Clawsons

So I don't forget

2012-02-24T15:46:00.000-06:00

We celebrated our 5 year anniversary last week. Some things I don't want to forget:

01. Trent got me a really beautiful vase from the Crystal Bridges Museum store. It is now the most expensive piece of art I own.

02. I bought Trent a flight lesson to be redeemed at our local airport. Plus, Lily and I heart-attacked his car while he was at work.

03. Trent got a babysitter for Lily and took me to dinner. We ordered more food than usual and had a great time. Trent had the waiter bring out some roses with our meal and wished us happy anniversary. When it came time to pay, our waiter told us, "The couple who sat next to you paid for your ticket and want to wish you happy anniversary." Trent and I were totally shocked! The couple had left by this point so we couldn't chase them down with thanks you's. We were so touched by this secret act of kindness by complete strangers. I cried, right there in the restaurant. We decided the best way to pay them back would be to do the same thing for someone else.

04. Finished off the evening with a movie at home. It was an awesome day!

Dino man

2012-02-22T17:02:00.001-06:00

Valentines

2012-02-19T16:37:00.001-06:00

I saw this idea years ago and was excited to finally make them for Lily's first Valentines. But I discovered that at least 10 other people out there in the blog world did exactly the same thing. Oh well. Lily loved them and that's what really matters.

Five Years

2012-02-16T06:32:00.000-06:00

Hello, this is Trent, Stephanie’s husband. I don’t usually make posts to our blog, but today is a special day.

Five years ago I sat in the Logan Temple with the most beautiful bride - my fiance Stephanie. As we waited for our sealing to begin, my Grandpa, who was going to be our sealer, came into the room and greeted us. We were so happy to see him as it meant the ceremony was about to begin. Before we left the room, however, he paused and asked a question to both of us: “Are you sure you want to do this?”. We both quickly said yes and smiled at him and at each other. He went on to repeat that same question two more times, each time a little slower and more serious. By the last time we were both pretty concerned, did he know something we didn’t? Was something wrong? After agreeing for the third time, we continued with the wedding and were sealed for all time and eternity on February 16th, 2007.

Since that day I’ve often reflected on my Grandpa and why he asked a seemingly ominous question at such a sensitive time. I’ve come to believe that perhaps he did so because he knew that the commitment we were making that day was much more significant than we realised at the time, and we didn’t yet truly appreciate the scope or importance of that commitment.

Only the passage of time, the late nights preparing for college exams, the tight budgets, the cheap housing, the moving across the country away from family to pursue a career, the disagreements, the sleepless nights with a newborn, and the depressions and heartaches of trials and tribulations would show us what that commitment meant. I believe meant that no matter what comes; hardship, joy, difficulty, peace, screaming or laughing children, no matter what, we are committed to each other and our future as a couple and as a family.

Stephanie, I love you, and am so honored to be your husband. You’ve demonstrated the highest level of commitment to our marriage these past five years, both through the good and hard times. It shows in the spirit in our home and in the smile on our daughter’s face.

Thank you for saying yes three times all those years ago. I’m glad I did too.

happy hearts day

2012-02-14T10:56:00.000-06:00

From our everyday life

2012-02-13T15:28:00.000-06:00

The Story

2012-02-06T20:18:00.000-06:00

Wednesday, January 18th:

After a month of wondering and worrying, I was finally dilated to 4 cm. When I was at a 4 last time, the doctor said to walk around that evening and come to the hospital. He didn't say that this time. My contractions were maybe 10 minutes apart but pretty mild, so I spent the next two days on my feet, cleaning the house like it's never been cleaned before and practically running a marathon, considering my activity level for the past month. It felt so good to get up and do something.

Friday, January 20th:

Mom flew out from Idaho to help out. We were expecting this baby to come soon.

Saturday, January 21st:

Lily's birthday. Poor Lils was starting to get sick, but she loved her presents and loved that grandma was there. I was hoping our boy wasn't going to be born that day.

Sunday, January 22nd:

No baby.

Monday, January 23nd:

Still no baby, and mom's flight was leaving on Saturday. I called my doctor and told him the story. He said the soonest he would induced me would be Tuesday, right at 38 weeks. Not as soon and I would have liked, but now things were happening.

Tuesday, January 24nd:

Up at 4:30 a.m. to get to the hospital by 5 a.m. Still no serious contractions. I get checked in, IV in, epidural in, and awesome nurses to laugh and joke with.

Dr. Hannah comes at 8 a.m. and breaks my water.

At 9:45 a.m., I start feeling a slight pinching feeling on my side. I tell the nurse and she decides to check me. She said his head was right there, ready to come. They run around and get everything ready. They try to call the Dr. but he wasn't answering or his number was out of service or something. I'm sitting there quite calm and ready for all this. I look over at Trent and his face is as white as a sheet. Later he said he was nervous the baby would pop right out without the doctor. Me and the nurses told him to lay down.

10:00 a.m., Dr. Hannah arrives and everyone cheers. He guides me on when to push. It's a funny thing to 'push' when you can't feel the bottom half of your body. Two more pushes and ta da! he came! Another lovely and wonderful labor and delivery. Preston was so calm, he got slapped a few times to start up some crying. He was pink and rosy and wide awake when they handed him to me. I looked at him and said, "Boy, we've been worried you'd come much earlier than this." Here he was, so happy and calm and beautiful.

The rest of our hospital stay was so peaceful and wonderful, I almost wanted to stay longer. I got some sleep, Preston learned how to nurse, my body felt good.

I'm so glad my mom was there to help for a few days. When we came home, Lily had the croup, fever and double ear infection, plus her fear of pooping had returned so she was not a happy kid. I stayed secluded in my bedroom for a week. Lily is still sick, with a cold, and hasn't been able to hold her brother yet. Any day now, any day.

Preston and Lily are like night and day to each other. He is so calm, and cries occasionally. Poor Lily was a screamer from the start and never stopped. Of course, it's been almost 2 weeks now, and all kinds of challenges have come up; sicknesses, sleeplessness, mom leaving, realities setting in, nursing problems. I might write about them sometime. Just know that I'm still an emotional mess, some days I can handle it, some days not. I'm just so grateful for a husband who has limitless energy and patience. And for a Heavenly Father who is listening to my prayers, even if they aren't answered right away. I can't believe we're a family of four!

Eating and sleeping

2012-02-02T20:54:00.000-06:00

That's pretty much what we've been doing at our house these days. I'll eventually find the moment to write down all my tangled up thoughts. But it's 8:30 now and I'm going to bed.

Preston Thomas Clawson

2012-01-27T14:05:00.000-06:00

Our little prince. He is amazing and calm and content. I love him so much.

It has been a very emotional week. Between an amazing labor and delivery, coming home to a Lily with the croup, double ear infection, and some serious poop-holding-in problem, enjoying time with my Mom, and my milk coming in and being exhausted, it's a house full of tears. Lily walks around the house moaning, screaming and crying to poop, and I walk around the house holding my chest, trying to keep a calm look on my face. My mom and Trent are pretty much holding this place together right now. But my Mom leaves tomorrow, and I don't want to talk about that.

I love my new little prince. His head and his breath smell so sweet and his lips are so perfect. All that resting for him was well worth it.

L&D story coming soon.

A happy birthday... soon to be 2 happy birthdays

2012-01-23T15:32:00.000-06:00

We celebrated our little girl's birthday this weekend. Grandma Davis was here to celebrate too, because baby brother is coming very soon. Lils loved opening her presents and knew exactly what to do. She loved the cupcakes she requested, "brown cakes with pink frosting", and we pulled out the traditional cheesy plastic tablecloth and birthday hats. We sang and did candles twice. She was a good birthday girl, even though she was starting to come down with a cough and cold.

I remember that day three years ago very well. Soon we'll have another birthday to remember in January.

False alarm

2012-01-16T14:46:00.000-06:00

Resting some more

The other night was like any other evening. Usually, around 5 p.m. my contractions are more frequent and strong, so I lay down some more until Trent gets home and makes dinner. But this night was different because Trent was bringing home a student from BYU-I who was here on an internship expedition. I made dinner so it would be done when they got home. I was a happy hostess and I think our guest enjoyed the dinner.

But then around 6 p.m., I noticed that my contractions were coming 5 minutes apart, and they were starting to hurt. So I excused myself from the table and went to lay down, hoping to notice a break in the cycle. But they kept coming. I heard Trent mention to our guest that he could take him on a tour of the Sam's building. I called him into our room and told him that probably wasn't a good idea, but that he should just take him back to his hotel.

Trent took Lily and drove our friend back. While he was gone, my contractions were getting stronger, lasting longer and hurting more. I panicked. Probably because I was all alone. I kept going back and forth in my mind; go to the hospital, no just wait it out, but what if it's suddenly time and I'm still at home, but what about Lily, and then, bam, another contraction. So that's what painful contractions feel like. I didn't experience any of those with Lily.

Trent drove home faster than he probably should have, packed our bags and arranged a place for Lily to sleep that night. And we were off. Thank you to our friends for taking her last minute.

On the way to the hospital, I couldn't believe it was time. We wanted him to come a little later. I got checked in at 8:30 p.m., and was told I was at 3.5 cm. They told me they would wait to see if my contractions would move things along in the next few hours. So Trent was my entertainment until 10 p.m. when they then told me I was going to stay the night. They gave me an Ambien, which did nothing, while I counted my contractions, still coming regularly.

Trent and I woke up at 6 a.m., and the morning nurse (who was much more cheerful than her counterpart) told me I was still at a 3.5. My contractions had stopped. I was at an awkward stage, being at 36 weeks, they wouldn't do anything to stop my labor, but they wouldn't do anything to help it along either. So they sent us home, along with a list of things to look for before I come in again. Same old stuff: "contractions at 5 minutes apart, bleeding, pain, lay down and drink water to see if they'll stop." Yes, I know lady, that's why we came in last night.

Anyway, Trent brought me home and laid me down. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little embarrassed about it. And I know that it happens "all the time," but I thought it was time, we alerted all our family members and had everything ready, but here I was back laying on our own bed again.

Good thing is that our little boy still gets to cook and grow, and I get to enjoy some more rest. But when those contractions start up again, which they inevitably will, do I go in or do I wait? It's so funny how different this pregnancy has been.

In the mean time, I'm going to go lay down.

At the head of the bed

2012-01-11T17:46:00.002-06:00

Since we've been married, we've wanted our bedroom to look nicer than a college dorm room, like a cozy and warm place to relax. Slowly over the years, we've made little additions and purchases to achieve this. About a month ago, we upgraded from our original and awesome nightstands. We got our first ones a week after we were married at the Rexburg D.I. for $5 a piece, and they have served us well. After years of heavy books and a heavy Lily sitting on them, they finally started to break down. So we got something nice. And it totally changed the way our room looked. Sorry little 70's staples, we won't be needing you back.

I've been searching Craigslist for months for a headboard. We found one that was perfect, but we were one customer too late. So I decided we could just make one ourselves. My ideas came from the really expensive numbers from West Elm:

Trent has been so amazingly patient with this whole thing. I've had a vision in my head, and just been telling Trent how to do it all, while I rest on the bed or couch. We started out with a huge sheet of plywood, and had it cut while at Lowes. Then Trent cut 3 inch slices off the sides with a circular saw to nail to the edges.

He ventured to Hobby Lobby to get the quilt batting then to JoAnne's for the suede fabric. Then he stapled according to my instructions.

Just last night, I finished hot glueing fabric to the heads of some really beefy roofing nails, and Trent hammered them in to the specified places.

I love how it turned out! The fabric is practically the same color as the wall, but I think I like it that way. Soon I'll take the pictures off the wall above the bed and replace them with a painting I've been working on for forever. More on that another day.

So something that costs $500 commercially, cost us a little less than $50. And our bedroom is that much closer to the retreat we've been hoping for.

Waiting

2012-01-10T15:06:00.000-06:00

Every night for the past week, I find myself counting contractions. I always tell myself, "Ok this is the day, it's almost here." I walk around, drink water, lay down again, wince through a contraction and after hours of being predictable, the contractions just stop. It is so funny how different this pregnancy has been. Last time, I had very few contractions and zero pain, and no idea it was time to go to the hospital until the doctor told me at a routine checkup. So we're still waiting and wondering when this all will happen.

One more official week of bed rest, then I'll start getting up and being normal. I'm at 36 weeks today.

With all of this resting, I like to get Lily set up at the table with the medium of her choice, and she creates for hours. She is getting really good at holding markers and drawing complex shapes. When she uses her watercolors, I want to keep every paper because it all looks so good. It's fun to see her love something and to be getting better at it.

The New Year

2012-01-03T14:57:00.001-06:00

We did our fireworks last night. A few days late but fun just the same. Trent got me all wrapped up and sitting in a chair so I could watch he and Lily sing and dance in the driveway. Lily loved the sparklers best by far.

This was the first year ever I was ready to put Christmas away as soon as possible, and move on to the new year. I have a few goals set, most of them are the same as in years past. One of them still involves expanding myself, like I talked about a year ago in this post. I think I did a pretty good job at this last year, and gradually growing towards that never ending goal of complete self worth. Because of that goal, I've made new friends and relationships with others have strengthened. I'd like to keep that up.

I'm pretty much at 35 weeks now. The doctor says that if I go into labor, they won't do anything to stop it at this point. But I'd like our boy to cook for a few more weeks, so I'm still resting a lot. Trent has been so wonderful at keeping things going around here. He cleans the house, does the laundry, and washes the dishes just because they need to be done. Then he comes to me and asks if there is anything on my mind that I want to accomplish. So I made a big list of things I've been wanting to do but can't, and he tackles the things on that list one thing at a time. I'm so grateful to have such a patient husband. I hope I'd be just as patient and good natured if the situation was reversed.

Most days are good. Every few days, I'm pretty uncomfortable with contractions and ligaments stretching and pinching, and sometimes, usually in the evenings, my contractions get to a regular 7-10 minutes apart. When this happens, I do everything I can to stop them and pray to Heavenly Father to help them to stop. And they do. When the time is right, we'll welcome those contractions and our baby boy.

A different Christmas

2011-12-28T21:10:00.000-06:00

Because I'm semi-bedbound, Christmas was a little different this year. We weren't able to do all of our traditions. But we did do some and Trent was wonderful at having everything happen in the living room, so I could view from the couch.

We are blessed to have great friends that were taking care of us, even on a holiday weekend. Our family has been able to grow and learn from being on the receiving end of service this season. We really are so blessed.

Christmas Eve cookies

Annual Christmas movie. Lily was a great angel and said her part perfectly, "Fear not!"

Trent putting Lily's bike together on Christmas Eve

Christmas morning! Lily was sick and we had a bit of a rough night, but she seemed to perk up when she saw all the presents.

Merry Christmas to all!

2011-12-25T01:31:00.002-06:00

The stockings all hung by the chimney with care

2011-12-23T13:30:00.000-06:00

I decided to make new stockings this Christmas, and since I only needed to buy the gray fleece, they were pretty cheap to make. I wanted them to look kind of Dr. Seuss-ish. The girls have stripes, the boys have circles. And of course, that fourth stocking will need a name on it soon... But hopefully not too soon.

Art is good for you

2011-12-21T22:26:00.000-06:00

Update: All of this laying around all day seems to be helping. Instead of having 3-4 contractions an hour, I have 3-4 a day. That's good news. But I am starting to go a little nutty in my head, especially when Lily's nap time comes around. By then, I've already been 'resting' all day and I'm ready to get something accomplished, but I should only lay down and keep reading my books or do a Sudoku puzzle or something. Today I stood in front of our DVD collection for 5 minutes and ended up not being interested in any of them. Regardless of how mindless and lazy I'm feeling, I will do this as long as necessary to make sure our boy is healthy. Trent and Lily have been so patient. It's hard to order Trent around after he comes home from work, because I could just get up and do it myself. But he's loving and willing to serve, and is more strict about me laying down than I am.

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, Trent and I went on a date to our new Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. We've been hearing about this place since we moved here, and it really is as awesome as all the rumors. Not only were the galleries amazing, but the building itself is a work of art. I'm glad we have something so classy in NW Arkansas.

I was actually surprised at the amount of 'famous' pieces they had that would be recognizable by the general public. I was mostly interested in the 19th and 20th century art. There was a great painting in there I could have looked at for hours; the paint was so beautiful and fluid and chunky. Unfortunately I can't remember the artist, but I'm sure we'll be back again. Trent said that next time we go, he wants me to give him mini Art History lessons as we move through the genres. I felt so inspired after our visit, I've been going through all my art books/notes from school. It was great to be in an environment where people cared about beautifully crafted things.

Not a good time

2011-12-19T14:47:00.001-06:00

I'm back from a doctor's appointment. My cervix is soft, the baby has dropped and I've dilated to 1 cm. This is not good people. I'm still at the end of 32 weeks.

Last night at 4:30 a.m., I experienced pain in my lower abdomen like I've never felt before. Since I practically felt no pain with the last labor and delivery, I'd say it was the worst pain I've felt in my life. The doctor has ordered me to be lazy, not official bed rest, but practically. We just need to make it to 35 weeks so at least our little boy is developed enough to live outside an incubator.

So far, he's healthy and well, I just need my body to slow down. So I guess I'll be reading a book and watching movies during nap time today, instead of making secret santa goodies.

Three years ago...

2011-12-15T20:09:00.000-06:00

Three years ago on December 12, Trent graduated from BYU-I.

Three years ago on December 13, we packed up our apartment and drove to Inkom, ID.

Three years ago on December 14, we drove away from Inkom, in the middle of a blizzard, headed for Bella Vista, AR. We were in for the worst driving experiences of our lives that day. My Dad took these photos as we were driving away.

Three years ago, TODAY, on December 15, we were still driving across the country. I was 32 weeks pregnant with Lils. Today, in 2011, I'm 32 weeks pregnant with our son.

Three years ago on December 17, we found the house in Bella Vista that we would rent for the next 9 months. Our lives had completely changed, but 5 weeks later they would change even more when our baby girl arrived early.

I am SO thankful to be sitting in a warm house tonight, instead of in a hotel with a moving van; grateful that I'm not moving across the country with this big belly; grateful that Trent has a great job and a steady income. I can't believe that we did what we did. But it was the best decision we ever made.

Recent faces

2011-12-14T14:46:00.000-06:00

While we were at Krispy Kreme, I noticed that in the middle of her donut, Lily was concentrating very hard, then stuck out her tongue and held up her treat. I turned around and saw that she was imitating the boy on a poster.

My morning comedy show:

And I'm not sure what to say about these ones, except that Lily follows her Dad's lead in everything. We didn't buy those pickles by the way.

A cozy sleepy Sunday evening

2011-12-11T20:28:00.000-06:00

Potty pride

2011-12-08T15:45:00.004-06:00

So the big adventure that we started over Thanksgiving, was potty training... again. Trent was going to be home Wednesday to Sunday, so I thought it would be the perfect time. I wanted help this time, to keep from going crazy.

I actually had planned on waiting and waiting long past after the baby was born to train her again. I didn't know if she was ready and I knew I wasn't. But about a month before Thanksgiving, I kept feeling these little thoughts and promptings that I should try, that you can do this, that now is the time, while I have one-on-one time with her. I pushed these feelings away for a while, because I was scared of it all. The last two times were hard, and not because she didn't get trained, but because it caused a lot of pain and confusion for her.

One night I was reading a potty-training book I borrowed from the library, and I had this overwhelming impression that I needed to make a leap of faith. It's really the first time in a while I've had a practical application to exercising faith; being afraid of something and needing to be brave enough to step into the dark. Who knew that potty training could be such a spiritual experience.

So I made preparations. A week before we started, I started having Lily go stand in the bathroom to poop, to associate those things with the toilet. I also started feeding her prunes daily, so things would be nice and soft. :)

Wednesday was day one. Trent and I excitedly showed Lily that the little potty was back in the bathroom again. She started crying immediately, but when she saw the little bowl of treats and toys I put together, she calmed down a little. I knew she already had learned how to pee, so after she calmed down and relaxed, she went right away! We put on big-girl underwear, washed our hands, picked a treat, and put a sticker on the potty chart. The toy bowl and chart were new from the previous times, I had to think of something fun for her to do. She did great all day, even pooped a little. There was no fear of the potty, no fear of peeing, although she kept reminding me that "the doctor gave us medicine so peeing is good now." We even went to Lowe's and she asked to use the restroom there. I couldn't have been more happy. Wednesday and Thursday went so well. We were blessed with so many tender mercies.

The next two days were hard, because she suddenly developed a fear of pooping. She was in so much discomfort on Saturday night, she couldn't fall asleep. She kept crying every 10 minutes saying she needed to go potty. But then we'd sit there and sit, telling her to push, that it was ok, but nothing would happen. So back to bed. This continued until 11 p.m. when Lily said to Trent, "My belly hurts." He asked her, "Well, what should we do?" She was quiet for a minute then said, "Go potty." She went in there and without having any control at this point, everything finally came. (Hope this doesn't gross anyone out. Hey, everyone poops.)

After the traumatic pooping experience, she held her stools for the next week. Nothing. But she did great with peeing. I was at my wit's end trying to help her feel comfortable enough to go. After a week of constant prayers to Heavenly Father about pees and poops, I hoped that He was still listening and not getting tired of hearing all my requests. I kept asking to know what to do to help her go. Finally, one morning she said she needed to poop and I suddenly got the idea to put a pull-up on her and let her go in there. I didn't like the sound of this idea, it would mean taking a step backwards. But the impression came again and again. So that's what we did.

That's been a couple of weeks ago now. Lily still is doing great with peeing; no infections, no fears, no accidents. She wears her underwear all day, except at nap and bedtime she wears a pull-up. But when she wakes up, she is always dry, so we'll probably venture to underwear at night too. She's not a kid who willfully wants to do things by herself, she always asks for me to be there. Every once in a while, she will go in there on her own, without telling me. During the day, she comes to tell me she needs to poop so I tell her to get a pull-up. I help her put it on and she runs to stand in my bathroom, (it's the only place she'll do her #2 business.) Then we change her and put underwear back on. After she gets comfortable with pooping again and unafraid, I will try to get to her sit on the toilet with a pull-up on and move from there.

This whole experience has been exhausting, but she has made it past the fears she had a few months ago. My testimony has grown so much in the past few weeks, knowing that I can ask for Heavenly Father's help with anything, even toilet training. I know that He cares about my concerns and that he answers prayers. I really felt like He was there with us that week, helping her along, whispering advice and words to say that would help her. Now I just need to trust that we will get past this stage as well.

To my future self, who will need to potty train the next child:

Before training:
-have the child go stand in the bathroom to poop
-put whatever you can from the diaper into the toilet. Lily thought it was awesome to see her stuff in the water and to flush it.
-give prunes to eat so that stools are always soft and less likely to be uncomfortable

During training:
-have a treat bowl to choose from, to reward pee or poop
-have a sticker chart (I found one online); a sticker for going pee, a sticker for sitting and trying, a sticker for staying dry at various times of the day, a sticker for poop.
-after a couple days when the treat bowl is gone, reward for poops only, or for whatever is the greatest challenge
-as hard as it is to constantly ask, "Do you need to go?" just relax and don't push it. I think Lily was feeling the pressure to perform. Besides, she knew when she had to go. She's old enough now to recognize the feeling.
-when there is an accident, don't get upset, just say, "Oops. Sometimes accident's happen when we're learning something new."

I hope no one got grossed out, but since a total of 3 people read this, I guess it doesn't matter. It is all for me to look back someday and read and laugh. The things we mom's get excited about is hilarious. "Alright! You pooped!" :)

Projects

2011-12-05T21:27:00.000-06:00

Like I said in my last post, I've rolled up my sleeves and taken on tons of projects recently. Mostly because I have the energy to do what I couldn't for the past few months, and because I know in the very near future, I will be too exhausted to do anything but eat and rest.

One of my favorite things I've done is organizing closets and cupboards. I looked in our tupperware cupboard one day and realized that I had two lids in there without a container. I guess when something sits in the same place for so long, you get used to it and don't think twice about it. So I cleaned that thing out. Same story for our medicine cabinet, emergency supplies, pest control stuff, and Lily's closet. I have yet to do the pantry. Organizing stuff is something I've always loved doing, as my parents can attest to. And now I can see qualities in Lily that she may like doing the same thing.

I'm working on making a new curtain for our living room. I had this vision in my head of what I wanted, and I found fabric similar at IKEA, but didn't buy any. So I bought some white fabric, ordered metallic fabric paint, and used stencils out of laminating adhesive to make leaf shapes all over. I still have about 20 shapes left, and I hope it'll look as good as the idea in my head. It's taken a lot of Andy Griffith Shows to get through this one.

I'm also in the process of sprucing up our bedroom. I really want it to be a peaceful sanctuary when the baby comes. We cleaned out the stuff that had accumulated in the corner of the room, and I found books and movies that we like to read/watch frequently. So I came up with the idea of some funky shelves to hold them on the wall. I described my idea to Trent and he did all the magic. I didn't even lift a paint brush. He did a great job and I love how they turned out. If we ever have a large space in a future entertainment room, it would be cool to put these all over the wall to hold DVD's.

Getting the baby room put together has been pretty fun. It used to be Trent and I's room for our hobbies, and it was packed with paint, foam, sewing things, tools, etc. No room for a baby there. So Trent kindly has moved his "man stuff" out to the garage and my art things are still in the room, consolidated into a smaller space. As I was going through things that had been hiding the closet, I found a bag of cut up toilet paper rolls I was saving for a project. So I decided to make it. I just stapled them together in a shape and spray-painted it red. Cheap and easy. It hangs above the little man's bed.

It seems like I'm just rambling on and that this was super boring to read. But I feel like I've been really productive lately and I didn't want to forget it.

30 Weeks

2011-12-01T15:16:00.000-06:00

At my last appointment, my doctor said to me, "So you had your last baby 3 weeks early. If you stay on that schedule again, you could have a baby boy in just 7 weeks from now." I must admit my heart started to race and I got freaked out for a second. That's really soon! I'm excited to meet the new little man of the house, but also curious/nervous for what kind of newborn experience it will be.

If any of you knew Lily (I mean really knew her, not just seeing her asleep at church) you would know that she was a hard one. She didn't stop crying for two and a half months straight. It made for a very exhausted, I'm-not-sure-if-I-want-to-do-this-anymore mommy. I love my girl now, but those feelings of love weren't super strong when she was a month old. And I felt bad about it. I'm not sure if every mom goes through this with their new babies, but mine was hard, and I've had many, many people tell me that "they've never seen a baby act like that before." I know now that Lily is just a special kid, with lots of energy and a quick intelligence. But what will our little boy be like? I guess if he's like his sister, I'll already know what to do.

Anyways, the pregnancy is going well and I have plenty of energy to get through the day. The only thing that's bothersome is some serious sciatic nerve pain, pretty much each time I stand up. Getting out of bed is pretty hilarious too. If I hobble around for a minute, the pain goes away and off I go. I passed my glucose test and my iron is great. Speaking of the test, that sugar drink was nastier than I remember it last time. I felt like I was choking it down by the time I got to the end of the bottle.

The baby room is slowly coming together. I've been keeping myself busy during Lily's naps; washing baby clothes, blankets, sheets, burp cloths; cleaning up his room; sewing a new nursing cover and car seat blanket; organizing Lily's clothes so there is room in the dresser for little trousers and shirts. It feels so good to see everything coming together. We basically have a couple pajamas and a dozen onesies that aren't pink, but I guess it doesn't really matter what he wears at first. He'll be bundled up anyway.

We've finally narrowed down the huge list of boy names we had. We seriously loved almost 15 names. Now we have two to choose from, and hopefully when we see him, we'll know which one to choose. As much as my family wishes to know what names we like, it's kind of fun having a little secret of our own.

I still can't believe we're having a boy.

A day of thanks and yumminess

2011-11-28T14:37:00.000-06:00

Mashed potatoes, a turkey roll, sweet yams, stuffing, rolls, and apple pie. Plus a big adventure that I'm not going to write about yet. It was so great to have a long weekend.

Scripture ice cream

2011-11-23T21:15:00.000-06:00

About a month ago, Trent came up with a great idea for our scripture reading. He got three jars, each filled with a different color bead. Each of us, Trent, me and Lily have a jar and when we read our scriptures that day, we get to put a bead into an empty jar. That jar doesn't stay empty for long, and as soon as everyone's beads are gone, and the 4th jar is full of beads, we get to go out to ice cream.

We've emptied and filled our jars a couple of times now, and been able to enjoy come TCBY. Lily likes getting 'the pink' ice cream, but mostly she likes the multicolored chairs and lights. Lily's bead is mostly for family scripture study and it's cute to hear her remind us to put a bead in the jar. My favorite is seeing the last jar filled with everyone's beads, each representing an individual or family scripture study, it's like a jar full of goodness.

I'm excited to fix Thanksgiving dinner for my little family tomorrow. I finished the sweet potatoes today, so they should be nice and sugary for our feast. Happy cooking!

Pinned

2011-11-21T17:03:00.000-06:00

Finally someone invented the ingenious website Pinterest, where you can categorize and pin all the great and creative things you can see online. But after looking through other people's collections, I'm convinced that pinning would get far too addicting for me. So I pretty much stay away, unless I need some inspiration for a project.

Which is what I was doing the other day, and suddenly I ran across an image of myself, of my own art, from my own blog. I know with the internet being as public as it is, that anyone's image could really be taken at anytime, anywhere. It just surprised me to see my own photo in someone else's stash. It was kind of cool that someone thought it was neat enough to pin, but what else is out there from my blog? Gratefully, my image is part of a beautiful collection of posters and other printed pretties. Have you found any of your own pictures online before? Maybe I'm just easily surprised.

High school and college

2011-11-18T15:48:00.000-06:00

While I was at home, Lily stayed with Grandma and I went to my high school to have lunch with my little sister. It was so strange to be back. High school is far enough away in my memory that I can't really remember a lot of specifics, but the general feeling is still clear. I loved high school. I had the best group of friends, boys and girls, that anyone could ask for. Our school was small, so everyone knew everyone.

When I walked in the doors, the hall smelled the same. Instantly, I was back in school, just getting off the bus in the morning, walking through the halls getting ready for another day. I love how smells are such powerful memory reminders.

I couldn't get over how young all the kids were. When I was a senior, I thought I was pretty awesome. Being a senior made anyone awesome. But these were just kids. They had no idea what life was about yet. I walked past my old locker, and remembered when I'd watch for a certain boy to walk past me in the hall. Now, I have a husband and a daughter...

It was fun walking around with my sister and eating lunch with her cute friends. We had spaghetti and meat sauce, and the sauce still stained the corners of my mouth like it used to. Oh, and the smell and taste of drinking out of a paper milk carton... yumminess!

I knew it would be strange to go back and realize that those days are long gone, and that my friends and I are scattered all over the country now. I'm so grateful that I grew up in a place where I could build so many great memories.

Go Marsh Valley!

I few days later, my family and I drove up to Rexburg. I was so excited for this. Rexburg still has a large part of my heart attached to it. It's where I really learned to grow up, where I made friends I'll cherish forever, where I grew to know my Savior, where I decided my career choice, where I met Trent. But with all of the construction and fancy new buildings that are on campus, it almost felt like a different place. I kept stopping and trying to imagine what it used to look like when we were there.

There were still some familiar spaces, like the library and the stadium. Of course, I had to go inside my beloved Spori building. I spent so many hours there, getting ready for critiques, waiting for my paintings to dry, washing ink off my hands, having late night design discussions. It was all the same, thankfully. I could have walked into Brother Memmott's Advanced Typography class, but decided against it. He always hated distractions during class. :)

While we were walking around, I bumped into my old friend, Shawn Palmer, a.k.a. that boy I used to watch for in high school. He and his wife are expecting a baby in February too. I love when friends can just pick up and talk like it was yesterday. Before getting to campus, mom and dad dropped Lily and I off at my friend Mallory's house. Another great visit!

I wish we could have stayed longer, but Lily was tired of walking around. We ate at a Thai Restaurant on Main, that I always wanted to eat at, drove up to the Temple, and left. I could have stayed all day. I love that little Rexburg. It's growing to be not so little anymore, and I wish it could all stay the same... we only need one Provo in this world. Trent would have loved to be there with us. We've grown together so much since those days.

In true Rexburg fashion, the sun was shining but it was freezing cold. Lily doesn't remember, but she came to some of those classes with me back in the day. :)

Among other things that happened on our trip home, I saw my great friend Natalie McNabb, my friend Justin Wright and his wife, went to church in my old ward, and found some great old stuff to bring home.

I'm so proud of how well Lily did the whole week. She was cranky and toddler-ish at times, but she also ate and slept well. We put a mattress on the floor in our room and took naps and slept well at night. She wouldn't get off the mattress until I came to get her. Love her. She did break out in another weird case of hives, which made for some itchiness and fussiness. It would spread to different parts of her body throughout the day. I still have no idea why it happened. She did great on the plane ride home and was so pleasant and content with the goodies I brought. I was still missing home until we saw Trent in the airport, picking us up. I was back to my life. And what a good life it is.

At home

2011-11-14T15:25:00.006-06:00

Walks with Carrie

Inkom town

View out the front door

Pumpkin carvin'

Lots of playing in the living room with Grandma's fun toys. Let me just say that by the end of the week, Lily was a little bossy pants. It took about a week to get her out the notion that someone was available to play with her at any moment.

Utah then Idaho

2011-11-10T15:35:00.000-06:00

01. Drove to Provo/Grandma and Grandpa Davis's house after the flight.
02. The flight went so well. It was great to have Trent's parents there to help.
03. Lily laughed hysterically during take-off.
04. Grandma's house is just as cozy as it always was.
05. Went for a morning walk. My brother Spencer rode his bike over from campus to see us. And Trent's brother David came over to visit as well. Later, my Aunt Cherisse came by. We all ate lunch together and I loved every minute of it, especially when Lily was calling David 'You monkey!'

06. Sadly said goodbye to most of the family, then drove up to Mantua to see Grandma Sara. She wasn't home but the door was unlocked so we went inside. Seeing that big, empty la-z-boy chair made me think of Grandpa and it hurt too much. I started bawling and Lily kept saying, "It's ok Mommy. I'm here."

07. Kept driving north, past the border, then into Marsh Valley. Ahh, those mountains were so beautiful. I used to stare at those mountains on our 30 minute bus ride home everyday. On the drive to school, I was usually falling asleep. On the way home, I'd watch the mountains and daydream.

08. After a long day of driving, we pulled into #2176. I was finally home.

P.S. On our way out of the SLC valley, we stopped in IKEA. Oh dream! It was as great as I thought it would be. Now if they could only build one closer than Dallas...

Clawsons

2011-11-07T20:19:00.000-06:00

Before we headed up to Idaho, Trent's parents came to visit us. Lily had so much fun playing, reading, and imagining with them. We don't get to see each other very often so it was great to spend time together. They flew to SLC with Lily and I at the end of the week, which helped SO much!

We searched for the perfect pumpkins, carved them, and roasted the seeds.

Going on a walk, playing her 'guitar.'

Dad's project this time was to refinish our metal deck chairs. This has been on my list of things to do forever, but other things come up or the weather is too hot or cold and it's never gotten done. He found a place that sandblasted all of the nasty peeling paint and rust off, and then primed and painted them. I LOVE how they look now, just like new.

Thanks for coming to visit Mom and Dad. We loved having you here!

Butterfly/ballerina/princess girl

2011-11-02T15:24:00.000-05:00

This girl was super excited for Treat or Treating this year. I haven't seen her so hyper in a long time. She was jumping around the house, squealing in delight when Daddy came home from work, because that was the time to get on her 'costume.' Her outfit was a combination of gifts from grandmas. But she didn't care. As long at it was pink, she was fine.

We went door to door on a friend's street. My heart swelled up with so much love when I saw her stand in the back of the crowds of kids, patiently waiting her turn for the candy. Her hyperness was suddenly gone, and replaced with quiet observing. She was so innocent, so cute with her piggy-tails and tutu. After she was given candy, she would say 'thank you' and wave. I'm sure next year will be a different story. But for this year, she was the cutest butterfly/princess girl ever.

And we're back

2011-10-31T15:13:00.000-05:00

What an awesome two weeks it's been! It was so good to see family and be back home. But today I have a Monday house, and it's time to go back to work.

We missed the Halloween parties on Friday night, so we'll be trick or treating tonight. It's the first year Lils will realize that Halloween = candy. And probably the last year she lets mom decide what her costume will be.

This is also the first year I've decorated for Halloween, mostly because Lils helped me. She loved picking out the mini pumpkins and drawing/cutting faces for them. She loves turning on the flickering electric candles at night and saying, "Trick or treat!" I think we'll have fun tonight.

A few things

2011-10-16T20:55:00.000-05:00

Another example of the squinty-eye face for the camera.

-It was my birthday a few days ago. Trent gave me a great gift, my friend took me out to lunch, Trent and I had Thai for dinner and spent a great evening together. For the past few years, I always forget how old I am, momentarily, until I think of how old Trent is and subtract two. But this year I turned 25. Pretty memorable, that one.

-Lily has been sick this week, again. This time with a cold that turned into a cough. I think it's finally on its way out. It always amazes me how worried I get when she's sick. I must be her mother. :)

-My in-laws are coming to town tomorrow. We're all excited to see them and show off our Arkansas to them.

-Next week, Lils and I are flying to Idaho, to my home sweet home. I can't wait to see home in the fall. I'm preparing myself for all the strange emotions I'll have; wishing I could be a kid again, experiencing familiar sights, smells and sounds that used to be so much a part of my life, realizing that Idaho and Arkansas are actually on the same planet, even though they feel so separated. There is a coziness at home that I don't feel anywhere else, and I'm excited to have Lily there to feel it herself. We may even be able to visit Rexburg, which would be so wonderful and heartbreaking at the same time. I wish Trent could come with us, but he doesn't have any vacation days left. Maybe someone could invite him over for dinner so he doesn't eat our supply of cereal for every meal. :)

-The Black Forest Cake for my birthday was largely a disappointment, as most store bought cakes are.

-I've had this random urge to pound on the organ keys while people are speaking at the pulpit in church, and then smile like nothing happened. Maybe if I was 95 years old and had zero self restraint, I would.

-Posts will be few and far between for the next few weeks. Have a good Halloween and eat some candy.

Lollipops make all the difference

2011-10-13T14:46:00.000-05:00

This last week, we loaded up the camera and tripod and headed out to take our family pictures. I didn't want to pay anyone this year, so I did it myself. Which means setting up the tripod, making the composition just right, while Trent and Lily have to sit patiently, then I say, "Ready?", press the shutter and make a mad dash to the family, trying to look calm and composed before the 10 seconds is up. Frustrating, but free.

We did pretty good this year, except that Lily was not impressed with how annoying this process is. Thankfully, I have a secret stash of lollipops in my purse for such occasions. A lollipop works to soothe at doctor visits, hospital kidney ultrasounds, waiting to get into restaurants , and now, family pictures. Of course, I had to deal with the fact that she thought it was awesome to show the camera the color of her tongue, right before the picture would take. After running back and forth a million times, and seeing how many of the pictures had a purple tongue in it or a panting pregnant woman, I decided that I would just use my Photoshop skillz and combine pictures together, making the perfect photo. Here is the result:

And here is one of the many examples of the cute sticky-outy-tongue face:

The rest of the evening was easy.

The perfect autumn Saturday

2011-10-10T15:52:00.000-05:00

We've heard a lot of our friends talk about a local pumpkin patch/corn maze and how much fun it is for their kids. We decided to check it out and I'm glad we did. Lily had so much fun, her face told the whole story. The farm was so rural and great, it reminded me of farms back home.

Ducks and dinner

2011-10-05T21:00:00.000-05:00

and sitting by a lake eating Wendy's. Gotta soak up these amazing evenings while they last.

Happy October

2011-10-01T21:21:00.002-05:00

Hello my favorite month of the year! General Conference, my birthday, pumpkin pickin', raking leaves, Halloween, and this year, my in-laws are coming to visit, and later Lily and I are flying home to see my family. It's going to be a great month.

Lily's latest favorite thing right now is to pour water from cup to cup and into a mini vase. She stood there pouring for over an hour the other day, and was so proud to show Daddy her new skill.

Conference was amazing today. Yet again, I'm still convinced that the best sessions are on Saturday. So many of those talks were just what I needed to hear.

Bring on the trucks and muddy jeans!

2011-09-28T09:49:00.000-05:00

After anxiously waiting through the ultrasound, watching healthy feet, legs, spine, head show up on the screen, the technician tried looking for the sex of our baby. It's legs were crossed and both arms were over it's face. So I rolled over to one side and ta-da! Folks, that right there is something that girls to not have. It's a boy!

This whole time, Trent and I felt like it was a boy, but we thought Lily was a boy too. So when she actually said it, I couldn't believe it. It's still sinking in a bit. There is something kind of foreign about boys that makes me wonder if I'm ready for this, but of course I am because he will be mine. And wouldn't it be great if he was a cuddly momma's boy?

As far as the pregnancy goes, I've been feeling pretty good. I actually craved mint chocolate chip ice cream the other day, where the chocolate is cut into little slivers. Braums delivered on that one. It's nice to eat lunch and not feel sick anymore, even though it does catch up to me every once in a while. Brushing my teeth is no longer a gag. My hips and joints are still achy and stretching, and when I stand after sitting for a while, I think I waddle a little. My energy is back though, and it's amazing how alive I feel. The weather being cooler makes all of this even greater. I felt like I was stuck inside all summer with the heat and nausea. It feels so good to get outside with Lils and enjoy the day. The second trimester is the bestest.

A symbol of joy

2011-09-26T21:14:00.000-05:00

I went to the General Relief meeting on Saturday night with an open heart, ready for words of healing and peace. And that's exactly what I found. Before the meeting even started, the musical program invited the spirit and I was filled to the brim with love.

I felt like President Uchtdorf's talk was just for me. After the little trials our family has been through in the past month, after the uncomfortableness of pregnancy, after the emotional roller coasters I've found myself on, I needed some focus and reassurance of some things. President Uchtdorf used the perfect analogy, the five petals of the forget-me-not flower representing five important words of wisdom:

Forget not to be patient with yourself.
Forget not the difference between a good and a bad sacrifice.
Forget not to be happy now.
Forget not the 'why' of the gospel.
Forget not that the Lord loves you.

"The “what” and “how” of obedience marks the way, yes, and it keeps us on the right path. But the “why” of obedience sanctifies our actions, transforming the mundane into the majestic. It magnifies our small acts of obedience into holy acts of consecration."

"Sisters, wherever you are, whatever the circumstances may be, you are not forgotten. No matter how dark your days may seem, no matter how insignificant you may feel, no matter how overshadowed you think you may be, your Heavenly Father has not forgotten you. In fact, He loves you, with an infinite love."

"Sisters, there is something inspiring and sublime about the little forget-me-not flower. I hope it will be a symbol of the little things that make your lives joyful and sweet."

I am grateful for the knowledge I have of being the daughter of a most powerful God. He is not only my God, but he is my Father. He aches when I ache, he is joyful when I am joyful. I'm grateful for these reminders that my little life here as a mother and wife are not confined to naps and diapers and meals and laundry, but is far more eternal than that. I am a daughter of infinite worth.

All is well today

2011-09-22T11:35:00.000-05:00

My day

2011-09-21T21:38:00.000-05:00

Warning: this post is the second in one month that uses the word 'pee' as regular vocabulary.

Preface: Trent had a cold last week. Lily got the same cold on Sunday (runny nose, sore throat, and pushing on her ears in pain.) Took her to the doctor two days ago to see if there was an ear infection. Nope. Clear ears. Just a cold. I always feel a bit foolish when we leave the doctor with no answers.

Today.

2 a.m.- Lily has been coughing in bed since 11 p.m. Thankfully, she's staying pretty calm about not being able to sleep. The cough sounds awful. But everything seems awful at 2 a.m.

3 a.m.- We both finally fall asleep.

8 a.m.- I wake up with a raging sore throat and head that is ready to explode. Looks like it's my turn for the cold. Because of pregnancy, Tylenol is my only friend.

9 a.m.- Lily is up but still has that mean cough, and now she's pressing on her ears again. Looks like no preschool for her today.

10 a.m.-noon- Lily is pretty happy despite the coughing. I do my best to play with her, in between dozing off on the couch and blowing my stuffed nose.

Noon- make lunch. Lily likes it. I take one bite of a grape, and put my hand over my mouth as I run to the bathroom. I guess this morning sickness comes back to get you every once in a while.

1 p.m.- Lily is playing and then suddenly holds her bum and says 'ouch.' Oh no. That can't be what I think it is. Maybe I'll wait and see if she does it again.

1:30 p.m.- in Walmart buying cranberry juice, just in case it is what I think it is. I let Lily walk instead of putting her in the cart. She suddenly looks at me and says, "Pee is good Mommy." I reassure her but she cries and yells 'ouch!' So it is what I feared.

2:30 p.m.- Lily is taking a nap. I try to rest but my throat hurts and my head is foggy and I know that for the rest of the day, I'm going to have to be brave.

4:00 p.m.- the doctor's office is full so we head to the Urgent Care. I'm not waiting until dark this time. No ER for us.

4:30 p.m.- We walk into the Urgent Care and 10-15 people are waiting for the doctor. Oh dear. It's going to be a long afternoon. But *tender mercy* of the day. We sat in the waiting room for a total of 3 minutes before we were called into a room, before all of those people who were waiting. My silent prayer was answered by a little miracle.

4:35 p.m.- The nurse sticks a special bag to Lily's bottom, to catch any pee for a sample. I didn't even want to attempt forcing her on the toilet. Not doing that again.

4:45 p.m.- The doctor confirms that she now has an ear infection in the right ear. At least we will be leaving with a result this time.

4:50 p.m.- They give Lily a popsicle to eat. I make her chug water.

5:00 p.m.- Still no pee. I secretly know we could be here for hours. This girl has an iron will as strong as her bladder.

5:15 p.m.- I have her Woody and Jessie dolls tell her it's good to pee, if we pee in the sticker bag we can go home, if you pee in the bag you get a lollipop. Ok, mom enough of that. I guess we will be here all night.

5:30 p.m.- No pee but Trent finally came. What a relief to have someone to talk to. We talk about our options: leave and distract her so hopefully she'll go, go the ER to get a catheter to drain her and get it over with, just wait it out and run to McDonald's for dinner.

5:45 p.m.- Nothing still. I'm starting to go a little crazy and my throat feels like it's on fire.

5:50 p.m.- Trent says he needs to use the restroom. I ask him to take her with him and maybe have her sit on the toilet with her diaper and bag on, just to make her a little upset enough to cry and pee. I guess you could say I made him do the dirty work.

6:00 p.m.- They come back. Lily has tears running down her face but... there is pee in the bag! The nurses joined us in praising her like crazy. Lily quickly recovers and tells us proudly that she peed. Good girl.

6:15 p.m.- It's another urinary tract infection. I caught it early this time so it isn't very severe. I'm glad there is something to fix. But why did this happen again? Is she holding her urine, not letting her bladder empty again? She just had one of these three weeks ago. Why so soon? I'm beginning to fear potty training again.

6:30 p.m.- We leave with a happy but coughing Lily and an antibiotic to kick both the ear and her bottom. The nurses smile and practically hug us when we leave.

6:45- 8:30 p.m.- Off to dinner, the pet store, pick up her prescription and home to put on pj's, read scriptures and put her to bed. She had a very full and soggy diaper.

9:00 p.m.- I feel sick as ever but Lily should be feeling better in no time. A couple of things are for sure; 1) one of my biggest anxieties in life as a mother come from this little girl's ill-health and 2) Heavenly Father hears my prayers, even when I'm sitting in a doctor's office alone.

9:30 p.m.- After I have a big emotional cry with Trent, I'm taking Tylenol and going to bed. Tomorrow will be a better day.

I love the mountains, I love the rolling hills...

2011-09-19T14:52:00.000-05:00

As soon as it started getting cooler outside, Trent mentioned that we should go camping. So we picked a weekend, and decided to go. We haven't been camping since Lils was born for one reason or another, and we decided that now she would probably not be bothered by sleeping in a strange place a.k.a a tent.

We packed up our gear and headed to Lake Leatherwood near Eureka Springs, being serenaded by John Denver and James Taylor in the car, because that's just what you listen to in order to feel outdoorsy. We didn't make it to our site until about 7 or so and it was already getting dark. We had to set up and heat our tin foil dinners, then ate in the dark. After marshmallows, we had sat around long enough that we were sure it was at least 9:30 or 10, but it was only 8:30. We decided to climb into the tent and start the nighttime adventure. Basically, it was what I expected: Lily didn't think it was so fun once she realized that we weren't going home, we were all awake for a long time, my body hurt, and time played tricks on my mind, "Surely it's almost 4 a.m..... only midnight?!"

The morning was welcome and we ate our yummy breakfast in the cool, wet morning air. We walked around the area and found the lake. We were pretty much the only people in the whole place. I suddenly forgot about how rough the night was and remembered all those times camping with my family growing up. I love camping. I love the outdoors. I love being in a place where few people are.

Lily's favorite part: exploring with a flashlight in the dark.
My favorite part: that it didn't get above 70 degrees all day.
Trent's favorite part: being manly and building the fire.

Off to learn my ABC's

2011-09-12T15:10:00.000-05:00

Our kiddo started preschool this last week. It's actually pre-preschool, but school nonetheless. She thinks it's a time in the week to play with friends and her great teacher, Miss Meg. I hope this is a start for her love of learning, and that learning can be fun. But we mostly signed her up to learn how to be away from me consistently. It'll be perfect when the new baby comes. Big sister will go to school and laugh and learn, and mommy will bond with baby.

She had a great time on her first day, and so did I. Grocery shopping all by myself?! What a treat!

Quick potty update: She's still in diapers, but I think she's finally getting the hang of peeing again, and being ok with it. Every once in a while, she'll say, "Lily no pee in her panties." Or "Poop is good Mommy." I think the potty terms have stuck and she understands better what her body is doing. But she's still scared of the toilet, in any size. "Lily no potty right now," when I ask. But at preschool, she sat on the potty, hopefully because she saw that the other kids were too. I don't think it's the right time for training again yet, but I'm hoping when that time comes, she'll be ready. And I'll be ready.

"Mommmmmy!"

2011-09-09T15:18:00.000-05:00

Lils is finally in a 'big girl bed.' We haven't had a reason to move her into one until now, and she has been sleeping pretty well in the crib, with only a couple of climbing out attempts. We took down the crib and told her that it was 'broken' and time to put it away. I'd admit that I was a little nervous how she'd take it. This is not a girl that likes change.

But surprisingly, she has loved it. She loved it from the second we put it together. I was sure that the first night we laid her down and shut the door that she'd scream and cry. But she was completely content and fell asleep. Trent and I both looked at each other like, "Whoa, that was too easy."

That was a couple of weeks ago. Since then, she's discovered the freedom that comes when there are no more bars, and we sometimes have to go in there and remind her it's time to sleep. One nap time, I could hear her singing. I opened the door and she had opened the room-darkening blinds, had all of her books out on the floor and was sitting cross-legged reading/singing a book. Her face was so hilarious when she saw me, like, "Oh... a... I'm just cleaning up Mom." She is getting better at staying in bed, mostly because there aren't any toys and hardly any books in her room anymore.

We lock her door when we leave the room, and open it up when she falls asleep. But as far as I know, she hasn't attempted to leave the room. In fact, in the mornings, I hear this distant, "Mommmmmy! Mommmmy!" coming from her room. She is just sitting there on her bed, waiting for me to come get her. I love that girl. She's done so well with this change, and I'm so proud of her.

Typist

2011-09-06T14:56:00.000-05:00

I have some blog posts up my sleeve, including a Lily update. But today I need to use this nap time to prepare for Enrichment on Thursday night. I've been asked to talk about interior designing and decorating. I'm a little at a loss of what to say, there is SO much I could say, but it would be completely random and everyone would fall asleep. So I'm off to organize my thoughts.

But first, some awesome things. 1) The weather has suddenly changed from nasty terrible heat to pleasant 70's and 80's. We spent the whole three-day weekend outside, and on Monday night at an outdoor concert, we even wore our jackets. Woot! Come on fall! 2) My little girl loves to type on our 1940's typewriter and sing at the same time. It's quite the thing to see. And 3) The only thing I wanted to eat today was Raman noodles, and surprisingly, they were quite delish. Hopefully this is the beginning of loving food again.

Is there a light at the end of this tunnel?

2011-09-02T15:42:00.000-05:00

Oh boy. These past three days have shaved years off of my life. I guess that challenges like this are part of being a mom. But I'd sure like to hide under the covers and not come out until it's all over.

We started potty training with Lily on Friday. This is the second time we've started. She was doing great; learned how to relax (which what was the trouble the first time), learned when to tell me she needed to go, learned to overcome her fear of public toilets or 'big' toilets in general, learning to be accident-free for days. Potty training for me, is like breastfeeding was when Lils was young. When there is a success, as a mom, I could fly to the moon, the world was good. But when there's a relapse, or things are going not so well that you decided to give up and try again another time, that is an ultimate low. That's what I felt like the first time we tried this thing, I gave in and put that diaper back on. This time was different.

Lily was doing awesome, I was beginning to think that this was really going to work. But then. On Tuesday afternoon, she started complaining that it hurt to pee. I encouraged her to keep going and push through, but as the day went on, the complaining turned into screams with the tiniest drop of urine. She knew she needed to go on the potty, so she'd run to sit on it, only to be terrified by the pain she was feeling. So she started holding it in. By the end of the day, she was in pain, and since all offices and clinics were closed, we headed to the Emergency Room. Once we got in, the nurse said that they needed a urine sample. I said I couldn't get her pee, even with chocolate as a reward. And they said our options were for her to pee in the toilet or to do a catheter. We choose the toilet option. But it wasn't easy. In fact, each time I think of it, I start to cry.

By this point in the day, she was thoroughly terrified of the toilet, but we had to force her to sit on it. She started crying and because her little bladder was so full by this point, some urine started leaking out, making her scream in pain. She couldn't control it coming anymore and it kept coming. When I close my eyes, I can see the terrified look in her eyes, asking us why we were forcing her to stay on the toilet and feel this. Ultimate low mom moment right there.

The lab test came back positive for a Urinary Tract Infection, as we suspected. She was prescribed an antibiotic, we left the hospital and drove around all of northwest Arkansas looking for a pharmacy that was open at midnight. We started her on the meds and thought that the worst was behind us.

But the next morning, she wouldn't go near the toilet, no incentive worked anymore. And it still stung for her to pee. So she held it. All day. And that's been the story since. Plus she's back to diapers, again. She holds her pee all day, 9 or 10 hours, until I tickle her or she laughs or cries and it gushes out. My only relief in the day comes when that diaper finally fills up and she can sleep at night. At the doctor today, they wanted a urine sample, so the toilet experience happened all over again, except that there was no pee to test. So they sent us home and said since there's no more pain, she's probably responding well to the antibiotic. But they also said that if she continues this behavior, she could give herself another infection and this vicious cycle will happen all over again, plus problems with her kidneys, etc, etc.

Today she cries when she unexpectedly pees. Does it hurt? Or is she just scared? Do I tell her ( like I've been doing for days) that pee is good, to just pee in the diaper? Or do I just ignore it and let her go after a long day of holding it? Is she causing damage to herself like the doctor said might happen? Is her psyche damaged by the pain, by the trauma on the toilet? When in the world should I start potty training again? How long will it take for her to just pee in her diaper like she did two weeks ago? Thus is the state of my mind. I think I'm going crazy. I'm worried and scared for her, and no amount of tricks or wives tales can help her to pee. I'm completely helpless, and she's only hurting herself more.

In between my crying and sobs these past few days, I've offered so many prayers to my Heavenly Father. This is obviously a trial of my faith, to continue keeping up hope even when nothing is working. The tender mercy in my day comes when Lily finally pees in her diaper. And it is a welcome relief. But it starts again, and I can't watch her be in pain for very much longer.

Some people might be reading this and think that I'm making a huge deal out of nothing, that it will go away in time, that it's not a big deal. But these past three days have been years. And you moms who stay at home, when there is no one around to talk to or who is experiencing what you are going though, it can kind of make your mind exaggerate a problem, especially when your child is sick. I don't know what to do except to pray and ask for blessings and hope that Heavenly Father will answer our prayers soon.

Thanks to my friends who have heard this story already and offered help.

Nauvoo Part 4 & final thoughts

2011-08-29T16:10:00.000-05:00

On our last day in Nauvoo, we finished up our sightseeing and picked up Jessica from the Mission President's house. She packed her things into the van and we were off. Her mission was over and we drove away from Nauvoo.

This trip created a lot of stirring feelings inside me. It was so wonderful to see my family and to share fun experiences with them. The last time we were in Nauvoo as a family, I was in Elementary school. That seems ages ago, but here we were again.

I thought about the last time I was in Nauvoo on my own. I was on a Church History Tour with my friends, before my junior year of high school. Our group of teenagers came away from that tour with stronger testimonies and strengthened friendships. And I was also independent. I was just a kid, having a fun time. This time, I had a husband and a very unpredictable preschooler with me, and I felt like many mom's feel on vacation, that at times it didn't feel like vacation and I needed a break.

But also having my little family there changed the way I looked at those pioneer saints. Young mother's packed up their lives and left that beautiful city and temple to walk across the plains, only to watch husbands and children die along the way. Holy cow. If I was asked to do something like that, would I have enough faith? Would I be brave enough? What if I was asked to leave now, feeling exhausted and sickish from pregnancy? I had a couple of ancestor families that did that very thing, walked away from Nauvoo, because they loved the Lord. The story of the pioneers became very real to me on this trip.

And lastly, visiting Nauvoo changed our little family. Trent and I mentioned that there is a spirit in Nauvoo that sets a peace and a quiet in everything, (it probably helped that there were so few people there visiting.) Especially after we visited the temple, we noticed how that quiet and peace felt familiar; it felt like our dear little Rexburg, ID. It's hard to explain, but the Holy Ghost seems to touch your heart easier, you seem to yearn to be better, you feel calm and cheerful, the historical stories make an impact on you, and when it's time to go, you don't want to leave. I'm glad we felt that there.

When we got home, we resolved to change a few things; how to make our family scripture study more effective, how to stay spiritually nourished individually, making goals to go to the temple more often. I love how these simple things have changed our family, just since we've been home. I guess our vacation turned out to be much more than fun and family. Now I just hope we can hold onto that spirit of Nauvoo for a long time.

Nauvoo Part 3

2011-08-25T21:27:00.000-05:00

The next morning, Mom, Dad, Trent and I went to do a session in the temple. There were four things that made this session awesome; 1) The fact that we were in the Nauvoo Temple. 2) We were doing endowments for family names on my side. 3) We met my sister Jessica and her companion in the temple for the session. 4) Trent and I were in the session at the same time, a.k.a. we were together. Since we've lived in AR, the temple is far enough away that we don't know anyone in the city, so Trent does a session while I watch Lily, then we switch. We haven't been in the temple together since we've lived here. It was so nice to be in the Celestial room with him.

After the session, we all piled in the van and took Jessica and her companion back to Carthage, where they had been serving. At the visitor's center, Jess was the one to give us the tour, just our family. She did a great job, but I imagine it was kind of weird for her to be there with family. The spirit was there and it was good to feel my testimony strengthen.

Of course we needed to take a family photo. My brother will be leaving on a mission soon, so this is the last time we'll all be together for a while. Here are all the siblings together:

We left Jessica there and headed back to Nauvoo. We went to the printing shop, post office and brick yard. I wanted to touch all of the type, the press, the beautiful pottery. At the brick yard, since we were the only ones there, the senior missionary took us to the room where they make their Nauvoo bricks, and fire them in a kiln. I need to get me one of those... :)

Then off to the burial site of Joseph and Hyrum and shopping in the Red Brick Store.

We ate lunch at the children's station, where they can play house and dress up. Lily, like all girls, had a natural knack for 'playing house' and eating pretend supper. The boys practiced walking on stilts.

Nauvoo Part 2

2011-08-20T18:46:00.000-05:00

The next day, we went on a wagon ride around the town. The weather was amazing, Trent and I kept looking at each other and saying, "Wow, this is what summer is supposed to feel like." After the ride, we toured some of the buildings. It was like we had the whole town to ourselves, there was hardly anyone else there.

It was cute to see these cute old men be experts at the loom and making rugs.

Totally exhausted, but trying to be happy.

That evening, we walked to the temple for a family picture. Again, it was so peaceful and quiet with no one else there. We just walked around, then sat and looked up at that beautiful temple. It is such a wonderful monument to the pioneers and the sacrifice they went through to build it the first time.

Nauvoo Part 1

2011-08-17T21:43:00.000-05:00

We finally went on our family vacation. I'd been dying to get away from this heat and go somewhere besides Fayetteville to get away. We, including Elmo, packed up and started the drive to St. Louis, where we would meet up with my parents and siblings.

Before we got out too far, we stopped in Joplin. I haven't seen the tornado damage for myself yet, but Trent has been up there twice to help. I've never seen anything like it before. It's just a regular city until you come over a hill, and suddenly it looks like a battlefield. It was cleaned up quite a bit, but there were still lots of homes and buildings in shambles. It really set the mood for the trip, realizing once again, how blessed we are.

I guess I didn't realize this, but the freeway from Joplin to St. Louis follows or rides on top of historic Route 66. There were all kinds of cheesy shops claiming to be an original store, were you can buy treasures like plastic bobble heads and shot glasses. I was a little disappointed in the lack of authenticity, but it was still fun to stop.

We made it to our St. Louis hotel before rush-hour traffic got too bad, and spent the rest of the evening with my family, and swimming of course.

We all piled into a big van and started to Nauvoo the next day. Halfway there, we stopped in Hannibal, MO, birthplace of Mark Twain. He is one of my all time favorite authors, and I had just finished up reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, so it was fun to be in his town. We saw the Mississippi river boats and Mark Twain's house, but my favorite part was all the original Normal Rockwell paintings in the museum. He painted a bunch for Twain's novels.

After a few more hours, we made it to Nauvoo, just in time for my brother and sister to do some baptisms for family names. The rest of us stayed outside and enjoyed the beauty of the temple.

That night, we watched Sunset by the Mississippi performed by the Young Performing Missionaries and Senior Couples. Grandma and Lily started off the evening in the parade.

Our new little lemon

2011-08-14T21:45:00.000-05:00

I've been waiting a while to announce this officially, and I guess starting the second trimester is a good time... we have a new family member on the way!

The lack of blogging has largely been due to the fact that I've felt pretty yucky these past 14 weeks. Sick and tired. I think I'm just as sick as last time, but looking back, I have no idea how I finished up my last semester of school and graduated feeling like this. I must have had angels keeping my stomach in check. It's been nice to stay at home and be with Lily, because a toilet is always nearby, so is my bed. Lily is always very concerned when I don't feel well. When I tell her that mommy's tummy hurts, she says, "Lay down Mommy. Kiss it better?"

I think the yuckiness is starting to go away, although every time I walk past our kitchen sick I swear something died in there, and then I have to put my hand over my mouth or else.

My body hurts more this time, like I did in the third trimester with Lils. My poor hips and back creak and groan when I walk, sit or lay down. But I think I've finally figured out the positioning of all my pillows at night to sleep for a few hours. My belly has popped out much sooner, as expected.

Food is such a love/hate thing with pregnancy. Only every once in a while does something sounds good to me, everything else is either gross or just neutral. When I haven't eaten something in what...two hours, I feel sick and know I just need to eat something. Then I start eating it and suddenly it is not tasty at all and I'm done. And other times, like recently, I could eat toasted bagels and cream cheese all day and be totally fine, except that it's completely unhealthy for me. I am pretty proud of myself for one thing though; last pregnancy, I rarely made dinner during the first trimester. Trent and I would come home from school ready for dinner. I would sit outside on the porch while Trent tried to fix something that I would like. He'd fix it, I'd eat it, then go in the house and be grossed out by the smell it left in the house, and be sick for the rest of the evening. This time, I've had dinner ready every night when Trent comes home, except for dine-out nights. It may not be an amazing 6-food-groups dinner, but it's food, and Trent is always kind enough to say that it's tasty.

We had our 10 week ultrasound a while ago and were happy to see that all is well. We've been waiting for this little lemon for a while now, and I was so relieved to see him in there dancing and kicking away. Him... yes we think it's a him. But we thought Lily was a him too. I'd love either a boy or girl, although if we had a girl, we wouldn't have to buy a single item of clothing for her ever again.

Anyway, all of this is for myself to read in the future. I've been dying to write down how I've been feeling, but it's also been kind of fun to keep it a secret. It's no secret now though, that little baby bump is growing fast. Welcome baby, we're excited to meet you.

P.S. The babe is the size of a lemon this week.

A blog-worthy party

2011-08-06T09:26:00.000-05:00

Last week, I half-hosted a baby shower for my friend in the ward. Some of the guests were asked to bring the food and the other host organized the games, so all I had to do was decorate and try to keep the house clean. I saw this hanging circle idea on marthastewart.com and it turned out to be so easy. Lils helped me with most of it. She was so proud that she could help. I loved how it all turned out.

My only regret is that I didn't take pictures of the table after all of the beautiful food was laid out, nor did I take pictures of the 15+ people packed into my living room. It was so great to have so many friends having a good time in my house. I'd love to do it again.

I'll be back in a couple of weeks with pictures from our vacation. Can't wait!

I'm back and the weather never skipped a beat

2011-08-01T14:44:00.001-05:00

I've been taking a bit of a blog vacation. It's been nice not to think of things to post, because lately, there hasn't been too much to say. But there will be soon. Our family vacation is coming up. We'll be picking up my sister from her mission and visiting the temple. I. can't. wait.

I looked at the weather forecast this morning and I sighed. I don't know why I look anymore. We've have this same silly weather since the end of May. "A heat advisory is in effect..." yeah, yeah. I hope August gives us a break, or maybe a good downpour. Too much of a summer is not really a good thing.

Looking back for just a moment

2011-07-18T14:02:00.001-05:00

Wow, has it really been years since this picture was taken? Last night, we were looking back in our albums and remembered how dang cute Lily has always been. Those cheeks are still soft and squishy.

Love that fuchsia

2011-07-15T14:37:00.000-05:00

I'm discovering that I'm not loving this southern summer; 105 degree heat, humidity, bugs, drought. We stay inside more now than we did in the winter. But the one thing I do love is seeing the Crape Myrtle blossoms come out. It is definitely a non-western plant that I was surprised to see when we first moved here.

I pruned our crape myrtles in the spring, hoping for more concentrated blossoms and it worked. I've been sprinkling Seven bug killer on them faithfully, to ward off the Japanese Beetles. But then it rained and Lily got hives and I neglected my bushes for two days. The beetles came in and ate almost all of them. Here's a picture of the ones that survived, maybe because they still had a bit of Seven on them. At least we got to enjoy the blossoms a little longer this year.

That bright fuchsia is my favorite Crape Myrtle variety.

Hello my girl

2011-07-12T21:28:00.002-05:00

In a few days, our girl will be two and a half. She is my best little buddy and my life would be so empty without her.

She loves anything with music. She loves to sing, her repertoire usually goes in this order: Jingle Bells, Frosty the Snowman, Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam, Love One Another, ABC's, Book of Mormon Stories, and currently, Old McDonald has been added to her favorites. She loves singing along in sacrament meeting and watches the chorister while waving her hand. If she is having a particularly hyper day, I play the song 'Sleepers Awake' by Bach. She'll come stand in front of the computer and just listen. She loves to play our piano and sing whatever her imagination comes up with. I hope her love of music continues throughout her life.

She still loves her neekie (blanket) and sucks on it for comfort at night. She loves her doggie, bunny and Elmo and has them 'play house' together. She loves cars, airplanes, trains, tractors and boats but also loves her princess crown and tutu. She knows her colors, numbers, animals and on a good day, she'll recognize the letters A, B, and C.

She will eat anything, especially if Daddy is eating it too. When I ask her what she'd like for lunch, she always says, "Lettuce and peppers and ranch?" And when she's done eating, we've taught her to say, "Excuse please?" She usually interrupts the person saying the prayer to start her own. Her prayers are so precious: "Heavenly Father, good day, and lettuce and ranch and water and spaghetti and Elmo and nursery and Daddy's work and (whatever else we did that day.)

But by far my favorite things that she does are 1) when we're in the car and she says, "Watch this Mommy, a cow...moo! Watch this Mommy, a pig... oink! Watch this Mommy, a bird... tweet tweet!" 2) When I cough or choke, she runs over to me and asks, "You ok Mommy?" 3) When she reads her own books before bedtime. Since she's heard her books read tons of times, she's confident she can read them herself. And she does. Obviously she doesn't actually read the words but she remembers what I say on each page and it's amazing how well she memorizes. "I, Grover, am nailing this page to the next one so you cannot... you turned the page!"

Now, she does have her moments, after all, she is two years old. But she is generally a very happy and loving girl. I love this girl so much and I'm so grateful she's mine.

Go away mean bugs

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

In the midst of our 4th of July celebrations, or while Lily and I were playing the yard, we can't tell when, our little girl was attacked by a mean group of chiggers. For those northerners reading this, chiggers are microscopic bugs that live in tall weeds and grass. They crawl all over your body and cause a lot of damage. You don't notice until 24 hours later, when you are covered in hundreds of red bites, that hurt as much as they itch. This has been the case for our Lily girl.

I put Benadryl cream on the bites, because that's what helps her mosquito bites. To future self and anyone else who cares: do NOT use Benadryl cream on chigger bites. It created a cascading allergic reaction, making hives all over her little body; hot, itchy, swelling masses all over. This has freaked me out and bewildered me for days, until today I called the doctor and found out I put the worst stuff on her bites.

The only thing to relieve the insane itchiness for her, is a cool bath every couple hours, day and night. I'm exhausted, she's exhausted, and her skin is exhausted. The hives rash moves to different parts of her body throughout the day, even hour by hour it changes. I hope and pray that throughout tonight, the redness goes away and leaves her alone.

It hurts so much to watch her agitated, and to think that my Benadryl and those darn chiggers caused it. Arkansas has lost at least 10 awesome points this week.

Celebration weekend

2011-07-05T21:31:00.001-05:00

I guess I took a break from the blog last week. To be honest, it was nice not to think about what to post. But the weekend was great and I have a ton of pictures to share.

Independence Day is my favorite holiday, and has been since I was a kid. And especially since I went to Girls State in High School, I love the pride I feel when we sing the National Anthem and put our hands over our hearts. Even though we're far away from family and all the traditions, it's fun to come up with our own. A swim in the river, a BBQ with friends, our AC unit breaking, fireworks with friends, a parade, a BBQ and fireworks with friends again made for a pretty awesome three-day weekend. And Trent didn't even have to go to work.

It rained today

2011-06-28T15:28:00.001-05:00

Nothing much to say today except that the pre-nap afternoon time was beautiful. Because it wasn't 100 degrees outside, only 80, Lily and I found a favorite spot at a quiet boat dock and threw rocks in the lake. It was cool, it smelled like Oregon, and then it started to rain. I got out the umbrella and we just played in the rain. This hot weather makes me really miss being outside. Thankfully, that beautiful lake spot is only minutes away and no one is ever there.

I'm glad I have this little sweetie to share adventures with.

Favorite things

2011-06-25T15:32:00.000-05:00

I was organizing my Etsy shop the other day, cleaning it out and such, when I clicked on my 'favorites'. When you find something you like, you favorite it so you can remember it forever. When I looked at mine, I discovered that the first few pages really sum-up my style. If you'd like to see how much these things cost or who made them, you can view my favorites here.

Babysitting

2011-06-22T20:17:00.001-05:00

We babysat some of our favoritest friends last weekend. After playing toys and bubbles got old, we had a dance party and a funny-face-making contest. I think it was a success.

Dads

2011-06-19T11:29:00.000-05:00

I was supposed to give a talk in church today about my Dad, but I'm not feeling well today, so I'll post about how great he is here.

01. I think my Dad is the smartest man on the earth. He knows an answer to every question.
02. My Dad has a lot of important responsibilities at work and church, but first and foremost, he is a father and husband.
03. At a young age, Dad taught me that as a young woman, I should be treated with respect, and to expect nothing less. I always saw him give that same love and respect to Mom.
04. I'm grateful that Dad and Mom got us kids to work outside in the yard, to hike in the mountains, and to love everything outdoors.
05. I always loved the feeling of my Dad's big, warm hands on my head when he would give me a blessing.

Dad, I wish we were closer so I could tell you in person. I love you so much. Happy Fathers Day.

The bestest picture of Dad and Mom

I loved spontaneous moments at the dinner table.

Speaking of fathers, Trent is a wonderful Dad to Lily. He is always so gentle with her and because of that, Lily loves him right back. She has always been her Daddy's girl. Thank you Trent for being a gentle and loving father to our little girl. I love you.

ABC's and 123's

2011-06-15T14:58:00.000-05:00

A real Saturday

2011-06-12T22:57:00.001-05:00

Trent and I like our callings. But sometimes I don't like Trent's calling. He's the teacher's quorum advisor and varsity scout leader and is gone most Saturday's in the month, and sometimes Friday nights, doing scouting things. Sometimes he leaves and I have a smile on my face but my attitude is not nice. I'm still, after two years of this calling, praying for patience on my part.

Anyway, yesterday was a Wilderness First Aid class for scout leaders held at the church. It would be a 9am-6pm day. He was planning on going and I was planning on pretending that it was a regular day, when he announced that he was going to stay home.

He helped me with cleaning the house and then whisked Lily off to a Daddy-Daugther Date. They ate and played at McDonald's and then went to the library. He brought her home in time for naps and put her to bed.

While they were gone, I was able to get so. much. done. So many sewing, FHE, art, cleaning projects got finished. And I was finally able to finish a painting I've been working on for months. Woot!

This awesome and epic Saturday is brought to you by a wonderful husband.

In full bloom

2011-06-08T10:01:00.000-05:00

For our journal's sake, I need to post about our yard. We finished the yard work months ago and I'm glad because now it's too hot even to walk out to the mailbox. I'm amazed at the growing potential down here in the south. The plants that we planted last spring have tripled in size, like they've been here for years.

This year we added a curved edge to the lawn. It makes that much less to mow.

Before, (pretend that it's spring and the grass is green)

After

We also took out the weeping cherry tree. The people who lived here before must have planted it. It's an expensive tree but we thought it was ugly and it attracted every Japanese Beetle in the neighborhood. So we replaced it with a Redbud. We also removed the mushroom-infested bark and added rock. No more snake habitat here.

Before

After

Each year, I grow more and more in love with this taking-care-of-a-yard thing. After all that hard work, it is so rewarding to sit back and enjoy it's beauty. We're so blessed to live in such a beautiful place.

Happy Sunday

2011-06-05T20:54:00.000-05:00

Happy Sunday evening folks. Can I just say that we have amazing friends, who invite us to their family get-togethers and treat us like family. We are so grateful and glad that they gently encouraged us to move to NW Arkansas. True friends are such treasures.

Here's Lily enjoying the turtle pool on the deck this weekend: first splash of the summer season!

Branson, Missouri

2011-06-02T16:23:00.001-05:00

I'm a day late in posting because our internet dies on us intermittently. It is starting to annoy. But it's working for the moment.

Since Trent spent most of the holiday weekend in Joplin, I was determined for us to get out of the house on Monday. So we took a day trip to Branson. Everyone that asks us if we've been there is shocked that we haven't. My first impressions were a cheap Vegas. But we found some fun things to do.

We ate downtown in a little diner. I believe this face means, "I'm trying to smile and eat at the same time, Mom."

Found a mall, in search of 'the ducks' and instead found a mini train, which Lily loved.

We found the 'ducks,' war vehicles that are also boats, and took a ride on the lake. It was worth the money despite the look on Lils's face in this photo.

Went back downtown and ate in an ice cream parlor.

Then across the street to the 5&10.

But I think my favorite part of the trip was the drive. There were rolling hills of fields and grazing cows. It reminded me of home. Most of the roads off of the highway didn't have names. They were just 'Farm Road ____', in this case, Farm Road 1005.

I also loved what was in the back seat when I looked in the mirror.

Joplin

2011-05-29T21:00:00.001-05:00

Trent is back from spending today and yesterday in Joplin, MO, along with 300+ men from our stake. We were supposed to have a stake-wide service project in our communities yesterday, then the tornado hit Joplin a week ago and that changed. Emails from our Stake President and Area Authority started organizing a relief project for our injured friends. It was determined that only men were allowed to go.

This is a section of an email that the Stake President sent out on Friday:

Brethren, this has the potential to be a life changing experience. You will see terrible things. You will see great and wonderful things. You will see the finger of the Lord. You will BE the finger of the Lord. We are our brothers keeper, we will be on the Lords errand, and we should feel His presence. Again, thank you for your efforts....See ya up there. President Stout

Trent headed up early on Saturday morning with his team, all the men from the stake met together in Joplin and were given the yellow Mormon Helping Hands t-shirts. Then it was off to work. It was hot, humid, and heart wrenching to see so much devastation. But Trent loved helping. They cut branches off trees, raked yards, gathered wood. Trent said there was wood everywhere. Everything was splintered, like a shredded toothpick looks like. He saw houses that were lifted off their foundation and then put back down, yards away. There were ants all over the place, taking care of the rotting food. But the people were in good spirits. There were volunteers and restaurants giving away free food to anyone and everyone. There was even a medic giving free tetanus shots.

They camped out in tents Saturday night and got up this morning, gathering together for a 30 minute sacrament meeting. Then off to work again. He came home filthy, tired and sunburnt but very humbled and grateful that we have been so blessed and protected from these storms that have come through.

On a lighter note, on the way out of town, his vehicle was stopped by the Marines because President Obama's motorcade was getting ready to come through. Trent saw all the motorcycles and black SUV's drive by.

Sacrament meeting today was interesting. There were almost zero men in the congregation. The Elder's Quorum President conducted and presided at the meeting. There was no sacrament bread, someone had to run to the store and get some. But all of us women just chuckled. I'm glad my man is home safe.

Here is the Stake President's office looking in... or out.

Spark family

2011-05-27T10:07:00.000-05:00

Last weekend, we went to the Bentonville Square, along with hundreds of other people, to celebrate the reopening of the newly remodeled Walton's Five-n-Dime. They were giving out free popcorn, cupcakes, water and hats. It reminded me how lucky we are to live in a community that cares about the community.

Now that we have our own spark apparel, we officially fit in.

Beautiful music

2011-05-24T19:42:00.000-05:00

I saw this clip on Design Mom a while back and I've watched it tons of times since. I thought I'd post it to share with you. Can you imagine the patience required to get Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring so perfect?

Angry clouds

2011-05-23T13:21:00.002-05:00

Wow. Last night was another one of those watching-the-news-for-tornados night. Only this time it got way too close. Joplin, MO was plowed over just 45 minutes away from us. The swirling circles on the radar went right over our house. It was the first time we actually woke Lily up and huddled in our tornado-safe room. We could even hear the tornado sirens going off in Bentonville. Thank heavens for radio, Live TV on the internet and 72 hr. kits. Once again, we were blessed. Nothing but a ton of rain. And more rain today. At this very moment, I can't see across the street because it's raining so hard. Looks like we'll see some flooding going on around here for a while.

I took some screen shots of the news so that I can remember how close it was last night. If you've never seen a tornado cloud on radar this is what it looks like: swirling circles of death. And notice where that arrow is pointing: right over Bella Vista/Bentonville. We are blessed once again.

Summer colors

2011-05-22T14:58:00.000-05:00

It's Sunday and our meetings were awesome. I picked easy hymns for myself to play on the organ which prevented me from messing up too much, and that made it even more awesome.

I just want to post photos of our flowers boxes, and remind my future self to never be too tired to plant flowers in the spring, as I have sometimes felt. The rewards outweigh the cost and time.

Enjoy your Sunday!

Only a click away

2011-05-19T19:09:00.000-05:00

Despite my general dislike for technology invading our lives, I'm so grateful that family is only a Skype call away. I think Lily is grateful too.

David!

2011-05-16T21:10:00.002-05:00

Trent's brother came to visit this last weekend and we couldn't have had more fun. We packed a lot into the three days he was here; canoeing, swing-fixing, War-Eagle-Mill-eating, Glass Chapeling, Hobbs State Park exploring, pottery-throwing, bowling, and more eating. Lily clung to David from the first minute and cried all the way home after we dropped him off at the airport. Come back to visit soon Uncle Cheese!

It's hilarious to note that in the pictures taken from the weekend, almost all of them include at least one person blinking or in the middle of a blink. Here are some of the bestest photos, including some blinkage.

Twelve on the Twelfth

2011-05-12T14:42:00.000-05:00

01. My brother-in-law is coming today! He'll stay until Sunday and we are so excited to have him here.

02. The wind from last night's storm blew huge branches, twigs and leaves all over our newly manicured yard... Is it possible for a yard to have a manicure?

03. It's confirmed; I do not have Celiac Disease. My brother and sister have been diagnosed. I was so sure I had it as well, and mentally prepared for the worst. But once, again, I'm blessed. With Celiac, you're allergic to gluten. So no bread, crackers, cookies, cake, noodles, etc. Of course you can buy the gluten-free stuff in the store, but it's super expensive and doesn't taste great, so you have to bake everything. That was not a change I was ready for. But my brother is going to college in a few months, what does he say when his roommates want to go out for pizza or a burger? I can't imagine making such a huge life change at 18.

04. Lily is laying in her crib talking to herself instead of napping. What else is new?

05. Strawberries that grow in pots on your deck taste so much better than any from the store.

06. I had a Cafe Rio meal for the first time ever last weekend. I'm recreating it for dinner tonight.

07. I'm currently reading American Creation by Joseph J. Ellis. I never tire of reading different perspectives/insights on the American Revolution.

08. We finished the last episode of the Cosby Show the other day. I want to be a mothering-genius just like Clair Huxtable.

09. Dancing with the Stars Workout DVD has confirmed what I've known for years; I very much dislike Latin dance.

10. Our neighbors haven't spoken to us since we gave them a Book of Mormon for Easter. But they still wave from their car... that's a good sign right?

11. Pretzels with peanut butter and pita chips with hummus are my new favorite snack.

12. I hope it doesn't rain too much this weekend. We're taking Uncle David out on the lake! Hello summer!

This Twelve on the Twelfth idea is from one of my favorite bloggers, marta.

Mom Day

2011-05-09T15:17:00.002-05:00

I love seeing how much the men in our lives really do love us, love us enough to cry on our day. I love that Relief Society was short and sweet and the rest of the time was for visiting and eating chocolate. I love that the first thing I heard in the morning was a sweet girl saying, "bee mom day....candles?" (I think she thought it was someone's birthday.) I love that President Hinckley could always say the right thing to make me proud to be a woman. It was a good, quiet, take-a-nap Sunday. I love being a mom. I love my little girl and I love that she's mine.

A photo from last Mother's Day

I remember sitting down for dinner as a kid and Dad said something about how selfless Mom was, giving food to everyone else before herself, even if there wasn't enough. Yesterday when Lily asked for the cookie in my hand, I gave it to her and smiled, remembering my mom and how she was and is still so selfless. I hope I'm following in her footsteps even a little.

My parents and I, 1987

Mythical Road Trip Debut

2011-05-09T14:57:00.000-05:00

So they're out: video's of Rhett and Link's Mythical Road Trip. Remember when we drove up to Miami, OK to meet them? You can read about it here. Today's video of day #3 features Trent, Lily and I at 0:37 and 0:54. According to the clips, I didn't talk, but I actually did, my voice was just too awesome to be in the video. Check it out. We're famous.

Celebration

2011-05-06T21:28:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, Trent's Audit team held a moving-onto-better-places party at a local bowling alley. I didn't realize that this would send our daughter on her way to be a budding bowler. She rocked everyone's score.

Ready

Wait...

Celebration!

Hair decision

2011-05-04T15:48:00.000-05:00

My debate with myself about whether to cut or grow out, ended in this... The shortest my hair has ever been. The back ends at my hair line. It's kind of nice to reach back there and feel very very short hair.

Before we all got sick, Lily and I played with Photobooth. It took up a large chunk of our day.

What to say

2011-05-01T19:14:00.000-05:00

I don't have much to say today because I'm nearing exhaustion. Our little nugget is sick again, and this always means sleepless nights, full of screaming and fevers. Does your child wake up every hour when they're sick? Please tell me yes and that this will soon go away.

We went to Tanyard Creek a few days ago and enjoyed a beautiful evening there. Lily found a raccoon skull along with many other treasures. I love that summer is almost here.

Tomorrow I'm going to get lab work done. A hidden disease has recently been diagnosed in my brother, and it is fairly likely that I have it as well. I'm nervous to find out, like really nervous. The end and good night.

Weather

2011-04-28T15:07:00.000-05:00

So before I forget, I want to blog about the crazy weather we had this last week. My phone was constantly buzzing, informing me of tornados, hail, floods, severe weather "in your immediate area." NW Arkansas has it's storms, loud thunder that lasts all night and flash after flash of lightning. We've gotten used to the craziness since we've lived here. But this last week was something I've never seen.

Our town is where the little white square is on this map.

Water, water everywhere. It rained for 5 days straight, hard. I remember seeing footage of flooding on the news across the world and thinking, "Wow, that stinks." But you don't realize how unnatural it is until buildings and streets that you see everyday, start to sink under water.

We had a bit of a tornado fright last Friday night too, it was a little too close that time. We've been so blessed and protect through this whole thing. Unfortunately, our fellow southern states haven't been so lucky. It really is scary to see the power of a tornado. Makes you think about the Second Coming, being prepared spiritually and physically. I hope a naturally disaster isn't the thing that wakes us up...

Here is the bridge at our local favorite walking trail, dry and then flooded. Notice how small the river is in this first picture.

Dressed up for Easter Day

2011-04-25T20:53:00.000-05:00

Mr. Manager

2011-04-23T21:05:00.001-05:00

Finally, after months and months of waiting, wondering, working, worrying, Trent has found a new job! No more audit, no more degrading comments from fellow employees, no more feeling like an outsider. He is now a Merchandise Finance Manager over Pharmacy and Optical at Sam's Club Headquarters. And he loves it. Oh happy day!

Audit just wasn't for him. His personality stood out like a sore thumb among those accountants and he wondered if he would ever be able to think creatively at work again. Now he can. Quotes from Trent this week, "They give me a problem to solve, I think of solutions, some of which effect thousands of Club's across the country, and no one is looking over my shoulder to see if I mess up. They trust me!" And, "The atmosphere is so relaxed. People play music, talk to each other and laugh!" And, "I can get up to use the restroom without anyone asking where I'm going, or when I'll be back, or that I need to hurry up. I'm free!" Um, yeah, audit was a little tight.

He was able to work at a few things this week and his official start date is Monday. We went to his office today to organize and fill his snack drawer. And can I just say that the Sam's building is so awesome. Everything I would expect from a corporate building. New, modern, colorful and... windows. :)

Sigh. I have a very happy husband and I think I'm just as happy as he is. Congrats honey.

P.S. Now you need to fill your prescriptions and get your glasses at Sam's Club. Just putting that out there.

Easter Challenge

2011-04-20T15:02:00.000-05:00

On Monday night, our FHE lesson focused on Easter and the Resurrection. I hope Lils felt the spirit while we watched video messages about Easter from Mormon Messages. She seemed to be interested when we were showing her a picture of Christ talking to Mary near the tomb. Then we had a mini Easter egg hunt around the house. I filled eggs with candies and a scripture from Matthew describing the events leading up to the crucifixion. After Lils found each egg, she could eat her treat while we read. The last egg she found was empty, then we read Matthew 28:6 "... He is not here: for he is risen..." I got this idea from a website my friend Vandi mentioned a while back. Thanks Vandi!

After our lesson we put together Easter baskets for our neighbors. On Sunday night, Trent and I were watching the Joseph Smith film available online. The story of the restoration and the persecution of the saints means more to me now than ever before, because Missouri is only 5 minutes away from here. So many things happened there, good and bad. I had an overwhelming impression come over me: The saints were willing to share the gospel to their neighbors, at the risk of being shot and their homes burned. Why am I so afraid to share the gospel to my neighbors? They're not going to burn down our house or persecute us, so why am I holding back? It's embarrassing? So what! We may be their very first contact with the Church. I knew at that moment that we had to do something, we had to be brave. So after FHE we assembled a basket, one for each neighbor on each side of us. A Book of Mormon, Finding Faith in Christ video, pass-along cards, candy and a note telling them about the wonderful gift our Savior gave to us all those years ago.

I'm I nervous? Sure I am. But it's a step. The gift my Savior gave to me is more priceless than anything, I'd be selfish not to share it with the people I see everyday.

That's my challenge to you. Tell, invite, share the good news of the restored gospel with at least one person before Easter. You can only be blessed for it.

Stripes in red and white

2011-04-18T08:17:00.000-05:00

Recently, I've been loving striped curtains. But searching around for them has proved that they are way too expensive. I took matters into my own hands and made my own. Each strip is 1 foot tall, sewed them together, hemmed the edges and your done. I love how curtains totally change the look of a room.

Discovering butterflies

2011-04-14T14:58:00.001-05:00

Fifteen

2011-04-11T14:49:00.000-05:00

Because when people are trying to find our house at night, they always have a hard time seeing the number on the house. So instead of putting stickers on the mailbox, how about this... I like how it turned out.

Melodies bring back the memories

2011-04-08T21:14:00.001-05:00

With our recent trip to Oklahoma City, we decided to change up the CD's in the car, since we usually listen to the same ones over and over again. We ended up choosing disks we haven't listened to in a long time. One of them was the Dixie Chicks 'Home' album. When track number three started to play, I started to smile, then started laughing, like a good hardy laugh.

I was instantly walking out to my high school track with my friend Mallory for P.E. class. We were talking about a guy, three years older than me, who I had a bit of a crush on, mostly because he was older, popular and he thought I was cool. He was off to the war in Iraq and Mal and I were talking about what it would be like when he got back. Whenever I heard Dixie Chick's 'Travelin' Soldier' song, I always thought of him and what it would be like to go to war. A couple of years later, I was dating the high school quarterback, but the soldier came home and actually liked me more than just a little bit. I didn't feel the same and it made things complicated in my little high school life. You Marsh Valley-ite readers will know what I'm talking about.

All of those feelings and emotions and memories and snippets of Marsh Valley and lockers and classes came rushing back when I heard that song on the way to the temple. It was amazing to instantly remember things so clearly. I feel like high school memories are starting to fade away, which makes me sad because I really loved high school. I had the best group of girl and guy friends in the world. Looks like I can always count on 'Travelin' Soldier' to take me back.

What songs are instant memory triggers for you?

-Savage Garden "Truly Madly Deeply" reminds me of those silly middle school dances and being stuck with a boy that doesn't talk.
-Anything by the Goo Goo Dolls reminds me of my high school guy friends
-Rascal Flatts "Dry County Girl" is me and my roommates dancing around the apartment at college.
-Angels and Airwaves sums up when Trent and I were dating.
-Owl City's "Fireflies" reminds me of dance parties in the living room with Lily.

Can you spot me in those not-so-long-ago pictures from high school? Note the long hair...

Rad Grad

2011-04-05T12:54:00.002-05:00

Spencer asked me to design his graduation announcements a couple months ago. It was the first project in a while that had me stumped. The classical announcement was too boring, the cursive typefaces too feminine. I had my fingers crossed when I finally showed the finished product to him. He loved it and didn't even ask for any changes... what a great client! :)

Here is the front and back:

The wheels on the car go round and round

2011-04-02T21:12:00.001-05:00

We had a fabuloso trip to Oklahoma City. The weather was beautiful, the temple was wonderful, and once again, we had the hotel pool all to ourselves. Of course, Lils had a terrible time getting to sleep in a strange bed, but that is to be expected. We funded this whole trip using cash-back points from our rewards card. It was great to have a little chunk of money to spend, especially on food. We usually pack almost every meal, and spend nothing. When we eat out, even when we're not on a trip, we buy one entree and split it between the three of us. Not this time. At Olive Garden, we got an appetizer, soup and salad, two huge-a-mongous entrees, and chocolate cake. It was the bestest meal ever!

The day after our temple visits, we went to the Oklahoma Zoo. It was really warm and most of the animals were hiding, thus only one picture of an animal. But is was fun to get away. That four-hour drive gets shorter and shorter every time. I decided not to bring the fancy camera this time, and I'm glad I did, it was so nice not to have that big thing dangling around my neck the whole time. I love our mini trips!

P.S. When President Monson was announcing the locations for new temples during Conference today, I was secretly wishing that he would say, "...and a new temple in Bentonville, AR..." I love our little trips to the OK land but it would be nice not to drive so far to the temple. Maybe next conference...

On my mind today

2011-03-28T15:21:00.000-05:00

01. I finished my Agatha Christie book 'Hickory Dickory Dock' this last week. Mysteries are my number one favorite thing to read, and Agatha always nails it every time. I may have even postponed dinner so I could read the suspenseful parts. The plot is still swirling in my head...

02. I've started righting down ideas for Family Home Evenings and fun projects for kiddos. How do you teach your kids about faith, repentance, the Atonement, etc. while keeping their attention? How long are your FHE nights? What are some fun activities to do in an hour with a toddler who has a tiny attention span?

03. Church was hard yesterday. Trent hurt his back this week, so it was just Lils and I. I lumbered into the chapel with a toddler, my huge bag, purse and giant box of choir music. A grand total of 5 people were there for choir. I stood up to lead everyone and realized that we didn't have a pianist. So I played the piano and lead at the same time. Everyone's faces told me it was the most boring thing they had done all week. Thankfully, more people came and a brother in our ward took over so I could play. I'm looking forward to a new conductor being called, I'm discovering that it isn't my piece of cake. Then sacrament meeting started and I played the organ just like every other week. Then relief society and I played the piano just like every other week. It was one of those days where I felt like I was running around to get everything organized and no one cared. I love the piano... choir, not so much, and when you do it all the time, it starts to lose it's luster.

04. Do you read Design Mom? She and her LDS family of six recently moved to France, because they could. I love reading her posts about their house, built in the 17th century and the antique doorknobs, the stone floors, old doors and original artwork. They buy their food at the farmer's markets and take weekend trips to Paris. I'm not sure if I could be brave enough to do such a thing. Would you?

05. I cannot decide if I should keep cutting my hair short or let it grow out. I've had the desire recently to let it grow, but it gets to the shoulder-length stage and I cut it. My hair was long and luscious in high school, but when I graduated, I decided I was sick of the time it took to wash, dry, and curl. So I cut it off, much shorter than I have it now even, then went to college and no one knew the difference. Now I can't stand the feeling of hair on my neck, so I keep it short. But I have to get it cut often to keep it's shape. Grow or cut?

06. Some friends invited us to the BYU vs. Florida game earlier this week. It was the first basketball game I've watched on TV since... middle school maybe? I remember I decided once that I wanted to get into watching a sport so I watched the Utah Jazz on TV one night. It was fun but not fun enough I guess because I never did it again. Well, our friends got us all excited about the March Madness game so we went to a party with a whole bunch of sports enthusiasts. I would secretly lean over to Trent and ask him what a foul meant, if there were quarters or halves in the game, what a bracket was. He was very patient in answering my questions. All I really knew was that Jimmer was good and that a ball in the basket was good. It was fun to eat good food and watch people get so excited.

07. The last thing on my mind is this weekend. We are making a mini-trip to Oklahoma City to go to the temple and maybe do the zoo. But mostly the temple. I'm excited for Conference, I really need some inspiration and peace for some things this year. I probably won't post again until later this week, so have a good one peeps!

Healthy living

2011-03-25T14:53:00.002-05:00

All of this sunshine and springness and outside time has me thinking about healthy living. I love that Lily loved the salad we had for lunch; romaine lettuce, mushrooms, cucumbers, radishes, snow peas, cherry tomatoes. It's that time of year when we start dreaming of the veggies we will eat from our own backyard soil. It makes me want to plant every vegetable so we can say that we grew it and ate it, but we'll just stick to a few of our favorites.

I saw a post this morning about Outstanding in the Field and their 2011 schedule. I remember seeing images from last year's feasts and again thinking how fun it would be to reserve a spot at the table. They are all about acquainting people with the origins of their food. So each feast comes from the farm that they are dining on that evening. Some of the backdrops for those meals look beautiful! Then again, our own backyard is a beautiful place. Perhaps we'll have our own field meal this summer.

photos via Outstanding in the Field

It's all paying off

2011-03-22T10:31:00.000-05:00

This time last year, we were hard at work in the yard. There was practically zero landscaping in this yard when we moved in and we were anxious to change it up. At the time, I thought we bit off more than we could chew, but by June, it was all done and we could sit back and admire our work. Trees, shrubs, killing the grass, seeding again, laying rock and edging, and digging and digging and digging holes.

From this:

To this:

This year we have some work to do, but not nearly as much as last year. When I go to Lowe's, I feel this urge to buy all the perennials I see. But I don't because we don't need them this year. We've planted two purple-leafed cherry bushes, a red bud tree and a willow tree so far. We pulled out the weeping cherry tree that was planted here and replaced it with the red bud. It was a shaggy looking tree that only looked good in the spring when it was full of blossoms. We planted the willow on Saturday and now I'm sad to admit that we don't need any more plants. There is still the garden to do and the flowering pots, but no more holes. And we're taking out more grass and replacing it with edging and rock. We should have it done in the next two weeks.

I love yard work. When I was younger, we were always outside together as a family working on something. I didn't always enjoy it, but I'm glad my parents taught us to love to work in the dirt. The feeling of starting and finishing a project is so rewarding. I love planting something, taking care of it, and then watching it grow and flourish.

So now it's spring and the plants we planted last year have already tripled in size and are blooming and blossoming all over. Our forsythias, magnolias, boxwoods, phlox, euonymus, and lilies... sigh. Love it.

Clover Day

2011-03-19T09:53:00.001-05:00

I don't know about your children, but when Lily wakes up from her nap, she is NOT happy, quite the opposite. So on St. Patrick's Day, I thought of a little project we could do together to keep the post-nap sadness away.

I cut a heart shape out of an apple. You could probably also use a potato or an onion. I cut away the area around the heart and your left with a stamp. Use paint to cover the heart area and press three times to make a clover.

The post-nap sadness syndrome at it's finest.

Once Lily figured out that we were painting and stamping, she cheered up nicely. We printed on some pieces of paper to use during our St. Patrick's Day dinner; clover pancakes with sprinkles, green eggs and green milk. Yum!

Lollipop Max

2011-03-16T14:57:00.001-05:00

A couple weeks ago, we made a little trip down to Allen's Grocery Store. We love that little place and have since the day we moved here. A gentleman named Max helps people with their groceries and is pretty much the friendliest stranger you'll ever meet. He carries a little bag of lollipops with him and gives them to the kids, in our case, Lily.

We show up at the store and Max is headed out the door to help someone else. He tells Lily that he needs to fill up his bag with pops and that he'll be right back. So we waited near the front of the store and Lils thinks he's leaving without giving her any goods. She screams and screams. Poor Trent isn't used to this kind of public embarrassment and his face turns red. I decided to run around the store and get what we need. As I grab a gallon of milk I hear over the intercom: "Max to the front please. We have a Max emergency in the front. Max we need you by the front doors." It was hilarious! Max dashed in the door, gave her a pop x2, and the crying stopped. All of the employees thought it was hilarious too. I still think it's funny except that now I can't set a foot in that store unless 'lollipop Max' is there.

Let's eat

2011-03-13T21:26:00.000-05:00

When we were newly married, both Trent and I were in school and dinner was the last thing on our minds at the end of the day. So we created a family menu. It was nice to have a list of possible dinner options. In our case, it was a piece of printer paper with random pen and pencil lists of foods. Since then, that same piece of paper has been added to over and over until every free inch of space was taken up. It started looking a bit jumbled. Way back then, Trent mentioned that I should design a menu for us, like a nice, restaurant-style, laminated menu for us to refer to. It's been a project in the back of my mind for years.

Until now. Because I finally sat down and designed it, and collected almost everything we've ever cooked. I wanted a list of meals, maybe a few pictures, but no recipes. So I ended up writing the meal and then listing the ingredients required, so I could see at a glance what I could make and if we have everything.

Trying to figure out the size we wanted and what would be cheaper to have printed and laminated was a bit of a chore, and finding someone who printed posters for the lay person took a while. But it turned out great. I'm hoping it will be a fun item for our kids when it's dinnertime.

Here's my handsome model who took his posing job seriously.

Mythical Roadtrip Meetup

2011-03-10T08:12:00.000-06:00

A couple of posts ago, I told you about our favorite Internetainters, Rhett and Link. We really like most of their videos, especially since we don't have TV, some evenings are spent laughing about the same silly songs of theirs. For the past two weeks, we've watched every episode (10 minute clip) of Good Morning Chia Lincoln and have felt like we really have gotten to know them, even though we actually haven't. So when Rhett and Link announced that they were making a roadtrip across America and wanted Mythical Beasts (aka fans) to meet up and be in a film they're making, we jumped at the chance. Here's the announcement clip of the trip.

This isn't really something we do at the Clawson house. We don't usually get overly excited about people we haven't met, but they were stopping in Miami, OK. So we followed their facebook page for updates on where they were and the day came to get up an hour early to meet them at the OK Welcome Center.

We were there with other committed Mythical Beasts, and it was kind of fun to be a part of something that wasn't a big deal but was to us. Rhett and Link drove up in their Uhaul and we all went outside to greet them. Rhett looked right at me and asked, "How do you say the name of this place?" "Miam-uh!" I shouted. Since it was freezing outside, we all packed into the small welcome center while they explained to us what we would be doing. Here's the video clip Rhett took while we were all there. At 0:34-0:36, you can see me in the back of the room holding Lils.

We all had to bring a 'piece of America' to put into the 'box of America' that they would be using in their video. We all got in a line and waited our turn. It came and I was struck by how tall both of these guys are, especially Rhett, he was larger than life, like 7 feet tall. Trent said we were here to offer our first born child and they thought that was hilarious. Rhett tried to get Lils to laugh using the squeezable Razorback we brought, but she only froze up with fear. We talked to the camera about our piece of America and it was time for a picture. Link touched Lily's head to encourage her to look at the camera, but she was thoroughly freaked out and started crying. Everyone thought it was funny, and so did we.

We waited around until everyone else had their turn, then they gathered us all together and had us sing America the Beautiful, while filming of course. The whole thing was so fun and I was pleasantly surprised to see that they are just regular guys with a nice sense of humor. When I asked Trent if he thought it was worth it to drive up, he said, "Definitely." I agree.

Quiet book = happiness

2011-03-07T10:41:00.000-06:00

My amazing mom recently made it her goal to make Lils a quiet book for church. I mentioned once that it would be neat if I could make her one, but I knew I wouldn't have the patience. A few months later, this came in the mail... and church has been a peaceful time ever since. Thanks mom! You did an amazing job! (There are a lot more pages than this, but these are a few of my favorites.)