All About the Hubby

1. What is his name? Steve

2. Who eats more? He does, unless I am pregnant then all food is fair game.

3. Who said, "I love you" first? He did

4. Who is taller? He is.

5. Who is smarter? He is in most areas. If we ever had to compete in a trivia game revolving around pop culture, cooking, cleaning, or poop. I would win, hands down!

6. Who is more sensitive? Me, why would you ask that question?

7. Who does the laundry? This is one of the many reasons why I absolutely adore my husband. When he sees that the laundry is getting overwhelming for me, he will do several loads to help me catch up.

8. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? He does.

9. Who pays the bills? He does.

10. Who cooks more? Me, but when it comes to cooking salmon or grilling, he is a master.

11. Who is more stubborn? He is.

12. Who is the first to admit they are wrong? Me, however I have never been wrong!

13. Who has more siblings? He does, and they are all great.

14. Who wears the pants in the relationship? I am so glad to say he does. We do like to play a game whenever we meet new couples. It’s called “Guess who wears the pans in 30 seconds or less.“ We are always in agreement and always spot on!

15. What do you like to do together? We love to travel together. Before we had kids we would just get in the car and take off, sometimes not even knowing where we were going. We look forward to doing that again when the kids get a little older.

16. Who eats more sweets? Toss up. We both are what you might call “pushers.“ Both of us can always talk the other one into some kind of chocolate.

17. Guilty Pleasures? He loves to get massages.

18. How did you meet? We met playing volleyball at a singles ward activity. Our mothers had worked in the Stake YM together 20 years prior to us meeting. He could remember coming to our house when he was 10 years old and kind of freaked me out when told me all about my family and where we used to live the first night we met.

19. Who asked whom out first? He did.

20. Who kissed who first? He did. He was fixing the sprinklers in his backyard and I was sitting on the porch admiring his buffness. Every once in a while, we drive by his old house and pay homage to it.

21. Who proposed? He did, after 6 weeks of dating. We waited that long to make it official because we didn’t want all our friends and family to freak out too bad. We knew we were going to get married within a few days of meeting one another.

22. His best features and qualities? His eyes, his sense of humor, his ability to get me to relax and the way he takes care of me and the kids. He is a traditional kind of guy and I love him for that.

Tag you’re it: Amy (you're always first on my list), Karen, Holly (after you tell us about your awesome vacay), Michelle, Cathy (you need to post something before your blog shrivels up from in-activeness), Jamie (if you're not in labor or too busy nesting), Gina (you need to post something), Chelsea, Kristie, and Danielle (You're going too long in between posts!)

Answer: What are sadlebags, cankles, and a small butt.

Question: What three words describe Clara's backside?

I usually don't post pictures of my kids' butts, but this picture was begging to be posted. Clara LOVES her bath. She makes a b-line for the bathtub every time the bathroom door is open, so we have to keep it shut at all times. Not to mention, I don't want her crawling where a 3-year old marks his territory on a regular basis. Last night she was so excited to get in the tub with Thomas. I was thrilled because they played together for about 30 minutes while I sat on the floor and enjoyed my newest magazine.

Thou Shalt Not Kill.

I have posted a few other times about my little garden that Thomas and I planted in April. It was doing pretty darn good (sorry, I know that is not the proper usage of good), and my ultra-chic tomato tree I purchased from QVC was doing better than I ever expected.

I was getting tons of tomatoes from both the tree and my garden. On top of that, Thomas had only “harvested” a few vegetables a little too soon. I was feeling pretty proud of myself. My thumb was beginning to turn a shade of green I never had expected. I was feeling so….Molly Mormonish, and if you know me, you know I love that feeling!

We even had people over for dinner one night and the conversation went something like this…

Guest: Oh, Amy! This is fantastic bruschetta!
Me: Oh, please stop…really go on.
Guest: The tomatoes are so refreshing. Where did you find them?
Me: With a grin on my face…Well, brace yourself, I grew them! Come outside, jump in the tractor and let me give you a tour of my fields (okay, this last part of the conversation really didn’t happen, but it sounded better than... Oh, I grew them. Do you wanna see the garden I planted in a kiddie pool I bought from The Wal Mart?)

Then the real heat came on. It all went down hill from there.

You see, when you live in Hell for 3 months of the year, you need to water things…a lot. I started out really vigilant. I would water everything every day, I would fertilize, and go out and coddle the little buds. I talked to them, sang to them, and told them funny jokes. Then I got sidetracked with other things, like cooking, cleaning, wiping butts, and stepping on legos. I started to let the cool air-conditioned house tell me little lies like, “oh, one day without water won’t hurt anything.” Or, “Come on, do you really think those veggies have a chance out there in that inferno?”

I started to listen to the air-conditioning and began to forget about my little garden on purpose. I would keep our shutters closed so I wouldn’t have to look at my crops baking away in the scorching heat. I gave up on them.

The day before we left for Washington, I went out to have a look and found my poor little garden infested with ants. I finally had a solid reason to let it die. I wiped my hands clean of the whole ordeal and made peace with the garden. It was time to pull the plug. I was going to let it die while we were out of town.

It's been a month since that heavy decision was made. Since then, I have had several friends ask me about my garden. They want to know when they are going to get that nice bottle of homemade pickles, or jar of salsa. I have changed the subject in many of these conversations, or just flat out lied because I just couldn’t bring myself to admit what they probably already knew...

My name is Amy, and I kill green things.

Why I love being a mom.

This morning I had the privilege of getting up early with Thomas so he could enjoy the Spanish stylings of Diego and Friends. I was curled up on the couch, hugging a pillow, trying to catch a couple of sneaky zzz’s before he asked me what I thought Diego‘s latest scientific discovery.

While my eyes were closed, Thomas came over to me and rubbed his face on my leg, kind of like a cat does when it’s happy to see it’s owner. When he moved his head away, I had a nice wet, slimy spot on my thigh.

Me: EW! Thomas, don’t lick me.
Thomas: I didn't mom!
Me: Then why is my leg all wet?
Thomas: I didn’t lick you mom, I rubbed my snot on you.
Me: Oh, okay.

Question: At what point did I decide that being snot-ed on was better than being licked?

Best Friends

The post where I continue to expose my dorkieness.

So, I have not had the chance to post about our awesome night at Rod Stewart. I have been to busy reading, I had to finish before anyone spoiled the ending of Breaking Dawn (which I might add I finished an hour ago and I am not going to spoil it for anyone) for me.

Rod, in one word was…Crazyfantastc. He sang all the Greatest Hits (living up to the tour name). We had so much fun, it was even better than last year!


I did however learn a few things that night.

1. For Heavens sake, if I am ever going to be away from my nursing baby for more than a couple of hours, wear nursing pads! The nursing relationship has been pretty predictable lately, so I have been able to forego that expense (and add it to the gas fund). I knew I was in trouble before the concert even started when (ladies, I’m sure you know the feeling) I started frantically searching the crowd to see if there was a baby I could nurse nearby. I was able to get things under control, but by the time the concert ended (3 hours later) I realized I was in possession of some rather large water balloons. I walked with my arms shielding my chest so I wouldn’t accidentally drench anyone. If anyone has attended a concert at the Grand Garden, you know how tricky this can be as you are walking out to the garage with thousands of other people all bumping into each other. So, if anyone did notice the large, wet target spots on my nice blue silky blouse, I hope I didn’t offend you!

2. French people still smell like smoke and like to talk a lot. There was a couple sitting in front of us. I am assuming they were French because they were speaking French. Since they were sitting in front of us, their scent was lofting up towards us, it brought back memories of riding the subways in Paris, sandwiched in-between people who felt that showering wasn't a necessary everyday thing and tried cover up their BO with dubious amounts of cigarettes. Don’t get me wrong, I love Parisians, I love their city, I love their language, I just didn’t like how these two smelled and it brought back my smelly memories. I spent one song listening to them talk and focusing on their smell rather than listening to the music, and that got kind of irritating.

3. Old people, here is a little advice for you. If you are going to drink obscene amounts of beer, wear a pair of Depends, for your own safety! We had quite the experience watching senior citizens get blasted only to have to make their way down many steps (did I mentioned we had bad seats?) very carefully to the facilities. We were sitting by a couple who repeatedly had to get up and take care of business. It was interesting to see their deterioration during the course of the night. I was sure one of them was going to take a spill, but lucky for them, it didn’t happen.

4. Bryan Adams makes me feel like a shy girl at the Friday night Church Dances. Bryan Adams was the opening act for Rod. He was great! I didn’t realize how many of his songs were tied into my very early days in college. When he sang one song that he mentioned he recorded it in ‘94, I about died! That was 14 years ago and I was a freshman in college then…you can all stop doing the math now. He played all of his ballads and a couple of them reminded me of hiding in the bathroom at the dance because all of my girlfriends had been asked to dance, or asked someone to dance, but I hadn’t or wouldn't. (This is the part where I mention how happy I am that I am not shy and timid anymore! Oh, the awkward pain of discovering yourself!)

5. Either Rod Stewart has some great hair product or some very nice wigs. I don't think I need to expound upon this subject.

Like I said, It was a great night and I will always remember the fantastic time we had, especially when I wear my super-cool concert T-shirt that I bought.

How to know your teaching is paying off.

This morning, I was sitting on the couch reading. Thomas came over and snuggled up next to me.

Me: Hey you.
Thomas: Mom, I'm not you. I'm Thomas.
Me: I know your name is Thomas.
Thomas: I am NOT a letter!

I guess we have the letter thing down, now I need to start working on those tricky homophones.

Eight months and it looks like there is trouble brewing!

Clara is 8 months today! I can not believe it ( I know I say that in every month-birthday post, but it really is going way too fast)! We can tell already that this little girl is going to be trouble, in the she's-too-smart-for-us kind of way. Here is the list of her recent accomplishments.

* She crawls like a pro!

* She can wave and clap.

* Words she says: Mama, bye-bye, hi, and she can say "woof" thanks to Grandma Shirley.

* She gives kisses and even makes kissing noises.

* She is pulling herself up on furniture and up in her crib (way too soon for me).

* She is starting to give her brother trouble. She is getting into all his toys and wants to be involved in everything he does.

* She loves "real" food, although I am very careful about the things that she is given due to food allergies running amuck in our gene pool.

* She loves to look at books with pictures of babies, or animals.

* She has a giggle that makes my heart dance.

* She is in love with Mickey Mouse and attacks the stuffed doll we have of him.

* She squeals like a banshee. Her nickname is piccolo-pete because she sounds like fireworks when she screams.

She is just getting keeps getting better with age!

What no patience looks like.

I decided I couldn't wait until tomorrow, or even worse, Monday. My BFF, Amy, talked me into going tonight to get the book.

The post where I expose all my dorkieness.

August 2nd has been circled in red on my calendar for a few weeks now. I am having the same butterflies in my stomach that I had when I was little on the night Santa would come. I am going to spend today cleaning my house so I can bask in the uncontrolled excitement tomorrow. Why?

1st Reason - Breaking Dawn is being released tomorrow. I know! I can’t believe that I am that excited for a book to come out. This is so not me. I swore up and down I would not get into the Twilight books, (my mom refers to them as “those voodoo books you read“) but I am. I have been to the Stephanie Meyer website several times just looking to see if there is some kind of message that says, ”just kidding all you fans, go get your books now!” My book is supposed to be delivered to my house tomorrow morning, however I am seriously thinking about attending one of the midnight release parties and buying a 2nd copy and returning the one I ordered from The Wal-Mart. What’s a girl to do?

2nd Reason - The Rod Stewart concert is tomorrow night! Woo-hoo! Yes, I am a huge dork who likes un-cool music. I will totally own up to that. Steve and I took my mom last year and we loved the concert, so we are going again tomorrow night. We have awful seats, but who cares! It is just going to be fun to rock out with all the old people. Last year when we went, we tried to find someone who was close to our age and came up empty. On top of that, Steve kept on running into his physical therapy patients who are all old people. It was such a fun, magical night and I can’t wait to go again. I need to go out today and buy a gold lamaie top and some leather pants so I will fit in with the crowd. If anyone has some I can borrow, give me a call or post a comment.

Change is good.

My new blog title is "Raising Redheads." I was sick of the old title, and I really like alliteration, so I decided to switch things up a bit. The address is still the same, I am assuming it will eventually change on all the blogrolls and all the favorite places list (which I know I am at the top of everyone's list) when blogger updates. If it doesn't, oh well.

How a 3-year-old entertains a 7 month-old.

Sunday night, Thomas was in the bathroom while Clara waited patiently for him to finish up. While she was waiting, he decided to pass her something to quickly pass the time.

My Apron Swaps

(Lila, do not read this post unless you want to spoil your surprise!)

I signed up to do some apron swaps last month. I love to sew, so I figured this was a good outlet for my hobby. I had 3 aprons due today, and 2 more due in 2 weeks. These are the ones I finished for this round. I had to come up with a cowboy theme, a vintage 50's theme, and a Halloween theme.

The Halloween one is reversible. There are little black crows sitting with the witch, so I thought a bird on the reverse side would be fun.

Lots of stuff in one post

I have been extremely busy with my swaps (I have 5 apron swaps, and 1 tote bag swap, I'll post pictures later), so I have not had time to sit and post about what we have been doing lately.

I have been taking the kids swimming almost every day. We have been going over to my brother's house. He lives within walking distance, so it is easy to get there. I meet my sister-in-law, Crystal ,and her kids (She also lives within walking distance. I know, we are a crazy family to all live so close to one another), and my Mom joins us half the time. I have to admit I have ulterior motives for taking them. 1. It gets me out of the house without having to spend any money. 2. It's nice to be able to sit and visit with adults. 3. It makes the kids really tired. I love getting them all worn out so they either take really good naps when we get home, or I keep them up for a couple of hours and send them to bed early.

I have to lather my white children up with sunscreen before we head out. I have been rubbing it all through Clara's hair so her little scalp won't get burned. As a result, she has been having some pretty bad hair days!

Yesterday I took the kids down to Anderson Dairy for a little tour. I kept referring to it as a "Milk Factory" so Thomas would have an idea as to what a dairy is. We had a fun time, but Thomas did not like the freezer section. They blow fog into the corridor and have thunder and lightning sound effects. He was not impressed with it at all. As we were leaving he said, "Mom, that was really fun, but I didn't like the movie part or the cold part."

Jumping on the Bandwagon

So, I have heard about these books for a while now. I remember talking to a friend about a year ago and she asked me if I had heard of the book Twilight. I shocked her by saying, "no." Then she said I had to read them. She told me they were about Vampires and that's when I made the mental note to not read them. I am not really a Sci-Fi kind of girl (especially anything about aliens).

Well, a few of my friends read them and loved them, so I thought I would give it them a try. I asked to borrow my BFF's copies and take them on vacation. She came to pick us up for the airport and surprised me with all 3 novels wrapped in a big red ribbon, a gift for me! She wanted me to be able to have them for myself and it is a good thing she did. There is melted chocolate on a couple pages and maybe even a couple of splashes of diet coke on others.

While we were on vacation, my wonderful mother-in-law gave me many opportunities to hide down in the basement and read while she watched the kids. It took me a while to get into the first book, but eventually I was sucked in and really enjoyed it. I was so glad I had the 2nd book with me because I had to know what was going to happen next.

I was almost finished with New Moon by the time we made it home from Washington, but I didn't have the luxury of built-in-babysitting, so it took a little time to finish. I finished that one up a few days after we returned home and started reading Eclipse this last week. I had a hard time through some parts of the 3rd book (the legend story in the middle), but again was sucked in after a hundred pages or so. Last night, I had to finish it. I wanted to be able to read without anyone asking for food or to have their bum wiped. So, not thinking, I stayed up until 4:30 am finishing the last book and ended up loving it as much as Twilight.