Saturday, September 24, 2011

warning: contains belly

If you have a deeply instilled fear of outie belly buttons, which you definitely should, the best thing you can do to protect yourself is to be informed. Do yourself a favor and learn all you can so that you can avoid falling victim to this vicious malady. Know the signs and the symptoms and if you suspect you have a case of it in beginning or progressive stages I suggest you seek professional help immediately. To help educate you I have provided an example of an early stage of outie belly button, immediately before it reaches the point of exploding forth from its normal confines:


Saved your life. You’re welcome.

If anyone has been offended by this public message then please note that I am pretty darn pregnant, thus my belly has become more of a thing than a personal part of my body. This is evident by the number of strangers that now have the strong urge to touch it. Actually I have to be honest and say I’m happy to report I haven’t been fondled unpleasantly yet. I was only really belly rubbed on one occasion recently by a few people and the only one of them wasn’t a very close friend was a bit intoxicated, so I forgave his temporary lapse in judgment. But for the most part I don’t think I’m going to hesitate in telling anyone, even the littlest of all little old ladies, to take a step back, son. I’ve been practicing my “don’t touch my belleh!” karate chop. It’s on.

Speaking of food [seriously, I can take any conversation and turn it into being about food, it’s all I want to think about], here are some awesome combinations of flavors that my mouth has been enjoying: Salt and milk chocolate

  • Chocolate and sharp cheese
  • Cheese and honey
  • Cheese and apples
  • Apples and peanut butter
  • Peanut butter and chocolate
  • Salted caramel hot chocolate

I tried to make that go perfectly full circle but then I decided the real message I wanted to get across was this: food is AMAZING. The end.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

pocket's pockets


a little while ago i made a list of twenty goals i wanted to accomplished by the time i turned 20. some of them are finished, some almost finished, some untouched, and a few are under construction or well on their way to being done. a few of my goals were interrelated, like making a website and starting an etsy shop. well, i've finally found some time to start putting those two things together, with a lot of help and encouragement from craig.

last week i made an etsy account. YES! it's nothing close to being a real shop yet but i feel great finally  getting it into the cyber-world with the user name craig and i picked out, "pocket's pockets." pocket is a nickname/user name that i've been using for years now, and my pockets are where i keep my treasures that i want to share with others. craig promises me it's cute and i believe him.

through craig's classes and extra reading he's learning how to put a website together from scratch and he's been working on creating an online place perfect for me. he called it a "shop of curiosities," a place where i can start making all my crafting dreams something real. somewhere for all the thrifting and creating and art i've been working on to exist together in an accessible space instead of just a dark corner in our second bedroom. there's lots of crafting projects and ideas still on the verge of becoming real things and this is really just the very beginning of the very beginning stages of something we've been dreaming of for a while. that picture is a cute little logo of sorts that i made as an inspiration for what i want to offer someday, all the pretty things i wanted to put into my pockets and then into your pockets.

the sweetest part about all of this is how encouraging craig has been and how much research time he's devoted to learning how to keep a website alive and how small home/online businesses work. i guess that's sort of the goal here, something for me to use my talents to work on from home without leaving my little baby and still staying creative. helping with the finances a little would be a plus too. since i've entered the blogging world i have been SO IMPRESSED by how many sweet, beautiful moms can stay at home and raise their children while helping provide for them by sharing their artisitic talents in this great, big blogging community. i love how much support there is out there for home made and hand made. it makes me hope that i can find a a way to help take care of my family by doing what i always dreamed of doing. i feel like if i start sharing my progress in my blog from here on out then maybe i'll feel a little more accountable for actually making sure it goes somewhere. how embarrassing if i mention it to you guys and then just let it whither and die, right? now that i've let you in on some of my future dreams and goals i HAVE to follow through. don't worry, tricking myself into doing things is how i get anything done these days.

if you want to celebrate apply cheesecake

what we learned this weekend:

  • we're having a daughter
  • having a daughter feels AMAZING
  • shopping for a daughter is AMAZINGly fun
  • going out for cheesecake factory to celebrate is an AMAZING idea
  • skipping the main meal and just eating appetizers and desserts is genius and thrifty
  • right after four in the afternoon you can get a giant plate of AMAZING nachos for half off
  • you always think you can eat more cheesecake than you really can...
  • next time i should get whatever cheesecake craig got
  • we're as happy as can be
  • i can fit a meal, a dessert, and a person inside my abdomen at one time. and it feels AMAZING! 









little lemon lady

the ultrasound technician told us not to plan a trip to vegas any time soon. me, in all my naivety, wondered "why would we, we're already married?" at the same time craig was thinking "why would we, we're mormon?" when what she really meant was we probably wouldn't be very good at gambling at all. that little squirt we were betting everything on being a boy? she's a layday!

 [little lady squirt]

psh, i knew she was a girl the whole time ;] just kidding, you guys all know how one million percent sure i was that there was a little man in there kicking my insides out. man, she played me gooood! i was SO SURE, and i was wrong, she is very obviously a little lady. but for the record, there's a reason those kicks felt like little man kicks. the ultrasound technician lady commented most on her feet. she was like "there's a little foot. woah, a BIG foot actually..." then she looked over at craig, "probably his fault." bahahahaha! but seriously guys, she has BIG FEET. so i'm guessing she's going to be tall and stunning and as athletic as she wants to be, there's no girly girl in there, she's fierce! and i absolutely adore her. i just burst out in tears when we saw she was a girl. i had no idea i'd have another babygirl so soon, i didn't even know if i'd ever have another daughter. but there she is, growing so fast and perfect.

[arm, wrist, and all her little fingers in a fist]

 [do you SEE how big her foot is? it goes on for longer than you think]

 [look, foot!]

i love her perfect little spine, seeing it was one of the most incredible things about the ultrasound, knowing that every vertebra is in perfectly constructed and in place. i love watching her perfect little heart, it's SO strong and amazing, it looks like a little bat flapping it's wings. that's how craig described it. i love her perfect little arms she crosses over her chest and i love her perfect little legs that she keeps up by her head. she doesn't have a ton of room in there, so she was very wiggly and scrunched up, which is AMAZING to watch but doesn't make for the best pictures. but when she gets here we'll be able to look at her all we want! and for now you'll just have to believe me when i say she has all her fingers and toes, the tiniest little button nose, and the biggest most beautiful lips ever. craig's lips. that lucky girl.

[tiny nose, big lips] 

we saw her little kidneys, and her full little bladder that i'm sure she empties out into me whenever she feels like it. we saw her little stomach and watched her heart beat for ages. it's magnificent. it's such a blessing that we can see all those things so soon and know exactly how she's doing in there. we saw her brain, the technician said it was the biggest she saw all day, obviously ;] she was fun lady, she let us feel like we were the proudest parents in the whole world.

[leg area plus definite lack of boy parts...] 

my mind is still spinning, i'm imagining this whole having a baby thing in a completely different way. we have a DAUGHTER. she's going to be a little princess! craig gets his little daddy's girl, i bet she is just going to adore him and he will never be able to say no to her. and now we can buy GIRL THINGS! girls things are waaaay more fun than boy things, and we're loving it. we went out and bought her a little yellow dress and a floral, scrunchy bow headband. headbands. HEADBANDS. my little lemon lady will never be without something cute on her head. we're going to have to pack those boyish things away for now. except for the batman onsies. true to my word, she will be wearing the batman onsies.





who is still dying to know her name? you can bet she has one, it's been picked out longer than our first boy's name that we thought we were going to be using by now. to be completely honest we sort of have all of our kid's names picked out...and when they're going to be born...we even have names picked out for twins, just in case. we've been working on these since we were barely even dating. craig named our first daughter almost before we had even met. it's beautiful. i might just share it sometime ;]

for now, i think i need to start making some more baby blankets...

p.s. remember this? she was a little drama queen after all.

Monday, September 19, 2011

boy squirt or girl squirt?

today is the day! we’re on our way out the door to the doctor’s office for a much anticipated ultrasound. if everything goes as planned and baby squirt is cooperating we’ll find out if this little one is our muffinbot baby boy squirt, or a little miss lemon lady squirt. i want ten of each eventually, i want to spend my whole entire life loving on some snuggly little ones, but i’m so excited to see who our first one is going to be and how this little person and their individual spirit and personality is going to shape our lives and help us learn to be parents.



afterwards craig taking me on a cheesecake factory date to celebrate and then we have an FHE meeting with friends and a full evening of games and reading and relaxing, so who knows when i’ll get a chance to spill the beans ;] maybe i’ll keep it our little secret for a while, maybe i’ll wait a whole day before letting everyone know. maybe i’ll plaster the news all over every social network within minutes of finding out! no one can say for sure.

any last minute guesses? are you dying to find out? you should be. baby squirt rocks.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

20 weeks





i am loving this pregnancy. i adore this squishy little baby. at this point i am completely comfortable and  just really enjoying the experience, trying to take in every little thing and smile at every little kick while i'm still a brand new mom with just one little one to take care of. life is about to get so crazy, and i'm so excited. but for now we're just really loving every day one at a time, loving this little stinker and caring for him while he's so easy to take care of. craig and i are so happy that he's still here with us. in just a few more months i'll be kissing his fuzzy little head. and then all the sudden he'll be in college and engaged and then have ten babies. that's how it happens, right? that fast. well as long as he's still here in my baby-house [uterus] i know he's not procreating or getting to smart for his own good, so for now he's just my little baby squirt, and we love him to pieces.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

food. food. FOOD.


 [notice that i learned to tie a head scarf. craig isn't sure if he likes it yet.]


oh hey there. did you mention food? i'm sure i heard someone mention food. and speaking of food, which i do often, here's a few of my favorites lately:

  • orange juice
  • grapefruit juice [it makes craig pucker and makes baby kick]
  • whole wheat wheat-thins
  • RAISINS 
  • almonds and pecans, craig and i have both been loving on these like crazy
  • the occasional, guilty, guilty, snickers bar. so. wonderful.
  •  ...cheese. in pretty much everything.
  • lettuce, cheese, and meat sammiches on rye bread. i adore rye bread.
  • our local thriftway’s in-store brand of chicken dumpling soup. oh my WORD, you guys, it's the best soup i've ever had!
  • TLC kashi dark chocolate coconut fruit and grain bars. i saw a random picture of them online and I HAD TO HAVE THEM! craig knows better by now than to ignore the crazed look in my eyes. and the foaming at my mouth…
  • melty wraps, and pretty much any other concoction we can get out of cheese and tortillas
  • frosted wheat cereal. i’ve never been a huge fan of this stuff but i’m pretty sure i never really gave it a chance until now. it’s been a life saver during those super weird times of the night/early morning when you just gotta eat something easy and delicious without wanting to actually wake up...
  • maple bacon bars at voodoo donuts. don't judge me, i don't need a reason but i gots one. i just had to have it.
i decided today that halloween oreos sounded a thousand times more delicious than any other oreo ever. evvvvvver. but fred meyer broke my heart by putting off getting in a decent sized stock in until closer to halloween. pffft, whatever, it was practically halloween yesterday. you better step it up people, because when i want christmas tree reeses in two weeks you better be able to deliver or willing to suffer the consequences.



 [target came through for us, like they always do. in 5 boo-riffic shapes. yesssss.]

Friday, September 16, 2011

lemon-squirt

this little lemon-squirt has become a relentless kicker, not to be confused with a relentless killer, he's too young for that. but seriously, he's at it all the time now, morning day and night. I can feel him poking all around sometimes but usually he concentrates all his efforts on one spot in my lower rightish area, like he’s concentrating all his efforts and is calculating a brilliant escape. i’m actually getting a little nervous for when those blows pack more of a punch…yikes. this little one is either a very rambunctious boy or a very masculine, violent little girl. i can’t decide which one sounds like more work!



today craig and i biked all over town trying to find the perfect pair of new glasses. yesterday we picked out free pairs of safety certified glasses for work and while we were in the mood still we thought we’d put our new vision insurance to use and get some fancy glasses. it went super well, we accidentally picked out almost matching glasses and i'm excited to show them off someday. it felt so nice biking while we ran our errands, i feel like the more i stay mobile am the better off i’m going to be by the end of this thing. so prego yoga is keeping away all my aches and pains and biking/walking is keeping my blood and muscles going and maybe even helping me bake an active baybay. we also biked to subway to get our bi-weekly installment of foot-long subs and free cookies. yes. food. i think "food" is every ninth word a say now and every third word i think. food.

after work we made dinner and had a snuggly red-box date. i tried to describe to craig how big our babies tiny little feet feel, and how I can almost distinguish heel and knee. we’re so in love already. I can’t imagine ever feeling more love than we already do, and then i daily surpass my previous limit. craig adores this baby. sometimes i’m sure he hangs out with me just to spend time with squirt. he’s so ready to be a daddy, its been his dream for over a decade. he’s not even a bit nervous or scared, he helps keep me balance when I begin the panic and worry and think i can’t do this. he says I can, but even if i turned out to be a total failure of a mother craig could easily make up for it with his pure awesomeness, i’m sure of it. he’s what makes me truly feel that even at the measly age of 19, with a load of immaturity and worry to tack onto my horrendous lack of expertise and experience, i am able to do this. i can be a mother now because, at the same time, he’s going to be a father. we got this, yo.

[psst, on monday at 1:20 we get to see our little squirt again. and it’s the magical day where we do a gender check and find out if this is going to be my first little snuggly boy or if, after all this time, it turns out we have a little tom boy on our hands and i’m going to have to start saying “she” now. the anticipation is brutal, but the days are flying by. for now i'm just enjoying kicks and pushes and loving this little bit to bits.]

Saturday, September 10, 2011

9-10-11


today was my little songbird's due date. i still miss her all the time. it's strange to think that once i was supposed to be having a baby right now. i am reminded all the time by how much better the Lord's timing and plans are than mine. i know she's doing amazing and beautiful things out there in the universe but i do sometimes still wish she could've been here with me. i hope she had time to send little squirt off with a hug when she got back, or at least a high five or secret handshake. i hope i have the ability to teach my babies about heaven and eternal families clearly and early on so they always know they have a big sister watching and helping keep them safe, cheering for them to choose the right so we can all be a family together again one day. it makes me so giddy to think that even in this lifetime if all i have are a dozen big, strapping sons i already have a sweet daughter. i feel so blessed to have known her and felt her spirit and personality when i did, it was nothing short of a blessing, something i didn't deserve but will always be so happy i had. i am not without blessings, craig and i have been so cared for in every spiritual and temporal sense. we are so in love and so happy and not at all scared or set back by the brief "loss" of our first baby. but we do miss her. i'm so glad that we'll never really lose each other because i already love my children so much that i don't think i could stand it at all. really, today is just another day in our worldly existence, we woke up like normal, we're going to work as normal, we've carried on. but to me it's still my sable's almost-birthday, and i'm so glad to know that she is loved down here and where she is now.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

iBike

once upon a time, many months ago, craig and i decided we wanted bikes more than anything. we thought this so completely that we went to walmart and bought giant, heavy, inexpensive bikes that didn't quite fit in our trunk and made us miserable. craig's was black and big and looked so fancy but it was hard to carry up 3 flights of stairs, the massive handle bars made it difficult to transport, and he hated the way it felt when he tried to ride it for reals. mine was beautiful and blue and a standard 26" women's bike, but even with the seat as low as it could go my feet couldn't touch the ground. i didn't feel entirely comfortable on a bike that i would have to throw myself off of in order to stop in an emergency traffic situation. so we called it quits, returned our bikes and kept all of our accessories [except my helmet] and dreamed of a day when the perfect bikes would find their way into our lives.


[my first bike. pretty. but useless...] 

we've thought about bikes a lot. we've looked at bikes, we've envied bikes, we've blanched at the price of bikes. we've even come close to getting some "real" bikes a time or two but i insisted we pass them up. i didn't have a good reason, i just didn't feel ready to relive the stressful horror of before. and i'm glad we waited. last weekend craig and i discussed the possibility of getting used bikes that didn't need to be fixed up, paying a little more for something we could ride right away. i, for the first time, decided to do some research to find out what we wanted. and it was like the heavens opened. the answer wasn't in a used bike, it was in the RIGHT bike.

craig wants bikes so we can ride them to work if we want but even more so that HE can ride his to work when baby squirt gets here. we have one working car and no inclination of getting another until we're millionaires. i've been picturing me as a stay at home mom locked within the confines of my apartment while craig takes our car four miles to work everyday. craig had a better idea, as always, and we romanticized about him saving money and getting exercise every day by biking to work when the baby comes and leaving the car with me on normal days. the bikes end up paying for themselves in gas money eventually and we are so close to work that it feels a shame to start up a car and drive every day, especially on nice days. so, bikes cost money, but save money. we came to terms with getting what we pay for and craig has been saving up for REAL bikes ever since we took the old ones back. now we just needed to find what we wanted.



google told me everything i needed to know. i thought for the longest time i wanted a cruiser but i was always disturbed by the size and weight of cruisers and it turns out they're not really designed to go long distances with little effort. what craig and i wanted for commute and occasional leisurely riding were hybrid bikes. craig should have a performance type hybrid, a bike that takes very little effort to go long distances and works well on path and pavement. i wanted more of a comfort bike, takes a little more effort but designed to sit comfortably, not inclines or with bars up high, and i'm actually much more in favor of a bike that doesn't go careening into oblivion, like craig's bike would [does]. i like the added resistance and control and since i won't be commuting with it as often i feel it's a much more appropriate bike for a fun day ride or a trip to the library. plus comfort hybrids are way cuter, and i am vain.





we took a trip to the bike shop on wednesday. we found my bike. it's a bike with a women's frame but smaller wheels, it actually weirded the bike shop people out when they first got it in but it was PERFECT for me. the seat sits down MUCH lower than the handle bars so i can reach the ground no problem, and the frame has a fancy little downward shwoosh so my stubby legs can actually step over it.


craig bike is a super fancy, super light hybrid that makes him look so tall and makes him go so fast. he love it. he tried a comfort bike like mine and preferred the lower resistance and the thinner tires of his bike. i think we both left with our perfect bike. and a membership that gives us ten percent back in store credit of whatever we buy. cha-ching. oh, and did i mention starting the day we went in all bikes were on sale? we saved $300. let me say that again. we saved $300. perfect timing. now i just need a helmet.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

baby blanket

my baby squirt already has so many baby blankets. i think i counted 13. most of them were crocheted by my grandma meyer and a few of them are old blankets of mine. i want to wrap him up in all of them all at once.

i wanted to make baby squirt a special blanket from me. hopefully i can keep it up with all my babies and they can all have special mommy blankets. i should probably learn how to knit and quilt too so that there's a little more variety between all 20 of my children's baby blankets. while i was working on this one craig asked me if i knew how to do anything other than granny squares, ha! it's all he's ever seen me do. i said yes, but nothing cooler than granny squares. maybe someday.


craig picked out the blue and the brown yarn and i love how the colors look together. once i ran out of yarn i still wanted it a little bigger so i did a fringe in a white i had in my yarn stash. you can't tell in this picture because i hid it on purpose but i was actually a little short by the end. i had about 4 more scallops to  do before my yarn ran out, yikes! so close. we'll figure it out but for now let's just pretend i made the perfect baby blanket and then maybe someday i'll let you see my magical baby. deal? deal.

Monday, September 5, 2011

burgerville

getting burgerville walla walla sweet onion rings were on our summer bucket list. summer is running out fast, as much as i tell myself it is NOT over kids are definately back in grade school and time is running out to check summery things of our summery list. today had to happen. and it was awesome. those expensive onion rings are worth waiting all year for.














okay, so we got a little more than just the onion rings. but can you blame us? that pepper bacon cheeseburger was calling to me. i love burgerville for its localness, freshness, and sustainability. oh and their food is darn delicious and doesn't make me feel like i'm selling years off my life in order to eat it, like other speedy food burger joint.

it was a labor day well spent. mondays are our normal day off so we didn't get a three day weekend but we DID get paid for not being at work today. and later we got to play our new awesome zombie munchkins game with josh and charolet. conclusion: today was awesome.