Yup.

It's a girl.

Just one :)

It's a...

#18

Didn't know if I was ever going to blog again. 

But then something happened that was so exciting I just had to share.

I got a kill on Call of Duty.  

Without camping.

All by myself.

Picture me, yelling,"I got one.  I got one!"

That was the one goal on my 28 by 28 I thought I'd never make. 

Basically I can do anything now.

Today...

I asked my 15 month old "what his bloody problem was."

Then he pooped diarrhea all over.

Then I cleaned the diarrhea off him,

his highchair,

and my shirt.

And then I stole the "I'm a good mom" shirt 

that my brother made for MY mom.

And then I felt better.

I don't feel so good.

I've been taking a B6 and 1/2 a unisom before bed.

It seems to help.

The other day I decided I was okay and I didn't need to.

I threw up 5 times in the next 24 hours.

When I was pregnant with Carter I took a second dose when I woke up.

And I basically slept through my 1st trimester.

This time around I've been muddling through with just one dose.

Because I figure Carter needs his mom to be awake.

Yesterday Carter got into a container of Vaseline.

Not once, not twice, but THREE times.

Maybe I should just sleep!

Also yesterday I had a meeting at 12.

My thought process went something like this...

Starts at 12.

Good, we'll be home by 1 to have lunch with Li.

Better leave 1/2 hour early.

Okay, 12:30.

And so we arrived for our 12:00 meeting at 12:50 :)

All day sickness

It's getting worse.

:(

So let's hear them.

Out with your secrets.

Did ANYTHING ACTUALLY help you with morning sickness?

Just in case...

Just in case you were thinking that it might be a good idea to entertain the baby with a smoothie while you cleaned the kitchen....

(Notice there is no cup to be seen?

It's on the floor.

Surrounded by splattered smoothie.)

Unless, you were hoping to clean the kitchen twice.

Quakers Meeting is over

Going wordless was really fun.

It got me back in the habit of taking pictures,

which makes life seem more exciting.

Although the last little while has been exciting enough on it's own!

Carter was sick and kept me up until 3:30am

and 3 hours later we found out he was going to be a big brother.

I was REALLY hoping to be pregnant.

Then I thought about adding another sleep-wrecker to the mix, and I had to wonder, 

"What in the world was I thinking?!"

I'm better rested now and really excited.

So far I'm feeling okay, just TIRED.  

But I'm pretty sure I can feel the nausea creeping up.

As for the marathon?

Who knows?

a VERY busy weekend

Wednesday

Tuesday

Monday

Sunday

This week's wrap-up

I've been perfecting my "green smoothie."

So far my basic recipe is:

a blender full of spinach

(don't pack it tightly)

a cup of plain brown cow greek yogurt

(no fat and 23g of protein)

a banana or two

and whatever other fruits look good.

(I loved the ones with papaya!)

I don't really like spinach or greek yogurt but these are a yummy start to the day.

Li got accepted into school and he will probably start next month.

Let the madness begin!

I started teaching piano lessons.

I really like teaching.

I love seeing their brains work so hard to figure it out.

It makes me want to go learn something.

Which is probably why I signed up for Stewart Wilson's 

Book of Mormon class.

If you missed it this week you can still sign up for next week.

It'll seriously knock your socks off.

I got a new phone!

Welcome back to society.

Next week, in an effort to take more pictures,

I'm going wordless.

Should be fun!!

I don't think I like running.

Last night I read this informative and rather humorous article on run/walking.

This morning we actually made it out the door with our running shoes on.

I suggested we try running 9 minutes and walking 1.

My thinking was that it had been so long I didn't think I could run anymore.

Li's idea was we could run faster if we were taking breaks.

Yikes.

We ran way too fast for my comfort.

And planning on walk breaks just got me thinking that I couldn't do it without.

As we started running up one little hill I laughed to myself about how we started this training all gung-ho.

First stop marathon,

final destination Ironman.

ha.

After October I vow to only do exercise I like.

But then again, about 50 yards from home I starting thinking how it might be fun to train for a marathon by running 26.2 miles every week.

At first you would spread it out over 6 days and as it got closer to your race you would squish the mileage together on a few days.

Maybe fun for SOMEONE ELSE!

Dear Southern Utah

Did you hear that Stewart Wilson is teaching

a class on the Book of Mormon?

Register at the Hurricane Seminary.

It starts tomorrow at 7pm.

Be there or be square.

Super good news!

The budgeting system that Li and I use and love is now available to the public!!

And if that weren't good enough news....

You can get a free 15 day trial!!

Just go to mysistersbudget.com

and choose your operating system.

P.S. While you're there, see if you recognize the beautiful testimonial couple.

We are still planning on running the marathon.

In San Diego we had a blast driving all over town, 

getting lost, 

and speaking spanish 

trying to plan a good 12 mile route.  

We probably spent longer looking for a bathroom and a place to park than we did actually running.

We didn't run again for 2 weeks when our 14 miler became an 8 and then a 6 and finally a 3.

Tuesday's 3 miler got pushed to Thursday.

And Thursday's run?

Well, you can bet we didn't go with two-a-days.

This Saturday's 16 miler?

We crack me up.

Uh oh

I forgot to mention that

I'm not blogging this week.

My friends from a former life are coming,

so I'm on vacation.

Check you next week.

Blunder Week: Lumpies

Once upon a time it snowed.

Which is a semi-rare experience in these parts.

I thought I'd be a fun big sister and make cookies and hot chocolate for my brothers and their friends.

My dough didn't seem quite right so I added some extra flour.

It was still sticky so I kept adding.

A few cups of extra flour later it still didn't seem right, but how much flour can you add?

I cooked them anyway.

Then I pulled hard lumpy, exploding things out of the oven.

They were yummy to be sure, but not very cookie like.

Everyone laughed at me and my lack of domesticity.

My mom came home and went through the recipe with me trying to figure out what in the world I'd done wrong.

Answer: Nothing!!

Then we cleaned up the kitchen.  

As my mom went to put away the powdered sugar the conversation went like this...

Mom: You didn't use powdered sugar instead of regular sugar did you?

Me: That's flour.

Yup.  

About 5 cups of powdered sugar in my "cookies" and not a drop of flour!

Blunder Week: Blunder

I totally forgot to blog today. 

Does that count as a blunder?

Oh well I could only think of one more big mistake anyway. 

Then I was just going to ask you to share.

Anyone up for sharing some embarrassment?

Blunder Week: My frame

See the big frame that is mostly pictured above?

I got it at DI for $5.

It came with a green and yellow picture.

For a LONG time it served to block the stairs so Carter couldn't crawl down.

For another LONG time it's been propped in the corner of my room upside down.

FINALLY I got brave during naptime and painted it.

And then I went back to check on it and give it a second coat....

It was painted to the dry wall underneath it.

Drat.

Blunder Week: Plants

We were so excited to plant a garden this year.

It was our first.

Li read a book.

We went to 3 or 4 stores looking for a specific fertilizer.

We weeded,

tilled,

bought seeds,

planted,

and then we watered.

And then we watched most everything go down two gopher holes.

And then we lost enthusiasm and forgot to water very often.

And then 2 months later I went outside and was 

literally shocked to remember that we had planted a garden.

(We were so gung-ho we even had our Webelos plant a square foot garden box.)

Good news?

It turns out you can plant zucchini

and then COMPLETELY forget about them and they will still grow!

Blunder Week: The Story of the Sheets

Welcome to Blunder Week!!

It seems that lately, due to stupidity, ignorance, or carelessness,

I've done a lot of dumb things.

This week I'd like to share a few of them with you,

starting with 

The Story of the Sheets....

As some of you know, I recently went to IKEA.

There, I purchased a duvet cover and some gray sheets.

We got our new king sized bed and Li went to open the sheets.

I told him, in no uncertain terms, that he could not until I had shopped locally to make sure these were "the sheets."

(You can't return IKEA bedding once it's been opened.)

A few days later I went shopping and came home with some different gray sheets.

We tried these out and I still couldn't decide.

At this point Li was either fed up with me, or else he realized someone had to make a decision.

He opened the IKEA sheets and proceeded to make the bed.

And then I realized it...

we bought two fitted sheets and no flat sheets.

And then we decided to keep both sets of sheets so we could mix and match.

Basically, I have now spent WAY more on sheets than I ever intended to 

and I still want to buy another flat sheet.

MORAL: Listen to Li?!

O-kaeri nasai

Just over two years ago,

on this bittersweet day

 

we sent him off to Japan.

Today at 4:40pm

we are going to fetch him!!

(From the airport, not Japan.)

I can't wait for him and Carter to meet!

an experiment in cosleeping

And now the story you've all been waiting for...

(Probably not as exciting as the hype, but you can decide that for yourself.)

After tossing and turning in my bed for something like an hour I went and got Li and asked him to help me fall asleep.

His idea was to feed me.

And then we snuck into Carter's room to spy on him and squeeze his legs.

Me: "Don't you sometimes just want to scoop him up and put him in our bed."

Li: "Let's do it."

Me: "I guess I'm not sleeping anyway...."

And that, my friends, displays how tired I already was.

Sure he is ADORABLE when he is sleeping.

But it wasn't long before I remembered why we don't cosleep.

I can barely even sleep with a husband in my bed.

It was a LONG night and I think I fell asleep at some point.

Babies are noisy and move around a lot.

Well, at least mine does.

At some point in the early morning hours, inspiration struck
and I realized I could put him back in his bed. 

Hold on a sec

I have a story to tell you.

 

One of those,"what was I thinking?" kind of stories.

But I'm making the 4 hour airport trip again.

So you'll just have to wait.

Free books.

Do you want free books?

I do.

That's why I just signed up for BookSneeze. 

They send you a book, you read it and review it, and then you can get another book.

Rad, huh?!

This post sounds like a form letter, doesn't it?

Like they automatically post it on your blog when you sign up.

It's not.

I promise.

5,000 words

Luckily for me, I wasn't the only one taking pictures on our vacation.

Here are a few my dad snapped.