A special day

Today was a special day. Not only is it my 25th birthday, but Annabelle received her baby blessing today, Scott and I sang a duet in church and Scott's family was in attendance for it all from North Carolina. We tried to get a nice family photo with just the 5 of us. Unfortunately Elisabeth got a splinter in her hand from our last photo shoot on the play ground and Charles wanted to be done and move on to playing with his sand bucket so this is what we came up with:I wanted an ice cream cake this year so that's what I made. The actual cake part is Funfetti and then the middle filling is an ice cream called 'cake batter' (my absolute favorite!) that I picked up from Cold Stone Creamery the other day. I frosted the top and sides with my favorite butter cream icing recipe and then added some sprinkles and recees pieces. It was very yummy!

Yesterday for my birthday celebration we got a HUGE pizza from the Pie and then Scott and I were able to attend the temple together while the family babysat the kids, which was something we haven't been able to do since Annabelle's birth.

Smiles(finally!) and getting around

Annabelle finally started smiling(while awake) about a week ago, around 6 weeks of age. We were so anxious so see her smile so we're savoring every single one that she flashes at us. I was lucky to catch one on camera this morning:Annabelle sleeps in a bassinet next to my bed. One of the sides comes off so we have it set up that way for now because it makes it really easy for me to reach in and get her at night when she wakes up and is hungry. Yesterday she was napping in there while we were getting dinner ready and I heard her stirring so I went back to check and this is what I found:
I don't know how she did it but she was laying on her back in the bassinet and somehow she must have rolled over and out of the bassinet (thank goodness it was pressed up against my bed!), onto my bed, on her tummy! Crazy girl, we're going to have to put the siding up again today.

Fun test

My friend Carrie had this on her blog and I thought it was pretty fun. Let's see how fast all you bloggers can type!?
81 words

Speed test

Healthy and yummy snack

(Sorry, I know this isn't a great picture)

My dear friend Elisa (now what are the chances that I'd have a close friend named Elisa, very slim. In fact I knew zero Elisa's growing up and then I move to Utah and meet 3!) shared some granola with me while we were visiting at a park. She made it herself and man was it good! I got the recipe from her and made a double batch on Saturday, which was kind of expensive :). I know nuts grow on trees, but not in our backyard and boy those things can be pricey. And honey and olive oil aren't exactly cheap either, especially when you use as much as I did making 2 batches. Hopefully it will last me awhile, I'll need to exercise some self control. Here's the recipe just in case anyone else would like to have it:

Granola

6 cups rolled oats

1 cup wheat germ

¼ cup sesame seeds (I didn’t have these)

1 tsp almond extract (optional)

1 ½ cups honey

2 T vanilla

2 cups nuts (almonds, pecans, walnuts)

½ cup sunflower seeds

½ cup oil (I used olive oil)

Mix grains, nuts, and seeds thoroughly. Pour oil and 1 cup of honey over mixture and stir well. Spread on lightly greased cookie sheet and bake at 300 degrees for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Stir occasionally while baking. When mixture is golden brown, take it out and mix in vanilla (and almond extract, if using). Put back into oven and bake 5 minutes more. Pour granola into large bowl and drizzle ½ cup honey over mixture. Stir well and allow to cool.

April 5th and 6th

Yesterday, April 5, was my baby sister Becca's birthday and she turned 23. She's going to hate me for posting her picture on here, but oh well, what can she do? :) Happy Birthday Becca we love you and wish that we could've been together; the great distance from family is one of the downsides of living here. But one of the bonuses of living in Utah is that we are able to watch General Conference(a worldwide meeting where we listen to the apostles and Prophet speak) from our antenna TV in the comfort of our family room! I just think that is so cool! I remember growing up having to get all dressed up and drive 20 minutes out to the stake center to watch conference...well we still get dressed up on Sunday but it's a lot more relaxed when you can watch from home, and I am especially grateful for that now that we have three little children whom we're responsible for.

So conference was this weekend and it was neat watching the first session and participating in the sustaining of the new Prophet of the world, Thomas S. Monson. I was 11 or 12 when President Hinckley was named the 15th Prophet and I'm guessing I missed the session when they sustained him because I don't remember anything about it.

A few of my favorite talks had to do with parenting. Russell M. Nelson(one of the 12 apostles) said, "When giving necessary correction do it quietly, privately, lovingly and not publicly. If a rebuke is required, show an increase in love promptly so that seeds of resentment may not remain.... Do not try and control your children, instead listen to them. Help them to learn the gospel. Inspire them and lead them toward eternal life. You are God's agents in the care of children he has entrusted to you. Let his divine influence remain in your hearts as you teach and persuade. " This reminded me of an experience from over a year ago. We (me, Scott and the kids) were at a children's museum and there was a little boy, probably 3 years old, who wasn't listening to his father. His dad grabbed him by the arm and shoved him down in the corner. The little boy was crying and this made him cry harder. His dad angrily hit him and told him to be quiet. Of course this made the boy cry out even more. So the dad hit him again and again told him to be quiet. I had some very intense emotions well up inside of me, I felt like I should step in or say something, but what? The father kept at it so I just stared and moved closer, very close and just watched and then the father looked up and stopped. I wish that I could have had the courage to say something. I remember reading a story of a woman who had approached an offending parent and told them to stop their behavior. The parent responded, "Lady, it's none of your business." to which she replied, "It is my business, it is everyone's business." Like Elder Nelson said, children are a gift from God, on loan to us as parents, we are their agents and how we treat them is certainly His business and ours also.

I also loved M. Russell Ballard's(one of the 12 apostles) talk that he gave specifically to the young mothers. I especially liked his ideas on what husbands and children can do to help reduce the pressure for us so that we can enjoy the family. I told Scott afterwards that I would love if he took Elder Ballard's advice and scheduled evenings together for just the two of us! Wouldn't that be nice to one day have your hubby walk in the door and say, "honey, a babysitter will be here in 5 minutes so get ready and let's go out on a date!" When Elder Ballard addressed the children Elisabeth looked up from her art project and listened intently. He told them to help their moms by picking up their toys, making their beds, helping with dishes and to put their arms around her neck and say I love you...after listening to that last part she climbed up on my lap and did just as he said, and she even added a sweet kiss on my check. I love and look forward to conference. I know that Christ lives and that He loves us; He loves us so much that He gives us modern day Prophets and apostles to lead and guide us. I hope that I will remember and apply the principles that they've taught into my life so that I can be a better person.

Reorganization

Thank you for all of your suggestions with baby proofing. You'd think I'd have it down by baby number three, but the truth is that Elisabeth didn't need much baby proofing at all, if a door or drawer was closed or out of reach she just left it alone.

Yesterday I went through all of our kitchen cabinets and drawers and rearranged things so that they would be baby(toddler) safe. I moved all the medicine and our block of knives and extra steak knives up above our refrigerator in a cabinet that's even hard for me to get to when I'm standing on a chair so Charles has no chance, unless he learns how to throw a rope up there and climb :), hopefully that won't happen or at least not until he's older. I also had a talk with Charles yesterday and told him that if a door is closed and has a white handle on it(meaning child proof door knob), he's not allowed to open it and if he needs something from inside he can come get me and I'll help him. So far he's following that rule about 50% of the time which is great considering it's only been a day. I think he's just forgetting and it'll take some time to get used to. Now all I have to do is get 2 new door knobs that can lock from the outside with a key so that we can have a 'safe room' for baby Annabelle to sleep in and a 'safe room' for all of our cleaning supplies, art supplies and other things that we really don't want him playing with.

Scary stories

Yesterday the kids were out back playing while I was inside nursing Annabelle and after a few minutes Elisabeth ran inside crying. Apparently she had a run in with the swing that Charles was on. We're lucky that her eyes were closed because she got a couple of nice cuts just below her eye and on her eyelid. Poor thing. I didn't dare let her look at herself in the mirror or see any blood because she freaks herself out and ends up making things worse. But it was hard for me to keep a poker face, especially upon first glimpse.

This afternoon I got an important phone call when the kids were being extremely loud so I shut myself, and the baby in the bathroom so that I could hear. We were in there for a minute or two when I got off and heard Charles crying, I wasn't too alarmed because Char cries fairly often. I followed the sound of his voice and found him in the kitchen, on top of the counter(he'd pulled a chair over from the table), next to an open cupboard, standing up over his own vomit with an entire bottle of red gel stool softener pills scattered all over the counter! Also the kids 'gummy vites'(multivitamins) were down on the counter(they're normally up high in the cupboard with the stool softeners and other meds) and there was a single gummy vite among the stool softener pills. I stood there in horror for a second before I sat the baby down and ran over to Charles to further investigate the scene. I quickly scanned the bottle which said to call Poison Control if a child gets a hold of it so I pulled out my cell phone, called Scott and had him look up the number for me. Then I counted all the pills; there were 91 and the bottle came filled with 100 but I knew I had taken at least 5 or more after I had the baby so Charles couldn't have had more than a couple. I called Poison Control, they asked me several questions and to my relief said he'd be fine, maybe have some diarrhea, and to call if anything changed otherwise they'd call tomorrow to check up on us. After I got off the phone I found one more pill; this one was in the vomit and had a bite mark through the middle. My theory is that he opened the bottle, dumped out the red, shiny, soft pills and thought he'd try one, tried to bite and swallow it but gagged on it and then threw up. I don't think he actually swallowed any because of how many I counted and because he hasn't had any bowel movements since then and after I cleaned up his vomit he seemed fine.

As a parent, I think I've never been more scared in my life then when I walked in on this scene. I'm very grateful that nothing terrible happened and that I was able to figure out that the location of our medicine cabinet isn't working without someone getting seriously poisoned. Charles has taken baby proofing to a whole new level for us. He figured out baby gates, he can get up in very high places and can open doors with the child proof handles on them. I'm always worried for his safety now because I can't always be there to protect him, for instance when I'm in the bathroom or helping another child or holding a hot pan etc., he could just slip out a door or get into something dangerous. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about this yet. He is just over 2 now and understands a lot and so I think tomorrow I'll have a couple of safety talks with him and hopefully that will do the trick. I'll also be praying for some some extra help (maybe I can get some extra guardian angels). If any of you have other ideas I'd love to hear them. I was nearly at a breaking point today and was so extremely grateful when Scott got home from work so that he could hold me for a minute and tell me that everything is alright.

All about Charles

The weather has gotten warmer so I decided it was finally time to cut Char's hair. I think his new do gives him a totally different look: the longer flipped out hair gives him an innocent boyish look whereas the buzzed cut makes him look a little more rough and military like don't you think? Either way he's one handsome dude.

This is how Charles likes to eat his apple. A little unusual.

I always keep a couple of books on the arms of our couch so that while I'm nursing Annabelle I have something within reach to read. If I'm reading an informational or inspirational book I usually keep a highlighter or pencil inside as well so that I can underline specific things. I'm so glad that I left a pencil and not a highlighter in my Spencer W. Kimball book yesterday because while I was fixing dinner Char got a hold of it and within seconds furiously scribbled all over several pages. Whoops! My bad for leaving something so tempting within his reach, I think I've learned my lesson.

3 mommies in the house

And no, I'm not talking about polygamy which contrary to popular belief, Mormons do NOT practice(if they did they couldn't be mormon anymore). But in fact my other 2 children like to pretend to be mommies too. They push their babies around in strollers, read to them, dance with them, change their diapers,bathe them, sing to them, rock them, hug and kiss them, and even nurse them. When Char nurses he says he's feeding the baby from his tummy; he doesn't quite understand how some things work and I don't feel the need to explain just yet because his logic is just too cute.

Movie enactments

The kids like to act out different parts of their favorite movies. Here they are doing a piece from Snow White, just after the huntsman tells her to runaway. The kids are pretending to be Snow White running through the scary woods, falling down scared and alone but then finding some forest animal friends that help her find the dwarfs cottage. And the second shorter piece of this video shows Charles as the vagabond from Polar Express who imitates Santa Claus.

Happy Easter

Our Easter holiday started out on Monday with a Family Home Evening lesson on the resurrection. Later in the week we put up our easter decorations and then Saturday morning we went to a community Easter egg hunt. This lasted about 2 minutes (they had an area roped off where all the children gathered around and then at 10am they blew a horn and kids ran everywhere as fast as they could trying to gather as many eggs and goodies possible). A fire truck was there, which Charles loved, and the kids got to sit inside with a fireman!

We have church at 9am on Sunday and I had choir practice at 830 so we decided to wait to do the Easter baskets until afterwards. Elisabeth is now a sunbeam and had the opportunity to sing with all the other primary children today during Sacrament meeting. My only hope was that she would at least walk up near the podium with the other children and stay, I didn't even care if she sung, and she did get up there (though I talked another little girl who is about 7 years old into holding her hand until they got up to the front) and she even sang the songs! Scott and I were so pleased, I had the biggest smile slapped across my face the whole time.

When we got home from church we ate lunch and then the kids went on an Easter egg scavenger hunt in search of their Easter baskets which were full of fruit snacks and 100% juice boxes and a few eggs with jelly beans. The kids loved doing a scavenger hunt, they raced from clue to clue and loved finding their treasure! Afterwards we did a little Easter egg hunt in the backyard and then finished with a very yummy dinner that I think we'll turn into a tradition. We had chicken pot pie (thanks April for the recipe, it's one of our favorites!), funeral potaotes (Scott suggested that we change their name to 'resurrection potatoes') and rolls.
Here are a couple more cute pictures from this weekend. Don't you love Annabelle's face in this one, hilarious!:
We are so grateful to our Saviour Jesus Christ for the Examplary life that he lived and especially for his great atonement which makes it possible for us to return to him and be with our families forever. We know that he lives and that he loves us, and we love him too.

Charles' photo shoot

Over the winter I decided to grow Char's hair out to help keep in some body heat... and I thought the Zac Efron look (from the first High School Musical movie) would suit him nicely...and in my opinion he looks great with this hair do! After his baths it looks the best because the ends naturally flip out.

Baby sweetness

Look at those irresistible cheeks: How can you hold this sweet little thing and not be tempted to hug her close and give her endless kisses. I know we can't help ourselves:

Warmer weather and bath time

The weather has been warming up a bit lately and so we've been able to spend more time outside which we love! It's been especially nice on the days when Scott's gone at work because when I get a little tired I can just send the kids out to play in the back(it's fenced off so I don't feel like I need to be back there with them at all times) for awhile and I can spend some alone time inside with the baby.


Annabelle's umbilical cord stump fell off a couple of weeks ago so now she take baths with her tummy submerged in the water. She hated taking sponge baths before, so I would wash her as quickly as possible but now she doesn't seem to mind them so much. I tried to sensor the picture for you :)

Post pregnancy goals

As I've mentioned before, I want to have a big family, but I also want to stay in good physical shape so that I can easily chase after the little ones, and for other health reasons. Besides, I don't think anyone would want to look like this forever: As Cristin might put it, 'can you say Fat Face!'(I was pregnant with Elisabeth in this picture, it's scary I know! And the rash on my chin is lovely isn't it? Go ahead, feel free to enlarge it to get a better look:))

Now, here is a picture of me and my sister about 10 months after I gave birth to Charles. I know I'm not petite or skinny, those have never been words that could accurately describe me, but in comparing the two pictures, you can see that there is definitely room for improvement.

At the time being, it's seems impossible to ever get back down to that size...I'm afraid I'll have Fat Face forever! I even got this way exercising throughout my entire pregnancy! So anyways, after I have my babies I make sure to set a few goals for myself to help loose the weight quickly. Here are the goals that I've set so far:

1. only eat 2 treats a week (this would be foods like candy, soda, cookies, cakes, but doesn't include all foods that have some added sugars like yogurt or banana bread though of course I wouldn't go eat a whole loaf of banana bread either because I know that wouldn't help with the weight issue). This is definitely going to be the hardest goal for me to keep. I have a whole tupperware full of Divinity candy in my freezer just waiting to be eaten....and I LOVE divinity!

2. Exercise 5-6 times a week. I already was exercising before so the big change will be an increase in duration and I'll be jogging on Saturdays when Scott is home which I wouldn't have done while pregnant because I was too lazy.

3. Abdominal workouts. While my mom was here she picked up a health magazine that I read through and there was an article on Reese Witherspoon and her post pregnancy workouts. She jogs and does some ab and back workouts that don't require the use of weights. The ab workout I really like has you sit on the floor, lean back a little, and put both feet and arms up and out in the air so that you're balancing on your bum and you just hold that position for as long as you can. It's pretty hard, especially if you do it after you've just completed an invigorating aerobic workout.

Well, wish me luck! And I'll try and remember to report back with my progress after awhile.

Sunday Creations

Yesterday Scott and the kids made a blueberry streusel bread. It was so tasty! They made it in a 9 inch dish and so I cut myself a nice sized piece and ate it all. Then I found myself going back with a knife to straighten out where we cut our slices so that it would look nicer....well, actually, I really did this because I knew I would get to eat the little slices of bread that I was 'straightening'. :)






I had never made divinity before because I've heard that it's hard to make it just right. A little while back I ate a little piece that a friend made and it left me craving for more. So I finally decided to have a go at it and I'm pleased to report that they turned out wonderfully! They're light and fluffy and almost like a fudge. I'll post both of the recipes to these just in case anyone else wants to give them a try.





Blueberry Streusel Bread

Makes 8 pieces

4 Tbsp. butter or margarine, at room temperature

¾ c. sugar

1 egg, at room temperature

½ c. milk

2 c. flour

2 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

2 c. fresh blueberries (rinse frozen blueberries and drain well. Don’t mix too much because they’ll turn your dough a grayish color)

For The Topping

½ c. sugar

1/3 c. flour

½ tsp. ground cinnamon

4 Tbsp. butter, cut in pieces

Preheat oven to 375. Grease a 9 inch baking dish. With an electric mixer, cream the butter or margarine with the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg, beat to combine, then mix in the milk until blended. Sift over the flour, baking powder, and salt and stir in just enough to blend the ingredients. Add the blueberries and stir. Transfer to the baking dish. For the topping, place the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and butter in a mixing bowl. Cut in with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the topping over the batter in the pan. Bake until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Serve warm or cold.

Divinity

2 egg whites, at room temperature

½ c. light corn syrup

½ c. water

2 c. sugar

A few grains of salt

1 tsp. vanilla

1c. chopped walnuts (optional, but, Oh so good this way!)

Line a baking sheet or jellyroll pan with waxed paper; set aside. Place egg whites in large bowl of electric mixer(or in a big glass/stainless steel bowl); set aside. In a heavy 3-quart saucepan, combine corn syrup, water, sugar and salt. Place over low heat and stir with a wooden spoon until sugar is dissolved(~5 min.). Remove spoon. Increase heat to medium-high and cook without stirring until mixture reaches a rolling boil.

Clip on candy thermometer. Reduce heat to maintain full(but not rolling)boil. If sugar crystals are present, wash down sides of pan with a warm wet pastry brush. Cook syrup to 252 degrees or hard ball stage (this will take 10-15 minutes, no less). Just before syrup is ready, beat egg whites until stiff but not dry. Remove syrup from heat and allow boiling to subside.

With mixer on high speed, gradually add hot syrup to egg whites; once you begin to pour don‘t stop and do not scrape pan. Continue beating until mixture begins to lose its gloss and holds it’s shape (takes about 8 minutes). Stir in vanilla and nuts. Drop quickly by spoonfuls onto waxed paper. Yield: about 30 pieces

Our 3 munchkins

Inside the mind of our 3-yr old(Scott's post)

These photos of Elisabeth were taken over a year ago. Elisabeth started sleeping through the night when she was about 4 months old (I think), but since then she has gone through several phases where she will not go to sleep, or at least it takes about an hour from the first time we put her in her bed until she finally falls asleep. The first phase occurred when we switched her from the crib to a bed when Charles was born. This is understandable. In order for her to go to sleep, one of us would have to lay down with her until she was asleep enough that she wouldn't notice when we left. The second phase was in our apartment in Bellevue, when she and Charlie shared a room. She would come out of her room several times and tell us that she didn't want to go to bed. We solved this by putting a child proof door handle on the inside of her door so that she couldn't open it (don't worry, we opened the door before we went to bed so she wouldn't get trapped). That worked, but not without some kicking and screaming, though Charles somehow would sleep through it (most of the time).Now she is in another "I don't want to go to bed phase," but this time she has become more creative. She has come up with several excuses as to why we should let her stay up. They are included in the following list.
First, the traditional excuses.

• I'm not tired
• I don't want to go bed
• I'm thirsty
• I'm hungry
• I have to go potty (she will actually sit on the toilet for several minutes before she says "It's not working" Back to bed!)

Second, the "where did she come up with that?" excuses, some of which don't make much sense.

• My stomach hurts when I lay in bed
• I need Snow White on my wall
• I want a princess bed
• I can't believe!
• I can't do anything
• It's hard for me to close my eyes
• It's dark in my room
• I can't see my star

I am always amazed at what goes on inside their little brains, but save it for the day time. Go to bed!

Two weeks

Annabelle is two weeks old and man have those two weeks flown by! I feel like I don't have enough time in the day anymore. By the time we wake up in the morning, eat breakfast, get dressed, clean things up etc., it's time for lunch! The kids take late naps in the day and so once they're up they play and read for a little while and then it's time to get ready for dinner and then go to bed. We don't have time to do much else but I guess that's okay because I definitely wouldn't enjoy running errands with all three of them anyways, I didn't even like running errands when I had two. Just the very thought of taking them out in public alone stresses me out :)...mostly because my two year old boy is a monkey who has no sense of fear or danger and does not understand the concept of listening and obeying (I suppose it's pretty typical 2 year old behavior but I definitely don't remember Elisabeth being like this, well not to this extent anyway). Notice Charlie's shirt says 'I do all my own stunts' and has a picture of a guy free falling...it suits him well :)So for the most part we stay home and play here which we like and it's a lot less stressful for me than going out. If we need to get groceries I just wait until Scott gets home and then one of us goes out while the other stays home with the kids. We still go on outings, but usually when Scott is with us. In fact just yesterday we visited the Taffy Town factory in Salt Lake City which the kids enjoyed....mostly they liked picking out all sorts of taffy flavors to take home and eat, that's why I enjoyed it too :), oh and the fudge is SO yummy! (they have a couple non-chocolate fudges that I got to try!) So far, having three isn't much different than having two, but I'm guessing once Annabelle is awake more and active, my opinion will change. I think going from one child to two children was when the biggest change occurred for me; part of that may be because Elisabeth and Charles are only 18 months apart, but also when we only had Elisabeth, we were still pretty free(as a couple) to do what we wanted and when Charles came, that changed. The only big difference right now is that I don't get to sleep through the night, but I don't mind because babies are just so sweet and cuddly and precious that it makes it all worth it! I love being a mom, I would love to have a big family and I hope we get to. Families are wonderful.