Flip Flop Mama

I Am a Child of God

2012-02-10T13:59:00.000-08:00

I am a child of God

And He has sent me here.

Has given me an Earthy Home

With parents kind and dear.

Lead me, guide me

Walk beside me

Help me find the way.

Teach me all that I must do

To live with Him someday.

I was singing this to Little Sister while trying to get her to fall asleep and the reality of it just hit me. I was moved to tears. We have been blessed with such sweet Spirits from our Heavenly Father. And by "we" I don't just mean me, I mean every parent. We have been entrusted with His children. They depend on us to teach us, to help them remember who they are and that God loves them and wants them to return to Him.

(For those not familiar with this song, click here to listen)

Four Weeks Ago

2012-02-06T20:14:00.000-08:00

Four weeks ago today I was in the hospital giving birth to my third child.

Time has gone by so fast. My life is forever changed. I cannot imagine our family without her.

I think having such a fresh spirit in our home has helped me be closer to my Heavenly Father and feel the Spirit more strongly. I feel so blessed to be Little Sister's Mom. She is truly a blessing from heaven.

Little Sister's Birth Story

2012-01-11T14:22:00.000-08:00

I had a doctor's appointment on Monday January 9th at 11:30. All week I had been walking around dilated to 3 centimeters hoping to go into labor on my own. Obviously it didn't happen. I was really ready to have the baby so when my doctor asked if I wanted to that day, of course I said yes! She told me to just head over the hospital and she would be there later after they had started pitocin to break my water. I was hoping I wouldn't have to have pitocin, that she would just break my water, but I was willing if it meant I could hold my baby that day.

I was admitted around 12:30 and because the birth center was practically empty at that time they got me checked in and hooked up really fast. The nurse, Meghan, started the pitocin about 1:00 and we were on our way.

My contractions started right away and were strong and regular for a while but then about 2:30 they kind of lagged. I hardly had any for the next hour and a half. I was getting pretty frustrated and then my doctor showed up at 4:00 to break my water. Even more frustrating was that I was still only dilated 4-5 centimeters.

Breaking my water was really painful and it was worse because she was trying to move the cord out of the way so she had her hand up in me for a while. Finally she was done and said she'd see me in a few hours. She estimated I'd have the baby around 8. I figured it would be more like 6 but I didn't say anything. As soon as she left oh boy did the contractions start!

The first three were really strong but a few minutes apart so it was ok but and then they were right on top of each other. They were so intense. I was yelling and groaning through them all but the nurse was awesome. She kept telling me I was doing a great job. I thought about getting an epidural and actually decided on it about 4:15 thinking I'd have hours of contractions like this to go. The next time the nurse came I was going to tell her I wanted one. At 4:20 I got up to go to the bathroom and when I came back she checked me and I was 7 centimeters. I knew I wasn't going to make it until the anesthesiologist came so I decided to do it without. Plus, I felt like if I had just held out a few more minutes with Mr. Smiley before getting an epidural then my contractions wouldn't have stopped and I would have been able to push him out better.

Anyway so they paged the doctor and started to get the room ready in case I had the baby. I remember that my bed was flat--I'm not sure why--maybe it was still like that from when she checked me, I can't remember--but I could feel her coming. I had a really strong contraction and told the nurse "She's coming!" I had my eyes closed but I heard her call for some help, "We're going to have a baby! I need some help!" and one push later her head was right there. I can't really say I even conscientiously pushed, it just happened. My body was acting independently of my mind. Then another really strong contraction and I felt her just slide right out of me. It was surreal. I really didn't feel any pain besides the contractions. I just knew I couldn't stop her from coming. The rush I felt after was amazing! I couldn't believe that I'd just had a baby! I felt so good. She was born at 4:32 p.m.

They put her on my chest right away while the nurses were cleaning everything up and I said hello. She hardly cried, just stared at me. She was 8 pounds 4 ounces, 20 inches long and a 14 inch circumference head. A perfect baby!

A couple minutes later I delivered the placenta and then my doctor finally showed up thinking she still had plenty of time. She was really surprised that I'd had her so fast and that she totally missed it. I tore a little--what do you expect when someone my size pushes out an 8 pound baby--so she stitched me up and then went on her way! So much for the doctor. The nurses were wonderful! Meghan had actually just completed her midwifery schooling so she was completely qualified to do what she did. I couldn't have asked for a better nurse.

After checking the name list and trying out Lauren and Lily, I suggested Ashley. T-Bone said he was thinking it just as I said it and we knew that was to be her name. Ashley Price Johnston. (Price is my maiden name) Little Sister latched on right away and has been my most adept nurser so far. She's a natural. We were able to just relax for the next couple hours and enjoy our sweet angel. My dad and step-mom showed up a little later to meet her and then we settled in for the night. Little Sister slept like a champ, she's so calm, so I was able to get some rest. My mind kept reliving the events of the day though so it was hard for me to turn those off.

The next afternoon T-bone brought the kids to meet her and it was so sweet. Mr. Smiley was so amazed with her and of course Big Sister loves her to death. When we got home last night we let Mr. Smiley hold her and he wouldn't give her up for a while. He's so gentle--hopefully that continues--and loving. He likes to tell her, "It's okay, it's going to be alright. I'll take care of you." Melts my heart. Hopefully they will be best buds.

We are so blessed to have our sweet Ashley in our home. I couldn't be happier.

Before...

She's here!

Meeting Daddy

Meeting Grandpa

Our family of 5!

Mr. Smiley gave her a kiss right away

My three kids

Going home!

Boy Do I feel Better!

2012-01-08T13:37:00.000-08:00

I skipped out on church today. I had planned on just going only to Sacrament meeting. Then when a friend saw me in the hallway before it even started and I started bawling my eyes out because of pure exhaustion, I knew I wouldn't last very long. I could not keep it together and left after 30 minutes.

Best decision ever.

I sobbed all the way home and cried myself to sleep. I just woke up from a blissful hour and half nap with no interruptions--kids, doorbells, trying to roll over. I even dreamed of having contractions.

I feel so much better now.

The last few weeks of this pregnancy have been such a roller coaster. One day I'm super exhausted and can barely get off the couch. The next I'm happy and full of energy taking my kids to the park for 2 hours. I don't get it. Yesterday I was having a great day. I woke up in a good mood, full of energy and a bright outlook for the day. We took a walk as a family to the park and the kids played. The weather was gorgeous and everyone was happy. I felt wonderful. Then today I woke up a little more sluggish but doing okay, but by the time we left for church at 10:30 I was ready to throw in the towel for the day.

I have 3 days until my due date.

I'm pretty sure I'm not going to hold out that long. I have an appointment tomorrow and am going to ask my doctor if she will just break my water. Hopefully that will bring on labor and I can just have this sweet baby already. Before this week I was having tons of contractions and am even dilated to 3 cm as of Tuesday the 3rd. I was so optimistic that the baby was going to come sometime this week, but I have hardly had as many contractions in one week as I had in two days a couple weeks ago.

I'm huge. My belly sticks straight out. It pretty much defies gravity. I'm not sure how it's humanly possible that I'm still carrying this child inside of me, but I am. I've decided my body is capable of staying pregnant longer than physically possible for most other people. I like to defy the odds.

When people see me that I know you can see the look on their faces. "Oh Flip flop Mama!" they say. "You haven't had that baby yet?" Luckily I usually have a good attitude about it and can just smile and say, "Not yet." Not today though. That's why I left church. I knew I wouldn't be able to field all the comments graciously. I would have been a sobbing mess. But napped and fresh, I'm ready for the rest of the day.

I just have to keep telling myself, "You WILL have this baby. You WILL have this baby."

100 Things I'm Grateful For

2011-12-19T16:26:00.000-08:00

Following in the footsteps of my friend Cheryl, I am taking the challenge in the Ensign to list 100 things I'm grateful for.

10 physical abilities I am grateful for:
1. Walking...even though at this point it's much more of a waddle!
2. I can see
3. Knitting
4. Crocheting
5. Typing on the computer
6. Cooking
7. I can hear
8. I can touch, smell and taste!
9. To be pregnant and have healthy babies
10. To breathe on my own

10 material possessions I am grateful for:
1. My home. Big Sister has been saying in her prayers lately, "Bless all those people who don't have homes." and it's really made me more grateful for our small 2 bedroom apartment
2. My car. Can you imagine traveling to see family and friends that don't live in your neighborhood without a car?
3. Books
4. My bed. We've had a love/hate relationship the last few months, but I love it more than I hate it. I wouldn't want to sleep on the floor!
5. My cell phone that has internet. Makes staying connected to the world so much easier!
6. My comfy couch where I spend most of my time
7. My computer
8. T.V. and movies
9. Shoes
10. Clothes

10 living people I am grateful for:
1. My husband
2. Big Sister
3. Mr. Smiley
4. Little Sister--soon to make her appearance
5. My dad
6. My brother and sister
7. My sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law
8. My friends!
9. My Grandma Price
10. My aunts and uncles and cousins!

6 deceased people I am grateful for (I couldn't think of very many more):
1. Jesus Christ--my personal Savior and Redeemer
2. My Grandpa Price
3. Joseph Smith
4. My ancestors who have made it possible for me to have the life I have
5. President Gordon B. Hinkley
6. Authors who have written classic books

10 things about nature I am grateful for:
1. Sunsets and sunrises
2. The ocean and the sound the waves make
3. Gardens and being able to grow food
4. Flowers
5. The smell after it rains
6. Big tall trees that have stood the test of time
7. The warmth of the sun on my face
8. Mountains
9. Rivers and waterfalls
10. Wide open spaces

10 things about today I am grateful for:
1. That I could get out of bed this morning--albeit a little slow.
2. Yummy hot chocolate for breakfast
3. That I had money to buy things I needed from Target and Trader Joe's
4. That I washed a bunch of baby clothes and the car seat cover. Baby can come any time!
5. The tortilla chips I'm eating right now.
6. That Big Sister has been playing next door for a couple hours and has good friends close by
7. That my kids are happy and healthy!
8. That I got a power nap even though Mr. Smiley didn't take one
9. T-Bone surprised us and came home for lunch!
10. Going to look at Christmas lights tonight

10 places on earth I am grateful for:
1. Big Sur, CA
2. The beach
3. Yosemite
4. Nauvoo, IL
5. San Diego Temple (all temples for that matter!)
6. Anywhere my family is
7. North Shore, Oahu
8. My home
9. New York City--Even though I've never been there, I want to!
10. Gettysburg, PA

10 modern inventions I am grateful for:
1. Washing machine and dryer
2. Dishwasher
3. Electricity
4. Running (and warm) water
5. Internet
6. Computers
7. Grocery stores
8. Microwaves
9. Netflix
10. My iPod

10 foods I am grateful for:
1. Avocados
2. Hot chocolate
3. Frozen chocolate chips and peanut butter
4. Bean and cheese burritos
5. Water
6. Pumpkin pie with whipped cream
7. Blue Cheese stuffed chicken
8. Chicken tortilla soup
9. Spaghetti (it's my fall-back dinner and boy does it come in handy a lot!)
10. Really good soda like these

10 things about the gospel I am grateful for:
1. Scriptures where I can learn about Jesus Christ
2. Taking the Sacrament each week
3. Service
4. The eternal perspective that I have
5. Temples and the peace I feel there
6. Relief Society
7. Priesthood authority
8. Prayer and personal revelation
9. Reading the scriptures with my family
10. The Atonement of Jesus Christ which not only allows me to repent of my sins, but also heals and comforts me.

"When we make a list like this, we discover that a list of 100 doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of all the things God has given us."

This is so true. I have been very richly blessed in my life and it's wonderful to actually have all these blessings--plus so many more--written down. You should do this too!

Too Good Not To Share

2011-12-09T12:08:00.001-08:00

I don't usually share recipes but this one is just too good not to pass around. It's one of those that looks really good so it's great for company, and tastes delicious too!

Blue Cheese-Stuffed Chicken with Buffalo Sauce

Think backwards buffalo wings. I made this last night with some steamed artichokes and mashed potatoes (from food storage) and it was such a yummy dinner. Even Big Sister eats the chicken. Now, even if you don't like blue cheese you should try it. I hesitated for too long making this because the husband isn't a fan of blue cheese, but he loves the chicken.

**One little tip: Instead of stuffing them since it makes one side so much fatter than the other I flatten the breasts and then put the filling on one side and then just fold the breast in half and pin it together with toothpicks.

Enjoy!

So Far So Good

2011-11-17T12:58:00.001-08:00

Today has been much better than yesterday. I still feel like I could cry at the drop of a hat, but I feel a little more in control today. Of course the day is only half over and generally my emotional outbursts don't happen until between 4 and 6, but I'm confident I'll be able to handle what happens today better than yesterday. I was able to rest for an hour while I tried--unsuccessfully--to convince Mr. Smiley that it was nap time. His room is now a complete disaster, but at least there were no injuries to him or any possessions. I call that a success. Luckily there haven't been any more nose biting incidents.

To those that commented, thank you for your encouraging words. I really appreciate them and your friendship. I was grateful to hear your perspectives that it's easier to have a three kids then be pregnant with two. That gives me hope that I will be able to do this. It really is hard to see that things can get better, but knowing that others have succeeded gives me confidence. I realize that things are going to be hard for a while but they will get better and I just need to keep plugging on. I can get through these next 8 weeks!

What was I thinking??

2011-11-16T22:19:00.001-08:00

Reality hit me hard today.

I'm going to have three kids in 2 months.

It's taken me 32 weeks of being pregnant to fully grasp that. I haven't really had any time to think about it. I've had a pretty uneventful pregnancy until the last couple weeks so reality hasn't really sunk in.

Mr. Smiley's destructive tendencies and level of activity are inversely proportional to the capacity I have to deal with it. Meaning as I get more and more tired and unable to deal with messes and destruction, he gets more energy and more destructive. Today I was on the phone for 10 minutes, nothing too long, and in that 10 minutes he managed to bite off the nose of my styrofoam head. The one that models my hats? Yeah, that one. The one I need for a craft fair this Saturday. Yep. Luckily I was able to glue it back on and it looks mostly normal, but seriously? Biting off the nose? Who does that? Oh yeah, my 2 year old. Lucky for him I handled it pretty well. Unfortunately later Big Sister wasn't so fortunate and got yelled at.

I haven't been sleeping very well the last week or so. It's getting more and more difficult to roll myself over in bed and consequently I wake up every time I need to change positions. Luckily I usually fall asleep pretty quickly except if it's after 4 or 5 in the morning. Then I just get to lay there uncomfortable for hours until my kids wake up--which thanks to the end of Daylight Savings is usually a lovely 6:10 am. Anyone who knows me knows that without sleep I become a completely different person. Unfortunately not a pleasant one. Annoyed, short tempered, emotional, yelling. Not things I want to be. Today all those lovely qualities showed themselves. I'm not proud of my behavior, I wish I could take it back, but that's what it was.

Luckily T-Bone came home before it got too bad and right after dinner I sent myself to my room. I stayed there for over an hour crying, relaxing and listening to the scriptures while he got the kids ready for bed. It was very therapeutic. I also go to thinking about the future though. How the hell am I supposed to take care of three kids when I can't even keep it together with the two that I already have? What the hell was I thinking?

I know that things will change once I actually have the baby, but it's not like I'm going to be less tired.

Those of you with three kids or more, please tell me it's going to be okay. Please tell me I can do this!

Also please tell me I can make it though the last 2 months of pregnancy. I'm ready to have this baby today.

Hey look, a post from me!

2011-11-09T09:13:00.000-08:00

November is a time to remember what we're thankful for. I'm thankful for a lot of things, but I'm trying to think outside the box of family, house, gospel...you know the things I'm always grateful for. Today I'm thankful for soft tissues. I know that sounds silly, but when you have allergies soft tissues are one of the best things. I've suffered from allergies on and off for the last few years but the last couple months of my pregnancy have been especially tormenting. I have a continual runny, itchy nose and my right ear is most often clogged. Yes my doctor told me I can take a Zyrtec while I'm pregnant and I have on those really bad days, but I hate that it makes me super exhausted. I mean, I'm already tired enough, I don't need anything else to help me with that. So the soft tissues that soothe my runny nose are a blessing from heaven. I'm so glad I don't have to wipe my nose with leaves or newspaper or something like that.

Speaking of pregnancy, I'm 31 weeks today. 9 to go! I am grateful for this pregnancy too. Already having 2 kids I have a lot to do during the day--as all you parents know--and this pregnancy has been relatively easy for me. Besides the mild discomforts and things that I only discuss with my doctor, the weird leg thing that prevents me from lifting my right leg more than 5 inches off the ground without holding on to anything and the tiredness it's been pretty easy. I can still even roll myself over in bed. That's huge compared to my past pregnancies! I feel huge but I can still get around and do most everything I need to. I can tell when I've overdone it--that exhaustion really sets in--but overall if I'm smart I do okay.

I was pretty surprised last weekend at how well I'm feeling. I shared a table at a business expo in my neighborhood to sell my knitted and crocheted things. It lasted from 10-3 and I easily lasted that long too! I was glad the chairs were padded though. I ended up breaking even with the table fee and supplies that I had to buy, but I was pretty happy with that! I passed out a few business cards too so hopefully that will lead to some more orders. I was glad for the exposure and it gave me some good experience. So because of that my confidence has grown immensely! There is another neighborhood Holiday Boutique a week from Saturday and I'm going to do that too. This time I'm doing it by myself though so I have to sell more to break even, but I'm hopeful that will happen! And hopefully I'll even make some money this time! Getting ready for these expos and craft fairs has kept me very busy. I love that I can sit on the couch and crochet or knit and tell my husband that I'm not relaxing or wasting time, I'm working. Best job ever.

Anyway, I have to go get ready so I can take Mr. Smiley to the park in an hour. It's a gorgeous day outside today and I don't want to waste it! I'm thankful for San Diego beautiful fall weather! Have a fantastic day!

What I've been working on

2011-10-14T11:24:00.000-07:00

All through the month of September I've been knitting and crocheting like crazy. A friend of mine makes these amazing Waldorf dolls and commissioned me to make some sweaters and booties for her dolls. I've made a couple before but this was a big order. 4 sweaters and 10 pairs of booties takes a long time! I'm happy to say they're done! Check out her Halfpints and Pipsqueaks! They are adorable!

Each night I would sit myself on the couch, turn the TV on and tell T-Bone I was going to "do some work". That's the kind of job I like!

Because of this, Jamie's Knits, my Etsy store has been greatly neglected but not for long!

I Am a Christian

2011-10-11T07:53:00.000-07:00

I don't watch the news on TV so when I get news it's usually through the internet headlines or something posted on Facebook. The last couple days there has been lots of things posted about Mormon's not being Christians (On a side note, what the heck does a Presidential candidate's religion have to do with his ability to run for President?). I want to take this opportunity to clear this up amongst my friends and family. I may not be what some people define "Christian" but I wanted to share why I believe I am indeed a Christian.

I believe in Jesus Christ. I believe that the only way to receive salvation is through Him. I believe He died for me, was resurrected and that through the power of the Atonement, I can repent of my sins and return to live with him and my Heavenly Father.

I believe that although Joseph Smith restored the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on the earth in the 1800's it was only under the direction of Jesus Christ. It is His church and everything we teach is what our Savior wants us to know. As one of the Book of Mormon prophets wrote,

And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins. 2 Ne 25:26

Instead of listening to someone who clearly has no idea what he's talking about, do your own research. Go look at Mormon.org and make a decision yourself.

My name is Jamie, I'm a wife, a mom, a Californian. I am a Mormon and I am a Christian.

Pressing Forward and Clinging

2011-09-19T09:32:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago I finished the Book of Mormon again. I mostly listened to it and had a good experience but nothing special. After finishing I considered reading something else like the New Testament or the Doctrine & Covenants but decided that I needed to read the Book of Mormon again. When I started it again, I said a special prayer to help me get more out of it this time. I really wanted to try to study and learn instead of just being able to check off that I listened to it during the day.

So a couple days ago I was reading in 1 Nephi and came across this passage in Chapter 8 verse 24:

And it came to pass that I beheld others pressing forward, and they came forth and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press forward through the mist of darkness, ^aclinging to the rod of iron, even until they did come forth and partake of the ^bfruit of the tree.

For those that aren't familiar with what is happening in this chapter, Lehi has seen a vision of the Tree of Life. Instead of explaining it further, I recommend you go and read the whole chapter. The vision basically symbolizes our journey through life and eventual goal to reach eternal life. So back to the verse above...

Two things jumped out at me in this verse. The phrase "pressing forward" and "clinging". I loved the imagery these brought to my mind. The people in Lehi's vision were pressing forward through the mist of darkness. The new that they couldn't just wander through life without guidance and hope to reach their goal of eternal life, they needed something to hold on to. They also didn't wait for it to come to them, they worked hard to get there. When I think of someone pressing forward I think about an athlete in a race. I swam in High School and can remember having to be in the 500 yard event. Distance was not my thing. I could do just fine on sprints and even short distance events but the 500 was murder. There was a time I can remember where I didn't think I was going to finish, my body could not move any more. I knew I couldn't give up though, I had to keep going. I pressed forward through that water and even though I finished dead last, I finished. It took all the strength I had but I did it. I pressed forward, I didn't stop until I reached my goal. That's what I see these people in Lehi's dream doing.

And then once they got to the Iron Rod they clung to it. They didn't just touch it or even hold on to it, they clung to it like it was their life support. They had worked so hard getting out of the mists of darkness that they hung on to the rod with dear life as they walked forward. They knew that if they let go there was a chance they could fall into the mists of darkness and be lost again. Back to the swimming analogy: Sometimes pools are deeper than you can touch when you finish a race--let's face it most swimming pools are deeper than I can touch being 5'2"--but when you get to the end of a race and you can't touch, the wall is all you have to hold on to. You cling to that wall and don't let go. If you do, you would sink.

The Gospel, Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon are the things that we need to be pressing forward to get to and clinging on to when we get them. Life takes work. Having a testimony of the Atonement and the gospel take work. We need to not be wanderers in the mists of darkness, hoping that we will find the Iron rod to hold on to, but we should press forward until we find it and cling onto it when we do. Our life and salvation depend on it.

Vacation Rundown--Part 3 (The Final Chapter!)

2011-09-10T09:13:00.000-07:00

I know you all have been waiting with baited breath for the third and final--thank goodness!--installment of our Northern California vacation back in July. Yes I know it's the middle of September. Anyway, here goes....

We pick up the day after my grandpa's funeral, on Thursday. Orignally we had thought we'd just drive home on Thursday but since T-Bone could take the time off we decided to stick around the bay area and make a real vacation out of it! My brother and sister-in-law were there too so we spent the day with them.

We went to San Francisco around Pier 39 and once again this is as close as I've gotten to Alcatraz. I have wanted to go there my whole life. Someday...

We took the kids on a Cable Car ride

Rode the carousel at the Zeum museam

Found the Painted Ladies houses

These are houses I've wanted to see my whole life too. At least I can cross that off the list now. And how cool is it that my Grandparents lived in the one next to the yellow one?? So cool.

After an exhausting day in the city we drove to Los Altos and stayed in a crappy hotel. It had this door in the back that was bolted shut with a piece of sheet metal and reeked of cigarette smoke. We did eat at this super yummy sports bar for dinner though. The greasiest food I've probably ever eaten, but we were all starving and it was delicious!

The next day we stopped by and said good bye to my Grandma. Rachel got some one on one time.


And we took a picture with all of us.

After we left my Grandma's house on Friday we hit the road. On the way home we planned to stop at Henry Cowell Redwood Park in Santa Cruz to break up the trip a little. Imagine our surprise when we kept hearing the Thomas the Train song and train whistles when we pulled up. It was the Day Out With Thomas! So we hung out there a little while and took a picture with Thomas and Sir Thopham Hatt.

Then we walked around the redwood grove and saw all the huge trees.

We hit quite a bit of traffic on the way home and since we spent more time at the redwood grove then we planned it took us quite a while to get home. We pulled in at 1 am I think. Needless to say we were exhausted! I'm glad we had decided to drive home on Friday so we could have Saturday to recuperate. We needed it! Luckily the kids slept most of the night in the car so it wasn't too bad for them.

All in all it was great to get away and have a family vacation. Mr. Smiley loved the trip!

The Great Power Outage of 2001

2011-09-09T08:44:00.000-07:00

**This post will probably be super boring for most of you, but I just wanted to get it down for history's sake**

Yesterday I was walking home from getting Big Sister from school and a neighbor asked if we had any power. It was on when I left, but off when we got home. If you haven't heard the news here's the story. In short some guy was doing maintenance on a plant in Arizona and something happened which caused a chain reaction to occur. This knocked out power to all of San Diego, Imperial, and some of Orange counties, as well as parts of Mexico and Arizona. Serious stuff. By one guy. I was fine with the outage until I started to hear that it was at T-Bone's work, and at my dad's house too. Then I started to realize that this this was big. Something huge had happened. I kept trying to get online on my cell phone to find some news, but it wouldn't connect. I couldn't call out or get calls. The only thing I could do was text. I'm glad I had that or I would have felt really lost!

Luckily our heat wave this week has been waning so we kept our windows closed and it didn't get too hot in our apartment. I can't imagine this happening two days ago when it was 97 degrees and 55% humidity. We were able to open our windows in the evening and the air was a pleasant, cool temperature. We took a walk to the grocery store to get a few things--luckily I had grocery shopped a couple days before--like bread and bagels. Everyone there was nice and calm and just waiting their turn in the long lines. It was nice to see how people in my community reacted. I heard about block parties and group barbeques, San Diego is a good place to live. We had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and chips and fruit for dinner. Yum! Not enough to satisfy my pregnant belly but it was good enough for what we had. We were preparing to not have power for at least 24 hours, school is cancelled today and we weren't sure whether T-Bone would go to work or not. AFter dinner we sat on the porch where the moonlight was the brightest and just took in the evening. We listened to the news on our solar powered hand crank radio--which we put batteries in. And I've come to the conclusion that we need a camping stove. I need to know I can cook something. We had tons of food but it was canned or otherwise needed cooking. Emergency wise we are pretty much set--we have our 72 hour kits with spare clothes and emergency water and food. But we don't have a way to last those first 24 hours. A camping stove would really have come in handy last night.

Luckily we were blessed to have our power back on at 10 o'clock! The neighbors were cheering and jeering too since that meant they had to go to work. But we were all grateful to have our conveniences restored to us.

I always forget how much I rely on electricity. We have an electric stove and oven, the garbage disposal is electric, obviously lights, tv and computer (but I can live without those things for a few hours). I was hungry. I had planned fish tacos for dinner and was really looking forward to eating them. I can only eat bread and fruit and cereal for so long--plus it just doesn't fill me up! Pregnancy makes me a insatiable monster when it comes to food. I can eat a whole meal and half an hour later be starving. I managed to eat enough food so I could sleep and did so like normal.

The kids were a little freaked out. I made the mistake of telling Big Sister that it was going to be really dark last night since there wasn't going to be any street lights or anything. She was getting a little scared, but went to bed just fine. Mr. Smiley on the other hand has developed a fear of the dark in the last few weeks. Yay. He would freak out if it got too dark or if we turned off the flash lights. He wanted to carry one around all night, but since we didn't know how long we'd be without power we wanted to ration the battery life we had. So we kept him up until he was good and tired. I tried laying down with him in the living room but he wasn't having it. Then I saw a friend mention something about glow sticks in her daughter's room on her Facebook page. I gave him a green stick and sent him to bed. It worked like a charm! He was so happy to have his own "green yight" and I was glad he went to bed without much of a fuss.

Power was slowly restored through the night and by 4 am all of San Diego had power. SDGE worked really hard to get us all up and running. I'm glad to have my power back on!

I just don't get it

2011-09-02T09:24:00.000-07:00

I got my first taste of the new "Breast Cancer Awareness" Facebook status game yesterday. My friend wrote, "I'm 4 weeks and craving bubblegum." Figuring this particular woman would not be getting pregnant and announcing it at 4 weeks and also craving bubblegum I knew there was something up. This morning another friend posted something similar but with a different number of weeks and craving something different. Call me slow but I started to catch on that there was a Facebook chain letter thing going on. (In case you haven't seen it here's a link that explains it.)

Also call me crazy, but I just don't get it. The bra color thing was funny 2 years ago because it actually had something to do with breast cancer, but I thought the purse thing last year was pushing it. This year it's just going too far. What the heck does announcing a fake pregnancy have to do with raising breast cancer awareness??????

Seriously, it's driving me nuts. There has got to be a better way. Maybe I'm just a simpleton, but how about, "September is Breast Cancer Awareness month. Feel your boobies." or just posting a link to the Breast Cancer Awareness website? I'm pretty sure that gets the point across a lot more than confusing a bunch of people and possibly even hurting others feelings. Maybe I'm just ultra-sensitive because of my pregnancy history, but I rank this along the same lines as April Fool's jokes where women announce their fake pregnancies just to get a laugh.

Some of you probably don't agree with me and may even think it's funny. Rest assured that I bear no hard feelings if you want to play along, this is my opinion and my opinion only, but I won't be playing along. Instead I'm just going to ignore them and hope they stop. Ugh...

Vacation Rundown--Part 2

2011-08-26T11:15:00.000-07:00

Well I am really slacking at getting these vacation posts up. I can always find something I want to do more...If you missed the first one, here it is.

So after we left Crestline on Tuesday afternoon we drove all day to the Bay Area. I won't bore you with the mundane details of an 8 hour car trip.

The next day was my Grandpa's funeral. It was so wonderful to be there. I was really grateful we made the trip. Late last year I kept getting the feeling that we needed to see my grandparents, so if you remember in January we took a trip to see my grandparents. I was so glad we made that trip to be able to see my grandpa once more before he died. All my siblings and spouses were there and so many cousins, aunts and uncles (all of them actually) I hadn't seen in years! It made for a great family reunion. It's weird how funerals can do that...on one hand they are sad and somber--I miss my grandpa--but I loved seeing my family!

T-Bone and my brother being awesome

The boys of the family

The girls of the family

Me, my siblings and spouses

My uncle Phil gave the eulogy and I learned things about my grandpa I never knew. He won the award for most likely to be the most successful dentist (or something to that effect) from UCSF. He practiced for 37 years and was very well loved by his patients. He told his kids before he died, "People are important. Things are not." Great words of advice that I think will become the family motto. A few other things I want to remember: he had appendicitis; loved to garden-which I knew; loved technology and especially new technology. He always had to have the latest thing. He was super smart and loved to learn. He had an amazing testimony and loved to teach people. He knew what his purpose on earth was but he was ready to move on and get going on his next purpose. Before he died he told my aunt Kathy "Do you know what the plan is? When I die, they are going to send me to a very large hill so I can teach the gospel to a lot of people." My dad spoke then about Grandpa's love of the gospel and of the truth of the resurrection. He ended his talk by reciting "Did Jesus really Live Again".

Did Jesus really live again?
Yes, when the third day came,
He wakened and he left the tomb;
He called Mary’s name.

Did Jesus come to those he loved?

Yes, people touched his feet,
And of the fish and honeycomb
He did truly eat.

And there were nail-prints in his hands
And a spear wound in his side.
Did Jesus really live again
After he had died? Oh yes! And so shall I!

It was perfect. Of course there were tears shed, but how can you be sad about a life so well lived? He was a great man. I feel blessed to have known, loved and been related to him.

After the funeral I tried to get pictures of the grandchildren on my side of the family but that was like herding cats. It didn't work very well.

Uncle Tyler and Abbie

My darling niece Abby

All cousins except my brother's kids

All the cousins on my side...it was rough trying to get pictures of them...

Big Sister with cousin Elizabeth

My sister

My sister-in-law with her daughter, Millie

After the service we went to the gravesite and one of my uncles dedicated the grave. Then we had a luncheon and said goodbye to most of the family. I wish we could have spent more time together though!

Jesse, Elizabeth and Grandma

Grandma and Jesse

My cousins carrying my Grandpa's casket

The pallbearers--all of these are my cousins except my brother

Siblings

Jesse and my Dad

Later that day we went to Pacifica with my brother and his family and just relaxed on the beach while Jesse surfed.

Playing in the sand. This boy loves sand!

Jesse catching some waves

Jumping off cliffs!

Despite having to say goodbye on this earth to my grandpa it was a great day with friends and family.

**stay tuned for installment number 3...hopefully a lot quicker than this one. **

Surprise!

2011-08-12T16:11:00.000-07:00

To say I am surprised today is putting it lightly. I am blown away. Yet despite my astonishment I am thrilled and as happy as I could be.

We had our big ultrasound appointment this morning. Yesterday I put a poll on Facebook to see whether others thought we were having a boy or a girl and the boys won out 11-10. Turns out half my Facebook friends were as wrong as I was.

This little person coming in January is a GIRL!

I seriously could not believe my eyes. Last week when I had an appointment I asked my nurse midwife to do a quick ultrasound to see if she could tell what we were having. Friends who are not quite as far along as me already knew and I was getting antsy! I couldn't be sure but thought I saw some tell-tale lines but the machine was old and she was having a hard time getting a good between the legs shot so I dismissed it. When the ultrasound tech was taking all the boring measurements and things I thought I caught a glimpse of the tell-tale three lines but I couldn't believe it that time either. But sure enough when it was time to "determine the sex" it was there. I've seen 'em both and this was certainly a girl. Unless this Mr. is really shy it is a Miss. I had to laugh. I told the tech to look again. I laughed some more.

Ever since the beginning of this pregnancy I've been sure it's a boy. I had no reason to think otherwise. I "felt" it was a boy. Then a couple weeks ago I had a small fleeting feeling that it might be a girl. Nah...But what if?? kept going through my head. Big Sister has been talking non-stop about it being a girl and because she already has a little brother it makes sense that now she would get a little sister. She even picked a name out for her a week ago. I was trying softly to tell her that we would love either a boy or a girl hoping to soften the blow for when we found out it was a boy. Turns out I should have listened to her all along. Little people can be more right I guess.

Needless to say she is thrilled! "I knew it was a girl!" she said when we told her, but surprisingly she hasn't really said much since. Mr. Smiley says, "No!" when we tell him that there's a baby in mommy's tummy so clearly he has no idea what's going on. I'm sure he will be the best of big brothers.

This will sure be interesting though. I have nothing. As in I just gave away the last bin of girl clothes on Wednesday. My sister has a few things I saved that I loved from Big Sister but that's it. We are pretty much starting from scratch but that's okay, worse things have happened. She will have a place to sleep and be loved by so many people.

Surprises can be awesome. We are super excited for you to join our family Little Sister.

Vacation Rundown--Part 1

2011-08-11T13:50:00.000-07:00

To document our vacation a couple weeks ago I will be doing these obligatory vacation rundown posts. Read them if you want....

To give a little preface: A couple months ago I told T-Bone I really wanted to have a "real" family vacation--one where we didn't go to visit family, just us. Through the help of a friend and my mom I came up with the idea to go to Lake Gregory in Crestline, California. We decided to stay in a little cabin for a couple days and just enjoy the lake and surrounding area. Originally we were going to go up Monday and stay until Wednesday. Then, a few days before we found out my dear Grandpa passed away so we were lucky enough to be able to alter our plans.

We drove up Sunday afternoon after church and checked into our cabin. Crestline was much bigger than we had anticipated. We were picturing a really tiny mountain town around the size of Julian, CA but there are about 10,000 people that live there. I was so glad we got a cabin instead of just a hotel room. It had one room in the back with a double bed and then a futon in the front room. It was nice to be able to shut the kids in the back and not have to go to bed when they did. Some funny things about the cabin though was it was tiny. I think the whole cabin could fit in our kitchen and living room area--with space to spare. It was just fine for what we needed though. Another funny thing was the shower. You could tell it was an afterthought--the cabins had been there for quite a while because it was, well, here's a picture:

That's the door to get into the shower. I couldn't even fit without turning. It's a good thing I wasn't more pregnant or I don't think I would have been able to fit at all! It was quite roomy once you got in there, but it was like they just cut this foot and a half slot in the wall and then built on the shower. Very interesting. There also was no table--except we found one as we were cleaning up in the closet, whoops!--so there was a lot of eating on the floor.

Some photos from dinner the first night sitting on the floor.

Since it was Sunday when we got there we took the opportunity to just walk around the small town and see what we could see. We were just a block from the lake and quite a few restaurants. It's a cute town.

On Monday we woke up and just relaxed for a little bit watching cartoons. The lake didn't open until 10 so we took our time in the morning. When were were ready we headed over. The lake was cold! Big Sister had fun right away but Mr. Smiley wasn't too fond of it for quite a while. Here are some pictures from the day:

Big Sister and Daddy testing out the water

Big Sister on the waterslide!

T-Bone's turn

Daddy dragged Mr. Smiley out to the water but he was not thrilled to be there

Mr. Smiley liked the splash pad better

After a while Mr. Smiley got a little brave and touched the water!

Then decided it wasn't too bad and splashed a little

Gorgeous day at the lake!

We took a ride on the aqua cycle

and got soaked under the fountain!

Mr. Smiley and Daddy had a turn too

After a fun day at the lake we ended it with Round Table Pizza, some coloring and TV time. The next day we drove to San Francisco. More to come later....

Looking Up

2011-08-09T14:50:00.000-07:00

The last few days have been rough! I'm finally beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel and hope things keep getting better.

On Friday I went to the beach with my brother and sister-in-law. To get tot he sand you have to walk down lots of slippery stairs. I picked up Mr. Smiley in the stroller and headed down. A couple steps down my foot just slid right out from under me and I slid down a few stairs landing on my arm and my left shin. My leg was pinned under me and I couldn't move. Jesse and a nice man who was behind me, helped me up and then the rest of the way down the stairs. I had a huge scrape on my arm and leg and when I went to get it cleaned from the lifeguard she asked me if I was "from around here." That was pretty mortifying. Yes, I'm a local. I've lived here my entire life. Saturday my injuries didn't hurt too bad, but Sunday my leg was in SO much pain! Every time I got up and tried to put weight on it pain would rush through! I know there's nothing wrong with the bones it was just really sensitive. I think because of where the scrape was, the skin was so tight so it would stretch every time I tried to move. Plus my muscles were all sore from the impact. Not a great day.

Saturday wasn't awesome either. I haven't thrown up this whole pregnancy. It's very uncharacteristic for me, but I was very grateful. Well Saturday my body decides that it is time to give me my dues and halfway through my breakfast I'm in the bathroom. Ugh....17 1/2 weeks and I thought my morning sickness was over! I started to feel better after a little while--and a Jamba Juice--and it was a good thing too. I needed to go to Joann's and buy a bunch of yarn for some orders I made this week. And the day ended on a good note--Weezer at Del Mar! It was a great show. This is going to sound weird, but it was actually relaxing. We brought our blanket and a couple chairs and hung out in the back so it was nice just to listen to the music and have fun.

Then yesterday I was feeling really sick again. I thought I was just having more morning sickness but around 2pm I knew it was something more. I had a touch of the stomach flu. Ugh...The fever started a couple hours later and I took turns being in the bathroom and laying in bed for the rest of the night. My poor kids just watched TV all day but they were so good to me! My fever broke sometime over the night and I'm feeling much better today. Hopefully this will be the end of my sickness and injuries so I can be a better mom!

I don't want to complain too much...I know too late. There have been some really good things lately. A lady I sold a few hats to a couple months ago posted a link to my store on her Facebook page and within a couple hours I had tons of orders coming in! It was really exciting but a little overwhelming too! I'm glad to be making some money though! Never underestimate the power of word of mouth.

Lastly we find out what the sex of the baby is on Friday! I'm so excited! Any guesses?

I'm feeling better and there's good things to look forward to. Despite the rough weekend things are looking up!

Blah Blah Bloggin

2011-07-20T16:00:00.000-07:00

It's almost the end of July! School starts in exactly 5 weeks from today and I'll have a 2nd grader! That's just crazy. I know there are still 5 weeks of summer left, but it just seems like it's flown by. Last summer I was so worried about Big Sister having enough to do without driving me crazy that I bought her a 1st grade workbook. She did that thing every day and boy was I glad I bought it. I think it kept me sane. This year she brought home a bunch of uncompleted workbooks from her class and so I didn't need to buy one for her. She has maybe worked on them 10 times this summer. We've been busy--with what I don't really know. She's finally old enough to go play outside with the other neighbor kids without me always having to watch her so she's been doing that a lot. She loved to play with kids so it's been perfect for her. On our apartment floor there are two other girls and one boy within a few years of each other and she plays with all of them. I love it.

Speaking of summer we have our mini-vacation coming up next week. BS could not be more excited. Every day she asks how many days until we go to the lake! I hope it lives up to her expectations. I'm really looking forward to it too. It's possible we might have to extend our trip as well and head up north. My grandpa fell last week and broke a vertebra in his back. They were able to do surgery and there wasn't any nerve damage, thank goodness, but he developed pneumonia and is not doing very well. I am so glad we took the time in January to go visit him and my grandma. It was strange because a few months before I told T-Bone that I really felt like we needed to go visit them. I wanted them to see my kids and I wanted to be able to spend some time with them when they were healthy. My grandma has the early stages of dementia too, so the sooner we got up there the better. We had a great visit with them that I will treasure always. Big Sister is old enough too where she should be able to remember them at least a little bit.

I'm 15 weeks pregnant today. I'm pretty sure I've been feeling the baby move for a couple days. I know they say you aren't supposed to feel movement for a few more weeks yet, but it's in the right place and feels like kicks, so I'm taking it. Word is finally getting around amongst my friends, but I'm not quite showing yet. I can tell and my family can tell, but to most every one else I just look a little chubby. I think this will be the pregnancy where I will gain my least weight. My big ultrasound is in three weeks and yes we will be finding out what the sex is. For a minute I thought about not finding out, but I don't think I can. I like knowing.

Well I think I'm through babbling. Have a lovely day!

Happy Independence Day!

2011-07-04T07:46:00.000-07:00

O! say can you see by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O! say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war’s desolation.
Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the Heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust;”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Isn't Summer Supposed to Be Relaxing?

2011-06-28T20:37:00.000-07:00

I had plans to get on here and blog a little this afternoon but then that never happened. I swear I have zero time to do anything now that summer has started. Am I the only one?

We had our ward pool day today at our apartment complex pool and after a couple hours I left to take Mr. Smiley home for a nap. I left Big Sister there with some friends since she wasn't quite ready to come home. Mr. Smiley crashed and I figured I would have some time to do some things I've been neglecting before she got home. So I showered and sat down at the computer with the attempt to write a few things about what's been going on the last few weeks, but I got sidetracked and then Big Sister came home and then it was all over.

So here we go...our sweet peas ran their course and we had to pull them out of our garden last week. To fill the space we bought a couple little cantaloupe plants and planted them in its place on Friday morning. Yesterday I went up there to water (Spencer went the time before) and something had eaten all the leaves off! I'm so bummed. I don't know if they'll last through the week--if they can pull through--but if they do we will have to get some kind of protection. It makes me sad that they got eaten.

With Big Sister home I feel like I can't accomplish anything. I used to have a good two hour window while Mr. Smiley was napping where I could just relax and knit or read or clean if I felt so inclined, but now I have nothing! I'm barely finding time to read my scriptures and sometimes I'm in bed at night realizing I haven't for the day. She is not one to willingly play by herself, so she's always begging me to play with her. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. I'm a big fan of encouraging self-play but even then I can't get anything done.

So BS doesn't pester me constantly about watching TV, playing on the computer, or playing on my iPod, a couple days ago I instituted a one hour of screen time a day rule....the one exception is I have the discretion to add or subtract time. It has been wonderful! Except she will now ask at 8 o'clock in the morning so I've had to say no TV before 9 or 10 to give her a chance to do something else before planting her butt on the couch for an hour. I love that there is no constant begging and that I don't have to be the TV police. It's up to her when she gets to watch (if it's after 9 or 10) and when it's done, it's done.

I'll be 12 weeks tomorrow! I was really close to throwing up today. The closest I've come this pregnancy. I don't know what it is....I feel a little queasy for a little bit each day, but nothing even close to how crappy I felt pregnant with Mr. S or even BS. He put me through the wringer. I still feel like this is a good one, but even if it's not, I'm throwing myself emotionally in the whole way. I'm so in love with this little person already. I haven't been quite as tired during the day with this one either, but by 8:30 I'm ready to pass out. I've fallen asleep on the couch almost every night for the past week before 9 because I'm so exhausted. If you missed my Facebook post last week here is what our little person looks like. He was super wiggly during the u/s and you can see his arms and a little hand even in this shot. His head is kind of alien shaped but we'll take it! :)

Since I haven't had much quiet "me" time the last week and a half I haven't been doing much knitting or crocheting. I made a bag a couple weeks back that I use for the beach and pool toys and that was fun.

Now I'm making this: Lace Bolero. I started it a few days ago but last night I screwed up so I had to take about half of what I had done out. I'm not really motivated much to work on it, but I will. I think it will come out cute and it's for me! I rarely make things for me, so that's another reason to really find some time...if I can stay awake at night after the kids go to bed.

Lastly I'm so excited! T-Bone has tons of vacation time. He's been taking a day here and a day there, but since he has the time off I figured it was time to take a real family vacation this summer and actually use that time. So a couple weeks ago I had the idea to go to the mountains and a lake or something like that and camp or stay in a hotel. My ideas were pretty firm as you can see. I was bouncing off some ideas to my mom about maybe Lake Arrowhead and she mentioned a great little place just down the mountain--Crestline and Lake Gregory. So I looked into it last week and it looked just darling. Little cabins right around the corner from the lake and a fun little town and I knew that I wanted to go there. So finally after thinking about it for a while and reading Susan's post today I booked it! I'm excited to have our first family vacation where we are not going somewhere to visit family! Not that I have any problems visiting family--it sure makes vacationing cheaper!--but I want it to be just the 4 of us. BS is thrilled. I showed her the little cabin that I booked and she wants to go tomorrow. I think it's going to be a long month for her to wait...and I hope it lives up to our expectations.

So that's a little about what's been happening so far this summer. Here's to a great rest of it!

How To Eat A Strawberry

2011-06-08T20:25:00.000-07:00

Take a bite to test it....

Take another bite and let the juices run down your arm....

Inspect it to see how much is left....

Smile for the camera....

And shove the rest in your mouth!

Yummy!

So Happy!

2011-06-03T09:11:00.000-07:00

At least I'm trying to hold on to the happiness. It's really hard to balance the pure joy at seeing and hearing your growing baby's heartbeat and wondering if it will be the last time I hear or see it. I really envy those who get pregnant and blissfully go through the next nine months without a care in the world. They just get to happily anticipate the beautiful gift that they have been blessed with. It truly is a gift.

BUT I did go to the doctor again yesterday and felt pure joy. My doctor got the ultrasound machine and at first all she said was "There's the egg sack" and my heart dropped. I didn't know if that was a good sign that the egg sack was still there. But then she moved it a little the the left and there was a gorgeous picture of the life inside of me--with a strong beating heart. They got a new ultrasound machine that converts into sound and even though I'm barely over 8 weeks I could hear that beautiful sound! Just thinking about it again brings tears to my eyes. I'm so so grateful for that.

Even though I know I'm not out of the clear--two of my miscarriages were after seeing the heartbeat a couple times--just knowing that everything is good today is good enough for me. Deep in my heart I feel like this one is going to make it, but I don't know if that is just the hope that I have that it will, or if my instincts are correct. I guess I won't know for a few more months.

As for today I'm pregnant until I'm not and that makes me happy.

Happy Birthday Mr. Smiley!

2011-05-25T07:45:00.000-07:00

My little man is 2!! Happy Birthday little guy! We love having him in our family, he's such a ray of sunshine. Just a few things about him:

*He has an infectious giggle and even though I can never get a picture of him smiling he is a very happy kid.
*Every time he says the word "truck" it comes out "f--ka". It's awesome. I cringe every time. I don't know if I'll ever get used to heaing my little 2 year old swear. Why, oh why are there so many trucks around?
*He says, "Dada work, Big Sister school, Mama home" every day just so he knows where everyone is.
*He loves to watch Thomas the Tank Engine, Phineas and Ferb and Sesame Street.
*One of his favorite things in the world is balloons. The living room was filled with them this morning when he woke up. Incidentally he woke up crying this morning at 6 (I think he may have rolled out of his bed) and when I went to get him and put him in our bed the first thing he noticed was the "bayoons!!!"
*One of his other favorite thing is motorcycles. Anytime he sees one--or hears one--he yells, "Ycle!"
*He loves strawberries, pizza, cereal, juice, pickles, waffles and bread. But he'll eat a lot of things. He definitely has gotten a little more picky lately but still likes a variety of foods.
*He loves his "bleh-bleh" (green blanket)
*For the last month he's been sitting on the potty a few times a day. I wasn't sure he was really ready to potty train, but I think I'm going to bite the bullet and go get him some undies and see how it goes. Almost every time I change his diaper he tells me, "peepee potty!" so he definitely knows what it means!
*He's our "yes" man. Pretty much everything you ask him he'll say in a very voice, "YES!"

We love you Mr. Smiley! Happy Birthday!

3 and 3

2011-05-19T21:09:00.000-07:00

I've been extra emotional lately, under a bit of stress. Consequently it has contributed to my yelling and and ability to cry at the drop of a hat. This week has been the worst. It's been a roller coaster of emotions as I try to sort through things and get certain things sorted out. On Monday Big Sister was talking back for the 100th time that morning--did I mention it was only 8 o'clock?--and I just lost it. I yelled at her and I yelled at her good. Then because of it I cried my eyes out. You know the ugly sobbing, convulsing cry. I felt terrible. I had woken up stressed and took it out on my sweet daughter. I hadn't cried like that in probably 5 or 6 months. Through the sobs I prayed. That was all I could think of to do. I prayed for forgiveness, prayed for comfort and most of all prayed for the ability to control myself. I composed myself and continued on with the day and got Big Sister off to school. The day did get better though. A dear friend saw my pathetic post on Facebook and offered to bring us dinner. It was such a blessing and I am beyond grateful to her. Tuesday and Wednesday were better (although I did cry again yesterday trying to talk to an insurance company). Today has been great so far though. I got to go to the doctor and I got to see something beautiful.

Two weeks and one day ago I found out I am pregnant for the 6th time. Today we saw a tiny, beautiful beating heart.

I wasn't sure I wanted to have another child. I was completely content with our two a few months ago. The thought of being pregnant again and possibly going through another miscarriage was not something I wanted to think about. T-Bone was completely supportive too, and he was the one that thought we should have three. He didn't want me to have to go through another miscarriage either. Then I had an experience where I knew that there was one more for us. I never thought I'd have one of those. I've heard people say they felt like someone was missing from their family or had a dream or even that there was a spirit watching them and they'd get a glimpse of them. Honestly I always thought those stories were kind of weird. Not that I didn't believe them, but....I didn't quite believe in them. But now I know that those things can happen. I was stubborn and I guess I needed a little push to understand.

I had a panic attack when I found out. I knew in my heart, yet I didn't really want to know so I waited a couple days before taking the test. I guess I didn't want to have to face the reality and the stress that comes with me being pregnant. It has been a really long two weeks. Lest you all think that I'm dreading this, I am happy. I look forward to the day when I can bring another child into our family but the what-ifs of the present sometimes get in the way of my joy in the future.

I know that it isn't usually conventional to spread the news of a pregnancy so early--I'm only 6 weeks--but my pregnancies haven't really been conventional either. Besides if I lose it I'm going to post about it anyway, cuz I just can't just keep my mouth shut. Plus talking about it is therapeutic. I've been doing everything I can to try to keep this pregnancy--taking progesterone and baby aspirin, and taking it as easy as I can--and especially praying. Heavenly Father has heard from me a LOT. I realize that I may not know everything and that there is a plan for me and things don't always work out the way I want them to--I would be an idiot if I didn't acknowledge that--but I do know that prayers can't hurt and there is a big chance they actually can help. And so I ask if you will say a prayer or two or however many you want for me.

This is our last try. If we can end the record at 3 and 3 we'll be thrilled.

This is what happens....

2011-05-01T16:11:00.000-07:00

....when Big Sister leaves her markers--all 50 of them--so Mr. Smiley can play with them when he wakes up from his nap.

At least he didn't have any clothes on to ruin. This is the first time we've had to experience this, but based on this kid's track record, I'm sure it won't be the last!

And The Winner Is.....

2011-05-01T14:41:00.000-07:00

MELISSA!!

Look for an email from me. Thanks so much everyone for entering and playing along! Happy Sunday!

Last day to enter the give-a-way!

2011-04-30T06:00:00.000-07:00

Be sure and enter my giveaway before it's too late! Comments close at 10pm PST tonight! Also if you have done something and not commented please let me know so I can make sure you get an entry. Good luck!

Desire and Progress

2011-04-28T10:05:00.000-07:00

**Don't forget to enter my give-a-way!**

A few months ago I decided that my abs were way too weak.They never really improved from being pregnant with Mr. Smiley and I guess I thought they would just improve on their own. Haha, I know, right? I was really slouchy sitting at the computer and especially on the couch. They needed help. My posture needed help. I could hardly stand up straight. I had this idea that every day I would get up early and do a few sets of 25 situps in the morning.

Well that lasted all of about three days. I got super sick and then took a few weeks to recover and just lost all motivation in the morning to get out of bed any kind of early. So I didn't do any situps for a while. Then I started seeing my friend's postings on Facebook about how many situps and pushups she had done each day (thanks to a handy little iPhone app). That was just the motivation I needed to get my butt in gear!

I bought both the apps and did the initial tests. I could do 50 situps (even though I have lousy posture I can do situps) and a big whopping 3 pushups. I knew I needed some help!

I did the first pushup workout but barely and I'm sure I did some of them on my knees. The next few days I did most of the workout on my knees and it was still really hard. Finally the wall came on the 6th workout where I couldn't even finish it on my knees. I knew the app was making me progress faster than I could. So I went back a few days. From then on I've only done them on my toes. I have slowly progressed so that I can do 20 in a row! Also I can do 200 situps consecutively, as well now. It's so great to be able to see myself progress.

There was a talk given in the LDS General Conference about desire by Elder Dallin H. Oaks. He said:

Let us remember that desires dictate our priorities, priorities shape our choices, and choices determine our actions. In addition, it is our actions and our desires that cause us to become something, whether a true friend, a gifted teacher, or one who has qualified for eternal life.

I know that this is mostly about the desire for eternal life and to be a better person through coming closer to Christ, but I think that it can apply to most of the things in our life. If we desire something, we are going to make it a priority and choose what we want to accomplish that goal. I had a desire to be strong. I chose to work hard. In one month I've improved so that I'm 5 times "stronger" that I was when I started. That's a good feeling. It's good to see progress.

Some other choices

2011-04-25T12:49:00.000-07:00

I have a lot more things that I haven't listed on Etsy or that due to the designers wishes, I can't list on Etsy and I wanted to share some of those things that you could choose from if you win the contest!

Yes, I've been on a black and gray kick lately! :)

All of these are color and size customizable!

600th Post and a Contest!

2011-04-22T20:35:00.000-07:00

This is my 600th post! I've been blogging since November 2005 and while I'm sure there are many people who have been blogging less time than me and have many more posts, I'm satisfied with my result. It's not a competition after all. I feel satisfied with my quality of blogging. I feel like I have chronicled my children's lives well for them. But most of all I feel like I have chronicled my life for my children. I want them to be able to know who I was when they are older. I want them to know me. I want them to understand why I have made certain decisions in my life. I want them to see that there is both good and bad in life and most importantly that we can overcome the bad; that we can always find the good and keep going.

So in honor of this my 600th post, I am holding a contest! I will give away one handmade (knitted or crocheted) item of your choice--either listed on my Etsy store or a custom item that the winner and I will agree on!

So there are a 4 ways to enter:

1. Leave a comment

2. Blog about the contest

3. Twitter/Facebook about it

4. Visit my Etsy store and tell me your favorite thing listed!

Please tell me what you have done in your comment (no need to leave a separate one for each entry)

The contest will go until Saturday, April 30th and I will announce a winner on May 1st. Good luck!

One of Those Days

2011-04-21T16:53:00.000-07:00

Today has been one of "those" days. It started out innocently enough. I dreamed I was partners with Sarah from Chuck. We were kicking but and fightinh bad guys. It was a weird dream because I woke up out of breath like I'd actually been fighting with someone.

After rushing out the door to get Big Sister to school since she was moving at slug's pace this morning, I hurried home and rushed through my own getting ready routine. I managed to make it out the door on time to my visiting teaching appointment. We had two and on the way to the second Mr. Smiley started to look tired. I made sure he didn't fall asleep on the way knowing that would ruin all chances of a good nap later and we had a lovely visit with our other lady. By this time Mr. Smiley was pure exhaustion and I laid him down as soon as we got home. Naturally he protested so I got him out of bed and fed him lunch.

I promptly put him back in bed only to listen to him babble and play for 20 minutes. Knowing he probably needed a diaper change I went in there and took care of it. Who likes to sleep in a poopy diaper anyway? And while I'm asking questions, why does he always poop *after* I put him down for a nap? I sat down and listened to him play some more while I listened to my scriptures and watched a little TV while knitting. By 1 o'clock I thought he had finally gone to sleep. Boy was I wrong.

About 1:20 I finally gave up on him sleeping and went in his room. I found him on top of his dresser, clothes strewn everywhere, an empty sucked on candy wrapper and sticky drool all over his clothes, face and hands. First of all I had no idea there was even candy in his room! So I admitted the nap defeat and brought him to the living room to finish my show with me. Despite his lack of nap he was being really happy and well behaved--he must have gotten it all out in him room.

We finished my show and he continued playing while I busied myself with other things. About 5 minutes before it was time to get Rachel, I went to change his diaper. I laid him down and because he was wearing overalls I noticed his diaper didn't quite fit right. It was in a bunch by his knees. I prayed there wasn't any poop in that diaper.

Of course there was. It was also all smeared in his pants and on his legs. At first I thought it would be fine if I just cleaned him with wipes but it quickly became clear that he needed a bath.

Here's where I tell you I made a batch of delicious chocolate chip cookies yesterday for Knit Night at my house last night. It's also where I tell you I've noticed in the last few weeks that desserts are really messing with me. I have noticed that if I eat a "pick me up" kind of snack anywhere between 1 and 4 I am a bear to be around during the rest of the day. It makes me overly tired, emotional and extremely short tempered. I am an emotional mess come 6 o'clock when T-Bone gets home. I usually even out a little after dinner once my blood sugar has had time to adjust. So, lately I've been pretty consciencious about my eating habits so I can be a better mom in the afternoon. Well I'm sure you've guessed, I have eaten a lot of cookies in the last 24 hours.
So back to the realization that in 5 minutes I need to leave to get Big Sister AND give Mr. Smiley a bath after eating way too many cookies for my body to handle and not having my quiet time that I desperately love and look forward to. I lost it. I was ( ) this close to tears as I called my friend to rescue me. She gratefully went to get BS as I cleaned up the little monster.

As soon as BS got home we got in the car and raced off to her tennis lesson, me super emotional the whole way there. Luckily Mr. S fell asleep on the way and I got my much needed quiet peaceful time that I was denied earlier. It gave me some time to think about the day and reflect on other things as well.

I could be having a baby today. My due date was in a few days and while I really have come to accept my loss, it still hurts every once and a while. It still has the capability to make me sad. I know most of the sadness is sugar induced ultra emotionality (I don't know if that is even a word....) but I'm going to let myself feel it today and then I'm going to move on.

Tomorrow is another day. Mr. S will proabably take a nap like normal, I'll have gotten the sugar out of my system and things will be back to normal.

In the meantime, it's going to be a $5 pizza from Little Caesars kind of dinner tonight.
*PS I wrote this on my phone in the parking lot of BS's tennis lessons while Mr. S was sleeping so please forgive me if there are gramatical errors.*

Things I Like

2011-04-19T16:28:00.000-07:00

*Mr. Smiley's giggle*

He is the laughingest kid I know

*My nursery kids*

I'm finding myself really enjoying them and I'm glad I like my calling!

*That there are only 4 rolls left of 1 ply toilet paper that I accidentally bought*

*My hair*

I got a hair cut a few months ago and decided to make a drastic change and cut bangs. For the first time that I can remember, I am really happy with my hair. I've always said I had bad hair and have never really been happy with it, but I'm happy to say that I really like it right now! (It could be too that the baby hair is finally blending in with the rest of my hair too!) Along the same lines, I love my flat iron. What did I ever do without it? Oh that's right, have crappy hair.

*Big Sister's tennis lessons*

I had the idea that she might be good at tennis so I signed her up for a month worth of lessons. She is doing great and even better, she loves it!

*How Mr. Smiley says, "I Love You"*

*Listening to Big Sister read*

Her reading has really exploded lately and I'm so proud of her!

*Watching my garden grow*

It's doing so well! It's so fun to go up there and see the fruits of our labors. Most of the things we planted from seed and they are actually growing!

*Knitting and Crocheting*

I made this tie for Mr. Smiley and he loved it. He was so excited that he had a tie just like Daddy! I'm making him and T-Bone matching ties for Easter.

And I made a skirt for Big Sister. She's always begging me to make her things, so she was pretty excited about this twirly skirt. (Sorry the picture is so crappy...)

*Knit Night*
I love being able to knit with my friends!

*And of course my family!*

We have him trained

2011-04-17T19:49:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of the school year I set an alarm on my iPhone for Wednesdays at 1:50 so I wouldn't remember to go get Big Sister on early release days. It was a life saver a few times. I would have totally forgot to go and get her had the alarm not gone off. Pretty soon the one day alarm turned into all 5 week days. I found myself getting caught up in things--especially if Mr. Smiley was asleep--and not realizing what time it was. Also I hated to constantly look at the clock to see how much time I had left until I had to go and get her. I knew that once the alarm went off, I would have enough time to gather what I needed and throw some shoes on before heading out the door. Most of the time Mr. Smiley was awake so he would hear the "Bell Tower" alarm too. A couple months ago he started recognizing it and would get really excited, grab his shoes and say Big Sister's name. He knew it was time to go get her. He knew what the alarm meant.

Around the same time we were trying to be better at reading the scriptures as a family. T-Bone had an idea that we should set an alarm for 7pm every night so that we would be reminded. So far it's worked great. At 6:58pm the theme from Star Trek goes off and Mr. Smiley knows it's time to read scriptures. He'll run to the living room and reach for our books. We have him trained.

So this leads me to the final purpose of this post--bedtime. We were finding that although Mr. Smiley was pretty good about going to bed, it was taking him quite a while to grasp the idea that it was time for bed. We had our routine: scriptures, jammies, teeth, books, but it wasn't clicking. Finally I had the idea to set another alarm. This time it's a duck sound. So at 7:26pm we hear "quack, quack, quack, quack." Mr. Smiley will always run to find my iPhone and bring it to me saying "gak, gak, gak". He knows that means it's time for bedtime. It has been the best thing ever! When that alarm goes off he settles down, we say prayers and walk out. No tears, no following us out of the room, just laying down on the floor--wherever feels right that night--giving kisses and saying good night. It's so peaceful!

I thought it was just funny when Mr. Smiley started recognizing the "Big Sister alarm," but now I love that he recognizes his bedtime alarm. It makes bedtime so much better! I love that we have him so well trained! :)

A Random Memory

2011-04-15T12:12:00.000-07:00

The other day I was driving home from running some errands and I saw a sign on the side of the road that read, "Shingles Shots Here." To the average errand runner that might not mean much but I found it odd. Also, for the last few months every time I shop at Vons I hear a commercial playing over the intercom warning senior citizens of Shingles.

All my life I have never heard one thing advertised about Shingles and now there are two places that are warning people of them and even inoculating against them. I had heard of Shingles before but always thought it was an old person's disease.

That is until I had them.

Have you ever had them? I hope not. They are so painful. Let me tell you about the time I had them.

When I was 21 I went to BYU-Hawaii. I got there in January 1999 and didn't know a soul. I went out there alone but hoping to learn, find some friends and get a job. The semester started the way it should and I commenced job hunting. I had no money as my student loans hadn't come in yet so I wanted to find a job as quick as possible. Every day I went into the Financial Aid Office to check the job boards. I applied at the PCC and other places on campus but no one would hire me. It was very frustrating. A couple weeks went by and I still had no money. I decided to take out a temporary loan from the school to at least cover my tuition and book costs.

As time went on I became more and more stressed about not being able to find a job. I had made a few friends with the girls in my dorm, but was feeling pretty lonely. I was on an island by myself, with no job and no money. I prayed every day to help me find an job and help my student loans to come through. Pretty soon my prayers were answered. One day I went to look for a job again. This time i talked to one of the girls at the front desk of the Financial Aid office instead of just checking the job board. She said that she was going to quit in a couple days and I could have her job. It wasn't listed yet but she let me apply and a few days later, I was gainfully employed!

I guess the stress of everything leading up to that point was too much for my body to handle though. A couple days later I started to feel this shooting pain in my back. It was like someone was stabbing me very rhythmically. I couldn't figure out what was causing the pain because there was nothing showing on the surface. I even asked my roommate to look at my back...nothing. A couple days later the bumps came. Then I knew something was wrong. It itched like crazy and the stabbing pain was unbearable. I went to the Health Center and the doctor confirmed it was Shingles. I guess since the disease had progressed so far the doctor said there really wasn't anything they could do. He gave me some medication, but with a comment that it really wouldn't help. I just had to let it run it's course.

The rash was so painful I would lay on my bed with an ice pack on my back just so I could numb the skin. There were a few nights when I slept without a shirt because anything touching my skin would hurt. It didn't help that the rash was right where my bra sat. I remember one time when a few of my friends and I were walking though the halls of campus and I cracked a joke. My friend slapped me on the back because it was so funny and the sheer pain of that impact brought me to my knees. After two weeks the blisters and pain finally went away and I was able to go back to normal, thank heavens.

Even to this day whenever I feel random shooting pains anywhere in my body I fear that shingles has returned. It always makes me reassess my life and see if I'm getting too stressed about things. So far I haven't gotten it again, thankfully. That is something I never want to experience again.

I Decided

2011-04-08T09:22:00.000-07:00

Thank you all for your comments (or phone calls) about the craft fair. I'm glad people think I can do it. Thanks for your confidence! It really helped mine. But, after thinking about it for a few days, and weighing the pros and cons I decided that I'm not going to do the craft fair.

The biggest point in making my decision was it's only a month away and I don't have tons of things just stashed away waiting to sell. I'd have to really go crazy making things and I think that would make me go crazy. Not that I don't always have a project that I'm working on but that I'm not sure that I'd have enough in a month. Plus there's this other contest that I want to enter that I need to work on. It's just too much. And the other thing is that most people don't want to buy beanies at the beginning of summer. It's just not the right season, ya know? I know I could make cute little spring hats or summer shade-type hats, but....As you can see, I'm really not that committed.

Anyway, I'm happy with my decision. I don't need more stress right now. I just want to continue enjoying doing what I do.

Putting Myself Out There

2011-04-06T11:41:00.000-07:00

I'm thinking of doing this: Sidewalk Saturday.

The thought of it really makes me excited, but it also terrifies me! I have such fear of putting my stuff out there and having no one want to buy it. I'm not sure I can live with the disappoinment. Since listing most of my things on Etsy, I've only sold a few custom-made things to my family members. I'm really happy about that, but I really want to sell something to someone who is not related to me. People are looking at my items, I have over 80 views on just one item but they just aren't selling. Are my prices too high? I'm not putting this out there so that you will all feel sorry for me and buy something, but just putting it out there because it makes me kind of sad. It's hard when your hopes are dashed.

Maybe I need to do this sidewalk fair to get my Etsy name out there. Etsy is such a huge place and I'm just a little fish. Let me be clear that I'm not looking to make a business out of this. I really just want a way to make a little money doing something I love. And mostly so I can keep buying yarn and supporting my hobby. :)

I love knitting and crocheting. I love the peace I feel when I have those needles in my hands and they are making something out of string. I guess I just need some more confidence in myself.

What do you think, my few readers? Should I pay the $50 bucks and take a chance or just accept the fact that I am destined to make gifts instead of money? (Not that I don't love giving my things as gifts, I really do)

Family Pictures--as promised

2011-04-04T11:46:00.000-07:00

I put these on Facebook too, but here are the pictures we had taken a couple weeks ago. I love them! Thanks again Brooke!

My Family

2011-03-28T11:46:00.000-07:00

On Friday we had our family pictures taken. My friend Brooke took them and I can't wait to see them when they are ready! Taking family pictures gave me an opportunity to explain to Big Sister about coordinating outfits and getting our hair just right. And also that she had no choice in what she wore. :) On a more serious note I explained to BS that this is a time when we get to document wheat our family looks like at a certain time in history. I take pictures of the kids all the time and T-Bone but rarely do we all 4 end up in a picture worth saving together. It was a fun experience and I'm sure the pictures will turn out great.

Later, I read this article. You should read it too--go ahead, I'll wait. To summarize, she talks about how she is not the kind of feminist that we usually think of--looking for success and worth outside of the home. Instead she relishes the eternal role of wife, mother and woman as it was divinely arranged. She makes the point that the only way we can reach our full potential and do the most good in the world is in the family.

While this is a really great essay, it really didn't do anything new for me except put into words what I feel in the way toward feminism. It did however lead as a springboard in my thought process to the general and more broad topic of the family. My family in particular. I have a wonderful, hardworking and loving husband and two adorable children--if I do say so myself. T-Bone and I were married in the San Diego Temple and while this may not mean anything to some of you it means the world to me. It means that no matter what happens to either of us or our children in this life--if we are living a righteous and worthy life--we will live together forever. We were married for time and eternity. I treasure this.

Each day I look at my children and hope I'm teaching them the right things. I hope I am being a good example for them. I know I fall short many days--I'm nowhere near perfect--but I do my best. I believe in the principle of eternal families and that each member of the family has a special role to play. I believe that women were divinely designed to do what we do--bear and nurture our children--and that we can find pure joy in this endeavor.

I am grateful to be able to document our family on Saturday "officially" because it helps me remember what is really important in life. The Family.

Conculsions

2011-03-16T11:23:00.000-07:00

I've come to two conclusions lately:

First of all, it's important to have guests over for dinner at least once a month so that your family gets a well balanced meal at least that often instead of a here's-some-spaghetti-with-tomato-sauce-so-it's-balanced kind of meal.

And secondly, it's important to have people over to your house in a social setting (different from dinner) at least once a month so that it gets clean. And not just the things-moved-around-so-you-can-vacuum-the-crushed-goldfish-in-the-living-room kind of clean. I mean the kind of clean where you clean off the surfaces and actually put things where they go and not just in a pile somewhere for putting away later.

Warm Souls: Help for Japan

2011-03-15T09:33:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you but my eyes have been drawn to the devastation in Japan and my heart goes out to all the survivors and their families. I cannot imagine what they are going through over there. My aunt and uncle live in Tokyo right now and I just found out today they are going to Hawaii tomorrow. I can't be more relieved to know they are going to be away from all the terrible things that are happening. I wish that we could provide a way for everyone who wanted to leave to do so. But unfortunately, we can't. There are things we can do though: donate to the LDS Humanitarian Fund or another charity to help the recovery efforts. I would like to suggest another way if you don't want to donate money.

For the last two years our Stake has been making quilts to donate to those in need. We call it Warm Souls. We have donated over 150 tied quilts to people in our community and to the LDS Church. This is an ongoing project. Our Stake Relief Society President called the LDS Humanitarian Servies to ask what they would need during this disaster and they said quilts.

SO our efforts are needed once again, this time quickly! Right now we are in the gathering stage. We need FABRIC! Do you have stashes of fabric in a pile in your house that you don't know what to do with? I know I did. They can use all sizes but preferably cotton. We also need twin size flat sheets (these are used as the backing for the quilts). If you or someone you know would like a way to help, please consider donating for Warm Souls! We want to make 100 quilts in 6 weeks!

Email me flipflopmamablog at gmail dot com if you want to help and I will get you more information and let's help the people of Japan!

New Life

2011-03-13T20:37:00.000-07:00

I'm totally a nerd for taking these pictures and especially for posting them on my blog, but here is what we found in our garden yesterday!

I am so excited!

Unpimp...Your Auto

2011-03-12T18:33:00.000-08:00

Remember these commercials?

V dub German engineering in the house, yah.

Bulky King Charles Brocade Hat Pattern

2011-03-10T10:13:00.000-08:00

My mother-in-law requested a blue hat made by me, so instead of just doing a boring plain beanie I decided to design it up a little. I decided on the King Charles Brocade pattern that I found on Knitting on the Net. I had to change the pattern a little because it is a flat pattern and I knitted this in the round. Here is the pattern:

I don't have the measurements of the hat, but it will fit an average woman's head. It fit me perfect.

Supplies Needed:
**Needles: Size US 8 circulars for the brim, size US 10 circulars for the remainder of the hat, size US 10 dpns
**Tapestry needle for weaving in loose ends
**Bulky yarn--I used Bernat Softee Chunky in Faded Denim
**This pattern uses a multiple of 12 + 1 so if you want to make it bigger or smaller make sure your stitches follow that.

Helpful hint: This pattern uses alternating sections of knitting stitches and alternating purling/knitting stitches. Following the pattern can get a little tedious until you figure this out. Once you do you can just figure out the number of knitted stitches needed and alternating purl/knit stitches. So for example once you get past the first few "starting" stitches on Row 4 the pattern goes k3, p1k1p1. So you are knitting 3 then doing 3 stitches of the purl/knit pattern. Row 5 is k5, p1k1p1k1p1k1p1. So 5 knit stitches and then 7 repeats of the pattern. I hope this makes a little sense and doesn't make the pattern more confusing. It helped me not have to be constantly looking at the pattern for each row. Let me know if you have any questions!

Cast on 73 stitches and join in the round.
BRIM:
Knit around until brim measures 1 to 1 1/2 inches
Purl one round

HAT:
Row 1: k1, *p1, k9, p1, k1; rep from *
Row 2: p1, *k1, p1, k7, p1, k1, p1; rep from *
Row 3: k1, *p1, k1, p1, k5 (p1, k1) twice; rep from *
Row 4: k1, * (k1, p1) twice, k3, p1, k1, p1, k2; rep from *
Row 5: k1, *k2, (p1, k1) 3 times, p1, k3; rep from *
Row 6: k1, *k3, (p1, k1) twice, p1, k4; rep from *
Row 7: k1, *k4, p1, k1, p1, k5; rep from *
Row 8: Rep Row 6
Row 9: Rep Row 5
Row 10: Rep Row 4
Row 11: Rep Row 3
Row 12: Rep Row 2

Repeat these 12 rows twice and then I think I did 1 through 6 again (or until your desired length)
Purl one row

DECREASES:
Note: I did 6 rows of decreases without any knitted rows in between, but I think I would have alternated a decrease row and a knit row for the first three decreases next time to shape the crown a little better. You can do whatever you prefer. Change to dpns when needed.

Row 1: k2tog, k5, k2tog, *k6, k2tog* (The first k2tog on this row is so that instead of decreasing 73 stitches you are decreasing 72 so that it's even.)
Row 2: *k5, k2tog*
Row 3: *k4, k2tog*
Row 4: *k3, k2tog*
Row 5: *k2, k2tog*
Row 6: *k1, k2tog*
Row 7: k2tog around

Cut yarn, thread tapestry needle and draw through stitches left on needles.

Weave in loose strands and you're done!

Feel free to use my pattern for whatever purpose you wish, I just ask that you give me credit when you link to it or sell something made from it.

Happy Knitting!

Knitting (and crocheting) is good for the Soul

2011-03-07T19:52:00.001-08:00

Planting Day!

2011-03-05T10:38:00.000-08:00

Today we planted our garden! I know some of you may be thinking it is a little early--not being spring and all--but it was 75° at 9 o'clock this morning. What a gorgeous day!

We have to wait a few more weeks for a couple things like cantaloupe and carrots but today we planted everything else we wanted. Right now we have lettuce, strawberries, peas, beans, rosemary, cilantro, flat-leaf parsley and basil. I'm so excited!

This is My Plan

2011-03-01T14:19:00.000-08:00

The other day some scrambled egg dripped down the side of my oven--between my oven and my cabinets. I meant to clean it that night, but I forgot. I finally got around to it today. I pulled the oven out a few inches, discovered a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser I didn't know I had and went to work. I haven't used one of those in a long time and I was sure reminded of the cleaning power. I proceeded to clean many of the other surfaces in my kitchen that needed cleaning. And then I got to thinking as I always do when I use one of those. "What the heck is in these?" I'm convinced Mr. Clean is actually an alien and whatever is in those erasers is from a different planet.

But I didn't want to talk about Mr. Clean Magic Erasers today. I was using that to distract you--and probably me too--from my real purpose in blogging today. Unlike some fleeting blog post thoughts I usually have, I cannot get this out of my head. I want to talk about miscarriage.

I would be 7 months pregnant right now if I hadn't lost the last baby. To say that's it's been a journey since October would be the understatement of the year. My emotions have been everywhere. I have been completely distraught, unable to even stop crying for hours, to content and vaguely happy and everything in between. I knew that would happen. It's not like I haven't been through it before, but it still is such a different experience each time. I have dealt with each loss so individually--kind of like raising each kid. They are all different.

Anyway, yesterday I got to thinking about how far along I would have been and then I looked at Mr. Smiley. He isn't even two. He wants me to carry him a lot still. He is still so much a baby. I get to play with him and him alone most of the day. I have my full health and am able to do pretty much whatever we want together. I cannot even begin to imagine myself 7 months pregnant. I know I would be in pain. I know I would be huge and really not wanting to get on the floor to play trains or cars all morning. I would not be as patient as I am. I would not be as willing to hold him with one hand while I cook dinner with the other one so he can see everything that I'm doing. (The boy is obsessed with cooking) Things would be very different.

When I got pregnant we weren't actively trying to conceive. But we didn't want our second and third children to be 4 1/2 years apart like Big Sister and Mr. Smiley are so we were welcoming whatever came our way. I was nervous to say the least. All I had known up to this point was how to deal with the terrible two's and the terrible three's with no younger siblings. Mr. Smiley would just be heading down that path as the baby was born. However, I figured things would work out. When I lost that baby I was devastated, but as time has gone on I have realized that things have worked out. I still think of those babies I lost almost every day. They are a part of me and will be forever, but I believe there is a plan--an individual plan, just for me. I'm glad for the opportunity to be the best mom I can right now with Mr. Smiley and Big Sister. Pregnancy changes so much in me. It throws the whole family into a tizzy and I'm glad we are not living in a tizzy right now.

Despite the pain and heartache I've had to go through this is my plan and I'm okay with it.

Knitting for Better--Final Tally

2011-02-28T11:08:00.000-08:00

It's been 2 months since the beginning of my Knitting for Better project. I set a goal to deliver 20 hats to Yarning for You by February 28, 2011. Many of you helped out either knitting-wise or with donations. I am so grateful to all of you who helped! I was able to get $40 worth of money donated and bought tons of yarn with it. In fact I still have money and yarn left over so this will not be the end of my charity knitting projects!

So to the total: I am proud to say that we met our goal of 20! Two of my friends and I knitted the hats thanks to the yarn money donation of others!

A heartfelt THANK YOU! to all those that helped.

Since I have so much supplies left over I will continue knitting hats for people in need. In our local area we have the North County Interfaith Community and other local shelters that I will contact to see if they are in need of any thing like this. Who doesn't need a hat??

I'm going to be a gardener!

2011-02-23T09:07:00.000-08:00

I like growing things. I'm not very good at it, but I love seeing life sprout out of the soil into a living plant. There have been many a potted plant that has came to it's end on my porch, but they are beautiful while they live. I've only really grown flowers because we live in an apartment, but I've really been longing to grow food. I've heard about the square-foot gardening thing, but it just never seemed the right thing. I know you don't need a ton of space to plant certain things, but I wanted a garden. A real, in the ground garden. So imagine my pure delight when a few months ago there was an email that went around our community about the possibility of putting in community garden plots for the residents!

I jumped on that right away and shared my desire to be a part of it. A few months later they are done and my family gets to have one! It's not huge--10x5--but I think it's perfect. We are so thrilled to be able to grow some food. Big Sister is especially excited and I'm really excited about the opportunity to teach her my limited knowledge of gardening. I grew up with a garden in our backyard for many years. My mom was an avid gardener. She grew blackberries, corn, beans, peas, lettuce, tomatoes, squash, carrots, strawberries--you name it. And that's not including the fruit trees either. We had an abundance of fresh food when I was growing up. I loved it! I want to have my kids working next to me in my garden.

The problem is, I have no idea how to garden! What have I gotten myself into?? I helped my mom weed, plant seeds and water the plants, but it was always under her direction. We bought a few seed packets last weekend and will see how much space we have after really getting to do some spacial planning this weekend. Despite not knowing anything, I really am excited about the adventure. Now to go get a copy of Gardening for Dummies. Does that book really exist??

Do you know a lot about gardening? Any tips you can give me?

Slightly Ribbed Baby Hat

2011-02-19T08:44:00.000-08:00

I made this hat the other day and made up the pattern as I went along. I thought I'd share it!

I made this for a newborn but you could change the needle size or add stitches in multiples of 8 to get whatever size you want.

I used size US 6 4.25mm dpns and Loops & Threads Snuggly Wuggly baby sport yarn. Again, if you want a bigger hat, use a heavier yarn.

Here is the pattern:

Cast on 72 st
Divide them on 4 dpns and join in the round. (I find that the "ladder effect" from using dpns is not as noticeable if you start with a purl stitch on each needle.)

Starting with a purl stitch do a p1 k3 ribbing for about an inch.
Knit in the round *p1, k7* until piece measures 4" for a newborn.
Decrease round 1: *p1, k6, k2tog*
Round 2 and all even rounds: Knit
Round 3: *p1, k5, k2tog*
Round 5: *p1, k4, k2tog*
Round 7: *p1, k3, k2tog*

Continue in this way (alternating a decrease round with a knit round) the last round. Then k2tog for the round.

Cut yarn and weave through remaining stitches on needles the pull tight. Weave edges in to secure and you're done!

George is modeling so that the "slightly ribbed"design is shown.

etsy and Other Exciting Happenings

2011-02-16T11:36:00.000-08:00

My etsy store is now stocked again! It has much better things than it did the first time. I'm actually quite embarrassed that I posted the things I did. I'm glad most of them didn't sell. Here is the link Jamie's Knits. Yep, for those that don't know that is my real name. I have been knitting and crocheting nonstop pretty much the last few months and I'm happy to say I really love it. I also love to make custom things for people, so please ask if there is anything you want. And now that I'm shamelessly done promoting myself I'll move on to other topics.

My body hurts. My thighs are bruised, my back is bruised, my sides are achy and bruised. No I haven't been abused. I went Indoor Go-Kart racing last night. A couple months ago T-Bone found a Groupon for basically buy one, get one free so we bought one and so did his brother. We had a one-day-past-Valentine's Day double date last night and that's where we went. It really was fun but it's pretty brutal. Before racing we were planning on going to this restaurant in Cardiff by the Sea but we drove around and around trying to find it. The guys were looking at the map on their phones and they said it looked like it should be in the San Elijo campgrounds but we didn't know how that would be possible. We called them and no one answered. Finally T-Bone pulled up their website and sure enough it was in the campgrounds and it closed at 6:00pm. Who ever heard of a restaurant closing at 6? So we went to another place and it was delicious. We decided to go to Las Olas accidentally again.

The other thing that hurts is my tooth. I'm pretty sure I need a root canal. I'm really no happy about this because it seems like as soon as we get any money (we just filed out tax return) we need to spend it on something worthless--like, say, teeth. I am grateful though, that the pain didn't come when we didn't have the money. The other day I had what felt like a sinus headache. I took some Tylenol and it subdued it but the pressure was still there. Then yesterday the pain pinpointed itself to the side of my face right above my jaw line. You know, where the roots are? Yeah, right there. Luckily there is a dentist right around the corner that I will be visiting today to make an appointment.

Last weekend I survived the climbing out of the crib debacle. Mr. Smiley can indeed get out of his crib. I ended up turning it around so the taller side is in front and taking out his crib bumper which he was using as a boost. That seemed to stop the climbing periodically, until he figured out how to get out again. The good thing is he doesn't do it regularly. When he is legitimately tired he will stay in his crib like this morning when I put him down for his nap. We are going to get Big Sister a regular twin bed--instead of the loft bunk bed she has (She has been sleeping in her sleeping bag on the floor the last few nights)--so that the room is safer if he gets out at night and probably have to get Mr. Smiley a toddler bed within the month if he keeps doing this. At least he can't open doors....yet.

In lighter news, Big Sister and I had a funny conversation today. To preface, Mr. Smiley's new favorite thing is to close doors. If any happen to be open, they won't be for long.
BS: Why is my bedroom door closed?
Me: Mr. Smiley did it.
BS: (frustrated) Why does he have to close all the doors? Then I have to open it every time I want to go in there!
**Life is really hard when your six and can't even summon the energy to open a door.

She can be pretty charming sometimes too. Last month we were driving home from somewhere and she said, "You know how much I love you Mom? The whole universe. I only love Daddy the earth."

Well that's all for this Wednesday of Flip Flop Mama. I hope you have a wonderful day.

5:30 in the morning

2011-02-11T07:44:00.000-08:00

It's 5:30 in the morning and I can't sleep. I've been laying here for 15 minutes with this story running circles in my mind and I know I won't be able to relax until I get it down. Why am I awake at this hour of the morning? Half an hour ago I was woken up by the sweet happy sounds of Mr. Smiley. Looking at the clock I rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. Nature calling, I had to get up and as I walked down the hallway I noticed the light on in the kid's room. I opened the door and there is Mr. Smiley playing on the floor and Big Sister sitting up in bed reading like it was the middle of the day.

"What is going on?" I ask.
"I was just reading."
I'm bewildered. "Do you know what time it is?"
Looks at her clock, "It's 5:08."
"Yes its the middle of the night. Go back to sleep."

I put Mr. Smiley back in his crib, turn the light off and go to the bathroom. When I come out there is singing and noises other than what I should of heard which is an unhappy toddler put back in his crib after waking to early. I open the door and Mr. Smiley is back on the floor playing.

I am really getting upset now. "What is going on here? Keep your brother in his crib! And no more singing!"
"I didn't get him out."

Not believing her, I put him back in the crib, shut the door and go back to bed. Which brings me to now. Only while writing this I heard door rattling sounds coming from down the hall. Which could only mean one thing-Mr. Smiley was back out of his crib. This time I sent T-bone to deal with it. Sure enough Mr. Smiley was out again. Big sister denied getting him out again and if that is true we have a serious problem on our hands.

I was really hoping to get a good night's sleep last night. On what is potentially the most emotional day of the month and after the last two roller-coaster emotional days I need it. Guess the kids will be watching a lot of tv today while I hide out in my room trying to make up lost sleep and not kill them. Did I mention that there is no school today? Yeah, I'm already crying.

**The good news is I was able to fall back asleep at about 6:30 and slept for 45 minutes or so. The bad news is while I was sleeping, T-bone did discover that Mr. Smiley can indeed climb out of his crib. Anyone have a crib tent I can have? This is not good.**

Knitting for Better-update

2011-01-23T17:54:00.000-08:00

It's been 20 days since the kick off of Knitting for Better and I just wanted to give a little update on our progress. I have made 6 hats, Kaarin made one hat and is working on another and a different friend, Michelle has made one and is starting on another as well! So right now we have 8 hats toward our goal of 20. And thanks to the generosity of family members (my mom and my sister) I have $30 to put toward yarn for more hats! I'm going to finish up the one I have on my needles tonight or tomorrow and then go get some more yarn! I think I may have to extend the deadline just to make it through all the yarn I can buy! Thank you so much for all your generosity!

Also if your interested I am having our first Knit Night this Tuesday night, my house, from 7pm until we get too tired. Come learn to knit, hang out or knit if you already know how!

Northern California Vacation

2011-01-23T16:11:00.000-08:00

Last week we took our "first" family road trip. It was only sort of our first because we've driven to Arizona a couple times since we've had Mr. Smiley, but this was our first trip with more distance than that. My grandparents live in Menlo Park, CA and T-Bone's sister lives in Sacramento so our plan was to see them both. We drove up half way on Monday and then spent the night at a pretty dumpy hotel in Arroyo Grande, CA. I really liked the little town but the hotel wasn't what we hoped for. It reeked of cigarette smoke--even though it was a non-smoking room--and our bed creaked! Mr. Smiley has a hard time sleeping in his port-a-crib and he didn't disappoint this time. I'm not sure how much sleep we got that night only to be woken up at 5:00 in the morning. Big Sister got woken up too so we got an early start on the second leg of the drive!

We made it to Menlo Park at around noon and had a good visit with my Grandparents.

Me, the kids and Grandpa

Mr. Smiley and Grandma

Giving high 5's as we were leaving

and fist pumps

Later that night we drove to Sacramento area to stay with T-Bone's sister. We stayed there three days and went to the Train Museum, Fairy Tale Town and took a walk through one of the nature areas. The kids had a great time while were were there, but our mornings came way too early. Mr. Smiley slept in our room and woke up every morning at 5:30 after waking up once or twice at night. We planned on staying Friday night and driving home on Saturday but we couldn't bear one more night of non-sleep so we drive home Friday afternoon. We got home at 10pm and Big Sister went right to sleep, but Mr. Smiley had just woken up so we let him stay up for an hour. He must have been seriously sleep deprived because he slept in until 10 the next morning.

This train was so big each of it's wheels was 6 feet tall!

It was sad when they got eaten by a hippo drinking fountain

There was a little girl who lived in a crooked house

Driving Cinderella's carriage

A Night Away....but Not Really

2011-01-23T07:48:00.000-08:00

Last week we we were able to take a little vacation away from home--but not too far. My Dad and his wife had a condo in Oceanside for the week so we spend one night there. My sister's boys came to spend the night too and although it was a rough night between Mr. Smiley waking up and the boys waking up it was fun to be there. The weather was gorgeous! 74 and clear; it doesn't get much better than that. We took an early morning walk along the beach, sun bathed, flew a kite and just relaxed. It was wonderful!

The sunset as we got there on Friday night from the balcony

On the Oceanside Pier

Conan!

2011-01-12T11:26:00.000-08:00

Back when Conan was on the Tonight Show, T-Bone was thrilled. He loves Conan O'Brien. He really wanted to see him but of course his stint on that show didn't last very long. As soon as T-Bone found out Conan was going to have his own show and that it was going to be filmed in L.A. again he swore he would go.

He requested tickets and in December we went to a taping of Conan! We went with our friends the Whitings and because of fantastic traffic we got there super early. We were the 21st group to check in. They do it really nice there where you check in and then they tell you to just be back to the studio by a certain time to get in line. SO much better than sitting outside a building waiting for hours--like when I went to the Price is Right. So we got our tickets and then went to have some lunch. I won't bore you with the details, but we barely made it back in time! It was pretty nerve-wracking.

But we made it in and we were in the third or fourth row from the bottom! It was pretty exciting being so close. And even more exciting was when we were on TV! Here's the clip:

When he sat down I looked in his bucket and I think it was about $15 bucks! Too funny!

Afterwards, we went to this fantastic burger place, The Fix Burger, that our friends new about. The Rodeo Burger (bacon, onion rings, bbq sauce, mayo and cheddar) was to die for! I wish I had thought to take a picture of it. Wow, heaven.

So all in all it was a great day!

I bought a friend

2011-01-11T12:03:00.000-08:00

Meet my new friend Guinevere. I bought her a couple weeks ago. Since I've been spending so much time on my couch knitting and crocheting I thought I should buy someone who can keep me company instead of having real friends.

She helps me take pictures of all my things.

Especially hats

But not socks of course.

However, sometimes I use real people

I made all these plus 4 military hats and two others like that light greenish one since Christmas. Obsessed much?

Today, While the Sun Shines

2011-01-11T11:05:00.000-08:00

Today, while the sun shines, work with a will;

Today all your duties with patience fulfill.

Today while the birds sing, harbor no care;

Call life a good gift; call the world fair.

Today, today, work with a will;

Today, today, your duties fulfill.

Today, today, work while you may;

Prepare for tomorrow by working today.

The sun is actually shining today and there is some warmth in the air. I have this song stuck in my head. I have no complaints though. It's a good reminder. I need to work. I have been doing A LOT of knitting and crocheting recently. Neither of those things are inherently bad--in fact I'm knitting for a good cause--but I have realized something: That's pretty much all I do. Sure I clean my house when it needs it and go grocery shopping and cook dinner for my family but there are other things that I can do with my day. I'm just barely doing the minimum. That's not to say I'm swearing off knitting and crocheting. Hardly. I don't think I could function without my newest obsession but I find myself thinking less and less about other things that I need to do around the home.

I have a goal to make videos of the kids' lives. We have thousands of pictures that don't really get looked at and it would be fun to be able to make videos each year of them. I know Big Sister would especially love to watch one of herself. But instead of heading to the computer when Mr. Smiley is taking a nap or after they go to bed, I squat my ever increasing bum down on the couch to knit my latest project. Because I sit SO much my bootie is bigger and my abs are non-existent. To give myself some credit I usually listen to the scriptures or whatever book I'm currently reading as well so it's not all for vain.

But I guess I'm kind of bumming myself out lately because I really have things to say on my blog, but I get distracted by yarn and forget all about them. In fact if it wasn't for my iPhone I probably wouldn't read much email or blogs because I hardly ever sit down at the computer. Make no mistake, I'm not apologizing for not blogging--I hate it when people do that, it is for me after all--I just want my brain back. I think I may have knitted so much my brain has gone soft. It is very relaxing.

So this morning I got out of bed at 6:45 pulled my dusty yoga mat out from under the couch and I did some sit ups and stretches before I started my day. I figured that would be a good place to start to do something new. I also don't like New Years resolutions so I'm going to try to have a new personal improvement goal each month. This month I'm working on laying off my kids (thanks to the advice of Julie.) I'm going to let Big Sister be more of a kid; she needs that. I'm also going to strengthen my abs so I don't become a slouch every time I sit down. The month is almost half over so we'll see how I do.

I'm going to work while I can.

What do your kids watch?

2011-01-08T11:39:00.000-08:00

Big Sister is 6. Right now she is watching Dora instant streaming on Netflix. Words cannot begin to describe how much I despise that show. Why do they all yell? Drives me nuts. It bugs me also that she loves it so much. The thing is though that I'm not sure it would bug me so much if she was younger. I kind of think she's too old to be watching Dora. Am I crazy?

But here's the other thing....I have no idea what 6 year old girls watch on TV. We don't have cable and so all the shows she watches are either a DVD that we have or instant streaming on Netflix. What do your kids watch? Are they still watching Dora when they're 6? I also don't want her watching a lot of the other shows that they have on TV today though either. They just seem so grown up. She's kind of in the middle between the preschool shows and the older kid shows.

Well, I'm off to browse the Children & Family category to try to find more age appropriate shows for Big Sister. Any suggestions would be great!

Knitting For Better

2011-01-03T13:25:00.000-08:00

I've been doing a lot of knitting and crocheting lately. I'm even going to list some things on my etsy store pretty soon and hopefully make a little money doing something I love. It's been very fun and relaxing knitting hats and socks and scarves. I made a lot of Christmas gifts and used my knitting powers for good. However lately I've been thinking I really want to use my knitting powers for better.

I wanted to do this so much I prayed for it. I asked Heavenly Father to help me find a way I could use my talents to help other people. So a few days later I was looking at my local yarn shop' website, Yarning for You, and they had a link for Charity Knitting projects. The project is called Project Keep Our Troops Warm by making knitted beanies for our military. It's perfect! So I've come up with a plan. I want to gather as many knitted beanies as I can by February 28th to deliver to YFY for our soldiers.

Who's with me? If you know how to knit and live close just call me or email me (flipflopmamablog at gmail dot com) and you can drop off your hats. Here's the pattern they want you to use. If you know how to knit and don't live close, then email me and I'll send you my address and you can send me your hats.

If you don't know how to knit, live close and want to learn I'm going to have a tutorial night (and possibly a Saturday morning as well) sometime in the month of January. I'm still trying to nail down a good night--I'll post it when I decide. We'll quickly learn the basics of knitting hats. You will need to bring your own yarn and needles though which can be picked up pretty cheap at Michael's or JoAnn. If you don't know how to knit and don't live close and still want to help there are tons of videos online that can teach you. My personal preference is knittinghelp.com. Very clear instructions and videos. I've turned to that website many a time-just the other day actually when I was finishing my socks. Once you get the hang of the basic stitches a hat like this can take 3-4 hours.

If you want to help but don't know how to knit and don't want to learn then please consider donating money for the cost of yarn. A average size skein of yarn runs about $4.00 and can make one hat with some left over.

What better way to start the new year than with a service project? I very strongly support those men and women in the armed forces that keep us safe and I'm glad to find a way to give a little back. Even if it's not much at least we can keep their heads warm.

I want to try to get 20 hats made! I made this one over the weekend so the count is at 1! Let me know if you want to help!

That's what I get for saying I like my calling

2010-12-31T09:53:00.000-08:00

About 5 months ago I was called to be a Nursery teacher in my ward. To say I was surprised would be a complete understatement. I was currently serving as the ward Music Chairperson and the Relief Society chorister. Pretty low-key responsibilities and I liked it that way. I'm still the music person though. So I was not thrilled with that calling. I dreaded being in charge of the little people for 2 hours. I mean I get enough of that at home but I accepted the calling.

For a 4 or 5 weeks, I really did not enjoy being in the nursery. I was a burden, and I really wanted to be somewhere else. Then I remembered that I hadn't been set apart. (For those of you not LDS, we receive callings to serve in our congregation. When we do we receive a special blessing to help us accomplish these callings and we call that getting set apart). I had been sick, my kids had been sick, I'd been out of town--all kinds of things kept getting in the way. Honestly I can't really remember much of that blessing except that I will make great friendships while serving, but something changed after that day.

I really began to enjoy being in Nursery. I began to love the kids. I began to embrace my time there and make the best of it. I even felt the Spirit during the short 5 minute lesson time. I do enjoy my calling. It's tiring, but I like it. In fact the other day I was telling T-Bone that I'm surprised that I like it so much considering the hesitation I had at the beginning.

Well serves me right because last week I was called as the Nursery Leader instead of just a teacher.

Why oh why did I ever say I liked my calling? No really, though. I'm actually looking forward to the challenge.

Christmas

2010-12-28T12:07:00.001-08:00

We decided that Christmas Eve would be a great day to go enjoy the Christmas thing they have going at Sea World. Our passes have been so great this year! We've definitely gotten much use out of them. My sister and her family came and my Dad and Karen. It was a beautiful day! We originally planned to go Wednesday but with the storm we postponed it. It was a good thing we didn't brave the weather and go anyway because they closed the park due to flooding. The rain was crazy last week! Anyway, Se World was great except Mr. Smiley was kind of grouchy. About an hour later he was sitting on my lap and I realized how warm he was. Fever city. We saw another show and a couple more animals and then decided to get the little trooper home to rest. He ended up having a fever of 102.5 all weekend. Poor little guy.

So Christmas Eve evening was pretty calm once we got home. We read the Christmas story in the Bible and then The Night Before Christmas and then Mr. Smiley went to bed at 6:45. I had planned to spend little more time with Big Sister talking about Christmas and getting ready for Santa but she was intent on going to bed with Mr. Smiley too. So there we no cookies and no note left out for him. The funny thing is that at 7:30 she called out to us that she couldn't fall asleep. I let her come out and have a drink of water and then sent her back to bed. A little while later she did the same thing but since it was getting much later I told her she needed to stay in bed. I'm pretty sure she finally feel asleep around 8:15. Silly girl. Mr. Smiley woke up three times that night so T-Bone and I took turns getting up with him. Consequently Christmas morning came a little too soon for us, but not soon enough for Big Sister! We had a small but wonderful Christmas. All Big Sister wanted was make-up from Santa so he brought her that and a new Barbie. Here are some pictures (most of them will only be exciting to me, but feel free to browse! :) :

Merry Christmas!

Smorgasbord

2010-12-10T09:55:00.000-08:00

I noticed with my last post that I can now type in align left again~! It's been a while. It was stuck in center for months. It's the little things these days...

Anyway, so there is a bunch of stuff that I've been mulling around in my head lately and because this is my blog it's going here.

We got a note in the Wednesday envelope from Big Sister's school that someone had pertussis at her school and our children may have been exposed. Now I get the whole wariness of immunizations. I really do. I don't like giving them to my kids. I think that many of them are just ways for the pharmaceutical companies to make a lot of money--especially the flu shot. I also know that some children have reactions to them and I'm really sorry about that. But, and this is a big but, I do it for the good of society. I do it because babies die. As of September 18th, California has had 4,018 cases and 9 deaths this year of this disease. Immunizations help people. Don't put my children in danger.

Moving on...We got our Christmas tree on Monday. Last year we had a two foot tree on our side table and while it was festive in a much smaller scale, this year we decided we wanted a regular size tree. I was sucked in to the Bed Bath & Beyond ad of a 6 foot artificial tree for $50 with a 20% off coupon so for FHE on Monday we headed over there. I couldn't believe they were even selling it. I wish I had thought to take a picture. It was the thinnest Charlie Brownish tree I had ever seen. Needless to say we took one look and kept walking. Instead we played in the back of the store. T-Bone thought it would be fun to try out the fluffiness of the pillows on the bedding displays. He loved it. After our shenanigans at BB&B we headed to Target and found a much better looking tree for the same price.

We had only one string of lights that worked so after a couple days I finally got out to buy some. On Wednesday night Big Sister decided she wanted to decorate the tree. I was in the midst of making dinner so I told her that she could decorate it but that I wouldn't be able to help her until dinner was in the oven. Not five minute into decorating she asks me, "Mom can you help me find...." She paused not knowing what they were called and I seized the opportunity. "No, honey. If you can't find what you are looking for right now, then go do something else." Without missing a beat she asks, "You mean look for them?" **face palm** Turns out she was looking for the hooks to hang the ornaments. We only have two boxes of Christmas decorations and she "looked" through both of them. After dinner T-Bone helped her "look" for them. They were no where to be found. Then I stuck my hand in one of the boxes and not 10 seconds later pulled out a bag of hooks. I remember my mom being so frustrated with us kids because we could never find anything so now I know how she felt.

The tree is now decorated. Big Sister was nice enough to decorate the bottom two thirds of the tree with clusters of ornaments. I wish I had taken a picture. My plan was to systematically move 5 or so ornaments each night so that she wouldn't notice that I had redecorated the tree, but that wasn't necessary. Mr. Smiley helped me the yesterday. Whatever ornament he could reach he would very helpfully pull off the tree and bring to me. Then I would just stick it up on the top undecorated third of the tree. We finally have one of "those" toddler trees. I've given up this year on the "pretty" tree like I've had in the past. Maybe in a couple years. Ah who am I kidding? In a couple years the tree will be overridden by my children's homemade and "sentimental" ornaments. That will be a nice phase in tree decorating.

Mr. Smiley is at a fun age. He's learning to talk and has started saying quite a few words. Yesterday he said "apple" clear as day. Mostly it's just intonated babbling. You know, the kind where he is talking super intently and pointing and gesturing but you have no idea what the heck he is trying to say. I love it. He can say shoe (which comes out shi but it's always the same), bubble, blanket, here you go is always na-na while he hands us something, all done, diaper and a few more as well. Plus he signs more, all done, food, please and we are working on thank you. He is super fun to have around the house. I love watching him learn and grow!

And finally, next week we are going to be in the audience of the Conan O'Brien show! T-Bone is thrilled and I'm pretty excited too. He just cracks me up. If you haven't seen him in jeggings, I leave you with another video. Just don't drink anything while watching this. I'm warning you. I cannot be responsible for soda/water/milk/Koolaid all over your computer screen. I'm having a little trouble with the embed so here is the link: http://www.tbs.com/video/conan.jsp?oid=236630&eref=sharethisUrl

So long...

Meet my new friends

2010-12-06T13:10:00.000-08:00

This is Fenwick.

And this is Ernestine

They hope you have a lovely day.

Patterns from mind n soul and Amigumuri World

Happy #6 Big Sister!

2010-12-02T12:08:00.000-08:00

She's finally 6! She had to wait all year to be six because she has the last birthday in our family. Nevermind that we all have to wait a whole year for her birthday....She wishes that her birthday was January 1st so that she didn't have to wait a whole year. But she's 6 now! And beyond thrilled.
This year I gave her the choice of having a couple friends go bowling or have a few more friends over for a party. She chose a party with a Tinkerbell theme and invited some girls from her 1st grade class. So reluctantly I dragged myself to Party City and bought into Disney's commercialism by buying a plethora of Tinkerbell products. What I want to know is how Tinkerbell even became "something". She was a tiny fairy that sprinkled pixie dust in Peter Pan and now she has her own movie and product line??? Anyway, Big Sister is super excited so that's what matters. I'm happy to push aside my distaste for all things commercialized-Disney for the happiness of my child this year.
Some things about Big Sister lately:

She has been super helpful around the house. She loves to help me clean the bathroom, put away the dishes in the kitchen and wash windows. Let's hope that keeps up. She doesn't like putting away her clean clothes though.
She is reading like a champ now. Something clicked halfway though Kindergarten last year to where she figured she could read simple words, but just in the last couple months she has excelled with reading. She is getting much more confident. I'm so proud of her!
Her favorite foods are pizza and spaghetti. She loves to ride around on her razor scooter but her favorite thing to do is jump rope.
We love you Big Sister! Happy Birthday!

And the Award Goes to?

2010-11-18T14:13:00.000-08:00

Luckily no one yet! What award you ask? The First Broken Bone in the Flip Flop family.

Earlier today we thought that the award might go to Mr. Smiley. Yesterday he was running around the car and he tripped and smashed right into the side of the curb with his nose. It was really red, swollen and purple so we were a little concerned. The on-call nurse recommended we take him to the ER in case of a possible head injury, but I opted to just watch him overnight to see how he was doing. I'm glad I didn't spend 5 hours in the ER because he seemed just fine and woke up bright and smiley this morning.

Except for a green and purple nose.

I took him in to the doctor this morning and she suggested we get him x-rayed to cover all the bases even though she couldn't see or feel an obvious break. It is still pretty swollen though so a small break definitely could have been masked by that. When she came back from reviewing the x-rays she thought she saw a break right on the bridge of his nose, but she wanted to review it with the Radiologist. His nose was so bruised and swollen I thought for sure it was broken, but she called later to tell me it wasn't. Phew!

Mr. Smiley dodged a bullet with this one! Despite his big swollen, purple nose he still is super cute!

Mohawk Hat

2010-11-16T21:57:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks ago I got an email from a friend that said I needed to make one of these. Well when it comes to knitting projects I rarely turn down an opportunity. I've seen these hats before, but never thought I would make one. BUT since she asked....I made her one. I think it came out pretty awesome if I do say so myself.

Pay no attention to that last picture. It looks terrible. I was really excited about giving this to my friend so I quickly took pictures last night at 9:30pm instead of waiting until today to take better shots.

**If you legitimately want me to make you one of these, just email me at flipflopmamablog at gmail dot com and we can work out colors and details. I will sell them for $12 for an adult size and $10 for a child size (plus shipping, of course).

It's Tuesday

2010-11-16T10:46:00.000-08:00

It's Tuesday and I'm doing laundry. That means that I'm a day behind and I don't really like being a day behind. I usually do my laundry on Monday mornings just to get it out of the way but yesterday we spent the whole day at Sea World, so it's excused. I''m also out of quarters--yes I have to do my laundry in the apartment laundry mat--so I had to go to Albertson's and change my $20 bill for two rolls of quarters. I hate the look the checker always gives me. It's like she's thinking, "Oh, you are one of those people who live in the apartments...." Maybe it's just my insecurities, but why don't they ever just give me my quarters without acting like I just took $100 bill? They are just quarters and I'm pretty sure you can get more if you need them. As I was sorting and getting ready to do the laundry I was thinking of a few things. I sort my clothes into whites, colors and darks but it's pretty interesting because I wash them all on warm. Why do I even bother sorting them? I just can't bring myself to put them all mixed up in the washer. I almost typed warsher which is really funny because my Grandma always says "warsh". Anyway, the other thing about my laundry is I lost the cup that comes with the detergent bottle so I really have no idea how much detergent is going in to the washer. I just kind of squirt until it looks like there's enough. And I can't really go check to see if it's sudsing (is that a word?) because the washers that we have here are front loading and automatically locking after a minute so who knows what's happening in there. One time I washed my iPhone and I couldn't even open the washer to get it. I just had to suffer for 30 minutes until it was done. There should really be a cancel button.The good thing about having to do my laundry in the laundry mat is that I can do all my loads at once. I am done with laundry in 2 1/2 hours flat.
I've always kind of wondered if we are all just getting the wool pulled over our eyes about laundry and washing machines. How do we know that they are really getting clean? I mean in the olden days clothes were dirty. They worked outside on their land, they got dirty and so you could tell when clothes were clean. My clothes aren't dirty...maybe a little smelly sometimes but really nothing like what they used to have to wash. They come out all warm and smelling clean so they must be clean, I guess.
Well the 30 minutes are up so I have to be the wonderful parent I am and leave my sleeping toddler to change the clothes to the dryer.
In other news, I'm working on a new knitting project. It should be done by this weekend and it is awesome!
Happy Tuesday!

Big Sister's Sweater

2010-10-30T21:03:00.000-07:00

Here is the latest thing that I've made. Big Sister has been begging me to knit her a sweater for months. So we finally went to the yarn store and picked out some cute yarn she liked and a pattern and I went to work. It was a pretty basic pattern, but I'm not the biggest fan of it. I'm not sure I totally like how it came out either. But that could be due to the one huge mistake I made. It was supposed to be more of an empire waist line but I misread the directions and did way too many rows in the bodice part. The other thing is it curls at the bottom. Oh well, she loves it so that's what matters.

Family 5K

2010-10-23T10:43:00.000-07:00

Our Stake put on a 5K this morning and I decided that we would do it as a family. I'm the Mom so I get to make decisions like that. Mr. Smiley of course rode in the stroller, but T-Bone and I walked the whole way. Big Sister walked about two thirds of it before she got really tired. She took Mr. Smiley's place in the stroller for the rest. I'm proud of her for doing so much though!

I had planned to make T-Bone a hat for his birthday but the first one I made was too big. I ended up making two that fit him and since I had left over yarn I made one for myself (but that also fit Big Sister). Thinking it would be cute if we all had matching hats I whipped one up for Mr. Smiley last night too. So here we are Team J with matching hats.

What a Difference No Makes

2010-10-22T20:07:00.000-07:00

So a couple weeks ago Mr. Smiley first said the word "no". Of course we were surprised and a little proud since our little guy doesn't say much yet. The pride has since worn off, but we are still much surprised at hearing such a powerful word come out of our little guy. Especially this week as he has learned to perfect it. For example I rarely hear just "no". It's always "no no no" most of the time with great emotion and a head shake.
Yesterday there was a break in the rain we've had all week and we had some time before we needed to pick up Big Sister from school. I decided to take Mr. Smiley out for a short walk around the apartment complex. Last week we would have meandered down sidewalk after sidewalk with me following close behind simply trying to keep him from going in the street. Yesterday we got downstairs and all he wanted to do was watch the maintenance man rake leaves off the grass. That's cool, I thought, but then I tried to get him to keep walking. "No no no!" Okay, fine. A couple minutes later I tried to play a chase game with him and heard, "No no no!" again. A short time later I actually succeeded in getting him to the other side of the building where he promptly began climbing the stairs. He got to the top and then wanted to go down again. Each time I would try to hold him or heaven forbid hold his hand, I got the "no no no!" Finally we made it down to the sidewalk again where he discovered the green sprinkler control covers. You know those things with holes on the top that fill up with water when it rains and then it just sits there and gets nasty. Well the holes on top are perfect for little fingers to dip into. Mr. Smiley decided he needed a drink from the holes, but of course I wasn't going to let him. I tried to divert his attention elsewhere and get him to keep walking but all he could think of was dipping a finger in the hole and sucking off the water. There were two about 3 feet apart and at first was hopping between them both but finally I just put one foot on each and stood on both of them with my legs spread apart. That did not make him happy and a little tantrum ensued! I couldn't believe it, not even 17 months old and throwing himself on the ground crying. So I did what any mother would do and pulled out my phone so I could video him.

He's so funny when he does these things that I can't help but laugh. Like tonight at bed, we put him in his crib and kept telling him it's bedtime. He started in with his "No no no!" while shaking his head and throwing himself on his bed completely and utterly distraught. (The good, yet funny thing is that as soon as we leave he stops crying so it's totally an act)
Where did my happy go lucky, follow mom anywhere, easily diverted little baby go?? Now he understands what we say and has an opinion! Things are dangerous now...

I Need Something

2010-10-21T00:34:00.000-07:00

So today a friend of mine posted her Facebook status as "needs something" That made me think of a funny story that happened with Big Sister wasn't a big sister--she was only 3. T-Bone and I were watching TV in the living room and it was around 10:30ish. I think this was the time we were addicted to "24" and would watch episode after episode without stopping. Anyway, we were watching TV and we heard BS come out of her room which was right behind us. She was just barely potty trained at the time but was wearing undies to bed. She came in to the living room and I asked her, "What is going on honey, do you need to go potty?" In a really confused and worried sounding voice she said, "I need something." "Okay, what do you need?" I asked. "I need something," was all she said.
Thinking I should just take her to the bathroom, I got up and tried to steer her in that direction, but she resisted. Instead she started pulling at her pants while kind of chanting, "I need something." T-Bone and I kept asking her what she needed, but she never answered. All of a sudden she turned around and headed to her bedroom again, but stopped by the door and just peed all over the floor. We just kind of stood there dumbfounded. Then of course we took her clothes off and started cleaning the floor. While I was wiping her down and getting her dressed again, she fell fast asleep on the floor right next to where she peed.
After this happened we realized she was never awake at all and was totally sleep walking. Since she has slept walked quite a few more times and most of them include peeing in random spots in the house.
T-Bone and I will periodically say, "I need something" just for fun.

Making the choice to be a Mom

2010-10-11T00:32:00.000-07:00

My dear friend, Erin, who has a private blog posted this a couple weeks back. I loved it so much I asked her if I could post it too. I would have just linked to it, but you know, the whole private thing. So I'm reposting it in it's entirety.

Not Gonna Lie, I am Pro-Choice

President Monson has said, "Who can comprehend in its entirety the lofty role of a mother? With perfect trust in God, she walks, her hand in His, into the valley of the shadow of death, that you and I might come forth into light"..."these two sacred persons, God and mother, partners in creation, in love, in sacrifice, in service, are as one." (Ensign, April 1998)

These words have pressed upon my heart and mind a great deal lately.
Contrast the absolute truth spoken by a living Prophet, that the noblest and most God-like work a woman can do is to be a mother, with the prevalent message that has seeped into every form of modern media; that to be the best woman you can be, you must put yourself (body image, career, social status, bank account...) first.

Stories of people arguing that it is irresponsible and not eco-friendly to bring more children to the earth have taken center-stage.

Likewise, every time an election is approaching the pro-life vs pro-choice debate is given new life.

I must tell you that I HATE the term,"pro-choice," especially when used as the opposite of pro-life. Hello!!!, The entire plan of salvation is pro-choice. I am pro-all sorts of choices. I believe that you have the choice not to have sex until you're married. You have a choice to have protected sex when you are not ready to have children. You have the choice, if you choose not to wait until your married, or have unprotected sex, or even have protected sex and still get pregnant, to then make even more choices. I believe you have the choice to marry the other parent. You have the choice to single parent. You have the choice to place the child for adoption. I am pro all sorts of choice-makin' but I am NOT pro-abortion. And that is really what the opposing argument is, but it would not be politically correct to call a spade a spade and ask people if they are pro-life or pro-abortion. So the talking heads coined the catch phrase "pro-choice" to make everyone more comfortable. HATE IT!!!!

Sadly, as Elder Nelson stated in the October 2008 Ensign article, "Abortion: An Assault on the Defenseless," "Worldwide reports indicate that more than 40 million abortions are performed per year." That is more than the total number of military lives lost in World War I and II.

This Woman's work, this God-like gift, is being treated with disrespect and even contempt. That alone is enough to make my heart heavy. But the real reason this has struck such a cord with me is because everywhere I turn, I am constantly associated with the most valiant, remarkable contrast to the prevalent wicked message of the world.

You women are amazing. you made the CHOICE to have children even when your husband is working or in school (or both) full time. You made the choice to have children when you knew that your body would pay a significant price. You made the choice to spend thousands of dollars in infertility treatments and bit your tongue when everyone was "comforting you" until you had kids. You went outside your comfort zone and everything you had predetermined in your head and spent thousands more on adoption. You gave up a second income and put some personal and career goals and aspirations on the back burner for a while in lieu of different goals and aspirations. You spent months being deathly ill while having other children and a husband and a calling and a life to take care of. You had a husband who was not what he said he would be and needed to be when you needed him to be. You spent night after night either in the NICU or on your knees praying that there would not be one more night in the NICU, not knowing from one day to the next if it would be her last, you read book after book and turned to every resource you could to figure out how to meet the needs of a child that came to you with attributes you were in no way ready to handle, much less embrace. You have a child with a disability that has and will affect every single day of your life. You have yearned and prayed and fasted for a child that has not come. You have had more than one unexpected pregnancy, but never resented those children for a minute. You have had miscarriages. You have had still-born children. You have buried your little child in the ground. You have become a zombie because you have not slept and may not sleep any time in the foreseeable future. You have been nine months pregnant in the most unbearable heat. Your own disabilities keep you from giving your children everything you want to give, but that never keeps you from giving them everything. You suffer from post-partum depression, you face constant criticism, even from your own family for choosing to raise your child in righteousness...

You are as good as they get. You are what Heavenly Father needs. You are what satan is working overtime to diminish. You choose faith over fear and love, service, and family over everything else.

I am sure each of you could write a novel entitled,"Areas in my life in which I feel I am lacking," but I hope that you realize that you are doing something that is really, really, good and vitally important every day.

You made the CHOICE to be mom.

Found Out

2010-10-10T18:33:00.000-07:00

So I got "ratted out" today. I say it with quotation marks because there is nothing to rat out but appartenly Big Sister thinks there is. I was typing some church related emails this afternoon and T-Bone was teasing me because I also took this quiz. (For the record you should too. Thanks Janelle!) I was supposed to be getting dinner on the table--it was in the crockpot--but I was a little distracted. So he teasingly said, "Were you typing emails to your boyfriend?" And surprisingly Big Sister says, "Yes."
Knowing full well I do not have a boyfriend T-Bone decided to keep this going and pulled Big Sister into the bedroom to get some more info. They came out a few minutes later and apparently BS had told me that there had been men in the house. She proceeded to name our 6 year old neighbor, Joey, Juan the maintenance man, and the UPS man. I'm so glad that my honor and reputation depends on the words and reliability of a 5 year old.
Since we're talking about funny things Big Sister has said, here are some more (I can't remember if I have posted these, some of them are pretty old. So if I have just ignore them):
Looking for somewhere to eat and passing a Mexican restaurantMe: We should have eaten at EribertosBS: What did you say? Say it in English.
There was one more cookie left on the counterBS in quite a sad voice: Oh look at that one cookie left. It's so lonely. I have some cookies in my tummy that it can hang out with and have fun with.
BS: When I grow up I want to be a dancing doctor. Then when I give people their shots and they are sad, I can dance for them to cheer them up.
BS: Mom, do you want to play store?Me: Sure, what are you going to buy? Would you like to buy this balloon?BS: I need to get my Albertson's card first.Hands me her card.BS: I would like 5 cents please. I explain how stores work and sometimes it looks like they are giving me money when I get change back, but it's just change from money I've already given them. BS: Ok let's try this again. Hands me her card.BS: I would like 5 dollars please. I guess that one wasn't very clear.
T-Bone and I were talking about taking some time to work on his resume recently.BS: Maybe you should work on your nose hairs! Booyah!
Oh yeah Mr. Smiley is 16 months now and as cute as ever. Yesterday T-Bone was trying to take away his blankie so he could put him in his high chair for lunch. He looked at him straight in the eye and said, "Nah" while shaking his head. That's the first time he's said no. We're entering a new phase now. But he also knows how to fold his arms for the prayer so that makes up for the sassiness. :) He doesn't say much yet just Mama, Dada, what sounds like Dada, but we think is Big Sister, bye-bye, uh-oh and hello.
Here are some cute pictures of them both recently.

Tender Mercies

2010-10-05T21:23:00.000-07:00

Today I was overcome with the tender mercies that I have received over the last few weeks, but especially days. I wanted to share them with you:

Kids who go to bed easily and willingly
Kids who normally wake up at 6:30 but slept in until 8:00 on Saturday and Sunday
Friends and family who, at practically a moment's notice, are willing to watch my kids
A husband who is by my side through everything
Conference weekend so I could rest and recover
The prompting to go to the grocery store on Friday morning
Peace and comfort by the Spirit through times of sadness
When Mr. Smiley will spontaneously climb on my lap and pat me on the back or give me a hug
A week's worth of knitting projects for my niece to keep me busy
Dinner at a friend's house on Sunday night
Big Sister being so obedient and happy the last couple weeks
Doctors who are calm of mind and quick on their feet--even at 1 in the morning

I had a miscarriage on Friday. My third one. I was 10 weeks. It was hard to swallow at first but after having time to be sad I'm ready to move on. I am blessed with two beautiful children and I love them and appreciate them more every day. I am so grateful for all the blessings that I have and they are many.

Has this guy ever had children?

2010-09-30T13:45:00.000-07:00

A couple months ago our friends went out of town and asked us to get their Sunday paper for them. I did and perused through it. I came across this article from John Rosemond. Go ahead and read it. I'll wait.
Are you done? So what was your first impression? I'll tell you mine.
A concerned parent writes in asking about her son's throwing problem and the first thing the guy does is insult her! I was in awe that this guy was a Family psychologist and regular columnist and was treating people this way. If I went to him and he answered a question to my face like he does in writing I would walk right out. The second thing that bothered me was his course of action for the child. Sticking a kid that young in his room for that long seems a little much for me. And lastly, don't take any kids to sit-down restaurants until after they are four years old? Are you kidding me? Sounds a lot like "Children should be seen and not heard" approach.
What do you think of Mr. Rosemond's "advice"?

Sometimes I just have a really hard time coming up with a title

2010-09-28T10:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my birthday. It was a good day. It was filled with lots of fun, food, phone calls, Facebook posts and festivities. Wow, that's a lot of "F" words...I felt very loved and was grateful for that. I've had some disappointment lately and it was really good to have a day where happiness and friendship abounded. Life doesn't always work out the way I want it I've realized--well actually life hardly ever works out the way I want or expect--and yet I still have a hard time dealing with that. More on that later, but first back to the birthday...
So I have Google Voice. It's cool because all my calls--no matter if they come in on my GVoice number or regular number are sent to my GVoice voicemail and those get transcribed and sent as an email to my Gmail. So anyway, my 90 year old Grandpa called me yesterday (well actually he called T-Bone's phone) and left a message. The best part of having Google Voice is getting the voicemails transcribed. The first line of his message was transcribed as "wishing you A Very Happy Birthday, and all yo". He's totally down with it, ya know? :) I have quite the hip Grandpa, even if it is only Google Voice that thinks that.
Here's another awesome transcription of a voicemail I got from T-Bone:

Okay. I don't know how are you doing A little bit more about my name is Linda. Hello. Hello. Hello. Something. It's been called in Because, or no, I was going to be a called yourcellphone. And I have a that all I I need to let me home Well, I may and Mr here in the shower. Bye and then net and. If you have been this IS A maybe you never pick the message or so. And has been. Hey.

It's magical.
So I haven't been around much lately. Last weekend I flew up with Mr. Smiley to Washington to spend time with my brother and his family who lives in Olympia. I was lucky and got to spend a couple hours with Bythelbs first on Saturday, who showed me parts of Seattle! Then I spent the rest of the time in Olympia walking around Jesse's new school, the capitol building, rivers and waterfalls and just plain hanging out. Vacationing is different when you have kids that need to nap. I didn't mind though. I was just glad to hang out and spend time with them. Here are some pictures from the trip.

I've been thinking that in the history of my life September has not proven to be very good. Not very many happy things--besides my birthday of course--have happened in September. But then I start thinking about it and realize that I'm wrong. Yes, some really crappy things have happened and are happening, but they are definitely balanced with some really wonderful things. I was listening to the Relief Society Broadcast on Sunday and was struck by the opening song. I loved the speakers, but the song is what I needed to hear. Here are the words to Count Your Blessings:

When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed,When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,Count your many blessings name them one by one,And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.
Count your blessings, name them one by one,Count your blessings, see what God hath done.Count your blessings, name them one by one.Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.

Are you ever burdened with a load of care?

Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?

Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly,And you will be singing as the days go by.
When you look at others with their lands and gold,Think that Christ has promised you his wealth untold, Count your many blessings, money cannot buy,Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high.
So amid the conflict whether great or small,Do not be discouraged God is over all.Count your many blessings, angels will attend,Help and comfort give you to your journey's end.
I really needed to remember that this life is a small moment. It will be full of heartbreak and trials, but in order to make it through we need to focus on the positives. I have husband who loves me. I have two beautiful children. I have a home to keep me safe and warm. I have so many more things but just thinking about a few things really lifted my spirits. Lastly I have the gospel of Jesus Christ. His true church is here on the earth and I am truly blessed to be a member of it. No matter what happens if I remember these things I'll be okay.

Love Unrestrained

2010-09-13T10:47:00.000-07:00

Both my kids are blanket babies. When Big Sister was around six months and we let her cry it out, I put a pink polka-dot soft blanket in her crib. It didn't take long for her to latch on to it. She carried that thing every where she went. And not only did she carry it, but she smelled it. She would play with it with her fingers and every few moments would put it up to her face to get a big sniff. It was almost like a drug and she had to get her fix. There wasn't only a pink blanket though. I had a white one with little yellow giraffes that was the same fabric that I would swap out if I needed to do laundry or something. I never intended them to be around together, but things don't always work out how we intend them, do they? So she became attached to both blankets and smelled them every chance she got.
Mr. Smiley always loved to touch silky things. When he was a little baby I put a silky blanket over him while he was sleeping. He was in one of those swaddle blankets, but his hand came free and he had his little fingers delicately touching that silky blanket. At Christmas time last year I found a silky fabric and made some small squares that he could have to cuddle with. Although he didn't only want to cuddle them, he liked to suck on them. A couple months later he was up in the early hours of the morning and it was a little chilly. I went and got a blanket from his closet and it was all silky on the back and minky dot on the front. I wrapped him in that and we sat on the couch. After that he was hooked on that blanket. He wanted nothing to do with the little silkies that I made him. He just wanted to suck on the corners of his blanket.
Just a few minutes ago it was time for his nap. So I started looking for his blanket and he followed me, looking too. I remember doing the same thing with Big Sister. When those special blankets are found there is so much uninhibited love. Mr. Smiley gets all excited and reaches for his blanket and sometimes will make a happy sighing noise as he hugs it because this blanket has filled and satisfied that inner desire that he had.
I love how babies and small children love--and show love--so uninhibitedly. When Daddy comes home, they run to him and wrap their little arms around him. When I pick Big Sister up from school she runs to me and right away starts chattering about her day. I wish that we didn't lose this as we grow up. We start worrying about whether people like us, or we get embarrassed about showing love to our parents and we start being a little more self conscious about things that we love for fear people will tease us. I was just struck this morning by the pure joy that was in Mr. Smiley's face when he was reunited with his blanket. He grabbed it, shoved it in his mouth and laid down in his crib to sleep completely satisfied. I hope that I can be more like him and show my love with much less reservation and hesitancy. May we all love with much less restraint.

I can't think of what I wanted to blog about so you get this instead

2010-09-09T11:52:00.000-07:00

Over the last couple days I've had a few ideas of things to blog about but I haven't written them down. Consequently they have gone the way of the dodo bird and I can't get them back. It's bugging me quite a bit too. So I guess I'll write about other not very important things.

I'm making this sweater for Big Sister. I just have to make one more sleeve and then do the finishing touches and sew it together. I made a mistake but luckily all it does is alter the length of the sweater and not anything else. I'll post pictures when I'm done.

A couple weeks ago I got a new Nativity Scene. I love it and it's already displayed on my bookshelf. It was exciting because a couple years ago Julie had posted this on her blog. I instantly fell in love with the design and emailed the creator. The pieces had to be purchased separately and they were out of my budget so at the time I had to pass. She told me that she was working on a reproduction set though. She told me she would contact me when she had worked out the details. Well a little over a month ago I got an email from her so I bought one!

Mr. Smiley has been getting his third molar. I hate teething. Sometimes I wish babies were just born with teeth, but I can see the bad logistics in that too. He is not a very good teether and it's understandable. He gets blisters on his gums and they just look really nasty when a tooth is coming. And they seem to take FORever. Big Sister wasn't like that at all. She would be grouchy for a day and I wouldn't know what was wrong, then the next day I would feel a tooth pop through. She has always had a very high pain tolerance so I think that has something to do with it. Plus Mr. Smiley is getting a cold right now too so he's extra miserable. He woke up at 3 this morning and was just having a good time hanging out in his crib. I didn't want to get him, but after a while he started to sound a little impatient. So I got up and took him to the living room where we practically cuddled for an hour. I didn't turn the lights on so I don't know if that deterred him from playing but he just sat on my lap and "talked" to me. It was very sweet. If I wasn't getting so tired I wouldn't have put him back in his bed at 4:30, but I did. The kid is a sweetheart, I tell you.

Thanks for all your advice with Big Sister, too. She has been great the last week or so. We've had some sass from her--which is to be expected--but over all her behavior seems to be better. She is thinking about her actions and words more and that was what I really wanted to accomplish. Her teacher told me she is doing good in class too, so that makes me feel better.

We read Vanity Fair in book club last month. Have any of you read it? Boy was it long! Apparently it's one of those books that authors claim as one of the best books of all time. But none of us in book club could figure out why. Nothing happens! It's long, slow, drawn out and boring. There were some redeemable qualities about it, but seriously I hope to never read that one again.

Well I think I've probably bored you enough as it is with my random thoughts so I'll bid you good day.

Following Directions

2010-09-02T09:59:00.000-07:00

I really hate to write these kind of posts, because I don't want my children to read them when they are older and think that I thought bad of them, but I really need some help with Big Sister. I was hoping that I could call on the hundred or so cumulative years of parenting experience of all my readers.
Big Sister has a really hard time following directions.
If I ask her to do something there will be one of a few different reactions: talking back, ignoring, making up her own directions ("Did you say such and such?" when she knows full well what I asked her to do) and very rarely actually doing what I asked. Most often it's talking back and being resistant. Here's an example that happened this morning. I was at her school waiting for the bell to ring with her. At Big Sister's school they have all the kids line up on their class "dots" on the black top. She decided she wanted to play with the jump ropes so she went and got one. About 10 minutes later the bell rang. All the kids were coming in from the grass and putting away their balls and ropes. I told Big Sister I heard the bell and that she needed to put the rope away. We had the following conversation:
Big Sister: That wasn't the bell. That one went doo-doo-doo-doo.Me: No that was the bell. See all the kids coming in from the grass. Please go put away your jump rope.BS: That wasn't the bell. It went doo-doo-doo-dooMe: Yes, Big Sister it was. Please show me that you know how to follow directions.BS ignores meMe: Big Sister, please go put your rope away. All the kids are starting to get in line.BS starts to walk really slow over to where the ropes goMe: Quickly please so you can come back and get in line.BS walks a little faster and finally puts her jump rope away.
This drives me crazy! I held my tongue but I wanted to say, "Don't make me send you back to Kindergarten where you can learn to follow directions!" I'm glad I didn't say that. But seriously I know she has a problem. How do I help her? This kind of exchange goes on constantly in our home. I try to be patient. She gets time-outs when she talks back. But I want to teach her how to follow directions, not punish her all the time. I know that she is going to have a hard time in school if she can't figure this one out. I want to spare her that. One girl in her class this morning interjected into our little rope conversation and said, "She never raises her hand in class." I don't want kids to be saying things like that already.
What strategies do you use to help teach your children how to follow directions?

1st Day of School

2010-08-30T11:40:00.000-07:00

School started today. Mr. Smiley is sleeping and I'm having a hard time getting my thoughts to be in one place for some reason Big Sister was thrilled to be going to school today. She has been counting down for weeks. On Friday morning she came into my room and said, "Today is Friday. That means there are three more days until school! And then tomorrow there will only be two more days. And then one more day! And then school! So needless to say she was really excited. My Dad took her shopping last week and bought her a new backpack. She really wanted a rolling backpack and the only one they had left that didn't have a bunch of characters on it was a grey and blue one. It was definitely not one that I thought she would pick out, but it was the one she wanted. She kept saying, "It's kind of boyish, but it's not. I like it." I am so proud of her self confidence. I think I'm more self-conscious for her. At school today I saw two other boys--not in her class--with the same backpack. I'm not sure she noticed, I just hope kids aren't mean. I'm probably worrying about nothing but isn't that what parents do? I'm just so proud of the fact that she knows who she is. She doesn't have to have pink or purple things just because she's a girl.

Ready for the first day!

Mr. Smiley was happy too!

When we got into her classroom, she found her desk and on it there was a pack of crayons with her name on it. Then inside her desk she had a couple notebooks and they all had stickers with her name on it. She was so excited. She's a good girl who loves people and I know she'll do great!

At her desk, ready for the day!

Welcome Abbie!

2010-08-13T20:47:00.000-07:00

On Monday my sister had her first little girl and she is just perfect. I went up there to "help" her for a couple days. I say "help" because I had to bring my two kids and added with her two boys it was kind of a disaster. I spent most of the two days trying to keep Mr. Smiley out of the toilet (Mr. Smiley thought it was especially fun to throw toys in the toilet) and the office (he loves to climb chairs to get to the computer) and stop Big Sister fighting with her cousin. It was great to see them and meet my new niece though.

We did have some fun times though. The kids played in the mud, played with lots of toys and watched the Wizard of Oz for the first time. Here are some pictures I took while I was there.

Grandpa and Baby Abbie

Big brother Tanner

Proud Daddy

Proud brothers!

Call me crazy, but I have no interest in eating my own placenta

2010-08-06T15:52:00.000-07:00

Today a Facebook friend of mine--well she's really just someone I went to High School with, not really a friend. Actually she's someone who had piano lessons before me and happened to be in the same High School. Anyway, it's not like we're close. I'm going to just forget that giant grammar error and just continue, okay?? Okay. So this girl, she posted a link to this story on her Facebook profile today: Afterbirth: It's What's For Dinner with comments indicating she obviously was in favor of ingesting your own placenta. A couple of the later comments said things like, "I've heard of people doing that" or "That sounds cool."

Personally that completely disgusts me. I get the whole natural health benefits of it but really? Most animals eat their placentas after birth but does that mean humans have to as well? I don't buy that logic at all. We are humans after all and able to use our brains and discern between instinctive behavior and thought. Between acting like an animal because we know no other way, or acting like a human. Just because we can, doesn't mean we should. So I said, "I don't know. That kinda grosses me out..." Perhaps I could have worded it differently but I wasn't feeling up to it at the time.

The thing is, I feel SO guilty! I don't know what it is about disagreeing with someone that makes me feel guilty. I have no intention of hurting her feelings. I did not attack her personally. I don't care if she eats her own placenta, but I sure as hell won't be doing it. I'm sitting her thinking and wondering whether I did the right thing, by sharing my opinion. The thing is deep down I know that differences in opinion are not wrong. They spark conversation, they could even end up bringing two people closer together, but I still worry about it! I know, call me crazy.

I try not to share my opinion on Facebook because I don't really like getting into debates. I know I probably should, especially about important topics but people can be very attacking. But I gotta say, this time I just had to say what was on my mind.

Am I the only one that feels this way?

The Salt of the Earth

2010-07-30T16:58:00.000-07:00

So the other day I made some potato soup. And because I made some soup, I decided to make some homemade French bread. As usually happens during cooking, I was distracted by who knows what--oh yeah, it was my kids--and I forgot to add an ingredient to the bread. I had no idea it was omitted as the bread rose and baked perfectly. The smell was delicious and I couldn't wait to taste it. When it came time to eat dinner I snuck a bit of bread.
It had absolutely no taste.
T-Bone had the same idea and snuck a piece too. But he made a "hmmm" sound after eating it. I said, "It tastes like water, doesn't it?" He agreed and I was a little confused. French bread is not hard to make. I mentally went down the recipe: flour, check; yeast, check; water, check; honey, check; salt....
I forgot to add the salt.
I had heard that not adding salt to bread could have pretty tasteless results and whoever said that was right. Boy was it bland. T-Bone commented that he now understood better the scripture where the Savior talks about the salt of the earth. In Matthew:

Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Matt. 5: 13

And a little clearer in Doctrine and Covenants:

When men are called unto mine everlasting gospel, and covenant with an everlasting covenant, they are accounted as the salt of the earth and the savor of men; They are called to be the savor of men; therefore, if that salt of the earth lose its savor, behold, it is thenceforth good for nothing only to be cast out and trodden under the feet of men. D&C 101: 39-40

I've never really understood these scriptures. But I think I'm getting a little more glimpse into what they mean. Without salt, bread has absolutely no flavor. Who wants to eat bland, watery tasting bread?
A funny thing happened after we found out the bread was tasteless. I took a slice and put some butter on it. It tasted a little better. But T-Bone added to it by sprinkling some salt on the buttered bread. It actually tasted like bread a little more but the blandness was just masked. The next day though, I made French toast out of it. I figured that the tastelessness would be masked enough by the egg and milk (with a little salt added), syrup and fruit that would be put on top of the toast. The funny thing was I could still taste the bland bread. It didn't matter what we added on top of the bread, unless the salt was inside, the bread it still had no flavor.
I've been thinking about this in terms of myself. If I truly don't have the flavor of the gospel all through me, but just sprinkled on top then what good is the gospel to me? Or if we don't have the salt at all. This is kind of like what life could be without the Gospel. When we have the Gospel in our lives and are living it righteously we are the salt--or the substance that bring out the flavor. This is the best thing in the world. It brings the most joy, the most satisfaction, and is the source of the strongest love. We have the best thing on earth and because of that we can be the yummiest bread ever eaten.

Camping Trip

2010-07-21T21:59:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago we went camping wit T-Bone's family. We got some sites in Carpinteria--not Carpeteria (they just sell carpets)--near Santa Barbara. We had a great time! It seemed like I became the camp photographer which I was totally okay with so here are a bunch of pictures.

And apparently you have to pay now to have captions under the pictures so you'll just have to insert your own witty comments because I ain't forking out cash for that.

Enjoy!

Things on my brain

2010-07-16T22:00:00.000-07:00

I'm laying in bed thinking about going to sleep but I thought I'd put a post up before I do of the random thoughts jostling around in my brain.

Number 1: I am so tired of deleting stupid spam comments once or twice a day from my posts. Really?? Do people still do that? Why???

Number 2: I knitted this baby hat for my friend that just had a baby--go figure--and it was so labor intensive. I had to start over four times because I kept making stupid mistakes. Plus the stitch pattern was really tight and it did a number on my hands. They are shaking and kinda crampy. It's worse when I'm on my iPhone too. But does that stop me from writing this from my iPhone or starting a new knitting project? Nope. Yeah, I'm not too smart.

Number 3: We went to the beach today and it was gorgeous. My kids had a ball and were totally wiped out. Daily mission accomplished.

Number 4: My kids are dang cute.

Number 5: We went camping at the beach last weekend--pictures to come--with some family and it was great fun. I have to agree with Cheryl that camping vacations are the best family vacations ou there. I wouldn't have believed it before last weekend but I do now. Everyone had a great time.

Number 6: Big Sister's new favorite song is "Whataya you want from me?" by Adam Lambert. She made me play it twice the other day in the car and then we listened to it at least three times while I was making dinner tonight. She said he looks a little weird (from the picture on his album cover) but she loves his song. Totally cracks me up! I never was a huge Adam fan but I gotta say the girl has good taste in music. That is one catchy tune.

Prayers Needed

2010-07-03T09:50:00.001-07:00

Recently a friend of mine, Janelle, gave birth to her fourth child a month early through emergency c-section. They don't know what's wrong with her but she may have a blood disorder, been exposed to a rare virus in utero or had a reaction to Janelle's arthritis medicine. She has already had to have numerous blood transfusions in her short life already.
They are having a fast for her tomorrow so that this sweet angel does not have a blood disorder. Will you join in that and keep her and her family in your prayers?