Baby Blessing

We had Doodle's baby blessing last Sunday. (I know, I'm late with pictures, but what can I say?)

It was a beautiful day and everything went well, except of course that I am cursed to have something go wrong with food when I make it for other people. Everything tasted great, but looked weird! Grr!

Doodle behaved herself and did great during the blessing. He looked great, too! My MIL made the blessing dress. It is amazing!

I still want to do a photo shoot with her in her dress, but we were too tired to do any more than this.

Just So You Know...

I let my feed reader get way out of hand and I just can't look at everything. I just can't get to it as often. I decided to start fresh. I hope I didn't miss anything too wonderful! I'm just going to have to live with not knowing. If you wrote or read something fabulous that I have to read...let me know!!

I think I may need to cut back on the number of blogs I check...

Gardening, Again!

I am so excited to be gardening! I went out this morning, with Princess, while Doodle was sleeping.

I didn't actually make anything grow, but I weeded, moved rocks, removed lots of random trash, and pulled out two of the dead fruit trees. Don't be too impressed. The trees have been dead for years and were really brittle. But, they did make my muscles sore.

Princess is a great little rock collector. She had a lot of fun and it was a job that she could be truly helpful at! The kids are now making piles of rocks to go in their personal gardens. They are so excited and cute about their gardens! I love it!

It is nice to see definite progress that I caused. CM has done a lot out there, but I haven't been able to. I like it. I wonder how many days I'll be able to do that. It is hard to catch the long naps before they are gone. I never know if it is going to be a good one or not.

I'd post pictures, but there isn't a lot to show at this point.

Why, Oh, Why? (Please love me anyway!)

Why is it that as I was sitting at a park day with friends does one of them have to bring up politics? Especially, HER?

Why do I have to read and mostly enjoy a book, but really and truly hate it, when everyone else seems to think it's been written by a wonderful author?

Okay, so maybe this isn't the most positive post, but I want to get this out anyway!

On Friday, I was sitting with some friends and one of them asked what we all thought of Sarah Palin. Immediately, all of them except for two (one who doesn't keep up with politics and me) gushed about how much they love her! They really didn't talk much about her politics, but more about her attitude and the fact that she is a mom. They were of course all moms, but that is hardly a reason to vote for someone. I honestly think Sarah Palin is about the last person I want to be in line to be president! (If you haven't seen it already, go read this. This is worth reading, too.) Honestly, someone who is that controlling and manipulative is seriously looking like a fascist, to me.

So, I didn't say anything, but I really wanted to.

And on to the book. I just finished reading Breaking Dawn, by Stephenie Meyer. To start, I did read it in three days, so I enjoyed it. But... when I even think about it a little bit, I hate some of the things she did with it. I think my biggest complaint is that she wrote these books for teenage girls. There are things that are grossly inappropriate for girls to be reading. They don't need to think that life it the way it is painted in this book. I know, I know, it's just a story, and furthermore, it's written about vampires, but still. There is way to much s*x, too much of the idea that "life will be better after this horrible life I'm living" and too much emphasis placed on how beautiful they become and how that makes Bella feel so much better about herself. We are all human and teenagers hate enough things about themselves to have these ideas put into their heads. I understand the need for an escape...what do you think reading this book provided me? I just think that Ms. Meyer takes things too far. While I'm at it, there are so many better books written for that age that are SO much better. There are better writers that don't take twice as long to say something as they need!

Okay, I'm done. I hope you all still love me...oh and I'm really not a left-wing Democrat or anything. I just have more moderate views and the Republicans are trying to be so far right at the moment that it really irritates me!

Fine Tuning

I have decided on a new goal for myself. I want to be less critical, negative and judgmental. I know, I've tried before, but this time I really want to work hard at this.

We had a Sunday School lesson in which a really good analogy was made:

When you hit a tuning fork and then move it close to another object, the object resonates with the same sound.

When we are negative and "vent", we not only don't feel better afterwards, we usually lead the person we are talking to down to further negativity, as well.

I don't want to be that kind of influence on others anymore. Heck, I don't want to be that kind of influence on me anymore!

So, I think it would be more effective to replace a bad behavior with a good one. What better than if I feel the need to be negative or share a story that would only make me and the hearer more negative, I'll say something good. I suppose keeping my mouth shut would also be effective if there isn't anything nice to say!

Happy Birthday to Me!

That's right. It's my thirtieth birthday, and I'm not ashamed to claim it! I feel young and healthy. I really think age is more about how you feel, act and think than really a number. Numbers tell you how long you've been around, not what you know or how well you've figured life out!

I actually celebrated my birthday, yesterday. I got most of my presents and had my cake. (carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, mmmmm) Since CM was home from work and Link was home from school, we were able to have a fun family day, today. Tomorrow is going to be a normal back to life kind of day with errands and laundry. I'm glad I got a fun day off with my family. I didn't even have to make breakfast or lunch--we had breakfast at church (for labor day) and lunch at my MIL's house.

I did really well, this year! I got CDs, a video game, fancy hair product, a microwave (ours was dying), a book, new clothes, a tree for our yard, my haircut (early), and a book. I'll still get a couple more things from my bro and sis-in-laws when I see them.

So, I hope you have a great day! I get to go have my 6 week check up! I probably should have scheduled it differently, but oh well!

I'm Pottytrained!

If only Princess were as well.

This is day three and we have had only one or two accidents per day so far! It is great! As long as I remember to make her sit on the toilet about every hour, she does great. So, I'm really the one that is trained for now. I hope that eventually she catches on, too. She is enjoying the Tinkerbell panties and feeling like a big girl.

One horror story: After the first day of going on the toilet, we went to the store to get some "pretty panties", as promised. She had gone to the bathroom a little before we left, so I thought she'd be fine on a 20 minute trip. Well, she wet her pants right in front of the underwear display. It was really embarrassing to walk through the store holding new panties, with a little girl in wet pants. I got lucky, though. We had a towel in the van that she could sit on so that she didn't soak her car seat!

First Day of School

As much as I miss Link during the day, it was nice to have just two kids while I was trying to get things done. I was able to do a ton of housework and even worked with Princess on preschool stuff! I had a great day and I think I can handle having 3 kids, now. I don't know how people have their kids really close together so that they have several home at such close ages.

Link had a great day!


He said it was fun but hard work. He is really glad to make more friends. He already has a good friend from this summer that is in his class!

I thought I'd show off the girls, too!


This is actually from Sunday, but I thought I'd take some pics of her in her new dress!

Lesson Learned

A bit of advice: Don't have Goodreads open in the background for an extended amount of time while you are up in the middle of the night with your baby.

I got some interesting invitations to be "friends" with men from Afghanistan and Sri Lanka since I was listed as online. Before now, I have only gotten or sent invitations to people I know (at least online). Apparently, I'm attractive on the other side of the world, too!

Menthol, Bleach and Burnt Molasses (AKA Our Weekend)

I'm a very smell-oriented person. Things need to smell good and I definitely notice if they don't. I am also very paranoid that my house will smell weird, so I usually light a candle or spray some air freshener if I know someone will be coming over.

So...this weekend has been one of strange smells. Doodle has had a cold, so our house has smelled like the cherry menthol vapor fan that we run at night for her. Cherry and menthol are really not smells that should be mixed. Maybe it's that I don't like fake cherry smell and flavor. I think it is just a bit weird.

Then there is the bleach. This is actually a smell I rather enjoy. It is a clean smell and those are my favorites. Outside after rain, clean kid hair and household cleaners are great smells. The bleach was to help with the clogged sink. It was of course the kitchen sink and so who knows how long rotting food has been stuck in it. So, it started with the lovely smells associated with drains and ended with the clean smell of bleach.

And last of all...Molasses. Captain Marvelous loves to cook. He is an excellent cook and loves to experiment with lots of new things. He especially likes to make treats with the kids on Sunday afternoons. He calls them his sous chefs. They love it! Anyway, yesterday, he wanted to make taffy, but we only had all of the ingredients for molasses taffy. We can't figure out what went wrong, but before it got to the proper temperature, it started burning and smoking. It was a pretty weird smell to have through the house. It is still slightly there, this morning!

So, now I want to change the smell to Mr. Clean. I think mopping the floor will do it. I love the smell of Mr. Clean!

In the Spirit of the Olympics...

I don't know if you've seen Paul Hunt perform, but he is hilarious! I recommend checking out some of his other routines as well. I was told he is a girl's gymnastics coach and was trying to get people more interested in the sport. He's obviously been well trained as well.



We watched some rhythmic gymnastics this afternoon and my kids both wanted to play with ribbons. I found them some and it was adorable!

Burdens

At church on Sunday, the lesson was about forgiving ourselves when we have sinned and repented. One of the questions that was asked was about why the burden of sin feels so heavy.

I had an insight that I really liked.

I think that the reason we feel so weighed down by sin is that God cannot help us to carry those burdens. He can and will help us carry any other kind of burden, but we need to feel the burden of sin so that we will realize the need and want to repent. Once we repent of the sin, He is more than willing to take away the burden we have been carrying. That is what the Atonement is all about.

If only forgiving ourselves were that easy!

Seven Inches

So, I finally got my hair cut. I went through the long process of trying to decide how much I hate my hair or not and then trying to decide on a hair cut. It didn't turn out how I thought originally, but the stylist pointed out that the shorter layers would be more work. That's the last thing I need with a newborn. So, here are the pics!

Before


AND


After
We also got this cute picture while trying to get a good after of my hair! I love it! Doodle just loves to stare at me and have me talk to her. It is really fun and relaxing for both of us.

Happy Birthday Princess!

Her birthday was actually a few days ago, but we had her party yesterday since the family went camping during her birthday.

She really made good. It helps when there are two grandmas trying to spoil her as well as aunts and uncles.

We had her birthday in our backyard. It was our first time having a shindig in our yard. It went well and was a lot of fun.


Princess was a wonderful baby. She was happy and content and really easy. Then she hit 2! Ha! She is still a great kid and lots of fun. She has a great imagination and loves to play with little toys, especially people and animals that she can make talk and play with each other. She also loves to play dress up. It doesn't even have to be girly stuff. She and Link will wear some of his Spiderman or other costumes and play together.

She really is a frilly tomboy. She loves girly stuff and to wrestle around with her big brother. It is really fun and a great combination!

So, happy birthday Princess Belle! I love you!

Request

I have started to read the blogs of people I actually know in real life and some of you have come over here as well. I love, love this!!

My problem is that some of you haven't enabled your email on your accounts, are listed as private or have it set up so that people have to have permission to read your blogs. I understand the need for privacy, but I don't have your information and I don't live near you anymore. I want to contact you, so please, please leave some kind of information or email me! My email address is on my profile.

Thanks and keep coming back! I just want to come visit you, too or at least be able to email you!

The Tae Kwon Do Family

With the Olympics starting I thought a post about this family. There are three siblings that are competing from the USA in Tae Kwon Do and their brother is their coach. I thought it was really neat. I found an article and pictures to show you this family. What a great way to spend the Olympics! I am excited to watch them in action! Here is also a video about them!

Threes Tag

3 Joys=My Kids--My Husband--Crochet

3 Fears=Snakes--Injury/Death of My Family--Heights

3 Goals=Organize My Basement--Weed My Garden Patch--Get Back to Pre-pregnancy (all of them) Weight

3 Current Obsessions=Organization--Crochet--Cleaning My House (I don't really have time or energy for any of them, so they are always on my mind.)

3 Random Facts=I love cheese!--I love the smell of Mr. Clean--Decisions are hard for me to make (My mom had to point it out, since I had a hard time deciding! Ha! I couldn't think of one, so my Mommy had to help.)

Mommy-brain is striking! As you can see, several things fit in the categories. I'm having trouble thinking of a lot of things... I guess I'm not doing a lot of things other than being a mom right now. I'm okay with that!

Thanks Kiley for tagging me! And I tag anyone who'd like to be tagged.

Not Me!

I've always been an even-tempered and happy person. If I feel upset, usually a good night of rest fixes it and I feel great in the morning.

This pregnancy has changed that. I think I have the baby blues or postpartum depression or whatever you want to call it. I didn't notice it myself, I rarely notice this kind of thing. I have to have things like this pointed out to me by my husband. Now that I think about it, it is so obvious!

I have been focusing so much on all of the things that I need to do or that I am not able to do that I have not taken time for myself. Even when I have gotten out without kids, I have gone to get things for them.

I love to be outside and play with plants, but I have kept myself cooped up in the house and watched my houseplants die.

I love to crochet. Instead of making something creative or at least something that I want to make, I have been feeling like I have to work on a project that I am being paid for.

I love to read and although I've been reading the scriptures, I haven't been reading any books for fun. I miss that. I've had trouble finding one that sounds interesting.

I think I've been so focused on my physical healing (which has been fast and easy) that I didn't think about the emotional. I started to feel better after the baby was born (since I had some weird emotional/hormonal problems then), so I thought I was done with all of that. I guess not. It is so frustrating because it is SO unlike me. I haven't had depression problems before, so I don't know what to do with myself. My husband suggested I treat today like a sick day and just take care of me. It sounds like a great idea, but I just keep thinking of all of the things that need to be done...

I'm going to start by taking a shower!!

Attempts

Here are some attempts at some close-up shots of Doodle! Have a great weekend!

Karate Promotion

Link has been going to karate for a while, now and he had his first promotion, yesterday! We love the things he is able to learn from his school. They teach a lot of things other than just karate. They teach them self discipline, respect for others, self defense, balance and so much more. They do learn a lot of karate kicks and punches as well! We love his karate school.

Here are some pictures of his special day!

He got to help lead the "Star Block". He remembered it quite well and did a great job.


Here he is receiving his belt and certificate.


He is becoming one with the karate belt. He is supposed to have his hands forming a triangle to remember to better himself in mind, body and spirit.


They had a family member help him tie on the new belt. (Princess had to be involved. There are her pink shoes.)


The ceremony was really cool and fun for Link. He is a great kid and really loves karate!