Just for Grins and Giggles . . . .

Our little girl in utero is quite funny sometimes. Tonight she was extending her foot so high and hard in my stomach I could clearly feel that it was her foot, from my outside vantage point. I quickly grabbed Reed's hand since he happened to be sitting beside me, and put his hand on top of where her little foot was. He got the biggest grin on his face and made the funniest noise - he was clearly surprised that you could feel so well this little limb protruding from our little one. It just goes to show you - even adults can be easily amused.

In other news, life is definitely going. We're getting ready for our garden and I have pre-planted most of our plants that say it's okay to do - now we just need to plot out our garden and start some BIG TIME planting! I'm very excited to start growing our own plants. Other summer time projects: putting up a fence, planting flowers, and lots and lots of weeding. Oh, and losing some baby weight. What are some of YOUR summer plans?

So glad it's Wednesday!

Well, not much to report on the home front. Seriously. Reed and I have had the privilege this week and half of last to share one car, which means we have a lot of car time, to talk. I'm sure Reed loves this. :) Like any normal female, especially from my family, I can find so many interesting topics to talk about. I think Reed has gotten used to this, but I think I am spoiled, because to begin with, he was a good listener. Or at least he fakes it really well! :)

I did learn a rather funny lesson today about Reed. We went to Albertsons to cash in on their great cereal sale they're having right now. And we ended up with quite a few boxes of cereal which would require ringing up on the cash register several times. And this store had no self-checkout lanes. So, we get in line in front of this older couple, (all the register lines were fairly longish) and I get all situated, pumping myself up to convince the lady at the register to help us to get the most for our money on our cereal buys.
Reed was starting to look uncomfortable as I got everything arranged on the conveyor, so I tried to talk him through what we were about to do.
"Okay, Reed. I'll buy the first five boxes, and then you buy the next five boxes and then we'll ask the cashier to ring up our last 5 boxes as another sale." Reed clearly was not sold on this idea. His first response, "I don't have any money on me." "That's okay, I do, I'll just hand you some money." He looked skeptical but knew I wasn't going to let him off so easy.
In the end, he was saved by the fact that one of his former co-workers happened to see him, and he went off to see how his friend was doing, while I successfully achieved 3 separate sales in one line, with one very nice cashier. (And one very elderly lady quite antsy to get her order rung up. She was clearly crowding me. :) Oh well, maybe she couldn't tell.) I'd like to add that frankly, not having Reed there at the time of the ring-up helped me to not pick up on his uncomfortable vibes, 'cause I was quite comfortable saving lots of money on boxes of good cereal.

What can we learn? Some people care about saving money, even if it might mean they get other people annoyed. And sometimes spouses are better at doing the heavy lifting than being your "partner in crime." What did you learn from this story?

Another day in paradise

Spring is coming! I'm so excited, because spring

brings with it so many beautiful, wondrous things, like:



I love love love baby goats! They are so cute

with their little "maaa"'s. And their cute little faces and ears.



Flowers! I love it when flowers start blooming and

bringing color to the colorless world that is winter.



Baby birds, baby ducks, baby anything waddling

after its mother. So dang cute!

Now, last but not least, something that we have

to look forward to that makes this spring so very special:



I'm so glad its spring! Hope you are finding and enjoying all the beauties of spring.

Just some pictures of our beautiful weather . . . . and me

After seeing a lot of cute pregnancy pictures lately, I decided it was finally my turn. I have this picture of my mom when she was pretty pregnant with my sister and I, and always wanted to have pictures to show my kids of when I was pregnant with them. So, the last 2 days, I have followed through with that goal. And I couldn't have done it in such a cute and FABULOUS way without the help of my stellar picture-taking sister Alyson. (By the way, if you want pictures of you, you should see her. And not just maternity pics either. She's a wiz at any kind of pics.)


This is Reed's favorite.






I love all these pictures, but I think I've decided this one is my favorite.


And now you can finally say you have seen me Mom. :)

(I'd like to thank any and all who contributed to my outfits in these pictures. Especially to my generous sister and sisters-in-law who made my cute tops possible. Thank you!!)

You should always follow your own advice!

Just a few days ago, I was talking to my single sister. She was lamenting her singleness and we began talking about how many married women would kill for the freedom she enjoys in being on her own and being able to make big decisions all on her own. I shared with her something that I had been thinking a lot about lately, how we need to be happy with where we are every single day. That can be hard when you're largely pregnant, and not close enough to have your baby to make yourself happy, when the economy is down, etc. There's always something that you wish were different. I have learned a lot of lessons in this department, pertaining to the fact that a truly happy person is happy with where they are this very moment. And that's it.

And to prove how much I still have to learn, today I got my new crowns. I thought I hated having half blue teeth. But as soon as they pulled those temporary half blue teeth off, I found out how much I loved having un-sensitive, happy little teeth. I now have beautiful white crowns, and INCREDIBLY sensitive front teeth. Why wasn't I happy with what I had? Why did I have to let my vanity get the best of me? I would so much rather have half blue teeth than the inability to drink cold water like I used to, or whistling out AND in.

The lesson I have learned again is, be happy with what you have at this moment, because it could always get worse. And it very well may.

An Update On My Two Front Teeth:

So, as many of you know according to my previous post, I cracked my two front teeth pretty good. So, I am in the process of getting crowns for them. I am currently styling my temporary crowns.
A funny thing happened after I had my temporary crowns put on. The dentist was a little brutal to my two front teeth, especially my gums, as he prepared my teeth for my temporary crowns. His assistant put a cotterizing cream on my gums and then made a mold for my temporary crowns. After the temporary crowns were ready, she put them on me. I was in the dental chair from 7:40 pm until 9 pm. Talk about a dang long time at the dentist for something that seems so simple.

So, back to the funny thing. The dental assistant said that the cotterizing cream could be brushed out of my gums as soon as that evening, but it would probably take a few days for the gray-ish color of the cotterizing cream to come off of my gums.

So, after a few days, as promised, the gray was gone and my gums were feeling pretty good. A few days more, and I started noticing a funny grayish color starting to show at the top of my temporary crowns. I thought nothing of it, until the next day it was a little darker, but now it was a little bluer.
Each successive day following, the upper half of my crowns became a little bluer and bluer until at this point, I have two very bluish-grayish front teeth. But only the upper half.
The dental assistant says as long as there is no pain, I should be fine. I agreed, until it came time to go to church today. I promise, there were quite a few people, when I was talking normally and smiling at them, who quite clearly noticed my unique looking teeth. And I didn't tell anyone anything, because it would be one very long conversation after another. I just didn't have the patience for it today. So, I told no one.

And next week when I go back with what appear to be totally normal front teeth, they probably will just think they were seeing things. Right? ;)
(This is about the color of my teeth. Just imagine, only my two front teeth, only upper half of them. Kinda noticeable, huh?)

My Special Bag

For the past few weeks, I have been carrying a plastic Walmart bag around with me. Everywhere. Curious? Here's what it contains:

Vitamin C
Kleenex
a bulb of garlic
a knife to cut the garlic with
Emergen C

Zantac 150
Maalox

In the morning, as I leave for work, I grab my bag because without it, when I take my morning dose of vitamin C, it must be accompanied by a Zantac down my throat. Otherwise, goodbye to my happy tummy. Holy cow. My life is so much better now with Zantac in it.
I actually don't really have my cold anymore, thanks to a blessing from Reed, but I feel that I need to bring all these things just in case my cold symptoms might come back in any way. I absolutely must have my Zantac, even if I stop taking my vitamin C. The acid indigestion I feel is awful.

At night when I leave for home, I must have my bag. Before dinner, depending on what I eat, but most definitely after dinner, I must have another Zantac. It is what helps me to sleep the sleep of the tired. Which I usually am. If it's time for bed, and I can tell the Zantac isn't going to last long enough, I take a few teaspoonfuls of Maalox. Aaah. What a relief.

I am incredibly indebted to the teamwork of Zantac and Maalox in my life. I wish I had known about them so much earlier. :)