Haircutting Entertainment

I cut Matty's hair tonight and thought I would share how we get him to hold still. He really doesn't like getting his hair cut, so we figured out a few months ago it helped to keep him entertained with dry erase markers. We let him color on the mirror with them but ONLY during haircuts, so it's something special. As you can see, he still acts like the whole experience is terribly painful, but it the markers do help some. (Sorry the pictures aren't the best quality. They were taken of the mirror.)

Oreos and Milk

We get excited when we find something "normal" Matty can eat (because it has no milk ingrediants.) Imagine my suprise when we learned this week that Oreos have no milk in them! I only checked because it was my craving this week. Here's Matty enjoyng his first Oreos ever! What a mess they make!

A Few Pictures

My favorite posts on others' blogs are ones that include pictures. So I thought I'd share a few random shots from the last few weeks.

Matty painting his model airplane Aunt Dawn put together with him

The finished product
I came out one morning and found that Dan had fallen asleep on the couch. Matty had decided to take care of Daddy and gave him his blankets and Teddy. So sweet!
Matty drew this and told me it was a picture of a "growing baby." I think he's looked at my pregnancy books too often.
While trying to clean out Matty's closet, he discovered his Halloween costume and HAD to spend the afternoon in it. We got some amused looks when we got the mail.

Thankful Thursday

More things to be thankful for:

1. Flexible Job. I love that when I really need Dan to be home, he's able to be here and take off work without a huge bite out of his paycheck.

2. "Curious George". Matty loves this show. It teaches him some great things and he really learns from it. I love that it gets his attention and I can have 30 minutes of quiet! :) (But I'll never understand why they let that monkey have so much freedom when they know he's going to cause trouble.)

3. New Fred. I really like our new fish. He's so much more friendly than the old one. Matty's enjoying him, too.

4. A Balanced Checkbook. Sometimes I let way too long go by without balancing my checkbook, so I always feels so relieved when it's been weeks and I'm still on to the penny. YAY!

5. Ice Cream. A great escape!

6. Family Dinners. With Matty's milk allergy, we don't always all eat the same thing for dinner. So I love it when I find something we can actually all enjoy together! (AND Matty's willing to eat it!)

7. Disposable Diapers. I grew up with only cloth diapers in our house. I'm so happy I don't have to clean diapers every time they're used. So much easier to just toss them!

8. Randomness. I love the random things Matty says that make us laugh. For example, he usually hollers something from the crib in the morning to let us know he's up. It's usually something like "The sun's coming up Daddy! Time to get up! I'm awake!" But today he randomly yelled, "You like my hair, Mom?"

9. Enrichment. I don't always care about whatever Enrichment is on, but I really appreciate being able to get out for an evening once in a while and spend it in the company of other women.

10. Warmer Weather. Even though I've been ill and haven't been able to get out much, I'm really glad that the sun's been out this week and melted the snow. Hopefully Spring is just around the corner!

Goodbye Old Fred. Hello New Fred.

Matty and "Old Fred" on the day we adopted him last yearWe've had a death in the family. Fred, our Beta, committed suicide sometime between Friday and Saturday. Fred was a gift from one of Matty's nursery leaders almost a year ago. I had filled his bowl to the top (foolishly) when cleaning it this week and we found him on the floor Saturday morning. He'd aparently jumped ship. Matty dealt with it REALLY well. I, however, totally cried because I felt like I killed my son's fish! Word from the wise: don't fill a fish bowl all the way!

We went to the pet store and bought a new beta. Matty wanted another blue one and named it Fred, too. Our new Fred is much more friendly than the other one. Matty keeps asking, "New Fred not jump out?" Not as long as Mom watches how full the water is!

One Project Down

I always seem to have some kind of project I'm working on. I love to create things. For the past month I've had two main projects, both blankets for the new baby. I needed something to keep me seated so I could get the rest the doctor wanted me to. It's so hard for me to just sit when I can see everything that needs to be done around me! Here's the blanket I just finished crocheting this morning

It turned out a little bigger than I thought, but I just followed the pattern. Oh well. I'm still pleased with it. Now I can focus on the patchwork quilt I'm doing.

TV Buddies

Matty really likes this Teddy lately. Here they are watching Curious George yesterday. I thought it was so cute he put his arm around him just like I do to him when we sit on the couch together.

Thankful Thursday

Yesterday was a hard day, so I'm glad I have to list the positive things in life today.

1. Tylenol. Wouldn't want to live without it.

2. Pajamas. Comfort is a necessity.

3. Bedtime for Matty. I love having the quiet once he's asleep.

4. Grapes. I love that some good fruit is coming back to the stores.

5. Grandma's house. While I wish my mom was a little closer (it's a 50 minute drive) I'm glad that she's close enough that Matty and I can go up there occassionally and get out of our house.

6. Low utility bills. A blessing from living in an apartment. I know a house will be an adjustment for us.

7. Baby kicks. I love to know she's there and doing okay.

8. Hot showers. After my bad day yesterday, Dan let me go spend as long as I wanted in the shower for some time to myself. It really helped relax me.

9. A vacuum that works. We spent the first 2 years of our marriage with a $20 vacuum. I'm happy to have one that actually works well!

10. A washing machine. I would HATE to have lived in the days when you had to do laundry by hand. Thank goodness for a machine that does it for me!

"Who Made The Animals?"

Family Home Evening has become so much more fun lately with Matty. He's really starting to listen to what we're saying and it's so fun to watch him learn. The things that come out of his mouth really crack us up sometimes

Tonight Dan was in charge of the lesson. His lesson was on the fact that Jesus made the animals. We've talked in the past about how Jesus made the world, our bodies, the stars, and tonight was animals. So Dan pulled out Matty's toy animals and asked him what each one was. Then he asked who made them. Matty would say, "I don't know." Dan would tell him Jesus did. He'd say "Yeah!" Then Dan would ask again and Matty would say, "I don't know." This went on forever!!! You have to know, Matty has one of the best memories I've ever seen in a toddler so we know he was just having fun. The whole thing was hilarious and went on for probably 5 full minutes. Here's a small bit of it to give you an idea, though I really wish I had recorded the whole thing. (By the way, you can turn off the music at the bottom of this site if you want.)

If you're curious, we did eventually get him to say that Jesus made them. :)

Airplane Cookies

We wanted to do something fun today with Dan home, so we made some sugar cookies. Matty picked out an airplane-shaped cutter at the store to use. We had fun baking together and made a wonderful mess. Here are a few pics of my cooking buddy.

Mr. Cheesy Smile

Taste testing (please forgive the lack of make-up)

Rolling out the good times!

Success!

We decided about a week and a half ago to put up a sticker chart for Matty going potty, hoping it would be some sort of motivation. (We really don't care about changing diapers right now, but we were just sick of him always peeing the second he got into the bathtub!) Once he got 10 stickers, he could pick out any toy at the toy store. The first little while was slow, but the last few days he's gotten at least 2 stickers a day. We haven't pushed him at all. Every sticker was earned from him telling us he needed to go potty and then going. He filled up his chart yesterday so we went to the toy store today. Here he is with his filled chart and the toy he picked out:Of everything he could've picked, he chose one of those toys that leaves an impression when you put your hand under the plastic pins. He's played with it for hours today. His next chart requires him to get 15 stickers. Let's hope he keeps this up! I'd love not to have 2 in diapers!

A Memorable Valentine's Day

It seems like we've done the same thing for the last several Valentine's. We always get 2 slices of cheesecake and some sparkling juice and share them while watching some romantic movie after Matty's in bed. It's fun, but I really wanted something different this year.

Dan and I decided to make eachother gifts since we've never done that before. My sister offered to swap babysitting so we could go out, too. So we watched their daughter Emi Wednesday and they watched Matty Thursday. We decided to do sealings at the temple. I haven't been able to do them since my knee surgery over a year ago, and I figured I'd better do it now before my belly gets any bigger!

When we got to the temple, we saw a couple from our branch right outside who had just gotten sealed today. I didn't want to interrupt their conversation to say hi to them, but I felt so happy to see them there on their special day. When we entered the sealing room, the first thing I noticed was how hot it was in there! I managed to keep it together for about 30 minutes, but on our second turn at the alter the heat was really getting to me. My head started hurting, I could hear a high pitched noise, and my vision was turning to black: sure signs that I was about to blackout. I somehow managed to let the sealer finish the ordinance he was on, then I quickly told him I was blacking out and moved over to a chair. Everyone just sat in silence watching me, hoping I wasn't about to fall out of the chair. I was trying so hard not to feel embarrassed. Dan got me some water and I started feeling much better. I just sat on the sidelines for the rest of things. I really think it was just a combination of kneeling for so long, the heat in the room, and the internal furnace I now carry with me. Once I started feeling better, it was really easy to laugh about the whole thing. We even managed to get some dinner in the temple cafeteria afterwards.

After Matty was tucked into bed, we exchanged our homemade gifts. Dan gave me a bottle of Scrubbing Bubbles and a gift cirtificate for a clean bathroom for a month (or longer if I don't feel up to it.) So now I don't have to worry about cleaning the bathroom. WAHOO! I made him a homemade Hershey's Kiss out of a balloon and some aluminum foil. Inside the balloon were conversation hearts and 31 things I love about him (since he's 31) written on pieces of paper. He really liked it. We were going to watch a romantic movie and eat chocolate covered strawberries tonight, but it's so late we just want to go to bed. We'll have to save that for tomorrow or something.

Like I said, I really wanted something different this year and I feel like that's what we got. It was definately a memorable day.

Here are 2 pics of my homemade Kiss:

Thankful Valentine Thursday

Here are several more things I feel grateful for:

1. Stickers. Matty has a sticker chart for going potty. Though we are no where near being fully trained, he gets so excited to put a sticker on his chart. I love that.

2. Strawberries and cool whip. My latest craving. YUM!

3. 4-wheel drive. My car doesn't have it, but Dan's does. I'm so happy we have at least one car that can drive well in the snow.

4. A good night's sleep. I don't typically sleep well so I don't get this very often. It makes me really appreciate it when I can actually sleep.

And since it's Valentine's Day, the remainder of my list are things I'm thankful for concerning my husband.

6. My husband at home at night. I have several friends who don't always have their husbands around to help with dinner and bedtime. I'm so thankful mine can be home.

7. We make each other laugh. Life would be virtually impossible without a little laughter!

8. He's selfless. He is so good at putting my needs and desires ahead of his own. I feel I have so far to go to be as selfless as he is.

9. He's patient with me. I'm not always the easiest person to live with, and yet he is so kind and caring towards me.

10. Just him. For all the things he is and all the things he's trying to become, I love him. He is, without question, one of my life's greatest blessings.

24 Week Appointment

I really hate doctor's offices, so pregnancy is always a hard time for me because I have to go so often. Dan always comes with me because of my fear, but today was the first time in all our years of marriage that he forgot until my appointment time when I was finally able to get a hold of him. Because the doctor was running late, Dan actually made it before the doctor came in. My BP was high of course (as always at the doctor's) and Dan being late didn't help that.

We talked with the doctor about some of the problems I've had. He eased some of our concerns, but is a little concerned himself about some stuff. We're going to be watching for signs of pre-term labor. Just to be sure everything's okay, he checked to see if I was dialated. While that isn't the most fun thing to be checked for, it did make me feel a lot better to know that all the pain and contracitons I've been having aren't causing any dialating. So I'm just supposed to rest the best I can when I have problems. (That would be a lot easier if I didn't have a 2-year-old to take care of.)

When we left, I told Dan I still wasn't so happy with him for forgetting and being impossible to get a hold of. I went to pick up Matty from his Aunt's house while Dan went on home. By the time Matty and I got home, Dan had cleaned up, vacuumed the whole apartment, emptied the dishwasher, and did the dishes. He sure makes it hard to stay frustrated. I really love him.

Rexburg Temple Dedicated

The Rexburg, Idaho Temple was dedicated today. With my dad being a lead architect in the project, my family had tickets. When one of my sisters couldn't make it, I had the option to take her place. Unfortunately, I had to make the decision not to travel right now because I've been in so much pain from this pregnancy and felt it was better to get more rest. It was SOOO hard for me to miss the dedication. Dan and I love Rexburg so much (having lived there for 5 or so years.) We were both at the groundbreaking ceremony back in 2005 with a then 3-month-old baby Matty. We even had gotten the chance to do some digging with the shovels that day. We attended the open house back in December (and even Matty got to go inside) and just LOVE that gorgeous building. I wanted to be there so badly and promised myself I would. But then again, I wasn't planning on being 5 1/2 months pregnant with a more dificult pregnancy than my first. There wasn't much I could do about it.

My family came back from the dedication with some stories to share. They each got to put in mortor for the cornerstone this morning. They were in the front row of the Celestial room for the second session of the dedication. They said at one point President Monson announced several speakers, then there would be singing by the choir, then Elder Nelson would speak. After the choir had finished singing, no one moved. Just silence for the longest time. Finally, President Monson turned to Elder Nelson and said, "YOU!" Elder Nelson got up and said, "Oh. I was waiting for Elder Bednar to speak." I guess Bednar had been the chosen speaker in the first session and Elder Nelson had just spaced out for a minute. :)

My dad was on the news tonight in the background (http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=2640388). If you watch the video, he's the one with the mustache handing out the tools for President Monson and the others to use with the mortor. There's a few shots with him in it. (There were other news clips that showed him more, but I can't find them online.) My parents got some great pictures with their camera of everything, and I'll try to get those from him soon (maybe this week) so I can share them here. I'm very proud of my dad for the role he got to play. Out of all the temples he's worked on for the last 16 years, this is the first time he was invited to participate in such an involved way with the cornerstone ceremony.

As a side note, we attented my parents' ward today while they were away (we were dog-sitting.) President Uchtdorf, Elder Hales, and Elder Bednar are all members of that ward. As someone passed Sister Uchtdorf in the hall today they asked if they should offer her congratulations or condolences on her husband's new calling. She responded, "Just pray for us!" I know they feel overwhelmed and humbled. I'll be sure to keep them in my prayers.

Thankful Thursday

My friend Tiburon has recently started doing "Thankful Thursday" on her blog and invited others to do the same. I love the idea of listing the things I'm grateful for each week, so here I go.

1. Body pillows. I can't sleep without them.

2. Insurance. We have amazing health insurance with very low premiums. My husband's job may not be the highest paying, but the health benefits are well worth it!

3. My husband. He's far from perfect (despite what the older women in our ward tell him), but he is so wonderful. I don't know of another man who would have as much patience with me.

4. A clean bathroom sink. I hinted to my husband that I would love a really, really clean sink if he ever got bored, and within a few days it was done! I feel so much better.

5. Matty. Most of the time he is an angel of a child. He makes us laugh all the time. I love watching him learn new things or get excited about something.

6. Pixar. Matty loves Pixar movies and without them I would never get a break!

7. Being pregnant. This pregnancy is soooo much harder than the first with a lot more pain and scares, but I am so grateful to get this new baby. Getting pregnant isn't something that comes easily to us and we really appreciate the gift that it is. The scares we've had this pregnancy have made me feel so much more protective and attached to this little girl. I can't wait til she's here and a full part of our family.

8. Living in the USA. Every time I see a news story about some other country and the struggles they're going through, I can't help but feel immense gratitude for having been born here. America isn't perfect, but it is a wonderful place to call home.

9. The Salt Lake Temple. We watched Mountain of the Lord this past Sunday as a family. That movie always makes me grateful for the years of sacrifice the early saints gave to build that beautiful temple. One of the reasons we chose to be married in the Salt Lake Temple was because it felt like a good way to show our appreciation to the early saints and what they went through.

10. My apartment. Yes, I'd much rather have a house. But I'm grateful to have four walls, heating, a/c, and a place to call home. I feel especially grateful for it after looking at pictures of countless homes torn apart by the tornados this week.

Bowling Anyone?

In our family, we love cheap entertainment. Almost a year ago we showed Matty how to set up some "bowling pins" (a.k.a. Gerber puff containers) at the end of the hall and throw his rubber ball at them to knock them down. He really loves to bowl though he's only been once to an actual ally. So every once in a while he'll randomly decide he wants to go bowling again and will set up everything on his own at the end of the hall like he did today. When he hits a pin he yells, "Ya-hoooooooooo!!!" to celebrate. It's pretty entertaining to watch his excitment over the whole thing.

Running back from setting up

Watching it go

Celebrating the strike

Our Snow Family

Today it was snowing so much that we actually got sent home from church an hour early. By afternoon, it had pretty much stopped and was a much warmer 40 degrees outside. The snow was the right kind for making snowmen, so we decided to go out and do just that. Matty had never made one before and was very excited. We were going to build just one but ended up with a whole family! By the time we finished (an hour later) the storm was back with a vengence and we had to hurry inside. We thought Matty would want to help roll the snowballs more, but Dan and I ended up doing it all. Matty was content to just throw snow everywhere.

Cake, Balloons, and SWAT Teams

Yesterday was an interesting day. We had an issue with our apartment managment we had to deal with, we found out we weren't going to get the house we put an offer on, and while at a birthday party for a friend of Matty's we watched a standoff. (Story here http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=2581482) The standoff was actually a few streets away, but the street we were on seemed to be the staging area and was blocked off just past the house we were at. It was so surreal watching the SWAT teams with their guns and shields running around the street and seeing 20+ police cars lined up both sides. The kids loved watching all the police cars. The funniest scene was when some of the guests left with balloons in hand and crossed the street in front of all the SWAT cars. I wish we had gotten a picture of that, it was such a contrasting image. In the end, everything turned out fine. Matty really had a great time at the party.