President's Day

We went down to St. George for President's Day weekend. Corbyn picked up a cold while we were there and then gave it to me just in time to come back to reality. We had a few rough days (where Corby watched WAY more Toy Story and Mickey Mouse than I care to admit), but we're mostly all better now.

While we were down there we:

*Played Ticket to Ride Nordic Countries.

*Fed the ducks (or tried to feed the ducks). They rejected the cereal we were trying to feed them for the most part.

*Used my Kohl's cash (from buying my KitchenAid mixer) to buy Corbyn's entire spring/summer wardrobe and some stuff for Peyton as well.

*Went shopping for fabric for Peyton's quilt. Corbyn got stuck while exploring. (Grandma Lori took a picture before he really started to freak out!)

*Enjoyed missing a storm up north.

*Ate out a few times. Once at Village Inn (I ordered their multigrain pancakes because I was trying to be good and I learned that they are so so good - I'll probably order them from now on!) and once at Chili's. We let Corbyn watch YouTube videos on my phone to keep him from trying to climb out of the high chair.

*Went on a date to see the Vow. I loved it, Rog tolerated it. :)

*Celebrated Mardi Gras by making beignets. The kitchen was pretty cold, so they didn't rise enough, but they were still pretty good.

*Made this delicious soup for Sunday dinner.

*Watched Corbyn explore. (We stayed at my grandma's house down there because Corbyn seems to have developed an allergy to Cuddles.) His favorites were the magnet board...

And the phone in the office.

*Golfed. Well, Rog and my dad did.

*Hung out with David Archuleta. (My mom won a cardboard cutout of him. LOL.)

*Visited Roger's 2nd Mission President and grandparents.

*Enjoyed warm walks.

It was a great trip even if we had to get sick at the end!

20 Months

The Corb at 20 months:

*Knows pretty much all of his body parts and will point to them if you ask where they are.

*Knows a ton of animals and will point to them in his books.

*Loves riding escalators. If we ride one, he won't let us just go up or down, we have to go up, down, up, down, up, and down over and over until we drag him away.

*Got one new tooth this month. Now he has 12 - 6 on top and 6 on the bottom.

*Gets so so so frustrated with the vacuum. If we ever try to vacuum while he is around, he insists on playing with it, but it makes him so mad that he can't make it do what he wants. So now we have to do all our vacuuming while he is asleep at night or when he's not around.

*Is totally and completely obsessed with all things Buzz and Toy Story. He says Buzz all day long which means he wants to watch Buzz (or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is an acceptable alternative). Or he also says it when he sees anything Toy Story. For awhile he was also saying Woody, but for the most part he just says Buzz. He sleeps with his Buzz and Woody figurines and carries them around everywhere. When we lost the original ones we got at Disneyland, we had to replace them. I'm trying to get him more into coloring, so I found these free coloring pages - it kind of worked, but for the most part he just loves looking at them and saying Buzz over and over!

*I really have a hard time getting him to drink enough. It seems to help a little if I rotate his cups - sippy, straw, tupperware cups with lids, and if I'm feeling brave I let him drink out of my cup. But I still feel like he doesn't get enough liquid in him!

*Is fascinated with lights. He likes it when I turn them off and on when he points to them.

*Likes playing with bubbles.

*Can twist open lids and zip/unzip zippers.

*Has a few apps on my phone that he really likes.

*Swings in the big boy swing.

*Pretty much all his pants are floods on him now. But they'll just have to do until spring when he can start wearing shorts because I'm not buying more!

*Says Buzz, up, duck, bubbles, pop, baby, and bus. Roger insists he says help me, but I'm not so convinced because it sounds a lot like mommy to me. And sometimes it sounds like he asks questions like where's that, what's that, or where'd it go?

*If he's hungry, he'll just climb up and help himself to his snacks.

*Is really good at his matching animal fridge toy.

*Has very strong opinions about what books we should read. If he doesn't want to read the book you are reading at the moment, he'll close it on you and insist on another one.

*Likes building towers with his blocks. (Excuse the naked picture... Every time we would pull out the camera he would decide he was done. We finally got a few after bath time one night.)

*Claps when you say "clap your hands" or sing "If you're happy and you know it..."

*Loves watching slideshows of pictures of himself (in iPhoto).

*Likes to have his washcloth on his back and pretend he is a turtle in the bath.

February Decorations

Valentine's Day is a fun one to decorate for. My table is pretty much exactly the same as last year except I added a little bear and changed the ribbon on the heart in HOME.

Peyton's nursery is going to be decorated with owls, so I guess I have owls on the brain. Printable here. Kohl's had some really cute decorations that I couldn't resist. This owl...

This cupcake...

And this kitchen towel (that I got for free).

I found this paper at Wood Connection and copied an idea someone else had (that I saw on Facebook) to make LOVE blocks. I love that the paper incorporates more than just the regular red and pink.

And my shadow box. I only have March left and then I'll be done. It's probably a good thing because who knows how much crafting I'll be doing when Peyton comes. Probably not a whole lot at least for a few months while I adjust to having more than one child!

Day of Love

Our celebration of Valentine's Day was pretty low key this year - mostly just a regular Tuesday. Our big date was a spontaneous trip to Walmart to get a few things we needed. (Best time to go to Walmart ever. It was EMPTY!) And after we put Corbyn to bed, Rog studied for the GMAT while I watched You've Got Mail and folded laundry. But I did have some fun with our menu.

For breakfast, heart-shaped Mexican Eggs.

And monkey bread (because it is delicious and Valentine's Day is the perfect opportunity to have dessert for breakfast).

For dinner we had one of our favorite meals. It is easy as can be, yet it looks and tastes pretty dang fancy. CrockPot roast and carrots (someday I'll have to share this recipe with you) with mashed potatoes made in my new Kitchenaid mixer. My mom found an incredible deal (final price $152.80 including tax and shipping) that I couldn't pass up, so I decided to finally get one for myself. It's a birthday present, but it arrived the day before Valentine's Day and I couldn't wait to open it until March 5th!

And for dessert we had strawberry and chocolate nachos with heart-shaped cinnamon chips.

We don't do huge elaborate gifts for Valentine's Day, but I whipped up a little surprise for Rog while Corbyn was napping - made 100% with things I already had. Idea via Pinterest. It's a little message board (in our bathroom because I had paper that matched our colors in there) where we can leave each other fun notes about why we love each other.

Rog got me some daisies and earrings a few days before Valentine's Day and left a card for me in the mailbox to find when we got the mail on Valentine's Day.

And finally, a few days before Valentine's Day I made this delicious popcorn to give out to a few friends. It really does taste just like chocolate covered cinnamon bears from the BYU Bookstore!

I hope everyone had a very happy day of love spent with the ones you love!

Getting Out

Last week was a pretty good one, but by Friday I was in the mood to get out and do something out of the ordinary with Corbyn. We don't have very much stuff close to us - the zoo and Discovery Gateway are all the way up in Salt Lake, the aquarium is in Sandy, and even Thanksgiving Point is still pretty far away being in Lehi. The closest stuff is in Provo or Orem which is still a pretty decent drive.

I'm always afraid to take Corbyn anywhere before his nap because I run the risk of him falling asleep too early on the way there (and then not taking another nap the whole day). And if he falls asleep on the way home, I'm not always able to successfully transfer him to his crib. But if I wait until after nap time, the day is pretty much done.

I decided to risk it and take him to the Petco in Orem in the morning. We'd been there before, but this time he was much more excited to see the birdies and especially the fish. (We also saw reptiles, small mammals, cats, and dogs.)

After that we visited dad at work and had lunch with him.

While we were there, Corbyn had to test out the basketball hoop on the back of Rog's door (a Christmas present from KD) multiple times.

He did fall asleep on the way home, but this time I was lucky and the transfer to his crib was a success!

Saturday afternoon we went to the BYU basketball game with Bill and Mariah. We played Pepperdine and beat them 86-48. It was a fun game to be at because for most of the game our score was double theirs. We tried many many times to get a good picture, but Corbyn was completely distracted by the game. This one isn't very good, but it's the best we got.

After the game we ate at Zupas because Mariah had never been before and Bill insisted he didn't like it. It's one of our favorite restaurants, so we had to change his opinion. This time he ordered something different and liked it, so I'd say we were successful in our mission.

I love staying home with my little guy, but it's always nice to get out and do things that are a little out of the ordinary. It was a fun weekend!

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Last week I finished my first book of the year - the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. It tells the story of a black lady who died of cervical cancer in the 1950s. Some of the cells from her tumor were taken (without her knowledge) and grown in a laboratory. Scientists were able to do all kinds of valuable medical research using these cells, but for a long time her family had no idea. The book is a perfect mix between scientific explanations and stories about Henrietta and her family. Science was always my least favorite subject, so I was a little worried I wouldn't enjoy the book, but I ended up loving it. I found it fascinating.

The whole time I was reading the book I was thinking how crazy it was that they didn't tell her family, but that nothing like this could happen today. However when I got to the afterword, I learned that it probably could happen today. Did you know that whenever they take a blood sample from you or you have surgery and they remove something (like say, an ovarian cyst or your appendix), they keep that stuff? And did you know they are pretty much free to do research or whatever they want with it? We sign consent forms, but let's be honest, who reads that stuff anyway? And there aren't clear laws about what those consent forms have to say, so they can be pretty vague about it all. I'm not upset about this. I mean if they can use my ovarian cyst or Roger's appendix or Corbyn's umbilical cord to learn more and make life better for us and/or our posterity, I say go for it. I was just pretty shocked to learn that my viewpoint throughout the entire book was pretty much wrong.

When I decided to read this book at the beginning of January, I checked and the Spanish Fork library had two copies. Both were checked in, so I just went down there and picked one up. I was reading the book at a good steady pace, but wasn't quite done at the end of 3 weeks when it was due. So I went to renew it and learned that apparently over those 3 weeks, it had become very popular - there were 7 holds on it! So I couldn't renew it. I decided to hurry up and finish it and pay whatever fine I needed to when I returned it. Apparently they were forgiving fines the first two weeks of February, so I didn't have to pay anything (it would have been less than $1 even if I did). I just thought it was pretty funny that I had no trouble getting it and then it suddenly became very popular - especially because it didn't just come out or anything like that.

If you are looking for something to read, I would recommend this one. (I know I always say that, but I mean it. And I would tell you if I didn't recommend something.)

72 Hour Kits

A few years ago our BYU married student ward did an activity where we assembled 72 hour kits. They provided everything except for the backpacks to store them in. We knew they seriously needed some updating because pretty much everything in them expired a long time ago! We were just going to open them up and replace the expried items with new fresh items, but looking through them, I didn't think we would actually want to eat most of the stuff in them. So I did some searching on Pinterest and found some helpful blogs that listed different food items that would be good for 72 hour kits. (I would link you to those blogs, but I didn't keep them and I don't feel like going through and finding them again. Sorry.)

Using those blogs I made a 3 day meal plan that includes food we will actually eat. I made a spreadsheet where I listed the expiration dates for everything. My plan is to go through and replace the foods that are nearing their expiration dates each General Conference weekend. Using this method we will always have 72 hour kits that are stocked with food we will eat (that isn't expired). And we won't be wasting because we can eat the food that is about to expire as part of our regular meals and snacks.

I took a picture of Corbyn's packet for each day. With the exception of one or two items his food is exactly the same as ours.

We still need to purchase a fire extinguisher and a water purifier, but with this project done I feel so much more prepared for an emergency!

28 Weeks

This morning I had my 28 week appointment. After they drew my blood for my glucose test (the drawing blood part is no big deal for me, but the drink seriously makes me sick), I had an ultrasound to check on the location of the placenta. Thankfully it was FAR away from the cervix, so no concern there. While she was at it, she double checked everything from my 20 week ultrasound. Everything was perfect - she is head down, fluid levels are good, all her organs look just like they should, and she is measuring right where she should be for my due date (a day ahead now, so she's caught up from being a few days behind). And she was able to confirm that yes, she is a girl. She said she was 110% sure, so no worries there. I even got to see her blink a few times - crazy cool. She got this picture of her profile at the very end and I am so in love.

I couldn't stop looking at it while I waited (for almost an hour - ugh!) to see the doctor. Thankfully Corbyn was not with me. My wonderful visiting teacher is so sweet to watch him for me. And thankfully it was my favorite doctor (the one who took out my cyst back in 2008) or I would have been way more annoyed about the wait.

We talked about what I can do to make sure Peyton isn't a 10 pounder like her brother. He said to limit the sweets and carbs I eat and focus on proteins and vegetables. It definitely won't be easy, but I'm going to do my best... Starting after tomorrow because what fun would Valentine's Day be without sweets and carbs?! I think a realistic thing I can do is have a salad with every lunch and dinner. I love salad, so that won't be a problem. It's not realistic at all for me to say I'm not going to eat any sweets or carbs, but I'm going to do my best to fill up on other things first (like salads) and then I won't eat so much of the sweets and carbs.

Anyway, here is my 28 week picture (taken last night, so technically 28 1/2 weeks). It's not the most flattering picture, but I always forget to have Rog take one until the end of the day when my hair has gone flat and my makeup is pretty much gone. Oh well.

I feel like I have so much to do before she gets here - better get cracking at my list! Before we know it we will have TWO children. How crazy is that?!