Danika is a lucky girl

In case you don't know, I am a person that keeps completely random stuff in my "scrapbook." When you read "scrapbook," don't think cute, artsy pages with stickers, ribbons and adorable lettering captioning photographs of fond memories. Think of 3-ring binders stuffed with old letters, notes, concert tickets, and boarding passes. I have an entire binder that is nothing but notes I passed in middle school and high school. Another binder is all mission letters, interspersed with the occassional wrapper from some Italian toilet paper (brand name: soffass) or a chunk of a license plate I found on the ground in Sicily.


So, the other night I was browsing through one of my binders full of letters & notes, laughing my ass off at how witty and clever my friends were (and probably still are), but also realizing what a total jack-ass I have always been (and still am). I'll probably eventually get my Masters degree in Jackassery.


Anyway, I came across this treasure from DHS circa 1993-ish:

Do you guys remember this? The reason I kept this lovely bit of history is unknown, but it probably had something to do with my love for ch-ch-ch-Chia. Let's all just have a moment of silence in respect for the radness of Matt Gunn.

Did anyone read?

Should I post some questions about My Sister's Keeper? Katie was the only one who said she was reading this month--did anyone else?

The Darjeeling Limited

Have you seen the trailer for the new Wes Anderson movie? Really excited for this one.

We were glad to finally Welcome Adan into our lives on Aug. 25 @ 11:59 am. He weighed 6 lbs. 14 oz. and was 19 in. long. The birth was uneventful as I had hoped, no horror stories to speak of. We sure do enjoy this little guy more than we ever thought possible.

Happy Birthday to:

Lacey (27th)
&
Katie (31st)

Brilliant

Congrates Kate!

When you get feeling better give me a call I want to scoop. How long was the labor? Did you get Pitosin? Hopefully I will be following suit soon! :)

Fred ?? LaRiviere

Fred was born at 6:30 pm on August 15th. He weighed 8 lbs 1 oz. He is doing well, but the doctors were concerned about his grunting and lack of crying, so he is in a special nursery for 48 hours. He is healthy, but they wanted to keep a close eye on him to make sure he stays that way. He should be ready to come home on Saturday. Katie did a great job making it through another fun filled delivery, and she is recovering well. The girls are thrilled to have a new baby brother, but we will have to quickly set some ground rules to make sure he doesn't get dressed up in princess cloths.

August Book..?

I guess we're a little behind because we just finished discussing The Alchemist, but if anyone is interested we could read "My Sisters Keeper" for August. This book is about 300 pages, but it is a pretty easy and quick read. For me it was very compelling, I think everyone could have it read by Labor Day or so and then we could discuss.

This book gave me SO much to think about and the more I thought about it the more I realized I didn't have any answers. This book tells a fascinating story of a family that has a terminally ill daughter. The parents have one child to save another who then sues for medical emancipation. It will be a great discussion on what you would do if it were your child.

Warning: the book alludes to one brief sex scene that you could skip entirely and not miss any info on the book and does have language sprinkled throughout the book (including the F word).

If you readers are not interested in the book or if you've already read it, feel free to make a suggestion of another book and we can read that instead. Or if you think that Labor Day isn't enough time to read the book, then we can push it back. Everyone just comment and let us all know what you think.

Study: Food in McDonald's wrapper tastes better to kids

i think this is funny.
my kids don't watch t.v. but they love mcdonalds. so its my fault--not advertising.
btw, thanks for the free meal in cedar a few months ago. we never stop there because its so close to st. g but we were going to vegas that time. i was surprised to see wellz there. i had forgotten.
fill us in on your france plans heat.

You Asked For It

These are my pregnancy glamor shots taken by my sister at 37 weeks.

Cool Technology Follow Up Video

2 weeks to go.

well, my first two came a week late so maybe i have 3 weeks left.

church is a good place to go when i'm prego. i get so many people telling me i look so cute pregnant. or, you don't even look pregnant from behind. i've had multiple men tell me i look like i have a ball under my shirt. my favorite is, "you're so lucky, you only show in your belly." then what is with my fat cheeks, arms, and disgusting thighs? anyway, after church i decided to take some photos:

whatcha gonna do with all that junk....?

mother hips

does this look natural to anyone? it looks freakish to me.

i'm trying to get caught up on my photo albums. i found this picture from last august. oh, the sacrifices we make.

amazing new technology

The Alchemist discussion topic #3

How does Santiago’s father react when his son tells him that he wants to travel? (P.9) Do you believe what Santiago’s father says about travelers is true?

“They come in search of new things, but when they leave they are basically the same people they were when they arrived.”

The Alchemist discussion topic #2

The alchemist comes to Santiago in the form of Melchizedek and says to him, “When you really want something to happen, the whole universe conspires so that your wish comes true”
What does this mean? Do you have any examples of this from your own life?

Welcome to America

Last night I turned on the TV to see Victoria Beckham in search of her families new house in LA. I don't know if it was a one time show for sure but I watched the whole thing. She was asked to pitch the ball at the opening of a Dodger's game as an honor and to welcome her to the USA. She was nervous that she would "make them lose". Then she dressed up a sex doll to look like her so the paparazzi would follow the doll in the car so she could shop in peace. The funny thing is the doll looked just like her. Then, this morning I read this article in the Onion about plastic surgery. It must be difficult living in the public eye. All those surgeries all the time. Truthfully I think she looks better than when she was Posh Spice. It must be the true love that her and David share though, I'm sure she's totally natural. I think we are all a little more grateful knowing that David Beckham is now in America, am I right?

The Alchemist discussion topic #1

I know it's taken me a while to post these, I've been crazy busy this month. I'll post a few questions--each with their own post--so you can comment on the ones that you like. Don't be shy, it will be way more fun/interesting if everyone shares freely. I'm super excited to discuss this book with all of you because there is SO much wisdom in it and I'm sure I didn't catch half of the insights in there.

Santiago is told “people are afraid to pursue their most important dreams because they feel they don’t deserve them, or that they’ll be unable to achieve them.” Do you have a goal or dream which intimidates you? Are there some dreams that we are correct to fear?

Do you believe some dreams should simply remain as dreams, like the crystal merchants’ dream of journeying to Mecca? (pg 55) When he talked about the pilgrimage to Mecca, the crystal merchant argued that having a dream is more important than fulfilling it, which is what Santiago was trying to do. Do you agree with Santiago's rationale or crystal merchant's?

heather highlights

cool pics of heather on her family blog. i can't believe how much you look like asa in that baby picture.

grrr!

Why I will never do the running of the bulls...

family travel

i met this couple through the blogging world. they are spending the summer in europe with their 4 kids. i would like to do the same thing one day. with a nanny.

you can check out their blog, if you are interested.

counting down

dan met up with lacey and family for a kayaking trip. he called me on his way home and one of the first things he says is, "so, lacey is like half your size." isn't it common knowledge--or at least common sense--that pregnant people don't like their largeness pointed out? seriously, this is our 3rd time through this you'd think he'd catch on to the do's and don't's. most people say i'm so cute. "you're all baby." but a lot of people are surprised when i tell them i'm due in august. they assume i'm due any day. yesterday a lady thought that if i wasn't due any day i must be having twins. she was an idiot. i am bigger this time but not really in the belly. just bigger in the arms, butt, chin, etc. anyway, here is a picture so you can feel better about yourselves:

na na na na hey hey hey

isn't that one of the friendliest looking dogs you've ever seen? well, he's a goner. we sold him to a young couple without kids. they have a lab about the same age, same energy etc. so they will be good friends. and the couple will have them as indoor dogs. i feel good about it. i think he will be happier. one day when our kids are older i want the exact same dog.

another use for superglue

We just got back from the beach house in Southern California and it was so much fun. However while we were there Lia stuck a popcorn kernel in her ear. It was visible so we tried to get it out with chewing gum, we tried to vacuum it out, we tried tweezers, tape, a baby nose sucker thing. but what finaly worked was putting super glue on the end of a sucker stick and sticking it to the kernel and letting it dry and then we could pull it out. It took a couple of tries and so we had to dig some of the super glue off her ear but earwax made it come off pretty easy. I'm glad it worked and didn't make things worse because it would have been really emabarassing taking her to ER to get the kernel and superglue out of her ear. Once I used an ear candle and the hot wax melted into my eardrum and it killed. I had to go to the doctor to get the wax removed and they made me feel really dumb for having even tried an ear candle so I know super glue in the ear would have been even more embarassing. Try it if you dare.
ps. don't use ear candles.

Reminder

Just a reminder in case you haven't read The Alchemist yet-there is still plenty of time to get through it before we discuss (we're aiming for July 14-ish). It's short and easy to read, so if you haven't checked it out/bought/ordered it yet-do it today!

Question: what do you think would be the best way to discuss? I could post all the questions at once and you could comment on the ones you want to. Or I could post them one at a time and when we've said all we want to say on the matter, I could post the next one. what do you think?

Rusty's Learning to Listen

This clip is from Elizabeth Town. It's one of Asa's favorite.

toddler artist

this will be asa. he'll draw the ninja turtle with a penis.
http://offsprung.com/dadsmacker/2007/06/06/it-would-not-surprise-me-if-in-twenty-years-he-clops-off-his-ear/

Geranimo!!!!!!!!

My nephew went to Havasupai for scout camp last week. He just graduated from HS, he is really tall, and good sense of humor, and played receiver for the football team. I thought I knew him. I did not think he would ever be someone who would jump off the top of Havasu Falls. 110 ft. waterfall that is covered with signs at the top saying don't jump or you get fined $500. But he did! He said he just wanted to look over the edge. But after he did that he pondered to himself about how that would be to jump off the top. Then he said out loud to his buddies "I'm going to jump" they thought he was kidding until he started making his way to the edge again. There are lots of littel pools of water at the top so it was kind of tricky footing. When he was almost to the edge ond of the mossy rocks did crumblu under his foot and he said "that kinda scared me". Then he got to the edge and saw that everyone was cleaing out of the pool pretty fast. It looked clear so he jumped. At the last moment his fingertips came out a little bit and the force of the hit bent his wrist back really hard. When he came up he was yelling Yah and a wave hit in the mouth and he started choking and everyone thought that something had happened. But no he is fine but his wrist area little sensetive. Some stranger got it on video and sais he would email him the clip. I will post it when I get it. Oh yeah he didn't get fined.

A little piece of Heaven

Ogden just became a little bigger piece of Heaven with it's new Adventure mall. WE went to check it out this evening for FHE. We watched a couple of people in the wind tunnel which was really cool. I blows air at you like 180 mph and you go shooting up in the air and then you can come back down and just do tricks and stuff. They say 3 years old and up but Abe would not do it. Then they have this indoor wave that you can surf on. There is a Costa Vida right next to it so you can eat your dinner and watch people surf. Which would be cool for me if I was the one eating but not so cool for me surfing. There is also the tallest climbing wall in Utah adn all of these three things can be seen through huge glass windows from outside. There was also glow in the dark mini golf, bowling, and arcade with bumper cars. A huge movie theatre that has a food court so you can choose your dinner which can be eaten in the theatre on a tray that hooks into your seat. Awesome. Dinner and a movie put into one to save money on the baby sitter meter. We will be moving up to Logan June 27th. If you want to come check it out and stay the night here with us do it before then:)

Stuff

For all those out there that don't live to far away or just might be in town my baby shower date is June 23. It's a Saturday open house from 11:00 to 1:00 at my mom's house. I'd love any excuse to see you guys!
Angie how does one pronounce Terje? And what does it mean?
So I hiked Orderville Canyon over the weekend. Anyone else done that canyon? It is beautiful! 12 miles with the last 1/2 being in water. It meets with the Narrows several miles up. We had a good time! My boss Dr. Ott and his wife went. They are so cool I feel lucky to work for such a great guy! Even is there is un-necessary office drama. 11 females in the same building day after day takes its toll. So far I have been able to stay out of it. Anyone else have the same experiance at work? I think some ladies invent drama to make the day go by faster or something.
Kate you planning on the Payette trip the end of this month? I can't wait!!! Don't worry we will have a raft for the fat ladies. :)

Book Club part 2

Has anyone read/started reading the book for May? (Dearest Friend) I've had a hard time getting into it and quite a few of our book club members have called and expressed concerns about not reading all/any of the book. Have you had the same problem?
Our club meeting is tonight and we'll discuss the book even though many of us haven't made it all the way through. I think it will still make for some interesting discussion.
I was thinking--if any of you have read the book--i'll post the discussion questions on Monday and we can all give our input then. That will give you the weekend to get a little more reading done so you can contribute if you'd like. Hopefully it won't be super boring--I don't want everyone to quit after only the first month. Up till now every book we've read has been pretty awesome so hopefully in the future the books will be a little bit more engaging.
Oh, one other thing. My sister, Jaci, is a fan of our blog. She stops in and reads because she thinks we're funny and cool sometimes. She never comments because she says she feels like "an intruder and a spy." But she is going to be reading the books along with us too, so she may want to comment occasionally-so don't be alarmed.

holy. crap.

have you seen this before?

Happy Birthday Heather

it was yesterday, right? sorry i forgot. we were camping.

The Mitchell's in Europe

Ashlynn is home from her trip to Europe. If you haven't been following her blog you can check it out here. She went to a lot of Scandinavia and Eastern Europe. She and her husband were gone for almost three weeks. Ashlynn is so super cool and stylish. I'm sure you all know her. She grew up in St. George (morning side). I hung with her sister Erica Allen in High School and her other sis is Jenny.

Im alive

Sorry It has been so long. I wrote a big long story about what I have been up to about a week and a half ago and then the computer crashed before I got to post it, I was pissed and avoided the dumb thing.
I am due Aug 19th and feeling the growing pains, not only in the stomach but the ass and thighs as well. I even have relief society arms. Any tips from those that have been there? I still run 3-5 miles 6 days a week and nothing helps. I guess it's a lame genetic pre-disposition. Other than that I can't complain to much it's been a rather easy pregnancy. Other than the time I passed out at work and my co-workers called 911. I had a vaso vagal episode. Apparently when the baby pinches of the Vegas nerve you don't get enough oxygen to your brain and you pass out. I knew something wasn't right so I hooked myself up to the heart rate monitor at work and watch my blood pressure drop. Just before I went unconscious it was 84/44 (normal being 120/80). The last thing I said was don't call 911, I was thinking for financial reasons of course. I was out for about 4-5 min they say, long enough for the fire engines and ambulance to arrive. Talk about embarassing!
Danika Richmond is AWESOME! I lived there after hygiene school and worked for Dr. Carlson the dentist in that town, he is the coolest! Good luck with the move, I to get attached to homes, but was ready to move from Midvale after the last big robbing we took. :)

Onion Article

Period Suppression Pill OK'd

The FDA approved Lyrel, a birth control pill that stops the monthly menstrual cycle altogether. What do you think?

Chris Jawoerk,
Marketing Director
"This is unfair—when will they come up with a pill that keeps my genitals from bleeding."

Alex Lau,
Sous Chef
"This could potentially ruin daytime television's entire sponsorship model."

Baly Sniderman,
Admissions Clerk
"I've already figured out a way to stop the menstrual cycle altogether: 14 consecutive pregnancies."

Low Gunn

Matt accepted a job in Logan this morning. Spanish teacher at Mount Logan Middle School. I have really started to love our house here in Ogden ( even though we have been robbed and had lots of drama in our neighborhood) I still love it here and it is kinda hard for me to move away. Matt says I will love Logan. A lot of you have lived there and gone to school and so I thought maybe you could help me get more excited. It was really cool that Matt got the job because Spanish positions are really hard to get there because they are hardly ever open and so when they do there are lots of applicants. Hurrah for Matt!
Also Snow Canyon won 3A baseball state champions last weekend. Adam (the last Gunn boy) was MVP. It was really awesome and all the Gunns were there (accept Zack on his mission) to watch the end of the the Gunn Family Highschoo baseball days. I really think Spencer was there too. It meant a lot to the family.

We taught him the correct terminology for ALL his body parts

Asa really likes to draw. Every time he shows me his picture and says " Mommy, I drew a (?)". Sometimes he draws airplanes, sometimes circles. He's also into saying words as loud as he can and very quiet. Any word, anything he sees, he'll YELL. He likes this song I sing him and at the end he screams BOOM BOOM. Then, he says "A LOUD BOOM BOOM". Then he'll say "a quiet boom boom". And, so on.
About a week ago we were sitting in church and he was drawing during the passing of the sacrament. He drew a circle and instantly said "look mom, a circle". As he was saying this he sort of fell and elongated the circle with the pen. He looked at it for a minute and said "a PENIS". Then came the scream of the word "PENIS" and "A LOUD PENIS" "a quiet penis" "PEENNISSS" and again "A LOUD PENIS". Keep in mind the reverence of sacrament meeting.

The best use for a treadmill I've seen

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Treadmill+dance

Check out what one of my co-workers showed me on youtube. Kinda long, but pretty funny. Beats running on the things...

conference quote

i just read elder joseph b. wirthlin's talk from the priesthood session. i really liked this part:

"I urge you to examine your life. Determine where you are and what you need to do to be the kind of person you want to be. Create inspiring, noble, and righteous goals that fire your imagination and create excitement in your heart. And then keep your eye on them. Work consistently towards achieving them. "

i have a hard time getting past the dishes, laundry, mowing the lawn....etc. so this is motivating for me.

Book Club for Virgin Bloggers

I liked Heather's suggestion that we have our own little blog book club. So, here are the books that were voted on by the girls in my book club, in case you want to read along with us.

May "Dearest Friend" Lynn Withey

June "The Alchemist" Paolo Coelho

July "My Sister's Keeper" Jodi Picoult

August "Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China" Jung Chang

September "The Cloister Walk" Kathleen Morris

October "Tom Sawyer" Mark Twain

November "The Beggar King and the Secret to Happiness" Joel Ben Izzy

December "Crossing to Safety" Wallace Stegnar

January "The Book Thief" Marcus Zusak

February "Walk Two Moons" Sharon Creech

If there is a book that doesn't interest you, we could just make some suggestions of our own and read that one instead--for example, the book for August doesn't appeal to me personally--if everyone feels the same way, we can throw out some other titles and vote which to read on.

As far as discussion goes, I can post some of the questions that our discussion leader poses or you can post your own and we can all comment with our thoughts, insights, etc.

I can post the synopsis of these books if you're interested.

What do you think?

Lili Anderson

Last weekend I attended two conferences here in St. Louis put on by Lili Anderson and her husband. Wow. She is a great speaker--entertaining and inspiring--I learned SO much in just a few hours about the role of women/mothers and men/fathers, the foundation and importance of the family, the plan of salvation, having an eternal perspective...and a bunch of other good stuff.
She teaches at BYU and also speaks at Women's Conferences, Stake Conferences, devotionals, etc. Have any of you ever heard her speak?

For you Utahns, she puts on frequent seminars in Draper (price is a little steep for my budget) or you can go to her website and buy her presentations on CD. I'm going to buy the 3-CD set (it's only $25). I've heard two of the three presentations on the CD's but it's something that I need to hear over and over, plus I want to share it with my parents and siblings. Some of the PowerPoints from her presentations are online, but they don't make sense if you don't hear her insights/stories that go along with each slide.

Anyhoo, maybe you can talk your hubbies into getting you the CD's as a Mother's Day gift--I highly recommend it.

Poitiers

We are heading to France in a few months. Wellz has the opportunity to do a semester abroad through SUU's graduate program. The school is in Poitiers which is close to Paris. Poitiers itself seems so awesome and the more we find out about it the more excited we get. We are getting a two bedroom apartment because we expect a lot of visitors. Come if you'd like, please.


These places really do exist and are going to be within a few minutes of where we are going to live:

La Rochelle

St. Cirq Lapopie

Villa Eza
(We think this is pronounced just like Asa, even cooler)

Chateau Chenonceau

Also, we are looking for someone nice, honest, and trustworthy to occupy our house while we are in France. We'll be gone one semester starting in July/August. Know anyone?

Luck for Lacey

First Name	Middle Name	Last Name
2	9	4
4	9	4
12	9	4
22	9	4
6	11	4
22	11	4
5	12	4
12	13	4
12	19	4
15	20	4
12	21	4
16	21	4

According to this Chinese chart you need to name your baby with the following number of letters. It insures that your baby will be lucky.

Your last name has four letters so that is taken care of. Any combination on the chart for the first and middle names will work. Here's an example:

(6) + (11) + (4)= Everet Maximillian Farr

(5) + (12) + (4)= Boris Michelangelo Farr

Oh, and if you choose either of these names...I win.

Sorry is a sorry word

Here's a super secret site that will make you want to buy tons of gear you had no idea you needed. The products are sweet, the shipping is fast, and returns are so easy. Now, I've been debating posting about this site since it is so super secret. I mean, I sort of want to keep it to myself. Only one item is displayed at a time until it is sold out. I don't know if I want the competition. But I'm feeling a little guilty about the comments on my cell phone habits. Please accept this super secret site as my apology. I really love you all and can't imagine a life without any of you in it. You are my everything.

Finally!

Now maybe I can get something done!

Dream Jobs

Does anyone want to test out their dream job? Here's a site that lets you take a Vocation Vacation.
Wellz chose the cheese maker. I haven't decided. What would you choose.

PS- Danika, isn't it your birthday? Sorry, I don't remember the exact date but I'm pretty sure it's today. If it is your birthday I hope all your wildest dreams come true. Or, at least your wildest dream job (maybe the truck driver or any of the wrestling jobs perhaps?)

baby gender

i had a dr. appointment yesterday. the nurse didn't know i didn't know. she reads from the chart, "so you're having a boy..."

i'm still afraid to get my hopes up.

(not my ultrasound)

America's Finest News Source

A few years ago while visiting New York City I came across THE ONION. It's satire at it's best. It's like normal newspapers but way more funny. Check it out and add it to your daily, weekly, or monthly reads. Here's a few examples of my favorite articles:

Cool Dad A Terrible Father

Taco Bell's Five Ingredients Combined in Totally New Way

Warning: The "F-Bomb" is occasionally dropped.

Rhodes House circa 1993: a trip down memory lane

Every time I see this commercial it reminds me of Sarah and her sisters--in fact it might even be actual footage from the Rhodes household. The guy in the middle would be a brother in law--probably Todd.
I remember how at any moment they would all totally burst into perfectly synchronized and choreographed dancing. and how Sarah and Em came up with a sweet "handshake" that actually was more of a 5 minute long dance. "Buh-buh-buh-buhBaby--Don't forget my number." Sarah, do you and Em still have that one memorized?
I'm sure that, even today, if anyone were to ask Sarah to do the "Pepto Bismol dance" she and all her sisters could get up and do an excellent rendition while chanting, "nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea. YAY! Pepto Bismol!"
Kate, if you do end up with a house full of girls at least you can be happy knowing that, amid all the drama, you might have hours of pure dancing entertainment. Hopefully, you've already taught your girls the "using your leg as a guitar while jumping off a chair" move--which in my mind is YOUR signature move.

the new angie

which one is it?

To Air Is Human

Katie wants her girls to grow up to be "pro something" so they can make bazillions of dollars while doing something totally fun and totally awesome, while making a difference and changing peoples lives for the better. well, I found something that fits that criteria perfectly:

Air Guitar World Championships

http://www.airguitarworldchampionships.com/EN/programme/high-altitude-training-camp.html

A few choice quotes from the website.

• As usual, the contestants welcomed everyone to join in as they played their guitars along with the song Rocking in the Free World. Air guitarists believe that all the bad things disappear from the world when everyone plays the air guitar, you know.
  


• What Air Guitar is all about, is to surrender to the music without having an actual instrument.

There is even a camp where you get one-on-one training from former champions and you can attend such seminars as: Principles and Philosophy of Air Guitar, Maintaining Your Instrument, and Advanced Choreography. There is also a written exam.

Last years' winner, "The Destroyer," did a stunning performance combining air guitar with...wait for it.... The Robot. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj05ibkdd_0

Last week I got a Joan Jett rocker-chick haircut--so I think this is the logical next step to stardom and eventually world domination (buwahh ha ha haaa). Start saving your money now for a trip to Finland in September, I'm going to need a massive fan club if I'm going to go all the way.

Hazel Lee Gunn

Baby Boy Names

here is a list for lacey. all these names have either an "a" or an "r" (to go with farr).
anders
ansel
asher
axel
brant
calvin
cash
charles
denver
dexter
ender
ezra
grant
grayson
halvor (hal)
henry
jarek
jaron
maddox
marcus
maximos
oliver
orson
oscar
rex
rocco
romeo
samson
samuel
sanders
slater
steinar (this is for chad, it means rock warrior)
sterling
stewart/stuart
suck chin (this was really in the book, what the...?)
tafton (taft)
talvin
talmadge
tavish
tavor
thor
topher
trevor
trey
xavier
zachary
zander
zavier

this 3 year old is not afraid of monsters

This has been making the rounds on different blogs, so maybe you've already seen it, but it's too awesome not to post if you haven't. I like the part where she finally figures out why her mom is laughing. "Ohhhhh."

Proud Mommy and Daddy!

This morning at 8:15 AM we welcomed our beautiful baby boy into the world. He weighed 7 lbs 2 oz. We are so excited. He's awesome. We've limited it down to 15 different names. I need your help to name him. What's your vote. Lacey, you can have any name that I don't use. Here they are:

1. Ben
2. Amos
3. Isaiah
4. Bill
5. Owen
6. Elvis
7. Champ
8. Fredrick
9. Simon
10. Solomon
11. Liam
12. Jeru
13. Walt
14. Carl
15. Robby

All you need is LOVE

Dude, you must all go RIGHT NOW to Las Vegas to see LOVE. SO AMAZING! It's the show at Mirage that took the place of Sigfried and Roy. Beatles music with Cirque Du Soleil, come on. So cool. The late George Harrison (RIP) was good friends with the creator of Cirque Du Soleil. Before his death they talked about collaborating Beatles music with C.D.S. I wish someone would go see this so we can talk about it. I don't want to give anything away. I'm assuming everyone is a Beatles fan. Which makes this a must see. Get this...The opening night Paul McCartney, his kids, Yoko Ono, John Lennon's two sons, Ringo Star, his wife and kids, George Harrison's wife and children all sat together. The biggest Beatles reunion since the break up of the band.
This was my second experience with Cirque Du Soleil. Have any of you seen them? I saw them perform at the SLC Olympics. I noticed almost every major Hotel [maybe just Wynn owned] has their own C.D.S. I bet LOVE is the best of them.

Don't ya just love Vegas. The gardens at Bellagio are one of my favorite things. They had butterfly gardens this time. In my dream house I'll have my own magical butterfly garden. You will all be invited to visit.

Hazel Lee Gunn

So I decided to go ahead and let my midwife try to start me. At one point I was having contractions every three minutes but they were really weak. Then they just died off and I thought nothing was going to happen that day (which was Wednesday). But she didn't want to leave incase I just suddenly popped open. So she had dinner with us and during dinner some little contractions started up again. Then I went to the bathroom and my water broke. Then my next contraction hurt me so I jumped in the labor pool (she brought us this cool little blow up swimming pool) and thought I would be in there for a while. But 30 minutes later Hazel Lee Gunn showed her beautiful fat little self. 9 LBS 13 oz!!! She ended up being born in the pool and Matt got to "catch" her and everything was really cool. the middle name was the big problem for us. Lee makes her sound like an adverb Hazely. But middle names are hardly ever used anyway so there we have it.

Due Date

My due date is April 5th. (Phillup Fulton's wife is due on the same day with a girl as well) But here is the dilemma I am working on. I had Lia in 30 minutes. This time I am planning on having the baby at home. My midwife is awesome. She only lives 7 minutes from me so if she' home she could make it no problem to my house. But she also delivers in Salt Lake and other further places. Usually she doesn't induce labor unless it's been a week or two past the due date. But in my case she said she would do it a week early because I really want to make sure that she is here for the birth. (Matt doesn't want to deliver again either) But I am not a big fan of inducing labor. We have chosen Wednesday to try to get things going. She will strip my membranes (not the same as breaking my water) and then she massages my cervix (try not to visualize that one) every couple minutes to simulate labor until it starts up. Or I could just say never mind and let it happen when it does. Which would mean I could possibly end up with a substitute midwife that I don't know. I'm leaning toward Wednesday. Feel free to give me your opinions about whether or not I should have said cervix massage. That has potential to gross some people out.

boy names

Sarah emailed me last week and asked me to post this for her (she can only comment for some unknown reason). heeeeeeeeerrrreeee we go:

am i lame if i change isaac's name?
so, he's 4 1/2 months old and still doesn't look like isaac. . . i just call him little buddy and wish i had named him something else. would i be the worst mom and cause long-term trauma to my child if i changed his name??? but wouldn't it be lame for him to one day say, "this is what my grandma made for me when i was a baby, it's emroidered isaac, because my parents can't make a decision." input por favor.
ang- you think you're bad at comittment!

Sarah, IMO you should change it if you want. Do you have another name in mind? or are you just wishing it was something besides Isaac? What does Mike think? I assume you've already blessed him...Anyone know how that works--do you give him another name & a blessing for church records?
While we're at it, we can play the "Name Lacey's Baby" game--clearly it didn't work for Sarah (perhaps even a jinx?) but just think how much awesomer you'll be if YOU submit the winning name. You'll know if MY submission wins because you’ll see me running down the street, jumping and cheering. Then you'll see me hitting a home run, then planting a flag on a mountain top, then raising a trophy over my head at the big race. I'm amazing!

how Easter eggs are made

Happy face on mars

Hey girls. I just wanted to say how happy it makes me to come to this "pure and holy" place. Especially this past week and read new posts almost daily. It's been a really great week here at our friend blog. I'd like to encourage more of you to post and I'll promise to be a better poster as well. So, what's everyone doing this weekend? Wellz actually has a Saturday off so we are tiling the bathroom. I know, definately a blog worthy subject.
Love,
Heather

Baby Gender

i had my ultrasound on monday but i didn't find out the gender. they wrote it down on a paper and it is sealed in an envelope. i will open it when i am ready to accept having 3 girls. sometime closer to the due date. maybe mother's day. i'll let you know when i know.

this company will turn your ultrasound into an abstract oil painting on canvas.

Book Club

Hey, are any of you gals readers? What is your favorite book? I'm supposed to take a list of books to my Book Club next month so I need a few suggestions (the club is all women). I have a massive list of books that I want to read personally but not really good ones for a book club. We're going to compile a list and then, as a group, vote on what we read each month for the rest of the year. Anyhoo, suggestions/favorites would be helpful. Thanks!

Find Your Spot

Even though it's still years away, Tye and I have been talking a lot about "WHERE" we are eventually going to put down roots. We have several places in mind, but so far nothing feels exactly right. It feels like such a huge committment, knowing that once you set up a practice you're pretty much stuck there forever (and you know how gun-shy I am about committment). I know I've mentioned it before on this blog, but it's pretty much the topic that we think/talk about the most.

Here's what we know for sure about where we'll eventually live:

1. not in the midwest

That's about it.

We're planning on taking a couple weeks next spring and doing a fatty trip, and hitting all the places at the top of our list. We used this really cool website-findyourspot.com-it has you take a survey of everything you want/don't want in a city and then it recommends 25 places you would love. You should check it out, it's kinda fun even if you're not thinking of moving--maybe it will give you an idea where to buy your first vacation home.

P.S. Chia, what I really want to know is--Is Josh totally rich now? How long has he been practicing and does he make buckets of money practicing in St. George? If so, that might be a huge "pro" that could outweigh a few of the "cons" of living in Georgetown.

PS- I haven't changed

Juddy Anderson showed us this dude the other night. He reminds me of Shawn Taylor.

EGG DONORS WANTED

I've been reading a lot about different "options" lately about "getting" your own child. I'm not searching it out. It just seems to be the headlines of everything I read. Maybe you all know about all of these options but they were surprising to me. Turns out you can get paid to donate your eggs. And not just a small sum of money. Like thousands of dollars. It's hot right now with the college girls. It's like a sperm bank for women. You have to give yourself hormone shots and stuff then you fill out a profile about yourself. The company posts your stats. Things like education, health, height, color of eyes, color of skin, career, etc. Then, next to your stats is a picture of you as a child. You can shop online. Sorry, I don't remember the site but you could google it if you are interested. The catch is woman are born with a certain amount of eggs. Your supply of eggs decreases with each menstral period until you run out of eggs. Which is why is it harder to get pregnant as you age. Another catch is the process is rather painful.
Another way to "get" your child is to send your egg and your husbands sperm to a woman in India. She will carry your child as a surrogate mother full term for $10,000. That kind of money to an Indian woman is an extrodinary amount of income. This option is cheaper than adoption, you never have to be pregnant, and the child still looks like the parents.
Turns out also that the technology for designing your child is almost here. You will be able to choose eye color, hair color, and make your kid smarter. This seems weird to me. I thought "no way" but I've been talking with other girls and they think it sounds sweet. One of my neighbors said "oh good, I've always wanted a girl with blond hair and big brown eyes." But she also said to me if she knew how difficult it would be for her to get pregnant she would have had a lot more "fun" in high school.
Wellz and I have been talking about adoption the last few years. Unlike Katie, I don't mind being pregnant. Our reasons for wanting to adopt would be because we couldn't have any more or we'd like to mix things up a bit :) Also, there are just so many kids without awesome lives. Surprisingly there are a lot of mixed race families in our neighborhood. That is something we have considered. I just read in the news Angelina Jolie adopted another kid from Vietnam. But that subject probably needs it's own post.
I like that people are adopting and talking about having more children. There was a time in my life that I didn't want any kids. Again, a subject for a whole post of it's own. Looks like now, however strange, there is a way for any woman to become a mother if that is her desire. Freak, any man for that matter.

Crap!

So ever since we had to create a "google Blog account" I have been getting so much crap e-mailed to me. Ayone else had the same experience?

support group needed

sorry i haven't participated much. i'm prego and so LAZY. number 3. 3 kids under 4 (only for 2 months). 3 kids at home. chloe misses the deadline and has to wait another year for kindergarten. i'm hoping this is my last pregnancy. i hate being pregnant. such a drag. if i have another girl i really want to stop. and if i have a boy then we'll be satisfied. and when we feel like having a larger family, we'll adopt. i just want to get these childbearing years over with.
but about this support group. its not for frazzled mothers. its for puppy owners. dan really wants to get rid of our dog. he regretted it about a week after we got the dog when we had to take him to st. g. with us. now, every little thing the dog does, "we've got to get rid of that dog." he's a really goodlooking dog and i know he'll be a well behaved dog, eventually. we just don't have time to work with him. my kids do not pick up after themselves so the dog is always finding something to chew on. i can't take him for walks because i can't control him and the stroller. he needs more attention. he sheds like crazy. i bathed him then brushed him for a half hour and the fur never stopped coming. i had the blowdryer out to blow away the hair. the yard was covered. i had to stop because my back hurt. i thought i would just vacuum more but the main living area in our house has wood floors. there are always hair balls floating around. i guess we thought that since he was housebroken that he would be more trained. he can sit and shake and he won't put something in his mouth if you tell him no. but i can't watch him constantly. i don't want to be a quitter. i don't want to have failed with a 4th (or is it 5th?) dog. i'm too prideful. but dan is done. so, do any of you want to take him--just until he's out of the puppy phase? we'd really appreciate it.

good for pulling a sled. bad for taking on walks.

back to the pregnancy thing. here are the most faq:

• due date: aug. 13th but i've gone a week late 2/2 times.
• will we find out the gender? i don't know. i'm afraid of how i'll feel for the remaining 5 months of my pregnancy if i know its going to be another girl.
• how far apart are your kids? chloe and stella are 2 yrs, 7 mos. stella and #3 will be 2 yrs, 3 mos.
• how do i feel? gassy, bloated, tired, sometimes nauseous. but each pregnancy has gotten easier. that's when people reply, "maybe its a boy" but i'm not getting my hopes up.

Don't be scared, it's just Al Quaeda...

funny video on YouTube
"can we talk to you a moment about the destruction of western civilization..."

my luck continues...

So I'll try to make this short but I simply must vent. What the crap I ask? Is the universe off balance, stars mal-aligned? Did I break a mirror, walk under a ladder, cross the path of a black cat? Seriously, I think I need an intervension. So last week someone stole my license plate and replaced it with a stolen one which Chad got pulled over for. Several hours at the DMV, waisted! I got rear ended by an 18 year old sobbing her eyes out. 1 hour on the side of the road and 3 days w/o a car during repairs. Saturday morning we awoke to discover that we had been robbed. The second time (if you don't count the license plate thing) in 4 months. This time they got the mother load about $10,000 dollars worth of Chads tools; drills, saws, nail guns, you name it they got it. You know when everyhting is Shitty and you think to yourself, at least I have my health...? Well my Doctors office called and my white blood cell count is to high and they need to see me back for more 'tests'. Wahoo! Bring it on world!

Mrs. Chia

I'm not an official member of this club yet. Matt invited me to take his place to keep him up to date:) But I would like to see that at least the majority of you want me in your club. Because it will make me feel better about myself to see everyone wanting me here. If you want to you can add five things you like about me the most. If you dont' know me then you can list five things you like about Matt most. Cause that makes me feel good too. If invited to this club I promise to be cool, hip, funny, and informative. (and pretty too) - that's for Jordan. I also pledge to help all those who are in need of my assistance. I'm not desperate but if need be I will do the truffle shuffle to be let in. This is an exceptionaly entertaining dance since I am 31 weeks pregnant. It will be even better if you wait til right after I give birth. If nothing else I can keep you informed of Matt's wonderful and exciting life.