Out and About

Adios Amigos

2012-01-18T12:40:00.004-06:00

I am changing my blog and moving to Wordpress... why??? Well you better just click on the link and find out!

A Mess of Happiness

Hard to Swallow

2012-01-13T14:12:00.000-06:00

The other day Fiona was found riffling through the medicines in our house. I didn't think she could get into any of it... Child proof containers right???? Well seconds later she had eaten and swallowed a cherry flavored Unisom... which is a sleeping pill. My initial thought was... "maybe she will take a long nap today?" Chuck did not share this thought and was quite upset. He took Fiona into the bathroom explained that she just put something poison in her belly and told her she needed to throw up. I was a little worried at what the reaction of a two year old would be to a finger in her throat to induce vomiting. Yet after the fact she exclaimed "All better" and resumed her usual activities... and took a normal length nap.

This little incident which now makes four phone calls to poison control in less than two years got us thinking about what we have in our house. We made the decision to drastically clean out the medications and pills from our house. I was surprised at how much stuff I had that was really potentially harmful to her and NOT hard to open. Also much of it was expired and needed to be thrown out anyhow.

Fiona sat and watched as I opened all the bottles and poured out the brightly colored contents. She was convinced that I was getting rid of a candy stash and cried to be able to eat medicine. She even picked up an empty pill bottle and carried it around like a dolly for awhile. I kept trying to explain that medicine is not candy... but how can you convince a kid of that when pills taste sweet and are bright and colorful. I understand that sugar and sweet coatings are given to pills to make them easy to swallow... but I think it makes it too easy for kids to be confused and ingest things that are poison to their little bodies.

In nature poisonous things are bitter tasting and foul... a built in protection system to prevent us from ingesting harmful things. I think pills should not be flavored and brightly colored and coated to serve as a warning to kids taste buds. But then again my kid sometimes licks the bottom of shoes...

With that said, for us we feel the best medicine is *no medicine!

*We are now using more essential oils, flower essences, herbs, and whole food vitamins to deal with the physical ailments of life.

Toast

2012-01-05T23:14:00.000-06:00

I always laugh in Nacho Libre when he invites his love interest, Encarnacion, to his quarters for toast. Perhaps it is because my father is the self proclaimed King of Toast... as growing up it was one of the only foods (besides hamburger helper) that was completely fool proof. Not that my dad is a fool, he just tried to put mashed potatoes inside hamburgers once and will never ever live if down.

Randomly I found myself making this video today and it keeps making me laugh.

If you enjoyed that you may also enjoy this little jem... Last night Chuck came home from work, let a stray cat in the house and then promptly left, as he was going to find the missing cat signs in the neighborhood and see if this one was a match. So there I was with the dirtiest stray cat wandering around my house and two babies. I couldn't set Daphnie down any where because the cat would immediately run/jump to her, and it was hard to keep Fiona from touching/kissing/hugging the cat. At the end of the video you will see that the cat started to nip a bit... I suddenly felt like there was a lion in my house and wanted to hide us all in a bedroom (I am not an animal person so to speak). But Chuck came home, gave the cat some Tuna, realized that it was not the one from the reward posters and let it back out into the wild. Then today when I was out for a walk with the girls we found the cat again two blocks over and it followed us home for Tuna round two... Fiona could not have been any more pleased.

Oh and just a word about the blue painters tape all around my child's midsection. Some days it is my only method to restrict diaper access.... I have tried multiple methods to stop "diggin" as I will call it, but as of yet this is the most successful, and I like blue painters tape cuz it's not too sticky. If anyone out there has other suggestions... I would love to hear them :)

Just us

2011-12-29T23:14:00.000-06:00

This was our very first Christmas that was just us, and Chuck's sister Megan. We ate diner by candle light on Christmas Eve (a tradition from Chuck's family). Julia Child's lemon chicken, roasted red potatoes, stuffing, green beans, a light soup, french bread, and lots and lots of "bubble juice" as Fiona calls any thing with carbonation.

It was kind of weird not to have the mass chaos of all the aunties and uncles and kids etc. But I did stop up to my neighbors to enjoy their chaos for a moment... I think now that I spend so much time at home alone with the girls, I crave being around lots of people.

We decided that this time off of work for Chuck would be a good time to start the co-habitation of the girls... up to this point Daphnie had been in our room. I was super nervous about it... I wish I could say I have all the kinks worked out... but alas from about 7:00 to almost midnight Chuck and I find ourselves trying to get one or both of them back to sleep (the writing of this post has been interrupted twice thus far). But it ain't all bad...lately I have been trying to be present... you know like in the moment and enjoying it without thinking of what you still need to do or what happened last Saturday...etc.etc. So when I can actually be in the moment I enjoy my late night babies and the fact that I can hold them and rock them and hear their sweet little voices and soft breathing.

Just look at those luscious cheeks!

Christmas morning was great... I had been trying to build Fiona up for it for weeks. But she opened one present... a hot pink electric keyboard from Grandma and then she didn't want anything to do with anything else. I ended up unwrapping all of her presents and just showing them to her and she was less than thrilled. However, since Christmas morning she has thoroughly enjoyed all of her new toys which are much more age appropriate and challenging for her.

I just wanted to post this pic because I love her little outfit.

I am in the process of uploading some videos of the festivities to YouTube... so be sure to check out my account for all the live action footage :)

The 23rd as many of you may know was my birthmas. I am now 29 years old. Maybe I will go do something crazy this year... just maybe.

Stressful Sundays

2011-12-13T16:25:00.000-06:00

I was under the impression that the sabbath day was supposed to be full of peace and rest. Not true if you are a Mormon in charge of primary kids.

I currently team teach five year olds with Chuck. They are cute and sweet yada yada yada BUT they seem to have an attention span of about 2 minutes... so you can imagine that after an hour being quiet in sacrament meeting, listening to talks that don't make any sense to them they are not ready to sit quiet and still in a huge room with all their friends. Despite my best efforts to maintain some sort of classroom order (because that is what the primary presidency and other teachers expect of me), they just wanted to jump around, laugh and talk about belly buttons.

If we are going to make them stay at church for that long they should be able to run around and play. I am sure some would consider that breaking the sabbath day.... I remember getting yelled at as a kid for running in the gym when church was over. People would say "No running in God's house." I wonder if God would have a problem with little kids running and being happy and playing in His house. I submit that he would not. I mean Jesus told us to be like little children. So why do we spend so much time each week trying to make them act like little adults? Someone gave a lesson in sharing time a few weeks ago about being good... she noted that "wiggling your feet in church was BAD" Are we seriously trying to shame kids for having the wiggles. Movement is important for young kids growth and development.

I seriously want to bring a bag full of toys and games next week... have a two minute lesson and then just play.

Number two review

2011-12-06T22:47:00.000-06:00

I am just recovering from my second bout of strep throat in the last month. That makes, one cold/nasty thing, one mastitis attack, and two cases of strep in only a short month and a half. Honestly I have never been sick so many times in my life in such a short period of time. It has made things interesting at best and horrible at worst with a new born in the house. I can only blame myself for a few reasons... one because I committed the cardinal sin of stopping my antibiotics before they were finished (I will never do that again!!!) and second because sometimes I don't know how to stop moving around and take a break. My doctor told me I have exhaustion... she told me to get some sleep (sometimes easier said than done) But Chuck has been helping me get some extra ZZZZZ's and Daphnie is getting better at sleeping through the night.

Speaking of Daphnie, she is delicious. She is soft and plump, smells like heaven (and sometimes a fine baby cheese), she makes the cutest faces when she cries, has the most tiny mouth... and makes a little poutty lip that kills me.

Funny how different the baby experience is the second time around. Daphnie really helps to slow things down around here in comparison to the Rambunctious Rhino Rumble that is my toddler. Which makes me feel really torn. I love playing with Fiona, she says funny stuff, and laughs, cries, dances, eats my food (sometimes) and enjoys a good book almost as much as I do. BUT Daphnie likes things nice and quiet and to be held near constantly. It's hard to know if I am giving each child what it is that they need, because right now they need really different things, and I am only one person and can only do so much.

I still scratch my head every time I try to imagine my mother in law with a house of eight kids. What a women.

The Bizz

2011-11-22T21:48:00.000-06:00

Well... good news. Chuck got a job!! Can you guess from the poster above which Village Person looks like Chuck when he goes to work?

If you guessed construction worker you are correct! Only his helmet doesn't have a lightning bolt on it, however I do feel a slight temptation to put one on there now. And where he is working it is much too cold to be leaving his shirt undone. (I just have this thing for the Village People and couldn't resist the photo... in college I actually found a LIFE SIZE poster of the group for only $5.00 at a antique shop... It was so big it covered an entire wall of my apartment, and it made me laugh every morning:)

I like my construction workin hubby. Today he came home all dirty and stinky, and I just wanted to smooch his face. This job will help us get through the next few months and help funding for Chuck furthering his work with my brother in law.

We are gearing up for winter. Fiona has been out in the snow, but her favorite place to be on cold days is in front of the computer, watching Barney, drinking a bottle, with her hand in her diaper.

Currently that is cool with me because Daphnie does not handle the cold very well... she likes to be nice and toasty warm at all times.

We do try breaking up the video watching with some hands on fun. We made homemade play-dough the other day which was a real hit. I was boring and didn't color it or anything. It was her first time with it and I just wanted to make sure she wasn't going to eat mass quantities of it. She passed the test with flying colors and play-dough has been added to Santa's List.

Now to answer the top two most frequently asked baby questions:

1. Daphnie is two months old

2. She sleeps pretty well, wakes up twice but goes right back to sleep. She actually sleeps in a hammock which my sister and law loaned us. It is the coolest thing, and gently rock them with the slightest push. They are from Australia called Natures Sway.

Daphnie continues to be a pleasant addition to the crew. We love her dark brown hair, and the little coos and goos she is starting to make. She also has some great fat rolls and is super snuggly... I just wanna squeeze her all day. But I make sure to set her down for some good Fiona time.

And what about me you ask.... Well I just finished reading the Lord of The Ring trilogy by J.RR. Tolkien. They have been a nice escape for me when I can't actually physically leave the house. I am going to do a movie marathon now to celebrate... but as usual the movies never do justice to a great book and a good imagination. This is the next book on my reading list.

Other than that life is great (minus my occasional meltdowns... I threw an orange across the house the other day in a fit :) but I have scheduled in weekly meditation in the closet which I use to release my crazy).

And that's The Bizz.

Defying Gravity

2011-11-10T18:55:00.000-06:00

No this post is not about the hit musical Wicked. Although I do like that song.

This week I had a friend take me to Anti Gravity Yoga. We went as a girls day out kind of thing... only for a nursing mommy there is no such thing as "days out" there are only hours out, and even still it is hard to be away! I had never heard that anything like this even existed, but have to say it is by far the coolest thing I have done in a long time.

You start the class off by swinging in the hammock, then it was followed by a lot of hanging upside down in crazy positions. The teacher said it is really good for women right after they have a baby... something about inner-ear and body changes... I must admit I didn't pay much attention to the details, I was too busy playing in my hammock. (sorry for the blurry pic, I was moving.... Check out the link above for really cool pics)

If they have this in your area, I HIGHLY recommended it, OR if you live by me I would love to go again, plus I can bring a friend for close to nothing for their first time.

Elaboration

2011-11-07T20:23:00.000-06:00

So a little bit more about the oils.... There are lots of different ways to apply essential oils. When I take a doTERRA oil internally I will sometimes just drop it directly in my mouth (which with some oils can be really intense), and other times I will put it into an empty gelatin capsule (you can buy them at health food stores). With the citrus oils like grapefruit, lemon and lime, I will put a few drops in a glass of water They are really refreshing and great for the liver among other things. My husband uses Clove oil to brush his teeth and just puts it right on his toothbrush.

The feet are a great place to apply any oil. The bottoms of the feet actually have more pores than other parts of the body so the oils are quickly absorbed into the body. This is where I applied the Balance oil. With the other oils I used during pregnancy I applied them all topically but to different places depending on what I was using it for. When using Clary Sage to induce labor I rubbed it into the reflexology points for the uterus near the ankle. For the other oils I put the on different chakras. Geranium on the heart, Sandalwood on the third eye, and Elevation on the solar plexus. If you use Geranium to avoid episiotomy or tears it is best used for perineal massage (must be diluted with a carrier oil, I recommend fractionated coconut oil, also sold by doTerra).

In response to commentary on the last post. Yes... they are a little pricey initially. It is an investment for your health and oils will last a long time (depending how you use them). If you are just curious to know if you will like using essential oils there are some starter kits that are a great introduction. That is how Chuck and I started our oil collection.

And, yes they are sold in Utah. Headquarters are in Orem, Yet you buy them through independent product consultants. The company is set up in a multilevel marketing way. WAIT DON'T RUN AWAY!! Chuck and I have always joked around about multilevel marketing and then we go and sign up!!!! HOWEVER, doTERRA is cool because if you sign up ($35.00 fee) you get to buy the oils wholesale (25% cheaper) instead of market value BUT you don't actually have to do the business side of it.

So why am I talking so much about these???? Because I just think they are remarkably remarkable. They have been so amazing for my family and kids. You just HAVE to try them. Write me and I'll come give a foot massage, serious!

Here is a link to a video that give more info.

The Essentials

2011-11-01T18:48:00.000-05:00

I am hooked on doTERRA essential oils. Truly not all essential oils are created equal. They are by far the best product that I have found on the market.

I want to elaborate but this is one of those things that I have so much to say about it that I don't know how to formulate a short blog post that will keep your attention.

So... I will just say this... doTERRA essential oils were my little secret to such a smooth labor and delivery with baby number two. I used...

Geranium oil (hormone balance, ease tension and stress, avoid episiotomy)
Elevation (joyful blend... keepin' my spirits up)
Balance (grounding blend... calming, relaxation)
Sandalwood (clear the mind of fear... be STILL)
Clary Sage (induce labor, delivery, strengthen uterus muscles, start milk production).

They really made a huge difference, and everyone in the hospital kept telling me how good I smelled.

There are so many oils and each has it's own healing properties... if you want to learn more, this book is an great guide. It tells you what physical ailments each oil is helpful for and how to apply and use the oils to be most effective. We consult it almost on a daily basis. I use oils on my kids all the time for lots of things from teething to headaches, to overall health, colds, sadness... you name it.

My brother in Law is writing a book about the emotional healing properties of essential oils... there is sooo much that these oils can do to help us.

Ok... that's all for now. If you use essential oils or are interested in starting seriously we should talk.... email me or something I love talking about it.

Toddler Taming

2011-10-29T18:21:00.002-05:00

These last few weeks have been quite a learning experience for us. With Chuck gone, the girls and I had to come up with a routine that worked for us and took into consideration that for most of the day I only have the use of one arm. My goal was to have something fun and exciting for Fiona to do each day that would keep her sane... So I thought I would share my toddler tamers with you. Some were more successful than others, I am sure it just depends on your toddler.

1. Crayola Color Wonder- These are those markers that only color on the "magic" color wonder paper. They quickly solved the problem of having to closely supervise color time. Plus Fiona got a kick just out of taking the caps on and off. Then she tried to eat the tips off a few of them :)

2 and 3. Dollar Store Finds... Animals that grow in water. This is really a two parter because I thought taking Fiona to the dollar store to pick out a toy would be fun. Yet it really does NO good to walk down an isle of toys and ask a one year old to pick something. She just wanted everything... started screaming for something yellow, then threw everything I handed her out of the cart and started grabbing for anything she could get her hands on. I escaped the store with a pack of capsules that grow into animals when you put them in water.

I tried to show her one in a little cup, but it took to long to grow and she lost interest. So I threw them all at once in a large bowl gave her a spoon and told her to make me animal soup. She delighted at the stirring, and the thought of "cooking" in the kitchen with me. Then she tried to eat all of the little sponge animals :)

4. Stickers - I bought a few packs from WalMart and a blank notebook for her to stick them in. This activity was great and lasted for days... we would do a few new stickers each morning.

I do recommended that you do not encourage the sticking of stickers to your face... we had to cut some of Fiona's hair to get a few off her sideburns (yikes).

5. Fort Building- This I have to say was the most successful thing we did. For whatever reason all of Fiona's old toys became new and exciting once inside the fort. We left it up for a week. She loved curling up inside to listen to stories and to play with her light up toys.

6. Ball Play Set from WalMart- ok... so before Chuck left we saw this at the store and thought it was cool... like the old school ball pits at fast food restaurants. However, the product was a little deceiving, I mean on the package it looks like the kids are just swimming in balls, but then when you open it up there are not even enough to fill the bottom. She still loved it though, however it lost it's appear after a couple of days.

7. Naked Time... just the freedom to roam the house in the nude. This is risky business when you have not potty trained, but found that it was worth the clean up.

8. Something seasonal... Pumpkin Carving - Perhaps a little advanced. I thought she might enjoy playing with the stuff inside the pumpkin but she wanted nothing to do with it until it had a face on it... then she loved it. We even found this cute video on YouTube about making a jack-o-latern and she asks me to sing it all the time.

9. YouTube - Can I just say that I love YouTube! Fiona has about 20 or so videos that she loves. Most of them are renditions of The Wheels on the Bus which is currently her favorite tune. But she also loves "Name-o" which is the BINGO song and pretty much anything with a train in it. You can create a playlist and then it just plays all your favorite videos in a row. I have like 30 minutes worth all lined up... she asks for it everyday.

I especially like that she enjoys this video which is of my favorite band... she just like it because there is a giraffe and an elephant on a bicycle.

10. Big Sister Jobs - Last but not least, Fiona does not quite understand the whole big sister thing... and most of the time she just ignores Daphnie. But boy of boy does she like to push her in the swing. At first it kind of freaked me out because she would do it so hard and fast... but Daphnie doesn't seem to mind, and she is buckled in, so I let them both enjoy.

And there you have it... What kinds of things do you do to pass the time with your toddlers?

Poison Control

2011-10-20T21:31:00.000-05:00

As stated previously I am well into my two weeks sans hubby and car. I do have to say that I have been holding up quite well under the circumstances (except for the other night when I got NO sleep and developed a cold and had a train wreck headache all day... no days off for mommies). I mean being a single parent is honestly one of my biggest fears... and now I'm realizing that while not the ideal situation is like a lot of things in life... you just learn how to survive.

For those of you who are not familiar with Fiona, she is a tornado. She lives life 95 miles an hour... I thought it was just normal toddler-ness, but it turns out some kids are a LOT more mellow. I love my little firecracker but she sure takes some taming.

Today was a Poison Control kind of day. To make a long story really short in the matter of like 30 minutes she had peed all over her new sticker collection I bought her, ran naked through the house, drank from a bottle of Fantastik antibacterial cleaner that I was trying to clean pee up with, and "played with" a tarantula near the door of our house!!!! Poison Control just had me give her a bottle of water, and she had No ill effects. The lady at PC was like "how is she doing" and I was like "she is smiling and laughing at me because she knows she did something she wasn't supposed to." (is it bad that I kind of wanted her to vomit from it just so that she would know not to do it again????) No ill effects to be seen.

Normally Fiona has no fear of Bugs, she will touch any of them (except for Bees I have drilled it into her head that they give "ouchies") She was only inches away from this spider... I seriously almost crapped myself. And I could not for the life of me get her away from it until I picked her up and dragged her off. My landlords son came out and caught it.... I hear they live in the mountains usually... this one just wanted to come down and say hi I guess. I will probably think twice about sitting down in my lawn to relax.

Never a dull moment round these parts.

Chaos insues

2011-10-11T21:57:00.000-05:00

I kept trying to get a good photo of Daphnie. It is harder than you might think. One because the camera is always in hard to get to places during a Kodak moment because it is hiding from the toddler of the house. Two because she breast feeds almost constantly.... seriously why wont you just take the chupi (pacifier) !!! And three because it is hard to set baby down unprotected with toddler around.

This photo was taken at Fiona's nap time and amazingly enough captured a spit-up which only lasts like half a second.

I am actually typing this post with one hand. My left to be exact, and breastfeeding my kid with the other. I live about 75% of my life one handed now and have learned to do the majority of my daily tasks while breastfeeding. It is almost 9:00, usually I am in bed by now hoping to get as much sleep as I can cram in between night feedings, but I just wanted to say hello.

I am about to embark on two weeks without Chuck.... I question my ability to remain sane and for personal hygiene and grooming standards to be achieved. I am considering buying a huge bag of Halloween candy and just watching a lot of Baby Einstein. I'll let you know how it goes.

Wish me luck.

Multiplication

2011-10-04T13:15:00.000-05:00

   All I want to say is WHAT A MIRACLE! Yet some detail is probably in order here. Daphnie Autumn Call was born on Thursday September 22nd at 1:42 pm. She weighted 7lbs 13 ounces and measured 19 1/2 inches long. She is a cuddler, loves to sleep and eat and make little squeaky sounds. She has dark fuzz all over her little body and a good head of dark brown hair.

   The birth went better than I could have imagined. I started contracting on regular intervals at about 7 am, made everyone pancakes, took a shower, did my make-up and made a last minute list of things for Chuck to put in the car. By about 10 I was sitting in our recliner listening to the birth mix of relaxation music Chuck put together. Among some of my favorites song to labor to were, Debussy Reverie L68, Jewel Angel Standing By, and the Lord is my Shepard by The MTC... there were also some great Coldplay songs and even a Red Hot Chili Peppers one.
   Chuck did some guided imagery and meditation with me. He gave me one thing to focus on and took care of everything else. At around noon I started to feel like we should go to the hospital to hunker down, but instead we waited a bit longer while I labored in a camping chair in the front yard chatting it up with my Grandma. Things were intense but I felt calm and in control with each breath.
   When the midwife finally got us to go to the clinic to get my cervix checked she remarked, "you do not look like you are in labor" but my cervix was at an 8. So she followed us to the hospital and about an hour later I had a warm little body on my chest! It was just flawless I could not have asked for a better birthing experience.
   I do have to give A LOT of credit to my ultra calm husband and the use of essential oils ( which I want to write an entire post about).

Here she is with Grandma! So glad my mom was in town and my grandma too!

Fiona playing with the bed and all the buttons.

Daniel and Julia

Happy Baby... or a gas bubble.

And her usual one eyed glare.

It's crazy how fast I forgot what it's like to have a newborn. What a different world from having an 18 month old. Things have been a little nuts for me. Mostly because since I came home from the hospital I have been super weepy and quick to tears. I feel really happy and sad at the same time... funny because usually you think of being over emotional as happening during pregnancy, but not so for me.

I feel like my relationship with Fiona has had to change drastically in a really short time. Mostly because right now I am either glued to the couch breastfeeding, or I have a baby on my arm. It is great to bond with Daphnie, but I feel so divided... it just seems impossible to give them equal attention at this phase. Any mothers with multiple kids out there have any tips on not feeling like you are neglecting one to nurture another? I can't really pick Fiona up and we don't get out for our daily adventures at the park or around the neighborhood. I miss play time but know that it will be back soon, just got to beef this baby up, and let her figure out how her hands work and all that jazz.

One day at a time.

Sister Sister

2011-09-29T21:06:00.000-05:00

I put this on my facebook too... but I wanted to put something on here. I have lots of pictures and great stuff to share about Daphnie, but this is all for now. I'm stinking busy you know... I got TWO KIDS!!!!

The unpublished post: Due-due

2011-09-26T13:51:00.000-05:00

I started writing this the morning I went into labor... thought I would add the pictures finally and go ahead and post it for historical purposes.

Ummm... no baby yet. We are one week and two days past the "due date" (which really is just an estimation anyhow) and wondering when we will meet our little Daphnie. My mom and grandma are here with me for the big event... I just hope they get to see the show :) My dad was here too for a week and just flew home. Fiona was thrilled to have her papa around. She was glued to him, it was very precious.

I have been incredibly active and feel great... it makes me feel like some kind of warrior now when people ask me when I'm due. My midwife told me that they do NOT allow women to go two weeks past the date. My mom and grandma both had kids 3 weeks past the due date so I asked what if I wanted to wait a little bit longer. My midwife said they would come to my house and find me and get the baby (half jokingly, but serious). I am hoping Daphnie comes out on her own, time will tell. There is talk about stripping of the membranes which I don't like the sound of.... anyone ever had that done? They also want me to schedule an induction which Chuck and I refused to do. We are going to try everything we can to avoid having me hooked up to pitosin.

I wanted to write a little post about the things that I made for her when she comes. For some reason she reminds me of bumble bees and the color yellow. I think it's because early in my pregnancy I was helping a friend with a small bussiness venture she was starting and I had to study up on bees and colony collapse disorder. Her company is called Mademoiselle Miel, which in French means Miss Honey. She works with a bee keeper society in Minnesota and makes the MOST delicious honey sweetened treats. She started selling her Honey Bon Bons at some local shops in Saint Paul. I LOVE her bussiness model and the art work that she has had done for her packaging and products. She inspires me to want to start a bussiness myself.

She had a local artist design a poster that would be sold to help raise money for colony collapse. I loved it and bought one of the limited edition posters (only 75 in print) to hang above Daphnie's bed.

Then of course I had to crochet something for her too. This is her little bumble bee hat (it is just like one I made for Fiona).

And this is her little crochet dress, which wont fit her until she is about 3 or 4 months old, but time sure moves fast with babies around. Can I just say I love making these little dresses... when I am an old lady I am just going to sit and crank these things out for grand babies.

Everything is all ready and in place, just waiting to meet our little bee!

Flap Meat

2011-09-03T14:58:00.003-05:00

38 weeks preggo. I feel like the Stay Puft Marshmellow (wo)Man. My waddle is in full effect and I have been eating an absurd amount of baked goods.

Two mammoth muffins for breakfast... don't mind if I do.

We just moved to our new apartment. Chuck almost single handedly moved our every earthly possession... what a brut. And for those oh too heavy items, the piano included, he had the help of some people from church that we had not really ever met, and a few ladies came and cleaned the whole apartment with me in an hour and a half. I have to hand it to Mormon people for being willing to help complete strangers scrub toilets and move pianos. It is in such occasions I find them extremely deserving of the title "Saints."

Fiona spent most of moving day running up and down the truck ramp... and I spent most of the day chasing her. Instead of helping I felt like damage control. I broke a gigantic jar of pickles that needed to be wiped up. Breaking glass sucks, but breaking glass into a pool of pickles and pickle juice is much worse. Then I went to change a diaper, only to have Fiona roll over and pee on the floor, in my efforts to clean that up I broke a glass picture frame, tried to clean that up, found that Fiona had peed again ON THE MOVING TRUCK. Went to clean that up, and lo and behold found that there were two baby poops also waiting on the truck for me. Cleaned that up. Went to finally diaper my kid (that should have been step one!!!) To find her covered in poo. Cleaned her up, borrowed new clothes from my sister and law and decided that Fiona and I better served the moving process far far away from it. So I had a good cry while I pushed Fiona on the swing and sang the wheels on the bus through my wimpers.

Poor little Fiona though. Moving is just as stressful, if not more, for kids than it is for adults. Mostly because they probably don't know what the heck is happening, and in an instant their whole world changes. That can be really overwhelming. So today I am trying to unpack while entertaining an upset and frazzled 18 month old. We'll see how it goes. Hopefully she will learn to love her new home soon... it really is quite lovely.

Oh I wish I knew how to prepare her for our next big family change of baby number 2.

The adventures of parenthood!! There are a ton of details about this whole having more than one kid that I don't have worked out in my head yet. However, there are probably like 500 women in my immediate surrounding who are making it happen... so I don't doubt that I too shall figure it out.

Oh, and the Mexican market in American Fork has a sale on Flap Meat, and whenever I drive by I can't get over what a horrible name that is for a piece of steak. It makes me really happy to be a vegetarian.

Laughable Labels

2011-08-29T22:42:00.000-05:00

I find food labels to be highly entertaining. Mostly because food companies often make some pretty ridiculous claims. I have just been chuckling like a complete dork to myself about a can of black olives I recently ate...

The label contained a picture of a bowl of black olives sitting next to a bowl of potato chips. Then there was a comparison checklist in which black olives were proven to be far superior to potato chips in the following categories.

Fewer Calories
Less Total Fat
No Saturated Fat
Fit on your Fingers

While I do not question the validity of these claims it seems a little odd. When did anyone who was reaching for a bag of chips stop and say, "Hey, I think a handful of black olives would really calm this potato chip craving." How in the world can you compare olives to potato chips? I suppose this diagram could be useful if you were at a party and you had a choice between a bowl of chips or dipping into the relish tray.

No offense to olives, but it's pretty easy to beat out potato chips from a nutritional standpoint. I wonder if perhaps they are trying to tap into some of the success and profits of the potato chip industry...

Good luck black olives... you have your work cut out for you. Oddly enough when I read this I was putting black olives on top of a plate full of nacho chips.

Just to Post

2011-08-23T22:01:00.005-05:00

I just wanted to write something as I sit at the computer. For some reason I have numbered them... it is some weird organizational habit that I have.

1. A turkey flew over my head during my morning walk. A TURKEY. Seriously I have never seen a turkey fly, let alone so close to my head. Turkeys are pretty cool birds, they look like prehistoric creatures, and Fiona loves it that when ever we see the wild heard by our house, her mommy makes the gobble gobble sound to try and communicate with them.

2. IZZEs. Blackberry and Clementine to be exact. I hate soda-pop, but I love me an ice cold IZZE. I cracked one open when Fiona layed down for nap and then when she went down for bed. I felt like a person who cracks a beer at the end of a hard day to relax. ONLY... and IZZE is a completely guiltless pleasure. 70% fruit juice with a splash of sparkling water... Oh ya, thats good stuff.

3. Fiona kept telling me that Frodo was hiding today. I am reading the Lord of the Rings series for fun and there is a picture of Elijah Woods on the front cover and I told Fiona his name once and she never forgot it. I put the book high up on the shelf today so Fiona wouldn't rip the pages out, and she was obviously concerned about. She cracks me up with the stuff she remembers sometimes.

Fiona and a big class of almond milk

4. Cookie break at Auntie's house. My sister in law Julia makes some killer vegan chocolate chip cookies. We are all hooked, and it is oh so much fun to watch the girls get messy. It is fun to see how "healthy" you can make things and still have them taste incredibly good. I put healthy in quotations because there is only so far that you can take a cookie... her recipe uses raw honey, whole wheat and coconut oil.... yum yum yum.

Rae Rae shows off her chocolate chip hands.

Keeping Busy

2011-08-20T21:15:00.000-05:00

At this point in pregnancy (35 weeks) I am trying to keep myself as busy as possible to take my mind off how hard it is getting to move around and the fact that soon-ish a human being will be coming out of my body. Am I ready to be a mother of 2???!?!?!?!? A question that pops into my mind multiple times a day. A question that I can't really answer because I don't know exactly what it will be like. Onward and Upward they say.

These past few days have been really special. Spending lots of family time and doing fun activities as this will be the last few weeks it's just the three of us.

Outside the Logan temple after Chuck's cousins (Brent) sealing.

This last week Chuck and I watched, "Stranded: I've come from a plane that crashed in the mountains." It is a foreign documentary (on instant Netflix) about the rugby team from Uruguay that crashed in the Andes mountains. The film "Alive" is the dramatized version of it. The documentary is incredible. 14 men survived TWO MONTHS in the Andes mountains without proper food, clothing, shelter or pretty much anything. They had incredibly profound experiences and it changed all of their lives forever.

I have been thinking a lot about it, just because I think we often underestimate what we are capable of. It really reminded me of the scripture, "With God all things are possible". They walked half starved over like 4 mountains without equipment in the middle of winter. I felt inspired; and so I did something I previously thought my pregnant butt would be incapable of doing. I went on a hike in the mountains with Chuck. I didn't die or go into labor and it felt really great to get out and see something so beautiful. It was wonderful, here are a few videos to highlight.

This video cracks me up because you can tell how nervous I was. As Chuck slide down I coiled in my arms and slid with him as you can tell by the camera angle sliding as well. I kept envisioning him cracking his skull on a rock and then carrying him, Fiona, the stroller and my pregnant self back down the mountain. I have an overactive imagination... and I worry quite a bit. In reality this waterfall slide has seen many sliders and is quite a popular destination. It is literally just down the street from us.

I will sure miss the place we live in right now. Only two more weeks until we move again. This summer has seemed like a huge vacation in paradise. It will definitely be one of those "Happy Places" I go to in my mind when I am having a rough day in the future.

Hope you are all creating great family memories as your summer comes to a close!!!

I'm a Groupie

2011-08-12T12:29:00.003-05:00

Everyday I sit down on this computer during Fiona's nap and tell myself I am going to post... but after hunting through the Amazon and stopping in the kitchen for a much needed food break I find I have no time.

I signed up for Amazon Mom and specifically the subscribe and save diaper delivery. Who would have thought that a gigantic box of diapers showing up on your door step could make a person so happy. It is the best deal and I LOVE not having to run to Walmart so much!!!!

I have also been finding some really cute kids books too to add to our collection. My new favorites are these two... Can you tell what things we are working on in our house?

For the past month or so I have been attending a once a week support group. There are about 12 women or so, all mothers. Every Tuesday we have a 2 hour long meeting and discussion. I love it. I have been craving interactions with other women, and to have MEANINGFUL conversations. We talk a lot about dealing with issues in our homes and with our kids... but really we talk about how to change ourselves to better our families. The last few weeks we have talked about codependency and how our children can be mirrors of our own behavior or attitudes towards life. The class is run by my brother in law who specializes in personal healing and his mother who works a lot with children and families. She focuses a lot on building safe and healthy relationships. We also learn about different types of meditations we can do and how to express ourselves through free writing and coloring.

It's interesting but my brother in law says that of anyone on the planet, mothers need meditation and time to reflect inwardly the most, yet they are the group that gets it the least. I even found myself feeling guilty leaving for two hours each Tuesday to go to this class. But I have realized that the more I take care of myself the better I can take care of my family.

I think it is common for women (especially Christian women) who are raised to sacrifice and give all we can to God and our families, to feel a certain amount of guilt when we take time for ourselves. We feel that it is noble to "Forget about yourself." But I have been reflecting on how Jesus Christ himself took time away from the crowds and disciples to be alone, to meditate and re-group. He was often interrupted by those who followed Him, as is often true with mothers, but he showed the example. I have had the following scripture running through my brain as of late:

"He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it."

I have been asking for people about their opinions about what Jesus meant when he said it. Most people talk about it in the context of serving others. Like, we forget about ourselves and serve others and then we will have a rich and meaningful life. But if we are "selfish" and do things for ourselves we are doomed.

Someone offered me the following interpretation, that Losing our life is about shedding the false perceptions and expectations that are put on us by the world and people around us, and that we figure out who it is that God knows we can become. They proposed that this scripture is about reaching our true potential by following God, and not thinking that we have it all figured out or know who exactly it is we are. This person explained that Selfishness is really self-neglect because how can we serve in love and lift others if we are in the pit of despair. We need to be working on our own sins, problems and weaknesses that we may become Whole and better able to serve.

I can think of something that I have often heard from others like, if you are having a bad day just forget about your problems and help someone else. I understand the good intentions behind this statement, but honestly if you feel like crap I don't think the answer is to bake cookies for your neighbor. Maybe you should figure out why you feel like crap and address the issue rather than ignoring it. Once it is addressed and dealt with and you are feeling better perhaps reaching out to someone else will feel much more natural and not so forced.

That is what I think meditation is for, it is opening yourself up to be still and figure out who you really are, and shutting out all of the voices that are constantly running through our heads! Meditation for me can help me to be quiet with myself and reflect on things that I could work on or improve. If I take the time to do that I find that I can love people more freely... because I take time to love myself.

This image just popped into my head when I typed that...

As a side note, I really do appreciate comments that I receive for good or for bad. That I why I have my blog open to commentary. Just know that my intentions are NOT to start arguments or drama of any kind. And I do think that there is GREAT value in being accountable for the things that you post and say, so please do not feel intimidated to use your identity.

Thanks!

Pizza Anyone?

2011-07-30T12:51:00.002-05:00

You are probably all very familiar with the $5.00 "Hot and Ready" available at your local Little Caesars Pizza. It is considered the "Greatest Value in America" as toted by one of their neon orange billboards.

However, you may not be so familiar with the Hot and Ready dancers, which I have never seen in Minnesota but are all over the place in Utah. In fact it is not just Little Caesars who employs individuals to shake their money makers on street corners. I have seen oil change places, fruit stands and other fast food establishments try the same method.

The video below though is of my favorite street corner to drive by. I brought my Bloggie with the hope that I would get a red light and catch some footage. The dancing has never led me to buy a pizza, but it sure cheers me up to see these kids work so hard for their paycheck. I guarantee they are not getting paid enough for their incredible talent.

It always makes me wonder what song they are listening to on their I-pods that inspires all the pelvic thrusting and twirls?

Beyond the Superficial

2011-07-25T11:42:00.010-05:00

Life is changing in some pretty profound ways for my little family. I have been wanting to talk more about these changes and the things we are learning. So for those of you seeking updates these next few weeks of posts will probably do a little bit more justice to the events that happen below the surface.... but for those of you who can't read a post without some sort of eye candy, I have included pictures as well.

A Bit About Chuck

Here he is... summer buzzed head and enjoying one of his GIGANTIC lunch salads (the greens are hiding below the layer of blue corn chips and rice). I have found that in order to fill him up with a plant based diet... I have to feed him A LOT of plants. But look how happy he is!!!!

"Develop faith in your purposes. Part of nurturing your purposes requires that you have the vision to see what doesn't yet exist, what others cannot yet see. As you work at your gifts and talents, you will recognize those that come from the inner depths of the soul, because you will not need the vote of confidence of others, and you will be willing to work alone for a long as is needed. You will sow the seed, water the crops, and have patience to allow others to catch the vision, to see the light, even if it means several years of working completely alone. When you have the vision of soul and eternity, go forward."

- James Simmons (Original Fast Foods)

I am learning that my husband is what I would like to call "a visionary man." If you are familiar with the Book of Mormon that phrase will probably remind you of Lehi, who left behind his wealth and status to follow a dream or vision from God... into the wilderness and across the sea on a dangerous journey.... much to the dismay of his oldest 2 sons and wife who had not had the same dreams and who questioned his game plan.

We are not quite in the wilderness... Utah is pretty tame. Yet Chuck is leading our family down uncharted paths into unknown territory. He tells me that he knows it will all work out and has faith in the vision. I am learning to have new trust in what I can't yet see.

He has made a decision to not finish the remainder of college, or to go the typical schorarly route of counseling. Currently he is working with my brother in law Daniel on a form of emotional healing that is "Christ Centered" (meaning that it helps people utilize the healing power of the atonement) and does not require a degree or any type of certification. It is actually a profoundly spiritual process. I am benefiting from it currently. Often when you talk about "Faith Healing" or healing through the power of God people often conjure up these types of images...

No... not even close. The type of Christ centered healing Chuck is doing is done on a one on one basis and with the help of the facilitator you are able to uncover negative emotions or experiences that have been stored or kept inside and release them through, talk, guided imagery, prayer and mediation. These negative emotions or experiences can hold up our progress in life and sometimes make us physically ill. It is like having someone guide and help you lay your burdens down at the Saviors feet. A lot of times we hold onto stuff and have a hard time letting go.

The desired outcome is for Chuck to have his own practice with clients who utilize his services... in addition he has a few other business ventures that he is pursuing, including a way for him to utilize his musical talents :)

We have been income free for almost a year now, and have somehow managed to stay out of debt (besides school loans) and feel extremely blessed. Food, Shelter, Love... ya we have all the essentials. When I am feeling financially stressed out Chuck usually brings this scripture to calm my mind...

"Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say to you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?"

-Luke 12:27-28

You may ask, What does Chuck do with all of his time?

Well... he has personal sessions with my brother in law where he receives counseling, and then sessions where he gives it in return.

He has martial arts lessons. Which is not what I thought it was at first. He does not go to learn how to karate chop people and stuff. It is more like learning a discipline or way of life. Self defense is only a small part of it. It is called Wu Ji Chyun Fa (?? I think that's how you spell it).

He paints thousands of feet of white picket fence. We consider this his Mr. Myagi time, and it is an exchange that he is making for rent this summer.

He meditates for about an hour or so a day... he usually retreats into nature, but sometimes mediates at home if Fiona and I are very very quiet :)

He reads a lot of books, listens to CD lectures and reviews notes from his sessions to gain further insight and knowledge... basically he studies.

He goes on walks and hikes to enjoy the beautiful scenery. Lately he has been recording music on his guitar and piano to make a birthday CD for Daniel... which I heard turned out amazing, I have yet to hear the finished product.

He eats delicious food prepared by yours truly. And he spends lots of time loving and taking care of me and Fiona.

This week we are starting the hunt for a new place to live as we have to move out of our little mountain paradise before the baby comes. Chuck is considering finding a part time job until his other business ventures pick up...

I posted that quote above because it really reminds me of Chuck right now. He is having all of these really profound experiences where he feels like he is discovering his true path and purpose in life. It is really fulfilling and satisfying to him... I am amazed at his ability to not care what other people think about his choices, because deep down he knows he is doing exactly what he needs to be. I am really excited to watch all of this unfold and to see prayers answered and miracles happen each and every day.

So if you were wondering about Chuck, he is doing great. More exciting news to come.

Cures for the Summertime (pregnancy) Blues

2011-07-18T13:15:00.007-05:00

Does the hot weather ever make you want to scream! Somedays I want to lock myself in my freezer ( but I don't quite fit). I do have to say that so far I prefer to be pregnant in the summer over the winter (compression stocking and all!!!) thanks to some helpful coping mechanisms. These are a few of our tricks to surviving the summer heat with a big ole belly!

Breezy Cotton Dresses

I just picked the below one up at Target. It is not maternity... but fits over the bump quite nicely. I wear a short sleved tee underneath to make it nice and modest :) I could wear something like this every day... so comfortable and stylish. If anyone knows where to find other dresses like this let me know!!!

Water Time

At least once a day we play in the water... splash pad, pool, hose, buckets, bowls... you name it. It is a must and I try not to care how soggy, or muddy we all get in the process.

WATERMELON!!!

Hands down has to be the most refreshing wonder of nature. Chuck and I can throw down an entire melon between the two of us in just a couple of days, needless to say we have purchased quite a few in just the few short months we have lived here. I will add eating other fresh fruit to this as well. I have never understood why on HOT summer days people want to throw meat on a HOT grill... nice cold fruits and vegetables for me please.

Unashamed Dusty Butt

Sorry no picture with this one. I have learned to not care how dirty my backside gets throughout the day. When I want/need to rest my legs I just sit where ever I please. Sandbox, rock pile, wood chips, gravel, grass, cement... you name I'll sit there and rest my tired dogs (oh, shade is also a must with this one).

Visiting Sesame Street

Or as Fiona would call it, "Sunny Day." She likes being outside so much that it is hard to keep her indoors, but I save my secret weapon (an episode of Sesame courtesy of instant Netflix) until the most brutally hot time of the day. Then I load her up with snacks and as much Elmo as she desires.

So there you have it... 31 weeks in the middle of the summer and doing great. Do any of you have any strategies for summer survival?

Noteworthy Convo

2011-07-12T22:13:00.002-05:00

I keep thinking about the following conversation that Chuck and I had last week and it keeps making me laugh... so I thought I would document it on the internet so that I can remember it forever and giggle.

Noticing the hair party that was bumpin' on the bathroom floor, Tacy ran to the kitchen to grab the broom and take care of it once and for all. However, upon returning to the bathroom she found a toddler splashing in the toilet water and felt the need to exit the bathroom immediately. So she set the broom and dustpan against the bathroom wall and said to herself, "This broom is my reminder to sweep the floor as soon as I have a chance." And off she went to distract Fiona

About 30 minutes later she found herself in the kitchen preparing breakfast, when Chuck enters the kitchen holding the broom.

Tacy: (with a bit of excitement) Did you sweep the bathroom floor?

Chuck: No

Tacy: Oh, I left the broom in there because I was going to sweep the floor.

Chuck: I cleaned the bathroom by removing the broom.

Tacy: Ummmmmm

Chuck: That made absolutely no sense.

Then he put the broom away in the kitchen.

The floor never got swept that day.

The end.

My Little Pony

2011-07-09T13:04:00.003-05:00

Another milestone was reached in our house this week. Our very first pony tail. Here are some other cute bathtub smiles as a bonus!!

Fiona has two molars busting through... but is handling it remarkably well. Her vocabulary is also exploding, everyday it seems like she learns a new word. Last night it was "hiding" which came with a long came of hide and seek. I have a new video I will post soon of her talking.

In pregnancy news I am now 29 weeks along. I feel like a million bucks, but contribute it mostly to my diet changes this pregnancy. I try to eat mostly fresh fruits and vegetables, almost no meat and no refined grains, no milk products and very limited added sugars (cold cereal has been one of the hardest things to let go of). I am not having the nasty swelling, excessive weight gain, arm numbness and mood swings that I did last time. I am learning in new and profound ways just how much what I eat effects the way that I feel, physically, emotionally and spiritually.

Life is never without a few bumps though, because I have increased my physical activity so much chasing around Fiona, I am getting nasty varicose veins!!!! You know those bulgy purple and blue veins on your legs.... Not fun and they ache at the end of the day. SO, my midwife prescribed me to wear compression stockings..... nothing like adding an extra layer of clothing to your legs and feet in the summer time! Chuck gets to be the lucky one to help me squeeze into them each morning when I wake up. I think it will remind him of his old job working with wheel chair bound adults because they all wore them too. Once I get them it will be full length pants and closed toed shoes till mid September.

I need one of those battery powered fans that squirts a mist of water in your face. Or maybe Chuck will just have to add hosing down pregnant overdressed wife to his daily to do list.

A miserable Les Miserables

2011-07-01T21:47:00.003-05:00

With anticipation and excitement after finishing the novel Chuck and I rented the above movie version of the book by director Bille August. The first half half of the movie was great... Uma Thurman and Liam Neeson were great in their respective roles of Jean Valjean and Fantine.

Geoffrey Rush played a good Javert but towards the end of the movie he did a ton of stuff that was totally made up and not in the book... like meeting Cosette or having some kid spy tell him about Jean Valjean and the revolution....

I knew they were going to have to cut out a lot of the story to make it a 2 hour film, however this movie completely changed the story... and the essence and nature of two of my favorite characters.

Cosette played by Claire Daines is portrayed as a rebellious teenager looking for love and a different life. There are heated arguments between her and Jean Valjean and there seems to be this element of distrust until Jean Valjean reveals his past. In the book Cosette is pure innocence and devotion to her father, she does not know his past (nor does she ever find out from him) but she doesn't care, she loves him unconditionally and is willing to follow him to the ends of the earth. PLUS she would NEVER sneak away from home to go see Marius....

Marius is the other character they completely changed. He was not the leader of the revolution... he was too busy following Cosette around secretly and spent most of the book daydreaming and longing for her and the chance to talk to her. Plus they completely left out any character development of Marius and his father and grandfather.... which made up hundreds of pages of the book.

The ending of the book is also extremely different. The movie leaves you with the "Happily Ever After" feel as Jean Valjean runs away free through a flock of flying birds... the end of the book is his death... (you will have to read it for details).

Oh my!!! Toni or someone if you have seen this movie tell me how it compares to the Broadway show... If the show is like the movie I don't know if I can bring myself to see it. Oh tell me they didn't butcher that too.

This movie does not do the book any sort of justice, in fact it is a miserable imitation.

Maybe it was...

2011-06-28T20:58:00.002-05:00

Mommy breakdown day. I can't put my finger on exactly what it was that started the gigantic Indian Jones cannon ball of furry rolling, maybe it was....

The tantrums over every and all diaper changes today
The complete rejection of getting dressed
The crying for milk constantly the second I left the house without a bottle
The tearing and bending of book pages
It could have been the throwing of bathroom trash in the toilet
All attempts to eat rocks, lotion, perfume bottles, garbage...
Or when the blossoms of my marigolds were plucked in their prime
the spiting and throwing of yogurt
the rejection of what I made for lunch
the crying... oh the crying for no apparent reason and every reason
The little girl who desperately wanted to jump into a violent mountain stream
The melt down on the way to target
the refusal to sit in the baby seat of the shopping cart
Or the worn out mommy who carried around a 15 month old, all through target
Could have been the fit at the check out
the one of the way home
The throwing of my cell phone onto the concrete that caused none of the buttons to work for a couple of hours
the 5 bites that I received to my forearms
The pushing of computer buttons while I tried to look up something to make for dinner
The attempts to reach up and touch the stove burners
The grabbing of knives
The screaming over wet, shampooed and rinsed hair
Hmmmm, perhaps it was the refusal of diaper cream and then all the attempts to eat it
The peeing on the carpet as mom cleaned up the diaper cream disaster
The poop on the bed sheets, that was forgotten from the previous night and had to be changed while 15 month old cried to go night night.
Or maybe it was just my lack of sleep from all of the nightly potty breaks (5 to be exact)

Whatever it happened to be, I spanked Fiona today.

Maybe some of you don't think that's a big deal, but it caused me an extreme amount of "spanker's remorse" and tears.

I watch her get shoved around and smacked by kids who are older than her on a regular basis and it makes me crazy. She has become very apprehensive around other kids, she cringes when someone runs towards her, and covers her head in fear if someone approaches her with a toy... as if without a doubt they are going to whack her in the head with it.

I have been worried my child is growing to fear other children....

And then I go and hit her... me, her protection and safety in the world.

Today I felt like giving up. Sometimes being a mom is overwhelming, to my utmost breaking point. (It has it's good points too, see 90% of blog posts for highlights of parenthood)

Sorry Fiona... today you were one tough little cookie, and I lost it.

Goal Completed... Les Miserables

2011-06-22T23:54:00.002-05:00

When I was pregnant with Fiona I started reading Victor Hugo's Les Miserables. Feeling brave, I decided to read the unabridged version which is roughly 1400 pages. There were times I thought I would have to give up, but the story was too good and I plugged on through.

I love the different themes of the book, especially towards the end, Hugo writes some pretty poetic stuff about mercy, justice, integrity, families, marriage and the relationship a parent has with a child. It got me all teary eyed on a few occasions. It is not an easy read, I think I would recommend the abridged version... even still it is quite the time commitment, yet well worth it. I would love to talk more about it in detail, but maybe just with anyone who has read it... I wont spill all the details to the rest of you.

I am excited because now I get to watch the movie and pick it apart as to how close I think they matched the story and characters... I love doing that. Someday I would love to see the Broadway production... but that will probably be far far in the future. Turns out it already came to Utah at the beginning of June (bummer!) It is showing in Minnesota in December... but tickets start at $164.00 (a bit pricey... especially considering the cost to get to Minnesota!) I will have to start saving my pennies.

I am focusing my literary endeavors on nutrition and food books now. There was so much that I wanted to learn during college that they didn't teach me. Right now I am reading "Original Fast Foods" by James Simmons. It is a pretty purist approach to eating and preventing disease, they talk a lot about being a raw food vegan. I am leaning more towards being vegetarian these days, but I don't know about the raw food thing completely. I have been fascinated thus far and Chuck and I are reading it together so it has sparked some great family discussions, plus it's helpful when changing your diet to have your spouse on board with you!!

As promised here is another video. This is actually from before we moved, but it's one of my favorites....

Much muchness

2011-06-17T12:05:00.003-05:00

SO yes, we have arrived in Utah... our sweet new abode. Just a few initial reactions.

Our apartment GORGEOUS (see videos to follow with breathtaking scenery)
Mountains... Majestic
I-15... probably the worst freeway known to man, I would rather pioneer trek by handcart through the mountains than drive on this road. And seriously could they put ANY more billboards up along the sides. It is visual overload.... tacky.
Dry heat... much more enjoyable than muggy Minnesota days.
Great to be so close to my brother and sister in law... literally just a door step away.
People here like candy... the grocery store is full of gigantic tubs of sugar filled treats. I mean even in the dairy section there is a tub of candy provoking you to purchase. (Chuck and I are on a special no crap diet right now though... more information on that to come)

Church was different, I miss the friendly loving faces of the Saint Paul ward. However interestingly enough Sister Julie Beck (general Relief Society President) is in my ward and was there on Sunday so I felt like I knew someone and it was comforting.

Because we are having Grandma withdrawals over here we have been taking lots of Fiona videos and location shots to stay connected. You all can take a peak at what we have been up to as well. I will probably be posting a lot more videos over the next few weeks I have so much to show you all. Please dismiss my lack of film making ability.

Our lovely "little" yard.

More scenery shots from our backyard.

Some water fun at the park... which is free which makes it even more fun ;)

I will post a video soon of the inside of our apartment. Till then. Love ya'll.

The C word

2011-06-01T07:02:00.002-05:00

This week before the big move to Utah my mom found out through a routine mammogram and subsequent biopsy that she has breast cancer. It is a very surreal thing to find out about someone you love.

I mean you could never tell from the outside, and she wasn't really having any signs.

Just another reason why you should always remember to do your self-breast exams and make routine visits to your doctor.

She meets with her Oncologist today to find out a treatment plan. She has a lot of really big decisions to make, but she has some really great friends and if I do say so family to help her through it all.

Tomorrow I fly out to Utah with Fiona, I haven't seen Chuck since Saturday and I miss him like crazy.... but at the same time I feel nuts going across the country right now.

However, thank goodness for prayer and modern technology. I can communicate with God and ask for his help in a situation I feel helpless in. Plus I can communicate with my mom everyday in a variety of ways.

I am thinking of starting a blog on behalf of my mom so we can keep people up to date on the progress and everything that is going on without her having to tell 100 people 100 different times.... it gets to be stressful.

For now, prayers are greatly appreciated.

Is this odd?

2011-05-25T06:01:00.002-05:00

On my way to the bank the other day I passed by this missing animal poster. I sat and starred at it dumbfounded for a moment and then went on. But the next day I walked back just to take a picture of it because I couldn't stop thinking about it for the following reasons....

Who out in the city is paying that close of attention to pigeons? Seriously would anyone notice, "Hey, I think I saw that pigeon on a poster somewhere?"
If you THOUGHT you saw the pigeon in question how comfortable do most people feel approaching and picking up a bird? Not only that but would the bird let you touch it. Fiona tries everyday to grab birds she is 100% unsuccessful.
The description of the bird includes that he answers to Charlie, or Charlie Bird... so maybe you wouldn't have to grab him you could just call his and he'd probably hop right over to you.... ya right.
He also has "a stubby middle toenail on his right foot" in case you couldn't tell you really had Charlie you would just examine his bird fingernails...
I don't agree with the owners statement that since Charlie was domesticated since he was a baby that he needs food and SHELTER immediately. Pigeons do not need shelter, in fact I would like to think that the bird abandoned ship because it was sick of all the shelter. I hope Charlie is flying high right now, pecking at the garbage that lines University Avenue and playing with is other pigeon friends.

Cramming

2011-05-24T07:50:00.003-05:00

Fiona Trying to Stand up inside a box.

Packing has commenced. Funny thing is, we worked all day yesterday and literally only have 1 box 3/4s of the way full. Between all of my outside adventures with Fiona, Chuck's test, and work stuff that is all we could cram in. We have until Saturday to load this place up, hopefully the rest of the week will be a little more productive.

Enjoying the tunnel Box (thanks for the idea Karlene... sheer pleasure!)

We had to cut the packing short though to celebrate our 2 year Anniversary! Wow the second one sure came quick... We had a great night.The picture above is us enjoying a beautiful night outside at the Saint Paul Saints game. Minor league baseball is great... very family oriented and there are people dressed up all over and they play games during the whole thing... it was a little circus.

There was an Asian man dressed in a long white robe with a sports coat on with green sequence attached.... and he was wearing a cowboy hat. Chuck and I were puzzled at who he was supposed to be. It was until the 7th inning that they announce that he was "A real Japanese Guy" who then sang up a kareokee song. It was the highlight of the night.

We ate real American Food at Snuffy's Malt Shop... that is Burgers, Fries, Onion Rings, and Malts. I seriously felt food hungover this morning... we rarely eat like that.

We sat at diner and talked about how year number 2 went and all that had happened. We sure crammed a lot in one little year but we grew so much more as a couple. There is just nothing like the closeness and connection you can form with your spouse.... it is out of this world wonderful. I love being married.

Keys

2011-05-16T06:36:00.003-05:00

These days Fiona can not get enough of the great outdoors, in fact the other day I think we made 8 trips outside to chase ants, look at birds, suck on sticks and pace the sidewalks. Fiona can't quite say "Outside" yet, but around here Keys means the same thing. She knows that they have the power to unlock the magic of the outside world. It sure keeps me busy...

Today is gorgeous and will be a day full of keys.

Here are some shots of her outside at Grandmas house.

Pinwheel and Daddy

Kita and Fiona in the wagon.

This only lasted about 3 minutes (just long enough to get a few photos) Fiona quickly began trying to pull the dogs legs out of socket which led to some nipping which led to the removal of the dog from the wagon. It was cute while it lasted ;)

Bye Bye Buffalo

2011-05-10T06:59:00.004-05:00

I am done with school. Right after I finished someone asked me if I felt relieved... I seriously feel like I let go of a buffalo I had been carrying on my back. So ya, I feel relieved buffaloes are stinkin heavy.

I would like to Thank the U of M for my education, but not for all of the drama they put me through. If I ever needed help with something it was like, "Ok, I cant' help you but if you walk X miles to the other side of campus maybe this person can assist you." Only to have that person to tell me to go back where I started. And so on an so forth. One time I had a problem with a printing fee and I had to talk to (no joke) 17 people before I got it resolved. And this was not only personal visits but phone calls and e-mails too. All person number 17 had to do was push a button on their computer. Sometimes in huge bureaucratic organizations finding the button pusher can be a major investigation.

I will also not miss the over sized and over priced stadium that your mediocre football team plays in, or the over priced everything that you sell in your bookstores and eating establishments on campus ($7.00 for a bagel sandwich... who are you kidding!!!!!)

You have taken from me more money than I can at this time comprehend paying you... but University of Minnesota I have gained something priceless... thanks for the knowledge. It sure will come in handy (it already has).

This is Tacy Call, better known by the University as, 2617960 saying goodbye to college for now, onto the next phase of life. Utah, Point Five (that is what Chuck and I have endearingly named the new baby), and many more adventures I am sure.....

Check out my FaceBook page for more cute photos

Bittersweet

2011-05-06T07:16:00.004-05:00

Yesterday I walked out of my final exam realizing that I only have one test left. And normally I would feel really excited to be so close to being done, but it was a bittersweet feeling. On Monday at 5:30 pm I will be a college graduate!! As I started this endeavor to get an undergraduate degree when I was 18... this is a long time coming and much anticipated.

I must say that I enjoy school. I like being surrounded by people who want to learn, and the stimulating conversations that my professors lead me to have with Chuck. Plus lecture has served as my mommy breaks over the last few months, which are essential to sanity and survival. I have learned so much about food and nutrition over the last few years and now I wonder how I will use all of this great stuff in my brain.

With school almost done though, it means that I will start focusing on the big move to Utah. My plane leaves June 2nd.... that is going to come soooo fast. I will miss the Minnesota Lakes more than anything (ok I will miss family first and then lakes) . There is nothing more refreshing than to be pregnant and floating weightless in a cool body of water.

Chuck and I had a BRILLIANT idea for a small business yesterday (well it's been done before but has not been tapped into fully in Utah) and our minds have been going a mile a minute about it. Hopefully there will more details to share with you at a future date and time. Now we just have to figure out how to fund our big ideas.

Why is it that you always seem to need money to make money.

And why is Gas so expensive!!!!

And if I don't talk to you before Sunday. Happy Mother's Day! I am grateful that someone decided there should be a national holiday to honor the work of Mothers! I know that for most of the rest of the year your work is Thank-Less and goes unnoticed by the world at large even though I would argue it is the most important work you can do. So keep up the good work, you inspire me to keep going when the going is tough.

A big shout out to my own mommy, who is the MOST generous and thoughtful person I know. She also is the best-est Grandma any little girl could ask for... or mommy of a little girl for that matter. When I had Fiona my mom made it a point to stock her house with every single item a baby might need... high chair, bottles, food, diapers, wipes, stroller,bath toys pack and play... seriously you name it. She did it so that it was easy for us to come. I don't have to frantically run through my house before I go over there getting Fiona's stuff together.... it is SUPER liberating to just walk out the front door with out a hands full of baby things. My mom has been my greatest strength and support to making to transition into Motherhood. I have treasured her wisdom, advice but more often just comfort when I am struggling. She is teaching me very well how I will want to help my daughters someday when they have families of their own. She calls that Paying It Foreward... I call it leaving a Legacy of Love.

This is from our Christmas photo shoot. It hangs on our fridge and Fiona points to it everyday and says... Na na... that means Grandma ;)

What not and such

2011-04-28T20:34:00.003-05:00

20 Weeks, had an ultra sound. Looks like #2 is going to be another sweet baby girl. She was very allusive however and hard to photograph in the womb. No classic profile ultra sound shot to show off... but we did get the feet and the face shot that makes the baby look like Skeletor. So far I know that she likes summersaults (?spelling??) and curling up into small spaces.

I love it when Fiona's diaper somehow works itself sideways into a leg of her pants. It makes her extra waddly when she walks.

This Easter she fulfilled her lifelong dream of sticking an egg in her mouth. She always reaches for them in the kitchen but I know better.

She proceeded to crack this hard boiled egg open on the steps and squash it into oblivion.... which is exactly why I don't give her raw eggs to stick in her mouth at home.... well and because they came out of a chickens you-who.

This is Fiona playing with the meow meow, but in translation it sounds more like humm humm.

And can you believe that Fiona's Great Grandpa went shopping and bought this absolutely adorable dress for her. What a sweet Great Grandpa!! I still can't image him shopping.

Birds and Beards

2011-04-14T20:29:00.006-05:00

So this in one of those posts where I KNOW I should be doing my homework but I can't seem to get Birds and Beards off my mind, and have spent almost an hour looking into it.

If you are confused it is expected... but Chuck is probably giggling right now because I bring this up on a regular basis. So I have this crackpot theory that needs further investigation but goes something like this. Men with beards seem to like birds. Now, the reason it needs further investigation is that this could be a Chicken vs the egg thing... that is to say I don't know if love of birds causes the desire to grow a beard, or if having a beard fosters love of birds.

But lets just allow the evidence to speak for itself.

EXHIBIT A: Vincent Van Gogh

This is a painting of nests that he did, and he also has one of crows flying.

EXHIBIT B: Iron and Wine Lead Singer Sam Beam

As is true with many bearded musicians he often sings about birds. For example his songs... Flightless bird, American Mouth

Bird Stealing Bread

Boy with a Coin (talks about a girl with a bird)

Two Hungry Blackbirds

Exhibit C: Peter Griffin from Family Guy...

I only included this because I feel like although it is a cartoon... it depicts a clue in the puzzle.

EXHIBIT D: Aubrey De Grey (longevity specialist)

My argument for this is pretty weak, but I watched him give a speech when he accepted his TED award and he was wearing a T-shirt with a bird on it.

EXHIBIT E: Unknown artist in front of bird he painted.

I should google his name... nope... I have spent enough time on this already today!!!

EXHIBIT F: No idea... Need I SAY MORE?!?!?!?!

This is a flickr photo taken at some beard competition.

EXHIBIT G: Fleet Foxes Lead Singer ROBIN Pecknold

First of all his name is Robin, and he sings about all kinds of birds... medowlarks, hummingbirds, sparrows and seagulls.

EXHIBIT H: Ray LaMontagne

My personal favorite of the bearded musicians (next to Chuck that is) also sings about "silly sparrows" and "callous old crows" Plus he sings a song called Winter Birds.

AND IF YOU WERE NOT YET CONVINCED THERE IS SOME LINK...

EXHIBIT I: Chuck Call my husband

Picture that sits on his dresser of a Crane, done by our brother in law Daniel

Chuck's beard in progress.

If anyone has any further insight into this phenomenon I would really be interested.

Baby Steps

2011-04-11T13:25:00.003-05:00

If you recognized that as a What About Bob reference please give yourself a pat on the back. Yesterday was a tremendous day for our family. We went to church, all got to take a nap, and FIONA WALKED for the first time by herself. Chuck and I have been trying to have little walking lessons each night before bed. She got up to taking a few steps between us but was really apprehensive about it.

Yesterday at church I took her to the nursrey where all the toys are. There was one of those little cars with a handle on the back that you can either sit in or ride. I showed her how to use it and she pushed that thing around the room for about 30 minutes, and you could see the gears in her brain turning. She finally got a taste of the freedom of walking from place to place. AND she saw that she could do it without my help.

When we got home she walked all by herself to and from the kitchen multiple times. I was so proud of her, I felt all emotional about it. Here is the LIVE footage if the explanation didn't do it justice... plus then you can hear her cute little voice.

ALSO today she let me put a headband in her hair for a few hours without ripping it out. I bought this headband on Black Friday after Thanksgiving and have been trying to get her to wear it ever since. So today was another small victory!

Over-Rated Radio

2011-04-06T06:48:00.003-05:00

Yesterday on my drive to school I was doing my usual radio station search (99.57% of the time I can never find a good song to listen to... Radio stations around here act like Matchbox 20, Nickleback and U2 are the best bands who ever lived and need to be played every hour). So most of the time I end up listening to conservative talk radio... which has it's pros and cons, but that is a different post altogether. However, I stopped by the "teeny-bopper" radio station because they were talking about the most Over Rated songs of all time.

Now... this is the radio station that plays auto tuned music almost exclusively and dance party type songs all day. These songs typically include lyrics about being cool, getting drunk, partying, buying new stuff (like cars and shoes etc.), dancing, and having sex (or something like it) with random people you meet at dance clubs (in usually gross terms). Radio stations such as these are primarily listened to by 12 -18 year olds and it this bloggers humble opinion that the songs they play are one of the main contributors to teenage pregnancy and underage drinking.

A few of the "Over Rated" songs they listed in their discussion were as follows...

The Eye of the Tiger - Survivior
American Pie** - Don Mclean
Stairway to Heaven - Led Zepplin
White Wedding - Billy Idol
Come on Baby Light My Fire - The Doors

Ummm I am going to have to disagree these ones. While they did select a few songs from their own playlist like, Rhianna (Come Mr. DJ), Nickleback (This is How you Remind Me) and some other old dance hits like The Macarana by Los Del Rio.... I still think they failed to realized that almost ALL of the music they play on their radio station is Over Rated.

I just found it to be Extremely ironic.

(**I must admit that American Pie annoys me, yet the song has withstood the test of time and still inspires large groups of people to sing along when played, so it's cool in my book).

Happy Happy Birthday

2011-03-29T07:20:00.004-05:00

Today is Fiona's First birthday!!

(This was taken at 3 months)

It's a remarkable experience as a parent to watch 12 months of growth and development unfold for the first time. It reminds me of flowers actually... like the slow motion process of the buds opening. Only you don't just go to bed with a bud and wake up to a blossom, you watch every single moment of the process.

I don't think I have blinked much this last year.

Lately her favorite thing is to say "all done" after completing almost any activity... but particularly after eating. She is a baby sign language wiz and loves learning new signs, yet her favorites are MILK and EAT... however she just learned the sign for BATH and we are working on THANK YOU.

She is full of energy and excitement for life. She also has an infectious laugh, loves to be chased, thrown in the air by daddy and runs away naked butt from diaper changes.

She is completely pure, innocent and wonderful.

I feel lucky to be her mommy, and I hope her first birthday is magical!

More birthday photo's to come.

Right after Chuck took this photo he remarked, "You guys make weird camera faces." Thanks Chuck :)

The Cats Away

2011-03-11T06:30:00.003-06:00

But the mice in this house are not playing yet... we are too busy huddled nervously in a corner wondering how we will manage. Chuck left at 3:00 a.m. last night for a week long trip to Utah. He is going to get our living situation are squared away and check some other things out. This is my spring break for school so luckily I have no classes to go to.

I am going to try and keep myself REALLY REALLY busy. Hopefully that will take my mind off of it. I really do appreciate my husband and his HUGE role in my life. With him gone it feels like someone lobbed off my arm. I wonder how I will hold up as a mommy with no breaks!!! Chuck is always good for letting me have my little moments of Zen throughout the day. Even if it's just long enough to use the bathroom in solitude. Normally when I bring her in with me she stands up right next to the toilet and pinches my thighs and tries to close the toilet seat on my back (I am trying to teach her what "No" means, I am even working on my VERY SERIOUS No face. yet she still seems oblivious). I love Fiona, but I love her even more when I get a rest from the hair pulling, poking and crawling all over me.

Mom breaks are my sanity and they help me in the end be a happy more productive parent.

Luckily my mom shares the same spring break from her school bus driving job. We are going to Fargo to see my sister, and hopefully my other Minnesota sisters too.

WISH ME LUCK :)

Oh and speaking of Cats and Mice.

I realized the other day that on my drive to school I pass a store called "Purrniture" which of course sells custom cat furniture. It made me laugh the rest of the way to school.

And Chuck saw a mouse in our kitchen the other day. It actually didn't really surprise me because well... there is a constant flow of crumbs on the ground with Fiona around. We have done nothing about it. But last night I had a dream that I looked behind the stove to find the mouse and there was a tiny black man back who asked me for something to eat. Maybe I should investigate.

Follow up on previous post.

2011-03-09T06:16:00.003-06:00

I really can't stop thinking about this... it keeps me up at night, so as I am up 2 hours early and thought I would clear my mind. Most of these thoughts are really in response to comments made by Tammy.... thanks for being willing to talk about this with me.

I understand that when speaking of abortion often the extreme cases as brought up in defense. These being rape, incest and some cases of medical conditions where the mother would not survive if the pregnancy went to live birth. I can understand why a women would question her desire and ability to carry a child that came from such a traumatizing and cruel event as rape or incest.

The reason I posted statistics for the reasons given by women was to show that the majority of abortions preformed (in Minnesota) are not from the above mentioned cases. Here are the numbers:

58 cases were rape

17 cases were incest

42 cases life threatening/ health complications

These numbers are still high in my opinion. And in the cases of rape and incest almost make me feel as if penalties for rape and incest need to be a little bit more intense. Like maybe we should be removing testicals or some other type of castration for people found guilty of such crimes. I think that would send a powerful message. Because these numbers are only portraying the women that became pregnant from such crimes, it is apparent that there were many more cases of rape and incest that occurred in the state of Minnesota not reported here.

(Ok so I just had to look it up... 1,709 rape cases reported in 2009 for Minnesota we were ranked 21 out of the country. Number one, California with over 9,000).

HOWEVER, this only amounts to 117 of the 12,388 abortions (that's only 0.94%). I think that even though these extreme cases exist abortion should NOT BE AN OPTION for the population at large. It is obviously being used as birth control (7,906 reported having unprotected sex at time of conception).

I also understand that there are some babies who are born into REALLY BAD conditions like parents who abuse substances and are abusive. Yet it just seems like Life is still the better option. I know many people who grew up in really horrible circumstances of abuse and neglect yet have grown up to overcome these challenges and are really incredible people for what they have been through. These people become chain breakers in long lines of abuse, addiction and hurt... they end the "traditions of their fathers." On the other hand there are others who fall into the same family patterns and never seem to rise above it, yet there is still hope that next generations and new life in that family can have a profound impact.

It's like Gianna Jessen the abortion survivor. I would say she is have an amazing impact in the world.

I watched an interview from President Obama's campaign where he said he is pro choice because he trusts women to make the decision themselves. How can we trust women to do the right thing with statistics like these?

The Silent Holocaust

2011-03-07T11:36:00.002-06:00

I had to do a Community Assessment for one of my classes this semester. It was over 200 pages of data I found on a county in West Virginia... you might have heard of it because it's where Jaime Oliver did his "Food Revolution." I was kind of shocked when I found the abortion statistics for the state of West Virgina... it was a little over 1,000 and I thought if all 50 states had that many that would be over 50,000 babies.

I was curious to know of Minnesota's numbers... especially after hearing a statistic that 60% of ALL BLACK babies in New York are aborted every year. What I found shocked me.

Seriously I am posting this to make a statement. This makes me want to cry, and not just because I am pregnant and emotional, but because this says A LOT about our society and what we value. I seriously feel the need to take some kind of stand. What can we do about this!?

2009 Minnesota Abortion Statistics (not all statistics given, click here for full list)

Total Abortions Performed: 12,388

Abortions to women 18-19: 1,207

Abortions to women 20-29: 7,318 (I used to think it was mostly teen girls... not so)

Abortions to women 30-39: 2,863

Abortions to unwed women: 10,395

Women who had previous abortions: 5,037 (it listed numbers for people who have had 9 or more)

Method/ Suction Curettage (sucked out with vacuum) : 9,294

Selected Reasons Listed for Early Termination:

Economic: 3,597
Don't Want Children: 7,269
Want to Finish College: 609
Single Parent: 841
Already have kids don't want any more: 383
Relationship problems: 234
Unknown: 1,999

Abortions Since 1990 (1990-2009): 286,573

This is ONE state. ONE. Out of 50. And the numbers actually seem to be declining. During the early 80's it was closer to 20,000 a year.

I know that many of you who read this blog have strong views about this subject. It gets brought up from time to time by my peers in school or at the doctors office and I just cringe. I hate that this topic is considered controversial... almost to the point of being taboo to talk about. It is not taught to be wrong in school, merely a Choice that women get to make.

Last week I heard my baby's heartbeat (I am about 10 weeks along) There is a live human being in there.... not just some mass of tissue.

I find it interesting considering Chuck's line of work for the last 2 years. He worked with adults who are completely incapable of caring for themselves. They can not speak, feed themselves or even use the restroom with out extensive care and assistance. These disabled adults are HIGHLY protected by the US governmental and federal regulations. To the point that almost every moment of their life has to be recorded and documented by the people who care for them. Yet helpless fetuses are left at the mercy of their mother and whether she deems their life of any worth... or worth her time and money.

This is sick. Our society is so sick.

Check it

2011-03-05T16:31:00.001-06:00

Got a new sweet picture for my header. Thank you Adam Kennedy. He took some photos at my Grandma and Grandpa's 60th wedding Anniversary and I really liked this one. Mostly because it is pretty true to life. Fiona is front and center and Chuck and I are slightly faded in the background.

Gotta Love it.

Your baby can...READ?!?

2011-03-04T06:36:00.003-06:00

When Fiona was about 4 months old my mom graciously and generously purchased the "Your Baby Can Read!" learning system by Dr. Rober Titzer. If you don't know what I'm talking about you can watch the infomercial.

The basic premise is that your baby's brain is developing fast in the first few months and years, so why not seize the day and just teach them how to read. The "program" or "regiment" can begin as early as 3 months and consists of 2 sessions of a 45 minute video a day and then reading the books with your child everyday.

I was apprehensive about this at first because I read somewhere not to let your kid watch TV till they are 2... (any thoughts about this parents?) but I thought I would give it a try anyhow. I started with the book which Fiona seemed to enjoy it... mostly because I make funny noises when I show her the pictures. Then I tried the videos and wondered who can get a BABY to sit down quietly in front of a video of flashing words and pictures for 45 minutes? Especially once she was crawling she had absolutely no patience for this.

I did get kind of excited because it seemed like she was starting to recognize the pictures in the books... but NOT the words, she would just look at me like... ok I want the PICTURE MOM! Then I realized that for "first words" they try teaching are pretty tricky... like, Elephant, Blanket, umbrella and bucket. I remember the first book I learned how to read (when I was like 5 or 6) was Hop On Pop by Dr. Suess and pretty much every word in that book is three letters or less.

The program quickly turned from Your Baby Can Read, to Your Baby Can Tear Pages Out of Books.

It seemed that every time I turned around the books were missing more pages. And sometimes in the middle of reading she would violently reach forward and wolverine a page out.

I have seriously taped almost all the pages back into this book twice... and then I just gave up.

My mom was a little miffed... I guess this program cost a chunk of change. So most of the books (except the ones made with durable cardboard) are hiding from her.

Maybe we'll teach her to read when she's 2... so she can impress her friends, and then I can stop reading to her and just throw her a book at night... because seriously, how is a baby going to survive in this world if they can't read?!?!?!?

Kidding.... I think I will just let Fiona stick to what she enjoys and is good at right now...

Like taking things out of cupboard and making messes. Love you Fi!

Dump Truck

2011-03-02T06:50:00.002-06:00

Almost through week six of feeling like absolute hell or as I tell Chuck most mornings "Like I got hit with a Dump Truck." Two weeks ago to add to the fun of constant nausea I got this head cold that would not seem to go away. IT was actually kind of nice for a little while because I couldn't smell anything and could eat a lot more than I was previously.

Then like a good mommy who shares I gave my nasty horrible no good head cold to my baby. Who has been a wreck for four days now. If you are a parent I KNOW you completely understand this, having a sick baby is an incredibly exhausting and trying experience. Chuck has taken on caring for us both.... thanks Chuck and sorry you have been puked on so much. Fiona has found that she can sleep on his chest which has kept Chuck pretty much glued to the couch with a hot little potato on his chest. We actually think this is kind of cool though, Fiona has never been the cuddly type or one to fall asleep in our arms.

Yesterday my jaw and teeth started aching.... turns out my head cold invaded my sinuses and caused a nasty infection. I started taking antibiotics yesterday and hope to be better soon. Seriously I don't know how much more of this I have the capacity to withstand.

I have a new profound appreciation, or perhaps sadness for people who are terminally ill, or even more so who have children who are.

I also want to know HOW people stay positive during challenging times such as these. I must say that despite my best attempts to just grit and bear and BE HAPPY... I have felt like (as previously mentioned) swearing at strangers, lighting small animals aflame, and picking up large furniture objects and breaking them. Basically I have NOT been coping well at all. I feel like a nut case, and wonder what it felt like to be a happy, healthy person.

So here are some videos that are in attempts to cheer me up. Hope you find them amusing as well.

All Through the Night

2011-02-23T03:29:00.003-06:00

Oh man. The time is currently 3:29 am and all is NOT well. It was only hours after my last post, and my excitement of not feeling nauseous for two days that I found myself right back at the toilet. I made the mistake of going grocery shopping... too many smells.... too many weird foods equals puking first trimester pregnant lady.

So I have been tossing and turning all night and at about midnight painfully barfed up what little food I had eaten that night. Now I just plain can't sleep and have decided to remove myself from the bedroom where I keep disrupting my hubby's Zzzzzzzzzz's.

I am going to spend the next few minutes hopefully falling asleep to my favorite Lullaby. It's not my favorite because my mom used to sing it to me or anything. In fact I was about 23 years old the first time I heard it. It reminds me of a time in my life when I needed a lullaby each night.

When I was on my mission in New Mexico this song became my way to end each day. I really felt like the soothing voices of the men in the Mormon Tabernacle choir sounded so calming and kind of like God rocking you to sleep. I worked myself to the bone as a missionary... seriously at the end of a day my head barley had to hit the pillow and I was out. But there was always this time of reflection on the drive home each night when I would listen to this song and often feel like... I can't do this again tomorrow. Yet somehow day by day I made it through.

Now when I listen to this song I usually get all teary eyed remembering the many faces and experiences I had in the "Land of Enchantment." You might not get teary eyed from it, but hopefully you can appreciate it's relaxing quality. As my former roommate Sara Ware can attest to... even adults sometimes need a good lullaby.

AND HOPEFULLY I CAN FALL ASLEEP!!!! Take me to dreamland Mo Tab.....

Number Two

2011-02-19T12:07:00.005-06:00

Yesterday morning I was awoken at 6:45 a.m. to someone blaring "Safety Dance" by Men Without Hats. If you are like me your first thought was of a tiny man dancing around with a jester suit on and carrying a mandolin. My second thought was... "YOU ARE GOING TO WAKE UP FIONA!!" Which sure enough... they did. But it's kind of funny to wake up to your kid jamming out in her crib to a cheesy 80's song.

I also realized that when I woke up it was the first morning in about four weeks that I didn't feel like absolute donkey poop. And no... I am not terminally ill. Just cooking up baby number two. I am pregnant again, which many of you already knew but thought I would make it public to the world wide web.

I have tried to avoid posting these last few weeks because I really didn't have anything good to say.... and I was told once under such circumstances to not say anything at all. I just wanted to vomit all day everyday for four weeks straight and felt like curling up in a ball on the floor and sleeping. But I had to take care of Fiona, help my hubby with the house and go to school which kind of made me feel like screaming profanities at strangers who walked by my window.

But... it's all over now. We have past the sick stage. Now I just have to figure out what to do with the weird pregnancy hair growth patches I am sprouting.

But I am excited. Can't wait to find out if it's a girl or a boy. This will make the third new grandchild for Chuck's parents this year. We are growing quite exponetially these days. I would really like a boy... but heck I have a load of girl stuff already to go so that would be kind of convenient for me :)

In other news Chuck and I got a gigantic tax return (Thank you America for investing in our future!) We decided that it would be best for Chuck to quit his part time job at a group home until school is over. Between both of us in school, Fiona, and our job at the apartments we have NO time to do our homework. So he has one week left and then we hope things will settle down a bit. I am excited to not have to see him leave every morning to a job that drives his bonkers.

Also, I have decided not to pursue graduate school in Utah but just work on being a mommy and supporting Chuck. I have learned that when you are in school and working you really do need full time support at home. So that's my focus now and maybe when my kiddos are a bit older I'll go back.

Fiona is cute as ever and didn't even skip a beat during my four week drudge. She actually found out that she finds puking and dry heaving very funny and liked to stand toilet side for the event. She also is crawling around at lighting speed, and enjoys escaping from diaper changing and being dressed. Which means we often have a naked little butt cruising the apartment which is REALLY cute and funny... but she often pees on the carpet. Is it too early to start potty training?!?!?! Kidding.

Other than that here is a picture of the 930 cigarette butts I picked up along the front sidewalk of our apartment building yesterday. Yes... I counted each one, and I saved the Bucket O Butts as I am now calling it because I am going to take it around to each of the smokers in my building and show them how nasty it is that they throw them on the ground. Which is actually one of my greatest pet peeves of all time. I don't know why many people who smoke feel that the world is their personal ashtray.... cigarette butts don't just evaporate when they hit the ground. Plus they can start things on fire and it looks trashy. Please don't liter, and definitely don't smoke.... it gives you dog breath.

Cara Cara

2011-02-11T07:16:00.003-06:00

Whole Foods... I think I have mentioned this before but there is a Whole Foods grocery store literally three buildings away from me. In this neighborhood it is jokingly called "Whole Paycheck Foods" because everything in there is more expensive than it is at the regular grocery store. BUT for good reason. Most of the food (especially the produce and meat) is way better. It even looks fancier and cleaner when you walk in. It is organic, meaning that is was grown with out chemical fertilizers or pesticides. PLUS they ALWAYS have lots of free samples throughout the whole store.

I walked over there to find an orange the other day, grabbed the biggest juiciest looking one I could find and came home. When I cut into it I was a little confused, cuz it was bright pink and thought I might have grabbed a grapefruit. But it was sooooo sweet!!!! Turns out it was just a Cara Cara orange. I don't know why I have not heard about these until my 28th year of life.... but I am in love. I daresay they are the best orange I have ever tasted and have wanted to eat one every day since.

I went to the regular grocery store a few days later and saw that they also sold Cara Cara's for a DOLLAR CHEAPER a pound. Wow! I thought, and loaded up. When I got them home they were not the same... the skins were thinner and they looked dull pink on the inside and didn't taste like anything special, they didn't taste like much of anything....

So back to Whole Foods.... and once again they were delicious.

The moral of this story is that cheaper price is NOT always better... ESPECIALLY when it comes to food. I like how the movie FOOD Inc put it. Every time you go to the store and make a purchase you a voting as a consumer. You are telling the producers what you value and enjoy.

SO vote organic... if not always, at least once in awhile. And try a Cara Cara!

SKINS

2011-02-09T08:41:00.005-06:00

I am really perturbed by the release of the show SKINS onto MTV. If you don't know what that is I warn you that if you Google it you will find a tawdry photo of 15 + teenagers in sexy nighties looking half dead. The show is supposed to be about teenagers having sex with each other, doing drugs, binge drinking, breaking the law... etc. etc. Basically it is a parents worst nightmare. And is rated M for mature. MTV claims it is not geared towards kids. Yet the show was watched by 3 millions viewers the first night, and about 1.3 million were under the age of 18.

Some of the shows stars are 15 years old and are portrayed scantily clad and in explicit sex scenes. There are lots of reasons why this bothers me... the sexualization of young girls, the unrealistic reality portrayed (NOT ALL KIDS that age are having sex and doing drugs), the pressure to act like these kids do. BUT above all it disgusts me because ADULT MEN watch this show and begin to view young girls in a sexual way. SO thank you MTV for providing near child pornography to breed the next generation of petafiles who prey on young girls....

Whatever happened to shows where kids were presented with sex, drugs and other teenage issues but with the help of family and friends made the RIGHT CHOICE?!?!?!?! MTV argues that parents should monitor what their children watch. That is true but in our technological age if kids want to watch it or are curious they are going to be able to despite their parents wishes. I think that MTV should bear some sort of responsibility for what they expose people to. It just seems with all of the problems our culture is facing with teenage pregnancy, underage drinking, STDS, Drug use, child pornography, and many more.... THIS show is tacky and in poor taste to say the least.

Whatever happened to shows like these?

Like Boy Meets World

and Family Matters

Into the Mountains

2011-01-26T07:51:00.005-06:00

I don't think I have mentioned this but Chuck and I are gearing up to move to Utah. It seems like a pretty understandable transition I mean we are Mormon and Utah is out "Mecca." (kidding) I read that Utah was our Mecca on an old postcard of the Salt Lake Temple, I found in an antique shop and it made me bust out laughing.

We are headed for Sunny Alpine to live close by Chuck's sister and her husband. They have a little girl close to Fiona's age and I have a feeling she is really going to like having a cousin close by. Chuck is going to learn how to do a type of Emotional Release Therapy that will be a part of his counseling practice in the future. It uses age regression meaning that sometimes (not always) during a session you might "go back" to an earlier age to address issues from your past. I have been the beneficiary of this treatment on a few occasions and have found it to be really healing and beneficial.

I am excited for him to be learning about something he is really interested in and working with our brother in law who we consider to be quite the guru of health and healing. It will be a great blessing to our family. I mean who doesn't want to learn to release stress and negative emotions. I myself tend to be a bottler of such and sometimes I burst... never pretty.

There have been quite a few people we know who have mixed feelings about this decision and career move. I don't know what it is about "Alternative" therapies that people have a problem with. Perhaps that is because I grew up with a mother who loved therapy, self help books, herbs and many other non-mainstream forms of medicine.

If I have learned ONE thing from my almost 10 years studying health and Nutrition in school it would be that....

There is NO one size fits all when it comes to nutrition advice. People are so unique you have to tailor meet your advice to fit their life.

So... how is it hard to imagine that when treating metal health different types of therapy might benefit different people.

Anyways, I am not going to turn this post into a defense of alternative medicine.... but just wanted to say I fully support my husbands choice and am glad he is following his heart and not being swayed by other people's opinions.

In this Light...

2011-01-20T20:07:00.003-06:00

On a Thursday after noon Tacy sits on the sectional couch reading a book. The mid-day sun shines through the window and gracefully rests on her. Her husband, sitting close by gazes upon her in this glowing light and says....

Chuck: "You know in certain lighting and at certain angles, when your hair falls just the right way, you remind me of someone... well actually two people."

Tacy: (trying not to move and screw up the light) "Oh really, who?"

Chuck: "Well the first is an elf."

Tacy: (shifting slightly) "Oh really?"

(The image going through Tacy's Mind)

Chuck: "Yea, but not like a Christmas elf."

Tacy: "Ok?" (puzzled at how her husband will turn calling her an elf a compliment)

Chuck: "More like an Elf from the Lord of the Rings, they are really beautiful."

Tacy: "Thank you."

Chuck: "And then sometimes you remind me of Caleb from Kings of Leon when he had long hair." (Then he had to show her a picture because Tacy did not know who this MAN was, or how he could possibly look like her).

(Caleb far left)

Tacy: (but then she kind of saw some resemblance because her hair was tucked behind her ear with a chunk hanging out, and in laughter replied...) "I think that is the funniest thing you have ever said to me."

THE END

Yet Another Squishy Loser

2011-01-10T08:20:00.002-06:00

I made my anticipated Tofu dish the other night. It was a recipe that I had to start the day before, and so I spent many hours dreaming about how it would be wonderful and I would finally master the art of Tofu cooking.

Not so. It was NOT that good. In fact, Chuck and I ate a little and then I threw it all away (I cringe at wasting food!). I have decided to no longer proceed to seek out the perfect Tofu recipe... I will instead not be adding tofu to my families diet. There are so many other delicious non-meat protein sources that don't taste like curdled wet bean sponge.

Despite my tofu failures, there is a success story to share. Fiona has learned to crawl! It is really cute to see her waddle around looking for treasures. We still need to baby proof the apartment... but for now have just been keeping a really close eye on her.

Here is a video of her in action.

Secret Combinations

2011-01-07T08:19:00.002-06:00

If you are Mormon you are probably envisioning the Gadianton Robers right now.... but this is a different kind of secret combination.

I probably do more online research for recipes than I do for just about anything else. School included. I love it that you can search for a recipe and come up with countless ways to make it. I usually end up reading about 10 recipes and all the reviews and then making it my very own. After I make my combinations I usually try to write it down for my recipe collection so that it can be duplicated. Something my Dad wishes my mom did... LOL. She would cook stuff all the time and my Dad would be like this is great you should make it again. But my mom had a hard time duplicating because she never measured anything and just liked to throw in a little of this... a little of that. Still my mom made countless delicious meals.

The last time I made Butternut Squash soup I stumbled upon this video. It has three variations to make the soup All American, Thai or with a Mexican kick. I love this soup in the wintertime and yesterday we tried the Thai version... Chuck loved it and so did I. We served it with hot Naan (Which is Indian flat bread and oh so delicious).

I am still trying to master Tofu, yet all my research has not produced a winner yet... maybe I'm doing it wrong. My next attempt is this peanut butter coconut tofu recipe. Wish me luck.

Bloggie!!

2010-12-27T11:05:00.004-06:00

My husband gave me the COOLEST thing for Christmas. I didn't ask for it and I had no idea I would be the recipient of such a thoughtful present. Meet Bloggie!It is a pocket HD camcorder :) He told me that I should turn my BLOG into a VLOG and just post video entries. I can now capture memories in little video snippets.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but truly a video is worth a million. Here are a couple from Christmas.

You can see from this video that there is no flash or lighting, so if you are in a dark room...well things are a bit dark. It can take photos while you are in the middle of recording a video too... pretty sweet. But like I said, without a flash it is best used in lots-O-light.

I also learned that taking the videos horizontal (instead of vertical like I did above) makes for a much better video.

I am trying to figure out if there is a better way to save and store videos than on youtube. Chuck bought me an external hard drive with lots of memory but I feel like I should back them up somewhere.

I am also wondering if anyone has video software they really enjoy? Right now I just use Picasa because it lets me up load to Youtube easily.

Many more videos to come.

Ps... I LOVE being on break from school!

28

2010-12-22T20:50:00.002-06:00

I bought Fiona twin baby dolls for Christmas and then didn't even wrap them and just gave them too her. She kept talking to them in the box and I couldn't resist.

I was reminded that dolls have the delightful smell of baby powder infused into their plastic little heads and bodies. Ahhhhhh that new doll smell :)

If you didn't already know, December 23rd is my 28th birthday. I will wake up in the morning and eat my traditional sausage egg and cheese muffin sandwich and then I am going out to lunch with my mommies to Cossetta's to enjoy an artichoke salad. Mmmmm Mmmmm good.

Then I get to spend lots of quality time with my hubby.

OH Tannenbaum!

2010-12-10T08:17:00.005-06:00

Last night our Christmas tree was officially set up in our living room.Which was a great accomplishment because it had been UN-officially set up for a few weeks.

My parents let us borrow their fake tree (which I really enjoy, I am not a fan of the mess or disposal of real ones). I asked for them to bring it over after Thanksgiving.

My Dad did, but we quickly realized that there was no tree stand. So the next day I went to Walmart to pick one up.

I got home with it excited to set the tree up, BUT it quickly became apparent that something else was missing.

I put the angel on and she was starring me right in the face.

I thought... I remember her being a little higher up than this, then Chuck pointed out there there was a whole section of the tree missing. Which after taking a step back was quite apparent.

We kept the tree like this in the living room for about a week until my parent found the missing section and the tree stand.

Much better!!! I love decorating for Christmas... can you see that I wrapped my air conditioner in the background like a present. :)

IN OTHER NEWS...

Fiona is sick, and not sleeping well. It's been a rough last couple of days... doesn't she know it's finals?!?! Kidding. We have been to urgent care and the regular doctor. She has red ears and a red throat but they said just to ride it out. Which is probably best, cuz we don't want to be pumping antibiotics into her unless it is necessary.

I went to get her from crying at 3:00am last night and when I picked her up she felt like a little hot potato. Her fever was 102.3 and she heartily puked all over me twice.

Yet, like the typical mom I did not clean myself up, but sat with her, got her medicine, and monitored her fever till it broke. I tried to sleep on her crib mattress with her (I pulled it out of the crib of course) and now I know that I am TOO BIG to sleep on a crib mattress next to a baby. BUT when you are sleep deprived you can fall asleep almost anywhere in any position.

And so I slept on a crib mattress, next to Fiona with my legs up on one of her toys.

And for some reason I found it necessary to BLOG this morning covered in dry baby puke.

Time to wash up:)

Are you UP for the challenge?

2010-12-04T07:45:00.003-06:00

Every once in awhile I find an odd satisfaction in my cupboards being bare. Not because I don't enjoy eating... we all know I do! I like the challenge of having to dig into my food storage and seeing what kind of meals I can come up with.

This morning I awoke to the sound of metal scraping cement as the gas station next door plowed their lot at about 5:30 a.m. which also woke Fiona up, so I fed her and put her back to bed.

I thought I would be a sweet wifey and make my hubby something to eat before he had to shovel the entire apartment complex sidewalks and leave for work. I decided to make Banana muffins as I have a freezer stocked with old Nasty Nanas. My favorite recipe is an prize winner from Better Home and Gardens. It has flaxseed in it, and boy do I love flaxseed :)

The recipe also calls for Wheat flour... which in my food storage wheat is not ground into flour and so I found myself grinding wheat at 6:00 a.m. Then I realized the recipe called for applesauce which I also did not have, but I had some old withering apples that were being neglected, so I put them in the steamer basket, got out my food processor, and made applesauce.

I put them in the oven to bake and heard Chuck hit the shower... and since I was feeling so productive already I packed his lunch and then slapped on some boots and went and started shoveling the sidewalks.

I loved seeing the expression on Chucks face when he emerged from the shower to find that I had woken up early, ground wheat, made applesauce, baked muffins, packed his lunch and shoveled all before 7:00 a.m. Then we sat down and enjoyed a warm muffin before work. There is something very satisfying about impressing my husband... I like seeing him smile.

Who needs energy drinks!?!?!

Here is the recipe from Rita Morrow of Leonard Michigan. ENJOY!

Here is one on it's way into my mouth

Flax, Banana and ~~Raisin~~ Chocolate Chip Muffins

3/4 cup flax seed meal

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 egg, beaten

3/4 cup mashed banana (I just use two)

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup buttermilk (I always use milk + lemon juice)

1/3 cup canola oil (or vegetable... whatevs)

1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 cup ~~raisins~~ chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease or line muffin tin. Mix all the dry stuff (flax meal - salt) in a bowl and make a well in the center of mixture.

2. Combine wet stuff (egg - applesauce). And add all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter will be lumpy). Stir in raisins or chocolate chips.... I also add walnuts because they are good and good for you... Ya for Omega 3's!

3. Spoon batter into muffin tin and bake 20 -25 minutes or until they pass the toothpick test.

4. Cool five minutes, and eat... because they are so good warm!

Hacked, Bushwacked and 12 Hours there and Back.

2010-11-30T08:20:00.005-06:00

Maybe the title sums it up, but in case you want elaboration you can read on....

Fiona tried to help me fix it, but she just ended up making the font on my computer super small

HACKED!!! So somehow someway someone from Lagos Nigeria busted into my Facebook and Hotmail accounts. They proceeded to send an e-mail to everyone in my address book pleading for money because I had been mugged in Europe. Most people knew it was a hoax right away, yet I did get a few phone calls and e-mails of genuine concern.... Surprisingly enough even from my Dad who I was hanging out with the night before. The conversation went something like this.

"TACY?!" (In a concerned questioning voice)

"Hey Dad, what's up?"

"Where are you?"

"Not in Euorpe... Dad I was at your house last night."

"I know, I thought it sounded fishy."

Cousin Bowen "working' with Grandpa on his Barbie Laptop

SO just like that my Facebook Days are over for now because this hacker somehow set it up that everytime I change my password he takes if over again... Don't ask me how. AND Hotmail whom I have been going back and forth with, do not beleive that I actually own my e-mail account and will not let me recover the password or shut it down. So basically they are protecting a hacker.

Chuck working hard on his homework.

Do things like this every make you feel like bombing things. I really feel like I could bomb something right now. However that maybe more tied to the fact that I am completely and uterly...

BUSHWACKED...

My baby does not sleep through the night. I wake up with her like ever hour and a half to two hours. I am trying to sleep train.... wish me luck. I just wanna sleep!

This is a Sandwich I made and thought was photo-worthy... every time I see this picture I want a sandwich.

Diaper, Boots and Hat... I think I took like 15 pictures in this number. This is the only time I have actually been able to keep the boots on her feet.

12 HOURS THERE AND BACK

We spent Thanksgiving this year in Michigan with Chucks brother Anson. It was a great time, minus the 12 hour drive there and back in the middle of the night to try and keep Fiona from completely loosing it.

We were in Port Huron and we went to some river that leads into Lake Erie and watched huge boats go by. Oh and I went out for my first Black Friday every. I saved over $130!!! Whoot Whoot, I will most definitely do it again next year, what a riot.

I will have to say that I really enjoy adventures and spending time with family. That was probably the most time I've spent with my brother and sister and law and I really enjoy getting to know them better. Even if they keep their house at a frigid 66 degrees!! You guys are NUTS!

Karlene and Miss Clara Bell

Call Men

Cute Cute Cousins

Grandma provides a Holiday Bib

Anson's Happy Face

My first successful Action shot

Uncle Chuck and Clara Bell

Me and My Love

Fiona Stands!

2010-11-08T20:25:00.004-06:00

Chuck realized today that he could prop Fiona up in the corner of a room to "stand" unassisted. It was an absolutely delightful sight, and made her really happy too.

She loves her independence.

You can tell how much a kick I got out of it by my initial squeal in this video.

The Lady Bug in her Natural Habitat

2010-11-03T07:57:00.004-05:00

Fiona was a little lady bug for Halloween this year. These pictures are on Facebook, but I just can't get enough of them so I'm blogging them too. I went as Alice in Wonderland because I already had the costume and Chuck attempted to be Mr. Rogers but we couldn't get the last items of his costume together before the party. But on the bright side, he has a red zip up sweater that he can sport at Christmas time. We had a family photo taken by someone at church that I wanted to post but can't seem to save it onto my computer?!

My mom asked me to do a little photo shoot of Fiona with her camera. I think I took like 60 pictures, but here are just a couple of my favorites.

We went to the doctor yesterday... my little baby is now 29 inches long and 17 lbs 14 ounces. She is in the 99th percentile for height, that's one tall little bug :)

Invisible Tape

2010-10-28T16:28:00.002-05:00

Today Chuck bought a juicer at the Goodwill for $9.99. Quite the steal when you consider they can cost hundreds of dollars. I was apprehensive about the purchase, thinking to myself... "Are you actually going to use this thing or is it just going to take up space in the cupboard?"

The second he got it home though he cleaned it and began tossing things from the fridge into it. He juiced a carrot, spinach, celery, Roma tomato and then a banana pepper which made it almost TOO spicy for consumption, but he chugged it down. I had a few sips too... not too shabby. Even if we don't use it that often, it was worth the 10 bucks to watch Chuck get excited in the kitchen.

So my dreams of being the characters from the movie the Labyrinth has died... it is just too much work to find all the stuff I need and I don't have the time. But I do still think Chuck would make a terrific 1980's David Bowie. It's probably best to not get dangerously close to crossing the gender line at Church Halloween parties anyhow. We are still dressing up, I will wait to show you until Halloween though.

Fiona is wearing 12 month old clothes, trying to climb up everything in sight like a little monkey, and she recently started reaching into her diapers the moment I open them to change her. Which.... if you have experienced this, you know that a baby with poop on it's hands is a really good equation for poop on just about everything! The second she touches it her hand immediately waves wildly touching everything in sight. I have had to start pinning her arms down.

Oh and there is a roll of invisible tape on my desk right now. It's incredible that I can even see it.

Doppy Docks and Flip Flops

2010-09-28T18:27:00.005-05:00

"Doppy docks" is a phrase that I can only assume one of my sweet little old neighbors made up... because it is the first thing I have Googled and NOT found. But that is what she calls it when you don't have any shoes on. Fiona doesn't wear shoes, so my neighbor always grabs her feet and says, "your going doppy docks with mommy."

I don't often roll doppy docks, yet I do love a good flip flop and wear them in many circumstances. Today marked the death of my favorite pair of flip flops the strap completely busted in two. I seriously have had them for almost 10 years. They were cheap-O Old Navy ones but for some reason they had been worn to my exact foot shape and had a soft brown strap that never irritated the space between my toes and I loved them.

It has been a sad week for my wardrobe.

The crotch of two pairs of black workout pants completely wore out. It was destined to happen because when I run my thighs rub together and almost literally burn a hole in my pants. ( sorry for the use of the word crotch... I am not a fan of saying it but it is the best way to describe that area of a pair of pants. If someone knows an alternate word I would love to know it)

And I spilled bleach all over a long sleeved T-shirt and it has discolored splotches all over.

I also realized this week that going to school part time, working part time, being married to a man who is in school full time, works part time, on top of having a six month old... is a lot more difficult than I imagined it would be.

Fiona helps me to not feel so overwhelmed however... which seems crazy because she needs the most from me each day. Yet no matter how stressed out I am there is just something about her sweet little toothless grin that makes everything seem like not such a big deal. And so when I feel like pulling my hair out because I have a mountain of homework and Chuck is not home and Fiona wants to play... I just let her pull my hair out for me.

Hows that for stress relief?

Somehow today she managed to pull my pony tail to the complete top of my head

Look-ee See

2010-09-24T08:00:00.002-05:00

I constantly take little clips of Fiona but don't always post them. Here are two from a few weeks ago I thought I'd share.

( I do have take 1 - 4 but they were all unsuccessful attempts)

Lesson Learned

2010-09-20T21:57:00.002-05:00

If you should ever find yourself walking to Ace Hardware to pick up some Windex and you see a man with a camera and one with a microphone you might want to think twice about saying hello. But I just can't help but be friendly to people... CURSE my niceness, this is also the reason I get roped into a lot of mall surveys and end up spending 20 minutes talking to the animal rights people (Hey I served and LDS mission, I have sympathy for people who have to talk to strangers)

So Mr. Microphone asked if I wanted to talk to him about the Economy for Kare 11 news. I was like, "Um, yea I don't really think I have a lot to talk about on the subject." But he said, "Oh we are just looking for regular people." I thought... hey I'm regular.

So turns out there was a report today that is saying the recession is over and ended quite awhile ago.... You don't have to be any sort of economic genius to smell that load of crap....

But seriously after I answered this guys questions I was like there is no way they are going to put me on the news... I bet other people had much more exciting things to say. But right around 5:00 pm I started hearing from people that they saw me on TV. LOL and now I am in a video on the front page of the website. So for your viewing pleasure here is Tacy Call with the scoop on the economy.

Ps... after I talked to this guy I was like, I said I know lots of people who are unemployed... but who do I actually know. Chuck tackled me after he watched it calling me a liar and saying he wanted names. LOL... So I don't know lots of people who are unemployed. But I did talk to two guys on the phone the other day for work who said they were looking for jobs and Chuck knows three people at church, so I am not a total liar.

On the Defensive

2010-09-17T07:52:00.002-05:00

I don't know if anyone remembers the incident we had with a certain pot-smoker in our apartment that Chuck gave the business to. Well he moved out and in the process accused Chuck and I of being dishonest and untrustworthy to our employer....

I confronted him about it and he replied, "I have to advocate for my best interests and I didn't feel that you had my best interests in mind."

Which is an interesting comment that has me a little miffed. Perhaps it was the smoke that has clouded his judgement... I thought I did have his interests in mind. I mean, I cleaned up after his messes in the hallways, put a smiley face on his move out report, didn't call the police and evict him when he was doing illegal drugs in his apartment, and I tried to save him over $300.00... I also open the door for him and always smiled and said hello.

How did he get the impression that we were sneaky snakes? And why do I care what this kid thinks about us? (Chuck most certainly does not care... whatsoever)

Our employer said the comment was "in one ear and out the other." As he complimented Chuck and I on our integrity. And he also noted, "It seems we have an angry little pot smoker on our hands."

So it boils down to this, Dude tried to defame our character to our employer because we would not let him spark doobies in the apartment.

In another sense though I felt like I could relate to him... I mean I live a lot of my life on the defensive. I have dealt with a lot of businesses and organizations that have not been looking out for my best interests. I wonder how many hours of my life I have spent on the telephone trying to fix bills, bank statements, loans, stuff for school (the U of M is currently on my list of organizations that drive me bonkers that is another post entirely). How many times have you been swindled, bamboozled are just plain lied to... had someone try to sell you something you told them you don't need? Had to call a company and wait on line for ever to try and get it fixed only to be treated rudely? Been sent on a wild goose chase where people tell you "your problem" should be handled by someone else... only to get there and be passed along.

Not only that I can't go running at night, I have to always lock my doors and guard my purse in public settings (especially the grocery store where the check out ladies tell me... Don't Leave your purse in the cart!)

Kind of sad... Oh what a world... what a world we live in. I don't want to be on the defensive all the time...

But do I have a choice?

The latest

2010-08-30T10:51:00.000-05:00

A couple of things that keep whizzin around in my brain and just want to let escape.

I have almost burned my kitchen down FOUR times since living in this apartment. Maybe "burning it down" is a bit of an exaggeration... but I have started four fires. Each time I usually scream FIRE! and then Chuck rushes in to save the day. Maybe I like starting them subconsciously so that I can see him do his super hero dash into the kitchen. BUT seriously I have an electric stove with no flame, how do I keep starting stuff on fire?

I have given up on five for Friday... I am just not a consistent enough blogger and I need to keep my life nice and flexible for my ever fluctuating sleep schedule and the desires of Miss Fiona Grace.... Seriously her wish is my command. Maybe I will just call it "FIVE" and post it on any day of the week I feel like it. Like today sounds good.

FIVE apartments are turning in our building this week. I wont bore you with all that this entails but... Poo Poo, I have a lot of work to do.

For some reason I can't stop laughing about this... especially the duck at the end. My brother showed it to me.... THANKS BEN!

Chuck and I watched a 10 video series on Sleep Paralysis this weekend. It was really eye opening and validating as it has happened to both of us. Here is the link to the first video and if anyone out there is familiar with this I would love to know your thoughts.

You've got to be kidding me!!!

2010-08-27T07:38:00.003-05:00

Who the heck wrote "Mall of America Field" on the Metrodome? I have a sneaking suspicion it was the Mall of America... for someone who doesn't care much for sports I found myself quite bothered by this the other day. This is THE Metrodome, you can't rename THE Metrodome, this is a piece of Minnesota History that adds a puffy almost billowy essence to the Minneapolis skyline. I am sure it was a big financial matter, and good for the Mall of America for acquiring it BUT seriously did you have to change the name?

I am sure it happened months ago, but I am quite sheltered and spend many days inside of my little St. Paul bubble (it's quite cozy).

ColorFull

2010-08-19T05:54:00.003-05:00

Fiona adds a lot of color to our lives.... not only with her ensembles and toys but also with her emerging personality.

She is NOT a quiet girl, and in fact we are finding her to be quite social. She loves to squeal and yell during conversation as a way to take part. She loves being at the dinner table at meal time and is absolutely fascinated by eating and food. (like mother like daughter) .

This is one of her new favorite toys... it is the Baby Einstein Discovery chair. She seems to love all of the animals and has successfully figured out how each toy works. But there is a parrot on it that she has an intense love/hate relationship with. She likes to suck on the feathers on the top of his head, but when he spins around on his perch she gets really ticked at him. I usually end up taking her out when she is yelling and smacking him.

I could not resist

2010-08-14T16:56:00.005-05:00

Well it's the end of the semester and you might be saying to yourself, "Tacy, you are not taking any college courses right now." Ah yes, but my husband is, and the end of the semester stress and rush to get everything done directly effects me and Fiona.

Needless to say having just come home from a family reunion up by Canada and then having Chuck hit the books hard.... things seem a little hectic. Not to mention Fiona got a cold and Chuck spent an entire day with a fever over 100 degrees. I had plans to go jet skiing with my family in Wisconsin, yet I could not imagine leaving Chuck under such conditions. What fun would cruising over crystal clear waters on an incredibly humid Minnesota day be without Chuck there anyways? (I must admit the air felt extra hot and sticky that day and I dreamed of being hosed down) .

So I stayed home to play wifey, mommy, cook, and secretary (because who can think and read books when their brain is boiling!!?!?!) Due to the chaos the apartment is a dump. Chuck admitted this morning that this is the biggest backslide in our cleanliness crusade of our marriage. Chuck is unshaven... I spend long hours in my PJs.... you get the picture.

In spite of it all I just keep thinking about how happy I am with my life at this point. I love being married to Chuck, I honestly enjoy helping him out and playing mommy all day... even though I don't show it all the time. There are definitely times when I think of the major decisions that have led me to this point in my life and being so glad that it all worked out the way that it did.

Sometimes as I watch Chuck and I during these college years I wonder if he wouldn't have been happier pursuing his modeling career.... with flights all over the world, loads of cash, new trendy clothes and beautiful people where ever you look. Instead we are broke, wearing very old threads and hand me downs (but he still gets to look at beautiful people each day :) He assures me there is not other place he would rather be.

So....LOL! I begged Chuck to let me post these pictures. He does not show them to people often. But in my opinion it's like having a Van Gogh painting and not hanging it up. I consider these pictures (and my husband himself) a work of art.

In a way they remind me that life is filled with choices, that can be difficult to make... but choosing Chuck was the easiest thing I ever did.... I know he feels the same and that just makes life perfect, no matter what kind of clothes we are wearing or what our apartment looks like.

There are many more pictures from his portfolio but they are just for me to privately giggle at like a teenage girl reading Teen Beat magazine.

The Horse Says Neigh

2010-08-10T22:56:00.003-05:00

I don't feel like my day is complete until Fiona has had a laughing attack. However each day it seems to take something new. Today it was my saying "Lions and Tigers and Bears Oh MY!" And when her dad said "Woop Woop and then yodeled like a cowboy" Over and over again. But usually it is just us making weird noises that does the trick.

Once we find the right sound or phrase that will set her into a giggle fit we do it over and over and over again until she gets totally sick of it. That is probably why she doesn't allow repeats. Here is a video of the day she really liked it when I brayed like a horse... sorry for the shaky camera but there was also an action that accompanied the sound and much to my delight you can not see me acting like a horse in the background.

The Greatest Company on Earth

2010-07-28T07:30:00.002-05:00

I never dedicate my posts... but this one is for Toni

A few posts ago (who's been paying attention?) I mentioned something about wondering how I felt about blogging anymore. I like many people wonder if it is worth the time I dedicate to it and sometimes feel that the things I write are nothing of great importance to the world at large making me wonder... why do I publish this stuff to the world at large.

BUT in the past few weeks as I have sat mulling it over (I love that expression by the way) I have come to the following conclusion about why I shall and must continue TO blog and to read blogs.

First the Bullet Points

Writing is therapeutic, and I have always loved journaling... Chuck tells me that once I write stuff on here it is never going anywhere. I think it might be fun someday for my kids to go back and see our little family history online. Because lets face it, I DON'T scrapbook and I have been neglecting my paper journal.
Blogging is FREE!! Ok so maybe it costs a bit of your time, but you can always set limits for yourself. We had to do that in our house.
People come to you... I like it because I don't feel like I am bombarding people with my life through countless e-mails or phone calls to talk about myself (seems a little narcissistic). People can come check in whenever they want and spend as much or as little time looking around as they want.
Reading other people's blogs makes me laugh and is a good way to start my day. Plus it gets me thinking about things and subjects I might not have... for a stay at home mom without a TV I need a little bit of connection with the outside world if you know what I mean.

And now for the big reason and for the namesake of this post.

There are many different types of blogs that exist in the world. There are sports blogs and photo blogs, adventure, music, cooking, crafts, family... etc. etc. etc. I would classify mine under the family category as my blog is not directed to any one group of people and I don't market anything. I just write about family and friends for my family and friends.

If you blog often you know that there are probably millions of blogs just like yours and mine (especially from Utah they love blogging). They are filled with pictures of kids doing cute stuff, random stories, thoughts, and questions. You can almost anticipate posts as holidays roll around and there seems to be some standard posts that you will see from almost everyone, (The birthday post, The we're pregnant, The here's my belly, The family outing post...etc...etc)

I was reminded the other day of when I worked for a large company in downtown Minneapolis. When I started I had access to the company directory and could e-mail or call anyone in the company all over the US in a matter of seconds. It was really helpful because sometimes I had to figure out how to do something I was unfamiliar with or contact another department. There was also a company website which would publish newsletters and keep us all updated on the latest company happenings.

I would like to think of "family" bloggers as being a part of the Greatest Company on Earth. I mean if we strip away all the fluff in the world... family is the most important part of our lives. Blogging is a way for us all to keep connected in our business of raising the next generation... it is like our company newsletter, and a way to network and stay connected. Sometimes I read blogs for cooking tips, organizational advice, project ideas, and ways to have fun with my husband and baby. These are all aspects of my "job" as a mom and a homemaker, and I would like to think of Blogging as a part of my job.

Some of you may not realize this but I LOVE seeing random pictures of your kids, because it gives me that warm mushy feeling about how great being a mom is. It is motivation for me when days are challenging. And I love hearing about your lives and what you are up to... and sharing in your happy times and relating to and sympathizing with your hard times. It makes me feel like we are all in this together.

SO THANK YOU for blogging I have enjoyed the posts of the past and look forward to the posts to come. Happy Blogging :)

Five For Friday

2010-07-23T07:11:00.004-05:00

5 noteworthy things from the past few weeks...

The past few times I have gone to the grocery store alone I seem to end up next to someone who is "a little off" which makes for an entertaining check-out experience. The first time it was a man who explained to me some of his purchases and then spent the rest of the time digging through my groceries and saying things like "Mmm chocolate chips, these are MINE!" Pretending to take them, laughing and then putting them back in the cart.

The last time this happened it was a cute little old man and he would grab tabloid magazines and show me pictures inside and then giggle in such a way that his shoulders would move up and down. The first picture he showed me was one of those "Worst dressed" pages and he pointed to some celebrity at an award show and said, "look at that dress... giggle giggle, and that one.... giggle giggle." As grocery store shopping can be an exhausting task I enjoy getting to chuckle a bit before I leave.

The absolute last thing I like to do is draw attention to myself while I am trying to feed my child in public. However as of late Fiona has decided that she does not like ANY sort of noise to disrupt her when she is dining, and thus will scream until she starts choking and gagging under my nursing shield leaving all eyes on me. I tried to have lunch with my Grandma at a restaurant the last week and Fiona had a meltdown. I was so flustered we ended up just leaving as soon as I got myself all tucked away again. I really do think nursing is amazing if it works out for you... but I still feel frightfully awkward about it unless I am in the comforts of my own home. I find myself in new situations wondering what the breastfeeding etiquette is...

I was only exposed to breastfeeding when I was a little kid myself and so I didn't really think of it in the terms of my being a women and someday be doing it. I find myself wanting to study other women who seem to feed their kids effortlessly and without drawing attention to themselves. Sometimes I feel like I might as well just blow a foghorn and yell. "HEY I'm ABOUT TO BREASTFEED MY KID!!!!"

I realized this week that I am quite competitive. Which is interesting because I have always considered myself NOT to be. I suppose it's just another example that just because we think something, doesn't make it true.

I have a big family reunion coming up with Chuck's family and I have to fix a meal for like 20 people. I kept stressing out about what I was going to fix and wanting to know what everyone else was making... Chuck jokingly said, "you know if you don't make something good my brothers will not like you anymore and you will get kicked out of the family." I laughed because it seemed so absurd, but it was actually a thought that had crossed my mind (which sometime I would love to write about all of the completely absurd scenarios I run through my head all day). Upon further reflection I realized that I was approaching this meal like I was asked to be on some cooking competition on national television. WIth this realization it almost seemed like someone lifted a fog from in front of my eyes and I could think of COUNTLESS other examples where I approach life like a contest. Anyway... I am working on changing my thinking.

I was able to run a race this last week in Downtown Minneapolis. It was a 5k called the Torchlight (because it is run at night). It felt good to get out and run with a big crowd again. That's one of the reasons I love doing races, I like that big group feeling... and listening to the sound of thousands of feet hitting the pavement. And I also had the chance to behold people wearing these:

There is a pretty big movement of people who run barefoot, or with these shoes which are really more like gloves with thick soles. There is a guy in our neighborhood with really long blond hair who Chuck and I see all the time running barefoot with his shirt off. Every time I see him I feel like I am spotting big foot in his natural habitat or something. It just seems so wild and primitive... only this guy wears Nike Shorts and is in the center median of Summit Ave in Saint Paul.

I was able to do a nutritional assessment of myself for three days (not a whole week like I had wanted). I am still analyzing the numbers because the program I have has like 7 different reports you can run about what you ate. BUT Being the lactating lady that I am I need over 2,700 calories a day just to break even. I tried to be really true to my diet and enjoy things like snacks and pizza. I realized that I am under my calorie need almost everyday (which is why I am steadily shedding the baby weight). Which made me feel like I would try another assessment after I stop breastfeeding.

I did find that I eat a lot more salt than I should... Pretty much if you eat anything processed or use pre-made sauces from the grocery store your sodium levels will be off the charts. I made "just add water" pancakes one morning and had no idea they were packed with sodium. That day I was like at 294% of what my sodium intake should have been.

I realized that I enjoy doing nutritional assessments and wouldn't mind keeping better track on a regular basis.

Pot Luck Nightmares

2010-07-19T22:29:00.003-05:00

This weekend I learned that you should NEVER make a giant (I mean like 15 pounds) Tuna Noodle salad for a potluck, UNLESS you are ready and willing to eat the entire thing on account of three other people bringing basically the same salad.... which is exactly what happened at church on Sunday, and is why I have eaten almost nothing but Tuna Noodle salad for the last four meals.

Seriously I think one person took a scoop out of the bowl. I watched in horror as people continually took from the other bowls. NOOOOOOOOOooooooooo!!!!!!

Megan you know what I mean because you watched me make it, and witnessed Chuck pretending to be crushed under the weight of the bowl when he went to put it in the fridge.

And Clarinda, thanks for feeling sorry for me in the potluck line and eating a scoop... truth be told I ate your version and not my own.

Saturday night I had visions of a delicious fresh fruit salad... I only had to walk three buildings down to Whole Foods to pick up the ingredients. Yet at that precise moment the tornado sirens went off and the rain came down in sheets while tree branches flung through the air. My attempts to wait out the storm were unsuccessful as I waited until the store closed. My only back-up... Tuna noodle.

So if you have a craving for some chicken of the sea married with a delightful white sauce (MAYO BABY) and tossed with pasta, please don't make any. Just come on over I have plenty to share :)

And just for Fun...

Fiona has recently discovered that she loves paper... and her mother loves watching her rip pieces to soggy shreds with her slobber mouth and somehow get them stuck up her nose. I know... I know... I probably shouldn't give her pieces with ink on it. Shortly after I snapped this photo Chuck made me take it away from her and instructed me only blank pages next time.

The Sugar Story and my life in Nutrition

2010-07-13T07:10:00.003-05:00

During the 1930's a young man had become obsessed with eating sugar. His mother became very upset with it, but no matter how much she scolded him and tried to break his habit, he continued to satisfy his sweet tooth. Frustrated, she decided to take the boy to see Mahatma Gandhi, who was the boy's idol. She believed that the boy would listen to him.

She had to walk many miles in the hot sun to reach Gandhi's ashram. When she arrived she shared with Gandhi her predicament and asked him to tell her son to stop eating so much sugar.

Gandhi replied, "Come back in two weeks."

The women looked confused, and left. She made the long journey home and in two weeks time made it once again as Gandhi requested. When they arrived Gandhi looked directly at the boy and said...

"Stop eating sugar, it is not good for your health."

The boy nodded and promised that he wouldn't. The mother was puzzled and asked Gandhi why he couldn't have just told her boy that two weeks ago.

Gandhi smiled and replied, "Two weeks ago, I was eating a lot of sugar."

On another occasion Gandhi also said...

Be the change you want to see in the world.

Part of my recent introspection has been about finishing school this year. While I am excited by everything that I have learned in school about nutrition I realized that I am somewhat lacking in the application. For the most part I already eat a well balanced diet... but thinking of this story reminds me I have a lot to work on.

Hypocrisy weakens your message... Gandhi waited two weeks to talk to the boy because he wanted his statement to have validity and to be powerful. The boy probably would have been hesitant to agree to his counsel if Gandhi had a Big Gulp Slushee in one hand and a Snickers bar in the other.

I really do want to help people improve their health and quality of life through food, and so I am analyzing my diet this week for weaknesses. Yesterday I started a week long dietary assessment. Which... if you have ever done one is kind of tedious, you have to measure out and keep track of every single thing you eat or drink all day long and report physical activity. It's pretty amazing what yo discover about yourself though when you pay such close attention.

So check back in a week for the results!

And ask yourself today, "What change can I make in myself that I desire to see in others?"

Five for Friday

2010-07-09T08:04:00.000-05:00

Five things that make me UNcomfortable....

1. Phantom hairs that fall out and stick to your clothes and tickle the backs of your arms but no matter how hard you look you just can't seem to find them! This occurs almost every 10 seconds for me as I seem to be shedding at an alarming rate lately. I am told it is normal after you have a baby... but no less discerning.

2. My garage which is hot and steamy like a sauna and full of spiders. It is like a basement, which was one of my greatest fears in childhood. When I have to get in or out of the car I try to spend as little time humanly possible in there and I always check for spiders when I'm outta there. This should be no surprise though as all bugs make me uncomfortable even lady bugs.

3. Walking through the ghetto with my baby... and NOT because I am afraid of being snatched or something happening to Fiona. But for some reason (which I would love to have explained to me) Baby's Mamas are a hot item in the Ghetto. I get honked at and flirted with more pushing a stroller than I would at any other time. Is it the mom butt?

4. Having cool clean feet immersed in the water of the lake and then having to cross the beach which is hot and dirty (as it is made of dirt). Consequently sand granules get stuck all over the previously cool clean feet and so the struggle begins to try to get the sand off before sticking the now hot dirty foot back into a shoe/flip flop.

5. Having to use the toilet in a dirty Mexican rest stop. This only happened once (Julia, if you read this you may recall), but one time was enough for me to know that I never want it to happen again. SO I had to use the bathroom something fierce and I was in a car on an old Mexican road with a lot of bumps... we stopped at the tiniest little shanty in the middle of nowhere and I was told this would be the last chance to go for a few hours. I entered the bathroom, which had no door and was really just a hole in the ground of a big dark area with the dirtiest and most ridiculous imitation of a toilet seat I have ever seen. And of course there were bugs all over the place. I had my sister in law stand guard at the entrance and I attempted the squat method to avoid touching anything within sight. However a combination of stage fright (because I could hear a heard of banditos outside), fear of strange Mexican bugs crawling on me, and images of me falling in this hole and/or touching anything, were inhibiting my ability to relax and go. In addition there was a van full of people waiting for me... and I hate taking too long in bathroom situations, in reality NO ONE cares, but somewhere locked in my subconscious is that old middle-school fear that people are going to tease me about it. (you can probably tell that this happened to me often in my childhood... if you met my brother and sister you would understand, I will just add that to the reasons I need therapy!) ANYWAYS, under that kind of pressure and in a squatting position for over 5 minutes I lost all strength in my legs and began to shake trying to hold that position and relax at the same time. I zipped up and thought I would just hold it for a few more hours. My sister in law encouraged me otherwise.. and after a good laugh and having her give me water imagery out loud like "there is a waterfall pouring over the mountain" I finally had success.

In actuality this UNcomfortableness extends to all questionable restroom facilities and most port-o-potties. Just ask my dad about my bathroom denial of last weekend. I really could write an entire post about my public bathroom phobias and concerns.

I have issues.

Have a great weekend!

Summertime and the Living is Easy

2010-07-08T08:21:00.003-05:00

(Flowers From Chuck)

Well the title pretty much sums it up. So far this summer has been quite relaxing. Chuck and I have spent lots of time taking long walks and just enjoying Fiona in the Air Conditioned Bliss of our apartment.

I am not quite sure why I have been neglectful to my blog, for some reason I am having mixed emotions about it. I keep writing posts and not publishing them... I still love all of you though, and blog stalk you often. I have been taking lots of photos though which you can find on my Facebook page if you want to snoop on me. I have just been in deep contemplation the last few weeks. Partly because I had my first female emotional meltdown in a long time. It was intense... I felt like I was drowning in a sea of irrational thoughts and it seemed that everything in my life suddenly became a huge crisis. I was scared to open my mouth for fear that fire and daggers would be emitted directly at my sweet sweet husband.

I called my mom in a panic, and she said that I should avoid talking about ANYTHING serious. (Great Advice) So I gave Chuck the silent treatment, which I felt bad about but was a necessary evil, as I waited for the crabbies to pass. I did some emotional release grocery shopping, took a power walk, ate a lot of Kettle Corn and pizza, and stayed away from sharp objects.

So crazy how hormones can change your personality and perspective on life. My husband bought me flowers and chocolate as a peace offering... what a genius! And my internal storm eventually passed on by. And none of the stuff I was all worked up about seemed like a big deal... well except my kitchen towel "dilemma" which has since been solved :)

Today I get to hang out with the cute little 8-11 years old girls from church, it is part of my new church calling. I put on activities for them twice a month. Today we are making friendship bracelets and enjoying frozen smoothies.

What a great summer this is turning out to be.

Making dreams come true...

2010-06-29T08:19:00.003-05:00

LIVE with Regis and.... MY SISTER?

Ever since I can remember my sister has had BIG plans in life to be rich and famous. It started with an acting summer camp her and I did where we stared in a local high school production of The Wizard of Oz (we played munchkins as you may have guessed). She would spend the next few years of her life loving the theater and wanting to be an actress.

Then somewhere along the line she caught the modeling bug and wanted to put a portfolio together to send to agencies... but my family was way to poor to jump start that dream. Then there was some Business professionals club she was in where she traveled to New York, I am sure she was looking to be CEO of some major corporation.

She is quite the artist, and paints to this day... I am sure if someone would pay her for her art work she would be all over that.

Most of her life has been dedicated to her musical career, she was a singer in a pretty popular cover band in Fargo... got noticed by the right people and became a Radio Dj at ROCK 102. She had an album produced in a local studio as she writes and sings her own original songs.

Oh and then for awhile she almost became a local weather girl on television. She got to introduce Jay Leno at some local event too.... I think you get the picture. Oh wait I just remember that she went to Seattle for American Idol tryouts once.

Currently the stars in her eyes are fixed on Live with Regis and Kelly... They do some promotional thing where for one day they have a radio DJ fill in for Kelly and SURPRISE, my sister is dead set on getting the job. SOOOOOOO being the nice little sister that I am, I am trying to rope all of you into nominating her so we can make her dream come true...

Just think of the satisfaction YOU will feel when you watch the show say "Hey, I helped to make that happen!"

Alright so there are THREE WAYS you can nominate her. I will try to make this as easy as possible. AND DON'T say to yourself you don't have anytime.... I KNOW all of you out there in blog land like myself spend wasteful time on the computer so just reduce it by 10 minutes today:) THE DEADLINE IS JULY 16th.

Write a letter to Regis and Kelly and tell them why "Lucy Black" (that's her radio name) would make a good co-star. It can just be a few sentences, and if you want to listen to her radio show first just click on the Rock 102 link above between 10 and 2. You can stream the show online.

Women of Radio Co-host for a Day Search

Ansonia Station

P.O. Box 230233

New York, NY 10023-0004

2. Through the LIVE with Regis and Kelly website but you have to sign up to be a member of the show first, but I don't know how many fans I have out there of Regis who have been dying to do this.

3. You can send an e-mail to: lucy@rock102online.com

Here is what Regis and Kelly are asking you to provide along with your nomination…
***Make sure to tell Regis & Kelly in your nomination why Lucy Black will make a great TV personality.
Nominator must be a home listener (so if you have moral issues lying... which I sure do) you can click on the Rock 102 link and stream some of her show into your home from 10-2. I hope you like classic rock!
Nominator must provide the name of the nominated Broadcaster: Lucy Black
The radio station call letters: KRWK-FM
City and state of the station where the nominee works: Fargo, ND
If possible, a web address or link to picture, biography and a video or audio clip of the nominee may be included:
http://www.rock102online.com/lucy-black.php

*** For those of you who don't know my sister I have given you some reasons why she would make a great TV personality.

She will laugh at Regis's jokes no matter how corny or stupid they may be (she's a laugher)
She is quick witted
She never grew out of thinking farts and bathroom humor are funny and might increase the viewers of the show to kids ages 7-17.
Her last name matches her hair color... catchy huh :)
She can be classified with the following adjectives: Spunky, determined, vivacious, alluring, ambitious, coherent, confident, entertaining, enthusiastic, friendly, jolly, silly and zealous.

THANK YOU FOR READING, NOW LETS MAKE HER DREAMS COME TRUE!!!

A Word on Wet Wipes

2010-06-23T08:03:00.006-05:00

While taking the time to ponder the absurdity of my official United States Census 2010 "It's in OUR HANDS, BE COUNTED!" Antibacterial Wet wipe.... I flipped it over to discover the following printed on the label.

The dimensions of said wet wipe 5" in. X 8" in. or for those who use the metric system (12.7 cm X 20cm)
The location of origin for the product, in this case Waconia, MN 55387 followed by an American Flag and the statement "Proudly made in the U.S.A.
And... The DRUG Facts (which is like the label you will find on a medicine bottle)

If you are like me and you think a lot about the FDA you might have said to yourself... Wet Wipes are considered Drugs? You Bethcha. This is because Antibacterial Wet Wipes make a claim about treating or preventing a disease, which by the standards of the *government make something a drug... in this case the claim states:

"Helps reduce bacteria on the skin that could cause disease. Recommended for repeated use as needed."

ARE YOU BORED YET?!?!

This Drug Label includes Warnings and Directions for use. The Warning for this Wet Wipe is a paragraph long...

Flammable. Keep away from heat and open flame. For external use only. In case of accidental ingestion seek medical assistance or contact a Poison Control Center immediately. Avoid contact with eyes. If eye contact occurs, flush thoroughly with water. Avoid contact with broken skin. Discontinue use and contact a doctor if skin irritation develops and continues for more than 72 hours. Keep out of reach of children.

When in your life have you ever needed to know the dimensions of a wet wipe? And who uses them as a way to fight off disease? And how many times have you "Accidentally ingested one? And WHO reads the directions before cracking open the package? If you need to consult Wet Wipe directions you really don't get out enough.

We are talking about a piece of cloth with water, rubbing alcohol, vitamin E and Aloe Vera on it.

They make it sound like a dirty gasoline soaked rag.

Personally if I am using a wet wipe it is because I have just spilled something on my hands, or used a port-a-potty. Perhaps I am biased because I don't subscribe to the idea of "Antibacterial" as they remove the good bacteria from your skin as well as the bad... causing bacteria strains to mutate becoming resistant to such products (oh man I am a huge nerd).

I guess I find this extra ridiculous because to be considered a "Drug" in the United States a product has to undergo rigorous testing to give scientific evidence to whatever claim it is making. I would be curious to know the time, money and man power it took to conduct the Wet Wipe testing.

Which begs me to question how else the $873 million dollar budget alloted to the FDA specifically for Drug evaluation and research is spent.

Also, while I am on this topic, this is the reason that Cheerios got in trouble last year for their campaign that Cheerios could lower your cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease. The FDA was in a huff about it because they felt that Cheerios were making claims to treat and prevent a disease and would therefore have to be considered a Drug to make such a statement.

Oddly enough the FDA does not regulate any weight loss products or medications as obesity is not considered a disease. That is why products like Fen-Phen which is potentiality fatal can hit the market and cause a lot of damage before it is pulled from the shelves.

And now I am just rambling.

*Definition of a Drug by the government: "articles intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease in man or other animals" and "articles (other than food) intended to affect the structure or any function of the body of man or other animals."

I am NOT an Idiot

2010-06-21T08:41:00.002-05:00

I try not to write too many complaining posts, but Chuck suggested that I channel my feelings on my blog... so here goes.

I got a phone call the other night from someone from the 2010 census. She began the conversation by telling me that I was required by law to answer her questions and then she rattled off a bunch of numbers which I can only assume was the code that makes her statement official. Being the law abiding citizen that I am I handed Fiona off to Chuck and stepped out of the apartment (which is the black hole of cell phone reception in the city of St. Paul) and gave this women my undivided attention.

The purpose of the phone call was because there were some questions with our census form. Right away I thought... they are probably calling because I filled it out before Fiona was born and they were most likely looking to get her information.

HOWEVER, I was told exactly how many questions she was about to ask me, and given a time estimation of 10 minutes for the conversation. She did ask me about Fiona's birth... which she pronounced (F-EYE-ONA) even after my correcting her (F-EE- ONA). Turns out that she basically asked me every question that I filled out on my census AGAIN... ummmm did you not believe me the first time? Did the way that I checked the boxes look suspicious to you? Seriously I would have to be a complete idiot to have gotten these questions wrong.

Here are just a few highlights from our conversation which felt more live an investigation... In parenthesis is what I would have said if I didn't have a conscious about being rude to people, which I do so I bit my tongue. But sometimes it's fun to pretend.

Census Lady: "Who filled out the census form for you household?"

ME: "I did"

CL: "And who are you?"

(well lets see here... why don't you stop reading your teleprompter and think about that for a second. There are only two people listed on my census Charles or Tacy... You are speaking to a women.... any guesses?)

ME: "Tacy Marie Call"

CL: "You have listed for your household Charles Henry Call and Tacy Marie Call, is there anyone that I have just listed that you do not know or are unfamiliar with?"

(considering that one of the people listed is myself and the other shares my last name, I think it is pretty safe bet that I know both of these people. No, Ma'am I did not ACCIDENTALLY write some unknown person down as living with me.)

CL: "Were both of the people I have listed living in your home as of April 1st 2010?"

ME: "YES"

CL" Were there any other people living with you as of April 1st 2010 not listed on your census?"

ME: "Yes, I had a baby on March 29th, 2010."

She then asked me a bunch of questions to get her information.... including such questions as,

CL: "What is F-EYE-ona G. Call's relationship to Charles H. Call?"

ME: "Daughter"

CL: "Is F-EYE-ona G. Call Charles H. Call's biological daughter?"

ME: "YES"

CL: "Is F-EYE-ona G. Call Hispanic or Latino?"

ME: "NO"

(Seriously STOP reading your computer for one second, use your own human brain and have a normal conversation with me!!! You just asked me if she was Charles biological daughter, and he is white... and Me the mother is also white. Hmmm any guesses as to what the baby might be?)

CL: "Is F-EYE-ona G. Call native american, African american, White/ Caucasian, Chinese, pacific islander.... etc etc.

ME: "She is White"

Then she asked me if either of us were living anywhere else as of April 1st 2010, but it took her about 10 questions to do it.

CL: "Was Charles living in an assisted living home?"

ME: "NO"

CL: "A nursing home?"
ME" NO"

CL: "A Correctional facility?"

ME: "NO"

CL: "A detention center?"

ME: "NO"

CL: "Prison?"

ME: "NO"

CL: "Could he have been counted on anyone else's census?

(This is just getting ridiculous... )

She asked all of these questions about me as well.

Then to end the conversation she asked me if I would like the address to write a complaint letter about the amount of time that it took or the amount of questions asked. Almost as if she had been trained to know that these conversations give people something to complain about.

CENSUS 2010!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHH

I really am not ticked off, I just find this all so absurd... laughable. Does our government think this is a nation of imbeciles? Let me just take a deep cleansing breaths..... ok.

As a person who loves family history and recognizes the value of census records I say it is an important endeavor for our country to undertake... plus my cousin is working for the census right now and this is how she is currently making her living, yada yada yada the census has is very good points.

BUT (and the census has a very BIG BUT) a 14.7 billion dollar endeavor seems a little excessive with an ADDITIONAL 340 million dollar advertising campaign. And surprise surprise they are over budget! I must admit that $20 seems like a lot of money to me, so in perspective these numbers may seem larger to me than they do to other people.

Part of this money was spent on that ridiculous letter that was mailed out to everyone in the country that basically said, "Hey we are going to mail you a census." OK, waste of money waste of paper!! I thought Obama was on this Green Kick? Not to mention the actual census document, followed by another letter mailed out to everyone saying, "Hey don't forget to fill out the census." (these letters cost about $85 million dollars)

Part of that $340 million dollars was to make Census/ "It's in our hands" WET WIPES!! WET WIPES!!!! No joke, I have in my possession census wet wipes. There were also Census billboards, commercials, pencils, highlighters, T-shirts and a bunch of other junk. JUNK.

AND we are paying people to sit in an office and make phone calls, making it appear that I am a complete idiot and do not know how to fill out a simple questionnaire. Oh and there is an office somewhere full of people reading the complaint letters that people write about the phone calls.

I was under the impression that the purpose of desiring such an accurate census was so that the money would be distributed "properly." It seems to me that quite a bit of money has already been improperly used.

Stay tuned for part two of this discussion were I detail more of the absurdity of wet wipes and ways in which we are all treated like idiots.

Here are some of the sources that I used if you are interested.

Fox News Report: Census Bureau Over Budget

The Census Project

MayRant & Rave: A blatant conservative blog

Five For Friday

2010-06-18T09:02:00.005-05:00

This is NOT a "top Five"

but simply

Five Movie Characters I thoroughly enjoy, with no explanations as to why.

The J Man

Envy

Mad Martigan

Willow

Dusty Bottoms

The Three Amigos

Uncle Rico

Napoleon Dynamite

Ed Rooney

Ferris Buellers Day Off

Pink with Blue Trim

2010-06-16T07:36:00.002-05:00

I absolutely adore this outfit of Fiona's. Perhaps it is because it says Mommy's little girl, or because of the pants which you can't see but are little ruffle pocket butterfly print. Trouble is that each of the four times that I have ever dressed her in it she has some diaper fiasco and it never lasts past lunch.

Yesterday was no exception, and I found myself scrubbing them in the bathroom sink around 1:00. It's almost as if does it to be funny, like she is teasing me because I get so excited when I put her in it. Sad to say that the pink with blue trim outfit is already ready for retirement as she will probably be too big to wear it by the next time I do her laundry.

It is 7:30 a.m. which means that right now I am wide awake, while Fiona is deep in baby slumberland. I sit at the computer hoping that you all updated your blogs so I can have something to read... and now posting out of sheer boredom. My next step will be to crack open Les Miserables (which is an incredible book by the way). I am on page 630 which means only 833 more to go.

I get so excited every morning when she finally wakes up... because then I have someone to play with and I can have an excuse for wanting to hear the frog song on her new toy. Can you tell that we don't own a television?!

I am sooo glad that I am able to work at home and be able to spend all day with her. What a lucky mommy.

Blabbity Blah Blah

2010-06-14T08:32:00.004-05:00

So I wrote a post for last Friday but never published it, and I have consequently been thinking about things I want to post. The post was about five songs I like that feature the slide guitar, I was getting them all lined up on my playlist, (songs 1-4 on there now) and then I couldn't find song number five which is Beach Baby by Bon Iver got annoyed and scrapped the whole post.

I have been so busy reflecting on this whole Facebook situation. I know that sounds kind of silly... but all of a sudden I was bombarded with people I haven't seen in years, people who knew me when I was a very different person. I keep having "Facebook Dreams" as I like to call them, where my dreams are filled with random people from my past. I had a dream the other night that I was taking a bath with Fiona and all my old high school friends kept walking in till I finally screamed for someone to shut the door.

Perhaps my subconscious is worried that I have given up some of my privacy by social networking on facebook. Who knows, from what I have observed so far people just graze through pictures, expose their gaming habits to everyone and try to write funny one liners to get someone to comment on it... kind of like blogging, which we all know I love.

In other news I love Cotija Cheese.

It is like the parmesean cheese of Mexican Food. It is crumbly and doesn't really melt and you can just shake it on top of stuff like salads, vegetables, enchiladas and what not. Every time I go to the grocery store I like to explore for new things that I haven't tried before. It makes a daunting task like weekly grocery shopping seem like a treasure hunt.

And in case you sit up at night wondering about my baby like I do, here are her current stats:

24 inches long (95th percentile... that's one long baby!)

12 lbs 13 ounces (90th percentile)

Oh and one question... do other people's baby's cry in their sleep? Fiona whimpers and cries like she is having a horrible dream. It is sweet and sad all at the same time. What could she even have a nightmare about?

Which reminds me this week she got her first Ow-ee. Some other little girl was checking her out on the floor and dropped a rock square on her forehead, Fiona startled and then burst into tears. It was actually pretty cute.

Tammy I completely understand that post you wrote a long time ago about constantly thinking of horrible things that could happen to your baby. I wont even share because they are usually impossible like her being eaten by a bandersnatch and stuff like that.

Ok blah blah blah blah.

I'm done.

Eagle Engine Cured

2010-06-07T17:35:00.010-05:00

Chuck and I have been turning a lot of heads lately when we cruise around town... and not because we are ridiculously good looking either. We drive a 2002 Nissan with incredibly bad hail damage and for the past few weeks (ok months) both of the belts were cracked and would squeal like we had a live eagle strapped to the engine.

We got an estimate of how much it would be to repair... and since we budget ZERO to keep up our car any price would have been way over budget. However I was thinking we HAVE to fix this and not just out of annoyance of the shrieking eagle, but for safety reasons too. My husband decided that he was going to do it himself...

Ok, so Chuck (Bless his heart) is not a mechanic. We have a SMALL collection of tools and NONE of the cool car gadgets like the little cart you wheel yourself underneath with. I tried to discourage this decision thinking that it would be so much easier to let the experts handle this one.

He went out to the garage to begin sometime in the morning. And hour after hour would go by... and he would still be out there. I thought to myself, we are going to have to get a mechanic to fix this... and I worried that now we would have to have it towed to the mechanic instead of being able to drive it. Dinner time came and it was still not done, but Chuck was convinced he would be able to get it done.

I wondered is this some stubborn man thing? Is he worried that if he excepts defeat he will somehow feel less manly? I was ready to stomp out there and tell him no more messing around! Enough is enough.

But he had finished.

(Chuck kindly letting my Blog obsessed self snap a photo of him in his greased up state)

HE DID IT, HE FIXED OUR CAR!!!

I am so impressed with his determination and that he saved us huge chunk of change by doing it himself. He said that even though it took him a LONG time, he learned a lot about what not to do next time and where to find things in the engine.

I (of course) felt the need to document the occasion.

Nothing like getting your hands dirty

Thanks Chuck

Fiona Sings Doe Re Mi with Mommy

2010-06-03T21:20:00.000-05:00

Ok sorry to bombard you all with videos of my child making noises... You know it's cute!!! My Grandma requested this one be posted. My mom filmed this when she was over the other day. Seriously Fiona enjoys a song just like her mom and dad. Chuck and I try to sing with her everyday and she coos her little heart out. We figure she might sing before she talks. Due to the posting of two adorable videos today I am going to forgo Five for Friday this week. Have a great Weekend ya'll!

Fiona"s Voice

2010-06-03T18:40:00.000-05:00

My favorite time of the day is when Fiona is wide awake and talking. I often find her in the morning coo-ing at the butterflies on her crib bumper. He voice is so sweet and girly... I love it!

Facebook

2010-06-02T07:38:00.002-05:00

So for the past few years I have telling people that I don't Facebook... but this morning I decided to open an account, only to find out that I already had one. LOL I opened a Facebook account back in 2007 I just never did anything with it. I assumed it was closed down, but much to my surprise it was still there, with a profile pic of me and an old boyfriend. I have removed the photo and added a few more. I am not really familiar with the program, so it might take me a few weeks to figure out how to use it right.

SO hey family and friends, add me so I can see you guys.

Love Tacy Marie

Five 4 Friday

2010-05-28T13:00:00.004-05:00

Here are five things I don't understand...

1. People who just can't get by without slamming a rock star... or red bull... or 5 hour energy shots. How about a good nights rest and some fresh air perhaps?

2. Professional body builders... male or female. Is this guy happy or ticked? I can't tell, but I sure wouldn't want a roundhouse kick to the face from him. No worries, I don't think he could get his leg up that high anyway.
3. Bullfighting. The picture I saw this morning was a guy with a horn through the face... I censored and found this one of a close call, but you can imagine that sometimes the bull doesn't miss. Yikes.
4. White people with dreadlocks. Common man, Jamaican me crazy with that hairdo...
5. Colored Ketchup, which I think they discontinued, but I still have disturbing mental images of purple goo on a hot dog.

And I thought Cat People were crazy...

2010-05-27T07:26:00.003-05:00

This little gem of news came from "The Week" magazine.

A Massachusetts church is launching a religious service for dogs (Because these people obviously don't know that All dogs go to heaven... which is also a really great movie). The Rev. Thea Keith-Lucas of Calvary Episcopal Church says the monthly service will help parishioners "who have a rich spiritual life as pet owners" share their experience of God with their canine companions. She said that barking and whining will be allowed during the services. "We want dogs to be dogs." she said.... (and we all know that what dogs want is to sit through church).

Fiona Smiles

2010-05-25T07:54:00.000-05:00

I am making noises such as this pretty much all day. I can't help it I have a baby smile addiction. Chuck actually started the Na Na game, I started with the Num Num game and as this video is a few days old, I have moved onto the clap clap game and the tongue game (which makes a noise but I don't know how to type the sound). Hope you have something to smile about today!

Five For Friday

2010-05-21T08:31:00.003-05:00

I really want suggestions on how to stop saying the word LIKE constantly in conversation... I have tried to rid myself of the habit before, but I still find myself doing it.
I am officially a Moby Mom! Check out my sweet new baby carrier called the MOBY. When I was in school one of my classmates told me I had to get one of these. I have been obsessing over having one ever since Fiona was born, and it finally came in the mail this week. Actually I waited each morning in front of the window watching for the UPS guy. When he pulled up the other morning I ran out to meet him which I think startled him and he totally biffed it on my front steps. I still can't tell if Fiona loves it or hates it, but if I walk around enough she passes out. When I take her out of it though she screams like I stabbed her which is heart wrenching. We walked and shopped in the grocery store with it the other day, and also washed the windows. Thank you Moby:)
Do people still flip the bird? Randomly the other day I realized that you don't really see people give the middle finger anymore. I am not saying that I miss it... just wondering if it is considered out of style.
I chopped my hair off, and here is a cheesy picture I took of myself to show. My mother in law cut it, and I LOVE it. So bouncy and easy to manage.
This Sunday is Chuck and I's one year anniversary. For most occasions I write Chuck a letter in a special journal that was given to us for a wedding present. I am having a hard time summing up and expressing my feelings of the past year. Quite simply Chuck just makes everything better. So happy to have found love, as Rufus Wainwright said, "Life is a game, and true love is the trophy."

Stuff

2010-05-19T10:45:00.002-05:00

"Every Possession you have, from the tiniest button to the biggest piece of furniture, takes with is a piece of your time."

-Mindy Starns Clark from The House That Cleans Itself: Creative Solutions for a Clean and Orderly House.

I read this quote today in Parents magazine. Every piece of stuff is just one more thing to move, store, put away, clean, dust, fold, organize....

Ever think that if you don't have enough time, you might have too much junk?

Video Test TWO

2010-05-18T09:21:00.001-05:00

Sorry I had the video set to private yesterday, so only YOU TUBE users could watch it. I put it to public so anyone who clicks should be able to see.