Looking for Mom Jeans...

So, I recently had my sixth baby, go me! It was an awesome labor and birth, and I am loving my little snuggle bug. However, I am now facing the same problem I always have when pregnant: clothes.

Here is how it works: I have a couple of pairs of pants, that fit okay, but aren't really flattering, and/or have stains, holes, or rips. I also have shirts (more than pants, but still not a huge selection) that I mostly have inherited from other people, that are *fine* but also usually have holes and stains. Most of what I have that is cute or stylish are gifts from other people. I think, "I need to buy some new clothes" and then I find out I'm pregnant. Then I say, "Well, I'm not going to go buy new pants now, I'm going to have to switch to maternity clothes soon!" For the record, most of my maternity clothes are cuter than my regular wardrobe. Although this time around, I think the fact that it was my 6th pregnancy is showing, because my maternity clothes are also really hammered. I have maybe one pair of maternity pants left that don't have huge holes in the butt or waistband. Anyway, then I have the baby and I just wear pajamas for a few weeks, which is awesome. THEN I decide, "It's time to start wearing real person clothes again!" and I go to pull out my pre pregnancy wardrobe and I find...sadness. I only have those clothes that I was wearing to get my by until I switched to maternity things. I literally had a sweet old woman tell me she wished that could also get out and garden, because it was apparent from what I was wearing that I had just been doing some hard manual labor that required using my grubby clothes. And then I had to explain that no, this is just what I wore all the time. Cue the "womp-womp" music.

Pre baby I had been trying to decide what to do, and I discovered capsule wardrobes. I love the concept, and think that it is my solution to attempting to look somewhat put together. Here is my problem. I will start by saying I am not a clothes horse, nor a shopaholic. I do not buy clothes (almost ever) and don't have closets overflowing with tons of cute things that just don't work for me. When I went through and Kon-Mari'd my clothes, I got rid of everything that didn't spark joy. Then I had to go through and pull some of it back out, because I quite literally would have been naked. This is not a case of needing to go through and pare down to my essentials, I don't HAVE essentials. Also, I am really bad at accessorizing, wearing make up, and doing my hair in cute styles. I have 6 boys (yes, all of my kids are of the male persuasion) and I barely have time to shower on a regular basis. I need clothes that all match, that fit in my small closet, and that flatter me without me putting any thought or effort into it.

This brings me to my jeans issue, and the main topic of this post. I am 33, soon to be 34. I have had SIX kids. My body does not look like it did when I was 24. I am fine with that! I actually really hate our cultures focus on "getting your pre-baby body back!" because I think that we should celebrate the changes that come from becoming a mother, and recognize that it will leave physical marks. My hips are higher than they used to be. I have more curves, and I am rounder. I don't desire to change all that. I DO desire to find pants that @*&#$T FIT. I am willing to pay more money a few times to buy something that I love, and can wear often, instead of shelling out $20 repeatedly for something that will wear out and not be flattering after 3 washes. So, please help me out here. This is what I am looking for:

1. Fit. I have more curves now, and I have always been more on the bootylicious side of things. I want something that does not cut into my waist, or give me a muffin top.

2. A basic, good wash. No whiskering, no distressing, no weird embellishments. I don't need giant holes, I already have pants with holes.

3. I want something that will maintain it's flexibility and not get all saggy after being worn for an hour. I hate having to constantly adjust my pants.

I just want good mom jeans. Is that so much to ask? I want a couple of pairs of jeans, probably one straight leg and one boot cut, and maybe one pair of jeggings I can wear with boots. I'm going to have to stop wearing pajamas soon, and I don't having anything to wear. Send me your recommendations!

Birth Story of James Harrison

I think this story really begins on Thursday, August 22. My friend Heidi Moellmann had come into town two weeks earlier to attend the birth. She was my doula at each of my other births, so it was really nice to have her here for this one as well. Even better than I was expecting, it turned out. We had spent the previous two weeks finishing up birth prep (cleaning and organizing, buying and prepping food, and trying to squeeze in a little bit of of touristy things, since she had never been to New York before). We still hadn't really gotten to see the city, so we decided that Thursday we would head into Manhattan and see some of the sights. We invited our friends Heather and Alberto Cruz to come with us, which was great. It was nice to have a bigger balance of kids to adults. It ended up being 6 kids and 5 adults, which seemed like just barely a good enough ratio.

We rode the train in and got off at Lincoln Center. We had a bit of a break at the LDS Stake Center by the temple, and then walked into Central Park. It started raining, so we didn't spend as much time there as we would have liked. We quickly made our way to FAO Schwartz, and that was one of the funnest parts of the day. It doesn't matter how many times I go, that is just a really cool store. I think it would be fun to explore sometime without kids. Does that sound terrible? Anyway, by the time we were done there, everyone was really tired and ready for food. Unfortunately we couldn't find a place to stop until we had made it to Rockefeller Center, but we stopped at the food court there and everyone got time to just sit and relax. It was while we were eating that I had my first real contraction. It wasn't too hard or long, it just felt different from all the ones I had been having leading up to it. I could tell it was more effective, if that makes sense. Everyone had been asking me how I was feeling all day, and honestly I felt fine. The worst part was how sore my feet got, but that happens every time we go to Manhattan, not just when I'm 9 months pregnant.

We got home and everyone just decompressed for a little while. We had a yummy dinner (cafe rio style pulled pork over rice w/ cilantro lime dressing. We made it in the crockpot that morning, so it was all ready when we got back. Best decision ever!). I knew everyone was going to be completely wiped out from the day, so we decided that Friday would be a pretty chill day. There were one or two errands I needed to run, but aside from that we planned to keep it very low key.

Friday the 23rd was his due date, but I wasn't really expecting him to come then. I had a few more contractions during the night, but nothing that seemed to be really kicking into gear. Ontario was so excited at the thought that I MIGHT be in labor that he woke up at 3:30 am and couldn't go back to sleep. So he got up and did some work and then did some jobs around the house. Heidi and I spent the day working on different things (finally getting my bedroom organized, cleaning, putting the upstairs bathroom together, etc.). I also wanted to run to Costco and buy some fruit and other perishables we were low on. I decided I wanted Ontario to go with me so if I did have contractions, I would have him there to help me through them. I had been having them throughout the day, but once again they weren't THAT hard or consistent. It was definitely still early labor.

When we got back Ontario laid down and fell asleep (no surprise after his early morning) and I couldn't get him to wake up for dinner. However, I would rather have him well rested, so I didn't worry about it too much. Heidi and I fed the boys and then we gave everyone melatonin and put them to bed. The only exception was Gabriel, because he wanted to help me finish my birth collage. He came and helped us with the final prep. Ontario woke up around 8:00 pm and we all worked on getting the room put together. I put up a big collage on the wall across from the bed with pictures, scriptures, photos, and drawings that all helped me focus on what I wanted this birth to be. I had photos of all the boys from when they were first born, pictures of me as a baby, pictures of my mom and grandma, scriptures that have impacted me as I have been preparing, images of Christ, the temple, beautiful landscapes, and anything else that I thought would help me focus. We got done right around 9:00 pm.

Tari strung up big strands of twinkle lights around the room so we could have soft lighting. He and Gabe had also been working on a project of making a masking tape mural on the wall. There is a certain room in our dream house that I would always use for my visualizations, so Ontario created that for me out of masking tape to help me feel like I was really there. It was cute.

We still had a few jobs to do (just final cleaning and organizing in the house) but I really wanted everyone to get a good nights sleep. The contractions were still spotty and didn't seem like anything was happening. We decided to all go to bed, and then when we woke up in the morning we could quickly finish the cleaning, and then go to Wave Hill. I figured walking around would help the contractions get going again, and it seemed like a nice place to finish early labor. If things were picking up we could drop the boys at the Cruz's, and if not at least they would have a place to run around and not mess up the house.

I laid down around 10:00 pm and tried to fall asleep. I was really tired, so I was ready for bed. Ontario laid down with me and we both tried to sleep, but he was still pretty awake from his four hour nap. Finally at 11:00 pm he decided to go downstairs and eat some dinner to see if that would help him fall asleep. However, I couldn't really get comfortable. I was still having contractions occasionally, and they were hard enough that I couldn't really sleep through them. I tried listening to my Hypnobabies deepening script, but I was so sleepy I wasn't able to really get into hypnosis before another contraction would come and be pretty painful. I was trying to relax through them but it wasn't going well.

Around midnight I got up to go to the bathroom. By this time I was feeling really sore, and pretty helpless. I didn't want to be awake all night, since I didn't want to be tired when I went into active labor. I went downstairs and told Ontario that I needed a blessing, and a hypnobabies script, and someone to time the contractions. I wasn't sure how close together they were since I was trying to sleep through them. I just wanted to know if they were contractions that I should keep trying to sleep through, or if I needed to wake up enough to focus on them.

He came upstairs and checked me (I wasn't dilated at all) and then he gave me a blessing. It was wonderful, and helped me feel better about everything. One of the things he said was that it would be a very spiritual birth, for me and the baby. It encouraged me to read my scriptures during the labor. Then we decided to time the contractions. They were ranging anywhere from 30 seconds to a minute long, but they were coming every 2 1/2 minutes, and they were pretty hard. By this time it was around 1:00 am. We decided to call the midwives and give them a heads up. Ontario talked to Anne and told her I wasn't dilated but I was in active labor. Since all of my labors have gotten progressively longer, and I wasn't really dilated, we figured it would still be awhile.

By this time I was feeling pretty helpless. I didn't think I was handling the surges well, and I didn't know if I would be able to keep going at that pace all night. I was still really tired, and I was having a hard time relaxing and not tensing up with the pain. I did keep going to the bathroom and having small bowel movements, and some red mucous, so that gave me hope that things were progressing. After he talked to Anne I decided to sit in the rocking chair facing my collage so I could read the scriptures whenever I got a moment.

Tari started reading me a script. I don't remember which one it was, or what phrase he used, but there was something in it that talked about visualizing opening up. After that whenever I had a surge I would really visualize the baby moving down and pressing on the cervix to open it. I could FEEL how effective that was, and I felt like each pressure wave was really doing something. It made it easier to handle, even though they were still pretty painful. After a little bit I decided I wanted to get in the shower to see if that would help me relax and handle the pain better. Tari woke up Heidi to let her know I was in active labor, and then we went downstairs.

The bathroom in the basement has an extra large shower with a bench and glass door, which is why we went down there. I got in and the water felt nice, but I could not find a comfortable position to be in for the pressure waves. Every time I would have one I would struggle trying to find the best place to be. I ended up doing a lot of squatting.  I told Tari I thought we should call the midwives, so he gave Anne another call and told her to head over. He also called our friend Roxanne who we had invited to be at the birth so she could come over. It was almost 2:00 am at that time. He was going to get in with me, but the shower wasn't as soothing as I had hoped so I decided to get out.

By that time I was starting to feel pushy. I couldn't tell if it was really time to push, or if I was just so tired of being in labor that I was forcing myself to push the baby out before I was ready. I got out of the shower and had a pressure wave. I was planning to go back upstairs, but then I had to go to the bathroom and I had another surge. At that point I realized there was no way I could make it up two flights of stairs. I told Heidi, "Get some chux pads and a towel" and then Ontario helped me get off the toilet into a squatting position. Heidi was back downstairs in a flash with the stuff, and I crouched down with Ontario supporting me. Heidi told me to squat so she would have room to catch the baby, and then I could feel him crowning. I gave one push, and I thought his head came out, but then I could still feel him in the birth canal. Heidi told me he was still in the sack. I looked down and saw the bag of waters lying on teh towel, so that was obviously what I had pushed out first, thinking it was his head. I did another push, but I was careful not to push too fast so I wouldn't tear. Once his face was out Heidi used the towel to rub the sack and clear it off his face. Then he was all the way out and she handed him up to me. I could see some meconium and he wasn't crying a lot right at first. We started rubbing his back with a towel, and then Tari gave him a blessing and commanded him to breathe. Right away he let out a loud cry and he was fine after that. There wasn't a clock in the bathroom, so our best guess is that he was born around 2:10 am on Saturday, August 24th. The crazy thing is that he is our third kid to be born on the 24th! Apparently we like to stick with the one birthday. :)

Heidi and James. We were lucky she was there to catch him!

I sat on the floor for a little while just rubbing his back and trying to get him to nurse, but he wasn't really interested. Roxanne showed up then, and we woke up Gabe so he could come down and see the baby. He had wanted to be be there for the birth, but I think it worked out that he just got to be there immediately afterwards. After a few minutes I felt strong enough to go upstairs. Tari helped me up to our room, and I was able to lay down, which was nice. Right around that time Anne showed up. She was able to deliver the placenta, and she checked to make sure everything was good. I didn't tear at all (yay!) so I didn't need stitches. I also didn't tear with Asher, so I knew that would make recovery much easier! Gabe cut the cord, which I think he found a little more disturbing than he had planned. He had to go take a breather after that, and I don't blame him. I think he liked being able to help though.

Mommy and James

He had started nursing by this time, and Nancy and Kharis, the assistants had arrived. They were able to fill out all the info, and help get everything cleaned up. It was actually quite a tidy birth, I am sure because it was so fast! Gabe got to come help weigh and measure the baby (7 lbs, 7 oz., 19.5 inches long, and his head circumference was 13.5 inches. I was able to go take a shower while they were doing his vitals, and that felt great. I think around 4:30 am everyone took off and we all settled down and went to sleep.

This birth was so different than my previous births. WAY faster, for starters. I was so relieved that it was over so quickly, since I had been feeling so helpless and tired. Looking back I can see that I was in transition, but since I wasn't expecting it to happen so quickly, I couldn't recognize it at the time. Despite being tired and in pain, I wasn't ever scared or worried. When I knew it was time to push, I just felt really peaceful and confident. Heidi told us later that she had a dream where she delivered the baby, exactly like it happened. Obviously Heavenly Father is taking care of us, and had a plan in mind for us the whole time. I feel really happy and blessed with how James's birth went. It certainly wasn't what I was expecting, but I think it was better. I knew I was in a much better place mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. I have been reading, "The Gift of Giving Life" and it has been so helpful in figuring out what preparation I wanted/needed to do. I think it's one of the main reasons this birth went so well. I wouldn't change anything about it.

Gabe holding James. He loves this baby so much!

Giveaway!

So, one of the blogs I love is posting a giveaway of one week at their beautiful vacation home in France. It is such a gorgeous area, and the house is amazing. You should definitely check it out! Just click on the link to see the details on her blog!

stephmodo.com

Gift Ideas for Kids

I was just thinking about what the best gifts are for the first few years of life. As a mom with three small kids, I feel like we have plenty of toys. So I try to think of gifts to give that are:

1. Non-cluttery

2. Useful or disposable

3. Something that kids love

4. Cost effective

So far I have a pretty solid plan for the first few birthdays, but I am still thinking on it. I am sure my list will continue to grow as my kids get older. So here is what I have so far:

First birthday: A helium balloon. It doesn't have to be a fancy milar balloon, just a balloon that floats. This makes every 1 year old I have ever met happy. Plus, it eventually loses air and can just be thrown away.

Second birthday: Tape or bandaids. (I got this idea from designmom.com). Those are both things that little kids LOVE to use, but are usually restricted in. 

Third birthday: Small flashlight. All kids love flashlights, but once again it's something they usually aren't allowed to use. Also, as a parent I like having extra flashlights on hand, so it's not something that I am annoyed to make room for in our home.

Fourth birthday: Art supplies or real kid size tools (small shovel, kid scissors, etc). It helps them explore their creativity, and once again it's something that is useful to have. 

Fifth birthday: Disposeable camera. It's really fun to give kids a camera and see the world through their eyes. This does have the stress of getting it developed, but if there is a walmart near you that isn't too bad. And it's just fun to let them be in charge and see what "develops" (sorry, couldn't help myself).

So, what are your go-to kid gifts? Any suggestions or ideas to add?

Funny things from our life...

The other day Gabe wanted to finish watching "White Christmas" when he got home from school. I asked him to please wait, because Tommy and Asher were both asleep on the couch and I didn't want the tv to wake them up. Gabe got really upset and told me, "you are just breaking down my heart!" Another time I was getting something out of the office and I saw Gabe's teddy, Baby Bear behind some boxes. I yelled "Daddy! Daddy!" in the highest, whiniest voice I could (my best impersonation of the voice Gabe uses for Baby Bear). Gabe immediately came running up the stairs yelling, "I'm coming sweetheart!" and Tommy from the other room said, "Baby Bear? Is he okay?" I thought it was hilarious that they both instantly recognized the voice of baby bear. Tommy loves to play Spiderman. Only, I don't think he actually knows who Spiderman is. In his world, Spiderman is the bad guy, and he is always chasing Gabe or Asher around. He puts on his toughest scary face and growls, "I'm spiderman!" It's pretty funny to watch.

Eternal Droning of the Endless Whine

Tonight we had a somewhat rough bedtime. It got started a little late, I was already tired, and the boys weren't listening super well. When I asked Gabe what song he wanted, he asked for, "Down By the Bay", which wasn't surprising since that has been his pick for, no joke, the last three months. Are you familiar with it? It goes,

 Down by the bay 
Where the watermelons grow 
Back to my home 
I dare not go 
For if I do 
My mamma will say 
"Have you ever seen a whale with a polka dot tale?" 
Down by the bay!

 And so on, inserting various silly rhymes for the last part. After we sang a few verses of that, I asked Tommy what bedtime song he wanted. He asked for the dragon song. This also happens to be, "Down by the Bay" but with modified lyrics by Ontario, as follows:

 Down by Dragon bay 
Where the dragons grow 
Back to my home
I dare not go 
For if I do 
Mamma dragon will say 
"Have you ever seen a cat, wearing a hat?" 
Down by dragon bay! 

So I sang a few verses of that. Then the endless whining started. Gabe was so upset that I sang him "Down by the Bay" when what he really wanted was, "Down by Dragon Bay". The conversation went something like this:

 G: "Mom, you just did something that wasn't very nice"
M: "I did? What was that?"
G: "You sang Down by the Bay, but I wanted Down by DRAGON bay"
M: "Well, I just sang that"
G: "But you just sang that first and you missed your chance to be nice and sing the song I wanted!"
M: "Gabe, you asked for Down by the Bay, and then I sang both of them, so you got to hear it"
G: "I just asked for Down by the Bay as a joke! But then you SANG it!"
M: "Well, you didn't tell me it was a joke, you just asked for it"
G: "But if you don't do what I say and be nice and make me happy, then I will just say that I hate you!" M: "I will be sad if you say you hate me, but it's still time for bed."
G: grumble grumble *endless whining* mumble dragon bay mumble I just didn't WANT that grumble mumble you just shouldn't have DONE it mumble mumble....

Only, make this whole conversation continue for another 20 minutes. This was also after our conversation earlier today when I told him we were going to do a fun activity after lunch and he came slumping into the kitchen saying, "Just whoever cares what you say!" Yeah, I don't have a four year old. I have a teenager.

Bethesda...

I just came across this talk in my personal study, and I was really touched by it. I have a lot of friends and family members that can relate to this in many different ways. I love the clear doctrine that he teaches, and the reminder of the work we are doing when we are serving the handicapped. I would really encourage you to read this talk, it's awesome. The Moving of the Waters by Elder Boyd K. Pcker.

Um....

"Mom, could you please come help me find some clean underpants?"
"Sure, Gabe"
"Thanks, I made some but they were too tight"
"You made some?"
"Yeah."
"Um, what did you make them out of?"
"It's okay, they were just too little and tight, so I just need other ones"
"Yeah, I will find you some cloth ones, but can you show me the ones you made?"
"Okay, these ones!" (holds up a piece of paper with pieces of tape stuck to it)
"Yeah, I can see why those didn't work as well"

Projects...

So, I have a few projects I have really been wanting to tackle. Unfortunately, the only power tools I own currently are a drill. I suppose I should say the power tool. There is a lot I can do with that, but not either of the large projects that I have on my project list. Here is what I would love to get finished as quickly as possible:

1. A sideboard for the dining room. This has to be homemade, because our dining room is actually a small breakfast nook. I can't just find a good sideboard and stick it in there. I want to build two small shelving systems that fit on either side of the radiator, with a long counter area that stretches across them. Oh, that would be lovely.

2. A bed. I have very specific requirements for a bed, and once again it's something that I need to just make myself.

I have a lot of other smaller projects, but those two would really be awesome to get done. Luckily, I just talked to my MIL, and she said she would bring some tools when she comes up this weekend, so I might actually get some of them done. Woo hoo!

My latest baking endeavor

Patriotic cheesecake....yum!

Nothing important

It's raining right now. Hard. I opened the blinds to show the boys, and it looked like a mini niagra outside our window. I showed Gabe and he asked where the waterfall was coming from. I told him the sky. It makes me happy, because I love rain, but sad, because I like rain especially when my husband is here to enjoy it with me. He has been on a business trip for the last two days, and won't be getting back until after midnight tonight. I am missing him. I should think up some wonderful welcome home surprise for him, but it might end up just having the house clean. We shall see.

I went to the temple this morning, and it was wonderful. It was my first time going to the Manhattan temple, and I just loved it. All temples are beautiful, but this was one was especially lovely. I got to go with a good friend, so that was extra nice.

I am working on a more interesting blog post, reviewing my top ten alphabet books. I have to make one ore two more library trips and then I will be able to finish it. How wonderful are public libraries? They are some of my favorite places.

Well, I am going to go read stories with my kids and maybe clean my room a little. Hurrah!

I got featured!

This post is way overdue, but I just wanted to let you all know that a friend of mine featured one of my recipes! Check it out at her blog.

In other news, I just got a Cuisinart 14 Cup PowerPrep Plus Food Processor and I. Am. In. Love. In the last two days I have made hummus, pizza, salsa, cheesecake, grated cheese, sliced veggies, and a fruit syrup. It was all delicious, especially the hummus and the cheesecake. Yum! Do any of you have favorite recipes or tips for using a food processor? I have never had one, so I am still figuring out all the things I can do with it. :)

Also, many of you may know that right before we moved, my phone got lost. So my sweet husband got me a new one for Christmas, that I ended up dropping in the toilet two weeks later. I was without a phone for 6 weeks, and then I got a hand-me down phone from my sister-in-law. It's been having some issues (the front piece dropping off and the buttons falling out) for a few days, but yesterday Asher totally killed it by actually ripping out the microchip. Amazingly, earlier that day Tommy had found the cord for my old (new) phone from Christmas and wanted me to plug it in. So I woke up to my old phone alarm, on a phone that had amazingly decided to resurrect itself! So I had a phone again! Hurray!

Until now, when it keeps shutting itself off and acting weird. So maybe it didn't recover completely from it's potty bath. Anyway, if you are having a hard time getting ahold of me just know that it's not you, it's my phone.

I love Craigslist!

This is the AMAZING armoire we scored on craigslist yesterday. The best part? It was FREEEEEE!

Points of awesomeness:
1. Solid wood construction, really well built. Also super heavy, but that's what you get with quality!
2. Paint job. It's black on the outside, and olive green on the inside. I really like it.
3. Made in Italy, specifically Florence, my home away from home. Yay!
4. It's designed to be used for clothes OR electronics (note the place for a curtain rod or electric cords), so it's extremely versatile
5. It's pretty. It is a style I would have chosen if I was actually shopping for something, and not just emailing every available armoire on the free section of craigslist
6. Did I mention it was free?

Anyway, I am super excited. I was originally going to use it for food storage, but I like it so much I kind of want to convert it into my desk area. Or possibly my sewing nook. The boys have been using it as a sweet playhouse, as evidenced by the last picture. I haven't decided what it's final job will be, but I am happy to have it be mine!

Potty Training

Well, I am finally buckling down and doing it. I stocked up on skittles and M&Ms, I found a Thomas the Train chart online, I went to the thrift store and scored a couple of Lightning McQueen toys, I have the potty training pants that my good friend gave me, and this week we are going to do it. I think Gabe and Tommy are both ready, honestly Tommy a little more so. But the toys are a big motivator for Gabe, so I think he is more on board now.

In other news, Tari will be working out of town for the next three weeks and only home on the weekends, I finally got a calling (yay!), and we have Uncle Johnny staying with us this week which the boys are loving.

My Casting of "The Hunger Games"

So, my friends Mel and Lizzie posted their versions of a dream cast for the Hunger Games trilogy. I decide to do my own post in their honor, so this is dedicated to them. I think the casting speaks for itself...

Gale:


Peeta:


Katniss:


Mrs. Everdeen


Prim:


Darius:


Cinna:


EffieTrinket:


Rue:


Haymitch:


President Snow:


Foxface:


Glimmer:


Thrash:

Tommy and I are both in the recovery stage of a nasty cold, so we stayed home from church today (Asher also stayed home, by default). The boys went down for a nap, and I decided to look through what pictures we had on the computer so I could update our lds.org profile. There were a lot that Ontario had downloaded from his phone, mostly from the last six months. There were a lot of things documented: Gabes birthday, visiting the pumpkin patch, Johnny's wedding, trips with family to various locations, the move, playing with cousins, just pictures of the boys being cute. It was fun, and also a little sad. It made me really homesick for Utah, especially for the friends that are now too far away for us to play with regularly. It made me grateful for the relationships we have with those people, and the knowledge that it is easier then ever to stay in touch. It also made me laugh, remembering a lot of the things that we did. One of the funniest things was finding pictures of the boys helping out by decorating the day before we moved. Luckily, my good friend was there helping out and it all cleaned up surprisingly well. I just have to post them here, since it's very true that in this case a picture is worth a thousand words...








In other news, the oven repairman told us that the problem is with the main breaker and we have to call an electrician and in the meantime we shouldn't use the oven, and then the stove "repairman" took out the old range, threw it away, and THEN found out that the new top didn't fit. So we are trying to figure out what foods can be cooked in the microwave, and enjoying this new adventure, that hopefully won't last any longer than tomorrow morning.

New Years Resolutions 2011

I just want to begin this post by saying that I have three adorable and charming children. Ahem. On to the blogging!

So, I am not usually one for making New Years resolutions. In general I feel like they are a way to start off the year with failure.
However, Ontario's family has a meeting every year to set their resolutions together. They have 6 categories, and they are supposed to set a goal in each one. The categories are:

1. Physical
2. Financial
3. Emotional
4. Spiritual
5. Education
6. Career

So, this year I did it with them. I set goals in each of those areas. I was actually excited about it, because all of these were goals/areas of improvement that I had already been thinking about. I liked having time to sit down and write out specific goals and ways to accomplish them. Also, I am approaching it differently this year. These are my resolutions for 2011. I know that I will not do them all starting now, but I do want to have these accomplished by the end of the year. So instead of getting depressed and feeling like I am failing, i am just excited about having a plan for improvement that I can implement slowly over the course of the year. I am posting my resolutions on my blog for a few reasons. First of all, I want to remember them. Writing them down reminds me what they are. I am also going to print them out so I can hang them up somewhere visible that I will see them often. Secondly, I will feel more accountable if I know I have TOLD people what changes I am planning to make, instead of just telling myself it's okay that I haven't. Third, this makes a blog post, which have been sadly lacking in these parts. So, withour further ado, here are my New Years Resolutions for 2011, including comments on each section:

Physical:
1. Lose 10 lbs, get more toned
2. Improve personal and family diet
3. Exercise 3x a week

I am not really as concerned about my weight as a number, this is just one way of measuring my goal of becoming healthier. I am actually much more concerned about changing and improving our diet as a family. Here are specific things I want to do to help accomplish these goals. Menu planning and careful shopping, increasing my knowledge of health and nutrition, calendaring in my exercises, looking for small ways to be more active , drinking more water. I think I want to start exercising during naptime, so I don't have quite as much help!

Financial:
1. Pay off all debt
2. Create new budget and stick to it
3. Save $10,000
4. Plan long term financial goals
5. Create babysitting fund

These ones are a little fun. Ontario's new job will definitely help, and so will the wondeful blessing of our house, which my in-laws are letting us stay in for a very reasonable rent (It's not actually reasonable, it's an insane rate. They are not getting anything out of this deal, except the knowledge that they are helping their children). My specific goal is to have our emergency fund ($1000) and debt all taken care of by the end of March. Then I am going to start really putting money into savings. I think I am going to plan a special "financial date" when Ontario and I can sit down and map out some of our longterm financial goals. Right now our biggest goal is buying a house. I want to be in a position to buy a house within the next year or two. Writing out a specific budget will help all of those goals.

Emotional:
1. Get enough sleep
2. Schedule sewing time
For me, getting enough sleep means getting to bed by 10:00. The biggest help for me is having the goal of turning off all electronics at 8:30 (computer, iPad, iPhone, tv). That usually means I need to have all my computer stuff done by 7:30, since that is when I want to start the boys bedtime routine. If I turn everything off and put it away in the cupboard (so it's out of temptations way), then it is really easy to get my bedtime routine done, and even have some relaxing time before lights out.

Scheduling sewing time is one I am still working on. Sewing is something that I find very relaxing, but I haven't had very much time for it in a long time. I also don't know exactly what I want to sew...quilts? Clothing? Curtains? This is a goal I will be thinking about and working on later in the year probably. One thing is finding a good sewing area...that is another thing I am still figuring out.

Spiritual:
1. Study both the Relief Society and the Sunday School lessons ahead of time.
2. Schedule in specific time for gospel study every day
3. Read the Book of Mormom
4. Write in my journal a minimum of 1 sentence daily
5. 100% visiting teaching
6. Schedule in monthly temple visits
7. Improve Family Home Evening

For my gospel study I went through and wrote a study plan on my calendar. I chose a different thing for each day: M-RS lesson, T-"Teaching No Greater Call", W-SS lesson, Th-"Preach My Gospel", F-Personal Progress, Sa-Ensign, Su-Topical. I gave myself 10 minutes for each study time, plus 5 minutes for reading the Book of Mormon. That might not sound like a lot, but in my world 15 min. of sitting and quietly doing anything is a luxury. I was going to do it in the morning, but I am thinking now that my evenings might be a better time.

The journal writing is a goal I have had before and one that helps me stay much more faithful. Obviously my earlier goal of turning off electronics at 8:30 will help with that.

For visiting teaching I went through and wrote on the calendar to schedule it the first Sunday of each month. I am also going to program in email reminders to make sure I am remembering it throughout the month. I am still trying to figure out how VT works here, since it's a very different dynamic, but I really do have a testimony of the importance of taking time to serve our sisters.

Ontario and I have already started calendaring in our temple visits. We are going to be switching off with Ontario's brother and his wife for babysitting once a month, and then hopefully we can find a couple in the ward to swap babysitting with in the offmonths. I am hoping that Asher getting old enough for solid foods will help this goal happen. We also figured out that with Ontarios new job we could each take turns going to the temple by ourselves once a month, while the other one stays home with the kids. So I will hopefully be going bi-monthly.

Our family home evening goal is one I am very excited about. We went through the calendar and broke up each month so that every Monday would have a different category. First monday is Preparedness, the second Missionary Work, the third Family History, the fourth Gratitude/Service, and if there is a fifth one, that is a bonus where we get to do something special. We even went through and brainstormed a list of topics for our preparedness lessons: Budgeting, Gardening, Fire Safety, Food storage, Stranger danger, etc. I think we came up with at least 14 things we could do for that general topic. Having a plan and knowing what area we need to focus our lessons on is really helping us be more prepared. I am sure we will think of other ways to improve as the year goes on, but so far I am happy at the steps we have already taken. We already did our gratitude lesson this month and wrote thank you notes for Tommy's birthday. It's great to see a plan actually working!

Education:
1. Take a photography or a cooking class
2. Read one educational book a month (this can just be any book that teaches me about something)
3. Do 1 cultural activity every month
4. Complete the Financial Peace University

I really want to take some kind of class where I am learning a new skil. Photography and cooking are both things I would love to study. I know that eventually I need to figure out going back to school, but at this point in my life I am happy with just doing one or two classes.

I love reading informative books. I have so many things that I want to learn more about, and I know that the NYPL system will be a great resource for that. I am so happy to be back in the land of Interlibrary loans! Some of the topics I currently am interested in are gardening, home school, Montessori education, home birth, potty training, cooking, personal finance, home decoration, DIY, nutrition, herbology and politics. I am sure there are lots more I can't think of right now, but that should be enough to get me started. Some of those are things I have already started studying and just want to continue learning about, and others are areas that I feel very shaky on and want to have a basic understanding of.

I live in NYC, so doing one cultural activity a month shouldn't be hard. I just want to make sure we are taking advantage of the amazing opportunity we have to live in such a diverse place.

Taking the financial peace university is a goal I have had for a long time but I really want to make it happen this year.

Career:
1. Follow my flylady routines
2. Make weekly menu plans
3. Redo my filing system
4. Completely unpack my house

Since being a mom is the career that I have chosen, all of these goals are to help me be better at that. Really, the overarching goal is to be more organized, have a smoothly running home, and not feel like I am running around like a crazy person all day or freaking out at my kids. I have other goals that fall into these categories (be on top of birthdays and anniversaries, send thank you notes promptly, stay in touch with friends and family, have all regular maintenance items scheduled and taken care of) but I will start with babysteps and move up from there.

Obviously all of my goals tie into and effect my other goals, so as I improve in one area it will positively affect the others. I am sure that I will have times that I fall down and feel like a failure, but knowing I have a plan and being able to reference it will help tremendously. Also, I have a lot of resources at my disposal. Here are some of my favorites:


Flylady! One of my all time favorite home organization websites. I love the flylady!
Cozi, a calendar and organization website, I am loving it so far. It has an online calendar, weekly routine schedule, to do list, shopping list, and more.
Dave Ramsey, a financial educator
Jonathan Roche, personal trainer and founder of the No Excuse Workout
LoseIt!, a website for tracking diet and exercise
Meals Matter, a healthy menu planning resource
LDS.org. The new church website has tons of resources, including an online study journal that lets you save notes and reference back to talks and scriptures you have been studying.
ZionsBank EZ budget, an online budgeting tool
The New York Public Library


Most of these are free or have free resources available on them, so you should definitely check them out. I am so grateful for the internet and the wondeful resources it offers!

Well, to stick with my goals I am going to post this and then go put away my electronic devices for the night. I certainly seem to swing between never posting and then posting way too much! Good night all!

Update on the last four months

So, I haven't really updated since October, and a LOT has happened since then. I know I can't blog about it all, so I am going to just do a list of bullet points:

October:
-Went to the pumpkin patch with friends (my last real post)
-Had Gabes birthday. It was so much fun with a train theme. I still want to post pictures, I just have to figure out where they are on the computer. :)
-Alice got baptized. Yay!
-We decided to move. It was pretty sudden. Even though we had been talking about it for a long time, the actual decision was pretty quick. Not only that, we decided to move to the Bronx!
-We visited MD and NY for a family wedding. We are really happy to have Bridget as part of the family now. It was a lot of fun, and we got to go and see our new house. So pretty!
-Ontario was working on his contract of building the iPad app for the BYU MOA Carl Bloch exhibition. It turned out amazingly and I am so proud of him!

November:
-We started packing and decluttering.
-Thanksgiving dinner with friends at Krissie's house. It was the perfect last holiday with friends (well, not last, but the last for the foreseeable future).
-We both got released from our callings
-Finished packing and loaded our pods for the big move
-Said goodbye to all of our amazing friends and family in Utah. The hardest part of moving has definitely been all the people we are leaving behind. I have just been praying that I will be able to find the same kinds of friends here in NY.

December:
-Started the trip from Utah to NY. Drove 583 miles on 5 hours of sleep. That was a long day.
-Visited friends and family in Colorado, Indianapolis, and Ohio on the way to our new home
-Arrived in NYC and started unpacking
-A week later we had visitors Alice and her sister JiHae come to spend some of Christmas break with us. We got to take them around to see a lot of the NYC sights, and had a little Christmas morning celebration with them before we left for our own family Christmas
-Went to MD to spend Christmas with Ontario's family. We stopped in PA on the way to meet up with Ben and Robin, and make the rest of the drive with them.
-Spent two weeks in MD visiting family. It was such a fun, relaxing Christmas. It was the first year that all of the kids were home, plus we had new spouses, kids, and other significant others to add to the mix, so the house was packed! It was so much fun being with everyone. We did miss having Nathan and Hunter with us though. :(
-Celebrated our fourth anniversary! It hardly seems like it has been that long. I am so grateful to be married to such a wonderful, fun, righteous, loving guy. He is my favorite! I can't wait for the next four years. :)
-We also did our third annual Iron Chef competition as a family. It was a lot of fun, and super yummy! Our team lost, but we ended up getting to eat lots of yummy food, so I think it was worth it. :)
-Celebrated New Years with games, food, and the ever popular chocolate fountain!
-Celebrated Mama Brittons birthday. So glad to have her as my mother in law!

January:
-We returned to New York and got back to work settling in.
-Chrissy came and spent her winter break with us, so we got to do lots of fun things with her.
-We visited Little Italy, which was lots of fun. I got to bust out my italian, and we got some amazing bread. Yum!
-Spent the weekend with Ben and Robin to celebrate Tommy's birthday. For the party we had everyone decorate cupcakes, using the awesome books Tari gave me for our anniversary. We did the creepy crawly bug ones, and they turned out so cute! It was so much fun, I think I have a new hobby! Grandy, Papa, Chrissy and Annie also were able to make it, which was so great. Tommy loved all his presents.
-Tari started his new job teaching iPhone development classes for FMC. It is really the perfect job for us right now, and he is loving getting to teach and not having to fill up his time with contract work. So far he has taught in NY, Boston, and tonight he is leaving to teach a class in Washington D.C. I will miss him, but we are hoping we can drive down and visit him during his stay. I want to take the boys to the Natural History Musuem to see the dinosaurs.
-This weekend all the family is coming to visit for Ben and Johns gig. It will be fun hosting everyone here for the first time. I definitely need to do some more unpacking to make sure we can fit them all in though!
-Throughout this month we have also had 3 or 4 big snowstorms, and Asher has learned how to army crawl!

So....that is the rundown on what has been happening in our lives for the last few months. I have another post that has been brewing in my mind for awhile about my new years resolutions. I might get that done tonight, but we will have to see. :) Life is good. Ontario likes his job, we are enjoying our new ward, we are having fun with the adventure of living in New York City, and our kids just keep getting cuter. Hopefully I will be updating this more often during 2011!

Too much to post about, so you get this instead...

I came into the library to find Tommy waving half a skeleton (leftover Halloween decoration) up and down and saying, "Jesus! Temple! Jesus! Temple!". Still not sure what exactly that meant....

Pumpkin Patch

My friend Lisa invited us to celebrate fall by going to a local pumpkin patch with her and her two little boys (one of whom Gabe calls his, "best shrend" which is how he says friend. We invited our other friend to come as well and they both brought their nice cameras. I was especially happy that Tari's schedule allowed him to come. It was my first time going through a corn maze, and I was so happy to be able to do it with him. It was a lot of fun, and definitely worth the $4. Gabe couldn't stop talking about it, and kept telling me we were going to Pumpkinland every time we got in the car. I love fall! It's definitely my favorite season. :)