My favorite four

places I go
1. the library
2. the grocery store
3. the church
4. the doctor's

people who email me
1. brett
2. my mother-in-law
3. my RS president
4. the primary president

favorite foods
1. cafe rio (there is not in jersey... so sad)
2. steak
3. fresh fruit
4. smoothies

places i'd rather be
1. visiting friends and family in idaho and utah
2. wherever scotty is
3. hanging out on the farm
4. in a home that i own

movies i could watch over and over
1. return to me
2. the princess bride
3. home videos of jeff and scott
4. home videos of me when i was little (i know, i'm so vain)

people i think will respond
1. amie
2...
3...
4... i don't think there are too many bloggers out there that haven't already done this.

The update...

So, thank you to everyone who was worried about me. At about 5 a.m. things slowed down and I was able to go back to sleep. I went to the doctor and he said I was not dilated and that if I were to go into labor, it would be okay. He seemed to think the baby would be fine.

When I had Jeff my water broke and I missed the whole "going to the hospital" dilemma. Now I am scared to death of going too late, and scared to death of going too soon. I voiced my concern to the doctor and he told me that I should go to the hospital when the contractions are about four minutes apart for more than an hour... which is exactly what happened last night. So... his explanation didn't help at all. I called my well seasoned mother of four (not my mother, but a friend who is a mother) and asked her what she thought. She said to wait until I couldn't talk through a contraction to go. My hospital if 15 minutes away so we should be able to make it okay. My other friend is "on call" to meet us at the hospital to get Jeff when the big moment arrives.

I still need to pack my special little hospital bag. Last night I was frantically writing down all the things I should throw together in case we ended up heading the the childbirth center. You would think that I would have packed that silly bag this morning... nope. I mostly slept. :)

So, anything you would recommend I pack in my little bag of tricks? Any advice on when to go to the hospital? Any tricks of the trade that any of you are willing to share with me would be greatly appreciated. I know this is my second time around and I should know what the heck is going on... but alas... I don't.

Okay, I'm done now. This poor blog has become less of a brag blog of Jeff and more of a place to share with the world all of my craziness. I will shape up soon enough, I promise.

Why am I awake?

So, its 2:30 a.m and I am wide awake writing a blog. "Why", you may ask. Well, I'll tell you...

I am having contractions. I'm still trying to decide if they are real or just braxton hicks. I have been having braxton hicks since about 25 weeks. The difference is these are more frequent, and they are accompanied by lower back pain. I got online to find out what kinds of things to do to stop/slow down contractions and I came up with, "drink water". So, I'm sitting here, monitoring my contractions, drinking water, and writing a on my blog.

I'm not too super concerned right now. I'm 33 weeks. That is right at the point when it could be okay to go into labor. Mostly I am just relieved that if this is "real" that my water hasn't broken like last time. That was an abrupt beginning to labor. I would prefer for a nice slow entrance. I was 36 weeks when that happened. I'm not sure if I just come early or if this is just a little bump in the road on the way to a regular full-term delivery.

I'm going to take a little trip to visit the doctor in the morning if nothing else happens tonight. Just to check in and make sure everything is on the up and up.

So, thanks for listening to me. I know it is super exciting to listen to every ache and pain of a pregnant lady. Oh, and since I have you here. I will also share with you how often I have had a contraction.

2:06
2:10
2:15
2:17
2:20
2:25
2:27
2:31
2:35...

I know, you're thinking... those are pretty close together. That's what I'm thinking too. But, I also think might just be dehydrated. I think... I'll keep you posted. :) For now, I'll wait to see if my little stomach cramps get longer, stronger, and closer together.

Have a great day!

Without

So, our home computer crashed a few weeks ago and I am trying to get by using Scott's work laptop at night while he studies. It was going okay until we discovered that it took four hours just to check my email. For some reason his computer would act perfectly at work and then throw a temper tantrum when he brought it home. It has been driving me crazy. I had no idea how much I have come to depend on these little gadgets of modern miracles.

So, today Scott told one of his coworkers about it. His name is Joe. I know I shouldn't say this... but I could just kiss Joe right now. For some reason he knew that you had to write some DOS program to tell the computer that it didn't have to search for the drives that he has to use for work. Mostly because when he is home the computer can't find them and that is what was prompting the tantrums.

So, I am back online and happier than ever. I think I will forgo kissing Joe, for many reasons... but I will probably send him a little thank you through Scott.

Farm boy

The neighbors were having some work done on their yard. This meant that we had huge backhoes and dump trucks right out our back door. Jeff absolutely loved it! He watched them out the window for a solid half hour. He didn't even look back at me after the camera made the flash noise. That is truly a miracle. I think some of those farmer genes from my side of the family must have made into him. I think we will have to plan to send him to farm with my dad each summer. But not until he is big enough to drive a backhoe of his own. If he is anything like my little brother, give him two more years. Yep, four years old. CRAZY!!! That's just what farmers do when they need a helping hand. They put a child/toddler behind the wheel of a huge piece of machinery. I think I was more around the age of 10 before I started into all that. I must not have the gene as strongly as my little bro... or Jeff it looks like.

Just a side note, these pj's look to be that same John Deere green. He is so stinkin' cute in those things. I wish I could let him wear them every day for the next year.

Last Summer

This is a picture of us hiking as a family last summer. A friend of mine just sent it to me and it made me happy... so I wanted to share it. We have had the worst luck with losing pictures. It was nice to get these. Thanks Brandon!

Just for the record, Jeff did have a good time. I think by this point he was getting tired. If I remember right, he fell asleep in his backpack on the hike back to the car.

We hope to have some fun events this summer too. It will be a little tough with a newborn, but we are determined to still do fun things even when our kids are small. I just can't give up all the years that we will have small kids to sitting in the house.

One thing on our list to do is go camping and go to the Hill Cumorah Pageant. It should be awesome! I just hope that I can do it. We will have a one-month-old by that time. Scott let me plan it with the understanding that I might not be able to go if I have a hard recovery or if the baby has any problems or stuff like that. This just might be a good way to kick-start my pioneer spirit. :) At least I'll have a month instead of a few hours.

This website needs more Jeff

Bath time... the little red spot on his shoulder is a birthmark. The doctor assures me it wont effect his abilities be a productive member of society.

Jeff is showing off his newly acquired funny face.
Here is some more funny face. It is hard to catch those little expressions on camera.

Jeff showing off his speaking skills. Even with a mouth full of Cheerios and a cartoon to distract him. :)

Tracting (is that spelled right?)

So, I went tracting yesterday with one of the sisters serving in our ward. Can I just say that I have a lot more respect for missionaries now. We were only out a little over an hour and by the time we were done, I was content to know that I would go back to my everyday life of playing with Jeff, watching Opera, and eating Bon Bon's. Okay, so maybe my life isn't that posh, but seriously, these girls work hard.

I don't think it was so much the physical part of walking around, but lets be honest... I don't walk all that quick these days. Pregnancy has a way of making my sciatic nerve hurt and now I usually amble along at a nice leisurely pace. I think it was more the fact the some people can be so rude, and I just don't like being around rude people.

When someone comes to my door, I usually invite them inside. Not so for us. We never got invited into any houses. In fact some would just talk through the screen door and one lady even talked through her little mailbox hole.

One lady yelled at us and told us she didn't want it. I could see she was elderly and I really wanted her to know about the health fair we were promoting... so I offered again. She got pretty ticked and yelled at me some more. I walked away and decided I wasn't going to let myself cry. This lady just didn't know how to treat people. Thankfully, I didn't cry, but only because I was with a sweet little sister missionary who was totally tough about it and we also had a 10 year old girl with us from the ward and it didn't even phase her. So, I put on my game face and we went for the next door.

I was also really impressed by how bold this sister was. She was so diligent to give out cards and share her testimony even when it was obvious people were annoyed. You would never think her to be so bold. She is so quiet at church and has a tiny voice that I am surprised that people can hear her.

So, to all of you sisters and elders out there... or once were. I just have to say I have a new found respect for you. Thanks for being so diligent and working hard, because I now see how hard it really can be.

He's got skills

My son is learning some new and exciting things these days. Like how to hit. How to pull all of the cushions off the couch. How to scream when he doesn't get his way.

I can't say I like all this one bit. He is at such a "copy cat" stage that anything he sees once he does all the time.

I am pretty sure the hitting came about after he had a Kong Fu (I don't know how to spell that) lesson from one of the boys in the ward. While its a cute idea, it hurts my face. The kid keeps telling me I need to enlist Jeff in a Karate class... no way.

The couch cushion incident came about because Scott built Jeff a fort and now everyday is a fort day. I really don't mind this one as much, it is just a kid being kid.

The screaming. Oh, the screaming. It is more like a high pitched grunt. If you were here, I would demonstrate, but since you aren't and I have no idea how I would put an audio clip on the blog, you will just have to imagine. This one came from a little girl in our ward who is just three months older than Jeff. She is a sweet little girl, until Jeff comes around and then she feels it her duty to be the alpha female.

So, now that my son has these really cool talents... I'm wondering what to do. How do I teach him not to hit? How do I teach him not to scream? And how do I teach him that the couch makes a great fort... every once in a while but not every single morning?

So, I am soliciting your parenting advice. I can't guarantee that I will use it all. But feel free to tell me what has and hasn't worked for you.

Oh and just so you know, my boy really is a gem. He gives the best kisses and loves to sing himself to sleep. He never stays out past his curfew and uses clean language that I still can't understand. He has begun to say "Day doo" and "Dah doo" which are obviously "thank you" and "love you". So, all things said, I think we will still keep him. We just need to tweak a few things.

He's coming...

It hit me yesterday... I only have 12 weeks left before the our baby boy will be here. 12 WEEKS!!! Folks that is not a long time at all. And if this little boy is anything like Jeff I only have 8 weeks before he will make his entrance.

We are excited for this little guy to join our family, but I have to say that this pregnancy and all the feelings that come with it are definitely different than the first time. I think that now that I know what I am getting myself into, it's a lot more intimidating. I keep thinking about all of the amazing women out there who have had like six kids, with no epidural. That leads me to think about all those women who had babies in some one room cabin with the neighbor lady there to help her out.

And then I ask myself this question... Why am I such a pansy? Women have been doing this for years with a lot less luxury than I will have in my warm hospital room with pain killers, and epidurals, and ice chips. What happened to that firefighter girl who was so tough and not afraid of anything? What happened to that basketball player who broke her finger and kept playing? What happened to that little girl on the farm who was so tough she ate ants? (thanks to my brother who taught me that it was cool) What happened to her? Where is she now, when I really need her?

Sorry to any of you first time moms out there. This post is not to scare you away from ever bringing life into this world. But to all of you seasoned (read: had a baby and survived) moms out there, any advice on how to get over my fears? Any tips on how to make labor and delivery painless? If you've got it, send it on!!! And do it quick, because like I said before... He is coming...

All about Scott!

HOW OLD IS HE? 26.

WHO EATS MORE? Scott.

SAID "I LOVE YOU' FIRST? Scott, I just said "thank you". A few weeks later I got up to courage and mumbled it under my breath when my face was smashed up against his chest. Amazingly, he heard it.

WHO SINGS BETTER? Scott for sure. He has all he talent in the family.

WHO DOES THE LAUNDRY? Me.

WHO DOES THE DISHES? Both of us. I usually do, because I am the one home, but he does them whenever he is home and has time. Sometimes I would rather do them myself when Scott is at work so I can have the time. I am a super high maintenance wife, I want all of his time.

WHO SLEEPS ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BED? Me, is that weird?

WHO PAYS THE BILLS? Me, but most of them are direct debit.

WHO MOWS THE LAWN? Neither of us, we have never had to.

WHO COOKS DINNER? Me, but Scott is the Jello man. He does the Jello every Sunday.

MORE STUBBORN? We are both pretty laid back on most things.

KISSED WHO FIRST? Scott laid one on me after we had only been dating a few weeks, I was shocked, but it was nice and I didn't resist one bit.

WHO ASKED WHO OUT FIRST? This is a heated debate. I just happened to have an extra ticket to a Jim Brickman concert. I told him he could have it. We ended up going to dinner and sitting next to each other at the concert. But I did not, I repeat, did not ask him out. :) Just an FYI, this is the night Scott decided I was datable, before he had felt like I was too much like a sister.

WHO PROPOSED? Scott surprised me like crazy and gave me a ring three minutes before he left for a cruise to Alaska for ten days. I had told him a few days before that I thought we should date for another six months so I could get over my fears. He had none of that and got a ring the next day.

WHO IS MORE SENSITIVE? Scott is super in tune with my feelings, but he isn't a sensitive femmy type at all. He is pretty stoic in sad situations and can handle hard things better than me. Especially when I am pregnant. Whew, talk about emotional. :)

WHO HAS MORE FRIENDS: We share all of our friends.

WHO WEARS THE PANTS: Neither of us, we base our relationship on mutual respect and concern for each other.

WHAT IS YOUR SONG? The theme song from "The Man from Snowy River". I told him I loved the song once when we were dating. He went out, secretly bought the music, and memorized it on the piano. He randomly played it for me one day when we were just playing around on the piano. Seriously, this guy is too good to be true.

Look what I'm driving now...

So we made a little trade and I've been seen around Jersey driving this beauty! Seriously! I can't believe I am parking this "little" guy next to my house. It has been way fun to have have it, and I didn't think I would, but I like it a lot. The downside is that I have to return in on Saturday. Sad day.

So, the story is that our car has this issue with turning on its own headlights in the middle of the night. Our mechanic is a guy from our ward and insisted that instead of sitting in the shop waiting for it to be fixed we trade cars when we were both at the church on Wednesday. We were going to drive down to the shop to trade back, but he insisted that it was too far to drive all the way down and just to trade back when we got together for a party on Saturday night.'

I'm sure my landlord was a little surprised to see the beast in the driveway when he came out to warm up his car. So, we may be converted to the Hummer series of cars even if we will never buy one. I just can't cough up that much dough for gas, especially with the prices the way they are.

So, I guess this post is just to show you how amazingly wonderful and kind our ward members are. They are just incredible! I mean, if I really did own that baby, I wouldn't just hand it out to others to take for a half a week. And the funny thing is, we aren't the first family he has done this for. Super nice people in Jersey.

Charity after the dance

I am not a night owl. I never have been. I remember the time in high school I invited over some friends to watch a movie and my little brother ended up entertaining them because I fell asleep about five minutes into the thing. In college I would often fall asleep on the ride home from a date. I always tried to tell my date not to take it personally, that it really wasn't them... it was me. With that background I can proceed to tell you the story.

It was my junior year in college. A guy from church, who I wasn't interested in but was a nice guy, asked me to one of the many dances at BYU-Idaho. I got all ready with the dress, shoes, makeup, and insane amount of bobby pins in my hair. We went to dinner and it was fun. We went to the dance, and it was fun. We went to watch a movie afterwords... and it was not fun. I got carsick on the way there, and then my head started hurting (probably from the plethora of bobby pins in my hair). Not just your typical headache, but the hurting where you can't even lay your head down because the pressure of it touching anything hurts.

Finally, he took me home. I said good night and walked in my apartment door thankful that the night was finally over and I could go to bed. Oh... my wonderful bed that always welcomes me home with a nice pillow on the side. The problem was that I first had to take off the shoes, take off the dress, take off the makeup, and pull out every stinking bobby pin... oh I was beginning to hate those bobby pins.

I stumbled into the bathroom and began the task of first finding and then pulling out all of those metal wonders of being beautiful. I started... and then all of the carsickness, headache, and late night got to be too much. I handled it the way any grown up girl would... I started bawling and cursing the man who invented bobby pins (knowing it must have been a man with sadistic motives). I plopped down on the floor big dress and all and sobbed.

Then, she came. My roommate and best friend growing up. Amie carefully pulled out each pin without ripping out too much of my over hair sprayed, matted hair. She undid my shoes (which were also causing problems because my finger dexterity had severely suffered from all the trauma thus far). She helped me get my PJ's and even pulled back the covers on my bed so I could climb in without too much effort. She sweetly and carefully took care of her toddler of a roommate.

What did she expect in return? Nothing. And that is the beauty of true friendship and the charity that develops in one. She took care of me and hopefully someday I can return the favor, even if she doesn't expect it of me.

Ephesians 6: 13-17

13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

For family night we decided to talk about ways to protect our kids from the bad things that are out there. So we turned to Ephesians, got out the cardboard box, and made Jeff into a little warrior.

Scott was the architect... and I must say he makes a mean shield and sword.

I claim the helmet. Not too exciting... but if you know me, you also know that I am no crafty, creative person.

Jeff loved the sword the most. Thankfully, all eyes are still in tact at our house. (note: the sword is just a kitchen spoon and isn't sharp)

Scott turned out to be a pretty cute little warrior too. :) Isn't he adorable?!?

After it was all over, Jeff tore everything apart and we had the lesson. It was a great night. I think my hubby is the cutest daddy ever. He loves to roughhouse and all that fun stuff that little boys love.

Snow!!!

Okay... I know he is a year and a half old... but I think this is Jeff's first experience of actually "playing" in snow. He was too little last year. After reading my friend Shawna's post, I decided to give it a try. I layers, and bundled, and took the plunge. I shoveled the snow to make a path, and he never left that path. He tried to help shoveling, but found it to be a lot harder than sweeping. He loves to help.

So far, he likes it... but then he put his hand in it (he wouldn't keep his gloves on). Eventually, it turned into a cry fest with me rocking my sweet boy until he stopped howling. Being born in California, I guess he has a lot of that still in him. More than I thought.

Later he really liked watching our landlord as he used the snow blower. Much more his style.

Speaking of style, isn't he just the cutest kid ever. I combed his hair today and it almost did what it was supposed to do. He has unruly hair like his dad. :) Oh, and on a side note, Jeff says baby now. He points to my tummy, pats it affectionately (sometimes with hostility) and says "Bebe". Too cute!!!

What have I been doing?

I'm getting into scrapbooking. This is my first page. It is from my trip to Holland after I graduated from high school. My friend has all the stuff, and I mean all of of it. She told me she would help me put it together if I would help her use up some of her material. What a deal!



I've also been busy lately... working on a quilts for the boys' room. I am making patchwork matching quilts for thier beds. I might do a wall hangning or something in the same colors... but I'm just gonna take it one project at a time.

Jeff likes it... or did he just want to get closer to the camera?



I've also been hanging out with this kid. He is such a fun little guy. He is talking more and more. But all of his words sound a lot alike. "Uh-oh", "Night night", "Bye bye", "Mom", "Dadad", "Ewe"... so on second thought maybe he isn't saying too much, but he has cute facial expressions. And he sings. He likes to sleep without a shirt on. And he is just cute... what more can I say.

This is all it takes to make an ordinary day into a romantic evening.
1. Sparkling Cider ($6)
2. Candle ($5)
3. Fondue Pot ($10- $20) I highly recommend that every married couple invest in one of these babies.

I found a great cheese fondue recipe. Scott likes it better than the one at the Melting Pot. I will include the link to it. I made a few changes. Instead of white wine, I used chicken broth. Instead of a tomato peeled, cored, and seeded (it makes me tired just writing it down) I used a little salsa. I will also include the bread recipe that was super easy and perfect as well as a pound cake recipe that is awesome in the chocolate.

Cheese Fondue
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Badgers-Cheddar-and-Ranch-Fondue/Detail.aspx

French Bread for dipping
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/French-Bread/Detail.aspx

Yellow pound cake for dipping in the chocolate
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Yellow-Pound-Cake/Detail.aspx

Late night

For any of you who know me well, you might know that I am not a night owl. In fact, I often don't make it to night time. Lately, I have been going to bed at about 9:30 each night. I know, I know, you can call me grandma. :)

So, last night Scott and I were staying up into the late, late evening (10 p.m.) talking about baby names and this is a conversation we had...

Scott: Lots of people call me Steve instead of Scott. I don't get it.

Me: Whats wrong with Steve?

Scott: I don't know, it always seemed like a nerdy name to me.

Me: Huh, (in slurred speech) no one has ever accidentally called me Steve... (and then I break into uncontrollable laughter)

Scott: Wow, great insight... thanks for participating.

As you can imagine, I had a good long laugh and then promptly passed out into a deep sleep.

Family

My parents have been here for the last week. It has been so great to spend time with them and show them what life is like for us here in Jersey.

Unfortunately, Jeff has been as sick as he has ever been. He has a cough, fever, and runny nose. He has had it for about five days now. Hopefully he will come out of it soon. My mom was a gem and took care of him much of the time. She watched him while we went to church. I don't know what we would have done without her. I couldn't miss because I was the only one there from the primary presidency and Scott couldn't miss because he had to accompany a musical number as well as play the organ during the meeting. She was such a lifesaver. She also helped me hem my drapes in one of our rooms.

My dad was great too. He spent all kinds of time getting everything fixed from the car to the chair in the dining room. He was pretty handy and now my house feels that much more put together.

It wasn't all work and no play. We also went into the city one day. We went to the Museum of Natural History, Stomp (a percussion show), and on the Staten Island Ferry where they got to see the Statue of Liberty. All in all I think we wore them out.

So, I guess this post is a tribute to my parents and the wonderful people they are. They teach me so much every time I am around them. I hope I can be the same kind of parent to Jeff that my parents have been to me.

Jeff as a baby

Here is a little memory from the past. Jeff is about a month and a half old here. No one believes me when I tell them that my little blond-haired boy was born with dark hair. Here is the proof.