Barlow Bits

moving on

2008-11-13T16:36:00.001-06:00

I hate to say it, but I'm moving on with my blogs. I will be merging from shelly'sbelly and barlow bits. That blog -- fromshelly'sbelly -- will be for family and more personal updates. I may cut it out entirely... that's to be determined later.

I have a NEW blog for my NEW shop(s). It's very exciting. I'm in the process of building and designing it, so be on the lookout for the grand opening!! YAY!

halloween cosutmes

2008-11-03T11:00:00.003-06:00

Well, I made their costumes, however, I just bought new re-chargeable batteries and didn't realize you had to pre-charge them before use. They really should put that on the packaging. So, I only got a few lame pictures of their costumes. I say lame because they weren't very clear, or their costume was all helter skelter because of tugging. The rest of the night they did wonderfully with them. They were just adorable! Benji was a wolf and Jenee' a lamb. Benji totally got into trick or treating. He would hold up his bucket and then say thank you over and over again and then good-bye. He ran from car to car excited about all the candy. Now that's all he wants to eat, candy. I also made Kendall's costume - who you see in the pics with Benj.

She's half stuffed because she just got too hot - so she's not as poofy as she was designed to be. She was still the cutest little lamb I ever beheld.

just some pictures

2008-11-01T20:09:00.000-05:00

just after Jenee' got her ears pierced. She was hysterical when they cleaned her ears and then put the dot on. She got them done and then saw a stuffed bear and didn't even remember whas was wrong! They are cute little pink flowers; love it!

Benji standing under the dining table at Nana's house. He was making faces at her for the camera! Too funny. Nick didn't want me to put this picture as our desktop wallpaper - I guess he doesn't like to laugh.

Jenee' eating one of the best cookies ever - Oreos! I think that's even the good cool mint ones! Ohhhh boy! I can eat a whole package by myself in about a half hour!

miracle

2008-10-29T12:07:00.002-05:00

Our van is up and working! B.eau.ti.ful.ly.

We thought it was going to be a $2000 repair! No! It was $175 - much much less!

Hip-hip hooray for answered prayers! Everyday I wake up with a smile knowing that we don't have to worry about our van! We are so blessed by Heavenly Father to have our "purple bullet" back in action. She needs a bath big time!

Thank you for thinking and praying for us, that's one thing you can take off your list!

vote people!

2008-10-29T12:05:00.001-05:00

I know, I know it's not that exciting for you, but it is to me! look at the poll to the right or I just may do something like post something really long and boring and whiny!

I'm going to be selling my goods (very exciting, i know!) and I'm wondering about my shop name. From Shelly's Belly - I do like Snap Dragon! I like too. I say it all the time (if you know me IRL you already know that). I don't want it to be confusing however my blog titled FSB and my shop something else.

think about it, and report back to me!

who knew?

2008-10-25T18:55:00.000-05:00

microwave your toothbrush once a week to kill germs! Interesting!

Proposition 8

2008-10-23T12:28:00.001-05:00

Watch this video - it certainly makes you think about how else it could effect people. Another reason to homeschool, I say.

a question answered

2008-10-13T22:29:00.003-05:00

This will be a long post.

As you know, we just moved to Utah and boy was it a hard trip. I'll get to what happened after I answer a question that was asked of me.

As you know, we were in Houston when hurricane Ike hit us. We were very fortunate that the "worst" thing that happened to us was to not have power for 20 hours. That's it. So we didn't suffer at all!

My uncle and grandparents stayed at our house during the hurricane because they were 5 minutes from the ocean.

My uncle and I were driving back from checking on my step-grandmother (is that really something you label someone?), E, who is 93 years old. As we were driving around we saw a lot of damage from the hurricane. My uncle asked me, "why does God let hurricanes happen?" (or something to that affect). I really don't think he was looking for a deep profound answer, or maybe he was. I replied, "so we can appreciate the good times." (or something like that - I do believe I gave a more indepth response, but I can't remember it all right now).

I've thought on that conversation for some time now and have gone over and over in my head what I wish I had said. I've decided I'm going to now to the best of my current knowledge.

We are here (on earth) to experience joy. We are also here to grow and learn and become a stronger and better person. Everything has its opposite. Light and dark; good and bad; health and sickness; and pleasure and pain. In order for us to feel happiness we must know what it feels like to be without it. The same for all the others. When we go through these things it's not because He wants to torture us and doesn't care for us. We experience these things because they can make us stronger. We experience these things because they teach us and we can learn from them. We are then better able to help and comfort those around us going through things we've been through. We are less judgemental.

Think of a forest fire. It is devastating to the animals who lose their homes and even lives. It is devastating to all around it, mostly the forest! However, when new trees and vegetation begin to grow they are stronger, healthier, and full of nutrients. That land is a better plot of land! It is so when my uncle pointed to a tree and said, "I don't think that tree thinks this is a good thing." Amen! Of course you may not be thinking, hey I like this hard stuff - bring it on! When you are that tree bent in half, roots sticking up out of the ground it's lousy. But when that tree is replanted and secured upright it will become stronger.

Recently general conference happened for my church, and it was so uplifting and enlightening. Elder Wirthlin spoke of learning to laugh when things get tough, staying optimistic.

Amidst the turmoil I seem to be feeling lately - politically, economically, and our own personal financial situation I tend to think - hey! wait a tick! This is too hard, too overwhelming, and too frightening. There is hope, there is a way to laugh and be optimistic, and this will be for my good in the end.

It couldn't have come at a better time.

We had some delays in our travels. We were supposed to have left sunday/monday for utah. We didn't get out of there until thursday night due to some things we couldn't control. Nick's dad came down to drive our things up and we followed behind him in our van.

First, Chad (nick's dad) ran over a deer (he's in an 18 wheeler), and we drove over that same deer.

Then we pulled over because our tire sounded flat. After not finding anything wrong we continued on. Then it got worse, so we pulled over again and alas there was a screw in our tire. Chad and his friend, Heath, said oh- it'll be fine. We kept driving for 10 more minutes until our tire went completely flat. We changed the to our spare, and filled that up with air - this whole process took several hours. Meanwhile we have 2 kids in the car that aren't happy at all! We drove to a hotel and stayed the night.

The next morning Chad and Heath fixed our flat (we had a screw and a nail in it). So off we went. We were filling up with gas when Chad said he smelt antifreeze. So we pulled into a walmart to tarp up the load (rain was coming) and also to fill our car up with antifreeze. we got the load all tarped (2 hours later) and then started to fill the car up when the antifreeze was just gushing out of the car. There was a leak! Chad and Heath worked on the car for a long time when they said our Head was cracked and that it would probably cost $2000 (yes 2 thousand) to fix it, but we weren't going to be able to drive to utah at this time. So they looked for a rental car, but they don't rent one way from Lubbock to Utah. So we booked a moving truck and trailer to haul the van for the next day. There was a texas tech game the next day so all the hotels were charging outrageous fees, with barely any availabilities. We finally found an old motel to stay in and we ordered pizza. Nick and I were so sad and stressed. Where in the world are we going to find $2000??

So, we got started the next day. Heath drove the truck that hauled the van and Chad drove Nick, myself, and the kiddos in the 18-wheeler. It was pretty comfortable in there! The rest of the way was easy easy! I didn't have to stay awake or drive! The night we stopped and just slept in the cab - there are 2 (twin) beds in the truck. Nick and I slept in one bed, Benji and Chad slept in the other and Jenee' slept in her car seat. That sleeping arrangement lasted 2 minutes. Jenee' came in and slept on top of me. Well, I don't think she ever really fell asleep. She was climbing and crawling and crying all over me. Benji was crying and finally he came down and slept on top of nick (remember this is a twin bed). we were freezing with 2 baby blankets covering us. Chad had a towel. It was so incredibly uncomfortable. I slept 20 minutes total. We finally arrived to utah at 9 am on sunday.

Throughout the whole ordeal (and it still isn't over - we need to get a car so nick can get a job) I felt optomistic

turning off the computer

2008-10-09T12:05:00.002-05:00

well, this is my last look at the internet for a few days. we're shutting down the computer so it can go into the back of our van. We are officially on our way in a few hours. YAY! Wish us luck with the kiddos for a 24 hour drive - not including stops. they are already cranky today, so it's not looking good. they're probably stressed about all the stuff moving out from around them. We're so excited! See ya Tejas!

changing your heart

2008-09-19T11:08:00.003-05:00

I do love the song "1234" by Feist. I feel like it's my theme song for right now. Well, I say that only knowing half of the lyrics. Ha ha. I'll get back to you on that if I find out it means something totally different!

Lots of things are swarming around in my head right now. We're moving to Utah either the 5th or 6th of October. We're trying to get Nick admitted into school, a new job, a new home. We're trying to get things taken care of here, there and yonder. I'm excited for the new prospects that await us there. Schooling, work, family, and new undertakings. I don't want to say, but I do want to say exactly what. I've got so many ideas of what I can do to help support our little family so that Nick might not have to work so much while he's going to school.

It's times like these when I'm feeling bogged down with responsibility and urgency that music really speaks to me. I'm not that big on music. I know for most people they walk around with Ipods plugged into their ears constantly. When I drive, I keep the music off. When I clean, there's no music. When I sew (or whatever) there's no music. Throughout the day the only noises I hear are the laughter or cries of my children. I can almost go half of a day without talking. That is until Nick comes home and then I jabber his head off. No wonder my son doesn't talk, neither does his mother.
Anyway, right now I've got a list of 5 songs that rotate through my head all day long, so I just decided to play them on my computer, and now they rotate through the air waves in my house all day long. Until I get sick of them. Maybe I should put in different music, to lift me from the fog of overwhelm. I will tomorrow maybe. Right now I'm rolling around in it.

Never you fret, I am not in the depths of despair right now. I'm just overwhelmed and overstressed and overtempered (just keeping with the theme of the sentence).

We're getting our family pictures taken in a few weeks just when I'm feeling mega chubby. At this point I was supposed to be much smaller, however I have let my cravings take over my proper brain functions and now I am not smaller. I've got 2 weeks.

Just fine

2008-09-17T15:55:00.002-05:00

Hey, I mentioned I was a bit stressed earlier. I'm fine now. I'm eating a cookie.

Hurricane

2008-09-12T12:36:00.002-05:00

Hurricane, go away, come again another day (or not); little children, little children, little children want to play.

well, things are a bit crazy here in Houston. Hurricane Ike is headed our way, so we're hunkered down for now, waiting for the power to go out.

Will update everyone on how we're doing as we're able.

Grandmama, Grandpapa, and Kenneth are with us as well, so if you can't reach them on their cell phones, try our house phone.

Check out my poll

2008-09-08T12:07:00.002-05:00

It's over on the right underneath "where else you can find me."

When I talk about the 2 blogs I mean this one, and From Shelly's Belly

Thanks!

moving. again?

2008-09-07T21:34:00.000-05:00

moving.

yup, you read it right.

we're moving, again.

where?

Utah. Somewhere from SLC to Provo - in either of those cities or between them. That all depends on what school Nick will go to.

When?

October-ish. Sometime in the month of october, but there are some factors that will determine it.

If this is the first you're hearing of the move, you're not alone. I think besides 4 other people, everyone else is finding out through this blog (that is if they even read it, if not they'll find out another way).

service auction

2008-09-02T21:24:00.002-05:00

I just came back from enrichment night for my church and it was so much fun! We had a service auction night. You came to the activity with things you could auction off. For example, free babysitting, weed your garden, tech support, sew things, dinner, dessert, gift cards, thank you cards, etc. You fill out a questionnare at the beginning to determine how many points you get. For example, did you say your morning prayers? did you serve a mission? did you ever own a new kids on the block tape? have you been married for 20 years? and there were points assigned to each thing. I had 300 points to bid with. It was so much fun! I won a photo session for my family with the pictures on a CD! How awesome! I'm so excited, Lisa W. is doing it, and I just love her to death! It has been so long since we've had pictures together as a family. I really wanted to win a babysitting one as well, but alas, so did everyone else! Ha ha! I donated some sewing things and a dessert. I love to sew things for other people more than myself, so I'm excited to get to sewing! I think the service auction would be a fun thing for a family home evening type thing when we have more kids and they're older... or for christmas gifts or something. I don't think you could auction your christmas gifts though, but a really awesome service could be given as a gift. Not like those "coupons" you give your mother for mother's day that you never redeem, but real ones!

Sherrie had a good idea that I should go to gift boutiques and try to see if they'd want to sell some of my creations there. I think it's a good idea, but also scary. What if they look at my things and say - lame! ? Oh well, I'll have to get to thinking about it and brainstorming about things I'd want to sell. I'd try it there, and then sometime in the next year I'd like to set up an etsy store. I need to find a fabric store close by that has higher quality fabrics though. Or just pay for shipping.

Donate to Nie Nie

2008-08-26T08:46:00.002-05:00

I've seen this around a few blogs recently and never looked at it, until this morning. I am bawling right now about a family I don't even know. Three people were in a plane crash and one, Doug, died. Stephanie and Christian, husband and wife, have survived, but are in critical condition. Christian has 30% of his body burned and Stephanie has 80% of hers burned. They have 4 small children that are being taken care of by Stephanie's sister. If you go to the button on the sidebar you can donate and also see exactly who Stephanie (nie) is. Then you can go to her sister's blog to get updates and to really see how not only the neilsons (stephanie and christian) are, but their whole extended family. I am so grateful and happy to see the outpouring of love for this family. Heavenly Father is truly hearing the many thousands of prayers offered for them every minute. I hope that you'll take the time to look and remember this sweet family as you go about your life. If you have the means, of course, please donate what you can - their hospital bills will be in the millions. There are several blogs holding silent auctions I know one of my favorites, grosgrain, is and she has links to others as well.

cell phone

2008-08-23T10:35:00.000-05:00

I am posting this on both blogs, because I don't know who reads what (if at all). For those of you who have my phone number pay attention, for those of you who only know me in blog-land, you can ignore this post.

I just found my phone yesterday, after letting Benji play with it (how stupid of me) and he stuck it in some random little hole. I haven't had it for a little over a month and so I have surely missed countless calls. I found it, charged it and am now accepting phone calls! Just thought you should know.

play time

2008-08-22T17:20:00.002-05:00

having a blast down here in Texas. We were playing under sheets last night - you know you throw them in the air and they float/fall down - they kids went wild over it!

memories misty watercolored memories..

2008-08-21T15:09:00.005-05:00

from the corners of my mind... (I really don't know the words, only the blurb from naked gun 22 1/2) oh.. I love that movie! (I wish I could remember my favorite quote from that movie better, I'll share it when I have a moment to watch it)

I was feeling a bit sentimental today and thought I'd post these pictures of Nick and I right before we moved to Tejas. I usually don't share these photos just because I'm looking quite rotund. Well, these don't showcase so much of the fat that they're illegal, so I'll post 'em.

swirl this car around!

2008-08-18T13:46:00.002-05:00

yesterday was a bit of a braindead day for me. I'm not quite sure what was going on, but Nick told me several times that I should go back to bed. When he didn't say that he just looked at me funny. I had a great time! For instance, when we were leaving for church I was backing out of the garage to do a K-turn. Well, I didn't turn the wheel enough as I was going forward so I had to reverse again before I hit the flowerbed. Anyway, I exclaimed, "oh! I didn't swirl the car enough, sorry!" Swirl the car? you mean turn it?? yep. so all day I kept saying Nick you'd better behave or I'll swirl this car around! Yeah, I'm that cool. I think it's going to be my new saying.

What else... I continually got words mixed up and couldn't think of things. I blurted out random things that had no connection to anything else. Here's an example from our first year of marriage (because I honestly can't remember what I said yesterday): I was cleaning up the living room and was not wanting to pick up after Nick so I said, "is that your fork?" while pointing to a pen on the floor. Nick walked into the room as I repeated the question and he just burst out laughing. I think that instance keeps getting brought up at least once a month when I do something similar. I think it's early onset alzheimers. I really hope not. I say it's children - I guess it'd probably be dangerous if I had too many children there's no way to tell what would happen to me. I wish I could remember what else I did and said, all I know was I was singing a lot, talking a lot, and laughing a TON!

family time

2008-08-15T20:54:00.003-05:00

Well, I finally get to blog about the vacation type things we've done! We didn't do anything, but Nick's family did. Chad, Michelle, Kendall, and Austin came down last wednesday and left (too soon!) on sunday. We had so much fun! We drove around looking for treasures and heckled each other. We ate and ate and ate! Austin played with Benji almost the whole time! Benji is so lonely now. Kendall hung out with the "big kids" and we had so much fun! They were here for so long and these 3 pictures are all I have documenting that they were here. How sad for me. The boys are playing with benji in the mcdonald's play thingy. Us girls are hanging out watching and waiting for Chad to bring us our meal. Such service. It was so sad when they had to leave, something about having to go back to work was their sorry excuse. Oh I wish we were around more family; it really made me realize how much I miss them. If you know me at all (Jared) you know I'm not the "i miss people" type of person. Now I am. I guess that's part of getting old: your knees creak and you miss people. Never mind the gray hair, I've had that since I was 12.

schedules/routines

2008-07-31T17:21:00.002-05:00

hey! if you want to know about a cool idea to use for scheduling your children (and even a great resource for yourself), check out my other blog

serious.

getting older

2008-07-25T16:44:00.004-05:00

my babies are getting older.

Jenee' is crawling (well, she has been for the past 3 weeks), and I just moved her crib to the lowest setting because she pulls herself up and tries to cruise! I just removed Benji's crib side to make it a "toddler" bed; he just had his first nap in it - and he did beautifully! We'll see how nighttime goes.

My little boy picked out his clothes too... you can see it in this picture as well. yes, he only picked out one sock. He originally wanted both shoes, but we could only find one. He forgot about it, and then later decided on this black sock. I'm trying to teach him to put his clothes on by himself so we can begin potty training, so we're starting to pick out our own clothes and be more involved in the whole process to generate some interest in dressing himself.

In his crib I put a pillow so he'd feel super special, along with this blanket that a co-worker of Nick's made back in Portland. (ohhh, how I miss good ole Tualatin!!!) He's been jumping on and off it all day. When he was done with his nap, I could hear him bouncing on his bed, then his feet were sticking under the door as he tried to decide if he should open the door or not. He opened it, but didn't move, sticking his head out he had the BIGGEST grin on his face -- holy crow, independence!!

Now, I've gotta decide what I'm going to fix for dinner - I really want to make this chicken/couscous stuff we had the other night, but alas, I don't have any onions, tomatoes, or even couscous. Bummer. I think it's time to go to the store. Oh! I can't! Nick has Benji's car seat in his car, so I've been stranded. Speaking of car seat, I need to get a bigger one for Jenee' now. Oh girl stop growing.

Tag!

2008-07-18T10:05:00.001-05:00

My friend, Shauna, did this on her blog and it seemed like a fabulous idea!

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Watch, I'll come back in a month and there won't be any comments. Surprise me!

I'll post this on my other blog to so I can try to get everyone (I have no idea who visits what blog, if any).

cloth diaper give away!

2008-07-09T11:05:00.000-05:00

Win a Bum Genius 3.0 Starter Kit from Nature's Child - Wholesome Goods for Mothers and Babies

Cloth diapers are really wonderful and we always loved ours! I can't tell you how many "blow-outs" we've had with disposables, and we only every had 1 blow-out when we used cloth (that one time was entirely my fault as well). The bum genius diapers are wonderful too, I'm sure they've gotten even better with time!

tossing back a few beers

2008-07-02T10:48:00.001-05:00

jenee drank herself to sleep

sooo relaxing...

*okay, for those of you without a sense of humor, this is a staged photo. she fell asleep and i forget who, but someone suggested to put a beer in her hand. seeing as that is a funny idea, we obviously did it. for those of you who really don't have a sense of humor, no I do not drink nor does my hubby; we have not gone inactive.

what's been going on??

2008-07-02T00:52:00.000-05:00

too cute! my babies playing together!

mighty tasty

good morning mommy (get dressed already!)

here's benji, I just missed the high five he just gave Lola! soon as he saw me with the camera, he got off the stool and played elsewhere, lame!

Benji turned two this month - the 7th! How dare I not blog that much about it! Check out the slideshows for more pics.

we were at grandpa's (my dad's) visiting, Jenee' LOVED the pool and her floaty boat that Mary (my dad's sweet girlfriend) got her!

I'll post a funny funny picture of jenee' in this and in the pool on another post soon. It's hilarious! I just love this shot though, she was so calm happy and content out here on the water.

my cutie, a bit sunburnt. it makes his beautiful green eyes stand out more (except for here he's squinting, so you can't tell)!

another picture of them playing together!

oh, such fun. I've been teaching asl classes, nick's been looking for a new job and researching the air force. Nick found a new job monday (YAY!!) that pays pretty darn good, and the air force is coming along smoothly. I've been sewing (check my other blog for some details) and thinking about doing projects with my son. Maybe he'll be more interested. He's been pretty hilarious lately. His favorite thing to say is "ow" and sign "hurt" - even if he's not, he loves it. He's very close to being potty trained - i mean starting the process - he hates hates hates it when his diaper is dirty, and he'll take it off himself, and he's been doing pretty good at trying to put his own shorts on and off. He's mastered all the other "readiness" skills they say to have (i just won't trifle with your time and list them all). I want to get the Dr. Phil program "scotty potty", that seems ideal and very successful from what i've found. He's been trying to "Charlie and Lola" high fives all the time, it's adorable.

Jenee' is soo going to be crawling any day now! She has been getting up on her hands and knees for weeks now, and she moves quite a bit, by rocking, twisting, diving, etc. She gets up on her toes and twists to the side and then goes back to her knees, rocks and then dives to her belly. It's quite amazing to watch. She could totally out push-up anyone! There's no doubt that she'll be crawling before she's 7 months old! She's teething like mad, but no sign of a tooth popping through quite yet; just swollen gums and biting everything in site. Benjamin teethed forever before a tooth finally popped up.

Becky just had her baby today (the 1st), a bit of a scare was surrounding it, but after she had little brooklyn (by c-section), the little angel was healthy and happy. I'm dying to see pictures and hear more, but I guess I'll just have to be patient. I'm just so so so happy that one of the happiest days in becky and phil's lives stayed one of the happiest days! I bet they're the cutest little ole parents ever! I'm an aunt too, I just realized this tonight, it's my first time and I feel special regardless of the fact that I had nothing to do with it!

promised slide show

2008-06-14T16:21:00.001-05:00

book signing

2008-06-14T15:20:00.000-05:00

well, lots has been going on, but I'll talk about that later. We recently went to a book signing for Lee Child; he's one of our favorite authors! His character is Jack Reacher, and he is awesome! My eyes hurt from squinting at the screen (the computer is in the room facing the HUGE windows with the sunlight streaming in) for so long uploading all the photos from the past few weeks. I was set on uploading and updating the blogs and such, but it's taking forever to get everything to do what I say. I want to share lots of the photos we took (hunderds and hundreds), so I decided to make a slide show, but it's taking forever. I'm getting off topic. I'd explain more about the books, but I'm just too tired to. Lee Child is a fabulous author. We went to this book signing, kids in tow (the only ones there by the way). It started at 2 in which he'd discuss the book, etc. It was great to hear about all he had to say, and really he was a normal guy. For some reason I always think "famous" people are like 8 feet tall in real life, but nope, he was a normal, non-giant sized guy. Then, about 3:45 we got to get our book signed (long long line). Benjamin's asleep in Nick's arms, completely bored and wiped out with all these adults standing around. Jenee's still in the baby bjorn, killing my back and shouders, happily sucking on my shoulder. We're in line, trying to think of what to say. Finally we step up, I hand him the book and say "hi". that's it. HI. no real excitement, no crazy inflection, nothing implied (except maybe exhaustion). He asks "who is this little thing?" "oh, this is jenee' (pause, pause, and more pause), oh this is benjamin, too" he says "have they been here the whole time? I didn't hear them once!" "yup, we've been here since before it began." he finishes signing it and we say "thanks" and walk out the door. could we be any more riveting?? I thought of at least 5 other things to say to him that weren't necessarily exciting, but they were intellegent. -- my side beef -- why do people always say that when they're surprised your children have been good. "i didn't even hear them, or know they were here" I always wonder about that. do they think most children just stand in one place and scream at the tops of their lungs non-stop? one straight 2 hour scream?? i think it's silly, but then they may not have any clue about children. --

anyway. we read the book. Nothing to Lose (the title). lame lame lame. it turned into a crazy idiotic politic rant of at least 5 touchy issues, with a lame plot and story. the main character, jack reacher, went against nearly everything he's stood for in the previous 11 books. example: he was born in the raised in the military, worked in the military, fights for it after retirement, etc - he still lives and loves and breathes the military code and law, blah blah blah. now, he apparently hates anything to do with war and the military. things like that. i won't go on much more, except, I still love Lee Child's previous books. Those were the bomb diggity. Not this one. I'll try the next one, but I'll be expecting him to still have let go of all his values, morals, and good characteristics to be replaced by just plain idiocy.

it was still fun to go to the book signing.

the wedding

2008-05-30T11:54:00.000-05:00

aren't they beautiful? tim and zyz and the flowers!

I would've posted more pictures, but the few that I had taken weren't all that great. Just a ton of random shots that looked like a 3 year old had gotten a hold of a camera. the few pictures that I was actually in looked like instead of losing 20 lbs, I actually gained 20 lbs! I guess that's what happens when you lose weight, but you still really need to lose a lot more! ugh.

to utah and back

2008-05-29T11:56:00.001-05:00

well, i've been sewing and sewing lately (you can see the projects on the other blog), and then we went to utah for tim's wedding (nick's brother). Nick's sister and dad flew us out (holy cow!) as a surprise to everyone else. Their reactions were priceless! We hung out and played guitar hero, the wii, and tons of board games and card games. Ate pizza, chips, soda, and all sorts of junk! We had so much fun!! We got back tuesday evening and are settled back home. Mom's back in town for a week or so, so benji's having fun with his nanna. I'll post pictures from the trip soon, and here's a random picture of jenee's cute feet.

My Celebrity Look-Alikes

2008-05-22T18:31:00.000-05:00

*temple trip

2008-05-12T15:46:00.000-05:00

*i see you

2008-04-28T12:05:00.000-05:00

*mama, feed me!

2008-04-21T14:45:00.000-05:00

that'll just break your heart! when they were washing (the van) and I was clicking (the camera), she was sobbing; poor dear!

*washing off the weekend

2008-04-21T14:42:00.000-05:00

here are my two sweeties, washing the van! Our purple bullet sure endured 4 trips to and from huntsville this weekend, and more to come tomorrow. We came back from our "trip" to huntsville on saturday evening and nick cheerfully suggested we wash the van. Now, when he says we, he usually means ME! We got Benji in there, and I tended to Jenee' who was crying. well, actually I let her cry so I could take some cute pictures! Then I went to feed her, therefore I got out of washing the van! Yipee! One less thing for me to do! Aren't they too cute? I know I use that word all the time, but I just can't help it.

*huntsville

2008-04-19T12:00:00.001-05:00

well, it's noon and I've now been awake for a little over an hour. how lucky to have slept in you're thinking - oh no I didn't! Nick had an appointment last night at 7 half way to Dallas (2 hours away), and said he probably wouldn't be home until 11pm. So, around 11:30 I fell asleep on the couch watching a movie; somehow I found myself to bed because when I woke up at 3 Nick wasn't there!! I went around the house looking all over for him, and then I checked the garage. Empty! So I call him, and he says, "I've been waiting for you to call me" What an odd thing to say! Apparently he didn't have our home phone number, and my cell phone had died the other day and I failed to charge it. Well, it seems his tire blew out, and then the spare blew out (after only a 1/2 mile of driving on it). He'd been sitting at a gas station next to the Huntsville maximum security prison since 11:30. So, I packed up the car and drove 1 1/2 hours to get him, and 1 1/2 hours back. We all settled back into bed at 7 am. I'm completely surprised and very happy that the kiddos actually went back to sleep. I thought I was doomed to stay awake until their nap times. well, we're going to have to get a tire sometime today (after Nick wakes up - he hadn't slept in 24 hours, so I guess he can sleep in a bit more) and drive all the way back up to H'ville. Joyful. I had such fun plans for today too, oh well.

*yuck!

2008-04-18T12:42:00.000-05:00

I had the great fortune of holding her when this happened. It was not only soaked through her shirt, but mine as well. Shower time? Oh yeah!

*doggy dress up

2008-04-14T19:26:00.000-05:00

cracking me up!

Gandalf cowering over there!

Well, I can't get Benji to play dress-up yet. However, if I can put it on Gandalf he thinks it's the funniest thing ever and wants one on too! He is so stinkin' adorable I can't stand it! How's that for being humble?

*new haircut

2008-04-14T19:22:00.000-05:00

I just got my haircut on saturday! Yay for short hair! I love my new do. It'll be very nice for the summertime, especially since she thinned out a whole head's worth of hair too!

* a glimpse

2008-04-11T20:05:00.000-05:00

he gets such a kick out of throwing the ball behind him!

just checking out his sister; she's a bit too close for comfort!

Fun in the backyard

2008-04-05T19:02:00.000-05:00

Watching General Conference

2008-04-05T19:00:00.000-05:00

*making changes

2008-03-30T17:32:00.000-05:00

I haven't made a decent post in about a year, surprise surprise. Things have changed quite a bit lately, we're in a different state, a new job, new children, new opportunities, and starting to get tans.

We're in Cypress, TX, Nick's working in Health insurance, jenee' was born (you got that update though), we're making friends and I'm starting a new business (teaching Sign language to babies, toddlers, and children/parents of all ages), and it's getting warm and we're outside all the time, so my tan is getting ready to blossom. You'll see pictures when I'm camera ready. I know that previous sentence broke all grammar laws, but I don't particularly care at this moment.

We love it down here! It's been fun to be back here, even though it's almost completely different from when I lived here 7 years ago. Benjamin is constantly playing in the back yard throwing balls, or in the house pushing his cars around. He's mastering his puzzle skills, but has yet to really blossom in his finger painting ones. He's definitely a minimalist, he puts two dabs on the paper and then smears the rest on his hands and face; he's just discovering what paint can do. It's really cute! Jenee' is almost rolling over (she did roll off the couch last week - oops!), she gets to her side very easily, and is almost to her tummy. She sits up with props, and she'll stand up if you hold her hands. She is one strong little girl! Her hair is getting thicker on top of her head, and she smiles all the time! She does this bashful smile thing, where she pulls up her blanket (or dress) and covers her mouth. Sometimes she'll bat her lashes at you too. Benjamin is pretty cute with her, he tries to give he high fives all the time. She also gives her "knuckles" - as my friend Shauna taught him to do. It is the funniest thing in the world - we were at the mall the other week and he was giving all the manniquens high fives and knuckles, depending on what their hands looked like (flat - high five, fist - knuckles). He chases gandalf (the dog) around and pushes him off his bed when he wants to play.

I'm starting an ASL business (as stated earlier) called, Rochelle with My Smart Hands. The original business is My Smart Hands, I'm just a "franchise". I'll use their cirriculum and materials, but I design the classes and such. When I'm put up on their website, I'll post the link. I'm very excited to be starting it!!

I'll do better at staying on top of this, but I'm not making promises. Updating this thing is like a full-time job!

**

Jenee' has arrived!!

2008-01-21T16:51:00.000-06:00

Jenee' was born Christmas at 5am! We had the perfect christmas! Later on that morning Nick went to pick up Benjamin from our friends' house and he brought all our presents to the hospital. So, we all opened our presents and out our window it started snowing. What a unique Christmas we had! I felt a bit like Mary on Christmas Eve when we were headed to the hospital and all the labor and delivery stuff involved. I did have it much cushier than she ever did! I had a sweet room, an epidural, and medical people. Plus, I had blankets and pillows. Anyway, here are some pictures of our angel. She is soo cute! She was 7 lbs 9 oz and 21" long. The pictures make her look fairly big, but she is a tiny little thing. Super long and skinny skinny. She has the tiniest little head too!

doodling

2007-10-18T00:33:00.000-05:00

I've been scrapbooking lately, and I'm taking this doodling class that's awesome! I've never been very confident with my artistic abilities, but this class has totally made me feel pretty good about what I can do. Anyway, the class is a blast, and I wanted to post my latest layouts.

zerberts

2007-10-10T00:52:00.000-05:00

I love zerberts (for those of you who don't know what they are, I believe you call them raspberries - you blow on someone's skin, that makes a farting sound)! Benjamin loves them too! He has been giving me zerberts daily for a long long time. He wakes up Nick (remember he works graveyards so he sleeps during the day) everyday with a zerbert on any part of skin he can find. He's even given him one on his forehead. Too funny! Well, recently he walks up to me and pulls my shirt up to reveal my big preggo belly and gives me tons of zerberts. Well I'm not sure how Jenee is taking it. She goes balistic after he gives me one. She pushes back at where he gave me one or she starts kicking all over. It's hilarious! I don't know if she likes it and gets excited, or she wants some peace and gets angry. He hasn't noticed yet though (thank goodness - I think it might traumatize him), he usually pulls my shirt back down in between each zerbert. He likes modest girls best!

Anyway, thought I'd share the funnyness of Benji. Someday I'll make a list of all the hilarious things he does on a daily basis. If we took video of him doing all the things he does and then sent it in to america's funniest videos we'd totally take the huge grand prize - and I'm being modest. I'll try to share them with you in the future.

dessert.. yumm

2007-10-10T00:01:00.000-05:00

You Are Cheesecake

Rich, sweet, and simply perfect.
You're not boring - you're just the best!

What Dessert Are You Most Like?

pictures at last!

2007-10-08T18:38:00.001-05:00

These are from our trip to Houston - we had been playing at a water park, and then decided to dry off on the playground. Isn't he adorable!!

been to tejas

2007-09-30T16:24:00.000-05:00

Well, Benji and I just got back from a trip to Houston, where we saw almost everyone on my side of the family! What a blast it was! We got back and are finally caught up on all our missed sleep. I don't have any pictures from the trip: so many people were taking pictures I never pulled my camera out. Shameful! Hopefully pictures will start rolling in and then I can get them up. Who wants to look at a blog without pictures? I surely don't. Sometime soon I'll drown this blog in so many posts and pictures it'll take weeks to look at all of it. Promises promises. Well, we'll see how many posts and pictures I'll get up. I just thought I'd let everyone know we are alive and happy. Jenee' is growing in my belly quite nicely. She is a whippersnapper! Constantly moving, unless someone else wants to feel her move and then she pretends to be sleeping. Attitude at such a young age! What *am* I going to do? Pray, a lot.

See ya!

busy busy busy

2007-09-01T13:50:00.001-05:00

I have completely slacked off in the blog department. I'm sure many have given up on me; I apologize. I've been super busy getting the house in order: organizing, decluttering, revamping, etc. I get those "nesting" urges throughout my whole pregnancy, not just at the end and I figure I'd better do something now while I still can move around pretty easily. I make myself extremely exhausted though. I worked worked worked and then this past week I've been busy rotting my brain by not doing a thing! It's been nice, but still I feel restless. Benjamin has been having a good time through it all. I'm trying to think of something new and exciting he's done, but I just can't make my brain function at this point. His favorite thing to do is go up and down stairs, go out on the balcony opening and closing the screen door, and showing off how cool he is by coming back inside! Impressive, I know! Ha ha. He is so cute. He does it alllll day! He *loves* doors and loves being outside. He watches the cars go by and hollers at them. He presses his face against the sliding doors at me making faces and laughing. It is too funny.

I know the blog has been lacking in regards of pictures. Lame, I know. The computer with the pictures isn't hooked up to the internet: our wireless card broke. Soo, I've got to copy them on to a device and then put them on this computer, and it just doesn't sound like fun when I'm exhausted after chasing Benji around and cleaning the house and all the other general nonsense. Well, before september is up, there'll be pictures on the blog.

Let the voting being!

2007-08-11T22:09:00.000-05:00

Well, since we're having a sweet baby girl (of course she'll be sweet) we're wanting to know your opinion. We have decided to name her Jenee' Nicole, but some of you have been overly excited (in a bad way) about how we're spelling her name. We chose this way because #1 Nick's old childhood friend spelled it that way, and she was a very dear friend to him; #2 my middle name is Renee' - so it's kinda like naming her after me without being lame and naming her after me directly (also her middle name, Nicole, is a kind of way of naming her after Nick - again without naming her after him). #3 we've always thought we'd spell it that way, so it's rather difficult to change that mind setting. Some of you have said, oh but no one will know how to say her name, they'll say Jenny instead. Well, it does have an ' at the end, and it would probably only take one time to correct people for them to get it.

We've made a poll for you to vote on, you'd better only vote once (mom!) or you'll ruin it completely. Feel free to leave your thoughts on your vote as well. I'd actually like to hear them. We are in no way guaranteeing that we will choose the final result, but after much contemplating and debating, we will decide. That is why your comments would be particularly helpful.

http://click.babycenter.com/b/?le=7Zgj&cn=emailafriend&amp;amp;en=20070806&pe=0&t=0

Thanks for your help!

boy or girl??

2007-07-26T20:05:00.000-05:00

We are having a healthy baby! It is due now around December 21st, instead of the 9th. We'll see though. Hopefully it'll be born sooner rather than later. We got some cute little pictures too. Okay, okay I'll tell you. It's a girl! We're having Jenee' Nicole!

I haven't posted this because I'm having trouble with the computer that has the scanner attached. The internet to that computer is wireless and is hard to get it to connect all the time, anyway - it's lame! So, I'll finally announce the great news, and then get the ultrasound pics up when I can. I'm sorry that I didn't let you know you sooner, I really planned to! (It says I posted it the day of the ultrasound - see I really did mean to announce it sooner - but really I posted it the 12th of August)

finished

2007-07-23T01:05:00.000-05:00

Well, I finished Harry Potter today, and it was fantastic! I can't believe the series is over! I feel as though I've lost a dear friend or something. I'll definitely have to reread this last book again so I can process it better. Some parts moved so fast I could hardly breathe. I loved it! Nick and I have spent just as much time discussing it as we did reading it!

harry potter!

2007-07-21T19:08:00.000-05:00

We have begun to read the 7th Harry Potter book, and so far I love it! We're reading it a weird way. I'll read a few chapters, then Nick'll read a few chapters so we each get to read it at the same time. I'm ahead of him though - I started reading the book several hours before we came up with the idea. It's nice I guess, we get to discuss it as we read, but it's torture waiting to get to keep reading. It may not be a good idea in the end, but it's too late now to go back.

Benji's sleeping on the floor while we read; he's so adorable, he's sprawled out on his back while clutching one sock in each hand. too funny!

I've got to go back now and sit and watch Nick read the book, willing him to read faster! I just finished a really long turn (he was so nice to let me read way more than I should have) so I'll have to try hard to be equally patient.

If you haven't started reading it, what are you waiting for??

thermometers lie!

2007-07-12T18:35:00.001-05:00

Here we are sitting in our apartment boiling away and the weather stations have the audacity to say it's only 84 degrees outside! Hello! We're dying! There is no way I'm dying in 84 degree weather! I'm not that much of a sissy! I sweat if I move faster than a sloth. If I breathe too rapidly I break out in a sweat too. Benjamin is sweating like crazy and he only has a diaper on. We've got one fan in the front, one fan in Benji's room, and Nick's hogging the best fan in our bedroom while he's sleeping. Can you tell I'm bitter?? Ha ha! We're living on otter pops and watermelon. The plus side is, we might be losing weight. That'd be nice, but honestly I'd rather not lose weight this way. Benji has been sick lately. I'm not quite sure what it is. Apparently a lot of babies his age are ill. They're all dying from the heat! There is a pool at our apartment complex, but there are so many kids in it you can't see the water. A few women in the ward have offered for us to come swim at their apartments' pools. I'm definitely going to be taking them up on that offer next week! We're going down to Medford tomorrow to visit Nick's younger brother who just came home from his mission in Philly. Plus, almost all of his siblings are there, so it'll be a blast! They have air conditioning and a pool! Wahoo! I might not leave if it's really nice!

I'm out of here, I've run out of otter pops for this blogging session!

ticking away

2007-07-08T16:58:00.000-05:00

well, we're just hanging out right now. Nick's younger brother comes home from his mission on tuesday, so we'll be driving down to see him! Nick and I have been reminiscing about our last week of our missions - what a crazy mix of emotions! It's crazy to think I've been home for so long, it feels like a dream. The baby is doing good (I think), I feel he/she move every once in a while, but it's not big enough to really make an impact. Benji has been using his little walker thingy. It's like a car he pushes around. He has been scared of it for a long time, but lately he's been pushing it around, but he does it backwards without using the handles. The whole time he just giggles and giggles. It's funny!

what kind of soda are you?

2007-06-29T00:35:00.000-05:00

You Are Coke

A true original and classic, you represent the best of everything you can offer.Just the right amount of sweet, just the right amount of energy... you're the life of the party.
Your best soda match: Mountain Dew
Stay away from:Dr Pepper

What Kind of Soda Are You?

baby update

2007-06-29T00:03:00.000-05:00

Well, we went to our first baby doctor appointment (yes, we are a little late in the first visit), but it did take a while to find a new doctor up here. I was pretty nervous that he just wouldn't be as great as my old doctor and then I started worrying about everything. Ahhhh... how fun to be a worry-wart sometimes (not really). So... we went and he was amazing! We totally felt at ease, and he is so approachable and he seems to really care and value our thoughts and opinions. He doesn't put off the -I'm the doctor and that means I'm the best-vibe at all. He has his own children too, I don't know why that matters to me, but it's nice to know that he's been there (well, his wife was mainly). We talked a bit about VBAC and cesarean and he sounds really positive about the possibility of having a VBAC and such. We haven't made our decision, but we'll take our time and really think about it some more and pray about it as well. This is serious stuff, we don't want to just go on a whim.

We heard the baby's heartbeat, it was around 150 bpm. Plus he did a ultrasound, it wasn't the full-blown one, mostly just to measure to see how far along I am because we weren't exactly sure. I was right, I said I was 16 weeks, and I'm really like 15 Weeks and 6 days or something --- 1 day off, not bad! We saw the baby, sooo cute and sweet! There's nothing like seeing your baby for the first time inside of you. The baby was just kicking and moving its arms all around, so fun! He couldn't see the gender. It's too young, and it wasn't that clear of an ultrasound, it was on one of those portable cart ones. We saw it's tiny little heart beating! The only clear picture we got was the top of its head. it's 3 cm across (width) how incredibly tiny! Can you believe that, such a tiny tiny teeninsie person!! I'm so excited. Nick is really excited and Benji's oblivious. We'll find out the gender at the end of July at the real ultrasound, and we'll have some pictures to post too!

delicious weekend

2007-06-24T16:40:00.000-05:00

My itch to cook has come back, but only with baking. I am cooking us dinners now, but I still have to be cautious about what I cook. I made cinnamon rolls this morning, they were yummmmmy! They were so rich, I tried out a new recipe, the brown sugar/cinnamon/butter mixture crisped up on the bottoms of each roll and it tasted almost like toffee. You had to have a glass of milk with the rolls (and that's saying a lot since we don't really like milk, except chocolate) to get them down. So we had candy for breakfast. wahoo! Then, I made some Amish white bread - my first time to make bread (without a machine to do it for me) - and I loved it! It was so much fun and so easy! I'm going to start making tons of different kinds of bread, I'm so pumped! Why buy a loaf when I can make it myself?? We're never going to lose weight, but I'd say we'd be healthier without all those preservatives and maybe when I get tired of making it all the time, we'll never have it! Then later tonight we're having some divine chicken and corn-on-the-cob with some homemade lemonade! Can life get better than this? I submit that it cannot!!

Yesterday we had a feast too. We went on our first official family picnic! It was so much fun! We made huge sub sandwiches, had chips, homemade lemonade, and fruit. Next time we'll take some cookies though. We walked to our favorite park and spread out a huge blanket. Benjamin thought it was the funniest thing. He would crawl all around the blanket, but wouldn't get off of it. I'm going to enjoy that while it lasts. Soon he'll think he's supposed to stay off the blanket. We lounged and enjoyed our food. We had a tickle war and then collapsed and cuddled. Benjamin had a shirt on that had a hoodie and he hates it when we put it on his head. Nick would put it over his head and he would try to pull it off, but he pulls it forward which really frustrates him! Then he started crawling around like crazy. Our theory is that he was trying to crawl so fast that the wind would blow it off his head! We went on a beautiful walk through the forest, where Nick tried to scare me to death by letting go of the stroller down a steep side trail that led straight into a river. Nick nearly lost his life after that little incident. He's safe and sound now, and so is Benji.

well, that was our wonderful weekend! thought I'd rub it in!

happy father's day!!

2007-06-17T18:13:00.000-05:00

Well, Sunday's rolled around rather quickly. ahhh, the week's over and a new one's on its way. Dinner's in the oven (I'm cooking again!), Benji's knocking everything off the shelves, and Nick's sleeping. Nick's graveyard shift begins tonight so he's trying to get some type of rest so he's not passing out on the job or the drive there and back. It's been a wonderful week since getting back to the regular comings and goings of family life at home. The men at church got a cool father's day treat. The primary children sang in sacrament, then the men were all asked to get up and sing "Ye Elders of Israel" - it sounded wonderful! I love all men choirs. Benji clapped while his dad sang, it was too cute. Then during the last class of the day (priesthood) the young women set up the gym with tables, balloons, and such. They had a ice cream buffet - vanilla ice cream with all the toppings you could dream of to go with it. Then there was soda to make floats and just to enjoy. They had the young women sing too. Sheesh - what a nice treat! I heard some of the women laughing saying - wow they get a heck a lot of treats and the women get a dead petunia for mother's day! - they did say it laughingly (they weren't really complaining).

Since Benji's turned one he's been consumed with energy! One night he kept crawling as fast as he could back and forth the room. He wasn't chasing anything or going after toys, just crawling and crawling as fast as he could. At church he was all over the place climbing on us, pulling things out of his bag, gulping his water, banging on the chairs, trying to pull the chairs over, pointing at everything and jabbering in his cute little language, clapping yelling out: it was hilarious! I'm sure other people didn't so much like it, but I couldn't help but laugh. Next sunday I'll control him a bit more, but I couldn't this time it was too fun to watch. He's happy, so as long as you can still hear the speakers does it really matter?? I guess it does to some extent.

I'm going to go enjoy the rest of my relaxing sunday and set the table for dinner.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!

vacation photos

2007-06-12T21:20:00.001-05:00

Our Prodigy

2007-06-12T20:00:00.000-05:00

re*group

2007-06-12T19:39:00.001-05:00

Hello all, I'm back from vacation! Nick, Benji, and I went down to Medford for Memorial Day weekend, but only Nick came back up so he could start his new job. Benji and I stayed down there for 2 whole weeks! I had tons of help while my body started recovering from morning sickness and got some sleep! Benjamin had a rough time too - we had to wean because I had no more milk, he got a cold, and he started teething too. Poor guy! Even though he was not feeling his best he was spoiled spoiled spoiled by his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and anyone else that came over to play! So, I'd say he had a blast!

While we were down there Benji had his first birthday! I can hardly believe it! The week of his birthday I could remember vividly that very week a year earlier and all the emotions of anticipation. The experience (pain - contractions, relief - the epidural, scared - C-section, complete joy - holding Benjamin) was always on my mind the whole day before his birthday and the day of. What a crazy week it was! I can't believe he's grown so much. He's still so tiny, but his personality is huge! He is one crazy kid! I'm so excited to see him get even older and I don't like it all at the same time! I miss my tiny baby boy! Oh well! I am excited that there's another one on the way! My morning sickness is pretty much under control, the only time I struggle is at night when I start becoming tired.

who me?

2007-05-11T13:50:00.000-05:00

A - Age: 24 years, 8 months.

B - Bed size: Queen

C - Chore you hate: laundry!! Arg!

D - Dessert you love: ice cream – dryer’s nestle toll house cookie dough ice cream with cookie bits, chocolate pieces, and sWiRlS of cookie dough!!

E - Essential start your day item: shoes on my feet and moisturizer for my face

F - Favorite actor(s): the cast of Best In Show – pure genius!

G - Gold or Silver: Silver!

H - Height: 5' 7”

I - Instruments you play: The piano, clarinet, and for a few months the cello.

J - Job title: Wife, Mama, Student

K - Kid(s): one and another on the way

L - Living arrangements: 2 bed 2 bath apt in Oregon

M- Favorite month: September (my birthday – duh!) I love spring and fall months.

N - Nicknames: Shelly, Shell Bell, hey you, and I’m not going to repeat my lame childhood ones!

O - Overnight hospital stay other than giving birth: none
P - Phobia: the Phone! I have to coach my way through phone calls! Snakes and worms! I hate worms more than snakes!
Q - Quote(s): She designed a life she loved.

R - Right or left handed: RightS - Siblings: two brothers, and a whole bunch of step siblings.

T - Tattoo(s): Nope

U - Unique talent: anything you can do I can do better, I can do anything better than you! Jk.

V - Vegetable you hate: squash, asparagus, mushroom, olive, okra, soggy spinach, beet, radish, broccoli, and others equally nasty

W - Worst habit: eating everything in front of me (that’s not on the bad list)

X- If you were told to Xerox a part of your body what would you agree to: elbow

Y - Yummy food you make: everything I make is divine. :)

Z- Zodiac Sign: virgo.

re*fresh

2007-05-10T19:25:00.000-05:00

Happy thursday! This week has gone by quickly, and I'm happy about that! I'm doing a little better in regards to morning sickness - yay. Benji is teething like a fiend, he's got his bottom two and top two teeth slooooooooowly pushing their way out. They couldn't go any slower, but they're there and they make themselves known every hour of the day and night! Arg. As you can tell the blog's appearance has changed, and I'm very excited about it! I plugged away at it for a bit and there's some more things to add, but I don't have the time to do it all in one day, unless I lock Benj in a closet (not likely). I'd at least have to turn the music up real loud! I've got a new link list titled "barlow's bites" - as you know I love to cook and love food. I put only 4 good recipes out there for ya. I didn't come up with them, unfortunately, but I am a pro at enjoying them. The cowboy spaghetti is particularly one of my favs! I almost put more up there, but I thought - hey, let's keep 'em guessing - they'll never know when I'll change them or add more. Plus, I'm still wanting to be selfish about my favorite ones. We certainly can't have everyone cooking my favorite recipes, there'd be no need for me! Well, I think I'll dink around and do some more maintenance!

Gonna Be A Brother

2007-05-09T00:56:00.000-05:00

He's chewed on his shirt a bit, but hopefully you can get the idea.

Ok, I lied...

2007-04-30T12:25:00.000-05:00

I lied when I said nothing was going on in our neck of the woods! Last tuesday I was thinking to myself, "gee I don't feel so hot," but I just thought it was from all the traveling we'd been doing. I was very tired and could never catch up on sleep. Then I started feeling worse that morning (tuesday) and tossed my cookies. Then I started thinking, when was my last "moon cycle"??? I couldn't remember, but I thought hey, that was at the first of March! So I went to the store and took a test, and sure enough... we're pregnant! I did a dance and Benji giggled (b/c I looked crazy I'm sure). I made a shirt for Benji that said "I'm gonna be a big brother" and put it on him for when Nick came home. Nick walked in the door and I told him, "go get benji so we can eat dinner" he did and totally missed his shirt (it was very obvious). Then I asked him if he noticed anything. He said, "you cooked dinner and did Benji's hair?" I always cook dinner and I always do Benji's hair! "Look at his shirt!" He looked, but he didn't read it. "Read it Nick!" He read it and then I saw the wheels turning, "really!?" That's that. How funny, Nick is usually observant, but I'm not sure what happened to him that day!

The morning sickness has come full force and I'm doing everything I can to keep my food down. I'm feeling very weak, but at least this time some foods do sound good to me. Most of them sounded good to me last night (sunday) when I couldn't go to any store and do anything about it! Lame! You bet your boots that I'll be getting some of it today though! I'm going to have to postpone school until July, when my morning sickness should be pretty much gone. If not, then I'll go after the babe is born.

No we don't have any idea or hope if it'll be a boy or girl or twins even. I asked Benji through a series of tests and his conclusion is one baby boy. We'll see. If he gets it right, then we may have a second income coming our way - psychic readings.

Fun huh!

Just to let you know

2007-04-27T19:12:00.000-05:00

Just to let you know, there's nothing going on here. Still on the hunt for a babysitter. Anyone want to move up here and babysit? I'll cook for you! School starts in a little over a week, it'll be awesome if I get to go! Benjamin is teething and is still wild and crazy. I'm sorry I have nothing to share with you, I just had to make sure y'all didn't think I would forget you for another month or so. Pictures to come soon!

Settling In

2007-04-15T16:19:00.000-05:00

I apologize to all for the extreme slacking that's been going on in this lack-of-blogging blog. We've been busy, yes, but not that busy. I've also been recovering from all that's been going on and allowing myself to read and watch a bit of Matlock. I posted several videos to show the huge changes Benjamin has gone through. I'll try to get some video of him pulling himself up, cruising on the furniture, and just being so darn cute! He is a mad man! He wants to be everywhere all at once! He doesn't like to sit still that much. He's getting a lot better at sleeping at night.

Nick and I have been going on walks late at night around the parks and he falls asleep on those trips. Heaven!

I'm now starting school May 9th and am incredibly excited!! Now all we need to do is find a babysitter for when I'm in class.

Nick is now the gospel essentials teacher and I am young women's secretary. We're both so excited about our new callings! They couldn't be more perfect!

Our new home is cute and we've got most of the pictures on the wall. I don't know what it is about the last 1/4 of pictures that I just don't put on the walls. Our last apartment we didn't have all the pictures up until the month before we moved (after having been there a year and a few months)! Silliness! I blame Benji. I got most of them up a lot quicker this time. Now I just have to do a few more rearrangements of furniture and I think I'll be set.

Kris (my little brother) was recently in a car accident. Last week he was driving and something happened and he hit a couple trees and landed in a huge ditch (the details are hazy). He broke both femurs, one a clean break, the other had several breaks. He broke a bone under his knee, punctured his liver, fractured his wrists, broke his nose, has cuts and bruises all over, and I'm sure something else. It was very scary! He was life flighted and he's had mom and his dad tending after him since it happened. He is in a ton of pain, but is being very strong about it all. He is still himself - giving everyone a hard time. :) don't we love him! There's a lot more to the story, but I didn't want him to find out I wrote all this and be mad at me!

Nick is enjoying his new job and is getting used to the differences from his old job. The people he works with are very nice, which is especially nice since there's only 4 or 5 other people at his branch.

I guess this is what happens when you get behind in updating everyone, you have to write a novel. Which reminds me, Lee Child's next book comes out May 15th! Can life get better? I submit that it cannot! Well, then Harry comes out in book and in film in July, but that's a long time from now.

Adios, I gotta make dinner, I'm starved!

playing catch 2

2007-04-15T16:18:00.003-05:00

playing catch 1

2007-04-15T16:18:00.001-05:00

bucket time

2007-04-15T16:17:00.003-05:00

crawling- bird's eye view

2007-04-15T16:17:00.001-05:00

Crawling

2007-04-15T16:16:00.001-05:00

wedding maddness

2007-02-25T17:41:00.001-06:00

Wedding Maddness is OVER!!

2007-02-25T17:02:00.000-06:00

The cakes finished baking thursday. Friday they were frosted, pecan-ed, and assembled. They turned out perfect! Saturday was the big day! Becky looked gorgeous and Phil looked very handsome! They couldn't be happier. The final touches were done to the cake and the pictures were taken (of the bride and groom of course!). The reception began and was beautiful! Those who were there were blown away by it; it was enchanting!

We are exhausted, drained, and have no time to rest... we're moving this week!! Yikes!

Hodge Podge

2007-02-20T18:56:00.000-06:00

Wedding Cake Countdown

2007-02-20T16:39:00.000-06:00

It begins, the baking of the wedding cake. Today (tuesday, the 20th)I'm doing the 6" and 9" tiers. So far, it's going well, but incredibly slow. Benji is being very clingy today. Perhaps that's because he's fallen twice and is now scarred for life. He will be frightened of heights - a mere 2 inches will drive him to wetting his pants and sobbing himself into asthma attacks.

Saddness aside, the cakes are coming out quite nicely.

Ribbon Cutting

2007-02-20T00:34:00.000-06:00

Here you go; stop your whining! It's the grand opening of the phone replacement! Now I don't have to call anyone, I can just blog you to death. I'm not quite sure what goes in a blog, or if you're even going to look at this, but it's the end of the headache-inducing complaints of "you never stay in touch," or "you're absolutely shameful at calling me," or "you obviously hate me, you never talk to me." Now folks, I do care (I can hear you now, "if you really cared, you'd call" - stop it), I just detest the phone. We did get new phones today, so that's a good sign - we still use them. This blog has been created so you can be informed of our lives. Check whenever you like, or don't check at all. You can watch Benji grow up and all the other kiddos that come our way. You can even see what we're up to, but let's not pretend, we know you'll skip that stuff. Be patient as I learn the ropes and figure out what's boring and what's incredibly boring and I'll settle somewhere in the middle. Apparently you're supposed to share your opinions on these things, I may do that every once in a while... if I muster up the courage. Feel free to reply back (not on the opinion thing though, if it's my opinion you're not entitled to a different one) and let us know what you think and what you're doing as well.

All my bags are packed... or not!

2007-02-20T00:24:00.000-06:00

Well, we have just a little over a week until we move upstate! It is so exciting to be going up there, though it will be also hard to leave our family and friends choking on our dust, weeping and wailing, planning their demise. However, it must be done, greener pastures await us...

We spent much of the weekend packing and getting things ready, Benji's is sooo incredibly active now! He never wants to sit, just stand. He holds onto any ledge and just giggles for minutes (what probably seem like hours to him)... but when I say minutes, I mean 30 or longer. It's quite impressive. He is going to be a climber: I have visions of him climbing on our roof and knocking on the skylight. Benji's favorite thing to do is to grab my shoulder trying to climb up on top of, wiping his drool and food crumbs as he goes. He is done with soft food, bring on the chewy stuff! He chews and swallows almost as well as I do, even without a single tooth. He drinks from cups and eats bananas like an adult.

This week we're packing and getting ready for Becky's wedding. She's getting married saturday; we're super excited! Most of this week I'll be packing and baking the wedding cake... I'll post pictures of the wedding and cake later. Benji will be super cute in his suit, so will Nick in his tux. There's soo much going on this week, it's incredible!