the radmalls

2011-05-02T00:00:00.000-06:00

Yes, it's been almost six months since I last posted. There's really no reason why I haven't posted, no catastrophic event that has altered our daily lives. I've just been lazy, tired and busy. And every time I get on the computer I think that I should post something, but I feel like it has to be some big "to do" and I don't have the energy for that. Also, sometimes trying to do things on the computer reminds me that I'm turning into an old person who is loosing her grip on technology. I am constantly telling Kurt to "make the printer work". Also-I had my phone "wiped clean" and Mr. Verizon store man failed to mention that I would lose all of my pictures. Grr. So-there's that.

So, here it is-a weak little wave from me. I'm here. I'm back. See ya soon.

Random picture-We sent this picture out with Felicity's birthday invite-for her circus party in Dec. It works for Rudolph too...

Mahalo Kurt, Mahalo.

2010-11-14T22:39:00.009-07:00

Remember a few posts back when I said Kurt was the best? Well, he really outdid himself by letting me go to Hawaii for a week with two of my best friends. Jana, Rischel and I met ten years ago at BYU Hawaii where we lived in the dorms together. We all ended up finishing school there at different times and although we live in different places, we have stayed close and love to get together when we can. So, the perfect reunion came together. Jana and Rischel were talking and discovered they were both planning on going to Hawaii this fall and then they called me to see if I could go too. They were both going with their hubbys and Jana and Wes with baby Jay. Kurt and I talked it over for about a week and he ended up saying, "You should go for sure, but I don't need to go."Based on his work and the financial aspect and his prediction that I would spend six days sitting on the beach reading celeb magazines and chatting, he decided to skip it. I felt better knowing that Kurt was with Felicity every evening and over the weekend. I am so lucky to have such a good husband who lets me "spread my wings" as President Hinckley would say. Thank you Kurty J.

We had so much fun catching up and laughing, EATING and reminiscing. The weather was awesome, the company amazing and the vacation once in a lifetime. Thank you to everyone that watched Felicity while I was gone. Thank you Hawaii for being awesome. I love you and miss you already.

Standing in front of our dorm. Hall-eh two baby.

A honu like this ran into me while I was swimming. The water was murky and shallow and I was a little freaked out. I was trying to leave this guy alone and avoid the $10,000 fine, but I was literally laying on top of him trying to get away.

Rischel and Jon at sharks cove

Awkward pose, I know. Awesome weather and glassy clear water at Waimea. So, beautiful.

Cute Jana and baby Jay. He was a good baby and a good traveling buddy.

A Little scary looking I know..

Jana's darling baby Jay.

We stayed the first two nights at the beautiful Turtle Bay Hotel. It was Suh-weet. Then we stayed in an awesome condo for the next four nights. Thanks to Bitsy for the sweet hook up!

Enjoying Motsumotos with Rischel and hubby Jon. The three BFF's and baby Jay.

Isn't this the cutest picture?

Outside of the Grass Skirt Grill, our favorite place for yummy fish, rice and salad.

Chattin up the girls while the boys found some surf on the south shore.

Isn't this cute? All the boys-watching the waves.

Ok, so I didn't do four posts, but I did two. I am kind of proud of myself. I hope the five of you that read my blog are proud too!

Hee Haw Farms

2010-11-10T22:26:00.004-07:00

Thanks for the fun afternoon Christie and Addie!
Cute, right?

The big slide! Super fun.

Getting ready to slide.

Waiting for the hayride wagon.

When we got home Felicity had tons of corn in her boots and she said, "Mom, we forgot to feed this to the ducks! She made me put it in a baggie and save it.

Yee Haw we went to Hee Haw. We took the girls for a fun afternoon of stepping in pig poop, getting head butted by a goat with horns (poor Addie). Playing in corn-weird, but fun for Felicity. We had popcorn and a hay ride and picked out pumpkins and it was all kinds of good fall fun . I do love this time of year. So far I have enjoyed: Pumpkin Jamba Juice (twice), Pumpkin empanadas, pumpkin pie, pumpkin chili, pumpkin crumble dessert, pumpkin pancakes and my favorite-a pumpkin oreo shake. So good!

2010-11-09T10:22:00.002-07:00

It is my goal to post four new entries on this blog before next Monday morning. Not including this one. This one is decidedly lame. Wish me luck. I am way behind.

Knows her fast food...

2010-10-01T16:45:00.004-06:00

At my dad's birthday dinner yesterday my nephew Sam was talking about his favorite dinners. His number one favorite is "german oven pancakes". His number two favorite is spaghetti and his number three favorite is tacos! At that moment Felicity chimed in, "I love taco bell!"

Hm. I wonder which sister cooks and which one doesn't.

Sometimes Felicity wakes up and the first thing she says is, "I want to go to _____ for lunch with you!" Insert Taco bell, Wendy's or Costco. I tell her that we have to eat breakfast first and then we will see about lunch.

But I am trying to be a little better. I have been using food from the pantry and the freezer to make dinner at home. Thanks to Kurt for putting up with a few "creative" meals. He always says, "tastes good to me."

I love the two folks in my little family. They are the best.

This picture is Felicity's face after helping me make a peach pie from scratch. Just sayin.

(ok. not the crust.)

Dummy Bear

2010-09-22T03:26:00.004-06:00

Do you ever just do dumb stuff and you know it's dumb and you know you will regret it, but you do it anyway? I'm not talking about anything serious. I'm just talking about the fact that I am on the computer and it is 3:28 in the morning and I haven't slept and my main complaint in life is that I don't get enough good sleep. Anway-I was just online looking up possible ways we could move to Hawaii and how much it would cost to get a personal organizer and gymnastics classes for toddlers so I thought I would post a little gem on the old bloggity blog. Now Felicity is up for the 15th time tonight so I had better work on getting us both to bed. I have a million things I want to say and ask and I feel like my life is a whirlwind of thoughts, longing, possibilites and questions but for now I will say adieu and goodnight. And I miss my friends. You know who you are.
p.s. copyright Aunge

Best Thing

2010-07-10T23:04:00.009-06:00

Yes, a lot of things have happened since I last posted. Namely April, May and June. And yes, a lot of things happened during those months, but I have been too tired, too lazy and quite simply too addicted to Netflix "watch instantly through the Wii" to post anything.

But all I want to post about right now is my husband.

The last two things posted on this blog were posted by him and they are both sweet things that melt my heart. And I don't let him know about this melting process as often as it happens. I am usually too busy harping on him about closing doors and coming home on time and not spacing out. I need to be nicer to him. But along with the mundane and sometimes frustrating business of everyday life, this heart melting stuff has been happening a lot lately and I wanted to pay tribute to him and let all of you know how incredibly lucky I feel.

I hope he doesn't mind me sharing this, but when we were dating and engaged we would often tell one another "best thing" when we were really happy. I'm pretty sure Kurt started it. I had it engraved on the inside of his wedding ring, because he truly is the best thing that ever happened to me. I thought I knew what that meant then, but I know so much more about the best things in life now. Being a wife. Being a mother. Having a loving family who makes you laugh and makes you toast and drives you crazy sometimes.

I feel like I had kind of a lot of dating experience before I got married. I dated some really great guys and some of them for a good long while. And I thought of marrying some of them, but it just never felt just right. Some of them are still my friends and I will care about them always. Some are amazing husbands and fathers now. But Kurt was the right person for me when he came into my life, and he is more the right person for me now.

I never really appreciated all that he is until I got sick.

After the heartache and the body aches began I realized that no one could care for me the way Kurt does. He is very quiet and calm and caring. He is one of the hardest workers I know. He works very hard at his job and sometimes does real estate on the side. He has a demanding church calling. He comes home and takes Felicity off my hands and usually takes her out to do something on Saturdays. He listens to my complaints and gets me socks and heats up my heat pack and gets me ice cream and medicine and whatever else I need. He gives so much service without ever expecting anything in return. And he NEVER complains. Seriously.

He also:

-gets up early and doesn't ever use the snooze button. Crazy person I know.

-reaches things that are way up high

-lets me talk him into eating out

-never leaves a mess or his clothes or towels on the floor

-never leaves anything in his pockets for me to find in the washer

-scrubs the tub and the toilet and vacuums

-gives Felicity her bath every night

-takes Felicity to fathers and sons. ha ha.

-keeps up with his sports online and doesn't complain that we don't have ESPN

-falls asleep the second his head hits the pillow

-writes beautiful love letters for me on holidays

-puts up with me and my sometimes uptight, bossy craziness.

-understands how much I need to spend time with my best friends ( that are girls) when they are in town.

-Is the ultimate greatest dad

-lets me spray him with sunscreen even though he hates it

-always fixes my spacing on my blog posts because it never does what I tell it. Like right now.

Kurt, I love you so much. I love you even though you don't like to go to movies by yourself, even when I try to force you. I know it's because you would rather go with me. You are sweet like that. I love you even though you make a goofy face in pictures 90% of the time.

Thank you for marrying me and for being my best friend (that is a boy). Thank you for working so hard for our family and for never complaining even though I am not the greatest housekeeper. I like to think of myself more as a homemaker. But really, you are the one that makes our house a home. Felicity and I love you more than computers can say. Thank you for your sweetness. I Love you and appreciate you more than you know.

Scleroderma Awareness

2010-06-19T14:15:00.006-06:00

I think most of you know now that Kelli has scleroderma. We want to do our part to raise awareness and to contribute to finding a cure for this autoimmune disease. One week from today there is a "Stepping Out to Cure Scleroderma" Walk/Run in Syracuse, Utah (there are also other similar events around the country). If any of you want to show support and attend, we would love to see you there. For those who would like to contribute to the cause but can't attend the event, you can also donate on this page that we have set up in Kelli's name. As I'm sure all of you would expect, Kelli has been awesome at dealing with the disease. It has definitely taken its toll on her health and stamina, but she doesn't let that get in the way of being a kick-butt mother and wife (not to mention that she has kicked my butt a time or two). She is seeing a specialist in Salt Lake who has been great, and she takes a gazillion pills a day. One of these days she is going to gag, because she seems to take them all at the same time. Us humanoids can't swallow that many pills at the same time. One perk in all of this is that we scored a temporary handicap parking pass (I'm allowed to joke about that, right?). We're hopeful that the medication Kelli is currently on will continue to relieve the pain and treat the symptoms. I'm proud of Kelli's attitude and determination. Felicity and I love her more than anything. Help us find a cure.

I found a great article on scleroderma in the The New York Times.
Here is a good story about someone who has scleroderma and how they treated it.

Below is a picture of how it can start to affect your skin. The skin can tighten significantly and deteriorate the function and flexibility of your hands for example.

Here is a good brief description of the disease:

Scleroderma is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by hardening and thickening of the skin. There are two major classifications of scleroderma: localized, which affects the skin only, and systemic scleroderma, which affects the blood vessels and internal organs. The symptoms may be mild or severe. Progression of the disease may affect the ability of some patients to carry out everyday tasks. Complications of systemic scleroderma may lead to serious problems of the major organs in the body. There is no cure for scleroderma, but treatment can relieve its symptoms.

Mother's Day

2010-05-10T21:38:00.005-06:00

We spent Mother's Day in Las Vegas celebrating my brother's graduation from the dental school at UNLV. We also spent it with Kelli, who Felicity and I think is a pretty terrific mother and wife. We count ourselves as the lucky ones. These pictures were our gift to her. They were taken by a good friend, Caralyn Hendershot. Check her stuff out at http://caralynbrook.com/. She also has more of our pics at http://caralynbrook.blogspot.com/. Felicity's cousin, Addison, joined in the fun.

Party Time!

2010-03-17T14:35:00.005-06:00

Cousin Addison's Minnie Mouse birthday party, complete with darling ears to wear, Minnie mouse pancakes and games. It was fun fun fun to play with cousins!
All I can say is Booyah. I got to fly to CA for the weekend and spend some time with my best friends Jana and Rischel and Jana's adorable baby Jay. Thank you to Kurt who took Friday off and spent the whole weekend with Felicity so I could have three days of talking, shopping, eating, lovin on a new baby, sleeping in, getting massaged and spending time with some of my favorite people in the world.

This is baby Jay. He is, of course, darling. I love him very much and he is such a good baby.

This is the husband. He loves to make funny faces for pictures. Oh boy.

This is my dad. I figure I can put this picture of him up because he will never know. Oh sure, he's down with the world wide web, but I don't think he checks my blog. Here he is in his ski outfit. Yes, a purple turtleneck and a sweater tucked into his pants. The last two pictures were taken without my knowledge while Kurt was changing batteries in my camera for my trip. Goofballs.

Happy St. Patty's day! I have on my green and white pumas, green eyeshadow and I'm ready to roll to another party tonight-full of green food, puff paint shirts and family fun!

Laughing, Melting, Losing it

2010-02-16T14:55:00.011-07:00

Right now she is asleep-so she is not making me do any of the above, but oh boy she is a piece of work I tell you.

Having a child really strengthens your testimony of the pre mortal life and that we came here with distinct individual traits and personalities. Do you ever feel like Heavenly Father is laughing while watching you try to parent a child who is probably just like you were as a toddler? Well, ha ha. He got me good with this one.

I remember some pictures from when I was little and I had really unkempt hair. My mom said that they called me wild woman and that I wouldn't "let" anybody touch my hair. And I thought, let? Since when do you let a two year old call the shots. What do you mean you can't always "make" a kid do something? Oh, watch me, I thought-I'll show you who lets who do what. Too funny. I feel like a was a stickler teacher and had discipline down but parenting is a whole new ball game.

Apparently I am the "sucker" parent and I let her do almost anything she wants. ME? Seriously? I had those first graders in line like you wouldn't believe. Tears didn't phase me. Tantrums were nothing. Set boundaries, be consistent. Done. It's time for me to reinstate that part of my life.

She makes me laugh...

Last night I was laying in her bed with her trying to help her go to sleep (see?!) and she was doing something weird with her hand over and over. I asked her what she was doing and guess what, she was rolling a booger between her finger and thumb. I couldn't help it, I got into a laughing fit-which didn't help her go to sleep. So we laughed and laughed, and I got her a tissue.

She makes me melt...

While we were home sick and Kurt was at a Superbowl party we watched The Testaments. Otherwise known as "Jesus movie". We watched it three times that day. And we watched it today. She loves it. A few days after the first viewing we were in the car and Felicity pointed up to the sky and said, "Jesus come down." Just like the movie. It was incredibly touching. She also started saying, "I love you mom." Sometimes she comes and snuggles my side on the couch and tells me that she loves me. And that she wants candy.

She makes me lose it...

And by it, I mean my sanity of course. Her sleeping habits are horrible since she was sick. She wakes up a few times a night, begs to get into our bed, she won't nap etc. Grrr! So today, after an hour of being nice, laying by her, letting her in my bed, getting certain pillows, blankies etc. she got locked in her room and fell asleep crying by the door. This is NOT the first time. You don't have to tell me I'm doing it all wrong, I already know. But we did some things that worked before and now it's time to start again. She is very resistant to the following; getting her diaper changed (she is actually making some progress with the potty though!), wearing clothes, wearing socks and shoes, getting her hair washed or brushed or done, getting lotion on, eating in the kitchen, getting in her car seat, coming in from outside and the list goes on.

I know these things are pretty normal for a kid this age, right? Tell me it's not all my fault! So, I have a naked little girl with messy hair who leaves a trail of clothes. Sound familiar mom?

Round Two

2010-02-04T22:32:00.004-07:00

How are my goals going, you ask?

Well-they were going just OK for a few days-then we were hit with another "stomach bug" and everything pretty much went out the window.

I will have you know that I went to bed by 10:30 for like, three nights in a row-I couldn't fall asleep right away though and one of those nights I lay in bed giggling because I was thinking of funny things to tell Jana and I really, really wanted to call her except I didn't because I was so disciplined at keeping my goals-partly-for a couple of days. I was also up-and-at-em by 10:30 for a few days.

I went to the rec center once (sincere thanks to Christie for helping me be motivated to go) and I called twice to make an appointment for pulmonary therapy but could never get a live human on the phone. I have been doing much better at remembering to take my new medication before bed. Ask Kurt if he likes the reminder on my phone each night at ten.

Since we have been sick I have been watching some t.v. and a lot of movies. But hey-I made the rule and I say that it's OK to break it for now. Also, I totally got new books at the library, but not as many as I usually do. I just couldn't take it anymore! I've got to have a book that I'm interested in (I have been muddling through some weird Orson Scott Card book and can't find the will to finish it. I just don't like his writing very much)

So-I just wanted to say poo-poo to my goals for now. We will see what happens when we are feeling better and not forever trapped in our lovely little home that smells like #3 and #4 (throw up and diarrhea-duh).

The good news is that we have been working on the smell and the cleaning and the laundry and the dishes and things are under control. If Felicity doesn't hurl tonight it would be a miracle and mean that I am almost caught up on laundry.

I asked Kurt last night if I was being punished for complaining about Felicity's last bout of sickness. He said no, and I say no because that's not how it works, right? Anyway-it's way worse this time. Felicity started barfing on Sunday night and woke up and dry heaved every half hour or so for almost 24 hours. We took her to the Dr. and got some medicine to help her stomach calm down. She was finally able to take in liquids and we avoided an I.V. Now it is Thursday night and we are praying for no more throwing up! She's got that other problem now too-the one that comes from too much soda and not enough food. I do think it's funny that she says, "scusting" (disgusting) when I change her diaper.

I'm sorry for all of the info on bodily fluids and such (don't read this one Tara) but I know some of you out there are not too phased by it (medical personnel and moms) and you might want to feel a little sorry for me and forgive me for skipping out on my goals so soon.

I am hoping we will get back to normal soon-but I am revisiting my footie pajamas for now. Thanks for listening and sorry for the lack of pictures-I can't find our memory card in all of the mayhem.

Get a grip!

2010-01-25T21:34:00.006-07:00

The funny thing is..I could use a couple of these.

So, lately I have been having what I call, "lose your mind days" and "get a grip" days. Usually I get a grip after one or two days of losing my mind.

I was kind of looking forward to getting past the (wonderful!) holidays so that I could rest more, get into a normal routine and set and achieve some new goals. I started thinking of things that I wanted to improve upon and it seemed like almost everything in my life made that list! Does that happen to anyone else?

Keep the house clean, read my scriptures, de-junk, save money, exercise more, watch less t.v., be less idle, be a better wife and mother, be more patient, get out more, do a better job with my callings and church assignments etc.

Lately the only things that I feel like I excell in are keeping us stocked with clean laundry, milk, bread and toilet paper. We hardly ever run out of those things. I know it's not much, but, ya know what? When I need to feel good about myself I think of those things and sometimes it's enough to be proud of.

If you know me well, you know that my house usually looks like a bomb went off and that I don't really "cook" often. You can also often find me in my footie pajamas and Felicity in just a diaper (if I'm lucky-she hates to wear anything-and today I could only get her to put on a swim diaper-not the same thing as a diaper apparently-pee pee went everywhere). I feel like I am a good mom and a good wife (most of the time) but I am so often feeling discouraged because I am a horrible housekeeper and cook.

Factors to why I feel this way/why things are this way:

-I like to be comfy
-I am kind of a homebody
-I give Felicity a lot of freedom-it is starting to backfire-she makes messes-she throws FITS about getting dressed etc.
-I go to bed too late
-Felicity is still "jack in the boxing" out of bed each night
-I have less energy and more pain than the averge Joe because of my Scleroderma
-I have a really hard time getting moving in the mornings-joint pain and fatigue
-I am pretty sure I am lazy
-One of my favorite things to do is read and this involves staying home and ignoring messes
-Keeping up with Felicity makes me POOPED!

OK-enough excuses-and you are probably wondering where all of this is going. Really this post is more for myself than anything. Today Felicity was especially stubborn and things are a crazy mess and I just thought, "Get a grip! I am going to make some serious goals to become the person I want to be-and I am going to put it on my blog so that 1)people will know that I am aware of my faults, that I know the jammies thing is not really normal 2)Maybe someone else will have a hard day and realize that they are not the only one who feels like they can't keep up with life 3) I can put my goals into writing and maybe get a little motivation and responsibilty from my friends.

So-there are a million things I want to work on-but I really just want to make many small and responsible decisions each day so that things are more in place. As a blanket goal I want to be closer to the person I want to be instead of the person I am often dissapointed with.

So-here are my goals for now:

1. The ten thirty rule. I will be in bed, lights off ready to sleep by 10:30 each night for a week to see if I feel more energized in the morning. Also, by 10:30 each morning Felicity and I will be showered, dressed, fed, and enlightened by scripture study and prayer whether we have anywhere to go or not.

2. I will finish the two books I am reading now and will not get anything for me at the library until March 1st. This will be kind of tough.

3. Until the Olympics start I will not watch TV for my own enjoyment. Instead of watching tv and reading I will work on the de-junking I am always putting off.

4. I will get an appointment for pulmonary therapy, make sure I am taking my meds twice a day as instructed and exercise twice a week.

*I know it seems like a lot, but believe me I've got a lot of room to improve!

*Thanks for letting me babble and for putting up with this self deprecating rant. I am not trying to fish for compliments or have your pity. I know I am a good person and that we don't have to be perfect at everything. I feel good about myself in a lot of ways, but it is time for me to get a grip! I will try to live so that someone can drop by anytime without me being embarrassed about my house or my attire (I WON'T promise to wear a b.r.a. all of the time, you know I hate those things!

-Thanks for listening-if you made it this far, leave me a comment and tell me one small thing that you are awesome at-something that makes you proud. Have a good day whether you are losing your mind or getting a grip on life..

Two Laundry Lists

2010-01-21T14:00:00.003-07:00

I was thinking about posting all of the recent happenings as a bulleted list (o.k. I am way way behind on blogging). Then the phrase "laundry list" came into my head and I thought, "I'll show you a laundry list!" I don't know why that phrase is used exactly, but I really found myself making a laundry list yesterday. Here it is.

-Every stitch of fabric related to Felicity's new darling big girl bed (OK-not the bed skirt)-including two sheets, pillow, pillow case, mattress cover and comforter
-Kurt's brown pillow and case and our fitted sheet
-3 pairs of cute little pj's
-the kitchen rug
-two full size towels and multiple washcloths
-one set of my "undies"
-The kitchen floor
-The carpet near the kitchen floor
-Me! from neck to toes

OK-so not all of those things are "laundry" but they are all things that were VOMITED ON by a poor, sad, darling two year old within the space of five hours (2 am to 7 am-hardly a wink of sleep for any of us)And all of them had to be washed. Can you tell this is our first experience with multiple episode's of puking? We should have just undressed her and left her on a plastic sheet or something...

Poor Felicity was obviously very sick the other night. She threw up in her bed, then in my room. We got her changed, I sent the other two to sleep in our bed while I scrubbed, then she threw up in our bed, then once she was totally empty, she dry heaved every 15 minutes for a few hours. It was horribly sad! She kept saying, "All done!?" afterwards because she thought we could stop it. Finally after a few prayers and a call to the Dr's office things settled down until 7 when she finally was able to take in some liquid and then drench me in it when I picked her up off the counter. Seriously-so gross. Anyway... Things are better now.

It is weird to be a parent and have to deal with this stuff. It's strange how alert and sympathetic you become when a sick child wakes you (believe me, I am not usually alert or sympathetic when awakened). It's weird how you feel so bad for your offspring and not for yourself even though you're up scrubbing yuckies (I did start to feel bad for myself after no sleep and that 7 am dousing).

It made me think of my mom. Even as a young child I was amazed with my mom's kindness when I would throw up in the night. I remember how sweet she was to me and helped get me clean pj's and bedding and then she would be still cleaning as I drifted off. I always thought it was such a gross gross job and I felt bad for her. I think I remember asking her if she wanted help and she said, "no,no,no-go back to sleep." So nice. I was asking Felicity if she felt better today and she then showed me and told me everywhere she threw up. Then she said, "I naughty." She says this a lot and it's most of the time true, but I tried to explain to her that throwing up is not naughty, it's an accident because you're sick. Poor thing.

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Second Laundry List

-Felicity turned 2! We had a Curious George party and she was absolutely spoiled by family and friends!

-Christmas was amazing! We are so lucky to be able to spend time with both of our families. If Felicity wasn't spoiled enough on the 19th, she reached a new level of spoiled on Christmas!

-Did I tell you that my youngest Brother Brett is engaged to long time girlfriend Tara? They are getting married April first. I am excited!

-Kurt's brother Aaron and his wife Jeanette were here from Las Vegas. It was fun to spend time with the newlyweds

-My BFF Jana had a baby boy! I am so happy for her and so proud of her. Jay Otto Neser is adorable. Can't wait to meet him.

- I got all of my yearly tests done to check on anything and everything that could be effected by my Scleroderma. My brain MRI,Echo,lung function test,and barium swallow study were all pretty good-but my chest CT showed some inflammation in the lungs. SO-I am starting a new medication and will be testing lung function for the next year to see if things can improve or at least remain stable. This was kind of a bummer at first-because I have to add a pretty serious medication to my long list and because I would really like to be able to try to add another little one to this family (because I'm so good at handling the first one, right?) But, it is not in the cards for now, we will see how things are in a year. But,you know what? Things could definitely be worse and we are really really blessed in so many other ways. Especially blessed to have our little up-chuck queen.

I was thinking the other day about when Kurt and I were first married. I wanted to have kids from day one, but he had a year left in school and then wanted to do a masters, so we had decided that I would probably teach for three years and then we would try. But Kurt came home one day (after being married 5 months) and said, "I'm ready when you're ready." After some spiritual experiences and prayer, we were pregnant with Felicity in March. Looking back, I realize that if we would have waited three years or so, we would be trying to have our first baby now. And because of my Scleroderma diagnosis about a year ago-that probably wouldn't be possible. So, I just wanted to publicly count my blessings and if Felicity is the only child that we ever have on our own, I will be grateful.

Sorry, things got kind of heavy there at the end. But these are things that are happening, these are the things I think about. I'm happy for a new year and that none of Felicity's barf got on the new couch!

Confessions.

2009-12-15T21:36:00.011-07:00

For some weird reason I have been thinking in confessions lately. Little funny things happen and I make a quick confession to someone in my head. Like, "Yeah, that's right...I am..."

-Sweeping up broken glass in the kitchen while just wearing my "undies" and white and green pumas (gotta protect my toesies). This is Felicity after she threw the glass off of the counter today, "I throwed it." Yeah, obviously. No emotion, no remorse. Weird little girl.

-Replaying the part where our good friend Miley plays the "butterfly/daddy daughter song" in Hannah Montana the movie which I ordered from Netflix. While tears flood my eyes. Yep. Ordered it, watched it, rewound it, cried at more than one part. Seriously?

-Feeding Felicity candy from the gingerbread house we made a few weeks ago. Her begging got old and I figured we are going to toss it in a couple weeks anyway.

-Checking your blog just to see if you're pregnant yet.

-Taking ONE picture with my cell phone of my daughter on Santa's lap instead of paying for something cute. P.S. the adorable 9 month old asian baby in front of us had on fake hair! I'm serious.

-Writing this dumb post while I should be cleaning up dinner and taking a shower. Enjoy!

Help! She escaped!

2009-12-07T16:19:00.007-07:00

The go utes red cast which came off last Friday

I wrote this post for my special secret blog with my old roomates because they are all awesome gals with good advice about kids and everything else. Then I thought about how much I really want advice on this issue, so I thought I would put it out there. If any of the 5 or 6 people that read my blog have any advice, please share!

Don't get too worried, it's nothing serious.But then again it is. Felicity can get out of her crib! When I tried to put her down for a nap she cried and screamed and after a few minutes I went to check on her and she was at the door trying to get out her room! I tried again later and same thing. I peeked through the door and watched her. She isn't great at getting down, but I don't think she injured herself at all (which is great because today I had to take her to get more x-rays because after getting her cast off she still won't walk on that leg.)

So today we bundled up, went out in a windy freezing snowstorm, hiked to the hospital from the parking lot (I have to carry her everywhere we go because of her leg...) got new x-rays and are waiting to hear from the dr.

I tried getting her to nap with me in my bed, but she was too distracted. Tried the couch. That was a no go. Man, I thought she was grumpy with a new cold and her hurt leg. Now adding in no nap, she is a wreck.

I know she will be a nightmare about staying in a big girl bed. Is it time to suck it up and get one and start training her to sleep in it? If so, how do I do that? Any ideas of how to get her to stay in the crib? Have you ever heard of a crib tent? I know it sounds weird but it is a mesh topper for the crib to keep kids in and pets out. I feel desperate! I don't know what's going to happen tonight. She is so stubborn and strong willed, I'm afraid she will be getting out at all hours! Help!

Autumn Day-God gives many gifts today

2009-11-11T13:14:00.005-07:00

Do you know that primary song? It is a goody. Taught to me by the one and only Roz Hall.

We love the fall. Except for the whole getting cold thing. But you can't help but love the falling leaves and Halloween and looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas.

News around our house:

-Felicity has a broken leg (trampoline) and has a hard splint thing on for two weeks. She is a trooper. She has had many accidents lately. You can see the scrape on her chin from when she crashed and fell into the couch-biting into her lip and scraping part of her face off. Now she also has a giant blood blister on her finger. I am feeling pretty bad for her lately-but she is happy enough and loves to be a monster and scare you. It's pretty darn cute.
-The Yankees won the world series! Yahoo. I guess Kurt growing out his beard and me growing out my leg hair really did the trick. What can we say, we are fans that bring good luck!
-Halloween was awesome-lots of parties. Felicity was Dorothy and we were the scarecrow and the tinman. I found this picture that she took of herself. There is no

other description but to say that she looks stoned. I'm sorry.

There's just not.It made me laugh.

At the church party. I did not win anything in the chili cookoff. Boo.

I was in charge of the kids fishing game. It was pretty awesome.

Happy girl.

The Radmall Clan at Aunt Annies Halloween party

That's us folks

Cute cousins

Who knew Kurt would gladly receie a toddler sized dress for his birthday?

But he did and he loves to let Felicity wear it every game day.

Thanks Tom and TeriAnn for our fun trip to Hee Haw Farms.

We went on TWO hayrides this season. What could be better?

No more spring blossoms around here...

2009-10-05T14:27:00.003-06:00

Better get some autumn leaves up on our background Kurtie Bird.

Long time, no see. There are really no good excuses-we have just been busy and lazy. But-just to catch you up-these are some of the things we have done since we last talked.

-Went to Yellowstone with Kurt's family. It was awesome. We saw lots of cool scenery and cool animals. Felicity liked to yell MOOO to the buffalo.

-Went to California for Kurt's brother's wedding reception. Aaron and Jeanette looked handsome and beautiful respectively and the reception was fun. We also got to spend some time with Jana and Wes and my cousins the Thorntons and all of their new babies. The trip was great except for Felicity's demeanor on the way home. Boo

-After the trip to CA we took away the binky. Yep-the green thing that was constantly in Felicity's little pie hole. Gone. It was hard for a few days-but we did it and I am proud!

-Kurt's sister Christie, her husband Brandon and daughter Addison got sealed in August. It was such a great day and we are so happy for them. Man-Addie had everyone in tears when she was brought in in her darling white dress, sweater and bow. After the sealing she said, "Mom, I'm in the temple!" What a great thing.

Kurt had his Birthday in September and we had a good time camping and celebrating with our families. Both of our parents celebrated 30 years this year. Congrats!We also celebrated both of our dad's birthdays in Sept.

I have been busy seeing lots of new doctors, trying new medications, getting a little swimming in (thanks Christie) and going to physical therapy. Trying to get my bod feeling better. I have some tests coming up in January and we'll see how things are going.

Felicity is starting to talk and it's pretty darling. She will copy almost any word you say and her favorite phrases are "I did it!" and "I got it!" Pretty fitting for such an independent, stubborn little thing. Gee, I wonder where she gets that. She is obsessed with buckling things lately. Carseats, strollers, her doggy backpack, my swim bag. She loves to do it over and over with a proud, "I did it!" Yes, she continues to run me ragged and drive me crazy sometimes, but it's all worth it.

I guess I will post pictures another time. The one hour napper just woke up.

bride, the brush, and bigos

2009-09-21T21:25:00.004-06:00

Yes, that's right. Kelli is wearing her wedding dress. It's been 3 years and 3 months, and she can slip right into that thing. Felicity, your mom is as beautiful as ever. We sure are lucky!

We went camping the Friday before my birthday with the Woffindens. My family joined us for one tasty dinner. Thanks for spending that evening with us, everyone. You sure mean a lot to us. We love you!

Last, but not least, for this post - Kelli made me bigos for my birthday. This is a stew that I had a lot of in Poland. This version has cabbage, sauerkraut, bacon, sausage, and pork loin among other things. Throw in a few slices of rye bread and I was in heaven. Thanks, Kelli.

The Radmalls are alive and well, even if our blog is not...What can we say? We've been busy.

Anger. Rising.

2009-07-22T13:24:00.003-06:00

Why? Why does everything noisy happen during nap time? I know there is no way to fix it and not everyone plans their day around nap time, but it's so dang frustrating!

I say this because we live in a condo and there are sometimes noisy things going on that I can't control. Usually it is really quiet and we love living here but today i want to go rip someone's leaf blower off of their back! There is a new dog somewhere in the neighborhood that LOVES to bark at all hours .Grrr. The garbage truck woke Felicity up this morning at 6:40 thank you very much-now the lawn guys woke her up in the middle of nap time. Luckily after 10 minutes of letting her cry, she went back to sleep. But I swear they are just making circles around our building with their mowers and blowers and edger thingies. Why can't she be a heavy sleeper like her daddy? Oh wait, then when she grows up she won't hear her own baby cry in the middle of the night. . .

The ramblings of an inmate

2009-07-14T14:11:00.007-06:00

Lately, Felicity has been asking to get into her crib during the day. Mostly she just wants to play ring around the rosies with herself and "all fall down" on the soft mattress. I love hearing her start to talk. She is trying to copy things that I say. Yesterday I said "crap" as my car door softly brushed (don't worry, I wiped away the mark with my spit) our neighbors car. And yes, she then tried to say crap. The time has come to clean up my mouth (Orbitz?). My daughter is now understanding what I say and copying me. Today I sneezed twice in a row and both times she said her little version of "bless you". Too cute.

p.s. My sister had a baby girl and I got to cut the cord! Yahoo. I love little Molly Kay and as some of you know, I love to be present for delivery. Invite me to yours.

p.p.s Jillian-it's "he and I" not "him and I". Some of you know what I'm talking about. So many weeks of the same grammatical error, over and over. I cracked up because Reid made the same mistake during his going home limo rant. I guess they were a perfect pair.

p.p.p.s I know I probably make tons of mistakes on this blog. Apostrophes, quotation marks, commas, spelling and all. I told Kurt not to correct it for me. He and his journalism degree would offend me and make me feel stupid. So forgive me for being a hypocrite of types and criticizing Jillian the cute little Canadian.

Venting/Ranting

2009-07-09T12:48:00.002-06:00

Today my child is driving me crazy. It's just one of those days. I have cried twice.These are some of the things that have led to my lunacy:

*Felicity woke up at 6:30 instead of 8:00
*She grabbed my spoon and tried to feed my cereal to her baby doll (it was kind of cute actually)-then she proceeded to put her babies blanket in my bowl-sloshing milk on my lap.
*Even though I put on Beauty and the Beast, she quickly found me trying to take a shower and insisted on getting in. Then of course she wanted to get out. Then she peed on the floor.
*She wanted to brush her teeth-instead of letting me help her she grabbed the toothbrush end and got her berry blue toothpaste all over her hand
*She unrolled half of a roll of toilet paper. Now I have to put it in a bag by the side of the sink and use it like that. Frugality and all.
*I was trying to take some Tylenol and the lid wasn't on tight-so the bottle dropped, spilling the glass of water and the Tylenol into a medicinal mess-wasting about 30 caplets. No-I did not try to dry them out and save them.
*I needed Tylenol because I had minor "surgery" on my toe yesterday-ingrown toenail stuff. Gross I know. At least Felicity hasn't stepped on it as many times as she did yesterday.
*I don't know what else-but it just seems like there were a million things that went wrong this morning. Of course there were the usual battles of diaper changes, getting dressed, combing her hair. ANYTHING that I want her to do is just so so tragic to her.
*And to top it all off, we are out of otter pops.

Now, I know that she is just a baby and almost anything naughty that she does is because I have enabled her to do so, by eating breakfast on the couch and such. But it's still frustrating-it's not like I'm leaving her on her own so I can eat bon bon's, I'm just trying to shower and get ready. I swear, there is nothing in this house that will hold her attention for more than two minutes. I think It's time for a toy swap or something. Just needed to vent.

The Forf

2009-07-06T13:28:00.005-06:00

Felicity loves to play on the trampoline with cousin Addison
Two crazy girls

Four girls (one in TeriAnn's tummy!) playing in the water

Felicity loved the parade!

Sam and Felicity sitting with Bogo AKA Grandpa Woff

I'd bet a large sum that Felicity is eating something

Momma and Baby Girl

A cool little airplane

My brother Blake and his cute girlfriend Allison.

They are the sacrificing souls who went and camped out for our parade spot at 4 am. Thank you!

There was a pinata for Max's Birthday.

This is Addison hoarding candy in her skirt. So funny.

Yahoo! Dulces!

Addie and Felicity "playing" croquet

What can I say, she's a helper. OK. Not really, but she's cute

"He makes me melt like a popsicle on the Forf of July..." Name that movie!

There are many things that I need to blog about but I wanted to put some pictures up to let you know that we had an AWESOME fourth of July. We always do. We were lucky enough to spend time with both of our families-we enjoyed the parade, a bbq, a birthday celebration, golfing (Kurt) and fireworks of course. Hope you all had a great fourth. I for one am so grateful to live in this country and for all of the men and women who sacrifice to keep us free and safe. Thank you!

What's the Happs?

2009-06-04T20:18:00.004-06:00

Well-I have been too pooped to blog-so I will mush everything together.

I am pooped because I am teaching swimming lessons in the morning at my parents. It is a good way to earn some extra money-but it wears me out. The last time I did it was when i was pregnant and I would take a 3 or 4 hour nap afterward. I don't exactly have that luxury now-but I do nap while Felicity does-it is usually an hour and half but it's better than nothing. Some friends in the ward are watching Felicity in the mornings. It's hard to drop her off-I am feeling some sympathy for all you working moms out there.

We celebrated my birthday, my mom's birthday and our anniversary. I was super duper lucky this year. I spent my birthday in Las Vegas with college bffs Jana and Rischel. They planned the whole thing, treated me to hotels and flew in to meet me there for 3 days of relaxation. It was a.maze.ing. We slept in, stayed up late, read magazines by the pool and ate and ate and ate. It was so relaxing and such a good little trip. It's too bad that on the last night there someone broke my driver's window and stole our GPS. But that's just part of life. Someone else's agency affecting my life in a negative way. Oh well.

We went to dinner and bowling for my mom's birthday. It was fun and I didn't even come in last. Second to last. But-I'm cool with that. Some people are bowlers, some people are mini golfers.

The terrible twos have come to our house early. Felicity has her sweet moments and it's fun listening to her learn to talk, but she sure throws a lot of tantrums. She's a pretty aggressive little thing.

Life is good-and it's nice to finally see the sun and use one of my few talents-getting tan. Even with spf 50 these swimming lessons are doing their usual damage. Happy Summer to you all!

I wrote this post a week ago-but didn't post it because I was too lazy to post pictures. Still too lazy. Soon.

one year wiser

2009-05-29T22:59:00.003-06:00

Happy birthday, sweetheart! We love you so much!

What I'm reading

2009-05-27T13:08:00.004-06:00

I really liked this one...

Ug! So much for my resolution for more frequent posting. But guess what? I don't really care. There is no Quota. This is for me. And if I have something to say-I will find time to say it. I don't know who I'm talking back to right now... Forgive my rebellious attitude about my self imposed goal.

Anyway-it's almost summer and we have been swimming a couple of times. Starting next Monday I will be teaching swimming lessons in the morning. I hope all goes well. I like doing it and I like being in the sun. I just hope Felicity fares well with all of the baby sitting and late naps. Nursery in a couple of weeks. So. Excited.

Anyway-I just thought I'd let you all know what I'm reading. Most of you know I love to read. I read mostly junior fiction (it's easy to get through-entertaining-sometimes meaningful and it's what made me fall in love with reading) and board books. Know those ones by heart. Felicity and I hit up the library almost every week and although she never sits on my lap during lap time, we get new books and have fun.

So I got curious the other day and looked up a list of the Newberry award winners to see how many of them I have read. Then I remembered that my good friend's mom offered her kids some large amount of money to read all of the Newberry award winners ($500?). I don't know if any of her kids did it, but I decided I would. And no, I am not going to ask her for the money.

So that's what I have been reading. Newberry Award winners from 1922 to the present. Some of the really old ones are hard to get through and about dolls and stuff. I have to say, I like the newer ones. I was going to post a list of the ones I have read, but that is on the other computer, so you will just have to wait. If you want to read some Junior Fiction now-go read something by Jerry Spinelli, Richard Peck, Lois Lowry, Gary Paulsen or Blue Balliet. Those are some of my favorites. Happy Reading!

Thoughts on Motherhood

2009-05-17T12:10:00.006-06:00

Funny faces

Felicity used to be puny (sp?)

I know this post is a week late, but I needed this time to really think about motherhood instead of cards, gifts, and yummy food. Don't get me wrong, Mother's Day was amazing. We got to spend time with both families and give and receive great words of appreciation. I had a great day. Kurt was more helpful than usual (which I thought was impossible-he always helps me a lot) and he didn't have extra meetings-yeah!

Yesterday I was getting my hair cut while pouring over US Weekly ( I know it's dumb-but that's what I love to do when I get my haircut-don't even try to talk to me girl-I love an hour of silence). But it wasn't silent, because the girl next to me was a talker, which was fine but I couldn't help overhearing their conversation. She recently had a baby and was telling her stylist about how she is from California and it's funny in Utah because you don't feel special when you are pregnant or having a baby-because literally EVERYBODY'S DOING IT. When you are in other states and people see your baby they are always going Lady Gaga over you and your bundle of joy. In Utah, nobody cares. When you walk into a store every other person you see either has kids with them or a baby bump, or both.

Even though I have had this same thought on more than one occasion and experienced it myself (taking a 5 month old to a Padres game-we have never had so much attention for being a cute little family) for some reason I sort of resented this girl saying it (probably because although I agreed with her, she was kind of annoying).

So-here's my rumination on that.

Just because everybody's doing it, it doesn't make it less special. Truly. I don't know that there a many things in life that this holds true for, but it's true about motherhood. Even if every friend of yours from high school, college or in your ward is having a baby, it doesn't make your experience any less special. And those that love you will feel the same way. It's amazing to me how sincerely excited I get when a friend, sister or acquaintance tells me they're pregnant. I get weepy. I CARE. Sincerely care-even if I don't know you that well. I want to talk with you about heartburn, otter pops, night sweats, pitting edema, colic, nursing shields and what books you have read. I want to tell you that having a newborn was probably the hardest 3 months of my life and it's ok if you feel like you're going crazy and then feel tremendous guilt about that. That's normal. I went off on a tangent here...

I guess what I am trying to say is that even though women have been doing it for hundreds and hundreds of years-it's still a miracle every time. Even though it's scientifically how our species procreates and survives-it's more than that. It will change you (obviously) and your life forever. No one can tell you how much of a sacrifice and a joy it will be. It is such a miracle that we are able to be parents on this earth. Whether it's by delivering a child ourselves, or by adoption or fostering or mentoring-it feels amazing to teach a child, to love a child.

I grew up in Provo and I now live in Orem and I have never felt like a lemming-or a boring Utah Mormon. Yes, my hair may have been bad in elementary school pictures (whose wasn't-it was the 80's), but I know that just because I may not be completely in style and maybe my hair is now a mom bob and maybe I am a country bumpkin to many -I like myself, and I like living here and I know I'm not vanilla or tofu and I LOVE being a mom. There have been times when I've felt like just part of the herd; go to college, be a teacher, get married, have a baby, stop working etc.. But guess what? I love it. It's hard but I love it. And I think I love it because I know it's what Heavenly Father wants for me.

So-to all you mothers out there-I know you get bored sometimes, get frustrated, feel left out of the working world, feel unappreciated, feel dowdy-but I saw you at Target yesterday and just because you've got a 2 year old and one on the way and Old Navy Jeans-I know you're not a lemming. I know you give your everything to those kids so they can grow strong and smart and feel loved. I know you once had hobbies and won awards or got scholarships and looked good in a swimsuit. I know you've got personality. Most of you.I guess it's taken me a lot of words to say that Just because everybody's doing it, it doesn't make it less special. I'm proud of you-and your stretch marks.

To be a loser...

2009-05-13T11:33:00.004-06:00

I don't have very much time and there are a million things I could post about, but I just have to make a quick comment.

Biggest Loser Finale. Seriously. Amazing.

Kurt and I have been watching on and off for the past little while and we were rooting for Mike the teenager. I can't believe the top three contestants were in such close competition. It was a difference of 5 pounds or something. And for prize money of 250 thou. I would have been p.o'd if I lost by so little.

I just can't believe how much weight those people lost. I can't believe it's even possible! I know they're working out 12 hours a day and it's not reality, but still-I seriously can't believe it. Where does all of the skin go?

I also think that the pound for pound challenge is a great idea-that for all of the weight viewers lose they donate the same poundage of food to the food banks. I thought it was touching. Like Jack Sprat or something.

I just think it's an amazing thing. It's not just about being skinny. These people can now do things they never could, stop taking multiple medications, play with their kids and feel good about themselves. Eyes watered at my house (ok just mine)

I loved seeing all of the past contestants in their fancy clothes. They looked so amazing. Could you believe Jerry? The old dude who won the at home challenge and won 100 thousand dollars? And Nicole, wearing a size 8 wedding gown? You go girl. Amazing.

p.s.-I know where some of the skin goes...There were more flabby arms than a R.S general broadcast.

p.p.s Anyone else sick of these "big" shows being so drawn out. I don't want to watch a tv show for 2 or 3 hours. I can't believe they are just sticking one show in their whole prime time slot. Guess it's working though. I am a sucker and I know I will get sucked into the long drawn out Bachelorette episodes.. Yeah!

Doggies and Nap Time

2009-05-01T15:24:00.006-06:00

So, Kurt and I have rented a few movies lately, one of which being Marley and Me. I actually liked it. It was a little slow, but there were some things I really liked.

#1-It was wholesome and clean as far as I remember.

#2-I liked seeing Jennifer Aniston in a "mommy" role. I don't really know what's going on with her in real life, but I think she's having a baby, am I right? I thought her acting was pretty good. Can't help liking her.

#3-Owen Wilson is kind of a cutie. Anything with him in it reminds me of my brother Brett who likes him a lot and has imitated him on more than one occasion.

#5-I liked that it painted a somewhat realistic picture of marriage and family-it's not easy-but it's worth it. I thought the movie was kind of ambivalent about where it wanted to go with that-if you watched it as a single adult, it could probably make you not want to get married, have children or a get a dog. But, since I'm a cheerleader for marriage and children-I took the message to be that people (and animals) aren't perfect, life is hard, but it's worth forging those relationships. There were some cheesy parts of course, but it wasn't all syrupy sweet.

Other thoughts:

*We never had a dog growing up and I have never had much of a desire to own one, so I don't really "get" the dog thing which is the whole basis of the movie. It was somewhat touching in that aspect-but I'm sure it would be more moving to anyone who has loved a four legged friend.

* I liked when Owen Wilson said something to the effect of, "I had a fight with my wife-you mend it, you don't end it." Loved that message.

* I thought the argument between the parents was very realistic and easy to identify with. New baby-stressed out parents-mom is a little cuckoo-dad's not sure if he wants to come in the house. Dog is making everything 10x harder. He accuses her of being depressed, she says she isn't depressed, just overwhelmed. She calls him a jerk. I'm sorry-but how many new moms and dad's haven't been there. Am I right?

*Which brings me to my last point. For those of you who have seen it-do you remember when Marley gets excited about the garbage truck or something and wakes up the kids who have just been napping? OOoh-that part makes me mad! Honestly makes me not want to have a dog. I never thought I would be so dang uptight about napping or sleep schedules, but I am. Once you have a kid-sleep is like air, like water, like heat-it is so so essential for everyone in the home to get some, but so hard to grasp onto. You need enough. At the right time. Or life can be horrible, right? I guess I'm going off because today is one of those bad napping days.

-So, Felicity is finally taking a nap and the little dog that lives below us started barking. And he wouldn't stop! Anger- like fire began rising in my chest! I've never been mad at that dog before, which is funny, because Kurt is always mad when he barks, even if it's only for a second. But, when you've had a bad napping day and baby girl finally stops making noises in her crib and you aren't even going to run the dryer or make a phone call or use the microwave because she might wake up, and a little doggy starts barking-momma wants to rip his head off. So that is what urged me to write this post. It reminded me of the movie. Good news-Felicity didn't wake up and the doggie's daddy pulled him inside and made him stop barking at our older neighbor who is sweet, but takes a looong time to walk to her car.

Duckies

2009-04-30T11:52:00.004-06:00

Can you see the bread? Felicity didn't want to feed the ducks-every time we gave her a little piece of bread, she ate it. Predictable. Good thing I didn't bring moldy bread. Is it bad to feed moldy bread to ducks? I think I remember doing it as a kid. Sorry duckies.

These pictures are not too exciting-I tried to take a video and it didn't really turn out-but you have to know that Felicity was thrilled to see ducks in real life! I don't know if she has ever seen ducks before, but I know we haven't purposefully taken her to see them -so this was the big event. Kurt called and invited us to the duck pond for his lunch break. What a thoughtful dad. Felicity loved all of the ducks and ducklings (they were really darling) and I don't think she noticed them, but there were cool turtles there too. The ducks are really used to people (being located on a certain, not to be named, University campus) and they let you get pretty close. Felicity has been saying "Quack, Quack" for a while now so it was fun to see her chasing them around and calling to them in their own language.

She is getting so smart and understands so much of what we say to her. She can say quack quack, woof woof, mmm for a cow sound, a whiny noise for a cat, caw caw for any birds, and can growl for a lion or a pig. She is also a fan of saying uh-oh, pointing to everyone's pictures on the fridge and calling her dad Ma Ma. We keep trying to correct her, but to her, Kurt is Ma Ma and she loves him. I know she'll get it right someday.

Largest Dinosaur Museum in the World!

2009-04-23T21:48:00.006-06:00

Felicity "digging" for fossils.
She does this with her arms when she is really excited.

This is her little protective apron for playing in the water/sand exhibit. She was a little small for all of that business and wasn't too interested surprisingly enough.

Such an innocent face...

Uncle Seth and Grandpa Radmall

The "build a dinosaur" room

Very excited to be playing with her cousin Max.

This is her with her mouth full of candy which was provided by Seth. Brought for the very purpose of enticing Felicity to be his best friend for the day. It worked pretty well.

Uncle Seth and Uncle Bryan

That Dinosaur behind us was unbelievably huge!

Largest Dinosaur Museum in the World. At least that's what I read on the billboard.

I finally went to the Thanksgiving Point dinosaur museum. I've always wanted to go, but haven't had a reason.

Thanks to an invite from the Radmalls, Felicity and I got to go check it out with most of the family who was on spring break. I got two new pennies for my smashed penny collection and Felicity really enjoyed the whole experience. I thought the museum was great-really interesting. Perfect for an 8 year old boy, but pretty awesome for anyone else too.

Easter Pictures

2009-04-20T15:45:00.004-06:00

Uncle Brett-it's Easter not St. Patricks Day!
This is the cute dress and hat from Grandma Julie
( I forgot to take pictures of the other dresses)

Kurt had to run backwards at great speeds to get this picture.
She was excited about getting eggs!
I am in love with her new white sandals from Gymboree.
My shoe fetish lives on. Good shoes are always worth the splurge.

Checking out her haul

Funny faces with dad

Just so you know, Felicity's head looks a lot better now. That picture was yucky now that I look at it again. Sorry. Now she just has a dark line down the middle of her forehead.

On my last post I forgot to tell you that I got to go see Wicked in SLC last week! My mom gave my sister and I tickets for Christmas. It was a very nice gift. Thanks mom I had a blast! I even ate a bagel and cream cheese at the cafe across the street. I love cheating on my diet-the littlest things are so yummy and exciting. I ate a little Reese's egg the other day-it was so decadent. Like heaven.

Just thought I would catch up and try to post some pictures while Felicity is still sleeping. Hope everyone in the valley is enjoying this great weather today!

My return to cyberspace

2009-04-18T20:47:00.006-06:00

Poor Felicity fell head first into the corner of the wall tonight.
I hope it looks better in the morning!

I like this picture because you can see her teeth coming in.
It doesn't really look like her though...funny how that happens sometimes.

There is a lot to blog about but I will make it short for now. I am no longer as grumpy as I once was.

Did I do a good job with being media free for a week? Yes and No. I never watched tv for myself-only out of the goodness of my heart for my poor teething daughter. She is getting molars and I have taken her to the doctor twice to get her ears checked because she has been so sick and unhappy. So there is my excuse. With her in her unhappy mood and not pleased with anything and wanting to sit and snuggle-we watched tv. And movies. For a few days. I am not looking forward to answering to M.R. but I never watched something for me and I only got on the internet to do necessary things like pay bills and check bank accounts.

Was I more productive? Yes and No. I read a lot of good books from the library instead of watching tv or checking your blogs. I probably cleaned and organized more than usual. It was a good thing.

In other news...

-We had a great Easter weekend-Felicity wore three different cute dresses. One from Grandma Cheryl, one from TeriAnn and one from Grandma Julie. What a clothes horse.

-For conference weekend we went to LaSal to visit Christie, Brandon and Addison. Maybe I will let Kurt blog about that. It was a weekend of his cowboy dreams come true.

-We went to the dinosaur museum with the Radmalls. Felicity had fun-especially playing in the sand digging for fossils.

-I had an unexplained blood blister underneath my fingernail (I didn't smash it or anything) that got very painful and oozy and infected. Yummy, huh? I had to go to the derm and have what I call a minor operation. It was not fun and it still hurts but is getting better.

-Kurt got a haircut.

-I was able to get my wedding ring back on my finger for the first time in a long time. Will I ever be able to get it off again without the help of a saw? Not sure. But I am happy to be wearing it again!

-My BFF Marissa had her 2nd baby boy! I am so proud of her.

** I will post more pictures later of these happenings.

Grrr.

2009-04-09T22:08:00.004-06:00

This grumpy cookie I found online can represent me right now.
Man, I wish I were allowed to eat cookies.

I have been going to an 8 week organization class put on by our Stake. It is taught by Marie Ricks who is a professional organizer and is the momo guru of de-cluttering and cleaning. It has been incredibly helpful and interesting. She has really good philosophies and thoughts on why our lives get disorganized and how we can change it. I really like the Gospel spin she puts on things too. I have been working really hard to keep our house cleaner and I have been organizing and getting things in boxes for D.I. And surprise-it really makes me happy.

Today I worked on our bedroom and it is now-looking awesome. I have even been making the bed which I have always thought is practically pointless, right? But it does make me feel better to have it made-so there it is. For those of you who know her, a certain person named Jeanne once told me to never trust anyone who doesn't make their bed. And ESPECIALLY not to marry anyone who doesn't make the bed. First of all-Kurt is neater than I am. We're good there. Second-HELLO crazy lady-you pay me to make your bed. You probably never made a bed in your life. It made me laugh.

Now for the GRRR. Tonight in class there was a retired woman who said that she has just let everything fall by the wayside now that she and her husband are home all day. She sleeps in, doesn't do much, definitely doesn't have motivation to clean or de-junk or whatever. I then commented that the same thing happened to me when I went from working to staying at home with a baby. I just sat around all the time because I had nothing to do, nowhere to be and yet was completely overwhelmed by the simple yet constant needs of a newborn. Yes-I watched a lot of t.v. Of course.

Then the teacher challenged us both to go on a media fast for 7 days. No t.v. or Internet. I told her that I've actually been doing a lot better with that. But she knew I was trying to dodge it. So I accepted the challenge even though I am grumpy about it. And worried. Felicity and I watch t.v. together when she gets up and definitely while we are waiting for Kurt to get home. Maybe the fact that I am so nervous and mad about this means that I do have a problem. I can stop anytime I want, I swear. 12 steps here I come. Ya know what I wanted to say? Lady, I'm already dieting. How much self restraint do I need in my life? I guess those things are good for you. I have lost 9 1/2 lbs. Raise the roof!

So-I just wanted to let you know that I am going to break my resolution of more frequent blogging because I have been sentenced. You probably won't hear from me for a week or more. What will you do? I know. It's your own challenge. Good luck.

I will probably post more about M.R and her motivating genius when I am not so mad at her. But if anyone wants to check her out she has a lot of ideas and some free downloads on her website. I think it's http://www.houseoforder.com/. Wish me luck.

Forsythia and Daffodils

2009-04-07T15:10:00.004-06:00

Felicity and I went for a walk yesterday and I truly had that springtime moment. Spring is just the best. You can't describe exactly how it makes you feel so happy and hopeful and wonderful. To be able to go out in short sleeves and see flowers blooming makes me very happy. It makes me think of all the wonderful days of summer to come.

We saw two of my favorite blooms yesterday. I wanted both of them at my wedding, but alas, the timing was not right. They both have such a short blooming period and it is in March, not June. But I LOVE Forsythia and Daffodils. My wedding colors were Yellow, Brown and cream so they would have fit in perfectly (don't get me started on what Jana said about my wedding colors when I first mentioned them. Ha ha.) Have you read the story about the Daffodil field in California? I would love to go there someday.

Happy Spring everyone! I wish this warmth was here to stay (I know you too well, Utah). It makes my heart frolic and leap.

Small Motor Skills

2009-04-01T15:18:00.004-06:00

This is what the little chocolate drooler did while I was writing a card. I knew there were suckers on the table, but I didn't think she could unwrap this particularly delicious variety (yummy Sees). I was wrong. She is always below the 10th perentile in height and weight, but I'm sure her candy opening skills are above average. You should have seen me take this thing away from her. She is so, so strong when she is mad! I had to trade her for a robin egg. So, who's the real sucker here? You guessed it. The momma.

Twilight Highlight

2009-03-30T14:49:00.004-06:00

So-I was a watching Twilight and I just had one question. Why the leggings? Why? Anyone else know what I'm talking about? When she goes to the prom at the end and she is wearing capri length leggings (with a lace cuff no less) under her dress.Why? I know she has an air cast thing on (spoiler alert!) but I don't think that warrants wearing leggings. C'mon wardrobe people. I am totally out of it-probably won't ever be stylish again, but even I know that you don't wear leggings (which didn't really match) to prom. Yuck.

Other thought on the movie. Yes I have read the books. All of them. I sincerely think they're good. I don't own any twilight based clothing or memorabilia so I guess I'm not a super fan (why do they make "team Jacob" shirts? Anyone rooting for Jacob? C'mon) but I thought the books were well written in that they were intriguing and addictive. I think they are more for the teen crowd, but I still enjoyed them.

I liked the movie more than I thought I would. I even liked the actors that played Bella and Edward more than I thought I would. Loved the actor that played James aka. Volchok. What a good bad boy. Not a fan of the actors that played Charlie, Jacob, Rosalie and Carlisle (Can't Hardly Wait, anyone?) but that always happens when you read a book and then see the movie. This flick had majorly cheesy parts! When she's talking to Edward in the hospital and she freaks out about them being apart. You know what I'm talking about. Acting class is calling you Kristen.

Anyway-I really just wanted to post about the leggings, but now you know my twigh-life story. Kurt and I went to bad last night with him asking me questions about vampires...silly.

Kid Stuff...

2009-03-24T10:52:00.008-06:00

Yesterday I was showing Kurt a new game that I played with Felicity. I used both of my hands to squish her face forward, giving her fish lips and began to tell the tale, "My daddy got a motorcycle..." OK-stop right there. Do you guys know where this is going? I thought everyone knew this little game. So, "My daddy got a motorcycle and he took me for a ride. At first we were going so slow I said, "Go Faster Daddy, Go Faster!" Then we started to go so fast I said, "Slow Down Daddy, Slow Down!" At this point of course you use your hands to stretch the little cheekers backwards giving an airblown squinty eyed face. It's pretty funny if I do say so myself.

So then Kurt says, "What's that from?" What's that from?! It's from being a kid. It's just something that kids do. It's funny. I was astounded that he didn't know about this little face contorting gem.

So then, I turned to the obvious(and not very culturally pc. Sorry.)I said, ok. "Open the fridge. Take out a coke. Take the lid off. Drink the coke. HaHa! Me Chinese, Me play joke. Me put pee pee in your coke." To which Kurt did not reply anything. He didn't know about this one either! He didn't know that you're supposed to say, "Me American, me so smart, me not drink the pee pee part."

What did Kurt do as child? I guess I need to check with him and see if he knows "Big Mac, Fillet of Fish, Quarter Pounder, French Fries, Icy Cola, Thick Shake, Sundaes and Apple Pie." Ya know, with the hand shake?

I wonder if he knows any jump rope rhymes like Cinderella and Not Last Night But the Night Before... Or maybe he has never played Chinese Jump rope, 2, 4, 6,8 on off, twisties, twisties, diamonds, diamonds..." What about, "No Cuts, No Buts, No coconuts!" when someone is cutting in the drinking fountain line? What about playing Mash?!

Don't you love that kid stuff? Poor Kurt. I will have to make sure he knows some fun stuff so he can squish faces and laugh like I do.

Tell me some more fun kid stuff-tricks you played-rhymes, handshakes! Although teaching was hard, I did love hanging out and seeing kids having fun. I miss that. I must say I feel that I had an awesome childhood. Ideal. I hope my kids have as much fun as I did in my "growing up years"! Kurt would say that I'm not grown up yet because I still think those things are funny...

Why?!

2009-03-21T15:49:00.004-06:00

Question #1? -WHY?! do they even sell tuna packed in vegetable oil? Maybe I'm not a gourmet cook so I don't get it, but I don't know why anyone needs tuna in oil. If you know why, or for what recipe you would use it, please let me know.

Question #2?- WHY?! am I always the one who accidentally buys the tuna in oil, thinking it is tuna in water. That's right I used the word always because I know I have done this at least 3 or 4 times. "Oh-that's a good price on tuna!" Grab a couple, throw them in the cart. Open them sometimes later to see thick, yucky oil on my tuna fish.

Simple solution, right? Kelli-be more careful when you buy tuna. Check the can. Read it with the college education you have. But alas, I am always so spacey about checking! Maybe it's just my mushy brain or the fact that Felicity has one leg out of the cart and I am trying to bribe her with her favorite treat (yogos) to make it to the checkout. Anyway-I am making a goal to never make that mistake again. I still use the greasy tuna, but it's annoying!

Q#3-Why have I done two posts about tuna fish and therefore already have a relevant photo saved?

DC

2009-03-19T14:27:00.002-06:00

Felicity and I went to Walmart today and had a disappointing shopping trip. I went in trying to match some summer clothes that I have for her and came away with nothing. So, I decided to get a frozen pizza for Kurt (it's not on my current diet) and a Diet Coke for me-to make me feel better about not getting to buy any cute baby things. I grabbed a bottle by the register and thought of Jana( DC lover). Unfortunately once I got to the first stoplight on the way home, I realized I couldn't open it, thanks to the funky, new, incredibly tough lid and my increasingly useless hands. I tried with my teeth (sorry mom) and I tried to open it about 15 more times on the way home to no avail. Grrr. By the time I got everything carried inside, it wasn't even cold anymore. But I opened it with my rubber glove and had some anyway. What made me feel better? Putting Felicity down for a nap and watching the Cosby show. Ahh. Now I feel as relaxed as the rollerskating girl on the commercial.

My resolution...

2009-03-18T20:27:00.004-06:00

Valentine's day

Trying on momma's goggles.

I think about posting to our blog WAY more often than I actually do it. Does anyone else think of random things to blog about and then forget or get lazy? Some things keep coming back to me and some don't. I know it doesn't matter much, but I would like to blog more often. It's only fair, right? I am always checking everyone elses blogs and even though it's "cyberspace" it warms my heart to see pictures of children, hear what's going on in your world and most of all, laugh at things and people that crack me up!

My favorite blogs are those where people post often, are "real" about things and share funny stories or opinions. So-I'm going to give a shout out to Heather M.(I can always count on you for a new post), Mormon in Manhattan, Ashley Moffat And Erin Haynie (don't know your married name...) for always making me happy with your frequent, funny posting . Not a bit of offense to the rest of you-I LOVE YOUR BLOGS TOO! I'm just saying, I want to be more real with you and make you laugh (I can only guarantee on making Jana, Rischel or Marissa laugh-but hey, those are my besties, they indulge me). I don't think I want to do this just to be liked or blogular (blog-popular, copyright Kelli 2009) but because I like to write and I want to give those people that actually check my blog a smile.

Oh yeah-there are some pictures of the kid...she is the greatest.

Change of Pace, Change of Heart,Changed my mind

2009-03-05T11:00:00.007-07:00

-Felicity at two weeks-photos by Heather Mildenstein-

The other morning I woke up grumpy. I told Kurt to call the nanny to come over for the day. I'm flying to California and going shopping with Jana. As most of you can guess, there is no nanny, and impromptu out of state shopping trips are not exactly in our budget. Some mornings you just wake up and want a change of pace, right? Tell me I'm not the only one.

Later that day as I watched Felicity attempt to do the actions for "itsy bitsy spider" with a big grin on her face, I changed my mind about my day.

Happy Valentines Day

2009-02-14T14:50:00.003-07:00

I guess with those wings, she could be cupid. She sure brings love into our lives.

Hope you all have a great day!

Random news, thoughts and pictures

2009-02-07T22:34:00.004-07:00

Would you love her in a boat? Would you love her in her coat?

These two pictures are from a day at Discovery Gateway. She LOVED playing in the water.
That is her friend and neighbor Parker. Thanks Torrie for the fun day!

Trying to get a shot of the pigtails.

She is chewing on a little toothbrush thing that you put on your finger to brush a baby's teeth. Have you seen those? She loves is. Don't worry, I watch her so she won't choke on it.

I love Felicity's little naked bum, but I am sick of looking at the same ol' post on our blog. Sorry for being such a slacker. The snowy mountain header is beautiful, but I am sick of winter at the moment. Bring on the sun! I wouldn't mind some sand and some waves, but we don't have any of that around here.

So, what's new with us? Kurt was just called to be the Elder's Quorum President in our ward. That's pretty exciting and I am proud of him. I know he is worthy and willing and will do a great job caring for the Elders and their families. I will try my best to be helpful and supportive.

Felicity has been swimming at the Rec Center a couple of times. She is kind of apprehensive but likes it. I am trying to get her ready for the summer. Maybe she could be water wing ready... I am trying to swim some laps too to get ready for the best season of the year.

As some of you know, I have not been feeling well for the past 8 months or so. After seeing a lot of doctors I am finally diagnosed. I have Scleroderma and Trigeminal Neuralgia. Oh, you don't know what those are? Neither did I. Scleroderma-auto immune disease with some skin symptoms (derma..) and (for me at least) inflammation and joint pain. Trigeminal Neuralgia-unexplained nerve pain (and numbness) in the jaw/face area. The left half of my face up to my check bone has been numb for the past 8 months. The left side of my tongue and teeth too. I have had some crazy pain that has made it hard to eat and talk at times. BUT-now I am pretty well medicated and things are under control. This is, of course, a very non-emotional explanation of what has been going on. In truth, it has been a very difficult time for me. It really makes me look forward to the Resurrection when my body will be perfect again.

Moving on, Felicity is a crazy, stubborn little thing. Don't know where she got that. She is walking like a pro and always goes to the door and wants to go outside. Does she want to swing, go down the slide? No. She just wants to walk without help. It's crazy that I have a child who is old enough to walk around outside, fall down and get scrapes. She hates having her hair done and throws a fit. She loves toothbrushes and if I really need her to leave me alone for a few minutes I give her my (vibrating) toothbrush and let her soothe her gums.

I went to the grocery store today in pajamas. I wasn't proud. Kurt won't even wear pj pants to take out the garbage and he is embarrassed for me today. I had to print some things at my mom's house and then I remembered I needed treats for church tomorrow. In plaid pj pants, a big baggy sweatshirt, uggs and a beanie I went straight to the candy aisle, didn't look anyone in the eye and did the self check out. I successfully didn't see anyone I knew. I was just praying that Stacy and Clinton wouldn't see me.

Hope that my ramblings are better than seeing the same naked bum at the top of my blog. Love you all friends!

Birthday and Christmas pictures!

2009-01-16T16:14:00.007-07:00

I'm not usually one for naked bum pictures, but this one was pretty cute.
Merry Christmas!
Talking to grandma Cheryl on Christmas morning.

The Woffinden Clan. Birthday girl.

Trying to stop her from grabbing the flame.

Her personal cake, made by her personal chef.

Celebrating with Tara. If you can't tell by the hats and the cake, we had a puppy party. We ate hot dogs and invited everyone to bring their stuffed animal doggies.

Dottie the dog. Named after the dalmation the Radmalls used to have.

Before the mess!

Spoiled girl. Look at all of those presents!

Marissa and Logan were in town. Yeah!

We took Christmas down. Such a weird phrase, but you know what I mean. We took all of our decorations down. Sadly I had to throw away our cute gingerbread house and beautiful but dying poinsettia. It's January. These are the rough months, especially for teachers (not me currently, yeah!). It's so cold and inconvenient to do anything or go anywhere. There aren't a lot of holidays although I do like Valentines day. In Utah, our 3 weeks of spring doesn't usually come until May, so like I said, it's rough. And chilly.

But it's sunny today and Felicity is taking another monster nap so hopefully I have time to upload some pictures of her birthday and Christmas. Enjoy!

Mommy's little Piggy

2009-01-06T10:44:00.005-07:00

Felicity has been napping for a REALLY long time and although I love it, I am starting to worry. Ya know, that worry that she is actually not alive anymore because she NEVER sleeps this long. It's either a miracle or a tragedy. I know that sounds morbid, but I think most moms know what I'm talking about. Anyway-anytime I try to write a post, she wakes up. So I am testing it.

Just wanted to post something about her fun birthday. Kurt put a video on facebook and since I haven't posted a picture or a video there ever, I thought I should put one here. Yes-Kurt is on facebook. Trying to get more friends than me. Sheesh.

Felicity is an eater. Always has been. So we figured she would be excited about the cake. Turns out she liked the attention of 20 people staring at her and laughing almost as much as the delicious cream cheese frosting I made.

p.s. She's not awake yet. Crazy. I have already read my scriptures, showered, made a shopping list and blog stalked for a while. I better go wake my little piggy up so she can send more kisses my way.

p.p.s. She is now awake and alive. I just thought I'd add that in case some of you started to worry.

Perfect!

2009-01-04T13:07:00.002-07:00

13 teams, 4 of the BCS top 25, 1 "BCS powerhouse" - 13 wins, MWC championship, Sugar Bowl Champions, MWC Offensive Player of the Year, MWC Special Teams Player of the Year, MWC Coach of the Year, national coach of the year finalist, Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award finalist, Consensus All-American, Ray Guy and Lou Groza Award finalist, Broyles Award finalist...and the list goes on. Congratulations Utah!

12 month pictures.

2009-01-02T13:24:00.005-07:00

Sorry Ted...
Is Ted not SO little?

hi-ya.

This one makes me laugh every time. You know this is mid-squirm, captured by magic, but it looks so "on-purpose". My little rockette.

I'm big, people.

I find it ironic that the last post was titled, "I have friends." and I had ZERO comments. So, maybe I was wrong. OK, ok I don't base my individual worth on the number of comments on my blog but c'mon people I did my hair for some of those pictures! I guess I'll give ya'll more of what you really want. More Felicity.

She is officially a toddler and no longer a baby. She toddles. She drinks cows milk. She eats peanut butter. She says uh-oh. She gives kisses to her toys. She tries to take off her diaper. She refuses to keep pretty things in her hair. She fake laughs. She is finally getting a top front tooth to go with her snaggle. She is mostly sleeping through the night, but has a FUN new wake up time... She is crazy and spirited and we love her to pieces. We have tons of pictures (and hopefully a video or two) of her fun birthday party, so I thought I better get started posting. To my friends out there who care-share the love, leave me a comment or two so I don't feel so lonely! We hope you all had a great Holiday Season!

I have friends.

2008-12-20T11:44:00.004-07:00

Besides the groom, Kurt was the only husband there.

Thank you honey for being so incredibly helpful and letting me spend time with the girls! I promise he was a GREAT sport, even though he looks sad in this picture.

April and Nicole, Lincoln and Andee.
4 out of the 5 babies. Where are you Q.D?

Everyone but the bride. Lookin good, right? The weather was a far cry from our balmy island.

Hanging out at the Red Lion...

The bride in her BEAUTIFUL Tongan garb. The groom's aunt made it all by hand.

My Jana.

Before I post about Felicity's birthday, I have to tell you about last weekend. It would drive me crazy if this blog were completely out of chronological order. Plus, I wouldn't want anyone to think that I didn't have an AMAZING weekend. Because I did.

One of the thoughts that is making me swell with gratitude lately is this: I have friends that love me. Friends that I love. People that I can be completely myself around. Friends that I can't stop talking to and we stay up way to late. Most of you are probably thinking, "Yeah Kelli, we all have friends, we get it. She must be kind of a loner most of the time." Well, I guess you would be right, in a way. I am so lucky to live close to my family and Kurt's as well. We spend most of our time hanging with them when we are not being homebodies. We have friends, but most of them don't live near us.

This is getting drawn out but what I'm trying to say is that most of my best friends don't live by me and when I get to see them I am in heaven and I am reminded that there are people out there in the world that are my soulmates if you will. Please don't be offended by this post if you are my friend and you do live by me. I love you too, I promise!

Last weekend, one of my good friends and old housemates (in Hawaii you generally live in houses instead of apartments and so you get to have LOTS more roommates/housemates. It is generally an awesome thing.) Nicole got married in the SLC temple. So, including the bride there were 8 girls here (5 with their babies!) who have lived together in some combination under a roof that is blue. We loved living in the blue roof house together and we had some amazing times. When I moved in with these girls I was so impressed with their kindness, their character and their spirituality. They were such good people and such good friends to me. Our reunion was for an awesome purpose and it was honestly a testimony to me that Heavenly Father puts people in our lives that can influence us for good. It was so moving to sit with all of those girls in the temple together.

So,shout out to Nicole, Jill, Jacque, Whitney, April, Courtney, Jana. Thank you for flying in from Missouri, Oregon, Arizona, Washington and California. It was amazing to spend time with you all. Thank you for being strong, kind, funny, daring, devoted, loyal, empathetic, and patient souls. Thank you for changing my life for the better and for being such good examples to me. You are amazing women, incredible mothers and phenomenal friends.

Busy day!

2008-12-19T10:09:00.002-07:00

Today is Felicity's first birthday, so we are busy making cakes and wrapping presents. Hopefully I will post her pictures with Ted the Turtle soon as well as pictures from her family party tonight! I can't believe what I was going through on this day last year. What a crazy thought! Love you little Felicity. You have grown so much and so have our hearts because of you (like the grinch...)

binky kisses

2008-12-09T09:47:00.005-07:00

Happy 100th post to us! We feel 100% lucky to have such a good life and a happy daughter.

(Sorry about the horrible filming and fluorescent light. That was me. )

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

2008-12-03T20:03:00.006-07:00

Sam and Felicity. Kinda blurry but cute.
Felicity and uncle Brett. We decided Brett is officially
the most photogenic person in our family.

Felicity and Grandpa Woffinden at the reception.
You can't tell how cute her little tu-tu-ish skirt is. Not to mention the red velvet shoes...

We took very few pictures on the wedding day. Sorry Felicity, not your best shot.

Felicity and Jacob checking out the doggy. I think this was Felicity's favorite part of Thanksgiving. Yes, that's right she might like puppies more than food. Hard to believe, I know.

Getting a hug from cousin Jake. How sweet.

My cute (and delicious) place card.

Kurt sneaking some food.

Felicity closing her eyes for the prayer. She is so religious and well trained. Just kidding.

Aunt TeriAnn

It's the most wonderful time of the year! I know, I mentioned singing those words when I saw the first box of red havens during peach season, but I can sing them again, right? I'm so glad it's Christmas time and that we had a wonderful Thanksgiving. The tree is up, the Christmas CD's are spinning and the weather is on it's way to frightful. We feel so blessed to have a warm home and a beautiful daughter. We have been pretty busy lately as I'm sure ya'll have been too.

Recent happenings:

-We took family pictures with my side Mom, Dad and siblings. Pretty cute stuff.

-Kurt got to go to the BIG game and sit on the 10th row. Lucky boy.

-Felicity has learned how to get down from the couch herself.

-We had an INCREDIBLE Thanksgiving dinner with Kurt's extended family

-We had pie with my family and some friends from our ward

-I saw Twilight and The Secret Life of Bees. I don't go to movies too often, so this was exciting. I liked both movies. Twilight was of course a little cheesy, but I liked the main characters more than I thought I would. Unlike some movie critics, I loved The Secret Life of Bees. I read the book a few years ago and was impressed with the movie and especially Dakota Fanning. Cried like a baby.

-We had an awesome day on Saturday last. Kurt and I attended TeriAnn (Kurt's younger sister) and Tom's sealing in the SLC temple. The sealer was great and we came away with some good reminders for our own marriage. We went to the fabulous luncheon at the JSMB and then to a beautiful reception where we all got to dress up. I was a bridesmaid with a pretty new dress, Kurt wore a tux and Felicity was the belle of the ball along with her matchy-matchy cousin Addison. What a great day.

Game Face

2008-11-23T09:43:00.001-07:00

BCS Busters! Here we go again. I wub my Utes.

Eleven Months

2008-11-21T12:45:00.007-07:00

Playing with Grandpa... Mom's purse
Cute hat courtesy of Sam

Squirming

Felicity is only one month away from her 1st birthday! It's hard to believe she has grown up so fast! She is starting to understand when she is doing something naughty. It's pretty funny. If she gets into something that I have repeatedly told her "NO-NO" about (like the toilet) and I come around the corner and catch her, she freaks out and screams/laughs and her whole body spazzes out. She is also starting to be a real pill about somethings. It is really hard to get her diaper and clothes changed. She swings her arms when she wants to be done eating and knocks everything off of her tray-often spilling yucky stuff all over both of us. When she doesn't want to be picked up she puts her arms straight up in the air close to her head so I can't get her under the arms. She can now clap, wave bye-bye, give kisses (sometimes) and dance. She likes to walk while holding on to your finger. She LOVES to climb stairs and she laughs the whole way up if you chase her. Her favorite thing is to take things OUT. Anything and everything. Do kids ever go through a stage where they want to put everything back in? I think not.

Eleven things Felicity likes to empty:
1. The kitchen drawer full of towels and hot pads.
2. Any laundry basket whether folded or not. ARG!
3. My purse, if left on the floor (picture included)
4. The entertainment center cupboards full of DVD's and CD's
5. The granola bars at Grandma's (see picture)
6. A box of Kleenex
7. A box of wipes
8. Her dresser drawer
9. The shoes in my closet
10. A box of markers
11. Everything in my nightstand

You might be thinking that I don't watch her very well , but I promise I do. I just let her empty things most of the time because I like to see her enjoy herself and it makes me laugh. It doesn't make for a very clean house, but there are more important things, right? I hope so, or I'm in trouble. We love you Felicity. Happy 11 months!

The Lobster Claw

2008-11-18T11:05:00.003-07:00

Something bad happened a week ago. I guess it's not as fun to blog about sad things that make you feel guilty as a mom. I guess that's why it took so long to tell you about our little crustacean.

I was making dinner and preheating the oven. Felicity was playing in the other room but crawled into the kitchen. Kurt called to say he was on his way home. Next thing I know Felicity is crying/screaming. I look down and she has her hand shoved in between the under-the-oven drawer and the oven. I hung up the phone, pulled her hand out and called my mom at work to ask her what to do. Hello. I knew what to do but I panicked. Put her hand under cool running water. See how bad it is. Call the doctor. So I did all of those things.

Kurt came home and we took turns helping her to hold her hand under the water (which she did not like). I let her take little breaks and watch the movie CARS which she loved. There were no cartoons on in the evening, seeing that we no longer have cable. We then took her to to the after hours office of our pediatrician. She had three blisters on her index finger and her hand was burned a little bit across her first two knuckles. They cut the dead skin off, gooped her finger with burn cream and wrapped it expertly. She has been really good and happy since then. We have been re-wrapping her finger each night.

Unfortunately we ran out of the red colored wrap (go utes!) and so her lobster claw has since changed to the purple people eater. She is still crawling and playing and grabbing things like a pro. A few more days of the bandage and she'll be on her way. I'm sorry that happened to you little baby. I think you can still be a concert pianist or anything you want. Oh. And she had her first lollipop.

Tagged

2008-11-10T09:40:00.002-07:00

8 TV shows I love to watch
1. Jeopardy
2. Law and Order
3. Medium
4. Super Nanny
5. Cash Cab
6. The Cosby Show
7. Iron Chef
8. Project Runway/Top Design/Top Chef-almost any Bravo Reality show...
*We just canceled our cable a few days ago, so I am going through withdrawals...

8 places I love to eat
1. Pier 49 Pizza
2. My mom's house
3. Kurt's moms house
4. Anywhere Jana is cooking
5. Golden Hills Cafe
6. Grass Skirt Grill
7. KFC
8.Ernie's Deli

8 things that happened yesterday
1. I read one of my new library books
2. Kurt and I caught up watching the office online
3. Kurt and I went to choir practice and practiced Christmas music. Hooray!
4. Felicity stole toys from other children in Sacrament Meeting
5. Kurt made brownies
6. We had a delicious dinner at my mom's
7. Felicity only wanted corn for dinner
8. The BOYS won at Catch Phrase! Unbelievable.

8 things I look forward to
1. TeriAnn's wedding
2. Nicole's wedding
3. Felicity's birthday
4. Christmas
5. My hair growing out
6.Nursery
7. Meeting the babies to be of good friends
8. Skiing (I promised myself I would go this year)

8 things I love about fall
1. Pumpkin carving
2. Driving in the mountains to see the leaves
3. The crisp air
4. Crunching leaves
5. Pumpkin desserts
6. I'm not as sweaty
7. I don't have to shave my lets as often
8. Listening to Christmas music in my car where no one can get mad at me for it

8 things on my wish list
1. A full night's sleep
2. A stronger, healthier, more fit body
3. To be on Jeopardy
4. To do something great for the world
5. To be debt free
6. A heated mattress pad
7. A new pair of jeans
8. World Peace

8 people I'm tagging
1. Marissa
2. Jill
3. Courtney
4. Momma Kim
5. April
6. Whitney
7. Christie
8. Kristen
*I don't have a good enough memory to know if ya'll have already done this tag. No pressure. Just wanted you to feel popular. Thanks Mary!

Halloween

2008-11-07T09:43:00.002-07:00

Ok-it's been long enough, I guess I can let you in on our Halloween costumes. Some of you might figure it out on your own, but most people needed a little prodding to identify the costumes. I guess not everyone is as familiar with Public Television as I am. In tribute to a very talented soft spoken man I present Kurt as Bob Ross and Felicity as his paint palette. I was a happy little tree but we don't have any pictures of me on our camera. I will get one because I know you will all be waiting in anticipation.

Halloween was super duper fun. I love Halloween. Kurt is getting on board. We actually met at a Halloween party where Kurt wasn't dressed up so I started talking to him and giving him a hard time and little did I know he was falling in love with me and my sexy sailor costume. So...Halloween is extra important around here. Originally I was going to be Bob Ross (I watched him a lot as a kid) and Felicity was going to be a happy little tree (what he always painted) but then I realized that Kurt already had a beard (I know what some of you are thinking, but my facial hair is limited to my upper lip) so I LET him be the main man. Plus I figured Felicity didn't want a cumbersome costume of branches and such so I gave her something a little softer and easier to crawl around in.

We had lots of fun and lots of opportunities to wear our costumes. We went to my parents Halloween party where they were dressed as Little Red Riding Hood and the big bad "Woff" (Woffinden. Get it?) They won third place in their costume contest when my dad graced everyone with a rendition of an old song about "Little red riding hood, you sure are looking good..." You old timers might know that one. We also went to our ward party where I won for scariest pumpkin! Yes! I am very competitive.

On the real Halloween day Felicity and I went to the famous Halloween gig at Omniture with Krista and Devin. VERY impressive. Then we were able to go to Kurt's work, see both families and trick or treat with Cheryl, TeriAnn, Tom and cousins to be Max and Luke. Max would get Felicity a piece of candy at each house and put it in her pumpkin for her. How cute.

I really didn't mean to write so much, just wanted to post the obligatory picture, but I can't help it I LOVE HALLOWEEN!

Pillow Perm

2008-11-04T11:25:00.003-07:00

Good Morning Felicity. You are a crazy haired girl.

Double Digits

2008-10-29T09:50:00.006-06:00

Ten Months, Baby! Isn't she huge?
Trying to crawl off of the chair of course...

This is what her face looked like when she saw a dog
on TV during our shoot.
She also started making her "woof" sound.

Of course she had to crawl over and check out the clip of

Beverly Hills Chihuahua.

This is her removing the hat that was planned f

or this months photo shoot.

I knew it wouldn't last long so I also gave her a ponytail. Yeah!

This adorable hat was made by Felicity's Great Grandma Terry. She actually wears it when she's in a better mood. Time for a nap, child?

Felicity is 10 months old and growing like a weed. Or a zucchini, whichever grows faster. She does so many new things now! She knows how to clap and does it all of the time. It is her first and best trick so far. If you say the word clap she will usually do it. You don't even have to do it yourself to show her! And she claps when people clap on TV. She is also starting to be interested in dogs. She makes a "woof" sound when she sees a dog. It's pretty cute. My least favorite thing is that lately she REFUSES to let someone change her diaper. She flips over and tries to crawl away. This new behavior led to the messiest poop catastrophe so far. You wouldn't think it would be that hard to physically challenge this sweet little girl and get the diaper changed, but she is strong and stubborn! She also hates getting into her car seat lately. Also not fun. Felicity has a new tooth on top so she is on her way to more chewing which I'm sure she's happy about. Yeah Felicity you are growing up so fast! (clapping...)

It's all happening at the zoo...

2008-10-21T16:32:00.004-06:00

This was the first picture Kurt saw of our trip to the Zoo and of course he had to make fun of both Felicity and I. What can I say, my hair is in a pony and Felicity is a silly girl. At this point her head was getting wobbly and she was starting to fall asleep.
My little blue eyed babe-looks like she doesn't belong to me...
She loved the "big" animals and made lots of excited noises throughout the day.
She also was bouncing and trying to "dance" in her carrier.

Kurt's sister Christie and Addison. As far as being great friends to us-they sure measure up.
Uncle Seth and uncle Bryan took "the babies" on the carousel.

Felicity was riding a panda and she had lots of fun!
I don't know what little critter Felicity was checking out here-but I loved putting her down and letting her check things out. We had lots of fun at the zoo and it really blew me away how big she is getting. I can't believe I have a child big enough to sincerely enjoy animals and going on "a ride". Thanks for the invite Radmalls-we had a great day!

Vroom Vroom. . .

2008-10-14T19:25:00.003-06:00

Felicity would like to thank Sam for lending her his special toy which she now LOVES. Somebody stop her, she is growing up too fast!

Half Way to Nursery

2008-10-03T12:40:00.004-06:00

Nine months old and she needs a prop to hold still!
Good One Baby.
You've got to look at these 3 pictures in reverse order...

Victory!
I took my hat off mom. You don't control me!
Oh, you think this gray and pinky purple thing is cute? Too Bad!
She looks like a little baker in this picture.
Using the "6" upside down. We are resourceful... and I couldnt find the colored pencils.

Her Shaggy "do"

Well-Felicity is 9 months old (9 and 1/2 now). She is a crazy girl. She eats garlic (see below), is starting to do a bouncy dance move, is getting a mullet and MIGHT understand what Da-Da means. She is starting to love other babies and kids and always wants to grab them and clobber them (out of love). She loves fresh peaches which means she understands why her mom starts singing, "It's the most wonderful time of the year" when she sees a beautiful box of red havens. She is too wiggly to make it through a church meeting and doesn't understand "all gone" yet. She is in the 9th percentile for weight and 13th for height so people tell me that she is so "tiny". She is a sweetie and we love her even though she pulls off her darling hats and bows.

Mad Jar Opening Skills

2008-10-02T19:56:00.014-06:00

Bad Breath Baby

I realized that Felicity had been quiet over by the kitchen for a while today and when I went to her I saw her eating chunks of garlic from a jar similar to the one above (I wish I lived by Trader Joes). I had put the groceries on the floor earlier and she had found this jar of garlic I just bought, somehow opened it and was going to town. She had a good amount of garlic in her mouth and stuck to her face and hands. The thing that cracked me up was that she was mad when I took her away from it. Silly baby. Does she love to eat or what? Maybe it will keep the boys away. . .

Utah State Fair

2008-09-25T12:19:00.007-06:00

What does the cow say?
This is the largest sculpture made out of horseshoes.

Fruity.
This was what her face looked like most of the time we were watching the animals.
This is an AWESOME shot of me at the DWR booth. They had a few of these cutouts with the question, "Can you see yourself working here?" Answer. NO. I would probably never hold that bird dead or alive (can't tell in the picture can you?)
On top of the world.
These were handmade pillows with creepy doll heads in the middle of them. Notice the ribbons. hmmm.

I feel like there are so many things that I need to post about, but I'll start with one of my favorite events-the Utah State Fair! This is the third year Kurt and I have gone together. After we went the first time I came home and told my family how much fun it is and I said, "How come you never took me to the fair when I was little?!" Apparently my mom had taken me to the fair at least once with my neighbors the Hick's girls and I don't remember it. Sorry mom. We had lots of fun this year with Felicity. She is pretty young, but she liked the animals and being carried around by her dad. Kurt thinks I like to go just for the food. Could be true. I also like looking at the photography exhibits.His favorite thing is watching the 4H kids show their pigs. Felicity's favorite thing was watching some people snort cocaine at the picnic table next to us. Seriously. Kurt went to buy a drink and while he was gone I looked over and this girl was pushing something around with a business card and then she leaned over with her dollar bill and snorted it. Classy. Other than that it was a wholesome family event.

Fond Memories

2008-09-22T21:37:00.006-06:00

Yankee Stadium, we will miss you. Thanks for the memories.

Grove Creek

2008-09-19T08:24:00.012-06:00

Last weekend, I hiked a portion of Grove Creek with family and friends. We had a great time. The first portion of the hike was kind of steep, but it came with some great views. The hike passes a couple of waterfalls about two miles in. That's where we turned around. All in all, the hike took about 2 1/2 or 3 hours.

Dad, cousin Nick, uncle Doug, some weirdy, neighbor Ernesto, friend Jake, and the bros - Seth and Bryan (my father-in-law Mike took the picture)

Felicity Laughing (grunting)

2008-09-11T08:42:00.002-06:00

To the top

2008-08-23T10:25:00.005-06:00

Here are some pictures from the Mt. Timpanogos hike last Saturday. The hike kicked my butt and left me just slightly gimpy...but I made it to the top. Enjoy!

The fast way down

Emerald Lake

Crawling

2008-08-21T13:10:00.001-06:00

Crazy 8's

2008-08-21T12:40:00.005-06:00

I can see up your nose Felicity...

Unfortunately Felicity is out of new hats to wear, so this brown flower clip will have to do.

I'm so happy that her crazy fluffy hair is growing!

This contraption is a life saver! She loves it.

Something about this picture makes me laugh. She just looks so chubby and lazy or something...

It's true-Felicity is eight months old. We are so proud of her and her many accomplishments. She loves baby food and even eats the pureed meat now. Ew. She sits up and crawls and can go back and forth between the two. She thinks she can pull up on the furniture but she doesn't have it quite down yet. She is sleeping in longer chunks and loves her new bedtime. She is still crazy about her dad and is always looking around for him. She has two teeth and more on the way. We had to put her mattress down lower because she pulled up on her crib in the middle of the night and it was only up to her mid-section-oops. I'm glad she didn't fall out. She likes other babies and kids and always wants to play. She can sit in a restaurant high chair and the shopping cart without her car seat. Happy 8 months Flick!

Crawling for Carbs...

2008-08-13T09:25:00.003-06:00

Felicity with Aunt Cindy
Uncle Seth, Addison and Grandma Radmall (feeding the little birdie)
Hanging with the family at Ryan and Kendra's beautiful reception.
Crazy people
Our little shiny faced family.

A quick update about things. . .
-Felicity got her first tooth a few weeks ago and I think she is in the process of cutting the next door neighbor tooth (or toofie as I call it.) I am excited for her since she seems to be a born eater, chewing will be a big step. Unfortunately with her new triangular dragon tooth she bit my finger so hard that I cried. Yes-it really hurt that badly.
-Felicity is crawling! She has been scooting backwards for a while but now she is in forward motion. We'll have to post a video soon. Her best crawling has been towards her daddy and towards a roll. She goes crazy for bread-so we thought a soft dinner roll would be great motivation. She is trying to figure out how to feed herself those small pieces of bread, but for now she is my little birdie and I feed her, but I seriously have to watch my fingers. It really reminds me of feeding an animal...
-Felicity now has a bedtime routine and goes to bed at 8! It is nice to have some consistency and time alone with the hubby. Which reminds me...
-I no longer work in the evening at Target! Yeah! I still love target but I am actually VERY glad to be able to stay home in the evenings now. Thanks to Kurt for working so hard for our family to make this possible.
-We are enjoying the end of the summer and had barbecues with some friends from our ward and one with Kurt's friend from work. It's nice to have time to socialize! Kurt's cousin Ryan got married a couple weeks ago to the beautiful Kendra and we had a nice weekend at the dinner, wedding and reception. They are the new owners of our coffee table-which I think was originally Kurt's grandmas. We got rid of it so that Felicity could have more room to play (and so that we would stop eating in front of the TV and piling the table with heaps of crap)
-Kurt is going to hike Timp this Saturday with friends, so if any of you are crazy and like pain, feel free to join the group. I will not be there although I have hiked it once before. It really is a beautiful/difficult hike.
-I have been dealing with some weird health issues and my least favorite at the moment is hives! I have been having hives for the past couple of weeks almost every day. We think they could be a reaction to an antibiotic I was taking which means that they should be over in a week or so. I have been having to take benadryl which wipes me out and makes me a drugged out zombie. Poor baby, she has been doing a lot of hanging around the house and entertaining herself (which is easier now that she can sit up and crawl.) If you have any secret home remedies for hives, let me know! I am the itchiest girl around.

Big people food? I want it!

2008-07-28T22:52:00.003-06:00

Lucky # 7

2008-07-21T09:24:00.003-06:00

She loves all electronic devices. All she wanted during this "shoot" was to get the camera.

Stretch it out. 1 2 3 4 . . .
Hold Still!
OK, you can be done.

Felicity is now seven months old. Yes, that means only five more months of pictures with Ted. I promise I will stop sometime. Felicity is so much fun these days! She loves to jabber and has started saying da-da, but we all know it's just because the consonant d is usually acquired sooner than m. I keep telling myself that she loves me the most, but she does love her dad an awful lot. She has been eating baby food and loves the orange stuff, hates the green. Her first fruit experience involved prunes in order to help with another first in her digestive health... We think she is teething but haven't seen anything yet. She loves to gnaw on frozen waffles and bagels.She is very close to sitting up by herself and getting close to crawling. She can scoot backwards and often cruises under the coffee table and under the couch. She keeps backing up until everything but her head has disappeared. She does a new "shy" face while putting her hands up over her forehead. Silly girl. Happy seven months crazy face.

Summer time and the Livin's easy...

2008-07-10T13:18:00.007-06:00

Four Generation Picture with Grandma Black. Gotta love Felicity's face.
Aren't my brothers cute?
Uncle Brandon (and Christie and Addison)-don't move far away from us!
Sister Krista, Devin and Sam.

Felicity and I went to cousin Melissas wedding. She looked beautiful of course!
Felicity hanging out with Grandpa Russ.
Grandpa Radmall came to pick Kurt up for golf and caught Felicity in good morning mood!
About to taste the swing at Grandma Radmalls.
Getting bunny ears from uncle Bryan.

Four Generation with two Grandpa Woffindens.
Cousin Treyanna.
Felicity's second cousins Madison and Avery (caught in their best moment)
Cousin Chanel. Felicity was having so much fun trying to eat her face.
Cousin Latawnya. Those Frasier girls were such great babysitters on our trip. Thanks girls!

We got to spend an afternoon up at Snowbird with my mom's friend Janna. It was BEAUTIFUL!
BFF Marissa was in town! Felicity was glad to catch up with Logan too.
Wii love these babies.
Sorry about the red eye.
Of course Felicity wanted to eat this bag full of candy at the reception.

Wearing her cowgirl outfit and hanging out with Grandma Cheryl in Hobble Creek Canyon.

Happy Fourth! Yes, I was there.
Future black mail picture. She's not too crazy about this new baby food stuff.Snowbird with Grandma Julie. Yes, she can almost fit her whole fist in her mouth.

Sorry about the picture OVERLOAD, but we have been out and about with not much time for blogging. We had a great holiday and have been blessed to spend lots of time with family and friends. Felicity and I flew to CA for our second Thornton wedding and had lots of fun. Thank you Jana and Wes for taking care of us again. We love the Nesers! We also got to see Rischel and Jon and Whitney, Mark and Quin! Even though I don't live near most of my closest friends, it's good to know they're out there. We hope everyone is having a great summer!

Cheesy Peezy

2008-07-07T22:37:00.002-06:00

Nerd bombers? Maybe. In love with mom? Definitely. Happy 4th, folks! Hope yours was as dork-tastic as ours.

Half Way to a Big Party. . .

2008-06-22T11:24:00.004-06:00

Felicity baby is six months old! She is at such a fun age. Newborns are great in their own way, but since Felicity has stopped waking up every two hours and crying all evening she is an even bigger joy!

I love that at this point she is easily entertained by everyday items. I try to keep all surfaces in my house covered in paperwork and clutter so that I can hand her many playthings no matter where we are. She especially loves the readers digest. It is the perfect size for her to hold, rip and chew. Apparently Kurt doesn't want to share so I have to give her the old issues.

So far she doesn't have any teeth (yeah!). She had her earrings changed to tiny hoops. She is eating oatmeal and other cereal like a champ. She now sleeps on her tummy. She can roll both ways. She still needs to work on sitting up by herself and hasn't shown any signs that she is interested in crawling. She has a very grunty laugh and likes to be tickled under her chin and on her legs. Pretty much anywhere she has fat rolls. Her bald spot it getting less noticable and her hair seems to be growing while mine is falling out. We are excited for a fun summer of swimming, being outdoors, wearing sunscreen (there are two whiteys in this family) and celebrating Felicity's blossoming personality! We love this girl.

Stage Mom

2008-06-18T15:38:00.006-06:00

Felicity with Grandma Cheryl

It's true-I'm becoming a stage mom, or a pageant mom or whatever you want to call it. I don't think I will put Felicity in tap lessons or fake eyelashes anytime soon, but you never know.

So here's the thing, Felicity recently competed in the Orem City Summer fest Baby contest! With the help of my sister (who sews, I do not) things turned out great! The theme was babies through the ages and I had the idea to make Felicity into some sort of Elizabethan baby. I bought a dress on clearance and my sister sewed all of the fancy lace and ribbons on. I even found a great broach at Savers (where were Jana's cameos when I needed them?). Along with her beautiful dress she wore a tall white cotton ball wig. When I came up with the idea I found out there really are things you can't buy on the Internet! Shocking. Nobody was selling an old timey wig for a 6 month old. So I had to glue cotton balls to one of Felicity's hats. I love my baby in a wig.

So I decided to enter Felicity in the costume category because I figured it was our best shot for a win. I mean, she's adorable but so are a million other kids. She competed with boys and girls ages 0-36 months.-everyone that wore a costume. And... Drum roll please -we-yes we-got third place! At first I was kind of mad because I am very competitive (staying up until three in the morning trying to win at sorry)-and I wanted 1st place of course. But I realized that third is great! Starting her career with a white ribbon win-it'll boost her confidence but won't go to her head. There were about 40 kids in the costume category and the 1st and 2nd place winners were very cute. First place was a little boy in an aviator costume-cute helmet and jacket. Second place was a girl in a poodle skirt outfit.

I'm pretty sure babies through the ages just wore normal baby stuff-some sort of poop catcher-simple gowns, bonnets maybe . But it was a decent theme and made for some good costumes. Enjoy!

Felicity's First Flight

2008-06-11T14:24:00.008-06:00

Last week we were lucky enough to go to California for my cousin Michelle's wedding. It was Felicity's first trip and we were a little nervous but everything was great! She was an angel except for the flight home when she left a puddle of poop on her dad's lap. Ha! While we were there it was my birthday, my mom's birthday and our 2 year anniversary, so we decided to celebrate with some fun California activites. Sorry these pictures are so out of order!

A picture of the Thornton Sisters at the temple. Beautiful huh? The colors where gray and light pink. Very pretty. I don't have more pictures of the wedding because we all count on Jenn to take care of that. Thanks for the picture Jenn and congrats Michelle!

Felicity's first time at the beach!

It was a little bright for her.

Lovely Jana and I at Knotts Berry Farm! This is where I wanted to go for my birthday treat. My mom was kind enough to watch Felicity all day (on her birthday too) so that we could play! Of course I love Felicity but it was nice to have a day off to act like a child myself!
On the "Supreme Scream" with my two brothers and Tara. We love this ride!
Brett and Tara holding hands on he swings while I am pretending to be Peter Pan...
This is how sad Jana and I were after we got talked into going on this water ride.
The whole group!

On my birthday we watched the Padres beat the Nationals.

Another MLB Stadium checked off the list!

So many people were doting on Felicity at the game. I think it's because babies are not as common as they are say, where we live...

Our Diego Dogs. Mustard, Salsa and Cabbage. Delicious!

We had a fun B-day party that night at Jana's and my other BFF Rischel was able to come and meet Felicity! What a great day. I got my hair cut, went to the game, had yummy barbeque and and strawberry cake and got to spend time with some of my favorite people. We had a wonderful trip and we couldn't have done it without the generosity of others. Thanks to my parents for helping us get there and for babysitting and especially thanks to Jana and Wes who let us stay with them AND borrow their car. You guys are the best! We miss California already.

D-Day

2008-06-07T09:40:00.006-06:00

D-Day Landing - Omaha Beach - June 6, 1944

I served a religious mission in Poland, a country devastated by Nazi invasion. As a result of personal visits to concentration camps and interaction with individuals directly impacted by this evil, I have an added admiration/respect/appreciation for events that contributed to the fall of Hitler. Check out these links:

http://www.army.mil/d-day/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D-Day

http://www.britannica.com/dday

Cinco Meses

2008-05-21T16:44:00.011-06:00

This hat reminds me of the nursery rhyme

Wee Willie Winky.

Yes, I handed the book to her. No, she can't read yet OR make the animal sounds.

Do you think I should clean my counter before taking a picture? Hello.

Her cutest bib in honor of her progression towards solid food.
Falling over. Please Felicity, don't fart on us!

My little elf.

Another month, another nakie picture with ted the turtle. I can't believe Felicity is 5 months old! Well, actually I can. They say that the years go fast and the days can be very slow. True sometimes, right? I don't know if any of you listen to country music (I know, I know...) but there is a good song out now called "You're gonna miss this". The basic message is: don't try to fast forward life because believe it or not, you're going to miss what you're experiencing right now. Even though things can be tough and it's hard to be patient sometimes, I know I'm going to miss these first few months of bonding with my little spazoid.

I included such a large quantity of pictures for my sweet sister who has voluntarily quarantined her family in order to keep Felicity safe from the chicken pox. Miss you guys.

Felicity has tried rice cereal. I think maybe a drop or two actually made it to her stomach. We will keep practicing. I'm excited for her to expand her horizons. What a foodie.

So long for now...

2008-05-18T09:01:00.007-06:00

They'll break ya hawt, kid.

Well, give us some time, and we'll be all right. After all, these are the dog days!

Big Girls

2008-05-16T17:01:00.004-06:00

Big girls don't cry... Well, Felicity still cries of course but she is growing up and doing lots of big girl things.

She sleeps without being swaddled! It's been kind of rough, but we didn't want to swaddle her forever and she was leaving little sweaty rings on her crib sheet around her head, so we decided to to help her break her addiction before summer.

She has been rolling over once in a while. Not a consistent tumbler though.

She has tried out the bumbo chair and the exer-saucer loaned to us by Auntie Krista. She really likes it!

She hung out with her cousin Addison and had actual interaction with another kid! Addison kept trying to hand Felicity toys and saying UH OH when her binky dropped. It was pretty cute.

Speaking of big girls-I had a great mothers day! I got peanut butter pancakes in bed (helping me stay big...) and I got what I asked for which was the PED EGG. I also got planters that go on the balcony so I can grow flowers and maybe herbs (more cooking disasters coming up...) Thanks honey. I really enjoyed mothers day and the chance to honor motherhood. I hope you all had a good day too!

Pick 6

2008-05-12T21:24:00.002-06:00

That's the same number of wins as another team I know of...

party of 5

2008-05-10T09:07:00.008-06:00

Welcome to Utah.

A thing of beauty

4 sure

2008-05-03T00:25:00.003-06:00

L.A., here we come.

Culinary Aspirations

2008-04-30T16:15:00.008-06:00

One of my new goals is to cook dinner once a week. I know it doesn't sound very ambitious, but we get to eat at our parents on Sundays, I work 2 or 3 nights a week, Kurt cooks or we eat frozen pizza. Anyway-I was having a craving so I decided today was my day to cook (even though Kurt isn't crazy about tuna casserole, he's a good sport and it's one of my favorites). So Felicity and I put on some music and started to cook.We had some trouble along the way.

My "tuna drainer" got stuck in the can and it literally took me 10 minutes to get it out.

When I turned on the burner to cook the pasta, there was some chunk of food underneath and it was smoking and started on fire. It's kind of hard to deal with cooking catastrophes when you have a 12 lb baby strapped to you.

After we got things figured out and changed burners we were doing fine. Things were looking yummy-Alfredo sauce and herbs and breadcrumbs on top. We stuck it under the broiler and then...accidentally got distracted putting some laundry in.

I haven't had one of those TV cooking experiences where black smoke pours out of the oven. Until today.

I scooped off the burnt top and I think it's still delicious, but Kurt has yet to try it. No matter his verdict, this is our home cooked meal for the week seeing that I work the next three nights in a row. Sorry honey.

3 Down...

2008-04-28T22:25:00.001-06:00

Some recent cute pictures...

2008-04-25T16:24:00.007-06:00

We had a fun lunch with our good friends Laurel and Isabel! Laurel-I stole some of your pictures.

The armpit seat...

This is the princess crown from Easter that Grandma Julie gave us. Love this picture!

Ha!

I know these ones are blurry, but her smile is so cute!

This is a darling outfit that Felicity got from Aunt Mikel and the Hansen Family.We love the shoes too!

This is the baby swing at our complex. I put her in it for a few minutes whenever we go to get the mail. Even though the pictures don't prove it, I promise she likes it!

Bejeweled

2008-04-23T13:32:00.009-06:00

This is one of my new favorite shirts. I would get one for you Marissa

if they had one in your size. You are my original peanut.

Our little peanut got her ears pierced today! I know not everyone agrees with that, but I think it's darling and now she doesn't have to wear a bow everywhere-people will know she is a girl for sure. Plus-I don't have to listen to her whine about getting her ears pierced for 12 years or so. Those are my arguments-think what you may. Kurt agreed to the idea as long as he didn't have to be there. I can understand that. Felicity did great! She cried for about 1 minute and then she was back to smiling!

4 Months!

2008-04-22T14:34:00.007-06:00

Felicity is four months old! I don't think anyone is as obsessed about her pictures and her new accomplishments as we are, but just in case:

-Felicity rolled over from her stomach to her back 4 times in one day. She has only done it that one day but I'm sure she will figure it out again. It was during conference so maybe she was"moved by the word". Kurt missed it the first time because he was resting his eyelids.

-Felicity is now capable of being entertained by an object besides her binky. She likes toys! She likes to grab on to her baby chain and rattle. She does hit herself in the face and throw things on accident. She also likes to grab my fingers and put them in her mouth.

-Felicity is growing some new hair (not in the back-she still has a huge bald spot with a dark "soul patch" below it.) Her hair is wispy and wacky. She has some hair that is pretty long and a new layer underneath that looks like a buzz cut.

-Felicity is in the 80th percentile for height, 22nd for weight and 44th for her head size. She now weighs 12 lbs 8 oz. Yowzer.

14

2008-04-21T22:45:00.004-06:00

Two down...

Go Jazz, Go!

2008-04-19T22:57:00.001-06:00

One down, 15 to go.

Bonjour!

2008-04-19T15:20:00.002-06:00

Things I'd like to do in this life...

2008-04-18T13:20:00.002-06:00

I wrote these down on a scrap of paper when I was working at Gart Sports and I've carried them in my planner for the past few years. I haven't looked at them in a while but I'm glad that I have accomplished #'s 12 and 13. Thanks for the tag Rissy.

In no particular order...

1. Be a contestant on Jeopardy ( I was invited to try out in college. I didn't make it.)
2. Sing the Star Spangled Banner at some sporting event (It might have to be t-ball)
3. Complete a triathlon (I don't run or bike...)
4. Get a passport and use it at least once
5. Be in a pageant (I know, I'm not a pageant girl but I really wanted to give an intelligent answer. My days for this are over I'm afraid. Not the intelligent answers, just the possibility of a pageant. I was thinking of doing it but then I got a husband instead.)
6. Speak Spanish Fluently ( I took AP in high school but I was never fluent.)
7. Be published-children's books or poems.
8.Teach college
9. Teach seminary
10. Go bungee jumping (I've already been skydiving)
11. Serve a mission or two with Kurt
12. Get Married-check
13. Have children -one down 6 or 7 to go
14. Swim the English Channel (If you know anything about swimming, you know this is close to impossible-but hey, you never know, I could start exercising again someday)
15. Be on The Amazing Race. I used to love that show and I want to go on it with Marissa, but I don't think our families can do without us now.

One of Felicity's Best Friends

2008-04-16T16:59:00.004-06:00

I just wanted to post about a lovely girl I know named Tara. She is my brother Brett's girlfriend and she is a sweet and talented girl. She has a knack for winning ticket to ride and soothing fussy Felicity. She seriously has the magic touch! She graduated from Paul Mitchell and she is very talented and helpful when it comes to our hairstyling needs. Just wanted to say thanks Tara for being such a fun friend to have around! (Oh yeah, we love that Brett guy too!)

Bag Tag:Before and After

2008-04-15T16:37:00.008-06:00

If you know me, you probably know that I usually have a lot of junk in my purse. I take trash from people and put it in my purse, gum wrappers etc. Things accumulate fast!

My current bag: fake brown leather from Target. I really like this bag, nice and big!

Contents:
wallet
broken sunglasses
rubber bands and bobby pins that I don't need anymore
gloves
assorted jewelry
7 lip products
a 3D fish puzzle (keeps Kurt entertained in church)
$1.25 in change
My jump drive
bandaids and neosporin
2 lotions
floss
kleenex
tylenol
3 different "tummy" medicines
gum
7 pens
pad of paper
v.t. assignments
jones soda candies
a licorice caramel (yum!)
on the right is a big pile of trash

Thanks Laurel. This has helped me to clean out my purse. I have been wanting to find a new bag that I can use as a diaper bag and purse. Until I find one that I really like, I'm going to try to use this one as both since it is pretty big. We'll see. Here's the new pic.

Diapers and supplies

Nursing cover

Extra outfit for our little regurgitator

lotion

still broken sunglasses

1 pen

same lip stuff and edibles

floss

Spit up rag
tummy meds

kleenex

wallet

Sorry that I'm laggin' on the taggin' Marissa Peanut darling. I will do your tag I just have to think about it a little more.

Mission accomplished

2008-04-12T18:16:00.002-06:00

Brandon ran into some unwanted competition in the form of other hunters, but he came away with the prize - his first turkey!

Everything I need to know I learned from Supernanny

2008-04-10T12:39:00.005-06:00

My dad doesn't like to watch Supernanny because he thinks that because of the cameras the kids act differently (worse) than they normally would. Plus, I think it makes him crazy,what with the screaming kids and all (the same reason Kurt won't watch Jon and Kate Plus 8 with me). BUT, I love to watch both of these shows and other ones like them. There is even a supernanny of types for dogs on Animal Planet called "It's me or the dog". Pretty funny.

I like watching supernanny because 1) it makes me feel better about my life 2) I am really interested in child psychology, classroom management and discipline. Whether it's after a hard day teaching or dealing with a certain newborn I know, watching Supernanny makes me feel better that I can either send 26 kids home to their parents or that I only have 1 of my own so far. I try not to be judgemental because I truly believe that every mom is doing their best and every kid is different and I'm not there yet so I don't know how hard it is. Now that I'm working at Target in the evening I get to people watch a little bit and I see lots of things that make me think, "Ooh, Supernanny wouldn't like this..." I guess she has become the voice in my head a little bit. Ok, so I am young and naive and maybe I know nothing about discipline but I pray that my family won't ever be needing the services of Jo Frost.

These are things that I have learned from my education, experiences and from Supernanny...

1) Kids have got to know that you mean what you say. Do not make empty threats! Once they figure out that you have forgotten about a consequence, they know for next time that they won't really be punished. Make consequences logical and appropriate to the situation. If you "threaten" to take away 5 minutes of computer time, you better follow through or they will start to walk all over you.

2) When kids get upset and hysterical about consequences or punishments, do not try to talk to them! If you are putting them in time out, put them there without saying anything. They know the consequence and they are irrational so there is no point in talking to them. Kids want to argue with you and get out of things, but if you stay calm and cool and stick with the predetermined consequence they will know that you mean business. During a training I went to for managing aggressive students successfully (MASS) they said that there are two things undermining discipline in the classroom; too much talking, and too much emotion on the teachers part.

If you have seen supernanny, you have seen parents putting their kids in a timeout spot or in their beds over and over and over (sometimes for hours). This may seem crazy and cruel but if you do it right and stick with what you said, staying calm and quiet and avoiding arguing they will eventually know that you mean business and that will be the last time you have to spend so long getting them in time out. I love to see kids finally break and sit quietly and apologize. Man, I love it! It's hard to see kids freak out for so long, but it really is for the best. If you are going to use time out it's recommended that the child sits in time out for as many minutes as they are years old.

3)When you are talking to kids about rules and consequences, get down on their level and look them in the eye. Talk in a calm voice and explain to them why they were put in time out. Give them a hug and tell them that you love them (if they are your own)after they are done. D&C 121:43, right?

4) Kids often act out because they are bored! Of course kids are going to start bugging their siblings for entertainments sake if there is nothing else to do. Teach kids how to go about choosing an activity and do things with them like art projects and easy games. You'll have fun too.

I'm sure not everyone loves JoJo or these tidbits I've shared, but I just wanted to put it out there because it's fascinating to me! I think I would like to be some sort of behavior specialist. I guess I better wait and see how things turn out with my own kids, huh? Now, if only I knew anything about babies...

Julian Beever

2008-04-08T22:44:00.011-06:00

How cool are these?! Some of you may have seen this guy's work before, but I was just introduced to it for the first time today? You really have to see these shots from another angle to believe that they are not 3-D images.

"Julian Beever is an English artist who's famous for his art on the pavement of England, France, Germany, USA, Australia and Belgium . Beever gives to his drawings an amazing 3D illusion."

Wild Turkeys

2008-04-05T10:45:00.019-06:00

Apparently two of Kelli's very close friends went camping with their husbands this weekend (you know who you are), and I wasn't invited. I'm not one to be content within the city limits, especially when friends are off taking advantage of the beautiful outdoors. So, I invited myself along with my brother-in-law to scope out the wild turkey scene in Provo Canyon. He has a turkey tag, and the hunt starts next weekend. I'll let the pictures help me tell the story.

Brandon got some tips about where we should go, and here is some evidence that we were in the right place.

How about this? We must be in the right place.

It's official - right place. We heard a Tom calling, and Brandon got out his turkey call for a little chit chat. It was pretty entertaining.

Here's Brandon picking out his hiding spot for next Saturday.

We checked out another spot in the canyon that was also recommended. Do you see what I see? Look closely. Click on the picture to get a better look.

Hey there, Tom. Nice beard.

This guy was roosting up in this tree, and he wasn't about to leave on our account. The rest of these pictures are just scenic shots from the trip. Eat your hearts out!