As I was walking outside this morning to my Jeep to go to work I found two of my favorite colors. Yellow and Pink. Aren't they cheery? I love my tulips :)
Here is all the homemade Strawberry Jam that we made. Mine have purple lids, I bet they'll all be gone in ohhhh 2 months, maybe sooner. Matt eats this stuff so fast!
Reminder: Colton's birthday is on Saturday May 2nd, if you can, get a little note, picture, package, anything in the mail to him today or tomorrow to make his birthday extra special. His address is on his blog, there is a link on my side bar.
Thursday Night was Disc Golf with Will, Art, Parker and Brighton and watching the Jazz vs. Lakers Game back at Will and Kristin's.
Isnt this an unusually large Garden Snake? Matt just had to pick it up... good idea... yeah
Friday was
work, doing my toes, (yeah that was tricky took double the time)
straightening and vacuuming the house,
Grocery Shopping,
doing my cousin Kenzie's hair for her dance performance, and
going to see State of Play (it was good, I'd give it 3 of 4 stars. 2 thumbs down to theatre seats while pregnant)
Saturday was
coloring Suzanne's hair,
making 3 batches of strawberry jam (boy is that alot of smashing! 1 for Kristin, 2 for me, well Matt)
Making a Lemon Meringue pie (mediocre at best, Matt thought the Meringue would be marshmallow... funny, refer to Kristin's blog for more details)
Making Dinner with Kristin: Steaks, Potatoes, Cheesy Garlic bread and fruit (oh so healthy Matt LOVED it though)
Watching the Jazz loose to the Lakers
(didn't quite get in Kristin's hair, it was her not me that was too tired for it haha, it was a welcome suggestion to do it another time though :)
Sunday was church,
Visiting teaching (yes, I went visiting teaching...)
making the biggest crock pot of Zuppa Toscana soup ever
Hanging out at Grandma and Grandpas for soup and scones Home to read and relax
NORMALLY this would be a good low key weekend for Matt and I... I think with the mix of Friday and Saturday to a lady who only has 6 weeks left in her pregnancy it was a little much.
I went to the doctors this morning for an appointment and my blood pressure was higher then normal. Well I was running late before the appointment and kept forgetting things up stairs (pregnancy brain) so I ran up and down up and down a few times... Dr. England told me to go to my happy place in Hawaii for a while and he would come back to take my blood pressure again. It was back down to normal in no time. My doctor did however ask what I did this weekend and told me that I needed to start taking at least an hour or two a day to relax and even nap if I can.
RIGGGGHHHT.... I'll work on that slowing down... I don't think I have EVER been able to slow down :) I'll work on it this week, napping does sound nice.
On Sunday after dinner, Matt was doing the dishes while everyone was chatting in the living room. I was loading pictures that Kristin took of the baby shower and I over heard the conversation:
Jason: "Matt?"
Matt: "Yes Jason?"
Jason: "I love you."
Matt: "I love you too"
Jason: "Matt?"
Matt: " Yeah?''
Jason: "I love you."
Matt: (chuckles a little) "I love you too Jason"
Then Jason runs over to me,
Jason: "Mickie, what are you doing?"
Me: "Loading pictures that your mom took from the baby shower."
Jason: "Ohh, I love you"
Me: "I love you too Jason"
Jason: "I love Matt too."
Me: " I love him too! He's my best friend"
Jason: "No, he's myyy best friend!" Me: "Matt can be a best friend to both of us, is that okay?" Jason: "Okay, I guess"
Jason and Matt have been buddies since he was born. I have a feeling it will stay that way for a very long time...
If you have 20 minutes, watch this video. It is really very interesting. I wish I was able to answer as well as she when people had questions for me regarding my religion.
A candy bar letter is a game that we play for bridal or baby showers. You write a story using candy bars and start reading, as we read the guests have to guess the candy bar to fill in the blank. As the treat, they get the candy bar they guessed. Here is the one Suzanne wrote for my baby shower.
There once was a SWEETTART named Mickie. Now back in high school she met a young man named Matthew. They had STARBURSTS of fun together and started dating. Well Finally years and years later Matt pulled a gun case out from under the bed. Matt SNICKERed as she opened it, since Mickie was expecting a gun. Inside the case wasn't a gun, but a RING POP. Mickie pulled out the ring and thought "SKOR" as she put it on her finger. Now after a wedding and a few more years, M&M will be the 3 MUSKATEERS. Hopefully this new addition is a bundle of ALMOND JOY instead of a SOUR PATCH KIDS. Matt and especially Mickie are counting down the PAYDAYs until Ty arrives. Until then, let's hope Mickie doesn't have too many more AIR HEAD moments and hope she doesn't SKITTLES her pants too much before the big day!
Thanks for the game Suzanne, it was fun. Some of those were tough to guess!
Here are pictures from the baby shower in no particular order. Here are a few of the gals that were there at the beginning. I tried to pick a picture far away for everyone so no one said WHY DID YOU POST A PICTURE OF ME!!! After the baby shower Tanner and Jason had a GOOD TIME with all the balloons.
Sierra loved playing with every ones phones. She would talk on them, still don't know what she is saying but she chats away.
LOVE this shirt right? Perfect for games in the fall!
Suzanne helped me grab the gifts, bending over is a little difficult for me but not for her.
Suzanne made a candy bar letter it was really cute. I'll have to post it tomorrow.
This is my EXTREMELY uncomfortably large self, introducing everyone. Thanks for that shot Kristin what would I do with out your camera... I want to say it's a bad angle and the camera has added 10 pounds eh?
While my mom and sisters were setting up (ANOTHER BIG THANK YOU) I was sitting for a minute... yeah... take my picture....
Suzanne made the CUTEST sign and invitations that said "It's a Cowboy"
Kristin also made me a diaper cake! I will definitely be using those soon! (Classic Sierra crawling over everything...)
My Sisters and mom also made YUMMY stuff for the shower, Fruit, Cookies, Dulce de Leche Cupcakes (TWO THUMBS UP Kristin, Third times a charm with the frosting :), and double delicious bars...mmmmmmm
It was really fun seeing everyone and another big thanks to my sisters for throwing it for me. Everything was great! OH besides me giving KK a black eye on accident... and poor Grandma taking a little fall... and Tanner eating peanut butter... but who could have seen that happening! Minor details... There were TONS more pictures but they were all of me and lets be honest who wants to see pictures of their pregnant self all over the Internet. I decided to keep them to a minimum.
I did however get so depressed about my expanding waistline that I went shopping ( I hate shopping why would that make me happy?) and got myself a new short sleeve shirt for the upcoming weather this week. That made me temporarily happy... 7 more weeks guys and I am done! (my fingers are crossed for sooner!?)
I'll have to post about the baby shower tomorrow, Kristin took a BAZILLION pictures and I would like to post those with more time. But thanks to all who came and put it on! It was fun being with everyone and seeing everyone.
Friday my sister in law Kelly and my two nephews came to stay for the weekend before flying out on Sunday to move to New Jersey. I loved seeing little Dallin crawl then forget how to crawl then crawl again... He'll get it down in no time! Also it was great every morning hearing Tanner pop his head out of the bedroom yelling MATT!.... MATT!... MATT!!!.....
Also Tanner is such a good little guy! Matt took him every where on Saturday while us girls did the baby shower stuff. He took him disc golfing, to lunch and real golfing with my Dad, Preston, Jason and Will. Matt says Tanner was so well behaved the whole time!
The only minor disaster was when Matt didn't know that something we made for the baby shower had peanut butter chips in it and he gave some to Tanner after he got home. Tanner spit it out right away and start scraping his tongue then Matt knew that it must have had peanuts in it! Tanner is really allergic to them, so we called Kelly who was taking Dallin on a walk. She came back and gave him some Benedryl, whew no epi-pen needed! I was worried about him but he was just fine.
Sunday Matt dropped them all off at the airport. It was great having them here! We'll see them again August or September so lets hope I'm back to normal by then and they'll have a cousin to play.... no.... uhh look at? 2-3 month olds aren't that fun... but I am sure in no time they'll all be running around together :)
So I thought I would write a little bit about my husband. The guy is pretty much superman... yes he has his kryptonite but it doesn't show up too often.
He works full time, goes to school full time (all to make my life more comfortable now and in the future) and still has time to help me with whatever I want or need when he gets home. He does tons of stuff around the house building things and fixing things with little or no complaint. He calls me multiple times a day during his breaks to see how I am doing and works through his lunch so he can get off earlier to come home and help me out. (Cleaning the tub is tricky these days)
Seriously what more can a girl ask for? When I think about all he does for me I realize what a slacker complainer I have been. I have it so cushy compared to him. I work pretty much where ever I want, whenever I want and Matt doesn't say a word when the laundry isn't done or the house isn't clean or dinner isn't made.
Note to self, try harder to be a better wife. He is definitely pulling more weight in our family these days then I am, even with the 20+ pounds I have gained. (funny thing is he still loves me even with this fat suit on!) Boy, did I pick the right guy for the job. :)
I can't figure it out, is my muscle torn or is my rib broken?? I don't know... either way it's numb and tingly and pretty painful by the end of the day underneath my sternum area on the right side. It is pretty odd feeling. I read that it takes 6 weeks for a broken rib to heal, pretty sure with the internal uppercut situation I have right now that rib isn't healing anytime soon. Not sure how long it takes a muscle tear to heal but I am sure that wont heal until AFTER delivery because every day my belly gets bigger!
My oh my, if someone told me that my ribs would be slowly cracked, my ab muscles would tear away from my ribs, my belly button will start to protrude, and I would get kidney infections and kidney stones all while pregnant, I bet I would have thought twice about it!
Okay I am not being serious, I hear it's all worth it in the end... and I know it is deep down. It's just hard to get passed how uncomfortable this whole thing is everyday.
When Matt and I re-did Ty's room we moved the computer downstairs. We have Comcast and our phone needs to be plugged into the modem which is unplugged, SO our phone is disconnected right now. We are having the Comcast people come out on Friday to install a new cable Jack downstairs. If you need to get a hold of either of us e-mail us or call my work line. :) Sorry to any that have been calling and getting weird voicemail for days now. We haven't been ignoring you promise!
This weekend we got Ty's room ready and did Easter. That was a whole lot of stuff! Both Matt and I are sleep deprived him more then I that is for sure.
Thursday Ryan, our house mate moved back home to California for the summer. So we decided we better get Ty's room ready (8 weeks left?). We went to Home Depot and picked out a few colors we thought we might like to paint on the walls.
(Taking measurements) The before picture.
Friday morning I got up and did some taping to get ready to paint on Friday evening. After work Matt and I went to Home Depot and bought the paint (since when was paint that expensive!) and other odds and ends. (Matt and Preston gluing and nailing on the bead board) Matt and Preston started painting the room the "Crab Apple" Beige/Tan color while Suzanne and I took Preston's truck to go buy the wainscot. Also, my co-worker Jared let us borrow his compressor and nail gun, those things are so handy!
After we got back the paint was dry enough so the boys started cutting and nailing up the wainscot. At about 1 am with two walls done Suzanne and Preston called it a night. I stayed up about another hour puttying up some spots. I asked Matt how much longer and he said he wanted to cut 2 more pieces then he would come to bed.
Well I woke up at 6:30 a.m. and guess who never came to bed? Matt had finished all the walls and put up the top part of the wainscot! He said that when he noticed the sun started coming up he decided that he would just keep going until it was done. I went back to sleep for about and hour and half and woke up again to find him painting the wainscot the "loft living" color.
After he finished painting he dropped me off at the car place to pick up our car (we had a stripped bold that needed to be removed) then I went to the Maxwell's and Trish cut and colored my hair. (Thanks Trish looks great!)
Matt was installing the crown molding when I got back from that about 2 hours later. Then we did more touch up on the walls and puttied and painted the crown molding. By this time it was about 4:30 so Matt showered and we went and met Suzanne and Preston for dinner at TGI Fridays and came home.
At 7:30 Matt said he wanted a little cat nap. Well cat nap turned into not waking up again until 8:30 the next morning. Poor guy needed some sleep! While Matt was sleeping I ran some errands and picked up the crib (Thanks Kearns!)
Then Easter morning rolled around...
(Easter Morning... Yay I found my basket!) (Uh we just woke up and ate a whole bunch of Pancakes Bacon and Candy why wouldn't we look like this.... )
(I'm not in the picture right? my response Nope I am just getting your candy... snicker snicker)(I found my Easter bowl! Suzanne forgot my basket so I got a bowl instead... isn't that Easter bunny inventive?) (dEGGorating party, this is tricky stuff!)
(The extent of Matt's dEGGorating skills, wrapping an egg in blue aluminum foil)All done! Some were weird others were cool...(Here's the loot the Easter bunny dropped off! )
Sunday we did our baskets, dyed eggs, Went to church, hung up the pictures and put together Ty's crib. I made dinner yummy dinner (thanks again for the Jell-o suzanne it was yummy) and Lucy came up to eat with us. We got so caught up in hanging up pictures later int he eveing that we forgot to go get Will and Kristin at the airport! I am SOO SORRY AGAIN guys! I got there about an hour late.
Anyways, here is what the room looks like for now, I still need to sew curtains, a dust ruffle for the crib, buy sheets for his crib and bed and make a little cover for his night stand. I also want to go get his name in wooden letters to put over his crib on the shelf (classic I know). We have the old black dresser in there for now with Matt's cowboy hats hanging over it. But Matt's next project is building (or buying and painting or staining) a dresser for Ty that will double as our changing table. Still a little ways to go but it's coming together very nicely.
Matt and I wanted to do a shout out to our wonderful Sister-in-Law Michaela who will be graduating from BYU-I this weekend! It takes a lot of dedication to finish your degree, especially while pregnant! We are very happy for you! Sorry we couldn’t be there, hope you guys have a wonderful Easter weekend before leaving next week to New Jersey. Let us know when you guys find out if you are having a boy or a girl. I am getting excited to know :)
Also, my twin sister Suzanne got officially engaged last night! Congrats to you sis! We are so excited for you! Preston is a good guy for sure.
They’ll be getting married this summer so it sounds like after I have little Ty I need to bust my bum to get it into some decent shape! How's that for motivation, eesh.
1. Cut the original squares as even as possible. It will help in the long run. 2. When buying thread, buy the same color as the binding that you bought (beige thread on navy blue satin binding) cute if you can sew a straight line but I haven't gotten that down yet. :( 3. Don't cut the binding into four strips pin it on and then call mom, always call mom first. (apparently you aren't supposed to cut the binding, it's supposed to be a continuous strip then you only have to cut it on one corner.) 4. Make sure to pull the underside REALLY tight so when you are finished it's not floppy while the top is tight. 5. NEVER try and sew something with out another seasoned sewer there, it will just turn out ugly. (wish I had a webcam that would have been helpful for sure)
ANYWAYS as you can tell I had quite an adventure. No pictures, maybe someday my child will use it in public... when it's really tattered, worn, and you can't see the beige thread on the blue binding because its so old and no one can tell what it originally looked like.
Matt asked if I was going to make any more of them after him and I examined the finished product and got a good chuckle... I am fairly confident that I will make more, probably in the near future. I think it will be a lot easier the second go round after learning all these lessons. Now if I could only figure out that binding part... that's where the seasoned sewers wisdom would have been nice.
I have been thinking a lot about this the last few weeks. Why do some things come very natural and easy to some and not to others?
I for one have been very blessed with a whole lot of talents that I am able to enjoy. I can do pretty much anything somewhat easily. School has never been a struggle, At Work I am generally a step ahead of the curve, I can keep up pretty well in any athletic event, I can sing or figure out how to play an instrument easily, I have no issues teaching or speaking in public or in large groups, and the list goes on. Once I decide to do something usually it takes little effort for me to figure it out and do well with it. I just have to decide to actually try.
Yesterday I figured out something that I was trying very hard with and it does not come "natural" to me, Sewing.
I read all the instructions and put everything together that I thought I needed. I bought all my supplies and was ready to go thinking, "My mom and sister can sew tons of stuff, and I grew up around it so I should be able to get it quickly" Yeah not so much. It only took about 10 minutes for me to call my sister and ask how to get the thread from the bobbin below to the needle up top (Not everyone knows that instruction people! Maybe you should include that next time)
I started sewing and not 10 minutes more I had more questions, then I called my mom a little later with more questions. I was SO frustrated. How did I not just "get" it... How do people just know how to do this? It was so foreign to me. This also might be due to the fact that I am pregnant and it was getting irritating sitting on the floor and bending over to lay things out and pin things together etc.
I have a new found empathy for people who don't "get" something. To be honest this is the first time I didn't just "get" it that I actually TRIED to get. Wait scratch that the second time, Cooking is the first. So I guess that's the meaning of life, getting really good at talents that God has blessed you with and share them with others. ALSO, (the part I am now working on) finding things that DO NOT come natural and working at them so you can be good those as well. Not only should you work on them but don't be too proud to ask others for help that ARE good at it so you can learn from them. Another thought, don't get upset at the person trying to help you either, they are trying to help but they "get" it so they may miss a few steps thinking you all ready knew that. (Sorry if I was snippy Mom and Kristin) It's all part of becoming a well rounded person.
I apologize to anyone I ever teased because something was hard for you or it didn't come natural. I am finding out very quickly that being a homemaker mom (sewing, cooking... who knows what else I'll find that I am horrible at) isn't as easy as I thought it would be. BUT I am working on them and before you know it I'll be able to sew up a storm and cook a gourmet meal... yeah that might take a few years, decades even, but I am willing to learn. That's all that matters.
Ah, the lessons of life, now I just need to go get a few MORE materials at the store that I didn't know I needed and maybe SOMEDAY (tonight!) I'll finish the baby blanket I set out to make my little Ty. Like my Dad and Husband both said, it doesn't really matter if it is perfect or not, Ty wont mind at all. All he'll know is that a nice blanket is wrapped around him that his momma made for him.
The Wu's gave me some new books for my Birthday. The Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull (apparently he is my bosses cousin small world eh?) they got me 1-3 (4 hasn't come out in paperback yet it came out on the 24th). I had heard of it before but never really looked into reading it. Kristin has read the series and really liked it so she thought I would as well. I hate making comparisons but if you thought Harry Potter was entertaining you'll like this even though to me, it's got a different feel to it. The thing is it's normal kids delving into a world of magic and mythical creatures.
Well with me feeling under the weather last weekend carrying a bit into this week I have been taking long baths and reading OR when I can't sleep I start reading. The first one is fun so far, it's nice to have something to think about, but the problem is I am pregnant. Most of you who have been pregnant know how WEIRD your dreams can get. Well with me reading books about fairies and goblins late and night it isn't helping. I won't even begin to explain how totally twisted they have been lately! But I'll tell you what, the dreams are VERY vivid and I wake up TOTALLY confused about what is real and what isn't.
I'm excited to finish the series though, I'll have to let you all know how I like it!
Here is all the homemade Strawberry Jam that we made. Mine have purple lids, I bet they'll all be gone in ohhhh 2 months, maybe sooner. Matt eats this stuff so fast! 
Isnt this an unusually large Garden Snake? Matt just had to pick it up... good idea... yeah
Friday was
straightening and vacuuming the house,
After the baby shower Tanner and Jason had a GOOD TIME with all the balloons.
LOVE this shirt right? Perfect for games in the fall!
This is my EXTREMELY uncomfortably large self, introducing everyone. Thanks for that shot Kristin what would I do with out your camera... I want to say it's a bad angle and the camera has added 10 pounds eh?
While my mom and sisters were setting up (ANOTHER BIG THANK YOU) I was sitting for a minute... yeah... take my picture....
Suzanne made the CUTEST sign and invitations that said "It's a Cowboy"
My Sisters and mom also made YUMMY stuff for the shower, Fruit, Cookies, Dulce de Leche Cupcakes (TWO THUMBS UP Kristin, Third times a charm with the frosting :), and double delicious bars...mmmmmmm
It was really fun seeing everyone and another big thanks to my sisters for throwing it for me. Everything was great! OH besides me giving KK a black eye on accident... and poor Grandma taking a little fall... and Tanner eating peanut butter... but who could have seen that happening! Minor details... There were TONS more pictures but they were all of me and lets be honest who wants to see pictures of their pregnant self all over the Internet. I decided to keep them to a minimum. 
Matt and Preston started painting the room the "Crab Apple" Beige/Tan color while Suzanne and I took Preston's truck to go buy the wainscot. Also, my co-worker Jared let us borrow his compressor and nail gun, those things are so handy!
(Uh we just woke up and ate a whole bunch of Pancakes Bacon and Candy why wouldn't we look like this.... )
(I'm not in the picture right? my response Nope I am just getting your candy... snicker snicker)
(I found my Easter bowl! Suzanne forgot my basket so I got a bowl instead... isn't that Easter bunny inventive?) 
(dEGGorating party, this is tricky stuff!)
(The extent of Matt's dEGGorating skills, wrapping an egg in blue aluminum foil)
All done! Some were weird others were cool...
(Here's the loot the Easter bunny dropped off! )
Check out that tecnique!
Check out that take off
STRIKE!
Waiting in suspense for the results....
Yep, go ahead and push it... okay push it now,... you can do it.
