6 months of pure joy

Kira is 6 months old today. The time has flown by so fast, I don't even know where it went! Kira has been the most amazing baby. She is always full of smiles. She sleeps well, eats well and loves everyone. She brightens up my life in ways I never thought possible. I heard a kind of cheesy little thought in church a few weeks ago... a father of only one child felt that he didn't want his next child to feel less love than his first had always felt. He compared his love to a pie. When his next child was about to arrive he didn't want his first child to get less pie or love than he/she was used to. But, to his surprise, when baby #2 came, he had a new pie to give to the new child and the first child got no less. OK, so what does this have to do with me? Well, this is true. I love my children immensely. I loved Adalin when she was my one and only, and now that Kira is here, I love her just as much. My heart has grown along with my love. My children are such a joy in my life. They are what my life is all about. I am thankful for baby Kira, what would I do w/o her?

Here we are just a few hours after Kira was born. What a sweet day it was!

My dreams come true

I came home last night to doggy diarrhea sprayed all over my house. That was fun to clean up. Then I took the doggies for a walk, towards the end I stepped on Isis, and got bit. OK, so could I be any more POed at them? I have forgiven.


The worst part about it all is that the bad doggy day is most likely my fault. It is the result of neglect on my part to give them the attention they need throughout the day. I really believe that is true. It was hard this morning, but I got out the dog treats, gave them a little obedience class, loved them up and carried on. They have been much better today. Jessica, you're right, it probably was partly the rain. It affects us all in one way or another.

Ok so I am the most excited person ever right now and I am pretty much in love with the SAA website. I have found some amazing deals on things I have wanted for so long. Today I bought the iPod of my dreams for an excellent price. It's green (the color I would have chose), 4GB, a nano. Can't get any better than that. Now, teamed up with my sweet new stroller, I have no motivation to make any kind of excuse not to get my butt outside and run! WAHOO!

Dogs suck.

Ok, so they have driven me pretty well crazy today. While I was preparing to sweep my floors, Yukon was in my way every step of the way. I picked up a rug and went to go pick up the next, and there he is, lying right on it. I go to pick up the next one, he's lying on it. Yes, again, with the next one. HELLO! Are you trying to annoy me?

Then they got into my chocolate zucchini cake. I very thoughtfully took 5 pieces out of the pan, put them on a plate, wrapped then in Saran wrap and placed them on the counter to deliver to a friend later. I come down from upstairs and what do you know? Yukon has figured out that he has grown taller, and got the plate down off the counter. He and Isis scarfed it all before I caught them. I HOPE they have diarrhea for a week, and it better not be in my house.

I sweep the floors and gather my nice, neat piles of dirt, crumbs and dust balls. Both dogs find these piles intriguing. They go from pile to pile thinking that maybe something has appeared there that wasn't on the floor before. I can't shut them outside b/c its raining. I wish I could.

I just got up to see what Yukon was chewing this time and he had stolen Kira's "taggie" that I just made for her a few hours ago, and chewed one of the tags up. Wonderful.

Adam found Adalin's church shoe, completely chewed, outside this morning.

I know what you're thinking... It was my choice to get these rascals. I know, I know, I know. I actually enjoy having dogs in general. I just hate having them today.

Pesto-coated baked chicken

SO Good!!!

So, pretty much, I am always just as happy as can be when I find such an excellent recipe that I have never made before. This chicken dish was excellent! It is a must that you try it. Thank you Natalie!

Pesto-coated Baked Chicken

(Natalie Jensen )

3-4 medium sized chicken breasts

1/4 c. + 1 T. prepared pesto

1 1/2 t. sour cream

1 1/2 t. mayo

1 T. pine nuts, coarsely chopped

1 T. Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Arrange chicken in a single layer in a shallow baking dish. Combine pesto (recipe below), sour cream, mayo in a small bowl. Brush over chicken. Sprinkle cheese and nuts over chicken and bake 15-25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and dish is slightly browned on top. Enjoy the goodness you just made, it bursts with flavor!

Pesto

(Katherine Fields)

1/4 c. walnuts

1/4 c. pignolis pine nuts

3 T. diced garlic, or minced, about 9 cloves

5 c. fresh basil, packed

1 t. kosher salt

1 t. freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 c. good olive oil

1 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Place walnuts, pignolis and garlic in bowl of food processor fitted with steel blade. process 30 seconds. Add basil, salt, pepper. With processor running, add olive oil slowly. (I just used my blender and it worked.) Process pesto until it is finely pureed. Add Parmesan and puree for a minute. Store in fridge or freezer with a thin film on olive oil on top. Makes 3 1/2 to 4 cups.

I ate this too fast to follow the typical protocol and take a picture before we scarfed. My apologies.

This recipe is in the SAA cookbook, vol. 2, if you own it.

I'm a Gryffindor!

Which Hogwarts House Would You Be In?
	The Sorting Hat would put you in Gryffindor. You are bold, passionate, and brave. You have a highly-defined sense of right and wrong, and you are not afraid to speak your mind or fight for what you want.
Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com

Adalin's personality

Adalin is just so...

Crazy

Yes, but that's not what I am talking about this time. :-)

I haven't been able to quite put my finger on it until now... She suffers from OCD. Just kidding. I think she's pretty close though. I have been apologizing to friends whose children she seems to "boss around." I have finally resolved that its not really bossing, or at least she doesn't have the same motive that a real bossy girl would have, I think that she just must have things done a certain way, which is the right way (which, I guess are the ways I have taught her), and everything must be done thoroughly. She doesn't have the intiention of being in control over her peers, she is just so concerned with their methods and if they are properly managed. There are no shortcuts with this little girl. She loves to do things like put bibs on, buckle all 4 buckles when riding in the stroller, she has always hated dirty hands, button all the buttons on anything, everything has to match, be evenly spread, straight, organized, ironed, of the right amount, closed tightly... you get the drift. So, is this just a "that age" kind of thing? I would think that some of it is, but not all 2 1/2 year olds are this anal. What isn't so bad about her OCD is that she is so obsessed that she is willing to do things herself if I am not willing to fulfill her obnoxious demands right away. She isn't lazy about getting things done her way, the right way. I am still somewhat victimized by her obsessiveness, but not to the point of pulling my hair out, at least not all the time. So my apologies go out to all those mom's whose children feel a little bossed around, I am trying to teach her that there can be more than one best way to do things.

A Good Day

I have had so much fun growing a garden this past year. It has been an amazing experience. It is true that caring for a garden can provide more relief than an entire medicine cabinet full of pills. Here are some red pimento peppers of mine that have just started to ripen, some home grown basil, and some wonderful smelling rosemary. There aren't many things better in life than going out to your backyard, picking veggies, and cooking them right then in your kitchen. We had SO many tomatoes this year between ours and the ones we got from the farmers' market. So I branched out and canned them. I was quite proud of myself since I have only canned once before, and that was earlier this summer, pickles.





I can't stop thinking about the amazing things I bought today at the Marler's/Gough's/Shuldberg's/Johnson's.... yard sale. We went last night to look at what everyone was selling... well maybe I should start with an excuse why the heck we were stalking this yard sale in the first place. Ruth mentioned that she had some toy storage shelves/bins, dressers and a bookshelf, ALL of which I have been patiently waiting to find a good deal on. So yes, we bought a new (to us) bookshelf, that will be SO cute when we paint it, a little white toy chest and the toy organizer that we desperately needed for Adalin's growing collection of toys. Then, what do you know? They are selling their Phil & Teds double jogging stroller. Oh my heck, as the Idahoans would say. A double stroller is something that I have wanted for a LONG time, well I guess not too long, but since I have had 2 kids (ok, that's only been 5 1/2 months, but still.) Anyway, I fell in love with it and convinced Adam that we needed it. I have convinced myself that we need it too. Now I can walk to church, the gym, take both dogs and both kids for walks, walk to Adam's school... the list goes on and on. This new stroller had given me freedom to walk wherever I choose! I am so excited. I have been excited about this thing all day long. I can't stop looking at it, thinking about it. I don't even want to bother to put it outside in the garage, I like it in the middle of my dining room! The girls are happy in it below.





Just some pics of the girls, not done up, just what they usually look like when we are hanging out at home. Adalin loves Kira so much. Kira is the happiest baby I have ever known. I am so blessed.





Not very flattering of Kira, but that is such an Adalin face.

Adalin loves to "help me cook." It makes her so happy. You can just see her joy here.

I love this one. We have taught her well, or her dad has taught her well. Now anyone who ever comes over to our house won't want milk. No worries, this is NOT a common occurrence.

8:oo pm

is when I got both girls to bed by, which is a miracle in itself. It has been so nice to have a little extra time this evening. I even got the floors swept and mopped, which is always a big accomplishment since I have so much pergo.

I am quite pleased with our new puppy, Yukon. He doesn't mess in the house at all anymore and he's only 3 months old. He just picked it up really quickly. He does like to chew though, luckily not expensive items like the couch and furniture. He does like to chew magazines which leads me to believe that he has some kind of fetish with shredding things. But what dog doesn't? He is getting the hang on not jumping up on us when he wants attention too. He still does every once and a while, but I think he is on a good road to mastering this concept. I do worry a little bit about him knocking our kids over when he is full grown. It seems like his temperament is a gentle and very loving one, so I hope he takes care not to do this when he is fully grown. Isis is still neurotic and has 5 times the energy Yuke does, and he's a Weim, if that tells you anything. She's nuts. Yukon has helped her though in a lot of ways. She just bites him all day (he doesn't mind at all b/c he love to do the same in return) which has distracted her from her car-chasing obsession. She will always chase cars though. It is somehow programmed in her little brain, permanently, I think.

Adalin had a "melt down" day today, as my mom would say. She had melt down after melt down. I don't think she's sick, I just think for some reason she didn't sleep well last night and she was just tired today. She was flipping out b/c she couldn't hold her baby and her drink comfortably. Whatever to that.

Tomorrow at that school is hospital Day where all of the hospital reps from the school's affiliated rotation sites come and represent. This is going to be very beneficial for us since we really need to find out more about these sites. We have said since we moved here that we ain't movin', but we aren't so sure about that anymore. I am very wishy-washy about the matter. One day I refuse to leave, the next I am ready for an adventure. We had a mock match a few days ago, and I will just say that we didn't put the 'ville as our #1 choice. I just don't know about it all. I feel like the main factor in deciding should be what the best place is for Adam's career. That's why we are here, doing all of this. He needs to get the best education possible, and I feel like since he doesn't know what field he wants to go into, then he should be in a place that offers residencies in most fields so that he will be exposed to and have employment opportunities in most specialties. He likes orthopedics, general surgery, ENT and family practice. At least so far, ha. Who knows what the flavor of next month will be. Then, of course, there is always the advantage that if we move, we will be closer to family, which will be wonderful. I am kind of feeling like I am emotionally ready for an adventure, but that won't play any significant role in our decision making process. If we move though, there will be some financial strain. Will we be able to sell our house? I think we will, but there's always that chance. I really want to buy a house when we move too. Hmmmm... this is a great time to house shop b/c everyone is trying to sell, and we will get more house for our money, but when we will need to move again, will we be able to sell then? I dunno.

I am happy to be alive. Life is good. I need to remember that when I am all stressed, mad, tired, whatever. I do have a good life; a wonderful husband who is an amazing father to my sweet, precious, purely wonderful girls. What could I want more?

4 teeth, 5 months

Yes, Kira just got her 4th tooth. Crazy. She got her first (which I should have made a post about, but was out of town and super busy at the time) on August 25th, right before she was 5 months old. All of her teeth have really surprised me. Adalin didn't get her first one until 5 1/2 months, so that was what I was expecting from Kira. Nope. Her second came in 2 weeks later, and her 3rd and fourth, came in in two days, just Saturday and Sunday. It has been wild how fast they have come, and luckily, without any hassle at all. I guess that's why I am so shocked. She really hasn't showed any teething signs at all yet. I m so grateful for healthy, happy children. I do struggle at times with my patience, but for the most part, I have wonderful, textbook babies. I rarely thank God for this and I need to more often. I guess that I just don't know any different.
The leaves have started to fall and the acorns drop. We have a HUGE oak tree in our backyard, which is so beautiful, however, it is such a messy tree. Our back deck within a matter of 2 days is completely covered with leaves and acorns. We filled up at least 20 70-gallon yard waste bags last fall with the oak tree junk, and I don't expect any different from it this year. Gives up something to do I guess.
I am so relieved that the weather has changed a bit and that it is cooler and more comfortable. I think that Fall is my favorite time of year (Spring is almost tied). Hot summer days are wonderful and fun, but exhausting as well. I love temps in the 70's where I can wear a sweatshirt and not be too hot or too cold. The weather change is forcing me to buy some clothes for Adalin too, which isn't too awful of a thing.
I really had a great day on Sunday. I am so thankful that Adam has decided not to study on Sundays. Sundays are always so much better than any other day because of this. It is a day for spiritual rejuvenation, which is always much needed in my life. I got a long nap too this past Sunday. Ahhh. In the evening I got to read some of the Ensign (the LDS magazine with different inspirational articles about life and God). I have never read an Ensign all the way through. This month's was awesome. It had articles about finances, laughter, caring for ppl with disabilities... I just kept reading and didn't get bored. It was great! I was even brought to tears as I re-read a good little story to Adam about how a disabled child was served by ward members. I want to be the kind of person that is just always willing to help others, no matter what they need or what I have going on. Service is really the key to happiness.

I'm Chocolate

Perfect. Chocolate is just what I would want to be.



You embody the perfect blend of sweetness and seduction. You personality is just as luscious and irresistible as chocolate ice cream. You have a flirty, melty attitude that's easygoing and delicious. You appreciate luxurious, extravagant things, like the way ultra-soft fabrics feel against your skin. Some people want to hog you all to themselves, but you find ways to make everyone feel special.

What I have done today

I thought after last night's post that I should follow up and prove that I am not always a bum. I swept and mopped, went to kickboxing, had a fabulous friend over, and I am making dinner as we speak... The dishes are done, bed made, Adalin's table straightened, dresser still untouched, maybe tomorrow. There are some really great accomplishments in there, at least compared to yesterday. You know I always want to spell yesterday "yesturday". Why?

I want to be a nerd...

According to this quiz I just took.

A swift kick in the pants

Yep, that's what I need right now. All day I have been completely unmotivated about cleaning up my house. It's disgusting. Yes, my house is dirty, but my attitude is worse. I just don't feel like cleaning up, at all. It's quite weird for me too. I am usually a cleaning Nazi. Any mess in any part of my house bothers me to no end, usually. Not today. I don't even care. To the left you see Walmart bags, still on top of my range, the pan I used to make Adam a grilled cheese sandwich for dinner, since I didn't feel like cooking either tonight, Dog treats that i didn't feel like putting back in the pantry after Adam and Adalin were training the dogs, and the new cascade box that never got put under the sink. So I don't know if this new attitude is a good or bad thing here. I usually am so obsessed with cleaning that I stress about it a little bit. However, I am a bit more relaxed since I have the "I don't even care right now" attitude. Though, I think in the long run, having a dirty house will stress me out more than if I would have stressed all day to clean it. So I guess I answered my own question.

To the left here you can see my beautifully dirty sink full of dirty dishes. This is an uncommon occurrence for this sink, but you know how today has been for me. Why am I even like this today? Hmmm... we had a BBQ last night which was SO fun. We got to have some really awesome peeps over and I just love having ppl over. But I think, since now I am really thinking about it, that since I cleaned ALL day yesterday, that today I am pretty well burnt out. So I am just going to make a nice list of things to do as soon as I wake up in the morning, starting with the dishes.

Here you see Adalin's coloring supplies that she used and didn't clean up. She never really cleans up w/o being asked. She is usually good to help me though when I ask her to. I should give her credit for that. She did, though, a few times today, color by herself and let me have a few moments of peace. That was very nice because it is quite a rare occurrence that she goes and does anything without asking me to help her do it.

My kitchen table with random things on it, like always.

This is the worst clutter bucket of them all in my house. Our dresser. I don't even want to go into all the stuff that is on top of here... by the end of the week it's my goal to have this cleared off.

Our bed was made before I attempted to take a nap this afternoon. Now it's not made and won't be until tomorrow morning.

Adam didn't quite understand why on earth I "waisted" time writing this, and taking pictures of all of the messes when I could have had most of it cleaned up by now. Good point. Hmmm... It's b/c I am waisted and just want to sit and waist time on the computer instead of returning to reality and cleaning up my house. I am going to spend my entire life cleaning.... which I honestly don't mind. I actually enjoy it most of the time. It gives me a sense of accomplishment. Just know that I will be cleaning up tomorrow. Welcome to my world!
Oh, Adam is now doing the dishes... WAHOO! Now I don't have to.