Monday, March 28, 2011

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Things I've Accomplished and Want To Accomplish (Continued)

I want to apologize in advance - blogger is being dumb and won't let me space this out! Argh!! Things I Have Accomplished: 1. Learned to really like having house plants and even managed to keep most of them alive! 2. Taught myself how to sew useful things for my family 3. Taught myself to knit - but I'm no officianado. I can make pretty easy things only. 4. Re-upholstered a couch by myself. 5. Had a baby without an epidural - something I wasn't certain was at all possible, and hopefully something I can accomplish again. Things I Want To Accomplish in the next year: 1. Teach myself to crochet. 2. Have a gathering in our house when we get our backyard in. 3. Try 15 new recipes 4. Be a better friend. 5. Make a piece of furniture from scratch. That looks good. :) (Last weeks was pretty wordy, and this week I felt like keeping it simple. It's easier to read that way too.) :)

Friday, March 25, 2011

Aftyn-isms To Remember

Earlier today right around naptime, my mom came to visit and as she left reminded Aftyn to come to her house soon and swing. Aftyn wanted to go right then, but we told her we would do it later which seemed to appease her. A few minutes later, she still wanted to go and swing so I had her go and ask Reed if he would take her for a ride later to go and swing.

Fast forward to about 30 minutes ago, as Aftyn looked out the window in the front room. She stood looking for a few minutes and then said "ride". And then walked over to Reed and said "swing". Hilarious! She remembered all these hours later that Daddy had promised her a ride to go swing, with absolutely no prompting from Reed or I.

Aftyn likes to look at the field of cows by our house as we drive by and talk about the baby cows, the mommy cows, the daddy cows and even the Aftyn cows. What a funny girl. She makes me laugh at how sweet and trusting she is about what we tell her.

Aftyn calls washing your hands after you use the bathroom, "rub rubs" because you rub and rub your hands together with the soap and then in the water to rinse off the soap.

Baby Blanket - Done!

It may not look like much, but it's mostly made of minky so it is REALLY soft and each of those designs on that blanket have been zigzagged around. Let's just say it took a lot of work, but I am pleased that it's done! :)

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Ankles Turned Cankles


I've had this strange phenomenon occur at least 3 times this pregnancy.
One ankle swells, the other one doesn't.
I'm mildly concerned it could be something bad and so I called my midwife today,
but I haven't heard back yet.
In the meantime, it's kind of amusing to be able to enjoy the lovely ankle on one leg,
and the elephantitis going on in the other.
Anyone ever enjoy this strange phenomenon while pregnant?
By the way, can you tell which ankle is swollen?
**In further updates, due to the noticable size difference in my baby bump this time as compared with Aftyn's, I'm going to try to beg my midwife to have mercy on me and have me deliver at some set point before 40 weeks.
Big babies run in my family and I'm afraid! **

Monday, March 21, 2011











Here's a size check: Below is me pregnant with Aftyn.

Compare to above with this baby.

I feel that I am considerably bigger!

Sunday, March 20, 2011

7 1/2 weeks . . . . . and counting!

You might think I'm referring to the birth of the baby I carry everywhere with me, but no.

I'm referring to the big, exciting birthday that is coming this year to me.

It's going to be the BIG 3-0. That's right. 30.

Thankfully, at this time in my life numbers don't bother me.

And thanks to a very healthy appreciation taught to me by my mother about birthdays, I always love my birthday. Who doesn't love a day that's all about you ?! My mom would say it's just my personality that makes me love parties and having fun. Maybe so, but I digress.

Since this year I am turning an age that I used to think: a) I would never reach and
b) I would be SO old when I reached it

I've decided it needs some special preparation. Just for fun.

Plus it takes my mind off the aches and pains of pregnancy and motherhood and life.

I think it would be fun to make a Bucket List of sorts for myself. One list of things I have accomplished in my (soon to be) 30 years on earth and another of things I'd still like to accomplish before I reach 31.

For the next 6 Sundays until my birthday arrives, it's on a Friday, I will share 5 items from each list until I hit 30 things. Sounds like fun to me! Hope you enjoy.


5 Marvelous Things I Have Accomplished
1.Surviving a half-marathon. And really, it's due to my running partner that I survived and even accomplished the whole distance.

2. Traveled to England. Thanks to my brother and sister-in-law who lived there and also to my travel wise husband who wanted to go enough to convince me. Now I want to go back. A lot.

3. Sealed in the Temple. I love the blessings we receive, I love knowing that my husband and kids can be with me forever. And that I in turn can be with my siblings and parents and their families. It's truly awesome if you think about it.

4. Being a Mother. Thanks to those who mentor me for helping me through it all, I'm grateful for the love I have for my daughter and knowing that I try every day to be my best for her and so she can be her best as well. Can't wait to be able to look at all my kids one day and know that I had a part in helping them learn and grow.

5. Running. Seems weird, I know. But the fact that I enjoy running as much as I do and knowing how much I used to hate it, I am grateful for what I have learned through running. I am grateful to be able to be more in tune with my body. I recognize the more I listen, the more I learn about how my body wants to be treated and the happier I feel when I do what it wants. I'm sure there's a spiritual law in that line, something having to do with when we listen to our spirits how much happier we are as opposed to when we listen to the world and all the stuff it tells us we should become and do.


5 Marvelous Things I Want To Accomplish

1. Plant our first garden. With the help of those who live in this house with me. I think it could be a lot of fun and a great teaching tool for Aftyn.

2. Survive the addition of a 4th member of the family. Making all the adjustments, helping Aftyn know she is still wanted and needed, learning to juggle my normal life with an infant added in.

3. Read the Book of Mormon before May 24th. For my family reunion in July, we've been challenged to read the whole BOM by then. I'm trying to be consistent at it, but I need to figure out if I'm reading fast enough to finish before this baby comes because I'm not sure I'll be thinking about reading when I'm sleep deprived and surviving day to day life. Just to be sure, I want to be done before she's due.

4. Be adored by my primary class. This just makes me laugh, but I recall thinking (when I took my class of 8 year olds on just before January) that I wanted them to like me because I could tell that some of them didn't think I was so cool. I think they've seen how much I care for them and how much I enjoy our class, but still. I would like to continue to feel that through however long I teach them that I will be a teacher they enjoyed. :) And that they felt the spirit from and someone who taught them a lot about the gospel. Especially that last part. I recall at about 8 was when I started learning a lot about the gospel, and I'd like to feel that I helped them understand more and learn more about Jesus Christ.

5. Evidently I can't count, because I posted this after only # 4. Teach Aftyn a whole primary song that she can sing. She loves to sing, but right now has a hard time remembering words or the songs are too long for her. I guess I better start searching for a short song with easy, repeating words and a catchy tune. You might find this task a little weird, but I grew up in a very musical family and want to make sure and pass that along to my kids. Since we don't have a piano and couldn't possibly fit one in our house anyway, I teach her songs by singing them to her or playing them on the cd player. This means I just need to be more consistent in the songs I sing to her and make sure she can hear the words that I sing.