Best Ice Cream Recipe Ever

2011-07-06T01:28:00.000-06:00

How was your 4th? Festive, amazing, the things dreams are made of!?

Ours was a bit rough, to be honest. Evs opted to not take a nap -- and being the poor adapter that she is it was rough on all of us (probably me more than anyone else). But we still had some fun with an early morning walk and BBQ with my family.

I snapped a few photos of Evs in her festive attire. She wore these candy cane pants back at Christmas and they still fit around the waist so I declared them flag capris.

And she wore the same headband as last year:

It's crazy the difference a year makes for babies huh?

Anyway, despite the fact that my holiday included some rough patches (i.e. baby peeing on my bed as I stripped her diaper off to bathe her) our holiday had it's high points (pesto turkey burgers, yes please.). Sadly we missed the homemade ice cream at my mom's house.

My family likes to make homemade ice cream for major holidays--it's a fantastic tradition.

This is the best recipe I have ever tasted. It IS the thing that dreams are made of.

Its easy to whip up and I recommend that you do.

Berry Homemade Ice Cream
2 c sugar
1 can evaporated milk

Mix together evaporated milk and sugar on medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat.

2 T orange juice concentrate
3 T lemonade concentrate
1 pt cream
1 qt whole milk
Fruit (see notes below)

Add evap. milk & sugar mixture to freezer. Add juice concentrates, whisk til smooth. Add cream, milk and fruit.

For fruit the original recipe calls for 2 pkgs of frozen fruit with the sugar added (one raspberry one strawberry). We decided to cut the sugar last time we made it by using fresh fruit and it was still plenty sweet. Next time we plan on cutting the fat content making it with all milk (no cream).

Make it. Love it. Share it with a friend. Your friend and your thighs will thank you for sharing.

Recipe Makeover: Chicken Pillows

2011-06-26T20:56:00.000-06:00

I'm always trying to eat healthier. More fruit & veggies. Low fat. Less sugar. Less processed. Cutting fried foods. Eating out as little as possible.

I don't always succeed (particularly at the sugar part). But it's a natural part of who I am to always be thinking "how can I take this great recipe and make it a little healthier"??

And on Saturday I had a checkup at my doctor. I went in knowing I wanted to lose weight and she confirmed that I needed to lose 45lbs to get to a healthy BMI. That's a big number. And jogging isn't doing enough. I knew I needed to make some dietary changes.

I asked her how low I could cut my calories (because I am still nursing) and she told me between 1200-1500 for non-nursing and we agreed 1600 would be fine (I'm not nursing as much these days with Evs being one now). I am using an app for my phone (there's a website too) called MyFitnessPal to track calories. If you join you can add me as a friend, my username is annas3.

Anyway calorie watching, calorie cutting, recipe makeovers. 45 whopping pounds. It's all on my mind.

Also green onions were popping up in our garden and needed to be used. And my favorite recipe to use green onions is chicken pillows. I'd already healthified them some (reduced fat crescent rolls, 1/3 less fat cream cheese, omitting the butter in the coating that some people use), but they still weren't "healthy".

So here's a revised approach. Dropping the crescent rolls & incorporating non-fat greek yogurt which packs a protein punch with no fat. I have to note that making my own roll dough was a little more work, but rolling them up was easier because I could control the dough shape more and fit more meat in each "pillow" which means more protein and less carbs per serving.

Anyway enough yapping, the recipe.

Healthier Chicken Pillows

Dough (slightly modified from here):
2 packets yeast
2 cups water (warm)
1/2 cup sugar (going to try reducing next time)
2 tsp salt
3 c all purpose flour
1/4 c oil
1 egg
2-3 c whole wheat flour

1. In small bowl mix together yeast, water, and a T of the sugar to help it proof.
2. In a larger bowl mix the all purpose flour, rest of sugar and salt. After yeast had proofed in the water for 5 minutes or so add it to the flour bowl. Mix until combined well.
3. Add egg & oil
4. Add 2 cups of whole wheat flour
5. Knead on counter, adding flour as necessary to reduce stickiness, knead until smooth & elastic
6. Place in large greased bowl, let rise until doubled (about 1 hour)

In the meantime make the filling.

Filling
3-4 chicken breasts, cooked, and cubed
1 pkg 1/3 less fat cream cheese
1/2 cup (ish) non-fat greek yogurt
2 T (ish) milk
2-3 green onions
garlic salt

Making the filling is not an exact science. I just try to get a consistency like chicken salad. Basically you want mostly chicken coated in cream cheesy garlicy oniony goodness. So soften the cream cheese, add a big dollop of greek yogurt to make it go further, use the milk to thin out the consistency, garlic salt to taste, add the green onions and chicken.

Assembly
1. Punch down roll dough. Take sections and roll out into a large rectangle.
2. Add about 1/2-1c of the filling in small mounds, fold over the dough, pinch the edges to seal, cut the pillow apart from eachother.
3. Optional: Spray each pillow with I-Can't-Believe-It's-Not-Butter-Spray and dip in italian seasoned bread crumbs. You could use butter (which would be tasty...but not really fitting in our recipe makeover here)

Bake
Bake at 375 until golden brown (15-20 min)

Joe likes to serve it with a seasoned cream of chicken soup sauce, I like to eat them plain.

*note: I didn't use the entire batch of dough but the original recipe says it keeps in the refrigerator for up to 4 days so I'm saving the rest of the dough for tomorrow's dinner.

Sorry, no picture...I did make bread dough from scratch today though and have a healthy dinner. So I'm still patting myself on the back.

Awwww...

2011-06-17T13:18:00.000-06:00

In case you haven't seen it yet, here's a sweet video to start your weekend.

I'm glad Everly has a father who thinks she's the best thing ever (and has already set up her email address). And I'm grateful I have a dad who would do anything for me.

Happy Father's Day everyone.

Celebrating A Year

2011-06-13T20:17:00.000-06:00

I know a lot of mom's really struggle with their babies growing up. I really don't. Most women I know express mixed emotions about it all going by too fast or how they wish they'd stop growing up. I get where that's coming from. But with Everly we are just excited to see all her progress. She has been such a colicky, clingy, non-sleeper that we just love seeing her grow up and become more independent. I love seeing the fun parts of her personality become more and more prominent as she grows. I think she's just keeps getting happier and we get to enjoy her more. So her first birthday really wasn't bittersweet, it was just exciting.

The day of her birthday was on a Friday so we did most of the celebrating Saturday.

We took her to the pool for the first time. My baby is scared of many many things (strangers, blenders, loud unexpected noises) so I expected cold pool water to terrify her. Oh no. It was all smiles and giggles from the very start.

It made me very excited for future pool adventures (we live right by our apartment complex pool so we could go every day if we want).

Pool time (like bath time) leads to awesome hair.

And how cute is her bathing suit?

Then we spent most of the time prepping for her party. I had big plans of streamers & color coordinated table cloths over at the park. But it was windy city out there so we abandoned those things and just embraced the party.

Evs wore a dress my mom made just for the occasion (well and for her Easter dress...did you always get a new dress at Easter too?)

At first Evs was timid about the cake

and the frosting threw her for a loop (she's not used to sticky things)

....but she eventually caught on to the magic.

Here's a picture of two of her cousins & the cupcakes.

And here's Evs playing with her grandma...probably jumping, like she does.

Kids played at the playground next door.

Joe talked to people on the phone to help them find the park (he's cute right?)

Evs basked in the attention.

And I was proud her diaper color coordinated with the theme.

We had hot dogs & lots of barbecue basics (including watermelon...which Evs adores)

Her only cousin on my side (baby Leo) was there...getting plenty of attention too.

And our friend Max came by (and brought his "parents" -- Rob and Jasmine our neighbors)

After we ate we headed over to the pool where Evs took her 2nd dip for the day joined by many of her cousins & aunts.

And after the party was over I collapsed in exhaustion on the couch. I was wasted. Here's hoping I don't need to host another party for at least another 2-3 years.

One reason I think growing up is painful

2011-06-13T17:52:00.000-06:00

I've been reading a lot more lately. Not as much as I'd like, but I'm spending a bigger portion of my recreational time reading than I have in a while yet. I've always been a reader since I was very small and getting back into it reminded me how satisfying it can be in a way that other recreation just isn't, at least for me.

Some friends and I recently formed a book club. Our first meeting is next week and we read "These Is My Words". I loved it. As in 5/5 stars, need-to-buy-my-own-copy loved it. I loved the characters, I loved the story, I wish it wasn't over. I am so looking forward to discussing it.

This quote in particular really resonated with me:

"It seems there is always a road with bends and forks to choose, and taking one path means you can never take another one. There's no starting over nor undoing the steps I've taken. It isn't like I'd want to not have my little ones and Jack and that ranch, it is part of life to have to support yourself. It's just that I want everything, my insides are not just hungry, but greedy. I want to find out all the things in the world and still have a family and a ranch. Maybe part of passing that test was a marker for where I've been, but it feels more like a pointer for something I'll never reach. (November 29, 1887 entry, pg 309)" — Nancy E. Turner (These Is My Words)

That's how I feel about so many choices in my life. I want to be everywhere at once, pursing all the possibilities, I don't like making choices that limit my possibilities -- which is one reason getting married and choosing to start a family were terrifying choices for me.

I love Joe and little Everly. I am grateful to be home with Evs and I am grateful for the decision I made to leave grad school --- I can't imagine dissertating with a high maintenance baby like Evs. But my heart aches a little when I think about the friendships I never got to pursue in Ohio, the things I never got to learn, the life as a teaching/researching professor that I won't get to live...or when I look at my friends who are still single...traveling, building careers, playing til all hours of the night---free of the concerns that come with marriage and children.

I wish I could experience all of it...somehow simultaneously.

I hate that growing up means narrowing down the possibilities. When you are young it's all open to you. Part of growing up is deciding which of those possibilities you will choose. I have to admit I kind of hate that about growing up. I am still young and I still have lots of choices open to me, but there are fewer options than there were 10 years ago when I graduated high school.

Reading that passage in "These is My Words" made me feel like I'm not the only one who feels that way. And realizing other people feel that achy sadness once in a while makes me feel better about it. It's such an excellent book, you should find time to read it too.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl

2011-06-10T08:00:00.000-06:00

A year ago I was at the hospital.

It was a long long night/day/night.

With little progress (towards delivery) and a few complications (only dilating to a 3 anyone? meconium? cord around the neck?) but in the end she got her safe and sound.

All 6lbs 2oz of her.

She was tiny and beautiful and we had no idea what we were in for (for good and bad).

She's grown so much. And really has the most delightful personality. We are really lucky to be her parents. She's a lot of fun.

Just for fun here's a before and after I posted on Facebook the other day. The HUGE binky on tiny Evs just cracks me up. And the baby mittens...heavens babies are cute!

Happy Birthday baby girl. Year 2 is going to be really awesome for you -- crawling, walking, more teeth, talking!! You have so much to look forward to. Love you!

Quiet Book Tutorial: Binding the Edges

2011-06-09T22:15:00.001-06:00

I debated a bit on how to sew my pages back to back.

I thought about serging all around or just a straight stitch bind. Bias tape would be pretty (but kind of pricey if you buy the bias tape and kind of a pain if you make your own -- it's a lot of inches along the edge).

In the end I decided that a blanket stitch would look pretty. I find hand sewing relaxing and I liked that I could pick a contrasting crochet thread to add another layer of color to the page. Here's a picture of the finished quiet book (spoiler...it's in it's cover which I haven't blogged about yet!):

Isn't it fun how each set of pages has it's own color? I like it. A lot.

Evs does not appreciate this, but she liked pulling on the beads on the C is for Counting page.

I wasn't sure how to do the corners, but I found this tutorial. It's a bit tricky and not all of mine turned out perfect. But if you are patient and practice it several times I'm sure you'd get the knack of it quickly.

I'd rather have imperfect pages than practice. So my pages are flawed.

I'm a perfectionist in many things.

Sewing is not one of them.

Anyway here's one of my better corners:

If you're making a quiet book do you think you'll go through this kind of effort on the binding? Or take a different approach and serge/sew them together?

Quiet Book Tutorial: A is for Ark

2011-06-09T20:55:00.000-06:00

I'm amazed I never posted instructions for this page.

The good news -- it's easy! And it's a bible related page, which is great because we plan on using this book a lot in church. If you aren't religious you could easily convert this concept into a barn page, which I've seen on other quiet books.

Supplies:
All you need is a background page, felt, one piece of velcro, and puppets.

Directions:
1. Freehand your "ark" on paper (it's not hard even for non-artists...trust me, my stick figures have uneven arms so I speak from experience).
2. Cut out the pieces for the boat, hut on top, and doors the animals will come out -- I cut mine out of brown felt.
3. Cut trim pieces in a darker brown if you want to add definition and interest to your giant brown felt ark.
4. Sew trim onto boat pieces
5. Sew doors onto main boat piece
6. Sew main boat piece and hut to the background page
7. Add flap with velcro to doors
8. Stuff the puppets into the ark (remember 2 of each kind!)

Additional note: I started hand sewing my animals out of felt. Then I found these finger puppets at Ikea. Since I'm making multiple copies of this page (2 copies for other quiet books) it made sense to just buy 2 packs of puppets and save myself some time. And they are soooo cute. And my baby loves them.

Let me know if you have any questions and happy sewing!

We take a break from our regularly scheduled programming...

2011-06-09T00:25:00.000-06:00

I may usually post about homemaking, baby-rearing, and related topics. But as I've mentioned before my night job is working on a foreign aid database project.

Humor my work related post.

At AidData we believe that making data on how the billions of dollars are spent each year can make aid more effective in the long run. Frankly, it's a shame that we spend so much on development projects and get so little return.

We've all heard about failed development projects in the third world, right?

So here's something small you can do:

Sign a petition.

It's asking governments to be more transparent about how foreign aid dollars are spent.

As a taxpayer I think I have a right to know.

As someone working gathering data on development projects I know how much room there is for improvement in donor transparency.

As a concerned human being I want to know that the billions spent each year trying to help the world's poor is being spent effectively.

One step in that process, I believe, is increased transparency.

Improved transparency can lead to better aid coordination and can allow activists to hold donors & local governments accountable in those cases where aid dollars are being mis-spent.

So take a second, click this link, and sign this petition.

Sleeping through the night

2011-06-07T23:13:00.000-06:00

I've been wary of claiming victory.

Because no momma wants to jinx herself on this one.

But for many many nights now Evs has been sleeping through the night. She fights going to bed (kicking the bumper pads -- kick kick, talk to herself, roll around -- yes still swaddled -- she's kind of a maniac). But once she's asleep she seems to be able to put herself back to sleep afterwards.

Wake ups in the middle of the night are rather rare these days.

It only took her 11 months to figure it out (and 7 months of "sleep training")

It goes without saying that I'm a happy momma.

To be honest, I'll miss those middle of the night feedings. Evs is usually too busy to be cuddly when she's awake. She's a wiggly little lady. But half groggy Evs just waking up to nurse was very cuddly. So I'll miss that.

Despite that, we're over the moon about the sleeping through the night. After 11 months of sleep deprivation who wouldn't be. I wonder how many years it'll take to work off the sleep debt...

Oh yeah, and yesterday I caught Evs reading "Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child" so I guess she's gearing up for the transition from 2 naps to 1...heaven help us all.

Prepping for the Party

2011-06-04T00:35:00.000-06:00

I'm not one to throw parties. I love all the pretty images I see on the web of these events people throw and I enjoy having a couple friends over, but the idea of throwing a party gives me anxiety. Maybe it's that we're in a 2 bedroom apartment and not a large house and so the logistics of managing large groups of people is too much. I have no idea.

Do you feel this way? Party throwing anxiety? Or does it just make you giddy to put something like this together?

Anyway, Joe comes from a family of 6 kids, I have 2 siblings, and since my parents are divorced Evs is blessed with lots of grandparents to spoil her. So even when we want to throw a party with just immediate family it's a large affair. We won't throw Evs a big bash like this every year, but the first birthday seems to warrant it.

So plan I must. Good planning helps reduce my birthday party hosting anxiety. "I can DO this!"

I just printed this subway art image (how I love free printables on the interwebs!) and plan on having everyone sign it at the party. Then I'll stow it in her baby book.

Source: eighteen25.blogspot.com via Anna on Pinterest

If you follow the link to the creators website you'll find that she has the 8X10 to print big and also the same image preshrunk for you to card size. I printed both -- because I'm always in a pinch needing a birthday card and not wanting to spend $3 all the grocery store for one (yes I'm cheap and don't want to spend $3 on your birthday!). I used to whip cards up by hand...but now with a baby I'm running around packing diapers & bibs before we leave the house and NOT whipping up cards. It'll be nice to have a few handy.

Anyway, party prep for next weekend is underway. I'll snap lots of photos, you can be sure!

If you had a child what did you do for their first birthday? How bout birthdays after that? Lots of big parties? Small family dinners? Trips to Chuckie Cheese? I'm all ears on how to handle kids parties...I'm thinking less is more.

Mommyhood 101: Bathing & Diapering

2011-06-01T13:16:00.000-06:00

A freshly bathed, diapered, and lotioned baby, mine :)

Continuing on here's what I've learned about bathing & diapering in year one (moms feel free to add your advice in the comments):

Bathing:

Tubs:
We used the Puj Tub. I loved almost everything about it. Except the fact that Everly outgrew it at 6 months (and chubbier babies would outgrow it much sooner). I'd say skip the puj tub (because of the price) and stick with a regular baby bath tub (hunt garage sales or borrow from a friend!) or a bath sponge like this one. Currently Evs doesn't even bathe, she sits in her bumbo in the shower with me, so I guess I recommend the bumbo too.

First bath -- so tiny! And not liking it.

Products:
My sister-in-law gave me the Aveeno baby shampoo/body wash. We're still using the same bottle (it's huge and a baby doesn't need much). You can get it almost anywhere (I've seen it at Costco even) and here it is on Amazon. We also love the Aveeno baby lotion because it's unscented and good for babies with sensitive skin (Evs is prone to eczema). But we also use the pink Johnson & Johnson baby lotion because I love the smell so much.

Toys:
Babies will play with anything. I splurged and bought some bath toys (which she likes)

Diapering

Cloth vs disposable
I prefer cloth in a lot of ways (the fit is soooo much better and the price is awesome too). But there are perks to disposables too (convenience, slimmer fit on the baby). You can see a more in depth review from me on the comparison here or here's another review I recently saw that I thought was helpful (from someone who purchased all their diapers instead of sewing them like I did).

Which disposable brand is best?
Mostly because I got some as gifts and then through trial and error I've tried lots of brands of diapers. Here's the skinny:

Huggies vs Pampers: It's apples and oranges. Both are premium brands and great, it just depends on the shape of your baby and what fits best. We currently prefer pampers, but that may change as she grows.
7th generation: they are kind of stiff but the tabs are SUPER stretchy which I loved. If you can afford the extra cost they are a great option (and supposedly more environmentally friendly, but I have not researched this)
Store brands: I only tried Kroger. They fit smaller and the quality was definitely inferior. Hated them.
Kirkland (Costco): They seem really stiff and fit Evs weird. Plus they aren't really cost competitive anymore with Amazon Mom, but a lot of people love them.

Where to buy:

From what I've observed and researched nothing beats Amazon Mom for the combination of convenience (free 2 day shipping!) and price. Coupon codes for diapers are becoming more rare, but the regular subscribe-and-save option is still an amazing deal. If you are buying premium brand diapers anywhere else you are probably paying too much. This post over at Baby Cheapskate explains really clearly how Amazon Mom works -- it's simple and only takes a few minutes. Start buying your diapers there today.

Diapering Miscellaneous

We really love Aquafor for diaper rash cream. Evs rarely gets diaper rash but when she does this clears it up pronto. And a single tub may last us all her diapering days. Great stuff
Wipes: we love the Kirkland brand ones best--great price and they are great quality. If you don't have a Costco membership I'd buy wipes through Amazon Mom (or mooch off a friend's Costco membership, that's what I do...)
I got this diaper caddy as a shower gift, I love how it keeps diapers, wipes, and all the miscellaneous stuff in one place (even has a little drawer to hide away the little tubes and such). Love it.

Anyway that's all the bathing & diapering tips I can think of. Hope this helps any readers who are soon to be first time parents. Good luck!

And to wrap up this text heavy post with a picture, this freshly bathed baby is getting close to crawling (tummy off the floor, rocking back & forth)!!

From the archives: Things I love: A Pretty, Organized Grocery List

2011-06-01T12:32:00.000-06:00

A while back I blogged about this grocery list from Real Simple (bought at Target):

I still use this list and love it. It because it looks pretty, has strong magnets so it can stay on my fridge, and it is organized by category which makes the trip at the store lots faster.

Today I came across this free printable grocery list (very similar in style). You could make your own notepad out of it, add magnets and put it on the fridge.

I'm all for free (or nearly free) so I thought I'd pass it on.

Mommyhood 101: Swaddling

2011-06-01T00:32:00.001-06:00

In honor of my one year anniversary of being a mom, I thought I'd share a few posts related to mommyhood. I'm no expert on parenting in general, but I can share with you what's worked for Evs.
Products we love, tips we found helpful.
One of the best things about parenting in the age of the Internet (in my opinion) is that it's easy to get a wealth of ideas to try with your little ones. And since babies don't come with an instruction manual, that's a good thing.

Swaddling 101:

For those of you who want the quick summation of swaddling advice, skip to the bullet points at the end.

Evs loves being swaddled. LOVES IT. Some people think I'm crazy for swaddling her for so long, but she just hasn't been ready to abandon it.

We've gone through a lot of phases with Evs' swaddling.

Initially we could use almost any blanket to swaddle. Because she was a weak 6lb baby and wouldn't bust out. Here she is in a nice large muslin swaddler. We have these ones.

Then as she got bigger we moved on to velcro swaddlers, which are harder to bust out of. We were gifted two pink ones (a kiddopotamus and a swaddle me). Everly started out in pink fleece ones. They worked great, but over time she got too long and we had to buy the larger size (pictured here in green).

But she could kind of bust out of that one (because she is skinny and it was really too big width-wise, though it fit great length wise). So we ended up stripping her naked for bed so she wouldn't overheat and swaddling her in this miracle blanket swaddler. She was too long for it so we'd swaddle her with arms in the miracle blanket swaddler, but legs out. Then we'd swaddle her in the green fleece one which wasn't as tight on the arms but kept her legs happy. Phew, did you catch all that? Double swaddle.
(or as Joe and I would say 'double swaddle all the way...starting to look like a triple swaddle'...what you haven't seen this youtube video? okay never mind, we're crazy)

Moving on...recently it got warm, too warm so we bought a knit version of the large swaddle-me, still double-swaddling. And then, amusingly, one night Everly (who is naked under her double swaddling, remember?) found the velcro on her diaper and undid it. One soaked swaddler later and the miracle blanket was abandoned and thrown in the washer.

Now Evs sleeps in a single knit swaddler and wears pajamas or a onesie underneath (to cut off her access to the velcro tabs).

This has been a great way to transition to help her wean off swaddling. As you can see in this picture (taken today) she sneaks her arms out of the bottom and finds her binky. She's still semi-restricted but can "re-bink" herself if necessary. And she's getting used to some more mobility.

Eventually we'll try what others have suggested and wean her from the swaddle by:
1. Swaddling with one arm out, then
2. Swaddling with both arms out
3. Swaddling only her legs
4,.No swaddle!
(we attempted this months ago and it was NOT time....much much crying night after night)

So in summary here's what we learned:

Quick tips:

Almost any blanket will work in the early days, we liked the muslin blankets for summer, but I have a friend who swears by flannel which has more friction and is harder for babies to break free of
Some babies hate being swaddled, but some newborns just don't know what they want. At first I thought Evs hated it, but I tried again later and noticed she really loved it---maybe fought getting in but slept more soundly in it. So I think it's a good idea to test it out a few times before deciding -- swaddling really can help a lot of babies calm down to sleep.
Swaddle-me type swaddlers with velcro are a great option---they come in fleece or knit, but over time the velcro wears down and doesn't hold as well
Miracle blanket swaddler -- this swaddler costs a bit more but you could buy it and have it be the only swaddler you ever need. It can get a snugger fit because there are no velcro sections. And Evs really can almost never bust out of it, even at 12 months.
Wean when the baby is ready, you cannot force a baby to ready to abandon the swaddle. Ant least not our baby.

So there you go...more swaddling advice than you ever wanted to know. Hope it helps someone.

Now just watch, our next child will hate being swaddled. That's just how it goes.

p.s..how cute are pictures of a sleeping baby? Love.

For Sunday: I believe in the family

2011-05-29T01:29:00.000-06:00

Tonight I was thinking about one of my favorite quotes and thought I'd share. The former prophet of my church, President Gordon B. Hinckley, had this to say about families:

"I believe in the family where there is a husband who regards his companion as his greatest
asset and treats her accordingly;

where there is a wife who looks upon her husband as her anchor and strength,

her comfort and security;

where there are children who look to mother and father with respect and gratitude;

where there are parents who look upon those children as blessings and find a great and serious and wonderful challenge in their nurture and rearing.

The cultivation of such a home requires effort and energy, forgiveness and patience, love and endurance and sacrifice;

but it is worth all of these and more"

All my life I've thought about the kind of family I want to build -- and certainly over the course of the past year. When I was attending BYU I took a religion class called "LDS Marriage and Family"--I loved that class and often wish I could take it again now that I'm married with a child. The thing that stuck with me most about that class was that good families--great families--don't just happen. They are deliberately cultivated. Or as President Hinckley says "cultivation of such a home requires effort and energy, forgiveness and patience, love and endurance and sacrifice" and as he says, "it is worth all of these and more"

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the ways great families cultivate such a home -- the routines and traditions that make it happen. Because I've got a little baby who's growing up fast and I feel like there's a lot of ways Joe and I could improve to make our family even greater than it already is.

A Few Random Things

2011-05-26T19:03:00.000-06:00

Truthfully, there's no time full blog posts on everything I'd like, but I have a few awesome things to share so here goes:

Food-Wise:

I made these paprika spiced pork chops with spinach this week -- winner winner ~~chicken~~ pork dinner, they were awesome. And fast. And since I trim almost all fat of meat before we eat it they were pretty healthy too.
With the other two pork chops I made these pork & ginger potstickers. Next time I think I'll reduce the ginger and add some carrot or celery, but overall they are awesome. The wrapping part is time consuming but you can freeze 2/3 of the recipe and then you have other dinners all ready to go. Also...with potstickers it's nice to know what's in them. It freaks me out a bit when I ponder what's in them at other restaurants (cough. Panda Express. cough.). Also I was delighted to discover that my food processor can, indeed, "grind" meat...which is how I turned pork chops into ground pork Awesome.
This blog, "Word of Wisdom Living" is awesome. Add it to your lists of must reads. I like nutrition information and I like the way it's packaged here -- common sense, not too extreme, little challenges to improve your diet. And in short blog post doses. Read it.
I started reading the book "In Defense of Food" and it's completely changing how I look at what I eat. I cannot recommend it enough.

Baby-wise:

Evs had thrush. :( It was sad. Her doc isn't sure why she got it (she's never been on an antibiotic, which is the biggest cause) but luckily she's been taking a nystatin and all is improving. Yay for doctors
Evs still has only one tooth. She wants to eat table food....she's not particularly successful in consuming table food.
Still not sleeping through the night most of the time. But once in a blue moon she does and it is bliss.
Slowly weaning off the swaddle, phew!
After several months of hiatus from rolling Evs has decided rolling is the bomb. She rolls all over, everywhere, getting into things. Still no interest in crawling...
Learning how to drink out of a sippy cup, sort of. Today when I was taking her picture with her sippy she made this awesome face. ha ha

Joe-Wise:

The man of the house is still here, working hard -- by day at SEO.com and by night as a financial planner and mortgage officer (he'd love to help you out if you're in the market for that sort of a thing)
He is still a huge tech geek and trying to teach himself java...why not, right?
He still sings with an acapella group called Vocal Tonic. They are performing this summer at Taylorsville Days if you want to come -- Saturday June 25th at about 7pm. They are opening for an Abba cover band. I'm all over this event. :)
He will also be singing the national anthem at a Real SL game (I'm so there) and a Rocky Mountain Raceway Race (I'm, uh, not there...guess he'll have to give the free tickets to someone else...)
He's also singing later this summer at Raspberry Days in Brigham City...we're contemplating a trip with a stay in Logan overnight...if only I can get Everly to sleep somewhere other than her crib....we shall see!
He's the awesomest daddy.
I wish he and I were able to go on more dates, but high maintenance Evs makes leaving her with babysitters difficult (she won't nap, even for grandma!). For now we spend out time together in the evenings talking, eating things that are bad for us, and watching TV/movies. I love him.

Other-wise:

Other than that we're just busy with same old same old...you know: laundry, dishes, family parties, dinner with friends, walks in the park, exercise...oh and work. Joe works 2 jobs and I work part-time in addition to trying to mold a little human being. It's busy!
Did you want more of an update on work: I play with spreadsheets and answer emails. Almost exclusively at night while Evs sleeps. I know more about the minutiae of foreign aid data than is probably good for any person.
Quiet Book: I have a date with my mom on Saturday morning to finish the final details on the first 6 pages and get the cover done. Pictures forthcoming.
1st Birthday: We're having a family only bash (friends don't be offended!) in a few weeks. I'm excited to see Everly attack the cake.
I love pinterest -- follow me there an you'll see lots of things I'd love to blog about if I had time. It's so fun.
Photography: I'm shooting mostly in manual these days...it's very exciting. I love how much better my photos are turning out...and I have so far to go. If only I had more time to experiment.

And I'll end with a photo, because that's what I like.

I know I'm biased, but she is one adorable baby right?

About a year ago...

2011-05-24T00:21:00.000-06:00

Everly's first birthday is coming. In a few weeks. (pic above from the hospital)

I've been thinking lately about where I was a year ago. Pregnant, VERY pregnant. Wrapping things up at work. Nervous about labor. Ready to be done being pregnant, but sad about how I knew it would change things for us forever. Excited to meet her, but sad that our time as young childless couple was coming to an end. It was a time of great anticipation.

In so many ways our life now just what I expected (babies are sweet and wonderful) and yet in some very crucial ways it was not (umm...colic anyone? not sleeping through the night at a year? doesn't do well with babysitters/grandparents?). She's been a much harder baby than I ever could have imagined (last night it took 4 hours to get her to bed. oy.), but she's also been a total delight. Who knew she would be so cute and giggly? Her voice is the most adorable thing I've ever heard.

What a year it's been. We've been so blessed. Late at night when I go in her room to nurse her and put her back to sleep I can't help but be reminded how lucky we are. I've complained a lot over the past year, and it has been hard, but I love Everly so much and I'm so glad she's joined our family.

I'll post pics of her party and the finished quiet book (part I) when I can. Sometime in June :)

Breaking Bad Habits

2011-05-17T14:58:00.001-06:00

What have we been up to as of late? Oh the same old work, eat, sleep cycle with some play for good measure.

Oh and I quit biting my fingernails-a lifelong bad habit of mine. I'm not sure why I was successful. But its exciting so I just thought I'd share.

Now we'll see if I can keep from biting them next time we go to a suspenseful movie...better get some twizzlers. :)