My Ramblings

Zoo Day

2011-12-04T19:15:00.002-07:00

The first day of Thanksgiving holiday started with an impromptu trip to the zoo. We had a nice day, though a touch chilly, to wander and see the animals.

The kids posed with the giant elephant that squirts water in the summer time. Nolan thought it would be the most fun to climb on the trunk.

Nolan pretty much worships Tanner.

Can you tell?

I'm guessing the rhino horn was a little less comfortable than the elephant trunk. Aubrey got the prime spot for this one.

All of the kids on the lions. Nolan was giving his best smile, obviously.

Tiny posing for daddy's camera.

In front of the giraffes. She got so excited when she saw them. We attribute that to her chew toy, Sophie.We were suckers and got her a stuffed one on the way out of the park.

Nolan from above. He was banished to the stroller for a lot of the day...

we'll leave it at that.

Holland & Food

2011-12-04T19:14:00.000-07:00

Baby's first Kit Kat... a post trick or treating snack.

Daddy gave her a first taste of refried beans he brought back from Del Taco.

I'd say she liked them, wouldn't you?

catching up some more

2011-11-18T13:09:00.002-07:00

Annnnddd.... a month later I finally return. Geez.

A few moments from our fall, in photo form.

Nolan started going to preschool at Challenger up in Lehi 3 days a week. I drop him off when I go to work and pick him up when I'm done. He absolutely ADORES it. He is such a social kid and he loves learning, so this was a no brainer for him. And it's so close to my office that I am right there if he needs me (which he never has).

He wanted his first day of school photo in dad's tie "because that's what dad wears when he goes to BYU"

Nolan and Holland are fast friends these days. Sometimes he loves on her a little too much... but that's pretty natural for an older brother, right?

Holland has entered the brave new world of solid foods. This was her first meal of oatmeal (mixed with breastmilk, so it wasn't totally foreign)

Frankly, she doesn't love it. She would much prefer to steal whatever we are eating.

And we let her.

But we also fill her up with this concoction because she's been on a bottle strike for several weeks now and I want to make sure she's getting the good stuff somehow when I'm not home.

We went Trick Or Treating with our good friends the Chandlers on Halloween. This is their family photo. They were all good sports.

I was not. I sort of hate the practice of dressing up. But I did put Holland in black and then attach stuffed black socks to the Bjorn so she looked like a spider. That's something, right?

Nolan dressed as Mario again... Which was convenient for me.

Nolan's birthday is the day after Halloween... which is fine with him still, because he likes Halloween. We just did a party with my family to celebrate, because his cousins are some of his favorite people. And all he wanted was vanilla cupcakes with vanilla frosting decorated Mario. So I copped out a bit and printed pictures and put them on toothpicks. It worked.
We also had vanilla ice cream. He's a purist, this one.

Pictures with Nanny Tamera

2011-10-08T22:35:00.000-06:00

Tamera was trying out a new backdrop yesterday,

and was nice enough to use my children as guinea pigs, yet again.

Thankfully, they were nice enough to smile for her.

(If only Nolan had gotten a hair cut one day sooner... his curls do some interesting things when his hair grows out & he looks like a hippy. But I guess that was reality.)

I love the lists of their current favorites on the chalkboard, for memories.

And that last one...

It's going on the wall.

In a Nutshell

2011-10-05T16:26:00.002-06:00

I have photos and video spread over SO many computers and hard drives right now... So rather than a proper post on any of these things for today, I will give you a quick recap of the last 2 months. I will likely come back to all of this again, but as an overview...

We're tired.

-- We enrolled Nolan in preschool. He goes to Challenger School just up the hill from my office 3 days a week, from 9am-5pm. And he is LOVING it.

-- Ben started yet another school year, checking in students, training RAs and RHA kiddies, organizing programs... and trying not to lose his mind in the process since his normal busy time happened to overlap my busy time this year (normally our convention is in November. This year it was in September)

-- XANGO Convention came and went... thank HEAVEN (on the went part). It was huge for my department, given that we had to rebrand the company and all of our product lines in the 3 months prior to convention.
To call it insane is an understatement of EPIC proportions.

I wish the fact that convention is over meant that things were slow around here... but alas. I'm still crazy busy. Project management is a lot of work on top of my archiving duties.

-- Her wee tininess is 6 months old now. She won't go in for her check up for another 2 weeks, since we were late last time, but I know for sure that she is getting bigger daily. She's still little, relatively, but she's got some chunk on her, finally. She's rolling all over the place, eating some solids, and sleeping... pretty much like her brother did at this age... which is to say, not very consistently.

I think I can speak for all of us in saying that it feels like a bit of a miracle that we even survived the past couple of months. And if someone offered to let me start over and try them again, I would punch that someone in the face.

But we did survive.

And we're going to try to make Fall awesome...
because it is, after all, the best season there is.

We're not dead

2011-10-04T16:35:00.002-06:00

Seriously.

I know it's been two months...

but the longer I spend not blogging, the less I remember how.

I will now update my header instead.

And be back tomorrow.

Friday Randoms

2011-08-05T16:50:00.001-06:00

this is Holland's "I don't feel so good" face.

1- We all got sick a couple of weeks ago... starting with the baby getting croup and then passing along the joy to the rest of us.

This is what I get, I think, for planning on having a Spring baby to avoid getting the plague.

This is karma laughing in my face.

True, it was only croup and not RSV... but 3 weeks later we have all FINALLY finished our antibiotics and are not coughing ourselves awake at night.

And that's just wrong when it's 90 degrees outside.

2- Because of the sickness, her Wee Tininess got to go to the dr. with Ben to get drugs.

Her weight... 11 lbs, 10 oz.

At almost 4 months old.

(Nolan was 17 lbs by now)

She's a skinny mini. but still growing, so that's OK.

Check her out in the Bumbo. Not quite sturdy enough to stay in it for long... but we definitely don't need to wedge her in like we did her brother.

3- We have been having a lot of afternoon rain storms this summer. It brings me back to my VA days.

Upon arriving home from Tamera's one day, Nolan decided he wanted to play in it... and I was trying to be a cool mom, so I let him. . .

It actually didn't rain for much longer, but the metal roof over our parking spaces was nice enough to create a fountain of water so that Nolan could continue his fun...

I begged Ben to go out and take his picture, as he was SOAKED, and was having so much fun...

After which, Ben turned the camera on us girls.

4- Nolan is a pretty typical 3 year old. He has obsessions... Several of them.

He has a marvelous imagination, and is constantly pretending to be a character from one of his favorite shows/games/etc..

On this day he was wearing his Lego Harry Potter t-shirt while swinging his Yoda light saber...

It's hard to know what's his favorite thing from one day to the next, but I'm guessing that won't change as he gets older.

5- And finally, a first for our family.

Professional soccer!

Every summer my company hosts a party for all of the employees. There's food and games, and usually it's held at 7 Peaks so that everyone can enjoy the water slide fun.

But a lot of us don't go... because we don't want to see our co-workers in swim suits, and don't want to be seen in ours.

This year, the company leveraged our RSL sponsorship and got us all tickets to a soccer game instead.

We cheered the team on from great seats surrounded by our friends.

Nolan loved it. As did my friend Clint's son Vinnie, who was sitting in front of us. Clint is the resident soccer expert at XANGO, so Nolan chose to sit by him and ask him all about the game. Clint was nice enough to answer him.

Vinnie looks strikingly like Nolan, doesn't he? red heads gotta stick together!

As a side note, this was also Nolan's first day without diapers or pull ups, and he weathered it like a CHAMP! He's going to be fully potty trained before you know it. (finally!)

Another Visit from Lolo

2011-07-24T00:46:00.000-06:00

We were thrilled to see Loraine again last week. She wasn't planning on visiting UT this trip, but she felt that she needed to meet Holland... And we were so thrilled to see her again. We crashed the Knudsen house several days in a row to see her.

We had a giant Costco chocolate cake along with our game of pinochle to celebrate Trishmas...

It's been 2 years already. Hard to believe.

Nolan had a FANTASTIC time playing with Dane & Jack. They have the most amazing back yard, and the boys made good use of it.

I saw this photo that Lillie posted on facebook right before Loraine arrived, of them together when Lillie was about 2...

And I forced her to restage it.

13 now!

Jen's kids were totally enamored with Holland.

Luckily, Holland can sleep through ANYTHING once she's out for the night, and she let them love on her while she slept.

Ben was able to take the kids to the zoo with them the next day (I had to work, so I didn't get to join them)

Apparently I mostly missed a lot of heat and people...

And some ice cream cones.

We managed to snag a fantastic double stroller from KSL classifieds for a STEAL! I am so glad we have it. & even more glad that we didn't pay full price for one. Who knows how much longer Nolan will dig the ride vs. the walk...

Luckily, Holland thought it was a pretty sweet way to see the zoo.

We're so glad Lolo got to visit and meet Tiny.

& we're hoping it won't be too long before we see her again.

Friday Randoms

2011-07-08T16:21:00.001-06:00

1- Our friend Susan and her wee man Eli came to visit last week. Eli is 3 months Holland's senior, and we have promised them to each other for future spouses... that's still OK to do, right? They look so perfect together! We had to take a picture so that we would have one of their first meeting to add to the slide show at their wedding.

2- We spent our 4th of July weekend up in Island Park, ID with some friends at their family "cabin". (Just outside of West Yellowstone) There was much card playing, much eating, and some seeing of the sights worked in...

3- A local grocery store in Island Park put on a fireworks show on Saturday night that you would not believe. It went on for an HOUR. We were all bored by the end. Nolan tried to add to the fun by serenading us with a little Katie Perry. Unfortunately he only knew one line of the song...

Friday Randoms

2011-06-24T15:53:00.000-06:00

1- We went to a little concert a couple of weeks ago.

I was a little antsy to spend a evening away from home, and there was this FREE concert, nearby, and kid friendly! So we decided to go. It was Mindy Gledhill & Meghan Smith, and they were amazing.

We ran into some old friends, and were lucky enough to share a space with them, because the concert was PACKED. Our friend Leslie even stole Holland away and held her while she slept through the WHOLE concert. Which gave Nolan and I some opportunities to boogie... Does he not look like he is having a fabulous time?

2- We did our traditional Father's Day photo for Ben (see here and here) about 3 minutes before he walked in the door the day before. Not being home very often when he's not, I didn't get a chance before then, and it shows... but his kids still love him, even if their photo is a little lame. (also, it appears that I didn't post last year's photo, and that's OK, because it was a little scary in its own right)

3- Our friends Melinda & Skylar have been together FOREVER, it seems. We first met them during our first year of Sweeney Todd, almost 10 years ago! Well, they are finally tying the knot, and our friend Marcie threw a big fat shindig for them at her house last Saturday to celebrate. It was gorgeous. They were gorgeous, and Melinda started having second thoughts about never having kids when she met Holland.

Congrats, you guys!

4- And lastly, for now, Tamera asked me to bring the quilt my mom made Holland to her house the other morning. I didn't know quite what she had in mind at the time... but look what she did!

I have to admit to thinking my kids are pretty darn cute...

Holland in Pictures

2011-06-17T12:00:00.002-06:00

By this stage in his life, Nolan had thousands of pictures taken of him.

I wish I was exaggerating.

Holland has not been documented as completely. We just don't spend as much time laying around staring at her as we did Nolan. How can we?

But I have been trying to catch up a little... get out the big camera and document her in more than just iphone photos. She's become a smiley little thing... but when a camera is on her, she's more impressed with the big black thing (thus the ooh face) than she is interested in grinning. But we'll get it.

Here are a few of my favorites from the last 2 weeks (her auntie Marcie gave her the adorable outfit):

This one shows off her long and skinny self pretty brilliantly. She's in the 80th percentile for height right now, but only the 25th for weight (at only 10 lbs). Melissa & I decided that means she'll be built like a super model...

And one of Nolan with his buddy Juan... and a ridiculous sunburn... which was gone the next day, but looked extra special that night and will likely result in a whole new crop of freckles:

Holland's Blessing

2011-06-16T15:04:00.001-06:00

Holland's blessing weekend was a whirlwind of family and fun that left me catching up for a good long time. But to say that it was marvelous is an understatement.

It was a perfect day, and Ben gave Holland a beautiful blessing.

Melissa took these two photos of us just before the meeting started:

We were surrounded by SO many friends and family...

and were seriously remiss in getting good photos the day of the blessing.

At the very end of the party we managed a few, though, with our camera:

Grandma & Grandpa Webster with the sweet girl.

Grandma & Grandpa and parents

(forgive the yucko ponytail hair. By then we were a couple of hours into the party and any attempts to keep my hair down had disappeared)

The guest of honor in her pretty little blessing dress, courtesy of Baby Gap.

Simplicity is the name of the game at our house, when it comes to Holland's clothes. I learned my lesson with Nolan that comfort is paramount at this age.

And the following week, some cousin time:

Nolan and Tanner. Nolan pretty much worships Tanner, and was thrilled beyond words that they got to have a sleepover and Tanner got to hang out all day AND all night. Made Nolan's year.

And the 4 kids (mine & my brother Nathan's)

Madison, Nolan, Tanner & Holland

And another day... Logan (2) gets to hold the baby...

which he mostly loved... and she tried to tolerate.

Friday Randoms

2011-05-27T14:28:00.001-06:00

1- We are blessing Holland this weekend at our church. As such, we have family in town. A lot of family that's not usually here. I can't begin to say how excited I am to hang out with my brothers and their familes again. And see Ben's dad again (so soon!). And get so many of our dear friends and local family together in one place.

There will be lots of cleaning and cooking over the next few days, but we have some of our favorite kitchen friends in town, so it will be FUN!

2- I am in love with Pinterest.

Like, obsessively in love with it. It combines my love of pretty things with my need to ORGANIZE. Especially in a digital sense. I am really hoping it helps to inspire me to finish a few of those unfinished projects I've had bookmarked forever.

3- A few photos of life in our house this week (before I went back to work)

Melissa created the comic book shot. I think it was actually taken a couple of weeks ago... but it's fun, right?

4- Is there anyone out there that still feels passionately (in a positive way) about his/her job? I listen to a lot of people talk about their work, and it has started me wondering... This economy leaves everyone with fewer choices, more responsibility, and less pay for the hard work we do.

At what point does all of this discontent lead to a work force that is SO annoyed with their current situations that they turn off their brains and their productivity and become a group who just shows up and collects a pay check, but doesn't actually accomplish much?

I'm not an economist, or a psychologist... these are just things I wonder...

5- While getting my hair cut last weekend, I had the stylist try to teach me how to do my hair in the very popular look seen here:

So the question of the weekend... Will I be able to do this to my own hair? Or will it just turn out straight because I'm doing it with a flat iron and am not as skilled as said stylist?

And more than that... will it even look good if I DO get it to work?

I will return with photographic evidence of the answer, as we're having family pictures taken on Sunday. Wish me luck! (and leave me any tips you might have, if you know how to do this on your own head)

The End

2011-05-24T17:35:00.001-06:00

I go back to work tomorrow. Maternity leave is at an end... far too soon.

You'd think I would have done something spectacular today to mark this transition. I didn't. I spent the day at home with my kids, making a short trip to Provo for lunch with Ben and our friend Korianne, of whom I see far too little.

The last 7 weeks have been filled with a little of this:

(Ben's sister had a baby 2 weeks after Holland was born. I have a feeling this will be the first of MANY photos of the 2 of them together.)

And a lot of this:

And a even more of this:

Only in the past week or so have I gotten particularly ambitious or productive. We are having Holland's blessing this weekend, and both of my brothers get to come up for it. As such, we are getting a Webster family photo taken. And for this photo, I needed something for Holland to wear in yellow. I was struggling to find something I liked. So I thought to myself, "you've always loved those pinafore dresses you see on Etsy. Just make one!" So I dragged two kids to my favorite fabric store, where I found the perfect fabrics. And managed to buy enough for two other dresses as well, because they were too cute and I am a sucker for cute fabric... This was the result:

(forgive the lighting. It was a VERY dark day, and my house lights are murder on color)

They still need the diaper covers to go under them, but I didn't plan well for the fabric for those, so I haven't finished them. I have a white one with cute ruffles I'll use for Sunday's photos if I don't get around to it by then.

We are also making progress on finishing Holland's nursery, but I'll leave the reveal on that one until we are actually done. It's getting close! Just a few more elements to go!

Time Flies

2011-05-13T23:18:00.000-06:00

Maternity leave is officially FLYING by for me. I hate to admit how many hours a day I spend glued to my couch holding my baby. For one thing, the girl loves to be held. Seriously loves it. Hates to be put down, and won't sleep anywhere else but on or next to another beating heart.

I'm sure some of you will have some sage advice about spoiling her, so let me stop you there. I don't really believe you can spoil a kid that's less than 6 weeks old. not really. And also...

I want to hold her. She is likely (unless God has strong feelings otherwise) the last baby I will give birth to, and I want to hold her. I go back to work in 2 weeks, so I am going to milk it. Even if I "shouldn't". Even if it makes us have to spend some time weaning her (I do put her down, it's just not something she's a big fan of. She has strong opinions)

On the plus side, she sleeps pretty well, if she's next to someone... several hours at a time sometimes (though 2.5-3 is her average still) And I have to admit, I am surprisingly unworried about that. I'm exhausted too, but this whole second time around thing is making me fully aware that everything passes. There's no point getting worked up about much of anything, because I'll blink and it will be different. That's just how babies are.

So instead I will love her the way she is now and try to remember this cute face as a tiny one.

And also try not to murder her VERY talkative brother in the next two weeks.

Just kidding.

Mostly.

Do you think they look alike? This is Nolan at the same age...

Photo Shoots

2011-04-21T12:50:00.002-06:00

We had an amazing photo shoot last week with one of the fantastic photographers we work for.

I can't tell you how excited I am by how these turned out.

Our hope was to capture our family as we are now... in our element... in our home.

I was really nervous that there wouldn't be enough light in our townhouse... but Jess did a fantastic job!

Take a look at the slideshow she put together for us!

Meet Holland Taylor Hess

2011-04-13T20:03:00.000-06:00

Holland's entrance into this world was... a little bit dramatic.

Not only was she almost 3 weeks early, but the surgery that brought her into this world created some rather interesting side effects for her mother.

I'm not going to go into the whole long story here, except to say that in the process of my surgery, I had a really weird, and rather unsettling (for those around me. I have no memory of it) reaction to some of the medication that was used in my epidural.

As a result, She was a little bit late in getting to meet her brother and the rest of the family...

But meet him she did

And he loved her.

He is by far her biggest fan, as you can see.

We are all pretty big fans too... Just take a look at that face:

More soon, when we're getting a little more sleep around here...

Planting

2011-03-29T09:40:00.000-06:00

After being on real bed rest (I'm not supposed to be up for more than 5 minutes at a time... which I don't always stick to, but I try) for 8 days now, I am kind of sick of thinking about how I'm stuck here.

In all of his crazy busy life this week, Ben was determined that we have a good Monday night family night, so he bought a "project" for us. Since it appears that we will be sticking around this house for a while yet, we decided we're going to try again at planting some edibles in our garden. It's still snowing on and off, so we started our garden in our own little indoor greenhouse.

We have cilantro, basil, yellow string beans, sugar snap peas, lettuce, & spinach seeds to start.

We'll start the corn when it gets a little bit warmer.

Nolan was SO excited to PLANT THINGS!

They added water to the special pods to help them expand

This is Nolan getting SO excited to add the seeds

He liked dropping them on top... but he wasn't a fan of getting the dirt on his hands, so we compromised and Ben did all of the burying. Nolan just dropped in the seeds.

Then they put on the lid... and we wait.

They had a great time with their project, even if they couldn't both smile for the camera at the same time.

And my blood pressure went back down after a while. . . I just couldn't sit this one out.

Pressure

2011-03-22T15:39:00.000-06:00

This pregnancy just keeps getting better and better.

Today is day 2 of serious bed rest for me.

Thursday afternoon of last week I got a migraine. So what, you say? Yeah, so did I. I get them occasionally. Less often when I'm pregnant (one every 2 weeks instead of 1-2 a week) but I still get them. I can usually take a pretty low dose of Excedrin or Fioricet and they go away. Usually, it only takes one of those solutions. But that night, neither one worked. I didn't sleep much and the headache kept raging... Of course, I panicked a little, having heard a thing or two about pre-eclampsia, and called the dr. I went in to have them check my blood pressure and it was high. Way too high. So they sent me to the hospital to be monitored. They gave me a shot to relieve the headache, and it went down... but I was sent home to be on bed rest and monitor my numbers. Only the way the nurse described bed rest just sounded like "take it easy. Don't do anything strenuous. stay off of your feet as much as you can". So I went to my baby shower, and tried to take it easy over the weekend at my parent's house.

And then, Sunday night, I checked my blood pressure. It had stayed in the high end of normal all weekend until that time, when it went up pretty high again... and I felt gross. So I laid down. We drove home, and I checked it again when we got here... and it was even higher. I had no idea what to do... so I went to bed. Decided to call the doctor in the morning.

And 2 days later... here I sit. I am officially on bed rest until the end of my pregnancy. When will that be? Who knows. It definitely won't be later than April 14th... but if my blood pressure goes up again and won't come back down... it could be earlier than that.

This is definitely not how I expected my pregnancy to end. I spent so many days at the end of my first one on long walks and nesting that to sit here in bed feels really foreign to me... even if I am working while I sit here. It is all I can do not to be up and around and getting ready for this little girl to join us... but in the end, this is what will get her here safely... so it's what we're doing.

Kids.

They're never predictable, are they?

Forget Belly Shots

2011-03-10T11:33:00.001-07:00

I will now post pictures of my super fat feet once a week so that you can feel sorry for me and my inability to bend my toes. :)

And my inability to reach my toes to repaint them, apparently.

Catching up

2011-03-01T15:22:00.001-07:00

What's that? I didn't post ONCE in February?

Oops.

I wish I could say I had a back log of posts all saved up to publish... but alas. Between day jobs, night jobs (Ben is teaching a class for BYU's EMPA program this semester along with our OOF work), purging our house in order to get it ready to sell, and pregnancy, and all of the joyful symptoms that come with it in my world... Let's just say there hasn't been a lot of documenting going on around here.

I know. Excuses excuses.

So here are a few things to redeem myself.

First, the Oscars. I was THRILLED with the winners, for the most part. I loved The King's Speech. LOVED it. I would have been just as happy with Inception winning, but that wasn't going to happen. I'm just glad The Social Network didn't take home the big prizes. It deserved the ones it won, and I feel like most everyone got their due... I WILL come back and do a movie review post... perhaps next week. I have a LOOONNGG list to update on, but I'll do it.

Second. I am 32 weeks pregnant tomorrow. (I didn't do my hair for this photo... sorry 'bout that) 32 looonnnggg weeks. I am still throwing up on average 4 times a day. Completely exhausted ALL of the time. If there's anything harder than your first pregnancy... it's subsequent pregnancies when you have other small beings to take care of on top of the one you're growing. I must admit... I hate it. Every second of it. I'm SO ready to be done. I'm scared to death to have a baby again. Scared to death for the constant neediness and the lack of sleep.

That said, I'm also REALLY excited to meet this little girl. If everyone could do a lot of praying that she'll be a mellow little angel baby, to make up for the past 9 months, I would really appreciate it. It would certainly make it easier to look back on the past little while with less stress and more fondness.

Third. Nolan is currently 3 going on 13. Bless his heart, he has a real talent for sass. I can't believe how amazing he's become at communicating what he wants and needs. I'm curious to know who decided that two is the hardest age... I'm finding 3 to be much more challenging, as far as behavior. On the other hand, he is becoming incredibly social and enjoys running off to play with his cousins or his friends. I love his new found independence. I love that he can help me a little around the house, even if it often becomes a fight to make him follow through. I love that he is starting to wrap his brain around things like spelling and addition and imagination. He has many "pretend friends" that come to hang out with us on a regular basis. Some of them are characters from his favorite games and shows. Some are real people that he wishes were at his house to play. It's hilarious to watch the stories he comes up with. He's getting to be a real character.

I redid his interview from last Spring, just to see how much he's changed. I've actually done this several times over the last 6 months, but this one has turned out the best, so check it out!

Sundancing 2011

2011-01-26T15:36:00.001-07:00

Sundance has been a bit compressed this year... piling a bunch of films into one weekend, and then leaving the final one for just a couple of days later. We did this for a reason... Dallas and Helen were supposed to come up from AZ for the festival, but alas, a very sick little girl made it impossible for this year.

This photo kind of sums up the experience, except that, frankly, I was smiling because Melissa was making me laugh, not because I was completely content. . . I mean, I was was content... just tired. This was right before movie #4 of the day for me, and to say my pregnant self was a little tired... that would be an understatement. Which is sort of dumb, because I basically sat on my rear end the whole day.

Ben was happily killing pigs on his phone... and I'm not sure WHAT was so important to Nick, but clearly it required a great deal of focus.

Anyway, here are our 4 films (I also went to see The King's Speech in the middle of the first day because we had a break) and how I felt about each...

Vampire

Let's just say this was a vaguely interesting concept that could have been brilliant, but instead fell flat on its face. It was about a guy who had a compulsive need to drink human blood, but went about it in a different way... It was directed by a Japanese man who didn't speak English, but the film was in English. And let's just say that the disconnect he must have had with the actors was quite apparent.

If, by some miracle, it gets picked up... skip it.

The Guard

I can probably count on one hand the number of Sundance films I've ever seen that I laughed out loud through... at least because they were genuinely funny. This movie was HILARIOUS. The language was pretty awful, but I know it's been picked up, so if language doesn't bug you, see it. You will laugh your head off. & Brendan Gleeson is AMAZING.

Like Crazy

This movie has received RAVE reviews from critics. RAVE reviews. And none of the 4 of us that saw it have any clue why. And it's not that we don't generally like independent film. Not at all. But this movie was DULL! The characters had no arc. There was very little dialogue, and what there was felt improved (in a bad way). It was a little too "slice of life" for any of us... So, WHAT are we missing that every critic that saw it loved? Is it because the director is someone they like and therefore they SHOULD like his work? No idea. But I didn't like it. At all. And when it's up for an Oscar next year, I will still maintain that position.

The Ledge

So, when I was wtching this movie, I got swept along a little. The actors are good ENOUGH that you try to care. (Patrick Wilson in particular) You try to follow along and expect it to hit some sort of great climax. It really just doesn't. It should, though. The idea of it is a good one. It's just suffering, in a big ugly way, from writer/director syndrome... sad. I like this review of it a lot.

And I'm not willing to tell you that much about it... so read his instead.

Christmas in UT

2011-01-12T17:01:00.000-07:00

This year was the year for gathering at the Webster abode for Christmas. I can't tell you HOW grateful I was not to be making a huge drive. The storms were frequent, and luckily Jeremy & Emily had the flexibility to adjust their schedule so that they didn't get stuck.

We missed Nathan & Jenny & their kids a ton, but we tried to make the most of the group that was there... And I have to say, for me at least, this was the least chaotic holiday we've had in a while. We did a little nativity, and we only captured it on video (which I have yet to upload), but I stole a few of Emily's photos to share.

Sienna as baby Jesus... Right? How freaking cute is SHE?

And equally adorable... Logan as Joseph... holding his trusty measuring tape.

(He WAS a carpenter after all)

We forced the kids to pose in a group cousin photo... because that's what we do...

and one for grandpa's computer monitors...

Nolan got the Legos he asked for, as well as a pillow pet, from Santa...

and we tried desperately to avoid Si Si ingesting one...

After a wonderful Christmas, we went home and braved the elements a few times to see one of our favorite Brits. Loraine was in town again and we were so giddy to get to see her for the second time in one year. We even got to celebrate her birthday (I won't say which one) along with New Years Eve at our house, which was such fun!

Nolan loves his aunty LoLo, even if this is a super awkward "Cheese" face he's making... in his defense it was VERY late (after midnight) on New Years)

Snooowww!

2011-01-05T21:27:00.001-07:00

Let's just say that this winter has already proven to be epic in terms of snow fall.

I am desperately hoping that mother nature is just getting it all out of her system early, but I'm starting to doubt the truth in that.

Confession. . . I hate the snow. It's beautiful up on the mountains, but I really don't enjoy driving in it, and I really don't enjoy playing in it. But Nolan is getting to the point where he's actually interested in getting out in the white stuff. . . so what's a mother to do?

Clearly, the answer is to beg Tamera, who owns proper winter clothing, to take him out in the snow when she's with him.

This was the first major snow fall that stuck around, at the beginning of December. I hadn't gotten him a hat that fit him yet, so he wore Ben's. . .

And I think he enjoys it more than he did a couple of years ago, don't you?

Christmas Thuggery

2011-01-03T14:07:00.000-07:00

We had a very busy and very entertaining holiday with my family. I have yet to properly upload the photos and video from the week, but I stole a photo from Emily that I will share.

The day we got up to my parent's house, Nolan and Jeremy just happened to be sporting the same shirt. & of course, we had to document it, with a little thug pose.

Man, we miss these guys.

Happy New Year, everybody!

Tuesday Randoms

2010-12-14T10:24:00.001-07:00

And boy HOWDY, will it be random. But lest you think that my constant fetus sickness (I borrowed that term from Carina) had deprived my child of any of the requisite holiday cheer, I will now show you otherwise.

1- Nolan FINALLY put his mustache on for a photo. For Tamera, of course. This was at her family Halloween party, which was so much fun. They really went all out!

2- We also had our yearly caramel apple party, which was a bit scaled down this year, and didn't involve our usual pumpkin patch trip, mostly because it was snowing, which didn't inspire me to take a 3 year old out in a muddy field. . . But he still enjoyed decorating his apple!

3- We spent our Thanksgiving week in AZ. And I have to say, like going to Seattle when it's sunny, being in AZ in the winter makes me want to move. It's a beautiful time of year to be there. Especially when it's nasty and snowy in UT.

Nolan had a fantastic time playing with Tiff's girls, and the kids even ate their turkey (or in Nolan's case, just rolls) out on the back patio while the adults ate inside. Have I mentioned how much I love having a child who is finally old enough to run around with his cousins without constant supervision?

4- So far, our Christmas preparations are going surprisingly well. We even let Nolan help decorate the tree! He had a lot of fun, and while I had to rearrange a few ornaments, he did a pretty good job. And it was pretty exciting for him to get to put the star on top of the tree.

And we WILL be getting Christmas cards mailed!

That's right! That was not an empty threat I made in my last post. Cards are on their way!

5- And finally, last night at Ben's housing Christmas party, they had a visit from Santa. Nolan was not interested in sitting on his lap, but he was willing to stand next to him and tell him that he wanted "Lego Hogwarts Castle". He was very disturbed when Santa offered him a bag of candy, thinking that he was getting candy INSTEAD of the gift he asked for. That was a pretty entertaining thing to try to explain.

(and that sweet orange mustache can be attributed to the orange soda we gave him in order to bribe him into eating ONE MEASLY ROLL before running off to play. I'm not even going to go into his eating issues right now, but let's just say they are extensive.)

I Have A Plan

2010-11-30T14:48:00.000-07:00

I want to send out Christmas cards this year.

Don't laugh. I'm serious.

TRUE, we've never sent a legitimate Christmas card in our married lives.

TRUE, we didn't even get around to a DIGITAL card last year.

And last year I wasn't pregnant and sick as a dog.

But we are DOING IT this year.

REAL PAPER CARDS!

So if you want to test my resolve, this is all you have to do

(because heaven forbid I plan ahead and save last year's cards for addresses)

Send me an email with your mailing address.
melaniewhess at gmail

We are taking a picture this weekend

(thank heaven Nolan's nanny is also a photographer)

I am ordering cards.

I WILL mail them.

If you want to be on our list, I want you to be on our list.

Even if it's just to see if I'll actually follow through.

Give Back

2010-11-18T15:35:00.001-07:00

Design Mom had a fantastic post today on Giveback.org

PEOPLE, this is amazing. AMAZING.

This is a site through which you set up a "foundation". You can donate your own money directly through your foundation, or, OR you can follow links to merchants (places you ALREADY SHOP ONLINE!) and the merchant will donate a portion of your purchase to your foundation! It's the most AMAZINGLY SIMPLE, but also TOTALLY BRILLIANT idea! It will take you 30 seconds longer to get to Gap.com or BabiesRUs.com.. . but then the money you spend goes to a good cause!

I love it. I will be using it for all of my holiday shopping.

The list of charities you can choose from to donate to is HUGE. And why WOULDN'T YOU?

PLUS, they send you ONE RECEIPT, come tax time, to deduct your donations from your taxes.

Seriously.

BRILLIANT.

My current choice of charities. . . and if you know me OR my mom, you know why. . .

Migraine Research Foundation Inc.

Do it.

It's free. You have NOTHING to lose.

It's a. . .

2010-11-11T10:52:00.001-07:00

I have many many things to post relating to Nolan's birthday and a late Halloween party. . . And I might get to those things, eventually. If I can stop throwing up long enough to be productive for longer than an hour. An hour which is inevitably filled with something like stupid WORK, and not blogging.. .

BUT, I had to return to post some news.

Yesterday, November 10th, we had a gender ultrasound for this newest Hess baby. . . Mostly because mama couldn't take it any more and needed SOMETHING to get her through the next 22 weeks of pregnant "bliss" (this little one will be born via c-section about a week early, so I AM counting my blessings that I'll be pregnant 2 weeks LESS than I was with Nolan. That's something, right?)

Anyway, the point is.. .

IT'S A GIRL!!

And I have to admit, I'm thrilled! I have been secretly (or not so secretly) hoping that this one was a girl for weeks not. It makes me feel a little bit better about how much WORSE this pregnancy is than the last. . .

And now I can start nesting and planning and filling my brain up with how the heck we're going to fit another being and her things into our already crowded space without killing each other. And it's totally possible. I just need a few more of those non-puking productive hours each day. . . LUCKILY, we have a room already painted a beautiful shade of red that we will use for this new little one. We'll have a little touching up to do, but no real PAINTING (Hooray!) Just some decorating and shifting and storing. . . And I'm a little bit excited about that part!

Wish us luck!

Halloween

2010-11-04T10:00:00.000-06:00

Well, Halloween was SLIGHTLY more successful this year than last. But only slightly.

Nolan LOVED his costume, and wore it constantly the week before Halloween. But it went downhill from there. I took him to get his Halloween photo taken on the 28th. . . and while he let me put on the costume, he refused to wear the mustache. (but aren't they cute anyway? Ashley is a pretty amazing photographer)

Obviously, he chose to be Mario this year. I looked and looked for a Harry Potter costume that would fit him, but they don't make them for his age group.

The day of Halloween. . . he wanted nothing to do with the costume either. We got to Tamera's house for our trick or treating, and he let me put the costume on in the car. Only to have it start pouring and HAILING on us 5 minutes later. We went to 2 houses. One of which required wading through giant puddles of water and hail.

In the end, our Halloween consisted of handing out candy to other brave kids. . . And I think we were both pretty OK with that. We'll try again on the costume thing next year. . .

Pregnancy Sucks - part 2

2010-10-21T13:24:00.001-06:00

I should state for the record that the first post I wrote on this subject was highly preemptive. I WAS pregnant, but not very far along. And I had no idea what was coming. Nothing tragic. I had a complication free pregnancy until the very end, but when I wrote my first post, I thought the morning sickness was going away. . .

OH NO

It was just beginning.

With Nolan, I only threw up once before the second trimester. I then started throwing up about once a day or every other day for the rest of my pregnancy.

By far, the pukiness of pregnancy is my LEAST favorite part.

This time around, I'm sicker. I am throwing up pretty regularly, and once again. . . trimester 2 is just bringing with it MORE sickness. . . not less. I just crossed over, mind you, so we'll see what happens. I'm still praying it subsides. . . but I'm not holding out a lot of hope.

Things that are true that i didn't know the first time:

1- every woman really DOES experience pregnancy differently. Just because your mom or your sisters experienced things one way does NOT mean you will experience the same thing.

2- the swelling. . . OH the swelling (especially in that last month)

3- no matter how much you hate pregnancy, babies are easier on the inside than the outside. Sleep deprivation is NOTHING until you have to be up all night every night with a newborn.

I know that everything in life is a matter of perspective. And I know that my attitude is a big part of my distaste for this process. I spend too much time dwelling on how gross I feel and not marveling in the wonder of growing a child. . .

When it comes right down to it, it's worth it, but pregnancy still sucks.

Friday Randoms

2010-10-08T14:32:00.001-06:00

1- Nolan has a very funny way of saying "marshmallow". We discovered this when my mom brought his a marshmallow gun when they had their grandma day a few weeks ago. And then she found a way to MAKE marshmallow guns for all the kids. . .

I had to make a small video of his pronunciation, just in case he figures it out sometime soon. It's tough to hear, so turn it up a bit, but it's pretty funny.

2- Still not feeling any better with the sickness. . . thanks a lot little lime baby (Babycenter tells me how big my baby is every week in comparison to a food. . . this week, it's the size of a lime) I'm desperately hoping the need to throw up goes away very soon. . .

3- Those of you that LOVE Halloween. . . I appreciate that you feel that way, but I just don't get it. Seriously. Dressing up is not fun. It's a pain. You spend a lot of time and money on a holiday that is over in one night.

And beginning your decorating in September? SERIOUSLY?! It's not even a real holiday!

Too many years in the theatre? Probably. But you will never catch me dressing up for Halloween. Much to Ben's chagrin, as he's a fan of group costumes. . .

I love fall. LOVE fall. Don't love Halloween.

Sorry.

4- Our friends Dallas & Helen have moved back to the big bad USA after several years in Australia. (AZ, sadly, not UT, but we'll take what we can get) And while I am certain Australia misses them, we are pretty darn pleased to have them back. Ben & Dallas met on their mission in Seattle and were then roommates at BYU. . . which is where I met Dallas.

He married miss Helen several years later, and it's a little sad that even with the several months she spent living in Provo, I didn't REALLY get to know her until I started blog stalking her. . .

Helen brought their sweet little 3 year old Isabel up to UT over last weekend, and we were lucky enough to meet up with them for a little Mexican food on their way out of town. (unfortunately Dallas didn't join them, but he'll be back in January!) And now we have one MORE reason to visit AZ!

Nolan and Isabel already like each other very much. . .

Nolan Has An Announcement To Make

2010-09-29T15:05:00.000-06:00

And that, my friends, is why you haven't seen much of me for the last 2 months.

This little state that I'm in is, to be totally honest, one of my least favorite things on the earth.

I wrote a post here during my pregnancy with Nolan called "Pregnancy Sucks". It has, by FAR, gotten more hits than any other post on my blog. And by FAAARRR more comments (36) by random strangers than any other. So I know I'm not alone.

I plan to write a sequel to that post, eventually, but this is not that post.

This is to let the world at large, those that weren't already aware, that in April,
we will be welcoming a new wee little Hess to our home.

Only ONE wee little Hess, despite my many fears and dreams that I was carrying twins. . .
An ultrasound has confirmed that there is just one in there.

Nolan had, at first, stated that he wanted a sister, and that a sister was a boy.

He has since managed to clear that one up in his head and has stated that he's going to have a brother.

I think he's right.

Ben, and several others, think it's a girl.

We have many more weeks before we find out who's right.

But for now, we're just praying that I can stop throwing up
so we can get back to life a little bit.

Cross your fingers.

Wednesday Randoms

2010-09-08T16:36:00.002-06:00

1-Have you seen these t-shirts? Maybe we're just font people at our house. . . but I loved them when I saw them. And then my awesome sister in law Emily decided to try out stenciling on t-shirts using freezer paper. And I talked her into making one for Nolan. He will now thank her:

2- Do your kids wear crocs? Does it cause their feet to peel badly on the bottoms? Or is it just my kid? He doesn't seem to care. In fact, I've asked if they hurt and he says no. So it's probably not a big deal. but it looks pretty freaky.

3- My newest music acquisition. . . Mindy Gledhill's Anchor. Seriously. Go get it from iTunes. I promise you'll like it.

4- Ben was at work on Friday at lunch time, and Nolan and I decided to have a picnic in the back yard. (I changed my schedule a bit last week, so I was working from home on Friday, which is why I'm just posting this blog NOW)

I thought I'd capture a little bit of crazy toddler stream of consciousness for you. Because I'm sure you care. . . I am fascinated by the vocabulary and the grammar he picks up every day. And he's become a big fat copy cat. Which is very scary.

Friday Randoms

2010-08-27T15:52:00.000-06:00

1- School is about to begin at BYU, and as such, I'm trying to avoid Provo as MUCH as possible. I am amazed at how badly some people drive, how little the pay attention, and how often very old grandparents are dropping freshman off at school. NOT a good combo. I prefer to stay in Springville, thank you.

2- Nolan's song book has expanded lately to include some stellar choices. ABC by the Jackson 5, Don't Speak by No Doubt, and his current favorite Black Horse and the Cherry Tree by KT Tunstall. This video does not even REMOTELY do it justice . . . but it's a little tease of what he does all day. . . wandering around the house singing at the top of his lungs. . . getting SOME of the words right.

He also likes to boss me around. . .
For your reference, this is the song he's singing

3- Nolan feels strongly about protecting his head and eyes from the sun. I'm afraid we've been a little hyper vigilant with him and his fair skin and eyes. . .

When we couldn't find his Cars sunglasses the other day, He freaked out.

So, in an attempt to just GET OUT OF THE HOUSE,

(have you ever had a 2.75 year old? then you know what I mean)

I gave him these:

They were in the diaper bag. I believe they were Aubrey's when she was much smaller.

I have no idea why I had them.

But they were good enough for him, and he wore them the whole time we were out,

much to Ben's chagrin.

Anna compared him to Elton John.

I believe that's fair.

Friday Randoms

2010-08-20T15:12:00.000-06:00

1- For my weekly movie suggestion.. . go see "The Switch". It's surprisingly good! It got almost ZERO marketing, but it's actually well written. The premise is ridiculous. RIDICULOUS. But it actually WORKS!

A good movie, despite the fact that there's a scene of Will Swenson's butt.

2- Tamera made Nolan the most amazing present EVER this week. He is in LOVE.

One side Batman. One side Robin.

He saw a kid out in front of our house wearing one the other day, and was fully offended when we attempted to substitute with a dish towel. We've had to tell him he's not allowed to sleep in it, but other than that. . . wears it ALL the time.

3- SO ready for "summer" to be over. This one has been Loooonnnngggg. The fabulous addition of RA training at the end. . . NOT a fan. I'm ready for life to go back to normal. NORMAL!! Can you sense my frustration here?

That is all

Friday Randoms

2010-08-13T08:00:00.001-06:00

1- Ben's show has closed! Which means we get him back, finally! It was a long summer. . . with more than one night of me taking Nolan to dinner or shopping, just to escape from that dreaded dinner/pre-bedtime part of the day that is SO difficult for me to get through.

On this particular occasion, we were spending time with the rocking chairs at Cracker Barrel after dinner, getting ready for a rousing "game" of checkers.

2- When was the last time I sang the praises of the neti pot? Because truly. . . it's getting me through this darn summer cold when nothing else can. SO simple, but such a miracle

3- This past weekend was spent with my sister's kids up in Layton, while my sister and her husband went to Michigan for a funeral. I kept the older kids and Nolan, with the help of my dad and Ben, and determined that while it wasn't as hard as I expected it to be . . . I am not cut out to be the mother of four. Nolan had a FABULOUS time, trying so hard to be one of the big kids, and repeatedly yelling "wait for me, guys!"

My biggest observation. . .

Someone is ALWAYS talking. And usually at LEAST 2 of them at once. It was exhausting, and I have new respect for moms of lots of kids. Especially those who stay home. . . You people are super women!

4- Ben's car broke down yesterday. Just died at a stop light. Can I say how grateful I am that he didn't freak out? He didn't. He rolled it around the corner, and called the towing company, at which point Nolan and I met him and had an impromptu picnic on the lawn of the Provo Tabernacle. . . I'm probably feeling good about how we handled the whole thing because we still haven't heard how much it's going to cost to fix. THEN maybe we'll freak out. . .

5- Remember that picture I promised? Here you go.

Will Swenson, Audra McDonald, Ben, & me

In case you needed proof that it actually happened.

Friday Randoms

2010-07-30T13:00:00.001-06:00

1- I have finally found it. IN UTAH. A cupcake shop that impresses the
cupcake snob in me...

The Cocoa Bean Cupcake Cafe

(I borrowed this image from their blog to entice you)

If you live anywhere near Provo, GO. It's in Brigham's Landing
(just down the way from Burgers' Supreme)

And they have. . . get this. . . NON-DRY chocolate! It is literally the first time I have experienced that in a cupcake shop. And if there's anything I hate, it's a dry cupcake. Please go visit them. I need them not to close and I can't support them all on my own.

2- We are making it through the summer one crazy day at a time.
Most days we have at least 15 conversations like this one:

Because independence requires opinions.
Strong opinions.
And right or wrong, stubbornness.

3- Ben's show has 10 more performances. . . if you haven't seen it, go see it.
If last night's performance was any indication, you could get more entertainment
than you bargained for. . . which kind of makes me want to go back again.
Because who doesn't like some drama?

4- Inception.

SEE IT.

I predict now that it will win best picture. And totally deserve it.

5- Ben and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary on Wednesday.
Seriously?!
When did that happen?

And how do I get this hair back?

Loraine Came to Town

2010-07-21T10:50:00.000-06:00

Our dear friend Loraine came to town this past week. . .

And since she is the one who introduced us to the joy of the Sundance brunch, we had to make a trek up there. And we had to take pictures. . .

Friday Randoms

2010-07-16T14:07:00.001-06:00

Maybe I should start calling this "Every OTHER Friday Randoms". sheesh. . .

On to the interesting stuff:

1-Kevin and Vanessa welcomed their sweet little baby Olive into the world last Wednesday! Finally, the much anticipated wee girl made her appearance several days late and after torturing her mother with many hours of pushing. . . And was she not worth the wait? LOOK AT HER! (hopefully they don't mind me putting her face on my blog. . .)

Nolan has already staked his claim on her, which I think is understandable. . .though I think he may have a fight on his hands. I hear she already has many suitors.

2- Because of dear little Olive's arrival, and the drawn out nature of it, Kevin, of course, decided to be at his wife's side in the hospital while she delivered, rather than singing with the broadway stars at the Hale on Wednesday night. Which meant. . . Ben got to go on as File that night! AND, to add to the excitement, Nick, Cort & I were at the show! It was a very last minute decision on Kevin's part, to say the least. Ben was working on lines and running scenes with Audra all day, but the final decision was only made 10 minutes before curtain! And I have to tell you. . . Kevin is GOOD in this part. Ben was nervous in a COMPLETELY understandable way. Big shoes to fill doesn't even begin to cover it. . .

But Ben was AMAZING. Just wonderful. & the thing I appreciated about it most was that he didn't try to mimic Kevin. He put his own spin on it, and it worked out beautifully. Will & Audra were beyond gracious and the rest of the cast showered him with well deserved compliments when it was done. . .

What a great night.

(If you want to read another account of this show, this one is pretty awesome,

from the fabulous Marvin Payne.)

A picture exists of us with Will & Audra after the show, but I need to get it from the resident photographer (Korianne), so I will have to add it later.

3- To follow up that joy, I headed off to CA last Friday morning to hang with the girls from my mommy board for a crafty weekend. We did the same thing last year, in St. Louis,

but this year we picked a really cool crafting house in Southern California (Temecula, which is basically the middle of nowhere) to host the retreat. And it was DIVINE. So much relaxing and chatting and SO much productivity!

I managed to finish 25 taggie blankets in one weekend! Some of them already have babies to go to, as you can see by the initials. . . I can't wait to see what we follow it up with next year, because this year was AWESOME.

4- We celebrated Trish-mas this week on Trish's birthday, by visiting the cemetary and going to PF Changs. I can't believe it has been a year already. . . And we still miss her. . . of course.

Friday Randoms

2010-07-02T14:53:00.001-06:00

1- I'm going to drag Nolan with me to see Justin Hackworth's 30 strangers show tonight. This is a pretty incredible event that Justin stages, and a pretty awesome opportunity he is offering for you to get a photo shoot and help those in need at the same time. I went last year and LOVED it. Got my picture taken by Justin and LOVED that too.

If you're anywhere near Provo tonight, come on down! (I'll be the one trying to keep my 2 year old out of the cupcakes. Or exiting quickly when I see that there are NO other children in the building)

2- Inspired by Kevin & his newsies shoot. . . Tamera tried one of her own, and Nolan got to play again.

That gives you a pretty good idea of Nolan's skin tone next to other people, doesn't it? Poor fair skinned child.

3- You know you're boring and old (and also too busy) when the news that your boss is letting you out of work early on Friday inspires thoughts of stopping for groceries on the way home. What is WRONG with me?

4- Last Sunday we joined Ben's family for a little picnic in Kim's back yard. . . all of Ben's sisters were in town, which is always an event to celebrate. It didn't last long enough. I love to have other kids and a dog for Nolan to run around with in a nice safe back yard. What could be better?

ps. Nolan learned his made hulahooping skills from watching me do Wii Fit. Can you tell?

5- I'm making birthday cupcakes for Audra McDonald tomorrow. . . this is making me more nervous than I would have thought. I'm making the same kinds I've made 100 times, but still. . . it seems like they should be fancier.

Friday Randoms

2010-06-25T16:30:00.001-06:00

1- Ben's show opens on Monday (Monday? Huh? I don't know either). They were featured in a Playbill article today. . . Which pretty much makes them famous or something. I can't wait to see it. I'm a little giddy.

2- Nolan got his picture taken again last night. My cousin Tami is an aspiring photographer, and I again volunteered my kid. . . are we sensing a pattern here?

Just a few of my favorites. . . I'm sure I'll be posting more later.

3- This isn't a movie review post. . . but Toy Story 3? Go see it. seriously. I couldn't stop crying. . .

4- We came out of Chilis the other night to see Mario standing on the side of the road. I think the kid in the big head was a little confused by me, but how could I NOT take Nolan over for a picture?

He didn't know what to do once we got there. He sort of chickened out. But the kid was nice and held his hand for a picture.

5- It is full on summer now, and Nolan has finally started to enjoy the sprinklers. Seriously. Does that not look fun?

Two a half

2010-06-17T15:09:00.001-06:00

When you ask Nolan how old he is, he will hold up 2 fingers and say "Two a half!" he leaves out the and, but really. . . it's still adorable.

So, recently our good friend Kevin Goertzen lost his job. WIth his wife nearing her due date with their first child, and law school on the horizon in the fall, finding another gig is going to be tricky, to say the least. So Kevin is filling his time with something he's always loved, but never really had time to pursue fully before. Photography.

He's done a lot of head shots for actor friends and acquaintances, but as he gets new equipment, he's decided he wants to branch out a bit and get more creative. So I offered Nolan up as a subject for his creativity. (I know, I'm generous, right?)

We tried for a "Newsies" sort of look. Kevin got some pieces from the Hale and we dressed Nolan up. And truly, I was not at ALL sure Nolan was going to go for this. Not at ALL. He loves Kevin. & he was more than excited to go to his house. But getting my kid to hold still for very long. . . not easy. But he did amazingly well, given a few chances to run in between sets. Check it out!

And then, when we had exhausted those options (we tried some of Nolan sleeping on the papers, but in trying to make him pretend to sleep, he really just looked like he was crying) I asked Kevin to snap a few of Nolan in an outfit I bought last fall for a photoshoot, that ended up being way too big at the time. And it seemed a shame to waste a perfectly good (if now well worn) outfit. . . So here you go:

I love these because Nolan was comfortable enough with Kevin that these pictures REALLY capture who my kid is right now. Not to mention, they're awfully pretty.

Kevin is open to more guinea pigs, and has given me permission to pimp him out on my blog. . . so let me know, and I'll get you his number. He's got super reasonable rates because he's still building his portfolio. . . and he needs more willing subjects to try out his creative ideas.

Thanks, Kevin!

More movie reviews

2010-06-16T15:05:00.000-06:00

So, I'm a little weird, probably. When I get really really stressed, a perfect way for me to wind down is to sit in front of a movie. It doesn't have to be a great movie. . . just something to get my brain distracted from the insanity that it is usually dealing with.

So I've watched more movies lately than you would think, considering my schedule has been hectic. Some were great get away movies. Some were too annoying to enjoy much. . .

Backup Plan

Oh, this movie was bad. Really really bad. It's not the acting, though the actors really didn't do much for me. . . it's the script. the really REALLY bad writing. Add this to my list of CRAP chick movies released in the past 18 months.

Last Song

I have to admit, I actually liked this a little more than I expected to. I would never have expected to care what happened to Miley Cyrus. . . and it wasn't that I REALLY cared. . . but it was better than I thought. Her little brother is awesome. Greg Kinear is good. And while it was ALL Nicholas Sparks. . . it was still mildly entertaining. And clean. So that was good.

Brideshead Revisited

This had all the markings of a movie that we were really going to enjoy. British drama. Emma Thompson. Hello! But it was bad. drawn out, boring, too much nakedness. . . and I didn't care about a single ONE of the characters. It was a real downer.

Men Who Stare At Goats

This wasn't my favorite movie of all time. Not even close. . . but it was interesting. If it hadn't had such a great cast, I probably would have stopped it a half hour in. But it had a FABULOUS cast, so it was fun to watch. It's weird. REALLY weird. But if you're OK with weird, you'll probably dig it.

Letters To Juliet

This is the ONE AND ONLY chick movie I've seen in the last 6 months that I actually liked. I was very pleasantly surprised by this one. I actually didn't LOVE the dialogue. It was a little too casual for me. . . but the characters are good. The story is fun and mildly sappy. & Vanessa Redgrave is, as usual, amazing. Her real life husband plays the man she's looking for, and apparently this story somewhat mirrors their real life. . .

Up In The Air

This movie is not cheerful. It's rather sad. It's fascinating too, though. It's character driven and well written, which I really liked. It's incredibly well acted. And having sat on the other side of the "downsizing" table, I felt like the nailed the experience. . . It's definitely not a feel good movie, but it's worth watching for sure.

Robin Hood

I am a sucker for the movie Gladiator. I should say that at the outset. I was predestined to enjoy this movie. The fact that Russel Crowe and Cate Blanchett are in it just sealed the deal. It's got battle scenes, yes. But it's mostly about the characters, so I got sucked in. I'm also a fan of origin stories, and you should know going in, this is a premovie to any other Robin Hood stories. It ends where the story usually begins. And I really liked that.

Killers

Oh the humanity! I don't even know what happened here. Both Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl have the potential to be really charming on screen. This was actually a pretty OK idea, in theory. It was just SO poorly executed. In every possible way. Just avoid it. Rent Mr. & Mrs. Smith instead.

Pirate Radio

This movie, cast full of wonderful actors, was just so-so. Really, it was the time period that was sort of uninteresting about it. And there were too many characters too broadly written to ever really get to know any of them. But it was fun to watch great actors have fun. . . so it wasn't a total waste of time.

Time Travelers Wife

This movie was completely harmless. I admit that I cried at the end, though I'm not sure why. I can absolutely see why this was better as a book (though I haven't read it). there is just TOO MUCH that has to happen. And it's all basically centered on 2 people. . . it's kind of difficult to follow. . . but I like Rachel & Eric. . . and it was pretty. . . so I cried.

LOTR

Ben and I made an arrangement. We got all three extended editions of LOTR for our wedding. Ben hadn't seen the extended ones. I had never made it through ANY LOTR movie without falling asleep for a chunk of it. We made a trade. I would watch all 12 (13?) hours of LOTR and he, in return, would watch Jane Austen with me.

I have to admit, having made it through them all with only a 5 minute nap in the first movie, that I didn't hate them. I even liked them. My problems with them: Orcs and battle scenes. the characters are great. the story is interesting. the direction and art direction are beautiful. But the orcs gross me right out. Like, SERIOUSLY. I KNOW it's just makeup. I can probably even tell you how they did most of it. But I cannot stomach watching them.

Also, epic battle scenes bore me to death.

Weekend Away

2010-06-02T16:29:00.000-06:00

Nope. Not dead.

Yet.

May is over, so my constant chanting of "just make it through May. Just make it through May" is probably a little late to the party. I guess I'll have to change my mantra.

At least regionals are over for a few months. . . so there will be no more keynote creating in the wee hours for a while. That MUST mean things are getting better, right?

------------------------------------------

So, we went to California this past weekend to see wee Sienna be blessed. And to MEET HER already. Because she's 3 months old, and in aunty land, that is WAY too many months. We took Logan with us, because he's still a little young to be without his mama. . . And the resulting pictures pretty much centered around the two of them. They are the same # of months apart as Aubrey & Nolan, so I'm certain they will be great friends, despite the difference in gender.

A few of my favorites:

This is the sweet elephant I had to bring to Sienna. Is that not adorable?

Post baby blessing photos. Their church is right next to the Sacramento temple, so we took our photos there.

I was apparently a comfortable place to nap. And I do so love to be a baby napping place, so I stole her every time she seemed tired.

Kissing cousins

Logan was making this face all weekend. It was cracking us all up. I'm not sure what it means, but it can't help but make you smile.

Friday Randoms

2010-05-21T15:51:00.000-06:00

1- I love Adobe Lightroom. Seriously. If you are into photography/digital editing at all, I highly recommend it. To say it has transformed the way we edit is a huge understatement. I have been using photoshop for many years (like, 11. . . since Photoshop 6, I think) and this is just. . . a miracle.

I know it's not new. It's just that I hadn't really used it much until about 6 months ago, and we're becoming fast friends, Lightroom & I. I still have a lot to learn, but I'm guessing I'll just like it more as I do.

2- How is my diet going, you ask?

I certainly did NOT just eat half of a huge mint/chocolate brownie thing.

I'm quitting sugar again. I swear. I have to.

I still haven't had soda in 4 months, though. That has to count for SOMETHING, right?

Fine. I'm putting DOWN the brownie.

3- I finally won a food challenge at work! I have to give all of the credit to Natalie, and her friend that gave her the recipe. The white bean chicken chili won the day!

4- I had 3 cavaties filled yesterday. I have this insane fear of the dentist's office lately. . . I never liked it. At ALL. But lately. . . It is irrationally scary. Like, I made them give me nitrous AND I took a Xanax just for my cleaning! (In my defense, I have VERY sensitive teeth)

After about 4 hours, the novocaine had mostly worn off from the fillings, so I went to get lunch. . . and it was VERY windy at my office. I tried to get out of the car and the door blew shut and hit me in the side of the head.

I'm pretty sure that's what they mean when they say "Adding insult to injury"

(He picked this hat off the shelf at Target and wore it around for a good 10 minutes. I had to force him to put it back.)

This picture is to help you remember how sweet he is before I tell the following story

5- And I leave you with a very long story, but an entertaining one, I'm sure.

If you weren't there.

I have to preface this by telling you that I have MANY irrational fears and things that creep me out. Scary movies with devil children are one of those fears. Ever since we moved Nolan into a toddler bed I've been TERRIFIED that I'll wake up one day to him standing next to the bed, 3 inches from my face or something like that. But in the couple of weeks he's been in it, he's never gotten up. It was as if he had been told he couldn't get out of bed, though no one ever told him that. He still calls for us in the morning and after naps to come get him.

Well, last night, we stayed up WAY too late watching the Grey's Anatomy finale, so it was 12:30 by the time we got to bed. I was exhausted. I fell asleep FAST, which never happens. Next thing I know, I hear footsteps, walking really fast out of our room. It was Nolan. LEAVING our room, so I have no idea how long he was in there. I called his name just as he passed the door, and told him "come here" and he came over to me. . . but his eyes were half closed. The kid was SLEEP WALKING! It scared me to DEATH! I pulled him up into bed with us and tried to figure out what to do. We haven't had our gate at the top of the stairs because he doesn't hang out up there alone. The gate is down in our crawl space. His door doesn't latch completely, so did I dare put him back to bed? It was 3 am and none of us was going to sleep if I kept him in our bed. . . And I had to work in the morning.

After about 20 minutes of fretting I decided to take him back to his room. By this time he was aware of what was happening. I rocked him, gave him a sippy of water, and tucked him in. I told him not to get out of bed, and to go back to sleep, and that I would see him in the morning. I closed his door and PRAYED that it latched. . .

Luckily, he didn't get back up.

Honestly, NOT the thing to happen after I was already on edge from that stupid Greys episode. Did you SEE IT?!

Let's hope this is a short lived phase.

Interview with a 2 year old

2010-05-20T11:22:00.001-06:00

One of the girls on my mommy board did an interview like this with her little boy and challenged the rest of us to do the same. I didn't think Nolan was going to sit still long enough to do it, especially when he knew he was being filmed. . . but he did! It's pretty entertaining.

Check it out:

Monday Randoms

2010-05-17T16:26:00.000-06:00

The pace of our current life is threatening to overtake me. And we haven't even reached summer yet. I will slow down and breathe, however, long enough to write a post. Heaven forbid I leave this place dormant.

1- We spent much of this past weekend with Ben's family at McKay Dee hospital in Ogden. Ben's one remaining grandparent, his father's mother, broke her hip this past week, and soon after had a stroke.

2- Melissa wrote a great post that fills in, in fabulous detail, my feelings on romantic comedies that I mentioned in my movie post. Seriously. She says it much better than I could. (as usual. she's a writer after all)

3- Last weekend we spent some time up at Grandma & Grandpa's house and the park up in Syracuse, and I had some fun with my camera. Fun I hadn't had in a long time.

He's pretty cute, I think.

4- That's all I got for now. Time to move all my files to switch to a new computer for the second time in 2 weeks. Such joy.

It really will be if it actually WORKS this time.

Don't get me started.

Friday Randoms

2010-05-07T16:23:00.001-06:00

1- These photos represent our weather over the past 2 weeks. I am not even kidding. And I am so over it. It's MAY ALREADY!

2- I got a new computer at work yesterday. A shiny new MacBook Pro. It made my heart sing as I carried it out of the building. Even with a 2 year old with me to coax to the car. . .

And then I got it home and bumped the power cable at one point in the day. . . and it turned off. INSTANTLY.

Apparently one of the super special IT guys dropped it and got it wet. . . How? Please say he didn't drop it in a toilet. Please! I have no idea. It was fixed once, and then we discovered the fix was incomplete. It's brand spanking new! NO FAIR!

It has now gone to the Mac doctor and I am back to my old machine. . . which they thankfully hadn't cleared off yet, and I'm crying a little. Hopefully I will get it back soon.

3- Most things, Nolan is completely content to eat with his hands. Which is weird, because he really hates to be sticky. Hates to be dirty. . . it's a little OCD. And he is managing to use a fork with some skill these days, so I thought I'd capture it. This was last weekend on his half birthday. We celebrated a little. We switched the rail on his bed to the toddler version. (you'd think I would have taken a picture. You'd be wrong) More on that later when I get my act together.

4- I need a really good "TO DO LIST" app for my iphone. I need it to sync with ical. I need it to be so simple to use that a monkey could do it. (because that's how well my brain feels like it's functioning these days)

Anyone have any ideas?

2010-04-30T15:07:00.001-06:00

1- Nolan's obsession with Word World continues.

His newest thing. . . trying to make more of things by adding an "S". Observe:

Cows

Ducks

2- It's snowing in UT today. . . for the second day in a row.

I don't think I need to clarify my feelings on this subject.

Also, I'm pretty sure the smoothie garden is going to need a restart. . . I can't imagine that getting snowed on several times is going to be good for the berry plants.

3- Our summer just got pretty interesting. . . Ben was cast in 110 In The Shade at the Hale Center Theater in Orem. This is pretty huge for him for several reasons. . .

A) his theater bug bites him pretty hard about once a year, and it's
TIME for him to do a show.

B) A lot of very cool people and long time friends are in this cast.

& C) Audra freaking McDonald is going to be in the show for the first 2 weeks.

How could he possibly pass up an opportunity like that?!

4- Tomorrow Nolan will officially be 2.5.

Should there be some sort of celebration?

I feel a little lame that I hadn't even considered it until this moment. . .

Movie Review Catch Up

2010-04-26T11:39:00.001-06:00

It has been forever and a day since I did any movie reviews, so I am going to remedy that. I have such a list growing in my phone that if I don't do it now, I'm going to forget how I felt about any of these films. So here you go:

The Soloist

I was mildly interested in seeing this movie just for Jamie Foxx. I really enjoy watching him do character roles, and this was no exception. The script is not great. . . but the story is definitely compelling and the acting is great all the way around. I wouldn't say RUN to your Netflix queue, but it's definitely worth it if you need stuff to add to your list. Especially if you enjoy either of the lead actors.

500 Days of Summer

I kind of loved this movie. I know it's trendy to say how great it is. I'm sure it makes me a wannabe hipster. . . but seriously. . . this movie is GOOD. It's gut wrenching and exhausting in the sense that we have ALL been in both of the main character's shoes. It made me NOT miss dating, to say the least. But in a quiet and introspective way. Not in the usual flashy and obnoxious sort of way that movies usually do. Watch this. Seriously. It's good.

(but be warned, it doesn't have a chick movie happy ending. I'm not ruining anything. They tell you that at the very beginning)

Paper Heart

I honestly don't know how I felt about this. I can't say I really loved any of the "characters". I can't say I believe for one second that this is an ACTUAL documentary. But it's sweet and it's cute and it definitely embraces the "real person" thing in a big fat way. And there are some really charming little stop motion animation sequences.

Post Grad

This movie is stupid. Pretty much all around stupid. It IS interesting to watch Jane Lynch play the straight character surrounded by a bunch of crazies. . . but that's really all it has going for it. Skip it. I should have. REALLY.

Hurt Locker

I can't say I totally ENJOYED this movie. I watched it on a night when I really just wanted to relax. . . and it was SO the wrong choice for that. It captures intensity and anticipation in a way that only horror films have before for me. . . but without the same darkness and fear. It's incredibly well made. More impressive because the director was a woman. . . and I was completely OK with it winning best picture this year. It's not a big shoot 'em up movie, though there is some of that. . . but it definitely gives you a new perspective. THe best part. . . it doesn't take sides. No, SERIOUSLY, it doesn't. I was amazed. It tells the story without a slant, from several different perspectives. . . and that is a FEAT.

When In Rome

ARGH! What IS IT with big name stars doing TERRIBLE movies. This won't be the only time I say this in this post, but the leads were good, and had good chemistry. . . but the script was AWFUL. There were these random silly stupid side characters that I HATED. . . Yeah. Just don't waste the time. Even if you like Kirsten or Josh.
There's too much to get past.

The Boys Are Back

So. . . I love watch a good Clive film. And this one is good, though sad. It's set in Australia and it's very quiet and interesting and it feels a little bit like real life. . . totally worth watching.

Valentines Day

NO NO NO NO NO! With a cast like this, you'll understand my disappointment in this movie very well when I say: Ashton Kutcher was by FAR the best part of this movie. Seriously. The outtakes during the credits were better than the movie. The silly little moments where there were tongue in cheek references to other Gary Marshall movies, while TOTALLY out of place, were a little funny. But the movie as a whole? HORRIBLE. I want my 2 hours back. Seriously.

If you can't believe that Patrick Dempsey is a doctor, something is wrong.

Alice In Wonderland

GORGEOUS. A lot of people whined about the plot of the movie and how it wasn't true to the books. And I'm sure, if I had read the books as a kid, I'd have the same issue. But I didn't. So I didn't care. It was beautiful, and captivating, and I really enjoyed the Tim Burtonness of it. But if you care about the story, I can't be blamed if you disagree.

Bounty Hunter

Again I say, good leads, terrible script. . . Bad movie. I wanted to like it. But I couldn't.

HOW HARD IS IT TO WRITE A GOOD SCRIPT?! & why waste the money to produce the bad ones? I'm just saying.

Inglourious Basterds

Genius. And by far my favorite Quentin Tarantino move ever. It's got some look away moments, but mostly it's not gory. And the language is amazingly tame. I really really liked it. SO much more than I thought I would.

Surrogates

I fell asleep for at least 5 minutes in the middle of this movie. . . but that doesn't mean it was bad. . . It was actually a really interesting concept. I didn't really CARE that much about any of the characters. . . and maybe that's because they were really robots half the time. I'm not sure. But it's definitely interesting. And your husband will probably like it.

How To Train Your Dragon

Oh my goodness, I liked this movie. I have decided to officially abandon the idea that all digitally animated movies that aren't Pixar are crap. It's just not true. First I LOVED Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and then THIS! It's gorgeous. The voices are great. And the story is really compelling. GO see it. Or at LEAST add it to your Netflix queue.

An Education

Brilliantly written. Brilliantly acted. And, much to my surprise, I didn't EXPECT the way it turned out. Not that I always know how things are going to end. Hardly. But I never knew, at any point in this film, where it was going next. And that was kind of refreshing.

Emma - Masterpiece Classics

And finally, the newest in the Masterpiece classics set of Jane Austen films. I loved it. LOVED it. My only gripe, and it was a small one, was that I didn't feel like the age difference between Romola Garai and Johnny Lee Miller was all that obvious. And it's kind of important. But really, who cares? Also, it was 4 hours long, spread over 3 weeks, and Ben watched ALL OF IT with me. AND he liked it. So that's saying something.

Friday Randoms

2010-04-16T16:43:00.001-06:00

1-Nolan inherited many of his eating likes and dislikes from his father. Namely, his complete distaste for condiments of any kind. . .

But from me. . . from me he got the love of popcorn:

Why wouldn't you want to eat it with a ladle, right?

2- We have a new client. And I'm not going to say who she is before I ask her, but I have to say this. . .

She gets it.

It is so much fun to work one on one with a photographer that is truly wrapping her brain around what we're trying to do and is jumping in with both feet. I am finding a ridiculous and slightly giddy joy in organizing and cleaning up the files on her computer. . . I know. THat's kind of sick. . .

But here's hoping she's the first of many.

(though, to be fair, Emily gets it. She just lives too far away to take complete advantage)

3- I have been having a lot of fears creeping in lately about the end of the world.

I know, I know. . . I'm being overly dramatic. I get that.

But all of these earthquakes. All over the world? And worse than that, one in my home state yesterday. . .

I have been hearing for 25 years that any time now UT was going to have "the big one". Knowing the domino effect that's been happening lately, what are the odds that we WON'T? And frankly, I'm not really ready.

Friday Randoms

2010-04-09T14:29:00.001-06:00

1- Our friend Peter has been in town this week, visiting from England. He was one of Ben's room mates back in the day, and both of us did plays with him many times during his years here. It had been 5 years since his last visit, since before Ben and I started dating. . .

Needless to say, things have changed a bit.

Nolan was his biggest fan, waking him up in the morning by saying "Peter? Wake up? Soccer?" Peter was nice enough to teach him a thing or two about kicking the soccer ball while he was here. . . and now it's all he wants to do.

Nolan loved Peter, but I made him take this picture first thing this morning after telling him Peter had to leave, so he was not thrilled. As you can see.

2- I have not done well on my sugar consumption this week. I blame the above mentioned Peter and his tendency to bring me British chocolate when he comes to visit. It's just not fair.

I'll be back on the wagon soon. After I eat a little more chocolate.

3- We're considering joining a CSA so that we can have fresh fruit and veggies this summer. We just don't have a lot of space (or skill or patience, frankly) to grow a lot of the things we love in our shady back yard. But part of our push for eating well is eating more fresh stuff, so we're thinking this may be the way to go. But it's pricey up front, I'm not sure we'd USE everything, and I don't know if it actually saves us anything in the long run. . .

Anyone have any experience with these things? Good idea? Bad idea? Too expensive? Too many weird things we'll never eat?

And if it's a bad idea. . . any UT people know whether there are any good farmer's markets (n UT county) besides the somewhat disappointing one in Provo?

4- I need some new shoes for exercising. I don't run. . . it's too hard on my back. But I like to walk, so I need a good pair of shoes for walking. Anyone have any suggestions? The pair I have now are just SO tight. Are they supposed to be tight? Or have my feet just spread because of that whole pregnancy thing a while back and now tennis shoes will never fit well again?

I don't want to get too excited and assume that Spring is here. I'm certain it's not. . . but I do need to stop making excuses and just GET OUT THERE.

photo by Jack Brauer. You can buy it.

5- Is there really a safe date in UT to assume it's done snowing? Based on this year, I think not. . .

Easter Egg Hunt

2010-04-05T15:24:00.000-06:00

As is the yearly tradition, we had an Easter egg hunt at my grandparent's house in Ogden on Saturday.

Nolan was MUCH more on board with what to do with the treats this year. . .

But what he really wanted to do?

Climb the ladder

And hit the pinata.

Happy Easter!

Bubbles

2010-04-02T18:43:00.001-06:00

I should be posting something random today . . . but instead, I will leave you with a few photos. Last week, for one day, it was more than 50 degrees. So we took Nolan outside for some bubble blowing. He LOVES bubbles. Especially the big ones daddy can blow for him.

A few of my favorites:

Friday Randoms

2010-03-26T15:38:00.005-06:00

1- I don't think I can adequately express in words the way I feel about taxes this year.

Here's my attempt.

I HATE TAXES!

Usually we have plenty of money withheld and get a return. . . at least a little one. This year, not so much. It was mostly my fault. . . but I am not pleased.

2- On to happier topics. . . PhotoCamp Utah went swimmingly! This is me sitting at our table. . . there was a lot of sitting involved. But I was really happy with how our table looked and we made some fantastic contacts, so I'm really glad we did it.

3- Since PhotoCamp was a Saturday, and Tamera said she'd take him for the day, they went to the zoo! I have to admit, I wish I could have been two places at once that day. Apparently he became engrossed in watching the llamas and wouldn't leave them.

4- At dinner at Chilis the other night, Nolan decided that sugar packets were the perfect musical instrument. It's loud in the background, but still amusing.

5- Brand recognition. The other night, Nolan was playing with my phone and scrolled through to see the following icon. and then he yelled "TARGET!"

He also recognizes Coke, Walmart and Chilis. . . what does that say about our life?

I guess, I'm happy it's not McDonalds, which is apparently the most widely recognized by kids. . .

Friday Randoms

2010-03-19T09:35:00.008-06:00

1- A small moment of one warm day. . . Nolan insisted on being outside, so we went out on the front steps for a little bit. Yes, he insists on carrying 3 cars with him when he leaves the house. 2 are always The King and Boost. The third one rotates. And he's getting better about wearing his sunglasses. As you can see, they don't stay in place very well on his little face.

2- The excitement of PhotoCamp Utah is palpable among the photographer set right now. Following a bunch of them on Twitter reminds me of a bunch of kids getting ready to go to Disneyland. It's awesome.

It starts at 8 am tomorrow, which does not please me one bit. . . but I can suck it up. Hopefully when we can talk to them and help them understand how we can help their business, we will gain a whole batch of exciting new clients.

This idea scares me, don't get me wrong. There will be a lot of organization involved . . . But it's mostly an exciting prospect.

3- I feel that my giddiness of warmer temperatures and blooming trees and flowers is dampened significantly by the crazy allergies that are plaguing our household this week. I am sure I have experienced the crazy levels of TIRED I'm feeling before. . . but I don't remember, and I don't like it. I could barely move yesterday for the tired. . .

Must visit a Dr. and get some good drugs STAT. Zyrtec is not cutting it.

On the plus side, I found a really cool iphone app, called Allergy Alert, that tells me what the pollen counts are like and what days will be good and bad. That's pretty fun, right?

4- One of the things that has tortured me during this diet has been cookies. I never really considered cookies to be a particular vice of mine, but I have discovered that they are one of the only things I just seriously CRAVE. It doesn't help that Girl Scout Cookies are roaming around (Maybe even in my own pantry) to torment me. Can you say Tagalongs?

If you are NOT on an insane diet, I have a solution for you to the shortage of girl scout cookies you find yourself in. . . Rather, Ms. Baking Bites does. Recipes for home made versions of your favorites!

You're welcome.

5- Nolan has a new buddy. Tamera's nephew Erick is just a little bit older than him, and has come over to play a few times. Last week, they went to the park. Erick calls Nolan "best friend".

How cute is that?

Sienna Michelle

2010-03-10T09:33:00.006-07:00

So, Jeremy & Emily have a beautiful new baby girl. Her name is Sienna, and she's adorable. . .

And since Emily & Melissa have now posted her cute face, I figure it's OK for me to do it too.

Seriously, don't you just want to pinch those cheeks?

I've always loved the aunty job. It's always been my favorite. And I have a feeling that more little girls in the Webster family is only going to increase my fervor.

Now, if I can just find my way to California to snuggle her. . .

Friday Randoms

2010-03-05T16:08:00.000-07:00

1- Nolan's new favorite thing to do in the morning while we're getting ready for the day is play his computer game. He's still trying to figure out the mouse. He's fine until he gets up against the edge of the table. He can't quite grasp the "pick it up, move it and start again" thing. I find myself getting annoyed about that, and then I realize, with that one exception, MY 2 YEAR OLD CAN USE A MOUSE. And then I calm down and thank PBS for making this game. He is entertained for as long as I'll let him be. . . and sometimes that's an hour. . .

2- This stupid diet is doing very weird things to my hair and nails. . . hopefully it's a short lived change. . . but if anyone has any good suggestions for volumizing shampoos and conditioners, my hair would appreciate it.

3- So, we started watching Mad Men this week. . . and I know I'm going to get flogged for saying this. . . but I don't get it. We're only through one disc, 3 episodes, but I don't get the hype. It's well written, mostly well acted, and the art direction is gorgeous.. . but I don't care about ANY of the characters. It's funny for a little while to laugh at how much people smoked and the female/male dynamic in the 60's. . . but where does the really compelling stuff start happening? When does it start becoming something I can't wait to watch again?

Those of you that love it need to enlighten me so I don't give up.

4- We are up to our eyeballs in preparation for PhotoCamp Utah in 2 weeks. It's a good thing Ben has graphic design skills, because he's been putting them to use big time this week. I can't wait to see our Moo Cards! Cross your fingers for us that this event leads to some awesome business for us.

5- The Oscars are on Sunday. And, per tradition, we are having an Oscar party, complete with ballots, food, and prizes. I'm pretty sure Avatar is going to win. . . and that disturbs me. I haven't seen the movie, but out of principal, I don't believe a movie that has NO nominations for writing or acting can truly qualify in the Best Picture category. It may be amazing technically, but not Best Picture.

The Joker

2010-03-03T16:23:00.002-07:00

This is what Nolan looked like when I left the house this morning.

He REALLY likes raspberry jam.

Friday Randoms

2010-02-26T11:31:00.006-07:00

1- I have to admit to tearing up a little over the cute get well soon cards that several kids made and sent/brought to us this last week. Nolan kept hugging the one Allie sent him and saying "Aww. Tute!" And it was. He's a very loved little boy.

2- OOF is sponsoring this really cool day long photography conference called PhotoCamp Utah. We still have a TON to do to prepare, but it's such a cool opportunity to have 350 photographers in one place at one time and share what we do. . . Wish us luck that we make a good impression!

3- Nolan watched an episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse that included some sneezing. . . And so he needed some tissue. . . and then he had to play out the dramatics of the sneeze:

(the first half of the video, which I cut out because it seemed to mean to include it, he did his sneeze and whacked his head on the box sitting there and fell down. He wasn't hurt, and jumped right back up for this take, but it sounded pretty painful. . .)

4- The diet is on week 6 now. My headaches are HUGELY improved, I've lost 12 lbs, and I am starting to get my energy back, among other positive improvements. The dr. thinks I need a couple more months on it, along with the meds I'm taking. I'm inclined to listen, after all the improvements I've felt.

However, as of Tuesday, I was allowed to start adding fruits back in to my diet. I have to add them like babyfood. One at a time for a couple of days, and then, if there's no reaction, try the next. After fruit I get cheese back.

I can't tell you how happy I am about that.

5- After a decluttering break last weekend, due to hospitalization, I'm going to attempt to tackle Nolan's room this weekend. Namely, his closet and dresser. I did pull a lot of the outgrown clothes out a couple of weeks ago, but there is SO MUCH in there that just doesn't need to be.

Time for it to go.

Hospital Fun

2010-02-20T20:43:00.006-07:00

So, turns out I spoke too soon. We returned to the doctor on Thursday evening for a recheck and they gave us a free pass to the nearest hospital. Which turned out to be full, so they directed us 15 miles north. We got the last bed in the American Fork hospital. If it had been full, they would have sent us up to Primary Children's.

What's with all of the full beds? RSV is all over the place right now. And there are many MANY children just like Nolan in hospitals, receiving much needed oxygen to get them past this nonsense. There were 10 month old twins in the next room, which made us feel very very lucky.

His first morning there they had him blow bubbles. Apparently it's a fast way to get kids to cough. . . and boy did he enjoy that. I brought more bubbles with me when I ran to Target and it was his favorite game of the weekend.

These were the numbers we watched constantly. The sensor on his toe registered the big number on the right. When that number fell below 88, there was an awful beep that started up. We had to make him cough or move around so that the number would rise. If it fell for more than a minute or two, the oxygen was turned on. Oxygen drops when you sleep, so the first 2 nights, and nap time the first 2 days, he had to have the oxygen on the whole time.

Which meant that he was tethered from his toe and his face. . . Not much fun for a kid that likes to run, and isn't really FEELING all that sick. He could sit in the bed, or the chair next to the bed, but that was it. It was totally frustrating. For all of us. This is as much running around as he was allowed:

With many toys, the DS, and a whole stack of DVDs, we made it through the weekend and were sent home Sunday afternoon.

He's home, breathing great, and we're back to the grind.

Thank you all for your love and prayers. It could have been so much worse.

Sad and Happy

2010-02-18T12:46:00.003-07:00

So. . . Nolan has pneumonia, which is super awesome. . . I have never seen him so sick before in his life.

Which means that we've been making very good use of this little device:

It's called a pulse oximeter (though this isn't the exact one we have, it's very close), and though it cost us a pretty penny when we bought it, it appears to have kept the little man out of the hospital, so it has been more than worth it. As long as I monitor the oxygen levels in his blood at home (by sticking his little finger in that clamp and waiting for the numbers to show up) and promise to take him in if it goes below 86%, we get to stay home.

How low has it gotten? Oh, 88, even 87 a few times . . . which is a lot lower than i prefer.

Luckily, it seems to be improving, however slowly, today. . .

We're incredibly grateful for the prayers everyone has been offering in his behalf, I know that they are the reason he's doing better today.

And, on an uplifting note, here's a little video for you. OK, it's 16 minutes long. But it is SO worth it. Makes me want to smile more, that's for sure.

Enjoy!

Jimmy Falon as Neil Young Singing Pants On The Ground

2010-02-16T16:46:00.005-07:00

Nolan is a sickie right now, so I haven't slept a lot
(I know, I'm in trouble if/when I ever have a newborn again)

But in my stupor, and as an American Idol fan, I found this very funny.

If you don't watch American idol, here is why it's funny:

DS

2010-02-10T16:34:00.002-07:00

This is Nolan, as often as possible these days. He and his DS are permanently joined. Unless his stinkin' parents forget to charge it, and then WATCH OUT.

He has a Mario Brothers obsession. I'm not even kidding. Hums along to the songs as they go, and sings them when he's not playing. It's crazy.

Yes, he's only 2.

No, he's not at all good at the game.

But he's getting better. And he knows the parts of it he likes and how to get to those parts. It's a little bit scary to watch the determination on his face, actually.

I've convinced myself that it's teaching him hand/eye coordination and how to get along in this tech savvy world.

Mostly, though, it keeps him from acting like a 2 year old.

Friday Randoms

2010-02-05T14:44:00.008-07:00

1- It's following me! Remember when I saw this truck on the freeway a couple of months back?

Well this week. . . it was parked in front of my building. . .

Is this a sign of some kind?

2- The one and only "sweetener" I can consume during this diet of mine is one called Xylitol. I won't go into the chemical reasons why this is OK and none of the other are. . . but it's not IN much, so it's not like it makes much of a difference. Ben bought me a bag of it at Good Earth which I use to sprinkle on my oatmeal in the morning, and then there's this gum:

For those times when I absolutely NEED some candy in the middle of the afternoon or I might die (yeah right), this stuff keeps me from caving.

17 days and counting!

3- I didn't do so well on my cleaning/purging last weekend. I barely spent an hour in the office . . . and it will require more like 12 hours, I'm guessing. . . Ben has invitational this weekend, so the odds of it getting done are slim to none. . . Nolan is NOT a good helper, it turns out. (who knew?)

Maybe I should tackle the linen closet instead?

Yeah, probably should.

4- Nolan spends a lot of time playing Wii with us these days. He BEGS for "mario play?!" all. day. long. Every day. He LIVES for the minute Ben walks in the door at night because I usually tell him "we can play when daddy gets home".

This is just a little snippit of what it looks like when they "play".

It's special.

But at least he's stopped touching (and threatening to topple onto himself) the TV. . .

5- If the stars all align as we want them to, sometime in the next 9 months we want to move. We are just plain grown out of our current place. But looking into home builders is just stressful, and buying an older place and renovating whilst we are living in it seems like a nightmare to me, as it would have to be done on a budget.

Does anyone have GOOD experiences with their builder? Or is it inevitable that the home buying & renovating/building process is pretty much a nightmare no matter what? Any thoughts on the subject?

Sundance TwentyTen

2010-02-01T16:50:00.004-07:00

My Sundance list is going to be a little shorter than usual this year. Not because I didn't have a desire to go, but because I took such a huge chunk of time off for Christmas that I didn't feel good about taking vacation time for it.

First, was a set of documentary shorts. I went with the creative team from work (me and the 6 guys on my team) The only thing I can say about this series of 7 short films is this. . . I watch a lot of movies. I'm a relatively intelligent human being. But in 4 of the 7 cases, not only did I not understand how the short got in to Sundance, I didn't understand the point of having made it in the first place. There was no narrative. They didn't tell a remotely clear story. . .

But maybe it was just me. . .

So, to start the stretch of full length films, Nick, Cort, Melissa & I went to see Lourdes. The story of a pilgrimage to Lourdes in France, the movie was made by Austrians, but the language was French. It was really really interesting. It brought up huge themes like faith and jealousy and love, all through the story of one young woman, trapped in a wheel chair by paralysis. . . Why would one person be healed and not another? Why are some stricken by illness and not others? It was really interesting. I would not be surprised if it showed up on Netflix, and I would definitely recommend it, though the pace is a little slow.

The second day of films Nick & his cousin Katie & I first saw The Kids Are All Right. The cast was fabulous, the acting was great, and the story was really interesting. Unfortunately, there were a few graphic moments that cause me not to suggest it to those that are sensitive to such things. . . It's one time I'd be grateful to have Cleanflix. . .

And that was followed by Nick & I meeting Melissa at the Broadway for Night Catches Us. I have to admit, I wasn't sure how well I was going to like this. It could have gone either way. . . but this movie was character driven enough, and well enough written, that I found it really really interesting. I have never known much, if anything, about the Black Panther movement, but I dare say this is a perspective that hasn't been taken before.

Random on a Monday

2010-02-01T15:41:00.004-07:00

1- My child is getting his 2 year old molars in. . . which means we are ALL miserable. Just when I thought we were past the teething thing for a while. . .

(There are 2 year old molars? WHAT?!)

is there anything more pitiful than a 2 year old sticking his fingers into his mouth and saying "it huts!" I submit that there is not.

2- Today is day 13 of my diet. . .

13 appears to be my lucky number as I have a touch of a headache today (though still not a migraine) and am feeling especially gross.

But I still haven't cheated!

3- 2 guys from Jimmy Johns just walked down our row handing out free sandwiches. . .

Seriously? Of COURSE that happens this week.

Does the fact that they came all the way to XANGO to hand us free sandwiches mean they're struggling? I hope not. I hope it means they're just really good marketers. . . because I don't want them to go away.

4- I saw my first REALLY GOOD movie of the year this week. Young Victoria. I will include it with my next review post, but seriously, RUN, don't walk to this movie. I want it to make money so they'll make MORE movies like this.

Friday Randoms

2010-01-29T10:20:00.004-07:00

1- Day 10 of the special special diet. . . I'm still alive. I haven't had a lick of caffeine, sugar, or many other substances in that span of time.

I must admit to having ingested, somewhat accidentally, a small amount of cheddar cheese. . . I tried to eat around it in my Cafe Rio salad, but wasn't wholly successful.

STILL, I'm awfully proud of myself, and am 1/3 of the way through this first month of joy.

Also, I haven't had a migraine since Sunday. Which I think its pretty darn awesome.

---------------------------

2- This probably goes without saying. . . but I'm really ready for it not to be winter any more. I'm tired of being cold.

----------------------------

3- We saw our last 2 Sundance films of the year last night. It was a sparse year for us, only seeing 3 (though I also saw one with my team from work). I have to say, though, that I'm really happy with the ones we saw. I liked all 3!

I'll post a separate entry about those.

----------------------------

4- My favorite product this week. . . mint water.
It's saving me once again.

Anyone have any experience with Stevia or Xylitol that can shed some light for me? I would be much more content with my morning bowl of oatmeal if it had SOME flavor. . . Slivered almonds just aren't doing it for me.

----------------------------

5- One of my plans for the new year was to clean and PURGE one room a week. I have had varying levels of success so far. The first week we did the pantry, which hardly counts as a ROOM, but it was big ol' job, and it was a brilliant success, so it counts as far as I'm concerned.

Week 2 I tried our bedroom. This is where I was only marginally successful. I managed to clean about half of the room (which in my world means dust. . . because dark wood furniture is a disaster to keep dusted for those who are GOOD about dusting. And let's just say that's not me.) I also managed to remove a huge pile of clothes that don't fit me any more from the closet and fold them and fill 2 garbage bags to take to the DI.

Problem? They're still sitting on the floor of the bedroom. Why? because this special little diet has had some unexpected side effects. Namely, a slight bit of weight loss. This morning, I was down 7 lbs since I started. Now, it's not that I'm holding out hope that this kind of marvelous happening will continue.

(OK, I AM holding out hope)

But just in case, I don't want to send those clothes packing yet. Because they're good clothes. My behind (and all other parts) was just too big to fit in them.

So the bedroom project is on hold.

Week 3. . . I was home alone with the boy on Saturday, as Ben had one of his MANY weekend work days to attend to. . . so I tackled the downstairs bathroom. Easily the smallest room in the house, but there was still an amazing amount of dejunking to do. I'm awed at the amount of STUFF we had crammed into that vanity.

The plan for this weekend. . . the office. Which, if you've seen it, will be no small task. It's likely to take us 2 weeks. Or at least every spare moment of this weekend, ASSUMING the small boy is cooperative.

And let's be honest, when was the last time he was cooperative?

Holy Quilting Bee!

2010-01-26T13:50:00.004-07:00

OK, I kind of knew in advance that this thing was going to turn out beautifully. Kalli happens to know some people, who know some people, who know some people, etc. . . And the count she had going in to Monday morning was 50 ladies.

That's a LOT to keep busy.

little did we know that we had NOTHING to worry about.

The ladies (and gentlemen, incidentally) of Kalli's former Stake were ON IT. They are awesome people who make it a part time job to fill the humanitarian needs of the world, through our church in the best way they can. I got to talk to so many of them yesterday and they just made me smile. Seriously.

Kalli summed the whole thing up beautifully. So did Sue. And Emily.

I, on the other hand, was a bad blogger and forgot my camera.

(In my defense, when I left the house, Nolan was having an EPIC meltdown because there were 6 dozen cupcakes leaving his house and I wouldn't give him one for breakfast.
Bless his heart.
He had one later, never you fear.)

And so, I will instead share with you a photo I stole from Kalli. She said I could, but also, since it is so HIGHLY flattering of me, I feel entitled. (sorry mom, you are included by association)

By the end of the day we had 11 quilts tied, hundreds of diapers and receiving blankets serged and folded, 50 pairs of pajamas made. . . the list goes ON and ON. We can really take none of the credit. Everything was in the works when we got there. We prodded people and those people brought supplies, and we all brought treats, but we only initiated something that flooded those that were already doing so much with a little extra support.

The group that normally does this is just amazing, and if you want to join them (I plan to go back) they are there every Monday from 10am-1pm @ 240 S. Center Street in American Fork.

And, if you're a UT blogger (or blog reader) that wants to get in on the service project action, Sue is starting a movement. Jump on board!

Quilting Bee Today!

2010-01-25T07:45:00.002-07:00

Don't forget, we're holding our quilting bee for Haiti TODAY!

10 am-1pm

240 South Center Street in American Fork
(that's a slight change from the previous address noted)

I baked 3 kinds of cupcakes last night, just for you, which is saying something, because I can't eat them, nor could I taste them as I was baking.

THAT is how much I love you guys.

See you there!

Friday Randoms, diet edition

2010-01-22T23:04:00.002-07:00

I am posting this from bed because I forgot to do it earlier... Why?

1- I am on a new diet. I hate diets. I don't believe in them as a tool for weight loss. (some of you just responded with "obviously!" in your heads, and I'll try to forgive you). But this diet is not aimed at weight loss. It's aimed at improving my health and mainly my headaches, once and for all.

A tall order to be sure.

I'll spare you the details, but let's just say I'm grateful that it's only a month. And that it's 3 days over already. (not that I can go back to all of my evil ways in a month, but a few... And hopefully I'll form a few good habits in the mean time)

And I'll brag a little... No Coke for 3 days! Seriously?! Did anyone think I was capable of that? Me neither. I think I have crossed over to the land of "just water please", and I'm trying really hard to embrace it.

2- I have watched a lot of CNN this evening, starting with their telethon, and I really want to adopt several Haitian babies right now.

Someone talk me down and tell me how many years and dollars that takes, please, even under these circumstances, because I'm right on the edge of figuring out how it's done. Those babies need some love!

3- I will leave you with those, because part of eliminating all the crap I'm eliminating from my diet is the distinct need to sleep. Constantly.

Sledding

2010-01-20T16:24:00.005-07:00

Remember how much Nolan loved playing in the snow last year?

I'm not sure we've improved his opinion on the subject very much, but we sure tried.

There was supposed to be snow the morning of MLKJ day. . . but it only worked out to about a 1/4 inch on top of the old stuff, so the hill was nice and crunchy with a few little holes, but it was still fun! (until Nolan gave up because he was tired and we went home early)

Bless his heart, his mother forgot his boots, so he had to wear Aubrey's old ones.

Helping Haiti

2010-01-19T10:53:00.005-07:00

(Photo via the NY daily news - Laughlin/AP)

SO. . . the situation in Haiti has been making me cry. A lot. I can't listen to a news report, see a photo, watch a story on Nightline without bawling. It's just so awful. Gut wrenchingly awful.

To say I have felt blessed and unprepared to help this past week is an understatement of epic proportions.

My like minded (and awesome) friend Kalli and I decided that we needed to do something. We're lucky. We belong to a church that is AMAZING at humanitarian aid. Regardless of where the need exists, these people are THERE. & they're there FAST. So we called them. We asked what we could do. We wanted to contribute. . .

I was so happy about their answer.

QUILTS!

The people of Haiti are sleeping in the streets. And while it's generally warm there, it's still winter. . . And they need blankets. And so we formed our plan.

We're holding a Quilting Bee!

Monday, January 25th in American Fork, we are joining some members of Kalli's former congregation in their weekly quilting. And since the need is great, we need as many helpers as possible.

We'll be at the American Fork LDS Stake Center @ 240 South Center Street from 10 am-1pm.

It's not the most ideal time of day, obviously, but the ladies that do this every week are going to be SO valuable to us that we need to be there when they are. Come on your lunch break if you need to (that's what I'll be doing)

We need people to cut, iron, sew, tie and bind. We need cutting mats, rulers and rotary cutters, sewing machines, sergers, and batting (that is the only part of the quilts that wasn't already provided by the church) We need people to occasionally chase the children that will be there. We need people to entertain us with their sweet dance moves. (OK, maybe not that, but if you can tell a joke, that's cool too)

And let me just say, I WILL be bringing some delicious cupcakes to entice you all to keep on trucking. (and if you have a flavor preference, speak on up!)

If you can't join us, but you'd still like to help, you can donate funds through our church. 100% of the money you donate goes to those in need. They don't use a penny of it to cover administrative costs. And I'm telling you, they are MASTERS of making the most out of a dollar and helping those that need help.

Questions? let me know.
And let me know if you'll be there so I can be sure to make enough cupcakes.

A Week In TV

2010-01-16T16:16:00.001-07:00

The following is a summary of what we watch (and will be watching) this Season. (If Sept-Dec was the "fall season" are we calling Jan-April the "winter season" or the "Spring season"? I'm confused by all of the partial seasons. . .)

Also, I planned to make this list by day of the week, but then it occurred to me that i had NO IDEA what day of the week half of these things are on. Sad but true. So instead, I decided to categorize them by type. I KNOW we watch way more TV than anyone should. I also know that we never watch it when it's actually ON, so we never watch commercials. . . which decreases the time spent watching by a LOT. And I'm not just being defensive here. I'm talking 1/3 of the time to watch any given show, GONE.

Notice that my only 2 NBC shows are Biggest Loser and Mercy, and Mercy is on the way out for me. I just can't give up Biggest Loser, but I wish I could, because I'd like to just boycott NBC. They're a bunch of idiots. (this was prompted by the Jay Leno/Conan debacle, in case that was confusing anyone)

ANYWAY. . .

REALITY
Amazing Race (CBS) We are still surprised it took us so long to catch this wave... we're still into it, 2 seasons later, so we're excited for a new one to start.

American Idol (FOX) We may be watching or the impending train wreck that is this season... I love Ellen, but I don't think she fits as a judge for this show. . . I have a feeling this might be the last season, what with Simon leaving, so i will definitely be watching. (well, skimming for the first couple of weeks, but still)

Biggest Loser (NBC) Can't. stop. watching. fat. people. get. skinny.

Extreme Makeover Home Edition (ABC) Our catharsis show. We cry EVERY time. And don't feel badly about it.

Project Runway (Lifetime) Again, how did it take us so long? Oh yeah, we didn't have Bravo. But now that we CAN watch, we do. I heard that last season was relatively boring, so I can't wait to see this one.

Models of the Runway (Lifetime) This one is new on Lifetime. . . and was surprisingly drama free last season. I somehow bet it's not this time around.

COMEDY
(a category that was SO short before, and is so much better suddenly)

Better Off Ted (ABC) Holy crap, this show is funny. The writing is SO funny. Which means it will probably be off the air next week. Because heaven forbid the studios keep ANYTHING witty on the air.

Big Bang Theory (CBS) Nerd humor. Need I say more? OK, the writing is uneven, but it still cracks me up. Jim Parsons is either a genius or actually like that. . . in either case, he's hilarious.

Cougar Town (ABC) I started out really disliking this. . . but it's growing on me. Apparently I didn't hate it, because we still record it. Maybe it's all the pretty people? Maybe.

Glee (FOX) The writing is mostly bad, and the songs are SO overproduced. But I still love it. And I will not stop watching it, and buying the CDs, even if I have to roll my eyes at it several times a week. Hopefully the writing will mature, if it stays on the air.

How I Met Your Mother (CBS) Still funny. Really funny. NPH is one of those characters you just can't stop laughing at, even if you don't really know why.

Modern Family (ABC) Speaking of good writing. I LOVE this show. It's playing on stereotypes without bashing you over the head with them. . . or maybe it IS bashing you over the head, but it's so funny I don't care. . . I'm not sure. But watch it. Seriously.

DRAMA
Castle (ABC) I have a celebrity crush on Nathan Fillion. I have since the first time I saw Firefly (thank you melissa) I am SO glad he is finally in a series that seems to be solid. The writing is fantastic, the characters are great. It's a cop show, but in a good way. A funny way.

Flash Forward (ABC) This won't start until, like, MARCH, but I still had to include it, because I LOVED it in the fall and fully intend to keep watching. It's replacing LOST in my need to follow a complex story line genre.

Grey's Anatomy (ABC) Yeah yeah. Cheesy overly dramatic hospital show. I still love it. Hello, Christina/Owen? how can you not love that? OK, you can think less of me if you want. I don't care. And it will just get worse in a few minutes.

The Good Wife (CBS) I have been so pleasantly surprised by this show. It's really well written. And it's interesting. It's still a lawyer drama, but I don't have any others on my list, so that's OK.

Lost (ABC) LAST SEASON! I can't WAIT to see how they wrap it up. I hope it isn't lame. I'm watching either way, all the way to the end, because I've watched it from the start.

Mercy (NBC) This is the top of the "most likely to be removed from my list" list. I keep watching it because it's there, but I kind of don't care if I'm weeks late seeing it. It's basically what kept me busy during reruns.

Private Practice (ABC) OK, here's where you're SURE I'm dumb. The writing on this one is AWFUL. But I can't stop watching Audra. And Taye Diggs. And some of the rest of them. . . I MUST support theater people when they get TV shows. I MUST.

So there you go. Get some of them on your Netflix list for when they are released. Or mock me for how much time I spend in front of the TV. (NPR says I'm 46% more likely to die "of anything" because of it) It's how I relax, OK?

Friday Randoms

2010-01-15T14:40:00.005-07:00

1- My sugar intake is out of control. I keep getting yelled at by Geri, the lady who rubs my feet, and yet. . . I still eat it. And drink it. ALL THE TIME.

I need good ideas for sugar detox. Clearly (based on the other day when I just tried not to eat it and then wanted to DIE from the migraine I had by 5 pm) I can't go cold turkey. I also can't stand aspertame or any other sugar substitutes.

Is there any hope for weaning?

2- After an insane couple of weeks of trading, buying and selling, we have finally settled on a TV. (why was that so complicated? I don't know, but it was)

This is where we ended up.
LED LCD.

Anyone have any experience with the energy savings they claim these things provide? Because our energy bill could REALLY use some help. Our other TV did not do good things to the numbers. We're really hoping this will help.

3- Don't you sometimes wish you lived somewhere really nice and temperate where you weren't in a constant battle to be comfortable? I do. I wish that. I feel like I am constantly cranking up the heater or air conditioner. I feel like I can never wear the right clothing to be comfortable.

Why can't I just move to Hawaii or something?

4- I HATE spam. I can't even explain how much it annoys me.
(the random emails, not the pressed meat, though I suspect I would hate that too)

My dear husband (love you, Ben, seriously, don't take this personally) gave Best Buy my gmail address. The address I only give PEOPLE. All of my spam goes to other accounts.

It is driving me BATTY to delete the 2-3 emails A DAY that they send me.

One of the many things I plan never to do in my business. . .
send so many emails that people filter me out.
Because seriously?! Enough is enough!

5- This movie is probably going to be awful, probably trying to be Love Actually (which wasn't a complete triumph on its own, in my opinion), and will fail.

Does that stop me from being excited for it in a silly girly way? No. It doesn't. Even if it IS a Gary Marshall film.

Christmas Video

2010-01-12T14:00:00.003-07:00

And more recently. . . Some video from our Christmas adventures:

Woefully Behind

2010-01-12T13:57:00.004-07:00

When I went back to iMovie to export some video for your viewing pleasure, it was immediately obvious how very far behind I am.

And so, this is a little set of clips from late summer and early fall for you. . . by way of catch up.

Movie Review Catch Up

2010-01-08T14:50:00.005-07:00

Let me start by saying that there are a LOT of movies that came out at the end of December that I have yet to see. It's tragic what parenthood has done to my movie going habits. . . but that's the way it is. Thank goodness for Netflix.

Also, fall TV completely shocked me with the number of interesting offerings. . . So I'm going to do a separate post with my feelings on TV shows, in case any of you care.

Boy A

So, basically I was disturbed by this movie. I liked it, I think. . . but it was also SO sad. It is basically about a kid that was in jail for murder since he was a child. Literally. They release him under a new name, and he tries to start a new life, but eventually it comes out. . . and I know it sounds weird to feel sorry for him. . . but I did. It's a little bit graphic, so if you watch it, be prepared, but it's a really interesting movie. (Oh, and it's British)

Julie & Julia

I found this movie delightful. Meryl Streep was SO good, and if the entire movie had consisted on the Julia Child side of the story I would have loved it even more vehemently than I already did. If it had consisted entirely of the Julie side. . . probably not. Apparently they toned her character down a lot from the book, but I still struggled to care about her. . . even with Amy Adams in the part. And that's saying something. But it is a wonderful movie that everyone should see, regardless. See it. Seriously. Even if it's ONLY for the Jane Lynch part.

Miracle at St. Anna

OK, this one. . . it was tough. It's really contrived in the plot device they use. The writing isn't great. It's beautiful. The little boy sucked me in when he was central to what was going on. And I enjoyed it. . . when I wasn't being pulled out by random things. So I can't say I would suggest everyone see it. It came at a point in my Netflix Queue when I was running out of stuff I was REALLY excited to see. . . and I didn't hate it.

Sunshine Cleaning

Oh how I wanted to love this movie. I love the cast. & the truth is, I think the trailer misrepresented it. I fully thought I was going to be watching a darkish comedy along the lines of Little Miss Sunshine. Not so much. It's actually kind of depressing. The acting is fine, but the writing is un-good and the story is just. . . sad. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Breaking and Entering

I don't know how to describe this one exactly. . . It's sort of dark and a little gritty. . . And it's got a great cast, but you are never really allowed to like any of them, or side with any of them. . . so it's sort of hard to care about. I understood where all of the characters were coming from, but I didn't think any of them were right. I don't think I'd suggest this one be added to your queues.

Easy Virtue

While we're on the subject of movies I would NOT recommend. . . Don't see Easy Virtue. It's stupid. It has such a great cast that I expected it to be good. . . I honestly have no idea how the director (Stephen Elliot) managed to get this cast. The script is not good and he doesn't seem to have a long resume of films that make him THE GUY to work with. He wrote AND directed, and that was just a mistake.

That's all I have to say about that.
Love Happens

This isn't a great romantic comedy. It's predictable, and sometimes downright ridiculous. . . It's really just DUMB. But I have to admit, there were Jennifer Anniston moments, and even a Martin Sheen moment, that sucked me in a little bit. Also, it's set in Seattle. So that's pretty cool. And at least they got Judy Greer to be the best friend AGAIN. Except this time she's a little bit icky. Nothing about it will blow you away, I'll just say that.

Couples Retreat

OK, I hated this movie. It was stupid and directionless with really bad writing and bad acting all around. If it had been mocking itself, OK. . . actually, maybe it was and I just didn't have a sense of humor that day. . . I don't know.

Let's just say, I left before it was completely over to make it to another movie. (don't worry. I know how it ends)

Bright Star

I left Couples Retreat to go see this. . . and let's all just take that into account when I tell you how I feel about Bright Star, m'kay?

I love chick movies. Period chick movies like this one, LOVE THEM. This particular movie. . . I did not love. I was bored. I was annoyed by the Keats character. I could NOT understand why she loved him the way she did. She seemed smarter than that to me. . . It wasn't the acting. It might have been the direction. . . the pace was REALLY slow (but that doesn't usually bug me)

I know that people feel really strongly about this film, and I may need to see it again so I can figure out why. . . but the day I saw it, I didn't love it.

Fantastic Mr. Fox

I am a fan of Wes Anderson movies. A real fan. If you're not, don't go see this movie. You won't like it. Because although it is a really cool stop motion twist and it's based on a Roald Dahl book. . . it's a Wes Anderson movie through and through. It's clever and quirky and the voice cast is awesome. I loved it.

The Blind Side

K, so this LOOKS like it's going to be one of those "inspirational sports movies" where the climax of the movie is at the big game, and the team you love just HAS to win, and then they DO! No. It's not that movie. Is it an uplifting movie? YES. Is it a well written and different movie than you think it will be, YES.

If I can suggest that you see any of the movies on this list, see THIS ONE. All of you. No matter how cynical you think you are. And even more so if you usually dig the inspirational sports movies.

It's good.

Nine

I love musicals. That's no surprise to anyone. And the preview for this movie looked AWESOME. But let's just say this. . . This movie should NOT be PG-13. It is a prime example of how the MPAA fails us. This movie is sexual. Almost every single frame of it. And I saw it with Ben's mom & sisters. . . so I was a little stressed out that they would be offended pretty much the whole time I was watching it.

That aside, Rob Marshall is a master of staging musical numbers on the screen. The cinematography and design of every kind and editing were AMAZING. I don't know the musical at all, and for the most part, I wasn't impressed with the music or the script. . . so I was probably destined not to love it. . . But I have to say, I did LIKE it. Just be aware, if you see it, that the rating is off.

The Other Man

Obviously I was drawn to this movie by the cast. I had never heard of it, I just saw a preview on Apple and added it to my queue. And for about 3/4 of the movie, it wasn't really anything new or interesting. But about half an hour before the end it twists a little, and then it gets interesting. And it's worth watching specifically for the end. The acting is great, as you would expect, and it's well directed.

And I don't know how Liam Neeson still makes movies like this.
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And if you made it through all of those, I salute you!
And I will return with my TV thoughts later.

Juicy

2010-01-08T14:29:00.003-07:00

As I mentioned before, fresh squeezed orange juice is one of life's great joys, as far as I'm concerned.

Unfortunately, we do not live in a climate that supports orange trees, or BELIEVE ME, I would have one.

When Ben brought home a 40 lb box of oranges the other day, as is his yearly tradition, the daunting task of juicing them was before us.

I staged a small challenge, just for the sake of curiousity. . .

Which method of juicing was fastest and most productive?

Ben chose to do it by hand,

I used the electric juicer,

And Nolan manned the lemon juicer. ..

(OK, that wasn't really fair to Nolan, but we were just trying to distract him)

Who do YOU think was the winner?

OK. Ben won.

In fact, he was able to juice twice as fast. . . I blame it on the fact that I'm a girl and I'm weak (and so does he)

But I got my juice!

Some day, when money and cabinet space are a lot more plentiful, I'm going to get me one of THESE:

Friday Randoms

2010-01-08T13:01:00.005-07:00

1- Seriously. . . if Candy Cane JOe Joe's weren't enough. . .

they make a chocolate covered version.

You better believe I brought home SEVERAL boxes from our trip to AZ, where, thank the heavens, they HAVE Trader Joes!

2- I'm really glad it's January. Am I the only one? There's so much to do, but I don't feel completely crushed by my to do list like I have for the last 2 months.

And SUNDANCE is in a couple of weeks!

3- Thanks to Ben's marvelous sister Tiffany and her family, we are now the proud owners of an amazing kitchen appliance.

May I introduce to you:

The Cocoa Latte!

It mixes and heats your cocoa for you, reheating if the temperature drops too low.
Better than that, the pitcher pops off to go in the fridge to save the extra for tomorrow!

Seriously cool.

4- I have reached a point in parenthood where my child is randomly singing, and I actually recognize the song. And I understand what he says when he talks about 40% of the time too.

That feels kind of weird.

5- Ben came home with what might be my favorite gift of each winter season the other day. . .

A whole BOX of sunkist oranges. (this is not my picture, it's just representative of the joy of a box of oranges)

More on this in the next post. I promised Ben, in a bet of sorts, that it would get a whole post.