she totally has an outie :)
here's the entire gallery if you care to take a look.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
baby pepper
my friend meghan took these shots of pepper a day shy of her 3 week mark. here's a few of my faves...
she totally has an outie :)
here's the entire gallery if you care to take a look.
she totally has an outie :)
here's the entire gallery if you care to take a look.
Friday, April 15, 2011
squished boys
my sister hailey pointed out to me that i haven't posted very many pictures of my kids lately. so here's a few of the boys eating apple jacks (don't judge) and pineapple for dinner after an afternoon at the pool in march. they love to sit on these high bar stools at the counter just off of our kitchen. we only have two stools and all three of them squish onto both of them for almost every meal. its one of my most favorite sights ever...
Saturday, April 2, 2011
a better day than yesterday....
i woke up earlier than usual, started some laundry and did a little cleaning around the house.
watched some general conference.
went with some awesome friends to get pedicures and lunch.
wrote some thank you notes for baby girl gifts while watching some more conference.
but this i think made my day: after the second session of conference i was getting ready to run some errands when joel runs in the house and asks if he can go to the pool because some of his friends were going. i told him it was too cold, plus dad was was taking a nap and i had to go to costco. "sorry kiddo, there's no one to take you to the pool right now." he ran away for a minute and then came back holding a piece of paper and a pen. "okay mom, what are you getting at costco?" i started naming a couple things and he started making a list for me. it was completely adorable, tickled my funny bone, and made me totally giddy with happiness. here's my costco shopping list by joel:
p.s. we call broccoli "trees" in our fam, just in case you were wondering...
i'm so grateful that we can wake up every day and be a little better than the last day. and thanks for all your encouraging and justifying comments.... a girl needs to feel like she's not the devil sometimes.
watched some general conference.
went with some awesome friends to get pedicures and lunch.
wrote some thank you notes for baby girl gifts while watching some more conference.
but this i think made my day: after the second session of conference i was getting ready to run some errands when joel runs in the house and asks if he can go to the pool because some of his friends were going. i told him it was too cold, plus dad was was taking a nap and i had to go to costco. "sorry kiddo, there's no one to take you to the pool right now." he ran away for a minute and then came back holding a piece of paper and a pen. "okay mom, what are you getting at costco?" i started naming a couple things and he started making a list for me. it was completely adorable, tickled my funny bone, and made me totally giddy with happiness. here's my costco shopping list by joel:
p.s. we call broccoli "trees" in our fam, just in case you were wondering...
i'm so grateful that we can wake up every day and be a little better than the last day. and thanks for all your encouraging and justifying comments.... a girl needs to feel like she's not the devil sometimes.
Friday, April 1, 2011
on a roll
a bad roll that is...
i haven't had the best day.
yelled at my kids a lot (they haven't been on their best behavior either).
called out a lady on craiglist for falsely advertising a baby bouncer i was trying to buy from her.
grumbled and complained to ben about the little girl that lives at our apartment complex who is always bossing my kids around.
and last but not least, i said something pretty rude to this guy who lives in our complex. this man, and older guy, lives in the apartment right next to the spa at our pool, so he often comes out and complains about the kids being too loud or other such nonsense. and EVERY SINGLE TIME i have a conversation with him, i'm not exaggerating here, he gives me at LEAST one piece of unsolicited advice about how to parent my children. here's our conversation today:
man: "wow, those kids sure don't mind the cold water."
me: "nope." (i always try to keep it brief with him hoping he'll get the hint... no such luck)
man: "you know i've lived here 5 years and i have the only pool side apartment in the whole place."
me: i just kind of nod. uh huh. i'm thinking, here it comes....
man: "you know you should really make sure that those kids don't jump into the spa or they could crack their heads open..." (are you kidding me? do you think i'm an idiot and let my kids jump into the spa?)
me: "i can take care of my children on my own, thank you."
he kind of just looked at me stunned and then hobbled off after a minute. why whitney? why? why couldn't i just say, "thanks, i appreciate your concern for my kids." or "yes, they already know they aren't allowed to jump in the spa, but thanks for looking out for them" but no, i couldn't do it...
do you ever feel like you've become the worst version of yourself? i just feel so angry and confrontational today. i think i just need to go to bed and start over tomorrow. and thank you one and all for listening to my negative rant.
i haven't had the best day.
yelled at my kids a lot (they haven't been on their best behavior either).
called out a lady on craiglist for falsely advertising a baby bouncer i was trying to buy from her.
grumbled and complained to ben about the little girl that lives at our apartment complex who is always bossing my kids around.
and last but not least, i said something pretty rude to this guy who lives in our complex. this man, and older guy, lives in the apartment right next to the spa at our pool, so he often comes out and complains about the kids being too loud or other such nonsense. and EVERY SINGLE TIME i have a conversation with him, i'm not exaggerating here, he gives me at LEAST one piece of unsolicited advice about how to parent my children. here's our conversation today:
man: "wow, those kids sure don't mind the cold water."
me: "nope." (i always try to keep it brief with him hoping he'll get the hint... no such luck)
man: "you know i've lived here 5 years and i have the only pool side apartment in the whole place."
me: i just kind of nod. uh huh. i'm thinking, here it comes....
man: "you know you should really make sure that those kids don't jump into the spa or they could crack their heads open..." (are you kidding me? do you think i'm an idiot and let my kids jump into the spa?)
me: "i can take care of my children on my own, thank you."
he kind of just looked at me stunned and then hobbled off after a minute. why whitney? why? why couldn't i just say, "thanks, i appreciate your concern for my kids." or "yes, they already know they aren't allowed to jump in the spa, but thanks for looking out for them" but no, i couldn't do it...
do you ever feel like you've become the worst version of yourself? i just feel so angry and confrontational today. i think i just need to go to bed and start over tomorrow. and thank you one and all for listening to my negative rant.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
convo with joel
joel: i can't wait for april 28th.
me: why because the baby will be here?
joel: ya, but especially because when the baby comes out of your tummy, we won't have to go to church.
me: ummmm... you still have to go to church. mommy and the baby will stay home for a couple weeks, but you guys and daddy will still go.
joel: what?! that's not fair! i want to stay home from church like lindsay young and her baby.
me: well, when you push a baby out of your tummy, like mommy and lindsay, i'll let you stay home from church...
joel: okay.
apparently he thought he won. so naive.
me: why because the baby will be here?
joel: ya, but especially because when the baby comes out of your tummy, we won't have to go to church.
me: ummmm... you still have to go to church. mommy and the baby will stay home for a couple weeks, but you guys and daddy will still go.
joel: what?! that's not fair! i want to stay home from church like lindsay young and her baby.
me: well, when you push a baby out of your tummy, like mommy and lindsay, i'll let you stay home from church...
joel: okay.
apparently he thought he won. so naive.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
A Miracle Story by Ben
My educational/research experience in physics trained me to be a critical thinker. I see a result and I immediately question it in my mind. Let's be honest, nothing is ever completely correct after the first try.
*Disclaimer: I had a little too much fun with the links on this post.
This repetitive mental exercise has made it a bit more difficult for me in my post-collegiate adulthood to be quick to believe some of those fantastic stories that are so commonly shared in the Mormon culture. You know: the most-likely-embellished or makes-you-think-they-are-embellished miracle stories of the chicken-soup-for-the-soul kind (I'm sorry Mom - I had to - but this really does end well).
Don't misunderstand. I'm really not a cynical person and I do want to believe other people and their crazy-awesome stories, but my first reaction is mostly that of skepticism.
Apparently, I have been missing the point (we'll get to that).
I submit to you the photographic evidence of artifact #1
This is a very special journal to me. It has the journal entries of Whit and I immediately after the birth of our first son, the study notes from my experiences as a teacher at the LDS missionary training center, my struggles with school work in physics, and...oh, yeah, it's been M.I.A for the past five years (last journal entry was on the 26th of February 2006).
I lost this journal the day of a conference at the Provo Tabernacle (the 26th) and I remember being so distraught that it was lost that I called the building managers several times to recover the lost journal and even went there physically to look at the lost and found and never was able to find it. I remember kneeling down in very genuine and sincere prayer to ask for its safe return because it meant so much to me. Since my loss of this journal I have, even recently, had several moments of sadness recalling the many important things that were written therein and thinking "man, I really wish I could have that journal back."
On the 11th of December some fantastic LDS service missionaries were hosting a concert (not originally scheduled for that shift, by the way). For some reason when they arrived at the building the wife felt a real urgency to go through the Lost and Found items. She happened upon my journal, which apparently had been found years later, and some other important objects belonging to other people. She thought she would just take all this stuff home and sort through it there, which she had never previously done. The following Friday the Provo Tabernacle burned as well as everything inside it. All that was left were the exterior walls.
She was able to find and contact my parents and then me. I'm not going to try and describe how grateful I feel to have that journal back. I have those precious moments for me and my posterity because an LDS service missionary decided to act on her feelings and because I have a Father in Heaven who knows how much those written words mean to me and how much they may help me or even others down the road.
I realize that this was all for me. Sure, I hope that this brings other people some hope and maybe even some of that warm fuzzy feeling (that expression always sounds so cheesy to me, but look at me, I'm still using it) that we all get at first when we hear these miracle stories. Maybe it will even help increase your faith in God. But really, in the end, the purpose of this experience was to teach Ben something about Ben and his Father's love for him.
Whether or not you believe in God or whether or not you look at this like I usually would is really irrelevant. I'm sharing it because I believe it was a real miracle.
And because this is my blog :)
*Disclaimer: I had a little too much fun with the links on this post.
This repetitive mental exercise has made it a bit more difficult for me in my post-collegiate adulthood to be quick to believe some of those fantastic stories that are so commonly shared in the Mormon culture. You know: the most-likely-embellished or makes-you-think-they-are-embellished miracle stories of the chicken-soup-for-the-soul kind (I'm sorry Mom - I had to - but this really does end well).
Don't misunderstand. I'm really not a cynical person and I do want to believe other people and their crazy-awesome stories, but my first reaction is mostly that of skepticism.
Apparently, I have been missing the point (we'll get to that).
I submit to you the photographic evidence of artifact #1
This is a very special journal to me. It has the journal entries of Whit and I immediately after the birth of our first son, the study notes from my experiences as a teacher at the LDS missionary training center, my struggles with school work in physics, and...oh, yeah, it's been M.I.A for the past five years (last journal entry was on the 26th of February 2006).
I lost this journal the day of a conference at the Provo Tabernacle (the 26th) and I remember being so distraught that it was lost that I called the building managers several times to recover the lost journal and even went there physically to look at the lost and found and never was able to find it. I remember kneeling down in very genuine and sincere prayer to ask for its safe return because it meant so much to me. Since my loss of this journal I have, even recently, had several moments of sadness recalling the many important things that were written therein and thinking "man, I really wish I could have that journal back."
On the 11th of December some fantastic LDS service missionaries were hosting a concert (not originally scheduled for that shift, by the way). For some reason when they arrived at the building the wife felt a real urgency to go through the Lost and Found items. She happened upon my journal, which apparently had been found years later, and some other important objects belonging to other people. She thought she would just take all this stuff home and sort through it there, which she had never previously done. The following Friday the Provo Tabernacle burned as well as everything inside it. All that was left were the exterior walls.
She was able to find and contact my parents and then me. I'm not going to try and describe how grateful I feel to have that journal back. I have those precious moments for me and my posterity because an LDS service missionary decided to act on her feelings and because I have a Father in Heaven who knows how much those written words mean to me and how much they may help me or even others down the road.
I realize that this was all for me. Sure, I hope that this brings other people some hope and maybe even some of that warm fuzzy feeling (that expression always sounds so cheesy to me, but look at me, I'm still using it) that we all get at first when we hear these miracle stories. Maybe it will even help increase your faith in God. But really, in the end, the purpose of this experience was to teach Ben something about Ben and his Father's love for him.
Whether or not you believe in God or whether or not you look at this like I usually would is really irrelevant. I'm sharing it because I believe it was a real miracle.
And because this is my blog :)
Friday, February 11, 2011
latest projects
my sister in law, kadi, gave me this great idea to cover a canvas in fabric for my bedroom last summer. so i found some fabric that i was in love with and stapled it to a 24x36 canvas and hung it on my wall. voila! ...instant color and fun added to our room.
i recently bought some coordinating fabric to make a few throw pillows for our bed. here's my first completed pillow...
that nightstand on the left side of the bed i painted last spring. my friend, lindsay, literally had to hold my hand while i picked out paint and primer and handles and then painted it all. i totally love the way it turned out. here's how it all looks together (ollie saw me taking pictures and just had to hop in)...
and here's ollie because he's so cute...
i recently bought some coordinating fabric to make a few throw pillows for our bed. here's my first completed pillow...
that nightstand on the left side of the bed i painted last spring. my friend, lindsay, literally had to hold my hand while i picked out paint and primer and handles and then painted it all. i totally love the way it turned out. here's how it all looks together (ollie saw me taking pictures and just had to hop in)...
and here's ollie because he's so cute...
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
zoolights
we headed up to the oakland zoo the week before christmas to visit the zoolights exhibit. i saw some 2 for 1 tickets on one of those groupon type sites, so i thought we would give it a whirl... we are terrible at getting out and doing fun stuff as a family around the holidays, so i thought if i purchased the tickets, it would actually happen. success!!
there's a train ride that goes around the whole park to look at all the lights, although i was a little annoyed to find out that the tickets to ride the train were NOT included in the tickets to get in the park to see the lights. it was still worth it, though, because the train was a HUGE hit with all 3 boys. so even though we ended up spending more than we anticipated on this activity, i would recommend it, especially if you have crazy train-loving children like mine.
sadly, i didn't take a picture of us on the train, but here's a couple of shots of joel and kadin on the car ride.
there's a train ride that goes around the whole park to look at all the lights, although i was a little annoyed to find out that the tickets to ride the train were NOT included in the tickets to get in the park to see the lights. it was still worth it, though, because the train was a HUGE hit with all 3 boys. so even though we ended up spending more than we anticipated on this activity, i would recommend it, especially if you have crazy train-loving children like mine.
sadly, i didn't take a picture of us on the train, but here's a couple of shots of joel and kadin on the car ride.
look what i did!
for some reason, when any project i do involves wood and paint, i get really proud of myself when it's actually completed. here's a cheap DIY that i just finished today... just in time to put away with all the rest of my christmas decorations. sad. but i will be so excited to pull it out next year! isn't it cute?! (no i didn't come up with the idea myself... i'm a shameless copier)
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