jam master jensens

"oh yeah"

2011-09-12T23:41:00.003-06:00

Oscar has been really into saying "oh wow" and "oh yeah" lately. The other day I put him down for a nap and he played and bounced in his crib a while as he usually does. Except this time he started chanting "Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah," over and over again to the rhythm of his own bouncing on the crib mattress.

it's a LONG summer

2011-09-02T00:03:00.003-06:00

It's been at least 110 degrees for weeks now, if not 116 degrees. 15 minute hose time is all we get everyday for outside time. It's sounds short, but it's a very long time in the heat. Here's Oscar discovering how fun it is to wet his own face with the hose.

signs of a toddler

2011-08-22T16:21:00.002-06:00

-The bathrooms are on lock down. At any moment I can find my son dipping his hands in the toilet bowl, trying to put his head in the toilet bowl, walking around with the toilet plunger or toilet cleaning brush if Nate or I forget to lock the bathroom door. And I mean lock because Oscar can open all of our doors.
-Anything foamy or spongey needs to be hidden. Oscar likes to find the sponges I clean the bathroom with and eat them as if they were food. His foam balls are hidden too until he can learn to stop eating foam and start eating vegetables.
-There are yellow painted hand prints on my newly painted (not yellow) doors. I walked into my bedroom after a few minutes of letting Oscar roam free in our "baby-proofed" house and found a sealed can of paint had been somehow opened by the little He-Man. There was paint EVERYWHERE. It was in a puddle all over the floor, on the doors, the cabinets, a chair, the walls, on Oscar's hands which he was sucking on, his lips, his legs, his whole body really. I had to leave the yellow hand prints on the door for a 5 minutes,(just long enough for them to dry) wile I scurried to get the paint out of his mouth and off his hands.
-I find most things I'm looking for either in a trash can or in a kitchen drawer. I've gotten used to digging through gross trash to get out my measuring spoons and pot lids that Oscar loves to throw in our kitchen trash. And if we're looking for Nate's cell phone, we're sure to find it in Oscar's favorite kitchen drawer.
-The caps lock button will always be on if I leave the laptop open and within Oscar's reach. He loves to copy me by hitting all of the buttons he possibly can on the keyboard.

traveling talking man

2011-08-05T01:42:00.004-06:00

We went to San Diego last weekend to visit my grandparents and Oscar had a blast. He's become such a good little traveler. We brought him to the beach kind of for his first beach experience. His official first beach experience was in Rio de Janeiro, but I don't think it counts because he didn't get to go in the water. Here he is fearlessly RUNNING for the water for the first time. He didn't even stop when he hit deep water, he just kept trying to keep going.

He had so much fun running away from the little ankle waves. He also got to go on his first bike ride. My grandpa fixed up the tubes on our bike tires and we got a baby bike seat and headed straight for Mission Bay. He had a blast looking everywhere. Here he is on his pre-beach test ride..

Oscar's really been increasing his vocabulary at a fast pace since he started walking, and simultaneously turning into a parrot. I don't know if the two developments go hand in hand, but he's picking up words as fast as he's learning to run and he's become our little echo. He truly repeats EVERYTHING we say or do and it's pretty funny and scary at the same time. A list of his words so far..

No no no
baby
ball
cheese
dada
mama
please
hi
bye bye
oh wow
whats that
woof woof
apple
poop
boat
really (sounds nothing like the word really)
papa (for my grandpa)
night night
uh oh

oscar and cousin julianna

2011-07-16T00:18:00.003-06:00

Here are some pictures that my mother in law caught of Oscar and his cousin Julianna spending so much time together on our trip.

the boy's life progress

2011-07-15T17:05:00.008-06:00

-he started walking at 13 months old, right around or on June 30th
-he walks around with a tissue making a sound that sounds like he's blowing his nose, or walks around with anything held up to his ear whilst having a baby conversation with himself
-he waves hello and goodbye by holding his arm out to you in the air and rubbing his index finger and thumb together. It looks like the unofficial sign language for money.
-He has added the word "hi" to his vocabulary, and he says it so clearly
-walking has set him free from us and made him independent so he's learned to whine when he can't do what he wants. we rarely hear oscar cry and if he whines it's always been because he's either tired, hungry, sick, or in need of a diaper change. The whining is a very new adventure for us and I feel like it's my first real taste of parenting
-since the whining has begun, the discipline has begun and instead of laughing in my face when i say "no," he now sheds lots of tears, seems VERY hurt, and sticks his bottom lip out to pout as far as he can get it
-for the most part he's really eating adult food. he usually gets a modified, less salted, less sugared, less greased up version of what we eat
-he's recently moved on from a love affair with apples to his new found love-grapes.
-he seems to prefer his left hand to to most things, we might have a lefty on our hands
-he's learned how to give kisses on demand and bite out of frustration
-he still is obsessed with climbing up the stairs, but does not know how to get down
-his dancing keeps getting better and better, and his rhythm only improves with every song he dances to. he should have some signature moves down by next year
-he loves to point and say "oh ssat," (translation: "oh what's that?") to his picture of Jesus above his bed and to his new mobile when he wakes up from a nap
-he says "meh men" (tanslation: "amen")after a prayer
-he still takes two naps a day for a total of 2-3 hours and sleeps about 13 hrs at night-7pm-8am
-he weighs somewhere between 27 and 28 pounds
-he doesn't have his molars yet
-he loves his cousins
-his favorite person is his daddy
- he can open the doors to bedrooms and bathrooms inside of our house
-he doesn't like sippy cups, he loves water and prefers to drink it from an adult cup or water bottle

Sorry so boring, this blog has really just become some kind of documentation since I don't write anything else down.

south america trip

2011-06-14T21:28:00.021-06:00

-We leave the U.S.A. and fly from Phoenix to LA. We then get on a plane and fly from LA to Lima. Plane stops in Lima, we wait on plane, then we fly to Santiago, Chile, which is way too far south of our ultimate destination Rio de Janeiro. We land in Santiago, Chile. We change planes, we wait, then we fly to Sau Paulo, Brazil. We land in Sau Paulo, Brazil, we wait on the plane then eventually take off to Rio de Janeiro. We land in Rio. Assigned taxi driver waiting for us refuses to take us because we have 6 bags. We wait on the curb at the airport for an hour while she argues on the phone in Portuguese. She finally takes us to our hotel. 27 hours later, we arrive at our hotel in Rio. Poor little Oscar did amazing, barely even cried.

-Rio was super cool, we were alone just us 3. Oscar spent his 1st birthday in Rio being sung to by complete strangers in Portuguese on the tram down from the Cristo. We saw Christo Redentor, Pao de Azucar, and Ipanema beach. We were there for 3 nights.

-We fly from Rio to Porto Alegre, Nate's Mission. Only a 3 hour flight. We arrive and his friends (a family that took great care of him) Gu and Elisandra pick us up and we spend lots of time with them. They don't have kids yet so they were IN HEAVEN with Oscar. I don't think I held him once while we were with them. They held the little 27 pounder in their arms at all times, saying "que lindo!!!"

-We rented a car and drove around visiting people from 3 of Nate's areas. We stayed the night in each area and I LOVED everyone I met. All his loved ones I met, I now consider my friends and loved ones. Everyone that was special to him is now so special to me. Every area's landscape was super different too, Brazil is so cool. We were in Porto Alegre for 6 days. Nate turned 24 in Porto Alegre and we had a cake for him and spent the day (Sunday) with friends at Gu and Elisandra's house. We're so sad because we don't have any pictures of Michaelangelo and Lillian. Nate got to teach Lillian and she was baptized by him too. Her and her husband have since been married in the temple and had a little girl. The pictures of them were on our camera that was stolen so all we have are pictures of their daughter Julia and Oscar playing together so happily.

Gu and Elisandra. They are like family to me now.

That's Lilian holding Oscar. She's the coolest convert. She's a biker chick with a tattoo and she loves hard metal and progressive rock. She seriously used to work at a motorcycle shop. Now she loves teaching Julia about Jesus and she loves church, but don't worry she still loves her heavy metal.

-We leave Porto Alegre, sadly, and fly back to Rio in order to catch a plane to Iguazu falls. Only a 2 hr flight, at this point anything under 27 hrs is cake to us.

- We spent 2 days and 3 nights at Iguazu falls. We saw both the Brazilian side and the Argentine side. It was INCREDIBLE.

-We fly from Iguazu falls to Buenos Aires, maybe like a 2 hr flight. We stay in Buenos Aires for 4 days doing the tourist thing and getting our camera stolen by a professional pick pocketing woman. I still get emotional thinking about it. It's the most frustrating experience to be intentionally confused by someone so that they can distract you and take your bag from you without you even realizing. So basically we don't have any good pictures of Argentina. I mean we have some, but they're from my cell phone and I was just sulking too much about the stolen camera to get motivated to take a picture with my cell phone.

-Day 4 in Argentina we rent a car to drive up to my mission, Rosario. There was a huge rental car fiasco, but long story short, the fiasco put us behind schedule by 6 hours. So we had so much less time to do visits then we had thought. We went to 3 of my areas and 2 of my companions from Argentina came with us. I LOVED seeing everyone and getting to spend more than 20 min with them. I wish I could have visited more people, but I guess there's always skype. It was such a cool experience to see everyone's progress, whether they were friends, companions, or converts, everyone was such an inspiration.

-Drive back to Buenos Aires and spend time with my companion and her family before leaving. Here's Oscar being taught to be "despacito" with their super old and blind dog that he had just man handled and lifted 2 ft. into the air.

-Fly back to U.S., only a 14 hour flight thank goodness.

We had an amazing time. Wish I could tell everything but no one has the patience for that. But it was so worth everything and we're so happy we did it. Oscar was such a good boy and we couldn't have asked for a better little trooper. I truly only remember him actually crying twice on the whole trip from being tired. Other than that he was as happy as can be, dancing as much as he possibly could. I'll blog about Oscar soon, he's changing so much. We're glad to be home.

P.S. sorry about the confusing mixed present and past tenses. i'm too lazy to go back and fix them now.

coupon nut

2011-06-14T20:52:00.012-06:00

I've been out of the country and out of the coupon scene for almost a month, and on my first shopping outing I still did so good that I had to take a picture of my loot to share and be proud of. Blow up the picture below? Sure! Don't mind if you do. And yes, I am going to list what is in the picture because it's the pricey stuff I hate to buy and there's no fun to be had with any of it.

1 re-style (target) leaf pattern cotton shower curtain

2 12 pks bounty paper towels (you people know how stupidly over priced paper towels are)
168 ct cottonelle wipes
1 purex laundry detergent for HE
2 john freida root booster blow drying lotion
2 old spice men's body wash
2 old spice deoderants
1 box tylenol precise heating pads
1 giant bottle of spic and span cleaner concentrate
1 bottle dish soap
1 bottle soft scrub with bleach
2 scotch brite sponges
2 ocello sponges
2 colgate toothbrushes
2 boxes of excedrin migraine
1 renu multi purpose contact solution
1 dove bar of soap (please let me donate it to you, what do you even do with a bar of soap?)
2 packages carefree pantiliners
2 lbs bananas
1 6 pk danimals yogurt drinks
2 packages of bologna
1 package cascade HE dishwaher detergent capsules
1 yoplait yogurt
1 4 pk of noxema triple blade razors
3 4 pks of yobaby organic yogurt
1 herbal essences shampoo
1 herbal essences conditioner
2 gallons of milk
1 box brillo soap scour pads

Grand total $41 dolla holla
If that sounds like a lot to you i challenge you to a duel.

oscar's 1st birthday

2011-06-11T15:01:00.008-06:00

We just got back from our trip on Thursday so I'm gonna start catching up on blogging. For you non-facebookers, not even 48 hours before we left for our trip, Oscar celebrated his 1st birthday a little early with a Super Mario Kart party. All his favorite cousins and friends were there, not to mention lots of family.

I'd been planning and preparing for months. Things would have been a lot easier if I would just take some graphic design classes, but instead I made these invitations and envelope liners by hand. The invites were originally cereal and pizza boxes, then I covered them with felt and cardstock. Just so you know, the green mushroom in the Mario game is called the 1 up mushroom. Don't worry, I didn't come up with this 1 up mushroom invite idea myself, I saw it somewhere and modified it. They had printed out an image, I went 3-D with the felt, cardstock and sharpie.

Instead of goodie bags, I made goodie cans out of the millions of Oscar's formula cans I couldn't throw away. Then I spray painted them green and covered the top with green cardstock. This was my own creation and original idea. Then I stocked them with wheel yo yo's, mario pencils, mario stickers, candy, and mario blowouts I made myself.

I found some trophies at D.I. for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers of the race that just so happened to be go-kart trophies.

These are the party blowouts I modified. This was not my original idea, I copied it from someone. But it was great to find these ugly party blowouts at the thrift store for $0.50 and just make them into what I needed with a sheet of paper, a pair of scissors, and a sharpie.

The race was my own idea. I decorated, so I thought, the backdrop of the race just like the background of the game. I made all the "bricks" and question mark boxes out of cardboard boxes, contact paper, and spray paint. The kids cars were cardboard boxes that I spray painted. In order to give the race some difficulty, I made over a hundred "gold coins" the kids had to pick up along the way. I think I spent the most hours of preparation on those gold coins, which were also originally cereal boxes. Then I made little coin bags for the kids to collect their coins in, but never took a picture of them.

The best part of all this party preparation was when I, trying to stay authentic and true to the game's design, kept asking Nate if I was doing one of the decorations correctly according to how the game portrays it. He says, "You do realize none of this stuff is actually from the Mario Kart game, and that you have already really mixed up Mario Kart and Super Mario Brothers right?" While trying so hard to simulate the Mario Kart game exactly, I had no idea I had royally mixed up and combined elements from different games. This is probably because I never really even played either game that much. So why did I choose this theme for Oscar's birthday then? Solely for the fact that I wanted to dress him up as toad, in nothing but a diaper and a vest.

There was a path for the race, marked by orange rubber cones, that started in our backyard and winded through our front yard and then back again to the backyard.

Nate and I dressed up like Mario and Luigi but never got a picture of us together.

The winners

We tried to dress Oscar up as Toad, and I made his little vest,(ha I cut out some felt real crazy like) and hat,(spray painted shower cap that crusted off every time he pulled it off.)

I made his cake from one of those giant cupcake cake pans, then did red frosting and mentos. I saw the mentos idea smoewhere and copied it.

my potential, my privilege- my 1st mother's day realizations

2011-05-09T21:36:00.005-06:00

I haven't had a free moment lately, nor as I write this, but I need to take a second to listen to the voice scolding me now. As my first Mother's Day came and went so leisurely and lovely thanks to my sweet Nate, I also had a disappointing realization that I'm not the mother I want to be to my son. I know no one is who they want to be, and I'm sure there's not a mother who thinks they are the mother they want to be, but I am not even on the path there. As I finally get to listen to the conference talks that were only words going in one ear and out the other while I lassoed Oscar away from danger, I realize I am the person Dieter F Ucthdorf is talking about when he mentions "Our 'do it switch' gets rotated to the 'later' position." Here's the talk if you heard it and retained none if it like I did.

The talk is called "Your Potential, Your Privilege," and he was addressing men, but it cut me to the core. So here I am, trying to take his advice and not "let a day go by without doing something to act on the promptings of the spirit."

In my first hectic year of being a mother, when it comes to taking care of my spirit, I've somehow unintentionally taken on a motto of "I'll do that in just a second, as soon as I get this done." By adopting this motto, I've arrived at my first Mother's day not on my way to being who I thought I wanted to be, and not on my way to my potential or benefiting from my privilege. So I'm changing my motto to "don't let a day go by without taking care of your own spirit." Hopefully in turn I will be reaching my potential in taking care of Oscar. Happy belated mother's day.

helping me cut coupons

2011-05-02T16:44:00.000-06:00

oscar's first easter

2011-04-24T20:39:00.002-06:00

In his adorable Easter romper that his grandma sewed for him with his mad face

1st Easter egg hunt. Fascinated.

1st Easter dinner. He ate grandmas homemade rolls, green beans, and ham.

Yes Nate has a ring pop in his mouth.

Having fun with uncle Eric.

in grandma's garden

2011-04-12T23:29:00.005-06:00

Here's Oscar helping me water his grandma and grandpa's backyard. He is so determined to grab EVERYTHING he can and eat it. Here he is picking his own strawberries and then squishing them in a tight fist all over his shirt before he decides to eat them. Amazing how he plays with food and doesn't eat it, but puts all non-food items in his mouth immediately.

Here is baby destructo screaming for joy being able to play in the daisies. Just so you know, I only let him grab that one plant because I saw his grandma let him do it. Otherwise I wouldn't have let him go so nuts. Notice the huge smile on his face the entire time. I hope grandma and grandpa aren't upset about this!

welcome to my life

2011-04-09T20:06:00.005-06:00

so far the best thing about us going to brazil (cause we haven't arrived yet) has been these two conversations that happened separately to Nate and I with people from church:

1) Nate- "Yeah we'll be leaving for Brazil in about a month."

Gentleman that does Boys scouts with Nate- "Oh, so is that where your wife is from then?"

2) Me-"We'll be leaving for Brazil in about a month."

Lady that plays piano-"Oh so is that where you're from then?"

Is my accent that noticeable?

so many new things going on with OJ

2011-04-07T10:50:00.008-06:00

Oscar has just been speeding to his own independence and fast tracking all of his daily learned milestones. It took him a long time to figure out crawling, but once he did, he realized he wanted nothing to do with it anymore and wants to start walking.

We've never let him see that we had stairs in the house so that he wouldn't go near them. He hadn't discovered them before this past week, even when he started crawling. We wanted to hide them from him because they were uncovered, uncarpeted, rickety, splintery wood stairs with pieces of jagged wood poking out on certain stairs. Our basement also had a nasty concrete floor as of last week, so we steered Oscar clear of the stairs and basement until now. We got some carpet on the stairs and basement and set Oscar free down there in his own personal carpeted toy heaven, vacant of all adult furniture and knick knacks.

The first thing the boy spotted was the stairs. He booked it towards them and just started climbing up the whole flight of stairs for the first time as if he'd done it a million times. Now his #1 priority in life is to climb those stairs over and over again. Here he is climbing like it's his full time job. Sorry it's so dark.

The other thing he started doing immediately after crawling, is pulling himself up onto his feet. He will see anything with a little height to it, a wall, a parent's leg, an ottoman, a toy, and he'll try to use it to pull himself up to a supported stand. Now he does it to the wall and gets stuck there, he doesn't know to just sit himself back down on the ground, he just crys for help.

Standing cousins.

Always standing on his toes. His favorite new buddy the pound puppy.

He also has started licking the wall to death when he does this. It's hilarious. I don't know why he does it. Watch the first few seconds of the video cause I caught him doing it for like 2 seconds.

He also just got his front facing carseat! I don't know if other parents have looked forward to this as much as I have, but I have been DYING to put him in one since he was 5 months old. He has been WAY to big, heavy, and long to be in his infant rear facing carseat for far too long. It's been hard lifting him and angling his long body into that tiny carseat. Not to mention, Oscar really has never liked being reclined. He LOVES to be upright. AND, we get to see him and he can see us while we're driving! We are all just sooo happy about this. You're not supposed to put them in these until they're 1, but he's one month away from his big birthday party! Neither Nate, nor I, can believe we have a child whose age we count and say in years and not months. This was his early birthday present from his great grandpa and namesake. We love you papa, thank you! Here's Oscar in all his front facing glory!

He couldn't stop looking out the window.

So happy!

reality check

2011-04-02T21:17:00.009-06:00

Our time has finally come! Nate and I have been missing our loved ones in Brazil and in Argentina for years. We both had very similar experiences with certain people who we felt were probably our best friends before this life. It's hard to explain to other people how much our hearts ache to see these loved ones of ours and we're happy to announce we will be leaving to see them all on May 16th!

Our plan: Rio de Janeiro to Iguazu to Buenos Aires. Plus add the cities of Rosario and Porto Alegre, which aren't on the map.

Aside from being able to hug everyone, we're most excited for a serious spiritual reality check that I think we are both in need of. Our lives have become so busy and Nate has been stretched so thin for quite some time that it's taken a toll on our gratitude, positivity, and on our commitments to keeping our lamps full. I think we're both looking forward most to the spiritual rejuvenation we'll feel being able to spend time with some of the biggest inspirations in our lives. Nate and I have already talked to some of our loved ones down there about our plans, and we remember so clearly now how some of them really have been sent to us as our angels in life to help us out along this long path. It's easy to lose perspective sometimes, and these Brazilian and Argentine friends/giants among men, really help us to check ourselves before we wreck ourselves.

So we'll be on our way in less than 6 weeks and we've got a lot to do. We'll be gone for 3 weeks and Oscar will be coming with us. Bringing him will be an adventure in itself, but it will be worth it to be able to show off our little pride and joy with everyone who's dying to see him and kiss him to death. This has been a huge decision, and a very emotional one at that. There is no reason financially we should be going on this trip right now, it's been a very risky decision, bordering on completely irresponsible. But we know we have to do it now for so many reasons, and when push came to shove, emotion triumphed over sensibility. Sound like the recipe for financial ruin? We've got good intentions though! Ha, we all know where the road paved with good intentions leads to.

Nate being sung to on his birthday right before he finished his mission.

family stats

2011-03-17T17:10:00.004-06:00

Just want to list some things about ourselves lately...

Oscar
-now always has dirty hands, knees, and feet from crawling
-sticks anything and everything in his mouth
-loves being independent; for example holding his own spoon while eating
-he has super man strength
-loves to escape the diaper change, it's super annoying because of his super man strength
-his hair is getting longer and as it grows some curls have developed. it's also getting lighter
-he always sounds like an animal or a dinosaur. he grunts, growls, and screams noises that resemble a bear or a pterodactyl
-he's so wild and crazy in the morning when he first wakes up. he wrestles with nate in the mrnings
-he has his daily poop in his bouncer/jumper thing while jumping for joy, it's really funny
-he's ticklish everywhere but his most sensitive tickle spot are his inner thighs
-he's discovering his own privates
-just learned how to stand on his knees in his crib. he's so tall that even while on his knees, his head is above the top of the newly lowered crib

Me:
-I finally got the emergency preparedness bug and am going crazy trying to stock our house with a 3 month supply of water, food, medical supplies, etc. My eyes have been opened to a whole new world of food storage, and I'm overwhelmed. If you have any tips for beginners, I really welcome them
-I've learned a lot from the show Intervention. People give me grief for watching such a "depressing" show, but it's allowed me to realize that my neighbor across the street is either a heroin, meth, or crack addict.
-I've been mixing up my pronunciation of B's and V's in English. I know people that go on a mission and learn a new language sometimes exaggerate and say they've forgotten how to speak English. It's not like that. I just developed this recently and it's bizarre. In case you don't know, in Spanishs a B and V are most times the same exact sound, and even Spanish speakers misspell things like cerbeza, when it's cerveza.
-I've been working for months and months doing interviews, making videos, writing essays to apply for this show on BYUtv called the Generations Project and just finally got denied. I got really far in the process so I thought I was going to get it, but I didn't.
-I've been really interested in the Wisdom literature of the book of Proverbs and, as always, the grace vs. works issue. Nate and I started Romans
-I've given up on insisting on finishing a book just for the sake of finishing it; i.e. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Hilarious voice, but doesn't grab me. Thanks Alison.
-I'm always into sort of t.v. personalities for their influence and ideals. Right now they're Ellen, Suze Orman, Rabbi Schmuli, and Matt Damon
-I still wear my bra at all times, including while I sleep, and I'm pretty sure I'll keep this habit until I die

Nate
-Really into interior design and trying to learn anything he can to fix up our house
-Gets hot very easily
-Still always trys to surprise or scare me or oscar in some way and is currently trying to teach Oscar the art of surprise
-Is very open minded, considerate, kind, thoughtful, passionate, and humble when it comes to his ever changing and forming ideas of the world and politics around us
-Has to drive if we go somewhere together, kind of a machismo thing
-Finally feels up to speed with knowing what's going on in sports and keeps up with it, but when it comes to music, he sticks to his tried and true favorites such as Simon and Garfunkel, Kings of Convenience (the modern day simon and garfunkel,) Justin Timberlake, and Hall and Oates
-Really good at flossing and not getting cavities, leaving the toilet seat down for me, and leaving his socks everywhere
-Has crazy pains/numbness/tingling in his face sometimes, like shingles, that we are investigating. And he also has chronic terrible migraines.
-Really into saving and IRAs right now
-Loves Coke Zero almost as much as cookies
-Doing really well in school these days as he juggles a full time job and a part time job

we've got a little crawler

2011-03-11T22:18:00.004-07:00

At almost 10 months old, Oscar finally decided to crawl. He also has bronchitis:(

a few projects

2011-03-11T11:29:00.007-07:00

I haven't really documented any of the progress we've made on our house so far and I need to do so. We definitely bought "a fixer upper" with the intention of doing one project at a time. So basically, it will be years and years before our house is up to par with my idea of a great looking house, but we're alright with that. Nothing good should come quick or easy right?

For my birthday my mother in law gave me a great gift. The gift of wallpaper for one of my kitchen walls, as well as the huge gift of helping me tear down the existing mess and helping me put up the new wallpaper. This is a wonderful gift for someone like me because I love to feel like I am skilled, and learning one more skill (how to put up wallpaper) just makes me feel good about myself.

At some point someone that lived in our house wallpapered directly onto the drywall without any prep to the drywall. Then, someone else came along and decided to texture over the old wallpaper instead of taking it down. So my mother in law Laurel and I were left with the huge task of getting through about 4 layers that seem to be made of cement, only to get to the drywall and realize it's coming away with everything else that we're tearing down.

So that's what my kitchen will look like for a week or so until Laurel gets back from Utah to help me hang up the new stuff. I will be cleaning up all the scraps you still see there in the meantime. And then we can hang this stuff..

It's kind of a grey blue with a gold geometric design. I have blues in my house so it works. I will post the finished product as soon as it's done. I'm really excited.

And our tax refund brought us our next project-the roof. When we moved in, our house inspection stated that our roof needed to be replaced this year and that it was a big fire hazard. I guess in the 80's it was cool to have this kind of wood roof called "shake." So we ended up with a 25 yr old pile of warped wood shingles just waiting to catch on fire in the 120 degree AZ heat and send the whole house into flames. It wasn't really a fun project, it was more of a necessity. Here's the before..

And the process..

And the finished product!

dirty vegas

2011-03-08T12:05:00.014-07:00

The shields girls plus mom Christy were going on a girls only/no kids trip to Vegas. They invited me along and and after a drawn out decision making process filled with anxiety and stress, I finally decided to go. I was scared and sad to leave Oscar for the first time but I am so glad I went. Nate basically forced me to go and I am glad he did. Christy is such a fun mom to be on a trip with and we all spent so much time laughing that I nearly peed my pants once. I knew it would be a good trip when Amy mass texted all of the girls telling us not to forget our slutty shoes and lip gloss. (Not a single one of us had a shoe with a heel higher than one inch) We stayed at the Planet Hollywood hotel in a Legends of the Fall themed room. There were pictures of Brad Pitt all over our room, and a steamy one of him directly above the romantic over-sized bathtub. Here are the highlights of the trip...

Friday night we went to a piano bar to see this killer piano duo that took requests w/tips from the crowd all night. We all thought we were big shots when we each gave him requests with $5 attached to each request, until they started announcing their $20, $40, $60, and $100 requests. Turns out $5 won't get you "Only girl in the world" by Rihanna- they totally ignored that request.

Sister slacks purchases. Sooooo much shopping went on in Vegas. ( So much, in fact, that we became delirious from shopping and didn't notice the thief that pick pocketed Tara's purse and stole her wallet right from under our noses. Passport, cash, cards, license. I HATE thieves.) Vegas shopping is a little different in that it entails being attacked by SUPER loud and aggressive club music no matter where you go. Actually, not just shopping, I think there is some kind of city ordinance in Vegas that tourists MUST be bombarded with absurdly loud club music at all times, in all things, and in all places.

Christy was really antsy to go to a club the whole trip. I think mostly it was because she genuinely thought us girls wanted to go and that her "old mom" self was holding us back. We tried to explain to her MANY times that we truly had no interest in going clubbing, but she thought we were just being nice. Finally we decided to educate her on what actually went on in a club so that she'd lose interest in going. We asked her what she thought happened there. She said, " you know just dancing" and then she did a little dance kind of like the mashed potato or the twist. Then we taught her the horrors of what kind of dancing actually went on there. (The sneaky bump you feel from behind you while your minding your own business dancing.) She laughed so hard she almost peed her pants but she didn't believe us. So later that night we get "VIP" passes to go to some club JET for free, and we decide to finally just show her what really happens there. All we had to do was walk down the dark corridor of the club entrance and be attacked by some Pitbull song and she finally understood it was a whole different ball game. We wanted to go in to show her what it was like but we had forgotten Tara no longer had an ID. So here she is after being traumatized by the realization of my generation's filth.

Yes Sally is doing the splits in this picture. We got to go to the The Beatles LOVE Ciique du Soleil show! I almost didn't get to go because I was a last minute addition to the Vegas group and there kind of was no way to just add on a seat next to the group. But Christy worked her magic and got me a ticket and i am SO GLAD she did. Thank you SO MUCH Christy, it was truly the best show I've ever seen. I've been to so many concerts and I really think this was the best show I've ever seen. The music sounded so incredible. It was almost like the amazing sound of a record but more perfect and way louder. They had such good song selection. I think we all were expecting the same old hits that are over played, but they did a great job at choosing Beatles songs that haven't been run into the ground. I also think I loved this show because I have never really found The Beatles appealing. I know, I know, I'm un-American, I understand that. I get that they are the original of everything, but I just have never found their music appealing. This show FINALLY made it click for me, I finally get it. I get the Beatles now, and I love their music.

Cute mom and daughters in the glitz of the mall with the crystal ceiling. Giant drapes and walls of crystals. Glitz, glitz, glitz.

We ended the trip with a bang though. As we were leaving the parking lot of a strip mall off the Vegas strip, I was driving with Sally caravaning with the other girls. I had my window down and was driving slowly through the parking lot as a man runs right past me on my side of the truck. Sally and I both laugh and say, "woah, he for sure just robbed some place. he's running from trouble." He was truly running for his life, sweaty and panicked, but we just kept going and then saw two men that were chasing him. We told them which way he went. We go a couple hundred more feet and see cops zooming into the gas station in front of us and there is a dead body on the ground. Immediately in seconds, ambulances and tons of cop cars swarm into the gas station. There was a woman screaming crying and people everywhere. I almost turned around to go follow the guy without really thinking, but Sally said no, we probably shouldn't. We told the cops what he looked like and what direction he went. No one really seemed too interested and no one of authority was really moving at all. Sally and I were really frustrated that no one went to go chase him. We looked up the story in the news and it turns out the victim who was shot multiple times, hasn't died but is is critical condition and they haven't gotten the guy that did it yet. SO FRUSTRATING. I had such a fun time with the girls and we made some great memories, but I think Sin City is a pretty accurate nickname for Las Vegas.

lezlie

2011-03-08T11:56:00.002-07:00

Lezlie came to visit a couple weeks ago and it was such a treat. She stayed with us and just had a good time hanging out and doing nothing cool with us. I love Lezlie more than I can say here and she always gives me a new reason to love her more. You'd think we'd have taken a single picture of ourselves together, but all the documentation I have is this secret filming Dave caught of her just being wagslovnu. One of the reasons I love Lezlie is because she's high on life, she LOVES life. She loves it so much she doodles "love life" on papers at my house. I love her because she loves every app for the iphone, especially ones that have to do with exercise, because she LOVES to exercise in any way she can. So here she is showing us, unbeknown to her, her enthusiasm for her new nike workout app, and showing us some of the moves from that app.

mommy's little piggy

2011-03-02T10:02:00.002-07:00

Have you seen this scene from "A Christmas Story?" Here is Oscar recreating it. I was feeding him a banana. He usually focuses intently, using his little index finger and thumb, to pick up food and put it in his mouth. But, yesterday he realized there was an easier method.

spring cleaning

2011-03-01T10:17:00.001-07:00

Cleaning isn't that fun but somebody's gotta do it. After a great conversation about cleaning with Alison, I've decided to list my inspirations for keeping clean and tidy belongings so I can get motivated.

1. An ex-bf of mine from the deep south used to say, " My momma always said, 'You can be ugly and you can be poor, but you can always be clean."

2. "Be grateful, be smart, be clean, be true, be humble, be prayerful." Gordon B. Hinkley

3. My memories of mornings in Argentina. Every morning when we'd start walking the streets, EVERYONE had their front doors open and was sweeping and mopping the inside of their homes and the sidewalk in front of their homes. People played their music and had their mate steaming while they went about their daily routine of getting the house in order. We'd definitely consider these homes to be very humble, and some people had dirt floors or dirt front walkways. But they swept and wet them in attempt to keep what they had looking nice.

4. diana ross songs, specifically "I'm Coming Out"

5. My grandma. She has some obscure cleaning project going on every day when I call and ask her what she's doing. "Oh nothing, just wood polishing all my kitchen cabinets and oxi-cleaning the cabinet handles."

What are yours? I need some more so I can get started on my chores.

strike it up

2011-02-28T07:51:00.004-07:00

One night while driving we hear this song on the radio and Nate turned it up and said..

"Why don't they make music like this anymore? You know, good stuff, like Jock Jams. You know, stuff I can do this to over and over again," as he does the Diddy and Mase shoulder bounce to the beat over and over again.

He was serious, and his tone was that of a grandpa nostalgic for the good ole' days when music was quality. This is why I love him.

pioneers

2011-02-25T23:42:00.011-07:00

Please watch this even if you don't read my post:)

This is the multinational celebration of the opening of a temple in Kyiv, Ukraine. It is a huge celebration because a temple (NOT the building we attend every Sunday for church) is necessary in our faith and there had not been one in this area of the world until now. It serves the people of Ukraine as well as the people of it's surrounding countries. These people had been waiting a long time for this day to come.

I cried a lot when I saw this. (Thanks Chelsea.) I started crying when the two young men said that not many people know about their country, Kazakhstan. And then I lost it when they said that they want the people in the church to know they are strong youth, and that "there is a rising generation in the church that can be relied on, that the church can continue to build on the new generations, because we're the pioneers in our countries."

Hearing him talk about the youth being pioneers, and seeing that this video featured strictly the youth of the church just completely tugged at my heart strings. In the past, I don't think my church had realized how strong today's youth could be. I remember my mission president ( head of our efforts in Argentina) consulting with me personally on a few occasions when he was concerned about the age of some people I was teaching who wanted to be baptized and become part of our church. He was hesitant with my decision to move forward before talking with me privately because they were teenagers without the support of their family. Typically in the past, the statistics of a teenager without family support staying faithful were depressing. I reminded him of my own life story and talked with him about the hearts of these young people. After speaking with me, he trusted my judgment from then on, but let me know my scenarios would be exceptions and not the norm.

Now I see the youth in this video, and the youth I dealt with years ago in Argentina, and I think they are becoming the norm, and not the exception. Teenagers and young people all over the world are inundated in filth, dishonesty, deceit, and hate and exposed to so many disgusting horrors, that it's no wonder why so many youth are seeking for good things. It's no wonder why so many young kids are becoming pioneers of their generation.

This was not to toot my own horn in any kind of way or a fish for compliments, but a realization that things are changing. In every aspect of the world I have known and lived in, things are changing and paradigms are shifting. And one of the things I am in awe of, is the change I see in the makeup of my faith. The youth of the world are carrying this church on their backs. They are breaking ground and clearing paths in every country. I see young converts updating their statuses on facebook in Spanish with scriptures, and I see videos like these in languages I've never heard before, and I'm amazed that they are young people without any family support and who were denied most of the tools for success that parents gives to their children.

God bless these young people that make such beautiful lives for themselves out of such discouraging circumstances.

phoenix zoo

2011-02-24T12:54:00.004-07:00

My neighbor across the street has 6 kids under the age of 10 and they are our little buddies. They come over to our house to play all the time and they LOVE Oscar and Oscar loves them. Their mom, now my friend Jessica, invited Oscar and I to go to the Phoenix Zoo with them today since her husband couldn't make it. I was so happy she thought of me because Oscar and I had a blast with them.

Oscar and I on the safari tram checking out the tigers and lions

flamingos

oscar loving the ducks that were walking right up to us

so many little monkeys jumping and hanging from their tails! this was my favorite

oscar's buddies

kamodo dragon

oscar loves his friends already

elephants

heartbroken

2011-02-23T11:28:00.003-07:00

First one, now the other. I guess if being a fan required having a testimony, I'd say my testimony was wavering and weak right now. D. Will was my Gordon B. Hinckley of basketball, so today is a pretty sad day.

family dinner

2011-02-21T19:09:00.003-07:00

My mother in law suggested I borrow this book "The Family Dinner" by Laurie David. I'm glad she did because it was probably one of the best parenting books I've read so far. I think if anyone has a family or is planning on having a family, this is probably a must read for parenting books. It's about how sacred the family dinner should be and how it has practically become an endangered tradition. It is about how the family dinner forms relationship bonds, teaches etiquette and manners, develops health habits, and basically determines much of the success of a family.

Laurie David outlines rules for the family dinner like no cell phones or screens of any kind, WATER ONLY, at least trying everything on your plate, and everyone helping with clean up. She has chapters on dinner conversation and dinner games for when your children become teenagers and only respond with "fine' when you ask them how their day went. She offers many unique and simple recipes and stresses how dinner doesn't have to be a roast and three sides, but it can be grilled cheese sandwiches and dessert can be orange slices.

She also has a chapter on eating less meat and how the amount of meat our society now consumes has greatly changed many aspects of our life. I really enjoyed this chapter as I've been trying to follow my faith's commandment to eat meat SPARINGLY.

The best part about this book though was when I saw this picture..

I realized halfway through the book that her husband (now ex-husband) and father of her children she told so many stories about, was none other than the HILARIOUS Larry David. That fact really just sealed the deal for me implementing this book's principle into my life. So check it out from your local library!

so i exaggerated a little on the clone thing

2011-02-15T22:51:00.003-07:00

Oscar's not quite Nate's twin because he got my giggles/laughing and my tickle sensitivity. He thinks everything is hilarious and you can make him laugh so hard he'll lose his breath if you get just the right tickle spot. Here he is laughing at me doing nothing but showing him my face after it's been turned around.

sorry i can't figure out how to make this not sideways

my man and his little clone

2011-02-08T13:02:00.007-07:00

Some days I look at Oscar and I see some of myself in him. But most days I just look at him and see Nate. I see Nate as an adult and Nate as a child. Oscar's expressions, his dramatic eyebrows that already have their own reoccurring formations, are 3 parts Nate and no parts me. He is the the cutest most handsome little baby, and I couldn't be happier that he resembles his handsome daddy so much. Nate and I were going through his baby pictures and my breath was really taken away being reminded of how much Nate there is in Oscar. I love it. They have similar expressions and mannerisms, and of course their bodies are of very notable size. The only big difference I see in them is that Oscar is a lot chunkier than long and lean Nate.

That's Nate in the middle with the blue overalls when he was Oscar's age.

Oscar on Christmas morning

Nate

Oscar

Nate

Oscar

Nate

Oscar

Oscar's new favorite past time: Putting the little knob on the end of the blinds drawstring in his mouth. He closes his mouth around it and stands on the couch while bouncing for joy.

Then he looks at you to make sure you see how proud of himself he is.

loved atonement, but it left me unfulfilled

2011-02-08T09:04:00.007-07:00

I almost gave up on this book after my sister in law Susan told me about her 50 pg. rule- if by 50 pages the book hasn't grabbed you, no matter how much buzz it's gotten, it's onto the next one. And by page 50, Atonement was still piddling around describing every little leaf on the tree without much substance. It was frustrating, but for some reason I just kept reading it knowing something had to happen. Well, finally by around page 70 something, it picked up and and never stopped. After some long awaited dialogue and a wonderful story to follow, I actually came to appreciate the extremely detailed imagery that was so annoying to me in the first 50 pages.

So in case you haven't heard anything about this story like I hadn't, it's about "An upper-middle-class girl in interwar England who makes a serious mistake that has life-changing effects for many." I was tearing through this book trying to see what kind of atonement would play out and kind of expecting some parallels to Christianity. That was not the case. I also had my own guesses of how Briony Tallis' atonement would come about, but I was completely off and my guesses were so far from what actually happened. The ending was a huge surprise. I have to say, I was pretty disappointed. I know a lot of people loved the ending because it was unexpected and realistic. I however, was left feeling like the author dug out this big whole in my heart and didn't fill it back up like I needed him to. I don't want to say too much more because I will give away the ending, but this is definitely a must read even though I was left completely unsatisfied at the end. I am extremely excited to see the movie now!

review city part 1: book

2011-01-25T13:19:00.015-07:00

I read Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. It was completely captivating. Amy Chua writes...

" This was supposed to be a story of how Chinese parents are better at raising kids than Western ones. But instead, it's about a bitter clash of cultures, a fleeting taste of glory, and how I was humbled by a thirteen-year-old."

I think like most "Westerners" that read this book, my reaction was to want to give Chua a piece of my mind. My heart broke for her daughters and I wanted to hug them and give them all the things they needed and were intentionally denied by their mother. It made me dislike her as a person.

But she still managed to make me question Western child psychology. (Just question, not disagree with.) It's the belief of most Western child Psychology that a child must develop it's own autonomy in order to build the self esteem and confidence they desperately need. Most Western child psychology also preaches that children need loving affirmation, praise, and encouragement, no matter what, from parents in order to develop self esteem and confidence which is critical to the child's psyche's health. Chua believes that "Chinese mothers," ( which could refer to any strict, over-bearing typically eastern parent,) ASSUME strength, not fragility, in their children from the get go. Therefore, the "Chinese mother" knows that their child is strong enough to take the shaming and excoriating from the "Chinese mother."

I couldn't help but think that ASSUMING strength in a young child really could be a legitimately different psychological theory. I couldn't help but think that there was some huge value in assuming your child is capable of anything and everything.I was really fascinated by that assumption.

However, I didn't agree with her "Chinese mother" core theories that believe the parent knows what's best for the child in EVERY aspect of life. And this is the common thread throughout all of her parenting tactics, that she knows what's best for her children. Most of the time a parent does know what's best for a young child, as far as what is healthy, dangerous, educational among many other things. But when it comes to deciding your child's passions for them, a parent does not know best. The child is the only one who knows what their loves and desires are. The child should be able to choose between playing the violin or playing tennis if those options are available to them. The parent should not decide that the violin is better for the child than tennis, because it does take away a the child's right of choice. (Chua made that very choice for her daughter.)

Lulu on Violin, Amy, and Sophia on piano

As a believer of my faith, a human's right to choose and make their own choices in life is the very reason for our human existence. To take away another's right to make a choice for themselves is to deny God's divine plan for humanity. Don't get me wrong, I will prohibit my children from making choices that are dangerous or morally wrong until they are 18. However other than dangerous and wrong, and older than 18, I cannot and will not stop Oscar if he wants to be a world renowned mime or magician.

I do agree with the "Chinese mother" ways that expect excellence in everything their children do, and I felt a little ashamed of mine and my culture's under achievement in academics. But, I definitely disagree with their practice of having no place for failure. That is a tragedy that even Chua explains she's not sure how to address.

Here are just a couple excerpts so that you know how insane she truly is..

"I've noticed that Western Parents are extremely anxious about their children's self-esteem. They worry about how their children will feel if they fail at something, and they constantly try to reassure their children how good they are notwithstanding a mediochre performance on a test or at a recital. In other words, Western parents are concerned about their children's psyches. Chinese parents aren't. They assume strength, not fragility, and as a result, behave very differently. For example, if a child come home with an A- minus ona test, a Western parent will most likely praise the child. The child comes home with a B on the test, some Western parents will still praise the child. Other Western parents will sit their child down and express dissaproval, but they will be careful not to make their child feel inadequate or insecure, and they will not call their child "stupid, "worthless," or a "disgrace." Privately, the Western parents may worry that their child does not test well or have aptitude in the subject or that there is something wrong with the curriculum and possibly the whole school. If the child's grades do not improve, they may eventually schedule a meeting with the school principal to challenge the way the subject is being taught.

If a Chinese child gets a B-which would never happen- there would first be screaming hear-tearing explosion. The devastated Chinese mother would then get dozens, if not hundreds of practice tests and work them through with their child for as long as it takes to get the grade up to an A. Chinese parents demand perfect grades because they know their child can get them. If their child doesn't get them the Chinese parent assumes it's because the child didn't work hard enough. That's why the solution to substandard performance is always to excoriate, punish, and shame the child. The Chinese parent believes that their child will be strong enough to take the shaming and to improve from it. And when Chinese kids do excel, there is plenty of ego-inflating parental praise lavished in the privacy of the home...."

I know, she's insane. This was one of the softer, rosier, parts. The rest is demeaning remarks, shaming, shouting, with threats of no dinner, having to stay on the porch of the house in the Connecticut winter, or burning stuffed animals if the girls don't play that piano or violin piece perfectly. There's also a rejection of birthday cards her girls drew for her because they didn't spend more than 5 minutes on them. That one made me shed a tear.
So, to wrap it up, the book was completely intriguing. Even though I'd never do 98% of anything she did to her girls, I do concede her point that Westerners don't tap into their children's full potential as much as "chinese mothers." But I will NEVER be or want to be a "Chinese mother."

For a real review of this book by someone with real review credentials, please see my sister in law's awesome review at her book review blog.

review city part 2: recipes

2011-01-25T08:23:00.014-07:00

I know I've abandoned my delicioso posts, but here's why... One: I REALLY don't like how the pictures of food turn out on a point and shoot. And two: I always forget to take pictures while I'm cooking. So I'm just gonna give my two cents on some recipes. My sweet dear friend Alison got me a subscription to Martha Stewart's Everyday Food and I attacked the first issue. I thought I should share my reviews of the recipes in there I've cooked up so far. I'll try to be brief and to the point.

#1 pork loin with pearl onions and apricots

I had never eaten a pearl onion before this and I don't really want to again. The recipe was successful in that the meat came out cooked and tender in the time instructed. However, you soak the pearl onions for 10 minutes before you peel them. Which is no big deal, what's an extra 10 minutes right? Well the problem wasn't the soaking time, it was the peeling time. The skins didn't come off easy at all and it was really tedious working with such a small stubborn onion. It ended up taking me about 20 minutes to peel those little guys. I did NOT like the taste of a pearl onion AT ALL. It was too harsh and not as sweet and savory as a cooked brown or yellow onion. I also just generally didn't like the flavor of the whole meal. I usually like apricots, but I didn't like the mixture of these flavors one bit.

Rating: B+ in instruction
D in flavor
C in time and ease
D in price (cause of the white wine)

#2 roasted red onion and squash pasta

Loved this one. So easy. You basically throw some veggies on a pan and stick them in the oven for 25 minutes, cook some pasta in the meantime, then mix together. Very tasty, very healthy and fresh, and very easy. The only items i didn't already have were fontina cheese and sage leaves. And you can basically adapt this and uses any other veggies you want with red onions and it would be just as tasty.

Rating: A in instruction
A- in flavor
A in time and ease
B+ in price

#3 potato-leek-fritatta

This was wonderful because of the leeks and the ricotta cheese. I had never cooked with leeks before, and I'm glad this recipe made me use them. They let you know what part of the leek you eat, and what part you don't eat. Excellent recipe.

Rating A in instruction
A in flavor
A in time and ease
A+ in price

#4 "simple crepes"...ham and egg crepe squares

I used the quotations above because the crepes were not simple. I did mess the recipe up at first, but even once i got it right, it was really hard to get a good crepe. I realized that crepe making is a skill not to be perfected on the first attempt. I wish the recipe would have given an insider tip on how to achieve a good crepe on the first try. But they were still tasty none the less and I will try to conquer the crepe with this same recipe, just not when I have company.

Rating: B in instruction
A+ in flavor
C in time and ease (cause they're not easy!)
A+ in price

#5 parmesan chicken with mushrooms and brussels sprouts

Great chicken. So easy and turned out perfect on the first try. Tasty chicken and tasty veggies. My favorite thing about this recipe was that it made me try brussels sprouts for the first time. Oh and I also realized that its' brusselS sprouts, with an S on the end, not brussel. And I liked brussels sprouts! Thanks Martha!

Rating: A in instruction
A- in flavor
A in time and ease
B in price

#6 mushroom and black bean tortilla casserole
Alright this was my absolute favorite recipe, and it is going to be one of those recipes I use over and over. It was extremely tasty, extremely. It's a casserole so you don't really need a side if you need to bring dinner to someone. And my favorite thing about it, besides the flavor, was that it doesn't have meat. I LOVE a meatless recipe that's just as filling as a recipe with meat. It's the dish you'll want to serve to others because it's kind of impressive, super easy, inexpensive, and yummy.
I do need to say that while I was cooking, I was unaware that Nate was eating nachos using the last of the salsa I needed for this recipe. So, I improvised and used my El Pato brand salsa de chile fresco and I think that's what really put the + on this A+ for favor.

Rating: A in instruction
A+ in flavor
A in time and ease
A in price

#7 pineapple and ginger smoothie

GREAT combo of flavors. The only thing you probably don't have is the ginger, which gives it the awesome bite that makes it so refreshing, and the plain yogurt. There are 7 other smoothie recipes in there and I made 2 out of 7. They were both excellent.

Rating: A in instruction
A in flavor
A in time and ease
B+ in price

#8 spice rubbed fish with lemony rice

Such GREAT flavor. A bit f a let down on the rice cooking though. I followed the instructions word for word and the rice came out crunchy. I'd never worked with basmati rice and I just trusted the recipe wouldn't fail me. I cooked it as instructed, and it still was crunchy. I cooked it longer, and longer, and longer, and longer, and it was still crunchy. I finally gave up after an hour and we ate our flavorful crunchy rice. The fish was awesome though. I used tilapia cause it was the least expensive.

Rating: C in instruction
A in flavor
C in time and ease (because of the rice fiasco)
B in price

#9 roasted chicken with chimichurri rub and couscous

I'd never made chimichurri on my own and this was a complete success. Making the chimichurri rub was quick and easy. You spread it on the chicken, stick it in the oven 30 minutes and your done. Awesome recipe in every way. And boy do I love chimichurri as much as I love saying chimichurri.

Rating A in instruction
A+ in flavor
A in time and ease
A in price

#10 Sriracha glazed-glazed chicken

I have never been a Sriracha fanatic only because I had never tried it. I will now be a fanatic, it has AWESOME flavor. This recipe, however, was kind of a dud. It looked so promising, but the glaze never turned glazey. The recipe said the sauce would thicken but it never did. It just stayed kind of watery. The flavor was great, and the chicken was tasty, but I feel like maybe some cornstarch got left out from the recipe or something. I would try this one again adding cornstarch cause the flavor was that good.

Rating: C in instruction
A in flavor
B- in time and ease
B- in price

#11 roasted potatoes with oregano and lemon

Really easy recipe, but too bland for my taste. I felt like I was eating diet food, and I don't like that feeling, it makes me mad. I think lots of people might like this recipe though. I don't like cottage cheese cause it takes like diet food and people tend to love cottage cheese, so you be the judge.

Rating: A in instruction
C in flavor
A in time and ease
A in price

If you want any of these minimal ingredient recipes leave me your email and I'll get them to you.

pull-up champion

2011-01-06T23:26:00.001-07:00

oscar's christmas gifts solving his woes

2011-01-06T14:21:00.003-07:00

Our son didn't like his stroller if he was in it for longer than 5-10 minutes. I think he felt too confined, strapped in, and reclined. So my grandma got him this little car from Lowes. He loves walks now.

His foot is also almost as thick from top to bottom as it is wide. Ok, maybe not, but it's a pretty chunky foot that doesn't fit into most shoes.

So his grandma Jensen made him these little felt shoes for Christmas. They fit him perfectly and accentuate his cute chubbiness of foot. I love these shoes and wanted to blog just to post a picture of these shoes.

Christmas and anniversary

2010-12-30T21:14:00.006-07:00

When Nate and I got married two days after Christmas two years ago, I was just thinking about whether or not we'd be able to get through a wedding and Christmas in only three days. I didn't really think about the fact that we'd also have to forever celebrate our anniversary just two days after Christmas. Oh well I guess, too late to think about it now. So, our anniversary was low key and I have a feeling they will always be a little low key. We got to go to dinner and see a movie and I honestly can't remember the last time we have done that. Maybe a year ago? So sad, but movies and such have kind of taken a back seat to life. We're happy now just to get in an episode of Parenthood together(my favorite show) or an episode of Seinfeld together( Nate's favorite show.) I guess that's life at the stage of life we're in. So just getting to talk leisurely with Nate at dinner and getting to see a movie without having to pause it for Oscar, was a really nice treat for us. (Thanks to my grandparents for dinner and for babysitting!)

Christmas was wonderful. We got to spend it in flooded and rainy San Diego, with my grandparents and with Sally's family. It was awesome and I can't believe I am family now to the Shields family I've known for 13 years. I will post pictures as soon as I can borrow some from Sally since I didn't take a single picture on my own sucky camera of my child's first Christmas. I did however, have these pictures taken by my sister in law photographer Emilia. So enjoy these for now...

A few things about Oscar... He looks JUST like Nate. I rarely see any of myself in him right now. I see Oscar's face and it makes me think of how adorable Nate must have been as a baby too. People in public love to stop and squeeze his cheeks and he smiles at them like they're the only person in the world to him. He's a charmer already.

This little guy melts our hearts every day. He LOVES to laugh and smile. He's trying to crawl now doing the rocking back and forth thing on all fours. He knows his house and his bedroom and crys when he sees his crib or bedroom cause he knows it means bedtime. It's impossible not to laugh when he crys seeing his crib.

He loves to snort and grab my hair or Nate's chest hair. He has accepted his car seat as part of life now but doesn't like his high chair. He loves ALL food and likes to go #2 in his bouncy chair, I think it's the bouncing that helps.

After about 6 1/2 months of life, Oscar finally sleeps through the night. It was after he started eating baby food that he started sleeping through the night. Our big boy just needed some solids in his belly the whole time.

His bedtime is about 7pm and he hates life his last hour of awakeness, except for his bath. But, he still hasn't put together that he is the one splashing water in his face. He gasps and scrunches his eyes and nose when he gets water in his face. He's close to sitting up on his own but still not there yet.

He loves to growl and do really aggressive energetic/spastic movements that remind me of my brother when he was little. I don't know if this is his personality developing or if they are just baby things, but he definitely is displaying his boyness. We're just loving everything about our boy right now.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-15T14:24:00.002-07:00

Nate's brother Eric took some cute family Christmas pictures for us. Hope you all get your Christmas cards from us in time. (Please leave me your address if you haven't already.) Merry Christmas from the Jensens!! We love you!

Oscar doing what he does best

2010-12-11T20:09:00.003-07:00

I wanted to post this cause you can see his two front teeth. Plus you see how much he loves food. Please excuse my silly voice. He was so distracted by the camera string, he kept grabbing and pulling it.

do you hear what i hear

2010-12-09T21:41:00.002-07:00

This is a little Christmas post I stole from one my favorite blogs/bloggers. I loved it so much I thought I should share it here. If this doesn't make you feel warm and in the Christmas spirit, I don't know what will...

One of my most cherished childhood memories is making plates of holiday treats. Every year my mother would emerge from the pantry, arms overflowing with typical ingredients like flour, sugar, chocolate chips, and other holiday only items like those little gold dragees that we used to top the sugar cookie Christmas trees .

Just as essential as to the baking process were the stack of 33s stored in the credenza next to the nativity set. I loved those Christmas albums. Some we bought but most were handed out in November at the gas station when you got your tank filled. They featured a potluck assortment of singers. I can picture the faces of Mel Torme, Doris Day, Jim Neighbors, and Mahalia Jackson smiling at me from the record cover. My sister and I belted along in Spanish to Jose Feliciano’s “Feliz Navidad” and giggled our way thru John Denver’s “Please Daddy, don’t get drunk this Christmas.”

But the song that always gave me goose bumps as I rolled out sugar cookies was “Do You Hear What I Hear?” It was as if Bing Crosby were asking me personally, “Do you see what I see? Heather, do you see the star?” The song would stay with me as we loaded up the station wagon and delivered plates of cookies to neighbors and friends. On the drive home, I remember laying in the way back of the car (seat belts were optional in the 70s) and staring out the back window at all the stars, and feeling blessed by them. Each one a small echo of the star that shone on the stable, alerted the shepherds, and guided the wise men. “Yes,” my heart said. “I see what you see.”

Fast-forward 15 years to the hills above Bethlehem. A big part of the Jerusalem study abroad is to trace the steps of the Savior. One night we stood huddled in the cold as our professor talked to us about what it must have been like to be a shepherd on that night of nights. He read to us from Luke 2. “Yes,” I thought. “I’ve heard this all before. The taxes, the innkeeper, the swaddling clothes.” But to my surprise, the words from verses13-14 pierced my heart: “And suddenly there was with the Angel a multitude of Heavenly Host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” I closed my eyes and imagined I could hear the angels sing their message, voices full of joy and praise. On that hill, for just a moment, I heard what the lamb heard, and it warmed my soul.

Now I am the mom, hauling out the flour and dragees (Which are sometimes illegal in California–go figure.) and my ever growing collection of Christmas CDs. As we bake we take turns controlling the iPod. I let them play Glee’s version of “Last Christmas” and then I get to crank Judy Collin’s “The Cherry Tree Carol.” They are learning the lyrics to the carols and last night I heard the 8 year-old serenade her 5 year-old sister on the top bunk with the sweetest version of “Silent Night.” I listened in and wondered, do they know what I know? That though life is tough, there is peace to be found in the Gospel of Christ. Truly, He will bring us Goodness and Light.

motherhood

2010-12-07T20:32:00.004-07:00

I saw something today that really affected me. I immediately cried when it happened of course because when I gave birth to Oscar I received these new ULTRA sensitive set of emotions. I don't know what to do with them, sometimes they seem unbearable. I can't watch any story on the news that involves a child being neglected, abused, or about the wrongful death of a child without becoming very upset. It will eat at me until I fall asleep if it allows me to fall asleep. I can't hear about the horrible things being done to children in the world without being consumed by sadness. I'd call it a curse except it's opened my eyes to the need for each of us to do good in the world and to make a difference.
So what I saw today was a mother that had no food to feed her 3 yr old daughter. She was at a government agency trying to deal with someone probably to be able to get food stamps. I have no idea what happened but she slowly starts raising her voice until all of a sudden she's shouting. She starts screaming in defiance saying she will not leave until they rectify the situation they had messed up. She was screaming about how they had messed up and how she had been in there every day for two weeks trying to see someone but that no one would see her. The employees told her to calm down and that's when she really lost it. She screamed "No I will not calm down! I have no food and I have a 3 year old daughter asking me for food! What do you want me to tell my daughter that's hungry! What am I supposed to tell her!?"
The sound of her voice ripped my heart apart. I could hear the desperation, fear, and determination of a mother trying to feed her child. The sound of her voice was something I'll never forget. I thought about what I would do if I didn't have food to feed Oscar, what I would or wouldn't do to take care of his most basic needs. It was overwhelming to even imagine the scenario.
I honestly don't know how these emotions just came as a package deal with the birth of my child. It's truly amazing. I can't think of anything more powerful than the love of a mother. So here's a video that I enjoyed. Here's to you mommas

It's 8 minutes long, just to warn you.

delicioso

2010-12-06T10:00:00.003-07:00

Who doesn't love a good bag of nacho cheese Doritos? I guess there are some people that don't but I am not one of them. I like to indulge in Doritos about as often as I indulge in ice cream or frozen yogurt. But, these little fakies right here do the trick. No they're not Doritos, so don't expect a Dorito. Nate tried these and was angry because he expected Doritos. They definitely are the next best thing though, and will for sure satisfy any craving you have for something like nacho cheese Doritos.

The sad thing about these though is that their nutritional info is very similar to the real Doritos. The only thing that's better health wise is the amount of fat. I don't count calories but I was curious to see how many less calories were in these quaker chips, and the calorie intake is almost exactly the same as real nacho cheese Doritos. So I guess I can still have my real Doritos. But, just FYI these quaker things are pretty darn delicious.

the many faces of oscar

2010-12-02T22:17:00.010-07:00

I can't ever seem to document this little boy's life enough since he changes daily. Sorry for the picture overload but it needs to be done. These first few pictures are of him in his little walker thing. He of course thinks it is for bouncing. He'll bounce the heck out of it even though it has no springs or any way he can get the jumping satisfaction he gets in his other toys

His shirts are always permanently wet like this from the uncontrollable amount of drool he produces. I used to try to put a bib on him all the time but I got over that quickly. It doesn't usually make him cold cause his body temperature is always sooo warm.

My grandparents came to visit us Thanksgiving weekend. Oscar loved them a lot. He's in my favorite outfit here: his bed time crayon fleece zip-up sleeping sack. It's the coolest thing for babies. It's like a snuggie for babies except there is an enclosed sack type of bottom to make sure their legs and feet stay nice and toasty inside. This crazy guy throws all his blankets off at night so we needed to find something like this. Every time I put it on him we can't stop calling him the little crayon.

We had our first family Thanksgiving at Nate's parents' this year. Everything was so yummy. This is one of our few family shots.

Stole this one from Nate's mom. Brother's and their babies. That's Mabel, Oscar's cousin only 2 months younger than him.

Oscar on Thanksgiving going to town on the sweet potatoes from my plate. He loved them. He wasn't a fan of the mashed potatoes though. He has officially eaten his first Thanksgiving dinner.

Oscar doing what he does best, laughing like crazy. I'm pretty sure he got his giggles from me. He thinks almost anything you do is HILARIOUS. It's pretty great, we love that about him. I was trying to get him laughing hard like this so I could get a picture of his two teeth that came in a few days ago.

Can you see the two bottom teeth right next to each other? That's the best picture I could get. He's been pretty uncomfortable because of them, but they look so cute.

This is his adorable little head of hair. He looks so darling. I thought he was cute when he was bald, and I didn't even really realize how bald he was until he got all this gorgeous hair. We love it. He has a cowlick on the top back of his head just like Nate does. It swirls around right there and makes his hair stand up straight in the back. He really couldn't get any better. Thank you Brenda & David for the high chair he's sitting in! We love it and it's been soooo nice having it since he started eating.

delicioso but not domingo

2010-11-23T10:38:00.004-07:00

I keep meaning to post the pictures of my treats for the Sunday posts but I forget every time. So here are the deliciosos but not on Sunday. I blew it and forgot to take a picture of the finished product of the pies. It's really hard to remember to document while you are in the middle of something. That's the way all of my life is. Poor Oscar doesn't have as many pictures as most first children do.

It's pie season but I just can't muster up the energy to make a whole pie from scratch so I made up these mini cheesepies. At least I think I made them up, let me know if someone already came up with this idea. I don't like to spend all day making food so I opted for the Pillsbury box dough that you just add water to. It's ready to be rolled out in like 1 minute.

I also don't enjoy spending more money than necessary so I mixed fresh blackberries that were on sale for $0.88 and a can of blueberry pie filling with some cream cheese. That's why I called them cheesepies.

Line cupcake pan with dough, fill with mixture, top with more dough, then bake according to boxed pie crust directions. They were delicious, and one was more than plenty to satisfy my sweets craving. So sad I don't have a finished product picture cause they were so cute and tasty looking.

These I found all over the internet and I thought they were pretty cool. I had leftover candy corn and orange and black food dye from Halloween so this was an inexpensive treat for me. Just make your own sugar cookie and frosting recipe and pipe out frosting in orange and black for the legs and eyes. And the candy corn stays on because you spread some frosting underneath it on the cookie.

And since I was running with the non-Sunday delicioso theme, I had to post this. It's one of my favorite commercials. I know it's not hilarious but I laugh every time, I just can't help it.

oscar at 6 months

2010-11-18T20:47:00.005-07:00

Oscar in his red high tops

Today was his 6 month birthday so here are his stats from the pediatrician visit today. He also got 5 shots while he was there and found out he had an ear infection. I think he's also cutting some teeth, so he's had a really rough few days.

If you click on the picture to blow it up, you'll see percentages next to his weight, height, and head circumference. However, instead of a high 90's percentage like the others, the height category has only an up arrow and no percentage. That is because his height is literally off the chart. They brought out the growth charts that tracks the normal margins of growth on a curve and where he's been placing, and he's outside the margin limits every time. My little basketball/volleyball/soccer/football/baseball player is growing just like his daddy did and he's looking sooo much like him lately. We love him so much. He has grown some really cute hair over the past month and he officially has brown eyes. His eyes are so much prettier than mine though because they're this pretty caramel color and mine are pretty close to black.

Nate in his red high tops. I don't think Nate was even a year old in this picture. Longest legs you'll ever see.

diamonds in my arizona rough

2010-11-06T00:32:00.004-06:00

Warning- I am NOT making any statements or stances on where I stand politically on my ideas of illegal immigration, because I myself still have no idea.

Scenario 1:
Tonight I paid a visit to one of Mesa's little nuggets of gold, Rancho Grande Super Market. It's a full size SUPER Latino super market that boasts freshly grilled carne asada Saturdays outdoors, an amazingly clean environment, an impressive selection of Latino groceries, a delicious freshly made to order take-out section, great music, and THE FRIENDLIEST smiles and customer service in the west. I first asked a teenage girl where I could find some "masa preparada" (ready made dough) for tamales and she KINDLY and HAPPILY guided me with a huge smile to the area where I could find some. I go to check out and one of the best things happens. A woman cashier in her 50's not only assumes I speak Spanish, (never happened to me in the U.S.) but talks to me in Usted which is our equivalent of ma'am or sir. She sincerely and sweetly asks me how i'm doing with a big smile on her face.

Scenario 2: Immediately after Rancho Grande I go to Target. A teenage girl is my cashier. The customer ahead of me asks how her day is going and she proceeds to complain about how she has to work on a Friday night. This is her direct quote, no joke: "There are plenty of old people that work here. You'd think they'd sign up for the Friday night shifts, but noooo, I'm stuck here on a Friday night instead."

I had no other option but to contrast the two situations right away. I mean they literally happened one right after the other in the same night. The only thing I could think of was the state of our economy and the gratitude most people have or should have for their employment, whatever it may be. I thought of the illegal immigrants that stand outside on Broadway Rd. waiting for work. You've all seen them in your own city somewhere probably. Every morning they are out on the street at 5am, if not earlier, waiting for their next gig where a stranger determines their pay and their work. And they keep going out there every day! That Target teen employee made me realize, even in these days of a national %10 unemployment rate, I still don't see any U.S. citizens out there competing with the illegal immigrants on Broadway. I've known some of those guys to make at least $10 an hr and they pick up jobs pretty consistently sometimes if they're good. So why aren't any U.S. citizens at $10 an hr skill level out there competing with them?

Scenario 3:
A situation close to home has completely been blown out of control. I wish I could give the history of this situation so that you could understand what's really going on, but that just wouldn't be right. After a long time of unemployment, some people we know have been offered an opportunity for employment in the same field as their previous career. They have not pursued or taken advantage of this opportunity at all. However, they are now PUBLICLY frustrated and disappointed with us for not doing enough for them.

After thinking about all of these different scenarios, it's really hard not to think about the all those illegal immigrants I see on Broadway everyday. They've become the talk of our state and the talk of the nation. After these people we know decided to voice their disappointment and frustration with us to others, I became extremely frustrated for the takers in life. All I could think of were the people who take, complain, expect, demand, etc. It made me so mad that even with the financial state of our country, and the state of every other country in the world, that people are still unwilling to work and expect to not have to work too hard. And then I thought of those guys out on Broadway Rd. waiting for work and they lightened my anger.

I remembered those wonderful workers at Rancho Grande Super Market, my co-workers at the Red Iguana who will be life long bussers at a restaurant, and the guys that stand out on the street in many cities waiting for work every day at 5am without any expectations, and they really brightened up my day. Their work ethic and gratitude has become a little diamond in my Arizona rough and i'm really grateful for them today.

this is halloween

2010-10-31T20:20:00.004-06:00

I wanted to go with the garden theme but Nate couldn't decide what he wanted to be until saturday morning so I had no time to make him a costume. He is a rushed version of a giant rake, Oscar is a garden gnome, and I am a sunflower. I made all of our costumes. Oscar hated his hat of course and kept eating his cotton ball beard. We didn't do much since Oscar started to unravel at 6pm and was in bed by 7, but it was fun to get in the spirit.

This is my spider web cake for my domingo delicioso entry. I baked it for our church halloween carnival. I didn't come up with the idea. I just copied a spider web cookie recipe.

oscar loves to bounce

2010-10-26T09:54:00.002-06:00

Oscar's been loving playing with the little toys on his play chair that his uncle eric gave him, but he hadn't discovered that he could bounce in there until a few days ago. As soon as he figured out he could jump in there on his own, he's been bouncing non-stop.
it's the best to hear the little repetitive thumping of his feet on the floor.

Here he is eating his cereal his bouncer and he can't stop bouncing for one second.

domingo delicioso - halloween treats

2010-10-25T00:43:00.003-06:00

candy corn cupcakes. i'm sick of cupcakes but i needed something easy and fun for a church event.

white cake batter from box. split it in half after you make it and dye one half orange, and one half yellow. spoon in yellow into cupcake shells and then orange on top. and voila

white caramel corn. make your own popcorn in the pan without seasoning. add salty roasted peanuts, candy corn, reeses pieces. melt a bar of almond bark vanilla (white chocolate stuff) and pour it over mixture. mix it up and let it set on a cookie sheet. then eat.

I love Nate. Do you? Show me then

2010-10-20T20:32:00.008-06:00

Nate doesn't surprise me with roses or chocolates randomly. He does however melt my heart when he brings me treats from work like these...

Because of these kinds of things he does for me, I really need to help him out in something big and I will need all the help you and friends can throw my way.

Nate LOVES

That's right, he LOVES The Amazing Race. And because he loves it, I love it too, and it is now our favorite show and an exciting part in our week. I had never watched it before Nate, so I can understand if you haven't seen it. But you're gonna wanna watch it as soon as possible, i.e. Sunday nights at 7 pm PST.

Anyway, Nate and his brother Dave have been wanting to apply to be on the show for some time now but haven't been able to make a video of themselves yet for the application. If you know these two brothers, you'd know they would WITHOUT A DOUBT win the 1 million dollars if they could just get picked for the show. (unless they were to get bad luck with sucky cab drivers or something) I, however, willingly admit that I could never make it past one challenge in one episode. I'm not sure if my navigation skills could even get me to the airport to make it to a challenge let alone win one. Nate and Dave though are the ultimate team to be reckoned with and here's why:

-They're both very inteligent AND street smart
-They're quick thinkers and don't panic, but excel in a fast paced bind
-They're AMAZING with direction and knowing where they are and the fastest way to get there
-They have savvy minds and think outside the box
-They're natural athletes and can handle any of the physical challenges
-They have no fears of heights, bugs, speed, weird foods, etc. They're fearless
-They're fast
-They're polite and courteous
-They're respectful and appreciative of other cultures
-They've lived in other countries and are experienced in getting themselves around abroad and using foreign currency (this was a problem last season)
-One speaks Spanish and the other speaks Portuguese
-They're funny
-They're a good physical pair being that they're men and their height differences and different strengths give them a really good leg up on their competition
-They're good dancers

(here they are on our wedding day. dave was not supposed to be holding flowers.)

And there are plenty of other things that I just can't think of right now, but the point of this list is for you to help them out on creating their concept/idea for their 3 minute application video. I need you to brainstorm hard because as Dave said the other day, "You have to already be a celeb these days to be on reality t.v." Which is kind of becoming true, so they need all the help they can get. I think they need a "schtick," you know like "their thing," and all I've been able to come up with is playing up their height difference and that they're Mormon. All the teams on the show kind of have to be given a title. There was a duo of acapella singers, there are two girls that are doctors, there's a father and daughter whose a beauty queen, and then there are the asians. That's what everyone calls them, the asians. I know it's not PC, but it's what happens on the Amazing Race.

(here are the asians)

And "the asians" just so happen to be my absolute favorites. I don't know what i'll do if they get kicked off. They are a father and son team, Michael and Kevin, and I love them so much. I usually have a perma grin when they're on, and they've even made me cry once. I want them to win the million this year.

Anyway, my Nate needs your help. This is something I know he would and could win. He at least deserves to make it on the show and experience the fun challenges and the traveling with his brother. I love this guy and he has got to make it on the show. So please send me your ideas, please please please. We need to catch those producers' attention. If we use your idea and they make the show, we will compensate you in whatever way you see fit.

Grandparents and Max come to visit

2010-10-11T11:18:00.008-06:00

My grandparents and my brother came to visit for the weekend. They were excited to see Oscar. It also happened to be my birthday on Sunday so it ended up being a great weekend to have them here to celebrate.

So happy Max came. Love my brother and Oscar loved his uncle.

I'm so mad about this. This is the first time Oscar is trying cereal and the camera decided to run out of memory without letting me know until I uploaded the video to the computer. So all you get is a total teaser of about 7 seconds.

Oscar's new thing-sucking on his toes

2010-09-30T23:28:00.002-06:00

This is what Oscar does the majority of the day. No matter what position you try to put him in, he trys to grab his feet.

This one is pretty funny. In his bathtub, because of the way his butt is positioned, it's harder for him to get his legs up by his face so he was getting really frustrated. And he was all wet and slippery so he couldn't get a good grip on his feet and it was making him mad.

our boy is rolling over

2010-09-18T21:06:00.003-06:00

Oscar sleeps on his tummy with a pacifier and usually before he falls asleep I have to put his pacifier back into his mouth a couple times. So when I walked back to his crib for a usual pacifier re-do, it was the best thing to find him on his back staring up and smiling at me. He had rolled over onto his back and was probably pretty proud of himself. I put him back on his tummy, gave him his pacifier again and walked out. A couple minutes later I hear him cooing so I go back in there to see what he was doing, and he was on his back AGAIN smiling at me. I started laughing so he laughed a little too. Days like these are pretty awesome and make it fun to be a mom. Oscar also is 4 months old today so I was really just enjoying the heck out of him all day as I thought about how happy he is and how much he laughs and giggles and loves to be tickled.

On a side note...
People are always asking me if Oscar's a good baby, and before I can say yes, they ask me if he's sleeping through the night. So it's kind of like two questions in a row that are supposed to be one in the same. When I answer, "No he's not sleeping through the night he still wakes up to eat," I usually get a disappointed look. This has bothered me and I've been feeling guilty, like I'm a failure because Oscar's not sleeping through the night. Yes, I'm running back and forth to give him a pacifier when he falls asleep. No, I don't let him "cry it out" in the middle of the night when he's hungry. So it probably is a failure on my part that he doesn't sleep through the night.

But, today I don't care anymore. I'm ok with being a failure because I have a happy happy baby who is so sweet and social. I sure miss sleeping through the night, and I'm sure it's something Oscar would love to experience. But I'm not gonna feel guilty or feel like a failure over it because Nate and I still get to wake up to this happy face.....

domingo delicioso - fail

2010-09-12T22:09:00.006-06:00

I wanted to make Sadie some rose cake pops for her birthday since I knew she wanted a rose birthday party. Not sure what she had in mind, but I think she just knew she liked roses. I thought these things would be no big deal. I decided to follow the regular cake pop recipe and then use the flower cookie cutters to get some kind of a flower shape that I could somehow make to look like a rose. They started out nice and easy just like the directions made them seem. I molded them into flowers...

And then I started melting the candy melts that you coat with, and it was a disaster from there on. The candy melts melted so weird, actually they didn't really ever melt. They just turned into paste. So when I started trying to cover the cake in them all I got was crumbles covered in what looked like dried up playdo.

So here are the dried up playdo balls. AND I bought some tiny little girl vases to put the flower cake pops in, and they never made it home from Wal-Mart. Big time failure today. I'll probably just be eating the unfrosted cake flowers for days.

our little swimmer

2010-09-08T10:13:00.004-06:00

Our little guy went swimming for the first time this past week. He even got to go in the pool twice in a matter of days. I think he liked it. He initially had a very serious look on his face for a good 10 minutes. And then he lightened up and started smiling and getting excited. Here he is at his grandparent's pool on labor day.

Bald Oscar has lost almost all of his pretty black hair except for a funny little patch on the back of his head. We think his hair might be coming in blonde now.

domingo delicioso - dulce de leche

2010-09-05T23:46:00.007-06:00

Has anyone seen any pictures of my carb face from my mission?

(definitely need to blow these pictures up)

Totally cute right? Well, this is why...

Dulce de leche-the most non-nutritional food invented, and the most delicious thing my tongue has tasted. I ate it day and night, night and day. Food was my only worldly pleasure on my mission, so I REALLY indulged when I felt like I needed a reward for my work. (which was daily) It's mostly a South and Central American thing, but since we live in the most abundant country in the world, you can find it here in the U.S. at most grocery stores in a squeezable bottle. I however, didn't know such a portion limiting container when I was introduced to the stuff. It came in plastic containers resembling a family size yogurt, which meant I could get spoonfuls out a lot quicker than the squeeze bottle shown above. I'd spoon this stuff onto warm fresh baked bread from the panaderia, bananas, apples, cakes, cookies, ice cream, my finger, anything really. And, I'm still spooning it onto those same things now. ( squeezing, not spooning acutually) There's no taste like it. Buy yourself some if you are owed a treat and then squeeze it all over everything.

such great clips

2010-09-01T14:07:00.006-06:00

Nate and I were laughing at clip after clip of Seinfeld for hours the other night. Here are our favorites...( I don't know why the first two videos aren't playing. Just click the "watch on youtube link" that pops up after you hit play)
"The Opposite"..

The background on "The Opposite," which makes it even funnier. I love Larry David in this.

And one of the best Frank Costanza clips. We watched a documentary clip on Jerry Stiller playing Frank and how he improvised so frequently, and that's why this one was so hilarious. Julia Dreyfus is stunned.

on a more serious note...

2010-08-31T15:30:00.003-06:00

After talking with a friend last night about something serious, I feel like I need to say a few things here. I use this blog as kind of a journal as well as a helper to myself to keep my commitments to pursue and develop my interests. But even though it's KIND OF a journal, there's no way I'd ever write anything too personal, negative, depressing, angry, etc. This means that if you only knew my blog, my life would be nothing but happy or fun moments, homemade meals, Oscar being cute, entertaining and funny people, blah blah blah. That is not an accurate portrayal of my life. While my life is wonderful, everyone has it worse off than they seem to have it. EVERYONE has some kind of serious nonsense they have to deal with that no one or not too many people know about. So if you're having a hard time in life right now, I just want you to know, I am not just this blog and I can probably relate.

Other people always seem to have it better than you, and that's just not the case. Everyone has a messy life and I am not in my kitchen all day whippin up anything and everything from scratch. In fact, last night, after a night of cleaning men's toilets and urinals, Nate and I sat down at 10pm to a dinner of frozen raviolis and frozen popcorn chicken. Sound gross? It kind of made me sick a little.

But my point is, you're not alone in feeling like you're the only one with a mediocre life, or even a hard life. I think the key is to help someone else out with your experiences and what you've learned from them. I was talking to another friend the other day about some other hardcore life stuff and I was amazed at how she knew exactly where I was and what I felt for having never experienced anything similar. I commented on what an incredible trait that was to have, to be able to put yourself in someone's shoes without really having been there. She said, "I've had my heart broken before; ripped out and stomped on actually. So I know what heartache is. Heartache is heartache."

Those were some of those most teaching words I've heard in a while. Where I'm going with this is trying to let you know that Oscar is hard work, Nate and I have our struggles, I'm not a gourmet chef, and you CAN relate with me because I too know heartache and heartbreak. Love you all.

domingo delicioso - cherry limeade and pineapple coconut upside down anything

2010-08-29T20:34:00.008-06:00

I found an exciting recipe for cherry limeade, and it looked sooo good for the hot summer here. Unless you're entertaining or something and you want fun homemade beverages, don't waste your time. Not that big of a deal. I mean it tasted great and everything, but it was too much work. First I had to hand juice these 21 limes. ( The only good part about this recipe is how pretty all these colors looked.)

Then I had to make a simple syrup with a way overpriced vanilla bean, and a cherry puree from 4 cups of pitted cherries. Which means, I pitted the stinking cherries myself. I thought it wouldn't be hard, but I never nailed a good way to pit them and they were so small. Is there such a thing as a cherry pitter? Even if there is, there's not enough substance on the tiny fruit to make it worth the work for me. So, moral of the story, you probably don't wanna ask me for this recipe unless you're really trying to make some fancy drinks, cause there's plenty of tasty juice at the store for cheaper.

Sticking with the tropical summer cravings, I wanted some pineapple upside down cake. So I spiced it up with some coconut and baked it in small loaves. I didn't want a cupcake and I didn't want a cake, so I made these...

Oven friendly ceramics from Ikea that I lined with wax paper. Just the normal assembly of pineapple on the bottom, then butter and brown sugar, then duncan hines yellow cake batter mixed with sweetened coconut. Bake them, and then flip them. (I know I said I didn't want cupcakes, but with all that extra batter, I had to cupcake the rest of it to give away. They never left our house though, Nate and I just ate them.)

And here's what the yummy loaf looks like. Please notice Nate in the background. He really wanted to be in the pictures so he posed his hands in this picture and in the 3rd picture up from this one.

Whos does Oscar look like right now?

2010-08-26T14:18:00.002-06:00

Me...

Or Nate..

Or a good combo of both of us?

Mom stuff- good and bad

2010-08-24T13:44:00.007-06:00

(THIS POST WILL ONLY BE INTERESTING TO FEMALES)

GOOD...

I LOVE this stuff. It's an organic and natural line of products called California Baby. Oscar lately has just been dealt one sad thing after another. First he had what I think was a cold while simultaneously hitting a growth spurt, now I think he might be teething, and he's also dealing with his pesky cradle cap. I've been using this California Baby aromatherapy shampoo/body wash on him when he doesn't feel well because it has lavender in it and it seems to calm him down a lot. He needs all the help he can get as far as sleeping goes, so I've also been rubbing their Calming diaper rash cream on his chest and privates at night before I put his pajamas on. In addition to lanolin, vitamin E and other good stuff, it also has lavender which I think just makes him feel nice and relaxed before bed. (He's been waking up crying a million times at night and during naps, which I think has to do with his possible teething and gas.) With his cradle cap, I've been putting their Calendula cream on his head and it seems to be working wonderfully. I think the aromatherapy aspect of their products is what works so well. All of their products are based around essential oils versus synthetic fragrances which I guess can lead to yeast infections in little girls. Now I know why Mr. Bubbles stung me so bad when I was a little girl! You can find all this California Baby stuff at Sprouts of course.

GOOD...

Remember how I complained about stretch marks? Before I could even pick this stuff up at Sprouts, Nate's mom was there to hand it over as a mother of five's favorite remedy. It's called "C-Mama Healing Salve" from Earth Mama Angel Baby, my favorite brand that Sprouts carries. They have all kinds of cool products like "New Mama Bottom Spray" for post labor pain and soreness, "Booby Tubes" which are gel-free packs stuffed with flax that you heat or freeze then put in your bra for discomfort while breastfeeding, and a TON of other cool products. I love this stretch mark salve because it is really working. Granted, the stretch marks won't be completely gone for months or years if ever,(I can't be too hopeful, I did have a 9lb 9oz baby that scarred me up)but, this C-Mama stuff is working little by little.

BAD...

When I looked for a picture of these bumps and realized their purpose, I immediately became nervous to talk negatively about them. But, as much as I understand that blind people need to be warned about where a crosswalk is, I still can't help but dislike these bumps and wish they weren't in front of every grocery store, Walmart, or Target entrance. I NEVER noticed these bumps before Oscar. On the rare occasions that Oscar falls asleep in his car seat and stays asleep after the car door exit and after we've put his car seat in a shopping cart, these CRAZY bumps wake him up. They are SO BUMPY in a shopping cart! I know people need them, I just don't like them.

GOOD...

I know the host John Quinones is pretty cheesy, but I like this show "What Would You Do." They document a lot of situations a mom would really be affected by and I think those are the episodes that really get me. I have to share this episode because I just LOVED LOVED LOVED this sweet grocery clerk with Down Syndrome, Josh, who also happens to be a pretty good actor.

domingo delicioso - banana pudding balloons

2010-08-22T22:39:00.007-06:00

Every day this past week it was in the 110's here in AZ and I don't think we will hit under 100 degrees until October either. I want to make the most of this long summer by incorporating lots of seasonal treats and so I've been thinking about banana pudding and Nilla wafers. Thanks to a fun idea I saw on the Bakerella website, (thanks Lez) I revamped the summer treat to my chocolatey liking. On the Bakerella website she showed how to make some edible bowls out of chocolate and I was so excited to try them out. If you have kids, please try this recipe, the process will be as fun as the dessert is tasty.

You need:
small balloons
Dolci Frutti chocolate dip (or not if you find a dipping recipe)
wax paper
bananas
pudding (homemade or instant)
Nilla wafers
whipped cream
sprinkles (optional).

First make the chocolate bowls. Blow a bunch of the balloons up first and wash them a little bit. They didn't give the chocolate dip recipe away on the Bakerella website because they were promoting someone else's book where you could find the recipe. So, I just went and bought the Dolci Frutti hard chocolate shell stuff. You know, for dipping strawberries? It worked just fine. If you want to do it from scratch I'm sure you could find a similar recipe. Melt chocolate and spoon onto wax paper. SPRAY BALLOONS WITH PAM! It's essential. Roll the balloons in the chocolate and set upright. Put them in the fridge about 10 minutes. Here they are cold and set....

Then, get a needle and pop the balloons. Spoon in homemade or instant pudding. I did vanilla and banana instant pudding because I didn't have THAT much time. Slice bananas, throw those Nilla Wafers in there, and top with whipped cream of course. If you're making with kids, you NEED sprinkles, it's way more fun that way. And you can eat the bowl!

And here's some token pictures of Oscar. He's chowing down on my hand. He was eating my hand while I ate dinner.

His legs are all cramped in his bathtub now.

domingo delicioso - lumpia!

2010-08-15T23:25:00.004-06:00

This week it was only right that my delicioso item be dedicated to the sweet Filipino lady, Lolita Maldonado, that has been taking care of my 24 Hour Fitness problems. (They sent me a check that bounced. Long story.) After talking with her all week, lumpia was the only thing on my mind. Lumpia is a Filipino food that is similar to an egg roll but different and way better. The wrappers are way thinner, and tastier in my opinion, and they fry differently than an egg roll. The filling is a little different too. Typically, lumpia are made with ground pork which is what makes them so so tasty. My grandma used to bring batches of them home from her Filipino friends that would make them for special occasions and I used to devour them as a young girl.

I really enjoy attempting recipes where 95% of the ingredients are practical and not expensive. I can't stand a recipe where I need to purchase 5 spices I don't have just to make one dish. When am I ever gonna need something like capers more than once? With lumpia, the only novelty ingredient were the wrappers.

I don't know why I thought I could attempt these once and get them right on the first try. There is clearly an art to wrapping them, and it's a skill I did not master in just one try. The wrappers are crazy hard to work with. But they still tasted pretty darn good. They almost didn't happen with Oscar being sick, Lee Lee's Asian Super Market being such a trek from my house and such a crazy place to navigate, and with the bagger at the grocery store that forgot to bag my cabbage. They finally came together by the time I wasn't even hungry anymore from snacking on so much of the filling. Typical.

My super fat lumpia. I had a real hard time wrapping them any tighter and thinner.

The crazy wrappers I luckily stumbled upon at Lee Lee's after thinking I'd never find them. I've never seen a crazier store in my life. It was an entire huge super market full of products I've NEVER seen before. I didn't recognize one item.

In other news..Oscar is sick and he had a really hard day. It is so sad to have to see your baby sick. I'm gonna try to get him in to see the doctor tomorrow.

domingo delicioso

2010-08-09T00:04:00.006-06:00

The newness of having little Oscar around has made me slump into a version of myself lacking in interests, likes, hobbies, etc. Don't panic, I love being Oscar's mom and I now know happiness I've never know before-he's our ultimate joy. But Oscar demands so much time from me so far that I've started a bad habit of being a lazy turd when he is not in need of my time and body. So to nip that habit right in the butt, I'm taking baby steps to get the not so dull version of myself back into gear. Baby step #1 is my new weekly blog post called "domingo delicioso" that will feature something delicioso I really enjoy and will serve as my reminder that I do more than just make milk for Oscar. It's not a new idea, many people do weekly blog posts on stuff they like. But, my intention is that domingo delicioso will be many topics of my interest-my likes, time consumers, and hobbies. Sadly though, or not sadly, I have a feeling domingo delicoso will mostly revolve around food and drinks. Domingo delicioso #1......

My favorite refresco right now:

Mr. Diet Canada Dry. I haven't been able to have caffeine for almost a year now and ginger ale has just the right bite that I've been missing from coke products.

Can't wait to discuss all things delicioso with you!

Oscar at 2 months

2010-08-01T19:51:00.005-06:00

This is what Oscar has been up to at 2 months.

He does better in his car seat now. This is him getting cozy on his first trip to San Diego. He talks a lot now, mostly just vowel sounds, and Nate can get him to laugh and giggle a lot. Dads are funnier than moms. He did talk to me a lot on this car ride to San Diego though and I had lots of fun with him in the backseat.

He is extremely gassy. This is a standard poop. Sally commented that our baby gear is all spit up free but he makes up for it by staining all of our clothes with this stuff. Today at church he got Nate's pants and it soaked all the way to the skin. His gas also wakes him up without fail about 30-40 min into his naps.

This is his new trick, he is strong enough to stand up as long as we are holding his arms for balance. He seems to like it a lot, he talks and smiles as soon as he is up on two legs. He is swimming in the top half of his polarn o. pyret outfit from Alison. The jeans were broken in with some stains today.

Another conditioning session.

This is his new obsession, sucking on his fists. A few weeks ago it took him a couple of punches in the eye before he could get his fist in his mouth. Now he gets it in his mouth in one try and sucks on it the majority of the day. (Sorry about the nudity)

We love our handsome boy and are so entertained by all the new things he does daily.

San Diego-Chris & Kristi's wedding

2010-07-27T13:17:00.012-06:00

They finally did it. This great couple got married Saturday July 24th and Nate and I were lucky enough to be able to make the trip out to San Diego to see it happen. I got to see the ceremony and cried all of my make up off I had just put on. I loved the things that were said about their potential future and knowing that Kristi picked her perfect match and that Chris would make her happy her whole life. It was such a happy experience and so sweet to see the joy in both their faces that day. Congratulations you little soccer buddies, I'm so happy for you two. Luckily, the marriage of a good friend brings lots of friends together so I got to see the friends I've missed so much and Oscar got to meet many of them for the first time. We got to stay with my grandparents and my family was pretty excited to see Oscar. Thank you for everything grandma and grandpa! Sadly, I didn't get a picture with Lezlie or my family but I did get quite a few of Oscar getting passed around all of his new friends and aunts and uncles.

Aunt Tara and aunt Cayleen

Uncle Max

I finally got to see Anna Tanner after about ten years, one of my favorite ladies in the whole world

My lovely pregnant Alison and cute Katie in a dress finally

Sean and Catie

Nate and Graham (That is the SD temple in the background! It was COMPLETELY covered in scaffolding during the wedding with people working on it. A little bit of a downer.)

The cutest picture we've been able to get of Oscar so far. He did so great in his car seat on the road trip over.

We visited Steph and Ben and tried to prop up Oscar and Ben next to each other. I love this picture because it shows Oscar's permanent poop stain on the back of his onesies above his diaper.

And here are Oscar and Ben. Oscar was not happy about this arrangement.

We finally got to meet Julian! He's the CUTEST little boy! Sorry about getting you while you were on the phone Karyn.

And the cute couple

My volleyball champ

2010-07-10T17:18:00.006-06:00

There's an annual family festival type thing here called Monsoon Madness that hosts a bunch of muddy events. They have a mud volleyball tournament and Nate got invited to play with the 2 time defending champions. (Nate's gonna be pissed about this, but I like to brag that he was MVP of the volleyball team in High school and was pretty good.) They went undefeated today and won the championship this year-i.e. a cool plaque and a $100 restaurant gift card. They were playing in the mud, which is so hard, and it was so muddy they duct taped their shoes onto their feet. And they played a total of 5 hours in 108 degrees under the Arizona sun. Way to go Nate.

Oscar's baby blessing

2010-07-05T09:47:00.013-06:00

In our church when babies are born they are not baptized. They do, however, receive a sweet blessing, usually from their father, that is, in a way, a powerful and special prayer that the baby will do well in life. The father blesses the baby with whatever he feels prompted to say in that moment, so every blessing is unique and individual. In Oscar's blessing Nate blessed him to be strong and healthy in life, that he'll have the guidance of angels to protect him, that he'll always know he is loved and has a mother and father that love him, that he'll have the Holy Spirit with him to be able to know what choices to make in life, and lots of other sweet things but I won't mention every single thing. How it happens is the men of the baby's family (Nate's dad, brothers, uncle, and cousin in this case) go up to the front of the congregation and form a circle with the baby in the middle of them while the dad, Nate, holds the baby to give him the blessing. Usually babies start getting restless and start crying so dads get nervous and sometimes rush through the special moment. But Oscar didn't cry for a second and was totally content and quiet. Nate's dad said Oscar was even smiling and yawning up there. Nate's mom had been sewing and smocking a special outfit for him to wear and it turned out pretty cute. Nate thought it was girly cause he thought it was a dress, but we informed him it was NOT a dress, but a cute little romper. The romper turned out gorgeous and he even had matching shoes. The collar kept coming up in his face and Nate's mom said he looked like the flying nun. All of Nate's family came over to our house afterward and we had a pulled pork sandwich 4th of July feast. It was a great 4th of July. Here are the great pictures Nate's sister Janae took of the day.

Our little 14 pounder

2010-06-22T10:57:00.012-06:00

Just going to church. He didn't like it when I tried to button his shorts that were tight on his belly so I left them unbuttoned. Stephani made this cute little bowtie for him and gave him his white polo.

This kid is a master at getting one finger out of these infant face scratch preventing sleeves. No matter what, he manages to maneuver his index finger on both hands out of those pesky sleeves.

Some of his minimal golden awake time when he isn't hungry, gassy, sleepy, or doesn't have a dirty diaper.

Nate and I weighed him yesterday and Nate measured his length with the measuring tape from his tool box. He's probably longer than what we measured, but he's 24 inches and weighs 14 lbs. This one month old little monster is in the 98th percentile for both height and weight.

In his car seat. He hates his carseat already.

Sleeping in the last item of his 0-3 month clothing that fits him. It's a cute little sleeper from Christy:) Yes, he's on his belly. Don't judge us.

I Want You Back

2010-06-17T10:53:00.005-06:00

Nate and I were watching these last night and they were blowing my mind. I remember getting butterflies watching and listening to N'SYNC my sophomore and junior years of high school with my friend Julie. We watched the dance moves in "I Want You Back" over and over again because we thought they were pretty cool/sexy: see video at 0:45, 1:16, and 3:06. Nate was disgusted by these moves by the way, as I am now over ten years later. There's way too much to comment about in these videos so it's best just to watch. I do want to say that I'm amazed at how Justin Timberlake went from this to a highly desired bachelor.

Hanging out with Oscar

2010-06-10T18:39:00.001-06:00

His favorite sleep position: hands pa arriba

His first bath

So fresh and so clean

Gettin his hair washed and loving it

Being naked with his cousins and aunties

Our little Oscar joins the family

2010-05-26T14:20:00.009-06:00

This is our first family photo, it makes me happy.

Although I haven't done anything for the past week and I've been trapped in my house, I feel like I've been too busy to tell Oscar's story. Here it is..

Last Tuesday morning I had continuing contractions from the day before that only had gotten more painful when I woke up. They were painful enough to go see my doctor for a little investigating. He saw me quickly and said I was dilated to about a 3 1/2 and sent me over to the hospital and said he would be there in an hour to come break my water. I got there at 3:30 and got the epidural going by the time I was at a 4. I just had to wait there until 8:30 while my body dilated to a 10. At 8:30 I was good to start pushing. I pushed until 10:00 exactly, which was Oscar's birth time. It was pretty hard to push and be completely numb, I couldn't tell what I was doing. I hadn't eaten since noon that day and with the drugs and the heavy pushing I started shaking like crazy and thought I might throw up. My teeth wouldn't stop clattering and it was killing my jaw. But then Oscar came and he was so sweet. Hearing his little cry for the first time and seeing him was an incomparable experience. When I got to hold him for the first time I was overcome with love and happiness. Just that one moment with him made all the negative of the past 9 months completely forgettable. I've never felt anything like that before. I love him to death.

We've been home with him now for a week and have loved every second that we get to stare at his adorable face, it hasn't gotten old. Nate was wondering if I was experiencing any postpartum depression. I think I have the opposite. I cry out of joy at least 2 times a day right now. I don't remember the last time I was so sensitive to every little thing that is good in my life. I mean, I usually feel a lot of gratitude daily for the great life I have, but it's way more intense now. Oscar has made every moment 100 times more joyful and way more emotional. I look at Nate differently and I look at my life differently, and it's the best kind of different. We really love Oscar to pieces and are so happy he has finally joined us.

It was also Nate's birthday on Saturday. I felt terrible that I really couldn't do anything for him while I was recovering from a serious procedure and taking care of a 4 day old baby. Even before giving birth I was car-less, so it was hard to get anything done for him. So, this birthday was a bust and I'm feeling bad about it. Hopefully we can have a makeup date sometime soon. I really love my life with Nate and love that he still trys to impress me with his sense of humor. He's been a really fun husband and he's already a pretty cool dad. He always makes an effort to make sure we are still dating each other. I love the million little things he thinks of to do together or for me. I love you Nate, happy birthday you 23 yr. old dad.

The birthday boy/dad. I think that's a great color on Nate.

Oscar has also had plenty of visitors. Lezlie and my grandpa stayed with us over the weekend and my grandma and mom have been here for almost a week. Diana has come to see him a few times and Stephani and Callie drove all the way from Orange County and back in a day just to see us. Almost all the Jensens have come to see him and Emilia has already taken more pictures of him than I have. My co-worker Sara, who threw me an awesome work baby shower, came to see us in the hospital too. I am disgusting in all of the pictures I'm posting but I'm just gonna try to not let that bother me.

Stephani, Callie and Klein. Stephani makes baby ties and brought some cute ones she made for Oscar. Klein brought a nice poop, he's so ridiculously cute.

Lezlie REALLY loves babies. I think she has a special preference for Oscar though.

Oscar. Yep, my mom.

My cute grandpa.

My co-worker Sara and her daughter who were really adamant about persuading Nate and I to NOT name the baby Oscar. They brought me alternatives and suggestions for months.

Pictures of Oscar

2010-05-23T22:54:00.005-06:00

My photographer sister in law Emilia has been so excited to take pictures of Oscar for some time now. She has already given him his first photo shoot and she posted the pictures on her website. Please take a look at our handsome little man:

http://www.lialensphotography.com/

Oscar Augie Jensen

2010-05-19T15:18:00.012-06:00

Oscar finally came last night at 10:00 exactly. He tipped the scales at 9 lbs. 9 oz. and 22 inches long. He is adorable and has lots of dark hair. So far his favorite things are sleeping, getting out of his blanket, and the Phoenix Suns. Nichelle is recovering well and we should be back home tomorrow. Enjoy some pictures of the little guy! Excuse the nudity.

The final countdown

2010-05-14T09:36:00.006-06:00

I thought this great song and video was pretty appropriate, I only wish my final countdown was as fun and motivating as this video. My due date is only a week and two days away and things have gotten really hard for me on the home stretch.
I really haven't had a hard time with pregnancy until now, but there seems to have been an explosion of hurdles for me all at once. Mentally and physically, the baby inside has all of a sudden become extremely taxing. In the past week my feet and ankles have started to swell to resemble elephantitis, I've broken out with about 50 huge stretch marks all around my belly button, my ribs feel like they are slowly being broken one by one by a 10 lb baby, I cannot sleep on one side for more than 30 min without my hips awaking me in pain and begging me to switch sides, I have lost any remaining normal range of movement, and I have begun to cry about everything.
I know I shouldn't be so vain as to care so much about the stretch marks, but after laying on my back and feeling what they would feel like if the baby wasn't there, I was really grossed out and very sad. The last 8 1/2 months seem like a breeze compared to how badly I want this guy to be out of me now. So if you have any extra prayers you could spare, I would really like him out of me today. Thanks!

Sprouts customer insanity continued

2010-05-03T22:56:00.004-06:00

These are the latest of the most obnoxious comments I've gotten from customers lately regarding my pregnant self. I get the usual 4 standard questions about 100 times a day but these are the ones that blow my mind.

1) Man in his 70's: "I'll baptize your baby."
Me: Silence, trying to pretend I didn't hear what he said
Man: "I'll baptize the baby."
Me:" What was that sir?" I heard perfectly well what he said, just hoping he wouldn't want to repeat it a third time so loudly in front of all the other customers in my line
Man: "I'll baptize your baby, I'll baptize him!" With a HUGE smile on his face.
Me: "That's nice of you to offer." speechless

2) 60 year old woman: "It's a boy isn't it? Please tell me it's a boy so I can take care of it. What are you having?"
Me: Confused by so many fast questions at once. "It's a boy."
Woman: "Yeah I thought so. I would take care of him I mean, are you planning on keeping him? You probably are, is it your first?"
Me: "Yes, it's our first and we're planning on keeping him."
Woman: "Yeah, I figured. I would take care of him though, I wouldn't mistreat him or nothing. I had boys of my own, but their all grown now and I could sure use the tax break. These taxes are killing me now. But, I mean I wouldn't take him just for the taxes though, I'd treat him right I wouldn't mistreat him or nothing. I'd care for him and feed him and clothe him. But that's good you're gonna have a boy and you'll take care of him."
Me: Wanting to hold onto my belly, "Yeah, we're really excited for him to be born." What in the world just happened.

3) Regular male customer that consistently makes offensive comments spots me trying to hide from him while he's in another line: "Hey there you are! You're still here huh?"
Me: "Yep, I'm still here."
Man: "Let me ask you something, are you geting bigger and bigger by the day or is the baby just getting bigger?"
Me: "I don't know sir." Trying to be super busy with the customers in my own line.
Man: coming over to my line after he's checked out "Well someone is getting bigger and bigger that's for sure! haha!"
Me: Pretending not to listen while I deal with my own customers

4) Woman about 60:"When are you due?"
Me: "3 weeks"
Woman: " I just was over helping out my daughter in law that had her baby on Saturday. She has four other kids so she needs lots of help."
Me: "well that's really nice of you, I bet that's really challenging for her right now."
Woman: "Yeah it is. Do you have kids or is this your first?"
Me: "No kids, this is our first baby."
Woman: "Yeeeaah you're really in for something. Once you have one your life is over."
Me: Silence. Stunned.

Jensen Induction

2010-04-30T10:26:00.009-06:00

I've been spending a lot of time with Nate's parents lately due to my little car crash. His sweet mom picks me up from work everyday, (and lots of times takes me to work too), and I just hang out at their house for a few hours until Nate gets off work and can come pick me up. Nate's mom has been my primary caretaker lately with my soft foods only diet so the Jensens and I have been doing some serious bonding and I have realized one of the huge keys to being officially inducted into their family:

Simon and Garfunkel.

I already knew Nate was the biggest fan and that if we were to road trip anywhere, listening to an entire S & G hits album would be standard protocol. I also knew that they are the most played artist on my husband's ipod, even though he still won't go as far as to claim they're his favorite. But I didn't realize the extent of the roots to this liking of Simon & Garfunkel until I started bonding so much with Nate's parents Glen & Laurel.

I found out they separately spent their youth angst years relying on Simon & Garfunkel to either put a smile on their face or calm them down when having a hard time. Then, collectively they raised all of their kids with these songs playing in the background. If they were road tripping anywhere, no question an entire S & G album would be played.(Which I really respect because the majority of my ipod is just a bunch of single songs and I have few albums in their entirety.)

I never really thought twice about the fact that I have been around to see almost all of Nate's brothers and sister listening to Simon & Garfunkel in their own homes or cars. The other night after work while watching t.v with Glen and Laurel, the 25th Anniversary Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame concert from last year was playing on some channel. Glen turned it on and skipped through a good chunk of the performers until he finally got to the Simon and Garfunkel performance.(see above video, it's pretty good.) He turned the volume up super loud and it was like a concert in the living room. They told me about how they took the kids to see them at their reunion concert a few years ago and how their kids were the only young people in the audience and how the kids knew all the words to EVERY song and how it made Glen cry a little bit out of joy.

Before knowing Nate I don't think I could have even told you the name of one Simon & Garfunkel song. I am not musically inept, but those two fellas just never looked like their songs would be my thing. I love their music now and feel like it is a part of the little family Nate and I have made for ourselves. I feel sort of inducted into the Jensen family now because I understand how far back this whole liking for S & G goes. I think a lot of families have musical commonalities like this that get passed down unintentionally out of a desire for nostalgia, and I think it's great. I think mine if there was one would be Eyde Gormet y Los Panchos.(Don't laugh, they're good.) Do you have a Simon and Garfunkel?

1998 vs. 2010

2010-04-28T12:05:00.004-06:00

I just wanted to post these then and now pictures of Julie, Sally and I. We took the latest picture on our stop in Beaver to see Julie the day before she had her baby girl. We are all pretty pregnant in the newest picture and I still think we look better than we did when we were 16.

I thought it would be a good idea to have pasta hanging out of my mouth I guess. This is from some Young Women's trip that Anna Tanner organized and we got to hang out in Palm Springs.

So many latest hapenings

2010-04-16T11:38:00.012-06:00

I was gearing up to post these pictures and lots more of our new house which has pretty much consumed our time and thoughts for months now. We've been working on it a lot and were just picking paint colors when this happened..

Monday on my way to work I got in a serious car accident. I was going through an intersection on my green light and someone coming from the opposite direction decided to turn on their left red arrow and I didn't see them until it was too late. I slammed on my breaks and closed my eyes upon impact. I opened them and grabbed my face in pain and there was blood everywhere and I am this pregnant right now (35 weeks)...

So I was screaming and crying pretty positive I had ended the baby's life. People helped me out of the car and the paramedics were there to whisk me away in a few minutes. As soon as I got into the ambulence I felt the little man move and they heard his heartbeat so I calmed down like 100% but I was scared I might go into labor. They took me to the hospital and kept me there till 6pm the next day to monitor my placenta in case it tore from the uterus in the first 24 hrs and to give me turbutiline to stop the contractions. While I was there I had a CTscan to see why my jaw hurt so bad and found out it was fractured. Yesterday I went to the oral surgeon for an assessment of what I should do about my jaw and left there with my jaw pretty much sealed shut. Without any warning he put these lovely things on both sides of my mouth....

They are like these braces things that i put these tiny and not stretchy rubber bands on. They're so small you probably can't even tell that that is what is in my hand..

I have to double those rubber bands up on those metal things so pretty much how you see my teeth closed in the above picture is how they will be for weeks. I can barely fit a straw through my teeth so its liquid food for a few weeks. This baby is already so big and needs so much food all day I don't know how this will go. It feels like I had braces put on because of the achiness, but I guess this is all a blessing right? Everyone says the main thing is that me and baby are ok. I know this is true but I am starving and had to miss a week of work and now have no car. I guess I'm just happy that I didn't have to give birth because of all this. P.S. the fractured jaw is from the airbag, those things are crazy! It busted my lips open and bruised up my left arm. But that's actually not that hard to do to my arms if you remember correctly. Maybe one day soon I'll get some before and after pictures up of the house. But for now we are a week behind on getting ready for this baby. Thanks everyone for all your calls and texts and messages in concern. I really am thankful that the baby and I are ok. He's as active/crazy as ever.

Baby Shower

2010-03-26T09:00:00.013-06:00

It is so great to have such wonderful friends that also happen to be so talented. My fun friends threw me a baby shower in Utah last weekend and I was in heaven. I loved everything about it and I just felt like the luckiest girl in the world that day. I didn't get pictures of everyone who was there but I'll get those soon. I did get some pictures of this other stuff though...

These were the great invitations done by Alison Faulkner Robertson. The girls then ran with the pea in the pod theme for the rest of the shower.

These were the games we played. Once again, it's so nice to have these talented friends. Tara made the game on the left and destroyed everyone with her absurd knowledge of pop culture-it was a celeb baby names game. Alison obviously opted for making a game from the The Price Is Right, guessing prices of baby items. Everyone was just a few dollars off the right price, I however, was $75 off.

These were little cake-pops that were dressed as peas in a pod! How do people come up with this stuff!

These lovely ladies cooked up a scrumptious spread of tortilla soup and black bean salad, among other things, and then decorated the cutest little environment for such a fun daytime party.(see poofy paper balls in background.) There was so much yummy stuff and I'm so bummed I didn't get a good picture of the food spread when it came out.

In addition to this great party that was thrown for me, I got some really wonderful gifts I'm so excited about. It was so nice to spend time with friends and to get to see my loved ones in Utah that I never get to see. I couldn't be happier after a great little weekend with everyone.

Look at me!

2010-03-16T00:52:00.002-06:00

I am the Sprouts employee of the month. NBD. This is the bulletin board that hangs next to the public restrooms:) Sorry the picture is cut off, I had to cut out Rene the 55 yr old bakery manager from the picture because she was the "Safety Employee of the Month," and I didn't want you getting distracted thinking there were two general/overall employees of the month. There's only one, and it's me:)

Check out my kids

2010-02-22T08:48:00.006-07:00

(Yes, that was a pose by Michael with the arms crossed. He insisted on looking sideways and folding his arms like that. He's hilarious.)

These are my little kids that I wanted to post as past of the 14 days of love but didn't. (Minus Breanna who is the total teacher's pet.) I teach them in church on Sundays and they are 6 and 7 years old. Actually, pardon me, they would say they were 6 and 3/4 or 7 and 1/2, etc. We get to play games, color, sing way too loudly, jump, dance, do kart wheels, and eat treats together. I'm pretty sure we're just supposed to be talking about Jesus, but we get to incorporate all these other things in while we're doing that. Mostly they are just excited for the fruit by the foot or zebra cakes I bring as their treat/reward at the end of class.(One of the boys always asks if he can have two.) My favorite thing that I have learned from them is that if I bring a craft for them to work on, I MUST have enough of every color option of paper for every kid. Because, it's just not fair if Brooke gets dark pink and there is only light pink left for Haylee. Love my kids.

Check out my Valentine

2010-02-18T09:27:00.007-07:00

I am so sorry I failed at these love posts. I warned I would not be good at keeping up with such consistent blogging, but nonetheless, I apologize for not posting the last one on my Valentine. I don't want to say much cause I just wrote about him last month, but I love my Valentine for reasons such as these:

That's Nates's boss.

I also had some other days I wanted to put up but I just really failed miserably at all of this. So, I'm just gonna post them as I get the time. Love you all, hope you had a great Valentines Day.

Day #10 Check out my new little man

2010-02-10T21:54:00.005-07:00

K I know I already posted this picture but it's the only picture I have of him so far. I love this little guy. I love him because he seems like a little freak already. He kicks, moves, turns, and punches like crazy every night when I lay down to go to bed or at around 5 o'clock to 6pm. I love watching the little spaz every night because it looks like there is an alien moving from side to side inside of me. He cracks me up with his sudden and spastic movements. I wish we had a name for him. All I know is I hope he looks like his dad when he was little. Just like this....

Day #9 Check out Mama Kay

2010-02-09T22:56:00.005-07:00

(Her with son Nate)

This is Mama Kay, my second mother. (My best friend Lezlie's mom if you didn't know.)If it seems like I have an absurd amount of second families, I do. I think what happened was God ended up overcompensating me with loved ones all over the place for any lack of family I experienced earlier in my life. And mama Kay couldn't be a better compensation. (Her daughter n' law actually came up with the name mama Kay, and I haven't heard anything more perfectly suiting so I'm gonna use it too.)

Mama Kay has mastered bald headed, one breasted beauty. Yes, she's the ultimate survivor and she's had to regrow her hair from bald more times than any female would like to in life. And she's done all of her surviving with the best sense of humor, because in her eyes, there's cheer and positivity to be found in all situations life hands you.

This woman is the ultimate woman. She's the real and legit Angelina Jolie, adopting any troubled teenage soul(mine), Chilean grandchild, or Hawaiian neighbor. Kay has a crazy intuition and 6th sense for spotting any young person in need of love. It's kind of freaky: You've been lacking love, Kay will know and she will take you under her wings. And she does it with the utmost sense of humble secrecy. That's the best part about her love, it's in secret because it's sincere. If you are having a problem you will keep her up at night praying for you and losing sleep over you. Imagine the loss of sleep for her own children. My favorite thing about mama Kay is that she loves to write letters to express her love and concern. I love that about her because I'd almost always prefer writing a letter too in order to be able to express my love for someone.

( I love this one because she's got John's back in his #2 love:Golf)

Mama Kay is also the caring, selfless, wise, mother to four awesome successful children and the most faithful, loyal, dedicated, dressed to the nines wife to the amazing John Q. She is a killer gourmet chef, and after a 4 hr labor of love in the kitchen, she shows no sign of discouragement when any offspring of hers turn up their noses at an unfamiliar parsnip or escarole. She will even graciously and lovingly accommodate her holiday feasts to a gluten free diet if you are one of her cherished adopted children.

I am one of those cherished adopted children and I'm so proud to call myself such. She's showed me the true definition of charity: unconditional love. She's brought me closer to my God because of all her wisdom. She's really experienced it all; if you need any life advice, please just ask Kay. I'll give you her number if you need it, she'd love to talk to you. I love you mama Kay.

Day #8 Check out la familia Smart

2010-02-08T09:16:00.003-07:00

I had to do this post after the post about my mission so, in case it was unclear before, it would be pretty clear now how much my experience in Argentina changed my life. My time in Argentina was really the start of Life Part 2 for me, and the steps that had to take place in order for it to happen revolve so much around one family that I have to involve them in these fourteen days of love posts.

These are the Smarts

The story starts first with their son Jake when I was 15. (He's the one to the left of his graduating mama above.) He was one of 2 of my first simultaneous Mormon encounters. I had never heard of the church prior and had no idea what it was all about. Since I had a huge teen crush on Jake at the time I watched his every move. I knew he had very strong beliefs and I knew he owned them. I mean, I knew they were completely independent of his upbringing. I had no beliefs of my own and I definitely didn’t know of one thing I stood for at age 15. It was very intriguing to me to know someone my age so smart who could tell me what was important to them and what they wanted out of life, when the only thing on my radar at the time was the next party on Friday night. I eventually started going to the LDS church and soon after I was baptized a member of their church. Best decision I've ever made in my life. Thank you Jake.

Then came Ryan..(see above with the sunglasses on)

For years after I joined the church I struggled trying to juggle both my normal party/lazy lifestyle of staying up late partying and sleeping in late(i.e. never making it to church), and trying to keep up with my desire to be a part of my new found faith. I always knew I had found truth in this church and that it made me happy, but I really had a hard time changing my lifestyle. Ryan came along at just the right time. When I was 20, he had moved back to San Diego the same time I did and the two of us had no other friends there. We actually weren’t even really great friends before moving back to San Diego. We ended up working together at Jimbos’s every day and became the best of friends. I’m pretty sure he was an angel sent to me personally to help me gain the will power, strength, and vision to change into who I wanted to become. Ryan taught me how to not just talk about change but to make it happen. He taught me the meaning of hard work, sacrifice, selflessness, commitment, love, and most of all faith. He’s one of the most faithful people I know. He was the crutch/angel I needed at that time to help me to stand on my own two feet. Ryan was someone who saw good things and potential in me I had no idea were there. He was the one who would let me share with him how I wanted to do what the girl missionaries that taught me did: go away for a year and a half somewhere and teach people these great things I had just learned.

That’s where David and Brenda come in...

I guess the conversations Ryan and I had about me dreaming about going on a full time mission for our church had been passed along to his parents David and Brenda. They talked without me knowing and one Sunday night these conversations Ryan and I had been having came up at the Smart dinner table . They asked what I thought about going on a mission. I told them how it sounded wonderful , like the greatest thing I could do to be able to give back to someone what I’d been given. They asked me why I wasn’t pursuing it. Now, you have to know that at this point, I knew a decision like this would be completely unfeasible for me. It wasn’t even ever something I thought seriously about doing because, just like any other humanitarian experience, you have to be able to support yourself financially up front in order to be able to go and be without a paying job somewhere for a year and a half. I knew how much it would cost, and knew there was no way for me to even consider doing it. I just thought Ryan and I talked about it kind of like how you talk about a really luxurious vacation you know will never happen, like “wouldn’t that be nice if we went?” I finally responded and I think I said “I don’t know.” They started talking and saying things like “We only have four boys and we always wanted to send a daughter on a mission,” and “We really need blessings right now.” I understood where this was going and started to cry. The rest of what was said is kind of a blur because I was so happy and cried so much. These weren’t comments in passing, this was a real life offer. I told them I couldn’t accept this and, knowing my demeanor , they denied me the opportunity to reject their offer. I had never been so grateful for someone taking control of my shyness and demanding me to accept such an offer.

And that is how I got to spend the happiest year and a half of my life in Argentina which started the beginning of a new me, and a new life for myself. That experience was the starting point for the wonderful life I have now. Thanks to my mission I have so much love in my life and couldn’t feel more complete. I’ve said it plenty of times before, but I cringe to think of what would have become of my life had I not went on a mission. I have the Smarts to thank for the greatest happiness I've ever experienced and I gained the Smarts as an awesome second family in addition. Thank you Smarts, I love you all.

Day #6 Each life that touches ours for good...

2010-02-06T23:48:00.006-07:00

That is my favorite hymn and they are why:

This will probably be pretty boring for most of you to read, but hopefully the people I'm writing about get around to reading this. These people are people that I'm sure I knew and was dear friends with before this life. If I let myself think about them for longer than a minute or two I want to cry. These are my best friends that I probably will only get to see a handful of times throughout my life.
This is Lorena and Romina in the above two pictures. They were companions of mine on my mission in Rosario, Argentina, and they are both from Buenos Aires. We spent months together one on one working and growing together.
Lorena, above right, is probably the most angelic, God-oriented person I know. She is hilarious and she is a genius. There were times when we would be laying on the dirty cockroach floor cause we were laughing so hard. I felt so happy with Lorena. We made the strongest possible bond as friends and sisters that will never diminish no matter how in-often we get to talk or see each other.
Romina, is the most down to earth person I have dealt with. She was a total butthead at times and we had some pretty rough struggles together because of her hard-a attitude. But the best thing about her is that she will freely admit all of this and more. That's why I love this girl. We ended up becoming the best of friends and had some incredible experiences together because of the awesome chemistry we developed. I stayed with her and her family when I went back to visit 2 years ago( 3 years after I got home from Argentina), and she had only become more patient, selfless, and sweet than when I had seen her last. These two girls are two people I know I will be the best of friends with even after we die.

This is Norma (and me plus 30 lbs and Argentine panaderia carb face)
She is the angel of angels. I don't know why we clicked so much but we did. In fact, I know she's down there still asking any missionary from the U.S., 6 years later, if they know me or know who I am. And the feeling is mutual. I love this woman like a long lost sister. I can't even write about her life situation cause I'll cry. This lady, in addition to feeding us weekly with no money whatsoever, would ride her bike to our apartment in the frigid cold at night to check up on us and bring us even more food. Yes we shared a love for food, but it was so much more than that. She got me, and I got her, and we couldn't have changed each other's lives more. Norma is the reason for many decisions I make to this day. The video below is from when Romina (companion above) and I went back to visit her 2 years ago for the first time since we'd left. We clapped in front of her house for her to come out so we could surprise her. She had no idea we were coming. And this is why I love her to death.

I want to write about more of these eternal friends of mine but people can only take reading so much of this kind of stuff. So this will have to do for now. Love you friends.

Day #5 Check out this love mix I made for you

2010-02-05T23:53:00.003-07:00

I love making mixes; especially when they are on c.d.s and it's the early 2000's with software programs to design your own sticky labels for the c.d.s. I love making Valentines Day mixes too. I've made one for you and I've decided to go with a cheerful love tone instead of a mellow indie/somber love song mix. I feel like it was the best decision, you know songs you can clean to. If you scroll down to the bottom of the blog you can download most of them from me. ( I tried to get them all up, but I had a lot of problems.) Love you friends!

1. Gipsy Kings - Djobi Djoba
2. Sade - Colour of love
3. Feist - Mushaboom
4. Garth Brooks - That Summer...This I preferred to be "Shameless" but I didn't have it on my computer
5. Astrud Gilberto - Agua de Beber
6. D'angelo - Feel Like Makin Love
7. Ella Fitzgerald - Our Love Is Here To Stay
8. Eydie Gormet Y Los Panchos - Sabor A Mi
9. The Isley Brothers - Between The Sheets
10. John Michael Montgomery - Hold Onto Me
11. Kings Of Convenience - I'd Rather Dance With You..This one is Nate's one song if he had a say in this mix
12. SWV - Love Will Be Right Here
13. Santana - Samba Pa Ti...don't worry, it's instrumental; in case i've done a little overkill on the spanish
14. Earth Wind & Fire - Fantasy

Day #3 Check out this eclair cake

2010-02-03T23:58:00.011-07:00

This is the best dessert to make because it is easy breezy. You just throw a few ingredients together all willy nilly, and put the concoction in the fridge. It's not like baking where you have to be SO precise. You can do it as sloppy as you'd like to, like I do, and it still tastes so great. As far as I know, Sally invented this recipe. She used to make it all the time back in our UVSC branburry/glenwood days when I thought there was nothing wrong with eating an entire fresh loaf of bread from the bread machine. Sally knew this was my favorite dessert and even snuck it into me while I was in the MTC on my mission. (Via Diana Ojomo who worked in the MTC mailroom.) Anyway, Sally calls this Eclair cake, so that's what I call it. You only need the following ingredients:

1 box of graham crakers (generic brand will do)
2 small boxes instant pudding, french vanilla. (or whatever flavor really)
1 larger (not the small) container of cool whip (generic is totally fine once again)
a bunch of milk chocolate bars-like 3 symphonys or 6 or 7 hershey bar. (or even those little nubs of chocolate they sell in a microwavable container for strawberry dipping work too)

1. Make both instant pudding boxes according to instructions.

2. Mix the whole cool whip container into the pudding. Using something electric works best.

3. Lay down your first layer of graham crackers into your pyrex sized casserole pan or something similar. Be careful with your graham crackers, I get too rough with them and they crumble. They don't ever fit just right, don't worry.

4. Pour in pudding/cool whip mixture. Not all of it cause you will be repeating this process once more.

5. Lay down another layer of graham crackers.
6. Pour in some more pudding/cool whip mixture.
7. Lay down one more layer of graham crackers. ( probably will have used whole box by now.)
8. Melt your chocolate. I do it in the microwave. (you'll need more than pictured below)

9. Spread melted chocolate over dry top layer of graham crackers. Put it in the fridge 3 hours or more, the longer the better.

10. Take out and eat.

Happy day 3 friends, eat your hearts and thighs out.

Day #2: Check out my grandparents

2010-02-02T23:55:00.007-07:00

(p.s. this picture is my grandma, me, and uncle larry)

(this is my grandpa and baby me)

I had to choose these pictures cause our scanner was acting up again, and these were the only ones that would come out right. Oh these two people, I wouldn't even know what love was if I didn't have them. They were my rock and any kind of stability growing up. I always loved going to my grandparents house and it still feels like home in their house they've been living in for 50 years. They cared for my brother and I like no one else did and still do to this day. They have the best personalities and are such interesting, grounded, smart, and savvy people. My grandpa used to love to take us to the Aerospace museum in San Diego when we were little and my grandma took me to see Carlos Santana in concert with her. (when I was 20 and she in her 60's) They always let us dress up in their boots and high heels as toddlers and snoop around in their stuff. My grandma is the best cook and loves to cook for her loved ones. My grandpa is a real handyman hard worker with the best financial smarts that ever existed. In their mid 70's, my grandpa still rides his bike around all of Mission Bay in San Diego and my grandma still works and bumps her favorite radio station (San Diego's Old School 92.5) on the way there. They are the best grandparents anyone could ever ask for and more. I love them to death and can't believe all that we've been able to experience together. They are so young and have so many years ahead of them to spend with Nate and I and our new little baby. I can't wait for all of that. Bottoms up to Augie and Evelyn, I love you both.

14 Days of Love: Day #1

2010-02-01T22:39:00.004-07:00

Nate's mom did a fun Valentines Day build up for her kids every year called 14 days of love. She had a little red plastic heart with a little treat inside for them to open for the first 14 days of February. Each of the hearts had the kid's names on them and Nate really looked forward to this little tradition. By the way, he asked her the other day if she was still going to do it for them. Um, all of her kids are married and in their 20's and 30's with their own kids. But a likely question to ask nonetheless right?

I would like to take 14 days of love to my blog and bring love to you and this blog by coming up with something that will make you feel some kind of love in your cute little heart for the next two weeks. I don't have any of you with me here in AZ, so this is my only way to bring you a Valentines day treat. I decided to do this even though I know I won't be able to keep up with it because today was just one of those days that makes you awake to life again. Today ended up being a day that reminds you to stop moving along so quickly in your day to day, just looking one foot ahead of you. Today was a reminder to always be tapped into and focused on your ultimate vision and perspective of what you really want out of your life and what you want to make of it.

Day #1 Check out my mother n' law

This lady is a pretty great woman, and I've really come to love her. She is selfless, but not dumb. I know people think selfless mom = total bore and ding dong but this woman is brilliant. She is the end all be all, (well we could have some competition with Alison's mom) of all things literature. She is fun, talented, and very generous with her time and skills. I won't even start on geneology. But most importantly and most valuable to me, she raised a pretty great young man with a heart of gold. That heart comes from his mother and this is the day to celebrate it. Thank you Laurel for all the wear n' tear on your heart. Happy Day 1 of the 14 days of love. Love you friends:)

Some days....

2010-01-29T19:15:00.002-07:00

I just really want to be a girl bass player in a disco or funk band.

My beloved Sprouts customers

2010-01-28T08:58:00.003-07:00

Sprouts is a funny little store. It's the exact same clientele as Henry's, so I knew what I was getting myself into when I started working there. The majority of customers there have been bringing in their own bags since I worked at Henry's 8 years ago, and they love their kale. Their staple love is an absurd amount of produce but currently they're really into anything gluten free, argentine mate, kombucha, and anything with acidophilus or anything made from soy. As a cashier, I get to check out hundreds of these customers a day which means, hundreds more unsolicited comments or tips regarding my pregnancy. I really don't mind at all because at this point it's become really funny and really exciting to think about what I might hear next from my customers. There's truly something new and funny everyday, so I made a small list of some that have already happened so far. I'm clearly pregnant by now so most of the time, the conversation starts with "When's your baby due?" And then from there, these are a few examples of what has followed the when's your baby due question....

"When's your baby due?"
In May.

1)"Take red raspberry, I gave birth naturally without one problem and so easily cause I was taking so much red raspberry."
I'm not sure I know what that is, and I'm not actually planning on having it "naturally."

2)"Do not find out what it is! The best thing you can do is leave yourself the anticipation."
Um, well I already know what it is and I kind of still feel like there's an element of anticipation.

3)" Well here's my card, I'm a certified Doula."
Oh thanks. ( No clue what she even said. And then I saw the card and later looked up definition of Doula.)

4)"Well let me just tell you, you're life is gonna change. And not for the better girl. I have three girls, one of them is getting married this year and it's costing me $50,000. I'm telling you your life is going to change, shoot.
Me: silence

5)" Do you have a name picked out for him?"
No not yet.
" Well what's your father's name?"
Antonio but I don't think...
"Ooh! That's a great name girl!"
Yeah but I don't think we're going to name him Antonio.
"Well what's your husband's name?"
Nathan
"OOh! That's a great name girl!"
I know, but I don't think we're going to do the Nathan Jr. thing.

6)"Oh well make sure you eat a lot of banana, especially plantains." (Colombian lady buying a large amount of plantain bananas)
Really? Why?
"Oh honey, they're so good for you, you know because of the potassium."
Yeah, I know about bananas and potassium, but why during pregnancy specifically?
"They're just really good for you honey."
Ok.

Or, they might skip the when are you due question and just go straight to saying:

"It's a girl isn't it?"
Excuse me?
"You're pregnant right? It's a girl, I can tell because of the kind of cone shaped belly. I had three girls."
Um, no it's actually a boy.

Or, the customers who have already spoken with me about the pregnancy follow up with me with the following comments:

1)"You look tired today, are you tired?"
No, I'm not tired. Actually I feel really good and energized today, but thanks for the heads up.
"Yeah, you look tired honey."

2)"Have you been getting tired yet?"
Yeah, I mean a little I guess.
"Yeah, I thought so cause I never see you with makeup on anymore."

So that's all I could think of right now, I'll post more as they come. Just thought I better start writing them down, cause they're getting really good.

A few gross WebMD photos

2010-01-27T09:41:00.006-07:00

If you didn't know already, I bruise like a banana and I have a freakishly weak right ankle. Ryan please don't die laughing. I have sprained the same ankle repeatedly, (3 times in 2 months) and it continues to just give out on me whenever it feels like it. The other day after I had cooked Nate dinner and was loading it into my car to bring to him at work, I was walking way too fast. I was juggling hot pans and plates and thermoses and there was no joke, a tornado warning/watch going on that night in AZ so the wind and rain were crazy. Tornado? Arizona? Yeah it was real, and it was stupid, and I stepped into a puddled up ditch I hadn't seen and my ankle went a rolling. My big pregnant, heavy, heavy self went tumbling town in the black asphalt of our parking lot so fast and so hard trying to clutch tightly to the dinner I had just spent an hour making. The point of this story is how amazed I am by what a mush ball my body is right now. On any other day had I fallen like this, i would have cried a little and moved on from the pain. But with this new freak belly body, it became an internal injury for the whole next day. I couldn't bend my knee, I couldn't stand up too long, and I had to keep it elevated and iced. It was so embarrassing. Here is the nastiness.

The newest freaky think is the rash on my belly. I have no idea why it appeared. All I know is my belly started itching like crazy, and then this rash appeared, and now it itches as bad as when I had chickenpox. I am a heavy sleeper and this itch is preventing me from sleeping. I'm going to the doctor on Friday. It's kind of hard to see, you have to look at an angle.

22 Weeks

2010-01-16T12:39:00.003-07:00

This is what my belly is like at 22 weeks. It's starting to itch pretty bad.

This is what the little man looks like at 22 weeks. This was from an ultrasound specialist.

This is Lezlie's cute depiction of what I think is me at 22 weeks. She painted this!

One year down, one gazillion and infinity to go

2009-12-30T16:31:00.002-07:00

Nate and I celebrated our first anniversary on Sunday the 27th. It has been one great year together as a married couple and I just wanted to make a little list of the the great things I've come to love about Nate even more in this past year.

-He is not disgusted by the frightening loss of my hair: i.e. hair and hairballs everywhere. If you have ever been around me for a few days or lived with me, you know that I cannot be anywhere without leaving a trail of evidence of long black hair everywhere in really gross amounts. Thankfully my sweet husband still isn't annoyed or grossed out by this.
-He lets me sleep with two comforters. Nate prepares my side of the bed with two comforters even if it means he will eventually be hotly smothered in the tangled up mess of comforters that end up on him in the middle of the night. This is a big demonstration of his love for me because he gets super hot really easily and hates waking up sweaty in the middle of the night.
-He does the dishes on all of the right days. It's almost like he magically or intuitively knows when my burned out points have been reached, and he takes the initiative to clean up while i'm not looking.
-He's such a hard worker. I know every job has it's negatives but have you ever been 6'7 having to work on the ceiling of a 5'6 space in a mildewy, humid, 100 degree cat pee basement with your neck cocked to the side for 3 hours only to repeat an extremely tedious process 3 more times in a day for 5 more days? An he's excited to go out and do it again this upcoming year.
-He loves any meal or food I make for him. I am so happy this man loves to eat as much as I do, but I am even luckier that he praises the heck out of every simple to complicated thing I whip up, even like a grilled cheese or something. The amazing thing is that he actually really appreciates it and loves it, he's not just doing it to make me feel good.
-He never makes me feel stupid or weird for enjoying watching basketball as much as he does. He has never made one condescending comment in response to my input on games or players even though I have never played the sport nor fully understand the game.
-He continues to open my car door wherever we go even if it is pouring rain and it is completely illogical. I know we've only been married a year so we'll see if this is still going on in like 20 years, but I still think it's so sweet and so indicative of his personality.
-He has a great desire to make special days into special occasions and an impeccable memory. He knows and remembers all 500 of his family members birthdays, as well as friends and in laws. He loves Christmas and holidays and really making a special day into a memorable one for his loved ones. I love this about him because if it were up to me all these holidays and special occasions could pass me by just like any other day. But thanks to Nate, I really see the value in making memories with loved ones and making them feel special. Also, I have a horrible memory and would be constantly double booking myself if it weren't for him.

I could keep going but these were just a few I had on my mind. I love having Nate by my side every day and I really do thank God that he is such a caring, sincere, loving, selfless, loyal person by nature. He hates to see people suffer and loves to make people happy and I couldn't ask for more in a companion and best friend. Happy Anniversary Nathan Glen.

It's a boy!

2009-12-22T21:54:00.001-07:00

Checked out the package today and his little profile. He looks pretty cute already.