Farmers Market

Ontario finally had a free Saturday, so we decided to clean out the car (which had been smelling like moldy orange and getting progressively dirtier) and then hit up the Provo Farmers Market.

After a yummy late breakfast of bacon, eggs and pancakes, we set out.

We had a fun time working as a family getting the car cleaned out, and it smells and looks much better now! Luckily the moldy orange was in a garbage bag we thought we had thrown out, but hadn't. It made cleanup a lot easier than if it was ground into the carpet. :)

The Farmers Market was awesome. It's pretty small, but we ended up going on the day they had a bunch of stuff sponsored by the Boys and Girls Club. It was just cool to see all the booths, and there was a fun carnival atmosphere. 

It was Tari's first time going, so it was fun showing him some of my favorite booths, and then deciding together what we wanted to get. We ended up with some earrings and a ring for me (thanks Babe!) and a cookie and homemade soap for him. Plus some pears and yummy fresh squeezed strawberry lemonade for everyone. 

After we had wandered around the booths for awhile, we took Gabe over to the park. He loved swinging with his dad, and grinned big enough that we could really see his teeth, which is hard to do usually. Then his daddy took him to play on the jungle gym, where Gabe proceeded to CLIMB THE SLIDE. This kid isn't even a year old, and he is already a monkey! He did it without any help. Luckily it was the small slide, so I didn't get totally freaked out. Then he climbed the ladder portion of the jungle gym to get to the tallest slide, and slid down that with no fear. This kid loves adventure.

All in all, it has been a great Saturday so far. I still get to finish my talk, do some laundry, and then go to the General Relief Society Broadcast. I'm pretty excited. 

Yay for Packages!

I just got a package, and it inspired me to write this blog as a shout out to flylady. Who is flylady, some of you are asking? She is my sanity and the person who keeps my household running smoothly. Her real name is Marla Cilley. Check out her website at www.flylady.net. Basically, it's a home organization system for people whose minds work like mine, but it is also much more then that. I truly believe that she is an inspired woman, who is helping thousands of people. My package had my calendar and my dryer cleaning kit, and I am super excited to use both. I guess that shows that I am a nerdy mom type person now, when I get really excited about household tools. I do though! I love having good tools! Anyway, this post is dedicated with gratitude to the wonderful flylady. I'm off to calendar now.

Weaning time

So, the time has come at last to wean Gabriel. We started about a week ago and things are going pretty well. I think it's obvious my body was done, since I haven't had any engorgement at all, even though we have cut him down pretty drastically from nursing whenever to maybe once a day. I guess the pregnancy hormones have pretty much shut down milk production. Luckily, he has taken well to a bottle (Raw goats milk, rice bran syrup, and molasses. Glad it's not me drinking it) and hasn't been too upset when we have had to say no to nursing. He slept through the night two nights ago, but last night was up and down quite a bit. It never mattered before because I didn't have to wake up to feed him, but now I am grateful for every time he settles back down without a bottle!

In baby news, we found out that our insurance WOULD pay for it, although with many warnings about it being out of network, a non provider, and probably horribly dangerous. Also many warnings that the deductible would be $3000, as opposed to $1500. That wasn't ever really an issue though, since we won't even hit the lesser deductible, with all costs included. Still....it's nice to know that it's taken care of, and we can use our other money for a new computer, since ours died and I have to use Tari's school laptop that has to be returned soon. 

I've been feeling incredibly pregnant lately, and am starting to waddle. Also, I am hungry all the time while feeling very full. Our kids always seem to sit right up inside, snuggled in amongst my internal organs. Not very comfortable. This one isn't too big yet though, so it isn't really bad. They are still in the acrobatic flipping around and practicing kickboxing moves stage. I actually love this part of pregnancy. It's so amazing feeling someone growing inside of you!

Gabe is doing great, apart from the weaning. He has anywhere from 3-5 teeth. He won't ever let me look to get an accurate count, and it's hard to guess from feeling (which he also hates). He is going to be a jack-o-lantern though, since none of them are in the usual first teeth places. He has two for sure on the bottom, on the left side. Then he has one, possibly two canines on the top. I can't wait till they get a little bigger and you can really see them when he smiles. 

In other news, Tari and I have to give talks on Sunday about preparing for General Conference. Any suggestions on what your favorite way to get ready is?  

Playing at the Park

This morning Gabe and I walked to North Park, about 6 blocks from our house. I had to stop halfway there for a little rest break. I'm obviously super out of shape, pregnant and have a gammy leg. However, I'm very glad we went because the weather is gorgeous and Gabe loved it. 

It's funny watching him at the park. He has no fear, and hasn't figured out things like gravity. He really likes trying to catch up to the other kids, and climbing the jungle gym. He has only really started walking this last week, but he doesn't let that stop him. He also snacked on some wood chips, but I tried to keep that to a minimum. 

Right now I'm waiting for the lasagna from last night to heat up for lunch. It was super tasty. I always get kind of nervous about my cooking, but I usually end up loving it. Is it stuck up of me that I really like my own cooking a lot? I really enjoy anything that is tasty, and I love trying new recipes. I've actually been considering going to culinary school. It's the only thing I can think of that I would really enjoy studying.  

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

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

It's been too long!

So, I realized it's been almost 2 months since I updated. Most of that is because we have been in the process of moving to our new house, having family visit, and going on about three different vacations. The time of travel is now done, and I am safely back in the bosom of my family. As much as I enjoy travel, I am very glad to be done for awhile. It's nice to finish settling in.

This week has been a lot of fun as all the students have been returning. Our house turned into the landing zone, and we have had many visitors in the form of Krissie Ostlund, her friend Jenna, Aaron (not sleeping, but hanging out) and tonight we will get Joe Clark, not to mention my brother Evan who is living with us. They are all young folk trying to figure out jobs and housing in the Provo world, but we have just enjoyed having them around. Hopefully they will all be able to find apartments, since Provo is undergoing a major housing crisis right now.

I am really enjoying my new house, and I am get very excited about the fall and decorating for the holidays. I dont know why I can't have normal cravings when I am pregnant. I have been dying for Autumn, which isn't something you can just run down to the store and pick up. Instead I have been blessed with beautiful 90+ degree weather. Oh the irony of it all.

I am also getting very excited for the arrival of our newest addition. At my last prenatal appointment the midwife gave me the list of birth supplies I needed to get ready for the birth, and when I read the part about "baby clothes" and "baby hat" I got so excited. I can't wait to have another beautiful little tiny member of our family. Woo!

Moving

So, haven't really had time to update this week. We have been moving from our tiny 1 bed, 1bath apartment to our glorious, spacious, fabulous 3 bed, 2 1/2 bath duplex. I can't even begin to say how great our new house is. It has everything we wanted, plus some. Washer/Dryer, yard, TONS of storage, lots of rooms, plenty of space for a growing family, and it's partially in the basement, which means it is so nice and cool.

Here is the stinky part of moving: I have had a headcold, and I am still having first trimester queasiness and exhaustion. That means I have had almost no energy for cleaning, packing, or organizing, all key elements to moving. Plus my nose has been running for the last 3 days. It is finally stopping, and changing to the thick goop in my lungs. Hurray.

Saturday we rented a truck and Tari and our friends the Smith moved TWO households...Smiths to Spanish Fork, and us to further west in Provo. They were superheros. They were hauling stuff up and down stairs and loading trucks for almost 7 hours. Luckily we got some help for the last couple of hours. I am so grateful for our awesome neighbors who were willing to lose their saturday to help us move.

Now I am at the old house (where we still have internet...we need to get that hooked up in our new place) and I am supposed to be finishing the packing and cleaning. Some sisters are coming at 4 to help clean (bless their hearts) but I would like to get the packing finished before they get here. If I can only muster the energy...