Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Sweet Dreams


Unlike most moms (I think!), I don't find Hudson asleep in places other than his bed very often, so I had to take advantage of taking a picture of my sweet sleeping boy that fell asleep while watching Sesame Street. I love how he got a pillow off of the couch, has his blankie, and stuffed tiger, and the hand under his cheek. Sweet dreams, baby boy.

Monday, September 29, 2008

TAG

20 Years Ago:
1. Parents divoced. Living at Grandma and Grandpa Schumann's.
2. Attending Sego Lily Elementary in Lehi.
3. Singing.
4. Helping sort socks.

10 Years Ago:
1. Loving boys.
2. Going to Lone Peak High School.
3. Driving.
4. Teenage family drama.

5 Years Ago:

1. Married.
2. Living in Spanish Fork.
3. Working at Love to Learn in Salem.
4. Trying to have babies.

3 Years Ago:
1. Pregnant (finally!) with Hudson.
2. Building our new house in Payson.
3. Living at in-law's house while they were on a mission in Wyoming.
4. Working various jobs: Kencraft decorating gumballs with frosting, Tres Jolie making jewelry, Bath and Body Works, and cleaning DHL's shipping warehouse (not all at the same time!).

1 Year Ago:
1. Living in Payson.
2. Jeff started his own business.
3. Went to Samoa.
4. Trying to have babies.

Yesterday:
1. Went to church.
2. Took a long nap.
3. Went over to our friends house and made smores.
4. Watched David Blaine magic tricks on tv.

Today:
1. Woke up at 7 and walked on the treadmill with weights for 30 minutes!
2. Cleaned house.
3. Watched some Cosby.
4. Go to Wal Mart tonight.

Tomorrow:

1. Trying to have a baby.
2. Be a stay at home mom.
3. Clean house.
4. Exercise.

Next Year:

1. Have a baby.
2. Have a savings.
3. Have a dog.
4. Be skinny!

I tag everyone!

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Fall Harvest







Today we were looking in our garden and discovered most of our cantaloupe has gone rotten. I think they were done growing, and we just kept waiting for them to get bigger, so they went bad. We picked a few little ones that weren't mushy yet, so we'll have to see how they taste. I decided to go ahead and pick most of my Jack be Little pumpkins but there are still a few yellow ones that aren't quite ready. Our corn is finally ready and we had some for dinner and it was delicious! We've also been enjoying a few tomatoes here and there, and we are still getting a few crookneck squash and zucchini. I don't think we're going to be able to harvest any honeydew, and we only have a few little carrots. Oh well. This was our first garden and a big learning experience. I think we'll do better next year! But we have had so much fun with this one and we are blessed to have what we have!

Friday, September 26, 2008

Fall Pictures










We went up Payson canyon with Jeff's brother and his family to take family pictures for each other. Hudson was a stinker for the camera most of the time, but luckily we got a couple of really cute ones. I LOVE the canyon in the fall, it is so beautiful!
After pictures we had a fire and had hamburgers, hot dogs, and smores!

Thursday, September 25, 2008

High School Tag

I was tagged by Cori.

1. Did you date someone from your school? I think I mostly dated older guys when I was in high school.

2. What kind of car did you drive? I didn't really drive. I usually got rides with Holly or I walked. I probably drove my mom's clunker once in a while.

3. Did you pass your driver's license test on the first try? Yes!

4. Were you a party animal? No. I wasn't cool enough to get invited to parties.

5. Were you considered a flirt? Probably not.

6. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? None.

7. Were you a nerd? Everyone that I thought was so popular is saying yes, so I must be a double yes.

8. Were you on any varsity teams? Uh, no.

9. Did you get suspended/expelled? No.

10. Can you still sing the fight song? Still? I don't think I ever knew it.

11. Who were your favorite teachers? I liked my English teacher, Miss McPherson. She "got" me.

12. Where did you sit during lunch? Anywhere I could desperately find someone to sit with. Usually in the commons, but sometimes if I couldn't find anyone, I would just walk around so I looked busy. SAD!

13. What is your schools full name? Lone Peak High School

14. School mascot and colors? Maroon, gold and black. Knights

15. Did you go to Homecoming and who with? Nope. Never got asked. Again-SAD!

16. If you could go back and do it again, would you? NOOOOOOOOOOOO. Well, maybe. I would try to get better grades and I would have been more ambitious in trying out for sports, guys, friends, etc.

17. What do you remember most about graduation? Being worried about what I was going to do when I was on the big screen for 2 seconds.

18. Where did you go senior skip day? Lagoon. What a crappy day. I got ditched by my dumb "friends". I was pretty much there all alone. SAD!

19. Were you in any clubs? The art club and the hip hop club, neither of which I did anything. I just signed up to be "cool" by association and to get extra pictures in the yearbook!

20. Have you gained some weight since then? HA! If only I had appreciated what I had then!

21. Who was your prom date? Sophomore year-Ryan Knapp (my best prom). Jr. Year-Again, SAD. I was set up on a BLIND DATE. I don't even remember his name. Never saw him again. AWKWARD! Senior Year-LeGrand Johnston.

22. Are you planning on going to your 10 year reunion? I doubt it. I don't know.

23. Did you have a job while in high school? Fireside Pizzeria for awhile.


I tag anyone who wants to bring up their traumatizing emotional past and post it for everyone to see.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Silly Things

I let Hudson use the camera for a few minutes. Most of the shots were blurry pictures of the carpet or walls, but he got these cute ones!

Exhibit A: Jeff and I are both so stubborn, that neither one of us like to replace the toilet paper, so this is how it looks probably 50% of the time.
Exhibit B: To document the evidence that I replaced the roll. Yes, it took me about a whole 12 seconds. Does anyone else go through this? No, probably not.





Hudson came up to me pinching his nose and breathing funny. The first thing that popped in my head was, "Uh oh, he's stuck something up his nose". But he actually just learned a new trick. Funny guy.



Saturday, September 20, 2008

Boys on Bikes


Well, I feel a tad bit bad about grumbling so much about the pregnancy issue. As I was going through stuff to put in the recycling bin, I found an old Curves magazine that was handed to me at a parade. I read a little story in it that I enjoyed so I thought I'd share to try and redeem myself. The lesson is something I would like to try to be better at.

They surged into the convenient store parking lot on their dirt bikes, skidded to a stop behind me, sending a swirl of dried leaves and dust into the crisp autumn air. They were about 14, and aggressively scruffy in both their manner and their dress. It was clear that they were outcasts, and proud of it.
I glanced over at them as I screwed the valve cover cap back on my tire. My car had been wandering a bit on the road, and I had vowed to get the pressure exactly right to see if that would correct the problem.
I had just finished checking the first tire when the two boys had ridden up. Now they were standing next to the convenient store wall, waiting quietly, if a bit impatiently, for me to finish my tires so they could add air to theirs.
The mild irritation of someone being hurried against his will rose up in me. I wanted to take my time--add air, retest the pressure, remove air if necessary--without feeling rushed. But the presence of the two boys pressured me. I wished they would go away.
I looked at one of them. He had long, unwashed hair hanging down to his shoulders and baggy gangster pants riding low on his hips. I was about to give him a hard, adult stare to let him know that I would not be rushed, when a memory of a community youth forum the year before came into my mind.
Civic leaders had convened a gathering of local youth to talk about the needs of the young people in our community. It had soon developed into a series of short comments by the teenagers and long answers by the adults as to how the young people should behave if they wanted to earn respect in the community. I had felt ashamed at the way the adults had commandeered the meeting without even realizing it, and had done my best to listen closely to the concerns of the young people when they spoke.
One young girl with pins in her face and dyed black hair--a likely peer to these boys--made a comment that I had never forgotten. "No one ever says 'hi' to us," she said. "Adults walk past us like we're not there."
"Or wish we weren't," someone else chimed up.
I looked at the boys waiting with their dented bikes. I knew I had been wishing they weren't there.
"Hey guys," I said. "You need to use the tire gauge? My tires can wait."
The boy with the long hair looked startled. "Yeah, that would be great," he said. I handed him the gauge and he quickly and expertly assessed and filled his tires, then handed it back to me.
"Thank you, sir," he said. His politeness was both delightful and unanticipated.
"You're very welcome," I said. "I hope you have a good ride."
The boys broke into wide grins and hopped on their bikes.
As they churned around the corner, the long-haired boy turned toward me and saluted. The other boy followed suit. I returned their gesture with a salute of my own and went back to checking my tires.
It had been a good unexpected moment of human contact. I hoped my young friends had felt the same. -Kent Nerburn


Random Pictures

Card of the Month

Hudson likes getting into my hair stuff and putting a hundred elastics on his arms. Oh, and he really likes wearing head bands. Makes his daddy proud, heh heh.

He told us he was cooking fish in the fire.

Hudson was invited to his first friend birthday party. It was a pirate themed party and Hudson wouldn't have anything to do with wearing the bandanna on his head, but he did go for a skull tattoo. He also didn't want to play any games and pretty much just sat on my lap the whole time. This picture pretty much explains how he felt the whole time...a little worried. He was excited to get to take his own "treasure" bag home full of treats and toys.
I guess there was another kid there who felt the same way as Hudson. No pirate hat.

Hudson is almost 3 and sadly, I think this is his first "official" play date. They were so cute playing on the horse in our basement that I had to take some pictures. These guys are cute friends.

Friday, September 19, 2008

A word of advice (whether you want it or not!)

I know that probably anyone reading this blog already knows what I am about to say is common knowledge, so this isn't really addressed to my blog readers, but I just really need to VENT!
Since I've had Hudson there have been more than several occasions when people have asked "When are you due?" or "How many kids do you have? One and one on the way?" or just talk to me as if I were pregnant without even asking me if I am such as "It's really hot this summer. I can't imagine how you must feel in the condition you are in!". SERIOUSLY?! Dude, I know I am not pencil thin, nor will I ever be. I know I've got a gut and I hate it. I like to blame it on my PCOS which makes it harder to lose belly fat (but I don't like to let myself know that eating healthier and working out on the rare occasion might help, too). But really, don't like, 8 out of 10 people have a bit of a belly? So do these people just go around assuming that 80% of the population is pregnant?
And then there's this whole weird emotion that I feel that I've never felt until I was asked these questions. Of course the first emotion is horrifying embarrassment. But then as I'm trying to think of a response, several nasty things come to mind that I'd like to say to them...give them a piece of my mind! But anyone that knows me knows that if I ever tried to do that, I would break down crying before I could squeak my insult out. So here comes the weird emotion. In my embarrassment, I have to think of something to say to tell them I am not expecting, but I don't want THEM to feel embarrassed for thinking I was in the first place!
And just to get everything out while I'm at it, to add insult to injury, I feel like these comments are even more hurtful because I am going through infertility. Yes people, every time you ask me if I am pregnant, you are reminding me (like I need to be reminded, I think about it every 5 minutes) that in about 7 years of trying to have babies, I've only produced one.
Oh, and one more thing. I hate the belly glance. Really, I'm already pretty self conscious about the gut, and try to suck it at all times, so when you're looking at it, I know the question is coming and I try to suck it in even more.
Best advice I've ever heard in my life: Unless you physically see a baby emerging out of a woman's body, DO NOT ask her if she is pregnant. How embarrassing for BOTH of you if she's not.
Next time someone asks me when I'm due I have decided upon this response: "Well, I'm due to start a diet as soon as this conversation is over!" Which would be right about then. And for the record, every time this happens to me, I sob (inside) and then vow that I will never eat again and I will work out 8 hours a day. And then I say, "Forget them. I will probably never see them again, they didn't have a perfect, flawless figure, either, and I don't have to live up to their standards. Just my own."
Sorry for the rambling, but, Ahhhhhhhh, it feels SO good to VENT!!!

Monday, September 15, 2008

Peachy Chicken Recipe


This is one of our favorite dinners, and anyone we have shared it with loves it, too, so I thought I'd pass it along. It's a little bit time consuming, but not too bad, and it's worth it.

PEACHY CHICKEN
3 chicken breasts, halved (we cut ours into smaller pieces)
1/2 c. flour
salt and pepper to taste
2 TBS. butter
2 TBS. cooking oil
1 1/2 c. orange juice
2 TBS. vinegar
2 TBS. brown sugar
1 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
16 oz. can peach halves, drained (we really like the peaches so we use the 29 oz. can)

In a plastic Ziploc bag add flour, salt, and pepper. Place chicken in bag and shake until coated. In a pan, heat butter and oil. Brown chicken on all sides. Place browned chicken in a greased casserole dish. In a medium bowl, combine orange juice, vinegar, sugar, basil, and nutmeg. Pour over chicken. Cover with foil and bake @ 375 degrees for 1 hour 15 minutes or until tender. Baste often. Then place peach halves between chicken pieces, baste well, and bake uncovered for 15 minutes longer.
I like to serve with brown or wild rice, but white works, too.

Enjoy! Let me know if you try it and what you think!

Saturday, September 13, 2008

BYU fan?


Well, I have to admit: I have never really been into watching football. At least on TV. Going to a game is way fun but when I watch it on TV I am usually just in a daze. But today BYU DOMINATED and I actually got into watching the game today! This just might be a boost in the more-interested-tv-watching-fan direction! GO COUGARS! Hee hee.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

What Hudson likes....

So lately Hudson has been really cute in telling us things he likes. He usually makes quite an accurate and complete list, and it's really cute, and since I've been liking doing the video post thing lately, I thought I'd try to record his list to post. Well, he wasn't quite cooperating like I had hoped (but he did pretty good), and it's dark (sorry), and the end...well, you just have to watch the end and see if you catch what he does at the end. Watch the video and if you don't get it, scroll down and then watch it again.
Hudson likes chocolate, chocolate, chocolate, toys, movies, Shrek, Bambi, jumping, chocolate (I think we've established he likes chocolate), Lightning McQueen, and.......























..........barfing on mom. Apparently all that chocolate (only a few chocolate chips, really) and jumping don't like each other. Jeff thinks it would have been (in his words) "priceless" if I had kept recording and got a shot of the vomit. Uh, yeah. Priceless.

Horse Riding at Silver Lake


Monday night, Jeff wanted to enjoy the last few warm days we have left so we went to Silver Lake with his parents and his sister Amber, her husband KC and their 3 kids. They brought up a canoe and a couple of horses. Jeff went out on the canoe for a few minutes trying to catch one of the millions of fish that were jumping, but without any luck. Then he took Hudson on a little horse ride and Hudson loved it, as usual. All I can say is, I don't know why we spent one of our last few warm days up where it was SO COLD!!!

Monday, September 8, 2008

Favorites #4

I love going to the movies. I can sit in the dark and secretly indulge in a huge Pepsi.

I don't know how anyone can not like Napoleon. If you've only seen it once, watch it again. It gets funnier the more you watch it.

I have loved this movie from the first time I saw it. I love the clay-mation and the wit.

Pandora.com lets you make your own radio stations. I blast it when I clean house. Best part? All music you like, NO commercials or DJ's whatsoever. Check it out.
Where would my hair be without Pantene? It's the best. Every once in a while I try not to be spoiled and buy something cheaper, but I always regret it and go back for what my hair craves.

I like mowing the lawn. It's decent exercise and like vacuuming, I like seeing the pristine lines it leaves behind. It gives me a sense of accomplishment!

I love this movie. I love Jo and Laurie. So cute.

Makeup. Need it. Want it. Love it.

Mmmmmm. Mangoes. So hard to cut up, but SOOOO worth it.

Jeff and I have gone for a couple of full body massages (I think we are starting to make it an anniversary tradition). Once you kind of get past your insecurities of having a complete stranger massaging your naked body, it's pretty nice. An hour goes by way too fast.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Hudson's ABC's

Hudson has been able to sing his ABC's for at least a few months now, but I finally got around to recording it. He usually doesn't need help, but I had to bribe him to do it for the camera with fruit snacks and a sticker, and this is the best one I got. So as much as I don't want to be heard (I hate hearing back the sound of my own voice!), there I am. Isn't he so cute, though!?

Labor Day Weekend

For our Labor Day weekend we went camping at Miller Lake in the Boulder Mountains. It was a long ride there with a lot of rocky dirt roads, but we finally got there after dark on Friday night. Since we just sold our trailer, we were going to go back to roughing it in a tent, but since it was already dark (and cold) we opted to stay with Jeff's parents in their trailer.
Saturday we did some fishing and had fun. It was pretty chilly and windy for most of the day, so it was hard to stay out and enjoy being outside for long.
Sunday was rainy, windy and cold. We mostly just stayed in the trailer and played games and watched Maverick that night.
Monday we decided to just wake up and have breakfast and head home. Good thing we left early. Jeff and I headed out hauling three 4-wheelers on a trailer behind our truck. We were on a dirt road and all of a sudden the trailer started wobbling. We both looked in the rear view mirror and watched as the trailer almost tipped over....almost dumping all three 4-wheelers out. After a minute of trying to regain our composure and catch our breath, Jeff jumped out and found out that an axle had broken on the trailer. His parents were heading out too, but they had taken a different dirt road. Jeff tried calling them about 5 times so they could turn around and come help, but they didn't have service. Just as he was about to try to call again, his dad called him without knowing Jeff was trying to get a hold of him. So they turned around to come help us and we spent the next few hours getting everything worked out (I'll spare you the lengthy details). But all I can say is even though something went wrong, we counted our numerous blessings of how things worked out in that situation. I believe we were truly being watched over and blessed!
So despite the crappy weather, not sleeping very well, Jeff's 4-wheeler not working well with the high altitude, and a broken axle, and a few other factors....it was a fun trip. I guess.
There were a lot of cows around camp and the kids had fun chasing them. Hudson kept yelling "Come here cows!"

Hudson caught this fish all by himself! It pulled the rod out of his hands and almost into the lake!


Miller Lake This was so much prettier in person. The lighting was great and it was so neat to see the sun hit Jeff's line as he cast out.

This is Hudson hanging out the window waiting while Dad and Grandpa fixed the trailer. It was a while but Hudson was a trooper. We eventually got sick of waiting in the truck so we got out and Hudson had fun "helping" under the trailer.




Here is a video of Hudson and his cute cousin Jaxsen fishing. I think Hudson could sit there and "fish" all day. We just put a bubble on the end of his line so he doesn't catch something (or someone) he's not supposed to. He's become quite the fisherman lately.