A Very Merry Christmas

Christmas this year was kind to us. Liz was able to see her kids open the presents she picked out for them earlier this year. A Christmas eve snow storm gave us a beautiful covering of fresh powder on Christmas morning. The air was crisp and the sun shined bright. Anna loved her toys, Ian slept through everything, and Levi and I spoiled each other with gifts.

The Christmas tree was beautiful and Anna loved to play with the different ornaments. It's sad that soon we will need to take it down, as it's starting to rapidly drop pine needles over the floor.

I hope this last Christmas was a good one for you all, and left you feeling love, joy and peace.

Our Dear Liz

For many years, my sister-in-law Liz has been fighting cancer. Tragically, the fight is about over and we are all praying that Liz can live long enough to spend one more Christmas with her loving husband Dave and her two children, Emma and Tyler.

The Deseret Morning News published an article on my brother and his family yesterday, December 23rd. You can view the article at this link. Since the article won't be available to view for long, I am going to paste a copy of it into this post.

I'd like to thank Lois M. Collins for writing the following article.

"Wishes at Christmas come in all sizes. You can pine for world peace or a new Barbie. David Lloyd is praying that his wife, Liz, can hang on long enough to enjoy one last Christmas with her family.

He wants to watch her watch Tyler, 7, smile as he opens the toy train they picked when Liz was feeling better. To enjoy, once more, the excitement of daughter Emma, 9, as she unwraps a doll.

It will be, without question, Liz's last Christmas. At 33, she has battled brain cancer off and on since Tyler was just a baby, winning some rounds and losing others.

But today she's winding down in a nursing home, her care provided by Intermountain Home Care's hospice service. That is, ironically, husband David's employer. She now has three aggressive tumors and moves in and out of consciousness.

The family was living in Logan when Tyler was born. When he was seven months old, he had a cold that wouldn't quit. They took him to the hospital and, in a whirlwind of discovery and activity, he was soon in an air ambulance flying to Primary Children's Medical Center. Not long after, David and Liz learned their baby would need a heart transplant although he was, for the moment, stable.

Liz, meanwhile, had been having severe headaches, and an MRI revealed a tumor on the right front side of her brain. She scheduled surgery for that weekend, anxious to have it over so she would be recovered enough to care for her son before his dramatic surgery.

Three weeks later, Tyler received a donor heart and, for a change of pace, all the news seemed to be good. Both mother and son were doing "remarkably well," David says. It would not be long before they were both back home, each getting a little stronger every day, life returning to normal.

But the need for ongoing medical monitoring meant they wanted to be closer to their doctors. David quit school, found a job in Salt Lake City and they moved.

A year later, the cancer returned, and Liz again had brain surgery, followed by radiation. The recovery was a little rougher that time. Still, she seemed cancer-free for quite a while.

Bad news this time came packaged as a seizure. Sure enough, says David, the cancer was back for round three.

The tumors were too big for radiation and in a bad location for surgery. They agreed to try chemotherapy, and "although no one offered a lot of long-term hope, the chemo worked wonders, better than anticipated," David says — until this fall, when yet another tumor appeared.

It has not responded to chemotherapy, and Liz has been losing mobility on one side. She has trouble walking, her speech is fading, and both memory and comprehension are now a struggle, as well.

She was determined to make it through Christmas, and he had hoped to keep her home and care for her, but her need for assistance has outpaced her small family's ability to provide it. So she's in a care facility, and they visit all the time.

Christmas is bittersweet. On the days when she's felt better — and they're getting fewer now — she's talked about the holidays and gifts and what she wants her kids to remember. Earlier this year, she helped select the special presents she hopes to see delight them.

David's mother-in-law and friends, meantime, are trying to raise some money to help David pay bills not covered by insurance. Friends have established an account at Zions Bank in the name "David Bryant Lloyd Donation."

All they want for Christmas is Christmas. Together."

2 Weeks Old

Our little Ian is now 2 weeks old. The time has gone by so quickly. He's building neck strength and is starting to stay awake for longer stretches (usually in the middle of the night). His big sister Anna loves to peek over the bassinet, pat his head, share stories and toys, and if he's sleeping she'll try hard to wake him.

I average between 3-5 hours of sleep each night and I find it amazing that each day I'm still able to function and take care of everyone. Levi has been wonderful and each morning he wakes up early to feed Anna then plays with her while I care for Ian. His help really eases the daily stresses.

Last night at Anna's bed time, I took the first pictures of the kids together. Anna giggled as she held her baby brother for the first time. It's these precious moments that make the sleepless nights a little more bearable.

Our Little Ian

On November 26th at 11:30pm, I awoke in intense pain. Levi was in the office working on homework and I told him in my not so calm voice that I thought it was time to go to the hospital, and I hoped it wasn't a false alarm. He quickly ran down the stairs and started loading the van with our bags. As I was walking down the stairs to join him, my water broke. At the time I thought I had lost bladder control, but looking back I realize the truth of the matter.

The ride to the hospital was long and exhausting. We drove from Lehi to St. Mark's hospital in SLC. It was the longest ride of my life. Before we left the house, the contractions were less than a minute apart. By the time we got off the freeway, I was trying desperately not to give in to the desire to push. At this point I begged Levi to just run the red lights to get us there faster. We made it to the underground parking lot and got the best parking spot, right next to the elevator. I was on my hands and knees at the elevator, as I couldn't control the pushing anymore. We made it into the hospital and had a wheel chair waiting for us. The security guard ran me into the delivery room that was filled with nurses. Hands were all over me trying to remove my clothing as quickly as possible. My only thought at this point was, "Can you give me some drugs now?"

One of the nurses checked my dilation and effacement, and exclaimed in shocked voice, "All I feel is a head, all I feel is a head". Another nurse held my hand and tried to get me to focus and breath. She assured me that the pain would not get any worse. Although I understood this, I couldn't control my breathing and fear.

Moments later, Ian Douglas Pearson was born. Weighing 8 pounds 1 ounce, and 19 1/2 inches long. The total length of the labor was 45 minutes.

He is beautiful and we just adore him. He is a healthy eater and loves to be snuggled. His big sister loves to give him toys and peek over the bassinet to see what he's doing. She rubs his head and talks to him. It's so very precious!

Stone #4

Just when I thought that the kidney stone nightmare was over, I awoke this morning with yet another unpleasant surprise.

The good news is that the stone passed in roughly 9 hours and my mother in law is here to help take care of Anna. Having help taking care of my toddler has made a huge difference.

I still have the kidney infection and I'm still very much pregnant. Other than that, I'm happy to be alive and no longer suffering from the blasted kidney stone pain.

I hope and pray that this is the end of the stones!

False Alarm

Last night we rushed off to the hospital excited that I was in labor. I really was in labor and it lasted for around 5-6 hours. I was making good progress (dilating and effacing) when suddenly everything stopped. If I was just a few days further along, I would have been given drugs to kick start everything up again. I guess my doctor wants me to hold this baby in just a wee bit longer if possible.

We didn't know if the labor would kick up again after leaving the hospital so we stayed at my parent's house (which is much closer to the hospital). Although I did have regular contractions every 5-7 minutes throughout the day, the intensity and frequency didn't increase.

We hope the baby comes soon, and will let you all know once we have some exciting news to share.

I guess the baby likes to play tricks, as he sure fooled us today.

Not Again!

I woke up early Thursday morning once again in pain. I finished my antibiotics on Tuesday and was worried that the infection was back. The pain didn't seem strong enough to be another kidney stone, but then I'm not an expert on any of this. The pain continued to grow throughout the morning and my OB doctor instructed me to come in for more tests. The results? Yes, the infection was back, and yes there was another kidney stone. I'll be on antibiotics through the rest of my pregnancy. I believe the stone passed this morning, as my pain level has decreased significantly.

I have had a lot of super kind people recommend home remedies to help pass the kidney stones. I've played around with a few, but nothing really worked. I talked to my Doctor about them and was instructed that the soda in coke and the citrus in drinking lemon water would only irritate my kidney infection. I well believe this, as my discomfort levels did rise when I tried these home remedies.

I suppose if you only have a stone and not an infection, it's worth giving those home remedies a try.

Thanks anyway.

Digital Scrapbooking

I love to scrapbook, but I find it difficult to archive all the photos and make pages that look attractive. It takes me about an hour to create each page. I love to play with the different papers, standouts, stickers and other toys, but at the rate I'm going, I'll never catch up on my archiving.
I've decided to give digital scrapbooking a try and hope that it will allow me to catch up on years and years of photos that are sitting around in a box. With my online searching I've found many programs available, but it's hard to tell exactly how user friendly and attractive they really are.

So I turn to you and ask if you know of any digital scrapbooking programs that are just fabulous.

Halloween Costume 2000

I have found some old Halloween pictures. Here is a Cruella De'Vil costume that won several costume contests. My thrill each year was to win as many costume contests as possible. If I look scary in this picture, it's because I was playing the Cruella part.

I like to make my own costumes. I'm not great at sewing, but when it comes to costumes, no one really looks too closely at how even the seams are. I couldn't find a wig that I liked, so I made this one using some black hair paint. The dalmatian puppy made the costume fun, as it was animated and would bark and move as people would walk by. I would sit it at the edge of my work cube and scare people as they walked by. Ah, good times.

One thing you can't see is that I had clear braces on my teeth, and that is my old chin. My old chin isn't near as cute as my new and improved chin. :) About 20 days after this picture was taken, I went through a jaw breaking surgery where the Dr also had to adjust my chin so it's proportioned with the rest of my face.

A Stay at the Hospital

Last night I was released from the hospital, and I am so happy to be home again. My kidney stone still hasn't passed, but it's almost out. I started to develop fevers on Sunday, and by 3am on Monday morning, my fevers shot sky high. The highest one we know of was 104. Levi took me to the nearest hospital for evaluation, where they informed us that I had a kidney infection and that I would be hospitalized for several days. They also informed us that it was possible that the infection would cause me to go into labor. I was having regular contractions at this point that were 5 minutes apart. They also said I was dilated to a 3. I was given some drugs to stop the contractions and an IV with 2 rounds of antibiotics. Once the fever broke and my contractions stopped, we made arrangements to get me transfered to a different hospital so I could be under the care of my OB.

I was in the hospital for two days, and released late last night. Today we were worried that I might be in labor, so once again rushed off to the hospital for evaluation. I really don't want to deliver a baby while recovering from a kidney infection, and the baby would be over a month early.

Everything is okay and I'm happy once again to be home in my own bed and with my loving hubby, Anna and Atticus.

I will never look at pain the same again. I feel that I have been through the most painful experience of my life. I hope the infection clears up quickly, as I'm anxious to get back to normal life.

A Missed Halloween

This is the first year that I have not dressed up for Halloween. It's one of my favorite holidays and the idea of dressing up and having fun one day of the year is thrilling to me. Some of the costumes I remember wearing when I was a kid and teen were: Princess, Germ, Gypsy lady, and Ghost. As an adult I have been Cruella D'vil, Snow White's queen mother, Pirate, Jockey riding a penguin, Fairy, Olive Oyle, Mortisha Addams, and many more.

So with my clear appreciation and love of this dressing up and fun filled holiday, you might ask why I did not dress up this year. I'll tell you, but beware, it's a long story.

The date: October 31st.
Time: 4am

I awoke at 4am with some minor discomfort. This is not unusual, as pregnant women all over the world wake to find that their bodies are in pain and sleep is difficult. After doing the usual routine of fixing the problem (walk around, get a drink, stretch, use the facilities), the discomfort did not go away. In fact, the discomfort was turning into a painful annoyance (as just about everything is at 4am). I tried to sleep, but the pain was getting steadily worse. By 10am, I was beginning to realize that something terrible must be happening, and I quickly called my dad to get his advice. His advice was to contact my Doctor. Why didn't I call my doctor first? Simply because I didn't know if the pain would be something stupid and ridiculous, like gas or dehydration. Lets face it, no one wants to go to the doctor in pain and later be told that you're just fine and that the gas will clear out on it's own. How humiliating!! But rest assured, my problem was not that simple and embarrassing.

I made the call to my OB Doctor, and she wanted me to come in immediately for some tests. I get there and end up waiting 15 minutes in the waiting room for my name to be called. Anyone who's been in pain knows that 15 minutes is a lifetime wait. In that time, my daughter was making a point to entertain every person the waiting room. She also did a fabulous job of scattering toys everywhere. I was trying to sit still and not faint or vomit, as the pain had gone from a 5 to 10 in the short time it took to get to the doctor's office.

After my exam, it was declared that my pain was being caused by a kidney stone. My first thought was, "Are you kidding? Only old people get those!" Guess what, it looks like I'm getting old. I was given a prescription for the pain and nausea, and told to go to the hospital for additional tests. At this point I was laying on the floor and was having a hard time concentrating on all the instructions I was given. I asked the Doctor to have my hubby called to come get me, as I couldn't move.

20 minutes later, my Knight in Shinning Armor showed up and quickly assessed the situation. Anna had cleverly emptied the contents of my purse over the room, and I was lying on the floor weeping from the pain. My Knight quickly fixed the purse problem, and somehow managed to get me on my feet. He rushed to get my prescriptions filled, and even ran into and out of the store. He then drove me to the nearest resting place (my dad's house) where I could lay down until the pain killers kicked in. He made the arrangements with the hospital to get me seen asap and handled everything. The ultrasound confirmed the doctor's diagnosis. By 4pm, my pain had doubled. If I thought it was a 10 before when I was at the Doctor's office, I was mistaken on how much pain a person could endure, as this doubled. I became aware of true agony!

My Knight truly saved the day. He took care of me and Anna, and did it expertly. He missed 1/2 a day of work, but didn't complain (he's a work-a-holic in case you didn't know). He also missed one of his classes.

There is no way I could have done everything alone and I'm so thankful that Levi was my lifesaver.

The kidney stone is still there, but it's no longer causing the painful blockage. The short break from the pain has been great, but I know that at any moment I could be on the floor whimpering once again. I hope the stone passes quickly.

I'm still trying to get access to some of my old Halloween pictures, but until then, here are a few from last year. Our family went as Popeye, Olive Oyle and Sweet Pea.

The Book of Three

I am currently reading the book by Lloyd Alexander, "The Book of Three". It's the first book in the Prydian series.

About a month ago Levi and I were discussing fun books we have read. One I'm rather fond of and mentioned to Levi is "The Iron Ring", by Lloyd Alexander. Levi hadn't read it, but said that he really enjoyed the Prydian series by the same author. That next morning, Levi ordered all the books off the internet so we could each enjoy a fresh new read.

I'm about 1/2 way through "The Book of Three" and it's hard to put down. There are fun and colorful characters constantly being introduced. If you're looking for a fun read, I highly recommend these books.

Halloween Game

Here is a fun Halloween Hangman game.

National Chocolate Cupcake Day

Today is National Chocolate Cupcake Day. It only comes around once a year, so be sure to celebrate this holiday with the rest of us chocolate lovers. MSNBC
has posted a cupcake recipe from a real New York bakery, so if you're feeling the urge to eat something that doesn't come out of a box, this would be an excellent recipe to try.

The Price is Right

Today is the first day we get to see the new game show host of "The Price is Right". Drew Carey agreed to come out of his semi retirement and be the new show host. I will miss Bob Barker, but I'm so excited to see one of my favorite comedians take Bob's place. Here is a fun article that talks about the host change.

Tummy Yuckies

Anna and I have had some sort of stomach flu for the last 5 days. The days have been miserable and long, and there were times when I thought the flu bug would never go away. Being 8 months pregnant made things a little difficult as well.

One of my new sweet neighbors who heard of our illness brought over some treats to make us feel better. It worked. I called Levi at work and told him about the fresh sweet rolls we received, and he said he would drop by the house on his way to school to try one. When he arrived home, he and Anna played for a few minutes and the sound of her laughter was like a dose of medicine. Suddenly the atmosphere in the house seemed to change. The sweet rolls, Levi being home (even for that short time), and Anna laughing was the best medicine I could have asked for.

This experience reminds me that there are a lot of people out there that are in desperate need of some of this medicine. Not the sort of thing a doctor can give, but the kind that we as friends, neighbors and family can give. It's a smile, treats, a visit, a phone call. As soon as this flu bug is gone, I will try harder to spread some of this good medicine around.

Spring Bulbs

It's that time of year when you see spring bulbs on sale as you walk into garden stores. This is the first year that we have a garden, so I loaded up on two of my favorite bulbs, Tulips and Daffodils. I purchased multi colored packages and have already planted some. I'm tempted to go back and get other bulb varieties, but first need to decide where there might be room for more flowers.

I find that winters are hard and depressing. It might have something to do with the cold weather, bad air due to our constant inversions, and lack of sunlight. I would be happy to welcome spring to come right after the new year, but that's just when things start to get awful here in the valley.

Seeing the gorgeous flowers pop up everywhere gets me so excited about spring, even when it seems too cold for anything to grow. Now the Pearson yard will be one of those blooming havens!

Cinnamon Rolls

For the last couple weeks, Levi has been unwinding on his weekends and enjoys making a few baked treats. Two weeks ago he made some Focaccia bread that melted in your mouth. Last week he made pretzels, and those didn't turn out so great so we tossed most of them.

This weekend I decided to do some baking. We had yummy cinnamon rolls. The recipe came from the book, "The Bread Baker's Apprentice". This is a book that I gave Levi while we were still dating, and he has used it many times to make delicious breads like Brioche, Focaccia, Ciabatta, Baguettes, Portuguese bread, and a few others. Each bread recipe used from this book has turned out to be wonderful. The cinnamon rolls were even better than the ones you get at the mall. The secret? It takes all day to make them! If you have the patience and time, I highly recommend checking your local library for the book and treat your special honey with some delicious cinnamon rolls.

Scrapbooking

I am the sort of person who loves to shop for scrap booking items. I collect scissors, paper, adhesives, stickers, standouts, ribbon, and everything else that is fun to have when scrap booking. I even found an outlet only 5-7 miles from my home that offers some of these items for a fraction of the retail price.

The problem is that I have acquired so much scrap booking stuff, I haven't actually done anything with my photos in over a year. I have more paper than I can actually safely lift, and more stickers, ribbon and embellishments than I can attractively organize. My excuse in the past has always been, "I don't have the space to work". I would have to use the kitchen table, and would always have to work in the late night hours after Anna went to bed. The conditions didn't suit me, but that never stopped my scrapbooking shopping sprees.

Now that we live in a house with a room designated to computers and crafts, I have had the opportunity over the last few days to spread out my goods and try to organize my collection. I even went on another shopping binge to add more ribbon, stickers, paper, and so forth to the already full inventory.

I now have the supplies, working space, and motivation to get some work done before baby #2 joins the family. I may not be online much over the next few days, as scrap booking will be my project. If I'm lucky, a few of the pages I create might actually look attractive.

Let's not hold our breath on that.

Who is Who?

Can you tell who is in each picture? Is it Anna, or her daddy Levi? People are always commenting on how much they look alike. We all know it, but today I bumped across some of Levi's baby pictures, and the resemblance was so bold. Have fun guessing who's picture is who's.

Just for fun I threw in two pictures of them together.

Halloween Costumes 2003

Levi and I started to date at the end of the summer in 2003. This was our first Halloween as a couple. I made Levi a "Cat in the Hat" costume, based on the musical Seussical which we had seen together. This marked the beginning of him wearing costumes. He wore costumes when he was a kid, but not so much as an adult. By marrying this funny lady, he guaranteed himself the opportunity (although forced) to dress up for Halloween each year.

Since the move to Lehi, I have found several disks with pictures. As I uncover more Halloween costume treasures, I'll be sure to share them with you.

Five Tag From Missy

5 things I was doing 10 years ago:
1- Went to New Orleans with 3 friends.
2- Planning first backpacking trip to Europe with my cousin Gretchan.
3- Going to college and flirting with guys.
4- Working at Matrix Marketing as an auditor.
5- I was preparing to go on a mission, but decided to travel the world instead.
5 things on my "To Do" list today
1- Go to grocery store.
2- Clean one or two rooms in house.
3- Get Anna to take a nap (It looks like she just fell asleep on my bed!).
4- Email a friend.
5- Try to win ebay auction on shoes for Anna.
5 things I would do if I had a million dollars
First off, a million dollars isn't that much money anymore. But if I did have it, after tithing and taxes I would:
1- Invest!
2- Invest!
3- Invest!
4- Change the floors in the new house.
5- Secretly help friends and family.
5 things I will never wear again
1- My once black socks that now have several holes.
2- My black comfy shoes that I got from Walmart 5 years ago. They have officially been retired.
3- Layered socks.
4- Leg warmers.
5- Short shorts.
5 favorite toys
1- Computer
2- Sims 2 computer game
3- Pocket PC
4- ipod (Levi gave me one)
5- TV DVR
5 people I am tagging
Some of you may not have blogs, so if you choose to accept the tagging, just email it!
1- Levi
2- Carly
3- Carla
4- Dad
5- Jaynie

My Funny Girl

Here is my funny girl Anna. She's 17 months old now and she's making the transition from baby to toddler/kid. She runs around the house and climbs on furniture. She lounges on her Elmo sofa while watching "The Wiggles". She likes to pick out her own shoes and outfits, and sometimes they match. She loves to change her shoes several times throughout the day. Her greatest thrills are to pet Atticus, get tickled and eat raspberries. She likes to climb onto my bed and throw herself into the big mass of pillows (always just seconds after the bed is made). She understands how keys are used and will often take them from my purse and try to open the door. She will also hold the keys in one hand and grab my hand in the other, leading me to the door (her way of saying, "Let's go somewhere mommy". She talks as much as her mommy and loves to make new friends. Anna is such a joy to my life. It's this joy that makes the hard days a little more bearable. The times when she's up all night sick or teething, or just fussy. The times when she just wants to be difficult. All these things are made easier by the love I have for my funny little girl.

Which Jane Austin Character are You?

I found that several of the questions asked were hard to answer, as I didn't fit any of the descriptions. But hey, it's all for fun!

Take the Quiz here!

We Have Moved

Levi and I have left the city. We now live in a small town 20 minutes south of Sandy. We found this adorable house and decided to make it our new home. It's full of bugs, stained carpet, and tree size weeds, but we are as happy as can be with our purchase. We've been buying furniture and are still trying to unpack all the junk we've collected over the last 30 years. Across the street there are even some adorable horses to entertain Anna and Atticus. Give us 1 year, and everyone in the neighborhood will look at our home and say, "Oh, what an adorable house, and look at that great yard!"

One can dream... right?

Finding a Movie

I love movies, especially funny ones. As a kid, we would often record the Disney Sunday Movies. I would watch those recorded movies over and over again. Since those moves haven't survived the over the years, I'm now trying to track some of them down.

Not remembering the titles of some of these movies has been a real challenge. I called my big brother to pick his brain on titles. He thinks one of the titles is "Race to Freedom: The Underground Railroad". This movie was made in the 1990's, and the movie I'm thinking of should have been made in the 1980's. Has anyone see this movie?

The other movie is similar to the new movie "13 going on 30", and the movie "Big". With Levi's help, I was finally able to locate the title. It's "14 going on 30",. The problem is, you can't find that movie anywhere.

Are there any movies you're having a hard time tracking down?

Leader of the Flock

What a sight to see. At church today we had non active ward members there, people who no longer live in the area attend, every pew filled to the point of being crowded, overflow section of seats filled, anticipation filled the air, smiles and wonder on faces everywhere, excitement bubbled off the bishop, and an exceptionally attentive audience.

These are just a few things that I witnessed today. The story goes something like this. A long time ago (around a year ago, or maybe it was three months past), in a place not so far away (the ward house), a rumor started by a most reliable source (I heard it from a friend who said that she heard from someone high up, who heard from someone even higher up), that a change in the bishopric was soon to happen.

Could it be? No way!

When I was a kid, a change in the Bishopbric was something that would stir up imaginations and cause everyone to look around at the faces and expressions of even their closest friends. Close measurements would be taken of even the smallest reactions to an array of questions and theories would start to pour out. We all secretely hoped that the new Bishop would be our dad, as everyone just knew that our own dads would be the best Bishops.

The speculation, anticipation, and guessing games of "who's the next Bishop" certainly makes church life exciting. I'm saddened though that the only time we see certain non active church members at church is when a big change is being announced. If only they could show that same enthusasiasm for church all the time, maybe there wouldn't be as many non active members.

The new Bishopbric is a great one. All three men are examples of goodness, kindness, charity and you can see how much they love the Gospel. I look forward to the adventures ahead and to the guidence they will give.

Baby & Cat Tag

There is a fun game called "baby & cat tag". It goes like this. The crawling baby spots the cat peeking out from under a Bombay chest. The baby moves into crawling position and takes off towards the hiding cat. As soon as the baby gets close, he runs off under the table. The baby isn't discouraged, but proceeds to change course and heads to the table. Once again, the cat finds yet another hiding place, and the cycle goes on until the cat finally jumps onto a large piece of furniture the baby can't reach. The game is then in "time out" mode. It starts again when the cat walks right past the baby (just out of arms reach) and that signals the "game on" bell.

This game has been played non stop each day and it looks like neither party will be growing tired of it anytime soon.

Updates on the Diet

A week ago I announced that I was on a diet. For almost that whole week, I was on a diet. I was constantly hungry, irritable, and rather depressed that the weight wasn't coming off faster. No matter how perfectly I followed the diet food plan, I was left feeling hungry after each meal, and famished before the next meal came.

Levi and I are reading the Book of Mormon, and in 1 Nephi, chapter 16, Nephi breaks his bow. Everyone is upset because this is one of the major sources of food for them. Everyone but Nephi starts murmuring. Do you know why? I do. It's because they were HUNGRY! You can take a normal, rational person and turn them into monsters, simply by taking away their food!

Because of this most valuable lesson, both from my starving body, and the lesson taught in 1 Nephi, I have decided to make a change to my originial diet plan. I no longer starve myself. That is no way to live. Levi recommend that I start the day off with a nice, satisfying breakfast, then eat a much smaller lunch and dinner. I tried this today, and wow, it worked. I ate an omelette (certainly not an approved food item for my diet), and I filled it with all sorts of veggies. The meal was so satisfying that I actually wasn't hungry after, or even at lunch time. I had to force myself to eat something small for lunch. Now that it's dinner time, I'm starting to get hungy, but so thrilled that the famished feeling is no longer an hourly plague.

So it may take me a bit longer to loose all this old pregnancy weight, but big deal. If any of you make fun of me during swimming suit season, I may have to respond with a few rude comments back.

Another BAD Haircut

I didn't think it was possible to get so many bad haircuts in a row, but I'm living proof that it can, and sometimes does happen. Here are two pictures where the true awfulness of the "do" show through.

My most recent cut is sadly even shorter and uglier then what you see here. As the lady finished cutting my hair, she said, "Well, it's a bit shorter than what you want, but it will be the perfect length in about a month." Are you kidding me? This sad truth has left me in a position where I despise walking past mirrors and I cringe everytime I head out in public. As a result, I am saying goodbye to short hair. If you see me walking around with a wig, please don't make fun, or I may just punch you in the jaw.

Levi's Delicious Baked Potato Recipe

Due to popular demand (from MissGlimpse), I've decided to give the world a great recipe. Levi introduced me to a delicious way of making the perfect baked potato. By coating the outside with oil and seasons, then cooking directly on the rack, it creates a delicious crispy outside and moist, fluffy inside.

Here is the recipe:

Levi’s Perfect Baked Potato

2 large potatoes
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning

Wash potatoes and perforate skins with a fork. Dry. Rub with olive oil then cover with salt and herbs. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place potatoes directly on the rack. Place foil on the rack directly below to catch any debris. Cook for 90 minutes or until done.

Twilight

In my book club group we read Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. It's a book for teens, although I assure you that as an adult, it'll still be very enjoyable to read. It's about a teenage girl who encounters a unique and strange family. The family is gorgeous and one of the teen boys really makes her knees tremble with excitement. He sounds like he's quite handsome, has perfect hair, and dresses extremely well. What teen girl wouldn't love that? The girl in the novel is a typical teen, and I was rather frustrated that she was such a stubborn gal. As an adult, it's easy to forget how stubborn I might have been at one time. As I don't want to ruin the surprise for anyone, I will stop here on discussing the story.

I really enjoyed this book and had the it finished in about 2 days (something that's hard to do when I get very little reading time). As you can guess, I didn't sleep for 2 nights while I was reading this book, as I couldn't put it down.

If you're looking for a fun read, give this one a try.

Christmas Presents

I feel I need to mention that I am a new owner of a Yamaha Music Keyboard. It's the YPT 300 model and has so many features, I'm still trying to figure them out. Levi has been teaching himself to play and someday I can picture him composing his own stuff. It's been fun to pull out my old music and try to perform something pleasant with my rusty talent.

Also for Christmas I received lots of cute clothes, fun DVD's and a new computer game, Sims 2! For anyone who doesn't already know, I've spent the last year completely addicted to the Sims Deluxe game Levi's dad gave me last year. Now with this new Sims 2 game, I'm staying up super late each night trying to make my Sims 2 people happy and successful. So fun!

With a few cheat codes I found online, I also have rich sims!

Christmas 2006

My dear friend Missy has dared me to post on our Christmas adventure. Being a gal that can't seem to pass up a dare, here I go.

The weeks leading up to Christmas were hectic. Anna and I both got sick with colds, and Levi was finishing up his finals. There was also all the goodie baking to do, and I couldn't pass it up. This year I made every one's favorite Blueberry Pound Cake, English Toffee and the oh so delicious Cranberry-Pecan Rugalach. I ate so much Rugalach, I actually gained 5 pounds over the holidays. I only know this because I weighed myself last night and discovered that I'm at an all time high. Consequently, I joined SparkPeople, a weight loss, lifestyle change program that's FREE (music to my ears). My goal is to loose 25 pounds by June 1st 2007. That means I'll have to loose 2.5 pounds per week. Wish me luck everyone!

Back to the adventures of Christmas: We enjoyed a family party at my parent's home and ate delicious food. We even managed to bring a little of it home with us. There we had the family talent show and were fortunate Levi and I were the least talented performers of the day. My niece played a little jingle on the piano, then Levi and I had the kids join in on a Wiggles Pirate School song. We sang badly, but everyone seemed to have fun.

On the 22nd, Anna was able to ride in an airplane for the first time as we went to Washington to celebrate with Levi's parents. She was the quietest baby on the plane and was also the favorite of at least one flight attendants. She had so much fun playing with Grandma and Grampa. They played with her and tried so hard to teach her to crawl. They were so good at it that Anna took her first crawling steps on Christmas Eve. She also met her uncle Nathan and had fun looking at him (as he and Levi have many similar facial qualities). Once again, we were all spoiled silly in Washington and it was hard to say goodbye and come home.

The festivities were fun, but everyone felt a bit sad this year. My sister in law had recently discovered that her cancer was back and growing fast. We all tried hard to smile even though we all felt the ache in our hearts for her. We know that her treatment will be rough and we wish we could help her fight this cancer better. Our prayers are with you each day Liz!