Monday, October 13, 2008

the past few months

what has happened here??

in august: i celebrated the beginning of my last year in my 20's. i am not bothered by my age at all! troy got me all 4 of the twilight books for my bday! he had no wife for a bit...thanks honey!





the kiddos (lance and noemi) started school. it's very convienient that they both are in the same school now...same grade, but different teachers.

troy had HIS birthday too...in which he departed from his twenties and entered a new decade! i considered throwing an "old" party, but i wasn't motivated by the planning and effort it would take, plus it was on a sunday, so he turned 30 quietly and without fanfare.

in september:

we went up to utah for labor day. we got to spend time with some of troy's extended family. it was so nice...i even got to meet some cousins and their families for the first time! we got to have fun at the famous "peach days" and got crazy loaded with more candy than we knew what to do with...



noemi got to be student of the week in her class. she brought in lots of pictures, filled out a poster and got to bring her family in for her presentation. the following week was her birthday. i think it is so fun that she gets to have her birthday fall during school! that is something i never got to experience!

bekah joined the ranks of lance and noemi in education....sorta. :) a couple gals from the area and i got together and formed a preschool. it's pretty much the 'joy-school' curriculum and set up. we each take turns teaching in our homes. it is fun and bekah especially enjoys it! she is such a big girl!


on the 20th troy and i celebrated our 8th anniversary! we spent the day in flagstaff with the youth from our church. we rode the ski lift for a moutian top devotional. it was nice...but windy and cold LOL and we got a sunburn. we went out to eat that evening but we were so tired we didn't do anything else, a movie was contemplated, but sleeping through it didn't seem so appealing! :)



then bekah had her birthday too! it seems so crazy sometimes to have 2 girls with birthdays in the same month...especially before samantha came around...it was 4 birthdays and an aniversary within 2 months! how much crazy fun can you pack into a couple months??! ;)


then sometime this summer...before school started...can't remember exactly, we got to spend time as a family WITH lance's parents. they had a birthday party for lance since they didn't get to spend time with him on his birthday (which was the beginning of june). we got to go BOWLING! this was a first for the girls...and they still remind us that we HAVE to take them again sometime! they had so much fun!





any suggestions??!

okay, samantha has been our only thumb sucker and blanket toter. i do have to say, it has been very convenient that she was able to self soothe so early, but there are definitely disadvantages. i am NOT looking forward to breaking the thumb habit.


then there is the blanket....she truly loves it! she giggles when you give it to her. but, alas, after being dragged around EVERYWHERE it doesn't exactly stay clean for very long. boy-oh-boy is laundering that blanket a joy!

i usually try to nab the blanket and toss it in the washer when she is unaware, but this time she caught me grabbing it. GREAT! she knew something was up. then i got this fabulous idea that if she was the one to put it in the washer it would go smoother.

so far so good!






there it is...getting clean!






so much for that eh??! such a sad thing!

so, do any of you have any suggestions on how to make this very temporary parting that much less traumatic for her...LOL and the rest of us??!

Friday, October 10, 2008

hello...is it me you're looking for??!

okay well of COURSE it's me you are looking for!

it is my blog after all!

okay...i just wanted to post and let you all know i'm back baby!!

Friday, July 25, 2008

AAARRRGGGHHHHH!!! edward,....bella, where are you??!

okay i am dying here! of all nights....

troy is at a scout campout tonight. (he has them usually once a month) i usually use those nights to catch up on cleaning i have been putting off or just deep cleaning. i thought the house looked horrible today...with there having been sickness in the house...and then today my allergies flaired into something much more miserable. so i put the kids to bed and get ready to break out the big guns. to my horror, as i got going, there isn't much to do!! well there IS but most of it has to get done with troy's help. (our what-was-office is in shambles since we gave his dad our computer desk...but i can't do a lot in there until we decide what to do with it!!)

now some may laugh at my "predicament"...but then i am left with:"so what am i gonna do now". as i sat down with my laptop on my lap with my blog page open the flyleaf song comes on (you can scroll through the songs and click on it if you want to hear it...it's twards the bottom of the list) and it's all over!



i am a hopeless twighlight addict! i have only read the first 2 books though...because that's all i had. sooo...what does twilight have to do with that flyleaf song? well ever since i heard it after reading the first book i thought that it fit perfectly with it...i thought it would work well in a soundtrack to it. so imediately i feel like an alcoholic that just walked into a bar...(okay maybe not...but you get the idea) i NEED my twilight fix! tonight would be a perfect night too...the kids in bed, the house presentable, no husband to feel like he's second fiddle to some "silly book"...i has been stormy. all these things add up to some perfect book devouring time. but, alas, no book three....or one or two for that matter...they were borrowed but now returned.

and yet, another dilema...as millions of you are aware the 4th and final book in that series is coming out on august 2nd. and you better believe there will be mass chaos with the lines waiting for midnight to roll around so they can victoriously claim their precious copy of the book. i will be sitting here...very sad. my birthday is august 3rd...so how PERFECT is that...but still i have no book three!! how torturous!

so here i sit blogging so i can keep my brain occupied until i go to bed....

*sigh*

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

kids...LOL!!!

okay just picture this:

all of us are in the living room. i'm laying on the couch feeling like crap because of a stomach bug that the kids so generously shared with me. the kids are a little stir crazy, so to keep them a little occupied troy gets them singing some fun songs. (he's a great guy huh...too bad, he's mine!) :)

anyway, the kids are having a ball...singing all sorts of songs dancing around and expending some energy. then we sing "row, row, row your boat". troy and i show them how to sing it in parts (as a round) and had the kids sing with us to see what it's like. we sang it as a round like three times and when we were done troy asks

Troy: "now does anyone know what that was called?"
we were looking for the answer "a round"

Noemi "i know! a sour note!!"


kids....don't you just love them?? :)

Sunday, July 20, 2008

what haven't we been up to??!

this month has really flown by already! wait!! this month??! this whole SUMMER has passed with lightning speed...just a few short weeks till school starts again for us!


noemi and lance had their first session of swimming lessons. they had a BLAST! i would have been slightly more fun for me if i could have been in the pool in the mom and tot class with samantha...but the desk person i talked to on the phone said that bekah was too young for level one and would have to be in mom and tot...i can't be in the class with two kids...so therefore it was none...all three of us got to sit and watch 4 days a week for two weeks. it actually was pretty convenient because right after swimming lessons we were able to go to the school next door for the free lunch program!

then for the fourth of july, we got to do some traveling up north and lance got to meet gaga and papa for the first time. we had so much fun with troy's parents. on the morning of the 4th, we went to a parade and got loaded up with candy. that afternoon we went to the park for the fair. the kids got cooled off by a fireman and a fire hose...boy that was nice!

then we walked around enjoying everything that was there. as we were waiting in line to get some food there was a booth next to us that had a sign that said "free mini manicures". the end results: two very happy little girls! unfortunately for lance, it was not something that he got to benefit too much from. :) but while we waited for the girls to be done we got to watch some native american dancing. lance was mesmerised...i don't think he minded the wait one bit!

that evening we were invited to a barbecue with some friends and family. we got to enjoy good food and scenery with good people while we waited for the fireworks show. it was beautiful!

the next morning was something i had been looking forward to for a long time! we went FISHING!! i'm not sure who was more excited, the kids or me...but, really, does it matter? :) i was a little leery about our chances to catch anything because it was overcast and stormy looking...even as early as 7 am. but we tried our hand.

it took a while, but noemi was the lucky girl who got the first catch of the day! we were very excited!! we named him tom!

bekah caught the next fish. i was not able to get a picture with noemi and tom because he was taken off the line so fast, but getting a picture of bekah and her fish was even more exciting. i had a line in the water when bekah caught hers so i propped the fishing pole as i went to get the camera. as i was getting the camera focused i saw that i had a bite!! aah! what was i to do??! it was my first bite! do i take the picture and risk loosing the fish...possibly the pole too, or skip the pic and see what i got. obviously you know my choice. :) and, yes we did lose the fish. (pole was safe and sound) the next excitement was noemi caught a huge fish! although, unfortunately as we were trying to reel it in, we discovered that the line was wrapped around a cable underneath the dock. we were trying to figure out what to do...hoping that maybe the fish (whom we so affectionately named sherry) would help get the line untangled, bekah got a bite too! woohoo! but we soon discovered that she too caught sherry. we caught the same fish twice! what are the chances...catching the same fish while it was still on the line of another hook. but, alas, there was nothing we could do we had to cut the line on both poles. it was a sad moment. lance was the next one with a catch. he managed to catch himself a catfish! those suckers are fighters! when he was reeled in he was bleeding pretty good...he actually swallowed the hook. lance named him bloodhead. ahh yes, definitely named by a boy! ;) i actually never caught a fish...i had a good 6 bites, but with my inexperience i either waited too long or i tried to set the hook too quickly. oh well, next time i suppose. the last fish was caught by troy as i was taking bekah to the bathroom. we didn't get much of even nibbles after that because the wind really picked up and it started raining lightly. between 10 and 10:30 we packed up and headed back. 4 fish...not too bad for our first trip as a family! lance's catfish and the other three were stripers.

we had some delicious fish for dinner!

we just kinda hung around until monday when troy, lance, samantha and i headed out. noemi and bekah got to stay with troy's parents for a week. we missed them tons, but they had a ball! troy's parents brought them back home the following saturday.

while the girls were gone lance started another session of swimming lessons to help keep him occupied. his last day was this last thursday. now we just have 2 weeks left of summer...school starts on august 4th this year! how crazy is that??!

i hope you all are having a fabulous summer!

Monday, June 30, 2008

how big is baby??!

okay, how cute is she??! i thought this nice big picture is fitting for this big girl. :)
we have been watching samantha as she has hit each milestone. we have been very anxious as she has been nearing walking for sometime. she has been cruising around furniture and anything else that is around. she also has this little push toy that is intended to help walking...she practically drags it with her...as long as she is holding onto something.
yesterday, while at church, samantha must have had a strange burst of confidence. she suddenly decided to stand up...unsupported. she did it over and over and over...until her poor little legs were so tired they were shaking.
this evening she dared to go a step further....


how big is Mantha Baby?? SO BIG!!

Thursday, June 26, 2008

picture?? PERFECT!!

okay, if i were to give a thorough 'journaling' of all that has gone on since the last post of substance...it would take like two pages and therefore would probably never happen!

so, what i am going to do is picture update with captions. if i had the camera with me, it gets mentioned. :)


at the beginning of april, we went up to utah. we were able to visit my brother- seth, his wife- joyelle, and their son- little seth. we also got to stay with troy's uncle matt and aunt laura the entire time we were there. were were also able to make it to the sunday afternoon session of general conference! it was a great little vacation for us!

this is samantha and little seth....cute cousins!!




the seths!! i love, love, love this picture! :)






awww! i had to take advantage of the purdy flowers, and the girls are always up for a photo shoot. :) too bad i couldn't get samantha in there too.
they really do love each other...it's not just for the camera!






on april 19th, our little sammymantha turned 1! doesn't time fly?!

mmmm! the first birthday cake! thank you walmart for your reduced price strawberry parfait cake...really saved us some time after running around all day!






yummy!! the very messy aftermath of that delicious cake!










we have this large lot....but it is a lot of dirt. we have lived in this house for six years this coming september and we have been working towards landscaping. here is our back yard. it looks small with some small piles of rock...but this is misleading. those piles equal 100 tons of rock! we purchased it last year, but there was a lot to do before we could get it put up.


how far does 100 tons of rock go?? it was just enough to rock the banks in our backyard. i don't know the square footage, but they are between 6 and 7 feet high. here is the completed picture.(completed banks anyway) unfortunately there is SOOOOOO much more to go...then there is the front yard.
yeah, a larger lot is nice...until you have to landscape and maintain it! eesh!




this is the famous lance that you have all been curious about! he has been with us since march 1st. he got to celebrate his 7th birthday with us on june 2nd. he got to spend some time with his 10 yr old brother earlier that afternoon too. here he is with a couple of his presents...a john deere set and a red fuzzy blanket.
a blanket in june??! that's what he wanted. he loves snuggling in blankets. :)


the birthday boy and his cake. it's no strawberry parfait cake...but we sure enjoyed it just the same!










heehee here is our sumo looking child! she had her first ponytail...not much there, but i consider it a milestone. she has had the slowest growing hair out of all the girls and i have been dying to be able to put her hair up. it is still a LOT of effort so i don't attempt it very often...but at least i know i can!






noemi and lance both graduated kindergarten this year! unfortunately i don't have any pictures of noemi graduation too, because her teacher opted not to do one...just a private celebration in their classroom for just the kids. (no families invited) but it actually worked out really well because lance and noemi attend different schools and i was wondering how i was going to juggle 2 graduations. phew! that coulda been sticky!



and thus ends my photo update!


Sunday, June 22, 2008

I'm not dead yet!

or...am i back from the dead??!

sorry for the long hiatus!

what has kept me from blogging?

  • lack of motivation
  • having gotten too far behind and dreading the long "catch-up" post(s)
  • getting my hands on the first two books in the Twilight series....i need book three BEFORE august 2nd...
  • giving into the dreaded facebook "cess pool" (and enjoying every minute of it!)

*sigh* but since i have been so desperately missed, i have decided to grace you all with my blogging presence again!

so in the next few days i'll be in the process of getting things back in order...new postings, blog face lift...possibly some catch up- but don't hold your breath!

so here's to new beginnings!!

Saturday, April 26, 2008

i'm it!

i've been tagged again! thanks andrea! :) no, and that is not sarcastic either...i've been i'm a blog funk. it's nice to have something to post. *sigh* i do have some updating to do...but i don't have the attention span for that at the moment.

on to the tag!

How To Play This Game of Tag:
Post these rules on your blog.
Answer these 15 questions about yourself on your blog.
List:
3 joys
3 fears
3 goals
3 current obsessions/collections
3 random/surprising facts
-Tag five people at the end of your post by leaving their names .
-Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.


joys:

  1. a great book and time to read it without guilt
  2. my kids! they are so funny and sweet
  3. relaxing/snuggling with troy. i really do have the best hubby in the world!

fears:

  1. heights...this is a very real phobia too...i even get dizzy looking up at really tall things
  2. creepy/crawly things (snakes, scorpions, spiders, cockroaches..the list goes on)
  3. something happening to someone in my family...getting hurt or worse :(

goals:

  1. lose weight!
  2. organize the house...do some downsizing so we can do some rearranging of things
  3. become more self sufficient

obsessions:

  1. Survivor!
  2. ice cream
  3. my hair being clean

random/surprising facts:

  1. i have been known to get sucked into teenage shows...like "instant star". i love the music on it! (which is how it hooked me to begin with) so if you were wondering who alexz johnson is on my play list...she's the main character "jude" on that show.
  2. i don't do well with blood or needles...even though i have to endure weekly shots through out my pregnancies. the anticipation of a shot or a needle poke is enough to make me worried about passing out.
  3. i have never gone to get a manicure or pedicure and have little desire to do so.

my tagging victims:

  1. amy
  2. lisa
  3. heather m.
  4. jess
  5. suzanne

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

shoulda woulda coulda??

wow! it's so weird to think that we very well could be in california right now! last week we, or i should i say troy, got a surprising and rather unexpected email. apparently last year troy went online to see if he could get tickets to american idol...and that is what the email was all about!

how fun would that be though??

but as it stood, internet tickets are on a first come, first served basis and there is no guarentee of getting in or even sitting with your party, and it's standing room only so we are to wear comfortable shoes too. there is also a dress code that is strictly enforced with internet ticket holders: no shorts of any kind and no t-shirts and no white. dark colors preferred. we are to dress "hip and upscale". LOL yes, and i know i'm the picture of hip and upscale!

it was a nice idea but...realistically with a baby and 3 older kids...a job and the cost of fuel and finding a place to stay, standing in a line without a guarentee of being able to even sit (or stand, as it would be) next to my husband...or even getting in for that matter...*sigh* it just wasn't to be.

and
another i had another rather fun surprise last week. my husband told me that an old friend (gary) from prescott came into work and they were talking. gary asked troy if he has been watching his grand daughter on tv. troy was a little lost and asked who his grand daughter is. come to find out his grand daughter is BROOKE WHITE!

how cool is that??! a few of you had some connection to her...and now so do we! she has always been a favorite of mine.

so everyone, vote and vote often for Brooke white!

Friday, March 14, 2008

blah!!

okay i thought spring break was supposed to be fun...filled with energy and excitement. what happened??

i'll tell you what:

this is me:


i have been really knocked on my buttoot by this. i was running a fever for like 2 days and with the sinus pressure...i just wanted to chop my head off!! but to make matters worse, samantha has been like this:



poor thing...i know she's not feeling the best either as her nose has started running too...but the screaming and crying...it's just not conducive to my sudden sound sensitivity which amplifies the pressure in my head.

but to make things even better, our sweet dog, bill, just got neutered monday afternoon. FINALLY! but his neutering wasn't an easy one...as he isn't from fine breeding (mutts usually aren't!) they had to do a little extra digging to get the job done. but as he is 4 yrs old he isn't quite as resilient as a puppy. and has been feeling like this:

he is actually feeling better now but still has to stay inside and is kinda going nuts because he longs to go run and play outside the way he's used to...but under dr's orders that is a no go! not till at least next monday...but even then he can't go free. he actually had to get stitches and has to wear one of those obedience cone collar thingies to keep from licking until the stitches are removed next week.

so while i'm trying to rest and recover i have to corral the older kids as they are going crazy bouncing off the walls with energy because i'm too sick to take them anywhere, trying to soothe and pacify a fussy baby and nurse a post surgical dog.

so...yeah, spring break has been fun so far. luckily, we have one more week. lets see if next week will go better!

Thursday, March 6, 2008

update on the Pettits

wow!

it feels like ages since i last posted! we have been through sicknesses of all kinds...from the flu, colds, pink eye to the stomach flu and i think i am starting to hint at allergies...when will it all end??! but on the up side, samantha FINALLY cut her top teeth. so hopefully that will improve her disposition.

but in addition to the sicknesses, we have had some big things happen. first off, we received our licence to foster...about 3 weeks ago today, actually. that excited us and we started making plans for getting the house ready for when the day would arrive in a few months that the state would call with a child to place in our home.

some things that were on our to do list:

  • get the back room cleaned out (it had become a storage room of mostly baby equipment)
  • get the bed set up
  • <>get bedding/mattress pad
  • paint the room
  • get a dresser (preferably for the girls' room that is big enough to accommodate all the girls)

well, to our shock and surprise, a week ago today i received a phone call. what??! they had a child they wanted to place in our home!! we said we'd do it and after last whirl wind of a weekend we now have an adorable red-headed 6 yr old boy in our home. he really is a good kid...but is all boy. he is just a bundle of energy...and boy have i been worn out. we are happy that he is here and our girls fell in love with him instantly!

there is going to be a lot going on...so please be patient with me if posts become spaced farther and farther apart.


Tuesday, February 19, 2008

i need your help!!

okay, as some as you may know, we are in the process of becoming foster parents. this is something we have been working on for a while and it looks like we may have our licence by the end of the month...maybe. :)

anyway, i am in need of some help from y'all. we are needing to get bedding and such for our foster child or children and i don't know what to do. we are open for either girls or boys but don't want to have to get 2 of each "just in case". and since we have done the girls' room up all cute, we think that any child placed in our home equally deserves a nice looking room. so what i need from all of you creative people with that flair for decorating are ideas that are gender neutral. we don't need anything super detailed, but something that looks nice. we are being licenced for children between the ages of 3 and 10...(girls or boys, as stated previously)

so please, pile on the ideas...from color combos to even themes if you can think of them. (i would just be happy with a good color combo with a cute way to incorporate with paint)

here is what we have done with the girls' room:

so as you can see, we don't mind putting extra effort into it, just as long as we don't have to redo it often :)







so, lay 'em on me!

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

tag!! i'm it again :)

10 years ago:
I was going to MCC and learned to love the computer and it’s social aspects. I became completely smitten with a guy from school…my first love, as weird as that relationship was. My life revolved around my friends and my boyfriend. I had little direction and no sense of responsibility…ahhh to be so young and carefree :)

5 things on my to do list:
1. Clean & disinfect the house…I’m sick of sickness
2. Pick up noemi from the bus
3. Start decluttering again
4. Solidify a weekly routine to help keep me semi on top of things
5. Prepare my lesson for Sunday

Things I would do if I were a millionare:
*Help family
*Invest/ put in savings for kids for college, missions, weddings, etc.
*Pay off house and car
*VACATION
*Quietly make donations/help people out around us

3 bad habits I have:
1. Procrastinating
2. Worrying/ over-thinking things
3. Giving in to my sweet tooth

5 places I have lived:
1. Mesa, Az
2. Prescott, Az
3. Chino valley, Az
Sorry, haven’t moved around a lot

5 places I have worked:
1. Innate (tellemarking place where casey worked too)
2. Sequoia charter school
3. Global fufilment Services
4. The writing center at MCC
5. The children’s center at MCC

Some things most people don’t know about me:
*I didn’t get my license till I was practically 25…pathetic much? :)
*I still get really freaked out driving other vehicles and in unfamiliar areas...we are talking elevated heart rate and sweaty, shakey hands and everything!
*I don’t do well in furniture stores while pregnant…unless they are REALLY open (I get dizzy and claustrophobic)
*I occasionally have bad dreams about how i acted and my relationship with my family as a teenager

okay now i tag: andrea, seth, leigh,lisa, melissa, tiffany!

Saturday, January 26, 2008

*LAAAA AAAH AHHH AAH AHH...CLOSE TO YOOOOU!*

okay, i LOVE valentines day! i HAD to do a little blog work just for the occasion including the appropriate mood music! *sigh*

yeah, when i was younger and unattatched it wasn't so great...and let me think, i think there was actually maybe ONE valentines day that there was someone in the picture (before i was married)...but, okay, so unimportant!

i know there are those who tend to take the attitude of "it's just a holiday manifactured but the card and candy people to bring in buisness" and this is what i say to you: PPPPPBBBBTTT!

what's wrong with having another day that helps you appreciate your sweetie and what they mean to you. yeah i know you should do that everyday but i'm not that perfect.

anyway, this valentines day try to make your valentine feel special. you don't have to go out and buy candy and flowers, or plan an extravagent date...just put some thought in it...think of why they are so special to you and act accordingly. i find it's the small heartfelt things that are much more meaningful!

have fun!

Monday, January 21, 2008

all in the attitude :)

one of the things i am trying to work on this year is my attitude. i am the type of person who likes things "just so"...i like to know what is going on and therefor not so good about spontaneity. i'm not necessarily a control freak, i just like to know what to expect. and when things don't go the way i have anticipated i stress and worry...and therefore i become grumpy. i really want to see a lot less of "grumpy christina".

today has been one of those days where "grumpy christina" could be found.

i found out yesterday that this week will be a short babysitting week...which means less $$. :( i have been a little congested and it has been causing me to have headaches and have been making me feel a little run down. we got to bed later last night and even though there was no school, i couldn't sleep in because i had samantha's 9 month check up. to make things even better, bekah woke up early and came into our room and we found out she had an accident. :( so i had to get up and get her clean underwear and pajamas. when we got up and started getting around , bekah fell back asleep on the couch. i hoped she would wake up on her own because she does NOT wake up well. after i had fed and got the other girls dressed i woke her up. luckily she was okay. we all piled into the car to leave for the appointment, and turned the key and nothing our battery was dead! we don't have any jumper cables and even if we did i still would be late for our appointment. so i called to reschedule. the girls were disappointed because they were looking forward to seeing our doctor who is also a friend. so back into the house we go and the girls proceeded to tear their room apart...and clean up time has not been pleasant lately.

but this is how things ended up:

yeah i have been tired and headachey, but thanks to ibuprofen, i have been functional. yes, we did get to bed a little later last night, but it was because we had some friends over and we thoroughly enjoyed it and didn't mind one bit getting to bed later because of it. :) bekah did have an accident but because i hadn't put the girls' clothes in their room yet, i just had to go to the foot of our bed to get her clean clothes. and with her coming in our room made sure that i didn't sleep in too late. bekah actually woke up really well and was happy and got ready quickly and we were ready to go when i was wanting to leave by...that usually doesn't happen. the battery being dead was an inconvenience but the office was already open and was able to reschedule for tomorrow and being a short babysitting week, i happen to not be babysitting tomorrow anyway! that made things a lot less complicated! :) i really didn't have anything else i was committed to today, like picking noemi up from school (there was no school today) so of all days for the battery to die, today was a pretty good one! and, yes the girls did make a mess of their room, but they are so gosh darn cute!

i went to go and check on them and to possibly scold them for not cleaning and this is what i saw:


i caught them off guard and sometimes it is so hard to stay upset with them. i love them so much...how did i end up with 3 cute kids??

Thursday, January 17, 2008

domestic diva??

wow! i feel quite satisfyingly domestic right now. :) i have made two batches of homemade baby food. it is really easy and so much cheaper than buying it. i made about 46 oz for right around $3. but that was because the price of the sweet potatoes were $1.79 a pound.

it makes me feel good to know exactly what my daughter is eating and it actually tastes good...some of the jarred stuff are really bland. and i control what goes in it. i don't have to worry about salt, sugars, dyes, or preservatives.

here are the steps that it took:
first i baked the sweet potatoes and scooped out the 'meat'.


then i put the potatoes in the blender with the liquid of choice to thin it...i chose apple juice and water. puree!


next i put the puree into a freezable container with sections. ice cube trays are popular, but i use freezer trays made especially made for baby food...the sections are larger and it comes with a lid so i don't have to use foil or plastic wrap to cover it.


place in the freezer for a day or till completely frozen solid. lastly, i pop 'em out and place the cubes in a freezer ziploc bag for storage in the freezer until i need to thaw and use one. they can last longer in the freezer, but for best results, use with in a month.



for recipes or other information on making baby food (such as what foods are age appropriate...etc) check out: www.wholesomebabyfood.com.

:)

todays quote!

*noemi was helping bekah wash up after making a sticky mess from candy she just ate. there was some unhappy sounds coming from the bathroom and bekah started her ornery cry*

troy: noemi, what's going on? why is bekah crying?

noemi: i don't know. she's complicated!

hey...she's putting that kindergarten education to use!

Thursday, January 10, 2008

disclaimer!

okay, for those who read through my last post....i just wanted to say that i DO NOT advise or endorse in any way meeting people on the internet or internet relationships. it is VERY dangerous. we were very, VERY lucky. please, please please don't try to do this just because it worked for us!

thank you

our story! our LoooOOOooong story :)

thanks heather for posting yours...i have had blog block!

i aways LOVE hearing (or reading, as some cases may be)the stories of how people's relationships began. even complete strangers' stories...they are just so fun.

SOOOO why not post our story?? i do LOVE telling it!

okay my story starts out with a couple of other guys...just to clear up some confusion....

the date: DECEMBER 31, 1999. some friends and i were just getting our car which was in the parking lot of the church building where there was a new years eve dance. i was ready to party it up...it WAS the last night before the big 2000 after all! i had noticed this good looking guy who still had that "returned missionary" look and i made a mental note to keep an eye out for him. ;) as i entered the cultural hall (the gym for those who don't know) i heard my name and there was a girl that was in some of my high school classes. she was a friend, but not a close one. i really wasn't in the mood for catching up...i was on the prowl. LOL! but i didn't know how to politely excuse myself so i was stuck. here i was with my back to the room having conversation that i HOPED would die soon so i can move on. out of the corner of my eye i saw someone approach. i turn around and who was is?? the VERY same guy i was to keep a look out for...and he was approaching ME!! we started talking, but it was hard to hear each other so we went out into the hall. we continued talking and enjoying ourselves and then he got a phone call. he was told about another dance somewhere else and was dance hopping. he asked if i wanted to go too. i wasn't sure if he was asking me to come with him or just come along. ahh the stress. but since i had come with my friends i figured i better leave with them ESPECIALLY since i just met the guy...he coulda turned out to be a real creep. well he got my number before he left and i went back and found my friends and told them all about it.

the next morning, he called and asked me on a date! wahoo! we hit it off and continued talking and going on dates...i really started to like him. one night, my dad told me he predicted that i would be married by the time the year was out (this was like in late january or february). i was elated because he has always been right about things like this. but alas, that comment from my dad was the kiss of death! every date after that the guy (ammon was his name) became less and less appealing to me. then one night ammon asked me what i was looking for in a husband. talk about pressure! i really did not feel appropriate to bear my soul, so to keep things light, i joked "i don't know, a guy who is alive and breathing". his reply: "oh because i don't know what i'm looking for in a wife yet either". yikes! i really dodged a bullet there! that coulda been REALLY awkward! shortly after that we began talking less and seeing each other less until not at all. but he really DID get me thinking...i knew basics of what i wanted in a husband but i never thought about it seriously. a few weeks after he had asked me that question i actually wrote down what i was looking for in a husband. nothing superficial like i want him to have blue eyes and be 6'3"...blah blah blah, but things like, is patient, loves and is good with kids, has an appreciation for music, is intelligent but does not make me feel inferior.

time went by and a guy i worked with had a son who just got off his mission and started working at the charter school we were working at. he was very good looking and i was interested. he would come and talk to me and my friends but he had already known my friends and i never officially introduced myself. just when i vowed to ask him if he wanted to hang out with us and see how it went from there, i found out he had just started another job. NOOOO! i got his email address from his dad because to call him and have him not know who i was would be beyond humiliating. so i wrote him a cute, funny and witty email introducing myself and showing interest. the next day his dad told me he got my email and he giggled and laughed. i figured that was a good sign. but then a couple of days had gone by and i heard NOTHING back. i felt stupid! so on april 4, 2000 after checking my email like THREE times at work i was in need of SOMETHING to lift my spirits after feeling so rejected and i jumped online onto ldschat to flirt. i saw a guy with the screen name of "azboy" and thought well at least he's from arizona and we'd have that to talk about. i messaged him and really the conversation fell flat. i was talking to other guys too by this time. finally in one last attempt to liven up the conversation i asked him where he was from. he told me "page". wow! my older brother's wife was from page too! crazy...it's a small town! what are the chances? come to find out...yes he knew her! well things definitely picked up and we talked for a while until i had to go...i was at work (bad, YES i KNOW!) and he asked if he could call me. um...give my number out to some strange guy off the internet?? i thought, oh well, why not....he lived 2 hours away and it would be a long distance call. it's not like he's gonna call anyway. i got home and i KNEW he wouldn't call. then 2 min after i had fully resigned myself to that the phone rang and it was HIM! AAAAAH! we talked easily...his voiced seemed familiar and it felt like i had known him for a long time. we talked until i had to get ready to go to my institute class. he asked me if he came down if i would meet him...by this point i had no problem with that. he ended up coming down THAT NIGHT...and despite my bad directions, was sitting talking with my family by the time i got back from my class. we went and walked around, talked and flirted. i liked him...and yes we kissed. i know, i know...fast mover, absolutely! LOL we were out till like 3 in the morning...i didn't want him to go. i worried i may never see him again, with him being so far away...and i really felt a connection with him that i had only felt once before. it scared me! the next morning i checked my email and i had an email from the guy that i had written previously! i felt torn...come to find out, the reason why it took me so long to hear back from him was because he was having problems with his email account. now there are 2 guys. but as torn as i felt i couldn't stop thinking about the guy that i had met, whose name was troy. troy called me that night and we talked for over an hour. the next day again, troy was all i could think of. i couldn't believe i was this head over hills for him already. that night we talked till late in the night again. i was doing my laundry when we were getting ready to hang up. i had just started the washer filling up another load when troy said something that i couldn't understand. i asked him to repeat it but he didn't want to. finally i got him to and he said "i love you". HOLY COW! i had just that afternoon realized that i loved him too! (i forgot to mention, when he called me the night after he came down, he told he doesn't say i like you or i love you unless he knows he means it...this after i had originally told him i liked him..duh i KISSED him!)anyway, i told him i loved him too....this is 2 days after we MET! wow!

i was still in contact with the guy i was previously interested in and the following weekend i went on a date with him. as we were walking to his car when he came to pick me up something hit me: this was a wasted date. i had already met the man i wanted to spend the rest of my life with. i felt bad through out the rest of the night because it was clear that this guy really liked me. poor guy! but the weekend after that troy came down again for our first "official" date. we went to the easter pageant. LOL his family met us there....our first date was with his family...it was fun and a little weird on my part since i knew i wanted to marry him...but he didn't know it yet. a few weeks later he felt it too and we began talking about it...and were basically unofficially engaged until june 18, 2000 he officially proposed to me and on september 20,2000 we were married and sealed in the mesa, az temple!

*okay i forgot to mention: that first night he came down...as we were talking i kept remembering that list of husband-ly qualities i was looking for and subconsciously checking them off...i kept trying to stop myself...i JUST met the poor guy. but from the first night i knew he was everything i was looking for*
that's my story! :) now that i have bored you to death....go and post yours!

Thursday, January 3, 2008

out of the mouths of babes

okay here are a couple of quotes that amused me the past couple of days:

(12-31-07)

*we had asked our girls if they wanted to do anything special and they told us they wanted to go to the mall to play in the play area there. i was kinda giving them a hard time.*

me: but it's not fair. there is a play area for kids, but nowhere for grown ups to play!

noemi(my 5 yr old): but that is what all those shopping stores are for!!!

(1-2-08)

*i was sitting on a toolbox next to troy while he was finishing grouting some tile he put in*

bekah (my 3 yr old): mommy, can i sit on yours lap? (i love the way she talks)

me: *seeing there is not enough room because i am wedged between a table and troy* no, sorry sweetie, there's not enough room. mommy's too big and fat.

bekah: no, your just big.