Super Pooper

Crafts are great and all, but what this blog really needs is more talk about poop!

E has been in underwear since May and quickly became an ace at peeing in the potty. Pooping was causing some issues, however. After trying bribery and time outs we finally settled on a sticker chart:

E has been wanting a bike for a while now and so N and I figured this would be good motivation for him. I brought the chart and stickers with us on our trip and he is almost halfway there to earning his bike.

But those first few stickers were won with tears and sweat. E was terrified of pooping on the potty and once he held it in for a whole week until we had to resort to mildly invasive measures (i.e. a suppository.) But now he’s doing well. I think he’s even on his way to conquering his fear of public toilets with their alarmingly loud flushes; he used the toilet at the airport which was a big deal.

So in summation, E is a super star.

Stephanie’s Quilt

This is the quilt that got me off the fence about trying to make a quilting. Aren’t the fabrics beautiful?

My mom has been into quilting for a decade and has made my babies beautiful quilts but when my friend and neighbor (and Kristen Bell lookalike) Stephanie made Mimi this quilt I started thinking that that maybe I could make a quilt too. My mom’s retired but Stephanie has an insanely-packed schedule and I thought that if she could find the time to make a quilt then maybe I could too. Plus like a good friend she volunteer to help me if I got stuck. 🙂

I’m really looking forward to finishing my quilt when I go home.

Spice Cabinet Completed!

A couple of people reminded me that I never posted pictures of my finished spice cabinet (previous posts about it here (1, 2, 3, and 4) I made an effort to get it hung on the wall before Mimi was born because when we have a new baby not a lot gets done around here, but then I forgot to post about it. So here it is!

In order to have a place to hang the cabinet we had to have to rewire our thermostat and move it around the corner–WORTH IT.

It’s nice to finally get our spices off our counter and into their new home.
Here’s a slideshow I put together of some of the steps I took to build the cabinet.

Now that the cabinet’s finished I’m beginning to daydream about what I could build in woodworking this fall–I’m toying with the idea of making a dining table or an entertainment center. I guess we’ll just have to see.

The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated

So um, hi there! I kept meaning to post but things were pretty crazy for a while. We were all sick: it really dragged on and on and I was swamped with work at the same time. When I’ve been sick for a while and I’m not sleeping well I lose track of the fact that in general I love my life and suddenly Everything Is Horrible! and It Has Always Been Horrible! and It Will Always Be Horrible! The End. It’s something I need to work on.

To be honest I wasn’t a lot of fun to be around: I was pretty grumpy and kept snapping at N. I wouldn’t blame poor N if he was secretly relieved to ship his grumpy wife and the kids off to my parents’ house for while.

I was nervous about flying by myself with the two kids but Melissa reminded me that you can get a gate ticket for an escort to help you through security. So my sweet mother-in-law helped us to our gate which was a big help.

Except for Mimi having a diaper blowout the flight was pretty uneventful. Even though E hasn’t had an accident in a long time I was a bit nervous about him being in underwear for the flight but he did great. E’s getting to be quite the old hand at flying.

While it’s hard to live out of suitcases (especially with a baby) I’m feeling better and more like myself. Stuffing my face with yummy Korean food, relaxing for an afternoon at the spa, and spending some time catching up with old friends will do that to me every time 🙂 Now I’m just counting down the days until N gets here.

I’ve repented of my blog-shirking ways and have a few posts lined up for while I’m away so check back next week.

Amy Ruppel on Tiny Showcase

We’re still under the weather around here but thankfully I think I’m starting to feel a little better.

I just wanted to hop on and give the head’s up that Amy Ruppel is going to be on Tiny Showcase tonight.

I love her work and can’t wait to see the the print they’re going to release. Only 100 copies will be sold and at $20 a pop they’re going to go fast.

Check it out at 5:30 pm today Utah time.

Mondays are teh lame

It turns out that the noted 20th-century philosopher Garfield was correct. I’m looking at the front end of this week already feeling exhausted. It think it’s mostly because I’ve had a raging sinus infection for a few days now and add to that several big work deadlines, a teething baby who has sleeping more poorly than she ever has before, and a dentist appointment to get a few cavities filled and blarg, my friends. BLARG.

But yesterday was actually really lovely. At church I taught the lesson in Relief Society and I drew heavily from this talk. (Read it if you have a few seconds; it is really great.) I still get ridiculously nervous when I teach at church but I think I’m slowly getting better at being more coherent. At least I hope so 🙂

After our church meetings we drove to my in-laws’ church service. They were scheduled to speak about their recent mission experience in Korea and it was great to hear their remarks. And then we came home, the stars aligned, and we all took much needed naps. Yay for naps.

Words With Friends

Anyone else playing Words With Friends (i.e. Scrabble) on their phones? I know I’m a bit late to the party but I’ve really gotten into it lately even though I’m not especially good at it. (That’s not false modesty–back in the day when N and I were young marrieds and we would play board games with his family I would literally break out in a sweat when it was my turn. But in my defense, YOU try playing board games with N and his brother.)

Anyway, while I get nervous playing these sorts of games in person I’m having fun playing on my phone. So far I’ve successfully cajoled N and my sister-in-law Mindy into playing with me but two games are not enough to feed my addiction! (BTW, it’s your turn, Minders.)

While I’d like more people to play with I don’t want to play with total strangers. So I thought I’d see if any of you want to play because we’re all friends here and tight like that. There are free apps for both Android and iPhone so if you’re interested download it (enabled push notifications to get notified when a move is made) and look me up: my login is TheNearestFuture.

Let the games begin!

My First Quilt: Update 3

During these last few weeks we had a lot going on and so I took a break from working on my quilt but after a while I felt the itch to work on it again. So out came my sewing machine and supplies to take over the kitchen table again.

I sewed all of my squares into strips and then pressed the seams open. This step took a lot more time than I thought it would would. (All those little seams!)

Then I took the strips and started sewing them to each other, trying (and often failing) to match up all the short seams.


And then I had a finished quilt top! I’m being a bit of a tease and saving the picture of the completed top for my next post. But I really like this picture of the back because of the texture and because it’s satisfying to look at All Those Seams after I spent so much time on them.


Now I just need to pick out a fabric for the back. I am really stumped on what color to use. I love the look of gray mixed with bright colors in this quilt and was thinking about using a gray back but now I don’t know.

What do you think? Would gray look good or would a brighter print be better?

Letter to Mimi: Month Five


Dear Mimi,

After a lot of practice, you finally rolled over this last month! Now as soon as I put you on your stomach you tip yourself to the side and roll onto your back, quick as a flash. I’ve had to really up the antics to keep you entertained for tummy time. So far you’re into situational and prop comedy but turn your nose up at impressions.

Besides rolling over you love, love, love grabbing your toes. As soon as I take your socks off (or you pull them off) you immediate reach for your toes and try to cram them in your mouth. It’s pretty cute.

I think your teeth are starting to come in because you will gnaw on everything given the chance. I’m not too good about remembering milestones (one of the reasons I write these letters) but I think that your brother didn’t start teething for at least a few more months um, so there’s that. Teething also means that you’ve also started biting occasionally when I’m nursing you and uh, yeouch! and also stop.

We’re gearing up to take you on your first trip away from home. We have back-to-back family reunions in WA and OR and even though I’m a little bit nervous about taking you away from your routine I’m looking forward to showing you off a bit. We all love you so much and know that the rest of our families will too.

Love,

Mama

Last Minute Fun

I know this is kind of last minute, but if you’re looking for something to do this weekend can I suggest catching a comedy show?
Jenna Kim Jones is hilarious; N and I try to catch her shows whenever she’s in town. (She’s a family friend but we would go see her even if she wasn’t–honest!) Jenna lives in New York where she works for The Daily Show but does a few shows in Utah every year, so don’t miss your chance to catch her live!

Jenna Kim Jones at Wiseguys Trolley Square
July 8-9
7:30 and 10 PM each night
$10 Tickets (2-for-1 coupons available here.)