Zander's First Astros Game

Happy First Birthday!!

MY little guy is ONE year today!!
A year ago today I held this tiny baby boy in my arms and wondered what on earth I was going to do with a boy. But I say it all the time, "I didn't know I could love a little boy so much!" I couldn't be more happy to have Zander in my life. He is the SWEETEST thing. I love his smiles and the way he walks with his arms in the air, the way he gives WET WET "sugar" (kisses) and the fact that he LOVES to play in the water (not so thrilled about the way he LOVES eating rocks, sand, and dirt--you can't win em' all!) Happy Birthday Z! I love you to the moon and back.

Happy Flag Day

Flag Day commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States, which happened that day by resolution of the Second Continental Congress in 1777.[1]
In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation that officially established June 14 as Flag Day; in August 1949, National Flag Day was established by an Act of Congress. (source: wikipedia)


Your flag and my flag, And how it flies today
In your land and my land And half a world away!
Rose-red and blood-red The stripes for ever gleam;
Snow-white and souldwhite– The good forefathers’ dream;
Sky-blue and true-blue, with stars to gleam aright–
The gloried guidon of the day; a shelter through the night.
- Wilbur D. Nesbit, “A Song for Flag Day.”

Going Green

A little green monster came to visit me today.
He left a nice green trail up the entire 16 stairs to come find me.
And then I saw the little green monster...

AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!

I guess one of the down falls of being crafty is having crafty things around the house. Well Zander found a new ink cube that I hadn't put away yet. I'm not even sure how he got it. And well the pictures tell the story. I seized the moment and stamped his hands before giving him (and the stairs) a bath. This is one of those moments that you laugh so as to keep from crying...and a story to tell the grandkids.

Oh Baby Baby

Jed came home from the Doctor yesterday with a proud picture of his kidney stones. The large stone is the little bugger that ruined our Anniversary and sent us celebrating in the E.R. Nothing says I love you like a hospital bill and cleaning up vomit! After all the testing, the stones are made of Calcium Oxalate which is VERY common and not really treatable. The Dr. sent a list of food to avoid, but in the end his advice was to "drink a whole lot more--be it water, soda, juice, coffee, beer..." Hmm. :) I guess we should add this picture to our family portrait after all the intense labor Jed went through to get it out--that or have the stones mounted in a platinum setting.

Create

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhLlnq5yY7k
I quite enjoyed this and wanted to share it with you. It's from Women's Conference held in Feb. 2009

Strawberries and Spring

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

She has a name

After much deliberation our cute little niece has a name (finally!)

Savanna Shay White

Here are a few first pictures of the little doll!

Our New Addition

We officially have a new niece! Lora was scheduled to have a C-section on April 8th, but her water broke early this morning. Our new baby girl was born at 5:07 a.m. weighing in at 7 lbs 1oz. and 20" long. We are still waiting on the name. We are sooo excited to have her in the family and can't wait to meet her. Congratulations White family!

St. Patrick's Day

Growing-up (teenage years) my mom would put together a fabulous green dinner for St. Patrick's Day--spinach fettichini noodles with pesto sauce, green jello with pears, limeade, you get the idea. Well this year I felt depressed (I don't know why, this isn't the first year I've been away from home) that I wasn't doing the same with my family. Instead we celebrated more traditionally by eating fish from the sea and drinking our beer warm. So next year when St. Patrick's Day roles around and I feel homesick for that family tradition, I'll think of my ancestors from Ireland who still continued celebrating their family traditions even hundreds of miles away.

Vocabulary Lesson of the Day

Get your dictionary out.
I was reading a book to Elle last night before bed and ran into a few perplexing words. (This was only a picture book mind you... and not Dr. Seuss.) So being the ever studious person that I am, I ran and got my "American Webster Handy College dictionary" to look them up. And lo and behold those words weren't in it! So I'll give you a little time to research these words as I did. It'll make you feel like you're in Elementary school again.
Enjoy!

Vocabulary Words
fumphered
furmuzzled
wassle
wamboodle
Brobdingnagian

Zander Update

Well we went to the Dr. today for Zander's 6 Month check-up (we got a month behind with the hurricane evac.) I thought for sure that he would be at least in the 10th percentile for weight because we have upped his food intake like crazy... but no. He is only in the 4th! The Dr. is not worried and neither am I. Zander is growing, and moving around the house like crazy. He even pulls himself up on the stairs, bathtub, and his crib. Elle was so cute at the doctor's. She held Zander's hand while he got his shots and kept saying,"It's okay Son."

Valentine's Day

Love you Lots...

How much... this much

(arms stretched out as far as they can reach)

How long...forever.

O O (kiss,kiss)

10-Step Program Before Having Kids

I thought this was so funny. I just had to post it for my "groupies" to see.
Thanks Em!

*Step 1*
1. Go to the grocery store.
2. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to the grocery store's head office.
3. Go home.
4. Pick up the paper.
5. Read it for the last time. Ever.

*Step 2*
Before you finally go ahead and have children, find a couple who are parents already and berate them about their:

1. Methods of discipline.
2. Lack of patience.
3. Appallingly low tolerance levels.
4. Allowing their children to run wild.

Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's breastfeeding, sleep habits, toilet training, table manners and overall behavior.

Then enjoy it because it will be the last time in your life you will have all the answers.


* Step 3 *
This lesson is a really good way to discover how the nights might feel once you become a parent.

1. Get home from work and immediately begin walking around the living room from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8 to 12 pounds with the radio set to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly. Eat cold food with one hand for dinner.
2. At 10 p.m., put the bag gently down, set the alarm for midnight, and go to sleep.
3. Get up at midnight and walk around the living room again with the bag until 1 a.m.
4. Set the alarm for 3 a.m.
5. When you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2 a.m. and make a drink and watch an infomercial.
6. Go to bed at 2:45 a.m.
7. Get up at 3 a.m. when the alarm goes off again.
8. Sing songs quietly in the dark until 4 a.m.
9. It's finally 6 a.m. Get up. Make breakfast. Get ready for work and go to work (work hard and be productive).

Repeat steps 1-9 each night for 3 to 5 years. Look cheerful and together.


* Step 4 *
Can you stand the mess children make? To find out:

1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains.
2. Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.
3. Stick your fingers in the flower bed.
4. Then rub them on the clean walls.
5. Take your favorite book, photo album, etc. -- the one that you would grab if ever there was a fire, the one that is more precious to you than words can possibly express -- and tear out random, individual pages. Potato stamp the rest.
6. Spill milk on your new pillows. Cover the stains with crayons.
How does that look?

* Step 5 *
Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems.

1. Buy an octopus and a small bag made out of loose mesh.
2. Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out.

*Step 6 *
Forget the BMW and buy a minivan. And don't think that you can leave it out in the driveway spotless and shining. Family cars don't look like that.

1. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment. Leave it there.
2. Get a dime. Stick it in the CD player.
3. Take a family-size package of chocolate cookies and mash them into the back seat. Sprinkle Cheerios all over the floor, then smash them with your foot.
4. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.

* Step 7 *
Here are a few steps to determine whether or not you are ready to feed a 9 month-old baby.

1. Hollow out a cantaloupe or honeydew melon.
2. Make a small hole in the other side.
3. Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.
4. Now get a bowl of soggy Cheerios and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane.
5. Continue until half the Cheerios are gone.
6. Tip half into your lap. The other half, just throw up in the air.

*Step 8*
To build up the endurance necessary to take a long trip with a toddler:

1. Make a recording of Fran Drescher saying 'Mommy' repeatedly.
(Important: no more than a four-second delay between each 'Mommy."
Occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet is also required).
2. Play this tape in your car everywhere you go for the next four years.

*Step 9 *
Are you ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room?

1. Start talking to an adult of your choice.
2. Have someone else continually tug on your skirt hem, shirt sleeve, or elbow while playing the 'Mommy' tape made from Lesson 9 above.
3. Repeat for every single conversation for the next 8 years and 7 months.
4. If you decide to have a PHONE conversation with another adult, make sure to have TWO other people tug on your skirt, shirt, or elbow while simultaneously stripping naked, pouring Draino into your shoes, and attempting to feed GoGurt to the cat.

Do not let on to the person on the other end that there is anything amiss.

* Step 10 *
A final pre-parenting test:

1. Go to the local grocery store.
2. Take with you the closest thing you can find to a preschool-age child. (A full-grown goat is an excellent choice.)
If you intend to have more than one child, then definitely take more than one goat.
3. Buy your week's groceries without letting the goats out of your sight.
4. Pay for everything the goats eat or destroy.

Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.

Remember, a sense of humor is one of the most important things you'll need when you become a parent

A Little Update

This is Z's first taste of solid food--rice cereal. So yummy! He also is up to eating fresh peas and now carrots. What a mess!


While cleaning out the garage we came across this cool skeleton. I thought it was a snake at first, but further research indicates that is actually the skeleton of a Gecko. Elle was afraid to hold it at first so I put my glove on her.

It didn't take long for her to warm-up. This picture just captures the real Elle that I get to see everyday that others don't. My funny little girl.

So on our recent vacation we opened our bag to find this. What is it you say? Sand? Snow? Moon dust?
No way--38 oz. (the big can that you buy at Costco) of powdered baby formula! I had bought a can just before we came home because it beats driving an hour and fighting traffic to get to the nearest Costco here. Well, our luggage got lost on the flight home and when it finally arrived a day later I opened the bag to find the contents covered in a thin dusting of white powder. As I kept digging I found the culprit. The can was literally squished in half--no wonder the lid popped off spilling the contents. Next time I'll just drive the hour to Costco--it beats washing sticky laundry. This just put the finishing touch on a rather rough vacation.

The Nativity w/ Breath of Heaven

Ho,Ho, Ho Houston Has Snow!!

You wouldn't think that two kids (yes, Jed and I) from Utah would get so excited about a little snow. But I must say, I felt like a kid again. I haven't been this excited for a very long time. We bundled up Elle and Z (this was his FIRST experience with snow) and took them outside to run around in the beautiful white frozen winterland. I just kept saying, "This just doesn't happen. This is so Awesome!" The last time it snowed here was Christmas Eve 2004 and we weren't living here yet. So I guess this unusual event does occur, but rarely. We stayed out until midnight building snowmen--one in the front and one in the back.
This morning the snow was still on the ground and on the roof tops, but as the day warmed up it slowly vanished. But we enjoyed it while it lasted. This has offically put the whole family in the Christmas mood. Oh, Mark we did turn on the heater!

The House That Elle Built

We have had this little gingerbread house kit for about 5 years or so. Every year we just seem to not have time for it. This year while we were getting the house decorated for Christmas Elle found it. Every day she would ask if we could make the gingerbread house. So for Family Night we made this cute little gingerbread house. Note a few things about this house that are my favorite:
the pink "bow" aka gumball hat on the gingerbread girl
they go very well with her yellow eyes (a liver problem maybe:)
the porch lights
the stone chimney
and the paved porch in the back. (this must be a zero lot line house)
After we were all done, Elle said, "Thank you for making my gingerbread house. That was so very sweet of you!"

Election Night 2008

Election night around here is more exciting than Super Bowl! We went out for ice cream at Ben and Jerry's (free for those who voted! Life's short, eat dessert first right?), and came home to fire up the grill for dinner and to watch the results of the voting. As each states' results were reported we colored in the corresponding color on the map--red Republican & blue Democrat. This year, the results were fast and easy. Four years ago we were up way past midnight cheering on Ohio. I can't believe how much has changed in four years. Last Presidential Election we didn't even have kids and lived in a totally different state (although still very Republican). This is Elle's Presidential results. Zander can't wait until he can join in on the fun.