Couldn't Wait!!!!

Sorry Gillie, but I couldn't wait to post this little clip of the boy (23 seconds)... G-man has been putting a few steps together over the last few weeks that could be considered "walking" in some sense. Then tonight he just started walking around the room toward me...so as any good father would do, I grabbed the video camera and made him chase me across the room several times to get a good clip for the Blog. Nothing like baiting your child into being cute for the net!!!

Sunday Night Concert

So I'm going to back track a little. But I have good reason. On Sunday after the concert my emotions were just a little too involved, so I had to mellow out for a few days. Our little Families Supporting Adoption chapter here in town asked Michael McLean to do a concert for us to celebrate national adoption month. We've been planning this for months and it came together this past Sunday evening. Prior to the concert we had a reception for some birthmothers in the area that have placed children in the past. Brother McLean was really personable and seemed genuinely interested as he conversed with the birthmothers and their families. After the reception, we went over to the Tabernacle which you can see was filled to capacity and then some. Brother McLean was very engaging and entertaining. He told some of the stories behind the songs that he has written about adoption. Especially touching were the songs "Something Perfect" and "Hardest for Me." Unfortunately I couldn't find a link to those, but here is "From God's Arms, To My Arms, To Yours."

Halloween FHE

G-man's first Pumpkin carving experience! Fun was had by all. Necia ate a little pumpkin gunk and G tried to as well. It turned out okay, no real work of art or anything, but I guess it's good enough to sit outside and rot on my doorstep :o)!

Check out the giveaways these guys are doing and their fun layouts!

Happy Halloween!

Would you believe how hard it is to find a real pumpkin patch around here? I drove all over on Thursday and couldn't find one. The local farm was definitely not open. So I headed over to the local nursery where they had some pumpkins and some haybales and got some pics. Here are my favorites. Enjoy!

Suicidal

My Kitchenaid tried to commit suicide today.  I think she heard all my talk of Bosch mixers.  I used to adore Kitty.  She was like a gleaming white statue giving evidence to my skills as a homemaker.  I displayed her proudly on my countertop and my single friends would envy my obvious prowess in the baking arts.  I secretly think that when Jared saw Kitty he knew he had to have me- mad kitchen skills and all.  

She even helped us sell our first home!  Our shark of a real estate agent wanted everything off the counters.  Everything, except Kitty.  "Kitty is a work of art!" she said.  So, she sat on the counter surrounded by fake greenery and enticed would be buyers into a deal.  I know the young woman of the couple that bought our house envisioned herself baking fresh cookies for her new husband with my Kitchenaid.  That couple put an offer on our house the day it was put on the market.   

We tried to sell our house this past spring and our agent wanted me to put her away.  I know she grumbled as she went into the closet.  "Doesn't he know my value?" she thought.  "I am a work of art!"  Our house didn't sell.  Some may say it was a slow market, but Kitty and I know the truth.  A buyer can't envision herself in an empty kitchen.  

The first time I tried to make bread with her was when a little of her glitter shook off.  I was so excited to make bread with her because I had just found out that I could let her do all the kneading.  My mom had always done it by hand and had been an excellent baker.  So I called my stepmom to get her recipe.  Poor Kitty had an awful time with those five loaves.  She sputtered and coughed white smoke.  Try as she might, she just couldn't do it.  The dough seemed to have a life of its own and came up out of the bowl, engulfing the hook and trying to suffocate her.  I saved her just in the nick of time.  When I cleaned her off, she looked at me woefully,"I just don't think I was made for that.  I'm so sorry, I thought it would eat me.  I just couldn't do it."  

Come to find out that the Kitchenaid Classic was NOT made for such things.  Since that moment I have been lusting after a Bosch mixer.  They are not as sexy as Kitty is.  No one will ever mistake the Bosch for a piece of art.  But if I can make yummy fluffy whole wheat bread for our family, it will be worth it, right?  

Kitty never really made it out of the closet after we took our home off the market.  I use her for cookies and things like that, but I don't think she ever really recovered from the dough incident.  Today I thought maybe she could redeem herself.  I used a recommended recipe from works for me wednesday for one loaf of bread.  Things were going well.  Kitty worked really hard at kneading the dough "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can."  She was a little wobbly at the higher speed, so I turned her down and things seemed to be okay.  I then left the kitchen to go get dressed and that's when it happened.  She jumped off the counter and tried to hang herself.  My heart sank when I heard the crash.  NOOOOOoooo!  Oh Kitty, did you really mean to do that?  Her power cord had been ripped right out of the back of her neck.  Such a waste.  I just hope Jared will be able to fix her.  

** Notice the bent plug and extricated cord**

The first Solo Climb into the Great Know.

Here's a little video shot of the G-man climbing the stairs.  He did this for the first time today, although this is his 3rd assent on this same "pitch."  First the stairs, next will come our front yard of rocks, then up to Zions for some trad rock climbing...I'll help him set the gear the first time! Climb climb climb...Up up up!!

Procrastination

This morning I have no excuses anymore.  I must confess.  We can't find the camera.  Make that- I can't find the camera.  I guess I lost it; those kinds of things are usually my fault.  I personally think that there are little elves in my house that steal things from me just so I can look dumb in front of Jared.  (A note to my sisters: Stand Down.  The elves are just stealing from me, not talking to me or giving me revelation or telling me I'm the Queen of England.  I'm allowed to have a delusion every once in a while if it doesn't hurt anyone :).)  I think when your kids get older, the elves give them the job of messing with your mind.  That way you can continue to think you're sane even when you've lost your grip on reality.  I look forward to such times.  

Meanwhile, even though you can't see a picture of him, G-man continues to be as cute as ever.  Mornings he is especially charming (as if to say "You know you want to get up and play with me even though it is only 6:30 am").  He is amazingly easy going about eating.  He tries new things all the time without any fuss at all.  This morning I found some oatmeal in the cupboard.  Hallelujah, it wasn't expired!  A little cinnamon and some applesauce and he ate it right up.  I don't know if you believe in Karma, but by all indications of me while growing up, I should have gotten the child who refuses to eat anything.  We are so lucky.  His teeth are continuing to emerge.  Most of the time, they don't bug him too much.  He also is learning to prefer upright motion to just crawling.  He will take a couple of steps while falling towards the object of his desires instead of dropping to his knees immediately.  

I promise that more pictures will be coming soon.  Scout's honor and all that.  Jared just bought one that he likes off ebay last night.  It may not be all that I want, but it is at least a newer model than our old one, so maybe it will take pictures faster. 

WFMW: a smattering of small tips

Tip#1:  Vinegar in the dishwasher

We have REALLY hard water in our area. We thought at first that the dishwasher that came with the house just sucked, but then we bought a Kitchenaid and even when we put a ton of Jet dry in, the dishwasher didn't really do its job.  A friend at work said she just puts vinegar in before starting the dishwasher.  It really works.  I always end up with clean dishes, no spots, and sometimes I don't even pre-rinse (shameful, I know!).  So there you go.  A little vinegar with your detergent goes a long way.  

Tip #2 Venus razors

I used to think all razors were basically equal, but then I pulled out one that I got from Santa a year or two ago in my stocking (thanks Abby!).  For a disposable it did a great job and I didn't nick myself at all.  And I have found that even when my leg hair is as long as the African Safari grasslands this razor takes it all in stride.  If you don't want to spend a lot of money on the starter pack, you can yank the top off of a disposable venus razor and use the replacement heads on it.

Tip #3

Scrubbing Bubbles toilet bowl gel stamper

I read this tip from someone else a few weeks ago and I love this product!  Not only does it keep your bathroom smelling fresh, I don't have hard water rings that I have to scrub away!  I don't know about you, but I don't treasure time spent with my head close to the toilet bowl, so anything that helps me do less of that is a great product.

As much as I love getting hits from people I don't know all over the world, I would love for some tips from friends close to home, too!  So even if you don't participate through Rocks in my Dryer, share something you've learned with me in the comments or on your blog!

Dad's first contribution!

Okay, so its been nearly 5 months AND I FINALY HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY!  Not really, I just wanted to add G-man's 11 month old picture, and since I took the picture with my phone...I was told to add it to the Blog.  This is my "2 year old" shot of him.... Amazing what a little lighting can do.  Unfortunately I'm not nearly as funny as my sweet wife, so this will have to do!

Thank you

I thought I'd post our little addition to the book we are giving Michael McLean as a thank you for doing a free fireside concert at the end of this month for our FSA November celebration.  His concert will celebrate adoption and is taken from this book and music CD.

Dear Michael McLean, My husband and I never thought we would have first hand experience with adoption.  After many years of infertility treatments however, it became clear that our family would have to start another way.  We started the adoption process in October of 2006.  It felt a little like a popularity contest for a while.  I would spend hours online looking at all the profiles of people that were waiting to adopt and cry because I wanted every couple to have the child they dreamed of.  I felt like I would be taking someone else's child if I adopted.  How would I know that the child we adopted was meant for our home and not someone else's?  Despite my doubts, we plowed ahead with the paperwork.  We became active with LDS family services in April 2007.  And we waited. 

 

That summer we attended the Families Supporting Adoption national conference in Salt Lake at my husband's insistence.  We were blessed to hear the experiences of many adoptive couples and birthparents and especially Glenn and Tania Beck.  Because of that conference, our eyes were opened to the vision of adoption.  We made some changes in our profile and our life and were contacted by several birthmothers via the internet.  Despite one especially promising relationship, I began to feel very depressed.  We decided not to pursue continued communication with her and prayed that Heavenly Father would lead our birthmother to us. 

Within two weeks we were contacted by our agency who told us a birthmother had chosen us.  Her reasons for choosing us resonated within our hearts and we felt the love that our Heavenly Father feels for her.  Our son was born the same day we met his birthmother.  Her expectations of having time with him in the hospital were cut short when the nurse discovered that he had a heart murmur.  Because of my experience as a NICU nurse, I was able to travel with him and be at his bedside until his birthmother was able to be there as well.  We were able to develop our relationship as we sat next to him in the hospital.  

He is now almost a year old and is currently in good health.  When I consider the events of the last two years, I see God's hand in every event.  I am especially grateful to our son's birthmother who had faith that He would lead her to her son's parents.  She sent us a copy of your book and CD, "From God's arms, to my arms, to yours".  Adoption truly is about love and your music captures that for us.  Our son is truly a gift of love from our Heavenly Father through the loving arms of his birthmother.  

One Small Step for G-man

G-man took his first step today!  Then he fell.  But I have witnessed at least one step forward without his holding onto anything.  He took his first step towards my friend Kim's little boy, who is about 6 1/2 months old (he's the other boy in the picture).  I took a picture after the fact and I have a few others of him cruising around the furniture upstairs.  One step today, a whole lifetime of steps to go... 

Ice Packs for Injuries

Okay so I'm not really organized and this week's Works for me Wednesday is about kitchen organization.  But at least my tip is stored in the kitchen-

This tip was given to my stepmom by her physical therapist.  To make an ice pack that will stay really cold and is moldable to any place on your body that you can injure, use equal parts water and rubbing alcohol in a heavy duty plastic bag.  It will not freeze solid even if left in the freezer, though it may get slushy.  

This has saved me more than once.  I slipped coming down the stairs just the other week and I was able to make a couple of these ice packs and keep ice on my shoulder (which felt like it had been ripped out of its socket) for 12 hours almost straight.  The next day there was no swelling and it felt TONS better.  

Go over to Rocks in my Dryer and check out all the organization tips from every one else!