What my little ones are up to

No, I haven't had my baby yet. Still planning on a March 13th delivery. I am keeping my fingers crossed that my Dr. doesn't get over-booked on C sections that day because appartently the hospital only allows so many on any given day. I really don't want it pushed to the 17th (just cause Jonathon has class).
Anyway, my 3-4 lb. baby #2 is kicking like crazy, jabbing his sweet little head into my ribs, kicking my pelvis, and pokes his cute little elbow out as far as it will go from time to time. He's making my body look like this. (Steph H. These belly photos are for you...per your request)




(These are a few photos from the other nights girls night out bowling and ice cream I enjoyed with a few girls in the ward. Unfortunately only half of the girls showed up cause the other half were sick. But it was fun! Especially ending the night with DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) I am addicted. Being 31 weeks pregnant doesn't stop me from a good time! However, bowling was a little challenging with a head poking you in the ribs.)

And Eden who unfortunately (I say that in a loving way) just woke up from her nap. That just means I can't write as much as I was planning on. Well, I'll just say this. She's is sooo much fun to hang out with. And since I've decided to be a more hands on mom and get out of the house more often we are having a blast together. She loves to read books, and recently she's started singing songs with us. It's the cutest thing in the world. Her favorites right now are "The Daddy Song" (I'm so glad when Daddy comes home..glad as I can be...), and Jonathon just recently taught her Patty Cake which she loves. Last months faves were "No man song" (Once there was a snowman), and "Popcorn" (I looked out the Window and what did I see? Popcorn popping on the apricot tree). She loves running around the house with her baby, checking and changing it's poopy diapers, shushing it to sleep, and has to have a blanket with her at all times to swaddle her many many babies. She's a copy cat following me around the house all day repeating what I say and doing what I do, or whatever the big kids around her are doing. And she's turning a little bossy. She loves to tell us to "IT DOWN" as she points to the spot next to her, or to tell us "No-no mommy" or "No-no Daddy". It's pretty cute, but we try not to encourage the bossiness to much. She's turning into a pretty good helper, doing little chores and errands for me around the house (close the door, throw this away, put this in the sink, etc.) I think she'll be a great help when the baby comes.
Another one of my favorite Eden-isms right now is how she'll get jealous whenever Jonathon tries to hug or kiss me, or even just put his arm around me when we sit on the couch. She gets angry and says "Nooo! No-no Daddy!". I think she thinks I'm only hers to give hugs and kisses to. It's one of our favorite games to tease her with.



(These are a few photos from the other Saturday. We decided to try and take Eden to a movie for the 1st time. Unfortunately it was a little too close to nap time so we only watched Madagascar 2 (which was really cute by the way) for the first 20 min, and spent the next 20 minutes in the hall playing video games. Then we gave up and headed for home. The other photo is sunday morning in one of her many new hand-me-downs from her awesome Uncle Michael and Aunt April who keep her in style. Thanks again guys!)

Anyway, I am being paged by a little one who's still in her cage, so I better run.

Resolving - A New Year - A New Me!

I had time a few weeks ago to sit and think thanks to a dear friend of mine who offered to watch Eden for me for 2 hours to do whatever it was I wished…for 2 WHOLE HOURS. It was a very odd feeling dropping my child off at a sitter for absolutely no good reason. No Dr. appointment, no date, no emergency…just me time. So, I wondered as I left what to do with this free me time?
I decided to go to a beach and nap. It’s impossible to nap at a beach with a toddler. Even if Jonathon is with me playing with her, I still feel neglectful if I just lie there in the sand letting him do all the work. So, I drove to the beach, parked in the lot, and decided I was too tired to get out of the car and walk. So, I set my alarm on my phone (to be sure I didn’t sleep more than 2 hours…just incase) and passed out in the driver’s seat for a good 45 minutes. I used to sleep in the drivers seat often in High School. I’d get home exhausted and if I tried to walk from the car to my bed, I wouldn’t be able to fall asleep. So, most days after school I’d sleep in the driveway. Anyway, back to the original story.
After I awoke I decided I was hungry and to skip the beach and head to Taco Bell. While at Taco Bell eating my soft taco and tostada, I stared out the window and thought about how I wanted to make this new year better for me. Or more, how I was going to make myself better this new year. I wrote them down in a notebook along with a few ideas of specifically how to achieve my goals; including being nicer and more service minded like my dear friend who had been watching my bundle of energy for the past 90 minutes.

In a nutshell I decided that this year I am going to
1. Read the scriptures at least 20 minutes a day (I’m sure this seems like a measly number compared to what many of you already do…but I gotta start somewhere.)
2. Exercise 45 minutes 6 days a week
3. Be a better more involved Mom (i.e. spend less time on the couch watching my kid play, and actually play WITH her, take her places, read more, sing more etc.)
4. Be a better wife and home-maker (Clean more often, cook better and more nutritious meals, finish unfinished sewing projects, organize, budget, etc)
5. Get ready in the mornings (brush teeth and put on sun screen and mascara, maybe straighten hair a little. Nothing fancy but a big improvement over my current regimen which consists of re-doing pony tail)
6. Seek for more opportunities to serve others and do it willingly
So the reason I am sharing this with you all is to
A. Hold me to these resolutions
B. Keep me focused
C. You will probably be reading a lot more about how I am progressing as the year goes
D. Echo’s Dad once said something like, “A goal unwritten is just a wish”. (or something close to that effect…and I love this quote!)
Anyway, after this awesome me time I ran to Foodland to get a 3 Musketeers which is my all time favorite candy bar. There is just something so relaxing to me about peeling off that outer chocolate layer and eating the gooey nougget inside. Mmmm. A perfect way to end my morning and get back to my little one just in time.

A Work in Progress

So this week I tried to make home-made granola bars. I learned that almond extract is much more potent than vanilla. So, if you use it to replace vanilla because your cupboards don’t contain this ingredient…don’t use as much. My first 2 attempts didn’t turn out as well as I’d hoped for; still edible but on the sweet and burnt side…but I’m not giving up. I’ll probably try again in a few weeks once these 2 batches are eaten.
My next goal is to learn how to make my own yogurt! I’ll be trying that sometime next week. I figured I need to do something with all this free milk we get each month from WIC.
Yesterday I made salsa for the first time. I tried to remember how my mom used to make it when I was growing up cause it's delicious!! At first it had too much onion, so I added 3 more tomatoes and it turned out great. Not quite as good as moms, but still pretty good.
I also bought some yeast today and am going to try to make my own bread tomorrow. Wish me luck!

If There’s Sunshine in Your Heart

Today in Relief Society we sang this hymn and one of the verses reminded me that I need to thank my neighbor again for having sunshine in her heart for me last Thursday. I woke up that morning feeling quite nauseous, and thought it might just be pregnancy sickness again because I got sick with Eden the last few weeks I was pregnant with her. But, as the day wore on I began to realize this was probably some kind of flu bug. I wondered when I should be worried about dehydration because I had been throwing up since the time I woke up, and had definitely brought up at least 5 times more fluid than I had tried to get down. I called my doctor for advice and she told me to head to a hospital for an IV if I was feeling dizzy or otherwise dehydrated, and that she was worried I might have high blood pressure. So, this really started to get me worried. I hadn’t thrown up for about 3 hours and earlier that morning I’d been throwing up about every 20 minutes for hours. So, I thought I was doing better. Well, about 30 minutes after I spoke to my doctor the vomiting started again, and I began to feel really over-whelmed because Jonathon was at school till 8:30 and it was only 6, and being pregnant it’s easy to get worked up, and tired and dehydrated just adds to the stress. I tried to clean up the house a little thinking I might have a friend over to stay with Eden till Jonathon got home, but I just began to feel more and more dizzy. So, I called my neighbor and asked if Eden could come over and she said with sunshine in her heart, “YES!”. Her enthusiasm to watch her made all the difference. I grabbed Eden and a few diapers and walked next door. As I dropped her off she asked if she’d eaten dinner. I’d been feeding Eden cheese sticks and peanut butter bread all day whenever she asked for food and I could pull myself off the couch long enough to grab her something. So she fed her dinner (her first real meal of the day) with her other 2 girls and did this with a smile on her face even though her husband still hadn’t even gotten home from work and was getting home late that night.
I headed to the hospital, got checked in, got this cool new bracelet,


a dose of Zofran which seemed to take the nausea away immediately, and was sent back home 2 and a half hours later feeling like a new person.
Thanks again Stefani. It made a huge difference to be able to just drop Eden off with no notice, and know that she was in good hands with good friends.

You’ve gotta be kidding me!

That’s pretty much what we say most nights when trying to get onto the computer....well night or day for that matter. I think we only have a connection 2 hours in a 24 hour period, and it drives us nuts. Well, thankfully we will be getting our own internet service next month. It's not really in the budget but we are making room for it cause Jonathon needs it for work and school, and I need something to keep me entertained here at home. You know so I can keep up with friends blogs, or find new recipes etc, or keep up on the Bachelor. I am excited to be able to spend 15 minutes online doing something that should only take 15 minutes instead of an hour and a half.

For He’s a Jolly Good 29 Year Old Fellow!

Here’s to the man I live with who I am blessed to call my husband. He’s my best friend, and awesome Dad of my almost 2 kids. He’s the best Dad Eden could ask for and my favorite person to have around. He’s a very hard worker, excellent student, and a guy who can do anything he sets his mind to. I knew when I married him that I’d be taken care of no matter what. That’s why I feel so lucky to still be home with our one and only child day after day while he works his tail off at work and grad-school. This guy turned 29 on Saturday, but we celebrated a little eralier monday. After an awesome and fruitful trip to Saver’s where I bought a glass baking dish with Tupper-ware top, a new maternity outfit, shorts for Jonathon, a play tent for Eden, 3 new children’s books, and a few other items I can’t remember right now (for only $24), Eden and I picked Jonathon up at work and headed for the Waikiki Aquarium…with a short stop at Wal-Mart on the way. The short stop took a little longer than anticipated, and we also needed to stop at a book-store to get Jonathon a book for a class. But, it was okay cause Eden was still napping in the back and needed some rest. We finally got to the Honolulu Zoo parking around 5. And, as luck would have it, there was still 2 and a half hours of parking left on our meter saving us 60 cents! :) We loaded Eden up in the stroller and told her we were going to go see fishies. I don’t think I’ve seen her quite so excited except on Christmas. The whole 15 minute walk there she didn’t lose her focus. She just kept saying “Fishies! Fishies!” and I began to worry the aquarium would be closed and this poor kid wouldn’t see any fishies. Well, we got to the aquarium…and it was closed. BUT…there was a small fish tank out front with about 8 different fish in it. We walked Eden over to it, and she couldn’t have been more excited than she was just seeing those few fish. I wish I got a photo of her looking at the fishies, but I was enjoying the moment too much to dig out the camera. I’m so thankful for Eden. She brings so much joy to our lives and it’s so fun to watch how she loves animals. Anyway… back to Jonathon, the birthday boy. We stayed there a short few minutes until I needed to find a restroom. As we were walking back through Kapiolani Park back towards the car, we noticed a big festivity going on so we walked over to see and found a whole lot of food and clothing vendors, and some live entertainment. There were some African drums and 3 or 4 girls dancing African Tribal dances on the stage there. It was really fun to watch them, but most fun to watch Eden try to dance with them.



After about 30 minutes we decided to take a LONG walk back the car. It’s long when you are letting Eden walk without the stroller. She is so easily distracted and curious about everything, but it’s fun when you have nowhere to be…like yesterday. She was just enjoying running and chasing all the birds. Finally we made it back to the car and decided to head to Maharani’s, Jonathon’s favorite Indian restaurant. Well, favorite restaurant period. Eden and I ran into the Organic food store next to it to grab a few items to make Granola bars the next day, while Jonathon went and ordered take-out (We figured we’d eat in the car on the way home so Eden could get to bed on time since we made her miss most of her nap). When Eden and I left the store we noticed an open table out front and decided to sit there and wait for Jonathon while we listened to the street performers. A couple in their late 60’s, or so, were playing instruments along with a CD recording of a symphony. The husband played a piccolo and a recorder…I’ve never heard someone play a recorder so well, and the wife a violin. When Jonathon came by with the food, we decided to just eat it there and enjoy the music. The evening couldn’t have turned out better. I love spending time with our little family, and Jonathon is and always has been so good about making time for his girls. Dinner was delicious!! Definitely spicy, I felt like my lips were going to burn off! But delicious! After we finished and tipped our serenaders, we headed back to the car and headed for home and I passed out on the couch by 9:30 while Jonathon surfed the Internet till he woke me up at 11:30 to go to bed. It was a perfect perfect day. HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET MAN OF MY DREAMS!

Sleeping With the Enemy

No, I am not referring to my spouse, my child, or even the one growing inside me for that matter who makes me wake up with a “sleeping” limb every 45 minutes so I need to roll over, or get up every hour and a half to go to the bathroom. I am talking about what ever is making my feet itch like crazy right now. It’s not my whole foot, just the tops, and it goes up to my ankle; so I don’t think this is a fungus. I woke up with this insane itch and walked into the bathroom assuming I’d find little welts all over from some sort of bed-bug or mosquito…nothing. I tried to go back to bed, but as soon as I lay down, the crazy itchiness came back. I don’t know if it’s psychological, but if I’m not in bed, the itch doesn’t bother me. There isn’t much to do in my house at 2:15 in the morning, and luckily my Internet is working at the moment…so I’ll blog I guess. And later maybe I’ll try to sleep on the couch.

More East Canyon Utah

Here are the photos from the rest of our time with my parents at East Canyon resort. We stayed there for a night, and then headed back down because my sister Amy was having and early Christmas dinner at her house that my parents needed to be at.

Well, Monday morning we decided to drive back up again. We were going to wait till the afternoon so my parents could do a little Christmas shopping, but heard a bad storm was headed our direction so we thought we better hit the road ASAP. So, after I tagged along with my mom the her Chiropractor appointment (I got a free adjustment and it was the best. Everything was SO out of whack) we packed and headed on.

I couldn't see quite how bad the roads were cause Jonathon was driving and I was sitting in the very back of the van with Eden, but the windy roads on the mountain side hadn't been plowed. I would have probably been looking a lot more like my Dad with white knuckles had I been sitting in the front seat where he was.

But, we made it safely. Once we were there it was a perfect few days with Grandma and Grandpa Wood with lots and lots and lots of snow!






Yahtzee!!!




Grandma made DELICIOUS DINNERS!


Thanks again for letting us stay here Grandma and Grandpa Parker!!!! It was the best!

True What?

Who in the world are these people?

As I type this I am watching ABC's new show True Beauty. I can't believe some of the things these people say. How could anyone possibly believe that they might be the most beautiful person in America? What the? I tried to find photos of them online, but haven't yet. Anyone else watch this show? I probably shouldn't watch it because I am opposed to giving any of these people the $100,000 prize money, but I am easily entertained by reality tv unfortunately.

On the first episode they go to some dr. who supposedly gives them a score 1-100 of how beautiful they are. I thought the score was made up, but aparently some people in the world really pay money to have this sort of "testing" done. How sad really. I mostly got a kick out of watching these people have to hear that something about them wasn't "perfect", as the dr. informed them one cheeck was puffier than the other, or thier symetry wasn't perfect. It was rediculous. Why do so many people think they should get money for being beautiful? I just don't get it.

Mark Your Calendar

I went to the Dr. the other day. Good news is that I only somehow managed to gain 4 lbs. over the entire Christmas break. Apparently it makes a difference if you work out cause I pretty much ate anything I wanted while we were gone.

In other baby-related news, the Dr. did an ultra-sound and confirmed that this baby boy's head is still in my ribs. I could have told you that. ;-) Anyway, she said he probably won't turn if he hasn't by now...since Eden never turned. So we have scheduled, unoficially FRIDAY MARCH 13 to bring this boy into the world. The good thing is that it's a friday which means Jonathon can be with me from Friday when I go in until he has to go back to school monday night! We are very excited to meet this new member in 8 weeks from today.

I'm nervous about another c-section. I just don't like the thought of having surgery. I even cried in the car a little after I left the doctors. But, eventually I realized this is just how the Lord wants it for one reason or another. So, it's how it's going to be. ;-) In the mean-time I will just focus on how excited I am to be blessed with another little baby in our home.

Back at the Beach!

Hey Family,

I thought we'd take a few photos for you our first day back at the beach. Eden and I hung out at our local favorite, Alligator Pond, Friday morning before all the mold chaos began. Eden had fun stealing other kids beach toys, jumping off the rocks, climbing the the tide-pools, and running in the waves. It was a lot of fun, and a prefect sunny day! Wish you were there. We love and miss you guys!

Lots to catch up on...

Where to even start?

Well, we had a fantastic time visiting friends and family for 3 weeks in Utah. We were spoiled by everyone as usual. It's so fun for us to catch up with everyone and eat way more food than is necessary. Grandma Parker was wonderful about willingly watching Eden at any given moment and Breanna too before school started again. Thanks guys!! We enjoyed a date to a morning matinee where we saw 7 Pounds and ate Red Robbin for lunch. One of my main-land favorites!!
Jonathon got 2 new pairs of eye glasses from America's Best for $70 eye exam included!. I lost my last sad pair which had only one ear prong thing left. My wallet got stolen, cards used and cash take, but returned for which I was grateful since I needed my ID's to get back on the plane and the theif left me $2...thanks. We ate at Cafe Rio several times, visited old Hawaii friends, had a sleep over with my brother, his wife and their kids. We played Wii and in the snow.














Eden loved hanging out with all her cousins, Aunts, Uncles, and Grandparents. She still remembers each of them by name when we say prayers at night. It's the cutest thing ever. Most nights after I would tuck her into bed, she would continue to say each of their names. Rio (wee-o)(the family dog), Grandma (ma-ma or bom-pa), Grandpa (bom-pa), Breanna (Nana), Miah, Micah, Rachel, Chance (tance), Deja, Ammon, Kristine, Amy... It was the cutest thing! She had so much fun getting spoiled by so many friends and family and so did we.


After the trip ended...

So, I haven't had a chance to post anything since we have been back because when we got home our house had a Christmas present waiting for us. MOLD! Yes, mold was growing on multiple surfaces in our house. Couch, piano, some cupboards, clothes, a few items in the cupboards, outside of the fridge, one spoon. It was horrible. We didn't notice it right away. The first place we noticed it was on the couch. We walked in the door and noticed white stuff on the couch. Our neighbor said, "Uh-oh, looks like you have mold" and I thought, "No way!" So we pulled the covers off the couch, washed them all, and put them back on. I thought that was a pain. Until we noticed the mold growing everywhere else Saturday morning when I opened the cupboard to find it on the stair stepper.

We called a few mold specialists, but no one answered. So, we decided to go to the beach till we knew what we should do and if it was safe for a toddler and a pregnant mommy to be in the house. We heard from one specialist that our house was safe since in was just white mold and we needed to wipe everything down with Bleach and water. So, at noon on Saturday we wiped every square inch of our house, including every square inch of every toy, dish, cupboard, drawer, movie, board-game, on and on and on. Literally every item in our house has been wiped and disinfected. We even washed 12 or 13 loads of laundry.



We worked around the clock Saturday and finished JUST the kitchen at 12:30 that evening. Eden was pretty easy going about the whole thing. She's pretty content if you put on Alvin and the Chipmunks. She'll watch it over and over again. So, we did just that and fed her lots of Otter Pops. We finally had everything wiped down Tuesday evening. It was insane. I actually woke up in the middle of the night Saturday and thought, "Oh good! It was only a dream!" for about 5 seconds, then reality hit and I realized..."Nope, we really are cleaning EVERYTHING in our house...and it is never going to end." Luckily it did, our house is now as germ-free as a hospital, we threw out 2 and a half garbage bins (I'm talking the ones you put out front for the garbage man to take away), and probably donated 4 boxes of other house hold items to Savers. It's quite nice to have our house so empty again. I feel much more organized and the house feels much more ready for a new baby.