Jenny's baby shower

3/31/11

It's the last day of March?!?! Sheesh. Time flies.

LOOK WHAT I HAVE GROWING ON THE BACK PORCH!!!!!!

A couple months ago, we were at Home Depot and they happened to have this giant bag of 100+ daffodil bulbs for like, $12. They are one of my favorite flowers (and the official birth month flower for March). Mark planted them and we crossed our fingers that they'd have enough dormant time in the cold ground before it was time to bloom (you're really supposed to plant them in the fall...) He also threw in some poppy seeds in a couple of the pots. We're hoping that this will be the year we finally transform the mud bog in back into a real yard! We started out with lots of big pots because our native "soil" is more like "straight rocks and clay" and will need a LOT of work to cultivate.

Anyway, on to the baby shower.

This is my good friend Jenny Norton.

 

We were visiting teaching companions for almost a year before we figured out we were cousins-in-law. Or whatever it is you call it when my first cousin Mark Nelson is married to her sister Emily. It was one of those head-smacking DUH! moments when we put two and two together. And btw, her sister is fabulously talented at home design, etc. and just started a new blog:

Check it out!

Jenny has three cute little boys and was very surprised to become pregnant with her fourth (another boy). I felt like she needed and deserved a little party, so we had one last Friday.

 

The decorations were simple--I just used fabric I already had for tablecloths, and borrowed some flower arrangements from my sister Maria. I'd made them for her wedding, so it was nice to get another use out of them. 

 

Very springy, no? Sorry these aren't very good pictures. The lighting was low and I was crunched on time.

 

We rearranged the living room for a more open flow. Early comers were treated to an episode of Ni Hao, Kai-Lan.  Xīn Nián Kuài Lè! (Forget Dora---Kai-Lan teaches your kids Mandarin.)

 

Luke was very helpful in selecting the recipes and making sure that getting the house and food ready on time was next. to. impossible. (I love you, son...)

 

Everything was sooo delicious. I made pasta salad, coconut fluff, sub sandwiches, chocolate berry muffins, chocolate mousse and these strawberry tart thingies. I'll post the recipes soon.

 

It was an open house type affair, so we had people coming and going, but here was the main group. L-r: Debbie Berry, Rosalie Kirtley, Jenny Norton, Mindee Knight, Christine Anderson, Kristy Spencer, Erin Wimmer.

Good times with good friends! So glad we did it! And thank you to Mark, who took Madelyn and Luke to the pool so as to be out of my hair. I need to do that (have the kids out of my hair) more often!

Hello from the other side

3/29/11

Just FYI, being 30 is exactly the same as being 29.

 

 

 Madelyn is still sassy.....here's the new boots she picked out because "they have heels". She prefers to wear them over her pants, à la a little English girl taking riding lessons. Or Han Solo.

 

 Luke is still a rascal.....See these cubbies we have stacked near the front door?

He took my house keys and shoved them into the deepest, darkest corner behind the folders and books I have stored there. I looked for a solid week before I found them. If I hadn't known him to stash things there before, they'd probably still be lost.

 

Since my b-day was on Saturday, Mark was home and we all went to St. George. It was snowing here. Cedar City doesn't know that it's spring yet.

 

Madelyn (her left eye drifts when she's not wearing her glasses) had an EXTREMELY hard time not calling all the shots. She had several meltdowns and was a super crankypants because we weren't doing what SHE wanted to do. It was lovely! I tried to ignore her and went ahead and got some cute clothes at Target and scored at Dillard's because it was Clinique Bonus time and got all sorts of free makeup.

Mark got me some of my favorite music and movies, this quirky plant (since I have a black thumb), and I gifted myself a large box of chocolates and this:

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

I saw it while grocery shopping at Lins back in Oct. or Nov. last year and only had to think for .004 seconds before depositing it into my cart, but didn't have time to read it, then forgot to give it to myself for Christmas, so NOW was the time! I've been hunkered over it for days, sometimes with my iTunes Beatles library open so I can listen to the songs I'm reading about. Sigh!

I found this guy's blog post about it, and heartily agreed with it--that the beauty of the Beatle's catalog of 300+ songs is that you could create your own alternate top 10 or top 100 of their songs and it would still make sense. I know you're all dying to know my top 10. Lemme see.....

1. A Day in the Life
2. Across the Universe
3. Here Comes the Sun
4. I Feel Fine
5. Back in the U.S.S.R.
6. Two of Us
7. I Need You
8. Baby You're a Rich Man
9. If I Fell
10. All My Loving

And the entire "Help!" album. And the entire "Live at the BBC" collection. And most of  "Sgt. Pepper" and "Past Masters II". I think I could easily list my top 100....buuut I won't. Today.

ANYhoo, that was my birthday....I don't feel old unless I sit and think about it, so I just try not to. Then I saw a picture of David Beckham and thought that he was a fine specimen of someone over 30 (35, actually) and so stopped feeling so paranoid. My day ended with this:

Mess of the Day

that had nothing whatsoever to do with Luke

Mark and I were finally heading to bed around 12:30am when I found it.

 

This bottle had been 3/4 full....it fell off the laundry cart and cracked and spewed. I had heard something fall, but didn't bother to check until much later. (Besides, would you have expected the bottle to break like that? It's really sturdy plastic!)  It was super thick and soapy to clean up--Mark had to detach the washer and dryer from the wall so we could get underneath them. At least it smells very fresh in there now.

Report on the baby shower coming next!

18 months!

That went by fast.

3/25/11

My baby is 18 months old today!  *Cue long-winded post about every single thing about him.*

Oh wait. I don't have his stats.

I'm throwing a baby shower tonight.

It's the last day of my 20's and I need to do something exciting.

Except the only thing I'll probably end up doing is cooking and cleaning.

Oh well.

So what I do have for you is a photo shoot I did the other day of my miscreant darling, adorable children horsing around on my bed! Enjoy!

 

Excuse me while I go kiss that precious face.

 

 

Pinkalicious, anyone?

  

  

 

 Note the disembodied arm.

 

 

  Time to kiss him again! ♥

 

My children have absolutely no qualms about destroying a freshly made bed. 

 

 Gotta kiss that face once it arrives home from school...

 

 

 I guess I won't feel too old as long as I still have these two around. :)

Travelling Riverside Blues

Can you tell I'm trying to avoid housework? :D

And for the Led Zeppelin averse, you really need to hear this song. It's not heavy metal, it's not hard rock, it's not (that) screechy....it's just a freaking awesome groovy song. Mark has all their albums and this one's not on any of them, so I was very excited to find it on iTunes and YouTube today. We've been jamming out all morning. And someone was so thoughtful as to compile a slideshow reeking with the 70's to go with it. Enjoy Robert, Jimmy, John Paul and John in all their bushy haired glory! Kinda makes me want to air dry my hair tomorrow and let it alllll hang out.

July 15th had better HURRY UP

Vegas! (finally)

3/19/11

OK folks...................sorry about the delay. Since we got home last Sunday, I've been up to my eyeballs in unpacking/cleaning/fourteen loads of laundry/sorting through clothes/posting jewelry/prepping for Activity Days/attempting to make cookies and three pot pies with eight 8-year-olds/chauffeuring to school and ballet/grocery shopping/shoe shopping/making and sending out 25 baby shower invitations/painting/more laundry/replacing brake pads (OK Mark did that)/errands/staying up too late/Megamind/making posole/cleaning bathrooms/scrubbing poop and blood out of stuff/taking Madelyn to a dance performance that it turns out she wasn't in but we thought she was so went to all the trouble of getting her in her hair, makeup and costume this morning, all while Mark was at work.

So.

 Beckham, Ravi and Madelyn, back in summer 2008

Last week, we went to Vegas with our friends the Richards. Jeremy, Nadia, Beckham and Ravi were our BFFs in New Mexico and they will soon be moving to the western Pacific island of Saipan (to fulfill a commitment to the NHSC since they helped pay for Jeremy's medical school), so we wanted to get together for one last hurrah.

We'd planned a trip to the Grand Canyon, but since we had just dropped a lot of cash on our SLC trip, we ended up choosing Vegas because it was cheaper. And warmer. And had better shopping. And had the added bonus of being on Pacific time, so that when we went home on Sunday back to Mountain time and had to adjust to Daylight Savings, we got to jump TWO hours ahead from what we were the day before, and so have felt like zombies all week.

We stayed at the Tahiti Village Resort and Spa, which I can highly recommend. It's on the south end of the Las Vegas Strip (just past the airport), so it's close to the action, but instead of a casino, it has a giant pool. All the rooms have full kitchens or kitchenettes, so it's family friendly. Here's what we did:

Luke:

 Immediately grabbed the phone, which he always does, so we immediately disconnected it. Then he found a cordless phone, and we took it away. Then he found the keypad on the base for the cordless phone, put it on speaker, and called housekeeping. "Hello? Housekeeping!" (*Empty silence.....* I hurry and hang up and unplug the whole thing from the wall.) Then the next morning, he grabbed my key card and found a super secret place to hide it. We never did find out where it was...

He enjoyed nice long runs down the hallway every chance he got

He went ♥swimming♥

 

Got freezing cold in the lazy river but still had a great time....then went and charmed the ladies in the hot tub

 And after gorging himself on fried rice, corn, marshmallows, root beer and watermelon at the Rio Carnival World Buffet, he gave up waiting for the rest of us and just fell asleep at the table. (He missed his usual naps during the trip, poor kid.)

Mark:

 Took Madelyn swimming when we first got to the hotel, even though it was getting dark and cold. Plus he drove the whole way there and back. And he endured the Las Vegas Premium Outlets with us.

  

 Since he used to live in Vegas, he knew about the enormous (300+ choices) buffet at the Rio, and so suggested we go there, and everyone gained five pounds. He packed in two platefuls of BBQ ribs.

 Oof.

He almost bought a pair of these when he went to R.E.I. with Jeremy (but they didn't have his size...thank goodness.... I mean, dang!) Everyone we know who has a pair loves them, but I was not ready for him to spend $100 for something he couldn't wear to work. Am I right?? Who's with me on this? He'll still probably get some eventually...

 

 He and Mister Luke had lots of quality time. What cutie pies!

 Madelyn:

 

 The pool had a sandy beach...pure awesomeness! She never wanted to leave.

 

 All she wanted to do was swim. When we weren't at the pool, she was talking about going to the pool. She managed to go swimming three different times, but that probably wasn't enough.

After our swim on Saturday, I made the kids take a bath and then she passed out on the couch before she even had a chance to get dressed. She needed it! She was so worn out and
o-r-n-e-r-y!!! This couch folded out into a bed, and that's where she slept at night, which she thought was great fun. Luke thought it was fun too, until he fell off of it straight onto his head. It's a good thing I always travel with a medical professional (or two) in tow.

 Gearing up for the buffet

Madelyn was all set on eating some crab legs, but they only served them at dinner and we were there for lunch. So she settled on some mussels and clams. She ate an entire bowl of them and then went back for more. I brought her chopsticks from home and she was all set. That girl is definitely part Chinese. 

 

 She played some slots.....gotta help pay for the trip, you know. ;)

 Coerced us into letting her take a carousel ride at the outlet mall

Threw a gigantic hissy fit at H&M because I wouldn't buy her these shoes...

  

Goofed around with the boys (That's not Miller Lite, btw, it's lemonade, haha.)

 And had fun watching a movie back in the hotel room. I went digging and found this old picture from spring 2009 when we were in ABQ for Mark's graduation:

Not much has changed! Except that (thankfully) Madelyn is no longer going through a naked phase.

Melissa:

I'm always the picture taker, so I thought I'd try to get at least one shot of myself to prove I was there.

 

I had the best time with Nadia!!! She and I shared our misery in ABQ when Mark was in PA school and Jeremy was going through his residency. (He's still going through it, actually. Poor man.)

 I had a serious need for Mexican food, and we scored at Lolita's Cantina at the Town Square shopping complex. Al pastor pork street tacos....Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....Go during the day, unless you want to want to be part of the clubbing/tequila bar scene.

As Nadia and I were driving up to the Town Square, we had a mini freak out that it had an H&M. I'd never been, but knew we were destined to meet eventually!

Cheap, cute clothes for the whole family: I'm converted! Now if only they'd start selling online.

 I had already seen this beautiful sight from the freeway the day before, and literally heard a chorus of angels sing. I think. Or maybe that was in my mind.

 

 It was the hugest Old Navy I'd ever seen, and I only got to spend about 20 minutes in there! Aahhh! I'll be back! Mark my words!!

Not that I can complain about the haul I did drag in. (I have exactly three stores to choose from for kid's clothes here in Cedar, mmkay? Walmart and two old lady department stores. So I had to take advantage.)

Total cost of all this stuff from Osh-Kosh outlet? $10.94!! Yee-haw!

 So we basically just had a great time and enjoyed each other's company and the beautiful weather. Isn't that what a vacation is all about? (You're jealous, aren't you! I wish I was still there, myself.)

 We love those crazy Richards! We will miss them tons.

 Maybe we'll take a trip to Saipan sometime soon. 24+ hours in a plane.....sounds tempting, doesn't it! Then again, maybe we'll wait till they come back for a visit and go to Vegas again. :)