Uhhh... musings of a fried brain?

I came into this wanting to talk about something... and now I don't rememer what it was. Hmmm... Well. I guess I'll just ramble. My brain is fried anyway!

Tonight I participated in a musical fireside. I'm a choir group called "From The Heart", and they give firesides just about every Sunday. I love singing in the choir, but I always feel slightly odd when we just hang out with each other or have to talk to the people we sing for, mostly because they're all single. I don't think I ever realized how different I am now that I'm married, and how differently single people look at me because I'm married (and especially when they find out I have Andrew). I don't think they even know they treat me differently, but they do.

The good thing is this: I love being married, and I find comfort in knowing that they all want to be married too! Haha.





Andrew is 14 months today. I really feel that since Andrew's turned a year old, the time has been flying by. I guess since little milestones don't happen quite as often (or aren't quite so fun!), I don't feel like I'm waiting around just waiting for things to happen anymore. Plus, he keeps me mighty busy along with all the other things I get to do with my life.


Let me see if I can find a recent picture of the dude. Uhh... nope. I haven't taken any for a while. Well, since I took the pictures during his bath last week. I used to take pictures of Andrew daily. I wonder how I'm going to do in the picture-taking department with the rest of my kids. They're all going to be so jealous because I've taken so many pictures of Andrew, and the rest of the kids are only going to have a fraction of the pictures taken of them, I'm sure. Isn't that how it always turns out? You have much more time to take pictures with the first one.


I was thinking about it earlier today (when I was wrestling Andrew during church) that I'm happy with Andrew exactly the way he is, but I wouldn't mind having a girl next. A girl that WANTS to sit in my lap during church. Is that even possible? Please tell me that I'm not just dreaming. Haha. Anyway, I know it's probably pretty close to impossible. :) But I also want a girl because I grew up with only sisters, and I know how to play with them better. Just watch. I'm going to end up having 6 boys, and I'll have to adopt to get a girl. That'd be pretty funny.


This afternoon, I attempted to take a nap, and I was interrupted 3 times. Yeah. That didn't turn out too well. I ended up more groggy in the end than when I had originally tried to go to sleep, but oh well. Doesn't life have to do that to you sometimes?


I think I've made it an internal goal starting today to be positive. I used to be happy just about all the time and nothing would really get me down. Now I have a difficult time with optimism. I think what happened is that life kinda got to me for a while, and pessimism became second nature to me. But no more! Life is to be enjoyed! Heavenly Father wants us to be happy. President Hinckley once said something that kinda stuck with me: Heavenly Father didn't send us here to fail. What comforting knowledge, especially when life sends you a curve ball. Or a lot of curve balls.


Ok. There's the end of my crazy entry. I hope you liked it!

Bath Time!

Jason is the one that normally gives Andrew baths, but ever since he started working part-time, it's been difficult for him to find the time to do it. After waiting WAY too long to take the initiative, like I should've before, I gave Andrew a bath myself tonight. It looks like it's going to be another one of those mommy-son things. :)

I took a couple pictures and wanted to share.

You can't tell (still!) that he has hair when it's dry, but you can finally see how long it's actually getting when it's wet! I kinda want to get him a haircut, but you wouldn't be able to see a difference in the before and after pictures, so I think I'm going to wait on that.

Gotta love that toothy grin! He loves bath time.

What a happy boy! I'm so glad I have him around. :)

Random side note: About a month ago at Institute, there was a girl in my class who used to be in our ward. She came up to me to get a closer look at Andrew, and was amazed at how big he was since it had been several months since she had seen him. Then she asked me if I was baby hungry yet. Right off the bat, I told her NO! Andrew is quite a handful, and until I have him going to nursery every week during church, I don't think I can feel comfortable getting pregnant again! Haha. So, if you've been wondering about that, there's your answer! Give me a few more months, and I might miss "baby" Andrew enough to be baby hungry.

I need advice!

Ok, so Andrew used to eat everything we gave him. (Except green beans and the baby food meats, but who can blame him?) Recently though, he won't really eat anything except yogurt, cheese, cereal, and crackers - any variety. Do any of you with older kids have any advice as to how to get him to eat more balanced?

For everything else, we seem to be doing alright. Jason's Melaleuca job is constantly a reminder of how much nicer things will be. Not perfect, but better and less stressful. Though he's gone more, he will be bringing in more money and will do a lot of his studying for school at work. He's doing well in most of his classes, and is studying hard for the class he's struggling with - Anatomy and Physiology. Ouch. I'm glad I've graduated!

Andrew is walking consistently. He can stand up without assistance now, and only crawls when there are too many interesting toys on the floor. It's exciting. I'm looking forward to not seeing the knees of his pants so dirty! Haha. Oh, the simply joys of motherhood, eh? He also started saying "Hi" the other day. It more comes out "aaa-yyy", but I can tell what he means. It's so cute to hear. For the longest time I worried that Andrew was behind in his speech for some reason, but I know he's doing just fine.

As for me, I'm doing pretty well. For a while there I was feeling really down about, well, everything. I would wake up in the morning and not be excited to start another day. Often times I'd lay down on the couch and just watch Andrew play all day because I was too lathargic to get up. I don't know what it was, but something was making me feel really depressed with life. Fortunately, Jason expressed concern for me, and I really think that's what it took to turn me around. I don't think I realized how bad it had become. Looking around me, things were a mess and nothing had been done for days. So I got dressed. I picked up the apartment. I did the dishes. I took care of not only Andrew, but myself. There are still some days that things are not all that great, but those days are much fewer now.

I think part of it started from comparing myself with other people, especially other moms. They seemed to take everything in stride, to still be happy despite the difficult and even boring things they had to do every day. I didn't understand how that could be, when I was struggling so badly. All I know is that I have no idea what I'm doing! But I'm taking it one day at a time here, knowing that I don't have to be perfect, and thank heaven for that.

I just can't wait for summer. More sunshine always makes me happy.

Valentine's and Snow Day

Jason and I celebrated Valentine's Day on Saturday. We went on a date to Twizzleberry, this new frozen yogurt place in town (it was SOOOO yummy!), and then we came home and watched a few episodes of Parker Lewis Can't Lose. It's a tv show that only ran for 3 or 4 seasons in the early 90s that Jason used to watch with his family. I got him the second season of the show for Valentine's Day, which was exciting for him. He got me a pearl necklace with a matching bracelet, which I love, and chocolates. :)

I decorated our apartment a little bit for the holiday with construction paper and yarn. Creative, no? Take a look:

This was our living room window.

I did a little bit more decorating, but I want to save the rest of this blog for the pictures I REALLY wanted to post.

Andrew had his first adventure in the snow outside today, and I took pictures. Enjoy!

This was actually the only time he stood up while we were outside, and it was only because we helped him stand up. He was too bundled up to move!

Oh, and one more thing. We had a relief society activity a few weeks ago where we had to guess whose baby picture belonged to whom. After they told everyone that my picture was mine, they were all saying that Andrew looks a lot like I did as a baby. (Which is nice, because without the picture, everyone says he looks exactly like Jason! He IS my child!) Here's a side-by-side that I took earlier - the pictures are up on our entertainment system:

Tell me - what do YOU think?

For Sale

Hey guys, it's that time again. If you're in the Rexburg area, take a look at our other blog. We're selling some random stuff we don't use, don't play with, don't wear, or don't watch. If you're interested, check it out.

Also, as Jason's graduation date gets closer (he'll graduate in July), we'll probably start posting bigger things, like our kitchen table and couches. The couches even match! lol. Anyway, keep your eyes peeled.

Just thought you should know.

Oh, and if you're wanting the movies, come over QUICK! Someone just expressed interest in buying most of them, so if you want one, you better come get it soon!

Go away!

I'm ready for winter to be over. Probably because I'm looking forward to a time when we settle in a place where winter does not last from the end of October until the beginning of June. *sigh* I can't wait to go outside again and be comfortable. To take Andrew outside without having bundled him up first (because it takes a long time!). To go on walks with Andrew in the stroller. To smell the fresh smell of spring. That is what I'm really looking forward to. Go away, winter!

Speaking of Andrew, he is walking really well. It was just this last week that he started walking about as much as he crawls. He'd probably walk more, but he still can't stand up without pulling himself up on something. He can't stand up in the middle of the floor. Maybe in the next couple weeks he will.

I probably told you this before, but Andrew pulls himself up onto our couches now. It's sometimes fun, sometimes uncomfortable - like when he grabs onto you to pull himself up and then sits on your stomach for ten minutes... But sometimes it's hilarious. On Saturday, I was on the love seat talking to Jason on the phone since he was at work. Andrew decided to get up on the couch, pull the box of Wheat Thins out of Jason's book bag, pull the bag out, relax, and eat the Wheat Thins. Fortunately, I got a picture. Check out this big guy:

It made me laugh so hard. And he ate the rest of the Wheat Thins too! This kid will eat anything and everything, so much as there's a lot of it. Haha.

We're lucky!

Since the last time I posted, something exciting has happened: Jason got a part-time job at Melaleuca! It's the same place he worked before, he just gets a LOT more hours. Yay!

When we came back from Ohio, Jason got his old job back - as a hot shot shifter at Melaleuca. A person with a hot shot shift only works certain days of the month, usually between 2 to 5 days per month. He got a shift working only 3 days a month, and that was really starting to stress us out. Although as a hot shot, Jason had the opportunity to cover people's shifts if they asked, we were still feeling pretty strapped.

This opportunity for a part-time job is such a blessing! Just as we were starting to really worry, Heavenly Father provided a way for us to survive. He's so nice. :)

Also, my sister-in-law Katie brought to my attention an accompanying job on campus for a teacher that has multiple voice students at once. At first, I only had one person to accompany for, and while we were happy about it, we were hoping I could play for more. As the semester kept going, Katie started getting busy with her classes and offered one of the labs that she plays for to me. That adds another 4 people. Yay! It means more music to learn, but I've been craving something like this for a long time. I just wish I had a keyboard at home to practice on... ♪ ♫

Alright. I just had to share the good news!

And here's a funny picture of Andrew, for good measure:

13 Months

Andrew has been kinda crazy lately. He's been a grumpy little wiggle-wart, especially at church. We're lucky to be able to sit down for 10 minutes straight during any part of church. Nursery will be a welcome relief in 5 months. He'll work out all the wiggles he got in Sacrament meeting!

The good thing is, he's not like that all the time. He's been really fun lately, actually. He's not sticking things in his mouth quite as much, which is nice. I don't pick things up and automatically wipe them off for fear that he's drooled on it anymore. He is a lot more interactive with his play when I get down on the floor to play with him. He used to just sit there and stare at me, or need me to pick him up to play with him. Now I chase after him, sit and show him pictures of things and people, have conversations with him exclusively in baby garble, have him walk back and forth between me and Jason... this is a fun stage, I think. I'm looking forward to seeing how much he grows over the next while. (Although it may just kill my back!)

Here are some pictures that I took of him on Sunday:











He has the cutest little curl on the back of his head. Carrie, my younger sister, gave Andrew a little trim in the back just before we left Ohio mid-December, but she missed this little chunk of long hair. It has since turned into this cute little curl! I just had to get a picture of it and post it. It makes me happy. :)




Also, here's a video of Andrew playing with Jason on Sunday as well. Super cute! He was doing raspberries on Andrew, and they both loved it.